Category: Real Soldiers

93-year-old Phillis “Pippa” Doyle was awarded France’s highest honor, the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur, or Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour for her heroics during the Second World War preparing the way for Allied forces to invade France. Now, a resident of New Zealand, she was presented the award by the French Ambassador. She joined the war effort when a relative was killed by the Germans. From AFP;

She spoke fluent French and on May 1, 1944, was parachuted into Normandy under the code name “Paulette”, where she spied on German troops and sent coded messages back to London.

“Pippa stands out as a formidable example for younger and older generations alike,” Contini said.

“At the age of 21, she decided to join the resistance movement in a foreign country, held dangerous positions and undertook perilous missions to prepare the grounds for the allied troops to march on.

“I have deep admiration for her bravery and her unshakable commitment to ending the war and it will be with great honour that I present her with the award of Chevalier de l’ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest decoration.”

Thanks to T Breezy for the link.

The Army Times reports about Army Sergeant First Class Darrick Geathers who saved an Air Force airman suffering from a severe wound of some sort outside his apartment in Osan, Korea;

“It was night time and I couldn’t really see much. I thought maybe he was drunk or had gotten sick, but I called out to him just to check and see if he was okay,” Geathers said, according to the release. “That’s when I noticed the pool of blood under him, and that it was all coming from a very serious gash to his head.”

Geathers’ training and experience kicked in, and he ripped off his shirt and put pressure on the wound of the airman from the 51st Operations Support Squadron. Since he needed two hands, he was unable to call for an ambulance, so he yelled for help and another man responded. But because of a communications barrier, Geathers said, it took around an hour for the Korean emergency responders to arrive.

The injured airman lost consciousness shortly after responders arrived. But a month later, he has recovered enough to return to work. It was unclear in the Army news release as to what caused the airman’s injury. His commanding officer, Air Force Lt. Col. Jason Jensen, said the airman was lucky to be alive and credited Geathers.

[…]

…said Geathers. “It doesn’t take a hero; it just takes some courage to do the right thing.”

Andy sends us a link to United Press International which reports that Sergeant Joseph Liefer was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, for valor while not engaged by an armed enemy (think Soldiers Medal, Army folks) for saving the life of one the Marines on his grenade range when the boot couldn’t throw his grenade hard enough and it rolled back into the pit;

“The student said a few choice words. And me, I didn’t really say anything,” Liefer told the Marine Corps Times. “It’s a split second moment, just counting in my head, ‘One Mississippi,’ just trying to see when the grenade would go off.”

According to the award citation, “Sgt. Liefer grabbed the student, threw him out of the pit and then threw himself on top of the student, shielding the student with his body.”

Neither Liefer or the student were injured in the ensuing blast, and training continued after the close call.

Marine Corps Training Command spokesman 1st Lt. Matthew Rojo told the Times that no protocals were altered in the wake of the incident, since such procedures were validated by Liefer’s quick actions.

The boot’s name wasn’t included in the article, but I’m guessing that it’s some variation of T-Rex, from the Ranger-Up T shirt above.

But here’s SGT Liefer;

Will sends us a link to the WRAL article about Fort Bragg, North Carolina’s Air Force Master Sergeant Thomas Case who earned his second Silver Star Medal which places him in a very exclusive club of three;

While on a mountainous battlefield in Afghanistan, Case risked his life several times to help save his fellow soldiers. He exposed himself to enemy fire, fixed a broken radio and called in fire from supporting aircraft. He also shot dead two highly skilled foreign fighters.

The citation was read in front of his peers and family inside a packed hanger at Pope Army Airfield.

“Well, your first thought is, ‘What were you thinking?’ But then after, you read it again, and you swell up with pride,” said Glenn Case, Thomas’ father.

Thomas Case recalls the moment as just another day at work.

“You wake up, you get the mission, and you go do it,” he said.

Read more at http://www.wral.com/fort-bragg-airman-awarded-rare-second-silver-star-/14177876/#X6J36IDsVq0rgavE.99

From Stars & Stripes;

As a staff sergeant in 2004, he was awarded his first Silver Star for an operation during the 2003 invasion of Iraq to seize and hold the Haditha dam. Over the course of several days, controlling up to 14 aircraft simultaneously, Case was responsible for over 300 enemy casualties, the destruction of dozens of enemy tanks, scores of artillery pieces and even a few enemy boats.

Someone sent us a link to a fairly long article in the Orange County Weekly about Captain William Forbes “Ike” Eisenbraun, a special forces officer in Vietnam before President Johnson sent combat forces to that country. Eisenbraun was captured by the North Vietnamese Army just weeks before it became an official war. He earned a Bronze Star leading the South Vietnamese Army unit the day before he was captured when the SVA units completely collapsed.

Eisenbraun was held in a prison camp with other U.S. prisoners. Various POW memoirs and interviews published in the past 30 years attest to Eisenbraun’s leadership even in captivity. His knowledge of Vietnamese helped them resist their captors. Using his Special Forces training, he taught his fellow prisoners which insects they could eat to augment their limited rations. To lighten the mood, Eisenbraun joked about writing a cookbook after the war, titling it 100 Ways to Cook a Rat.

But captivity took a toll on him. The VC took his glasses, forcing him to squint at all times. Wracked by malnutrition and dysentery, Eisenbraun eventually relied on a cane to move around. And the American government seemingly forgot him and his fellow soldiers.

At one point in 1967, a VC defector gave the Army the location where Eisenbraun was being held, but of course, the Army backed off from rescuing him.

Eisenbraun made an unsuccessful escape attempt in August 1967 with Edwin Russell Grissett Jr., a Marine from Texas who had been captured a year earlier. The VC punished the two, beating Eisenbraun unmercifully. Based on accounts from other U.S. prisoners, Task Force Omega reported that Eisenbraun was beaten in part “as an example to the other POWs of what would happen to them should they be foolish enough to try to escape themselves.” While recovering from the beating, one fellow POW said Eisenbraun fell from his hammock onto a pile of logs, breaking his ribs and puncturing a lung. After complaining of severe pain for about a week, Grissett found him dead in his hammock at 1 a.m.

Gary Garwood, the fellow who was convicted of “knowingly communicating and holding intercourse with the enemy” by the Army in 1979 claims that he buried Eisenbraun. His remains haven’t been recovered yet even though the folks that do that have been trying to find him.

But you should read the whole story at the link above.

Adirondack Patriot sends us a link to the story of World War II veteran Justus Belfield’s last salute;

The proud 98-year-old was too weak to leave his bed at Baptist Health Nursing and Rehabilitation Center for the nursing home’s veterans’ parade and luncheon, but there was no doubt he was there in spirit.

In honor of the day, he asked to be dressed in his olive green Army uniform, which he’d worn for every patriotic occasion since he and his wife, Lillian, moved to Baptist several years ago.

[…]

“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] recalled.

In response, he gave a slow but strong salute.

According to staff at Baptist, Belfield died early Wednesday morning.

[…]

He told The Gazette last fall that he had no regrets about the sacrifices he made for his country.

“It was a good thing to do. I loved it because it was my country. It’s still my country,” he said in November of 2013. “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.”

The folks at World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. sent us a story about Sergeant Dan Rose who was paralyzed in an IED blast in 2011.

SoldierSocks, a non-profit foundation focused on helping veterans, announced today that their ambassador, Dan Rose, a veteran living with paralysis, will be a special guest at WWE’s SmackDown tonight in Albany, NY. The SmackDown episode will air this Friday, November 7 at 8 PM ET on Syfy.

Dan Rose was in the Army Reserves for 10 years and served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in the Zahri District and Horn of Panjiwae in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan until he was injured by an Improvised Explosive Device on April 27, 2011. The blast was estimated to have come from approximately 1,000 pounds of explosives and he was left paralyzed from the chest down (T4). Dan teamed up with SoldierSocks, who provided him with the Ekso Bionics GT™ robotic exoskeleton, which enables individuals with any amount of lower extremity weakness or paralysis to stand up and walk.

“This first time I stood up and looked across the room, it was like reaching the summit of a mountain and looking down on the world,” said SGT Rose. “I’m so grateful for my partnership with SoldierSocks and as a WWE fan, I’m looking forward to sharing my story at SmackDown.”

“Every day, members of the military put their lives on the line to help protect our country,” said SoldierSocks co-founder Chris Meek. “When they return home, they are faced with the challenges of re-acclimating to civilian life. Additionally, some have been critically wounded or paralyzed in the line of duty. We are honored to be raising awareness with partners such as WWE to help wounded veterans stand strong in the face of adversity.”

“WWE has a longstanding commitment to the military and we are extremely grateful for the sacrifices of our nation’s heroes,” said WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon. “We are proud to host Sergeant Rose as our special guest at SmackDown, and humbled by his perseverance and will to push through any obstacle that he faces.”

Ekso Bionics designs, develops, and commercializes exoskeletons, or wearable robots, which have a variety of applications in the medical, military, industrial, and consumer markets. Exoskeletons are ready-to-wear, battery-powered robots that are strapped over the user’s clothing, enabling individuals to achieve mobility, strength, and endurance not otherwise possible. Ekso has redefined rehabilitation for people living with the consequences of stroke, spinal cord injury and other neurological conditions affecting gait.

With nearly 800 original episodes, SmackDown is the second longest-running weekly episodic program in U.S. television history, only behind WWE’s other flagship program, Monday Night Raw®. Averaging 3.1 million viewers each week, SmackDown beats all Friday primetime viewing on any cable network.