Category: Real Soldiers

Fox News reports that Sergeant Major Robert Gallagher has passed from a heart condition at the age of 52.

He served as the command sergeant major for the Army’s Wounded Warrior Program, but had extensive experience in major combat operations, including Operation Just Cause in Panama and with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia, which was later made famous by the 2001 film.

“You know, I don’t say this lightly, but Bob is probably one of, probably the best soldier I ever served with, retired Col. Greg Gadson told the newspaper. “That man really cared about soldiers.”

Born in Bayonne, N.J., Gallagher joined the Army in 1981 and later earned several awards and decorations, including a Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars.

The Army Live blog interviewed Sergeant Major Gallagher in 2010;

Q: Your thoughts on leadership were recently featured by the Army as a part of “The Year of the NCO.” What are three words or phrases that sum up your leadership style?

A: Down to earth. Grounded in reality. Respect for people.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, looking back I think I’ve learned a lot about leadership and overcoming adversity from my dad. My mom passed away when I was very young, and my dad basically raised three boys all by himself while working two blue collar jobs. My brothers and I all turned out very well, and I really credit my dad for that. One of my brothers also joined the military, and my other brother is a Vice-President at Merrill Lynch.

Chief Tango sends us a link to the story of Staff Sergeant Nickolas Clarke, a member of the 6th Ranger Training Battalion who was recuperating from neck surgery at the beach on Okaloosa Island in Florida on the Gulf Coast when duty called;

He saw a man in the water about 75 yards out, “flapping and yelling in the water” in a “panicked state.”

“I didn’t think. I just ran out there in a full sprint,” he said. “I just reacted. I just bolted in.”

Another man, already in the water, heard the cries for help and headed toward the victim.

But before the rescuer was able to help the man, his leg cramped.

Clarke reached the would-be rescuer first, helping him back toward the shore until he could stand with his head above the water.

Then Clarke went back for the original victim.

“I tried to calm him down, assure him everything was good to go,” he said. “He was out pretty far. The rip current was actually catching him and pulling him out farther.”

Clarke was able to get everyone back to shore, where a crowd had gathered. Rescuers and bystanders helped get everyone onto shore and fire rescue gave the victims oxygen as a precaution, he said.

“People were clapping, giving me hugs,” he said. “I just did what was right. I’m glad I was actually there.”

He said the response was instinct, the result of his training.

The other day, we talked about Francis Graham, the former UDT Navy diver and Special forces Vietnam veteran, and it reminded me of a few months ago when a member of the media asked me to check on William L. Albracht, who he’d heard had earned three Silver Stars, so off I went to Military Times’ Hall of Heroes thinking I’d bumped into another phony – but lo and behold, he had actually earned three Silver Stars, from October 1969 to May 1970. You can read the citations at the link.

The last one had been awarded in December 2012, reported by the Quad-City Times;

Just 21 years old then, Albracht — one of the youngest Army Special Forces captains — arrived at a remote outpost in South Vietnam known as Fire-Base Kate on Oct. 28, 1969. That same day, North Vietnamese forces attacked the base.

“Against great odds and while being greatly outnumbered by the North Vietnamese, Capt. Albracht led

his soldiers through the first wave of attacks,” Smith said, adding that Albracht and his men were outnumbered 40-1. “It was not looking good for the home team.”

While under enemy fire, Albracht carried a wounded soldier to safety and then risked his life again by directing medical evacuation helicopters.

“At one point, he exposed himself to enemy fire to wave off approaching Medevac helicopters — who were vulnerable to B-40 rockets — while attempting to land,” Smith said.

Later wounded himself, Albracht refused treatment and evacuation “so he could lead the fight.”

Days later with supplies running low, he executed orders to evacuate the remaining 150 U.S. soldiers and South Vietnamese soldiers. On Nov. 1, 1969, he led the group through darkness into the dense jungle to link up with another unit five kilometers away.

“For six hours, Albracht and his men persevered, plowing through the jungle with the North Vietnamese in hot pursuit,” Smith said.

Finally near a wide-open clearing, he “sensed a military force was present but was unsure the other side was occupied by the friendly ‘Mike-Force’ or a North Vietnamese ambush. Albracht then walked alone through the clearing to find the friendly ‘Mike-Force’ was on the other side.” He then led his soldiers “stealthily through more enemy lines” to safety.

You can read the whole story about the “Miraculous Escape from Firebase Kate” at the Vietnam Veterans Association. His Congresswoman, Cheri Bustos, has asked the Secretary of the Army to review the story and consider Mr. Albracht for the award of the Medal of Honor.

Added: Someone tells us that a book is coming out next year about Mr. Albracht; ABANDONED IN HELL: The Forgotten Fight for Vietnam’s Firebase Kate.

Someone sent us this Francis Graham fellow to check on because the story that he told the local news was implausible. He claimed to be a Navy diver during the Korean War and Special Forces during Vietnam. The article says that he joined the Army Air Corps in 1947, then the Navy when he was discharged from the fledgling Air Force;

“I didn’t like the ship or the duty,” he said. While on the LST, another seaman also wanted off the ship. He told Graham the military was taking volunteers for underwater demolition. They both applied for the specialty, which became the forerunner of the Navy Seals.

[…]

In 1962, he joined the Green Berets, serving alternately with the 5th, 6th, 10th (and later, the 7th) Special Forces. On his first assignment in Vietnam in 1963, his team leader was none other than Ola Lee Mize, a Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient. Graham eventually retired from Special Forces in 1971.

Even though Graham had dropped out of school to join the military, after his retirement, he went all the way through college, earning his Ph.D. in Psychology in 1976. He and his wife, Patricia (Bogard) moved to Waco in 1982; they have been married now for 30 years.

Well, according to Don Shipley (Graham was in Class #1, UDT Team #1) and Mary, it’s all completely true. I’m so glad, actually. After dealing with the phonies, it’s refreshing to bump into a real hero who doesn’t have to embellish his story. I’m just hoping that you feel the same elation I did to accidentally brush up against the history of 84-year-old Francis Graham.

It seems that most of my day is taken up with answering emails and Facebook messages about the above pictured First Sergeant Albert Marle, so here’s the answer; yes, he’s a first sergeant assigned to Cadet Command (ROTC) and he’s in the National Guard. If you missed the story, a completely non-story emerged when a stewardess wouldn’t hang up the 1SG’s jacket and some well-meaning citizen decided to make an issue of it.

An airline spokesman initially claimed that there was not enough space in the closet for the jacket, but passengers disagreed.

“Her response wasn’t that there’s not space in the coat closet or ‘I’ve hung too many jackets up,’ first-class passenger Brian Kirby told WSOC. “It was just simply, ‘Our airline policy says I’m not going to do it, so I’m not going to do it.’ I was really appalled at not only the way she looked at him but the way she spoke to him in an angry type of attitude.”

The station reported that Marle took his seat, declining offers to swap places with first-class passengers.

To his credit, 1SG Marle didn’t make an issue of the whole thing, but someone else did. And then everyone became suspicious of Marle because he had his hands in his pockets. Initial stories named him as Albert Marie and I couldn’t find that name in AKO, but then Bulldog at GoV straightened me out. I was also suspicious because of the basic jump wings on a senior NCO, but, there you go. Anyone who emails or messages me from this point forward will be called names in public.

Chief Tango sends us this story of an Army Afghanistan veteran, Shaun Cooper who says that he never fired a shot in Afghanistan, but when the chips were down, he proved that he could in his home;

“They saw someone walking down the road,” Cooper said in an exclusive interview with News 3. “He was wearing a leather jacket in the summer time. Looked out kind of weird.”

They heard a bang at the door, then shots.

“He was trying to breach the door,” Cooper said. “The holes are right next to the door knob and hinge.

“My dad was actually standing in the kitchen. He was firing through the door through the kitchen and completely missed him. Bullets went all around, except for him. Got lucky.”

Those first shots led to a gunfight.

“I took off, grabbed my gun and got back, and he saw me thorugh the window,” Cooper said. “Shot one more time, and that’s when I shot through the window, and he dropped.”

The assailant was 15 years old and a friend of Cooper’s brother, so they think the teen was trying to shoot the younger Cooper.