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

Category: Historical

  • Just Cause Anniversary

    Republished from Dec 20th 2009;

    just-cause

    I was in Vermont teaching ROTC during Operation Just Cause. When I went to bed on December 19th, I’d heard the news that a large number of transport aircraft had just left Fort Bragg, and I never thought they were headed to Panama. The following morning I woke my Panamanian wife to tell her we were at war. One of my cadets had a brother in the 82d and called to ask what was going on – like I’d know.

    My brother-in-law was a sergeant in the Panama National Guard (which was actually the federal troops under Noriega) – he decided not to go to work that day and reported in when Noriega was finally taken in to custody. He retired from the Panama Defense Force three years ago. My nephew is a corporal in the PDF’s Traffic Police.

    My mother-in-law had gone to school with Noriega and 12 years earlier, when he was a lieutenant colonel, had asked him to help get me released from the local jail (named Carcel Modelo) when I was jailed on some trumped-up kidnapping charges. He didn’t help, and I was released after two weeks with no charges brought against me.

    So we go back every year, and I’ve never noticed any animosity towards Americans. Of course, it helps that they have the highest standard of living in Central America, much of it because of American tourists and the willingness we have to spend a lot of money there (they still use the dollar, but they call it a Balboa). They’re generally glad that Noriega is gone, some of them miss the Americans, but they’re doing well enough on their own.

    A salute to the fallen of Just Cause;

    ARMY

    Staff Sgt. Larry Barnard 3/75th Rangers Hallstead, Pa.
    Pfc. Roy D. Brown Jr. 3/75th Rangers Buena Park, Calif.
    Pvt. Vance T. Coats 82nd Airborne DivisionC 1/508th Abn 193rd Great Falls, Mont.
    Spec. Jerry S. Daves 82nd Airborne. Division Hope Mills,N.C.
    Sgt. Michael A. Deblois 82nd Airborne DivisionC 1/508th Abn 193rd Dubach, La.
    Pfc. Martin D. Denson 82nd Airborne Division Abilene,Texas
    Pfc. William D. Gibbs 7th Infantry Division. Marina, Calif.
    Spec. Phillip S. Lear 2/75th Rangers Westminster, S.C.
    Spec. Alejandro Manriquelozano* 82nd Airborne Division Lauderhill, Fla.
    Pfc. James W. Markwell 1/75th Rangers Cincinnati, Ohio
    Cpl. Ivan M. Perez 5th Infantry Division Pawtucket, R.I.
    Pfc. John M. Price 2/75th Rangers Conover, Wis.
    Pfc. Scott L. Roth 89th Military Police Brigade Killeen, Texas
    Pvt. Kenneth D. Scott 5th Infantry Division Princeton, W.Va.
    1st Lt. John R. Hunter 160th Aviation Victor, Montana
    CWO2 Wilson B. Owens 160th Aviation Myrtle Beach,S.C.
    CWO2 Andrew P. Porter 7th Infantry Division Saint Clair, Mich.
    Pvt. James A. Taber Jr. 82nd Airborne Division Montrose, Colo.

    NAVY

    Lt. jg John Connors Special Warfare Group Arlington, Maine
    BM1 Chris Tilghman Special Warfare Group Kailua, Hawaii ENC
    Donald McFaul Special Warfare Group Deschutes,Ore.
    TM2 Issac G. Rodriguez III Special Warfare Group Missouri City,Texas

    MARINE CORPS

    Cpl. Garreth C. Isaak 2nd Marine Division home town unknown.

    Another of our “wars of imperialism” in which we didn’t occupy or annex the country. When will we learn to get it right?

  • Merry Christmas, 1965

    We are all aware of the way Vietnam veterans were treated by some in this country in the 60’s and 70’s. I came across an article in my local fishwrap about a couple of college students here in my home town that didn’t really care for the way protestors were behaving and came up with an idea to show their support for our local soldiers.

     

     

    Operation Michigan Christmas, an idea that came from Jackson's Dave Trotter and Gary Mugg and championed by Gov. George Romney, delivered nearly 7,500 Christmas packages to Michigan soldiers serving in Vietnam in 1965. Nearly 200 students from colleges and universities throughout the state helped pack boxes and make signs for the charter plane delivering the packages.
    Operation Michigan Christmas, an idea that came from Jackson’s Dave Trotter and Gary Mugg and championed by Gov. George Romney, delivered nearly 7,500 Christmas packages to Michigan soldiers serving in Vietnam in 1965. Nearly 200 students from colleges and universities throughout the state helped pack boxes and make signs for the charter plane delivering the packages.

     

     

    “There were a lot of us here that believed regardless of the war, the soldiers in Vietnam were kids like us and our friends and family,” Mugg said. “Dave especially believed we needed to do something to show our support for the troops.”On Nov. 21, 1965, Mugg and Trotter announced in the Citizen Patriot an ambitious project to gather the names of Jackson-area men and women serving in Vietnam so they could mail Christmas packages to them to help boost their morale.

    It was first envisioned as a local effort however, then Gov. George Romney (yes, Mitt’s father) got wind of the idea after returning from a trip to Vietnam and decided to make it a state wide effort.

    News of the effort reached Gov. George Romney, who had just returned from a visit with Michigan troops there.

    On Nov. 26 – the day after Thanksgiving – Romney made Mugg and Trotter’s plan a statewide effort to put Christmas packages in the hands of every Michigan man and woman serving in Vietnam.

    Operation Michigan Christmas was born.

    The Pentagon was unable to provide names and addresses of Michigan soldiers so 9 newspapers across the state put out the call and just 4 days after Gov. Romney made it a statewide effort, over 3000 names and addresses had been submitted.

    Dow Chemical Co. gave bottles of aspirin, tissues and Saran Wrap that covered Michigan apples. Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all contributed model cars so soldiers could give the toys to South Vietnamese children.

    The packages contained candy, nuts, fruit cake, peanut butter, mixed nuts, raisins, apple sauce, gum, canned pop, ballpoint pens and stationery, sewing kits, toothpaste, razor blades, shaving cream, insect repellent and foot powder.

    200 college students helped pack up gift boxes totaling more than 7,400 packages and the newspapers that collected names and addresses pitched in to pay for a charter flight to deliver the goodies.

    The flight left Willow Run Airport on Tuesday, Dec. 14 and the gift boxes were in the hands of grateful soldiers by Christmas. Pentagon officials later called the “gift lift” a “logistical miracle.”

    When I was in Desert Storm the most memorable thing about the holidays for me was an Apache pilot that landed in our AA on Christmas Eve, jumped out with a Santa suit on, and handed out Christmas cards from anonymous folks back home.

    Please feel free to leave your holiday deployment stories in the comments below!

    Merry Christmas everyone, and a special Merry Christmas to those of you spending it away from your loved ones this year.

  • Sergeant Stubby

    So, this is from an email from my Dad. It sounded a little weird, but I Googled SGT Stubby and he was a real dog, according to the Smithsonian Institute. It may be an old story, but it’s news to me.

    It looks like he was a stray that attached himself to a soldier, Private J. Robert Conroy, in the 102nd Infantry, 26th Yankee Division while the unit was on Yale Field in New Haven, Connecticut in 1917. Conroy smuggled him to France with the unit when they went to war. Conroy taught Stubby to salute the commanding officers, which saved him from being exiled from the unit.

    Stubby excelled at finding wounded troops on the battlefield. After he himself was gassed and nearly died, Stubby could warn the troops of gas attacks. He also warned them of incoming artillery.

    According to the Smithsonian;

    Stubby was awarded many medals for his heroism, including a medal from the Humane Society which was presented by General John Pershing, the Commanding General of the United States Armies. He was awarded a membership in the American Legion and the Y.M.C.A.

    When Private Conroy left the Army and went to law school, Stubby accompanied him. The dog died in 1926.

    ADDED: TSO sent this link to Badass of the Week.

  • Hell and High Water

    Gettysburg.

    To any American with even a rudimentary knowledge of military history, that word speaks volumes.  The battle itself, its historical impact, the heroism, the second-guessing . . . .  all of these are legendary.   Literally hundreds of books have been written concerning various aspects of the battle and its aftermath.

    Yet certain parts of the battle remain under-appreciated today. That’s true even of some that are well-known.

    In fact, that’s true for one of the great acts of heroism which occurred at Gettysburg.  IMO, it’s one of the greatest acts of collective heroism in military history – ranking with Gideon’s Band, the Spartans at Themopylae, and the Charge of the Light Brigade.  Yet it is an action for which none of the participants received any substantial personal recognition other than after-the-fact praise.  The human cost was extreme.  And it remains controversial even today.

    But that’s to be expected.  Any military operation involving 52+% casualties should be expected to have both heroic and controversial aspects.  That’s especially true when it involves roughly 12,500 men.

    I’m referring to Pickett’s Charge.

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  • Pearl Harbor speech.

    This was suppose to be the speech that I was going to give at the Unit Ball tomorrow. My original plan was to have it videoed so everyone of you can hear how awful I sound in person. But long story short, is that I will have a speaking role and my speech was voted of the island for a altered version. But I wanted to offer something now since there is a very good chance that I will not have time to post tomorrow. Also that this is the only way that my speech will see the light of day outside a few people in my unit. Oh and I take full credit for any and all grammatical mistakes found.

    AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR. (STOP) THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

    That was the message that was received on this the seventy first anniversary of the day of infamy. On this day the Naval base of Pearl Harbor and other military facilities on the territory of Hawaii were attacked by an aviation strike force of Imperial Navy of Japan. In less than six hours the Island of Hawaii was hit by a coordinated attack of over three hundred Dive bombers, Torpedo bombers and escorting fighters. The attack crippled or sank the majority of the warships moored at Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona and the USS Oklahoma sustained the heaviest losses of the twenty four hundred that perished in the attack. Many of you may have seen these images. The photo of the explosion of the main powder magazine of the USS Arizona. The image of the USS Oklahoma capsized among the flaming wreckage that used to be battleship row. The attack gave us bitter suffering and loss. It also gave us heroes to light this dark hour. Heroes such as such as Doris Miller, John William Finn and many others whose actions saved many more lives that day. Perhaps the bravest of that day were the group of three survivors who were trapped in a water tight compartment of the USS West Virginia during the attack. The Sailors survived by living off of emergency rations, flash lights, and any freshwater that could be found in the compartment. After sixteen days trapped in the sealed compartment, the three Sailors died from suffocation due to the depletion of the remaining oxygen. Their bodies were recovered by salvage crews months later. The room was littered with spent batteries and ration cans. There was also a calendar with red Xs marking of the days with the last one being December 23rd 1941. Their names were Clifford Olds age twenty, Ronald Endicott age eighteen, and Louis “Buddy” Costin age twenty one. On that infamous day, importantly not all was lost. The vital fuel and dry docks remained largely undamaged. These facilities allowed the Pacific fleet to restore damaged warships to fighting condition. Second, even more important, was that the Japanese Navy failed to destroy the Pacific Carrier Fleet. US carriers USS Enterprise and USS Yorktown would would later play lead roles at the battle of Midway the naval battle that decisively and irreversibly changed the tide of war in the Pacific in favor of the United States and Allies. Now as the 71st anniversary of Pearl Harbor comes to a close, will everyone please rise and offer a moment of silence in remembrance of the fallen and the survivors who are no longer with us today.

    The brief description about the fate these three that were trapped in the West Virgina can be found here. It is a short but hard at times to read about the aftermath of the attacks. But also it has a rare view of America before the winds of war blew in.

    Jack Miller and his shipmate, Clifford Olds joined fellow sailor Frank Kosa for a night at the “Monkey Bar”. It was December 6, 1941 in Pearl City, Oahu, and Miller and Olds were on liberty from the USS West Virginia. A barmaid snapped their picture and offered it for sale. “What a scam” they thought-keep it. Within 10 hours, this photo was to be the last reminder of peace and the terrifying beginning of Clifford Olds demise.

    Jack Miller volunteered aboard the USS Lexington and was at sea for two weeks following the attack, looking for the Japanese fleet. When he returned to Hawaii, he made a bee-line for the “Monkey Bar” and located the girl who had snapped their photo “light years” before. She found the negative and gave it to him for free out of respect. This photograph shows from left to right: Jack Miller, Frank Kosa and Clifford Olds-Camel cigarette dangling from his care-free fingers. Shipmates, and our Country are represented in this amazing picture of the last hours of peace.

    Anyways I should have some photo of me and my better half dressed up from the ball later for a healthy dose of ego inflated narcissism. Oh and just to make it interesting to day, lets play a game of “lets see how many people know why we remember what happened on this date in 1941 without hints or google”. Let me know how it goes.

  • Farm girls in the Confederate Cavalry

    In the Washington Post Times, Martha M. Boltz tells the tale of two Virginia cousins who left the farm when their uncle left them alone on the farm. Apparently they were a bit angry when their uncle joined the Yankees and they went off to join the Confederate Cavalry. They cut their hair, bound their breasts, affected deeper voices and a manly walk. Which seemed to have worked as one was promoted to Sergeant and the other to Corporal until their secret was uncovered.

    As many girls similar serving had done, they told their secret to their captain, who kept it for them until his capture in 1864. It was [his successor] who gave the information to Gen. [Jubal] Early.

    During their time with the troops, Mary was promoted to Sergeant and Mollie to Corporal. This did not matter to Early when he learned their true gender, and they were falsely accused of being “camp followers” or prostitutes and were put in prison.

    But you should read the whole story.

  • Junior

    Sons of famous fathers have many advantages in life – particularly if dad’s fame is due to or has lead to wealth.  Yet having a famous father is not completely without its disadvantages.

    What disadvantages?  Try living up to expectations, for one.  Many sons of famous fathers simply can’t.

    Everybody knows the story of Teddy Roosevelt – who later became the 26th US President – and his heroism at San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War.  Many even know that he was belatedly awarded the Medal of Honor for that act over 80 years after his death.  And he’s considered one of the more successful Presidents in US history.

    Imagine trying to live up to that legacy.  Imagine trying to do that when you’re a slender bantam-rooster kinda guy vice a strapping fellow like your dad.  (The other individual in this photo was  about 6 ft 1 in tall and around 200 lbs.)

    Now imagine doing exactly that – living up to such a legacy.  And imagine that almost no one remembers.

    You’re talking about Theodore Roosevelt Jr’s life.

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  • Happy Birthday, Dog-faced Soldiers

    The 3rd Infantry Division was born 95 years ago today at Camp Greene, NC, eight months later it earned it’s nickname “The Rock of the Marne” when they faced the Kaiser’s troops who were pursuing retreating French troops at the Marne River and held the line, saving Paris so Parisians can continue to be snotty prigs.

    I spent six years in the Marne Division with the 2/15th Infantry on Wildflecken and the 1/7th Infantry (Cottonbalers) in Aschaffenburg, so Rocky has a special place in my heart.

    And I still remember the words to the Division song “Dog Faced Soldier” and I probably sound like this singing it;

    Unfortunately, the 3rd ID thinks less of me than I think of them. Folks in the 3rd ID tell me that their internet networks block TAH as “political extremists”. That makes me angry.