Category: Blue Skies

The news comes to us of the passing of Captain (Chaplain) Charles James Liteky who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions at Phuoc-Lac, Bien Hoa Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 6 December 1967;

Chaplain Liteky was participating in a search and destroy operation when Company A came under intense fire from a battalion size enemy force. Momentarily stunned from the immediate encounter that ensued, the men hugged the ground for cover. Observing two wounded men, Chaplain Liteky moved to within 15 meters of an enemy machinegun position to reach them, placing himself between the enemy and the wounded men. When there was a brief respite in the fighting, he managed to drag them to the relative safety of the landing zone. Inspired by his courageous actions, the company rallied and began placing a heavy volume of fire upon the enemy’s positions. In a magnificent display of courage and leadership, Chaplain Liteky began moving upright through the enemy fire, administering last rites to the dying and evacuating the wounded. Noticing another trapped and seriously wounded man, Chaplain Liteky crawled to his aid. Realizing that the wounded man was too heavy to carry, he rolled on his back, placed the man on his chest and through sheer determination and fortitude crawled back to the landing zone using his elbows and heels to push himself along. Pausing for breath momentarily, he returned to the action and came upon a man entangled in the dense, thorny underbrush. Once more intense enemy fire was directed at him, but Chaplain Liteky stood his ground and calmly broke the vines and carried the man to the landing zone for evacuation. On several occasions when the landing zone was under small arms and rocket fire, Chaplain Liteky stood up in the face of hostile fire and personally directed the medivac helicopters into and out of the area. With the wounded safely evacuated, Chaplain Liteky returned to the perimeter, constantly encouraging and inspiring the men. Upon the unit’s relief on the morning of 7 December 1967, it was discovered that despite painful wounds in the neck and foot, Chaplain Liteky had personally carried over 20 men to the landing zone for evacuation during the savage fighting. Through his indomitable inspiration and heroic actions, Chaplain Liteky saved the lives of a number of his comrades and enabled the company to repulse the enemy.

The chaplain’s time among us was not without controversy, according to ABC News;

Twenty years after his heroic actions in Vietnam, Liteky left the Medal of Honor — awarded under the name of Angelo J. Liteky — and a letter to President Ronald Reagan at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in protest of the country’s foreign policy in Central America, where U.S.-backed dictators were fighting bloody wars against left-leaning rebels.

After that, Liteky spent years protesting against the U.S. Army School of the Americas, an academy at Fort Benning, Georgia, where the U.S. Army trained soldiers from Central and South America and the Caribbean. He was sentenced to one year in federal prison in 2000 for entering the school without permission and splashing its rotunda with their own blood.

In 2003, he traveled to Baghdad with other peace protesters to bear witness to the war and work with children in an orphanage and at hospitals.

Mick sends us a link to the sad news that Thurman Spriggs, one of the Tuskegee airmen has passed. That’s him on your right in the picture above.

Spriggs and 11 others were inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006 for their military accomplishments and battles against racism.

Spriggs was an accomplished track athlete who left Des Moines, Iowa, to join the Army in 1941.

He first served in the 9th Cavalry, nicknamed the Buffalo Soldiers. He joined the Tuskegee Airmen in 1944 and graduated from flight school as a fighter pilot who flew single-engine aircraft. He served with the unit for two years, although he was never deployed overseas. He left the Army in 1946.

The historian of the Tuskegee Airmen tells us that Spriggs didn’t actually fly in combat with the unit, but that he trained with them and he’s a documented member of the Tuskegee Airmen, which is an accomplishment in itself.

Devtun sends us the sad news that 101-year-old Willie Rogers has passed. I verified with our friend, the historian for the Tuskegee Airmen, that Willie was indeed a member of the famed aviators’ unit.

Willie N. Rogers, one of the oldest surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen, died Friday from complications of a stroke. He was 101.

The longtime St. Petersburg, Florida , resident was a member of the original 100th Fighter Squadron established during World War II .

He was wounded in action, shot in the stomach and leg by German soldiers, during a mission in Italy in January 1943. Rogers spent three months in a hospital in London before returning to the war, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

One correction to the Air Force Times story, though; Mr Rogers was a member of the 96th Air Services Squadron, not the 100th Fighter Squadron.

Eggs sends us the sad news that Arnold Palmer, the first professional golfer to earn a million dollars at the sport, has passed at the age of 87. According to CNN “With his dominance in golf and distinctive style, Palmer helped turn the sport from a country club pursuit to one that became accessible to the masses.”

Of course, like most of his generation, he was a veteran. Palmer spent the Korean War years in the Coast Guard from 1950-1953. In 1954, he won the U.S. Amateur Championship.

19-year-old Marine Corps Private First Class Carlos Segovia was murdered while he was on military leave in Los Angeles. He was at a stop sign on Friday when another vehicle pulled up alongside and one of the occupants shot him. Segovia was reported to be brain dead on Sunday and finally passed in the early hours today. From ABC7;

Segovia was not in uniform when he was shot, according to authorities. The family of Segovia contacted ABC7 using the hashtag #abc7eyewitness and said the 19-year-old was home on military leave from Camp Pendleton.

For several years, Segovia volunteered for a group that feeds the homeless, and six months ago, he became a U.S. Marine to serve the country he loves, his family said.

From Daily Mail;

His friend Andre Quezada added: ‘Being a Marine is a tough job, it’s tiring and the time that he does get to rest he doesn’t rest, he comes over here and helps volunteer for the homeless.’