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

Category: War Stories

  • Ghosts for the Gullible.  The Joseph Wayne Dunagan skinny.

    Ghosts for the Gullible.  The Joseph Wayne Dunagan skinny.

    Beginning in 1962, secret U.S. military units, referred to as “Ghost Walkers,” operated clandestinely in North Korea. Their missions were so secret, in fact, the U.S. government refuses…

    While tensions flare in the Korean Peninsula, American Free Press has learned of a clandestine joint military and intelligence unit that has been conducting brazen cross-border raids into North Korean territory since at least the early 1960s. The outfit, known as the “Ghost Walkers,” performed top-secret missions on North Korean soil, including infiltrating a nuclear power plant in 1963 and kidnapping a North Korean general straight from his camp, who was later interrogated and executed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

    Information on this unit is so classified that the men who served in it have been unable to prove so, as it is not listed on their service records, and they have been denied veteran benefits for over 50 years, including but not limited to treatment for toxic chemical exposure, i.e., herbicides like the defoliant Agent Orange. The main reason the Pentagon refuses to recognize the service and sacrifice of these vets is the fact that, in carrying out their top-secret missions, treaty and other laws were violated, which would create a diplomatic firestorm if revealed.

    The joint CIA-Army-Navy-Marines-Air Force unit operated out of South Korea from ASCOM City, near Inchon, and may still be functioning, although its top-secret nature precludes those without a need to know from confirming its existence. ASCOM, or Army Support Command, is a U.S. Army Materiel Support Center that “had its beginnings in the mid-1930s when the Japanese built a large supply depot and arsenal at Bupyong-Dong, Inchon City, to support their troops in Manchuria.” After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, Army Support Command Korea was established and acquired the acronym ASCOM.

    I think most of you know where this is going.  Top Secret missions, Agent Orange and the shadowy super secret JCIAANMAFU (joint CIA-Army-Navy-Marines-Air Force unit) always deny veteran benefits to those who served.  I know dozens of MARMOOSEAL’s that completed BUD’s at Camp Klusterphuk and deployed to kill OBL and not one of them is being paid for their disabilities.

    When a gullible Spousal Unit swallows one of these lunatics lures hook line and sinker it’s really sad to watch.   I usually try to give them additional leeway but wonder if maybe an intervention of some kind might help.  The “Skinny” on her husband can be found in the archives of our Governments storage facilities.

    The wife of Oregon native Joseph Wayne Dunagan, one of the Ghost Walkers, who served in Korea from May 1962 to March 1964, reached out to this reporter with information she feels proves the unit’s existence. She explained how she began her quest over 15 years ago to force the U.S. government to honor its commitment to not just her husband but to all those who served in the unit. Dunagan was trained as a military policeman at Fort Gordon, Ga.

    “I know that my husband’s eligible for benefits, and I know that what they asked him to do in Korea was exceptionally dangerous,” Mrs. Dunagan said. “It would scare the pants right off of you if you knew some of the stuff that they had those guys do.”

    You can read the rest of this nonsense at the link below or suffer through the choppy video.  I would not recommend you try both.  Shame on the people that encourage these folks to make an ass of themselves.

     

     

    Source: U.S. Ghost Walkers in North Korea – American Free Press

  • George Bush, 41st President, Dies at 94

     George Herbert Walker Bush, the president who managed the end of the Cold War and forged a global coalition to oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait, has died at age 94.  In a political career that spanned three decades, he lost his bid for re-election and lived to see his son win the Oval Office.

    The death of Bush — nicknamed “41” to distinguish himself from son George W. Bush, “43” — was announced in a statement released late Friday.

    “Jeb, Neil, Marvin, Doro and I are saddened to announce that after 94 remarkable years, our dear Dad has died,” his son, former President George W. Bush, said in a statement released by family spokesman Jim McGrath. “George H.W. Bush was a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for. The entire Bush family is deeply grateful for 41’s life and love, for the compassion of those who have cared and prayed for Dad, and for the condolences of our friends and fellow citizens.”

    His death, which was announced by his office, came less than eight months after that of his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush.

    Mr. Bush had a form of Parkinson’s disease that forced him to use a wheelchair or motorized scooter in recent years, and he had been in and out of hospitals during that time as his health declined. In April, a day after attending Mrs. Bush’s funeral, he was treated for an infection that had spread to his blood. In 2013, he was in dire enough shape with bronchitis that former President George W. Bush, his son, solicited ideas for a eulogy.

    But he proved resilient each time. In 2013 he told well-wishers, through an aide, to “put the harps back in the closet.”

     

    On the day he turned 18 years old, Bush both graduated from Phillips Academy Andover and enlisted in the Navy, little more than six months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Less than a year later, when he was still 18, he received his wings and officer’s commission, believed to be the Navy’s youngest pilot.

    For the next two years, with World War II at its peak, Bush flew torpedo bombers off the USS San Jacinto. On Sept. 2, 1944, his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire while he was on a bombing run in the Pacific. Bush bailed and was rescued by a submarine, but his two crewmembers were killed. Bush would later say he thought of them every day.

     

    Source: George Bush, 41st President, Dies at 94 

  • Some People’s Kids….

    This one is a little unusual. Well, really, it’s quite unusual, but it’s true.

    Our friends at Military Phony checked this story thoroughly, because the late Jonn Lilyea did not believe it was true.

    But it is true.

    The young man in the photo below was 14 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army to go fight in World War II.  According to his story, he dropped out of grammar school, and told the recruiters he was 16. He was 6 feet tall and weighed 200 pounds at the time he enlisted, which gave him an appearance older than he really was.

    Just looks like an affable soul, doesn’t he?

    He enlisted at the age of 14, spent a year in training including going to paratrooper training, and made the jump into Sicily in the dark of night when he was 15. He is now retired from the military.

    He did get slightly hurt on landing, but found his cricket clicker, which all the airborne soldiers were given to find each other in the dark, and quickly found his unit. Below, you will see his assignments and his training for WWII.

    He was literally following in his father’s footsteps. After the CCC was ended, Ove Schmidt enlisted in the Army ahead of his son, on the eve of World War II.

    When the Army discovered through a letter from his mother that Jim Schmidt was ‘just a kid’, he was sent home.  They wouldn’t take him back, so he joined the Navy, because the war was still underway and he was assigned to a munitions ship. Then the Navy found out his real age and sent him home (again). When he reached his 18th birthday, he re-upped with the Army and went to Germany, stayed there until 1946, and after that to Japan, to fight in Korea. In 1962, he was sent to Laos as an American advisor. The war in Viet Nam was yet to be an undeclared war.

    He was the sergeant major of all 7th Special Forces A Teams in Vietnam until he was reassigned to 5th Special Forces Group in 1964. He retired in 1965.

    Among his awards and decorations, Schmidt received the Silver Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, World War II Victory Medal, European-Africa Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and Army of Occupation Medal with Germany and Japan Clasp. – Article.

    The peeps at Military Phony sent mostly the WWII stuff, so some things are just not included here.  I did not see a full list of his awards in what they sent.

    After three wars and 22 years of military service and going into retirement, he decided a desk job was not what he wanted, and he went to work for the CIA’s Air America in Vietnam. In 1969, he left SE Asia for home.

    He is now in his 90s. His 14 year old grandson, in awe of his granddad being part of a war at the same age, started a letter writing campaign for his grandpa’s birthday.

    Schmidt 2018 article

    If Mr. Schmidt  seems to exaggerate something, I’d let it go. He has done more in a single week of his life than most people do in a decade.

    The least he deserves is our thanks for stepping up and serving in three different conflicts because he wanted to do it, not because he had to.

  • Fabian Rebolledo – Phony Combat Wounded

    Fabian Rebolledo – Phony Combat Wounded

    The folks at Military Phony sent us this case on Fabian Rebolledo, who we mentioned here last month as part of another article.

    Several men from Rebolledo’s unit in Kosovo were appalled by stories circulating in the media about Rebolledo being shot by a sniper while over there.

    Here are a few excerpts if you would rather have the Cliff Notes version…

    Rebolledo also likes to wear his uniform to events protesting his deportation.

    His military records do not support his rank, deployments or medals in a proper fashion.

    The problem with the story is Rebolledo does not have a Purple Heart and he was a PFC vs. SPC.

    The problem with the uniform is the medals keep jumping around from picture to picture.

    Also, cannoneers rarely, if ever, get pulled to clear landmines.

    But, apparently, the story of a military hero tugged at enough heartstrings that he was brought back to the U.S.  Perhaps he should have been brought back anyway, but was there a need to embellish?

    According to Rebolledo’s quote in Playboy magazine, the US Army taught him how easy it was to kill people and then discarded him later.  Hmmm, I’m sure it had nothing to do with a failed urinalysis, several DWIs, writing bad checks and driving with a revoked license.

     

  • Expired Pigeon Carries Secret Code

    You may remember this story, about a dead bird found in an unused fireplace chimney, wearing a tiny capsule that carried a coded message to Blechley Park in Buckinghamsire, where the UK’s intelligence headquarters was located during World War II. Carrier pigeons were used extensively for this kind of thing, most of them being quite fast and strong, and blessed with a strong sense of where “home” was. The British government employed about 250,000 of them, and in fact, formed a special RAF squadron to cull the hawks and other birds of prey that hunted them.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2226203/Skeleton-hero-World-War-II-carrier-pigeon-chimney-secret-coded-message-attached-leg.html

    This unfortunate bird, however, didn’t make it to Blechley Park. Poor thing stopped to rest on someone’s chimney and fell into it instead, until the current homeowner decided in 2012 to renovate the fireplace, which required cleaning out the chimney.

    And there it was: a long lost message that never got delivered.

    The message was sent to Blechley Park when found, and codebreakers were stumped by it.

    https://theweek.com/articles/470121/curious-case-uncrackable-world-war-ii-code-found-dead-pigeon

    However, a Canadian man, Gord Young from Peterborough, Ont., a member of a local historical society, who had inherited a WWI codebook said that he’d cracked the code very quickly. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20749632

    Mr Young says Sgt Stott would have sent two birds – with identical messages – at the same time, to make sure the information got through.

    He stated he believed that it was WWI-related code, because of the use of the abbreviation Sjt. in Stott’s rank, an archaic abbreviation for Sergeant.

    “Essentially, Stott was taught by a WWI trainer; a former Artillery observer-spotter. You can deduce this from the spelling of Serjeant which dates deep in Brits military and as late as WWI,” he said.

    “Seeing that spelling almost automatically tells you that the acronyms are going to be similar to those of WWI.”

    Naturally, there was some skepticism evinced by Blechley Park, but until  or unless they can show otherwise, they still haven’t cracked it themselves.

    The lesson here? Simple: Don’t throw out those old codebooks. They might come in handy some day.

    We still use Morse code, right? Does anyone ever use Morris code any more? We need to invent some new “old” codes, too, stuff that looks archaic, and use archaic languages like Silbo gomero, a whistling language from the Canary Islands, or some of those African click languages that are fading away.  Klingon is SO-O-O last century!

  • The Airborne Beer Story

    Jonn posted this some time ago, so for the new folks, and those who like a good story even if its not the first time you’ve seen it, here’s The Airborne Beer Story. A bit late for Veterans Day, but I don’t think Vince would mind.
    WW II Veteran Stories – Vince Speranza

    World War Two veteran Vince Speranza tells the Airborne Beer story that occurred while he was serving in the 101st Airborne Division at the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st Airborne was cutoff from the rest of the Army and was holding out in Bastogne when Vince was sent back to try and find some radio batteries for his company. As you see, he got a little sidetracked on his mission as he stopped to visit a wounded friend.

    airborne beer

  • The Ghost Army of World War II

    This was a well-kept secret. It was, in fact, so well-kept for over 50 years, that no one knew anything about it, including the families of these people who worked in this unit, until it was finally declassified. It was the Ghost Army, a replicated army of equipment, tanks, landing craft, planes, etc., placed where Hitler’s spies and army could see them, and be fooled into believing they were real.

    Most of the people who participated in this project just put it behind them and got on with their lives, so much so, that when Bernie Bluestein, a local Chicago area artist who is now 95, decided he wanted to take an Honor Flight to Washington, DC, all those memories he’d let fade into the past started coming to the surface. When he went to Europe with his son Keith, now 63, he began to tell his son all of this buried, long-suppressed stuff, astonishing him.

    Mr. Bluestein was 19 when he was drafted into the Army. Because of his ability to sketch comic strips and pinup girls in Cleveland, OH, he was placed with the 603rd Camouflage Engineers Battalion, the objective being to create an entire army that would fool Adolf Hitler’s spies and aerial observers. These people were all levels of skill in art, from professional artists to students. They created everything from fake airplanes parked on what appeared to be airfields to convoys emplaced in France, to inflatable tanks with loudspeakers playing tank noises – all to fool the German army. And they couldn’t tell their families where they were (23rd Headquarters Special Troops unit) or what they were doing.

    The full story on Mr. Bluestein is here:  https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-ghost-army-veteran-20181110-story.html

    To keep historical records intact, an organization titled The Ghost Army Legacy Project has been formed. The link is here: http://www.ghostarmylegacyproject.org

    The first ever Ghost Army historical marker was dedicated September 26, 2018, in Bettembourg, Luxembourg.

    The marker stands on the exact spot where the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops carried out Operation BETTEMBOURG, one of their longest and most important operations.  http://www.ghostarmylegacyproject.org/news

     

  • Better Late Than Never

    ‘A go-getter and a pioneer’: Waukegan woman who served as World War II pilot awarded posthumously for her service

    Janice Charlotte Christensen of Waukegan died on April 26, 1965, without a veteran’s recognition for her World War II service in the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

    Known as WASPs for short, the more than 1,800 civilian volunteer young women flew almost every type of military aircraft as part of the experimental program that lasted two years.

    Near her grave at the North Shore Garden of Memories cemetery in North Chicago on Friday, Capt. Christensen was honored by U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider in a ceremony that formally recognized her status as a World War II veteran.

    Schneider offered words of appreciation for the woman who learned how to fly at what is now Waukegan National Airport when she was 29, then helped establish the Waukegan Civil Air Patrol Squadron in 1942 and was accepted as a WASP in 1943.

    “They were the elite and helped the war effort. They were brave,” Schneider said.

    Though it was unavailable to be affixed Friday due to the morning’s wintry weather, a WASP medallion from the Department of Veterans Affairs will be permanently placed on Christensen’s grave at the North Chicago cemetery soon so the public can pay their respects properly, Schneider said.

    “It’s a shame that Janice and WASP like her were denied veteran status after their service — a mistake not corrected for more than 30 years,” Schneider said. “But it is truly inspiring to me, and to everyone here, that our community has come together today to pay our respect to her and all the other WASP (personnel).”

    It wasn’t until 2009 that veterans in the WASP program were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Barack Obama.

    Christensen never got to see her service recognized, but her relatives said she would have been pleased with Friday’s ceremony.

    “We were proud that my sister Janice joined the WASP (program). Her job was to take planes from where they were manufactured to where they were needed,” said Dagmar Joyce Noll, Christensen’s sole surviving sibling. “She knew that what she was doing was helping to win and end WWll.”

    The rest of the story is at the link.

    Unfortunately, Janice Christiansens is probably not the only WWII WASP pilot who has been overlooked.  I think ChipNASA could probably supply us with a directional link to a roster of them. If you have a relative whose efforts went unrecognized please speak up.

    They flew in all weather, under all conditions, to get the job done, and because they loved to fly, like their counterparts, the British transport pilots who ferried all planes of all kinds in all weathers from factories to air bases in England.  They all faced great hazards that would probably ground a lot of current pilots, and did the job they were hired to do because they loved to fly.

    It was not a hazard-free job, either. Some of these transport pilots died doing that job. So let’s give them a nod and lift a glass to all the air transport pilots, women and men both.