You guys all know the close the relationship that this blog has had with the good folks at POW Network, and we were truly saddened when Chuck Schantag died recently. And you also know that I don’t ask for much from you, but, if you have a couple of extra bills in your wallet this month, I’d consider it a person favor if you toss them in to the Chuck Schantag Memorial Fund – every penny will go to help Mary through this difficult transition in her life.
Thank you.
509th Bob sends us a link to an article from Lahontan Valley News with the preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board’s relating to the accident that killed our friend retired Navy Capt. Carroll LeFon earlier this month;
According to the NTSB, LeFon’s flight had left NAS Fallon at 7:52 a.m., and after an adverse training mission, LeFon attempted to return to the field. The NTSB reports LeFon tried to make two Ground Control Approach radar approaches to NAS Fallon, but because of the weather, LeFon attempted to divert to the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Reno-Tahoe reported minimal weather conditions, and as a result, LeFon returned to NAS Fallon and told air traffic controllers he was in a “critical fuel state.”
The report further stated LeFon descended and maneuvered first toward runway 31 and then runway 13 before the F-21 the accident.
“The airplane struck the ground in an open field in the northwest corner of the airport property and impacted a concrete building on the field,” stated the NTSB report.
Bucking the odds stacked against him, Nep Lex managed to minimize the damage to the air field and other casualties besides himself. As I said initially, I’m sure that’s the way he would have wanted to leave us; doing what he loved most and with his boots on.
The word on the street is that iconic Milblogger, Carroll LeFon aka Neptunus Lex, was killed in an aircraft accident yesterday. I know he’s responsible for many of you being here at TAH, I also correctly predicted that he’d beat us for the Milbloggies award last year, because I recognize talent when I see it.
I don’t know Lex well, so I’ll let the people who did know him tell you about him;
An old interview with him on Milblogging.
All I know is that would have been his choice for meeting his last moments. He went out doing what he loved and with his boots on. What more could any man ask for from his Maker? We here are wishing blue skies for Carroll.
SGT K writes to let us know that Medal of Honor recipient Van Barfoot has passed at the tender age of 92. Most recently, Mr. Barfoot was denied the honor of flying an American flag in his yard by his homeowners’ association which sparked a bill allowing all Virginians to fly flags in their yards.
23 May 1944, near Carano, Italy. With his platoon heavily engaged during an assault against forces well entrenched on commanding ground, 2d Lt. Barfoot (then Tech. Sgt.) moved off alone upon the enemy left flank. He crawled to the proximity of 1 machinegun nest and made a direct hit on it with a hand grenade, killing 2 and wounding 3 Germans. He continued along the German defense line to another machinegun emplacement, and with his tommygun killed 2 and captured 3 soldiers. Members of another enemy machinegun crew then abandoned their position and gave themselves up to Sgt. Barfoot. Leaving the prisoners for his support squad to pick up, he proceeded to mop up positions in the immediate area, capturing more prisoners and bringing his total count to 17. Later that day, after he had reorganized his men and consolidated the newly captured ground, the enemy launched a fierce armored counterattack directly at his platoon positions. Securing a bazooka, Sgt. Barfoot took up an exposed position directly in front of 3 advancing Mark VI tanks. From a distance of 75 yards his first shot destroyed the track of the leading tank, effectively disabling it, while the other 2 changed direction toward the flank. As the crew of the disabled tank dismounted, Sgt. Barfoot killed 3 of them with his tommygun. He continued onward into enemy terrain and destroyed a recently abandoned German fieldpiece with a demolition charge placed in the breech. While returning to his platoon position, Sgt. Barfoot, though greatly fatigued by his Herculean efforts, assisted 2 of his seriously wounded men 1,700 yards to a position of safety. Sgt. Barfoot’s extraordinary heroism, demonstration of magnificent valor, and aggressive determination in the face of pointblank fire are a perpetual inspiration to his fellow soldiers.
Mary Schantag, from POW Network, notified us last night that her husband, Chuck, died yesterday. We join Mary in her grief. She wrote that their last words to each other were “I love you”.
UPDATE: Memorial service for Charles “Chuck” Patrick Schantag Jr.,age 64 of Branson, MO will be held at 3:00 P.M. Sunday, February 26, 2012 at Greenlawn Funeral Home Branson, MO with Chaplain Mike Jones and Father Philip Conlon officiating. Burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.
He died at 3:28 P.M. Thursday, February 23, 2012.
He was born on November 22, 1947 in Philadelphia, PA the son of Charles Patrick and Louis Schantag. He had been a resident of Branson and Skidmore, MO. He was the Chairman of the P.O.W. Network, a Disabled Vietnam Veteran, USMC Purple Heart recipient. He was also a member of MOPH, DAV, River Rats, Honorary member of MOZARK MOAA, NAM POW’s, USARA and SFA.
He is survived by his wife, Mary Pauline Schantag nee Butkiewicz, Branson, MO. A son, Charles Schantag and his wife Jackie of Clinton, IA., a daughter Miranda Renshaw and her husband Troy of Maryville, MO and Teresa Howard of Skidmore, Mo. Five grandchildren, Molly, Mason, Jackson, Hayden and Toraleigh. Sisters, Marlene Turner and her husband Gary of Solkatna,AK and Dyane Carey and her husband Gorge of Charlotte, NC and a brother, James Schantag of Philadelphia, PA. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Patrick and Louis Schantag. Also, a sister, Louise Schantag
About ten of you sent us this link to the story of Florence Green, the last known veteran of the World War One era, who passed in her sleep at the tender age of 110 years old. That’s her on your left in the picture above on the occasion of her 109th birthday when she was presented with a cake from her former service, the Royal Air Force. She doesn’t look a day over 80. From MSNBC;
Born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on Feb. 19, 1901, she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force in September 1918 at the age of 17.
She went to work as a waitress in the officers’ mess at RAF Marham in eastern England, and was serving there when the war ended in November 1918.
Green remembered her wartime service with affection.
So which one of you youngsters will be a headliner as the last known GWOT veteran in eighty years? Let me know when you get to Fiddler’s Green.
According to the Associated Press, the family of Lance Corporal Donald J. Hogan will receive the fallen Marine’s Navy Cross today. Hogan was killed in a roadside bomb attack in 2009;
The Marine Corps said in a statement that Hogan alerted his squad to the bomb while on patrol in 2009.
It says he pushed one Marine out of the blast zone before he was killed.
According to the LA Times, Hogan’s adopted family said he always wanted to be in the military;
I think he loved the camaraderie, liked shooting guns, liked blowing things up. He just liked being in the military. He liked identifying himself as a Marine. I don’t think there was much about it he didn’t like.
— Carla Hogan, mother
From another link;
In an account posted online at marineparents.com, a Marine mom who said that her son was in the same foot patrol as Donald, said his actions on the day of his death were heroic.
The mother wrote: “Dear Hogan Family, my son was one of the Marines with your dear son that fateful day. My son was walking directly behind LCpl Hogan and watched him save the life of a fellow Marine that was directly in front of him and in the path of the IED (improvised explosive device). Your son was a hero to many Marines that day, including my own and there are no words to describe the emotions I am going through and I cannot begin to fathom the unmeasureable grief that you are struggling to deal with now.
Semper Fi, Marine.
I just heard that Christopher Hitchens died yesterday. I met him once, I think it was at the National Press Club. It was right after the war against terror began and he’d just been fired from The Nation for supporting President Bush’s policy of pre-emptive war. He and I discussed the sad state of journalism when it seemed that the entire profession opposed the war just because it was a Republican who initiated it. He later sent me a signed copy of his book, “Why Orwell Matters”.
He debated Noam Chomsky, George Galloway and Scott Ritter with vigor and wit. He was a soldier in the war against terror in the rhetorical battle of ideas.
He was an unapologetic communist, but an important ally when it came to our national security. I admired his writing talent despite the fact that he was rabidly anti-religion and admired Lenin and Trotsky.
I’ll miss his columns and subtle wit. Iowahawk wrote what I wish I had written about Hitchens: Farewell to the best writer of the post-9/11 age.