Category: We Remember

Mick sends us the news that DVIDS will be broadcasting Colonel Wesley Lee Fox’ last trip to his final rest at Arlington National Cemetery beginning at 1340 hours;

The Colonel passed in November. We reported on his death then;

Bobo sends us the sad news that retired United States Maine Corps Colonel Wesley Lee Fox has passed at the age of 86. The Herndon, Virginia native served in the USMC for 43 years. He’s considered a legend among Marines.

Fox was a Mustang officer who began his service in the Korean War. He was wounded and sent to Bethesda Naval Hospital. Sergeant Fox returned to Korea as a platoon sergeant after his wounds allowed him to go back. After the war, he became a drill instructor and a recruiter eventually earning promotion to First Sergeant, then attended the Officer Candidate Course and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a First Lieutenant in Vietnam;

The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Captain [then First Lieutenant] Wesley Lee Fox (MCSN: 0-96702), United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 22 February 1969, while serving as Commanding Officer of Company A, First Battalion, Ninth Marines, THIRD Marine Division (Reinforced), Fleet Marine Force, in action against the enemy in the northern A Shau Valley. Captain Fox’s company came under intense fire from a large well concealed enemy force. Captain Fox maneuvered to a position from which he could assess the situation and confer with his platoon leaders. As they departed to execute the plan he had devised, the enemy attacked and Captain Fox was wounded along with all of the other members of the command group, except the executive officer. Captain Fox continued to direct the activity of his company. Advancing through heavy enemy fire, he personally neutralized one enemy position and calmly ordered an assault against the hostile emplacements. He then moved through the hazardous area coordinating aircraft support with the activities of his men. When his executive officer was mortally wounded, Captain Fox reorganized the company and directed the fire of his men as they hurled grenades against the enemy and drove the hostile forces into retreat. Wounded again in the final assault, Captain Fox refused medical attention, established a defensive posture, and supervised the preparation of casualties for medical evacuation. His indomitable courage, inspiring initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of grave personal danger inspired his Marines to such aggressive action that they overcame all enemy resistance and destroyed a large bunker complex. Captain Fox’s heroic actions reflect great credit upon himself and the Marine Corps, and uphold the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

Bobo sends us the sad news this morning that R. Lee Ermey, the quintessential Marine drill instructor has passed at the age of 74.

Statement from R. Lee Ermey’s long time manager, Bill Rogin:

It is with deep sadness that I regret to inform you all that R. Lee Ermey (“The Gunny”) passed away this morning from complications of pneumonia. He will be greatly missed by all of us. It is a terrible loss that nobody was prepared for. He has meant so much to so many people. And, it is extremely difficult to truly quantify all of the great things this man has selflessly done for, and on behalf of, our many men and women in uniform.

This is from the movie Full Metal Jacket;

From Fox News;

An outspoken conservative, Ermey spoke to Fox News in 2016 about being “blackballed” from Hollywood over his political views.

“I’ve had a very fruitful career. I’ve done over 70 feature films,” he said. “I’ve done over 200 episodes of [Outdoor Channel series ‘GunnyTime’]… and then [Hollywood] found out that I’m a conservative.”

Actually, he corrected, “I’m an Independent, but I said something bad about the president. I had something unsavory to say about the president’s administration, and even though I did vote for him the first time around, I was blackballed.”

Ermey, who was an NRA board member, said at the time that his association with the organization and his disapproval of President Obama cost him acting jobs.

“Do you realize I have not done a movie in five to six years? Why? Because I was totally blackballed by the … liberals in Hollywood,” he alleged. “They can destroy you. They’re hateful people [who] don’t just not like you, they want to take away your livelihood … that’s why I live up in the desert on a dirt road … I don’t have to put up with their crap.”

From Wiki;

In 1961, at age 17, Ermey enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and went through recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego in San Diego, California. For his first few years, he served in the aviation support field before becoming a drill instructor in India Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he was assigned from 1965 to 1967.

Ermey then served in Marine Wing Support Group 17 at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, Japan. In 1968, he was ordered to Vietnam with MWSG-17, and spent 14 months in country. The remainder of his service was on Okinawa where he was advanced to staff sergeant (E-6). He was medically discharged in 1972 because of several injuries incurred during his service. On May 17, 2002, he received an honorary promotion to gunnery sergeant (E-7) by the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James L. Jones.

On his 68th mission, a few days before Christmas 1944, Captain Lawrence E. Dickson, a Tuskegee airman, had engine problems and went down near the snow-covered Alps in northern Italy according to the Washington Post;

On Jan. 8, 1945, Phyllis Dickson got the dreaded telegram.

“The Secretary of War desires to express his deep regret that your husband Captain Lawrence E Dickson has been reported missing in action,” it read. “If further details … are received you will be promptly notified.”

Phyllis and Lawrence Dickson had been married in November 1941. He was a native of South Carolina, had taught himself how to play the guitar and spent two years studying chemistry at the City College of New York.

Now DPAA thinks that they found Captain Dickson, not in Tarvisio, Italy where thought that he’d gone down, but six miles away near Hohenthurn, Austria;

In May 2012, Frank and a small team went to Austria for one day. He met Domanig, and a local man who said as a child in the 1950s he often visited the site, until he found what looked like a human leg bone in the dirt.

“It scared him,” Frank said. “He never went back to the site after that.”

The man agreed to take Frank there.

The spot was in a pleasant clearing in the forest off a logging road near Hohenthurn.

There was a shallow crater, and moss covered the ground. When Frank pulled back the moss, airplane parts, consistent with a P-51, were right beneath the surface.

“They still had the ash on them, still burnt,” he said. “All of the older pine trees around the site had scars on the trees from when the plane was burning and the .50-caliber rounds popped off and hit the trees.”

Experts would later identify airplane bullet casings, part of a machine gun ammunition loading chute and human remains buried in the dirt.

In November, the human remains were sent for analysis to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, outside Omaha.

His 75-year-old daughter, Marla L. Andrews, awaits news so she can lay her father to rest finally.

The Army Times reports that the two Apache crew members killed in an accident this weekend as Chief Warrant Officer 3 Ryan Connolly and Warrant Officer James Casadona. They were both assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division;

Connolly, 37, was an instructor pilot in the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. He joined the Army in 2001 and arrived at Fort Campbell in 2016.

Connolly’s awards and decorations include two Air Medals, three Army Commendation Medals, the Army Achievement Medal, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, the Army Superior Unit Award, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, and the Iraq Campaign Medal.

Casadona, 28, was a pilot in the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade. He joined the Army in 2012 and arrived at Fort Campbell in 2018.

Hondo told us back in August that DPAA had identified the earthly remains of Master Sergeant Finley James Davis of Company D, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. Today we learn that he will be delivered to the arms of his great-grandson, Army Specialist Zachary Boney of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From ABC 11;

All his life, he’s heard countless stories from his grandmother about the hero of a great-grandfather he had. Roseann Stonestreet was just 12 years old when her father went off to the war. She still remembers the last day she spent with her dad.

“He took me to the movies. I remember the name of the movie and I remember who played in it,” said Stonestreet.

Her mother died almost 20 years ago in 1999 with a broken heart. After 66 years, Roseann got a call she’d never expect. Her dad’s body was found in North Korea.

“It’s the biggest blessing I could ever imagine,” said Stonestreet.

She told ABC11 that she selected her grandson to escort the remains home. He said his great-grandfather is part of the reason why he joined the military in the first place.

Boney will bury his great-grandfather’s remains in two weeks in Charleston, South Carolina.

Back in November, we told you that Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Navy Capt. Thomas J. Hudner passed at the age of 93. He was awarded the Medal of Honor during the battle at Chosin Reservoir in Korea. When his wingman, Ensign Jesse L. Brown was shot down, Hudner tried to rescue Brown from his burning air craft by crashing his own aircraft near the site so he could render aid;

Quickly maneuvering to circle the downed pilot and protect him from enemy troops infesting the area, Lt. (J.G.) Hudner risked his life to save the injured flier who was trapped alive in the burning wreckage. Fully aware of the extreme danger in landing on the rough mountainous terrain and the scant hope of escape or survival in subzero temperature, he put his plane down skillfully in a deliberate wheels-up landing in the presence of enemy troops. With his bare hands, he packed the fuselage with snow to keep the flames away from the pilot and struggled to pull him free. Unsuccessful in this, he returned to his crashed aircraft and radioed other airborne planes, requesting that a helicopter be dispatched with an ax and fire extinguisher. He then remained on the spot despite the continuing danger from enemy action and, with the assistance of the rescue pilot, renewed a desperate but unavailing battle against time, cold, and flames.

Captain Hudner’s earthly remains were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery yesterday. The folks at DVIDS send us a link to their photo stream of the event in Section 54.

Yesterday marked 73 years after the start of Operation Iceberg, the battle for Okinawa, the last push towards the Japanese mainland. 180,000 American soldiers and Marines, along with their British, Canadian, New Zealand, and Australian allies assaulted the island defended by 77,000 Japanese troops and their local Okinawan militia that fielded 20,000 souls.

12,000 Americans were killed in the battle that lasted 84 days. There were about 50,000 overall US casualties.

Only 7000 Japanese were captured while the rest fought to their death, including their commander, Ushijima and his chief of staff who committed seppuku on June 22.

The Okinawans were told that they would be raped and killed by the Americans, so many of them jumped after they threw their families from cliffs into the sea. 150,000 Okinawan died in the battle.

12 US destroyers were sunk and 386 ships were damaged and 768 aircraft were lost. The Japanese lost 1,430 aircraft and 16 ships.

Seven Americans were awarded Medals of Honor including Desmond Doss, the conscientious objector who saved seventy five of his comrades. We lost Ernie Pyle, the famous war correspondent, during the Battle for Okinawa.

The massive losses on Okinawa are said to influence President Truman’s decision to use the atomic bomb to end the war with Japan and to avoid an invasion.

Mick sends us the sad story of Michael Robidoux, former Air Force pilot and a current Delta Airlines pilot who tried to rescue two young swimmers, but he got caught in an undertow and lost his own like. Robidoux earned the Distinguished Flying Cross during his military service.

Robidoux’s daughter, Kaela, agreed that her dad was a hero for trying to save others.

“He was my best friend,” she told Fox News, declining to comment further.

Navarre Fire Chief Danny Fureigh told WEAR that Robidoux got “caught in an undertow” as he attempted to reach the children who were flailing their arms for help. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office said the incident happened just after 6 p.m.

A Santa Rosa County spokesperson told the local news station there are currently nine lifeguards on staff, but they’re looking to hire more.