Getbig Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Forums
Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: Dos Equis on March 06, 2010, 11:40:03 AM
-
Wish we could bottle the stuff this guy is made of.
Wounded war hero visits Capitol Hill, advocates for orthopaedics
By Jamie A. Gregorian, Esq., and Andrew N. Pollak, MD
Soldier’s story underscores importance of orthopaedic research
Nine months after captivating the attendees at the Extremity War Injuries IV symposium (See “EWI-IV highlights advances in combat care,” AAOS Now, March 2009), Capt. Ray O’Donnell returned to Washington, D.C., to share his story with members of Congress.
Capt. O’Donnell and his wife Kelly flew in from their home in Mililani Town, Hawaii, to help make the case for increased funding and support of orthopaedic research and care in meetings with Rep. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (D-Md.) and Sens. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii). As the AAOS manager of research advocacy and the chair of the AAOS Extremity War Injury and Disaster Preparedness Project Team, we were proud to accompany them.
A routine patrol ends badly
The recipient of a Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Capt. O’Donnell was injured during a routine combat patrol in August 2007 in Afghanistan. A roadside bomb threw Capt. O’Donnell approximately 80 feet from his vehicle.
Capt. O’Donnell sustained several severe injuries, including a left hip dislocation that also fractured his pelvis and hip joint, a fracture and dislocation of his right wrist, a bladder rupture, several facial bone fractures, and a collapsed lung. Tragically, two close friends were killed when his vehicle was destroyed.
Capt. O’Donnell had already experienced the deep cost that U.S. soldiers paid in recent conflicts. In 2005, his best friend 1st Lt. Nainoa K. Hoe was killed in Mosul, Iraq, and Capt. O’Donnell escorted the body home for burial.
“Nainoa’s men were the most important thing to him,” said Capt. O’Donnell in a 2005 interview with the Honolulu Advertiser. “He never asked his men to do something he wouldn’t do himself.”
For his own injuries, Capt. O’Donnell was initially treated in Bagrum, Afghanistan, and, after initial resuscitation, was rapidly transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. He next flew to Walter Reed Army Medical Center for further stabilization and care and finally to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio for definitive treatment of his injuries. He ultimately recuperated at the Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Fla.
Capt. O’Donnell discussed the frustration he experienced during his recuperation. Although he did not sustain the loss of any limbs, his left leg was completely paralyzed from the knee down, leaving him unable to walk on his own. Meanwhile, he watched fellow patients who had lost limbs begin to run and jump with the help of prosthetics. So disheartening was the experience that Capt. O’Donnell asked to have his leg amputated so he too could enjoy the mobility that amputee patients were experiencing.
Ultimately, as Capt. O’Donnell explained, he accepted the counsel of his physicians, and opted to rehabilitate his injured leg. After returning to Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, he was fitted for a custom orthotic device that now allows him to walk without assistance, despite significant paralysis of his left leg below his knee. Now, after training and rehabilitation, he walks with only a slight limp, runs regularly, and recently completed a biathlon.
Orthopaedic research made it possible
In sharing his story, Capt. O’Donnell highlighted two important points: first, that without the groundbreaking research of the orthopaedic community, he would not be walking on his own right now, let alone running, and second, that all members of the Armed Forces deserve treatment as good as his.
Further research is clearly needed to improve the care that military physicians are able to deliver to wounded soldiers. Effective treatments such as those that enabled Capt. O’Donnell to return to high levels of physical activity are still lacking for many wounded soldiers who sustain high-energy open extremity injuries.
“I can’t ask my men to charge through that door, if I don’t know that they’re going to get the best possible medical care if they get hurt,” a passionate Capt. O’Donnell said.
Kelly O’Donnell provided the unique perspective of a young military wife dealing with a severely injured husband. They had been dating when Capt. O’Donnell was hurt, and he proposed while in the hospital. When the hospital’s chaplain refused to officiate, Capt. O’Donnell’s father, himself a veteran, performed the ceremony. Today, Mrs. O’Donnell is an outspoken advocate for providing soldiers with the kind of medical care they deserve and performing the necessary orthopaedic research to make that care possible.
“We need to provide all of our soldiers with the care that they need,” said Mrs. O’Donnell, after her husband told Rep. Ruppersberger that, although he was confident that, as a captain, he would get the orthopaedic care that he needed, he was less confident that lower-ranked troops would receive similar care.
Meeting with the home team
We then joined the O’Donnells in visiting Sens. Inouye and Akaka. The meeting with Sen. Inouye was particularly poignant, because Capt. O’Donnell served in the same battalion that Sen. Inouye served in during World War II.
A service-disabled war hero, Sen. Inouye won the Medal of Honor after being critically injured as the Allies fought in Italy. Prior to the war, he had been a premedical student at the University of Hawaii, with hopes of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. After losing his right arm in combat, Sen. Inouye changed his career plans but continued to be active, learning to play the piano with one hand and entering politics.
“While I was in the hospital, you were my inspiration,” Capt. O’Donnell told him.
“You are too kind,” replied Sen. Inouye.
After meeting with Sen. Inouye, Capt. O’Donnell met Sen. Akaka, with whom he shares a familial connection. He again praised the military orthopaedists who helped him to walk again.
“They’re now a part of our ohana,” said Capt. O’Donnell, using the Hawaiian term for extended family.
http://www.aaos.org/News/aaosnow/dec09/reimbursement1.asp
-
He is going to have get in line way in back of Acorn, SEIU, AFL/CIO, AFT, CSEA, et al.
Obama will tell him to take a pain pill instead.
-
Read "Never Surrender" a couple months ago by retired Lt. Gen. William Boykin. Another great American. One of the founding members of Delta Force. http://www.amazon.com/Never-Surrender-Soldiers-Journey-Crossroads/dp/0446582158
Very entertaining read about how an American patriot kicked butt and took names, all in the name of Jesus. :) Seriously, interesting to see how someone in his position balanced faith and service. Highly recommend it to anyone in the military who is also a person of faith.
-
Politicians tend to think soldiers are disposable.
-
I know a way the US government could save millions on Orthopedics!
Stop sending our soldiers off to be maimed in senseless wars!
:P
-
Politicians tend to think soldiers are disposable.
-
I know a way the US government could save millions on Orthopedics!
Stop sending our soldiers off to be maimed in senseless wars!
:P
Won't happen.
-
Won't happen.
Yeah, I just wish there was a little honesty about the real "objective"... :-\
-
(http://www.ohio-share.coxnewsweb.com/multimedia/dynamic/00634/IMMIGRANT_CRACKDOWN_634772b.jpg)
(http://www.citybeat.com/cincinnati/imgs/hed/art15909widea.jpg)
-
Post of the month Beach Bum!!!
-
Pearl Harbor survivor's ashes laid to rest in USS Arizona
Remains of ensign interred on ship where he rescued wounded
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Though he was was loath to discuss the subject, what Anthony Schubert saw from the deck of the USS Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, would color the way he saw the world for the next 68 years of his life.
Yesterday, amid a small gathering of friends, comrades and officers, Schubert's remains were returned to the sunken battleship where 1,117 of Schubert's fellow sailors lost their lives during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Schubert, one of a dwindling number of surviving crew members from the Arizona, died in Hutchinson, Kan., on Aug. 12 at the age of 90. His family arranged to have his remains interred on the ship, a privilege extended to all surviving crew members.
Schubert's daughter Tonay Hayward said she and her family only learned of the option after her father had passed.
"He didn't know about this," said Hayward, who attended the service with her husband, John, daughter Jacky and Jacky's friend Willi Schrom. "He wanted to be buried in Kansas. He wanted a naval funeral. And I would not have discussed this with him. The Arizona was a taboo subject when I was growing up."
Still, Hayward said she had no doubt that her father would have been pleased and honored to be interred with the more than 900 Arizona crewmen whose remains were never recovered from the ship.
DAY OF THE ATTACK
Schubert, a native of Lagmond, Kan., graduated from the Naval Academy in 1940 and was quickly assigned to the USS Arizona.
According to a report he filed with the Navy about his experience on Dec. 7, 1941, Schubert, then an ensign, was in a bathroom shaving shortly before 8 a.m. when he heard an air raid siren, then the sound of scattered gunfire.
He went to his quarters and saw "several low-winged monoplanes at low altitude flying away from the line of moored battleships, apparently having finished a bombing or torpedo attack."
Schubert donned dungarees and a pair of slippers and headed to his designated station. By this time, the ship was being rocked by explosions and its bow was sinking so quickly that the mooring lines were snapping.
Under the direction of Lt. Cmdr. Samuel Fuqua, who would later be awarded a Medal of Honor for his work that day, Schubert opened hatches and helped load wounded sailors onto rescue boats sent by the USS Solace.
With the ship rapidly sinking and oil burning on the surface of the water, Schubert and other survivors transported two boatfuls of wounded to Ford Island. Only after he had completed his duties did Schubert seek medical care for a cut on his head and burns to his hands and arms.
"He saw his young comrades destroyed in an instant and he never got over that," Hayward said. "Today, they do a lot of counseling, but he never had that."
Hayward said what little she knew of her father's experiences that day came via her mother, Edythe. Still, Hayward said, the events of that day haunted her father for the rest of his life.
Schubert served in the military for 13 years, retiring as a lieutenant commander to join the Arabian American Oil Co. He later taught at the University of Virginia.
"He was always aware of the fleeting nature of life," Hayward said. "He took advantage of opportunities and he was very achievement-oriented, but he also knew that he wasn't going to be mired in materialism. He wasn't concerned with conspicuous consumption because he knew it could all be taken away in an instant."
'HE'D BE VERY PROUD'
Jacky Hayward, who lives in San Francisco, remembers her grandfather as somewhat withdrawn but very intelligent. She recognized his love and concern in his admonitions to drink more milk and to be careful of traveling on the Bay Bridge.
Hayward said she was moved by yesterday's service and a bit daunted by her family's direct connection to one of the pivotal moments of American history.
The ceremony included a two-bell ceremony by the Fleet Reserve Association, a rifle salute from the Navy Region Hawai'i Ceremonial Guard and the playing of "Taps."
Schubert was also honored in remarks by speakers Paul DePrey, the national park superintendent of the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, and Capt. Lawrence Scruggs.
With a massive American flag set at half-staff whipping in the breeze overhead, Hayward transferred her father's remains to a quartet of Navy divers, who held the urn above water as they positioned themselves above the open barbette of the ship's gun turret No. 4. The divers then slowly descended beneath the choppy water to place the urn into a large open slot in the ship.
Schubert was the 32nd surviving crew member to be interred on the ship.
Of the 300 Arizona crew members who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor, roughly 20 are still alive.
"The ceremony was enormously touching and moving and I know my father was watching down upon it," Tonay Hayward said. "I know he'd be very proud."
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100508/NEWS08/5080346/Pearl+Harbor+survivor+s+ashes+laid+to+rest+in+USS+Arizona
-
I encourage you to watch this. It's ten minutes long. Incredible story.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/05/13/army_captain_flatlined_for_15_minutes_shares_amazing_story.html
-
Soldier Blinded in Iraq Won't Stop Serving His Country
Associated Press
WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Since a car bomb blinded Capt. Scott Smiley in Iraq, he has skied Vail, climbed Mount Rainier, earned his MBA, raised two young boys with his wife, won an Espy award and pulled himself up from faith-shaking depths.
Smiley, 30, has snagged attention for his big accomplishments. But the daily ones are telling, too, including the recent tour he gave of his staff's offices at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he plans to watch President Barack Obama address the Class of 2010 on Saturday.
Unable to see the path around the workers' cubicles, Smiley stepped forward with a joke to the camouflage-clad officers he was showing around: "I walk around, and when I hit things, I move," he said.
An aide trailing him said softly, "Turn right, sir," at a doorway. Smiley turned.
Smiley, of Pasco, Wash., is one of only a handful of soldiers who chose to remain on active duty after being blinded by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, a practice that's rare but one that military officials say benefits both parties.
Though unable to return to his old infantry duties in Iraq, Smiley has thrived in stateside postings such as his latest at West Point, from which he graduated in 2003. He now commands the Warrior Transition Unit at West Point for ailing or wounded soldiers.
Voice software allows Smiley to listen to e-mails, books and pamphlets. Aides help him navigate and tell him what order he's signing. It's a little like changing his son's diapers at home: He's fine as long as he knows where everything is.
His resiliency and energy helped him earn the 2007 Soldier of the Year commendation from the publication Army Times, as well as an ESPN Espy award in 2008 for best outdoor athlete.
He earned his master's of business administration at Duke University and has spoken to the Olympic and Duke teams coached by Mike Krzyzewski, a fellow West Point alum. He has a memoir coming out this year titled "Hope Unseen."
Smiley said he's not trying to prove anything with his exploits.
"In terms of getting an MBA, climbing Mount Rainier, it's what I always wanted to do," he said. "Why should I stop that?"
Smiley was injured April 6, 2005, six months into a deployment to Iraq. He led patrols through Mosul, a dangerous city where a too-high pile of garbage could be hiding explosives and the enemy blended in with the populace.
Sgt. 1st Class Mike Branham, who served as a squad leader under Smiley, said his fellow serviceman was a topflight officer, one who stood out for his deep Christian faith and detailed knowledge of his soldiers.
"He knew their names, he knew their wives' names, he knew their likes and dislikes," Branham said.
Smiley was leading a patrol in an armored Stryker vehicle when, from his perch in the forward hatch, he spotted a silver Opel that matched intelligence descriptions of a potential car bomb. The trunk appeared to be weighed down and the driver acted as though he didn't understand Smiley, who fired warning shots at the ground when it looked as if the driver was going to pull forward.
The driver raised his hands, and the car went up in a fireball.
Shrapnel tore through Smiley's left eye and lodged in his frontal brain lobe; another fragment the size of a pencil lead pierced his right eye.
Slumped unconscious in the Stryker hatch, Smiley was rushed to a medical center, where he briefly flatlined as friends prayed at his bedside.
Branham recalls, "I didn't think he was going to make it past that day at all."
He was left permanently blinded and temporarily paralyzed on his right side.
Stabilized and shipped stateside, Smiley struggled with his fate. He had vowed at his wedding to take care of his wife, Tiffany, and there she was, taking care of him. The exertion of wiggling his big toe required a three-hour nap.
He received his Purple Heart on his hospital bed. A video posted on YouTube of the ceremony shows his brother Neal struggling to maintain composure as he reads the citation. Smiley, looking beaten and uncomfortable in his bed, turns his head away.
"When I got to the hospital and I finally realized what happened, what my life was going to be like, I didn't believe in God. I questioned my faith. I questioned everything that was ever said to me before," Smiley said. "Because in my mind, why would God allow something like this to happen to me?"
Smiley credits his wife, family and faith for helping him accept his condition. Ultimately, he decided he didn't want to be like the Lt. Dan character played by Gary Sinise in "Forrest Gump," the officer who wants to be left to die when he loses his legs in Vietnam. He would push on. And if his path kept him in the Army, that was fine.
"I was totally prepared to get out," he said. "But still in the back of my mind, it was: 'I still have so much to give. I love serving my country."'
The Army says at least four other totally or partially blind soldiers have remained on active duty since Iraq and Afghanistan.
Capt. Ivan Castro lost his sight and suffered other serious injuries in a 2006 mortar attack in Iraq and is now stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., with the Special Operations Recruiting Battalion. Castro, a 42-year-old who runs marathons and 50-mile races, appears to share some personality traits with Smiley -- and says he also felt he still had something to serve after being injured.
"I've been doing this for over 18 years," Castro, who was born in Hoboken, N.J., and grew up in Puerto Rico, said in a phone interview. "This is all I know. This is what I love. This is what I live for."
Castro's commander, Lt. Col. Fredrick Dummar, said the continued service by blind soldiers fits with the military philosophy that everyone has unique abilities and that "there's always somebody on the team that can accomplish a mission."
Smiley was at first posted at Accessions Command, which oversees recruiting, and later earned his MBA. He returned to West Point last year to teach and took command this year of the Warrior Transition Unit here this year. He lives on post with Tiffany and their two young boys. After the West Point graduation ceremony Saturday, he plans to pin lieutenant bars on one of the roughly 1,000 cadets who will become new Army officers.
Smiley conceded that he might have a better understanding of the ailing soldiers under his command but is quick to add that his overriding concern is maintaining Army standards -- for his soldiers and for himself.
"I still want to be the person I always wanted to be," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/05/21/soldier-blinded-iraq-wont-stop-serving-country/?test=latestnews
-
John Finn, Medal of Honor recipient for heroism on Dec. 7, dies at 100
Advertiser Staff
(http://cmsimg.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M1&Date=20100527&Category=BREAKING&ArtNo=100527021&Ref=AR&MaxW=298&MaxH=358&Q=90&NoBorder)
In a 1942 Navy photo, then-Chief Ordnanceman John W. Finn is congratulated by his wife Alice after he was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at Kaneohe Naval Air Station during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack.
(http://cmsimg.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M1&Date=20100527&Category=BREAKING&ArtNo=100527021&Ref=V1&MaxW=298&Q=90&NoBorder)
Last December, at the age of 100, John Finn attended a memorial ceremony at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
John Finn, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Hawaii on the day the United States was plunged into World War II, died today at his Southern California home at the age of 100.
Finn, a retired Navy lieutenant, was stationed at Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station on Dec. 7, 1941.
As Japanese planes strafed the base, Finn took up a .50-caliber machine gun in defense.
Firing from an exposed position, Finn was wounded several times during the first wave of the attack. Still, he refused to be evacuated, and his actions were credited with rallying other sailors to take up weapons.
On Sept. 15, he received the Medal of Honor from President Franklin D. Roosevelt for his actions.
Last December, when he was in Hawaii for a memorial event at what is now called Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, Finn told The Advertiser he would never forget the attack.
"I grew up thinking the Navy, Marines and Army were invincible," he said, "and here we were, getting our clocks cleaned.
"We got caught so flat-footed. ... They really kicked the living hell out of us."
The event at Kaneohe honored the 18 sailors and two civilians who lost their lives in the attack.
Finn, who regularly returned to Hawaii for Dec. 7 commemorations, was born July 23, 1909, in Los Angeles.
He was the oldest of the 97 Medal of Honor recipients still living.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20100527/BREAKING/100527021/Medal-of-Honor-recipient-John-Finn-dies-at-100
-
1,000th GI killed in Afghan war was on 2nd tour
PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press Writer
(http://hosted2.ap.org/CBImages/?media=photo&contentId=bcf4e19202475409cc0e6a70670057fb&fmt=jpg&Role=Preview&reldt=2010-05-29T20:01:42GMT&authToken=eNoFwrENwDAIBMCJkN7kgVB4mBjZkruUKTx8dHfm1%2f1iw%2b0ISwBJ2qndRy3OlipQhhiRUoUp%2fgQ8AIs1zn67hDoVTe8f9g8TXw%3d%3d)
Jonathan Leicht, left, and Jesse Leicht, right, pose with a photo of their brother, Marine Cpl. Jacob Leicht, Saturday, May 29, 2010, in Kerrville, Texas. Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht, 24, was killed while on patrol in Afghanistan Thursday, May 27, 2010, making him the 1000th U.S. serviceman killed in the Afghan conflict. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — The 1,000th American serviceman killed in Afghanistan had already fallen once to a hidden explosive, driving his Humvee over a bomb in Iraq in 2007. The blast punched the dashboard radio into his face and broke his leg in two places.
Marine Cpl. Jacob C. Leicht didn't survive his second encounter with a bomb this week. The death of the 24-year-old Texan born on the Fourth of July marks a grim milestone in the Afghanistan war.
Leicht, who spent two painful years recovering from the Iraq blast, was killed Thursday when he stepped on a land mine in Helmand province that ripped off his right arm. He had written letters from his hospital bed begging to be put back on the front lines, and died less than a month into that desperately sought second tour.
An Associated Press tally shows Leicht is the 1,000th U.S. serviceman killed in the Afghan conflict. The first death — nearly nine years ago — was also a soldier from the San Antonio area.
"He said he always wanted to die for his country and be remembered," said Jesse Leicht, his younger brother. "He didn't want to die having a heart attack or just being an old man. He wanted to die for something."
The AP bases its tally on Defense Department reports of deaths suffered as a direct result of the Afghan conflict, including personnel assigned to units in Afghanistan, Pakistan or Uzbekistan.
Other news organizations count deaths suffered by service members assigned elsewhere as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, which includes operations in the Philippines, the Horn of Africa and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Leicht's brothers told the AP that the military also told the family that his death put the toll at 1,000.
When military officers went to tell Leicht's parents that their adopted son had died in combat, sheriff's deputies had to help navigate them to the 130-acre family ranch tucked impossibly deep in the Texas Hill Country.
It was here that Jacob Leicht chopped thick cedar trees and hiked the rugged limestone peaks, growing up into an imposing 6-5, 200-pound Marine with a soft heart. He watched "Dora the Explorer" with his brother's children and confided to family that he was troubled by the thought of young civilians being killed in battle.
But for Leicht, born in a Lemoore, Calif., Navy hospital, the battlefield was the destination. He threw away a college ROTC scholarship after just one semester because he feared it would lead away from the front lines.
"His greatest fear was that they would tell him he would have to sit at a desk for the rest of his life," said Jonathan Leicht, his older brother.
When Jacob Leicht's wish finally came true, it didn't last long.
His first deployment was to Iraq in 2007, but he was there just three weeks when Jesse Leicht said his brother drove over two 500-pound bombs hidden beneath the road.
One detonated, the other didn't. The blast tore through the Humvee, shooting the radio into Leicht's face and knocking him unconscious. He felt something pinch his thumb, and the gunner's face was filleted so badly by shrapnel that medics couldn't keep water in his mouth.
None of the five people were inside the vehicle died. Jesse Leicht said an Iraqi interpreter, the only one on board who wasn't seriously injured, dragged his brother from the mangled vehicle. The blast snapped Jacob Leicht's fibula and tibula, and the recovery was an agonizing ordeal of pins and rods and bolts drilled into his bones.
But all Jacob Leicht could think about was going back. He launched a campaign for himself at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, writing letters and making phone calls about returning to combat. More than two years later, he was finally healthy enough to serve again.
Nine days before his brother stepped on a bomb in Afghanistan, Jesse Leicht enlisted in the Marines. Using Facebook to reach a friend stationed at a base not far from his brother, Jesse asked the soldier a favor: If you see Jacob, let him know I signed up like him.
"Hopefully," Jesse Leicht said, "he got the word."
http://hosted2.ap.org/HIHAD/d9e770efdd4b467dbf1c088dc48d0192/Article_2010-05-29-US-Afghan-1000th-Death/id-84eca6ce5de44ef69236d605d7750016
-
Ms Moya has the distinction of being the oldest newest great American. :)
106 year-old sworn in as U.S. Citizen
Posted: July 19th, 2010
From CNN's Jillian Harding
(CNN) - The journey was long for Ignacia Moya, but on July 19, at the age of 106, she was finally able to attain a dream that she has been working toward for years: becoming a citizen of the United States.
Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois, assisted Moya in her quest to attain citizenship.
At the Chicago ceremony where Moya was sworn in, Gutierrez said she had two reasons for wanting to be a citizen.
"She said because all of her children were U.S. citizens, and she wanted to be just like them." Gutierrez said.
Moya's second reason, according to Gutierrez, was to "do something she hasn't been able to do in 106 years, and that is vote in an election in the United States."
Moya was originally denied citizenship because her English was not good enough to pass the civics and language exams. However, Moya recently received a waiver due to hearing and eyesight impairments.
When she was administered the oath of citizenship on Monday, Moya told the clerk, "Accepto," over cheers and applause from her family.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/19/106-year-old-sworn-in-as-u-s-citizen/?fbid=54YJ106g8kS#more-113996
-
Paratrooper to get Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan
By the CNN Wire Staff
September 10, 2010
(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/POLITICS/09/10/medal.of.honor.recipient/t1larg.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta is being awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in battle in Afghanistan in October 2007.
(CNN) -- An Army paratrooper who risked his life to save fellow soldiers will become the first living service member to receive the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq or Afghanistan, the White House said Friday.
Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, 25, will receive the honor for "acts of gallantry at the risk of his life" during combat in Afghanistan in October 2007, the White House said in a written statement.
President Barack Obama called Giunta, a native of Hiawatha, Iowa, on Thursday to inform him of the honor and to thank him for "extraordinary bravery in battle," the statement said. Giunta will receive the medal at a later date.
On Thursday, the White House announced that Obama will award the Medal of Honor posthumously to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller for "conspicuous gallantry" and "heroic actions" in Afghanistan in January 2008. Miller sacrificed his life "to save the lives of his teammates and 15 Afghanistan National Army soldiers," the White House said.
The White House announced last week that Obama also intends to award the Medal of Honor to Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger for his valor in saving the lives of three wounded comrades at a then-secret base in Laos in 1968. Enemy fighters shot and killed Etchberger after he saved his fellow airmen.
Giunta was an Army specialist and rifle team leader with Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment when an insurgent ambush split his squad into two groups on October 25, 2007, the White House statement said.
He "exposed himself to enemy fire to pull a comrade back to cover," it said.
"Later, while engaging the enemy and attempting to link up with the rest of his squad, Specialist Giunta noticed two insurgents carrying away a fellow soldier," the statement said. "He immediately engaged the enemy, killing one and wounding the other, and provided medical aid to his wounded comrade while the rest of his squad caught up and provided security."
Fewer than 3,500 Medals of Honor have been awarded since the medal was established during the Civil War.
Giunta, who was recently married, is currently with the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry based in Vicenza, Italy. "He is responsible for the health, morale, welfare, training and accountability of all assigned personnel," the Army said. He has served two combat tours in Afghanistan.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/10/medal.of.honor.recipient/index.html?hpt=T2
-
Nine years after 9/11, a photo provides some peace
By Jesse Solomon, CNN
September 11, 2010 7:50 a.m. EDT
(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/09/10/september.11.photo/t1larg.box.cnn.jpg)
A Danish businessman took this photo of Gary Box as he rushed toward the attacks on the World Trade Center.
New York (CNN) -- Judson Box has never known exactly how his son, Gary, died on September 11, 2001. But an unexpected find nine years later has given him a glimpse into his son's final hours.
Gary, then 35, had been working as a firefighter in Brooklyn for roughly five years when the terrorists attacked. He did not speak to his father the day of the attack and his body was never recovered, leaving the circumstances of his death a mystery.
On September 11, 2009, Gary's sister, Christine, was visiting the Tribute Center when an employee asked her if she was looking for someone specifically. She mentioned her brother Gary, and the employee showed her to a picture of a firefighter in the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel that had a caption bearing Gary's name.
But it was not Gary. It was a photo of Brian Bilcher, another member of Gary's fire squad who also perished on 9/11.
The discovery compelled Gary's father to dig deeper, clinging to the possibility that there could be a similar picture of his son out there.
Box scoured photo archives of the National 9/11 Museum and the memorial's website, which allows users to upload photos from 9/11 directly to the site.
After searching one night for more than five hours, Box went to sleep, physically and emotionally exhausted. The next morning, his wife, Helen, called him into the living room as he was eating breakfast.
She showed him a photo of a firefighter running through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel toward the Towers alongside cars stuck in traffic.
This time, it was Gary.
"I was out of out control, emotionally," Box said. "Thanking God, being so happy that I had something to see."
Eager for more answers, Box contacted the National 9/11 Museum and Memorial in an attempt to track down the photographer. Several months later, the museum gave him the e-mail address of Erik Troelson, a Danish businessman who was stranded in the tunnel on his way to a meeting when he snapped the picture of Gary.
Having entered the tunnel before the first plane hit, Troelson was unaware of the tragedy that was taking place outside.
"Suddenly, the girl in the car in front of us got out crying," he said. "Then we turned on the radio and heard the events as they unfolded."
Soon after, firetrucks started racing through the tunnel, but a car with blown-out tires jammed traffic, he said.
"Some of the bigger trucks got stuck, so the guys started walking briskly past us," Troelson said. "Gary Box was one of the guys."
Box and Troelson corresponded via e-mail for months, with Troelson doing his best to recall the day's timeline of events.
On Tuesday, the National 9/11 Museum and Memorial foundation arranged for a surprise rendezvous between the men at their annual fundraiser.
They shared an emotional moment onstage. Afterward, they spoke at length, with Box expressing his gratitude.
"I think I said about 300 times thank you and God bless you, that's all I could say," Box said. "I think I told him I love you, and I don't tell anybody that."
Nine years after September 11, Box said he still feels the pain of that day. He doesn't have the means to make large donations to the museum, but has sought to promote their cause through his story.
"We need that in this country because too many people forget," Box said of the museum.
"I wish everybody could get what I got."
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/10/september.11.photo/index.html?iphonefb
-
Honor 'bittersweet' for rare living Medal of Honor recipient
By Jennifer Rizzo and Larry Shaughnessy, CNN
September 15, 2010
Washington (CNN) -- The first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War says his receiving the prestigious award is bittersweet.
"All of this is great," U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta said during a teleconference Wednesday. "But it does bring back a lot of memories of people that I would love to share this moment with. And I am just not going to have this opportunity because they are no longer with us."
Giunta said the day his unit came under attack was quiet and started out like any other day in Afghanistan.
"We are all soldiers and we are all out on a mission," he said.
Giunta, 25, was a specialist serving with the Airborne 503 Infantry Regiment on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when his unit was attacked on the night of October 25, 2007. He recalls himself as an average soldier, saying he didn't do anything that someone else wouldn't have done.
According to Defense Department documents seen by CNN, Giunta and his fellow soldiers were walking back to base along the top of a mountain ridge when the enemy attacked from their front and their left. Taliban fighters barraged the Americans with AK-47s, rocket propelled grenades and Soviet era large machine guns.
Giunta saw several of his fellow soldiers go down. He ran forward throwing grenades and returning enemy fire to help one soldier who had been shot but was still fighting. Then he noticed one of the wounded soldiers was missing.
He ran over a hill where moments before Taliban fighters where shooting at him to find his wounded friend, Sgt. Josh Brennan. But now he was alone, out of sight of his fellow soldiers, in an area that the Taliban had controlled just moments before.
Giunta saw two Taliban fighters dragging Brennan away. He ran after them, killing one Taliban and wounding the other, who ran away.
He instantly started providing first aid to Brennan, who had been shot at least six times. Brennan was later evacuated by a helicopter to a hospital, but he died of his wounds.
Giunta himself was shot twice in the incident, with one round hitting his body armor and the second destroying a weapon slung over his back. He was not seriously hurt.
His quick response to the Taliban attack helped his unit repulse the enemy fighters before they could cause more casualties, the Defense Department documents note.
Giunta said his actions were not something he thought about but something he was trained to do.
"After the medevac bird comes in and starts picking people up, it's not over, you're not out of Afghanistan, you're not off the side of the mountain, you're just minus some buddies and there's no time to talk, you still have to complete the mission," he said.
Giunta's wife, Jenny, sat beside him during the teleconference from the base Giunta is stationed at in Vicenza, Italy. She said she is proud of her husband. The two married last November and are unsure about what the future will bring. Jenny Giunta said she hopes her husband does not deploy again.
"Having your husband ... your loved one get deployed and knowing that they're going to be somewhere that's dangerous .... It's an awful feeling," she said.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/09/15/medal.of.honor.recipient/index.html?hpt=T1
-
Beach that story just brought tears to my eyes about that firefighter
-
Beach that story just brought tears to my eyes about that firefighter
Yeah. I get chicken skin looking at the photo. He was a great American.
-
Fallen hero receives Medal of Honor
By Mark K. Matthews, Orlando Sentinel Washington Bureau
2:42 p.m. EDT, October 6, 2010
WASHINGTON -- Calling his sacrifice the "true meaning of heroism," President Barack Obama on Wednesday presented the Medal of Honor to the Oviedo family of Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Miller, who gave his life in 2008 to protect a patrol of American and Afghan soldiers.
"It has been said that courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point," said Obama, addressing a solemn crowd in the East Room of the White House. "For Rob Miller, the testing point came nearly three years ago, deep in a snowy Afghan valley. The courage he displayed reflects every virtue that defined his life."
On hand to accept the military's highest award for valor were his parents, Phil and Maureen Miller, who stood stoically as the decoration was present and their son's heroism was recounted.
He is buried in Central Florida; his family moved to Oviedo. soon after Robert Miller graduated from high school in Illinois.
Miller, who died at 24, is only the third service member from the Afghanistan conflict to receive the Medal of Honor. The Green Beret earned the rare distinction in January 2008 when his team of about 20 U.S. Special Forces and Afghan troops was caught in a ferocious ambush by insurgents.
His side outnumbered by as many as 12-to-1, Miller held his ground against a barrage of fire -- calling out positions and helping his fellow soldiers find cover. Then, making himself a target, Miller charged the insurgents with gunfire and grenades in a rush that ultimately cost the life.
The military credits Miller with saving his patrol, as well as killing at least 10 insurgents and wounding many more.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-obama-medal-honor-20101006,0,388733.story
-
Hero pilot of United Flight 811 dies at age 81
By Gregg K. Kakesako
POSTED: 12:37 p.m. HST, Oct 06, 2010
Dave Cronin, the hero pilot who successfully landed a crippled United Airlines Boeing 747 in Honolulu 21 years ago, died Monday at his home in Minden, Nev. He was 81.
Cronin was the captain on United Flight 811, which left Honolulu bound for Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 24, 1989. The 747 was 22,000 feet over the Pacific when a forward cargo door blew out, creating a gaping hole in the side of the aircraft.
The explosion knocked out two of the plane's four engines. Nine passengers seated in business class died when their seats were sucked out of the plane.
Despite the damage, Cronin and his crew was able to reduce altitude and land the 747 safely in Honolulu about 22 minutes later. There were 336 passengers and 18 crewmembers on the flight.
"He not only brought the plane back safely, but he invented many of the safety procedures used today," said Ben Mohide, a passenger on the flight, during a phone interview today. "He was a remarkable man."
He and his wife, Barbara, also was a passenger, learned of Cronin's death from a woman who was a purser on Flight 811.
Cronin, who joined United Airlines as a pilot in 1954, was 59 and on his second-to-last flight before mandatory retirement when he captained Flight 811.
Cronin's ability to land the plane safely prompted a discussion over raising the mandatory retirement age. The Federal Aviation Administration raised the age to 65 in 2007.
Mohide, who kept in touch with Cronin over the past two decades, once asked him how he handled the situation with so many emergencies taking place at the same time.
"I just prayed," Mohide said was Cronin's reply. "I just prayed and got on with it."
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that a mechanical failure caused the cargo door to separate from the aircraft.
In 1993, Mohide consulted with Cronin before writing the book "Hawaiian Nightmares" about the air disaster.
"He helped me get the terminology and details correctly," he said.
Funeral services will be held at Hilltop Community Church in Carson City, Nev., on Monday.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/104448194.html
-
Franklin
-
.
No, the thread is titled "Great Americans."
-
:)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*436/20101013_loc_B1-CHUNG-HOON.jpg)
The destroyer USS Chung-Hoon returned to Pearl Harbor from a deployment in the western Pacific. AT2 Phillip Kemple gave his wife, Stephanie, a kiss yesterday after returning.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101013_Happy_homecoming.html
-
:)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*436/20101013_loc_B1-CHUNG-HOON.jpg)
The destroyer USS Chung-Hoon returned to Pearl Harbor from a deployment in the western Pacific. AT2 Phillip Kemple gave his wife, Stephanie, a kiss yesterday after returning.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101013_Happy_homecoming.html
ugh, NO WHITE SHOES AFTER LABOR DAY, hellooooooooo
kidding, what a great story and picture
-
95-year-old NYC man gets medal for WWII rescue
VERENA DOBNIK, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government is recognizing the World War II architect of a mission to rescue more than 500 U.S. bomber crew members shot down over Nazi-occupied Serbia.
It was the largest air rescue of Americans behind enemy lines in any war.
George Vujnovich (VOOY'-noh-veech) is credited with leading the so-called Halyard Mission in what was then Yugoslavia.
On Sunday, the 95-year-old New York City man is being awarded the Bronze Star in an afternoon ceremony at Manhattan's St. Sava Serbian Orthodox Cathedral.
He's long retired from his job as a salesman of aircraft parts.
Vujnovich says of the honor, "better now than never" — but he regrets most of the men on his wartime mission are no longer alive.
http://hosted2-1.ap.org/HIHON/229cea0feec5482f81543bdaad3ec66c/Article_2010-10-17-US-WWII-Rescue-Medal/id-3aec56cc20a3483dbec801f249565645
-
Medal of Honor goes to first living recipient from Afghanistan war
By the CNN Wire Staff
November 16, 2010
Washington (CNN) -- A 25-year-old Army staff sergeant from Iowa on Tuesday became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor for a current conflict since three service members from the Vietnam War were honored in 1976.
President Barack Obama awarded the nation's highest medal of valor to Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta -- the kind of soldier who leaves you "just absolutely convinced this is what America's all about," Obama said at the White House award ceremony. "It just makes you proud."
Giunta was a specialist serving with the Airborne 503rd Infantry Regiment on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan when his unit was attacked on the night of October 25, 2007. According to Defense Department documents, Giunta and his fellow soldiers were walking back to base along the top of a mountain ridge when the enemy attacked from their front and their left. Taliban fighters barraged the Americans with AK-47s, rocket propelled grenades and Soviet-era large machine guns.
Giunta saw several of his fellow soldiers go down. He ran forward, throwing grenades and returning enemy fire, to help one soldier who had been shot but was still fighting, the documents say. Then he noticed one of the wounded soldiers was missing.
Searching for his wounded friend Sgt. Josh Brennan, Giunta ran over a hill where moments before Taliban fighters had been shooting at him. Now he was alone, out of sight of his fellow soldiers, in an area that the Taliban had controlled just moments before.
Giunta saw two Taliban fighters dragging Brennan away. He ran after them, killing one and wounding the other, who ran off.
Giunta instantly started providing first aid to Brennan, who had been shot at least six times, the documents say. Eventually a medic arrived and a helicopter was called in to take Brennan to a hospital, but he later died of his wounds.
Giunta's action, however, meant that Brennan was not at the mercy of the Taliban, and his parents would be able to give him a proper burial instead of wondering what became of him.
Giunta's quick response to the Taliban attack also helped his unit repulse the enemy fighters before they could cause more casualties, the Defense Department documents note.
Giunta was shot twice, with one round hitting his body armor and the second destroying a weapon slung over his back. He was not seriously hurt.
His actions "embodied the warrior ethos that says I will never leave a comrade," Obama said. "This medal is a testament to his uncommon valor, but also the parents and community that raised him."
According to the White House, the Medal of Honor is awarded to "a member of the Armed Forces who distinguishes themselves conspicuously by gallantry above and beyond the call of duty ... The meritorious conduct must involve great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life."
Upon receiving the Medal of Honor, Giunta said he was appreciative but that the moment was "bittersweet." "I lost two dear friends of mine, Spc. Hugo Mendoza and Sgt. Joshua Brennan. And although this is so positive, I would give this back in a second to have my friends with me right now."
The squadron's medic, Hugo Mendoza of El Paso, Texas, was caught with the rest of the group.
There have been other living Medal of Honor recipients in the years since 1976, but those were retroactive awards. Because of racism during past wars, or because more information about heroics comes to light, the Department of Defense reinvestigates a service member's actions and decides he deserves a Medal of Honor.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/16/obama.medal.of.honor/index.html?hpt=C1
-
I know a way the US government could save millions on Orthopedics!
Stop sending our soldiers off to be maimed in senseless wars!
True
:P
-
Battleship California veteran recalls raising flag during Dec. 7 attack
He had decoded a message warning of a sneak attack, but his superiors believed it would be sabotage, not an air raid
By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press
POSTED: 07:28 p.m. HST, Dec 05, 2010
The morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Yeoman 2nd Class Durrell Conner was wrapping Christmas presents aboard the USS California when he heard a commotion. Peering through a porthole of the battleship, the 23-year-old saw an airplane approaching low.
"He dropped something, and as he banked away I saw the red emblem of the Japanese on his wings so I knew we were under attack," Conner said. "He dropped the torpedo that struck the ship right below where I was standing."
The battleship shook like an earthquake, and the cryptographer rushed to his battle station where he coded and decoded messages for the California's commander. Since no messages were coming in, he joined a chain passing ammunition to Marines and sailors firing guns on the deck.
Another Japanese plane dropped a 500-pound bomb on the California, sinking the ship. The vessel lost nearly 100 of its 1,800 officers and crew.
On Tuesday, Conner plans to return to Pearl Harbor along with about 120 other survivors for a ceremony in remembrance of those who died in the Japanese attack 69 years ago. About 580 family and friends are due to join them, as are several hundred members of the public.
The Navy and the National Park Service are jointly hosting the event at a grassy site across the harbor from the sunken hull of the USS Arizona, where 1,177 lives were lost. In all, some 2,400 sailors, Marines and soldiers were killed in the attack.
Conner, 92, attended the annual remembrance for the first time last year with his daughter.
He so enjoyed the displays of patriotism and tributes — including the sailors who lined the deck of the USS Lake Erie guided missile cruiser as it rendered honors to the Arizona — that he's coming back with his wife, four daughters and their husbands, and several grandchildren.
"The patriotic feeling that everybody had — it was just wonderful," Conner said. "I decided from then on, if I physically would be able, I would be there every year."
He reckons he'll keep coming back for a while.
"I play golf three times a week. I hope to be around for another five or 10 years," Conner said in a telephone interview from his home in Sun City, Calif.
This year, Conner will represent the California by laying a wreath for his fallen shipmates during the ceremony.
"It's really quite an honor," he said.
Conner, who made a career in the Navy after the war, said he probably wasn't as surprised by the Sunday morning assault as some of his fellow sailors because he had recently decoded a message from Washington telling his ship to be on the alert for a sneak attack.
His commanders, though, didn't envision they'd be fighting airplanes. They expected Japanese in Hawaii to somehow sabotage them — something that never happened.
"Everyday I was wondering, 'Well is it going to be today?' — kind of laughing because I thought they were being overcautious," Conner said.
He recalled simply getting to work when the attack began.
"I just took it in stride, tried to do what was asked of me," said Conner.
At about 10 a.m., Conner noticed the Stars and Stripes wasn't flying above the California because the assault began just as Marines usually raised the colors at 8 a.m. He saw the Marines had dropped the flag on the deck as they rushed to return fire.
So Conner and a seaman raised the flag, giving troops a morale boost as they struggled to fight back and save the wounded while battleships burned and sank.
"It should be up, and I knew it would raise morale," he said. "There was a motor launch going by right at the stern, and I knew some of the people, and they yelled my name and they said 'Hey!' and cheered. It was quite a thrill."
Conner is looking forward to seeing the new $56 million Pearl Harbor visitor center the National Park Service just finished building to replace an older structure that had to be scrapped because it was sinking.
It has twice the exhibition space of the old facility, offering the 1.6 million people who visit the USS Arizona Memorial each year a deeper understanding of the attack that pushed the U.S. into World War II.
Conner hopes the new center will help the public remember the lessons of Dec. 7, particularly the need to be prepared.
"For anything that might happen. There are a lot of people that don't like us and would like to see us destroyed. We have to keep alert all the time," he said.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/111363929.html
-
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/a19cd0bd98375214de0e6a706700db0a.jpg)Pearl Harbor survivor James Donis salutes the color guard during the 69th anniversary ceremony marking the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/500*333/8d0ef63a98195114de0e6a7067001c23.jpg)
With the USS Arizona memorial in the background, Pearl Harbor survivor Richard Laubert, of Phoenix, Ore., attends the 69th anniversary ceremony marking the attack on Pearl Harbor, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/500*333/72a81a7d98165114de0e6a706700903c.jpg)
With the USS Arizona memorial in the background, a Marine stands at attention, Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2010, in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Tuesday marks the 69th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
-
Boy Scout Saves Residents From House Fire
Published December 31, 2010 | FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/U.S./397/224/boyscout.jpg)
A Boy Scout, Keith Rausch, 16 is hailed as a hero after he alerted three residents inside a home that their house was on fire.
A Boy Scout is hailed as a hero after he alerted three residents inside an Orange County, Fla. home that their house was on fire, saving them from injury.
Keith Rausch, 16, just happened to be passing by the house in his girlfriend's neighborhood, when he saw something terribly wrong. "I told her to stop the car." He said he saw that flames were coming from the side of the home. "They were growing 4 to 5 feet."
He quickly ran to the door and told the people inside there was a fire. "They thought I was playing a joke, but got the kids out just in case and walked to the side and said, 'Oh my God the house is on fire!'"
Orange County Fire Communications received a 911 call about the fire around 2:35 Thursday afternoon. A resident of the home reported that she had just received a delivery of propane gas. The first fire crews arrived and saw that the gas-fed flames had quickly spread to the roof and attic of the 4,700 square foot home.
Fire crews fought the fire aggressively, bringing it under control in less than one hour. Over 35 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the flames.
Click here for more on this story from MyFoxOrlando.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/12/31/boy-scout-saves-residents-house/?test=latestnews
-
The last surviving pilot from the Doolittle raid has passed, RIP sir.
http://www.dailycamera.com/obits/ci_17057961?source=most_emailed (http://www.dailycamera.com/obits/ci_17057961?source=most_emailed)
Col. William Marsh "Bill" Bower
February 13, 1917 - January 10, 2011
Posted: 01/11/2011 01:00:00 AM MST
Col. William Marsh "Bill" Bower, 93, the last surviving pilot from the famous "Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders" who bombed Japan in 1942, died Monday, January 10, 2011 at his home in south Boulder, surrounded by friends and family.
Hailed as a hero for his role in the United States' first air attack on Japan following the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Bill always said that the true heroes are the men who stick by and raise their families.
Bill was born February 13, 1917 in Ravenna, Ohio, the son of Harold Friend Bower and Kathryn Marsh Bower. He attended Chestnut Street School and Highland Avenue School and graduated from Ravenna High School in 1934.
He attended Hiram College and Kent State University
from 1934 to 1936.
He married Lorraine Amman Bower in the lobby of the Lady Lafayette Hotel, Walterboro, S.C. on August 18, 1942. They raised four children: Bill, Jim, Mary and Mindy. Lorraine died in 2004.
Bill served with the Ohio National Guard 107th Cavalry from 1934 to 1938 and graduated from the Army Air Force Flying School in 1940. He received a commission as a 2nd lieutenant, USAF on October 4, 1940, with a rating of Army Aviator. He joined the 37th Bombardment Squadron at Lowry Field in Denver, Colo. in October 1940 and joined the 17th Bombardment Group in June 1941 at McChord Field in Washington.
Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Bill volunteered and was chosen for the mission planned and led by Lt. James "Jimmy" Doolittle to bomb military targets on the home islands of Japan, an effort to demonstrate that the Japanese Empire was not invulnerable to attack.
On April 18, 1942, 16 B25B Mitchell medium bombers took off from the decks of the U.S.S. Hornet in the western Pacific Ocean. Because landing planes of that size on the Hornet was impossible, the pilots continued toward China after bombing their targets. All but one aircraft, which landed in the Soviet Union, crashed in China or were ditched at sea. Of the 80 crew members, 11 were either captured or killed; the rest returned to the United States.
After his return, Bill assumed command of the 428th Bombardment Squadron and joined Allied invasion forces in Africa. He remained there and in Italy until September 1945. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role in the raids.
After the war, Bill worked as a planner and accident investigator for the U.S. Air Force and served in the Arctic as commander of a USAF transport organization. He also served as commander at Dobbins Air Force Base, Marietta, Georgia.
In 1966, he retired and moved with his family to Boulder, where he built and lived in the same house on Dennison Lane.
Bill was deeply involved in his community, and was recognized by the BDC in the "Monday Morning Rose." He volunteered with Second Harvest Community Food Shares and Meals on Wheels. He organized state and local chapters of Trout Unlimited and founded the Central Optimist Club, of which he was the chapter president. He was a Flight Captain with the Order of Daedalians and organized the local chapter of the Air Force Association. Bill was a member of the board of directors of Crime Stoppers, 1982-83 and the board of Retired Seniors Volunteer Program. He also served on city of Boulder committees overseeing aviation noise and operations and Boulder Creek Flood Control. Finally, he worked for ten years on Colorado Congressman Tom Wirth's screening committee for applicants to the nation's service academies.
He continues to be remembered fondly by his neighbors, past and present. One described Bill as a "surrogate grandfather, handyman, and caretaker" to adults and children alike. He did everything from shoveling his neighbors' sidewalks (without being asked) to building model rockets for kids. "Mr. Bower" or "the Colonel" always had a Jolly Rancher candy for neighborhood children who stopped by.
Bill was a consummate outdoorsman. He enjoyed fishing on the Rio Grande - including, on occasion, with Doolittle and his fellow raiders - bird hunting and guiding hunters in the Colorado mountains. An accomplished equestrian as a young man, he introduced his daughters to riding when they were young; both continue to work with horses today.
He also greatly enjoyed the annual Raider reunions, held every year since 1947 except 1955 and 1966. Five Raider crew members, including two co-pilots, survive him, but Bill was the last living pilot. He was asked to play "Taps" at Doolittle's memorial service in 1993.
In 2008, he was recognized or his distinguished service to his country at the Boulder Memorial Day race.
He is survived by Bill and Janet Bower, Jim and Susan Bower, Mary and Buck Brannaman, and Mindy Bower and Kevin Hall; his grandchildren Tyler and Amy Bower, Lauren and Kristin Swenson, Daniel Bower, Andrew Bower and Reata Brannaman; great-granddaughter Ashley Bower; and an amazing group of caregivers.
Services will be held at St. Martin de Pourres, 3300 Table Mesa Dr, Boulder, at 11AM on Thursday, January 13th.
Donations may be made in lieu of flowers to the Family Hospice Foundation, 1790 30th St, #308, Boulder, CO, or the Doolittle Tokyo Raiders' Scholarship Fund, c/o Richard Cole, 48 Blaschke Rd, Comfort, TX, 78013.
http://www.dailycamera.com/obits/ci_17057961?source=most_emailed
-
Good picture of old Ben Franklin.
(http://www.getbig.com/boards/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=323452.0;attach=386102)
-
Hawaii Medal of Honor recipient Barney Hajiro dies
By Gregg K. Kakesako
POSTED: 10:45 a.m. HST, Jan 24, 2011
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*384/20110124_clinton_hajiro.jpg)
AP
President Clinton presents the Congressional Medal of Honor to Barney Hajiro, of Waipahu, Hawaii, during a ceremony in the Pavilion, South Lawn, at the White House, Wednesday, June 21. 2000.. Pvt. Hajiro of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, wiped out two machine gun nests and killed two snipers before being wounded by a third machine gun in France's Vosges Mountains, on Oct. 29, 1944. Twenty-Two Asian-American veterans of World War II, most of whom fought in a courageous unit whose motto was " Go for broke!"are receiving the nations top honor for bravery on the the battlefield 55 years after the end of the war. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
More Photos
The nation's oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, Barney Hajiro, died Friday at Maunalani Hospital in Honolulu.
He was 94.
Hajiro had been awarded three Distinguished Service Crosses by the Army while serving with a rifle company in the 442 Regimental Combat Team during World War II in Europe.
One of those awards was upgraded to the Medal of Honor 46 years after the war ended at the urging of Sen. Daniel Akaka who authored congressional legislation requiring the Army to determine whether 22 Asian and Pacific Island Americans who received the Distinguished Service Cross had not been properly recognized because of the war's anti-Japanese sentiment. Twenty, including Sen. Daniel Inouye, were members of the famed segregated Japanese American 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
During one of the 442nd's fiercest campaigns in dense forests of France's Vosges Mountains to free the towns of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, Hajiro on Oct. 29, 1944, led a charge on "Suicide Hill" drawing fire and single-handedly destroying two machine gun nests and killing two enemy snipers before being wounded by a third machine gun.
The effort by the nisei soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's I and K companies to rescue Texas 36th Division's "Lost Battalion" is considered to be one of the key battles in U.S. Army history.
In a 2000 Star-Bulletin story, Hajiro discussed the battle before President Clinton hung the sky-blue ribbon that dangles a gold star around his neck at a special White House ceremony.
"There was shooting coming from all sides. I got hit in my arm ... my BAR was hit ... and then my helmet was blown off my head."
During the battle, an enemy bullet had penetrated Hajiro's left wrist and severed a nerve. Another bullet had entered his shoulder. His left cheek also was scarred by an enemy bullet.
Several days earlier Hajiro, while acting as a sentry near Bruyeres, helped allied troops by attacking a house 200 yards away by exposing himself to enemy fire and directing fire at an enemy strong point. He assisted the unit on his right by firing his automatic rifle, killing or wounding two enemy snipers.
On Oct. 22, he and fellow soldier took up an outpost security position about 50 yards to the right front of their platoon, concealed themselves, and ambushed an 18-man, heavily armed enemy patrol, killing two, wounding one, and taking the rest as prisoners.
Edward Yamasaki, president of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's I Company chapter, in his book -- "And Then There Were Eight" -- noted that I Company started the battle with 140 riflemen. "Then there only eight soldiers standing at the end."
Hajiro was the eldest of nine children and left the 8th grade at Puunene on Maui to work in the sugar-cane fields for 10 cents an hour, 10 hours a day. Because he had to leave school to help support his family, Hajiro, an aspiring track star, was never able to pursue his dream to compete in high school and college.
He is survived by a son, Glenn; wife, Esther, and one grandson.
Funeral services, which are being handled by Hosoi Mortuary, are pending.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/114503739.html
-
Police officer wins medal for saving a man from a fire
By Star-Advertiser staff
POSTED: 08:16 p.m. HST, Feb 11, 2011
A police officer credited with saving an elderly man in a burning apartment building last year was awarded Wednesday with the Honolulu Police Department's Bronze Medal of Valor.
Patrol officer John Rabago, 35, ran to the second-story unit of the Piikoi Street walk-up in the middle of the fire, amid burning embers, to alert the man.
The Nov. 11 fire was only three to five feet from his apartment when Rabago alerted him.
"Apparently, he was about ready to take a shower and didn't know the building was on fire," said Rabago, who is approaching his 10th year as an HPD officer. "Fortunately I yelled loud enough several times."
The bronze medal is HPD's third highest award.
Five other officers were recognized with Certificates of Merit for helping evacuate residents that day: Sgt. Jason Kimura and officers Thomas Dumaoal, James Quinones, Kyle Suemori and Reginald Ramones.
Officer Richard Townsend, 39, a solo bike officer, received a Certificate of Merit for performing CPR on a woman who crashed on H-1 freeway late last year.
Darl Hunt, 64, said she was driving home from the airport, when she had a heart attack that made her crash her vehicle. She had no pulse when Townsend arrived and began CPR.
"I just did what we were trained to do," said Townsend, an eight-year HPD veteran.
"He gave me my life back," said Hunt, now 60. "It's so critical, the few minutes you where the brain doesn't get any oxygen. If this man wasn't there when he was, I wouldn't be here."
Hunt's son, Jeffrey, was a police officer on Maui. He died of a heart attack in 2007.
Other officers and civilians recognized by Police Chief Louis Kealoha last week:
>> Sgt. Duane Samson, employee of the quarter, for coordinating a major cleanup at Kaupo Beach, as well as anti-bullying, drug and alcohol prevention, and Read Aloud America programs in schools.
>> The East Honolulu Crime Reduction Unit, unit of the quarter, for its recovery of more than 600 pounds of fireworks Dec. 30-31. They are Sgt. Stuart Yano, and officers Nicholas Akaka, Thomas Chang, Stephen Forman, Keoni Hong, Robert Loomis, Michael Mahi and Nathan Suzuki.
>> James Wong, Civilian Certificate of Merit, for physically restraining a man attempting to jump off an H-1 pedestrian overpass.
>> Officer Ashley Stibbard, Certificate of Merit, for spotting a fire, alerting residents and using a garden hose to fight the flames.
>> Officer Pedro Rodriguez, Certificate of Merit, for performing CPR on a woman who collapsed and was unconscious on a city bus.
>> Kenneth Taipin Jr., a Department of Defense police officer, Civilian Certificate of Merit, for helping arrest a suspect for theft and assault.
>> Irving Wong, Civilian Certificate of Merit, for helping solve several bank robberies.
>> Officer Lovinna Kaniho, Certificate of Merit, for performing CPR on a woman who had choked on food and was unconscious.
>> Apelu Ekeroma and Alberto Martinez, Civilian Certificates of Merit, for stopping a man from jumping from a high-rise apartment.
>> Clayton Nakasone, a U.S. Postal Service letter carrier, and Kikue Takagi, Letters of Appreciation, for finding and helping an elderly woman who was severely injured and unable to call for help.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/116038529.html
-
Hawaii Medal of Honor recipient Barney Hajiro dies
By Gregg K. Kakesako
POSTED: 10:45 a.m. HST, Jan 24, 2011
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*384/20110124_clinton_hajiro.jpg)
AP
President Clinton presents the Congressional Medal of Honor to Barney Hajiro, of Waipahu, Hawaii, during a ceremony in the Pavilion, South Lawn, at the White House, Wednesday, June 21. 2000.. Pvt. Hajiro of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, wiped out two machine gun nests and killed two snipers before being wounded by a third machine gun in France's Vosges Mountains, on Oct. 29, 1944. Twenty-Two Asian-American veterans of World War II, most of whom fought in a courageous unit whose motto was " Go for broke!"are receiving the nations top honor for bravery on the the battlefield 55 years after the end of the war. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
More Photos
The nation's oldest living recipient of the Medal of Honor, Barney Hajiro, died Friday at Maunalani Hospital in Honolulu.
He was 94.
Hajiro had been awarded three Distinguished Service Crosses by the Army while serving with a rifle company in the 442 Regimental Combat Team during World War II in Europe.
One of those awards was upgraded to the Medal of Honor 46 years after the war ended at the urging of Sen. Daniel Akaka who authored congressional legislation requiring the Army to determine whether 22 Asian and Pacific Island Americans who received the Distinguished Service Cross had not been properly recognized because of the war's anti-Japanese sentiment. Twenty, including Sen. Daniel Inouye, were members of the famed segregated Japanese American 100th Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
During one of the 442nd's fiercest campaigns in dense forests of France's Vosges Mountains to free the towns of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, Hajiro on Oct. 29, 1944, led a charge on "Suicide Hill" drawing fire and single-handedly destroying two machine gun nests and killing two enemy snipers before being wounded by a third machine gun.
The effort by the nisei soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's I and K companies to rescue Texas 36th Division's "Lost Battalion" is considered to be one of the key battles in U.S. Army history.
In a 2000 Star-Bulletin story, Hajiro discussed the battle before President Clinton hung the sky-blue ribbon that dangles a gold star around his neck at a special White House ceremony.
"There was shooting coming from all sides. I got hit in my arm ... my BAR was hit ... and then my helmet was blown off my head."
During the battle, an enemy bullet had penetrated Hajiro's left wrist and severed a nerve. Another bullet had entered his shoulder. His left cheek also was scarred by an enemy bullet.
Several days earlier Hajiro, while acting as a sentry near Bruyeres, helped allied troops by attacking a house 200 yards away by exposing himself to enemy fire and directing fire at an enemy strong point. He assisted the unit on his right by firing his automatic rifle, killing or wounding two enemy snipers.
On Oct. 22, he and fellow soldier took up an outpost security position about 50 yards to the right front of their platoon, concealed themselves, and ambushed an 18-man, heavily armed enemy patrol, killing two, wounding one, and taking the rest as prisoners.
Edward Yamasaki, president of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team's I Company chapter, in his book -- "And Then There Were Eight" -- noted that I Company started the battle with 140 riflemen. "Then there only eight soldiers standing at the end."
Hajiro was the eldest of nine children and left the 8th grade at Puunene on Maui to work in the sugar-cane fields for 10 cents an hour, 10 hours a day. Because he had to leave school to help support his family, Hajiro, an aspiring track star, was never able to pursue his dream to compete in high school and college.
He is survived by a son, Glenn; wife, Esther, and one grandson.
Funeral services, which are being handled by Hosoi Mortuary, are pending.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/114503739.html
State flags to be at half-staff for Medal of Honor recipient
By Star-Advertiser Staff
POSTED: 04:16 p.m. HST, Feb 11, 2011
Hawaii state flags will be flown at half-staff at all state offices and the Hawaii National Guard from sunrise Saturday to sunset Monday, in honor of Hawaii Medal of Honor recipient Barney Hajiro.
Hajiro, who died on Jan. 21, was a member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a Japanese-American U.S. Army unit that fought in Europe during World War II.
An interment ceremony for Hajiro will beheld Monday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
He was among the 22 Asian American veterans who received the Medal of Honor for heroism in 2000, after a Pentagon review.
“Barney Hajiro epitomized the dedication, courage and perseverance exhibited during World War II by all Americans of Japanese ancestry...was well regarded by his community, the people of Hawaii and our nation,” Gov. Neil Abercrombie said.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/116008159.html
-
Franklin
You think this guy was a great american? For starters Rooservelt was a jew whose real name is Rosenfeldt. He was responsible for the confiscation of gold from the populace, for devaluing american currency, for turning america over to the bankers, he was a freemason and heavily into the occult. Was suspected of being a homosexual for his relationship with Henry Wallace who was the secretary of agriculture and once involved with Rosenfeldt was promoted up to vice president. Both men were heavy followers of another guy name Nicholas Roarick (sic) who believed in Shambala (some supposed paradise on earth that he spent his life looking for and never found). Nicholas had an extreme influential control over Rosenfeldt so much so that the administration at the time looked upon him as Rosenfledt's "SWAMI" and even questioned Rosenfeldt's relationship with him. Rosenfeldt is also responsible for the Illuminati all seeing eye being put on the dollar as well as much of the freemson/illuminati influence in america
HE WAS NOT A GREAT AMERICAN....
-
You think this guy was a great american? For starters Rooservelt was a jew whose real name is Rosenfeldt. He was responsible for the confiscation of gold from the populace, for devaluing american currency, for turning america over to the bankers, he was a freemason and heavily into the occult. Was suspected of being a homosexual for his relationship with Henry Wallace who was the secretary of agriculture and once involved with Rosenfeldt was promoted up to vice president. Both men were heavy followers of another guy name Nicholas Roarick (sic) who believed in Shambala (some supposed paradise on earth that he spent his life looking for and never found). Nicholas had an extreme influential control over Rosenfeldt so much so that the administration at the time looked upon him as Rosenfledt's "SWAMI" and even questioned Rosenfeldt's relationship with him. Rosenfeldt is also responsible for the Illuminati all seeing eye being put on the dollar as well as much of the freemson/illuminati influence in america
HE WAS NOT A GREAT AMERICAN....
SAMSON this thread wasn't entitled "Great Apes". Therefore your participation in this thread is unnecessary and ill advised. We will notify you if and when someone creates a thread that is in need of expert opinion on baboons or other jungle animals that are known to throw their own feces.
-
SAMSON this thread wasn't entitled "Great Apes". Therefore your participation in this thread is unnecessary and ill advised. We will notify you if and when someone creates a thread that is in need of expert opinion on baboons or other jungle animals that are known to throw their own feces.
Hahahah...YAAAAAAAAWN!!!!
-
Bill Russell?? No Boston Celtics on the list. >:(
George H.W. Bush, Buffett Among Medal of Freedom Recipients Honored by Obama
Published February 15, 2011 | Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Obama recognized a former U.S. president, a basketball legend and a civil rights hero Tuesday among the 15 recipients of the Medal of Freedom. They included German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During a ceremony at the White House, Obama said the recipients represent, "the best of who we are and who we aspire to be."
The Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor, and is presented to people who have made important contributions to U.S. national security, world peace, culture or other significant public or private endeavors.
Among the recipients honored Tuesday were former President George H.W. Bush, former basketball star Bill Russell, businessman Warren Buffett and civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis, a Democrat.
Obama praised Bush, who was president in the late 1980s and early 1990s, for his more than 70 years of service to his country, saying his life is a testament to the belief that public service is a noble calling.
"His humility and his decency reflects the very best of the American spirit," Obama said.
Merkel was not present for the ceremony. Obama said he would present her the award when she visits the U.S. No date was available.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/02/15/george-hw-bush-buffett-medal-freedom-recipients-honored-obama/
-
Lieutenant Colonel Allen West (US Army, Retired) was born and raised in Atlanta Georgia and is third of four generations of military servicemen in his family. His parents instilled in him a very basic principle, love of God and Country. In 2004, when it was time to retire from more than twenty years of service in the US Army, he brought his wife and two young daughters to Broward County, Florida, where he taught high school for one year. He then returned to Afghanistan as an advisor to the Afghan army, an assignment he finished in November 2007. Allen West received his Bachelors degree from University of Tennessee and Masters degree from Kansas State University, both in political science. He also holds a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff Officer College in political theory and military operations. "Education is the great equalizer," he says. "With a good education, any child in America can live his dream." Allen West knows that for our children to live their dreams, they need to be safe. He has served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was battalion commander for the Army's 4th Infantry Division, and in Afghanistan, where he trained Afghan officers to take on the responsibility of securing their own country. In his Army career, Col. West has been honored many times, including a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation Medals (one with Valor), and a Valorous Unit Award. He received his valor award as a Captain in Desert Shield/Storm, was the US Army ROTC Instructor of the Year in 1993, and was a Distinguished Honor Graduate III Corps Assault School. He proudly wears the Army Master parachutist badge, Air Assault badge, Navy/Marine Corps parachutist insignia, Italian parachutist wings, and German proficiency badge (Bronze award). Allen is an avid distance runner, a PADI Master certified SCUBA diver, motorcyclist, and attends Community Christian Church in Tamarac Florida. Excellence is a West family tradition. His wife, Angela, holds an MBA and PhD. and works as a financial planner. His oldest daughter, Aubrey, attends Archbishop McCarthy HS and his youngest daughter, Austen, attends Parkway Christian School.
http://www.allenwestforcongress.com/about
-
Does America have any writer or something? Those are all soldiers!
-
Does America have any writer or something? Those are all soldiers!
Wrong.
-
Last American World War I Veteran Dies
Al Pessin | Pentagon February 28, 2011
(http://media.voanews.com/images/480*387/pessin_frank_buckles_portrait_480_28feb2011.jpg)
Photo: VOA - A. Pessin
Portrait of Frank Buckles, taken February 28, 2011, at the Pentagon, where anonymous workers placed white roses and a handwritten note in his memory. Buckles, the last known American veteran of World War I, died Sunday at age 110. He attended the portrait's unveiling three years ago. The handwritten note reads, 'Thank you for your service to our country. May you and your generation rest in peace.'
The last known American veteran of World War I died Sunday at his home in West Virginia. Former U.S. Army Corporal Frank Buckles was 110 years old. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin had the chance to speak to Mr. Buckles several years ago and filed this remembrance.
"I did not lie [LAUGHTER]. Nobody calls me a liar! [LAUGHTER]”
Mr. Buckles had us laughing that day in March of 2008, when he came to the Pentagon for the unveiling of a set of new portraits of himself and other World War I veterans. He admitted he exaggerated his age, twice, in order to join the Army in 1917, when he was just 15 years old. But with a wink he said that did not make him a liar.
“I had added some years onto my age and was 18. He [the recruiter] said, ‘Sorry, but you have to be 21.’ So I came back later and I had aged. I was 21. [LAUGHTER]”
And he was still lying about his age, just a little bit.
“I do not feel that I am any older than you are [LAUGHTER],” said Buckles.
In fact, he was more than twice as old as any of the Pentagon reporters who interviewed him that day.
On Monday, anonymous Pentagon workers put white roses and a handwritten note on his portrait. The note reads, "Thank you for your service to our country. May you and your generation rest in peace."
Three years ago, Buckles captivated the crowd from his wheelchair in the Pentagon auditorium, as speakers, including U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, offered their praise and thanks.
“We cherish the memory of those who have passed away," said Gates. "We cherish the chance to say thank you in person to Corporal Frank Buckles. We will always be grateful for what they did for their country 90 years ago, and feel glad, too, for the longevity that they enjoyed on this earth.”
Buckles also was welcomed at the White House that week, by then-president George W. Bush.
“It has been my high honor to welcome Mr. Buckles, and his daughter, Susannah, here to the Oval Office," said Bush. "Mr. Buckles has a vivid recollection of historic times. And one way for me to honor the service of those who wear the uniform in the past and those who wear it today is to herald you, sir, and to thank you very much for your patriotism and your love for America.”
Buckles wanted to serve when World War I broke out, and his lie to the recruiter made it possible. Shortly afterward, at age 16, he deployed to Europe as an ambulance driver. He saw the horror of war close up, ferrying the wounded from the trenches to primitive field hospitals. Later, he drove German prisoners back to Germany.
Buckles left the army in 1920 and years later he went to work for a shipping company in the Philippines. When World War II broke out, he and other Americans there were put in prison camps by the occupying Japanese forces. Although he was not a soldier at that time, he spent more than three years in the notorious Los Baňos prison. The cup he ate out of for all that time is in the background of his 2008 portrait, which now hangs with eight others along one of the Pentagon’s many corridors.
In a statement issued Monday, President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle praised Buckles, saying he continued to serve America until his death, as the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation. The Obamas said they join the Buckles family “in celebrating a remarkable life that reminds us of the true meaning of patriotism and our obligations to each other as Americans.”
In one sense, Frank Buckles was not much different from millions of other World War One veterans. With his enthusiasm to serve and his longevity, however, it certainly was possible to say about him what he said about that Pentagon ceremony three years ago.
“Really, it was remarkable. I enjoyed every minute of it here.”
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Last-American-World-War-I-Veteran-Dies-117100373.html
-
www.yogiberra.com
________________________ ________________
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra was born on May 12, 1925 in St. Louis, Mo. and grew up on Elizabeth Street in a neighborhood called "The Hill".
Yogi got his "nickname" from Bobby Hofman, a childhood friend. While watching a movie about an Indian snake charmer, Bobby noted that Yogi had a striking resemblance to the hindu man, saying "That yogi walks like Lawdie ( Larry) Berra," and the name stuck. Joe Garagiola tells a funny story about Yogi giving Carmen an anniversary card signed 'Yogi Berra.' She asked him if he thought he had to sign his last name so she wouldn't think it came from some other Yogi."
In 1942 Yogi was playing minor League ball and was approached by the then Cardinals General Manager, Branch Rickey. Rickey had just signed Garagiola for $500, but Rickey offered Yogi $250 and Yogi turned him down. It was reported that Rickey said of Yogi, "He'll never make anything more than a Triple A ballplayer at best." Yankees scout Leo Browne disagreed and convinced the Yankees that Yogi was worth the $500, so the Yankees signed him.
Yogi was assigned to the Norfolk Tars of the Class B Piedmont League. During a double header, Yogi had perhaps his most productive game ever. He is credited with driving in 23 runs that day.
When Yogi turned 18 he joined the Navy. He is pictured here with his father and brother John in St. Louis in 1944.
World War II was in full swing and Yogi played his part. He participated in the D-Day invasion at Omaha Beach, served in North Africa and Italy, and then was finally stationed back in the States. The Photo on the right is of Yogi and two GI's taken somewhere in Italy 1945.
After the war, Yogi returned to baseball and played with the New London, CT club. It was there that Mel Ott, the Giants Manager saw him play and attempted to offer the Yankees $50,000 for Yogi's contract. Yankee GM Larry MacPhail had no idea who Yogi was, but figured that if Mel Ott wanted him that badly, he had to be worth keeping. In 1946 Yogi was apprenticed to the Newark Bears of the International League before beginning his career with the Yankees in late 1946. He joined the team as a platoon catcher with Aaron Robinson, Charlie Silvera and Gus Niarhos.
Yogi was known as a wild swinger, perhaps equal to Hall of Famer Joe Medwick, and he was very difficult to get out. Paul Richards said of Yogi." He is the toughest man in baseball in the last three innings." In spite of his 'wild' swing, Yogi didn't strike out often. In 1950, he fanned only 12 times in 597 at bats.
Yogi was also a talker behind the plate. He used to talk to the opposing batters in order to distract them. Hank Aaron tells the story about the 1958 World Series, with Yogi behind the plate. Yogi kept telling Aaron to 'hit with the label up on the bat'. Finally Aaron turned and said "Yogi, I came up here to hit, not to read."
Yogi went on to become a Fifteen-time All Star, winning the AL MVP three times, in 1951, 54 and 55. He played in 14 World Series and holds numerous World Series records including most games by a catcher (63), hits (71), and times on a winning team (10), first in at bats, first in doubles, second in RBI's, third in home runs and BOB's. Yogi also hit the first pinch hit home run in World Series history in 1947.
One of Yogi's most memorable moments came in 1959 at "Yogi Berra Day" at Yankee Stadium. Here Yogi is pictured with the gifts given to him by his team and friends, displayed right on the field. Just a great shot!
The photo on the left is the famous shot of Yogi and Joe DiMaggio taken that day.
Yogi was named the Yankees Manager in 1964 and went on to win the AL pennant, but was fired after losing to the Cardinals in a seven-game series. Yogi then signed with the NY Mets as a player-coach in a public relations coup that can only happen in New York. Yogi was reunited with his long time friend and mentor Casey Stengel, the current Mets manager. Following Gil Hodges's death in 1971, Yogi was named as the Mets manager in 1972. In 1973, Yogi brought the "You Gotta Believe" Mets from last place in the final month of the season to win the National League pennant.
Yogi was dismissed from the Mets in 1975 and returned to the Yankees as a coach the following year. In 1984, George Steinbrenner hired Yogi to manage the Yankees; they finished third that year. After 22 games of the 1985 season Yogi was replaced as manager. In 1986 Yogi signed on as a coach with the Houston Astros, and remained with them until his retirement in 1992. Yogi is one of only a few managers to have won pennants in both the American and National Leagues.
Yogi was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
-
True Hero
-
Politicians tend to think soldiers are disposable.
[/quote[url]
I would like to see George W. Bush send his daughters to Afghanistan and help nation build. Or how about Eric Cantor the neo con enlist in the Army and do some door kicking in Mosul. They would think twice about so carelessly going to war.
-
Beach Bum has my nomination, but only if he renounces christianity and accepts the teachings of Mohammad and the Qu'ran as the one true faith.
-
Beach Bum has my nomination, but only if he renounces christianity and accepts the teachings of Mohammad and the Qu'ran as the one true faith.
;D
-
Beach Bum has my nomination, but only if he renounces christianity and accepts the teachings of Mohammad and the Qu'ran as the one true faith.
Cannot. I would rather focus on exterminating Al Qaeda. :)
-
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/03/11/t1larg.frank.buckles.gi.file.jpg)
Last WWI vet to receive Arlington honors
By: CNN's Alison Harding
Washington (CNN) – The last U.S. World War I veteran to die will receive an honors burial at Arlington National Ceremony next week, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, announced Friday.
"Allowing our country to pay its respects to Mr. Buckles and all of our courageous World War I veterans is necessary and important. It's a fitting way to say goodbye to our last Doughboy – a man whose life spanned more than 100 years and who was our last living American connection to the Great War," Rockefeller said.
Rockefeller had been seeking permission to hold a public ceremony in the U.S. Capitol honoring Buckles, who died at the age of 110 on February 27, but House and Senate leadership turned down his request.
In a statement released last week, Rockefeller expressed disappointment that legislation to allow Buckles to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda had been blocked by House Speaker John Boehner.
"This is a big disappointment and a surprising decision by the Speaker," Rockefeller said in the statement. "Surely, Speaker Boehner can agree that the Congress should pause for a moment to pay its respects to Mr. Buckles and all our World War I veterans."
But Boehner spokesman Michael Steel said that no legislation has been blocked, and said that Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Reid decided that Arlington National Cemetery is a more appropriate venue.
"Everyone honors Mr. Buckles' service to the United States, and the extraordinary sacrifices made by every member of our Armed Forces who served in World War One," Steel said. "That's why Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Reid will ask Secretary Gates to allow Mr. Buckles' family to use the amphitheater at Arlington cemetery for his memorial service – surrounded by honored veterans of every American war."
Buckles dedicated that last years of his life to advocating for the creation of a national World War I memorial on the National Mall. He made several trips to Washington to work with members of his congressional delegation to persuade lawmakers to grant federal status to an existing World War I monument that currently only honors residents of the District of Columbia.
Both Sen. Rockefeller and Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito - who represents Buckles' West Virginia district - have been strong supporters of Buckles' advocacy of World War I veterans, and have cosponsored legislation to rededicate the District of Columbia War Memorial as the District of Columbia and National World War I Memorial.
Buckles will lie in honor for public viewing at Arlington from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 15, and will receive full military honors during a private burial service. Flags will also be flown at half-staff on the day of his burial.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/last-wwi-vet-to-receive-arlington-honors/#more-150037
-
Mixon relinquishing Pacific Army command
Wiercinski will take leadership tomorrow in rite at Fort Shafter
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 20, 2011
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/312*467/20110320_loc_20-B2-mixon.jpg)
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. “Randy” Mixon spoke at the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony held at Palm Circle Field in Fort Shafter on Sept. 10.
As a three-star general, Lt. Gen. Benjamin R. "Randy" Mixon could be outspoken — occasionally to his detriment — but he always stayed grounded when it came to his soldiers, those who know him say.
BOOM TIMES
The Army is advising residents and businesses around Fort Shafter that cannon fire will be heard in the area tomorrow morning for the change-of-command ceremony. The cannon fire will begin at about 11:30 a.m. and last about one minute. People are advised to turn off car alarms, which could be set off by vibrations.
Mixon, commander of U.S. Army Pacific, will pass the command to Lt. Gen. Francis J. Wiercinski tomorrow at Fort Shafter and retire May 1 after a nearly 36-year career.
"He's a very unique soldier," said Allen Hoe, who served as a combat medic in Vietnam and now is a civilian aide to the secretary of the Army. "He's very quiet, unassuming, but he's got an incredible record. And I think the thing that makes him very unique and I think why he is endearing to his soldiers is because he is the son of a sergeant major — so he understands and appreciates the young soldiers and what motivates them."
Mixon commands about 3,800 soldiers at Fort Shafter and 62,000 soldiers total in the region.
He took the job in January 2008, after commanding the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, which included a 2006-07 deployment in northern Iraq.
The performance of his soldiers during the surge — the buildup of American troops — remains a source of pride.
"That was obviously a very difficult period," he recalled. "Casualties were significant, but we surged up and stayed the 15 months over there."
He made headlines in 2007 in Iraq for saying he didn't have enough troops for the mission in Diyala province, candidly complained about the inefficiency of the Iraqi government, and said that deployment strain on the military needed to be addressed.
"I think that's the way you have to deal with the free press," Mixon said. "If there's something there and it's true and factual and it's not going to harm operational requirements — it should be laid out there."
Last year, Mixon drew a Pentagon rebuke when he penned a letter to the editor of Stars and Stripes saying service members should speak up against the "ill-advised" repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.
"I simply reminded them in the article that they had a voice," Mixon said.
Mixon more recently agreed to discontinue efforts to pursue company-size live-fire exercises in Makua Valley, and instead has focused on improving training at Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island.
Hoe credits Mixon with improving relations with the Hawaiian community.
"In that regard, I think he's done remarkably well," Hoe said. "He has kind of helped re-set the stage, if you will, for interaction between the community and the Army."
Mixon's tenure at U.S. Army Pacific has seen several years of growth.
The 8th Theater Sustainment Command, the 311th Theater Signal Command and the 8th Military Police Brigade were moved to Hawaii. Last May, a $21.5 mil lion design contract was awarded for a 330,000-square-foot Contingency Command Post at Fort Shafter.
The pendulum is now swinging the other way as the Army looks to cut costs, but Mixon said he doesn't foresee extensive cuts in the command.
"I think our combat brigades of the 25th Division and the enabling commands that we've stood up here at U.S. Army Pacific are in pretty good shape," Mixon said. "There may be some minor (budget) trimming on the edges."
He added, "Ultimately, (the Army) will probably have to look at brigade flags and see how many brigades they can actually afford to keep in. All that's coming down the road. You can sense it."
U.S. Army Pacific extends from Alaska to the Maldives and exercises with Asia-Pacific nations have become an increasing focus. The command conducted 130 engagements over the past year — a 30 percent increase over several years ago — with countries such as Japan, Thailand, India, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia in support of a theater security cooperation strategy, Mixon said.
Mixon said he and his wife, Rhonda, are looking at a move to Florida. Mixon said he may work for a nonprofit and plans to get involved working on conservative social issues.
The change of command ceremony is scheduled at 11 a.m. tomorrow at historic Palm Circle.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110320_Mixon_relinquishing__Pacific_Army_command.html
-
State honors sacrifice of 17 with medal
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 30, 2011
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*161/20110330_loc_honor01.jpg)
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
Katie Luff, holding her 10-month-old son, Aiden, is greeted by State adjutant Maj. Gen. Darryll Wong, far right, after she was presented with the Hawaii Medal of Honor by Gov. Neil Abercrombie, far left. House Speaker Calvin Say hugs a person behind Luff. Luff’s husband, Army Sgt. David J. Luff Jr., died in combat Nov. 21 in Tikrit, Iraq. The Legislature convened in a joint session in the state Senate chambers to award the state Medal of Honor to families of 17 fallen service members.
More Photos
Their lives together were just beginning.
Army Sgt. David J. Luff Jr. and his wife, Katie, had a young son, Aiden, and planned to be in Hawaii a few more years after David got back from Iraq.
Pfc. JR Salvacion and his wife, Joy, also had a son, Zildjian, named after the cymbal company because JR loved music and played guitar and drums.
They had plans and dreams and hopes for the future.
Instead, through blinking tears and barely checked grief, Katie Luff and Joy Salvacion each accepted a state Medal of Honor and the condolences and gratitude of the Legislature yesterday in memory of their husbands, who were killed overseas.
For the sixth year in a row, the Legislature convened in a joint session to honor service members with Hawaii ties who were killed or died in a war zone, and to present their families with the state Medal of Honor.
This year, 17 were recognized, and nine families came from Hawaii, Florida, New Jersey, Ohio and California to accept the koa-framed medals.
"In many ways today's events bring up mixed emotions great sorrow for those who have fallen and also great pride in the bravery, dedication and commitment these soldiers possessed," said Senate President Shan Tsutsui.
State adjutant Maj. Gen. Darryll D.M. Wong added: "No one who puts on the uniform wants to die for their country, but they are nonetheless willing to if it means that others may live in peace and security.
"At the very least, such selflessness deserves public recognition of the highest order, and that is why we are here today."
Aship's bell tolled twice as the names of 10 Army soldiers and seven Marines were read and their families received the state Medal of Honor. The ceremony concluded with a rifle salute outside, the playing of taps and a moment of silence.
JR Salvacion, 27, was killed on a foot patrol on Feb. 21, 2010, in Senjaray, Afghanistan, when his unit was attacked with an improvised explosive device. The Ewa Beach man was with the 4th Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Carson, Colo.
Salvacion's mother, Milagros Robiniol, said after the ceremony yesterday that it's been hard to deal with her son's death, "especially if we see some person in a uniform the same as my son. So sad."
The soldier's wife, Joy, said, "It's terrible, especially for my son, when he grows up without a dad." Zildjian is 2.
David Luff, 29, of Hamilton, Ohio, died Nov. 21 in Tikrit, Iraq, when his unit was attacked by small arms fire. He was with the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry out of Schofield Barracks.
"Each day is different. I don't know that it's any better. I'm getting better at figuring out how to handle it," Katie Luff said as her mother, Judy Halcomb, held 10-month-old Aiden.
Luff said it was an honor to receive the state Medal of Honor.
"I just felt like I had to do it for (David)," she said.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110330_State_honors_sacrifice_of_17_with_medal.html
-
Army Veteran Turns 110
(http://images.military.com/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheadername1=Content-Type&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=image%2Fjpeg&blobheadervalue2=inline%3Bfilename%3D033111-vet.jpg&blobkey=id&blobnocache=false&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1209998363709&ssbinary=true)
March 30, 2011
Army News Service|by Rikeshia Davidson
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. -- "Waiting and watching, looking above...Lost in His love...Praising my Savior, all the daylong" are the words of "Blessed Assurance," one of two songs sang to Shelby Harris.
Harris quietly reflected for a moment saying, "The Lord is my shepherd".
On March 26, 2011 family, friends, church members, local leadership and well-wishers gathered to celebrate Harris'110th birthday and the Joint Munitions Command also honored the veteran for his service.
Actually born on March 31, the longtime Rock Island, Ill., resident and World War II veteran arrived wearing a crown. And king for the day he was.
The day began with songs from the Second Baptist Church (Rock Island) male choir, the church where Harris actively served as deacon until the age of 102.
Visibly moved, when asked if he wanted to have a word, Harris said, "What could I say?"
"I would like to say something but I just can't get it out." But at the end of it all, he said, "It's the most wonderful day of my life and I want to thank everyone for coming."
Quite humble for a man who held the keys to the city of Rock Island and holds a proclamation granting him his very own day.
Col. Arnold P. Montgomery, chief of staff, JMC, presented Harris a certificate of appreciation, 75 mm artillery shell and JMC coin. (The 75 mm artillery shell represented the type of ammunition used during World War II; and interestingly enough, the 75 mm would have been produced at Kingsbury Ordnance Plant in LaPorte, Ind., some five and a half hours north of Harris' hometown.)
On behalf of JMC, Montgomery expressed thanks to Harris.
"We appreciate your tireless efforts in support of our U.S. Armed Forces. Your dedication to our country and its military is commendable and an honorable addition to the fight for freedom throughout the world. Your legacy of service inspires today while adding to the history of this great nation. A history steeped in service, love of one's country and the tireless fight for the very freedoms we enjoy today. "
And for this day, Harris was surrounded by relatives from his home state of Indiana.
He was joined by two grandchildren: Al (Cynthia) and Beverly; two great-grandchildren: Sasha and Stacy (Emily); as well as at least two great-great-grandchildren, Marquice and Jade. The Harris family also includes eight great-grandchildren and at least six great-great-great grandchildren.
Harris is a native of Ayrshire, Ind., and according to family, he was a coal miner.
After relocating to Illinois, he made the Quad Cities his home. Employed with Union Malleable (now John Deere), it was there that Harris left his employment in September 1942 for World War II. He recalls being in the Army, serving for no more than a year.
Resuming life in the Quad Cities after the war, he was active in his church well past the age of 100 and worked at another Quad Cities staple: The Dutch Inn. Harris' active life was most recently recounted in The Rock Island Argus and The (Moline) Dispatch as he cast his ballot in the 2008 Presidential Election at the age of 107.
http://www.military.com/news/article/army-news/army-veteran-turns-110.html
-
President Obama to award Medal of Honor to Maui man
By William Cole
POSTED: 12:41 p.m. HST, Apr 13, 2011
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/312*389/20110413_kahoohanohano.jpg)
President Obama will present a posthumous Medal of Honor to Anthony Kahoohanohano next month. Family members from Hawaii will attend the ceremony at the White House on May 2.
A Maui man who died fighting in Korea in 1951 will get a long-delayed Medal of Honor for his bravery on May 2, when President Barack Obama will make the award to his relatives at the White House, officials said.
Army Pfc. Anthony T. Kahoohanohano gave his life in a one-man stand against overwhelming numbers of enemy troops so fellow soldiers could survive.
As enemy troops tried to overrun Kahoohanohano's gun emplacement, the 21-year-old from Wailuku fought back with bullets, grenades and then his hands, according to a Distinguished Service Cross citation presented to the family in 1952.
"Private Kahoohanohano fought fiercely and courageously, delivering deadly accurate fire into the ranks of the onrushing enemy" until he was killed, the citation states.
U.S. troops subsequently found 11 dead enemy soldiers in front of Kahoohanohano's position, and two in the gun emplacement itself who had been beaten to death with an entrenching tool.
The upgrade to the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, was approved by Congress in 2009 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Kahoohanohano's sister, Elaine Kahoohanohano, and brother, Eugene Kahoohanohano, will join the president at the White House to "commemorate their brother's example of selfless service and sacrifice," the White House said.
The addition of Kahoohanohano's name to the Medal of Honor roll represented a more than decadelong effort by his family and Hawaii lawmakers to upgrade the Distinguished Service Cross he received and to give him the recognition they said he deserved.
The quest by the family started by Abel Kahoohanohano Sr., one of Anthony's brothers, and taken up by Abel's son, George Kahoohanohano, after his father died.
A recommendation for a Medal of Honor was made by the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink in 2001 but the request was denied by the Army. U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, then took up the cause.
Former Army Secretary Pete Geren wrote to Akaka saying that after giving the request "careful, personal consideration, I have determined that the Medal of Honor is the appropriate award to recognize Private First Class Kahoohanohano's heroic actions."
All six Kahoohanohano brothers served in the military — four in the active duty Army, one in the Marines and another in the National Guard.
Kahoohanohano, who was with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, of the 7th Infantry Division, was in charge of a machine gun squad supporting a company of soldiers as a much larger enemy force advanced in the vicinity of Chup'a-ri, Korea, on Sept. 1, 1951.
According to the posthumously awarded Distinguished Service Cross citation, as the men fell back, Kahoohanohano — although already wounded in the shoulder — ordered his squad to a more defensible position while he gathered grenades and returned alone to the machine gun post.
"When his ammunition was depleted, he engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat until he was killed," a White House statement said. "His heroic stand so inspired his comrades that they launched a counterattack that completely repulsed the enemy."
In 2009, Madeline Kahoohanohano remembered Anthony, her brother-in-law, as a fearless man of his word. The son of a police officer, he was a football and basketball standout at St. Anthony's School for Boys.
"He didn't seem to be afraid of anyone," Madeline Kahoohanohano said at the time. "He always was a toughie. He always used to stand up — even for his younger brothers. He would step up and protect his younger brothers."
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/119804244.html
-
Life redeemed, POW turns to helping youths
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Apr 19, 2011
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/312*210/357616.jpg)
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
"The more interests (young people) have, the less chance they are going to get into trouble. If they can play tennis, go play tennis. I didn't play tennis — I used to go rob the pie shop."
— Louis Zamperini
WWII veteran
Louis Zamperini was an unstoppable hellraiser as a kid in Torrance, Calif., smoking at 5, getting drunk at 8 and breaking into people's homes to steal food when he was not much older.
Luckily, he found an outlet for his energy — running — and was so good at it he thrilled the 1936 Berlin Olympics with a mad dash in the 5,000-meter race, covering the final lap in a blistering 56 seconds, a finish that earned him not a medal but a handshake from Adolf Hitler.
During World War II his life took another turn — for the worse — when as a bombardier flying out of Hawaii, his B-24 Liberator conked out and crashed in the Pacific.
Zamperini spent 47 days on a life raft, fighting off sharks, thirst and starvation, then the remainder of the war as a Japanese prisoner of war, enduring sadistic beatings, medical experimentation and disease.
The erratic arc of his life didn't end there.
After the war, he fell into alcohol abuse and in sleep he battled the guard who delivered daily beatings in POW camps before Zamperini found God and peace in a tent where evangelist Billy Graham was preaching.
At 94, he's still going strong.
Zamperini is the subject of the best-selling book, "Unbroken, A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption," by Laura Hillenbrand, the author of the racehorse tale "Seabiscuit."
On Friday, Zamperini brought all that history back to Hawaii when he spoke to about 475 people on the fantail of the Battleship Missouri, in an event presented by the Battleship Missouri Memorial and the Navy League.
When asked if anything good came out of his POW experience, Zamperini quipped that it prepared him for marriage.
The former Olympian followed Missouri military liaison Mike Pagano on a tour down three decks — up and down steep ladders and past doorway "knee-knockers" — to see the Missouri's "Broadway" and 2nd Battleplot, where past crew fired the ship's big guns.
The Hollywood Hills, Calif., man was skateboarding at age 81, skiing at 91, still drives a car and mows his lawn.
He ran an outdoors program called the Victory Boys Camp for delinquent youth — something he knows a thing or two about. He still speaks to groups several times a week mainly in California, but also around the country, and his preferred audiences are high school and college students.
Before speaking on the Missouri Friday, Zamperini doled out advice about problem kids and recalled the events that shaped his life, including his captivity in war — the greatest endurance test of all.
"I know what kids want," Zamperini said. "I don't need a psychiatrist or anyone else (to tell me). That's why I've had success with kids. You've got to take a kid, a delinquent kid, take him on a hike and start getting the endorphins going. They are feeling good, then they talk. I've done this so many times, it works every time."
Zamperini, the son of Italian immigrants, said he had too much idle time when he was a youth.
"The more interests (young people) have, the less chance they are going to get into trouble," Zamperini said. "If they can play tennis, go play tennis. I didn't play tennis — I used to go rob the pie shop."
After the 1936 Olympics, during which Zamperini stayed in a cottage with several other athletes, including Jesse Owens, he studied and trained at the University of Southern California before taking a job as a welder with Lockheed, Hillenbrand writes in her book.
In early 1941, Zamperini joined the Army Air Corps and the next year he and his B-24 were sent to Kahuku airfield.
"Long bombing missions," Zamperini recalled of the wartime duty. "We would fly to Midway and then to Wake (Island) and back."
Life was good in Hawaii, he said.
"Everyone wanted to come into Honolulu, so we'd try to make it once a week," he recalled.
In May 1943, the "Green Hornet" lost engine power and crashed in the Pacific with Zamperini aboard. A life raft with the lieutenant and another crew member drifted 2,000 miles before the pair was captured by the Japanese in the Marshall Islands, Hillenbrand said.
They were taken to Kwajalein, where Zamperini would beg for water from his cell and a guard would return with a cup of scalding water and throw it in his face, she said.
Interrogators questioned Zamperini about the number of aircraft, ships and personnel in Hawaii. He said he didn't know.
Zamperini remembers being injected at least three times with a solution that caused dizziness and his skin to burn, itch and sting, followed by a rash.
He was subsequently shipped to an interrogation center known as Ofuna, where captives were beaten and starved, and then Omori POW camp, where Zamperini would run into a guard who would beat him regularly and haunt his dreams for years to come.
Cpl. Mutsuhiro Watanabe was given special orders to work over Zamperini on a daily basis.
Hillenbrand described one encounter when Watanabe, called the "Bird" by the Americans, removed his belt and twice swung the heavy brass buckle into Zamperini's temple, blows that made him feel as though he had been shot in the head and which left him dazed on the floor.
Watanabe eluded capture after the war, and he eventually opened a successful insurance agency in Tokyo.
Hillenbrand writes that in the late 1990s, Zamperini was ready to forgive Watanabe.
In a letter to his former captor, he wrote, "The post-war nightmares caused my life to crumble, but thanks to a confrontation with God through the evangelist Billy Graham, I committed my life to Christ. Love replaced the hate I had for you. Christ said, "Forgive your enemies and pray for them.' "
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110419_Life_redeemed_POW_turns_to_helping_youths.html
-
Someone told me about this. It's floating around the internet. Great story.
Asleep in the Arms of Someone who Cares
He is a Chief Master Sergeant in the USAF serving in Afghanistan
As high as you can go in enlisted ranks (E-9) Wouldn't it be fitting if
this went completely around the world!
John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire
family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl
also, and shot her in the head....but they failed to kill her. She was cared
for in John 's hospital and is healing up, but continues to cry and moan.
The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has
spent the last four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair.
The girl is coming along with her healing. He is a real Star of the war,
and represents what the combined service is trying to do.
This, my friends, is worth sharing. Go for it!! You'll never see
things like this in the news. Please keep this going. Nothing will happen
if you don't, but the world needs to see pictures like this and needs to
realise that what we're doing over there is making a difference. Even if it
is just one little girl at a time.
(http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/uploads/monthly_03_2011/post-5203-1299419021.jpg)
-
[ Invalid YouTube link ]
-
HBO made a movie called "taking Chance", I highly recommend it. It shows the process of how fallen soldiers are returned home and the military escorts that travel with them.
-
HBO made a movie called "taking Chance", I highly recommend it. It shows the process of how fallen soldiers are returned home and the military escorts that travel with them.
Thanks. I'll check it out.
-
WWII sergeant who lost legs honored for helping veterans
ALEX C. HICKS JR./Alex.Hicks@shj.com
(http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=SJ&Date=20110522&Category=ARTICLES&ArtNo=105221028&Ref=AR&Profile=1027&MaxW=600&border=0)
Sgt. Odell Vaughn, a World War II veteran, and all veterans were honored on Armed Forces Day on Saturday at Duncan Park.
By Jenny Arnold
jennifer.arnold@shj.com
Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 3:15 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 10:28 p.m.
As Odell Vaughn lay on the battlefield in Italy in July 1944, he prayed to God to die.
While going in to save a wounded soldier, Vaughn, a soldier with the National Guard 178th Field Artillery unit, stepped on a landmine. He lost a leg on that battlefield, and made a tourniquet from his belt to stop the bleeding. He lay there for hours with his comrade, waiting for help.
Then he thought about his wife, Virginia, and his 2-year-old son, Odell Jr., who he had not yet met, and realized that praying to die was wrong.
“I had a wife, and a child I never seen,” Vaughn, now 89, said. “I quickly changed my attitude.”
Vaughn, a Greenville native raised in Spartanburg, enlisted with the National Guard at age 17 to serve his country in World War II, while still a student at Spartanburg High School. He was sent to England and later served in North Africa and Italy.
Vaughn came home a double amputee, having lost his other leg nine days after he stepped on the landmine because doctors were unable to repair the damage. He was anxious if his wife would accept him after the loss of his legs.
He didn't have to worry. He recuperated in the hospital for 13 months, and his wife moved closer to the hospital so she could see him every visiting hour.
Vaughn received the Silver Star and Purple Heart for his service and sacrifice.
After his recovery, nothing could slow him down.
When he returned to South Carolina, Vaughn began working for Veterans Affairs in Columbia and later in Florida. He served with the American Embassy in the Philipines and later moved to Washington, D.C., serving as national Veterans Affairs director under two presidents.
Not happy in retirement, Vaughn became a spokesman for Veterans Life Insurance Co. He has received more than 50 awards and other recognition for his long service to veterans over the years.
He's never let the loss of his legs slow him down, according to those who know him. He's golfed, skied and hiked, and has quite the reputation as an amateur carpenter and gardener. His wife said he has just one speed: Full steam ahead.
“It's an honor just to meet him,” said Jeff Sprinkle during an Armed Forces Day ceremony at the veterans memorial at Duncan Park on Saturday. “Odell Vaughn is a true American hero to me.”
Sprinkle introduced Vaughn to those attending the ceremony, which was organized by the Upstate Amputee Support Group.
Vaughn, who has only been using a wheelchair for the past few years, smiled humbly as he was recognized. It was a surprise — he didn't realize he was going to be one of the guests of honor Saturday.
“It was a great honor,” he said. “Very humbling.”
Letters from Congressman Trey Gowdy, State Sen. Glenn Reese and Gov. Nikki Haley thanking Vaughn for his service were read during the ceremony.
Haley recently became the 46th governor to sign a proclamation declaring April as Limb Loss Awareness Month, Don Davis told those in attendance. Davis is president of the Upstate Amputee Support Group and is also a double amputee.
After the ceremony, Vaughn, who now lives in Boiling Springs, said there were not a lot of double amputees from World War II. As technology advanced over the past several decades, he was the recipient of several different prosthetics.
“I've been through about four sets of legs,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn said he's had the chance to talk to veterans, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom are coming home from battle missing limbs from improvised explosive devices, known as IEDs.
“It makes you feel good if you can help someone who has military service,” Vaughn said.
http://www.goupstate.com/article/20110522/ARTICLES/105221028/1027/opinion?Title=WWII-sergeant-who-lost-legs-honored-for-helping-veterans&tc=ar
-
Warriors who became walking libraries
By Moni Basu, CNN
May 28, 2011
Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) -- Roland Marbaugh wrote 509 pages of his tales of war -- from the swampy Solomon Islands in World War II to the frozen Chosin Reservoir in Korea.
His son typed them all up on an electric typewriter in the 1980s but unpublished, Marbaugh's stories remained largely in his mind. Until now.
Marbaugh's story will soon be among 600 others on Witness to War, a virtual library of Americans in combat. When his testimony is posted in a few days, viewers will be able to hear the former Marine captain, now a spry 91, recount harrowing tales with photographic precision.
Some things never dulled in Marbaugh's memory. Like how fellow Marine "Wee Willie Wilson" killed 19 Japanese in their foxholes on the Pacific island of Bougainville and was awarded a prestigious Naval Cross for his "valiant fighting spirit."
"He had 20 rounds of ammunition; killed 19 Japanese. Willy was a show-off," Marbaugh said of his fellow Marine. "We don't know how he got in their bunker. He never told me."
Marbaugh might have never gotten a chance to recount his stories had it not been for Atlanta entrepreneur Tom Beaty, the founder of Witness to War.
Beaty's own interest in combat tales developed rather unusually.
He didn't come from a military family. Nor did he grow up like Marbaugh's children, listening to war stories from daddy. He didn't even like history lessons in school, in which he learned about the sweeping nature of war -- dates and names, but nothing that gave a boy a clear idea of what it was like to be there.
What I learned in high school was the high-level view of things, not the horror of delivering freedom. Our mission is simple -- to preserve, honor and educate.
--Tom Beaty, founder of Witness to War
Then, when he was 11, Beaty's mother gave him a pictorial history of World War II. He flipped through the pages and stared at each photograph. What was it like to be there? What did war smell like? How did it feel to be wounded or watch someone die?
He earned a degree in military history at the University of North Carolina and more than anything, he wanted other Americans to appreciate the view from the foxhole as much as he did.
Later in Atlanta, he began attending World War II roundtable meetings. Someone, he realized, needed to capture the veterans' stories for posterity.
He bought a camera and recording equipment and launched Witness to War in 2002. Outside of his business consulting job, Beaty spent his own money and time interviewing soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen. It was a labor of love and a project that married his personal interest with a desire to give back to those who had sacrificed.
War at Home: A soldier's war on two fronts
Today, it's a searchable archive of 600 such accounts. Beaty hopes to grow the virtual library by at least a thousand more tales in two years. Eventually, he'd like to see it all in the Library of Congress.
He knows he's racing against time with World War II veterans, many in their 90s, like Marbaugh, or even older. They are dying off at the rate of 1,000 per day, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and taking their stories to cold graves.
"Every time a veteran dies, a library burns," Beaty said in his suburban Atlanta office.
"What I learned in high school was the high-level view of things, not the horror of delivering freedom," he said. "Our mission is simple -- to preserve, honor and educate."
Imagine, he said, if the stories of Revolutionary War or Civil War veterans had been captured on video.
Beaty used to do all the interviews himself. Now he has an assistant and hopes one day to be able to deploy a team of interviewers to record veterans' stories.
He has interviewed Medal of Honor recipients whose experiences are well known. But it's those who have rarely spoken who interest Beaty the most. And sometimes, it's his curiosity that leads him to them.
When Beaty was visiting his father's grave in Union County, North Carolina, he noticed a dual grave with two headstones.
The father had passed away, but there was only a birth date for the son. It was an unusual name: Arch de Castrique.
Beaty looked up de Castrique and ended up eating breakfast at McDonald's with him, listening to stories about Japanese soldiers and their combat tactics and agreed to tell them on camera. Shortly afterwards, de Castrique developed Alzheimer's and could no longer recall his experiences. Eventually, the disease took his life.
But his story lives on because of Beaty's project.
Sometimes, the interviews are emotional, filled with painful pauses and tears. Others are cathartic, as it was for Glenn Gooch, who fought with the 4th Infantry in World War II.
Gooch told Beaty how he had come across dead Americans during his first combat experience in France, some with their throats slit. It was meant to scare the living.
Or another time, when he fired his M1 rifle at a German soldier close up in the dark.
"I can see it just as plain today as I did that night. Shooting at him so much until his body, his hips, in that area, looked like it was on fire."
All the while Gooch speaks, his eyes never meet Beaty's camera. It was the first time he had talked about his combat memories publicly.
Beaty is constantly on a search for more stories. He contacted Marbaugh after he read an account of the 17 days of brutal battle in North Korea's Chosin Reservoir on its 60th anniversary.
The Marines were encircled by Chinese troops. They fought for their lives. Beaty said he was struck by the accounts of hand-to-hand combat with Chinese troops.
Marbaugh said many of his fellow Marines froze to death as they were forced to retreat south. When the Chinese charged down a hill, he gave the orders: a bayonet or a bullet.
"We had to do what we had to do," he said. "Not too proud of it."
Marbaugh, then a captain, started off with 500 men under him. After Chosin, he was left with 75.
The temperatures fell to 16 below. The dead were covered up and left to freeze.
Marbaugh said "Tootsie Rolls" was the code name for ammunition. But somebody who loaded up the ammo for airdrops thought the Marines wanted candy. So with every case of ammo came the sweet stuff.
"You could do nothing with food or water," he said, referring to the frigid weather. "But you could put a Tootsie Roll under your arm. It would get warm and soft."
Marbaugh also told Beaty a harrowing tale of napalm, when there were hundreds of Chinese soldiers coming their way and the Air Force stepped in to save the surrounded Marines.
There were four planes -- one to spot and three to attack.
"The second plane dropped his napalm but not the third or fourth. At the same time Marines from all sides opened up with mortars and heavy machine guns.
"Why didn't you drop?" the second pilot asked the others.
"There was no target left," they replied.
"We had massacred them," Marbaugh said.
Marbaugh was honored to be able to share his stories. "I'm glad they picked me," he said.
Beaty looked at Marbaugh and his son and thought about all the lifelines that were stopped by war, all the families that never were because a man died on the battlefield. He said he felt a need to make the connection between the sacrifices that were made and the freedoms that Americans enjoy.
He was thankful for men like Marbaugh, who survived to tell. They were warriors who became walking libraries.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/26/war.stories/index.html?hpt=C1
-
Hawaii Loses a Great Patriot – Harold B. Estes, U.S. Navy (ret.)
Monday, May 23rd, 2011 | Posted by Duane Vachon
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Screen-shot-2011-05-23-at-5.10.41-AM.png)
BY DUANE A. VACHON, PH.D. – Harold B. Estes and many of his peers are part of a generation that is known as “The Greatest Generation.” Estes, a World War II veteran credited with helping bring the USS Missouri and Bowfin museums to Hawaii, and who gained Internet fame with a letter written to President Barack Obama telling him to “shape up and start acting like an American,” died Tuesday May 17, 2011.
Bringing the battleship Missouri to Pearl Harbor started as an idea tossed around in 1994 by Estes, retired Adm. Ron Hays and Navy veteran Edwin Carter, according to the museum.
It was a day in mid-February 1994 when Ronald Hays, a retired four-star admiral who had headed all U.S. forces in the Pacific, said to Estes, a retired chief boatswain’s mate, something like: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get the Missouri here?”.
Anyone who has served in the United States Navy knows that the people who get things done in the Navy are chief boatswain’s mates. This includes four-star admirals.
Estes, who had been out of the Navy since 1954, had worked with Carter to arrange for the deactivated submarine USS Bowfin to be brought to Pearl Harbor as the centerpiece of a submarine memorial complex.
Estes served over 20 years in the Navy. He took to the Navy like the proverbial duck takes to the water. Estes loved the Navy and the Navy returned that love. His first ship was the battleship California, later sunk at Pearl Harbor.
When Estes called Carter about the Missouri, Carter arranged for Estes and Hays to meet with him for lunch at the Waialae Country Club. “Cheap lunch,” Carter has been quoted as saying. ”Nobody ordered booze.”
All three – the admiral, the chief boatswain’s mate and the naval reservist – agreed it should be possible to get the deactivated Mo here. Hays, who was going back east on a business trip, said he would talk to our congressional delegation (all approved) and to the vice chief of naval operations, Stanley Arthur, who had been a fighter pilot over Vietnam with Hays.
Arthur approved, too. Interestingly, he shared a story about a Japanese delegation that had startled him by asking to have the Missouri towed to Tokyo Bay in 1995 for the 50th anniversary of the surrender ceremonies on the battleship.
“Why?” Arthur asked them. The Japanese delegation told him that the Missouri represented a new beginning. It turned the rhetoric of democracy, freedom and prosperity into reality for Japan.
This idea was welcomed by the three. As it has turned out, the Japanese have become major visitors to the Missouri.
It’s interesting to note that when the Missouri opened as a museum ship at Ford Island, it become a “bookend” to the Arizona Memorial. The beginning and end of the Pacific war is dramatically portrayed by these two ships.
This Author of this article had the pleasure of meeting Estes. I can attest that he was a true gentleman. He didn’t have a political bone in his body, and he loved America and his fellow veterans. I have no doubt that Harold Estes and Fred Ballard are sitting together with the Supreme Commander talking story.
A letter critical of Obama penned by Estes several years ago went viral on the Internet and references to it are still numerous. Estes began his letter with these words, “One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.”
Estes will join his wife Doris at Court 11, niche 129P, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/a-great-patriot-harold-b-estes-u-s-navy-ret/123
-
Army sergeant to get Medal of Honor for Afghanistan heroics
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/images/06/01/t1larg.petry.army.jpg)
Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry has served six tours of duty in Afghanistan and two in Iraq.
June 1st, 2011
An Army Ranger who lost his right hand while tossing an enemy grenade away from fellow soldiers in Afghanistan will be awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. Army announced this week.
Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Arthur Petry will be the second living recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Iraq and Afghan wars, according to the military. President Barack Obama will present the award to Petry on July 12.
"It's very humbling to know that the guys thought that much of me and my actions that day, to nominate me for that," Petry said, according to an Army News Service report.
Petry is being awarded the medal for actions on May 26, 2008, in Paktia, Afghanistan.
Already wounded by a bullet that went through both his legs, Petry picked up an enemy grenade that landed near him and two fellow Rangers and threw it back toward the enemy, according to the Army News Service report. The grenade detonated and amputated Petry's right hand. Petry applied a tourniquet to his wound and called for help.
"If not for Staff Sergeant Petry's actions, we would have been seriously wounded or killed," a fellow Ranger, Sgt. Daniel Higgins, wrote. Read the full Army News Service report on the battle.
Petry, now assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, will be the ninth service member to be presented the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan or Iraq. The other living recipient is Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta.
Petry, a father of four from Santa Fe, New Mexico, has served two tours of duty in Iraq and six in Afghanistan.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/01/army-sergeant-to-get-medal-of-honor-for-afghanistan-heroics/
-
Staff Sergeant Kristofferson B. Lorenzo
Private First Class William S. Blevins
Private First Class Thomas C. Allers
Private First Class Andrew M. Krippner
http://waronterrornews.typepad.com/home/2011/05/rip-ssg-kristofferson-b-lorenzo-pfc-william-s-blevins-pvt-andrew-m-krippner-pvt-thomas-c-allers.html
These four young men gave their lives serving their country. Killed in action on 23 May 2011 in Afghanistan.
Attended a memorial service for them today. One leaves behind a wife and two young children. All four families lost their only son. Two families lost their only child. Keep this in mind when you read headlines about the casualties of war, and keep their families in your prayers.
-
United, They Serve: On Father's Day, Military Dad and Son Find Common Ground
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published June 19, 2011
FoxNews.com
Sgt. Chris Meis and Pvt. Caleb Meis
(http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/U.S./396/223/meis640.jpg)
Army Sgt. Chris Meis, 47, and his 19-year-old son, Pvt. 1st Class Caleb Meis, of St. Charles, Iowa, now serve in Afghanistan in different platoons within Charlie Company 1-168, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division.
Army Sgt. Chris Meis isn't a sentimental man, but having his son Caleb nearby helps beyond words as they serve together in Afghanistan, thousands of miles from home.
"I can't imagine deployment without him," the elder Meis told FoxNews.com by phone from combat post Rahman Kheyl, about 75 miles south of Kabul. "It's been such a good experience to have him here with me."
Meis, 47, a carpenter by trade, spent three years in the Iowa National Guard in the 1980s before re-enlisting in 2007. His 19-year-old son, Pvt. 1st Class Caleb Meis, would join three years later. The father-son duo from St. Charles, Iowa, is now assigned to different platoons within Charlie Company 1-168, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, an arrangement that keeps them connected, but not too close for comfort.
"We normally see each other every day and spend quality time together maybe once or twice a month," Chris said. "We play chess every once in a while. He plays a lot of video games and lifts a lot of weights, like the other young kids do."
On Father's Day, however, the Meises won't get to reminisce in person about their shared military career. That'll come later, perhaps beginning this summer when the Meises are due to return to Iowa.
"I am not real sentimental about holidays," Chris Meis said. "I appreciate 'em when they come around, but I'm honestly not going to miss Father's Day other than the fact that I won't be around my son."
On Sunday, Sgt. Meis will be in Gardez, Afghanistan, the capital of its Paktia province. As of now, Caleb says he has no specific plans on how to mark the holiday, but that's subject to change.
"It's not like we have any kind of store to go to," Caleb said about buying his father a gift.
While all U.S. military branches are stocked with fathers, mothers, brother and sisters, the Meises are among a select group of service members who serve alongside their relatives. Military spokesmen were unable to supply specific numbers for how many active-duty soldiers currently serve with their sons or daughters, but they told FoxNews.com that the configuration is rare.
Following the deaths in 1942 of five Iowa brothers on the USS Juneau during World War II, the topic of close relatives serving together in combat was examined by Congress, which considered proposals to ban siblings from being assigned to the same unit. No bill eventually passed, however.
Each military branch handles such relationships differently, and the uniqueness of such close family affairs has been well-chronicled, dating back to the Sullivan brothers who died on the Juneau.
For example, in Parwan Province, Afghanistan, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Wade Corell, of Strawberry Point, Iowa, currently serves alongside his father, U.S. Army Col. Benjamin Corell, the commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division. Along with the Meises, the Corells are part of some 2,800 Iowa National Guard soldiers currently serving in Afghanistan, the largest deployment since World War II, Army officials told FoxNews.com.
And U.S. Army Maj. Benjamin Rex celebrated Father's Day in 2009 with his son, Pfc. Jeromy Bruce Rex, while stationed in Baghdad, an experience the younger Rex said he'll never forget.
"It's been really great having him here because he encourages me to do better," Jeromy told the Army's official website. "I'm just really glad to share this experience with him. I feel it's going to bring us closer as father and son, and hopefully someday after he gets out of the military, I can step up and fill his huge shoes."
Like Jeromy, the younger Meis said he's grateful to have been able to cultivate his relationship with his father in a way that most men will never do.
"Other guys I've talked to about it always say they couldn't imagine having their Dad on deployment with them," Caleb said. "But I've had somebody who I can go talk to and identify with much more closely than other guys.
Caleb said his always-solid relationship with his father has "definitely" gotten better while in Afghanistan, and he intends to continue cultivating that bond when they return home this summer. Caleb then plans to start classes at Des Moines Area Community College and marry his fiancee, Sarah.
"Time cannot go fast enough," Caleb said.
Chris Meis, meanwhile, will probably return to carpentry. But the father and son will always have Iowa's Camp Dodge, where they'll continue to conduct drills as part of the National Guard.
"So we'll still be together," Chris said. "We don't anticipate any separation."
For his part, Chris said he'll call his father David on Sunday, and later his wife of 24 years, Karla. And while he's eager to return home to reunite with his three other children -- Erin, 22, Bethany, 17, and Joshua, 15 -- Meis realizes a special chapter with his first-born son is coming to a close.
"Further down the road, when we have time to reminisce, we'll be able to talk about the same experiences," he said. "And we'll both just know."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/06/19/united-serve-on-fathers-day-military-dads-and-sons-find-common-ground/
-
Army's Last Draftee to Retire After 39 Years
Published July 03, 2011
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/U.S./660/371/Last%20Draftee%20Jeff%20Mellinger%20Top.jpg)
June 27, 2011: Army Command Sgt. Major Jeffery Mellinger, 58, talks about his nearly 40-year career during an interview in his office in Fort Belvoir, Va.
FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- A homemade wind chime with the word "Whining" under a red slash is made from metal parts put in his leg after a parachute accident. Every Sunday he trims his crew cut. He didn't join the Army willingly, but as Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Mellinger prepares to retire, he's grateful he found his calling.
Mellinger was drafted to fight the Vietnam War, and the Army believes he's the last draftee to retire, after 39 years. Most did their two years and left. But Mellinger had found home.
"I think I'm pretty good at it, but I like it. That's the bottom line. I love being a soldier and I love being around soldiers," he said.
Mellinger's motto is simple: No whining -- as the wind chime attests.
When the draft notice arrived in the mail in 1972 at his home in Eugene, Ore., tens of thousands of troops had been killed. Anti-war protests were rampant. Draft notices were being set on fire and returning soldiers were treated as part of the problem. The military wasn't a popular job.
The return address on the letter was the White House. Just 19, he was impressed that President Richard Nixon would write to him.
"I opened it up and it said, `Greetings from the president of the United States.' I said, `Wow, how's he know me?"' Mellinger said, laughing. "It was a form letter that said my friends and neighbors had selected me to represent them in the Armed Forces and I was hereby ordered to report for induction."
Mellinger told the draft board there was a mistake.
"I ... told them I don't need to go into the Army, I've got a job," said Mellinger, who hung drywall for a living. "They just kind of laughed."
Once the path was set, he said, he didn't consider trying to find a way out.
He heard so many war stories in training that he was fired up about going, and was disappointed he was instead assigned to be an office clerk in Germany.
In Germany, Mellinger immediately stood out with his positive attitude, short haircut and mastery of physical fitness skills, said Bob Myers, 64, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, then his company commander who now runs a chain of convenience stores. He replaced a soldier in trouble for illegal drug use, Myers said.
"He wasn't a part of that culture and everyone knew that," said Myers, who was instrumental in getting Mellinger to enlist when his draft term was over.
Mellinger wasn't long for clerking. He earned a spot in the Army Rangers, and would go on to do more than 3,700 parachute jumps. And despite the 1991 parachute accident that gave him the material for the wind chime, breaking his leg in several places, he went on to run nine marathons. He was made a command sergeant major in 1992.
Nearly a decade later, he was sent to ground zero in New York right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as part of an advance party from the First Army. Then came his time in Iraq as the top enlisted soldier of the multi-national forces in Iraq, where he says he survived 27 roadside bombings during his deployment of nearly three years straight.
Mellinger, 58, says his stories of being in the Army during the tumultuous 1970s as the Army struggled with issues of drugs, race and the role of women are so foreign to young troops that they look at him like he's a dinosaur when he shares them.
A recruiting poster hanging today on Mellinger's office door at Fort Belvoir, where he's the command sergeant major for the Army Material Command, that encourages female troops to try out for female engagement teams that work in war zones with Special Forces troops shows just how much things have changed since Mellinger was drafted.
Until 1978, female troops were in the Women's Army Corps separate from the regular Army. Mellinger said he recalls when most female troops weren't allowed to carry weapons and were taken out of the field at night to sleep in a separate barracks away from the men.
"There were some stymied leaders. What do we do with all these females?" he said. "A lot of those things together caused a lot of turmoil, caused a lot of difficulty and problems and a huge leadership challenge because the military was being torn apart like the country was."
Mellinger understands well the tragic side of soldiering. He knows 40 to 50 people buried at Arlington National Cemetery and goes to Walter Reed Army Medical Center to visit wounded troops and their families most weekends he's in town.
It was in a hospital room in 2009 that Jill Stephenson met Mellinger, who was standing near the bedside of her son, Cpl. Benjamin Kopp, 21. Mellinger had heard that Kopp, a fellow Ranger, had been shot in Afghanistan and he went to see him. Mellinger immediately embraced Stephenson, she said.
"It was the most compassionate, caring hug around me that I ever have received from a stranger. It was very comforting," said Stephenson, 44, of Rosemount, Minn.
Kopp died soon after. Stephenson has since stayed with Mellinger and his wife, Kim, on multiple occasions while in Washington to attend ceremonies at Arlington cemetery, where her son is buried.
Several soldiers who served directly under Mellinger in Iraq have reached out to him to talk about their combat-related mental health issues. One was a soldier who rang his doorbell and said he was haunted by the memory of helping to collect the remains of a fallen Marine, and he was bothered that he didn't know the Marine's name.
"I told him his name and we sat and talked for several hours," Mellinger said.
Mellinger said he has a roster with the names of the 2,614 troops killed, the 19,304 wounded, and two missing in action from his time in Iraq. He wears a metal bracelet with those numbers sketched in it in their honor.
Mellinger's happy with the set-up of today's all-volunteer force, but he does think the contributions of draftees have been forgotten, particularly since there's such a romantic notion that after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in World War II, everyone "ran down to the recruiting station." In reality, thousands were drafted in that war and many others, he said.
"Draftees are pretty maligned over time," he said, "but the fact is they are part of every branch of service up to 1973, and when you look at what those military branches accomplished over time, I'll let the record speak for itself."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/07/03/armys-last-draftee-to-retire-after-3-years/?test=latestnews
-
1st. Lt. Vernon J. Baker, U.S. Army (1919-2010) – Only Living Black Medal of Honor Recipient WWII
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Screen-shot-2011-06-24-at-9.35.36-AM.png)
1st Lt Vernon J Baker receives his Medal of Honor from President Clinton.
BY DUANE A. VACHON, PH.D. - Born December 17, 1919 in Cheyenne Wyoming, Vernon Joseph Baker was orphaned at age four when his parents were killed in an automobile accident. Baker and his two older sisters were raised by his grandparents in Cheyenne, a town that had only 12 other black families. At 5’5” and with the prevailing climate of racism that existed, Baker had a fairly turbulent childhood. Baker was to spend three years of his adolescence at Father Flanagan’s Boys Town in Omaha Nebraska. He graduated from high school in Iowa while living with his Aunt, and began work as a railroad porter.
Baker grew tired of his life as a railroad porter and in the summer of 1941 he joined the U.S. Army. Baker’s leadership qualities were recognized and he was sent to officer candidate school. He was commissioned a second lieutenant on January 11th,1943. Baker’s first assignment as an officer was the segregated 270th Regiment of the 92nd Infantry Division, the first black unit to go into combat in World War II.
The 270th landed at Naples in June of 1944 and fought its way north into central Italy. Later that year Baker, while on night patrol, came face to face with a German sentry. Baker was to win the duel that followed. Baker killed the German but was wounded so badly himself that he had to be hospitalized for two months. When he awoke from surgery he noticed he was in a segregated ward.
Baker, the only black officer in his company in the spring of 1945, was commanding a weapons platoon that consisted of two light machine guns and two mortar squads. The unit was near the village of Viareggio on April 5th when it was ordered to launch a dawn assault against Castle Aghinolfi, a mountain stronghold occupied by the Germans. It was on the second day of the assault that Baker led a battalion that finally secured the mountain for the American soldiers.
In his book “Lasting Valor” Baker wrote that their white commanding officer ran when the fighting started, ostensibly to seek reinforcements who never arrived.
The intense German fire was decimating the Americans, Baker took charge, moving from one machine gun nest to another, killing the enemy soldiers inside. Then he covered the evacuation of his wounded comrades by taking an exposed position and drawing the enemy’s fire, according to Army records.
The next night, Baker voluntarily led an advance on the castle through enemy mine fields and heavy fire.
In all, Baker and his platoon killed 26 Germans, destroyed 6 machine gun nests, two observer posts and four dugouts. Their heroism enabled the Allies to take the castle shortly thereafter.
Baker was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, making him the most decorated black soldier in the Mediterranean Theater.
What he did not know was that his Medal of Honor nomination had been blocked by a military establishment that did not want to give the nation’s highest honor to blacks.
Baker earned a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and Distinguished Service Cross during his time in service. Baker stayed in the Army until 1968. He lived through its desegregation, and became one of the first blacks to command an all-white company. He joined the U.S. Army Airborne along the way, and made his last jump at age 48.
It was more than half a century after the assault on Castle Aghinolfi, when Baker received a telephone call from a man working on a federal grant to reevaluate the heroism of blacks in World War II. It was during this phone call Baker learned he was to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
On January 13th, 1997, 52 years after Baker’s World War II military service, President Clinton presented him with the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest decoration for battlefield valor. He was one of the most highly decorated black soldiers in the Mediterranean Theater. He was also the only living black World War II veteran to earn the Medal of Honor.
After retiring from the Army, he spent nearly 20 years working for the Red Cross. He lived in Northern Idaho with his wife, Heidy until he died on July 13, 2010 after a long battle with cancer.
The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the
Medal of Honor
to
First Lieutenant Vernon J. Baker
General Order:
Citation:
For extraordinary heroism in action on 5 and 6 April 1945, near Viareggio, Italy. Then Second Lieutenant Baker demonstrated outstanding courage and leadership in destroying enemy installations, personnel and equipment during his company’s attack against a strongly entrenched enemy in mountainous terrain.
When his company was stopped by the concentration of fire from several machine gun emplacements, he crawled to one position and destroyed it, killing three Germans. Continuing forward, he attacked and enemy observation post and killed two occupants. With the aid of one of his men, Lieutenant Baker attacked two more machine gun nests, killing or wounding the four enemy soldiers occupying these positions. He then covered the evacuation of the wounded personnel of his company by occupying an exposed position and drawing the enemy’s fire.
On the following night Lieutenant Baker voluntarily led a battalion advance through enemy mine fields and heavy fire toward the division objective. Second Lieutenant Baker’s fighting spirit and daring leadership were an inspiration to his men and exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.
Baker has been awarded the following: Medal of Honor; Bronze Star Medal; Purple Heart; American Defense Service Medal; American Campaign Medal; European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal; Combat Infantryman Badge; Croce Al Valor Militare (Italian Decoration).
On September 11, 2008, Baker was awarded the Sandor Teszler Award for Moral Courage and Service to Humankind by Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C. Along with the award, Baker received an honorary doctorate from the college.
1st Lieutenant Vernon Baker is buried at the Arlington National Cemetery, Section 59, Site 4417.
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/1st-lt-vernon-j-baker-u-s-army-1919-2010-only-living-black-medal-of-honor-recipient-wwii/123
-
Remembering our fallen: Spc. Marlon Jackson
By Carly Costello, Special to CNN
July 4, 2011
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/IREPORT/07/04/homeandaway.spc.marlon.jackson.irpt/t1larg.Juarez.jackson.b&w.cnn.jpg)
Juarez Jackson holds the plaque that commemorates the award of the Purple Heart to his cousin, Spc. Marlon Jackson.
(CNN) -- For most of his life, Marlon Jackson was shy. He was the kind who would stand in the corner at a party swaying side-to-side, quietly sipping on a beer while others danced and socialized.
"We called him Fudgie," Marlon's cousin, Juarez Jackson, said. "Fudgie was a great cousin with a smile that could light up an entire room. He was not the person with the most words, but he had a great sense of humor and personality."
CNN first learned about Marlon when his name was added to the Home & Away database, an interactive memorial for the troops who have lost their lives fighting in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Thanks to Juarez, we were given an opportunity to learn more.
Marlon was nicknamed Fudgie after a character in a reggae song who was known for being outgoing and was quite the ladies man, someone who Marlon was not. Juarez, a native of Kingston, Jamaica, explained that it is common in Jamaican culture to give someone a nickname that is opposite of who they really are.
"If someone's big, we call them smally. If they're tall, we call them shorty," Juarez said. "It was kind of a play on him not being that outgoing and him being a real introvert."
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/IREPORT/07/04/homeandaway.spc.marlon.jackson.irpt/story.marlon.dad.irpt.jpg)
Marlon with his father, Leighton Jackson, at his graduation from Hudson Catholic High School in 1997.
Marlon was born in Jamaica and adopted at nine by Leighton Jackson and Lois La Grenade and a few years later, he moved to New Jersey with his adopted father.
Around 14, his cousins in Georgia, who he would visit often, dubbed him Fudgie. He often introduced himself to others using the obverse nickname.
"He loved it," Juarez said. "Everybody called him Fudgie, and he got a big kick out of it."
Marlon might have been quiet, but according to Juarez, when he did talk, he always had something interesting to say.
"Some people, they don't need to say anything and they just have that way about them," Juarez said. "Everyone listened when he said something because he rarely spoke. (Marlon was) just very on point with the words that came out of his mouth."
But when Marlon enlisted with the U.S. Army in 1999, Juarez saw a big change in his cousin's personality. He started to break out of his shell and became more confident in himself, something his cousin wants people to remember.
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/IREPORT/07/04/homeandaway.spc.marlon.jackson.irpt/story.marlon.soldier.irpt.jpg)
Marlon sent this photo of him in his service uniform to his uncle, Raynor Jackson, who he would visit in Georgia several times a year.
"I want people to remember him giving it all but also remember how the service made him better," Juarez said. "I saw how great Marlon had become as an individual. He still had his introvert self, but he was just way more confident, way more powerful as a person. It was great to see that, and I know it was the Army that brought that out of him. I don't think there is anywhere else that could have done that to him like the service did."
When Marlon enlisted, pre-September 11, 2001, it never crossed his cousin's mind that one day he might see combat.
"The most war you'd hear going on is between Biggie and Tupac and they just passed away," Juarez said. "You never thought about any global war going on. That was in the back of our minds."
Even when Marlon was deployed to Iraq in March of 2003, Juarez never thought that Fudgie might not return. But when his uncle told him on November 13, 2003, that Marlon had been killed by a roadside bomb two days prior, on Veterans Day, his whole life changed.
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/IREPORT/07/04/homeandaway.spc.marlon.jackson.irpt/story.marlon.funeral.irpt.jpg)
"When the Army sent down soldiers to Jamaica to do the whole 21-gun salute, it brought tears to my eyes," Juarez said. Marlon was laid to rest in Kingston, Jamaica, where his father currently lives.
"In your 20s, you don't think that someone is going to pass away. You just don't think that someone is going to be 25 and not be here anymore," Juarez said. "It was kind of hard to believe."
At the time of Marlon's death, Juarez was in college studying computer science. He had known since he was in the sixth grade that he wanted to be a software engineer, but he did not know in what capacity until his younger brother started working in the defense industry and cousin Marlon enlisted in the Army.
"It was an encouragement to me to do something that I thought was more meaningful," Juarez said. "What Marlon did, what soldiers do, that makes a difference. That's shaping the world. That's shaping the future."
Juarez started working for the defense industry in 2005 as a software engineer, and one of his first projects involved outfitting U.S. military Humvees with armor that could help protect troops from rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices, something that Juarez believes could have possibly saved his cousin.
Juarez is still with the defense industry, working side-by-side with service members from all around the world. He knows that what he and his fellow engineers do makes a difference, and he loves that they are all working towards the same goal: helping the brave men and women serving in the armed forces.
"I think (Marlon) would have been proud of the accomplishments that my brother and I have made," Juarez said. "I am just kind of disappointed that he's not here to share in some of this."
But to this day, Juarez can't say has bad feelings about his cousin going to war.
"He did an admirable thing. He did something that I think is one of the highest callings you can have in life -- to serve other people. He did that with zeal and gusto, and no one had to pull him dragging to do it. He did it because he wanted to do it, and he knew it was something that would make him better."
http://www.cnn.com/2011/IREPORT/07/04/homeandaway.spc.marlon.jackson.irpt/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
-
While I am sure some soldiers have good intentions most of them are merely dumb Americans.
"In Haig's presence, Kissinger referred pointedly to military men as 'dumb, stupid animals to be used' as pawns for foreign policy."
-- Bob Woodward & Carl Bernstein, The Final Days, p. 208
I see Henry Ford and Thomas Edison as great Americans. Men that literally defend their families against invaders are great heros. Soldiers fighting wars for jews are not great Americans.
-
Medal of Honor Awarded to Ranger Leroy Petry
PHOTO: Sergeant First Class Leroy A. Petry
(http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/ht_leroy_a_petry_mw_110711_wg.jpg)
Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry of the Army Rangers. (Courtesy of The U.S. Army)
By LUIS MARTINEZ (@LMartinezABC)
July 12, 2011
At a White House ceremony later today, Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, an Army Ranger, will become only the second living recipient of the Medal of Honor for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Petry lost his right hand while throwing a live grenade away from his fellow soldiers.
Petry will become the ninth service member to receive the nation's highest award for valor in those conflicts. Until Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta was honored with the award last year for his heroism in Afghanistan, the previous awards had been made posthumously. Like Giunta, Petry will be honored for actions while serving in Afghanistan.
When it was announced in late May that he had been selected to receive the medal, Petry said in a brief statement, "It's very humbling to know that the guys thought that much of me and my actions that day, to nominate me for that."
That day was May 26, 2008, when Petry and his fellow Rangers were conducting a rare daylight raid on a Taliban compound in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia Province.
As the senior non-commissioned officer, Petry, 31, was to have played an oversight role in the raid. But he quickly found himself in the fight when one of the assaulting squads needed extra help.
After securing a building in the compound, Petry and Pfc. Lucas Robinson entered a courtyard to take on three enemy fighters readying to fire on soldiers at the other end of the courtyard.
They immediately came under fire and Petry was shot by a round that went through both of his legs. Although wounded, Petry led Robinson to take cover behind a chicken coop. Another Ranger, Sgt. Daniel Higgins, came to help his wounded soldiers.
But a short time later, Higgins and Robinson were wounded by a grenade thrown at them by one of the Taliban fighters. Then, another grenade landed in their midst.
It was at that moment that Petry, already wounded in the legs, lunged for the live grenade to throw it away from his fellow Rangers.
"It was almost instinct; off training," Petry told the Army News Service. "It was probably going to kill all three of us. I had time to visually see the hand grenade. And I figure it's got about a four-and-half second fuse, depending on how long it has been in the elements and the weather and everything and how long the pin has been pulled. I figure if you have time to see it you have time to kick it, throw it, just get it out there."
But just as he did so, the grenade exploded in his right hand. "I actually didn't think it was going to go off," Petry said. "I didn't really feel much pain. I didn't know it had gone off and taken my hand until I sat back up and saw it was completely amputated at the wrist."
Remarkably, Petry placed a tourniquet on his right arm then reported by radio that he and the other two Rangers had been wounded and were still under enemy fire.
Eventually, the Taliban fighters were killed by other soldiers, but not before one of them fatally shot Spc. Christopher Gathercole, who had arrived to help Petry, Higgins and Robinson.
At a news conference shortly after it was announced that Petry was to receive the Medal of Honor, soldiers who had served with him praised his bravery.
Medal of Honor Recipient Re-Enlisted
"We would like to say that every Ranger would do that given the exact same situation, but you're never going to know that until he's placed in that situation," Master Sgt. Steven Walter said.
Sergeant 1st Class Jerod Staidle, who came to help Petry that day, said Petry could have "saved himself but then the other two Rangers would probably be dead." Staidle said, "He put his own life at risk to grab that grenade and throw it around the corner to save all three of them."
Petry now wears a high-tech robotic artificial hand. "I could shake people's hands today. I'm meeting people all the time," he told the Army News Service. "It feels great to actually shake their hands with my right hand."
The prosthesis even allowed him to take up a new sport, golf.
An elite Army special operations force, Army Rangers serve four-month tours of duty in the war zones and rotate more frequently than conventional forces given the intense combat operations they experience.
Since enlisting in the Army in 1999, Petry has served almost his entire Army career as a Ranger and has deployed twice to Iraq and six times to Afghanistan.
He continues to serve on active duty as a liaison officer with wounded warriors and plans to remain a soldier. The married father of four recently re-enlisted for another eight years of Army service.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/medal-honor-awarded-ranger-leroy-petry/story?id=14048891
-
Medal of Honor will go to first living Marine in 41 years
Pentagon officials say President Obama will present the Medal of Honor to a former Marine who braved enemy fire in Afghanistan in a bid to find and retrieve three Marines and a Navy corpsman.
By The Associated Press
ROB CURTIS / AP
(http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2011/07/20/2015675955.jpg)
Dakota Meyer, a Marine who left active duty in June 2010, will receive the Medal of Honor.
WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials say President Obama will present the Medal of Honor to a Marine who braved enemy fire in Afghanistan in a bid to find and retrieve three Marines and a Navy corpsman.
Dakota Meyer, who left active duty in June 2010, will be the first living Marine in 41 years to receive the nation's highest award for valor.
Only two living recipients — Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta and Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry — have received the award for actions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Petry, 31, has also been awarded two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart, among other honors. He serves in the 75th Ranger Regiment unit at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma and has made deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Seven Medals of Honor have gone to soldiers killed in Afghanistan or Iraq, all but two awarded posthumously.
About 3,400 Medals of Honor have been granted since the Civil War, including 248 in Vietnam, 136 in Korea and 465 during World War II.
The decision to present the award to Meyer was first reported Tuesday by Leatherneck, a Marine Corps Association publication, and by the Marine Corps Times, an independent newspaper.
Both said the president called Meyer on Monday to break the news.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2015676730_medalofhonor21.html
-
RIP
John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dies
By the CNN Wire Staff
July 23, 2011
(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/US/07/23/john.shalikashvili.dies/t1larg.shalikashvili.gi.jpg)
Gen. John Shalikashvili, shown in a 1996 photo, recently expressed support for repealing "don't ask, don't tell."
(CNN) -- Retired Army Gen. John Shalikashvili, who rose from being an Army draftee to serving as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has died of complications from a stroke, his executive assistant said Saturday. He was 75.
Shalikashvili died Saturday at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, according to assistant Rachel McLain.
An open memorial service will be held on August 6 at the Tacoma Convention Center. A funeral will be held at a later date at Arlington National Cemetery.
Born in Poland in 1936, Shalikashvili became the first foreign-born chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1993. He held the post until his retirement in 1997, serving under former President Bill Clinton, who awarded Shalikashvili the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Prior to that, he was NATO's 10th supreme allied commander in Europe.
"The United States has lost a genuine soldier-statesman whose extraordinary life represented the promise of America and the limitless possibilities that are open to those who choose to serve it," President Barack Obama said in a statement. "From his arrival in the United States as a 16-year old Polish immigrant after the Second World War, to a young man who learned English from John Wayne movies, to his rise to the highest ranks of our military, Shali's life was an 'only in America' story."
Shalikashvili was drafted into the Army in 1958 and rose through the ranks, serving in Vietnam from 1968 to 1969 and heading up the 1991 international relief operation that airlifted food to and provided protection for the Kurds in northern Iraq.
Obama said the general forged closer ties with Russia and improved the quality of life of U.S. service members and their families.
Shalikashvili was granted U.S. citizenship after his family immigrated to Peoria, Illinois, from southern Germany, where they had sought refuge after the 1944 Warsaw Uprising in Poland.
Shalikashvili suffered a stroke in 2004, but continued to work in several capacities.
Most recently, he was in the news because of his support for a repeal of "don't ask, don't tell," the ban of gays and lesbians serving openly in the U.S. military. He also had served as a visiting professor at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.
The retired general is survived by his wife, Joan; their son, Brant; and other family members.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/23/john.shalikashvili.dies/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
-
Reluctant hero and the weight of a medal
The attention that awardees receive can overwhelm
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 28, 2011
COURTESY ROB CURTIS / MARINE CORPS TIMES
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*199/20110728_loc_medal1.jpg)
Former Hawaii Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, who left active duty in June 2010, will be the first living Marine since then-Staff Sgt. Allan Kellogg, a Kailua resident, was honored for his heroism in Vietnam in 1970. "Of course, it would be an honor," Meyer said, "but it would be for my guys -- it's not for me."
STAR-ADVERTISER / 2007
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*213/20110728_loc_medal2.jpg)
Allan Kellogg says "there's a lot expected of you" after receiving the Medal of Honor.
COURTESY ROB CURTIS / MARINE CORPS TIMES
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*199/20110728_loc_medal3.jpg)
Felicia Gilliam, Dakota Meyer's mother, says that "every time he talks to someone or gives an interview or anything, it's an opportunity for him to remind people that lives are still being lost over there."
Former Hawaii Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer will candidly tell you he thinks he's the furthest thing from a hero, and his mother will tell you he really tries to stay out of the limelight.
The Pentagon is expected to contradict the first assertion with the announcement that the 23-year-old Kentucky man will become the first living Marine to receive the Medal of Honor since then-Staff Sgt. Allan Kellogg was recognized for his actions in Vietnam in 1970.
The American public may have a say on Meyer's desire to stay out of the limelight. Just ask Kellogg, who's been there, done that.
"Like I tell the new guys that just got the Medal of Honor, you know, winning the Medal of Honor is the easy part. It's carrying out all the stuff that's expected of you (that can be challenging)," said Kellogg, a 30-year Kailua resident who smothered a grenade with his body and suffered multiple wounds on his torso and shoulder when it exploded.
Meyer's medal hasn't yet been announced by the White House or Pentagon. But his mother, Felicia Gilliam, who also lives in Kentucky, said officials have notified her son that he will receive the nation's highest award for valor.
"Right now, we just know that President Obama has approved it. We don't know when he's getting it or anything," Gilliam said Monday.
MEYER RAN through intense gunfire in a three-sided ambush in eastern Afghanistan in 2009 in an attempt to rescue three fellow Marines and a Navy corpsman who were pinned down.
He had been wounded by shrapnel in the elbow on two previous attempts to rescue the Americans using an armored vehicle that was repelled both times by bullets and rocket-propelled grenades.
He found the four U.S. service members dead, but while still under fire, Meyer carried their bodies back to a Humvee with the aid of Afghan troops.
Meyer was assigned to Kaneohe Bay and the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment. He had deployed to Iraq with the unit about 2007, his father, Mike Meyer, previously said.
Dakota Meyer jumped at the chance when asked if he wanted to be part of an "embedded training team" working with Afghan forces.
In November, after word came that he had been recommended for the Medal of Honor, Meyer said he considered himself "the farthest thing from a hero."
"Of course, it would be an honor" to receive the Medal of Honor, he said by phone, "but it would be for my guys — it's not for me."
Meyer has given few media interviews since word spread that the medal was confirmed.
Gilliam said her son is "doing OK" with all the media attention.
"Every time he talks to someone or gives an interview or anything, it's an opportunity for him to remind people that lives are still being lost over there," she said.
She added that Dakota is the type who avoids the spotlight "at all costs."
Kellogg predicts that "he's going to get a blast of it, let me tell you."
When someone receives the Medal of Honor, "you just have to roll with the punches," the retired Marine Corps sergeant major said. "There's a lot expected of you."
U.S. presidents, in the name of Congress, have awarded more than 3,400 Medals of Honor since 1861 for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty, according to the Army. There are 85 living recipients.
Kellogg was one of 33 medal awardees who recently visited the Chicago area to speak to students and veterans and promote a Medal of Honor Foundation program.
He figures he attends five Medal of Honor functions a year across the country. Kellogg also works for Veterans Affairs in Honolulu, trying to get benefits for homeless vets and get them off the streets.
Kellogg recalled an event at the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif., attended by Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who received a Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan.
"Man, they came from everywhere after him," Kellogg said. "Everyone wanted their picture with him and wanted to talk to him."
Kellogg's path to a Medal of Honor and fame came in the blink of an eye on the night of March 11, 1970, in a rice paddy in Vietnam.
While evacuating a fallen comrade, Kellogg's unit came under heavy fire. Then 26, Kellogg was crouching next to an embankment when an enemy soldier tossed a grenade in his lap.
"What I really planned on doing was, I had it in my hands, I rolled over in the mud in the paddy, and I really planned on pushing it down into the mud and then skating off it and getting away from it," Kellogg said.
He got it into the mud, but then it exploded beneath him.
Kellogg recalled what really helped was that he was wearing his flak jacket and another one he was carrying that had belonged to a fallen soldier.
"That helped a lot, and not being on hard ground, being in the mud, helped. Everything helped," Kellogg said.
The retired sergeant major said after Meyer is awarded the Medal of Honor, he'll try to catch up with him and "take him aside and give him a few words of wisdom" just like earlier recipients did for him.
As Meyer prepares to receive the Medal of Honor, meanwhile, a past Pentagon decision not to award one to another Hawaii Marine, Sgt. Rafael Peralta, hasn't been forgotten in the Marine Corps community.
At least four Marines who were with Peralta in the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq on Nov. 15, 2004, stated in written reports that they saw the short and stocky Marine nicknamed "Rafa" pull an enemy grenade to his body after he had been wounded in an Iraqi house. Peralta was killed.
The 25-year-old Peralta was with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, out of Kaneohe Bay.
A Medal of Honor recommendation passed reviews by the Marine Corps, the U.S. Central Command and the Navy before being rejected by five individuals appointed by former Defense Secretary Robert Gates who found "contradictory evidence."
Questions were raised as to whether Peralta, who was hit in the head by a friendly fire gunshot, had the mental capacity to knowingly reach out and pull in the grenade.
Former Hawaii Marine Robert Reynolds, who was in the room with Peralta, believes now, as he did then, that Peralta consciously saved the lives of others.
"My feelings haven't changed. I'm obviously here because of what he (Peralta) did," said Reynolds, who lives in Washington state.
Peralta, who posthumously received the Navy Cross, still deserves the nation's highest award for bravery for saving Marines who were nearby, he said.
"There are seven of us that are still alive today because of him," Reynolds said.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20110728_Reluctant_hero_and_the_weight_of_a_medal.html
-
Ishaan Singh, 9-Year-Old Boy, Saves Drowning Toddler
First Posted: 8/2/11
SAN JOSE, Calif. (Associated Press) -- A 9-year-old California boy has saved the life of a toddler found unconscious at the bottom of a San Jose apartment complex swimming pool.
The San Jose Mercury News reports Ishaan Singh dove into the Keily Park Luxury Apartments pool on Monday and pulled the 3-year-old girl from the bottom. She was revived a short time later. http://bit.ly/rbB2ZO
The girl had earlier been riding on the shoulders of her grandfather, who was also unconscious at the bottom of the pool. A woman dove in and brought him to the surface. He's hospitalized in serious condition.
Five days earlier at another San Jose apartment pool, neighbors saved a girl and her father from drowning.
http://www.aol.com/2011/08/02/ishaan-singh_n_915963.html?test=latestnews
-
"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends."
'I wouldn't wish this on anyone,' Navy SEAL widow says
By Alan Duke, CNN
August 7, 2011
(CNN) -- Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn "wouldn't want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did," his wife told CNN, a day after she learned her husband was one of 30 U.S. service members killed in a helicopter crash Saturday in Afghanistan.
"He loved his job," Kimberly Vaughn said. "There was no way -- even if you could tell him that this would have happened he would have done it anyway. All those men are like that. They're selfless."
The Navy confirmed that 22 SEALS and eight other U.S. service members died when a CH-47 Chinook crashed in the restive Wardak province early Saturday morning. It was the single largest loss of life for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001.
They were part of a "quick reaction" force sent to assist members of the 75th Army Ranger Regiment pinned down by enemy fire in a fierce firefight, a U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity told CNN. The mission targeted a Taliban commander directly responsible for attacks on U.S. troops, military officials with knowledge of the operation said Sunday.
Insurgents are believed to have shot down the helicopter, said the official, who was not authorized to release details to the media. The Taliban claimed militants downed the helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade.
Known Taliban leader had been targeted
Kimberly Vaughn saw TV reports about the downed helicopter Saturday morning, but the tragedy reached her home when her doorbell rang.
"I thought, 'Oh, hopefully it's just a neighbor,' and as I rounded the stairs I saw the men in uniform and I just fell to my knees," she said. "There's no preparing for it. It's something you see in the movies. It's not something you're supposed to live through."
Her father was standing with her to hold her up as the Navy officers told her that her husband was killed in action.
"I fell to my knees and cried and didn't want to hear it, but it's the truth," Vaughn said. "You want it to be a mistake. You want them to say it's the wrong person, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone."
Complex landscape where troops died
Aaron Vaughn called his wife's cell phone Friday afternoon and spoke to her and their 2-year-old son Reagan, she said.
"It was actually a great conversation -- probably just about time before he went out to work that night," she said. "We got to tell each other we loved each other, so it was a great conversation to have."
Aaron and Kimberly, married for three years, also have a 2-month-old daughter, Chamberlyn. He was stationed in Virginia Beach, Virginia,
"I want to tell the world that he was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband, and a fabulous father to two wonderful children," she said. "He was a warrior for Christ and he was a warrior for our country and he wouldn't want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did."
Vaughn's grandmother called him "a great American" who wanted to be a Navy SEAL ever since he was a boy.
Geneva Carson Vaughn recalled one of the last conversations she had with him.
"I told him to be careful and he said, 'Granny, don't worry about me.' He said 'I'm not afraid because I know where I'm going if something happens to me.' Aaron was a Christian and he stood firm in his faith," she said, her voice heavy with emotion.
"He's with the Lord now and I'll see him again some day."
The family of Navy SEAL Tommy Ratzlaff confirmed to CNN that he was among those killed, but they were reluctant to say much about Ratzlaff or his job.
Nephew Jeff Adams, who spoke via phone from Green Forest, Arkansas, Sunday said that Ratzlaff would want them to "keep a low profile," because as a Navy SEAL you've "got to stay secretive just to do his job."
"He would have been grateful for all the support he's getting," Adams said. "We're proud of him. He had a lot of accomplishments. He did what he loved and died defending everyone he loved."
Sgt. Patrick Hamburger, a soldier in the U.S. Army, was also on the fatal flight, his family said. Hamburger knew he was about to embark on an important and secret mission when he spoke to his family for the last time a few days ago, his brother said.
Hamburger, 30, grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska, and joined the Nebraska National Guard soon after graduating from high school. A helicopter flight engineer, he arrived in Afghanistan only last week for his first tour of duty there, younger brother Chris Hamburger told CNN.
He had told the family he wouldn't be in touch "because they had stuff to do," Chris Hamburger said.
Hamburger's longtime girlfriend, Candie Reagan, and family members "got a pretty bad feeling about it" when they first saw news reports of a downed U.S. helicopter Saturday morning, his brother said.
"It was so close to where he was at and we all started talking back and forth," Hamburger said.
U.S. Army officers visited Reagan's Grand Island, Nebraska, home Saturday afternoon to tell her Hamburger was killed.
"I was walking out of work and his girlfriend called on the phone in total hysteria and told me, and I told everybody else," Hamburger said. "They showed up at her door."
Patrick Hamburger has a 2-year-old daughter with Reagan, who he was planning to marry when he returned to Nebraska next May, his brother said. He was also helping raise Reagan's 13-year-old daughter, Chris Hamburger said.
Hamburger sent an e-mail to Reagan the day before his death. She read the e-mail to CNN's Don Lemon.
"Please don't worry about me," Hamburger wrote. The e-mail assured Reagan that he was "doing everything in his power to be safe and to make it home in one piece."
"Don't worry, this place isn't going to change me, I'm going to change this place," his last e-mail said.
"Pat was always looking out for everyone around him," Chris Hamburger said. "... he was always taking care of us. He would get himself into bad situations to help us. He was selfless. He didn't worry about him(self) half as much as he worried about everybody else. You could have been a complete stranger" and he would have helped you.
It was his selflessness that led him to Afghanistan, he said
"His group was getting deployed and he wanted to be with them," he said. "He said it was only right that he would be there, too."
Hamburger's family is gathering in Lincoln waiting for the return of his body. His girlfriend's brother, Sgt. David Mason, was also in Afghanistan and is escorting Hamburger home.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/07/afghanistan.fatality/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
-
Remains of jet fighter pilot missing since 1965 in Vietnam are identified by Hawaii lab
By Associated Press, Friday, August 12, 9:04 AM
HONOLULU — Scientists have identified the remains of a fighter pilot who was declared missing after his jet was shot down over North Vietnam in 1965.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser (http://bit.ly/qdwmux) reported Friday the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command recovered the remains of Air Force Capt. Thomas Reitmann in 2009 from Vietnam and in May notified his wife that a positive identification had been made.
Reitmann’s wife, Carol Reitmann Sumner of Waikiki, is to travel to Arlington National Cemetery next month, where he is to be buried with full military honors.
Thomas Reitmann was 35 and a native of Red Wing, Minn.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/remains-of-jet-fighter-pilot-missing-since-1965-in-vietnam-are-identified-by-hawaii-lab/2011/08/12/gIQAQnEVBJ_story.html
-
The stories of those who lost their lives in Chinook crash
August 12th, 2011
Editor's note: For more details of those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan please visit our Home & Away interactive feature. You can also click on the names of those who died in the Chinook crash below to leave a message or memorial.
[Updated Friday at 7:53 a.m. ET] The U.S. Defense Department released the names of U.S. military personnel killed in Saturday's downing of a helicopter in Afghanistan.
Thirty-eight people were killed in that attack, eight of them Afghan military personnel. It was the single largest loss of life for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001.
Of the 30 Americans, 17 were Navy SEALs. Twenty-two of the dead were U.S. Navy personnel, the Pentagon said. Fifteen were SEALs belonging to the top-secret unit that conducted the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. Two others were SEALs assigned to a regular naval special operations unit.
Five were so-called conventional forces with particular specialties who regularly worked with the SEALs. The other eight U.S. troops killed were three Air Force forward air controllers and five Army helicopter crew members.
NATO said it killed the militants responsible for the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected that, saying a NATO airstrike killed a separate group of insurgents.
The following list was provided by the Defense Department:
The following sailors assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:
Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La.
The Shreveport native was in charge of Saturday’s mission in Wardak province near Kabul. His father, John Kelsall, who heads Lakewood, California’s, Chamber of Commerce, told CNN affiliate KTLA in a statement, “The country will never understand the level of service those guys gave us.” KABC reported that Kelsall, 33, was trained in San Diego, and he met his wife of three years while attending the University of Texas.
Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif.
Langlais enlisted in the Navy in June 1986 and began training to be a part of the SEAL team three years later. After joining the Navy Parachute team for three years, he moved on to serve in several East Coast-based SEAL teams for 10 years, according to the Navy.
During his service, Langlais received four Bronze Stars with distinction for valor, two Joint Service Commendation Medals, medals for his work in the war on terror and for his marksmanship, among many other medals and ribbons.
Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark.
The 34-year-old Green Forest, Arkansas, native had a motto, according to CNN affiliate KYTV: “There’s two ways to do things: Do them right or do them again.”
Ratzlaff enlisted in 1995 and served in two Special Warfare Units during his time, according to the Navy. During that time, he received several awards, including the Bronze Star Medal with Combat for valor. Ratzlaff leaves behind two sons – 6 and 11 years old – and a wife who is expecting the couple’s third child in November. KYTV spoke to his high school teachers. He played middle linebacker for the football team. Science teacher Bruce Culver joked that he was the best at dissecting frogs, and his friend Kevin Disheroon told the station that Ratzlaff always wanted to be a SEAL. He went to boot camp just weeks after his 1995 graduation from high school.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers, 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii
More than 200 surfers paddled off Sandbridge – one of Vickers’ favorite spots for stand-up paddling – and locked hands in honor of the 36-year-old Navy SEAL who rode the waves of Virginia Beach, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
Vickers was stationed in Virginia Beach and lived there with his pregnant wife and three children - 4, 7 and 18 years old. Back in his hometown of Maui, Hawaii, friends and family also fondly remembered the brawny former high school wrestler and football player. Mary Jane Vickers told CNN affiliate KITV that her son was a good Christian and family man, not to mention a “devoted father, son and serviceman.” Following Tuesday’s “paddle out” in Virginia Beach, those attending whooped, splashed and cast hundreds of flowers into the ocean.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Conn.
The Stamford, Connecticut, native was a man of ambition. The chief petty officer and SEAL was a mountaineer who wanted to complete the seven summits – the highest peak on each continent – and he wanted to one day be an astronaut, CNN affiliate WFSB reported. He also was a skier, a pilot and a triathlete, his stepfather, Michael Parry, said, further describing Bill as thoughtful, compassionate and “remarkably gifted.” A graduate of Norwich University in Vermont, Bill played tennis, soccer and hockey in high school, and coaches said there was a quiet toughness about him.
"We're mourning, if anything else, his unfulfilled dreams,” Parry said during a news conference.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minn.
Faas enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and became a SEAL in 2001.
Among many awards, he earned three Bronze Stars with valor distinctions and a National Defense Service medal, according to the Navy.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Mass.
The Cape Cod native lived in Chesapeake, Virginia, with his wife and three children, according to CNN affiliate WVEC. In 1994, he graduated from high school (where he captained his football team) in a wheelchair after having a nasty motorcycle accident. He became a SEAL a few years later.
“He was born to do this job." his mother told the station. "He’d do it all over again.”
Just weeks ago, according to CNN affiliate WTKR, Houston gave an American flag - which he’d worn under his armor during his last three Afghanistan tours – to veteran Chris Kelly, a man who inspired him. Kelly told the station he was too heartbroken to be interviewed.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Mo.
The Navy SEAL's former high school peer Eric Marshall, now the vice principal of their Kearny, Missouri, alma mater, said he remembers Mason as “a tough kid.”
“It didn't surprise anybody that he was able to have that type of success, and achieve Navy SEAL status," Marshall told CNN affiliate KSHB-TV.
John Ball, one of Mason’s former teachers and football coaches, told KSHB-TV that someone approached him asking if he remembered Mason, who graduated in 1992 before moving on to Northwest Missouri State University, where he played baseball. Ball said he immediately remembered his former student and his occupation. “I looked at him and said ‘Don’t tell me, don’t tell me, don’t tell me,’ ” Ball told KSHB-TV. Mason lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with his two sons and his wife, who is expecting a third child in November, KSHB-TV reported.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas
The father of three children – 1, 13 and 18 years old - had a tremendous sense of humor, friends and family told CNN affiliate WTKR, and the 14-year Navy veteran loved being a SEAL. A sister of the 36-year-old chief petty officer told CNN affiliate KVUE that he never bragged about being a SEAL, despite a decade in the elite force.
“He loved his teammates as brothers. He'll always be remembered as a loving person,” Ashley Mills told the station.
His cousin, J.B. Abbott, told KVUE that the central Texas native was “very proud and very brave.”
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, W.Va.
Null, 30, enlisted in the navy in 2000 and had been a SEAL since 2009, according to a bio from the United States Navy.
Originally from West Virginia, Null's many ribbons, medals and awards included two Bronze Stars, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medals, and three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medals.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La.
The 32-year-old chief petty officer grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, with Lt. Cmdr. Jonas Kelsall, who was in charge of the Afghanistan mission that ended with Saturday’s helicopter crash. They went to school, played soccer and became Navy SEALs together. On a Facebook page set up in Reeves’ memory, one poster said, “You could always make the boys laugh, dude.”
Another described him as “sweet, funny and kind-hearted … More than anything, though, Rob was most passionate about the Navy and his role as a SEAL.”
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Mich.
Robinson enlisted in the Navy in 1996 and completed SEAL training in Coronado, California, in 2000. He moved from the West Coast in 2004 to serve on four East Coast special warfare units, according to the Navy.
Robinson earned four Bronze Stars, three of which had special distinctions for valor, in addition to many other medals and awards.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, Calif.
He was born and raised in Angwin, a small town in Napa County, California, so it was natural that people wanted to know about his SEAL training. Those who knew him, however, say he was low-key and not one to talk about himself, CNN affiliate KGO-TV reported. He went to a private high school, where he was a good student and athlete.
Benson joined the Navy in September 2001, and he became a SEAL in 2003, according to the Navy. Benson has earned a Bronze Star and a Presidential Unit Citation, as well as many other medals, awards and ribbons.
His grandfather, Carlyle Benson, told affiliate KTVU that he recently earned his commercial pilot’s license and wanted to be a pilot after he left the military. Darrik Benson served in the Navy for 12 years, and Carlyle Benson said he was “a fine boy” and “one of the top men in his group.” He met his wife, Kara, in San Diego, and she moved to Virginia with their 3-year-old son to be closer to him.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C.
The Navy SEAL, 36, from Jacksonville, North Carolina, told his family that if he were killed in the line of duty, he would want a donation made to the Wounded Warrior Project, according to CNN affiliate WNCT. His high school friend, Joe Baile, told CNN affiliate WCTI that years would go by between their visits, but “then we'd be at somebody's house and they'd stop by when everyone was home for Christmas or something like that and play basketball together.”
Joe’s dad, Jack, coached Campbell’s high school football team. He recalled that Campbell was small for football when he joined the team his junior year, but “he didn’t have a whole lot of fear of anything.”
Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah
Day enlisted in 2002, according to his Navy bio. He served at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic Detachment in Keflavik, Iceland, until July 2004, then began SEAL training.
He had been part of the East Coast SEAL team since 2007. He earned a Joint Combat Commendation Medal with a distinction for valor, an Army Commendation Medal, a Joint Service Achievement Medal, and several other medals, ribbons and awards.
Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Neb.
Douangara, a native of Sioux City, Nebraska, enlisted in the Navy in 2003 and joined his East Coast SEAL team in 2008.
He earned a Bronze Star with a distinction for valor, a Presidential Unit Citation and many other awards.
Cryptologist Technician (Collection) Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa.
Charles Strange told CNN affiliate WPVI that three SEALs delivered news of his son’s death to his Mayfair, Pennsylvania, home Saturday. Michael Strange, a 25-year-old petty officer, was on his third tour in Afghanistan, and his brother said Michael – a member of SEAL Team 6 - always wanted to be in the military. Sources told the station that in addition to his parents and two siblings, Michael Strange also left behind a fiancée. He had just purchased a home in Virginia.
"Michael loved this country, he loved Philadelphia, he loved North Catholic [High School, where he graduated], he loved Mayfair, he loved his friends." his father said.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa
The town of Rockford, Iowa, is proud to call Tumilson one of its sons. The 35-year-old Navy SEAL graduated from high school in 1995, but neighbors recall his holiday visits as he was often seen jogging through town, CNN affiliate KCCI reported. Tom Dow, who has known Tumilson’s family for years, told another affiliate, KIMT, that Tumilson was “young, full of life, good-looking kid, big and strong, real nice boy.” Neighbor Leann Ginther said he was a hero.
“Just the fact that he sacrificed his life for all of us back here … I guess that’s what freedom is, is them doing that for us, but way too young of a guy to be losing his life,” she said.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Fla.
Kimberly Vaughn met Aaron Vaughn in Guam when she traveled there with the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to entertain the troops. She said she last spoke with her husband the day before the fatal crash and, Kimberly Vaughan said, “We got to tell each other we loved each other, so it was a great conversation to have.” Kimberly Vaughn said she still plans to build their home in Virginia Beach, where she will raise their two children. His wife described her husband as a “warrior for Christ, and he was a warrior for our country, and he wouldn’t want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did.”
"Even if you could tell him that this would have happened, he would have done it anyway," she said.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah
The Navy SEAL was one of four brothers, the oldest a West Point graduate, according to CNN affiliate KTVX. Workman grew up in Blanding, Utah, and gained a reputation as a compassionate guy who worked hard and loved sports. Family friend Rick Eldredge said of the 32-year-old petty officer first class, “He would do anything to help the guy across the table from him. … He was just willing to do anything for anybody, and he's proven by giving his life to this country," affiliate KSL-TV reported.
Late last year, Workman, who has served in the Navy for eight years, returned home to train police officers, the station reported. He was planning to do so again in December. His family released a statement saying he loved his job and was “the best of the best.” He left behind a 21-month-old son.
The following sailors assigned to a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, Calif.
Pittman enlisted in the Navy in March 2005 and completed SEAL training in March 2006, according to the Navy.
Pittman reported to the the Naval Special Warfare Training Center Detachment in Kodiak, Alaska. He returned to the West Coast SEAL team in 2007.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, of Saint Paul, Minn.
Spehar enlisted in the Navy in 2007.
He became a SEAL in 2008 and was a member of the West Coast SEAL team, according to the Navy. Among his many awards, Spehar earned an Army Commendation Medal and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.
The soldiers killed were:
Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colo.
The National Guardsman had dreamed of being a pilot since his high school days in Kansas, CNN affiliate KDVR reported. He was a chief warrant officer at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo. “He was flying our nation’s elite forces into combat and, as an aviator, for him that is what he wanted to do,” Col. Chris Petty, a fellow pilot and Carter’s friend, told KDVR.
Carter’s family friend Yolanda Levesque spoke at a news conference in Centennial, Colorado, on a hilltop selected because its view of the surrounding hills was one of Carter’s favorites, according to KDVR. “He was an outstanding husband and father, son, brother and soldier,” Levesque said. “He was a friend to all who met him ... quick with a smile and always with a twinkle in his beautiful blue eyes.”
Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.
Bryan Nichols always wanted to be a solider. His father was in the Army and fought in Vietnam, his ex-wife Jessica Nichols said. Bryan and Jessica met in sixth grade, and she said he enlisted in the military before they had graduated high school. Nichols worked his way up through the ranks, and eventually piloted a helicopter with which he’d had a boyhood fascination. “He came across the Chinook …” she recalled. “His father flew Chinooks.” During the years Bryan and Jessica were married, he did three deployments. She had their son, Braydon, who is now 10. Bryan and Jessica’s marriage ended amicably, and he remarried.
Together with Bryan’s new wife, the three helped raised Braydon. The little boy dreamed also of flying one day, alongside his father, Jessica Nichols said. The boy, instead, posted an iReport on Saturday about his fallen father, in the hopes that the world would never forget him.
Sgt. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Grand Island, Neb.
Chris Hamburger said his brother Patrick knew he was about to embark on an important and secret mission when he spoke to his family for the last time. A helicopter flight engineer, he arrived in Afghanistan for his first tour of duty just days before the crash. Patrick Hamburger had a 2-year-old daughter with Candie Reagan, whom he was planning to marry when he returned to Nebraska next May, his brother said. He was also helping raise Reagan's 13-year-old daughter. Hamburger sent an e-mail to Reagan the day before his death.
"Please don't worry about me," Hamburger wrote. He added, "this place isn't going to change me, I'm going to change this place."
Sgt. Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.
After his 2009 deployment to Iraq, the Army specialist moved from Tacoma, Washington, to Overland Park, Kansas, to learn how to be a Chinook mechanic. Sgt. 1st Class Kirk Kuykendall, who was at home in Overland Park recuperating from a helicopter crash himself, told CNN affiliate KCTV that he served with Bennett in Iraq and considered him like a son.
“You wouldn't find a better flight engineer or soldier. … Wherever Alex goes, I will go so I can pay my final respects,” Kuykendall said. Bennett loved cars and the military, and pal Edward Tuck fondly recalled in a KOMO interview the time they spent under the hood of a Honda talking about life.
Another friend, Jessica Hall, told the station that Bennett was always smiling and joking. "He died doing exactly what he loved, she said. “Alex was a hero.”
Spc. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.
Duncan left his hometown in Kansas because he wanted to serve his country, The Olathe News reported.
"He wrote how much he loved his job as a door gunner on a Chinook helicopter," the local paper said. "But he also told his friends that in the quiet amid the stark landscape of Afghanistan, he missed the Kansas sunsets, lying in a truck bed listening to the radio and cuddling with his sweetie."
The airmen, who were assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C. that were killed were:
Tech. Sgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Fla.
The technical sergeant from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, studied pre-med before joining the U.S. Air Force to become a pararescueman, his mother, Elizabeth Newlun told CNN affiliate KFSM. His friend, Jon Woods, told the station that Brown was popular, athletic and loved a challenge. “He was just an all-American G.I. Joe, just a great guy who loved his country,” Woods said.
Newlun read KFSM a letter that Brown’s uncle had written, describing the airman as “Rambo without the attitude” and “brave but never arrogant, powerful but always gentle.” He was married and had no children.
Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, Calif.
The combat controller with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron was not only a "bad-ass warrior" but also, a loving husband to wife Krista and caring father to sons Hunter and Ethan, his wife said in a statement.
"We will miss him forever but we take solace knowing he gave his life serving his country and fighting for what he believed was right."
Harvell was stationed at Pope Air Force Base, which this year was merged with Fort Bragg, before heading to Afghanistan, according to the Air Force.
Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pa.
The 28-year-old Air Force medic joined the military right after graduating from high school in 2001, according to CNN affiliate WGAL-TV. A native of Red Lion, Pennsylvania, who wrestled and played football, Zerbe was a team player who could always be counted on, his former football coach told the station. His friend, Mike Vogel, who joined the Marines after high school, called Zerbe an “absolute hero,” and Red Lion schools superintendent released a statement, saying, “Dan wanted to make a difference in the world, so he joined the military,” according to CNN affiliate WHTM.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/12/pentagon-releases-names-of-chinook-crash-victims/
-
Army captain who created fund for fallen pilot's son tells boy: 'He loved you'
August 15th, 2011
For a brief moment on CNN on Monday, a U.S. soldier who served alongside a decorated Army pilot - one of the men killed in this month's Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan - spoke directly to that fallen pilot's 10-year-old son. (See how to give to the fund.)
"Braydon, buddy, from your extended Army family, we just want to let you know that we had the privilege of serving with your father," Army Capt. Jamie Schwandt said Monday on "CNN Newsroom." "We found out first-hand just how great of a person your father really was.
"He loved you so much," Schwandt continued, his voice breaking. "He talked about you all the time. You should be extremely proud of him."
Schwandt has set up a college trust fund for Braydon Nichols, the son of Bryan Nichols, a chief warrant officer who was piloting the Chinook helicopter when it was shot down by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan's Wardak province on August 6. (Learn more about Nichols on CNN.com's Home and Away site, which chronicles those killed in the Afghan war.) The officer was among a team of elite SEALs and other American and Afghan personnel who died in the crash. The Chinook was shot down while on a mission to help Army Rangers who had come under attack in the area. (Learn more about the SEALs who died.)
Braydon, with the help of his mother, Jessica Nichols, of Kansas City, Missouri, posted an iReport just hours after learning that Bryan Nichols had died. She and her son were watching television news reports that showed photos of other men who died, and the boy asked his mother why there were no pictures of his father. Braydon wanted to change that, so he and his mother went to CNN.com to post the iReport, which included a picture of Bryan Nichols.
CNN.com published a story about that iReport.
The response from CNN's audience was immediate, massive and heartfelt. More than 54 pages of iReport tributes have poured in - more than 250 - to CNN.com. There have been dozens of notes to the boy on Bryan Nichols' Home and Away page. Some of those messages are from fathers who sent photos of them hugging their own young sons, writing that the story of Braydon's loss broke their hearts. Many readers wrote CNN.com to say that the story of the American boy losing his dad minimized their everyday personal problems. Others wrote to say that they had also lost a loved one during wartime.
Jessica Nichols told CNN.com that the child continues to read every message, and he understands that a lot of people are offering their support to him and other children whose parents have been touched in some way by the nearly 10-year war.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/15/army-capt-who-created-fund-for-fallen-pilots-son-tells-boy-he-loved-you/?hpt=hp_t2
-
The stories of those who lost their lives in Chinook crash
August 12th, 2011
Editor's note: For more details of those who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan please visit our Home & Away interactive feature. You can also click on the names of those who died in the Chinook crash below to leave a message or memorial.
[Updated Friday at 7:53 a.m. ET] The U.S. Defense Department released the names of U.S. military personnel killed in Saturday's downing of a helicopter in Afghanistan.
Thirty-eight people were killed in that attack, eight of them Afghan military personnel. It was the single largest loss of life for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001.
Of the 30 Americans, 17 were Navy SEALs. Twenty-two of the dead were U.S. Navy personnel, the Pentagon said. Fifteen were SEALs belonging to the top-secret unit that conducted the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan. Two others were SEALs assigned to a regular naval special operations unit.
Five were so-called conventional forces with particular specialties who regularly worked with the SEALs. The other eight U.S. troops killed were three Air Force forward air controllers and five Army helicopter crew members.
NATO said it killed the militants responsible for the attack. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected that, saying a NATO airstrike killed a separate group of insurgents.
The following list was provided by the Defense Department:
The following sailors assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:
Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La.
The Shreveport native was in charge of Saturday’s mission in Wardak province near Kabul. His father, John Kelsall, who heads Lakewood, California’s, Chamber of Commerce, told CNN affiliate KTLA in a statement, “The country will never understand the level of service those guys gave us.” KABC reported that Kelsall, 33, was trained in San Diego, and he met his wife of three years while attending the University of Texas.
Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif.
Langlais enlisted in the Navy in June 1986 and began training to be a part of the SEAL team three years later. After joining the Navy Parachute team for three years, he moved on to serve in several East Coast-based SEAL teams for 10 years, according to the Navy.
During his service, Langlais received four Bronze Stars with distinction for valor, two Joint Service Commendation Medals, medals for his work in the war on terror and for his marksmanship, among many other medals and ribbons.
Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark.
The 34-year-old Green Forest, Arkansas, native had a motto, according to CNN affiliate KYTV: “There’s two ways to do things: Do them right or do them again.”
Ratzlaff enlisted in 1995 and served in two Special Warfare Units during his time, according to the Navy. During that time, he received several awards, including the Bronze Star Medal with Combat for valor. Ratzlaff leaves behind two sons – 6 and 11 years old – and a wife who is expecting the couple’s third child in November. KYTV spoke to his high school teachers. He played middle linebacker for the football team. Science teacher Bruce Culver joked that he was the best at dissecting frogs, and his friend Kevin Disheroon told the station that Ratzlaff always wanted to be a SEAL. He went to boot camp just weeks after his 1995 graduation from high school.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers, 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii
More than 200 surfers paddled off Sandbridge – one of Vickers’ favorite spots for stand-up paddling – and locked hands in honor of the 36-year-old Navy SEAL who rode the waves of Virginia Beach, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
Vickers was stationed in Virginia Beach and lived there with his pregnant wife and three children - 4, 7 and 18 years old. Back in his hometown of Maui, Hawaii, friends and family also fondly remembered the brawny former high school wrestler and football player. Mary Jane Vickers told CNN affiliate KITV that her son was a good Christian and family man, not to mention a “devoted father, son and serviceman.” Following Tuesday’s “paddle out” in Virginia Beach, those attending whooped, splashed and cast hundreds of flowers into the ocean.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Conn.
The Stamford, Connecticut, native was a man of ambition. The chief petty officer and SEAL was a mountaineer who wanted to complete the seven summits – the highest peak on each continent – and he wanted to one day be an astronaut, CNN affiliate WFSB reported. He also was a skier, a pilot and a triathlete, his stepfather, Michael Parry, said, further describing Bill as thoughtful, compassionate and “remarkably gifted.” A graduate of Norwich University in Vermont, Bill played tennis, soccer and hockey in high school, and coaches said there was a quiet toughness about him.
"We're mourning, if anything else, his unfulfilled dreams,” Parry said during a news conference.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minn.
Faas enlisted in the Navy in 1999 and became a SEAL in 2001.
Among many awards, he earned three Bronze Stars with valor distinctions and a National Defense Service medal, according to the Navy.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Mass.
The Cape Cod native lived in Chesapeake, Virginia, with his wife and three children, according to CNN affiliate WVEC. In 1994, he graduated from high school (where he captained his football team) in a wheelchair after having a nasty motorcycle accident. He became a SEAL a few years later.
“He was born to do this job." his mother told the station. "He’d do it all over again.”
Just weeks ago, according to CNN affiliate WTKR, Houston gave an American flag - which he’d worn under his armor during his last three Afghanistan tours – to veteran Chris Kelly, a man who inspired him. Kelly told the station he was too heartbroken to be interviewed.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Mo.
The Navy SEAL's former high school peer Eric Marshall, now the vice principal of their Kearny, Missouri, alma mater, said he remembers Mason as “a tough kid.”
“It didn't surprise anybody that he was able to have that type of success, and achieve Navy SEAL status," Marshall told CNN affiliate KSHB-TV.
John Ball, one of Mason’s former teachers and football coaches, told KSHB-TV that someone approached him asking if he remembered Mason, who graduated in 1992 before moving on to Northwest Missouri State University, where he played baseball. Ball said he immediately remembered his former student and his occupation. “I looked at him and said ‘Don’t tell me, don’t tell me, don’t tell me,’ ” Ball told KSHB-TV. Mason lived in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with his two sons and his wife, who is expecting a third child in November, KSHB-TV reported.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas
The father of three children – 1, 13 and 18 years old - had a tremendous sense of humor, friends and family told CNN affiliate WTKR, and the 14-year Navy veteran loved being a SEAL. A sister of the 36-year-old chief petty officer told CNN affiliate KVUE that he never bragged about being a SEAL, despite a decade in the elite force.
“He loved his teammates as brothers. He'll always be remembered as a loving person,” Ashley Mills told the station.
His cousin, J.B. Abbott, told KVUE that the central Texas native was “very proud and very brave.”
Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, W.Va.
Null, 30, enlisted in the navy in 2000 and had been a SEAL since 2009, according to a bio from the United States Navy.
Originally from West Virginia, Null's many ribbons, medals and awards included two Bronze Stars, two Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medals, and three Navy and Marine Corps Achievement medals.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La.
The 32-year-old chief petty officer grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, with Lt. Cmdr. Jonas Kelsall, who was in charge of the Afghanistan mission that ended with Saturday’s helicopter crash. They went to school, played soccer and became Navy SEALs together. On a Facebook page set up in Reeves’ memory, one poster said, “You could always make the boys laugh, dude.”
Another described him as “sweet, funny and kind-hearted … More than anything, though, Rob was most passionate about the Navy and his role as a SEAL.”
Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Mich.
Robinson enlisted in the Navy in 1996 and completed SEAL training in Coronado, California, in 2000. He moved from the West Coast in 2004 to serve on four East Coast special warfare units, according to the Navy.
Robinson earned four Bronze Stars, three of which had special distinctions for valor, in addition to many other medals and awards.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, Calif.
He was born and raised in Angwin, a small town in Napa County, California, so it was natural that people wanted to know about his SEAL training. Those who knew him, however, say he was low-key and not one to talk about himself, CNN affiliate KGO-TV reported. He went to a private high school, where he was a good student and athlete.
Benson joined the Navy in September 2001, and he became a SEAL in 2003, according to the Navy. Benson has earned a Bronze Star and a Presidential Unit Citation, as well as many other medals, awards and ribbons.
His grandfather, Carlyle Benson, told affiliate KTVU that he recently earned his commercial pilot’s license and wanted to be a pilot after he left the military. Darrik Benson served in the Navy for 12 years, and Carlyle Benson said he was “a fine boy” and “one of the top men in his group.” He met his wife, Kara, in San Diego, and she moved to Virginia with their 3-year-old son to be closer to him.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C.
The Navy SEAL, 36, from Jacksonville, North Carolina, told his family that if he were killed in the line of duty, he would want a donation made to the Wounded Warrior Project, according to CNN affiliate WNCT. His high school friend, Joe Baile, told CNN affiliate WCTI that years would go by between their visits, but “then we'd be at somebody's house and they'd stop by when everyone was home for Christmas or something like that and play basketball together.”
Joe’s dad, Jack, coached Campbell’s high school football team. He recalled that Campbell was small for football when he joined the team his junior year, but “he didn’t have a whole lot of fear of anything.”
Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah
Day enlisted in 2002, according to his Navy bio. He served at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic Detachment in Keflavik, Iceland, until July 2004, then began SEAL training.
He had been part of the East Coast SEAL team since 2007. He earned a Joint Combat Commendation Medal with a distinction for valor, an Army Commendation Medal, a Joint Service Achievement Medal, and several other medals, ribbons and awards.
Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Neb.
Douangara, a native of Sioux City, Nebraska, enlisted in the Navy in 2003 and joined his East Coast SEAL team in 2008.
He earned a Bronze Star with a distinction for valor, a Presidential Unit Citation and many other awards.
Cryptologist Technician (Collection) Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa.
Charles Strange told CNN affiliate WPVI that three SEALs delivered news of his son’s death to his Mayfair, Pennsylvania, home Saturday. Michael Strange, a 25-year-old petty officer, was on his third tour in Afghanistan, and his brother said Michael – a member of SEAL Team 6 - always wanted to be in the military. Sources told the station that in addition to his parents and two siblings, Michael Strange also left behind a fiancée. He had just purchased a home in Virginia.
"Michael loved this country, he loved Philadelphia, he loved North Catholic [High School, where he graduated], he loved Mayfair, he loved his friends." his father said.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa
The town of Rockford, Iowa, is proud to call Tumilson one of its sons. The 35-year-old Navy SEAL graduated from high school in 1995, but neighbors recall his holiday visits as he was often seen jogging through town, CNN affiliate KCCI reported. Tom Dow, who has known Tumilson’s family for years, told another affiliate, KIMT, that Tumilson was “young, full of life, good-looking kid, big and strong, real nice boy.” Neighbor Leann Ginther said he was a hero.
“Just the fact that he sacrificed his life for all of us back here … I guess that’s what freedom is, is them doing that for us, but way too young of a guy to be losing his life,” she said.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Fla.
Kimberly Vaughn met Aaron Vaughn in Guam when she traveled there with the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to entertain the troops. She said she last spoke with her husband the day before the fatal crash and, Kimberly Vaughan said, “We got to tell each other we loved each other, so it was a great conversation to have.” Kimberly Vaughn said she still plans to build their home in Virginia Beach, where she will raise their two children. His wife described her husband as a “warrior for Christ, and he was a warrior for our country, and he wouldn’t want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did.”
"Even if you could tell him that this would have happened, he would have done it anyway," she said.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah
The Navy SEAL was one of four brothers, the oldest a West Point graduate, according to CNN affiliate KTVX. Workman grew up in Blanding, Utah, and gained a reputation as a compassionate guy who worked hard and loved sports. Family friend Rick Eldredge said of the 32-year-old petty officer first class, “He would do anything to help the guy across the table from him. … He was just willing to do anything for anybody, and he's proven by giving his life to this country," affiliate KSL-TV reported.
Late last year, Workman, who has served in the Navy for eight years, returned home to train police officers, the station reported. He was planning to do so again in December. His family released a statement saying he loved his job and was “the best of the best.” He left behind a 21-month-old son.
The following sailors assigned to a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, Calif.
Pittman enlisted in the Navy in March 2005 and completed SEAL training in March 2006, according to the Navy.
Pittman reported to the the Naval Special Warfare Training Center Detachment in Kodiak, Alaska. He returned to the West Coast SEAL team in 2007.
Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, of Saint Paul, Minn.
Spehar enlisted in the Navy in 2007.
He became a SEAL in 2008 and was a member of the West Coast SEAL team, according to the Navy. Among his many awards, Spehar earned an Army Commendation Medal and two Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals.
The soldiers killed were:
Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colo.
The National Guardsman had dreamed of being a pilot since his high school days in Kansas, CNN affiliate KDVR reported. He was a chief warrant officer at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colo. “He was flying our nation’s elite forces into combat and, as an aviator, for him that is what he wanted to do,” Col. Chris Petty, a fellow pilot and Carter’s friend, told KDVR.
Carter’s family friend Yolanda Levesque spoke at a news conference in Centennial, Colorado, on a hilltop selected because its view of the surrounding hills was one of Carter’s favorites, according to KDVR. “He was an outstanding husband and father, son, brother and soldier,” Levesque said. “He was a friend to all who met him ... quick with a smile and always with a twinkle in his beautiful blue eyes.”
Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.
Bryan Nichols always wanted to be a solider. His father was in the Army and fought in Vietnam, his ex-wife Jessica Nichols said. Bryan and Jessica met in sixth grade, and she said he enlisted in the military before they had graduated high school. Nichols worked his way up through the ranks, and eventually piloted a helicopter with which he’d had a boyhood fascination. “He came across the Chinook …” she recalled. “His father flew Chinooks.” During the years Bryan and Jessica were married, he did three deployments. She had their son, Braydon, who is now 10. Bryan and Jessica’s marriage ended amicably, and he remarried.
Together with Bryan’s new wife, the three helped raised Braydon. The little boy dreamed also of flying one day, alongside his father, Jessica Nichols said. The boy, instead, posted an iReport on Saturday about his fallen father, in the hopes that the world would never forget him.
Sgt. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Grand Island, Neb.
Chris Hamburger said his brother Patrick knew he was about to embark on an important and secret mission when he spoke to his family for the last time. A helicopter flight engineer, he arrived in Afghanistan for his first tour of duty just days before the crash. Patrick Hamburger had a 2-year-old daughter with Candie Reagan, whom he was planning to marry when he returned to Nebraska next May, his brother said. He was also helping raise Reagan's 13-year-old daughter. Hamburger sent an e-mail to Reagan the day before his death.
"Please don't worry about me," Hamburger wrote. He added, "this place isn't going to change me, I'm going to change this place."
Sgt. Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.
After his 2009 deployment to Iraq, the Army specialist moved from Tacoma, Washington, to Overland Park, Kansas, to learn how to be a Chinook mechanic. Sgt. 1st Class Kirk Kuykendall, who was at home in Overland Park recuperating from a helicopter crash himself, told CNN affiliate KCTV that he served with Bennett in Iraq and considered him like a son.
“You wouldn't find a better flight engineer or soldier. … Wherever Alex goes, I will go so I can pay my final respects,” Kuykendall said. Bennett loved cars and the military, and pal Edward Tuck fondly recalled in a KOMO interview the time they spent under the hood of a Honda talking about life.
Another friend, Jessica Hall, told the station that Bennett was always smiling and joking. "He died doing exactly what he loved, she said. “Alex was a hero.”
Spc. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan.
Duncan left his hometown in Kansas because he wanted to serve his country, The Olathe News reported.
"He wrote how much he loved his job as a door gunner on a Chinook helicopter," the local paper said. "But he also told his friends that in the quiet amid the stark landscape of Afghanistan, he missed the Kansas sunsets, lying in a truck bed listening to the radio and cuddling with his sweetie."
The airmen, who were assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C. that were killed were:
Tech. Sgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Fla.
The technical sergeant from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, studied pre-med before joining the U.S. Air Force to become a pararescueman, his mother, Elizabeth Newlun told CNN affiliate KFSM. His friend, Jon Woods, told the station that Brown was popular, athletic and loved a challenge. “He was just an all-American G.I. Joe, just a great guy who loved his country,” Woods said.
Newlun read KFSM a letter that Brown’s uncle had written, describing the airman as “Rambo without the attitude” and “brave but never arrogant, powerful but always gentle.” He was married and had no children.
Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, Calif.
The combat controller with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron was not only a "bad-ass warrior" but also, a loving husband to wife Krista and caring father to sons Hunter and Ethan, his wife said in a statement.
"We will miss him forever but we take solace knowing he gave his life serving his country and fighting for what he believed was right."
Harvell was stationed at Pope Air Force Base, which this year was merged with Fort Bragg, before heading to Afghanistan, according to the Air Force.
Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pa.
The 28-year-old Air Force medic joined the military right after graduating from high school in 2001, according to CNN affiliate WGAL-TV. A native of Red Lion, Pennsylvania, who wrestled and played football, Zerbe was a team player who could always be counted on, his former football coach told the station. His friend, Mike Vogel, who joined the Marines after high school, called Zerbe an “absolute hero,” and Red Lion schools superintendent released a statement, saying, “Dan wanted to make a difference in the world, so he joined the military,” according to CNN affiliate WHTM.
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/12/pentagon-releases-names-of-chinook-crash-victims/
RIP.
Some amazing men.
-
Retired Col. Charles P. Murray Jr., Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 89
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/retired-col-charles-p-murray-jr-medal-of-honor-recipient-dies-at-89/2011/08/15/gIQAThxtHJ_story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/retired-col-charles-p-murray-jr-medal-of-honor-recipient-dies-at-89/2011/08/15/gIQAThxtHJ_story.html)
-
Great, real deal, black American...
-
Retired Col. Charles P. Murray Jr., Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 89
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/retired-col-charles-p-murray-jr-medal-of-honor-recipient-dies-at-89/2011/08/15/gIQAThxtHJ_story.html (http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/retired-col-charles-p-murray-jr-medal-of-honor-recipient-dies-at-89/2011/08/15/gIQAThxtHJ_story.html)
Great story.
Retired Col. Charles P. Murray Jr., Medal of Honor recipient, dies at 89
By Emily Langer, Monday, August 15, 1:37 PM
Retired Army Col. Charles P. Murray Jr., 89, who received the Medal of Honor for single-handedly overcoming a force of 200 German soldiers during a World War II battle in France, died Aug. 12 at his home in Columbia, S.C. He had congestive heart failure.
Col. Murray was a 23-year-old lieutenant with just a few months of battle experience on Dec. 16, 1944, the day he displayed the “supreme courage and heroic initiative” that earned him the nation’s highest award for military valor.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_296w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/08/15/Production/Daily/Local/Images/ob-main-murray16.JPG)
(Photo by Nick Del Calzo) - Retired Army Col. Charles P. Murray Jr. died at age 89.
He had joined the 3rd Infantry Division in France in 1944 after the Normandy invasion that June. Over the course of several brutal days in December, casualties thinned the ranks above him. He became the company commander.
On Dec. 16, he was leading a platoon of about 35 down a mountain path near the town of Kaysersberg, in northeastern France, when he eyed about 200 Germans attacking another battalion of U.S. troops. Rather than take his men into a position where they would be devastatingly outnumbered, he moved forward alone and radioed for an artillery attack. It missed, and before he could correct the coordinates, he lost the radio signal.
He then began launching grenades, revealing his own position and opening himself to a counterattack. Under heavy fire, he exhausted all the available grenades, according to a 2009 Army news release. He returned to his patrol, grabbed a rifle and returned to his position. He fired with such intensity — taking down 20 enemy soldiers and wounding numerous others — that the Germans began to withdraw, according to the Medal of Honor citation.
When reinforcements came, he directed the firing of a mortar and then began running down the hill with his men. He captured 10 Germans hiding in foxholes and was about to capture an eleventh when the man, pretending to surrender, launched a grenade that severely injured Col. Murphy’s leg and knocked him to the ground.
He refused to leave the battle until he could see that his men were in place and ready to continue on without him.
“By his single-handed attack on an overwhelming force and by his intrepid and heroic fighting,” reads the citation for his Medal of Honor, “1st Lt. Murray stopped a counterattack, established an advance position against formidable odds, and provided an inspiring example for the men of his command.”
Besides the Medal of Honor, his decorations included three awards of the Silver Star and two awards of the Bronze Star Medal.
Charles Patrick Murray was born in Baltimore on Sept. 26, 1921, the oldest of three boys. He was raised in Wilmington, N.C., where his father found work as a barber.
He was attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill when he enlisted in the Army and returned to college after the war to graduate in 1946 with a degree in accounting. In 1963, Col. Murray received a master’s degree in international affairs from George Washington University.
Col. Murray learned that he would receive the Medal of Honor not from the Army, but from his wife, the former Anne King, to whom he was married for 68 years. She mailed him a newspaper clipping from home announcing the news.
Besides his wife, survivors include two children, Brian Murray of Fort Payne, Ala., and Cynthia Anne Murray of Roswell, Ga.; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and one great-great-granddaughter. His son Charles P. Murray III died in 2004. Both sons served in Vietnam.
After World War II, Col. Murray reenlisted and became a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. He was a veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. After his retirement from the military in 1973, he worked for the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
In an interview last year with a South Carolina newspaper, Col. Murray downplayed his bravery at age 23. “I was old, compared to a lot of those 18- and 19-year-old kids in the division,” he said.
-
The two greatest heroes of World War II...
J. Robert Oppenheimer, and General Leslie Groves.
I won't try to relate the story,...It's too involving,...Go to that place with all those things made of paper and research it.
-
The two greatest heroes of World War II...
J. Robert Oppenheimer, and General Leslie Groves.
I won't try to relate the story,...It's too involving,...Go to that place with all those things made of paper and research it.
Wikipedia? ???
-
Wikipedia? ???
A library...gym for the brain...you don't get the benefits of a library from the internet.
-
The firefighters who sacrificed their lives on 9/11.
We shall never forget these 343 Firefighters
Below is a list sorted by Letters A-Z.
9-11-never-forget.jpgA
(http://www.fdnylodd.com/images/stories/artwork/9-11-never-forget.jpg)
Joseph Agnello, Lad.118 Lt. Brian Ahearn, Bat.13 Eric Allen, Sqd.18 (D) Richard Allen, Lad.15 Cpt. James Amato, Sqd.1 Calixto Anaya Jr., Eng.4 Joseph Agnello, Lad.118 Lt. Brian Ahearn, Bat.13 Eric Allen, Sqd.18 (D) Richard Allen, Lad.15 Cpt. James Amato, Sqd.1 Calixto Anaya Jr., Eng.4 Joseph Angelini, Res.1 (D) Joseph Angelini Jr., Lad.4 Faustino Apostol Jr., Bat.2 David Arce, Eng.33 Louis Arena, Lad.5 (D) Carl Asaro, Bat.9 Lt. Gregg Atlas, Eng.10 Gerald Atwood, Lad.21
B
Gerald Baptiste, Lad.9 A.C. Gerard Barbara, Cmd. Ctr. Matthew Barnes, Lad.25 Arthur Barry, Lad.15 Lt.Steven Bates, Eng.235 Carl Bedigian, Eng.214 Stephen Belson, Bat.7 John Bergin, Res.5 Paul Beyer, Eng.6 Peter Bielfeld, Lad.42 Brian Bilcher, Sqd.1 Carl Bini, Res.5 Christopher Blackwell, Res.3 Michael Bocchino, Bat.48 Frank Bonomo, Eng.230 Gary Box, Sqd.1 Michael Boyle, Eng.33 Kevin Bracken, Eng.40 Michael Brennan, Lad.4 Peter Brennan, Res.4 Cpt. Daniel Brethel, Lad.24 (D) Cpt. Patrick Brown, Lad.3 Andrew Brunn, Lad.5 (D) Cpt. Vincent Brunton, Lad.105 F.M. Ronald Bucca Greg Buck, Eng.201 Cpt. William Burke Jr., Eng.21 A.C. Donald Burns, Cmd. Ctr. John Burnside, Lad.20 Thomas Butler, Sqd.1 Patrick Byrne, Lad.101
C
George Cain, Lad.7 Salvatore Calabro, Lad.101 Cpt. Frank Callahan, Lad.35 Michael Cammarata, Lad.11 Brian Cannizzaro, Lad.101 Dennis Carey, Hmc.1 Michael Carlo, Eng.230 Michael Carroll, Lad.3 Peter Carroll, Sqd.1 (D) Thomas Casoria, Eng.22 Michael Cawley, Lad.136 Vernon Cherry, Lad.118 Nicholas Chiofalo, Eng.235 John Chipura, Eng.219 Michael Clarke, Lad.2 Steven Coakley, Eng.217 Tarel Coleman, Sqd.252 John Collins, Lad.25 Robert Cordice, Sqd.1 Ruben Correa, Eng.74 James Coyle, Lad.3 Robert Crawford, Safety Lt. John Crisci, H.M. B.C. Dennis Cross, Bat.57 (D) Thomas Cullen III, Sqd. 41 Robert Curatolo, Lad.16 (D)
D
Lt. Edward D'Atri, Sqd.1 Michael D'Auria, Eng.40 Scott Davidson, Lad.118 Edward Day, Lad.11 B.C. Thomas DeAngelis, Bat. 8 Manuel Delvalle, Eng.5 Martin DeMeo, H.M. 1 David DeRubbio, Eng.226 Lt. Andrew Desperito, Eng.1 (D) B.C. Dennis Devlin, Bat.9 Gerard Dewan, Lad.3 George DiPasquale, Lad.2 Lt. Kevin Donnelly, Lad.3 Lt. Kevin Dowdell, Res.4 B.C. Raymond Downey, Soc. Gerard Duffy, Lad.21
E
Cpt. Martin Egan, Jr., Div.15 (D) Michael Elferis, Eng.22 Francis Esposito, Eng.235 Lt. Michael Esposito, Sqd.1 Robert Evans, Eng.33
F
B.C. John Fanning, H.O. Cpt. Thomas Farino, Eng.26 Terrence Farrell, Res.4 Cpt. Joseph Farrelly, Div.1 Dep. Comm. William Feehan, (D) Lee Fehling, Eng.235 Alan Feinberg, Bat.9 Michael Fiore, Res.5 Lt. John Fischer, Lad.20 Andre Fletcher, Res.5 John Florio, Eng.214 Lt. Michael Fodor, Lad.21 Thomas Foley, Res.3 David Fontana, Sqd.1 Robert Foti, Lad.7 Andrew Fredericks, Sqd.18 Lt. Peter Freund, Eng.55
G
Thomas Gambino Jr., Res.3 Chief of Dept. Peter Ganci, Jr. (D) Lt. Charles Garbarini, Bat.9 Thomas Gardner, Hmc.1 Matthew Garvey, Sqd.1 Bruce Gary, Eng.40 Gary Geidel, Res.1 B.C. Edward Geraghty, Bat.9 Dennis Germain, Lad.2 Lt. Vincent Giammona, Lad.5 James Giberson, Lad.35 Ronnie Gies, Sqd.288 Paul Gill, Eng.54 Lt. John Ginley, Eng.40 Jeffrey Giordano, Lad.3 John Giordano, Hmc.1 Keith Glascoe, Lad.21 James Gray, Lad.20 B.C. Joseph Grzelak, Bat.48 Jose Guadalupe, Eng.54 Lt. Geoffrey Guja, Bat.43 Lt. Joseph Gullickson, Lad.101
H
David Halderman, Sqd.18 Lt. Vincent Halloran, Lad.8 Robert Hamilton, Sqd.41 Sean Hanley, Lad.20 (D) Thomas Hannafin, Lad.5 Dana Hannon, Eng.26 Daniel Harlin, Lad.2 Lt. Harvey Harrell, Res.5 Lt. Stephen Harrell, Bat.7 Cpt. Thomas Haskell, Jr., Div.15 Timothy Haskell, Sqd.18 (D) Cpt. Terence Hatton, Res.1 Michael Haub, Lad.4 Lt. Michael Healey, Sqd.41 John Hefferman, Lad.11 Ronnie Henderson, Eng.279 Joseph Henry, Lad.21 William Henry, Res.1 (D) Thomas Hetzel, Lad.13 Cpt. Brian Hickey, Res.4 Lt. Timothy Higgins, S.O.C. Jonathan Hohmann, Hmc.1 Thomas Holohan, Eng.6 Joseph Hunter, Sqd.288 Cpt. Walter Hynes, Lad.13 (D)
I
Jonathan Ielpi, Sqd.288 Cpt. Frederick Ill Jr., Lad.2
J
William Johnston, Eng.6 Andrew Jordan, Lad.132 Karl Joseph, Eng.207 Lt. Anthony Jovic, Bat.47 Angel Juarbe Jr., Lad.12 Mychal Judge, Chaplain (D)
K
Vincent Kane, Eng.22 B.C. Charles Kasper, S.O.C. Paul Keating, Lad.5 Richard Kelly Jr., Lad.11 Thomas R. Kelly, Lad.15 Thomas W. Kelly, Lad.105 Thomas Kennedy, Lad.101 Lt. Ronald Kerwin, Sqd.288 Michael Kiefer, Lad.132 Robert King Jr., Eng.33 Scott Kopytko, Lad.15 William Krukowski, Lad.21 Kenneth Kumpel, Lad.25 Thomas Kuveikis, Sqd.252
L
David LaForge, Lad.20 William Lake, Res.2 Robert Lane, Eng.55 Peter Langone, Sqd.252 Scott Larsen, Lad.15 Lt. Joseph Leavey, Lad.15 Neil Leavy, Eng.217 Daniel Libretti, Res.2 Carlos Lillo, Paramedic Robert Linnane, Lad.20 Michael Lynch, Eng.40 Michael Lynch, Lad.4 Michael Lyons, Sqd.41 Patrick Lyons, Sqd.252
M
Joseph Maffeo, Lad.101 William Mahoney, Res 4 Joseph Maloney, Lad.3 (D) B.C. Joseph Marchbanks Jr, Bat.12 Lt. Charles Margiotta, Bat.22 Kenneth Marino, Res.1 John Marshall, Eng.23 Lt. Peter Martin, Res.2 Lt. Paul Martini, Eng.23 Joseph Mascali, T.S.U. 2 Keithroy Maynard, Eng.33 Brian McAleese, Eng.226 John McAvoy, Lad.3 Thomas McCann, Bat.8 Lt. William McGinn, Sqd.18 B.C. William McGovern, Bat.2 (D) Dennis McHugh, Lad.13 Robert McMahon, Lad.20 Robert McPadden, Eng.23 Terence McShane, Lad.101 Timothy McSweeney, Lad.3 Martin McWilliams, Eng.22 (D) Raymond Meisenheimer, Res.3 Charles Mendez, Lad.7 Steve Mercado, Eng.40 Douglas Miller, Res.5 Henry Miller Jr, Lad.105 Robert Minara, Lad.25 Thomas Mingione, Lad.132 Lt. Paul Mitchell, Bat.1 Capt. Louis Modafferi, Res.5 Lt. Dennis Mojica, Res.1 (D) Manuel Mojica, Sqd.18 (D) Carl Molinaro, Lad.2 Michael Montesi, Res.1 Capt. Thomas Moody, Div.1 B.C. John Moran, Bat.49 Vincent Morello, Lad.35 Christopher Mozzillo, Eng.55 Richard Muldowney Jr, Lad.07 Michael Mullan, Lad.12 Dennis Mulligan, Lad.2 Lt. Raymond Murphy, Lad.16
N
Lt. Robert Nagel, Eng.58 John Napolitano, Res.2 Peter Nelson, Res.4 Gerard Nevins, Res.1
O
Dennis O'Berg, Lad.105 Lt. Daniel O'Callaghan, Lad.4 Douglas Oelschlager, Lad.15 Joseph Ogren, Lad.3 Lt. Thomas O'Hagan, Bat.4 Samuel Oitice, Lad.4 Patrick O'Keefe, Res.1 Capt. William O'Keefe, Div.15 (D) Eric Olsen, Lad.15 Jeffery Olsen, Eng.10 Steven Olson, Lad.3 Kevin O'Rourke, Res.2 Michael Otten, Lad.35
P
Jeffery Palazzo, Res.5 B.C. Orio Palmer, Bat.7 Frank Palombo, Lad.105 Paul Pansini, Eng.10 B.C. John Paolillo, Bat.11 James Pappageorge, Eng.23 Robert Parro, Eng.8 Durrell Pearsall, Res.4 Lt. Glenn Perry, Bat.12 Lt. Philip Petti, Bat.7 Lt. Kevin Pfeifer, Eng. 33 Lt. Kenneth Phelan, Bat.32 Christopher Pickford, Eng.201 Shawn Powell, Eng.207 Vincent Princiotta, Lad.7 Kevin Prior, Sqd.252 B.C. Richard Prunty, Bat.2 (D)
Q
Lincoln Quappe, Res.2 Lt. Michael Quilty, Lad.11 Ricardo Quinn, Paramedic
R
Leonard Ragaglia, Eng.54 Michael Ragusa, Eng.279 Edward Rall, Res.2 Adam Rand, Sqd.288 Donald Regan, Res.3 Lt. Robert Regan, Lad.118 Christian Regenhard, Lad.131 Kevin Reilly, Eng.207 Lt. Vernon Richard, Lad.7 James Riches, Eng.4 Joseph Rivelli, Lad.25 Michael Roberts, Eng.214 Michael E. Roberts, Lad.35 Anthony Rodriguez, Eng.279 Matthew Rogan, Lad.11 Nicholas Rossomando, Res.5 Paul Ruback, Lad.25 Stephen Russell, Eng.55 Lt. Michael Russo, S.O.C. B.C. Matthew Ryan, Bat.1
S
Thomas Sabella, Lad.13 Christopher Santora, Eng.54 John Santore, Lad.5 (D) Gregory Saucedo, Lad.5 Dennis Scauso, H.M. 1 John Schardt, Eng.201 B.C. Fred Scheffold, Bat.12 Thomas Schoales, Eng.4 Gerard Schrang, Res.3 (D) Gregory Sikorsky, Sqd.41 Stephen Siller, Sqd.1 Stanley Smagala Jr, Eng.226 Kevin Smith, H.M. 1 Leon Smith Jr, Lad 118 Robert Spear Jr, Eng.26 Joseph Spor, Res.3 B.C. Lawrence Stack, Bat.50 Cpt. Timothy Stackpole, Div.11 (D) Gregory Stajk, Lad.13 Jeffery Stark, Eng.230 Benjamin Suarez, Lad.21 Daniel Suhr, Eng.216 (D) Lt. Christopher Sullivan, Lad.111 Brian Sweeney, Res.1
T
Sean Tallon, Lad.10 Allan Tarasiewicz, Res.5 Paul Tegtmeier, Eng.4 John Tierney, Lad.9 John Tipping II, Lad.4 Hector Tirado Jr, Eng.23
V
Richard Vanhine, Sqd.41 Peter Vega, Lad.118 Lawrence Veling, Eng.235 John Vigiano II, Lad.132 Sergio Villanueva, Lad.132 Lawrence Virgilio, Sqd.18 (D)
W
Lt. Robert Wallace, Eng.205 Jeffery Walz, Lad. 9 Lt. Michael Warchola, Lad.5 (D) Capt. Patrick Waters, S.O.C. Kenneth Watson, Eng.214 Michael Weinberg, Eng.1 (D) David Weiss, Res.1 Timothy Welty, Sqd.288 Eugene Whelan, Eng.230 Edward White, Eng.230 Mark Whitford, Eng.23 Lt. Glenn Wilkinson, Eng.238 (D) B.C. John Williamson, Bat.6 (D) Capt. David Wooley, Lad.4
Y
Raymond York, Eng.285 (D)
http://www.fdnylodd.com/9-11-Never-Forget/Memorials/343-Firefighters.html
-
President awards Medal of Honor to former Kaneohe Marine
By Julie Pace
Associated Press
POSTED: 04:19 a.m. HST, Sep 15, 2011
AP
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*202/ae789c34c6cbdb14f80e6a706700e9b8.jpg)
President Barack Obama awards the Medal of Honor to former Kaneohe Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyers, 23, from Greensburg, Ky., today, during at the White House.
AP
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*209/7922a900b154bf14f80e6a706700e149.jpg)
In this undated photo released by the U.S. Marines, Sgt. Dakota Meyer poses for a photo while deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ganjgal Village, Kunar province, Afghanistan. The White House announced the 23-year-old Marine scout sniper from Columbia, Ky., who has since left the Marine Corps, will become the first living Marine to be awarded the Medal of Honor in decades for his actions in Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON >> President Barack Obama today bestowed the nation's highest military honor on Dakota Meyer, a young and humble Marine who defied orders and barreled straight into a ferocious "killing zone" in Afghanistan to save 36 lives at extraordinary risk to himself.
"You did your duty, above and beyond," Obama told Meyer after reciting his dramatic story. Though the corporal and a fellow Marine were going against orders — commanders considered their effort too dangerous — they were doing what they thought was right, Obama said.
The president placed the Medal of Honor ribbon around Meyer's neck, patted his back and shook his hand as the audience in the White House East Room applauded.
At age 21, Meyer, who was previously with the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment at Kaneohe, charged through heavy insurgent gunfire on five death-defying trips in an armored Humvee to save 13 Marines and Army soldiers and an additional 23 Afghan troops pinned down by withering enemy fire.
Meyer killed at least eight insurgents despite suffering a shrapnel wound in his arm as he manned the gun turret of the Humvee and provided covering fire for the soldiers, according to the military.
He had been supporting a patrol on Sept. 8, 2009, into a village in the Ganjgal Valley on the day of the ambush.
Meyer and the other Americans with Marine Embedded Training Team 2-8 had gone to the area to train Afghan military members when, suddenly, the village lights went out and gunfire erupted. About 50 Taliban insurgents on mountainsides and in the village ambushed the patrol.
As the forward team called for air support that wasn't coming, Meyer, a corporal at the time, begged his command to let him head into the incoming fire to help.
Four times he was denied his request before Meyer and another Marine, Staff Sgt. Juan Rodriguez-Chavez, jumped into the Humvee and headed into the fray. For his valor, Rodriguez-Chavez, a 34-year-old who hailed originally from Acuna, Mexico, would be awarded the Navy Cross.
"They told him he couldn't go in," said Dwight Meyer, Dakota Meyer's 81-year-old grandfather, a former Marine who served in the 1950s. "He told them, 'The hell I'm not,' and he went in. It's a one-in-a-million thing" that he survived.
Meyer and Rodriguez-Chavez began evacuating wounded Marines and American and Afghan soldiers to a safe point. Meyer made five trips into the kill zone, each time searching for the forward patrol with his Marine friends — including 1st Lt. Michael Johnson — whom Meyer had heard yelling on the radio for air support.
With Meyer and Rodriguez-Chavez ready to test fate a fifth time, a UH-60 helicopter arrived at last to provide overhead support. Troops aboard the chopper told Meyer they had spotted what appeared to be four bodies. Meyer knew those were his friends and he had to bring them out.
"Dakota, I know you've grappled with the grief of that day, that you said your efforts were somehow a failure because your teammates didn't come home," the president said. "But as your commander in chief and on behalf of everyone here today and all Americans, I want you to know it's quite the opposite."
Meyer chatted informally Wednesday evening, on a patio outside the Oval Office, over a beer.
In the ceremony, Obama praised Meyer's humility and work ethic, noting that he would not even take a call from the president during his shift at a construction job because he was working. He's now out of the Marines. So they two arranged to talk over his lunch hour. Obama jokingly kidded him with thanks for taking the call.
The deaths of Meyer's comrades prompted an investigation into events that day, and two Army officers were later reprimanded for being "inadequate and ineffective" and for "contributing directly to the loss of life." Along with Meyer's friends, a fifth American — Army Sgt. Kenneth W. Westbrook, 41, of Shiprock, N.M. — was fatally wounded in the ambush.
Meyer had said he would be humbled by the memory of his fallen comrades as he received the award Thursday. There were to be separate memorial events, including one at a Columbus, Ga., cemetery for gunnery sergeant Johnson, a father of three who served nearly 13 years in the Marine Corps.
Will Duke, one of the organizers of the tribute, said the memorials spoke volumes about Meyer.
"I can tell by his actions, not only the actions he took in earning the Medal of Honor in Afghanistan but also the actions he is taking now. Essentially by requesting these memorial services for his fallen comrades, he's saying this is about them," Duke said.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/Former_Kaneohe_Marine_receives_Medal_of_Honor.html
-
AJA soldiers to get top medal in November
By William Cole
POSTED: 07:02 p.m. HST, Sep 21, 2011
A Congressional Gold Medal ceremony honoring Japanese-American troops for their bravery in World War II will be held Nov. 2 in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep Mazie Hirono's office said today.
The nation's highest civilian award will be bestowed, collectively, on the U.S. Army's 100th Infantry Battalion, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the Military Intelligence Service for their extraordinary accomplishments at a time when the nation questioned nisei loyalties.
Hirono and U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa voted today in favor of Senate Concurrent Resolution 28, which will allow the use of Emancipation Hall in the Capitol Visitor Center for the commemoration.
U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye introduced the measure in the U.S. Senate last month where it passed on Sept. 8.
"This recognition of valor and heroism is long overdue," Hanabusa said. "Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, these remarkable heroes volunteered to defend a country that declared them to be 'enemy aliens.' "
The Japanese-Americans "clamored for permission to fight for a nation that sent many of their family members and friends to internment camps," Hanabusa added. "This ceremony will give us the opportunity to thank these veterans for their service and sacrifice — and honor those who are not with us to witness this extraordinary moment."
On Oct. 5, 2010, President Barack Obama signed legislation collectively granting the Congressional Gold Medal to members of 100th Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team and Military Intelligence Service for their decorated service.
Many of the Japanese-American soldiers were from Hawaii.
The 442nd "Go for Broke" combat team became the most decorated in U.S. military history for its size and length of service, with its component unit, the 100th Battalion, earning the nickname "The Purple Heart Battalion."
In addition, about 6,000 nisei linguists that comprised the Military Intelligence Service conducted classified intelligence operations.
Inouye, who was with the 442nd and lost his right arm to a German rifle grenade after charging the third of three machine gun nests in Italy in 1945, said he is pleased that the Gold Medal award will be shared with families, loved ones, and friends.
He recalled being in the Oval Office with several former comrades in arms when the president signed the recognition.
"We appeared to be in a happy, jovial mood, but I am certain that all of us recognized the emotional caliber of the moment," Inouye said. "We knew that the recognition we were receiving was the result of lost lives and bloodshed. We remembered our brothers who did not come home from the war."
"I am very grateful to this nation for remembering us," Inouye added.
The bill signed by Obama will honor 13,000 nisei soldiers with a single Gold Medal that will be given to the Smithsonian Institution.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/130329083.html
-
Vietnam soldier's remains return 45 years later
September 26, 2011 7:37 AM
(http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/09/26/MarvinPhillips_620x350.jpg)
An undated photo of Army Spc. 4 Marvin F. Phillips, who was 20 when his helicopter crashed in South Vietnam in 1966. Exactly 45 years to the day of the crash, Phillips' remains will be buried in his hometown in Palmer, Tenn. (AP/Layne Funeral Home, Jose Luis Magana)
(AP)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Forty-five years to the day since Army Spc. 4 Marvin Phillips was killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam, his family will finally be able to bury his remains in his hometown in Palmer, Tenn., on Monday.
Phillips was a 20-year-old door gunner on a UH-1B Huey helicopter that crashed into 9 feet of water off the coast of South Vietnam on Sept. 26, 1966, after the helicopter was struck by small arms fire.
James Phillips, Marvin's younger brother, remembers the day a military officer came to his family's home to tell them that the helicopter had been shot down and Marvin was considered missing in action. He said his brother had been due to come home from the war but volunteered for the mission.
One crew member survived the crash and was rescued. The remains of second soldier were recovered, but after extensive searches there was no sign of the remaining two crewmembers, including Phillips, according to a news release from the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.
The family worried that if he had survived the crash, he could have been captured by enemy forces.
"It was very hard at the time," said James Phillips, who is now 62 and lives in Morrison, Tenn. "We assumed that he was probably a prisoner of war. That was the hardest part, I think."
But last year, the Vietnam Office for Seeking Missing Persons notified U.S. officials that a villager in Tra Vinh Province found human remains thought to be related to a U.S. aircraft crash. There had been three U.S. aircraft crashes in the water near the villager's home.
Scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used dental comparisons and DNA that matched one of Phillips' sisters in the identification of the remains.
James Phillips said he learned about four months ago that his brother's remains had been found.
"It'll be a lot of relief to the family," he said Friday by phone from Hawaii where he was escorting the remains home to Tennessee. "We are going to bury him beside my mother and dad. It will be a lot of comfort to know he is back on American soil."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/26/national/main20111516.shtml?tag=contentMain%3BcontentBody
-
Last Draftee Bids Farewell to Fellow Soldiers
October 7, 2011
By Restone Arsenal Public Affairs Office and JFHQ-NCR/MDW Public Affairs Office
(http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/c/images/2011/10/07/222397/size0.jpg)
(http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/c/images/2011/10/07/222398/size0.jpg)
The Army's last draftee on active continuous service, Command Sgt. Maj. Jeff Mellinger, bid farewell to friends, family and fellow Soldiers during his retirement ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, Arlington Va. Oct. 3, 2011. Mellinger's last command was with the Army Materiel Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
Over the course of his career Mellinger served in a variety of roles, including Special Forces military freefall instructor at Fort Bragg, N.C., with more than 33 hours of accumulated freefall in more than 3,700 jumps; senior team leader, 75th Ranger Regimental Reconnaissance Detachment at Fort Benning, Ga.; assistant professor of military science at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks; command sergeant major, Multi-National Force-Iraq from August 2004 to May 2007; and from November 2007 to August 2011 as the Command Sgt. Maj. of the Army Materiel Command.
"The best unit I've ever been in is always the one I'm in," Mellinger said. "Assignments are what you make of them. At the end of the day, this is the culminating assignment and the final mark on the wall that I've done all I could do to help these Soldiers out in the field."
Mellinger has worn the Army uniform since he was drafted into the Army on April 18, 1972, one of the last men to be drafted, and one of the last of those still serving today. It is the values he has learned throughout his career of service -- moral courage, sense of duty, teamwork, physical fitness and more -- that have shaped him into the man he is today, and, he said, are the values that set those that have served their country, whether as Soldiers or civilians, apart from the rest of society.
"You can't buy responsibility, sense of duty and selfless service," Mellinger said. "I'm not driven by a clock. It's mission focused. It's, 'we've got to get this job done because someone needs us.' It's the sense of belonging to something bigger and more important, that there is a duty to our nation."
Mellinger served as the command sergeant major with two commanding generals of the Multi-National Force-Iraq -- Gen. George W. Casey Jr., and with Gen. David Petraeus -- during a three-year assignment in Iraq from 2004 to 2007, considered the most violent and dangerous stretch during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
During his nearly 40 years of service, Mellinger has not looked for a reason to leave the Army.
"I've turned down a lot of fairly high paying jobs over the years. I just love being a Soldier. It's not about the money. It's about the Soldiers, pure and simple," he said.
Mellinger has especially enjoyed the opportunities the Army has given him to have a positive impact on Soldiers, and their personal and professional development.
"The opportunity to guide them, to mold them, to sharpen them into better Soldiers and (as an ROTC instructor) better officers -- that's what I've enjoyed," he said. "The day-to-day interaction with Soldiers and cadets, the leadership structure and the ability to plan and lead, that's what I like. Showing them the possibilities, the things they can do that they never thought they would, and the Army skills like knot tying and building rope bridges and marksmanship, that's the fun stuff."
http://www.army.mil/article/66935
-
Great thread......excellent.
-
Great thread......excellent.
Thanks. :)
-
John Gonsalves - President and Founder
Board Position: Director
(http://www.homesforourtroops.org/images/content/pagebuilder/17743.jpg)
September 11, 2001 was a life-changing experience for all Americans. The resulting military deployments of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and subsequently, Operation Enduring Freedom have profoundly changed the lives of many American service members.
After watching a news story on television about a soldier that lost both of his legs due to a roadside bomb in Iraq, John Gonsalves, a construction supervisor from Raynham, Massachusetts wondered what was being done to support our men and women who had sacrificed so much for our country. He set out on a mission to volunteer his time and expertise that he possessed in building homes that met the requirement of the Americans with Disabilities Act to an organization that provides such services for those most severely injured as a result of combat.
Mr. Gonsalves was dismayed when he could not find an organization that was supporting such a mission. With an escalating urge to fulfill an unmet need, he knew needed to find a way to help these men and women that were returning from combat severely injured. Traveling to military hospitals to visit with injured and their families, speaking with Veterans’ organizations, and researching the difficulties facing America’s injured service members as they tried to find specially adapted and barrier-free homes, John realized most existing handicapped housing did not take into consideration the types of disabilities incurred in combat therefore, adequate homes did not exist in the marketplace. In February 2004, John founded Homes for Our Troops.
When asked about starting a new non-profit organization, John Gonsalves said, "Starting up a non-profit organization was a field as far away from supervising construction projects as it gets. It’s been a learning experience, and tremendously rewarding. The outpouring of generosity from our citizens at times is overwhelming. The Veterans I have met along the way have touched my heart and I am honored to have them as my friends. Homes for Our Troops is dedicated to providing specially adapted homes for disabled Veterans as long as there is a need."
As the leader of the Homes for Our Troops organization, Mr. Gonsalves is committed to maintaining the highest professional standards, keeping it financially efficient and professionally staffed with dedicated personnel. His efforts were recently rewarded when the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP), one of the country’s premier charity watchdog organizations, reviewed Homes For Our Troops’ finances and included the organization in their Top-Rated Veterans & Military Charities listing with an "A" rating. Charity Navigator, America's premier independent charity evaluator, recently awarded Homes for Our Troops with a Four Star rating, the highest rating available from this organization.
In its first two years, Homes for Our Troops built/remodeled a handful of homes as it worked diligently to spread the word nationwide about its mission. Since then, the organization has grown into a highly rated, national non-profit organization that has donated more than 100 specially adapted homes to severely injured veterans in over 35 states. John has made a commitment to building 100 more through the organization’s 100 More…Homes for Our Troops campaign. The organization continually has approximately 30 homes in various stages of construction across the United States and all the services that this organization provides is at no cost to the recipient.
Mr. Gonsalves travels extensively throughout the United States speaking about Homes for Our Troops and advocating on behalf of injured Veterans, including his testimony before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Hearing on Specialty Adapted Housing in 2007 and 2009.
He has been featured in the national media including CNN, NBC Nightly News, Fox News and numerous local media outlets across the country.
http://www.homesforourtroops.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AboutHFOT
-
Retired Army Captain Receives War Medals 66 Years Late
Published November 13, 2011
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/World/396/223/harrison_111311.jpg)
Nov. 10, 2011: Tom Harrison, 93, displays his World War II medals at his home in Salt Lake City.
SALT LAKE CITY – More than six decades after being freed from a Japanese prisoner of war camp, a Utah veteran was compelled to relive the horrors and triumphs of his World War II experience this month when he received a mysterious package containing seven military medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star.
The medals have become a source of pride for retired Army Capt. Tom Harrison, 93, since they arrived in a box with nothing more than a packing slip from a logistics center in Philadelphia on Nov. 4, which happened to be his 65th wedding anniversary. But they have also refreshed painful memories of the Bataan Death March, POW camps and the comrades he lost during the war or in the years since.
Harrison can talk at length about his time as a soldier in the Philippines. But he talks about it much like he talks about golf, focusing on small details — be it the flight of a well-hit tee shot or the day he met Gen. Douglas MacArthur — and the people who surrounded him. He doesn't dwell on his own valor.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor forced the United States into the war, Harrison spent months fighting the Japanese before American and Filipino troops surrendered at the Battle of Bataan. He eventually survived, without lasting physical injury, the Bataan Death March and three-plus years as a Japanese prisoner of war.
"It brings back memories, but also makes you feel like somebody appreciated your service," Harrison said while sitting in his living room with the medals. "It also reminds me of the people I served with in the Philippines. I'm the only survivor from my unit now. I've lost most of my friends."
About 20 years ago, Harrison "shook the cobwebs loose" on his war experiences by writing a book called "Survivor." That has made it easier — but not easy — to talk about the suffering, the disease and the starvation that defined the years of imprisonment.
The medals prompted new interest from his family about the war, Harrison said, although he is reluctant to talk at length about his personal experiences. Instead, Harrison holds up a Presidential Unit Citation as one medal he was particularly pleased to receive because it recognized the soldiers he served with and trained.
His leadership and bravery earned him two of the Army's highest honors, the Distinguished Service Cross and Silver Star. While those medals are only given for extraordinary acts of selfless valor, Harrison said he doesn't remember — or is reluctant to explain — what he did to earn them.
"I don't like to talk about what makes a hero. It's not something I like to broadcast," Harrison said. "But my kids are impressed, and my grandkids say they (the medals) are 'awesome.'"
It hasn't been uncommon for World War II veterans to receive medals decades later because relatively few were actually given out during or immediately following the war, said retired 1st Sgt. Dennis Meeks, a customer service manager for the South Carolina-based Medals of America, a company that works with military officials to distribute medals to veterans.
Instead, veterans were given ribbons because precious metals such as bronze and silver were needed for more pressing wartime needs, Meeks said. Additionally, a number of medals were granted in the years after service members were discharged.
That means many veterans needed to apply to receive their medals, and a strong majority of them did not.
"The Greatest Generation just put this war to the side when it ended," Meeks said. "They had other concerns, like starting families and careers."
As for Harrison's medals, however, it remains a mystery as to who actually requested them. His son, Peter Harrison, said nobody in the family has taken credit for doing it, although they have celebrated the medals with a family dinner.
Army officials didn't respond to email requests for comment and weren't available on Friday because of the Veterans Day federal holiday.
Eventually, the medals will be displayed in Tom Harrison's modestly decorated but spacious home, which is about 50 yards from the 7th hole of the Salt Lake Country Club. They will serve as reminders of a well-lived life for him, his wife and his family.
"They add excitement to an otherwise sedentary life," he said. "I can still remember it all, even after such a long time. I don't like to bring it up, but I'll talk about it if asked."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/13/army-captain-receives-war-medals-66-years-late/?test=faces
-
World War II Soldier Gets Bronze Star 66 Years Later
Army Staff Sgt. Arthur E. Ross Honored
Anchor/Reporter Paul Drewes
POSTED: 8:19 am HST November 16, 2011
UPDATED: 2:21 pm HST November 16, 2011
HONOLULU -- A Hawaii attorney with a long, distinguished career in the courtroom is finally recognized for an honor he earned over 66 years ago, on the battlefield during World War II.
Arthur Ross, 87, served as an Army rifleman during World War II, fighting with other soldiers in some of the biggest and bloodiest battles in Europe, including the Battle of the Bulge.
(http://www.kitv.com/2011/1116/29788350_240X179.jpg)
"Art took shrapnel in his left hand, suffered from frostbite and pneumonia and was sent back to the front lines. I think its important their sacrifice is not forgotten," said Retired U.S. Col. Tom Farrell.
Ross left the service right after the war, and never received the Bronze Star for his heroic efforts, until now.
"This award and ceremony is truly a proud and meaningful moment in my life," said Ross.
SLIDESHOW: World War II Veteran Receives Bronze Star
(http://www.kitv.com/2011/1116/29788411_240X179.jpg)
While his heroic actions helped save lives over 66 years ago, Ross said receiving this honor has helped keep him alive, as he's battled with lung cancer that has already ended his career.
"This strengthens my spirits. I suffer from depression because I can't overcome my lung problems. So there is a certain amount of depression I can't control, but things like this make me forget, for the moment," said Ross.
After leaving the Army, Ross became a well-respected island attorney and during Wednesday's ceremony Hawaii judges and lawyers lined up to congratulate him.
http://www.kitv.com/news/29786076/detail.html
-
Almost 60 and Still a Soldier
By Conor Powell
Published November 22, 2011
FoxNews.com
KUNAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Most men at the age of 59 are planning for retirement, but Staff Sgt. Don Nicholas is no ordinary man. He wants to re-enlist in the U.S. Army and stay a soldier as long as he can.
A Vietnam veteran, Nicholas is the oldest soldier serving on the front lines in Afghanistan.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, Sgt. Nic, as he is affectingly called by younger soldiers, re-enlisted in the military.
“It was the right thing to do,” he says. “It’s as simple as that. I just didn’t want everyone else out there doing things I should be doing.”
A former Marine rifleman with two tours under his belt in Vietnam, including one at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon as enemy troops moved into the capital city, Nicholas thought he could faithfully rejoin their ranks.
But the Marines rejected his application. So he turned to the only other unit that offered him a chance to see combat – the U.S. Army.
In 2005 he was sent to Afghanistan as part of an Army Reserves psychological-operations unit in the violent and dangerous Korengal Valley. After a brief break at home in Ohio, he then was sent to Iraq for 11 months. And then Afghanistan again in 2011.
Nicholas insists he isn’t fascinated or even in love with war, but instead is drawn to the military by its camaraderie.
“Combat has a way of welding people together,” he says, “that noncombat doesn’t.”
During his 16 years of service, Nicholas says the average infantryman hasn’t changed much.
“The soldiers of today tell the same stories that Marines told 40 years ago.” But Nicholas adds, most of the stories aren’t suitable to be repeated.
After three wars, and 65 months in combat zones, Pentagon regulations require Nicholas to retire next July when he turns 60. Despite missing his wife Dagmar and his two adult children, retirement from the military appears to scare Nicholas far more than combat.
“If I have my chance to stay in and complete my 20 years. I absolutely would,” he says.
“Probably would stay in a few more years after that if I could.”
As a trained podiatrist, Nicholas is hoping to receive a commission in the Army medical branch which would allow him a chance to stay in the Army and even possibly complete another tour in Afghanistan.
Although Nicholas has spent a career following orders and saluting, he doesn’t like to be told he can’t do something because of his age.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/11/22/re-enlisted-soldier-faces-forced-retirement-as-60th-birthday-approaches/#ixzz1eTmUA5fE
-
Pearl Harbor survivor ashes interred at battleship
By Associated Press
POSTED: 01:34 p.m. HST, Dec 23, 2011
LAST UPDATED: 09:19 p.m. HST, Dec 23, 2011
A U.S. Marine stands at attention during a ceremony to inter the remains of private first class Frank R. Cabiness on the USS Arizona Memorial, Friday.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*450/a5047c0ccfe72e1c020f6a706700975b.jpg)
A Marine who survived the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has returned to the USS Arizona for eternity.
Divers took an urn holding the cremated remains of Frank Cabiness from the late Marine's family, swam over to the sunken battleship, and placed the container inside during a solemn ceremony on Friday.
Hawaii-based Marines from the 3rd Marine Regiment performed a rifle salute and taps during the solemn ceremony some nine years after Cabiness died in Lewisville, Texas, at the age of 86.
His son, Jerry Cabiness, said his father always wanted to return to his ship.
"He said it was because that's where he belonged. Because he lost all of his friends there and he wanted to be with them," Jerry Cabiness said after the service.
The family took some time to fulfill his father's wishes because they had some financial problems and it's expensive to travel to Hawaii, he said.
"But we finally got it done. And it was a beautiful ceremony. The Marines did him proud," he said.
Dozens of Arizona crew members who lived through the Dec. 7, 1941, attack have chosen to have their ashes interred on the battleship after death. Many do it out of a desire to join those they left behind.
Survivors who served on the USS Utah — the only other ship sunk in the attack that still sits in the harbor — have done the same.
Servicemen who served on other ships and on land may have their ashes scattered in the harbor if they choose. Most of the dozen U.S. ships that sank or were beached 70 years ago were repaired and returned to service.
Altogether, 2,390 Americans were killed in the attack that brought the United States into World War II.
The Arizona lost 1,177 sailors and Marines — more than any ship or unit. Most of those who died are still entombed on the vessel, which rests next to Ford Island where it sank nine minutes after being hit by a Japanese aerial bomb.
Cabiness, who was a private first class when Japanese planes bombed the Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, was among the 337 crew members who survived.
Jerry Cabiness said his father was at his battle station in the main mast of the ship when the ship was hit. He narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship.
Jerry Cabiness said his father jumped into the water and wasn't blown from the deck, which had been reported earlier from a Marine news release.
The family still has the only material possession he managed to leave the ship with: a watch that stopped at 8:15, the moment that Sunday morning when he hit the water after jumping off the Arizona.
After the war, he worked for an oil pipeline company in Texas that later became Amoco Pipeline. He measured and documented oil that traveled through a pipeline to a refinery. He never missed a day of work in 30 years, Jerry Cabiness said.
He didn't mention the attack much.
"It was just too hard for him. He just couldn't do it," his son said.
The Cabinesses moved around a lot, but lived the longest in Levelland, Texas.
Today, Jerry Cabiness and his family live in Maumelle, Ark., a suburb of Little Rock.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/136165058.html?id=136165058
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*199/8f6e89accfe02e1c020f6a706700c89c.jpg)
A U.S. Marine detail stand at attention during a ceremony to inter the remains of First Class Frank R. Cabiness on the USS Arizona Memorial, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Honolulu. Cabiness, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked, narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship. Cabiness, who died in 2002, is the second Marine to be interred within the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*382/371db011cfe32e1c020f6a706700e859.jpg)
Jerry Cabiness reacts to a U.S. flag given to him after his father's remains were interred inside the USS Arizona, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Honolulu. Frank R. Cabiness, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked, narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship. Cabiness, who died in 2002, is the second Marine to be interred within the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*199/eb830b8acfde2e1c020f6a7067001c29.jpg)
As his family looks on, a U.S. Marine detail carries the remains of Frank R. Cabiness aboard the USS Arizona Memorial during a ceremony to inter his remains inside the ship, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Honolulu. Cabiness, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked, narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship. Cabiness, who died in 2002, is the second Marine to be interred within the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*199/c6425b3acfdf2e1c020f6a706700c671.jpg)
A U.S. Marine detail salutes the remains of Frank R. Cabiness aboard the USS Arizona Memorial during a ceremony to inter his remains inside the ship, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Honolulu. Cabiness, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked, narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship. Cabiness, who died in 2002, is the second Marine to be interred within the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*199/c68b9695cfdd2e1c020f6a706700e531.jpg)
U.S. Marines stand at attention as the family of Private First Class Frank R. Cabiness arrive at a ceremony to have his ashes interred inside the USS Arizona, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Honolulu. Cabiness, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked, narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship. Cabiness, who died in 2002, is the second Marine to be interred within the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*199/0733c6a6cfdd2e1c020f6a7067009910.jpg)
The family of Private First Class Frank R. Cabiness arrive at the USS Arizona Memorial for a ceremony to inter his remains inside the USS Arizona, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Honolulu. Cabiness, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked, narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship. Cabiness, who died in 2002, is the second Marine to be interred within the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/300*423/74c71c34cfe22e1c020f6a7067001185.jpg)
As National Parks Historian Daniel Martinez salutes, Jerry Cabiness, center, hands the remains of his father to divers to be interred inside the USS Arizona, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011 in Honolulu. First Class Frank R. Cabiness, who was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese attacked, narrowly avoided getting hit by machine gun fire, and luckily his only injury was from friction burns suffered when he slid down a ladder while rushing to abandon ship. Cabiness, who died in 2002, is the second Marine to be interred within the USS Arizona. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
-
What a terrific kid.
Boy Greets Troops at Airport
Updated: Tuesday, 27 Dec 2011, 6:23 PM EST
Published : Tuesday, 27 Dec 2011, 6:02 PM EST
Julia
Reynolds
By MYFOXATLANTA STAFF/myfoxatlanta
ATLANTA - Returning troops at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta are getting a big morale boost from a little boy on a mission.
Cody Jackson, dressed in fatigues, walked through the airport Tuesday and saluted each soldier he ran across.
“I told them, ‘Thank you for protecting us,’” said Jackson.
Jackson, nicknamed “One Boy USO,” also gave the troops a piece of candy. The boy said that his grandfather served in the military, and wants to let those serving know how much he appreciates it.
Cody’s mother, Kelly Jackson, said her son began saluting troops at a Wal-Mart one day and it soon spread to the airport.
“It just turned into a tradition,” Kelly Jackson said. She said he comes to airport about three times a month and greets the troops.
Many of the soldiers Tuesday were returning to the Middle East after a short break. They said they were glad to see Cody’s efforts.
“That’s great. I love to see that. It’s wonderful,” said Army Staff Sgt. Roger Rucker, who was headed to Kuwait.
Cody has a Facebook page dedicated to his mission.
http://www.myfoxatlanta.com/dpp/news/local_news/Boy-Greets-Troops-at-Airport-20111227-pm-pk
-
-
Calif. family of fallen Marine given Navy Cross
Published January 17, 2012
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/U.S./396/223/marine_family.jpg)
Jan. 17: US Marine Lance Cpl. Donald J. Hogan, 20, on display at the memorial service.
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – A Marine who died from a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was awarded the highest honor given to members of the Corps for his heroic actions as he hurled his body into a fellow serviceman and warned the rest of the his squad of the blast.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said Tuesday that 20-year-old Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan is "now part of a part of Marine lore along with the great heroes of the Corps" as he presented the fallen hero's parents with the Navy Cross. He said his actions placed him among the "bravest and finest" in the Marines.
Jan. 17: Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, left, presents the Navy Cross posthumously to the parents of Lance Cpl. Donald J. Hogan, as Hogan's mother, Carla Hogan, wipes tears and father, James Hogan, looks on.
Mabus spoke in front of new barracks at Camp Pendleton that will be named after Hogan, who was from nearby San Clemente, Calif. The barracks will house troops wounded in the war and those resting.
There will be enough rooms to house more than 1,000 Marines.
Hogan was killed in 2009 in Helmand Province in Afghanistan while on patrol. The rifleman had volunteered to wear a metal detector that day and help look for explosive devices.
He spotted a kite string on the road go taut in Taliban territory, a sign that a roadside bomb was about to go off. He flew into into action, hurling his body into a fellow Marine and then running to the road to yell a warning to the rest of his squad before the blast killed him.
Hogan had wanted to join the Marine Corps since he was a young boy.
His father, Jim Hogan, said he was always proud of his son for following in the footsteps of his father, a Marine veteran of three wars from World War II to Vietnam. Speaking at the morning ceremony, Hogan thanked the Marine Corps for helping his son fulfill his lifelong dream.
"We will always be grateful," Jim Hogan said.
His wife wiped a tear after Mabus presented her and her husband the award.
Lt. Col. Terry M. Johnson, the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, said Hogan's fellow troops described him as having "a heart bigger than life, generous, unwavering commitment toward his fellow Marines, loyal, selfless, and always with a smile."
Marine Corps officials had recommended the Silver Star for Hogan, but Mabus said he decided to honor the fallen Marine's legacy with its highest honor because of his dedication in putting himself before his fellow Marines. His actions humbled and awed his fellow troops, Mabus said.
"Lance Cpl. Hogan made a choice that is unimaginable for most of us," Mabus said. "But it was a choice of a Marine."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/01/17/calif-family-fallen-marine-given-navy-cross/
-
James Lovell...
-
Another American hero. The Wolfhounds have lost a number of Soldiers. Glad he made it home.
Shelbyville native awarded with Silver Star
Friday, March 9, 2012
By MITCHELL PETTY ~ mpetty@t-g.com
Shelbyville native, Sgt. Michael Moynihan is presented with the Silver Star by Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn.
(http://www.t-g.com/photos/16/29/90/1629900-L.jpg)
(U.S. Army photo)
"FOR GALLANTRY IN ACTION" is engraved on the back of the Silver Star.
Those words now rest atop of Shelbyville native Sgt. Michael Moynihan's heart.
On Monday, March 5, Sgt. Moynihan was awarded the nation's third-highest award for combat bravery at Combat Outpost Monti in the Kunar province of Afghanistan.
The army's narrative accompanying his award says that Sgt. Moynihan took the lead in repelling an intense enemy attack, risking his life repeatedly from Oct. 11 to 13 while he and other troops faced sustained fire.
On Oct. 13, he exposed himself to enemy fire during the heaviest and most coordinated attack. Lives were lost on both sides.
"He called the Saturday before he received the Silver Star to tell his Dad that he was receiving the honor," said Sgt. Moynihan's mother, Kim. "He told his Dad something along the lines that being successful and coming back from the mission were slim to none."
Bravery and a sense of service are traits that run common in the Moynihan family. Sgt. Moynihan is the third brother to serve tours of duty in the Middle East. His brothers Andrew and Timothy have both preceeded him in the Army and Air Force, respectively.
"I'm very proud of my son Michael, the qualities that he exercises in carrying out his duties to the United States Army, comes from the solid foundation in which his father and I have endeavored to give him and his siblings in their upbringing through the Catholic Faith. St. Michael pray for us," Kim said.
One of 10 children, Moynihan is nearing the completion of his second tour of duty in the Middle East. In a few weeks, he will return to his home base in Hawaii.
He is assigned to Company B., 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, "The Wolfhounds."
http://www.t-g.com/story/1824167.html
-
Powerful story. One of the better articles I've read in a while.
A war hero returns home, 40 years later
By John Blake, CNN
updated 4:08 PM EDT, Sat March 24, 2012
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120323044600-karl-marlantes-guitar-story-top.jpg)
(CNN) -- Karl Marlantes stared at the young man through the sights of an M-16 rifle and slid his muddy finger over the curve of the trigger.
Turning toward him, the man locked eyes with Marlantes and froze.
"Don't throw it. Don't throw it," Marlantes whispered, hoping the man would surrender.
Moments earlier, the North Vietnamese soldier had been hurling grenades at a group of U.S. Marines. He was cornered near the top of a hill. Blood streamed down his face from a head wound; the crumpled body of a friend lay at his feet.
Marlantes had slithered undetected to a spot just below the soldier's foxhole. When the soldier popped up, arm cocked to throw another grenade, he spotted Marlantes.
The soldier's dark eyes widened in fear; he looked around for a way out, but there was none; and then he snarled, showing his teeth.
Marlantes watched as the grenade left the soldier's hand and tumbled straight toward him.
'How can you return home?'
He had a family, a big income, and stayed in first-class hotels while jetting off to Europe and the Far East. When companies faced a crisis, they called Marlantes. He was the Ivy-League educated business consultant, the ex-Marine with the medals.
Yet few knew that Marlantes was facing his own crisis. Something was happening to him that neither he, nor his wife or five kids, could understand: There was hardly a day when he wasn't thinking about the secrets he left in Vietnam.
"How can you return home if you've never left?" he once wrote.
Marlantes is 67 now, with thick salt-and-pepper hair, a scruffy goatee and a calm, measured way of talking, but the fatigue can be seen in the lines under his eyes. He's been sorting through his war memories for over 40 years.
He first tried to purge them. He took 33 years to write "Matterhorn," his 2010 debut novel about a Marine unit in Vietnam. He released his combat memoir, "What It is Like to Go to War," last year.
What do you do when you take a young man who had just earned his doctorate in philosophy and place him on the battlefields of Europe during World War II? You get a classic. Gray, who served in a counterintelligence unit during the war, marshals his philosophical training to examine why men are drawn to battle, how they deal with guilt and how war changed him. The book is deeply philosophical and personal. Its influence can clearly be seen in Karl Marlantes' contemporary classic war memoir, "What It Is Like to Go to War."
Few contemporary writers describe the fierce bond that unites men in danger better than Junger. Whether it's the doomed fishermen in "A Perfect Storm," or his inspiring portrait of the late Afghan resistance leader, Ahmad Shah Massoud in "Fire," Junger's stories are rich in detail and testosterone-fueled banter. In "War," Junger follows American soldiers as they try to survive a 15-month deployment at a remote outpost in Afghanistan ringed by the Taliban.
There's a well-known picture of a tanned and shirtless E.B. Sledge, staring vacantly after battle in World War II. The photo, reprinted in Sledge's searing memoir, seemed to say it all. Sledge had seen so much brutality that he would never be the same. Sledge's gripping account of U.S. Marines fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific is harrowing. His description of Marines casually using knives to dig out gold crowns from the mouths of dead Japanese soldiers after battle is unforgettable. Sledge's memoir was part of the inspiration for the HBO miniseries, "The Pacific."
When a U.S. Navy Seal team tracked down and killed Osama bin Laden, America cheered. It's not unusual today to hear of crack American military units tracking down bad guys in remote places to bring them to justice. Bowden's "Black Hawk Down," reminds readers, though, of another time when some of America's finest soldiers were cut to pieces in the winding streets of Somalia when they went after a bad guy. The book is a graphic reminder that no matter how good soldiers are, awful things can still happen when plans go wrong. The book was later made into a hit movie.
Ambrose, the gravel-voiced historian, once said that a relative had accused him of writing books that celebrated American triumphalism. He never denied the charge, and "Band of Brothers" is a superb example. It's a rousing look at an American paratrooper unit that participated in some of the biggest battles in World War II. Their commander came out of central casting: handsome, brave and a natural leader. None of his paratroopers had any moral qualms about the war. There were no racial tensions in the unit. Ambrose' book evoked what seemed to be a simpler time when America was emerging as the world's strongest nation. It still works today, though, because it also captures the brotherhood that all soldiers, not just Americans, share.
Caputo's novel is the polar opposite of "Band of Brothers." It is considered the definitive Vietnam novel. His autographical account of his stint as a Marine combat officer in the early years of Vietnam is considered by many the best book on Vietnam. Perhaps only two other Vietnam books -- "Dispatches" and "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young," are as popular.
During the last days of World War II, German soldiers desperately sought out American and British units in order to surrender. There was a reason that they were afraid of surrendering to advancing Russian soldiers -- they might not survive. The war on the Eastern front was waged without pity. Some have called it the clash of titans because the huge number of soldiers and tanks involved. Biderman's account is considered one of the finest descriptions of that clash from the ground level. He survived five years of combat on arguably the cruelest terrain in World War II.
Both books have been hailed as war classics. "Matterhorn" became a New York Times bestseller. Critics described his memoir as "spellbinding" and "staggeringly beautiful." Marlantes was invited to speak at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy.
Marlantes accepted so many speaking requests that a three-week stretch is the longest he's spent at home during the last two years. But Marlantes' books aren't just memoirs. They're warnings.
What Marlantes faced may soon afflict the families and friends of thousands of American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The nation is facing a post-traumatic stress disorder "epidemic," a recent U.S. Army study concluded.
The study says that about 472,000 Afghan and Iraq veterans are suffering from PTSD, which includes symptoms such as inexplicable bursts of anger, depression, and memory loss. The U.S. Army sergeant recently arrested for allegedly gunning down 16 Afghan villagers, including women and babies, had been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and PTSD. He was on his fourth deployment. Veterans carry invisible wounds, Marlantes says, but so do their loved ones.
"For every veteran who goes through a divorce, a wife goes through one, too," he writes near the beginning of his memoir. "For every veteran alone in the basement, there is a wife upstairs, bewildered, isolated and in despair from the dark clouds of war that hangs over family life."
Those clouds of war can take a decade to engulf a veteran. Marlantes didn't have his first flashback until about 15 years after he left Vietnam, when he walked into a business meeting one day and saw a pile of mangled bodies on the conference table.
"When the peace treaty is signed, the war isn't over for the veterans, or the family," he says. "It's just starting."
Families can prepare for that burden, he says, but they must first understand some uncomfortable truths: War isn't just hell. It can also be exhilarating.
. . . .
more . . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/24/living/karl-marlantes-war-books/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
-
Governor orders flags at half-staff Thursday for Army pilot
By Star-Advertiser staff
POSTED: 04:30 p.m. HST, May 07, 2012
LAST UPDATED: 09:57 p.m. HST, May 07, 2012
Gov. Neil Abercrombie ordered that all national and Hawaii flags at state offices and agencies and the Hawaii National Guard are to be flown at half-staff on Thursday in memory of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Don C. Viray, an Army helicopter pilot killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on April 19.
Viray, 25, was a native of Waipahu and a graduate of Roosevelt High School.
A memorial service will be held Thursday at Borthwick Mortuary. Visitation is at 9 a.m. and a service is at 10 a.m. Viray will be laid to rest at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.
"We honor Chief Warrant Officer 2 Viray and all of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice as a result of their duty to the nation and fellow soldiers," Abercrombie said in a news release Monday. "My deepest sympathies go out to CW2 Viray's family and friends."
Also killed in the helicopter crash were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nicholas S. Johnson, 27, of San Diego; Spc. Dean R. Shaffer, 23, of Pekin, Ill.; and Spc. Chris J. Workman, 33, of Boise, Idaho. The soldiers were with A Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, out of Wheeler Army Airfield.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/150532945.html?id=150532945
-
This Army Helicopter Medic Rescued More Than A Dozen Soldiers During A Deadly 60 Hour Mission
Robert Johnson | 13 minutes ago | 8 |
inShare
5
A A A
Jay Sauceda for The Daily
When Army Sgt. Julia Bringloe received the Distinguished Flying Cross during a Manhattan ceremony last week it wasn't really for any one particular thing that she did.
Bringloe, 39, received the honor for dozens of courageous acts performed during a 60-hour mission where she and her medevac crew rescued 14 wounded soldiers. The Flying Cross recognizes "extraordinary achievement for an aerial flight."
Erik German from The Daily talked to Bringloe and her helicopter crew about Operation Hammerdown and
Jay Sauceda for The Daily
Army Sgt. Julia Bringloe
the nearly three days they spent flying into, hovering above, and dropping in, to extreme danger and live combat.
Operation Hammerdown launched as an effort to wipe out insurgent training camps near the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan. It turned into one big, long firefight that absorbed all the lifesaving resources the Army could provide.
Almost immediately U.S. troops began suffering casualties and Bringloe's UH-60 Black Hawk was called in to rescue downed troops. With her crew's sister ship taken out of action early, Bringloe and three person crew became the only medevac chopper in the area — responsible for rescuing every badly wounded soldier — and there were a lot of them.
On the first day while flying in the thin, sparing air at 10,000 feet, her chopper's blades desperate to find purchase and provide lift, Bringloe was lowered more than 15-stories to the ground.
On the rocky soil, she hauled a wounded soldier from his stretcher and hooked him to her cable for the ride 150 feet back up into the chopper, which was still desperately clawing for purchase in the rarefied air.
As the hoist pulled them up, the cable swung Bringloe and her patient straight into a nearby tree where she swung her body around to protect his, breaking her leg.
“In some of the write-ups I’ve seen you would think my leg was dangling off of (my torso),” Bringloe told Paul Ghiringhelli at the Fort Drum paper. “But really it was just a small fracture.”
Back at base when Bringloe brought the wounded to the infirmary, one of her pilots, Chief Warrant Officer Erik Sabiston noticed her leg, and asked her if she needed to quit.
Bringloe said it wasn't an option. “I was the only medic in the valley and it was a huge mission,” she told The Daily.
And a very different mission than she faced just four years before when she was still a Hawaiian carpenter doing her best to raise her son and get along with her ex. But that life was likely far from her mind on June 25, 2011 when she clambered back into the Black Hawk and flew straight back into the fray.
Back where she'd broken her leg, Bringloe was dropped down again to rescue a fallen Afghan translator who needed to be lifted out before troops in the structure below could move on.
Pilot Sabiston slipped the Black Hack into a hover that locked him eye-to-eye with enemy insurgents on a ridgeline about 70 feet from the house below. The site was a frenzy of gunfire.
“As soon as she hit the ground she was in a no-lie, real-deal firefight,” Sabiston said.
A nearby Apache gunship pilot radioed Bringloe's crew, “Medevac, you guys are crazy.”
Helping her strap the dead translator to the line while she stayed behind, soldiers on the ground had to remind Bringloe to duck. “Somehow I think I’m impervious to bullets or something,” she said.
With the translator's body safely aboard the Black Hawk above, Bringloe latched herself to the now vacant cable. The insurgents on the ridgeline promptly concentrated their fire on her dangling form.
The high velocity rounds streamed past her as she rose, and sounded like "a kind of whistling" she later explained. Troops below radioed to Sabiston above, “They’re shooting at your medic! Get out of here!”
Unable to alter his position or risk dragging Bringloe into another tree, Sabiston had to remain hovering for a full 15 seconds while half-a-dozen insurgents pounded round after round at Bringloe on the rising cable.
Breaking out the only weapon available, co-pilot CWO Ken Brodhead chambered a round in a nearby M4 and began firing from his window.
Though she doesn't know how much it helped, Bringloe said “I thought it was pretty funny though. I love that guy.”
Sgt. Julia Bringloe joins only six other women to have received the Distinguished Flying Cross, including Amelia Earhart.
The award was struck in 1927 and has since been bestowed upon Charles Lindbergh, George H.W. Bush, and Admiral Richard Byrd among others.
-
Marine's final act of valor saved friend from plane wreck
Published May 14, 2012
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/660/371/austinanderson_2.JPG)
Marine Austin Anderson during a 2010 interview for a student-produced documentary at Oral Roberts University (Vimeo/Brooke Ninowski)
An Oklahoma Marine made the ultimate sacrifice when he pulled a friend out of a fiery plane wreck, saving her life but suffering fatal burns over 90 percent of his body.
Friends of Hannah Luce, the lone survivor of Friday's crash of a twin-engine Cessna 401 just northwest of Chanute, Kan., hailed Austin Anderson as a hero who gave his life without a second thought. The pair was among five young adults bound from Tulsa for a Christian youth group conference in Iowa.
“He is a very tough guy, but once you got to know he was such much of a teddy bear,” Lauren Rockett said of the man she got to know at Oral Roberts University. “It would be totally like Austin's character.”
“It would be totally like Austin's character.”
- Lauren Rockett, friend of hero Austin Anderson
Three companions aboard the flight, Stephen Luth, Luke Sheets and Garrett Coble, died instantly, but Anderson, 27, and Luce, 22, survived the crash. Luce was trapped inside the burning fuselage, but Anderson managed to pull her out and guide her to a nearby road. Luce had a passerby call her father while they waited for an ambulance, which then took them to a Wichita hospital. Anderson died there early Saturday morning.
Hannah is being treated for severe burns over 28 percent of her body. She was scheduled to undergo skin graft surgery on Monday.
"The way I discovered about my daughter and the plane accident was probably the most unscripted way you could imagine," Ron Luce said Sunday during a news conference at University of Kansas Hospital. "I asked [the woman], where's the plane? She said it's off in the distance, and there are flames, there's smoke."
Luce said he asked his daughter about reports that Anderson had pulled her from the wreckage, but "she just began to tear up" and didn't respond.
"I know Austin, he's that kind of guy," Ron Luce said. "He served two tours in Iraq, and he was willing to give his life for his country. He was willing to give his life for a friend. He was always willing to go that extra mile."
Anderson had just being hired for a Christian group called Teen Mania. Rockett said she wasn't surprised when she heard Anderson had saved a life with little regard for his own. Rockett’s classmate, Brooke Ninowski, created a documentary more than a year ago about Anderson’s life for a class assignment. In the film, Anderson spoke of feeling "fearless" because he has God’s help.
“That's one of the only comforting thoughts that he knew before he died, that he had a relationship with God," said Rockett.
Anderson served in Iraq before attending Oral Roberts University, where Luce also attended and graduated from last year with a degree in theology.
The five were flying to an "Acquire the Fire" Christian rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was the last of 33 such events this year held across the U.S. by Teen Mania Ministries, which was founded 25 years ago by Ron Luce, with the goal of reaching out to troubled youths. The ministry is based in Garden Valley, Texas, where the Luce family lives.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/05/14/marine-commits-final-act-valor-saving-friend-from-plane-wreck/
-
Four decades later, Medal of Honor for newlywed hero's sacrifice
By Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer
updated 11:03 PM EDT, Tue May 15, 2012
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120515114149-sabo-medal-of-honor-story-top.jpg)
Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. and Rose Mary on their wedding day in 1969. He died heroically in Cambodia a few months later.
Washington (CNN) -- Rose Mary Sabo Brown spent just 30 days with her new husband, Army Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr., before he shipped out to fight in Vietnam. But from that month together in 1969 grew a lifetime of love.
"We got married in September, he got to come home that weekend, and we spent the night together, and he had to go back to Georgia the next day," Rose told CNN. After that, Sabo was off to training before returning home for 30 days that fall.
"We only had that one month together as a married couple," she told CNN. "He left for Vietnam, and I never saw him again."
About seven months after the wedding, two soldiers knocked on the door of her home in western Pennsylvania to say he was missing in action.
"They came back to me five days later and told me that he was killed in action by enemy fire, and that was it. That's all I knew for 32 years."
There was a lot more to know, and now the nation is honoring what he did those decades ago. On Wednesday President Barack Obama will award Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr. the Medal of Honor.
Brown said her husband was fun-loving. "The Leslie I knew was always goofing around, having fun. We had a ball together, my family adored him. Oh my gosh, my mother keeps saying, 'You couldn't have found anybody better than him to marry my daughter.'"
I've never stopped thinking about him
Rose Mary Sabo Brown, widow of Army Spec. Leslie Sabo Jr.
The people he fought with in the 101st Airborne Division told Rose that he knew when to put aside the goofing and focus on fighting.
"When he was over there, he wore a red bandanna," she said. "And (his fellow soldiers) said when he put that red bandanna around his forehead, he meant business. He was a soldier. And they have a picture of him with that red bandanna on, and the title of it is 'The Soldier.'"
The Soldier's last stand, near the Se San River in Cambodia on May 10, 1970, is documented by the Department of Defense:
"Even though his platoon was ambushed from all sides by a large enemy force, Sabo charged the enemy position, killing several enemy Soldiers. He then assaulted an enemy flanking force, successfully drawing their fire away from friendly Soldiers and ultimately forcing the enemy to retreat. While securing a re-supply of ammunition, an enemy grenade landed nearby. Specialist Sabo picked it up, threw it, and shielded a wounded comrade with his own body -- absorbing the brunt of the blast and saving his comrade's life.
"Although wounded by the grenade blast, Sabo continued to charge the enemy's bunker. After receiving several serious wounds from automatic weapons fire, he crawled toward the enemy emplacement and, when in position, threw a grenade into the bunker. The resulting explosion silenced the enemy fire, but also ended Specialist Sabo's life."
When Obama presents Rose Mary Sabo Brown with the medal on the pale blue ribbon, it will complete a circle that began 42 years ago right after her husband's death. His unit had recommended him for the Medal of Honor, but somehow it didn't happen. A researcher discovered files about Sabo, and now the earlier oversight has been corrected.
For now, Brown is focused on her late husband and the medal he earned more than four decades ago.
"I've never stopped thinking about him," she said. "My heart is filled with pride that you can't even imagine. It will be an honor to share this with anyone who wants to see it."
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/15/us/medal-of-honor-sabo/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
-
Vietnam Hero Awarded Posthumous Medal of Honor
In a White House ceremony, President Obama has posthumously awarded the nation’s highest honor to Army Specialist Leslie Sabo, forty-two years after he sacrificed his life for his unit during an ambush in Vietnam.
On that terrible day in 1970, Specialist Sabo charged toward the enemy, drawing fire away from his unit and saving many lives. During the ensuing battle, he shielded a wounded soldier from a grenade blast with his body and finally, wounded, crawled to the enemy bunker and dropped the grenade that would save his unit but end his own life.
Click below to watch Leslie’s wife Rose Mary and brother George accept the Medal of Honor on behalf of a true American hero.
http://isupportourveterans.com/?p=1230
-
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120524-1094++CTY+MARINES.jpg)
More than 3,000 Marines and sailors of 3rd Marine Regiment stand in formation at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe Thursday to re-dedicate their regimental battle colors with awards earned in war and peace over the past 96 years, and to officially mark the regiment’s final planned combat deployment to Afghanistan.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120524-1051++CTY+MARINES.jpg)
These Marines hold the battle color streamers as they bow their heads in prayer.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120524-1074++CTY+MARINES.jpg)
Cpl. Garrett J. Carnes, in the wheelchair, is escorted by Sgt. Major Andrew Cece.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120524-1064++CTY+MARINES.jpg)
A marine salutes the colors.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120524-1134++CTY+MARINES.jpg)
From left to right, Lance Cpl. David Gipp, Sgt. Ricardo Candelario, Cpl. Sam Gonzalez and Lance Cpl. Steven Stuart hold the colors.
-
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120524-6994++CTY+MARINES.jpg)
Sgt. Maj. Justin Lehew, left, and Col. Nathan Nastase salute the colors.
-
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120528_xtr_natatorium001.jpg)
Solomon Kam, Post Commander of VFW Post 8616, sits next to Francis Chang, also of VFW Post 8616, with caps held over their hearts as chaplain Capt. Anthony Wiggins, USAF, delivered the invocation to the 24th annual Memorial Day commemoration on the lawn fronting the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium. Over a hundred people gathered for the event, whose theme this year was "Malama Na Wahi Kapu Mau Loa" - "Care for Sacred Places Forever."
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120528_xtr_natatorium002.jpg)
Solomon Kam, Post Commander of VFW Post 8616, left, and Francis Chang, also of VFW Post 8616, salute as Emma Benjamin sings the National Anthem behind the colors carried by the Hickam Honor Guard. A Remembrance address was delivered by General Gary North, Commander, Pacific Air Forces, and a seven man firing party of the Hickam Honor Guard fired a 3 volley salute followed by the playing of taps by MSgt Brian Hornbuckle, USAF.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120528_xtr_natatorium003.jpg)
A seven man firing party of the Hickam Honor Guard fired a 3 volley salute during the 24th annual Memorial Day commemoration on the lawn fronting the Natatorium.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120528_xtr_natatorium004.jpg)
MSgt Brian Hornbuckle, USAF, plays taps during the 24th annual Memorial Day commemoration on the lawn fronting the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120528_xtr_natatorium005.jpg)
Thomas M. Driskill, Jr., greets Francis Chang, of VFW Post 8616, and Carl Reber of VFW Post 1540, following the 24th annual Memorial Day commemoration on the lawn fronting the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium.
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/20120528_xtr_natatorium009.jpg)
Members of the Kau-Tom Post Unit 11 of the American Legion gather near the plaque of the Roll of Honor, with its list of those who died in WWI in service to the United States and Great Britain, following the 24th annual Memorial Day commemoration on the lawn fronting the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium.
-
Louis Zamparini: US Olympian (Berlin):
US air officer:
survived 40+ days (if i remember correclty) in a half deflated life raft the pacific after crashing plane: POW in Japan, survived countless amounts of torture.
All amercian bad ass
still alive at 94 years old
you got a problem with Louie, you got a problem with yourself
-
Louis Zamparini: US Olympian (Berlin):
US air officer:
survived 40+ days (if i remember correclty) in a half deflated life raft the pacific after crashing plane: POW in Japan, survived countless amounts of torture.
All amercian bad ass
still alive at 94 years old
you got a problem with Louie, you got a problem with yourself
Nice.
-
Remember my buddy Captain Eric Pallaotoa, West Point Class of 97. died in Iraq during an ied attack.
RIP buddy!
-
http://www.courant.com/news/custom/newsat3/hc-ctwar-casualty-epaliwoda,0,1123851.story#tugs_story_display
RIP buddy.
-
courant.com/news/custom/newsat3/hc-ctwar-casualty-epaliwoda,0,1123851.story
Courant.com
Capt. Eric Paliwoda
Captain 'Big E' Naturally A Leader
The Hartford Courant
January 7, 2004
advertisement
Army Capt. Eric Thomas Paliwoda, who grew up in Farmington and West Hartford, died Jan. 2, 2004 in a mortar attack on his base at Balad, Iraq. He commanded Company B of the 4th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. He was 28 years old.
Growing up in Farmington and West Hartford, Eric Thomas Paliwoda distinguished himself as a student, an athlete and a natural leader.
So when colleges came calling for the 6-foot-6 forward on Conard High School's basketball team, it was the U.S. Military Academy at West Point that won his heart. An Army career followed, and that took Paliwoda, 28, to Iraq.
The friendly captain known as ``Big E'' died there Friday of wounds suffered when insurgents fired mortars into his base at Balad, 50 miles northwest of Baghdad.
``He was a truly patriotic, all-American boy, very personable, tall, athletic, well-liked,'' said John Perotti, a Unionville neighbor whose two sons grew up with Paliwoda. ``You thought someday he might be a U.S. senator.''
Paliwoda commanded Company B of the 4th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. He was due home in April and intended to marry his fiancee, Wendy Rosen, in June. After the wedding, he planned to earn a master's degree and return to West Point to teach.
``He was very excited,'' said his mother, Mary Paliwoda, of Goodyear and Sedona, Ariz. ``He'd be a wonderful teacher; he had a very commanding presence.''
Those leadership qualities showed themselves early. When someone was needed to lead Irving A. Robbins Middle School students in singing ``Happy Birthday,'' Paliwoda was the one who stepped forward, recalled teacher Ted Lindquist.
At Conard, Paliwoda continued to excel. Although captain of the varsity basketball team, he made time for younger teammates, playing one-on-one with freshmen during his senior year.
He was a good athlete, distinguished by his work ethic. ``In the summers, the rest of us would be fooling around and he would be out on the basketball court,'' said teammate and friend Nicholas Sergi. ``He basically carried our team for a couple of years.''
And when the coach needed him to take on a role that removed him from the limelight, Paliwoda did it because it was for the good of the team, recalled Conard basketball coach John Benyei.
``He was one of the hardest working and most dedicated kids we ever had,'' Benyei said. ``He was the sort of kid that coaches talk about years after they leave because you know they are going to be successful.''
Not surprisingly, colleges courted him. ``He was wildly sought after as a basketball player,'' said Mary Hourdequin, his guidance counselor at Conard. ``He was such an outstanding young man.''
Paliwoda chose the U.S. Military Academy because it seemed the best fit for his personality, Hourdequin said. ``It was really what he wanted,'' she said. ``He was the type of student they were looking for. He had tremendous self-discipline.''
In a 1992 interview with The Courant, shortly after making an oral commitment to play basketball at West Point, Paliwoda said basketball played a minimal role in his decision.
``It came down to education,'' he said at the time. ``You can't compete with a West Point education.''
Paliwoda played basketball his first year at West Point, then switched to football and played tight end until he injured his shoulder. During his last two years, he was a hammer thrower on the track team, winning a league championship.
His outgoing personality made him popular with other cadets and faculty at the military academy, said Col. W. Chris King, a West Point professor who was Paliwoda's adviser. After completing his mandatory five-year commitment to serve, Paliwoda chose to stay in the Army.
``Eric really liked being an officer in the U.S. Army,'' King said. ``He loved [his] troops, and loved taking care of the young men and women he was responsible for.''
Paliwoda's West Point roommate, Capt. Jeffrey Csoka, said Paliwoda was with those men and women when mortar rounds began falling on his command post, fatally wounding him.
``He liked working with soldiers,'' said Csoka, who married Paliwoda's sister, Allison. ``He was a great leader.''
In an effort to better understand Iraq and its people, Paliwoda asked his parents to mail him books about Iraqi culture, his mother said. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Paliwoda's unit lifted a curfew and restricted its patrols to major roads as a show of respect.
As a company commander, Paliwoda negotiated with Iraqi tribal leaders. ``At one point he said he felt like the mayor of the town,'' his mother said.
Many of Paliwoda's friends called West Point after learning of his death and have told King they plan to return to the academy for his funeral and burial.
``He's coming back to West Point,'' King said.
- DAVID OWENS And DANIELA ALTIMARI
Remember his funeral at west point like it was yesterday. RIP Eric.
-
Gone too soon. RIP.
-
Louis Zamparini: US Olympian (Berlin):
US air officer:
survived 40+ days (if i remember correclty) in a half deflated life raft the pacific after crashing plane: POW in Japan, survived countless amounts of torture.
All amercian bad ass
still alive at 94 years old
you got a problem with Louie, you got a problem with yourself
Dude.
Anyone that lived through a Jap POW camp is a certifiable badass. Not to mention surviving for 40 days floating in the pacific ocean.
Mad fucking respect.
-
Gone too soon. RIP.
http://www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/paliwodaerict.html
True. He was a great friend , an awesome person, a leader, gone too soon,and left many tears. j went to his funeral at west point at remember ot like it was yesterday. His GF wound up marrying a friend of his and having a family. Some think it strange, but ot it worked out.
still never forget that day at west point cemetery in the snow and winter burying Eric.
-
Dude.
Anyone that lived through a Jap POW camp is a certifiable badass. Not to mention surviving for 40 days floating in the pacific ocean.
Mad fucking respect.
there is a book "unbroken" or "unbreakable" by Laura Hillibran about this. it is incredable, the torture those men withstood is ming boggling.
-
World War II vet, 95, finally gets high school diploma
Published June 27, 2012
Associated Press
MUNHALL, Pa. – A World War II veteran from western Pennsylvania at long last has a high school diploma, earned as a 95th birthday present.
George Hovanec dropped out of school to work, then joined the Marine Corps, serving in a howitzer battalion in Guadalcanal and New Zealand.
Hovanec's family tell WTAE-TV most of his relatives didn't know the family patriarch never graduated. So granddaughter Karen Murray approached Steel Valley High School administrators about a birthday surprise.
Hovanec says he's glad to finally get his diploma 67 years after he came home from World War II.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/06/27/world-war-ii-vet-5-finally-gets-high-school-diploma/?test=latestnews
-
First black Marines receive nation's highest civilian honor
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/062712_sr_griffin2_640.jpg)
By Jennifer Griffin
Published June 27, 2012
FoxNews.com
The Army's Buffalo Soldiers and the Air Force's Tuskegee Airmen, or Red Tails, have had their day of recognition. Wednesday the Montford Point Marines had theirs, as the Marine Corps and Congress honored 400 of the first black Marines by giving them the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor.
"This is something we didn't think we'd see in our lifetime," said 1st Sgt. William McDowell, as he received the medals on behalf of the group. He started to cry, remembering those pioneering Marines, who are no longer alive to receive this honor. He then caught himself and laughed, "My commander would have said "suck it up, Marine."
Seventy years ago when these black Marines enlisted, there were still Jim Crow laws in the South. It was 1942 and the height of World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt had ordered the military to enlist blacks the year before. The Marines were the last service to do so.
"When we got off the bus, we had a rude awakening," recalled Montford Point Marine Cpl. James Pack in an interview with Fox News. "I said, "Lord, what did I get myself into?"
The black Marines, many of them arriving from the North, were taken to a segregated -- separate section of Camp LeJeune, N.C., for basic training.
"We knew we were being trained harder," said Lt. Col. Joseph H. Carpenter, in a Marine video made about the surviving Montford Point Marines. "They're going to make us a model to all the other white Marines. Think about it. In fact, we were breaking every record they ever had because they pushed us to the end of endurance where we just couldn't go any further."
The first recruits had to clear five and a half acres of land with their own hands at Montford Point next to the camp where whites were trained on the New River.
"Mosquitoes, rattlesnakes, bears and alligators were at that camp," Robert Hammond, one of the Marines, recalled before receiving his Congressional Gold Medal.
Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos, who pushed that these Marines finally be recognized and that Marine histories be rewritten to include their stories, described the discrimination faced by these pioneers.
"Once you crossed the Mason Dixon line," Amos told Fox News, in an exclusive interview. "They were put back, or actually put up, in a coal car, which is right behind the locomotive and that's where they stayed until they arrived in Jacksonville, North Carolina."
At first they were only allowed to provide supplies on the front lines.
"There was a reluctance to put them right in the heat of the battle so for the first little bit they were on the fringes of the battle and they would run ammunition out to the front lines to places like Pelelieu, and eventually Iwo Jima. They would bring back white Marines, who were wounded."
Eventually, they fought side by side with those white Marines when those iconic battles turned tough. Later they broke barriers together back home.
"Only when we left the camp did we feel the sting of discrimination," said former Montford Point Marine Ambassador Theodore Britton Jr. "When the white drivers in Jacksonville refused to take us back to camp, it was white Marines who commandeered the buses [at gunpoint] and drove us back to camp."
One famous former Montford Point Marine became New York City Mayor: David Dinkins.
Many of the 20,000 Montford Point Marines who trained from 1942- 49 have already died. Some are more than 100 years old.
"It's a great honor," said Cpl. Pack, as he started to cry.
For the 400 survivors honored with the Congressional Gold Medal, who were once unequal, today they were beyond equal.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/27/first-black-marines-receive-nation-highest-civilian-honor/?test=latestnews
-
Two Rangers Awarded Silver Stars at Benning
Jul 13, 2012
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Ga.| by Ben Wright
2Add a Comment .Staff Sgt. James L. Wilbur, a soldier who halted an ambush of his squad in Afghanistan, said he was just in the right place at the right time to make a difference for members of the 3rd Battalion, 75th Regiment, based at Fort Benning.
"When things like this happens, it's more so just being in the right place at the right time," Wilbur said after a 10 a.m. ceremony Thursday in Marshall Auditorium at McGinnis-Wickam Hall. "It's absolutely what happened that day."
Wilbur and Staff Sgt. Scott M. Anderson were recipients of the Silver Star, the nation's third highest medal for valor.
Staff Sgt. Ryan L. Flora received the Joint Service Commendation Medal and Cpl. Ian T. Seymour was the recipient of the Army Commendation Medal. The awards recognized actions by the Rangers who returned in March from deployment.
Wilbur, 25, said the award represents the entire unit, not just one individual.
"I think when guys receive the award for valor, it lets the guys in the Army and the rest of the community know where we stand in the fight," Wilbur said. "There are guys out there making sacrifices."
Anderson, 27, said the award represents what the Rangers have accomplished over the last 16 deployments.
"Rangers are unique and have a lot of capabilities," he said. "I think, generally speaking, we play a large role in what's going on in Afghanistan and around the world."
Wilbur was part of an assault force in northern Afghanistan on April 27, 2011, when he recognized a spotter planning an ambush as the squad moved along a road clearing. After jumping over a wall, Wilbur was the target of gunfire from a machine gun and AK-47 in a compound.
Wilbur fired off 10 rounds from his rifle when one of the machine gunners pointed the weapon at him from a prone position. Enemy fire was still intense from the north and west as other soldiers cleared the room in the compound, killing three enemy fighters.
"Staff Sgt. Wilbur's actions of valor and leadership were decisive in the battle, and prevented the enemy from gaining a tactical advantage, setting up an ambush north along a main avenue or approach the assault force was traveling along," according to a statement on his actions.
Anderson was leading a squad when he learned that 10 heavily armed Taliban fighters were inside two separate compounds in northern Afghanistan on March 8, 2011. He came under machine gun and small-arms fire from five enemy fighters but returned fire with fragmentation grenades next to a doorway.
After 90 minutes of intense fighting, five enemy fighters, including two senior level Taliban commanders, were dead and one Ranger was wounded. A second Ranger was wounded by automatic weapons fire. Anderson provided gunfire cover at the enemy until the wounded Ranger was evacuated.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2012/07/13/two-rangers-awarded-silver-stars-at-benning.html?ESRC=army-a.nl
-
What honor looks like: The flash mob at Gate 38 of Reagan National Airport
May 23, 2012
By Chris Muller
Honor is a hard term to describe. It doesn’t have a color or weight or shape. If someone were to ask me what honor looked like, I’d probably struggle with what to say.
But something happened on May 23, 2012 at 9:31 a.m. at Gate 38 of Reagan National Airport that might change that. A flash mob of sorts broke out. But not like you’ve seen on YouTube with highly choreographed dance numbers or people singing a song in unison. In fact, virtually all of the participants of this “flash mob” didn’t know they would be participating until moments before it happened.
Let me explain. Shortly before 9:30 over the loud speakers, a US Airways gate attendant announced that an Honor Flight of World War II veterans would be arriving momentarily and encouraged anyone passing by to help greet them. Five or six people looked like they were officially part of the welcoming committee, and the rest of the people in the secure section of the airport were regular old travelers going somewhere. Then I had a terrible thought. What if these veterans came off the plane and just those five or six individuals were there to greet them. I walked a gate over to help see the veterans out.
But – then it happened and frankly, I wasn’t expecting it. All throughout the terminal, people left their gates and gathered around gate 38. A few active military personnel in plain clothes approached the gate attendant and politely asked if they could join in the salute within the jet way as the heroes first stepped off the plane. Every human being in the terminal stood at attention and faced the door.
Someone held up an old newspaper from 1945 that had a banner headline that said, “Nazis Quit!” And when I saw that newspaper, I realized that World War II wasn’t just a chapter in a history book. It was men and women who saw an evil like the world has never seen before and traveled across the world to meet that evil. And they defeated it.
I wonder if in 1945, any of those brave soldiers could ever imagine that 67 years later, we’d still be basking in the freedom that they preserved. And some of those heroes were about to walk through Gate 38.
The first soldier walked through the door. Old, frail and needing help walking. And every person I could see in the entire airport stood and applauded. No – maybe cheered is more like it.
But here’s the thing – the applause didn’t stop. For a full 20 minutes, as veteran by veteran stepped out of the jet way, the US Airways wing of Reagan National Airport thundered in appreciation. Travelers stepped out for the opportunity to shake their hand while others held back tears.
This is the America we picture in our heads. Heroes getting a hero’s welcome and those who enjoy the freedom adequately conveying their gratitude.
Now, I know what honor looks like.
http://www.mullerover.com/2012/05/23/what-honor-looks-like-the-flash-mob-at-gate-38-of-reagan-national-airport/
-
Air Force pilot in 1960 U-2 spy plane scandal awarded posthumous Silver Star
Published June 15, 2012
Associated Press
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/061512_hn_pilot_640.jpg)
Capt. Francis Gary Powers is being posthumously awarded the Silver Star at the Pentagon for his loyalty while being held captive by the Soviet Union in the 1960s.
Powers served in the CIA as well as the Air Force. His U-2 airplane was shot down in 1960, and for more than 100 days, he was held in a Soviet prison. Secrecy clouding Powers' service meant that he was not quickly recognized for his duties when he returned to the United States.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz says the U.S. owes its Cold War victory to "efforts of dedicated public service and service members like Gary Powers."
The Silver Star is the third-highest military decoration.
Powers died in a helicopter crash in 1977.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./156/88/Gary%20Powers%20U2%20Plane%20Silver%20Star.jpg)
FILE: Gary Powers, the Air Force pilot shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960, stands in front of a U-2 spy plane in 1959.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/15/air-force-pilot-in-160-u-2-spy-plane-controversy-awarded-posthumous-silver-star/
-
Report: Photo of Dying Veteran Voting Gets 600,000 Views
(http://www.newsmax.com/getattachment/7425604e-bf8c-4887-938a-541550b1846e/dying-veteran-photo.jpg.aspx?width=200&height=114)
Tuesday, 23 Oct 2012
By Todd Beamon
Nearly 600,000 people have viewed a photo of a 93-year-old World War II veteran voting on his deathbed.
The veteran, Frank Tanabe, is suffering from liver cancer. He is casting his vote from a hospice bed in Hawaii, NPR reports.
This message was posted with the photo:
"My grandfather is proud of having voted in every single presidential election since he was awarded his citizenship in order to serve during WWII. Here he is, 93 years old and on his deathbed, with my aunt helping him fill out one last ballot."
But according to the Associated Press:
"Barbara Tanabe read aloud the names of the candidates to her dad. He either nodded 'yes' to the names or shook his head 'no.' She filled in the boxes on his behalf, following his instructions, even when he didn't pick the people she wanted.
"There were some that were OK, but there were others where I said, 'Dad, are you sure?' she said,” the Associated Press reported. “But he knew what he was doing. He's kept up on the issues, reading newspapers regularly until only recently, she said."
During the early years of the war, Tanabe was sent to a California internment camp. There, he volunteered to serve in the U.S. military. He was assigned to the Military Intelligence Service. Last year, that service was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
If Tanabe dies before Election Day, by law his vote would not count, The Atlantic Wire reports.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/voting-veteran-election-deathbed/2012/10/23/id/461178
-
(https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDCIHSNuGwT5h2bBAPeEw2MUEshaaO_zGgowt4pVaQSRwKaNqpqA)
Soldiers of the 3rd Inf Reg. continue to stand guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, despite adverse weather conditions. The tomb has been guarded continuously since April 6, 1948. (Photo courtesy of Karin Markert)
-
Cemetery enshrines the legacy of Vietnam
Ceremonies at Punchbowl honor that war and all troops
By Sarah Zoellick and Michael Tsai
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 12, 2012
LAST UPDATED: 03:11 a.m. HST, Nov 12, 2012
Bruce Asato
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/312*206/CTY+State+Cemetery+Vet+Day+394.jpg)
Mary Mercier reaches up to touch the name plate of the final resting place of her late husband, Robert G. Mercier, a US Navy veteran, at the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe. Mary says she "comes all the time" to ceremonies at the veteran's cemetery that honor the fallen.
When Max Cleland laid a wreath in 1977 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl, he saw no "Courts of the Missing" dedicated to the thousands of service members who went missing during the Vietnam War.
On Memorial Day three years later, the future Georgia senator and Vietnam War veteran returned to Punchbowl as head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to dedicate those missing courts.
"But still, there were no (battle) maps," he said.
Sunday, after months of construction and years of preparation, Vietnam battle maps were unveiled during the cemetery's annual Veterans Day ceremony — 50 years after what the U.S. government considers the official start of the war.
Cleland again had a chance to dedicate a significant addition to the memorial. "As Americans we believe it is our duty to tell their story to future generations," he said. "I'm honored to be here today to tell the story of this memorial, and to share the story of those on these walls, and to reflect on those who went before us and gave their lives (so) that we may be free."
The dedication was just one of several events commemorating Veterans Day in Hawaii. Other highlights included ceremonies at the Waikiki War Memorial Natatorium, West Hawaii Veterans Cemetery and the Hawaii State Veterans Cemetery; a sunset ceremony at the Battleship Missouri Memorial; a memorial flyover by the Hawaii Air National Guard; and an appearance at Punchbowl by U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta.
In Virginia, newly re-elected President Barack Obama marked the first Veterans Day in a decade with no U.S. military personnel fighting in Iraq. He paid special tribute to "the 9/11 generation who stepped forward after the towers fell, and in the years since, have stepped into history, writing one of the greatest chapters of military service our country has ever known."
Speaking at Arlington National Cemetery, where he laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, the president acknowledged the accomplishments of U.S. personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan and vowed that the United States would take care of its returning soldiers.
"After a decade of war, our heroes are coming home," Obama said.
"As they come home it falls to us, their fellow citizens, to be there for them and their families — not just now, but always; not just for the first few years, but for as long as they walk this Earth."
U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka echoed the president's message during Sunday's ceremony at Punchbowl.
"How we treat our veterans defines us as a nation," said Akaka, keynote speaker and former chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "I feel lucky that I'm an American, and I feel so proud to be an American veteran."
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle also attended the morning ceremony, along with the consuls general of Australia, the Philippines and South Korea.
The newly installed Vietnam battle maps are housed in one of two pavilions built at the top of the monument to complement the existing structure (the other pavilion serves as an orientation center for visitors). Gene Castagnetti, director of the cemetery, said the maps are the first federal memorial to the Vietnam War built solely with federal funds.
PHOTO GALLERIES
STATE CEMETERY VET DAY: KANEOHE, NOV. 11, 2012
STATE CEMETERY VET DAY: PUNCHBOWL, NOV. 11, 2012
"This is the first one that is paid for using your tax dollars, and I think when you get an opportunity to see the pavilion, you'll be very satisfied," he said.
The mosaic maps were designed by artist Mary Jacobs, nearly 90 years old, who also crafted the World War II and Korean War battle maps that have been a prominent feature at the cemetery since the 1960s.
William "Bill" Thien, senior vice commander-in-chief for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said the maps are a good addition to Punchbowl.
"The good thing is I believe Americans today, they get it," Thien said. "They understand how to separate the war from the warrior. Our Vietnam veterans are getting up in age now … so it's a legacy for our children to be able to come here and see that."
Closing his speech, Cleland urged the audience to reflect on the words of poet Archibald MacLeish, who lost a brother in World War I, that are now inscribed on the Vietnam pavilion.
"The words are these," Cleland said: "‘We leave you our deaths, give them their meaning.'
"That says it all for me."
Cleland and Castagnetti later hosted Panetta, who made a brief visit to the cemetery to lay a wreath in honor of Veterans Day and meet with a select group of veterans representing each major U.S. military conflict dating back to World War II.
The formal ceremony — the playing of the national anthem and taps, the presentation of the wreath, and the official signing of the guestbook — lasted just a few minutes. But while Panetta, who flew directly from the earlier ceremony at Arlington, did not address the assembled crowd, he did spend several minutes chatting individually with each of the veterans and their families.
"He was a very nice guy," said World War II veteran Masaharu Saito, a member of the famed 100th Battalion, as he showed off one of the commemorative medallions Panetta presented to each veteran.
Robert Talmadge, president of the Aloha Chapter of the Chosin Few and a Korean War veteran, said he appreciated Panetta's presence at the national cemetery.
"These days it's important to honor our veterans and show our appreciation for their sacrifices," Talmadge said. "As a veteran it's not something I think about necessarily. But when I'm at Safeway and someone comes up and thanks me for my service, well, it's nice to have that expressed."
Talmadge didn't have time to ask Panetta about his family's Italian roots (Talmadge's wife's family hails from Italy), but said he enjoyed meeting the former CIA director anyway.
Herb Schreiner, who served in the Air Force during the Korean War, said he hoped Panetta's appearance would help to bring attention to the plight of the country's youngest veterans.
Schreiner, whose younger brother died while serving in Korea, volunteers at Tripler Army Medical Center.
"Every day I see these young kids with no arms, no legs. I see beautiful young women with their faces burned. And what is sad is that the only people who come to see them are their families. A lot of them are from the mainland, so they don't even have family here.
"A lot of people say they support our veterans," Schreiner said. "I say, if you want to honor them, go visit them."
-
NYPD officer's act of kindness goes viral on Facebook
Published November 29, 2012
FoxNews.com
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./nypd_act.jpg)
NEW YORK – An NYPD officer's act of kindness has gone viral on Facebook.
Jennifer Foster, a Florence, Ariz., tourist, posted a photograph of the officer giving a homeless man a pair of boots and socks on a frigid night in Times Square on Nov. 17.
"'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let's put them on and take care of you,"' Foster quoted DePrimo as saying to the homeless man. "The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching."
The image became an instant hit on the NYPD's Facebook page. More than 308,861 users "liked" his generosity as of Thursday morning.
Newsday identified him as Larry DePrimo of Holbrook, Long Island. He's assigned to the 6th Precinct in Manhattan.
The homeless man said he'd never had a pair of shoes. DePrimo purchased a pair of insulated boots and thermal socks and put them on the man's feet.
DePrimo said the man "smiled from ear to ear. It was like you gave him a million dollars."
He told The New York Times that "it was freezing out and you could see the blisters on the man’s feet. I had two pairs of socks and I was still cold.” He learned the man's shoe size was 12.
The police officer went into a nearby Sketchers shoe store and the manager offered him his employees' discount, which brought the price of the boots from $100 to $75, the paper reported.
"Most of us are New Yorkers and we just kind of pass by that kind of thing," Jose Cano, 28, a manager at the store, told the Times. "Especially in this neighborhood."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/29/nypd-officer-act-kindness-goes-viral-on-facebook/?test=latestnews
-
NYPD officer's act of kindness goes viral on Facebook
Published November 29, 2012
FoxNews.com
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./nypd_act.jpg)
NEW YORK – An NYPD officer's act of kindness has gone viral on Facebook.
Jennifer Foster, a Florence, Ariz., tourist, posted a photograph of the officer giving a homeless man a pair of boots and socks on a frigid night in Times Square on Nov. 17.
"'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let's put them on and take care of you,"' Foster quoted DePrimo as saying to the homeless man. "The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching."
The image became an instant hit on the NYPD's Facebook page. More than 308,861 users "liked" his generosity as of Thursday morning.
Newsday identified him as Larry DePrimo of Holbrook, Long Island. He's assigned to the 6th Precinct in Manhattan.
The homeless man said he'd never had a pair of shoes. DePrimo purchased a pair of insulated boots and thermal socks and put them on the man's feet.
DePrimo said the man "smiled from ear to ear. It was like you gave him a million dollars."
He told The New York Times that "it was freezing out and you could see the blisters on the man’s feet. I had two pairs of socks and I was still cold.” He learned the man's shoe size was 12.
The police officer went into a nearby Sketchers shoe store and the manager offered him his employees' discount, which brought the price of the boots from $100 to $75, the paper reported.
"Most of us are New Yorkers and we just kind of pass by that kind of thing," Jose Cano, 28, a manager at the store, told the Times. "Especially in this neighborhood."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/29/nypd-officer-act-kindness-goes-viral-on-facebook/?test=latestnews
That cop must be a dirty commie.
Helping those who need it? Thats not very american.
That unemployed welfare bum dont deserve help. He is unemployed by choice.
-
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/09/15799890-navy-seal-killed-in-rescue-of-american-doctor-in-afghanistan?lite
-
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/09/15799890-navy-seal-killed-in-rescue-of-american-doctor-in-afghanistan?lite
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/reporter_centanni_121012.jpg)
-
A war hero to a U.S. senator
By Derrick DePledge
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 18, 2012
LAST UPDATED: 02:31 a.m. HST, Dec 18, 2012
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/2934045.jpg)
Daniel Ken Inouye, the grandson of Japanese immigrants, sacrificed his right arm for his country in combat during World War II and devoted much of his life as an unwavering voice for Hawaii in the U.S. Senate.
Inouye was a monumental force in Hawaii politics who represented the islands as a Democrat in Washington, D.C., with poise and dignity since statehood in 1959. He was the first Japanese-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and over nine terms he rose to become the Senate President Pro Tempore, third in line to the presidency.
Inouye, who was given the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, for his bravery on the battlefield in Italy in World War II, had prominent roles in the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968 and in congressional investigations into the Watergate and Iran-Contra scandals in the 1970s and 1980s.
Inouye was a patriot who believed in military expansion yet had a soldier's view of war. He was a respected voice on equality and civil rights who had experienced the stain of racism firsthand.
But the senator was probably best known as an unapologetic advocate for Hawaii. For a half-century, Inouye directed billions in federal money that helped transform the islands from sugar and pineapple plantations into a prosperous state known worldwide for its tourism and strategic military value.
"There have only been a very few people who have been able to fulfill that role with great success. And his was the greatest success," said Tom Coffman, a Hawaii author and historian.
Inouye never lost an election and earned over two million votes during a political career that began with the historic Democratic takeover of the Territorial Legislature in 1954 and ended with his ninth Senate victory in 2010. The senator, who was often uncomfortable with public attention, preferred to stay mostly in the background nationally but could be merciless when it came to using his influence for Hawaii.
"He's long been known as a fierce protector of home-state interests," said Christopher Deering, a political science professor at George Washington University in Washington, where Inouye went to law school. "He's also been a highly respected inside player."
Opportunity Awaits
Born in Honolulu on Sept. 7, 1924, at home on Queen Emma Street with the help of a midwife, Inouye grew up in McCully and Moiliili, which were then largely poor, working-class Japanese-American neighborhoods.
His father, Hyotaro, came to Hawaii as a young boy with his parents, who were lured by recruiters to work in the sugar plantations on Kauai. They had planned to stay only long enough to pay off a $400 debt caused by a fire that had started in the family home in Yokoyama, a small village in southern Japan. But they ended up making a new life in the islands over the decades it took to raise the money and send it back home to compensate the other villagers.
His mother, Kame, was born on Maui to Japanese parents but orphaned as a young girl. She lived with a Hawaiian family and, later, the Rev. Daniel Klinefelter, who led a Methodist orphanage, and had a deep respect for both Hawaiian culture and Christianity.
Inouye's parents met at church and always preached family honor and discipline, a blend of Japanese tradition and Methodist sensibility. Inouye was the eldest of four children — sister May and brothers John and Robert — and was named for Klinefelter and the biblical prophet Daniel.
In his 1967 autobiography, "Journey to Washington," written with Lawrence Elliott of Reader's Digest, Inouye recalled that he did not wear shoes regularly until he reached McKinley High School. His father, a jewelry clerk, and his mother, a homemaker, "were so caught up in the adventure of raising a family, and worked so hard to preserve and protect it, that apparently they had no time to worry about being poor.
"There was always enough to eat in our house — although sometimes barely — but even more important there was a fanatic conviction that opportunity awaited those who had the heart and strength to pursue it."
Inouye learned to speak Japanese at home and attended Japanese school in the afternoons after his public-school classes had ended. But he always saw himself as an American first and took the country's revolutionary history and the democratic ideals of the Founding Fathers as his own. He explained, with some degree of pride, that he was thrown out of Japanese school as a teenager for challenging a jingoistic priest.
His family, he wrote, had "a sort of built-in eagerness to become part of the mainstream of American life."
As a teenager, Inouye liked tropical fish, homing pigeons and Big Band giants like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. He also liked pool and cockfighting, but said the closest thing he came to real trouble was being caught underage at a pool hall.
Inouye wanted to be a doctor and had taken a first-aid course from the American Red Cross, but he was not emotionally prepared for what he saw after Japanese fighter planes filled the skies over Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941.
The Red Cross called him into service at an aid station at Lunalilo School, where he cared for the civilian victims of the attack on Pearl Harbor, including many who were injured by friendly fire.
The surprise bombing, which he would later describe as a "monstrous betrayal," changed the direction of his life. It also exposed him to the racism that infected the United States, even in a territory as diverse as Hawaii. He felt no matter what Japanese-Americans did to fight Japan and Germany in World War II, or the extent of their sacrifices at home, "there would always be those who would look at us and think — and some would say it out loud — ‘dirty Jap.'"
At the time, nisei were not allowed in the military, so Inouye enrolled in pre-medical courses at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed in 1943 to let nisei volunteer for the war, Inouye believed the president was speaking to him. "Americanism is a matter for the mind and heart," Roosevelt said. "Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry."
Inouye was initially passed over by the Army because he was already serving the war effort with the Red Cross. But he was so eager, and so driven by instinct to prove his loyalty, that he quit the aid station and was among the last chosen in Hawaii for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. "All I wanted to do was carry a rifle," he remembered.
His father gave him a simple piece of advice before he left for basic training on the Mainland: "Don't bring dishonor to the family."
Drawn from nisei volunteers from different social backgrounds, the segregated 442nd had to overcome tensions between the "Buddhaheads" — brash young men from Hawaii, where much of the population was Asian or Hawaiian — and the "Katonks" — more reserved young men from the mainland, who were more culturally isolated and lived in places where racism was much more overt. At Camp Shelby in Mississippi, there was bad blood, fist-fights and some real doubts about whether the nisei could work together as a combat unit. (The Katonks got their nickname for the sound of being whacked on the head.)
Years later, Inouye told an interviewer for the 1992 book, "Boyhood to War," a collection of anecdotes about the 442nd by Dorothy Matsuo, that the mood changed when the soldiers visited a Japanese internment camp in Arkansas. The Buddhaheads realized that some Katonks had volunteered even though their friends and families were locked behind barbed wire. "The Hawaiian asked himself that day, ‘Would I have volunteered?'" Inouye said. "I would like to say, ‘Yes.' But not having faced it, I can't say what I would have done."
Go for Broke
Inouye, a sergeant when the 442nd landed in Europe, was promoted to first lieutenant as the nisei moved through Italy, then France, then back to Italy in the waning days of the war. The 442nd won a reputation for courage — their motto was "Go for Broke" — and along with the nisei in the 100th Infantry Battalion would become among the most decorated units in U.S. military history.
In his own descriptions and in the recollections of others, Inouye was a leader who genuinely cared for his men and lost few in battle. He was not a saint. He acknowledged running a lucrative crap game. He said he once used a church tower as an observation post. He said he took a wristwatch — which he gave away — and a gun off a German colonel. He lifted a silver ring off the hand of a dead French woman.
Inouye had been warned not to take risks, that the war was almost over, as he moved his platoon against the Germans dug in along a ridge at Colle Musatello near San Terenzo in northern Italy in April 1945. But Inouye had orders to take the ridge.
According to "Americans: The Story of the 442nd Combat Team," a vivid account written by Army Maj. Orville Shirey in 1946, Inouye crawled up a slope and tossed two hand grenades into a German machine-gun nest. He stood up with his tommy gun and raked a second machine-gun nest before being shot in the stomach. But he kept charging until his right arm was hit by an enemy rifle grenade and shattered.
"And as I drew my arm back, all in a flash of light and dark I saw him, that faceless German, like a strip of a motion picture film running through a projector that's gone berserk. One instant he was standing waist-high in the bunker, and the next he was aiming a rifle grenade at my face from a range of 10 yards," Inouye wrote in his autobiography.
"And even as I cocked my arm to throw, he fired and his rifle grenade smashed into my right elbow and exploded and all but tore my arm off. I looked at it, stunned and disbelieving. It dangled there by a few bloody shreds of tissue, my grenade still clenched in a fist that suddenly didn't belong to me anymore."
Inouye wrote that he pried the grenade out of his right hand and threw it at the German gunman, who was killed by the explosion. He then continued firing his gun until he was shot in the right leg and knocked down the hillside. Badly wounded, he ordered his men to keep attacking and they took the ridge from the enemy.
Within a few days after the battle, the fighting was over in Italy. Less than two weeks later, Germany surrendered.
Inouye was promoted to second lieutenant and, before he was discharged, to captain. He was nominated for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award, but received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster to go along with a Bronze Star. President Bill Clinton belatedly recognized Inouye and 21 other Asian-American veterans in 2000 with the Medal of Honor. "Rarely has a nation been so well-served by a people it has so ill-treated," Clinton said at the White House ceremony.
Inouye had multiple operations to treat his wounds and spent nearly two years of grueling rehabilitation on the mainland to learn how to function without his right arm, which had been amputated. He said he was fitted for a prosthetic arm, and learned how to use it, but it never felt comfortable, so he preferred an empty sleeve.
Remarkably, three of the young soldiers who were treated at Percy Jones Army Hospital in Battle Creek, Mich. — Inouye, Robert Dole of Kansas, and Philip Hart of Michigan — would serve with distinction in the U.S. Senate. Inouye liked to say that it was Dole, who would become the Republican majority leader and the GOP's presidential nominee in 1996, who planted the seed of a career in politics.
When Inouye finally had his Hawaii homecoming after the war, he knew he would never be a surgeon.
Historic takeover
After the war, Hawaii was on the brink of social change. Japanese-Americans were a third of the state's population, and the nisei veterans soon realized their political potential. Republicans had dominated state politics since the overthrow of the kingdom of Hawaii in 1893, but had grown stodgy as the voice of the Big Five corporations that still mostly ran the Islands. The Democrats were largely controlled by the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union.
Inouye enrolled in pre-law classes at UH under the GI Bill with an eye toward politics, not the courtroom. He met Margaret Shinobu Awamura, a UH speech instructor who had earned a master's in education at Columbia University in New York, and on their second date asked her to marry him.
Although their courtship was typical of young Hawaii couples — he proposed while parked off the beach at Ala Moana — out of Japanese tradition and respect for their parents they allowed family friends to be matchmakers and arrange their marriage.
His wife was the breadwinner while Inouye finished classes at UH. He completed law school at George Washington University a few blocks from the White House, which Inouye chose so he could soak up the political atmosphere of the nation's capital.
When the couple came back home, and the day after Inouye passed the state bar exam, he was appointed deputy city prosecutor. Inouye had already been volunteering for Democrats in Washington and Hawaii and had become a disciple of John Burns, a former Honolulu police captain who had stood up for the rights of Japanese-Americans during the war.
Burns, who would later become the state's most revered governor, was a talisman for many young Democrats. He was an advocate for workers and civil rights and saw the political value of linking the union movement with the struggles of emerging Japanese-Americans. It was Burns who urged Inouye to run for the Territorial House in 1954.
Organized labor was — and still is — the motor within the Democratic Party of Hawaii. Japanese-Americans brought race and class to the surface, along with the passion of the nisei who had fought for their country and were not about to meekly return to the status quo.
Several nisei veterans banded together to form Central Pacific Bank to serve a Japanese immigrant community that had been isolated and stigmatized during the war. Inouye bought into the bank with a minimum share of $300 and became secretary.
During the 1954 campaign, some Republicans portrayed Democrats as tools of the ILWU and even communist sympathizers. Inouye became so furious at one event in Aina Haina that he used his disability as a political weapon. "I held up my empty right sleeve and shook it," he wrote. "I gave this arm to fight fascists," he told the audience. "If my country wants the other one to fight communism, it can have it."
The Democratic takeover of the Legislature in 1954 was a pivotal moment in Hawaii's history, leading to more than a half-century of nearly unbroken party rule. Along with Inouye, the class of new lawmakers included future U.S. Sen. Spark Matsunaga and future Gov. George Ariyoshi.
With Democrats unaccustomed to power, the first few years after the takeover were often messy, with internal strife and grandiose visions of change. Inouye, who lost a bid for House speaker but was selected majority leader, recalled writing U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn, a Texas Democrat, for advice.
Big ideas — equal opportunity, worker rights, access to healthcare, better public schools — also took root during the chaos.
Inouye, who was elected to the Territorial Senate in 1958, gained political experience and name recognition that would position him for federal election after Hawaii became a state in 1959.
Much of Hawaii's ruling class had initially been against statehood, since the wealthy and privileged thrived under federal oversight as a territory. But popular sentiment was in favor of officially joining the union.
Nationally, some in Congress resisted statehood because of Hawaii's racial makeup, particularly the large number of Japanese-Americans. Burns, by then a territorial delegate to Congress, had to help mollify Southern Democrats who worried the new Hawaii lawmakers would challenge racial segregation on the mainland.
Inouye had wanted to run for U.S. Senate in the special election after statehood in 1959 but was persuaded by party elders to campaign instead for the U.S. House. Inouye had promised young attorney Patsy Mink, who had already declared for the House, that he would not run against her in the primary, so his decision to switch just before the filing deadline was awkward. Inouye beat Mink in the primary and then cruised in the general election, becoming the first Japanese-American in the House.
Rayburn, who was notoriously gruff but had a soft spot for young men with promise, had trouble pronouncing Inouye's name at first. The speaker told the new representative he was probably among the best known on Capitol Hill. "Why? Well, just think about it son," Inouye recalled Rayburn saying. "How many one-arm Japanese do you think we have in the Congress of the United States?"
In a House speech marking the third anniversary of statehood, U.S. Rep. Leo O'Brien, a New York Democrat, recalled the day Inouye was asked to raise his right hand and take the oath of office. "There was no right hand, Mr. Speaker," O'Brien said. "It had been lost in combat by that young American soldier in World War II. Who can deny that, at that moment, a ton of prejudice slipped quietly to the floor of the House of Representatives?"
Inouye's early display of party loyalty — of waiting his turn — paid off in 1962, when Democrats rallied behind him to replace the aging Oren Long, who was retiring from the U.S. Senate. His campaign against Benjamin Dillingham, a Republican from one of the state's prominent families, showed how much Hawaii had changed politically since the war. Inouye won with a stunning 69 percent of the vote.
At 38, he was a United States senator. He would never come close to losing an election.
-
Keynote speaker
Prophetically, given Inouye's eventual mastery of Senate rules, his first speech in the Senate was to save the filibuster. The same Southern Democrats who had been suspicious of statehood had used the filibuster — a unique procedural tool — to stall new civil-rights laws. Senators can use filibusters to take control of the floor and literally talk bills to death by refusing to yield until there is a two-thirds' vote. But some liberals wanted to change the rules to allow filibusters to be broken by a majority vote.
Inouye was thinking of Hawaii, not civil rights or Southern Democrats, when he spoke in favor of a strong filibuster. The tool — which can only be overcome by the votes of 60 of the chamber's 100 senators — can be an instrument of equality, giving senators from Hawaii the same power to stop legislation as senators from bigger states like New York or California.
"I represent a small state," Inouye explained to a local reporter. "There may come a time when a proposal before the Senate seriously threatens our state. When and if that time comes, I would not want to see the small voice of Hawaii choked off by parliamentary maneuvers."
Inouye thought of Rayburn as a mentor in the House and aligned himself with U.S. Sen. Lyndon Johnson, another powerful Texas Democrat and Rayburn protege, even before he arrived in the Senate.
Inouye had campaigned for Johnson in his unsuccessful run against U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts for the 1960 Democratic presidential nomination, where he learned a crude lesson about identity politics. Inouye was dispatched to a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People rally in Los Angeles to speak for Johnson. He was prepared to explain why a young Japanese-American was for a son of the segregated South, but the black leaders — unimpressed — kept him waiting backstage for over four hours. Finally, they told Inouye they wanted Johnson or nobody.
"It was a bitter experience and I tasted the bitterness in my mouth all the way out of that place," he wrote.
When Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and Johnson — the vice president — became president, Inouye had a closer tie with the White House.
Inouye was in harmony with Johnson's Great Society social programs, which were aimed at fighting poverty and ending racial injustice. He also agreed with the president on the need for the Vietnam War. As a young senator from a faraway state, Inouye's connection to the White House and the establishment Democrats who ran the Senate, especially U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana, would help him advance in a chamber where personal relationships mean everything.
In the late 1960s, as Vietnam was beginning to tear the country along generational lines, the Democratic Party also needed someone like Inouye. His youth, his racial background and his military heroism made him a compelling figure. The senator's name was even floated by Mansfield as a potential vice president to Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago approached.
Inouye was given the convention's keynote address, a prime spot usually reserved for rising stars who personify the party's message. Although the convention will be remembered historically for the violent street clashes between anti-war protesters and Chicago police, Inouye's appearance on the national stage was a milestone for Hawaii.
Local sponsors paid $7,500 so KGMB could televise the speech via satellite, the first time people in the islands were able to view a convention speech live. Bob Krauss, The Honolulu Advertiser's popular columnist, watched with Inouye's parents in their Coyne Street home. "Where else can a boy like Dan become like that?" Inouye's mother, Kame, said proudly. "This is America."
Inouye described the Vietnam War as immoral. But he defended Johnson's plan for peace through political negotiation with the Viet Cong rather than escalated military force or immediate withdrawal. He recognized the racial and social upheaval in the inner cities and the anger of the anti-war movement but warned against the temptation to cut down establishment institutions. "This is my country," he said. "Many of us have fought hard to say that. Many are struggling today from Harlem to Da Nang that they may say it with conviction."
In the months and years that followed, as Democrats lost the White House to President Richard Nixon and public support for the war collapsed, Inouye's views on Vietnam shifted. While the senator would always be a fierce ally of the military, after Vietnam, he was much more skeptical about the justification used for war.
"This was a war with racial overtones," he told an interviewer from consumer advocate Ralph Nader's Congress Project. "Would My Lai have happened in Paris?"
On the 40th anniversary of his speech in Chicago, in an interview with The Advertiser, Inouye described how Johnson had led him to believe at the convention that he would be offered the vice presidential slot. Inouye said he told Humphrey, Johnson's vice president, that he was not interested.
The senator's account was later corroborated when telephone recordings of Johnson's last months in office were released publicly.
Johnson, according to a CBS News transcript, told Humphrey that Inouye could help answer any doubts on Vietnam. "He answers Vietnam with that empty sleeve. He answers your problems with Nixon with that empty sleeve. He has that brown face," Johnson said.
"I guess maybe, it's just taking me a little too far, too fast," Humphrey responded. "Old, conservative Humphrey."
Watergate
Inouye had a reputation in the Senate for integrity and intelligence and he was picked by Mansfield, over his initial objection, as one of seven senators to serve on a select committee to investigate the Watergate scandal that engulfed the Nixon administration in the early 1970s. President Nixon and his aides were accused of a pattern of corruption that became public after the burglary of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate hotel and office complex.
The Watergate hearings were nationally televised and made the senators, including the distinctive Inouye, household names. Inouye would appear on national and international news and talk shows and he was rated by the public as among the most favorable for his fair yet sometimes blunt interrogation.
At one hearing, Inouye, unaware a microphone was still on, was overheard saying, "What a liar," after the testimony of White House domestic affairs aide John Ehrlichman. The senator at first denied the remark, then said he was speaking to himself. But the misstep was overshadowed a week later when John Wilson, the attorney for White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman, was asked by reporters how he felt about the probing questions of U.S. Sen. Lowell Weicker, a Connecticut Republican.
"Oh, I don't mind Senator Weicker," Wilson said. "What I mind is that little Jap."
Inouye did not appear to capitalize on his new popularity or use Watergate for partisan advantage after Nixon resigned in 1974 rather than face impeachment. He told Big Island Democrats in one speech that, "Watergate is not a partisan tragedy. It is a national tragedy."
Inouye's fame from Watergate led to scrutiny of his own campaign finances. Henry Giugni, a former Honolulu police officer and liquor inspector who had been a confidant of Inouye's since the Territorial Legislature, failed to report a $5,650 contribution to the senator from shipping magnate and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Giugni also admitted accepting an illegal $5,000 contribution to Inouye from an oil industry lobbyist.
Inouye stuck by his friend — who later became the Senate's sergeant-at-arms and an influential lobbyist — and his reputation did not suffer from the mistakes.
Senate leaders again turned to Inouye when, after embarrassing disclosures that the CIA and the FBI had spied on Americans, they created a select committee on intelligence to oversee government surveillance. The senator said the fear of government eavesdropping was so pervasive that he had seen other senators use pay telephones in case their office phones were bugged.
In one speech on government spying to the American Civil Liberties Union, Inouye warned of a danger to civil liberties that he would repeat more than three decades later when President George W. Bush increased domestic surveillance after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Perhaps the most disturbing of all aspects of government data collection is the surreptitious surveillance and intelligence operations to collect information on innocent citizens whose political views and activities are opposed to those of the administration," he said.
Painful episode
Inouye's national prominence seemed to peak in the 1970s and 1980s. His name had surfaced as a possible vice presidential contender, but he would always dismiss any aspirations beyond the Senate, where he had friends and power.
He was becoming one of the Senate's "old bulls," conscious of its history and traditions, protective of its intricate procedures and the value placed on seniority.
It was Inouye who took the uncomfortable but necessary job as advocate for U.S. Sen. Harrison Williams, a New Jersey Democrat, when the Senate sought to expel him after his bribery convictions in the Abscam scandal. Williams had been caught on videotape trading his influence for an interest in a titanium mine with an undercover FBI agent posing as an Arab sheik.
Inouye, who essentially served as Williams' defense attorney on the Senate floor, said the Senate had only previously expelled senators for treason. Williams resigned in 1982 to avoid expulsion.
The entry on Inouye in the 1984 "Politics in America," a snapshot of the nation's political landscape published every two years by Congressional Quarterly, said the senator's "role in developing legislation has not matched either his seniority or his popularity."
But Senate leaders again came to Inouye with a politically sensitive assignment. He was asked to lead a select committee to investigate the Iran-Contra affair, a scheme by the Reagan administration to trade arms for American hostages in Iran and use some of the proceeds from arms sales to help finance a Contra rebellion against the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua.
Like Watergate, the committee's hearings were televised nationally and put Inouye in the spotlight. The committee found that Iran-Contra was "characterized by pervasive dishonesty and inordinate secrecy." The senator conducted the probe with grace and uncovered some damaging revelations, but the trail never quite reached President Ronald Reagan and the public's verdict was much more indifferent than it was after Watergate.
Lt. Col. Oliver North, the telegenic Marine at the center of the scandal, wore his uniform and medals to the hearings and was a sympathetic figure to many Americans. As a sly counterpunch — and perhaps to remind viewers that he, too, was a patriot — Inouye wore his Distinguished Service Cross lapel pin.
Mike Royko, the legendary Chicago newspaper columnist, wrote that Inouye came across as an "inscrutable Buddha." But the senator scored when he publicly scolded North, who had admitted lying to Congress, for suggesting that lawmakers often leaked sensitive information. "I can also understand why North looked more subdued at that point than he has during the entire hearing," Royko wrote. "He knew he was being chewed out by a genuine hero."
Inouye's higher profile from Iran-Contra would, like after Watergate, come with some backlash. The senator was criticized for inserting $8 million into a foreign operations bill to build parochial schools in France for North African Jews. Inouye had become among Israel's most important allies in the Senate and had spoken against the historic injustices to Jews, so his support for the schools was not out of character. But it turned out he had received a $1,000 campaign contribution from a friend, New York real-estate developer Zev Wolfson, who was on the board of the charitable group that would oversee the federal money going to France.
Inouye at first defended the appropriation as proper but later apologized and asked that the money be withdrawn.
The timing of his uneven reviews on Iran-Contra and the bad press on the Jewish schools was not ideal. Inouye, at 64, was interested in replacing U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia as majority leader after the 1988 elections. Senate Democrats were looking for a national spokesman — a fresher face who could communicate effectively on television — and while Inouye had a cadre behind him, they would choose U.S. Sen. George Mitchell of Maine. Mitchell, who led the party's Senate campaign committee when Democrats took back the Senate in 1986 and had blossomed during the Iran-Contra hearings, won 27 of the 55 Democratic votes. Inouye and U.S. Sen. J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana each had 14.
The leadership defeat was a disappointment to Inouye, but not nearly as personally painful as an episode that would soil his 1992 re-election campaign. His Republican opponent, state Sen. Rick Reed of Maui, obtained a tape recording of Inouye's longtime hairstylist, Lenore Kwock, claiming Inouye had pressured her into sex in 1975 and later sexually harassed her.
Reed was criticized — by Kwock and the leaders of his own party — for going public with the steamy allegations in campaign advertisements. Inouye denied the claims and won re-election with 54 percent of the vote, the lowest victory margin of his career. But Inouye was stung when nine other women told a state lawmaker after the election that they were also sexually harassed by the senator.
Womens' rights groups asked for a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, while Inouye called the anonymous new charges "unmitigated lies." Kwock, who said she had forgiven Inouye, refused to cooperate with Senate investigators. The senator's other accusers never came forward publicly, so the inquiry was dropped.
Inouye insisted the accusations had no impact on his effectiveness in the Senate, which was torn at the time by sexual harassment allegations against U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood, an Oregon Republican who would eventually resign in disgrace.
"But it has had a major impact on my life, which has become a living hell," Inouye told a local reporter.
-
Success for Hawaii
Historians might debate whether Inouye made the most of his power nationally, but there is no dispute about his influence on Hawaii.
From his first days in the House after statehood to his last as one of the Senate's senior members, Inouye fought to make sure the Islands were not shortchanged when it came to federal spending. Inouye was a voice for sugar, pineapple and shipping, for highways, airports and harbors, for the East-West Center, for UH and, most significantly, for the military. The senator worked to help make Hawaii the most important strategic location for the military in the Pacific, and the military became, along with tourism, the foundation of the state's economy.
From a perch on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and through collaboration with his good friend, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican, Inouye was able to deliver federal money no matter which political party controlled Congress or the White House. The pair also held top posts on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which has control over maritime, aviation and other federal policy issues critical to the Islands.
Inouye, who was reserved and deliberative, and Stevens, who was aggressive and abrasive, considered each other brothers-in-arms for their underdog states.
Some of Inouye's attempts to help Hawaii backfired. Inouye and U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, a Mississippi Republican, supported "Project America," which involved federal loan guarantees for two new cruise ships that were to be constructed at a Mississippi shipyard for use in Hawaii. The effort failed after American Classic Voyages, the crusie ship company, went bankrupt after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, costing taxpayers millions.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican who often clashed with Inouye on federal spending, called the "Project America" loans "one of the most incredible boondoggles in recent history."
Citizens Against Government Waste typically ranked Inouye and Stevens as among the worst for what it called "pork," federal spending that is earmarked by lawmakers for local projects or that does not go through the formal presidential budget request or congressional authorization process.
Yet both men saw the criticism as a compliment, proof they were just as skilled as any of their colleagues from more established states, if not more so, in the dealmaking of the Senate.
"I'm not embarrassed or ashamed by what they call earmarks," Inouye told a reporter.
Inouye stood by Stevens, and even raised money and campaigned for his re-election, after Stevens was indicted in 2008 by a federal grand jury for not disclosing gifts from Alaska oil company executives. Stevens lost his re-election campaign, but a federal judge later set aside his conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct.
When Inouye realized his coveted goal of becoming chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee in 2009, the moment was bittersweet because Stevens was no longer by his side.
Inouye was known mostly for bringing home federal money, but he also used his influence to change federal policy to benefit Hawaii, promote civil rights and preserve native cultures.
Inouye helped get an exemption to federal health and pension law so Hawaii could have the landmark Prepaid Health Care Act of 1974, which requires companies to provide health insurance to employees who work more than 20 hours a week. The senator won an exemption from federal environmental law that allowed construction to go forward on H-3, the interstate that linked Honolulu and Windward Oahu. He worked on an effort to require the Navy to clean up its firing range and return the island of Kahoolawe to the state so it could be restored as a Hawaiian cultural site. The senator urged the Navy to transfer the historic battleship USS Missouri for a memorial at Pearl Harbor. He obtained an exemption to federal maritime law that allowed Norwegian Cruise Line to operate its foreign-built cruise ships under U.S. flags in Hawaii, which revived cruises between the islands.
Inouye helped set in motion the process that eventually led President Reagan in 1988 to apologize and provide $20,000 each to the survivors of Japanese internment during World War II, an injustice that gnawed at him since he was a young GI.
The senator secured $20 million for a center on preserving democracy at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles.
Appalled at the federal government's treatment of American Indians after learning their history as a leader on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Inouye became a passionate advocate for Indian self-determination and was among the main forces behind the National Museum of the American Indian on the Mall in Washington.
Inouye slipped language into a defense spending bill that fulfilled a government promise and provided $15,000 — $9,000 for noncitizens — to Filipinos who fought on behalf of the United States during World War II.
Working with U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, a Hawaii Democrat, Inouye helped win historic passage of a resolution signed by President Clinton in 1993 formally apologizing for the U.S. government's role in the 1893 overthrow of the kingdom of Hawaii. In a Senate floor speech, Inouye said the resolution was not a step toward Hawaiian independence, but rather a reconciliation between the federal government and a people who had been wronged. "It was authored by my friend from Hawaii because he loves America," Inouye said of Akaka, who is of Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry. "It is because of our love for this nation that this resolution was presented, to make it possible for all of us, even after 100 years, to cleanse one of our pages, to make it a bit brighter."
The senator also supported Akaka's Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill, which would create a process for Hawaiians to form their own sovereign government similar to American Indians and Native Alaskans.
Some Hawaiians have doubted Inouye's commitment to sovereignty, while others believed that, given his personal history, he was uncomfortable with the anti-American tone prevalent in some of the movement's extremes. Some Hawaiians also resent the senator's role in the military expansion of the islands, including military training on land Hawaiians consider sacred.
But Inouye empathized with the Hawaiian struggle and helped steer millions in federal money annually to Hawaiian education, health and cultural programs. "I've tried my best, although it's impossible, to put myself in their shoes," Inouye told Heather Giugni for her 2003 biographical film on the senator. "And when I do that, I somehow get the feeling that if I were in their position, I may be screaming also."
An Icon
Inouye, by his own preference, rarely spoke on the Senate floor in his later years and often shunned the national news media. Some of his friends would say it was Japanese and Hawaii style to stay humble and avoid self-promotion, to get things done quietly. But some may forget that Inouye co-wrote his autobiography at 43 and seemed to enjoy the national media attention when he was younger.
As an elder statesman, Inouye became more of an icon, a symbol Democrats would often turn to when their valor or patriotism were challenged. After President Bush questioned the Democrats' commitment to national security in the months before the war in Iraq, some Democrats said the president owed senators like Inouye an apology.
Inouye, whose outlook on war had changed sharply after Vietnam, opposed the Persian Gulf War with Iraq in 1991 and voted against giving Bush the authority to use force against Iraq before the second invasion in 2003.
"I can assure you this is not a time for Democrats and Republicans to say I have more medals than you, and I have lost more limbs than you, and we have shed more blood than you," Inouye said in a Senate speech in September 2002. "This is not the time for that. This is a time in which we should be working together, debating this issue. As the senator from West Virginia said, it is American to question the president. It is American to debate the issues."
Inouye also became an icon back in the islands. The party he had helped create to smash the Republican status quo in 1954 had itself become complacent and entrenched. The senator, his aides, and his allies in business and labor were often the last word on party strategy, candidate selection and internal disputes. But they could not always hold competing factions together.
Linda Lingle's victory in 2002, the first time a Republican had taken Washington Place in four decades, and former U.S. Rep. Ed Case's Democratic primary challenge to Akaka in 2006, were signs that the state's political culture had changed from under Inouye.
When Hawaii-born U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008, Inouye said he was too inexperienced and faithfully stuck with U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York through the primaries. Obama drew record numbers of Democrats to the party's usually overlooked caucuses in the Islands and easily beat Clinton despite Inouye's preference.
For a younger generation, or for recent mainland transplants, Inouye was often viewed more as a remote figure of official Washington than an island boy with an easy smile.
But anyone who had lost personal touch with the senator was able to see his human side after his loyal friend Giugni died in November 2005 and his beloved wife, Maggie, passed away at 81 in March 2006.
"I needed someone to maybe bounce off ideas, or someone who felt confident enough to be critical when it was justified, and he was the one," Inouye said of Giugni. "I told him, that's the nature of our relationship and our friendship. If you can't do that, I don't want you around me, because I can have dozens of people who can brown-nose you, if you know what I mean. They're all over the place."
The Inouyes, with their son, Ken, had always been protective of their family life and their home in Bethesda, Md. But the senator talked frankly about the loss of his wife. "She was my inspiration, and all that I have accomplished could not have been done without her at my side," he said. "We were a team."
In May 2008, Inouye married Irene Hirano, the former president and chief executive of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, whom he had known for more than two decades. "The most important reaction is the one from my son," the senator told a local reporter. "And he said, ‘Dad, you outdid yourself.'"
Ken and his wife, Jessica, made Inouye a grandfather when they had a daughter, Maggie.
Inouye avoided public talk about his legacy and liked to say that no one is indispensable. Other senators of his stature have monuments to their success — the airport in Anchorage is named for Stevens; a highway, federal building, and a statue at the state Capitol in Charleston are among the many honors for Byrd — but Inouye resisted.
As he watched contemporaries pass, he would sometimes reflect on his own mortality. After U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat who served with Inouye for 47 years, died in August 2009, Inouye said: "None of us walk on water. The day will come for all of us. I hope I can do it as nobly as he has."
Akaka, speaking about his colleague's spirit, once told local Democrats the story about a fading black-and-white photograph of a young Inouye with four other nisei soldiers of the 442nd before they were sent off to the front in Italy.
One of the other veterans in the photo, who had not seen Inouye since the war, had brought the picture to a meeting with Inouye in Washington.
Inouye looked at the photo and realized that the only soldier who was not smiling was the only one who was dead.
"And I'm still smiling," the senator told his friend as he leaned back in his chair. "And intend to do so for quite awhile."
-
Retired Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf dies
7:26p.m. EST December 27, 2012
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2012/12/27/ap-decade-3-4_3_r560.jpg?f061b7ce9937c38b702e6f308816ac2a14e2a4ec)
(Photo: Associated Press/WIDE WORLD PHOT)
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. official says retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died. He was 78.
The official tells The Associated Press that Schwarzkopf died Thursday in Tampa, Fla. The official wasn't authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Schwarzkopf was known popularly as "Stormin' Norman" for a notoriously explosive temper.
He lived in retirement in Tampa, where he had served in his last military assignment as commander-in-chief of U.S. Central Command. That is the headquarters responsible for U.S. military and security concerns in nearly 20 countries from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa to Pakistan.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/27/norman-schwarzkopf-obit/1795095/
-
GOOD RIDDANCE
PIECE OF SHIT, COMMIE, GHETTO THUG, DRUNK CHOOMER
HIS WIFE IS A DISGUSTING PIG AND HIS CHILDREN ARE ALL RETARDS AND LEECHES
-
Obama awards Medal of Honor to hero of Afghan battle
(http://img.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2013/02/11/National-Politics/Images/161471604-8636.jpg)
Video: President Obama awarded former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha the Medal of Honor for conspicuous gallantry for his leadership efforts in a 2009 attack by the Taliban on Combat Outpost Keating in Afghanistan.
By William Branigin, Feb 11, 2013 07:43 PM EST
The Washington Post President Obama awarded the Medal of Honor on Monday to a former Army staff sergeant for his courageous actions in defending a remote combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan from a 2009 insurgent attack that left eight other Americans dead and 22 wounded.
Clinton L. Romesha, a section leader in a unit of the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division during the Oct. 3, 2009, attack on Combat Outpost Keating in the Kamdesh District of Nurestan province, became the fourth living recipient to be awarded the nation’s highest military honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. He was wounded by shrapnel during the fierce 12-hour battle, in which he was credited with saving the lives of fellow soldiers pinned down by heavy fire from Afghan insurgents belonging to or allied with the Taliban.
The battle, one of America’s deadliest in the Afghan war, demonstrated the bravery and resourcefulness of Romesha and other U.S. troops in carrying out their mission. But it also illustrated the complexity of the Afghan insurgency. And it exposed the flaws of the military’s counterinsurgency strategy at the time and the inertia of higher-ups in dealing with an increasingly untenable situation in the mountainous area near the border with Pakistan.
Before awarding the medal to Romesha, Obama recognized family members of the eight American soldiers who died in the battle and the surviving members of the unit.
“These men were outnumbered, outgunned and almost overrun,” Obama said. He quoted one survivor as having said, “I’m surprised any of us made it out.”
Describing the U.S. outpost as “among the most remote” in the Afghan war, Obama acknowledged the controversy over its existence, calling it “tactically indefensible” and noting that American troops were asked to “defend the indefensible.”
“There are many lessons from COP Keating,” Obama said later. “One of them is that our troops should not — ever — be put in a position where they have to defend the indefensible.”
Recounting Romesha’s actions, Obama called the fighting that day “one of the most intense battles of the entire war in Afghanistan.” After pulling back within the compound and preparing “to make one last stand,” which one soldier later likened to the Alamo, Romesha “decided to retake that camp,” Obama said.
Although wounded by shrapnel when an RPG round struck a generator behind which he was taking cover, Romesha mounted a counterattack that ultimately succeeded in repelling the assault, Obama said.
“Clint gathered up his guys and they began to fight their way back — storming one building and then another, pushing the enemy back, having to actually shoot up at the enemy in the mountains above,” Obama said. “By now, most of the camp was on fire. Amid the flames and smoke, Clint stood in the doorway calling in airstrikes that shook the earth all around them.”
They eventually turned the tide, rescuing wounded comrades and retrieving the bodies of the fallen.
Calling Romesha “a pretty humble guy,” Obama recalled that when he called Romesha to inform of the award, “he said he was honored, but he also said, ‘It wasn’t just me out there. It was a team effort.’ ”
The attack came six days before the U.S. military was scheduled to close Combat Outpost Keating, which a Pentagon review later found should never have been established in the first place. In the months after the assault, the military tried to strike a deal with an insurgent leader known as Mullah Sadiq, the local commander of the radical Islamist Hezbi-i-Islami Gulbuddin militia, which had a tenuous and at times conflicting relationship with the Taliban. During the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Sadiq’s group was among the mujaheddin forces backed by the CIA. But in October 2009, U.S. commanders believe, some of Sadiq’s forces joined Taliban fighters in carrying out the attack on Keating.
Romesha (pronounced ROM-a-shay), now 31 and originally from Lake City, Calif., joined the Army in 1999 and served tours in Kosovo, South Korea and Iraq before deploying to Afghanistan. He left the Army in April 2011 and now lives with his wife and three children in Minot, N.D., where he works as a field safety specialist in the oil industry.
At Combat Outpost Keating in 2009, he and about 50 other Americans, two Latvian trainers and an Afghan army unit manned a small, vulnerable compound that was surrounded by peaks of the Hindu Kush mountains, from which insurgents routinely fired down at the defenders. U.S. troops likened it to trying to fight from the bottom of a paper cup.
Military leaders came to realize that the post was too difficult to defend and the area too dangerous for provincial reconstruction teams. But plans to close Keating were delayed amid concerns about the message that such a retreat would send and its possible ripple effects on the political and security situations in Afghanistan.
When the Oct. 3 attack began at dawn, Romesha and other soldiers at Keating quickly realized that they were dealing with something far more serious than the usual sniping. More than 300 insurgents armed with B-10 recoilless rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, antiaircraft machine guns, mortars, sniper rifles and small arms attacked from every direction and quickly breached the compound.
Afghan troops soon abandoned their posts, leaving the Americans and Latvians pinned down.
“Every position was overwhelmed,” Romesha later explained, according to an account on the Army’s Web site. From the start of the attack, all the U.S. fighting positions were “pretty ineffective.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-awards-medal-of-honor-to-hero-of-afghan-battle/2013/02/11/2bef6d92-7464-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html
-
Family grateful remains of missing Korean War vet returned home
City native Pfc. James R. Hare went missing Feb. 13, 1951
Angie Brant
Cumberland Times-News The Cumberland Times-News Mon Feb 11, 2013
(http://d6673sr63mbv7.cloudfront.net/archive/x1633479603/g0a000000000000000051827f0666b0a3f4bc59cb34771b2491f035a84c.jpg)
Pfc. James R. Hare was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and POW medal. The Cumberland native will be buried near his parents in Levels, W.Va.
CUMBERLAND — Pfc. James R. Hare, U.S. Army, Battery B, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, was lost Feb. 13, 1951, near the Korean town of Hoengsong. On Feb. 13, 2013, exactly 62 years after he was classified as missing in action, the memory and service of a beloved son and brother will be honored, and he will be laid to rest near his parents with full military honors.
Hare was born in Cumberland in 1932, the first of 15 children to James and Opal Hare. He was just 19 years old when he joined the U.S. Army. After completing training at Camp Lejeune, he joined thousands of soldiers fighting in the Korean conflict in 1949.
While sporadic, his parents received letters from James, but soon the letters stopped and the fate of the eldest child was unclear.
After nearly two years of waiting, the Hares received a letter that indicated James had been captured by the North Koreans and had died.
“It was 1951, and I was just 12 years old when my parents learned that James had died of starvation at a POW camp,” Stanley Hare said.
He is the eldest of James’ surviving siblings and lives in Smithsburg.
“I remember well the shock of learning that brother Jim had been captured and died and was buried in a mass grave.”
Though devastated by the news, the family held out hope that James’ remains would be found and one day returned to his family for a proper burial. In the interim, James was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and POW Medal.
The Hare family suffered a second blow when their brother John was shot and killed by a sniper during the Vietnam War.
James Hare was among more than 7,000 U.S. troops unaccounted for during the Korean conflict. In 1993, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office was created and charged with the task of recovering missing Americans from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War and the 1991 Gulf War.
Shortly after the office was established, two members of the Hare family provided DNA for the recovery/identification efforts.
“My sister Frances and brother Bill donated DNA. Frances died eight years ago, but Bill lived long enough to know that James had been found,” Stanley said. “Mother passed away in 1958 and Dad died in 1984, but neither gave up hope that James would one day be found.”
According to the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, Hare was captured while the 2nd Infantry Division was supporting Republic of South Korea forces near Hoengsong. He was among 100 servicemen captured by enemy forces and was reported as missing in action on Feb. 13, 1951. During a prisoner exchange in 1953, U.S. officials learned more about Hare’s capture from a fellow soldier who reported that James had been taken to a POW camp in Suan County. The soldier stated that James had died of malnutrition in April of the same year.
Throughout the years, members of the Hare family were contacted by U.S. officials as work continued to find and identify the remains of soldiers who were killed in action or had died in POW camps.
“We were invited to meetings, but no one wanted to go until they had proof positive that James had been found,” said Stanley. “Time went on and we still hoped that James would be returned to us.”
That proof positive came more than 60 years later, on Dec. 19, when Stanley received a call from Michael Mee, chief of identifications at the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs center at Fort Knox, Ky.
“Mr. Mee left a message on my answering machine that he had news for my family about James. I could hardly believe it, after all these years,” Stanley said. “I returned the call but told Michael that I wanted the rest of my family to be together when we heard the news. I wanted us to all be together to hear the complete story.”
Stanley coordinated a family meeting and one week later, the Hare family learned the remains of their brother had been positively identified through DNA analysis and would be returned for a proper burial.
“We met at Bill’s house and we talked about where to inter James’ remains. After a long discussion, we decided it was only right that he be buried with our parents in Levels, West Virginia.”
During the meeting, the Hare family learned James’ remains were found in boxes released by North Korea between 1991 and 1994 containing what officials initially believed were the remains of 200 soldiers. However, DNA testing revealed that remains of more than 450 soldiers were in those boxes.
“Finally, we had proof positive and we knew that we would finally be able to bring James home,” Stanley said.
The last month has been a time of great sadness and loss for the Hare family. Bill Hare died just weeks after learning that James had been positively identified through DNA he had provided.
Another sister, Deloris Burley, lives in Ellerslie. Though she was just a year old when James was captured, she said having James’ remains returned is something the family had “hoped and prayed for.”
“We are all so thankful that he has been found and returned. We now know what happened and we can have closure,” she said. “I wish our parents could be here for this — they never gave up hope.”
Burley said these last few months have been bittersweet. While glad that James will receive a proper burial, the family mourns his memory and is saddened that the parents and other siblings will not have the same opportunity to say goodbye.
“There are just eight of us left, but we have pulled together and we believe it is a blessing that we will be able to lay James to rest,” Stanley said. “It is a great honor to have this on my watch and be a part of this closure for my family. We always thought that one day maybe we could offer him a proper service, and that day has come. The Lord has seen to it that we can say goodbye and James has been brought home.”
The family will receive friends at the Scarpelli Funeral Home on Virginia Avenue today from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. A funeral service will be conducted there Wednesday at 1 p.m.
With the motto “Keeping the Promise,” the U.S. government continues to work to recover the remains of the more than 83,000 missing members of the military.
For more information on the efforts of the DPMO, go to www.dtic.mil/dpmo.
Angie Brandt can be reached at abrandt@times-news.com.
http://times-news.com/local/x1303547131/Family-grateful-remains-of-missing-Korean-War-vet-returned-home
-
USS Monitor Civil War sailors buried at Arlington National Cemetery 150 years later
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/030813_al_monitor_640.jpg)
Published March 09, 2013
Associated Press
ARLINGTON, Va. – More than 150 years after the USS Monitor sank off North Carolina during the Civil War, two unknown crewmen found in the ironclad's turret when it was raised a decade ago were buried Friday at Arlington National Cemetery.
The evening burial, which included a gun salute and a band playing "America the Beautiful," may be the last time Civil War soldiers are buried at the cemetery overlooking Washington.
"Today is a tribute to all the men and women who have gone to sea, but especially to those who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf," said Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, who spoke at a funeral service before the burial.
The Monitor made nautical history when the Union ship fought the Confederate CSS Virginia in the first battle between two ironclads on March 9, 1862. The battle was a draw.
The Monitor sank about nine months later in rough seas, and 16 sailors died. In 2002, the ship's rusted turret was raised from the Atlantic Ocean floor, and the skeletons of the two crew members were found inside.
On Friday, the remains of the two men were taken to their gravesite by horse-drawn caissons, one pulled by a team of six black horses and the other pulled by six white horses. White-gloved sailors carried the caskets to their final resting place near the cemetery's amphitheater. A few men attending the ceremonies wore Civil War uniforms, and there were ladies in long dresses from the time. The ceremony also included "Taps," which was written the same year that the Monitor sank and became associated with military funerals as early as the Civil War.
The sailors buried Friday would not have recognized some parts of the graveside service, however. The military band played "America the Beautiful," which wasn't written until three decades after the Monitor sank. And the flags that draped the silver coffins were modern ones with 50 stars, not the 34-star American flag of the early 1860s.
The cemetery where the men will lie, however, has strong ties to the Civil War. Arlington was established as a military cemetery during the war and is on grounds formerly owned by the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. One of the cemetery's first monuments was a memorial to unknown Civil War soldiers.
A marker with the names of all 16 men who died onboard the Monitor will ultimately be placed at the gravesite of the sailors buried Friday. Researchers were unable to positively identify the remains, though they tried reconstructing the sailors' faces from their skulls and comparing DNA from the skeletons with living relatives of the ship's crew and their families. Medical and Navy records narrowed the possibilities to six people.
What is known is that one of the men was between 17 and 24 years old and the other was likely in his 30s. A genealogist who worked on the project believes the older sailor is Robert Williams, the ship's fireman, who would have tended the Monitor's coal-fired steam engine.
Relatives of some of the men who died attended Friday's ceremony. Diana Rambo of Fresno, Calif., came with four other family members. She's related through her mother, Jane Nicklis Rowland, to Monitor crewman Jacob Nicklis, who died when the ship sank. The family didn't know a relative had served on the ship until they received a letter requesting DNA, but Rambo said she's since learned more about the "connection to history that we never knew we have." She said after the ceremony that she's less concerned about knowing for certain who was buried Friday.
"It kind of doesn't matter. It was all about honoring the 16," she said of the ceremony.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/03/08/uss-monitor-civil-war-sailors-buried-at-arlington-national-cemetery-150-years/
-
Medal of Honor soldier killed in Korean War to receive hero's burial 62 years later
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published April 11, 2013
FoxNews.com
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./Don%20Faith.jpg)
Army Lt. Col. Don C. Faith Jr. was seriously injured by shrapnel on Dec. 1, 1950, in Korea and died a day later from those injuries.
The remains of a soldier awarded the Medal of Honor after being killed in the Korean War will be returned to his relatives for burial with full military honors more than 62 years after his death, officials announced Wednesday.
Army Lt. Col. Don C. Faith Jr., of Washington, Ind., will be buried April 17 in Arlington National Cemetery, officials from the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office said.
“What’s so amazing is that our country doesn’t give up."
- Barbara “Bobbie” Broyles, Faith’s only child
Faith, a veteran of World War II who continued to serve in the Army during the Korean War, was seriously injured by shrapnel on Dec. 1, 1950, and died a day later from those injuries. But his body was not recovered by U.S. forces at the time.
He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the United States’ highest military honor recognizing personal acts of exceptional valor during battle.
“What’s so amazing is that our country doesn’t give up,” Barbara “Bobbie” Broyles, Faith’s only child, told FoxNews.com on Wednesday. “They keep looking for the missing and the prisoners of war and people who are unaccounted for in battles.”
Broyles, her husband and the couple’s three children will travel to Washington next week for her father’s burial. And with the current political climate in North Korea, she said it’s “particularly important” to remember veterans of the Korean War.
“It’s now just becoming apparent how critical the Battle of Chosin was,” Broyles told FoxNews.com in reference to conflict along the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 1950. “We sacrificed a lot to help Korea.”
At the time of his death, Faith and his unit — 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment — were attached to the 31st Regimental Combat Team as it advanced along the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea.
During attacks by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces, Faith assumed command with his supervisor missing, and he continuously rallied his troops, personally leading an assault on an enemy position, defense officials said.
In 2004, a joint team from the U.S. and North Korea surveyed the area where Faith was last seen and located his remains. To confirm the find, scientists used circumstantial evidence, forensic identification tools and mitochondrial DNA, using samples from Faith's brother for comparison.
“I’m incredulous,” Broyles, a 66-year-old psychotherapist, said when reached at her home in Baton Rouge, La. She praised Department of Defense scientists and researchers for their relentless work. “He’s been missing for 62 years and it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing that he’s been found.”
More than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, U.S. defense officials said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/04/10/medal-honor-soldier-killed-korean-war-hero-burial/
-
(http://userserve-ak.last.fm/serve/_/75880340/Noam+Chomsky+chomsky.png)
The Responsibility of Intellectuals
http://chomsky.info/articles/19670223.htm
TWENTY-YEARS AGO, Dwight Macdonald published a series of articles in Politics on the responsibility of peoples and, specifically, the responsibility of intellectuals. I read them as an undergraduate, in the years just after the war, and had occasion to read them again a few months ago. They seem to me to have lost none of their power or persuasiveness. Macdonald is concerned with the question of war guilt. He asks the question: To what extent were the German or Japanese people responsible for the atrocities committed by their governments? And, quite properly, he turns the question back to us: To what extent are the British or American people responsible for the vicious terror bombings of civilians, perfected as a technique of warfare by the Western democracies and reaching their culmination in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, surely among the most unspeakable crimes in history. To an undergraduate in 1945-46—to anyone whose political and moral consciousness had been formed by the horrors of the 1930s, by the war in Ethiopia, the Russian purge, the "China Incident," the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi atrocities, the Western reaction to these events and, in part, complicity in them—these questions had particular significance and poignancy.
With respect to the responsibility of intellectuals, there are still other, equally disturbing questions. Intellectuals are in a position to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions. In the Western world, at least, they have the power that comes from political liberty, from access to information and freedom of expression. For a privileged minority, Western democracy provides the leisure, the facilities, and the training to seek the truth lying hidden behind the veil of distortion and misrepresentation, ideology and class interest, through which the events of current history are presented to us. The responsibilities of intellectuals, then, are much deeper than what Macdonald calls the "responsibility of people," given the unique privileges that intellectuals enjoy.
The issues that Macdonald raised are as pertinent today as they were twenty years ago. We can hardly avoid asking ourselves to what extent the American people bear responsibility for the savage American assault on a largely helpless rural population in Vietnam, still another atrocity in what Asians see as the "Vasco da Gama era" of world history. As for those of us who stood by in silence and apathy as this catastrophe slowly took shape over the past dozen years—on what page of history do we find our proper place? Only the most insensible can escape these questions. I want to return to them, later on, after a few scattered remarks about the responsibility of intellectuals and how, in practice, they go about meeting this responsibility in the mid-1960s.
-
Luck, goodwill reuniting WWII vet with bomber jacket
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./660/371/bomberjacket5.jpg?ve=1)
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./660/371/bomberjacket2.JPG?ve=1)
By Jennifer Hlad Stars and Stripes
Published: April 27, 2013
WASHINGTON — Robert Arand enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1942 as an aviation cadet. He went to training in 1943 and by February 1945, he was headed to the Pacific — sleeping on the deck of a trawler for a monthlong journey from San Francisco to New Guinea.
Arand had flown B-25s in the United States, but flew more than 40 missions in B-24s overseas — from New Guinea, the Philippines and Okinawa. He flew the 22nd Bomb Group’s final bombing attack, a strike on the Kiangwan Airdrome in China. His last mission was a reconnaissance flight from Okinawa to Tokyo and back on Sept. 2, 1945, the day the Japanese signed the surrender in Tokyo Bay.
The last time he remembers wearing his leather bomber jacket was in San Francisco when he returned from the war in November 1945. He thinks his wife, a meticulous housekeeper, must have donated it to a charity organization in Cincinnati about 1950.
“I remember my wife asking if I was ever going to wear it again, and I said I didn’t think I would, except for a veterans’ parade,” he said.
More than 60 years later, John Dodds was at a Goodwill store in Washington with his daughter, a freshman at James Madison University in Virginia, when she called him over.
“Oh, Dad, I want to show you something,” she said.
It was a leather bomber jacket from World War II.
Dodds, assistant general counsel for the Air Force and a military history buff, has a replica. But this was the real deal. The leather was a little stiff, but the jacket was still in good shape. On the back was a bearded, red-headed man with a winged helmet, along with the words “Red Raiders” and “22nd Bomb Group.” The label inside had the model and order number. The lieutenant bars were in place on the shoulders.
The jacket even had a leather name tag sewed on the front: Robert G. Arand.
Dodds is an Air Force brat. He went through the Army ROTC program in college, served as an Army judge advocate general for four years and later served in the Air Force reserve long enough to retire. He also knows a thing or two about finding information about veterans: One of his pet projects is doing research on Austin Straubel, the WWII bomber pilot for whom the Green Bay, Wis., airport is named. He also helped a friend with research on the friend’s brother, who was shot down during the Vietnam War.
Dodds paid $17 for the jacket and emailed a friend. Within 24 hours, Dodds was on the phone with Arand.
The 90-year-old veteran told him about his time in the 22nd Bombardment Group — described on their webpage as “a hell-bent-for-leather organization of men.” The unit was the predecessor of today’s 22nd Operations Group at McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas.
Arand remembered a commander with red hair, Col. Richard Robinson, whom the group was nicknamed after. He told Dodds about his five children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He told him he was born Dec. 7, 1922, and lives next door to one of his six brothers.
And Dodds decided that while he originally had hoped to keep the jacket, he knew he had to send it back to its original owner.
Arand told Stars and Stripes he isn’t sure how the jacket made its way to that Goodwill store in Washington, but he “would love to know.”
“I couldn’t figure out why anyone would want the jacket after all these years,” he said.
Arand gave his blue Air Force uniform to his grandson, who put it into a case. But he said he probably could fit into it today.
“I’m the same height and weight as I was in the service,” he said.
After the war, Arand said he stayed in the Air Force reserve and retired in 1982 as a major.
He had been going through his military records, putting them into a book for his grandchildren. He wrote to his congressman to get new medals, to replace ones lost during a long-ago “show and tell,” he said. His awards include the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the WWII victory medal, and an Air Medal with an oak leaf cluster.
Dodds said he was amazed to find a bomber jacket in such great shape and was delighted to be able to connect with Arand.
“I just could not believe it,” he said. “It’s all working out pretty well.”
And while Arand is looking forward to seeing if it still fits, he’s most interested in sharing it with his family.
“My children and grandchildren are anxious to see it.”
http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/luck-goodwill-reuniting-wwii-vet-with-bomber-jacket-1.218471
-
New Jersey veteran gets back dog tag he lost in World War II
Published May 09, 2013
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/660/371/dogtagsreturned1.jpg?ve=1)
May 8, 2013: Willie Wilkins, who lost his dog tags while serving in a U.S. Army Quartermaster Truck Company in the invasion of Southern France in August 1944, looks on during an event to return the tags to the veteran in Newark, N.J. (AP)
NEWARK, N.J. – Carol Wilkins leaned over the side of her father's wheelchair and handed him the small red box, a heart-shaped cutout revealing its contents: a weathered, bent silver dog tag.
"Oh, Daddy, look," Wilkins exclaimed as her 90-year-old father opened it, his eyes beaming and smile wide. "They're back."
Sixty-nine years after losing his dog tag on the battlefields of southern France, Willie Wilkins reclaimed it Wednesday after a trans-Atlantic effort to return it to him. It started more than a decade ago in a French backyard and ended with a surprise ceremony in Newark City Hall.
"I am so happy," Carol Wilkins said. "You don't know what joy is on my heart for what you have done for my father."
In August 1944, Willie Wilkins was an Army corporal fighting in the Allied invasion of southern France. Amid the horrors of battle, Wilkins's job was one of the grimmest. A quartermaster, Wilkins was responsible for removing and identifying the bodies of dead American servicemen and having them buried or transported back to the United States.
At some point during the invasion, Willie Wilkins's silver dog tag slipped off his neck.
"It could have been an arm, it could have been a hip that dragged it off, because he was picking up dead bodies," Carol Wilkins said. "He said it was horrible. Blood everywhere. Parts. All he knew was to pick up those bodies for the family members of dead soldiers."
Willie Wilkins returned to Newark and worked on an assembly line. He was a happy man who doted on his only daughter, but his service as a quartermaster took a toll. He had a nervous breakdown and post-traumatic stress disorder and retired at age 44, his daughter said.
Willie Wilkins would sometimes talk about his war experience, especially when Carol was young, mentioning that he lost his dog tags. He and his family were convinced the small medallion would remain a tangible piece of the history of the invasion, buried somewhere in what were once the bloody battlefields of Provence.
In a backyard 4,000 miles away from Newark in Istres, France, Anne-Marie Crespo was tilling the soil around an olive tree on a spring day in 2001 and found the dog tag.
She hit a small piece of metal stamped with a name and numbers. She brought it inside, cleaned it and tried to straighten out the tag's bend, only to break it slightly.
Crespo knew the tag belonged to a soldier and kept it on a bookcase shelf. She presumed the soldier died on the battlefield, and held a ceremony to honor Wilkins and other American war dead.
"I often thought of this poor soldier dead for FRANCE + FREEDOMS," Crespo later wrote in a letter to Carol Wilkins.
Crespo showed the "treasure" she found in the backyard to visitors. One took photos of the dog tag and sent them to her brother, Philippe Clerbout.
Clerbout posted the pictures in an online history forum. He got a reply from the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C., which said Wilkins joined the military on Dec. 31, 1942, in Fort Bragg, N.C.
Clerbout became a man with a mission: finding Willie Wilkins.
His quest to help an American soldier was personal. Clerbout's father was a prisoner in Germany from June 1940 until the camp was liberated in 1945. He returned to France with American troops and married Clerbout's mother.
Clerbout sent emails to anyone he thought could help, from the White House to media outlets. A woman from the U.S. Department of Veteran's affairs in Minneapolis located Willie Wilkins in Newark.
Carol Wilkins thought the phone call was a prank. It was the woman from Minneapolis, asking for her father's honorable discharge number because someone found his dog tag.
Carol Wilkins didn't believe the woman and insisted on calling her back. The call was legitimate.
"I said, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," she said, "They found your dog tags."
The GI Go Fund, a Newark nonprofit that connects veterans with services and helps them make the transition to civilian life, brought them to New Jersey.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker presented the Wilkinses with the dog tag on Wednesday, Victory in Europe Day. Bertrand Lortholary, the Consul General of France, attended.
Carol Wilkins plans to display the tag in a case on her father's dresser. Willie Wilkins has been in a rehabilitation facility and suffers from Alzheimer's Disease and other ailments.
When asked if he ever thought he would see his dog tag again, Willie Wilkins shook his head.
"I never did," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/09/new-jersey-veteran-gets-back-dog-tag-lost-in-world-war-ii/?test=latestnews
-
Terrific thread. Thanks Beach for taking time to post/add to it over the years. Thanks to everyone else for keeping it respectful towards the heroes and not clutter it up with our usual BS.
-
Terrific thread. Thanks Beach for taking time to post/add to it over the years. Thanks to everyone else for keeping it respectful towards the heroes and not clutter it up with our usual BS.
Appreciate the kind words. We have some tremendous people in this great country.
-
Navy to name destroyer after Inouye
By William Cole
POSTED: 08:51 a.m. HST, May 23, 2013
LAST UPDATED: 12:44 p.m. HST, May 23, 2013
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/312*208/31-A1-yearend-city-pix.jpg)
The Navy is expected to announce that a new destroyer will be named after U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, one of the most influential members of the U.S. Senate during his long tenure, a tenacious fighter for the betterment of Hawaii, and a stalwart military supporter, sources said. (Star-Advertiser file photo)
Military Service Records Super Search: Your 1-stop shop for war & military records online www.myheritage.com/Military_Records
Alzheimer's Care Homes Find Alzheimer's Care in Your Area. Local Advisors - Free Referrals. AlzheimersLocator.com/Alzheimers
Dental Implant Warnings What You Should Know Before Getting Dental Implants. Read Expert Advice symptomfind.com/CosmeticDentalCare
The Navy has announced that a new destroyer will be named after U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, one of the most influential members of the Senate during his 50-year tenure, a tenacious fighter for the betterment of Hawaii and a stalwart military supporter.
Inouye died Dec. 17 of a respiratory ailment at age 88.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus today announced the honorific namings for Hawaii's longtime senator and a former naval secretary. “As secretary of the Navy it is my privilege to name these ships to honor a respected naval leader and a true American hero." Mabus said. "For decades to come, the future USS Paul Ignatius and USS Daniel Inouye will represent the United States and enable the building of partnerships and projection of power around the world."
Paul Ignatius served as secretary of the Navy 1967-1969 and as assistant secretary of defense under President Lyndon Johnson.
Inouye was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in Tuscany, Italy, during World War II and later became a U.S. senator.
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a release that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus called her today and confirmed the plans.
"I am pleased that Secretary Mabus called me to let me know that the Navy would name a destroyer after Sen. Inouye. Secretary Mabus informed me that he had tried to name a ship after Senator while he was still alive, and knowing Senator, he wanted no part of it," Hanabusa said. " The Arleigh-Burke Class is considered the strongest, most advanced surface ship in the world, responsible for multiple missions that ensure naval supremacy. This is a fitting tribute to Sen. Inouye, whose own strength and determination inspired so many of us. Our Navy will be proud to have a ship bearing his name deployed throughout the world, continuing to fight and defend us."
DDG-118 is on contract to be constructed at Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, a major shipyard that is responsible for the construction of multiple types of surface ships, mostly ordered by the US Navy, Hanabusa said. The ship is expected to be delivered in mid-2018.
The ships will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection. They are capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and contain a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime warfare.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/208695381.html?id=208695381
-
America's oldest veteran to spend quiet Memorial Day at Texas home
By Joshua Rhett Miller
Published May 24, 2013
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./660/371/oldestvet.jpeg?ve=1)
World War II veteran Richard Overton, left, is seen in his Army uniform in an undated photograph provided by the City of Austin. Overton, 107, sits outside his Texas home earlier this month. (AP/Austin American Statesman)
For his 107th Memorial Day, Richard Arvine Overton, who saw many of his fellow soldiers fall in the line of duty in World War II and even more die over the following decades, is planning a quiet day at the Texas home he built after returning home from World War II.
He wouldn’t want it any other way.
Overton, who is believed to be the nation's oldest veteran, told FoxNews.com he’ll likely spend the day on the porch of his East Austin home with a cigar nestled in his right hand, perhaps with a cup of whiskey-stiffened coffee nearby.
“I don’t know, some people might do something for me, but I’ll be glad just to sit down and rest,” the Army veteran said during a phone interview. “I’m no young man no more.”
“I’m no young man no more.”
- Richard Overton, 107
Overton, who was born on May, 11, 1906, in Texas’ Bastrop County, has gotten used to being the center of attention of late. In addition to being formally recognized by Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell on May 9, Overton traveled to Washington, D.C., on May 17 as part of Honor Flight, a nonprofit group that transports veterans free of charge to memorials dedicated to their service. Despite serving in the South Pacific from 1942 through 1945, including stops in Hawaii, Guam, Palau and Iwo Jima to name a few, it was Overton’s first time in the nation’s capital.
“I was really honored when I got there,” Overton said of his visit to the World War II Memorial. “There were so many people, it was up in the thousands. And we danced and we jumped … them people tickled me to death. It made me happy as can be.”
The entire experience gave Overton a “good thrill,” he said, and the significance of visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial at a time when an African-American holds the country’s highest elected office was not lost him.
“I was very, very happy,” Overton continued, adding that he wasn’t deterred by Washington’s expansive National Mall. “At my age and my strength, I’m able to stand up and do anything. My mind is good, so I’m able to do what I want.”
Overton credits his longevity to aspirin, which he takes daily, and the relatively stress-free life he’s enjoyed since getting out of the service in October 1945. He then worked at local furniture stores before taking a position with the Texas Treasury Department in Austin. He married twice but never fathered any children and still attends church every Sunday.
“I got good health and I don’t take any medicine,” he said. “I also stay busy around the yards, I trim trees, help with the horses. The driveways get dirty, so I clean them. I do something to keep myself moving. I don’t watch television.”
Overton also passes his time with up to 12 cigars a day and a little whiskey in his morning coffee. The hooch helps keep Overton spry, he said.
“I may drink a little in the evening too with some soda water, but that’s it,” he said. “Whiskey’s a good medicine. It keeps your muscles tender.”
Overton’s secrets may be unorthodox to some, but it’s hard to argue with someone approaching supercentenarian status — an individual aged 110 or older. There are believed to be just 57 people worldwide that meet that classification, including 114-year-old Jeralean Talley, of Inkster, Mich., who is the oldest person in the United States according to the Gerontology Research Group. (Talley, who was born in 1899, reportedly celebrated her birthday on Thursday and passes her time listening to baseball on the radio and watching television.)
Among U.S. veterans, it’s extremely difficult — if not impossible — to confirm Overton’s place as the oldest living former soldier since just roughly 9 million of the nation’s 22 million vets are registered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. But that didn’t stop the city of Austin from recognizing him as the oldest veteran in Texas during his birthday proclamation at City Hall. Mayor Leffingwell, in a statement to FoxNews.com, said Austin is “honored” to call Overton one of its own.
“I’ve spoken with Mr. Overton on a few different occasions, and admire his spirit for life and his country,” the statement read. “He is truly one of our unsung heroes and we are privileged that he calls Austin his home.”
Overton, for his part, believes he’s the oldest veteran in the country, although he said he feels decades younger and doesn’t really embrace the part. He wishes he could spend a few hours this Memorial Day reliving war stories with fellow veterans, but he’s outlived most — if not all — of them.
“I know I had someone from my platoon until recently, but he passed so now I don’t have anyone that I know,” he said. “So I feel lonesome by myself sometimes. I would love to ask some of them some questions, but nobody is here. Everybody’s passed.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/24/america-oldest-veteran-to-spend-quiet-memorial-day-at-texas-home/
-
Unemployed Texas teacher returns lost bag containing $20G
Published June 19, 2013
Associated Press
An unemployed teacher was driving home after dropping her cat off at a veterinarian when she noticed a bag on the street. She stopped but doubted it contained anything, but soon discovered the bag was holding about $20,000.
Candace Scott said the bag had a Chase bank label, so she promptly delivered it to a nearby branch. She pound on the glass around 8 a.m. Tuesday to get the branch manager to come to the door before the bank opened for business, The Eagle newspaper reported.
"She told me I'm the most honest person in the world, and I said `or the dumbest."'
- Candace Scott
The banker thanked Scott for returning the cash.
"She told me I'm the most honest person in the world, and I said `or the dumbest,"' Scott said.
Scott never knew exactly how much money she returned. Greg Hassell, a Houston-based spokesman for Chase, said Wednesday that the bag contained about $20,000. He declined to release further details citing courier security.
Scott, a former middle school teacher in College Station, at first doubted the bag contained anything worth saving.
"It looked like a gallon-size baggie with a blue zipper on top," Scott said. "It just barely caught my eye, and I thought it was money, then was like, `Nah, it's probably a dirty diaper."'
Scott circled back in time to see a dump truck run over the bag in the middle of the left turn lane. She then stopped and picked up the bag.
"There were two huge bundles of hundred-dollar bills wrapped in rubber bands," Scott said. "The bag had ripped open because of the dump truck, but other than that it was just laying there."
Then she noticed the Chase label on the bag and headed about a block away to a bank branch, knocking on the glass until the manager walked to the door.
"(The bank manager) thought I had been in an accident or somebody had mugged me," Scott said. "I told her `I have y'all's money. She said `What?' and then she thought I was a crazy person. I told her to stay right there while I got it. She saw it and opened that door up as fast as she could."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/06/19/unemployed-texas-teacher-returns-lost-bag-containing-20g/?test=latestnews
-
Army soldier set to receive Medal of Honor recounts battle with Taliban fighters
Published July 29, 2013
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/assets/660/371/Medalofhonor.jpg?ve=1)
July 29, 2013: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter and his wife, Shannon Carter, talk to reporters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. (AP)
Nearly four years after a day-long firefight that killed eight of his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan, the emotion of that day remains just below the surface for Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter, who will receive a Medal of Honor next month for his actions during that attack by Taliban fighters.
Carter, a former Marine who later enlisted in the Army and is currently assigned to the 7th Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, spoke to reporters Monday about the Oct. 3, 2009, battle at a mountain outpost where U.S. troops were outnumbered by about 400 Afghan fighters. In addition to those killed, 25 were injured, including Carter, who suffered hearing loss, shrapnel injuries and a concussion.
"This award is not mine alone," he said. "I am grateful for the service of all the soldiers I fought with that day."
Carter, 33, will be recognized at the White House on Aug. 26 for his actions, which included killing enemy troops, resupplying ammunition to American fighters, rendering first aid and risking his own life to save an injured soldier pinned down by a barrage of enemy fire.
"We are proud to have a soldier like him representing our Army and our nation," said Lt. Col. Joe Sowers, a spokesman for the division.
Carter, who grew up in Spokane, Wash., also has received a Purple Heart. At the time of the battle, he was a specialist assigned to the Black Knight Troop of the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Carson, Colo.
He said he was still in his bunk when the 2009 battle started at about 6 a.m.
"That position was attacked so often that you get used to waking up to machine gun fire," he said.
Carter said he realized it was a serious attack as soon as he stepped through the door of his barracks.
"Concrete, sand, everything was spitting back at me because of the rounds coming in," he said. "I stepped back and got a running start."
He calmly detailed joining the other soldiers and resupplying them with ammunition under heavy fire.
With his wife, Shannon, holding his hand, Carter paused to regain his composure while recounting seeing two fellow soldiers, Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos and Sgt. Vernon Martin get hit by machine gun fire. Both were killed. He described seeing another, Spc. Stephan Mace, injured by shrapnel, crawling on his elbows.
Carter said Sgt. Bradley Larson wouldn't let him immediately go to Mace because of the heavy firefighting, a decision that Carter is now certain saved his life, even though it was difficult at the time.
"It's very painful to see a good man suffer and then not be able to go to him when you know you can save him," he said, emotion choking his voice.
Later, with Larson providing cover fire, Carter was ultimately able to reach Mace, provide him first aid and get him to safety.
Carter said that when they later learned that Mace had died from his wounds, "there was a sorrow that went through the troop."
He said that if not for the actions of the other soldiers in his troop, and the reinforcements that later arrived during the 12-hour battle, "I might not be here today to speak to you."
"That day we were fighting as one team in one fight," he said.
In February, President Barack Obama bestowed the Medal of Honor on another survivor of that firefight, former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha. Carter, who served a second tour in Afghanistan last year, didn't attend, he said, because he was working through issues from the battle.
"I'm uncomfortable about being around the families of the fallen because I feel that I owe them so much," he said. "I feel embarrassed to be in their presence because they have lost so much."
Carter said he's been in counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder since the battle, and he hopes to help other soldiers who have the same diagnosis from their military experiences.
Shannon Carter told reporters that it's overwhelming to hear what her husband and fellow soldiers experienced.
"It's heart wrenching. It makes me cry," she said, but she has to remain strong "to help him be strong."
Ty Carter said he doesn't have any bitterness, instead choosing to focus on the fact that they were able to fend off the Afghan fighters in a situation "where an impossible situation became possible."
"That, I can't forget and I don't think anybody else can," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/29/army-soldier-set-to-receive-medal-honor-recounts-battle-with-taliban-fighters/?test=latestnews#ixzz2b7vVXGCB
-
Article from a few years ago. Decent list.
25 Greatest Americans
James Joyner · Thursday, August 19, 2010
John Hawkins has polled 44 conservative bloggers to come up with a list of the “25 Greatest Figures In American History.” Compared to his much-panned “25 Worst Figures In American History” list, this one should be rather uncontroversial.
Indeed, the selections pretty closely mirror mine:
22) Douglas MacArthur (6)
22) John Wayne (6)
22) Ayn Rand (6)
22) Lewis & Clark (6)
22) Susan B. Anthony (6)
21) Norman Bourlag (7)
19) Bill Gates (8 )
19) Audie Murphy (8 )
18) Alexander Hamilton (9)
15) Thomas Paine (12)
15) Albert Einstein (12)
15) Jonas Salk (12)
14) Mark Twain (13)
13) Henry Ford (14)
12) Dwight D. Eisenhower (15)
11) George S. Patton (16)
10) The Wright Brothers (20)
9) James Madison (22)
8 ) John Adams (24)
7) Ronald Reagan (27)
5) Thomas Edison (31)
5) Abraham Lincoln (31)
4) Benjamin Franklin (32)
3) Martin Luther King (34)
2) Thomas Jefferson (36)
1) George Washington (42)
Those in bold were on my list as well. Everyone on my list (which only had 15 people) made the Top 25 except for Alexander Graham Bell and George Marshall.
Notable of those that made the above list and didn’t make mine: I’d have included Einstein, too, but don’t consider him an American. I strongly considered Adams but the Alien and Sedition Acts were sufficiently evil to keep him off. King probably should have made my list, too, but his personal baggage is pretty heavy and I think he actually gets too much credit for changes that the Supreme Court and the American people were in the process of making, anyway.
It’s also noteworthy that Teddy Roosevelt, who’s on Mount Rushmore, made neither my list nor the consensus list.
As with the 25 Worst list, it should be noted that the list is ordered by total number of mentions. Our submissions were not rank ordered. Unlike the other list, however, this seems to mostly work out for the 25 Greatest list.
I am, however, puzzled that two people omitted George “The Father of the Freakin’ Country” Washington from their lists and eight omitted Jefferson. What’s a brother got to do to get some love around here?
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/25-greatest-americans/
-
Soldier gets Medal of Honor for heroic efforts in Afghanistan firefight
Published August 26, 2013
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Politics/876/493/Carter_Honor.jpg?ve=1)
Aug. 26, 2013: President Obama awards U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Ty M. Carter the Medal of Honor, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.
Army Staff Sgt. Ty Carter received the Medal of Honor on Monday for his efforts in Afghanistan during a firefight with Taliban forces in which eight of his fellow soldiers were killed.
Carter received the medal from President Obama during a White House ceremony, where the nation honors his "selfless courage."
The battle erupted Oct. 3, 2009, at a mountain outpost where U.S. troops were outnumbered by about 400 Afghan fighters, Carter recently told reporters.
In addition to those killed, 25 were injured, including Carter, who suffered hearing loss, shrapnel injuries and a concussion.
Among his heroic efforts, Carter, 33, killed enemy troops and resupplied ammunition to American fighters, rendering first aid and risking his own life to save an injured soldier pinned down by a barrage of enemy fire.
“That outpost was being slammed,” Obama said. “It was chaos. … He displayed the essence of true heroism.”
Carter was accompanied to the White House by several soldiers in the battle and 40 family members including his parents, wife and three children
Carter -- who grew up in Spokane, Wash. -- also has received a Purple Heart. At the time of the battle, he was a specialist assigned to the Black Knight Troop of the 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Carson, Colo.
He said he was still in his bunk when the 2009 battle started at about 6 a.m.
"That position was attacked so often that you get used to waking up to machine gun fire," he said recently.
The president also used the ceremony to highlight the problem of post-traumatic stress disorder, from which Carter suffers and has sought help. He also has spoken out about the issue.
"Now he want wants to help other troops," Obama said. "I say this to other troops, 'Look at this soldier."
After the ceremony, Carter told reporters: "Please take the time to learn about the invisible wounded. If you know a soldier or veteran suffering from PTSD, they are some of the most passionate, dedicated men or women you will ever meet. They are not damaged."
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/08/26/soldier-gets-medal-honor-for-repeated-heroic-efforts-in-afghanistan-firefight/#ixzz2d6g3Qtn7
-
Homeless man in Boston honored by police for turning in backpack full of cash, checks
Published September 17, 2013
FoxNews.com
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/honesthomelessman.jpg)
Sept. 16, 2013: Glen James, of Boston, left, smiles in the direction of members of the media as Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, right, looks on during a news conference at the police headquarters, in Boston. (AP)
A homeless man in Boston was honored Monday for flagging down police after he discovered a bag filled with $2,400 in cash and nearly $40,000 in travelers checks, The Boston Globe reported.
Last summer, Glen James, who is in his 50s and lives in a homeless shelter, noticed a young man at the South Bay plaza in Boston leave behind a large bag, the report said. James observed the bag’s contents, and alerted police because “God has always very well looked after me.”
“Even if I were desperate for money, I would not have kept even a penny,” he wrote in a statement due to embarrassment about a speech impediment.
James received a citation from Boston’s police commissioner and there has been a website made, www.gofundme.com/4by2as, to raise money for James, who said he receives food stamps and panhandles at times because “It’s just nice to have some money in one’s pockets so that as a homeless man I don’t feel absolutely broke all the time.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/17/homeless-man-in-boston-honored-by-police-for-turning-in-backpack-full-cash/?intcmp=latestnews#ixzz2fB2eYQkD
-
Vietnam Veteran Retires after 42 Years of Service
Sep 09, 2013
DVIDS| by Sgt. Lori Bilyou
(http://images.military.com/media/news/people/090913-army-master-sgt.-ric-ts300.jpg)
BETHANY BEACH, Del. - Delaware National Guard members witnessed history Saturday, Sept. 7, as they gathered along with family and friends to honor the retirement of Army Master Sgt. Richard Hitchens, the last active member of the Delaware Army National Guard who served in Vietnam.
“This is truly the end of an era,” said Army Maj. Gen Francis D. Vavala, adjutant general for the DNG, who said that Hitchens epitomized the term soldier.
Speaking to those assembled, Hitchens stated, “One day back in May of 1968 my mother and father took me to the bus station in Salisbury, Md., put me on a Trailways bus and I shipped off for the rest of my life. I committed. I committed myself to the country.”
Hitchens, the youngest of 11 children, grew up on a farm. Like seven of his brothers who joined the army before him, Hitchens was looking for a better life. So in 1968, at the age of 16, Hitchens enlisted with a doctored birth certificate.
“I remember thinking I’d made a mistake when I got to basic training,” Hitchens said.
“I told the drill sergeant I was only 16 because I wanted to go home. He just said ‘I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.’”
By 1969, Hitchens was in Vietnam serving as a radio telephone operator for a forward observer unit with the 1st Cavalry Division. In September, a little more than a year after he’d boarded the Trailways bus, Hitchens was awarded the Bronze Star Medal with valor for his actions during a firefight.
“We were out for a 30-day mission on patrol when we got pinned down,” Hitchens explained.
“The machine gunners were screaming for ammo but everyone was either dead or wounded. We were about to be overrun. I remember thinking I can’t die here. I grabbed ammo and started running it up to the gunners. I became the assistant gunner and helped lay down fire.”
The war and the sentiment in the country changed things for Hitchens. When he finished his service obligation he didn’t reenlist but instead returned home. For three years Hitchens hung out with his friends, friends who hadn’t gone to war.
“They had no concept of what I had gone through,” Hitchens said. “The only people who had any concept of all the trauma and things I went through were people in uniform. I still hadn’t decompressed from the war.”
In 1977, a friend who was in the DNG asked Hitchens if he’d think about joining. At the time, the DNG had a program called Try One, which allowed members to join the Guard for only one year to see if they liked it. Hitchens did and he’s never looked back.
“The Delaware National Guard became my family,” Hitchens said.
By then a sergeant, Hitchens joined the 2198th Maintenance Company in Dagsboro, Del. as a small arms repairman. Around soldiers again, Hitchens finally began to decompress and started on the path that would eventually lead him to become the company’s first sergeant serving all but the last year of his service with the unit.
“I played the hand I was dealt and I won,” Hitchens said. “If you’d told Richard Hitchens years ago that he was going to be first sergeant he would have laughed at you.”
As first sergeant, Hitchens deployed to Iraq in 2009 with the maintenance company, which had by then been renamed the 262nd. At that time Hitchens brought with him more than 38 years of experience in service and felt he had a lot to offer the soldiers under him.
“A lot of these kids had never been out of Sussex county, let alone Iraq, so they were scared to death. That’s how I felt when I left Sussex county years ago and went to Vietnam,” Hitchens said. “I know that feeling and what it takes to move beyond it.”
Hitchens also knows how hard it is to readjust after coming home.
“I came home from Vietnam on a Monday, was processed out by Tuesday morning. Tuesday morning I was on flight home for 30 days [rest and relaxation] and by Wednesday afternoon I was walking on the streets around town,” Hitchens said. “There was no transition.”
When the 262nd returned from Iraq in 2010, Hitchens resisted a transfer to battalion insisting he be able to stay for an additional two years in order to care for the soldiers while they transitioned back to their civilian lives.
Now retired after nearly 43 years of service, Hitchens wants to continue helping soldiers by working as a counselor at the Georgetown Veterans Administration Hospital.
“I do things for friends of mine who I served with in Vietnam, who I watched die, who I held in my arms, who died in my arms. I do things for them, the things that they wanted to do, the things they couldn’t do. That drives me,” Hitchens said.
“I want to be the first one in my family to get his college degree. Out of all my brothers and sisters, if I can succeed in this, I’ll be the first one.”
“He’s inspiring,” said Pvt. Spencer Bradford, a new recruit to the DNG who leaves for basic training Monday. “When he was talking, I kind of felt heartfelt. That’s pretty powerful stuff.”
Now 62, Hitchens is enrolled full time at Delaware Technical Community College to earn a degree in human services counseling.
His parting message to the soldiers assembled to see him off: keep moving forward.
“What you’re doing now is probably going to be one of the greatest things that each and every one of you will ever do in your life,” Hitchens said. “I hate to think where I would be, if I never put the uniform on.”
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/09/09/vietnam-veteran-retires-after-42-years-of-service.html?comp=7000023435630&rank=7
-
Hawaii's last living Medal of Honor hero is hailed by Congress
The Marine sergeant saved his men in an act that is "the stuff of legends,"lawmaker says
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Sep 19, 2013
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/312*207/19-B1-kellogg-mug.jpg)
Allan Kellogg Jr. (center), a 69-year-old Vietnam vet, saved fellow Marines by smothering a grenade in a rice paddy.
The U.S. House of Representatives recognized all living Medal of Honor recipients Wednesday, reciting the acts of bravery that went far above and beyond the call of duty.
Hawaii is down to just one still living here: retired Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Allan Kellogg Jr. of Kailua.
Kellogg, a 69-year-old Vietnam vet, saved fellow Marines by smothering a grenade in a rice paddy.
U.S. Reps. Rodney Davis, a Republican from Illinois, and Tulsi Gabbard, a Hawaii Democrat, co-hosted the House session Wednesday to recognize all living Medal of Honor recipients.
According to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, there are 80 living recipients.
"Since the first Medal of Honor was given on March 25, 1853, only 3,461 individuals have earned it," Davis said.
Medal of Honor recipients get together each year for a convention, and a gathering in Gettysburg, Pa., today through Saturday is expected to draw more than 45 with the blue ribbon and gold medal. Last year's meeting was in Honolulu.
Gabbard, herself a combat veteran for her service in Iraq with the Hawaii National Guard, recognized Kellogg on the House floor for his actions in 1970 in Vietnam.
"Under the leadership of Sgt. Kellogg, a small unit from Company G was evacuating a fallen comrade when the unit came under enemy fire from the surrounding jungle. What he did is the stuff of legends," Gabbard said.
"After an enemy soldier hurled a hand grenade at the Marines, Sgt. Kellogg quickly forced the grenade into the mud, threw himself over the grenade and absorbed the full effects of its detonation with his body, saving his unit," she said. "Although suffering multiple injuries to his chest and his right shoulder, Sgt. Kellogg continued to direct his men until all reached safety."
Gabbard said in a release that she was "proud and honored" to recognize the actions and sacrifices of the fellow Kailua resident.
"He is a part of an elite group, which includes the likes of our very own Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, who selflessly gave everything in the service of our nation," Gabbard said. "These incredible heroes have been awarded our nation's highest military decoration for valor in combat. Their humble examples of what it means to be a true servant leader continue to serve as an inspiration to us all."
Hawaii has had more than its share of recipients.
Twenty-two Asian-American soldiers were recognized for their World War II heroism when their service awards were upgraded to Medals of Honor in 2000.
Most were with the 100th Infantry Battalion or 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Ten of those 22 mostly Japanese-American soldiers survived the war, three died before the Medals of Honor were awarded and seven living recipients were honored in Washington, D.C., including five living in Hawaii.
Among them was Inouye, who gave his right arm charging machine-gun nests in Italy, and who died Dec. 17 at 88.
Other Medal of Honor recipients who lived in Hawaii at that time included Barney Hajiro, Shizuya Hayashi, Yeiki Kobashigawa and Yukio Okutsu, the Pentagon said.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremium/20130919__Hawaiis_last_living_Medal_of_Honor_hero___is_hailed_by_Congress_.html?id=224362611
-
Vietnam veterans get medals for heroic actions
(AP) SAN DIEGO - Two Vietnam veterans were awarded the Silver and Bronze Star medals Friday for their courage in a battle on a jungle hillside where more than 75 percent of the troops with them that day were killed or wounded.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in his citation to the president that Joe Cordileone and Robert Moffatt showed extraordinary heroism during the first Battle of Khe Sanh in 1967. Marine Brig. Gen. James Bierman apologized to the veterans for the 46-year-wait, saying "I’m sorry that it took so long for these awards to work their way around to you."
The men were never recognized until now because the commanders who make such recommendations were killed: Of the more than 100 American troops on the hill, 27 were killed and 50 were wounded.
The pursuit for medals for the men started with a retired Marine general listening to a group of veterans reminisce about April 30, 1967, when troops with Company M, 3rd Marine Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, advanced to secure Hill 881 South and were attacked by the North Vietnamese Army.
Maj. Gen. John Admire said he was shocked to learn not one of the survivors had a medal.
Retired Pfc. Cordileone still has shrapnel in his face from the fighting. He continued firing for about eight hours after getting hit by fragments from the explosions as he carried his platoon commander, who was killed when a second mortar hit. Moffatt suffered severe head wounds after taking over the machine gun from a wounded comrade, saving American lives.
"I knew we had to remedy this because there was no doubt in my mind that what they did was absolutely courage beyond belief," Admire said.
Admire conducted research to verify the veterans’ stories. Thanks to his efforts, six Marines have received medals for that day, including Cordileone, now the chief deputy city attorney for San Diego, and Moffatt, a retired cost estimator who lives in Riverside.
The Navy says Cordileone’s efforts saved the lives of at least 10 Marines.
Cordileone at one point dragged Moffatt to a bomb crater for safety and tried to stop the bleeding from his cheek by dressing the wound. He recalled with a laugh how Moffatt gestured for him to pull it off and when he did, Moffatt told him "You idiot, I can’t breathe."
Both men still suffer from post-traumatic stress. Moffatt continues to see doctors for traumatic brain injury.
Cordileone said he was humbled his fellow Marines would recommend him for the award.
"The truth is I was just doing my job," he said at the ceremony attended by parents of recruits graduating Friday from boot camp. "I did nothing more than any other Marine would have done in the same situation, and I certainly know that I did no more than any other Marine or corpsman who climbed hill 881 with me that day."
Retired Pfc. Moffatt accepted his award in memory of his fallen comrades.
"I can go to my grave with some peace of mind and say well somebody appreciated what I tried to do," he said after the ceremony.
The Navy Secretary had to cancel his appearance at the ceremony at the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot because of Monday’s shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard.
http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/S3166152.shtml?cat=10159
-
HERO'S FAREWELL WWII airman missing since '44 to get full military burial
(http://images.foxnews.mobi/content/815/feed-5815/NeTVxY0djPS5KUE-9htdtPnybSP-150.JPEG)
Only a sole surviving sibling has a distant memory of a World War II pilot whose recently identified remains will be buried Saturday with full military honors in Utah.
U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Vernal J. Bird had more than a dozen brothers and sisters when he crashed over a Pacific Ocean island nearly 70 years ago. He disappeared over Papua New Guinea on a 1944 bombing run of Japanese airfields there. He was 25.
The crash site was discovered 12 years ago, but it wasn't until this summer that the Air Force was able to identify partial remains found there as belonging to Bird.
This week, about 150 distant relatives showed up at the Salt Lake airport as those remains -- only a single leg bone was recovered -- arrived inside a flag-draped casket on an airliner.
None of them knew Bird personally. His younger sister, Elaine Bird Jack of Eugene, Ore., is his lone surviving sibling and the only one who has a memory of him, said Lorna Bird Snyder, the airman's 66-year-old niece.
The 92-year-old Jack is in Utah for the burial at Evergreen Cemetery in Springville, Snyder told The Associated Press. She was the 13th child of the family; Bird was the 12th.
Jack provided a DNA sample that was used to identify her brother's fibula, the outer and thinner of the long bones of a lower leg.
Relatives are hoping a full excavation of the crash site will yield more remains, Snyder said.
The Air Force is moving cautiously because a 500-pound unexploded bomb is still attached to the A-20G Havoc bomber.
The remains of Bird's co-pilot, Staff Sgt. Roy Davis from New Hampshire, have not been found.
The crash site on a forested mountainside was discovered in 2001 by a Papuan national, who delivered the fibula along with engine identification plates of the bomber to an American recovery team.
The Air Force identified the bone as Bird's in July.
In the airman's last letter to his family, he described how he flew his light bomber barely above tree-top level, saying "we fly right in the leaves at times." It was written two days before his bomber went down March 12, 1944.
His niece spent years researching where -- over the Pacific Ocean or New Guinea -- his plane might have gone down. She compared boxes of the airman's letters against records of the American-Australian effort against the Japanese.
If not for Snyder's dogged efforts, the recovered bone might never have gotten a DNA comparison.
Vernal Bird was born Oct. 29, 1918, in Lindon to Walter F. and Christina Pearsson Ash Bird. He attended schools in Lindon and Pleasant Grove. The family later moved to Springville, another Utah County town, according to an obituary.
Although Jack is the only one who knew Bird personally, relatives never forgot him, Snyder said. They kept the airman's smiling portrait among family mementos.
"My parents of course loved him," Snyder said. "They instilled in us that Vernal was an honorable, brave, intelligent young man. We loved his picture."
http://www.foxnews.mobi/quickPage.html?page=22995&content=98114392&pageNum=-1
-
Afghan war vet presented with Medal of Honor
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/612/344/101513_an_griffin_640.jpg?ve=1)
Published October 15, 2013 • FoxNews.com
A former Army captain, whose actions were recorded in a dramatic helmet cam-video, received the nation's highest military honor on Tuesday for his bravery in one of the deadliest firefights of the Afghanistan war.
William D. Swenson was awarded the Medal of Honor Tuesday for his "extraordinary heroism" in a lengthy battle against the Taliban in the Ganjgal valley near the Pakistan border on Sept. 8, 2009, which claimed the lives of five Americans, 10 Afghan army troops and an interpreter.
At the time, Swenson was an embedded trainer and mentor with the Afghan National Security Forces in Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan. He risked his life to recover bodies and help save fellow troops.
Some of Swenson's actions were captured in a helmet-cam video. President Obama, in announcing the award at the White House, noted this may be the first time a recipient's actions were captured on film. It was also the second time in nearly a half-century that two survivors of the same battle were given the Medal of Honor. Another man who fought in the battle, Marine Cpl. Dakota Meyer, was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2011.
"In moments like this, Americans like Will remind us of what our country can be at its best," Obama said, in a subtle comment on the divisions in Washington over the budget.
The 2009 firefight was followed by internal disciplinary actions in the U.S. military.
Swenson complained to military leaders after the fight that many of his calls for help were rejected by superior officers. Two Army officers were reprimanded for being "inadequate and ineffective" and for "contributing directly to the loss of life" following an investigation into the day's events.
Four Americans died in the ambush: 1st Lt. Michael Johnson, a 25-year-old from Virginia Beach; Staff Sgt. Aaron Kenefick, 30, of Roswell, Ga.; Corpsman James Layton, 22, of Riverbank, Calif.; and Edwin Wayne Johnson Jr., a 31-year-old gunnery sergeant from Columbus, Ga. A fifth man, Army Sgt. Kenneth W. Westbrook, 41, of Shiprock, N.M., later died from his wounds.
The military says Swenson's initial medal nomination was lost.
Swenson, 34, retired from the military in February 2011. He has a Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal and lives in Seattle.
Swenson was the sixth living recipient to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama also attended Tuesday's medal ceremony in the East Room of the White House.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/15/obama-presenting-medal-honor-to-afghan-war-vet/?intcmp=latestnews
-
Army Ranger believed to be unconscious salutes during Purple Heart ceremony
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/640/360/101613_ff_salute_640.jpg)
Published October 16, 2013
FoxNews.com
Army Ranger Josh Hargis was unconscious, hooked to a breathing tube at a military hospital in Afghanistan after losing both his legs in battle last week.
But when the Purple Heart ceremony began at Hargis’ bedside, it turned out he was not unconscious, as doctors believed. Instead, he struggled with an attending doctor to raise his heavily bandaged hand to salute a commanding officer presenting him with the medal.
"I cannot impart on you the level of emotion that poured through the intensive care unit that day," the commander wrote to the Ranger's wife. "Grown men began to weep, and we were speechless at a gesture that speaks volumes about Josh's courage and character."
"Grown men began to weep, and we were speechless at a gesture that speaks volumes about Josh's courage and character."
- Commanding officer
There were about 50 fellow Rangers, doctors and nurses in the hospital room during the ceremony. The commanding officer said the salute was the “most beautiful” any person in the room had ever seen.
"I'm overwhelmed. I'm overwhelmed that that’s my boy, that he could come from me. Yeah, I'm overwhelmed," Jim Hargis, the 24-year-old's father, told Fox 19.
Hargis, who is expecting a baby with his wife, was injured in an explosion while his unit, the 3rd Ranger Battalion, was searching for a high-value target in Panjwaj, Afghanistan, the Fox 19 report said. Four other soldiers died in the attack.
His father told the station that the troops had just inspected a man for bombs, and then a woman came by and exploded. While the troops were responding to the explosion, other IEDs planted in the area detonated, including one Hargis stepped on.
Hargis will be moved to a military hospital in San Antonio, Texas, for further treatment.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/16/army-ranger-believed-to-be-unconscious-salutes-during-purple-heart-ceremony/
-
Army honors a patient WWII veteran
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-52771d27/turbine/ct-met-cantigny-veteran-a-jpg-20131103/600)
( Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune / November 3, 2013 )
World War II veteran Frank Andrews, right, was honored at a ceremony Sunday at the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton. He was awarded his medals by Brig. Gen. Gracus Dunn, left, and Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Greene.
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-527715e9/turbine/andresphoto-jpg-20131103/600)
( Andrews family photo / August 5, 2013 )
Frank Andrews served in the infantry and later in the Army Air Forces during World War II.
By Krystyna Slivinski, Special to the Tribune
November 3, 2013
It could be said that Des Plaines resident Frank Andrews, 94, an Army World War II veteran, is a patient man.
After all, he waited 68 years to receive the medals he earned during his service that included his actions on Omaha Beach on D-Day and later in the Battle of the Bulge.
While Andrews received the medals in the mail over the summer, members of the Army's 85th Support Command in Arlington Heights decided a ceremony full of military pomp, color guard and music was in order.
The mission was kept a secret until Sunday, when Andrews arrived at the First Division Museum at Cantigny Park in Wheaton. There, more than 150 people, including his family, local officials and more than 80 military members, had gathered to surprise him with an elaborate ceremony.
"I thought they were going to present me with the medals and then say 'Adios,'" said Andrews after the ceremony. "This was a complete surprise. I never expected this."
Andrews, a native of Chicago, was drafted in 1943. He served in the infantry and later in the Army Air Forces as a signalman. He was injured twice before being discharged in 1945. He earned several medals that included the Purple Heart, Good Conduct Medal, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal and the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.
However, Andrews never received them. At the time, he didn't inquire why.
"I had a son who was 3 years old and I didn't have a job and I had to go and hustle, so medals didn't mean anything back then," Andrews said.
He raised four children in Chicago and retired from the U.S. Postal Service, where he worked coordinating military mail at O'Hare International Airport. By the 1980s, with more time on his hands, Andrews found out in talking with other veterans that there was a way for him to get those medals.
So he filled out the paperwork and waited. Instead of the awards, he was sent a notice that the medals were out of stock. Not one to make a fuss, Andrews figured that when the Army was ready, it would send them over. But somehow they never arrived.
"I'm not really sure what happened there," said Anthony Taylor, a spokesman for the 85th Support Command.
Andrews waited until this year to bring up the issue with his son, Larry Andrews, and showed him the paperwork from 1984 that said the Army would send the medals when they had them.
"I saw it this summer and my dad was like, 'Do you think I'm waiting too long for this?'" said Larry Andrews.
After making a few calls, every medal awarded to Andrews was mailed to him. The 85th Support Command learned of the story and began working with Andrews' family to find out more about his service. In doing so, the family began to better understand the contribution their father made during World War II.
"To be honest we could never get him to talk about his time in the war. … It wasn't until now that he started talking," his son said.
The honor of handing Andrews the medals went to Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Greene and Brig. Gen. Gracus Dunn.
"Think about how much patience we (don't) have today," Dunn said. "But not Frank Andrews. You honor us with your presence."
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/des_plaines/ct-tl-cantigny-war-medals-1107-20131108,0,6940592.story
-
7 first-class passengers give up seats to Marines returning from Afghanistan
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/video/640/360/110613_ff_firstclasssoldiers_640.jpg)
Published November 06, 2013
FoxNews.com
Fourteen Marines on their way home from serving in Afghanistan were upgraded to first class on their flight from Chicago to San Diego.
The Marines learned that American Airlines - which has a policy to upgrade servicemen and women in uniform whenever possible - had six empty seats in first class for the group. That gesture was followed by seven first-class passengers who jumped out of their seats for the other Marines so they could sit together.
"It was incredibly touching," Capt. Pravin Rajan said in a telephone interview from Camp Pendleton in California. "Afghanistan is a very complex and ambiguous war ... and a difficult thing to keep track of so it is amazing when we are 10 years (into) a war and there is still that kind of community, that level of support, the level of willingness to go out of one's way."
The welcome home started with a phone call. Stephanie Hare, a native of Illinois who now works in England, called the USO at O'Hare and explained that her fiance, Rajan, who had served seven months in Afghanistan, was with a dozen other Marines on a plane bound for Chicago from Baltimore.
"I just thought if they could get them some Chicago pizza, champagne or something, that would mean a lot," she said.
On the other end of the line was John Colas, a 74-year-old former Marine USO volunteer. He told Hare he'd try to do something in the hour or so before the flight landed. But he cautioned that while volunteers make an effort to welcome military personnel whenever they come through the airport, he wasn't sure he could pull anything off in such a short time.
Colas got on the phone with the police and fire departments, the airlines and anyone else he could think of.
"There must have been 15 Chicago firemen and an equal number of Chicago police and they formed a corridor for the Marines when they got off the airplane," he said.
Rajan said the Marines didn't know what to make of it, starting with the slightly unnerving experience of looking out a plane window to see a fire truck.
"For a second, we were like, 'Are we in trouble?'" he said.
After they realized the reception was for them, the Marines soaked in the scene, even as they said police officers hustled them off to another gate so they'd make their flight to San Diego.
"They were just so thankful - very, very appreciative," said Linda Kozma, an American Airlines employee who helps military personnel flying in and out of O'Hare.
Hare didn't know about any of it until she woke up Tuesday and heard Rajan relating the whole story in a voice mail.
"I just thought it was really beautiful," she said.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/06/7-first-class-passengers-give-up-seats-to-marines-returning-from-afghanistan/
-
Wish I could shake this man's hand.
Oldest known WWII veteran honored at Arlington ceremony
Published November 11, 2013
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Politics/876/493/overton_richard_111113.jpg?ve=1)
Richard Overton, the oldest living WWII veteran, listens during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.AP
The oldest known veteran of World War II was honored with a thunderous standing ovation during a ceremony Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, as President Obama and the rest of the nation paid tribute to 107-year-old Richard Overton's service.
The tribute to Overton was a stand-out moment at Monday's Veterans Day ceremonies, as details emerged about Overton's visit. Earlier in the day, the Texas man met with Obama and Vice President Biden, along with other veterans, during a White House breakfast.
"This is the life of one American veteran, living proud and strong in the land he helped keep free," Obama said during the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
Though he uses a wheelchair, Overton can still stand -- and did so, as the crowd applauded his service.
Overton served in the Pacific during World War II, and Obama regaled the audience with his accomplishments. "He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battleships were still smoldering. He was there at Okinawa. He was there at Iwo Jima," Obama said.
When he returned from the war, Overton went back to Texas, where he built a house for him and his wife -- the house he still lives in today. The president said Overton still rakes his own lawn, and still drives ladies in his neighborhood to church every Sunday.
According to a profile on Overton in USA Today, his attendance at Monday's ceremony was set up after Overton visited the World War II Memorial and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as part of an Honor Flight Austin trip back in May. Overton reportedly wondered what it would be like to meet the president, and the visit was later arranged.
During the war, Overton was a member of the Army's 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion and reportedly volunteered for service.
He attributes his longevity in part to drinking a tablespoon of whiskey in his coffee and smoking a dozen cigars a day, according to the article.
Obama used his remarks Monday to remind the nation that thousands of service members are still at war in Afghanistan. The war is expected to formally conclude at the end of next year, though the U.S. may keep a small footprint in the country.
As the Afghan war comes to a close, Obama said the nation has a responsibility to ensure that the returning troops are the "best cared-for and best respected veterans in the world." The country's obligations to those who served "endure long after the battle ends," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/11/obama-honors-veterans-at-wreath-laying-breakfast/
-
Veterans, dignitaries commemorate Battle of the Bulge on 69th anniversary
December 16, 2013
By J.D. Leipold
(http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/c/images/2013/12/16/324980/size0.jpg)
(http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/c/images/2013/12/17/324987/size0.jpg)
(http://usarmy.vo.llnwd.net/e2/c/images/2013/12/16/324955/size0.jpg)
WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Dec. 16, 2013) -- For the last 20 years, World War II veterans and the ambassadors of Belgium and Luxembourg have gathered annually in mid-December at Arlington National Cemetery to pay tribute to the 19,000 American Soldiers who gave their lives in the Battle of the Bulge, which raged in Europe between Dec. 16, 1944, and Jan. 25, 1945.
Ambassadors each rested a wreath at the battle's memorial, which honors the 120,000 Americans who fought in the Army's largest land battle in history. Following the ceremony, a wreath was also laid at the Tomb of the Unknowns by the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Association.
"The service this morning is to honor those of our veterans who have passed away as well as those who are still present and can render honors and carry on this tradition each year," said Doug C. Dillard, who serves as president of the association. "Today, we have thousands of our Soldiers in harm's way, and we wish them the best, and that they will come home soon."
Dillard fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and served then as a sergeant with the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion.
Following the presentation of the wreaths, Dillard spoke briefly about his time in the Ardenne Forrest.
"I remember we came in on the eighth of January. After a week of slugging it out with artillery, mortars and small-arms fire, we only had 98 people left in our battalion," Dillard said. They had started with 600 men. "The 551st was deactivated in the field and those of us remaining were reassigned to the 82nd Airborne Division."
Following the war, the Army was awarding direct commissions to senior non-commissioned officers. Dillard became the first direct-commission second lieutenant in 3rd Army. He retired as a colonel in 1977, with 37-years of service.
Aside from being the most territorially expansive battle of World War II, stretching along the Siegfried Line from the Netherlands border to Belgium and Luxembourg, the conflict was essentially the Third Reich's final offensive effort to stop the Allied push into Germany.
With 500,000 German soldiers moving at breakneck pace against 60,000 American and 55,000 British troops, the Axis forces laid ambush in an attempt to encircle the Allies and force a negotiated peace in the heavily forested Ardennes region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. Canteen water froze solid as did the warriors from both sides, who died from wounds or exposure and morphed into gruesome and frozen statues.
"Cold, freezing cold, snow every day and up to your butt and hail ... that's what you had to remember; you had to function no matter what," recalled George L. Watson, who was 20 when he enlisted as a survey and instrument man in a heavy weapons company with the 87th Inf. Div. "We weren't adequately clothed when the battle broke out and there was a lot of trench foot until the Army gave us rubbers for our feet.
"We lived in foxholes and would put tree boughs over to avoid the airburst and other trees falling around us from blasts," the New Yorker said. "You fought every day to survive and hoped to just keep moving to stay warm. If you stopped you frequently fell asleep on your feet with your rifle supporting you. No Christmas meal, just K-rations and more K-rations ... I hate Spam to this day."
Another heavy weapons Soldier, John McAulliffe, came in with the 347th Regt. He was a replacement specialist in 81mm mortars, and would move through three more campaigns, which ended with V-E Day.
"That was a great day when the 11th Panzer Division surrendered to us," said McAulliffe.
"We stopped pushing about four miles from the Czech border and stayed for maybe a month doing occupation work and then we were scheduled to go home, which we did in July," he said. "We had a month's furlough and then were scheduled to do the invasion of Japan, but the bomb was dropped."
Brig. Gen. Mike Paul Delobel, Belgium Defense Attaché attended the event. He said the commemoration was important to himself and staff but also to the youth of today.
"It's important to remember these veterans and what they did for us nearly 70 years ago," he said. "It's also important that our young people remember so they can make sure it doesn't happen again."
By the end of the battle, Germany had suffered 85,000 casualties with more than 17,000 killed. The battle so depleted the Reich's war-making resources, that it would unconditionally surrender, May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe Day.
http://www.army.mil/article/117074/Veterans__dignitaries_commemorate_Battle_of_the_Bulge_on_69th_anniversary/
-
Widow, 94, receives remains of fallen husband, killed in Korean War
After 63 years of holding out hope her husband would someday return, Clara Gantt finally gets closure.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/feeds/Associated%20Press/2013/12/21/660/371/bca279edd96c812a460f6a7067009e62.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Clara Gantt, the 94-year-old widow of U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph Gantt, weeps in front of her husband's casket at Los Angeles International Airport.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/feeds/Associated%20Press/2013/12/21/660/371/b6c3fa31bf577f2a460f6a706700cbb2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/feeds/Associated%20Press/2013/12/21/660/371/203df01fd96d812a460f6a706700a650.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/fn2/feeds/Associated%20Press/2013/12/21/660/371/f638c407d96b812a460f6a7067002776.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
By Samantha Schaefer
December 20, 2013, 7:18 p.m.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Gantt told his wife to remarry if he didn't come back from the war. She told him no. He had a hard enough time getting her to say yes when he proposed. He was it.
In 1950, Gantt went missing during combat in the Korean War. He was presumed dead, but Clara Gantt, now 94, held out hope and never remarried.
On Friday morning on the Los Angeles International Airport tarmac, the widow stood from her wheelchair and cried as her husband's flag-draped casket arrived home. He was one of hundreds of U.S. soldiers whose remains have been turned over by the North Korean government in recent years.
"I told him I missed him so much," she said softly. "And I expect him to come home and he didn't."
He never saw the house in Inglewood, just a few miles from where she greeted his remains. He hated yardwork, and never wanted the hassle of owning a home. She bought him one anyway and hired a gardener so he could do whatever he pleased when he came home to her.
A wall of her bedroom is covered with military certificates and photos — his barracks, him in front of a white picket fence during World War II, his father. A copy of her picture — the one he always kept with him — stands nearby. A teddy bear in army fatigues sits in her living room, near an American flag with his photo tucked into the glass display.
She's afraid to hang his medals, which include the Bronze Star with Valor, awarded posthumously, and a Purple Heart, for fear they'd be stolen during one of many break-ins that have happened on the street where she's lived since the 1960s. She would rather they be safe in a museum.
Gantt said she never stopped waiting for word, but she forged ahead with her own life. She worked for years as a caregiver for people with disabilities, as well as children. She and her husband had always wanted to have kids, and working with them gave her pleasure.
"I would just pray and ask the Lord to let me live until they find a closure for him so I can be here to put him away myself," she said, wearing a dog tag with his photo printed on it given to her at the morning ceremony.
Joseph Gantt joined the Army in 1942 and served in the South Pacific during WWII. Clara was one of 18 children who grew up on a farm in Texas. She tired of being at home, she said, so in her 20s she used the money she saved working in a cafeteria to take a train to California. It was on the train the two met in 1946, when Joseph beat his fellow soldiers to speaking to the woman who would two years later become his wife.
They were sweethearts for a long time because she refused to marry him — she feared he might already have a wife. She wrote "Uncle Sam" to get the truth, and finally agreed when the answer she was looking for came along.
They lived in Fort Lewis, Washington until he left for the Korean War, assigned as a field medic, Battery C, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division.
In December 1950, she received a letter from him and $100 for Christmas. That month, he was taken prisoner defending his unit's position near Kunu-ri' Korea. He died in March 1951, officials later discovered.
Over the years, she's been to dozens of meetings in Washington, D.C., meant to update the wives and family members of veterans. Some 84,000 service members, including 8,000 from the Korean War, are still missing.
Her family has told her she's crazy to attend the meetings after so long, but he was her husband, she said. She'd keep going even if she was in a wheelchair.
When she got a call asking if she would be in Washington for the October meeting, she knew what was coming. She flew there, alone, and was told her husband's remains had been found.
Then they read the letter she wrote the government so many years ago, inquiring about his marital status.
In recent years, the remains were finally returned to the U.S. by North Korea, then sent to a forensics lab in Honolulu to be identified, said Bob Kurkjian, executive director of USO Greater Los Angeles Area.
During the last 63 years, no one else caught Clara Gantt's fancy as she waited for news of her husband. She told the base officials assigned to check wives' homes for other men to come by anytime, they'd never catch her with anyone.
"I am very, very proud of him. He was a wonderful husband, an understanding man," she told reporters at the airport. "I always did love my husband, we was two of one kind, we loved each other. And that made our marriage complete."
Joseph Gantt will be buried in Inglewood later this month. One day, she'll be buried alongside him.
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-1221-veteran-remains-20131221,0,4280455.story#ixzz2oKe5cHOf
-
Two Marine Corps special operators receive Navy Cross posthumously
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.262802.1390068486!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/large_article/image.jpg)
The Marine Corps has announced that Staff Sgt. Sky R. Mote, left, and Marine Capt. Matthew P. Manoukian were to be awarded the Navy Cross on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2014.
By Jon Harper
Stars and Stripes
Published: January 18, 2014
WASHINGTON – Two Marine Corps special operators were posthumously awarded the Navy Cross on Saturday for their actions during an insider attack in Afghanistan.
Capt. Matthew Manoukian and Staff Sgt. Sky Mote were assigned to the 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion in support of Operating Enduring Freedom when they came under hostile fire from an Afghan police officer inside their tactical operations center in Helmand province, Afghanistan on Aug. 10, 2012, according to a Marine Corps press release.
Manoukian, the team commander, and Mote, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, each received the Silver Star because they intentionally exposed themselves to hails of gunfire to enable their comrades to escape the shooter.
Manoukian, 29, from Los Altos Hills, Calif., was working in the operations center when AK-47 assault rifle bullets ripped through the walls and partitions of the operations room. He immediately ordered his Marines to move out of harm’s way as he engaged the enemy. After another Marine was critically wounded, Manoukian made himself the shooter’s primary target to protect other Marines. He continued engaging the enemy, despite being outgunned, until he was mortally wounded, according to a Marine Corps account of the assault.
“Manoukian courageously drew heavy fire upon himself, disrupting the enemy pursuit of his comrades and providing them the security needed to get to safety, ultimately saving their lives,” the Marine Corps said in the press release.
During the rampage, Mote, 27, from El Dorado, Calif., stepped forward and attracted the shooter’s attention, which halted the enemy’s pursuit of other Marines. He remained exposed and engaged the shooter who was only five yards away. Mote kept up the attack, despite having been shot, until he was killed, according to a Marine Corps description of Mote’s actions.
“Mote’s heroic and selfless actions halted the enemy assault on his teammates enabling their escape, which ultimately forced the enemy to withdraw. Mote’s selfless act safeguarded his comrades from being killed or injured,” the Marine Corps said in the press release.
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Ryan Jeschke, 31, of Herndon, Va., was also killed in the attack, according to the Defense Department.
The Afghan gunman fled the scene and joined the Taliban, according to reports.
The incident in which Manoukian and Mote earned their awards for bravery was just one of many involving Afghan police and army personnel turning their guns on U.S. servicemembers and NATO forces. There were 44 insider attacks in 2012 alone, and they resulted in 61 coalition deaths. Those 61 fatalities constituted 15 percent of total coalition deaths that year, according to the Long War Journal, which compiles statistics related to the war in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military referred to these incidents as “green on blue” attacks. The alarming rate of occurrence eventually compelled commanders to implement a series of new security procedures in the latter part of 2012 to mitigate the risk. The number of insider attacks has declined significantly since the measures were put in place.
The Navy Cross is the second-highest award for valor that a Marine can receive; just below the Medal of Honor. It is rarely given out, and must be approved by the Secretary of the Navy before being awarded. Only 16 Marines, including Mote and Manoukian, have received the Navy Cross for actions undertaken during Operation Enduring Freedom. In the seven-year history of Marine Special Operations Command, only two other Marines attached to MARSOC have received the award, according to the Marine Corps.
Major Gen. Mark Clark, the commander of MARSOC, presented the awards to the families of Manoukian and Mote during a ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Saturday.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/two-marine-corps-special-operators-receive-navy-cross-posthumously-1.262623
-
Boston College Wide Receiver Alex Amidon Set To Pursue Career As Navy SEAL
(http://cdn0.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/29273065/20121027_ajl_ad7_085_extra_large.0_standard_783.0.jpg)
By A.J Black @BCHysteria on Feb 27 2014
The ultimate dude will attempt to join the military's elite.
According to multiple sources tied to the Boston College football program, and confirmed during last night's Gridiron Club meeting, Eagles wide receiver Alex Amidon is set to put aside his career in football to pursue becoming a United States Navy SEAL.
Amidon finished 11th in the nation in receiving in 2012 with 1210 yards, and led BC in receiving this year with 1024 yards. The senior set the school's all-time record for most receiving yards in a season and most receiving yards in a career.
This comes as sort of a shock because the 2012 All-ACC wide receiver most likely would have found a home in the NFL. However by pursuing this career Amidon is showing what kind of character he really has. United States Navy SEALs, just like all others in the military, are willing to give the ultimate sacrifice to protect the United State of America. The fact that Amidon is willing to give everything he has is truly awe-inspiring. Through making this decision, Amidon is truly showing that he is a man for others, and cares so deeply about his community and country.
If you've ever known a SEAL, or even seen a show about them, you know that becoming one is an incredibly difficult experience. The SEALs push potential recruits' body and minds to the limit and the success rate is very small. However, Amidon has persevered through tough situations before. The SEALs motto is "Ready to Lead, Ready to Follow, Never Quit," which sounds like Alex Amidon in a nutshell. Let's all wish him the best of luck in the future, and hope that he is successful in SEALs camp and as a Navy SEAL.
http://www.bcinterruption.com/2014/2/27/5452760/boston-college-wide-receiver-alex-amidon-set-to-pursue-career-as-navy
-
Sources: Marine Kyle Carpenter will receive MoH for heroism in Afghanistan
Mar. 5, 2014
By Hope Hodge Seck
Staff writer
(http://bcdownload.gannett.edgesuite.net/militarytimes/44862801001/44862801001_1336207120001_vs-1336204099001.jpg?pubId=44862801001)
Marine portrait: Kyle Carpenter: Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter discusses the November 2010 grenade attack. (Staff video)
(http://cmsimg.militarytimes.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=M6&Date=20140305&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=303050012&Ref=AR&MaxW=300&Border=0&Sources-Marine-Kyle-Carpenter-will-receive-MoH-heroism-Afghanistan)
Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter takes part of the first corporals course for wounded warriors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Bethesda, Md., Jan. 12. Carpenter sustained wounds to the right side of his body from an enemy grenade in Marjah, Afghanistan, November 2010. The class graduated Jan. 16.
William Kyle Carpenter, a Marine Corps veteran who was severely wounded during a November 2010 grenade attack in Afghanistan, will receive the nation’s highest combat valor award later this year, Marine Corps Times has learned.
Carpenter, a 24-year-old medically retired corporal, will become the service’s third Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which date back to October 2001. The Marine Corps is finalizing plans with the White House for a ceremony in Washington, officials said.
Marine Corps Times began making inquires about the status of Carpenter’s case because the statute of limitations for Department of Navy Medal of Honor awards requires that a formal recommendation be made within three years of the combat action in question. Carpenter, the subject of two cover stories published by Marine Corps Times in 2012, also recently appeared in the national media. He was the subject of a January feature story in Reader’s Digest and a related appearance Jan. 27 on Katie Couric’s syndicated talk show.
Carpenter declined to comment on reports that he would soon receive the Medal of Honor.
A Marine Corps spokesman referred all comment to the White House. A White House spokesman said he had no scheduling announcements to make regarding the award. However, Medal of Honor presentations are typically announced only a month in advance.
Carpenter’s Medal of Honor nomination stems from reports that, as a 21-year-old lance corporal, he intentionally covered a grenade to save the life of his friend, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio on Nov. 21, 2010, as the two Marines were standing guard on a rooftop in the Marjah district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province. Both men survived the blast, but were badly wounded. Carpenter lost his right eye and most of his teeth, his jaw was shattered and his arm was broken in dozens of places.
Eufrazio sustained damage to the frontal lobe of his brain from shrapnel. Until recently, his wounds rendered him unable to speak.
The Marine Corps’ investigation into events surrounding the grenade blast has been complicated by circumstances. First, no one witnessed what took place after that grenade was thrown. Second, Carpenter said he couldn’t remember what happened due to trauma from the blast. Third, Eufrazio has been on a long and intensive road to recovery from his wounds. He only regained his ability to speak in late 2012, when his family reported that he was greeting hospital visitors by name.
Still, troops who served with Carpenter on the Marjah deployment say there’s no doubt in their minds that he absorbed the grenade blast to save his comrade.
Marine Staff Sgt. Michael Kroll, Carpenter’s platoon segreant, told Marine Corps Times that even though nobody knew for sure what happened, “our feeling has always been that Kyle shielded Nick from that blast.”
Hospitalman 3rd Class Christopher Frend, who triaged the injuries of Carpenter and Eufrazio, said the injuries Carpenter sustained, and the evidence at the scene indicated that he had indeed covered the explosive. The blast seat of the grenade — the point of its detonation — was found under Carpenter’s torso.
“Grenade blasts blow up; they don’t blow down;” Frend told Marine Corps Times in 2012. “If he hadn’t done it, what we found would have looked completely different.”
While the Marine Corps continued its investigation, Carpenter attained a level of celebrity as a Marine hero. More than 13,000 people have followed his recovery and his projects following retirement via the Facebook page Operation Kyle.
In 2011, the state senate in Carpenter’s native South Carolina honored him with a resolution that gave him credit for taking the grenade blast, saying he exemplified a hero. A photograph from the senate ceremony, showing Carpenter proud in his dress blues with shrapnel scars creating veins of silver across his face, went viral online.
Marine Corps Times has followed his progress, too, including a short feature on the Battle Rattle blog that featured video of Carpenter doing pullups, more than 30 surgeries after the 2010 blast.
Carpenter has maintained close ties with the Marine Corps and has been featured as a guest of honor at several command events. In November, he posted a photo on his Facebook page that shows him alongside Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Jim Amos, Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps Mike Barrett and Dakota Meyer, who in 2011 became the first Marine Medal of Honor recipient out of the war in Afghanistan. Meyer and Carpenter paid a joint visit to Marine Barracks Washington, D.C. the same month.
The Corps’ only other post-9/11 Medal of Honor recipient, Cpl. Jason Dunham, was recognized posthumously for smothering a grenade in Iraq in 2004.
http://www.militarytimes.com/article/20140305/NEWS/303050012/Sources-Marine-Kyle-Carpenter-will-receive-MoH-heroism-Afghanistan
-
WWII Medal of Honor recipient laid to rest in Riverside
Saturday, March 08, 2014
(http://cdn.abclocal.go.com/images/kabc/cms_exf_2007/news/local/inland_empire/9459627_448x252.jpg)
Walt Ehlers, the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor to storm Omaha Beach on D-Day was laid to rest in Riverside Saturday, March 8, 2014. (KABC Photo)
ShareThis via email, AIM, social bookmarking and networking sites, etc.
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KABC) -- The last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor to storm Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion of World War II was laid to rest Saturday in Riverside. Walt Ehlers died Feb. 19 of kidney failure. He was 92 years old.
On Saturday, Ehlers was celebrated in a funeral at Riverside National Cemetery with full military honors, including a flyover.
The Kansas native joined the U.S. Army in October 1940 and took part in multiple combat operations, including the North Africa campaign and the landings in Italy in 1943.
According to his Medal of Honor citation, at age 23, Ehlers repeatedly led his men in charges exposing himself to deadly hostile fire. He showed heroic and courageous leadership.
In one action, Ehlers killed four enemy combatants, crawling underneath a machine gun nest and knocking it out of service by himself.
"Walter led his men from the front and his 12-man reconnaissance team onto the beach. They scaled the heights and passed through the breach in a German mine field and without a single casualty, which he was very proud of," the citation stated.
Six months later, during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, after taking over command of a platoon, Ehlers was shot in the right leg. He carried that bullet with him to his death.
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news%2Flocal%2Finland_empire&id=9459623
-
U.S. veteran honored 70 yrs after saying "no thanks" to Purple Heart
BY MATTHEW LIPTAK
AUBURN, New York Sat Mar 8, 2014
(http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140308&t=2&i=857469087&w=580&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=CBREA271THT00)
World War II veteran Richard ''Dick'' Faulkner (L), is presented the Purple Heart by U.S. Representative Dan Maffei during a ceremony in Auburn, New York March 8, 2014.
CREDIT: REUTERS/MIKE BRADLEY
(Reuters) - An 89-year-old U.S. World War Two veteran who was wounded when his plane crashed in occupied France in 1944 received a Purple Heart medal on Saturday, an honor he declined 70 years ago.
Richard Faulkner was a 19-year-old staff sergeant when the B-17 bomber in which he was flying on his first combat mission collided with an allied aircraft. All aboard were killed except Faulkner, who parachuted to safety and was stranded behind enemy lines.
"It's just unbelievable that they all died and I didn't," Faulkner said in an interview before the awards ceremony at his retirement community in Auburn, New York, about 200 miles northwest of New York.
When he escaped Nazi-controlled territory Faulkner was offered the Purple Heart, but he declined it. He had a hard time accepting the tragedy, he said.
The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who are wounded in battle and posthumously if they are killed in action or die after being wounded in action.
About a year ago Faulkner found himself regretting his decision because he wanted his grandchildren to have something by which they could remember his military service, said his daughter-in-law Mary Ellen Faulkner.
She said the veteran had felt awkward about receiving an award given the deaths of the other servicemen.
She contacted her father-in-law's congressman, Democrat Dan Maffei, whose office determined that the veteran was still eligible to receive the medal.
Maffei presented the Purple Heart to Faulkner before about 100 people including family and friends.
"To me meeting Mr. Faulkner is like meeting a hero from history ... but live in the flesh," Maffei said.
The veteran declined to speak after receiving the award, but told Maffei, "Thanks."
Faulkner was in the gun turret under the belly of the B-17 when the accident occurred, slicing his plane in two. He parachuted out.
German soldiers searched for him, but the wounded airman hid and was sheltered in a hayloft by a farmer.
Faulkner connected with French resistance fighters, who helped him get to the coast, where downed Allied airmen were picked up by British ships.
When the torpedo boat that rescued Faulkner was attacked by German aircraft, he took up gunner duties to replace a man who was killed by enemy fire.
Faulkner made it to Britain on April 16, 1944, after 29 days behind enemy lines. After the war, Faulker became a power company lineman, married and had three children.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/us-usa-veteran-purpleheart-idUSBREA270D720140308
-
Great story.
Denied a Medal of Honor, a worthy soldier finds out why decades later
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.272805.1394817146!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/large_article/image.jpg)
Former Spc. 4 Santiago Erevia holds his service medals and awards, which include a South Vietnamese medal, an Army Commendation Medal, a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and the Distinguished Service Cross. On March 18, Erevia will also receive the Medal of Honor. Elizabeth M. Collins/DOD
ELIZABETH M. COLLINS/DOD
By Richard Simon
Los Angeles Times
Published: March 14, 2014
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.272942.1394894702!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_240/image.jpg)
Army Pfc. John MacFarland is pictured in 1969. Shortly after the battle of Tam Ky in South Vietnam that year, MacFarland was assigned to write the Medal of Honor recommendation for Spc. 4 Santiago Jesse Erevia, whose "conspicuous gallantry" had saved many soldiers.
DON KELSEN, LOS ANGELES TIMES/MCT
Using an ammo crate as a chair and an Army tent as his office, Pfc. John "Mac" MacFarland set up his typewriter and began to write.
It was the sweltering summer of 1969, about a month after the fierce battle of Tam Ky in South Vietnam. MacFarland had been ordered to write a recommendation nominating Spc. 4 Santiago Jesse Erevia for the Medal of Honor, and he tried to put into words how Erevia's "conspicuous gallantry" had saved so many fellow soldiers.
"Although Erevia could have taken cover with the rest of the group," MacFarland wrote, "he realized that action must be taken immediately if they were able to be relieved from the precarious situation they were now in."
MacFarland, a 23-year-old college student who had been drafted, spent weeks working on the nomination, sure that Erevia, a 23-year-old high school dropout who had enlisted, would be awarded the medal. MacFarland sent the recommendation up the chain of command.
"And then I never heard another thing," MacFarland recalled decades later.
Erevia knew that he had been nominated, and though admitting initial disappointment that he did not receive the Medal of Honor, he went home to Texas and never dwelt on it.
MacFarland did.
Over the decades, he searched lists of Medal of Honor recipients, looking for Erevia's name. Again and again, he dug out his mimeographed copy of the recommendation, fearing he had failed to capture Erevia's extraordinary heroism.
"I found myself … wondering how I could have done a better job," MacFarland said.
He thought of writing Erevia to say he was sorry the recommendation fell short. But he never wrote.
"This became one of the ghosts that haunted me," MacFarland said.
It wasn't until this year, 45 years after the battle, that MacFarland would learn the disturbing truth — the real reason Erevia had been denied the nation's highest military honor.
———
They arrived at Company C with different backgrounds and under different circumstances.
Erevia was born in Nordheim, Texas, and had dropped out in 10th grade. He enlisted in the Army at 22 after working as a cook and soda deliveryman.
"I thought maybe I could better myself," he said.
MacFarland was a college engineering student in Pennsylvania. He was drafted and was prepared to serve. "As an Eagle Scout, my duty to my country was clear to me and had been since I became a Boy Scout at the age of 11," he said.
Erevia doesn't remember MacFarland. But they were together on May 21, 1969, in the fight for Tam Ky, south of Da Nang.
Company C had taken shelter behind a stone wall, under fire from North Vietnamese troops dug in on a hill at the other end of a dry rice paddy. The North Vietnamese were holed up in heavily camouflaged spider holes and bunkers.
As MacFarland noted in the recommendation, about 4 p.m. their unit was ordered to "move out and engage the enemy." The aim, he recalled, was to take pressure off other companies so they could evacuate their dead and wounded.
MacFarland joined other soldiers in going over the wall, firing his rifle as he stepped into the rice paddy. When another soldier fell wounded, MacFarland rushed to his aid.
Erevia came over to MacFarland and the wounded soldier and asked whether they had any extra ammunition. The wounded man handed Erevia his M-16 rifle, magazines of ammunition and several hand grenades.
"It was the last that I saw Jesse until much later that evening," MacFarland said.
Erevia, who was serving as the radio-telephone operator, made it across the rice paddy, which was as long as a football field. As Erevia and other soldiers remained under heavy fire, he and a friend, Spc. Patrick Diehl, took cover behind a tree.
Erevia chokes up talking about that day. "I asked Diehl, 'Do you see anything?' He never answered."
Diehl had been fatally shot in the head.
Erevia decided he needed to act. "It was either do or die," he recalled in a recent interview. "I said, 'Well, if I'm going to die, I might as well die fighting.'"
Erevia ran toward one of the bunkers and threw in a grenade, killing the soldier inside. He moved to a second bunker, bullets still flying around him, and tossed another grenade to knock it out too.
As MacFarland would later write about Erevia: "After reloading his rifles, he advanced toward the third bunker behind the suppressive fire emitted from his weapons." Once again, he took out the bunker with grenades.
After exhausting his supply of grenades, Erevia headed for a fourth bunker while firing two rifles. He killed a North Vietnamese soldier at point-blank range.
"Our company commander, Capt. David Gibson, along with his radio-telephone operators and medic and several wounded had been pinned down and were receiving intense fire from several enemy positions," MacFarland recalled. Without Erevia, "it is doubtful that they would have survived the day."
Shortly after the battle, MacFarland was assigned to serve as battalion awards clerk. Using information provided by others, he wrote the Medal of Honor recommendation, got it signed by the battalion's commanding officer and forwarded it to 101st Airborne Division headquarters.
After it was sent back for more information, Erevia's company commander and platoon leader provided eyewitness accounts and a map of the battle. MacFarland ran off several copies on a mimeograph machine, keeping one for himself.
The next year, 1970, Erevia and MacFarland left Vietnam and went their separate ways.
———
Erevia became a mail carrier, retiring in 2002 after working 32 years for the Postal Service. He lives in San Antonio with his wife, Leticia. He has four adult children, including a son who served in the Iraq war.
MacFarland went on to become a high school environmental science and biology teacher. Also retired, he is a bachelor living in Aston, a Philadelphia suburb. The two men, now 68, have had no contact since leaving Vietnam.
Though denied the Medal of Honor, Erevia was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the decoration created during World War I and the nation's second-highest military honor for heroism. The citation quoted language written by MacFarland.
MacFarland kept his copy of Erevia's recommendation in a binder with photos and other Vietnam memorabilia. He shared his distress about Erevia and the Medal of Honor with Army buddies. They assured him that it wasn't his fault and that the military probably decided against the Medal of Honor because, unlike many medal recipients, Erevia wasn't wounded in the battle.
Still, MacFarland said, "I was not convinced that it was not as a result of my inadequacy as a writer."
The Medal of Honor has been awarded to more than 3,400 recipients since it was established during the Civil War. Of those, 74 are living, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The medal is bestowed "only to the bravest of the brave," according to the Army.
Unbeknown to MacFarland or Erevia, Congress in a 2002 defense bill ordered a Pentagon review to determine whether discrimination prevented Jewish and Latino veterans from receiving the medal. The Pentagon examined the records of more than 6,000 Distinguished Service Cross recipients to determine whether the award should be upgraded.
Last summer, Erevia was surprised to receive a telephone call from a military officer who told him to expect a call from somebody at the White House. A few days later, he was called again and told to stay close to the phone.
When the call came, a woman announced that the president of the United States was on the line. "It was a short conversation," Erevia said. "He said that I deserved the Medal of Honor. He said that, for some reason, I was overlooked, but that he was making it right. I said, 'Thank you very much, sir.'"
The Pentagon has not released its Medal of Honor review, but in February the White House announced that to correct a historic injustice, the Medal of Honor would be awarded to 24 veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam. They include Erevia and 16 other Latinos, one African American and a Jew.
Erevia is one of three surviving veterans who will receive the medal next week. He is honored, Erevia said, even if the wait lasted decades.
"I'm just glad I'm getting it while I'm alive," he said.
MacFarland heard the news from an Army friend. "I can't describe how great that made me feel," he said.
He hadn't failed after all, and there is a good chance that when the citation is read Tuesday at the White House ceremony, it will include lines MacFarland composed in that tent long ago.
Since the announcement, Erevia has received a lot of attention, including letters from strangers praising his valor.
One letter stood out.
It was from MacFarland. He congratulated Erevia and shared with him the "heavy burden" that he carried around all these years.
"It made me cry," Erevia said.
The two may finally meet again at a Company C reunion this year.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/denied-a-medal-of-honor-a-worthy-soldier-finds-out-why-decades-later-1.272802
-
Wouldn't the title of this thread more properly be "Great American Military Men"?
Did you ever serve, BB?
-
Wouldn't the title of this thread more properly be "Great American Military Men"?
Did you ever serve, BB?
No. Not everyone mentioned in this thread was in the military. And not everyone is a man.
Yes.
-
Great Americans who are mostly military men, then?
Seems like such a high percentage are military that you ought to mention that in the title.
-
Great Americans who are mostly military men, then?
Seems like such a high percentage are military that you ought to mention that in the title.
I'm fine with the title the way it is. Feel free to add your own contributions to the thread. Or you can just keep complaining. Doesn't matter to me.
-
I'm fine with the title the way it is. Feel free to add your own contributions to the thread. Or you can just keep complaining. Doesn't matter to me.
Seriously, I'm not complaining. Just wondering why so many of your "great Americans" are military guys but if you were in the military yourself, that probably has a lot to do with it..
What service were you in and what did you do, if you don't mind saying?
-
Seriously, I'm not complaining. Just wondering why so many of your "great Americans" are military guys but if you were in the military yourself, that probably has a lot to do with it..
What service were you in and what did you do, if you don't mind saying?
No, it's just a lot of the stories that caught my eye involve people who have served. That and a disproportionate number of Great Americans have worn the uniform.
This thread isn't about me.
-
No, it's just a lot of the stories that caught my eye involve people who have served. That and a disproportionate number of Great Americans have worn the uniform.
This thread isn't about me.
You don't want it to be about you, but since you're choosing these great Americans, that can't be helped.
I take it that you don't want talk about your own service, though, and I think that's fine.
-
Glance: 24 Army Vets Receiving the Medal of Honor
March 18, 2014 (AP)
By The Associated Press
A look at the 24 Army veterans receiving the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama on Tuesday. Most are of Hispanic or Jewish heritage. Eight fought in the Vietnam War, nine in the Korean War and seven in World War II. Only three are still living.
——
The living recipients are:
—Melvin Morris of Cocoa, Fla., born in Okmulgee, Okla., commended for courageous actions while a staff sergeant during combat operations in the vicinity of Chi Lang, South Vietnam, on Sept. 17, 1969.
—Spc. 4 Santiago J. Erevia of San Antonio, born in Nordheim, Texas, cited for courage during a search and clear mission near Tam Ky, South Vietnam, on May 21, 1969.
—Sgt. 1st Class Jose Rodela of San Antonio, born in Corpus Christi, Texas, cited for courage during combat operations in Phuoc Long province, South Vietnam, on Sept. 1, 1969.
——
The posthumous recipients are:
—Sgt. Candelario Garcia, born in Corsicana, Texas, for courageous actions during combat operations in Lai Khe, South Vietnam, on Dec. 8, 1968.
—Spc. 4 Leonard L. Alvarado, born in Bakersfield, Calif., died during combat operations in Phuoc Long province, South Vietnam, on Aug. 12, 1969.
—Staff Sgt. Felix M. Conde-Falcon, born in Juncos, Puerto Rico, killed during combat operations in Ap Tan Hoa, South Vietnam, on April 4, 1969.
—Spc. 4 Ardie R. Copas of Fort Pierce, Fla. killed during combat operations near Ph Romeas Hek, Cambodia, on May 12, 1970.
—Spc. 4 Jesus S. Duran of San Bernardino, Calif., for courageous actions during combat operations in South Vietnam on April 10, 1969.
—Cpl. Joe R. Baldonado, born in Colorado, killed during combat operations in Kangdong, North Korea, on Nov. 25, 1950.
—Cpl. Victor H. Espinoza of El Paso, Texas, for courageous actions during combat operations in Chorwon, North Korea, on Aug. 1, 1952.
—Sgt. Eduardo C. Gomez, born in Los Angeles, for courageous actions during combat operations in Tabu-dong, South Korea, on Sept. 3, 1950.
—Pfc. Leonard M. Kravitz, born in New York City, killed during combat operations in Yangpyong, South Korea, on March 6-7, 1951.
—Master Sgt. Juan E. Negron of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, for courageous actions during combat operations in Kalma-Eri, North Korea, on April 28, 1951.
—Master Sgt. Mike C. Pena, born in Newgulf, Texas, killed in action during combat operations in Waegwan, South Korea, on Sept. 4, 1950.
—Pvt. Demensio Rivera, born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, for courageous actions during combat operations in Changyong-ni, South Korea, on May 23, 1951.
—Pvt. Miguel A. Vera, born in Puerto Rico, killed during combat operations in Chorwon, North Korea, on Sept. 21, 1952.
—Sgt. Jack Weinstein of Saint Francis, Kan. for courageous actions during combat operations in Kumsong, South Korea, on Oct. 19, 1951.
—Pvt. Pedro Cano, born in La Morita, Mexico, for courageous actions during combat operations in Schevenhutte, Germany, on Dec. 3, 1944.
—Pvt. Joe Gandara, born in Santa Monica, Calif., for courageous actions during combat operations in Amfreville, France, on June 9, 1944.
—Pfc. Salvador J. Lara, of Riverside, Calif., for courageous actions during combat operations in Aprilia, Italy, May 27-28, 1944.
—Sgt. William F. Leonard, of Lockport, N.Y., for courageous actions during combat operations near St. Die, France, on Nov. 7, 1944.
—Staff Sgt. Manuel V. Mendoza, born in Miami, Ariz., for courageous actions during combat operations on Mount Battaglia, Italy, on Oct. 4, 1944.
—Sgt. Alfred B. Nietzel, born in New York City, for courageous actions during combat operations in Heistern, Germany, on Nov. 18, 1944.
—1st Lt. Donald K. Schwab, born Hooper, Neb., for courageous actions during combat operations near Lure, France, on Sept. 17, 1944.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/glance-24-army-vets-receiving-medal-honor-22955611
-
Calif. Teens Rescue 94-Year-Old Woman From House Fire
Mar 19th 2014
Three California high school students are being credited with saving an elderly woman from her burning home Monday.
KNTV reports the fire broke out at a home in San Ramon Monday morning. A 94-year-old woman and her 71-year-old daughter were inside when it caught fire.
The three teens told Bay Area News Group they noticed the house was on fire while they were skipping class and on their way to McDonald's for breakfast.
"As we're coming down the street, we see smoke rising from this house. Just throwing flames, smoke and everything."
The 71-year-old was able to make it out of the home with minor injuries, but the teenage boys went in to rescue the 94-year-old who was burned in the fire.
Also inside trying to help was the woman's 76-year-old neighbor. He said: "she would have been gone a minute and a half more. ... I don't think she could have survived. I went in there and couldn't see my hand in front of my face." (Via NBC)
And while the students may have been cutting class, their high school principal says he's proud of what they did.
"Exceptionally proud that the three young men would reach out and do something like that because they could've easily just kept walking."
According to KTVU, the unnamed 94-year-old is recovering in the burn unit at a San Francisco hospital. The three boys were also able to help rescue the woman's dog.
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/03/19/calif-teens-rescue-94-year-old-woman-from-house-fire/20852811/?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000058&
-
Fallen heroes to receive medal
Four servicemen killed overseas will be posthumously honored by the Legislature on Tuesday
By William Cole
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 24, 2014
LAST UPDATED: 04:00 p.m. HST, Mar 24, 2014
(http://media.staradvertiser.com/images/312*198/24-b1-medal-scobie-3-UPDATED-CAPTION.jpg)
State Rep. Mark Takai, right, presented Sgt. Drew Scobie's Hawaii Medal of Honor to his wife, McKenna Panui-Scobie, and son, Duke Scobie, 5, on Friday at Kakaako Waterfront Park with Panui-Scobie’s mother, Pua Panui, at left.
McKenna Panui-Scobie, six months pregnant, will have her young son at her side Tuesday to accept Hawaii's heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifice she never hoped she would make: the loss of her husband in Afghanistan.
For the ninth year in a row, the state Senate and House will convene in joint session to honor service members with Hawaii ties who were killed in a war zone, and to present their families with the state Medal of Honor.
According to the office of state Rep. Mark Takai, a lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii Army National Guard and the organizer of the annual recognition, 331 service members with Hawaii ties have been killed since the start of the Iraq War in 2003.
In early 2006, the first year the state Medal of Honor was given out, 120 names were read out, reflecting three years of war losses. The following year brought recognition of 66 more war dead. The year after that it was 31.
This year the loss of four will be memorialized.
They are Hawaii Army National Guard Sgt. Drew M. Scobie, Air Force Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka, Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Edward Balli and Army Sgt. Tofiga J. Tautolo.
"Although four is too many, it's much better than the 66 we had in the second year," Takai said. "Eventually the plan would be to forgo the medal, but that's because we've lost no one."
The reduction in Hawaii casualties follows the end of the Iraq War in 2011 and ongoing drawdown in Afghanistan.
For Panui-Scobie, though, there is no letup in the pain. Her husband, 25, was killed along with a Wyoming soldier and a civilian in the Jan. 10 crash of a twin-engine turboprop aircraft on a night mission in Afghanistan.
The Kailua resident volunteered to deploy to Afghanistan with other Hawaii Army National Guard soldiers and was an aerial sensor observer on a Medium Altitude Reconnaissance Surveillance System aircraft, known as a MARSS, and based on a King Air 300.
The cause of the crash still is being investigated. Scobie left behind his 5-year-old son, Duke, his wife and a baby yet to be born.
"I'm devastated," Panui-Scobie said. "I didn't expect this or even think it was possible. I mean, of course I know his going into a war zone it's a possibility, but I really didn't think it was going to happen."
Like others who have experienced war losses, the 26-year-old said she takes it day by day. The days, with more distractions, are better than the quiet and lonelier nights.
Panui-Scobie said she has a "very strong family" with dozens of relatives in Hawaii, adding, "I'm constantly surrounded, me and my son."
"It's nice to talk about him, but it's hard, knowing he's not coming back," she said of her husband, struggling to keep her composure. "He had lots of goals. He volunteered for this deployment. He had a future plan. He wanted to buy a house, he wanted to go to school, further schooling, he wanted to become a pilot, and he was on track to become one."
Takai said three Hawaii National Guard soldiers died in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Scobie was the first to be killed in Afghanistan.
"This is a very painful loss to us," Takai said. "Every single one of them is painful, but for someone to dedicate his or her (service) to the National Guard and to end up sacrificing his life is quite significant not only to the entire United States, but also to the state of Hawaii. He (Scobie) was a citizen soldier. He signed up to protect not only the country, but also the state of Hawaii."
In 2005 the state Legislature passed House Bill 8, which created the Hawaii Medal of Honor. Recipients of the medal include members of the armed forces, the Reserves and the Hawaii National Guard who were residents of Hawaii, attended an educational institution here or were stationed here.
The recognition will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the House chambers.
During past ceremonies a ship's bell was tolled twice as the names of fallen service members were read and their families received the medal. The ceremonies concluded with a rifle salute outside, the playing of taps and a moment of silence.
"The medal is just a small token that we can provide as a state to (the families of the fallen) to let them know that we care deeply and that they will never be forgotten," Takai said.
-
I am surprised this socialist traitor didn't try a rear naked choke on the soldier.
-
Medal of Honor recipients hand out their own awards to civilians on national day of observance
By Perry Chiaramonte
Published March 25, 2014
FoxNews.com
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/MOH%20ceremony.jpg)
MOH ceremony.jpg
March 25, 2014: A wreath laying ceremony for National Medal of Honor day is held at Arlington Cemetery. (CMOHF/BRENDAN KOWNACKI)
MOH ceremony 2.jpg
Each year on National Medal of Honor day, recipients award three civilians with their own medal for displaying valor and selflessly helping others. (CMOHF/BRENDAN KOWNACKI)
(http://global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/MOH%20ceremony%202.jpg)
Living recipients of the National Medal of Honor spent the day named after the award paying tribute to others.
For the last six years on March 25, National Medal of Honor Day, the surviving medal holders honor three civilians for their own acts of courage. The ceremony, known as the Citizen Honors Awards, is held before a wreath laying at Arlington National Cemetery by the veterans.
The three recipients are chosen from roughly 20 candidates each year. Between 25 and 30 Medal of Honor winners decide each year on the final three to receive the honor. The candidates must display an exemplary act of heroism that has made a difference in the lives of others.
“This is a chance to honor Americans who have gone above and beyond in the civilian world,” Medal of Honor recipient Barney Barnum said in a statement released Tuesday by the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation. Ordinary individuals who, in a crisis situation, do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons.”
This year’s award recipients include:
Michael Landsberry, a Nevada mathematics teacher who saved his students at Sparks Middle School when a 12-year-old boy opened fire in the school in October 2013. He approached the young boy once he noticed him entering with a gun and tried to talk him into handing it over. It gave his students enough time to run to safety, but the former marine was fatally shot in the process.
Connor Farland Stotts, an Eagle Scout in California who rescued three of his friends who were drowning in the ocean during a church barbecue in July 2011 in Oceanside.
Army veteran Troy Yocum, who since returning from service in Iraq in 2009 raised over a million dollars for other soldiers with PTSD and depression with a “Hike for Heroes,” where he walked nearly 8,000 miles across the U.S. to raise the money for 1,800 service families.
“It’s an absolute humbling experience,” Yocum told FoxNews.com after the ceremony. “The Medal of Honor recipients are the definition of heroes. They risked their lives in enormous danger.
“To meet all these men and be honored as their heroes…it is truly an honor.”
Yocum, who has also started another charity called Wounded Heroes, designed to prevent suicide among vets, said it was a Medal of Honor recipient he met when he was five-years-old who helped to shape his life.
“I met Herschel ‘Woody’ Williams and he told me that I could accomplish anything I dedicated my life to and those are words I have tried to live by ever since,” he said.
The CMOH Foundation sponsored the event after Medal recipients decided to start the Civilian Honors program.
“They recognize three average Americans who have displayed amazing acts of valor that are similar to the values attached to the Medal of Honor,” Ronald Rand, CEO of the Foundation, said to FoxNews.com. “The ceremony brings together the concept, saying that all Americans can display the same valor and make everyday life better for those around them. It ties together the National Medal of Honor Day with acts of valor from citizens as well.”
Other recipients from last year included teachers Victoria Soto and Lauren Rousseau, who died while trying to protect their students during the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in December 2012.
National Medal of Honor Day was first enacted by Congress in 1990. The date of March 25 was picked because it was the date that the very first medals were handed out in 1863. Since then 3,400 medals have been awarded with more than half given out posthumously.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/25/medal-honor-recipiants-handout-their-own-honorable-awards-to-civilians-on/?intcmp=latestnews
-
On, off job, victims were imposing presences
By Eric Moskowitz and Laura Crimaldi
GLOBE STAFF MARCH 27, 2014
Boston Firefighter Michael R. Kennedy was a square-jawed, 33-year-old Marine Corps veteran who saw combat in Iraq and a first responder who rushed to treat victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. He spent days off roaring down the road on his motorcycle and pushing himself and others to the limits as a Crossfit trainer.
“He was a fun-loving guy,’’ said Don Matchem, a Brockton firefighter who had often run into Kennedy over the past three years. “And he always had a smile on his face. He was always willing to help you with your bike. He was just enjoying life.”
Fire Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh Jr. had tried a career in finance, but his passion was for firefighting. Nine and a half years ago, Walsh became a Boston firefighter, following in the footsteps of his late father, a lieutenant in the Watertown Fire Department.
Walsh, 43, was a married father of three children, two boys and a girl who were all under age 10. The family lives in West Roxbury, where Walsh played basketball on Sunday with his second-grade son and other children and parents at Holy Name Parish School.
On Wednesday, the two firefighters from the Boylston Street firehouse died in a fast moving blaze in a Beacon Street apartment building.
(http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_460w/Boston/2011-2020/2014/03/27/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/BFDWalsh.jpg)
Boston Fire Lieutenant Edward J. Walsh Jr.
At Sunday’s basketball game at Holy Name Parish, Walsh may have been the only person on the court who looked like a basketball player: towering height, an athletic build, and short cropped hair, said one of the parents, John M. Tobin, a former city councilor.
“He’s a big, tall, handsome guy. Just gigantic,” Tobin said.”If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he plays for the Celtics.”
Walsh and the other parents made it easy for their youngsters to steal the ball or dribble past them to the hoop. “It was a good day,” Tobin said.
He met Walsh last year in Tobin’s backyard at his son’s seventh birthday party in West Roxbury. Walsh lived two streets over on Keith Street.
“He was hard to miss in a crowd, just an imposing guy,” Tobin said. “But he has an easy smile and a quick laugh.”
In the hours after Walsh’s death, Boston police parked outside his family’s home in West Roxbury. An officer said the family was devastated and wished for privacy.
Walsh had deep family ties to firefighting, and to Watertown. “He was a great kid, a great firefighter, and a great family man,” Watertown Fire Chief Mario Orangio said.
“Ed Walsh was a gentleman,” said state Representative John J. Lawn Jr., who grew up with Walsh. “He just always had a smile and had his hand out.”
The Walsh family is still well known around Watertown, where Walsh’s late uncle Bill was a lieutenant with the Fire Department and his cousin Tom is a captain.
Watertown police escorted Walsh’s mother to Boston to meet family members at the hospital where Walsh’s body was taken, said Mark Sideris, the Town Council president.
On Wednesday night, Walsh was being remembered at Greg’s Restaurant, Sideris said.
“It’s a very sad evening here, and we’re already thinking about ways to help the three children that he’s left behind,” Sideris said. “Everybody’s very concerned right now.”
Marilyn M. Petitto Devaney, a governor’s councilor from Watertown, said she saw the fire while driving home from the State House. She said she prayed for the firefighters, not knowing she knew one of the victims.
Devaney’s late husband Jack served with Walsh’s father on the Fire Department.
“He would have been so proud to see his son on the Fire Department,” she said. “I’m in shock. I just can’t believe it. There are no words. I can’t even imagine. He was just the nicest young man.”
(http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_371w/Boston/2011-2020/2014/03/27/BostonGlobe.com/ReceivedContent/Images/BFDKennedy.jpg)
Boston Firefighter Michael R. Kennedy.
In his native Roslindale and in West Roxbury, Michael Kennedy was known first as Dork, a prankster and a freewheeling spirit, but also a volunteer who worked with Big Brothers Big Sisters. He led a Boston Fire Department contingent last month in traveling to Rhode Island to donate blood, join the bone marrow registry, and show support for a 6-year-old boy with leukemia, friends said.
“He was a tough guy, but he also had, like, the best sense of humor,” said Erik Bingel, a friend since middle school. “The party didn’t start until he showed up.”
A magnet for nicknames, Kennedy started as Kennedork, which morphed into Dork. As an adult, he would become Coach K to his Crossfit disciples and Wildman to his friends in the American Infidels, a motorcycle club populated by veterans.
“Everybody knew him, and if you didn’t know him, you knew who he was,” said Bingel, a former Boston police dispatcher who now lives in Las Vegas, recalling parties from their teens and 20s. “It was like when Norm walks into the bar in ‘Cheers.’ When he walked in, it was, Dork!”
He was a master at Texas Hold ’Em, and the kind of guy who would complete a hardcore obstacle course like Tough Mudder wearing a fake tuxedo T-shirt or post a picture to Facebook heeding the call of nature while in fatigues.
On the job, he was all action and discipline, friends said.
“He was one of the first men in,” said Melissa Nikolaides, a friend since their days bagging groceries at the West Roxbury Roche Brothers and attending Newton’s Trinity Catholic. Kennedy, who was single, lived in Hyde Park.
(http://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_371w/Boston/2011-2020/2014/03/27/BostonGlobe.com/Metro/Images/davis_fire29_met-8025[2].jpg)
The body of one of the victims of Wednesday’s fire was escorted by fellow firefighters to the medical examiner’s office.
“I can guarantee you he didn’t think twice about running in there,” said Ashley Duckett, another old friend who met Kennedy through Nikolaides when they were teenagers.
Both noted his movie star looks. “Handsome, very handsome — I can’t stress that enough,” said Duckett. “He could be talking to you about anything from the dirt on the ground to the sun in the sky, and you’d catch eyes with him and you’re drawn in, you’re locked, you’re stuck.”
Kennedy dabbled in college before he enlisted in the Marines, which appealed to the sense of loyalty and duty that was always present beneath his goofball exterior, friends said. “He got a hero’s welcome when he came home, and he jumped right onto the Fire Department,” Bingel said. “He always wanted to be there to help to do the right thing. He just had such a kind heart.”
Kennedy joined the Fire Department 6½ years ago.
Derek Cloutier, a fellow veteran who met Kennedy riding with the American Infidels, said he was not the sort — few of them were — to talk much about his time in combat or his experience responding to the bombings in Boston last spring. This spring, friends said, he was training to run the Boston Marathon himself.
“He was down there [last year] tying tourniquets and doing everything else to help out, and he was dealing with that and overcoming that stuff,” said Cloutier, 32, a former Marine who lives in Leominster. “He was definitely one of the bravest guys I know.”
Cloutier said Wednesday night that he was struggling to process his friend’s death. “I’ve been kind of like off and on sobbing over the last couple hours,” he said, “and all I can think of is him sitting there saying: ‘Knock it off. Get out and live!’ ”
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/03/27/off-job-victims-were-imposing-presences/1U4nxqHnSTUhgsnqKmv2qO/story.html
-
Medal of Honor recipient returns to active duty; hero of 2009 ambush rejoins Army
By Douglas Ernst -The Washington Times Thursday, April 10, 2014
(http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2013/10/17/ap10thingstosee-obama-medal-of-honorjpeg-03428_s160x109.jpg?b2afd0d47c869f72bebf23d44ccd05ecef53e640)
William Swenson
Only months after receiving the nation’s highest award for valor, Capt. William Swenson has left the civilian world and returned to active duty.
Capt. Swenson, who left the service in 2011, will be assigned to I Corps at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., The Army Times reported.
On Oct. 15, 2013, Capt. Swenson was awarded the Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony for his bravery during a 2009 ambush in Afghanistan’s Kunar province.
With little air support, the soldier repeatedly braved enemy fire to retrieve the bodies of those killed in action. His actions on Sept. 8, 2009 helped save lives on a day when five Americans, nine Afghan troops and an interpreter perished.
“Today, I stand with the Medal of Honor,” he said during his award ceremony, The Army Times reported. “But this award was earned with a team. A team of our finest: Marines, Army, Air Force, Navy and our Afghan partners, standing side by side. And now, that team includes Gold Star families who lost their fathers, sons and husbands that day. This medal represents them. It represents us.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/10/medal-honor-recipient-capt-william-swenson-returns/#ixzz2zAc3DMXv
-
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Corporal_Patrick_Tillman.jpg)
Remembering Pat Tillman … and his case for Canton
As America celebrates the 118th running of the Boston Marathon today—and the renewal of life a year after the terrorist attack there killed three and wounded 264—we also should remember that Tuesday is the 10-year anniversary of the death by friendly fire of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.
Tillman is a unique player, and man, in recent NFL history. The only time I ever spoke with him was an hour or so before a Cardinals practice in 1998, in Tempe, Ariz. Tillman was a rookie safety, drafted in the seventh round from Arizona State to the team that was just a couple of miles from where he went to college. And he showed up for work that day—and for our interview—riding a 10-speed bike. That’s the only player I ever interviewed who arrived on a bike. The rest of the story is incredible, and incredibly sad. After 9/11, he chose to give up a potentially lucrative free-agent contract to join the Army and suit up to defend his country in Afghanistan. And while on duty April 22, 2004, Tillman was shot three times in the head by one or more of his countrymen. The circumstances around the death, which took place in a firefight with enemy forces near the Pakistan border in eastern Afghanistan, remain a mystery.
However he died, Tillman was a hero to millions in the country for sacrificing his NFL career to serve in the military, and that legend only grew when he died. He is one the most memorable, and admirable, figures of our time. It would be just to take a moment tomorrow to remember Tillman and his service and his sacrifice.
Now, I hadn’t thought of the Hall of Fame part of it in several years, until Cris Collinsworth tweeted this on Sunday, after ESPN ran a tribute to Tillman:
Cris Collinsworth ✔ @CollinsworthNBC
Follow
If I live to be a million years old, I will never understand why Pat Tillman is not in the NFL Hall of Fame. Thanks ESPN. Great reporting.
8:33 AM - 20 Apr 2014
Collinsworth and I have discussed this. He remains unconvinced by my argument, which is this: Should all 26 NFL players who have died in service to our country—either in World War II, Vietnam or Afghanistan—be enshrined in Canton? Is one NFL player’s service worth more than others’? Should every player who served in wartime be enshrined, or put in a wing of the Hall of Fame? For instance, quarterback Eddie LeBaron was twice wounded in the Korean War, earned a Purple Heart, and came back to play in the NFL; he’s not in the Hall—should he be? And what about others who played football and went on to great things? Byron “Whizzer” White, a running back in the NFL, went on to be a Supreme Court justice. Jack Kemp quarterbacked the Bills, then became a nine-term Congressman and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Should they be in?
I think football players and coaches and executives should be in the Hall of Fame for what they accomplish as football players and coaches and executives, and not for anything else.
There is, by the way, a large area of the Hall devoted to NFL men who have served, including a big display for Tillman. I highly recommend seeing it when you visit Canton and see the vastly improved Hall.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/04/21/2014-nfl-draft-rumors-monday-morning-quarterback/2/
-
For Medal of Honor recipient, the costs of that day diminish excitement of award
By Jon Harper
Stars and Stripes
Published: May 12, 2014
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.282702.1399924641!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_240/image.jpg)
Former Army Sgt. Kyle White talks to Stars and Stripes May 11, 2014, in Arlington, Va. He is scheduled to be presented with the medal at a White House ceremony on Tuesday, May 13, 2014.
RICK VASQUEZ/STARS AND STRIPES
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.278125.1397598347!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/box_100/image.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Conrad Begaye awards Spc. Kyle White the Combat Infantryman Badge during a ceremony in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2007. Photo courtesy of Kyle White
WASHINGTON — Former Army Sgt. Kyle J. White will be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Barack Obama at a White House ceremony on Tuesday. White, 27, will receive the award for his actions during a dismounted movement in mountainous terrain in Aranas, Afghanistan. White was serving as a Platoon Radio Telephone Operator assigned to C Company, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, on Nov. 9, 2007, when his team of U.S. and Afghan National Army soldiers were ambushed by a much larger and more heavily armed Taliban force after a meeting with Afghan villagers. By the time the battle was over, six U.S. servicemembers had been killed and others were seriously wounded.
Before receiving the award, White sat down with Stars and Stripes to talk about the battle and life after the military.
Stars and Stripes: How did the ambush at Aranas begin?
White: As we were walking down the trail down in the valley you heard a single one shot, and two shots, and then the whole valley erupted, and then RPGs and fully automatic fire came in from it seemed like every direction … They had us outnumbered, that’s for sure … As the [enemy] fire kicked off, it kind of separated the patrol in two. And so after, you know, the initial shots, I didn’t see the [separated part] of the patrol [until the battle was over].
You were knocked unconscious by an enemy RPG, is that correct?
Yes … I fired my first magazine [and] I loaded another one, and as soon as I loaded another one it was lights out [when an RPG landed near my head] within the first probably 30 seconds of the firefight.
What was the situation when you regained consciousness?
As I picked my head up, an enemy round came in and hit that rock just inches from my face.
What did you do when you noticed that Spc. Kain Schilling was wounded?
After I kind of got my bearings together after the RPG, I looked over my shoulder and I could see Kain running down the trail towards like this little treetop … It wasn’t providing any cover from incoming rounds but just concealment … His right arm was just kind of dead and he had blood coming from his upper right arm, and so I saw that and I just moved to him. I just figured that’s where I need to be. And then went down there … and I put a tourniquet on his upper right arm … Towards the end of the ambush, Kain had again been shot again in the leg, and I put a belt on his leg as a tourniquet.
At one point during the firefight, Marine Sgt. Phillip Bocks was lying out in the open severely wounded. Can you describe what you did to try to save him?
I looked back up to the trail from where we were coming from and I could see Bocks still sitting up holding his weapon, but he had been shot in the leg and then his upper left shoulder and I could see, you know, some blood coming from his mouth. So I knew he was pretty severely wounded … So I decided to, you know, get up and go to him and try to pull him back to where we were … As I ran out there and grabbed him I started dragging him by the carry-handle [on his body armor]. And I noticed that … before I ran out to him there was rounds coming in around us but none of them were focused on him, but when I ran out there it seemed like, you know, all the fire was focused on us. And, you know, I kind of came to the conclusion that they weren’t trying to hit Bocks [but] they were trying to shoot me. And so I knew the longer I dragged him and they focused their fire on me, the greater [the] chance [of] him getting hit again was. And so what I did was just kind of dragged him like 5-10 feet … and then [I’d] run back to where Kain was just to try to draw their fire and have them follow me and leave him alone. And so, you know, I’d run back to Kain’s position [and] wait just a few seconds until [the Taliban] get distracted, and then repeat the movement until we got back to Kain, you know, behind the concealment of the tree canopy … [But] obviously some artery had been hit. So I tried to just control the bleeding as much as I could, but he ended up dying.
And you also went out into the open to try to save 1st Lt. Matthew Ferrara, who was wounded on the trail?
The way the trail was shaped, I could just see his helmet and then his assault pack but I couldn’t actually see like him laying there. And so I just wanted to go see what the issue was and go see if he’s OK … That’s where a lot of fire was still coming in, so I more like, you know, high-crawled [and] low-crawled out there to him. And I checked his pulse and he had already died.
What made you decide to put yourself in danger and risk your life so many times?
I told myself that I was going to die. You know, there’s no doubt in my mind I was not going to make it off that cliff that day. And so in my mind … it was, you know, if I am going to die I’m going to help my battle buddies until it happens … You also know that if the roles were reversed and it was you that was sitting out there, you know your battle buddy would come and get you.
You had another close call when you were trying to operate the radio, is that right?
I was pulling the hand mic off of [the] kit … [and] it just flew out of my hand and it wasn’t — you know, I didn’t quite understand what that was. And I picked it up again, and there was a bullet hole clean through it. And I was just like, ‘Really?’ … It was kind of the, you know, just that moment where you’re just like, “C’mon!”
How close was the friendly fire coming in?
Very close. And at one point … our mortar round landed about 20 [yards] down the trail from us … I remember just red hot chunks of metal like the size of my palm just flinging by your head.
After nightfall, were you afraid that the Taliban were going to overrun your position?
It was something I was worried about. You know, I was the only able-bodied American at my position. And trying to cover 360 [degrees] in the middle of a war zone, you get that — you get that very lonely feeling out there.
How long did it take for medevac to arrive and bring everyone out?
Once nightfall came, you know, a minute seemed like an hour, and I couldn’t tell you for sure.
When did the White House inform you that you were actually going to receive the Medal of Honor?
I got the call from President [Barack] Obama February 10th.
Were you allowed to tell anybody that you were going to be awarded the Medal of Honor before the White House made the official announcement?
[Officials] told me not to tell anybody. But, you know, you’ve got to tell your parents about that, so … [laughs].
What did President Obama say when he called you?
I’d like to say I can remember it word for word, but I can’t. You know, there’s something about when you get on the phone with the most powerful man in the world, you kind of, you know, lose track of what’s going on. But … I remember one thing he said about being an investment analyst. He was like, ‘So, you’re an investment analyst now. That has to be less exciting than being in the Army.’ And I was like, “Yeah, it is.”
Who did you invite to the White House ceremony?
I have a lot of my family coming — pretty much all of my family. A lot of the guys I served with and the guys that were there that day [including Kain Schilling]. And then some of the Gold Star family members who lost somebody that day.
Are you excited about receiving the Medal of Honor?
There’s lots of, you know, things you wouldn’t get to do normally, you know, like go see the White House and meet the President. So I mean, there’s a lot of exciting elements of it. But … the cost of, you know, actually receiving the award — knowing what happened that day, what everybody went through, it’s, you know, it kind of takes that excitement away for sure.
What is the significance of the bracelet you wear on your wrist?
Kain Schilling actually had it made for me, and he wears the same one. But it has the names of all those that were killed on 9 November 2007. And I just kind of wear it as a reminder. And it kind of motivates me as well. It’s like no matter what is going on in my life, like if something is hard or especially during school, like if you’re complaining about reading a chapter or something, you know, you look down and you’d be like, you know, these guys, if they were here right now they would not be complaining. And so I kind of just use it as like a motivational item for me. I know that what I want is that no matter what I accomplish in my life, I hope to just make them proud.
What has been the most difficult aspect of adjusting to civilian life?
I guess it’s just finding your own mission. That’s what I like to call it … You’re so used to in the military having everything structured, you know, this is your mission for today or for this hour or for this month [and] this is what you’re doing. And … then you go to you’re doing it all on your own [and] nobody is telling you what to do any more. And so that’s what kind of helped me do it was just making my own missions, like when [I was] going to school [I would think], hey, my mission is to get my degree, and then it’s a long process [and] these are the steps I have to take to get there. And so that was just kind of what I did. Set your own goals [and] make your own mission.
You’ve publicly discussed your PTSD diagnosis. When did you start noticing symptoms and what kind of symptoms were you having?
Probably right after the attack. And symptoms were mostly just … difficulty falling asleep and maintaining sleep. And then, you know, just the kind of the flashes here and there of one minute you’re doing something and you’re thinking and [then] you’re right back there at 9 November [in Afghanistan] … But for the most part I kind of found what — my own coping mechanisms, you know. My biggest one and the best one that works for me is exercise. You know, no matter what I’m feeling [or] dealing with, I can go in [the gym] and just clear my head. And that really works for me.
Do you think about the Aranas battle every day, or do you go through the daily routine of your life like most people and it’s not something that’s always in the back of your mind?
I still think about it every day. But as years go by, it’s not something I think about as often each day.
Looking forward, what are your goals for the future?
I’m going to take it day by day and see what happens. But what I want to do is I really want to kind of help educate servicemembers that are thinking about leaving the service and going back into the civilian world … about the post-9/11 G.I. Bill and the importance of an education and really, you know, how necessary it is for certain jobs out there.
http://www.stripes.com/news/for-medal-of-honor-recipient-the-costs-of-that-day-diminish-excitement-of-award-1.282669
-
Marine to get medal of honor for blocking grenade
Published May 21, 2014
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/MOHpull.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
May 13, 2014: Medically retired Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter speaks to media at the Pentagon.AP
WASHINGTON – Cpl. Kyle Carpenter remembers lying on his back on a rooftop in Marjah, Afghanistan, crammed up against sandbags alongside his friend and fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio.
It was Nov. 21, 2010, and his squad was trying push south into Taliban strongholds, working to set up patrol bases and establish a stronger U.S. Marine presence in the volatile region.
He doesn't recall the attack. He doesn't remember throwing himself in front of Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio to protect him from a grenade, an act that will make him the eighth living recipient of the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the few seconds between the blast and unconsciousness are clear.
The impact felt like his face and body had been hit with a two-by-four, he said, his vision was blurry and there was a loud ringing in his ears. The blood felt like warm water flowing over his face, and as he ran his tongue around his mouth, he couldn't feel his jaw.
"I remember my buddies yelling at me, it sounded like they were a football field away. I remember them yelling, you know, you're gonna make it, you're gonna make it. And I just kept trying to tell them that I was gonna die," Carpenter said in an interview with a small group of reporters at the Pentagon.
As he drifted off, he said he remembers realizing how devastated his family would be that he wasn't getting out of Afghanistan alive. And then, he said, "I asked for forgiveness ... I wanted to go to heaven."
The White House announced Monday that Carpenter, 24, will receive the medal of honor on June 19. He is the 15th recipient of the medal, which is the military's highest award.
He accepts the honor with a heavy dose of humility and Southern charm befitting a native of Flowood, Mississippi.
Asked to recount the incident, he's frustrated that he doesn't recall the details or what he was thinking as the grenade landed.
He and Eufrazio were ready for a fight. Carpenter's squad was trying to secure Patrol Base Dakota, and two Marines had been wounded in an enemy attack the day before. At about 10 a.m., insurgents threw three grenades. The third landed on the rooftop and, according to a Marine Corps report, Carpenter moved to shield Eufrazio.
Eufrazio received a shrapnel injury to his head, but Carpenter's body absorbed most of the blast.
Asked about his injuries, Carpenter glances skeptically at a notebook and smiles. "You're gonna need more room on that paper."
The list is long: He lost his right eye and injured his left, both eardrums were blown, most of his teeth were blown out and much of his jaw was missing. His right arm was shattered, his left arm, wrist and hand had multiple breaks, his right lung collapsed and he had shrapnel wounds in his legs.
Six weeks after the blast, he woke up in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
When he opened his left eye, he said, "the only thing I could really make out in my room was right in front of my bed on the wall. My mom had hung our whole family's Christmas stockings. So that was my first memory."
Over the next two-and-a-half years doctors rebuilt his teeth and face, and saved his arm. Surrounded by family and friends, and deluged with letters from all over the country, he said he viewed the recovery not as a struggle, but a goal.
The hardest part?
"Going from toting a machine gun in Afghanistan ... to using a bed pan and I can't even put my own socks on," he said. "It took eight months or so to be able to put my socks on, on my own, but it was a long eight months. But I guess that was the hardest part. Letting other people help me."
Now a student at the University of South Carolina, Carpenter says his time at Walter Reed gave him a new perspective on life. As he started to recuperate he took hospital-sponsored trips to ski and snowboard, he went skydiving, and last year he completed the Marine Corps Marathon. And he wants people to treat all veterans as heroes, the way he is being treated.
As for the White House ceremony in June, he's says he's proud of what he did. But, he quips about the grenade, "to be honest, I don't know why I didn't get that thing and punt it right back to them."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/21/marine-to-get-medal-honor-for-blocking-grenade/?intcmp=latestnews
-
Marine to get medal of honor for blocking grenade
Published May 21, 2014
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/MOHpull.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
May 13, 2014: Medically retired Marine Lance Cpl. Kyle Carpenter speaks to media at the Pentagon.AP
WASHINGTON – Cpl. Kyle Carpenter remembers lying on his back on a rooftop in Marjah, Afghanistan, crammed up against sandbags alongside his friend and fellow Marine, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio.
It was Nov. 21, 2010, and his squad was trying push south into Taliban strongholds, working to set up patrol bases and establish a stronger U.S. Marine presence in the volatile region.
He doesn't recall the attack. He doesn't remember throwing himself in front of Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio to protect him from a grenade, an act that will make him the eighth living recipient of the Medal of Honor for service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But the few seconds between the blast and unconsciousness are clear.
The impact felt like his face and body had been hit with a two-by-four, he said, his vision was blurry and there was a loud ringing in his ears. The blood felt like warm water flowing over his face, and as he ran his tongue around his mouth, he couldn't feel his jaw.
"I remember my buddies yelling at me, it sounded like they were a football field away. I remember them yelling, you know, you're gonna make it, you're gonna make it. And I just kept trying to tell them that I was gonna die," Carpenter said in an interview with a small group of reporters at the Pentagon.
As he drifted off, he said he remembers realizing how devastated his family would be that he wasn't getting out of Afghanistan alive. And then, he said, "I asked for forgiveness ... I wanted to go to heaven."
The White House announced Monday that Carpenter, 24, will receive the medal of honor on June 19. He is the 15th recipient of the medal, which is the military's highest award.
He accepts the honor with a heavy dose of humility and Southern charm befitting a native of Flowood, Mississippi.
Asked to recount the incident, he's frustrated that he doesn't recall the details or what he was thinking as the grenade landed.
He and Eufrazio were ready for a fight. Carpenter's squad was trying to secure Patrol Base Dakota, and two Marines had been wounded in an enemy attack the day before. At about 10 a.m., insurgents threw three grenades. The third landed on the rooftop and, according to a Marine Corps report, Carpenter moved to shield Eufrazio.
Eufrazio received a shrapnel injury to his head, but Carpenter's body absorbed most of the blast.
Asked about his injuries, Carpenter glances skeptically at a notebook and smiles. "You're gonna need more room on that paper."
The list is long: He lost his right eye and injured his left, both eardrums were blown, most of his teeth were blown out and much of his jaw was missing. His right arm was shattered, his left arm, wrist and hand had multiple breaks, his right lung collapsed and he had shrapnel wounds in his legs.
Six weeks after the blast, he woke up in Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
When he opened his left eye, he said, "the only thing I could really make out in my room was right in front of my bed on the wall. My mom had hung our whole family's Christmas stockings. So that was my first memory."
Over the next two-and-a-half years doctors rebuilt his teeth and face, and saved his arm. Surrounded by family and friends, and deluged with letters from all over the country, he said he viewed the recovery not as a struggle, but a goal.
The hardest part?
"Going from toting a machine gun in Afghanistan ... to using a bed pan and I can't even put my own socks on," he said. "It took eight months or so to be able to put my socks on, on my own, but it was a long eight months. But I guess that was the hardest part. Letting other people help me."
Now a student at the University of South Carolina, Carpenter says his time at Walter Reed gave him a new perspective on life. As he started to recuperate he took hospital-sponsored trips to ski and snowboard, he went skydiving, and last year he completed the Marine Corps Marathon. And he wants people to treat all veterans as heroes, the way he is being treated.
As for the White House ceremony in June, he's says he's proud of what he did. But, he quips about the grenade, "to be honest, I don't know why I didn't get that thing and punt it right back to them."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/21/marine-to-get-medal-honor-for-blocking-grenade/?intcmp=latestnews
Respect
-
When u in process on Parris Island the first night the building where you line up has all the MOH citations and 99% all seem to have a dude jumping on a grenade. This has to be the first where the guy survived.
-
When u in process on Parris Island the first night the building where you line up has all the MOH citations and 99% all seem to have a dude jumping on a grenade. This has to be the first where the guy survived.
Those boys are cut from a different cloth. I'm thankful we have people willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country.
-
Former student interned in World War II gets high school honors
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-53a6377c/turbine/lat-la-me-internment-graduation-la0018333991-20140619/750/16x9)
Don Miyada, a former Newport Harbor High student who couldn't graduate with his class in 1942 because he was sent to an internment camp, receives his diploma during Newport Harbor's 2014 commencement last week. (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)
HANNAH FRY SchoolsWorld War II (1939-1945)U.S. ArmyUniversity of California, IrvineAttack on Pearl Harbor (1941)Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Don Miyada remembers the classes he took, the carefree days with his high school classmates and the building excitement as graduation day approached.
But that moment never arrived.
A month before he was to put on his cap and gown and march with the Class of 1942, Miyada was pulled from class at Newport Harbor High School and sent — along with his family — to an internment camp in Arizona.
Although he later was awarded a diploma and went on to earn his doctorate in chemistry, Miyada always felt there was something missing.
Graduation honors at last
"I never thought it would actually happen," Miyada says of his internment. "Being a citizen of the United States and taking civics classes, it surprised me that they were able to declare someone an enemy alien just with the sweep of a pen." (Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)
This week, that memory was restored when he walked with the Class of 2014 — an 89-year-old retired university professor in a sea of teenagers, waiting to savor a moment he had been denied for 72 years.
"It's more honor than I deserve," Miyada said before accepting his diploma. "I'll be thankful to the Newport Harbor graduates that they included me in the graduation."
He was 17 when he was rounded up shortly after the bombing in Pearl Harbor during World War II, and sent with his family to Poston, Ariz., where more than 17,000 detainees were held on desert land several miles from the Colorado River.
Although he was aware that President Franklin D. Roosevelt had signed Executive Order No. 9066 dictating that people of Japanese descent on the West Coast would be detained in relocation camps, he was stunned when it occurred.
"I never thought it would actually happen," he said. "Being a citizen of the United States and taking civics classes, it surprised me that they were able to declare someone an enemy alien just with the sweep of a pen."
t surprised me that they were able to declare someone an enemy alien just with the sweep of a pen.
- Don Miyada
One day, Miyada said, he received a letter from one of his instructors, expressing his dismay at what had happened. It also contained his diploma.
Released after two years in the internment camp, Miyada moved to Michigan and was promptly drafted.
"I originally picked the Navy because I thought maybe I might see some of my fellow students and graduates of Newport Harbor, but they went through the form and put me in the Army," he said.
After serving in Europe, Miyada returned to the United States and earned a doctorate in chemistry from Michigan State University. He returned west and became a professor at UC Irvine.
In May, Miyada met Newport Harbor's principal, Sean Boulton, during a Memorial Day service at the high school and Boulton invited him to walk with the 560 seniors who would be graduating.
Boulton even found a copy of the program from what would have been Miyada's graduation day in 1942.
"My name was on there," Miyada said. "I wasn't able to attend, of course, but my name was there anyway. It was very emotional."
On Thursday, prior to graduation, he was among the inaugural inductees in Newport Harbor High School's Hall of Fame, along with Olympian volleyball player Misty May-Treanor and film producer Frank Marshall.
Miyada smiled and bowed as he received a standing ovation. He also returned the letter he had received from his long-ago instructor and thanked the students with whom he would be walking.
"It's their time to graduate and their time of honor," he said. "I'm happy they invited me to be one of them."
http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-internment-graduate-20140622-story.html
-
100-year-old WWII veteran to receive high school diploma in New York
By Cristina Corbin
Published June 26, 2014
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/Hulka2.jpeg?ve=1&tl=1)
George Hulka, who turned 100 in April, is pictured here at a Flag Day ceremony on June 14, 2014, in Corinth, N.Y.
He may not toss his cap in the air, but Saturday's commencement exercises will be extra special for one graduate of an upstate New York high school -- a 100-year-old World War II veteran set to receive his diploma at the same ceremony as his great-grandson.
George Hulka Jr., called "Papa" by all who know him, was drafted in 1941 and served as a combat infantryman in the Army, fighting the Nazis and surviving the D-Day invasion at Normandy as well as several battles abroad, including the Battle of the Bulge.
The Bronze star recipient and father of four, who turned 100 in April, will receive an honorary high school diploma at Schuylerville High School in Schuylerville, N.Y., where his 19-year-old great-grandson, Devin Stark, will also be graduating from.
"I never dreamed he'd be doing this. I’m just very, very proud."
- Karen Austin,daughter of George Hulka
The school will honor Hulka with a speech before the diploma will be handed by Devin to Hulka, who is in a wheelchair after breaking his leg, relatives said. The ceremony is set for 10 a.m. in the Saratoga Springs City Center.
For Hulka's children, the degree marks a milestone they never thought would happen.
"I’m pretty overwhelmed," Hulka's daughter, 67-year-old Karen Austin, told FoxNews.com.
"I never dreamed he'd be doing this. I’m just very, very proud," she said of her father, who has 10 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
Hulka, one of nine children who grew up on a dairy farm in Saratoga, N.Y., attended a one-room schoolhouse, his family said. Following his graduation from the eighth grade, Hulka, the second oldest, became a hard-working farmhand as well as an auto mechanic. On Jan. 7, 1941, when he was 27, Hulka was drafted by the Army and served as a combat infantryman in north Africa and Europe for almost three years and battled the Nazis in eight combat campaigns, according to the Times Union newspaper, which first reported on Hulka's high school graduation.
After returning to Saratoga County following the war, Hulka met and wed his wife, Shirley, whom he was married to for 64 years. Austin said her father worked as a mechanic at the Pontiac dealership in Corinth, N.Y., where he managed all auto repair. Shirley Hulka died in 2010.
"They were very devoted to each other," said Austin, fighting back tears. "I know she would be so proud."
Hulka's graduation Saturday was made possible through the statewide program, "Operation Recognition," which permits school districts to issue diplomas to veterans living in New York state who attended but did not finish their schooling. Veterans who served in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam are eligible for the honorary degree. Five other veterans will also be receiving their high school diplomas from Schuylerville school district on Saturday, Hulka's family said.
Austin and her brother, William Hulka, described their father as a "family man" who spoke little of his war-time heroics.
"He doesn’t like the public spotlight," Austin said. "He’s very humble about his service record, and he never talked much about what he did."
Hulka, who suffered hearing loss during the war, will return from the Wesley Community Center to his home in Corinth once his leg is fully healed, his daughter said.
With diploma in hand, Hulka will soon resume his normal routine: strictly supervising the vegetable garden he shares with his son and watching his favorite show, "The Wheel of Fortune," while enjoying roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy, Austin said.
"He doesn’t like missing that. He’s very sharp," she said.
"He remembers things I wish he’d forget," Austin quipped. "And he has a really good sense of humor."
His daughter said Hulka is "so full of life," and illustrated it with a story she and her siblings relish when they speak of their father these days.
Austin said as Hulka was being wheeled to a room for surgery, after breaking his leg two days before his 100th birthday, "He told the nurse, 'This is a heck of a way to start my second hundred years.'"
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/26/100-year-old-wwii-veteran-to-receive-high-school-diploma-in-new-york/
-
Medal of Honor goes to soldier 'who held the line'
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/238dad207c804bdc61505f0ab7c797dbd156eeab/c=197-61-3669-2659&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/07/21/1405973408000-XXX-PITTS-MEDAL-OF-HONOR-jmg-100765.JPG)
Former staff sergeant Ryan M. Pitts received the Medal of Honor at the White House on Monday. President Obama praised the New Hampshire native for his unselfish heroism during an ambush in Afghanistan. VPC
Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY 7:10 p.m. EDT July 21, 2014
WASHINGTON — A former paratrooper who became the sole survivor of an Afghanistan outpost under heavy attack in 2008, choosing to fight on to the death with the bodies of six U.S. soldiers around him, survived to receive the Medal of Honor Monday in a White House ceremony.
"Against this onslaught, one American held the line, bloody but unbowed," President Obama said Monday of former Army staff sergeant Ryan Pitts. The soldier, who was 22 at the time, exemplified the virtues of integrity, humility and courage, the president said.
"For me, this was a team effort," Pitts told the Army Times. "I'm going to receive it. But it's not going to be mine. We did it together. No one guy carried that day."
Pitts received a medical discharge from the Army in 2009 and lives with his wife, Amy, and 1-year-old son, Lucas, in Nashua, N.H., where he works for a computer software company.
His wife and son, with dozens of other current or former soldiers who fought with him, stood by in the East Room of the White House on Monday as Obama draped the medal around Pitts' neck. It was Pitts' second wedding anniversary.
He is the ninth living recipient of the award from either the Iraq or Afghanistan wars. Sixteen of the medals have been awarded in the conflicts for recipients living or dead.
Pitts is the second soldier from the small unit he served with in Afghanistan — Chosen Company — to receive the honor. A Medal of Honor went to Kyle White in April for heroism during an ambush Nov. 9, 2007, that left six Americans and three Afghan soldiers dead.
Pitts and his fellow paratroopers were only a few weeks or days away from going home after a 15-month deployment when they fought on July 13, 2008, to defend a partially completed combat base adjacent to the village of Wanat in northeastern Afghanistan.
An estimated force of 200-300 Taliban fighters using machines guns, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire raked the compound defended by 48 Americans and a contingent of Afghan soldiers, according to an Army account.
The paratroopers had established an observation outpost on a ridge east of the base manned by Pitts, who was a sergeant at the time, and eight other soldiers.
The Taliban concentrated considerable fire on this location. Six men were killed in the action that immediately followed, including a platoon lieutenant and an Army specialist who had raced through enemy fire to reinforce the outpost. After other troops evacuated, Pitts found himself alone.
He fought on, denying enemy attackers the outpost position from where they could pour more fire directly into the base below.
"Pitts resigned himself to certain death, but remained determined to do as much damage as possible to the enemy before they overwhelmed the OP (observation post)," reads an Army account.
Obama called it one of the fiercest battles of the entire war in Afghanistan.
Enemy fighters were so close that other U.S. forces listening to Pitts communicating on the radio could hear their voices in the background, the account says.
"He (Pitts) whispered into the radio, 'I'm the only one left behind," Obama said.
The paratrooper "cooked off grenades" before lobbing them — meaning he held onto them after pulling the pin, allowing a fuse to burn down so that Taliban fighters would not be able to throw them back.
He also fired a rifle-mounted grenade launcher almost straight up in the air so the explosives would come down just a short distance away, where Taliban were concealed.
Ultimately, four other paratroopers from the combat base below reached him to help defend the outpost. Air support arrived and eventually ground reinforcements to drive back the Taliban. In all, nine paratroopers were killed that day and 27 wounded.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/07/21/medal-honor-ryan-pitts-obama-award-ceremony/12938319/
-
News: Purple Heart recipients continue to serve
(http://d2.static.dvidshub.net/media/thumbs/photos/1408/1489050/258w_q75.jpg)
Purple Heart Sgt. Michael Selvage
The Purple Heart, the oldest American military decoration for military merit, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy. It is also awarded to soldiers who have suffered maltreatment as prisoners of war. Purple Heart day is dedicated to honoring service members, past and present, who have received the Purple Heart medal.
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The Purple Heart medal is not an award many Soldiers aim to receive, but, for those who have, it may be one of the most honorable medals they wear on their chest.
On Aug. 7, 1782, General George Washington, the commander in chief of the Continental Army, created the Badge for Military Merit. It consisted of a purple heart-shaped piece of silk edged with a narrow binding of silver with the word “Merit” stitched across the face in silver. The badge was presented to Soldiers for any singular meritorious action.
The Purple Heart was awarded to only three known Soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
In 1931, General Douglas MacArthur, hoped to reinstate the medal in time for the bicentennial of Washington's birth. On February 22, 1932, Washington's 200th birthday, the U.S. War Department announced the creation of the Order of the Purple Heart.
The Purple Heart, the oldest American military decoration for military merit, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy. It is also awarded to soldiers who have suffered maltreatment as prisoners of war.
The current Purple Heart displays a bust of Washington and his coat of arms.
Purple Heart day is dedicated to honoring service members, past and present, who have received the Purple Heart medal.
Sgt. 1st Class Rueda De Leon, a Camarillo, California native, first sergeant of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 419th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, received the Purple Heart when his truck was hit by a roadside bomb in 2005 while operating in southern Afghanistan.
He lost two friends during the attack and said it was one of the reasons he remained in the military.
“Many of my friends and family thought I was nuts for wanting to come back for another deployment, to include the wives of my two best friends,” said De Leon. “I felt that I needed to close out a missing puzzle piece and felt that as long as I can still carry a rucksack and fire a weapon, I would still be able to give something back and honor my two brothers.”
Some states have designated Aug. 7 as Purple Heart Day. For example, the state of Wisconsin encourages the people and organizations to display the American flag as a public expression of recognition to those who were wounded or killed in action, fighting.
1st Sgt. Kenneth Hood, a Columbus, Ohio native, first sergeant for the 297th Inland Cargo Transfer Company, 419th CSSB, received the Purple Heart after a high explosive round exploded approximately eight meters away from him in 2012 while in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in eastern Afghanistan.
He said he has three reasons why he continues to serve. One is that he feels it’s his responsibility to ensure the sons, daughters, mothers and fathers are trained and prepared for combat.
He felt it was his destiny to serve his country as a Soldier.
“The military was my life calling,” said Hood. “Since I was a child watching G.I Joe, I always knew somehow if given the chance I would become a Soldier in the Army.”
He said another reason he continued to serve was because he wanted his three sons to have a positive role model, which he says paid off since his oldest son is applying to the U.S. Military Academy in the near future.
For some Soldiers who have received the medal, this day may mean a lot to them.
“One thing I do know is that August 7 is a day I will always cherish and respect,” said De Leon.
http://www.dvidshub.net/news/138547/purple-heart-recipients-continue-serve#.U-PgWFY29uZ#ixzz39jvvE9fS
-
-
Long overdue: Obama to award Medal of Honor to Civil War soldier
1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing died at Gettysburg trying to repel Pickett’s Charge
(http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2014/08/26/8_262014_cushing8201_c0-509-3020-2269_s561x327.jpg?a0d9201f5a14007995993ab29d0d3b5236410d2f)
Alonzo Cushing photo provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society shows First Lt. Alonzo Cushing. A Civil War soldier is to be honored with the nation's highest military decoration 151 years after his death.The White House announced Wednesday that President Barack Obama will give the Medal of Honor to Alonzo H. Cushing. His descendants and Civil War buffs have been pushing for the Union Army lieutenant killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to receive the award. (AP Photo/Wisconsin Historical Society)
Alonzo Cushing photo provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society shows First Lt. Alonzo Cushing. A Civil War soldier is to be honored with the nation’s highest military decoration 151 years after his death.The White House announced Wednesday that President Barack ... more >
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 26, 2014
President Obama will award the Medal of Honor to 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing, who gave his life at Gettysburg leading the effort to repel Pickett’s Charge, the White House said Tuesday in an announcement historians say corrects a glaring omission in the rolls of the nation’s top military honor.
Wounded in both his shoulder and stomach, Cushing manned the only remaining artillery piece, defending against the rebel charge that’s been called the high-water mark of the Confederacy. Cushing was cut down by a third wound as he successfully defended the spot, which has become known in military history lore as the Angle.
Those above and below him in rank already have been awarded the Medal of Honor, including Gen. Alexander S. Webb, who led the overall defense against Pickett’s Charge and approved Cushing’s request to advance, and Cushing’s own trusted Sgt. Frederick Fuger, who held up his wounded lieutenant so he could see the battlefield and served as Cushing’s megaphone, calling out the orders the senior officer could only whisper due to his two injuries.
“An awful lot of people have been very interested in seeing Alonzo gets this nation’s highest honor,” said David Krueger, who has served as point man for the Medal of Honor effort in Delafield, Wisconsin, where the Cushing family had a farm at the time of the war. “Standing at the Angle at Cemetery Ridge, what was at stake was the survival of our nation, and this young 22-year-old artillery officer held the line; the men with him held the line. If the line breaks at that point, the war could possibly have ended with a Confederate victory.”
The White House announcement brings to a close a decadeslong campaign by Cushing’s backers and comes as the Medal of Honor itself is increasingly under scrutiny.
1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing (left) poses with other Union troops during the Civil War. Cushing is expected to be awarded the Medal of Honor nearly 150 years after he died defending a Union position during Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. (Wisconsin Historical Society via Associated Press)
1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing (left) poses with other Union troops during the ... more >
Key lawmakers have questioned whether the process has become too politicized, saying there are other deserving troops from recent conflicts such as the Iraq war.
Usually, those pushing for honors for long-dead military men are descendants. In Cushing’s case, there are no direct descendants, and his cause was taken up by people with much more tenuous personal connections but who saw an injustice to be corrected.
One of those was Kent Masterson Brown, who chronicled the lieutenant’s story in his book “Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander.” Another is Margaret Zerwekh, a woman in her 90s who lives on part of what used to be the Cushing family’s farm, located along the Bark River in Delafield, west of Milwaukee.
She wrote her first letter on Cushing’s behalf in 1987, asking then-Sen. William Proxmire to take up the cause.
Congress had to play a role as well, waiving the time limits involved in the Medal of Honor so that Cushing would be eligible. The waiver came in last year’s defense policy bill.
On Tuesday the White House released a statement saying Cushing will finally get his due, along with two veterans of the Vietnam War.
One of those, Army Spc. Four Donald P. Sloat, was killed in action on Jan. 17, 1970, while using his body to absorb a grenade blast, saving the lives of three other soldiers.
The other, Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins, repeatedly braved intense hostile sniper and mortar fire to rescue wounded soldiers, then, despite suffering several wounds, fought off wave after wave of Viet Cong attacks on his position. Unable to reach the last evacuation helicopter, he rallied his comrades and fled into the jungle, where the group survived for two days until being rescued.
The Army, in its nomination for the Medal of Honor, estimated he killed up to 175 enemy troops and sustained 18 wounds himself.
Command Sgt. Maj. Adkins will attend a Sept. 15 ceremony at the White House along with his wife, Mary. Spc. Sloat’s brother will receive his medal at the same ceremony.
The White House said details on Cushing’s award will be announced separately.
Mr. Kreuger said one question is who would get the award, given he has no direct descendants. There is no clear-cut Pentagon protocol in this type of situation, Mr. Kreuger said.
Some residents have pushed for the medal to go to the city of Delafield.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/26/obama-to-award-belated-medal-of-honor-to-union-civ/#ixzz3Bc6ct9Z3
-
Man, 88, awarded medals at JBLM 61 years after release from North Korean prison camp
BY ADAM ASHTON
Staff writerSeptember 3, 2014
(http://media.thenewstribune.com/smedia/2014/09/03/19/44/14Xdqc.AuSt.5.jpeg)
WWII and Korean War veteran James Hayden of Lakewood is congratulated by Maj. General Terry Ferrell after being awarded medals for his service in Korea during special ceremonies at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2014.
TONY OVERMAN — Staff Photographer Buy Photo
Retired Army Master Sgt. James Hayden kept insisting that he didn’t want any fuss about him even as a two-star general leaned in to pin long-overdue Army service medals to his collar.
“I didn’t expect this,” said Hayden, 88. “I didn’t ask for any of it.”
But his family, friends and the Army insisted on the pageantry of a Joint Base Lewis-McChord ceremony.
Hayden earned it, they said, in the nearly three years he spent imprisoned by North Korean and Chinese troops during the Korean War.
On Wednesday, almost 61 years to the day since he was freed from the camp, the Army finally awarded Hayden medals he earned by serving during the Korean War and for enduring the physical and psychological hardships of a long imprisonment.
“Little slow in recognition, but it’s never too late,” said Maj. Gen. Terry Ferrell, commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s 7th Infantry Division.
The ceremony gave Ferrell and a few dozen other soldiers a chance to revel in Hayden’s story. They held the event in the headquarters of a battalion with a rich history in the Korean War and attracted Stryker soldiers who served recently as modern descendants of Hayden’s 9th Infantry Regiment.
They wanted to pay their respects to Hayden, who not only fought in Korea, but also received a Silver Star for valor he showed in battle fighting in Germany during World War II.
On the day that would lead to Hayden’s Silver Star - March 15, 1945 – Hayden was ordered to inspect a tunnel that his unit suspected was being used to hide German soldiers.
He hopped inside with a rifle. An enemy grenade damaged his rifle so much that Hayden could not return fire.
Hayden got another rifle, went back in and attacked.
His Silver Star commendation says he killed two German soldiers, wounded four more and single-handedly took 12 as prisoners.
“He put himself in harm’s way and he went back in,” Ferrell said. “He didn’t have to do that.”
Less than two months later, Hayden took a German bullet to the leg, ending his participation in that war. He received a Purple Heart for the wound.
Hayden’s service did not end there. He went to Fort Lewis after his recovery, where he met his wife, the late Dorothy Hayden. He stayed in uniform because he found that he liked military life.
By 1950, Hayden was back at war fighting to repel a North Korean and Chinese advance toward Seoul.
He was captured with more than 100 other soldiers on Dec. 1, 1950. Hayden remembered an all-night battle. By morning, the Americans were surrounded. Hayden’s commander chose to surrender rather than watch his soldiers die one-by-one.
As a prisoner, Hayden remembered receiving a cup of food in the morning and a cup in the afternoon. Temperatures in North Korea would drop to well below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, making the weather one of the greatest threats to his survival.
Many did not survive. Hayden remembered burying fallen prisoners of war in cold, hard earth.
Hayden said he got by with the camaraderie of his fellow prisoners, and with his Catholic faith.
“Prayer,” he said, kept him alive.
He was not released until Sept. 5, 1953. He came home 65 pounds lighter and with bones so damaged by malnutrition that he spent a year in Madigan Army Medical Center while doctors tried to repair his spine.
“I was just doing my duty,” Hayden said.
“That’s what makes you special,” Ferrell told him.
Hayden would serve almost eight more years in the Army after he left Madigan, including another assignment in Germany. He retired with more than 18 years of total service.
After the Army, Hayden spent his years in Lakewood raising his three daughters and helping his wife manage a beauty salon.
He did not receive those Korean War medals until his family reached out to U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Bellevue, and state Rep. Linda Kochmar, R-Federal Way. The lawmakers helped file the paperwork so the Army would recognize Hayden’s service.
Over the years, Hayden also lost his Silver Star. Hayden believes his sister got it and did not return it.
It would be awfully nice to get that back, Hayden said, as he thanked Ferrell for the POW and Korean War medals.
“I will get you one,” Ferrell promised.
Less than half an hour later, a soldier in the division found a Silver Star that Ferrell could present to Hayden.
An officer read Hayden’s Silver Star commendation. Ferrell stood again to hand another medal to the long-retired veteran.
“I didn’t expect it, but I’m happy it happened,” Hayden said.
“Sometimes surprises are good, and this one you earned,” Ferrell said.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2014/09/03/3360524_man-88-awarded-medals-at-jblm.html?sp=/99/289/&rh=1#storylink=cpy
-
Sunday, October 19th, 2014 | Posted by Duane Vachon
William T. Perkins, Jr. Corporal United States Marine Corps - A NEW KIND OF HERO
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/image-william-perkins-19Oct2014.jpg)
Cpl. William T. Perkins, Combat Photographer, Medal of Honor, Vietnam
BY DUANE ALLEN VACHON PH.D. For many years prior to my retirement I worked at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. My job as the cemetery representative was to help the families organize the committal service for their loved one. Meeting with the family I would help organize the service. This involved coordinating with the funeral director, organizing military honors and, if requested, a representative from the religion the family requested. Most of all I tried to make the service as painless and dignified as possible. We conducted as many as seven services a day, five days a week. Even though it was emotionally draining, two things kept me going. I have a strong faith, and I was mindful that I was responsible for giving these veterans the last benefit they would receive for the service they gave to their country. It was a privilege and honor to be able to do this for my fellow veterans.
Despite my faith and my deep sense of service, at times I was touched and profoundly moved. At times it could be difficult not to be overwhelmed by the pain of the mothers and fathers, wives and children, sisters and brothers that were left behind.
To this day I still find myself at times being deeply moved when I am doing the research for these articles. This is one of those articles that moved me. Perkins was only 20 years old when he gave up his life. Not old enough to buy a beer in his home state. He was a Marine and every Marine is a rifleman first. However, his job was a combat photographer. Despite this he gave up his life to save his fellow Marines. Perkins is the only combat photographer to have received the Medal of Honor. Secondly, when searching to locate where he was buried, I saw a picture of his grave marker. He was buried with his younger brother Robert who died in 1978. His parents suffered the pain of having to bury two sons.
There are 58,282 names on the Vietnam Wall. It’s impossible to imagine how much collateral damage is associated with those names. As you read these articles, spare a thought for the hero, but also a thought and, if you are so inclined, a prayer for all of those who were left behind.
William (Bill) T. Perkins, Jr. was born August 10, 1947 in Rochester, New York to William and Marilane Perkins. The family moved to Los Angeles, California and he attended Sepulveda Jr. High and graduated from James Monroe High School in 1965. He received many drama awards and was a member of the swim team and the Photography Club. He also became certified in Scuba diving and spent many hours diving off the coast of California and Catalina Island. While attending Pierce College, he was an apprentice at the Valley Music Theater and appeared at the Century City Playhouse.
Perkins and Jim Priddy joined the Marines on the “buddy system” on April 27, 1966. He completed his infantry training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego and Camp Pendleton, California. His interest in photography and cinema led him to the Photography School at Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey. Perkins arrived in Vietnam on July 12, 1967 and was killed in action exactly three months later October 12, 1967.
Perkins was given a chance to take the US Army's Motion Picture Photography course. The only caveat: those attending the school had to put their new skills to use in Vietnam. Perkins willingly agreed and - after training - arrived in Vietnam in July of 1967. Exactly three months later, he would prove himself a new kind of hero.
Once in country, Perkins quickly earned a reputation as a gifted combat cameraman. Shooting both stills and film, the Southern Californian captured both the mayhem and the monotony of modern warfare. Reticent in the beginning, Perkins' fellow grunts accepted him as one of their own - even if he did go into battle with one eye plastered to a viewfinder. What they never fathomed was the young cameraman's commitment to them. In October of 1967, that became painfully clear. A reconnaissance mission in the Hai Lang forest, Operation MEDINA devolved into a battle of hand grenades. Perkins was in the thick of it, shooting film as he and his buddies found themselves . Perkins did the unthinkable. After yelling 'Incoming!', William T. Perkins, Jr. crawled on top of the grenade, and absorbed its deadly blast. Saving at least three of his friends' lives, Perkins died with a Eymo motion picture camera in his hand. To this day, he is the only combat photographer to ever receive the Medal of Honor.
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Medal-of-Honor-Navy-image-14Sep20141.jpg)
Medal of Honor citation
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to
CORPORAL WILLIAM T.. PERKINS, JR.
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a combat photographer attached to Company C, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division, in the Republic of Vietnam on 12 October 1967. During Operation MEDINA, a major reconnaissance in force, southwest of Quang Tri, Company C made heavy combat contact with a numerically superior North Vietnamese Army Force estimated at from two to three companies. The focal point of the intense fighting was a helicopter landing zone which was also serving as the Command Post of Company C. In the course of a strong hostile attack, an enemy grenade landed in the immediate Carea occupied by Corporal Perkins and three other Marines. Realizing the inherent danger, he shouted the warning, "Incoming Grenade" to his fellow Marines, and in a valiant act of heroism, hurled himself upon the grenade absorbing the impact of the explosion with his own body thereby saving the lives of his comrades at the cost of his own. Through his exceptional courage and inspiring valor in the face of certain death, Corporal Perkins reflected great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave histhe San Fernando Mis life for his country.
/S/ RICHARD M. NIXON
Corporal William T. Perkins is buried at San Fernando Mission Cemetery Hills Los Angeles County California, USA.
President Nixon presenting Medal of Honor to parents of Cpl. William Perkins
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/image-cemetery-Williams-Perkins-19Oct2014.jpg)
Gravestone for William Perkins and his brother Robert
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/william-t-perkins-jr-corporal-united-states-marine-corps-medal-of-honor-vietnam-a-new-kind-of-hero/123
-
70 years after death, Tenn. soldier buried at Arlington
Mary Troyan, The Tennessean, Nashville 1:55 a.m. EDT October 23, 2014
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/8fde0a9bd54152b1bab654ca9b43f337f4371c3c/c=11-0-3620-2714&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/USATODAY/None/2014/10/22/635495907416063854--DPG1683.JPG)
Army Pvt. 1st Class Cecil Harris received full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. (Photo: Evan Eile, USA TODAY)
WASHINGTON — Almost 70 years after he died battling German troops in northeastern France, Army Pvt. 1st Class Cecil Harris of Shelbyville was buried Wednesday with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
"In life, he honored the flag, and in death, the flag will honor him," U.S. Army Chaplain Capt. Ted Randall said during the graveside service.
Harris was killed Jan. 2, 1945, but his remains weren't found until last year, by French hikers.
In a cold, soaking rain, about 15 family members from Tennessee and several others followed the horse-drawn caisson carrying Harris' flag-draped casket down McClellan Drive at the cemetery while the U.S. Army Band, known as "Pershing's Own," played "Onward Christian Soldiers."
"I'm just proud I got to follow him before they put him in the resting place," said William Edwin "Eddie" Harris, who was an infant the only time he met his father.
Cecil Harris was 19 when he left Shelbyville and his pregnant wife, Helen, to fight in World War II. Helen Harris Cooke, 90, was unable to travel to northern Virginia for the burial, Eddie Harris said. Janice Carlton, who was 10 when her brother died, was among the mourners Wednesday.
"I feel relieved that we got him back and buried with honors where he deserved," Eddie Harris said after the services. "I wondered for 70 years whatever happened to him."
Harris qualified for full military honors, a crisp, dignified ceremony performed by the Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard. The services include a caisson, an escort platoon, a colors team, a casket team, three rifle volleys from a firing team and a band.
The bugler, Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Northman, played "Taps" after the chaplain's remarks.
"PFC Cecil Edwin Harris served our nation with honor and distinction," the chaplain said. "He earned his place on these hallowed grounds."
Harris was a member of the rifle platoon with Company D, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. He received the Combat Infantryman Badge, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
While the band played "America the Beautiful" and the rain fell harder, the Old Guard soldiers folded the U.S. flag that had been covering the casket. The flag was presented to Eddie Harris by retired Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips of Bell Buckle, Tenn., near where Cecil Harris grew up.
Eddie Harris has a frame for the flag at his home in Mountain City, Tenn., and plans to hang it on the wall near his bed.
"I never did think this day would come," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/23/tennsoldier-buried-at-arlington/17761145/
-
70 years after death, Tenn. soldier buried at Arlington
Mary Troyan, The Tennessean, Nashville 1:55 a.m. EDT October 23, 2014
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/8fde0a9bd54152b1bab654ca9b43f337f4371c3c/c=11-0-3620-2714&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/USATODAY/None/2014/10/22/635495907416063854--DPG1683.JPG)
Army Pvt. 1st Class Cecil Harris received full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. (Photo: Evan Eile, USA TODAY)
WASHINGTON — Almost 70 years after he died battling German troops in northeastern France, Army Pvt. 1st Class Cecil Harris of Shelbyville was buried Wednesday with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
"In life, he honored the flag, and in death, the flag will honor him," U.S. Army Chaplain Capt. Ted Randall said during the graveside service.
Harris was killed Jan. 2, 1945, but his remains weren't found until last year, by French hikers.
In a cold, soaking rain, about 15 family members from Tennessee and several others followed the horse-drawn caisson carrying Harris' flag-draped casket down McClellan Drive at the cemetery while the U.S. Army Band, known as "Pershing's Own," played "Onward Christian Soldiers."
"I'm just proud I got to follow him before they put him in the resting place," said William Edwin "Eddie" Harris, who was an infant the only time he met his father.
Cecil Harris was 19 when he left Shelbyville and his pregnant wife, Helen, to fight in World War II. Helen Harris Cooke, 90, was unable to travel to northern Virginia for the burial, Eddie Harris said. Janice Carlton, who was 10 when her brother died, was among the mourners Wednesday.
"I feel relieved that we got him back and buried with honors where he deserved," Eddie Harris said after the services. "I wondered for 70 years whatever happened to him."
Harris qualified for full military honors, a crisp, dignified ceremony performed by the Army's 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as The Old Guard. The services include a caisson, an escort platoon, a colors team, a casket team, three rifle volleys from a firing team and a band.
The bugler, Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Northman, played "Taps" after the chaplain's remarks.
"PFC Cecil Edwin Harris served our nation with honor and distinction," the chaplain said. "He earned his place on these hallowed grounds."
Harris was a member of the rifle platoon with Company D, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. He received the Combat Infantryman Badge, the European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
While the band played "America the Beautiful" and the rain fell harder, the Old Guard soldiers folded the U.S. flag that had been covering the casket. The flag was presented to Eddie Harris by retired Lt. Gen. Bill Phillips of Bell Buckle, Tenn., near where Cecil Harris grew up.
Eddie Harris has a frame for the flag at his home in Mountain City, Tenn., and plans to hang it on the wall near his bed.
"I never did think this day would come," he said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/23/tennsoldier-buried-at-arlington/17761145/
Did he join the Army voluntarily?
Seems like a 19-year old having a pregnant wife should have been able to receive a draft deferment. And if he left his pregnant wife by joining the army voluntarily, then he's not a great anything in my book.
-
Sunday, October 26th, 2014 | Posted by Duane Vachon
Jimmy Wayne Phipps PFC USMC
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Jimmy-Wayne-Phipps-26Oct2014.jpg)
Jimmy Wayne Phipps
LEST WE FORGET
BY DUANE ALLEN VACHON, PH.D. Jimmy Wayne Phipps was born on November 1, 1950, in Santa Monica, California. He attended Marina Del Ray Junior High School in Culver City, California and Venice High School in California. He left high school to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve on January 3, 1968 and was discharged on January 7, 1968 to enlist in the Regular Marine Corps.
He completed recruit training with the 2nd Recruit Training Battalion, Recruit Training Regiment, Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California on March 14, 1968. Transferred to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, he underwent individual combat training with Company L, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Training Regiment, followed by basic infantry training which he completed in May 1968.
From June until August 1968, he was a student with the Marine Aviation Detachment, Naval Air Technical Training Command, Memphis, Tennessee. Transferred to Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, he attended the Marine Corps Engineer Schools, until the following October. He was promoted to private first class on October 1, 1968.
In December 1968, he was transferred to the Republic of Vietnam where he served as a combat engineer with Company B, 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division. He was initially attached to Company C, 1st Battalion 5th Marines (C/1/5) as its combat engineer. He was then detached and returned to Company B, but in late May, volunteered to return to the field with C/1/5. While participating in combat in what was referred to as the "Arizona Territory," located in the vicinity of An Hoa on May 27, 1969, he was killed in action during the combat action for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. His Medal of Honor Citation tells the rest:
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Medal-of-Honor-Navy-image-14Sep20143.jpg)
Medal of Honor citation
The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to
PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JIMMY W. PHIPPS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
for service as set forth in the following CITATION:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a combat Engineer with Company B, First Engineer Battalion, First Marine Division in connection with combat operations against the enemy in the Republic of Vietnam. On 27 May 1969, Private First Class Phipps, was a member of a two-man combat engineer demolition team assigned to locate and destroy enemy artillery ordnance and concealed firing devices. After he had expended all of his explosives and blasting caps, Private First Class Phipps discovered a 175mm high explosive artillery round in a rice paddy. Suspecting that the enemy had attached at the artillery round to a secondary explosive device, he warned other Marines in the area to move to covered positions and prepared to destroy the round with a hand grenade. As he was attaching the hand grenade to a stake beside the artillery round, the fuse of the enemy's secondary explosive device ignited. Realizing that his assistant and the platoon commander were both with a few meters of him and that the imminent explosion could kill all three men, Private First Class Phipps grasped the hand grenade to his chest and dived forward to cover the enemy's explosive and the artillery round with his body, thereby shielding his companions from the detonation while absorbing the full and tremendous impact with his own body. Private First Class Phipp's indomitable courage, inspiring initiative and selfless devotion to duty saved the lives of two Marines and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
/S/ RICHARD M. NIXON President
Eleven years of combat left their imprint on a generation. Thousands returned home bearing shrapnel and scars; still more were burdened by the invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress, of Agent Orange, of memories that would never fade. More than 58,000 laid down their lives in service to our Nation. Now and forever, their names are etched into two faces of black granite, a lasting memorial to those who bore conflict's greatest cost. They didn’t all receive a Medal of Honor like Phipps, but they were all heroes.
Our veterans answered our country's call and served with honor, and on March 29, 1973, the last of our troops left Vietnam. Yet, in one of the war's most profound tragedies, many of these men and women came home to be shunned or neglected -- to face treatment unbefitting their courage and a welcome unworthy of their example. We must never let this happen again. Today, we reaffirm one of our most fundamental obligations: to show all who have worn the uniform of the United States the respect and dignity they deserve, and to honor their sacrifice by serving them as well as they served us.
PFC Jimmy W. Phipps is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica California Plot: Block 18.
(http://www.hawaiireporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/plot-Jimmy-Wayne-Phipps-26Oct2014.jpg)
Gravesite for PFC Jimmy W. Phipps
The information in this article was sourced from a variety of sources both internal and external. Every effort was made to ensure that the information is current and correct. These articles are presented to honor the heroes they are written about.
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.
http://www.hawaiireporter.com/jimmy-wayne-phipps-pfc-usmc/123
-
Long overdue: Obama to award Medal of Honor to Civil War soldier
1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing died at Gettysburg trying to repel Pickett’s Charge
(http://media.washtimes.com/media/image/2014/08/26/8_262014_cushing8201_c0-509-3020-2269_s561x327.jpg?a0d9201f5a14007995993ab29d0d3b5236410d2f)
Alonzo Cushing photo provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society shows First Lt. Alonzo Cushing. A Civil War soldier is to be honored with the nation's highest military decoration 151 years after his death.The White House announced Wednesday that President Barack Obama will give the Medal of Honor to Alonzo H. Cushing. His descendants and Civil War buffs have been pushing for the Union Army lieutenant killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to receive the award. (AP Photo/Wisconsin Historical Society)
Alonzo Cushing photo provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society shows First Lt. Alonzo Cushing. A Civil War soldier is to be honored with the nation’s highest military decoration 151 years after his death.The White House announced Wednesday that President Barack ... more >
By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 26, 2014
President Obama will award the Medal of Honor to 1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing, who gave his life at Gettysburg leading the effort to repel Pickett’s Charge, the White House said Tuesday in an announcement historians say corrects a glaring omission in the rolls of the nation’s top military honor.
Wounded in both his shoulder and stomach, Cushing manned the only remaining artillery piece, defending against the rebel charge that’s been called the high-water mark of the Confederacy. Cushing was cut down by a third wound as he successfully defended the spot, which has become known in military history lore as the Angle.
Those above and below him in rank already have been awarded the Medal of Honor, including Gen. Alexander S. Webb, who led the overall defense against Pickett’s Charge and approved Cushing’s request to advance, and Cushing’s own trusted Sgt. Frederick Fuger, who held up his wounded lieutenant so he could see the battlefield and served as Cushing’s megaphone, calling out the orders the senior officer could only whisper due to his two injuries.
“An awful lot of people have been very interested in seeing Alonzo gets this nation’s highest honor,” said David Krueger, who has served as point man for the Medal of Honor effort in Delafield, Wisconsin, where the Cushing family had a farm at the time of the war. “Standing at the Angle at Cemetery Ridge, what was at stake was the survival of our nation, and this young 22-year-old artillery officer held the line; the men with him held the line. If the line breaks at that point, the war could possibly have ended with a Confederate victory.”
The White House announcement brings to a close a decadeslong campaign by Cushing’s backers and comes as the Medal of Honor itself is increasingly under scrutiny.
1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing (left) poses with other Union troops during the Civil War. Cushing is expected to be awarded the Medal of Honor nearly 150 years after he died defending a Union position during Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. (Wisconsin Historical Society via Associated Press)
1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing (left) poses with other Union troops during the ... more >
Key lawmakers have questioned whether the process has become too politicized, saying there are other deserving troops from recent conflicts such as the Iraq war.
Usually, those pushing for honors for long-dead military men are descendants. In Cushing’s case, there are no direct descendants, and his cause was taken up by people with much more tenuous personal connections but who saw an injustice to be corrected.
One of those was Kent Masterson Brown, who chronicled the lieutenant’s story in his book “Cushing of Gettysburg: The Story of a Union Artillery Commander.” Another is Margaret Zerwekh, a woman in her 90s who lives on part of what used to be the Cushing family’s farm, located along the Bark River in Delafield, west of Milwaukee.
She wrote her first letter on Cushing’s behalf in 1987, asking then-Sen. William Proxmire to take up the cause.
Congress had to play a role as well, waiving the time limits involved in the Medal of Honor so that Cushing would be eligible. The waiver came in last year’s defense policy bill.
On Tuesday the White House released a statement saying Cushing will finally get his due, along with two veterans of the Vietnam War.
One of those, Army Spc. Four Donald P. Sloat, was killed in action on Jan. 17, 1970, while using his body to absorb a grenade blast, saving the lives of three other soldiers.
The other, Command Sgt. Maj. Bennie G. Adkins, repeatedly braved intense hostile sniper and mortar fire to rescue wounded soldiers, then, despite suffering several wounds, fought off wave after wave of Viet Cong attacks on his position. Unable to reach the last evacuation helicopter, he rallied his comrades and fled into the jungle, where the group survived for two days until being rescued.
The Army, in its nomination for the Medal of Honor, estimated he killed up to 175 enemy troops and sustained 18 wounds himself.
Command Sgt. Maj. Adkins will attend a Sept. 15 ceremony at the White House along with his wife, Mary. Spc. Sloat’s brother will receive his medal at the same ceremony.
The White House said details on Cushing’s award will be announced separately.
Mr. Kreuger said one question is who would get the award, given he has no direct descendants. There is no clear-cut Pentagon protocol in this type of situation, Mr. Kreuger said.
Some residents have pushed for the medal to go to the city of Delafield.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/aug/26/obama-to-award-belated-medal-of-honor-to-union-civ/#ixzz3Bc6ct9Z3
Civil War officer to receive Medal of Honor from President Obama
Published November 06, 2014
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/cushing_moh.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
First Lt. Alonzo Cushing is shown in an undated photo provided by the Wisconsin Historical Society. (AP/Wisconsin Historical Society)
A Union Army officer who stood his ground during the Battle of Gettysburg and paid with his life is receiving the nation's highest military honor from President Barack Obama.
Obama on Thursday was bestowing the Medal of Honor on 1st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing, who was killed in July 1863 during the three-day battle near the Pennsylvania town. The battle often is described as the turning point of the Civil War.
Congress granted an exemption for Cushing's posthumous honor. Recommendations normally must be made within two years of an act of heroism, and the medal presented within three.
Cushing was born in Delafield, Wisconsin, raised in Fredonia, New York, and buried at his alma mater, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, after his death at age 22. He commanded about 110 men and six cannons, defending the Union position on Cemetery Ridge against Pickett's Charge, a major Confederate thrust that was repelled by Union forces.
On the third day of battle, Cushing's small force stood its ground under severe artillery bombardment and an assault by nearly 13,000 advancing Confederate infantrymen. Wounded in the stomach and right shoulder, Cushing refused to move to the rear despite his wounds and insisted on ordering his guns to the front lines.
He was shot and killed as Confederate forces closed in on his position.
"His actions made it possible for the Union Army to successfully repulse the assault," according to a White House summary of Cushing's actions.
Two of Cushing's cousins were to join Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at a White House ceremony commemorating the lieutenant's service and sacrifice.
Obama and Mrs. Obama were also honoring service members, veterans and their families at an outdoor event Thursday evening featuring musical performances by Mary J. Blige, Willie Nelson and other recording artists. In 2011, Mrs. Obama and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, launched "Joining Forces," a nationwide campaign to rally the country to support its troops.
The Medal of Honor, which was created in 1861 during the war in which Cushing gave his life, has been bestowed on more than 1,500 soldiers who fought in the Civil War, most recently Cpl. Andrew Jackson Smith of Clinton, Illinois. Smith was honored by President Bill Clinton in 2001 just before Clinton left office.
It was unclear why Cushing wasn't similarly honored. His descendants and admirers have pressed for thehonor since the late 1980s.
The Cushing name is prominent in Delafield in southeastern Wisconsin. A monument to Cushing and two of his brothers — Naval Cmdr. William Cushing and Army 1st Lt. Howard Cushing — stands at Cushing Memorial Park, where the town holds most of its Memorial Day celebrations.
Wisconsin's lawmakers in Congress had attached an amendment to honor Cushing to a defense spending bill in 2010, but then-Sen. James Webb, D-Va., stripped it out. Webb argued it was impossible to go back 150 years to determine who should receive a medal. He predicted that doing so could spark a flood of claims.
The Medal of Honor is given to service members who risk their lives in acts of personal bravery above and beyond the call of duty.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/11/06/civil-war-officer-to-receive-medal-honor-from-president-obama/
-
70 years later, a World War II airman returns home
Diane Moore/Special to the Sun
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-54615206/turbine/bal-bs-md-hugh-moore-20141109/750/750x422)
An honor guard carries the casket of Tech Sgt. Hugh Francis Moore at Philadelphia Intl. Airport. His remains, discovered in New Guinea in 2001, were identified by DNA testing. He had been MIA for over 70 years after his plane was shot down in WWII.
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-546216ce/turbine/bal-md-hugh-moore-20141106/750/750x422)
Technical Sergeant Hugh Francis Moore
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-546151fa/turbine/bal-bs-md-veteran-hugh-moore-20141110/750/750x422)
Technical Sergeant Hugh Francis Moore, far right, with some of his military buddies.
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-546151fc/turbine/bal-bs-md-p2-wwii-remains-retur-20141110/750/750x422)
Charles Moore is the nephew of Technical Sergeant Hugh Francis Moore.
By Jean Marbella,
The Baltimore Sun
After 70 years, Sgt. Hugh F. Moore coming home to be buried in Maryland.
Charles Moore was about 7 years old at the time, in bed and asleep, when his father and his Uncle Hugh woke him up.
Hugh F. Moore was in the Army Air Forces and had just received orders that would ultimately take him to Papua New Guinea and into a massive bombing campaign against the Japanese in World War II.
"He had this cloth badge, something you'd sew on a shirt, and he wanted me to have it," Charles Moore, 79, recalled Monday. "That's the last time I saw him."
On April 10, 1944, Technical Sgt. Hugh F. Moore and 11 fellow crewmen were shot down in their B-24D Liberator bomber. On Veterans Day on Tuesday, more than 70 years later, the remains of the 36-year-old airman will be buried in his native Elkton, where his survivors will mark a long-delayed homecoming.
While the remains of three of the crewmen were found after the war, the other nine were deemed unrecoverable in the jungles of Papua New Guinea. But in 2001, the wreckage of Moore's aircraft was located, leading to an excavation and recovery of remains and other material.
Using family members' DNA, Moore was identified Sept. 5.
"It's almost like the marrying of 'Cold Case' and 'CSI,' " said Lt. Col. Melinda F. Morgan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. "You have to do a lot of historical research, as well as genealogical research to do the DNA testing."
Morgan said the process of retrieving the remains and other material from the aircraft, and then identifying the airmen, took a long time because of the number of crew members. They were identified by the Defense Department's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, or JPAC, which is dedicated to identifying the approximately 83,000 Americans unaccounted for from past conflicts. The unit has even been able to put names to the remains of recovered Civil War sailors.
More than 70 of Moore's surviving relatives will gather at Cherry Hill United Methodist Cemetery in Elkton, where he will be buried with full military honors. He was one of nine children born to Edward and Emma Louise Scarborough Moore, and he joined the Army in July 1942, according to an obituary posted by Hicks Home for Funerals in Elkton.
Some of his relatives, including Charles Moore, a resident of North East, met the flag-draped casket at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday. Traveling from Honolulu's Pearl Harbor, where JPAC is based, Sgt. Moore's casket was escorted by Army officials to Elkton.
On Tuesday, there will be a memorial service at Hicks Home for Funerals in Elkton, followed by the burial.
"It's an opportunity to know the homecoming has finally come to an end," said Diane Moore, Charles Moore's daughter. "It was a long time coming."
Ed Warrington, 75, a nephew who lives in Townsend, Del., just north of Dover, said his sister and her daughter, both of whom have since died, provided DNA samples to the Army that led to the identification of Sgt. Moore's remains. One way JPAC identifies remains is through mitochondrial DNA, which passes through maternal family lines.
For Warrington, a semiretired farrier, the return of the remains brings back memories of the letters his uncle used to write him and the toy airplanes he would receive as gifts.
"He told me he was an engineer" on the crew," Warrington said, recalling that his uncle told him, " 'That means I know everything about the B-24 and how to fix it.' "
Warrington said his mother Wilamina was close to her brother, and the family never gave up hope he would be found.
"She would never let anyone forget him," Warrington said. "A couple of months ago, I found a little pocket diary of hers. She only had a couple of entries, and on the date Uncle Hugh went down, she had written, 'Hugh declared missing' on that day."
The family remains in awe that the military continued to search and try to identify such long-ago casualties of war.
"It's pretty amazing," said Diane Moore, a communications supervisor for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, who lives in Lancaster, Pa. "It shows the value they place in the soldier."
Moore's parents had bought a plot for him in the Cherry Hill cemetery in the 1940s in case the airman was found, according to the funeral home, and they also placed a memorial marker there. He had grown up on the family's farm, and worked at a paper mill and a supply company before joining the Army in July 1942, according to his obituary.
According to the Defense Department, Moore's plane was one of as many as 60 B-24 Liberators from the 5th Air Force that attacked enemy anti-aircraft targets and airfields near Hansa Bay on Papua New Guinea's northern coast. His aircraft, a heavy bomber, was nicknamed "Hot Garters" for reasons that are unknown today, according to the Defense Department's Morgan.
The department says witnesses reported that as "Hot Garters" broke off to begin its bombing run, it was hit by flak from Japanese anti-aircraft guns and its No. 2 engine caught fire. A second fusillade provided the fatal blow, and the aircraft was consumed in flames, coming apart in midair and crashing into the jungle.
Four of the crewmen were able to parachute from the aircraft, according to the Defense Department, but they were taken prisoner and died in captivity. Moore died in the crash itself, Morgan said.
News accounts at the time describe a massive attack on Japanese strongholds in Papua New Guinea.
"Japanese bases in New Guinea are being subjected to the biggest aerial offensive of the Pacific war, with gun positions, ammunition, gas and food dumps being ripped to pieces by the 5th Air Force," a correspondent wrote on April 13, 1944, in a dispatch that appeared in the next day's New York Times.
The article reported that 568 tons of bombs had been dropped in three days on Hansa Bay as "Gen. Douglas MacArthur's air arm obviously is intent on destroying the nerve centers of enemy resistance and paralyzing Japanese supply and communications lines."
Allied bombers flew through the "extremely bad weather" of the rainy season and left "destruction and death" up and down the New Guinea coast, the article said, but concluded: "Nevertheless our losses have been almost insignificant."
An article in The Baltimore Sun on March 22, 1945, noted that Moore's mother received an Air Medal with an Oak Leaf Cluster on behalf of her son, who was declared missing in action.
Moore's family decided it would be appropriate to bury him on Veterans Day. The military is planning a group service for the entire crew at Arlington National Cemetery, although a date has not been finalized, Morgan said.
For Charles Moore, whose father, also named Charles, was the eldest brother of the airman, the return of the remains brings back childhood memories that were fast fading.
He remembers his uncle driving a Hudson Terraplane car, although he can't remember the color. He also recalls going with his dad and uncle to watch them trapshooting.
And he remembers that night he was awoken to say goodbye.
"I was glad that happened," he said.
For Ed Warrington, there are also fond if faint memories, and a cache of letters that he still has from Uncle Hugh.
"The big thing I noticed," he said, "was he always closed by saying something like, 'I might not see you again.' "
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-wwii-remains-return-20141110-story.html#page=1
-
He Was a 98-Year-Old Veteran. A Picture Taken of Him Just One Day Before Death Has Moved America.
Nov. 18, 2014
Erica Ritz
Americans nationwide reacted to a now-viral photo of a 98-year-old veteran who, too ill to attend the annual Veterans Day celebrations last week, asked that he be dressed in his uniform.
Justus Belfield was too weak to leave his bed, but The Daily Gazette of Schenectady reported that he has worn his uniform every Veterans Day since he and his wife moved to a nursing home in upstate New York several years ago.
It was the last time Belfield, who passed away early Wednesday morning, ever wore his uniform.
“I could see him breathing, and I leaned down and I looked at him and I said, ‘Happy Veterans Day. Thank you for your service,’” Christine Camp, who works at the home, recalled.
Belfield’s response, pictured below, will never be forgotten:
(http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Justus-Belfield.jpg)
This Nov. 11, 2014 photo provided courtesy of Nancy McKiernan of Baptist Health Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Glenville, N.Y., shows 98-year-old World War II veteran Justus Belfield saluting on Veterans Day. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Nancy McKiernan/Baptist Health Nursing and Rehabilitation Center)
“Godspeed Sarge,” one Daily Gazette commenter wrote. Another added: “God bless and rest you, sir. Thank you for your service.”
Commenters at The Huffington Post were equally full of praise for the 98-year-old veteran.
“I was approached a few years ago by on old vet,” one wrote. “[He wore a] WW2 victory medal, his Pacific campaign ribbon, and a bronze star with four clusters, an arrowhead, and a ‘V’ device. I felt unworthy to polish this old man’s boots. Respect for these old guys. They were tougher than we are.”
“That’s a powerful picture, and it exemplifies everything about that generation. RIP,” another commenter wrote.
The Associated Press reports that Belfield served for 16 years in the Army, participating in — among other historic battles — the Battle of the Bulge.
The Daily Gazette adds that Belfield was discharged multiple times, but always re-enlisted “right away.”
He told the paper in 2013: “I loved it because it was my country. It’s still my country. I don’t like the president. I don’t like the way he handles things, but it’s still the United States. It’s still my country.”
Camp said Belfield lit up the hallways of the nursing home, waking up each day with a smile saying: “Thank you, Jesus, for another day.”
“He loved the family, he loved his country, and he loved God,” Robert Stubbs, Belfield’s son in law, said. “Those three things right there will be his legacy.”
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/11/18/he-was-a-98-year-old-veteran-what-he-did-in-his-bed-just-a-day-before-death-has-moved-america/
-
You seem to hold the veterans in high regard so why do you defend the GOP's action to shoot down any veterans bill?
-
You seem to hold the veterans in high regard so why do you defend the GOP's action to shoot down any veterans bill?
I'm glad you liked the story and the picture. I think it's pretty awesome too.
-
I'm glad you liked the story and the picture. I think it's pretty awesome too.
I cant think of a reason to dislike veterans.
So why does the GOP fuck them over? And you support it?
-
I cant think of a reason to dislike veterans.
So why does the GOP fuck them over? And you support it?
Thank you for supporting our veterans.
-
You seem to hold the veterans in high regard so why do you defend the GOP's action to shoot down any veterans bill?
I can't recall the GOP ever doing such a heinous thing. I'll consider this a liberal lie until proven otherwise.
Waiting.
-
I can't recall the GOP ever doing such a heinous thing. I'll consider this a liberal lie until proven otherwise.
Waiting.
I know you are trolling but google "GOP blocks veterans bill" and the results are in.
-
I know you are trolling but google "GOP blocks veterans bill" and the results are in.
The google results are a little shocking actually :-\
http://bit.ly/1zDXeRq
-
The google results are a little shocking actually :-\
http://bit.ly/1zDXeRq
Take your pick:
https://www.google.dk/search?hl=en-DK&source=hp&q=GOP+blocks+veterans+bill&gbv=2&oq=GOP+blocks+veterans+bill&gs_l=heirloom-hp.3..0j0i22i30l9.916.916.0.1723.1.1.0.0.0.0.82.82.1.1.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..0.1.82.5RuLiLBV7QM
-
Take your pick:
https://www.google.dk/search?hl=en-DK&source=hp&q=GOP+blocks+veterans+bill&gbv=2&oq=GOP+blocks+veterans+bill&gs_l=heirloom-hp.3..0j0i22i30l9.916.916.0.1723.1.1.0.0.0.0.82.82.1.1.0....0...1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..0.1.82.5RuLiLBV7QM
Aside from those numerous factual links proving exactly what you claimed, I see no evidence of this.
Sorry man, seriously, you're correct here. Inexcusable. I doubt anyone here can defend them on this.
-
Aside from those numerous factual links proving exactly what you claimed, I see no evidence of this.
Sorry man, seriously, you're correct here. Inexcusable. I doubt anyone here can defend them on this.
Look at Beach Bum's replies.
He makes a whole thread regarding the veterans but when its time to put his money where his mouth is nothing. Just like the GOP's policy regarding veterans.
-
Medal of Honor campaign continues for black sergeant who saved troops
(http://www.trbimg.com/img-5483b08d/turbine/la-la-na-alwyn-cashe-jpg-20141206/500/500x281)
Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe died of burns three weeks after he rushed into a burning vehicle to rescue six soldiers in 2005.
By DAVID ZUCCHINO
7-year campaign continues to seek Medal of Honor for Army sergeant who entered burning vehicle to save troops
Alwyn Cashe may become the first African American awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in Iraq or Afghanistan
If he had known in 2005 what he knows today, Brig. Gen. Gary Brito would have nominated Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe for the Medal of Honor.
Brito knew in 2005 that Cashe, his uniform soaked with fuel, had plunged into a burning vehicle in Iraq on Oct. 17, 2005, to rescue soldiers who were on fire. But only months later did Brito, Cashe's battalion commander, learn the full details of Cashe's courage that day outside the city of Samarra.
Cashe rescued six badly burned soldiers while under enemy small-arms fire. His own uniform caught fire, engulfing him in flames. Even with second- and-third degree burns over three-fourths of his body, Cashe continue to pull soldiers out of a vehicle set ablaze when a roadside bomb ruptured a fuel tank.
Before all of those details emerged, Cashe was awarded a Silver Star, the military's third-highest award for valor, after Brito nominated him. But soon after learning more about Cashe's actions, Brito mounted an unusual Medal of Honor campaign that has continued for more than seven years.
If the latest batch of sworn statements submitted to the Army by Brito is successful, Cashe will become the first African American among 16 service members awarded the nation's highest medal for valor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan. Cashe, 35, died of his burns three weeks after the bomb attack. Seven of the 16 medals have been awarded posthumously.
"You don't often find truly selfless sacrifice where someone put his soldiers' welfare before his own," Brito said. "Sgt. Cashe was horribly wounded and continued to fight to save his men."
Acts of heroism in combat typically play out in a matter of seconds or minutes. But honoring those actions with a Medal of Honor often takes years — and sometimes decades — as emerging details and conflicting accounts are evaluated.
In Cashe's case, the soldiers he rescued were unable to provide accounts of his heroism because they were hospitalized in critical condition. Other details were lost in the turmoil of a war zone.
"The true impact of what he did that evening was not immediately known because of the chaos of the moment," Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, one of Cashe's commanders, wrote to the Army in support of Cashe's Medal of Honor nomination.
The Senior Army Decorations Board does not comment on Medal of Honor nominations, an Army spokeswoman said, noting that vetting such nominations takes considerable time, "with intense scrutiny every step of the way." There is no timetable for a decision.
Earlier this month, a Civil War soldier, Lt. Alonzo Cushing, was awarded a Medal of Honor by President Obama 151 years after his heroics. The president approves Medal of Honor awards after recommendations are sent up the chain of command by the decorations board.
Nine years after the Iraq bomb attack, retired Sgt. Gary Mills has no doubt that Cashe deserves the Medal of Honor. Mills was inside the stricken Bradley fighting vehicle that day. He was on fire, his hands so badly burned that he couldn't open the rear troop door to free himself and other soldiers trapped inside the flaming vehicle.
Someone opened the door from outside, Mills recalls. A powerful hand grabbed him and yanked him to safety. He later learned that the man who had rescued him was Cashe, who seconds later crawled into the vehicle to haul out the platoon's critically burned medic while on fire himself.
"Sgt. Cashe saved my life," Mills said. "With all the ammo inside that vehicle, and all those flames, we'd have all been dead in another minute or two."
Four of the six soldiers rescued later died of their wounds at a hospital. An Afghan interpreter riding in the Bradley died during the bomb attack. Cashe refused to be loaded onto a medical evacuation helicopter until all the other wounded men had been flown.
A citation proposing the Medal of Honor for Cashe reads: "SFC Cashe's selfless and gallant actions allowed the loved ones of these brave soldiers to spend precious time by their sides before they succumbed."
Cashe's sister, Kasinal Cashe White, spent three weeks at her brother's bedside at a military hospital in Texas as doctors treated his extensive burns. She knew nothing of his actions during the bomb attack until a nurse asked her, "You know your brother's a hero, don't you?"
When Cashe was able to speak, White said, his first words were: "How are my boys?" — his soldiers, she said.
Then he began weeping, she said. He told her: "I couldn't get to them fast enough."
Cashe died Nov. 8, 2005.
"My little brother lived by the code that you never leave your soldiers behind," White said. "That wasn't just something from a movie. He lived it."
White says her family hopes Cashe is awarded the medal while his mother, who is 89, is still alive.
White, Mills and Brito are part of a sustained seven-year effort to honor Cashe. They have been joined by Cashe's fellow soldiers, his commanders, two high-ranking generals and a retired drill sergeant who never met Cashe but has mounted a public campaign to draw attention to the sergeant's valor.
"This is a story that needs to be told," said Harry Conner, 62, the former drill sergeant, who runs a Facebook page, "SFC Alwyn Cashe Deserves the Medal of Honor," that has 3,700 members.
"This man allowed himself to burn to death to save his men," Conner said. "To not award him the Medal of Honor would be a terrible injustice."
Brito, who is still on active duty, says he has spent the last seven years locating soldiers and obtaining sworn statements, which he has included in the latest packet he is submitting to the Army.
One statement is from Lt. Gen. William G. Webster, Cashe's division commander, who wrote: "The pain he suffered must have been unimaginable, and yet he continued to suffer in the name of saving others. I cannot remember a story that is its equal."
Taluto, who also commanded Cashe, wrote: "In all my years of service I have yet to witness or hear of such an act of bravery."
Cashe's family and supporters say they don't know why it has taken so long for the Army to decide on the nomination, but they have not raised Cashe's race as an issue. Brito says he was not even aware that no African American has been awarded the medal in the wars following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
White says she has resisted "pulling out the race card."
"He is not just a black soldier who earned the right to the Medal of Honor," she said. "He's a soldier who happens to be black."
Brito says the decorations board has been "cooperative, responsive and professional." Providing the board with the detailed documentation required has taken years, "maybe too much time on my part," he said.
He wishes he had submitted Cashe for a Medal of Honor from the beginning, Brito said, but he has no regrets.
He was focused at the time on the fragile medical condition of Cashe and other burned soldiers. He said he spent his time keeping their families informed while trying to get his soldiers home safely.
Brito says the long, demanding process has taught him that the Medal of Honor is a singular honor that should be reserved for the rare examples of extraordinary courage personified by Cashe.
For Alwyn Cashe, "the criteria of bravery and gallantry under horrible conditions has been met," Brito said. "I'll respect whatever decision is made."
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-medal-of-honor-20141207-story.html#page=1
-
Special operator awarded Air Force Cross
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.319895.1418866969!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_804/image.jpg)
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James pins the Air Force Cross to the uniform of Master Sgt. Ivan Ruiz, a pararescueman from the 56th Rescue Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, during a ceremony at the Freedom Hangar on Hurlburt Field, Fla., Dec. 17, 2014.
While deployed to Afghanistan with the 22nd Expeditionary Special Tactics Squadron, Ruiz protected his injured special operations forces teammates with fire support and provided emergency medical care under intense enemy fire in the dark, Dec. 10, 2013. Christopher Callaway/U.S. Air Force photo
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.319894.1418867045!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_240/image.jpg)
Master Sgt. Ivan Ruiz, a pararescueman from the 56th Rescue Squadron, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, displays his Air Force Cross citation with Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James at the Freedom Hangar on Hurlburt Field, Fla., Dec 17, 2014.
CHRISTOPHER CALLAWAY/U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO
By Jon Harper
Stars and Stripes
Published: December 17, 2014
A Galloway Township native and graduate of Absegami High School has been nominated for the nation’s second-highest military honor for saving a coalition soldier during an ambush and firefight in which he was injured in Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON — A pararescueman was awarded the Air Force Cross for his bravery in Afghanistan.
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James presented the medal Wednesday to Master Sgt. Ivan Ruiz during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla., the home of Air Force Special Operations Command.
Only five other servicemembers have received the Air Force Cross since 9/11. It ranks second to the Medal of Honor among awards for valor that airmen can earn.
A member of 56th Rescue Squadron at Royal Air Force, Lakenheath, England, Ruiz was deployed to Afghanistan last year as part of the 22nd Expeditionary Special Tactics Squadron.
On Dec. 10, 2013, he was working with U.S. Army Special Forces in Kandahar province when he and two battle buddies were cut off from their teammates while moving through enemy compounds.
After killing several insurgents at point-blank range, the three were pinned down in a courtyard by enemy gunfire and grenades. The two soldiers Ruiz was with were seriously wounded and left immobile and exposed. Ruiz sprinted through gunfire to engage the enemy and defend his teammates, according to an AFSOC description of the battle.
With grenades exploding 15 feet from him, he kept firing at multiple enemy positions to prevent insurgents from overrunning his wounded battle buddies. Ruiz fought off the Taliban until reinforcements arrived.
After receiving fire support, with bullets still flying around him, Ruiz dragged the wounded soldiers out of harm’s way and administered life-saving first aid.
“I just wanted to make sure my guys didn’t get hurt any more than they already were,” Ruiz said at Hurlburt, according to an AFSOC news release. “I just wanted to do my job.”
James praised Ruiz for his actions.
“We reserve the Air Force Cross for those special few who exhibit unequaled courage and bravery despite overwhelming odds, and that’s exactly what [Ruiz] did,” she said during the ceremony, according to the news release.
Ruiz credits his training for enabling him to respond.
“I didn’t really think, I reacted,” Ruiz said, according to the news release. “Anytime something bad happens in my career, I just fall back on my training. It prepares us for what we can encounter when we are doing our work.”
Also attending the ceremony were two Special Forces soldiers whom Ruiz saved in the courtyard.
“I have a great deal of respect for what [Ruiz] and guys like him bring to the fight,” said one soldier, who was not identified in the news release. “It’s always good to know you have guys like that out there with you.”
Ruiz received a Bronze Star with “V” device for his bravery during another battle in Afghanistan just three months before the fight that earned him the Air Force Cross. Over the course of a 13-hour engagement with insurgents in September 2013, Ruiz climbed a hillside and repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire as he took on eight enemy fighting positions. He helped repel multiple attacks and contributed to more than 100 insurgent deaths, according to an Air Force description of the engagement.
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/special-operator-awarded-air-force-cross-1.319893
-
One of the last of the 'Doolittle Raiders' dies at 94
Kristin Davis, Air Force Times
January 29, 2015
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/950f48a606571a9af9098bdfb2e2b8d80deffdd8/c=36-0-882-1128&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/2015/01/29/GGM/AirForceTimes/635581392054471028-edsaylor.jpg)
635581392054471028-edsaylor
(Photo: Air Force)
Lt. Col. Edward Saylor, one of the last survivors of the "Doolittle Raiders" who flew a daring World War II bombing mission over Japan just four months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, died Wednesday near Seattle. He was 94.
With Saylor's death, only three of one of the most storied group of airmen in American history remain. When the young men -- all volunteers -- took off from an aircraft carrier some 600 miles at sea on April 18, 1942, they numbered 80.
The raid caused little damage on the intended targets. All of the bombers were lost. But the mission boosted the spirits of the American people -- who were still reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor -- and cast doubt in the minds of the Japanese, Lt. Col. James "Jimmy" Doolittle, the mission planner, would later write in his autobiography.
Saylor was part of Crew 15, which nearly didn't take off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet in their twin-engine B-25, said Brian Anderson of New Hampshire, a longtime friend who successfully lobbied for the Congressional Gold Medal the surviving Doolittle Raiders are set to receive later this year in a ceremony in Washington, D.C.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d535e9308d0a93e564e2475eec2dd7025195bd2d/c=102-0-1698-1200&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/2015/01/29/GGM/AirForceTimes/635581392615454220-doolittle.JPG)
Three of the then-four Doolittle Raiders shared their last and final toast in November 2013 at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. From left are Lt. Col. Edward Saylor, Lt. Col. Richard Cole and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher. (Photo: Desiree Palacios/Air Force)
"Ed was a super guy. He had a great smile and was a gentle individual," Anderson said Thursday in a telephone interview with Air Force Times.
"What a lot of people don't know is that he saved Aircraft 15 to go on the mission. It had an engine problem. If Ed had not fixed the problem, they would have pushed his B-25 overboard," he said.
Saylor managed to rebuild part of the B-25's engines aboard the heaving aircraft carrier without the tools he needed, Anderson said. "The rest is history. Plane 15 took off with no issues thanks to the work of Ed Saylor."
Saylor was born in 1920 in Brussett, Mont. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1939 after seeing a poster that promised $78 a month as a mechanic and good peacetime pay as the country still was recovering from the Great Depression, he told Air Force Times in 2009. He became a flight engineer on the B-25.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/0775cdd9cfd636a0d61a5bff5135b4fefb232b5d/c=121-0-936-815/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/05/20/1400627744001-WWII-TILLMAN-WHIRLWIND-INSIDE-BOOKS-3294-30268121.JPG)
USA TODAY
Doolittle Raiders set to receive congressional honor
When the call went out in early 1942 for volunteers for a secret mission, Saylor signed up. He did not expect that he would one day be called a hero.
In his late 80s, Saylor still did not see himself as such.
"There is no way you can call yourself a hero," he said in 2009. "That is for someone else to say."
After the raid, Saylor transferred to England and accepted an officer's commission, Anderson said. He retired in 1967 after 28 years in the Air Force. In the years that followed, Saylor "dabbled in real estate and construction. He and his wife, Lorraine, had a restaurant."
Lorraine Saylor died in 2011 after 69 years of marriage. They had three children and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.
"When given the chance to tell the story, he was always eager. The Doolittle Raiders always had time for people and fans to sign autographs and answer questions," Anderson said. "He was just a very gracious gentleman. I'm just honored I had the chance to call him my friend."
Anderson last saw Saylor over Veterans Day weekend at an event in Washington, D.C. "I got to spend a lot of time with Ed. It seemed like he was doing fine. I find out he was in hospice and now he's gone."
Saylor requested a quiet burial.
"He just wants to be laid to rest next to his wife. He's requesting in lieu of flowers that people make a donation to the Wounded Warrior Foundation," Anderson said.
The three surviving Doolittle raiders are Lt. Col. Richard Cole, Staff Sgt. David Thatcher and Lt. Col. Robert Hite.
"This is the Air Force legacy," Anderson said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/01/29/one-of-last-doolittle-raiders-dies-at-94/22553233/
-
Where is your picture Beach Bum?
Oh yeah your cowardly ass let the middleclass do the fighting. You are a coward!!
-
Great Americans: Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan and Henry Ford. Their industrial innovations and business empires revolutionized modern society and built America.
-
WWII 'Devil's Brigade' receives Congressional Gold Medal
By William Hicks, Medill News Service
February 3, 2015
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/b09df05c06fb87ea360c0e30d72bbdd81c2bb675/c=40-0-959-691&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/2015/02/03/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635585817205843310-Gold-Medal-Ceremony-Weig.jpg)
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, presentsHouse Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, left, presents Eugene Gutierrez Jr., center, and Charles Mann, right, with the Congressional Gold Medal on Feb. 3 for their service with the First Special Service Force during World War II. Known as the "Devil's Brigade," an elite strike force of U.S. and Canadian soldiers conducted covert operations to help liberate France and Italy during World War II. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)
WASHINGTON — House and Senate leaders on Tuesday awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the First Special Service Force, also known as the Devil's Brigade, for bravery that helped to end World War II.
"Today we honor a group of men that ensured this great nation would remain free," said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said.
The Devil's Brigade was a combination of Americans and Canadians, chosen from tough professional backgrounds such as lumberjacks and miners. They fought crucial battles in Italy and southern France, taking key ground in heavily fortified areas.
"Our force never, in all its service, yielded an inch of ground or left a battle with an indecisive conclusion," said Eugene Gutierrez Jr., U.S. veteran of the First Special Service Force. "The force won everything it fought for."
The soldiers were trained to fight in a variety of situations and environments, from snowy mountains to amphibious assaults. The unit became the model for later special teams such as the Green Berets and Navy Seals.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9afed128b58c4899dcef0ac67fcb8ef853a27d20/c=21-0-980-721&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/2015/02/03/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635585817154986658-Gold-Medal-Ceremony-Weig-4-.jpg)
The Congressional Gold Medal for members of the First Special Service Force whose fearlessness and bravery contributed to the liberation of Europe and end to World War II is on display before the start of the Feb. 3 ceremony on Capitol Hill. (Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)
The unit gained its reputation by stealthily reaching enemy fortifications in mountainous Italy and sneaking far behind enemy lines. They were among the first Allied troops to liberate Rome from the Nazis. Their deeds inspired the 1968 film, "The Devil's Brigade," which starred William Holden and Cliff Robertson.
"These men represent the finest of the finest," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said. "So, today, we bestow on them our highest honor."
The Congressional Gold Medal is one of the highest civilian awards in the United States. President George Washington received the first medal in 1776.
Canadian veteran Charles Mann accepted the award on behalf of the dozens of veterans attending the ceremony.
"I am honored and humbled to speak on behalf of the force men present and the force men that are no longer with us," Mann said. "May they rest in peace."
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/capitol-hill/2015/02/03/first-special-service-force-devils-brigade-ww2-receives-congressional-gold-medal/22820227/
-
Oldest survivor of Pearl Harbor's USS Arizona dies
Shaun McKinnon, The Arizona Republic
February 6, 2015
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1cb946d96ba6bd01244e88dbead91c58823073bd/c=0-0-403-537&r=537&c=0-0-534-712/local/-/media/Phoenix/2015/02/05/B9316143127Z.1_20150205194322_000_GC29SLNML.1-0.png)
(Photo: Ted Langdell)
Joe Langdell was working as a junior accountant in Boston when he got the idea that he should join the Navy and go to sea. It was 1940 and America edged closer every day to joining the war that raged in Europe.
After proving his sea legs on the battleship New York, Langdell signed up. His college degree earned him a place in an officers' training program. In March 1941, newly commissioned as an ensign, he reported for his first assignment: The USS Arizona, stationed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
By the end of the year, the mighty Arizona lay shattered beneath the harbor, sunk by Japanese bombers in the Dec. 7 attack that finally propelled the United States into World War II.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/cc3a9124c1df9cf1b0b6e5db5bf82c1022ce7441/c=803-0-3448-2645/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/12/07/635535700645120412-XXX-PEARL-HAROBOR-HONOR-FLIGHT-JMG-6264-69288914.JPG)
Pearl Harbor veterans honored at WWII Memorial
Langdell survived the attack at Pearl Harbor, along with 334 other Arizona crewmen, and devoted much of his later years to preserving the memory of a day that changed history.
"The lesson I've learned from that experience is that the 1,177 men entombed on the ship right now will never know the love of a wife or the joy of grandchildren," he said in 2006, when his son, Ted, interviewed him on video at Pearl Harbor. "We all have to remember that they did not die in vain."
Langdell died early Wednesday in a skilled nursing center in Yuba City, Calif. He was 100, the oldest living survivor of the Arizona. With his passing, just eight crewmen from the mighty battleship remain.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/d15514f4071ffdace23d66a66fc244fc818b5d0c/c=0-208-2592-3664&r=183&c=0-0-180-238/local/-/media/Phoenix/2015/02/05/B9316143127Z.1_20150205194322_000_GC29SLNPP.1-0.jpg)
Joseph Langdell was assigned to the USS Arizona when it was attacked in 1941. He was one of 335 men assigned to the ship who survived. He died Feb. 4, 2015, in Yuba City, Calif. (Photo: Ted Langdell)
Ted Langdell said his father had been ill in recent weeks, but had celebrated the holidays with family members and still enjoyed visiting the nurses and other patients. In November, Langdell dressed in his Navy blues and appeared, as has been his custom over the past few years, in the Marysville Veterans' Day parade.
He had celebrated his birthday only a few weeks before.
Joseph Kopcho Langdell was born Oct. 12, 1914, in Wilton, N.H., the oldest son of Luther Langdell and Annie Kopcho Langdell. Earlier that same year, at a Navy ship yard in Brooklyn, work began on the battleship Arizona.
Langdell worked on the family dairy farm and was active in 4H. He joined the Boy Scouts, earning his Eagle badge and beginning an association that would continue years later when his own sons joined and he became a scoutmaster.
He graduated from Boston University in 1938 with a degree in business administration and worked as an accountant until he decided to enlist in the Navy. He attended an officers' training program in Chicago, where he met Elizabeth McGauhy, a young woman he would marry several years later.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/7edba6ad4be18080437be82955d143fbda163909/c=0-42-5079-2911&r=x1128&c=2000x1125/local/-/media/Phoenix/Phoenix/2014/12/02/635531317459940263-USSAZPassingStatueofLib.jpg)
USS Arizona: Before Pearl Harbor, the mightiest ship at sea
Langdell's math skills landed him an assignment working with Navy photographers on a way to better measure the accuracy of a ship's guns. He trained for the job on Ford Island, a small patch of land in Pearl Harbor. He spent the night of Dec. 6, 1941, in officers' barracks on the island and was awakened by the Japanese attack.
As bombers strafed the battleships lined up in the harbor, Langdell helped injured sailors and Marines find medical care in a hospital on the island. In the days that followed, he helped recover the bodies of some of his fallen shipmates.
Langdell continued to serve in the Navy through World War II. Afterward, he returned to Boston for a short time, then moved with his wife, Elizabeth, to northern California, where they remained. They ran a furniture store in Yuba City for many years.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/425affb464316bb2fa6dbf037623dd180e3c614f/c=0-19-4134-3127&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/Phoenix/Phoenix/2014/12/04/635533339110263833-attack15.jpg)
The toppled superstructure of the USS Arizona. (Photo: Archives)
He returned to Pearl Harbor in 1976 to visit his older son John, who had joined the Navy and drawn a posting in Hawaii. Langdell visited the site of the sunken Arizona and, after returning home, he sought out other survivors and became active in the USS Arizona Reunion Association.
He served as the group's president and reunion coordinator for many years, returning often to Pearl Harbor.
His wife, Elizabeth, died Oct. 27, 2012. A few months later, he moved into the nursing facility.
His son, Ted, was at his side early Wednesday. A favorite piece of music, Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, played for Langdell's final moments.
A memorial will be held in Yuba City, but Langdell's remains will eventually be interred beneath the waters of Pearl Harbor, in the sunken wreckage of the USS Arizona. Any crew member assigned to the Arizona on Dec. 7, 1941, can have his remains placed near the No. 4 gun turret; so far, 32 have chosen that honor.
Until the end, Langdell liked to wear one of his USS Arizona caps. He kept both within reach of his bed and wheelchair and held onto one during an August 2014 interview with The Arizona Republic, which told the life stories of the last nine survivors of the attack on the ship.
"Why do you like the hat, dad?" his son, Ted, asked.
"It acknowledges to people that I'm a survivor," Langdell replied. "The hat represents the Arizona."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/02/06/oldest-uss-arizona-survivor-dies/22980983/
-
WAC legacy honored as 108-year-old vet Lucy Coffey fulfills her dream
Visit to Washington, D.C., includes meeting with Obama and Biden
By Meredith Tibbetts
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 1, 2014
(http://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.295398.1406408122!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_240/image.jpg)
Lucy Coffey, the oldest living female veteran at the age of 108, does a little dance at the Women's Memorial in Virginia on July 26, 2014.
WASHINGTON — Lucy Coffey dreamed of going to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington, Va. Last weekend she got her wish — and then some.
Coffey, 108 and the nation’s oldest living female military veteran, was greeted with thunderous applause July 25 at Reagan National Airport and was welcomed to the White House by President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
“She’s waited over 65 years to see her memorial. ... Not too often we get to bring a veteran to the White House to meet the president and the vice president. They spent some time with her and thanked her for her service,” Allen Bergeron, chairman of the Austin Honor Flight, said.
Though Coffey — who was part of the Women’s Army Corps during World War II — did not walk and cannot speak much, she was actively engaging with the people around her.
“At 108, think of all she has seen. And now she has seen everything that was built for her,” Bergeron said. “The World War II Memorial representing the 400,000 killed and the 16 million that served and this beautiful Women’s Memorial that was built in her honor.”
Coffey enlisted in 1943, around the time of her 37th birthday. She had tried to enlist several times before, but was rejected for being too short or too slim.
She earned two Bronze Stars (for support services in the Philippines and what is now Dutch New Guinea), a WAC Service Medal, a Good Conduct Medal and a World War II Victory Medal. Coffey, whose last rank was staff sergeant, was one of 150,000 women who served as WACs during the war.
WAC members were the first women besides nurses to serve in the U.S. Army. Coffey served mainly in the Pacific theater, going to Australia and Dutch New Guinea before finally arriving in the Philippines in April 1945. Her last stop was Okinawa, Japan.
While in the Army, she worked as an accountant-statistician and served in the procurement office.
“Two of Lucy’s brothers also joined the service in World War II,” John Mulrey, Coffey’s nephew, said. “They both served in the Pacific theater in Philippines and Guam.
All three of them ended up in the Pacific at the same time.
“We could have sworn they made a connection one time ... but her brothers were actually in the infantry and a day ahead,” Mulrey said.
That meant Coffey’s brothers were usually out of the area by the time she arrived. One time, however, Coffey’s group was much closer to the fighting than they had intended, which she described as “pretty terrifying.”
Food and water were sometimes scarce for Coffey and her fellow WACs. On at least one occasion, “Navy boys” gave her onion sandwiches and beer. In New Guinea, each WAC member was given two helmets of water for personal use during periods of water shortages.
John Mulrey, a Vietnam veteran, accompanied his aunt from San Antonio, Texas, on the trip to Washington, D.C., with his wife JoAnn. He joined the military because he thought it was better to join than be drafted and because he wanted to serve his country.
“I guess (being in the military) just runs in the family,” he said.
Coffey was honorably discharged in November 1945, but stayed in Japan as a civil servant for about 10 years. She later transferred to Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio where she worked until her retirement in 1971.
“She is very, very shy about her time in the service. She doesn’t talk about it much,” Mulrey said. “She just did what she had to do.”
“She’s just very humble,” his wife said.
Though Coffey dreamed of going back to Japan, she never did. But she was able to go to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery on July 26. She smiled at the old uniforms on display and listened intently to the president of the women’s memorial, Ret. USAF Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught, explain different exhibits as she was wheeled around the memorial.
Earlier in the day, Coffey visited the National World War II Memorial, where she met former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kansas) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas).
American Airlines provided a free, first-class trip for Coffey. The Austin Honor Flight team took care of the rest, spending about two weeks pulling everything together.
“This, I think, has made her feel so proud. ... and I think it has awoken a spirit that she buried a long time ago,” John Mulrey said. “It is the ultimate memory for Lucy.”
http://www.stripes.com/news/us/wac-legacy-honored-as-108-year-old-vet-lucy-coffey-fulfills-her-dream-1.295422
-
Aside from those numerous factual links proving exactly what you claimed, I see no evidence of this.
Sorry man, seriously, you're correct here. Inexcusable. I doubt anyone here can defend them on this.
LOL!!! Dude you need your own talk show. It hilarious the way you box them in with satire and sarcasm and they can't do anything but deflect or ignore your posts.
-
:)
Police dog saves partner’s life after ambush attack in Mississippi woods
Published May 27, 2015·
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/PoliceDogToddFrazier.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
PoliceDogToddFrazier.jpg
A police dog is being hailed a hero after the K9 saved the life of a Mississippi sheriff's deputy, ripping into the men authorities say dragged the officer into the woods Monday in an ambush attack.
A manhunt is under way Wednesday for the three suspects who beat Hancock County Sheriff's Deputy Todd Frazier and slashed him with a box cutter, The Clarion-Ledger reported.
"They told him they were going to slit his throat, and they were dragging him toward the woods," Chief Deputy Don Bass told the newspaper.
Frazier's life was saved Monday by his K9 partner, Lucas, a black Belgian Malinois who police say chased the assailants down before they could slit Frazier's throat, according to the newspaper.
"He had blood all over him."
- Sheriff Ricky Adam
Authorities said Frazier was able to activate the button that opens the door to his vehicle, releasing Lucas. Sheriff Ricky Adam told the newspaper the dog bit at least one, possibly two, of the suspects.
"We don't know how many he got, we just know he had blood all over him," Adam said.
The attack happened Monday when Frazier got out of his car to inspect a blue Lincoln Town Car with a darker vinyl top that was sitting at a rest stop, according to the newspaper. The driver appeared to be alone and the car's lights were off.
"When he got out, two other people came out of the woods right by the vehicle, and he backed up and fell, and it was on then," Adam told the paper.
Anyone with information on the case is urged to call the Hancock County Sheriff's Department at 228-255-9191.
Click for more from The Clarion-Ledger
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/27/mississippi-police-dog-hailed-hero-for-saving-deputy-life/
-
Life-saving medic recounts horror of shark attack on North Carolina girl
By Cristina Corbin
Published June 16, 2015
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/sharkmedicpic.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Marie Hildreth, right, a paramedic from Charlotte, is seen applying a makeshift tourniquet to the leg of 12-year-old shark attack victim Kiersten Yow, left.
Marie Hildreth had just stepped from the water off North Carolina's Oak Island to throw a football with her family Sunday when she saw a woman running up the beach, arms flailing and yelling.
Minutes later, Hildreth, a 32-year-old paramedic from Charlotte, was on the sand next to a 12-year-old girl who had just lost part of her limb to a shark in waist-deep water.
"A woman came running down and said there's a shark attack," Hildreth told FoxNews.com. "Initially I thought, 'What are the chances?'"
Then, Hildreth said, her mother saw a dark fin emerge from the water and a crowd forming around a young girl, face down in the sand with her green and black boogie board still strapped to her arm.
"I don't think I did anything special."
- Marie Hildreth, paramedic
"She was bleeding pretty bad," noted Hildreth, who said she used strings ripped from a beach tent to create makeshift tourniquets to wrap around the girl's leg and arm.
"People were trying to do hemorrhage control but no one was trained," she said. "If you have certification as a paramedic you have a duty to act."
"I got the bleeding to stop," Hildreth said, as she asked the girl -- later identified as Kiersten Yow -- what her favorite colors are.
"I asked just simple things to keep her talking," she said of Yow, from Archdale, N.C. "She never cried, never complained. She answered all my questions."
A person then handed Hildreth an IV, which she inserted into the girl's arm to give her fluids. The child was in hypovolemic shock, she said.
On the same stretch of beach, meanwhile, 16-year-old Hunter Treschl, of Colorado Springs, Colo. was attacked 90 minutes later by a shark as he was swimming in shallow water 20 yards off shore.
Both Yow and Treschl were airlifted to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, where they underwent surgery and remain in stable condition.
Yow lost her arm below the elbow after the shark attack and suffered tissue damage to her leg, the hospital said in a press release Monday. Treschl lost his left arm below the shoulder.
It's not known whether the same shark is responsible for the attacks.
On Monday, Treschl's mother released a statement, thanking, "everyone who has cared for my son, from the people who saved him through their quick actions on the beach, to the transport crew, emergency department team, doctors and staff here at New Hanover Regional Medical Center."
Hildreth, who was born in Hawaii and raised in Charlotte, has worked as a paramedic for 11 years. The ordeal, she said, "really hit home for me" because she and her family had just been in the water.
Hildreth credited the other first responders who came to the girl's aide, one using a boogie board as a stretcher to transport her to the hospital. She also praised the girl's parents for remaining "stoic."
Oak Island town manager Tim Holloman told FoxNews.com Yow's parents are "very appreciative" of the efforts by Hildreth and the other bystanders.
"It helped secure the scene for when our paramedics arrived," he said.
To Hildreth, her life-saving actions were nothing extraordinary.
"I’m just glad that I was able to help and hope that whatever I did will benefit her in the long run," she said. "I don't think I did anything special."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/06/16/life-saving-medic-recounts-horror-shark-attack-on-north-carolina-girl/
-
36 MARINE HEROES OF PACIFIC WWII THEATER FOUND 71 YEARS AFTER DEATH
(http://media.breitbart.com/media/2015/07/GettyImages-2660148-640x517.jpg)
Marines Storm IslandObie Newcomb Jnr/Getty Images
by EDWIN MORA8 Jul 2015
Washington, D.C.
WWII Marine's Remains Found
KMGH - Denver, CO
The remains of 36 U.S. Marine heroes of a bloody World War II battle were found on an isolated island in the Pacific more than 70 years after they died, various news outlets report.
Mark Noah, director of Florida-based non-profit History Flight Inc., reportedly told Radio New Zealand that a four-month excavation on Betio Island in Kiribati resulted in the discovery of the warriors’ bodies.
The U.S. Marines were killed during the fierce Battle of Tarawa in November 1943, said Noah, whose organization worked in coordination with the U.S. Defense Department on the recovery efforts.
“(They) had an expectation that if they were to die in the line of duty defending their country they would be brought home… that was a promise made 70 years ago that we felt should be kept,” Noah reportedly said on Tuesday.
He added that the remains, although they nave not been officially identified, almost indubitably include those of 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, America’s highest military accolade, for conspicuous gallantry.
“Bonnyman’s citation says he led a series of assaults when Marines stormed the island, finally falling when he attacked a bombproof installation that was hampering the advance,” notes Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Overall, more than 1,000 Americans died at Tarawa, while the entire Japanese garrison of 4,800 was wiped out,” it adds.
Bonnyman was presumed buried at sea.
“The archaeological team found the mass grave using magnatomatry, radar scans, cadaver dogs, and interviews with surviving veterans of the battle,” notes The Associated Press (AP).
Several hundred U.S. troops were buried in make-shift, unrecorded graves after the Tarawa battle where they still lay, according to Noah.
The late Lt. Bonnyman’s “tale begins on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Sandy Bonnyman was a miner near Santa Fe, N.M. He had already served a stint in the Army and was now 31 years old. But when he heard the news, he reenlisted, this time in the Marines,” reports The Washington Post.
“By the time he landed on Tarawa Atoll, a string of strategically important islands in the middle of the Pacific, Bonnyman was the executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines’ Shore Party,” it adds. “For three days in late November 1943, the Marines tried to take Betio from the Japanese. Bonnyman led his party across the island, destroying enemy outposts as he went.”
Clay Bonnyman Evans was present when the lieutenant’s body was uncovered, according to The Post. Evans, a former Daily Camera reporter and editor, is the war hero’s grandson.
“Bonnyman’s remains will be flown to a military lab in Hawaii in July, and returned to the family by the end of August,” reports Daily Camera. “He will then be buried at the family plot in Knoxville in late September, in one of the empty plots underneath that large marble monument bearing those false words about his final resting place.”
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/07/08/36-marine-heroes-of-pacific-wwii-theater-found-71-years-after-death/
-
Green Beret killed in Afghanistan recommended for Silver Star
By Michelle Tan, Staff writer
August 13, 2015
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f5165edfa19bcf273643df7b3770f5690bca06dd/r=x404&c=534x401/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/74f053ce8f9537240061973e844002ae17a861d9/c=0-0-583-438/local/-/media/2015/08/12/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635749937365020224-ARM-Peter-McKenna-Jr.-1.JPG)
(Photo: Courtesy 7th Forces Group)
The Special Forces soldier killed last week in Afghanistan has been recommended for the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor, for his actions during a vicious and bloody attack in Kabul.
Master Sgt. Andrew McKenna also will posthumously receive a Purple Heart, officials from 7th Special Forces Group confirmed Wednesday to Army Times.
Even among some of the Army's best and brightest, McKenna stood out.
"He's the best of us," said Sgt. 1st Class Tim Kennedy, who served in 7th Group with McKenna. "He personified every single positive characteristic that Special Forces guys wished they exemplified. He's caring, empathetic, remarkable at everything he does, an amazing shooter, and a good human, first and foremost of all of those things."
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9065941e142eb769bb76794c742e08d1e14ee558/r=300/http/www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/489efad1142179deef9ce5ef3cf126cd99e1a3f1/r=x633&c=1200x630/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/e921ed512a4a010f9d7a3c1c5b7e8679d650007f/c=0-25-575-350/local/-/media/2015/08/10/GGM/NavyTimes/635747897339521619-greenberetkilled.jpg)
ARMY TIMES
Army Green Beret from Rhode Island killed in Afghanistan
McKenna, 35, was killed Aug. 7 during a complex attack on Camp Integrity, a special operations forces facility in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Rhode Island native died from his wounds after he was attacked by enemy small arms fire, according to the Defense Department. Eight contracted civilians also died in the attack, which took place shortly after 10 p.m. local time, U.S. military officials in Afghanistan said.
Another master sergeant from 7th Group was severely wounded in the same attack. Army officials have not released that soldier's name; he is being treated at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and will be flown home to the U.S. soon.
McKenna, whose full name was Peter A. McKenna Jr., was a member of 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group out of Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
McKenna's family and friends continue to struggle with his loss, said Master Sgt. Paul Ross, who was in the Special Forces Qualification Course and 7th Group with McKenna.
"At this point it just hits everybody in waves," Ross said. "The truth is losing a guy sucks. Losing your best friend sucks. Losing your son sucks. The silver lining is he went out like a Green Beret should. He went out taking it to the enemy and shooting bad guys in the face."
McKenna was "the best of guys," Ross said.
"He was phenomenal at his job, but I wish the world would see how genuine he was and how much of an American patriot he really was," he said.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/65030c37e02aaf67bbb7087affaedee62c733266/r=x383&c=540x380/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/aa03a2d9f8c8329d6447440c400895cdadec7d20/c=0-134-541-541/local/-/media/2015/08/12/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635749937365020224-ARM-Peter-McKenna-Jr.-2.JPG)
Master Sgt. Peter McKenna Jr. is the third American soldier to die in Afghanistan this year. (Photo: Courtesy 7th Forces Group)
The attack on Camp Integrity was one of a string of deadly attacks to hit Afghanistan's capital last week. Enemy fighters got onto the camp after blowing up a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device, DoD officials said. Four enemy fighters were killed in the attack.
McKenna is the third American soldier to die in Afghanistan this year; the second from combat operations.
Spc. John Dawson, of the 101st Airborne Division, died April 8 in a deadly insider attack in Jalalabad. Master Sgt. Pablo Ruiz, of 3rd Special Forces Group, died May 24 in a non-combat related incident.
Outgoing Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno sent his prayers to McKenna's family Wednesday during his last briefing with reporters at the Pentagon.
"This reminds us we have soldiers around the world doing dangerous things every single day," Odierno said.
McKenna died doing what he loved, said retired Master Sgt. Christopher Corbin, who served with McKenna in 7th Group.
"His record precedes him," Corbin said. "Everything on paper doesn't do him near enough justice, not just the kind of guy he was, but the kind of soldier, the kind of Green Beret he was."
Corbin said he mourns his friend's loss, but he also is proud of — and not surprised by — McKenna's actions in his last moments.
"He was doing what a special operator should," Corbin said. "He heard a boom, he heard small arms, he kitted up, he grabbed his long gun, and he and another friend of ours, who was injured, they were side-by-side dealing death. That's just Drew. There's dozens of times he's done stuff like that."
A native of Bristol, Rhode Island, McKenna joined the Army in July 1998 as an infantryman, going on to serve in the 10th Mountain Division, according to information provided by 7th Group.
He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2002 and was assigned to 7th Group as a communications sergeant in May 2003.
During his 17-year career, McKenna earned the Bronze Star Medal with V device, four Bronze Star Medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Master Free Fall Parachutist Badge, the Master Parachutist Badge, the Air Assault Badge, and the Special Forces Tab, among several other decorations.
McKenna, who this year earned his bachelor's degree from Norwich University, is survived by his parents, Peter and Carol McKenna, of Bristol.
McKenna was honest and sincere, an "exceptional leader" on and off the battlefield, Ross said.
A whiz at investing, McKenna used to work with his soldiers and teach them how to invest and save their money, Ross said. McKenna liked Harley Davidson motorcycles, "even though he traded them all for a Mercedes Benz," Ross said, laughing.
As accomplished as he was on the battlefield, McKenna couldn't cook, Ross said.
"So if you came over there, you were eating macaroni and cheese and tuna fish," he said. "But he has that infectious smile, and that's what everyone knew him from, the guy with the big smile."
Corbin, who was wounded in Afghanistan in 2011 and is a double amputee, credits McKenna for playing a critical role in his recovery.
"When I was injured, he stayed with me, for weeks, literally, up at Walter Reed," said Corbin, who retired last year. "Every time I opened my eyes from whatever surgery or medication, Drew was right there. He's that guy you can count on."
Reality TV star and survival expert Mykel Hawke, a former Special Forces officer, was McKenna's team leader during Robin Sage, the culminating exercise for the Special Forces Qualification Course.
"He was special," Hawke said about McKenna. "I remember him very specifically because he was so young. He looked like a kid. What really stood out to me was how motivated he was but how unassuming."
The men stayed friends, Hawke said, adding that he was shocked to learn that McKenna had been killed in action.
"He was so likable, so friendly, so motivated, and you would never think of him as the barrel-chested freedom fighter that he was because he was very humble," Hawke said. "Everybody's got some jerk factor in them, it's part of the A-type personality, but Drew was not one of those guys. He was so good. He's the kind of guy we needed more of."
Kennedy, a professional mixed-martial arts fighter who served in 7th Group until he moved to the Texas National Guard, described McKenna as fun-loving with a knack for helping his fellow soldiers deal with their high-stress jobs.
"In Special Forces, you have to be good at a lot of things, and Drew really spent a lot of time being good at everything, but he never lost focus that we're still dealing with people," Kennedy said. "He had amazing humor. He could make anybody laugh at any time."
McKenna was always trying to cheer someone up or pulling a prank to lift his fellow soldiers' spirits, Kennedy said.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/65030c37e02aaf67bbb7087affaedee62c733266/r=x383&c=540x380/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/3ad8703dbf8c4240bdecfd9b03c2f373ffab7dff/c=0-0-722-543/local/-/media/2015/08/12/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635749937365020224-ARM-Peter-McKenna-Jr.-3.JPG)
Master Sgt. Peter McKenna Jr. earned five Bronze Stars, one with V. (Photo: Courtesy 7th Forces Group)
On the job, Kennedy likened McKenna to Master Sgt. Gary Gordon and Sgt. 1st Class Randall Shughart, who earned the Medal of Honor during the 1993 battle in Mogadishu made famous by the "Black Hawk Down" book and movie.
"He's the Shughart and Gordon," Kennedy said. "He's the guy in the helicopter that looks down in Mogadishu, sees a pilot alive and there's 500 guys coming for him, and says 'why don't you go ahead and put us on the ground so we can protect him.' That's him."
McKenna was never one to shy away from serving his country, Kennedy said.
"He's been in the military for 17 years, and there's not a day of the war that he missed, and at every point of his career, he volunteered to go further into harm's way," Kennedy said. "He's that guy who raises his hand and says, 'yeah, I'll go.'"
Losing McKenna is "frustrating, infuriating, heartbreaking," Kennedy said.
McKenna's friends and his hometown of Bristol are rallying around the fallen soldier's family, Ross said.
"Unfortunately, he lost his little brother three years ago to a motorcycle wreck," Ross said. "But I've been doing this for 15 years, and I have never seen a town pull together like Bristol, Rhode Island, did or a crew of friends pull together like his has to take care of his family."
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2015/08/12/green-beret-killed-afghanistan-recommended-silver-star/31553947/
-
American train attack heroes awarded France's highest honor
Published August 24, 2015
FoxNews.com
The three Americans who helped thwart a massacre on board a high-speed European train were awarded the Legion d'honneur (Legion of Honor), France's highest decoration, by the country's president Monday.
U.S. Airman Spencer Stone, National Guardsman Alek Skarlatos, and their longtime friend Anthony Sadler were honored for tackling and subduing a suspected Islamist militant carrying an AK-47 on the Paris-bound train Friday. British businessman Chris Norman, who helped Stone, Skarlatos, and Sadler subdue the would-be gunman, also received the medal.
French President Francois Hollande praised the actions of the three men, saying "You behaved as soldiers but also as responsible men." Hollande added that the men demonstrated "that faced with terror, we have the power to resist ... You also gave a lesson in courage, in will, and thus in hope."
It was an unusual ceremony for the French president's office too, as dozens of photographers loudly shouted out the Americans' names as they approached Hollande standing on the steps of the palace-- unlike the quieter, more-subdued welcome for visiting heads of state. The four men listened to a translation of Hollande's speech through earpieces, and the visibly proud mothers of Stone and Skarlatos looked on.
Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and U.S. Ambassador Jane Hartley also attended the ceremony, along with the head of French national railway authority SNCF.
Stone left later Monday for Ramstein, Germany, where U.S. air power in Europe is based, and then went for a military medical check at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, according to spokesman Juan Melendez.
Skarlatos also traveled Monday to Germany "to accompany his friend after the traumatic experience they went through together," Melendez said. Sadler's plans were not made public.
Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said Monday the U.S. military services are considering "appropriate awards to recognize their heroic actions." Those recommendations would be up to each individual service. He added that it also will be up to each service's uniform regulations to determine whether Stone and Skarlatos can wear the Legion of Honor; generally foreign awards are not worn except "under certain circumstances when you're in dress uniform."
Davis added that, "we continue to be very proud of Airman Spencer Stone and his friends, who took immediate action to stop that attack and subdue the armed gunman. Airman Stone is on the road to recovery. We do thank our French partners for taking care of him."
On Sunday evening, Stone, who was stabbed and slashed with a box cutter during the melee, described his version of the events on the train for the first time during a press conference at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Paris.
The 23-year-old said he was waking up from a deep sleep when Skarlatos "just hit me on the shoulder and said 'Let's go.'"
Stone and Skarlatos, 22, moved in to tackle the gunman, identified as 26-year-old Moroccan Ayoub El-Khazzani, and take his assault rifle. Sadler, 23, then moved in to help subdue the assailant. "All three of us started punching" him, Stone said. Stone said he choked El-Khazzani unconscious.
On Monday, Hollande said that with Skarlatos' words, a "veritable carnage" was avoided.
"Since Friday, the entire world admires your courage, your sangfroid, your spirit of solidarity," the French president said. "This is what allowed you to with bare hands -- your bare hands -- to subdue an armed man. This must be an example for all, and a source of inspiration."
Stone is also credited with saving a French-American teacher wounded in the neck with a gunshot wound and squirting blood. On Sunday, Stone described matter-of-factly that he "just stuck two of my fingers in his hole and found what I thought to be the artery, pushed down and the bleeding stopped." He said he kept the position until paramedics arrived.
"When most of us would run away, Spencer, Alek and Anthony ran into the line of fire, saying 'Let's go.' Those words changed the fate of many," Hartley said Sunday.
Asked if there were lessons, Sadler had one for all who find themselves in the face of a choice.
"Do something," he said. "Hiding, or sitting back, is not going to accomplish anything. And the gunman would've been successful if my friend Spencer had not gotten up. So I just want that lesson to be learned going forward, in times of, like, terror like that, please do something. Don't just stand by and watch."
El-Khazzani on Monday was being questioned by French counterterrorism police outside Paris.
His lawyer, Sophie David, told Le Monde newspaper the gunman is ill-educated, emaciated, and told her he had spent the past six months traveling between Belgium, Germany and Austria, as well as France and Andorra. She said he told her he only intended to rob the train with a cache of guns he came across in a public garden near the train station and is "dumbfounded" that it is being treated as an act of terrorism.
A French passenger was the first to try to stop the attacker and was also honored Monday, but he did not want his identity publicly known, Hollande said, who added "I understand" the decision.
Hollande said another passenger, French-American citizen Mark Moogalian, also intervened. Moogalian is hospitalized with a gunshot wound from the incident -- and his wife told Europe-1 radio Monday that he, too, "is among the heroes in this story."
Isabella Risacher-Moogalian described hiding behind train seats from the attacker and then seeing her husband wounded. "He looked at me and said `I'm hit, I'm hit.' He thought it was over and he was going to die," she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/24/american-train-attack-heroes-awarded-france-highest-honor/?intcmp=hpbt3
-
Oregon shooting hero tells gunman, 'It's my son's birthday today'
By Don Melvin, CNN
Fri October 2, 2015 | Video Source: CNN
Chris Mintz tried to block the door to keep the gunman out
Victim, shot several times, is in stable condition
Cousin: "He walked away with his life"
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/151002084726-oregon-shooting-hero-chris-mintz-pkg-00003017-medium-plus-169.jpg)
(CNN)—When Chris Mintz heard gunfire at Oregon's Umpqua Community College on Thursday, his thoughts were not of himself.
Instead, he thought first of protecting others. Then he thought of his 6-year-old son, Tyrik.
Nine people were killed when a gunman opened fire at the College on Thursday. Nine others were injured.
When the shooting broke out, Mintz, 30, a military veteran and a former high school football player in Randleman, North Carolina, tried to save the lives of others.
"Tries to block the door to keep the gunman from coming in," his aunt, Wanda Mintz, told Fox 8, a CNN affiliate in High Point, North Carolina.
"Gets shot three times," his aunt said. "Hits the floor."
"Looks up at the gunman and says, 'It's my son's birthday today,' " his aunt said.
Still, there was no mercy. The gunman shot Mintz again. It's not yet clear exactly how many more times, but both his legs are broken, said family members who talked to him by phone on his way into surgery.
"He's going to have to learn to walk again," Ariana Earnhardt, his cousin, told Fox 8. "But he walked away with his life, and that's more than so many other people did."
Frantic students hid behind backpacks, chairs
Some on social media hailed Mintz's courage and encouraged people to remember him rather than the killer.
"What a example of what it means to be a American Hero," one person said on Twitter.
Sheriff who 'will never' say shooter's name is no fan of gun control
Despite plea, gunman showed no mercy
Even in the hospital, riddled with bullet wounds, Mintz was thinking of others.
"When I found out he had been transferred to the hospital, I immediately tried calling him," said another cousin, Derek Bourgeois. "His ex-girlfriend was with him."
"When I asked him how he was doing," Bourgeois said, "he immediately said 'people died' and lost it crying."
Mintz told his cousin he had been shot five times, but the total number is not entirely clear.
"His ex-girlfriend actually corrected him while he was on the phone with me, telling him he was actually shot seven times," Bourgeois said. "He was so out of it, he didn't even know how many times he had been shot."
Mintz was shot in the back, stomach, hands and legs, Bourgeois said. He is in stable condition, according to staff at Mercy Medical Center.
Grave as Mintz's injuries are, Bourgeois -- like Mintz's other relatives -- is grateful.
"I'm just so happy that he's OK," Bourgeois said. "It could have been worse."
According to the Army, Mintz served as an infantryman from 2004 to 2007, reaching the rank of specialist (SPC). He was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
A GoFundMe page set up for Mintz by Bourgeois had raised over $200,000 in six hours, as of Friday afternoon.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/02/us/oregon-school-shooting-hero/index.html
-
American hero: Pat Tillman's alma mater honors fallen patriot
Published October 30, 2015
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/2_21_072607_tillman.gif?ve=1&tl=1)
Pat Tillman is remembered for his service to his country, but also for his exploits at Sun Devil Stadium.
It’s been 18 years since Pat Tillman, who gave up his NFL paycheck and eventually his life to serve his country following 9/11, took the field at Arizona State University, but he was back in spirit Thursday night.
The Sun Devils’ “Salute to Service” night had the home team donning custom uniforms that bore the former linebacker’s name and special new ”Darks Ops” cleats, which adidas claims were inspired by the U.S. Army Rangers and Tillman. Although Arizona State lost in triple overtime to Oregon, the star of the game was the rugged patriot killed by friendly fire 11 years ago.
“This special tribute honors Pat’s example as an athlete, scholar and soldier, while raising awareness and academic support for the Tillman Scholars who are carrying on his legacy," said Tillman's widow, Marie, who heads the Pat Tillman Foundation.
“We preach the value of passion and character to our players and no one embodies those qualities more than Pat Tillman."
- Arizona State Football Coach Todd Graham
The uniforms were designed to replicate those Tillman and the 1996 team wore for their 1997 Rose Bowl appearance, while honoring his military service. A portion of all sales of adidas' Tillman-inspired gear goes to the Foundation, which offers scholarships to veterans and their spouses.
“We preach the value of passion and character to our players and no one embodies those qualities more than Pat Tillman," said Sun Devil Football head coach Todd Graham. "I’m proud as a Sun Devil football coach but I’m also proud as an American that we can suit up and pay tribute to the hero that was Pat.”
Tillman, who graduated with a marketing degree and a 3.85 grade-point-average, was a seventh-round NFL draft pick in 1998. In 2002, Tillman, by then an all-pro safety for the Arizona Cardinals, turned down a three-year, $3.6 million contract and put his professional football career on hold to enlist in the U.S. Army with his brother, Kevin, himself a Major League Baseball prospect. The brothers completed basic training together and were deployed, but not until Pat Tillman married his high school sweetheart, Marie Ugenti Tillman.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./880/558/tilmanpic1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Pat Tillman, (l.), and his brother, Kevin, (r.), joined the military after 9/11. (Pat Tillman Foundation)
Two years later, while serving with the 75th Ranger Regiment in eastern Afghanistan, he was killed in the southeastern Afghan province of Khost. The Army initially claimed that Tillman and his unit were ambushed near the Pakistan border. It wasn't until after his burial an investigation by the Department of Defense, that his death was ruled a case of friendly fire.
Before Thursday’s game, the presence of Tillman, whose No. 40 was retired at the school nearly a decade ago, was felt throughout Sun Devil Stadium. A day earlier, Kevin Tillman, the younger brother he served with in the Rangers, told players how much his brother loved playing for ASU and then shook the hand of every ASU player.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./880/558/tillmanshoe.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Adidas' new football cleat is inspired by Tillman and the Army Rangers. (Adidas)
At the game, Parker Hancock, of Mesa, watched with his 3-year-old son, Tillman.
“My wife wouldn’t let me have a ‘Jr.,’ so I decided to go with a name he’d be proud to carry,” Hancock told the Arizona Republic.
Tillman played at ASU from 1994-97, and had one of his best collegiate games against Oregon in 1996, registering 13 tackles, a quarterback sack, an interception and fumble recovery in a 48-27 victory.
His long hair and free spirit prompted one reporter to write that Tillman “looks as though he just came from a poetry reading – oh, (but) he hits like an anvil.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/10/30/american-hero-pat-tillman-alma-mater-honors-fallen-patriot/?intcmp=hpbt4
-
Army Captain Who Tackled Suicide Bomber to Receive Medal of Honor
By SARAH KOLINOVSKY
Nov 12, 2015
(http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/US/626264_12x5_1600.jpg)
Cpt. Florent A. Groberg, seen here in eastern Afghanistan in July, 2012, will be presented the Medal of Honor by President Obama, for tackling a suicide bomber.
He tackled a suicide bomber to the ground, lessening the impact of a major attack on senior officers in Afghanistan. For that act of courage, President Obama will present retired Army Captain Florent Groberg with the Medal of Honor of today.
But Cpt. Groberg, 32, said the medal belongs to the families of the four service members who died in the attack.
“These are the true heroes, guys who make the ultimate sacrifice, and their families who have to deal with it for the rest of their lives,” Groberg told ABC News.
It was a security detail operation he had completed many times, but on Aug. 8, 2012, Cpt. Groberg said something just felt off. His unit was escorting a group of senior officers to a meeting in Asadabad, Afghanistan, when “we had that eerie feeling, that something doesn’t fit.” That’s when Groberg saw a man walking backwards and parallel to their patrol, and he immediately knew the man was a threat.
Groberg approached the man and hit him with his rifle. He realized the man was wearing a suicide vest, so he tackled him to the ground. The vest detonated, gravely injuring Groberg’s leg, and causing another vest on a second suicide bomber to detonate prematurely.
“I couldn’t remember what happened, I got thrown 15 to 20 feet,” Groberg said about the hazy aftershock of the explosion. “I saw that my leg was injured so I thought I had stepped on an IED. My tibia was sticking out, I saw my foot was crooked and there was blood everywhere.”
Cpt. Groberg spent much of the last three years recovering at the Walter Reed Medical Center.
“The hardest part is when you can’t move and you know some of your guys are still out there in Afghanistan and there’s nothing you can do about it," he said. "You’re dealing with injuries but you still feel like you’re letting them down because you’re not there doing your job.”
The emotional toll of the attack was just as difficult. “We all had our demons," he noted. "Why Me? Why did I live?”
Today, Cpt. Groberg’s leg has mostly healed. He cannot run the way he used to (he was a varsity member of the University of Maryland’s track and field team), but he knows his new mission is even more important.
“I know it’s cliché and you hear this all the time but we’re just doing our jobs," he said. "If I could take this medal and give it back and have my guys back, it would be done yesterday. I just hope I’m the right courier for them."
As for the future, Cpt. Groberg intends to continuing serving. He is retired from the Army, but wants to focus on military policy at the Pentagon.
“I still want to serve my country as I did when I joined the service, until someone tells me I can’t do it anymore," he said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/army-captain-tackled-suicide-bomber-receive-medal-honor/story?id=35150689
-
Army Captain Who Tackled Suicide Bomber to Receive Medal of Honor
By SARAH KOLINOVSKY
Nov 12, 2015
(http://a.abcnews.go.com/images/US/626264_12x5_1600.jpg)
Cpt. Florent A. Groberg, seen here in eastern Afghanistan in July, 2012, will be presented the Medal of Honor by President Obama, for tackling a suicide bomber.
He tackled a suicide bomber to the ground, lessening the impact of a major attack on senior officers in Afghanistan. For that act of courage, President Obama will present retired Army Captain Florent Groberg with the Medal of Honor of today.
But Cpt. Groberg, 32, said the medal belongs to the families of the four service members who died in the attack.
“These are the true heroes, guys who make the ultimate sacrifice, and their families who have to deal with it for the rest of their lives,” Groberg told ABC News.
It was a security detail operation he had completed many times, but on Aug. 8, 2012, Cpt. Groberg said something just felt off. His unit was escorting a group of senior officers to a meeting in Asadabad, Afghanistan, when “we had that eerie feeling, that something doesn’t fit.” That’s when Groberg saw a man walking backwards and parallel to their patrol, and he immediately knew the man was a threat.
Groberg approached the man and hit him with his rifle. He realized the man was wearing a suicide vest, so he tackled him to the ground. The vest detonated, gravely injuring Groberg’s leg, and causing another vest on a second suicide bomber to detonate prematurely.
“I couldn’t remember what happened, I got thrown 15 to 20 feet,” Groberg said about the hazy aftershock of the explosion. “I saw that my leg was injured so I thought I had stepped on an IED. My tibia was sticking out, I saw my foot was crooked and there was blood everywhere.”
Cpt. Groberg spent much of the last three years recovering at the Walter Reed Medical Center.
“The hardest part is when you can’t move and you know some of your guys are still out there in Afghanistan and there’s nothing you can do about it," he said. "You’re dealing with injuries but you still feel like you’re letting them down because you’re not there doing your job.”
The emotional toll of the attack was just as difficult. “We all had our demons," he noted. "Why Me? Why did I live?”
Today, Cpt. Groberg’s leg has mostly healed. He cannot run the way he used to (he was a varsity member of the University of Maryland’s track and field team), but he knows his new mission is even more important.
“I know it’s cliché and you hear this all the time but we’re just doing our jobs," he said. "If I could take this medal and give it back and have my guys back, it would be done yesterday. I just hope I’m the right courier for them."
As for the future, Cpt. Groberg intends to continuing serving. He is retired from the Army, but wants to focus on military policy at the Pentagon.
“I still want to serve my country as I did when I joined the service, until someone tells me I can’t do it anymore," he said.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/army-captain-tackled-suicide-bomber-receive-medal-honor/story?id=35150689
The U.S. Army will induct Capt. Florent Groberg into the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes today at 10 a.m. EST. The Pentagon ceremony will add Groberg's name to the distinguished roster in the Hall of Heroes, the Defense Department's permanent display of record for all recipients of the Medal of Honor.
(http://www.army.mil/e2/rv5_images/medalofhonor/groberg/graphics/groberg_bio.jpg)
The Pentagon
CAPTAIN FLORENT GROBERG
BORN
1983
HOMETOWN
Bethesda, Maryland
ENLISTMENT DATE
July 2008
DATE OF COMMISSION
December 2008
UNIT
Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
DEPLOYMENTS
Operation Enduring Freedom X & XIII, Afghanistan
Retired U.S. Army Capt. Florent "Flo" Groberg was born in Poissy, France, May 8, 1983. Groberg became a naturalized U.S. citizen, Feb. 27, 2001, and graduated from Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, Md., in June of the same year.
“The proudest thing I have ever done in my life is to wear this uniform and serve my country.”
Retired Capt. Florent Groberg
Groberg attended the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) and competed in varsity track and cross country. In May 2006, Groberg graduated from UMD with a bachelor's degree in criminology and criminal justice.
Groberg entered the Army in July 2008 and attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. He received his commission as an infantry officer, Dec. 4, 2008. After completing Infantry Officer Basic Course, Mechanized Leaders Course, U.S. Army Airborne and U.S. Army Ranger Schools, he was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo., as a platoon leader.
In November 2009, he deployed to Afghanistan as part of Task Force Lethal, with responsibility for the Pech River Valley in Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Upon returning home in June 2010, he continued serving as a platoon leader until he was reassigned as an infantry company executive officer from October 2010 to November 2011. He was then assigned as the brigade personal security detachment commander for 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. He deployed again to Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in February of 2012, with Task Force Mountain Warrior. He was promoted to captain in July 2012.
(http://www.army.mil/e2/rv5_images/medalofhonor/groberg/bio/bio1.jpg)
Then-U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Florent Groberg conducts a key leader engagement meeting in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, February 2010. (Courtesy of Retired Capt. Florent Groberg)
(http://www.army.mil/e2/rv5_images/medalofhonor/groberg/bio/bio2.jpg)
Then-U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Florent Groberg conducting a meeting with local Afghan National Police in Kunar Porvince, Afghanistan in January 2010. (Courtesy of Retired Capt. Florent Groberg)
Then-U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Florent Groberg conducts engagement meetings in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, with key leaders (left), February 2010, and local Afghan National Police (right), January 2010. (Photos courtesy of Retired U.S. Army Capt. Florent Groberg)
As a result of his actions, Groberg sustained the loss of 45 to 50 percent of his left calf muscle with significant nerve damage, a blown eardrum, and a mild traumatic brain injury. Groberg spent his recovery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center from August 2012 through May 2015. He was medically retired from Company B Warriors, Warrior Transition Battalion, as a captain, July 23, 2015.
Groberg's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three Bronze Service Stars; the Global War on Terrorism Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the U.S. Army Parachutists Badge, the U.S. Army Ranger Tab, and the Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Groberg currently resides in the National Capital Region and is a civilian employee of the Department of Defense.
http://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/groberg/?from=hp_spotlight
-
'We are all Jews': Israel honors US soldier who stared down Nazi 70 years ago
By John Huddy
Published December 12, 2015
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./876/493/RoddieEdmonds1.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
RoddieEdmonds1.jpg
It was January, 1945 and Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds had a gun to his head.
The commandant of the Stalag IXA POW Camp near Ziegenhain, Germany, ordered Edmonds, of the 422nd Infantry Regiment, to turn over the Jewish-American soldiers under his command. Edmonds and his men – Jews and non-Jews alike – stood together in formation.
"They cannot all be Jews," the German said, looking over the more than 1,000 POWs.
"We are all Jews," Edmonds responded.
"I will shoot you," the commandant warned.
"He was very calm, even with a gun to his head. It’s amazing even to this day."
- Paul Stern, Jewish WWII veteran
But Edmonds had his own warning: "According to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and after the war you will be tried for war crimes."
The commandant stood down.
Those four words uttered by Edmonds echo 70 years later, as a testament to the solidarity he and his men showed to their Jewish brothers in arms. And because of that, Edmonds’ name will be etched in history when he becomes the first American soldier to receive the Yad Vashem Holocaust and Research Center’s Righteous Among the Nations recognition and medal.
Only four other American civilians have received the honor – Israel’s highest for non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during World War II.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./880/558/RoddieEdmonds3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
RoddieEdmonds3.jpgExpand / Contract
Edmonds saved an estimated 200 Jewish soldiers, whose chances of survival if turned over to the Nazis were slim. Although Edmonds, who lived in Knoxville, Tenn., died in 1985, his son, the Rev. Chris Edmonds, has a good idea of what his father would say about the honor.
"I think he would say they’re making a big deal about something he was supposed to do," Chris Edmonds said. "He fulfilled his responsibilities."
Chris Edmonds will accept the Righteous Among the Nations medal on his father’s behalf during a ceremony early next year. His father's name will also be inscribed among 26,000 others on the walls of honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem – a sprawling 50-acre campus of winding paths set amongst the Jerusalem pines of Mount Herzl.
"He’ll join some incredible people," Chris Edmonds said, as he looked at the rows of names as we walked together.
Among them: Varian Fry, an American journalist who helped more than 2,000 Jewish refugees escape Nazi Germany, and perhaps the most famous, Oskar Schindler, the German industrialist who helped save more than a thousand Jews and whose story was documented in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film “Schindler’s List.”
Irena Steinfeldt, director of the Righteous Among the Nations department at Yad Vashem, said Master Sgt. Edmonds’ story is special because not only did he save his fellow countrymen, but he did it so late in the war when they were just trying to survive.
"Roddie Edmonds decides he’s going to take a terrible risk and maybe never return home because he believes in his duty to stand up for his fellow prisoners of war," Steinfeldt said.
Lester Tanner and Paul Stern were two of the Jewish POWs Edmonds protected, and recall how they stood next to him during the tense exchange with the German commandant.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/U.S./880/558/RoddieEdmonds2.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
RoddieEdmonds2.jpgExpand / Contract
"It was 70 years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday," Stern, 91, said from his home in Reston, Va. "He was very calm, even with a gun to his head. It’s amazing even to this day. We never talked about it until now."
Lester Tanner, who lives in New York City, agrees.
"He was a true friend to his troops, a respected commander and one whom all of us followed those dark days in early 1945 with confidence in him," he said.
Chris Edmonds, who leads a Baptist congregation in Maryville, Tenn., has also submitted his father’s name for the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"He was just an ordinary man but lived in a way that was extraordinary," Edmonds said, smiling as he looked down at his father’s picture – a young Roddie Edmonds with a hint of a smile on his face.
"I never knew he had a [superhero's] cape in his closet. But he did."
John Huddy is a Jerusalem based correspondent for the Fox News Channel.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/12/11/are-all-jews-israel-honors-us-soldier-who-stared-down-nazi-70-years-ago/?intcmp=hplnws
-
What a badass.
Talk about balls.
-
Only reason to do it is you knew you were gonna die....he thought it was over. Fucking stud.....
-
Only reason to do it is you knew you were gonna die....he thought it was over. Fucking stud.....
Some would cling to their life in this situation he said fuck ill die while being brave.
Definitely a fucking stud.
-
Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor for U.S. civilian rescue in Afghanistan
By Meghann Myers, Navy Times
February 2, 2016
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f5165edfa19bcf273643df7b3770f5690bca06dd/r=x404&c=534x401/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/6e1f11f29518b6f55f46c5e151482f74330159c1/c=0-320-1400-1373/local/-/media/2016/02/02/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635900219462673046-1400x1400-8967780.jpg)
A senior enlisted SEAL will be the first sailor in a decade to receive the Medal of Honor, for a mission to rescue an American civilian hostage in Afghanistan in 2012, according to a Tuesday release from the White House.
President Obama will present Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers with the nation's highest award for valor in a Feb. 29 ceremony at the White House, the release said.
Byers’ actions were so clearly beyond expectation, even for a Navy SEAL, that the Navy had no hesitation in nominating him for the Medal of Honor, according to a defense official familiar with his case, but not authorized to speak publicly about it, told USA Today.
“There’s no margin of doubt or possibility of error in awarding this honor,” the defense official said. “His actions were so conspicuous in terms of bravery and self-sacrifice that they clearly distinguished him to be worthy of the award, including risk of his own life.”
Despite the public announcement and ceremony, the White House is keeping tight-lipped about the details of the rescue. His citation, according to the release, only states "his courageous actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan, December 8-9, 2012."
Gen. Martin Dempsey, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "strongly recommended" Byers for the Medal of Honor in December 2014, according to a memo obtained by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act.
The ceremony was delayed in part by Byers' recent deployment, according to a senior Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
A 1905 executive order by President Teddy Roosevelt requires that Medal of Honor recipients come to Washington to receive the medal from the president.
Byers will be the 11th living service member to receive the medal for actions in Afghanistan and the third sailor to earn the distinction since Sept. 11, 2001.
SEAL Team 3's Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the medal in 2006 for actions in Iraq. A year earlier Lt. Michael Murphy was posthumously recognized for his role in Operation Red Wings, the battle detailed in retired Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell's memoir "Lone Survivor."
Byers, 36, is a native of Toledo, Ohio. He joined the Navy in Sept. 1998 and served as a hospital corpsman before attending Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in 2002.
His awards and decorations include five Bronze Stars with combat "V" device, two Purple Hearts, a Joint Service Commendation with "V," three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals — one with "V"— and two Combat Action Ribbons.
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/02/02/navy-seal-receive-medal-honor-us-civilian-rescue-afghanistan/79706520/
-
Department of Veteran's Affairs
Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Colin Powell. Colin served in the U.S. Army from 1958-1993 and is a Veteran of the Vietnam War, Operation Just Cause and Operation Desert Storm. During his second tour in Vietnam he was decorated for his bravery after single-handedly rescuing three Soldiers from a burning helicopter, one of those Soldiers being division commander Maj. Gen. Charles Martin Gettys.
In April 1989, he was promoted to four-star general under President George H.W. Bush where he served as the commanding general for U.S. Army Forces Command. He received his last military assignment later that year when he was selected as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense.
After his retirement from the military, President George W. Bush appointed him as Secretary of State, the nation's highest diplomatic position.
Thank you for your service, Colin!
(https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/12711190_10153489224158178_4219708432458195051_o.jpg)
-
Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor for U.S. civilian rescue in Afghanistan
By Meghann Myers, Navy Times
February 2, 2016
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f5165edfa19bcf273643df7b3770f5690bca06dd/r=x404&c=534x401/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/6e1f11f29518b6f55f46c5e151482f74330159c1/c=0-320-1400-1373/local/-/media/2016/02/02/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635900219462673046-1400x1400-8967780.jpg)
A senior enlisted SEAL will be the first sailor in a decade to receive the Medal of Honor, for a mission to rescue an American civilian hostage in Afghanistan in 2012, according to a Tuesday release from the White House.
President Obama will present Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers with the nation's highest award for valor in a Feb. 29 ceremony at the White House, the release said.
Byers’ actions were so clearly beyond expectation, even for a Navy SEAL, that the Navy had no hesitation in nominating him for the Medal of Honor, according to a defense official familiar with his case, but not authorized to speak publicly about it, told USA Today.
“There’s no margin of doubt or possibility of error in awarding this honor,” the defense official said. “His actions were so conspicuous in terms of bravery and self-sacrifice that they clearly distinguished him to be worthy of the award, including risk of his own life.”
Despite the public announcement and ceremony, the White House is keeping tight-lipped about the details of the rescue. His citation, according to the release, only states "his courageous actions while serving as part of a team that rescued an American civilian being held hostage in Afghanistan, December 8-9, 2012."
Gen. Martin Dempsey, then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "strongly recommended" Byers for the Medal of Honor in December 2014, according to a memo obtained by USA TODAY under the Freedom of Information Act.
The ceremony was delayed in part by Byers' recent deployment, according to a senior Defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
A 1905 executive order by President Teddy Roosevelt requires that Medal of Honor recipients come to Washington to receive the medal from the president.
Byers will be the 11th living service member to receive the medal for actions in Afghanistan and the third sailor to earn the distinction since Sept. 11, 2001.
SEAL Team 3's Master-at-Arms 2nd Class (SEAL) Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the medal in 2006 for actions in Iraq. A year earlier Lt. Michael Murphy was posthumously recognized for his role in Operation Red Wings, the battle detailed in retired Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Marcus Luttrell's memoir "Lone Survivor."
Byers, 36, is a native of Toledo, Ohio. He joined the Navy in Sept. 1998 and served as a hospital corpsman before attending Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in 2002.
His awards and decorations include five Bronze Stars with combat "V" device, two Purple Hearts, a Joint Service Commendation with "V," three Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medals — one with "V"— and two Combat Action Ribbons.
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2016/02/02/navy-seal-receive-medal-honor-us-civilian-rescue-afghanistan/79706520/
Navy SEAL Medal of Honor recipient proved mettle in hand-to-hand combat
Published February 29, 2016 FoxNews.com
The Navy SEAL who will become on Monday the sixth member of that elite force to receive the Medal of Honor proved his mettle in hand-to-hand combat in Afghanistan – or more accurately, hand-to-throat.
During a daring nighttime raid in 2012 to rescue an American citizen from Taliban clutches, Edward Byers Jr. leaped across the room to shield the hostage from oncoming fire while simultaneously engaging a Taliban guard.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2016/02/29/navy-seal-medal-honor-recipient-proved-mettle-in-hand-to-hand-combat/_jcr_content/article-text/article-par-2/images/image.img.jpg/880/558/1456674272188.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Navy SEAL Edward Byers Jr. is set to be awarded the Medal of Honor on Monday at the White House. (U.S. Navy)
“While covering the hostage with his body, Chief Byers was able to pin the enemy combatant to the wall with his hand around the enemy’s throat,” according to a Navy news release.
Earlier in the mission, Byers, who will receive the medal Monday from President Obama at the White House, grabbed a Taliban guard with one hand “while adjusting the focus of his night vision goggles with his other.”
“Anyone who has been in combat knows that in those moments you either react or you get killed,” Byers said in a Navy video.
After his team rescued the hostage and boarded a helicopter, Byers spent the 40-minute flight back to Bagram Airfield attempting to resuscitate another member of his team who had been shot, Nicholas Cheque. Cheque died, but Byers said he’ll be accepting the award on behalf of all fallen SEALs.
“I’m going to be a representative for the Navy and the Naval Special Warfare Community and there’s a weight that that carries with,” Byers said. “And that weight is the sacrifices that everybody has made within this community, guys like Nick Cheque and all my other brothers who have fallen. It’s an affirmation, once again, of the job that we do.”
Byers, 36, became a SEAL in 2003. He’ll be the sixth SEAL Medal of Honor recipient and the first living one since the Vietnam War, The Navy Times reported. Byers is the 11th living service member to receive the Medal of Honor for fighting in Afghanistan, according to Stars and Stripes.
“To be a Navy SEAL means you have to be incredibly resilient,” Byers said. “You have to be hardworking. They’re the toughest men on the face of this planet. Any mission they’re given, they will have success at it, and ultimately they are our brothers who, if they have to, they’ll die for you.”
Cheque was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross, according to The Washington Post, citing Navy officials.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/02/29/navy-seal-medal-honor-recipient-proved-mettle-in-hand-to-hand-combat.html
-
He's a grad from where I went to college. Based on the citation and what he did...there's gotta be way more to the story. These guys are fucking hero's.
-
He's a grad from where I went to college. Based on the citation and what he did...there's gotta be way more to the story. These guys are fucking hero's.
I saw a blurb that said the details of the mission are classified.
-
Fallen Green Beret earns Silver Star for final act of heroism
Michelle Tan, Army Times
March 7, 2016
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/2feee69581913188b2cf299f4cee3495a99e38ea/r=537&c=0-0-534-712/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/c1dda07471416a0c53eb41c16c60fea62961a57a/c=0-87-537-804/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449147147345-ARM-McClintock-1.JPG)
(Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew McClintock has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor, for his actions during an hours-long firefight in southern Afghanistan.
McClintock, a Special Forces engineer sergeant, was killed Jan. 5. He will be laid to rest Monday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery.
“He died saving his friend’s life and went out [under fire] knowing that he could get hurt,” McClintock’s wife, Alexandra, told Army Times.
McClintock, 30, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. He was killed and two others were wounded Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
Her husband’s teammates have since told her that he left a compound, under fire, to find a new landing zone so a helicopter could land and evacuate his wounded teammate, Alexandra McClintock said.
“He ran out without even thinking about himself,” she said. “When he got to really do his job and do the job he loved, he came home a happy man.”
Matthew McClintock is also survived by the couple’s four-month-old son Declan.
“When you’re going through this horrific nightmare, you think that you won’t be able to find a reason to smile,” Alexandra McClintock has said. “But when I wake up in the morning, that little boy, who looks exactly like my husband, makes me smile.”
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/1ac86f27092a3a7b67c06dfa077ea53ae5ea920a/c=0-180-638-659/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449146523333-ARM-McClintock-2.JPG)
McClintock with his son Declan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
Alexandra McClintock has been tireless in her efforts to ensure people know about her husband.
“Instead of just ... Sgt. McClintock, he’s Matthew, he’s my husband, he’s Declan’s father,” she said.
A serious, skilled and dedicated Green Beret who was trying to go back on active duty, her husband was also funny, silly, romantic and a little bit nerdy, Alexandra McClintock said.
During their short time together, just like any other military family, the McClintocks worked to “cram as many memories in as we can,” she said.
“We’ve crammed so much love and so many memories into these last three years, I just wish that my son got that, too,” she said.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/410f9784ca229b3cb27d7b4011b6a9ce96e2ba23/c=0-173-799-774/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449146523333-ARM-McClintock-8.JPG)
Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock and Alexandra McClintock (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
She is grateful to the Army, which “moved mountains” to get Matthew McClintock home from Afghanistan to witness Declan’s birth.
“He got to spend two weeks with his little boy,” Alexandra McClintock said. “My husband, holding his son, he was glowing. It was just surreal.”
Before he died, Matthew McClintock had started the process of returning to the active Army.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/d98aee5e39488f3e7c00814f1b1a6f98669e7bbe/c=0-0-799-601/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449146523333-ARM-McClintock-11.JPG)
Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock was killed Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, Afghanistan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
The soldier joined the Army in 2006, deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He left active-duty in December 2014 after “a very rough Afghanistan deployment when he lost one of his very good friends and teammates,” Alexandra McClintock said.
It took just one drill weekend for her husband to realize he missed the Army, Alexandra McClintock said.
“He loved his job, he was so passionate about it,” she said. “My husband’s a Green Beret. That’s who he is.”
Alexandra McClintock has said she is sure her husband had no regrets.
“I know if he woke up that day knowing that’s how the day was going to go, I know he wouldn’t have changed a thing,” she said. “I know he would’ve gone charging out.”
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2016/03/07/fallen-green-beret-earns-silver-star-final-act-heroism/81431456/
-
Fallen Green Beret earns Silver Star for final act of heroism
Michelle Tan, Army Times
March 7, 2016
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/2feee69581913188b2cf299f4cee3495a99e38ea/r=537&c=0-0-534-712/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/c1dda07471416a0c53eb41c16c60fea62961a57a/c=0-87-537-804/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449147147345-ARM-McClintock-1.JPG)
(Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew McClintock has been posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor, for his actions during an hours-long firefight in southern Afghanistan.
McClintock, a Special Forces engineer sergeant, was killed Jan. 5. He will be laid to rest Monday afternoon at Arlington National Cemetery.
“He died saving his friend’s life and went out [under fire] knowing that he could get hurt,” McClintock’s wife, Alexandra, told Army Times.
McClintock, 30, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. He was killed and two others were wounded Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
Her husband’s teammates have since told her that he left a compound, under fire, to find a new landing zone so a helicopter could land and evacuate his wounded teammate, Alexandra McClintock said.
“He ran out without even thinking about himself,” she said. “When he got to really do his job and do the job he loved, he came home a happy man.”
Matthew McClintock is also survived by the couple’s four-month-old son Declan.
“When you’re going through this horrific nightmare, you think that you won’t be able to find a reason to smile,” Alexandra McClintock has said. “But when I wake up in the morning, that little boy, who looks exactly like my husband, makes me smile.”
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/1ac86f27092a3a7b67c06dfa077ea53ae5ea920a/c=0-180-638-659/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449146523333-ARM-McClintock-2.JPG)
McClintock with his son Declan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
Alexandra McClintock has been tireless in her efforts to ensure people know about her husband.
“Instead of just ... Sgt. McClintock, he’s Matthew, he’s my husband, he’s Declan’s father,” she said.
A serious, skilled and dedicated Green Beret who was trying to go back on active duty, her husband was also funny, silly, romantic and a little bit nerdy, Alexandra McClintock said.
During their short time together, just like any other military family, the McClintocks worked to “cram as many memories in as we can,” she said.
“We’ve crammed so much love and so many memories into these last three years, I just wish that my son got that, too,” she said.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/410f9784ca229b3cb27d7b4011b6a9ce96e2ba23/c=0-173-799-774/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449146523333-ARM-McClintock-8.JPG)
Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock and Alexandra McClintock (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
She is grateful to the Army, which “moved mountains” to get Matthew McClintock home from Afghanistan to witness Declan’s birth.
“He got to spend two weeks with his little boy,” Alexandra McClintock said. “My husband, holding his son, he was glowing. It was just surreal.”
Before he died, Matthew McClintock had started the process of returning to the active Army.
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/d98aee5e39488f3e7c00814f1b1a6f98669e7bbe/c=0-0-799-601/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929449146523333-ARM-McClintock-11.JPG)
Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock was killed Jan. 5 in hours-long fighting near the city of Marjah, Afghanistan. (Photo: Courtesy Alexandra McClintock)
The soldier joined the Army in 2006, deploying to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He left active-duty in December 2014 after “a very rough Afghanistan deployment when he lost one of his very good friends and teammates,” Alexandra McClintock said.
It took just one drill weekend for her husband to realize he missed the Army, Alexandra McClintock said.
“He loved his job, he was so passionate about it,” she said. “My husband’s a Green Beret. That’s who he is.”
Alexandra McClintock has said she is sure her husband had no regrets.
“I know if he woke up that day knowing that’s how the day was going to go, I know he wouldn’t have changed a thing,” she said. “I know he would’ve gone charging out.”
http://www.armytimes.com/story/military/2016/03/07/fallen-green-beret-earns-silver-star-final-act-heroism/81431456/
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/071cfdf03cec0b3dd501a00ff1e1e988ccdd4bc3/r=x513&c=680x510/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/42a54181d33fdcf0a3601d32eb75d2b8de4b4de9/c=301-0-3182-2166/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929633433736610-ARM-McClintock01.jpg)
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f5165edfa19bcf273643df7b3770f5690bca06dd/r=x404&c=534x401/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/30ce593e83c96d94d73efeab61c0979f2116a335/c=83-0-1856-1333/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929590072546757--A2O1455.jpg)
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/071cfdf03cec0b3dd501a00ff1e1e988ccdd4bc3/r=x513&c=680x510/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/39d2b45c7e7689adfd85ee411a77df96395df79c/c=420-0-3867-2592/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929633433112598-ARM-McClintock02.jpg)
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/071cfdf03cec0b3dd501a00ff1e1e988ccdd4bc3/r=x513&c=680x510/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/683ac9a994005511da417c682a6e32b16611dbda/c=219-0-3423-2409/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929633431864574-ARM-McClintock03.jpg)
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/071cfdf03cec0b3dd501a00ff1e1e988ccdd4bc3/r=x513&c=680x510/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/be4cb4bcb234c2d101e044e6fb0fa4410599a330/c=341-0-3540-2405/local/-/media/2016/03/07/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635929633439196715-ARM-McClintock06.jpg)
-
Pioneering female pilot of World War II era dies at 96 in Faribault
(http://www.twincities.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/hnd-aviator-jmp.JPG.jpeg?w=907)
Elizabeth Strohfus, a Faribault native, was a member of the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame.
By Associated Press |
March 7, 2016
(https://i0.wp.com/www.twincities.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/BC-MN-Obit-Female-Pilot-IMG-jpg.jpg?w=620&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px)
In this March 10, 2010 file photo, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz greets Elizabeth Strohfus of Faribault, Minn., on Capitol Hill in Washington, before she and other members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Her son, Art Roberts, says Strohfus died Sunday, March 6, 2016, at the age of 96 at her assisted living center after being placed in hospice care following a fall. (AP Photo/Lauren Victoria Burke)
FARIBAULT, Minn. — Pioneering Minnesota aviator Elizabeth Strohfus, who piloted military planes across the country during World War II and received two Congressional Gold Medals, has died at age 96, her son said Monday.
Strohfus died Sunday night at a Faribault assisted living center after being placed in hospice care after a fall a few weeks ago, said her son, Art Roberts of Northfield.
Strohfus was one of the last remaining members of Women Airforce Service Pilots, or WASP. She ferried military planes in 1943 and 1944, and helped train air and infantry gunners at Las Vegas Army Airfield.
She was one of 1,074 female pilots to earn silver wings in the WASP. The female pilots flew military aircraft in noncombat roles during wartime to free up male pilots for combat. The women were considered civilians until Congress retroactively granted them veteran status in 1977.
After graduating from high school, Strohfus borrowed $100 from a bank using her bicycle as collateral to join the previously all-male Sky Club. She was a member of the Civil Air Patrol before joining WASP, the Faribault Daily News reported.
As a young woman, Strohfus was so intrigued with flying that she spent many afternoons after work at the Faribault airport, thumbing rides from pilots.
Roberts said her mother would say she loved to climb trees as a young girl.
“She would be up there all day, if she could,” Roberts said. “She just liked being up high and looking at the world.”
After WASP was disbanded in December 1944, Strohfus worked as an aircraft controller in Wyoming before returning to her hometown of Faribault, about 50 miles south of Minneapolis, where she married and raised a family. A member of the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame, Strohfus received two Congressional Gold Medals: one for her service as a WASP and the second for her service in the Civil Air Patrol.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said she was saddened to learn of Strohfus’ death. In a statement, Klobuchar said Strohfus “served out country admirably,” not only during WWII as a WASP but also after the war advocating for her fellow WASPs.
Klobuchar has been calling for allowing WASPs to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, after the Army recently reversed its policy allowing the women to be interred at Arlington. Strohfus planned to be buried in Minnesota but supported allowing WASPs to be buried at Arlington, her son said.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/07/pioneering-female-pilot-of-world-war-ii-era-dies-at-96-in-faribault/
-
10 Incredible Photos Of The Heroes Who Fought The Vietnam War
By JAMES CLARK
March 29, 2016
(http://49m47r1ce5b927clot3yajgk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Feature-nam-840x420.jpg)
Vietnam Veterans Day marks the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Vietnam and honors the 3 million who served there.
When the last of America’s troops left Vietnam on March 29, 1973, their return home brought a defining and divisive chapter in the country’s history to a close. Roughly 3 million men and women served in Vietnam and nearly 60,000 gave their lives over the course of the war.
To commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day, which was established on March 29, 2012 to honor those who served in the war, here are 10 incredible photos from the Vietnam War’s early days to years after.
After their unit landed in the middle of a Viet Cong staging area, a paratrooper with the 173rd Airborne provides cover for a wounded comrade while under sniper fire, on June 24, 1965.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_612852234921.jpg)
Vietnam War US Wounded
A soldier with the U.S. 1st Air Cavalry Division is helped by a fellow soldier as he crawls from the mud of a rice paddy while taking heavy Viet Cong fire near An Thi in South Vietnam on Jan. 30, 1966. U.S. troops were engaged in a fierce 24-hour battle with the enemy along the central coast.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_532820955040.jpg)
Vietnam War US Troops
U.S. Army paratroopers with 2nd Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade hold their automatic weapons above water as they cross a river in the rain during a search for Viet Cong positions in the jungle area of Ben Cat, South Vietnam on Sept. 25, 1965. The paratroopers had been searching the area for 12 days with no enemy contact.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_650925022.jpg)
U.S. PARATROOPERS
First Cavalry Division medic Thomas Cole, with one of his own eyes bandaged, continues to treat wounded Staff Sgt. Harrison Pell, during a Jan. 30, 1966 firefight at An Thi in the Central Highlands between U.S. troops and a combined North Vietnamese and Vietcong force.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_0609220112264.jpg)
COLE PELL
Farewell ceremonies in Danang on July 25, 1969 mark the departure of the colors of the 9th Marine regiment which is being deployed to Okinawa under President Richard Nixon’s 25,000 troop withdrawal plan.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_6907251331.jpg)
Vietnam War: U.S. Troops
U.S. Marines prepare to board a ship in Danang for their return trip to the states.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_70010105491.jpg)
Vietnam War
Released prisoner of war Lt. Col. Robert L. Stirm is greeted by his family at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, as he returns home from the Vietnam War, March 17, 1973.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_730317064.jpg)
Don Wilkes, left, and Steve Giles stand outside of the Huntington, West Virginia Vet Center on July 30, 1980. Vietnam veterans themselves, both counselors endeavor to reach out to fellow veterans and their families in order to help them cope with the society they have returned to and must readjust to since the war.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_557098081010.jpg)
Don Wilkes, Steve Giles
Thousands of Vietnam veterans gather in Chicago’s Grant Park following a parade through the city’s downtown on June 13, 1986. The parade was a “Welcome Home” tribute more than a decade after their return from Vietnam.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_724169738457.jpg)
Vietnam Veterans Homecoming Parade
A man places his hand against the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 11, 1986, on Veterans Day.
(http://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AP_967246486244.jpg)
http://taskandpurpose.com/10-incredible-photos-heroes-fought-vietnam-war/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tp-today
-
Heroic US Marine Corps service dog awarded top medal for war animals
Published April 05, 2016
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2016/04/05/heroic-us-marine-corps-service-dog-awarded-top-medal-for-war-animals/_jcr_content/par/featured-media/media-0.img.jpg/876/493/1459865507028.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
April 5, 2016: Gunnery sergeant Christopher Willingham, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, poses with US Marine dog Lucca, after receiving the PDSA Dickin Medal, awarded for animal bravery, equivalent of the Victoria Cross, at Wellington Barracks in London.
A heroic U.S. Marine Corps German shepherd that lost a leg sniffing out a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was awarded the world's highest honor for service dogs during a special ceremony Tuesday.
Lucca, who served U.S. troops during more than 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan over a six-year span, received the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal at the Wellington Barracks in London. She is the first Marine Corps dog to receive the medal, considered the top honor for war animals around the world.
Her handler, Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Willingham, told Sky News that it was an "incredible honor" to receive the award from the veterinary charity.
"It is very humbling to be part of this entire process,” he said. “I think more importantly is that Lucca's accomplishments are going to help bring awareness and recognition to all our military working dogs and their handlers.”
"Through all of her treatment, and despite the pain she was in, her temperament never changed."
- Cpl. Juan Rodriguez
There were no human casualties during Lucca’s bomb-sniffing patrols. Her career ended in March 2012 when she lost her leg and suffered chest burns from a bombing in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province.
Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, who was her handler at the time, stayed by her side throughout each step of Lucca’s recovery.
"The explosion was huge and I immediately feared the worst for Lucca,” he told The Telegraph. “I ran to her and saw her struggling to get up. I picked her up and ran to the shelter of a nearby tree line, applied a tourniquet to her injured leg and called the medics to collect us.”
Ten days later, after an operation, Lucca was up and walking again.
"Through all of her treatment, and despite the pain she was in, her temperament never changed,” Rodriguez said. “Her fighting spirit was plain to see and I was so proud of how quickly she recovered."
Willingham, who now takes care of Lucca in California, told Sky News that he tries his “best to keep her spoiled in her well-deserved retirement.” He traveled to London to accept the medal Tuesday.
"Lucca's conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty makes her a hugely deserving recipient of the PDSA Dickin Medal,” said Jan McLoughlin, director general of the PDSA. “Her ability and determination to seek out arms and explosives preserved human life amid some of the world's fiercest military conflicts."
Since the medal was introduced in 1943, it has been awarded to dozens of dogs and World War II messenger pigeons, as well as three horses and a cat.
Diesel, a French police dog who was killed in the raid to capture terrorists behind the deadly Nov. 13 Paris attacks, will also posthumously receive the medal this year.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/05/heroic-us-marine-corps-service-dog-awarded-top-medal-for-war-animals.html
-
73 years later, a fallen American commando comes home
Matthew L. Schehl, Marine Corps Times
April 6, 2016
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f5165edfa19bcf273643df7b3770f5690bca06dd/r=x404&c=534x401/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/e8912ccd6aaf6aaabe88486564c07b8639130826/c=282-0-5389-3840/local/-/media/2016/04/06/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635955311640290657-MAR-WWII-Raider-1.JPG)
(Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)
More than seven decades after he was killed in action in the Pacific, a World War II Raider has come home.
Marine Corps Sgt. John C. Holladay was buried with military honors Monday at the National Cemetery in Florence, South Carolina, after his remains were identified and repatriated from the Solomon Islands.
His return means his family’s 70-year grieving process is over, his nephew Jack Holladay said.
“It was a joyous occasion to finally have him back on American soil,” he said. “Knowing that the Marine Corps bent over backward to identify the remains and bring him home — words can’t describe it; it means everything to us.”
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/dfd18086b204d13ea814432e447bf496dfde5579/c=326-0-5433-3840/local/-/media/2016/04/06/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635955311544506043-MAR-WWII-Raider-4.JPG)
Members of 1st Marine Raider Battalion render a final salute to Sgt. John C. Holladay during his memorial service in Florence, S.C., on Monday. Holladay, a World War II Marine Raider was killed in action while assigned to Bravo Company, 1st MRB, in 1943. (Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)
Under brilliant skies, Marines of Fox Company, 4th Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, rendered the funeral detail for Holladay’s burial before more than a hundred family, friends and community members.
In attendance as well were members of today’s Raiders: the Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, the decade-old spec-ops community that directly traces its lineage to the Raiders of WWII.
“The fact that Raiders take care of their own, in life and in death, is a major contributor to their audacity and mission accomplishment,” MARSOC spokesman Capt. Barry Morris said. “Sgt. Holladay’s return provides closure for both his family and the Raider community, demonstrating that although he was missing 73 years he was never forgotten.”
On July 20, 1943, the 1st Raider Battalion, 1st Raider Regiment, was tasked with assaulting through enemy positions at Bairoko Harbor on New Georgia Island as part of Operation Cartwheel, a joint Marine Corps-Army offensive to shut down Japanese operations in the South Pacific.
After fighting through two successive defensive lines, 31-year-old Holladay, as platoon sergeant of Bravo Company, attempted to rally his Marines for an attack on a third when he was hit by a sniper, according to the Florence Morning-News.
“As we reached down to pick him up, John looked up at me, shook his head a little, gave me a smile and died,” his platoon leader, Lt. Robert Kennedy, recounted in a letter to Holladay’s family. “He had been shot directly in the heart and died easily and quickly.”
Thirty-three other Marines and soldiers were killed in the battle. In the days after, patrols returned to recover and bury the dead, yet Holladay’s remains were unaccounted for.
In 1947, the 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company returned to conduct an intensive search, but to no avail. In 1949, Holladay was officially designated unrecoverable by the American Graves Registration Service.
“Most of us had never met my uncle,” Jack Holladay said. “The stories that our fathers told us, me and my cousins, made him leap out at us, larger than life. He would never be forgotten in our family because the stories kept his memory alive to a point that as young children, we expected him to walk through the door.”
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/ed43d23f836e8638496a3d04092d466af92fa7c1/c=0-0-5107-3840/local/-/media/2016/04/06/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635955311541854026-MAR-WWII-Raider-2.JPG)
Marine Raiders remove and fold the flag that covered Sgt. John C. Holladay's casket. (Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)
The United States military did not forget him, either.
In 2012, local workers on New Georgia unearthed foxholes, military gear and human remains while clearing land for logging.
The U.S. Defense Department POW/MIA Accounting Agency, tasked with searching for and identifying missing American military personnel around the world, dispatched a task force to Bairoko to investigate.
DPAA personnel interviewed islanders, launched an exhaustive search and, in 2015, took custody of remains that they conclusively identified as belonging to the Marine Raider.
“To identify Holladay’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab used circumstantial evidence; two types of DNA analysis, including mitochondrial DNA, which matched a maternal cousin, and Y-chromosome Short Tandem Repeat DNA, which matched a paternal nephew; as well as dental comparison and anthropological analysis, which matched his records,” DPAA said in a statement.
The paternal nephew was Jack Holladay. The commandant's office contacted his family to ask for DNA samples and Holladay returned a DNA kit the day after he received it.
“Of course I volunteered; I knew how dear it way to my father and my uncle’s hearts, their mother and father’s” he said. “They longed to bring him home, so much that as you look through letters they wrote to the Marine Corps, they asked for just a photo of his grave, but they couldn’t do that. We didn’t have any hope of ever recovering him.”
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/67369be21bfc317600b9ceb00317be696572fe35/r=x408&c=540x405/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/f8d822d71b0b5f56335ba911fc7491fd88761b9b/c=267-0-5374-3840/local/-/media/2016/04/06/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635955311543414036-MAR-WWII-Raider-3.JPG)
A Marine presents the American flag to Sgt. John Holladay's family 73 years after the Marine Raider was killed in World War II. (Photo: Sgt. Donovan Lee/Marine Corps)
The military then brought Sgt. Holladay home to Florence, the town where he had graduated high school as an 18-year-old in 1930.
He worked as a florist for a while, but his passion was forestry and the outdoors, his nephew said.
In early December 1941, Holladay and a buddy set off in a rowboat on a 100-mile river trip, fishing, hunting and living off the land.
“When they came out some 30 days later, they realized we were at war with Japan,” Jack Holladay said. “He told his friend that he knew what he had to do and went straight away and enlisted in the Marine Corps.”
On Jan. 9, 1942, John Holladay stepped on the yellow footprints at Parris Island. The 29-year-old immediately stood out for his maturity, integrity and leadership.
“When he decided to do something, he poured his heart and soul into it, he gave 100 percent of himself, and he gave that in the Corps,” his nephew said.
He was only there for a month before getting word that Maj. Gen. Merritt Edson was looking for volunteers for a new, high-speed unit to conduct risky raids behind enemy lines.
Holladay stepped forward, and quietly disappeared to Quantico, Virginia, to begin training with the 1st Raider Battalion — Edson’s Raiders — the unit many consider the first American special operations force of WWII.
“He was asked at Quantico to stay and be an instructor, but he wouldn’t have it,” Jack Holladay said. “He joined the Marines to fight for his country, and that’s what he wanted to do.”
On Aug. 7, 1942, Edson’s Raiders opened the Guadalcanal Campaign with a landing on the small island of Tulagi. Once captured, they were dispatched to defend Henderson Field on Guadalcanal Island from an Imperial Japanese Army offensive.
Over the next year, Holladay fought across the Solomon Islands until he met the sniper’s bullet on New Georgia Island.
Seventy-three years later, his casket was met by a Marine Corps honor guard on the tarmac at Charleston International Airport, South Carolina.
Interstate 26 shut down to all traffic except his motorcade, which was escorted by police and the Patriot Guard Riders; hundreds of people lined the 100 miles of Route 52 on the way to Florence to pay their respects, Jack Holladay said.
“Every little hamlet or town we passed through looked as if the whole town had turned out,” he said. “Veterans organizations, folks lining the streets waving American flags; it was intensely emotional to see that much respect paid to a fallen comrade.”
Sgt. John Holladay returned home April 4, his birthday.
“He would have been 104 years old,” Jack Holladay said.
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/story/military/2016/04/06/73-years-later-fallen-american-commando-comes-home/82671008/
-
108-year-old female veteran to fly in WWII-era biplane
Published April 18, 2016
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2016/04/18/108-year-old-female-veteran-to-fly-in-wwii-era-biplane/_jcr_content/par/featured-media/media-0.img.jpg/876/493/1460990768562.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Lynn Balmer is believed to be the oldest living female military veteran. (CSUChico.edu)
CHICO, Calif. – A 108-year-old woman believed to be the oldest living female military veteran is set to be honored with a flight aboard a World War II-era biplane.
Lynn Balmer is scheduled to take off Monday morning from Chico, California, about 90 miles north of Sacramento.
Her flight is courtesy of the nonprofit group, the Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, which honors seniors and U.S. military veterans.
The foundation says Balmer served in the U.S. Coast Guard, working as a coder while stationed in Seattle. The Chico Enterprise-Record reported she enlisted during World War II. She achieved the rank of lieutenant.
The organization's president, Darryl Fisher, restored a 1940s Boeing Stearman — the same type of plane used to train military aviators during World War II.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/04/18/108-year-old-female-veteran-to-fly-in-wwii-era-biplane.html?intcmp=hplnws
-
Brotherhood inspired long-overdue Vietnam Silver Star
Kyle Jahner, Army Times
April 18, 2016
(http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/f5165edfa19bcf273643df7b3770f5690bca06dd/r=x404&c=534x401/http/cdn.tegna-tv.com/-mm-/218d0cbeab429caf358a0406120ab12dcbc5b215/c=0-0-553-416/local/-/media/2016/04/15/GGM/MilitaryTimes/635963287880079171-Stanley-DeRuggiero-Jr.-speaking.jpg)
(Photo: Courtesy of Rep. Chris Gibson's office)
As he hid on the ground in Vietnam with an enemy soldier advancing on him, that was what Spc. Stanley DeRuggiero Jr. heard from the soldier's rifle. No bang; just click. The 20-year-old from Yonkers, New York, figured he was dead. At the very least, he had decided he wasn’t going to be taken alive.
He also had no second thoughts about willfully putting himself in such a dangerous position. After attacking an enemy position, his company had become heavily outnumbered — people who were there say between 5-to-1 and 10-to1 — and moved to retreat. But before he left, he saw three wounded American soldiers, and instead went to defend them.
For hours he fought off Viet Cong so his fellow soldiers wouldn't be captured or killed. The war to him was, more than anything else, about survival and an intense camaraderie nurtured by adversity; because of that his decision to stay behind and fight was really not a choice.
“Immediately, [in my mind] it’s not ‘I’m going to get killed.’ It’s ‘if I don’t go up there, these guys will die.’ There’s no second-thinking, you just do it,” DeRuggiero told Army Times.
On Thursday, DeRuggiero received a Silver Star for his bravery in a small conference room crammed with two to three dozen people in a congressional office building. It was the culmination of a long effort by his former leaders to properly recognize his actions.
It was 1995 before he was finally awarded a Bronze Star with valor device because paperwork his squad leader submitted from the field got bounced around. But it was “not the appropriate medal for the gallantry displayed that particular day,” according to veteran and New York Republican Rep. Chris Gibson, who pinned the award onto DeRuggiero's chest Thursday. DeRuggiero, 68, a resident of Austerlitz, New York, said he was overwhelmed with gratitude. And his former squad leader said it was long overdue.
“I’m thrilled to death. It was a life goal to get this thing done,” said former Sgt. Cliff Davids, who pushed for DeRuggiero’s award along with former company commander William Brewster, a former captain. “He did something that’s incredibly courageous. He’s lucky to be alive. And it just shows what kind of a person he is. I’m amazed he’s still alive. I really am, with what he did.”
The description of DeRuggiero's heroics June 17, 1968, leap off the award citation's page. The fire team leader of 3rd Squad, 3rd Platoon, C Company, 4th Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Corps, fought “with total disregard for his own life for more than five hours” to protect three wounded soldiers. He fought off flanking attacks, provided care and assurance, and despite his own wounds did not withdraw to safety until the last of the three endangered paratroopers had been evacuated.
Like so many citations, it still doesn’t capture the full story.
'I’m screwed'
DeRuggiero, drafted in 1966, said Vietnam felt like a different world. He said men in his unit referred to home as “the world.” His unit faced "horrendous conditions; we lived like animals,” receiving supplies of food, socks and ammo every three weeks and little else. During his year in Vietnam his unit almost never saw the rear. The war was chaos, and one couldn’t rely on any particular strategies to deal with the life-threatening scenarios that emerged regularly, and often suddenly.
“It was more survival than it was a purpose to fight in a war. Realizing later on, in my opinion, it had very little to do with freeing a people. There was a civil war there, no one wanted us there,” he said. “So now what we were left with was the guy next to you and how we were going to live through this and be proud of what we’ve done.”
That shared adversity, survival mentality and brotherhood would factor into his decision to risk his life to save others.
DeRuggiero’s company had just engaged in an assault on a Viet Cong base camp near Bao Loc; eventually uneven numbers forced the company to retreat. DeRuggiero said he was last to retreat, but before he could leave the area he saw uniforms he knew were American. One of the three was trying to resuscitate the other, he said, and a third, wounded in the stomach, was on the ground nearby.
“He went out to help this wounded person. He was pretty much alone. He was alone,” Davids said.
DeRuggiero fought off Viet Cong for hours with "hand grenades and well-aimed M-16 fire," the citation reads. Davids said at times “he hovered over” one of the wounded. During the battle DeRuggiero himself was wounded twice: He took grenade shrapnel in his hip area, and a rifle bullet ricocheted and hit his calf, though the slowed bullet “didn’t go all the way through,” DeRuggiero said. He called his wounds "light"; he’d spend eight days in the hospital after the battle. But for a while it looked like he’d never get to a hospital.
Hours in he was hiding behind a termite hill about 2 feet tall. He said he saw a Viet Cong with an AK47 approach from about 30 feet away. He aimed his gun — which turned out to have a broken firing pin.
“I pointed at his head and pulled the trigger; nothing happened. Just a click. And he heard the click. And my heart was pounding. So I says, oh, I’m screwed,” DeRuggiero said.
He ejected the round. He said that while the sounds got his adversary’s attention, the other bodies, partial obstruction of his position and other gunfire made him a little more difficult to find. So he aimed again. Click. He cleared the chamber and tried a third time. Click.
“Now he’s probably 12, 13 feet away from me. I’m not going to get captured. I’m not going to let that happen. I’m going to die fighting,” said DeRuggiero, who was angry after watching several friends die. “I say goodbye to my parents, say goodbye to my brothers and sisters. And say I’m going to kill him.”
He had a knife hidden under his chest, ready to attack when the man got close enough to realize he was still alive. He had smeared blood from his wound onto his face to appear dead. Then he felt something: the heavily used barrel of an M16, largely buried by an earlier explosion, burned his arm. He pulled it out, saw it didn’t have a clip in it, and acted fast.
“I popped in a clip and I blew him away,” he said.
Not too long after that, reinforcements including air support arrived; that allowed enough breathing room for the group to evacuate. Davids said nearly the entire platoon of about 30 paratroopers were either killed or wounded in the fight. Two of the three men DeRuggiero risked his life defending died, but one survives to this day.
Unique camaraderie, belated recognition
The camaraderie that led DeRuggiero to fight also pushed the effort to recognize him.
Davids submitted his recommendation to award DeRuggiero from the field. When he returned to the rear, he said, no one had seen it. He put it back in the system, but it was rejected. He said the explanation made clear no one had read it because it didn’t make sense. After spending so much time in confined spaces and facing hell, the intimate brotherhood was not going to allow DeRuggiero's fellow soldiers to just let it go.
After the war, they spent decades trying to find a way through the bureaucracy. Meanwhile DeRuggiero left the Army in 1969 and went on to work as a gemologist and then a carpenter. But he remained close to his former comrades in arms.
"Coming home afterward, I was never able to achieve that kind of camaraderie in a workplace, which was disappointing to me. It’s unfortunate. You can accomplish so much more when you work together as a coherent team," DeRuggiero said.
The most recent effort to recognize him came when Brewster, the company commander and a Colorado resident, contacted Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., and, in Gibson's words, “wouldn’t take no for an answer.” On Jan. 4, the Army signed off on the upgrade.
At the ceremony, Gibson, a retired colonel with more than two decades in the Army before his election to the House in 2010, said he’d seen his share of firefights but nothing like what DeRuggiero experienced. The former commander of the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, occasionally broke up during his speech, and paid tribute to those who had died in the war. He said that although Vietnam constituted just a bit over 1 percent of DeRuggiero's life, it had an outsized share in defining him, as it did for many others.
“Every soldier wonders how they’ll do in an especially difficult situation. Sometimes they’ll go their whole life wondering. Stan will never have to worry about that,” Gibson said to the audience. “We will never be able to fully repay you. We will never be able to adequately recognize you. But we will be able to say thank you.”
http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/04/18/brotherhood-inspired-long-overdue-vietnam-silver-star/83089230/
-
Great-granny, 80, got a gun, kills a home intruder who attacked husband
Published May 08, 2016
FoxNews.com
This 80-year-old great-granny got a gun and wasn’t afraid to use it.
Barb Moles shot and killed a home intruder who beat her husband with a crowbar and stabbed him with a knife. She now tells a local televison station she is “not just the typical granny.”
“You know, never in my whole life did I ever anticipate having to take another life -- especially at age 80,” Moles told KOMO-TV in Seattle, Wash., last week. “Give me a break here!”
Moles grabbed her gun, a .38-caliber pistol, when she saw her 75-year-old husband bleeding on the floor during a home invasion in their rural Sultan home around 8:30 p.m. on April 28.
Deputies said Steven Sheppard, 25, attacked Leland Moles after breaking into the couple’s home to steal drugs.
KOMO reported that when Sheppard encountered Barb Moles, he said one word: “Gun.”
Moles, a grandmother of eight and a great-grandmother of three, pulled the trigger four times. Three bullets hit the mark, KOMO reported.
“I was just intent upon stopping him,” she told the station. “I didn’t have any other thought in my head. I just knew I had to stop him.”
Q13 Fox reported that Sheppard was an ex-con who spent time in prison for robbery.
Leland Moles remains in a hospital where he is listed in stable condition, the station reported.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate Moles’ actions.
KOMO reported that the gun was a Christmas gift from her husband.
She said she wouldn’t hesitate to use it again.
“You know how mothers are with their kids,” she said. “That’s the way I am with my husband. I just protect his back. I’m not just the typical granny -- in case you haven’t noticed.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/08/great-granny-80-got-gun-kills-home-intruder-who-attacked-husband.html?intcmp=hplnws
-
UNSUNG HEROES: This Army Medic Overcame Gunfire And A Broken Leg To Save 14 Soldiers
By MARK LEE GREENBLATT and LORIANNE WOODROW MOSS on April 30, 2015
(http://49m47r1ce5b927clot3yajgk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Julia-Bringloe.png)
Army medic Sgt. Julia Bringloe received the Distinguished Flying Cross in 2012 for 11 rescue hoists during 60 hours of combat in Afghanistan's high mountains.
Black Hawk medic, Sgt. Julia Bringloe, received the Distinguished Flying Cross for three days of hoists in June 2011 that she conducted all with a broken leg.
Three days. Eleven hoists. Fourteen survivors. Three critical resupply missions.
Two bodies recovered.
One brave medic who refused to quit even after fracturing her leg.
On June 25, 2011, Sgt. Julia Bringloe, with C Company, 3-10 General Support Aviation Battalion, was the medic for the four-person crew aboard a Black Hawk helicopter. The crew was one of two Army medevac teams tasked with supporting Operation Hammer Down in Afghanistan’s Watahpor Valley.
Bringloe’s job was to exit the helicopter — suspended from a cable when necessary — and recover the casualties, then provide them lifesaving treatment while the helicopter flew to a medical facility.
The team’s first day began with several typical rescues. The most challenging call was for the evacuation of an injured private in the village of Gambir, according to a November 2012 Newsweek article.
When the medevec team reached the village, the fighting was just too intense. Militants were firing at the rescue helicopters. Their sister chopper was hit by small arms fire and raced away for an emergency landing.
Meanwhile, other calls were coming in. The crew headed for a different rescue, hoping the situation in Gambir would be safer by the time they got back.
Their new mission required Bringloe to be lowered from 160 feet, amid a forest of 100-foot pine trees. Bringloe got her man, a severely dehydrated soldier, and hooked the two of them up for extraction.
As they were being hoisted, a gust of wind suddenly swung them like a pendulum. Bringloe saw that she and her patient were on a collision course with a large tree trunk. She swung her body around to protect her patient, and stuck out her leg to fend off the tree.
The impact was tremendous. Later Bringloe would learn that her leg had been fractured.
When Bringloe and the soldier were back inside the helicopter, the pilot observed her injury and asked if she wanted to quit. “I never thought it was an option,” Bringloe told The Daily. With the other helicopter out of commission, “I was the only medic in the valley and it was a huge mission.”
Unfazed, the team dropped off their patient and returned to Gambir. It was too dark now to lower Bringloe, and there were too many trees to land on the ground. The pilots realized their only option was to hover the chopper on the roof of a hut. With fighting still going on around them, Bringloe and another soldier leaned out the window to direct the pilots to alight on the small roof.
Once the Black Hawk was in place, Bringloe hopped out and called for the injured man to be brought aboard. One look at the man convinced her that they had come too late, she told Newsweek. Nevertheless, she got to work on him and saved his life.
The next two days were filled with more gunfire and more dramatic rescues. One call was for the team to retrieve an Afghan translator who had been shot. The helicopter hovered some 70 feet above the casualty site, even though there were half a dozen insurgent fighters on a nearby mountainside. Bringloe was lowered to the ground and greeted with gunfire.
“Medevac, you guys are crazy!” called a nearby soldier.
Watch Sgt. Julia Bringloe recount her experience at Newsweek & The Daily Beast’s 2012 Hero Summit.
The translator’s body was hoisted first. Then it was Bringloe’s turn. An Army account continues, “Despite the chaos around her, she didn’t hesitate in her job, securing herself and instructing her crew to continue with her own extraction.”
“For about 15 seconds, “ her pilot recalled to The Daily, “those six dudes popped up and fired at her.”
“As I was getting pulled up, I took some fire,” Bringloe told Stars and Stripes. “It’s one of those things you don’t think about while it happens. You are pretty focused on your patient and getting the mission accomplished. Everyone is in danger.”
The bullets missed, and Bringloe made it back into the chopper.
The team wasn’t done yet. On their very last flight of the marathon three days, Bringloe was lowered to retrieve a soldier who had been shot in the shoulder. As she found him, thick clouds rolled in. She could no longer see the helicopter at the end of the line. Worse, the pilots couldn’t see anything, including the mountains and cliffs that surrounded them.
“It’s like driving a car 100 miles an hour and all you can look at is the speedometer,” one pilot recalled to The Daily. “We had to make sure we didn’t slide into a mountain sideways.”
With Bringloe and the injured soldier suspended from the line, the pilots urgently lifted the helicopter to a higher altitude. Eventually, Bringloe and her patient entered the hold, and the helicopter found a break in the clouds.
It was a fitting end to three tumultuous days. “There were so many missions that would have, on any other day, qualified as the craziest mission we’d ever seen,” one of the pilots commented to Army Times.
For her actions during June 2011, Julia Bringloe received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Pilots Erik Sabiston and Kenneth Brodhead also received the award. Bringloe was the seventh woman in U.S. history to receive the award, and only the fourth for combat. Their mission was named the Air/Sea Rescue of the Year by the Army Aviation Association of America, and Bringloe was the USO Army Woman of the Year for 2012.
“To have these awards, to be recognized for the missions, is great, but I didn’t fly with my own two arms,” Bringloe reflected to Stars and Stripes. “I had a whole crew and medevac company that have supported me.”
http://taskandpurpose.com/unsung-heroes-this-army-medic-overcame-gunfire-and-a-broken-leg-to-save-14-soldiers/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tp-facebook&utm_campaign=recycled
-
Medal of Valor awarded to 13 law enforcement officers at White House
Published May 16, 2016
Associated Press
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2016/05/16/medal-valor-awarded-to-13-law-enforcement-officers-at-white-house/_jcr_content/par/featured-media/media-0.img.jpg/876/493/1463416945412.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
President Barack Obama presents the Medal of Valor to Midwest City, Okla. Police Major David Huff. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Barack Obama called on the nation Monday to support and listen to its law enforcement officers as he bestowed the Medal of Valor on 13 officers who risked their lives to save others.
In a ceremony in the East Room, Obama draped the purple-and-yellow ribbons around the necks of officers who intervened in shooting rampages, hostage situations and an armed robbery. He pledged to keep working toward a bipartisan overhaul to make the criminal justice system fairer, smarter and more effective so that officers are well-equipped to enforce the country's laws.
"We can show our respect by listening to you, learning from you, giving you the resources that you need to do your jobs," Obama said. "Our country needs that right now."
Police Officers Assaulted by Circumstance | Graphiq
Three Santa Monica, California, officers -- Jason Salas, Robert Sparks and Capt. Raymond Bottenfield -- were honored for their response to a 2013 rampage on a community college campus that left five people dead. Confronting 23-year-old gunman John Zawahri in the campus library, the officers shot and killed him when he pointed his assault weapon at them.
Obama also honored Gregory Stevens of suburban Dallas, who exchanged gunfire with two armed men outside an exhibit hall holding a provocative contest for caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Both gunmen were killed, heading off what investigators suspected was a planned mass shooting.
The Medal of Valor ceremony came as Obama holds out hope that legislation reforming the justice system can be passed this year despite the heavily politicized climate ahead of the November election. The need for change has been a rare point of common ground between Democrats and Republicans, and though momentum appeared to have sputtered earlier this year, a new Senate proposal has raised hopes that the issue could be successfully revived.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch, the nation's top law enforcement official, said there were no words or medals that could begin to pay the debt the country owes the officers.
"It has often been said that the price of freedom is constant vigilance," Lynch said. "Know this: they pay that price on our behalf."
Police Maj. David Huff of Midwest City, Oklahoma, saved a 2-year-old girl being held at knifepoint after negotiations with her captor deteriorated. Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, he described the thoughts running through his head in the moment he was called to action.
"Obviously, the last few moments were tense. There was a countdown going on," Huff said. "There was just no way I was going to let that little child get hurt."
The president said all of the officers acted "without regard for their own safety." Because of their courage and instincts, he said, the rest of society can go about their lives each day "like it's any other day."
"If they could go back in time, I suspect they'd prefer none of this had happened," Obama said.
One Philadelphia officer died from a gunshot wound and was honored posthumously. Sgt. Robert Wilson III drew fire from assailants during a robbery while saving store employees and customers.
Wilson's family accepted the award on his behalf.
"We honor those who didn't come home," the president said.
The other officers honored with the medal Monday are:
-- Miami-Dade police Officer Mario Gutierrez, who was stabbed multiple times while subduing a knife-wielding man who tried to set off a massive gas explosion that could have caused massive casualties.
-- Johnson City, New York, Patrolman Louis Cioci, who chased and captured at a crowded hospital a gunman who had just killed a fellow officer. Investigators believe Cioci saved the lives of hospital staff, patients and visitors.
-- Los Angeles police Officer Donald Thompson for, while off duty, crossing two freeway dividers and braving first- and second-degree burns while pulling an unconscious man from a burning car to safety.
-- Omaha, Nebraska, police Officer Coral Walker, who shot and killed a man who had killed and injured multiple people during a shooting rampage.
-- North Miami, Florida, police Officer Niel Johnson, who endured gunfire from an assault weapon in pursuing and capturing a man who had shot a Miami police officer and two bystanders.
-- FBI Special Agent Tyler Call, who while off duty with his family helped rescue a woman whose ex-husband was holding her at gunpoint.
-- Niagara County, New York, sheriff's Deputy Joey Tortorella, who confronted and subdued a gunman who had shot and wounded his parents inside their home, preventing the gunman from threatening the safety of students at a nearby elementary school.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/05/16/medal-valor-awarded-to-13-law-enforcement-officers-at-white-house.html?intcmp=hplnws
-
From badassoftheweek:
(https://s22.postimg.org/xq5vgaawd/Samuel_Whittemore.jpg)
Samuel Whittemore
Interestingly enough for a man who is now famous throughout Massachusetts for his unbreakable determination to violently kill British people at all costs, Samuel Whittemore was born in England, and faithfully served the British Crown for nearly five decades of professional military service. Born in 1695, just 75 years after the first Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, the stone-cold hardass who would be made a state hero of Massachusetts was first unleashed on colonial America in the 1740s while serving as a Captain in His Majesty's Dragoons – a badass unit of elite British cavalrymen much-feared across the globe for their ability to impale people on lance-points and then pump their already-dead bodies full of gigantic pistol ammunition that more closely resembled baseballs than the sort of rounds you see packed into Beretta magazines these days. Fighting the French in Canada during the War of Austrian Succession (a conflict that was known here in the colonies as King George's War because seriously WTF did colonial Americans care about Austrian succession), Whittemore was part of the British contingent that assaulted the frozen shores of Nova Scotia and beat the shit out of the French at their stronghold of Louisbourg in 1745. The 50 year-old cavalry officer went into battle galloping at the head of a company of rifle-toting horsemen, and emerged from the shouldering flames of a thoroughly ass-humped Louisbourg holding a bitchin' ornate longsword he had wrenched from the lifeless hands of a French officer who had, in Whittemore's words, "died suddenly". The French would eventually manage to snake Louisbourg back from the Brits, so thirteen years later, during the Seven Years' War (a conflict that was known here in the colonies as the French and Indian War because WTF we were fighting the French and the Indians, and also because it lasted nine years instead of seven), Whittemore had to return to his old stomping grounds of Louisburg and ruthlessly beat it into submission once again. Serving under the able command fellow badass British commander James Wolfe, a man who earned his reputation by commanding a line of riflemen who held their lines against a frothing-at-the-mouth horde of psychotic, sword-swinging William Wallace motherfuckers in Scotland (this is a story I intend to tell at a later date), Whittemore once again pummeled the French retarded and stole all of their shit he could get his hands on. He served valiantly during the Second Siege of Louisbourg, pounding the poor city into rubble a second time in an epic bloodbath would mark the beginning of the end for France's Atlantic colonies – Quebec would fall shortly thereafter, and the French would be chased out of Canada forever. So you can thank Whittemore for that, if you are inclined to do so.
Beating Frenchmen down with a cavalry saber at the age of 64 is pretty cool and all, but Whittemore still wasn't done doing awesome shit in the name of King George the Third and His Loyal Colonies. Four years after busting up the French for the second time in two decades he led troops against Chief Pontiac in the bloody Indian Wars that raged across the Great Lakes region. Never one to back down from an up-close-and-personal fistfight, it was during a particularly nasty bout of hand-to-hand combat he came into possession of another totally sweet war trophy – an awesome pair of matched dueling pistols he had taken from the body of a warrior he'd just finished bayoneting or sabering or whatever.
(https://s11.postimg.org/5tmg8cd5f/whittemore1.jpg)
After serving in three American wars before America was even a country, Whittemore decided the colonies were pretty damn radical, so he settled down in Massachusetts, married two different women (though not at the same time), had eight kids, and built a house out of the carcasses of bears he'd killed and mutilated with his own two hands. Or something like that.
Now, all of this shit is pretty god damned impressive, but interestingly none of it is actually what Samuel Whittemore is best known for. No, his distinction as a national hero instead comes from a fateful day in mid-April 1775, when the British colonies in the New World decided they weren't going to take any more of King George's bullshit and decided to get their American Revolution on. And you can be pretty damn sure that if there were asses to be kicked, Whittemore was going to be one of the men doing the kicking.
So one day a bunch of colonial malcontents got together, formed a battle line, and opened fire on a bunch of redcoats that were pissing them off with their silly Stamp Acts and whatnot. The Brits managed to beat back this militia force at the Battles of Lexington and Concord, but when they heard that a larger force of angry, rifle-toting colonials was headed their way, the English officers decided to march back to their headquarters and regroup. Along the way, they were hassled relentlessly by American militiamen with rifles and angry insults, though no group harassed them more ferociously than Captain Sam Whittemore. When the Redcoats went marching back through his hometown of Menotomy, this guy decided that he wasn't going to let his advanced age stop him from doing some crazy shit and taking on an entire British army himself. The 80 year old Whittemore grabbed his rifle and ran outside:
(https://s13.postimg.org/r3ogipwjb/whittemore3.jpg)
Whittemore, by himself, with no backup, positioned himself behind a stone wall, waited in ambush, and then single-handedly engaged the entire British 47th Regiment of Foot with nothing more than his musket and the pure liquid anger coursing through his veins. His ambush had been successful – by this time this guy popped up like a decrepitly old rifle-toting jack-in-the-box, the British troops were pretty much on top of him. He fired off his musket at point-blank range, busting the nearest guy so hard it nearly blew his red coat into the next dimension.
Now, when you're using a firearm that takes 20 seconds to reload, it's kind of hard to go all Leonard Funk on a platoon of enemy infantry, but damn it if Whittemore wasn't going to try. With a company of Brits bearing down in him, he quick-drew his twin flintlock pistols and popped a couple of locks on them (caps hadn't been invented yet, though I think the analogy still works pretty fucking well), busting another two Limeys a matching set of new assholes. Then he unsheathed the ornate French sword, and this 80-year-old madman stood his ground in hand-to-hand against a couple dozen trained soldiers, each of which was probably a quarter of his age.
(http://www.badassoftheweek.com/whittemore4.jpg)
As you can see from the picture, it didn't work out so well. Whittemore was shot through the face by a 69-caliber bullet, knocked down, and bayonetted 13 times by motherfuckers. I'd like to imagine he wounded a couple more Englishmen who slipped or choked on his blood, though history only seems to credit him with three kills on three shots fired. The Brits, convinced that this man was sufficiently beat to shit, left him for dead kept on their death march back to base, harassed the entire way by Whittemore's fellow militiamen.
Amazingly, however, Samuel Whittemore didn't die. When his friends rushed out from their homes to check on his body, they found the half-dead, ultra-bloody octogenarian still trying to reload his weapon and seek vengeance. The dude actually survived the entire war, finally dying in 1793 at the age of 98 from extreme old age and awesomeness. A 2005 act of the Massachusetts legislature declared him an official state hero, and today he has one of the most badass historical markers of all time:
(https://s21.postimg.org/ghifut3xj/whittemore5.jpg)
-
6 Lessons From Teddy Roosevelt On What It Means To Be An American
By James Clark
January 26, 2016
(http://49m47r1ce5b927clot3yajgk.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Teddy-Roosevelt-Cropped.jpg)
On Jan. 26, 1883, Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech on civic responsibility that still rings true 133 years later.
Theodore Roosevelt was many things: a frontiersman, scrappy pugilist, soldier, politician, president. While The 28th president of the United States is best known for his famous line on foreign policy “speak softly and carry a big stick,” and his military exploits during the Spanish-American War, his opinions on civic responsibility may have more relevance today.
On Jan. 26, 1883, Roosevelt was just 25 years old and serving on the New York State Assembly when he delivered a speech in Buffalo, New York, entitled “The Duties of American Citizenship,”
Here, Roosevelt laid out what he believed every citizen must do or not do, and the values they must have in order to be considered a “good citizen.”
More than a century later, the heart of Roosevelt’s speech — that every American has a responsibility to engage in the political process — still holds true.
Here are six quotes from America’s “Rough Rider” president that are still relevant today.
You cannot be a good citizen, if you are not first a good person.
“… the first essential for a man’s being a good citizen is his possession of the home virtues of which we think when we call a man by the emphatic adjective of manly. No man can be a good citizen who is not a good husband and a good father, who is not honest in his dealings with other men and women, faithful to his friends and fearless in the presence of his foes. …”
All citizens should engage in politics.
“The first duty of an American citizen, then, is that he shall work in politics; his second duty is that he shall do that work in a practical manner; and his third is that it shall be done in accord with the highest principles of honor and justice.”
Citizenship means rallying to your nation’s defense.
“In a free republic the ideal citizen must be one willing and able to take arms for the defense of the flag.”
Civic responsibility is a constant.
“It ought to be axiomatic in this country that every man must devote a reasonable share of his time to doing his duty in the Political life of the community. … In so far as the community grows to think rightly, it will likewise grow to regard the young man of means who shirks his duty to the State in time of peace as being only one degree worse than the man who thus shirks it in time of war.”
If you do not take part in the political process, then you don’t deserve to benefit from it.
“The people who say that they have not time to attend to politics are simply saying that they are unfit to live in a free community.”
Every citizen must be a political watchdog.
“It is the duty of all citizens, irrespective of party, to denounce, and, so far as may be, to punish crimes against the public on the part of politicians or officials.”
http://taskandpurpose.com/6-lessons-from-teddy-roosevelt-on-what-it-means-to-be-an-american/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=tp-facebook&utm_campaign=recycled
-
Vietnam vet to receive Medal of Honor for saving 40 lives
Naomi Lim, CNN
Thu June 23, 2016
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160623131045-charles-kettles-medal-of-honor-exlarge-169.jpg)
Washington (CNN) — For saving the lives of 40 soldiers and four of members of his own unit during a Vietnam War ambush, Lt. Col. Charles Kettles will be awarded the Medal of Honor on July 18.
Kettles, a UH-1 helicopter commander, volunteered to lead a platoon to bring reinforcements to a brigade cornered by Vietnamese forces near Duc Pho during the early hours of May 15, 1967. After making several trips to the landing zone in his "Huey" while taking fire to evacuate wounded U.S. soldiers, he returned later that day to rescue 40 soldiers and four of his crew who were stranded after their helicopter was destroyed in an enemy attack.
But once airborne, Kettles found out that eight soldiers had been unable to reach the evacuation helicopters due to Vietnamese fire and returned to assist them, despite damage to his helicopter's tail boom, main rotor blade and windshields.
An Army statement said Kettles exhibited "complete disregard for his own safety" during the mission. "Without his courageous actions and superior flying skills, the last group of soldiers and his crew would never have made it off the battlefield."
Kettles, 37 at the time of the encounter, hails from Michigan and previously served in Korea, Japan and Thailand, according to a White House statement Tuesday announcing he would be honored in July. He served as a flight commander in the 176th Aviation Company, 14th Combat Aviation Battalion.
Kettles went on to develop an aviation management program at Eastern Michigan University's College of Technology and work for Chrysler Pentastar upon his return to the U.S. Now 86, Kettles still lives in his hometown of Ypsilanti, Michigan, with his wife Ann.
The Medal of Honor is awarded for "great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life," the White House statement said.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/23/politics/charles-kettles-to-get-medal-of-honor/index.html
-
Medal of Honor recipient recalls unit taking back embattled outpost in Afghanistan
By Carole Glines
Published July 02, 2016
FoxNews.com
Clint Romesha became a legend in 2009 after he led the charge against a monstrous Taliban attack in Afghanistan, rallying his fellow soldiers to regain control of their camp after it had been overrun by more than 300 insurgents. In 2013, President Obama presented him with the Medal of Honor for his actions in that battle.
In an interview with Fox News, the 34-year-old veteran vividly recalled his comrades’ battle cry: "We're going to take this bitch back!"
Romesha was a green 18-year-old who had grown up in Lake City, Calif. — “a quiet little town [where] life was always easy" — when he enlisted in the Army in 1999. But he became an experienced warrior, serving in Kosovo and Iraq before volunteering to serve in Afghanistan in his fourth tour of duty.
He said he went from "growing up in one of the greatest countries that has ever existed, to see what tyranny and poverty and real challenges are like firsthand."
On Oct. 3, 2009, Romesha was a staff sergeant and section leader when the Taliban attacked Combat Outpost Keating in eastern Afghanistan.
The camp, he recalled, was strategically flawed, "set at the bottom of a valley surrounded by mountains on every side. Very isolated, very remote, just a spot that you shake your head when you see it, but you also accept the mission that's given and understand that you're there doing a job and you got your great guys around you."
He said the attack, known today as the Battle of Kamdesh, began at around 6 a.m., and he realized quickly that it wasn't the typical gunfire he’d come to expect from the Taliban.
"I remember getting out of my bed…. got up and clicked on the radio, and you could just hear the intensity of fire coming…. This was something different, and very clearly thereafter, you could tell that there's more fire coming into the outpost than going out of it."
The enemy fighters had "done the research,” Romesha said. “They instantly started suppressing our gun trucks on the perimeter…. They had us surrounded 360 degrees, and very quickly it was getting out of control."
To their horror, the penned-in American troops learned they wouldn't get helicopter support for some time, "and unfortunately, within that first hour, we'd finally gotten the word that the enemy was inside the wire."
The attackers set the camp on fire, burning down most of the barracks, but Romesha and some troops were able to pull back in "the Alamo position" into buildings at the center of the outpost.
He said he realized they had to "do something drastic" — counterattack and reclaim the depot. "We need to take this bitch back," he told Lt. Andrew Bundermann, the officer in charge.
Five soldiers volunteered to follow Romesha into a furious battle with the insurgents. They pushed them back and regained control of the base when air support finally arrived.
There were many heroes that day, Romesha said, including Bundermann, who called for dropping bombs just a hundred yards away, instead of waiting for precision bombs.
"Eight men never got to come home,” Romesha said. “I did…. They gave up way more than anything that was ever required of me. If it wasn't for their sacrifice, I wouldn't be here."
Referring to his Medal of Honor, he said, "It's great to be the one that got selected to wear it, but the medal's not mine. It's those eight great men, it's those men and women that are still serving today, men and women that have put on the uniform from previous conflicts to keep this country free."
Romesha has written "Red Platoon," a book about his experiences, because he feels veterans should teach civilians to "appreciate the freedoms they wake up to every day, understand where that came from and what it cost to get that way, so that these guys are never forgotten."
“We use the word hero quite a bit in this country,” he said. “We call people that throw footballs heroes. We call people that sang songs heroes. We call people that have reality TV shows heroes.
“My definition of a hero [is] those that don't come home, that give up everything to make sure we're free and safe. That's what a true hero is right there. I appreciate the acknowledgements of it, but I was just a warrior doing a job."
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/07/02/medal-honor-recipient-recalls-unit-taking-back-embattled-outpost-in-afghanistan.html?intcmp=hphz05
-
Obama awards Medal of Honor to Vietnam War helicopter commander
By Naomi Lim and Allie Malloy, CNN
Mon July 18, 2016
(http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160718124140-army-lt-col-charles-kettles-0718-exlarge-169.jpg)
(CNN)President Barack Obama on Monday awarded the Medal of Honor to retired Army Lt. Col. Charles Kettles, who is credited with saving the lives of 40 soldiers during the Vietnam War.
Obama, while presenting the highest military award to Kettles, 86, called his story "a wonderful inspiration," adding that the takeaway from his bravery is not just "a creed for our soldiers."
"It should be a creed for all of us," Obama said at a White House ceremony. "This is a country that's never finished in its mission to improve, to do better, to learn from our history, to work to form a more perfect union. And at a time when, let's face it, we've had a couple of tough weeks, for us to remember that goodness and decency of the American people and the way we can all look out for each other, even when times are tough, even when the odds are against us, what a wonderful inspiration."
Obama said Kettles did not enjoy the "hubbub" of receiving the honor -- and speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Kettles focused on the other men involved in the rescue and said, "The only thing that really matters" are the lives that were saved.
A number of those men Kettles saved were at the White House for the ceremony, including the last soldier Kettles saved, Dewey Smith.
Obama tweeted: "44 men came home because Chuck Kettles believed that we leave no man behind. That's America at our best."
Kettles, a UH-1 helicopter commander, volunteered to lead a platoon to bring reinforcements to a brigade cornered by North Vietnamese forces near Duc Pho during the early hours of May 15, 1967.
After making several trips to the landing zone in his Huey while taking fire to evacuate wounded U.S. soldiers, he returned later that day to rescue 40 soldiers and four of his crew who were stranded after their helicopter was destroyed in an enemy attack.
Desperate for planes, military turns to the "boneyard"
But once airborne, Kettles discovered that eight soldiers had been unable to reach the evacuation helicopters due to Vietnamese fire. He returned to assist them, despite damage to his helicopter's tail boom, main rotor blade and windshields.
Obama retold the heroic story, adding he "couldn't make this up" and joking it was "like a bad "Rambo" movie."
Obama remarked on the improved relationship between Vietnam and America since Kettles served.
"I was able to go to Vietnam recently and see a people as enthusiastic about America as probably any place in the world. Crowds lining the streets. And we were able to say that on a whole lot of issues, Vietnam and the United States are now partners."
The Medal of Honor is awarded for "great personal bravery or self-sacrifice so conspicuous as to clearly distinguish the individual above his or her comrades and must have involved risk of life," the White House statement said.
An Army statement said Kettles exhibited "complete disregard for his own safety" during the mission. "Without his courageous actions and superior flying skills, the last group of soldiers and his crew would never have made it off the battlefield."
"I didn't do it by myself," Kettles said in a video released by the Army. "There were some 74 pilots and crew members involved in this whole mission that day. So it's not just me."
Kettles, 37 at the time of the encounter, hails from Michigan and previously served in Korea, Japan and Thailand.
Kettles went on to develop an aviation management program at Eastern Michigan University's College of Technology and work for Chrysler Pentastar.
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/18/politics/medal-of-honor-recipient-charles-kettles-vietnam-war-helicopter-commander/index.html
-
"Track and field athlete (and US Army reservist) Sam Kendricks is running towards an attempt at the pole vault in the qualifying round, until he hears the national anthem. Kendricks immediately stops what he's doing to sing along."
-
Female WWII pilot laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery
Published September 07, 2016
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2016/09/07/new-law-allows-female-wwii-pilot-to-be-inurned-at-arlington/_jcr_content/par/featured-media/media-0.img.jpg/876/493/1473252741289.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Elaine Harmon in a photo from the 1940s. (Family photo via AP)
It took an act of Congress, but World War II pilot Elaine Harmon was finally laid to rest on Wednesday at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Harmon died last year at age 95. She was one of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), a group of women who flew military aircraft on noncombat missions during World War II so that men were freed up for combat.
Air Force Capt. Jennifer Lee, center, salutes during during burial services for World War II pilot Elaine Harmon. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
The women were not granted military status at the time they served, but received retroactive status as veterans in 1977. And for many years, WASPs were eligible to have their ashes placed in urns at Arlington.
Last year, though, Army officials concerned about limited space at the cemetery ruled WASPs ineligible for inclusion at Arlington. A memo from then-Army Secretary John McHugh concluded that Arlington never should have granted eligibility to WASPs in the first place.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2016/09/07/new-law-allows-female-wwii-pilot-to-be-inurned-at-arlington/_jcr_content/article-text/article-par-2/images/image.img.jpg/880/558/1473277636286.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Air Force Capt. Jennifer Lee, center, salutes during during burial services for World War II pilot Elaine Harmon. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
Harmon's family fought the rule. In December, an Associated Press article about the family's campaign prompted widespread criticism of the Army for excluding WASPs. A petition on change.org received more than 175,000 signatures.
In May, President Barack Obama signed legislation allowing WASPs in Arlington. The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., herself a retired Air Force pilot who was the first female fighter pilot in U.S. history to fly in combat.
On Wednesday, Harmon's ashes were laid to rest at a funeral service with military honors. The family had kept her ashes in a bedroom closet while they worked to get Arlington's exclusionary policy overturned.
Harmon's granddaughter Erin Miller said dozens of family members are in town for Wednesday's service, which comes more than a year after her grandmother's April 2015 death.
"It sounds funny, but we're all kind of excited," she said. "In a way, we've already grieved, and this now is about closure."
Eligibility for in-ground burial at Arlington, which has severe space limitations, is extremely tight, and not even all World War II veterans are eligible for burial there. But eligibility for above-ground placement of ashes is not quite as strict.
Kate Landdeck, a Texas Woman's University history professor who has researched the WASPs, said roughly 1,000 women served as WASPs while the program was in effect from 1942 to 1944. Thirty-eight were killed.
Fewer than 100 are still alive, Landdeck said. The youngest is 93.
The women, who test-flew repaired military aircraft, trained combat pilots and towed airborne targets that other pilots fired at with live ammunition, received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009, but the campaign to get them into Arlington exposed even more people to WASPs' role in history.
"No one knew who these women were in the 1990s," Landdeck said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/09/07/new-law-allows-female-wwii-pilot-to-be-inurned-at-arlington.html
-
Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice. Respect.
Army identifies three Special Forces soldiers killed in Jordan
By: Michelle Tan, November 6, 2016
The three service members killed Friday in Jordan were Green Berets from 5th Special Forces Group, the Army announced Sunday.
The Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based soldiers — Staff Sgt. Matthew Lewellen, Staff Sgt. Kevin McEnroe and Staff Sgt. James Moriarty — died Friday after they reportedly came under fire while entering a Jordanian military base. The incident is still under investigation.
The three soldiers had almost 20 years of service between them.
Lewellen, 27, of Kirksville, Missouri, had more than six years of service.
(http://snagfilms.s3.amazonaws.com/7d/89/faacacec4a43a93595d435aea4b8/lewellen.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Matthew C. Lewellen.
Photo Credit: Army
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon and the NATO Medal.
Lewellen, the second son of three children and husband to Renee Laque, was a standout high school athlete who was enrolled at the University of Kansas when he decided to serve his country, his family said in a statement.
He joined the Army in February 2010, graduating from Special Forces training in November 2012. After a 2014 deployment to Afghanistan, Lewellen was on his second deployment to Jordan when he was killed, according to his family.
"Matt was a born leader, a true American," his parents said, according to the statement. "He wanted to be a soldier since third grade, and he was doing what he loved to do."
Lewellen, who was known for his sense of humor, "was proud to serve his country, and he loved the men and women with whom he served," his family said.
Services for Lewellen will take place in his hometown of Kirksville. He will be buried at Missouri Veterans Cemetery in Jacksonville, Missouri, his family said. The family also asked, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made in Lewellen's name to nonprofit organizations that serve military families.
(http://snagfilms.s3.amazonaws.com/d3/61/91340db14a03a40ffdadaf840730/mcenroe.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe.
Photo Credit: Army
McEnroe, 30, of Tuscon, Arizona, had more than eight years of service. This was his third overseas tour.
His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon.
Moriarty, 27, of Kerrville, Texas, had more than five years of service. This was his second overseas tour.
His awards include the Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon.
(http://snagfilms.s3.amazonaws.com/b9/ff/37027a534982b08ad25cc3abe271/moriarty-james-140626-022.jpg)
Staff Sgt. James F. Moriarty.
Photo Credit: Army
The Associated Press, citing a family spokesman, reported that Moriarty grew up in Houston and earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Texas. The spokesman also said the soldier's family is heartbroken, and they are planning a memorial service in a week or two.
There were conflicting reports after the Friday shooting, as officials first thought one or two service members were killed. The number later was revised to three.
While it’s not immediately clear what prompted the shooting, Jordanian military officials have said the shots were fired as a car carrying the Americans tried to enter the al-Jafr base near the southern Jordanian town of Mann. A Jordanian officer also was wounded.
The U.S. soldiers were in Jordan on a training mission, officials said. The U.S. military typically maintains about 2,000 U.S. forces on the ground in Jordan to support training with the Jordanian military and operations against the Islamic State in neighboring Iraq and Syria.
The deaths of the three soldiers marked a deadly week for the Army’s elite Special Forces, who have been relied upon heavily in Iraq, Afghanistan and other hot spots around the world. They also were the latest in a series of casualties reported from the U.S. Central Command region.
On Oct. 19 in Afghanistan, Sgt. Douglas Riney, 26, died in a shooting attack at Camp Morehead, an ammunition supply point outside Kabul. Also killed was Michael Sauro, an Army civilian.
The shooter was reportedly wearing an Afghan army uniform.
On Oct. 20, Navy Chief Petty Officer Jason Finan, 34, was killed in Iraq during operations near Mosul.
Finan was with Kurdish forces when his unit came under attack. Finan was moving to a better position when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device, U.S. officials said.
And on Nov. 3 in Afghanistan, Capt. Andrew Byers and Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Gloyer, Special Forces soldiers from 10th Special Forces Group, were killed in a firefight with the Taliban in Kunduz province.
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/army-identifies-three-special-forces-soldiers-killed-in-jordan
-
Great American heroes !
-
14 hours of valor: Combat controller receives Silver Star for Afghan battle
By: Stephen Losey, November 16, 2016
On a cold, wet night in Northern Afghanistan in February, Staff Sergeant Keaton Thiem and more than 100 other U.S. and Afghan troops crept toward a compound that they suspected hid Taliban insurgents.
Suddenly, when they were just 35 meters away from the compound, fierce AK-47, PKM machine gun and rocket-propelled grenade fire erupted from the dug-in enemy. It was heavy and highly accurate, and sparked a 14-hour battle in which Thiem, a combat controller, repeatedly risked his own life to call in airstrikes on enemy fighters and save his comrades’ lives.
At one point, Thiem even directed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft and Apache gunships while helping carry a wounded teammate on a litter for 200 meters.
For his bravery, Thiem was honored with a Silver Star Wednesday in a ceremony at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington.
“Gallantry is the epitome of our special tactics community every day, along with courage, dedication and selflessness,” Maj. Gen. Eugene Hasse, vice commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, said in the ceremony.
Thiem, 27, from Austin, Texas, enlisted as a combat controller in 2009 and has deployed to Afghanistan twice. He is assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron of the 24th Special Operations Wing of Air Force Special Operations Command at Lewis-McChord.
According to the narrative accompanying Thiem’s Silver Star, he was attached to a team of Green Berets that was partnered with Afghan commandos. They set out to retake terrain near Nyazullah village in Baghlan province and bolster the local government there, since well-equipped insurgents were in danger of collapsing the Pul-E Khumri district there. In a Wednesday conference call with reporters, Thiem said Taliban forces had cut off power to Kabul, which is south of Baghlan, and rooting out these fighters would be the first step toward getting the power back on.
After being dropped off late Feb. 22, they began a roughly four-hour march to the target. By the time they reached the compound, they were cold, tired and wet. The Taliban had flooded fields to funnel the American and Afghan troops “exactly how they wanted us. We were kind of playing into their hand.”
“They waited for us to get close, and then erupted all at once,” Thiem said.
(http://snagfilms.s3.amazonaws.com/76/c6/0d87f95841cd9d724e6b788ecfb9/ssgt-keaton-thiem-afghanistan.jpg)
SSgt Keaton Thiem Afghanistan
Combat controller Staff Sgt. Keaton Thiem, assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron of the 24th Special Operations Wing, works in Afghanistan, where he has deployed twice.
Photo Credit: Air Force
The situation quickly deteriorated. Coalition forces realized the insurgents were using night vision to concentrate their fire on the infrared strobes on top of their helmets. Those strobes were meant to keep attacking aircraft from striking friendly troops, but with night vision goggles in the hands of the enemy, “it kind of backfired on us,” Thiem said.
Two teams of friendly troops were pinned down by “withering PKM fire repeatedly impacting within inches of their positions,” the narrative said.
That was when Thiem first risked death for his teammates that night. It wouldn’t be the last time.
Thiem knew he had to start calling in airstrikes if his team had a chance of surviving, but he didn’t have the targeting information he needed to direct strikes that were “danger close” to friendly troops. Disregarding his own personal safety, he exposed himself to heavy machine gun fire to get the necessary situational awareness.
He first cleared the two F-16s flying overhead to drop a pair of 500-pound bombs – one within 35 meters of friendly forces, and the other within 80 meters – which allowed them to resume advancing.
That’s when the Taliban sprung another ambush, directing machine gun, RPG and mortar fire down the main route toward the American and Afghan formation, wounding eight with shrapnel and gunfire.
Thiem again ran 100 meters through open terrain, dodging gunfire from murder holes and enemy defensive fighting positions, to find a group of friendly troops that had gotten separated.
He directed the F-16s to fly low over the area six times as a show of force, giving his teammates time to find some cover. Once they had reached relative safety, and he knew where the friendly forces were, Thiem called in another danger close air strike that was just 80 meters away, giving them further time to regroup.
As the Deltas reorganized, the narrative said, they realized four Afghan commandos were missing. Once again, Thiem realized how urgent the situation was and acted fast to save them.
While under sniper fire, Thiem called in more airstrikes on the enemy while directing an overhead drone to find three of the missing commandos, who were wounded. Thiem coordinated an AH-64 Apache helicopter to serve as an escort as he led a small team 150 meters – towards a Taliban machine gun nest – to try to save the commandos.
During the advance, Thiem fought back against the Taliban, while calling in two more 30mm gun runs to cover them. That was when Thiem helped carry to safety one of the commandos on a litter while coordinating the drone and the Apaches.
Thiem told reporters that he and his teammate had to periodically put the wounded commando down to take cover, return fire, and make radio calls to direct the aircraft.
But the fourth Afghan commando was still unaccounted for. So Thiem coordinated another two Apache 30mm gun runs and eight rocket strikes to take out the sniper, which allowed another team to get that fourth Afghan to safety.
Thiem spoke admirably of those wounded Afghan soldiers, and said they “were definitely some of the most loyal Afghans, and definitely the most patriotic Afghans I’ve ever met.”
“It was tough for all of us to see those guys go down,” Thiem said. “So it was really no hesitation to run out there and get them.”
By the time the 14-hour battle concluded, four Afghan commandos had been killed, three Americans were wounded, and several more Afghans were also wounded. No Americans were killed.
“If not for the courage, calm demeanor and decisive action of Sergeant Thiem, many more friendly lives would have been lost during this ferocious engagement,” the narrative said.
Thiem ultimately directed 22 attack and ISR aircraft. During the 18 complex close-air support engagements Thiem coordinated, aircraft dropped 3,000 pounds of bombs, fired 200 30mm rounds, and fired eight rockets, killing 33 Taliban.
But despite the honor of receiving the military’s third-highest award for heroism in combat, Thiem said receiving the gratitude of his fellow troops is even more humbling.
“I don’t even know if I have words to say what it feels like when they say that you saved their life,” Thiem said.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/staff-sergeant-keaton-thiem-silver-star
-
Oldest Known Pearl Harbor Survivor, 104, Returns to Honor the Fallen
by JEREMY KESTENBAUM
(http://media4.s-nbcnews.com/j/msnbc/components/video/201612/2016-12-05t23-57-40-0z--1280x720.nbcnews-ux-1240-700.jpg)
Oldest-Known Pearl Harbor Veteran, 104, Bulks Up for 75th Anniversary 1:38
The word "survivor" seems especially fitting when describing Ray Chavez — a 104-year-old gym rat who defies his age. Chavez first became a survivor on Dec. 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor.
"I can't forget it. I never will," he says of the attack.
Chavez was stationed at the U.S. naval base when the bombing started.
"I got very emotional that day. There were so many, many innocent people that were lost," he said.
Chavez has often returned to Hawaii over the years to honor those who died. Three years ago, the Navy veteran decided he wanted to go back this year for the 75th anniversary of the horrific attack.
In order to make that trip, Chavez started working out with the help of a trainer — putting on 20 pounds of muscle.
(http://media3.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2016_49/1822131/ph_survivor_3_1b50f8bd569974e8d9fe1586b3adb98c.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg)
Pearl Harbor survivor Ray Chavez working out with his trainer
"I tell my clients all the time, when they say, 'I'm too old to do this or that,' I say, 'No, look at Ray, that excuse doesn't fly anymore,'" Chavez's trainer, Sean Thompson, says of his client's dedication.
With the help of his gym and Alaska Airlines, Chavez, a San Diego resident, got a first class ticket for the six-hour trip to Hawaii. He'll be there once again to honor so many who lost their lives in service of their country.
(http://media1.s-nbcnews.com/j/newscms/2016_49/1822141/ph_survivor_1_9589bcab2528c749bc4b24b29e4694cb.nbcnews-ux-600-480.jpg)
Ray Chavez receives a hero's welcome upon his arrival in Hawaii
When asked if he would be back in five years for the 80th anniversary, all Chavez had to say was, "If I can walk, I'll go." He'll be 109.
The oldest known Pearl Harbor survivor is as devoted as ever to the country he served.
http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/oldest-known-pearl-harbor-survivor-104-returns-honor-fallen-n692546
-
140 years late, Nevada veteran lauded with Medal of Honor
RENO, Nev. — A Nevada Army veteran who died without knowing he earned the nation's highest medal of bravery received the honor he's been owed for nearly 140 years in a ceremony on Monday.
Nevada Rep. Mark Amodei held an event at his Reno office to present a new Medal of Honor to Jerry Reynolds, the 82-year-old grandson of the late Pvt. Robert Smith.
Smith fought in a battle against American Indian tribes in the Dakota Territory on Sept. 9, 1876, when he was 29 years old. Then-President Rutherford B. Hayes approved the Medal of Honor for Smith in 1877 for showing "special bravery in endeavoring to dislodge Indians secreted in a ravine," according to Army records.
See Robert Smith's Medal of Honor citation here
But the award never made it to the veteran, who was born Harry Reynolds but used an alias for unknown reasons. His grandson said the medal was delivered to Camp Sheridan in Nebraska Territory, where Smith had previously lived, but someone else signed for the package.
Smith returned to using his birth name after his discharge from the Army, then later moved to Elko, Nevada. He died in 1930 without knowing he earned the award.
(http://snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net/04/db/60e8f98c4bd0af210c01334aea65/ap16354859965602.jpg)
Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei, right, presents the Medal of Honor to Jerry Reynolds on Dec. 19, 2016, in Reno, Nev. Reynolds' grandfather, who was born Harry Reynolds but was known in the Army by his alias Pvt. Robert Smith, died before knowing he earned the prestigious award for bravery during a battle in the Dakota Territory in 1876.
Photo Credit: Stacey Parobek via AP
In 2011, the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War contacted Jeffrey Reynolds to let him know about his grandfather's award. Smith had served as a drummer boy in the Civil War before enlisting in the Army in 1872 under the pseudonym.
Jerry Reynolds contacted Amodei's office this summer to seek help getting a new medal. Congressional staff worked with the Army's Command Awards and Decorations Branch, which announced on Oct. 14 that they would provide a medal to the family as a symbol of the one that was never presented to Smith.
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/140-years-late-nevada-veteran-lauded-with-medal-of-honor
-
Only soldier to be nominated for 3 Medal of Honors was the real “Rambo”
By Andy Wolf| April 15th, 2016|Military News
(http://11mvce1u204yohuqc313738f.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Col-Howard.jpg)
Colonel Robert L. Howard
As one of the bloodier conflicts in American history, the Vietnam War harvested its share of heroic men from the populace of Anytown, USA. From the streets of Brooklyn to the bayous of Louisiana and mountains of Colorado, ‘Nam brought on all kinds, with exceptional tales of heroism documented on a daily basis. In total, the Vietnam War yielded 258 Congressional Medals of Honor, each for outstanding acts of bravery from America’s fighting man.
Colonel Robert L. Howard was one such fighting man. Not only was he awarded the Medal of Honor, he was recommended for it three separate times.
Originally an enlisted man, the Alabama native joined in 1956 at the age of seventeen. Eventually, he would find himself working with the super-secretive MACV-SOG, a multi-service special operations unit that conducted special warfare operations.
As a platoon sergeant of the 5th Special Forces group in December of 1968, then-SFC Howard disembarked a helicopter with mission orders to rescue a missing American soldier behind enemy lines, leading a mixture of American and South Vietnamese troops.
As the helicopter took off from the landing zone, Howard’s unit found themselves ambushed by two companies of North Vietnamese soldiers. During the initial battle, Howard and his platoon leader were hit by shrapnel from an exploding grenade, which badly wounded the pair and destroyed Howard’s weapon.
Completely unarmed and unable to walk, Howard crawled through heavy gunfire to grab his fallen platoon leader, administering first aid on site.
Then, the unthinkable happened: as Howard was administering air, an enemy bullet struck Howard’s ammo pouch just right, detonating several magazines of ammunition. Crippled, confused and disoriented, Howard took cover and evaluated the situation, coming to the realization that the scattered platoon would be wiped out without guidance.
Shouldering his testicular fortitude and sucking in his chest, Howard crawled to his platoon leader and dragged them both back to friendly lines before rallying his platoon into an organized defensive formation. Still unarmed and unable to walk, Howard crawled from position to position, encouraging his men and administering first aid while directing fire upon the enemy.
The lush, green environment was alight with muzzle flashes as tracer fire pierced the thick, humid air. The noise was unbearably loud as Soviet and American-made small arms shouted over one another, punctuated by the flat thud of grenades and the faint sound of human voices. Men on both sides dug their boots deeper in the dirt as the tiny American-led force tried desperately to hold off the advance of the vastly superior numbers of North Vietnamese.
The battle raged on for three and a half hours, with Howard’s small force denying victory to the Vietnamese companies on the ground while close air support cleared the way for rescue helicopters. Upon arrival of the evacuation helos, Howard oversaw the loading of the wounded and did not allow himself to be lifted into the helicopter until all of his boys were aboard.
For his absolute selflessness and courage under fire, Howard was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Promoted to 1st Lieutenant, Howard was wounded 14 times in a single 54-month period during Vietnam. In addition to the Medal of Honor, Howard also held the Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star, four Legion of Merits, eight Purple Hearts, three Meritorious Service meals, four Bronze Stars, three Air Medals, a Joint Service Commendation, seven Army Commendation medals, the Combat Infantry Badge and several other awards. In short, he probably had to pin his dress coat to his shirt to prevent it from falling off from the sheer weight of his medals.
Howard stayed in the Army until 1992, serving a full 36 years and owning the title of most highly-decorated active duty servicemember until he retired as a Colonel. He worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs afterwards, accruing 50 years of government service, two Master’s degrees and even took periodic “vacations” to Iraq in order to visit active duty troops serving in a war that became increasingly similar to his own.
Howard died in December of 2009, at the age of seventy years old. While one could say that Howard lost his battle against pancreatic cancer, we’d like to think he pulled the pin on the grenade of mortality and took cancer with him, as the only being capable of taking Robert Howard’s life was Robert Howard himself.
http://popularmilitary.com/only-soldier-to-be-nominated-for-3-medal-of-honors-was-the-real-rambo/
-
Highest-ranking D-Day survivor, who flew 69 combat missions, has died
By: Staff report, December 30, 2016
The highest-ranking survivor of the D-Day invasion during World War II has died.
Retired Gen. Seth McKee was 100. He died Dec. 26 in Scottsdale, Arizona, according to The Arizona Republic, citing McKee’s wife, Sally.
Just two months ago, McKee was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honor in the rank of Chevalier 5, according to the Air Force. That’s the highest honor France bestows on its citizens and foreign nationals.
McKee, who began his military career in 1935, logged more than 190 hours in 69 combat missions in the P-38 Lightning, and is credited with downing two enemy aircraft. He flew cover for the D-Day invasion and was involved in bombing missions at Saint-Lo, the Falaise Gap and the Battle of the Bulge.
After World War II, McKee held positions of increasing responsibility both at home and overseas.
He retired in 1973 as commander of the North American Air Defense Command.
(http://snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net/99/03/bd9c8ce741789d44be8e713f5ccb/gen-mckee-3.JPG)
Retired Gen. Seth McKee, then a lieutenant colonel, stands next to his P-38 Lightning, named for his wife, during World War II. The two swastikas represent German planes he shot down before D-Day. McKee died Dec. 26, 2016. He was 100.
Photo Credit: Courtesy photo by Pat Shannahan via the Air Force
In a 2014 interview with The Arizona Republic, McKee described his service during the war.
“If you were afraid to die, you can’t be a fighter pilot in the war,” he said, the paper reported. “Chances were you were not going to make it.”
McKee told the paper he didn’t think about the danger at the time.
“It didn’t get to me at the time,” he said. “I knew I was the best fighter pilot in the war, and I was pretty lucky.”
McKee also joked about being a leader in the Air Force.
“I always liked to be in command,” he told the paper. “I always liked to be in charge. I was able to do it in every place except my marriage.”
(http://snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net/31/dd/a91e9e5f45fab60503ce06d2b14f/gen-mckee-2.JPG)
Retired Gen. Seth McKee, the highest-ranking D-Day invasion survivor, died Dec. 26, 2016. He was 100.
Photo Credit: Air Force
McKee was born in 1916 in McGehee, Arkansas, according to his official Air Force bio.
He began his military career in 1935 as a member of the Missouri National Guard, and his career as an aviator in 1938. McKee graduated from flight training in February 1939.
After the war, McKee served in Florida, California, Alabama, Italy, Georgia, Nebraska, South Dakota and the Pentagon. He also served as commander of U.S. Forces Japan and Fifth Air Force before being appointed assistant vice chief of staff of the Air Force in 1968.
McKee’s career culminated at NORAD, where he served from 1969 to 1973.
His military decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit with two oak leaf clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 10 oak leaf clusters, as well as awards from countries such as France, Belgium, Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
https://www.airforcetimes.com/articles/highest-ranking-d-day-survivor-who-flew-69-combat-missions-has-died?utm_content=buffer83bc9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
-
Mom dedicates life to honoring soldier son who helped 60 people through organ donation
By Melinda Carstensen
Published February 02, 2017
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/health/2017/02/02/mom-dedicates-life-to-honoring-soldier-son-who-helped-60-people-through-organ-donation/_jcr_content/par/featured-media/media-0.img.jpg/876/493/1485981519517.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Jill Stephenson with her late son, Benjamin Kopp, who died in 2009 while on the battlefield in Afghanistan. (Courtesy Jill Stephenson)
Kopp, who was 21 when he died, was inspired by his great-grandfather to join the military. The 9/11 attacks confirmed his decision.
Through organ, tissue and bone donation, Kopp saved or improved 60 lives.
After Cpl. Benjamin Kopp saved three lives on the battlefield in Afghanistan, he saved or improved 60 more when doctors couldn’t revive him from a devastating war injury. It’s all because of an idea he settled on before he joined the U.S. Army at age 18: to become an organ donor.
The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) recently dedicated a memorial to fallen troops who have donated their organs, like Kopp, and Kopp’s mother, Jill Stephenson, has made it her life’s work to raise awareness about the impact that organ donation can make.
Kopp was 21 when a gunfight led to a shot in the leg and eventual brain death, allowing him to donate the rest of his organs, as well as his bones and tissues.
“It’s Ben’s spirit that helps me stay in a calm and graceful state that allows me to really honor him,” Stephenson, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, told Fox News.
‘What you’re meant to be’
Stephenson raised Kopp as a single mother, and her grandfather, a World War II veteran with a Purple Heart, served as Kopp’s primary father figure. As early as age 7, Kopp would scour his great-grandfather’s war memorabilia and hammer him with questions about his service, Stephenson recalled.
“[Ben] wanted to grow up just like him, and he would state this often,” Stephenson said. “My grandfather would say, ‘That’s never OK; you should never do something just because someone else does, and when the time is right you’ll know what you’re meant to be.’”
Five and a half months after his great-grandfather died, Kopp watched the news coverage with horror as the terror attacks of 9/11 unfolded.
“To [Ben], 9/11 was a true mockery of his great-grandfather’s service to America, so he made a statement and said that when he grows up, ‘I’m gonna become an Army Ranger, and I’m gonna find Usama bin Laden, and I’m gonna make him pay.’ He was 13 when he made that declaration.”
Even before joining the military right out of high school, Kopp knew the importance of organ donation, Stephenson said. When Stephenson was 15, her 11-year-old brother was hit by a driver and killed, but he donated his kidneys. Kopp grew up knowing his uncle’s story, so he never questioned whether he would become an organ donor, Stephenson said.
In the face of previous loss, Stephenson said some friends questioned her willingness to let her only son put his life on the line by joining the military.
“There were a number of people who asked me why I didn’t stop him, with him being my only child … and I said, ‘That’s between him and God, and not me, and it wasn’t my place to get in the way of that,’” Stephenson said.
Not to mention, Kopp told her that if she didn’t sign the papers to let him join, he’d “sign them himself,” she recalled.
‘A prime candidate’
On July 10, 2009, Kopp’s team was called in to help relieve three U.S. Army snipers who had been pinned down by Taliban snipers. As a gun team leader, Kopp engaged in a gun fight to save their lives but took a bullet to the leg that would cost him his.
Before being transferred to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Kopp was treated at an Army base in Germany, where he suffered cardiac arrest following a successful surgery to remove the bullet. Doctors tried to use a defibrillator to revive him, but the device didn’t have batteries, Stephenson said, so they performed a thoracotomy incision to restore his breathing. However, the oxygen machine malfunctioned, she explained, leading Kopp’s body to be insufficiently oxygenated and his brain to swell. Kopp never woke up from his induced coma, Stephenson said, and several standard tests confirmed he was brain dead.
The nature of Kopp’s case presented a rare opportunity for generosity. Because he became brain dead prior to his death but maintained perfect physical health otherwise, his bones, tissues and other organs were all eligible for reuse.
“He was a 21-year-old Army Ranger— he was in tip-top shape,” Stephenson said.
By happenstance, Kopp’s heart was a good fit for one of Stephenson’s cousin’s friends, Judy Meikle, of Winnetka, Illinois, who needed a transplant due to a congenital defect she learned she had at age 57. She received Kopp’s heart on July 20, 2009, two days after his death, and regularly recruits new organ donors at her local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
“When I meet people, I put their hand on my heart and say, ‘Meet Cpl. Ben Kopp, and usually if I don’t get tears at least 20 percent of the time, I’m not doing my job,” Meikle, who at age 64 can do everything she did before she got sick, told Fox News.com. “It’s such a wonderful gift that Jill and Ben gave me.”
Stephenson met Meikle, as well as her son’s liver recipient and the two people who received his kidneys six weeks after he died. That day, she was speaking to a crowd of 1,100 people for the Washington Regional Transplant Community (WRTC), which recovers donated organs and tissues for transplants, research and therapy.
‘A gift from him’
Lisa Colaianni, a donor family advocate for WRTC who has known Stephenson since Kopp died, described Stephenson as “an amazingly strong woman.”
“I think it comforts her soul that she has an opportunity to talk about her Ben and his energy everywhere,” Colaianni told Fox News. “She’s very faithful and spiritual, and it’s just another journey for her.”
Today, Stephenson calls herself a “motivational speaker and life coach,” as she travels across the country speaking at conferences to discuss how organ donation can save lives.
“I’ve never been introverted or not willing to take a leadership role but Ben’s death certainly opened up something in me that I didn’t know existed, and I believe it’s a gift from him,” Stephenson said.
Last year, UNOS reported a record number of donated organs partially fueled by the opioid abuse epidemic, said Anne Paschke, a spokeswoman for UNOS. Although no organization tracks the number of servicemen and women who have donated their organs, Paschke told Fox News, UNOS observed there were over 33,600 transplants in 2016— an 8.5 percent increase over the 2015 total and a nearly 20 percent increase since 2012.
And yet, every 10 minutes, someone is added to the national transplant waiting list. UNOS estimates 22 people die every day waiting for a transplant.
“When somebody is waiting for an organ, they are asking for prayers,” Stephenson said. “They don’t pray for someone else to die so their loved ones can live; they just want their prayer answered. And when you donate your organs, you are answering the prayers of strangers— and I can’t think of a more selfless gift than that.”
"Heart of a Ranger," a book about Kopp and Meikle's connection, is slated for publication sometime this spring.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2017/02/02/mom-dedicates-life-to-honoring-soldier-son-who-helped-60-people-through-organ-donation.html
-
Wow. Take some time off!? Dos Equis - the copy-and-post warrior. Let me know when he posts up an original (political) thought... ::)
-
Wow. Take some time off!? Dos Equis - the copy-and-post warrior. Let me know when he posts up an original (political) thought... ::)
We've been telling you the left doesn't have a clue and proved it. I'm fine with the cut and paste because all it does is back what's been said all along. You're clueless.
-
3 Green Berets receive Silver Star for deadly Afghanistan ambush
By: Meghann Myers, February 17, 2017
Things were going reasonably well for a group of Special Forces soldiers looking to disrupt Taliban operations in a small Afghanistan village last year, until the team came upon a 20-foot-tall steel gate that no one had anticipated.
Surrounded on two more sides by 10-foot walls, the 59-man group -- 10 special operators from 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, two U.S. support elements and a handful of Afghan soldiers -- found themselves in a harrowing firefight on Nov. 2.
"The spider senses were definitely tingling, being up there at that gate," Sgt. 1st Class Sean Morrison said in a Feb. 9 Army release.
For two hours the group held back the attack, dubbed the Battle of Boz Qandahari, killing 27 insurgents and three high-value Taliban commanders, the release said.
The attack took the lives of two Green Berets: Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Gloyer and Maj. Andrew Byers.
(https://www.army.mil/e2/c/images/2017/02/03/464938/original.jpg)
10th SFG Silver Star ceremony
Gen. John Nicholson, commander of the Resolute Support mission and U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, left, congratulates Sgt. 1st Class Brian Seidl, 10th Special Forces Group, after presenting him with the Silver Star award Feb. 1, 2017 at Fort Carson, Colorado.
For his heroism, Byers was posthumously awarded the Silver Star on Feb. 1. Two of his surviving teammates, Sgt. 1st Class Brian Seidl and Staff Sgt. Andrew Russell, also received the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor.
'Into machine gun fire'
The team was dropped into a flooded field near the Boz Qandahari village in Kunduz province that night, where they slogged a mile in waist-deep mud to get to the village, which one soldier described as castle-like.
"Just steep, 100-foot-high cliffs on all sides of the village with only one entry way," Morrison said.
To get in, they had to climb the cliff face carved with switchback trails to the top.
Drones above let them know that enemy combatants were closing in on the group, but they pushed ahead, clearing two compounds uneventfully while collecting contraband and intelligence.
Because of bad weather in the forecast, they decided to skip to the fourth compound on the list, where they ran into the huge gate and found themselves surrounded by insurgents.
Gloyer, who had been at the gate with Seidl and Staff Sgt. Adam Valderrama, was mortally wounded by the first grenade blast. He managed to run back to the group, but didn't survive.
As enemy fire surrounded them, then-Capt. Byers did not hesitate.
"Byers sprinted past me," Seidl said. "He just ran straight into the smoke and the dust."
Seidl followed Byers into the kill zone to rescue a fallen Afghan soldier.
(http://snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net/f4/a5/05fa80224a559b1469c60dca6541/arm-10th-group-silver-stars.jpg)
Maj. Andrew Byers, left, was posthumously awarded the Silver Star on Feb. 1. Two of his surviving teammates, Sgt. 1st Class Brian Seidl, center, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Russell, right, also received the Silver Star for their actions.
Photo Credit: Army
Meanwhile, Russell, a junior weapons sergeant, risked his own life to save a wounded warrant officer.
"I grabbed [Warrant Officer 1 Meade] by his plate carrier," he said, "dragged him back a few feet and tried to get in front of him, between what was basically a three-way kill zone. ... I thought I was dead."
And thanks to him, Meade made it, and is recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
"He ran into machine gun fire to get me," said Meade, "Then, whenever he couldn't drag me any further, he laid down on top of me and protected me with his own body."
Seidl witnessed Russell's heroism as well.
"He's engaging [the enemy] in three different directions," Seidl said. "And all the while, he managed to get tourniquets on both of [Meade's] legs, saving his life."
Byers and Seidl worked together to set up a defensive area to care for the wounded, choosing one of the village's compounds. After throwing grenades inside to clear it, Byers tried to kick the gate open, but an object on the other side held it shut, so he reached through to move it.
"And that's when I watched the rounds rip through the gate and into [Byers]," Seidl remembered.
With Byers and Meade, the team and assistant team leaders, wounded, Seidl was left to call in MEDEVACs. A third of the group had been killed or injured, so it was up to him to hold on until a quick reaction force could get there.
It was past dawn by the time the exfiltration team showed up, forcing the operators to move the wounded 300 meters to a covered treeline for concealment, using a village donkey to carry Gloyer's body.
In addition to the three Silver Stars, the team earned three Bronze Stars (two with "V" device), four Army Commendation Medals with "V" device and six Purple Heart Medals.
"Some of the things that I saw of the men that night was some of the most courageous and amazing things I'd ever seen," Seidl said, "or could ever hope to see."
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/3-green-berets-receive-silver-star-for-360-degree-afghanistan-ambush?utm_content=buffer73ad7&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer
-
Purple Heart: 92-year-old Veteran Awarded for WWII Service
(http://cdn.newsmax.com/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=22b83eac-ab69-419c-bc3b-c9f4bcd8103a&SiteName=Newsmax&maxsidesize=600)
Image: Purple Heart: 92-year-old Veteran Awarded for WWII Service
Oscar Davis Jr, a 92-year-old World War II veteran who served with the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, smiles on Saturday, March 25, 2017, after being awarded a Purple Heart medal for wounds suffered in Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. (Andrew Craft/The Fayetteville Observer via AP)
By Karl Nelson | Monday, 27 Mar 2017
A Purple Heart has been awarded to a 92-year-old veteran who fought in Belgium during World War II more than 70 years ago.
Oscar Davis Jr. received his Purple Heart medal on Saturday, which was long overdue for the North Carolina man who was paralyzed from the waist down for three weeks after a tree fell on him, damaging his spine during the Battle of the Bulge, according to the Fayetteville Observer.
Davis -- a radio telephone operator in WWII – was told that he would be honored with a Purple Heart decades ago, according to The Associated Press. However, there was apparently some paperwork that had never been signed, which contributed to the delay.
Davis was a very happy man, though, when Lt. Col. Marcus Wright pinned his jacket with the Purple Heart over the weekend at Heritage Place in Fayetteville, where the war veteran currently resides.
"This has been some day," Davis said, according to the AP. "I couldn’t believe all this was going to happen. I just want to thank the Lord."
This comes after Davis received the Bronze Star among other medals in 2015 in a ceremony at the U.S. Army Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, the AP noted.
Capt. Andrew Hammack said Davis is "still one of us," adding that "he’s just not currently reporting for duty," the AP noted.
It’s been said that the radio Davis had on his back when he was wounded is what saved his life, the Fayetteville Observer noted.
Davis, at the time, had been knocked down by a big piece of shrapnel before the artillery caused a tree to fall on him, pinning him.
The Purple Heart medal is awarded to troops who were either wounded or killed in battle. The medal was inspired by the world’s oldest military honor – the Badge of Military Merit.
http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/purple-heart-veteran-wwii-awarded/2017/03/27/id/780971/
-
Fallen Green Beret with 5 Kids Honored by 'GoFundMe' Efforts
(http://cdn.newsmax.com/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=cdaffbc9-8509-4332-b712-f92fe694461f&SiteName=Newsmax&maxsidesize=600)
Image: Fallen Green Beret with 5 Kids Honored by 'GoFundMe' Efforts
By Cathy Burke | Saturday, 15 Apr 2017
Donations have poured in to support the wife and five children of a fallen Green Beret killed fighting ISIS in Afghanistan on April 8 – far exceeding a $15,000 goal with a total of more than $293,000 collected in two days.
The GoFundMe page to help the family of Army Special Forces Staff Sgt. Mark De Alencar was started by a military wife who is also a family friend.
"Our community has been hit hard in the last passing months and I just felt the need to try and do my part and help out his family," Nikki Damron wrote on the donation page, adding that De Alencar's wife "now has the task of raising their five kids on her own." The children range in age from 3 to 17, Biz Pac Review reported.
"As a fellow military wife, I feel it is my duty to make every effort to ensure his wife and family are taken care of," she wrote.
De Alencar was hit when his unit encountered small arms fire in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province, the Pentagon said in a statement. His unit was based at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.
"Joining SF was a huge dream of Marks, one he worked very hard to achieve," Damron wrote on the donation page.
Last Thursday, the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used in combat by the U.S. military was detonated in Nangarhar, targeting an ISIS tunnel complex and killing more than 90 ISIS militants.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Green-Beret-GoFundMe-fundraising/2017/04/15/id/784563/
-
;D
(https://i.redd.it/xxftoa014msy.jpg)
-
Trump Awards Purple Heart at Walter Reed Military Hospital
(http://cdn.newsmax.com/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=94927333-7af7-4191-82ff-f1ca0ea31b1b&SiteName=Newsmax&maxsidesize=600)
Image: Trump Awards Purple Heart at Walter Reed Military Hospital
(AP)
Saturday, 22 Apr 2017
President Donald Trump on Saturday awarded a Purple Heart to an Army sergeant recently wounded in Afghanistan.
"When I heard about this and I wanted to do it myself," Trump said during a brief ceremony at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington. He awarded the medal to Sgt. 1st Class Alvaro Barrientos, who was wounded in Afghanistan on March 17. The White House did not release Barrientos' hometown.
It was Trump's first visit as president to the military hospital. He was joined by his wife, first lady Melania Trump.
Barrientos, whose right leg below the knee had been amputated, was wheeled into a hospital atrium in a wheelchair, accompanied by his wife, Tammy.
Trump, who is also commander of the U.S. military, kissed Barrientos' wife before pinning the medal on the sergeant's left shirt collar. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members who are wounded or killed in action.
Besides Barrientos, Trump was expected to meet privately with about a dozen service members who are receiving care at the medical center.
Before leaving the White House, the president tweeted that he looked forward to "seeing our bravest and greatest Americans."
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/US-Trump-Walter-Reed/2017/04/22/id/785820/
-
Trump Awards Purple Heart at Walter Reed Military Hospital
President Donald Trump on Saturday awarded a Purple Heart to an Army sergeant recently wounded in Afghanistan.
"When I heard about this and I wanted to do it myself," Trump said during a brief ceremony at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, outside Washington. He awarded the medal to Sgt. 1st Class Alvaro Barrientos, who was wounded in Afghanistan on March 17. The White House did not release Barrientos' hometown.
It was Trump's first visit as president to the military hospital. He was joined by his wife, first lady Melania Trump.
Barrientos, whose right leg below the knee had been amputated, was wheeled into a hospital atrium in a wheelchair, accompanied by his wife, Tammy.
Trump, who is also commander of the U.S. military, kissed Barrientos' wife before pinning the medal on the sergeant's left shirt collar. The Purple Heart is awarded to service members who are wounded or killed in action.
Besides Barrientos, Trump was expected to meet privately with about a dozen service members who are receiving care at the medical center.
Before leaving the White House, the president tweeted that he looked forward to "seeing our bravest and greatest Americans."
http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/US-Trump-Walter-Reed/2017/04/22/id/785820/
Seriously, what the fuck?
Trump is getting slammed for saying 'congratulations' to a Purple Heart recipient
President Donald Trump raised more than a few eyebrows during his first visit as president to Walter Reed National Medical Center on Saturday when he awarded the Purple Heart to Army Sergeant First Class Alvaro Barrientos.
"When I heard about this, I wanted to do it myself," Trump told Barrientos as he placed the Purple Heart on the soldier's lapel. "Congratulations … tremendous."
The medal is given to service members who were wounded or killed in battle.
Many on social media immediately criticized the president’s choice of words to the wounded soldier whose leg had to be amputated after he survived an attack in Afghanistan’s Helmland province.
Oh...dear.
Really, believe me, no one seeks a Purple Heart.
Truly. https://t.co/HXbnVy2S2q
— Kim Dozier (@KimDozier) April 22, 2017
Hey military, y'all would Eat. A. Brother. Alive. If they did this. Whatcha gonna say bout Trump? Hope his staff learns him up right quick. https://t.co/V9z9PVcTzQ
— Kevin Baron (@DefenseBaron) April 22, 2017
Congratulations? Like the Purple Heart is a prize? Trump is an idiot. Most of us always knew this. https://t.co/vf3g4AOA7m
— The Tweetwit (@TheTweetwit) April 22, 2017
@louwho27 It's rather like if Trump signed a condolence card to a widow "congratulations". Not everything we do to mark something is a congratulation.
— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) April 22, 2017
@barbarastarrcnn So inappropriate. You don't congratulate a soldier for being wounded. You thank them for their service, dedication and sacrifice.
— SchoolHouseRockAlum (@HouseOfMichele) April 22, 2017
This isn’t the first time the president has been criticized for remarks he made about the Purple Heart. During the campaign, a veteran gave the then-nominee his Purple heart.
"I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier," Trump said at the time.
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-congratulations-to-a-purple-heart-recipient-2017-4 (http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-says-congratulations-to-a-purple-heart-recipient-2017-4)
-
Wish I could shake this man's hand.
Oldest known WWII veteran honored at Arlington ceremony
Published November 11, 2013
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Politics/876/493/overton_richard_111113.jpg?ve=1)
Richard Overton, the oldest living WWII veteran, listens during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.AP
The oldest known veteran of World War II was honored with a thunderous standing ovation during a ceremony Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, as President Obama and the rest of the nation paid tribute to 107-year-old Richard Overton's service.
The tribute to Overton was a stand-out moment at Monday's Veterans Day ceremonies, as details emerged about Overton's visit. Earlier in the day, the Texas man met with Obama and Vice President Biden, along with other veterans, during a White House breakfast.
"This is the life of one American veteran, living proud and strong in the land he helped keep free," Obama said during the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
Though he uses a wheelchair, Overton can still stand -- and did so, as the crowd applauded his service.
Overton served in the Pacific during World War II, and Obama regaled the audience with his accomplishments. "He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battleships were still smoldering. He was there at Okinawa. He was there at Iwo Jima," Obama said.
When he returned from the war, Overton went back to Texas, where he built a house for him and his wife -- the house he still lives in today. The president said Overton still rakes his own lawn, and still drives ladies in his neighborhood to church every Sunday.
According to a profile on Overton in USA Today, his attendance at Monday's ceremony was set up after Overton visited the World War II Memorial and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as part of an Honor Flight Austin trip back in May. Overton reportedly wondered what it would be like to meet the president, and the visit was later arranged.
During the war, Overton was a member of the Army's 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion and reportedly volunteered for service.
He attributes his longevity in part to drinking a tablespoon of whiskey in his coffee and smoking a dozen cigars a day, according to the article.
Obama used his remarks Monday to remind the nation that thousands of service members are still at war in Afghanistan. The war is expected to formally conclude at the end of next year, though the U.S. may keep a small footprint in the country.
As the Afghan war comes to a close, Obama said the nation has a responsibility to ensure that the returning troops are the "best cared-for and best respected veterans in the world." The country's obligations to those who served "endure long after the battle ends," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/11/obama-honors-veterans-at-wreath-laying-breakfast/
One of nation’s oldest vets honored on 111th birthday
Associated Press
May 12, 2017
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1a667cc482cdce342f51e8cfd6d516e2274536f3/c=0-76-3474-2682&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2017/05/12/DetroitNews/B99532020Z.1_20170512100110_000_G1B1FNNQE.2-0.jpg)
Richard Overton
(Photo: Darren Abate / AP)
Austin, Texas — One of the nation’s oldest veterans has been celebrated by his Texas hometown on his 111th birthday.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared Thursday Richard Overton Day in the city and also gave the street he has lived on for the past 45 years the honorary name of Richard Overton Avenue.
While Overton concedes that 111 is “pretty old,” he tells KVUE-TV he still feels good. Overton mentioned that the secret to a long life is smoking cigars and drinking whiskey, two things he continues to indulge in today.
Overton was already in his 30s when he volunteered and served in the Army. He was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack.
In 2013, he was honored by President Barack Obama at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/12/vet-turns-older/101590360/
-
Trump: MoH Recipient 'Gave His All and Then He Just Kept Giving'
(http://images01.military.com/media/global/newscred/mccloughan-moh-1800-31-jul-2017-ts600.jpeg)
President Trump presents the Medal of Honor to former Army Specialist James McCloughan during an East Room ceremony at the White House July 31, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Military.com | 31 Jul 2017 | by Matthew Cox
In his first Medal of Honor ceremony, President Donald Trump presented America's highest valor award today to a Vietnam War Army medic for risking his own life again and again to save his fellow soldiers in a two-day battle that occurred 48 years ago.
Before a White House audience of military officials that included Defense Secretary James Mattis and Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley, Trump gave a solemn talk about the brave actions of Spec. 5 James C. McCloughan.
"Today we pay tribute to a veteran that went above and beyond the call of duty to protect our comrades, our country and our freedom," Trump said.
On May 13, 1969, PFC. McCloughan was serving combat medic with Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division, when his unit air assaulted into an enemy-infested area near Nui Yon Hill.
"As Jim and his men jumped out of the helicopter, it quickly became clear that they were surrounded by enemy troops," Trump said. "Within minutes, two choppers were shot down."
McCloughan sprinted 100 meters in an open field through heavy fire to rescue a comrade too injured to move and carried him to safety, according to the award citation.
That same day, McCloughan's platoon was ordered to search the area near Nui Yon Hill, when the platoon was ambushed by a large North Vietnamese Army force and sustained heavy casualties.
While leading two wounded soldiers into a trench, shrapnel from an enemy rocket propelled grenade tore into McCloughan.
"That terrible wound didn't stop Jim from pulling those two men to safety," Trump said. "Nor did it stop him from answering the call of another wounded soldier and carrying him to safety atop his own badly injured body.
"One of his comrades said 'whoever called medic could immediately count on McCloughan. He's a brave guy.'"
McCloughan ignored a direct order to stay back and braved an enemy assault while moving into the kill zone on four more occasions to extract wounded comrades, the citation states.
Though bleeding heavily from wounds on his head and entire body, he refused evacuation to safety in order to remain at the battle sight with his fellow soldiers, who were heavily outnumbered by the North Vietnamese Army forces, according to the citation.
Trump described the tale. At the end of the first day of fighting, the unit pulled back in a defensive position for the night.
"One soldier's plea Jim could not ignore. Again 'Doc' did not hesitate. He crawled through a rice paddy thick with steel rain -- that means bullets all over the place, Trump said. "As soldiers watched him, they were sure that was the last time they would see Doc. They thought that was the end of their friend Jim.
"But after several minutes passed, Jim emerged from the smoke and fire carrying yet another soldier."
When he lifted the soldier on a medevac helicopter, his lieutenant ordered Jim to get in too.
"'Get in! He said. Get in!' But Jim refused. He said 'you are going to need me here,'" Trump said. "As Jim now says 'I would have rather died on the battlefield then know that men died because they did not have a medic.'"
On May 14, McCloughan's platoon was again ordered to advance. He was wounded a second time by small arms fire and shrapnel from an RPG while helping two wounded soldiers, the citation states.
In the final phases of the attack, two companies from the 2nd North Vietnamese Army Division and an element of 700 soldiers from a Viet Cong regiment descended upon Charlie Company's position on three sides.
McCloughan "went into the crossfire numerous times throughout the battle to extract the wounded soldiers, according to the citation. "His relentless and courageous actions inspired and motivated his comrades to fight for their survival."
When supplies ran low, McCloughan volunteered to hold a blinking strobe light in an open area as a marker for a nighttime resupply drop.
"He remained steadfast while bullets landed all around him and rocket propelled grenades flew over his prone, exposed body," according to the citation. "During the morning darkness of May 15, Private 1st Class McCloughan knocked out a rocket propelled grenade position with a grenade, fought and eliminated enemy soldiers" and treated numerous casualties while organizing medevac helicopter runs.
When McCloughan was growing up, his "dad taught him a simple, but powerful lesson -- never do anything halfway, always do your best. Jim took that lesson very much to heart," Trump said.
"Jim did what his father had taught him. He gave it his all and then he just kept giving. In those 48 hours, Jim rescued 10 American soldiers and tended to countless others," Trump said. "He was one of 32 men who fought until the end. They held their ground against more than 2,000 enemy troops."
In the audience stood 10 of McCloughan's fellow soldiers, five whom McCloughan saved in the battle.
Trump called all of them by first name and thanked them for their sacrifice and service.
"Stand up, wherever you may be. Where are you?" Trump said. Applause filled the room as the men stood. Trump clapped loudly.
Trump hung the Medal of Honor around McCloughan's neck, shook his hand and hugged him.
"For over two centuries, our brave men and women in uniform have overcome tyranny, fascism, communism, and every threat to our freedom. Every single threat, they have overcome," Trump said.
"And we have overcome these threats because of titans like Jim, whose spirit could never be conquered. That's what this this award is, and Jim's life represents so well -- America's unbreakable spirit."
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/07/31/trump-moh-recipient-gave-his-all-then-he-just-kept-giving.html?ESRC=army-a_170802.nl
-
Four-year-old Texan welcomes National Guard troops with Old Glory
By Todd Starnes/Twitter
There have been some mighty heartbreaking photographs from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. But there have also been some mighty heartwarming photographs - images that demonstrate the state of our nation is still strong.
Contrary to what you may see on cable television news or read in the big city newspapers -- we are a united people -- one nation under God.
The other day the National Guard showed up in Richmond, Texas and a four-year-old boy was there to greet troops -- standing in the floodwaters, holding an American flag.
"My little man met some real superheroes this morning," Wes Claburn wrote on Facebook.
The picture of the little patriot has been shared from coast to coast.
"He was simply just showing support to the soldiers that were helping our neighbors," Emily Claburn told the Houston Chronicle. "He also offered to give the soldiers his favorite Grave Digger monster truck to help others with the flood in a time of need. Our son truly has a heart as big as Texas, and we are so blessed."
God bless Texas, America.
(https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p526x296/21150317_10212200300821601_636285719757919857_n.jpg?oh=a9efa5ae4f57a90722ff2157d6453c48&oe=5A604958)
My little man met some real super heroes this morning. We are doing great. Still have power and water. Please continue to pray for the people of Houston.
https://www.toddstarnes.com/column/four-year-old-texan-welcomes-national-guard-troops-with-old-glory
-
One of nation’s oldest vets honored on 111th birthday
Associated Press
May 12, 2017
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1a667cc482cdce342f51e8cfd6d516e2274536f3/c=0-76-3474-2682&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2017/05/12/DetroitNews/B99532020Z.1_20170512100110_000_G1B1FNNQE.2-0.jpg)
Richard Overton
(Photo: Darren Abate / AP)
Austin, Texas — One of the nation’s oldest veterans has been celebrated by his Texas hometown on his 111th birthday.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared Thursday Richard Overton Day in the city and also gave the street he has lived on for the past 45 years the honorary name of Richard Overton Avenue.
While Overton concedes that 111 is “pretty old,” he tells KVUE-TV he still feels good. Overton mentioned that the secret to a long life is smoking cigars and drinking whiskey, two things he continues to indulge in today.
Overton was already in his 30s when he volunteered and served in the Army. He was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack.
In 2013, he was honored by President Barack Obama at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/12/vet-turns-older/101590360/
I love this guy. Just incredible that he gets around as he does, sharp as a tack, and he's a man who likes his whiskey and cigar and recognizes their value in life.
-
^ https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.89813/?loclr=blogflt
-
Hero Marine stole truck, drove Vegas shooting victims to hospital
Fox News
A U.S. Marine vet helped rescue more than a dozen people during the Las Vegas shooting attack Sunday with quick thinking he credited to his military training.
Taylor Winston, 29, stole a utility pickup truck he found on the concert grounds and transported several injured people to the hospital before ambulances could arrive on the scene, The Orange County Register reported.
Winston was reportedly at the concert with his girlfriend and friends when attacker Stephen Paddock began shooting at the crowd from his hotel room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nev., he told CBS News.
Police officers and medical personnel stand at the scene of a shooting near the Mandalay Bay resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, Oct. 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (AP Photo/John Locher) (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Paddock killed at least 58 people and injured more than 515 others in the shooting spree.
“The shots got louder and louder, closer to us and saw people getting hit, it was like we could be hit at any second,” Winston said. “It was a mini war zone but we couldn’t fight back.”
The vet said they ran for cover and hopped a fence to get to safety. Once he landed on the other side, he said he reportedly saw a bunch of white trucks.
“I tested my luck to see if any of them had keys in it, first one we tried opening had keys sitting right there,” he said. “I started looking for people to take to the hospital. There was just too many and it was overwhelming how much blood was everywhere.”
Follow
Boston 25 News ✔ @boston25
Veteran commandeers truck to save injured during Las Vegas shooting https://boston25.com/2xdutEn
7:07 AM - Oct 3, 2017
Photo published for Veteran commandeers truck to save injured during Las Vegas shooting
Veteran commandeers truck to save injured during Las Vegas shooting
A U.S. Marine Corps. veteran commandeered a truck he found Sunday while fleeing from a mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival in Las Vegas, using the vehicle to ferry dozens of...
fox25boston.com
5 5 Replies 9 9 Retweets 26 26 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
Winston and his friend reportedly made two trips to Desert Springs Hospital Medical Center, squeezing “probably 20 to 30” victims in the backseat and in the bed of the truck, CBS News said. When they returned to the shooting scene for a third pick up, he said it looked like emergency responders had it under control, The Orange County Register reported.
The vet reportedly returned the truck, parking it a few blocks away from the venue.
Winston, who served two tours in Iraq before being honorably discharged from the Marines, said he thought his military training helped him snap into action, CBS News reported.
But he added that there were a lot of “courageous people” on the scene helping each other out and said he was “glad that I could call them my country folk.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/10/03/hero-marine-stole-truck-drove-vegas-shooting-victims-to-hospital.html
-
One of nation’s oldest vets honored on 111th birthday
Associated Press
May 12, 2017
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1a667cc482cdce342f51e8cfd6d516e2274536f3/c=0-76-3474-2682&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2017/05/12/DetroitNews/B99532020Z.1_20170512100110_000_G1B1FNNQE.2-0.jpg)
Richard Overton
(Photo: Darren Abate / AP)
Austin, Texas — One of the nation’s oldest veterans has been celebrated by his Texas hometown on his 111th birthday.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared Thursday Richard Overton Day in the city and also gave the street he has lived on for the past 45 years the honorary name of Richard Overton Avenue.
While Overton concedes that 111 is “pretty old,” he tells KVUE-TV he still feels good. Overton mentioned that the secret to a long life is smoking cigars and drinking whiskey, two things he continues to indulge in today.
Overton was already in his 30s when he volunteered and served in the Army. He was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack.
In 2013, he was honored by President Barack Obama at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/12/vet-turns-older/101590360/
His great-grandfather was John Overton.
-
Trump Awards Medal of Honor to Vietnam Army Medic
(http://www.newsmax.com/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?guid=963a8931-7ccc-434c-9864-570937fa4905&SiteName=Newsmax&maxsidesize=600)
Image: Trump Awards Medal of Honor to Vietnam Army Medic
(Saul Loeb/Getty Images)
By Jason Devaney | Monday, 23 Oct 2017
President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Honor Monday to a retired Army captain who served as a medic during the Vietnam War.
During a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Trump presented Capt. Gary Michael Rose of Huntsville, Alabama with the nation's highest military decoration.
The 70-year-old Rose was a medic with the 5th Special Forces Group in September 1970 when he risked his life numerous times to help others during a four-day mission called Operation Tailwind. It's believed that Rose saved as many as 70 soldiers as he dodged bullets and pulled them out of the line of fire and out of a crashed helicopter. During the mission, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded near him and left a large wound on his foot, which left him hobbling as he continued to save lives.
Trump spoke about Rose's bravery during the ceremony.
"By the time they reached the base, Mike was covered in blood," Trump said. "He refused treatment until all of his men had been cared for first. In every action during those four days, Mike valiantly fought for the life of his comrades even if it meant the end of his own life.
"Mike … your will to endure, your love for your fellow soldier, your devotion to your country inspires us all."
Rose, who went on to serve another 20 years in the Army after his 1970 heroics, was the second person Trump has awarded the Medal of Honor. In July, Vietnam War Army medic James McCloughan was bestowed the award.
More than 3,500 Medals of Honor have been given out.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/donald-trump-awards-medal-of-honor-vietnam/2017/10/23/id/821598/
-
Senior Pentagon soldier to ISIS: Surrender or get beaten with entrenchment tool
By Lucia I. Suarez Sang | Fox News
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2018/01/11/senior-pentagon-soldier-to-isis-surrender-or-get-beaten-with-entrenchment-tool/_jcr_content/par/featured_image/media-0.img.jpg/931/524/1515693383055.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell issued a blunt warning to ISIS militant fighters. (US Army/Facebook)
The Pentagon's senior enlisted member has drawn the line against ISIS: "surrender or die!"
In a blunt warning to the remaining ISIS fighters, Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell said the shrinking band of militants could either surrender to the U.S. military or face death.
“ISIS needs to understand that the Joint Force is on orders to annihilate them,” he wrote in a forceful message on Facebook. “So they have two options, should they decide to come up against the United States, our allies and partners: surrender or die!”
Troxell said the U.S.-led military coalition would provide them safety in the form of a detainee cell, food, a bed and due process if they give themselves up.
"If they choose not to surrender, then we will kill them with extreme prejudice...by dropping bombs on them, shooting them in the face, or beating them to death with our entrenching tools."
- Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Wayne Troxell
“However, if they choose not to surrender, then we will kill them with extreme prejudice, whether that be through security force assistance, by dropping bombs on them, shooting them in the face, or beating them to death with our entrenching tools,” he continued. “Regardless, they cannot win, so they need to choose what it’s going to be.”
The post was shared Tuesday evening along with a photo of an entrenchment tool – a collapsible shovel used by the U.S. military. It also included the hashtag #ISIS_SurrenderOrDie.
The Facebook post doesn't appear to be Troxell’s first time warning ISIS about the U.S. military’s intentions with entrenching tools if the terrorists don't give up.
During a stop in Afghanistan on a United Services Organization holiday tour last month, Troxell delivered a speech in which he said ISIS will be “annihilated, period!”
Chad Garland
✔
@chadgarland
Get your E-tools ready.
9:53 AM - Dec 24, 2017
17 17 Replies 29 29 Retweets 73 73 likes
Twitter Ads info and privacy
“That may be through advising, assisting and enabling the host-nation partners,” he said in a video recorded by a Stars and Stripes reporter. “It may be by dropping bombs on them. It may be by shooting them in the face. And it even might be beating them to death with your entrenching tool, but we are going to beat this enemy!”
Marine Gen. Joseph R. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Florent Groberg, a Medal of Honor recipient, were in attendance at the event.
As senior enlisted member, Troxell is assigned to serve as a voice for enlisted service members at the Pentagon, the Washington Post reported.
Air Force Col. Patrick Ryder, a spokesman for Dunford and the Joint Staff, told the Post that Troxell’s comments emphasized the U.S.-led coalition’s resolve to defeat ISIS.
“His intent was to communicate the tenacity of the warrior ethos that, even when faced with the brutal and unforgiving nature of combat, will use every resource available to fight and win,” Ryder said of Troxell.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/01/11/senior-pentagon-soldier-to-isis-surrender-or-get-beaten-with-entrenchment-tool.html
-
The incredible career of Jim Mattis, the legendary Marine general turned defense secretary
Ben Brimelow
Jan. 15, 2018
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57ba95a75e2062138b4e63-960-480.jpg)
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Ukraine's Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak walk past honour guards during a welcoming ceremony in Kiev, Ukraine August 24, 2017. Gleb Garanich/Reuters
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has achieved a legendary status on par with the heroes of the US Military's past.
Stories of his achievements and sayings are told in the same way that Patton, Pershing, Marshall, and MacArthur. He is widely viewed as above politics — a man dedicated to his job and his country.
In his 44 years of service, Mattis rose through the ranks of the military to the very top. He has received numerous colorful nicknames — most notably "Mad Dog" and "Warrior Monk" — and made a number of memorable statements that will likely be quoted by service members for a long time to come.
Take a look at the life and career of the Warrior Monk:
James Norman Mattis was born September 8, 1950, in Pullman, Washington.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57df2c28eecc6c0f8b459e-960-720.jpg)
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis. REUTERS/Edgard Garrido
Mattis enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves when he was 18 years old in 1969. He was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduating from Central Washington University with a history degree in 1971.
Mattis enlisted in the United States Marine Corps Reserves when he was 18 years old in 1969. He was commissioned a second lieutenant after graduating from Central Washington University with a history degree in 1971.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57e0ea28eecc120f8b45c8-960-720.jpg)
United States Marine General James N. Mattis at the American military compound at Kandahar Airport January 14, 2002 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Mario Tama/Getty Images
Mattis saw his first action as a lieutenant colonel in Operation Desert Shield in 1990.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57945ea75e2056398b4a83-750-786.png)
The Battle plan for southern Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. The First Marine Division, which Mattis' unit was apart of, is second from the right. Wikimedia commons
Then-lieutenant colonel Mattis lead the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (the same unit as legendary Marine Lewis "Chesty" Puller) during combat operations for the liberation of Kuwait from Saddam Hussein.
Then-lieutenant colonel Mattis lead the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (the same unit as legendary Marine Lewis
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57cc9b28eecc2c038b45ee-960-720.jpg)
US Marine armored vehicles kick up a storm of sand as they make their way through the Saudi Arabian desert , Jan. 20, 1991. Associated Press/Laurent Rebours
Dubbed "Task Force Ripper," the unit led the First Marine Division straight into Kuwait City, and took part in the Battle of Kuwait International Airport.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57d79428eecc26008b4737-750-562.png)
Tom Brokow interviews Lt. Col. Jim Mattis during Operation Desert Shield, August 21, 1990. Screenshot via YouTube
Mattis was promoted to colonel, then brigadier general, and eventually became involved in the early planning and fighting of the Afghanistan War following 9/11.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a56aa2a25954c9c388b48e1-960-720.jpg)
Brigadier General James Mattis talks with Marines of the 15th and 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit prior to their departing in a 40 plus vehicle convoy from a staging area to take control of the airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 14, 2001. Associated Press
Under the call sign "CHAOS," an acronym for "Colonel Has An Outstanding Solution," Mattis took a direct approach in combat, and fought on the frontlines on southern Afghanistan with his Marines.
Under the call sign
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57cc8028eecc1e008b4660-960-720.jpg)
Brig. Gen. James Mattis carries his packs into the Kandahar International Airport, which he was responsible for taking over, Kandahar, Afghanistan, December 14, 2001. Associated Press
In 2005, he made controversial statements about his time in Afghanistan:
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57caf528eecc1d008b461b-960-720.jpg)
Brig. Gen. James Mattis talks with his officers of the 15th and 26th Marine Expeditionary Units during a briefing at Kandahar airport, part of Camp Rhino, December 12, 2001. Associated Press
"You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn't wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain't got no manhood left anyway. So it's a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them. Actually it's quite fun to fight them, you know. It's a hell of a hoot. It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up there with you. I like brawling."
Major General Mattis was in charge of the entire First Marine Division during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 — commanding some 20,000 Marines.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57bd2a25954cac038b4e89-960-720.jpg)
Maj. Gen Jim Mattis answers questions at a news conference at the Division 1 main headquarters outside of Baghdad Tuesday, April 8, 2003. Associated Press
Mattis made sure that his Marines achieved their tasks swiftly. When one of his subordinates stalled the Marines' advance at the Battle of Nasiriyah, Mattis relieved him of command and, in an emphatic move, forced him to empty his sidearm of ammunition.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57da5df4214929008b476b-960-720.jpg)
U.S. Marines from the 15th Expeditionary Unit make their way in the desert near the southern city of Nasiriyah, Iraq, March 30, 2003. Associated Press
Mattis was a key actor in the first and second Battles of Fallujah, some of the bloodiest actions in the war.
US Marines try to push into the center of Fallujah, Iraq, November 12, 2004. Associated Press
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57d120f421491f008b46cb-960-720.jpg)
The "Mad Dog's" mission in Iraq continued well past 2003, as he was involved in the stabilization campaign.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a579f4725954c610f8b4cfb-960-720.jpg)
via Dvidshub
After the invasion, Mattis sent the First Marine Division's tanks and artillery back to the US. He then told Iraqi military leaders in a meeting: "I come in peace. I didn't bring artillery. But I'm pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If you f--- with me, I'll kill you all."
After the invasion, Mattis sent the First Marine Division's tanks and artillery back to the US. He then told Iraqi military leaders in a meeting:
Mattis speaks to the media in Fallujah, Iraqi Wednesday April 14, 2004. Associated Press
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57d33028eecc31008b46b8-960-720.jpg)
Later on, Mattis said something similar: "We've backed off in good faith to try and give you a chance to straighten this problem out. But I am going to beg with you for a minute. I'm going to plead with you, do not cross us. Because if you do, the survivors will write about what we do here for 10,000 years."
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/584203d0e02ba738018b75cf-750-562.jpg)
Later on, Mattis said something similar:
US Marine Corps
General Mattis became the source of words to live by in the military.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/571ad3b852bcd029008be833-640-480.jpg)
Retired US Marine Corps four-star Gen. James Mattis. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
Here's some of his most notable phrases:
"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet."
"The most important six inches on the battlefield is between your ears."
"Don't create more enemies than you take out by some immoral act."
"You cannot allow any of your people to avoid the brutal facts. If they start living in a dream world, it's going to be bad."
And a rather odd one: "Powerpoint makes us stupid."
Mattis then held other high-level roles, like NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, and the Commander of United States Central Command.
Mattis then held other high-level roles, like NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command, and the Commander of United States Central Command.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57a380a75e201f008b4f70-960-720.jpg)
Mattis as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Wikimedia commons
Mattis' commands saw him take direct charge over a number of different operations:
As NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, he was tasked with implementing new standards, tactics, and concepts into the Alliance's militaries. He had similar tasks as commander of US Joint Forces Command — though only for the US Military's five branches.
As Commander of United States Central Command (USCC), he oversaw operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as parts of Syria, Iran, and Yemen.
The Obama White House apparently did not place much trust in Mattis, believing him to be too hawkish, especially on Iran. Nevertheless, he served as Commander of USCC until his retirement in 2013.
Just three years after retirement, Mattis became secretary of defense.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/584ad81eca7f0c78048b4869-960-720.jpg)
Donald Trump at a rally with James Mattis, his pick for defense secretary. AP
General Mattis was newly elected President Donald Trump's candidate to lead the Defense Department. He was confirmed in the Senate by a vote of 98-1.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57e56e28eecc1b0f8b45d3-960-720.jpg)
As secretary of defense, Mattis has focused his efforts on the fight against ISIS, the nuclear threat from North Korea, and stabilizing Afghanistan.
South Korea's Defence Minister Han Min-koo shows U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Japan's Defence Minister Tomomi Inada how to do a handshake during a trilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 16th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Edgar Su
He has frequently allied himself with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57e48df42149ab008b47c2-960-720.jpg)
Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrive to brief the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the ongoing fight against the Islamic State on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., August 2, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein
He often seems to care little for politics. During a visit to troops stationed overseas, he told soldiers to "hold the line until our country gets back to understanding and respecting each other and showing it.”
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5923631b63914720008b5994-960-720.jpg)
He often seems to care little for politics. During a visit to troops stationed overseas, he told soldiers to
Secretary of Defense James Mattis Yuri Gripas/Reuters
His time in Washington has not eroded his wit or attitude:
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5a57d542f421493e028b46b4-960-480.png)
Secretary Mattis during his interview with "Face the Nation." NTK Network/YouTube
In an interview on CBS "Face The Nation," host John Dickerson asked, "What keeps you awake at night?"
The Mad Dog responded almost instantly and in true Mattis fashion:
"Nothing. I keep other people awake at night."
Mattis has become an icon, as this photo that was posted by the Marine Corps Special Operations Command official Facebook shows:
(https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5841a746e02ba738018b737d-960-960.jpg)
Reddit
The image also had this written under it:
Hail Mattis.
Full of hate.
Our troops stand with thee.
Blessed art thou among enlisted.
And blessed is the fruit of thy knife hand.
Holy Mattis, father of War,
Pray for us heathen
Now and at the hour of combat.
Amen.
http://www.businessinsider.com/james-mattis-defense-secretary-career-biography-2018-1
-
Trump to award Medal of Honor to deceased WWII veteran
By Samuel Chamberlain | Fox News
(http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnews.com/content/fox-news/us/2018/03/29/trump-to-honor-deceased-wwii-veteran-with-medal-honor/_jcr_content/par/featured_image/media-0.img.png/1862/1048/1522372756334.png?ve=1&tl=1)
U.S. Army Lt. Garlin Murl Conner is seen in this undated photo. (AP Photo/Courtesy Conner Family Attorney)
President Trump will posthumously award the Medal of Honor to a World War II veteran for gallantry shown as an Army intelligence officer during the final months of the war, the White House said Thursday.
Trump will honor then-1st Lt. Garlin Conner posthumously for his actions on Jan. 24, 1945. According to the White House, Conner left a position of relative safety to get in a better position "to direct artillery fire onto the assaulting enemy infantry and armor."
Conner remained in an exposed position for three hours, despite the enemy coming within five yards of his position and friendly artillery shells exploding around him.
According to Military.com, Conner's heroism took place during a battle near Houssen, in northeastern France. The website reported that Conner had received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in that battle.
According to a citation for the Distinguished Service Cross, Conner "was individually credited with stopping more than 150 Germans, destroying all [six German] tanks and completely disintegrating the powerful enemy assault force and preventing heavy loss of life in his own outfit."
Conner, a Kentucky native, enlisted in the Army in March 1941 and saw combat in North Africa, Sicily and Western Europe during World War II. In all, Conner received four Silver Stars, one Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts in addition to the Distinguished Service Cross. He died in 1998, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Conner's wife and family will join Trump at the White House for the medal ceremony. A date has not been set.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/03/29/trump-to-award-medal-honor-to-deceased-wwii-veteran.html
-
Ranger’s heroic actions saved dozens, led to Silver Star medal
By: Todd South
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/1lx0Q_Hxpe8Iku25_Brs8RCb1Lc=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/I24FD7VNJNEGRO3Y7OET2Z4DJ4.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Michael Young was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions in April 2017 on a raid with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. (Spc. David Soflin/Army)
Army Staff Sgt. Michael Young was in the middle of his fifth combat deployment to Afghanistan last year when he and his fellow Rangers found themselves in an “terrifyingly chaotic” firefight from the moment they hit the ground that would last for hours.
They were working alongside their Afghan counterparts on a nighttime raid after a high- value target, Young said.
What Young, a squad leader in C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, did next would save the lives of 22 Rangers and result in his being awarded the Silver Star medal on Friday at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The 28-year-old Savannah, Georgia native was no stranger to the Ranger community growing up near the home of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/fiUs4FH2aLpDCcj03jyQDQ1FMEQ=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/WR7MEZANJVCXHIZXTBWPNQSIFU.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Michael Young, right, was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions in April 2017 on a raid with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. (Spc. David Soflin/Army) Staff Sgt. Michael Young, right, was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions in April 2017 on a raid with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. (Spc. David Soflin/Army)
From high school onward, his goal was to be a Ranger. That was achieved shortly after he enlisted in 2011 and soon joined the regiment.
The battalion had deployed in January 2017 to “various locations around the world to conduct counterterrorism operations.” The battalion’s primary mission was “dismantling terror threat networks and continuing to legitimize the governments of Afghanistan and other middle eastern countries.”
The Friday ceremony honored not only Young but also eight soldiers who received the Bronze Star for valor and 14 soldiers who were awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal for Valor.
Young’s team was operating in Nangarhar province at the time of the raid.
On April 27, 2017, the strike force “received intense and precise enemy fire simultaneously from multiple covered positions in all directions immediately upon a helicopter insertion,” read his Silver Star medal citation.
Seeing the threat, Young “aggressively exposed himself to direct fires to eliminate the enemy and protect the force.”
He clambered up to the highest elevation point he could find, marked his position for the strike force and began reporting enemy positions for fire missions to knock out enemy targets.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/R6EvET4WcPlCrygFrzsvuY_EEew=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/2FVPRAFLA5BEREKMJOETPQ4VNU.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Michael Young, second from left, was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions in April 2017 on a raid with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Shown from left are 3/75 Command Sgt. Maj. Brett Johnson; Young; Lt. Gen. Austin S. Miller, commander of Joint Special Operations Command; and Lt. Col. Michael Kloepper, commander of 3rd Ranger Battalion. (Spc. David Soflin/Army) Staff Sgt. Michael Young, second from left, was awarded the Silver Star medal for his actions in April 2017 on a raid with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Shown from left are 3/75 Command Sgt. Maj. Brett Johnson; Young; Lt. Gen. Austin S. Miller, commander of Joint Special Operations Command; and Lt. Col. Michael Kloepper, commander of 3rd Ranger Battalion. (Spc. David Soflin/Army)
The ensuing four-hour firefight only rose in intensity, lasting into the night, Young said.
He and his element were cut off from the rest of the strike force but Young continued to expose himself to fire, calling in several “danger close” engagements to call in air bombardments. That allowed the medical evacuation helicopter to insert and retrieve two urgent surgical patients.
The staff sergeant said though not all the Rangers in the deployment nor the raid were presented with official awards, their efforts enabled him to do his job and vice versa.
He called their work “monumental” and said the deployment’s success was a testament to the regiment and how it trains.
“The training we conduct is always tough and gritty,” he said, and constant assessment allows them to maintain a high level of efficiency.
“It really showed itself in that situation and every situation,” Young said.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/04/13/rangers-heroic-actions-saved-dozens-led-to-silver-star-medal/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow
-
Remains of Green Beret missing since 1971 to be buried in Texas
By: The Associated Press
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/A3ZE49jhKS_KekkQNImdst-hrcE=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LY3VV37IMVB5FK7R4YQFGN7BVQ.jpg)
Army Maj. Donald G. Carr, of San Antonio, Texas. The remains of Carr who was missing in action since 1971 have been recovered and a service will be Friday, May 11, 2018, for the Vietnam War veteran. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency via AP)
SAN ANTONIO — The remains of a Green Beret from Texas who was missing in action since 1971 have been recovered and a service will be held Friday for the Vietnam War veteran.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on Monday announced the remains of 32-year-old Army Maj. Donald G. Carr of San Antonio are being returned to his family. Burial will be at San Antonio National Cemetery.
Records show Carr on July 6, 1971, was on a reconnaissance flight when the plane crashed during bad weather. A ground team failed to immediately locate the crash site.
Carr was declared missing in action.
In April 2014, a Vietnamese citizen contacted U.S. officials about possible American remains found in Kon Tum Province. The wreckage yielded personal items from Carr, who also was identified through DNA.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/05/07/remains-of-green-beret-missing-since-1971-to-be-buried-in-texas/
-
World War II veteran posthumously honored with Purple Heart
Travis Fedschun By Travis Fedschun | Fox News
Private First Class Raul Herrera was awarded the Purple Heart over forty years after his service.
A military family in Texas received a special honor on Saturday for their loved one who was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart medal.
Army Private First Class Raul Herrera Sr. served in World War II and passed away in 1992, but never received the Purple Heart for his wounds endured in service.
"He was awarded a bronze star, received his bronze star but he was never awarded a Purple Heart," Col. Rojelio Herrera Jr., his son, told FOX San Antonio.
Herrera Jr. told KENS5 his father was wounded in 1944 when he faced enemy fire while delivering much-needed supplies and ammunition to fellow soldiers. His father sprinted through dangerous territory multiple times to secure the items.
(http://a57.foxnews.com/media2.foxnews.com/BrightCove/694940094001/2018/05/28/0/0/694940094001_5790512035001_5790513438001-vs.jpg?ve=1)
Private First Class Raul Herrera was awarded the Purple Heart over forty years after his service. (FOX San Antonio )
"He got wounded in the hand," Herrera Jr. told KENS5 We're not sure how bad because he went to an aid station or he got treated and he continued on, never left the unit."
Herrera's other son, Raul, told FOX San Antonio it may have been for a variety of reasons.
"Back in the 70s there was a fire at the St. Louis repository for military records and a lot of the records were burnt, so part of dad's file was also charred," he said.
Family members from Los Angeles and Chicago gathered in San Antonio on Saturday as part of the presentation of the Purple Heart. Many of the family members, including Herrera's sons, served in the armed forces.
"It was something that my dad deserved,” Herrera Jr., himself a Vietnam veteran, told KENS5. “And to know that the system works and that he finally got it is very rewarding. I wish he were actually here.”
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/05/28/world-war-ii-veteran-posthumously-honored-with-purple-heart.html
-
-
(https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/37648687_1988189424565442_5901580438194880512_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=df349003d7bd416c2d582c27dc70bc37&oe=5BDDEAE1)
-
The 300th Marine is bestowed Medal of Honor, for ‘unmatched bravery' in Hue City
By: Shawn Snow
(https://s.newsweek.com/sites/www.newsweek.com/files/styles/full/public/2018/10/17/medal-honor-john-l.-canley-donald-trump.jpg)
Watch the moment President Trump bestows the Medal of Honor on Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley, who as a gunny saved many lives in Vietnam.
President Donald Trump bestowed the nation’s highest award for combat valor, the Medal of Honor, to Marine Ret. Sgt. Maj. John Canley at a White House ceremony on Wednesday.
The award was presented to Canley nearly 50 years after his heroic feat at the infamous battle of Hue City, Vietnam, that cost the lives of hundreds American service members.
“Fifty years ago, an American Marine fought with unmatched bravery in one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War: the battle of Hue City. The name of that Marine is Sgt. Maj. John Canley,” Trump said during the award ceremony.
Then-Gunnery Sgt. Canley, was thrust into leading his Alpha company Marines at the outset of the battle after his company commander was severely wounded.
From January 31 to February 6, 1968, Canley spearheaded and defended his men from enemy attacks, and exposed himself to deadly machine gun and rocket fire from North Vietnamese Army soldiers who assaulted the urban stronghold during the Tet Offensive.
On multiple occasions, Canley ran into intense enemy fire to rescue wounded Marines.
During once such occasion on February 6, 1968, the gunny scaled a hospital compound wall twice in full sight of the enemy to rescue fallen comrades.
Throughout the harrowing seven days of intense combat, Canley saved the lives of nearly twenty Marines despite sustaining serious injuries, Trump said.
For his heroic actions, Canley was originally awarded the Navy Cross, the nation’s second highest award for combat valor.
Marines who served under Canley during the Hue City, like former Pfc. John Ligato, pushed a nearly 13 year endeavor to upgrade the gunny’s award.
“We’d all be dead if it wasn’t for the gunny,” said Ligato, who served under Canley at Hue City.
Canley took care of his Marines, rarely slept during the battle, and single-handedly repelled multiple attacks “literally charging machine gun positions with law rockets and hand grenades,” Ligato described.
Marines who served with the gunny have described him as fearless. Canley at times could be seen casually moving through intense enemy fire to aid his fellow comrades.
“Everybody had a story about him,” Eddie Neas, who was a 19-year-old lance corporal and machine gunner in Alpha company.
The gunny was known for leading from the front and setting the example.
“When the sh*t hit the fan ... men like Gunny Canley were already up in front with you,” Neas said.
The intense urban battle at Hue City is hallowed battle ground for the Corps. Lessons learned from the bloody street to street battle are still imparted onto Marines today.
“I am accepting this on behalf of all the Marines I had the honor of serving with in Vietnam and who continue to be an inspiration to me every day,” Canley said in a press release. “Their bravery and sacrifice is unparalleled."
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/10/17/the-300th-marine-is-bestowed-the-highest-combat-valor-award-for-unmatched-bravery-in-hue-city/?utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR1i8x2agPFAu3uE8VdDEqamjHEZhCUDpws3ctrZ1PrjSMckcP6T0OmBemI
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audie_Murphy
Audie Murphy
Audie Murphy photographed in 1948 wearing the U.S. Army khaki "Class A" (tropical service) uniform with full-size medals.
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e8/Audie_Murphy.jpg/800px-Audie_Murphy.jpg)
Birth name Audie Leon Murphy
Born 20 June 1925
Kingston, Texas, U.S.
Died 28 May 1971 (aged 45)
Brush Mountain, near Catawba, Craig County, Virginia, U.S.
Buried Arlington National Cemetery
Allegiance United States
Years of service
1942–45 (U.S. Army)
1950–66 (Texas Army National Guard)
1966–69 (U.S. Army Reserves)
Rank
US-O2 insignia.svg First Lieutenant (U.S.)
Major insignia.png Major (Texas Army National Guard)
Service number
18083707 (as enlisted man)[1]
01692509 (as officer)[2][1]
Unit
15th Infantry Regiment
3rd Infantry Division (US)
36th Infantry Division (Texas Army National Guard)
Battles/wars
World War II
Tunisia Sicily Naples-Foggia Anzio Rome-Arno Southern France Ardennes-Alsace Rhineland Central Europe
Awards
Medal of Honor ribbon.svg Medal of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross ribbon.svg Distinguished Service Cross
Silver Star Medal ribbon.svg Silver Star Medal (2)
Legion of Merit ribbon.svg Legion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal ribbon.svg Bronze Star (2, 1 "V" device)
Purple Heart ribbon.svg Purple Heart (3)
Army Good Conduct Medal ribbon.svg Army Good Conduct Medal
U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force Presidential Unit Citation ribbon.svg Distinguished Unit Citation (2)
American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (9 campaigns, arrowhead device)
World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg World War II Victory Medal
Army of Occupation ribbon.svg Army of Occupation Medal with Germany clasp
Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg French Legion of Honour (grade of Chevalier)
Ruban de la croix de guerre 1939-1945.PNG French Croix de Guerre with silver star
Croix de guerre 1939-1945 with palm (France) - ribbon bar.png French Croix de Guerre with palm (3)
Croix de Guerre 1940-1945 with palm (Belgium) - ribbon bar.png Belgian Croix de Guerre with palm
Fourragère CG.png French fourragère in colors of the Croix de Guerre
Combat Infantry Badge.svg Combat Infantryman Badge
Markesman Weapons Qual Badge.png Marksman Badge with Rifle Component Bar
ArmyQualExpert.JPG Expert Badge with Bayonet Component Bar
USA - Army Outstanding Civilian Service Award.png Outstanding Civilian Service Medal
Texas Legislative Medal of Honor Ribbon.svg Texas Legislative Medal of Honor
Other work Actor, songwriter, rancher
Signature Audie Murphy
Website Audie L. Murphy
Audie Leon Murphy (20 June 1925 – 28 May 1971) was one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II. He received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off an entire company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, then leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition. Murphy was born into a large family of sharecroppers in Hunt County, Texas. His father abandoned them, and his mother died when he was a teenager. Murphy left school in fifth grade to pick cotton and find other work to help support his family; his skill with a hunting rifle helped feed his family.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Murphy's older sister helped him to falsify documentation about his birthdate in order to meet the minimum-age requirement for enlisting in the military. Turned down by the Navy and the Marine Corps, he enlisted in the Army. He first saw action in the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily; then in 1944 he participated in the Battle of Anzio, the liberation of Rome, and the invasion of southern France. Murphy fought at Montélimar and led his men on a successful assault at the L'Omet quarry near Cleurie in northeastern France in October.
After the war, Murphy embarked on a 21-year acting career. He played himself in the 1955 autobiographical film To Hell and Back, based on his 1949 memoirs of the same name, but most of his roles were in westerns. He made guest appearances on celebrity television shows and starred in the series Whispering Smith. Murphy was a fairly accomplished songwriter. He bred quarter horses in California and Arizona, and became a regular participant in horse racing.
Suffering from what would today be described as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Murphy slept with a loaded handgun under his pillow. He looked for solace in addictive sleeping pills. In his last few years, he was plagued by money problems but refused offers to appear in alcohol and cigarette commercials because he did not want to set a bad example. Murphy died in a plane crash in Virginia in 1971, which was shortly before his 46th birthday. He was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, where his grave is one of the most visited.
-
Wish I could shake this man's hand.
Oldest known WWII veteran honored at Arlington ceremony
Published November 11, 2013
FoxNews.com
(http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/Politics/876/493/overton_richard_111113.jpg?ve=1)
Richard Overton, the oldest living WWII veteran, listens during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.AP
The oldest known veteran of World War II was honored with a thunderous standing ovation during a ceremony Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, as President Obama and the rest of the nation paid tribute to 107-year-old Richard Overton's service.
The tribute to Overton was a stand-out moment at Monday's Veterans Day ceremonies, as details emerged about Overton's visit. Earlier in the day, the Texas man met with Obama and Vice President Biden, along with other veterans, during a White House breakfast.
"This is the life of one American veteran, living proud and strong in the land he helped keep free," Obama said during the ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
Though he uses a wheelchair, Overton can still stand -- and did so, as the crowd applauded his service.
Overton served in the Pacific during World War II, and Obama regaled the audience with his accomplishments. "He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battleships were still smoldering. He was there at Okinawa. He was there at Iwo Jima," Obama said.
When he returned from the war, Overton went back to Texas, where he built a house for him and his wife -- the house he still lives in today. The president said Overton still rakes his own lawn, and still drives ladies in his neighborhood to church every Sunday.
According to a profile on Overton in USA Today, his attendance at Monday's ceremony was set up after Overton visited the World War II Memorial and Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial as part of an Honor Flight Austin trip back in May. Overton reportedly wondered what it would be like to meet the president, and the visit was later arranged.
During the war, Overton was a member of the Army's 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion and reportedly volunteered for service.
He attributes his longevity in part to drinking a tablespoon of whiskey in his coffee and smoking a dozen cigars a day, according to the article.
Obama used his remarks Monday to remind the nation that thousands of service members are still at war in Afghanistan. The war is expected to formally conclude at the end of next year, though the U.S. may keep a small footprint in the country.
As the Afghan war comes to a close, Obama said the nation has a responsibility to ensure that the returning troops are the "best cared-for and best respected veterans in the world." The country's obligations to those who served "endure long after the battle ends," he said.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/11/obama-honors-veterans-at-wreath-laying-breakfast/
One of nation’s oldest vets honored on 111th birthday
Associated Press
May 12, 2017
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/1a667cc482cdce342f51e8cfd6d516e2274536f3/c=0-76-3474-2682&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/2017/05/12/DetroitNews/B99532020Z.1_20170512100110_000_G1B1FNNQE.2-0.jpg)
Richard Overton
(Photo: Darren Abate / AP)
Austin, Texas — One of the nation’s oldest veterans has been celebrated by his Texas hometown on his 111th birthday.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared Thursday Richard Overton Day in the city and also gave the street he has lived on for the past 45 years the honorary name of Richard Overton Avenue.
While Overton concedes that 111 is “pretty old,” he tells KVUE-TV he still feels good. Overton mentioned that the secret to a long life is smoking cigars and drinking whiskey, two things he continues to indulge in today.
Overton was already in his 30s when he volunteered and served in the Army. He was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack.
In 2013, he was honored by President Barack Obama at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2017/05/12/vet-turns-older/101590360/
Nation’s oldest World War II vet dies at age 112
By: The Associated Press
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/yZ-J9asNp_LOiLC1liDtAQUICbE=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/U6MRYNKX4ZDQNNQQ5RSSVMI2NY.jpg)
In this March 23, 2017, file photo, Richard Overton leaves the court after a special presentation honoring him as the oldest living American war veteran, during a timeout in an NBA basketball game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs. The Army veteran died Dec. 27, 2018, at a rehab facility in Austin. (Darren Abate/AP)
AUSTIN, Texas — A family member says the nation’s oldest World War II veteran who was also believed to be oldest living man in the U.S. has died in Texas.
Richard Overton was 112. Shirley Overton, whose husband was Richard’s cousin, says the Army veteran died Thursday evening at a rehab facility in Austin.
Overton had been recently hospitalized with pneumonia.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler declared Thursday Richard Overton Day in the city and also gave the street he has lived on for the past 45 years the honorary name of Richard Overton Avenue.
By: Associated Press
Overton was in his 30s when he volunteered for the Army and was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese attack in 1941. He once said that one secret to his long life was smoking cigars and drinking whiskey, which he often was found doing on the porch of his Austin home.
In 2013, he was honored by former President Barack Obama at a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
https://www.militarytimes.com/veterans/2018/12/28/nations-oldest-world-war-ii-vet-dies-at-age-112/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&fbclid=IwAR0gxJo9t7Nfv4huHhSaGwIHkEeQIcQ8xuBBr3_e6FGur2pverfcAxENx04
-
Master Sgt. Chris Raguso died in a helicopter crash in Iraq. Here’s why his father thinks he didn’t die in vain.
By: Stephen Losey
December 18, 2018
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/0VKhCoec0nhqtoCRV-oIp7z0bUc=/2000x1125/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/26WB5VCXPRFZFLR2JJHJ3MLWEA.jpg)
Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso deployed to Texas in 2017 to respond to Hurricane Harvey. A flight engineer with the New York Air National Guard, Raguso died in a helicopter crash in Anbar province, Iraq in March. (Courtesy of Raguso family)
By all rights, Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso should have died in 2004 — 14 years before his helicopter went down in Iraq, killing everyone aboard, according to his dad.
In the tough, early days of the Iraq War’s insurgency, Raguso, a New York Air National Guardsman, was serving his first tour in Baghdad, said his father, John, in a Nov. 15 interview. He was near the powder keg of Sadr City, when the Mahdi army, an insurgent group, invaded his base. Raguso engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat, his father said. Then a mortar round landed 10 feet away.
It should have detonated and killed him, John said. But it didn’t.
The bad fuse on that mortar gave Chris 14 years of extra time, his dad said — and he made the most of every bit of it. He had the chance to fall in love and get married. To become a father to two beautiful girls. To fulfill his dream of becoming a firefighter and lieutenant with the New York City Fire Department. To keep fighting for his nation. And to save hundreds of lives around the world — both civilians and his fellow troops.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/8UYdW8cRXkqilpVsrh-tMLi0z2o=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/SGADFGBBAFDJTEM43NPPCS2VAU.JPG)
New York Air National Guard Master Sgt. Chris Raguso, shown here with his father, John, was also a lieutenant with the New York Fire Department. (Courtesy of the Raguso family)
Raguso and six other airmen died March 15 when their HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter crashed in western Iraq. It was the day after his 39th birthday.
Months after his son’s death, the hurt and anger John Raguso still feels is evident in his voice as he wrestles to understand why — and how to help the family his son left behind get through the holidays without their father for the first time.
“I ask myself, why the f*** would God kill this man, when all he did was help people and save people?” John Raguso, a charter boat captain who lives on Long Island, said. “Why not take a drug dealer? Why not take a slimeball politician, and make the world a better place?”
“This is the one thing in my life I can’t fix,” he continued. “I feel like Atlas, with the weight of the world — not only on my shoulders, but on my chest, all over my body. Every moment when I wake up, I feel this emptiness, this loss, this pressure, this insanity, this inconsolable grief. And I’m trying to put it in perspective.”
Raguso, from the Long Island town of Commack, was an HH-60G special missions aviation flight engineer, assigned to the 101st Rescue Squadron of the New York Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/S8JpX-SRZflGmSqeHs2nQvoc78I=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IH4M6ZAXO5HKPL3XJLJE2PHWPM.jpg)
President Donald Trump greets John Raguso on the tarmac upon his arrival Aug. 17 at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton, N.Y., for a fundraiser in the Hamptons. Chris Raguso's Air National Guard unit was based out of Gabreski. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
Tens of thousands turned out to honor him at his wake and funeral, lining the streets, waving flags as his casket made its way to his final resting place. He was lauded as a hero by President Trump and the Air Force, and remembered by the troops he fought alongside and whose lives he saved.
Early struggles
But John doesn’t romanticize his son’s early days. He remembers Chris as the young man who struggled with attention deficit disorder, which went undiagnosed until he was a high school sophomore.
Chris could be a “drama queen” in those days, his father said, laughing, and would pitch a fit when he didn’t get his way. He drifted through high school “like a leaf blowing in the wind,” started and stopped college a few times, and at first had a hard time figuring out his life’s path.
Things changed a year before 9/11. At the encouragement of John Raguso’s older brother Joe, a veteran officer in the New York Police Department, Chris took the test to become a policeman and did very well. But Chris instead announced at Joe’s retirement party that he had instead decided to become a firefighter — and had joined the Commack Volunteer Fire Department in New York.
John was surprised, and wasn’t sure how he would pull it off. But when Chris told him he realized he was meant to help other people and serve his community, John said he would support him as best as he could.
Years later, when Chris told his father he was going to go to flight school, John was again surprised and doubtful, given the way he struggled to focus with his ADD. But Chris was incredibly driven, and would figure out how to overcome any challenge that presented itself, his father said.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/juB_ebxZcnUHDfytzwKEItBhvMM=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/INWHARS4DBDGPFR2FUYLTVCJLQ.jpg)
Chris Raguso plays with Pumper, the fire station's mascot, in August 2003. (Courtesy of the Raguso family)
“You couldn’t set the bar too high, because he was going to find a way to beat it,” John said.
There was a three-year wait to get into the FDNY, so when a firefighting job opened up at the Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in New York, home of the 106th Rescue Wing, Chris jumped at the opportunity. He joined the Guard in June 2001, and John took pictures of him signing up.
About three months later, the nation was at war. Chris knew that he could be called upon to fight, and his family was concerned when he was deployed to Iraq in 2004 as a fire protection specialist with the 106th Civil Engineering Squadron. When Chris narrowly avoided that mortar during the firefight, John said his son realized he had been given a gift.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/ywyBXe8QwX0xJi0bn1ByiofB4kw=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/VLLXNIOWSFACHIYFRWQVA5LM3U.jpg)
Master Sgt. Christopher Raguso, an HH-60 Pave Hawk flight engineer with the New York Air National Guard, deployed with Navy SEALs to Somalia in 2015. (Courtesy of the Raguso family)
“He said, ‘Dad, a bunch of things happened out there, and I’m going to change my life a little bit,’” John said. “’I’m going to be the best first responder that I can be.’”
Shortly after returning home, he got the call from the FDNY. Since he had been in combat, John said, the FDNY made him a squad leader and put him in charge of 25 people. He chose the roughest, toughest part of New York — the most dangerous fire department assignment in Brooklyn, John said, where he responded to fire after fire.
“I can’t tell you how many times I was called at 3 o’clock in the morning to come pick him up at some hospital because a roof fell on him, or he fell down the stairs, or a wall fell on him, or he got burned,” John said. “He learned how to be an excellent fireman. … He was the first guy to run into every fire, [and] the last guy to come out.”
The Air Force offered to send Chris to helicopter school if he re-enlisted, and he signed up for six more years. He went to flight school, excelled at gunnery school because he was an expert marksman, went to mechanic school, and went to SERE, or survival, evasion, resistance and escape, school.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/dGj8Zlf0VXe4F7QA-0MIdT6E1d0=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/MPGPOIB4LFB3FO5FBSLGI2WASQ.jpg)
Chris and Carmela Raguso met in 2007, when he gave a lesson on fire prevention to the students at Carmela's school. (Courtesy of the Raguso family)
Finding a soul mate
Chris had a lot of girlfriends in his youth — “he was a very handsome man,” John said — but all that changed in 2007, when he met his future wife, Carmela. Raguso’s mother, Laura, worked at a special ed school where Carmela taught. Every few months, Chris would come in and teach a fire prevention class for the students there.
When he showed up to Carmela’s school in full firefighter gear, John said, it was love at first sight.
“When they met, they both knew that this was the soul mate they were waiting for all these years,” John said.
A year later, Chris was gearing up for his first deployment to Afghanistan at the end of 2008 — and everyone knew the danger. Chris and Carmela were married by a justice of the peace in December 2008, and after he returned the following April, they had a big church wedding.
The couple had two daughters — Mila, now 7, and 6-year-old Eva — and when asked what kind of a father Chris was, John said, “Way better than me.” (Although John thinks he himself was a pretty good dad to Chris.)
“He was like the iron fist in a velvet glove,” John said.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/OLhEb6z5aW9VONXBYgkFIf7xoPk=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/5CN5HL37BBENHMLNTTRIMT3ALQ.jpg)
Chris Raguso's daughters, Mila, left, and Eva, performed in a Christmas play in December 2017. Eva celebrated her 6th birthday Dec. 19, her first without her dad. (Courtesy of the Raguso family)
Doing the right thing
Chris saw a lot of action serving as a flight engineer in Afghanistan on that deployment, and helped save a lot of Marines — many of whom were severely wounded. There were also several who died in his arms, John said, which reinforced Chris’ belief that he was doing the right thing — what he was meant to do.
He again deployed to Afghanistan with the 101st Rescue Squadron, as well as to Somalia with Navy SEALs in 2015. He went to Houston to respond to Hurricane Harvey in 2017, where he and his team flew their helicopter, Rescue 1, for 14 hours a day, seven days straight, and saved 135 people. Two weeks later, after Hurricane Maria, he went to Puerto Rico and saved another 50 or 60 people.
He continued to advance in the FDNY, and was on track to become a captain, when he returned to Iraq with the 106th Rescue Wing earlier this year. That’s when his Pave Hawk crashed in Anbar province, killing him and six other airmen: Capt. Mark Weber, Capt. Andreas O’Keeffe, Capt. Christopher Zanetis, Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs, Master Sgt. William Posch, and Staff Sgt. Carl Enis.
Chris’ death shattered the Raguso family — but they made sure to remember the example he set. In a news conference shortly after his death, his mother, Laura Raguso, tearfully said she begged him not to re-enlist.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/xTvcd5ibAOdf-VizVTQ0zZViLqk=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/DKZVWKEUCJDKFAANEAAFMVKWIA.jpg)
Chris and Carmela dance. (Courtesy of the Raguso family)
“I said, ‘Papi, please, why do you have to do this?’” she said. “And he said ‘Mami, because if I don’t, who’s going to do it?’”
Scores of people whose lives he had touched came out to pay their respects.
At the wake, John said a pararescueman came up to Laura and saluted her. The pararescueman said he had total confidence in Chris — he could make sure his helicopter flew in 80-knot hurricane winds and could put his helicopter in places no other flight engineer could, he said. And then, the pararescueman gave Laura his maroon beret.
“He said, ‘Your son deserves this more than I do,’” John said. “‘Your son has rescued my ass so many times, I can’t even count.’”
When the mayor of Houston found out, John said, he sent an honor guard to New York to stand by Chris’ casket for three days.
Vice President Mike Pence stood and talked with John Raguso for a long time on the tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on March 18, while waiting for Chris to be flown back for his dignified transfer. (“I chewed his ear off, as an understatement,” John said.) That conversation evidently made an impression: A few months later, Pence called and said President Trump wanted to meet him.
John met with Trump Aug. 17, when the president traveled to the Hamptons for a fundraiser, and sat with him in a motorcade for five hours, which he said was a “singular experience.” He thanked Trump for the condolence letter he sent to Carmela and the girls, and gave Trump Chris’ firefighter mission patches, as well as a hat with a combination of the FDNY and 101st logos and his son’s name. He said Trump put his arms around him, and said he was rooting and praying for him.
He also talked with chief of staff John Kelly, who himself is a Gold Star father — though Kelly didn’t mention it to John Raguso. Kelly, a retired Marine general, eagerly listened to John talk about the Marines Chris saved in his helicopter.
He also stood on the dais, next to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, at the FDNY’s annual Memorial Day event in early October.
Making the world a better place
But one memorial service or other remembrance event follows another. One hosted by the Air Force, the next by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Commack Fire Department, the FDNY — events practically every weekend. John understands they all want to honor and remember Chris, and he appreciates it. But at the same time, he said, each one “reopens the wound.”
And then there’s the first Thanksgiving without his granddaughters’ father. And the first Christmas. And New Year’s. And birthdays, and wedding anniversaries.
“We need time to learn how to be able to deal with it,” John said. “You never want to forget, but you want to put it in perspective.”
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/fMQwutGPjYdwxyrmrrjK3l4iVi4=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/EFMEDD7JQFCA3NSU6ZRFJWHMTI.jpg)
Master Sgt. Chris Raguso's family hopes his life will inspire others to serve in their own way (Courtesy of the Raguso family)
Even before Chris’ death, his family faced challenges. Carmela is a breast cancer survivor, who had three operations last year, John said.
When asked if he truly wanted another article about his son published, or if it would add to the pain he and his family felt, John said he did.
The reason why is the same reason John believes God took his son: So more people can be inspired by Chris Raguso’s example, serve in their own way and make the world a better place.
“By taking this kid, 20 people have already stepped up and taken his place,” John said.
It’s already happening, John said. Inspired by Chris’ example, Carmela’s brother joined the FDNY, as did at least three of Chris’ trainees at the Commack fire department. Sons of family friends have joined the military or their volunteer fire departments, he said. He even gets emails from strangers saying how touched they were to hear Chris’ story, and that their sons have been inspired to serve as well.
“He was the bravest young man I’ve ever met in my life,” John said. “If he didn’t die for that, then he died for nothing. But I don’t believe he died for nothing.”
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/12/26/master-sgt-chris-raguso-died-in-a-helicopter-crash-in-iraq-heres-why-his-father-thinks-he-didnt-die-in-vain/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR0xLYp-OUOJVXXiWToyN_YTs6TDKbuORZHu2p4GunguJOi_TWzYZIpL83s
-
Donald Trump Awards Medal of Valor to Police Trooper Shot Twelve Times
(https://media.breitbart.com/media/2019/05/Medal-of-Valor-640x480.jpg)
President Donald Trump awards Senior Trooper Nicholas Cederberg of the Oregon State Police, the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
CHARLIE SPIERING
22 May 20190
President Donald Trump awarded the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor to a dozen men at the White House on Wednesday, one man who was shot twelve times in the line of duty.
Trump highlighted the story of Senior Trooper Nicholas Cederberg from the Oregon State Police who left his family on Christmas night in response to a shooting.
“That Christmas night, Nic took twelve bullets,” Trump recalled. “After a very tough recovery, Nic survived. And, Trooper Cederberg, we are very honored to have you with us in the White House. Thank you very much. Great job. He looks awfully good. Twelve bullets.”
Trump added, “Some pretty good doctors, I guess, right?” as Cederberg agreed.
The Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor is awarded to law enforcement officials and firefighters who go above the call of duty to save lives and help their comrades in times of danger.
Trump also recognized Officer Alan Horujko from the Ohio State University police force who disrupted an ISIS-inspired terrorist attack on students in 2016.
Eight police officers from the Irwindale and Azusa police departments in California were awarded a medal for neutralizing a mass shooting at a polling center on Election Day, 2016 — Retired Lieutenant Xavier Torres, Sergeant Seth Chapman, Retired Sergeant Terry Smith Jr., Sergeant Thomas Avila III, Sergeant Rocky Wenrick, Retired Corporal Andrew Rodriguez Sr., Senior Officer Carlos Plascencia, and Detective Manuel Campos.
Trump also recognized Fire Captain Dustin Moore and Firefighter Paramedic Andrew Freisner from the Lenexa Fire Department in Kansas for a daring rescue of an unconscious woman and two children in a house fire in 2017.
The president also privately awarded two Medal of Valor awards to two fallen officers who were killed in action, Dallas Police Officer Brent Thompson, who was shot and killed by a gunman during an anti-law enforcement protest in 2016 and Sergeant Verdell Smith of the Memphis Place Department who was struck by a fleeing gunman killed as he cleared the street.
“Your lives of patriotism, your devotion to duty, and your deeds of valor lift up our entire nation,” Trump said during the ceremony. “Today and every day, we thank God that you were there when our communities needed you the most.”
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/05/22/donald-trump-awards-medal-of-valor-to-police-trooper-shot-twelve-times/
-
D-Day: 17 stunning photos from 1944 show how hard the Normandy invasion really was
Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY
Published June 6, 2019
World War II veterans were honored in Normandy, France for their D-Day sacrifice 75 years ago. USA TODAY
On June 6, 1944, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, forever reshaping the progress of the war and history during the D-Day operation.
Thousands of ships, planes and soldiers from the United States, Britain and Canada surprised Nazi forces.
More than 4,000 Allied soldiers, most of them younger than 20, as well as more than 4,000 German troops died in the invasion. Up to 20,000 French civilians were also reportedly killed in the bombings.
In 2019, veterans and world leaders gathered to honor the soldiers who took part in the invasion, led by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and known then as Operation Overlord.
To mark the historic day, here are 17 photos that show how the battle unfolded.
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/9a617af5-0faa-4835-b7cf-7b6172a2de8c-18845.jpg?crop=500,398,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
Members of a landing party help injured US soldiers to safety on Utah Beach during the Allied Invasion of Europe, on D-Day in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. (Photo: US ARMY / HANDOUT, US ARMY via EPA-EFE)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/05/31/USAT/46bc3e6b-9193-4bd4-a077-aeb6b8338006-DDAY_COLORXXXAFP_AFP_1GO7OO.JPG?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
This file photo taken on June 6, 1944, shows the Allied forces soldiers landing in Normandy. (Photo: -, AFP/Getty Images)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/05/31/USAT/cc51e26b-05ff-4a65-b3da-049a4a4d76f5-D-DAY-COLOR_A05_VET2_07.JPG?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
American soldiers land on the French coast of Normandy during the D-Day invasion in June 1944. (Photo: Associated Press)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/3ab08213-86ea-44a8-a5f5-1bbff3503da8-18840.jpg?crop=3000,1933,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp).
Some of the first assault troops to hit the beachhead hide behind enemy beach obstacles to fire on the Germans, others follow the first tanks plunging through water towards the Normandy shore on June 6, 1944. (Photo: AP)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/c0e38499-9220-4a96-8dba-f72ddb8c9bed-18837.jpg?crop=2266,1684,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
British troops land on the beaches of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, marking the commencement of D-Day. (Photo: British Ministry Of Defence via EPA-EFE)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/d56ee08f-4148-479e-885d-ac1a9210efc7-18835.jpg?crop=488,390,x0,y6&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
US soldiers wade through surf and German gunfire to secure a beachhead during the Allied Invasion, on the beaches of Normandy. (Photo: US ARMY via EPA-EFE)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/6fa7d6ac-3b65-4424-8070-34be2ed1c368-18839.jpg?crop=5316,4147,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
Paratroopers of the Allied Army land on La Manche, on the coast of France on June 6, 1944, after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches during D-Day. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/e69fa393-a7f3-423a-a606-471f32e32afd-18850.jpg?crop=4632,3708,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
This file photograph taken on June 6, 1944, shows Allied forces soldiers during the D-Day landing operations in Normandy, north-western France. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/04ce4444-6eda-4d17-9003-713c9ffe4ee4-18836.jpg?crop=491,339,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
US soldiers of the 16th Infantry Regiment, wounded while storming Omaha Beach, waiting by the chalk cliffs for evacuation to a field hospital for treatment. (Photo: US ARMY via EPA-EFE)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/a91cb1fd-44e5-43dc-a727-9a6aa9974d7b-18844.jpg?crop=500,372,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
German troops surrender to US soldiers. (Photo: US ARMY / HANDOUT, US ARMY via EPA-EFE)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/525a6419-4c29-4a71-90ef-8fc505b27ee9-18838.jpg?crop=2998,2250,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
H.M.S. Warspite is shown shelling German invasion coast positions. (Photo: AP)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/26eac5b9-cd2f-458f-8f19-e5cf148cc8e2-18843.jpg?crop=470,387,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
A convoy of US landing craft nears the beach during the Allied Invasion of Europe, on D-Day in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. (Photo: US ARMY via EPA-EFE)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/e67355a2-ca0d-4e73-a76f-250cf1ae1bdd-18847.jpg?crop=5849,4134,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
Canadian soldiers land on Courseulles beach in Normandy as Allied forces storm the Normandy beaches on D-Day. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/87cc1b4e-cbf3-45b6-8059-35241561098e-18842.jpg?crop=2500,1693,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
US troops of the 4th Infantry Division "Famous Fourth" land on 'Utah Beach' as Allied forces storm the Normandy beaches on D-Day. (Photo: Imperial War Museum via AFP/Getty Images)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/05/USAT/87cc1b4e-cbf3-45b6-8059-35241561098e-18842.jpg?crop=2500,1693,x0,y0&width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
British paratroopers, their faces painted with camouflage paint, read slogans chalked on the side of a glider after Allied forces stormed the Normandy beaches during D-Day on June 6, 1944. (Photo: STF, AFP/Getty Images)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/06/USAT/3e0d7d5d-fde4-48be-bcae-e9897dc70100-d-day_2.JPG?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
Allied forces' military planes bombing enemy boats in order to prepare the Allied troops landing aimed at fighting the German Wehrmacht. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
(https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/06/06/USAT/4a91a5ef-7105-4153-b34d-fd00c89147ec-D-Day_1.JPG?width=180&height=240&fit=bounds&auto=webp)
US Army Air Corps photographers making aerial images of D-Day beach traffic, as photographed from a Ninth Air Force bomber showing vehicle lanes leading away from the landing areas, and landing craft left aground by the tide during the Allied Invasion, on the beaches of Normandy. (Photo: US ARMY / HANDOUT, EPA-EFE)
Contributing: Shelby Fleig, USA TODAY. Follow USA TODAY's Ryan Miller on Twitter: @RyanW_Miller
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/06/06/d-day-photos-normandy-mark-75th-anniversary-d-day-invasion/1365312001/
-
^
I find war movies hard to watch because of knowing that that stuff actually goes on or went on. A lot to take in how much was done and what happened to a lot of people. That is a type of violence that is very disturbing/saddening to me.
Great men.
-
10th Mountain soldier’s Silver Star upgraded for shielding Polish soldier from suicide bomber
By: Kyle Rempfer
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/gOjy0Eo71iDL8O_yakeAmZcbQk8=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/NCWDCVOR2JFI3LHAY6KIEXD46M.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis was killed Aug. 28, 2013, while defending Forward Operating Base Ghazni in Afghanistan. (Army)
Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis was killed in action while shielding a Polish soldier from a suicide bomber on Aug. 28, 2013, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan.
The 24-year-old soldier, an infantryman with 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum, New York, originally received the Silver Star for his actions, which took place during a massive attack beginning with a car bomb that breached the base’s eastern perimeter wall and allowed roughly 10 insurgents in suicide bomber vests to infiltrate the compound.
Nearly six years later, Ollis’ award was upgraded to the Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest military honor that can be awarded to a U.S. soldier.
The attack on Forward Operating Base Ghazni incorporated vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, suicide vests, indirect fire and small arms fire. When it began, Ollis ordered his fellow soldiers to move to bunkers to shield themselves from fire, according to a copy of his citation provided to Army Times.
After accounting for his troops, Ollis checked for any casualties in a building hit by the blast and then moved toward the enemy fighters who had penetrated the perimeter of the base. He managed to locate a fellow coalition soldier, a Polish Army officer, and together they moved toward the point of attack without their personal protection equipment and armed only with their rifles.
The two linked up with other friendlies and worked to repulse the insurgents who had breached their defenses, all while under continuous small arms, indirect and rocket-propelled grenade fires. During the fighting, an insurgent with a suicide bomber vest rounded a corner and began advancing on them while shooting.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/Hs_zAm6iMq2CkArtSdB8XD4EQhY=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XSEFNTZHHFETDAGYRZDL3IX2FE.jpg)
Staff Sgt. Michael H. Ollis, the godfather to the baby in this photo, poses with family members, including his sister and her baby, and his parents Linda and Robert Ollis. (Courtesy of Ollis Family)
Ollis, without body armor, put himself between the insurgent and a Polish Army officer named Lt. Karol Cierpica who had been wounded in both legs and was unable to walk.
“Ollis fired on the insurgent and incapacitated him, but as he approached the insurgent, the insurgent’s suicide vest detonated mortally wounding him,” the citation for the Distinguished Service Cross reads.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville presented the upgraded award during a ceremony on Staten Island, New York, on Saturday to the fallen soldier’s father and sister, Robert Ollis and Kimberly Loschiavo, according to a Fort Drum release.
The ceremony took place at a VFW post named in Ollis’ honor.
Polish Army Lt. Karol Cierpica later named his newborn son after Ollis in honor of the sacrifice.
“I was privileged to serve with Michael and Karol when I was the 101st Airborne Division commanding general in Regional Command East while they were deployed,” McConville said at the ceremony, according to the release. “Their actions that day in August against a very determined enemy saved many, many lives.”
The Ollis and Cierpica families have grown close over the years.
Prior to his son’s birth, Cierpica received a teddy bear from Ollis’ family, made using their son’s combat uniform. Ollis also received the Army Gold Medal from Poland, the highest honor a foreign soldier can receive from the NATO ally.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/bx05Zc971pkTGuG7WOaivMxLAtA=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/STKO4F2FWZGULIP2ZH6UM2NLOY.jpg)
Newborn baby Michael Cierpica lies with a teddy bear made from the Army fatigues of Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, the soldier who sacrificed his life saving the infant's father during an attack in Afghanistan. (Courtesy of Ollis Family)
“Through the tears, we have to tell the story of Karol and Michael,” Robert Ollis said during the ceremony, according to the release. “They just locked arms and followed each other. They didn’t worry about what language or what color it was. It was two battle buddies, and that’s what Karol and Michael did. To help everyone on that FOB they possibly could.”
In the attack, Ollis and one other Polish soldier were killed. Ten Polish soldiers and dozens of Afghans were reportedly wounded, according to an Army account of the Aug. 28 action obtained by Army Times in 2013.
Then-Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, who was second in command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force at the time, said the attack was part of an aggressive push by insurgents to penetrate fixed targets of political significance using suicide bombers and fighters on foot.
“Unfortunately, we lost a great American there from 10th Mountain Division in that attack, but the defenders did extraordinarily well,” said Milley, who is also a former commander of the 10th Mountain Division.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/iQJzzORwWatZ3Tce_ZmgOzs-02Y=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/FG6WNTKF2ZAQRNMKB3APRXIUCY.jpg)
Robert Ollis, the father of Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, and Kimberly Loschiavo, the soldier's sister, receive the Distinguished Service Cross from Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville on June 8. (Sgt. Jerod Hathaway/Army)
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/06/12/10th-mountain-soldiers-silver-star-upgraded-for-shielding-polish-soldier-from-suicide-bomber/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR1Xvm6QaUU5ms8hCPbcllgZbBpT0sIdhg28pHAnoNczcmvh1nltV1hzZH8
-
President Donald Trump bestows Medal of Honor on David Bellavia, the first living Iraq War recipient
By: Meghann Myers
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/sdSb6ZHFwCdPONs_5UXBdhL2qBA=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/TOI75Y4BFRFELC7SVZGOWLY5ME.jpg)
President Donald Trump awards Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia the Medal of Honor at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, June 25, 2019. Bellavia is a Iraq veteran who cleared an insurgent strongpoint and allowed members of his platoon to move to safety. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
In the most harrowing days of the Iraq War, one Army noncommissioned officer distinguished himself when he rescued an infantry squad pinned down by machine gun fire as they went door-to-door clearing insurgent strongholds.
That battle, on Nov. 10, 2004, made former Staff Sgt. David Bellavia the Iraq War’s first living recipient of the military’s highest award for valor, bestowed by President Trump on Tuesday at a White House ceremony.
“America’s blessed with the heroes and great people, like Staff Sgt. Bellavia, whose intrepid spirit and unwavering resolve defeats our enemies, protects our freedoms and defends our great American flag," Trump said. "David, today we honor your extraordinary courage, we salute your selfless service and we thank you for carrying on the legacy of American valor that has always made our blessed nation the strongest and mightiest anywhere in the world ― and we’re doing better today than we have ever done.”
Bellavia’s A Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, was in the midst of the weeks-long Operation Phantom Fury, also known as the second Battle of Fallujah.
“The first thing you’re thinking about is, I mean, you’re scared,” he told reporters Monday. “Your life is on the line. The second thing you’re thinking about is, you’re angry. How dare anyone try to hurt us? How dare you try to step up against the United States military?”
On Nov. 9, his battalion’s top enlisted leader, Command Sgt. Maj. Steven Faulkenburg, died in a direct-fire attack.
“But the other thing is, you have people that they day before, risked their life to save you,” Bellavia said. “You have people the following two days would risk their lives to save you. And you have people within 24 hours who are killed in direct fire attacks that are your senior leadership.”
On Nov. 13, company commander Capt. Sean Sims was killed by small-arms fire during another mission to clear buildings. Their families joined Bellavia’s at the ceremony Tuesday, along with three others killed during the operation.
All of that pushed him to step up in the moment, he said, when he had the choice to either wait outside the building for back-up, or go in again and take on the half-dozen insurgents he knew were inside.
“What he did, going back into that nightmare, saved all those men’s lives,” journalist Michael Ware, who was embedded with the unit while writing for Time Magazine, told reporters.
Bellavia credited Ware, whom he previously considered a nuisance, with giving him the confidence to take on the house alone.
“Peer pressure might make you smoke cigarettes when you’re 13, but peer pressure might also make you do things you wouldn’t do,” he said. “It’s who your peers are.”
Bellavia was nominated for the Medal of Honor in early 2005, his former company commander told reporters, but it was downgraded to a Silver Star. Then, seven months ago, Trump called him to let him know an upgrade had come through ― the result of a Defense Department-mandated review of Global War on Terror valor awards.
An Army review found their actions merited the nation's second highest award for valor.
“For 15 years, people that heard about Fallujah or heard about Baqubah…now, they look into this unit, they look into what happened, what we did,” he said. “This is a snapshot of our year. And now they look back and say, wow, there were examples every single day of what people are sacrificing for this way of life.”
Reflecting on the recent 75th anniversary of D Day, he made a plug for his own peer group.
“This is an all-volunteer force…college debt repayment, a dental plan, a paycheck? There’s no reason that a rational person is paying off college to clear a road with IEDs. We are not kicking down doors because we want to make sure we get paid on the first and the 15th,” he said. “That is what has kept this country free and it’s why we’re going to be safe for generations to come.
"I think of that generation and the Iraq War and I’m mighty proud to be part of it.”
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/06/25/president-donald-trump-bestows-medal-of-honor-on-david-bellavia-the-first-living-iraq-war-recipient/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&fbclid=IwAR36yNSHZsXQFyg8UCBEhjE9aSy6dDKiCt_P2QqhdRA-AQZVhsCslEer6jI
-
Last D-Day Pathfinder pilot flys C-47 aircraft this weekend
By: Kristine Froeba
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/OwBHKPRiRmvBoKl28QSSnlVtUT4=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/A2SEBQ3QVVBBROYJQYU7BQEXCI.jpeg)
D-Day pilot David Hamilton in the cockpit of the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team's "Boogie Lady," the C-47 aircraft he plans to fly on his 97th birthday. (Jacob Stottlemyer, WWII Airborne Demonstration Team)
David Hamilton is going to spend his 97th birthday in an unusual way.
A pilot with the Army Air Corps during World War II, Hamilton will be behind the controls of “Boogie Baby,” a C-47 Skytrain, like the one he flew over Normandy 75 years ago.
Hamilton is going to pilot the plane just as WWII paratrooper re-enactors plan to stage an airdrop over Frederick, Oklahoma. The event is part of a celebration planned for Hamilton by the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team and will depart from World War II-era Frederick Army Air Field from an original wooden hanger.
“I can’t wait,” said Hamilton a day before the event. “You know, I’ve done this before.”
D-Day
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/-jax892Fatjici68XJkMJTdLWVM=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/HJCUYAE5I5DZ5FIGC2SM2GB6B4.jpg)
Pathfinder flight crews posing before on their C-47 pathfinder aircraft. Lt. Col. David Hamilton, D-Day pilot is front row, bottom, right.
Hamilton, the last living D-Day Pathfinder pilot, remembered being a fat target for German anti-aircraft batteries as he flew airborne troops over France on D-Day.
"After the drop, I pulled my static lines in and we got out of there fast,” said Hamilton in an interview with Military Times.. “I just firewalled the engines, put the throttles up and hit the deck. Then my co-pilot said, you’d better lift your wing, or you’re gonna take the steeple off the church of Sainte-Mère-Eglise.”
The twin-engine propeller-driven cargo plane went as fast as it could, he said.
“We were going about 200 miles an hour, which in a ‘Gooney Bird’ is very fast,” said Hamilton. “We had 200 holes in the plane, as close as we could count anyway. When I got back, I asked my crew-chief to make a survey of my airplane, and they were big holes - 25 caliber machine pistol.”
The plane took a beating, but not the crew or paratroopers.
“There were no injuries sustained on our flight to Normandy, but without the switches required to turn the engines off, I had to starve the engines of gasoline,” said Hamilton.
He said he laughed as he sat in the cockpit filling out the flight forms while the rest of the crew were down on the ground waiting to go to a briefing because there was a guarantee of a little shot of whiskey after the mission.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/wC2UQlR5wSo7kia_TLcKWnIaiGM=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/UOAY23MPWNBQLMBNJBNOEOHIT4.JPG)
World War ll C-47's lined up on the 75th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy (Luke Sharrett)
"We lost one airplane, but we saved the crew and the paratroopers,” said Hamilton. “We were hit by German anti-aircraft fire on the island of Sark down in the Channel Islands. It was just before they made their turn to go into Normandy.”
Hamilton said his mission was part of a group of 20 planes tasked with dropping specially trained pathfinder paratroopers at 1:30 a.m. behind the beaches. Those paratroopers set up navigational beacons and lights to mark to direct the later paratroopers to strategic markers for the main force of the airborne troops who would also be brought in by C-47s.
"That night there were 20 aircraft going in - 19 came home, said Hamilton.
Hamilton was only 21 when he became part of that flight crew that left North Witham Airbase in England at 10:30 p.m. - the night before the invasion.
"There were six drop groups that night," said Hamilton. "We flew at night in a straight line, only 50 feet above the water, until we had to climb for the drop. It was a full moon, and you could really see everything."
During the flight, Hamilton said he looked at his radar and saw so many ships in the water, it looked as though he could jump from ship to ship.
“I had every member of my crew come and take a look at that picture on the radar screen because it was very impressive,” said Hamilton. “Our $100,000 Pathfinder planes were outfitted with $500,000 of radar.”
He explained that was only when his crew had returned home for breakfast and were in bed listening to the radio, did they realize the scope of their mission.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/PNibMaITyIJ6Ge-z4eZjB6HL_4c=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/BO66EC24PBGZVFTJSZN7X6CLXI.JPG)
A paratrooper drop of the WWII Airborne Demonstration Team at Frederick Army Air Field.
Pathfinders
The mission that was led by Col. Joel “Joe” Crouch, who set up the exclusive and classified “Pathfinder School” in Windham where he required all his pilots to also earn their jump-wings.
Pathfinders were the title given to the planes, the pilots, and the paratroopers on the mission out of England in 1944.
The Pathfinder aircrews were specially trained WWII aircrews that flew top-secret cutting-edge navigational equipment for the time.
Although he already carried a pilot's license when he enlisted in 1941, Hamilton went through flight-training as a C-47 pilot and was then chosen as one of the first groups of elite Pathfinder pilots. The pilots were specially trained to fly crucial missions toward the end of the war, and one of those was his Operation Overlord mission on D-Day.
Hamilton also flew Pathfinder missions in Operation Dragoon in Southern France and Operation Market Garden in Holland. Hamilton says he also led the necessary supply drop to the 101st Airborne when they were surrounded at Bastogne.
On that mission, Hamilton says he led 27 planes into Belgium, but only led out 9 out.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/MjRoYYhbqJWFODFG9Je4qqSo2uU=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/HYSGUDWL5BHATKT2JZ3ZCTMYRE.jpg)
Pathfinder, Lt. Col. David Hamilton (center bottom) at the early morning D-Day drop pre-flight briefing.
Hamilton’s Participation in the 75th Anniversary of D-Day
Hamilton just returned from Normandy where he participated in the 75th Anniversary celebrations and rode in a C-47.
This time he will be flying a C-47 with the ADT. The organization operates a WWII-style jump school out of Frederick Airfield several times a year. The school is as authentic as possible with parachute packing tables, training hangers, mess hall, classroom, and barracks. The uniforms worn on-site are standard GI garb from the era. Five paratrooper jumps must be completed before jump wings are earned.
July 20 is also the organization's "Open Hanger Day" and one of the jump school's graduation ceremonies. After his flight, Hamilton plans to pin the jump wings on the day's graduates.
Hamilton has been invited to participate in another drop of WWII type paratroopers in his hometown of Preston, Arizona later in the year.
Hamilton is scheduled for induction into the San Diego Air and Space Museum Hall of Fame in November and has been invited by the Commemorative Air Force to be in one of the WWII aircraft that will overfly the Mall in Washington D.C. during the 75th celebration of VE day in May 2020.
As for his upcoming flight, Hamilton says he can’t wait.
“I love it,” he said. “You know, I’ve been up there before.”
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/F5HIiuOtWp60jXhh4-P5c251bzs=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/IGJ5NJWDFFEBNKL6EOEBTUDFUQ.jpeg)
Jacob Stottlemyer, WWII Airborne Demonstration Team
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2019/07/19/last-d-day-pathfinder-pilot-flys-c-47-aircraft-this-weekend/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&fbclid=IwAR3Kc0y9qrcGdCIBLlxRECEfhAWBu4-2Xo6C3mREkfnA7rLGGcdL0gc39G4
-
‘Puerto Rican Rambo’ went on over 200 combat missions in Vietnam
By: J.D. Simkins
Eloy Otero-Bruno and Crispina Barreto-Torres welcomed a son into the world on April 7, 1937, in the small municipality of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, just west of San Juan.
When they gave him a name inspired by his father’s admiration for America’s first president, the family had no idea that little Jorge would one day be something of an American icon in his own right, a status earned after becoming one of the most decorated soldiers of the Vietnam War.
After pursuing biology studies for three years in college, Jorge Otero-Barreto joined the Army in 1959. One year later, he made history when he became the first Puerto Rican to ever graduate from the Army’s Air Assault School.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/kpAwZClXtaTJz_-34DZo0PcyIFs=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/UNYR6H43NFD2PB7JCYDA37RLJM.jpg)
Otero
Within a year of completing training, Otero was volunteering to go to Vietnam, the first of five deployments he would make between 1961 and 1970, during which time he would serve with the 101st Airborne, the 82nd Airborne, and the 25th Infantry Division, among others.
Otero would volunteer for approximately 200 combat missions during his five deployments, a lofty number that eventually earned him the moniker, “The Puerto Rican Rambo,” after the fictional death-dealing character made famous by actor Sylvester Stallone.
Over the course of five deployments, Otero-Barreto would earn 38 commendations, including three Silver Stars, five Purple Hearts, five Bronze Stars, five Air Medals and four Army Commendation Medals.
One commendation was earned for actions on May 1, 1968, when the platoon sergeant, along with men from the 101st Air Cavalry Division, was occupying positions designed to pin down a North Vietnamese regiment in a village near the deadly city of Hue.
Early that morning, Otero and his men began getting bombarded by a series of charges by enemy soldiers desperate to rid themselves of their predicament.
Two charges by enemy soldiers were repelled by U.S. troops. Fifty-eight enemies were killed in the charges, and the assailants were forced to limp back to the village.
Valor Friday: 8 years ago, this Marine buttstroked a Taliban fighter to death with the enemy’s own weapon
Valor Friday: 8 years ago, this Marine buttstroked a Taliban fighter to death with the enemy’s own weapon
The Marine was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions.
By: J.D. Simkins
Rather than wait for another assault, Otero took 1st Platoon, Company A, to the point position to lead an assault on the village.
Quickly into their advance, first platoon began taking machine gun, small arms, and rocket-propelled grenade fire from a scattering of spider holes and bunkers.
The Puerto Rican Rambo wasted no time in going to work.
Otero sprinted to the nearest machine gun bunker and quickly killed the three men manning the position.
Gathering the rest of his squad, Otero then moved through three more fortified enemy bunkers, going from one to the next until all that remained was a trail of destruction.
The assault by Otero, which allowed the rest of Company A’s platoons to maneuver into advantageous positions and overrun the enemy, would earn him one of his three Silver Stars.
While the conclusion of Vietnam would mark the end of his career in combat, it would not be the last of Otero’s many lifetime achievements.
In 2006, he was named the recipient of the National Puerto Rican Coalition’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Since then, he has had veterans homes and museums named for him, and in 2011, was honored in his hometown when the city named the Puerto Rican Rambo its citizen of the year.
https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2019/07/26/puerto-rican-rambo-went-on-over-200-combat-missions-in-vietnam/?utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR2XkjMBvDo2_1AGcBzlI_CEd3dqJzLYdekijA0aJv_bk6kG7KZbd-kuxk4
-
Interesting and good post.
-
Good blood: Machine gunner killed nearly 100 before falling to a banzai charge
By: J.D. Simkins
Cpl. Clair Goodblood dug into his position, his machine gun scanning a field of fire that before long would be swarming with enemy fighters.
A member of Company D, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division, Goodblood had been attached to another outfit — Company B — to fortify defensive positions that held key terrain in Popsu-dong, Korea.
His presence would wind up making all the difference in the world.
By the evening of April 24, 1951, the enemy had arrived, hurtling toward Goodblood’s position in droves.
The 21-year-old corporal from Fort Kent, Maine, wasted no time — and no ammunition — in his response, sending wave after wave of rounds into the approaching wall of human flesh.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/ekS_DtLj4IQHK2VGITfGByb2Ws4=/600x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/LZTYHQ2ZZZASDPMOHT6PG5L3KM.jpg)
Goodblood
Despite his efforts, it quickly became evident the American forces would have to withdraw, and as the night wore on, the order came down to retreat.
Slowly but surely, men from Company B regressed away from the enemy infiltration and the imminent destruction that awaited as a result of being vastly outnumbered.
Recognizing the retreat would be susceptible to heavy fire, Goodblood and his assistant gunner volunteered to remain, staving off their assailants for a while longer while the rest evacuated to safety.
Goodblood held the position, his assistant gunner feeding him belt after belt of ammunition, into the morning hours of April 25.
As the retreat continued, Goodblood’s tireless response never faltered despite being under a constant barrage of enemy fire.
The time was approaching for Goodblood and his assistant to withdraw when the corporal noticed the dull thump of enemy grenade in the dirt next to him.
He reacted instantly, tackling his assistant gunner and covering him with his own body to shield from the blast.
Both men were grievously wounded in the blast, but Goodblood refused medical treatment, insisting instead that another soldier who had brought a resupply of ammunition to their position grab his assistant and get to safety.
His assistant now gone, Goodblood got back in the fight, alone, sweeping his machine gun back and forth across the field of fire as enemy soldiers overran his position.
His men in a safe position finally heard his machine gun go silent after an enemy banzai charge.
Able to regroup, Company B and supporting elements led a successful counterattack to retake the critical ground.
When they arrived to the slain machine gunner’s position, they found his body laying directly next to his gun.
It wasn’t until they advanced beyond Goodblood’s machine gun nest that the damage he inflicted on the enemy became clear.
Scattered across the sector the corporal was responsible for were approximately 100 dead enemy fighters.
For his actions, Goodblood received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
He is buried in Burnham, Maine.
Read his full citation here.
https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2019/08/23/good-blood-machine-gunner-killed-nearly-100-before-falling-to-a-banzai-charge/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&fbclid=IwAR0kok0C7Xji6ItjCO-7GiFbvX-Gi1I4_JPY78BGG8YzGUvLu3q_qPOhh0s
-
President Trump awards Medal of Honor to Master Sgt. Matthew Williams
By: Kyle Rempfer
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/8sSWulHaB84_wZKnF2qkiPSay1U=/1200x0/filters:quality(100)/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-mco.s3.amazonaws.com/public/R3HANFOQFZGGFFGEJQVSCX76JA.jpg)
President Donald Trump places the Medal of Honor on Army Master Sgt. Matthew Williams, currently assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group, during a Medal of Honor Ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald J. Trump awarded the nation’s highest combat medal to Master Sgt. Matthew O. Williams during a ceremony at the White House on Wednesday.
Williams, a Green Beret weapons sergeant from 3rd Special Forces Group, was presented the award for his actions “going above and beyond the call of duty” during an April 6, 2008, mission in Nuristan province, Afghanistan, that came to be known as the Battle of Shok Valley.
“Matt’s heroism ensured that not a single American died in the Battle of Shok Valley,” Trump said during the ceremony. “Matt is without question and without reservation one of the bravest soldiers and people I’ve ever met.”
Trump commended Williams for his “unyielding service” and “unbreakable resolve” during the battle, as well as the five other deployments he made to Afghanistan and the one he made to Africa.
Throughout the 2008 battle, Williams exposed himself to enemy fire multiple times on steep and challenging terrain.
His team was pitted against an overwhelming enemy force that held the high-ground and was able to rain rocket propelled grenades, sniper rounds and small arms fire onto the Green Beret team and their Afghan National Army Commando partners.
Williams carried wounded teammates down the mountainside, including his team sergeant, and “shielded the injured from falling rubble as American warplanes bombed insurgent positions above and rocked the mountain from top to bottom," the president said at the ceremony.
At one point, while dropping casualties off at a collection point, Williams engaged and killed two insurgents he spotted advancing on the position to take advantage of the wounded and disoriented friendly forces.
Over the course of a seven-hour firefight, Williams “valiantly protecting the wounded," Trump said, until the team was able to completely evacuate from the target area inside CH-47 Chinook helicopters.
His Medal of Honor citation states that Williams’ actions helped save the lives of four critically wounded soldiers and prevented the lead element of the assault force from being overrun when they were ambushed at the outset of the mission.
Members of Williams’ Green Beret team from that 2008 operation, as well as one of their Afghan interpreters, were present at the White House ceremony.
Williams will continue to serve in the Army on active-duty after Wednesday’s ceremony, a prospect that he’s looking forward to, he told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday.
The medal, he said, represents something much bigger than himself.
“The Medal itself is more of a story of teamwork, never quitting, trusting in one another and doing what is right, what needs to be done,” Williams said Tuesday.
“As far as the day to day goes, I am hoping to return back to the unit — get back to my team — and continue training and get my current team ready for whatever comes next for us," he added.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/10/30/president-trump-awards-medal-of-honor-to-master-sgt-matthew-williams/?utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR0uAHUe5wRqQS_sczFA53otK8cv-c7Yu2zLdvdFWQJmK-Pm8iEHhKjFhZ4&fbclid=IwAR32CwMRG4gZ1ttAD7d8wBYNpg0PC9VQi395TAhVWIItOrCs-Xxg5ZwuxLU&fbclid=IwAR0Q6BFYDRPOLaA5LuL_K2QScyEJPYPZxHgyq_vnjax2rLekQ11wVHFR-84
-
Trump awards Medal of Honor to military hero who freed more than 75 hostages in Iraq
'Today he joins the immortal company of our most revered American heroes,' Trump said
By Marisa Schultz | Fox News
President Trump presented the Congressional Medal of Honor Friday to U.S. Army Sgt. Major Thomas “Patrick” Payne for his heroics in a 2015 daring raid that rescued 75 ISIS hostages from a prison in northern Iraq, with Trump praising him as "one of the bravest men anywhere in the world."
Trump hailed Payne's heroic selfless action that led to 20 ISIS terrorists killed and saving the lives of the 75 captives.
(https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/09/1862/1048/Trump-Medal-of-Honor-Ceremony-AP-3.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
President Donald Trump awards the Medal of Honor to Army Sgt. Maj. Thomas P. Payne in the East Room of the White House on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
"Today he joins the immortal company of our most revered American heroes," Trump said in the White House ceremony. "Pat, you personify the motto: 'Rangers lead the way.'"
Payne, 36, is the first living member of the Delta Force to receive the Medal of Honor, the highest decoration a member of the military can be given.
Payne spoke about the life-or-death urgency of the mission in an interview posted by the Army.
"My team was responsible for one of the buildings that the hostages were being held in," Payne said. "What was significant is that there were freshly dug graves, if we didn't action this target then the hostages will probably be executed."
As soon as Payne's team hit the ground, they came under heavy enemy fire. Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler, another Delta Force operator, was killed after exposing himself to enemy fire. Wheeler's wife joined the ceremony Friday.
After Payne and his team cleared one building – and freed 38 hostages – the sergeant responded to call for assistance in clearing another building.
Working with Kurdish forces, Payne's team pressed on and helped secure one of the largest hostage rescues in history.
"He ran right back into that raging blaze," Trump said of the dangerous rescue. "He sliced the final lock and released the rest of the hostages. As the building began to collapse, he received orders to evacuate but he refused to do so. He didn't want to leave anyone behind.
"Pat ran back into the burning building that was collapsing," the president continued. "Two more times. He saved multiple hostages and he was the last man to leave."
(https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/09/1862/1048/Trump-Medal-of-Honor-Ceremony-AP-4.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
President Donald Trump awards the Medal of Honor to Army Sgt. Maj. Thomas P. Payne in the East Room of the White House on Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
The ceremony took place on the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Part of the 9/11 generation inspired to serve his country, Payne graduated high school in South Carolina and enlisted in the Army in 2002 as an Infantryman 11B and completed the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Ga., according to the Army. He completed his Army Ranger program in 2003.
In 2012, Payne stood out in a grueling physical contest among the nation's most elite soldiers. He and his teammate won the Best Ranger Competition at Fort Benning.
In all, Payne has deployed 17 times for Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn and Operation Inherent Resolve.
Payne was joined at the ceremony by his wife and son.
"I want you to know that your dad is one of the bravest men anywhere in the world," Trump told the 6-year-old.
Fox News' Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-awards-medal-of-freedom-to-military-hero-freed-more-than-75-hostages-in-iraq
-
WWII veteran celebrates 104th birthday in Virginia
"He's been a model citizen for all of us in this community to follow. If I keep doing what he's doing, maybe I can make it to 104," said Starrie Jordan of Ettrick.
(https://media.11alive.com/assets/WVEC/images/cf90a563-19c5-4a74-95ce-ee205ce033ed/cf90a563-19c5-4a74-95ce-ee205ce033ed_1920x1080.jpg)
Credit: AP
Retired Lt. Col. Louis Frazier Martin, center, and Sgt. Albert W. Cooks, Vietnam Veteran 69/70, UMES Alumnus, Class of 1967, salute during Martin's 104 birthday celebration in Chesterfield, Va., on July, 3, 2021. Also pictured is Martin's daughter Sheila Martin Brown. (Kristi K. Higgins/The Progress-Index via AP)
Author: Associated Press
Published: July 17, 2021
CHESTERFIELD, Va. — Retired Lt. Col. Louis Frazier Martin's front lawn was packed with well-wishers to help him celebrate the centenarian's 104 birthday.
On July 3, Martin's surprise party kicked off with a car caravan assembly spearheaded by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore National Alumni Association. The procession paraded past Martin's Roosevelt Avenue residence near Virginia State University in Chesterfield County.
Martin who was told that he was going to a restaurant said, "I didn't expect all this."
Sheila Martin Brown, proud being Martin's daughter, shared some words about her father.
"I have been inspired by his example of service to the community," said Brown who resides with her dad. "He's a wonderfully strong family man. He's just always been a believer."
Brown stated that her dad has raised more money from individuals locally than she did while serving as a council member in Atlanta.
"This is a special, special occasion," said friend Starrie Jordan of Ettrick. "He's been a model citizen for all of us in this community to follow. If I keep doing what he's doing, maybe I can make it to 104."
According to Jordan, Martin walks every morning.
"He has a lot of determination," added Jordan.
"I hope I inherited whatever Dad is made out of," said Brown.
Related Articles
Pentagon vows to fight climate change's impact on military installations
Navy bases in Hampton Roads back to HPCON Bravo after increased coronavirus cases
More bad news for F-35: upgrades billions of dollars over budget
"He has meant so much to our community here as you can see by the turnout." said neighbor and friend Anna Bradley who invited The Progress-Index to attend Martin's celebration. "There are numerous groups here to honor him."
The event was attended by his loving daughter, family, friends, Westminster Presbyterian Church (Petersburg) members, neighbors, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity members, University of Maryland Eastern Shore (formerly Princess Anne College) Alumni, and others.
Betty Berry who has known Martin since 1968 expressed how Martin and his late wife Mariah were like family and always good to her.
"He's like a brother to me," said Berry who gave Martin his first kiss of the day...on the cheek. "I'll be 89 in August; I'm the second oldest woman at our church."
On behalf of the U.S. Army and the Vietnam Veterans who honor all of the WWII veterans, Sgt. Albert W. Cooks (Vietnam Veteran 69/70, UMES Alumnus, Class of 1967) presented Martin with the following Army memorabilia: WWII medallion, face masks, WWII hat, and coffee mug.
This Day in History
Recap of important historical events that took place on that day.
Ads By Connatix
A guest from the crowd shouted, "He likes black coffee...no sugar, no cream."
"We're so proud that he's here at 104," said Cooks who saluted Martin. "Lieutenant Colonels...guess what? In those days, he wasn't respected, but I tell you one thing...he's getting the respect today."
MARTIN RECEIVES A PROCLAMATION
Eastern Region Director of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. J. R. Reeves presented Martin with a proclamation that included the following:
WHEREAS, Retired Lt. Col. Louis F. Martin was born on July 3, 1917, in Princess Anne on Maryland's Eastern Shore, a fraternal twin, were the eldest of 12 siblings, six of whom have since passed away.
(https://media.11alive.com/assets/WVEC/images/7092958b-e609-4bba-90c5-06f7e3389158/7092958b-e609-4bba-90c5-06f7e3389158_1920x1080.jpg)
Credit: AP
Preparations are underway for WWII U.S. Army veteran Louis F. Martin's 104 birthday celebration in Chesterfield, Va., on July 3, 2021. (Kristi K. Higgins/The Progress-Index via AP)
WHEREAS, the former Army logistician and Colonial Heights resident overcame tough life-changing obstacles like the lack of educational opportunities for African-Americans of the early 20th century, the Great Depression and the segregation of colored troops serving their country during World War II.
WHEREAS, in 1935, Lt. Col. Martin found his way into a five-year work-study program at his parents' alma mater, Virginia's Hampton Institute. Like his father, he chose agriculture - one of the few college majors available to black male students.
WHEREAS, in 1936, Lt. Col. Martin along with his brother Walter decided to transfer to a college near home so they could finish their education and make it possible for their younger siblings to have the same opportunity.
WHEREAS, on May 14, 1939 on the campus of Princess Anne College, in Princess Anne, Maryland, Lt. Col. Martin became a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., Alpha Mu Chapter.
WHEREAS, in March of 1941, at age 23, was drafted. It started a lineage of military service in his family. All five of his younger brothers eventually joined various branches of the armed forces. His twin sister Lourene completed a 22-year hitch as an Army nurse.
WHEREAS, his career spanned decades, taking him from military service to earning a Master's degree, to marrying the love of his life where they were blessed to birth a lovely daughter.
"This is our oldest living member in the entire fraternity," announced Chris Reyes.
Martin also received an official honorary UMES Southeastern Virginia Alumni Chapter life membership.
Martin overcame tough life-changing obstacles like the lack of educational opportunities for African-Americans of the early 20th century, the Great Depression, and the segregation of colored troops serving their country during World War II.
However, it's not those types of moments he chooses to dwell on. The spry centenarian focuses on the positive things he can do for his community. At 104, Martin continues to provide leadership in Chesterfield County as an election official.
"Negative thinking does not move you forward. I don't feel like anybody owes me anything. Over my lifetime I took advantage of every opportunity I could. I worked hard, slept well, and ate and drank in moderation," Martin stated to Lesley Atkinson with Fort Lee Public Affairs in a 2016 P-I story. "I followed my parents in their religious beliefs. My father built a cubicle under the step for his Bible study. He took the family to church and sang in the choir. He was a leader at home and in his profession. I can't sing, but I never miss church or Bible study. I like to think I'm a reflection of my dad."
After 29 years, Martin retired from the U.S. Army Reserves, and he was employed as an associate professor of horticulture and extension specialist at VSU until he retired in 1982.
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/national/military-news/wwii-veteran-celebrates-104th-birthday-in-virginia/291-c0bf757a-63f1-4db1-80f2-05db8395c675?fbclid=IwAR3BLy0Le7P-tAFETPqiqeLMayXhHZCOTnhQTZtXX4M2XBBS2k5oCTYlijs
-
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/217742887_4251489028259931_2435702494723503544_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=0DoAjUCzRNMAX8-Svyl&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=7f642de4e6d709f7adc517552b85fc08&oe=61240740)
In May of 1861, 9 year old John Lincoln “Johnny” Clem ran away from his home in Newark, Ohio, to join the Union Army, but found the Army was not interested in signing on a 9 year old boy when the commander of the 3rd Ohio Regiment told him he “wasn’t enlisting infants,” and turned him down. Clem tried the 22nd Michigan Regiment next, and its commander told him the same. Determined, Clem tagged after the regiment, acted out the role of a drummer boy, and was allowed to remain. Though still not regularly enrolled, he performed camp duties and received a soldier’s pay of $13 a month, a sum collected and donated by the regiment’s officers.
The next April, at Shiloh, Clem’s drum was smashed by an artillery round and he became a minor news item as “Johnny Shiloh, The Smallest Drummer”. A year later, at the Battle Of Chickamauga, he rode an artillery caisson to the front and wielded a musket trimmed to his size. In one of the Union retreats a Confederate officer ran after the cannon Clem rode with, and yelled, “Surrender you damned little Yankee!” Johnny shot him dead. This pluck won for Clem national attention and the name “Drummer Boy of Chickamauga.”
Clem stayed with the Army through the war, served as a courier, and was wounded twice. Between Shiloh and Chickamauga he was regularly enrolled in the service, began receiving his own pay, and was soon-after promoted to the rank of Sergeant. He was only 12 years old. After the Civil War he tried to enter West Point but was turned down because of his slim education. A personal appeal to President Ulysses S. Grant, his commanding general at Shiloh, won him a 2nd Lieutenant’s appointment in the Regular Army on 18 December 1871, and in 1903 he attained the rank of Colonel and served as Assistant Quartermaster General. He retired from the Army as a Major General in 1916, having served an astounding 55 years.
General Clem died in San Antonio, Texas on 13 May 1937, exactly 3 months shy of his 86th birthday, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
And to think…today’s kids.
(Note: I didn't write this.)
-
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/228143766_1676650615866494_7526963649282869965_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=OCvsK7YXLG8AX-7-Wpk&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=65dd7810fa10370e8e3ba77adbb98e7a&oe=6129D229)
"Colored image of Sergeant Meredith J. Rogers, who was 30 years old.
He is smiling for being lucky having survived a sniper's bullet that penetrated his helmet during combat in Normandy with the 2nd U.S. Army Infantry Division on 13th July 1944.
The 2nd Infantry Division had been based in the Armagh area prior to moving to Southern England for the Invasion of occupied Europe.
It is very pleasing to say that he survived the war!"
-
(https://scontent-sjc3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/228143766_1676650615866494_7526963649282869965_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-3&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=OCvsK7YXLG8AX-7-Wpk&_nc_ht=scontent-sjc3-1.xx&oh=65dd7810fa10370e8e3ba77adbb98e7a&oe=6129D229)
"Colored image of Sergeant Meredith J. Rogers, who was 30 years old.
He is smiling for being lucky having survived a sniper's bullet that penetrated his helmet during combat in Normandy with the 2nd U.S. Army Infantry Division on 13th July 1944.
The 2nd Infantry Division had been based in the Armagh area prior to moving to Southern England for the Invasion of occupied Europe.
It is very pleasing to say that he survived the war!"
I've been to Armagh; I have family there.
Good man, that Rogers.
-
-
(https://scontent.fhnl3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/239457492_1128210107710004_2822098822708680066_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=wHF6HKW6uLsAX8ecNaJ&_nc_ht=scontent.fhnl3-1.fna&oh=4cf5eba1fb939e2226d1e739cd507bbd&oe=615D60BC)
The most decorated Native American soldier in U.S. history - 4 Silver Stars, 5 Bronze Stars, 3 Purple Hearts. He earned a total of 42 medals and citations. - Pascal Cleatus Poolaw Sr
Died on the battlefield in the Republic of Vietnam on 7 November 1967, while serving with Company C, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. Posthumously awarded his 4th Silver Star on a "Search and Destroy mission" near Loc Ninh. Pascal Cleatus Poolaw Sr. is
Poolaw a full blooded Kiowa, was born on January 22, 1922 in Apache, Oklahoma. Poolaw served in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
In 1942, Poolaw, his father, and his two brothers joined the armed forces. While serving with the 8th Infantry Regiment’s M Company near Recogne, Belgium on September 8, 1944, he earned his first Purple Heart and Silver Star. On that day, Poolaw’s unit was engaging fire with the Germans. He pushed his company forward while facing heavy machine gun fire for give minutes as he hurled hand grenades, causing numerous enemy casualties. According to his Silver Star citation, ” Due to Sergeant Poolaw’s actions, many of his comrades’ lives were saved and the company was able to continue the attack and capture strongly defended enemy positions. Sergeant Poolaw’s display of courage, aggressive spirit and complete disregard for personal safety are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service. “
Poolaw’s military career did not end in Belgium or with the Germans. During the Korean War, Poolaw saw combat and was wounded again and awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, a second Purple Heart and two more Silver Stars. His first Silver Star for that war was for his heroic actions on September 1950 when his company met still enemy resistance. Poolaw volunteered to lead his squad in an assault, charging up a slop to hit the perimeter of the North Korean’s position. His squad engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat and Poolaw’s persistence encouraged his squad to keep going until they were able to seize their objective.
The second Silver Star during this war came on April 4, 1951 near Chongong-ni where Poolaw and his platoon was pinned down by a automatic weapons and mortar barrage. He exposed himself to the enemy and slowly advanced across the open terrain, firing his weapon as he went. By keeping the North Koreans’ eyes on him, his platoon maneuvered to a better position and were able to carry on the mission at hand.
He returned to the U.S. in 1952 and retired from the Army ten years later. This is not where is story – or military career – ends.
During the Vietnam War, all four of the Poolaws sons were in the military. In February 1967, his son, Pascal Jr., was injured by a landmine in Vietnam. This injury resulted in amputation of his right leg below the knee. Poolaw’s youngest son, Lindy, was drafted. Afraid of what could happen to his sons as the war progressed, Poolaw rejoined the Army at the age of 45. Giving up his rank as a 2nd Lieutenant (a promotion he earned in Korea), with the intentions of serving in direct combat, Poolaw hoped to keep his youngest son away from the front lines by taking his place. Regulations prohibited two members of the same family from serving in combat at the same time without their consent. Unfortunately, by the time he arrived on the West Coast, Lindy had left for Vietnam the day before.
Poolaw was deployed on May 31, 1967 as a first sergeant of the 26th Infantry Regiment’s C Company. His last Silver Star was for an event that occurred a few months later. On November 7, 1967, Poolaw’s unit were part of a search and destroy mission near the village of Loc Ninh. Their unit was ambushed by a Viet Cong force with intensive claymore mine, rocket, small arms, and automatic weapons fire. Through a hail of bullets, Poolaw raced to the lead squad position to lay down a base of fire – saving countless lives. While wounded, he continued moving among his squad making sure everyone was positioned properly while pulling casualties back.
As Poolaw was carrying a wounded soldier to safety, he was struck by a rocket propelled grenade and killed. For his heroic actions Poolaw was awarded a Silver Star and a third Purple Heart posthumously. “He has followed the trail of the great chiefs,” his wife Irene said at Poolaw’s funeral. “His people hold him in honor and highest esteem. He has given his life for the people and the country he loved so much.”
The citation reads as follows; “The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Staff Sergeant Pascal Cleatus Poolaw (ASN: 18131087), United States Army, for gallantry in action against the enemy while serving with Company M, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, near Recogne, Belgium, on 8 September 1944. While attacking in support of a rifle company, Sergeant Poolaw displaced his machine gun squad forward across an open field under heavy mortar and small arms fire in such a manner as to affect a minimum number of casualties among his squad. After reaching his new position, Sergeant Poolaw saw the enemy advance in a strong counterattack. Standing unflinchingly in the face of withering machine gun fire for five minutes, he hurled hand grenades until the enemy force sustained numerous casualties and was dispersed. Due to Sergeant Poolaw’s actions, many of his comrades’ lives were saved and the company was able to continue the attack and capture strongly defended enemy positions. Sergeant Poolaw’s display of courage, aggressive spirit and complete disregard for personal safety are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service.”
His 2nd Silver Star was awarded to him for his bravery under fire and his disregard for his own safety while assisting his brothers in arms. The citation for his second Silver Star, earned in Korea, is as follows;
“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Second Award of the Silver Star to Sergeant First Class Pascal Cleatus Poolaw (ASN: 18131087), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Company C, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On 19 September 1950 when the company attack on an enemy position was halted by stiff enemy resistance, Sergeant First Class Poolaw volunteered to lead his squad in an assault. Courageously leading his men in a charge up the slope to penetrate the enemy perimeter and engage the numerically superior enemy in fierce hand-to-hand combat, Sergeant First Class Poolaw inspired his men to hold their position until the remainder of the company was able to seize the objective. Sergeant First Class Poolaw’s outstanding leadership reflects great credit upon himself and is in keeping with the highest traditions of the American Soldier.”
On April 4, 1951, once again, Sergeant Poolaw honored his people and the warriors creed by serving the calling of America. For his actions on that day, Master Sergeant Poolaw received his 3rd Silver Star. The third citation reads as follows:
“The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting a Second Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Third Award of the Silver Star to Master Sergeant Pascal Cleatus Poolaw (ASN: 18131087), United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with Company C, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On 4 April 1951 near Chongong-ni, Korea, while attacking strong hostile positions, one squad of Master Sergeant Poolaw’s platoon was immobilized by a devastating automatic weapons and mortar barrage. Exposing himself to the deadly fire, he slowly advanced across open terrain, firing his rifle as he progressed. By deliberately diverting the attention of the foe to himself, he enabled his men to maneuver to more advantageous positions. Master Sergeant Poolaw’s valorous actions were instrumental in the fulfillment of the unit mission and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the American Soldier.”
The citation for First Sergeant Poolaw’s 4th Silver Star, awarded posthumously for action in Vietnam, reads as follows; “The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 8, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting a Third Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster in lieu of a Fourth Award of the Silver Star (Posthumously) to First Sergeant Pascal Cleatus Poolaw (ASN: 18131087), United States Army, for gallantry in action against a hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam on 7 November 1967, while serving with Company C, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. On this date, during Operation SHENANDOAH II, First Sergeant Poolaw was accompanying his unit on a two-company search and destroy mission near Loc Ninh. As the patrol was moving through a rubber plantation, they were subjected to sniper fire. Within minutes, the area was raked with intensive claymore mine, rocket, small arms, and automatic weapons fire from a numerically superior Viet Cong force.
First Sergeant Poolaw unhesitatingly ran to the lead squad which was receiving the brunt of the enemy fire. With complete disregard for his personal safety, he exposed himself to assist in deploying the men and establishing an effective base of fire. Although wounded, he continued to move about the area encouraging his men and pulling casualties to cover. He was assisting a wounded man to safety when he was mortally wounded by Viet Cong fire.
His dynamic leadership and exemplary courage contributed significantly to the successful deployment of the lead squad and undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. First Sergeant Poolaw’s unquestionable valor in close combat against numerically superior hostile forces is in keeping with the finest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, the 1st Infantry Division, and the United States Army. It should be noted that in the ferocious fighting at the Battle of Loc Ninh where he earned his 4th Silver Star and 3rd Purple Heart, it also resulted in the awards of 1 Medal of Honor, 2 Distinguished Service Crosses and one other Silver Star. 14 other US Army soldiers also lost their lives in that engagement.”
Source History by Zim
-
(https://scontent.fhnl3-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/239799332_1129558390908509_5747916299943311418_n.jpg?_nc_cat=1&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=_kSn3dQ2VQ4AX-ReV8G&_nc_ht=scontent.fhnl3-1.fna&oh=636ba53a90747442c780120e0d30c665&oe=615D0568)
Patrick Tadina
2 Silver Stars, 10 Bronze Stars...
Army Ranger Patrick Gavin Tadina is pictured here in an undated photo wearing North Vietnamese Army fatigues and carrying an AK-47. A 30-year Army veteran who was the longest continuously serving Ranger in Vietnam and one of the war's most decorated enlisted soldier.
Patrick Gavin Tadina served in Vietnam for over five years straight between 1965 and 1970, leading long range reconnaissance patrols deep into enemy territory -- often dressed in black pajamas and sandals, and carrying an AK-47.
A native of Hawaii, Tadina earned two Silver Stars, 10 Bronze Stars -- seven with valor -- three Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry, four Army Commendation Medals, including two for valor, and three Purple Hearts.
His small stature and dark complexion helped him pass for a Viet Cong soldier on patrols deep into the Central Highlands, during which he preferred to be in the point position. His citations describe him walking to within feet of enemies he knew to be lying in wait for him and leading a pursuing enemy patrol into an ambush set by his team.
In Vietnam he served with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol, 74th Infantry Detachment Long Range Patrol and Company N (Ranger), 75th Infantry. Tadina joined the Army in 1962 and served in the Dominican Republic before going to Southeast Asia. He also served with the 82nd Airborne Division in Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury in 1983 and with the 1st Infantry Division during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
A 1995 inductee into the Ranger Hall of Fame, he served with "extreme valor," never losing a man during his years as a team leader in Vietnam, a hall of fame profile at Fort Benning said.
Some 200 men had served under him without "so much as a scratch," said a newspaper clipping his daughter shared, published while Tadina was serving at Landing Zone English in Vietnam's Binh Dinh province, likely in 1969. Tadina himself was shot three times and his only brother was also killed in combat in Vietnam, Stars and Stripes later reported.
The last time he was shot was during an enemy ambush in which he earned his second Silver Star, and the wounds nearly forced him to be evacuated from the country, the LZ English story said.
As the point man, Tadina was already inside the kill zone when he sensed something was wrong, but the enemy did not fire on him, apparently confused about who he was, the article stated. After spotting the enemy, Tadina opened fire and called out the ambush to his teammates before falling to the ground and being shot in both calves.
He refused medical aid and continued to command until the enemy retreated, stated another clipping, quoting from his Silver Star citation. "When you're out there in the deep stuff, there's an unspoken understanding," he told Tate in 1985. "It's caring about troops."
After retiring from the Army in 1992, he continued working security jobs until 2013, Poeschl said, including stints in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The Giant Killer page celebrates the histories of these unique warriors. To learn more please check out the book, The Giant Killer available as a Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook on Amazon and other major retailers.
Story Source Military .com
-
Lawrence Brooks, oldest living WWII veteran and Louisiana native, celebrates 112th birthday
BY JULIA GUILBEAU | STAFF WRITER SEP 12, 2021
(https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nola.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/2d/f2dc7a8c-142c-11ec-bf77-93508ad89c80/613ea11364697.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C799)
Lawrence Brooks, America's oldest living World War II veteran celebrates his 112th birthday outside of his home on Sept. 12, 2021. Photo courtesy of The National WWII Museum.
The nation's oldest living World War II veteran now has another year under his belt.
Veteran and Louisiana native Lawrence Brooks celebrated his 112th birthday on Sunday at his home in Central City as residents gathered for a drive-by celebration hosted by the National World War II Museum.
The museum typically hosts an annual party for Brooks, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the party was brought to his front door for the past two years.
This year's festivities included a live performance from the museum’s vocal trio, The Victory Belles, a Jeep parade and more entertainment from a collection of local New Orleans musicians. The City of New Orleans also recognized Brooks’ birthday with an official proclamation.
Brooks grew up in Norwood and served in the Army between 1940 and 1945 with the predominately Black 91st Engineering Battalion, which was stationed during the in New Guinea and then the Philippines.
"Happy Birthday" messages for the veteran continued to pour in on social media, including a message from Gov. John Bel Edwards.
https://www.nola.com/news/article_e716151e-13fa-11ec-b198-ab25f14b6c7f.html
-
Feel-Good Friday: Chivalry Is Alive and Well in Four Young Men Who Help an Elderly Lady
By Jennifer Oliver O'Connell | Oct 15, 2021
(https://redstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ScreenShot-from-WKMG-ClickOrlando-of-Young-Men-who-pushed-Elderly-Woman-on-Scooter-Home-in-Rain-730x0.jpg)
Young men who pushed elderly woman on scooter home in rain. Screenshot. Credit: WKMG/ ClickOrlando.
My colleague Sister Toldjah wrote a sweet story last month about a four-year-old boy enjoying the parade at Walt Disney World. As the Disney Princesses passed by, the little boy tipped his hat to each one, and his delighted mother caught it on video and shared it with the world. It was a beautiful reminder that chivalry is indeed alive and well, and shows up in the most unexpected of ways.
I am thankful there are still parents and grandparents who choose to teach their children the importance of manners and etiquette. It is not only a reflection of the person you are, but of the community you come from, and ultimately of the society in which you exist.
As the British idiom states, “manners maketh man.”
So, this story about four young men helping an elderly woman get home after her scooter broke down in the middle of a rainstorm, is on the mark.
From Fox News:
Lending a helping hand will always be appreciated.
Four young men learned that firsthand after they received praise for escorting a retirement home resident back to her residence when her scooter broke down in the middle of a storm.
Katty Castro, a public relations representative at the Florida Living Independent Community in Seminole County, Florida, witnessed the kind act and snapped pictures of the group who valiantly pushed the resident’s scooter to her planned destination.
“Since this is a very quiet neighborhood I was surprised to hear a commotion, laughs and four gentlemen pushing one of my lady residents under a heavy storm in Florida,” Castro told Fox News. “They were pushing her up the big slope toward her residence. These heroes were so focused on helping regardless of the inclement weather and they were even covering her with an umbrella, which showed more compassion on their part.”
Castro said she went on to thank the men “for their kindness and asked them for a group picture” when they were done with their task and shared the moment with her community on Nextdoor – a hyperlocal social networking app where people can share what’s going on in their neighborhood.
Initially, Castro thought the helpful team of four were local teens from the high school next door, but she later learned the men were employees of Rebounderz Adventure Parks.
What are the odds that a PR rep for the assisted living community would spot this? It’s not only great publicity for the senior center and the adventure park, but the fact that she immediately thought to market this kind act to the community is only something a public relations person would know to do.
The men were passing through the area after a hard day’s work, but noticed the woman just when they were about to turn onto an eight-lane highway.
“[We] noticed the woman was clearly experiencing a malfunction with her mobile scooter,” said John Morgan Massa, a corporate general manager at Rebounderz Adventure Parks, in an interview with Fox News.
“We were tired, dirty and wanted to get back to the hotel; but, knew without a doubt that regardless of our long day, it certainly wasn’t worse than the day this lady was having. She literally had a plastic bag on her head to keep her hair dry,” he added. “We knew we couldn’t leave her in the rain, in the middle of the road, frantically trying to get her scooter to work again.”
Another reflection of chivalry: considering someone else’s situation above your own. These guys could have just looked at the old lady, thought, sucks to be you, and went on to their hotel to get a warm shower and a hot meal. Instead, they chose to step in and offer help.
Massa and his colleagues reportedly made a three-quarter-mile trek as they carefully pushed the resident while she remained on her scooter, according to Castro.
Massa said helping the resident was a no-brainer.
“We just wanted her to get home safely,” he explained. “We never expected recognition, just helping a fellow member of our community.”
I despise the modern idiom about “random acts of kindness,” because kindness is not random: we learn it from the age of that four-year-old, and as it is encouraged and reinforced, it manifests into the kindness of a John Morgan Massa and his colleagues. Just like that sweet little boy at Disney World, Massa was no doubt raised with, and encouraged, to be chivalrous, and help those who cannot help themselves.
Nothing random about that. I definitely encourage parents and grandparents to keep massaging this into your children by word, and by example. Chivalry is a custom that is taught, as well as caught.
https://redstate.com/jenniferoo/2021/10/15/feel-good-friday-chivalry-is-alive-and-well-in-four-young-men-who-help-an-elderly-lady-n457252
-
RIP
Colin Powell, former secretary of state, dead at 84 from COVID-19 complications
Powell played key policy role in Bush administration after 9/11 attacks
(https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2021/10/1862/1048/Colin-Powell.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Gen. Colin Powell, seen here in New York City in 2017, died from COVID-19 complications, his family announced. (Daniel Zuchnik/WireImage, File)
By Brooke Singman | Fox News
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/colin-powell-dead-covid-19-former-secretary-of-state
-
Toxic masculinity for the win. :)
-
Lawrence Brooks, oldest living WWII veteran and Louisiana native, celebrates 112th birthday
BY JULIA GUILBEAU | STAFF WRITER SEP 12, 2021
(https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/nola.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/f/2d/f2dc7a8c-142c-11ec-bf77-93508ad89c80/613ea11364697.image.jpg?resize=1200%2C799)
Lawrence Brooks, America's oldest living World War II veteran celebrates his 112th birthday outside of his home on Sept. 12, 2021. Photo courtesy of The National WWII Museum.
The nation's oldest living World War II veteran now has another year under his belt.
Veteran and Louisiana native Lawrence Brooks celebrated his 112th birthday on Sunday at his home in Central City as residents gathered for a drive-by celebration hosted by the National World War II Museum.
The museum typically hosts an annual party for Brooks, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, the party was brought to his front door for the past two years.
This year's festivities included a live performance from the museum’s vocal trio, The Victory Belles, a Jeep parade and more entertainment from a collection of local New Orleans musicians. The City of New Orleans also recognized Brooks’ birthday with an official proclamation.
Brooks grew up in Norwood and served in the Army between 1940 and 1945 with the predominately Black 91st Engineering Battalion, which was stationed during the in New Guinea and then the Philippines.
"Happy Birthday" messages for the veteran continued to pour in on social media, including a message from Gov. John Bel Edwards.
https://www.nola.com/news/article_e716151e-13fa-11ec-b198-ab25f14b6c7f.html
Oldest US World War II veteran dies at 112 in New Orleans
By Kristine Froeba
Jan 5, 2022
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/ArkWQdViq6m63gu8TUylvKa_VkU=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/R6PYN32AG5BT5OA6FBL7E5UDNY.jpg)
Lawrence Brooks seeing his replacement summer service uniform and holding his 91st Engineer Battalion badge for the first time at the New Orleans VA hospital on Oct. 29, 2021. (Vanessa Brooks)
Lawrence Brooks, the United States’ oldest living World War II veteran, died Wednesday morning, according to his daughter and caregiver, Vanessa Brooks.
The supercentenarian’s health was winding down, Vanessa Brooks confirmed to Military Times, and he was in and out of the local veterans’ hospital several times in recent months ― but he was still alert, enjoying the holidays and watching his beloved Saints play until the end.
Brooks, a local celebrity in New Orleans, celebrated his birthdays with parties thrown by the nearby National World War II Museum.
He had received numerous gifts and more than 10,000 birthday cards throughout the years in recognition of his service during the war.
For his 112th birthday in September 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the celebration was brought to his house in the form of a drive-by party.
Brooks had danced on his porch, serenaded by the museum’s singing trio, the Victory Belles, while a military flyover banked down his Central City New Orleans shotgun house.
The Black Army veteran served at a time of segregation in U.S. history, where white and Black soldiers slept in separate tents and ate separately. But he insisted that in the military he never dealt with any problems of race, and stories from the war were told with positivity and laughter.
He died as he had planned ― in his own bed in his home in New Orleans.
The son of sharecroppers
The son of sharecroppers, Brooks was one of fifteen children.
He was born in 1909 just north of Baton Rouge in Norwood, Louisiana, and was raised just outside of Stephenson, Mississippi, a small sawmill town where his family moved for work during the Depression.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/VjjI8P8Efvtl7YhWliyyKQJNnEs=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/47KTGTDFJZDTTBTNM7VZQ2T4LY.jpg)
World War II veteran Lawrence Brooks holds a photo of himself taken in 1943, as he celebrates his 110th birthday at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, on Sept. 12, 2019. (Gerald Herbert/The Associated Press)
The supercentenarian was drafted and entered the Army in 1940, serving in both Louisiana and Texas. He participated in the famed Louisiana Maneuvers, where 400,000 soldiers converged on the state for readiness exercises in response to Germany’s invasion of Poland and France.
Brooks completed his obligatory one-year service, he previously told Military Times, was discharged and back at work in New Orleans in November 1941. A few weeks later, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he returned to the Army.
“There was no question,” Brooks told the National World War II Museum in one of his many oral history interviews. “They just came right back and got me again.”
He said he was sent by train at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where he joined the 91st Engineer Battalion, a unit comprised of 1,193 Black enlisted soldiers and 25 white officers. He says that he journeyed to Pennsylvania for vaccines and additional training before traveling to the South Pacific theater.
“Indiantown Gap is where I got my inoculations before we left,” Brooks said in an interview with Military Times in late 2021.
In March 1942, Brooks found himself in New York Harbor heading to war aboard a “huge” converted ocean liner. He said he sailed on the Queen Mary, the troop carrier dubbed the “Grey Ghost” due to her agility and speed in outrunning the enemy.
He recounted that the voyage lasted close to a month amid a zig-zag course dodging submarines. His destination was Queensland, Australia, a key defensive area in the war against Japan.
Brooks said his unit arrived in Brisbane, Australia, in early April and ended its journey in Townsville, Australia.
The private first class loved to reminisce about the Australian people’s acceptance of the 9,000 Black soldiers that served there and the lack of Jim Crow laws that he experienced.
“They were nice people, the Australians,” said Brooks recently. “They were wonderful.”
Freedom in Australia
Brooks traveled to Brisbane, Australia, through numerous small coastal towns and islands, and spoke with wonder at the lack of segregation in the places he visited.
He talked about his close relationship with a white woman and her family in Townsville, Australia.
“I had a lady friend there; she had a hotel and a bar,” said Brooks. “I used to go to her father’s place (house) and helped deliver liquor to their hotel.”
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/Ijl2Vb1xrnS_md88FS2efzCs0fM=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/IICWVBMPPFCFRAYVAQV6EXT43E.jpg)
Pfc. Lawrence Brooks, in a borrowed uniform used to sneak into the Officers' Club, Queensland, Australia, 1943. (Kristine Froeba)
Brooks said he attended Townsville’s dance halls, hotels and cinemas and mixed freely with the population. This was a freedom unheard of in the southern United States at the time.
Brooks, like most in his battalion, didn’t see combat.
Instead, he was a driver, valet and cook for three officers, two lieutenants and a captain. He no longer remembered their names; only that one was from New York.
He told of chauffeuring his officers around Queensland, Australia, and to the officers’ club in Townsville, Australia, in his weapons carrier, or as he fondly referred to it, “my big ole Army car.”
The numerous war offices were located in town, 40 minutes north of the unit’s various camps, he said. Because of his “batman” position, he had the unusual freedom to explore the area while his commanding officers were in town.
When asked about any racial issues with his officers, he says none occurred.
Only recently, he was gazing at newspaper archives of some of his officers and laughing as he recounted what he termed as “shenanigans.” Brooks spent that day looking at photographs of his old unit, their jazz band, USO parties and his favorite haunts in Townsville, Australia.
“My officers were good to me,” said Brooks. “I never had any problems.”
He cooked their meals at the joint mess hall and delivered them back to camp. The white officers ate separately from the black soldiers.
“We had our tents, and the whites had their tents,” said Brooks. “They were next to each other, like next door.”
The engineer unit built numerous frame buildings, Quonset huts, roads, hospitals, housing, shops and recreation centers. Brooks told of working on Horn Island, Papua-New Guinea and the Philippines.
“We built bridges, roads, and airstrips,” said Brooks in a previous oral history interview describing his unit. “That was our job.”
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/yCE85on6Fg99BAUDUrdw5Yl7tWA=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/PYCXHM7LEJFPXMJG45DAXHWRAI.jpg)
Lawrence Brooks' original draft card from 1940. His birth year was mistakenly calculated as 1910. (Ancestry.com)
He remembered digging and diving into foxholes on numerous occasions when the Japanese strafed his unit near Townsville, Australia, and New Guinea. One of his favorite anecdotes was about Thursday Island.
“We was on Horns Island, and the Japanese would come and drop bombs on us,” said Brooks. “They had a body of water about the size of the lake (Lake Pontchartrain) between Thursday Island and us.”
Brooks said his unit rowed small boats over to the island just after nightfall to avoid the air raids. His story was that the enemy wouldn’t strafe or bomb the island because it was the location of a sacred Japanese graveyard.
“We was sneaking over there at night,” said Brooks, who couldn’t stop laughing as he told the story. “We rowed pretty fast. They didn’t shoot us … because they couldn’t see us.”
A favorite anecdote occurred while Brooks was island hopping between Australian territories in a C-47. He said they lost an engine and were flying low.
The navigator walked back into the fuselage and started dumping bales of barbed wire to lighten the load. Brooks said that he got up and headed to the cockpit before being told to stop.
“My sergeant wanted to know where I was going,” Brooks had said, always giggling whenever he retold the response he gave his superior. “I said, the only two parachutes on this plane are up there. If they jump out, I’m grabbing onto one of them.”
Brooks said his unit left the South Pacific in 1944 and eventually separated from service in 1945.
‘A good soldier’
Most of his stories rang with laugher.
One would get the impression that there was still much to tell, but Brooks decided long ago to focus only on the positive. If he experienced bad times in the military, he was not inclined to share them.
When asked in late 2021 what he would like his legacy to be, if anything, his thoughts returned to the war.
“I would like to be remembered as a strong man,” said Brooks, “A good soldier.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/MPmhM9T4HVPXVEpCFMQliAOAor8=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/FVRCP4PVLRCXPHGYKYRLXDFYPM.jpg)
Lawrence Brooks, then the oldest World War II veteran in the United States, celebrated his 112th birthday on Sept. 12, 2021, with the Mardi Gras Indians. The National WWII Museum arranged a drive-by party at his New Orleans house. (National World War II Museum)
Brooks had recently requested a new U.S. Army uniform to replace the original he’d lost sixteen years ago in Hurricane Katrina.
He was presented with an authentic reproduction World War II uniform and his old unit’s badge during a recent short stay in the New Orleans VA hospital at the beginning of November.
Brooks had immediately recognized the components of the summer service uniform he wore while serving in the Pacific Theater.
Not long after, he was back home at his house in New Orleans, posing in his “khakis.”
He had smiled, turned his new garrison cap over and over in his hands before placing it on his head, then had inspected his unit insignia and badge, the 91st Engineer Battalion.
(https://www.armytimes.com/resizer/VpVf7HlL7J41Zbdek61Srwfiya4=/1440x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/mco/NWH5N22LTZA5PJ5PRIMJLPAAT4.jpg)
Lawrence Brooks, aged 112, holding his 91st Engineer Battalion pin and wearing his WWII reproduction summer service uniform, at home in New Orleans, Nov. 4, 2021. (Kristine Froeba)
The unit’s current commanding officer had recently sent him replacement medals and a certificate of appreciation for his service. But, unfortunately, his good conduct medal is still lost, and his daughter was trying to find him a replacement.
His daughter recently gave several interviews lamenting how Black World War II veterans, including her father, were denied GI Bill benefits. She says he often spoke of how much he wanted to go to school after the war.
“My father earned the Good Conduct Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and Presidential Unit Medal, then he was left behind,” said Vanessa Brooks. “He served the same five years. He was bombed and strafed in the South Pacific but was not offered a low-interest bank loan, a reduced down payment for a house, or an education.”
She says she plans to bury her father wearing his new uniform, as he requested.
Kristine Froeba is a freelance writer based in New Orleans. She was involved in helping locate and raise funds for Lawrence Brooks’ new uniform.
https://www.armytimes.com/military-honor/salute-veterans/2022/01/05/oldest-us-world-war-ii-veteran-dies-at-112-in-new-orleans/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&fbclid=IwAR1_UVKrkh6lClaynDEKoj2vexKxO6_EBKw_kNGLEjTkj4B9w69RyMjV7ow
-
Charles McGee, member of Tuskeegee Airmen and 'American hero', dies at 102
BY OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN - 01/16/22
(https://thehill.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumb_small_article/public/charles_mcgee_getty_sotu_020520.jpg?itok=Yhjk9xO5)
Charles McGee, member of Tuskeegee Airmen and 'American hero', dies at 102
© Getty Images
Charles McGee, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen who flew 409 fighter combat missions in three wars, has died at the age of 102.
In tweets on Sunday, Vice President Harris and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called McGee an American hero.
“Today, we lost an American hero, Brigadier General Charles McGee," Harris wrote in a tweet. "A member of the Tuskegee Airmen, he completed over 400 missions during World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. I had the honor of calling him last month on his 102nd birthday to thank him for his service to our nation.”
McGee was among the 900 men that trained in Alabama from 1940 to 1946 after the Army Air Corps was forced to admit Black pilots, The Associated Press reported.
McGee was one of the few American pilots to fly combat missions during World War II and in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
"Today, we lost an American hero," Austin wrote in a tweet Sunday. "Charles McGee, Brigadier General and one of the last surviving Tuskegee Airman, passed at the age of 102. While I am saddened by his loss, I'm also incredibly grateful for his sacrifice, his legacy, and his character. Rest in peace, General.”
Former President Trump promoted McGee to the rank of brigadier general in an honorary commission shortly after his 100th birthday.
“We shattered all the myths,” McGee said in a biography by his daughter, Charlene E. McGee Smith, published in 1999, according to the New York Times.
“A lot of what we fought for was an opportunity to overcome having someone look at you and, because of your color, close a door on you.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/589980-charles-mcgee-dies?rl=1
-
Korean War Medal of Honor recipient's remains return to Georgia hometown after 73 years
Army Pfc. Luther Herschel Story died in the Korean War at the age of 18.
By Natalia Mittelstadt
Updated: May 29, 2023
Russian drone attacks claimed at least two lives and caused widespread damage in Kyiv, Ukraine over the weekend. Falling debris ignited fatal fires, leaving casualties and destruction in several districts of the capital city.
The remains of Medal of Honor recipient Army Pfc. Luther Herschel Story, who died in the Korean War, were returned to his family in Georgia after 73 years, and he was given a Memorial Day burial on Monday.
At 18 years old, Story was last seen alive on Sept. 1, 1950, near the village of Agok on the Naktong River in South Korea, The Associated Press reported. His unit came under attack by North Korean troops, and because he feared his wounds would slow down his company, he stayed behind to provide them cover.
Because of his heroism, Story was awarded the Medal of Honor and posthumously promoted to corporal.
However, his family didn’t know where his remains were.
“In my family, we always believed that he would never be found,” said Story’s niece and closest surviving relative, Judy Wade.
The month after Story was last seen, the U.S. military recovered a body that was in the area where he had fought. The unidentified remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii with other unknown service members.
In 2021, the remains were disinterred as part of the military’s effort to identify the remains of several hundred Americans who died in the Korean War.
More than 7,500 Americans, about 20% of the nearly 37,000 U.S. service members who died in the war, are either still missing or their remains have yet to be identified.
Wade and her late mother, Story’s older sister Gwendolyn Story Chambliss, had provided DNA samples before Chambliss’s death in 2017, which scientists eventually found matched the DNA from Story’s bones.
“I don’t have to worry about him anymore,” Wade said, who was born four years after Story went missing. “I’m just glad he’s home.”
Story’s casket received a police escort with flashing lights in Story's hometown of Americus, Ga., on Wednesday, before it was buried with military honors on Monday at the Andersonville National Cemetery.
Following the DNA match of Wade with Story’s remains, President Joe Biden made the announcement of the late corporal's return with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol last month.
“Today, we can return him to his family,” Biden said of Story, “and to his rest.”
https://justthenews.com/nation/medal-honor-recipients-remains-return-georgia-hometown-after-73-years
-
(https://media.gettr.com/group11/getter/2023/05/30/00/33ce50c5-9a01-3a1e-6305-e5a706afd009/7d8b668a45a1d9fc59f3c90f3904464a_768x0.jpg)
-
10-year-old’s mission to rescue dogs earns him a TV show
Roman McConn began helping find homes for shelter dogs at age 4. Now he’s got a Disney XD show.
By Andrea Sachs
June 8, 2022
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/public/VENYK5NZHZG3NF2Q5OR26SMV54_size-normalized.jpg&w=1200)
Roman McConn, 10, star of the Disney XD show “Roman to the Rescue,” poses on the set with a shelter dog named Patch, who is deaf. Roman's show profiles shelter dogs in need of adoption, a cause he and his family have been working on for six years. (Family photo)
Asher is a three-legged shepherd who loves splashing in water bowls and chewing on tree branches. Miss Kitty is a black Chihuahua mix who races around the yard at the speed of a cheetah. Layla, who is part pit bull, prefers licking human faces to chasing tennis balls.
All three shelter dogs have very different personalities, but they have one thing — or, more specifically, one person — in common: Roman McConn. The 10-year-old helped them find their forever “kid” on his new Disney XD series, “Roman to the Rescue.”
“I just love working with dogs,” said the rising sixth-grader who lives in Georgia with his mom, dad, four dogs and various fostered animals. “I want to give them a second chance.”
Roman was 4 years old and living in Texas when he learned about the tragic fate of some shelter dogs. During a trip to a pet store, he saw dogs in crates waiting to be adopted. His parents explained to him that, because of overcrowding at shelters, the animals that could not find families quickly enough were at risk of being “put down,” or euthanized (pronounced YU-than-ized). That means they are given medicine that quickly kills them. This heartbreaking reality motivated Roman to act.
“I dove in head first,” he said of his new mission to find every shelter dog in the United States a home.
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/EKO373PSPRHTTKQOSJTZ7SR5KQ.jpg&w=1200)
Roman and family friend Brenda McGarr visit with shelter dog Jack in 2021 before he heads from Georgia to Texas with Project Freedom Ride, an organization Roman's family started to help find homes for shelter dogs. The organization has arranged for more than 4,000 dogs to be adopted. (Family photo)
To accomplish his goal, Roman creates playful videos of individual dogs at local shelters, which his mom shares on social media. When choosing his stars, he doesn’t look for the pups with the fluffiest fur or floppiest ears. He spotlights the underdogs.
“We pick ones that have been there the longest and have the saddest story and are less likely to get adopted, like pit bulls, labs and other big dogs,” said Roman, who hosted a YouTube show about rescues on the Dodo Kids network when he was 8 years old.
About a year after Roman started making the videos, he and his mom founded Project Freedom Ride. The nonprofit organization transports unwanted dogs from Texas, where their survival rate is often low, to northern states, where their chances of adoption are higher. Since 2016, Project Freedom Ride has saved more than 4,200 dogs, including the 17 that appear on “Roman to the Rescue.” (The network released the first seven episodes in February; the other 10 will become available this summer.)
“Roman has had a positive impact on the lives of thousands of animals for over half his life,” said YuJung Kim, group publisher at the Dodo, which produces the series for Disney. “While being just a normal kid at the end of the day — he loves Legos, ‘Star Wars’ and playing with his friends — Roman shows us that it’s possible to channel a passion for animals into meaningful change at any age.”
In each episode, Roman focuses on one dog. First, he determines the pup’s character (athletic, shy or clingy) and favorite activities (belly rubs, swimming or giving kisses). Then he tosses around filmmaking ideas with a creative team of young celebrities, such as Issac Ryan Brown from “Raven’s Home.”
After the video is posted, Roman and Aziza Glass, a veterinarian, sort through the applications and select the best kid for that dog. Before handing the pooch over to its new family, he gives his four-legged friend a final cuddle — a bittersweet experience.
“I feel so happy when the dog gets adopted,” he said, “but sometimes it’s so hard to let the dog go.” However, there was one he was eager to bid farewell to: a terrier named Honey who, Roman said, “would stare at you and poop.”
(https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://arc-anglerfish-washpost-prod-washpost.s3.amazonaws.com/public/WSKTLPVY6RCM7GW2VGO75RANA4.jpg&w=1200)
Roman poses with Roscoe, 4-year-old lab mix, at the Burke County Animal Shelter in Georgia on May 28. Roman doesn't choose the cutest puppies to profile in his show. Instead he picks dogs that might be passed over and highlights their good qualities. (Family photo)
Roman posts photos and videos of Texas and Georgia shelter dogs on Project Freedom Ride’s Instagram account. The organization’s website also includes information about his volunteer work and rescued dog events. Roman said kids of any age can help shelter dogs. He recommends contacting local shelters and asking if they need donations (blankets, toys, treats), help walking or spending time with the dogs, or even creating videos of dogs that could use extra love.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/kidspost/2022/06/08/roman-mcconn-rescues-shelter-dogs/
-
I admire this person. And to think Roman McConn is only 10 years old. Amazing!
Lucy, my 16-year-old Rat Terrier is deaf like me only worse because, as far as I know, there are no hearing aids for dogs. On the plus side, Lucy used to be an annoying barker. Since losing her hearing she never barks. I know she still has a voice because when she doesn't like something or slips and falls, she yelps.
A cousin of mine is a retired airline piolet. He has his own small craft airplane with he uses to rescue pups from all over the country and bring them to Colorado which is a no-kill state. Although many of these dogs are seniors, they find homes and are either permanently adopted or in foster care until a permanent home can be found for them.
My good friend Nancy adopted a senior Golden Lab who is such a sweet dog. Because of her experience, if Lucy passes before I do, I may decide to adopt a senior dog. It makes more sense than starting out with a puppy that would likely need to be housebroken and require a lot of exercise.
At no time in my life have I not had a pet - almost always dogs, save for one cat, a couple of horses, some rabbits, two goats, turtles, tropical fish (boring), briefly a baby alligator and multiple Peruvian guinea pigs. I prefer dogs as pets. They are truly man’s best friend.
-
I admire this person. And to think Roman McConn is only 10 years old. Amazing!
Lucy, my 16-year-old Rat Terrier is deaf like me only worse because, as far as I know, there are no hearing aids for dogs. On the plus side, Lucy used to be an annoying barker. Since losing her hearing she never barks. I know she still has a voice because when she doesn't like something or slips and falls, she yelps.
A cousin of mine is a retired airline piolet. He has his own small craft airplane with he uses to rescue pups from all over the country and bring them to Colorado which is a no-kill state. Although many of these dogs are seniors, they find homes and are either permanently adopted or in foster care until a permanent home can be found for them.
My good friend Nancy adopted a senior Golden Lab who is such a sweet dog. Because of her experience, if Lucy passes before I do, I may decide to adopt a senior dog. It makes more sense than starting out with a puppy that would likely need to be housebroken and require a lot of exercise.
At no time in my life have I not had a pet - almost always dogs, save for one cat, a couple of horses, some rabbits, two goats, turtles, tropical fish (boring), briefly a baby alligator and multiple Peruvian guinea pigs. I prefer dogs as pets. They are truly man’s best friend.
I have a Border Collie. Incredibly smart and athletic. He's a handful. Like having two dogs. He's like a human. And dogs are often better than people. I would kill for my dog.
-
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson BREAKS INTERNET With Fiery Speech Slamming Biden, BLM, and ANTIFA
-
Honorary Great American Ricardo Montalban.
-
Now that Hunter's laptop has been proven 100% real by US Dept of Justic filings...the guy with the computer shop that turned it in should be recognized as a patriot instead of being hunted by the various alphabet agencies.
(https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2022/11/john-paul-mac-isaac-2-e1668023463805.png)
-
Lou Conter, last survivor of the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, dies at 102
April 3, 2024
By: Vanessa Romo
(https://www.gpb.org/sites/default/files/styles/flexheight/public/npr_story_images/2024/04/02/ap24092701633076-b77f331e5ea03ea4cd8eb0e7f6070dd02fb66a74.jpg?itok=KlxTaHFH)
Lou Conter, pictured at the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, in 2016, died on Monday. He was the last living survivor of the USS Arizona battleship that exploded and sank during the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. / AP
Lou Conter, the last known survivor of the attack on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor, has died at the age of 102.
Conter, who was a 20-year-old quartermaster at the time of the naval assault, was on the back decks of the battleship on Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese forces decimated the U.S. Pacific fleet. The unprecedented attack killed 1,177 on the Arizona, with over 900 of those individuals never recovered.
As the bombs rained down on the naval base, one landed between two main guns at the front of the Arizona. The explosion ignited a huge store of TNT black powder that was used for the ship's battery guns.
"There went a million pounds of powder," Conter recalled in a 2018 interview with the American Veterans Center. "It blew up!"
The explosion was so intense that it split the ship in two, "and the bow came up about 30, 40 feet out of the water and fell straight back down," he remembered.
The strike was catastrophic and it only took about 10 minutes for the ship to sink, David Kilton, a spokesman for the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, told NPR.
Meanwhile, amid the chaos, Conter abandoned the ship and eventually made it to safety, only to be ordered onto a rescue boat to help pull bodies from the water. "Some of those were individuals in distress, trying to figure out how to swim around the huge quantities of oil that had leaked out and the flames that were on the water," Kilton said.
"Guys were coming out of the fire, and we were just grabbing them and laying them down," Conter later said. "They were real bad. You would pick them up by the bodies, and the skin would come off in your hands."
(https://www.gpb.org/sites/default/files/styles/flexheight/public/npr_story_images/2024/04/03/ap23334653123216-a236f600cb2759f2474cc5a09bf003522944f875.jpg?itok=7epZmams)
The battleship USS Arizona belches smoke as it topples over during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. The attack drew the U.S. into World War II. / AP
Conter's life mantra in and out of battle was simple: Don't panic
Shortly after the horrors in Hawaii, Conter was selected for flight training and became a Navy aviator. He flew some 200 combat missions in the Pacific throughout WWII.
Ed Bonner, a family friend who wrote the foreword for Conter's autobiography, The Lou Conter Story, described the war veteran as a warm man who never lost his cool — even when being shot down during a mission.
In September 1943, Conter was given orders to drop flares over the Japanese fleet off the coast of New Guinea to keep them awake, Bonner told NPR, sharing one of his favorite war stories of Conter's. But as they were flying over the base, Conter's plane was struck, crashing into the ocean. "And as they hit the water – about six miles off of New Guinea — the co-pilot tells the 10-person crew, 'Say your prayers, boys. We are all going to die.' "
But Conter wasn't having that, Bonner laughed.
Instead, he ordered the terrified crew not to panic. In fact, Bonner said, that was Conter's life mantra: Don't panic.
So, as they were going down, Conter tried to calm his men with a plan. "He said, 'Get ready to swim. We're going to just paddle slowly and if a shark comes up to you, punch it in the nose.' "
That's exactly what they did, escaping about a dozen sharks on their way to the shore, according to Bonner.
"Eventually, they got rescued. They had dinner, went to sleep and got up and flew another mission the next night. And that is how we won the war. It was men like that," Bonner declared with admiration.
After WWII, Conter went on to serve in the Korean War. Later, he became the Navy's first SERE officer — an acronym for survival, evasion, resistance and escape. For years, he helped establish the program, training Navy pilots and crew how to survive if they were shot down in the jungle and captured as prisoners of war.
By the end of his 27-year career in the Navy, in 1967, he'd risen to the ranks of lieutenant commander. He then moved to California, became a real estate developer, and married his second wife, Valerie. They were together for 47 years.
Conter passed away on Monday at his home in Grass Valley, Calif., following congestive heart failure.
(https://www.gpb.org/sites/default/files/styles/flexheight/public/npr_story_images/2024/04/03/ap22324694460398-f5b2698314712fffdeaa960bc9d323add52a6b0b.jpg?itok=wpKaAV9c)
Lou Conter's death prompted a a statement from President Biden, who said, "He never forgot all the brave men he served with on board the Arizona. Until he was nearly 100 years old, he attended annual memorial services at Pearl Harbor." / AP
The nation mourns Conter's passing
On Monday, President Biden reacted to Conter's death.
"He never forgot all the brave men he served with on board the Arizona. Until he was nearly 100 years old, he attended annual memorial services at Pearl Harbor," Biden said in a statement.
The president added: "The women and men who serve in the U.S. Armed Forces are patriots in the highest sense. Like Lou, they risk their own safety for the safety of their fellow Americans. Like Lou, they bravely undertake dangerous missions to defend our nation's freedom and future. Like Lou, they believe deeply in their duty to their country and their fellow service members and will go to the ends of the earth to fulfill that duty. Our nation owes them all a debt of gratitude we can never repay."
Pearl Harbor National Memorial Superintendent Tom Leatherman also mourned the loss of Conter
"The passing of Lou is the end of an era and so hard for the many of us who have gotten to know him over the years," Leatherman said.
"Now more than ever we must find a way to keep the legacy of Pearl Harbor, that Lou championed for so many years, alive. We owe it to him and all those who served and lost their lives to make sure they did not die in vain," he added, noting that the flag at over the USS Arizona Memorial will be flown at half-staff in honor of Conter's life and service until the day of his interment.
Conter's family said funeral arrangements are being made, and there will be a ceremony with full military honors.
https://www.gpb.org/news/2024/04/03/lou-conter-last-survivor-of-the-uss-arizona-in-pearl-harbor-dies-at-102
-
A hero’s surprise: WWII POW who survived D-Day, Battle of the Bulge celebrates 100 years
Ken Axelson spent three months as a prisoner of war in Germany until April 2, 1945 — his 21st birthday.
By Liz Collin -April 11, 2024
(https://alphanews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/vet1-1536x1024.jpeg)
Ken Axelson marks his 100th birthday earlier this month in Rochester. (Alpha News)
At Golden Living Center in Rochester, Ken Axelson’s 100th birthday earlier this month was for much more than marking a century. It was a day of reflection, on a life of selflessness and service from southern Minnesota.
“You can’t ask for much more of that service than what he gave in his time,” family friend Brian Danielson remarked about Ken’s incredible story of survival.
After graduating from Red Wing High School in 1943, Ken Axelson was inducted into the Army.
“I guess if you go back a little bit, you’d say that someone who knows so much about guns would make a good infantry man, so the Army made him a medic,” Danielson joked to the crowd that gathered for Axelson’s birthday celebration.
But that assignment may have saved his life. His first medic mission came a year later — Omaha Beach on D-Day where more than 2,500 American soldiers died in the Allied invasion of Normandy in WWII.
(https://alphanews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/vet3.jpeg)
Ken Axelson spent three months as a prisoner of war in Germany until April 2, 1945 — his 21st birthday. (Alpha News)
Two weeks and five practice jumps later, he went on to be a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division. He then survived the Battle of the Bulge where 19,000 American soldiers lost their lives and Axelson was taken captive.
He spent three months as a prisoner of war in Germany until April 2, 1945 — his 21st birthday.
“Once the Allies came and liberated him from that camp, he sent a telegram to let his family know that he was OK. He told me on that day that his dad was walking to the church to plan Ken’s funeral. And he stopped by the post office, and he got the telegram that said Ken was alive and coming home,” Danielson remarked.
“My mother was a person who prayed a lot and that was a comfort to me in the fox hole. Knowing that she was praying for me,” Axelson said.
Danielson is certain Ken Axelson is a real-life hero.
“I also know him as Ken from Wanamingo who spent the rest of his life serving his community that I got to take advantage of as a kid growing up. My dad was an MIA from Vietnam and Ken was a POW. He was just very understanding of me as a kid struggling with knowing answers and loss in war. I never forgot that. It meant a lot to me,” Danielson said.
A retired Navy fighter pilot himself, Danielson wanted to make sure his hometown hero received a proper celebration when he turned a century.
“He told me one day last fall that his favorite pair of boots were his jump boots and he had to turn them in, and he never got a replacement pair,” Danielson recalled of the conversation.
(https://alphanews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/vet2-1.jpeg)
Ken Axelson marks his 100th birthday earlier this month in Rochester. (Alpha News)
“I called the Army, and I told them you missed your jump boots … the Army was able to find a pair of jump boots to give you,” Danielson told Axelson.
Axelson was delighted to see a fresh pair of jumpers that were just the right size.
“These will last me the rest of my life,” Axelson joked.
Larry Van De Walker also considers Axelson a good friend.
“Can you imagine what mom and dad went through thinking they’re going to plan that funeral? And here he comes walking in, for goodness sakes. I just say never forget, that’s kind of the deal with all of this. Some gave all, he came close to being one of those guys who gave all. He gave more than some. Never forget,” Van De Walker said.
Update: Alpha News has learned that Axelson passed away peacefully Thursday, April 11.
“Ken lived an amazing life and how wonderful to know that the significant historical events that marked his service were only a small part of a larger legacy of raising a wonderful family and giving back to his community,” Danielson said.
“I was very lucky to know him and enjoyed all of our conversations. It was an honor to share his story with others and I am happy for those who got to find out how special he was.
“I think the perfect comment would be one from Ken himself. As he witnessed so much carnage and destruction in war and in a German Stalag, he said, ‘What came to mind was the question: What is truly important in life? At the top of the list is to love and be loved.’
“A very good reminder for us all. And if you knew him at all, you can see his infectious smile to accompany that quote. RIP, Albert ‘Ken’ Axelson. Your legacy lives on and thank you for your honorable and faithful service.”
https://alphanews.org/a-heros-surprise-wwii-pow-who-survived-d-day-battle-of-the-bulge-celebrates-100-years/