This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Author: Hondo

  • Two More Come Home

    DPMO has announced the identification of two US MIAs from World War II.

    • 2nd. Lt. Valorie L. Pollard and Sgt. Dominick J. Licari,US Army Air Forces, were lost on 13 March 1944 in northeastern New Guinea. They were accounted for on 19 July 2013 and 17 July 2013, respectively.

    Welcome home, my elder brothers-in-arms.  Rest now in peace.

    . . .

    Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

    If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.

  • Russia Gives Snowden Asylum

    According to press reports, Russia has granted that damned turncoat former NSA contractor Eric Snowden “refugee status“.  Reportedly, he’s been granted a one year temporary asylum and has been allowed to leave Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.

    Raise your hand if you’re surprised.  Yeah – me neither.  I’d guess the Russian intelligence folks are probably already debriefing him in detail and going through every scrap of information he brought with him as part of the deal.

    But hey – the current Administration has restored respect for the US worldwide, right?

    Yeah, right.  A diplomatic slap in the face is a truly strange sign of respect.

    Somehow I just don’t see this happening 5 or 6 years ago.  But maybe that’s just me.

  • Seventy Years Ago Today: Black Sunday

    We of the other services sometimes chide our Air Force brethren for not being “hardcore” enough. And in some respects, that’s certainly true.  The Air Force lifestyle is in general  considered the least stressful of any of the military services.  Ground combat it ain’t – by design.

    Still, some in the Air Force are certifiably hardcore at times.  And seventy years ago today, “hardcore” doesn’t even begin to describe the actions of a group of roughly 1650 Army Air Forces personnel.

    Today marks the seventieth anniversary of one of the most costly US operations in World War II:  Operation Tidal Wave.  This operation was a large-scale bombing raid on oil facilities near Ploesti, Romania.  It was executed by elements of the 8th and 9th Army Air Forces.

    As in many wartime operations, politics played a part.  The operation had been agreed to by the POTUS and British Prime Minister at their conference in Casablanca in January 1943.

    It wasn’t solely a political target, though.  The Ploesti oil facilities were chosen as the operation’s target as they were believed to be a critical part of the “Achillies heel” for the Axis war effort:  POL production.  Postwar analysis was to show that this assessment regarding Axis POL production was correct – even if for many reasons Ploesti turned out not to be a single point of failure.

    (more…)

  • About the Lockerbie Bomber’s Release . . . .

    Well it looks like it might not have been some kind of under-the-table commercial oil deal that caused the folks in Scotland to suddenly become “kinder, gentler” jailers and opt to release the Pan Am 270 bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, after all.  Recent news report indicate multiple deals may have been involved – including one for arms.

    The British government, of course, still contends there was no quid pro quo regarding al-Megrahi’s release.

    Yeah, right.  Sounds more like “that’s our story and we’re sticking to it” to me.

    Hell, I don’t know of too many people who ever bought the “compassionate grounds” story as the real reason for al-Megrahi’s release in the first place. You’d think the governments of Great Britain and Scotland would have figured out by now that everyone with a working brain knows the score already.

    Whatever.

  • Sixty Years Ago Today . . .

    . . . at 2200 hrs local time (approximately 0900 Eastern), major hostilities in Korea ended.  The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed at 1000 local on 27 July 1953.  It became effective twelve hours later.

    The war had lasted 3 years, 1 month, and 3 days.  Negotiating the Armistice had taken slightly over two years.

    The Korean War claimed the lives of between 500,000 and 950,000 total KIA (total for both sides).  In excess of 1,200,000 individuals are estimated to have been WIA.  Among those casualties were 33,686 US battlefield dead (KIA/DOW/MIA-BNR) and 92,134 US WIA.

    The Korean War is technically still ongoing today, but suspended.  There never has been a formal peace treaty signed to end the conflict.

    Korea is often called our “Forgotten War”.  It was also a war for which we were horribly unprepared at the outset.  We damn near lost that war before we could get our act together.

    May we never forget that key lesson from the “Forgotten War”.  We certainly never need to experience another fiasco like Task Force Smith.

  • A Marine “Sergeant” Honored

    Yesterday, the Commandant of the Marine Corps honored a “Marine” from the “Forgotten War” – Korea.  A statue was dedicated in her honor at a park near the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

    Yes, you read that correctly – “her”.  The statue was of “Sgt. Reckless”.  She had four feet – or, more precisely, four hooves.

    “Sgt. Reckless” was a war horse.  Literally.

    Though not today particularly well-remembered, pack animals were used by the US military in both World War II and the Korean War.  They were at times literally lifesavers.

    For the Marines fighting near Outpost Vegas in March 1953, “Sgt. Reckless” was indeed a lifesaver.  (emphasis added)

    When the Chinese first attacked, lighting up the sky with tons of incoming fire, Reckless was frightened. She ran to a bunker, where the Marines found her covered with sweat. But the Marines calmed her and sent her on her mission.

    Reckless is credited with making 51 trips in a single day from the ammunition point to the recoilless rifles, which were firing continuously as Marines fought to push the Chinese back.

    She carried 386 rounds of ammunition totaling more than 9,000 pounds and walked over 35 miles. Most of the time she walked alone, knowing the route by instinct. “Her gun crew kept firing,” Wadley said.

    Outpost Vegas was retaken after a five-day battle.

    The Army Times has an excellent story on the dedication, giving additional background.  It’s well worth taking the time to read it.

    And in case you’re wondering:  yes, the USMC did indeed bring her back to the US at the end of the war.  She died at Camp Pendleton in 1968.

    Well done, “Sgt. Reckless”.  Damn well done.

  • About the USS Pueblo . . . .

    As you might recall, the USS Pueblo was captured by North Korean forces on January 23, 1968.

    The crew was released some 11 months later – after going through hell in captivity.  But the North Korean government never did release the ship.

    The ship was initially taken to Wonson on North Korea’s east coast.  But some time in the late 1990s, it was towed around the Korean peninsula and taken to Korea’s west coast.

    For a while, it apparently disappeared from sight.  But it’s now reappeared.

    Apparently it’s been towed up the Pothong River to Pyongyang.  According to an article at Breitbart.com,

    it’s expected to be be unveiled this week as the centerpiece of a renovated war museum to commemorate what North Korea calls “Victory Day,” the 60th anniversary this Saturday of the signing of the armistice that ended hostilities in the Korean War.

    Great.  Just freaking great.

    Hopefully ND:tBF will visit it.  And when he does, I hope he finds a wet and slippery spot on the deck – then slips, falls, and busts his fat ass.

     

  • Another Comes Home

    DPMO has announced the identification of a US MIA from Korea.

    • Pfc. Jonathan R. Posey Jr., L Battery, 11th Artillery Regiment, 1st Marine Division, USMC, was lost on 2 December 1950 during the fighting withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir.  He was formally accounted for on 19 June 2013.  He will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on 12 August 2013.  .

    Welcome home, my elder brother-in-arms.  Welcome home; rest in peace.

    . . .

    Over 73,600 US personnel remain unaccounted for from World War II; over 7,900 US personnel remain unaccounted for from the Korean War; and over 1,640 remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia.  If you are a relative of one of the individuals listed here (World War II – critical need), listed here (Korea), or listed here (Southeast Asia) – please consider reading this link to see if you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample.

    If you qualify to submit a mtDNA sample, please submit one.   By submitting a mtDNA sample, you may be able to help identify US remains that have been recovered and repatriated but not yet positively identified.

    Everybody deserves a proper burial.  That’s especially true for those who gave their all in the service of this nation.