# Veterans...Get the hell in here now!



## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)

Sup motherfuckers



I know there are some of you around


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## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)




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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

Oh shit i thought you were gonna spread some news about applying for some new hefty veteran benefit payout or something. I just ran into formation with my ACUs all jacked up.


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 19, 2015)

Sup. I'm Air Force vet.

What I miss? Why is mainliner jumping your shit?


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

Air Force ride bicycles for PT.. and they have the hottest womens

Our army womens had mustaches and broad shoulders.


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## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> View attachment 3399545 Air Force ride bicycles for PT.. and they have the hottest womens
> 
> Our army womens had mustaches and broad shoulders.



Unfortunatly those type are not within the ranks or they would be subject to all kinz of UCMJ


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## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Oh shit i thought you were gonna spread some news about applying for some new hefty veteran benefit payout or something. I just ran into formation with my ACUs all jacked up.
> 
> View attachment 3399539



Well if you were near any kinds of burnpits then you are subject for some type of comp.


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## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)

Dyna808 said:


> he's saying you're a rat, what's up with that?


I have no clue. hes a fuckin pirate so fuck him...a rat on what


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## Dyna808 (Apr 19, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> I have no clue. hes a fuckin pirate so fuck him...a rat on what


I have no idea, un-ignore him and figure it out. He's been saying it all day.


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## Dyna808 (Apr 19, 2015)

8 year Navy vet, so what are we talking about?


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## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)

Dyna808 said:


> 8 year Navy vet, so what are we talking about?



Just veteran bullshit. ..we have thicker skin than most here so we can say whatever the fuck we want in here


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

Since this is the vet thread, can i post all my army stuff here?
Even cell phone vids of shoveling charred bodies out of civilian trucks? Psyche. Not gonna post that but i might have some noteworthy stuff

I recorded one of my jumps on my phone. I have to find that phone though


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## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)

Chester the Molester
Judy Patoodie
Peter Puffer

Just takin a daily cruise


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 19, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> View attachment 3399545 Air Force ride bicycles for PT.. and they have the hottest womens
> 
> Our army womens had mustaches and broad shoulders.


I don't know what they do now but when I was in our pt test were the same standard as the army.


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## 6ohMax (Apr 19, 2015)

Capt. Pissgums said:


> You have thicker skin than most here? You can say whatever the fuck you want in here?
> 
> You sound like a dick


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> I don't know what they do now but when I was in our pt test were the same standard as the army.


Yea i think the pt test was the same. They incorporated bicycle riding as a PT event


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> The military will make you a man or ass hole, sometimes both.


Dude I've heard some of the most vile things a human being could say while in the army. Some of the most vile insults etc. IM sure all vets know wat im talking about, especially if you were in a unit with no women. 

Also noteworthy of mentioning is before I joined the army, Bruce Willis was the only white man i had ever heard cuss profusely.


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 19, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Yea i think the pt test was the same. They incorporated bicycle riding as a PT event


I think people are misinformed about the bike. It is part of the test but it is to test your heart. They hook you up to wires for it.


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> I think people are misinformed about the bike. It is part of the test but it is to test your heart. They hook you up to wires for it.


For real? 

Brb
*Googling*


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)




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## whitebb2727 (Apr 19, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> For real?
> 
> Brb
> *Googling*


My bad it checked o2 levels.


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## Dyna808 (Apr 19, 2015)

In the Navy we could swim our pt test, but was harder than running, at least for me it was. We only had to run a mile and half, push ups and sit ups, oh and make weight/tape. Easy shit if you're not fat ass.


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

Dyna808 said:


> In the Navy we could swim our pt test, but was harder than running, at least for me it was. We only had to run a mile and half, push ups and sit ups, oh and make weight/tape. Easy shit if you're not fat ass.


I can run miles all day, but swimming the length of an Olympic sized pool 1 time- I'm fuckin winded.

I suck at swimming. Failed the swim test for RIP and got recycled. 

If I was to go thru that Navy SEAL training, I'd drown to death.


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## Dyna808 (Apr 19, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> I can run miles all day, but swimming the length of an Olympic sized pool 1 time- I'm fuckin winded.
> 
> I suck at swimming. Failed the swim test for RIP and got recycled.
> 
> If I was to go thru that Navy SEAL training, I'd drown to death.


No racial, but your black
Most black people don't swim, not sure why but I've seen it first hand many times. Most of the black guys in boot camp had to get extra attention to pass the swim test.


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 19, 2015)

Dyna808 said:


> No racial, but your black
> Most black people don't swim, not sure why but I've seen it first hand many times. Most of the black guys in boot camp had to get extra attention to pass the swim test.


Dude I've seen it too. The only guys who failed the swim test were black. (The cadre called us the Black SwimTeam 5 or some silly shit) Shit, I trained myself harder for it beforehand and still failed. Passed it second time around.
But yea, i don't fuckin swim. I was from the inner city where there are no pools or beaches, plus swimming was not a sociocultural aspect of the demographic I was in as a youth.

Treading water was like sorcery to me.


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

mainliner said:


> guys!! Someone said he is a rat .
> 
> i didn't take sides so i gave him chance to explain why the guy said this.
> 
> ...


No shit, I had a sleep paralysis episode based on this post


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## Singlemalt (Apr 20, 2015)

Fuck off Mainy, he's done nothing whatsoever to remotely suggest rattedness. That's something you and skywalker cooked up and ran with. Swarthy has a lot of shit to deal with, that only a combat vet would truly understand


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## Yessica... (Apr 20, 2015)

Singlemalt said:


> Fuck off Mainy, he's done nothing whatsoever to remotely suggest rattedness. That's something you and skywalker cooked up and ran with. Swarthy has a lot of shit to deal with, that only a combat vet would truly understand


Yeah, that's partially my bad... 

I may have sicked the dogs on him. 

I tried to truce. I tried. 

But then...he just kept saying stuff. And I am one crazy fucker and I can't always get myself to stop. 

Even if that would be the nicest thing to do. 

I'm trying. Baby steps.


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## GrowUrOwnDank (Apr 20, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Dude I've seen it too. The only guys who failed the swim test were black. (The cadre called us the Black SwimTeam 5 or some silly shit) Shit, I trained myself harder for it beforehand and still failed. Passed it second time around.
> But yea, i don't fuckin swim. I was from the inner city where there are no pools or beaches, plus swimming was not a sociocultural aspect of the demographic I was in as a youth.
> 
> Treading water was like sorcery to me.


While I was in BC, the one stand out in the platoon was a black guy. High School football star, valedictorian, he was cut from head to toe. Fastest runner and maxed all PT tests from day 1. Super charming guy and everybody liked, looked up to him. 

Of course we had to pass the swim test. He sunk like a rock! Couple of other black guys did too. Someone said that it's because black people don't have as much fat content. So they have a hard time floating. They sink. 

I dunno. Just an observation.


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## HoLE (Apr 20, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> Yeah, that's partially my bad...
> 
> I may have sicked the dogs on him.
> 
> ...


First steps to any recovery is the ability to admit


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## Yessica... (Apr 20, 2015)

GrowUrOwnDank said:


> While I was in BC, the one stand out in the platoon was a black guy. High School football star, valedictorian, he was cut from head to toe. Fastest runner and maxed all PT tests from day 1. Super charming guy and everybody liked, looked up to him.
> 
> Of course we had to pass the swim test. He sunk like a rock! Couple of other black guys did too. Someone said that it's because black people don't have as much fat content. So they have a hard time floating. They sink.
> 
> I dunno. Just an observation.


My black buddy swims. He was way more into the ocean than I was when we Mexico'd. But your logic seems sound. 

He was also an incredible runner! He never ran, or practiced, or anything. But when we had to run through the airport to catch a flight - he just flew by me like a gazelle. Pretty impressive. 



HoLE said:


> First steps to any recovery is the ability to admit


hahaha, Oh, I know I'm a cunt sometimes.


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## HoLE (Apr 20, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> My black buddy swims. He was way more into the ocean than I was when we Mexico'd. But your logic is sound.
> 
> He was also an incredible runner! He never ran, or practiced, or anything. But when we had to run through the airport to catch a flight - he just flew by me like a gazelle. Pretty impressive.
> 
> ...


 
sounds like you are well on your way,,,,session over,,no further appointments needed


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## Yessica... (Apr 20, 2015)

HoLE said:


> sounds like you are well on your way,,,,session over,,no further appointments needed


Take 2 of these and call me in the morning...


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## Singlemalt (Apr 20, 2015)

Nice spinning up Mainy, looks like I got under your skin. Weakness boy, definite weakness. Learn to control your emotions little boy


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

GrowUrOwnDank said:


> While I was in BC, the one stand out in the platoon was a black guy. High School football star, valedictorian, he was cut from head to toe. Fastest runner and maxed all PT tests from day 1. Super charming guy and everybody liked, looked up to him.
> 
> Of course we had to pass the swim test. He sunk like a rock! Couple of other black guys did too. Someone said that it's because black people don't have as much fat content. So they have a hard time floating. They sink.
> 
> I dunno. Just an observation.


Yea im familiar with the whole "fat content" theory. But does this apply to black people who populate coastal regions in other parts of the world? Someone should extensively research this, but given its controversial nature, it could segue into eugenics propaganda. 


Humans are fuckin stupid for the most part.


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## GrowUrOwnDank (Apr 20, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Yea im familiar with the whole "fat content" theory. But does this apply to black people who populate coastal regions in other parts of the world? Someone should extensively research this, but given its controversial nature, it could segue into eugenics propaganda.
> 
> 
> Humans are fuckin stupid for the most part.


Well I googled it. And apparantly the theory I was told has been debunked. 

https://www.usms.org/articles/articledisplay.php?aid=294


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

GrowUrOwnDank said:


> Well I googled it. And apparantly the theory I was told has been debunked.
> 
> https://www.usms.org/articles/articledisplay.php?aid=294


Amazing article. Thanks for sharing


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## Yessica... (Apr 20, 2015)

mainliner said:


> why so mad bro?


Seriously, I don't want you to use my face as your Avatar thing. 

It just makes me look like a dick. 

I don't care what you say, I'm not your mother. Just don't use my face to say it - deal?


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 20, 2015)

mainliner said:


> why so mad bro?


Who called him a rat? Where did this start? Link?


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## Yessica... (Apr 20, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> Who called him a rat? Where did this start? Link?


Oh he's just talking trash. No basis in reality. That's sort of his jam. 

Oh Mainy, thought you were doing so much better! Guess not. 

Tyra's disappointed too...


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 20, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> Oh he's just talking trash. No basis in reality. That's sort of his jam.
> 
> Oh Mainy, thought you were doing so much better! Guess not.
> 
> ...


I figured as much that's why I asked.


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## 6ohMax (Apr 20, 2015)

I don't really give 2 fucKS what mainliner is up to....but check this out....it's a small world. ..if I ever run into that scumbag I will use my thumb, index,and middle to rip out your Adams apple....believe that!

Better yet...why doesn't a genie hook me up with his ip address and I'll really have a field day with him


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

Hugs not drugs. ..
Or is it drugs not hugs?

Both drugs and hugs. 

Thug Life


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## 6ohMax (Apr 20, 2015)

nut hugz for everyone

Cept mainliner. ...put him in a gas chamber with no mask....I'd pay to see that


Good no good....u kuni


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

So many tears, drool, & snot


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## see4 (Apr 20, 2015)

mainliner's troll technique is tired. it's almost as if she's given up. she's certainly not bright enough to come up with anything witty, so she just repeats the same dumb shit over and over.

so sad.


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Yea im familiar with the whole "fat content" theory. But does this apply to black people who populate coastal regions in other parts of the world? Someone should extensively research this, but given its controversial nature, it could segue into eugenics propaganda.
> 
> 
> Humans are fuckin stupid for the most part.


I never thought about black people not being great swimmers before but after all these posts im seeing there is something to it .

I dont swim either , i hate that shit , i look like an idiot out there splashing around on my way to the bottom of the lake , its allways me & a bunch of black dudes sitting in the shade while everybody else swims , i dont ever remember seeing black girls not swimming unless their a lard ass , all the hot ones are swimming their asses off so i dont think fat content has much to do with it or the lard asses would be out there floating around like bouys .

If i ever hit a beach again im gonna pay more attention .


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## bf80255 (Apr 20, 2015)

I guarantee ill wreck all you sorry MOFOS in a PT session ima fuckin ROCK!!!!
U.S Army combat infantry


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## 6ohMax (Apr 20, 2015)

bf80255 said:


> I guarantee ill wreck all you sorry MOFOS in a PT session ima fuckin ROCK!!!!
> U.S Army combat infantryView attachment 3400223 View attachment 3400224




Yeah ok whatever ...most likely if u are still in yeah....but I was a PT monster....I ran low 12 min 2 miles all day everyday...100 to 115 push ups in 2 minutes and about 90ish sit ups


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

bf80255 said:


> I guarantee ill wreck all you sorry MOFOS in a PT session ima fuckin ROCK!!!!
> U.S Army combat infantryView attachment 3400223 View attachment 3400224


Dude im willing to bet I'll decimate you in a PT test. 2 years 82nd Airborne. 2 years Ranger Regiment. Im like fresh out. Maxing out a PT test is the norm. Please tell me you're not one of those guys that wear the PT stud t shirts lol


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## ChingOwn (Apr 20, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> Who called him a rat? Where did this start? Link?


Irish420 called him a rat dunno why probably cause he 420 is a dirty foreigner who hangs in the UK growers thread. 

http://rollitup.org/t/jimmiez-rustled-are-you-a-productive-stoner.867779/page-2#post-11518504


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## ChingOwn (Apr 20, 2015)

USMC


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

Adult boy scouts field trip to the middle east. . . with high velocity ammunition.
(2500+ FPS)


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## tightpockt (Apr 20, 2015)

Dyna808 said:


> In the Navy we could swim our pt test, but was harder than running, at least for me it was. We only had to run a mile and half, push ups and sit ups, oh and make weight/tape. Easy shit if you're not fat ass.


Meanwhile the fattest first classes and chiefs are walking around, makes you wonder how are they passing pt tests? Why arent they forced to do jumping jacks at 0500 in the hangar bay?


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

tightpockt said:


> Meanwhile the fattest first classes and chiefs are walking around, makes you wonder how are they passing pt tests? Why arent they forced to do jumping jacks at 0500 in the hangar bay?


*Overhead hand claps*

I always thought it was bad ass when the 1SG or Company CO was a beast. I wasn't in a conventional unit so I assume that this is rare.


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## curious2garden (Apr 20, 2015)

The hub


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> Who called him a rat? Where did this start? Link?


One of the guys from the UK growers thread told 60max to fuk off dirty rat or some shit , half the time idk wtf those uk guys are even saying with all that matey & bloke shit they say , plus the call cigarettes fags so who knows what he meant when he said it .

Anyhow mainy seen the post & ran with it .


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> The hub
> 
> View attachment 3400317



I dont know if you noticed c2g but your husbands head is a cuppboard


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

panhead said:


> I dont know if you noticed c2g but your husbands head is a cuppboard


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## curious2garden (Apr 20, 2015)

panhead said:


> I dont know if you noticed c2g but your husbands head is a cuppboard


It's it's the big reason I married him. I can store a bong in there and all the beer mugs necessary


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 20, 2015)

panhead said:


> One of the guys from the UK growers thread told 60max to fuk off dirty rat or some shit , half the time idk wtf those uk guys are even saying with all that matey & bloke shit they say , plus the call cigarettes fags so who knows what he meant when he said it .
> 
> Anyhow mainy seen the post & ran with it .


I just read through it. Mainly ran with it saying "answer me or your a rat.". Max had mainy on ignore as I'm sure a lot of people do.

Yes who knows what the dude was saying and if he was accusing there was no info to back the accusation.


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Yeah ok whatever ...most likely if u are still in yeah....but I was a PT monster....I ran low 12 min 2 miles all day everyday...100 to 115 push ups in 2 minutes and about 90ish sit ups


My whole family is Marines including the son i lost , im a 2 time felon so i didnt go to Nam with my brothers , my older brother is 65 yrs old & still a fukin machine .

He was recon for 3 tours & when he came back was a monster , not only physically in size but a monster in the head too & dangerous , being out in the bush for long periods fucked alot of those recon guys up bad ,at 65 he is still dangerous & scares police .

Anyhow ive watched my entire family get turned into huge musclebound men from the corp & all have lost their physical strength & bulk after they returned to the world but not my older brother , he has done cardio , strength & endurance training every day since he came back from Nam & is in better shape than men in their 30's .

He still does bare knuckle pick up fights against men 40 yrs younger than him & wins alot of the time , he's the only soldier ive ever met who didnt loose their strength after comming home .

I wish i could post a pic of him , all you ex soldiers would shit cause he still looks like he's fresh out of boot camp & still stands like a soldier at 65 yrs old .


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> I just read through it. Mainly ran with it saying "answer me or your a rat.". Max had mainy on ignore as I'm sure a lot of people do.
> 
> Yes who knows what the dude was saying and if he was accusing there was no info to back the accusation.


Exactly what i thought , those UK guys slang is so different from ours ya never know wtf they mean & if their insulting you or not .

Ive been here longer than most & have never heard a ( Real ) bad word about 60max other than the normal banter type shit , idk why mainliner is pushing this rat thing so hard .


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> It's it's the big reason I married him. I can store a bong in there and all the beer mugs necessary


Very smart thinking & great utilization of space


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## ChingOwn (Apr 20, 2015)

panhead said:


> My whole family is Marines including the son i lost , im a 2 time felon so i didnt go to Nam with my brothers , my older brother is 65 yrs old & still a fukin machine .
> 
> He was recon for 3 tours & when he came back was a monster , not only physically in size but a monster in the head too & dangerous , being out in the bush for long periods fucked alot of those recon guys up bad ,at 65 he is still dangerous & scares police .
> 
> ...


Ive seen it both ways, my cousin went in with me and is still in shape as hell 10 yrs out, I let myself slide a little would probably limp in at 230 or so lol but Im pretty sure Id still win a fight.


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## curious2garden (Apr 20, 2015)

panhead said:


> Very smart thinking & great utilization of space


Precisely he did not retire an E8 for nothing, that man has skills.


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## curious2garden (Apr 20, 2015)

ChingOwn said:


> Ive seen it both ways, my cousin went in with me and is still in shape as hell 10 yrs out, I let myself slide a little would probably limp in at 230 or so *lol but Im pretty sure Id still win a fight*.


LOL Old age and treachery, will always beat youthful exuberance


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## 6ohMax (Apr 20, 2015)

That's how I feel...I can't run for the life of me anymore. ..but I can still push and pull some weights. Still have a very high tolerance for pain...still throw down when I need too....I also think me not being mentally stable scares a few off as well....


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## lahadaextranjera (Apr 20, 2015)

panhead said:


> I never thought about black people not being great swimmers before but after all these posts im seeing there is something to it .
> 
> I dont swim either , i hate that shit , i look like an idiot out there splashing around on my way to the bottom of the lake , its allways me & a bunch of black dudes sitting in the shade while everybody else swims , i dont ever remember seeing black girls not swimming unless their a lard ass , all the hot ones are swimming their asses off so i dont think fat content has much to do with it or the lard asses would be out there floating around like bouys .
> 
> If i ever hit a beach again im gonna pay more attention .


I used to train with a friend of mine who's black. His grandmother is white actually but the rest of the whole family are black. (1/4 white).He couldn't swim but he was so strong and fit. He told me it was due to his bone density. Another mate of mine who's jamaican often jokes about outrunning the police, we're all good at something!


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 20, 2015)

I still hike and walk daily. I can't run due to the knees, already had surgery on both. I still lift a few days a week.


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

ChingOwn said:


> Ive seen it both ways, my cousin went in with me and is still in shape as hell 10 yrs out, I let myself slide a little would probably limp in at 230 or so lol but Im pretty sure Id still win a fight.


Ever see the youtube where that 67yr old Nam vet beats the shit out of a racist black dude in his 20's ? Funny ass shit right here .






Heres another old dude in his late 50's beating the holy hell out of a Crip gang member for fukin with him , he talks cash shit while he's serving his young ass up


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> I also think me not being mentally stable scares a few off as well....


 I know the feeling.............


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## curious2garden (Apr 20, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> I know the feeling.............


Who fucking wants to be boring and normal. I embrace my insanity  Although a bit inconvenient at times I have never known boredom.


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

I didn't know gangsters messed with old people. I thought that was against the G-code or something. But Fred, just handed that guy his ass lol


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> Who fucking wants to be boring and normal. I embrace my insanity  Although a bit inconvenient at times I have never known boredom.


I think the majority (automatons) want to be boring and normal. My whole perspective on life is completely warped in relation to the status quo. 

In unrelated kinda related news, yesterday I scored a 100% on chapter 13 psych test on psychological disorders. I found that ironic and funny.


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## 6ohMax (Apr 20, 2015)

Nah...I'm really not stable. ...ie...I went from happy to steaming mad in a nano second yesterday. ...ended up putting my arm through an old door....I would have loved for it to be someone's face

Honestly I'm an emotional wreck


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 20, 2015)

panhead said:


> Ever see the youtube where that 67yr old Nam vet beats the shit out of a racist black dude in his 20's ? Funny ass shit right here .
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The bus scene inspired the Movie "badass" with Danny Trejo.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 20, 2015)




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## 6ohMax (Apr 20, 2015)

BarnBuster said:


>


I would've lost it and put his head into the brick wall

Then I would've laughed at him

Lesson...if you have someone's head between your hands....they will follow you in the direction .....unless they want their neck broke


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## panhead (Apr 20, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> The bus scene inspired the Movie "badass" with Danny Trejo.View attachment 3400395


I kinda thought so , i wish i could find the video of the police sergeant talking about the beat down , its so fukin funny listening to that cop laugh at the punk who thought he had an easy target .

If i can find it i'll post it up .


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Nah...I'm really not stable. ...ie...I went from happy to steaming mad in a nano second yesterday. ...ended up putting my arm through an old door....I would have loved for it to be someone's face
> 
> Honestly I'm an emotional wreck


Aside from my pseudonymous virtual persona here, I try to be a stoic for the sake of the wellbeing of the public. Amoral God forbid that people discover how I truly feel.


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## whitebb2727 (Apr 20, 2015)

mainliner said:


>


Let it go he has you on ignore dummy.


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## ttystikk (Apr 20, 2015)

lahadaextranjera said:


> I used to train with a friend of mine who's black. His grandmother is white actually but the rest of the whole family are black. (1/4 white).He couldn't swim but he was so strong and fit. He told me it was due to his bone density. Another mate of mine who's jamaican often jokes about outrunning the police, we're all good at something!


It's a well known fact among the medical crowd that black people DO have higher bone density. This could have a lot to do with it, especially those who work out or involved in high impact sports- soldiering definitely qualifies. High impact or heavy lifting is what builds bone density. Start high, get higher... and heavier.

I've seen peeps who could walk across the bottom of a swimming pool while holding a full breath...

I bet they'd do fine SCUBA diving, there's a lot of gear you need to wear and carry that floats; BC, wet suit, etc.


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## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

Oh snap, just briefly researched that. I never really looked into it until now. I thought it was pseudoscience. ... similar to the "extra leg bone" myth that allows black people to run faster and jump higher *quotation fingers*.


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## ttystikk (Apr 20, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Oh snap, just briefly researched that. I never really looked into it until now. I thought it was pseudoscience. ... similar to the "extra leg bone" myth that allows black people to run faster *quotation fingers*.


I learned this from a bone density tech while I was at a public health screening. I have LOWER than average bone density, by a full standard deviation. This is why white people get osteoporosis when they get older, calcium tablets or not.

This reminds me, I gotta get my ass back in the weight room.


----------



## SwarthySchlong (Apr 20, 2015)

All of Which reminds me:
Hitler's whole ideology about the Aryan master race *quotation fingers" was squashed during the Olympics when blacks were taking a lot of gold medals in events. If I recall correctly, he held Jesse Owens in reverence while the United States persecuted him....

EDIT: upon confirmation for validity, the aforementioned is all myth, exaggerations apparently ..?
Wow.. learning a lot today.


----------



## ttystikk (Apr 21, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> All of Which reminds me:
> Hitler's whole ideology about the Aryan master race *quotation fingers" was squashed during the Olympics when blacks were taking a lot of gold medals in events. If I recall correctly, he held Jesse Owens in reverence while the United States persecuted him....
> 
> EDIT: upon confirmation for validity, the aforementioned is all myth, exaggerations apparently ..?
> Wow.. learning a lot today.


When one's fondly held notions about the world are smashed, the picture that comes into view can be more clearly examined.

It's been happening to me a lot lately, too.


----------



## Dyna808 (Apr 21, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> All of Which reminds me:
> Hitler's whole ideology about the Aryan master race *quotation fingers" was squashed during the Olympics when blacks were taking a lot of gold medals in events. If I recall correctly, he held Jesse Owens in reverence while the United States persecuted him....
> 
> EDIT: upon confirmation for validity, the aforementioned is all myth, exaggerations apparently ..?
> Wow.. learning a lot today.


Back to the swimming deal, we (USA) had a black guy on the Olympic swim team in 2012. He has gold medals proving black people can swim. He prolly grew up in the suburbs with a swimming pool in his back yard though.





However, I remember him being the slowest of the 4 during the team rely, but we still won. Thanks Micheal Phelps.


----------



## Singlemalt (Apr 21, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Oh snap, just briefly researched that. I never really looked into it until now. I thought it was pseudoscience. ... similar to the "extra leg bone" myth that allows black people to run faster and jump higher *quotation fingers*.


Never heard of the extra bone theory, when I was young it was the extra muscle lol


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)




----------



## bf80255 (Apr 21, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Dude im willing to bet I'll decimate you in a PT test. 2 years 82nd Airborne. 2 years Ranger Regiment. Im like fresh out. Maxing out a PT test is the norm. Please tell me you're not one of those guys that wear the PT stud t shirts lol


fuck no! I aint no faggot to be wearing around a PT patch and shit, trust in jah brothah Ill smoke your ass and everyone in this thread! hahaha im not the greatest runner ( I max out but barely) but ruckin and pushups im unfucking touchable even when I was 220 pounds and Im in a lot better shape now (195)

P.S just because I said ill smoke yall at PT doesnt mean I dont love everyone of you in here for serving our great nation


----------



## Yessica... (Apr 21, 2015)

bf80255 said:


> fuck no! I aint no faggot to be wearing around a PT patch and shit, trust in jah brothah Ill smoke your ass and everyone in this thread! hahaha im not the greatest runner ( I max out but barely) but ruckin and pushups im unfucking touchable even when I was 220 pounds and Im in a lot better shape now (195)


----------



## bf80255 (Apr 21, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Dude im willing to bet I'll decimate you in a PT test. 2 years 82nd Airborne. 2 years Ranger Regiment. Im like fresh out. Maxing out a PT test is the norm. Please tell me you're not one of those guys that wear the PT stud t shirts lol


you should know then coming from a ranger batt that looks can be deceiving some of the fittest guys I know werent worth a damn because they had zero mental fortitude and would crack after a couple hours of smoking, im a shitbag smart ass so I would get smoked 24/7 hahaha


----------



## bf80255 (Apr 21, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> View attachment 3400868


????


----------



## Yessica... (Apr 21, 2015)

bf80255 said:


> ????


Joke. From internet. 

Here, like this:

 

Same page?


----------



## bf80255 (Apr 21, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> View attachment 3400868


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)

panhead said:


> One of the guys from the UK growers thread told 60max to fuk off dirty rat or some shit , half the time idk wtf those uk guys are even saying with all that matey & bloke shit they say , plus the call cigarettes fags so who knows what he meant when he said it .
> 
> Anyhow mainy seen the post & ran with it .


Oh ok..so if I see that fuckin mainliner. ..I will shoot him.....no questions asked


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)

Hell yeah mother queers and faggots ..got my Dr. appt done...everything is looking positive


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)

This is how we do it ...


----------



## SwarthySchlong (Apr 21, 2015)

Lol so je couldn't just crawl underneath the truck?


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)

I would have had that dudes ass.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)

Capt. Pissgums said:


> What would you do to his ass?


Id have your mom fuck him in every hole in his body with her womancock


Get the fuck outta here penis wrinkle


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)

Capt. Pissgums said:


> You are SO tough! Your words are SO painful. Your intelligence,...the sheer brilliance, the cunning....
> 
> Shut the fuck up


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 21, 2015)




----------



## whitebb2727 (Apr 21, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> This is how we do it ...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I would have a backup. Weakest link breaks first. Actually I wouldn't do that but if I had to there would be something to keep it from crushing me if it fell.


----------



## Dyna808 (Apr 21, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> View attachment 3401203


Post of the day right here^ +rep for finding that, I'm still lol'ing


----------



## Singlemalt (Apr 21, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> You were not invited to the thread you're welcome to leave anytime. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.


What he said, mainliner.


----------



## Skuxx (Apr 21, 2015)

BarnBuster said:


>


Nice discipline. I wouldn't have guessed gulf war vet vs. punk though. I would have guessed Russian drunk on vodka Vs. Russian that hasn't had his vodka yet


----------



## Capt. Pissgums (Apr 22, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> You were not invited to the thread you're welcome to leave anytime. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.



I believe I was invited.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 22, 2015)

Skuxx said:


> Nice discipline. I wouldn't have guessed gulf war vet vs. punk though. I would have guessed Russian drunk on vodka Vs. Russian that hasn't had his vodka yet


supposed to be England somewhere, Royal marine.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Apr 22, 2015)

Capt. Pissgums said:


> I believe I was invited.


Are you a vet? A real one, not one in fairy tale land?


----------



## wascaptain (Apr 22, 2015)

pvt nogo reporting as ordered sir


----------



## Yessica... (Apr 22, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> Are you a vet? A real one, not one in fairy tale land?


You wore socks in army, didn't you? That's all the contributions to society this douche has ever made...



wascaptain said:


> pvt nogo reporting as ordered sir


Cute! People in uniform look so bad ass.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 22, 2015)

Capt. Pissgums said:


> Your folks must be proud. Serving DOESN'T give you the right to be a completely classless douchebag. You are just ignorant trash.
> 
> 
> Carry on.


I do what I want ..when I want...how I want....fuck you bootlip


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 22, 2015)

Capt. Pissgums said:


> I believe I was invited.


Well see your ass outta here ur not wanted...proof or you ain't shit nig nog


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 22, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> You wore socks in army, didn't you? That's all the contributions to society this douche has ever made...
> 
> 
> Cute! People in uniform look so bad ass.



Don't fall for a dummy..most people in here arnt vets


----------



## Yessica... (Apr 22, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Don't fall for a dummy..most people in here arnt vets


Oh I know Captain piss isn't! He's just a weirdo sock account maker person. Who likes to fuck up threads and ruin other peoples fun. 

Anywho - proooooceeeeeeede...


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 22, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> Oh I know Captain piss isn't! He's just a weirdo sock account maker person. Who likes to fuck up threads and ruin other peoples fun.
> 
> Anywho - proooooceeeeeeede...



around her head she wore a yellow ribbon

Time for job hunting again


----------



## SwarthySchlong (Apr 22, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> around her head she wore a yellow ribbon


A yellow bird?... No that's not it... 
Shit.


----------



## Unclebaldrick (Apr 22, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> View attachment 3401203


I'd salt her.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 22, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> A yellow bird?... No that's not it...
> Shit.



she wore it in the spring time in the merry month of May


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 22, 2015)

Unclebaldrick said:


> I'd salt her.


i glad i got my junk chopped 7 yrs ago...bust nuts all in it and no worries


----------



## SwarthySchlong (Apr 22, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> she wore it in the spring time in the merry month of May


If i recalll correctly, it ends with Jody smashing someone's wife


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 23, 2015)

I hope you live
To see the day
When your world goes up in flames
And as you die
You see my face
You're the only one to blame
(Fuck)

The prescient
The nascent
The quotient (They all will fall)
The cystic, symbolic, condition (Systemic)
Egregious, replete with
These lesions (Contaminate)
Succumb to the selfish
Creation (Your failure)







@Yessica...


----------



## Yessica... (Apr 24, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> I hope you live
> To see the day
> When your world goes up in flames
> And as you die
> ...


Yeeeeeeeeeessssss?

Sorry must have missed that before. 

What would you like dear? Did you have a question? Or did you want me to read your poem?

I must say, I like this poem much better than some of the shit Ive read lately. 

A LOT better.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 24, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> Yeeeeeeeeeessssss?
> 
> Sorry must have missed that before.
> 
> ...


Oh no, those are lyrics....

and I thought you might like the video


----------



## Yessica... (Apr 24, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Oh no, those are lyrics....
> 
> and I thought you might like the video


DUDE! I DO like it!

Sometimes I just need a little push to click on a video. 

Although, I like it better in mute. I don;t like the screaming.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 24, 2015)

Yessica... said:


> DUDE! I DO like it!
> 
> Sometimes I just need a little push to click on a video.
> 
> Although, I like it better in mute. I don;t like the screaming.


SOng gets me pumped


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 24, 2015)

SOunds about right..hopefully no charges get filed against the veteran and the veteran sues the victims family for puntive damages....fucking faggot ass mother fucking VA twats

But who is really the victim? Im saying the vet.

http://www.disabledveterans.org/2015/01/08/veteran-snaps-ptsd-denial-kills-va-psychologist-following-complaint/


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 25, 2015)




----------



## ruffneck vet (Apr 25, 2015)

Hey guys how's it going? I'm new here so been growing for a little over a year, not very long, anyone in NM?


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 18, 2015)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 18, 2015)

My lovely daughter insisted I pull the dress blues outta retirement for her big day.


----------



## HolyGhost23 (Aug 18, 2015)

Canadian forces JTF2 8 years also army 4 years communications tech. made it to sergeant before I left..

anyone go on tour here?.. if so id like to share some shit..it might make you re think about the govt

A sergeant in the cdn forces is like a Warrant officer in the US army.. we dont have 30 million stupid sergeant ranks like you guys.


----------



## doublejj (Aug 18, 2015)




----------



## abe supercro (Aug 18, 2015)

Jesus, look at all that flair!! No wonder the guy (GWN) is a super-mod


----------



## HolyGhost23 (Aug 18, 2015)

id love to have a chat with that guy.. either a master chief petty officer..or fleet commander.. i cant see the badge very well. . either way.. lots of rank and looks like hes done shit


----------



## charface (Aug 19, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My lovely daughter insisted I pull the dress blues outta retirement for her big day.
> 
> View attachment 3482106


Gold hashmarks.
Someone kept their shit straight.
Very nice.


----------



## ODanksta (Aug 19, 2015)

Dyna808 said:


> 8 year Navy vet, so what are we talking about?


Come back bro


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 19, 2015)

doublejj said:


> View attachment 3482114



Old school flak jacket. ...man...they won't do anything as far as torso protection. ..but the army should have stayed with bdus


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 19, 2015)

Me working on a fg Wilson peice of shit generator in Afghanistan ..with 2 afghani mechanics


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 19, 2015)

HolyGhost23 said:


> id love to have a chat with that guy.. either a master chief petty officer..or fleet commander.. i cant see the badge very well. . either way.. lots of rank and looks like hes done shit


MCPO & "Chief of the boat" @ my last three units, but my active bravo jacket was in storage when she asked me to wear the monkey suit so if you look closely you will see only one star on the left sleeve (SCPO), but the collar devices are correct.



charface said:


> Gold hashmarks.
> Someone kept their shit straight.
> Very nice.


I just didn't get caught. 



abe supercro said:


> Jesus, look at all that flair!! No wonder the guy (GWN) is a super-mod


15 pieces of flair is the minimum.


----------



## curious2garden (Aug 19, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My lovely daughter insisted I pull the dress blues outta retirement for her big day.


LOVE the hair  and happy family, nice.


----------



## Final Phase (Aug 19, 2015)

2 yrs reg. Navy, 3 yrs. active res. 1973 - 78'


----------



## doublejj (Aug 19, 2015)




----------



## MustangStudFarm (Aug 19, 2015)

1st cav infantry here!


----------



## tyler.durden (Aug 20, 2015)

Lol! I thought this thread was calling for those of us who have been on RIU for a long time. Never mind, carry on, soldiers...


----------



## Desr (Aug 21, 2015)

and Marines.


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 21, 2015)




----------



## doublejj (Aug 21, 2015)




----------



## doublejj (Aug 21, 2015)

I'm getting that itch.....


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 21, 2015)

Yeah, I want to get me an AR15..basically an M4


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 21, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My lovely daughter insisted I pull the dress blues outta retirement for her big day.
> 
> View attachment 3482106


Lookin' sharp, sailor! WTF is the groom doing in a wife beater?


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 21, 2015)

Desr said:


> and Marines.


AND MARINES, damn straight;

Did you guys hear about the two Marines who caught a would be terrorist on a French bullet train today?

No bullshit, they heard the motherfucker loading his weapons in the bathroom and confronted him when he came out- armed to the teeth!

One of them got knifed and the other got SHOT- and they STILL 'subdued' the shitstain until the train stopped and the police showed up.

HOOOO-RAAA! Lives saved, bad guy in jail. That's what I call making a good impression!


----------



## doublejj (Aug 21, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> AND MARINES, damn straight;
> 
> Did you guys hear about the two Marines who caught a would be terrorist on a French bullet train today?
> 
> ...


That is situational awareness!...I guarantee they weren't sitting there staring at their phones..


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 21, 2015)

doublejj said:


> That is situational awareness!...I guarantee they weren't sitting there staring at their phones..


Situational awareness, aka that fuckin' paranoia that never, ever, EVER quite goes away after you've been in some serious shit.

Amen.


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 21, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Me working on a fg Wilson peice of shit generator in Afghanistan ..with 2 afghani mechanics
> 
> View attachment 3482293



I remember that dude was amazed with the camera....I was probably telling him to stfu and get back to work....cooney


----------



## HolyGhost23 (Aug 21, 2015)

is it a bad thing if you did private shit after working for the govt?. I did some black water stuff a few times..they pay is hella compared to the peanuts you get from the govt.. even the Canadian military my 9 months in Kandahar only got me 80,000 net. where as one private job gets ya almost 200,000 take home.. this is cdn dollars mind you.. i said fuck it to getting my ass shot and went into the oil industry..make as much as private sector but dont get shot at.


----------



## HolyGhost23 (Aug 21, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Yeah, I want to get me an AR15..basically an M4


ever try the Canadian colt C7 ? its like an M16a2 but fully auto and has way less jamming issues the bolt forward assist pin is lightly longer to force the bolt to lock into the chamber better or if there is high carbon build up..due to it being a shit eater style cocking mech..i prefer my M418.. way more reliable in shit conditions. due to the fact that its piston driven..rather than a stupid gas tube blowing GSR all over your bolt and slides


----------



## HolyGhost23 (Aug 21, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Me working on a fg Wilson peice of shit generator in Afghanistan ..with 2 afghani mechanics
> 
> View attachment 3482293


 better than the old shity 2 stroke diesel gennys the cdn guys have old ass 10Ks from the 60's...i think the newer shit we got is Cummings hopefully..some being detroit diesels newer shit


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 21, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Yeah, I want to get me an AR15..basically an M4


Build one. Check out palmetto state armory. If you buy a striped lower and then look on PSA website and look for specials you can get good deals. I got less than 400$ in mine. That's hammer forged barrel chrome lined chamber and full auto bolt carrier group. Same thing as top of the line colt.
There are only a few companies that make ar parts. It all the same. Hell even colt buys barrels from Mossberg when they are low. Just don't fall for the hype and you can build one on the cheap.


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 22, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> AND MARINES, damn straight;
> 
> Did you guys hear about the two Marines who caught a would be terrorist on a French bullet train today?
> 
> ...


As more details have emerged, the jobs of the two American servicemen have changed; one is a National Guardsman and the other is in the USAF, rank unspecified.

Apologies for the error, reporters don't always get the details right the first time around.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 22, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> As more details have emerged, the jobs of the two American servicemen have changed; one is a National Guardsman and the other is in the USAF, rank unspecified.
> 
> Apologies for the error, reporters don't always get the details right the first time around.


I too liked visualizing the take down in the fashion it was first reported, but I figured I'd wait a couple of days for the media story/translation to get straightened out.


----------



## doublejj (Aug 22, 2015)

They beat the motherf*cker unconscious after he cut one of them.....


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 22, 2015)

doublejj said:


> They beat the motherf*cker unconscious after he cut one of them.....


..with the butt of the own AK-47! I believe we could call this 'justice'!


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 22, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I too liked visualizing the take down in the fashion it was first reported, but I figured I'd wait a couple of days for the media story/translation to get straightened out.


They might not be Marines, but they stopped the attacker and subdued him, even after being seriously wounded.

They have already been praised by the President of France, he met with them this morning, I believe the report said.

I'm betting they get a few more pieces of shiny stuff for their uniforms when they get home, too, above and beyond the Purple Heart. And a promotion. And a free 'name your next posting' card.

That's what they gave my brother for helping get all American personnel out of the embassy in Sana'a without a scratch a few months back. These two deserve nothing less.


----------



## doublejj (Aug 22, 2015)

The French 
Here's a quote from a train passenger ... "We heard other passengers shouting in English, 'He's firing, he's firing. He has a Kalashnikov.'" He said he saw train personnel running down the corridor to take refuge in their work car, and claimed they locked the door and refused to answer desperate knocks."


----------



## ttystikk (Aug 22, 2015)

doublejj said:


> The French
> Here's a quote from a train passenger ... "We heard other passengers shouting in English, 'He's firing, he's firing. He has a Kalashnikov.'" He said he saw train personnel running down the corridor to take refuge in their work car, and claimed they locked the door and refused to answer desperate knocks."


There is a certain brutal logic to this; they're securing the train itself so the gunman can't take it over... even if it means mass casualties. Train operators aren't trained to stop terrorists.


----------



## MediaBud (Aug 22, 2015)

I get in this situation it was an airman, soldier and civilian, but it emphasizes why we should be glad the Marines moved toward teaching a mastery of martial arts about 15 years ago, so they can use their training in public defense, too. Most of the fighting I learned in the Marines was of the kill-or-be-killed variety... like showing a man his nuts before sweeping him for a heal to his nose... they said if we got caught trying to use this fighting in public, we'd face severe criminal charges


----------



## doublejj (Aug 22, 2015)

Must be training to be track stars...


----------



## HolyGhost23 (Aug 22, 2015)

im not sure what the us is like i never played around with the Yankees much. mostly Germans, British and sometimes Russians..but then Again. I was in a league that's a little above the average soldiers pay grade..my unit is the equal to delta force i suppose?.. we get taught krav maga in most cases with Israeli forces


----------



## doublejj (Aug 22, 2015)

HolyGhost23 said:


> im not sure what the us is like i never played around with the Yankees much. mostly Germans, British and sometimes Russians..but then Again. I was in a league that's a little above the average soldiers pay grade..my unit is the equal to delta force i suppose?.. we get taught krav maga in most cases with Israeli forces


Yeah & I survived a year in the jungles of Vietnam & lived to be an old guy...


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 22, 2015)




----------



## MediaBud (Aug 22, 2015)

doublejj said:


> Yeah & I survived a year in the jungles of Vietnam & lived to be an old guy...


I spent s couple of months in that jungle, digging up KIAs. It was insanely hot and humid, but we worked everyday knowing the monsoon was coming and would ruin our excavation progress. Our rule with snakes: black worms aren't worms, and run when the locals run. Also... don't make fun of the guy getting bit by ants; 'cause without others looking out for you, you're next. We always looked forward to a cold case bah-bah-bah (333) at end of the day. I cannot imagine fighting in that place. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to find a couple of our warriors, and get them home and properly buried...


----------



## doublejj (Aug 22, 2015)

MediaBud said:


> I spent s couple of months in that jungle, digging up KIAs. It was insanely hot and humid, but we worked everyday knowing the monsoon was coming and would ruin our excavation progress. Our rule with snakes: black worms aren't worms, and run when the locals run. Also... don't make fun of the guy getting bit by ants; 'cause without others looking out for you, you're next. We always looked forward to a cold case bah-bah-bah (333) at end of the day. I cannot imagine fighting in that place. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to find a couple of our warriors, and get them home and properly buried...


Thank you my friend, I would give you a big hug & buy you a cold one if I could. You are doing a great service...respect

P.S. I was with the 9th Division down on the Mekong Delta south of Saigon. We would spend 3 days out on search & destroy missions & never get out of ankle deep water. The leeches went straight for your crotch....


----------



## abe supercro (Aug 22, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> View attachment 3484444


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 22, 2015)

abe supercro said:


>


Action Bronson is the shit


----------



## HolyGhost23 (Aug 22, 2015)

my total career Ive been to Nepal,Brazil,Afghanistan, the Sudan,Russia,China and turkey. sometimes not combat related. one case we went to the amazon jungle to look for some stupid old artifact.. also while in Afghanistan troops were farting around dealing with the locals and their opium farms, I was in the kush mountains looking for ancient scripts..of course im not supposed to say shit.. but meh.. not like anyone is gonna believe me anyway..


----------



## MediaBud (Aug 22, 2015)

HolyGhost23 said:


> my total career Ive been to Nepal,Brazil,Afghanistan, the Sudan,Russia,China and turkey. sometimes not combat related. one case we went to the amazon jungle to look for some stupid old artifact.. also while in Afghanistan troops were farting around dealing with the locals and their opium farms, I was in the kush mountains looking for ancient scripts..of course im not supposed to say shit.. but meh.. not like anyone is gonna believe me anyway..


It's crazy how many minerals are in those mountains -- according to CENTCOM, roughly $1 trillion -- and the half billion of our tax dollars that tried to get the market started, only to watch it flop amid the usual political corruption and skill deficits.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/opinion/afghan-minerals-another-failure.html


----------



## MediaBud (Aug 22, 2015)

doublejj said:


> P.S. I was with the 9th Division down on the Mekong Delta south of Saigon. We would spend 3 days out on search & destroy missions & never get out of ankle deep water. The leeches went straight for your crotch....


We dug up a base that was about an hour helo ride out of DaNang, toward Kham Duc. We drove up the Ho Chi Minh Trail everyday to a hilltop post that the locals hadn't touched in 30 years... they thought it haunted, or something... they had retrieved their dead right away. The trail was paved with huge boulders; the drive was nauseating. It was interesting to see all the water box houses -- and how we could get a loaf of bread to eat with our cold baked beans for basically a penny. Whenever our van got washed out, we had to get out and push it. The Air Force linguist always cowered in the back, but one of our teammates popped for Malaria after we got back to Hawaii... so maybe the airman was justified in being such a wuss


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 22, 2015)

When I was stationed in Korea for my 2nd go around ....the camp I was at had an are marked off for agent orange

So when soldiers pissed me the fuck off I would make them low crawl through the marked off area.






Not srs.....though I did smoke the fuck out of two Joes that were racing down hill in a motorpool up the hill from my motorpool on creepers...korea is not a good 1st assignment for a newly enlisted


----------



## doublejj (Aug 22, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> When I was stationed in Korea for my 2nd go around ....the camp I was at had an are marked off for agent orange
> 
> So when soldiers pissed me the fuck off I would make them low crawl through the marked off area.
> 
> ...


I have very few teeth left today due to all agent orange we ate & drank. It was in everything, water, food, air & on all surfaces. you couldn't escape it...


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 22, 2015)

doublejj said:


> I have very few teeth left, due to all agent orange we ate & drank. It was in everything, water food, air & on all surfaces. you couldn't escape it...


Eh I probably got something. .froM either being in Afghanistan or korea or just being in the field with nasty asses that can't even brush their teeth...


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 23, 2015)

MediaBud said:


> I get in this situation it was an airman, soldier and civilian, but it emphasizes why we should be glad the Marines moved toward teaching a mastery of martial arts about 15 years ago, so they can use their training in public defense, too. Most of the fighting I learned in the Marines was of the kill-or-be-killed variety... like showing a man his nuts before sweeping him for a heal to his nose... they said if we got caught trying to use this fighting in public, we'd face severe criminal charges


 I can say this for a fact. When it says "airman of unspecified rank" that means special ops. Most likely para rescue or tacp. Para rescue are some bad dudes.


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 23, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> I can say this for a fact. When it says "airman of unspecified rank" that means special ops. Most likely para rescue or tacp. Para rescue are some bad dudes.


If you get in group.....your deployments will be nice


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 23, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> If you get in group.....your deployments will be nice


How do their deployments run? Tacp are usually attached to other branches special ops units. Para rescue deployments are nice?


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 23, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> How do their deployments run? Tacp are usually attached to other branches special ops units. Para rescue deployments are nice?



Well I'm talkingabout army...usually they are relaxed grooming


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 23, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Well I'm talkingabout army...usually they are relaxed grooming


OK. Confused me for a sec. I grew up on back side of Fort Campbell. One of my best friends dad was 5th group there. He always looked a little scruffy. Full on beard when deployed.


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 23, 2015)

Yeah my neighbor is sf


Pretty much myself and all of my neighborhood is veterans or active duty


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 23, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Yeah my neighbor is sf
> 
> 
> Pretty much myself and all of my neighborhood is veterans or active duty


That's cool. Not to many vets around here.


----------



## doublejj (Aug 23, 2015)

Hell week in Vietnam.....Lam Song 1971.
VC shoot down 700 Helicopters in 1 week...


----------



## 6ohMax (Aug 23, 2015)




----------



## Desr (Aug 24, 2015)

haha. well i guess ill share as well. haha. Tank crewman, USMC 04-08 two deployments to Fallujah in 05 and 06 (backtoback)


----------



## curious2garden (Aug 24, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> AND MARINES, damn straight;
> 
> Did you guys hear about the two Marines who caught a would be terrorist on a French bullet train today?
> 
> ...


Seventy one years since D-Day and we are still saving their asses  'murica ftw


----------



## Northofimjin (Aug 24, 2015)

Sgt Holloman here... served with 10th Mountain in Mogadishu and Haiti... did a year I Korea. I was in the Infantry 8 years. Good to be in you men's company...


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 24, 2015)

Northofimjin said:


> Sgt Holloman here... served with 10th Mountain in Mogadishu and Haiti... did a year I Korea. I was in the Infantry 8 years. Good to be in you men's company...


You are among friendlies.
Welcome.


----------



## Northofimjin (Aug 24, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You are among friendlies.
> Welcome.


Thank you... appreciate that. And thank you all for your service. It's because of men like you that we have the freedom (in some states) to medicate and grow our own medicine. Among to many other things to list. I truly thank you.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 26, 2015)

Northofimjin said:


> Sgt Holloman here... served with 10th Mountain in Mogadishu and Haiti... did a year I Korea. I was in the Infantry 8 years. Good to be in you men's company...


Welcome. Got a friend in the tenth. How long since you been out?


----------



## Northofimjin (Aug 26, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> Welcome. Got a friend in the tenth. How long since you been out?


Than you... I've been out for a little while now. I was turning in my gear the day the planes hit the twin towers. My ETS date was Sept 29, 2001...


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 26, 2015)

Northofimjin said:


> Than you... I've been out for a little while now. I was turning in my gear the day the planes hit the twin towers. My ETS date was Sept 29, 2001...


He has been with the tenth for about two years now. Again thank you for your service.


----------



## Northofimjin (Aug 26, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> He has been with the tenth for about two years now. Again thank you for your service.


It was an honor to serve. I'd do it again even at my age if they would let me. lol. The 10th was a top notch unit. I really enjoyed my four years there. If I ever had to go back to combat it's the 10th I would trust my life to. The "Currahee" battalion in Korea That I was with was pretty top notch as well. But with the 10th... we could literally put three disassembled weapons in a box, mix all the parts, blind fold ourselves and take all those parts and assemble them into functioning weapons systems. Give me the 10th any day.


----------



## 6ohMax (Sep 1, 2015)

So, while in Afghanistan. ...some of the dudes including me used to yell out PENIS ..just walking around the cop. ..we was bored so it was amusing to us


----------



## sunni (Sep 1, 2015)

i am not a veteran but married to active duty military.

thats all i have to add lol


----------



## ttystikk (Sep 1, 2015)

sunni said:


> i am not a veteran but married to active duty military.
> 
> thats all i have to add lol


Close enough, considering! That trip to the grocery store up there can be brutal!


----------



## sunni (Sep 1, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> Close enough, considering! That trip to the grocery store up there can be brutal!


what grocery store?! im missing a pun or joke here.


----------



## ttystikk (Sep 2, 2015)

sunni said:


> what grocery store?! im missing a pun or joke here.


Yeah, the joke is that you're 'just' a military spouse, but you get to enjoy all the lovely amenities of your posh locale...

Including the moose , snow mobile, air link and taxi cab ride to the nearest grocery store... what, several hundred miles away?

All kidding aside, your duty is just as tough as anyone's. Just generally less recognized.


----------



## sunni (Sep 2, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> Yeah, the joke is that you're 'just' a military spouse, but you get to enjoy all the lovely amenities of your posh locale...
> 
> Including the moose , snow mobile, air link and taxi cab ride to the nearest grocery store... what, several hundred miles away?
> 
> All kidding aside, your duty is just as tough as anyone's. Just generally less recognized.


noo i dont need to be celebrated... i reall dont... i just happed to fall in love with someone in the military i keep the house clean dinners made..

i will say it is harder for me to have a career moving around all the time


----------



## Northofimjin (Sep 2, 2015)

sunni said:


> noo i dont need to be celebrated... i reall dont... i just happed to fall in love with someone in the military i keep the house clean dinners made..
> 
> i will say it is harder for me to have a career moving around all the time


Yes, but without military wives and spouses we wouldn't have a military. And you're just as tied to the military as your spouse is. I don't think you give yourself enough credit. It's a tough job what you do. And I thank you for your service and sacrifice as well...


----------



## doublejj (Sep 2, 2015)

sunni said:


> i am not a veteran but married to active duty military.
> 
> thats all i have to add lol


thank you for your service...


----------



## sunni (Sep 2, 2015)

i see not winning this thought 

So thank you


----------



## doublejj (Sep 2, 2015)




----------



## 6ohMax (Sep 29, 2015)




----------



## 6ohMax (Oct 4, 2015)

Dumb fucking people


----------



## nk14zp (Oct 4, 2015)

Army 84-90.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 4, 2015)

nk14zp said:


> Army 84-90.


Thank you for your service bro.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 22, 2015)

Any Vet out there care to share disclosure of Cannabis use to the US VA?
I'm hoping to hear from one of yall that can shed some light on a question I have.

PM is cool.


----------



## 6ohMax (Oct 22, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Any Vet out there care to share disclosure of Cannabis use to the US VA?
> I'm hoping to hear from one of yall that can shed some light on a question I have.
> 
> PM is cool.



Prime Minister'd ya


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 22, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> Prime Minister'd ya


TNX - I'm on it.


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 22, 2015)

Northofimjin said:


> It was an honor to serve. I'd do it again even at my age if they would let me. lol. The 10th was a top notch unit. I really enjoyed my four years there. If I ever had to go back to combat it's the 10th I would trust my life to. The "Currahee" battalion in Korea That I was with was pretty top notch as well. But with the 10th... we could literally put three disassembled weapons in a box, mix all the parts, blind fold ourselves and take all those parts and assemble them into functioning weapons systems. Give me the 10th any day.


10th SFG or something else?


----------



## 6ohMax (Oct 22, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> 10th SFG or something else?


10th mtn maybe


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 22, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Any Vet out there care to share disclosure of Cannabis use to the US VA?
> I'm hoping to hear from one of yall that can shed some light on a question I have.
> 
> PM is cool.


In TBI clinic they have MMJ magazine at Carson.


----------



## 757growin (Oct 22, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Any Vet out there care to share disclosure of Cannabis use to the US VA?
> I'm hoping to hear from one of yall that can shed some light on a question I have.
> 
> PM is cool.


I've shared with my tri care dr. Civilian as I am, said not much they can do as the feds are against it. I got a private Dr now who supports my usage. Besides the regular weed dr.
I've never used any my va benefits but would assume they would give u a similar answer.

Edit.. It's a lie! Got a sweet ass ranch with my va benefits!


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 23, 2015)

HolyGhost23 said:


> im not sure what the us is like i never played around with the Yankees much. mostly Germans, British and sometimes Russians..but then Again. I was in a league that's a little above the average soldiers pay grade..my unit is the equal to delta force i suppose?.. we get taught krav maga in most cases with Israeli forces





HolyGhost23 said:


> is it a bad thing if you did private shit after working for the govt?. I did some black water stuff a few times..they pay is hella compared to the peanuts you get from the govt.. even the Canadian military my 9 months in Kandahar only got me 80,000 net. where as one private job gets ya almost 200,000 take home.. this is cdn dollars mind you.. i said fuck it to getting my ass shot and went into the oil industry..make as much as private sector but dont get shot at.



JTF2 huh


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 23, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Any Vet out there care to share disclosure of Cannabis use to the US VA?
> I'm hoping to hear from one of yall that can shed some light on a question I have.
> 
> PM is cool.


http://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2362


----------



## VTMi'kmaq (Oct 23, 2015)

http://www.gruntstyle.com/magazine/2015/08/17/the-top-5-toughest-schools-in-the-military/

hmmmmmm
Joe teti came to town awhile back..........lil short dude! Solid operator.....i'd spot for him anyday.


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 23, 2015)

VTMi'kmaq said:


> http://www.gruntstyle.com/magazine/2015/08/17/the-top-5-toughest-schools-in-the-military/
> 
> hmmmmmm
> Joe teti came to town awhile back..........lil short dude! Solid operator.....i'd spot for him anyday.


Been through 2 of those.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 23, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> http://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2362


4.c.(3) Says it all.

Mum's the word I guess.

TY C2G


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 23, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> http://www.va.gov/vhapublications/ViewPublication.asp?pub_ID=2362


That is a read between the lines directive.

I will answer this. The directive is setup to allow either way. The VA "official stance" is no but at the same time tells you that if you use it you will not be punished, just don't bring it on the property.

All Va doctors will tell you that the "VA" stance is no. The are like the regular world. Some are ok with it some are not.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 23, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> 4.c.(3) Says it all.
> 
> Mum's the word I guess.
> 
> TY C2G


Don't ask don't tell.


----------



## 757growin (Oct 23, 2015)

sunni said:


> i am not a veteran but married to active duty military.
> 
> thats all i have to add lol


For like six months. Woo hoo. Let's see what your made of after a few deployments.. if your still around and faithful I'll be impressed. Till then enjoy the free American ride. Sure you'll delete this as well..


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 23, 2015)

VTMi'kmaq said:


> http://www.gruntstyle.com/magazine/2015/08/17/the-top-5-toughest-schools-in-the-military/
> 
> hmmmmmm
> Joe teti came to town awhile back..........lil short dude! Solid operator.....i'd spot for him anyday.


http://www.militarytimes.com/story/entertainment/2015/02/20/reality-survival-star-saga-takes-new-twist-joe-teti-mykel-hawke-dual-survival/23662023/

Some guys here known him. Nothing good to say.


----------



## sunni (Oct 23, 2015)

757growin said:


> For like six months. Woo hoo. Let's see what your made of after a few deployments.. if your still around and faithful I'll be impressed. Till then enjoy the free American ride. Sure you'll delete this as well..


In sorry you're butt hurt and have a problem with me boohoo sweetie go whine somewhere else 

And yes we're newly weds usually you don't start out married for 10 years


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 23, 2015)

HolyGhost23 said:


> im not sure what the us is like i never played around with the Yankees much. mostly Germans, British and sometimes Russians..but then Again. I was in a league that's a little above the average soldiers pay grade..my unit is the equal to delta force i suppose?.. we get taught krav maga in most cases with Israeli forces


Here's a reply to a real maple operator to your retarded posts.



I assume you saw them once or maybe even were their support. Jtf2 very often works with yanks but their support doesn't go with them.

Funny. Ran in to a nurse the other day who told me how her husband was SOF. She said his name and I said yeah he used to be our armorer and we fired him. She then tried to tell me how she has seen his awards and he's a real green beret. I just laughed. I don't understand why people gotta fake it. Be happy with whatever you were and are otherwise fuckin change it yourself.


----------



## 757growin (Oct 23, 2015)

sunni said:


> In sorry you're butt hurt and have a problem with me boohoo sweetie go whine somewhere else
> 
> And yes we're newly weds usually you don't start out married for 10 years


Reported for name calling! I know how marriage works. 11 years now and lots of deployments. Also had a few military wives try n get some while hubby's gone. And see plenty more get tired of their man deploying and split. Only the special can endure a military marriage. Only time will tell what your made of.


----------



## VTMi'kmaq (Oct 23, 2015)

6ohMax said:


> 10th mtn maybe


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Mountain_Division_(United_States)

thats my family


----------



## VTMi'kmaq (Oct 23, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> That is a read between the lines directive.
> 
> I will answer this. The directive is setup to allow either way. The VA "official stance" is no but at the same time tells you that if you use it you will not be punished, just don't bring it on the property.
> 
> All Va doctors will tell you that the "VA" stance is no. The are like the regular world. Some are ok with it some are not.


"If i told you it was ok to use cannabis id lose my job"......I'm not surprised to read that article bmags, also thankyou because ive met the man once and he blew a great smoke ring pattern up my ass for 45 minutes lol.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 23, 2015)

VTMi'kmaq said:


> "If i told you it was ok to use cannabis id lose my job"......I'm not surprised to read that article bmags, also thankyou because ive met the man once and he blew a great smoke ring pattern up my ass for 45 minutes lol.


I know you would but trust me there are ones at the va that believe different than what the directive is. I'm not saying you say its ok, maybe you ignore it though. 

I'm not advising anyone do it. We are all grown people that have the right to think for ourselves.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 23, 2015)

whitebb2727 said:


> I know you would but trust me there are ones at the va that believe different than what the directive is. I'm not saying you say its ok, maybe you ignore it though.
> 
> I'm not advising anyone do it. We are all grown people that have the right to think for ourselves.


I don't know what my Dr. thinks of it so I'm not saying a damn thing, and since I'm not on opates for a pain management plan I do not get a whiz quiz for cannabinoids.


----------



## Richard Drysift (Oct 23, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Dude im willing to bet I'll decimate you in a PT test. 2 years 82nd Airborne. 2 years Ranger Regiment. Im like fresh out. Maxing out a PT test is the norm. Please tell me you're not one of those guys that wear the PT stud t shirts lol


I was at Bragg back in 91 just after desert storm. I remember running past RIP school at camp McCall & seeing these guys doing leg lifts during our Friday 5 mi run. Saw them doing reps on the way in and they were still doing them when we were on our way back & remember my buddy saying not no but hell no. I was not in a combat unit or airborne so they called us legs in coscom which was fine with me. Being in the rear with the gear suited me fine: I had a 5 ton with a machine shop in the back towing a welder/generator. We had power, a/c and heat which made field problems quite comfy. I'd probably have a heart attack trying to beat my best time in the 2 mi like 13:30 if I tried it today. 
Got much respect for the Rangers and the SF; sone of the most badass mfers I've ever met. I got to field Robin Sage with the SF which was really cool. The SF school requests details for non combat troops to use them as training tools if you didn't know. We were like freedom fighters & the SF were there to train us in a scenario in which we were to overthrow our fictional govt. The 82nd was OpFor. Robin sage is like your last test before graduating from SF school & getting your green beret. Was pretty cool - I volunteered twice for it & usually ducked outta any other details lol. Just wanted to pass this along & see if anyone else here knows about this. Peace


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 28, 2015)

Richard Drysift said:


> I was at Bragg back in 91 just after desert storm. I remember running past RIP school at camp McCall & seeing these guys doing leg lifts during our Friday 5 mi run. Saw them doing reps on the way in and they were still doing them when we were on our way back & remember my buddy saying not no but hell no. I was not in a combat unit or airborne so they called us legs in coscom which was fine with me. Being in the rear with the gear suited me fine: I had a 5 ton with a machine shop in the back towing a welder/generator. We had power, a/c and heat which made field problems quite comfy. I'd probably have a heart attack trying to beat my best time in the 2 mi like 13:30 if I tried it today.
> Got much respect for the Rangers and the SF; sone of the most badass mfers I've ever met. I got to field Robin Sage with the SF which was really cool. The SF school requests details for non combat troops to use them as training tools if you didn't know. We were like freedom fighters & the SF were there to train us in a scenario in which we were to overthrow our fictional govt. The 82nd was OpFor. Robin sage is like your last test before graduating from SF school & getting your green beret. Was pretty cool - I volunteered twice for it & usually ducked outta any other details lol. Just wanted to pass this along & see if anyone else here knows about this. Peace


Yep I did Robin Sage. Was the last part of the Q course before getting my green beret. 

Bragg sucks and I hope I never go back there again! 
Did SERE C in February....painfully Cold breaking ice to roll in the water underneath.


----------



## Northern Spark (Oct 28, 2015)

Just saw this page, I've been out for around a year and I'm starting to remember why I got out.... Well college professors fortunately aren't late for the most part, so there's that.


----------



## Flaming Pie (Oct 28, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> The hub
> 
> View attachment 3400317


My dad was air force 20 years and my husband was marines for 5.


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

Flaming Pie said:


> My dad was air force 20 years and my husband was marines for 5.


my uncle was a 2 time iraq war vet and commanded a national guard company
he was a marine for over 11 years until he joined national guard i think 
i know he was also deployed to bosnia several times... 

greatest man ever he was so nice ...and he had seriously the best sense of humor ever!


----------



## Flaming Pie (Oct 28, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Any Vet out there care to share disclosure of Cannabis use to the US VA?
> I'm hoping to hear from one of yall that can shed some light on a question I have.
> 
> PM is cool.


My hubby's friend wishes he could use cannabis. Big no no with VA when you are receiving disability apparently. They'd rather he carry a backpack of pills everywhere he goes.


----------



## Flaming Pie (Oct 28, 2015)

sunni said:


> In sorry you're butt hurt and have a problem with me boohoo sweetie go whine somewhere else
> 
> And yes we're newly weds usually you don't start out married for 10 years


Fuck him. The guy you replied to.

Not every chick is a massive hornball. Probably like 10%.

The real problem with infedelity arises after the man comes home completely fucked in the head and angry/depressed over the things he has seen.

Not easy for wife or service member.


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

Flaming Pie said:


> Fuck him. The guy you replied to.
> 
> Not every chick is a massive hornball. Probably like 10%.
> 
> ...


he just doesnt like me he keeps saying bs shit to try and rile me up he thinks hes superior, 
hes mad i deleted a nude photo he posted and gave him a warning
after i did that he posted several things just to be rude 

he also said to enjoy my new american benefits
like i came from canada...i have less benefits here than i do back home. lol


----------



## Flaming Pie (Oct 28, 2015)

sunni said:


> he just doesnt like me he keeps saying bs shit to try and rile me up he thinks hes superior,
> 
> he also said to enjoy my new american benefits
> like i came from canada...i have less benefits here than i do back home. lol


My husband was berated constantly and told that if he went overseas to expect me to cheat on him.

They told all the men this.


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

Flaming Pie said:


> My husband was berated constantly and told that if he went overseas to expect me to cheat on him.
> 
> They told all the men this.


ya ive heard about it too
im sure some do cheat, but thats relationships people cheat sometimes whether youre oversears or gone to boston for the weekend while you do some corporate business


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 28, 2015)

Flaming Pie said:


> My husband was berated constantly and told that if he went overseas to expect me to cheat on him.
> 
> They told all the men this.


*some Regular army guys marry strippers and the like and give them full access to bank accts and deploy and come home to nothing. It's just nature punishing the stupid.
I was marines and am now army and in the regular units it's all about mass punishment. If one dude gets a DUI everyone gets punished. It's poor leadership

Sorry yall gotta deal with mass punishment too of the military

When I was married I wouldn't want my wife to go to FRG or wife parties in the regular army. When she did she came back and told me how they talked about having a seperate bank account for when they leave their husbands and how it's ok to gain 10 lbs every deployment. But it's all equal as their husbands were dirt bags and married the likes.

Likely the dude trolling Sunni married a stripper and lost everything. It's always easier to look out the window than inside


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

Theirs wives parties ?
Wtf man all we did was make fall wreaths for the houses


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 28, 2015)

sunni said:


> View attachment 3530920 Theirs wives parties ?
> Wtf man all we did was make fall wreaths for the houses


FRG parties. Army wife parties.

You'll find good good people but there are lots of trash families in the military no different than normal society. When I was married my ex and I were propositioned for swinging and stupid shit so make friends but always watch for other motives.....

You'll see it and appreciate havig your own life outside of your husbands career. You'll see women that have ACU purses with their husbands rank on it and the stupid army wife bumper stickers. I've been in Germany where it's so beautiful to travel and over heard a depedapotamos boasting how she hasent left post (small post) in over 6 months.

You have a lot of rough times ahead of you so always plan and execute your plans for family and vacation time otherwise he will be too tired to plan them and you'll think you're being considerate by letting him rest but if you do the family/vacation time he will be tired but happy he did something with you. Remember the little things are what makes your memories and keeps things strong when things are bad.

There's also always great MWR trips happening if he's lower rank and honestly the chaplain trips are awesome; they're paid for and you don't have to listen to the religious stuff it's just free vacation andhis command will give him time off for it because it's mandated by the army.


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> FRG parties. Army wife parties.
> 
> You'll find good good people but there are lots of trash families in the military no different than normal society. When I was married my ex and I were propositioned for swinging and stupid shit so make friends but always watch for other motives.....
> 
> ...


i was being mostly sarcastic lol 

i think it would be all who you make friends with 
i dont make friends i already have some.
i make acquaintances people whom i dont speak about things of importance with rarely see them and never make plans with

the people ive made acquaintances here seem all very happy, no one wears their husbands rank and no one is snooty, if they choose ot cheat on their husbands thats their own choice 
but i know nothing of the sort . 

where i live the husbands and wives all do things together, we are always invited i accept one a month if it is something of interest, i keep distance. 
but the ones ive been too, all seem very quaint and a good time
i believe it is because people where my husband works at least this place are all a bit older and have established families and visibly happy families
were talking like block party bbq's with a beer or two.

we've been on 2 trips /vacations in the last year, and they have been very fun and not stressful and hubby was active in all the decision making

i think all these variables have to do with type of job they do, and age group honestly


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 28, 2015)

sunni said:


> i was being mostly sarcastic lol
> 
> i think it would be all who you make friends with
> i dont make friends i already have some.
> ...


Yeah job would make sense but I'm near 40 and often I want to come home and just relax....retirement is very soon tho  
I've never hung out with guys in the medical field dated some of the chicks and their lives and relaxed living is different for sure. I promise you that if you hang out in the px long enough you'll see the spouse wearing her husbands pt shirt and an ACU purse with husbands name tape and rank eventually....


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> Yeah job would make sense but I'm near 40 and often I want to come home and just relax....retirement is very soon tho
> I've never hung out with guys in the medical field dated some of the chicks and their lives and relaxed living is different for sure. I promise you that if you hang out in the px long enough you'll see the spouse wearing her husbands pt shirt and an ACU purse with husbands name tape and rank eventually....


meh if they so feel to wear the name tape and rank let em 
she aint harming me 

i rarely go on base, went once for gas 
nor do i live in base housing  ecno living 

i just know lots of military marries young when youre young you have the mentality of young 
my husband is older than me, so im out of that young mentality of living like partying etc
all the people he speaks with are older have families that kinda thing


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 28, 2015)

sunni said:


> i was being mostly sarcastic lol
> 
> i think it would be all who you make friends with
> i dont make friends i already have some.
> ...


She's my Sicilian grand daughter and learned well


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

Singlemalt said:


> She's my Sicilian grand daughter and learned well


lol im just naturally not interested in hanging out with people i dont have a single thing in common with

i already have friends, im certainly friendly to all the couples i meet absolutely 0 reason to be mean , but that doesnt mean ill go going to get my nails and hair done with them on saturday mornings either.


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 28, 2015)

sunni said:


> lol im just naturally not interested in hanging out with people i dont have a single thing in common with
> 
> i already have friends, im certainly friendly to all the couples i meet absolutely 0 reason to be mean , but that doesnt mean ill go going to get my nails and hair done with them on saturday mornings either.


Like I said, Sicilian


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 28, 2015)




----------



## Pinworm (Oct 28, 2015)

6ohmax has flabby man boobs.


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 28, 2015)

Pinworm said:


> 6ohmax has flabby man boobs.


wher's he been?


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

BarnBuster said:


> wher's he been?


online, just not posting much


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 28, 2015)

sunni said:


> online, just not posting much


i remem he didn't sound too good last post i read


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

BarnBuster said:


> i remem he didn't sound too good last post i read


no he didnt, he asked to be banned i figured that was heat of the moment speech
i gave him a talk line number and i have pm'ed him several times asking if hes doing ok no response but he has logged on and posted so


----------



## abe supercro (Oct 28, 2015)

I get a lil mooby, not like bra material mooby... regardless, time for push-ups!

Man, I'm sorry to hear you have become a fat shit @6ohMax 



BarnBuster said:


> i remem he didn't sound too good last post i read


what post?


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 28, 2015)

abe supercro said:


> I get a lil mooby, not like bra material mooby... regardless, time for push-ups!
> 
> Man, I'm sorry to hear you have become a fat shit @6ohMax
> 
> ...


don remem but like a farewell type post a week ago or so


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

BarnBuster said:


> don remem but like a farewell type post a week ago or so


yes it was a good bye thread which was deleted it had some suicide talk in it which worried me, 
so i messaged him saying it was deleted and why and asked him if he wanted to speak to me.
i also gave him the national suicide hotline number.


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 28, 2015)

but i c he posted yesterday so....


----------



## abe supercro (Oct 28, 2015)

BarnBuster said:


> don remem but like a farewell type post a week ago or so


Ok, he did similar several months ago when he was stressed. He seems kinda high strung, but i like the guy, hope he's ok.


----------



## sunni (Oct 28, 2015)

abe supercro said:


> Ok, he did similar several months ago when he was stressed. He seems kinda high strung, but i like the guy, hope he's ok.


he posted yesterday and was online today


----------



## VTMi'kmaq (Oct 30, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> Here's a reply to a real maple operator to your retarded posts.
> 
> View attachment 3526976
> 
> ...




A buddy of mines dad was a gunner in a gunship quite similar......obviously puff will never be sidelined eh? Oh man did i get an erection watching this. yes yes i did!
https://www.funker530.com/ac-130-spectre-gunship-annihilates-entire-taliban-unit/


----------



## VTMi'kmaq (Oct 30, 2015)

sunni said:


> yes it was a good bye thread which was deleted it had some suicide talk in it which worried me,
> so i messaged him saying it was deleted and why and asked him if he wanted to speak to me.
> i also gave him the national suicide hotline number.


 Thankyou for being worried, ive lost some really good friends to suicide, i still can't get it outa my head either and it's torture, questions never awensered, pain never recognized, it hurts to lose folks you love in that way. Hopefully everything is ok with him.


----------



## nk14zp (Oct 30, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Any Vet out there care to share disclosure of Cannabis use to the US VA?
> I'm hoping to hear from one of yall that can shed some light on a question I have.
> 
> PM is cool.


Maine va workers are cool with it. At least mine are.


----------



## VTMi'kmaq (Oct 30, 2015)

Maine is starting to impress the shit outa me lately, speaking of maine!


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 30, 2015)

I know a loser here in the springs that went on 1 Iraq deployment and shot himself in the foot to come home. Now he gets about 3k a month for the rest of his life claiming PTSD. He threatened his va psych to prescribe him weed or he'll kill himself. Fucker is still getting taken care of. 

I haven't asked the clinic here about their position on MMJ but they do have magazines displayed that show studies on it. So I wouldn't be surprised if they're ok with it. Probably depends on every doc


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 30, 2015)

VTMi'kmaq said:


> A buddy of mines dad was a gunner in a gunship quite similar......obviously puff will never be sidelined eh? Oh man did i get an erection watching this. yes yes i did!
> https://www.funker530.com/ac-130-spectre-gunship-annihilates-entire-taliban-unit/


Yeah those are awesome to watch working. They steal all of your fun sometimes tho. What's more crazy is when you meet the crew and some them are smokin hot babes and have thousands of kills..... But for them it's like a video game and they're in no threat up there in the sky. That's almost as gay as a mortarman bragging about kills with mortar system.


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 30, 2015)

VTMi'kmaq said:


> A buddy of mines dad was a gunner in a gunship quite similar......obviously puff will never be sidelined eh? Oh man did i get an erection watching this. yes yes i did!
> https://www.funker530.com/ac-130-spectre-gunship-annihilates-entire-taliban-unit/


That video clip sums up just about everything that's right- AND WRONG- about how we fight...


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 30, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> That video clip sums up just about everything that's right- AND WRONG- about how we fight...


Yeah it would be very hard to discriminate against actual Combatives and just people fleeing through some of the screens they use. 
Many of times I've been in the situation where men use women and children as barriers to shoot at you and the men you're with. It's just ok in their culture.....insanity


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 30, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> Yeah it would be very hard to discriminate against actual Combatives and just people fleeing through some of the screens they use.
> Many of times I've been in the situation where men use women and children as barriers to shoot at you and the men you're with. It's just ok in their culture.....insanity


It isn't any more acceptable in 'their culture' than ours, and you reveal your own bias and ignorance in asserting such a thing.

Thugs, however, don't obey the Geneva Conventions.

The blowback from our style of military operations- nevermind the legal framework 'justifying' it- is creating more problems for America than its solving.

We need a different approach besides anonymous murder from the skies without accountability.

If your family was attacked and killed by a Spectre gunship in the middle of the night for no discernable reason, you'd probably want to spend the rest of your life getting even too.

We need to stop being a fascist country.


----------



## Flaming Pie (Oct 30, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> It isn't any more acceptable in 'their culture' than ours, and you reveal your own bias and ignorance in asserting such a thing.
> 
> Thugs, however, don't obey the Geneva Conventions.
> 
> ...


There must of been someone on the ground clearing the targets.

They said you are cleared to engage the vehicle. Look to the west for hot spot. That's the cave opening. Cleared to engage.


----------



## BM9AGS (Oct 30, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> It isn't any more acceptable in 'their culture' than ours, and you reveal your own bias and ignorance in asserting such a thing.
> 
> Thugs, however, don't obey the Geneva Conventions.
> 
> ...


Spent about 2 years there over 4 trips. Females have a very low value in Muslim cultures and especially over there. A mother cannot discipline her son because she is a woman, that is across all practicing Muslims even seen it with the Turks in Germany! Some houses we hit the man had mud walls and floors yet he had 3 wife's and not much else. To marry a woman you usually offer something of value to the father. Women are objects in their culture and daughters hold very very little value as children.

What I say isn't bias or ignorance it is information deduced from observation. As many times as I've been shot at by a man standing in a croud or behind his own family I'd say for sure its exceptable as they were exploiting our ethics. It was directed as an option to use for our enemy. Just as it was directed to have your children dig holes for IEDs and women transporting explosives.

Where is your information on how it is there, gained from?


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 30, 2015)

Flaming Pie said:


> There must of been someone on the ground clearing the targets.
> 
> They said you are cleared to engage the vehicle. Look to the west for hot spot. That's the cave opening. Cleared to engage.


You hope that's what's going on. It's very easy to believe and just obey the voice in the headset...

I'm a voice of dissent not because I don't respect the soldier's job- quite the opposite! I'm sick and fucking tired of watching good men go to 'war', just so other men can profit. I only want to see American lives, in uniform or out, put at risk for good and necessary causes, not merely to pump the body count for the next congressional budget hearing.


----------



## ttystikk (Oct 30, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> Spent about 2 years there over 4 trips. Females have a very low value in Muslim cultures and especially over there. A mother cannot discipline her son because she is a woman, that is across all practicing Muslims even seen it with the Turks in Germany! Some houses we hit the man had mud walls and floors yet he had 3 wife's and not much else. To marry a woman you usually offer something of value to the father. Women are objects in their culture and daughters hold very very little value as children.
> 
> What I say isn't bias or ignorance it is information deduced from observation. As many times as I've been shot at by a man standing in a croud or behind his own family I'd say for sure its exceptable as they were exploiting out ethics. It was directed as an option to use for our enemy. Just as it was directed to have your children dig holes for IEDs and women transporting explosives.
> 
> Where is your information on how it is there, gained from?


People like yourself. Thank you for telling it like it is, brother. I'm man enough to say when I'm wrong. It appears I'm ascribing western values to a place that operates without them.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 30, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> People like yourself. Thank you for telling it like it is, brother. I'm man enough to say when I'm wrong. It appears I'm ascribing western values to a place that operates without them.


+ Rep


----------



## abandonconflict (Oct 31, 2015)

SwarthySchlong said:


> I can run miles all day, but swimming the length of an Olympic sized pool 1 time- I'm fuckin winded.
> 
> I suck at swimming. Failed the swim test for RIP and got recycled.
> 
> If I was to go thru that Navy SEAL training, I'd drown to death.


I could teach you to swim.


----------



## Flaming Pie (Oct 31, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> Spent about 2 years there over 4 trips. Females have a very low value in Muslim cultures and especially over there. A mother cannot discipline her son because she is a woman, that is across all practicing Muslims even seen it with the Turks in Germany! Some houses we hit the man had mud walls and floors yet he had 3 wife's and not much else. To marry a woman you usually offer something of value to the father. Women are objects in their culture and daughters hold very very little value as children.
> 
> What I say isn't bias or ignorance it is information deduced from observation. As many times as I've been shot at by a man standing in a croud or behind his own family I'd say for sure its exceptable as they were exploiting our ethics. It was directed as an option to use for our enemy. Just as it was directed to have your children dig holes for IEDs and women transporting explosives.
> 
> Where is your information on how it is there, gained from?


I have heard this from my husband's friend. 

The people are literally dirt poor and the women are treated like dogs.

It's sad.


----------



## Flaming Pie (Oct 31, 2015)

ttystikk said:


> You hope that's what's going on. It's very easy to believe and just obey the voice in the headset...
> 
> I'm a voice of dissent not because I don't respect the soldier's job- quite the opposite! I'm sick and fucking tired of watching good men go to 'war', just so other men can profit. I only want to see American lives, in uniform or out, put at risk for good and necessary causes, not merely to pump the body count for the next congressional budget hearing.


I get you.


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 31, 2015)

Flaming Pie said:


> I have heard this from my husband's friend.
> 
> The people are literally dirt poor and the women are treated like dogs.
> 
> It's sad.


Family honor killings, and female circumcision and now back to first world programming!


----------



## BM9AGS (Nov 3, 2015)

Donald Trump vows to take on 'corrupt' Veterans Affairs - Fox News
https://apple.news/A26CLb9ckRcm5ykymQ3F6yQ


----------



## 6ohMax (Nov 3, 2015)

BM9AGS said:


> Donald Trump vows to take on 'corrupt' Veterans Affairs - Fox News
> https://apple.news/A26CLb9ckRcm5ykymQ3F6yQ


Still doesn't mean shit to me.


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 12, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> 4.c.(3) Says it all.
> 
> Mum's the word I guess.
> 
> TY C2G


Look at this! I swear you felt the disturbance in the force, ha ha!
http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2015/11/senate-passes-bill-letting-veterans-access-medical-marijuana/


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 12, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> Look at this! I swear you felt the disturbance in the force, ha ha!
> http://www.marijuana.com/blog/news/2015/11/senate-passes-bill-letting-veterans-access-medical-marijuana/


I saw the same article this morning & think it's a terrific start, but truthfully I think I'll let a few others test the AK VA waters first.
I don't have a med card because I don't feel I should have to pay the state for the "privilege" to grow less plants than our state constitution allows me to under our right to privacy clause.


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 15, 2015)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I saw the same article this morning & think it's a terrific start, but truthfully I think I'll let a few others test the AK VA waters first.
> I don't have a med card because I don't feel I should have to pay the state for the "privilege" to grow less plants than our state constitution allows me to under our right to privacy clause.


Discretion is the better part of valor, LOL


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 15, 2015)

curious2garden said:


> Discretion is the better part of valor, LOL


Smart girl.

I'll listen.


----------



## 6ohMax (Jan 12, 2016)




----------



## 6ohMax (Jan 12, 2016)

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Tell you not to do something stupid when drunk
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will post 360 security so you don't get caught

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Call your parents Mr. and Mrs
MILITARY FRIENDS: Call your parents Drunk as hell and tell them about the fat chick you tried to pick up

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Hope the night out drinking goes smoothly, and hope that no one is late for the ride home.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Know some wild shit will happen, and set up rally points and an E & E route.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Bail you out of jail and tell you what you did was wrong.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will be sitting next to you saying, Damn...we f***ed up...but hey, that shit was fun as fuck!"

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Cry with you.
MILITARY FRIENDS: laugh at you and tell you to put some vagasil on your pussy.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Borrow your stuff for a few days then give it back.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Steal each others stuff so often nobody remembers who bought it in the first place.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Are happy that someone picked up a one night stand and leave them alone.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will Low Crawl naked into the room with a camera and hope for the tag team.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will listen to your relationship problems and hope it works out for you. MILITARY FRIENDS: Will listen to you over a long hard road march, and will help you straighten it out better than Dr. Phil.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: know a few things about you.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Could write a book with direct quotes from you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Might try to hit on your girl behind your back.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Have spooned with you in the field more than your girl has, and would never even think about doing that.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will leave you behind if that's what the crowd is doing.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will kick the whole crowds ass that left you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Would knock on your door.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Walk right in and say, "I'm home!"

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will try and talk to the bouncer when you get tossed out of the bar. MILITARY FRIENDS: Will man up and go after the bouncer for touching you on the way out.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will wish you had enough money to go out that night, and are sorry you couldn't come.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will share their last dollar with you, drag you along, and try to steal free drinks all night.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will take your drink away when they think you've had enough. MILITARY FRIENDS: Will look at you stumbling all over the place and say, fucker, you better drink the rest of that shit, you know we don't waste.. That's alcohol abuse!!!"

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Want the money they loaned you back next week.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Can't begin to remember who owes who money after taking care of each other for so long.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will say "I can't handle Tequila anymore".
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will say "okay just one more" and then 2 minutes later "okay just one more".

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will talk shit to the person who talks shit about you.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will knock them the fuck out!!

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will tell you "They'd take a bullet for you."
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will actually take a bullet for you.

CIVILIAN FRIENDS: Will ignore this.
MILITARY FRIENDS: Will say this is true.


----------



## doublejj (Jan 12, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Jan 12, 2016)

How to be an operator......


----------



## 6ohMax (Jan 13, 2016)

I like sara...she has a perfect hourglass shape.


----------



## 6ohMax (Jan 13, 2016)




----------



## 6ohMax (Jan 13, 2016)




----------



## Yessica... (Jan 13, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> View attachment 3585438 View attachment 3585439


HA! 

Like that. I wouldn't want to piss you off. You feisty.


----------



## Unclebaldrick (Jan 14, 2016)




----------



## 6ohMax (Jan 15, 2016)

Man, you all stress me out soooo much...time to break out the stress card


----------



## WhatDoYouWantFromLife (Jan 15, 2016)

mood ring flash back


----------



## Yessica... (Jan 15, 2016)

WhatDoYouWantFromLife said:


> mood ring flash back


I got my first one in the 80's. 

I missed the cool kids boat by a couple years. 

Born in 81.


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 23, 2016)

*Police arrest 2 for assault on 'Hell House' Marine*​By Travis J. Tritten 
Stars and Stripes
Published: February 23, 2016

WASHINGTON — Police made two arrests Monday following the assault earlier this month of a decorated Marine outside a fast-food restaurant in Washington, D.C.

A 17-year-old male was charged with aggravated assault and a 17-year-old female was charged with robbery. Both are from Washington and were not named by police due to their age.

A third person was suspected in the Feb. 12 attack, which victim Christopher Marquez said was racially motivated. Police said the investigation is continuing.

“The kids were asking me if I think that black lives mattered,” Marquez told USA Today this month. “I was ignoring them, just because I felt intimidated. I felt how they approached me, it was very hostile. I felt they were really trying to intimidate me and just trying to start a confrontation with me.”

A surveillance video released by police last week shows a black male assailant in a white tank top punch Marquez in the head from behind as Marquez walked out of a McDonald’s on E Street across from FBI headquarters, according to police.

Marquez, 30, is a Bronze Star with “V” device recipient who fought in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004 and served until 2011.

After being punched, Marquez fell to the ground where he was robbed by the female suspect and then kicked in the head, police said.

Marquez was one of three Marines in an iconic photo taken during the second battle of Fallujah. He was photographed carrying a fellow Marine whose uniform is blood-soaked from a wound during the so-called Hell House battle during which one Marine was killed and 10 were wounded.


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 23, 2016)

*Navy SEAL to receive Medal of Honor for U.S. civilian rescue in Afghanistan*​
By Meghann Myers, Navy Times 11:48 a.m. EST February 3, 2016

A senior enlisted SEAL will be the first sailor in a decade to receive the Medal of Honor, for a mission to rescue an American civilian hostage in Afghanistan in 2012, according to a Tuesday release from the White House.
President Obama will present Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL) Edward Byers with the nation's highest award for valor in a Feb. 29 ceremony at the White House, the release said.
Byers’ actions were so clearly beyond expectation, even for a Navy SEAL, that the Navy had no hesitation in nominating him for the Medal of Honor, according to a defense official familiar with his case, but not authorized to speak publicly about it, told USA Today


----------



## texasjack (Feb 23, 2016)

How does a guy that tough get taken out by a 17yr old punk?


----------



## 6ohMax (Feb 23, 2016)

texasjack said:


> How does a guy that tough get taken out by a 17yr old punk?



Thats what I want to know


----------



## wascaptain (Feb 24, 2016)

texasjack said:


> How does a guy that tough get taken out by a 17yr old punk?


 he was struck in the back of the head , by one of those fine outstanding youths while he was exiting micky d's. 

he went down and the others beat him and one robbed him.

he had no chance


----------



## abe supercro (Feb 24, 2016)

you need to refill your prescription soon.


----------



## Rrog (Feb 24, 2016)

Anyone here think Iraq was worth it?


----------



## 6ohMax (Feb 24, 2016)

abe supercro said:


> you need to refill your prescription soon.



Alright man, for 2 days in a row yout have been messing with me

If u don't like me ...ignore me


----------



## 6ohMax (Feb 24, 2016)

Rrog said:


> Anyone here think Iraq was worth it?



Didn't do the Iraq thing. ..always Afghanistan for me....

Some locals liked us ....most wanted us gone......I'd go back again...


Worth it? Nothing over there is worth it....we do it cuz were ordered to....we volunteered. ...I do it again


Not many people would say that


----------



## abe supercro (Feb 24, 2016)

would it have helped if I had added JK + ? I always forget to add that stuff.

The only post of yours I didn't like was the gratuitous nazi meme, other than that it's all good. I'll try to be nice, but I've been assigned to you as a hall monitor


----------



## Rrog (Feb 24, 2016)

I get pretty upset because of how the kids in the military are marched to their death.


----------



## undercoverfbi (Feb 24, 2016)

Im young and think this conventional warfare bullshit is stupid

Until America is fighting a country or something big- there aint no money worth reason to use our forces to settle minor conflicts

Could have and still can join military....my fellow graduating classmate who have enlisted says they wish they went to college instead

Warfare should be handled by Heavy Objects


----------



## Corso312 (Feb 24, 2016)

texasjack said:


> How does a guy that tough get taken out by a 17yr old punk?




He's probably not tough, just being a marine don't mean you can fight.


----------



## Singlemalt (Feb 24, 2016)

texasjack said:


> How does a guy that tough get taken out by a 17yr old punk?


Anyone can be sucker punched. Marines have esprit but they aren't gods, so does Army; but ya have to be geared in the moment. I was Army and we had lots of brawls with Marines back in the day, but I have no doubt had that Marine been forewarned, it would have turned out different.


----------



## Corso312 (Feb 24, 2016)

I got a lot of buddies who are marines n some are bad MFers..but they were bad MFers before they enlisted..and some that ain't too good with their hands..but they couldn't fight before they enlisted.. I do know NONE of them would have been sucker punched like that and Never would have turned their back on this pussy..


----------



## Singlemalt (Feb 24, 2016)

I'm not gonna burn a guy down til I know everything in this case. That's just me and my experiences


----------



## Corso312 (Feb 24, 2016)

I'm not burning the guy down, but you gotta think dude was drunk to be so unaware of his surroundings.. He said himself they approached him aggressively.


----------



## Singlemalt (Feb 24, 2016)

Got a point


----------



## Corso312 (Feb 24, 2016)

Singlemalt said:


> Got a point




Weird thing is.. My marine buddies are @ their most dangerous when they are drunk.. Half of em can't drink anymore cause of this.


----------



## Singlemalt (Feb 24, 2016)

Just saying mindset. I had a couple of run ins with the law cuz I was still amped after I was discharged. I had to adjust. Who knows this dude's circumstances?


----------



## Corso312 (Feb 24, 2016)

No doubt..wish I saw it go down, I would have beat the piss out of that coward n his girl.


----------



## wascaptain (Feb 25, 2016)

situational awareness 
words to live by. 


but in all fairness........ he probly was a hollywood


----------



## 6ohMax (Feb 25, 2016)

lets blame it on the Medics...yeah sounds like a good idea


nah fuck that lets fuck the Scout and mortar platoon


----------



## 6ohMax (Feb 27, 2016)




----------



## 6ohMax (Feb 29, 2016)

Damn dem feels


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 25, 2016)

Lulzy at 1:30


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 28, 2016)

lil hoodlums


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Mar 28, 2016)

Balls deep.


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 28, 2016)




----------



## Olive Drab Green (Mar 28, 2016)




----------



## Olive Drab Green (Mar 28, 2016)

The one guy that was hit in that vehicle, the gunner, shattered, like.. Everything. Like, a fuckton of bones and ruptured organs. We initially thought he wasn't going to make it? I guess two days later, they stabilized him but they said he'd never walk again. Mother fucker was walking again in 6-ish months. 

The other guy, the driver, was supposed to fly out on R&R the next day. With a broken arm and one-arming his rifle while we looked for a grid to call the 9-line in at, he said, and I quote:

"Goddamn it.. I was supposed to fly out tomorrow, not today!"


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 28, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> The one guy that was hit in that vehicle, the gunner, shattered, like.. Everything. Like, a fuckton of bones and ruptured organs. We initially thought he wasn't going to make it? I guess two days later, they stabilized him but they said he'd never walk again. Mother fucker was walking again in 6-ish months.
> 
> The other guy, the driver, was supposed to fly out on R&R the next day. With a broken arm and one-arming his rifle while we looked for a grid to call the 9-line in at, he said, and I quote:
> 
> "Goddamn it.. I was supposed to fly out tomorrow, not today!"



Ya know i love hearing shit like this but i hate it too


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Mar 28, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> Ya know i love hearing shit like this but i hate it too


Yeah. I also don't think my platoon would be happy about me talking about shit. Still, it's good to commiserate with guys who know, y'know?


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 28, 2016)

id go back in a fuckin heart beat too

hey look im a fatty(apparently to some on this board ) and am racist but my best soldier was mexican

look at those popeye forearms


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 28, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Yeah. I also don't think my platoon would be happy about me talking about shit. Still, it's good to commiserate with guys who know, y'know?



its always good to talk to someone but most still dont get it


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Mar 28, 2016)

I'll have to take the time to obliterate my face from some photos sometime. I think I may have posted one before in here somewhere completely exposed. Hope that doesn't get me into shit.


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 28, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I'll have to take the time to obliterate my face from some photos sometime. I think I may have posted one before in here somewhere completely exposed. Hope that doesn't get me into shit.



just dont show ur cock ..but ya know if we was deployed id have no problem lulz


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Mar 28, 2016)

But, yeah. Fuck racism. Hate everyone indiscriminately.


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 28, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> But, yeah. Fuck racism. Hate everyone indiscriminately.



good idea


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 29, 2016)

They can shove their "Veterans Choice Card" program right up their ASS!

I've been dealing with the PTSD thing & they gave me an appt last November with a local doc that just wanted to dope me up - Fuck that!
That was in November and they* finally* got back to me yesterday saying no other providers in my area. "sorry".

FFS, I know for a fact that there are so I called the VA (not choice) & dumped my tale of woe on their table.
They connected me with a supervisor whom said he would personally walk my info down to the clinician tasked with dealing with this brain circus & would get back to me immediately with a resolution.

The Anchorage VA office is the most compassionate government entities I've ever personally dealt with - Bar None!


----------



## pabloesqobar (Mar 29, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> They can shove their "Veterans Choice Card" program right up their ASS!
> 
> I've been dealing with the PTSD thing & they gave me an appt last November with a local doc that just wanted to dope me up - Fuck that!
> That was in November and they* finally* got back to me yesterday saying no other providers in my area. "sorry".
> ...


I hear Trump claiming how the VA is horrible and letting the vets down. 

Myself, my Dad and my brother haven't had any complaints. Maybe I'm lucky. The facility I go to is supposed to be one of the best in the country.


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 29, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> They can shove their "Veterans Choice Card" program right up their ASS!
> 
> I've been dealing with the PTSD thing & they gave me an appt last November with a local doc that just wanted to dope me up - Fuck that!
> That was in November and they* finally* got back to me yesterday saying no other providers in my area. "sorry".
> ...



fuck VA ... I actually sat outside their buidling one day contemplating different ways on how to blow em up


----------



## Diabolical666 (Mar 29, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> id go back in a fuckin heart beat too
> 
> hey look im a fatty(apparently to some on this board ) and am racist but my best soldier was mexican
> 
> ...


ones a popeye arm bc its pushed out and you are sucking in....also whats this like 12 year old pic lololollolol


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 29, 2016)

ahhhh jealousy is envy

again i pity you


shows how much you know about the Army


Multicam ..12 yrs ago from the time I deployed .... Afghanistan ?


not even once



i should have never met you ..now i feel more dumb, i think your blonde wore off on me


----------



## 6ohMax (Mar 29, 2016)

also , can someone kindly remove the non veterans posts


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## 6ohMax (Apr 5, 2016)

well damn 

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article69913522.html


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## wascaptain (Apr 6, 2016)

the VA has been good to me, i really dont have any complaints . that being said, i just use them for my blood tests and meds. 
no way would i use them for the penile reduction operation my wife wants me to have.

another thing i would like to say , is that serving for 21 years 3 months, i never had a pay problem.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 6, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> the VA has been good to me, i really dont have any complaints .
> 
> *serving for 21 years 3 months, i never had a pay problem*.


Well, the VA did indeed do what they said & I got to see someone yesterday w/ a follow-up on Friday.

I never had a pay problem either, other than there never seemed to be quite enough. 

+ Rep VA.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 6, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Well, the VA did indeed do what they said & I got to see someone yesterday w/ a follow-up on Friday.
> 
> I never had a pay problem either, other than there never seemed to be quite enough.
> 
> + Rep VA.


Great! I am very glad you got that sorted. At our local VA the care is stellar and that's in the LA area, one of the more impacted, so here they are doing something right.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 7, 2016)




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## 6ohMax (Apr 9, 2016)

WWIII. .where we at homey


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

Dive, dive, dive!


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 9, 2016)

Need Moar skittles...taste the rainbow


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 9, 2016)

I wasn't about to spend $1000 or more for new dress blues and all the bullshit that has to go with it


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> Need Moar skittles...taste the rainbow
> 
> View attachment 3653212


That's some sexy chest candy. You saw mine, minus my other campaign star and Good Conduct Medal.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

You were with 4th ID? And you got your stripes? Good shit.

I got out as a SPC.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 9, 2016)

I had some trouble upon getting out.

Such is life.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> I had some trouble upon getting out.
> 
> Such is life.


Such is fucking life.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 9, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Such is fucking life.



Damn right.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2016)

Giving away the bride.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Giving away the bride.
> 
> View attachment 3653344


Christ, Chief, you got a lot of hash marks.


----------



## Hookabelly (Apr 9, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Giving away the bride.
> 
> View attachment 3653344


@GreatwhiteNorth I can still see the epic hair, even being the white square. PS: the woman in the back left corner looks like she realized she left the burner on at home....

What a gorgeous looking wedding. Did you cry? I would have such a hard time passing my child off to the groom. It's just such a final feeling gesture. When my parents gave me away, (yes I had my mom too, she raised me also after all) I didn't even give a thought to what that meant for them. Funny how when you actually get someplace emotionally it can be such an epiphany. congrats to your daughter.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Christ, Chief, you got a lot of hash marks.


Yeah, I stuck it out a while, . . . and it's "Master Chief". 



Hookabelly said:


> @GreatwhiteNorth I can still see the epic hair, even being the white square. PS: the woman in the back left corner looks like she realized she left the burner on at home....
> 
> What a gorgeous looking wedding. Did you cry? I would have such a hard time passing my child off to the groom. It's just such a final feeling gesture. When my parents gave me away, (yes I had my mom too, she raised me also after all) I didn't even give a thought to what that meant for them. Funny how when you actually get someplace emotionally it can be such an epiphany. congrats to your daughter.


She asked me to wear it because her hub to be was AF reserve and so was much of the grooms party.
Funny, I outranked & out bling'd them all (& flat out just look better in uniform).

Good times!


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Yeah, I stuck it out a while, . . . and it's "Master Chief".
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Didn't see the star, you'll have to forgive me.

Damn.. That's like.. a million years, being Master Chief. 19, minimum. I'd get seasick waiting on land for my next tour.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Didn't see the star, you'll have to forgive me.
> 
> Damn.. That's like.. a million years, being Master Chief. 19, minimum. I'd get seasick waiting on land for my next tour.


23+ years with 14 riding ships.

I've dug some holes in the ocean.


----------



## Hookabelly (Apr 9, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Yeah, I stuck it out a while, . . . and it's "Master Chief".
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL now I've heard of upstaging the bride, but the Groom??? Did he know how blinged out you were going to be? Was he in uniform as well? OMG (insert mirthful laugh here) I bet he was feeling pretty inadequate.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> 23+ years with 14 riding ships.
> 
> I've dug some holes in the ocean.


Fuckin' hard charger. Good shit. I never wanted to retire until I hit at least Sergeant First Class with 20 years in. Clearly nothing went to plan. My grandfather was a gunner's mate in 'Nam. Did multiple tours. He died in the early '90s, though. Wish I knew the guy.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2016)

Hookabelly said:


> LOL now I've heard of upstaging the bride, but the Groom??? Did he know how blinged out you were going to be? Was he in uniform as well? OMG (insert mirthful laugh here) I bet he was feeling pretty inadequate.


It was pretty funny.



And I'm pretty sure that these AF awards on the left breast pocket denote service in a non Air-conditioned space.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

Around six months without a shower. You start not to smell it. Or so you tell yourself. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2016)

When I first started we'd drag our laundry off the transom on lines to wash it.
After 20 minutes or so you dunked it into a communal fresh water bucket & hung it to dry.
We looked like a Chinese junk more than once. Lol

And if you pissed off the XO you had to hang on the flying bridge with an M-16 (shark watch) while all your shipmates got to go swimming (in the Caribbean no less) to clean up.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> When I first started we'd drag our laundry off the transom on lines to wash it.
> After 20 minutes or so you dunked it into a communal fresh water bucket & hung it to dry.
> We looked like a Chinese junk more than once. Lol
> 
> And if you pissed off the XO you had to hang on the flying bridge with an M-16 (shark watch) while all your shipmates got to go swimming (in the Caribbean no less) to clean up.


Who doesn't love fuck-fuck Ranger games?


----------



## Hookabelly (Apr 9, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> It was pretty funny.
> 
> View attachment 3653449
> 
> And I'm pretty sure that these AF awards on the left breast pocket denote service in a non Air-conditioned space.


OMG! LOL! +++ rep


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 9, 2016)

Ima have to dig up some pics whilst stationed in Korea. ..served 6 1/2 yrs total, 2 different tours. First I was at Yongsan...loved it..2nd time was camp Carroll, Waegwan. ..about 30 min drive to Daegu. I liked it so did my wife as we were only a 90 minute drive to her parent...I made it in 50 minutes once....hey...korean drivers are aggressive. ..if ur not doin 100ish on the highway and u see flashing high beams behind you. ...better get outta the way

Remember once I had to drive to Seoul from Daegu. ..was probably doing 120ish and the KTX high speed bullet train passed me like I was standing still


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 9, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> Ima have to dig up some pics whilst stationed in Korea. ..served 6 1/2 yrs total, 2 different tours. First I was at Yongsan...loved it..2nd time was camp Carroll, Waegwan. ..about 30 min drive to Daegu. I liked it so did my wife as we were only a 90 minute drive to her parent...I made it in 50 minutes once....hey...korean drivers are aggressive. ..if ur not doin 100ish on the highway and u see flashing high beams behind you. ...better get outta the way
> 
> Remember once I had to drive to Seoul from Daegu. ..was probably doing 120ish and the KTX high speed bullet train passed me like I was standing still


I wish I'd gotten an OCONUS PCS assignment.


----------



## 6ohMax (Apr 9, 2016)

Tons better than stateside


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> Ima have to dig up some pics whilst stationed in Korea. ..served 6 1/2 yrs total, 2 different tours.


My Dad was a Korean vet before he became a Vietnam vet.
He was in some shit - the Op "Frequent wind" was one of the bigger ones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Frequent_Wind


----------



## BarnBuster (May 19, 2016)

Congress moves toward approving VA medical marijuana​
By Travis J. Tritten 

Stars and Stripes
Published: May 19, 2016


WASHINGTON – A proposal allowing doctors at the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical marijuana made major advances Thursday in Congress.

The House and Senate passed annual VA budget bills allowing the doctors to discuss and advise veteran patients to use the drug in states where it is legal.

The agreement on Capitol Hill greatly increases the likelihood that the new VA rules will be passed into law later this year when lawmakers hammer out a final budget agreement. Congress was divided on the issue in its budget bills last year and the pot proposal by lawmakers in Oregon and Montana ultimately failed.

“This is an historic moment and further proof there is real movement and bipartisan support in reforming outdated federal marijuana policies,” Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., one of the sponsors, said in a released statement.

In the House, the proposal was passed 233-189 as an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill.

The vote could be key. The marijuana proposal was left out of the final budget passed by Congress last year after the House narrowly defeated the amendment in a 213-210 vote.

The Senate, which supported the measure last year, added it into its version of the VA budget bill during a committee hearing last month and overwhelmingly passed it as part of the appropriations bill during a floor vote.

Blumenauer said VA rules prohibit doctors from referring veterans to state-regulated medical marijuana programs, forcing those veterans out of the VA system to treat certain medical conditions.

Medical marijuana has been approved by 23 states and the District of Columbia for treatment of glaucoma, cancer, HIV and other afflictions.

Veterans are also advocating for access to marijuana to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, which might affect about 20 percent of the 1.8 million servicemembers deployed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the National Center for PTSD.

The VA has said it does not bar veterans who participate in the state programs from also participating in its federal pain management and substance abuse programs. However, veterans who do smoke pot for a medical condition could face treatment for drug abuse.

The department argues its hands are tied because the federal government considers marijuana an illegal drug, despite the moves to decriminalize and legalize it in various states.

The Obama administration has said it will not challenge the state laws or prosecute sellers of medical marijuana.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (May 19, 2016)

BarnBuster said:


> Congress moves toward approving VA medical marijuana​
> By Travis J. Tritten
> 
> Stars and Stripes
> ...


----------



## doublejj (May 31, 2016)

A walk in the sun, your average day in the jungle of Vietnam....


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## doublejj (May 31, 2016)

A little valley called A Shau....


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 5, 2016)

*Former Marine fired from job for lowering flag on Memorial Day*​
Published June 05, 2016 
FoxNews.com 

A former U.S. Marine said Friday he was fired from his contract job with *Time Warner Cable *in Charlotte after he lowered the American flag to half-staff on Memorial Day.

Allen Thornwell, 29, was thinking about his best friend, a former Marine who he said killed himself two years ago when he returned to the U.S., the Charlotte Observer reported.

The paper reported that Thornwell was fired Tuesday. The service that arranged the job for Thornwell said Time Warner told them *they were disturbed by what was termed as “passion for the flag and (his) political affiliation.”*

Thornwell said he remains in shock over his firing. Murphy Archibald, Thornwell’s attorney, said his client should have never lost his job.

“It’s disgraceful,” Archibald, who is a Vietnam vet, told the Observer. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He’s a veteran working on Memorial Day who corrected what he thought was a disrespectful flying of the American flag ... I would have taken it down myself.”

Thornwell, who was discharged in 2014, knew the U.S. Flag Code policy which states that the banner should be half-staff until noon on Memorial Day. Thornwell said the incident happened at around 2:30 p.m. He said he wishes now he had permission.

“I didn’t think of it as the property of Time Warner Cable,” he said. “It’s everybody’s flag.”

A Time Warner spokesman confirmed to the Charlotte Observer Friday that the former Marine “was no longer under contract” with the company but declined to provide further comment.

_complete story here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article81658827.html_


----------



## Singlemalt (Jun 5, 2016)

BarnBuster said:


> *Former Marine fired from job for lowering flag on Memorial Day*​
> Published June 05, 2016
> FoxNews.com
> 
> ...


At least T-W admitted that was the reason for firing him. Not at all justification, but it's a bit refreshing to finally see a bald-faced admission rather than the standard equivocating; "poor performance review", "too many days of absences", or "refusal to comment as its a personnel issue" crap they(corps) usually spew.


----------



## doublejj (Jun 6, 2016)

.
..


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Jun 6, 2016)

doublejj said:


> .
> ..View attachment 3701072


AKA Balls-Out Day. That would be pretty psychotic, fighting a symmetrical war against a fortified enemy on their home turf with only a reasonably sure feeling that your balls are pretty fucking huge to get you through. Awesome generation.


----------



## doublejj (Jun 6, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> AKA Balls-Out Day. That would be pretty psychotic, fighting a symmetrical war against a fortified enemy on their home turf with only a reasonably sure feeling that your balls are pretty fucking huge to get you through. Awesome generation.


My dad was a combat engineer & survived 3 invasions during WWII. Africa, Sicily, Italy.
RIP Pop....


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Jun 6, 2016)

doublejj said:


> My dad was a combat engineer & survived 3 invasions during WWII. Africa, Sicily, Italy.
> RIP Pop....


Very nice. Sounds like a swell guy.


----------



## doublejj (Jun 6, 2016)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Very nice. Sounds like a swell guy.


yes he was...


----------



## doublejj (Jun 16, 2016)

Major Vietnam flashback today when I heard this...........


----------



## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Jun 16, 2016)

What's up vets? I was Navy. Stationed in San Diego. Only got about a quadrillion stories to share, who gots the time?


----------



## curious2garden (Jun 16, 2016)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> What's up vets? I was Navy. Stationed in San Diego. Only got about a quadrillion stories to share, who gots the time?


San Diego is some rough duty bro............What front were you on the surfers or the heads?


----------



## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Jun 16, 2016)

curious2garden said:


> San Diego is some rough duty bro............What front were you on the surfers or the heads?


Not really either I suppose. I dated women here and there but I don't think I ever hung out with too many civilians. If I did it was pure happenstance that we were around each other. Most of my drinking buddies (all of them) were Navy. I really miss being able to visit Tijuana any time I feel like. Does anyone remember a club called Chicago's in Tijuana?


----------



## Drowning-Man (Jun 16, 2016)




----------



## pabloesqobar (Jun 16, 2016)

Made a few trips to TJ back in late 80's, early 90's. Didn't really care for the place that much. It was a place to drink when you were under 21.


----------



## Mellowman2112 (Jun 20, 2016)

Does anybody have fond memories of Olangapo?


----------



## Big_Lou (Jun 21, 2016)

My pop was over here when he was around 21....
(He didn't speak much about it, but when him and my 'uncles' - some biological, most just good friends - would get into the booze, they'd get loud and clown about the Nazis, heh...was never a violent or morose mood.)


(Christmas dinner in Italy, 1943, stock photo.)

And over here less than ten years later....


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 2, 2016)




----------



## 6ohMax (Jul 6, 2016)




----------



## 6ohMax (Jul 6, 2016)

I loved the look on people's faces when I used to write or tell them my MOS followed by skill level and all the indentifers.


----------



## BM9AGS (Jul 6, 2016)

Yeah. Non military people don't understand and I don't get in to the weeds with them. Hell even military people are clueless of the SOF side of the house.


----------



## 6ohMax (Jul 6, 2016)

I had an "S" identifier as well, but knew when to stay in my lane


I have a couple SF neighbors...they cool as shit.....and he gets some goodies too.


----------



## BM9AGS (Jul 6, 2016)

6ohMax said:


> I had an "S" identifier as well, but knew when to stay in my lane
> 
> 
> I have a couple SF neighbors...they cool as shit.....and he gets some goodies too.


Is your avatar chick your GF now? She is a forum member I thought....


----------



## 6ohMax (Jul 6, 2016)

Was a forum member.

I'll change it eventually


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## 6ohMax (Jul 11, 2016)

It's ok...let em try.

Little old but still.

http://americanmilitarynews.com/2015/10/isis-threatens-medal-of-honor-recipient-he-pulls-his-truck-over-to-respond-video/?utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=alt&utm_source=thesaltysoldier


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## BarnBuster (Aug 24, 2016)

Every time I see one of these about Ernie's generation, I think wouldn't we have been in a world of shit without them and those who never returned but still stand guard.






Emotional video of a World War II veteran "having one of the best days of his life" after being honored by chief selects in front of his Gardena home recently has touched many people after being widely viewed and shared online.

The veteran in the video, Ernest Thompson, served on the USS Missouri during the second world war, according to Jonathan Williams, the CEO of the Battleship Iowa Museum and the man's grandson.

Williams recalled in a Facebook comment under the viral video that Thompson regularly visited the USS Iowa, which is the sister-ship to the USS Missouri and located approximately 15 minutes from the veteran's house.

Due to health reasons, however, Thompson -- now in his 90s -- has been unable to visit the ship, according to the Battleship Iowa news release.

With the help of volunteer coordinators, the chief selects from the Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Center visited Thompson's home and sang the Navy's march song, "Anchors Aweigh" in the middle of his residential street.

While the singing went on, Thompson stood and saluted, "inspiring those around him," the release stated.

The remarkable thing, according to a spokesman for the museum, is that Thompson had a fall earlier this year and had not been able to walk or stand since then.

After the singing concluded, the chief selects walked one-by-one up to Thompson on the veteran's porch to shake his hand.

"My grandfather told me that it was one of the best days of his life," Williams wrote on Facebook.

The video, posted by Williams on Aug. 13, has gone viral, with more than 95,000 shares and over 4.3 million views as of Tuesday morning.

“I am so surprised and overwhelmed at the attention that it has received. I was so incredibly impacted by this that I felt other veterans should be able to experience this too," Williams said in the release.

Thompson was aboard the USS Tennessee when Pearl Harbor was attacked and later witnessed Japan surrender when he was on the USS Missouri, according to the release.


----------



## Bob Zmuda (Aug 24, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> It was pretty funny.
> 
> View attachment 3653449
> 
> And I'm pretty sure that these AF awards on the left breast pocket denote service in a non Air-conditioned space.


Wait, wait, wait....

Stop the train. 

How come I never knew you had the most awesome hair in the world?

It needs its own thread.


----------



## Bob Zmuda (Aug 24, 2016)

Also, even though op is a total bag o dicks...

Thank you to everyone in this thread that has served. Respect.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Aug 24, 2016)

Bob Zmuda said:


> Also, even though op is a total bag o dicks...
> 
> Thank you to everyone in this thread that has served. Respect.


Sorry, super ripped. Forgot to read the post before I responded. Just saw you were in the thread.


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 25, 2016)

The Marine Corps said in a statement Wednesday that it misidentified two men long thought to have helped raise the first of two American flags atop Mount Suribachi during the bloody battle for the Japanese island of Iwo Jima in 1945.

The revelations come a little more than two months since the Marines said they had mistaken one of the individuals who helped raised the second flag, a moment captured in the iconic and Pulitzer-winning photograph taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal.

The tale of the two flags and the men who raised them on Feb. 23, 1945, has been a part of Marine Corps lore. But the details of what happened that day have been under closer scrutiny since the publication in 2014 of an Omaha World-Herald article featuring research by two amateur historians showing that one person had been misidentified in Rosenthal’s famous photograph.

In May, the Marine Corps announced it had begun looking into Rosenthal’s photograph, following inquiries from documentary filmmakers. The following month, the service said a panel — led by a retired Marine general — had concluded that a Marine in the second flag-raising had been misidentified. Navy Pharmacist’s Mate James Bradley was actually a Marine private from Detroit named Harold Schultz.

Bradley, a Navy Cross recipient and subject of his son’s book-later-turned-movie “Flags of our Fathers,” was instead in the lesser-known, first flag-raising.

At the conclusion of the investigation into the second flag-raising, the same panel, using some of the same photographic evidence and material from the initial inquiry, looked into the first flag-raising.

The panel’s conclusion? Two Marines, Pfc. Louis C. Charlo and Pfc. James R. Michels, did not participate in the initial flag-raising, as had been previously documented. Charlo, however, participated in a four-man reconnaissance patrol that went up Suribachi, while Michels held perimeter security nearby as the first flag went up.

Charles P. Neimeyer, the director of the Marines’ History Division, said in a phone interview that an independent researcher had first approached the Marine Corps in 2011 with evidence that Charlo and Michels were not in the initial flag raising and decided after the investigation into Rosenthal’s photograph that it would be prudent to try to update the record regarding the first raising.

The men who raised the first flag, according to the Marines’ statement Wednesday, were 1st Lt. Harold G. Schrier, PhM2c John H. Bradley, Sgt. Ernest I. Thomas Jr., Sgt. Henry O. Hansen, Cpl. Charles W. Lindberg and Pvt. Philip L. Ward.

Unlike the second flag raising, there were no pictures taken of the first flag going up, yet to the Marines fighting below, the sight of that initial flag flying was far more significant. It was the first indication they had seized the island’s most significant piece of terrain and that the bloody battle might one day come to an end. On the summit, the only camera nearby as the first flag went up belonged to Staff Sgt. Louis Lowery, a Marine combat photographer with Leatherneck Magazine. As the flag was hoisted skyward he was reloading his film after snapping a series of pictures moments before.

“Our history is important, and we owe it to our Marines and their families to ensure it is as accurate as possible. After we reviewed the second flag raising and found inconsistencies, we wanted to take another look at the first flag raising to make sure we had it correct,” said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller in a statement.

In the waning months of World War II, with massive quad-engine B-29 Superfortresses regularly bombing mainland Japan, the United States decided that Iwo Jima — with its lone airstrip — was an ideal spot for damaged bombers to land on their long return flights back to the Northern Mariana Islands.

The operation to seize the island, known as Operation Detachment, would last just over a month and cost the lives of more than 5,000 Marines and almost the entirety of the roughly 21,000 Japanese soldiers defending the volcanic, porkchop-shaped scab of earth.

When the flags went up on Feb. 23, the Marines had been fighting for nearly four days. Japanese machine gun nests and snipers dug in across the base of Suribachi had raked the Americans as they drew closer to the 550-foot mound, but on the morning of Feb. 23, the initial reconnaissance patrol that ascended the hill encountered no resistance, according to Marine Corps documents.

As the recon patrol descended the mountain, a roughly 30 man patrol from Echo Company 2nd Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, led by 1st Lt. Harold G. Schrier, began its trek up Suribachi. Schrier had been given a small American flag from another lieutenant who had been told by 2nd Battalion’s commander to make sure the patrol took the flag up the mountain, according to documents provided by the Marine Corps.

After a nearly two hour hike, Schrier’s men reached the summit and established defensive positions while a small element looked for a place to put up the flag. Two Marines found a piece of Japanese drainage pipe, while five others affixed the flag.

At around 10:30 a.m. on Feb. 23, 1945, the first American flag went up over Iwo Jima. Ships offshore sounded their horns. Marines looked at their watches and up from their foxholes.

Over the years, many of the eyewitnesses, Neimeyer said, remembered the first flag going up, while almost no one had an exact time for when the second flag was actually raised.

Shortly after Lowrey snapped his pictures and Schrier radioed that the summit was secure, the first flag was taken down and was sent back to the bottom of the mountain to 2nd battalion’s commanding officer. The flag was to be turned into a war trophy and replaced on Suribachi with a more prominent one, so roughly two hours later, a resupply patrol snaked its way back to the top of the mountain, this time with a bigger flag and the photographer Rosenthal in tow.

 
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff 
The Washington Post
Published: August 24, 2016


----------



## haight (Aug 26, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> It was pretty funny.
> 
> View attachment 3653449
> 
> And I'm pretty sure that these AF awards on the left breast pocket denote service in a non Air-conditioned space.


Hey, once there was a soldier marching down the road in the cold, freezing rain and he said- This sucks!
Meanwhile a squid was tying down a piece of tarp in the cold freezing rain and he said- This sucks!
And an airman walked into the dayroom picked up the remote and said -What, no cable, this sucks!


----------



## Gary Goodson (Aug 26, 2016)

haight said:


> Hey, once there was a soldier marching down the road in the cold, freezing rain and he said- This sucks!
> Meanwhile a squid was tying down a piece of tarp in the cold freezing rain and he said- This sucks!
> And an airman walked into the dayroom picked up the remote and said -What, no cable, this sucks!


Remember you mom? She sucks!


Oh yea she sucks it good


----------



## tangerinegreen555 (Aug 26, 2016)

Gary Goodson said:


> Remember you mom? She sucks!
> 
> 
> Oh yea she sucks it good


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 26, 2016)

haight said:


> Hey, once there was a soldier marching down the road in the cold, freezing rain and he said- This sucks!
> Meanwhile a squid was tying down a piece of tarp in the cold freezing rain and he said- This sucks!
> And an airman walked into the dayroom picked up the remote and said -What, no cable, this sucks!


Funny.

Everyone thinks the AF has it easy. That may be true for a few, mainly anyone in the office of personal or certain other groups. 

Other than that I ate a lot of shit in the AF. See the Air Force in its wisdom decided to create the "lean machine" and downsize. They would combine 3-4 jobs together. Then being 40% manned on top of that, you can only imagine.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2016)

whitebb2727 said:


> Funny.
> 
> Everyone thinks the AF has it easy. That may be true for a few, mainly anyone in the office of personal or certain other groups.
> 
> Other than that I ate a lot of shit in the AF. See the Air Force in its wisdom decided to create the "lean machine" and downsize. They would combine 3-4 jobs together. Then being 40% manned on top of that, you can only imagine.


Was just teasing - my Dad was retired AF.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 26, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Was just teasing - my Dad was retired AF.


Its cool. I know anyone that has been around AF know how it is.

You know the jokes. 

Why does navy men have their name sewn on thier back pocket?

Jokes like that. Its pretty common for different branches to poke at each other.

Hell, in tech school I was on a naval station. We got in fights most every day.


----------



## buzzardbreath (Aug 26, 2016)

whitebb2727 said:


> Its cool. I know anyone that has been around AF know how it is.
> 
> You know the jokes.
> 
> ...


I spent some time on ships with the Navy or squids as we called them. I was an Amphibious Assault Vehicle crewchief in the Marines, we splashed off the back of ships and hit the beaches full of grunts carrying lead. 

Shit, Where was I? oh, chow line on ship always got sketchy. 
Good weed. Maybe its the alchohol weed mix, working today.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2016)

Wanna talk about fights, have you ever been in the Windjammer in Gitmo?

Cram an ass load of Marines, Navy & CG in a large auditorium type bar - add alcohol and shake well.

Every damn night when I was there.


----------



## buzzardbreath (Aug 26, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Wanna talk about fights, have you ever been in the Windjammer in Gitmo?
> 
> Cram an ass load of Marines, Navy & CG in a large auditorium type bar - add alcohol and shake well.
> 
> Every damn night when I was there.


Kind of reminds me of that scene in Apocolyse Now, where they roll up on a party deep in the jungle, with girls behing choppered in.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2016)

buzzardbreath said:


> girls


There definitely was a lack of them in the joint.


----------



## buzzardbreath (Aug 26, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> There definitely was a lack of them in the joint.


I am a jedi, fighting the dark forces of sausage fest gif


----------



## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Aug 26, 2016)

Do any of you Navy vets remember hitting Bahrain on deployment? Good lord, after months at sea the last port I want to see is another port in a fairly conservative (by western standards) country. Sure, you could get fucked up in "The Sandbox" but we all wanted Australia and Thailand type shit. Instead it was always Dubai or Bahrain (we were doing something called sea swap, so we rarely left the NAG). I've been to Bahrain at least three times, maybe four or five (it's been awhile). Great people, great culture, just went there too many times. Best port I ever visited? Freemantle, Australia. Right outside of Perth. Fucking amazing. Loved the Aussies, great folks. Next favorite was Victoria, Canada, located outside of Vancouver. I guess my third favorite might have been Costa Rica (can't remember the name of the port).


----------



## buzzardbreath (Aug 26, 2016)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> Do any of you Navy vets remember hitting Bahrain on deployment? Good lord, after months at sea the last port I want to see is another port in a fairly conservative (by western standards) country. Sure, you could get fucked up in "The Sandbox" but we all wanted Australia and Thailand type shit. Instead it was always Dubai or Bahrain (we were doing something called sea swap, so we rarely left the NAG). I've been to Bahrain at least three times, maybe four or five (it's been awhile). Great people, great culture, just went there too many times. Best port I ever visited? Freemantle, Australia. Right outside of Perth. Fucking amazing. Loved the Aussies, great folks. Next favorite was Victoria, Canada, located outside of Vancouver. I guess my third favorite might have been Costa Rica (can't remember the name of the port).


I know why you can't remember the name of the port.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2016)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> I guess my third favorite might have been Costa Rica (can't remember the name of the port).


Golfito?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2016)

We were in Victoria and were hosted by a Canadian frigate.
I was in the CPO mess & those fuckers had all the beer you wanted to drink.
"The meanest fighting force between 10:00 and 14:00"
(Cause before 10:00 they were hung over and after 14:00 they were drunk again)
And boy howdy can those bastards drink !!


----------



## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Aug 26, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Golfito?


It was Caldera.


----------



## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Aug 26, 2016)

And in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico I made out with one of the finest women if not the finest I've ever had the luck to kiss <3 She was an absolute stunner. Too bad I didn't get any luckier but that's the way the cookie crumbles I suppose. I'm jealous of anyone who got to visit Thailand while they served. When choosing orders, Thailand was one of the reasons I chose the west coast. Unfortunately, we never visited and the world wasn't my oyster :'(


----------



## doublejj (Aug 26, 2016)

I did spend 5 fun filled weeks in the Cambodian jungle in 1970 courtesy of Richard Nixon, that was a hoot!...the worst part was we walked into Cambodia & walked out, no choppers for us.
Some VERY intense firefights on that op...


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2016)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> And in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico I made out with one of the finest women if not the finest I've ever had the luck to kiss <3 She was an absolute stunner(


Out of basic I did fairly well - was #4 in the class & our orders were on a big black-board, one looked exotic & our DI said he thought it was Japan so I jumped on it.

Turns out I spent 12 months (Isolated Duty) with 17 other guys in the Aleutian Islands.
Fucker is probably still chuckling.


----------



## wascaptain (Aug 27, 2016)

Just got my last set of orders in the mail yesterday. 

Ordered to the retired list. 

Was Honored to serve 
4 active 17 reservist. 

I did get into a shouting match in a chow line once, still suffering nightmares over that.


----------



## haight (Aug 27, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Was just teasing - my Dad was retired AF.


Just a little inter-service rivalry. I was in the AF for four years myself.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 27, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> Just got my last set of orders in the mail yesterday.
> 
> Ordered to the retired list.
> 
> ...


I sincerely hope you don't really have the mares - they are NOT fun.
And they do not go away.


----------



## wascaptain (Aug 28, 2016)

Just being a dumb ass gwn, me I mean. 
You know after I posted that, I thought maybe that's not funny. Esp to the real combat vets here. 

Real , meaning more then a 6 month tour for desert storm like myself, I wasn't infantry , so I should just shut the fcuk up.

Sorry if I offended any vet here.


----------



## buzzardbreath (Aug 28, 2016)

I new a dude that got up at the crack of dawn and unloaded a few magazines of ammo into his backyard woods. I guess it helps.


maybe that was a movie. shit I'm getting old. nah it's just brain damage


----------



## haight (Aug 28, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I sincerely hope you don't really have the mares - they are NOT fun.
> And they do not go away.


Mine did (knock on wood). My nightmare started about ten years after I got out. I would dream that I had reenlisted. Doesn't sound like much until you had such dreams.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 28, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> Just being a dumb ass gwn, me I mean.
> You know after I posted that, I thought maybe that's not funny. Esp to the real combat vets here.
> Real , meaning more then a 6 month tour for desert storm like myself, I wasn't infantry , so I should just shut the fcuk up.
> Sorry if I offended any vet here.


Being CG I didn't see combat (Thank God) but I did see enough 1st responder shit to fill many-a-bucket.



haight said:


> Mine did (knock on wood). My nightmare started about ten years after I got out. I would dream that I had reenlisted. Doesn't sound like much until you had such dreams.


Oddly enough I've had those dreams over the years myself - it always seems to end with me wondering why nobody is mentioning my pony tail. 

Cause I ain't cutting it off.


----------



## doublejj (Aug 28, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Being CG I didn't see combat (Thank God) but I did see enough 1st responder shit to fill many-a-bucket.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'll never shave again!.....at least they gave us a break out in the field, but as soon as we got back on post..... I had a green Lieutenant give me some sh*t about my facial hair after we returned from the field & I just stared at him with distain & pointed to my web gear, that I still had on & he took my name & stormed off to see my Sgt Major....I never saw the Lt again..lol You don't f*ck with a Combat Sgt Major!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 28, 2016)

Bad Ass.


----------



## HydroGrowLover (Aug 29, 2016)

Anyone here take Mefloquine, could have been called Lariam, and still have all the side effects? I was medically retired for PTSD and TBI from my 3 deployments but I swear some of the symptoms I have are from that drug. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-remington-nevin/mefloquine-the-militarys-_b_3989034.html


----------



## haight (Aug 29, 2016)

HydroGrowLover said:


> Anyone here take Mefloquine, could have been called Lariam, and still have all the side effects? I was medically retired for PTSD and TBI from my 3 deployments but I swear some of the symptoms I have are from that drug.


Thanks for your service bro.


----------



## wascaptain (Sep 1, 2016)

Been sitting with a bro at the VA hospital... Here's noon chow. 
Wasn't bad chow and more then I could eat.


----------



## doublejj (Sep 1, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> Been sitting with a bro at the VA hospital... Here's noon chow.
> Wasn't bad chow and more then I could eat.


Bless you brother....


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 1, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> Been sitting with a bro at the VA hospital... Here's noon chow.
> Wasn't bad chow and more then I could eat.


That looks pretty darn good - and then again it feels like my belly button is chewing it's way to my spine atm.

And kudo's on you for showing him support.
+


----------



## pabloesqobar (Sep 1, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> Been sitting with a bro at the VA hospital... Here's noon chow.
> Wasn't bad chow and more then I could eat.


I recognize everything but the brown substance covered in gravy. What was that?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 1, 2016)

pabloesqobar said:


> I recognize everything but the brown substance covered in gravy. What was that?


My guess was chicken fried steak w/ gravy?


----------



## wascaptain (Sep 1, 2016)

Gwn for the win.
My bro is in his late 70s and we had drive almost 4 hours to see the VA doc that specialize in hearts.

We been here since Tuesday morning. One test leads to another and he is getting stints in the morning.
I have been treated very well, and I get fed to. It helped that the male day nurse was a volly ff for years.

My bro and me sleep in shifts in the bed, kinda like guard mount..lol


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 1, 2016)

You have my utmost respect sir.
*Hand Salute*

+

And please excuse a dumb ass shallow water sailor, but what is a volly ff ?


----------



## xmatox (Sep 1, 2016)

Army Infantry vet here. Any fellow 11b growers in CA?


----------



## wascaptain (Sep 3, 2016)

Yo gwn
It's just a slang term(non-derogatory)...for volunteer fire fighters (hats off to vollys)
you didn't serve on the coast guard cutter Melon by chance?


----------



## doublejj (Sep 5, 2016)

xmatox said:


> Army Infantry vet here. Any fellow 11b growers in CA?


68W Combat Medic, US ARMY 9th Infantry, Vietnam 1969-70....


----------



## xmatox (Sep 5, 2016)

doublejj said:


> 68W Combat Medic, US ARMY 9th Infantry, Vietnam 1969-70....
> View attachment 3773687


Thank you for your service sir. Those trees look fantastic.  Happy growing!


----------



## doublejj (Sep 5, 2016)

xmatox said:


> Thank you for your service sir. Those trees look fantastic.  Happy growing!


They used to call me Doc in the Army.....but I'm just JJ now...& thank you for your service, welcome home brother.
You should come to the BBQ/pig roast in Dec....


----------



## xmatox (Sep 5, 2016)

doublejj said:


> They used to call me Doc in the Army.....but I'm just JJ now...& thank you for your service, welcome home brother.
> You should come to the BBQ/pig roast in Dec....
> View attachment 3773809


Thank you! That looks amazing brother!!! I would love to come up! Message me anytime.


----------



## doublejj (Sep 5, 2016)

Dec 10th-11th @Camp Far West...north of Sac
https://www.rollitup.org/t/2016-fall-bbq-pig-roast-sat-sun-dec-10th-11th.917787/


----------



## xmatox (Sep 5, 2016)

I'm gonna do my best to make it up there. It sounds like exactly what I need!


----------



## doublejj (Sep 5, 2016)

xmatox said:


> I'm gonna do my best to make it up there. It sounds like exactly what I need!


----------



## doublejj (Sep 10, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Sep 10, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Sep 10, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Sep 10, 2016)




----------



## abe supercro (Sep 10, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Oct 9, 2016)




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## wascaptain (Oct 14, 2016)

With respect to doublejj and all nam vets here on riu


----------



## doublejj (Oct 14, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> With respect to doublejj and all nam vets here on riu


where is that at?..


----------



## wascaptain (Oct 14, 2016)

At a va hospital in Louisiana. 

On that site they had a gun battery defending the red river for the war for independence. A stink is brewing to remove all monumental markers involving that time in history on va grounds


----------



## doublejj (Oct 14, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> At a va hospital in Louisiana.
> 
> On that site they had a gun battery defending the red river for the war for independence. A stink is brewing to remove all monumental markers involving that time in history on va grounds


thanks bro. can't stop time or change.....


----------



## doublejj (Oct 16, 2016)




----------



## Unclebaldrick (Oct 17, 2016)

doublejj said:


> View attachment 3801048
> 
> View attachment 3801051


I think you need some CalMag. Are there white spots on your fingernails?


----------



## doublejj (Oct 17, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Oct 17, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Oct 17, 2016)

don't try to run from this Navy Seal.....you will only die tired


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 26, 2016)

ffs, really? took long enough for this to go main stream

*Military family: Enlistment bonus fiasco 'depleted our savings'
*​http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/25/us/national-guard-recruitment-bonus-repayment/

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/us/national-guard-bonuses-california.html


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 26, 2016)

It looks like hopefully they're getting this worked out the right way finally.
http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/pentagon-halts-effort-to-recover-guard-enlistment-bonuses/ar-AAjqyfK?OCID=ansmsnnews11


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 26, 2016)




----------



## Vnsmkr (Oct 26, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> At a va hospital in Louisiana.
> 
> On that site they had a gun battery defending the red river for the war for independence. A stink is brewing to remove all monumental markers involving that time in history on va grounds


Shreveport?


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 26, 2016)




----------



## Big_Lou (Oct 26, 2016)




----------



## wascaptain (Oct 26, 2016)

Vnsmkr said:


> Shreveport?


yes sir, thats in north louisiana i live and was rasied in south louisiana, 2 different worlds


----------



## haight (Oct 26, 2016)

whitebb2727 said:


>


I always wondered what E-8s and E-9s did in their spare time.


----------



## haight (Oct 26, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> yes sir, thats in north louisiana i live and was rasied in south louisiana, 2 different worlds


Damn straight. No mud puppies in south Arkansas


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 26, 2016)

haight said:


> I always wondered what E-8s and E-9s did in their spare time.


One of them mods a pot forum and does a damn good job of it @GreatwhiteNorth


----------



## doublejj (Oct 26, 2016)

curious2garden said:


> One of them mods a pot forum and does a damn good job of it @GreatwhiteNorth


Typical E8....always telling you to straighten your gig line up....


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 26, 2016)

doublejj said:


> Typical E8....always telling you to straighten your gig line up....


You all harvested now?


----------



## doublejj (Oct 26, 2016)

curious2garden said:


> You all harvested now?


the crew is hard at it......I think


----------



## Big_Lou (Oct 26, 2016)

doublejj said:


> the crew is hard at it......I think


Maannn, I'd love to have a whack at that forest! I'd gladly accept payment in the form of trimmings/cheap beer.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 26, 2016)

doublejj said:


> Typical E8....always telling you to straighten your gig line up....


Is that an Irish pennant I see on your collar?




curious2garden said:


> One of them mods a pot forum and does a damn good job of it @GreatwhiteNorth


Girl, you are a sweet heart.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 26, 2016)

BarnBuster said:


> ffs, really? took long enough for this to go main stream
> 
> *Military family: Enlistment bonus fiasco 'depleted our savings'
> *​http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/25/us/national-guard-recruitment-bonus-repayment/
> ...


That is shitty and those vets shouldn't have to pay that back.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 26, 2016)

haight said:


> I always wondered what E-8s and E-9s did in their spare time.


I had to show the Air Force some love. Most people don't realize they have special ops.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 26, 2016)

Pararescue is the real deal.
Some bad ass's there.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 26, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Pararescue is the real deal.
> Some bad ass's there.


They are.


----------



## Vnsmkr (Oct 26, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> yes sir, thats in north louisiana i live and was rasied in south louisiana, 2 different worlds


Yep I grew in N. LA and moved South when I was 21, Lafayette & New Orleans for a dozen years. I thought that was in Shreveport at the VA, right off the Red River


----------



## Vnsmkr (Oct 26, 2016)

haight said:


> Damn straight. No mud puppies in south Arkansas


Yeah there are. Not the same, but they there.......


----------



## Desr (Oct 26, 2016)

wow thats fucked up. i can never find anyone to say anything racist around me irl though 

and wtf with interest. id straight be like fuck that i spent that shit at the driftwood.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 26, 2016)

haight said:


> Damn straight. No mud puppies in south Arkansas


Mrs GWN is a proud Coon Ass from wayyy south La. where the bayou's are salty & everybody has a butterfly net off their dock or boat.
We called em Mud Bugs or Dad's (but of course caught them in the fresh).


----------



## doublejj (Oct 27, 2016)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 3, 2016)

After almost 18 months of paperwork + poking & prodding the VA saw their way to bump my disability rating from 20% to 60%.

Doors opening as we speak.


----------



## doublejj (Nov 3, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> After almost 18 months of paperwork + poking & prodding the VA saw their way to bump my disability rating from 20% to 60%.
> 
> Doors opening as we speak.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 3, 2016)

doublejj said:


>


I was stupid and didn't even start my paperwork for 7 years after retirement - that makes it an up-hill battle all the way.


----------



## wascaptain (Nov 4, 2016)

got my first military retirement check in on the 2nd.

i got to say, THANK YOU UNCLE SAM!

when re-up time would come around, i always went max years(6) just to make sure i would stay in.

the first thing i will buy with it is some road kill skunk seeds i have been eyeballing for about a year, investing in my future...lol

ps gwn

my pop(rip) was a Korean vet, he had me go register with the VA the first week i got out the marines in the 70s

he also talked me into a civil service job...said it dont rain on your check...

great advice and both paid off.


----------



## doublejj (Nov 4, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> got my first military retirement check in on the 2nd.
> 
> i got to say, THANK YOU UNCLE SAM!
> 
> ...


----------



## wascaptain (Nov 10, 2016)

happy birthday chesty puller where ever you are.

i salute all marines here on this board, active and former...

as you were......make that.... i salute all vets !!!!

have a safe marine corps birthday


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 10, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> got my first military retirement check in on the 2nd.
> 
> i got to say, THANK YOU UNCLE SAM!
> 
> ...


My Dad (rip as well) was a Korean and Vietnam vet.
Wish he was still around to talk to.


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2016)




----------



## wascaptain (Nov 22, 2016)

another drill week end.

slept on the ground, no tents, 1 mre, 2 packs each of instant co co, coffee and instant onion soup ,got to 32.4 degrees...no polar bear ribbon awarded.
no rounds fired, lots of canteen cup action.


----------



## doublejj (Nov 22, 2016)

wascaptain said:


> another drill week end.
> 
> slept on the ground, no tents, 1 mre, 2 packs each of instant co co, coffee and instantView attachment 3836897 onion soup ,got to 32.4 degrees...no polar bear ribbon awarded.
> no rounds fired, lots of canteen cup action.


Like we say in the infantry...."Home is where you dig it"


----------



## doublejj (Nov 22, 2016)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 22, 2016)

Just found out that now I'll be receiving 100% of my retirement from the CG and also a substantial disability check from the VA.
Plus it's retro from the date of my paperwork submission for re-eval (over a year ago) so however slowly it happens I'll be getting a nice chunk of change (5 figures not counting the little shit behind the period ).

Talk about molasses in the winter.


----------



## see4 (Nov 22, 2016)

doublejj said:


>


Funny, that's the same motto as my farts. Swift, silent and deadly.


----------



## Giddy up (Nov 22, 2016)

YUT


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 24, 2016)

and our first responders


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 22, 2016)

Kids in the Guard.
Here's what we used to look like after boot.


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 22, 2016)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Kids in the Guard.
> Here's what we used to look like after boot.
> 
> View attachment 3859653


12


----------



## sallygram (Dec 22, 2016)

Maybe one of you would know, I lost my Bronze Star about ten years ago in a house fire, all of a sudden my daughter wants it. Anybody know if it is possible for the VA to get me a replacement? Honestly since my discharge I have had very little to do with that life and don't even have a copy of my DD214 anymore, too many bad memories, but it really makes me feel good that my daughter is proud of me.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 23, 2016)

sallygram said:


> Maybe one of you would know, I lost my Bronze Star about ten years ago in a house fire, all of a sudden my daughter wants it. Anybody know if it is possible for the VA to get me a replacement? Honestly since my discharge I have had very little to do with that life and don't even have a copy of my DD214 anymore, too many bad memories, but it really makes me feel good that my daughter is proud of me.


This site walks you thru process for each branch. you should be able to handle it online now, but you can also download and print the form(s)

_edit: why not request all your awards/ribbons and have them mounted and give them to your daughter that way?_

https://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals.html#how


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 23, 2016)

BarnBuster said:


> This site walks you thru process for each branch. you should be able to handle it online now, but you can also download and print the form(s)
> 
> *edit: why not request all your awards/ribbons and have them mounted and give them to your daughter that way?*
> 
> https://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals.html#how


That is a really great idea, BB


----------



## doublejj (Dec 23, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Dec 23, 2016)




----------



## doublejj (Dec 23, 2016)

I will never forget.....miss you brothers


----------



## sallygram (Dec 23, 2016)

BarnBuster said:


> This site walks you thru process for each branch. you should be able to handle it online now, but you can also download and print the form(s)
> 
> _edit: why not request all your awards/ribbons and have them mounted and give them to your daughter that way?_
> 
> https://www.archives.gov/veterans/replace-medals.html#how


thanks I think I will do that. I was lucky that my Beret was spared from the fire, I am sure that could never be replaced.


----------



## NaturalFarmer (Dec 23, 2016)

*MISSION*
The House in the Woods Military & Family Retreat's Mission is to create a therapeutic, recreational, and educational retreat for our nation's U.S. armed forces and their families, using outdoor wilderness activities in Maine and natural habitats to help participants share common challenges related to their service and sacrifice in protecting our nation's freedom and democratic ideals.


http://www.houseinthewoods.org/


----------



## doublejj (Dec 23, 2016)




----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 24, 2016)

All deployed Military of all nations that can't be home with their families, all first responders on duty watching out for us at home, all those in hospital and especially those who are eternally watching out for us at land and sea, Bless you all.









_Next year, some addresses and websites to send cards, letters and donations_

http://www.operationwearehere.com/IdeasforSoldiersCardsLetters.html


----------



## doublejj (Dec 28, 2016)




----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 3, 2017)

*Pentagon to pay back recouped California Guard bonuses, forgive thousands more*​By: Meghann Myers, January 3, 2017

_The Pentagon will repay millions of dollars in California Army National Guard bonuses that were improperly recouped from veterans and eliminate the debts of more than 17,000 troops who had been on the hook for repayment, according to the Defense Department's acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
_
https://www.armytimes.com/articles/pentagon-to-pay-back-recouped-california-guard-bonuses-forgive-thousands-more?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Army DNR 01-03-17&utm_term=Editorial - Army - Daily News Roundup


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 3, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> *Pentagon to pay back recouped California Guard bonuses, forgive thousands more*​By: Meghann Myers, January 3, 2017
> 
> _The Pentagon will repay millions of dollars in California Army National Guard bonuses that were improperly recouped from veterans and eliminate the debts of more than 17,000 troops who had been on the hook for repayment, according to the Defense Department's acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
> _
> https://www.armytimes.com/articles/pentagon-to-pay-back-recouped-california-guard-bonuses-forgive-thousands-more?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Army DNR 01-03-17&utm_term=Editorial - Army - Daily News Roundup


This should have never been allowed to go as far as it did.

Disgusting treatment by our _brave_ rear echelon.


----------



## doublejj (Jan 4, 2017)

Hill 937......


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 5, 2017)

I'd kick that dude with the 12 Ga square in the nuts.
Check out his muzzle control.


----------



## doublejj (Jan 5, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I'd kick that dude with the 12 Ga square in the nuts.
> Check out his muzzle control.


Ah those are 'Range Rules' bro, out in the field all that goes out the window. If the truth be known they were probably just smoking weed from it.....


----------



## Giddy up (Jan 5, 2017)

Top right appears to have his finger on the trigger


----------



## doublejj (Jan 5, 2017)

Giddy up said:


> Top right appears to have his finger on the trigger


I think they were just posing.... we weren't allowed to lock&load until we crossed the wire...and then it was every man for himself...lol


----------



## doublejj (Jan 6, 2017)

LZ Albany...Vietnam


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 22, 2017)




----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 22, 2017)

That's Hilltop 2311 in the distance. Logar Province is on the other side of it. Picture is from OP1, Tangi Valley, Wardak Province.


----------



## Drowning-Man (Apr 22, 2017)




----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 22, 2017)

Drowning-Man said:


> View attachment 3929318


Conquer men and mountains, brother. Hooah.


----------



## Drowning-Man (Apr 22, 2017)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Conquer men and mountains, brother. Hooah.
> View attachment 3929325


Why does the grass grow?


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 22, 2017)

Drowning-Man said:


> Why does the grass grow?


Blood and guts!

Why's the sky blue?


----------



## doublejj (Apr 22, 2017)

Drowning-Man said:


> View attachment 3929318


I had lunch with a Rakkasan at the BBQ today.....


----------



## xmatox (Apr 22, 2017)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Blood and guts!
> 
> Why's the sky blue?


cuz god loves the INFANTRY! Hooah!


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 22, 2017)

doublejj said:


> I had lunch with a Rakkasan at the BBQ today.....


How was it?


----------



## doublejj (Apr 22, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> How was it?


Awesome....


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 22, 2017)

doublejj said:


> Awesome....


Wish I could have been there


----------



## doublejj (Apr 22, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> Wish I could have been there


me too.......


----------



## doublejj (Apr 22, 2017)




----------



## Drowning-Man (Apr 23, 2017)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Blood and guts!
> 
> Why's the sky blue?


Cuz God loves the infantry duh


----------



## Drowning-Man (Apr 23, 2017)

doublejj said:


> I had lunch with a Rakkasan at the BBQ today.....


Realy tell him B co 3/187!


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 23, 2017)

doublejj said:


> I had lunch with a Rakkasan at the BBQ today.....





Drowning-Man said:


> Cuz God loves the infantry duh





Drowning-Man said:


> Realy tell him B co 3/187!





curious2garden said:


> How was it?





xmatox said:


> cuz god loves the INFANTRY! Hooah!


Goddamned right. Fucking love you guys.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 23, 2017)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Goddamned right. Fucking love you guys.


Love your nose


----------



## doublejj (Apr 23, 2017)

Drowning-Man said:


> Realy tell him B co 3/187!


3/187 Rakkanasans in Vietnam.......


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 23, 2017)

doublejj said:


> 3/187 Rakkanasans in Vietnam.......


Wouldn't know shit about that, myself. I have nothing but absolute respect for your generation. Some of you didn't have a choice in being there, and when you got home, you had your own people spitting on you, calling you disgusting bullshit. And you marched on, man. Welcome home, and thank you for your service.


----------



## doublejj (Apr 24, 2017)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Wouldn't know shit about that, myself. I have nothing but absolute respect for your generation. Some of you didn't have a choice in being there, and when you got home, you had your own people spitting on you, calling you disgusting bullshit. And you marched on, man. Welcome home, and thank you for your service.


No battle plan survives initial contact......


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 24, 2017)

doublejj said:


> No battle plan survives initial contact......


I believe that's what we call a FRAGO.


----------



## doublejj (Apr 30, 2017)

Serious flashback when this came on the radio today....I had to pull over for 10min... Vietnam was a bitch!


----------



## doublejj (Apr 30, 2017)

any Nam vets remember dave rabbit?....


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 30, 2017)

doublejj said:


> Serious flashback when this came on the radio today....I had to pull over for 10min... Vietnam was a bitch!


You alright, man?


----------



## doublejj (Apr 30, 2017)

Olive Drab Green said:


> You alright, man?


I was kind of a rough day.....but I'm ok. thanks bro


----------



## doublejj (Apr 30, 2017)

"You deserve everything you get"......


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Apr 30, 2017)

I'm here if there's anything you might need.


----------



## Drowning-Man (May 1, 2017)

doublejj said:


> I was kind of a rough day.....but I'm ok. thanks bro


Thanks for yer service i was in iraq i have tough days to broth.


----------



## BarnBuster (May 5, 2017)




----------



## Sir Napsalot (May 5, 2017)

USN '75-'79 here
No wartime service, but the destroyer I was on was part of operation Paul Bunyan in 1976

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axe_murder_incident


----------



## Drowning-Man (May 6, 2017)

My roommates navy i was army


----------



## BarnBuster (May 29, 2017)




----------



## BlueRidgeGrower (May 30, 2017)

I was an Army Tanker! Death before Dismount!


----------



## Drowning-Man (May 30, 2017)

BlueRidgeGrower said:


> I was an Army Tanker! Death before Dismount!


And God loves the Infantry thats why he made the sky blue


----------



## BlueRidgeGrower (May 30, 2017)

And hated them enough he made them walk everywhere! How's everyone doing tonight?


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 17, 2017)

a sad day for the Navy..S&R found bodies in the flooded spaces and are ID'ing them 

https://www.navytimes.com/articles/stricken-destroyer-fitzgerald-returns-home-7-sailors-still-missing


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 28, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> a sad day for the Navy..S&R found bodies in the flooded spaces and are ID'ing them
> 
> https://www.navytimes.com/articles/stricken-destroyer-fitzgerald-returns-home-7-sailors-still-missing


It's not sounding too good for the CO of the Fitzgerald if the Japanese Captains report is accurate.


----------



## Singlemalt (Jun 28, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> It's not sounding too good for the CO of the Fitzgerald if the Japanese Captains report is accurate.


My impression is that Benson would be screwed regardless. A good friend, now deceased was career Navy, primarily on aircraft carriers. He was on ship that got temporarily stuck on a sandbar in the Indian Ocean. They couldn't free themselves until high tide, so a few hours later they did. No damage, and those sandbars can't be charted. The Captain got transferred, and resigned shortly as his career was blackballed.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 28, 2017)

*Command at Sea: the prestige, privilege and burden of command*
By Joseph Conrad​
Only a seaman realizes to what great extent an entire ship reflects the personality and ability of one individual, her Commanding Officer. To a landsman, this is not understandable - and sometimes it is even difficult for us to comprehend - but it is so!

A ship at sea is a different world in herself, and in consideration of the protracted and distant operations of the fleet units, the Navy must place great power, responsibility and trust in the hands of those leaders chosen for command.

In each ship there is one man who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to no other man. There is one who alone is ultimately responsible for the safe navigation, engineering performance, accurate gunfire and morale of the ship. He is the Commanding Officer. He is the ship!

This is the most difficult and demanding assignment in the Navy. There is not an instant during his tour as Commanding Officer that he can escape the grasp of command responsibility. His privileges, in view of his obligations, are almost ludicrously small; nevertheless, this is the spur which has given the Navy its great leaders.

It is a duty which richly deserves the highest, time-honored title of the seafaring world - Captain.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 28, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> My impression is that Benson would be screwed regardless. A good friend, now deceased was career Navy, primarily on aircraft carriers. He was on ship that got temporarily stuck on a sandbar in the Indian Ocean. They couldn't free themselves until high tide, so a few hours later they did. No damage, and those sandbars can't be charted. The Captain got transferred, and resigned shortly as his career was blackballed.


That Benson's career is screwed is beyond doubt - but if the investigating bodies find that the Japanese CO's narrative is correct it will likely lead to very serious charges resulting in a Courts Martial (as it should).
If I were one of the parents of the deceased sailors I would have a lawyer (well versed in the UCMJ) and a letter to my congressman at the ready.


----------



## Singlemalt (Jun 28, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> That Benson's career is screwed is beyond doubt - but if the investigating bodies find that the Japanese CO's narrative is correct it will likely will lead to very serious charges resulting in a Courts Martial (as it should).
> If I were one of the parents of the deceased sailors I would have a lawyer(well versed in the UCMJ) and a letter to my congressman at the ready.


Yeah, failure to respond to the freighter's warnings, apparent sonar/radar malfunctions. Captain could be looking at Leavenworth


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 3, 2017)




----------



## Rooster802 (Jul 3, 2017)

So I was eating my grandma's pussy the other day and I got a mouthful of horse semen... got me to thinking if that wasn't what killed her? 

Fuck me, seriously just got back from the bar and this dipshit told me that cannabis should remain illegal because he didn't want his son to think it was cool. I informed him that cannabis is awesome, and nontoxic, and to tell me I shouldn't have it because he didn't like it was fucking un-American. Which he agreed with and said he didn't care, he was gonna be selfish anyway... goddamn. I love free speech.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 11, 2017)

Explodes, mid air  ?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4683912/Military-plane-crashes-Mississippi-killing-six-people.html


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 11, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> Explodes, mid air  ?
> 
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4683912/Military-plane-crashes-Mississippi-killing-six-people.html


Wow, a debris field 5 miles long?
Not even a chance to walk away from that one.

Condolences to all affected.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 12, 2017)




----------



## cannabineer (Jul 12, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


>


A bit of Latin Smatter there ... I'd go with "fraternitas infinita" or , if i want to keep the 3rd-person-singular riff a-rockin, "frater perpetuus"

~edit~ I will correct myself "frater in perpetuum"

/nitpick


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 12, 2017)

cannabineer said:


> A bit of Latin Smatter there ... I'd go with "fraternitas infinita" or , if i want to keep the 3rd-person-singular riff a-rockin, "frater perpetuus"
> 
> ~edit~ I will correct myself "frater in perpetuum"
> 
> /nitpick


i plagiarized this from twitter


----------



## haight (Jul 13, 2017)

BlueRidgeGrower said:


> I was an Army Tanker! Death before Dismount!


How's your hearing?


----------



## haight (Jul 13, 2017)

Rooster802 said:


> So I was eating my grandma's pussy the other day and I got a mouthful of horse semen... got me to thinking if that wasn't what killed her?
> 
> Fuck me, seriously just got back from the bar and this dipshit told me that cannabis should remain illegal because he didn't want his son to think it was cool. I informed him that cannabis is awesome, and nontoxic, and to tell me I shouldn't have it because he didn't like it was fucking un-American. Which he agreed with and said he didn't care, he was gonna be selfish anyway... goddamn. I love free speech.


Drunk last night, drunk the night before, gonna get drunk tonight like I never got drunk before.


----------



## doublejj (Jul 14, 2017)

9th Infantry Division Vietnam 1969.....


----------



## Cx2H (Jul 16, 2017)

*Texas veteran's dying wish is for you to text or call*

"Lee is an 18½-year Army veteran who served a tour in Iraq"

http://www.wfaa.com/mb/life/army-veterans-dying-wish-is-to-hear-from-you-/457134314


----------



## BlueRidgeGrower (Jul 16, 2017)

haight said:


> How's your hearing?


What?!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 17, 2017)

BlueRidgeGrower said:


> What?!


----------



## BlueRidgeGrower (Jul 17, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> View attachment 3979560


That only gets funnier the more I look at it.


----------



## doublejj (Jul 18, 2017)

the life expentency of a infantry combat medic in Vietnam was 14 days......


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 31, 2017)

presentation today at the White House













*The Citation*​
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Private First Class James C. McCloughan, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Private First Class [James] C. McCloughan distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty from May 13th through 15th, 1969, while serving as a combat medic with Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, Americal Division.

The company air assaulted into an area near Tam Ky and Nui Yon Hill. On May 13th, with complete disregard for his life, he ran 100 meters in an open field through heavy fire to rescue a comrade too injured to move and carried him to safety. That same day, 2nd Platoon was ordered to search the area near Nui Yon Hill when the platoon was ambushed by a large North Vietnamese Army force and sustained heavy casualties.

With complete disregard for his life and personal safety, Private First Class McCloughan led two Americans into the safety of a trench while being wounded by shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade. He ignored a direct order to stay back, and braved an enemy assault while moving into the “kill zone” on four more occasions to extract wounded comrades.

He treated the injured, prepared the evacuation, and though bleeding heavily from shrapnel wounds on his head and entire body, refused evacuation to safety in order to remain at the battle site with his fellow soldiers who were heavily outnumbered by the North Vietnamese Army forces.

On May 14th, the platoon was again ordered to move out towards Nui Yon Hill. Private First Class McCloughan was wounded a second time by small arms fire and shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade while rendering aid to two soldiers in an open rice paddy. In the final phases of the attack, two companies from 2nd North Vietnamese Army Division and an element of 700 soldiers from a Viet Cong regiment descended upon Charlie Company's position on three sides.

Private First Class McCloughan, again with complete disregard for his life, went into the crossfire numerous times throughout the battle to extract the wounded soldiers, while also fighting the enemy. His relentless and courageous actions inspired and motivated his comrades to fight for their survival. When supplies ran low, Private First Class McCloughan volunteered to hold a blinking strobe light in an open area as a marker for a nighttime resupply drop. He remained steadfast while bullets landed all around him and rocket-propelled grenades flew over his prone, exposed body.

During the morning darkness of May 15th, Private First Class McCloughan knocked out a rocket-propelled grenade position with a grenade, fought and eliminated enemy soldiers, treated numerous casualties, kept two critically-wounded soldiers alive through the night, and organized the dead and wounded for evacuation at daylight. His timely and courageous actions were instrumental in saving the lives of his fellow soldiers.

Private First Class McCloughan’s personal heroism, professional competence, and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the Americal Division, and the United States Army.


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 4, 2017)




----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 12, 2017)

saw this on Twitter today, USA's oldest living WW2 vet. Smokes 12-18 cigars a day, drinks his coffee with whiskey, favorite foods are catfish and gravy, corn, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese. 111 years young.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Arvin_Overton


----------



## QtrNdaPuss (Aug 12, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> saw this on Twitter today, USA's oldest living WW2 vet. Smokes 12-18 cigars a day, drinks his coffee with whiskey, favorite foods are catfish and gravy, corn, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese. 111 years young.
> 
> View attachment 3993968
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Arvin_Overton


they dont make em like they used too!


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 12, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> saw this on Twitter today, USA's oldest living WW2 vet. Smokes 12-18 cigars a day, drinks his coffee with whiskey, favorite foods are catfish and gravy, corn, hamburgers and macaroni and cheese. 111 years young.
> 
> View attachment 3993968
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Arvin_Overton


That's one ass kicking genotype


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 13, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> That's one ass kicking* Phenotype*


Fixed it for ya. 

That dude is bad ass!


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 17, 2017)

Military.com | 17 Aug 2017 | by Richard Sisk

_The commander of the destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the executive officer have been permanently detached from the ship and face non-judicial punishment over the deadly collision in June with a container ship, the Navy announced Thursday.

Cmdr. Bryce Benson, commander of the Fitzgerald, and Cmdr. Sean Babbitt, the executive officer, are "being detached for cause," meaning that the Navy "has lost trust and confidence in their ability to lead," Adm. Bill Moran, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, said during a press conference.

Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, commander of the 7th Fleet, has also decided that the top enlisted sailor aboard the Fitzgerald and several other sailors on the watch crew at the time of the collision on June 17 will also face non-judicial punishment, Moran said.

Aucoin ruled that "serious mistakes were made by the crew," Moran said.
_
The Navy also posthumously promoted the seven sailors who died in the collision.


----------



## dstroy (Aug 17, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> Military.com | 17 Aug 2017 | by Richard Sisk
> 
> _The commander of the destroyer USS Fitzgerald and the executive officer have been permanently detached from the ship and face non-judicial punishment over the deadly collision in June with a container ship, the Navy announced Thursday.
> 
> ...


I don't understand why they redacted what they did other than the berthing layout.


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 17, 2017)

dstroy said:


> I don't understand why they redacted what they did other than the berthing layout.


i dunno, looks like the other redacted had to do with medical privacy issues of the injured.


----------



## dstroy (Aug 17, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> i dunno, looks like the other redacted had to do with medical privacy issues of the injured.


Not the personal stuff, they just redacted damage to a certain space on the ship that's right by the captains cabin


----------



## dstroy (Aug 17, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> i dunno, looks like the other redacted had to do with medical privacy issues of the injured.


Not the personal stuff, they just redacted damage to a certain space on the ship that's right by the captains cabin.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 17, 2017)

There is absolutely no excuse for that type of shit to happen to a state of the art war ship.

None.

Negligence and lack of training/leadership is the only explanation.


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 17, 2017)

Be interested to know more about both Commanders prior duties and leadership.


----------



## dstroy (Aug 17, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> There is absolutely no excuse for that type of shit to happen to a state of the art war ship.
> 
> None.
> 
> Negligence and lack of training/leadership is the only explanation.


I agree, the vice cno agrees as well. One of those responsible has already been to admirals mast.


----------



## dstroy (Aug 17, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> Be interested to know more about both Commanders prior duties and leadership.


I only searched a little bit about just the co

http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg62/Pages/bio2-28November2015-11March2017.aspx#.WZZYk4UpCEc


----------



## pabloesqobar (Aug 17, 2017)

dstroy said:


> I only searched a little bit about just the co
> 
> http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg62/Pages/bio2-28November2015-11March2017.aspx#.WZZYk4UpCEc



I know you were a FC - I was an STG. Same Department, usually, and same berthing. I wonder if the berthing that was flooded would've been the one we would've been in on that ship.


----------



## dunnyluv (Aug 18, 2017)

Navy 
VFA 125
VFA 147


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 18, 2017)

dstroy said:


> Not the personal stuff, they just redacted damage to a certain space on the ship that's right by the captains cabin.


The photo's may have showed the bodies or parts there of _in situ, _the more I thought about it.



GreatwhiteNorth said:


> There is absolutely no excuse for that type of shit to happen to a state of the art war ship. None. Negligence and lack of training/leadership is the only explanation.


I imagine smart CO's already reviewed their Captain's Standing and Night Orders in detail with their crew when they heard about this. A real shame that most Military Orders and Procedures have to be written in blood.


----------



## PetFlora (Aug 18, 2017)

Hey guys put your headphones on and listen to this interview. s

he has lots of them, including Cpt. Mark Richards, falsely imprisoned


----------



## PetFlora (Aug 18, 2017)

BM9AGS said:


> *some Regular army guys marry strippers and the like and give them full access to bank accts and deploy and come home to nothing. It's just nature punishing the stupid.
> I was marines and am now army and in the regular units it's all about mass punishment. If one dude gets a DUI everyone gets punished. It's poor leadership
> 
> Sorry yall gotta deal with mass punishment too of the military
> ...


sad, but all too true


----------



## dstroy (Aug 18, 2017)

pabloesqobar said:


> I know you were a FC - I was an STG. Same Department, usually, and same berthing. I wonder if the berthing that was flooded would've been the one we would've been in on that ship.


Yes, berthing one was "combat systems" berthing two was "engineering". We would have been in Berthing one.


----------



## dstroy (Aug 18, 2017)

So the triad just got relieved for cause, CO, XO, CMC. The next heads that will roll are probably: OOD, JOOD, lookouts (especially aft lookout), Bright bridge (surface search radar watchstander on the bridge), the navigator (culpable because he/she is in charge of nav training), TAO/TAC, maybe the OSS operator, and surface.


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 20, 2017)

https://www.paulallen.com/wreckage-from-uss-indianapolis-located-in-philippine-sea/


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 20, 2017)

Uh oh! Again?
http://www.live5news.com/story/36177013/us-7th-fleet-uss-john-s-mccain-collides-with-merchant-ship-near-strait-of-malacca


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 20, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> Uh oh! Again?
> http://www.live5news.com/story/36177013/us-7th-fleet-uss-john-s-mccain-collides-with-merchant-ship-near-strait-of-malacca


WTF - these ships are literally the highest tech on the water & those dumb asses are crashing into other merchant ships.
Training must be slipping as that shit is simply unacceptable.


----------



## curious2garden (Aug 21, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> WTF - these ships are literally the highest tech on the water & those dumb asses are crashing into other merchant ships.
> Training must be slipping as that shit is simply unacceptable.


Lazy/stupid matrix


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 21, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> WTF - these ships are literally the highest tech on the water & those dumb asses are crashing into other merchant ships.
> Training must be slipping as that shit is simply unacceptable.


I guess I spoke too soon about smart CO's, I mean, wouldn't all crew be hyper vigilant, especially steaming in that area?


----------



## dstroy (Aug 21, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> WTF - these ships are literally the highest tech on the water & those dumb asses are crashing into other merchant ships.
> Training must be slipping as that shit is simply unacceptable.


Yeah, tons of people are going to get fired and maybe go to jail (for negligence), depends on the outcome of the investigation.
They've been reducing manning on destroyers and cruisers for a while. When I got to my first boat which was a destroyer the crew was about 360 which is maximum, and then they (big navy) kept reducing manning more and more to try and save money, down to 270. So everyone was doing more work and getting less sleep. I know that a normal work week for me was about 70 hours on average (a lot of times more than 100). On top of that you have watch, which I don't count towards "work", and that's a guaranteed every day thing which is not at the same time and there is no promise that you will get to sleep after it's over.
Sleep takes a backseat, and people get complacent because they're tired and think someone else is watching. Usually this happens (in my experience) because the command triad is really disconnected from the pulse of the crew and pushes them way too hard, or they don't care about the crew and only care about their fitreps.



BarnBuster said:


> I guess I spoke too soon about smart CO's, I mean, wouldn't all crew be hyper vigilant, especially steaming in that area?


You would hope so, apparently not. I don't know all the variables though.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 22, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> I guess I spoke too soon about smart CO's, I mean, wouldn't all crew be hyper vigilant, especially steaming in that area?


In close proximity of ports or other vessels every CG ship I was ever on went to "Special Sea Detail" which effectively means all hands to their stations - no sleeping/fucking around.

We ran aground on a sandbar once in False Pass - the first navigable passage in the Aleutians between the Gulf of Alaska and the Bearing Sea. 
Named that because the currents are treacherous and the sandbars are constantly shifting - many times we had to resort to hand sounding with a lead line.

Pumping F/W tanks & waiting on the tide did the trick.
NTS, always work aids to navigation on a rising tide.


----------



## dstroy (Aug 22, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> In close proximity of ports or other vessels every CG ship I was ever on went to "Special Sea Detail" which effectively means all hands to their stations - no sleeping/fucking around.
> 
> We ran aground on a sandbar once in False Pass - the first navigable passage in the Aleutians between the Gulf of Alaska and the Bearing Sea.
> Named that because the currents are treacherous and the sandbars are constantly shifting - many times we had to resort to hand sounding with a lead line.
> ...


They still do the same thing only now it's called "sea and anchor detail". There are only a few people who aren't assigned a station and they just help where needed. (I was on a cruiser and a destroyer)


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 23, 2017)

uh-oh, no fourth star here,

_"WASHINGTON — The head of U.S. Forces Pacific is preparing to sack the head of the three-star U.S. 7th Fleet after a string of mishaps among the Japan-based ships that have rocked the Navy to its core.

Adm. Scott Swift is traveling to Japan and plans to remove Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin for a loss of confidence in his leadership there, two U.S. officials confirmed."_

http://www.defensenews.com/breaking-news/2017/08/23/us-pacific-fleet-boss-sacks-three-star-fleet-commander-after-a-rash-of-incidents/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB 08.23.2017&utm_term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 23, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> uh-oh, no fourth star here,
> 
> _"WASHINGTON — The head of U.S. Forces Pacific is preparing to sack the head of the three-star U.S. 7th Fleet after a string of mishaps among the Japan-based ships that have rocked the Navy to its core.
> 
> ...


Ultimate responsibility, that's what comes with the top job.
About time it was exercised!


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 23, 2017)

How far up the chain do they go; i.e is Adm. Swift vulnerable?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 23, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> How far up the chain do they go; i.e is Adm. Swift vulnerable?


Depends on the results of the investigation.
There's always a second career working for the General.


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 23, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Depends on the results of the investigation.
> There's always a second career working for the General.
> 
> View attachment 3999143


LOL


----------



## dstroy (Aug 23, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> How far up the chain do they go; i.e is Adm. Swift vulnerable?


Also depends on how long it stays in the news, ranks up that high are subject to politics. If the navy keeps being embarrassed congress will replace the leadership.


----------



## curious2garden (Aug 23, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Ultimate responsibility, that's what comes with the top job.
> About time it was exercised!


Depending on who liked you (in other branches of the service), the person fired was not the person in the position at the time of the incident LOL


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 23, 2017)

Aucoin was going to retire soon, and his replacement now, Rear Adm Sawyer was originally set to take over on Sept 7 of this year anyway.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2017/08/22/in-the-navy-a-premier-surface-fleet-faces-new-scrutiny-after-deadly-disasters-at-sea/


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 23, 2017)

dstroy said:


> Yeah, tons of people are going to get fired and maybe go to jail (for negligence), depends on the outcome of the investigation.
> They've been reducing manning on destroyers and cruisers for a while. When I got to my first boat which was a destroyer the crew was about 360 which is maximum, and then they (big navy) kept reducing manning more and more to try and save money, down to 270. So everyone was doing more work and getting less sleep. I know that a normal work week for me was about 70 hours on average (a lot of times more than 100). On top of that you have watch, which I don't count towards "work", and that's a guaranteed every day thing which is not at the same time and there is no promise that you will get to sleep after it's over.
> Sleep takes a backseat, and people get complacent because they're tired and think someone else is watching. Usually this happens (in my experience) because the command triad is really disconnected from the pulse of the crew and pushes them way too hard, or they don't care about the crew and only care about their fitreps.
> 
> ...


They did that shit in the AF. Combined jobs and cut man power. We were 40% manned in my field and 18-20 hour days were common and we saw 72 hour shifts when enduring freedom kicked off.

Use you and abuse you.


----------



## TacoMac (Aug 23, 2017)

I don't know what happened to the U.S. Navy, but it has flat gone down the tubes lately. You have the captain of a 3 billion dollar air craft carrier Youtubing on the job, sailors raping citizens on leave, ships running into each other...

It's deplorable. It has been for some time now. Heads should have been rolling long before we got to this point.


----------



## dstroy (Aug 23, 2017)

TacoMac said:


> I don't know what happened to the U.S. Navy, but it has flat gone down the tubes lately. You have the captain of a 3 billion dollar air craft carrier Youtubing on the job, sailors raping citizens on leave, ships running into each other...
> 
> It's deplorable. It has been for some time now. Heads should have been rolling long before we got to this point.


What branch did you serve in?

Who is "youtubing"? I really haven't heard anything about this... or maybe I have and forgot? Can you share a link please? 

You can train sailors all you want about sexual assault, sadly some will do it anyway. If you think that the Navy doesn't take it seriously or doesn't hold enough training on the subject you are flat out wrong. I was up until May of this year a federally certified sexual assault victim advocate and performed training all the time for sailors, we receive new anti-sexual assault/harassment media on a quarterly basis. The training is constantly updated to remain engaging. Training is 100% mandatory, you are not allowed to miss it.

The ships running into each other thing, or running aground, I've read the reports and know who is in the wrong for that happening and it's sad that their command fostered a culture that even allowed the accidents to happen.


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 23, 2017)

dstroy said:


> What branch did you serve in?
> 
> Who is "youtubing"? I really haven't heard anything about this... or maybe I have and forgot? Can you share a link please?
> 
> ...


He may be referring to Capt. Owen Honors, one time Capt of the Enterprise (LOL not Kirk or Picard)


----------



## dstroy (Aug 23, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> He may be referring to Capt. Owen Honors, one time Capt of the Enterprise (LOL not Kirk or Picard)


That was in 2011 right?


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 23, 2017)

dstroy said:


> That was in 2011 right?


I believe so


----------



## haight (Aug 25, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> WTF - these ships are literally the highest tech on the water & those dumb asses are crashing into other merchant ships.
> Training must be slipping as that shit is simply unacceptable.


 Training is an issue. Not enough time, dollars or troops to keep up the training. Too much time deployed and not enough time in the classroom.


----------



## haight (Aug 25, 2017)

whitebb2727 said:


> They did that shit in the AF. Combined jobs and cut man power. We were 40% manned in my field and 18-20 hour days were common and we saw 72 hour shifts when enduring freedom kicked off.
> 
> Use you and abuse you.


One guy driving an Abrams fell asleep and the tank went off a bridge and all four guys drowned during the road to Bagdad. Four hours sleep might be okay in basic but not in combat. Sleep is a weapon too.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 25, 2017)

haight said:


> One guy driving an Abrams fell asleep and the tank went off a bridge and all four guys drowned during the road to Bagdad. Four hours sleep might be okay in basic but not in combat. Sleep is a weapon too.


I got a good childhood friend that his dad was special forces.

He would tell me about going without sleep so long that he would tie a string from his belt to his gun so he wouldn't walk off and leave it.

I was a structural mechanic and sheet metal guy. Those type repairs have to be spot on or planes could crash.

It is very dangerous to go without sleep.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 25, 2017)

whitebb2727 said:


> I got a good childhood friend that his dad was special forces.
> 
> He would tell me about going without sleep so long that he would tie a string from his belt to his gun so he wouldn't walk off and leave it.
> 
> ...


Dad was USAF E-8 that was a B-52 structural mechanic & just all around fix/make anything guy. Welded/machined/fabbed like a wizard even with that archaic equipment that was probably 100 y/o.

Actually picked up a couple of awards from 6 months in "Rocket Alley" Vietnam - seem he and another guy fabbed up several makeshift helo transport skid in like 80 hours or so after being tasked. A pretty neat & talented guy.
Oh, and he was a Korean vet as well.

Had a couple of hair raising stories of conducting post crash assessments/recovery on several aircraft in hostile territory.

Still my Hero & best friend


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 26, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Dad was USAF E-8 that was a B-52 structural mechanic & just all around fix/make anything guy. Welded/machined/fabbed like a wizard even with that archaic equipment that was probably 100 y/o.
> 
> Actually picked up a couple of awards from 6 months in "Rocket Alley" Vietnam - seem he and another guy fabbed up several makeshift helo transport skid in like 80 hours or so after being tasked. A pretty neat & talented guy.
> Oh, and he was a Korean vet as well.
> ...


Cool. I like to hear stories like that. Your dad is a hero.

Yea. The told use we would be a jack of all trades.  There wasn't a system one that structures didn't work on.

Emergency aircraft battle damage repair school is interesting. Its about getting the job done in unique ways.

So he was stationed at Minot? Why not Minot? Lol.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2017)

whitebb2727 said:


> Cool. I like to hear stories like that. Your dad is a hero.
> 
> Yea. The told use we would be a jack of all trades. There wasn't a system one that structures didn't work on.
> 
> ...


Back in the day "Hobby-lobby" projects were encouraged to hone your skills during down time.
He made 4 of these knives - one for himself (the larger one) and then slightly smaller ones for myself & siblings.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Aug 26, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Back in the day "Hobby-lobby" projects were encouraged to hone your skills during down time.
> He made 4 of these knives - one for himself (the larger one) and then slightly smaller ones for myself & siblings.
> 
> View attachment 4000574


That's cool as hell. I thought about getting a small gas forge and making some blades.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2017)

Forged in fire is one of my favorite shows.


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 7, 2017)

article in this month's _Proceedings, _re: Fitzgerald and McCain collisions;

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-09/use-recent-collisions-motivation


----------



## Aeroknow (Sep 7, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> article in this month's _Proceedings, _re: Fitzgerald and McCain collisions;
> 
> https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2017-09/use-recent-collisions-motivation


@BarnBuster

I literally just talked to the guy by phone. He's an old man can hardly hear, i feel bad for talking shit  The canteen was found in a barn in LA. It's being sent to me real soon.
He wants hardly nothing for it. Just what he paid plus the cost of shipping. So stoked.


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 7, 2017)

Aeroknow said:


> @BarnBuster
> 
> I literally just talked to the guy by phone. He's an old man can hardly hear, i feel bad for talking shit  The canteen was found in a barn in LA. It's being sent to me real soon.
> He wants hardly nothing for it. Just what he paid plus the cost of shipping. So stoked.


Oh wow, that's super. I'm glad it worked out so well for you!!


----------



## Aeroknow (Sep 7, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> Oh wow, that's super. I'm glad it worked out so well for you!!


Thanks again for your help bro!

Hopefully I'll be sending you some pics soon of it.

Thanks again.


----------



## curious2garden (Sep 7, 2017)

Aeroknow said:


> @BarnBuster
> 
> I literally just talked to the guy by phone. He's an old man can *hardly hear*, i feel bad for talking shit  The canteen was found in a barn in LA. It's being sent to me real soon.
> He wants hardly nothing for it. Just what he paid plus the cost of shipping. So stoked.


Fuck @BarnBuster post them for the forum! I wanna see it, too!


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 8, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> Fuck @BarnBuster post them for the forum! I wanna see it, too!


Now, you know BB don't tell no secrets!


----------



## curious2garden (Sep 8, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> Now, you know BB don't tell no secrets!


LOL aeroknow took care of me. I remember that from this spring! What a lovely person, amazing.


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2017)




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## Aeroknow (Sep 11, 2017)

@BarnBuster

Thanks a bunch bro! You're the best.

How my grandpas ww2 canteen ended up at a garage sale in LA and than on the internet is something I'll never know. He must have left it somewhere in or near this tunnel on Corregidor island after being shot and captured and than death marchedand POW for the whole rest of the war.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 11, 2017)

Aeroknow said:


> @BarnBuster
> View attachment 4008819
> Thanks a bunch bro! You're the best.
> 
> ...


I've been to both Bataan and Corregidor (including the tunnels & gun emplacements) many years ago (the early 60's) - we were finding slugs rolling around in the sand at the beach.

They are surreal places.


----------



## Aeroknow (Sep 11, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I've been to both Bataan and Corregidor (including the tunnels & gun emplacements) many years ago (the early 60's) - we were finding slugs rolling around in the sand at the beach.
> 
> They are surreal places.


Nice!

My cousin went there some years ago and just shared with me all his pics of the gun emplacements and tunnels. Awesome stuff!


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 16, 2017)

_*U.S. Naval Institute*‏--NavalInstitute 9h9 hours ago
RIP Harry Dean Stanton. The great character actor (Alien, Cool Hand Luke) was a Navy vet who served on LST-970 during the Battle of Okinawa_


----------



## natureboygrower (Sep 17, 2017)

Ken Burns doc on Vietnam starts tonight on PBS.I'm really looking forward to seeing all sides of this story,my father was stationed in Chu Lai in 68.I only know of @doublejj serving,but if im forgetting anyone else that did,apologies.Welcome home doublejj,thank you for your service.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 17, 2017)

natureboygrower said:


> Ken Burns doc on Vietnam starts tonight on PBS.I'm really looking forward to seeing all sides of this story,my father was stationed in Chu Lai in 68.I only know of @doublejj serving,but if im forgetting anyone else that did,apologies.Welcome home doublejj,thank you for your service.


My Dad spent 8 months in Rocket City in 67 - he kept a daily diary that my siblings and I found after his passing & it is some intense reading.


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## doublejj (Sep 17, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My Dad spent 8 months in Rocket City in 67 - he kept a daily diary that my siblings and I found after his passing & it is some intense reading.


Thanks, I'm off grid right now but I will watch it.........


----------



## jacksmuff (Sep 17, 2017)

Aeroknow said:


> @BarnBuster
> View attachment 4008819
> Thanks a bunch bro! You're the best.
> 
> ...


this is awsome!! news worthy.


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 18, 2017)

_"The commander of the Navy’s largest operational battle force and his subordinate in charge of the attached destroyer squadron have been removed from their positions as a result of ongoing investigations into a string of incidents this year that resulted in the death of 17 sailors and hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, USNI News has learned.

U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Philip Sawyer removed Rear Adm. Charles Williams, commander of Combined Task Force 70, and Capt. Jeffery Bennett, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15, from their positions on Monday (Tuesday local time) due to a loss of confidence in their ability to command, two Navy officials told USNI News and later confirmed by a statement from the service."
_
https://news.usni.org/2017/09/18/admiral-captain-removed-part-investigation-uss-john-s-mccain-uss-fitzgerald-collisions-head-surface-forces-puts-early-retirement-request

http://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2017/09/18/new-7th-fleet-boss-fires-rear-admiral-and-captain-citing-loss-of-confidence/


----------



## Singlemalt (Sep 18, 2017)

*The U.S. Navy's most advanced submarines will soon be using Xbox controllers *


https://pilotonline.com/news/military/local/the-u-s-navy-s-most-advanced-submarines-will-soon/article_5c24eefc-8e70-5c4a-9d82-00d29e052b76.html


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## BarnBuster (Sep 19, 2017)

18Sep1947


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## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2017)

_"Staff Sgt. Richard Hunter, a combat controller with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, will receive the Air Force Cross for his actions during a 2016 battle in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, the commander of Air Force Special Operations Command said Tuesday. 







During the battle, Hunter called in 31 danger-close air strikes in support of his 12-man Army Special Forces team, said Lt. Gen. Brad Webb. Some of those air strikes were as close as 13 meters from friendly forces, Webb added.

The team had been ambushed by insurgents in elevated positions along the northern village of Boz Kandahari. Hunter controlled AC-130 Gunships and AH-64 Apaches as the team moved through the village and was ultimately evacuated by helicopter under fire.

Over the course of the engagement, Hunter was “firing his own weapon, protecting others, providing first aid to others, and calling in air strikes,” Webb said. “It was an extremely heroic mission. I‘m very, very proud of him._”

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/09/19/combat-controller-to-receive-air-force-cross-for-actions-during-fierce-afghan-battle/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=emailutm_campaign=EBB 09.20.2017&utm_term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief


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## BarnBuster (Sep 28, 2017)

Maybe some old grampa's can teach celestial navigation too . Is that even a skill they learn anymore? Ensign (holding a sextant), ah, Master Chief, where is the on off switch?

*Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Collisions at Sea*

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/27/us/politics/navy-orders-safety-operational-standards.html?rref=collection/timestopic/Defense and Military Forces&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=collection&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB 9.28.17&utm_term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief&_r=0


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## doublejj (Sep 28, 2017)




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## doublejj (Sep 28, 2017)




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## whitebb2727 (Sep 28, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My Dad spent 8 months in Rocket City in 67 - he kept a daily diary that my siblings and I found after his passing & it is some intense reading.


Ever think of making a book from the diary? It would honor him and allow insight into what the war really was.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 29, 2017)

In addition this will also apply to air travel and using the DL as proof to obtain a passport. I believe it takes effect next year, but if you live in any of the states you may want to investigate further. 

_"Driver’s licenses and most other IDs issued by eight additional states are no longer accepted for accessing U.S. military bases. Not recognized are state-issued IDs from Oregon, Alaska, Oklahoma, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Washington. They join IDs from Montana, Minnesota, Missouri and Maine that do not comply with federal identification standards. A 2005 law known as the Real ID Act requires states to meet minimum security requirements. While Homeland Security officials have issued a list of other acceptable forms of identification, including U.S. passports and Native American tribal ID cards, installation commanders are free to develop their own lists of supplemental forms of ID."
_
http://www.dcmilitary.com/cfc/veterans-corner/article_0f8d14bd-23a6-597b-884f-6d3e63ca7a63.html


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## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2017)

*Happy Birthday to the 
United States Navy*​In an effort to curb British Sea Control, the Continental Congress established the Continental Navy, which later, on October 13, 1775, became the United States Navy. When the infant Navy was first formed, it consisted of just two armed vessels – tasked with disrupting munition ships supplying the British Army in America. Yet over the past nearly two and one-half centuries, our Navy has grown to become the largest, most advanced, and most lethal fighting force the world has ever known.

In 1972, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, designated October 13 as the Navy’s offical birthday, and directed that it be commemorated so as to “enhance [the] appreciation of our Navy heritage” and reinforce “pride and professionalism in the Naval Service.”

In addition to this year marking the Navy’s 242nd birthday, it also marks several other historic milestones for the Navy, including the 100th anniversary of our entry into World War I and the 75th anniversaries of the Battle of Midway, of the WAVES, and of the Navy Seabees.


----------



## doublejj (Oct 13, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> *Happy Birthday to the *
> *United States Navy*​In an effort to curb British Sea Control, the Continental Congress established the Continental Navy, which later, on October 13, 1775, became the United States Navy. When the infant Navy was first formed, it consisted of just two armed vessels – tasked with disrupting munition ships supplying the British Army in America. Yet over the past nearly two and one-half centuries, our Navy has grown to become the largest, most advanced, and most lethal fighting force the world has ever known.
> 
> In 1972, the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, designated October 13 as the Navy’s offical birthday, and directed that it be commemorated so as to “enhance [the] appreciation of our Navy heritage” and reinforce “pride and professionalism in the Naval Service.”
> ...


Happy Birthday Navy.....


----------



## doublejj (Oct 13, 2017)




----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

I'm brushing my teeth and hitting the street. I am going here for the party, you can watch via the link below if interested

*Edwards Air Force Base*
https://www.facebook.com/EdwardsAirForceBase/photos/a.140333572684247.37126.139549732762631/1644060205644902/?type=3
13 Oct., you can watch our 70th Anniversary of Supersonic Flight ceremony live beginning at 11 a.m. from ABC News affiliate KERO in Bakersfield, CA - https://youtu.be/oPcfoqqXCQM 23ABC Bakersfield


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## doublejj (Oct 13, 2017)

whitebb2727 said:


> I got a good childhood friend that his dad was special forces.
> 
> He would tell me about going without sleep so long that he would tie a string from his belt to his gun so he wouldn't walk off and leave it.
> 
> ...


There was a guy in my unit in Vietnam that could sleep standing up with his eyes open. You would walk up to him & he would be standing there snoring...


----------



## whitebb2727 (Oct 13, 2017)

doublejj said:


> There was a guy in my unit in Vietnam that could sleep standing up with his eyes open. You would walk up to him & he would be standing there snoring...


I won't lie. I've fallen asleep while standing up. Not eyes open though.


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

It was epic and I saw someone I have not seen since 1974


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 13, 2017)

Who is he?
I was going to say John Glenn but I know he has passed.


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2017)

wow, Chuck Yeager?


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 13, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> It was epic and I saw someone I have not seen since 1974
> View attachment 4026333


To repeat, wow! He is 94! Broke the SB 70 yrs ago.


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Who is he?
> I was going to say John Glenn but I know he has passed.


That is General Yeager, his B-29 pilot General Cardenas was there today too. Today was essentially Yeager's celebration. It was an amazing day. The B1B fly over was terrific as were the Raptors, Lightening etc.... They fielded an F117 but refused to discuss the SR-72 LOL. They had a gorgeous C-47 that was pissing hydraulic fluid like there was no tomorrow. It was a wonderful day and my ears are still ringing from how low that B1B flyover was.


We were able to pet this (the wingspan seems longer than a U-2's!)





and this





and so many more......


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 13, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> That is General Yeager, his B-29 pilot General Cardenas was there today too. Today was essentially Yeager's celebration. It was an amazing day. The B1B fly over was terrific as were the Raptors, Lightening etc.... They fielded an F117 but refused to discuss the SR-72 LOL. They had a gorgeous C-47 that was pissing hydraulic fluid like there was no tomorrow. It was a wonderful day and my ears are still ringing from how low that B1B flyover was.
> 
> 
> We were able to pet this (the wingspan seems longer than a U-2's!)
> ...


 Too bad Glennis and Pancho couldn't be there


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> Too bad Glennis and Pancho couldn't be there


So true, I would have loved to have heard Pancho's words today. After the way Edwards treated Pancho in later years she deserved a celebrated homecoming.


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

I really enjoyed seeing this too

Love me a King Air


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 13, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> So true, I would have loved to have heard Pancho's words today. After the way Edwards treated Pancho in later years she deserved a celebrated homecoming.


They got cheap and "civilized" with the new top brass; the free wheeling aviation club was coming to an end, but she won (sorta) $375K in '56 ain't pennies.


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> They got cheap and "civilized" with the new top brass; the free wheeling aviation club was coming to an end, but she won (sorta) $375K in '56 ain't pennies.


Yup and she opened a flight school up here on Fox Field 
http://www.barnesaviation.com/index.htm


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 13, 2017)

LOL, not wrong, just misplaced. I have a cat story militarily related but it's inappropriate


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

Got to see a number of NASA's toys, their crew shuttle is awesome (this isn't it)


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 13, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> View attachment 4026438
> Got to see a number of NASA's toys, their crew shuttle is awesome (this isn't it)


Any vintage aircraft?


----------



## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> Any vintage aircraft?


Yes a spitfire, a P-51, a F4-U, a C-47, a B-52 though that's quasi current LOL and a couple others. Oh and I drove by the Warthog on the way out there. I'll get some pics for you, she still has her cannon ha ha!


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 13, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> Yes a spitfire, a P-51, a F4-U, a C-47, a B-52 though that's quasi current LOL and a couple others. Oh and I drove by the Warthog on the way out there. I'll get some pics for you, she still has her cannon ha ha!


YES! Esp the Corsair and Jug; I so love those beasts


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 24, 2017)

_Retired Army Captain Gary Michael “Mike” Rose, 71, received the Congressional Medal of Honor Monday, 10/23/2017 for his heroism as a combat medic during a harrowing secret mission into Laos in 1970. Rose says he hopes his medal will honor the service of Vietnam War veterans._

*The Citation*​ Sergeant Gary M. Rose distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity while serving as a Special Forces Medic with a company-sized exploitation force, Special Operations Augmentation, Command and Control Central, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam.

Between 11 and 14 September 1970, Sergeant Rose’s company was continuously engaged by a well-armed and numerically superior hostile force deep in enemy-controlled territory. Enemy B-40 rockets and mortar rounds rained down while the adversary sprayed the area with small arms and machine gun fire, wounding many and forcing everyone to seek cover.

Sergeant Rose, braving the hail of bullets, sprinted fifty meters to a wounded soldier’s side. He then used his own body to protect the casualty from further injury while treating his wounds. After stabilizing the casualty, Sergeant Rose carried him through the bullet-ridden combat zone to protective cover.

As the enemy accelerated the attack, Sergeant Rose continuously exposed himself to intense fire as he fearlessly moved from casualty to casualty, administering life-saving aid.

A B-40 rocket impacted just meters from Sergeant Rose, knocking him from his feet and injuring his head, hand, and foot. Ignoring his wounds, Sergeant Rose struggled to his feet and continued to render aid to the other injured soldiers.

During an attempted medevac, Sergeant Rose again exposed himself to enemy fire as he attempted to hoist wounded personnel up to the hovering helicopter, which was unable to land due to unsuitable terrain.

The medevac mission was aborted due to intense enemy fire and the helicopter crashed a few miles away due to the enemy fire sustained during the attempted extraction.

Over the next two days, Sergeant Rose continued to expose himself to enemy fire in order to treat the wounded, estimated to be half of the company’s personnel. On September 14, during the company’s eventual helicopter extraction, the enemy launched a full-scale offensive.

Sergeant Rose, after loading wounded personnel on the first set of extraction helicopters, returned to the outer perimeter under enemy fire, carrying friendly casualties and moving wounded personnel to more secure positions until they could be evacuated. He then returned to the perimeter to help repel the enemy until the final extraction helicopter arrived. As the final helicopter was loaded, the enemy began to overrun the company’s position, and the helicopter’s Marine door gunner was shot in the neck.

Sergeant Rose instantly administered critical medical treatment onboard the helicopter, saving the Marine’s life. The helicopter carrying Sergeant Rose crashed several hundred meters from the extraction point, further injuring Sergeant Rose and the personnel on board.

Despite his numerous wounds from the past three days, Sergeant Rose continued to pull and carry unconscious and wounded personnel out of the burning wreckage and continued to administer aid to the wounded until another extraction helicopter arrived.

Sergeant Rose’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty were critical to saving numerous lives over that four-day time period. His actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 1st Special Forces, and the United States Army.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tailwind


----------



## dstroy (Oct 24, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4031988
> 
> _Retired Army Captain Gary Michael “Mike” Rose, 71, received the Congressional Medal of Honor Monday, 10/23/2017 for his heroism as a combat medic during a harrowing secret mission into Laos in 1970. Rose says he hopes his medal will honor the service of Vietnam War veterans._
> 
> ...


What a badass mf'er. Long overdue.


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 24, 2017)

dstroy said:


> What a badass mf'er. Long overdue.


I see he was nominated for the MOH back in '71 but it was downgraded to DSC at the time. Yes, long overdue


----------



## doublejj (Oct 24, 2017)




----------



## doublejj (Oct 24, 2017)




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## BarnBuster (Oct 27, 2017)

_The Washington Monument and the rising sun are reflected in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as airmen from Dover Air Force Base, Del., use soft brushes and mild detergent to clean the Wall at sunrise on Oct. 22, 2017. _
_

JOE GROMELSKI/STARS AND STRIPES Published: October 27, 2017 
WASHINGTON — Before dawn last Sunday, a group of volunteers from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, joined in what has become a quiet tradition in the nation's capital — cleaning the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The airmen and one veteran — led by Master Sgt. Trevor Derr, APG section chief of the 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron — used mild detergent and soft brushes to carefully scrub the Wall, cleaning off dust and the fingerprints of hundreds of people whose touch provides a link between them and the more than 58,000 fallen men and women from the Vietnam War whose names are engraved there.

https://www.stripes.com/dover-airmen-honor-the-fallen-by-cleaning-the-vietnam-wall-1.494909?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


_


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## curious2garden (Oct 27, 2017)

LOL I'm too drunk to justify this tomorrow, LOL


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 27, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4033957
> _The Washington Monument and the rising sun are reflected in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial as airmen from Dover Air Force Base, Del., use soft brushes and mild detergent to clean the Wall at sunrise on Oct. 22, 2017. _
> _
> 
> ...


I wish I could be there to help.
These type of people renew my hope in the human race.


----------



## Drowning-Man (Nov 1, 2017)




----------



## doublejj (Nov 6, 2017)

Bullet with a name on it......


----------



## wascaptain (Nov 10, 2017)

happy 242nd, you know who you are!
and early happy vet day


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 10, 2017)

Ready, Two!




And thank you for your service Sir.


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 10, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Ready, Two!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you for your service too


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 10, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> Thank you for your service too


And you as well dear.
But I will wager yours was more traumatic than mine should I venture to guess.
But seriously, thank you.


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2017)




----------



## curious2garden (Nov 11, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> And you as well dear.
> But I will wager yours was more traumatic than mine should I venture to guess.
> But seriously, thank you.


Thank you, that is very kind but I never served I just shared my hubby with them for awhile and provided a few support services via a contractor. All in all it wasn't the wearing, all consuming, 24 hour a day commitment that you guys made with each enlistment and backed completely with your body and soul and for people like you I am very grateful.

Happy Veterans Day


----------



## doublejj (Nov 22, 2017)




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## doublejj (Nov 27, 2017)

Roy Moore of Alabama almost got fragged in Vietnam....
*"The Forgotten History Of ‘Fragging’ In Vietnam*
*Senate candidate Roy Moore was reportedly among those officers targeted by their own men.*"
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-forgotten-history-of-fragging-in-vietnam_us_5a1b77b6e4b0cee6c050939d


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## Singlemalt (Nov 27, 2017)

LOL


----------



## haight (Nov 27, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> _"Staff Sgt. Richard Hunter, a combat controller with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, will receive the Air Force Cross for his actions during a 2016 battle in Kunduz Province, Afghanistan, the commander of Air Force Special Operations Command said Tuesday.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I'm surprised the Politically Correct assholes aren't complaining about the use of a cross for a medal.


----------



## haight (Nov 27, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> Yes a spitfire, a P-51, a F4-U, a C-47, a B-52 though that's quasi current LOL and a couple others. Oh and I drove by the Warthog on the way out there. I'll get some pics for you, she still has her cannon ha ha!


 Ah yes the B-52. Affectionally referred to by the maintenance crew as a BFU. <big fucking ugly>


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 28, 2017)

haight said:


> Ah yes the B-52. Affectionally referred to by the maintenance crew as a BFU. <big fucking ugly>


Yup, hubby trained on the BUF before moving to the C-141


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 28, 2017)

haight said:


> Ah yes the B-52. Affectionally referred to by the maintenance crew as a BFU. <big fucking ugly>


Correction, that is BUFF
Big Ugly Flying Fucker

Dad was a B52 structural mechanic/welder/fabricator in SAC and in various tropical ports of call during the Vietnam conflict.

I've seen some AF bases.


----------



## Singlemalt (Nov 28, 2017)

Indeed. Call your friendly Arc Light man


----------



## Ghost67 (Nov 29, 2017)

Ok, don't quite know what this thread devolved into, but i'm a vet. Army, 1984-2009. Iraq 2003-2004. I missed out on Desert Storm, I was part of the Opfor at the National Training Center for that dance, lol! I had a slice element from my team in the Bosnia deal, and had a forward team in Kuwait in 2002 in prep for the invasion. Started of a 13B, Cannon Crewmember, reclassified in 89 to a 63H, Track Vehicle repairer.


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 29, 2017)

Ghost67 said:


> Ok, don't quite know what this thread devolved into, but i'm a vet. Army, 1984-2009. Iraq 2003-2004. I missed out on Desert Storm, I was part of the Opfor at the National Training Center for that dance, lol! I had a slice element from my team in the Bosnia deal, and had a forward team in Kuwait in 2002 in prep for the invasion. Started of a 13B, Cannon Crewmember, reclassified in 89 to a 63H, Track Vehicle repairer.


A rule of physics in TnT is every thread devolves from the topic. It's a corollary of entropy.

PS Welcome to RIU.


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 30, 2017)

Have you been following the sad story of the Argentinian sub lost at sea?

_"About 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, San Juan’s captain used a satellite phone to alert his Argentine Navy superiors the sub had taken on salt water through the snorkel – used to replenish air to the submerged sub. *The water intrusion short-circuited the batteries in the submarine’s forward compartments, sparking either a fire or smoke*, according to an Argentine Navy statement first reported by Argentina’s news station A24.

A CNN English translation of the message A24 broadcast is: “Seawater leaked in through the ventilation system into battery system No. 3, causing a short circuit and the early stages of a fire where the batteries were. The batteries on the external bow are out of service.* We are currently submerging with a divided circuit*. Nothing new to report regarding personnel. Will keep you informed.”
_
I mean come on now, this can hardly have been a T/S mission 
_
https://news.usni.org/2017/11/29/water-entered-missing-argentine-sub-snorkel-detected-explosion?utm_source=USNI+News&utm_campaign=8e0e41a961-USNI_NEWS_DAILY&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0dd4a1450b-8e0e41a961-231902369&ct=t(USNI_NEWS_DAILY)&mc_cid=8e0e41a961&mc_eid=be4105e310
_


----------



## ttystikk (Nov 30, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> Have you been following the sad story of the Argentinian sub lost at sea?
> 
> _"About 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, San Juan’s captain used a satellite phone to alert his Argentine Navy superiors the sub had taken on salt water through the snorkel – used to replenish air to the submerged sub. *The water intrusion short-circuited the batteries in the submarine’s forward compartments, sparking either a fire or smoke*, according to an Argentine Navy statement first reported by Argentina’s news station A24.
> 
> ...


So the question becomes what was the nature of the 'explosion' heard by sending equipment reported earlier? Either the gas from the batteries blew up or the sub sank deep enough to get crushed.

Doesn't change the outcome, the loss of all souls aboard is still a terrible tragedy.


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 30, 2017)

I thought there would have been unique acoustic differences, explosion/implosion, but apparently not. Also reasoning about submerging..

_"The evidence of a short explosion record by the CTBTO points to one of two causes. Either San Juan suffered some kind of flooding incident and went into an uncontrolled dive, passing through crush depth and the hull imploded due to water pressure. Alternatively an internal explosion, either a torpedo malfunction or batteries, which could have quickly disabled and sunk her. During her last communication which has __now been made public__, San Juan reported water had entered the vessel through its snorkel, causing “the beginning of a fire” and short circuit in the forward battery which had been dealt with. The submarine was encountering big seas at the time, making it difficult to snorkel or proceed on the surface and she was ordered to make for Mar del Plata submerged, transiting slowly drawing power from the aft battery. This would tend to suggest a sea-water induced battery explosion as a likely cause"
_
https://www.savetheroyalnavy.org/reflecting-on-the-sad-loss-of-argentine-submarine-ara-san-juan/


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 30, 2017)

I've ridden ships for 15 years of my younger life and you could not tie me up and put me on a sub - I've always been terrified of them & this just illustrates why.

Edit: And being more than a bit claustrophobic dosn't help here either.


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 30, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I've ridden ships for 15 years of my younger life and you could not tie me up and put me on a sub - I've always been terrified of them & this just illustrates why.
> 
> Edit: And being more than a bit claustrophobic dosn't help here either.


IKR? Fire at sea is scary enough much less under it.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 30, 2017)

I would much rather go through this than ride a Sub.

BTW, this is the hollywood version of the training film we watched religiously to learn what and what not to do when fighting a fire aboard ship.


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 30, 2017)




----------



## haight (Dec 1, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Correction, that is BUFF
> Big Ugly Flying Fucker
> 
> Dad was a B52 structural mechanic/welder/fabricator in SAC and in various tropical ports of call during the Vietnam conflict.
> ...


Could be different bases come up with different terms. My source was the maintenance crew from Ellsworth AFB


Ghost67 said:


> Ok, don't quite know what this thread devolved into, but i'm a vet. Army, 1984-2009. Iraq 2003-2004. I missed out on Desert Storm, I was part of the Opfor at the National Training Center for that dance, lol! I had a slice element from my team in the Bosnia deal, and had a forward team in Kuwait in 2002 in prep for the invasion. Started of a 13B, Cannon Crewmember, reclassified in 89 to a 63H, Track Vehicle repairer.


Thanks for your service


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## Ghost67 (Dec 1, 2017)

haight said:


> Could be different bases come up with different terms. My source was the maintenance crew from Ellsworth AFB
> 
> 
> Thanks for your service


Enjoyed almost every day of it, lol!


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## _gresh_ (Dec 1, 2017)

OP is still a piece of shit. The only cool thing about this thread is GWN and JJ's posts.

Just sayin.


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## doublejj (Dec 1, 2017)

Radio First Termer, Saigon Vietnam .......


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## _gresh_ (Dec 1, 2017)

doublejj said:


> Radio First Termer, Saigon Vietnam 1970.......


JJ - Can you post the pic of you and your cabin again. i need to prove to my friend that you have larger testicles than Dick Proeneke.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 1, 2017)

_gresh_ said:


> JJ - Can you post the pic of you and your cabin again. i need to prove to my friend that you have larger testicles than Dick Proeneke.


Hey, JJ is a bad ass but Dick was a remote DIY bad ass as well.


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## _gresh_ (Dec 1, 2017)

I mean. Fuck. 80 something years old and still living LITERALLY off the land in the middle of nowhere, fishing, hunting, gardening. So badass.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 1, 2017)

_gresh_ said:


> I mean. Fuck. 80 something years old and still living LITERALLY off the land in the middle of nowhere, fishing, hunting, gardening. So badass.


If you make it through the winters here the summers are gravy.


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## _gresh_ (Dec 1, 2017)

If you haven't watched yet. Check it out. JJ basically did the same thing as Proeneke, and I am so fucking jealous.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 1, 2017)

_gresh_ said:


> If you haven't watched yet. Check it out. JJ basically did the same thing as Proeneke, and I am so fucking jealous.


Then grab a saw & get moving.
BTW, I have a big chunk of virgin timber in the interior of AK for sale - on the road system & close to a hub for a reasonable price.

Wanna be JJ or a Dick? I can help. : )


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## _gresh_ (Dec 1, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Then grab a saw & get moving.
> BTW, I have a big chunk of virgin timber in the interior of AK for sale - on the road system & close to a hub for a reasonable price.
> 
> Wanna be JJ or a Dick? I can help. : )


LMFAO - You are so fucking cool, boss.


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## doublejj (Dec 1, 2017)

Dave Rabbit sweat shirt, Fuck it Before it Fucks you.....


----------



## doublejj (Dec 1, 2017)




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## _gresh_ (Dec 1, 2017)

doublejj said:


> Dave Rabbit sweat shirt, Fuck it Before it Fucks you.....


"What am i capable of that I do not know yet? - And, could I truly enjoy my own company for an entire year? And, was I equal to everything that this wild land could throw at me? I had seen it's mood in late spring, Summer, and early Fall, but...What about the Winter? Would i love the isolation then?"


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## _gresh_ (Dec 1, 2017)

doublejj said:


> View attachment 4051700
> 
> View attachment 4051699
> 
> View attachment 4051698


FUCK YASS!! Thank YOU!!!! Cheers my friend. This is something i am desperate to do some day!


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## wascaptain (Dec 2, 2017)

had the honor of running a 5k with a group of high school marine recruits this morning


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## doublejj (Dec 2, 2017)

_gresh_ said:


> FUCK YASS!! Thank YOU!!!! Cheers my friend. This is something i am desperate to do some day!


This was my "Getting back on that horse" photo. 2 days prior, I fell off a log & cut my arm on a very sharp log peeler. Got 40+ stiches. You can see the bandage on my arm holding the rope. Had to get back to work....lol


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## tangerinegreen555 (Dec 2, 2017)

doublejj said:


> View attachment 4051700
> 
> View attachment 4051699
> 
> View attachment 4051698


Who's the attractive young lady?


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## doublejj (Dec 2, 2017)

tangerinegreen555 said:


> Who's the attractive young lady?


A Saint, & my wife of 40+ years........


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 3, 2017)

doublejj said:


> A Saint, & my wife of 40+ years........
> View attachment 4052295


Nice plants, but they pale in comparison to your beautiful bride.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2017)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 8, 2017)

My friend Phillip Christian's brother.






Fair winds and following seas to both of you.


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## dstroy (Dec 9, 2017)

I met a guy in the veterans lounge at school last week who has three fuckin air medals. Over 100 combat missions... Jesus. Glad to have him there and safe now.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 11, 2017)

_"America’s first black astronaut, Air Force Maj. Robert Lawrence Jr., finally got full honors Friday on the 50th anniversary of his death. Lawrence paved the way for Guy Bluford, who became the first African-American in space in 1983, Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space in 1992, and Charles Bolden Jr., a space shuttle commander who became NASA’s first black administrator in 2009. Next year, the International Space Station is getting its first African-American resident: NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps."_

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/12/10/first-black-astronaut-honored-on-50th-anniversary-of-death/


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 11, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> _"America’s first black astronaut, Air Force Maj. Robert Lawrence Jr., finally got full honors Friday on the 50th anniversary of his death. Lawrence paved the way for Guy Bluford, who became the first African-American in space in 1983, Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space in 1992, and Charles Bolden Jr., a space shuttle commander who became NASA’s first black administrator in 2009. Next year, the International Space Station is getting its first African-American resident: NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps."_
> 
> https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2017/12/10/first-black-astronaut-honored-on-50th-anniversary-of-death/


Wow, He had a doctorate in P.Chem, that is rare air there. That class kicked my ass.


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 11, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> Wow, He had a doctorate in P.Chem, that is rare air there. That class kicked my ass.


Oy P-chem. Thermodemonics was bad enough, but quantum satanics was worse. Kicked my ass right back into the organics lab.


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 11, 2017)

cannabineer said:


> Oy P-chem. Thermodemonics was bad enough, but quantum satanics was worse. Kicked my ass right back into the organics lab.


Yep, I had to take Thermo and Quantum as required classes, barely made it. Almost 40 yrs later I still have an occasional "fuck up" dream about that. LOL


----------



## wascaptain (Dec 11, 2017)

i wish i would have taken my education seriously, all thru high school i just played sports, coaches took care of me.
from high school to the service....strong back weak mind, i fit right in.

after service..fire dept ...again strong back weak mind.

after fire dept....ruined back and still weak mind


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 11, 2017)

LOL


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 11, 2017)

wascaptain said:


> i wish i would have taken my education seriously, all thru high school i just played sports, coaches took care of me.
> from high school to the service....strong back weak mind, i fit right in.
> 
> after service..fire dept ...again strong back weak mind.
> ...


Well, you did all right, retired now and all the time you want to spend on learning new stuff if you wish to. I'd say that's a win


----------



## pabloesqobar (Dec 11, 2017)




----------



## pabloesqobar (Dec 11, 2017)

^^^ We called those R2D2 with a boner. I wasn't a GM, but had to memorize the capabilities of it when I was giving tours to civilians. Impressive firepower.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 11, 2017)

Nothing like a finely tuned Sea Whiz to liven up a party.


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## doublejj (Dec 11, 2017)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Nothing like a finely tuned Sea Whiz to liven up a party.


That reminded me of this.......


----------



## doublejj (Dec 12, 2017)




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## doublejj (Dec 13, 2017)

This one got me today.....took me back


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## BarnBuster (Dec 17, 2017)

By MEREDITH TIBBETTS | STARS AND STRIPES Published: December 17, 2017

_SHARPSBURG, MD — In the back corner of Antietam National Cemetery, a good 25 yards from any other plot, are six graves. They are the final resting places of African-American soldiers who fought in World War I — segregated even in death. Saturday afternoon, they were first to be honored during the cemetery's Wreaths Across America ceremony.





_


https://www.stripes.com/wreaths-across-america-at-antietam-a-special-honor-for-6-soldiers-from-an-era-of-segregation-1.502789?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 20, 2017)

_






"|COLUMBIA, S.C. — A U.S. Marine who earned the Medal of Honor for throwing himself on a grenade says he was deeply honored by fellow students’ standing ovation at his University of South Carolina graduation ceremony. Kyle Carpenter received his bachelor’s degree in international studies on Monday, according to The State newspaper. He was recognized during the ceremony, leading to applause from the entire crowd."_

https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2017/12/19/kyle-carpenter-medal-of-honor-recipient-receives-standing-ovation-at-college-graduation/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB 12.20.2017&utm_term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief

http://www.marines.mil/moh/Citation.aspx


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## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2017)

_"Elinor Otto, widely known as the last Rosie the Riveter, joined the head of Air Mobility Command on a C-17 flight over California Monday to educate and inspire the next generation of airmen. Otto, 98, who has worked on every C-17 Globemaster ever built, had never actually flown on one. She finally got that opportunity when she spent more than three hours on a Globemaster III piloted by Gen. Carlton Everhart, the head of AMC, near March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. With them were about 30 Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets who were given the opportunity to see some of the Air Force’s missions."_

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2017/12/21/rosie-the-riveter-shares-experiences-on-c-17-flying-classroom/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB 12.22.17&utm_term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief


----------



## doublejj (Dec 22, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> _"Elinor Otto, widely known as the last Rosie the Riveter, joined the head of Air Mobility Command on a C-17 flight over California Monday to educate and inspire the next generation of airmen. Otto, 98, who has worked on every C-17 Globemaster ever built, had never actually flown on one. She finally got that opportunity when she spent more than three hours on a Globemaster III piloted by Gen. Carlton Everhart, the head of AMC, near March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County. With them were about 30 Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets who were given the opportunity to see some of the Air Force’s missions."_
> 
> https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2017/12/21/rosie-the-riveter-shares-experiences-on-c-17-flying-classroom/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB 12.22.17&utm_term=Editorial - Military - Early Bird Brief


My Mom (rip) was a "Rosie the riveter" during WWII...


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2017)

doublejj said:


> My Mom (rip) was a "Rosie the riveter" during WWII...


My Mom worked in the Bendix plant assembling instrument panel gauges for B-29's. I've heard them (the women) referred to as another of America's secret weapons when the automotive, refrigerator and typewriter factories retooled for war production.


----------



## doublejj (Dec 22, 2017)

BarnBuster said:


> My Mom worked in the Bendix plant assembling instrument panel gauges for B-29's. I've heard them (the women) referred to as another of America's secret weapons when the automotive, refrigerator and typewriter factories retooled for war production.


Singer sowing machine co made M1911A1 .45's.....so did Ithaca shotgun factory in NY.


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## Singlemalt (Dec 22, 2017)

doublejj said:


> Singer sowing machine co made M1911A1 .45's.....so did Ithaca shotgun factory in NY.


I have one made by Singer


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 22, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> I have one made by Singer


 When I priced one such in the early '90s it was thousands ... that's an asset right there


----------



## doublejj (Dec 22, 2017)

Singlemalt said:


> I have one made by Singer


I have had this Ithaca since 1969....


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 22, 2017)

doublejj said:


> My Mom (rip) was a "Rosie the riveter" during WWII...


Mine worked at the McDonnell Douglas plant in Long Beach in WWII


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2017)

cannabineer said:


> When I priced one such in the early '90s it was thousands ... that's an asset right there


RIA auctioned a pristine one earlier this month for $400K 

https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/72/2446/documented-finest-condition-us-singer-manufacturing-co-model


----------



## doublejj (Dec 22, 2017)

curious2garden said:


> Mine worked at the McDonnell Douglas plant in Long Beach in WWII


Mine too....that's how I came to be born in LA...lol
Go Cougars!....


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 22, 2017)

doublejj said:


> Mine too....that's how I came to be born in LA...lol
> Go Cougars!....


Small world!


----------



## wascaptain (Dec 24, 2017)

merry Christmas boys

at the wwII museum last week. 

a hats off goes out to all our marines, sailors, troops, fire, ems and police, doing there duty today so we can have ours


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## doublejj (Dec 24, 2017)

Merry Christmas....


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## BarnBuster (Dec 24, 2017)




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## BarnBuster (Jan 4, 2018)

By LEON COOK | STARS AND STRIPES - Published: - January 4, 2018

_"A banner often regarded as the Navy’s first flag will fly all year long at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in honor of 17 sailors killed in a pair of Pacific collisions last year."_

https://www.stripes.com/first-navy-jack-flies-at-pearl-harbor-to-honor-sailors-killed-in-collisions-1.505161?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Weekly+Update


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## wascaptain (Jan 6, 2018)

was at the va when i eye balled the army times


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## haight (Jan 6, 2018)

Sometimes things do change for the better


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## BarnBuster (Jan 7, 2018)

*In this April 1972 photo made available by NASA, John Young salutes the U.S. flag at the Descartes landing site on the moon during the first Apollo 16 extravehicular activity. *

Legendary astronaut John Young, who walked on the moon and later commanded the first space shuttle flight, has died, NASA said Saturday. Young was 87

_“Astronaut John Young’s storied career spanned three generations of spaceflight,” NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot said in an emailed statement. “John was one of that group of early space pioneers whose bravery and commitment sparked our nation’s first great achievements in space.”_

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/01/06/astronaut-john-young-naval-aviator-has-died/


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## BarnBuster (Jan 10, 2018)

_On 11 June 1970, Colonel Anna Mae Hays was promoted to the grade of general and became the first woman in the United States Armed Forces to wear the insignia of a brigadier general. Army Chief of Staff General William C. Westmoreland and Secretary of the Army Stanley C. Resor officiated at the ceremony_

*Anna Mae Hays, nurse who became US military's first female general, dies at 97*​
_"Anna Mae Hays, an Army nurse who served in a mud-caked jungle hospital in World War II, guided the Army Nurse Corps through the bloodiest years of the Vietnam War and became the first female general in American military history, died Jan. 7 at a retirement home in Washington, D.C. She was 97."_

https://www.stripes.com/anna-mae-hays-nurse-who-became-us-military-s-first-female-general-dies-at-97-1.505802?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines

http://history.amedd.army.mil/HaysBio/HayesBio.html


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## haight (Jan 11, 2018)

Salute to General Hays


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## BarnBuster (Jan 19, 2018)

_




_​

_"Native American veterans will have a memorial at the National Mall, on the grounds of the National Museum of the American Indian. The memorial will acknowledge the military sacrifice of Native Americans, who served in the U.S. military at a higher per capita rate than any other ethnic group in the 20th century, the Washington Post reported."_

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/native-american-veterans-will-be-honored-with-memorial-on-national-mall/2018/01/14/06c19170-f7d7-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a_story.html?utm_term=.ca9a3eb23aba


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## BarnBuster (Jan 21, 2018)

http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/our-mission/


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## BarnBuster (Jan 24, 2018)

*At 90, Air Force veteran expelled in 1955 for being a lesbian gets her honorable discharge*​
_"In 1955, Airman Second Class Helen Grace James was targeted and investigated by Air Force officials for her sexuality, part of a massive effort to remove gay and lesbian service members known as the "Lavender Scare." James's attorney recently received word the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records has agreed to change her status. "The Board has decided to upgrade Helen's discharge status to Honorable," James's attorney, J. Cacilia Kim, told The Washington Post."_

https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/in-1955-she-was-kicked-out-of-the-air-force-for-being-a-lesbian-at-90-she-s-fighting-back-1.506214


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## BarnBuster (Jan 27, 2018)

Say what you will about the Brit's...

*All surviving World War Two veterans are being offered the chance to return to where they served, and pay their respects to comrades, free of charge.*​
_"The project is being funded by the Treasury, which has committed over £5m raised through London inter-bank lending rate (Libor) fines. Veterans who avail of the tour will be accompanied by a medic - paid for by the scheme."
_
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-42796411

although the US does have a Honor Flight program
https://www.honorflight.org/about-honor-flight-networtk/


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## curious2garden (Jan 27, 2018)

Amazing 1/30/2018 is the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive! How time flies
https://www.c-span.org/video/?439942-1/vietnam-wars-tet-offensive-50th-anniversary


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## BarnBuster (Jan 27, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Amazing 1/30/2018 is the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive! How time flies
> https://www.c-span.org/video/?439942-1/vietnam-wars-tet-offensive-50th-anniversary


i was waiting for a couple of days, you stole my rolling thunder


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## curious2garden (Jan 27, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> i was waiting for a couple of days, you stole my rolling thunder


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 27, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Amazing 1/30/2018 is the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive! How time flies
> https://www.c-span.org/video/?439942-1/vietnam-wars-tet-offensive-50th-anniversary


Dad was there.


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## BarnBuster (Feb 9, 2018)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 9, 2018)

I just set that pic as my desktop background.
+ rep


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## BarnBuster (Feb 12, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Feb 19, 2018)

_He was one of the first. Now, the last: A Navajo code talker remembers Iwo Jima..._



Thomas Begay, right, a Navajo code talker and survivor of the World War II battle of Iwo Jima, receives a portrait presented by artist Val Benavidez at Camp Pendleton, Calif., on February 17, 2018. - DRAKE NICKELS/U.S. MARINE CORPS
​By CARL PRINE | The San Diego Union-Tribune (TNS) | Published: February 18, 2018
_CAMP PENDLETON, California — Swirled in cannon smoke from a 21-gun salute and washed in the applause Iwo Jima’s survivors have come to anticipate during their annual reunions at Camp Pendleton, one of the 27 veterans stood out._

_Wearing a crimson garrison cap, his chest spangled with a giant silver medal rimmed in turquoise, Thomas Begay stared at the wreath commemorating the scores of dead from that World War II battle 73 years ago, but his mind wasn’t fully on the spectacle._

_He was thinking about fellow Navajo code talker Teddy Draper Sr., who died Dec. 14 at 96. His death came nine days after fellow Arizonan George B. Willie Sr. passed. He was 92._

_“There were 33 of us assigned as Navajo code talkers but now there are no more. They’ve died,” said Begay, 92, who is believed to be the last surviving member of the 5th Marine Division’s famed bilingual radio unit on Iwo Jima._

_He spoke softly to the Union-Tribune after making the long trek from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to California with retired Army lieutenant colonel Ronald Begay, the son who used to sit on his lap at these reunions._

_He made a longer trip in World War II. It was that trip that would take him from boot camp in 1943 to the black sands of Iwo Jim on H-Hour, Feb. 19, 1945._

_By the time he’d splashed ashore with the 27th Marines, his regiment already had lost two code talkers and he figured his odds were good to be the next._

_“One was killed by a sniper. The other was a direct hit with a mortar,” said Begay, recalling 38 days of hell “and only one hot meal, when I was getting off the ship.”_

_They weren’t alone. Of the 110,000 GIs who stormed ashore Iwo Jima — mostly Marines and Navy corpsmen — nearly one out of every four became a casualty, including 6,821 killed in action._

_Begay’s 27th Marine infantry regiment recorded 566 killed and 1,706 wounded._

_“I got scared. I got really scared. My body, the whole thing got numb. I had no feeling. I was walking with my radio and it was hard, man. It’s huge and you’re by yourself and they’re trying to kill you,” he said._

_Begay whispered about how Marines slapped corrugated metal across beach sand so they could scamper past the gunfire to safety._

_He drew the route his 5th Marine Division took across the island, from raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi to the final, suicidal counterattack by the Japanese across a valley they called “Bloody Gorge.”_

_There also was the sickness that put him into a transport ship’s hospital after he left the island, probably malaria._

_He pointed to the Congressional Silver Medal awarded to him and 300 other Navajo code talkers by President George W. Bush in 2001. The Marines estimate that they recruited about 400 Navajos into the program and 13 died in combat._

_But mostly he wanted to bear witness to those initial 33 Navajos dragooned into the top secret code talker program inside Camp Pendleton’s 5th Marine Division in 1942 and 1943._

_It started with 29 Navajos. They arrived May 5, 1942 at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego._

_After graduating, they received special instruction at Camp Elliott’s Fleet Marine Training Center — now part of Marine Corps Air Station Miramar — in how to encrypt messages and to operate radios before moving on to Camp Pendleton._

_“I didn’t want to join the code talkers. I signed up for aerial gunnery school,” said Begay. “I went to boot camp and they gave me a PFC stripe. I went to Camp Pendleton and walked into a barracks and I didn’t know any of them._

_“I turned to the sergeant and said, ‘I think you made a mistake. I signed up to be an aerial gunner. I don’t want to be a code talker. I don’t know the code. I don’t know anything about code talking.’_

_“He said, ‘Too bad. If you leave, desert, we’re going to shoot you. If you refuse or disobey an order, we’re going to bust you to private and put you in the brig.’ So I was threatened. I had no choice.”_

_But Begay was a natural — smart enough to learn a 20-code primer the sergeant made him memorize the first day but also highly immersed in Navajo language and culture._

_Born near the New Mexican hamlet of Two Wells in 1926, Begay was herding 2,000 sheep by the time he turned six. He never spoke English until he was 13, when he was sent to school in Arizona, about three years before he joined the Marines._

_“My mom said, ‘Your name is Thomas. When the white man comes, say ‘Thomas.’ So whenever someone came up to me and said something in English, I said ‘Thomas,’ ” Begay recalled._

_That pastoral upbringing was key to mastering the code._

_The first part of the cipher relied on a phonetic alphabet linked to unwritten Navajo nouns. The other was a list of borrowed phrases the radiomen used to describe Japanese weapons and units._

_For example, “S” in the phonetic alphabet was “dibeh” — Navajo for sheep. “L” was “dibeh-yazzie,” lamb. “Y” was “tsah-as-zih,” the yucca shrub prized for its fibers used in sacred ceremonies and the roots, which were boiled into soap._

_A Japanese bomber became the Navajo noun for “buzzard.” A fighter was a “hummingbird.” A submarine, “iron fish.”_

_When Begay and his fellow code talkers seamlessly strung the letters and words together in radio traffic, it boggled Japanese code crackers but allowed American commanders to plot openly through their Najavo translators how to beat their enemies._

_It was so successful on Iwo Jima that for two decades past the war, Begay and his fellow code talkers weren’t allowed to divulge the classified program’s existence, a promise they kept but one that delayed widespread acclaim for their role in helping to win the war._

_Shortly before Saturday’s service, Begay spoke of his eternal pride in being a Marine and marveled at the sacrifices he saw on Iwo Jima, but he also recalled the pain he and fellow Indians like Ira Hayes -- the famous Akimel O’odham Marine who helped raised an American flag atop Suribachi on the first day of battle — endured in uniform._

_“They made fun of us,” said Begay, breaking into a chant white Marines would use to lampoon them. “You know. It was really sad how some people are so mean.”_

_Begay never quit serving his country. A year after his discharge from the Marines, he enlisted in the Army._

_In late 1950, he found himself weighed down by a radio, scrabbling behind an artillery forward observer as they dodged Chinese sniper fire._

_“He said, ‘Just follow me. I’ll tell you.’ I had a grease gun, but they were trying to get us,” Begay said._

_After his Army tour and two years of correspondence classes, he became a line officer in the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs. He rose to helm the Chinle Agency, where he was responsible for the Navajo Nation tribal trust program._

_He retired in 1984, finishing four decades of distinguished federal service in and out of uniform._

_Before he left Saturday’s ceremony, he lingered a few moments to talk alone to Kathy Painton, the vice president of the 5th Marine Division Association, one of the nonprofits that has organized reunions and has kept the memory of the dead alive in the souls of younger infantrymen._

_Last year, they brought 15 Iwo Jima veterans to meet grunts training in Hawaii for different wars in Iraq and Afghanistan._

_Painton was a baby when Iwo Jima was fought. Her dad, 25-year-old Private 1st Class George Addison Dunn of Danville, Illinois, died there._

_She still wears a silver heart pendant he bought for her before he shipped out, the Marines’ eagle, globe and anchor insignia carved across it._

_“They’re turning it over to us now,” she said. “It’s only us. We’ll carry on their memory.”_
_****************************************************************************_
_*Victory in the Pacific: 1945 *_
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Ops-XIV/index.html
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/PTO/Iwo/index.html


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## BarnBuster (Feb 20, 2018)

*Army awards heroism medals to JROTC cadets killed in Florida school shooting*
​_"Three junior ROTC cadets who were killed in the Florida high school shooting last week will be honored with heroism medals by the U.S. Army. A spokesman for the U.S. Army told Fox News on Tuesday that Cadet Command approved Junior ROTC Heroism Medals for cadets Alaina Petty, Peter Wang and Martin Duque. According to students and teachers, Wang, 15, died in his junior ROTC uniform while helping students, teachers and staff escape from the shooting rampage."_

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/20/army-awards-heroism-medals-to-jrotc-cadets-killed-in-florida-school-shooting.html
​
*West Point posthumously admits shooting victim Peter Wang to Class of 2025*​
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/west-point-posthumously-admits-shooting-victim-peter-wang-to-class-of-2025-1.512708

​


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## curious2garden (Feb 20, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> _......snip...... *Wang, 15, died in his junior ROTC uniform while helping students, teachers and staff escape from the shooting rampage."*_
> 
> http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/20/army-awards-heroism-medals-to-jrotc-cadets-killed-in-florida-school-shooting.html
> ​
> ...


What were adults doing being helped by children? Wasn't it their job to help the students get out? What a tragedy.


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## doublejj (Feb 20, 2018)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 20, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> What were adults doing being helped by children? Wasn't it their job to help the students get out? What a tragedy.


Agreed.
The true narrative may never be known, but that this young man was helping only reinforces my faith in human kindness.
Such a tragedy.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

Depends what you define as a war here


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

I’ve been in a few. The longest now the drug war


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> Sup. I'm Air Force vet.
> 
> What I miss? Why is mainliner jumping your shit?


My uncle was too in nam. Hairy shit there


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

My gramps ww2, another uncle got hit by a vc ambush near Saigon, died. My stepdad was in Saigon I think during tet too. My dad said he was in contien and the central highlands. And def was in Ireland too. Myself too as a child saw the war in Ireland.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

And my Irish family too were are republicans. I comsidsr them soldiers in a war. But the world didn’t. Ones a national hero who was with bobby sands. I have a lot of respect though for them. I do the vc too and the nva. The afghan I pity a little if you see the videos? their fucked. I don’t agree with war cuz no one wins In war. Only the bankers and war profiteers do. But I see our fight as all one in the same. Oppression and imperialism and tyranny


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 20, 2018)

I served in Afghanistan in the Tangi as a rifleman in ‘09. My grandfather did 3 tours in ‘Nam with the Brown Water Navy as a GM1 on the Swift Boats. He killed himself when I was about 2. May he rest in peace. Wish I’d have known the crazy bastard.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I served in Afghanistan in the Tangi as a rifleman in ‘09. My grandfather did 3 tours in ‘Nam with the Brown Water Navy as a GM1 on the Swift Boats. He killed himself when I was about 2. May he rest in peace. Wish I’d have known the crazy bastard.


Nam was bad. I’d take ww2 over nam man. I’m super into reading about it though. General Giap was a genius and America really underestimated them. We knew the war was un winnable too by 65-66. Such a tragedy too


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 20, 2018)

This was us. Pulled missions with 20th SFG and 2nd Rangers. It says in the first article we didn’t take direct fire, but that was early Spring. Summer got hot in more ways than one when the fighting season began.

https://www.army.mil/article/17994/clearing_the_tangi_task_force_in_afghanistan_takes_troubled_valley

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangi_Valley


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

I was just a child when I first saw it all. Being catholic made me a target. I saw a lot of things kids shouldn’t see, can’t and won’t talk about other things. But as an adult now I see both sides but realize it’s a war of hearts and minds, car bombs don’t win hearts and minds. Living by the fued too isn’t the way. Protecting the community was. Thankfully I was lucky enough to be born American. But I see Belfast here in these scenes unfolding here too. I think it’s cia stuff a lot like the Vegas shooting. Ireland’s fight was and is a noble fight though. So I have no qualms saying it, and I also support a free and united ireland. America too. We need to take our country back


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> This was us. Pulled missions with 20th SFG and 2nd Rangers. It says in the first article we didn’t take direct fire, but that was early Spring. Summer got hot in more ways than one when the fighting season began.
> 
> https://www.army.mil/article/17994/clearing_the_tangi_task_force_in_afghanistan_takes_troubled_valley
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangi_Valley


The afghan don’t stand much chance against us in conventional warfare. Their playing the time game. I hold nothing against them though. Or you guys. But I don’t think we belong there.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 20, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I served in Afghanistan in the Tangi as a rifleman in ‘09. My grandfather did 3 tours in ‘Nam with the Brown Water Navy as a GM1 on the Swift Boats. He killed himself when I was about 2. May he rest in peace. Wish I’d have known the crazy bastard.


My dad turned into a psycho. He raised me like an nva pow though so I can handle most things. But that war fucked up a lot of ppl


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 20, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> The afghan don’t stand much chance against us in conventional warfare. Their playing the time game. I hold nothing against them though. Or you guys. But I don’t think we belong there.


When I was there, Bin Laden was still alive. I felt then, that we belonged there. After about 2011-2012, I felt we should have pulled out.

Conventionally speaking, you are right. But they are very crafty, I give them that. Like fighting ghosts, most of the time. Getting into firefights every day, getting blown up a few times a week. Their 5 year old kids are triggermen to IEDs, 15 year olds with Dragunovs. We got one of them that was plaguing us for a few months. He was a good shot, too, that kid. His luck just ran out. Turned him into swiss cheese, firing into the woodline. It was only after we found his body we realized he was just a kid. Usually are pretty good about dragging their dead away. He must have been doing his thing solo.

Definitely don’t underestimate them, though. They’re a bit backwards, but they aren’t stupid. The dumb ones are mostly already dead.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> When I was there, Bin Laden was still alive. I felt then, that we belonged there. After about 2011-2012, I felt we should have pulled out.
> 
> Conventionally speaking, you are right. But they are very crafty, I give them that. Like fighting ghosts, most of the time. Getting into firefights every day, getting blown up a few times a week. Their 5 year old kids are triggermen, 15 year olds with Dragunovs. We got one if them that was plaguing us for a few months. He was a good shot, too, that kid. His luck just ran out. Turned him into swiss cheese, firing into the woodline. It was only after we found his body we realized he was just a kid. Usually are pretty good about dragging their dead away. He must have been doing his thing solo.
> 
> Definitely don’t underestimate them, though. They’re a bit backwards, but they aren’t stupid.


They know nothing but war. When the kids also fight, their desperate. I was made to as well. A 12 year olds bullet is just as effective as a 21 year olds if placed well. Most war now is hit and run ambushes, very intricate brawls, intended to mentally fuck up the paid soldiers. Or mines and ieds. I was once hit by a blast and idk how I’m alive but I felt the silence, then the throbbing and checked to see if I had my body parts and noticed not one scratch. Not one. My hair was all gone, my clothes tattered and not one piece of shrapnel hit me 3-4 feet away from the bomb. I believe in something idk a god you could say


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> They know nothing but war. When the kids also fight, their desperate. I was made to as well. A 12 year olds bullet is just as effective as a 21 year olds if placed well. Most war now is hit and run ambushes, very intricate brawls, intended to mentally fuck up the paid soldiers. Or mines and ieds. I was once hit by a blast and idk how I’m alive but I felt the silence, then the throbbing and checked to see if I had my body parts and noticed not one scratch. Not one. My hair was all gone, my clothes tattered and not one piece of shrapnel hit me 3-4 feet away from the bomb. I believe in something idk a god you could say


When I got blown up, I was on foot, and it was a pressure cooker full of rebar, marbles, and HME (ANFO.) I was three steps away, just finished untangling my team leader’s MBITR from some brush, and my team leader saw some guys on the Northern ridgeline through his ACOG. Next thing I know, I hear, not a boom, but what sounded like the MGM Lion roaring in my left ear and I blacked out. Woke up in a cloud of brown dust a couple minutes later, PKM rounds zinging by like they do in the cartoons. Crawled to a berm, returned fire. We got some of them, but the rest fled with their bodies. I didn’t even think. My body just moved on its own.

Pretty sure the lid came off of that pressure cooker and all the shrapnel went upward, while the blast went outward. I got pretty lucky.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> When I got blown up, I was on foot, and it was a pressure cooker full of rebar, marbles, and HME (ANFO.) I was three steps away, just finished untangling my team leader’s MBITR from some brush, and my team leader saw some guys on the Northern ridgeline through his ACOG. Next thing I know, I hear, not a boom, but what sounded like the MGM Lion roaring in my left ear and I blacked out. Woke up in a cloud of brown dust a couple minutes later, PKM rounds zinging by like they do in the cartoons. Crawled to a berm, returned fire. We got some of them, but the rest fled with their bodies. I didn’t even think. My body just moved on its own.
> 
> Pretty sure the lid came off of that pressure cooker and all the shrapnel went upward, while the blast went outward. I got pretty lucky.


Sounds like it. I think Semtex was used idk, I heard a woof, and then was like in a daze then heard again and bam checked myself ASAP. Thankfully I wasn’t being shot at while I was just in the wrong place, wrong time


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

The Irish bottle kids will throw rocks at cops or soldiers with guns, they don’t scare easy in Ireland


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> The Irish bottle kids will throw rocks at cops or soldiers with guns, they don’t scare easy in Ireland


Yeah. Honestly, when it came to the IRA and the Troubles, I respected them. The British don’t belong annexing Northern Ireland. I think Scotland also deserves their independence, particularly considering how it came to be that those two countries found themselves under British rule. We did the same thing here in America, we just happened to win.

Vietnam, I can’t say I feel the same way about the NVC and NVA. We didn’t necessarily belong there (Fuck you once again, France), but they were killing off their own people at a ridiculous rate during “Resettlement.” The Communists were actually worse towards their own side than we were.

I respect all who served, but we didn’t belong in Iraq, either. Nonetheless, I appreciate the service of all my brothers and sisters in arms


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Yeah. Honestly, when it came to the IRA and the Troubles, I respected them. The British don’t belong annexing Northern Ireland. I think Scotland also deserves their independence, particularly considering how it came to be that those two countries found themselves under British rule. We did the same thing here in America, we just happened to win.
> 
> Vietnam, I can’t say I feel the same way about the NVC and NVA. We didn’t necessarily belong there (Fuck you once again, France), but they were killing off their own people at a ridiculous rate during “Resettlement.” The Communists were actually worse towards their own side than we were.
> 
> I respect all who served, but we didn’t belong in Iraq, either. Nonetheless, I appreciate the service of all my brothers and sisters in arms


Ireland and the ira are one in the same. The Republican Army are hero’s and freedom fighters. The provisional ira we’re doing the terrorist stuff in retaliation. I still support the Republican Army in spirit and always will. I’ll tesch my children like I was what truly happened. 800+ years is a long time. America had no biz in nam. Nam was about Michelin mostly and imperialism. Ireland is also imperialism. Ask yourself, if I were a Vietnamese who had pushed out one imperial to have another who’s side would you believe in. The commy thing too is part true. Actually nam was a proxy war to China and Russia as well. If we cared about Asian boys freedoms as lbj said, why not Ireland’s too? Same time period. We helped the Brits with Ireland actually. Then the ira too both cuz America plays all sides. Germany had ford factory’s in war production. USA did too. Only the few bombs that weren’t accurate hit his factory’s . The nva changed that eradicating policy because it worked against them. When they steam rolled in in 75 I think, mass panic. Didn’t happen then. Red scare is all


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

My dad said they killed everyone in places at times. It was open fire zones. He said he killed women kids, even old ppl who weren’t combatants. They said, this is war. To reason. He said we made more enemies then friends in nam. They spit and said go home gi and mined kids and roads. Everyone knew too, they didn’t warn us though. We considered everyone vc


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> My dad said they killed everyone in places at times. It was open fire zones. He said he killed women kids, even old ppl who weren’t combatants. They said, this is war. To reason. He said we made more enemies then friends in nam. They spit and said go home gi and mined kids and roads. Everyone knew too, they didn’t warn us though. We considered everyone vc


It’s just the way it is. Hatred just kind of consumes you after a while. You watch your friends die. And the same kid you gave a blanket or a teddy bear 10 minutes ago or the old man whose hand you shook is usually the same person killing them. Happened with us, too. I don’t really want to say more than that.


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

Ideologically and tactically, there are a lot of similarities between ‘Nam and Afghanistan. There really is. We’re just better equipped to save casualties and overwhelm the enemy these days. Better vests and helmets, better experience with Medevacs and combat medicine, etc.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> It’s just the way it is. Hatred just kind of consumes you after a while. You watch your friends die. And the same kid you gave a blanket or a teddy bear 10 minutes ago or the old man whose hand you shook is usually the same person killing them. Happened with us, too. I don’t really want to say more than that.


I don’t hate. I look at it now as ignorant and don’t blame the Brit ppl for it but their government. Just like we’re not to blame for Afghanistan or Iraq. It’s our war mentality monger government.


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> I don’t hate. I look at it now as ignorant and don’t blame the Brit ppl for it but their government. Just like we’re not to blame for Afghanistan or Iraq. It’s our war mentality monger government.


I don’t hate them anymore. It took some extreme measures, but I found peace in my confusion, and a release from my suffering and bitterness. Ayahuasca probably saved my life. I used to be addicted to amphetamines and opiates for 4 years.


----------



## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Ideologically and tactically, there are a lot of similarities between ‘Nam and Afghanistan. There really is. We’re just better equipped to save casualties and overwhelm the enemy these days. Better vests and helmets, better experience with Medevacs and combat medicine, etc.


Flir with drones and apaches and our guided missile systems are the difference. The computer systems for armaments are unreal. We’re still slow, predictable and use our ppl as bait. Flir suits, intricate ambushes that are close enough to throw your gun, and mines will prevail though if they continue to crop more and more future fighters. It’s never ending there. They could learn though more but they are very good I hear


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> It’s just the way it is. Hatred just kind of consumes you after a while. You watch your friends die. And the same kid you gave a blanket or a teddy bear 10 minutes ago or the old man whose hand you shook is usually the same person killing them. Happened with us, too. I don’t really want to say more than that.


I understand you. No need to say more. It don’t mean a thing, just remember it as a bad dream


----------



## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I don’t hate them anymore. It took some extreme measures, but I found peace in my confusion, and a release from my suffering and bitterness. Ayahuasca probably saved my life. I used to be addicted to amphetamines and opiates for 4 years.


I did drugs, played with my life a lot, enjoyed it too. Never backed down from anyone. It’s like a dream. I tried to bury it but it comes back. But I just try to redeem myself here out. Shepherd the lost souls. Maybe one day I will be judged, but I was a child myself. I was hooked to the cables once, I don’t remember much but I don’t think I said anything. I think though it jump started my brain, cuz we’re electric and I sense things and other shit I won’t say so no one thinks I’m sec 8 lol. But lightning I felt coming this summer so I moved just enough when it did hit I was feet away. Coolest shit I’ve seen. It sounded like a bomb and looked like the delorian in back to the future with the electric waves down it. Arcs and frys my shit lol. I just knew it was coming, I felt it.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

There’s always that calm before the storm. I’d be a good point man lol on patrol prob lol @Olive Drab Green


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

Ac-130 gunship too fuckkkkkk dude. Best find a deep cave


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> Ac-130 gunship too fuckkkkkk dude. Best find a deep cave


I’ve flown in them before. They are fucking huge inside, and the exposed internals along the walls always freaked me out. On our way home in one, I swear the pilot had us completely sideways, because we were all like “WHOA, WTF?!” Got a little air sick with that one.


----------



## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

See if they would use the villages to set ambushes cuz they less prone to civilian kills then prior, and then have flir suits or spider hole networks near. Then set their trap so tight like General Giap said, cling to their belts. Those guided weapons can’t be used, in fear of friendly kills. No artillery. Then duck out and mine the tunnels, we would be in trouble. Tanks are an option but not in high terrain in mountains. Air support neutralized, it’s man vs man really


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## abandonconflict (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> When I was there, Bin Laden was still alive. I felt then, that we belonged there. After about 2011-2012, I felt we should have pulled out.
> 
> Conventionally speaking, you are right. But they are very crafty, I give them that. Like fighting ghosts, most of the time. Getting into firefights every day, getting blown up a few times a week. Their 5 year old kids are triggermen to IEDs, 15 year olds with Dragunovs. We got one of them that was plaguing us for a few months. He was a good shot, too, that kid. His luck just ran out. Turned him into swiss cheese, firing into the woodline. It was only after we found his body we realized he was just a kid. Usually are pretty good about dragging their dead away. He must have been doing his thing solo.
> 
> Definitely don’t underestimate them, though. They’re a bit backwards, but they aren’t stupid. The dumb ones are mostly already dead.


My unit chased him to Pakistan. We could have had him in '03. We basically had him on the run from Operation Mongoose onward. There were very few of us in the country at the time. I think it was around 12,000 US troops in total including support pogues. Anyway we just pulled back and went to Bagram and had cheesy eggs at a chowhall and the latest CDs at the PX. They didn't want that war over, if they really did, we could have gotten him then. It was obvious even then, especially when you saw the multitudes of KBR folks wasting so much commissary. We had our orders to Iraq before we even left A-stan.

I still think back about that country. It is so beautiful. Flying nap of the earth there was one of the most exhilarating experiences I can remember.


Olive Drab Green said:


> I’ve flown in them before. They are fucking huge inside, and the exposed internals along the walls always freaked me out. On our way home in one, I swear the pilot had us completely sideways, because we were all like “WHOA, WTF?!” Got a little air sick with that one.


I have jumped out of more of them than I have landed in. Well, not AC-130, just the C130s.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 21, 2018)

abandonconflict said:


> My unit chased him to Pakistan. We could have had him in '03. We basically had him on the run from Operation Mongoose onward. There were very few of us in the country at the time. I think it was around 12,000 US troops in total including support pogues. Anyway we just pulled back and went to Bagram and had cheesy eggs at a chowhall and the latest CDs at the PX. They didn't want that war over, if they really did, we could have gotten him then. It was obvious even then, especially when you saw the multitudes of KBR folks wasting so much commissary. We had our orders to Iraq before we even left A-stan.
> 
> I still think back about that country. It is so beautiful. Flying nap of the earth there was one of the most exhilarating experiences I can remember.
> 
> I have jumped out of more of them than I have landed in. Well, not AC-130, just the C130s.


That war could be over quick if we quit arming both sides


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

abandonconflict said:


> My unit chased him to Pakistan. We could have had him in '03. We basically had him on the run from Operation Mongoose onward. There were very few of us in the country at the time. I think it was around 12,000 US troops in total including support pogues. Anyway we just pulled back and went to Bagram and had cheesy eggs at a chowhall and the latest CDs at the PX. They didn't want that war over, if they really did, we could have gotten him then. It was obvious even then, especially when you saw the multitudes of KBR folks wasting so much commissary. We had our orders to Iraq before we even left A-stan.
> 
> I still think back about that country. It is so beautiful. Flying nap of the earth there was one of the most exhilarating experiences I can remember.
> 
> I have jumped out of more of them than I have landed in. Well, not AC-130, just the C130s.


I was a leg. I’m planning my first jump pretty soon as a civilian. I have a friend who just became an instructor who wants to throw me out of the plane. Freefall from 15,000 to 3,000-1,800.

Thanks for your service.


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## curious2garden (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I was a leg. I’m planning my first jump pretty soon as a civilian. I have a friend who just became an instructor who wants to throw me out of the plane. Freefall from 15,000 to 3,000-1,800.
> 
> Thanks for your service.


Never jump out of a perfectly good airplane.


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Never jump out of a perfectly good airplane.


I have a really bad feeling about this, myself. He’s the dude who introduced me to the Ayahuasca, though, so I trust his intentions at least. He’s like Dante, the dude with the monkey from Grandma’s Boy. But, yeah. Over 12,000 straight feet of freefall. This is going to be fucking ridiculous.


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## Singlemalt (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I was a leg. I’m planning my first jump pretty soon as a civilian. I have a friend who just became an instructor who wants to throw me out of the plane. Freefall from 15,000 to 3,000-1,800.
> 
> Thanks for your service.


Don't, trust me. If you live to my age it won't be a fond memory


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## curious2garden (Feb 21, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I have a really bad feeling about this, myself. He’s the dude who introduced me to the Ayahuasca, though, so I trust his intentions at least. He’s like the dude with the monkey from Grandma’s Boy. But, yeah. Over 12,000 straight feet of freefall. This is going to be fucking ridiculous.


Listen to yourself


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 21, 2018)

I probably shouldn’t do it, you guys are right.


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## BarnBuster (Feb 24, 2018)

_Andrew Lumish of Land O’ Lakes, Florida, spends most of his waking hours scrubbing down the tarnished and moss-covered tombstones in historic cemeteries around Tampa, exposing the essential information of a life story just waiting to be rediscovered. During the month of February, he’ll be telling the stories of African-American veterans during Black History Month.

“We will be sharing the restoration process and the stories of two African-American veterans per week to celebrate their service and sacrifice to our country,” Lumish says.
_
http://people.com/human-interest/florida-man-uncovers-veterans-stories-tombstones/


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## Olive Drab Green (Feb 24, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> _Andrew Lumish of Land O’ Lakes, Florida, spends most of his waking hours scrubbing down the tarnished and moss-covered tombstones in historic cemeteries around Tampa, exposing the essential information of a life story just waiting to be rediscovered. During the month of February, he’ll be telling the stories of African-American veterans during Black History Month.
> 
> “We will be sharing the restoration process and the stories of two African-American veterans per week to celebrate their service and sacrifice to our country,” Lumish says.
> _
> http://people.com/human-interest/florida-man-uncovers-veterans-stories-tombstones/


That guy’s a real hero. My heart goes out to him.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 24, 2018)

This could be us......but divide and conquer techniques are always used to divide us all


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 24, 2018)

The Irish bottle kids are my hero’s. They aren’t sacred of shit. Throwing rocks and bottles and bricks at armed military units face to face against bullets and body armor


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## lokie (Feb 24, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> View attachment 4095761
> This could be us......but divide and conquer techniques are always used to divide us all





Dankonomics_genetics said:


> View attachment 4095763
> The Irish bottle kids are my hero’s. They aren’t sacred of shit. Throwing rocks and bottles and bricks at armed military units face to face against bullets and body armor


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 24, 2018)

This is part true. Definitely not the truth about the ira though.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 24, 2018)

John had the version 100% of the story


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 24, 2018)

https://www.thoughtco.com/guide-to-the-irish-republican-army-3209135
This story is close. But they leave out the genocide and stuff that kicked it off during “the troubles” but the ira was the official army after independence from Britain. Now illegal I’m sure you can see why. In others best interests they just call them all terrorists, instead of branding them soldiers as they should. That’s why bobby sands refused to wear a convicts uniform nor meekly serve his time, for Britain may brand Ireland’s fight 800 years of crime, in his words. But they also neglect to tell of rud or royal ulster defense forces, and other loyalists paramilitary groups actual terrorism bombings like in Dublin and the Irish Republic, and north. Assassinations, and oppression. I know from what I saw as a child and what I was told too prior to my birth. I wouldn’t be in America if not for Cromwell and the famine.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

But that’s why we gotta spread the word, tell em what you heard, you know it’s gonna be ok.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

An ounce of resistance is wortha pound of votes though


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

abandonconflict said:


> My unit chased him to Pakistan. We could have had him in '03. We basically had him on the run from Operation Mongoose onward. There were very few of us in the country at the time. I think it was around 12,000 US troops in total including support pogues. Anyway we just pulled back and went to Bagram and had cheesy eggs at a chowhall and the latest CDs at the PX. They didn't want that war over, if they really did, we could have gotten him then. It was obvious even then, especially when you saw the multitudes of KBR folks wasting so much commissary. We had our orders to Iraq before we even left A-stan.
> 
> I still think back about that country. It is so beautiful. Flying nap of the earth there was one of the most exhilarating experiences I can remember.
> 
> I have jumped out of more of them than I have landed in. Well, not AC-130, just the C130s.


The afghan people are a proud people too. Like Ho Chi Minh said, for every one nva soldier we killed 3 would replace him. For every one civilian we kill, 10 will defect to his side. I mean, they strapped bombs to their children, said ask gi for candy......what a wonderful world. But we don’t want to win anything but the oil pipeline is why we’re over there. Rothschild and their central bank monopoly too. Cuz where’s saddams money? Gaddafi? We paid for that war, where’s our spoils? At least back in the day they divided up the spoils of war....


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

I may head into Pakistan and Afghanistan and Nepal to collect specific specimens I can find to bring to the market. I’d have to learn Arabic first but I talk to ppl from the Middle East, and war zones cuz my job. And they are all nice people from what I’ve seen. Iranians esp have been very kind, most of these terror nations as they call them have been nicer imo then Americans to me. Like Muhammad Ali said, they the ones opposing my freedom, ain’t no Vietnamese called me a $&@@&$. I don’t consider the white ppl my enemy though. That’s where he’s off base imo but at the same time I feel his anger but don’t blame everyone in a race for the actions of few.


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## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)




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## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> The afghan people are a proud people too. Like Ho Chi Minh said, for every one nva soldier we killed 3 would replace him. For every one civilian we kill, 10 will defect to his side. I mean, they strapped bombs to their children, said ask gi for candy......what a wonderful world. But we don’t want to win anything but the oil pipeline is why we’re over there. Rothschild and their central bank monopoly too. Cuz where’s saddams money? Gaddafi? We paid for that war, where’s our spoils? At least back in the day they divided up the spoils of war....


What is your motive in glorifying children in/at war?


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> What is your motive in glorifying children in/at war?


Who’s glorifying that?


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

I find it to be not just stupid, immoral and terrible parenting but insanity. But that’s how deep the hearts and minds of the people of Vietnam were to push out the imperialism


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> What is your motive in glorifying children in/at war?


If you could explain where I glorify strapping a bomb to your child please I’m all ears?


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## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> Who’s glorifying that?


Your post supporting kids defying authority and the post where you point out that kids are used in candy schemes do bring to light to use of children as pawns.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> Your post supporting kids defying authority and the post where you point out that kids are used in candy schemes do bring to light to use of children as pawns.


Candy schemes huh? Dude save yo breath. Find a hobby or something. We all defy authority bra. Why you here? You grow weed, or smoke it. That’s defying authority. Defending your home is different. Children are used in war, it’s a fact. Never would I encourage that. But please don’t eben bother with the gsmes ya playing here. I’m not interested in your opinion at this point seeing how you are twisting things and being argumentative off the bat to boot.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

Why even say that to me? You looking for a fight? Or to embarrass a breeder cuz all these troll it up forums are the same story, different day. It make you feel important? Or maybe it makes you feel better about yourself? Troll monkey lol he’s s breeder


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## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> Candy schemes huh? Dude save yo breath. Find a hobby or something. We all defy authority bra. Why you here? You grow weed, or smoke it. That’s defying authority. Defending your home is different. Children are used in war, it’s a fact. Never would I encourage that. But please don’t eben bother with the gsmes ya playing here. I’m not interested in your opinion at this point seeing how you are twisting things and being argumentative off the bat to boot.


On the contrary. It seems we have a common opinion that children are used as pawns.
It also appears that you condone it.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

I was a child soldier if you want to know. That’s why I know. There ya happy? Am I embarrassed no. Do I feel bad, yes. Did I have a choice no. Am I still in nope. Would I again? Only for my home and family.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> On the contrary. It seems we have a common opinion that children are used as pawns.
> It also appears that you condone it.


Don’t put words in my mouth. ESP disrespectful shit like that. Maybe you should think before you speak


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

Ignored


----------



## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)




----------



## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> Don’t put words in my mouth. ESP disrespectful shit like that. Maybe you should think before you speak





Dankonomics_genetics said:


> View attachment 4095763
> The Irish bottle kids are my hero’s. They aren’t sacred of shit. Throwing rocks and bottles and bricks at armed military units face to face against bullets and body armor


No need to speak for you. You speak loud enough.


----------



## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> No need to speak for you. You speak loud enough.


You act like a child yourself


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> No need to speak for you. You speak loud enough.


Don’t talk about things you know nothing about. You prob live in America by the way you act. Grew up in some middle class neighborhood and now troll people in your spare time on riu for shits and gigs cuz your obviously unhappy with ya life bra to just randomly hate on me for what was said and how you twisted things too. Move outa moms bra get a haircut and a job lol


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

I find it hard to believe the military would accept you, but I guess they are taking almost anyone these days. Good luck America if we end up at war with Russia. It won’t be good


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

We def got the kids to troll and do war memes here, idk how the military can operate effectively now with things and how the public is tired of war. And the trolls here are prob in the draft pool lol. Women too are now selective service mandatory which thankfully they can fight still lol.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

And women in the draft means the governments desperation here for more wars and boots on the ground. I hear the selective service commercials round the clock. It means more war. America reminds me of Belfast now.


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## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> And women in the draft means the governments desperation here for more wars and boots on the ground. I hear the selective service commercials round the clock. It means more war. America reminds me of Belfast now.









Slow your roll dood.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> Slow your roll dood.


I’ve seen war, have you? Why are you here then?


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

This is for vets. You think I or anyone who’s been in a war wants more war?


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

Some of us actually care about freedom bro


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## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> This is for vets. You think I or anyone who’s been in a war wants more war?


This is an open forum.

The wise do not seek conflict.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> This is an open forum.
> 
> The wise do not seek conflict.


Whos the one here starting shit? Kids these days lol


----------



## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> This is an open forum.
> 
> The wise do not seek conflict.


Go lick some boots kid, cuz your an idiot.


----------



## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> Whos the one here starting shit? Kids these days lol





Dankonomics_genetics said:


> Go lick some boots kid, cuz your an idiot.









You have brought nothing more than accusation to this debate.


----------



## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> Whos the one here starting shit? Kids these days lol


Questioning your motives demeans your impetus does it?


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> You have brought nothing more than accusation to this debate.


Who brought what? Bra get help


----------



## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 25, 2018)

lokie said:


> You have brought nothing more than accusation to this debate.


Who brought what? Bra get help


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## lokie (Feb 25, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> I was a child soldier if you want to know. That’s why I know. There ya happy? Am I embarrassed no. Do I feel bad, yes. Did I have a choice no. Am I still in nope. Would I again? Only for my home and family.


God bless you and your descendants.

Perpetuating past discretions does not help future generations.

Carrying your badge of defiance is not attractive and garners little favor to your plight.


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## Lordhooha (Feb 26, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> And women in the draft means the governments desperation here for more wars and boots on the ground. I hear the selective service commercials round the clock. It means more war. America reminds me of Belfast now.


All this time and I never realized there was a forum for just us veterans.


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## haight (Feb 26, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> I don't know what they do now but when I was in our pt test were the same standard as the army.


In my day we had to run a mile in less than 8 minutes. Wearing brogans.


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## Dankonomics_genetics (Feb 26, 2018)

Lordhooha said:


> All this time and I never realized there was a forum for just us veterans.


Welcome to the nam lol


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## thumper60 (Feb 26, 2018)

lokie said:


> Questioning your motives demeans your impetus does it?


oh don't forget he has got the RAREST seeds in the world haha cant believe this pile of shit has not been bannedAGAIN


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## whitebb2727 (Feb 26, 2018)

haight said:


> In my day we had to run a mile in less than 8 minutes. Wearing brogans.


If I remember correct we had to do so many push ups, sit ups and pull ups for one test. I had to do that one time and run two miles when I had to be taped. I'm a big frame guy. My ideal weight is 30 pounds more than thier standard. 

When we ran as a group to be tested it was two miles in under 16 or 14 minutes. Probably 16 since you mentioned 8 minutes.

Hell you can briskly walk a mile in almost 8 minutes.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 26, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> If I remember correct we had to do so many push ups, sit ups and pull ups for one test. I had to do that one time and run two miles when I had to be taped. I'm a big frame guy. My ideal weight is 30 pounds more than thier standard.
> 
> When we ran as a group to be tested it was two miles in under 16 or 14 minutes. Probably 16 since you mentioned 8 minutes.
> 
> Hell you can briskly walk a mile in almost 8 minutes.


I remember all of that - seemed like some soft ass shit until a DI noticed it didn't hurt & then they made it so.
I also recall seeing the obstacle course but they never made us do it - seems 3 recruits had died in the last couple of months & they discontinued it.

I thought it looked like fun.


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## Wilksey (Feb 26, 2018)

Dankonomics_genetics said:


> I find it hard to believe the military would accept you....


The U.S. military has no standards outside of SOF. Hence their forcing females, gays, and trannies in the service and into combat units.

Our military has become a fucking joke.


----------



## pabloesqobar (Feb 27, 2018)

Wilksey said:


> The U.S. military has no standards outside of SOF. Hence their forcing females, gays, and trannies in the service and into combat units.
> 
> Our military has become a fucking joke.


Nobody is being forced into service. Only about 5% of the military have standards?


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## haight (Feb 28, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> If I remember correct we had to do so many push ups, sit ups and pull ups for one test. I had to do that one time and run two miles when I had to be taped. I'm a big frame guy. My ideal weight is 30 pounds more than thier standard.
> 
> When we ran as a group to be tested it was two miles in under 16 or 14 minutes. Probably 16 since you mentioned 8 minutes.
> 
> Hell you can briskly walk a mile in almost 8 minutes.


I suppose. We had something called 5BX and included pushups, sit ups, jumping jacks, knee bends and toe touches. Five basic exercises.


----------



## haight (Feb 28, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I remember all of that - seemed like some soft ass shit until a DI noticed it didn't hurt & then they made it so.
> I also recall seeing the obstacle course but they never made us do it - seems 3 recruits had died in the last couple of months & they discontinued it.
> 
> I thought it looked like fun.


In high school I could never climb a rope. In basic I found it in me to climb the damn rope so I wouldn't get set back a week.


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 28, 2018)

haight said:


> I suppose. We had something called 5BX and included pushups, sit ups, jumping jacks, knee bends and toe touches. Five basic exercises.


Hub asked if you were Air Force. Their 5BX meant just that, five times around the BX it was also referred to as the fox hunt.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Feb 28, 2018)

Wilksey said:


> The U.S. military has no standards outside of SOF. Hence their forcing females, gays, and trannies in the service and into combat units.
> 
> Our military has become a fucking joke.


What? What do you know about the military. From what some friends have told me the AF is stricter now than when I was in. I was in a strict unit.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 28, 2018)

Wilksey said:


> The U.S. military has no standards outside of SOF. Hence their *forcing females, gays, and trannies in the service* and into combat units.
> Our military has become a fucking joke.


WTH are you even talking about? President Nixon killed conscription (the draft) almost 45 years ago (01 July 1973) which means all 5 armed forces personnel have voluntarily enlisted/been commissioned since then, and I would really like to hear your vast personal experiences with military service.
When did you serve? Where?

On a side note, I had a recent convo with a USCG recruiter whom indicated that in excess of 60% of perspective recruits failed to meet minimum standards and are turned away - sounds to me like they are very picky.

And what's up with the misogyny and various sexual phobia's you display so proudly?


----------



## wascaptain (Mar 1, 2018)




----------



## wascaptain (Mar 2, 2018)




----------



## tangerinegreen555 (Mar 2, 2018)

Wilksey said:


> The U.S. military has no standards outside of SOF. Hence their forcing females, gays, and trannies in the service and into combat units.
> 
> *Our military has become a fucking joke.*


Try fucking with them .

We'll see you on the news. Bye.


----------



## haight (Mar 3, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Hub asked if you were Air Force. Their 5BX meant just that, five times around the BX it was also referred to as the fox hunt.


Yup, A1C. The rank doesn't exist anymore although E-4 still exists.


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 3, 2018)

haight said:


> Yup, A1C. The rank doesn't exist anymore although E-4 still exists.


What was your AFSC? Hub's asking, he was a 45799 at retirement. As an E-4 he was a 43151E.


----------



## haight (Mar 4, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> What was your AFSC? Hub's asking, he was a 45799 at retirement. As an E-4 he was a 43151E.


Don't really recall, 30454 maybe. Ground Radio Maintenance.


----------



## wascaptain (Mar 5, 2018)

i put in 262 miles of jogging in 12 weeks to prepare for this half marathon

. thats me and my friend (navy) and workout bro finishing together. he could have out run me, but instead he ran it with me.

yall may think ...wow thats nice of him, not me, i think he just wanted to see me suffer the whole way.

my next fitness goal is hiking up pikes peak in june,


----------



## doublejj (Mar 5, 2018)

USS LEXINGTON is found 2 miles down in the coral sea after 76 years....


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 6, 2018)

3 books worth a read specifically about the Battle of the Coral Sea:

“The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle (Campaign)” – by Mark Stille
“Blue Skies and Blood: The Battle of the Coral Sea” – by Edwin P. Hoyt
“The Battle of the Coral Sea: Combat Narratives” – by Office of Naval Intelligence

also:
The First South Pacific Campaign: Pacific Fleet Strategy, December 1941-June 1942 - by John B. Lundstrom
“The Barrier and the Javelin” - H.P.Willmott


----------



## dstroy (Mar 10, 2018)

Lol


----------



## Dmannn (Mar 11, 2018)

Good morning college dropouts!! Here a pic of my rig, circa OIF 2013


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 13, 2018)




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## curious2garden (Mar 15, 2018)

@GreatwhiteNorth approximately 600' above my backyard on final to EDW


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 15, 2018)

As you know Dad was SAC - B52 guy. 
When I was a kid, people would always ask me how we slept or did anything with the constant air traffic above our house.
Honestly it got to where it got automatically tuned out - I didn't even notice.


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 15, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> As you know Dad was SAC - B52 guy.
> When I was a kid, people would always ask me how we slept or did anything with the constant air traffic above our house.
> Honestly it got to where it got automatically tuned out - I didn't even notice.


A friendly sound you fall asleep to! Anyway I posted it because I remembered your dad and it was a great reason to post a pic of the planes I get to see. I'm so grateful for that. Yesterday the field grade guys were doing their currency on the B2. That is, probably, the sexiest airframe aloft.


----------



## cannabineer (Mar 15, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> A friendly sound you fall asleep to! Anyway I posted it because I remembered your dad and it was a great reason to post a pic of the planes I get to see. I'm so grateful for that. Yesterday the field grade guys were doing their currency *on the B2.* That is, probably, the sexiest airframe aloft.


That's the Spirit


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 15, 2018)

I love the Buff because of Dad.
I'd love to take a ride in one someday but that dream is probably just that.


----------



## cannabineer (Mar 15, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I love the Buff because of Dad.
> I'd love to take a ride in one someday but that dream is probably just that.


They're saying about keeping them operational 'til 2050, so the dream lives yet


just so long as the CG keeps Buffs in its TOE


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 15, 2018)

cannabineer said:


> They're saying about keeping them operational 'til 2050, so the dream lives yet
> 
> 
> just so long as the CG keeps Buffs in its TOE


Not bad for 64 (so far) years of an operational service air frame.
Is that a record? It's gotta be close if not.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 15, 2018)

A quick google shows the B-52 was in service a year earlier than the Russian Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear) bomber but she's a turboprop & outgunned in speed & payload by the Buff.


----------



## cannabineer (Mar 15, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> A quick google shows the B-52 was in service a year earlier than the Russian Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear) bomber but she's a turboprop & outgunned in speed & payload by the Buff.


 Yeah but I have got to represent the TU-95


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 15, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> As you know Dad was SAC - B52 guy.
> When I was a kid, people would always ask me how we slept or did anything with the constant air traffic above our house.
> Honestly it got to where it got automatically tuned out - I didn't even notice.


Lol. I grew up with mortars shaking the house. You can get used to all kinds of stuff.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

I was in the Navy from '80-83. Electrician's Mate aboard USS Saipan LHA-2. I mostly worked in the light shop. {starboard side, main deck, just above anchor windlass room} Lots of lights on that old bathtub. Hard to believe she was turned into razor blades.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

Here she is, ready to disgorge Marines. From above and below.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 17, 2018)

too larry said:


> Here she is, ready to disgorge Marines. From above and below.


Thank you for your service.


Thank all of you that served.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> Thank you for your service.
> 
> 
> Thank all of you that served.


To you as well.

I was set to glow in the dark, but got in a little trouble waiting for A-School. As a result, I didn't go to Nuclear Propulsion School. Did finish my A-school, so I got my rate before going to the fleet.


----------



## Singlemalt (Mar 17, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> *I love the Buff* because of Dad.
> I'd love to take a ride in one someday but that dream is probably just that.


Arc Light


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 17, 2018)

too larry said:


> To you as well.
> 
> I was set to glow in the dark, but got in a little trouble waiting for A-School. As a result, I didn't go to Nuclear Propulsion School. Did finish my A-school, so I got my rate before going to the fleet.


Lol. I got in a little trouble. I went to tech school on a different forces base. There wasn't many of us. You know how fresh out of boot camp guys are about which service is better. A few bar fights and I got left alone.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 17, 2018)

We also took down volley ball nets on the beach and setup boxing rings and would work out who was better at boxing. Gloves and head gear was used but we had the ok of higher ups to do. It caused less drunk fighting in bars.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> Lol. I got in a little trouble. I went to tech school on a different forces base. There wasn't many of us. You know how fresh out of boot camp guys are about which service it better. A few bar fights and I got left alone.


My trouble was the Roll It Up variety. A buddy and I were walking in the woods near the bowling alley at Great Lakes burning one. Didn't know about the parking lot in the woods. But the base police sure did.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> We also took down volley ball nets on the beach and setup boxing rings and would work out who was better at boxing. Gloves and head gear was used but we had the ok of higher ups to do. It caused less drunk fighting in bars.


When we were at sea we would have boxing matches on the hanger bay. Smokers they called them. Lots of frustration released that way.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 17, 2018)

too larry said:


> My trouble was the Roll It Up variety. A buddy and I were walking in the woods near the bowling alley at Great Lakes burning one. Didn't know about the parking lot in the woods. But the base police sure did.


Lol. I think I saw just as much, if not more drugs, in the service.

Some of the best smoke I have had came back with soldiers.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 17, 2018)

too larry said:


> When we were at sea we would have boxing matches on the hanger bay. Smokers they called them. Lots of frustration released that way.


I was on a naval station. That may be why the boxing was allowed.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> Lol. I think I saw just as much, if not more drugs, in the service.
> 
> Some of the best smoke I have came back with soldiers.


The Saipan was a Fuck Up ship. You fuck up anywhere else, and they sent you there. Almost all the electricians smoked dope.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 17, 2018)

too larry said:


> The Saipan was a Fuck Up ship. You fuck up anywhere else, and they sent you there. Almost all the electricians smoked dope.


I had to walk a tight rope. I had a clearance.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> I was on a naval station. That may be why the boxing was allowed.


I was only ashore for bootcamp and my A-school. Didn't hear of any sanctioned boxing there, but I wasn't there long.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> I had to walk a tight rope. I had a clearance.


I should have. Although I don't think I would have liked the nuclear field for a lifetime of work. Would have been cool to have the training.

Lots of piss tests in the early 80's. Lots of drug searches when we were in the Med.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 17, 2018)

too larry said:


> I was only ashore for bootcamp and my A-school. Didn't hear of any sanctioned boxing there, but I wasn't there long.


I don't know that it was sanctioned. I do know higher ups over looked it and even attended sometimes.


too larry said:


> I should have. Although I don't think I would have liked the nuclear field for a lifetime of work. Would have been cool to have the training.
> 
> Lots of piss tests in the early 80's. Lots of drug searches when we were in the Med.


Our piss test were random by computer. Might do three in one week and then go a year or more.


----------



## too larry (Mar 17, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> I don't know that it was sanctioned. I do know higher ups over looked it and even attended sometimes.
> 
> Our piss test were random by computer. Might do three in one week and then go a year or more.


We only had them at sea. When a few fights broke out, the Captain would decide it was time for Smokers.


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 18, 2018)

*Last living MOH recipient from Iwo Jima offers graveside salute to ‘guardian angel’
*




​_"Seventy-three years ago on the island of Iwo Jima, Hershel “Woody” Williams randomly chose several fellow Marines to give him rifle cover as he made a one-man charge with his flamethrower against a network of Japanese pillboxes.

He spent four hours unleashing flames into the pillboxes that had stymied advance for days, racing back to the Marine Corps lines to refuel the flamethrower, and then running again into battle — all while covered by only four riflemen.

At one point, Williams mounted a pillbox, stuck the flamethrower’s nozzle through an air vent and killed the enemy within it.
Two of the Marines covering Williams died that day, but he never knew their names, and never knew where their remains rested until just a few months ago. 

On Saturday, Williams, with the Medal of Honor hanging around his neck, stood over the Hawaii grave of Charles Fischer, one of those “guardian angels” who helped him survive that day and is buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, nicknamed the Punchbowl. He saluted the Marine, who died a private first class that day, and then slowly bent down and placed a purple lei upon his headstone."

“I have always said I’m just the caretaker of it,” Williams said later of the Medal of Honor. “It belongs to them. They sacrificed for it. I didn’t.”_

https://www.stripes.com/last-living-moh-recipient-from-iwo-jima-offers-graveside-salute-to-guardian-angel-1.517509?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


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## doublejj (Mar 18, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> I don't know that it was sanctioned. I do know higher ups over looked it and even attended sometimes.
> 
> Our piss test were random by computer. Might do three in one week and then go a year or more.


The draft pretty much negated any drug testing when I joined the army lol....the army was just happy to have a volunteer.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 18, 2018)

doublejj said:


> The draft pretty much negated any drug testing when I joined the army lol....the army was just happy to have a volunteer.


I reckon.

I also reckon that some of you guys came back with a habit without one when you went in.


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## curious2garden (Mar 18, 2018)

doublejj said:


> The draft pretty much negated any drug testing when I joined the army lol....the army was just happy to have a volunteer.


I knew guys who got caught with marijuana and were offered the choice of army or jail.


----------



## Singlemalt (Mar 18, 2018)

doublejj said:


> The draft pretty much negated any drug testing when I joined the army lol....the army was just happy to have a volunteer.


Other than for heroin, I don't recall any drug testing(biological). There was the testing of, say pocket lint, for residue. Hell it was almost 50 yrs ago and I don't remember everything lol


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## whitebb2727 (Mar 19, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> Other than for heroin, I don't recall any drug testing(biological). There was the testing of, say pocket lint, for residue. Hell it was almost 50 yrs ago and I don't remember everything lol


What was the movie, platoon? Where the guy od's on heroin and they shoot him to make it look like an enemy kill so he wouldn't be disgraced?

Think stuff like that really happened? 


I've seen active duty combat guys with a needle problem.


----------



## Singlemalt (Mar 19, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> What was the movie, platoon? Where the guy od's on heroin and they shoot him to make it look like an enemy kill so he wouldn't be disgraced?
> *
> Think stuff like that really happened? *
> 
> ...


Yes


----------



## too larry (Mar 19, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> I've seen active duty combat guys with a needle problem.


BIL #2 came back from the East Asian Conflict {as he calls it} with an addiction to Opiates.


----------



## whitebb2727 (Mar 19, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> Yes


Fucked up stuff.


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 20, 2018)

_The USS Juneau – the Navy’s storied Atlanta-class light cruiser – was found recently by the expedition crew of Research Vessel Petrel. The ship was resting on the ocean floor off the Solomon Islands, more than two miles below the surface._







_The Juneau became a symbol of wartime sacrifice after it was sunk by a Japanese torpedo during the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942. Nearly 690 sailors – including five Iowa brothers known as “The Sullivans” – went down with the ship._

https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/uss-juneau-final-resting-place-of-the-sullivan-brothers-found-off-solomon-islands-1.517725
http://www.historynet.com/a-band-of-brothers-the-sullivans.htm


----------



## bigfattone420 (Mar 20, 2018)

Thanks to all that served/Still serving.....Smoked/did lots of drugs in the Navy..1972 Nam was going on 2 brothers/cousin were in the Corp(Jar Heads,hehe) I was 17 they told me do not come into the Corp.(Had a different way of thinking,hehe) ..Living in Conn Navy/Coast Guard all around ....See the Squirrel hehehe Join the Navy!!!....No drug testing at that time...Actually knew guys shooting up Heroin onboard.LSD,Speed,Mescaline weed/Hashish etc;etc all was available.They would wait until we were gone out to sea for months...Hit of Acid $5.00/10 it was who you knew.....No drug test ..Shit ..We hit the Mediterranean Hash City...Istanbul,Greece,Spain,etc;etc..Your ass had to make sure you weren't set up or we'd leave your ass over there,remember being in Istanbul,Turkish Guys coming up to me with bags full of Hashish, i was like Hell naw..We left couple folks over thereWasn't going to be part of that ......On The Ship....We got blitz daily ....Always trying to stay 1 step ahead of the Master At Arms....Smoking on a Aircraft Carrier there was a lot places to hide/get blitz ...Salute to all who've serve or family who did.....Blessings to all of y'all....


----------



## bigfattone420 (Mar 20, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> I knew guys who got caught with marijuana and were offered the choice of army or jail.


Back in the day when Nam was going on that was a main offer....Jail or service ...Many i knew took service & end up washing out


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 20, 2018)

bigfattone420 said:


> Back in the day when Nam was going on that was a main offer....Jail or service ...Many i knew took service & end up washing out


A few I knew chose service and it turned out to be the making of them.


----------



## bigfattone420 (Mar 20, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> A few I knew chose service and it turned out to be the making of them.


I feel & hear you..Myself saw some who was F'ed Up going in & did 20 or more & continue to do well....Not all washed out...So if i implied that in my previous comment ..I apoligize..


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## doublejj (Mar 21, 2018)

Forty miles a day on beans & hay in the regular ARMY O


----------



## wascaptain (Mar 23, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2018)

*
25 MAR 1863 Secretary of War Edwin Stanton presents the first Medals of Honor to six of the surviving members of Andrew's Raiders. They are the first Medals ever presented.
*​https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2018/03/24/commentary-medal-of-honor-day-reminds-us-theres-a-hero-in-everyone/
http://www.cmohs.org/​


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## BarnBuster (Mar 27, 2018)

*100-year-old Bataan Death March survivor Col. Ben Skardon, a beloved Clemson University alumnus and professor emeritus, walked between 6.5 and 7 miles in the Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., March 25, 2018*.​_"Dawn had yet to break, but thousands of people had already gathered at White Sands Missile Range Sunday for the 29th annual Bataan Memorial Death March. This year's march saw the largest number of participants — nearly 8,500 — an 18 percent increase over last year.

During the infamous 1942 World War II Bataan Death March, 68,000-plus civilians and Filipino and American prisoners of war were forced to walk at the hands of their Japanese captors through Philippine jungle with little food or water. Some captives were executed; others died from disease and illness — either during the march or while kept as prisoners afterward

Retired Col. Beverly "Ben" Skardon selected an orange shirt — in honor of his alma mater Clemson University — and a white fedora.At 100 years old, this would be the 11th memorial march in 12 years for Skardon, a Bataan Death March survivor. His participation makes him not only the oldest marcher but the only survivor to ever walk in the event. During World War II and prior to the death march, Skardon had already received two Silver Stars, three Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart for his commitment in commanding a battalion of Filipino Army recruits.

On Saturday, Skardon received the Filipino World War II Veterans Congressional Gold Medal — the highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions that Congress can give — during a presentation at the Post Theater at White Sands Missile Range

"(Participating in the march) means a lot to me personally because that march and the men hang heavy on me. I've never forgotten it," Skardon said. "While I walk, it seems to me, my memory flashes back, and I get emotional."_

https://www.stripes.com/meet-the-100-year-old-survivor-who-took-part-in-the-bataan-memorial-death-march-1.518761?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines

https://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2018/03/25/bataan-memorial-death-march-survivor-ben-skardon-100-years-old/449457002/

Reading List:
*Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath *by Michael Norman , Elizabeth M. Norman
*Bataan Death March: A Survivor's Account* by William E. Dyess
*Ghost Soldiers *by Hampton Sides
*Undefeated: America's Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor* by Bill Sloan
*Some Survived: An Eyewitness Account of the Bataan Death March and the Men Who Lived Through It* by Manny Lawton


----------



## haight (Mar 27, 2018)

Col. Beverly "Ben" Skardon- hand salute


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 28, 2018)

Ready, TWO!


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 28, 2018)

_“To accept to die so the innocent can live, that is the essence of what it means to be a soldier,” Mr. Macron said. “Others, even many who are brave, would have hesitated.”

Mr. Macron awarded Colonel Beltrame the title of Commander of the Legion of Honor, one of the highest accolades that France bestows.
_
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/world/europe/france-arnaud-beltrame.html


----------



## doublejj (Mar 28, 2018)

Photo tour of the USS Missouri....
https://www.cnet.com/news/tour-the-battleship-uss-missouri/


----------



## ChingOwn (Mar 28, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> *100-year-old Bataan Death March survivor Col. Ben Skardon, a beloved Clemson University alumnus and professor emeritus, walked between 6.5 and 7 miles in the Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., March 25, 2018*.​_"Dawn had yet to break, but thousands of people had already gathered at White Sands Missile Range Sunday for the 29th annual Bataan Memorial Death March. This year's march saw the largest number of participants — nearly 8,500 — an 18 percent increase over last year.
> 
> During the infamous 1942 World War II Bataan Death March, 68,000-plus civilians and Filipino and American prisoners of war were forced to walk at the hands of their Japanese captors through Philippine jungle with little food or water. Some captives were executed; others died from disease and illness — either during the march or while kept as prisoners afterward
> 
> ...


I seent him I was there too!


----------



## doublejj (Mar 28, 2018)




----------



## tyler.durden (Mar 29, 2018)




----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 29, 2018)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 29, 2018)

tyler.durden said:


>


Lol
Now that's funny stuff.
+


----------



## ttystikk (Mar 31, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


>


I was there. I was 5 years old, but I lived in Saigon in 1971.

Time flies...


----------



## wascaptain (Apr 1, 2018)

giving honor before mornings pt


----------



## wascaptain (Apr 5, 2018)

went for a hiking trip in Arkansas this week. got in some great conditioning marches. 

but......on the way back home i stop at a small towns 4 way stop light...i looked up at their flag flying at there city hall. it was in disrespectful shape...i cut it down and will give her a honorable end.


----------



## 757growin (Apr 5, 2018)

doublejj said:


>


My one grandpa was a gunners mate in ww2. He couldn't hear for nothing since I can remember him. Lols


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 5, 2018)

doublejj said:


>


Worlds largest sniper rifle.


----------



## wascaptain (Apr 10, 2018)

been training running parking towers. uphill is where the suffering is!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 10, 2018)

Reminds me of my Nephew (Army Helo pilot). A friend of his was getting orders after signing up for an ultra-marathon & offered to give nephew his spot so the kid (kid - 38 y/o lol) ran the damn thing with no special prep or training other than his normal PT.

I'd be hard pressed for someone to make me *drive* 26 miles for nothing, much less run!


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 10, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Reminds me of my Nephew (Army Helo pilot). A friend of his was getting orders after signing up for an ultra-marathon & offered to give nephew his spot so the kid (kid - 38 y/o lol) ran the damn thing with no special prep or training other than his normal PT.
> 
> I'd be hard pressed for someone to make me *drive* 26 miles for nothing, much less run!


Funny how the definition of 'kid' morphs over time.


----------



## 0321Marine (Apr 10, 2018)

"Get your dicks out of the dirt you fucktards.." - Ssgt. Claudio USMC

This is my quote for the day.. week.. ever. Also, good to be here ladies and gents. 

RAH.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 10, 2018)

0321Marine said:


> "Get your dicks out of the dirt you fucktards.." - Ssgt. Claudio USMC
> 
> This is my quote for the day.. week.. ever. Also, good to be here ladies and gents.
> 
> RAH.


Welcome to RIU and thank you for your service.
GWN


----------



## pabloesqobar (Apr 10, 2018)

UncleBuck said:


> the guy who just welcomed you to RIU posts racist as fuck fried chicken and basketball memes, is a racist birther conspiracist idiot, and wonders why he can;t start white advocacy groups.
> 
> he will now ban me from this thread because he is a total cuck who hates it when i remind people of all the racist shit he spews.
> 
> welcome to RIU!


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 11, 2018)

0321Marine said:


> "Get your dicks out of the dirt you fucktards.." - Ssgt. Claudio USMC
> 
> This is my quote for the day.. week.. ever. Also, good to be here ladies and gents.
> 
> RAH.


Welcome to RIU, make yourself at home.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 13, 2018)

*USS Helena (CL-50) Found*​_
The wreckage of USS Helena (CL-50), the WWII-era St. Louis-class cruiser that survived the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and played an integral roll in defending Marine Corps operations in the Battle of Guadalcanal, was discovered last month by a team of researchers financed by billionaire philanthropist Paul Allen.

Helena was sunk early in the morning of July 6, 1943, after being struck by three Japanese torpedoes during the Battle of Kula Gulf. Allen’s team found the ship resting on the sea floor about 2,821 feet below the surface, in the New Georgia Sound off the coast of the Solomon Islands. Helena's history closes with the almost incredible story of what happened to her men in the hours and days that followed.

Of the 900 crewmembers onboard when Helena sunk, 732 survived the sinking and were ultimately rescued. Nearly half the survivors were rescued the first night, with about 275 reaching a nearby island in small whaleboats towing life rafts, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command. Within 30 minutes two destroyers, Nicholas and Radford, were picking up survivors of Helena. While many of the cruiser's survivors were picked up before morning, many were not saved until 11 days later. During the investigation of the sinking, the officer and crew of Helena were commended for their actions.

Helena was the first ship to receive the Navy Unit Commendation. This for her actions in the Battles of Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal, and Kula Gulf which were named in the citation. Helena also earned the Asiatic-Pacific Area Campaign Medal with seven battle stars._

http://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/04/06/uss-helena-cl-50-ready-willing-and-valiant/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Helena_(CL-50)#Rescue_of_the_crew


----------



## haight (Apr 13, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Funny how the definition of 'kid' morphs over time.


 Never trust anyone under 30


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 13, 2018)

haight said:


> Never trust anyone under 30


LOL I remember it's corollary, never trust anyone over 30. Frankly I think both are correct and I have decided it means never trust anyone.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 13, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> LOL I remember it's corollary, never trust anyone over 30. Frankly I think both are correct and I have decided it means never trust anyone.


^^^^ Nailed it - I trust you on this one.


----------



## Singlemalt (Apr 15, 2018)

RIP Gunny

https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/full-metal-jacket-sergeant-lee-ermey-dies-74-54490038


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 15, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> RIP Gunny
> 
> https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/full-metal-jacket-sergeant-lee-ermey-dies-74-54490038


I met him at Bravery Brewing. He was there with his wife. They'd come out frequently and spend time there. He seemed genuinely nice. Art Bell, R. Lee Ermey, I wonder who is next?


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 18, 2018)

_




_

_When chaos struck on Southwest Flight 1380 yesterday, as an engine exploded killing one passenger and injuring seven others, the pilot at the helm who guided the plane's emergency landing was reportedly Tammie Jo Shults. It should come as no surprise she was cool and composed in her contact with air traffic control given her history as one of the first women to fly the F/A-18 for the U.S. Navy.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/04/18/navy-releases-service-record-hero-captain-who-landed-southwest-1380.html_


----------



## whitebb2727 (Apr 18, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> RIP Gunny
> 
> https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/full-metal-jacket-sergeant-lee-ermey-dies-74-54490038


Rip gunny.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 18, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> _
> 
> 
> 
> ...


She sounds pretty bad ass!

Edit: I don't mean to be condescending with this post - by bad ass I mean BAD ASS!!


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 18, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> She sounds pretty bad ass!


All ladies here too
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6155
http://www.f-16.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=5967&p=392311&hilit=women&sid=01bf1067e1f8587419ad061716f11106#p392311


----------



## wascaptain (Apr 19, 2018)

speaking of ladies.....
here is my daughter, we been running together. its bringing us close my friends.

she never been married, with no kids, a college degree in psychology

i ask her ..why dont you get married and have kids?

she says because i have anger issues......and i learned it from YOU dad!


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2018)

Former Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund leader Jan Scruggs joins more than 40 volunteers in cleaning the Vietnam Wall in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 21, 2018. It was Scruggs' first visit to the memorial he helped build since spending 28 days in a coma last year due to endocarditis.​​​KEN-YON HARDY STARS AND STRIPES
Published: April 21, 2018

_WASHINGTON — As a group of volunteers cleaned the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Saturday morning, they were joined by a man who was arguably the most important figure in the planning and construction of the wall that honors the more than 58,000 Americans who died in the conflict. Jan Scruggs, an Army veteran who retired as head of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 2015, was making his first visit to the memorial since spending 28 days in a coma after an attack of endocarditis last year. He helped employees from NewDay USA carefully scrub the iconic wall._


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2018)

Former Presidents George W. Bush, left, and George H.W. Bush arrive at St. Martin's Episcopal Church for a funeral service for former first lady Barbara Bush on Saturday, April 21, 2018, in Houston.
DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP​


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## too larry (Apr 21, 2018)

When he was in office, I was never a fan of Sr. After 8 years of Jr. I changed my opinion. He didn't do a bad job.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2018)

_On September 2, 1944, Bush was assigned to take out a radio station located in the Bonin Islands. In the course of the action, Bush's plane was hit with enemy fire. Though the plane was on fire, he completed his strafing run on the targeted Japanese installation before flying towards sea to bail out offshore from Chichi Jima, a Japanese-held island near the more well-known Iwo Jima. He was rescued by a Navy submarine, the USS Finback. A genuine hero, Bush was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals. In total, Bush flew 58 combat missions during the war. He was discharged in September 1945 with the rank of lieutenant (j.g.)_


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 22, 2018)

*





Our Mission: To transport America’s Veterans to Washington, DC to visit those memorials dedicated to honor the service and sacrifices of themselves and their friends.*​
*




*​
https://www.honorflight.org/donate-now/
*


We can’t all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they walk by.*
— Will Rogers


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 24, 2018)

John Chapman Died Alone On A Mountaintop Fighting Al Qaeda. Now He’s Getting The Medal Of Honor
By PAUL SZOLDRA
Task and Purpose
on April 20, 2018

_It was March 4, 2002. American special operations forces were fighting to establish observation posts high above Afghanistan’s Shah-i-Kot Valley, as conventional troops continued their push through the valley floor below.

One of those men, Air Force Technical Sgt. John Chapman, was alone in the pitch-black, wounded and slowly regaining his consciousness in the thigh-deep snow of a 10,469-foot peak known as Takur Ghar, as scores of Al Qaeda fighters closed in.

For his actions earlier in the battle and for his incredible bravery on that peak, according to sources familiar with the matter, Chapman will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor later this year. _(The MOH is an upgrade from the Air Force Cross previously awarded) _His award upgrade is based on analysis of video captured by a Predator drone and an AC-130 gunship over the battlefield.

And “Chappy” — as he was known by his teammates — will be the first Air Force service-member to receive the nation’s highest award for valor since the Vietnam War.
_
https://taskandpurpose.com/john-chapman-medal-honor-afghanistan/
https://www.stripes.com/airman-killed-at-roberts-ridge-to-receive-medal-of-honor-report-says-1.523512?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 24, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> John Chapman Died Alone On A Mountaintop Fighting Al Qaeda. Now He’s Getting The Medal Of Honor
> By PAUL SZOLDRA
> Task and Purpose
> on April 20, 2018
> ...


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 24, 2018)

wascaptain said:


> speaking of ladies.....
> here is my daughter, we been running together. its bringing us close my friends.
> 
> she never been married, with no kids, a college degree in psychologyView attachment 4124374
> ...


I think they have a profession for that, the military (preferably a more hands on branch than air force) ;D


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 24, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> *
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The USAF should provide those runs free. It would be a wonderful use of flight training hours, and hours and ...


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 24, 2018)

Kudos to the Johns Hopkins team for their pioneering work on these devastating battlefield injuries

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/04/23/veteran-receives-penis-and-scrotum-transplant-in-surgery-doctors-hail-as-a-medical-first/?utm_term=.b25559f86e29


----------



## tyke1973 (Apr 24, 2018)

_Not in the Armed Forces, but my family all are, really do appreciate everything you do to keep us safe thank you guys ,gals.Much Respect .no beans from Afghanistan._


----------



## tyke1973 (Apr 24, 2018)

SwarthySchlong said:


> View attachment 3399545 Air Force ride bicycles for PT.. and they have the hottest womens
> 
> Our army womens had mustaches and broad shoulders.


She is Beautiful


----------



## wascaptain (Apr 26, 2018)

giving honor to our citys fallen firefighters. i hope to make the list (just not in my near future).

terrible thing thou, they didnt die in the line of duty....cancer got them.

my goal was to be the first in the line of duty to go. 

i tried hard, but like a bad weed i am still here..


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 26, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> A quick google shows the B-52 was in service a year earlier than the Russian Tupolev Tu-95 (Bear) bomber but she's a turboprop & outgunned in speed & payload by the Buff.


*3 Reasons The Legendary B-52 Bomber Will Outlive All Of Us*
https://taskandpurpose.com/the-b-52-will-outlive-us-all/?bsft_eid=be8299e8-a157-4c92-b5ad-b8d12dc9d992&utm_campaign=tp_daily_wednesday_pm&utm_source=blueshift&utm_medium=email&utm_content=tp_daily_pm_ricks&bsft_pid=faaf4f9b-d84f-43fe-b23f-afd7cc5bbaf7&bsft_clkid=9d135e17-28af-4a10-bdfe-c32ad106420c&bsft_uid=44453085-cb81-4bc9-90c2-a2082bb3e82d&bsft_mid=cb2fea83-be36-40a9-8a9e-aa9e3c72c6f1&bsft_pp=1


----------



## pabloesqobar (Apr 29, 2018)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 29, 2018)

I can still taste it to this day.


----------



## pabloesqobar (Apr 29, 2018)

It wasn't pleasant. I recall you did it periodically. One time in bootcamp was good enough for me. I remember stumbling out the door, eyes running, snot pouring out of my nose, hacking. You just can't anticipate how bad it's gonna hurt.


----------



## haight (Apr 29, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> I think they have a profession for that, the military (preferably a more hands on branch than air force) ;D


Bite your tongue girl.


----------



## haight (Apr 29, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> The USAF should provide those runs free. It would be a wonderful use of flight training hours, and hours and ...


Flight training? Seriously.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 29, 2018)

haight said:


> Flight training? Seriously.


No more flight training hours due to cut backs? Well that explains a lot of the shit I've seen recently.


----------



## too larry (Apr 30, 2018)

haight said:


> Flight training? Seriously.





curious2garden said:


> No more flight training hours due to cut backs? Well that explains a lot of the shit I've seen recently.


I see the jets play fighting at my farm. Not near as much as in the past, but I still see them from time to time. I'm near Eglin and Tyndall, but I think the ones I see are out of Texas.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 30, 2018)

too larry said:


> I see the jets play fighting at my farm. Not near as much as in the past, but I still see them from time to time. I'm near Eglin and Tyndall, but I think the ones I see are out of Texas.


Edwards, test here, and flight training takes on an entirely new dimension, engineer pilots, sigh...... so much is wrong with that


----------



## cannabineer (Apr 30, 2018)

pabloesqobar said:


> ~snip~ One time in bootcamp ~snip~


----------



## haight (Apr 30, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> No more flight training hours due to cut backs? Well that explains a lot of the shit I've seen recently.


I'd rather not be a passenger when the plane is piloted by a trainee.


----------



## curious2garden (May 1, 2018)

haight said:


> I'd rather not be a passenger when the plane is piloted by a trainee.


They are all fully trained it's how you separate out hours in your log books. You have mission hours and locals (training). Essentially you have to have 3 take offs and landings every 90 days (night), to keep flight pay status and you also need to stay fresh on shooting instrument approaches, go arounds and ground controlled approaches to name just a few things. Doesn't matter how many hours you have and how much experience everyone has those requirements. So using that time in the air to support a worthy cause instead of just driving the pattern makes a lot of sense.


----------



## BarnBuster (May 2, 2018)

​By MARK PRICE | The Charlotte Observer | Published: May 1, 2018

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Tribune News Service) — Two anonymous volunteers at Arlington National Cemetery are being lauded for their compassion on social media, after photos were posted of them carrying a 96-year-old North Carolina vet to visit his wife's grave at Arlington National Cemetery.

The vet was George Boone, who served as a B-25 pilot during World War II and became a prisoner of war when he was shot down over Romania in 1943, WTTG Fox reported.

He was at the cemetery in Washington DC with his son, Jon, visiting the grave of his wife, Alma, who died in 2007, the station reported. In their rush, the two forgot Boone's wheelchair, said Fox News.

George Boone figured that 70 yards away was the closest he could get to his late wife's grave site, but then two observers stepped up to help him, reported CNN. The couple was married 56 years, according to WTTG Fox. His wife was eligible to be buried in the cemetery as a military spouse.

The two made a chair out of their arms and lifted Boone all the way to his wife's resting place, where they held him up for 10 minutes while he paid his respects, CNN reported. The male volunteer then carried the veteran back to the car on his own, CNN reported.

One was an employee of the cemetery and the other was a volunteer, reported WTTG.

Jon Boone's photos of his father being carried piggyback has prompted hundreds of responses on social media.

"Human kindness and decency triumphs again.," posted Sonja Reddick of Euless, Texas, on Facebook.

"That's about a picture of America if there ever was one," posted Martin Braspennix.


----------



## too larry (May 2, 2018)

I just saw this on the news. PR ANG plane crash today.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/05/02/air-national-guard-cargo-plane-crashes-georgia-reports/573252002/


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 2, 2018)

I saw that too - Hurricane chaser down with 5 crew lost.

Sucks!


----------



## thump easy (May 2, 2018)




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## wascaptain (May 3, 2018)

lets see yall colors boys


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## pabloesqobar (May 3, 2018)

*or girls


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 3, 2018)

In our neighbor hood it's really easy to pick out my house.
It's the only one flying the Flag.

One year a couple of days before the 4th of July I bought a couple of dozen & put them on everyone's porch - about half were hung & the rest went into their closets (I guess).


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## wascaptain (May 6, 2018)

just history boys, no hate


----------



## curious2garden (May 6, 2018)

wascaptain said:


> just history boys, no hate


I bet you'd see/feel more ghosts there. Valley Forge was amazing. I'm the least intuitive person in the world and even I felt like I had an elephant on my chest walking that battlefield.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 6, 2018)

Yorktown and Pearl convinced me.

I could literally feel the dread/pain in those places.
Weird.


----------



## Potmetal (May 6, 2018)

Spent the weekend helping paralyzed vets into and out of bass boats for a tourney. Humbling to say the least. We make some hella strong and proud folks in our nation. 

Still the same smartasses that we knew back on AD, every one of 'em. Still partying hard, same as back on AD too. I might have gotten something in my eye a time or two


----------



## BarnBuster (May 7, 2018)

Maj Gen Eric M. Smith (commanding general of 1st Marine Division) presents the silver Star medal to the siblings of 1st Lt. Philip H. Sauer during a ceremony held at Camp Pendleton. Left to right, Mary Schoelch, Tom Sauer, Nick Sauer and Coulter Winn.​_A young Marine lieutenant killed 51 years ago while holding off an enemy ambush was awarded a long overdue Silver Star for battlefield heroics at a ceremony held Tuesday [4/24/2018]. First Lt. Philip H. Sauer, a native of Coronado, California, was posthumously awarded the third highest U.S. valor award after sacrificing his life while holding off an enemy ambush with his .45-caliber pistol, allowing his five-man squad to withdraw to safety._

_“Armed with a .45 caliber pistol [Sauer] stood his ground against somewhere north of 30 enemy armed with automatic weapons,” Maj. Gen. Eric Smith told a crowd gathered._

_Smith said it was Sauer’s job as the senior Marine that day to take care of his men, and that “he did it with unbelievable courage.”_
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/04/24/vietnam-war-marine-posthumously-awarded-silver-star-for-fighting-off-ambush-with-a-pistol/
http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/military/sd-me-silver-star-20180423-story.html


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 9, 2018)

Serious combination of incompetence with a dash of arrogance here.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/uss-fitzgerald-officer-pleads-guilty-in-collision-that-killed-7-sailors/ar-AAwYP2v?li=BBnb7Kz


----------



## haight (May 9, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> I bet you'd see/feel more ghosts there. Valley Forge was amazing. I'm the least intuitive person in the world and even I felt like I had an elephant on my chest walking that battlefield.


 Battle field? What battle took place there? Brandywine, Germantown, Trenton and even Crooked Billet but never heard of Valley Forge entertaining any battles.


----------



## haight (May 9, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Serious combination of incompetence with a dash of arrogance here.
> 
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/uss-fitzgerald-officer-pleads-guilty-in-collision-that-killed-7-sailors/ar-AAwYP2v?li=BBnb7Kz


There are good officers and bad officers, there are chickenshit officers and lax officers.
Guess who was OD that day.


----------



## curious2garden (May 9, 2018)

haight said:


> Battle field? What battle took place there? Brandywine, Germantown, Trenton and even Crooked Billet but never heard of Valley Forge entertaining any battles.


Excuse me, the winter encampment that suffered great privation during the Revolutionary War.


----------



## haight (May 11, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Excuse me, the winter encampment that suffered great privation during the Revolutionary War.


The Pennsylvania Continental Line lost more men there than at Brandywine, Germantown, Trenton and even Crooked Billet combined.


----------



## BarnBuster (May 12, 2018)

*In likely 1st for aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, all-female crew proves its chops.*​
_"Brandi Hoeft didn't join the U.S. Navy to make a point about being a woman in a man's world – the 20-year-old Wisconsin native knew she wanted to be in the military all her life._

_But whether she originally intended or not, Hoeft and a group of women on board the USS Theodore Roosevelt did make a statement this year. In what Navy officials say is likely a first for the 97,000-ton aircraft carrier, Hoeft and the rest of an all-female crew carried out the complicated and physically demanding job of catapult operations on the flight deck._

_It's a feat for a sector of the military that comprises only 18 percent women overall, and even fewer in its aviation track._

_"Some of the guys, they'd tell us, 'You're going to mess it up. You're not going to do it,'" Hoeft said from her perch on a coffee shop chair on Thursday in Rice Lake. "We told them, 'No, we are going to do it. We're strong. We can do this.' And we did."_
https://www.stripes.com/in-likely-1st-for-aircraft-carrier-uss-theodore-roosevelt-all-female-crew-proves-its-chops-1.526748?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


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## BarnBuster (May 13, 2018)

*Richard Overton, America's Oldest WWII Veteran, Turns 112*






In this March 23, 2017, file photo, Richard Overton leaves the court after a presentation honoring him as the oldest living American war veteran, in a basketball game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the San Antonio Spurs.​
He's met celebrities, presidents and comedians. He's experienced war and peace. He's accumulated countless accolades.

But for America's oldest living World War II veteran Richard Overton, there's nothing better than hanging out on his front porch, smoking cigars and greeting passers-by who treat him, rightly so, like the neighborhood king. On Friday, Overton celebrated his 112th birthday with a community celebration at his East Austin home on the street that now bears his name -- Richard Overton Avenue. "I love to have a birthday," Overton said Thursday from his porch. "That's another day. I hope I live another five years."

Overton is believed to be the oldest living American and the third-oldest person in the world.The super-centenarian has no plans of slowing down. Since his last birthday, he's kept busy. "I'm enjoying myself," he said.

Volma Overton began round-the-clock care at his cousin’s home a year and a half ago, but at $15,000 a month, he couldn’t afford to maintain it. He started a GoFundMe page, which raised more than $200,000, but that money has been spent on in-home care, leaving the family in debt.

Overton wakes up before the sun and gets his vitals checked by one of his around-the-clock caretakers. He starts the day with a Tampa Sweet Perfecto cigar—he'll follow it with as many as 11 more throughout the day. Later, he'll eat something sweet for breakfast, like a cinnamon roll or waffles, and at night something sweet for dessert, like ice cream. He takes his coffee with three spoonfuls of sugar, and he drinks Dr. Pepper, which he calls "sweet juice." But his favorite drink is a whiskey and Coke

When asked about the secret to a long life, Overton glanced at his cigar and said, "Don't give up. Keep on living."

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/05/11/richard-overton-americas-oldest-wwii-veteran-turns-112.html
https://www.gofundme.com/Help-Richard-Overton
​


----------



## doublejj (May 13, 2018)

Had a long reflection today of an old army buddy that i lost long ago. I miss you buddy....


----------



## BarnBuster (May 14, 2018)

_*How Jimmy Hatch Touched the Dragon and Survived*_​_"Retired Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Jimmy was a Navy SEAL and an expert dog handler who had been shot in the leg on a mission to rescue Bowe Bergdahl. Think about that for a second. Here was a man who had already sacrificed a lot for his country, who nearly died because Bergdahl decided to walk off his base in Afghanistan and got himself famously captured by the enemy. Jimmy and his fellow operators were sent to rescue him. The gunshot wound nearly killed Jimmy and forced the end of his military career."_

Rest of his story is worth a quick read:
_https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column/state-of-play/jimmy-hatch-touched-dragon-survived?utm_source=Join+the+Community+Subscribers&utm_campaign=f5e51b0d23-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_05_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_02cbee778d-f5e51b0d23-122624833&mc_cid=f5e51b0d23&mc_eid=b049796867_
_https://www.stripes.com/news/navy-seal-dog-handler-how-a-failed-mission-to-rescue-bowe-bergdahl-caused-irreparable-loss-1.385511_

His book:
_https://www.amazon.com/Touching-Dragon-Other-Techniques-Surviving-ebook/dp/B0755ZYGRK_


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## BarnBuster (May 14, 2018)

I thought this belonged here, rather than the "On this Day:" thread:

_




_​_
"At the White House May 14, 1970 , President Richard Nixon presents Sgt. John L. Levitow with the Medal of Honor for heroic action performed on February 24, 1969, over Long Binh Army Post in South Vietnam. Then an Airman 1st Class, Levitow was the loadmaster on a Douglas AC-47 gunship. His aircraft had been supporting several Army units that were engaged in battle with North Vietnamese troops when an enemy mortar hit the aircraft’s right wing, exploding in the wing frame. Thousands of pieces of shrapnel ripped through the plane’s thin skin, wounding four of the crew. Levitow was struck forty times in his right side; although bleeding heavily from these wounds, he threw himself on an activated, smoking magnesium flare, dragged himself and the flare to the open cargo door, and tossed the flare out of the aircraft just before it ignited. For saving his fellow crewmembers and the gunship, Airman Levitow was nominated for the nation’s highest award for valor in combat. He was one of only two enlisted airmen to win the Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam and was one of only five enlisted airmen ever to win the medal, the first since World War II."_

*The Citation*
​For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Levitow (then A1c.), U.S. Air Force, distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while assigned as a loadmaster aboard an AC-47 aircraft flying a night mission in support of Long Binh Army post. Sgt. Levitow's aircraft was struck by a hostile mortar round. The resulting explosion ripped a hole 2 feet in diameter through the wing and fragments made over 3,500 holes in the fuselage. All occupants of the cargo compartment were wounded and helplessly slammed against the floor and fuselage. The explosion tore an activated flare from the grasp of a crewmember who had been launching flares to provide illumination for Army ground troops engaged in combat. Sgt. Levitow, though stunned by the concussion of the blast and suffering from over 40 fragment wounds in the back and legs, staggered to his feet and turned to assist the man nearest to him who had been knocked down and was bleeding heavily. As he was moving his wounded comrade forward and away from the opened cargo compartment door, he saw the smoking flare ahead of him in the aisle. Realizing the danger involved and completely disregarding his own wounds, Sgt. Levitow started toward the burning flare. The aircraft was partially out of control and the flare was rolling wildly from side to side. Sgt. Levitow struggled forward despite the loss of blood from his many wounds and the partial loss of feeling in his right leg. Unable to grasp the rolling flare with his hands, he threw himself bodily upon the burning flare. Hugging the deadly device to his body, he dragged himself back to the rear of the aircraft and hurled the flare through the open cargo door. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in the air, but clear of the aircraft. Sgt. Levitow, by his selfless and heroic actions, saved the aircraft and its entire crew from certain death and destruction. Sgt. Levitow's gallantry, his profound concern for his fellowmen, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.

https://www.atalink.org/content/1998/11/01/1998-sgt-john-l-levitow/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Levitow
http://arlingtoncemetery.net/jllevitow.htm
http://www.homeofheroes.com/wings/levitow.html


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 14, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> I thought this belonged here, rather than the "On this Day:" thread:
> 
> _
> 
> ...


WOW!


----------



## BarnBuster (May 15, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> WOW!


IKR? It reminded me of the courage of "Red" Erwin during a WW2 firebombing raid when he picked up a WP flare that had ignited inside his B-29 "Snatch Blatch" and walked it thru the plane to toss it out a window.
_
"Fire swirled around Erwin’s head. The blazing device careened around the inside of the B-29 like a meteor gone berserk.

It could not have happened at a worse instant. A crewmember said later that the Japanese fighters were like yellowjackets swarming out of a disturbed nest—and now the interior of the B-29 was being seared.

Red Erwin was now clutching a handful of hell, his eyes a mass of blisters, other crewmembers choking and vomiting around him. Smoke filled the cabin. Snatch Blatch, although not hit, went out of control. Pilot Simeral fought to prevent the bomber from hurtling earthward.

"Co-pilot Stabler peered through the smoke in disbelief as a burning human being staggered toward him shouting, “Open the window! Open the window!”

The heat could be felt from one end of the aircraft to the other, and it seemed certain the device would turn the B-29 into a blazing torch at any instant. Simeral screamed, “Get it out the window!”

Somehow Stabler overcame his shock at seeing Erwin, afire, doing what no human being should be capable of accomplishing. Stabler managed to open the window and recoiled from the windblast. “Excuse me, sir,” the ever courteous Erwin said through his pain. He threw the flaming canister to the wind and collapsed to the floor in flames.

Three hundred feet from the ground, Simeral pulled Snatch Blatch out of its dive to head for Iwo Jima, the nearest landing site affording medical aid."
_
http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/medal-of-honor-recipient-henry-red-erwin/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_E._Erwin


----------



## doublejj (May 15, 2018)

One day in Vietnam, the end of the Black Lions.....


----------



## Wilksey (May 15, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> * all-female crew proves its chops.​*


So let me get this straight......some chicks finally did what men have been doing since the advent of carriers and it's news somehow? 

The military is a defense force for killing, not liberal arts college campus leftist social engineering.

A government that doesn't care enough about its fighting men that they would send a FEMALE to "fight" by his side in battle doesn't deserve the fighting men they have.


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## wascaptain (May 16, 2018)

flying my colors....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 16, 2018)

Let this one sink in.
21 TRILLION dollars unaccounted for.

Trillion FFS.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-pentagon-cant-account-for-21-trillion/


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## 420God (May 16, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Let this one sink in.
> 21 TRILLION dollars unaccounted for.
> 
> Trillion FFS.
> ...


Is there even that much money in the world?
That's 60,000 for every person in the US.


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## curious2garden (May 16, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Let this one sink in.
> 21 TRILLION dollars unaccounted for.
> 
> Trillion FFS.
> ...


https://www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2017/12/08/has-our-government-spent-21-trillion-of-our-money-without-telling-us/#60cb53da7aef


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 16, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> https://www.forbes.com/sites/kotlikoff/2017/12/08/has-our-government-spent-21-trillion-of-our-money-without-telling-us/#60cb53da7aef


Couldn't read the article - apparently my ad blocker is verboten on that site.


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## curious2garden (May 16, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Couldn't read the article - apparently my ad blocker is verboten on that site.


It usually let's you go through after you get a shaded page there's a link on the upper right that says continue to article. But it does explain some of the mess.


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## BarnBuster (May 16, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Serious combination of incompetence with a dash of arrogance here.
> 
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/uss-fitzgerald-officer-pleads-guilty-in-collision-that-killed-7-sailors/ar-AAwYP2v?li=BBnb7Kz


update

https://www.stripes.com/commander-in-fitzgerald-collision-asserts-innocence-attacks-navy-s-claims-1.527227?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 16, 2018)

The captain is responsible and accountable for *all* aspects and personnel aboard his vessel. Period.

He should Man up instead of Lawyering up out of respect for his fallen sailors.


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## Singlemalt (May 16, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> The captain is responsible and accountable for *all* aspects and personnel aboard his vessel. Period.
> 
> He should Man up instead of Lawyering up out of respect for his fallen sailors.


His career is done, probably trying to lessen or avoid Leavenworth time


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## whitebb2727 (May 16, 2018)

pabloesqobar said:


> View attachment 4128986


Lol. That shit sucks.


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## BarnBuster (May 17, 2018)

*A Vietnam veteran was going to be buried alone. Then a stranger helped find his family*​
_When Dave Fullarton discovered the ashes of former Army Captain Larry Casey, he felt the Vietnam veteran deserved a proper military funeral. But he didn't want to be the only one to honor him. The safe and vault repairman from Maryland came across the remains in February when he was cleaning out the house of a close friend who had died. That friend, he said, turned out to have been best friends with Casey. Neither Fullarton nor his late friend's family had ever met Casey, who died in 2002. They did not know if he had any surviving family members.._.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-casey-burial-20180514-story.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/a-vietnam-veteran-was-going-to-be-buried-alone-then/article_ba5ed015-a428-5464-b716-cf5dceb458c6.html
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/16/us/veteran-family-found-for-burial-trnd/index.html


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 17, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> *A Vietnam veteran was going to be buried alone. Then a stranger helped find his family*​
> _When Dave Fullarton discovered the ashes of former Army Captain Larry Casey, he felt the Vietnam veteran deserved a proper military funeral. But he didn't want to be the only one to honor him. The safe and vault repairman from Maryland came across the remains in February when he was cleaning out the house of a close friend who had died. That friend, he said, turned out to have been best friends with Casey. Neither Fullarton nor his late friend's family had ever met Casey, who died in 2002. They did not know if he had any surviving family members.._.
> 
> http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-casey-burial-20180514-story.html
> ...


I get choked up every time I hear this.


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## doublejj (May 17, 2018)

I cannot listen to taps......i just can't


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 17, 2018)

My fathers funeral several years ago was with full Military honors.
The respect the color guard showed was humbling.
I hadn't cried in forever before that day.


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## doublejj (May 17, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My fathers funeral several years ago was with full Military honors.
> The respect the color guard showed was humbling.
> I hadn't cried in forever before that day.


I had the same experience at my fathers funeral.....i couldn't remain standing


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## doublejj (May 17, 2018)




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## wascaptain (May 18, 2018)

i was a member of my departments honor guard. the playing of the bagpipes gets to me.


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## wascaptain (May 18, 2018)

talking about our pops funerals....
my pop would always sleep with socks and a extra blanket covering his feet. said his feet never warmed up after serving in the Korean war. 

he was laid to rest with a wool blanket covering his feet. rip my loved pops, give mother a kiss from me


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## wascaptain (May 18, 2018)

went give honor before this mornings pt. 
i do this parking tower regularly...my veiw from the top


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## BarnBuster (May 18, 2018)

from Twitter


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## too larry (May 18, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I get choked up every time I hear this.





GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My fathers funeral several years ago was with full Military honors.
> The respect the color guard showed was humbling.
> I hadn't cried in forever before that day.


I was in really bad shape when Daddy died. But I was a little put off that they used a CD of Taps for his funeral. But the Honor Guard were all officers from a pilot training program, and did a wonderful job of the whole service. I still have the empty .223 casing they put in the folds of the flag.

A few years later when Cousin Steve died, the local VFW Honor Guard came out to our family cemetery to do the Honors. They included a real live person playing taps. After that, I never questioned them using a CD again.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 18, 2018)

One of my personal hero's.
Dude is bad ass to the bone.
#Respect!


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## BarnBuster (May 19, 2018)

*New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, right, shakes hands with World War II veteran Sidney Walton at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y., on May 18. (Mike Groll via AP)*​
The Associated Press 19 May 2018
_ALBANY, N.Y. -- A 99-year-old World War II veteran, who regretted skipping the chance to meet some of the nation's last Civil War veterans in 1940, is on a mission to visit all 50 states -- so people who've never met a WWII vet can finally meet one. Sidney Walton visited Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Albany on Friday, making it five governors the New York native has met since launching his "No Regrets Tour" in March at the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. The visit to Cuomo's state Capitol office followed statehouse meetings over the past three weeks with the governors of Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut. A year before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1941, Walton passed on a chance to meet Civil War veterans in Manhattan!. He says it's his one regret in life._​​


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## whitebb2727 (May 19, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> One of my personal hero's.
> Dude is bad ass to the bone.
> #Respect!
> 
> View attachment 4137972


He also was in a movie.? The one where aliens land in the ocean.


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## Singlemalt (May 19, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> He also was in a movie.? The one where aliens land in the ocean.


Yep, "Battleship" 2012


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## whitebb2727 (May 19, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> Yep, "Battleship" 2012


I thought so. I thought it was cool to use a real vet.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 19, 2018)

whitebb2727 said:


> He also was in a movie.? The one where aliens land in the ocean.


Battleship.
Though that's not why he's a Man's man in my book.
One of the very few amputee's to remain on active duty.
He fought his way through a horrific event and found it within himsel_f to continue on and lead his troops.
+ + Rep_


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## pabloesqobar (May 19, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> Yep, "Battleship" 2012


That was just on TV about a month ago, and I watched most of it. Pretty cornball. But I remember him in it. Had no idea he was a real vet. That's cool.


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## whitebb2727 (May 19, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Battleship.
> Though that's not why he's a Man's man in my book.
> One of the very few amputee's to remain on active duty.
> He fought his way through a horrific event and found it within himsel_f to continue on and lead his troops.
> + + Rep_


Yea. No doubt. I didn't mean it that way. Just thought it cool for a real veteran to be used.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 19, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> Yep, "Battleship" 2012


Damn it - you type faster than I do.

Biotch.


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## Singlemalt (May 19, 2018)

I liked the movie, thought that the character he played was done well/realistic so after I had looked it up and was indeed surprised he was a real vet, and it was his first time in front of the camera. Wouldn't wish to tangle with him, strong as an ox


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## doublejj (May 20, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> I liked the movie, thought that the character he played was done well/realistic so after I had looked it up and was indeed surprised he was a real vet, and it was his first time in front of the camera. Wouldn't wish to tangle with him, strong as an ox


a sad commentary about combat is that the strongest and bravest die first. I saw many good men fall....sad days


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## doublejj (May 20, 2018)

doublejj said:


> One day in Vietnam, the end of the Black Lions.....


more History of the Black Lions Battalion....
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=vietnam+war+&&view=detail&mid=CB8F24F62E1FDE151B6DCB8F24F62E1FDE151B6D&&FORM=VDRVRV


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## curious2garden (May 20, 2018)

doublejj said:


> a sad commentary about combat is that the strongest and bravest die first. I saw many good men fall....sad days


and the rest live in pieces


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 20, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> and the rest live in pieces


And others "with pieces".

Sometimes those little snippits of memory cut deep.


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## wascaptain (May 21, 2018)

on a lighter note.....


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## BarnBuster (May 22, 2018)

Shawn Snow
Marine Times
5/21/2018
_"A recipient of the Navy Cross and Marine behind one of the most iconic photographs from the Iraq War retired from the Corps after 34 years of service.

Sgt. Maj. Bradley Kasal handed over the reigns as sergeant major of I Marine Expeditionary Force to Sgt. Maj. James Porterfield at a ceremony held at Camp Pendleton, California, on May 18.

“I want every Marine and sailor to understand they enlisted for a reason and a purpose,” said Kasal in a command release. “That purpose was to do something better, to swear to support and defend the constitution, and to be a part of something greater. I ask the Marines and sailors to always be proud of that.”

Kasal was awarded the Navy Cross in 2006 for his heroic actions during one of the Corps’ most hallowed battles in Fallujah, Iraq, Operation Phantom Fury on Nov. 13, 2004."
_
_




_​The Wounded Warrior Battalion-West held a ceremony Nov. 12, 2014 to unveil a monument honoring service members wounded during combat. The sculpture is based on the Operation Phantom Fury photograph 'Hell House' of then 1st Sgt. Bradley Kasal being carried out of a house by two lance corporals after a firefight where Kasal sustained injuries. (Cpl. Shaltiel Dominguez/Marine Corps)





https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/05/21/sgt-maj-bradley-kasal-navy-cross-recipient-and-marine-behind-iconic-fallujah-photo-retires/
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-marine-sculpture-20141116-story.html

_Citation:_
For extraordinary heroism while serving as First Sergeant, Weapons Company, 3d Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 1, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central Command in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 13 November 2004. First Sergeant Kasal was assisting 1st Section, Combined Anti-Armor Platoon as they provided a traveling over watch for 3d Platoon when he heard a large volume of fire erupt to his immediate front, shortly followed by Marines rapidly exiting a structure. When First Sergeant Kasal learned that Marines were pinned down inside the house by an unknown number of enemy personnel, he joined a squad making entry to clear the structure and rescue the Marines inside. He made entry into the first room, immediately encountering and eliminating an enemy insurgent, as he spotted a wounded Marine in the next room. While moving towards the wounded Marine, First Sergeant Kasal and another Marine came under heavy rifle fire from an elevated enemy firing position and were both severely wounded in the legs, immobilizing them. When insurgents threw grenades in an attempt to eliminate the wounded Marines, he rolled on top of his fellow Marine and absorbed the shrapnel with his own body. When First Sergeant Kasal was offered medical attention and extraction, he refused until the other Marines were given medical attention. Although severely wounded himself, he shouted encouragement to his fellow Marines as they continued to clear the structure. By his bold leadership, wise judgment, and complete dedication to duty, First Sergeant Kasal reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.​


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## BarnBuster (May 23, 2018)

U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Zobrist, 9th Air Force commander, returns a salute from retired Capt. Johnny Blye at The Wall That Heals in Camden, S.C., May 5, 2018. Blye received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his participation in Operation Linebacker II during the Vietnam War. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Benjamin Ingold)​
Air Force News 23 May 2018 By Benjamin Ingold
_SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The sunshine reflecting off the black marble of The Wall That Heals in Camden, South Carolina, served as a backdrop for the Air Force ending a 45 year wait for retired Capt. Johnny Blye. Blye received the Distinguished Flying Cross May 5, for his participation in Operation Linebacker II during the bombardment of Hanoi._

_"I flew 150 combat missions in B-52s," said Blye. "I flew in North Vietnam, South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. At the end of the war I flew in the 'big one' into Hanoi, the most heavily defended city in the world at that time."

Linebacker II was the final major operation the U.S. Air Force launched during the Vietnam War. The joint airborne operation consisted of approximately 200 B-52 Stratofortresses and approximately 2,000 supporting tactical aircraft including: F-4 Phantom II fighter escorts, EA-6A Prowler and EB-66 Destroyer radar-jamming aircraft, F-105 Thunderchief Wild Weasel surface-to-air missile suppression aircraft and KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft.

"I am very grateful that I was one of the fortunate ones that made it back," said Blye. "A lot of my B-52 friends got shot down. We had 15 B-52s shot down in 11 days. I was fortunate to have been one of the survivors, but I appreciate the sacrifice of all of those people that weren't."

Upon returning home from Vietnam, veterans did not always receive a warm welcome from a nation divided on the validity and purpose of the Vietnam War.

"I would like to thank the Vietnam vets, their family members and all the Americans who have helped turn it around to show the right way to welcome home service members and their families who have made sacrifices," said Maj. Gen. Scott J. Zobrist, 9th Air Force commander. "Whenever I find a young Airman, I tell them to seek out Vietnam veterans and say 'thank you' to them. Military members today get treated amazingly well, and it's a great time to serve now. A lot of Vietnam veterans did not have that"

The 13-year Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War and the nationwide tour of The Wall That Heals are ways America is honoring, remembering and paying back service members who sacrificed for their nation and are still dealing with the effects of the war.

Blye's Distinguished Flying Cross is an honor being rendered late, but with full honors.

Blye said, it's been 45 years since he should have gotten the decoration, but waiting made it that much sweeter.
_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 23, 2018)

Dad was a Structural Mec aboard the BUFF in Vietnam.
He never spoke of it - only after us kids found his journal (after he passed) did we somewhat understand what he went through.
He particularly disliked Rocket city (Da Nang) where he spent most of his time in country and he didn't record missions - I think he was trying to save Mom from the stress.


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## doublejj (May 23, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Dad was a Structural Mec aboard the BUFF in Vietnam.
> He never spoke of it - only after us kids found his journal (after he passed) did we somewhat understand what he went through.
> He particularly disliked Rocket city (Da Nang) where he spent most of his time in country and he didn't record missions - I think he was trying to save Mom from the stress.


I had to quit after 2 or 3 letters home. It was too upsetting to my family. And I just couldn't describe what we were going though every day. It was actually best for me not to relive it in a letter, or worse, think about what we were going to do tomorrow. So i would just send postcards with little written on them, I'm alive & the date. You could write on anything and they would mail it home.


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## doublejj (May 24, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (May 24, 2018)

​Military.com 24 May 2018 By Matthew Cox
_
At a White House ceremony Thursday, President Donald Trump will present the Medal of Honor to a retired Navy SEAL who led a daring mission to rescue a teammate from a mountain top in Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda in 2002.

The ceremony is set to take place at 2:30 p.m. at the White House. It will be the third Medal of Honor ceremony presided over by Trump, and the first Medal of Honor he has awarded for valor in Afghanistan._

_Retired Master Chief Special Warfare Operator Britt K. Slabinski will be the second living SEAL to receive the nation's highest honor for valor in combat in Afghanistan. Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Edward Byers received the award in February 2016 for his actions during a mission to rescue an American doctor who had been captured by the Taliban.

Slabinski led a team back to rescue a fellow SEAL, Petty Officer 1st Class Neil Roberts, who was ejected from an MH-47 Chinook when it was crippled by enemy rocket-propelled grenade fire on March 4, 2002, in eastern Afghanistan, according to a White House release.

The team had originally begun a mission the day before to set up an outpost on the top of Takur Ghar mountain in Afghanistan's Shah-i-Kot Valley as part of Operation Anaconda.

The rescue mission turned into a violent battle. At one point, Slabinski led his six-man joint team up a snow-covered hill in a frontal assault against two bunkers. Withering enemy fire came in from three directions, according to the release.

Slabinski "repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire" as he attacked al-Qaida forces in the rescue attempt, it states.

Soon they were in a desperate fight, and "after several teammates became casualties, the situation became untenable," the release said.

Slabinski moved his team to a safer position and directed airstrikes through the night. In the early morning hours, he then led an exhausting trek though waist-deep snow -- all the while under enemy fire.

Slabinski treated casualties and continued to call in strikes on enemy forces for another 14 hours until the team had to be extracted.

The engagement would ultimately be known as "The Battle of Roberts Ridge" in honor of Roberts.

Reporting on the battle has since painted a complex picture of the decisions made in the fog of war.

Slabinski's actions during the mission were highlighted in a 2016 New York Times story that emphasized the role of Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Chapman, who was attached to the SEAL team and ultimately died on the mountain. Chapman killed two enemy fighters during a gun battle with multiple fighters all around his position.

It was believed that Chapman died on the mountainside. Drone footage later revealed he lived at least another hour, according to reports.

Slabinski previously received the Navy Cross for leading the attempted rescue.

Slabinski will be the 12th living service member overall to receive the Medal of Honor for actions in Afghanistan.

He enlisted in the Navy in 1988 and graduated Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training in 1990. He completed nine overseas deploymentsand 15 combat deployments during his career, according to a biography provided by the White House.

Slabinski retired as director of the Naval Special Warfare Safety Assurance and Analysis Program after more than 25 years of service, according to a release.

In addition to the Navy Cross, his previous awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, five Bronze Stars with combat "V" device, and two Combat Action Ribbons.
_
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/28/world/asia/seal-team-6-afghanistan-man-left-for-dead.html
http://www.newsweek.com/2018/05/18/navy-seals-seal-team-6-left-behind-die-operation-anaconda-slabinski-chapman-912343.html

_*His MOH citation is expected to be very similar to his Navy Cross on*e, *below:*

For extraordinary heroism as Sniper Element Leader for a joint special operations unit conducting combat operations against enemy forces during Operation Anaconda, Sahi-Kot Valley, Afghanistan on 3 and 4 March 2002, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. On the evening of 3 March, Senior Chief Petty Officer Britt Slabinski led his seven-man reconnaissance team onto the snow-covered, 10,000 foot mountaintop known as Takur Ghar, to establish a combat overwatch position in support of U.S. Army forces advancing against the enemy on the valley floor. As their helicopter hovered over the mountain it was met by unrelenting rocket propelled grenade (RPG) and small arms fire by entrenched enemy forces. As a result of several RPG hits, a member of Senior Chief Petty Officer Slabinski ‘s team was ejected from the helicopter into the midst of the fortified enemy positions. The badly damaged helicopter conducted a controlled crash, at which time Senior Chief Petty Officer Slabinski immediately took charge and established security on the crash location until the crew and his team were recovered to a support base. At this point, Senior Chief Slabinski fully aware of the overwhelming, fixed, enemy forces over the mountain, but also knowing the desperate situation of his missing teammate, now reportedly fighting for his life, without hesitation made the selfless decision to lead his team on an immediate, bold rescue mission. He heroically led the remainder of his SEAL element back onto the snow-covered, remote, mountaintop into the midst of the numerically superior enemy forces in a daring and valiant attempt to rescue one of their own. After a treacherous helicopter insertion onto the mountaintop, Senior Chief Petty Officer Slabinski led his close quarter firefight. He skillfully maneuvered his team and bravely engaged multiple enemy positions, personally clearing one bunker and killing several enemy within. His unit became caught in a withering crossfire from other bunkers and the closing enemy forces. Despite mounting casualties, Senior Chief Petty Officer Slabinski maintained his composure and continued to engage the enemy until his position became untenable. Faced with no choice but a tactical withdrawal, he coolly directed fire from airborne assets to cover his team. He then led an arduous movement through the mountainous terrain, constantly under fire, covering over one kilometer in waist-deep snow, while carrying a seriously wounded teammate. Arriving at a defensible position, he organized his team’s security posture and stabilized his casualties. For over fourteen hours, Senior Chief Petty Officer Slabinski directed the defense of his position through countless engagements, personally engaging the enemy and directing close air support onto the enemy positions until the enemy was ultimately defeated. During this entire sustained engagement, Senior Chief Petty Officer Slabinski exhibited classic grace under fire in steadfastly leading the intrepid rescue operation, saving the lives of his wounded men and setting the conditions for the ultimate vanquishing of the enemy and the seizing of Takur Ghar. By his heroic display of decisive and tenacious leadership, unyielding courage in the face of constant enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Senior Chief Petty Officer Slabinski reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

_​


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## doublejj (May 24, 2018)

One grizzly task I performed as a medic in Vietnam was to search each dead GI for money before zipping up the body bag. This way we could send it home to his mother before the rear support troops discovered it. For an infantryman the indignities of combat don't end with death.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 24, 2018)

doublejj said:


> One grizzly task I performed as a medic in Vietnam was to search each dead GI for money before zipping up the body bag. This way we could send it home to his mother before the rear support troops discovered it. For an infantryman the indignities of combat don't end with death.


Several times I've had the pleasure of going through guys personal property to "sanitize" it before it got sent to their parents. Dumping any porn/sexy girlfriend letters photo's etc...
And you have to look at everything to make sure you don't miss anything.

Another time as an E6 I was called by the Master Chief of the CG (I was acting officer in charge of a unit att). I was instructed to go home, dress in my Class A's & make a house visit to a couple I knew very well to inform them that their (active duty) Son had passed away.

That was one of the toughest.


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## wascaptain (May 24, 2018)

i dont miss any aspect of dealing with death or trauma

whats screwed for me is, i live is close to where i worked and when i go to and around the city..i still remember.

fcuking car wrecks, buckle up and slow down boys 

and put a goddamm smoke detector in your homes


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## doublejj (May 25, 2018)

A few years ago I was driving down the Cali coast from SF and made a stop at Ft Ord, my old basic training company. It's closed & a ghost town now, but I found a hole in the fence and went back to the barracks that I was in. I swear that when I closed my eyes I could smell boot polish and gun powder. It was like time travel, i went right back there instantly. Like the most deja vu experience, and i instantly got a knot in my stomach at the thought of going to Nam. I din't realize it was already getting to me in bootcamp. but there it was...
This is the reason I never want to go back to vietnam.....


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## BarnBuster (May 25, 2018)

http://www.travelingwall.us/schedule_of_appearances.htm​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 25, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> http://www.travelingwall.us/schedule_of_appearances.htm​


It came here once & it's a very somber memorial.


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## doublejj (May 25, 2018)

"If you are able, save for them a place inside of you and save one backward glance when you are leaving for the places they can no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say you loved them, though you may or may not have always. Take what they have taught you with their dying and keep it with your own.
And in that time when men decide and feel safe to call the war insane, take one moment to embrace those gentle heroes you left behind.".........

Major Michael Davis O'Donnell
1 January 1970
Dak To, Vietnam
Listed as KIA February 7, 1978


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## doublejj (May 25, 2018)

flashback friday.........


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## BarnBuster (May 27, 2018)

I hope they fast track the repairs and it doesn't get hung up with red tape







*USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor Closed Indefinitely*​
By The Associated Press
May 26, 2018

_HONOLULU — Damage to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu was worse than expected and it will remain closed indefinitely, officials said. Boat transportation to the attraction was suspended May 6 after one of the vessel operators noticed a crack on the outside of the memorial, Hawaii News Now reported .

Tourists were allowed to disembark at the memorial after crews completed interim repairs. But the cracks reappeared hours later, indicating a more serious issue.

"There is a brow or an edge where the visitor ramp meets the memorial, and at that point, there's been some fissures located on the exterior," said Jay Blount, a spokesman for the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. "After further investigation on the interior, it was determined that the structure is not supporting the loading ramp the way that we need."

Engineers are working to figure out possible long-term solutions.

"The amount of time needed to implement the repairs is unknown, but the (National Park Service) will continue to provide information to the public as our team of specialists works together to restore access as soon as possible," memorial staff said Friday in a news release.

Other areas of the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center remain open._


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## BarnBuster (May 28, 2018)




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## curious2garden (May 28, 2018)




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## ttystikk (May 28, 2018)

I volunteered for the Army at 18, wasn't accepted (eyesight). Serving would have done the undisciplined punk that I was a lot of good...

My humblest respects to all who have ever served and sacrificed on this Memorial Day, and a prayer that we save lives by not letting America's corporations find/create excuses to start yet more unnecessary wars for profit.


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## BarnBuster (May 29, 2018)

*Estimated number of living U.S: WWII veterans from 2015 to 2045*​
_Even though 16 million Americans fought in the Second World War, the number of veterans from the conflict still alive today is falling quickly. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, just under one million U.S. WWII veterans were alive in 2015. The men and women who fought in the war are now in their late 80s and 90s with an average of 362 dying every day. That raises a sad and depressing question: when will the country lose the last of its WWII veterans?

The Department of Veterans Affairs uses a deterministic actuarial projection model to estimate and project the veteran population from FY2015 to FY2045. As can be seen from the following infographic, the number of living WWII veterans will steadily fall over the coming 30 years with the very last expected to pass away in 2044. That means time is swiftly running out to hear their memories of the conflict and honor their sacrifice. Frank Buckles was the last surviving U.S. veteran of the First World War. Born in 1901, he enlisted in the army in 1917 and drove ambulances and motorcycles during the war in Europe. Buckles eventually became the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation and he passed away in February 2011._

Forbes
Niall McCarthy , CONTRIBUTOR
MAY 28, 2018 @ 07:57 AM


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## BarnBuster (May 29, 2018)

*Arlington Cemetery, Nearly Full, May Become More Exclusive*
To preserve space for future war heroes in the country’s premier national cemetery, the Army is considering new rules that would turn away many currently eligible veterans.​
By Dave Philipps, New York Times
May 28, 2018

_ARLINGTON, Va. — The solemn ritual of a burial with military honors is repeated dozens of times a day, in foul weather or fair, at Arlington National Cemetery, honoring service members from privates to presidents. But in order to preserve the tradition of burial at the nation’s foremost military cemetery for future generations, the Army, which runs Arlington, says that it may have to deny it to nearly all veterans who are living today.

Arlington is running out of room. Already the final resting place for more that 420,000 veterans and their relatives, the cemetery has been adding about 7,000 more each year. At that rate, even if the last rinds of open ground around its edges are put to use, the cemetery will be completely full in about 25 years.

“We’re literally up against a wall,” said Barbara Lewandrowski, a spokeswoman for the cemetery, as she stood in the soggy grass where marble markers march up to the stone wall separating the grounds from a six-lane highway. Even that wall has been put to use, stacked three high with niches for cremated remains.

The Army wants to keep Arlington going for at least another 150 years, but with no room to grow — the grounds are hemmed in by highways and development — the only way to do so is to significantly tighten the rules for who can be buried there. That has prompted a difficult debate over what Arlington means to the nation and how to balance egalitarian ideals against the site’s physical limits._

rest of story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/28/us/arlington-cemetery-veterans.html


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## too larry (May 29, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> *Estimated number of living U.S: WWII veterans from 2015 to 2045*​
> _Even though 16 million Americans fought in the Second World War, the number of veterans from the conflict still alive today is falling quickly. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, just under one million U.S. WWII veterans were alive in 2015. The men and women who fought in the war are now in their late 80s and 90s with an average of 362 dying every day. That raises a sad and depressing question: when will the country lose the last of its WWII veterans?
> 
> The Department of Veterans Affairs uses a deterministic actuarial projection model to estimate and project the veteran population from FY2015 to FY2045. As can be seen from the following infographic, the number of living WWII veterans will steadily fall over the coming 30 years with the very last expected to pass away in 2044. That means time is swiftly running out to hear their memories of the conflict and honor their sacrifice. Frank Buckles was the last surviving U.S. veteran of the First World War. Born in 1901, he enlisted in the army in 1917 and drove ambulances and motorcycles during the war in Europe. Buckles eventually became the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation and he passed away in February 2011._
> ...


They are going fast. Daddy died in 2002 at 78 years old. He did the walking tour of France in 1944. Was shot twice and spent the rest of the war in a German POW camp.


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## BarnBuster (May 30, 2018)

*




*

*'CHiPs' gave us one of the first positive Vietnam-vet portrayals*​
Harold C. Hutchison
May. 29, 2018 06:30PM EST

_In the wake of the Vietnam War, Hollywood didn't give vets of the controversial conflict a good depiction. The Oscars went to movies like Deer Hunter or Platoon, which did a great job of showcasing the horrors of war, but often made troops appear to be ruthless, cold killers.

On the small screen, however, things were different. Famously, Tom Selleck's portrayal of Thomas Magnum, a private investigator and former Navy officer, in Magnum, P.I. helped others see vets as tough and virtuous. But a show about motorcycle cops also helped showcase the good side of vets three years before Selleck assumed his iconic role.

CHiPs featured two California Highway Patrol officers, Jon Baker and Francis Llewellyn "Ponch" Poncherello, as played by Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada, respectively. Wilcox got into acting after serving in the Marine Corps for three years, reaching the rank of sergeant and serving for 13 months in Vietnam as an artilleryman. Estrada previously played a small role as the pilot of a F4F Wildcat in the movie Midway.

Throughout the show, Baker would occasionally mention his service in Vietnam, including during a third-season episode where he and Ponch had to skydive in order to catch drug smugglers in the act. Wilcox's portrayal of Baker stands out — because he didn't play a PTSD-riddled derelict (a popular trend in movies at the time), but instead a productive member of society. In fact, Baker often ended up being more by-the-books in comparison to the flamboyant Ponch.

The show lasted for six seasons on NBC, with Wilcox playing Baker for five of those. Most of the cast returned for a reunion movie in 1999. By then, Baker had been promoted to captain. Baker, incidentally, was not the only character to portray a Vietnam-era vet. Robert Pine (the father of Chris Pine) played Joe Getraer, the long-suffering sergeant and Navy veteran. Arthur Grossman was also a service vet._


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## BarnBuster (Jun 1, 2018)

_Last year, the park service placed signs at the memorial asking people not to leave human remains._​
The Associated Press 31 May 2018
_MANASSAS, Va. — *The National Park Service has reached agreement with a nonprofit veterans' organization allowing it take cremated remains left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and bury them will full military honors.*

A park service statement says the Missing in America Project will take possession of dozens of sets of cremains left at the memorial through the years and any future cremains left. They will be inurned in an in-ground vault at a cemetery in Manassas, Virginia, a capital suburb. Since 1989, approximately 80 sets of ashes have been left at the memorial wall, despite the park service not having appropriate means for their care.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday the remains had been kept in a locked cabinet at the park service's large Museum Resource Center in Maryland. No date for the transfer or burial has been set.

“Our mission statement is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremains of military veterans,” said Brigitte Corbin of the Missing in America Project.

“I don’t want to see any veteran left on a shelf,” Corbin said. “I’ve been around the military my whole life, my husband is retired military, and I believe strongly in this mission statement and the work that we’re doing.”

Despite the new arrangement, existing park service policy isn’t changing. 

“Leaving of cremated remains or the scattering of ashes at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is still prohibited by regulation,” Litterst said.
_


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## BarnBuster (Jun 1, 2018)

https://www.rollitup.org/t/just-dogs.879128/page-66#post-14274170
*War Dog: The 50-year-old mystery of a pioneering SEAL dog*


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## BarnBuster (Jun 1, 2018)

look at this restored beauty. Can you imagine an overflight of 836 of these? (1AUG45, largest single raid in WW2 over Japan)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=29&v=zn_KwkX8MTY

https://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2018/05/restored_world_war_ii_b-29_bom.html


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## BarnBuster (Jun 3, 2018)

_Christian Michelle, named in her father's honor, was born March 17. She will never meet her dad, but will have a special collection of photographs to remember him. The soldiers he served with, his family away from home, are back on American soil now, and several of them got together Tuesday for a special photo shoot by photographer Kendra Lee of Pinehurst Photography._






_As Christian's big eyes stare into the camera, a glimpse of her father shines through. And with his fellow soldiers there to hold her, Christian was closer to her dad than ever._






_As if they were her own family, about 20 men showed up to the shoot to celebrate Christian, dressed in the military uniforms. They held the tiny baby and posed for the photographer. Christian wore a special onesie for the occasion: "My Daddy, my hero" it said._​
https://patch.com/us/across-america/s/gfpo2/fallen-soldier-s-brothers-take-touching-photos-with-his-baby?utm_source=newsletter-daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=kids & family &utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=article-national&utm_slot=2
https://thefallen.militarytimes.com/spc-christopher-michael-harris/6568716
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/newborn-baby-fallen-soldier-chris-harris-photo-shoot-army-devil-brigade/


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 3, 2018)

I think I've gotten something in my eye.


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## too larry (Jun 3, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I think I've gotten something in my eye.


Yea, I saw that story on the TV news. I got into some dust myself.


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## ttystikk (Jun 3, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> *Arlington Cemetery, Nearly Full, May Become More Exclusive*
> To preserve space for future war heroes in the country’s premier national cemetery, the Army is considering new rules that would turn away many currently eligible veterans.​
> By Dave Philipps, New York Times
> May 28, 2018
> ...


Is it too much to ask that we find ways to stop having so many wars, so maybe we won't need to bury so many of those who fought?

With great respect, I must point out that the very best way to save a soldier's life is to not send him into battle in the first place.


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## doublejj (Jun 4, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> Is it too much to ask that we find ways to stop having so many wars, so maybe we won't need to bury so many of those who fought?
> 
> With great respect, I must point out that the very best way to save a soldier's life is to not send him into battle in the first place.


Until that happens......


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## doublejj (Jun 4, 2018)




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## doublejj (Jun 4, 2018)




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## ttystikk (Jun 4, 2018)

doublejj said:


>


...over a beer lol


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## BarnBuster (Jun 4, 2018)

_"Jordan wrote, “I consider myself fortunate in having known one of the greatest peace officers this country has produced—Captain John Hughes of the Texas Rangers… Like most old timers, he was reluctant to talk of personal experiences but occasionally passed out advice well worth heeding. 
One such gem that I have always remembered and will pass on was: ‘If you get in a gunfight, don’t let yourself feel rushed. Take your time, fast.’” (Page 107)
Earlier in the book, Bill remarked, “And above all, take all the time necessary but don’t dawdle. Remember, ‘speed’s fine, but accuracy’s final’—if you are given time to display it!” (Page 99)"
Massad Ayoob on Bill's book_


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## too larry (Jun 4, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> Is it too much to ask that we find ways to stop having so many wars, so maybe we won't need to bury so many of those who fought?
> 
> With great respect, I must point out that the very best way to save a soldier's life is to not send him into battle in the first place.


Most of the ones going in there are old folks from WWII. Our new wars are tiny when compared to that one.


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## ttystikk (Jun 4, 2018)

too larry said:


> Most of the ones going in there are old folks from WWII. Our new wars are tiny when compared to that one.


True enough and I agree that every soldier who has earned their place in Arlington should get one.

That said, my point stands. I'm a much bigger fan of live veterans going gray raising their kids and grilling in their yards under the Stars and Stripes than I am of dead heroes. WWII was not optional; that was a just war that we fought to defend ourselves and our Allies against the rising Fascist Axis. Few other wars (I can't think of any, in fact) we've fought since were worthy of the blood spilled. Killing our finest Americans so others can profit just doesn't strike me as just or fair or reasonable. Such Corporatist warmongering is in fact the fastest, straightest path I know of for us to become the very sort of Fascist Threat our parents or grandparents fought to stop. We're already a long way down this road and I'm frustrated that Americans today don't seem to be having this conversation.

I learned this lesson very early on, as I somehow managed to find myself in Vietnam as a 5 year old and thus immersed in the discussion since before I understood what it meant. Yet, my stand on this subject has not wavered since then: I respect those who take up arms to defend our country too much to be willing to blithely tolerate the idea that human lives are an acceptable trade for war profiteering.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 6, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Jun 6, 2018)

_Troubling U.S. Navy review finds widespread shortfalls in basic seamanship_ 
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2018/06/06/troubling-us-navy-review-finds-widespread-shortfalls-in-basic-seamanship/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ebb 6-6&utm_term=Editorial - Early Bird Brief


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## doublejj (Jun 6, 2018)

My father (RIP) was a combat engineer in WWII and served with General Patton and survived 3 invasions, North Africa, Sicily, Italy......Sicily was where Patton infamously slapped a soldier....


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## BarnBuster (Jun 7, 2018)

​


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## Grandpapy (Jun 7, 2018)

doublejj said:


> A few years ago I was driving down the Cali coast from SF and made a stop at Ft Ord, my old basic training company. It's closed & a ghost town now, but I found a hole in the fence and went back to the barracks that I was in. I swear that when I closed my eyes I could smell boot polish and gun powder. It was like time travel, i went right back there instantly. Like the most deja vu experience, and i instantly got a knot in my stomach at the thought of going to Nam. I din't realize it was already getting to me in bootcamp. but there it was...
> This is the reason I never want to go back to vietnam.....


It’s not totally a ghost town, did you get chance to visit the Veterans Transition Center?
Lots of compassion, guidance and success using very little money (not by choice).
They have a car show on the 19th to help with funding.
If this is sounding like a commercial, sorry, it’s just personal.






https://www.vtcmonterey.org


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 7, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4147405​


+ Rep Sir.


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## too larry (Jun 8, 2018)

A couple of jets were play dog fighting over the farm this week. Tried for pictures, but they were too fast. They did leave tracks though.


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## too larry (Jun 8, 2018)

too larry said:


> A couple of jets were play dog fighting over the farm this week. Tried for pictures, but they were too fast. They did leave tracks though.
> 
> View attachment 4147869


Fuzzy, but you can tell what it is.


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## doublejj (Jun 8, 2018)

*Project 100,000: The Moron Corps................*or how soldiers with limited IQ's like Forrest Gump served in combat in Vietnam.

.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_100,000

"A 1995 review of McNamara's book _In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam_ in the _Washington Monthly_ severely criticized the project, writing that "the program offered a one-way ticket to Vietnam, where these men fought and died in disproportionate numbers...the men of the 'Moron Corps' provided the necessary cannon fodder to help evade the political horror of dropping student deferments or calling up the reserves, which were sanctuaries for the lily-white."

There were a lot of "Forrest Gumps" in Vietnam.....


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## haight (Jun 10, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> Is it too much to ask that we find ways to stop having so many wars, so maybe we won't need to bury so many of those who fought?
> 
> With great respect, I must point out that the very best way to save a soldier's life is to not send him into battle in the first place.


Are you suggesting that we all bend over and grab our ankles while the middle east boils over?


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## Wilksey (Jun 10, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> WWII was not optional; that was a just war that we fought


Against Japan, sure. Against Europe? Nope. We just chose to support leftist / Soviet fascism and European colonialism, over German fascism, which, I agree with Patton, was the wrong choice. We basically facilitated Europe turning into the leftist shithole that it is today, because we allowed the communist scum in Russia to survive instead of destroying it when we had the chance, and they spent decades infiltrating and subverting the west resulting in the divisive shitshow that we see today.


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## ttystikk (Jun 12, 2018)

haight said:


> Are you suggesting that we all bend over and grab our ankles while the middle east boils over?


Can you explain how we are ordained to be the (self serving) cop there? If you dug into just how much we've fucked with middle Eastern countries, I think you'd have a different outlook.


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## ttystikk (Jun 12, 2018)

Wilksey said:


> Against Japan, sure. Against Europe? Nope. We just chose to support leftist / Soviet fascism and European colonialism, over German fascism, which, I agree with Patton, was the wrong choice. We basically facilitated Europe turning into the leftist shithole that it is today, because we allowed the communist scum in Russia to survive instead of destroying it when we had the chance, and they spent decades infiltrating and subverting the west resulting in the divisive shitshow that we see today.


We will agree to disagree.


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## Walking Gingerbread Man (Jun 12, 2018)

You're saying veterans "get the fuck in here now" thats kind of a mean thing to say for someone who isn't that type of person i mean i get a little bit just a little bit annoyed


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## BarnBuster (Jun 12, 2018)

*Trump, Kim commit to recovering Korean War remains*
_
"Remains of an estimated 5,300 missing American servicemembers are in North Korea and potentially recoverable"._

Quite an accomplishment if it happens. Previous 12 Presidents couldn't do it.

https://www.stripes.com/news/trump-kim-commit-to-recovering-korean-war-remains-1.532273


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## 420God (Jun 12, 2018)

*One of the last remaining Navajo code talkers has died *

(CNN)Samuel Tom Holiday, one of the longest surviving Navajo Code Talkers from World War II, has died, just days after celebrating his 94th birthday.

The US Marine Corps confirmed the news, saying Holiday died Monday.
Holiday joined the Corps in 1943 at 19. After that, he served in World War II until 1945, becoming part of a special unit that used the Navajo language to communicate secret messages about troops, tactics and other orders.
The code the team created was indecipherable to the enemy and a key factor in the American military victories at Iwo Jima, Saipan, and several other major battles in the Pacific theater.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2018/06/12/us/navajo-code-talker-dies-trnd/index.html


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## haight (Jun 14, 2018)

Walking Gingerbread Man said:


> You're saying veterans "get the fuck in here now" thats kind of a mean thing to say for someone who isn't that type of person i mean i get a little bit just a little bit annoyed


Frag him


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## haight (Jun 14, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> Can you explain how we are ordained to be the (self serving) cop there? If you dug into just how much we've fucked with middle Eastern countries, I think you'd have a different outlook.


If not us, who?


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## ttystikk (Jun 14, 2018)

haight said:


> If not us, who?


How conveniently self serving.

Since when is it our 'job' or 'duty' to go 'fix' the world?

Can't you see this for the smokescreen that it is? It's a self aggrandizing excuse to go fuck with other countries as a pretext to overthrow their governments, steal their resources and subvert the will of their citizens.

It would be one thing if we actually tried to bring Justice to the places we intervene in, but the record speaks for itself. It's a long and bloody record, check it out.

I'm sick of watching honorable men and women come home in bodybags over thin excuses for corporatist imperialism. I'm doubly sick that they use my 'security' as justification for it while they profit and that's why I'm speaking out.

I know of no better way to honor the fallen than to ensure those who would send them to their deaths are held accountable.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 15, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Jun 15, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Jun 17, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Jun 17, 2018)

By MEREDITH TIBBETTS | STARS AND STRIPES Published: June 17, 2018​
_WASHINGTON — Three thousand roses were placed carefully along the base of the wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The colors of the flowers placed for the annual Father’s Day Rose Remembrance had special meaning: The 1,400 red roses were for those killed in action, the 1,200 yellow ones for those missing in action, and the 400 white-with-red-tip ones for "In Memory" honorees — Vietnam veterans who died after the war from war-related causes.
_
https://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/at-the-vietnam-wall-3-000-roses-mark-father-s-day-remembrance-1.533318
​


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## BarnBuster (Jun 19, 2018)

​


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## BarnBuster (Jun 23, 2018)




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## too larry (Jun 23, 2018)

I heard this story on NPR driving into work this morrning. Pros and amateurs working together to get the remains of these two twins killed on the same day 74 years ago buried together.

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/23/622795506/a-story-of-twins-reunited-after-death

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/21/us/world-war-ii-twins-reunited-74-years-later-trnd/index.html


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## haight (Jun 23, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> How conveniently self serving.
> 
> Since when is it our 'job' or 'duty' to go 'fix' the world?
> 
> ...


 You need help man. Schizophrenia can be controlled with modern medications now.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 23, 2018)

too larry said:


> I heard this story on NPR driving into work this morrning. Pros and amateurs working together to get the remains of these two twins killed on the same day 74 years ago buried together.
> 
> https://www.npr.org/2018/06/23/622795506/a-story-of-twins-reunited-after-death
> 
> https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/21/us/world-war-ii-twins-reunited-74-years-later-trnd/index.html


There was also one about a crew of a B-17 that were finally id'd and are going to be buried in Arlington next week.

_"They were members of a nine-man crew of the B-17 shot down near Barby, Germany on Nov. 2, 1944. Three survived and were captured. One was killed and identified in 1945. The remains of the five were recovered in 2015 and 2016."_

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/06/21/5-members-of-world-war-ii-bomber-crew-being-buried-together-at-arlington/


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## doublejj (Jun 23, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4152999​


I cannot even think about the dogs we left behind in vietnam......it upsets me in the worst way......serious survivors guilt.....serious


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## BarnBuster (Jun 23, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Jun 23, 2018)

doublejj said:


> I cannot even think about the dogs we left behind in vietnam......it upsets me in the worst way......serious survivors guilt.....serious


and yet during WW2 and Korea, any dog that was physically OK was returned stateside. sad 

https://www.uswardogs.org/id10.html


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## BarnBuster (Jun 23, 2018)

_"The military moved “100 wooden temporary transit cases” that had been built in Seoul to the Joint Security Area on Saturday “so that we are ready to receive remains and be able to transport them in a dignified manner,” the U.N. Command’s public affairs office told Stars and Stripes."_
KIM GAMEL | STARS AND STRIPESPublished: June 23, 2018

https://www.stripes.com/us-sends-coffins-to-border-with-n-korea-to-prepare-for-return-of-war-dead-remains-1.534347?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


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## doublejj (Jun 23, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> and yet during WW2 and Korea, any dog that was physically OK was returned stateside. sad
> 
> https://www.uswardogs.org/id10.html


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## ttystikk (Jun 24, 2018)

haight said:


> You need help man. Schizophrenia can be controlled with modern medications now.


You call me sick for wanting to stop seeing our men in uniform killed in senseless wars for profit?

You sure about that?


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## BarnBuster (Jun 26, 2018)

*The widow of a World War II soldier will accept the Medal of Honor for her husband at the White House today June 26, 2018, 22 years after his family began efforts to upgrade the soldier’s Distinguished Service Cross.*​_Standing 5 feet, six inches tall and weighing maybe 120 pounds soaking wet, 1st Lt. Garlin Murl Conner may not have been the most physically imposing GI during World War II, but on Jan. 24, 1945 he was an unmovable rock against which a wave of German troops crashed and ultimately rolled back.

Now Conner, who died in 1998, is posthumously receiving the Medal of Honor for his bravery in that battle, during which he called for artillery to shell his own position. President Trump will present the Medal of Honor to Conner’s widow on Tuesday at the White House.

With the U.S. military’s highest award for gallantry, Conner will become the second-most decorated service member of World War II, according to the Army. He is surpassed only by legendary 1st Lt. Audie Murphy.

Conner took part in 10 campaigns with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division during World War II, Army officials said, and he was wounded seven times during 28 months of combat. His awards include three Purple Hearts, four Silver Stars and the Distinguished Service Cross, which is being upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
_
https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/conner/?from=hp_spotlight
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/25/grandson-wwis-sgt-york-will-attend-medal-honor-ceremony.html
https://taskandpurpose.com/army-hero-getting-the-medal-of-honor/


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## BarnBuster (Jun 26, 2018)

*Retired Army Capt. Martin Gelb is presented with the Congressional Gold Medal by U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., on Monday, June 25, 2018, in Derry, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Holly Ramer) -- The Associated Press*​The Associated Press 25 Jun 2018 By Holly Ramer
_DERRY, N.H. — A 98-year-old World War II intelligence officer received the highest congressional honor Monday for what a historian described as "defending our country in the shadowy place between diplomacy and war."_

_Retired Army Capt. Martin Gelb was part of the Office of Strategic Services, which was created during World War II and was the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. He served in England, France and Germany on missions that included supporting U.S. and British operations during the D-Day invasion and assisting with the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp._

_U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, who presented Gelb with a bronze replica of the Congressional Gold Medal, said only about 100 of Gelb's fellow officers are still living and called him a true American hero._

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/06/25/world-war-ii-intelligence-officer-gets-congressional-medal.html
​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 28, 2018)

Douglas A. Munro: _The U.S. Coast Guard's "Medal of Honor" _Recipient













Doug Munro Remains the Only Member of the U.S.G.G. Ever to Receive the Medal of Honor







*It was 27 Sept., 1942. Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro wouldn't see the 28th.*

*Munro, the first and only member of the U.S. Coast Guard to receive the Medal of Honor, had been aboard the the seaplane tender Ballard. Anchored just off Guadalcanal, the ship received word that 500 men from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, had met fierce resistance from the Japanese and were pinned down on the beach, their backs to the sea. So bad was it that the Marines had begun to stack dead bodies - like sandbags - for cover.*

*Munro immediately volunteered to lead five Higgins boats in to get them out. The signalman and his crew stayed low in the small boats as lead whistled and screamed overhead. As they neared the island the anguished cries and moans of wounded Marines grew louder, until a gentle bump followed by a scraping sound told the rescue team they had arrived in hell.*

*The gray-helmeted Munro and his crew swung into action. The evacuation had begun. The Higgins boats, too small to remove all of the Marines at one time, made several trips from the island to ships. Near the end of the mission, when only a few Marines remained on the beach, enemy fire intensified, pinning them once again. Munro recognized immediately that the Marines were in an untenable position, and their deaths were imminent. He quickly placed his vessel between the beachhead and the enemy, thus drawing the fire to himself.*

*When the last Marine was huddled safely behind the boat, Munro grabbed one of the Higgin's two guns and released a murderous burst of return fire, trying desperately to hold the enemy off until Marines could be taken aboard. Moments later he was mortally wounded. His crew, injured themselves, carried on until the last boat arrived and cleared the beach. Munro maintained consiousness long enough to utter these last four words: "Did they get off?" Assured that they had, he slowly closed his eyes and entered eternity. He died knowing he had sucessfully completed his last mission.*

*Eight months later, on 27 May, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented the Medal of Honor to Munro's mother, Mrs. James Munro.*

*Buried in his hometown of South Cle Elum, WA, he rests between his mother and father in the veteran's section of the cemetery.*

*In his honor, the Coast Guard Cutter Munro was commissioned 7 Sept., 1971. There is a statue of Munro at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, NJ, as well.*



*




*


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## BarnBuster (Jun 28, 2018)

MUNRO, DOUGLAS ALBERT
Rank and organization: Signalman First Class, U.S. Coast Guard
Place and Date: 27 September 1942, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
Born: 11 October 1919, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Accredited to: Washington
Home Town: Cle Elum, WA


_*The Citation: *_​
For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty as Petty Officer in Charge of a group of 24 Higgins boats, engaged in the evacuation of a battalion of Marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at Point Cruz Guadalcanal, on 27 September 1942. After making preliminary plans for the evacuation of nearly 500 beleaguered marines, Munro, under constant strafing by enemy machine guns on the island, and at great risk of his life, daringly led 5 of his small craft toward the shore. As he closed the beach, he signaled the others to land, and then in order to draw the enemy's fire and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly placed his craft with its 2 small guns as a shield between the beachhead and the Japanese. When the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed, Munro was instantly killed by enemy fire, but his crew, 2 of whom were wounded, carried on until the last boat had loaded and cleared the beach. By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished. He gallantly gave his life for his country.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 30, 2018)

Thieves drained entire bank account of America's oldest living veteran 
https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/30/us/oldest-living-veteran-theft-trnd/index.html


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## BarnBuster (Jul 4, 2018)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 5, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Jul 6, 2018)

Bank Restores Funds Stolen from Oldest Living Veteran's Account
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/07/05/bank-restores-funds-stolen-oldest-living-veterans-account.html


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 6, 2018)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 6, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Jul 7, 2018)

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA
Friday, July 06, 2018 08:05AM
MAE SAI, Thailand --

_A former member of the Thai navy's elite SEAL unit who volunteered to help his old comrades in their risky mission to evacuate a dozen boys and their soccer coach trapped in a cave has become the first casualty of the massive rescue effort._

_The death of former Petty Officer 1st Class Saman Gunan early Friday morning during an underwater swim in the partly flooded cave struck a particularly deep chord with Thais, because he was a volunteer on a humanitarian mission that has riveted the nation's attention for two weeks. And as is the case with elite military units all over the world, Thailand's SEALs were quick to pay their own heartfelt tribute to their fallen friend._

http://abc13.com/navy-seal-dies-trying-to-rescue-boys-trapped-in-cave/3699338/


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 7, 2018)

(I wasn’t with Mortars, I was with a line platoon)


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 7, 2018)

Interesting grid location. Pretty sure this is the event on Thanksgiving that led to us getting ambushed on Black Friday. We were tasked with securing the area where the Apaches smoked two or three people emplacing an IED in the fields. The first time, we waited for EOD for three hours. They told us they’d be there tomorrow, so we RTB’d and got two hours of sleep (we didn’t actually sleep) and patrolled out on foot at the crack of dawn. On our way to the location the second time, they were waiting for us.


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## doublejj (Jul 7, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> (I wasn’t with Mortars, I was with a line platoon)


One good thing about being a combat medic in Vietnam was never having to pull shit burning detail....


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## doublejj (Jul 7, 2018)




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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 7, 2018)

doublejj said:


>


This is 100% accurate. The Korengal Valley in Kunar Province is where our sister battalion 1-32 IN was for the deployment. Everything he is speaking about is exactly as I experienced it, a year after Restrepo in the Tangi. And the “punchline” is spot on.


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 7, 2018)

doublejj said:


> One good thing about being a combat medic in Vietnam was never having to pull shit burning detail....


Love ya, Doc.


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 7, 2018)

@~3:25 to end

That berserker’s rage becomes extremely maladaptive and destroys everything you hold dear when you return to civilian life, and the only thing you can do is work on yourself and pray to God your life doesn’t disintegrate before you can recover.


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## doublejj (Jul 7, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Love ya, Doc.
> View attachment 4161719


Somebody has to look after you guys....


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 7, 2018)

“Jonathan Shay makes an explicit connection between the berserker rage of soldiers and the hyperarousal of post-traumatic stress disorder.[33] In Achilles in Vietnam, he writes:

If a soldier survives the berserk state, it imparts emotional deadness and vulnerability to explosive rage to his psychology and permanent hyperarousal to his physiology — hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans. My clinical experience with Vietnam combat veterans prompts me to place the berserk state at the heart of their most severe psychological and psychophysiological injuries.[34]”


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## doublejj (Jul 7, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> “Jonathan Shay makes an explicit connection between the berserker rage of soldiers and the hyperarousal of post-traumatic stress disorder.[33] In Achilles in Vietnam, he writes:
> 
> If a soldier survives the berserk state, it imparts emotional deadness and vulnerability to explosive rage to his psychology and permanent hyperarousal to his physiology — hallmarks of post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans. My clinical experience with Vietnam combat veterans prompts me to place the berserk state at the heart of their most severe psychological and psychophysiological injuries.[34]”


Roger that....


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## doublejj (Jul 7, 2018)

As an only son, the army couldn't make me go to Vietnam, I volunteered....


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 8, 2018)

Last thing I’ll post on it. It’s more or less for anyone not initiated to what it’s like to read and understand. Obviously, people that have experienced such things like we have already know.

...

“The rage the berserker experienced was referred to as berserkergang ("going berserk"). This condition has been described as follows:

This fury, which was called berserkergang, occurred not only in the heat of battle, but also during laborious work. Men who were thus seized performed things which otherwise seemed impossible for human power. This condition is said to have begun with shivering, chattering of the teeth, and chill in the body, and then the face swelled and changed its colour. With this was connected a great hot-headedness, which at last gave over into a great rage, under which they howled as wild animals, bit the edge of their shields, and cut down everything they met without discriminating between friend or foe. When this condition ceased, a great dulling of the mind and feebleness followed, which could last for one or several days.[25]”


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## doublejj (Jul 8, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Last thing I’ll post on it. It’s more or less for anyone not initiated to what it’s like to read and understand. Obviously, people that have experienced such things like we have already know.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


My Lai....


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 8, 2018)

doublejj said:


> My Lai....


Holy shit, dude. Thank you for your service. Like, from the bottom of my heart.


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## doublejj (Jul 8, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Holy shit, dude. Thank you for your service. Like, from the bottom of my heart.


My Lai was not a lone incident. It only became news a year later because someone complained enough......it happened more than I care to admit...


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 8, 2018)

doublejj said:


> My Lai was not a lone incident. It only became news a year later because someone complained enough......it happened more than I care to admit...


We had no oversight in the Tangi. They couldn’t even get supplies into us. I feel guilty about quite a few things that we did. It wasn’t to the degree of My Lai, but some of it was to that effect.


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## doublejj (Jul 8, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> We had no oversight in the Tangi. They couldn’t even get supplies into us. I feel guilty about quite a few things that we did. It wasn’t to the degree of My Lai, but some of it was to that effect.


It was all about the body count in vietnam.....nobody asked questions


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 8, 2018)

I don’t think there’s any avoiding the loss of humanity that often accompanies war. I think it’s just inherent in the nature of war itself. It should be minimized, of course, but war brings out not only the best, but also, of course, the worst in people. We should be careful not to enter wars so readily.


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## ttystikk (Jul 9, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> View attachment 4160820


Not a stat he was ever proud of.


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## ttystikk (Jul 9, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA
> Friday, July 06, 2018 08:05AM
> MAE SAI, Thailand --
> 
> ...


They got 4 of the kids out today.


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## ttystikk (Jul 9, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I don’t think there’s any avoiding the loss of humanity that often accompanies war. I think it’s just inherent in the nature of war itself. It should be minimized, of course, but war brings out not only the best, but also, of course, the worst in people. We should be careful not to enter wars so readily.


This. It's why I'm so anti-war. Our country does it so casually these days.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 9, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> They got 4 of the kids out today.


and a few more it looks like. Some brave tough kids there too

https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/thai-cave-rescue-operation-resumes-thailand-boys-soccer-team-2018-07-08-live-updates/


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## ttystikk (Jul 9, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> and a few more it looks like. Some brave tough kids there too
> 
> https://www.cbsnews.com/live-news/thai-cave-rescue-operation-resumes-thailand-boys-soccer-team-2018-07-08-live-updates/


Let's hope they get everyone out alive and that one diver who lost his life not only didn't lose it in vain but will be the only one.

The parents of those kids have sent letters to the coach telling him they don't blame him for what happened- but if it was me, I'd carry a heavy burden of guilt for the rest of my life knowing someone died to get me and my group out of that jam alive.

That's a feeling I know many war veterans feel about comrades in arms who didn't make it back. Not being a veteran myself, I can only imagine what that's like. I don't imagine it feels very good at all.


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 9, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> Not a stat he was ever proud of.


Probably not the most appropriate joke, no.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 9, 2018)

and another 4 

_Four more members of the youth soccer team trapped in a flooded Thailand cave have been rescued, Thai Navy SEALs confirmed on Monday.
Now, eight of the 12 boys have been removed from the cave after over two weeks. Four remain trapped, along with their coach.
_
https://people.com/human-interest/thailand-cave-4-more-boys-rescued/


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## too larry (Jul 9, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> and another 4
> 
> _Four more members of the youth soccer team trapped in a flooded Thailand cave have been rescued, Thai Navy SEALs confirmed on Monday.
> Now, eight of the 12 boys have been removed from the cave after over two weeks. Four remain trapped, along with their coach.
> ...


My wife has been glued to the TV following this story. She clicks from channel to channel, and the story is not the same on any two of them.

Driving home Friday night I had heard {on the BBC} the rescue had started. I guess she knew, but I found out there is no late night news on TV anymore. They still call them 24 hour news channels, but they are not.


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## ttystikk (Jul 9, 2018)

too larry said:


> My wife has been glued to the TV following this story. She clicks from channel to channel, and the story is not the same on any two of them.
> 
> Driving home Friday night I had heard {on the BBC} the rescue had started. I guess she knew, but I found out there is no late night news on TV anymore. They still call them 24 hour news channels, but they are not.


They saved money by firing most of their journalists.

And yet they still call it news...


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## too larry (Jul 9, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> They saved money by firing most of their journalists.
> 
> And yet they still call it news...


I was commenting on the quantity, not the quality. {I would never watch any of them. When I feel the need for news, The News Hour works for me} They show repeats on Fox News after midnight I guess, and there was some sort of crime show on CNN. I forget what CNBC were doing, but it wasn't news.


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## ttystikk (Jul 9, 2018)

too larry said:


> I was commenting on the quantity, not the quality. {I would never watch any of them. When I feel the need for news, The News Hour works for me} They show repeats on Fox News after midnight I guess, and there was some sort of crime show on CNN. I forget what CNBC were doing, but it wasn't news.


Neither quantity or quality are priorities anymore.

Makes you wonder what they're for?


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 11, 2018)

His name was Saman Gunan (Guana/Kunan). He has just died taking oxygen to the Thai youngsters trapped in a cave. He didn’t save enough oxygen for himself for the way back. His bravery & innate selflessness represented humanity at its best. Rest in peace Saman.


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## wascaptain (Jul 11, 2018)

went hiking this weekend and was checking out some monuments, i noticed the date this peace monument was erected.... 

same time i was activated for the first gulf war...go figure


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## ttystikk (Jul 11, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> View attachment 4163483
> 
> His name was Saman Gunan (Guana/Kunan). He has just died taking oxygen to the Thai youngsters trapped in a cave. He didn’t save enough oxygen for himself for the way back. His bravery & innate selflessness represented humanity at its best. Rest in peace Saman.


All the kids, the coach and all other support personnel made it out alive and are doing fine.

That's an amazing accomplishment!

The episode had even had a unifying influence on Thai politics, which has been pretty badly fractured of late.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 11, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> All the kids, the coach and all other support personnel made it out alive and are doing fine.
> 
> That's an amazing accomplishment!
> 
> The episode had even had a unifying influence on Thai politics, which has been pretty badly fractured of late.


I'm glad all made it out ok, such a shame about the Seal though but my question is WTF were they thinking going 2.5 miles into a cave in the first place (and with monsoon season looming)?


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## ttystikk (Jul 11, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I'm glad all made it out ok, such a shame about the Seal though but my question is WTF were they thinking going 2.5 miles into a cave in the first place (and with monsoon season looming)?


You got me, brother. Not my idea of a good time.

I've been in caves, there are several open to tourists here in Colorado. I have no interest in cramming myself into strange crevices in the Earth before I stop breathing for good!


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 11, 2018)

Did you see how tight some of those spaces are? Like, not to be a dick, but I cannot even believe these kids went back there.


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## ttystikk (Jul 11, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Did you see how tight some of those spaces are? Like, not to be a dick, but I cannot even believe these kids went back there.


Oh but it's all part of the experience!

To be fair, the rains hit after they went in. The cave would have been dry.

I enjoy SCUBA diving and I have several certifications. That training gave me some idea of what the cave divers were dealing with and it straight gave me the willies.

Safety first, safety second, safety always.


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 11, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> Oh but it's all part of the experience!
> 
> To be fair, the rains hit after they went in. The cave would have been dry.
> 
> ...


I’d love to visit Thailand. I got frostbite in an Afghan cave one time. That was probably the last time I was in a cave.


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## ttystikk (Jul 11, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I’d love to visit Thailand. I got frostbite in an Afghan cave one time. That was probably the last time I was in a cave.


The last time I was in Thailand I was a child but I still remember the food, the climate, the beaches and the friendly people.

A return visit is definitely on my bucket list!


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## doublejj (Jul 11, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I’d love to visit Thailand. I got frostbite in an Afghan cave one time. That was probably the last time I was in a cave.


Tunnel rats in Vietnam had balls for days......


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## Olive Drab Green (Jul 11, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Tunnel rats in Vietnam had balls for days......


Oh, no comparison. Afghanistan has some complex cave networks, but Vietnam’s tunnel issue was something else. Nowhere to go, nothing to protect you from a tripwire you can’t see coming. Plus, fuck claustrophobic shit. And they extended all through Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand.


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## curious2garden (Jul 11, 2018)

wascaptain said:


> went hiking this weekend and was checking out some monuments, i noticed the date this peace monument was erected....
> 
> same time i was activated for the first gulf war...go figure
> 
> View attachment 4163629


Close to the time they cut hub's deployment order.


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## wascaptain (Jul 17, 2018)

my next fitness challenge is a 911 stair climb in September. .

got allowed to use my old deptartments training center for my workouts. 

went yesterday for the first time since i retired in 2005, was i stoked!

my old friends were still there waiting.....rescue randy and plug.


what i would give to still be in the fight


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## doublejj (Jul 19, 2018)

"GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!"......Adrian Cronauer dead at 79.
https://www.stripes.com/news/good-morning-vietnam-dj-and-air-force-veteran-adrian-cronauer-dies-at-79-1.538398


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## curious2garden (Jul 19, 2018)

doublejj said:


> "GOOD MORNING VIETNAM!"......Adrian Cronauer dead at 79.
> https://www.stripes.com/news/good-morning-vietnam-dj-and-air-force-veteran-adrian-cronauer-dies-at-79-1.538398


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## BarnBuster (Jul 28, 2018)

​https://sofrep.com/106464/remains-of-55-us-service-members-returned-from-north-korea/


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## too larry (Jul 28, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> ​https://sofrep.com/106464/remains-of-55-us-service-members-returned-from-north-korea/


They might not all be US. This was a United Nations conflict, so it's possible the remains are several nationalities.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 28, 2018)

too larry said:


> They might not all be US. This was a United Nations conflict, so it's possible the remains are several nationalities.


Yes, hopefully there will be some additional materials in with the remains ie:id/tags. If JPAC is able to ID just one soldier and send him home, it's a win.


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## too larry (Jul 28, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Yes, hopefully there will be some additional materials in with the remains ie:id/tags. If JPAC is able to ID just one soldier and send him home, it's a win.


Very true. I assume the majority of them are going to be legit. I had heard a story on NPR that in the past, all of the remains were not American.


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## ttystikk (Jul 28, 2018)

too larry said:


> Very true. I assume the majority of them are going to be legit. I had heard a story on NPR that in the past, all of the remains were not American.


...or even human. I listened to that same article.

Let's hope there are at least a few families who will find peace and closure with this exchange.


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## too larry (Jul 28, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> ...or even human. I listened to that same article.. . . . . . . .


Yea, I didn't mention the animal bones.


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## haight (Jul 28, 2018)

wascaptain said:


> my next fitness challenge is a 911 stair climb in September. .
> 
> got allowed to use my old deptartments training center for my workouts.
> 
> ...


You must mean young enough.


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## doublejj (Jul 31, 2018)

@Padawanbater2 .....because u asked.....

The Western AO was a few square miles of rice paddies and woods on the west side of a canal that separated it from the 9th Infantry base at Dong Tam on the Mekong River in IV Corps South Vietnam . The canal was dug by the French and ran due north from the Song My Tho. It was an area that the VC used to shell us. They would set up a mortar tube, drop in three rounds as fast as they could, then take their tube and run like hell. There was a platoon of GI's out there all the time on guard duty. Keeping it clear was a 24 hour job. But because of the farming and the civilian population it wasn't considered to be the most dangerous place to be, or the most unpleasant. It could have been a picture post card if it wasn't for the war. Guard duty there was considered a lucky break from what we usually did.
The west side of the canal was lined with hoochs (houses) of the farmers and fishermen that used the Western AO and the surrounding waterways to make a living. Just beyond the stand of shade trees that sheltered the hoochs, it opened up onto rice paddies, dotted here and there with more trees and more hoochs.
On the East side of the canal was the Dong Tam airport, separated from the water by a 15 foot tall berm to stop direct small arms fire. At intervals along the berm were bunkers with 50 Cal. machine guns and the usual barbed wire and Claymores. But with the water as a natural barrier, the likelihood of a ground attack coming from the west was not great. What did come from the west were mortars and rockets.
The canal was about 50 ft. wide and was only about 6 or 8 feet deep. To get to the other side we had to use boats because the closest bridge was too far north to be practical to use. Sometimes the Navy would give us a Tango that would take the whole platoon across at once, but most of the time the army would supply us with a PAB (plastic assault boat) with a driver that would shuttle us to the other side in groups of 4 or 5. The PAB was a 15 ft. Boston Whaler fishing boat with a big tiller steered outboard motor. Four or five fully loaded troops was maximum load even at slow speed. It took longer to load and unload than it did to get across but the whole operation was done at a leisurely pace that made it seem more like a fishing trip than going to war. Sometimes the guys that we were replacing would be there to greet us and to take advantage of the boat ride home.
When we all got to the other side we would move to a position somewhere less than a klick from the canal and we would set up camp for the day. Then the locals would flock around us with all kinds of stuff for sale. You could get anything; jewelry, switch blades, fresh pineapples, stuff made out of empty shell casings, a bottle of Coke or beer. A cold "33" (ba-moo-ee-ba) was worth whatever they asked for it on a hot day. The local whore house was represented also. It seemed like a picnic sometimes. There was no reason for keeping a low profile. We wanted the VC to know that we were there. With all the fire power that we had available just over the tree line in Dong Tam, we felt safe enough.
As the sun went down the locals would "di di" on home before curfew. When it was dark, we would get up and move to a new location for the night just in case they had our day position targeted for a mortar round or something. The next morning the locals would find us again.
One day two kids came to the LT with a story about some VC tax collectors in a village not far from where we were. After some radio conversation with the company commander, the decision was made to go get them. The whole platoon went. We took the kids with to show us the way. We didn't trust them.
On the way there, we stopped, made a U-turn and went back the way we had just come, in a big hurry. I never found out why. Walking any trail more than once was a bad idea and it made us uneasy. Sometimes people make the wrong decisions. We were about to find that out.
I was the eighth guy in line behind a new guy, the RTO, the squad leader, a rifleman, the machine gunner, the M79 man, and the point man. We walked 20 meters apart. The two kids were with the point. The path that we traveled was on a rice paddy dike that ran about 75 feet away from the edge of a heavily wooded area. There was a canal that was sparsely lined on one side with trees and bushes that ran from, and perpendicular to the wood line, that we had to get across. Opposite the wood line and behind us was open rice paddy for about a half mile or so. The other side of the canal was open land too. If anything was going to happen, logic said that it would come from the wood line. But logic was the tool of the VC.
The lead men bunched up getting across the canal. There was a log to walk across if you could balance and you weren't too heavy. Otherwise you had to jump across and the guy ahead would catch you. Five guys were across the canal when the sixth guy, the RTO, stopped and turned around. He picked up his handset and lifted it to his ear when an explosion went off behind him. The blast, that came from the bottom of the canal, caught him at belt level and turned the upper half of his body and all his equipment into flying debris. The lower half just fell over. Three of the guys on the other side of the canal were wounded too and all five, and the two kids that led us into this mess, were cut off from the rest of us. The most badly wounded guy was in need of fast medical attention. The guy between the explosion and me was frozen and just stood there. The rest dropped down behind the dike and poured fire into the wood line.
I yelled at the new guy to get down but I ended up having to push him down behind the dike. There was part of a rib cage and some parts of the dead man's equipment where we landed and the new guy was freaked! I was freaked! I convinced him that to shoot into the wood line was prudent and we focused on the job. Over the sounds of battle I could hear calls for help from the guys on the other side of what was now a big muddy hole in the ground. We had to get the wounded over with us to get them dusted off and they needed help now. I crawled over to them and we all crawled back, dragging the wounded with us. The shooting stopped shortly after that.
One of the wounded was a Hawaiian guy. He had a sucking chest wound that i patched using the plastic bag that the bandage came in to seal off the air so he could breath. The bandage held the plastic bag in place. He was scared and asked me to stay with him until the dust-off got there. He was my friend and he didn't have to ask. I did what I hoped he would have done for me. I kept the sun out of his face and washed the mud off him. Because of his wounds he couldn't have any water to drink and I had to keep telling him that. The other two wounded were covered with small holes from the shrapnel. One was more serious than the other but they were both able to walk and sit up and all of their parts were there.
End of part 1.....


----------



## doublejj (Jul 31, 2018)

Part 2....

When we heard the thap thap thap of the Huey, we popped smoke and directed him to land as close to the wounded as he could. We sheltered the guys from the rotor down wash. The Huey driver put it down quickly with the open doorway toward us, just 40 ft away.
Just as the skids touched the ground, a B40 rocket (RPG)came out of the wood line and took off part of one of the rotor blades, throwing the Huey into a wild off balance gyration. There was the danger of being hit by the remaining blade as it took divots in the ground around the chopper, the renewed threat from the VC, and now there were more wounded. The soldier next to me got a piece of shrapnel through his knee cap and one of the door gunners from the chopper was hit too.
The down wash from the dust-off had also blown away the plastic bag from the sucking chest wound and he couldn't breath. I needed to find something to seal the hole quick! I used my thumb while we desperately searched for anything plastic. Someone close by had his tooth brush in a plastic bag and he passed it over. It worked but now his breathing was more labored. He was in more distress than before. He had to get out now!
The fire into the wood line slowed, then stopped. There was no return fire. Victor Charlie was gone. He had done his damage. We never saw the enemy but the results of his work was all over that rice paddy. We had been set-up. We walked right into it. They were smarter than us this time.
The second dust-off landed without incident and took the wounded out. I never saw my Hawaiian buddy after that. I hope he's well. Soon after that a Chinook came in and collected the downed Huey and its crew. We sent the two kids and as much of the dead man as we could find too. The rest of us tried to find out what the hell had happened.
We found that the VC had recovered an unexploded 155 mm round from our own artillery and planted it there the night before. It was dug into the side of the canal and we all walked right over it the first time we walked that way. It was detonated remotely by wires that ran down the canal AWAY from the wood line! When we returned fire the first time, we were shooting in the wrong direction. The guy with the B40 rocket didn't move into position until after we stopped shooting into the wood line. As far as we could tell, it only took two VC to do all this damage, and they got away without a scratch.
The VC would always mark their booby traps in some way. Sometimes it would just be a broken branch or piece of cloth stuck to a tree, but sometimes they put up a sign that said "Tui Dai" (too-e die) or "death zone." The sign that we found was on the other side of the canal. It was a piece of wood on the ground about 1" by 2" with letters painted in a color that matched the dirt. The whole platoon had walked right by it and never saw it. The theory is that our RTO might have seen the sign or something and was calling on the radio to pass the word when they blew it on him. RTO's were a preferred target.
The kids that led us into the trap were turned over to the ARVNs. They were brutal with their prisoners. None of us objected. They knew that someone was going to die when they started this. They weren't kids anymore and we all wanted them to burn in hell.
Later that day we got news that one of the wounded guys that we sent back died of his wounds. He was one of the original walking wounded. None of us expected him do die. The medics at he EVAC said he was sitting up smoking a cigarette and he just fell over dead. Some of the scrap metal inside him must have shifted or something. That brought the totals to two KIA, and four WIA for them and zero for us.
After it was all over we moved to a new day position and the locals found us again. A cold beer was just what I needed. These Vietnamese couldn't have anything to do with what happened. They wanted us there to buy their stuff. These were good Vietnamese, right? Anyway, I needed that beer!
That night on resupply we got a brand new PRC-25 radio, and a new RTO...... Another day in the Nam.


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## doublejj (Jul 31, 2018)

9th Infantry Reverines....

The Navy provided the waterborne transportation and close support for the 2nd Brigade of the 9th Infantry. The parameters of our operations were dictated by the decidedly wet terrain. The wet version of the Army's APC (Armored Personnel Carrier) or "track" was the Navy's ATC (Armored Troop Carrier) or "Tango". Although an APC could travel in water like a boat, an ATC _was_ a boat, so it was much better suited for the job. The brown water Navy's equivalent of the tank was the "Monitor". At 75 tons and 60 feet long, these were big boats for small waterways.
Most of the boats of the MRF were rebuilt from WWII vintage LCM-6 landing craft, and some were purpose-built to fit the need for armored vessels for close combat in restricted waterways. The swift boat hulls were taken directly from the civilian market and fitted with gun mounts. The French had tried using boats when they fought their war with the Vietnamese. Our boats improved on their concept.
Speed was secondary to armor and firepower on the troop carriers. Surviving the first 10 seconds of an attack, or even the first shot, could determine the fate of the boat and all those aboard. The steel hull stopped small arms fire and bar armor stopped RPG rounds (sometimes). They needed a .50 cal gun to shoot through the boats and that was a difficult weapon for the VC to move around in the delta. We returned sniper fire and B40 rockets with 105, 40, and 20 mm cannon rounds, .50 caliber and 7.62 mm machine gun fire, 81 mm mortars, M79 grenades and flame throwers. Add to that all the infantry's weapons. It made the VC think twice before firing the first shot. But they did. I was always astounded by the balls that it took to do that.
The Monitors or "Mike boats" had the heaviest firepower. These were built from the same landing craft hull as all the boats but they were fitted with a conventional bow. They were equipped with turrets on their bows that housed a variety of guns, from twin 40mm Bofors guns to a 105mm howitzer. The rear of the boats had two turrets with .50 cal. machine guns and one with a 20mm gun. A recessed deck in the middle of the boat held the pedistal mounted Naval version of the 81mm mortar that was used mainly for close indirect fire, but was also capable of direct fire. A .50 cal machine gun was mounted to the top of it. Variations in armorment were common. I remember seeing a Monitor with a belt-fed fully automatic 40mm grenade launcher and I heard about one with a minigun like the helicopter gun ships used. Another version of the Monitor was the CCB (Command Control Boat) with radios instead of guns in the well deck. The crews also carried M79 grenade launchers and M72 LAWs. Monitors provided the firepower to fight our way out if need be.
If you took the gun out of the forward turret of a Monitor and replaced it with a flame thrower, you got a Zippo boat. There couldn't have been a better name. Some Zippos had two turrets on the bow so they could light up both sides at the same time. The center well deck held the fuel tank for the flame throwers. When it was full the boat rode low in the water. After a 10 or 15 second run at a target with both nozzles spraying flames, the boat would ride a few inches higher. I witnessed this once from the next boat in line behind a Zippo. It was a truely awesome experience. It left both banks of a 75' wide canal on fire back about 100 ft, for the length of a city block. It was a truely awesome and effective machine.
Most of my time was spent on Tango boats. These were the boats with the ramp in front that you've seen hitting the beaches in most of the WWII movies, with a little added armor. They were our trucks. They could be beached in the narrowest canal to drop the ramp and let us out. They were covered with bar armor and had turrets with machine guns like the Monitors. The well deck was covered with a canvas roof. Later versions were equipped with flight decks that could handle helicopters as big as a Huey. The well deck slanted down from the ramp in front to a little past midships and had bars welded at intervals accross it for footing purposes. We rode sitting with our backs to the sides on long rides or stood with weapons aimed to the sides and front when there was danger. With all guns (Army & Navy) firing we were a force to be reckoned with. When we got out in the big rivers where we were safer from small arms fire, we could climb out and sit on the gunwales or flight deck to dry out our feet, or just escape the heat below.
Sometimes the lead element of a column of boats was a PBR (Patrol Boat Riverine). These were the kind of boats that Martin Sheen rode up the river in "Appocalypse Now". There was no armor to speak of. Their defense was speed. They could duck in and out of trouble faster than the other boats and do it in shallower water. They could make strafing runs at targets and then turn around and do it again, all at high speed. They were not usually used in the narrowest canals with the Tangos where their speed could not be utilized. Armored vessels did that. They were often used to patrol the traffic on the main rivers and canals.
The ASPBs filled the space between the PBRs and the Monitors. The Alpha boats were armored, and had a 20 mm gun turret mounted high up on top where it could give 360 deg. coverage. They were used as patrol boats, minesweepers, and sometimes used to insert SEAL teams. They normally lead the boats in small waterways, and they would go ahead and prep the area sometimes, but from where I was, I rarely saw them in action.

I feel that it's important to mention the the Army had its own boats too. 16' Boston Whaler fiberglass tri-hulls with big outboard motors. Their designation was PAB for "Plastic Assault Boat". That name has always seemed like a joke that someone in an office in the Pentagon got a big kick out of. I imagine some little kid asking "what did you do in the war daddy?" "Well son, I drove a plastic assault boat." "Did it come with GI Joe actions figures Daddy?" The truth is we didn't use them to assault anything. Their main job was as a water taxi between the ships and shore, but they were also sent out at night with a driver, a rifleman with and M16 and a sniper using an M14 with a Starlight scope. They would shut the motor off and drift with the current and look for targets along the banks. They had to be very quite and be ready to start the motor for a quick exit. Holes in the boat were easy to patch because they were fiberglass, and there were more than a few patches.
Continued.....


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## doublejj (Jul 31, 2018)

A typical operation started with a formation of the Army troops on the pontoon tied to one of the ships that were the base to the MRF. There were two companies on each ship. We were checked by our squad leaders to make sure we had everything we were assigned and we were issued whatever equipment was specific to the operation. Weapons were given extra attention to make sure that they were ready for the task at hand. We weren't always told where we were going or anything else about the operation. It was just "going out." The information did get to us through the grapevine eventually. Some places were worse than others. I hated the area just northeast of Ben Tre. Quite often, the area of operation was all that was known and the details were worked out as the mission progressed.
The Riverine craft were normally tied up 4 or 5 deep to the side of the pontoon. To load the Tangos directly from the pontoon, all the boats were cleared away. Three boats could be loaded at a time. With all the stuff we carried, if you fell overboard you'd go down like a rock. So there were people stationed on the pontoon to hang onto us and pass us off to someone on the boat. Entering the well deck via the space between the closed ramp and the front of the roof structure, 35 - 40 fully load troops could be loaded in about 5 minutes. An infantry company could fit in four Tangos. As the loaded boats left the pontoon, they would form up with the rest of the boats into a single line that was typical for riverine operations.
The journey from the big river, would lead us to progressively smaller waterways where the alertness level increased according to the width of the passage. The Navy manned their guns and we kept our heads down. If anything did happen, there were three ways of dealing with it; (1)Shoot back and keep going, (2)Shoot back until the incoming fire stopped, or (3)Shoot back and unload the troops to go after them. More often than not it would be choice #3. Some operations were planned expressly for choice #3. We would slowly cruise the backwaters shooting at bunkers and stuff along the banks and when they shot back, we got out and chased them.
In an ambush the VC/NVA would fire from as close as 20 ft. if the waterway was narrow. It's hard to miss with an RPG at that range. They would shoot one shot and then run like hell! The first shot of an ambush usually hits what it's aimed at. We would shoot back, and call in ARTY and air strikes or maybe even get out and chase them, but a one-shot ambush would rarely yield an enemy body count. Done as a target of opportunity, as harrassment, as a delaying tactic, or just for fun, it kept our heads down and the pucker factor up.
When we stepped off a Tango's ramp we could be stepping into waist deep mud and thick vegetation or onto dry land. Or we might step right into the middle of a fire fight. When the ramp dropped it left the well deck without frontal armor. Sometimes the VC/NVA took advantage of that time when we were most vulnerable, bunched together in a confined area, by waiting to fire a B-40 rocket or small arms fire into the open bow. There was nowhere to hide if that happened. Small arms fire would bounce off the bulkheads inside untill it hit someone. A B-40 rocket only took a second to fire and its results were devastating. The Navy would prep the landing point with MG and canon fire if there was a threat. But it still happened often enough to make that moment when the ramp started to fall increase the pucker factor by 6 untill it was down, and we were out!
The battalion commander observed the operations from a helicopter. He and his radio operator flew in a LOH overhead directing traffic. If contact was made he could direct our movement, arrange fire support, and coordinate operations with the Navy. When the situation allowed, they would set down at the closest fire support barge or on a Tango boat with a flight deck near the CCB, and follow the operation by radio. If anything happened they could be airborne in minutes.
If the operation was based on good intelligence and we knew what we were looking for, we would be dropped off and the boats would move to a spot where they could provide the best fire support for us, or to our pick-up point. If the mission was expected to last a few days and we were within the range of our own fire support, the boats would go back to the big river and hold position, or go back to base. Sometimes one group of boats would drop us off and then head back to base while another group of boats would form a blocking force, and wait for us to drive the VC/NVA to them. Sometimes we would be dropped into an area by chopper, and then be picked up by boat. No two operations were the same but it was a rare occasion to be without the Navy.
I spent 13 months in the Army in the Mekong delta of Vietnam. We fought the war differently than the guys up north did. When I think back on the war, I always think about the boats.


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## wascaptain (Aug 1, 2018)

much respect doublejj.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 1, 2018)

*




*

*Today in Military History*​
_"The battle over Ploesti's skies on August 1, 1943, lasted 27 minutes from the time the first bomb was dropped until the last one fell and the surviving planes turned south to head home. Of the 177 Liberators assigned to the mission, 54 had been lost by day's end. Only 93 returned to base, and 60 of those were so badly damaged they never flew again. Of the others, 19 landed at Allied airfields such as Cyprus, 7 in Turkey, and 3, including Hadley's Harem, crashed into the sea. The remainder crashed in and around Ploesti.

One of the bombardment group commanders described the mission as the "worst catastrophe in the history of the Army Air Corps." A 1999 research report prepared for the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama concluded that the mission to Ploesti was "one of the bloodiest and most heroic missions of all time." One of the crewmen who was shot down referred to it as "the greatest ground-air battle ever fought."

The casualties were staggering. Of the 1,726 airmen on the mission, 532 were killed, captured, interned, or listed as missing in action. In addition, 440 of those who returned to Benghazi were wounded, some so severely they never returned to active service.

Five Medals of Honor were awarded to the Ploesti airmen, more than for any other mission; three of the medals were given posthumously.

All told, 56 men were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, dozens the Silver Star, and hundreds the Distinguished Flying Cross for their actions. It was the most decorated single air mission of World War II. More decorations and awards for bravery under fire were bestowed on the men who attacked Ploesti than for any other mission in the history of American aerial combat."
_
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tidal_Wave
http://theirfinesthour.blogspot.com/2013/08/tidal-wave-raid-on-ploesti.html
https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/cutting-off-the-nazi-oil-production-x.html
https://media.defense.gov/2016/May/18/2001540805/-1/-1/0/AFD-160518-001-011.PDF


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 1, 2018)




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## 420God (Aug 1, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Aug 1, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> View attachment 4174514


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## ttystikk (Aug 1, 2018)

420God said:


>


Dear God, forgive us.

This is a good motto for every war fought since WWII.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 2, 2018)

By KIM GAMEL | STARS AND STRIPES Published: July 31, 2018

_"SEOUL, South Korea — Remains handed over by North Korea last week are human and likely American, according to an official with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Dr. John Byrd, director of scientific analysis for DPAA, told reporters Wednesday at Osan that the agency has completed a two-day field forensic review and determined that the remains are human and “are likely to be American remains.” He also confirmed a single military dog tag was provided with the remains and that the family of that soldier has been notified. “Keep in mind that it’s not necessarily the case that” the person identified in the dog tag will be among the remains but they’re hopeful, he said. Byrd said they believe they’re American because “there was a lot of military hardware, helmets, canteens ... the same kinds of things that we find when we excavate” such sites in South and North Korea"_


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## too larry (Aug 2, 2018)

^^^^^ I heard that this morning. Good news.


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## haight (Aug 2, 2018)

Mekong Delta, duty station for the brown navy.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 3, 2018)

*U.S. service members march in formation during an honorable carry ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPH-H), Hawaii, Aug. 1, 2018. Carry teams will move 55 flag-draped transfer cases, containing what are believed to be the remains of American personnel lost in the Korean War, to the DPAA laboratory at JBPH-H for identification. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline)*​
Military.com 2 Aug 2018 By Richard Sisk
_
"The remains returned by North Korea are possibly those of Army troops who fell in the brutal 1950 battle at the Chosin Reservoir, Pentagon POW/MIA officials said Thursday. The returned remains are associated with the fight at what was called the "Frozen Chosin" for the sub-zero temperatures in which Marine and Army units fought their way out of encirclement by Chinese forces and were evacuated by sea, said Dr. John Byrd, a forensic anthropologist. Byrd, who went to Wonsan in North Korea last week as part of the team that brought back the remains, said he was told by North Korean officials that the remains were recovered from the village of Sin Hung-ri on the east side of the reservoir. Marines fought on the west side of the reservoir, "and the east side -- that's where the Army was," said Byrd, laboratory director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)."
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************_
*U.S. Army units: Battle of Chosin Reservoir*​





*3rd Infantry Division* - MG Robert Soule
7th Infantry Regiment - COL John S. Guthrie
15th Infantry Regiment - COL Dennis M. Moore
65th Infantry Regiment - COL William W. Harris






*7th Infantry Division* - MG David Goodwin Barr
17th Infantry Regiment - COL Herbert B. Powell
31st Infantry Regiment - COL Allan D. MacLean
32nd Infantry Regiment - COL Charles M. Mount, Jr.
*
Army Honors*​*Lt. Col. Don C. Faith, Jr.*, was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The following soldiers were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, for actions East of the Reservoir:

*Allan D. MacLean Colonel,* Commander RCT-31, posthumously awarded.
*George R. Cody Captain*, HMC 31 Inf., posthumously awarded.
*James H. Godfrey Corporal*, D/32 Inf.
*Harold B. Haugland Sergeant*, D/15 AAA Bn. Haugland is listed as missing in action.
*Charles Garrigus Sergeant*, 1/32 Inf., posthumously awarded.
*Robert E. Jones Major*, S-3 of 1/32 Inf.
*John E. Gray Lieutenant*, M/31 Inf.
*Earle Jordan Captain*, M/31 Inf.
*Robert G. Schmitt Lieutenant*, M/31 Inf.
*Stanford O. Corners Sergeant*, Med/A/57 FAB

https://armyhistory.org/nightmare-at-the-chosin-reservoir/
http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/chosin/
http://www.koreanwar2.org/kwp2/usmckorea/PDF_Monographs/KoreanWar.FrozenChosin.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Aug 4, 2018)

​_"The Coast Guard is one of America's five armed forces and traces its founding to Aug. 4, 1790, when the first Congress authorized the construction of 10 vessels to enforce tariff and trade laws, prevent smuggling, and protect the collection of federal revenue. Responsibilities added over the years included humanitarian duties such as aiding mariners in distress.

The service received its present name in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the U.S. Life-Saving Service to form a single maritime service dedicated to the safety of life at sea and enforcing the nation's maritime laws.

The Coast Guard is a multi-mission, maritime, military service and the smallest of the five Armed Services. Its mission is to protect the public, the environment and U.S. economic interests in the nation's waterways, along the coast, on international waters, or in any maritime region as required to support national security."_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 4, 2018)

*Semper Paratus*


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## doublejj (Aug 4, 2018)

Hell of a Birthday present...
*Coast Guard icebreaker funding reallocated to US-Mexico border wall*
The new icebreaker had been intended to boost the Coast Guard’s fleet, which includes one working heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, and one disabled heavy icebreaker, each of which have exceeded their 30-year service lives. The fleet also operates a medium icebreaker and a research vessel with light ice-breaking capability.
The U.S. icebreaker fleet is miniscule in comparison to Russia, which has more than 40 icebreakers, according to the Congressional Research Service. The melting ice has degraded Russia’s natural border defenses, prompting Moscow to respond with more ships and new military facilities in the region.

https://www.stripes.com/news/coast-guard-icebreaker-funding-reallocated-to-us-mexico-border-wall-1.540857
P.S. Happy Birthday Coast Guard


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 4, 2018)

Here's a good read on the Rum runner days for those interested.
The link is from the University of Florida and is about Rum runner James Alderman whom was the only man to be hung by the Coast Guard in an airplane hanger.

http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00101446/00030/24j


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## ttystikk (Aug 4, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Hell of a Birthday present...
> *Coast Guard icebreaker funding reallocated to US-Mexico border wall*
> The new icebreaker had been intended to boost the Coast Guard’s fleet, which includes one working heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, and one disabled heavy icebreaker, each of which have exceeded their 30-year service lives. The fleet also operates a medium icebreaker and a research vessel with light ice-breaking capability.
> The U.S. icebreaker fleet is miniscule in comparison to Russia, which has more than 40 icebreakers, according to the Congressional Research Service. The melting ice has degraded Russia’s natural border defenses, prompting Moscow to respond with more ships and new military facilities in the region.
> ...


Why does America need anywhere near as many icebreakers as Russia?

That said, allocating funds to a wall that sends such an awful message about who we are is heinous enough, even without diverting them from badly needed replacement Coat Guard ships.


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## too larry (Aug 4, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> Why does America need anywhere near as many icebreakers as Russia?
> 
> That said, allocating funds to a wall that sends such an awful message about who we are is heinous enough, even without diverting them from badly needed replacement Coat Guard ships.


As the ice melts, there is going to be much more shipping. Folks are going to push the limits, and ships will get stuck in the ice. The more that melts, the more ice breakers we will need. Those waters are going to see lots of shipping in the next 25 years.


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## ttystikk (Aug 5, 2018)

too larry said:


> As the ice melts, there is going to be much more shipping. Folks are going to push the limits, and ships will get stuck in the ice. The more that melts, the more ice breakers we will need. Those waters are going to see lots of shipping in the next 25 years.


They aren't American waters for most of the trip and they aren't American ships. For some reason these facts have been lost in the discussion.

I agree that we need more than a couple of dilapidated old ships- but the notion that we need parity with Russia strains credulity.

Just for starters, why would we need so many?


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## doublejj (Aug 5, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> They aren't American waters for most of the trip and they aren't American ships. For some reason these facts have been lost in the discussion.
> 
> I agree that we need more than a couple of dilapidated old ships- but the notion that we need parity with Russia strains credulity.
> 
> Just for starters, why would we need so many?


To stay operationally ready, we have the largest navy in the world it would be nice to be able to sail into frozen waters. american needs maritime shipping.


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## ttystikk (Aug 5, 2018)

doublejj said:


> To stay operationally ready, we have the largest navy in the world it would be nice to be able to sail into frozen waters. american needs maritime shipping.


So we need icebreakers for Navy ships?

They're sitting ducks behind a breaker; they can't maneuver.

There's nothing a Navy vessel can do that can't already be done with other assets, like aircraft, already stationed in the area.

It's not the straits of Hormuz; it's Canada, not a hostile power.


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## doublejj (Aug 5, 2018)

ttystikk said:


> So we need icebreakers for Navy ships?
> 
> They're sitting ducks behind a breaker; they can't maneuver.
> 
> ...


Yes we need icebreakers.....maybe u never heard of Alaska?...


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## curious2garden (Aug 5, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Yes we need icebreakers.....maybe u never heard of Alaska?...


..... and Russia, definitely Russia, of course there's always the Falklands.


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## cannabineer (Aug 5, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Hell of a Birthday present...
> *Coast Guard icebreaker funding reallocated to US-Mexico border wall*
> The new icebreaker had been intended to boost the Coast Guard’s fleet, which includes one working heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, and one disabled heavy icebreaker, each of which have exceeded their 30-year service lives. The fleet also operates a medium icebreaker and a research vessel with light ice-breaking capability.
> The U.S. icebreaker fleet is miniscule in comparison to Russia, which has more than 40 icebreakers, according to the Congressional Research Service. The melting ice has degraded Russia’s natural border defenses, prompting Moscow to respond with more ships and new military facilities in the region.
> ...


 They should donate the ship to Mexico and rename her the @mr. sunshine. It will be a goodwill ship breaking the ice internationally.


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## curious2garden (Aug 5, 2018)

cannabineer said:


> They should donate the ship to Mexico and rename her the @mr. sunshine. It will be a goodwill ship breaking the ice internationally.


USS Shopping Cart


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## doublejj (Aug 5, 2018)

cannabineer said:


> They should donate the ship to Mexico and rename her the @mr. sunshine. It will be a goodwill ship breaking the ice internationally.


Maybe sell icees at the border...


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## Olive Drab Green (Aug 5, 2018)

doublejj said:


> A typical operation started with a formation of the Army troops on the pontoon tied to one of the ships that were the base to the MRF. There were two companies on each ship. We were checked by our squad leaders to make sure we had everything we were assigned and we were issued whatever equipment was specific to the operation. Weapons were given extra attention to make sure that they were ready for the task at hand. We weren't always told where we were going or anything else about the operation. It was just "going out." The information did get to us through the grapevine eventually. Some places were worse than others. I hated the area just northeast of Ben Tre. Quite often, the area of operation was all that was known and the details were worked out as the mission progressed.
> The Riverine craft were normally tied up 4 or 5 deep to the side of the pontoon. To load the Tangos directly from the pontoon, all the boats were cleared away. Three boats could be loaded at a time. With all the stuff we carried, if you fell overboard you'd go down like a rock. So there were people stationed on the pontoon to hang onto us and pass us off to someone on the boat. Entering the well deck via the space between the closed ramp and the front of the roof structure, 35 - 40 fully load troops could be loaded in about 5 minutes. An infantry company could fit in four Tangos. As the loaded boats left the pontoon, they would form up with the rest of the boats into a single line that was typical for riverine operations.
> The journey from the big river, would lead us to progressively smaller waterways where the alertness level increased according to the width of the passage. The Navy manned their guns and we kept our heads down. If anything did happen, there were three ways of dealing with it; (1)Shoot back and keep going, (2)Shoot back until the incoming fire stopped, or (3)Shoot back and unload the troops to go after them. More often than not it would be choice #3. Some operations were planned expressly for choice #3. We would slowly cruise the backwaters shooting at bunkers and stuff along the banks and when they shot back, we got out and chased them.
> In an ambush the VC/NVA would fire from as close as 20 ft. if the waterway was narrow. It's hard to miss with an RPG at that range. They would shoot one shot and then run like hell! The first shot of an ambush usually hits what it's aimed at. We would shoot back, and call in ARTY and air strikes or maybe even get out and chase them, but a one-shot ambush would rarely yield an enemy body count. Done as a target of opportunity, as harrassment, as a delaying tactic, or just for fun, it kept our heads down and the pucker factor up.
> ...


Thank you so much for sharing, brother. School’s had me extremely distracted, but I was hoping you might share. I want you to know, I am humbled and appreciate you so much. I can’t understand the personal feelings these moments had for you, and the weight they cause you to bear, for you personally, and for your comrades. To commiserate, not to compare, but your experiences echo quite a few qualities and happenings in my experience in Afghanistan. The mortarmen and searching for a PoO site you never found. Bodies being evacuated quickly by the enemy. Vehicle organization as it might apply to land vehicles. A green LT set us up in a staggered column formation in a wide open field similar to your case, which led to us getting ambushed. Shit like that. And I want you to know, I can’t get it from your perspective, but I understand every word you wrote, down to how it feels. You’re definitely not alone if you need someone to bullshit with. Love you, bro. Thanks for your service, truly. I’ve mentioned this before, but my Pap was a GM1 in the Brown Water Navy, serving three tours in ‘Nam. He killed himself when I was maybe 2. I wish I had known him more than I did, and I wonder what he’d think of me. I hope you’re alright.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 7, 2018)

Never mind that it could one day, no shit, save their life, smh;

_Six Marine lieutenants face separation after allegedly cheating on land navigation course_
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/08/07/six-lieutenants-getting-booted-from-the-corps-after-allegedly-cheating-on-land-navigation-course/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MAR AB TEST 0807&utm_content=A&utm_term=Editorial - Marine Corps - Daily News Roundup


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## doublejj (Aug 7, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Never mind that it could one day, no shit, save their life, smh;
> 
> _Six Marine lieutenants face separation after allegedly cheating on land navigation course_
> https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/08/07/six-lieutenants-getting-booted-from-the-corps-after-allegedly-cheating-on-land-navigation-course/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MAR AB TEST 0807&utm_content=A&utm_term=Editorial - Marine Corps - Daily News Roundup


Until you've been lost in the jungle at night with a green lieutenant, you don't know what fear is....


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## ttystikk (Aug 7, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Until you've been lost in the jungle at night with a green lieutenant, you don't know what fear is....


The smart ones learned to listen to their NCOs in a hurry.

The stupid ones died quickly and few looked too hard at which side did it.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 8, 2018)




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## wascaptain (Aug 19, 2018)

just a inspiring pic to me.


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## Montuno (Aug 19, 2018)

Excuse my intromisión here, please... Can real war action vídeos be posted here?
Not my vídeos, btw.


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## Montuno (Aug 19, 2018)




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## doublejj (Aug 19, 2018)

Harlem Hellfighters.....


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## doublejj (Aug 20, 2018)

One Round Short.....
Early one morning after spending all night out on a night ambush & just before we collected up our claymores and trip flares we heard the "Thump Thump Thump" of mortars being fired. Obviously we had been discovered overnight and the VC were attempting to mortar our position. The first round hit about 30 meters out, the second 20 and the third at 10 meters, all in a direct line to our position. If they had fired 1 more round they would have had us.....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 23, 2018)

*Airman John Chapman's Widow Speaks Out as He's Awarded Posthumous Medal of Honor: 'It's Very Humbling' *



https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/airman-john-chapmans-widow-speaks-out-as-hes-awarded-posthumous-medal-of-honor-its-very-humbling/ar-BBMixEt?OCID=ansmsnnews11


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## BarnBuster (Aug 23, 2018)

*The Citation*​
*Technical Sergeant John A. Chapman distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism as an Air Force Special Tactics Combat Controller, attached to a Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Team conducting reconnaissance operations in Takur Ghar, Afghanistan, on March 4, 2002. During insertion, the team’s helicopter was ambushed causing a teammate to fall into an entrenched group of enemy combatants below. Sergeant Chapman and the team voluntarily reinserted onto the snow-capped mountain, into the heart of a known enemy stronghold to rescue one of their own. Without regard for his own safety, Sergeant Chapman immediately engaged, moving in the direction of the closest enemy position despite coming under heavy fire from multiple directions. He fearlessly charged an enemy bunker, up a steep incline in thigh-deep snow and into hostile fire, directly engaging the enemy. Upon reaching the bunker, Sergeant Chapman assaulted and cleared the position, killing all enemy occupants. With complete disregard for his own life, Sergeant Chapman deliberately moved from cover only 12 meters from the enemy, and exposed himself once again to attack a second bunker, from which an emplaced machine gun was firing on his team. During this assault from an exposed position directly in the line of intense fire, Sergeant Chapman was struck and injured by enemy fire. Despite severe, mortal wounds, he continued to fight relentlessly, sustaining a violent engagement with multiple enemy personnel before making the ultimate sacrifice. By his heroic actions and extraordinary valor, sacrificing his life for the lives of his teammates, Technical Sergeant Chapman upheld the highest traditions of military service and reflected great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.*


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## Montuno (Aug 23, 2018)

*https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_Nayaf_del_4_de_abril_de_2004*






(Btw, I hate Black Waters, n of this kind of "mercenarios" ("soldiers of fortune").


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## Montuno (Aug 23, 2018)

All this happened during a Spanish misión in Afganistan, during the rescue of same USA militares wounded n asedied by the enemy. Enemy shotted down the first Spanish hellicopter, but after a long fight, they rescued their heli n the USA militares:
*
Real imagen:





A cinema movie tráiler (English subtitles)) about it:




*


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## doublejj (Aug 25, 2018)

Rest in Peace John McCain.....America will miss you


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 25, 2018)

Fuck!
Politics aside, he was a true American Hero and Patriot.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 26, 2018)

​


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## curious2garden (Aug 26, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> *The Citation*​
> *......snip.........Despite severe, mortal wounds, he continued to fight relentlessly, ..snip....*


This always amazed me. The ability of the young male body to fight on even though they were technically dead.


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## Singlemalt (Aug 26, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> This always amazed me. The ability of the young male body to fight on even though they were technically dead.


Adrenaline and rage


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 26, 2018)

Singlemalt said:


> Adrenaline and rage


And most importantly loyalty to your brothers.


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## doublejj (Aug 26, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> And most importantly loyalty to your brothers.


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## Montuno (Aug 28, 2018)

This is only a joke by La Legión In Afganistan about their pet (a wild male goat):


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## Montuno (Aug 28, 2018)

But all the next funny vídeos are real. Btw, one of my friends was a cavalier of the goat of La Legión In the Spanish Continental NorthAfrican's provincies: every day he gave to the goat some kiffi (Moroccan marihuana) for dessert cos it was the goat favourite food, je, je...:


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## Big Perm (Aug 28, 2018)

Big Perm was my call sign. Happy to be here.


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## haight (Aug 29, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Thank you so much for sharing, brother. School’s had me extremely distracted, but I was hoping you might share. I want you to know, I am humbled and appreciate you so much. I can’t understand the personal feelings these moments had for you, and the weight they cause you to bear, for you personally, and for your comrades. To commiserate, not to compare, but your experiences echo quite a few qualities and happenings in my experience in Afghanistan. The mortarmen and searching for a PoO site you never found. Bodies being evacuated quickly by the enemy. Vehicle organization as it might apply to land vehicles. A green LT set us up in a staggered column formation in a wide open field similar to your case, which led to us getting ambushed. Shit like that. And I want you to know, I can’t get it from your perspective, but I understand every word you wrote, down to how it feels. You’re definitely not alone if you need someone to bullshit with. Love you, bro. Thanks for your service, truly. I’ve mentioned this before, but my Pap was a GM1 in the Brown Water Navy, serving three tours in ‘Nam. He killed himself when I was maybe 2. I wish I had known him more than I did, and I wonder what he’d think of me. I hope you’re alright.


 Beware the butterbar OIC of his first recon


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## wascaptain (Aug 30, 2018)

or the rookie rescue captain...lol


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## wascaptain (Aug 31, 2018)

did 110 flights of stairs in honor of our 343 fallen firefighters on 911.

on my left is my work out bro, a navy vet.

my friend on my right served under me as a firefighter and still on the job.

it was a honor!


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 31, 2018)

wascaptain said:


> did 110 flights of stairs in honor of our 343 fallen firefighters on 911.
> 
> on my left is my work out bro, a navy vet.
> 
> ...


You guys ran flights of stairs . . . Like . . . Naked?
With a fire ax?


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## curious2garden (Aug 31, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You guys ran flights of stairs . . . Like . . . Naked?
> With a fire ax?


Firefighters, they were a wild and crazy bunch. If you don't bring an axe it ain't a fire j/s


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## curious2garden (Aug 31, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Fuck!
> Politics aside, he was a true American Hero and Patriot.


Politics spoils most things, including countries and the people that reside in them. I'm ready for impartial robot rule.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 31, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Firefighters, they were a wild and crazy bunch. If you don't bring an axe it ain't a fire j/s


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## curious2garden (Sep 1, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


>


Oh my that mustache!


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## BarnBuster (Sep 4, 2018)

_The Army’s Ranger school at Fort Benning, Georgia, holds a graduation every few weeks throughout the year, but Friday’s marked an historic moment: One of the graduates was an enlisted woman, the first enlisted woman to earn the coveted Ranger tab.

Staff Sgt. Amanda Kelley, 29, is the first enlisted woman to earn her Ranger qualification, according to 1st Armored Division spokeswoman Lt. Col. Crystal Boring.

She was one of 127 students to graduate on Friday, according to Fort Benning spokesman Benjamin Garrett, out of 347 hopefuls who began the training in late July.

An enlisted woman earning a Ranger tab marks another milestone in the Army’s integration of women into ground combat units. While an elective qualification, the rigorous two-month program, which focuses on small unit combat skills and tactics, carries an indelible level of respect from soldiers of all ranks and backgrounds ― and is practically expected for officers and NCOs serving in infantry and other ground combat units_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 9, 2018)

_In 2006, Gina Elise founded Pin-Ups for Vets as a way to honor her grandfather's World War II service and raise money for veterans.

She had seen news reports about underfunded veterans' healthcare programs, older veterans who were stuck in bed without visitors and severe injuries sustained by troops fighting in the Middle East, according to her website.

"I just felt so strongly that I wanted to do something to help and improve the lives of our troops and veterans," she said.

A fan of World War II nose art, the decorative painting or design on the fuselage of an aircraft, she took that concept and developed a fundraising pin-up calendar.

Now the nonprofit is releasing its 13th annual calendar for 2019 and it features 19 female veterans. Calendar sales raise money to support VA hospitals, ill and injured veterans, homeless veterans, deployed troops and military spouses.

Pin-Ups for Vets also schedules tours of VA and military hospitals.

The 2019 calendar can be purchased at: www.PinUpsForVets.com._


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## BarnBuster (Sep 9, 2018)

Honor guard soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard," carry a casket bearing the remains of two unknown Civil War Union soldiers during a burial ceremony held at Arlington National Cemetery on Sept. 6, 2018​
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES Published: September 6, 2018

_ARLINGTON, Va. – With a reflective, quiet ceremony Thursday afternoon, Arlington National Cemetery officially completed its first expansion in nearly 40 years – a 27-acre swath that is expected to be filled with military dead and their families by the 2040s._

_Undercurrent of enthusiasm ran through an otherwise serious event. The expansion will keep the cemetery – long viewed as a shrine to America’s fallen heroes – viable for about 10 years longer than expected. Plans for the new space, titled the Millennium Project, have been in the works since Bill Clinton was president in the 1990s._

_“It’s a hugely important project for Arlington National Cemetery,” said David Fedroff, the cemetery’s deputy chief of engineering. “Any time we get to increase our burial capacity and have the opportunity to continue to serve veterans for the future is an extremely proud moment.”_

_About 100 people huddled in the shade of two large tents in the cemetery’s new Section 81 on Thursday._

_The event started with cemetery officials unveiling signs for two new roads – one named for lighthouse keeper Ida Lewis and the other for Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Jonathan W. Gifford._

_Ida Lewis is the first woman to be honored with a street name at Arlington. In the mid-1800s, Lewis rescued people near Lime Rock Island in Rhode Island, where her family tended the Lime Rock Lighthouse. The U.S. Lighthouse Service later was absorbed into the U.S. Coast Guard._

_“In 1854, her first rescue saved the lives of four men. At the time, she was 12 years old,” said Karen Durham-Aguilera, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries. “She conducted many rescues, becoming a living legend, known even in her lifetime as the bravest woman in America.”_

_Two new sections of Arlington National Cemetery will be put into use as the grounds of the cemetery have expanded to provide more than 27,000 new spaces for internments. _

_Gifford, now the first Marine to have a street named after him at Arlington, is buried in Section 60 of the cemetery. He was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2012, when he led a counterattack against a Taliban ambush. Gifford, who died at 34, was awarded the Navy Cross posthumously. __On Thursday, his wife, Lesa, and five sons, Jonathan, Joseph, Patrick, Thomas and William, along with his parents, Diana and Thomas, and brother, Matthew, watched as a cemetery official pulled a black cover from the new street name, Gifford Drive._

_The dedication ceremony ended with the first funeral in the new space. Two Union soldiers from the Civil War, discovered by archaeologists in June, were buried in a corner of Section 81, near the intersection of Gifford Drive and Lewis Drive._

_The soldiers, whose identities are not known, were found alongside amputated limbs in a shallow grave at Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia. Experts with the Smithsonian Institution determined the soldiers fought for the North._

_*Workers with the National Park Service used part of a 90-year-old oak tree from the battlefield, which fell during a windstorm, to create historically accurate coffins for the remains.*_

_Soldiers, eight to a coffin, set them into place Thursday, as a 20-piece military band played “America the Beautiful.”_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 10, 2018)

_In 2015 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) experienced a data breach that exposed the personal data of approximately 4.2 million individuals. Following the breach, OPM and the Defense Department partnered with IDExperts, a private sector firm, to provide services tailored to address potential risks created by this particular incident including personal ID protection services. The personal ID protection is offered at no charge. Unfortunately, many service members and veterans have not taken advantage of this protection and remain exposed to the criminal opportunities associated with ID theft. OPM has an online incident resource center that offers information on how to take advantage of this free ID protection. Visit the OPM Cyber security website to get more information and to enroll._


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## curious2garden (Sep 10, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Honor guard soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard," carry a casket bearing the remains of two unknown Civil War Union soldiers during a burial ceremony held at Arlington National Cemetery on Sept. 6, 2018​
> By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES Published: September 6, 2018
> 
> _ARLINGTON, Va. – With a reflective, quiet ceremony Thursday afternoon, Arlington National Cemetery officially completed its first expansion in nearly 40 years – a 27-acre swath that is expected to be filled with military dead and their families by the 2040s._
> ...


I have a question about The Unknown Soldier. Today we have the DNA data to identify everyone who has fallen, including those who went before us. Should that be done? I've pondered that for awhile and I don't have an answer, just because we can doesn't always mean we should. But if not, why not?


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## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> I have a question about The Unknown Soldier. Today we have the DNA data to identify everyone who has fallen, including those who went before us. Should that be done? I've pondered that for awhile and I don't have an answer, just because we can doesn't always mean we should. But if not, why not?


I saw this quote while I was researching your question (author unk).

_"The anonymity of the entombed soldier is the key symbolism of the monument; it could be the tomb of anyone who fell in service of the nation, and therefore serves as a monument symbolizing all of the sacrifices."_

from Tom Sherlock, Arlington historian:
_
"[Sherlock] said there are still three unknown soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery: One from World War I, one from World War II and one from the Korean War. No efforts are under way to try to identify them, because the further back the soldiers were killed, the more people have to be tested to determine their identities, and finding family related to a soldier killed almost 100 years ago would be very difficult, he said."
_
They were able to identify the Unknown from Vietnam (Air Force Lt. Michael Blassie)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/last-soldier-buried-in-tomb-of-the-unknowns-wasnt-unknown/2012/11/06/5da3e7d6-0bdd-11e2-a310-2363842b7057_story.html?utm_term=.449164d45642

This from DOD 1998 about Blassie's identification
_ 
"Defense Secretary William S. Cohen has approved a study group's recommendation to disinter the Vietnam Unknown from the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington (Va.) National Cemetery, Pentagon officials said May 7. A DoD senior working group concluded new mitochondrial DNA testing may allow scientists to determine the service member's identity. DoD will disinter the remains May 14. Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon said the secretary had to weigh the sanctity of the Tomb of the Unknowns against the DoD policy to provide full accounting of those service members missing in action. "[Cohen] concluded if we can identify [the service member], then we have an obligation to do so," Bacon said."



_


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## wascaptain (Sep 11, 2018)

in honor of our 343 fallen


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## curious2garden (Sep 12, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> I saw this quote while I was researching your question (author unk).
> 
> _"The anonymity of the entombed soldier is the key symbolism of the monument; it could be the tomb of anyone who fell in service of the nation, and therefore serves as a monument symbolizing all of the sacrifices."_
> 
> ...


I understand the symbolism. But since science has changed that I wonder.


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## wascaptain (Sep 18, 2018)

this is the hardest man i know. former infantry marine

... can still bring the fight at nearly 80.......just with a carbine now thou


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## BarnBuster (Sep 18, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2018)

*Army Spc. Alec Alcoser wipes away tears as he is reunited with his dog Alex at Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, in San Antonio, Texas. Alcoser was a military dog handler who suffered a traumatic brain injury and his dog lost a leg after they were hit by the blast of a suicide bomber in Afghanistan Aug. 5. Currently, Alcoser is receiving care at the VA's polytrauma unit, while Alex is rehabilitating at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. (Josie Norris/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)*
​_
Six weeks ago, Army Spc. Alec Alcoser and his working dog, Alex, turned the corner of a narrow street outside Bagram Airfield just after dawn and saw a young Afghan coming toward them._

_Suddenly, they were enveloped by a bright flash. Alex yelped. Alcoser went down. The dusty, smoky air turned yellow and orange and a firefight broke out. The dog stayed at his side._

_"I would yell at him and his ears would twitch, but he wouldn't look at me," said Alcoser, 22, of San Antonio. "I think he was in a state of shock. He didn't growl, he didn't bark, he didn't cry. He stayed right there."_

_On Friday, they were together once more, this time at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System's Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center. It was an emotional reunion, with the Harlandale High School graduate wiping tears from his eyes at one point and Alex licking his face.
_
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/09/17/wounded-soldier-and-his-injured-military-dog-are-together-again-recovering-in-texas/


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## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2018)

Military Times by Tara Copp 2:15 pm September 20, 2018

_"President Donald Trump revealed the names of the first soldiers recovered in the 55 boxes of remains returned from North Korea this summer: Army Master Sgt. Charles H. McDaniel, 32, of Vernon, Indiana, and Army Pfc. William H. Jones, 19, of Nash County, North Carolina.

McDaniel’s family had previously received his dog tag, which was found in the boxes of remains. It was the only dog tag recovered in this set of boxes returned from North Korea._

_Both soldiers died in the November 1950 Battle of Unsan, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency previously said. There are still 1,700 service members missing from that battle.

The remains were discovered in box 14 and box 16 of the 55 boxes and were some of the most complete of the 55 returned, with individual soldiers contained in each box, DPAA officials said.

Both sets of remains are in Hawaii, at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s lab. The families will now be able to request the remains, which will be wrapped in a green Army blanket that is secured with two pins, a tradition that dates back to World War I. They will then be transported to the family for burial.

McDaniel was a medic with the 8th Cavalry Regiment Medical Company, supporting the regiment's 3rd Battalion when he was reported missing in action on November 2, 1950, after his unit fought with Chinese military forces near the village of Unsan in North Korea.

Jones was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, who was reported missing on November 26, 1950, after his unit fought Chinese forces near Pakchon, North Korea"_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 21, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 22, 2018)

_The boys are fifth graders Naylan Tuttle, Jack LeBreck, and Casey Dolan, KHQ reports. The three friends explained why the took so much care in folding the flag. "This is our nation's flag, this is our school's flag, it's how we represent our country," LeBreck said. "If you let it touch the ground then you disrespect our country is what I heard."

The boys had a mentor who taught them about the flag. Mac McCarty, the school's custodian, showed the 5th graders how to properly fold and store it. "Mr. Mac" as the kids call him, told KHQ he is an Air Force veteran and that his father and grandfather were both in the military. He was happy the boys took his lesson to heart.

"They did themselves proud, they did their families proud, they did our school proud and our community and I'm very proud of them and I'm sure their families are very proud of them as well," McCarty said.

"I think it would be very honorable for me, my dad and my grandfather, they've been in the service, in the military, so I probably think I would make them proud," Naylan Tuttle said._


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## BarnBuster (Sep 25, 2018)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 25, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 27, 2018)

Today in Military History:





*Only Coast Guard Medal of Honor Recipient Saved 500 Marines*​
_On Sept. 27, 1942, Munro was in charge of a group of small boats that were used to drop about 500 Marines at a beachhead known as Point Cruz, by the Matanikau River. The plan was for the Marines to drive the Japanese from the area west of the river and establish an inland patrol base._

_When Munro’s boats returned to their rallying point after the dropoff, they were told that the conditions where the Marines had been left were much worse than anticipated – they were under attack from a huge Japanese force and needed to be extracted immediately.

Munro quickly volunteered for the job and devised a way to evacuate the battalion. If his crew didn’t save them, the men would surely be slaughtered.

Despite heavy fire from machine guns on the island, Munro directed five of his small craft toward the shore to pick up the Marines who had made it back to the beach. As they closed in, he signaled the other boats to land. They were able to collect up most of the Marines, but some were struggling. In an effort to block them from enemy fire, Munro moved his own boat as a shield between the beachhead and the other boats._

_His actions helped the crew of the other boats evacuate the last of the stranded Marines, but it cost Munro his life. He was hit by enemy fire and killed. According to fellow signalman Ray Evans, who enlisted with Munro and was on the boat with him when he died, Munro’s last words were, “Did they get off?” referring to the last of the Marines.

Munro saved hundreds of men who would have otherwise surely died. For his leadership, planning and devotion to the cause, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in May 1943, as well as the Purple Heart._

_Munro’s Medal of Honor is on display at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, not far from a memorial that’s dedicated to him. The Coast Guard has named two cutters for Munro, too. The most recent, the Coast Guard National Security Cutter Munro, was commissioned in April. The Navy also named a ship in his honor – a destroyer escort that served in World War II and the Korean War.
_
_




_
*
The Citation*​For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty as Petty Officer in Charge of a group of 24 Higgins boats, engaged in the evacuation of a battalion of Marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at Point Cruz Guadalcanal, on 27 September 1942. After making preliminary plans for the evacuation of nearly 500 beleaguered Marines, Munro, under constant strafing by enemy machine guns on the island, and at great risk of his life, daringly led 5 of his small craft toward the shore. As he closed the beach, he signaled the others to land, and then in order to draw the enemy's fire and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly placed his craft with its 2 small guns as a shield between the beachhead and the Japanese. When the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed, Munro was instantly killed by enemy fire, but his crew, 2 of whom were wounded, carried on until the last boat had loaded and cleared the beach. By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished. He gallantly gave his life for his country.


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## too larry (Sep 28, 2018)

I just heard on the news one of the new F35B fighters went down in SC. Marine pilot safely out.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/cutting-edge-35-stealth-fighter-crashes-south-carolina/story?id=58152917


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## BarnBuster (Oct 1, 2018)

President Donald Trump awards the Medal of Honor to former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II for actions in Afghanistan, in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)​
_President Trump on Monday awarded the military's highest honor to a former U.S. Army medic and Green Beret who saved soldiers' lives during a battle with terrorists in Afghanistan in 2008.

Former Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II, of Alaska, received the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House. Trump said it was a "proud and special day for those of us here in the White House because Ron works right here alongside us," with the U.S. Secret Service._


*The Citation*​The president of the United States of America, authorized by act of Congress, March 3, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Shurer II, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 

Staff Sergeant Ronald J. Shurer II distinguished himself by acts of gallantry above and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on April 6t 2008, while serving as a senior medical sergeant, Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha 3336, Special Operations Task Force 33, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Staff Sergeant Shurer was part of an assault element inserted by helicopter into a location in Afghanistan. As the assault element moved up a near-vertical mountain towards its objective, it was engaged by fierce enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire. The lead portion of the assault element, which included the ground commander, sustained several casualties and became pinned down on the mountainside. Staff Sergeant Shurer and the rest of the trailing portion of the assault element were likewise engaged by enemy machine gun, sniper, and rocket-propelled grenade fire. 

As the attack intensified, he braved enemy fire to move to an injured soldier and treat his wounds. Having stabilized the soldier, he then learned of the casualties among the lead element. Staff Sergeant Shurer fought his way up the mountainside under intense enemy fire to the lead element's location. Upon reaching the lead element, he treated and stabilized two more soldiers. Finishing those lifesaving efforts with, he noticed two additional severely wounded soldiers under intense enemy fire. The bullet that had wounded one of these soldiers had also impacted Staff Sergeant Shurer's helmet. With complete disregard for his own life, Staff Sergeant Shurer again moved through enemy fire to treat and stabilize one soldier's severely wounded arm. Shortly thereafter, he continued to brave withering enemy fire to get to the other soldier's location in order to treat his lower leg, which had been almost completely severed by a high- caliber sniper round. 

After treating the soldier, Staff Sergeant Shurer began to evacuate the wounded, carrying and lowering them down the sheer mountainside. While moving down the mountain, he used his own body to shield the wounded from enemy fire and debris caused by danger close air strikes. Reaching the base of the mountain, Staff Sergeant Shurer set up a casualty collection point and continued to treat the wounded. With the arrival of the evacuation medical helicopter, Staff Sergeant Shurer, again under enemy fire, helped load the wounded into the helicopter. Having ensured the safety of the wound, he then regained control of his commando squad and rejoined the fight. He continued to lead his troops and in place security elements until it was time to remove the evacuation landing zone for the helicopter. 

Staff Sergeant Shurer's actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army. 

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/10/01/we-can-do-a-little-better-for-that-soldier-a-green-beret-just-got-his-silver-star-upgraded-to-a-medal-of-honor/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New Campaign&utm_term=Editorial - Army - Daily News Roundup
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/10/01/trump-awards-medal-honor-his-own-secret-service-agent.html


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## doublejj (Oct 4, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> President Donald Trump awards the Medal of Honor to former Army Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II for actions in Afghanistan, in the East Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 1, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)​
> _President Trump on Monday awarded the military's highest honor to a former U.S. Army medic and Green Beret who saved soldiers' lives during a battle with terrorists in Afghanistan in 2008.
> 
> Former Staff Sgt. Ronald J. Shurer II, of Alaska, received the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House. Trump said it was a "proud and special day for those of us here in the White House because Ron works right here alongside us," with the U.S. Secret Service._
> ...


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## Singlemalt (Oct 4, 2018)

You got that right brother, salute


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 5, 2018)

Thousands of American flags filled a grassy expanse on the National Mall on Wednesday morning, each of them representing a veteran or a service member who died by suicide in 2018 so far. The 5,520 flags were placed on the Mall by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, an advocacy group trying to draw awareness to the issue of veteran suicide. Stephanie Mullen, the research director at IAVA, checks the flags.​
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: October 3, 2018

_WASHINGTON — Thousands of American flags filled a grassy expanse on the National Mall on Wednesday morning, each of them representing a veteran or a servicemember who died by suicide in 2018 so far.

Maj. Sandra Lee Altamirano of the Army Reserve said she took military leave to help place the 5,520 U.S. flags. She recently lost three friends to suicide, two of whom were veterans. A couple of years ago, after serving three deployments in Iraq, she contemplated suicide herself.

“Each of these flags is a name, a person. Three of them are my friends, and one could’ve been me,” said Altamirano, now a suicide prevention liaison in the Reserve. “I hope this helps people see how vast of an issue this is. It’s overwhelming. It’s a crisis.”_

_The flags were placed on the Mall by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, an advocacy group trying to draw awareness to the issue of veteran suicide. On Wednesday, the scene grabbed the attention of tourists, who took photos of the small flags with the Washington Monument in the background.

A new report released last week by the Department of Veterans Affairs shows suicide among veterans and servicemembers continues to be higher than the rest of the U.S. population. Veterans accounted for 14 percent of all suicides in the United States in 2016, yet they make up 8 percent of the population. The rate of suicide among young veterans substantially increased from 2015 to 2016. For every 100,000 veterans age 18 to 34, 45 committed suicide in 2016 – up from 40.4 for every 100,000 in 2015.
Rates have also increased among women veterans and some members of the National Guard and Reserve._

_The release of the report last week coincided with a hearing of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. Several lawmakers questioned why there hasn’t been significant improvement, given Congress has increased the amount of money that it allots for VA mental health programs._

_“I’m beyond frustrated about the numbers and data,” said Keita Franklin, executive director of the VA’s suicide prevention program. “Having worked in this field as long as I have, it’s frustrating. When I try to think about what we’re missing … we tend to do a lot of one thing at a time and do it very well, full throttle. Preventing suicide takes a bundle of 10 to 12 things done at full throttle, all the time.”_

_Of the approximately 20 veterans who commit suicide every day, 14 are not receiving health care from the VA. Part of the VA’s effort is getting veterans to seek help._

_Stephanie Keegan traveled from New York to help plant flags Wednesday morning. Her son Daniel was a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who died of a drug overdose in 2016 while struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. He had waited 16 months to get into a VA mental health program, Keegan said. He was supposed to be admitted Jan. 23. He died Jan. 8.

Daniel Keegan had wanted to become involved in veterans advocacy. So now, Stephanie Keegan is dedicating her life to it. She has left her son’s photo in every House lawmaker’s office, met with VA secretaries and is involved with IAVA, in addition to other advocacy efforts._

_“I get to do the work that he wanted to do, and I feel like he’s sitting on my shoulder all the time,” Keegan said. “It’s been an opportunity to educate people on what a really struggling veteran looks like because he didn’t look like anything you would expect. He was healthy as could be, but he was catastrophically ill for the last two years of his life.”_

_*To reach the Veterans Crisis Line, text 838255 or dial 1-800-273-8255 and press 1*
_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2018)

​_The U.S. Navy turns 243 years-old today. On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress commissioned two ships, each with eighty sailors, “for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies.” The foe at the time was Great Britain, whose navy ruled the seas. By the end of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy had grown to about fifty ships. In 1789, the U.S. Constitution guaranteed the navy’s future by granting Congress the power “To provide and maintain a navy.”

George Washington once said that “as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive—and with it, everything honorable and glorious.” Those words are even more appropriate in the twenty-first century when U.S. interests span the globe. To serve and protect those interests the U.S. Navy today has 286 deployable ships, more than 3,700 operational aircraft, 328,267 active duty personnel, 98,748 reserve personnel, and more than 210,000 civilian employees._


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## BarnBuster (Oct 14, 2018)

Uh-oh...talk about an "oh shit" moment






On 12 October, *Aviation24.be* received more information on the incident: a technician was working on an F-16 when he accidentally activated the six-barrels 20mm Vulcan M61A-1 cannon of that F-16. The cannon was loaded and some bullets hit another F-16AM (FA-12) That aircraft had just been refuelled and was – together with another F-16 – being prepared for a (training) mission. Due to the bullets, the F-16AM exploded and damaged the other F-16.

https://jalopnik.com/technician-accidentally-sets-off-an-f-16-cannon-blows-1829732241?utm_source=jalopnik_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2018-10-14


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## ttystikk (Oct 15, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Uh-oh...talk about an "oh shit" moment
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Oh shit...


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 16, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Uh-oh...talk about an "oh shit" moment
> 
> 
> 
> ...


My guess is somebody is headed for Captains Mast & a bit of EMI (Extra Military Instruction) at the very least.


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## curious2garden (Oct 16, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Uh-oh...talk about an "oh shit" moment
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Belgian was selling off it's F-16 fleet and acquiring newer models from us. Apparently they just accelerated that program. Sadly they devalued the resale value of the used fighters. I bet Mattis is smiling.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 17, 2018)

More than 50 years after his extraordinary heroism during the Vietnam War, Sergeant Major (Ret.) John Canley was awarded the Medal of Honor Wednesday at the White House. Canley, a native of Caledonia, Arkansas, who now lives in Oxnard, Calif., served in the Marines for 28 years after using his brother’s paperwork to enlist at the age of 15. He was honored for his actions during the Battle of Hue in 1968.

Shouts of “Oorah,” the Marine Corps' legendary battle cry, rang through the East Room and the standing-room-only crowd of Canley’s fellow Vietnam veterans and top military brass cheered the 80-year-old as President Donald Trump presented him the Medal of Honor. The Marines who fought alongside Canley in Vietnam’s brutal Battle of Hue had worked for years to see him receive the award – an upgrade of the Navy Cross that he was awarded in 1970.






*Retired Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the brutal Battle of Hue during the Vietnam War. President Donald Trump presented the medal on Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018, the 300th in the Marine Corps’ history.*​
*The Citation
*​The President of the United States, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in awarding the Congressional Medal of Honor to Gunnery Sergeant John L. Canley, United States Marine Corps, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy while serving as Company Gunnery Sergeant, Alpha Company, First Battalion, First Marines, First Marine Division, from 31 January to 6 February 1968, in the Republic of Vietnam.

Alpha Company fought off multiple vicious attacks as it rapidly moved along the highway toward Huế City to relieve friendly forces that were surrounded by enemy. Despite being wounded in these engagements, Gunnery Sergeant Canley repeatedly rushed across fire-swept terrain to carry his wounded Marines to safety.

After his commanding officer was severely wounded, Gunnery Sergeant Canley took command and led the company into Huế City. At Huế City, caught in deadly crossfire from enemy machine gun positions, he set up a base of fire and maneuvered with a platoon in a flanking attack that eliminated several enemy positions.

Retaining command of the company for three days, he led attacks against multiple enemy fortified positions while routinely braving enemy fire to carry wounded Marines to safety.

On 4 February, he led a group of Marines into an enemy-occupied building in Huế City. He moved into the open to draw fire, located the enemy, eliminated the threat, and expanded the company’s hold on the building room by room. Gunnery Sergeant Canley then gained position above the enemy strong point and dropped in a large satchel charge that forced the enemy to withdraw.

On 6 February, during a fierce firefight at a hospital compound, Gunnery Sergeant Canley twice scaled a wall in full view of the enemy to carry wounded Marines to safety.

By his undaunted courage, selfless sacrifice, and unwavering devotion to duty, Gunnery Sergeant Canley reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.


https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-john-canley-medal-honor-1175630
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/marine-warrior-received-medal-of-honor-for-heroic-actions-in-vietnam-s-battle-of-hue-1.552240


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 17, 2018)

I would not want to be in his head now.
It looks to be a very painful memory.

Hand Salute!


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## undercoverfbi (Oct 23, 2018)

I smashed the ASVAB today

like, can get any job of my liking.

But


I ship off December 17th to fort Benning.

Us Army Airborn Infantry

Hooah


I go to MEPS Sunday overnight to Monday


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## doublejj (Oct 23, 2018)

undercoverfbi said:


> I smashed the ASVAB today
> 
> like, can get any job of my liking.
> 
> ...


Hooah!
best of luck...


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## doublejj (Oct 23, 2018)

C-103 Rollin' down the strip.....


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## doublejj (Oct 23, 2018)

You know that a RANGER tap looks real good on your uniform along with those jump wings....


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## wascaptain (Oct 23, 2018)

undercoverfbi said:


> I smashed the ASVAB today
> 
> like, can get any job of my liking.
> 
> ...



congrats!

report in shape


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## Bioaccumulator (Oct 24, 2018)

undercoverfbi said:


> I smashed the ASVAB today
> 
> like, can get any job of my liking.
> 
> ...



Grats, maybe you will learn the ranger roll! Oh and bottom jumper has right of way, ALWAYS!


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## cannabineer (Oct 24, 2018)

Lol @ a 39-year-old female who kvells about the Ranger Roll! Why do I imagine her bookshelf as a bit low on Judith Krantz and somewhat enriched in Mack Bolan?


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## curious2garden (Oct 24, 2018)

cannabineer said:


> Lol @ a 39-year-old female who kvells about the Ranger Roll! Why do I imagine her bookshelf as a bit low on Judith Krantz and somewhat enriched in Mack Bolan?


It's ODrankster from his brother's basement begging for seeds. Remember he was a princess once too.


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## cannabineer (Oct 24, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> It's ODrankster from his brother's basement begging for seeds. Remember he was a princess once too.


Oh yes he was


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## curious2garden (Oct 24, 2018)

undercoverfbi said:


> I smashed the ASVAB today
> 
> like, can get any job of my liking.
> 
> ...


So you chose to jump out of perfectly good airplanes? 

@wascaptain gave you the very best advice, show up in good physical condition. Whatever you do don't touch pot and leave alcohol alone. They actually fire people from the armed forces today. Something that was unthinkable in my time is quite common today. So do a good job and it will change your life, hopefully for the better. I wish you nothing but the best in this.


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## curious2garden (Oct 24, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I would not want to be in his head now.
> It looks to be a very painful memory.
> 
> Hand Salute!


Yeah it changes your life one way or another.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 24, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I would not want to be in his head now.
> It looks to be a very painful memory.
> 
> Hand Salute!





curious2garden said:


> Yeah it changes your life one way or another.


Not to be misinterpreted, I meant that in the most respectful manner.
He looks to be in actual physical pain from introspection?


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## curious2garden (Oct 24, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Not to be misinterpreted, I meant that in the most respectful manner.
> *He looks to be in actual physical pain from introspection?*


I agree, that was my point.


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## wascaptain (Oct 29, 2018)

giving honor before mornings pt.


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## doublejj (Nov 6, 2018)

this is why many Vietnam vets wont talk about it......
A 94-year-old former SS enlisted man went on trial Tuesday in Germany, facing hundreds of counts of accessory to murder for alleged crimes committed during the years he served as a guard at the Nazis’ Stutthof concentration camp.

https://www.apnews.com/d3a18dceb3454894aa7aeffb8e30038b


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## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2018)




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## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2018)

*VETERANS DAY 2018




*​


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## doublejj (Nov 11, 2018)

27 Medals of Honor were awarded for action on this one island.....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 12, 2018)

I thought this was an amazing response from both sides.
We should all try and respond to each other with a bit more civility and understanding.


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## too larry (Nov 12, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I thought this was an amazing response from both sides.
> We should all try and respond to each other with a bit more civility and understanding.


Thanks for posting that. I had seen a clip of it on the news, but the whole bit was well done.


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## doublejj (Nov 12, 2018)

Neither trump or pence attended the Veterans Day observance at Arlington on Veterans Day....smh


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## doublejj (Nov 12, 2018)

Veterans haven't received their benefits for months because of how poorly the VA is run... 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/veterans-haven-t-receive-gi-bill-benefits-months-due-ongoing-n934696


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## BarnBuster (Nov 17, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Neither trump or pence attended the Veterans Day observance at Arlington on Veterans Day....smh


_"The president explained that he had recently returned from "the American Cemetery in Paris and I really probably assumed that was fine and I was extremely busy because of affairs of state -- doing other things.""_

Open 24/7/365 for him. You know his handlers said something about it. He could have gone 10:00 PM that night if he was THAT busy.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 17, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Have you been following the sad story of the Argentinian sub lost at sea?
> 
> _"About 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 15, San Juan’s captain used a satellite phone to alert his Argentine Navy superiors the sub had taken on salt water through the snorkel – used to replenish air to the submerged sub. *The water intrusion short-circuited the batteries in the submarine’s forward compartments, sparking either a fire or smoke*, according to an Argentine Navy statement first reported by Argentina’s news station A24.
> 
> ...


U.S. Underwater Mapping Firm Finds Wreckage of Missing Argentine Sub
https://news.usni.org/2018/11/17/u-s-underwater-mapping-firm-finds-wreckage-missing-argentine-sub
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46248970


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## too larry (Nov 17, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> U.S. Underwater Mapping Firm Finds Wreckage of Missing Argentine Sub
> https://news.usni.org/2018/11/17/u-s-underwater-mapping-firm-finds-wreckage-missing-argentine-sub
> https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46248970


I saw that. One year to the day. Glad they found them. Might be able to figure out what went wrong.

I was a sub volunteer, but washed out of the nuclear propulsion program before I got my A school. So never did go on boats.


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## Olive Drab Green (Nov 17, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> U.S. Underwater Mapping Firm Finds Wreckage of Missing Argentine Sub
> https://news.usni.org/2018/11/17/u-s-underwater-mapping-firm-finds-wreckage-missing-argentine-sub
> https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46248970


That’s exactly the type of shit that made me decide against the Navy altogether. The thought of drowning in the bottom a capsized, sinking ship horrifies me. Then again, so does being trapped in the back of a blown-up, flaming armored vehicle with hydraulic doors that don’t open when the engine is off (or blown up and on fire.) R.I.P. B Co.

I don’t understand who thought building MRAPs that way was a good idea.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 17, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I don’t understand who thought building MRAPs that way was a good idea.


The lowest bidder, that's who.


----------



## Olive Drab Green (Nov 17, 2018)




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## Olive Drab Green (Nov 17, 2018)

wompaa said:


> deep, what doea it mean ?


It means repression leads to projection, leads to disfigurement.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 20, 2018)

*100-year-old WWII veteran awarded French Legion of Honor*

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/100-year-old-wwii-veteran-awarded-french-legion-of-honor/2018/11/19/5ee76492-ec46-11e8-8b47-bd0975fd6199_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.44b82d6cd353


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## BarnBuster (Nov 21, 2018)

*43 YEARS LATER, RETIRED VIETNAM VET RECEIVES NAVY CROSS*
By Cpl. Michael Parks, Defense Media Activity
VANCOUVER, WA --

_It’s the summer of 1968 in Vietnam, a sergeant with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment was forced into a position he never could have imagined. He had to lead his entire company through a deadly enemy ambush after the company commander, platoon commander and senior enlisted leadership were wounded in the fight. 

These were the circumstances of retired Marine 1st Sgt. John J. Lord during the battle of Hue City, nearly half a century ago, during the Vietnam War.

Lord was awarded the Navy Cross, the nation’s second highest award for combat bravery, during a ceremony at a Marine Corps Birthday Ball celebration in Vancouver, Washington Nov. 17, 2018. The Navy Cross award was an upgrade from a Bronze Star that Lord received in 1975, seven years after he put himself in the cross-hairs of the North Vietnamese Army when rescuing his fellow Marines who were wounded.

Lord took over command of the entire company and located one of the only working radios and then started directing air support against the enemy. 

The day immediately following the battle, now retired Lt. Col. Michael Sweeney began pushing for Lord to be awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism and valor during the fight. Even after the Bronze Star was awarded, Sweeney continued to push for the Navy Cross. Finally, 43 years later, Sweeney’s efforts bore fruit.

According to his citation, Lord’s actions helped turned the tide of the battle. However, he always stayed true to his men and their efforts during the fight.

“Everything on that citation is true except one thing they left off,” Lord said. “They left off the Marines who served with me that day.” 

Four of his fellow unit members were in attendance the night of the ceremony, and stood at Lord’s behest to receive a standing ovation from all who were in attendance just like they did for Lord just moments prior.
Lord proclaimed how honored he was to serve with these Marines and how important they are to the mission.

“I can only stand here and say how proud I am to have served with you Marines — and corpsman, I won’t forget you too,” Lord said. “I am honored to call you brothers in arms.”

https://news.usni.org/2018/11/19/50-years-later-marine-vietnam-vet-receives-navy-cross-combat-leadership_


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 22, 2018)




----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 23, 2018)

Today in Military History
*November 23, 1943* – *On Tarawa Atoll, the battle ends by noon*​
_"After 76 hours of fighting, the battle for Betio was over. The final casualty figures for the 2d Marine Division in Operation GALVANIC were 997 Marines and 30 sailors (organic medical personnel) dead; 88 Marines missing and presumed dead; and 2,233 Marines and 59 sailors wounded. Total casualties: 3,407. Of the roughly 4,800 Japanese defenders, about 97% were thought to have been killed. Only 146 prisoners were captured — all but 17 of them Korean laborers. More casualties would come in operations on surrounding islands.

The intense bloodshed on Tarawa, documented by war correspondents who were close to the fighting, sparked outcry in the US. Many criticized the strategy and tactics at Tarawa, but the Navy and Marine Corps drew lessons from the battle and applied them throughout the war, and Betio's airfield supported operations against other vital positions in the Pacific.

"The capture of Tarawa knocked down the front door to the Japanese defenses in the Central Pacific," said Admiral Chester Nimitz, the commander in chief of the Pacific fleet.

In the words of military historians Jeter Isely and Philip Crowl, “The capture of Tarawa, in spite of defects in execution, conclusively demonstrated that American amphibious doctrine was valid, that even the strongest island fortress could be seized.”

The costs of the forcible seizure of Tarawa were two-fold: the loss of Marines in the assault itself, followed by the shock and despair of the nation upon hearing the reports of the battle. The gains at first seemed small in return, the "stinking little island" of Betio, 8,000 miles from Tokyo. In time, the practical lessons learned in the complex art of amphibious assault began to outweigh the initial adverse publicity.

Four Medals of Honor were earned at Tarawa, one of them posthumously. Thirty-four Navy Crosses, the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, were issued along with some 250 Silver Stars."_

https://www.businessinsider.com/battle-of-tarawa-in-wwii-the-toughest-battle-in-marine-corps-history-2017-11
https://www.mca-marines.org/mcaf-blog/2011/05/23/why-tarawa
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USMC/USMC-C-Tarawa/index.html


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## doublejj (Nov 23, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History
> *November 23, 1943* – *On Tarawa Atoll, the battle ends by noon*​
> _"After 76 hours of fighting, the battle for Betio was over. The final casualty figures for the 2d Marine Division in Operation GALVANIC were 997 Marines and 30 sailors (organic medical personnel) dead; 88 Marines missing and presumed dead; and 2,233 Marines and 59 sailors wounded. Total casualties: 3,407. Of the roughly 4,800 Japanese defenders, about 97% were thought to have been killed. Only 146 prisoners were captured — all but 17 of them Korean laborers. More casualties would come in operations on surrounding islands.
> 
> ...


The Japanese made their biggest mistake of WWII at Pearl Harbor. Of all the possible targets for their 100's of planes they failed to hit the massive fuel storage tanks. It would have taken the us 2-3 years to replenish that fuel and would have limited the US ability to wage war in the pacific for many years. The Japanese would have ruled all of the pacific by then....


----------



## thumper60 (Nov 23, 2018)

doublejj said:


> this is why many Vietnam vets wont talk about it......
> A 94-year-old former SS enlisted man went on trial Tuesday in Germany, facing hundreds of counts of accessory to murder for alleged crimes committed during the years he served as a guard at the Nazis’ Stutthof concentration camp.
> 
> https://www.apnews.com/d3a18dceb3454894aa7aeffb8e30038b


boy i would be more than happy to pull the trigger on that POS right in front of his wife an kids


----------



## doublejj (Nov 23, 2018)

thumper60 said:


> boy i would be more than happy to pull the trigger on that POS right in front of his wife an kids


most soldiers in wars are considered war criminals by the other side...


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 23, 2018)

doublejj said:


> The Japanese made their biggest mistake of WWII at Pearl Harbor. Of all the possible targets for their 100's of planes they failed to hit the massive fuel storage tanks. It would have taken the us 2-3 years to replenish that fuel and would have limited the US ability to wage war in the pacific for many years. The Japanese would have ruled all of the pacific by then....


Yes JJ, Japanese naval doctrine at the time rigidly followed the Mahan principal of naval warfare which stated you destroy capital warships and didn't consider support, repair or fueling facilities as worthy or even necessary targets to consider. Yamamoto (who had spent considerable time in the US) understood their significance but Nagumo was in charge. There was speculation about a third wave of planned attacks but I don't remember or know how true that idea was. By the end of the war the IJN was pumping Borneo light crude directly from the ground into the ships' bunkers. BB

This by Admiral Nimitz as remembered re: Pearl Harbor by Mary Nimitz, Chester's youngest child:

_*"Mistake number one **:* The Japanese attacked on Sunday morning. Nine out of every ten crewmen of those ships were ashore on leave. If those same ships had been lured to sea and been sunk--we would have lost 38,000 men instead of 3,800.

*Mistake number two **:* When the Japanese saw all those battleships lined in a row, they got so carried away sinking those battleships, they never once bombed our dry docks opposite those ships. If they had destroyed our dry docks, we would have had to tow every one of those ships to America to be repaired. As it is now, the ships are in shallow water and can be raised. One tug can pull them over to the dry docks, and we can have them repaired and at sea by the time we could have towed them to America. And I already have crews ashore anxious to man those ships.

*Mistake number three **:* Every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war is in top of the ground storage tanks five miles away over that hill. One attack plane could have strafed those tanks and destroyed our fuel supply. That's why I say the Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could make or God was taking care of America."_


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## too larry (Nov 23, 2018)

The Japanese learned their lessons from us. We went into Manila Bay April 30, 1898 and laid waste to the Spanish Pacific fleet. Not exactly at anchor, since Dewey did trigger a couple of mines on the way in, but in no shape for a real fight. Teddy and his Rough Riders got all the ink, but the war was over when Dewey found out the message saying only 15 rounds per gun were left should have said only 15 rounds per gun had been used. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Manila_Bay


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## doublejj (Nov 23, 2018)

The Battle that saved Australia.....May 1942 the Japanese were staging for an invasion of Australia....until they met the US Navy at the Battle of the Coral Sea. It is celebrated each year in Australia as "The Battle the saved Australia"...


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 23, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Yes JJ, Japanese naval doctrine at the time rigidly followed the Mahan principal of naval warfare which stated you destroy capital warships and didn't consider support, repair or fueling facilities as worthy or even necessary targets to consider. Yamamoto (who had spent considerable time in the US) understood their significance but Nagumo was in charge. There was speculation about a third wave of planned attacks but I don't remember or know how true that idea was. By the end of the war the IJN was pumping Borneo light crude directly from the ground into the ships' bunkers. BB
> 
> This by Admiral Nimitz as remembered re: Pearl Harbor by Mary Nimitz, Chester's youngest child:
> 
> ...


I'd rather be lucky than good.


----------



## thumper60 (Nov 23, 2018)

doublejj said:


> most soldiers in wars are considered war criminals by the other side...


 tell ya what mister soldier any one who told me to kill people that aren't trying to kill me!! I kill him first then take what comes!!


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 23, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> I'd rather be lucky than good.


mais bien sûr mon généralc emporeur


----------



## doublejj (Nov 23, 2018)

thumper60 said:


> tell ya what mister soldier any one who told me to kill people that aren't trying to kill me!! I kill him first then take what comes!!


a lot of fragging went on in Vietnam and not all of it was directed at officers. If your buddies can't count on you, you're a dead man walking. You will be walking a lot of point. Military service isn't for everyone, some people were better off going to canada. If your CO found out that you weren't cutting it in the field, you might get lucky and just burn shit in the rear for a year.


----------



## Singlemalt (Nov 23, 2018)

LOL


----------



## thumper60 (Nov 24, 2018)

doublejj said:


> a lot of fragging went on in Vietnam and not all of it was directed at officers. If your buddies can't count on you, you're a dead man walking. You will be walking a lot of point. Military service isn't for everyone, some people were better off going to canada. If your CO found out that you weren't cutting it in the field, you might get lucky and just burn shit in the rear for a year.


iam a free thinking self employed old man. I would rather burn shit than burn people back to the Nazi post


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 30, 2018)

I bumped into this clip this morning.
It amazes me that some people can be so heroic and selfless.
I owe this man a debit I could never repay & yet had still never heard of him before.
RIP 1st Lt. Fox


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## haight (Nov 30, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> *Army Spc. Alec Alcoser wipes away tears as he is reunited with his dog Alex at Audie L. Murphy Memorial VA Hospital, Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, in San Antonio, Texas. Alcoser was a military dog handler who suffered a traumatic brain injury and his dog lost a leg after they were hit by the blast of a suicide bomber in Afghanistan Aug. 5. Currently, Alcoser is receiving care at the VA's polytrauma unit, while Alex is rehabilitating at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. (Josie Norris/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)*
> ​
> _Six weeks ago, Army Spc. Alec Alcoser and his working dog, Alex, turned the corner of a narrow street outside Bagram Airfield just after dawn and saw a young Afghan coming toward them._
> 
> ...


That story brought tears to my eyes too


----------



## haight (Nov 30, 2018)

doublejj said:


> 27 Medals of Honor were awarded for action on this one island.....


Uncommon valor was a common virtue


----------



## haight (Nov 30, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Neither trump or pence attended the Veterans Day observance at Arlington on Veterans Day....smh


What did you expect from a couple of draft dodgers?


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## Olive Drab Green (Nov 30, 2018)

doublejj said:


> a lot of fragging went on in Vietnam and not all of it was directed at officers. If your buddies can't count on you, you're a dead man walking. You will be walking a lot of point. Military service isn't for everyone, some people were better off going to canada. If your CO found out that you weren't cutting it in the field, you might get lucky and just burn shit in the rear for a year.


Been there. 5 gallons of JP-8, and you have to float the match/lit paper on a turd because it isn’t like gasoline where it ignites at the right concentration of fumes, it has to warm up first. Take a picket and stir every 5-10 minutes.


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## doublejj (Nov 30, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Been there. 5 gallons of JP-8, and you have to float the match/lit paper on a turd because it isn’t like gasoline where it ignites at the right concentration of fumes, it has to warm up first. Take a picket and stir every 5-10 minutes.


One of the few perks of being a medic....I never had to burn shit.......or walk point


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## Olive Drab Green (Nov 30, 2018)

doublejj said:


> One of the few perks of being a medic....I never had to burn shit.......or walk point


I always tended for forget Doc wasn’t 11B. He did everything we did, and whatever the rotation for the platoon was, if they/we/whatever squad or SKT or two were going out, so was he. I have nothing but respect for all Medics and Corpsmen. They’re just grunts with angel wings and morphine.

Now that you mentioned it, I don’t recall him burning shit, though. Lucky bastard.


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## doublejj (Nov 30, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> I always tended for forget Doc wasn’t 11B. He did everything we did, and whatever the rotation for the platoon was, if they/we/whatever squad or SKT or two were going out, so was he. I have nothing but respect for all Medics and Corpsmen. They’re just grunts with angel wings and morphine.
> 
> Now that you mentioned it, I don’t recall him burning shit, though. Lucky bastard.


After my first big firefight everybody in my unit got a CIB except me.....and they were hella shooting at me!....smh


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## Olive Drab Green (Nov 30, 2018)

doublejj said:


> After my first big firefight everybody in my unit got a CIB except me.....and they were hella shooting at me!....smh


I hate when that happens. Like, both drawing fire and people getting overlooked on their awards. I thought it was funny, when I first heard the zings and shit, I was like “Hey, they sound like they do in the cartoons!” Then you had quite a few guys who probably should have gotten certain awards by most accounts and were denied by command or otherwise ignored. I feel you.


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## too larry (Dec 1, 2018)

I thought this was pretty cool.


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## greencropper (Dec 1, 2018)

Olive Drab Green said:


> Been there. 5 gallons of JP-8, and you have to float the match/lit paper on a turd because it isn’t like gasoline where it ignites at the right concentration of fumes, it has to warm up first. Take a picket and stir every 5-10 minutes.


dang is that how the army got rid of the shit? certainly deserve a medal for that job too! i thought they would have got a dozer to bury it?


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## doublejj (Dec 2, 2018)

greencropper said:


> dang is that how the army got rid of the shit? certainly deserve a medal for that job too! i thought they would have got a dozer to bury it?


There are some really shitty jobs in the army.....


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## greencropper (Dec 2, 2018)

doublejj said:


> There are some really shitty jobs in the army.....


what are they doing there? demining?


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## cannabineer (Dec 2, 2018)

greencropper said:


> what are they doing there? demining?


looks like an IED based on an artillery shell to me


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## doublejj (Dec 2, 2018)

greencropper said:


> what are they doing there? demining?


Yes bomb disposal


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## curious2garden (Dec 3, 2018)

doublejj said:


> There are some really shitty jobs in the army.....


Which one? The guy disarming the uxb or the joker behind him.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 3, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> Which one? The guy disarming the uxb or the joker behind him.


I didn't catch what the second guy was doing first time through.


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## Singlemalt (Dec 3, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> I didn't catch what the second guy was doing first time through.


He could end needing a dentist real badly


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## too larry (Dec 3, 2018)

It's not just lowly grunts who deal with demons.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-navy-admiral-in-middle-east-is-found-dead-1543770845


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## BarnBuster (Dec 3, 2018)

too larry said:


> It's not just lowly grunts who deal with demons.
> 
> https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-navy-admiral-in-middle-east-is-found-dead-1543770845


When I saw his death on Sat, I wondered if it was a suicide. He just took over the 5th fleet slot in May. I hope he wasn't caught up in a scandal we haven't heard about 


_"Vice Adm. Scott Stearney is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics prior to commissioning in the U.S. Navy in October 1982. He subsequently entered flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator in April 1984. Stearney graduated from Navy Fighter Weapons School and holds a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University.

Operationally, he served in numerous strike fighter squadrons flying the FA-18 Hornet. His fleet assignments include the Golden Warriors of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-87, the Knighthawks of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-136 and strike warfare officer for commander, Carrier Group 4. Stearney commanded the Wildcats of VFA-131 and Carrier Air Wing Seven embarked on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. He served in Kabul, Afghanistan, as chief of staff of Joint Task Force 435 and later Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435.

Ashore, Stearney served as instructor and readiness officer at Navy Fighter Weapons School, aide de camp to the chief of naval operations, deputy director J6 U.S. Joint Forces Command, executive assistant to deputy commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command and chief of staff, Strike Force Training Atlantic.

His flag assignments include commander, U.S. Transportation Command’s Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, commander, Strike Force Training Atlantic, commander, Carrier Strike Group 4, commander, Navy Warfare Development Command, and director of operations, U.S. Central Command.

Most recently, Stearney was commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet, Combined Maritime Forces from May 2018 until December 1, 2018.

He is entitled to wear the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, as well as other commendations and awards. He has accumulated more than 4,500 mishap free flight hours and over 1,000 carrier-arrested landings".

*https://www.veteranscrisisline.net*
*https://nvf.org/stop-veteran-suicides/*
*https://activeheroes.org/get-help/*
_


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## Singlemalt (Dec 3, 2018)

[QUOTE="BarnBuster, post: 14619526, member: 342847"*]When I saw his death on Sat, I wondered if it was a suicide*. He just took over the 5th fleet slot in May. I hope he wasn't caught up in a scandal we haven't heard about 


_"Vice Adm. Scott Stearney is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics prior to commissioning in the U.S. Navy in October 1982. He subsequently entered flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator in April 1984. Stearney graduated from Navy Fighter Weapons School and holds a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University.

Operationally, he served in numerous strike fighter squadrons flying the FA-18 Hornet. His fleet assignments include the Golden Warriors of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-87, the Knighthawks of Strike Fighter Squadron VFA-136 and strike warfare officer for commander, Carrier Group 4. Stearney commanded the Wildcats of VFA-131 and Carrier Air Wing Seven embarked on USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. He served in Kabul, Afghanistan, as chief of staff of Joint Task Force 435 and later Combined Joint Interagency Task Force 435.

Ashore, Stearney served as instructor and readiness officer at Navy Fighter Weapons School, aide de camp to the chief of naval operations, deputy director J6 U.S. Joint Forces Command, executive assistant to deputy commander, U.S. Joint Forces Command and chief of staff, Strike Force Training Atlantic.

His flag assignments include commander, U.S. Transportation Command’s Joint Enabling Capabilities Command, commander, Strike Force Training Atlantic, commander, Carrier Strike Group 4, commander, Navy Warfare Development Command, and director of operations, U.S. Central Command.

Most recently, Stearney was commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. 5th Fleet, Combined Maritime Forces from May 2018 until December 1, 2018.

He is entitled to wear the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Air Medal, as well as other commendations and awards. He has accumulated more than 4,500 mishap free flight hours and over 1,000 carrier-arrested landings".

*https://www.veteranscrisisline.net*
*https://nvf.org/stop-veteran-suicides/*
*https://activeheroes.org/get-help/*_
[/QUOTE]
I wondered the same thing; the guys that reach that rare air are tough, damned tough and hard. They are not like all the other boys and girls


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## doublejj (Dec 3, 2018)

Here's another choice duty assignment......Tunnel Rat


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 3, 2018)

doublejj said:


> Here's another choice duty assignment......Tunnel Rat


I know that is probably an authentic photo & somethings we take for granted in peace-time go out the window in times of necessity, but I can't help but notice the trigger finger, and I'm certain that that old series 70 is chambered and does not have an "ambi" thumb safety.

Once in the tunnel accidentally shooting dirt is not an issue.

Just the ramblings of a stoner, not being nit-picky.


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## doublejj (Dec 3, 2018)

For 18 months before the DDay invasion in WWII, the US Army's 8th Air Corps conducted bombing raids into Germany from England to weaken the German War machine and soften up the Luftwaffe for invasion. 26,000 American pilots and crew were lost in the air war over Europe, more than all the Marines lost in the entire war.....


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## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2018)

​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 7, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> ​


My very first thought when I woke up today was:
It's December 7th - Pearl Harbor day.

And I'll never forget the bunker/diesel smell around the Arizona memorial. : (


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## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> And I'll never forget the bunker/diesel smell around the Arizona memorial. : (


A powerful and somber memorial especially with USS Missouri standing guard over Arizona.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 7, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> A powerful and somber memorial especially with USS Missouri standing guard over Arizona.


A Sexier more awesome ship has never been built.


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## cannabineer (Dec 7, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> A Sexier more awesome ship has never been built.
> 
> View attachment 4245095


I'm partial to the USS _Joisey _myself.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 7, 2018)

I meant to say "A Sexier more awesome *class* of ship has never been built."


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## cannabineer (Dec 7, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I meant to say "A Sexier more awesome *class* of ship has never been built."


In that case "Iowa" you one


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## doublejj (Dec 7, 2018)




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## cannabineer (Dec 7, 2018)

Nice! Now all four vessels of the class have been mentioned!


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## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2018)

Did you catch the name on the breechblock?

I was reading that they still had (2016) 15,000 rounds of 16" in inventory and were soliciting bids to demil them.


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## too larry (Dec 7, 2018)

This was big news. This base is the backbone of Panama City.

https://www.wjhg.com/content/news/F-35-squadrons-coming-to-Tyndall-Air-Force-Base-post-Hurricane-Michael-502181001.html

The runways were about the only thing not damaged.

https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/michael/index.html#16/30.0707/-85.5835


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## BarnBuster (Dec 13, 2018)

"_Rolling Thunder’s annual roaring parade through the streets of the nation’s capital is coming to an end. Group organizers said this year’s planned motorcycle ride in May, expected to draw more than 1 million riders and spectators to the National Mall, will be the last time the large-scale demonstration is held, citing cost concerns."_

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/2018/12/13/rolling-thunder-ending-its-annual-dc-ride-due-to-cost-concerns/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New Campaign&utm_term=Editorial - Marine Corps - Daily News Roundup


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## BarnBuster (Dec 14, 2018)

Navy Seaman 2nd Class Charles C. Gom Navy Seaman 2nd Class Charles C. Gomez Jr.
​Remains of Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Gerald Clayton, of Central City, Nebraska have been accounted for on Sept.10.
Remains of Navy Seaman 2nd Class Charles C. Gomez Jr., of Slidell, Louisiana have been accounted for Sept.19.

_The DPPA announced Friday they had identified 2 sets of remains from the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB 37) sunk at Pearl Harbor. Remains were previously buried at the Punchbowl (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific) in Honolulu. In 2015, agency personnel began exhuming the remains for analysis, using new DNA technology, to identify those lost_.

(Oklahoma was the battleship that rapidly capsized after being struck by 9 aerial torpedoes, trapping 429 men below decks. She was later righted and being too damaged to return to service was sold for salvage. During the tow to the West coast she sank in a storm. Her exact coordinates were never reported and she remains lost.) bb

https://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Salvage of USS Oklahoma.pdf
https://www.okhistory.org/kids/ussok2.php


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## too larry (Dec 14, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Navy Seaman 2nd Class Charles C. Gom​Remains of Navy Storekeeper 2nd Class Gerald Clayton, of Central City, Nebraska have been accounted for on Sept.10.
> Remains of Navy Seaman 2nd Class Charles C. Gomez Jr., of Slidell, Louisiana have been accounted for Sept.19.
> 
> _The DPPA announced Friday they had identified 2 sets of remains from the battleship USS Oklahoma (BB 37) sunk at Pearl Harbor. Remains were previously buried at the Punchbowl (National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific) in Honolulu. In 2015, agency personnel began exhuming the remains for analysis, using new DNA technology, to identify those lost_.
> ...


I heard a story on NPR about them having new DNA tools that overcome the harsh embalming fluids the Japanese used on some of the POW dead. It is getting to the point, if they find a bone, they will find out who it was.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 15, 2018)

too larry said:


> I heard a story on NPR about them having new DNA tools that overcome the harsh embalming fluids the Japanese used on some of the POW dead. It is getting to the point, if they find a bone, they will find out who it was.


Thanks, Larry, I hadn't read that yet. Here's the story:
https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/675672396/major-project-to-identify-long-nameless-korean-war-dead-begins


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## curious2garden (Dec 15, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


> Thanks, Larry, I hadn't read that yet. Here's the story:
> https://www.npr.org/2018/12/13/675672396/major-project-to-identify-long-nameless-korean-war-dead-begins


This is a huge thing for the family members involved. My mother never stopped talking about the loss of her older brother and her hope he might be alive somewhere and finally that they would find his body. She told me about dreams she had where she would search the faces of returning sailors hoping to see him.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 15, 2018)

A parents love knows no bounds.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 15, 2018)




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## doublejj (Dec 15, 2018)

curious2garden said:


> This is a huge thing for the family members involved. My mother never stopped talking about the loss of her older brother and her hope he might be alive somewhere and finally that they would find his body. She told me about dreams she had where she would search the faces of returning sailors hoping to see him.


My mother (rip mom) was engaged to a sailor on the USS Arizona, and he's still there, they never found his body.....


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## BarnBuster (Dec 24, 2018)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 24, 2018)

BarnBuster said:


>


Too many times my friend, too many. . .


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## doublejj (Dec 24, 2018)




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## doublejj (Dec 24, 2018)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 28, 2018)

https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2018/12/28/richard-overton-nations-oldest-man-and-wwii-vet-dies-at-112/


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 28, 2018)

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/lewis-and-clarks-girandoni-air-rifle/

Can you imagine finding out you have the actual Lewis & Clark pneumatic rifle?
What a piece of history.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 29, 2018)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/military-history/lewis-and-clarks-girandoni-air-rifle/
> 
> Can you imagine finding out you have the actual Lewis & Clark pneumatic rifle? What a piece of history.


That's cool as heck NOW much less all those years ago. What a rarity. I see the name Beeman's mentioned. I have one of their air pistols (recent mfg), wonder if it's the same family. here's more on the Girandoni

http://www.beemans.net/images/Austrian airguns.htm
http://www.beemans.net/Lewis & Clark Airgun.htm
http://www.beemans.net/lewis-assault-rifle.htm


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## BarnBuster (Jan 1, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2018/12/28/richard-overton-nations-oldest-man-and-wwii-vet-dies-at-112/


Whiskey, cigars and ice cream every day!


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## BarnBuster (Jan 5, 2019)

*Five eyes, five arms, four legs, three congressmen*​
_As one veteran pointed out, that adds up to three all-American lawmakers. To celebrate the newly sworn-in 116th Congress, Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., posted a picture on Twitter with freshman Republican colleagues Reps. Jim Baird, R-Ind., and Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas. All three have been wounded in combat. Crenshaw, who became a household name after he was mocked on "SNL" and later went on the show himself, was injured by a bomb in Afghanistan, which took his right eye. He served 10 years as a Navy SEAL. Baird lost his left arm in the Vietnam War, and Mast lost both of his legs and a finger in an explosion in Afghanistan. Mast’s tweet underlines a scarcity in lawmakers with first-hand military knowledge and a potential disconnect American civilians have with the current conflicts._

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/five-eyes-five-arms-four-legs-three-congressmen-combat-veteran-welcomes-new-lawmakers


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## cannabineer (Jan 5, 2019)

Arrr-Texas


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## too larry (Jan 5, 2019)

In the last month or so Crenshaw reached out to the dude who mocked him on SNL. Turns out he suffers from depression and was in a dark place. It's a good thing when a light gets shone in those murky corners.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 5, 2019)




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## doublejj (Jan 5, 2019)

Donnie Dunagan is a decorated retired Marine. By the time he ended his 25-year long career in 1977, he held the rank of Major. During his service Dunagan was promoted 13 times, did three tours in Vietnam, received three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and at 18 years old was once the youngest drill sergeant in the Marines’ history.
However, while serving Donnie was always terrified that someone might find out his secret: as a child he was a successful actor appearing in seven films. Most notably, in 1942, Donnie voiced the title character of Disney’s classic and iconic film _Bambi.






_


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## whitebb2727 (Jan 5, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> That's cool as heck NOW much less all those years ago. What a rarity. I see the name Beeman's mentioned. I have one of their air pistols (recent mfg), wonder if it's the same family. here's more on the Girandoni
> 
> http://www.beemans.net/images/Austrian airguns.htm
> http://www.beemans.net/Lewis & Clark Airgun.htm
> http://www.beemans.net/lewis-assault-rifle.htm


I bring that air gun up in the second amendment argument that when it was written they could never imagine the guns we have now.

They strived for repeating arms back then. The goal has always been a better weapon.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 6, 2019)

​




​Jamal al-Badawi, the Yemeni al-Qaeda operative accused of organizing the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, has been killed in a U.S. airstrike. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and more than 40 others were injured in the Oct. 12, 2000, attack, in which al-Qaeda suicide bombers pulled up to the refueling destroyer in an explosives-laden boat and blasted a hole in its hull.

Badawi was sentenced to death by a Yemeni court in 2004, then had his sentence reduced to 15 years in prison. He made two successful jailbreaks in 2003 and 2006; after he surrendered in 2007, authorities in Yemen secretly made a deal to allow him to remain free in exchange for aiding in the search and capture of other al-Qaeda operatives.

News of the deal put a strain on relations between Yemen and the United States, where Badawi had been indicted by a federal grand jury on murder and terrorism charges and the State Department had offered a $5 million bounty for his capture.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 6, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4260802​
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Flush the terrorist toilet once again.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 9, 2019)

*Remains identified as those of sailor credited with saving 15 lives at Pearl Harbor*​
_By LEADA GORE | Alabama Media Group, Birmingham | Stars and Stripes Published: January 9, 2019_

_BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Tribune News Service) — DNA testing has identified the remains of an Alabama sailor killed at Pearl Harbor. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Navy Chief Warrant Officer John Arnold Austin of Warrior was accounted for in September 2018, 77 years after his death on board the USS Oklahoma._

_On Dec. 7, 1941, Austin was the Chief Warrant Officer on board the Oklahoma, moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits and quickly capsized. Austin, who had enlisted in the Navy in 1920 at the age of 15, was trapped with others on the ship but found a porthole beneath the water that provided an escape._

_He is credited with assisting 15 sailors in escaping the Oklahoma, though he himself failed to get out. Austin died alongside 428 of his fellow crewmen. He was 36-years-old._

_Austin was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross in recognition for actions that were in "keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.” “He gallantly gave his life for his country,” the commendation said. The USS Austin, an escort destroyer, is named in his honor._

_Austin’s remains were among those transported to Halawa and Nu’uana cemeteries during the war. In 1947, the American Graves Registration Service disinterred the remains of the U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries in an effort to confirm their identities. Only 35 of the men who died on board the Oklahoma were able to be identified at the time. The remaining 45 were buried at the National Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Hawaii. In 1949, Austin and the remaining sailors who could not be identified were listed as non-recoverable._

_In 2015, the Pentagon restarted efforts to identify the sailors from the USS Oklahoma and began exhuming their remains. Austin’s remains were later identified by scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System using mitochondrial DNA, dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence._

_More than 400,000 Americans were killed during World War II; 72,751 remain unaccounted for through 26,000 are considered to be possibly recoverable. Austin’s name is listed on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for._

*The Citation*​The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Chief Carpenter John Arnold Austin (NSN: 75565), United States Navy, for exceptional courage, presence of mind, and devotion to duty and disregard for his personal safety while serving on board the Battleship U.S.S. OKLAHOMA (BB-37), during the Japanese attack on the United States Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. When the U.S.S. OKLAHOMA capsized, Chief Carpenter Austin and a number of the crew were entrapped in one of the ship's compartments. By his efforts, a porthole which was under water was located and he assisted fifteen of the crew to escape. The conduct of Chief Carpenter Austin throughout this action reflects great credit upon himself, and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country

https://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Salvage of USS Oklahoma.pdf
http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/631/2/Salvage.pdf


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 9, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> *Remains identified as those of sailor credited with saving 15 lives at Pearl Harbor*​
> _By LEADA GORE | Alabama Media Group, Birmingham | Stars and Stripes Published: January 9, 2019_
> 
> _BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Tribune News Service) — DNA testing has identified the remains of an Alabama sailor killed at Pearl Harbor. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Navy Chief Warrant Officer John Arnold Austin of Warrior was accounted for in September 2018, 77 years after his death on board the USS Oklahoma._
> ...


Much respect to this man.
Odd that in the write up he is listed as a CWO yet the picture is clearly a USN's Chief's uniform (could be an older picture I guess) and the citation states his rank as Chief as well.

Posthumous promotion?


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## BarnBuster (Jan 10, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Much respect to this man.
> Odd that in the write up he is listed as a CWO yet the picture is clearly a USN's Chief's uniform (could be an older picture I guess) and the citation states his rank as Chief as well. Posthumous promotion?


Appears to be the only image on the web. I did find a promotion timeline:

_"Chief Warrant Officer Austin enlisted in the United States Navy on 20 November 1920. Between that time and 26 July 1935, he served four successive enlistments. On that date, Austin accepted an acting appointment as carpenter (warrant officer grade) and reported on board the submarine tender Canopus then serving as a unit of the Asiatic Fleet. On 8 August, he detached from the tender and reported for duty in Augusta. On 4 December 1935, Austin received a permanent warrant as a carpenter. He left the heavy cruiser on 13 July 1937 and reported on board Tennessee on 10 September 1937. He served in that battleship until detached on 14 June 1939 to proceed to further assignment to Rigel reporting on 18 July 1939. After 14 months in that destroyer tender, Carpenter Austin departed on 21 September 1940 bound for duty in Oklahoma and reported on board the battleship on 5 October 1940. In October 1941, Austin received a commission as chief carpenter (commissioned warrant officer)."_


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## BarnBuster (Jan 22, 2019)

​




_"We have to be out of the shelter by 8 a.m. I'm not going to just sit around,” he said. “I have diabetes and cancer and this work helps me physically. So here I am.”_​​


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## ttystikk (Jan 22, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _"We have to be out of the shelter by 8 a.m. I'm not going to just sit around,” he said. “I have diabetes and cancer and this work helps me physically. So here I am.”_​​


As compensation for his hard work, I vote he not only gets a livable pension but is offered the opportunity to bitch slap Trump on national television.


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## too larry (Jan 22, 2019)

In the "when it rains, it pours" category.

https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/01/22/tyndall-air-force-base-damaged-tornado-months-after-hit-hurricane.html


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## ttystikk (Jan 22, 2019)

too larry said:


> In the "when it rains, it pours" category.
> 
> https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/01/22/tyndall-air-force-base-damaged-tornado-months-after-hit-hurricane.html


Mother nature abhors military bases, it seems.


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## too larry (Jan 22, 2019)

ttystikk said:


> Mother nature abhors military bases, it seems.


Along with the a good swath of North Florida and Southwest Georgia, Northern Cali and Southern Oregon, etc, etc, etc.


----------



## Jack Kilgore (Jan 23, 2019)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Since this is the vet thread, can i post all my army stuff here?
> Even cell phone vids of shoveling charred bodies out of civilian trucks? Psyche. Not gonna post that but i might have some noteworthy stuff
> 
> I recorded one of my jumps on my phone. I have to find that phone though


Convenient. All of it.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 23, 2019)

Jack Kilgore said:


> Convenient. All of it.


That moron has been banned for like 4 years now.
He probably won't answer you.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 25, 2019)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 25, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4270671


I wish he had run for Prez - would have gotten my vote all day long over the witch and the clown.


----------



## ttystikk (Jan 25, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I wish he had run for Prez - would have gotten my vote all day long over the witch and the clown.


He's a general, which means he was smart enough to stay away.

When our best don't want the job, it bodes ill for our future.


----------



## doublejj (Jan 31, 2019)

*Navy to Honor First Female Fighter Pilot with Female-Piloted Flyover at Funeral.....*
https://news.usni.org/2019/01/30/navy-honor-first-female-fighter-pilot-female-piloted-flyover-funeral


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 31, 2019)

She is Bad Ass.
RIP Captain.


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## ttystikk (Feb 1, 2019)

doublejj said:


> *Navy to Honor First Female Fighter Pilot with Female-Piloted Flyover at Funeral.....*
> https://news.usni.org/2019/01/30/navy-honor-first-female-fighter-pilot-female-piloted-flyover-funeral


It will be the very first all female Honor flight. A fitting tribute to a pioneer.

The guys best check their six; I have a sneaking suspicion that women just might make better fighter pilots than men.


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## doublejj (Feb 2, 2019)

*Judge Orders Pentagon To Stop Discriminating Against Naturalized Citizen Soldiers*
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/02/690846720/judge-orders-pentagon-to-stop-discriminating-against-naturalized-citizen-soldier....
A federal judge in Seattle has ordered the Defense Department to stop discriminating against naturalized citizens who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army under a program to attract certain immigrants with specialized skills.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly ruled Thursday that the Pentagon may not require soldiers who are naturalized citizensto undergo "continuous monitoring," or security checks every two years, when such scrutiny is not applied to U.S.-born soldiers


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## ttystikk (Feb 2, 2019)

doublejj said:


> *Judge Orders Pentagon To Stop Discriminating Against Naturalized Citizen Soldiers*
> https://www.npr.org/2019/02/02/690846720/judge-orders-pentagon-to-stop-discriminating-against-naturalized-citizen-soldier....
> A federal judge in Seattle has ordered the Defense Department to stop discriminating against naturalized citizens who volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army under a program to attract certain immigrants with specialized skills.
> 
> U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly ruled Thursday that the Pentagon may not require soldiers who are naturalized citizensto undergo "continuous monitoring," or security checks every two years, when such scrutiny is not applied to U.S.-born soldiers


And while we're at it, how about granting the long promised citizenship to soldiers who volunteered serve our country, instead of deporting them?


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## doublejj (Feb 2, 2019)

*US Special Ops suicides triple in 2018*
Washington (CNN)Suicides among active duty military personnel assigned to US Special Operations Command tripled in 2018, in a disturbing and as yet unexplained spike, CNN has learned.
Special Operations units saw 22 deaths by suicide in 2018, almost triple the eight cases seen in 2017, according to figures provided to CNN by the command.
SOCOM, as it's known, is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations component of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force that take on counterterrorism and other specialized missions.....
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/02/politics/socom-military-suicide-spike-2018/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_latest+(RSS:+CNN+-+Most+Recent)


----------



## ttystikk (Feb 2, 2019)

doublejj said:


> *US Special Ops suicides triple in 2018*
> Washington (CNN)Suicides among active duty military personnel assigned to US Special Operations Command tripled in 2018, in a disturbing and as yet unexplained spike, CNN has learned.
> Special Operations units saw 22 deaths by suicide in 2018, almost triple the eight cases seen in 2017, according to figures provided to CNN by the command.
> SOCOM, as it's known, is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations component of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force that take on counterterrorism and other specialized missions.....
> https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/02/politics/socom-military-suicide-spike-2018/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+rss/cnn_latest+(RSS:+CNN+-+Most+Recent)


These people are casualties of an endless war, fought in the dark. They must be honored as such and we need to listen to what they're trying to tell us.


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## BarnBuster (Feb 5, 2019)

*Retired Maj. Gen. John Admire (right) handshakes retired Maj. Edward F. Wright (left) at Portland, Ore., Feb. 1, 2019. Wright was awarded the medal for his actions on Aug. 21, 1967. (Andy O. Martinez/U.S. Marine Corps)*​_A retired officer whose leadership helped save soldiers and Marines pinned down by North Vietnamese fighters in 1967 received the third-highest award for valor on Friday for his heroism more than five decades ago._

_Retired Maj. Edward Wright, who served with 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, was presented with the Silver Star 51 years after his heroic actions during the Vietnam War. The Lima Company platoon leader is credited with leading a 30-man reaction force against North Vietnamese fighters on Aug. 21, 1967, to save an Army convoy and other Marines after his own company commander's team was ambushed._

_"Lieutenant Wright expeditiously organized his platoon and led them on a rapid two-mile combat march to the ambush site," the Silver Star citation states. "Recognizing contact with the enemy was imminent, he tactically deployed his force into concealed positions moments before the enemy unleashed a ferocious attack with automatic weapons, rockets and grenades."

Despite the enemy fire, Wright and his men forged ahead. He tenaciously assaulted, the citation states, clearing enemy positions as he advanced toward hand-to-hand combat._

_






_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 5, 2019)

So why has it taken our country 51 years to recognize this mans actions?

That's pretty much UnSat in my book!


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## doublejj (Feb 5, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> So why has it taken our country 51 years to recognize this mans actions?
> 
> That's pretty much UnSat in my book!


so many actions like this went un-recognized in Vietnam. The war that nobody wants to remember.


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## ttystikk (Feb 5, 2019)

doublejj said:


> so many actions like this went un-recognized in Vietnam. The war that nobody wants to remember.


I remember. I was there.


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## BarnBuster (Feb 6, 2019)

I was lucky to run across a link to the full historical documentary “They Shall Not Grow Old” on a Reddit channel. I live streamed it and did not download. Some members mentioned they got a message from Malwarebytes, but I didn’t have any notifications or problems with my AV software. The quality is very very good, I was surprised.

The voices in the background as narrators are all WW1 veterans from the grave as it were, their comments being spliced into film as required. They were studio recorded in typical fine BBC fashion in 1964 when they were making the documentary series “The Great War”. The other voices and sound effects were masterfully added into the film. In instances where you can see men talking, the producers employed lip readers to actually figure out what the men were saying.

ALL of the film footage and stills are from the 1914-18 era and culled from 600 hours of archived Imperial War Museum film. NONE of the images are by re-enactors or staged. Please sit thru the first 23 minutes of the film. It is typical early 20th century, scratchy monochrome film. The transformation happens at min 24. You will not be disappointed in the breathtaking haunting 3D effect and will have to keep reminding yourself that these were IRL images. The lingering eye contact you make with the men is eerie. This is no half ass colorization of B&W footage either. Truly an outstanding technical achievement. bb.

https://nofile.io/f/Q02KHjMmhsX/tsngo-HD.mp4


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## doublejj (Feb 11, 2019)

Until I saw the video I thought for sure this song was written by the widow of a fallen soldier....the words struck me that way...


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## BarnBuster (Feb 12, 2019)

​_*The wreck of the World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8 has been discovered off the Solomon Islands by a research organization set up by the late billionaire Paul Allen.*

Hornet is best known for her role in the famous Doolittle raid on Japan in April 1942. The air attack was conceived in the wake of Pearl Harbor, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command, and was the first raid on the Japanese homeland by U.S. planes. While none of the 16 B-25 bombers launched from Hornet made it to their designated landing strip in China, the raid was an important boost to U.S. morale.

Hornet was sunk during the brutal battle of the Santa Cruz Islands that raged from Oct. 25 to Oct. 27, 1943. After enduring relentless attacks from Japanese bombers and torpedo planes, Hornet’s crew was forced to abandon ship, Allen’s organization noted. Attempts to scuttle the carrier by the U.S. Navy were unsuccessful and it took four torpedoes launch by two Japanese destroyers to finally sink Hornet in the late evening of Oct. 26. Out of her crew of almost 2,200, 111 sailors lost their lives in the battle





_
https://www.foxnews.com/science/wreck-of-wwii-aircraft-carrier-uss-hornet-discovered-in-the-south-pacific
https://news.usni.org/2019/02/12/41053


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## BarnBuster (Feb 13, 2019)

Dang, she screwed the pooch hard for this to happen after only two weeks 

_“Col. Derek O’Malley, 20th Fighter Wing commander, relieved Capt. Zoe Kotnik from command Feb. 11 due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead and command the Air Combat Command F-16 Viper demonstration team,” said Col. Allen Herritage, director of public affairs at ACC, in a statement._

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/02/12/first-female-viper-demo-team-pilot-relieved-after-two-weeks/

https://theaviationist.com/2019/02/12/usafs-first-female-f-16-demo-pilot-relieved-of-command-after-only-two-weeks/


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 13, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Dang, she screwed the pooch hard for this to happen after only two weeks
> 
> _“Col. Derek O’Malley, 20th Fighter Wing commander, relieved Capt. Zoe Kotnik from command Feb. 11 due to a loss of confidence in her ability to lead and command the Air Combat Command F-16 Viper demonstration team,” said Col. Allen Herritage, director of public affairs at ACC, in a statement._
> 
> ...


Career ending.


----------



## Singlemalt (Feb 13, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Career ending.


Too bad too. She (or a male with equal experience) was too inexperienced. That duty is akin to precision stunt/test pilot, not fighter pilot.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 13, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Career ending.


Yep, she's done.

Wish they would have detailed a bit more info, I'd like to know what the reasoning is for the "Lack of confidence" but us commoners will probably will never know.


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 14, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Yep, she's done.
> Wish they would have detailed a bit more info, I'd like to know what the reasoning is for the "Lack of confidence" but us commoners will probably will never know.


Yes I would have liked to know that also. You know, in such a premier high visibilty slot (and being the first woman to boot), I would have thought she would have been vetted very (read extra) carefully on her flying and fitness to command skills and would have had stellar OPR's. I would hate to think Command put her in the role to fail so they could say..see..

_"Officials have not offered details into what prompted the decision, but Col O'Malley noted she had made "mistakes". She will still serve in a non-supervisory role with the 20th Fighter Wing at the Shaw base in South Carolina. Capt Kotnik's predecessor Maj John Waters has resumed command of the team"
_
https://www.shaw.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/1756017/major-john-waters/
https://www.shaw.af.mil/About-Us/Biographies/Display/Article/1743628/capt-zoe-m-kotnik/
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/26479/commander-that-fired-zoe-kotnik-from-f-16-demo-team-made-this-crass-video-15-years-ago


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## too larry (Feb 18, 2019)

We lost a little bit of Americana.







https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-times-square-kiss-photo-sailor-death-20190218-story.html


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 19, 2019)

too larry said:


> We lost a little bit of Americana.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


He'd be arrested for that in this day & age. : (


----------



## Laughing Grass (Feb 19, 2019)

the statue commemorating this was vandalized today 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wwii-sailor-kissing-nurse-statue-unconditional-surrender-vandalized-with-metoo-in-sarasota-florida-one-day-after-george-mendonsa-dies/


----------



## cannabineer (Feb 19, 2019)

Laughing Grass said:


> the statue commemorating this was vandalized today
> 
> https://www.cbsnews.com/news/wwii-sailor-kissing-nurse-statue-unconditional-surrender-vandalized-with-metoo-in-sarasota-florida-one-day-after-george-mendonsa-dies/


boo hiss


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## BarnBuster (Feb 19, 2019)

​_"On March 1st, 2019, Maj. Thomas Bostick will have his Silver Star award posthumously upgraded to the Army's second-highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross, according to the Pentagon. Bostick led B Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade and was previously awarded the Silver Star for his heroic acts during an insurgent attack in Afghanistan in 2007.

He'll be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross at Fort Carson, Colorado."_

His Silver Star Citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Silver Star (Posthumously) to Major (Infantry) Thomas Gordon Bostick, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism under enemy fire while serving with Troop B, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry Regiment, 173d Airborne Brigade, during combat operations on 27 July 2007, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM VII, near Saret Koleh, Afghanistan. Major Bostick's leadership, courage under fire, and ultimate sacrifice in defense of his men saved the lives of the soldiers in his command post and that of many in his cavalry troop. His remarkable courage and valor reflect great credit upon himself, B Troop, Task Force SABER, Combined Task Force Bayonet, CJTF-82, and the United States Army. NARRATIVE TO ACCOMPANY AWARD: For extraordinary heroism during military operations against a hostile force in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, on 27 July 2007. Major Bostick, while in command of B Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry (Airborne), and without regard to his own personal safety, placed himself in front of an overwhelming enemy force to provide covering fire to enable the Paratroopers in his command post to displace to more defensible terrain. He willingly sacrificed his life so they could live. Major Bostick skillfully arrayed his forces throughout the battlespace. His keen insight in selecting positions for his observation posts enabled his Troop to defeat a numerically superior force that occupied a series of positions on dominating terrain overlooking MSR STETSON. Major Bostick received a report from the Afghan National Army Soldiers that a large force of 100 fighters was moving from the east to his position. As his lead elements moved into position, one of his observation posts in depth began to take small arms fire. He employed direct fires, indirect fires, and close air support flawlessly to defeat that attack. Major Bostick maneuvered his quick reaction force forward to conduct operations to recover 3 casualties and evacuate them to the MEDEVAC HLZ. After a lull in the battle, the enemy reinforced their attack on Major Bostick's forward positions, engaging from three different locations. Once Again, Major Bostick employed direct and indirect fires in combination with CAS with exceptional skill, silencing several enemy positions and enabling his lead platoon to maneuver to better defensive positions. As the fire increased in accuracy and volume on his own position, Major Bostick directed his C2 element to displace. Located on a steep slope above the road, his position began to take well-aimed, effective fire. As the fire intensified, his JTAC and RTO assisted the other elements of his CP negotiating the loose surface on the side of the mountain. Major Bostick positioned himself directly between those Soldiers and the enemy, shielding them from the rounds while firing his personal weapon to cover their move. During this action his position was engaged with overwhelming small arms and RPG fire that took his life. His actions provided his small element those precious few seconds necessary to gain their footing and negotiate the steep terrain in order to seek cover and survive the attack. Major Bostick's quick decisions to reposition forces, expert use of CAS and indirect fire, and final sacrifice to provide covering fire for his command post enabled B Troop to break the enemy attack inflicting severe punishment on a numerically superior enemy force. Major Bostick's extraordinary gallantry in placing himself in mortal danger against heavy and accurate enemy fire saved the lives of his command post and proved decisive in the protection of his Troop. His combat leadership, which led to the success of B Troop, 1st Squadron, 91st Cavalry (Airborne), Task Force SABER, Combined Task Force Bayonet, and CJTV-82, in Afghanistan, will serve as a timeless example of heroism under fire.


----------



## too larry (Feb 22, 2019)

Just saw this on the news. Was the first I had heard of it. An aircrew crash landed in trees to keep from hitting a bunch of English kids.

https://www.stripes.com/news/they-could-have-saved-themselves-flyover-in-england-honors-memory-of-wwii-aircrew-credited-with-saving-british-kids-1.569744


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 23, 2019)




----------



## too larry (Feb 23, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


>


Anyone having trouble seeing the picture click reply.


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## Singlemalt (Feb 23, 2019)

too larry said:


> Anyone having trouble seeing the picture click reply.


Pics aren't working, the site is glitchy again. Vids seem to work for now


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## curious2garden (Feb 24, 2019)

too larry said:


> Just saw this on the news. Was the first I had heard of it. An aircrew crash landed in trees to keep from hitting a bunch of English kids.
> 
> https://www.stripes.com/news/they-could-have-saved-themselves-flyover-in-england-honors-memory-of-wwii-aircrew-credited-with-saving-british-kids-1.569744


One thing I vividly remembered from pilot training was my instructors emphasizing that we chose to be up here so if we were going to crash don't involve the 'civilians'. Every flight involved some discussion of choosing crash sites. I wonder if they still do that today?


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## doublejj (Feb 24, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> One thing I vividly remembered from pilot training was my instructors emphasizing that we chose to be up here so if we were going to crash don't involve the 'civilians'. Every flight involved some discussion of choosing crash sites. I wonder if they still do that today?


Yes, it was taught in my flight training. One of the things a pilot is constantly doing is surveying the terrain ahead for potential emergency landing sites.


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## too larry (Feb 28, 2019)

Looks like Sully got a new gig.

https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2019/02/28/hospital-corpsman-2nd-class-sully-quickly-advanced-to-fill-critical-service-dog-billet/


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## BarnBuster (Mar 6, 2019)

_"Retired Chief Master Sergeant Dorothy Holmes blazed many trails during her three decades in the Air Force._

_She was the first black woman to reach the Air Force’s highest enlisted rank. She was the first woman to retire with 30 years of continuous service in the Air Force. And she was the first female chief master sergeant to be assigned to the Air Force Academy._

_She played a crucial role in integrating female cadets into the previously all-male Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs. She received the Legion of Merit for her work at the academy, and her other decorations included the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal._

_Holmes passed away on Feb. 17 at the age of 91."_


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## too larry (Mar 7, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _"Retired Chief Master Sergeant Dorothy Holmes blazed many trails during her three decades in the Air Force._
> 
> _She was the first black woman to reach the Air Force’s highest enlisted rank. She was the first woman to retire with 30 years of continuous service in the Air Force. And she was the first female chief master sergeant to be assigned to the Air Force Academy._
> 
> ...


I'm glad they told us she was black, because just looking at the picture I wouldn't have known. I guess old black and white pictures are not good at black and white?


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## BarnBuster (Mar 9, 2019)

Don't know how I missed this, back in Oct., Sig presented U.S. Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment Tomb Guard Sentinels their new unique presentation M17 pistols.







https://www.sigsauer.com/press-releases/sig-sauer-to-present-ceremonial-m17-pistols-to-u-s-armys-3rd-u-s-infantry-regiment-the-old-guard-for-the-tomb-of-the-unknown-soldier/
https://www.guns.com/news/2018/10/15/special-sig-sauer-m17s-join-guard-at-tomb-of-the-unknowns-photos


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 14, 2019)

* Another sunken U.S. warship discovered in the South Pacific *

CBSNews


Deep sea explorers found the USS Hornet in the South Pacific earlier this year, but the Hornet was not the only ship located on that expedition. In the latest update for the American Naval history books, the research vessel Petrel revealed it also found the World War II aircraft carrier USS Wasp.
We're 2.5 miles down, peering inside the cockpit of an avenger torpedo bomber from the sunken World War II aircraft carrier, USS Wasp. The plane is not just a relic, it's a clue, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. Can the Wasp itself be far away?

The Wasp was part of the ferocious 1942 air and sea battle for the strategic South Pacific island of Guadalcanal. Jim Forrester, 98 years old now, was 21 on the Wasp that day.

"All of a sudden we got hit with torpedoes," Forrester recounted. "Imagine yourself lifted right up out of your chair right now."





© CBS News ctm-0314-uss-wasp-ship-hunt.jpg One of the torpedoes had hit the fuel tanks, and the ship was an inferno. One-hundred-seventy-six of her crew were dead – the rest were ordered to abandon ship. "I grabbed my nose and the family jewels and—" Forrester started.

"And jumped into the Pacific?" Philips asked.


"Yes," Forrester said.

The Wasp had been lost for almost 77 years. But the deep water research vessel, Petrel, combed the Pacific looking for long-lost war wrecks. In January, CBS News watched mission leader, Rob Kraft, and his crew find another carrier, the USS Hornet.

"I saw where they had found the Hornet, and I said, 'Well, take a look over on the other side and you'll find the Wasp!'" Forrester said. 

It's almost like the searchers were listening. The Petrel crew found the Wasp on the other side of Guadalcanal, more or less, where Forrester said it was. She was a mere 2.5 miles down, so a mile less deep than Hornet. But the Wasp was actually harder to find because the research on where she sank was less clear. "As they say, you gotta be good to be lucky. But were you more lucky or more good?" Phillips asked.

"We did our best in analyzing the data, coming up with the best possible sinking location for her, and it turned out to be accurate," Kraft said. Luck, skill, or a little of each, we showed Forrester what they found. To him it was more than an old wreck. "It was home to me," Forrester said.

"Of course, we're looking at more than just a wreck there, we're looking at a war grave as well?" Phillips asked.

"Yeah," Forrester said. "I lost two real good friends. They were aviation ordnance men and they probably were down in the magazines where the bombs were stored."

Where they didn't stand a chance. Forrester went on to a remarkable 30 Navy career, rising from enlisted man to Navy commander. "The ultimate satisfaction is… you get to see the humanity side of it," Kraft said. "And you know, bringing history to life."

It starts as a technical exercise and then becomes about people.

Now she's been found, the Navy's latest memorial and war grave – and a protected one. To deter potential scavengers, Wasp's exact location is known only to the Navy and the people who found her.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 15, 2019)




----------



## curious2garden (Mar 15, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> * Another sunken U.S. warship discovered in the South Pacific *
> 
> CBSNews
> 
> ...


I wonder when they will find the Jarvis.


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 16, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> I wonder when they will find the Jarvis.


Perhaps the first warship to return fire on the invaders, 07DEC41, her gunners claiming 4 planes.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 16, 2019)

missed this date


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## BarnBuster (Mar 21, 2019)

*Retired Sgt. Daniel Cowart salutes at the close of a Distinguished Service Cross ceremony in his honor on March 20 at Fort Hood, Texas. Cowart received an upgrade from the Silver Star medal after a review of his actions on May 13, 2007, in Samarra, Iraq. 
ROSE L. THAYER/STARS AND STRIPES *​
His Silver Star Citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Daniel E. Cowart, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving as a Team Leader in the 1st Platoon, Company D, 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, during combat operations in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, on 13 May 2007, near Samarra, Iraq.
On that date, while on a combat patrol, a vehicle fitting the description of one used by insurgents placing roadside bombs approached the patrol. After a series of warnings, the passengers refused to get out and Sergeant Cowart, with his lieutenant and a comrade, exited their vehicle. Two of the insurgents dismounted and fired at the officer, and the driver of the insurgent vehicle then exited and also attempted to attack the officer, but was tackled by Sergeant Cowart. As Sergeant Cowart engaged in a vicious hand-to-hand struggle with the insurgent driver, the lieutenant began firing. Unknown to Sergeant Cowart the enemy driver was wearing a vest laden with explosives, which subsequently detonated, killing his lieutenant and wounding him in the leg.
Due to his ability to process tactical situations instantaneously and his utter disregard for his own safety, Sergeant Cowart was able to correctly maneuver himself and his men into a position of advantage and, through his tactical know-how, use of terrain, and personal courage, he was able to save the lives of two of his comrades at the cost of his own leg.
Sergeant Cowart gallant actions and dedicated devotion to duty, without regard for his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 1st Cavalry Division, and the United States Army.

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/i-think-about-those-events-every-day-retired-army-sergeant-receives-upgraded-distinguished-service-cross-1.573522


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 21, 2019)

SMFH - I can't fathom the cluelessness of this person.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=202&v=tTqumKNphXM


----------



## scumrot derelict (Mar 21, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> SMFH - I can't fathom the cluelessness of this person.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=202&v=tTqumKNphXM


What a complete and utter dickhole.


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2019)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 25, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


>


+ Rep


----------



## doublejj (Mar 25, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


>


I've had the pleasure and honor to meet MOH recipient Clarence Sasser in person. He spoke to us on Army Medic school graduation day. Such a humble man. It was humbling to be in his presence. I was inspired by him and got assigned to the same unit he was in....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 26, 2019)

doublejj said:


> I've had the pleasure and honor to meet MOH recipient Clarence Sasser in person. He spoke to us on Army Medic school graduation day. Such a humble man. It was humbling to be in his presence. I was inspired by him and got assigned to the same unit he was in....


Wow!
I'd really like to meet him & shake his hand but I'm sure he'd get a respectful salute first.


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## wascaptain (Mar 27, 2019)

best seat in the house!


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 27, 2019)

_"Today, Staff Sgt. Travis W. Atkins, of Bozeman, Mont., posthumously became the fifth U.S. service member to receive the nation’s highest award for combat valor, the Medal of Honor, for actions during the Iraq War.

Atkins’s son, Trevor Oliver, accepted the award on behalf of his late father from President Trump, who highlighted how Atkins, then 31, died June 1, 2007, saving the lives of the three other soldiers by smothering a suicide vest.

“In his final moments on earth, Travis did not run. He didn’t know what it was to run," Trump said. “He laid down his life to save the lives of his fellow warriors.”

The case highlights the Pentagon’s longtime struggles to fully recognize some of the U.S. military’s most highly regarded modern-day heroes -- and underscores the likelihood that the Pentagon may soon belatedly award other service members the nation’s highest combat decoration. For his actions, Atkins was initially given the Army's second-highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross. Now that award has been upgraded to a Medal of Honor.

To date, no living service member or veteran has received the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq. Seventeen Americans have been awarded Medals of Honor for actions in Afghanistan, including four posthumous awards."
_

His Distinguished Service Cross Citation:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918 (amended by act of July 25, 1963), takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Staff Sergeant Travis W. Atkins, United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with Company D, 2d Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2d Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, on 1 June 2007. Staff Sergeant Atkins distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry at the cost of his life in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. While conducting route security in the town of Abu Sarnak, Iraq, Staff Sergeant Atkins apprehended and began to search a group of suspected insurgents. However, one insurgent resisted and engaged Staff Sergeant Atkins in hand-to-hand combat. As Staff Sergeant Atkins attempted to subdue the man, he realized the insurgent was attempting to trigger a suicide vest which he wore under his clothing. Despite Staff Sergeant Atkins' efforts, the insurgent finally succeeded in reaching his vest. Staff Sergeant Atkins selflessly tackled the suicide bomber in a bear hug, pinning him to the ground and shielding his Soldiers from the imminent explosion. In this critical and selfless act of valor in which he was mortally wounded, Staff Sergeant Atkins saved the lives of three other Soldiers who were with him and gallantly gave his life for his country. Staff Sergeant Atkins' undaunted courage, warrior spirit and steadfast devotion to duty reflect great credit upon himself, the 2d Brigade Combat Team, and the United States Army.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-awards-a-posthumous-medal-of-honor-to-army-staff-sgt-trevor-atkins
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/03/27/travis-atkins-died-smothering-suicide-bombers-blast-iraq-now-hell-receive-medal-honor/?utm_term=.8c88fa5cfaa0
https://www.stripes.com/news/army/2-men-confronted-suicide-bombers-and-saved-lives-but-only-1-got-medal-of-honor-1.378844


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## BarnBuster (Mar 28, 2019)

*A petty officer currently stationed at Dutch Harbor, Alaska, is the first Coast Guardsman since 2012 to be awarded the prestigious Coast Guard Medal for heroism. *_*Given to military members serving with the Coast Guard for heroism in a situation not involving contact with the enemy, the medal was presented to Petty Officer 2nd Class Traci Huddleston for her "extraordinary heroism" during the mass shooting in Las Vegas on Oct. 1, 2017. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz presented it March 26, 2019 during a ceremony at the annual USO Metro Gala in Washington, D.C.*

Huddleston described her actions during the shooting as being in "just the wrong place, wrong time, but also right place, right time."

The shooting killed 58 concertgoers and injured 850 others. According to the medal citation, Huddleston disregarded her own safety to guide others to cover and then spent hours providing first aid and assisting other victims before other help arrived.

"Recognizing there was no place to take cover from the hail of gunfire raining down on the crowd, she demonstrated incredible courage and composure by immediately guiding a nearby 14-year-old to the ground, using her body to shield her from the gunfire," according to the citation. "Without concern for her own safety, she attended to the girl's mother who was suffering from bullet wounds to her neck and body."

Tragically, the woman died from her wounds. With danger still imminent, Huddleston kept moving.

Huddleston guided the girl to areas of cover between gunfire bursts, according to her citation, and ultimately guided a group of concertgoers to safety at a restaurant more than a mile away. There, she provided first aid for five hours, the citation adds.

"Petty Officer Huddleston demonstrated remarkable initiative, exceptional fortitude, and daring in spite of imminent personal danger," the citation states. "Her courage and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard."

Huddleston said she was notified about a week ago that she would receive the award during the gala.

"I still just feel in shock from everything," she said after the ceremony. "It's an honor, for sure."

The award was last presented in 2012, when it was given posthumously to Senior Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne, who was killed after throwing himself in front of a shipmate to protect him from an oncoming vessel._

_Huddleston also previously received the USO's George Van Cleve Military Leadership medal during the organization's 2018 USO Armed Forces Gala in Manhattan, New York.
_


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## BarnBuster (Mar 31, 2019)

*From EOD to E.O.D. - One Soldier's Story of Triumph Through Chocolate*
*28 March 2019*
_*
Santa Rosa Beach, Florida *EOD Staff Sgt. Aaron Hale, soldier turned chocolatier, was recently featured in the Fox Nation series "Building Homes for Heroes." Six years ago, he was the recipient of a mortgage-free house from the non-profit Building Homes for Heroes, following his return from Afghanistan where he was blinded and severely injured in an IED detonation.

The IED incident, occurred on December 8, 2011 as Hale was approaching an IED when it detonated and sent shrapnel flying, breaking his facial bones, causing severe burns on his face and upper thighs, a cracked skull and a near-severed carotid artery. He also lost his eyesight in the blast.

In recovery, he began running, white water kayaking, and mountain climbing. When he returned home he suffered bacterial meningitis as a result of his prior injuries and as a result, he almost lost his life and was completely deaf two weeks later. During this difficult time, he distracted himself by baking and soon 'Extra Ordinary Delights' (E.O.D.) Confections was born. The company sells fudge, chocolate confections, candied apples, pecan pie tarts, chocolate and pecan-caramel glazed popcorn, sea salt gophers, sea salt caramels, nuts and more.

Hale, now a master chocolatier, works with his wife, McKayla, who together have grown EOD Confections into a commercial enterprise with corporate clients and growing online sales._

(His treats are really good, kinda pricey, but, well... fuck it ) bb 
https://eodfudge.com/products


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## BarnBuster (Apr 1, 2019)




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## curious2garden (Apr 1, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


>


LOL the year of being late


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## doublejj (Apr 1, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


>


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## BarnBuster (Apr 2, 2019)

_"The Third Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Breakthrough at Petersburg or the Fall of Petersburg, was fought on April 2, 1865, south and southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, at the end of the 292-day Richmond–Petersburg Campaign (sometimes called the Siege of Petersburg) and in the beginning stage of the Appomattox Campaign near the conclusion of the American Civil War.

*Fifty-two soldiers earn Medals on Honor on this day at Petersburg, Virginia.

On April 6, 1865, fifty-six soldiers earn Medals of Honor at Deatonsville (Sailor’s Creek), VA. Among them on this day was 2d Lt. Thomas Custer who earned his second Medal of Honor, becoming the only Army man in the Civil War to receive two."*_

(The criteria for issuance of the MOH during the Civil War were different than later years and Congress set down guidelines in 1918 to clear away any inconsistencies of the legislation which had grown around the medal and to finalize rules for its award. 911 MOH’s were invalidated of the 2,625 that were issued during the US Civil War. Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors (Flag) and advancing. None of these Medals were invalidated as the Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. Battle fought Flags always command premium prices when they rarely appear at auction. bb)

https://www.nps.gov/anti/learn/historyculture/flags.htm
https://www.thoughtco.com/flags-importance-in-the-civil-war-1773716


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## theodericthegreat (Apr 8, 2019)

whats up fuck sticks!


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2019)




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## BarnBuster (Apr 9, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


>


Roy was something


BarnBuster said:


> On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife.
> 
> He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head.
> 
> ...


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## doublejj (Apr 9, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Roy was something


Roy was a medic......


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 9, 2019)

doublejj said:


> Roy was a medic......


And a Fucking STUD!


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## BarnBuster (Apr 9, 2019)

A legendary chapter in Air Force history has come to a close.

Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole, the last survivor of the “Doolittle Raid,” died April 9, in San Antonio.

“Lt. Col. Dick Cole reunited with the Doolittle Raiders in the clear blue skies today,” said Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson. “My heart goes out to his friends and family as our Air Force mourns with them. We will honor him and the courageous Doolittle Raiders as pioneers in aviation who continue to guide our bright future.”

On April 18, 1942, the U.S. Army Air Forces and the Doolittle Raiders attacked Tokyo in retaliation for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which boosted American morale in the early months of World War II. The Doolittle Raid was the United States’ first counterattack on the Japanese mainland after Pearl Harbor. Eighty U.S. Army Air Forces airmen in 16 modified B-25B Mitchell bombers launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet, about 650 nautical miles east of Japan, to strike Tokyo. While it only caused minor damage, the mission boosted morale on the U.S. homefront a little more than four months after Pearl Harbor, and sent a signal to the Japanese people not only that the U.S. was ready to fight back but also that it could strike the Japanese mainland.

“There’s another hole in our formation,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein. “Our last remaining Doolittle Raider has slipped the surly bonds of Earth, and has reunited with his fellow Raiders. And what a reunion they must be having. Seventy-seven years ago this Saturday, 80 intrepid Airmen changed the course of history as they executed a one-way mission without hesitation against enormous odds. We are so proud to carry the torch he and his fellow Raiders handed us.”

When Cole retired, his list of decorations included the DFC with two oak leaf clusters, the Bronze Star, and the Air Force Commendation Medal. In 2014, President Obama presented Cole and three other Raiders the Congressional Gold Medal at the White House.

http://www.doolittleraider.com
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/untold-story-vengeful-japanese-attack-doolittle-raid-180955001/


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## curious2garden (Apr 9, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> A legendary chapter in Air Force history has come to a close.
> 
> Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” E. Cole, the last survivor of the “Doolittle Raid,” died April 9, in San Antonio.
> 
> ...


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## BarnBuster (Apr 11, 2019)

*Missing In America Project*
*"It's The Right Thing To Do!"*​*
Why We're Here*
The purpose of the MIA Project is to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed cremated remains of American veterans through the joint efforts of private, state and federal organizations. To provide honor and respect to those who have served this country by securing a final resting place for these forgotten heroes.

The Missing in America Veterans Recovery Program (MIAP) (EIN: 20-8408832) is a Federal recognized Non-Profit Veterans Organization for the identification, location, verification, and movement of Veterans and their Dependents.

*Working Together to Accomplish Our Goals*
The initial focus of the MIA Project will be a massive, nation-wide effort to locate, identify and inter the unclaimed remains of forgotten veterans. This task will be executed through the combined, cooperative efforts of members of the American Legion, other volunteer service and veteran organizations, local Funeral Homes, State Funeral Commissions, State and National Veterans Administration Agencies, and the State and National Veterans Cemetery Administrations. Local, state and national laws must be followed in the identification, claiming process and proper interment of the unclaimed remains of forgotten veterans.

*Our Progress to Date*

*Total Funeral Homes Visited - 2,328
Cremains Found - 19,365
Veterans Cremains Identified - 4,233
Veterans Interred - 3,920*

https://www.foxnews.com/us/missing-in-america-project-buries-42-unclaimed-veterans-in-texas-and-florida
https://www.miap.us

*https://www.miap.us/Donation.html*


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## BarnBuster (Apr 11, 2019)

An aftermath of the Doolittle Raid I hadn't heard about until now. 

*The American Doolittle Raid And The Brutal Japanese Reprisals*​INSTANT ARTICLESWORLD WAR II Apr 10, 2019 Jay Hemmings
_
On April 18, 1942, Doolittle led the raid on the Japanese homeland, bombing a number of Japanese cities with 16 B-25 bombers. The raid, totally unexpected by the Japanese, was a success. Most of the bombers, after passing over Japan, landed in the Chinese provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi._

_Much of China was occupied by Japan at this time, and as a result of the brutality of their invasion, the Japanese occupiers were much hated by the Chinese. Consequently, local Chinese peasants helped many of the American airmen after they crash-landed their bombers on Chinese soil.

The Japanese response to the Doolittle Raid was swift and brutal. In a campaign called the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign, 180,000 troops of the Japanese Army’s China Expeditionary Force set out not only to find the American airmen but also to punish anyone they suspected of aiding them in any way._

_What followed was on a par with the Rape of Nanjing in terms of violence, bloodshed, and savagery. Japanese troops swept through the provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangxi. They managed to capture eight US airmen, of whom they executed three. The worst horrors, though, were suffered by the Chinese civilian population.

When Japanese troops arrived in a town or village in Zhejiang and Jiangxi, they presumed guilt and complicity with the US airmen on the part of the entire village. This applied to men, women, and children all the way down to domestic animals, regardless of whether any US airmen had even been anywhere near the settlement.

The sentence the Japanese troops imposed for this crime of suspected complicity was death.

The atrocities committed en-masse by the Japanese forces were witnessed by a number of foreign Christian missionaries who lived in some of these villages and towns. One, Father Wendelin Dunker, described the Japanese horrors with chilling clarity:

“they shot any man, woman, child, cow, hog, or just about anything that moved, they raped any woman from the ages of 10 – 65, and before burning the town they thoroughly looted it.”

On June 11, the Japanese troops moved from villages and small towns to the city of Nanchang which had a population of around 50,000.

After surrounding Nanchang so that none of the inhabitants could escape, they took the city in an orgy of bloodshed, rape, murder, and looting. The Japanese troops rounded up 800 women and imprisoned them in a warehouse, in which they were repeatedly raped. Men were summarily killed on the streets, and the city was looted.

The Japanese occupied the city for around a month in a reign of barbarous violence and horrific bloodshed and brutality, before burning the entire city down. The process of burning Nanchang took three days; the troops wanted to make sure that they left nothing of it standing but charred rubble.

Other towns and cities in these provinces were taken in a similar fashion, with the Japanese troops laying waste to everything and conducting a campaign of wanton terror, destruction, and looting. In some regions, eighty percent of all homes were destroyed, and the majority of the population were left destitute.

The Japanese troops who participated in the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign did not stop at rape, torture, and murder, though. In August, members of Japan’s secret biological and chemical weapons division, Unit 731, attacked the region in a more insidious but equally devastating manner.

Realizing that once they had left the area, it would be reoccupied by both Chinese troops and civilians, Unit 731 poisoned wells, springs, and water sources with cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and paratyphoid bacteria. They also infected food and water rations with these pathogens, leaving them where hungry Chinese troops and civilians would find them.

They even released plague-carrying fleas into the fields.

*All in all, it is estimated that 250,000 Chinese civilians lost their lives in this campaign of wanton brutality and bloodshed. Yet another tragedy of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign was that few of the troops and officers involved were ever prosecuted for the egregious war crimes that were committed during this campaign.*

Field Marshal Shunroku Hata, who orchestrated the campaign, was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment but was paroled in 1954.

Perhaps equally sadly, this campaign of terror has largely been forgotten in the West’s remembering of the Second World War."_


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## too larry (Apr 11, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> . . . . . . . . . . . ._Perhaps equally sadly, this campaign of terror has largely been forgotten in the West’s remembering of the Second World War."_


Most of the bad stuff that happened to others was forgotten pretty quickly on this side of the Pacific. But you can be assured the Chinese remember. 

But much of history is never taught anyway. Ask folks who had killed more of the German Army, and they will almost all say the good ole USA. When in fact, 9 of every 10 German soldiers that were killed were killed by the Red Army. No history book is going to say, "we waited until they were on their knees, then we hit them from behind."


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## doublejj (Apr 11, 2019)

too larry said:


> Most of the bad stuff that happened to others was forgotten pretty quickly on this side of the Pacific. But you can be assured the Chinese remember.
> 
> But much of history is never taught anyway. Ask folks who had killed more of the German Army, and they will almost all say the good ole USA. When in fact, 9 of every 10 German soldiers that were killed were killed by the Red Army. No history book is going to say, "we waited until they were on their knees, then we hit them from behind."


The US was fighting the Japanese at the same time as fighting the germans. The russians had the germans and we took on the japanese almost by ourselves. How many japanese did the russians kill?....war is hell


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## too larry (Apr 11, 2019)

doublejj said:


> The US was fighting the Japanese at the same time as fighting the germans. The russians had the germans and we took on the japanese almost by ourselves. How many japanese did the russians kill?....war is hell


No doubt. The war in the Pacific was more than enough. We did the smart thing by waiting on Europe. I'm just saying that is not what is taught.

My dad was in a German POW camp the last six months of the war. The Red Army got there to liberate them a couple of days ahead of the Americans. He said that when the guards saw it was going to be the Russians, they all shucked their uniforms and tried to blend in with the refugees.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 11, 2019)

too larry said:


> He said that when the guards saw it was going to be the Russians,* they all shucked their uniforms and tried to blend in with the refugees*.


They shouldn't have been hard to spot language aside - just look for the well fed guys.


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## too larry (Apr 11, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> They shouldn't have been hard to spot language aside - just look for the well fed guys.


The camp was in Germany, but with two Armies closing in, everyone was trying to be somewhere else.

Well fed is a good point. Daddy never ate potato peels after the war. Potato peel soup was a big part of their diet in the camp.


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## doublejj (Apr 11, 2019)

too larry said:


> The camp was in Germany, but with two Armies closing in, everyone was trying to be somewhere else.
> 
> Well fed is a good point. Daddy never ate potato peels after the war. Potato peel soup was a big part of their diet in the camp.


I'll never eat WWII c-rations again....


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## too larry (Apr 11, 2019)

doublejj said:


> I'll never eat WWII c-rations again....


lol The wife and I did have MRE's for supper last night. I turned down a lot and still have about 4 cases left from the hurricane.


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## doublejj (Apr 11, 2019)

too larry said:


> lol The wife and I did have MRE's for supper last night. I turned down a lot and still have about 4 cases left from the hurricane.


MRE's are a banquet compared to c-rats


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## too larry (Apr 11, 2019)

doublejj said:


> MRE's are a banquet compared to c-rats


Yes, I had a few back in the day. I was in the Navy 81-83, so the odds are I ate some made about the time you were in.


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## Singlemalt (Apr 11, 2019)

doublejj said:


> MRE's are a banquet compared to c-rats


I can't(won't) eat any canned meat (other than spam) product. Shit like Dinty Moore beef stew , just the smell gives me the heebie jeebies


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## too larry (Apr 11, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> I can't(won't) eat any canned meat (other than spam) product. Shit like Dinty Moore beef stew , just the smell gives me the heebie jeebies


Now Spam comes in the single serve plastic pouch. Or as hikers call them, meat push pops.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 11, 2019)

doublejj said:


> MRE's are a banquet compared to c-rats


My first unit in the CG was an isolated duty LORAN "A" station in the Aleutian islands in 77 that had a couple of secret (during the war) air strips that still had the old generators, temp strip lights etc. We found mountains of cases of vintage C-rats in underground quonset huts & of course went through them.
Smoking Lucky Strike's (in 5 cig packs as I recall) - they tasted like antique toilet paper, nothing like smoking butt's that are wayyy older than you are.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 14, 2019)

_"James H. Stogner received the prestigious Navy Cross Medal during a special ceremony Friday afternoon, April 5 at the VFW in Polson, Montana.

Lance Corp. Stogner served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. The presentation, which was facilitated by Montana Sen. Steve Daines and his office, was made by United States Marine Corps Lt. General Frank Libutti. 

April 5 of this year, the date of the commendation, marked the 52nd anniversary of the day when Stogner showed extraordinary heroism and courage while rescuing a fellow Marine. On that date in 1967, the 18-year-old Stogner was serving as part of a machine gun team, carrying ammunition. He saved the life of fellow Lance Corporal Elijah "Eli" Fogg, who was being tortured while in the hands of the North Vietnamese Army soldiers — as well as saving the lives of numerous other Marines.

Lt. General Frank Libutti attended the ceremony to present the Navy Cross Medal to Stogner. He read, "Jim is, no doubt, a Marine's Marine. The kind we read about, the kind we want to be about. Jim's story is a story in a thread in the fabric in our nation's history with a reminder that freedom isn't free. Jim, thank you for the service, thank you for the sacrifice. Congratulations from everybody."

On that tragic night of April 5, 1967, Stogner was in Company C (known as Charlie Company) of the First Battalion of the U.S. Marine Corps. He was the "support man" for Fogg, the A (machine) gunner.

Capt. Wallace Dixon read a depiction of what transpired.

The three units in the company were approaching enemy lines, crossing a dried up rice field. Then came a surprise ambush by hidden North Vietnamese Army soldiers. After Stogner dropped three enemy soldiers, he encountered return fire — which struck and disabled his rifle, which broke his nose. "His platoon had been caught out in the open and they were cut to pieces," Dixon read.

*As time went on, Stogner used the cover of darkness to push forward toward the enemy. His only usable weapon was a KA-BAR knife. He would dispatch three NVA soldiers before he saw that four others were torturing who was discovered to be a screaming Fogg. Using the knife he dispatched all four while being further wounded. Stogner picked up up Fogg — still alive — and his machine gun, and carried him back to U.S. Marines lines.*

Twenty-one Marines were killed that night and 30 were wounded, but Stogner's actions undoubtedly saved the lives of many of those who survived the horrific night.

"Lance Corporal Stogner's heroism and bravery on the night of April 5, 1967, was never recognized until now, 52 years later. The Navy Cross acknowledged he did perform far and beyond the call of duty for an 18-year-old ammo humper," Dixon read.

Following a prepared commendation by Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer, Libutti proudly pinned the Navy Cross medal on Stogner's chest."

"What you're going to hear now is that I am filled with patriotism and love for Montana," Libutti said loudly. "There is an old saying in the Marine Corps … "no guts, no glory, no Navy Cross." Jim, you were indeed gutsy, and did bring great glory to our beloved Corps demonstrating extraordinary bravery and courage as reflected in the Navy Cross citation we all heard. You have demonstrated the belief of the Corps: "Leave no Marine behind."
_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 17, 2019)

​*The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 2nd Class Richard J. Thomson, 19, of League City, Texas, killed during World War II, was accounted for on March 14, 2019*.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Thomson was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Thomson.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Thomson.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknown remains from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Thomson’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 19, 2019)

_"Back in 2016, then-Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered his department to launch a review of more than 1,300 valor awards bestowed for Global War on Terror action, after suspicions arose that some service members’ bravery had been under-recognized during the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Army owned about 800 of those medals, and this year, plans to upgrade 13 Silver Stars to the Distinguished Service Cross. Some have already received their awards and some will get them later this year, according to Army spokesmen._

The soldiers are receiving the DSC “in recognition of their gallantry, intrepidity and heroism above and beyond the call of duty,” Lt. Col. Emmanuel Ortiz-Cruz told Army Times in March. “Previously recognized for their bravery by award of the Silver Star, the Department of Defense upgraded the soldiers’ medals as part of a comprehensive review of commendations for heroism in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Ceremonies for the special operations soldiers are still in the planning stages.

Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker, a tank commander with A Company, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division out of Fort Stewart, Georgia, who was killed in action while fighting off an ambush near Baghdad on April 5, 2003, during the Iraq invasion. His family received his award April 5.

Capt. (then-1st Lt. ) Andrew Bundermann, acting commander of B Troop, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colorado, who successfully helped defend Combat Outpost Keating on Oct. 3, 2009, during the Battle of Kamdesh. The notorious fight resulted in two Medals of Honor, and now two Distinguished Service Crosses. Out of the Army since 2012, he received his award March 7.

Sgt. (then-Pvt.) Robert K. Debolt, an infantryman with C Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, then based at Fort Hood, Texas, who pulled his fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle after a Sept. 4, 2008, IED attack in Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Out of the Army since 2011, he received his award on March 28"

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/04/18/a-dozen-army-heroes-of-iraq-and-afghanistan-wars-are-getting-award-upgrades-to-the-distinguished-service-cross/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ebb 04.19.19&utm_term=Editorial - Early Bird Brief


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## wascaptain (Apr 21, 2019)

i am still in the fight boys (and girls )


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## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2019)

WB!


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## curious2garden (Apr 21, 2019)

wascaptain said:


> i am still in the fight boys (and girls )


Good to see you and Happy Easter!


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## doublejj (Apr 22, 2019)

Vietnam Gun Trucks......


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## BarnBuster (May 8, 2019)

*Today is VE (Victory in Europe) Day*





​https://www.hfotusa.org/get-involved/support_our_mission/ways_donate/
https://www.garysinisefoundation.org/give/
https://www.hireheroesusa.org/ways-to-donate/
https://www.fisherhouse.org/donate
https://www.guidedog.org/GD/Help/Donate/GD/HowToHelp/waystogive.aspx?hkey=b8e09553-f8c8-420c-aad2-d36340749c8c​​


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## BarnBuster (May 10, 2019)

*U. S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason W. Myers of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School receives his second Distinguished Service Cross from Lt. Gen. Fran Beaudette, commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command at Fort Bragg, N.C., May 8, 2019.*​
https://www.stripes.com/news/us/fort-bragg-soldier-receives-second-distinguished-service-cross-for-heroism-in-afghanistan-1.580270
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/05/09/special-operations-soldier-receives-second-distinguished-service-cross.html


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## BarnBuster (May 10, 2019)

​_A 104-year-old Gainesville World War II veteran was honored by the French government for his service Tuesday 5/7/2019. Tam “Sonny” Cato was awarded Knight in the Legion of Honor, or “Légion d’Honneur.” The award was created to recognize and reward military and civil merits in service of France. It is the highest distinction that can be awarded in France to a French citizen or a foreigner.

It is given by decree of the President of the French Republic.
_
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190508/vet-104-awarded-french-military-honor-for-wwii-service


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## BarnBuster (May 10, 2019)

*Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commanding general of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, congratulates Maj. Nicholas Eslinger after presenting him with the Distinguished Service Cross during an award ceremony at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on May 3, 2019. Tisha Swart-Entwistle/Army 10 May 2019 Stars and Stripes | By Chad Garland*​
_Nicholas Eslinger was moving toward the grenade before it even hit the ground and rolled toward his dismounted patrol, which was waiting outside an Iraqi house in Samarra province.

The then-second lieutenant jumped on the explosive device and braced for the blast. But it didn't blow. So, he tossed it back. No sooner had he shouted "Grenade!" than it went off, but no one was hurt.

His quick action that night in October 2008 saved six soldiers from potential injury or death, earning him a Silver Star medal in 2009. Last week, he received an upgraded award -- a Distinguished Service Cross, the Army's second-highest award for combat valor._
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/05/10/soldier-who-tossed-back-enemy-grenade-receives-distinguished-service-cross.html
https://www.army.mil/article/221478/soldiers_upgrade_to_second_highest_award_for_valor


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## scumrot derelict (May 10, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> *Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, commanding general of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, congratulates Maj. Nicholas Eslinger after presenting him with the Distinguished Service Cross during an award ceremony at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on May 3, 2019. Tisha Swart-Entwistle/Army 10 May 2019 Stars and Stripes | By Chad Garland*​
> _Nicholas Eslinger was moving toward the grenade before it even hit the ground and rolled toward his dismounted patrol, which was waiting outside an Iraqi house in Samarra province.
> 
> The then-second lieutenant jumped on the explosive device and braced for the blast. But it didn't blow. So, he tossed it back. No sooner had he shouted "Grenade!" than it went off, but no one was hurt.
> ...


I enjoy reading all of these. Thank you for posting them. So fucking cool to know that people like this have our backs.


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## undercoverfbi (May 11, 2019)

They (Army) gave me a chapter 5-11!!! Was 11C. 

 

I miss it! I enjoyed the fuck outta it. Fun shit. I want to re-enlist as soon as possible.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 11, 2019)

undercoverfbi said:


> They (Army) gave me a chapter 5-11!!! Was 11C.
> 
> View attachment 4331637
> 
> I miss it! I enjoyed the fuck outta it. Fun shit. I want to re-enlist as soon as possible.


Why no Mag?
Dry fire training?


----------



## undercoverfbi (May 11, 2019)

Yea...


I only have bct pics of me. Fun.


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## scumrot derelict (May 11, 2019)

undercoverfbi said:


> Yea...
> 
> 
> I only have bct pics of me. Fun.


Thank you for your service.


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## BarnBuster (May 13, 2019)

I see this is available on DVD now and really worth watching.

https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/9343/they-shall-not-grow-old

The voices in the background as narrators are all WW1 veterans from the grave as it were, their comments being spliced into film as required. They were studio recorded in typical fine BBC fashion in 1964 when they were making the documentary series “The Great War”. The other voices and sound effects were masterfully added into the film. In instances where you can see men talking, the producers employed lip readers to actually figure out what the men were saying.

ALL of the film footage and stills are from the 1914-18 era and culled from 600 hours of archived Imperial War Museum film. NONE of the images are by re-enactors or staged. Please sit thru the first 23 minutes of the film. It is typical early 20th century, scratchy monochrome film. The transformation happens at min 24. You will not be disappointed in the breathtaking haunting 3D effect and will have to keep reminding yourself that these were IRL images. The lingering eye contact you make with the men is eerie. This is no half ass colorization of B&W footage. A truly outstanding technical achievement. bb.


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## curious2garden (May 13, 2019)

undercoverfbi said:


> They (Army) gave me a chapter 5-11!!! Was 11C.
> 
> View attachment 4331637
> 
> I miss it! I enjoyed the fuck outta it. Fun shit. I want to re-enlist as soon as possible.


An administrative under 6 months? Can I ask what they thought you weren't doing?



BarnBuster said:


> *Today is VE (Victory in Europe) Day*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


About that military appreciation month. I'm appreciating the military a lot less than I used to. For mother's day they offered bowling, not brunch, what is up with that? So ok I'm open to considering bowling, historically the bowling alleys always served liquor and a little liquor can make most anything palatable. Turns out the bowling alley only has a snack bar and no liquor. I'm trying to get my head around this new military.



GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Why no Mag?
> Dry fire training?


That's part of this whole new military, no ammo, no flying, no liquor, no things that go boom. Apparently Nancy Reagan's Just Say No has been embraced, peaceful solutions, vegan meals and eschew liquor. I'm on board with the no smoking but still sigh......


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## Singlemalt (May 13, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> An administrative under 6 months? Can I ask what they thought you weren't doing?
> 
> 
> About that military appreciation month. I'm appreciating the military a lot less than I used to. For mother's day they offered bowling, not brunch, what is up with that? So ok I'm open to considering bowling, historically the bowling alleys always served liquor and a little liquor can make most anything palatable. Turns out the bowling alley only has a snack bar and no liquor. I'm trying to get my head around this new military.
> ...


You forgot the new uniform design: contemporary WW2






edit: class A


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 13, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> You forgot the new uniform design: contemporary WW2
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The dude in the center has been in the wrong place at the right time . . . often.


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## Singlemalt (May 13, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> The dude in the center has been in the wrong place at the right time . . . often.


Looks like he is the Sergeant Major of the Army, kinda hard to tell at the angle
edit: He is SMA Daniel Dailey
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_A._Dailey


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## too larry (May 13, 2019)

I logged back on last night just to post this, and I got sidetracked. 70th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48243177


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## ttystikk (May 13, 2019)

too larry said:


> I logged back on last night just to post this, and I got sidetracked. 70th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift.
> 
> https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48243177


I wonder how Qatar's airlift is working out?


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## curious2garden (May 13, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> You forgot the new uniform design: contemporary WW2
> 
> 
> 
> ...


OMG they went BACK to pinks. That's why the girl is grinning, isn't it? Hey @doublejj how do you look in pink?


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## doublejj (May 13, 2019)

I have seen pictures of my dad wearing those Pinks & Greens in WWII....
I never spent any time wearing class A's anyway.


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## BarnBuster (May 18, 2019)

*Former U.S. senator Robert Dole was promoted to the honorary rank of colonel in a ceremony presided over by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, May 16, 2019. At right is Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey.*​
_"Former Sen. Bob Dole was promoted from Army captain to the honorary rank of colonel during a ceremony Thursday at the World War II Memorial in Washington, becoming the third and only living recipient of such an honor in the service’s 244-year history._

_Dole, 95, enlisted in the early years of U.S. involvement of WWII and was commissioned as a second lieutenant before shipping off with the 10th Mountain Division to Italy. There he was shot in the back by a German machine gun while he attempted to rescue an injured radioman during an assault on an enemy position. He spent years recovering in a military hospital, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said during the ceremony attended by family members, military officials and dignitaries, as well veterans visiting the memorial as part of an Honor Flight._

_Dole last wore the Army uniform in 1948 but continued to serve out of uniform for the next seven decades, Milley said. Dole, a recipient of two Purple Hearts who was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, never regained full use of his right arm._

_Only two other Army officers have ever received an honorary promotion of any kind, Milley said. They are President George Washington, who was made honorary General of the Armies of the United States on the country’s bicentennial in 1976; and American explorer and governor William Clark, who was posthumously promoted from lieutenant to colonel in 2001 by Clinton. Clark joined Meriwether Lewis on an expedition to the Pacific Ocean in the early 1800s."_


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## Singlemalt (May 19, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> *Former U.S. senator Robert Dole was promoted to the honorary rank of colonel in a ceremony presided over by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, May 16, 2019. At right is Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey.*​
> _"Former Sen. Bob Dole was promoted from Army captain to the honorary rank of colonel during a ceremony Thursday at the World War II Memorial in Washington, becoming the third and only living recipient of such an honor in the service’s 244-year history._
> 
> _Dole, 95, enlisted in the early years of U.S. involvement of WWII and was commissioned as a second lieutenant before shipping off with the 10th Mountain Division to Italy. There he was shot in the back by a German machine gun while he attempted to rescue an injured radioman during an assault on an enemy position. He spent years recovering in a military hospital, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said during the ceremony attended by family members, military officials and dignitaries, as well veterans visiting the memorial as part of an Honor Flight._
> ...


There's SMA Dan Dailey again


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## Obepawn (May 20, 2019)

whitebb2727 said:


> I don't know what they do now but when I was in our pt test were the same standard as the army.


What years was that? I was in 85’ to 95’. No push-up, no sit-ups, just show up once a year with a cigarette in your hand and run the mile and a half. That was then though.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 22, 2019)

* Alaska Airlines employees care for fallen service members on their final trips *
Veterans who give their lives for their country are entitled to a final salute from a military honor guard when they’re laid to rest.

But before they arrive at the cemetery, there is another group of caretakers made up of airline workers, who watch over fallen service members and their families as they take their last trip.

Airlines hurried to stay on-time during a busy morning at Sea-Tac Airport last Saturday. But at Gate C9, everything slowed down.

“With your permission, we’ll proceed,” an airline employee said to Susan Woods as she stood under an Alaska Airlines jet. 

Woods nodded, and a ceremony began. She was there to send off her husband of 37 years, Sergeant Major James “Tony” Woods, an Army veteran who fought in Vietnam and retired in Olympia.

Sergeant Major Woods was a Silver Star recipient who died in April. He asked to be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.

A Puget Sound Honor Flight happened to be heading to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, carrying dozens of vets to visit monuments and memorials.

With just a few days notice, Alaska Airlines activated a company-wide program designed to ensure military families like the Woods’ are treated with the utmost respect. As soon as the airline gets the call to transport a fallen service member’s remains, a brigade of employees and volunteers, many of them veterans, mobilizes to provide a final, dignified journey.

Daniel Brosch is an Alaska Airlines maintenance trainer based out of Los Angeles who helped create the Alaska Airlines Fallen Soldier Program.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re the cook or whether you’re the pilot, or what your rank was, everybody gets the same treatment,” Brosch explained.

In 2011, he and other workers approached their managers with a concern: The company needed to show more respect when transporting military members who died.

“Unfortunately, all air carriers were handling the remains of fallen veterans like cargo. No longer is that the case with Alaska Airlines and other airlines,” Brosch said.

The bosses listened, and today the Alaska Airlines Fallen Soldier Program includes special protocols and equipment stationed in an expanding list of cities, like Phoenix.

During a recent ceremony there, Brosch and his team handed over a custom-made cart, bearing the seals of the different military branches, specifically for carrying flag-draped caskets.

Ten of the carts are on standby at airports across the country, and that’s the just one layer of the Fallen Soldier Program.

The airline just rolled out a second “Honoring Those Who Serve” jet, which it re-routes sometimes at a moment’s notice to carry veterans and their families.

“That’s a lot of work,” Brosch said. “They have to shift the schedule around. It’s no simple task, but they do it every single time, and if they don’t, it’s because it’s almost impossible to do.”

An airline escort always stays with the fallen service member while in their care. Baggage handlers and maintenance workers, trained on Defense Department protocol, become pallbearers.

“The level of respect and honor and kindness that was shown to our family, we have no words for it,” said Julia Schmidtke, an Alaska flight attendant from Tacoma.

Schmidtke understands how much the program means to families in a fog of grief. Her son, Army Specialist Hunter Schmidtke, 25, died last year, and her airline colleagues stood at attention at Sea-Tac to bring him home.

“It heals you,” Schmidtke said. “It heals you as you go through the hardest time you could ever imagine.”

Employees who participate in the Fallen Soldier Program do so on their own time, and they want to do more. They have a goal of building a fallen soldier cart for every airport Alaska Airlines serves. The equipment represents a rare part of the ultra-competitive industry where rivalry is set aside.

Although Alaska Airlines made the carts, any airline can use them. American Airlines also has a fleet of custom carts solely for fallen heroes.

Delta Air Lines has an Honor Guard made up of hundreds of employees who’ve escorted more than 5,000 servicemen and women around the world, the company said.

Back in Seattle, it’s the moment they’ve so carefully planned. Alaska Airlines employees gently guided Sergeant Major Woods’ casket onto a conveyor belt and into the belly of the 737.

“I’ll see you soon, dear,” Susan Woods said as her husband’s casket passed by.

She will join him at Arlington National Cemetery for a ceremony in June. For a few minutes, a corner of Sea-Tac stood still, and the honors came early.

“He got more than he asked for here,” Susan Woods said. “A lot more.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/alaska-airlines-employees-care-for-fallen-service-members-on-their-final-trips/ar-AABK1fm


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## whitebb2727 (May 23, 2019)

Obepawn said:


> What years was that? I was in 85’ to 95’. No push-up, no sit-ups, just show up once a year with a cigarette in your hand and run the mile and a half. That was then though.


98-2002. 

I was in a joint army/af unit. That may have been why.

All of the AF have increased thier fitness test requirements to the same as the army. The AF also increased thier basic training time as well.


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## Obepawn (May 23, 2019)

whitebb2727 said:


> 98-2002.
> 
> I was in a joint army/af unit. That may have been why.
> 
> All of the AF have increased thier fitness test requirements to the same as the army. The AF also increased thier basic training time as well.


Yeah I know. My second to youngest son is a Ssgt in the Air Force, he’s a linguist, fluent in Turkish and Korean.


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## whitebb2727 (May 23, 2019)

Obepawn said:


> Yeah I know. My second to youngest son is a Ssgt in the Air Force, he’s a linguist, fluent in Turkish and Korean.


That's cool. They pay extra for the more languages.


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## Obepawn (May 23, 2019)

whitebb2727 said:


> That's cool. They pay extra for the more languages.


Yep.


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## too larry (May 24, 2019)

Congrats to the graduates. {of all the service academies}


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## too larry (May 24, 2019)

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2019-05-24/acting-secy-shanahan-to-speak-at-naval-academy-graduation


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## BarnBuster (May 25, 2019)

*Miami-class cutter USCGC Tampa photographed in harbor, prior to the First World War. All 131 persons on board Tampa were lost when the vessel was sunk by a German torpedo. (U.S. Navy)*
_24 May 2019
Military.com | By Richard Sisk​_​*Descendants of the lost crew from the Coast Guard cutter Tampa received the Purple Hearts earned by their relatives in a ceremony Friday 5/24/2019, more than a century after the ship went down to a German U-boat's torpedo with all 131 aboard.*
_
The sinking of the Tampa off the coast of Wales at about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 26, 1918, just weeks before the war ended on Nov. 11, represented the single largest loss of life for either the U.S. Coast Guard or Navy in World War I, according to the Coast Guard.

Descendants of those lost attended a ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where 10 members of the Tampa crew were posthumously awarded the medal.

James Christopher Wilkie, 29, was a cook aboard the Tampa. His grandson, William Bonaparte, 77, of Charleston, South Carolina, who served in the Army in Vietnam, attended the ceremony.

His only wish was that his late mother, Anna Bonaparte, could have been present, he said. "She was four years old when he died," but spoke of her father often though she had little memory of him, William Bonaparte said.

"My mother really wanted this," he said of the Purple Heart.

"It was her dream," Joan Bonaparte, William's wife, said of her mother-in-law.

William Bonaparte said the family would take the medal back home to Charleston and hold a small ceremony at his mother's gravesite.

Another descendant, Henry E. Heydt Jr., of St. Augustine, Florida, and his wife, Ingrid, brought with them a clipping from the Oct. 4, 1918, edition of the Brooklyn (N.Y.) Daily Eagle, which noted that 14 of the Tampa's crew were from Brooklyn and Long Island.

One was 2nd Lt. Roy Ackermann Bothwell, 28, of Brooklyn, Henry Heydt's first cousin twice removed. The newspaper clipping said, "Relatives are clinging to the hope that some survivors will yet be reported, but the large majority have accepted the word 'missing' as meaning definitely that the men have perished."

Bothwell's brother, Army 1st Lt. Harold E. Bothwell of the 306th Infantry, had been killed in France three weeks before the Tampa's sinking, though Roy Bothwell had been unaware of his brother's death, Heydt said.

"That was the whole family," Heydt added, since the parents had no other children.

The Tampa was ending its 19th mission as a convoy escort on runs between Gibraltar and southern England when it was hit by the torpedo, believed to have been launched by U-boat UB-91. It sank in three minutes off the Welsh town of Milford Haven, according to Coast Guard archives.

Of the 131 aboard, 111 were from the Coast Guard and four from the Navy. The rest were British sailors or civilians.

The Tampa crew was "defending people they never met, defending our values," Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz said at the ceremony. "Their names live on, woven into the fabric and the legacy of the Coast Guard."

The Coast Guard belongs to the Department of Homeland Security. At the ceremony, Acting Homeland Secretary Kevin McAleenan said, "One hundred years after the Tampa's loss, [the ship] remains at the forefront of the Coast Guard's memory."

He said the posthumous awards of the Purple Heart were "long overdue."

Purple Hearts were not awarded by the U.S. during World War I, but resumed in World War II. The award was extended to the Coast Guard in 1942. In 1952, Congress made the awarding of the Purple Heart retroactive to April 5, 1917.

However, the crew of the Tampa was not eligible for the Purple Heart until 1999, Schultz said. The search for descendants has continued since then.

At the ceremony Friday, Adolph Carlson III, of Elsmere, Delaware, received the Purple Heart on behalf of his great uncle, Coxswain Harold Tonneson, 37, who was originally from Norway but had settled in Brooklyn.

Perhaps unbeknownst to the Coast Guard, Tonneson kept a dog and a cat aboard the Tampa, according to his letters home. Tonneson also wrote of going to Montana to start a farm when the war was over.

"I think he was probably tired of the sea," Carlson said.

The others from the Tampa who were posthumously awarded the Purple heart Friday include 1st Lt. Archibald Scully, 35, of Baltimore; Master-at-Arms Joseph Cygan, 27, of New Bedford, Massachusetts; Bayman Edward Shanahan, 21, of Jersey City, New Jersey; Seaman Edward Dorgan, 21, of Woodhaven, New York; Fireman William Hastings, 21, of Philadelphia; and Seaman Shelby Laymen, 25, of Rineyville, Kentucky.

Also receiving the posthumous Purple Heart was Boy 1st Class Paul Other Webb, 21, of St. Petersburg, Florida. The rating "Boy" was in use at the time in the Coast Guard, and more than five other "Boys" were listed in the Tampa's crew, according to Coast Guard records.

_


----------



## Grandpapy (May 25, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> * Alaska Airlines employees care for fallen service members on their final trips *
> Veterans who give their lives for their country are entitled to a final salute from a military honor guard when they’re laid to rest.
> 
> But before they arrive at the cemetery, there is another group of caretakers made up of airline workers, who watch over fallen service members and their families as they take their last trip.
> ...



They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.

The outpouring from the Coast Guard has left my me in awe, at least 50 service men at the service with representation flying in from Washington as well.

It is with much gratitude that I make this post.

Thanks GWN and the employees of Alaska Air


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## Herb & Suds (May 25, 2019)

Grandpapy said:


> They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
> I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
> The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
> 
> ...


Respect and condolences for your loss


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## doublejj (May 25, 2019)

Grandpapy said:


> They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
> I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
> The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
> 
> ...


Hugs brother....


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## Grandpapy (May 25, 2019)

doublejj said:


> Hugs brother....


Thanks, right back at you.


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## whitebb2727 (May 25, 2019)

Grandpapy said:


> They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
> I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
> The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
> 
> ...


Condolences. 

My boy, as young as he is, is very adamant about wanting to be a soldier. I have mixed feelings about it.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 25, 2019)

Grandpapy said:


> They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
> I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
> The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
> 
> ...


I had no idea - I apologize if I stirred memories of bad times.
My sincerest condolences as well.


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## Grandpapy (May 25, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I had no idea - I apologize if I stirred memories of bad times.
> My sincerest condolences as well.


Oh no, It's always good to recognize (and reflect) on the people that get little thanks at time of service.


----------



## BarnBuster (May 27, 2019)




----------



## Singlemalt (May 27, 2019)

https://www.foxnews.com/us/korean-war-veteran-ohio-funeral-memorial-day-weekend
*Hundreds of strangers attend Korean War vet's funeral on Memorial Day weekend: 'The right thing to do'*

A public call for mourners to attend the Ohio funeral of an unaccompanied 90-year-old Korean War veteran Saturday resulted in an overwhelming response.

“It being Memorial Day weekend it was the right thing to do to come up and honor his life," Suzanne Koehne told Fox 19. She attended the funeral in Cincinnati after driving nearly 100 miles to get there from Louisville, Kentucky.

An estimated 400 strangers, like Koehne, showed up to pay final respects to Army veteran Hezekiah Perkins whose only family, a daughter, couldn’t make it because of poor health, Fox 19 and other media reported.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 28, 2019)




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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (May 28, 2019)

She's at the bottom of the sea today. She was used for a live fire exercise after our crew decommissioned her. She was also home to me for 3.5 years.


*USS Oldendorf DD-972*
*aka "Oly"*


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## ttystikk (May 30, 2019)

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/uss-john-s-mccain-scandal-stains-navy/590575/

We are better than this.


----------



## a_soldierz_genetics (May 30, 2019)

What’s up y’all. Just another veteran that made the switch to the best medicine on earth. I run a little organization that helps other veterans get to growing. Whether that be seeds, a light, dirt, advice, or anything that could help them to get growing. I was a 19K in the Army and did a med board for a early retirement. If ya ever need anything I’m always here


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## doublejj (May 30, 2019)

ttystikk said:


> https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/05/uss-john-s-mccain-scandal-stains-navy/590575/
> 
> We are better than this.


....smh


----------



## doublejj (May 30, 2019)

a_soldierz_genetics said:


> What’s up y’all. Just another veteran that made the switch to the best medicine on earth. I run a little organization that helps other veterans get to growing. Whether that be seeds, a light, dirt, advice, or anything that could help them to get growing. I was a 19K in the Army and did a med board for a early retirement. If ya ever need anything I’m always here


welcome home....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 30, 2019)

a_soldierz_genetics said:


> What’s up y’all. Just another veteran that made the switch to the best medicine on earth. I run a little organization that helps other veterans get to growing. Whether that be seeds, a light, dirt, advice, or anything that could help them to get growing. I was a 19K in the Army and did a med board for a early retirement. If ya ever need anything I’m always here


Thank you for your service.
Welcome aboard!


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## too larry (May 30, 2019)

A couple of low, slow flyers were playing this morning. Even as slow as they were going, I had a hell of a time putting down the hoe and getting the camera out in time. They came over 4-5 times in all.


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## Singlemalt (May 30, 2019)

too larry said:


> A couple of low, slow flyers were playing this morning. Even as slow as they were going, I had a hell of a time putting down the hoe and getting the camera out in time. They came over 4-5 times in all.
> 
> View attachment 4342490


A 10, such a magnificent beast


----------



## too larry (May 30, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> A 10, such a magnificent beast


Yep, a cannon with wings. The first time they came over it was so low and slow. My camera was in the 'Bota, and they were past before I thought to get it. From then on, each pass was to the side.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 30, 2019)

I've told the story before, but years ago Mrs. GWN and I were driving to Fairbanks on the AK highway in the winter & we saw a pair of them zooming around & before we knew it they came streaking broadside at us just above tree line not once but several times.
I know it was a gun run (they have a live fire range near where it happened) and thank God they were just playing cause had they been Dodge or Chevy guys we wouda been Fooked!


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

too larry said:


> Yep, a cannon with wings. The first time they came over it was so low and slow. My camera was in the 'Bota, and they were past before I thought to get it. From then on, each pass was to the side.


When George AFB was open here we saw them constantly. Now, not so much. They are lovely


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

a_soldierz_genetics said:


> What’s up y’all. Just another veteran that made the switch to the best medicine on earth. I run a little organization that helps other veterans get to growing. Whether that be seeds, a light, dirt, advice, or anything that could help them to get growing. I was a 19K in the Army and did a med board for a early retirement. If ya ever need anything I’m always here


Welcome to RIU, keep your hands and arms inside the ride all the time the ride is in motion.


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## too larry (May 30, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I've told the story before, but years ago Mrs. GWN and I were driving to Fairbanks on the AK highway in the winter & we saw a pair of them zooming around & before we knew it they came streaking broadside at us just above tree line not once but several times.
> I know it was a gun run (they have a live fire range near where it happened) and thank God they were just playing cause had they been Dodge or Chevy guys we wouda been Fooked!
> 
> View attachment 4342582


When I used to farm, they would make strafing runs at me on the tractor all the time. Just pulling up at the last second. I've had half a dozen of the big transport prop planes come over at tree top level. {loud} But mostly it was fighters dog fighting. Even though I'm close to Tendal, I heard they were out of Texas. My farm was just on their practice runs. {They played war a lot more before we were in so many actual wars}


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## Grandpapy (May 30, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> When George AFB was open here we saw them constantly. Now, not so much. They are lovely


Wow talk about a sleeper.
Looks are deceiving.


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

Grandpapy said:


> Wow talk about a sleeper.
> Looks are deceiving.


I love the sound of it. The Navy's Phalanx weapon is another sound I enjoy. Ahh the sounds of freedom, some of my favorite things, @cannabineer can you do this to the tune of Sound of Music, My Favorite Things?


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> I love the sound of it. The Navy's Phalanx weapon is another sound I enjoy. Ahh the sounds of freedom, some of my favorite things, @cannabineer can you do this to the tune of Sound of Music, My Favorite Things?


 Gray-colored warplanes and crisp pilot sa-lutes
Ordnance and throw-weights and circular error
Phalanx emplacements that chew off MiG wings ...

these are a few of my favorite things


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> Gray-colored warplanes and crisp pilot sa-lutes
> Ordnance and throw-weights and circular error
> Phalanx emplacements that chew off MiG wings ...
> 
> these are a few of my favorite things


Where's the Warthawg brrrrt?


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Where's the Warthawg brrrrt?


When the Warthog
fires its cannon
When the plane goes BRRRRT ...
I simply remember my favorite things
Like enemy tanks ... get ... hurt


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

too larry said:


> When I used to farm, they would make strafing runs at me on the tractor all the time. Just pulling up at the last second. I've had half a dozen of the big transport prop planes come over at tree top level. {loud} But mostly it was fighters dog fighting. Even though I'm close to Tendal, I heard they were out of Texas. My farm was just on their practice runs. {They played war a lot more before we were in so many actual wars}


Govt cut back on their training funds, so cheap they are counting bullets.


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## Singlemalt (May 30, 2019)

too larry said:


> When I used to farm, they would make strafing runs at me on the tractor all the time. Just pulling up at the last second. I've had half a dozen of the big transport prop planes come over at tree top level. {loud} But mostly it was fighters dog fighting. Even though I'm close to Tendal, I heard they were out of Texas. My farm was just on their practice runs. {They played war a lot more before we were in so many actual wars}


I live in a rural Central Coast valley; 25+ yrs ago is was very common for fighters from the Central Valley to blast thru at very low altitude (200 300 ft) at full afterburners heading to Ft Hunter Liggett. Jesus H Christ it was impressive and deafening. Since I wasn't a livestock rancher didn't bother me at all. Eventually that stopped, now they come through at 5000ft no afterburners.


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Govt cut back on their training funds, so cheap they are counting bullets.


They should raid FEMA for those billions of rounds they supposedly stockpiled.


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

@Singlemalt
My back yard erupted in Brodiaeas. I cannot identify the species though.
~edit~ Please assist


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## Singlemalt (May 30, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> @Singlemalt
> My back yard erupted in Brodiaeas. I cannot identify the species though.
> ~edit~ Please assist
> 
> View attachment 4342596


Sweet! There are 17 species that are in the range from Baja north to British Columbia; maybe around 8 or 9 are in your area. As I don't know your exact area I'm limited in my guesses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodiaea
go down to the specie list and put your cursor on the names in your area and a pic will pop up; should help

Did you have any Dodecatheons 2 months back?


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> I live in a rural Central Coast valley; 25+ yrs ago is was very common for fighters from the Central Valley to blast thru at very low altitude (200 300 ft) at full afterburners heading to Ft Hunter Liggett. Jesus H Christ it was impressive and deafening. Since I wasn't a livestock rancher didn't bother me at all. Eventually that stopped, now they come through at 5000ft no afterburners.


We still get the maximum performance take offs here, no en route after burners. @cannabineer what was that fuel joke?


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> Sweet! There are 17 species that are in the range from Baja north to British Columbia; maybe around 8 or 9 are in your area. As I don't know your exact area I'm limited in my guesses.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brodiaea
> go down to the specie list and put your cursor on the names in your area and a pic will pop up; should help
> ...


 I had a tentative ID of _elegantissima _but I don't trust my field skills. Wanna go mushroom hunting!?


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> We still get the maximum performance take offs here, no en route after burners. @cannabineer what was that fuel joke?


A German rocket engineer who complained in a bar "I have burned more alcohol in 60 seconds than this establishment has served in its lifetime".


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## Singlemalt (May 30, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> I had a tentative ID of _elegantissima _but I don't trust my field skills. Wanna go mushroom hunting!?


Sure, let's test on your son; he's big enough to survive what would be lethal for us


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> Sure, let's test on your son; he's big enough to survive what would be lethal for us


Plus he'd be happily yodeling about the effects!


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> Sure, let's test on your son; he's big enough to survive what would be lethal for us


Ok but tag you're it on psychotic moose-man containment duty


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## curious2garden (May 30, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> Ok but tag you're it on psychotic moose-man containment duty


He can steal some animal tranquilizers from the x, give him a weight range.


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> He can steal some large-animal tranquilizers from the x, give him a weight range.


fify


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 30, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> I had a tentative ID of _elegantissima _but I don't trust my field skills. Wanna go mushroom hunting!?


Lol

*tap tap* "Are your lips tingling? Can you even hear me?"


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## cannabineer (May 30, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Lol
> 
> *tap tap* "Are your lips tingling? Can you even hear me?"


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 30, 2019)

cannabineer said:


>


*Wanna eat this fish?*

"Fug-u"


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## a_soldierz_genetics (May 31, 2019)

doublejj said:


> welcome home....


Thank you!


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## curious2garden (May 31, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> ..........snip.......
> 
> Did you have any Dodecatheons 2 months back?


I saw one on RIU about 2 years back


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## cannabineer (May 31, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> *Wanna eat this fish?*
> 
> "Fug-u"


 I want that knife. I don't have a deba.


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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (May 31, 2019)




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## too larry (Jun 1, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Govt cut back on their training funds, so cheap they are counting bullets.


Fuel is a biggie too. It doesn't take too much $400 a gallon fuel in the combat zones to zero out the fuel budget for practice back home. Wars are expensive.


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## too larry (Jun 1, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> I live in a rural Central Coast valley; 25+ yrs ago is was very common for fighters from the Central Valley to blast thru at very low altitude (200 300 ft) at full afterburners heading to Ft Hunter Liggett. Jesus H Christ it was impressive and deafening. Since I wasn't a livestock rancher didn't bother me at all. Eventually that stopped, now they come through at 5000ft no afterburners.


It was the same here in NW Florida. The sonic booms would shake your house. They still get after it here. But they have to go out over the Gulf to break the sound barrier.


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## too larry (Jun 1, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> They should raid FEMA for those billions of rounds they supposedly stockpiled.


There is money to be make in those fears. There are some dumbass folks with K's of followers on You Tube. Someone as smart as you could become the king of all preppers.

Folks buy their cheap ass T-shirts and mugs, and send them money every month so they can keep their stream of crazy shit going. Dealing with them would be worse than working at a prison though. It's like having to go in the hog pen. Do it regularly, and you are going to get the shit on you.


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## cannabineer (Jun 1, 2019)

too larry said:


> There is money to be make in those fears. There are some dumbass folks with K's of followers on You Tube. Someone as smart as you could become the king of all preppers.
> 
> Folks buy their cheap ass T-shirts and mugs, and send them money every month so they can keep their stream of crazy shit going. Dealing with them would be worse than working at a prison though. It's like having to go in the hog pen. Do it regularly, and you are going to get the shit on you.


 Lol me, a prepper? I am usually quite unprepared for even the ordinary. I'm like an un-Boy Scout, "Always Surprised."

But I see about the money angle. Preppers love some weird stuff. Look at this weaponized spatula, sort of the Rambo Knife's runty cousin. (How in the sweet name of Mother Hugger does one even sharpen such a blade?) I could have a blademaker whip me up something equally baroque and tap the rich vein of prepper money ...


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## curious2garden (Jun 1, 2019)

too larry said:


> It was the same here in NW Florida. The sonic booms would shake your house. They still get after it here. But they have to go out over the Gulf to break the sound barrier.


Allegedly no breaking the sound barrier over the contiguous United States. Edwards AFB hasn't gotten the memo. My windows regularly rattle from our booms.


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## too larry (Jun 1, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> Lol me, a prepper? I am usually quite unprepared for even the ordinary. I'm like an un-Boy Scout, "Always Surprised."
> 
> But I see about the money angle. Preppers love some weird stuff. Look at this weaponized spatula, sort of the Rambo Knife's runty cousin. (How in the sweet name of Mother Hugger does one even sharpen such a blade?) I could have a blademaker whip me up something equally baroque and tap the rich vein of prepper money ...


Paracord bracelets is where the highest markup is. !0 bucks for 10 cent worth of cord. I would laugh at labor cost. Even I know how to say tresse quatre cordes where a child can understand it.

And I cut the shit out of my thumb slicing sausage at one of my old river camps with an edged spatula. Not a good idea.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 13, 2019)

_ Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, a 10th Mountain Soldier who gave his life shielding Polish Army Lieutenant Karol Cierpica from a suicide bomber while deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. James McConville, during a ceremony on Staten Island, New York June 8_

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/06/12/10th-mountain-soldiers-silver-star-upgraded-for-shielding-polish-soldier-from-suicide-bomber/?fbclid=IwAR3_ctsEwUXtXHUxFzhNBdMAwqhDnmK1A0kQxt0v1mPABJmn3Il3QS2G924
https://taskandpurpose.com/michael-ollis-distinguished-service-cross


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## BarnBuster (Jun 14, 2019)




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## too larry (Jun 14, 2019)

The jets were playing again today. I saw very little of them, but did see where they had dropped flairs. {the sun was in my eyes, so it was pure luck I got any of them}


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## raratt (Jun 15, 2019)




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## doublejj (Jun 16, 2019)

raratt said:


>


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## BarnBuster (Jun 20, 2019)

​_The British Army has laid to rest three soldiers killed in World War I 100 years after their deaths fighting Imperial German troops in France at the Battle of Cambrai. The human remains were discovered in 2016, and the British government has worked for three years to identify the remains using a combination of archival research and DNA identification. Private Henry Wallington and Private Frank Mead, of the 23rd (County of London) Battalion, were buried with full military honours – alongside an unidentified British soldier who served in the same regiment _

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9281940/british-soldiers-killed-wwi-buried-france/


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 25, 2019)

*Trump to give Medal of Honor to former Army staff sergeant who rescued entire squad in Iraq*

Video

President Donald Trump will award the Medal of Honor on Tuesday to former Army Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia for his actions as a squad leader in Fallujah, making him the first living Iraq War veteran to receive the recognition.

During Operation Phantom Fury in 2004, Bellavia's platoon was pinned down while clearing a block of houses. Bellavia then exchanged his M16 rifle for an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon and entered the house where his squad was trapped to provide cover fire so the soldiers could exit safely, the White House said.

"A Bradley Fighting Vehicle arrived to help suppress the enemy, but it could not fire directly into the house," it added in a statement. "Then-Staff Sergeant Bellavia re-entered the house... and assaulted insurgents who were firing rocket-propelled grenades."

There, he engaged five different fighters, pursuing them through the house until the threat was neutralized.

*IRAQ WAR HERO'S FAMILY ACCEPTS MEDAL OF HONOR FROM TRUMP*

"That remarkable day, then-Staff Sergent Bellavia rescued an entire squad, cleared an insurgent strongpoint, and saved many members of his platoon from imminent threat," the White House said.

Bellavia was released from the Army in August 2005 after serving for six years and has been awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross. He wrote about the battle in a 2007 book, ”House to House: An Epic Memoir of War .”

Bellavia now hosts a radio talk show on WBEN in Buffalo, N.Y. He said on-air Friday that the experience of being chosen for the Medal of Honor is “very uncomfortable and awkward,” but noted that he wants to represent Iraq War veterans, who have not had a living Medal of Honor recipient.

“When you go to basic training, you clean your weapons and you read the citations of these recipients and it’s like they’re superheroes,” Bellavia said. “They’re not real. ... I can’t get my head around it. I still can’t.”

The White House said Bellavia "continues to serve the military and veteran communities through a number of philanthropic organizations."

Edit: Thank you BarnBuster for the complete citation that is c/p below.

_The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, March 3rd, 1863, has awarded in the name of Congress the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant David G. Bellavia, United States Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty.

Staff Sergeant David G. Bellavia distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on November 10, 2004, while serving as squad leader in support of Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, Iraq.

While clearing a house, a squad from Staff Sergeant Bellavia’s platoon became trapped within a room by intense enemy fire coming from a fortified position under the stairs leading to the second floor. Recognizing the immediate severity of the situation, and with disregard for his own safety, Staff Sergeant Bellavia retrieved an automatic weapon and entered the doorway of the house to engage the insurgents.

With enemy rounds impacting around him, Staff Sergeant Bellavia fired at the enemy position at a cyclic rate, providing covering fire that allowed the squad to break contact and exit the house.

A Bradley Fighting Vehicle was brought forward to suppress the enemy; however, due to high walls surrounding the house, it could not fire directly at the enemy position. Staff Sergeant Bellavia then re-entered the house and again came under intense enemy fire. He observed an enemy insurgent preparing to launch a rocket-propelled grenade at his platoon. Recognizing the grave danger the grenade posed to his fellow soldiers, Staff Sergeant Bellavia assaulted the enemy position, killing one insurgent and wounding another who ran to a different part of the house.

Staff Sergeant Bellavia, realizing he had an un-cleared, darkened room to his back, moved to clear it. As he entered, an insurgent came down the stairs firing at him. Simultaneously, the previously wounded insurgent reemerged and engaged Staff Sergeant Bellavia. Staff Sergeant Bellavia, entering further into the darkened room, returned fire and eliminated both insurgents. Staff Sergeant Bellavia then received enemy fire from another insurgent emerging from a closet in the darkened room.

Exchanging gunfire, Staff Sergeant Bellavia pursued the enemy up the stairs and eliminated him. Now on the second floor, Staff Sergeant Bellavia moved to a door that opened onto the roof. At this point, a fifth insurgent leapt from the third floor roof onto the second floor roof. Staff Sergeant Bellavia engaged the insurgent through a window, wounding him in the back and legs, and caused him to fall off the roof.

Acting on instinct to save the members of his platoon from an imminent threat, Staff Sergeant Bellavia ultimately cleared an entire enemy-filled house, destroyed four insurgents, and badly wounded a fifth. Staff Sergeant Bellavia’s bravery, complete disregard for his own safety, and unselfish and courageous actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army._


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## BarnBuster (Jun 25, 2019)

_"A bill introduced Tuesday would rescind 20 Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers who received them for actions during the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, when hundreds of Native Americans were killed by U.S. cavalry soldiers."_
_
https://www.stripes.com/house-lawmakers-propose-bill-to-rescind-medals-of-honor-awarded-for-wounded-knee-massacre-1.587558?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines_


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## cannabineer (Jun 25, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _"A bill introduced Tuesday would rescind 20 Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers who received them for actions during the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, when hundreds of Native Americans were killed by U.S. cavalry soldiers."
> 
> https://www.stripes.com/house-lawmakers-propose-bill-to-rescind-medals-of-honor-awarded-for-wounded-knee-massacre-1.587558?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines_


Why would their actions have been brave then but not now? Like all soldiers, they executed the policy of the nation, a policy established by the Government. This strikes me as a misplacement of the guilt that belongs to the framers of the policy, not the line animals whose duty it was to realize that policy.

As long as we are running Gitmo as an off-book torture chamber and enhanced-interrogation academy, I don't think the legislators behind the above proposal have a moral leg to stand on.

Maybe a posthumous Medal of Dishonor for the wardens of our policies of sending Americns to fight other Americans (the Civil War gets a pass because for the duration the opposition were extranational) is indicated, but don't punish the servicemen. Jmo


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## doublejj (Jun 25, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> Why would their actions have been brave then but not now? Like all soldiers, they executed the policy of the nation, a policy established by the Government. This strikes me as a misplacement of the guilt that belongs to the framers of the policy, not the line animals whose duty it was to realize that policy.
> 
> As long as we are running Gitmo as an off-book torture chamber and enhanced-interrogation academy, I don't think the legislators behind the above proposal have a moral leg to stand on.
> 
> Maybe a posthumous Medal of Dishonor for the wardens of our policies of sending Americns to fight other Americans (the Civil War gets a pass because for the duration the opposition were extranational) is indicated, but don't punish the servicemen. Jmo


This is one of the reasons many Vietnam vets don't talk about the war, time and policy change, but their actions live forever, only hindsight is 20/20


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## doublejj (Jun 25, 2019)




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## curious2garden (Jun 25, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> Why would their actions have been brave then but not now? Like all soldiers, they executed the policy of the nation, a policy established by the Government. This strikes me as a misplacement of the guilt that belongs to the framers of the policy, not the line animals whose duty it was to realize that policy.
> 
> As long as we are running Gitmo as an off-book torture chamber and enhanced-interrogation academy, I don't think the legislators behind the above proposal have a moral leg to stand on.
> 
> Maybe a posthumous Medal of Dishonor for the wardens of our policies of sending Americns to fight other Americans (the Civil War gets a pass because for the duration the opposition were extranational) is indicated, but don't punish the servicemen. Jmo


^^ what he said


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## doublejj (Jun 25, 2019)




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## doublejj (Jun 26, 2019)

On D-Day at Normandy the American soldiers were told not to take German prisoners....and they didn't. Any captured Germans were executed on the spot. That's a war crime...


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## ttystikk (Jun 26, 2019)

doublejj said:


> This is one of the reasons many Vietnam vets don't talk about the war, time and policy change, but their actions live forever, only hindsight is 20/20


Not even always then...


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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Jun 26, 2019)




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## ttystikk (Jun 27, 2019)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> View attachment 4356177


The world's largest class action lawsuit lol

As a plaintiff you may be entitled to $3.47

LMAO


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## BarnBuster (Jun 27, 2019)

​


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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Jul 1, 2019)

Do any of you ever wonder what your life would have been like had you stayed in and done twenty years? Do any of you ever regret getting out?


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## doublejj (Jul 1, 2019)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> Do any of you ever wonder what your life would have been like had you stayed in and done twenty years? Do any of you ever regret getting out?


After one tour in Vietnam in the Army i was ready to get out. But the war had an impact on me and I had re-adjustment issues after I got home. I bounced from job to job for many years and never could find a job that fit me until I found a job that gave me that same fight-or-flight adrenaline rush as I got stepping outside the wire in Nam. It felt 'normal' & so I spent the next 25 years working behind the walls inside Folsom prison.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 1, 2019)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> Do any of you ever wonder what your life would have been like had you stayed in and done twenty years? Do any of you ever regret getting out?


I did 24 AD - nothing like my Dad's experience in Korea and Nam, nor like JJ's thank God!
I saw enough to accomplish a later year Mind Fuck that I have been dealing with for years without even knowing it.

"Some things you can't un-see" because they visit you in quiet times/at night & you don't even see them coming.


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## curious2garden (Jul 2, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I did 24 AD - nothing like my Dad's experience in Korea and Nam, nor like JJ's thank God!
> I saw enough to accomplish a later year Mind Fuck that I have been dealing with for years without even knowing it.
> 
> "Some things you can't un-see" because they visit you in quiet times/at night & you don't even see them coming.


My hub did 22, started in Vietnam and ended in Desert Storm. He does not regret it.
PS His brother who got out after 1 hitch did.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 2, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> My hub did 22, started in Vietnam and ended in Desert Storm. He does not regret it.


I wouldn't trade those years for anything & would do it again in a heartbeat.

+ rep to you and your Husband, please accept my thanks for both your service.


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## curious2garden (Jul 2, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I wouldn't trade those years for anything & would do it again in a heartbeat.
> 
> + rep to you and your Husband, please accept my thanks for both your service.


He said thanks and we both say thank you for your service, my dear.


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## doublejj (Jul 2, 2019)

Barring the reception I received at the airport upon my return, i would do it again. I still believe I could have saved a few more GI's if i had just tried harder. This is some of the baggage I still carry.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 2, 2019)

The demon in my head says -

One more CPR rep . . .
One more bandage . . .
One more word of encouragement . . .

You did your best JJ - never doubt it, I don't!


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## BarnBuster (Jul 2, 2019)

_"The jury in the military trial of Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher has found him not guilty of premeditated murder and attempted murder during a deployment to Iraq in 2017. He was, however, found guilty of unlawfully posing for a picture with a human casualty."_

https://taskandpurpose.com/gallagher-not-guilty
https://www.stripes.com/news/navy/navy-seal-found-not-guilty-of-murder-most-other-charges-1.588597


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## BarnBuster (Jul 4, 2019)




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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Jul 4, 2019)

Happy 4th to all my fellow vets and all my love, respect, and thanks to those who never made it back home. Happy 4th, guys.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 12, 2019)

*Medal of Honor created*​
_July 12, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signs into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor, in the name of Congress, “to such non-commissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection.” The previous December, Lincoln had approved a provision creating a U.S. Navy Medal of Valor, which was the basis of the Army Medal of Honor created by Congress in July 1862. The first U.S. Army soldiers to receive what would become the nation’s highest military honor were six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862 penetrated deep into Confederate territory to destroy bridges and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1863, the Medal of Honor was made a permanent military decoration available to all members, including commissioned officers, of the U.S. military. It is conferred upon those who have distinguished themselves in actual combat at risk of life beyond the call of duty.
_
_________________________________________________________________________________________​
_




_​_
U.S.M.C. Lieutenant Frank Reasoner—who became the first Marine to be awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam—is killed by enemy fire on this day in 1965. 

Reasoner and his battalion had been on a sweep of a suspected Viet Cong area to deter any enemy activity aimed at the nearby airbase at Da Nang. He and the five-man point team he was accompanying were cut off from the main body of the company. He ordered his men to lay down a base of fire and then, repeatedly exposing himself to enemy fire, killed two Viet Cong, single-handedly wiped out an enemy machine gun emplacement, and raced through enemy fire to rescue his injured radio operator. Trying to rally his men, Reasoner was hit by enemy machine gun fire and was killed instantly. 

For this action, Reasoner was nominated for America’s highest award for valor. When Navy Secretary Paul H. Nitze presented the Medal of Honor to Reasoner’s widow and son in ceremonies at the Pentagon on January 31, 1967, he spoke of Reasoner’s willingness to die for his men: “Lieutenant Reasoner’s complete disregard for his own welfare will long serve as an inspiring example to others.”
_


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## BarnBuster (Jul 12, 2019)

bad ass!






*Coast Guard crewman leaps aboard narco sub, bangs on hatch during high-seas chase*
https://taskandpurpose.com/coast-guard-narco-sub-video


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## curious2garden (Jul 12, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> bad ass!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


LOL zero fucks given.


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## cannabineer (Jul 12, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> bad ass!


@GreatwhiteNorth did you know a Chuck Norris, USCG?


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## raratt (Jul 12, 2019)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> Do any of you ever wonder what your life would have been like had you stayed in and done twenty years? Do any of you ever regret getting out?


21 years, 3 months, 3 days, but who counted. I have no regrets.


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## curious2garden (Jul 12, 2019)

raratt said:


> 21 years, 3 months, 3 days, but who counted. I have no regrets.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 12, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> @GreatwhiteNorth did you know a Chuck Norris, USCG?


They should have just started punching holes in it with a .50.
NFW would I have done that - slip off the side & immediately you're in the prop.
I've seen what that does & don't want to be there!


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## Grandpapy (Jul 13, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> LOL zero fucks given.


lol "With brass balls that big how do they stay afloat?"


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## Hydrotech364 (Jul 13, 2019)

6ohMax said:


> Sup motherfuckers
> 
> 
> 
> I know there are some of you around



HS-4 Black Knight 87-93 CAG-15 7th fleet. We used to take fun trips to distant lands. Combat SAR.


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## wascaptain (Jul 15, 2019)

words to live by!


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## doublejj (Jul 15, 2019)

My father was in the US Army in WWII and survived 3 beach invasions. RIP dad...


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> My father was in the US Army in WWII and survived 3 beach invasions. RIP dad...


My late Father survived Korea and 2 tours in Vietnam one of which was a year of nightly rocket/sapper attacks in Danang. He had super 8 movies of the ammo dump going up - quite the sight. Tons & tons of munitions cooking off.
RIP as well.


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## too larry (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> My father was in the US Army in WWII and survived 3 beach invasions. RIP dad...


Daddy came over from the states on a big troop transport. Straight to France. He came ashore in mid August {on walkways built over grounded ships}. He spent his 21st birthday in mid November under fire. Got shot on back to back days in December, the 2nd time actually by the Germans. He spent the rest of the war in a POW camp.


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## Singlemalt (Jul 15, 2019)

Mine flew bombers with the 5th Air Force in the Pacific


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## curious2garden (Jul 15, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> Mine flew bombers with the 5th Air Force in the Pacific


B-17, B-24 or B-29?


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## Singlemalt (Jul 15, 2019)

B-17s, then B-24. He lucked out, they started sending the 17s to the 8thAF in England


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## curious2garden (Jul 15, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> B-17s, then B-24. He lucked out, they started sending the 17s to the 8thAF in England


He sure did. My mom rigged B-17s!


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## cannabineer (Jul 15, 2019)

Singlemalt said:


> B-17s, then B-24. He lucked out, they started sending the 17s to the 8thAF in England


I saw a documentary on Prime (?) about the US bombers of WW2. They had a cool segment showing how one of the great assembly-line innovations was the presentation of the craft's miles of wiring into preassembled plug&play wiring harnesses. I had no idea the invention was so recent.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 15, 2019)

My Mom worked in the Bendix plant assembling instrument panel gauges for B-29's. I've heard them (the women) referred to as another of America's secret weapons when the automotive, refrigerator and typewriter factories retooled for war production. My Uncle was a B-24 nose gunner. He made a letter opener for my Mom out of Perspex(?) after a AA round blew a section out right next to him.


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## doublejj (Jul 15, 2019)

WWII US Bomber Command aircrews suffered a high casualty rate: of a total of *125,000 aircrew*, 57,205 were killed (a 46 percent death rate), a further 8,403 were wounded in action and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Therefore, a total of 75,446 airmen (60 percent of operational airmen) were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.


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## Singlemalt (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> WWII US Bomber Command aircrews suffered a high casualty rate: of a total of *125,000 aircrew*, 57,205 were killed (a 46 percent death rate), a further 8,403 were wounded in action and 9,838 became prisoners of war. Therefore, a total of 75,446 airmen (60 percent of operational airmen) were killed, wounded or taken prisoner.


Yep, that's why he lucked out by not having to transfer to the 8th with the B-17s, some of his cohort did


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## doublejj (Jul 15, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> bad ass!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


at first i thought is was boat noise but I'm pretty sure i can hear this guys brass balls clanging when he jumps onto that sub....


----------



## pabloesqobar (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> My father was in the US Army in WWII and survived 3 beach invasions. RIP dad...


Wow. What beach, and when? What ship did he come in on? What was his unit/position?


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## pabloesqobar (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> He was a combat engineer under General Patton. He went ashore on D Day with Pattons tanks in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, where he was wounded at Anzio....


He was wounded too? How?


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## doublejj (Jul 15, 2019)

pabloesqobar said:


> He was wounded too? How?


German artillery shell......they hated pattons tanks, so they took it out on the combat engineers trying to clear mines & repair roads & bridges the germans had destroyed in their retreat.


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## pabloesqobar (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> German artillery shell......they hated pattons tanks, so they took it out on the combat engineers trying to clear mines & repair roads & bridges the germans had destroyed in their retreat.


Huh. But he was ok? Which beach did that happen to him?


----------



## doublejj (Jul 15, 2019)

pabloesqobar said:


> Huh. But he was ok? Which beach did that happen to him?


He made it thru the beach landing at Anzio and was wounded a few days later near Solarno and was evacuated to a US hospital. That was the end of the war for him. He did mostly recover and married my mom.....the rest is history


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## 757growin (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> He made it thru the beach landing at Anzio and was wounded a few days later near Solarno and was evacuated to a US hospital. That was the end of the war for him. He did mostly recover and married my mom.....the rest is history


I wonder if he served with my grandpa. Not sure his unit but i cut and pasted this from his obituary..
An Army veteran of World War II, he served in the European and African Theater, and was recipient of the Purple Heart.

Gardens look great by the way jj!


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## cannabineer (Jul 15, 2019)

doublejj said:


> at first i thought is was boat noise but I'm pretty sure i can hear this guys brass balls clanging when he jumps onto that sub....


... which only exacerbate his seriously negative buoyancy


----------



## doublejj (Jul 15, 2019)

757growin said:


> I wonder if he served with my grandpa. Not sure his unit but i cut and pasted this from his obituary..
> An Army veteran of World War II, he served in the European and African Theater, and was recipient of the Purple Heart.
> 
> Gardens look great by the way jj!


Thank you things are looking good so far. Those were big campaigns bro they probably did serve together someplace. These campaigns were really diversionary strikes to keep the germans preoccupied and drain their resources leading up to the Normandy invasion in France. My dad was buried with a purple heart and a bronze star, but i'm not sure he received them at the same time...I think he said he got a bronze star in Tunisia...


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## BarnBuster (Jul 17, 2019)

"Some veterans choose not to enroll in Medicare Part B because they’re going to use VA healthcare for life. But, then life happens and things change.

_Tom is a Vietnam veteran. At age 65, he retired and signed up for Social Security and Medicare Part A, hospital insurance, but not Part B, medical insurance. He doesn’t need that to go to the VA. Now, at age 75, he’s having some issues and needs more frequent medical appointments. The nearest VA facility is 37 miles away. Tom’s driving skills have declined and he fatigues easily. He would really like to see local doctors.
_
Because Tom did not enroll in Medicare Part B, hospital insurance, when first eligible, he cannot sign up until the General Enrollment Period, January 1-March 31. After that, Part B would not take effect until July 1. On top of that, Tom will incur a late enrollment penalty, based on 10 years without Part B. In 2019, the penalty would add an additional $135.50 every month to his bill for Part B. (*The penalty amount can change every year and will follow Tom for life*.)"

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianeomdahl/2019/07/15/veterans-pay-attention-to-medicare-at-age-65-or-face-problems-later/#7ee02b7649aa


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## doublejj (Jul 17, 2019)

1st Battalion,3rd Brigade, 9th Infantry Division was in Cambodia from very early May through 30 June 1970 when they crossed the river back into Vietnam. There was extremely heavy combat throughout this period. American losses were very heavy, with all units relying on heavy inflow of replacements to try to maintain at least half strength in the field. In one company, of all the men who had entered Cambodia, only nine left on 30 June, the rest having been either killed or wounded and evacuated. The unit was awarded the Valorous Unit Award, equivalent to individual Silver Stars, for their combat performance in Cambodia.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 19, 2019)

*Marine Corps pallbearers salute the remains of an unidentified service member being returned from Tarawa during a ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Wednesday, July 17, 2019. WYATT OLSON/STARS AND STRIPES*​
_"JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Cases holding the remains of at least 22 service members killed in the ferocious Battle of Tarawa during World War II were solemnly carried by Marine Corps pallbearers from a C-17 plane into a crowd-filled hangar during a ceremony here Wednesday evening.

“Although more than 75 years have passed, we’re here in formation tonight to honor and welcome home our fellow Marines, brothers in arms who fell long ago in battle, enabling the freedom and security we’ve enjoyed since the end of World War II,” Lt. Gen. Lewis Craparotta, commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific, told those in attendance.

“As part of the 18,000 Marines in the battle, their actions changed the world for the better in the face of tremendous adversity, their honor, courage and commitment on display for the world to see,” he said.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency transferred the remains from Tarawa in 22 cases, though remains from additional service members could possibly be commingled with them.

Forensic anthropologists at the agency’s lab on the joint base will now begin the painstaking work of identifying them through DNA technology, dental records and other tools. DPAA had earlier held a repatriation ceremony in Tarawa as the remains began their journey home.

More than 500 Marines and sailors were missing in action after the battle, and 429 remain unaccounted for to this day, Rear Adm. Jon Kreitz, DPAA deputy director, told the audience. “Tonight, we are receiving and honoring at least 22 of those men,” he said.

The Battle for Tarawa began on Nov. 20, 1943, with attacks on Betio Island, which was within the Tarawa Atoll, and on Makin Island, more than 100 miles north of the atoll. While Japanese resistance was light on Makin Island, defenders on Betio were entrenched and determined. The 76-hour battle cost the lives of 1,021 U.S. Marines and sailors, with another 2,000 wounded, the Pentagon said in a Wednesday news release.

“Servicemen killed in action were buried where they fell or placed in large trench burials constructed during and after the battle,” the news release said. “These graves were typically marked with improvised markers, such as crosses made from sticks, or an up-turned rifle. Grave sites ranged in size from single isolated burials to large trench burials of more than 100 individuals.”

Efforts to exhume the graves and identify remains were hampered due to incomplete record keeping and by the alterations to the cemeteries shortly after the battle, the news release said. In other cases, locations of cemeteries were entirely lost.

Tarawa is now part of the nation of Kiribati.

In March, searchers with the nonprofit organization History Flight discovered a mass grave with remains believed to be from members of the 6th Marine Regiment. The transfer Wednesday represents a portion of remains found at that time.

History Flight has been searching for World War II remains in Tarawa since 2007. In 2015, the group uncovered the bodies of 35 U.S. troops, including Medal of Honor recipient 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman Jr., who died leading a doomed assault on a Japanese bunker.

Two years later, History Flight searchers found 24 sets of remains"._


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## BarnBuster (Jul 29, 2019)

*A veteran from the Old Glory Honor Flight takes a photo of a flag that flew on a landing craft control vessel during the storming of Utah Beach, France on D-Day. The artifact was unveiled at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. on July 26, 2019*.​*By EMMA SWISLOW | STARS AND STRIPES*
*Published: July 26, 2019*

_WASHINGTON — "More than 100 veterans gathered at the National Museum of American History on Friday to see the unveiling of a 48-star flag that flew on Landing Craft Control 60 during the 1944 D-Day assault on Utah Beach in Normandy._

_Among those in attendance was Herman Zeitchik, who stormed Utah Beach on D-Day and later played a part in liberating both Paris and the Dachau concentration camp. Most of the other veterans in attendance served in Vietnam, and were in Washington as part of the Old Glory Honor Flight from northeast Wisconsin._

_The flag is displayed on the third floor of the museum as part of an exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day. _

_During the invasion, LCC 60 guided American vessels to their landing spots on the beach and helped control the armada’s movement. After the events at Utah Beach and other fights in France, its flag was brought home by U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. j.g. Howard Vander Beek, who captained LCC 60. For years, Vander Beek, who was of Dutch descent, displayed the flag in his house, curator Jennifer Jones said._

_After Vander Beek died in 2014, the flag went up for auction. Bert Kreuk, a collector from the Netherlands, purchased it ($514,000) through Heritage Auction in Texas in June 2016 with the intention of someday giving it back to the United States. _

_Smithsonian National Museum of American History curator Jennifer Jones, director Anthea Hertig and lead curator of political history Claire Jerry (left to right) cut the ribbon to officially unveil the display of a 48-star flag that was flown on a landing craft control vessel that landed at Utah Beach, France on D-Day.

The flag was exhibited in the Netherlands for a couple years before Kreuk emailed the National Security Council and the State Department in November to let them know he wanted to return it to the U.S. He and his uncle, Theo Schols, then donated the flag to the museum._

_*“[The donors] were interested in giving the flag that they had purchased ... back to the United States and to the people of the United States because they had such a feeling of personal connection to the country,” Jones said. “They had been able to grow up and live the ‘American Dream’ because of Europe’s liberation in World War II.”*_

_On the Fourth of July, according to Jones, the donors emailed the Smithsonian to let them know that Kreuk, alongside President Donald Trump and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, would present the flag at the White House during a ceremony on July 18. _

_The flag was flown from the Netherlands to Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on a military transport. The American History Museum then catalogued the object before loaning it to the White House for the ceremony. _

_Jones worked with designers and other curators at the museum to put together its space at the museum in order that it could be displayed just a week after its appearance at the White House. Typically this process takes six months at minimum, Jones said. _

_Among the flag’s features that Jones hopes to explore more are the holes throughout it. _

_“We want to know which holes in the flag might be attributed to machine gun fire by the Germans,” Jones said. “There’s one little pinhole that’s very clean and doesn’t have a lot of fraying around it. I’m suspecting there’s more than one, but I’d love to be able to talk to [Vander Beek’s] family to know more.”_

_ The flag will be displayed for a year as part of the D-Day exhibition and then move to the museum’s permanent collection, Jones said."
_
https://americanhistory.si.edu/press/releases/smithsonian-display-recently-acquired-d-day-flag
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-netherlands/bullet-riddled-us-flag-that-survived-d-day-comes-home-75-years-later-idUSKCN1UD274


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## BarnBuster (Jul 29, 2019)

_President Trump welcomed 9/11 first responders to the White House Monday morning, as he signed a bill that will ensure continued funding for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund._

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-thanks-first-responders-as-he-signs-9-11-bill-you-inspire-all-of-humanity
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/29/trump-sign-9-11-victim-compensation-fund-bill-first-responders/1835550001/

Shame on these holdouts:
*Only Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, voted against it. They proposed amendments to the bill that were rejected*.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 30, 2019)

Today in military history:







*Japanese sink the USS Indianapolis*​
_"There were 1,196 heroes aboard the USS Indianapolis when she was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-58 on the night of 29-30 July, 1945. Some of them had only recently reported aboard, but most of the crew had already distinguished themselves in some of the most critical battles of the Pacific War. Her crew had already succeeded in close-in shore bombardments supporting U.S. Marines and shooting down multiple kamikaze suicide aircraft, any one of which could have crippled or sunk a critical U.S. aircraft carrier. While serving as the flagship for one of the largest and most costly naval battles in history off Okinawa, the Indianapolis was hit and nearly sunk by a kamikaze; she was saved only by the skill, courage, and determination of her crew. All of those aboard when she was torpedoed were instrumental in the successful accomplishment of Indianapolis’ most important mission of the war; the safe delivery at maximum speed of atom bomb components to Tinian Island (her speed record from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor still stands today.) In doing so, the Indianapolis Sailors served to forestall additional years of carnage, in the long run saving many hundreds of thousands of U.S. and Japanese lives._

_Beyond the defeat of the sinking itself, USS Indianapolis’ story is compounded by grave errors in U.S. Navy command, control, and intelligence, which, beyond those Sailors who initially went down with their ship due to Japanese torpedo attack, resulted in hundreds of needless and horrific additional deaths to exposure, dehydration and shark attacks. And as if the sinking were not bad enough, the U.S. Navy’s poor handling of casualty notification, and perhaps the most controversial court martial in U.S. Navy history, led to years of bitter recriminations. Why, after 70 plus years should we remember? Because, even in the worst defeats and disasters there is valor and sacrifice that deserves to never be forgotten. The story of USS Indianapolis can serve as inspiration to current and future Sailors enduring situations of mortal peril. There are also lessons learned (and in the case of the Indianapolis, lessons re-learned) that need to be preserved and passed on, so that the same mistakes can be prevented, and lives saved. Lest we forget so we may learn."_

*Indianapolis : the true story of the worst sea disaster in U.S. naval history and the fifty-year fight to exonerate an innocent man* / Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic.

*In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors* by Doug Stanton

*Out of the Depths: An Unforgettable WWII Story of Survival, Courage, and the Sinking of the USS Indianapolis* by Edgar USMC Harrell and David Harrell

*All the Drowned Sailors: Cover-Up of America's Greatest Wartime Disaster at Sea, Sinking of the Indianapolis with the Loss of 880 Lives Because of the Incompetence of Admirals, Officers, & Gentlemen* by Lech and Raymond B Lech


----------



## doublejj (Jul 30, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in military history:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 1, 2019)

*





Dorothy Olsen, seen on a P-38 Lightning during her time with the Women Airforce Service Pilots. According to her daughter, Olsen called it "an old woman's plane" and liked the P-51 better. Air Force photo*​

Pilot Who Was a Daredevil Flier with WASPs During WWII Dies at 103​
31 Jul 2019
The News Tribune | By Siandhara Bonnet

_About 30 people stood on the pavement of the Calvary Cemetery, looking toward the sky, waiting for World War II planes to fly overhead in honor of a woman who flew ones like them more than 75 years ago.

When they had to wait a little longer than expected, Julie Stranburg piped up.

"Mom wouldn't have stood for this," Stranburg said with a smile.

Dorothy Eleanor Olsen, Stranburg's mom, died at 103 on July 23. She was honored with a Funeral Mass on Monday at St. Charles Borromeo Parish and now rests at the Calvary Cemetery in Tacoma, Washington.

Olsen was part of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) -- a group of civilian volunteers who moved planes across the country, hauled targets for shooting practice and performed other flying duties. She was stationed at Long Beach Army Air Base, California, from 1942 to 1944 and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.

During her time as a WASP pilot, Olsen flew about 60 missions as part of the 6th Ferry Group, often alone, according to a report from the Chinook Observer in 2011. She also flew about 29 different aircraft. Her favorite was the P-51.

"Mom said the P-38 was an old woman's plane. She said anybody could fly that," Stranburg said. "She said that the P-51, you had to stay on top of that."

She also didn't care much for the bomber planes. Debbie Jennings, friends with Olsen since about 2003 and developer of a WASP exhibit at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, said her friend preferred the fighter plane because she was by herself and could do whatever she wanted.

Jennings said Olsen would get a kick out of scaring farmers on their tractors and fly right behind them. She would do the same at railroad stations just because.

Stranburg said her mom got chewed out by ranking officers for flying like that and once got reprimanded for using her landing gear at high speeds. One time, she flew upside down and a piece of the plane fell off -- but the landing crew never said a word, and Olsen's son, Kim Olsen, has the piece to this day.

"She was like nobody I've ever known. So determined to do whatever she wanted to do," Jennings said.

At the time, women and people of color were fighting for respect in the military.

According to NPR, during the last WASP training class, Henry "Hap" Arnold, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Air Forces, said when the program began he wasn't sure "whether a slip of a girl could fight the controls of a B-17 in heavy weather."

"Now in 1944, it is on the record that women can fly as well as men," Arnold said.

Jennings said some of the male pilots were jealous of how many different planes Olsen was able to fly.

On two occasions, Olsen received v-mail, or victory mail, postcards from male pilots who had found Olsen's name and address in the cockpit of a plane she ferried. In the last line of the postcard, one pilot from Italy wrote, "Despite the fact that a woman once flew it, it appears to perform perfectly," Jennings said.

"They were the first women to fly military aircraft for the United States," Jennings said. "The women had to jump into any aircraft that needed to be moved, whether it was for training or for combat, and know how to fly it and fly it wherever it needed to go."

WASPs were not recognized as veterans until 1977 under President Jimmy Carter.

Olsen grew up reading about World War I planes and flying in Woodburn, Oregon, in the 1920s, according to a report from The Seattle Times. She was inspired to pursue flight after reading 'The Red Knight of Germany" by Floyd Gibbons.

As she pursued her pilot's license, Olsen taught tap dance and continued to teach after receiving her certification. She was one of three women to get her private flying license in the Portland area by 1939, according to the Chinook Observer.

Once she joined the WASPs, she kept a pair of black DeLiso Debs and socks underneath her seat in every plane she flew, Stranburg said.

"She'd date a new man every night and go dancing, dump them and take off on her next plane," Stranburg said.

When the WASPs disbanded in 1944, Olsen had to pay her own way from Long Beach back home.

Stranburg said Olsen got a job flying war-weary planes after the war -- aircraft deemed no longer safe for combat missions. She once worked with two other men and flew planes to Wyoming.

"They got into a snowstorm and were low on fuel," Stranburg said. "The men wanted to turn back and Mom said, 'No, you're taught never turn back.'"

She said they knew the airport was near, but weren't sure where. The townspeople heard them flying over head and directed the pilots to the landing strip using car headlights.

"She had so many close brushes with death but managed to slide by so many times," Stranburg said.

Olsen later married Harold W. Olsen, a Washington State trooper, and settled down in University Place.

Stranburg said her mom was always fair, particularly when Stranburg and her brother Kim would fight growing up. One time, Olsen told her kids to clean up dog vomit in the kitchen, but neither wanted to.

"She walked up there, took her hand, and [split it in half]. 'You clean that, and you clean that,'" Stranburg said.

Stranburg said her mom didn't fly after she and her brother were born and didn't even think of flying commercial or private planes.

"She said, 'Why would I want to fly a Cessna when I've flown a P-51?'" Stranburg said.

Olsen never lost her flying spirit, though. She often "drove with authority," neighbor Duncan Foley said with a chuckle. "She drove like she was driving a fighter jet."

According to her memorial obituary on the Edwards Memorial website, that spirit landed her a speeding ticket in her 1965 poppy orange Mustang.

Stranburg said flying was the highlight of her mom's life, and that she loved to look at clouds and remember flying through them.

"Every sunny day when you see clouds, think of mom," Stranburg said. "She's up there doing slow rolls in a P-38."

Before Olsen was laid to rest, Jennings read the poem "Celestial Flight" by WASP Elizabeth MacKethan Magid, which is "now required reading at all WASP departures."

The first verse is:

"She is not dead --

But only flying higher,

Higher than she's flown before,

And earthly limitations will hinder her no more"
_


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## BarnBuster (Aug 4, 2019)

31 Jul 2019
Stars and Stripes | By Rose L. Thayer
_AUSTIN, Texas -- A group of Texas veterans believe it's time for the military to start honoring its contemporary heroes. And they'd like to start by renaming Fort Hood after a Vietnam War Medal of Honor recipient.
At its national meeting in July, the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC, approved a resolution brought forward by a council of Texas veterans to call on the secretary of the Army to rename Fort Hood as Fort Benavidez, in honor of former Special Forces Master Sgt. Roy Benavidez._

*************************************************************************************​
(Sergeant Benavidez's story always bears repeating every time I see his name. bb)







BarnBuster said:


> _"On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife._
> 
> _He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head._
> 
> ...


@doublejj


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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Aug 5, 2019)

There isn't enough WWI movies out there for some reason. Seems like we oftentimes forget about the sacrifices all those brave men made during that first world war. I suppose it is overshadowed by WWII. Can't wait to see this, looks like it's gonna be pretty good.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 6, 2019)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> There isn't enough WWI movies out there for some reason. Seems like we oftentimes forget about the sacrifices all those brave men made during that first world war. I suppose it is overshadowed by WWII. Can't wait to see this, looks like it's gonna be pretty good.


Have you watched "_They Shall Not Grow Old_" ? It's a historical documentary but it is a outstanding technical achievement in film processing. First 20 min or so are ho hum but then you will be amazed.


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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Aug 6, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Have you watched "_They Shall Not Grow Old_" ? It's a historical documentary but it is a outstanding technical achievement in film processing. First 20 min or so are ho hum but then you will be amazed.


I have not but I will see if I can find it. I really enjoy history.

*edit: am downloading it right now


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## BarnBuster (Aug 6, 2019)

Skeet Kuhn Dough said:


> I have not but I will see if I can find it. I really enjoy history.
> *edit: am downloading it right now


Keep reminding yourself this is the real deal and not actors playing a part. They did sub some dialogue in afterwards, they had lip readers determine what the soldiers were saying.


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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Aug 6, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Keep reminding yourself this is the real deal and not actors playing a part. They did sub some dialogue in afterwards, they had lip readers determine what the soldiers were saying.


I will. I'll be watching it this evening. WWI & II are incredibly fascinating to me. So glad to find this gem. Thanks again @BarnBuster . I'll come back later and probably wanna discuss. I'm sure I'll enjoy the doc.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 8, 2019)

​https://armyhistory.org/the-purple-heart-the-story-of-americas-oldest-military-decoration-and-some-soldier-recipients/
​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 8, 2019)

The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his. 
~ General George S. Patton ~


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## BarnBuster (Aug 8, 2019)

*"A brilliant man would find a way not to fight a war."*
-Isoroku Yamamoto


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## curious2garden (Aug 9, 2019)

USS Jarvis Bagley-class Destroyer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Jarvis_(DD-393))





She fired on the enemy at Pearl Harbor and survived. 








However, the Japanese, still mistaking _Jarvis_ for an escaping cruiser, dispatched 31 planes from Rabaul to search out and destroy her. Once discovered the badly damaged destroyer was no match for bombers raking the ship with bullets and torpedoes. According to Japanese records, _Jarvis_ "split and sank" at 1300 on 9 August. None of her 233 remaining crew survived the onslaught.

My uncle was on that ship.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 9, 2019)

https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/j/jarvis-ii.html


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 9, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> My uncle was on that ship.


Sorry, cannot like this.
Belated condolences.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 9, 2019)

By MATTHEW KEELER | STARS AND STRIPES - Published: August 9, 2019

_OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea — More than a year after North Korea returned 55 cases of remains, 11 American troops have been identified and more are expected in coming weeks, according to the agency overseeing the process.

The remains were flown to Osan in late July, fulfilling part of the agreement reached by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their first summit on June 12, 2018, in Singapore.

DPAA “has identified 11 servicemen from those remains and we expect more than 20 additional IDs in the coming weeks,” spokesman Air Force Lt. Col. Kenneth Hoffman said Friday in an email, citing ongoing forensic analyses and DNA testing.

Last week, Vice President Mike Pence, who was at the repatriation ceremony last year in Hawaii, said in a tweet that “25 more heroes from the 55 boxes of remains” had been identified._
_
********************************************************************************************************************_​_
Southwest Airlines flew the remains of a Vietnam airman home to Dallas. The pilot was his son._
_ By REIS THEBAULT | The Washington Post | Published: August 9, 2019_
_
Bryan Knight was 5 years old when he waved goodbye to his father from Dallas Love Field airport. He never saw him again.

The year was 1967 and Roy Knight Jr. was heading to war. The pilot reported to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in January. By May — after flying near daily combat missions — Knight was missing, his plane shot down over enemy territory in Laos. It was another seven years before his family found out he'd been killed. And on Thursday, 45 years after that, they finally received closure.

Knight's remains, recovered near his plane's crash site more than five decades after it went down, were flown from Honolulu to Oakland, California, and from Oakland back to Dallas, where his family greeted the Southwest flight as it arrived.

Bryan Knight, the son who watched his dad leave to fight in the Vietnam War, was also the man who flew him home, the pilot of that flight from California to Texas that landed at Love Field, the last place the two saw each other.

When the plane landed in Dallas, the airport's fire trucks greeted it with a water salute. Knight's remains, in a casket draped with an American flag, were received with full military honors. Inside the terminal, hundreds looked on, their faces pressed against the window, listening as a gate agent tearfully recounted the Knight family's story over the intercom.
https://twitter.com/JProskowGlobal/status/1159498538872725504/photo/1_

_Knight's plane was shot down while he was attacking a military target on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos, which borders Vietnam to the west. At first, he was listed as missing but was declared killed in action in 1974. He was posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross, Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart and six Air Medals for his service, his obituary says._

https://www.stripes.com/southwest-airlines-flew-the-remains-of-a-vietnam-airman-home-to-dallas-the-pilot-was-his-son-1.593769?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines


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## curious2garden (Aug 9, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Sorry, cannot like this.
> Belated condolences.


Thank you, I'm fine. He's someone I never met. But my mother spoke of him fondly.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 10, 2019)

I literally have no words here.


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## Skeet Kuhn Dough (Aug 11, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Have you watched "_They Shall Not Grow Old_" ? It's a historical documentary but it is a outstanding technical achievement in film processing. First 20 min or so are ho hum but then you will be amazed.


I watched it. I was astounded to see what sort of a reception that these men found after coming back home. Signs that said help wanted, but ex-military need not apply. Appalling. Those guys went through hell in those trenches. Thanks for the recommendation.


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## ttystikk (Aug 12, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> *"A brilliant man would find a way not to fight a war."*
> -Isoroku Yamamoto


Too many good people die on both sides.

Save our troops; end foreign wars.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 19, 2019)

Couple of interesting and informative links about US Navy platforms/vessels

https://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact.asp
https://www.nvr.navy.mil/QUICKFIND.html


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## Hydrotech364 (Aug 21, 2019)

That's me in the back telling someone to stop something circa 1990 Subic Bay.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 21, 2019)

11th MEU using LAV's (M242's and M240C's) to repel small boats and drones off Iranian coast. _"... the LAVs “have better sensors than the ship does to detect small incoming boats,” said Maj. Gen. David Coffman, director of expeditionary warfare."_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 21, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> 11th MEU using LAV's (M242's and M240C's) to repel small boats and drones off Iranian coast. _"... the LAVs “have better sensors than the ship does to detect small incoming boats,” said Maj. Gen. David Coffman, director of expeditionary warfare."_


Wow! Those are some very BAD Girls!


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## Hydrotech364 (Aug 21, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> 11th MEU using LAV's (M242's and M240C's) to repel small boats and drones off Iranian coast. _"... the LAVs “have better sensors than the ship does to detect small incoming boats,” said Maj. Gen. David Coffman, director of expeditionary warfare."_



I was with The HS-4 Black Knights.Coronado Ca.
We started with H-3 Sikorskys and made the transition to the MH-60. Awesome times. I was primary troubleshooter, hydraulics. Still doing hydraulics.


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## Hydrotech364 (Aug 21, 2019)

Just imagine being on Carl Vinson and everyone including the Air Boss screaming into the headset.. Only had 5 minutes to fix it or my ass was toast. No Pressure..Made Me really good though.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 2, 2019)

By ROB SHIKINA | The Honolulu Star-Advertiser | Published: September 2, 2019

_HONOLULU (Tribune News Service) — *With the American flag billowing in the wind and “The Star-Spangled Banner” playing on the loudspeakers from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, the first boatload of tourists and residents in nearly 16 months stepped onto the USS Arizona Memorial on Sunday morning.*

The 145 visitors on the Navy boat disembarked to spend a few solemn minutes within the white walls of the shrine at the same time, 8:10 a.m., that the Arizona was hit Dec. 7, 1941, also a Sunday, by an armor-piercing bomb that sank the ship and killed 1,177 men. The battleship suffered the greatest loss of life of all the ships and planes attacked that day. Among the dead were a father and son named Free and 23 sets of brothers.

“It was just terribly moving to be over there today,” said Minneapolis resident Patty Drake, 63, who was in Hawaii while celebrating her 27th anniversary with her husband, Bob. “All the death and the pain.”

She saw the oil seeping from the sunken ship that she recalled seeing the last time she visited the memorial while living in Hawaii more than 50 years ago.

“It was powerful,” Bob Drake said. The oil the Drakes witnessed leaks from the million gallons of bunker fuel oil that was aboard the ship when it sank and is known as the “black tears of the Arizona.” Visitors now can walk on the memorial and see the oil and the names of the dead etched into the marble wall as they reflect on the sacrifice of those who died in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the U.S. into World War II.

While the memorial was closed, the National Park Service, which overseas the site, offered a narrated harbor boat tour along Battleship Row and still showed a 25-minute documentary.

The memorial was closed in May 2018 after park staff found major damage to the anchoring system for the boat dock at the memorial. The damage — possibly caused by king tides in 2017 that raised the concrete blocks out of the ground — allowed too much movement of the dock and created a risk that the bridge to the memorial could collapse.

Originally, the memorial, one of the state’s top attractions with about 4,300 daily visitors, was set to reopen in October 2018. Frustration grew as the timeline was pushed back repeatedly— first to December, then to March and finally this October. After the March deadline was missed, Hawaii’s congressional delegation wrote a letter to the acting director of the National Parks Service that expressed the public’s disappointment and requested monthly updates on the repair project._

_Jay Blount, Pearl Harbor National Memorial’s chief of interpretation, said that initially, there were plans to repair the concrete block anchoring system, but rather than risk a repeat of the problem, planners decided to go with a completely new anchoring system, which was one cause of the early delays.

The new anchoring system uses giant screws, some longer than 100 feet, that have been driven into the seafloor. Twelve anchors were installed and then were attached to the dock using synthetic rope as part of the $2.1 million repair.

In their letter to the Parks Service, lawmakers said the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, which is home to the Arizona Memorial, had nearly 1.8 million visitors in 2018. Blount said it was unknown how large an impact the closure of the memorial had on park visitor arrivals, but recent park statistics show an annual visitor decline of about 8%.

Steve Mietz, acting supervisor of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, said reopening the Arizona Memorial was the top priority of the National Parks Service. “Reconnecting the American public to the USS Arizona Memorial is very meaningful to me,” Mietz said. “People need to be there at that shrine to pay their respects to those fallen heroes. It’s such a moving sight.”

Mietz said the repair project involved working with several partners, including the nonprofit Pacific Historic Parks and the Navy, which had the equipment to support the parks department and helped compete the project faster and at a lower cost.

Blount said the memorial, which opened on Memorial Day 1962, stands as the symbol of American sacrifice in the Pacific theater during WWII._


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## wascaptain (Sep 10, 2019)

in honor of the 343 firefighters who gave all


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## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2019)




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## curious2garden (Sep 11, 2019)

wascaptain said:


> in honor of the 343 firefighters who gave all
> 
> View attachment 4392738


and are still dying from their exposure


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## too larry (Sep 12, 2019)

*The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge*
11 hrs · 
Let's be honest. We get comments all the time from people who say things like: "What, you tryin' to make me feel old"… No we are not. We are just reminding you that you grew up in what may turn out to be the best time in the history of this country (US). We remind you because we were there too. So with that being said…

53 years ago tonight, The Monkees first TV show aired. Yes we thought it was incredibly cool. (We were in our early to mid teens). Their 1st single, "Last Train to Clarksville" was already climbing the charts.

School had just started and The Monkees were what everyone was talking about.

Yeah, we miss the simpler times of the mid 60's.

The Monkees first TV episode first aired 53 years ago tonight. Did you watch? AND… How long did it take you to get a double breasted shirt and a stocking cap? Be Honest...

w/ Micky Dolenz, Micky Dolenz


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## curious2garden (Sep 12, 2019)

too larry said:


> *The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge*
> 11 hrs ·
> Let's be honest. We get comments all the time from people who say things like: "What, you tryin' to make me feel old"… No we are not. We are just reminding you that you grew up in what may turn out to be the best time in the history of this country (US). We remind you because we were there too. So with that being said…
> 
> ...


Oh my! I really disliked The Monkees and The Archies and all the other sugar pop. I was more into Led Zep, Cream, Black Sabbath. My parents were certain I was going to hell.


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## too larry (Sep 12, 2019)

*The College of Rock and Roll Knowledge*
11 hrs · 
Johnny Cash passed away 16 years ago today on Sept. 12, 2003. He was / is a true American icon.

RIP Johnny. Your influence has inspired so many. Thank You.

Yes we are a Rock and Roll page, but if you don't think Johnny should be mentioned here….


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## too larry (Sep 12, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Oh my! I really disliked The Monkees and The Archies and all the other sugar pop. I was more into Led Zep, Cream, Black Sabbath. My parents were certain I was going to hell.


I'm off my rails it looks like. I was thinking I was on the "on this day" thread. Sorry.


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## curious2garden (Sep 12, 2019)

too larry said:


> I'm off my rails it looks like. I was thinking I was on the "on this day" thread. Sorry.


LOL sounds like good weed


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## too larry (Sep 12, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> LOL sounds like good weed


I'm not even sure what I smoked. I had a customer on the way, so I rushed through a couple of one hitters of the first sack I laid hands on.


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## doublejj (Sep 13, 2019)

Between September 4 and September 12, 1967, multiple North Vietnamese Army regiments laid siege to the vital U.S. Marine Corps base on Cồn Tiên, a hill just two miles south of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). Over the following two months, North Vietnamese artillery brought down thousands of heavy explosive shells on the several Marine battalions stationed at Cồn Tiên. A months-long, relentless artillery barrage combined with Communist ground attacks and pelting monsoon rains made the fight for Cồn Tiên one of the toughest battles of the war.

In the spring of 1967, North Vietnam intensified its attacks across the DMZ and began a buildup of forces in the region north of I Corps. By the summer, some U.S. military leaders believed the enemy buildup was a sign that the North Vietnamese intended to launch a massive invasion into northern South Vietnam. In response, the III Marine Amphibious Force received orders to construct a strong-point obstacle system across from the DMZ and to man a series of outposts to block key infiltration routes into South Vietnam. Cồn Tiên was one of these outposts. Cồn Tiên also protected the large Marine Corps logistics base at nearby Đông Hà.

By the late summer and early fall, Marines engaged more and more frequently with North Vietnamese army forces around Cồn Tiên. Communist artillery fire from across the DMZ began to rain down on Cồn Tiên's defenders, and enemy troops launched a succession of ground attacks-including one on September 13 that reached the base's perimeter-all of which the Americans successfully repulsed. During the month of September, the Marines on the hill endured over 200 enemy artillery shells per day. The most intense bombardment occurred between September 19 and 27, when over 3,000 enemy shells hit the base, causing numerous American casualties.

Ceaseless rain, ankle-deep mud, and weeks of relentless tension due to the constant threat of attack and death made the defense of Cồn Tiên one of the most harrowing battles of Vietnam. While the Marines on the hill steadfastly defended the base with artillery, automatic and small-arms fire, and ground counterattacks, nearby U.S. troops aided their countrymen with one of the most focused and potent air and fire support operations of the war. A constant stream of Marine helicopters brought in supplies and ammunition by air, and the Air Force launched over 4,200 sorties against the forces attacking Cồn Tiên. Navy vessels offshore fired more than 6,100 shells, and nearby Army and Marine Corps artillerymen fired an additional 12,500 shells against the attackers, all before the end of October.

Under this onslaught of U.S. firepower, the North Vietnamese finally withdrew back into North Vietnam. Allied officers later estimated that Communist troops had sustained several thousand casualties. But American casualties were heavy as well, with approximately 1,800 men killed or wounded in the defense of Cồn Tiên. The 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines was among the hardest hit units. It numbered 952 Marines in early September, but was reduced in strength to about 300 by the end of October.

The expected North Vietnamese invasion of I Corps never came. Instead, Communist troops launched the Tet Offensive throughout hundreds of cities and towns across South Vietnam in early 1968.


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## Longsmoker (Sep 14, 2019)

6ohMax said:


> Sup motherfuckers
> 
> 
> 
> I know there are some of you around


USMC....UURA MY FELLEO DEVIL DOGS


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## curious2garden (Sep 14, 2019)

Thank you for your service. I believe @wascaptain is also fellow USMC. My hub did 22 years USA (ret) and GreatWhiteNorth retired from the US Coast Guard and many others here have served.
Welcome


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## too larry (Sep 14, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Thank you for your service. I believe @wascaptain is also fellow USMC. My hub did 22 years USA (ret) and GreatWhiteNorth retired from the US Coast Guard and many others here have served.
> Welcome


I transported Marines.


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## raratt (Sep 14, 2019)

I helped the Marines know where the bad guys were hiding. MSgt USAF (Ret)


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## curious2garden (Sep 14, 2019)

too larry said:


> I transported Marines.


As did my hub LOL 






They also sometimes got booted in mid-air along with the occasional petal door


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## raratt (Sep 14, 2019)

SR-71 cockpit 360. worked on this one also.
http://www.nmusafvirtualtour.com/cockpits/CW_tour/CW-30.html

Edit: Aft is in the next square


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## pabloesqobar (Sep 14, 2019)

I spent 95% of my time needle-gunning rust, used a lot of primer and haze gray paint, soaking brass in buckets of bug juice and cleaning the berthing and head. 5% of my time I hunted subs and repaired sonar systems. I didn't much care for that job.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 15, 2019)

*Jim “Pee Wee” Martin*​
*101st Vet Aged 98 To Jump Again in Operation Market Garden*




​War History Online Sep 14, 2019 George Winston

_"If anyone can prove those adages to be true, it’s Jim ‘Pee Wee’ Martin, an American World War II 101st veteran who’s doing something many men half his age are too terrified to tackle.

They say you’re only as old as you feel, that age is just a number, and that growing older is best combated by thinking and acting young.

Martin is going to repeat a jump he first did in 1944 as part of an Allied mission Operation Market Garden to free parts of the Netherlands from the Nazis’ grip. Apparently, he doesn’t consider his age a deterrent in any way.

In 2014, to celebrate the 70th D-Day anniversary in Normandy, France, the then 93-year-old veteran once again carried out a parachute jump over Normandy, making a tandem jump from another D-Day veteran, a C-47 Dakota.

Originally, Martin planned to repeat his bravura jump during the 75th anniversary of D-Day this past June. However, certain health matters forced him to cancel his plans. Undaunted, he has simply made new arrangements, with a little help from his friends. Martin’s life long friend and travelling campaign Doug Barber is unable to accompany Jim on this trip so another friend stepped in.
ne friend in particular, Kevin Price, who is with the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. He will help Martin make the journey to the Netherlands, and is totally supportive of his friend’s plans, if a little awed by them.

“I went to the Normandy commemoration in June,” Price told the Dayton Daily News. “And when I got back, I said (to Jim) ‘Hey, you couldn’t go to this, but what about the Netherlands in September?’ His response was, ‘If they let me jump’.” Price had lived in the Dutch region for a time, and became as fond of it as Martin had been during his war years. He and Martin became friends at a veterans’ event some years ago.

Jim “Pee Wee” Martin is one of the few “Toccoa Originals” of the famous WWII era 101st Airborne Division “Screaming Eagles” who is still with us. Jim continues to meet the public and carry forward the legacy of his experiences and lessons learned on D-Day in Normandy, during “Operation Market Garden” in Holland, in the snow outside Bastogne during the “Battle of the Bulge” and under Hitler’s “Eagles Nest” in Berchtesgaden.

Apparently, not everyone, particularly in the Netherlands, saw Martin’s age as a non-issue. Officials there were a bit worried that a 98-year-old is just a little too fragile to go parachuting out of a plane, no matter how historic the event would be. And no matter how good it might be for the area.

But Martin, Price and the base persisted with Dutch officials, and that, along with a letter from the U.S. Veterans Administration, got the local government on board, and they became convinced that Martin was of sound mind — and body.

He wants to do the leap for two reasons, he told the Dayton Daily News. First of all, he feels that Holland doesn’t get the P.R. and fame it deserves for its vital role in defeating the Germans. “Everyone thinks of the war as Normandy,” he said. “They forget about Holland.” Hence, he is hopeful that his jump will boost war-themed tourism in the region.

He also said that this jump will give him a sense of closure, a “capstone” to a long and distinguished military career.

“I signed up to go fight,” Martin told a reporter with the Robins Air Force Base Newsletter. And fight, he did; in fact, he took part in three crucial campaigns of the war: D-Day, Operation Garden Market and the Battle of the Bulge. He added that, because of the horrific manner in which the Dutch were treated under the Nazis, they were wildly happy to see the Allied soldiers, and made that abundantly clear.

Citizens collected guns off the ground for the Allies, and even threw rocks at the retreating German men; anything to express their relief and thanks, according to Martin. “The Dutch people were treated really terribly” by their German occupiers, he recalled.

Authorities there today are now delighted to have Martin on his way to the area soon for what is sure to be a historic jump. In part, that’s because the Veterans’ Administration included documentation of his medical fitness by one of its staff physicians.

And so, on September 17th, Jim “Pee Wee’ Martin is not just going to jump out of a plane to honour the Netherlands. He is going to leap right into history, and a place of renown all his own.

We have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting Jim on the battlefields of Normandy and is one hell of a man"._


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## curious2garden (Sep 15, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> ........snip.......
> _that growing older is best combated by thinking and acting young​_........snip.......


Nope, it's best combated by somatotropin and telomere lengthening. 

I wish him the best of luck on his jump and thankfully we have much better equipment for exiting planes these days.


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## too larry (Sep 15, 2019)

pabloesqobar said:


> I spent 95% of my time needle-gunning rust, used a lot of primer and haze gray paint, soaking brass in buckets of bug juice and cleaning the berthing and head. 5% of my time I hunted subs and repaired sonar systems. I didn't much care for that job.


When I was doing the Electrician's Mate thing, what shop I was assigned to determined what I did. For a while in the power shop I was the Electrical Safety Officer. lol. If it had a cord on it, I tested it. There are a lot of coffee pots on a ship that size. I got to go all over the ship and have a cup of coffee {and the occasional safety meeting} will lots of folks. {but I was a hard ass if your extension cord didn't have a tag on it. SOP was to cut the plug off anything not tagged}

In the light shop we would have trouble calls. There were always a pile of them to take care of, so we would get little gifts for making certain ones rise to the top of the pile. The cooks up in the chief's galley would give us lobster, etc, etc to get their lights back on. All the best bribes involved food.

The skatest duty I had was berthing cleaning, followed closely by mess deck duty. When we were underway and everyone else had been on 6 and 6 so long they didn't know night from day, I was working half days and sleeping the night through.


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## doublejj (Sep 15, 2019)

The only perks to being an Army field medic were; never walking point & never getting shit burning duty......oh and everyone in the squad is always looking out for you.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 15, 2019)

*Fireman 3rd Class Harold K. Costill, 18, of Clayton, New Jersey, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 16. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)*​
*




*
*The battleship West Virginia afire forward, immediately after the Japanese air attack on Dec. 7, 1941. The battleship Tennessee is on the sunken warship's opposite side. (U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command*​
_*A sailor from New Jersey killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor that launched the United States into World War II will be laid to rest this weekend in his hometown. Family members have issued an open invitation to the Sept. 14 funeral for Fireman 3rd Class Harold Kendall “Bud” Costill, 18, a sailor on the battleship West Virginia who was killed in the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, the Cherry Hill Courier Post reported.*_

_"We have reserved the performing arts center at Clayton High School for the funeral service because it is the only place in town big enough to hold such a large crowd," said Costill's 93-year old brother Gene, a former Clayton mayor and councilman and the only surviving sibling of the five Costill children._

_Costill’s remains had been interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in one of nearly three dozen caskets buried as “unknowns” among the 106 killed aboard the West Virginia._

_The Department of Defense notified the family in June that Costill had been positively identified through DNA, anthropological and other examinations 78 years after being listed officially as missing in action._

_The Elks lodge, Battleship New Jersey Museum and Memorial in Camden and Baseball Old Timers Inc. are among groups planning to attend._

_"The Battleship New Jersey crew feels a fraternal bond with all battleship sailors, and we want to be there," said Larry Hennessy, the quarterdeck officer who will head a contingent of museum volunteers._

_Costill was in an engine room when the ship, moored at Ford Island, was hit by torpedo and aerial bombs, one of which hit the ship's ammunition and caused a fire._

_Thalbert "Pug" Snyder, Harold's best friend and one of the scheduled speakers at the funeral service, remembered his friend as an innovator and problem solver who loved being on Silver Lake in Clayton and eagerly awaited the fall hunting season each year._

_“He also loved the sea and his time on the battleship and was in the process of becoming an electrician’s mate,” said Snyder, who served in the South Pacific during the war._

_Family members said Costill will be buried next to the high school in the family plot in Cedar Green Cemetery, beside his great-grandfather Elwood Costill, a Civil War soldier._

_Costill’s parents are not here to see their son come home. His sister, Joan Costill Burke, until her death in 2015, waged a campaign to have him located and identified, said her daughter, Nancy Eckler of Williamstown._

_“If my mom had lived to see this day, she would be elated that her brother was finally coming home to be buried close to his family. I know that my mom is smiling in heaven,” Eckler said._

_************************************************************************************************_

*USS West Virginia BB-48, 1923-1959*​_USS West Virginia, a 32,600-ton Colorado class battleship built at Newport News, Virginia, was commissioned in December 1923, the last battleship completed for the United States Navy for nearly two decades. During the 1920s and 1930s, she served in the U.S. Fleet, taking part in "Fleet Problems" and other exercises as part of the continuing effort to develop tactics and maintain the Navy's combat readiness. With much of the rest of the Fleet, she deployed to New Zealand and Australia in 1925 in an important demonstration of the Navy's trans-Pacific strategic "reach".

West Virginia's base was moved to Pearl Harbor in 1940, and she was there on 7 December 1941, when the Japanese attacked with an overwhelming force of carrier aircraft. In that raid, the battleship was hit by two bombs and at least seven torpedoes, which blew huge holes in her port side. Skillful damage control saved her from capsizing, but she quickly sank to the harbor bottom. More than a hundred of her crew were lost.In the course of that attack, the battleship's commander, Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, was mortally wounded. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his defense of the ship. Salvaged and given temporary repairs at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, in April 1943 West Virginia steamed to the West Coast for final repair and modernization at the Puget Sound Navy Yard.

The battleship emerged from the shipyard in July 1944 completely changed in appearance, with a wider hull, and massively improved anti-aircraft gun battery. West Virginia arrived in the Pacific combat zone in October, and soon was participating in pre-invasion bombardment of Leyte, in the Philippines. On 25 October, as a force of Japanese battleships and smaller vessels attempted to make a night attack on the landing area, she was one of the ships that stopped them in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the last time in World history when battleships engaged battleships with their big guns.

Subsequently, West Virginia took part in operations to capture Mindoro, Lingayen Gulf, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, using her sixteen-inch guns to support U.S. ground forces. On 1 April 1945, while off Okinawa, she was hit by a Japanese Kamikaze plane but was able to remain in action, continuing her bombardment duties there into June. After Japan's capitulation, West Virginia supported the occupation effort until mid-September. She participated in Operation "Magic Carpet" during the last part of 1945, bringing home veterans of the Pacific war. Inactive after early 1946, she was decommissioned in January 1947. West Virginia earned five battle stars for World War II service. Following twelve years in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, USS West Virginia was sold for scrapping in August 1959._


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## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2019)




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## wascaptain (Sep 23, 2019)

not that i would want a troop to get high on duty, but this directive is over board.

and, i am proud to say i never did any type of dope during my career, on or off duty.

i even stayed away from booze and hookers (on duty)


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## curious2garden (Sep 23, 2019)

wascaptain said:


> View attachment 4398896
> 
> not that i would want a troop to get high on duty, but this directive is over board.
> 
> ...


LOL hub was USAF.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 23, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> LOL hub was USAF.


That's like being a Pirate but with A/C, right?


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## pabloesqobar (Sep 23, 2019)

wascaptain said:


> View attachment 4398896
> 
> not that i would want a troop to get high on duty, but this directive is over board.
> 
> ...


Meh, doesn't bother me. I smoked hash with some locals when we pulled into Spain. Not smart. Command sweep the following day, but surprisingly didn't get popped.

As for hookers, even off duty . . . nope.


----------



## too larry (Sep 23, 2019)

pabloesqobar said:


> Meh, doesn't bother me. I smoked hash with some locals when we pulled into Spain. Not smart. Command sweep the following day, but surprisingly didn't get popped.
> 
> As for hookers, even off duty . . . nope.


I stayed away from the hookers. Stateside as well as liberty ports. But I was the 2nd biggest head on the Saipan. Practically everyone smoked. I learned later the Saipan was where they shipped all the druggies. Several people I worked with had got in drug trouble somewhere else in the Navy. {I had got popped for smoking a joint by the bowling alley at Great Lakes while I was waiting for my A School}


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 23, 2019)

pabloesqobar said:


> Meh, doesn't bother me. I smoked hash with some locals when we pulled into Spain. Not smart. Command sweep the following day, but surprisingly didn't get popped.
> 
> As for hookers, even off duty . . . nope.


I had duty one night in port (of very freakin many) and the BMOW found a half joint on the wardroom deck. When the crew arrived the next morning the CO pulled the gangway & instituted a 100% whiz quiz. After everyone had donated he called muster on the mess deck & announced that if the offending member would id himself he would "make it easy on them" & they would be simply processed, otherwise it would get drawn out & probably end in a Courts Martial. One of the E-4 cooks came up to me & admitted that he smoked every weekend - didn't know if it was his or not but knew he would pop positive so I advised him to use his best judgement as to what to do.
He asked me to accompany him to the CO's cabin (I did) & he admitted he smoked & that makes it a done deal at that point.

Piss test results came back 2 weeks later - no one was positive, but no turning back for him after that - I bet he's still kicking himself in the ass for that one.

As for hookers - No, Just No.


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## pabloesqobar (Sep 23, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I had duty one night in port (of very freakin many) and the BMOW found a half joint on the wardroom deck. When the crew arrived the next morning the CO pulled the gangway & instituted a 100% whiz quiz. After everyone had donated he called muster on the mess deck & announced that if the offending member would id himself he would "make it easy on them" & they would be simply processed, otherwise it would get drawn out & probably end in a Courts Martial. One of the E-4 cooks came up to me & admitted that he smoked every weekend - didn't know if it was his or not but knew he would pop positive so I advised him to use his best judgement as to what to do.
> He asked me to accompany him to the CO's cabin (I did) & he admitted he smoked & that makes it a done deal at that point.
> 
> Piss test results came back 2 weeks later - no one was positive, but no turning back for him after that - I bet he's still kicking himself in the ass for that one.
> ...


When I mess cranked, it was the wardroom. They ate better than the rest of us. Pissed me off giving them ice cream when the crew didn't get it.


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## too larry (Sep 23, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I had duty one night in port (of very freakin many) and the BMOW found a half joint on the wardroom deck. When the crew arrived the next morning the CO pulled the gangway & instituted a 100% whiz quiz. After everyone had donated he called muster on the mess deck & announced that if the offending member would id himself he would "make it easy on them" & they would be simply processed, otherwise it would get drawn out & probably end in a Courts Martial. One of the E-4 cooks came up to me & admitted that he smoked every weekend - didn't know if it was his or not but knew he would pop positive so I advised him to use his best judgement as to what to do.
> He asked me to accompany him to the CO's cabin (I did) & he admitted he smoked & that makes it a done deal at that point.
> 
> Piss test results came back 2 weeks later - no one was positive, but no turning back for him after that - I bet he's still kicking himself in the ass for that one.
> ...


We had test based on the last number of your service number. You would get to work one day, and they would call everyone with a number ending in whatever to report to sickbay. I went almost two years without my number being called. But in the end, they did call it. It was always on a Tuesday after a holiday weekend, and that was the case this time. I had smoke on the weekend, so in the week after the test I assumed I was caught, I didn't stop smoking. But it turned out that some of the tubes had got wet, and the labels came off. The next Monday they had a ship wide test. They did get me that time. It took a while. We were down in Cuba when they finally cut me loose.


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## curious2garden (Sep 23, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> That's like being a Pirate but with A/C, right?


8-5 M-F weekends and holidays off mother fucker!


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## curious2garden (Sep 23, 2019)

pabloesqobar said:


> Meh, doesn't bother me. I smoked hash with *some locals when we pulled into Spain*.


Holy fuck you know @lahadaextranjera


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## pabloesqobar (Sep 23, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Holy fuck you know @lahadaextranjera


No such luck.


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## curious2garden (Sep 23, 2019)

pabloesqobar said:


> No such luck.


No hablos espanol, verdad? It had to be Lahada then


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 23, 2019)

Busted - or not, ya gotta have an imagination to get along here.


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## Hydrotech364 (Sep 24, 2019)




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## doublejj (Sep 24, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> 8-5 M-F weekends and holidays off mother fucker!


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## curious2garden (Sep 24, 2019)

doublejj said:


>


That's what I was thinking of, but to lazy to look for (USAF wife).


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 24, 2019)

1-505 P.I.R. 82nd 11B Iraq 03-04 (Fallujah) Afghan 05 (JBad) was in 03-07 Typical disfunctional vet mad at my gov for 9/11 but getting over it. 100% p+t just getting back into society. Fk the pills.


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## doublejj (Sep 24, 2019)

PokerJay83 said:


> 1-505 P.I.R. 82nd 11B Iraq 03-04 (Fallujah) Afghan 05 (JBad) was in 03-07 Typical disfunctional vet mad at my gov for 9/11 but getting over it. 100% p+t just getting back into society. Fk the pills.


Welcome Home brother....Wow 82nd.Respect...that's tough duty...Hugs


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 24, 2019)

doublejj said:


> Welcome Home brother....Wow 82nd.Respect...that's tough duty...Hugs


Thanks u2. First deployment rough. The rest was easy. In and out in 4. One and done. U?


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 24, 2019)

Man who here knows what a fresh air break is?


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## doublejj (Sep 24, 2019)

PokerJay83 said:


> Thanks u2. First deployment rough. The rest was easy. In and out in 4. One and done. U?


Vietnam Vet 1969-70. 68Wiskey Combat Medic 9th Infantry. Regular Army, I volunteered right out of high school.


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 25, 2019)

doublejj said:


> Vietnam Vet 1969-70. 68Wiskey Combat Medic 9th Infantry. Regular Army, I volunteered right out of high school.
> View attachment 4399544


Jesus man. Love you Doc. Tyvm for serving.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 25, 2019)

PokerJay83 said:


> 1-505 P.I.R. 82nd 11B Iraq 03-04 (Fallujah) Afghan 05 (JBad) was in 03-07 Typical disfunctional vet mad at my gov for 9/11 but getting over it. 100% p+t just getting back into society. Fk the pills.


Thank you for your service!


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 25, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Thank you for your service!


Ty greatwhiteNorth let me know if I get out of line on your site. I am a very passionate person. Sometimes Project. Just give me a warning shot if im getting out of line.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 25, 2019)

PokerJay83 said:


> Ty greatwhiteNorth let me know if I get out of line on your site. I am a very passionate person. Sometimes Project. Just give me a warning shot if im getting out of line.


No worries, I'll put a round across your bow if you start battle turns.


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 25, 2019)

I want to know what the hell is going on at Dulce AFB. You hear stories you know... initially had a contract for an intel mos in the air force. Got the bad news that I popped hot for weed at Meps. (Had been clean 45 days). Automatic banned from Air Force for life. Ended up going Army.


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## Hydrotech364 (Sep 25, 2019)

@ MEPS, ? Wow.


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 25, 2019)

Hydrotech364 said:


> @ MEPS, ? Wow.



Yes hadn’t smoked in 45 days. Was in shape and running 8 miles a day. Anyway it was early 03 and the war drums were starting to beat. Went to army recruiter. The guy said you like to camp? Play sports? Go infantry! Felt lucky to get an airborne contract and signed on the dotted line. Airborne after osut and deployed 4 days into the 82nd. Did the anthrax and out-processing paperwork before I even properly in processed into my company. The boys had just gotten back from Afghan and nobody really paid me any mind until the first good firefight or 2.


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## doublejj (Sep 26, 2019)

PokerJay83 said:


> Yes hadn’t smoked in 45 days. Was in shape and running 8 miles a day. Anyway it was early 03 and the war drums were starting to beat. Went to army recruiter. The guy said you like to camp? Play sports? Go infantry! Felt lucky to get an airborne contract and signed on the dotted line. Airborne after osut and deployed 4 days into the 82nd. Did the anthrax and out-processing paperwork before I even properly in processed into my company. The boys had just gotten back from Afghan and nobody really paid me any mind until the first good firefight or 2.


I have a fishing buddy that was 82nd....he served 10 years active duty, shot twice, 2 purple hearts, medically retired. He's been out about about 10 years. Now he operates a Cannabis delivery service in Oakland...P,S, he's a big black guy.


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## PokerJay83 (Sep 26, 2019)

doublejj said:


> I have a fishing buddy that was 82nd....he served 10 years active duty, shot twice, 2 purple hearts, medically retired. He's been out about about 10 years. Now he operates a Cannabis delivery service in Oakland...P,S, he's a big black guy.



Nice yeah a lot of us out there. But the 82nd has 40k soldiers. It’s like a city with SF hq, And Pope AFB. Glad he’s doing well.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 9, 2019)

*Today in History 1999* – The last flight of the SR-71 at the Edwards AFB air show. The aircraft used was NASA 844 that flew to 80,100 feet and Mach 3.21 in the very last flight of any Blackbird. Actually, the aircraft was also scheduled to make a flight the following day, but a fuel leak grounded the aircraft and prevented it from flying again.

​
*"Speed Check"*

_"Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his ground speed. "I have you at one hundred and twenty-five knots of ground speed." Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is dazzling his Cessna brethren. Then out of the blue, a navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock because he sounded very cool on the radios. "Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check". Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey, Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million-dollar cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I got it, ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his new Hornet. And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more distinct alliteration than emotion: "Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground."

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what? As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had to remind myself that Walt (Watson) was in control of the radios. Still, I thought, it must be done - in mere seconds we'll be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That Hornet must die, and die now. I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that we had worked toward becoming. I was torn.

Somewhere, 13 miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his space helmet. Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion, Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us a ground speed check?" There was no hesitation, and the replay came as if was an everyday request. "Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground."

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks, we're showing closer to nineteen hundred on the money."

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little crack in the armor of the Houston Center voice, when L.A.came back with, "Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one." It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short, memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's work. We never heard another transmission on that frequency all the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun being the fastest guys out there"._

Major Brian Shul, USAF (Retired) SR-71 pilot


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## raratt (Oct 9, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> *Today in History 1999* – The last flight of the SR-71 at the Edwards AFB air show. The aircraft used was NASA 844 that flew to 80,100 feet and Mach 3.21 in the very last flight of any Blackbird. Actually, the aircraft was also scheduled to make a flight the following day, but a fuel leak grounded the aircraft and prevented it from flying again.
> 
> View attachment 4405484​
> *"Speed Check"*
> ...


I worked on them from 86 till they retired in '90.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 9, 2019)

raratt said:


> I worked on them from 86 till they retired in '90.


Dad was a structural Mechanic on the B-52 in Vietnam towards the end of his AF career- and that ugly girl is STILL in active inventory.
Amazing


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## raratt (Oct 9, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Dad was a structural Mechanic on the B-52 in Vietnam towards the end of his AF career- and that ugly girl is STILL in active inventory.
> Amazing


I worked backshop on Guam on the EW systems for them. I picked up a cleaning rod for the tailgun when they shut down that shop and deleted the gun. Still have it, plus a key and switch for an ICBM. (One of the two required to launch them).


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## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2019)

​


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## curious2garden (Oct 13, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Dad was a structural Mechanic on the B-52 in Vietnam towards the end of his AF career- and that ugly girl is STILL in active inventory.
> Amazing


Tonight at Blackbird Air Park in Palmdale, got her just as the sun was setting.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 14, 2019)

​
_"For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis,” was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.

Because of the secrecy of the project, Bell and Yeager’s achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot, and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general."_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 14, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Tonight at Blackbird Air Park in Palmdale, got her just as the sun was setting.


Have you ever been to Davis-Monthan? I always thought that would be pretty neat.


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## scumrot derelict (Oct 14, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4407928​
> _"For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California. The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis,” was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.
> 
> Because of the secrecy of the project, Bell and Yeager’s achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot, and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general."_


This is cool as fuck.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 14, 2019)

scumrot derelict said:


> This is cool as fuck.


I think I remember that @curious2garden met BGen Yeager during an air show maybe?


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## scumrot derelict (Oct 14, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> I think I remember that @curious2garden met BGen Yeager during an air show maybe?


Who is BGen Yeager? also hi @curious2garden - haven't tagged and hugged you yet


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## raratt (Oct 14, 2019)

scumrot derelict said:


> BGen Yeager?


He's an asshole, I wouldn't walk across the street to spit on his shoes.


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## tangerinegreen555 (Oct 14, 2019)

raratt said:


> He's an asshole, I wouldn't walk across the street to spit on his shoes.


The guy who broke the sound barrier?

What's the beef with him? Just curious.


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## raratt (Oct 14, 2019)

tangerinegreen555 said:


> The guy who broke the sound barrier?
> 
> What's the beef with him? Just curious.


He is an arrogant prick that forgot where he came from. He lives nearby so we thought he'd be happy to come to a graduation for an NCO training class, he was all about the $$$$ and didn't give a damn about the accomplishments of the students. There is a reason he only had one star. I understand his accomplishment, however it has gone to his head, he is not a god.


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## curious2garden (Oct 16, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Have you ever been to Davis-Monthan? I always thought that would be pretty neat.


Nope, it's where they chop them up, ouch.


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## curious2garden (Oct 16, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> I think I remember that @curious2garden met BGen Yeager during an air show maybe?


Actually Chuck Yeager was a friend of my UPT instructor. They were both stationed at Edwards at the same time. Yeager was retiring out of Norton and he flew down to visit with Paul at Santa Ana. I was in the FSS when he showed up, drinking a coke and getting weather. Paul introduced me and we talked for a moment. He was kind to me but I can't say I really knew him. I was pretty shy and he was there to speak with Paul so after a few minutes of gawking I went flying.

I saw him again here: https://www.edwards.af.mil/News/Article/1376290/planes-aviation-legends-highlight-70th-anniversary/
The flyover was spectacular. I think I posted a short video of it.


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## curious2garden (Oct 16, 2019)

scumrot derelict said:


> Who is BGen Yeager? also hi @curious2garden - haven't tagged and hugged you yet


Hey handsome, good to see you around. I was a bit worried wondering how your court appearance went. I hope it all went well.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 17, 2019)

Today in military history:

​
_On October 19, 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army of some 8,000 men to General George Washington at Yorktown, giving up any chance of winning the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis had marched his army into the Virginia port town earlier that summer expecting to meet British ships sent from New York. The ships never arrived.

In early October, approximately 17,000 American and French troops led by Generals George Washington and Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau, respectively, surrounded British-occupied Yorktown. Off the coast, French Admiral François de Grasse strategically positioned his naval fleet to control access to the town via the Chesapeake Bay and the York River.

The Franco-American siege exhausted the British army’s supplies of food and ammunition. With no hope for escape, Cornwallis agreed to the terms of Washington’s Articles of Capitulation, signing the document at Moore House on October 19. Hours after the surrender, the general’s defeated troops marched out of Yorktown to the tune “The World Turned Upside Down.”

During his occupation of Yorktown, General Cornwallis set up headquarters in the Thomas Nelson House. The residence saw wartime action again during the Civil War, when it was used as a hospital.

*Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown effectively ended the Revolutionary War*. Lacking the financial resources to raise a new army, the British government appealed to the Americans for peace. Almost two years later, on September 3, 1783, the signing of the Treaty of Paris brought the war to an end._


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## too larry (Oct 17, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in military history:
> 
> View attachment 4409169​
> _On October 19, 1781, British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army of some 8,000 men to General George Washington at Yorktown, giving up any chance of winning the Revolutionary War. Cornwallis had marched his army into the Virginia port town earlier that summer expecting to meet British ships sent from New York. The ships never arrived.
> ...


King's Mountain was where that army was broken. {a great battlefield to visit, especially if you like climbing} The Overmountain Men were the difference.









Overmountain Men - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 17, 2019)

I went to CG Machinery Tech "A" school and many others in Yorktown - the facility is literally in the battlegrounds.


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## scumrot derelict (Oct 17, 2019)

_





News Releases - Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs


Latest news released by the Department of Veterans Affairs.




www.va.gov




_
refreshing to hear. hope it's something that catches on in some areas around here. sad to hear abt folks who cant have access to even the most basic attention w/out having to worry abt traveling too far. there are lots of stories like that in calaveras.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 17, 2019)

*Vets in Congress Renew Medal of Honor Plea for Army 'Legend' Alwyn Cashe* 

Fourteen years ago today, Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe likely could've walked away relatively unscathed after his Bradley Fighting Vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Iraq.
Instead, the soldier chose to head back into the burning vehicle to save his comrades. He did so even though they were still facing enemy gunfire and his uniform was soaked with fuel.

Cashe risked his life and went beyond the call of duty, which is why he deserves the Medal of Honor, three members of Congress wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy on the 14th anniversary of the soldier's actions.
Cashe has become "something of a legend in military circles," Reps. Dan Crenshaw, Michael Waltz and Stephanie Murphy wrote. The Silver Star he received for his 2005 actions in Iraq, they added, should be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
"We believe that SFC Cashe has earned the highest award for military valor that our nation bestows, and we hope you will ensure that his case is scrutinized with the utmost care," the letter states.
The Silver Star is the nation's third-highest award for battlefield bravery.
Cashe kept going back into that vehicle even after his uniform ignited, and flames severely burned most of his body.
He got all of his soldiers out, and refused medical evacuation they were tended to first. Three soldiers, Staff Sgt. George Alexander Jr., Sgt. Michael Robertson and Spc. Darren Howe, later died from burn wounds.
Cashe also died three weeks later.
A spokesman for Cashe's family could not immediately be reached for comment about the lawmakers' letter.
Crenshaw, a Texas Republican, is a retired Navy SEAL officer. Waltz, a Florida Republican, served as an Army Special Forces officer. And Murphy, a Florida Democrat, worked for the Defense Department as a national security specialist.
"Each of us proudly served in the United States military or worked at the Department of Defense," they wrote on Thursday. "In addition, each of us cares about the process our nation uses to award medals for military valor, believing this process should satisfy the most rigorous standards of independence and integrity."
The three lawmakers aren't the first to call on Pentagon leaders to reconsider Cashe's award. As the Defense Department wraps up a years-long review of its post-Sept. 11, 2001, valor awards, several have pushed to see his Silver Star upgraded.
More that 55 valor awards have been upgraded as a result of that review.
Doug Sterner, who runs an extensive military awards database, called Cashe's case "the most perfect example of a Medal of Honor I've ever seen." The soldier's case highlights the problems with the military's awards process.
"If the review is done and Alwyn Cashe hasn't been awarded the Medal of Honor, I won't be a happy camper," Sterner told Military.com in April.
Officials said in April that four Army awards would be upgraded before the end of the year. The service has since awarded or announced two Medal of Honor upgrades to Staff Sgt. David Bellavia and Master Sgt. Matthew Williams and two Distinguished Service Crosses to Maj. Nicholas Eslinger and Spc. Gregory Waters.
That's despite Cashe's commander at the time -- now-Maj. Gen. Gary Brito, the head of the Army's Maneuver Center of Excellence -- taking the rare step of speaking out on this case. Brito has said he didn't know the extent of Cashe's injuries at the time he put him up for the Silver Star.
The two-star has since submitted sworn statements in an effort to see the award upgraded.
Cashe was determined to protect his soldiers before they even got to Iraq.
When his sister, Kasinal Cashe, told him not to play a hero on his deployment, to "learn how to duck and come home," he told her he had to take care of his boys, the Associated Press reported after his death.
And that's exactly what Cashe did, Murphy, Crenshaw and Waltz wrote.
"SFC Cashe--who was thrown from the vehicle and virtually unharmed--returned again and again to the burning vehicle to extract his fellow soldiers," their letter states. "SFC Cashe saved the lives of multiple soldiers, but suffered severe burns in the process and ultimately died from those burns."


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## scumrot derelict (Oct 17, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> *Vets in Congress Renew Medal of Honor Plea for Army 'Legend' Alwyn Cashe*
> 
> Fourteen years ago today, Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe likely could've walked away relatively unscathed after his Bradley Fighting Vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Iraq.
> Instead, the soldier chose to head back into the burning vehicle to save his comrades. He did so even though they were still facing enemy gunfire and his uniform was soaked with fuel.
> ...


savage. he was definitely a credit to his unit. hope he and his family receives proper recognition for his sacrifice - and hope that the petty bullshit gets set aside for a second so we can give this a chance to happen.


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## too larry (Oct 20, 2019)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/10/20/three-us-soldiers-killed-during-training-exercise-fort-stewart/

I feel for the families of those solderers. My cousin Tracy drowned in a Bradley in an Iraqi canal while taking evasive action after another Bradley in his convoy hit an IED.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 20, 2019)

too larry said:


> https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2019/10/20/three-us-soldiers-killed-during-training-exercise-fort-stewart/
> 
> I feel for the families of those solderers. My cousin Tracy drowned in a Bradley in an Iraqi canal while taking evasive action after another Bradley in his convoy hit an IED.


That's close to home.
My families condolences my friend.


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## too larry (Oct 20, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> That's close to home.
> My families condolences my friend.


Thanks. 

I didn't really know Tracy as he was raised in Texas. He was my uncle's grandson. My wife and her assistant did work with the Gold Star families, so they set it up for the grandparents to be presented with one. Since then the wife had become really good friends with Tracy's mom.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 25, 2019)

*Jack Eaton (left), the oldest living Tomb Sentinel, speaks to new recruits with U.S. Army Capt. Harold Earls (center), Commander of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, in the Tomb Quarters at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, Oct. 23, 2019. (U.S. Army photo by Elizabeth Fraser / Arlington National Cemetery / released *



​
_A 100-year-old World War II veteran finally got to scratch a much-deserved, long-awaited bullet point from his bucket list.
Jack Eaton, the oldest living sentinel of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport Wednesday afternoon after spending the morning in Arlington, Virginia, where he saw, for the first time, a recently erected plaque recognizing his guardianship of the monument from January 1938 to December 1939.

The former U.S. Army sergeant and current Burton, Michigan, resident was met at American Airlines Gate D28 by dozens of cheering, clapping and saluting veterans, public servants and other supporters, all while "America the Beautiful" played.








World War II Vet, 100, Honored for Guarding Tomb of Unknown Soldier


A 100-year-old World War II veteran finally got to scratch a much-deserved, long-awaited bullet point from his bucket list.




www.military.com




_


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## raratt (Oct 26, 2019)




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## curious2garden (Oct 26, 2019)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4412878


I like it!


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## raratt (Oct 26, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> I like it!


The possibilities are endless.


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## wascaptain (Oct 26, 2019)

cold and windy for this mornings pt.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 30, 2019)

President Trump will present the Medal of Honor to Army Green Beret Master Sgt. Matthew O. Williams today at 5:00 EST. The award is an upgrade from the Silver Star. He's the second soldier with the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) to be awarded the Medal of Honor for this operation, joining Staff Sgt. Ronald Shurer II, who received the medal one year ago. Following is Master Sgt. Williams Silver Star Citation:

*The Citation*

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918 (amended by an act of July 25, 1963), takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to Sergeant Matthew O. Williams, United States Army, for exceptionally valorous conduct in the face of the enemy of the United States as Weapons Sergeant, Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 (ODA-3336), 3d Special Forces Group (Airborne), Special Operations Task Force - 33, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Afghanistan, in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM on 6 April 2008. Sergeant Williams heroically fought for over an hour up a mountain while under intense enemy fire to help rescue wounded members of his ODA pinned down by Insurgent fire. Sergeant Williams was pinned down in a wadi by heavy sniper, Rocket Propelled Grenade, and machine gun fire after initial contact, as the ODA Command and Control (C2) element was fixed by multiple Insurgent firing positions on the mountain. Sergeant Williams, recognizing the gravity of the situation, heroically and with disregard for his own safety, exposed himself to Insurgent fire on multiple occasions to rescue the C2 element and evacuate numerous casualties. Sergeant Williams helped organize a counter assault to ascend up the mountain and reinforce his besieged teammates. With RPG and machine gun fire impacting all around his element, Sergeant Williams led a Commando element across a fast-moving, ice cold and waist deep river, in order to fight their way up a terraced mountain to the besieged element. After fighting his way with his Team Sergeant up to the C2 element, Sergeant Williams positioned his Afghan Commando to provide a violent base of suppressive fire. This violent base of fire ensured the C2 element was not overrun by assaulting Insurgent fighters. His actions allowed the assault and C2 elements to consolidate and move their causalities down the mountain. After his Team Sergeant was wounded by sniper fire, and with disregard for his own safety, Sergeant Williams courageously maneuvered through a gauntlet of heavy machine gun fire to render aid. While under Insurgent sniper and machine gun fire, Sergeant Williams descended with his Team Sergeant off a 60 foot near vertical cliff to the Casualty Collection Point (CCP) and continued providing him first aid. Sergeant Williams observed, shot and killed two Insurgent fighters attempting to maneuver on the CCP. Sergeant Williams then braved a hail of small arms fire and climbed back up to the cliff in order evacuate other injured Soldiers, and repair his ODA Commander's radio. After returning to the CCP with three wounded US Soldiers, Insurgent fighters began maneuvering to overrun the CCP for the second time. Sergeant Williams and the Afghan Commandos launched a counter attack and gallantly fought for several hours against at least two hundred Insurgents. With disregard for his personal safety, he exposed himself to Insurgent fire from multiple directions and carried casualties to the Medical Evacuation helicopter, then continued to suppress numerous Insurgent positions and direct Commando fires. His valorous actions allowed the patrol to MEDEVAC the wounded and dead comrades without further casualties. His actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct credit upon himself, Special Operations Task Force - 33, The Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Afghanistan, Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army.​








This Green Beret earned a Medal of Honor by being everywhere at once during a hellacious Afghan battle


"At no one point did I ever sit there and say, 'This is it, it's over.'"




taskandpurpose.com












7-hour gunfight, 100-foot cliff and now this second Medal of Honor: Green Beret talks about Battle of Shok Valley


Master Sgt. Matthew Williams is receiving the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of fellow soldiers wounded in this battle.




www.armytimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 31, 2019)

​
_The late Paul Allen’s ship-hunting team aboard the Research Vessel Petrel has reached record new depths with its latest discovery.

*Vulcan Inc. released footage Wednesday October 30, 2019 of the deepest shipwreck ever discovered, the scattered remains of a World War II Fletcher class destroyer that lies 20,400 feet (6,220 meters) below the surface on the edge of the Emden Deep in the Philippine Sea. The ship was lost during the Battle off Samar, one of four battles that occurred during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on Oct. 25, 1944.*

“We believe this wreck to be that of the USS Johnston DD-557,” said Robert Kraft, director of subsea operations for Allen’s Vulcan Inc. “There is no evidence of the dazzle paint scheme, indicative of the USS Hoel and its location suggests this wreck sank later in the battle, after the loss of the Hoel.”+

In the lore of the US Navy, the saga of Fletcher Class destroyer, USS Johnston is legendary for its part in the Battle off Samar during the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf On October 25, 1944.

During the operation to liberate the Philippines, the small naval task force, Taffy 3, was left to provide cover for the invading US Marines. The force was made up of 5 light escort carriers and 6 destroyers and destroyer escorts screening for them.

Unbeknownst to the men of Taffy 3, a large Japanese force consisting of 23 ships was headed their way in a surprise attack. The force consisted of 4 battleships (including the largest battleship ever built - Yamato), 5 heavy cruisers, 2 light cruisers and 11 destroyers.

Taffy 3 was badly outnumbered and very much outgunned. It was up to the destroyers and destroyer escorts to protect the carriers at all costs otherwise the marines on the beach would be vulnerable. The ships began laying down a heavy smoke screen. Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans captained the Johnston. Being of Native American ancestry, Lt Commander Evans had the warrior's spirit. He led his ship alone straight into the teeth of the much superior enemy. As the Johnston turned into the oncoming enemy some say he spoke these words over the ship's intercom, "A large Japanese fleet has been contacted. They are fifteen miles away and headed in our direction. They are believed to have four battleships, eight cruisers, and a number of destroyers. This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can."

Johnston dodged shell from the enemy battle cruisers until she could get close enough to hit back. as soon as the range closed to ten miles, Johnston scored damaging hits on the heavy cruiser Kumano. During her five-minute sprint into torpedo range, Johnston fired over 200 rounds at the enemy. She launched all ten of her torpedoes and retired behind a heavy smoke screen. At least one of the torpedoes found the Kumano and blew the bow off the cruiser forcing it to withdraw from the battle.

Johnston did not get away unscathed however and she took three hits from 14 inch shells as well as three from 6 inch shells which destroyed the bridge causing many casualties and Lt Commander Evans to lose 2 fingers and covering him in shrapnel which shredded his shirt. The ship was mangled badly, with dead and dying sailors strewn across her bloody decks.The bridge was rendered useless so Lt Commander Evans went to the aft steering column to conn the ship.

About this time, three of the other ships from Tafffy 3, Destroyers Hoel and Heermen and the destroyer escort Samuel B Roberts, made their charges towards the Japanese fleet. As they went by the Johnston they could see shirtless Lt Commander Evans salute them from the aft steering column as they went by.

After making repairs, Johnston rejoined the fight. The ship fought several duels with much larger ships giving all she could but taking severe damage. Eventually she was surrounded by 7 enemy destroyers and pounded mercilessly. Lt Commander Evans gave the order to abandon ship. He was never heard from again.

Along with Johnston, Hoel, Heermen and Samuel B Roberts were equally fierce during the battle. The Japanese were under the impression they were up against much larger ships in the cruiser class. Aircraft from the carriers also enjoined the fight. Some of the aircraft were not properly armed to attack ships but the heroic pilots still feigned attack to force the unknowing enemy to fire upon them thereby diverting attention from the surface ships. The ferocity of the attack from Taffy 3 sunk or crippled the heavy cruisers Chōkai, Kumano, and Chikuma. This seemingly convinced to the Japanese that they were engaging major fleet units rather than escort carriers and destroyers and the fleet withdrew.

Johnston's supreme courage and daring in the Battle off Samar won her the Presidential Unit Citation as a unit of "Taffy 3" (Task Unit 77.4.3). Lt. Cmdr. Ernest E. Evans was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor: "The skipper was a fighting man from the soles of his broad feet to the ends of his straight black hair. He was an Oklahoman and proud of the Indian blood he had in him. We called him—though not to his face—the Chief. The Johnston was a fighting ship, but he was the heart and soul of her."

From Johnston's complement of 327 officers and men, only 141 were saved. Of the 186 men lost, about 50 were killed by enemy action, 45 died later on rafts from wounds, and 92 men—including Cmdr. Evans—got off before she sank, but were never seen again.

In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, Johnston received six battle stars for service in World War II ._









Wreck of Famed WWII Destroyer USS Johnston May Have Been Found - USNI News


Researchers from Vulcan Inc.’s RV Petrel believe they’ve found wreckage from the engagement’s famed Fletcher-class destroyer, USS Johnston (DD-557).




news.usni.org


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## BarnBuster (Oct 31, 2019)

​By WYATT OLSON | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: October 31, 2019

_FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The remains of the first Coast Guard member to be taken prisoner of war during World War II will be flown from Hawaii to New York for burial after a repatriation ceremony Thursday.

Lt. Thomas Crotty, 30, died July 19, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prisoner of War Camp in the Philippines after being captured with the fall of Corregidor earlier that year. Crotty was among the 76,000 Filipino and American prisoners pressed into the Bataan Death March by their Japanese captors.

He was the first Coast Guard member to become a prisoner of war since the War of 1812, according to the service. Crotty’s repatriation ceremony will be held at Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point on Oahu. An honor platoon will escort his remains from a hearse to a HC-130 Hercules airplane for a flight to Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento. He will be buried Nov. 2 in Buffalo, N.Y.

Crotty’s remains had lay in a grave for unknowns in the Philippines for more than a half-century. After dying from disease, he was first buried in the Cabanatuan Camp Cemetery. After the war ended, personnel from the American Graves Registration Service exhumed and examined all those buried at the cemetery, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

But because of extensive commingling of the bodies and the limited technologies available at the time, some remains were not identifiable. Those were reburied as “unknowns” in the graveyard now known as Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, DPAA said in a news release.

Those remains were again disinterred in January 2018 and sent to the DPAA lab at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. The lab in September identified the remains as belonging to Crotty.

The lab used dental and anthropological analysis, along with circumstantial evidence, in making the identification. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System also used mitochondrial DNA analysis, DPAA said.

DPAA lists 613 Coast Guard members as unaccounted for from World War II, with 448 of them considered “non-recoverable” because the remains are in the deep sea or were obliterated in some way.

Crotty, a native of Buffalo, graduated from the Coast Guard Academy in 1934, and then served on cutters based out of New York, Seattle, Alaska and Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., the Coast Guard said. He was manning a Coast Guard cutter that responded to the infamous 1934 fire aboard the cruise ship Morro Castle, which left 137 passengers and crew members dead before the ship ran aground on the New Jersey shore.

After extensive training at Navy facilities, Crotty became the Coast Guard’s leading expert in mine operations and demolition. In the summer of 1941, he was sent to the Philippines, where he served as second-in-command aboard the Navy minesweeper USS Quail. After World War II broke out on Dec. 7, 1941, he spent the following months defending the ever-shrinking Allied strongholds in the Philippines against the Japanese incursion.

Defenders on the Bataan peninsula fought on until April 1942, while forces on Corregidor island held out until May. The deck guns on the USS Quail had been moved to Corregidor for a final stand.

Eyewitnesses last saw Crotty commanding a force of Marines and soldiers who were firing 75 mm guns at Japanese forces landing on Corregidor’s beaches, the Coast Guard said.

Crotty became a victim of a diphtheria epidemic that raged through Cabanatuan in the late summer, which at one point was killing 40 prisoners a day. Without medical care, he died days after contracting the disease._









The Long Blue Line: LT Crotty and the Battle for Corregidor


Today, he remains one of the Coast Guard’s last MIAs. Records indicate that Jimmy Crotty was the only active duty Coast Guardsman that fought the Japanese at Bataan and Corregidor, operations that …




compass.coastguard.blog


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 31, 2019)

My best CO bar none!
Capt Ross Bell






point welcome uscg - Bing video







www.bing.com


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## whitebb2727 (Oct 31, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> *Today in History 1999* – The last flight of the SR-71 at the Edwards AFB air show. The aircraft used was NASA 844 that flew to 80,100 feet and Mach 3.21 in the very last flight of any Blackbird. Actually, the aircraft was also scheduled to make a flight the following day, but a fuel leak grounded the aircraft and prevented it from flying again.
> 
> View attachment 4405484​
> *"Speed Check"*
> ...


Some of yhe blackbirds on display at bases can be fully up and operational in hours.


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## raratt (Nov 1, 2019)

whitebb2727 said:


> Some of yhe blackbirds on display at bases can be fully up and operational in hours.


Um, I disagree, even the fuel they used is unavailable anymore. Edit: I worked on them from 86-90 when the AF decommissioned them.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 2, 2019)

​
_*A Second World War submarine paid for by charity dances and card games has been found more than 70 years after it vanished. The wreck of HMS Urge, which was built with money raised by the people of Bridgend in south Wales, was discovered by a University of Malta survey team two miles off the coast of the island.*

The discovery came after Francis Dickinson, the grandson of HMS Urge's captain Lieutenant-Commander E.P. Tomkinson, requested the university team search an area that had been heavily mined during the Nazi's two-and-a-half year siege of the island.

A sonar image revealed a submarine-like shape at a depth of 130 metres. 

"The damage to the bow shows a very violent explosion ... indicating that the ship would have sunk very fast giving no chance to anybody to survive from this tragedy," said professor Timothy Gambin, who led the team.

"Besides the damage on the bow, the wreck is in absolutely fantastic condition. It is sitting upright on the seabed, very proud, in the direction that it was ordered to take on its way to Alexandria," he told Malta's PBS.

The U-class submarine disappeared in 1942 after being ordered with other vessels to sail from Malta to Egypt, with the loss of all 32 crew, 11 Royal Navy passengers, and a journalist.

She put to sea on April 27, but never made the rendezvous in Alexandria on May 6.

The Royal Navy and most family members have long said she was most likely sunk by a mine shortly after putting to sea, a theory confirmed by the discovery.

Another theory, based on German naval reports, suggested that she was sunk on 29 April by a dive-bomber as she tried to attack an Italian vessel near Libya.

Those lost included Bernard Gray, a British war correspondent who had previously covered the Dunkirk evacuation and is thought to have used his connections to wangle a berth on the vessel so he could cover the war in North Africa.

His presence on the vessel was only confirmed in 2002 following an inquiry by archivists at the Royal Navy Submarine museum.

A ceremony to declare the site an official war grave will take place in April._


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## whitebb2727 (Nov 2, 2019)

raratt said:


> Um, I disagree, even the fuel they used is unavailable anymore. Edit: I worked on them from 86-90 when the AF decommissioned them.


I dont disagree with that. 

Maybe I was bullshitted. I served later than that. I do know for a fact from personal experience that certain things are hidden from the public and even military personnel. Certain things are blatant lies and smoke screens for Russian start inspections. Capabilities hidden.

I also know from personal expierence that certain procedures that could take weeks or months during phase inspections and such could be carried out in days if need be at time of war. 

All I know is I was told by a trusted source that the sr71 we had could be operational in hours. It may not be likely or even needed but i believe it possible.

I dont believe its necessary due to current ground and air recon capabilities.


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## raratt (Nov 2, 2019)

whitebb2727 said:


> I dont believe its necessary due to current ground and air recon capabilities.


Exactly, we are leaps and bounds beyond the capabilities it had. Information gathered was not available until after it landed and the magnetic tapes/ wet film were processed. Now with satellite uplinks we are capable of near real time intel info. It also required dedicated refueling tankers that had separate tanks for it's fuel because the tankers couldn't run on JP7. Most tankers run on the same fuel they dispense.


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## whitebb2727 (Nov 2, 2019)

raratt said:


> Exactly, we are leaps and bounds beyond the capabilities it had. Information gathered was not available until after it landed and the magnetic tapes/ wet film were processed. Now with satellite uplinks we are capable of near real time intel info. It also required dedicated refueling tankers that had separate tanks for it's fuel because the tankers couldn't run on JP7. Most tankers run on the same fuel they dispense.


I very well know as I worked on kc135 tankers.

Just making comments is all. Just because something is possible doesnt make it practical.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 2, 2019)

raratt said:


> Exactly, we are leaps and bounds beyond the capabilities it had. Information gathered was not available until after it landed and the magnetic tapes/ wet film were processed. Now with satellite uplinks we are capable of near real time intel info. It also required dedicated refueling tankers that had separate tanks for it's fuel because the tankers couldn't run on JP7. Most tankers run on the same fuel they dispense.


Were many of the spare parts unique to that airframe and powerplant?


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## raratt (Nov 2, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Were many of the spare parts unique to that airframe and powerplant?


Pretty much all of it was, even the tires were unique in that they were aluminized in order to withstand the heat.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 7, 2019)

_Starting today and running through Nov. 11, veterans, active-duty troops and Guard and Reserve members can get a one-year Amazon Prime membership for $79 -- that's $40 off the regular price. And if you already have an account, you can renew your Prime membership at the lower rate._









Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more.


Free shipping on millions of items. Get the best of Shopping and Entertainment with Prime. Enjoy low prices and great deals on the largest selection of everyday essentials and other products, including fashion, home, beauty, electronics, Alexa Devices, sporting goods, toys, automotive, pets...



www.amazon.com


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## raratt (Nov 7, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _Starting today and running through Nov. 11, veterans, active-duty troops and Guard and Reserve members can get a one-year Amazon Prime membership for $79 -- that's $40 off the regular price. And if you already have an account, you can renew your Prime membership at the lower rate._
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did that last night.


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## Singlemalt (Nov 7, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _Starting today and running through Nov. 11, veterans, active-duty troops and Guard and Reserve members can get a one-year Amazon Prime membership for $79 -- that's $40 off the regular price. And if you already have an account, you can renew your Prime membership at the lower rate._
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sweet! Done


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## wascaptain (Nov 7, 2019)

anyone else wear there dog tag laced in there boot?
old habits die hard

i was crossing the sky bridge glass portion when i snap this pic, apx 150 feet above the ground. cool for sure, but i was alittle chicken the first few steps


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## raratt (Nov 7, 2019)

My mistress:


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## BarnBuster (Nov 7, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Serious combination of incompetence with a dash of arrogance here.
> https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/uss-fitzgerald-officer-pleads-guilty-in-collision-that-killed-7-sailors/ar-AAwYP2v?li=BBnb7Kz


_"The officer who commanded the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald during its fatal 2017 collision won’t go before a Navy Board of Inquiry after all."








No Board of Inquiry for ex-Fitz CO


Cmdr. Bryce Benson is still waiting on the Navy to let him retire.




www.navytimes.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Nov 8, 2019)

Today in Military History:
​

_*On 8 November 1965, then-Specialist Five Lawrence Joel and his battalion of paratroopers were sent on a patrol for Viet Cong soldiers near Bien Hoa, warzone "D" in the heart of Vietnam, conducting Operation Hump. Joel and his battalion shortly found themselves in a Viet Cong ambush, outnumbered six to one. *

Under heavy gunfire, Joel did his duty as a medic, administering first aid to wounded soldiers. Joel defied orders to stay to the ground and risked his life to help the many wounded soldiers; nearly every soldier in the lead squad was either wounded or killed in the battle. 

Even after being shot twice (once in the right thigh and once in the right calf), Joel continued to do his job; he bandaged his wounds and continued to help the wounded in not only his unit, but in the nearby company as well. 

When his medical supplies were depleted, he hobbled around the battlefield for more, using a makeshift crutch. Joel attended to thirteen troops and saved the life of one soldier who suffered from a severe chest wound by improvising and placing a plastic bag over the soldier's chest in order to seal the wound until the supplies were refreshed. 

After the firefight, which lasted over twenty four hours, Joel was hospitalized and shipped to locations including Saigon, Vietnam and Tokyo, Japan to recover. Shortly after, he received the Silver Star for his activities on 8 November 1965. On 9 March 1967 on the White House lawn, President Lyndon Johnson presented Joel with the Medal of Honor for his service in the Vietnam War.He was the first living black American to receive this medal since the Spanish-American War in 1898. 

On 8 April 1967, the city of Winston-Salem held a parade to honor Lawrence Joel. He grew up on the east side of the city, a predominantly African-American section of the city at the time. The New York Times called it the biggest tribute the city had ever staged.

Lawrence Joel retired from military service in 1973. On 4 February 1984, Lawrence Joel died of complications from diabetes. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA, in Section 46, Lot 15-1, adjacent to the Memorial Amphitheater._

*The Citation*

_For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp6 Joel demonstrated indomitable courage, determination, and professional skill when a numerically superior and well-concealed Viet Cong element launched a vicious attack which wounded or killed nearly every man in the lead squad of the company. After treating the men wounded by the initial burst of gunfire, he bravely moved forward to assist others who were wounded while proceeding to their objective. While moving from man to man, he was struck in the right leg by machine gun fire. Although painfully wounded his desire to aid his fellow soldiers transcended all personal feeling. He bandaged his own wound and self-administered morphine to deaden the pain enabling him to continue his dangerous undertaking. Through this period of time, he constantly shouted words of encouragement to all around him. Then, completely ignoring the warnings of others, and his pain, he continued his search for wounded, exposing himself to hostile fire; and, as bullets dug up the dirt around him, he held plasma bottles high while kneeling completely engrossed in his life saving mission. Then, after being struck a second time and with a bullet lodged in his thigh, he dragged himself over the battlefield and succeeded in treating 13 more men before his medical supplies ran out. Displaying resourcefulness, he saved the life of one man by placing a plastic bag over a severe chest wound to congeal the blood. As 1 of the platoons pursued the Viet Cong, an insurgent force in concealed positions opened fire on the platoon and wounded many more soldiers. With a new stock of medical supplies, Sp6 Joel again shouted words of encouragement as he crawled through an intense hail of gunfire to the wounded men. After the 24 hour battle subsided and the Viet Cong dead numbered 410, snipers continued to harass the company. Throughout the long battle, Sp6 Joel never lost sight of his mission as a medical aidman and continued to comfort and treat the wounded until his own evacuation was ordered. His meticulous attention to duty saved a large number of lives and his unselfish, daring example under most adverse conditions was an inspiration to all. Sp6 Joel's profound concern for his fellow soldiers, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country._​


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## cannabineer (Nov 8, 2019)

raratt said:


> My mistress:


That is simply one of the coolest types ever put into service. I used to hear the great roar of a U-2 takeoff when I lived like three miles from Moffett Field. Once I caught her in my 10x50s, climbing directly away from my position; lost her around 60 thousand when the climb angle started to flatten and her great vast wings went knife-edge from my vantage. What a superlative, majestic beast.
Never saw (or heard) her come in for landing.


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## thump easy (Nov 8, 2019)

No way jose!!!


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## raratt (Nov 8, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> That is simply one of the coolest types ever put into service. I used to hear the great roar of a U-2 takeoff when I lived like three miles from Moffett Field. Once I caught her in my 10x50s, climbing directly away from my position; lost her around 60 thousand when the climb angle started to flatten and her great vast wings went knife-edge from my vantage. What a superlative, majestic beast.
> Never saw (or heard) her come in for landing.


"Tactical Takeoff's" are interesting to watch. She spirals up to operating altitude while still over the base. It is used all the time in Korea due to the proximity to the north.


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## raratt (Nov 9, 2019)

Walgreen's.


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## Hydrotech364 (Nov 9, 2019)

Scout, Ranger ???


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## curious2garden (Nov 9, 2019)

raratt said:


> My mistress:


NASA's bird has been really busy down here. I wonder what they are doing.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 9, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> NASA's bird has been really busy down here. I wonder what they are doing.


Wildfire mapping?


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## curious2garden (Nov 9, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Wildfire mapping?


That would make sense, so probably not.


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## doublejj (Nov 9, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> View attachment 4418067​
> 
> _*On 8 November 1965, then-Specialist Five Lawrence Joel and his battalion of paratroopers were sent on a patrol for Viet Cong soldiers near Bien Hoa, warzone "D" in the heart of Vietnam, conducting Operation Hump. Joel and his battalion shortly found themselves in a Viet Cong ambush, outnumbered six to one. *
> ...


 SP6 Joel spoke at my graduation ceremony from Army Medic school.....


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## Hydrotech364 (Nov 9, 2019)




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## BarnBuster (Nov 10, 2019)

​
*1775*_ – *During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress passes a resolution stating that “two Battalions of Marines be raised” for service as landing forces for the recently formed Continental Navy.* 

The resolution, drafted by future U.S. president John Adams and adopted in Philadelphia, created the Continental Marines and is now observed as the birth date of the United States Marine Corps. Serving on land and at sea, the original U.S. Marines distinguished themselves in a number of important operations during the Revolutionary War. The first Marine landing on a hostile shore occurred when a force of Marines under Captain Samuel Nicholas captured New Province Island in the Bahamas from the British in March 1776. Nicholas was the first commissioned officer in the Continental Marines and is celebrated as the first Marine commandant. 

After American independence was achieved in 1783, the Continental Navy was demobilized and its Marines disbanded. In the next decade, however, increasing conflict at sea with Revolutionary France led the U.S. Congress to establish formally the U.S. Navy in May 1798. Two months later, on July 11, President John Adams signed the bill establishing the U.S. Marine Corps as a permanent military force under the jurisdiction of the Department of Navy. 

U.S. Marines saw action in the so-called Quasi-War with France and then fought against the Barbary pirates of North Africa during the first years of the 19th century. 

Since then, Marines have participated in all the wars of the United States and in most cases were the first soldiers to fight. In all, Marines have executed more than 300 landings on foreign shores. Today, there are more than 200,000 active-duty and reserve Marines, divided into three divisions stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Camp Pendleton, California; and Okinawa, Japan. Each division has one or more expeditionary units, ready to launch major operations anywhere in the world on two weeks’ notice. Marines expeditionary units are self-sufficient, with their own tanks, artillery, and air forces. 

The motto of the service is Semper Fidelis, meaning “Always Faithful” in Latin._


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## BarnBuster (Nov 10, 2019)

raratt said:


> My mistress:




* U-2 pilot, Beale Air Force Base, Calif., Oct. 31, 2019. (Tech. Sgt. Alexandre Montes/Air Force)*​


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## Hydrotech364 (Nov 10, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4419066
> 
> View attachment 4419067​
> *1775*_ – *During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress passes a resolution stating that “two Battalions of Marines be raised” for service as landing forces for the recently formed Continental Navy.*
> ...


I'm just glad you Shrubs have Squids to look up too Brother. Ooh-Rah. I spent alot of time around Marines Aviation mechs but we all answered to the same Gunny and He loved to fk my world up! Respect!


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## curious2garden (Nov 10, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _"The officer who commanded the guided-missile destroyer Fitzgerald during its fatal 2017 collision won’t go before a Navy Board of Inquiry after all."
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just finished this article: https://features.propublica.org/navy-accidents/uss-fitzgerald-destroyer-crash-crystal/

@GreatwhiteNorth I'd be interested to hear what you think of it.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2019)

​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2019)

Eternal Patrol


*Navy Submarine, Missing for 75 Years, Is Found Off Okinawa*​
_Private explorers found the U.S.S. Grayback beneath 1,400 feet of water after realizing that a mistranslated Japanese war record had pointed searchers in the wrong direction.

The Grayback, credited with sinking 14 enemy ships, was discovered south of Okinawa with much of its body still in tact. Its plaque was still affixed to the front, but there was evidence that the sub likely was bombed.

Undersea explorers Tim Taylor and his wife Christine Dennison discovered the warship back in June and spent months searching for relatives of its crew who perished. Together, they've set out to find the wrecks of every American submarine lost in the war, an effort they dubbed the Lost 52 Project. So far, they've found five of 52 subs.

"We do not tell people that we're looking for these because we don't want to disappoint people, and we don't want to blast it across the internet until it's done properly through the Navy," Taylor told ABC News. "With the technology that we're using, and the ability to cover large swaths of ground, we're looking at the potential to find several more."

Researchers recently discovered a flaw in the translation of Japanese war records that misrepresented the spot where the Grayback may have sank.

"The numbers that came out were wrong, and that's how we found it," Taylor said. "It was mistranslated after post-WWII, and they changed one number -- an 8 to a 6 -- and our Japanese translator re-translated it, found it, put us 100 miles to a different area."_










Navy Submarine, Missing for 75 Years, Is Found Off Okinawa (Published 2019)


Private explorers found the U.S.S. Grayback beneath 1,400 feet of water after realizing that a mistranslated Japanese war record had pointed searchers in the wrong direction.




www.nytimes.com








__





On Eternal Patrol - USS Grayback (SS-208)






www.oneternalpatrol.com








__





Grayback I (SS-208)


Lake herring, a small fish of great commercial importance in the Great Lakes. I (SS-208: displacement 1,475; length 307'2




www.history.navy.mil












Missing WWII submarine the USS Grayback is FOUND


The missing WWII submarine the U.S.S Grayback was found in June off the waters of Okinawa after the ship mysteriously disappeared 75 years ago near Japan.




www.dailymail.co.uk


----------



## cannabineer (Nov 11, 2019)

On this day I say "Happy Veterans' Day" to all my veteran and active colleagues on this site. As one who didn't serve, thank you for your service.


----------



## raratt (Nov 11, 2019)

Happy Veterans day to all my brothers and sisters that served.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 11, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> I just finished this article: https://features.propublica.org/navy-accidents/uss-fitzgerald-destroyer-crash-crystal/
> 
> @GreatwhiteNorth I'd be interested to hear what you think of it.


There was a lot going on there & no doubt more senior officers should be held accountable. But as usual with any floating unit ~ under staffed & over worked ~ these are the hallmarks of those jobs.


----------



## curious2garden (Nov 11, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> There was a lot going on there & no doubt more senior officers should be held accountable. But as usual with any floating unit ~ under staffed & over worked ~ these are the hallmarks of those jobs.


Thank you


----------



## doublejj (Nov 13, 2019)




----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 21, 2019)

*
Chief Master Sgt. Chris Grove, a combat controller assigned to the 720th Special Tactics Group, faces the crowd after receiving a Silver Star Medal during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla, on Nov. 15, 2019 *​
By JOHN VANDIVER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: November 19, 2019

_*An airman who stepped into the line of fire in Afghanistan to call in airstrikes after his unit was ambushed by the Taliban 12 years ago has been awarded the Silver Star, America’s third-highest medal for valor.*

Then-Tech Sgt. Chris Grove and his special operations teammates were on patrol in Afghanistan in November 2007 when the Taliban ambushed them with mortars, grenades and machine guns.

With the men heavily outnumbered and the enemy closing in, Grove set up an observation post while under fire and called in airstrikes.

“While under continuous, accurate fire from the enemy, Grove valiantly controlled airstrikes from F-15 Strike Eagles, coordinating multiple 25mm strafes and six 500-pound bombs, decimating advancing enemy forces,” a statement by the 24th Special Operations Wing said.

Chief Master Sgt. Chris Grove, a combat controller assigned to the 720th Special Tactics Group, faces the crowd after receiving a Silver Star Medal during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Fla, on Nov. 15, 2019.

At one point during the battle, Grove’s ground force commander was trapped inside a building of the compound as insurgents advanced. The “chances of being overrun were rising by the minute,” the statement said.

Grove called in a “complex danger-close airstrike,” which enabled his team to battle back against an enemy that had moved to within 65 feet of their isolated position, and allowed the ground force commander to escape, the statement said.

Grove’s efforts also allowed his team to recover a fallen teammate so that no troops were left behind.

Grove was “the right airman at the right place, at the right time, who rose to the occasion brilliantly,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Jim Slife, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, was quoted as saying as he awarded the medal to Grove in a ceremony Friday, at Air Force Special Operations Command headquarters at Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Since 9/11, ST Airmen have received one Medal of Honor, 11 Air Force Crosses and 48 Silver Star Medals_


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 23, 2019)

Today in Military History


*Battle of Tarawa ends 23 November 1943*​
_The Battle of Tarawa in the Pacific Theater of World War II was fought on 20–23 November 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands, and was part of Operation Galvanic, the U.S. invasion of the Gilberts. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.

The fight for the tiny atoll halfway between Hawaii and Australia was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was the U.S. military’s first major amphibious assault and also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States had faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The losses on Tarawa were incurred within 76 hours.

Victory gave the U.S. control of a critical airfield it used to launch planes to bomb new Japanese targets and spy on Japanese positions. It also taught the Navy and Marine Corps crucial lessons in amphibious warfare that would help the U.S. take island after island as it pushed west across the Pacific to defeat Japan and end the war.

Four Medals of Honor were earned at Tarawa, one of them posthumously. Thirty-four Navy Crosses, the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, were issued along with some 250 Silver Stars.









Across the Reef: The Assault on Betio


During 76 hours of vicious fighting the 2d Marine Division wrested control of Tarawas Betio Island from an enemy that fought virtually to the last man.




www.usni.org






Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa


_


----------



## too larry (Nov 23, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History
> 
> View attachment 4425341
> *Battle of Tarawa ends 23 November 1943*​
> ...


It's been a long time since we fought an army and navy on par with our forces. Not sure Americans today could or would make the sacrifices our parents did.


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## haight (Nov 24, 2019)

too larry said:


> It's been a long time since we fought an army and navy on par with our forces. Not sure Americans today could or would make the sacrifices our parents did.


They will.


----------



## too larry (Nov 24, 2019)

haight said:


> They will.


Hope we don't find out anytime soon.


----------



## raratt (Dec 3, 2019)




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## BarnBuster (Dec 5, 2019)

Today in Military History



​_
*1964 December 05 The first Medal of Honor awarded to a U.S. serviceman for action in Vietnam is presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York, for his heroic action earlier in the year.*

Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of Laos and North Vietnam. Just before two o’clock in the morning on July 6, 1964, hordes of Viet Cong attacked the camp. He was shot in the stomach, but Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into the wound, cinched up his belt, and kept fighting. He was wounded three more times, but he continued fighting–manning a mortar, throwing grenades at the enemy, and refusing medical attention.

The battle ended in early morning; 154 Viet Cong were killed during the battle. Two Americans died and seven were wounded. Over 50 South Vietnamese soldiers and Nung mercenaries were also killed during the action. Once the battle was over, Donlon allowed himself to be evacuated to a hospital in Saigon. He spent over a month there before rejoining the surviving members of his Special Forces team; they completed their six-month tour in Vietnam in November and flew home together. In a White House ceremony, with Donlon’s nine surviving team members watching, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty.” Donlon, justifiably proud of his team, told the president, “The medal belongs to them, too.”_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 5, 2019)

WOW, I didn't know flying swords were even a thing.
Some of the comments on the article are pretty witty as well.









US forces kill jihadist leader in Syria with precision 'ninja' missile that chops up targets with blades


US forces are thought to have killed a senior jihadist leader in northern Syria using a rarely deployed “Ninja” missile which attacks targets with precision sword-like blades. The Hellfire missile, or AGM-114R9X, which has a set of six folding blades instead of a warhead for minimum collateral...




news.yahoo.com


----------



## too larry (Dec 6, 2019)

Second shooting on a base this week. This one not one of our own.









Saudi national who shot 11 people at Pensacola Naval Air Station was taking aviation classes


The gunman in a deadly shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida was a second lieutenant in the Saudi Arabian military involved in flight training at the station, US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said Friday.




www.cnn.com


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 6, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> WOW, I didn't know flying swords were even a thing.
> Some of the comments on the article are pretty witty as well.
> 
> 
> ...


I loled at the question if the blades were Damascus steel ...


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 6, 2019)

​
_When the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, sailor Lauren Bruner was the second-to-last person to get off the USS Arizona alive.

Bruner and five others were stranded on the doomed ship when a sailor on a repair ship spotted them and threw them a line. Even though Bruner was badly burned and had been shot twice, the 21-year-old managed to climb to safety.

He died in September at the age of 98, and on Saturday, December 7, 2019, his remains will return to the USS Arizona. He is expected to be the final USS Arizona survivor to be interred on the sunken warship.

There are three remaining survivors and they have expressed other wishes for their remains. According to the USS Arizona Memorial, Don Stratton, Lou Conter, and Ken Potts "are the only former crewmen remaining from the 337 men who survived the attack on the battleship."

Burner said he wanted to return to his ship because few people go to cemeteries, while more than 1 million people visit the Arizona each year. He also saw it as a way to join old friends who never made it off the warship. "I thought, well, all my buddies are right here. And there are a lot of people who come to see the ship,” Bruner told The Associated Press in an interview in 2016, three years before he died in his sleep in September. Bruner traveled from his La Mirada, California, home to attend Pearl Harbor anniversary events many times

Bruner's family will hold a funeral at the USS Arizona Memorial on Saturday evening. A team of National Park Service and military divers will then receive the urn of his ashes and place it in the hull of the USS Arizona wreckage. Blount says that 43 other survivors of the attack have been interred on the ship in the same location since the Navy started the rare unique ritual in 1982. The wrecks of only two vessels remain in the harbor — the Arizona and USS Utah — so survivors of those ships are the only ones who have the option to be laid to rest this way. Neither underwater archaeologists at the Navy History and Heritage Command or those who handle burials for the Navy Personnel Command were aware of any interments conducted on sunken Navy vessels elsewhere._


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## BarnBuster (Dec 6, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> I loled at the question if the blades were Damascus steel ...


*"Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."*
Matthew 26:52 King James Version (KJV)


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## BarnBuster (Dec 8, 2019)

​_The identities of the Sailors are:

-Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 23, from Coffee, Alabama
-Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 19, from St. Petersburg, Florida
-Airman Apprentice Cameron Scott Walters, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 21, from Richmond Hill, Georgia _

from ONCI


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## Hydrotech364 (Dec 8, 2019)

Fair Winds....


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## cannabineer (Dec 8, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4433499​_The identities of the Sailors are:
> 
> -Ensign Joshua Kaleb Watson, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 23, from Coffee, Alabama
> -Airman Mohammed Sameh Haitham, Student, Naval Aviation Schools Command, 19, from St. Petersburg, Florida
> ...


please ‘splain the praying duck


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 9, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> please ‘splain the praying duck


NAS Pensacola has prided themselves as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation", training young Naval pilots since the early years of the 20th century. New designs of aircraft also arrived at the base for evaluation. The base insignia (the duck is actually called Jay Gosling) was designed in the 1930's by cartoonist Eddie Collins and depicts a duck wearing a early years flight helmet attempting a water takeoff. bb


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## curious2garden (Dec 9, 2019)

cannabineer said:


> please ‘splain the praying duck


The gosling is fledging.


----------



## scumrot derelict (Dec 9, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> The gosling is fledging.




meep, meep. <3


----------



## scumrot derelict (Dec 9, 2019)

*Norwegian ambassador honors 100-year-old WW II veteran in Fridley*








Norwegian ambassador honors 100-year-old WW II veteran in Fridley


100-year-old Fridley veteran is recognized for service, sacrifice.




www.startribune.com





Took you fucking long enough, Norway! WTF?! God bless that guy. He'll fucking outlive us all.


----------



## haight (Dec 13, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> WOW, I didn't know flying swords were even a thing.
> Some of the comments on the article are pretty witty as well.
> 
> 
> ...


Yup, it slices and dices too.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 16, 2019)

*“To the German Commander:

N U T S !

The American Commander”*​


----------



## too larry (Dec 16, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4437827
> 
> *“To the German Commander:
> 
> ...


Mamma's baby brother took part in that little dust up.


----------



## raratt (Dec 23, 2019)




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## BarnBuster (Dec 25, 2019)

_Many Veterans, with a service connected disability rating, are entering Federal recreation lands and national parks for free with an America the Beautiful-the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands lifetime Access Pass through an interagency partnership between the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. Good for entry into thousands of federally managed recreation sites across the country, the Lifetime Access Pass is another way a grateful nation says thank you for the service and sacrifices of U. S. Veterans with disabilities.



https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/60590/disabled-veterans-eligible-free-national-park-service-lifetime-access-pass/


_


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## raratt (Dec 25, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _Many Veterans, with a service connected disability rating, are entering Federal recreation lands and national parks for free with an America the Beautiful-the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands lifetime Access Pass through an interagency partnership between the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. Good for entry into thousands of federally managed recreation sites across the country, the Lifetime Access Pass is another way a grateful nation says thank you for the service and sacrifices of U. S. Veterans with disabilities.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Numerous states, even California, offer free or reduced entry into parks and recreation areas for disabled veterans. I have a pass for the state also. Edit: My hunting and fishing licence through the state is also reduced from $40+ to just over $6.


----------



## raratt (Dec 25, 2019)




----------



## doublejj (Dec 25, 2019)




----------



## doublejj (Dec 25, 2019)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 25, 2019)

raratt said:


> Numerous states, even California, offer free or reduced entry into parks and recreation areas for disabled veterans. I have a pass for the state also. Edit: My hunting and fishing licence through the state is also reduced from $40+ to just over $6.


@ 50% disabled my state issues a free hunting license.


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## raratt (Dec 25, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> @ 50% disabled my state issues a free hunting license.


I tried to get stationed there when I was in to change my residency, didn't happen.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 25, 2019)

I was sent to AK & Isolated duty (no less) right out of the gate from Boot in mid 70's - talk about a change of environment.
From S. Fla to the Aleutians for a year - the guy I replaced shot himself in the calf with a rifle to get off the remote island.

Toto . . .


----------



## raratt (Dec 25, 2019)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I was sent to AK & Isolated duty (no less) right out of the gate from Boot in mid 70's - talk about a change of environment.
> From S. Fla to the Aleutians for a year - the guy I replaced shot himself in the calf with a rifle to get off the remote island.
> 
> Toto . . .


There was one slot at Eielson AFB when I was PCSing from Guam I tried to get. I ended up being voluntold to be an instructor at Keesler.


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 25, 2019)

raratt said:


> There was one slot at Eielson AFB when I was PCSing from Guam I tried to get. I ended up being voluntold to be an instructor at Keesler.





GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I was sent to AK & Isolated duty (no less) right out of the gate from Boot in mid 70's - talk about a change of environment.
> From S. Fla to the Aleutians for a year - the guy I replaced shot himself in the calf with a rifle to get off the remote island.
> 
> Toto . . .


Someday I'll post pics of hub at Thule. That was a real misfire reassignment. We won't even discuss Iraq LOL I still have that dumb rock lamp


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 25, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Someday I'll post pics of hub at Thule. That was a real misfire reassignment. We won't even discuss Iraq LOL I still have that dumb rock lamp


Shit I meant Iran.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 25, 2019)

curious2garden said:


> Someday I'll post pics of hub at Thule. That was a real misfire reassignment. We won't even discuss Iraq LOL I still have that dumb rock lamp


Dad brought home a couple of 155 shells that had been formed into vases from Vietnam.
We still have them but knowing their history I hesitate to use them for festive arrangements.


----------



## wascaptain (Dec 26, 2019)

my gift from my son in law (former marine also). 

the best gift , was finding we have a "devil pup" on the way!


----------



## raratt (Dec 28, 2019)




----------



## Hydrotech364 (Dec 29, 2019)

BarnBuster said:


> _Many Veterans, with a service connected disability rating, are entering Federal recreation lands and national parks for free with an America the Beautiful-the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands lifetime Access Pass through an interagency partnership between the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Army Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation. Good for entry into thousands of federally managed recreation sites across the country, the Lifetime Access Pass is another way a grateful nation says thank you for the service and sacrifices of U. S. Veterans with disabilities.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I always get the Free Licenses @ Academy...


----------



## Hydrotech364 (Dec 29, 2019)

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1019966221685096



Check this out!


----------



## wascaptain (Jan 1, 2020)

happy new years vets and friends.

started mine off with a stair climb.


----------



## Hydrotech364 (Jan 2, 2020)

Hong Kong 1988... HS-4 Black Knights. On the Left....


----------



## Hydrotech364 (Jan 2, 2020)




----------



## doublejj (Jan 2, 2020)

Hydrotech364 said:


> View attachment 4448520


----------



## raratt (Jan 6, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 7, 2020)

​








U.S. Air Force launches F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters in Utah


The 52 F-35A aircrafts, which are worth a whopping $4.2 billion, took off in quick succession from the Hill Air Force Base in Utah on Monday.




www.dailymail.co.uk


----------



## curious2garden (Jan 7, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4451459​
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That immediately took me back to Norton emptying the ramp. I'll never forget that night. They were launching in support of Panama Operation Just Cause. Hub called me after I dropped him off and said, "You may wish to come back and watch this." Nothing was going on at work so off I went.

I saw 58 C-141's come off the ramp in less than 1 hour, in one 12 hour shift they loaded and launched them. It was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. They took off three abreast. 

Elephant Walks are amazing to see.


----------



## raratt (Jan 7, 2020)




----------



## wascaptain (Jan 7, 2020)

feels like yesterday i took the oath. 
i was 17


----------



## doublejj (Jan 7, 2020)

These are the scenes i used to see when I closed my eyes at night.......


----------



## scumrot derelict (Jan 9, 2020)

Hydrotech364 said:


> Hong Kong 1988... HS-4 Black Knights. On the Left.... View attachment 4448102


Looking jacked there bro, how much steak were you eating to fuel those guns?


----------



## scumrot derelict (Jan 9, 2020)

wascaptain said:


> feels like yesterday i took the oath.
> i was 17 View attachment 4451774View attachment 4451777


Thank you so much, dude.


----------



## haight (Jan 9, 2020)

Hydrotech364 said:


> View attachment 4448520


And you tend to use words that if your kid used, you'd wash his mouth out with soap.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 14, 2020)

_"A 104-year-old US Marine Corps veteran who served in World War II is asking people to send him cards for Valentine's Day.
Maj. Bill White, a California native, has had a lifetime full of unforgettable experiences. He has collected objects and filled scrapbooks to remind him of special memories which he keeps on a bookshelf organized by year.
But now, the young-spirited veteran wants to expand his collection of memories, and he's asking the public to help by sending him a card this Valentine's Day.

"I'll save every one of them like I've been saving little things that have come up until right now and they'll be a personal part of my history," White told CNN affiliate KTXL.
And that history of his is more than eventful.

White earned a Purple Heart for surviving the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. The bloody battle between the US Marines and Imperial Army of Japan lasted five weeks, killing nearly 7,000 US Marines and more than 20,000 Japanese fighters.
"When I was wounded, I didn't have any choice in the matter. A grenade blow up about 6 inches from me," White told KTXL.
"The fact that I even survived is something. There weren't too many of us."

The veteran, who spent 30 years on active duty, was taken off the battlefield as a result of his injuries.
White told KTXL his love for scrapbooking keeps him busy, allowing him to "keep track" of his life's special events.
But the real key to his long and positive life, he said, was simple: "Just keep breathing.""_

If you'd like to send White a Valentine's Day card, you can mail it to:
Operation Valentine
ATTN: Hold for Maj Bill White, USMC (Ret)
The Oaks at Inglewood
6725 Inglewood Ave.
Stockton, CA 95207


----------



## raratt (Jan 14, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> _"A 104-year-old US Marine Corps veteran who served in World War II is asking people to send him cards for Valentine's Day.
> Maj. Bill White, a California native, has had a lifetime full of unforgettable experiences. He has collected objects and filled scrapbooks to remind him of special memories which he keeps on a bookshelf organized by year.
> But now, the young-spirited veteran wants to expand his collection of memories, and he's asking the public to help by sending him a card this Valentine's Day.
> 
> ...


Watched the story on the news last night, the dude is still sharp. Edit: He sang the whole Marine Corps song. Semper Fi.


----------



## scumrot derelict (Jan 17, 2020)

Military Daily News


Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.




www.military.com





one step closer to "impersonating a cop is my 1st amendment right!"

idk, what do you guys think abt this?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 17, 2020)

scumrot derelict said:


> Military Daily News
> 
> 
> Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.
> ...


Personally I think it's disgraceful and cowardly to claim accolades that many truly deserve.
Fuck the wanna-be's.


----------



## scumrot derelict (Jan 17, 2020)

at work proudly displaying my un-earned medal


----------



## Hydrotech364 (Jan 18, 2020)

Word???


----------



## Hydrotech364 (Jan 18, 2020)

Now Hear This!


----------



## doublejj (Jan 18, 2020)

Hydrotech364 said:


> Word???
> 
> View attachment 4459078


California now puts your veteran status on your DL....


----------



## raratt (Jan 18, 2020)

doublejj said:


> California now puts your veteran status on your DL....


I saw that and I didn't sign up for it because they want to "send you info" about VA, I already get enough emails from them.


----------



## Hydrotech364 (Jan 18, 2020)




----------



## doublejj (Jan 18, 2020)

Recruiter told me Medics never walk point. he forgot to mention this part.....


----------



## raratt (Jan 18, 2020)




----------



## curious2garden (Jan 19, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4459524


----------



## Grandpapy (Jan 19, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> View attachment 4459967


What's the CC stand for?


----------



## Singlemalt (Jan 19, 2020)

Grandpapy said:


> What's the CC stand for?


Central Command?

CC is used alot :company commander, combat command, central command, etc


----------



## curious2garden (Jan 19, 2020)

Grandpapy said:


> What's the CC stand for?


I think it stands for CentCom: https://www.centcom.mil/
@raratt would know for sure.


----------



## raratt (Jan 19, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> I think it stands for CentCom: https://www.centcom.mil/
> @raratt would know for sure.


Combat Commander, if you look the CC is over Beale, home base for the U-2. DMCC would be Deputy Maintenance Combat Commander. They deploy to all the regional commands, IE CentCom, PaCom, etc.


----------



## curious2garden (Jan 19, 2020)

raratt said:


> Combat Commander, if you look the CC is over Beale, home base for the U-2. DMCC would be Deputy Maintenance Combat Commander. They deploy to all the regional commands, IE CentCom, PaCom, etc.


Thanks!


----------



## raratt (Jan 19, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> Thanks!


P.S., the U-2 used to be under SAC, but now it is ACC, Air Combat Command. I was a SAC trained killer...lol. Commands are organized by function in the US, and location overseas.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 19, 2020)

Dad was SAC - we learned real quick when you heard the scramble siren to GTF off the road & outta the way.


----------



## curious2garden (Jan 19, 2020)

raratt said:


> P.S., the U-2 used to be under SAC, but now it is ACC, Air Combat Command. I was a SAC trained killer...lol. Commands are organized by function in the US, and location overseas.


I can't keep up.


----------



## raratt (Jan 19, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> I can't keep up.


Easy for me, I had to change patches...lol


----------



## curious2garden (Jan 19, 2020)

raratt said:


> Easy for me, I had to change patches...lol


Guess who sewed his on.....


----------



## Couch_Lock (Jan 19, 2020)




----------



## raratt (Jan 19, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 22, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
_The Battle of Rorke’s Drift took place in South Africa on this day and is remembered as one of the world’s most remarkable military engagements.

Britain was intent on expanding its territory and influence in South Africa in the 1870s and had declared war on the Kingdom of Zululand. Rorke’s Drift was a mission station near the border between the British colony of Natal and the Zulu Kingdom and had been occupied by British troops. When the battle began, though, only 139 soldiers were encamped there. They had no idea what lay in store.

At 4.20pm on January 22, 1879 a force of 4,000 Zulu warriors began to lay siege to the station. Their intermittent attacks were to last for almost twelve hours.

Fortunately for the British, although some of the Zulus had old muskets and antiquated rifles, most were armed only with a short spear called an assegai and a shield made of cowhide. So in weaponry they were no match for the highly trained soldiers with their (then) sophisticated rifles and firepower. But the manpower advantage lay massively in favour of the Zulus.

By 4am, after nearly 12 hours repulsing wave after wave of attacks involving hand-to-hand combat, a number of British soldiers lay dead. Most of the others were exhausted, rapidly running out of ammunition, and probably in no condition to repel another assault. But they didn’t have to. As dawn broke they saw that the Zulus were gone, leaving behind a battleground littered with the dead and dying. Zulu casualties were around 500, while the British sustained 17 dead and 10 wounded.

*The Victoria Cross is Britain’s highest medal for bravery. Eleven were awarded to the defenders of Rorke's Drift – the most ever received in a single action by one regiment.*

According to American military historian Victor Davis Hanson: “In the long annals of military history it is difficult to find anything quite like Rorke's Drift, where a beleaguered force, outnumbered forty to one, survived and killed twenty men for every defender lost.”_


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## natureboygrower (Jan 22, 2020)

I recently found a bunch of old letters and mementos my Desert Shield/Storm penpal sent me when I was in elementary school. He grew up a town over from me so it was really special to have that connection. My mom brought me to the airport when he came home and actually meeting him was a trip. He flew Apaches and later moved on to scout helicopters and has since retired in the last 10 years I heard. Thinking back on that I realize what a good guy he was to send a kid so many letters. I could not wait to get those red and blue striped envelopes from him.


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## too larry (Jan 22, 2020)

natureboygrower said:


> I recently found a bunch of old letters and mementos my Desert Shield/Storm penpal sent me when I was in elementary school. He grew up a town over from me so it was really special to have that connection. My mom brought me to the airport when he came home and actually meeting him was a trip. He flew Apaches and later moved on to scout helicopters and has since retired in the last 10 years I heard. Thinking back on that I realize what a good guy he was to send a kid so many letters. I could not wait to get those red and blue striped envelopes from him.
> View attachment 4462198


My wife headed up the effort to send out care packages to the local NG troops. (this was before she was rich and famous) and she had donation boxes set up in her convenience store and all the other stores in the chain. Many of the guys came to see her when they returned home.


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## natureboygrower (Jan 22, 2020)

too larry said:


> My wife headed up the effort to send out care packages to the local NG troops. (this was before she was rich and famous) and she had donation boxes set up in her convenience store and all the other stores in the chain. Many of the guys came to see her when they returned home.


Very nice. In my community there was a lot of support for the troops. The local paper put a list of troop's names from across the country we could write to while they were overseas. We had one of those penny candy stores in my town, two dollars filled a box to the top( back then the store owner didnt wear gloves when she picked our candy lol) I remember that candy was a big hit.
The airport in my state is a international one, so there were troop greeters there the whole time greeting soldiers when they came home. That's where I met my penpal. His first stop back in the states. My mom printed up a banner with his name on it. I remember she was so upset with herself because she spelled his name wrong lol. I dont think he cared, just happy to be home
Good memories


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## raratt (Jan 23, 2020)

FYI








Beale AFB Air & Space Expo - CANCELLED







www.key.aero










Directions and Parking Info - Beale Air and Space Expo







www.bealeairandspaceexpo.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 24, 2020)

Rolls Royce Merlin & the Spitfire, - the combination that won the war.


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## doublejj (Jan 24, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Rolls Royce Merlin & the Spitfire, - the combination that won the war.


One sunny day back in the early 1980's when I was living in Susanville Ca about 50mi north of Reno, I was driving south from Susanville on hwy395 about 1/2way to Reno with the windows down and the radio blasting when my car started to make a rumbling noise. As I slowed down it was only getting louder. By the time I fully stopped it sounded like my engine was about to explode. Just as I started to bail from the car a P51 Mustang flying about 100ft flew directly overhead and I swear it shook the car. It was like a WWII strafing run. It was the week prior to the Reno Air Races...


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## raratt (Jan 24, 2020)

doublejj said:


> One sunny day back in the early 1980's when I was living in Susanville Ca about 50mi north of Reno, I was driving south from Susanville on hwy395 about 1/2way to Reno with the windows down and the radio blasting when my car started to make a rumbling noise. As I slowed down it was only getting louder. By the time I fully stopped it sounded like my engine was about to explode. Just as I started to bail from the car a P51 Mustang flying about 100ft flew directly overhead and I swear it shook the car. It was like a WWII strafing run. It was the week prior to the Reno Air Races...
> View attachment 4463604


That's my favorite WWII aircraft, they are just sexy. We were driving cross country to come home on leave and we were on 40 in the middle of the desert in N.M. The road is raised up above the desert about 10 feet and I saw something out of the passenger window. It kept getting bigger until I could see an F-4 nose out the window getting closer. I swear he cleared us by about 40 feet, AB rolling. I about drove off into the desert.


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## doublejj (Jan 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> That's my favorite WWII aircraft, they are just sexy. We were driving cross country to come home on leave and we were on 40 in the middle of the desert in N.M. The road is raised up above the desert about 10 feet and I saw something out of the passenger window. It kept getting bigger until I could see an F-4 nose out the window getting closer. I swear he cleared us by about 40 feet, AB rolling. I about drove off into the desert.


Yeah...just like that....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 24, 2020)

I had a couple of Warthogs practicing gun runs on my truck while I was driving to Fairbanks one winter.
Never heard them inbound, they were just suddenly "There".
Made me nervous.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 24, 2020)

and the women who built many of them


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## doublejj (Jan 24, 2020)

When I worked at Boeing in Seattle in the 1970's I worked in this building. They weren't building B-17's any longer but the walls in the factory had many pictures like this one and you could stand there and look at a picture and see that it was taken from the very spot you were standing....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 24, 2020)

Those ladies were Bad Ass !!


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## Hydrotech364 (Jan 28, 2020)

natureboygrower said:


> I recently found a bunch of old letters and mementos my Desert Shield/Storm penpal sent me when I was in elementary school. He grew up a town over from me so it was really special to have that connection. My mom brought me to the airport when he came home and actually meeting him was a trip. He flew Apaches and later moved on to scout helicopters and has since retired in the last 10 years I heard. Thinking back on that I realize what a good guy he was to send a kid so many letters. I could not wait to get those red and blue striped envelopes from him.
> View attachment 4462198


 I was there...


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## natureboygrower (Jan 28, 2020)

Hydrotech364 said:


> I was there...


Thank you for your service, Cap


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## BarnBuster (Jan 28, 2020)

What a great Vet story...


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## BarnBuster (Jan 28, 2020)

scumrot derelict said:


> one step closer to "impersonating a cop is my 1st amendment right!" idk, what do you guys think abt this?





GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Personally I think it's disgraceful and cowardly to claim accolades that many truly deserve. Fuck the wanna-be's.


They are able to prosecute for stolen valor. Usually the perpetrators are trying to get Vet benefits from the "G" they are not entitled which are additional charges. There may be state charges too.









Georgia Man Masking as Purple Heart, Silver Star Recipient Pleads Guilty to Stolen Valor


Gregg Ramsdell, 61, of Columbus, entered a guilty plea to one count of false statements and one count of violation of the Stolen Valor Act.




www.justice.gov












Did you know? Stolen Valor penalty is a year in jail


Stolen Valor is the act of receiving military honors and awards fraudulently and when they weren’t rightfully earned, and it happens all the time, but not




americanmilitarynews.com


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## doublejj (Jan 28, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> What a great Vet story...


damn all I brought back was an old .45........I should have traded it for a watch


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## haight (Jan 29, 2020)

scumrot derelict said:


> Military Daily News
> 
> 
> Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.
> ...


Gee I can continue to wear my MoH.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 30, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
_* "On January 30, 1945, during World War II, United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas liberated more than 500 Allies prisoners from the Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan City, in the Philippines.*

After the fall of the Philippines and Bataan in the early day of World War II, Cabanatuan was the largest POW camp in the country. At its peak, it held over 5000 prisoners but by the time of the raid, also known as the “Great Raid”, it held just a bit more than 500. The prisoners had survived the Bataan Death March, brutal conditions in the camp as well as disease and malnutrition.

General Douglas MacArthur authorized the rescue attempt when it was feared that the Japanese were planning on murdering the prisoners before the US forces would liberate them. The Japanese had already done so at the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp on the island of Palawan. They herded 150 prisoners into an air raid shelter where they were doused with gasoline and burned alive.

The Plan:
The initial plan set up by LTC Henry Mucci, commander of the 6th Ranger Bn. had two teams of Alamo Scouts, 14 in all and they would set up a reconnaissance and surveillance detachment on the camp.

Mucci had 120 Rangers from Company C and Company F. They had to march 30 miles behind the Japanese lines to reach the camp undetected to do the assault. The plan was to set up around the camp, put fire on the Japanese guards, eliminating them, rescue the prisoners and get them all back to friendly lines.

The assault was to be led by Captain Robert Prince with 90 Rangers. The support element of 30 Rangers was led by Lt. John Murphy.

The Rangers were bolstered with 200 Filipino guerrillas under the command of CPT Juan Pajota who would serve as guides and support the assault. Pajota’s men set up a roadblock on a bridge spanning the Cabu River to stop Japanese reinforcements from reaching the camp.

The Rangers would have to crawl across open terrain where the Japanese had cleared, to cut down on prisoner escape attempts. To distract the guards, an Army Air Corps P-61 Black Widow buzzed the camp, performing aerobatics and backfiring his engine in an attempt to allow Prince’s men to get in position. During this time, Filipino guerrillas cut the telephone lines to Cabanatuan where the other Japanese forces were.

The Assault:
At 1940 hours Murphy’s men put devastating fire on the Japanese positions and within 15 seconds had neutralized every guard tower and pillbox. One Ranger blew the lock of the gate with a .45 pistol.

The Rangers at the main gate shifted fire in the Japanese guard barracks and the officer’s quarters. Bazooka teams targeted a shed that was thought to have tanks but Japanese soldiers attempting to flee in two trucks were targeted and destroyed.

Prince’s Rangers rushed the compound where the prisoners, fearing that the raid was a Japanese ruse to lure them out to be killed, hid from their American rescuers. But eventually, the prisoners, led by the Rangers made their way to the main gate. Many had to be carried due to their weakened condition.

A Japanese mortar fired three rounds injuring several Rangers and Filipino guerrillas, mortally wounding Ranger Bn. surgeon CPT James Fisher. Murphy’s men from Company F quickly killed the soldier on the mortar.

At the sound of the attack on the camp, CPT Pajota’s guerrillas fired on the Japanese forces from across the river, detonating explosives on the bridge that didn’t destroy it, but blew a hole large enough where tanks or other vehicles couldn’t cross. One guerrilla destroyed four Japanese tanks with a bazooka, having just been trained on its use by the Rangers earlier.

A Japanese flanking force trying the cross the river behind Pajota’s guerrillas was spotted and annihilated.

Prince’s men cleared the camp and he fired a red star cluster to indicate that the last men had left the camp. The Rangers carried and led the POWs to the Pampanga River, where a caravan of 26 carabao carts waited to transport them to Plateros, driven by local villagers organized by CPT Pajota.

Once all of the carts and Rangers had crossed the river, Prince fired a second red star cluster to signal Pajota’s men to withdraw. Mucci radioed the Sixth Army HQs that the mission was a success and that they had all of the POWs safely out of the camp.

The Americans reached their lines at Talavera on January 31, the amount of carts had swelled from 26 to 102 as many of the prisoners found it increasingly difficult to walk. The raid freed 489 POWs and 33 civilians.

General MacArthur wrote about the raid stating, “No incident of the campaign in the Pacific has given me such satisfaction as the release of the POWs at Cabanatuan. The mission was brilliantly successful.” Mucci and Prince were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for their actions. All the other officers and several Rangers received Silver Stars. The rest of the force received Bronze Stars. The fourteen Alamo Scouts received Presidential Unit Citations.

*The raid was one of the most successful POW rescue attempts in US military history and serves as a beacon with what would be the joint special operations of today. The Rangers have a history rich in tradition. The raid at Cabanatuan is among their finest mom*_*ents."*









Raid at Cabanatuan (1945) - ShadowSpear Special Operations


ShadowSpear Special operations news and community network!




www.shadowspear.com









The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor: Breuer, William B.: 9780471037422: Amazon.com: Books


The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor [Breuer, William B.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor



www.amazon.com










Amazon.com: Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission: 9780385495653: Sides, Hampton: Books


Amazon.com: Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission: 9780385495653: Sides, Hampton: Books



www.amazon.com


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## Tangerine_ (Jan 30, 2020)

I'm having a box built from chessnut to keep the letters my dad sent my mother, the ones my spouse sent me, and the ones I now receive from my kid. 
This guy does beautiful woodwork, mostly from reclaimed barn wood so I'm quite excited to have a custom piece.


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## Hydrotech364 (Feb 5, 2020)

Damn...









Marine Drill Instructor boards wrong bus - High school Students Traumatized.


Students traumatized as Marine Drill Instructor boards wrong bus.




leatherneckforlife.com


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## raratt (Feb 5, 2020)

Hydrotech364 said:


> I was there...


I was in SA about a week after Kuwait was invaded, then multiple times after.


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## Hydrotech364 (Feb 7, 2020)




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## BarnBuster (Feb 8, 2020)

Today in Military History:
​
*On February 8, 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the Solomon Islands.*

_Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of Australia and have 87 indigenous languages, were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra (1541-95). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands, except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the Australians) to the British in 1900.

The Japanese invaded the Solomons in 1942 during World War II and began building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal. On August 7 of that year, U.S. Marines landed on the island, signaling the Allies’ first major offensive against Japanese-held positions in the Pacific. The Japanese responded quickly with sea and air attacks. A series of bloody battles ensued in the debilitating tropical heat as Marines sparred with Japanese troops on land, while in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy fought six major engagements with the Japanese between August 24 and November 30. In mid-November 1942, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, died together when the Japanese sank their ship, the USS Juneau.

Both sides suffered heavy losses of men, warships and planes in the battle for Guadalcanal. An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were killed, over 4,000 were wounded and several thousand more died from disease. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers. On December 31, 1942, Emperor Hirohito told Japanese troops they could withdraw from the area; the Americans secured Guadalcanal about five weeks later.

The Solomons gained their independence from Britain in 1978. In the late 1990s, fighting broke out between rival ethnic groups on Guadalcanal and continued until an Australian-led international peacekeeping mission restored order in 2003. Today, with a population of over half a million people, the Solomons are known as a scuba diver and fisherman’s paradise._



https://history.army.mil/html/books/005/5-3/CMH_Pub_5-3.pdf




https://www.etownschools.org/cms/lib/PA01000774/Centricity/Domain/629/Guadalcanal.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Feb 13, 2020)

An Army Combat Engineer's Story of the D-Day Invasion


Army combat engineer Jay Rencher displayed incredible heroism clearing obstacles from Utah Beach during the D-Day invasion.




warfarehistorynetwork.com


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## raratt (Feb 13, 2020)




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## too larry (Feb 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4478884


I was in from 80-83. They were just starting to be women on the supply ships then. We called them the love boat.


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## raratt (Feb 14, 2020)

Trump budget zeroes out funding for Stars and Stripes, the military's newspaper


The Trump administration pulled funding in its 2021 budget for Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military news organization that has published a daily newspaper continuously since World War II for troops stationed around the world.




www.yahoo.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 16, 2020)

*This day in Military History, February 16, 1945, the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines was recaptured by American troops, almost three years after the Bataan Death March.*
_
On April 3, 1942, the Japanese infantry staged a major offensive against Allied troops in Bataan, the peninsula guarding Manila Bay of the Philippine Islands. The invasion of the Japanese 14th Army, led by Gen. Masaharu Homma, had already forced Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s troops from Manila into Bataan. By March, after MacArthur had left for Australia on President Roosevelt’s orders and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Edward P. King Jr, the American Luzon Force and its Filipino allies were starving and suffering from malnutrition, malaria, beriberi, dysentery, and hookworm.

Homma and reinforcements took advantage of the U.S. and Filipino weakness by launching another major offensive, which resulted in Admiral King’s surrender on April 9. The largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender was taken captive by the Japanese. The prisoners, both Filipino and American, were led 55 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando.

The journey became known as the “Bataan Death March.” At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of the brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, kicked, and bayoneted those too weak to carry on. Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to POW, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least 1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and starvation.

America revitalized their efforts in the Philippines with the invasion of Leyte Island in October 1944. General MacArthur, who in 1942 had famously promised to return to the Philippines, made good on his word. With the help of the U.S. Navy, which succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet and left Japanese garrisons on the Philippine Islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated the Japanese resistance._


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 16, 2020)

We drove that route when I was a young kid.
All I remember of it was small white crosses everywhere along the road.


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## Hydrotech364 (Feb 17, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> *This day in Military History, February 16, 1945, the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines was recaptured by American troops, almost three years after the Bataan Death March.*
> _
> On April 3, 1942, the Japanese infantry staged a major offensive against Allied troops in Bataan, the peninsula guarding Manila Bay of the Philippine Islands. The invasion of the Japanese 14th Army, led by Gen. Masaharu Homma, had already forced Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s troops from Manila into Bataan. By March, after MacArthur had left for Australia on President Roosevelt’s orders and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Edward P. King Jr, the American Luzon Force and its Filipino allies were starving and suffering from malnutrition, malaria, beriberi, dysentery, and hookworm.
> 
> ...


Spent alot of time there, used to volunteer for it. We would keep 4 helos and fly frogs to suspected al queerda training camps. I remember throwing food to the monkeys @ 0500 and @ 1700 heading back to town those Monkeys would throw the food back! They thought we were just assholes throwing fruit.


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## too larry (Feb 17, 2020)

raratt said:


> Trump budget zeroes out funding for Stars and Stripes, the military's newspaper
> 
> 
> The Trump administration pulled funding in its 2021 budget for Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military news organization that has published a daily newspaper continuously since World War II for troops stationed around the world.
> ...


I heard that on NPR the other night. It will be a shame if it does go away.


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## BarnBuster (Feb 18, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Feb 19, 2020)

*Today in Military History:*


_*"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue" *_
—Admiral Chester W. Nimitz ​
*U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, after months of naval and air bombardment. *_The Japanese defenders of the island were dug into bunkers deep within the volcanic rocks. Approximately 70,000 U.S. Marines and 18,000 Japanese soldiers took part in the battle. In thirty-six days of fighting on the island, nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines were killed. Another 20,000 were wounded. Marines captured 216 Japanese soldiers; the rest were killed in action. The island was finally declared secured on March 26, 1945. It had been one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history.

After the battle, Iwo Jima served as an emergency landing site for more than 2,200 B-29 bombers, saving the lives of 24,000 U.S. airmen. Securing Iwo Jima prepared the way for the last and largest battle in the Pacific: the invasion of Okinawa.

The flag-raising atop Mt. Suribachi took place on February 23, 1945; five days after the battle began. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the famous photograph of five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the flag. The flag raisers were Cpl. Harlon Block, Navy Pharmacist’s Mate John Bradley, Cpl. Rene Gagnon, PFC Franklin Sousley, Sgt. Michael Strank, and Cpl. Ira Hayes. Three of these men—Strank, Sousley, and Block—were killed before the battle for Iwo Jima was over. _(Article below is about mis-identification of flag raisers.bb)








Famous Iwo Jima Flag Photo Had Another Misidentified Man, Marines Say (Published 2019)


In 2016, the Marine Corps said it had wrongly identified another of the men in the famous photograph.




www.nytimes.com





_The photograph was quickly wired around the world and reproduced in newspapers across the United States. The image was used as a model for the Marine Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

*Twenty-seven Medals of Honor (our country’s highest military award for bravery) were awarded for action on Iwo Jima—more than any other battle in U.S. history.*_









The Battle of Iwo Jima: A 36-day bloody slog on a sulfuric island
 

The Japanese defending Iwo Jima on D-day displayed superb tactical discipline. As Lieutenant Colonel Justus M. ‘Jumpin’ Joe’ Chambers led his 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, across the first terrace on the right flank of the landing beaches, he encountered interlocking bands of automatic-weapons...




www.militarytimes.com






https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/The%20United%20States%20Marines%20On%20Iwo%20Jima_The%20Battle%20and%20the%20Flag%20Raisings%20%20PCN%2019000316600.pdf


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## raratt (Feb 20, 2020)

@curious2garden


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## BarnBuster (Feb 22, 2020)

_"In February 1944, the U.S. military launched Operation Hailstone, a massive military assault on Japanese fortified positions in the Pacific. On Monday, Feb 17 — 76 years later — researchers announced the discovery of three U.S. aircraft remains associated with seven service members missing in action.

Project Recover identified the wrecks of two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers and one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The nonprofit, which works to locate and repatriate Americans missing in action, located the three planes that launched from the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Intrepid to strafe Japanese-held islands during the two-day air assault.

Over four expeditions, researchers with Project Recover scanned the ocean floor with advanced sonar surveys and high-resolution imaging devices. The organization used underwater autonomous vehicles tethered to surface vessels and human divers to “interrogate” the sites — survey them for verification and identification of the remains."_














Three downed aircraft, associated with seven MIAs from famous WWII battle, located in Pacific Ocean


Project Recover identified the remains of two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers and one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia. The site may contain as many as 33 down U.S. aircraft numbering nearly 100 service members missing in...




www.militarytimes.com












The Search for World War II Aircraft in the Pacific (Published 2020)


The private group Project Recover announced that it had found three U.S. Navy warplanes lost during the February 1944 battle for the island of Truk in the Pacific Ocean.




www.nytimes.com












Home


Project Recover is a collaborative effort to find and repatriate American MIAs for their recognition and closure for families and the Nation.




www.projectrecover.org








__





The BentProp Project






legacy.bentprop.org


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## raratt (Feb 22, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> _"In February 1944, the U.S. military launched Operation Hailstone, a massive military assault on Japanese fortified positions in the Pacific. On Monday, Feb 17 — 76 years later — researchers announced the discovery of three U.S. aircraft remains associated with seven service members missing in action.
> 
> Project Recover identified the wrecks of two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers and one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia.
> 
> ...


One of the dives I went on in Guam was to a Japanese Val bomber. The coral had covered up most of it, but there was a landing gear strut that was sticking up and somehow the chrome on it was still shiny.


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## raratt (Feb 27, 2020)

The end:


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## haight (Feb 28, 2020)

You gotta love them A-10 Warthogs


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## curious2garden (Mar 1, 2020)

haight said:


> You gotta love them A-10 Warthogs


Braaaaaaaaaap ;D


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## BarnBuster (Mar 9, 2020)

*Today in Military History:*

​
_*"If war with the Japanese does come, we’ll fight mercilessly,” General George C. Marshall told news reporters in an off-the-record briefing on November 15, 1941, three weeks before Pearl Harbor. “Flying Fortresses will be dispatched immediately to set the paper cities of Japan on fire. There won’t be any hesitation about bombing civilians—it will be all-out.” More than three years of brutal global warfare would pass before Marshall’s prediction came true, but come true it did on the night of March 9-10, 1945*_. 

_U.S. warplanes launched a new bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next 48 hours. Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history_.

_Early on March 9, Air Force crews met on the Mariana Islands of Tinian and Saipan for a military briefing. They were planning a low-level bombing attack on Tokyo that would begin that evening, but with a twist: Their planes would be stripped of all guns except for the tail turret. The decrease in weight would increase the speed of each Superfortress bomber—and would also increase its bomb load capacity by 65 percent, making each plane able to carry more than seven tons. Speed would be crucial, and the crews were warned that if they were shot down, all haste was to be made for the water, which would increase their chances of being picked up by American rescue crews. Should they land within Japanese territory, they could only expect the very worst treatment by civilians, as the mission that night was going to entail the deaths of tens of thousands of those very same civilians. “You’re going to deliver the biggest firecracker the Japanese have ever seen,” said U.S. Gen. Curtis LeMay.

The cluster bombing of the downtown Tokyo suburb of Shitamachi had been approved only a few hours earlier. Shitamachi was composed of roughly 750,000 people living in cramped quarters in wooden-frame buildings. Setting ablaze this “paper city” was a kind of experiment in the effects of firebombing; it would also destroy the light industries, called “shadow factories,” that produced prefabricated war materials destined for Japanese aircraft factories.

The denizens of Shitamachi never had a chance of defending themselves. Their fire brigades were hopelessly undermanned, poorly trained and poorly equipped. At 5:34 p.m., Superfortress B-29 bombers took off from Saipan and Tinian, reaching their target at 12:15 a.m. on March 10. Three hundred and thirty-four bombers, flying at a mere 500 feet, dropped their loads, creating a giant bonfire fanned by 30-knot winds that helped raze Shitamachi and spread the flames throughout Tokyo. Masses of panicked and terrified Japanese civilians scrambled to escape the inferno, most unsuccessfully. The human carnage was so great that the blood-red mists and stench of burning flesh that wafted up sickened the bomber pilots, forcing them to grab oxygen masks to keep from vomiting.

The raid lasted slightly longer than three hours. “In the black Sumida River, countless bodies were floating, clothed bodies, naked bodies, all black as charcoal. It was unreal,” recorded one doctor at the scene. Only 243 American airmen were lost—considered acceptable losses.





Japan Air Raids.org


Please support a documentary about the firebombing of Tokyo!ご協力をお願いしますー東京大空襲ドキュメンタリー映画http://www.japan...



www.japanairraids.org




_


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## BarnBuster (Mar 14, 2020)

This was yesterday

​


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 15, 2020)




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## too larry (Mar 15, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> View attachment 4505255


I'd forgot about all the shots I had before leaving State Side. No wonder I never catch bugs. I've had them all.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 15, 2020)

Been there - had it done to me ALOT!


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## BarnBuster (Mar 15, 2020)

*
American soldiers ruck march with the flag on March 6, 2020, during the 1st annual Bataan Memorial Death March on Powidz Air Base in Powidz, Poland. The event was hosted by the New Mexico National Guard’s 1209th Medical Company (Area Support), who are mobilized to Poland, to honor the Prisoner of War Soldiers who were force-marched in the Philippines during World War II (Master Sgt. Ryan Matson/Army Reserve) *​


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## Singlemalt (Mar 16, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Been there - had it done to me ALOT!
> 
> View attachment 4505295


"Do not tense up"!


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 16, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> "Do not tense up"!


"Or move"


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## Singlemalt (Mar 16, 2020)

And the drill sgts. had no mercy on the guys that got torn up lol


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## raratt (Mar 16, 2020)

"Let's give the troops a shot in their ass cheek before making them sit in jump seats for 10 hours!"
Brilliant.


----------



## cannabineer (Mar 16, 2020)

raratt said:


> "Let's give the troops a shot in their ass cheek before making them sit in jump seats for 10 hours!"
> Brilliant.


Builds character.


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 16, 2020)

raratt said:


> "Let's give the troops a shot in their ass cheek before making them sit in jump seats for 10 hours!"
> Brilliant.


Motivation


----------



## raratt (Mar 17, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 17, 2020)

Foulois eight


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 18, 2020)

@ 0:40
Coolest skipper I ever sailed with.
#RossBell


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 18, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> @ 0:40
> Coolest skipper I ever sailed with.
> #RossBell











Bombed & Strafed By Friendly Fire This USCG Chief Took Charge and Saved Lives


The Point Welcome Incident, and the men who survived it, show how dangerous war can be, and how a courageous leader can make all the difference.




www.warhistoryonline.com


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## BarnBuster (Mar 19, 2020)

Today in Military History

​
The First Aero Squadron, organized in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I, was on a support mission for the 7,000 U.S. troops who invaded Mexico to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. 

On March 9, 1916, Villa, who opposed American support for Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, led a band of several hundred guerrillas across the border on a raid of the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17 Americans. 

On March 15, under orders from President Woodrow Wilson, U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing launched a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture Villa. 

Four days later, the First Aero Squadron was sent into Mexico to scout and relay messages for General Pershing. Despite numerous mechanical and navigational problems, the American fliers flew hundreds of missions for Pershing and gained important experience that would later be used by the pilots over the battlefields of Europe. However, during the 11-month mission, U.S. forces failed to capture the elusive revolutionary, and Mexican resentment over U.S. intrusion into their territory led to a diplomatic crisis. In late January 1917, with President Wilson under pressure from the Mexican government and more concerned with the war overseas than with bringing Villa to justice, the Americans were ordered home. 









First Aero Squadron: 100 years since first U.S. air combat mission


The 100th anniversary of the first U.S. military air-combat operation comes Saturday, which was deployed in 1916 to hunt down a fugitive Mexican revolutionary.




www.upi.com












The 1st Aero Squadron and the Pursuit of Pancho Villa


Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing's 1916 Mexican expedition was a learning experience for the U.S. Army's first air arm—mainly in regard to its own deficiencies.




www.historynet.com


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## BarnBuster (Mar 21, 2020)

This week at RAF Fairford














Base Loiter


Military Aviation Channel - RAF - USAF - Fairford - Brize Norton - Lakenheath - Mildenhall - Coningsby - Marham




www.youtube.com


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## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2020)

​


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## Hydrotech364 (Mar 25, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Been there - had it done to me ALOT!
> 
> View attachment 4505295



The Gauntlet.


----------



## Papa_Bear_Blunt78 (Mar 25, 2020)




----------



## Hydrotech364 (Mar 26, 2020)




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## BarnBuster (Mar 27, 2020)

__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1242874082670055424


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## BarnBuster (Mar 27, 2020)

More than 9,000 responded to the Army’s call for medical personnel


The Army sent more than 800,000 former soldiers with medical training an email to gauge their interest in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.




www.armytimes.com


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## Hydrotech364 (Mar 30, 2020)




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## BarnBuster (Mar 30, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Mar 31, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 1, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 2, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 2, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 2, 2020)

_(I haven't seen anything on any .mil or .gov sites yet, but it is all over the news. What a heroic sacrifice of a career.  bb)_









US Navy FIRES captain of coronavirus-stricken USS Theodore Roosevelt


Acting US Navy Secretary Thomas Modly announced that Captain Brett Crozier is being relieved of his command of the USS Roosevelt on Thursday.




www.dailymail.co.uk












Navy relieves captain who raised alarm about COVID-19 on ship


The Navy relieved the captain who sounded the alarm about an outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt.




www.nbcnews.com









COMMANDING OFFICER







www.public.navy.mil


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## curious2garden (Apr 2, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> _(I haven't seen anything on any .mil or .gov sites yet, but it is all over the news. What a heroic sacrifice of a career.  bb)_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just came here to post that. What a stand up guy, sacrificed his career for their lives. Hopefully the private sector will give him a great job.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 3, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 3, 2020)

Navy guys, step in....commander of the ship with the CV has been relieved. Was this the right move? - Page 1 - AR15.COM


Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR-15, AK-47, Handguns and more! Buy, Sell, and Trade your Firearms and Gear.




www.ar15.com


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## curious2garden (Apr 3, 2020)

Watch the hero’s farewell sailors gave their fired Theodore Roosevelt skipper


“Captain Crozier! Captain Crozier!” the sailors chanted amid claps and cheers as their skipper walked along the gangway, leaving his ship of nealy 5,000 sailors.




www.navytimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 3, 2020)

Sign the Petition


Reinstate Captain Crozier as Commanding Officer




www.change.org


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## BarnBuster (Apr 3, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 4, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2020)

In speaking truth to power, Captain Crozier made us proud


The aircraft carrier commander will likely never be promoted to rear admiral because he put the welfare of his sailors above his career.




www.navytimes.com


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 6, 2020)

Theodore Roosevelt captain followed in footsteps of ship’s namesake by writing bombshell letter


The aircraft carrier’s namesake was once entangled in a similar conundrum.




www.navytimes.com


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## curious2garden (Apr 6, 2020)

Theodore Roosevelt's great-grandson calls fired Navy Capt. Crozier 'a hero' in op-ed


Tweed Roosevelt, in a New York Times op-ed, said his great-grandfather would have done the same thing as Crozier.



www.usatoday.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2020)

__





Open Access - Free digital access, member pricing, and free shipping through June 2020







www.usni.org


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## BarnBuster (Apr 7, 2020)

Acting secretary of the Navy resigns after calling ousted aircraft carrier captain 'stupid'


Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on Tuesday, a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew.




www.cnn.com





__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1247625834011209728


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 7, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Acting secretary of the Navy resigns after calling ousted aircraft carrier captain 'stupid'
> 
> 
> Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly resigned on Tuesday, a day after leaked audio revealed he called the ousted commander of the USS Theodore Roosevelt "stupid" in an address to the ship's crew.
> ...


What a piece of shit.
You absolutely do not disrespect a CO that is idolized by his crew for trying to protect them.
7 years service SMMFH ATTHATASSHOLE


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 7, 2020)

One more since I'm coronabored.

I love the Sgt - she's bad ass!!


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## BarnBuster (Apr 7, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> One more since I'm coronabored.
> 
> I love the Sgt - she's bad ass!!


Did you know that their Honor Guard Identification Badge is the 2nd least awarded in the Military next to the Astronaut Badge?






I just finished watching the documentary "The Unknowns" at this site:








The Unknowns (2016)


Army volunteers take on intense training to protect America’s patriots at the hallowed Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.




tubitv.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 10, 2020)

​


----------



## Singlemalt (Apr 10, 2020)

https://news.yahoo.com/navy-secretarys-flight-aircraft-carrier-001536881.html

*Navy secretary's flight out to an aircraft carrier to bash its fired captain cost taxpayers $243,000*


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## BarnBuster (Apr 10, 2020)

_"Reinstating Crozier would likely be an unprecedented move by the Navy. Previous Navy commanding officers have had their firings expunged from their service records, but reinstatement to command a ship [_or continue on path to Flag rank, bb_] has rarely, if ever, taken place. An online petition seeking to "reward" the captain for "asking for help regarding the safety of his crew" had more than 315,000 signatures as of Thursday."









The Navy hasn't ruled out reinstating the aircraft-carrier captain fired over his handling of a coronavirus outbreak


Capt. Brett Crozier, who was fired after emailing a letter about the coronavirus on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, could still get his job back.




www.businessinsider.com




_


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 10, 2020)

Massachusetts attorney general investigates veterans nursing home, site of deadly coronavirus outbreak | CNN


The Massachusetts attorney general is investigating the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, site of a deadly coronavirus outbreak, to find out what went wrong and whether legal action is needed.




www.cnn.com


----------



## Beefbisquit (Apr 10, 2020)

CF, Army, Light Infantry - Corporal. Semper Fi...


----------



## Beefbisquit (Apr 10, 2020)

Beefbisquit said:


> CF, Army, Light Infantry - Corporal. Semper Fi...
> 
> View attachment 4529865


I was a section LMG guy... belt fed for life. 

Get some.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 10, 2020)

Exclusive: Navy commander says virus-struck aircraft carrier crew 'struggling' after captain's firing | CNN Politics


The top Navy admiral overseeing the virus-stricken aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt tells CNN in an exclusive interview that he found some sailors "struggling" and "upset" after their commanding officer was relieved of duty by the ousted acting navy secretary who was forced to resign over...




www.cnn.com


----------



## raratt (Apr 12, 2020)

Vegas flyover.



__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=629178390965765


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 13, 2020)

About 25,000 veterans volunteer to return to Army for COVID-19 response


Interested former soldiers can visit the Human Resources Command website, and fill out the accompanying survey.




www.armytimes.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 15, 2020)

*Fourteen aircraft paraded in a formation known as an “elephant walk” along the runway at Andersen Air Force Base on Monday, 4/13/2020. Among them were five B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers; six KC-135 Stratotanker aerial refuelers; an MH-60S Knighthawk helicopter; and two unmanned aerial vehicles: an Air Force RQ-4 Global Hawk and a Navy MQ-4C Triton.*​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 16, 2020)

​


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 16, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 16, 2020)

@curious2garden Reading this article, It reminded me of a question about advance directives language I need to put in my docs, specifically relating to ventilators. There's boiler plate language you can use about survivabilty, terminality but I wonder if it is detailed enough. Attorneys use software to write your docs... This soldier was on 8 days and thankfully had a good outcome. What and how do MD's think about this question and incorporating it into their directives? Thanks








Marine Corps veteran recovers from coronavirus after eight days on ventilator


David Williams spent eight days connected to a ventilator and 17 days total at the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital in Little Rock, Ark. When he was released, medical staff lined the hallways and cheered as he was wheeled out.




www.stripes.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 16, 2020)

_"He (Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday) also ordered a look at how Crozier and his immediate superior on the ship, Rear Adm.Baker were communicating and why Crozier might have chosen to go around Baker by sending the message to both Baker and admirals much higher in the chain of command."









Defense Secretary says he has an 'open mind' on the possibility of reinstating fired aircraft carrier commander


Secretary of Defense Mark Esper stated Thursday that he has "an open mind" on whether the Navy should reinstate the fired commanding officer of the coronavirus stricken aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt.




www.cnn.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 17, 2020)




----------



## raratt (Apr 17, 2020)

Happy birthday BUFF, Apr 15 1952.



__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10215026601512579


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 17, 2020)

raratt said:


> Happy birthday BUFF, Apr 15 1952.
> 
> 
> 
> __ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10215026601512579


Dad was SAC & that girl was his ride for years.


----------



## raratt (Apr 17, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Dad was SAC & that girl was his ride for years.


I was SAC also, we were a SAC detachment from Castle AFB when we were on Guam. Guam was PACAF and the base commander used to go around and nit pick about shit outside the buildings like weeds or a door stop outside our doors then have his secretary write up a note for each discrepancy to be sent to the building manager. Our pro-super would read all the notes to us during flight meeting. One day he was fed up, threw them all in the air and called a snow day and told us to go home. So we all got a day off for snow on Guam.


----------



## cannabineer (Apr 17, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Dad was SAC & that girl was his ride for years.


A fellow I knew at work, his dad had a bad back from thousands of hours in a B-47 back in the merry month of LeMay.

Another beautiful piece of engineering from the firm in Seattle.


----------



## cannabineer (Apr 17, 2020)

raratt said:


> I was SAC also, we were a SAC detachment from Castle AFB when we were on Guam. Guam was PACAF and the base commander used to go around and nit pick about shit outside the buildings like weeds or a door stop outside our doors then have his secretary write up a note for each discrepancy to be sent to the building manager. Our pro-super would read all the notes to us during flight meeting. One day he was fed up, threw them all in the air and called a snow day and told us to go home. So we all got a day off for snow on Guam.


Castle has a very fine aircraft park/museum. A few years ago I went there with my son.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 17, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> @curious2garden Reading this article, It reminded me of a question about advance directives language I need to put in my docs, specifically relating to ventilators. There's boiler plate language you can use about survivabilty, terminality but I wonder if it is detailed enough. Attorneys use software to write your docs... This soldier was on 8 days and thankfully had a good outcome. What and how do MD's think about this question and incorporating it into their directives? Thanks
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What question Barn?


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 18, 2020)

_"But reinstating Crozier has its problems. It would put him back on a ship with Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, commander of the carrier strike group of which the Roosevelt is the lead ship. Officials say they did not have a good relationship and that was among the problems that triggered Crozier's memo. (Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike) Gilday may worry that putting them back together would exacerbate the ship's toxic command climate.

But Gilday could also decide that the ship's problems extended beyond Crozier. He could recommend that Baker be fired or punished for not being receptive to Crozier's concerns. Gilday's review could also dole out criticism for leaders who may have taken too long to recognize the Roosevelt's outbreak as the deadly problem it became. Those would include the 7th Fleet commander, Vice Adm. William R. Merz; the Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. John C. Aquilino, or the most senior admiral in the Pacific, Adm. Phil Davidson, head of Indo-Pacific Command.

Gilday, known as an honest, straight shooter, is expected to made a decision based on the facts and his judgment of what is best for the ship's crew and the Navy. But the decision expected early next week can't be separated entirely from politics_."

https://www.stripes.com/news/us/reinstate-reassign-navy-to-decide-fate-of-fired-uss-roosevelt-captain-1.626507


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 18, 2020)

_"Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins, who was given the nation’s highest military honor for heroically fighting off enemies and saving wounded soldiers in Vietnam, died April 17 from complications caused by the coronavirus. Adkins is credited with killing 135 to 175 Vietnamese in a nearly four-day battle while being wounded 18 times and helping fellow soldiers to safety. For those acts, former President Barack Obama presented Adkins with the Medal of Honor in 2014."









Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins, known for Vietnam heroics, dies of coronavirus


Medal of Honor recipient Bennie Adkins is credited with killing 135 to 175 Vietnamese in a nearly four-day battle while being wounded 18 times and helping fellow soldiers to safety.



www.stripes.com




_


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 20, 2020)




----------



## raratt (Apr 21, 2020)

The Blue Angels And Thunderbirds Jet Teams Are Secretly Planning Something Big (Updated)


The teams have come together at NAS Pensacola under mysterious circumstances and there are indications that a national flyover could be imminent.




www.thedrive.com


----------



## Singlemalt (Apr 21, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> _"But reinstating Crozier has its problems. It would put him back on a ship with Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, commander of the carrier strike group of which the Roosevelt is the lead ship. Officials say they did not have a good relationship and that was among the problems that triggered Crozier's memo. (Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike) Gilday may worry that putting them back together would exacerbate the ship's toxic command climate.
> 
> But Gilday could also decide that the ship's problems extended beyond Crozier. He could recommend that Baker be fired or punished for not being receptive to Crozier's concerns. Gilday's review could also dole out criticism for leaders who may have taken too long to recognize the Roosevelt's outbreak as the deadly problem it became. Those would include the 7th Fleet commander, Vice Adm. William R. Merz; the Pacific Fleet commander, Adm. John C. Aquilino, or the most senior admiral in the Pacific, Adm. Phil Davidson, head of Indo-Pacific Command.
> 
> ...


There certainly seems to be an endemic problem in the Pacific Fleet with the flag command. Best get that fixed pronto


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 21, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> There certainly seems to be an endemic problem in the Pacific Fleet with the flag command. Best get that fixed pronto


I wonder who else they have besides Crozier with the education, experience and antibodies to do that job.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2020)

Monuments Men Spring Newsletter


https://6cc11eed-4e99-4b4c-8420-a45f580f84a9.filesusr.com/ugd/b39bbe_f43800ababc647f6a6ddf5727023166a.pdf


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2020)

_"An internal Office of the Secretary of Defense assessment calls for the Navy to cut two aircraft carriers from its fleet, freeze the large surface combatant fleet of destroyers and cruisers around current levels and add dozens of unmanned or lightly manned ships to the inventory, according to documents obtained by Defense News. The study calls for a fleet of nine carriers, down from the current fleet of 11, and for 65 unmanned or lightly manned surface vessels."








Defense Department study calls for cutting 2 of the US Navy’s aircraft carriers


An internal Defense Department study is calling for big changes to the fleet.




www.defensenews.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 23, 2020)

​


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 24, 2020)

_"Capt. Brett E. Crozier should be restored to command of the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy’s top officials recommended on Friday.
But Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, who was briefed on the recommendations, has asked for more time to consider whether he will sign off on the reinstatement of the captain of the nuclear-powered carrier.

Mr. Esper received the recommendation that Captain Crozier be reinstated from the chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Michael M. Gilday, and the acting Navy Secretary, James McPherson on Friday. Defense Department officials said earlier that they expected to announce the results of the Navy’s investigation into the matter on Friday afternoon."_









Trump’s Remarks Prompt Warnings on Disinfectants (Published 2020)


Several states take tentative steps to reopen businesses. The Navy recommended reinstating the captain of an aircraft carrier who had sought help as the virus spread on his ship.




www.nytimes.com


----------



## raratt (Apr 26, 2020)




----------



## raratt (Apr 28, 2020)

I had been working on her for 2 years at this point. Long video, but brings back memories for me.



__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10222498322236539


----------



## raratt (Apr 29, 2020)

Activate cloaking shield.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 29, 2020)

raratt said:


> Activate cloaking shield.


They really have those. Drives me fucking nuts when I hear the U2 come out of Det 42 but I can't see her. I wish they'd also activate noise cancellation when they do that. Oh well trollolol


----------



## raratt (Apr 29, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> They really have those. Drives me fucking nuts when I hear the U2 come out of Det 42 but I can't see her. I wish they'd also activate noise cancellation when they do that. Oh well trollolol


Um, no. It's just that she can gain operating altitude in a very short distance, it's called a Tactical Takeoff. They just spiral up. Hard to see a black airframe also.


----------



## curious2garden (Apr 29, 2020)

raratt said:


> Um, no. It's just that she can gain operating altitude in a very short distance, it's called a Tactical Takeoff. They just spiral up. Hard to see a black airframe also.


Actually we'll have to agree to disagree. They have both visual and acoustical cloaking. They've been developing it up here since 2006/7. Back then you could see artifact, now it's seamless.


----------



## raratt (Apr 29, 2020)

B-2's almost seem to be invisible from the side when they are flying. I could hear one flying when I was driving down there, but didn't see it until it made a turn, I was surprised to see it show up all of a sudden.


----------



## doublejj (Apr 29, 2020)

raratt said:


> B-2's almost seem to be invisible from the side when they are flying. I could hear one flying when I was driving down there, but didn't see it until it made a turn, I was surprised to see it show up all of a sudden.


When I worked a Boeing in the late 70's early 80's I had security clearance and a building maintenance ID card so I could go anywhere in the plant. I work at Boeing Field where Headquarters was located along with R&D departments. They have an entire hanger used as a model shop. 100's of model builders working on all kinds of mock-ups and wind tunnel test models. I saw things that looked like star wars ships, that years later I recognized as B1-B2-Stealth bombers. There were also things I couldn't describe that I still haven't seen reveled to this day...


----------



## raratt (Apr 29, 2020)

doublejj said:


> When I worked a Boeing in the late 70's early 80's I had security clearance and a building maintenance ID card so I could go anywhere in the plant. I work at Boeing Field where Headquarters was located along with R&D departments. They have an entire hanger used as a model shop. 100's of model builders working on all kinds of mock-ups and wind tunnel test models. I saw things that looked like star wars ships, that years later I recognized as B1-B2-Stealth bombers. There were also things I couldn't describe that I still haven't seen reveled to this day...


When I was working the F-22 project I was watching one in a holding pattern with a couple of F-16's. With the vectored thrust capability it flew like no other aircraft I have seen. The 16's would bank to make a turn and the 22 would just kind of pivot to make a turn. I was impressed.


----------



## doublejj (Apr 29, 2020)

raratt said:


> When I was working the F-22 project I was watching one in a holding pattern with a couple of F-16's. With the vectored thrust capability it flew like no other aircraft I have seen. The 16's would bank to make a turn and the 22 would just kind of pivot to make a turn. I was impressed.


I heard they could just drop out of a turn at will....


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 30, 2020)

​


----------



## raratt (May 1, 2020)

*Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame*
16 hrs · 
It was today, 60 years ago - May 1 that Francis Gary Powers flew the U-2 - Mission 4154, Operation GRAND SLAM and was shot down over Russia.
Sentenced to 10 years in a Soviet prison, he served 21 months before traded in February 1962 for Soviet intelligence officer Rudolph Abel in the first and most dramatic East-West spy swap ever to occur in Cold War Berlin.
In August 1956, Francis Gary Powers graduated with the second CIA U-2 class at Area 51 and deployed to the Incirlik...
See More


----------



## pabloesqobar (May 1, 2020)

doublejj said:


> There were also things I couldn't describe that I still haven't seen reveled to this day...


*revealed. 

What a cryptic tease. Leaving out the best part. Don't go shy on us now. Are we talking prototypes of aircraft, or something in the men's room? Give us a hint ffs.


----------



## raratt (May 1, 2020)

I've seen some shit, man.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 1, 2020)

raratt said:


> I've seen some shit, man.


Mariel boatlift












And more - much more.


----------



## doublejj (May 1, 2020)

pabloesqobar said:


> *revealed.
> 
> What a cryptic tease. Leaving out the best part. Don't go shy on us now. Are we talking prototypes of aircraft, or something in the men's room? Give us a hint ffs.


It was a long time ago and my descriptions would not do them justice. Prototypes of projects Boeing was working on that never made it into production or has yet to re reveled. Wierd looking crafts with little or no wings or foreword facing wings. Just bazaar looking stuff. Some could have been satellites, Boeing has a space division...


----------



## raratt (May 1, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Mariel boatlift
> And more - much more.


I saw the first aircraft shot down by the F-22. White Sands.


----------



## raratt (May 1, 2020)

@GreatwhiteNorth Why sad? It was an F-4 drone.


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## curious2garden (May 1, 2020)

raratt said:


> @GreatwhiteNorth Why sad? It was an F-4 drone.


Now I'm sad. I loved the F-4.


----------



## raratt (May 1, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> Now I'm sad. I loved the F-4.


Proof positive if you put a big enough engine in an aircraft the aerodynamics don't really matter, AKA the flying rock.


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## cannabineer (May 1, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> Now I'm sad. I loved the F-4.


How the heroes die


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 1, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> Now I'm sad. I loved the F-4.


I do too - they were all over the SAC bases we lived on.


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## curious2garden (May 1, 2020)

raratt said:


> Proof positive if you put a big enough engine in an aircraft the aerodynamics don't really matter, AKA the flying rock.


The '60s aviation muscle jet.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 1, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> The '60s aviation muscle jet.


----------



## raratt (May 1, 2020)




----------



## doublejj (May 1, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> Now I'm sad. I loved the F-4.


F4's saved our bacon more than once....I owe my life to those fast movers....


----------



## raratt (May 1, 2020)

doublejj said:


> F4's saved our bacon more than once....I owe my life to those fast movers....


I agree that nothing could match them low level.


----------



## BarnBuster (May 8, 2020)

​


----------



## PhatNuggz (May 8, 2020)

Fellow Vets. Im a viet nam ERA vet. I know many vets have cancer, or know people who do, but the medical options aren't helping. Just lost one friend recently who wasn't willing to think outside his doc. 

Search for dog worm product and cancer. Now, you will need a protocol to help the body deal with any immune system breakdown (caused by the cancer meds) it is available from www.vitalityscience.com. VS is a pet health company, but all their products are human grade

hth


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## BarnBuster (May 11, 2020)

_"USS Nevada (BB-36) – dubbed the “unsinkable battleship” that served in two world wars – was found nearly three miles below the water’s surface about 65 nautical miles southwest of Pearl Harbor, a team of researchers announced Monday (5/11/2020)"









VIDEO: Research Groups Find Wreck of 'Unsinkable Battleship' USS Nevada - USNI News


A research team found USS Nevada (BB-36) – the “unsinkable battleship” – in more than 15,400-feet of water near Pearl Harbor.




news.usni.org




_


----------



## Easyday20 (May 11, 2020)

Navy Vet here. Whats Good


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 11, 2020)

Easyday20 said:


> Navy Vet here. Whats Good


Welcome to RIU and thank you for your service.
USCG 1977-2000


----------



## BarnBuster (May 12, 2020)

Nazi swastikas at veterans cemeteries prompt outrage, but VA calls them protected history


Gravestones on VA property of former German prisoners of war also display a reference to Adolf Hitler.




www.militarytimes.com


----------



## doublejj (May 12, 2020)

Easyday20 said:


> Navy Vet here. Whats Good


welcome thank you for serving.....Army Vietnam Vet here....welcome home


----------



## Hydrotech364 (May 17, 2020)

raratt said:


> *Nevada Aerospace Hall of Fame*
> 16 hrs ·
> It was today, 60 years ago - May 1 that Francis Gary Powers flew the U-2 - Mission 4154, Operation GRAND SLAM and was shot down over Russia.
> Sentenced to 10 years in a Soviet prison, he served 21 months before traded in February 1962 for Soviet intelligence officer Rudolph Abel in the first and most dramatic East-West spy swap ever to occur in Cold War Berlin.
> ...


 I spent alot of time in Nev. Mostly NAS Fallon saw an SR-71 land there to be disassembled. Epic sight. I got in so much shit there. I was bringing back unexploded ordinance in a pyramid on my tow tractor hood to save the Navy money. Had to send out 3 udt guy's to disarm my tow tractor lol.


----------



## Hydrotech364 (May 17, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> The '60s aviation muscle jet.


The flying brick.


----------



## curious2garden (May 17, 2020)

Hydrotech364 said:


> The flying brick.


But a lovely flying brick nonetheless.


----------



## Singlemalt (May 17, 2020)




----------



## Hydrotech364 (May 17, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> But a lovely flying brick nonetheless.



They said it was proof that Ya can fly a brick with enough Jet behind it. Great Bird...


----------



## raratt (May 17, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> View attachment 4568398


?




__





Grumann F8F Bearcat


Enormous selection of collectible aircraft models, ready for display in office or home. A MUST SITE TO VISIT!



aviation-central.com


----------



## Singlemalt (May 17, 2020)

raratt said:


> ?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Inspiration for the A 10. Skyraider (Sandy) was a grunt's best friend, like the guardian angel on one's shoulder. It could loiter, carried an ungodly amount of ordinance and drop it at near pinpoint

Edit: oh, Douglas A1 Skyraider was my pic


----------



## doublejj (May 17, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> Inspiration for the A 10. Skyraider (Sandy) was a grunt's best friend, like the guardian angel on one's shoulder. It could loiter, carried an ungodly amount of ordinance and drop it at near pinpoint
> 
> Edit: oh, Douglas A1 Skyraider was my pic


The lowly Skyraider ended many fights for us. We would patrol to find the enemy and make contact and engage. Then try to stay in contact long enough for the FAC to call in the Skyraiders and they would fly so low you could see clearly see the pilots faces, looked like something you see in a WWII movie. The enemy usually tried to disengage when they showed up but it was too late then. If we could hold them long enough to the Skyraiders to get on station it was usually over quickly....love those guys. I still think I could recognize a few of the pilots, that's how close they flew to us.


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## Singlemalt (May 17, 2020)

doublejj said:


> The lowly Skyraider ended many fights for us. We would patrol to find the enemy and make contact and engage. Then try to stay in contact long enough for the FAC to call in the Skyraiders and they would fly so low you could see clearly see the pilots faces, looked like something you see in a WWII movie. The enemy usually tried to disengage when they showed up but it was too late then. If we could hold them long enough to the Skyraiders to get on station it was usually over quickly....love those guys. I still think I could recognize a few of the pilots, that's how close they flew to us.
> View attachment 4568576


yep; and those guys enjoyed the job; craftsmen. The jet jockeys whizzed in and out


----------



## curious2garden (May 18, 2020)

Veterans if you avail yourself of VA Healthcare services now might be a good time to update your Advanced Directive to say no Hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine without a positive test for Malaria.









Veteran Affairs Will Continue to Use Unproven Drug Promoted by Trump Despite Growing Criticism


The VA said it never “encouraged or discouraged” its hospitals to use hydroxychloroquine




time.com


----------



## BarnBuster (May 19, 2020)

Woman hunting for sea glass in Alaska finds Navy dog tag lost during WWII, sailor’s relatives thrilled to get it back


How a stroll on the beach led to a history mystery.




www.navytimes.com


----------



## raratt (May 22, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (May 24, 2020)

​


----------



## curious2garden (May 24, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (May 25, 2020)

​


----------



## manfredo (May 25, 2020)

Thank you ALL for your service!!


----------



## raratt (May 25, 2020)




----------



## curious2garden (May 25, 2020)




----------



## cannabineer (May 25, 2020)

I believe that those who served without the uniform deserve consideration here. It is in the nature of intelligence work (field, analyst, other) that men and women did heroic, consequential work in darkness, and often gave their lives with no prospect of recognition or memory. Nobody knows how many wars they’ve stopped or diminished. I salute them.






CIA Pays Tribute to Its Fallen in Annual Memorial Ceremony — Central Intelligence Agency


CIA Pays Tribute to Its Fallen in Annual Memorial Ceremony



www.cia.gov


----------



## doublejj (May 25, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4576087


I was 19.....


----------



## curious2garden (May 25, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> I believe that those who served without the uniform deserve consideration here. It is in the nature of intelligence work (field, analyst, other) that men and women did heroic, consequential work in darkness, and often gave their lives with no prospect of recognition or memory. Nobody knows how many wars they’ve stopped or diminished. I salute them.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I have mixed emotions on that. Then again it's a grey world so mixed emotions seems fitting.


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## BarnBuster (May 27, 2020)

​_Edit: That sailor’s name has not been disclosed but Tuesday’s FBI statement listed her as a female Master-At-Arms 2nd class. 

“The heroic actions of the Master-At-Arms 2nd class who risked her life and did not hesitate to engage the subject, as well as the actions of the Navy Security Forces, likely stopped what could have been a much more deadly attack,” the FBI said. “The Sailor who first encountered the shooter displayed tremendous courage and took immediate action under fire that allowed Navy Security Forces to respond quickly and effectively,” base commanding officer Capt. Christopher Jason said in a statement last week._


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## BarnBuster (May 28, 2020)

Police: Fort Leavenworth soldier saved lives by stopping shooter on bridge


A soldier stationed in Kansas saved “countless lives” Wednesday when he hit a man with his car as the man was shooting randomly at people on a bridge near an Army base, a police chief said.




www.armytimes.com


----------



## GrimRe4 (May 28, 2020)

Navy vet here. 2 deployments w/ CVN65. A little late for the memorial day posts, in light of recent event I encourage everyone to reach out to your brothers and sisters. 22 a day has touched me 3 times now. Memorial Day is also about those that lost the struggle with suicidal thoughts when they got stateside. At least, for me, I honor their memory this week.


----------



## wascaptain (May 29, 2020)

A pic of a poster , out of a posters of wwII book. 
VD is nothing to clap about


----------



## BarnBuster (May 29, 2020)

​


----------



## Nizza (May 29, 2020)

Thank you veterans!


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 2, 2020)

_"Veterans Affairs officials announced Monday they will remove a series of of grave markers bearing Nazi swastikas and tributes to Adolf Hitler from department cemeteries after lawmakers and veterans advocates complained the markers were offensive and disrespectful. The move represents a turnaround from last week, when VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said he was looking for ways to put the problematic grave markers “in historical context” rather than remove them from the cemeteries."_









Nazi headstones will be removed from US veterans cemeteries, VA leaders say


The headstones are engraved with a swastika, an iron cross and inscription in German that reads “He died far from his home for the Führer, people and fatherland.”




www.militarytimes.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 3, 2020)

*The Dunkirk Jack is the House Flag of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, under permission of the Admiralty, the College of Heralds and the City of Dunkirk. The jack consists of the Cross of St. George (the flag of Admiralty) defaced with the Arms of Dunkirk. This jack can be worn by Member Ships at any time when the owner is aboard. Member Ships are limited to civilian vessels that took part in the Dunkirk rescue operation between 27 May and 4 June 1940*​
_"Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, in the course of what was known as Operation Dynamo, more than 300,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated by an armada made up of Royal Navy destroyers and warships, pleasure steamers and hundreds of those famous little ships manned by civilian sailors.

The evacuation was publicized as a miracle to boost public morale. The successful rescue, across seas that stayed unusually calm for nine days, was thereafter referred to as ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’. But as well as this, the terrifying prospect that the depleted British armed forces might have to fight the Germans on home soil caused the nation, galvanized under Winston Churchill, to devote itself entirely to war. It did so not only effectively but, perhaps surprisingly, with total confidence in eventual victory. 

The ‘Dunkirk spirit’, reflecting a nation united and working against apparently impossible odds to thwart Hitler’s ambitions, was born."_









Dunkirk evacuation - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org












Dunkirk’s darkest day: when the evacuation came close to disaster


Through the letters and diaries of survivors, a leading historian recounts the bombings and sinkings of 29 May 1940 that put the entire rescue – and the fate of 300,000 Allied troops – in peril




www.theguardian.com


----------



## curious2garden (Jun 3, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> _"Veterans Affairs officials announced Monday they will remove a series of of grave markers bearing Nazi swastikas and tributes to Adolf Hitler from department cemeteries after lawmakers and veterans advocates complained the markers were offensive and disrespectful. The move represents a turnaround from last week, when VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said he was looking for ways to put the problematic grave markers “in historical context” rather than remove them from the cemeteries."_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Isn't it time we repatriated their remains to Germany? They were POWs.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 3, 2020)

There was probably a War Graves Agreement at the time that covered leaving soldiers buried overseas. Perhaps if relatives requested return of the remains, repatriation might happen. At the least the U.S. should come to some arrangement with the Volksbund about relocation or re-interment into a separate plot of land like we have done in France.


----------



## raratt (Jun 3, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 3, 2020)

raratt said:


>


I've noticed the chase cars before but didn't know a lot about them.








99th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron U-2 Chase Car


The U-2 Dragon Lady requires help on the ground in the form of a high-performance chase car, radioing landing instructions on its final approach. The 99th ERS walks us through this challenging process.



www.acc.af.mil









U-2 Chase Cars Guide Pilots and Plane to Safety | Air & Space Forces Magazine


A U-2 pilot sits in a white Camaro at the edge of the runway, peering into the hazy desert sky. A jet appears in the distance, and as it nears, the car’s driver hits the gas, testing the sports car’s acceleration capabilities as he chases the Dragon Lady.




www.airforcemag.com


----------



## raratt (Jun 3, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> I've noticed the chase cars before but didn't know a lot about them.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


With all the modifications to the payload on her I'm surprised they haven't come up with a low level altimeter so they don't need the chase cars. I guess it gives the buddy crew something cool to do.


----------



## curious2garden (Jun 3, 2020)

raratt said:


> With all the modifications to the payload on her I'm surprised they haven't come up with a low level altimeter so they don't need the chase cars. I guess it gives the buddy crew something cool to do.


If we can land a drone remotely we can certainly land a U-2. But I'd miss the lovely ballet you see.


----------



## raratt (Jun 3, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> If we can land a drone remotely we can certainly land a U-2. But I'd miss the lovely ballet you see.


The NASA birds don't use the chase cars.


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## curious2garden (Jun 3, 2020)

raratt said:


> The NASA birds don't use the chase cars.


Although we have both NASA and AF U-2's here I've only seen the AF b1rds land. Although lately there've been more NASA missions.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 4, 2020)

These auctions (Heritage) are interesting in that the individual items have a lot of history in the description detail.








Admiral Yamamoto's Rank Flag, taken from the Nagato, 30 August | Lot #43037 | Heritage Auctions


World's Largest Collectibles Auctioneer



historical.ha.com


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## BarnBuster (Jun 6, 2020)

​


----------



## curious2garden (Jun 6, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4587167​











Military Daily News


Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.




www.military.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 7, 2020)

Private footage with narration of Normandy Invasion; Channel crossing; utah Beach; Paris liberation; entry Aachen, Germany.


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## doublejj (Jun 7, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Private footage with narration of Normandy Invasion; Channel crossing; utah Beach; Paris liberation; entry Aachen, Germany.


In WWII my father, serving as a combat engineer with General Patton's 3rd Army, survived 3 beach invasions, Africa, Sicily, and Italy.....RIP Pop


----------



## doublejj (Jun 9, 2020)

*U.S. Navy to bar Confederate flags from ships, aircraft, bases*








U.S. Navy to bar Confederate flags from ships, aircraft, bases


The U.S. Navy is working to ban the Confederate battle flag from all public spaces on Navy installations, ships and aircraft, the service said on Tuesday, as the military and the country as a whole grapple with questions about racial inequality.




www.reuters.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 11, 2020)

Famed U-2 Spy Plane Takes on a New Surveillance Mission


Designed with slide rules in the 1950s, the stealthy high flier still has a lot to offer




www.scientificamerican.com


----------



## raratt (Jun 11, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Famed U-2 Spy Plane Takes on a New Surveillance Mission
> 
> 
> Designed with slide rules in the 1950s, the stealthy high flier still has a lot to offer
> ...


Yet she will still use cables and pulleys to operate the rudder and elevators.
Damn, I'll be retired 18 years in August.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 11, 2020)

raratt said:


> Yet she will still use cables and pulleys to operate the rudder and elevators.
> Damn, I'll be retired 18 years in August.


I hit 20 retired this year - I know that because I've been doing this job that long.
Bout ready to pull the plug though - down sizing as we speak.


----------



## raratt (Jun 11, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I hit 20 retired this year - I know that because I've been doing this job that long.
> Bout ready to pull the plug though - down sizing as we speak.


When? I'll send you my email at least so we can keep in touch.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 11, 2020)

raratt said:


> When? I'll send you my email at least so we can keep in touch.


I have no plans to relocate to another forum, just another abode further south.


----------



## cannabineer (Jun 11, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I have no plans to relocate to another forum, just another abode further south.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 11, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> View attachment 4592665


Maybe not that far south.

My diploma after 24 years.


----------



## doublejj (Jun 11, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Maybe not that far south.
> 
> My diploma after 24 years.
> 
> View attachment 4592675


Heay brother congratulations!...if you get a moment take a look at the post I just made in got guns...best of luck my man, be safe


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## BarnBuster (Jun 13, 2020)

​
_HURLBURT FIELD, Fla.--SSgt Johnathan Randall, a Special Operations Surgical Team member assigned to the 720th Operational Support Squadron, was awarded the Bronze Star Medal during a ceremony at Hurlburt Field, Florida May 20, 2020.

As a surgical technician assigned to a six-member SOST, Randall received the decoration for his actions providing tactical medical expertise at thirty-five austere casualty collection points supporting United States, coalition, and partner nation forces while deployed to U.S. Central Command from January through June of 2019.

“Humbling,” is the first word that comes to mind for Randall when receiving the decoration.

Although the rest of his team wasn’t able to attend the ceremony, their impact and contributions have had a lasting effect.

“When I first got to the unit, the team I deployed with were receiving Bronze Stars and I always felt I was standing on the shoulders of giants,” said Randall. “I was walking into a career field where the people are of such high caliber, doing things that were just unheard of in the medical field… to even stand beside them is a great feeling.”

Among the achievements considered for the medal included delivering expert surgical care for 644 combat casualties, assisting in 16 damage control surgeries, 46 resuscitations and 70 advanced procedures at the most forward point of combat operations.

“I am extremely proud of SSgt Randall and his team for the amazing work they did in support of Operation Inherent Resolve,” said. Lt. Col. James Webb, SOST director. “Damage control resuscitation and surgery are challenging even in the most ideal situations, but to perform at such a high level in the most extreme environments, hours forward of the closest hospitals is a testament to the mental and physical fortitude of him and his team.”

For Randall and his team there was one moment during the deployment that stood out. While staged forward during a counterattack that put the team in grave danger, his six-person team received, triaged, stabilized and evacuated 51 blast and gunshot wound casualties in the team’s largest mass casualty event all while under the constant threat of small arms and mortar fire.

The SOST’s efforts not only advanced battlefield objectives, but also helped strengthen the partnerships with foreign allies and coalition forces.

“We enable our allies to stay in the fight,” said Randall. “They know they have that American team that’s going to take care of them, we’re moving with them and we would be right there. They appreciated us and we appreciate them… we built a bond.”

SOST members are known for being dedicated to their craft, their team, their patients and the mission. When Randall entered the Air Force in 2012, he internalized that mentality with joining SOST as his end goal. Now reflecting on his first deployment, his outlook hasn’t changed.

“You learn to work together, you love eachother,” said Randall. “It’s surreal to be as effective as we are on a six-person team…It’s the dream job.”

Special Operations Surgical Teams fall under the 24th Special Operations Wing and are part of the Air Force Special Tactics enterprise conducting battlefield surgery to enable global access, precision strike and personnel recovery operations_


----------



## raratt (Jun 13, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I have no plans to relocate to another forum, just another abode further south.


Nevermind. With all the downsizing of companies I wasn't sure.


----------



## raratt (Jun 14, 2020)




----------



## too larry (Jun 15, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> I believe that those who served without the uniform deserve consideration here. It is in the nature of intelligence work (field, analyst, other) that men and women did heroic, consequential work in darkness, and often gave their lives with no prospect of recognition or memory. Nobody knows how many wars they’ve stopped or diminished. I salute them.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Some spooks did wear the uniform. Before my wife was rich and famous she worked for a fellow who was in that line of work for the Rangers (in the reserves when she was working for him) He spent most of his time in Latin America. When I ask him about what they did, all he would say is, "there are no homicides during a hurricane."


----------



## too larry (Jun 15, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> _"Veterans Affairs officials announced Monday they will remove a series of of grave markers bearing Nazi swastikas and tributes to Adolf Hitler from department cemeteries after lawmakers and veterans advocates complained the markers were offensive and disrespectful. The move represents a turnaround from last week, when VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said he was looking for ways to put the problematic grave markers “in historical context” rather than remove them from the cemeteries."_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sometimes the winds of change blow pretty hard.


----------



## doublejj (Jun 16, 2020)

*Veteran missing for a month found dead in stairwell at VA hospital*
The body of a missing veteran was found in a stairwell on the campus of a Massachusetts VA hospital one month after he was reported missing.
The 62-year-old man was found dead in a building on the Bedford Veteran Affairs Hospital campus in Bedford on Friday by another resident, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney's office.








Veteran missing for a month found dead in stairwell at VA hospital | CNN


The body of a missing veteran was found in a stairwell on the campus of a Massachusetts VA hospital one month after he was reported missing.




www.cnn.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 19, 2020)

Today in Military History:




Lieutenant Junior Grade Alexander Vraciu, USNR, Fighting Squadron 16 "ace", holds up six fingers to signify his "kills" during the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" on 19 June 1944. Taken on the flight deck of the USS Lexington (CV-16)​
*"On June 19, 1944, in what would become known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,” U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.*
_
The security of the Marianas Islands, in the western Pacific, were vital to Japan, which had air bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. U.S. troops were already battling the Japanese on Saipan, having landed there on the 15th. Any further intrusion would leave the Philippine Islands, and Japan itself, vulnerable to U.S. attack. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance, was on its way west from the Marshall Islands as backup for the invasion of Saipan and the rest of the Marianas. But Japanese Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo decided to challenge the American fleet, ordering 430 of his planes, launched from aircraft carriers, to attack. In what became the greatest carrier battle of the war, the United States, having already picked up the Japanese craft on radar, proceeded to shoot down more than 300 aircraft and sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, losing only 29 of their own planes in the process. It was described in the aftermath as a “turkey shoot.”

Admiral Ozawa, believing his missing planes had landed at their Guam air base, maintained his position in the Philippine Sea, allowing for a second attack of U.S. carrier-based fighter planes, this time commanded by Admiral Mitscher, to shoot down an additional 65 Japanese planes and sink another carrier. In total, the Japanese lost 480 aircraft, three-quarters of its total, not to mention most of its crews. American domination of the Marianas was now a foregone conclusion.

Not long after this battle at sea, U.S. Marine divisions penetrated farther into the island of Saipan. Two Japanese commanders on the island, Admiral Nagumo and General Saito, both committed suicide in an attempt to rally the remaining Japanese forces. It succeeded: Those forces also committed a virtual suicide as they attacked the Americans’ lines, losing 26,000 men compared with 3,500 lost by the United States. Within another month, the islands of Tinian and Guam were also captured by the United States.

June 1944 represented a conspicuous moment of military achievement for the Allied powers with historian Craig Symonds declaring, “June 1944 might well be labeled the decisive month of the entire Second World War.” As the Allies landed in Normandy, breaching Hitler’s Festung Europa, the Empire of Japan’s airpower suffered near annihilation in the Philippine Sea

The Japanese government of Premier Hideki Tojo resigned in disgrace at this stunning defeat, in what many have described as the turning point of the war in the Pacific."









Battle of the Philippine Sea & The 'Great Marianas Turkey Shoot' - Warfare History Network


During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, American carrier air power decimated inexperienced Japanese Navy pilots in the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.




warfarehistorynetwork.com




_


----------



## raratt (Jun 19, 2020)

Log into Facebook


Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.




www.facebook.com


----------



## raratt (Jun 19, 2020)

If you look up bad ass in the dictionary there better be a pic of this dude.





Log into Facebook


Log into Facebook to start sharing and connecting with your friends, family, and people you know.




www.facebook.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 19, 2020)

So, the final word...








Navy: Capt. Crozier, former commander of USS Theodore Roosevelt, will not get his job back


Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of his command April 2 by former acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly after a letter the captain wrote detailing his concerns about coronavirus aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt was leaked to the media.




www.stripes.com









SECNAV and CNO As-Delivered Opening Remarks to Pentagon Press Corps


SECNAV & CNO delivered remarks to the Pentagon Press Corps regarding the investigation into the COVID-19 outbreak on USS Theodore Roosevelt, June 19.




www.navy.mil


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 20, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> So, the final word...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No surprise there.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 22, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
*1945 June 22 Battle of Okinawa ends as the U.S. 10th Army overcomes the last major pockets of Japanese resistance on Okinawa Island, ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.*_ The same day, Japanese Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, the commander of Okinawa’s defense, committed suicide with a number of Japanese officers and troops rather than surrender.

On April 1, 1945, the 10th Army, under Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, launched the invasion of Okinawa, a strategic Pacific island located midway between Japan and Formosa. Possession of Okinawa would give the United States a base large enough for an invasion of the Japanese home islands. There were more than 100,000 Japanese defenders on the island, but most were deeply entrenched in the island’s densely forested interior. By the evening of April 1, 60,000 U.S. troops had come safely ashore. However, on April 4, Japanese land resistance stiffened, and at sea kamikaze pilots escalated their deadly suicide attacks on U.S. vessels.

During the next month, the battle raged on land and sea, with the Japanese troops and fliers making the Americans pay dearly for every strategic area of land and water won. On June 18, with U.S. victory imminent, General Buckner, the hero of Iwo Jima, was killed by Japanese artillery. Three days later, his 10th Army reached the southern coast of the island, and on June 22 Japanese resistance effectively came to an end.

The Japanese lost 120,000 troops in the defense of Okinawa, while the Americans suffered 12,500 dead and 35,000 wounded. Of the 36 Allied ships lost, most were destroyed by the 2,000 or so Japanese pilots who gave up their lives in kamikaze missions. With the capture of Okinawa, the Allies prepared for the invasion of Japan, a military operation predicted to be far bloodier than the 1944 Allied invasion of Western Europe. The plan called for invading the southern island of Kyushu in November 1945, and the main Japanese island of Honshu in March 1946. In July, however, the United States successfully tested an atomic bomb and after dropping two of these devastating weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, Japan surrendered._

https://www.marines.mil/Portals/1/Publications/The Final Campaign Marines in the Victory of Okinawa PCN 19000313500_1.pdf

*Twenty-three Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor for their courageous conduct during the 82 days of fighting.*








The Battle of Okinawa - The National Medal of Honor Museum







mohmuseum.org


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## BarnBuster (Jun 22, 2020)

https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/HotTopics/TR INVESTIGATION/TR CI Report with CNO Endorsement (Redacted for release).pdf
https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/HotTopics/TR INVESTIGATION/Consolidated Findings of Fact (Redacted for release ).pdf


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 22, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/HotTopics/TR INVESTIGATION/TR CI Report with CNO Endorsement (Redacted for release).pdf
> https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/HotTopics/TR INVESTIGATION/Consolidated Findings of Fact (Redacted for release ).pdf


*The page you're looking for doesn't exist.*


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## raratt (Jun 22, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> *The page you're looking for doesn't exist.*





Request Rejected


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## raratt (Jun 25, 2020)




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## curious2garden (Jun 25, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> No surprise there.


Not as long as Chuckles is mis-managing everything.


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## curious2garden (Jun 25, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> *The page you're looking for doesn't exist.*


Well actually let's throw xenforo under the bus for not subbing %20's in html



https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/HotTopics/TR%20INVESTIGATION/TR%20CI%20Report%20with%20CNO%20Endorsement%20(Redacted%20for%20release).pdf




https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/HotTopics/TR%20INVESTIGATION/Consolidated%20Findings%20of%20Fact%20(Redacted%20for%20release%20).pdf


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## BarnBuster (Jun 27, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
*"On June 27, 1950, President Harry S. Truman announces that he is ordering U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea to aid the democratic nation in repulsing an invasion by communist North Korea*_. The United States was undertaking the major military operation, he explained, to enforce a United Nations resolution calling for an end to hostilities, and to stem the spread of communism in Asia. In addition to ordering U.S. forces to Korea, Truman also deployed the U.S. 7th Fleet to Formosa (Taiwan) to guard against invasion by communist China and ordered an acceleration of military aid to French forces fighting communist guerrillas in Vietnam.

At the Yalta Conference towards the end of World War II, the United States, the USSR, and Great Britain agreed to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones. The country was split along the 38th parallel, with Soviet forces occupying the northern zone and Americans stationed in the south. In 1947, the United States and Great Britain called for free elections throughout Korea, but the Soviets refused to comply. In May 1948 the Korean Democratic People’s Republic—a communist state—was proclaimed in North Korea. In August, the democratic Republic of Korea was established in South Korea. By 1949, both the United States and the USSR had withdrawn the majority of their troops from the Korean Peninsula.

At dawn on June 25, 1950 (June 24 in the United States and Europe), 90,000 communist troops of the North Korean People’s Army invaded South Korea across the 38th parallel, catching the Republic of Korea’s forces completely off guard and throwing them into a hasty southern retreat. On the afternoon of June 25, the U.N. Security Council met in an emergency session and approved a U.S. resolution calling for an “immediate cessation of hostilities” and the withdrawal of North Korean forces to the 38th parallel. At the time, the USSR was boycotting the Security Council over the U.N.’s refusal to admit the People’s Republic of China and so missed its chance to veto this and other crucial U.N. resolutions.

On June 27, President Truman announced to the nation and the world that America would intervene in the Korean conflict in order to prevent the conquest of an independent nation by communism. Truman was suggesting that the USSR was behind the North Korean invasion, and in fact the Soviets had given tacit approval to the invasion, which was carried out with Soviet-made tanks and weapons. Despite the fear that U.S. intervention in Korea might lead to open warfare between the United States and Russia after years of “cold war,” Truman’s decision was met with overwhelming approval from Congress and the U.S. public. Truman did not ask for a declaration of war, but Congress voted to extend the draft and authorized Truman to call up reservists.

On June 28, the Security Council met again and in the continued absence of the Soviet Union passed a U.S. resolution approving the use of force against North Korea. On June 30, Truman agreed to send U.S. ground forces to Korea, and on July 7 the Security Council recommended that all U.N. forces sent to Korea be put under U.S. command. The next day, General Douglas MacArthur was named commander of all U.N. forces in Korea.

In the opening months of the war, the U.S.-led U.N. forces rapidly advanced against the North Koreans, but Chinese communist troops entered the fray in October, throwing the Allies into a hasty retreat. In April 1951, Truman relieved MacArthur of his command after he publicly threatened to bomb China in defiance of Truman’s stated war policy. Truman feared that an escalation of fighting with China would draw the Soviet Union into the Korean War.

By May 1951, the communists were pushed back to the 38th parallel, and the battle line remained in that vicinity for the remainder of the war. On July 27, 1953, after two years of negotiation, an armistice was signed, ending the war and reestablishing the 1945 division of Korea that still exists today. Approximately 150,000 troops from South Korea, the United States, and participating U.N. nations were killed in the Korean War, and as many as one million South Korean civilians perished. An estimated 800,000 communist soldiers were killed, and more than 200,000 North Korean civilians died.

The original figure of American troops lost–54,246 killed–became controversial when the Pentagon acknowledged in 2000 that all U.S. troops killed around the world during the period of the Korean War were incorporated into that number. For example, any American soldier killed in a car accident anywhere in the world from June 1950 to July 1953 was considered a casualty of the Korean War. If these deaths are subtracted from the 54,000 total, leaving just the Americans who died (from whatever cause) in the Korean theater of operations, *the total U.S. dead in the Korean War numbers 36,516. 145 United States military personnel received the Medal of Honor for valor in combat during the Korean War. 103 Medals of Honor were awarded posthumously. There are 267 recipients of the Navy Cross and 798 recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross that were awarded for exemplary and heroic service.*_


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## BarnBuster (Jun 28, 2020)

Today in Military History:
​
*Today is the 15th anniversary of Operation Red Wings, which claimed the life of 19 U.S. service members in Afghanistan.*
_
On June 28, 2005, three of four Navy SEALs were killed during an ambush in the mountains of Kunar province and another 16 were killed in an RPG attack when they attempted a rescue by helicopter. Only one Navy SEAL would live on that day – Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell.

Along with Lutrell, Lt. Michael Murphy, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Danny Dietz and Sonar Technician 2nd Class Matthew Axelson were the four SEALs on a recon mission scouting for a prominent terrorist that day.

Afghan sheepherders had spotted them, but the SEALs let them go free. It would be a decision later reconsidered, when between 30 and 50 enemy fighters later flooded the hills surrounding them and opened fire.

All four SEALs were wounded, but pressed on in the battle, unable to call for help with poor signal.

In spite of his injuries, Murphy continued to fight “in the face of almost certain death” when he moved to a better position to call for aid. He was exposed to enemy fire and continued to return fire until he was killed.

Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, from Patchogue, N.Y. Murphy was killed by enemy forces during a reconnaissance mission, Operation Red Wing, June 28, 2005. (U.S. Navy/Released)

The call was successful.

An MH-47 Chinook that outflew its support of several attack helicopters caught the attention of the militants who then fired an RPG that ignited the fuel tanks. All 16 on board were killed – eight Navy SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers.

The four SEALs on the ground had continued the fight, killing an estimated 35 militants, until Murphy, Axelon and Dietz were killed, leaving Luttrell gravely wounded and laying in a ravine after a grenade blast knocked him unconscious.

When he awoke, Luttrell traveled miles on foot despite significant injuries to distance himself from enemy territory. He was eventually aided by an Afghan villager who sheltered him from the Taliban threatening his life. Days later, villagers helped transfer a note from Luttrell to a Marine outpost. A large recovery operation took place on July 2, 2005 to begin recovering the fallen remains.

Luttrell’s perspective would later be retold in the book “Lone Survivor” and a movie of the same name. Luttrell later received the Navy Cross, which was also awarded posthumously to Dietz and Axelson. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The list of those lost that day are as follows:_

*Navy SEALs*
_*SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.*_
Lt. (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y.
Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif.
Machinist Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Eric S. Patton, 22, of Boulder City, Nev.
Senior Chief Information Systems Technician (SEAL) Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, N.H.
Quartermaster 2nd Class (SEAL) James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.

_*SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2, Virginia Beach, Va.*_
Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny P. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo.

*SEAL Team 10, Virginia Beach, Va.*
Chief Fire Controlman (SEAL) Jacques J. Fontan, 36, of New Orleans, La.
Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Erik S. Kristensen, 33, of San Diego, Calif.
Electronics Technician 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffery A. Lucas, 33, of Corbett, Ore.
Lt. (SEAL) Michael M. McGreevy Jr., 30, of Portville, N.Y.
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffrey S. Taylor, 30, of Midway, W.Va.

*Army Night Stalkers
3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Air Field, Ga*.
Staff Sgt. Shamus O. Goare, 29, of Danville, Ohio.
Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature, 35, of Clarks Grove, Minn.
Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, Fla.
Sgt. 1st Class Marcus V. Muralles, 33, of Shelbyville, Ind.
Maj. Stephen C. Reich, 34, of Washington Depot, Conn.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Russell, 31, of Stafford, Va.
Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach, 40, of Jacksonville, Fla.

*HQ Company, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.*
Master Sgt. James W. Ponder III, 36, of Franklin, Tenn.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 28, 2020)

Fair winds and following seas.


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## raratt (Jun 29, 2020)




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## doublejj (Jun 30, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> View attachment 4608496​
> *Today is the 15th anniversary of Operation Red Wings, which claimed the life of 19 U.S. service members in Afghanistan.*
> 
> ...


I read a later intel report that said the 3 goat herders did not report them, & that the taliban were already aware of the Seal team before the herders spotted them. RIP Brave Warriors


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 30, 2020)

RIP.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 1, 2020)

Today in Military History:
​
*The three-day Battle of Gettysburg began on this day in 1863. It proved to be a turning point in the Civil War.*

_As measured by the number of troops engaged, the first day ranks as the 23rd biggest battle of the war. It began as an engagement between units of the Army of Northern Virginia under Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of the Potomac under Union Maj. Gen. George Meade. Before the sun had set, it had escalated into a major battle — one that culminated in the outnumbered and defeated Union forces retreating to high ground south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. About one quarter of Meade’s army, some 22,000 men, and one third of Lee’s army, roughly 27,000, joined in that day’s struggle. 

In September of the previous year, Lee had ventured north into Maryland where, at Antietam, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War occurred. Although that battle was judged to be a draw, Lee’s invasion was turned back.

Emboldened by his subsequent victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, Lee decided to once again invade the North. After emerging victorious at Gettysburg, Lee had hoped to strike at Harrisburg and Philadelphia, with the eventual goal of breaking the Union’s will to fight.

On June 30, Union Gen. John Buford had taken possession of Seminary Ridge west of Gettysburg. On July 1, Gen. George Reynolds arrived with the First Corps to assist Buford. Reynolds opened the battle but was struck by a bullet and killed before noon. His death set the tone for the day. While the first day of the clash proved to be a Confederate victory, by the following day the tide turned irrevocably in the Union’s favor.

The primitive nature of Civil War medicine, both in its intellectual underpinnings and in its practice in the armies, meant that many wounds and illnesses were unnecessarily fatal. Our modern conception of casualties includes those who have been psychologically damaged by warfare. This distinction did not exist during the Civil War. Soldiers suffering from what we would now recognize as post-traumatic stress disorder were uncatalogued and uncared for.

The Battle of Gettysburg left approximately 7,000 corpses in the fields around the town. Family members had to come to the battlefield to find their loved ones in the carnage. The blazingly hot July sun further complicated the unprecedented challenges of burying the dead, usually in shallow (12-18 inched deep) graves and trenches. Apart from the human carnage, some 5,000 horses and mules died in the battle. They, too, had to be collected and burned in great pyres, leaving a stench that hung over the area for weeks.

64 men were awarded the Medal of Honor for the Gettysburg Campaign. _(Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors (Flag) and advancing thru heavy sustained rifle and cannon fire. The Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. bb)_ During the American Civil War, as in earlier conflicts, the flags of a combat unit (its "colors") held a special significance. They had a spiritual value; they embodied the very "soul" of the unit. Protecting a unit's flag from capture was paramount; losing one to the enemy was considered disgraceful . There were practical reasons for the flags as well, as the regimental flags marked the position of the unit during battle. The smoke and confusion of battle often scattered participants across the field. The flag served as a visual rallying point for soldiers and also marked the area where to attack the enemy. Carrying the colors for the regiment was the greatest honor for a soldier. Generally the flag bearers were selected or elected to their position by the men and officers of the unit. As one Union Colonel told his men, “the colors bear the same relation to the soldier as honesty and integrity do to manhood. It is the guiding star to victory. When in the smoke and din of battle the voice of the officer is drown by the roar of artillery, the true soldier turns his eye to the colors that he may not stray too far from it, and while it floats is conscious of his right and strength. Take it… guard it as you would the honor of the mother, wife or friend you left behind.” _


*Union*
3,155 killed
14,529 wounded
5,365 missing & captured

*Confederate*
3,903 killed
18,735 wounded
5,425 missing & captured


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## raratt (Jul 2, 2020)

USAF's Last 'Spooky' Gunship Heads to the Boneyard


The AC-130U is being replaced by the newer, eventually laser-armed AC-130J.




www.popularmechanics.com


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## WheatGrowerPH (Jul 2, 2020)

the 4 th is coming


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## raratt (Jul 2, 2020)




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## shrxhky420 (Jul 2, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4612432




SH420


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## BarnBuster (Jul 4, 2020)

Today in Military History:
​*"The Confederacy is torn in two when General John C. Pemberton surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Vicksburg, Mississippi July 4, 1863*

_The Vicksburg campaign was one of the Union’s most successful of the war. Although Grant’s first attempt to take the city failed in the winter of 1862-63, he renewed his efforts in the spring. Admiral David Porter had run his flotilla past the Vicksburg defenses in early May as Grant marched his army down the west bank of the river opposite Vicksburg, crossed back to Mississippi, and drove toward Jackson. After defeating a Confederate force near Jackson, Grant turned back to Vicksburg. On May 16, he defeated a force under John C. Pemberton at Champion Hill. Pemberton retreated back to Vicksburg, and Grant sealed the city by the end of May. In three weeks, Grant’s men marched 180 miles, won five battles, and took 6,000 prisoners.

Grant made some attacks after bottling Vicksburg, but found the Confederates well entrenched. Preparing for a long siege, his army constructed 15 miles of trenches and enclosed Pemberton’s force of 29,000 men inside the perimeter. It was only a matter of time before Grant, with 70,000 troops, captured Vicksburg. Attempts to rescue Pemberton and his force failed from both the east and west, and conditions for both military personnel and civilians deteriorated rapidly. Many residents moved to tunnels dug from the hillsides to escape the constant bombardments. 

On the hot afternoon of July 3, 1863, a cavalcade of horsemen in gray rode out from the city along the Jackson Road. Soon white flags appeared on the city's defenses as General Pemberton rode beyond the works to meet with his adversary — General Grant. The two officers dismounted between the lines, not far from the Third Louisiana Redan, and sat in the shade of a stunted oak tree to discuss surrender terms. Unable to reach an agreement, the two men returned to their respective headquarters. Telling Pemberton he would have his final terms by 10 p.m., Grant was true to his word, and his final amended terms were forwarded to Pemberton that night. Instead of an unconditional surrender of the city and garrison, Grant offered parole to the valiant defenders of Vicksburg. Pemberton and his generals agreed that these were the best terms that could be had, and in the quiet of his headquarters on Crawford Street, the decision was made to surrender the city.

At 10 a.m., on July 4, white flags were again displayed from the Confederate works, and the brave men in gray marched out of their entrenchments, stacked their arms, removed their accouterments, and furled their flags. The victorious Union army now marched in and took possession the city.

When informed of the fall of Vicksburg, President Lincoln exclaimed, "The Father of Waters*** again goes unvexed to the sea."

*The fall of Vicksburg, coupled with the defeat of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in the battle of Gettysburg fought over July 1-3, 1863, marked the turning point of the Civil War.*

Vicksburg would not celebrate the Fourth of July for 81 years."

*** _Name given to the Mississippi River by the Algonkin speaking Native Americans. With the fall of Vicksburg, control of the Mississippi fell into Union hands and prevented the Confederates from using it to transport material and supplies, essentially cutting the South off from all hopes of outside support. bb






Vicksburg Campaign: Unvexing the Father of Waters


Historian Terrence J. Winschel describes the fall of Vicksburg in this Hallowed Ground Article.




www.battlefields.org


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## BarnBuster (Jul 5, 2020)

​*"Near Sojong, South Korea, Private Kenneth Shadrick, a 19-year-old infantryman from Skin Fork, West Virginia, becomes the first American reported killed in the Korean War.*_ Shadrick, a member of a bazooka squad, had just fired the weapon at a Soviet-made tank when he looked up to check his aim and was cut down by enemy machine-gun fire. 

Near the end of World War II, the “Big Three” Allied powers–the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain–agreed to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones and temporarily govern the nation. The country was split along the 38th parallel, with Soviet forces occupying the northern zone and Americans stationed in the south. 

By 1949, separate Korean governments had been established, and both the United States and the USSR withdrew the majority of their troops from the Korean Peninsula. The 38th parallel was heavily fortified on both sides, but the South Koreans were unprepared for the hordes of North Korean troops and Soviet-made tanks that suddenly rolled across the border on June 25, 1950. Two days later, President Harry Truman announced that the United States would intervene in the Korean conflict to stem the spread of communism, and on June 28 the United Nations approved the use of force against communist North Korea. 

In the opening months of the war, the U.S.-led U.N. forces rapidly advanced against the North Koreans, but in October, Chinese communist troops entered the fray, throwing the Allies into a hasty retreat. By May 1951, the communists were pushed back to the 38th parallel, where the battle line remained for the rest of the war. In 1953, an armistice was signed, ending the war and reestablishing the 1945 division of Korea that still exists today. 

Approximately 150,000 troops from South Korea, the United States, and participating U.N. nations were killed in the Korean War, and as many as one million South Korean civilians perished. An estimated 800,000 communist soldiers were killed, and more than 200,000 North Korean civilians died. 

The original figure of American troops lost–54,246 killed–became controversial when the Pentagon acknowledged in 2000 that all U.S. troops killed around the world during the period of the Korean War were incorporated into that number. For example, any American soldier killed in a car accident anywhere in the world from June 1950 to July 1953 was considered a casualty of the Korean War. If these deaths are subtracted from the 54,246 total, leaving just the Americans who died (from whatever cause) in the Korean theater of operations, the total U.S. dead in the Korean War numbers 36,516."_


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## raratt (Jul 5, 2020)

@GreatwhiteNorth


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 5, 2020)

We called her the "Kindergarten ship"

Plebes that had never seen a boat before being sent 80' aloft to work the sails.

Good experience for those youngsters though.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 8, 2020)

Meet the first and only Air Force pilot to shoot down a satellite


"Things in orbit around the Earth have to move at very high velocities, and hitting something at very high velocity is very difficult."




taskandpurpose.com


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## BarnBuster (Jul 8, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> We called her the "Kindergarten ship"
> Plebes that had never seen a boat before being sent 80' aloft to work the sails. Good experience for those youngsters though.


I'll have to re-read some of Mr. Forester's books about Horatio. I discovered the Aubrey–Maturin series last year. You had to have a copy of "The Sailor's Word-Book" to make sense of some of it, but probably the best historical fiction of that genre I've read.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 9, 2020)

The right person in the right place at the right time.

This guy is a hero & a vet.


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## pabloesqobar (Jul 9, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> The right person in the right place at the right time.
> 
> This guy is a hero & a vet.


Damn. Too bad the Mother who threw him off didn't make it.


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## Lymphaticus (Jul 9, 2020)

Aces wild


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## BarnBuster (Jul 11, 2020)

Speaking of Mr. Forester, I just now finished watching a good movie, "Greyhound", based on one of his well researched books "The Good Shepherd" that he wrote in 1955 about WW2 Naval action in the North Atlantic ("The Battle of The Atlantic") as coined by Winston Churchill.

US Navy and Merchant vessels transported vital troops and supplies to England through the extremely dangerous section of the North Atlantic while battling wolf packs of Nazi U-boats. Over the course of the six-year battle, as many as 80,000 Allied sailors, merchant mariners and airmen were killed. An estimated 28,000 to 30,000 U-boat crewmen died. Between 1939 and 1945, the Allies lost more than 2,700 merchant ships; in that same time, around 800 of Germany’s 1,100 U-boats sank.

While most filming took place on a soundstage set, shots onboard the deck of the USS Keeling were actually filmed on the WWII Fletcher-class Destroyer USS KIDD (DD 661), which is located on the Mississipi River and runs through Baton Rouge.

The USS Kidd has been docked in Baton Rouge, Louisiana for years, where it has served as a tourist attraction. One of the main reasons the filmmakers chose to shoot on the historic battleship is because the KIDD is the only surviving WWII destroyer still in her wartime configuration. The ship's dominant, inoperable, Oerlikon 20 mm cannons were restored to pristine condition with added pneumatics so that the gun barrels recoiled back and forth, at over 100 times a minute, to precisely simulate firing.

The original USS KIDD (DD 661) was commissioned April 23, 1943, and named for Rear Adm. Isaac C. Kidd, killed in action aboard USS Arizona (BB 39) during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Kidd was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the attack.

Great action scenes, kept me on the edge of my seat. Another plus for Hanks.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 13, 2020)

​








Firefighters battle to keep Bonhomme Richard’s flames away from fuel


The forward mast has collapsed, and the ship is listing, officials said late Monday morning.




www.navytimes.com


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## raratt (Jul 13, 2020)




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## raratt (Jul 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4623411


ASARS electronic imaging nose with a satellite data link pod on top. We called it the Polish drop tank, but we weren't PC at the time... My son thought it was a true drop tank for a long time.


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## cannabineer (Jul 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> ASARS electronic imaging nose with a satellite data link pod on top. We called it the Polish drop tank, but we weren't PC at the time... My son thought it was a true drop tank for a long time.


The evolution-necessary aileron roll ... with those wings ... blows my mind


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## too larry (Jul 13, 2020)

Damn shame about the USS Bonhomme Richard. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Gator Navy. Sadly the 1M gallons of fuel will be an issue before this is over.









1,000-degree blaze continues to rage aboard Navy ship in San Diego


Fire continues to burn aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard in San Diego.




abcnews.go.com


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## cannabineer (Jul 13, 2020)

too larry said:


> Damn shame about the USS Bonhomme Richard. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Gator Navy. Sadly the 1M gallons of fuel will be an issue before this is over.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Something tells me the fire crews ... have just begun to fight.


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## raratt (Jul 13, 2020)

too larry said:


> Damn shame about the USS Bonhomme Richard. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Gator Navy. Sadly the 1M gallons of fuel will be an issue before this is over.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


They did say the fuel is not in the area that is burning.


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## curious2garden (Jul 13, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> Something tells me the fire crews ... have just begun to fight.


They are using 2 fireboats each pumping 2200 gallons/minute on her. They said something about letting her burn to the water line and there are 2 decks between the fire and fuel. Hopefully it all works out. They moved a couple other ships away from her for their safety.


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## curious2garden (Jul 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> They did say the fuel is not in the area that is burning.


I hope it stays that way.


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## raratt (Jul 13, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> I hope it stays that way.


It's probably bunker fuel, not easily ignited. @GreatwhiteNorth ?


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## too larry (Jul 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> It's probably bunker fuel, not easily ignited. @GreatwhiteNorth ?


#2 was what we used in the Saipan. Assume the same here.

My fear is it will get into the drink.


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## Singlemalt (Jul 13, 2020)

Any word on the cause?


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## too larry (Jul 13, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> Any word on the cause?


None yet. Most of the crew was gone, and it was full of yard birds.


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## raratt (Jul 13, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> Any word on the cause?


Only thing i have heard was they were doing maintenance, my guess is a welder was involved.


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## raratt (Jul 13, 2020)

Fire suppression system was turned off due to maintenance...


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## cannabineer (Jul 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> Fire suppression system was turned off due to maintenance...


sounds somewhat like Chernobyl; a series of unfortunate events


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## too larry (Jul 13, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> sounds somewhat like Chernobyl; a series of unfortunate events


She would have had better odds if the crew had been aboard.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> It's probably bunker fuel, not easily ignited. @GreatwhiteNorth ?


No first hand experience with bunker, all my training/real time experience was w/ gas, diesel & JP-5 (all of which ignite & burn exceptionally well).


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## raratt (Jul 13, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> No first hand experience with bunker, all my training/real time experience was w/ gas, diesel & JP-5 (all of which ignite & burn exceptionally well).


The SR used JP-7, you can't light it with a match.


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## cannabineer (Jul 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> The SR used JP-7, you can't light it with a match.


And you can run it through a heat exchanger at 600 without it throwing varnish


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## doublejj (Jul 13, 2020)

*Black disabled veteran sentenced to spend 60 months in prison for medical marijuana*


Black disabled veteran Sean Worsley and his wife, Eboni, were arrested in Pickens County in August 2016. The Worsleys had visited Eboni’s family in Mississippi and were on their way to North Carolina to visit his family. They however made the life-altering mistake of stopping to purchase gas in Alabama on their way to NC. 








Black disabled veteran sentenced to spend 60 months in prison for medical marijuana


A 2016 arrest for marijuana that has turned into a 60-month sentence in an Alabama penitentiary for a disabled veteran from Arizona is drawing national attention.




www.alreporter.com


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## BarnBuster (Jul 14, 2020)

*On July 14, 1862*_, *President Lincoln ended the spirit portion of the ration* when he approved, "An act making appropriations for the Naval Service for the Year ending thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and for other Purposes." The new law specifically stated, "SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, the spirit ration in the navy of the United States shall forever cease, and thereafter no distilled spirituous liquors shall be admitted on board of vessels-of-war except as medical stores, and upon the order, and under the control of the medical officers of such vessels, and *to be used only for medical purposes*. From and after the said first day of September next there shall be allowed and paid to each person in the navy now entitled to the spirit ration five cents per day in commutation and lieu thereof, which shall be in addition to their present pay." _


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## Moldy (Jul 14, 2020)

doublejj said:


> *Black disabled veteran sentenced to spend 60 months in prison for medical marijuana*
> View attachment 4623657
> 
> Black disabled veteran Sean Worsley and his wife, Eboni, were arrested in Pickens County in August 2016. The Worsleys had visited Eboni’s family in Mississippi and were on their way to North Carolina to visit his family. They however made the life-altering mistake of stopping to purchase gas in Alabama on their way to NC.
> ...


Thanks for your service Sean. I hope someday you and your family receive reparations for this heinous crime committed against you.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 14, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> *On July 14, 1862*_, *President Lincoln ended the spirit portion of the ration* when he approved, "An act making appropriations for the Naval Service for the Year ending thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and for other Purposes." The new law specifically stated, "SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, the spirit ration in the navy of the United States shall forever cease, and thereafter no distilled spirituous liquors shall be admitted on board of vessels-of-war except as medical stores, and upon the order, and under the control of the medical officers of such vessels, and *to be used only for medical purposes*. From and after the said first day of September next there shall be allowed and paid to each person in the navy now entitled to the spirit ration five cents per day in commutation and lieu thereof, which shall be in addition to their present pay." _


Not sure how that works, I can remember many "Channel Fever" nights (the night before arriving in home port after a long deployment) the crew was given a beer "ration", usually 3 or 4 max (but the best part was having a buddy or two that didn't drink).


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 15, 2020)

I'd like to buy these guys a beer!









8 Marines Earn Valor Awards for Daring Afghanistan Helo Raid with Hours of Close Combat


Eight Marine Raiders recognized for their actions during the April 10, 2019, mission in southern Afghanistan.




news.yahoo.com


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## cannabineer (Jul 15, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> *On July 14, 1862*_, *President Lincoln ended the spirit portion of the ration* when he approved, "An act making appropriations for the Naval Service for the Year ending thirtieth of June, eighteen hundred and sixty-three, and for other Purposes." The new law specifically stated, "SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That from and after the first day of September, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, the spirit ration in the navy of the United States shall forever cease, and thereafter no distilled spirituous liquors shall be admitted on board of vessels-of-war except as medical stores, and upon the order, and under the control of the medical officers of such vessels, and *to be used only for medical purposes*. From and after the said first day of September next there shall be allowed and paid to each person in the navy now entitled to the spirit ration five cents per day in commutation and lieu thereof, which shall be in addition to their present pay." _


Right around the time that shipbuilding transitioned from timber to irony, as captured in the term “a dry Navy”.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 15, 2020)

Rarely seen photos of the USS Arizona, sunk Dec. 7, 1941, in Pearl Harbor


The USS Arizona was a Pennsylvania-class battleship commissioned in the United State Navy in 1916. She went through an extensive modernization in 1929, with new deck armor, boilers, turbines, guns




tucson.com





Edit: I was reading the book below which led me to the above pictures. Ed Raymer was the Senior Petty Officer in charge of the salvage dive team that were the first ones to enter the Arizona in early January 1942. His team was also instrumental in raising the_ West Virginia_, _Nevada_ and _California_. bb





Amazon.com: Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941 - A Navy Diver's Memoir: 9781591147244: Edward C. Raymer: Books


Amazon.com: Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941 - A Navy Diver's Memoir: 9781591147244: Edward C. Raymer: Books



www.amazon.com


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## raratt (Jul 22, 2020)




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## BarnBuster (Jul 30, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
*On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sinks within minutes in shark-infested waters. Only 316 of the 1,196 men on board survived.*_ However, the Indianapolis had already completed its major mission: the delivery of key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped a week later at Hiroshima to Tinian Island in the South Pacific.

The Indianapolis made its delivery to Tinian Island on July 26, 1945. The mission was top secret and the ship’s crew was unaware of its cargo. After leaving Tinian, the Indianapolis sailed to the U.S. military’s Pacific headquarters at Guam and was given orders to meet the battleship USS Idaho at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan.

Shortly after midnight on July 30, halfway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, a Japanese sub blasted the Indianapolis, sparking an explosion that split the ship and caused it to sink in approximately 12 minutes, with about 300 men trapped inside. Another 900 went into the water, where many died from drowning, shark attacks, dehydration or injuries from the explosion. Help did not arrive until four days later, on August 2, when an anti-submarine plane on routine patrol happened upon the men and radioed for assistance.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, inflicting nearly 130,000 casualties and destroying more than 60 percent of the city. On August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, where casualties were estimated at over 66,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. government kept quiet about the Indianapolis tragedy until August 15 in order to guarantee that the news would be overshadowed by President Harry Truman’s announcement that Japan had surrendered.

In the aftermath of the events involving the Indianapolis, the ship’s commander, Captain Charles McVay, was court-martialed in November 1945 for failing to sail a zigzag course that would have helped the ship to evade enemy submarines in the area. McVay, the only Navy captain court-martialed for losing a ship during the war, committed suicide in 1968. Many of his surviving crewmen believed the military had made him a scapegoat. In 2000, 55 years after the Indianapolis went down, Congress cleared McVay’s name._

*Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis*_ by Dan Kurzman 
*In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors* by Doug Stanton 
*Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man* Lynn Vincent 
*Abandon Ship!: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy's Greatest Sea Disaster Hardcover *by Richard F. Newcomb, Peter Maas _


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## Gorillabilly (Jul 30, 2020)

Heeeeeeeeyyyyyy.... muddafuggas!

Army 6 years, navy 13 years.

Whats poppin


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## raratt (Jul 30, 2020)

@lokie


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## doublejj (Jul 30, 2020)

I want one of these....


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## BarnBuster (Jul 31, 2020)

Today in Military History:
 ​
*On July 31, 1917, the Allies launch a renewed assault on German lines in the Flanders region of Belgium, in the much-contested region near Ypres, during World War I. The attack begins more than three months of brutal fighting, known as the Third Battle of Ypres*_.

While the first and second battles at Ypres were attacks by the Germans against the Allied-controlled salient around Ypres—which crucially blocked any German advance to the English Channel—the third was spearheaded by the British commander in chief, Sir Douglas Haig. After the resounding failure of the Nivelle Offensive–named for its mastermind, the French commander Robert Nivelle–the previous May, followed by widespread mutinies within the French army, Haig insisted that the British should press ahead with another major offensive that summer. The aggressive and meticulously planned offensive, ostensibly aimed at destroying German submarine bases located on the north coast of Belgium, was in fact driven by Haig’s (mistaken) belief that the German army was on the verge of collapse, and would be broken completely by a major Allied victory.

After an opening barrage of some 3,000 guns and some 4.5 million shells_ (It is estimated,that as much as 30% of WWI ordnance failed to explode. Areas of France are still off limits due to UXO, ERW. See _"Zone Rouge" _bb) _Haig ordered nine British divisions, led by Sir Hubert Gough’s 5th Army, to advance on the German lines near the Belgian village of Passchendaele on July 31; they were joined by six French divisions. In the first two days of the attacks, while suffering heavy casualties, the Allies made significant advances—in some sectors pushing the Germans back more than a mile and taking more than 5,000 German prisoners—if not as significant as Haig had envisioned. The offensive was renewed in mid-August, though heavy rains and thickening mud severely hampered the effectiveness of Allied infantry and artillery and prevented substantial gains over the majority of the summer and early fall.

Dissatisfied with his army’s gains by the end of August, Haig had replaced Gough with Herbert Plumer at the head of the attack; after several small gains in September, the British were able to establish control over the ridge of land east of Ypres. Encouraged, Haig pushed Plumer to continue the attacks towards the Passchendaele ridge, some 10 kilometers from Ypres.

Thus the Third Battle of Ypres–also known as Passchendaele, for the village, and the ridge surrounding it, that saw the heaviest fighting–continued into its third month, as the Allied attackers reached near-exhaustion, with few notable gains, and the Germans reinforced their positions in the region with reserve troops released from the Eastern Front, where Russia’s army was foundering amid internal turmoil. Unwilling to give up, Haig ordered a final three attacks on Passchendaele in late October. The eventual capture of the village, by Canadian and British troops, on November 6, 1917, allowed Haig to finally call off the offensive, claiming victory, despite *some 310,000 British casualties, as opposed to 260,000 on the German side, and a failure to create any substantial breakthrough, or change of momentum, on the Western Front. Given its outcome, the Third Battle of Ypres remains one of the most costly and controversial offensives of World War I, representing–at least for the British–the epitome of the wasteful and futile nature of trench warfare.* In 1918 all the ground that had been gained there by the Allies was evacuated in the face of a looming German assault. Passchendaele would be remembered as a symbol of the worst horrors of the First World War, the sheer futility of much of the fighting, and the reckless disregard by some of the war’s senior leaders for the lives of the men under their command._

*Some 61 Victoria Crosses, the British Empire’s highest decoration for military valour, were awarded after the fighting. More Victoria Crosses—14 in total—were awarded for actions on the opening day of the Battle of Passchendaele than for actions on any other single day of combat in World War I.*









Battle of Passchendaele | Facts, Maps, Summary, & Casualties


Battle of Passchendaele, also called Third Battle of Ypres, (July 31–November 6, 1917), World War I battle that served as a vivid symbol of the mud, madness, and senseless slaughter of the Western Front. The third and longest battle to take place at the Belgian city of Ypres, Passchendaele was...



www.britannica.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 1, 2020)

​
*On August 1, 1943, 177 B-24 bombers take off from an Allied base in Libya, bound for the oil-producing city Ploiești, Romania, nicknamed “Hitler’s gas station.”*_ 

Operation Tidal Wave began ominously, with an overloaded bomber crashing shortly after takeoff and another plunging into the Adriatic Sea. 167 of the original 177 bombers made it to Ploiești, whose oil fields and refineries provided the Germans with over 8.5 million tons of oil per year. Whereas most Allied bombing in World War II was carried out from a high altitude, the bombers that raided Ploiești flew exceptionally low in order to evade the Germans’ radar. The bombers lost the element of surprise, however, when one group veered off on the wrong direction, forcing the others to break radio silence in order to direct them back on course. This unplanned adjustment also led to the bombers approaching from the south, where the Nazis had concentrated their anti-aircraft batteries.

The ensuing attack was dramatic, chaotic and costly. The Allies suffered heavy casualties, and smoke from the explosions caused by the first wave of bombers made visibility difficult for subsequent waves. Survivors reported debris like branches and barbed wire hitting and even ending up on the inside of their planes. Lt. Col. Addison Baker and Maj. John Jerstad were awarded the Medal of Honor for their (unsuccessful) attempt to fly higher and allow the crew to bail of our their badly damaged plane. Another pilot, Lt. Lloyd Herbert Hughes, also received a posthumous Medal of Honor for flying his critically-damaged B-24 into its target. Col. John Kane and Col. Leon Johnson, who each led bombing groups that reached their targets, were the only men who won the Medal of Honor and survived the raid.

Although the Allies estimated that the raid had reduced Ploiești’s capacity by 40 percent, the damage was quickly repaired and within months the refineries had outstripped their previous capacity. The region continued to serve as “Hitler’s gas station” until the Soviet Union captured it in August of 1944. 310 airmen died, 108 were captured and another 78 were interned in neighboring Turkey. _


__​_Operation Tidal Wave is largely considered a failure from the American perspective for this reason. However, there is some argument that can be made that this delay in production, even if only brief, was a victory for the Allies. It allowed the Red Army to take advantage of the lack of fuel for the panzers and launch two offensives at Smolensk and Dnieper, which helped liberate those previously German controlled areas.

Of the 178 planes that took off from Benghazi, only 89 returned. While the enemy destroyed 54 planes, others crash landed at bases throughout the area. Over 300 men died, over 100 captured, and 78 were interred in Turkey. Of the 89 returning planes, over a third were unfit to fly afterward. .

*Operation Tidal Wave remains the most highly decorated military mission in U.S. History. Five Medals of Honor, 3 posthumously, were awarded, the most for any single air mission in history. 998 enlisted aircrew flew in Tidal Wave. 900 were decorated. 10 Silver Stars, 16 Distinguished Service Crosses and 879 Distinguished Flying Crosses were awarded to bombadiers, gunners, engineers and radioman for their heroics.*_
​








A U.S. raid on 'Hitler's Gas Station' killed 310 airmen. Offutt is working to ID some of the fallen


The war planners called it Operation Tidal Wave. Today, it is considered by many historians the most spectacular air raid of the war: dozens of bombers flying hundreds of miles




omaha.com






https://media.defense.gov/2013/Aug/05/2001329877/-1/-1/0/Tidal


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## raratt (Aug 1, 2020)

Titan II site layout:


Long cableway, connects the access portal to the launch duct:

The cylindrical objects on the sides are shock absorbers, everything was mounted on springs to "withstand a nuclear attack".


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## raratt (Aug 2, 2020)

Sixty-Five Years Ago, Aug 1st 1955, The U-2 Made its First Flight


On August 1, 1955, a prototype of the U-2 spy plane sped down a runway at Groom Lake in Nevada (you may know it as Area 51), and its massive wings quickly lifted it into the sky. But that wasn't exactly how it was supposed to go.




www.linkedin.com


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## raratt (Aug 2, 2020)

Start cart for SR-71. Sound on, not quite the same as being there...lol.


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## cannabineer (Aug 2, 2020)

raratt said:


> Start cart for SR-71. Sound on, not quite the same as being there...lol.


Different context but also a cool sound


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 3, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> Different context but also a cool sound


I got chills - had to listen to it a couple of times (at large increments of increasing volume).

WOW!


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## BarnBuster (Aug 4, 2020)

​


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## BarnBuster (Aug 8, 2020)

Today in Military History:

 ​
_"*On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the code name for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands and was the first U.S. offensive of the war.*

Although not as well-known as the Battles of Midway or Iwo Jima, the Battle of Guadalcanal played a key role in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The six-month-long Guadalcanal Campaign took place on and around the island of Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands located in the South Pacific, to the northeast of Australia

On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. In response on August 7, 1942, , the U.S. launched Operation Watchtower, in which American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain, including Guadalcanal. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tananbogo met much initial opposition from the Japanese defenders.

But the Americans who landed on Guadalcanal met little resistance—at least at first. More than 11,000 Marines had landed, and 24 hours had passed, before the Japanese manning the garrison there knew of the attack. The U.S. forces quickly took their main objective, the airfield, and the outnumbered Japanese troops retreated, but not for long. Reinforcements were brought in, and fierce hand-to-hand jungle fighting ensued. “I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting,” wrote one American major general on the scene. “These people refuse to surrender.” The struggle on Guadalcanal was protracted, and the period from August 1942 to February 1943 saw some of the most bitter fighting of the war

The Americans were at a particular disadvantage, being assaulted from both the sea and air. But the U.S. Navy was able to reinforce its troops to a greater extent, and by February 1943, the Japanese had retreated on secret orders of their emperor (so secret, the Americans did not even know it had taken place until they began happening upon abandoned positions, empty boats, and discarded supplies). In total, the Japanese had lost more than 25,000 men, compared with a loss of 1,600 by the Americans. Each side lost 24 warships. The battle for Guadalcanal proved to be extremely costly for the Japanese Empire in terms of both material losses and strategy. With Guadalcanal secure, the Solomon Islands quickly fell to American forces as Henderson Field offered a direct base of support for American air units in the area. The sheer number of Japanese troops, supplies, and naval units were also irreplaceable at this point of the war. For many historians, the American victory at Guadalcanal, therefore, was a turning point for the war-effort as Guadalcanal served as a major boost to American morale, and a tremendous success for American military efforts in the Pacific.

Douglas Albert Munro was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during the Battle of Guadalcanal.. As of 2019, he is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the United States Coast Guard. Munro was assigned to Naval Operating Base Cactus at Lunga Point, from which small boat operations were being coordinated. At the Second Battle of the Matanikau in September 1942, he was tasked with leading the extrication of a force of United States Marines that had been overrun by Japanese forces. He died of a gunshot wound at the age of 22 while using the Higgins boat he was piloting to shield a landing craft filled with marines from Japanese fire. 

One of the first Medals of Honor given to a Marine in WW2 was awarded to Sgt. John Basilone for his fighting during Operation Watchtower. According to the recommendation for his medal, he “contributed materially to the defeat and virtually the annihilation of a Japanese regiment.” Later, Gunnery Sgt. Basilone would be posthumously awarded the the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross for his actions on Iwo Jima"_

(20 MOH's were awarded during the Guadalcanal campaign.bb)









The Hot, Bloody, Brutal Campaign Of Guadalcanal: America’s First WWII Offensive In The Pacific


What started as a simple mission to capture an airstrip in the Pacific from the Japanese dragged on for six months as Japan kept trying to take it back.




allthatsinteresting.com









Battle of Guadalcanal - New World Encyclopedia







www.newworldencyclopedia.org


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## raratt (Aug 10, 2020)

So, hypothetically, how many RPG's would it take to remove a face from Mt Rushmore? Asking for a friend.


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## cannabineer (Aug 10, 2020)

raratt said:


> So, hypothetically, how many RPG's would it take to remove a face from Mt Rushmore? Asking for a friend.


One


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## raratt (Aug 11, 2020)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 11, 2020)

I remember seeing a pic taken from the open door of an old HH-52 back in the 70's.
The helo was hovering over a swamp with about an 8' alligator hanging onto the starboard landing gear.
The story was the pilot was playing whack-a-mole & the gator decided to play back.


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## curious2garden (Aug 11, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I remember seeing a pic taken from the open door of an old HH-52 back in the 70's.
> The helo was hovering about 20' over a swamp with about an 8' alligator hanging onto the starboard landing gear.
> The story was the pilot was playing whack-a-mole & the gator decided to play back.
> 
> View attachment 4650600


I wonder how it took to flying


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## doublejj (Aug 11, 2020)

On April 11, 1966, an Army company became separated and found itself under fierce fire. With mortars landing in their perimeter and machine gun fire racing in, the casualties started to mount. When Airman 1st Class William Pitsenbarger arrived for the wounded, it quickly became apparent that the infantry was losing the ability to defend itself and conduct medevac at the same time. So, he requested permission to join the ground fight.

In the jungle, he directed the evacuations under fire until it became too fierce for the helicopters to stay. Given a last chance to fly out, Pitsenbarger gave up his seat to a wounded man and stayed on the ground to serve as a medic. Overnight, he kept giving medical aid and resisting the enemy until he succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds.

In September, 1966, he posthumously became the first enlisted airman to receive the Air Force Cross. It was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Now, his bravery and the struggle to have his valor honored at the highest level is set to hit the big screen. Check out the trailer below for _The Last Full Measure_


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## BarnBuster (Aug 13, 2020)

US Navy amphibious assault ship sails into Hawaii with flight deck loaded up with World War II warbirds


The collection of aircraft includes a P-51 Mustang fighter, B-25 Mitchell bomber, and Texan trainer, among other vintage planes.




www.businessinsider.com













Warbirds Arrived to Hawaii for WWII 75th Anniversary Celebrations


WWII Warbirds Will Arrive in Hawaii for the 75th WWII Commemoration




warbirdsnews.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 14, 2020)




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## BarnBuster (Aug 18, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
*"The Hardest Day is a Second World War air battle fought on 18 August 1940 during the Battle of Britain be*_*tween the German Luftwaffe and British Royal Air Force (RAF). On that day, the Luftwaffe made an all-out effort to destroy RAF Fighter Command*.

The air battles that took place on that day were amongst the largest aerial engagements in history to that time. Both sides suffered heavy losses. In the air, the British shot down twice as many Luftwaffe aircraft as they lost. However, many RAF aircraft were destroyed on the ground, equalising the total losses of both sides. Further large and costly aerial battles took place after 18 August, but both sides lost more aircraft combined on this day than at any other point during the campaign, including 15 September, the Battle of Britain Day, generally considered the climax of the fighting.

Overall, each side suffered more losses on this date than on any other day during the Battle of Britain. In terms of the outcome, the battle does not appear to have been strategically favourable to either side. The loss rates were in the British favour, but both air forces had sustained a level of attrition they could not support for long.

Historian Alfred Price:_
_'The laurels for the day’s action went to the defenders. The aim of the Luftwaffe was to wear down the Fighter Command without suffering excessive losses in the process, and in this it had failed. It cost the attackers five aircrew killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, for each British pilot casualty. In terms of aircraft, it had cost the Luftwaffe five bombers and fighters for every three Spitfires and Hurricanes destroyed in the air or on the ground. If the battle continued at this rate the Luftwaffe would wreck Fighter Command, but it would come close to wrecking itself in the process.'_​


https://www.worldhistory.biz/download567/BattleofBritain.TheHardestDay,18August1940.pdf


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardest_Day


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## raratt (Aug 20, 2020)




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## BarnBuster (Aug 22, 2020)

_Highway to the vomit zon_e 









I flew in an F-16 with the Air Force and oh boy did it go poorly


The Thunderbirds took Popular Science's Rob Verger for a ride in an F-16. Turns out, he's no Maverick.




www.popsci.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 27, 2020)

By CHAD GARLAND | STARS AND STRIPES Published: August 27, 2020 

_Two Green Berets and an Air Force pararescueman were awarded Silver Stars for their heroism during a nearly eight-hour firefight last year after the Special Forces team “stumbled upon” an elite Taliban force in a small Afghan village.

The team was so close to the enemy fighters that they heard the sounds of their voices and of the safety handles on their hand grenades being released, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) officials said Wednesday. The Americans fought their way out and humped over a mile to safety.

All three Silver Stars were awarded at a small ceremony in the Rock Garden on the 7th Group compound at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., last Friday, along with six Bronze Star Medals with Valor devices, three Army Commendation Medals with Valor devices and four Purple Hearts earned over the 1st Battalion’s six-month deployment last year.

Bronze Stars were awarded posthumously to Master Sgts. Luis Deleon-Figueroa and Jose Gonzalez, both of whom were mortally wounded in the close-quarters battle in Faryab province exactly one year earlier.

Their names and that of Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Goble, a Green Beret killed in Afghanistan on Dec. 23, 2019, were inscribed on stones laid in the garden during the ceremony.

“The event is humbling,” Command Sgt. Maj. Brock Buddies, the top enlisted leader of 1st Battalion, 7th SFG(A), said in a statement. “Every year we remember the men and women of this formation, their legacy and acts of heroism.”

A Silver Star Medal certificate and three of the medals, along with a challenge coin and other medals awarded on Aug. 21, 2020, at a ceremony at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., recognizing acts of combat bravery during the six-month deployment of 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), in Afghanistan from July 2019 to January 2020.

The 1st Battalion deployed from July 2019 through late January, officials said, and was awarded a Meritorious Unit Citation for applying pressure on the Taliban to “set the stage” for a peace settlement the group signed with the U.S. on Feb. 29. Since the signing, the insurgents have not attacked U.S. forces.

During the past year, the “Red Empire,” as 7th Group is known, suffered five fatalities while fighting in Afghanistan, including the three from 1st Battalion and two from 3rd Battalion — Sgts. 1st Class Javier Gutierrez and Antonio Rodriguez — the last two U.S. combat fatalities in the country this year, killed just weeks before the pact was signed.

One other American and an Afghan commando were wounded alongside Deleon-Figueroa and Gonzalez, 7th Group said in a synopsis of the August 2019 gun battle it provided to Stars and Stripes.

The team, also known as an Operational Detachment-Alpha, had been conducting operations against a different target when it came upon the Taliban force, it said. Provincial officials have said the battle occurred in Almar district, near Afghanistan’s northern border with Turkmenistan.

Amid the fighting that followed, all four of the wounded were medically evacuated by a helicopter that landed under enemy fire in a courtyard about half the size of a football field, “and within inches” of the other team members who eventually made their way out over ground the hard way.

“The ODA, who had lost contact with their supporting vehicles after the Taliban shot one of their radios, then fought their way out of the village and moved over a mile, by foot and under fire, to safety,” the synopsis said.

An ODA is typically made up of 12 Special Forces members of various specialties and is also known as an A-Team. Officials did not say how many Afghans accompanied them. Two other ODA members also earned Bronze Stars that day, but all names other than the three slain soldiers were withheld for security reasons.

The Bronze Star with “V” device for valor recognizes acts of heroism that do not rise to the level of a Silver Star, which is the third-highest medal for combat bravery and recognizes “exceptional gallantry” on the battlefield.

The Silver Stars were awarded to service members who braved enemy fire to “thwart the enemy attack” and who “undoubtedly saved the lives of team members” while risking their own during the harrowing August battle, officials said.

“The actions of the warriors we are recognizing today speak volumes about them as individuals,” said Lt. Gen. Francis Beaudette, commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, who presented the awards.

“They also clearly reflect the families and communities that shaped these men,” he was quoted saying during the closed event. “Even if they cannot be here physically — thank you for what your families do to support you every day._


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## BarnBuster (Aug 28, 2020)

How many of us have Dad's knife? Saw this today:









Dad's Army Knife: The Value is in this WWII Story


10th Mountain Division WWII Cattaraugus 225Q not a "fighting knife"




www.militarytrader.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 31, 2020)

WW2 Nose art









Color Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Nose Art of the 490 Bomb Group


Some nice color photographs of Boeing B-17G nose art from the 490th Bomb Group (Heavy). For the most part these Flying Fortresses are in unpainted natural metal with red identification markin…




inchhighguy.wordpress.com












Color Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress Nose Art of the 490 Bomb Group Part 2


More color photographs of Boeing B-17G nose art from the 490th Bomb Group (Heavy). The artist was Master Sergeant Jay D. Cowan and the photographer was Captain Arnold Delmonico, both of the 4…




inchhighguy.wordpress.com












Sergeant John Dana DUCHAK, R176475, RCAF Artist – Update


A reader sent me this… In Memory of John Dana Duchak 1921 – 2012 ROCKLAND, MAINE – John D. Duchak, 91, died Tuesday, September 25, 2012, at Windward Gardens in Camden, Maine, foll…




clarencesimonsen.wordpress.com






https://clarencesimonsen.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/the-greatest-nose-artist-of-wwii2.pdf


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## doublejj (Aug 31, 2020)

those remind me of the gun trucks in Vietnam....


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## doublejj (Aug 31, 2020)




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## doublejj (Aug 31, 2020)

The cool thing about the gun trucks in Vietnam was that they weren't army issue. Each truck was individually built by the different Transportation Companies. None of them were authorized by the army. no 2 were the same...


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## BarnBuster (Sep 2, 2020)

​
*This year, a panel revisited the Australian Navy’s request to award the Victoria Cross to Ordinary Seaman Edward “Teddy” Sheean. On August 12th, they overturned three previous decisions that Sheean’s actions did not rise to the level necessary to receive the award.*

_The Victoria Cross is the highest honor for military valor in the British commonwealth of Australia. Sheean was awarded it nearly 78 years after his actions in the Timor Sea saved the lives of many of his fellow sailors.

An 18-year-old Sheean served as a gunner’s mate on the HMAS Armidale, a corvette in the Australian Navy. They were spotted by Japanese reconnaissance planes as they left Darwin on November 29, 1942. On December 1, they were attacked by Japanese fighter planes. The ship was struck by two torpedoes and began to sink quickly. The order was given to abandon ship.

*Sheean, who was injured in the attack, ignored the order to abandon ship and strapped himself to his anti-aircraft gun. He continued firing at enemy aircraft as the ship sank thereby providing cover for his fellow sailors as they abandoned the ship. The surviving sailors said that they could see tracer bullets rising from under the water as Sheean continued firing even while being dragged down with the ship.*

Of the 149 sailors on the Armidale, 49 survived. They were recovered from the Timor Sea a week after the attack. According to the panel that awarded the Victoria Cross to Sheean, each survivor most likely owed his life to the actions of the gunner’s mate. 

His case was first reviewed for the Victoria Cross in 1942-1942. It was subsequently reviewed in 2013 and 2019. Each time the panel determined that Sheean did not deserve the award.

Sheean was a legend in Australia, though. There are monuments to him throughout the country. The Navy named a submarine after him making him the lowest ranked sailor to receive such an honor. Through the years the navy continually pushed for Sheean to receive the highest honor his nation could give him.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the government had received “conflicting evidence about Sheean’s efforts after the reviews in 2013 and 2019. He ordered a new panel convene to review the case one more time. In a statement, Morrison stated that they were correcting a “substantial injustice.” He said that the new decision formalized what Australians already knew to be true – that Sheean was a hero.

Queen Victoria introduced the Victoria Cross in 1856 to recognize acts of gallantry by members of the British armed forces. In order to receive the award, an armed forces member must show extreme bravery in the presence of the enemy.

The original prototype for the award is said to have been formed from the bronze of guns captured from the Russians in Crimea. The first 110 medals were also cast from this same bronze but this is actually false. Historian John Glanfield has established that the metal for most of the medals made since December 1914 came from two Chinese cannons

The Victoria Cross medal is in the form of a Maltese cross cast in bronze. The face of the medal has the royal crown topped with a standing lion. Beneath the crown is a ribbon that has the words “For Valour.” The reverse of the cross has a circle with the date of the heroic actions. The cross is suspended from a “V” connected to a bar which lists the details of the recipient.

Sheean will be the 101st Australian to receive the honor when it is presented to his family later this year.

The Citation:_

*ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY
TO BE AWARDED THE VICTORIA CROSS FOR AUSTRALIA
ORDINARY SEAMAN EDWARD SHEEAN H1617 (DECEASED)
For the most conspicuous gallantry and a pre-eminent act of valour in the presence of the enemy during a Japanese aerial attack on HMAS Armidale in the Timor Sea on 1 December 1942.*​
On 1 December 1942, during operations in the Timor Sea, HMAS _Armidale_ came under aerial bombardment and torpedo attack from Japanese aircraft. Shortly after the commencement of the attack, _Armidale_ was hit by a torpedo and began listing to port. One minute later the ship was hit by a second torpedo which broke the vessel’s back, causing the Captain to order abandon ship.

Ordinary Seaman Sheean, one of the youngest and most junior ranked members of _Armidale_’s Ship’s Company, made his way to the stowage position of the motor-boat and assisted in its launch. As the enemy continued to fire upon the ship and his shipmates who were already in the water, Ordinary Seaman Sheean decided to forgo his opportunity for survival by not abandoning ship and returning to his Action Station to man the aft Oerlikon gun, where he was the loader, not the gunner. Despite being wounded, he strapped himself into the gun and commenced firing at the enemy, damaging at least two enemy aircraft.

Ordinary Seaman Sheean’s actions disrupted and distracted the enemy from strafing and killing his defenceless shipmates in the water. He sacrificed his life trying to save his shipmates and, despite his wounds, he continued firing the gun until the ship sank and took him to his death. His pre-eminent act of valour and most conspicuous gallantry saved Australian lives. His heroism became the standard to which the men and women of the Australian Defence Force aspire.


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## wascaptain (Sep 6, 2020)

i am still in the fight boys (and girls)
did a 108 floor stair climb in honor of our fallen hero's this morning for 911.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 6, 2020)

*Vintage aircraft fly in formation over Oahu, Hawaii, on Sept. 1, 2020, for the 75th commemoration of the end of WWII. (Tech. Sgt. Anthony Nelson Jr./Air Force) *​


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## doublejj (Sep 6, 2020)

Meanwhile in Death Valley.......Star Wars Canyon


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## 757growin (Sep 6, 2020)

doublejj said:


> Meanwhile in Death Valley.......


They train like this near me. Rad to watch them in the canyons and skimming the ground


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 7, 2020)

We had a couple of Raptors showing off over town a few days ago.
I'd hate to piss one of those guys off!





__





f22 raptor video - Bing video







www.bing.com


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## raratt (Sep 7, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> We had a couple of Raptors showing off over town a few days ago.
> I'd hate to piss one of those guys off!
> 
> 
> ...


They do things aircraft should not be able to do thanks to vectored thrust. Air to air missiles are kept inside the fuselage to maintain stealth. I saw the first aircraft shot down by one while working flight test. (I think I mentioned that before, but it was REALLY cool to watch).


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## cannabineer (Sep 7, 2020)

raratt said:


> They do things aircraft should not be able to do thanks to vectored thrust. Air to air missiles are kept inside the fuselage to maintain stealth. I saw the first aircraft shot down by one while working flight test. (I think I mentioned that before, but it was REALLY cool to watch).


They’ll do even more once we get the meat out of the cockpit.


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## raratt (Sep 7, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> They’ll do even more once we get the meat out of the cockpit.


They will be able to save more RPV's once they come up with an electronic sphincter to assess the threat situation.


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## cannabineer (Sep 7, 2020)

raratt said:


> They will be able to save more RPV's once they come up with an electronic sphincter to assess the threat situation.


The iron asshole of truth


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 7, 2020)

The flat spin/drop just blew me away - you gotta have control and an ass load of thrust to pull outta that!


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## raratt (Sep 7, 2020)

Just found out we lost a long time U-2 maintainer. He was a Pro Super one of the times I was in the desert and gave me a coin from the Sec Def that was the only one given to our Squadron during his visit. RIP Ben.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 8, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
*The Siege of Leningrad, also called 900-day siege, prolonged siege (September 8, 1941–January 27, 1944) of the city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in the Soviet Union by German and Finnish armed forces during World War II. The siege actually lasted 872 days.*

_After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, German armies had by early September approached Leningrad from the west and south while their Finnish allies approached to the north down the Karelian Isthmus. Leningrad’s entire able-bodied population was mobilized to build antitank fortifications along the city’s perimeter in support of the city’s 200,000 Red Army defenders. Leningrad’s defenses soon stabilized, but by early November it had been almost completely encircled, with all its vital rail and other supply lines to the Soviet interior cut off.

The ensuing German blockade and siege claimed 650,000 Leningrader lives in 1942 alone, mostly from starvation, exposure, disease, and shelling from distant German artillery. Sparse food and fuel supplies reached the city by barge in the summer and by truck and ice-borne sled in winter across Lake Ladoga. These supplies kept the city’s arms factories operating and its two million inhabitants barely alive in 1942, while one million more of its children, sick, and elderly were being evacuated. There were somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 documented cases of cannibalism throughout the siege. Rations were reserved for those most integral to the protection of the city. As a result, children were not a priority for food.

On January 27, 1944, after nearly 900 days under blockade, Leningrad was freed. The victory was heralded with a 24-salvo salute from the city’s guns, and civilians broke into spontaneous celebrations in the streets. “People brought out vodka,” Leningrader Olga Grechina wrote. “We sang, cried, laughed; but it was sad all the same—the losses were just too large.”

*In total, the siege of Leningrad had killed an estimated 800,000 civilians—nearly as many as all the World War II deaths of the United States and the United Kingdom combined.*









A Brief History of the Siege of Leningrad


Read about the longest and most destructive siege in history: the Siege of Leningrad.




theculturetrip.com












872 Days, 1.5 Million Deaths: A Disturbing Look Into WWII's Siege Of Leningrad


There are as many as 1,500 documented cases of cannibalism throughout the siege as citizens became desperate for food.




allthatsinteresting.com




_


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## doublejj (Sep 9, 2020)

The Navy has banned sailors and Marines from using shampoos, lotions and soaps made with hemp or cannabidiol, one of the main active compounds in cannabis plants, it said in a statement. At issue is the possibility that such products could contain too much of the psychoactive compound found in pot called tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and their use could “negatively impact mission readiness and disqualify a sailor from continued service,” said the statement released Friday.








Sailors, Marines can no longer use hemp products to fight frizz, soften skin, Navy says


The Army, Air Force and Coast Guard already have policies in place that forbid military members from using products made with hemp or hemp seed oil.




www.stripes.com





Yet they didn't even enforce drinking age on base when I was in the army. If you were in uniform they would serve you..


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## pabloesqobar (Sep 9, 2020)

lol.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 9, 2020)

doublejj said:


> The Navy has banned sailors and Marines from using shampoos, lotions and soaps made with hemp or cannabidiol, one of the main active compounds in cannabis plants, it said in a statement. At issue is the possibility that such products could contain too much of the psychoactive compound found in pot called tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and their use could “negatively impact mission readiness and disqualify a sailor from continued service,” said the statement released Friday.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I remember drinking @ Gitmo in the 70's at the age of 18 - Windjammer - really just a gym converted into a makeshift bar for about 500 Navy, CG & Marines.
Of course there were Marine SP's in uniform about every 25' against the bulkheads - helmets & all.
There was a fight at least every 30 minutes or so still.


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## raratt (Sep 9, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Marines.


There is the problem right there...lol


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## doublejj (Sep 9, 2020)

raratt said:


> There is the problem right there...lol


exactly.....


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 9, 2020)

I dunno, but the uniform was definitely the target.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 10, 2020)

Today in Military History:


*"We have met the enemy, and they are ours."*
*In the first unqualified defeat of a British naval squadron in history*, *U.S. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry leads a fleet of nine American ships to victory over a squadron of six British warships at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.*​

_*On September 10, 1813, at 7 a.m., British Commodore Robert Heriot Barclay, in his flagship HMS Detroit, met Captain Perry near Put-in-Bay, Ohio (Erie). Barclay's six ships were magnificently massive, outweighing and out-gunning Perry's nine vessels, including his flagship, the Lawrence.*

At 10 a.m., Mother Nature began to fill Perry's flagship sails with a favorable wind. He and his crew proceeded towards the British flagship.

At 11:45 a.m. the Detroit fired a 24-pound ball from an extreme distance at the Lawrence, causing nothing more than a big splash. A few minutes later, a second 24-pounder was launched, but this time plummeted through the bulwarks of the Lawrence. The impact of the second cannon ball caused boat debris and flying splinters to puncture lungs and inflict numerous fatal wounds upon the Americans.

The Lawrence's cannons were still out of range, so Perry issued orders to the Scorpion, with one long 24-pounder, and the Ariel, with four long 12-pounders, to open fire. Thirty minutes of unrelenting British bombardment slowly ticked away, with Perry still struggling to get within range. The whole British Fleet had made successful cannon strikes against it. The Lawrence was now dead in the water.

Luckily for the Americans, the Niagara, still out of range and relatively undamaged, was their last chance at victory. Collecting four of the last remaining able-bodied men, Commodore Perry manned the flagship's rowboat and rowed a mile through a barrage of explosions to the seaworthy Niagara. Perry then furiously prepared the Niagara for immediate action, and sailed toward the Royal line. Although the British had wreaked havoc on the Lawrence, Barclay sustained a horrible wound; the captain and first lieutenant of every British vessel also were severely wounded.

With only junior officers directing the English fleet, the Americans found easy targets. When the greenhorn sailors observed the Niagara closing water against them, they attempted to turn to expose unused cannons. The result was devastating for the English; the already battered Detroit and Queen Charlotte collided and became hung up, dead in the water.

Perry took little time to take complete advantage of the rookie mistakes. He unleashed two broadsides, tearing up the seemingly indestructible Royal fleet.

A few minutes after 3 p.m., the British threw down all their arms; the four largest vessels surrendered one by one. The last two British gunboats attempted to escape, but were quickly chased down and captured. The British fleet in Lake Erie was now a thing of the past. By nightfall, the British had lowered their flag and surrendered to Perry, who was only twenty-seven years old.

Although Perry won the battle on the Niagara, he received the official British surrender on the deck of the Lawrence to allow the British to witness the terrible price his men had suffered. Perry sent a dispatch to General William Henry Harrison, recounting the details of the battle. In the dispatch, he wrote: 'Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem. O.H. Perry.'_

_Aftermath_​
*The Battle of Lake Erie proved to be one of the most telling encounters of the War of 1812. The American victory secured control of the lake, forcing the British to abandon Fort Malden and retreat up the Thames River for Canada.*

_General Harrison's army clinched the naval victory by decisively defeating the small British army and its allied Indian force on October 5, 1813, at the Battle of the Thames. Later, after the Battle of Plattsburgh, British and American peace talks were initiated, which ensured that the states of Ohio and Michigan were to be forever United States property_."

_*Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History* _- Craig L. Symonds


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## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2020)

The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP)


The Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) is dedicated to remembering all law enforcement officers who have fallen in the line of duty.




www.odmp.org









UFANYC.org - The Official Website of the Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York







www.ufanyc.org


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## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2020)

_*Today, 9/11/2020, Sergeant Major Thomas "Pat" Payne has been awarded the Medal of Honor at the White House*, for his work on a rescue mission that led to the freedom of 75 ISIS-held hostages. Payne, who was a Sergeant First Class at the time of the dangerous nighttime rescue mission, was part of the Delta-force team that freed dozens of hostages and was personally responsible for liberating 37 of those captured. (The award was upgraded from the Distinguished Service Cross). Sergeant Major Payne also has the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device and three oak leaf clusters._

​
This from the White House press release but not denoted as the actual Citation or DSC language (but I suspect that is the origin, bb):

*On October 22, 2015, during a daring nighttime hostage rescue in Kirkuk Province, Iraq, in support of Operation INHERENT RESOLVE, then-Sergeant First Class Payne led a combined assault team charged with clearing one of two buildings known to house hostages.*​​_*With speed, audacity, and courage, he first led his team as they quickly cleared the assigned building, liberating 38 hostages. Then, upon hearing a request for additional assault team members to assist with clearing the other building, Sergeant Payne, on his own initiative, left his secured position. He exposed himself to enemy fire as he bounded across the compound to the other building from which enemy forces were engaging his comrades.*_​​_*Sergeant Payne climbed a ladder to the building’s roof, which was now partially engulfed in flames, and engaged the enemy fighters below with grenades and small arms fire. He then moved to ground level, engaging enemy forces through a breach hole in the west side of the building.*_​​_*Knowing time was running out for the hostages trapped inside the burning building, Sergeant Payne moved to the building’s main entrance, from which heavy enemy fire had thwarted previous attempts to enter.*_​​_*Sergeant Payne knowingly risked his own life by bravely entering the building under intense enemy fire, enduring smoke, heat, and flames to identify the armored door imprisoning the hostages. Upon exiting, Sergeant Payne exchanged his rifle for bolt cutters and again entered the building, ignoring the enemy rounds impacting the walls around him as he cut the locks on a complex locking mechanism. His courageous actions motivated the coalition assault team members to enter the breach and assist with cutting the locks.*_​​_*After exiting to catch his breath, he reentered the building to make the final lock cuts, freeing 37 hostages. Sergeant Payne then facilitated the evacuation of the hostages despite being ordered to evacuate the collapsing building himself, which was now structurally unsound due to the fire.*_​​_*Sergeant Payne then reentered the burning building one last time to ensure everyone had been evacuated. He consciously exposed himself to enemy automatic gunfire each time he entered the building.*_​​*Sergeant Payne’s extraordinary heroism and selfless actions were key to liberating 75 hostages during a contested rescue mission that resulted in 20 enemy fighters killed in action.*​


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## doublejj (Sep 11, 2020)




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## raratt (Sep 18, 2020)




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## wascaptain (Sep 21, 2020)

my son sent me this pic of him piloting a 300 foot work boat going through hurricane beta.

give you a boner gwn? lol


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 21, 2020)

wascaptain said:


> my son sent me this pic of him piloting a 300 foot work boat going through hurricane beta.
> 
> give you a boner gwn? lol


300' is a lotta boat & that really helps with the righting moment.
Excessive weight up high on the vessel tends to teach you how to Bulkhead Walk and 

Active fin stabilization is the pinnacle of technological luxury though.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 22, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
*In New York City on September 22, 1776, Nathan Hale, a Connecticut schoolteacher and captain in the Continental Army, is executed by the British for spying.*

_A graduate of Yale University, Hale joined a Connecticut regiment in 1775 and served in the successful siege of British-occupied Boston. On September 10, 1776, he volunteered to cross behind British lines on Long Island to spy on the British in preparation for the Battle of Harlem Heights.

Disguised as a Dutch schoolmaster, the Yale-educated Hale slipped behind British lines on Long Island and successfully gathered information about British troop movements for the next several weeks. While Hale was behind enemy lines, the British invaded the island of Manhattan; they took control of the city on September 15, 1776. When the city was set on fire on September 20, British soldiers were told to look out for sympathizers to the Patriot cause. The following evening, September 21, Hale was captured while sailing Long Island Sound, trying to cross back into American-controlled territory. Although rumors surfaced that Hale was betrayed by his first cousin and British Loyalist Samuel Hale, the exact circumstances of Hale’s capture have never been discovered.

Hale was interrogated by British General William Howe and, when it was discovered that he was carrying incriminating documents, General Howe ordered his execution for spying, which was set for the following morning. *After being led to the gallows, legend holds that the 21-year-old Hale said, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” *There is no historical record to prove that Hale actually made this statement, but, if he did, he may have been inspired by these lines in English author Joseph Addison’s 1713 play Cato: “What a pity it is/That we can die but once to serve our country.”_


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## raratt (Sep 22, 2020)




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## cannabineer (Sep 22, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4691691


Looks like I’m a natural for Weps


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## raratt (Sep 22, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> Looks like I’m a natural for Weps


Also known as BB stackers...


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## BarnBuster (Sep 23, 2020)

House passes bill to clear path for Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe to receive posthumous Medal of Honor


A bill passed Tuesday night waives the federally mandated time limit for presenting Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe the nation’s highest award for valor.




www.stripes.com





His Silver Star Citation:








Alwyn Cashe - Recipient -







valor.militarytimes.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 23, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> House passes bill to clear path for Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe to receive posthumous Medal of Honor
> 
> 
> A bill passed Tuesday night waives the federally mandated time limit for presenting Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe the nation’s highest award for valor.
> ...


Bravo Zulu Sgt. Cashe - we should all be so selfless.
+


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## raratt (Sep 23, 2020)

FYI:



__ https://www.facebook.com/VeteransAffairs/posts/10157950687928178


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## BarnBuster (Sep 28, 2020)

Ted Crosby – An Ace in a Day


As Ted Crosby watched, Yamato’s giant, 18-inch guns hit the water, their enormous weight probably helping the battleship capsize. Suddenly, Yamato’s No. 1 magazine exploded, sending up a huge coil …




pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com


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## BarnBuster (Sep 28, 2020)

A lot of history in this as well, especially about the workforce back home churning out the aircraft. Photos and film about women workers (referred to as one of America's secret weapons in WW2) that I had not seen before. The first hour or so is pre-recorded history, last 2 are the "flyover" (called off due to weather but well done, nonetheless).


edit: just had to request some books from the library

*Freedom's forge : how American business produced victory in World War II / *Arthur Herman.
*Building the B-29* / Jacob Vander Meulen.
*The superfortress is born : the story of the Boeing B-29* / by Thomas Collison 
_*Saga of the superfortress : the dramatic history of the B-29 and the Twentieth Air Force*_ / Steve Birdsall.
*A call to arms : mobilizing America for World War II */ Maury Klein


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## raratt (Sep 28, 2020)

WTF?


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## BarnBuster (Oct 1, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​
*On October 1, 1946, 12 high-ranking Nazis are sentenced to death by the International War Crimes Tribunal in Nuremberg.*_ Among those condemned to death by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior. Seven others, including Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Three others were acquitted.

The trial, which had lasted nearly 10 months, was conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the USSR, France, and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace to crimes of war and crimes against humanity. On October 16, 10 of the architects of Nazi policy were hanged one by one. Hermann Goering, who at sentencing was called the “leading war aggressor and creator of the oppressive program against the Jews,” committed suicide by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia; he is now known to have died in Berlin at the end of the war.



https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/public/TrumanNuremberg_handouts.pdf




https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e782/f6db34f0d876e8190c7313df63a45f635a82.pdf?_ga=2.80926167.1959361701.1601568126-1842350114.1601568126


_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 3, 2020)

Today in Military History:

_*On the morning of October 3, 2009, members of the U.S. Army’s Black Knight Troop (3-61 Cav, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division) were attacked at their base – Combat Outpost Keating – by more than 300 well-armed Taliban soldiers*. Located deep within Afghanistan’s remote and mountainous Nuristan province, COP Keating was established in 2006 as a base of operations for U.S. Army personnel seeking to stop the flow of soldiers and munitions arriving from nearby Pakistan and as a place to direct and support counterinsurgency efforts in the nearby villages. The deadly attack on October 3 led to the deaths of 8 U.S. Army servicemen and wounded another 22. *The remarkable courage and heroism shown during this desperate battle led to numerous decorations, including Medals of Honor for Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha and Specialist Ty Carter. (7 Silver Stars, 15 Bronze Stars w/ "V")*_








The Battle of COP Keating - National Medal of Honor Museum


On the morning of October 3, 2009, members of the U.S. Army’s Black Knight Troop (3-61 Cav, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division) were attacked at their base – Combat Outpost Keating – by more than 300 well-armed Taliban soldiers. Located deep within Afghanistan’s remote and...




mohmuseum.org





*++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++*​_On 22 August, Task Force Ranger, consisting of one company of Rangers from 3/75, a special forces unit, and a deployment package of the 160th SOAR (A), was ordered to deploy to Mogadishu, Somalia. They departed on 26 August. 

The mission of the 160th SOAR (A) as defined by the task force commander was: “When directed, [to] deploy to Mogadishu, Somalia; [to] conduct operations to capture General Aideed and/or designated others. The aviation task force must be prepared to conduct two primary courses of action: moving convoy and strong point assault. . . . Success is defined as the live capture of General Aideed and designated individuals and recovery to the designated transload point; safely and without fratricide.” 

In Mogadishu the task force occupied an old hangar and old construction trailers under primitive conditions. During the month of September, the force conducted several successful missions to arrest Aideed sympathizers and to confiscate arms caches. The aircraft also made frequent flights over the city to desensitize the public to the presence of military aircraft and to familiarize themselves with the narrow streets and alleys of the city. 

*On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, informed that two leaders of Aideed’s clan were at a residence in central Mogadishu, the task force sent 19 aircraft, 12 vehicles, and 160 men to arrest them. *

During the mission, one of the Rangers fast-roping from an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, missed the rope and fell 70 feet to the street below, badly injuring himself. 

The two leaders were quickly arrested, and the prisoners and the injured Ranger were loaded on a convoy of ground vehicles. Armed Somalis were converging on the target area from all over the city. 

In the meantime, another MH-60, call sign Super 61 and piloted by CW4 Clifton P. Wolcott and CW3 Donovan Briley, was flying low over the street a few blocks from the target area, and was struck from behind by an rocket propelled grenade (RPG). The MH-60 crashed to the street below. 

The convoy and the Somali crowds immediately headed for the crash site. An MH-6 Little Bird, call sign Star 41, piloted by CW4 Keith Jones and CW3 Karl Maier, landed in the street next to the downed MH-60 and attempted to evacuate the casualties. Both Wolcott and Briley had been killed in the crash. Jones went to assist survivors, successfully pulling two soldiers into the Little Bird, while Maier laid down suppressive fire from the cockpit with his individual weapon. 

Under intense ground fire, the MH-6 departed with its crew and survivors. In the meantime, Blackhawk Super 64, with pilot CW3 Michael Durant, copilot CW4 Raymond Frank, and crewmembers SSG William Cleveland and SSG Thomas Field, moved in to take Super 61’s place in the formation. 

As Super 64 circled over the target area, an RPG suddenly struck it. The Blackhawk’s tail rotor was severely damaged, and the air mission commander ordered it back to the airfield. En route to the airfield, the tail rotor and much of the rear assembly fell off, and the helicopter pitched forward and crashed. 

Meanwhile the ground convoy had lost its way, and rescue forces were already overtaxed at the site of the first Blackhawk crash. As armed Somalis rushed toward the Super 64 crash site, the crew’s only hope came from SFC Randall Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon aboard the covering Blackhawk, Super 62, who volunteered to jump in and protect the crew of the downed helicopter. They would ultimately sacrifice their lives for their downed comrades. Durant and Frank had both suffered broken legs in the crash, and both of the crew chiefs were severely wounded. 

A large crowd of Somalis, organized by the local militia, surrounded the crew and their rescuers and engaged in a fierce firefight, killing all but Durant. Then, they rushed the downed pilot, severely beating him and taking him prisoner. Meanwhile another Blackhawk carrying a rescue team arrived over the crash site of Super 61 and the 15-man team fast-roped to the ground. 

They found both Wolcott and Briley already dead, but crew chiefs Staff Sgt. Ray Dowdy and Staff Sgt. Charlie Warren were still alive in the wreckage. It took hours to pry Wolcott’s body from the wreckage. In the meantime, the soldiers set up a perimeter to protect against attack from Somali militia and armed civilians and awaited the arrival of a convoy from the 10th Mountain Division to rescue them. 

The militia had taken Mike Durant captive, planning to trade him for Somali prisoners. But before they could get him back to their village, they were intercepted by local bandits, who took Durant, intending to use him for ransom. He was taken back to a house where he was held, interrogated, and videotaped. Later, after Aideed paid his ransom, Durant was moved to the apartment of Aideed’s propaganda minister. 

After five days, he was visited by a representative of the International Red Cross and interviewed by British and French journalists. Finally, after ten days, with the intervention of former U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Robert Oakley, he was released and flew home to a hero’s welcome. The mission was over. 

The 160th SOAR (A) had been involved in the fiercest battle since the Vietnam War. It had lost two MH-60 aircraft with two more severely damaged, suffered eight wounded and five killed in action, and had had one of its pilots taken captive. Despite the public perception that this was a failed mission, Task Force Ranger did take into custody and delivered the two leaders from Aideed’s clan, resulting in mission accomplishment. President Clinton expressed sorrow at the deaths of American soldiers in Somalia, but reaffirmed those U.S. forces would stay in the African nation._

*That 2-day action resulted in awards of 2 Medals of Honor (both posthumously), 1 Air Force Cross, and at least three dozen Silver Stars including awards to 2 Air Force personnel, 5 Navy Seals, and two dozen or more Army soldiers, pilots, Rangers, and Delta Force members. *









Battle of Mogadishu (1993) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 5, 2020)

US Army now allowing nap time during the day for soldiers who don't get enough sleep


In its newest health manual update, the U.S. Army has recommended napping for soldiers to restore alertness when regular sleep is not possible due to




americanmilitarynews.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 7, 2020)

Today in Military History:

*The 98 Rock on Wake Island*​
_*"On October 7, 1943, Rear Adm. Shigematsu Sakaibara, commander of the Japanese garrison on the island, orders the execution of 96 Americans POWs, claiming they were trying to make radio contact with U.S. forces.*

In late December 1941, the Japanese reinforced existing forces on Wake Island, part of a coral atoll west of Hawaii, in massive numbers after being unable to wrest the island from a small number of Americans troops earlier in the month. The Japanese strength was now overwhelming, and most of those Americans left alive after the battle were taken by the Japanese off the island to POW camps elsewhere. Ninety-six (?,bb) remained behind to be used as forced labor. The Allied response was periodic bombing of the island—but no more land invasions, as part of a larger Allied strategy to leave certain Japanese-occupied islands in the South Pacific to basically starve in isolation.

The execution of those remaining American POWs, who were blindfolded and shot in cold blood, remains one of the more brutal episodes of the War.

Sakaibara had the 98 prisoners machine-gunned en masse on the beach. One of them managed to survive and escape the slaughter, but was recaptured shortly after, and is supposed to have been personally beheaded by the admiral. It’s said that unidentified man carved a (misdated) testimony to the crime on a nearby coral rock known as “98 Rock”: “98 US PW 5-10-43”.

Although the Japanese had hastily exhumed the murdered POWs and reburied them in a cemetery as the end of the war approached, the cover story on the “Wake Island Massacre” soon cracked.

After the war, Sakaibara was taken into custody by the American occupation authorities, extradited to Guam, and sentenced to death by a military tribunal for war crimes in connection with his actions on Wake Island. *He was hanged on June 18, 1947.* Until the end, he maintained, "I think my trial was entirely unfair and the proceeding unfair, and the sentence too harsh, but I obey with pleasure."



https://bonitagilbert.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/WAKE-98.pdf










Battle of Wake Island - All Those Who Surrendered Were Tortured, 98 Were Machine-Gunned


Before the threat of war in the Pacific and the outbreak of World War II, Wake Island was a stopping off point for vacationers aboard Pan American flights




www.warhistoryonline.com




_


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## doublejj (Oct 7, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> View attachment 4706787
> *The 98 Rock on Wake Island*​
> _*"On October 7, 1943, Rear Adm. Shigematsu Sakaibara, commander of the Japanese garrison on the island, orders the execution of 96 Americans POWs, claiming they were trying to make radio contact with U.S. forces.*
> ...


This went on in Vietnam too. Have you ever noticed how few enlisted US soldiers were taken as POWs in Vietnam? That's because if you weren't an officer, the VC/NVA weren't taking prisoners.......and neither were we. That's a rough way to fight a war.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 8, 2020)

Vietnam War POW/MIA List


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## BarnBuster (Oct 8, 2020)

​
*"On October 8, 1918, United States Corporal Alvin C. York reportedly kills over 20 German soldiers and captures an additional 132 at the head of a small detachment in the Argonne Forest near the Meuse River in France. The exploits later earned York the Medal of Honor.*
_
Born in 1887 in a log cabin near the Tennessee-Kentucky border, York was the third of 11 children in a family supported by subsistence farming and hunting. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a fundamentalist Christian around 1915. Two years later, when the United States entered World War I, York was drafted into the U.S. Army. After being denied conscientious-objector status, York enlisted in the 82nd Infantry Division and in May 1918 arrived in France for active duty on the Western Front. He served in the successful Saint-Mihiel offensive in September of that year, was promoted to corporal and given command of his own squad.

The events of October 8, 1918, took place as part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive—what was to be the final Allied push against German forces on the Western Front during World War I. York and his battalion were given the task of seizing German-held positions across a valley; after encountering difficulties, the small group of soldiers—numbering some 17 men—were fired upon by a German machine-gun nest at the top of a nearby hill. The gunners cut down nine men, including a superior officer, leaving York in charge of the squad.

As York wrote in his diary of his subsequent actions: “[T]hose machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful…. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush, I didn’t even have time to kneel or lie down…. As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. In order to sight me or to swing their machine guns on me, the Germans had to show their heads above the trench, and every time I saw a head I just touched it off. All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had.”

Several other American soldiers followed York’s lead and began firing; as they drew closer to the machine-gun nest, the German commander—thinking he had underestimated the size of the enemy squadron—surrendered his garrison of some 90 men. On the way back to the Allied lines, York and his squad took more prisoners, for a total of 132. Though Alvin York consistently played down his accomplishments of that day, he was given credit for killing more than 20 German soldiers. Promoted to the rank of sergeant, he remained on the front lines until November 1, 10 days before the armistice. In April 1919, York was awarded the highest American military decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Lauded by The New York Times as “the war’s biggest hero” and by General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), as “the greatest civilian soldier” of World War I, York went on to found a school for underprivileged children, the York Industrial Institute (now Alvin C. York Institute), in rural Tennessee. In 1941, his heroism became the basis for a movie, Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper. Upon York’s death in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson called him “a symbol of American courage and sacrifice” who epitomized “the gallantry of American fighting men and their sacrifices on behalf of freedom.”_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2020)

​


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## smokinrav (Oct 13, 2020)

Regular Army vet here. Long fucking time ago, 87 - 89.
I do remember my favorite cadence tho....

A yellow bird, with a yellow bill
Was sitting on, my windowsill
I lured him in, with a piece of bread
And then I smashed his, fuckin' head
Sound off 1 2, sound again 3 4


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## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2020)

​








Sound Off: Where The Military's Rhythm Came From


In almost every Hollywood depiction of the American military, at some point a bunch of guys will jog past the camera, singing and stepping in unison. That rhythm infiltrated the Army in 1944.




www.npr.org


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## doublejj (Oct 13, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4713177​
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I hated Jody!......


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## raratt (Oct 13, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4713177​
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I was just trying to look up some of the cadences we used to do this morning, weird. Couldn't find them but I don't remember much of how they went.


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## doublejj (Oct 13, 2020)

raratt said:


> I was just trying to look up some of the cadences we used to do this morning, weird. Couldn't find them but I don't remember much of how they went.


"Ain't no use in looking down, aint no discharge on the ground"
"Ain't no use in looking back, Jody's got your Cadillac"...


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## smokinrav (Oct 13, 2020)

There was one about fucking an ugly girl in the basement, but I can't find it. Something about putting a flag on her face and fucking her for Glory. 
Sorry ladies, it was still an all boys club when I was in.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 14, 2020)

_"According to reports on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2020, the famed WWII Army unit Merrill's Marauders has been approved to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest honor. Nearly 3,000 soldiers began the unit's secret mission in Japanese occupied Burma in 1944. Barely 200 remained in the fight when their mission was completed five months later."_









WWII jungle fighting unit approved for congressional medal


The soldiers spent months behind enemy lines, marching hundreds of miles through the tangled jungles and steep mountains of Burma as they battled hunger and disease between firefights with Japanese forces during their secret mission...




apnews.com




*************************************************************************************************​








Air Force pararescuemen receive Bronze Stars with valor for life-saving actions in Afghanistan


Two airmen were recognized for their actions during separate missions with Army Special Forces units in the southern province of Helmand.




www.stripes.com


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## smokinrav (Oct 14, 2020)

It's about time Merrill's Marauders got their due. I loved that story growing up.

Some of the acts of bravery in WW2 are breathtaking. Think about Doolittle and the raid on Tokyo in 1942. Taking off from the deck of an aircraft carrier in twin engined bombers twice as large and half as fast as they should be, launching in the middle of the Pacific on a one way mission to Tokyo, the most heavily defended city on Earth. 
If all goes perfect, they'll drop a handful of bombs that do no meaningful damage, fly across Japan, then the Sea of Japan crossing far enough into China so they can bail out where the Japanese haven't advanced yet, hoping to get picked up by Chinese citizens who won't turn them in for reward. 
Then maybe make it 10,000 miles back to America somehow, across a war zone either way. 
Balls. Big balls of steel.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 21, 2020)

Today in Military History:
​
*In one of the most decisive naval battles in history on October 21, 1805 the British fleet under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, fought off the coast of Spain.*

_At sea, Lord Nelson and the Royal Navy consistently thwarted Napoleon Bonaparte, who led France to preeminence on the European mainland. Nelson’s last and greatest victory against the French was the Battle of Trafalgar, which began after Nelson caught sight of a Franco-Spanish force of 33 ships. Preparing to engage the enemy force on October 21, Nelson divided his 27 ships into two divisions and signaled a famous message from his flagship HMS Victory: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” Nelson’s default instruction to his officers was ‘No captain can do wrong if he puts his ship alongside the nearest enemy’.

In five hours of fighting, the British devastated the enemy fleet, destroying 19 enemy ships. British casualties were 1,587 men killed and wounded. The French and Spanish casualties were never revealed, but are thought to have been around 16,000 men killed, wounded or captured.

The battle raged at its fiercest around the Victory, and a French sniper shot Nelson in the shoulder and chest. The admiral was taken below and died about 30 minutes before the end of the battle. Nelson’s last words, after being informed that victory was imminent, were “Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty.”

Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar ensured that Napoleon would never invade Britain. Nelson, hailed as the savior of his nation, was given a magnificent funeral in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Rather than bury his body at sea, Nelson’s quick-thinking Irish surgeon William Beatty preserved it in a cask of brandy lashed to the deck of the ship. (A hurricane is on the horizon and the mast has been shot off; there is no way to hang the sails that would get ship (and body) to England quickly.)

The victory at the Battle of Trafalgar ensured that Britain’s dominance at sea remained largely unchallenged for the rest of the ten years of war against France, and continued worldwide for further one hundred and twenty years. His death brought about an outpouring of public grief hardly equaled to this day. Fascination with his life, both personal and public, had begun. In death, Nelson had finally achieved his greatest ambition, immortality. Even today, Nelson is revered as one of England’s greatest heroes. A column was erected to his memory in the newly named Trafalgar Square, and numerous streets were renamed in his honor.

HMS Victory, lies in Portsmouth Harbour Historic Dockyard , preserved as it was at the time of the battle. Victory currently has a dual role as the Flagship of the First Sea Lord and as a living museum to the Georgian Navy. She transferred to The National Museum of the Royal Navy in 2012.









The Battle of Trafalgar. 21 October 1805


Nelson’s crushing defeat of the French and Spanish Navies on 21st October 1805, establishing Britain as the dominant world naval power for…




graham100200.medium.com












The Scandalous Decision to Pickle Admiral Horatio Nelson in Brandy


In the middle of the Napoleonic War, Britain's most famous naval hero is struck by a fatal musket ball at the very moment of his greatest strategic triumph....




www.atlasobscura.com




_


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## smokinrav (Oct 21, 2020)

I would love to tour HMS Victory


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## wascaptain (Oct 21, 2020)

in honor ....


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## Omkarananda (Oct 22, 2020)

Hey fellow vet here (e-6 army two Iraq’s- combat mos...did missions) just saying hey and supporting all of you and growing your own medicine.


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## smokinrav (Oct 22, 2020)

Thank you for your service. I was lucky to serve before GW1. I did get my Ready Reserve call up letter, and I'm like wait, what? Ready Reserve? The hell is that? I had to go back to my recruiter and be told that, yeah, they can call you back to active duty up to 7 years after you leave. Commerce Hershey squirts.


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## Omkarananda (Oct 22, 2020)

Thanks and thanks for your service too. I knew a few guys who got called back after they ets’d and had to deploy. I feel for you brother!


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## BarnBuster (Oct 23, 2020)

Today in Military History:

*The body of the Unknown Soldier chosen by Sergeant Edward F. Younger is loaded on the train in France.(World War I Signal Corps Collection).*​
_Inspired by both Britain and France honoring their unknown warriors, the U.S. Congress approved Public Resolution 67 in 1921 and the process of locating U.S. unknown soldier for burial in Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) began. *On October 23, 1921, in the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne, an American officer selects the body of the first “Unknown Soldier” to be honored among the approximately 77,000 United States servicemen killed on the Western Front during World War I*.

According to the official records of the Army Graves Registration Service deposited in the U.S. National Archives in Washington, four bodies were transported to Chalons from the cemeteries of Aisne-Marne, Somme, Meuse-Argonne and Saint-Mihiel.

All were great battlegrounds, and the latter two regions were the sites of two offensive operations in which American troops took a leading role in the decisive summer and fall of 1918. As the service records stated, the identity of the bodies was completely unknown: “The original records showing the internment of these bodies were searched and the four bodies selected represented the remains of soldiers of which there was absolutely no indication as to name, rank, organization or date of death.”

The four bodies arrived at the Hotel de Ville in Chalons-sur-Marne on October 23, 1921. At 10 o’clock the next morning, French and American officials entered a hall where the four caskets were displayed, each draped with an American flag. Sergeant Edward Younger, the man given the task of making the selection, carried a spray of white roses with which to mark the chosen casket. According to the official account, Younger “entered the chamber in which the bodies of the four Unknown Soldiers lay, circled the caskets three times, then silently placed the flowers on the third casket from the left. He faced the body, stood at attention and saluted.”

The casket was inscribed: 'An Unknown American who gave his life in the World War.' The coffin was sealed and then draped with the Stars and Stripes. The original spray of white roses was laid upon the new casket and, as the strains of Chopin's 'Funeral March' broke upon the silence, the pallbearers lifted the casket and bore it to the catafalque in a shrine erected in the center of the large hall facing the principal gate of the Hotel de Ville."

After the selection of the Unknown Soldier, the remaining three caskets were immediately loaded onto a waiting tuck and taken to Romagne Cemetery where they were reburied in grave numbers 1, 2 and 3.
The casket lay in state until late afternoon when it was loaded onto a special train and taken to Paris where it remained overnight. On the morning of October 25, the train carried the Unknown Soldier to the port of Le Havre where the casket was transferred to the American cruiser "Olympia for the final journey home:

"As the body was being transferred to the vessel, the band of the Olympia played the 'Marseillaise' and the 'Star Spangled Banner.' The American Marines were lined on the Quai d'Escale and presented arms as the pallbearers with the Unknown passed.

The casket was placed on the stern of the cruiser, which had been beautifully decorated with wreaths, flowers and flags. The school children of Le Havre went aboard and banked flowers around the casket. During the ceremonies, the two French destroyers, which had been acting as escorts to the American cruiser, were pulled out beyond the breakwater. Silently, the Olympia moved slowly from the pier and steamed out into the bay. She was met by a salute of 17 guns from the French destroyer in honor of America's Cherished hero, to which she promptly responded. The Nameless Warrior was leaving for his last resting place in the land of his birth."

The Olympia was Admiral Dewey's Flagship during the Spanish-American war. She served in the Mediterranean during World War I. Transporting the Unknown Soldier back to the US was her last mission. 

Once back in the United States, the Unknown Soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C._

__
*The World War I Unknown is below the marble sarcophagus. Other Unknowns are beneath the white slabs on the ground (World War II, right; Korean War, left). A Vietnam War Unknown was under the middle slab until 1998, when he was identified.*​








Bringing the Unknown Soldier Home in 1921 (10 Photos)







archiveproject.com






CHAPTER I - The Last Salute


----------



## raratt (Oct 26, 2020)

For your viewing pleasure. Aim High!








Sign Up FREE for AirDotShow's Livestream Broadcast of Today's OC Air Show!


When you can't be at Show Center, AirDotShow Livestream brings Show Center to you! Catch all the action via our Virtual Dashboard with the LIVE video feed including the show narration, flight line cam and online merchandise store!




air.show


----------



## raratt (Oct 28, 2020)

*Veterans, Gold Star families, 5th graders to get free entry to national parks*
On Nov. 11 the department will permanently waive entrance fees for veterans and Gold Star dependents. The department currently waives the fees for active-duty military service members, and disabled veterans have been able to apply for a lifetime park access pass.

Veterans can use four kinds of ID to access the benefit. Park employees will take Gold Star families at their word, Everson said. Gold Star dependents have a loved one who was killed in military service.


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## smokinrav (Oct 29, 2020)

OK grunts, here it is, the new Infantry Squad Vehicle, a stretched Chevy Colorado with the ZR 2 off road package. Seats 9. No doors. No Roof. No armor of any kind. What could possibly go wrong?

(The link works)









Google News


Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, aggregated from sources all over the world by Google News.




news.google.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 1, 2020)

America’s Last Living WWII Medal of Honor Recipients Are the Example Our Nation Needs | National Review


At 99 and 97 years old, respectively, Charles H. Coolidge and Hershel W. Williams have lived remarkable lives. We could learn a lot from them.




www.nationalreview.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 2, 2020)




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## haight (Nov 3, 2020)

You're in the army now, 
You're in the army now,
You'll never get rich,
You son of a bitch,
You're in the army now.
Hut, two three four


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## doublejj (Nov 3, 2020)

haight said:


> You're in the army now,
> You're in the army now,
> You'll never get rich,
> You son of a bitch,
> ...


Off you're ass and on you're feet
Out of the shade and into the heat
Sound off One Two Three Four'
You had a good home when you left, you're right,
You had a good home when you left, right, left, right......


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## too larry (Nov 3, 2020)

doublejj said:


> Off you're ass and on you're feet
> Out of the shade and into the heat
> Sound off One Two Three Four'
> You had a good home when you left, you're right,
> You had a good home when you left, right, left, right......


It didn't take long for them to learn my name in boot camp. "Larry, get in step" was a common refrain.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 3, 2020)

too larry said:


> It didn't take long for them to learn my name in boot camp. "Larry, get in step" was a common refrain.My


My experience was a bit tougher.
You got it right or you got a "talking to" in the squad bay after lights out.


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## too larry (Nov 3, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My experience was a bit tougher.
> You got it right or you got a "talking to" in the squad bay after lights out.


Beating me would just make me black and blue. Wouldn't have helped keep in step. Funny me being a hiker today. Also pretty funny two seagoing services put so much stock in walking.


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## raratt (Nov 3, 2020)

too larry said:


> Beating me would just make me black and blue. Wouldn't have helped keep in step. Funny me being a hiker today. Also pretty funny two seagoing services put so much stock in walking.


The Navy students at Keesler looked like they were doing a group wander, the AF students didn't get away with that.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 3, 2020)

too larry said:


> Beating me would just make me black and blue. Wouldn't have helped keep in step. Funny me being a hiker today. Also pretty funny two seagoing services put so much stock in walking.


Not really just "walking, it's teamwork that is the ultimate goal.
Without it you would be ineffective.


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## too larry (Nov 3, 2020)

raratt said:


> The Navy students at Keesler looked like they were doing a group wander, the AF students didn't get away with that.


After bootcamp, while I was waiting for my schools to start, we marched to the mess hall. After I got into school, never marched again.


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## too larry (Nov 3, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Not really just "walking, it's teamwork that is the ultimate goal.
> Without it you would be ineffective.


Yes. At that stage it's all attention to detail. Even folding your underwear.


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## raratt (Nov 3, 2020)

For the 99%.


----------



## raratt (Nov 5, 2020)

__





Welcome to the Veterans Legacy Memorial (VLM) | Find your Veteran


VLM honors Veterans who served in the U.S. Armed Forces with memorial pages. Search for your Veteran’s name along with service branch service, war period and cemetery. Share their stories, memories and more.



www.vlm.cem.va.gov


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## haight (Nov 5, 2020)

too larry said:


> Yes. At that stage it's all attention to detail. Even folding your underwear.


You mean you didn't iron them?


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 5, 2020)

Hospital corners on your rack every morning.

And for God's sake don't forget to lock your duffel bag.


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## smokinrav (Nov 5, 2020)

In military school, I could never get hospital corners right. Demerits every day after inspection . Too many demerits, you couldn't go home for the weekend. I never fucking went home lol


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## BarnBuster (Nov 6, 2020)

Today in Military History:

 ​
*On 6th November 1917, after three months of fierce fighting, British and Canadian forces finally took control of the tiny village of Passchendaele in the West Flanders region of Belgium, so ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War I*_. *With approximately a third of a million British and Allied soldiers either killed or wounded,* the Battle of Passchendaele (officially the third battle of Ypres), symbolises the true horror of industrialised trench warfare.

The Passchendaele campaign was preceded by what was then the largest planned explosion in history. For months, British, Canadian and Australian tunnellers had burrowed underneath the German defences on Messines Ridge in the Ypres Salient, where they planted 21 massive explosive mines. At 3 a.m. on June 7, 1917, 19 of them were detonated in rapid succession. The resulting blasts knocked waiting British troops off their feet; the rumble could be heard as far away as London. An estimated 10,000 German soldiers perished and the cratered landscape was soon in Allied hands. Amazingly, two of the mines failed to explode. One was detonated by lightning in 1955, killing a cow. The other, its location since discovered, lies underneath a Belgian farm. Authorities have declared it too difficult and dangerous to dismantle even 100 years later.

General Sir Douglas Haig, the British Commander in Chief in France, had been convinced to launch his forces at the German submarine bases along the Belgian coast in an attempt to reduce the massive shipping losses then being suffered by the Royal Navy. General Haig also believed that the German army was close to collapse and that a major offensive …“just one more push”, could hasten the end the war.

Thus the offensive at Passchendaele was launched on the 18th July 1917 with a bombardment of the German lines involving 3,000 guns. In the 10 days that followed, it is estimated that over 4¼ million shells were fired. _

(WW1 artillery shells had a 30% detonation failure rate. Coupled with the fact that they buried themselves sometimes yards deep, areas of WW1 battlefields are off limits still today and farmers regularly turn up UXO (unexploded ordinance)/ERW (explosive remnants of war) The “Iron Harvest” is the annual “harvest” of war remnants including UXO, barbed wire, and shrapnel collected by Belgian and French farmers after ploughing their fields; see Red Zone below bb.)

_The actual infantry assault followed at 03.50 on 31st July, but far from collapsing, the German Fourth Army fought well and restricted the main British advance to relatively small gains.

Shortly after the initial assault, the heaviest rains in more that 30 years began to fall on Flanders, drenching the soldiers and the low lying fields over which the battle was taking place. The artillery shells that had bombarded the German lines only days before had not only torn up the land but had also destroyed the drainage systems that were keeping the reclaimed marshland dry. With the continued pounding, the rain drenched ground quickly turned into a thick swamp of mud.

Even the newly-developed tanks made little headway; unable to move, they quickly became stuck fast in the liquid mud. With each new phase of the offensive the rain kept falling, filling the shell holes with water. The clinging mud caked the soldier’s uniforms and clogged their rifles, but that was the least of their worries as in places the mud had become so deep that both men and horses were drowned, lost forever in the stinking quagmire. It took six men to stretcher a wounded soldier across the glue-like surface. Many survivors recalled stumbling along, their boots being sucked off their feet and then came the sensation of sinking up to their waists in mud. Additionally, thousands of exhausted horses and mules died attempting to haul gun carriages across the devastated, cratered landscape which had been churned up by shelling.

The only solid structures in this sea of desolation were the enemy’s concrete pillboxes; from here the German machine-gunners could scythe down any Allied infantry that had been ordered to advance

With the hopelessness of the situation apparent, General Haig temporarily suspended the attack.

A fresh British offensive was launched on the 20th September under the command of Herbert Plumer which eventually resulted in some small gains being made including the capture of a nearby ridge just east of Ypres. General Haig ordered further attacks in early October which proved less successful. Allied troops met stiff opposition from German reserves being poured into the area, and many British and Empire soldiers suffered severe chemical burns as the Germans employed mustard gas to help defend their position.

Unwilling to accept failure, General Haig ordered three more assaults on the Passchendaele ridge in late October. Casualty rates were high during these final stages, with Canadian divisions in particular suffering huge losses. When British and Canadian forces finally reached Passchendaele on 6th November 1917 hardly a trace of the original village structures remained. The capture of the village did however give General Haig the excuse to call an end to the offensive, claiming success.

In the three and half months of the offensive the British and Empire forces had advanced barely five miles, suffering horrendous casualties. Perhaps their only consolation was that the Germans had suffered almost as badly with around 250,000 killed or injured. In the aftermath of the battle, General Haig was severely criticized for continuing the offensive long after the operation had lost any real strategic value.

Perhaps more than any other, Passchedaele has come to symbolize the horrors and the great human costs associated with the major battles of the First World War.* British Empire losses included approximately 36,000 Australians, 3,500 New Zealanders and 16,000 Canadians – the latter of which were lost in the last few days / weeks of the final bloody assault. Some 90,000 bodies were never identified and 42,000 never recovered. 

61 Victoria Crosses were awarded during the entire Passchendaele campaigns *

These battles and the British Empire soldiers that perished in them are today commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, the Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing._









Passchendaele: they called it ‘the Battle of the Mud’


Officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele became infamous not only for the scale of casualties, but also for the mud…




medium.com












In Flanders fields, old shells kill For salvage team, World War I goes on







www.baltimoresun.com












Red Zone | National Geographic Society


France's Zone Rouge is a lingering reminder of World War I's Battle of Verdun.




www.nationalgeographic.org












Passchendaele – Inside the First World War's Infamous Slaughter in the Mud - MilitaryHistoryNow.com


“The appalling casualties, the mud and the overall futility of the offensive have made Passchendaele an emblem of the mind-boggling waste of the First World War.” By Darrell Duthie “I DIED IN HELL,” wrote famed...




militaryhistorynow.com


----------



## pabloesqobar (Nov 6, 2020)

My boot camp.


----------



## Singlemalt (Nov 6, 2020)

pabloesqobar said:


> My boot camp.
> View attachment 4735445
> View attachment 4735447


I saw that area in 2000, my dad lived down there. We were driving by and I see this huge obviously defunct gov't/military complex and asked him what it was. He said the old Navy training center. I asked what are they going to do with it, you can't waste all that space and infrastructure in a big city. He just said "Development"


----------



## pabloesqobar (Nov 6, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> I saw that area in 2000, my dad lived down there. We were driving by and I see this huge obviously defunct gov't/military complex and asked him what it was. He said the old Navy training center. I asked what are they going to do with it, you can't waste all that space and infrastructure in a big city. He just said "Development"


It's nice. But the City damn near gave that property to McMillan, the developer. When it comes to real estate, San Diego has and continues to make some head-scratching deals. They usually end up costing us.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 6, 2020)

pabloesqobar said:


> My boot camp.
> View attachment 4735445
> View attachment 4735447


Mine.


----------



## Singlemalt (Nov 6, 2020)

pabloesqobar said:


> It's nice. But the City damn near gave that property to McMillan, the developer. When it comes to real estate, San Diego has and continues to make some head-scratching deals. They usually end up costing us.


Yeah, that's why Dad was so succinct with his answer, if you knew him you'd have known he didn't approve lol


----------



## cannabineer (Nov 6, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Mine.
> 
> View attachment 4735500


The useful end of NJ


----------



## Grandpapy (Nov 6, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> I saw that area in 2000, my dad lived down there. We were driving by and I see this huge obviously defunct gov't/military complex and asked him what it was. He said the old Navy training center. I asked what are they going to do with it, you can't waste all that space and infrastructure in a big city. He just said "Development"


My son had his wedding reception at a Brew Pub somewhere in there 2 years ago.


----------



## smokinrav (Nov 6, 2020)

omg, definitely not Ft. Jackson lol


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 6, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> The useful end of NJ


I didn't find much of anything useful in that state.
But pushups & the dying cockroach were a main staple.


----------



## cannabineer (Nov 6, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I didn't find much of anything useful in that state.
> But pushups & the dying cockroach were a main staple.


The dying cockroach?


----------



## cannabineer (Nov 6, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I didn't find much of anything useful in that state.
> But pushups & the dying cockroach were a main staple.


Nvm looked it up

Still it sounds like a great name for the sort of bar where lifetime memories are forged


----------



## smokinrav (Nov 6, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> The dying cockroach?


It's a dance in NJ. You don't want to know more...


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 6, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> The dying cockroach?


On the surface it dosen't look that bad, but try it for 10 - 15 minutes with really pissed off big dudes screaming in your face.


----------



## cannabineer (Nov 6, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> On the surface it dosen't look that bad, but try it for 10 - 15 minutes with really pissed off big dudes screaming in your face.


Pain is a cube function of duration. Twice as long = eight times the pain.


----------



## pabloesqobar (Nov 6, 2020)

Grandpapy said:


> My son had his wedding reception at a Brew Pub somewhere in there 2 years ago.


That 1st pic is Stone Brewing. Nice place and they have the room for a reception. Probably there.


----------



## cannabineer (Nov 6, 2020)

pabloesqobar said:


> That 1st pic is Stone Brewing. Nice place and they have the room for a reception. Probably there.
> View attachment 4735719


They brew a nice hazy


----------



## pabloesqobar (Nov 6, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> They brew a nice hazy


I had a couple for the 1st time on Wednesday. Liked it.


----------



## raratt (Nov 8, 2020)




----------



## Borkborknoms (Nov 8, 2020)

Justice is a funny thing. No matter how man tries to impose himself, it follows its' own course.


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 10, 2020)

​


----------



## raratt (Nov 10, 2020)

Air Force A-10 pilot earns prestigious award for pulling off an 'extraordinary' belly landing with no cockpit canopy and damaged landing gear


A gun failure caused an explosion that sent his cockpit canopy flying as he tore through the air at 400 mph. It also wrecked part of the landing gear.




www.businessinsider.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 10, 2020)

Veterans, Gold Star Families get free entrance to national parks, refuges, other public lands - VA News


Veterans and Gold Star Families will be granted free access to national parks, wildlife refuges and other Federal lands managed by the Department of the Interior starting on Veterans Day this year and every day onward.




www.blogs.va.gov












Veterans And Gold Star Families Granted Lifetime Passes To National Parks


Former service members and families of those killed on active duty will have "free access to the iconic and treasured lands they fought to protect."




www.npr.org


----------



## raratt (Nov 10, 2020)

Hey, Wanna Buy a Real, Flyable F-4 Phantom?


This legendary test jet set the low-altitude speed record in 1961. Now it can be all yours.




www.popularmechanics.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2020)

​


----------



## DarkWeb (Nov 11, 2020)

Thank you all


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 14, 2020)

Israeli agents killed al-Qaeda’s No. 2 on Iran street, at behest of US: NY Times


Abu Muhammad al-Masri said gunned down in August; he allegedly orchestrated 1998 US African embassy bombings, 2002 attack on Israeli-owned Kenyan hotel, in which over 200 killed




www.timesofisrael.com


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## raratt (Nov 19, 2020)




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## BarnBuster (Nov 25, 2020)

​


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## cannabineer (Nov 30, 2020)

I figured here was a good place. Neighbors did this.

In person it looks very nice with the brilliant colors.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 1, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> I figured here was a good place. Neighbors did this.
> 
> In person it looks very nice with the brilliant colors.
> 
> View attachment 4756560


What does it say?


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 1, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> What does it say?


God Bless R Troops


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 3, 2020)

_FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The remains of a pair of brothers who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during the Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified._









DOD identifies remains of Indiana brothers who died aboard USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor


Navy Fire Controlman 2nd Class Harold F. Trapp, who died at age 24, and Navy Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class William H. Trapp, 23 at the time of his death, were officially accounted for Nov. 24, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced.




www.stripes.com






https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/casualty/Documents/POW%20MIA/USS%20OKLAHOMA%20(BB-37).pdf




https://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Salvage%20of%20USS%20Oklahoma.pdf


----------



## raratt (Dec 4, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2020)

​


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 8, 2020)

​


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 8, 2020)

A woman will take command of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier for the first time in US Navy history


The Navy has selected Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt as the first woman to command a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.




taskandpurpose.com


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 8, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4762909​











Chuck Yeager, Test Pilot Who Broke the Sound Barrier, Is Dead at 97 (Published 2020)


A World War II fighter ace and Air Force general, he was, according to Tom Wolfe, “the most righteous of all the possessors of the right stuff.”




www.nytimes.com


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 8, 2020)

We salute the Marine scout sniper who snuck up on an enemy completely naked except for a pair of boots


An expert sniper can sneak up on an enemy naked as the day he was born. It's not particularly advised, but one top sharpshooter did exactly that just to prove a point, Marine snipers told Insider




taskandpurpose.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 8, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> We salute the Marine scout sniper who snuck up on an enemy completely naked except for a pair of boots
> 
> 
> An expert sniper can sneak up on an enemy naked as the day he was born. It's not particularly advised, but one top sharpshooter did exactly that just to prove a point, Marine snipers told Insider
> ...


Gives all new meaning to the name Hathcock!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 8, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Gives all new meaning to the name Hathcock!


Carlos was a Bad Ass no mater the category.


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 8, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Carlos was a Bad Ass no *mater* the category.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 8, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> View attachment 4763324


Not a guy you wanted looking for you.


----------



## raratt (Dec 8, 2020)

Had to reverify that I am still married to the same person I have been for 39 years to the VA so they wouldn't retroactively take away a shitload of money from my disability payments.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 8, 2020)

raratt said:


> Had to reverify that I am still married to the same person I have been for 39 years to the VA so they wouldn't retroactively take away a shitload of money from my disability payments.


I'm from the Government, I'm here to help.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 11, 2020)

The veteran spy plane too valuable to replace


Satellites – and drones – were intended to replace it. But the 65-year-old Lockheed U-2 is still at the top of its game, flying missions miles above our everyday world.




www.bbc.com


----------



## smokinrav (Dec 14, 2020)

Very cool, little known story, about the defense of Wake Island against vastly superior Japanese forces just after Pearl Harbor. RIP brothers and sisters. 









Hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, US Marines took on the Japanese in what became the Alamo of the Pacific


The destruction of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor meant Wake Island was on its own as Japan advanced across the Pacific.




www.businessinsider.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 16, 2020)

Today in Military History:
​
_*On December 16, 1944, the Germans launch the last major offensive of the war, Operation Autumn Mist, also known as the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium*. The Battle of the Bulge, so-called because the Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line, was the largest fought on the Western front.

The Germans threw 250,000 soldiers into the initial assault, 14 German infantry divisions guarded by five panzer divisions-against a mere 80,000 Americans. Their assault came in early morning at the weakest part of the Allied line, an 80-mile poorly protected stretch of hilly, woody forest (the Allies simply believed the Ardennes too difficult to traverse, and therefore an unlikely location for a German offensive). Between the vulnerability of the thin, isolated American units and the thick fog that prevented Allied air cover from discovering German movement, the Germans were able to push the Americans into retreat.

One particularly effective German trick was the use of English-speaking German commandos who infiltrated American lines and, using captured U.S. uniforms, trucks, and jeeps, impersonated U.S. military and sabotaged communications. The ploy caused widespread chaos and suspicion among the American troops as to the identity of fellow soldiers–even after the ruse was discovered. Even General Omar Bradley himself had to prove his identity three times–by answering questions about football and Betty Grable–before being allowed to pass a sentry point.

The battle raged for three weeks, resulting in a massive loss of American and civilian life._

Nazi atrocities abounded, including the murder of 72 American soldiers by SS soldiers in the Ardennes town of Malmedy.
 ​


https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/Malmedy_report.pdf










The Malmedy Massacre | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


Hitler had from the beginning posited the war effort as presenting only two possible outcomes: total victory or absolute defeat.




www.nationalww2museum.org












How a Convicted Nazi War Criminal and 72 of His Men Walked Free


In the end, the man who had survived the Eastern and Western fronts and evaded the U.S. military justice system could not escape his past.




www.historynet.com





_Historian Stephen Ambrose estimated that by war’s end, “Of the 600,000 GIs involved, almost 20,000 were killed, another 20,000 were captured, and 40,000 were wounded.” The United States also suffered its second-largest surrender of troops of the war: More than 7,500 members of the 106th Infantry Division capitulated at one time at Schnee Eifel. The devastating ferocity of the conflict also made desertion an issue for the American troops; General Eisenhower was forced to make an example of Private Eddie Slovik, the first American executed for desertion since the Civil War.

The war would not end until better weather enabled American aircraft to bomb and strafe German positions._









Adolf Hitler: On the Eve of the Battle of the Bulge


On the eve of the Battle of the Bulge, was Adolf Hitler a madman or a military genius?




warfarehistorynetwork.com






https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a165909.pdf


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 18, 2020)

US battleships fired their guns for the last time 30 years ago. Here's how they dominated the seas for nearly a century.


Aircraft carriers are now the centerpiece of the Navy fleet, but for nearly a century, battleships sailed into combat around the world.




www.businessinsider.com


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 18, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> US battleships fired their guns for the last time 30 years ago. Here's how they dominated the seas for nearly a century.
> 
> 
> Aircraft carriers are now the centerpiece of the Navy fleet, but for nearly a century, battleships sailed into combat around the world.
> ...


I'd love to see the mounts of the 16 in guns, before and after. The torque of a full broadside had to be incredible. I read once that some guns on the opposite side had to be fired simultaneously to prevent the ship from rolling over after a broadside


----------



## Gavg (Dec 18, 2020)

Stop ya bitching American fanny farts 
Big kiss from a UK vet who was thrown out of the army for smoking the shit we all grow here


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 18, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> I'd love to see the mounts of the 16 in guns, before and after. The torque of a full broadside had to be incredible. I read once that some guns on the opposite side had to be fired simultaneously to prevent the ship from rolling over after a broadside


FWIW, here's what I found.








Is it true or possible that if a battleship fires all of it 16 inch guns at the same time, it could flip the ship over?
 

Answer (1 of 16): No, sorry. An Iowa class Battle ship tips the scales at around 57,000 Tons ( over a hundred million pounds ) and 36 feet of her widest, most dense, and heaviest structure is located under water. She is a very stable platform. Rumors abound that a salvo from all her mighty 16 inc...




www.quora.com









Do Battleships move sideways when they fire? - NavWeaps







www.navweaps.com









I have been told that if battleships of the Second World War era fired a broadside with all the guns of their main armament at the same time they would capsize. Can this be true? | Notes and Queries | guardian.co.uk







www.theguardian.com












If all of the barrels on the turret of a battleship fire, will the ship capsize or list due to the force?


Answer (1 of 10): Battleships were actually designed to fire all of their heavy guns to their available firing arcs at once. At long range, even with good fire control, it’s difficult to hit a moving target with an artillery shell. So, the concept was to fire a full salvo in a pattern to catch th...




www.quora.com


----------



## smokinrav (Dec 18, 2020)

Gavg said:


> Stop ya bitching American fanny farts
> Big kiss from a UK vet who was thrown out of the army for smoking the shit we all grow here


Don't make us come over there and save your asses. Again.


----------



## raratt (Dec 18, 2020)

CIA HQ, A-12 "Oxcart"


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 18, 2020)

raratt said:


> CIA HQ, A-12 "Oxcart"
> View attachment 4771907


I seem to remember that the airframe limited the speed. The engines had more to give, but that would have overheated it. It’s supposed to be a bit faster (at max safe airspeed) than its larger and more famous sibling.

damn spellcheck knew better and put it’s


----------



## smokinrav (Dec 18, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> I seem to remember that the airframe limited the speed. The engines had more to give, but that would have overheated it. It’s supposed to be a bit faster (at max safe airspeed) than its larger and more famous sibling.
> 
> damn spellcheck knew better and put it’s


SR-71 ftw


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 18, 2020)

smokinrav said:


> SR-71 ftw


Only if you’re tasked with carrying Edwin Land’s lump of lead


----------



## raratt (Dec 19, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> lump of lead


The U-2 uses about 5 big lead ingots, Edit: (They call them pigs), and some steel plates mounted in the nose to compensate for the weight of an operational nose when doing training flights with a "dummy" nose.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 20, 2020)

Many VA Benefits Will Be Expanding in 2021 Thanks to a New Law


The new law will expand several popular programs.




www.military.com


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 20, 2020)

Pence reveals U.S. Space Force troops will be called "guardians"


In response, James Gunn, the director of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, tweeted, "Can we sue this dork?"




www.cbsnews.com


----------



## raratt (Dec 20, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> Pence reveals U.S. Space Force troops will be called "guardians"
> 
> 
> In response, James Gunn, the director of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, tweeted, "Can we sue this dork?"
> ...


I guess the Airmen will be Space Cadets...


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 20, 2020)

raratt said:


> I guess the Airmen will be Space Cadets...


It falls under the category of, "What were they thinking?"


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 20, 2020)

So, I have to wonder what the enlistees actually do right now. Is it perennial boot camp until we can actually have people in space with a dedicated infrastructure; i.e for the next 20 yrs?


----------



## raratt (Dec 20, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> So, I have to wonder what the enlistees actually do right now. Is it perennial boot camp until we can actually have people in space with a dedicated infrastructure; i.e for the next 20 yrs?


I think it will just be a shuffling of the existing commands by grouping SATCOM and possibly ICBM and early warning systems into one group.


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 20, 2020)

raratt said:


> I think it will just be a shuffling of the existing commands by grouping SATCOM and possibly ICBM and early warning systems into one group.


I'd rather stay USAF, nicer and more practical uniforms


----------



## raratt (Dec 20, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> I'd rather stay USAF, nicer and more practical uniforms


It's a new command, like ACC or AMC, not a new service. Not sure if it will be a combined service command though.


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 20, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> I'd rather stay USAF, nicer and more practical uniforms


I dunno; these are pretty fetching, especially the helmets.


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 20, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> I dunno; these are pretty fetching, especially the helmets.
> 
> View attachment 4773629


LOL, looks like the center guy and guy on the right side got their helmets overcharged


----------



## Grandpapy (Dec 20, 2020)




----------



## cannabineer (Dec 20, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> LOL, looks like the center guy and guy on the right side got their helmets overcharged


damn plug-in hybrids


----------



## raratt (Dec 20, 2020)

Grandpapy said:


>


I like this one better:


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 20, 2020)

raratt said:


> I like this one better:


Cocker Rocks!


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2020)

Today in Military History:

​


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2020)

Why The Navy Is Looking To End Carrier Qualifications Entirely For Its Pilots In Training


The Navy wants to overhaul how it trains its pilots due to recent innovations that have hit the fleet and the prospect of a new jet trainer.




www.thedrive.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2020)

*"A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."*​_"Nearly all of those who admitted guilt have been allowed to remain at the academy on the condition that they complete a rehabilitation program that includes meeting with a mentor and after-hours classes about the honor system and the importance of being a better leader, Ophardt said. Students will also be on probation for the remainder of their time at the academy. The opportunity for rehabilitation is relatively new at West Point*; *previously*,* cadets would be expelled after violating the rules."









More Than 70 West Point Cadets Accused Of Cheating In Academic Scandal


Instructors at the Army's premier training ground for officers revealed the academic scandal on Monday, saying it's the worst they've seen since 1976. Some called it a national security issue.




www.npr.org




_


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 22, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> *"A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do."*​_"Nearly all of those who admitted guilt have been allowed to remain at the academy on the condition that they complete a rehabilitation program that includes meeting with a mentor and after-hours classes about the honor system and the importance of being a better leader, Ophardt said. Students will also be on probation for the remainder of their time at the academy. The opportunity for rehabilitation is relatively new at West Point*; *previously*,* cadets would be expelled after violating the rules."
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You can bet they are marked individuals now and advancement at the standard pace is highly unlikely.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You can bet they are marked individuals now and advancement at the standard pace is highly unlikely.


Yup, when Higher are evaluating him in 5 years, _"wasn't he one of those who...?_"


----------



## Gavg (Dec 22, 2020)

smokinrav said:


> Don't make us come over there and save your asses. Again.


You mean take all the glory


----------



## pabloesqobar (Dec 22, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Why The Navy Is Looking To End Carrier Qualifications Entirely For Its Pilots In Training
> 
> 
> The Navy wants to overhaul how it trains its pilots due to recent innovations that have hit the fleet and the prospect of a new jet trainer.
> ...


It's been a few weeks. Should be another crash shortly.


----------



## pabloesqobar (Dec 22, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You can bet they are marked individuals now and advancement at the standard pace is highly unlikely.


On the other hand, if cadets have their records accessible after completing rehab and prior to being commissioned, to their future commands, which results in obvious further punishment . . . I don't see a reason for their career to continue. Just drop them.


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 22, 2020)

pabloesqobar said:


> On the other hand, if cadets have their records accessible after completing rehab and prior to being commissioned, to their future commands, which results in obvious further punishment . . . I don't see a reason for their career to continue. Just drop them.


Yep, even before data was digitized; the military indeed kept "permanent records" and regularly referred to them


----------



## pabloesqobar (Dec 22, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> Yep, even before data was digitized; the military indeed kept "permanent records" and regularly referred to them


Yeah, but I'm not sure if that applies to one's academic foibles prior to being commissioned. Not something I ever needed to worry about as an enlisted schlub who's records weren't digital. 

But if the understanding was that if you are given the opportunity to make good on your idiocy prior to commissioning, you still would never be allowed to achieve the same success as your peers . . . who would agree to that? Why go thru the rehab process if that's just the beginning of your future career roadblocks? 

I think it would be refreshing to enter a new command with a clean slate after being commissioned at West Point. If your C.O. sits you down and let's you know instead you are already fucked based on your academic record . . . what kind of motivation is there for that individual?


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 22, 2020)

pabloesqobar said:


> Yeah, but I'm not sure if that applies to one's academic foibles prior to being commissioned. Not something I ever needed to worry about as an enlisted schlub who's records weren't digital.
> 
> But if the understanding was that if you are given the opportunity to make good on your idiocy prior to commissioning, you still would never be allowed to achieve the same success as your peers . . . who would agree to that? Why go thru the rehab process if that's just the beginning of your future career roadblocks?
> 
> I think it would be refreshing to enter a new command with a clean slate after being commissioned at West Point. If your C.O. sits you down and let's you know instead you are already fucked based on your academic record . . . what kind of motivation is there for that individual?


Yeah, and it seems like a flagrant waste of money(taxes) and time then to allow flawed 18-22 y.o. to continue to graduation, then on to a deadend career.
edit: if expelled, the kid would still have a chance to build a successful life, just not in the military


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 23, 2020)

Army long-range cannon gets direct hit on target 43 miles away


The Extended-Range Cannon Artillery system has taken out a target in a direct hit with a 70 kilometer stand-off using an Excalibur munition.




www.defensenews.com


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 23, 2020)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> https://www.defensenews.com/land/2020/12/21/army-long-range-cannon-gets-direct-hit-on-target-43-miles-away/?ed that if utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Socialflow+ARM&fbclid=IwAR0Et1qF1iATtCiB2jf5XLDqT6Q4CS8FUa4b4H9JyHLXWb7MMaTJFOw8Bus


The Navy had a similar tech in the Advanced Gun System that they built the Zumwalt destroyer class around. They stopped producing the guided rounds when their price exceeded that of a Tomahawk.


----------



## raratt (Dec 23, 2020)

FYI:








VA to begin COVID-19 vaccinations at 128 additional sites - VAntage Point


The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will begin COVID-19 vaccinations this week at 128 additional sites using the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines.




www.blogs.va.gov


----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)




----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4776842


Is there a significance to the rhinoceros?
_Edit: _


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 24, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Is there a significance to the rhinoceros?


Thank you


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4776842


I bet I know where that is! (sung to the tune of Do You Hear What I Hear).


----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)

BarnBuster said:


> Is there a significance to the rhinoceros?


I have no idea where that came from, must be after my time.


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 24, 2020)

curious2garden said:


> I bet I know where that is! (sung to the tune of Do You Hear What I Hear).


A plane, a plane
that flies so very fast
That not one was ever shot down -
That not one was ever shot dowwwn


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> I have no idea where that came from, must be after my time.


Found this; check final paragraph.





__





9th Civil Engineer Squadron


Mission Statement Provide the best combat ready forces worldwide, while sustaining, building, and protecting the infrastructure, facilities, and environment for the Beale community. Vision



www.beale.af.mil


----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> Found this; check final paragraph.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


CE? REALLY?


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> CE? REALLY?


Uh, what did I step in?


----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> Uh, what did I step in?


CE patches roads and fixes toilets, they never touched that aircraft. They might have fixed the concrete on the runway...


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> CE patches roads and fixes toilets, they never touched that aircraft. They might have fixed the concrete on the runway...


Can’t you hear the rebuttal though? “if we didn’t keep that concrete smooth as a baby’s bottom, those fancy machines flown by _officers_ would have had their gear snapped clean off by now.”

They also serve who grade and patch.


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> CE patches roads and fixes toilets, they never touched that aircraft. They might have fixed the concrete on the runway...


From the most to the least, every link in the chain is important. How would that plane have gotten into the air with potholes in the runway


----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)




----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)

If it wasn't for the Russians there would be no reason to build that aircraft. 
I can see the CE EPR now: "Rapidly responded to a hole in the runway and efficiently restored it to operational status in record time with quick drying concrete enabling a higher headquarters mission to proceed."


----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)

I was dubbed the "Eloquent Asshole" for a reason. lol


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 24, 2020)

Singlemalt said:


> Yeah, and it seems like a flagrant waste of money(taxes) and time then to allow flawed 18-22 y.o. to continue to graduation, then on to a deadend career.
> edit: if expelled, the kid would still have a chance to build a successful life, just not in the military


Sometimes you gotta be


----------



## cannabineer (Dec 24, 2020)

raratt said:


> If it wasn't for the Russians there would be no reason to build that aircraft.
> I can see the CE EPR now: "Rapidly responded to a hole in the runway and efficiently restored it to operational status in record time with quick drying concrete enabling a higher headquarters mission to proceed."


I’d’a spun it harder.

“Drawing on deep institutional know-how, the Squadron employed professional excellence and initiative in detecting, locating and characterizing a mission-critical discontinuity in the base’s deploy/recover infrastructure. Invoking high-velocity and unique performance materials to the Squadron, this discontinuity was addressed and satisfactorily neutralized in only 40% of the allotted evolution interval. This rapid result delivery synergized the aerial-operations organization to restore a high mission tempo, again empowering the matrix of missions across the entire national-security spectrum.”

I think chemistry was maybe not my best career match. For enough pay, I could have lied beautifully for the Armed Forces.


----------



## raratt (Dec 24, 2020)

cannabineer said:


> I’d’a spun it harder.
> 
> “Drawing on deep institutional know-how, the Squadron employed professional excellence and initiative in detecting, locating and characterizing a mission-critical discontinuity in the base’s deploy/recover infrastructure. Invoking high-velocity and unique performance materials to the Squadron, this discontinuity was addressed and satisfactorily neutralized in only 40% of the allotted evolution interval. This rapid result delivery synergized the aerial-operations organization to restore a high mission tempo, again empowering the matrix of missions across the entire national-security spectrum.”
> 
> I think chemistry was maybe not my best career match. For enough pay, I could have lied beautifully for the Armed Forces.


Has to be in bullet statements, and fill out one line on the form, but nice try for a civilian...lol. AF form 910.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 25, 2020)

CG Form 3307


----------



## smokinrav (Dec 25, 2020)

Christmas morning, and my girlfriend asks me if I'd like chipped beef on toast for breakfast. I look at her coldly and say, "you know what we called that in the Army? Shit on a shingle"


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 25, 2020)

​


----------



## raratt (Dec 25, 2020)

.

Merry Christmas to any old crows out there.


----------



## doublejj (Dec 25, 2020)

Merry Christmas brothers and sisters.....


----------



## .Smoke (Dec 26, 2020)

raratt said:


> .View attachment 4777742
> 
> Merry Christmas to any old crows out there.


16th EWS
2000-2008


----------



## raratt (Dec 26, 2020)

.Smoke said:


> 16th EWS
> 2000-2008


Nice to meet you brother.


----------



## raratt (Dec 27, 2020)

God speed Robert.








Robert Thacker, 102, Dies; Survived Pearl Harbor to Fly in 3 Wars


Robert Thacker, who found himself caught in the middle of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor when he was piloting an unarmed B-17 bomber to Hawaii for refueling, but managed to make a hair-raising landing and went on to a distinguished flying career in war and peace, died Nov. 25 at his...




www.yahoo.com


----------



## wascaptain (Dec 31, 2020)

a big thank yall goes out to first responders'

spent christmas week end in dallas for the first responder bowl, great weather and great ending of the season.


----------



## raratt (Dec 31, 2020)

Series highlights Desert Storm Veterans for 30th anniversary - VA News


In January 1991, members from all five military branches joined a coalition to push back Saddam Hussein’s force out of Kuwait for Operation Desert Storm. During January 2021, VA will profile Veterans through stories for Desert Storm’s 30th anniversary.




www.blogs.va.gov





Damn, doesn't seem that long ago. I was in Saudi Arabia about a week after Kuwait was invaded.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 6, 2021)

Ruby Bradley - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## 420blazedru (Jan 6, 2021)

99th security forces here


----------



## doublejj (Jan 11, 2021)

*National veterans groups plan to purge members found guilty in Capitol attack*








National veterans groups plan to purge members found guilty in Capitol attack


Multiple veterans and service members are being investigated for their roles in the mob takeover of the U.S. Capitol building Wednesday, and at least two national veterans organizations want to ensure they’re not on their membership lists.




www.stripes.com


----------



## doublejj (Jan 11, 2021)

“If a veteran commits treason, mutiny, or sabotage, or assists an enemy of the United States, he forfeits his right to veterans benefits, including disability benefits.”





__





How Long Do Veterans Disability Benefits Last?


Most veterans of the United States Armed Forces who have a disability connected to their service are eligible for veterans disability benefits for as long as the vet




www.disabilitysecrets.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 11, 2021)

We took an oath.
It last's for life & I'll never violate it.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 11, 2021)

Foreign and Domestic.
Remember that part!


----------



## doublejj (Jan 12, 2021)




----------



## doublejj (Jan 13, 2021)

Armed US troops inside the US Capitol rotunda today. I'll just leave this here.....


----------



## shrxhky420 (Jan 13, 2021)

doublejj said:


> Armed US troops inside the US Capitol rotunda today. I'll just leave this here.....
> View attachment 4795408


It shouldn't be but I prefer that, over this



SH420


----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 14, 2021)

Family of still-missing WWII Medal of Honor recipient asks DOD to stop using his name


Frustrated by what they call a decades-long “bureaucratic logjam” in bringing his remains home from the Philippines, the family of First Lt. Alexander “Sandy” Nininger is requesting the federal government remove the soldier’s name from all public buildings and installations.




www.stripes.com












In DOD reversal, agency will analyze remains thought to be WWII’s first Medal of Honor recipient


The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and its precursors had denied repeated requests by the family of Alexander “Sandy” Nininger Jr. to exhume remains in a Philippines grave for DNA testing, maintaining the agency’s documentation could not validate taking that step.




www.stripes.com


----------



## ChingOwn (Jan 15, 2021)

That's fucked up


----------



## doublejj (Jan 16, 2021)

*The oldest living Marine, a North Carolina woman, has died at age 107*









The oldest living Marine, a North Carolina woman, has died at age 107 | CNN


Dorothy "Dot" Cole was the oldest living US Marine veteran when she died on January 7. She was 107 years old.




www.cnn.com


----------



## bernie344 (Jan 17, 2021)

doublejj said:


> Armed US troops inside the US Capitol rotunda today. I'll just leave this here.....
> View attachment 4795408


Dont they have fold up beds and chairs in America?


----------



## shrxhky420 (Jan 20, 2021)

__ https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=419092445810889



SH420


----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 22, 2021)

Behind the scenes with Lady G and "The Old Guard" (from Pat Roddy's FB)



​


----------



## raratt (Jan 30, 2021)

FYI








DOD Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Plan


Today, the Department of Defense announced its deliberate and phased plan to distribute and administer initial and subsequent allocations of the COVID-19 vaccine.



www.defense.gov


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 1, 2021)

Marine Corps says goodbye to its storied 8th Marine Regiment


The deactivation marks the “transition of a storied regiment that has performed so well since 1917."




taskandpurpose.com





*Presidential Unit Citation Streamer With Two Bronze Stars
World War II, Guadalcanal – 1942, Tarawa – 1943, Okinawa – 1945

Navy Unit Commendation Streamer
Southwest Asia 1990 – 1991, Haiti 2003

World War I Victory Streamer

Haitian Campaign Streamer

Marine Corps Expeditionary Streamer With Two Bronze Stars

American Defense Service Streamer

Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Streamer With One Sliver Star

World War II Victory Streamer

Navy Occupation Service Streamer With “Asia” And “Europe”

National Defense Service Streamer With Three Bronze Stars

Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamer With Four Bronze Stars

Southwest Asia Service Streamer With Three Bronze Stars

Iraq Campaign Streamer

Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Streamer

Global War on Terrorism Service Streamer*



https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/A%20Brief%20History%20of%20the%208th%20Marines%20%20PCN%2019000318000.pdf


----------



## doublejj (Feb 1, 2021)

*US veterans deported to Mexico want Biden to let them 'back into their country' before cartels get to them*








US veterans deported to Mexico want Biden to let them 'back into their country' before cartels get to them


"The recruiting by Mexican cartels is real. They are looking for professionals with training," Hector Barajas, a veteran deported to Mexico, told Insider.




www.businessinsider.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 2, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*1943, February 02, the last German troops in the Soviet city of Stalingrad surrender to the Red Army, ending one of the pivotal battles of World War II.*

_On June 22, 1941, despite the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939, Nazi Germany launched a massive invasion against the USSR. Aided by its greatly superior air force, the German army raced across the Russian plains, inflicting terrible casualties on the Red Army and the Soviet population. With the assistance of troops from their Axis allies, the Germans conquered vast territory, and by mid-October the great Russian cities of Leningrad and Moscow were under siege. However, the Soviets held on, and the coming of winter forced a pause to the German offensive.

For the 1942 summer offensive, Adolf Hitler ordered the Sixth Army, under General Friedrich von Paulus, to take Stalingrad in the south, an industrial center and obstacle to Nazi control of the precious Caucasian oil wells. In August, the German Sixth Army made advances across the Volga River while the German Fourth Air Fleet reduced Stalingrad to a burning rubble, killing over 40,000 civilians. In early September, General Paulus ordered the first offensives into Stalingrad, estimating that it would take his army about 10 days to capture the city. Thus began one of the most horrific battles of World War II and arguably the most important because it was the turning point in the war between Germany and the USSR.

In their attempt to take Stalingrad, the German Sixth Army faced a bitter Red Army under General Vasily Zhukov employing the ruined city to their advantage, transforming destroyed buildings and rubble into natural defensive fortifications. In a method of fighting the Germans began to call the Rattenkrieg, or “Rat’s War,” the opposing forces broke into squads eight or 10 strong and fought each other for every house and yard of territory. The battle saw rapid advances in street-fighting technology, such as a German machine gun that shot around corners and a light Russian plane that glided silently over German positions at night, dropping lethal bombs without warning. However, both sides lacked necessary food, water, or medical supplies, and tens of thousands perished every week.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was determined to liberate the city named after him, and in November he ordered massive reinforcements to the area. On November 19, General Zhukov launched a great Soviet counteroffensive out of the rubble of Stalingrad. German command underestimated the scale of the counterattack, and the Sixth Army was quickly overwhelmed by the offensive, which involved 500,000 Soviet troops, 900 tanks, and 1,400 aircraft. Within three days, the entire German force of more than 200,000 men was encircled.

Italian and Romanian troops at Stalingrad surrendered, but the Germans hung on, receiving limited supplies by air and waiting for reinforcements. Hitler ordered Von Paulus to remain in place and promoted him to field marshal, as no Nazi field marshal had ever surrendered. Starvation and the bitter Russian winter took as many lives as the merciless Soviet troops, and on January 21, 1943, the last of the airports held by the Germans fell to the Soviets, completely cutting the Germans off from supplies. On January 31 Paulus disobeyed Hitler and agreed to give himself up. *Twenty-two generals surrendered with him*, and on February 2 the last of 91,000 frozen starving men (all that was left of the Sixth and Fourth armies) surrendered to the Soviets. The Soviets recovered 250,000 German and Romanian corpses in and around Stalingrad, and total Axis casualties (Germans, Romanians, Italians, and Hungarians) are believed to have been more than 800,000 dead, wounded, missing, or captured. Of the 91,000 men who surrendered, only some 5,000–6,000 ever returned to their homelands (the last of them a full decade after the end of the war in 1945); the rest died in Soviet prison and labour camps. On the Soviet side, official Russian military historians estimate that there were *1,100,000 Red Army dead, wounded, missing, or captured in the campaign to defend the city. An estimated 40,000 civilians died as well. *Besides being a turning point in the war, Stalingrad was also revealing of the discipline and determination of both the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army. The Soviets first defended Stalingrad against a fierce German onslaught. So great were Soviet losses that at times, the life expectancy of a newly arrived soldier was less than a day, and the life expectancy of a Soviet officer was three days. For the heroism of the Soviet defenders of Stalingrad, the city was awarded the title Hero City in 1945

The Battle of Stalingrad turned the tide in the war between Germany and the Soviet Union. General Zhukov, who had played such an important role in the victory, later led the Soviet drive on Berlin. On May 1, 1945, he personally accepted the German surrender of Berlin. Von Paulus, meanwhile, agitated against Adolf Hitler among the German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union and in 1946 provided testimony at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. After his release by the Soviets in 1953, he settled in East Germany.











The Battle of Stalingrad


Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism.




www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org












Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts


Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943), successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, U.S.S.R., during World War II. Russians consider it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the...



www.britannica.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 4, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*The United Service Organizations, popularly known as the USO, was incorporated in New York on February 4, 1941, to provide recreational opportunities and resources for members of the U.S. armed forces on leave.*
_
At the recommendation of President Franklin Roosevelt, the task was put in the hands of existing public service organizations. The USO was organized by representatives of six social service organizations as a private, nonprofit organization. The organizers included the Jewish Welfare Board, the National Catholic Community Service, the Salvation Army, the Travelers Aid Association of America, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). Over the course of World War II, the USO boasted more than 1 million civilian volunteers and operated more than 3,000 recreational clubs. Set up quickly in churches, museums, barns, railroad cars, storefronts, and other locales, USO clubs were places for both lively social activity and quiet contemplation. Some soldiers came to dance and watch movies, others to pursue traveler’s information or assistance, still others to write letters, lounge, eat, or seek religious counsel.

Soon after the founding of the USO, the organization created a subsidiary, Camp Shows Inc., to produce professional-quality shows with volunteers from the entertainment world. Traveling shows, which included dramatic and musical performances, vaudeville-style revues and beyond, featured well-known performers such as Bob Hope, Joe E. Brown, Lena Horn and Joan Blondell, as well as many other actors and production staff members from stage and screen.

The USO was disbanded in 1947, then reorganized during the Korean War and expanded considerably during the Vietnam War. It continues to provide a variety of services to members of the armed forces and their families._








Donate | USO.org


We can never repay the incredible service and sacrifice our troops make on our behalf every day. But we must try. Help the USO be there for our troops whether they're serving far from home or healing with honor.




secure.uso.org


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 5, 2021)

Airman takes a break from working on aircraft to enjoy snow at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Jan. 26, 2021.
Photo By*:* Air Force Staff Sgt. Sergio Gamboa


U.S Coast Guard cutter "Polar Star" travels south in the Bering Strait, Jan. 19, 2021.
Photo By: Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Cynthia Oldham


A Sentinel, Arlington National Cemetery, Feb. 2, 2021
Photo By: Army Sgt. Gabriel Silva​


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 8, 2021)

_"“Ensuring Ethical Conduct” is one of the Department of Defense’s top 10 most serious performance and management challenges, alongside countering China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and global terrorism."









Getting to Ethical Readiness - War on the Rocks


Do internal or external factors explain unethical behavior? In an iniquitous environment, are U.S. military personnel doomed by or able to transcend



warontherocks.com




_


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 8, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4817399
> Airman takes a break from working on aircraft to enjoy snow at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Jan. 26, 2021.
> Photo By*:* Air Force Staff Sgt. Sergio Gamboa
> 
> ...


@GreatwhiteNorth did you ever see that view?

Hey barn, if we could identify who those men are via DNA should we?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 8, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> @GreatwhiteNorth did you ever see that view?
> 
> Hey barn, if we could identify who those men are via DNA should we?


We broke ice but on a much smaller scale, though we did nose up to pack ice once above the arctic circle & went swimming (in skivvies).
Necessary to become a "Blue nose Polar bear"


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 8, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> We broke ice but on a much smaller scale though we did nose up to pack ice once above the arctic circle & went swimming.
> Necessary to become a "Blue nose Polar bear"
> 
> View attachment 4819910


In a dry suit right? If not how much alcohol did that require?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 8, 2021)

No dry suit - I stole a J.O.'s underwear (white boxers with big red hearts on em) & swam in them.


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 8, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Hey barn, if we could identify who those men are via DNA should we?


I remember you asking that question before





Veterans...Get the hell in here now!


In 2015 the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) experienced a data breach that exposed the personal data of approximately 4.2 million individuals. Following the breach, OPM and the Defense Department partnered with IDExperts, a private sector firm, to provide services tailored to address...



rollitup.org





If you're talking about those in the Tomb itself, then no.
They also represent those whose remains can/will never be recovered/identified e.g., lost at sea or utterly destroyed.
The Tomb Guard Identification Badge is the only badge awarded by the United States Army that can be revoked after a soldier has left the military.
Anyone going to D.C. should go to Arlington.


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 8, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I remember you asking that question before
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yes I'm still pondering it, not sure I'm much further along.

The monument for those who we can not identify or return is important but it also seems important to honestly identify everyone we can as we gain the ability to do so. It would demonstrate our nations on going commitment to bringing our men home which would not take away from those we can't legitimately identify.

I'm really high on this last table (Wedding Cake thanks @Bobby schmeckle ) Great pondering weed  Hopefully all those words made sense


----------



## BarnBuster (Feb 8, 2021)

Super Bowl LV flyover at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 7, 2021
*Photo By*: Air Force Airman 1st Class Jacob Wrightsman​


----------



## raratt (Feb 8, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4820067
> Super Bowl LV flyover at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 7, 2021
> *Photo By*: Air Force Airman 1st Class Jacob Wrightsman​


Female pilot in the B2:


https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article248977785.html


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 12, 2021)

Can we have another presidential election?


----------



## raratt (Feb 13, 2021)

The other Blackbird I worked on. Not my pic.


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 13, 2021)

raratt said:


> The other Blackbird I worked on. Not my pic.
> 
> View attachment 4825164


Beautiful, "Dusk Departure from Kadena" thanks for sharing that.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 13, 2021)

raratt said:


> The other Blackbird I worked on. Not my pic.
> 
> View attachment 4825164


That is one Bad Girl!


----------



## raratt (Feb 13, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> That is one Bad Girl!


You could feel the power.


----------



## cannabineer (Feb 13, 2021)

raratt said:


> The other Blackbird I worked on. Not my pic.
> 
> View attachment 4825164


That and its Oxcart stablemate are monuments to the pinnacle of jet technology.


----------



## raratt (Feb 13, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> That and its Oxcart stablemate are monuments to the pinnacle of jet technology.


Made with slide rules. It's amazing that the U-2 came from the same man.


----------



## cannabineer (Feb 13, 2021)

raratt said:


> Made with slide rules.


That just amazes me.
My dad was an engineer of that era. He gave me his multifunction slide rule.


----------



## doublejj (Feb 13, 2021)

raratt said:


> The other Blackbird I worked on. Not my pic.
> 
> View attachment 4825164


i believe they are still flying them out of Beal, I can hear them as they lineup to land as they come directly over our farm. They are noisy, you may not be able to see them but you can sure hear them..


----------



## raratt (Feb 13, 2021)

doublejj said:


> i believe they are still flying them out of Beal, I can hear them as they lineup to land. They are noisy, you may not be able to see them but you can sure hear them..


U-2's, SR retired in 1990. NASA had a few at Edwards after they were retired.


----------



## raratt (Feb 14, 2021)




----------



## curious2garden (Feb 14, 2021)

raratt said:


> U-2's, SR retired in 1990. *NASA had a few at Edwards after they were retired*.


They are still there but not leaving their earthly graveyard. They have something else now.


----------



## doublejj (Feb 14, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> They are still there but not leaving their earthly graveyard. They have something else now.


they are flying something big out of Beal....if it ain;t U2's it's something new....


----------



## raratt (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> they are flying something big out of Beal....if it ain;t U2's it's something new....


They have the 135's, they aren't as noisy as the old ones though. They are the R models with turbofan engines. I haven't seen any other aircraft. Could be transient aircraft.


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> they are flying something big out of Beal....if it ain;t U2's it's something new....


I'd be stunned if you heard any of the new hotness now. The sound and vision suppression is so good now we don't see/hear anything they prefer we don't. They are also moving away from meatspace. The newer test drones are amazing.


raratt said:


> They have the 135's, they aren't as noisy as the old ones though. They are the R models with turbofan engines. I haven't seen any other aircraft. Could be transient aircraft.


^^^ This.


----------



## doublejj (Feb 14, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> I'd be stunned if you heard any of the new hotness now. The sound and vision suppression is so good now we don't see/hear anything they prefer we don't. They are also moving away from meatspace. The newer test drones are amazing.
> 
> ^^^ This.


You cannot see them only hear them.....I can hear them and I have looked for them many times when they sound directly overhead. It sounds like they are dumping fuel or scrubbing off heat or something. it will be silent then a roar and then silent and then a roar all the while circling Beal. But I can never see them only hear them. could be something conventional but I've never heard anything like this engine roar. Very loud short bursts...


----------



## raratt (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> You cannot see them only hear them.....I can hear them and I have looked for them many times when they sound directly overhead. It sounds like they are dumping fuel or scrubbing off heat or something. it will be silent then a roar and then silent and then a roar all the while circling Beal. But I can never see them only hear them. could be something conventional but I've never hear anything like this engine roar. Very loud short bursts...


The U-2's do that when doing touch and go's. If they are doing "Tactical Takeoffs" they will circle up to altitude over the base, but that is a more prolonged engine noise. I hear engine runs all the time at home, usually on swing shift. They run them up to progressively higher power while checking EGT, then back them down repeatedly.


----------



## doublejj (Feb 14, 2021)

raratt said:


> The U-2's do that when doing touch and go's. If they are doing "Tactical Takeoffs" they will circle up to altitude over the base, but that is a more prolonged engine noise. I hear engine runs all the time at home, usually on swing shift. They run them up to progressively higher power while checking EGT, then back them down repeatedly.


yep that sounds like it....


----------



## raratt (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> yep that sounds like it....


They have the T-38's also. Those look like a fun little aircraft to fly. They do have afterburner capabilities.


----------



## doublejj (Feb 14, 2021)

raratt said:


> They have the T-38's also. Those look like a fun little aircraft to fly. They do have afterburner capabilities.
> View attachment 4826076


I've seen them flying around too... aren't U2's like 1960's technology? what are we still flying those those around for?...


----------



## raratt (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> I've seen them flying around too... aren't U2's like 1960's technology? what are we still flying those those around for?...


They are at the S model now, each letter is a major modification to the airframe. They have gone to an "all glass cockpit" now with multifunction displays:
.
The sensors onboard have also been upgraded over the years, it has the capability to provide near real time intel with the satellite link.

It is nowhere near 60's technology.


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> You cannot see them only hear them.....I can hear them and I have looked for them many times when they sound directly overhead. It sounds like they are dumping fuel or scrubbing off heat or something. it will be silent then a roar and then silent and then a roar all the while circling Beal. But I can never see them only hear them. could be something conventional but I've never heard anything like this engine roar. Very loud short bursts...


You're hearing the doppler shift 



raratt said:


> *The U-2's do that when doing touch and go's.* If they are doing "Tactical Takeoffs" they will circle up to altitude over the base, but that is a more prolonged engine noise. I hear engine runs all the time at home, usually on swing shift. They run them up to progressively higher power while checking EGT, then back them down repeatedly.


----------



## curious2garden (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> I've seen them flying around too... aren't U2's like 1960's technology? what are we still flying those those around for?...


Because the sensor packs on the drones are problematic.


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## Singlemalt (Feb 14, 2021)

raratt said:


> They have the T-38's also. Those look like a fun little aircraft to fly. They do have afterburner capabilities.
> View attachment 4826076


Is that the old F-5 redesignated to trainer status?


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## DarkWeb (Feb 14, 2021)

doublejj said:


> You cannot see them only hear them.....I can hear them and I have looked for them many times when they sound directly overhead. It sounds like they are dumping fuel or scrubbing off heat or something. it will be silent then a roar and then silent and then a roar all the while circling Beal. But I can never see them only hear them. could be something conventional but I've never heard anything like this engine roar. Very loud short bursts...


The f-35's are like that.....you can't hear them till it passes. Next to silent coming at you. I see them all the time.


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## raratt (Feb 14, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> Is that the old F-5 redesignated to trainer status?


They are the same but different? This tells the story:








Northrop F-5A Freedom Fighter (And T-38 Talon) - Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum


In the 1950s, with jets growing larger and more expensive, Northrop developed a design for a small, simple, and inexpensive — yet supersonic — aircraft.




www.pearlharboraviationmuseum.org


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## BarnBuster (Feb 15, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​*The fall of Singapore to the Japanese Army on February 15th 1942 is considered to be one of the greatest military defeats in the history of the British Empire*

_An island city, “Gibraltar of the East” and a strategic British stronghold and the capital of the Straits Settlement of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore had been a British colony since the 19th century. In July 1941, when Japanese troops occupied French Indochina, the Japanese telegraphed their intentions to transfer Singapore from the British to its own burgeoning empire. Sure enough, on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, 24,000 Japanese troops were transported from Indochina to the Malay Peninsula, and Japanese fighter pilots attacked Singapore, killing 61 civilians from the air.

The battle between Japanese and British forces on the Malay Peninsula continued throughout December and January, killing hundreds more civilians in the process. The British were forced to abandon and evacuate many of their positions, including Port Swettenham and Kuala Lumpur.

On February 8, 5,000 Japanese troops landed on Singapore Island. Pro-Japanese propaganda leaflets were dropped on the islands, encouraging surrender. On February 13, Singapore’s 15-inch coastal guns–the island’s main defensive weapons–were destroyed. Tactical miscalculations on the part of British Gen. Arthur Percival and poor communication between military and civilian authorities exacerbated the deteriorating British defense. Represented by General Percival and senior Allied officers, Singapore surrendered to Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita in front of Japanese newsreel cameras. Sixty-two thousand Allied soldiers were taken prisoner; more than half eventually died as prisoners of war.

With the surrender of Singapore, Britain lost its foothold in the East. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill attempted to prop up morale by urging Brits “to display the calm and poise, combined with grim determination, which not so long ago brought us out of the very jaws of death.”

The Japanese took 100,000 men prisoner in Singapore . Many had just arrived and had not fired a bullet in anger. The people of Singapore fared worse. Many were of Chinese origin and were slaughtered by the Japanese. After the war, Japan admitted that 5000 had been murdered, but the Chinese population in Singapore put the figure at nearer 50,000. With the evidence of what the Japanese could do to a captured civilian population (as seen at Nanking), 5000 is likely to be an underestimate. Some of these POW's were used to construct theThai-Burma Railway _(Bridge over the River Kwai, bb)_. Of the 60,000 Allied POWs who worked on the railway , some 12,500 died, many from disease, starvation and ill-treatment. A great many more Asian labourers, estimated at 75,000, also lost their lives while working on this railway.

The fall of Singapore was a humiliation for the British government. The Japanese had been portrayed as useless soldiers only capable of fighting the militarily inferior Chinese. This assessment clearly rested uncomfortably with how the British Army had done in the peninsula."_









Fall of Singapore


Run by historian David Howell, Kokoda Historical tours to Kokoda and PNG Battlegrounds with a historical perspective




kokodahistorical.com.au












The fall of Singapore: An avoidable catastrophe?







ukdefencejournal.org.uk






https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a279593.pdf


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## Sir Napsalot (Feb 15, 2021)

We were supposed to go to Singapore but the ship was damaged in a typhoon so went to Sasebo for repairs


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## Sir Napsalot (Feb 16, 2021)

I went out in town one day and there was a little hobby shop with some guys racing on a decent-sized (probably 100-120 feet) 1/24 scale slotcar track
One guy spoke a little English and let me check out his car
I watched them race for a couple of hours, then bought a kit (with a bitchin' McLaren body!) and took it back to the ship and built it, then went back the next day and raced it against the locals and beat the pants off 'em


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## BarnBuster (Feb 17, 2021)

Sir Napsalot said:


> 1/24 scale slotcar track


Is that the craze that was all over the US in the early 70's?


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Feb 17, 2021)

I remember as a kid in the early 70's when we lived on Clark the base had a very large slot car track indoors that was really popular with the younger enlisted folks.
Those things were really fast!


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## Sir Napsalot (Feb 17, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Is that the craze that was all over the US in the early 70's?


I started racing slotcars in ~1967, I used to ride my bike down to the Revell Raceway balancing my Hoffman slotcar box on the crossbar with one hand

Found an old pic- the old guy behind the counter's name was Emil


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## raratt (Feb 17, 2021)

We used to take all our straight tracks and hook them together on a friends flat driveway and make a drag strip. They were the smaller scale cars but not HO. Don't remember the scale. I bought my kids a HO track once and attached it to a piece of plywood in the garage, they destroyed the cars in short order.


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## Sir Napsalot (Feb 17, 2021)

raratt said:


> We used to take all our straight tracks and hook them together on a friends flat driveway and make a drag strip. They were the smaller scale cars but not HO. Don't remember the scale. I bought my kids a HO track once and attached it to a piece of plywood in the garage, they destroyed the cars in short order.


Probably 1/32 scale

I have some old *4-lane* 1/32 plastic track, but only enough to make a small oval

I won a West Coast championship racing HO cars in 1988


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## BarnBuster (Feb 17, 2021)

British veterans, sacked for being gay, allowed to get their medals back


Gay and bisexual British veterans who were stripped of their medals because of their sexuality will now be able to reclaim them, the UK government has said, as it admitted the pre-2000 policy was an "historical wrong."




www.cnn.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 20, 2021)

I was watching old episodes of "West Wing" and a part of this was quoted. A little research; this was from a poem entitled "High Flight" and was written in early September, 1941 by a 19 year old American pilot John Gillespie Magee serving with the RCAF No. 412 Squadron in Royal Air Force, Digby, England. He was describing the sheer exaltation of his solo run in his Spitfire, decided to compose this "ditty" as he called it, and mailed it to his parents. Sadly Magee was killed soon after on December 11 in a midair collision after a training flight. Portions of this are found on many headstones in Arlington, especially of aviators and astronauts. The original is stored in the Manuscripts vault of the Library of Congress. bb

_"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.

"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."_​


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## raratt (Feb 20, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I was watching old episodes of "West Wing" and a part of this was quoted. A little research; this was from a poem entitled "High Flight" and was written in early September, 1941 by a 19 year old American pilot John Gillespie Magee serving with the RCAF No. 412 Squadron in Royal Air Force, Digby, England. He was describing the sheer exaltation of his solo run in his Spitfire, decided to compose this "ditty" as he called it, and mailed it to his parents. Sadly Magee was killed soon after on December 11 in a midair collision after a training flight. Portions of this are found on many headstones in Arlington, especially of aviators and astronauts. The original is stored in the Manuscripts vault of the Library of Congress. bb
> 
> _"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
> And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
> ...


They used to run this at the end/beginning of a broadcast day on TV.


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## smokinrav (Feb 20, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I was watching old episodes of "West Wing" and a part of this was quoted. A little research; this was from a poem entitled "High Flight" and was written in early September, 1941 by a 19 year old American pilot John Gillespie Magee serving with the RCAF No. 412 Squadron in Royal Air Force, Digby, England. He was describing the sheer exaltation of his solo run in his Spitfire, decided to compose this "ditty" as he called it, and mailed it to his parents. Sadly Magee was killed soon after on December 11 in a midair collision after a training flight. Portions of this are found on many headstones in Arlington, especially of aviators and astronauts. The original is stored in the Manuscripts vault of the Library of Congress. bb
> 
> _"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
> And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
> ...


That is magnificent prose


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## BarnBuster (Feb 20, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> That is magnificent prose


It is isn't it, especially for a 19 year old kid.


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## smokinrav (Feb 20, 2021)

And to think he joined a Canadian unit to be in a war for Brits against northern European fascists because the US wouldn't allow it.....like the members of the Flying Tigers going to China in 1938 39. My fucking hero....


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## raratt (Feb 24, 2021)




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## raratt (Feb 26, 2021)

Top US Air Force general isn’t ready to buy E-7 Wedgetail just yet


“It would be premature for me to commit to the Wedgetail right now, or a timeline," says Gen. CQ Brown.




www.defensenews.com


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## raratt (Feb 26, 2021)




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## BarnBuster (Feb 28, 2021)

Today in Military History:

*At 8:00 p.m. on February 27, 1943, nine Norwegian commandos trained by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) left their hideout in the Norwegian wilderness and skied several miles to Norsk Hydro's Vemork hydroelectric power plant*_. All the men knew about their mission was the objective: Destroy Vemork's "heavy water" production capabilities. Their mission would be one of the most successful in special-operations history, and it contributed to one of the Allies' most important goals in World War II: Preventing Nazi Germany from developing nuclear weapons.









How a daring raid by Norwegian commandos kept the Nazis from building a nuclear bomb


The Norwegian commandos who set out on Operation Gunnerside knew what their objective was but not what was at stake.




www.businessinsider.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Mar 1, 2021)

USS Sterett (DDG 104) returning to it's homeport Naval Base San Diego, February 26 after a 10 month deployment with the Nimitz Carrier Strike Group, 5th and 7th Fleet, after participation Operations Freedom’s Sentinel, Inherent Resolve and Octave Quartz. Check out the new Battle Ensign.

 ​
_“In ancient Greek folklore, the phoenix is a bird that cyclically regenerates or is born again,” reads the Instagram post from the USS Sterett’s official account. “A phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. Due to Sterett’s rich warfighting history of resiliency and perseverance under fire, this image of a phoenix was created to properly capture these sentiments and honor the former crews of their namesake.”_


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## raratt (Mar 1, 2021)




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## raratt (Mar 1, 2021)




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## wascaptain (Mar 1, 2021)

went for my yearly check up at the VA today, all went well.

the doctor i am assigned to is pro vaccine, kinda talked me into getting on the list.

are yall opting out are taking it?


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## raratt (Mar 1, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> went for my yearly check up at the VA today, all went well.
> 
> the doctor i am assigned to is pro vaccine, kinda talked me into getting on the list.
> 
> are yall opting out are taking it?


I will take it as soon as they want to give it to me. I want to hug my grandkids again.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 1, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> went for my yearly check up at the VA today, all went well.
> the doctor i am assigned to is pro vaccine, kinda talked me into getting on the list.
> are yall opting out are taking it?


I don't have a lot of contact with folks and will probably wait until late summer or so and see how things are going.


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## curious2garden (Mar 1, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> went for my yearly check up at the VA today, all went well.
> 
> the doctor i am assigned to is pro vaccine, kinda talked me into getting on the list.
> 
> are yall opting out are taking it?


Hub has had his two Pfizer (22 years USAF ret) otherwise he would have taken the date for a Moderna offered by his VA Doc. GO for it!! Marine strong ;D


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## BarnBuster (Mar 4, 2021)

Like we haven't known this forever? smh

_"Sleep deprivation causes “reduced ability to execute complex cognitive tasks, communicate effectively, quickly make appropriate decisions, maintain vigilance and sustain a level of alertness required to carry out assigned duties,” according to the report".








Sleep deprivation hurts military readiness despite anti-sleep culture, Pentagon study says


A Defense Department report said sleep deprivation “may be the most important biological factor that determines service member health and combat readiness.”



www.stripes.com




_
Guess we needed a $100,000 report to tell us this, at least it was DOD and not 5 million to the Rand Corp.


https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/20495233/study-on-effects-of-sleep-deprivation-on-readiness-of-members-of-the-armed-forces-final-report.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Mar 6, 2021)

Warship captains told the skipper of a COVID-stricken aircraft carrier he was 'doing what is right' just before the Navy fired him, emails show


"I read your letter," an aircraft carrier skipper wrote in an email to Capt. Brett Crozier. "I thought it was awesome."




www.businessinsider.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 8, 2021)

One of the best jobs I ever had.






A solemn time for all CG Sailors.


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## Grandpapy (Mar 8, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> One of the best jobs I ever had.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Treasure island.
I hooked the largest Halibut of my life (about 30lbs) from about this spot.
Not bad for only being just 5 min. away across SF bay from Alameda.
If you are ever in the area..
Edit: Hooked and Landing are two different things. Great fun though!


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 8, 2021)

I've seen a couple of good sized ones.


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## raratt (Mar 10, 2021)

The Pentagon Is Using the SR-71's Legendary Engine for ... Something


The Pratt & Whitney J58 made the Blackbird the fastest air-breathing plane ever. Which hypersonic aircraft needs the engine now?




www.popularmechanics.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 10, 2021)

Was talking to an old friend of my parents yesterday when I noticed he was wearing a USS Forrestal cap & during a lull in the conversation I asked if he served aboard her - as during my training we were required to watch a fire fighting training film that showed the horrific fire that the crew fought in 1967.

"Yes son, and that damn fire nearly killed me" he says, I was taken aback, I've known him for close to 20 years & never had an inkling he was even in the military. Long story short they removed multiple chunks of shrapnel from him, the most life threatening was a piece about the size of your thumb from his liver.

He said that his present doctor was astounded that he lived through it with 50+ year old medical knowledge/procedures.

134 men died aboard her that day.






We lived in the Phillipines at that time & Dad took us to Subic bay to watched her pull in with very close to mortal damage.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 10, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Was talking to an old friend of my parents yesterday when I noticed he was wearing a USS Forrestal cap & during a lull in the conversation I asked if he served aboard her - as during my training we were required to watch a fire fighting training film that showed the horrific fire that the crew fought in 1967.
> 
> "Yes son, and that damn fire nearly killed me" he says, I was taken aback, I've known him for close to 20 years & never had an inkling he was even in the military. Long story short they removed multiple chunks of shrapnel from him, the most life threatening was a piece about the size of your thumb from his liver.
> 
> ...


Looks like even though the Navy eventially cleared Captain Beling of any wrongdoing, Higher (as they are wont to do) continued to hold it against him and he never held active command at sea again although he was later promoted to RADM. The Forrestal fire and those of Oriskany and Enterprise about the same time changed the Navy's firefighting approach. "...the “lessons learned” in the 60’s resulted in improved policies, procedures, and equipment that have been largely effective at preventing a repeat."


https://sma.nasa.gov/docs/default-source/safety-messages/safetymessage-2007-12-01-explosionsaboardussforrestal.pdf?sfvrsn=9fa91ef8_4




https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA429103.pdf


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## smokinrav (Mar 10, 2021)

Thats why i joined the army lol. Swimming, thats great!


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## doublejj (Mar 10, 2021)

raratt said:


> The Pentagon Is Using the SR-71's Legendary Engine for ... Something
> 
> 
> The Pratt & Whitney J58 made the Blackbird the fastest air-breathing plane ever. Which hypersonic aircraft needs the engine now?
> ...


I still believe they are flying something new out of Beal.....


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## raratt (Mar 10, 2021)

doublejj said:


> I still believe they are flying something new out of Beal.....


If they were I would see/hear it. I'm in the flight path. They typically fly the new stuff in the Nevada desert away from everyone.


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## smokinrav (Mar 10, 2021)

doublejj said:


> I still believe they are flying something new out of Beal.....











Lockheed Martin Confirms the SR-72 – Son of Blackbird Will Reach Anywhere in the World in One Hour


Lockheed Martin Confirms the SR-72 – Son of Blackbird Will Reach Anywhere in the World in One Hour Lockheed Martin is about to redefine spy planes. In 2013, the company reported t



blog.rebellionresearch.com


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## curious2garden (Mar 11, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Was talking to an old friend of my parents yesterday when I noticed he was wearing a USS Forrestal cap & during a lull in the conversation I asked if he served aboard her - as during my training we were required to watch a fire fighting training film that showed the horrific fire that the crew fought in 1967.
> 
> "Yes son, and that damn fire nearly killed me" he says, I was taken aback, I've known him for close to 20 years & never had an inkling he was even in the military. Long story short they removed multiple chunks of shrapnel from him, the most life threatening was a piece about the size of your thumb from his liver.
> 
> ...


Me too! We dreaded liver trauma. That's why I was so excited about the plasma bovie.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 11, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Me too! We dreaded liver trauma. That's why I was so excited about the *plasma bovie.*


You always make me look stuff up.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 12, 2021)

How WWII Soldiers Used Their Downtime to Make Spectacular Trench Art


The National WWII Museum in New Orleans has launched a fascinating new exhibition about the arts and crafts soldiers created during the war.




www.military.com





My Mom's brother was a WW2 B-24 nose gunner. He made a letter opener for Mom out of the perspex/plexiglas after a AA round blew a section out right next to him . I still have it...somewhere.


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## doublejj (Mar 12, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> How WWII Soldiers Used Their Downtime to Make Spectacular Trench Art
> 
> 
> The National WWII Museum in New Orleans has launched a fascinating new exhibition about the arts and crafts soldiers created during the war.
> ...


in Vietnam war it was Zippos....


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## BarnBuster (Mar 13, 2021)

The Warrior Dog Foundation provides a last-resort sanctuary for retired working dogs slated to be euthanized. Many of these dogs spend the rest of their lives in the organization’s care.








Donation - The Warrior Dog Foundation


Looking to make dog charity donations and support retired veterans? That's what you can do when you donate to The Warrior Dog Foundation! Learn more.




warriordogfoundation.org


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## smokinrav (Mar 13, 2021)

I had a Vietnam era zippo! Got it a Goodwill, I think. It said, "Yey tho I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because I am the evilest (baddest?) motherfucker in the valley"
I loved that lighter. Ended up giving it to a Vietnam vet on his birthday.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 16, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*On March 16, 1968, a platoon of American soldiers brutally kills as many as 500 unarmed civilians at My Lai, one of a cluster of small villages located near the northern coast of South Vietnam. The crime, which was kept secret for nearly two years, later became known as the My Lai Massacre. *
_
In March 1968, a platoon of soldiers from Charlie Company received word that Viet Cong guerrillas had taken cover in the Quang Ngai village of Son My. The platoon entered one of the village’s four hamlets, My Lai 4, on a search-and-destroy mission on the morning of March 16. Instead of guerrilla fighters, they found unarmed villagers, most of them women, children and old men.

The soldiers had been advised before the attack by army command that all who were found in My Lai could be considered VC or active VC sympathizers, and were told to destroy the village. They acted with extraordinary brutality, raping and torturing villagers before killing them and dragging dozens of people, including young children and babies, into a ditch and executing them with automatic weapons. The massacre reportedly ended when an Army helicopter pilot, Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, landed his aircraft between the soldiers and the retreating villagers and threatened to open fire if they continued their attacks.

The events at My Lai were covered up by high-ranking army officers until investigative journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story. Soon, My Lai was front-page news and an international scandal._


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## smokinrav (Mar 17, 2021)

Interesting concept for the US Navy to counter China in the next few decades

The National Interest : 500 Ships is For Losers: How the U.S. Navy Could Have 35000 Ships.








500 Ships is For Losers: How the U.S. Navy Could Have 35,000 Ships


The Navy's new technology based strategy will save many servicemen's lives.




nationalinterest.org


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## doublejj (Mar 19, 2021)

*Congressman calls for service members, veterans who stormed the Capitol to be stripped of benefits*








Congressman calls for service members, veterans who stormed the Capitol to be stripped of benefits


In January, an NPR investigation found that roughly 20% of the people charged so far in connection in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol had some form of military connection — including individuals currently serving in the armed forces.




www.stripes.com


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## smokinrav (Mar 19, 2021)

doublejj said:


> *Congressman calls for service members, veterans who stormed the Capitol to be stripped of benefits*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Sounds like it falls under this code, and, yeah, they committed treason against their country and oath...

Title 38 of the U.S. code governs VA benefits for veterans and their dependents, according to a brief from the Congressional Research Service.

"Under Sections 6104 and 6105, veterans and other individuals receiving VA benefits who commit mutiny or treason or who are convicted of ‘subversive activities,’ as listed in Section 6105(b), forfeit their right to VA benefits,” according to the CRS report.


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## raratt (Mar 19, 2021)

doublejj said:


> *Congressman calls for service members, veterans who stormed the Capitol to be stripped of benefits*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The Major that Trump pardoned is not going to get his medals back or Special Forces tab.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 21, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*On March 21, 1918, near the Somme River in France, the German army launches its first major offensive on the Western Front in two years*_.

At the beginning of 1918, Germany’s position on the battlefields of Europe looked extremely strong. German armies occupied virtually all of Belgium and much of northern France. With Romania, Russia and Serbia out of the war by the end of 1917, conflict in the east was drawing to a close, leaving the Central Powers free to focus on combating the British and French in the west. Indeed, by March 21, 1918, Russia’s exit had allowed Germany to shift no fewer than 44 divisions of men to the Western Front.

German commander Erich Ludendorff saw this as a crucial opportunity to launch a new offensive–he hoped to strike a decisive blow to the Allies and convince them to negotiate for peace before fresh troops from the United States could arrive. In November, he submitted his plan for the offensive that what would become known as Kaiserschlacht, or the kaiser’s battle; Ludendorff code-named the opening operation Michael. Morale in the German army rose in reaction to the planned offensive. Many of the soldiers believed, along with their commanders, that the only way to go home was to push ahead.

Michael began in the early morning hours of March 21, 1918. The attack came as a relative surprise to the Allies, as the Germans had moved quietly into position just days before the bombardment began. From the beginning, it was more intense than anything yet seen on the Western Front. Ludendorff had worked with experts in artillery to create an innovative, lethal ground attack, featuring a quick, intense artillery bombardment followed by the use of various gases, first tear gas, then lethal phosgene and chlorine gases. He also coordinated with the German Air Service or Luftstreitkrafte, to maximize the force of the offensive.* Over 3,500,000 shells were fired in five hours, hitting targets over an area of 400 km2 (150 sq mi) in the biggest barrage of the war,*

Winston Churchill, at the front at the time as the British minister of munitions, wrote of his experience on March 21: There was a rumble of artillery fire, mostly distant, and the thudding explosions of aeroplane raids. And then, exactly as a pianist runs his hands across a keyboard from treble to bass, there rose in less than one minute the most tremendous cannonade I shall ever hear. It swept around us in a wide curve of red flame

By the end of the first day, German troops had advanced more than four miles and inflicted almost 30,000 British casualties. As panic swept up and down the British lines of command over the next few days, the Germans gained even more territory. By the time the Allies hardened their defense at the end of the month, Ludendorff’s army had crossed the Somme River and broken through enemy lines near the juncture between the British and French trenches. By the time Ludendorff called off the first stage of the offensive in early April, German guns were trained on Paris, and their final, desperate attempt to win World War I was in full swing._


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## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

__





First Operational Sortie from Det 1, Kadena


On 21 March 1968, USAF SR-71 #974 flew the First Operational sortie over Vietnam, piloted by Jerry O'Malley and RSO Ed Paine. Upon return to Kadena Jerry O'Malley found the base fogged in and diverted to CCK. This first mission revealed enemy emplacements around Khe Sanh, Vietnam that had...



www.thesr71blackbird.com


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## DarkWeb (Mar 22, 2021)

USAF just buzzed really close. Couldn't even get a pic but it was the first time my wife saw this. They fly under the tops of the mountains and run the valleys like hotwheels tracks. It was 2 big 4 prop......I don't know exactly what but always awesome to see and feel it.


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## cannabineer (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> USAF just buzzed really close. Couldn't even get a pic but it was the first time my wife saw this. They fly under the tops of the mountains and run the valleys like hotwheels tracks. It was 2 big 4 prop......I don't know exactly what but always awesome to see and feel it.


My wild guess is AC-130s.


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## DarkWeb (Mar 22, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> My wild guess is AC-130s.


Yeah that was definitely it. This pic I took a few years ago at a friend's place.


But this was much closer to the trees tonight.


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## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Yeah that was definitely it. This pic I took a few years ago at a friend's place.
> View attachment 4860257
> View attachment 4860261
> But this was much closer to the trees tonight.


Just saying hello...


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Yeah that was definitely it. This pic I took a few years ago at a friend's place.
> View attachment 4860257
> View attachment 4860261
> But this was much closer to the trees tonight.


DO NOT piss her off!!


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## DarkWeb (Mar 22, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> DO NOT piss her off!!


No fucking way would I want to do that! 






LOL my wife never saw anything like that, it was funny watching her.....lol I almost ran her over trying to get out of the house to see because I knew exactly what was happening! Shit! those letters must be ten foot tall.....tonight was the lowest I have seen them over the house. They were right there!


----------



## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> No fucking way would I want to do that!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Someone hit the "cascade" button. IR flares for missile ECM.


----------



## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

They really aren't that large, the C5 was huge. I've ridden in a 130.


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## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

Lockheed C-130 Hercules - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## DarkWeb (Mar 22, 2021)

raratt said:


> They really aren't that large, the C5 was huge. I've ridden in a 130.


It was just over the trees......it was big. Thankfully I have never seen a commercial passenger jet that low. So all I have to compare it to was the small aircraft that I've seen that low. A friend had a shop by the strip of a small field. Small planes in and out all day.


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## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

Lockheed C-5 Galaxy - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## DarkWeb (Mar 22, 2021)

raratt said:


> Lockheed C-5 Galaxy - Wikipedia
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow that's big! Man I'd love to bring the kids to see something like that!


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## cannabineer (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Wow that's big! Man I'd love to bring the kids to see something like that!


Many years ago I drove past Dover, and a couple of the great gray beasts were visible from the road.


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## DarkWeb (Mar 22, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> Many years ago I drove past Dover, and a couple of the great gray beasts were visible from the road.


Dover Delaware?


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## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Wow that's big! Man I'd love to bring the kids to see something like that!


That's why I laughed about the 130 being large. I saw a C-5 leave after an airshow and tipped his wings to wave goodbye, The tips had to be moving 40' up and down.


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## cannabineer (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Dover Delaware?


Yeah. Big AMC base.


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Wow that's big! Man I'd love to bring the kids to see something like that!


My hub worked on those while he was stationed at Dover. He preferred the C-141. He came in with them and retired with them. He said the C-5 was too big but the C-141 was just right. You can see the 2 C-5s at the top of the pic for comparison.


----------



## DarkWeb (Mar 22, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> Yeah. Big AMC base.


That's easy once everything goes back to normal. I got family in that area.


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## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> My hub worked on those while he was stationed at Dover. He preferred the C-141. He came in with them and retired with them. He said the C-5 was too big but the C-141 was just right. You can see the 2 C-5s at the top of the pic for comparison.
> 
> View attachment 4860470


C-17's look more like a glorified jet powered C-130.


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## curious2garden (Mar 22, 2021)

raratt said:


> C-17's look more like a glorified jet powered C-130.


I think that's what they were going for. Hub did some coordination work with the McDonnell Douglas guys on that. She was coming in as he was leaving.


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## raratt (Mar 22, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> I think that's what they were going for. Hub did some coordination work with the McDonnell Douglas guys on that. She was coming in as he was leaving.


More versatile when it comes to runways. It, like the C-130 can back up.


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 22, 2021)

raratt said:


> More versatile when it comes to runways. It, like the C-130 can back up.


So can a C-141 (back up). 

BTW I'm listening to a lesson on how to back up a C-141 and if you didn't shutdown the APU it would overheat and could cause a fire. Ahhh the lengths I go to to keep you guys entertained.


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## Dorian2 (Mar 22, 2021)

Hey folks. I'm not a vet but I grew up in the DND system in Canada. 2 Grandfathers WW2, uncles in Korea, Father peacekeeping in Egypt in the 60's. He was RCAF 447 helicopter transport (Chinooks). Most of my family is Military and Nurses.

Just paying respect to all here.


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## Rewerb (Mar 22, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Yeah that was definitely it. This pic I took a few years ago at a friend's place.
> View attachment 4860257
> View attachment 4860261
> But this was much closer to the trees tonight.


Potential Drop Zone nearby? That C-130 has its air deflectors extended in front of the paratroop doors (always a good practice unless you enjoy a very brutal L/R turn from zero to 120 kts!!).


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## Rewerb (Mar 23, 2021)

I'm the first guy you see geeking at the camera whilst getting his rig checked:





I used to get in trouble for doing freefall exits off the back ramp of a C-130 wearing a static-line rig - FUCK 'EM!

Then there's the load-follow jumps with Zodiacs on pallets that scared the shit out of me....... The loadmasters released the 2nd load too soon & I exited at the same time as the 2nd pallet was released. I physically pushed it away from me whilst we were both in freefall from the aircraft......

Yes, I sometimes enjoyed my military service....

Sometimes I still feel the rage. I prefer to remember the good stuff.


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## DarkWeb (Mar 23, 2021)

Rewerb said:


> Potential Drop Zone nearby? That C-130 has its air deflectors extended in front of the paratroop doors (always a good practice unless you enjoy a very brutal L/R turn from zero to 120 kts!!).


They practice a lot around here.


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## curious2garden (Mar 23, 2021)

Rewerb said:


> Potential Drop Zone nearby? That C-130 has its air deflectors extended in front of the paratroop doors (always a good practice unless you enjoy a very brutal L/R turn from zero to 120 kts!!).


Good eye! 


Rewerb said:


> I'm the first guy you see geeking at the camera whilst getting his rig checked:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Why are you jumping from a plane configured with litter stanchions (medevac)? My hub pointed them out and asked me to ask.


----------



## raratt (Mar 23, 2021)

Rewerb said:


> Potential Drop Zone nearby? That C-130 has its air deflectors extended in front of the paratroop doors (always a good practice unless you enjoy a very brutal L/R turn from zero to 120 kts!!).


I did not know that, learned something today!  We didn't leave the aircraft until it was landed.


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## Rewerb (Mar 23, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Good eye!
> 
> Why are you jumping from a plane configured with litter stanchions (medevac)? My hub pointed them out and asked me to ask.


Good eye! 'Never gave them a second glance before now. As far as I can remember, they were always attached to the uprights, just not used for their intended purpose. It was just the way the seating was configured (ie. inboard & outboard sticks on each side). Very versatile aircraft, the C-130.


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2021)

​


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 25, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4862294​


----------



## Rewerb (Mar 26, 2021)

On Weald of Kent I watched once more
Again I heard that grumbling roar -
of fighter planes, yet none were near
and all around the sky was clear
borne on the wind a whisper came -
though men grow old, They stay the same
and then I knew unseen to eye -
the ageless few were sweeping by.


----------



## curious2garden (Mar 26, 2021)

Rewerb said:


> On Weald of Kent I watched once more
> Again I heard that grumbling roar -
> of fighter planes, yet none were near
> and all around the sky was clear
> ...











Project Propeller


The Project Propeller Charity is an annual reunion for ex-World War 2 aircrew held at airfield locations throughout the UK




www.projectpropeller.org


----------



## raratt (Mar 26, 2021)

My other blackbird.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 26, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4863671
> My other blackbird.


----------



## raratt (Mar 26, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


>


That's the only song my brother can play.


----------



## lokie (Mar 28, 2021)

What is under a kilt? BALLS.


----------



## BarnBuster (Mar 29, 2021)

_On March 29, 1973 the last U.S. combat troops left South Vietnam, ending direct U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War. Military advisers to the South Vietnamese Army remained, as did Marines protecting U.S. installations, and thousands of Defense Department civilians._​


----------



## Rewerb (Apr 1, 2021)

You know who you are & where the thanks reside......but for others:

INVICTUS:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 1, 2021)

The Monstrous Submarine Pens Built to Shelter the Kriegsmarine's Wolfpacks


The submarine pens built in WWII were some of the biggest concrete construction works of the war, and some of toughest targets throughout all of Europe.




www.warhistoryonline.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 2, 2021)

*Different spanks for different ranks:*
_"The Marines and sailors who died were failed by a chain of command that sent them on a mission without any safety boats or sufficient rest, investigators found_."









'Fire the generals' — Who is to blame for the Marine Corps’ deadliest training accident in decades


'The solution is to fire the generals.'




taskandpurpose.com


----------



## smokinrav (Apr 3, 2021)

Deepest shipwreck ever discovered surveyed. The destroyer USS Johnston, sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, arguably the most heroic ship attack of the war. She was hit while maneuvering against the Yamato and three other battleships!

CNN : The world's deepest shipwreck has been fully surveyed.








The world's deepest shipwreck has been fully surveyed


The world's deepest known shipwreck, a World War II US Navy destroyer, has been fully mapped and filmed by a US-based crew.




rss.cnn.com


----------



## Rewerb (Apr 3, 2021)

I honestly take my hat off to anyone in the Naval services as having balls of steel.

Turn the green light on & chuck me out of a perfectly serviceable aircraft at fucking-stupidly-low levels at night with more than my own body-weight attached & I was happier than a pig in shit.

Water-bourne operations...... Nah! That shit scared the fuck out of me until I was back on dry land.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 3, 2021)

Rewerb said:


> I honestly take my hat off to anyone in the Naval services as having balls of steel. Water-bourne operations...... Nah! That shit scared the fuck out of me until I was back on dry land.


Even more so for the Submarine Service. NFW


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 3, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Even more so for the Submarine Service. *NFW*


I second that!


----------



## smokinrav (Apr 3, 2021)

Hotracking with a bunch of sardines is my dream from hell lol


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 4, 2021)

Today in Military History:
*What We Fought Against: Ohrdruf
On April 4, 1945, the US 4th Armored Division and 89th Infantry Division of the Third US Army came face to face with the horrors of Nazi brutality. The men discovered Ohrdruf, a Nazi labor camp and a subcamp of the Buchenwald system.*

 
*Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, and Omar Bradley view charred prisoner remains that SS troops tried to destroy and corpses found scattered around the camp grounds, lying where they were killed prior to the camp’s evacuation.*​_"In November 1944, the Nazis established Ohrdruf south of Gotha, Germany. As a subcamp, Ohrdruf was located about 30 miles west of Buchenwald. Codenamed SIII, the Ohrdruf camp was established to supply forced labor to construct a route that would lead to a communications center in the basement of nearby Mühlberg Castle, located in the town of Ohrdruf. Prisoners were to connect the castle with a railway by digging tunnels through nearby mountains. The tunnels would also serve as an emergency shelter for the train that contained Hitler’s headquarters, the Führersonderzug, in the event of an evacuation from Berlin. Local civilians were hired to handle the dynamiting, while prisoners would come in behind to dig and pick up rocks. With poor working conditions and no protective gear offered, many prisoners suffered from serious injuries and often were killed in the process. The communications center, however, was never completed and the project was abandoned due to the advance of US troops.

By March 1945, the prisoner population in Ohrdruf reached 11,700. The prisoners included people of various nationalities—French, Belgian, German, Hungarian, Czech, Latvian, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Yugoslav. In addition, the camp housed prisoners who the Nazis judged as anti-social, plus homosexuals and Jews. In early April, with the oncoming advance of Allied forces, the SS evacuated almost all of the prisoners in a death march to Buchenwald. Many prisoners who were too weak or ill to partake in the march were summarily killed.

Ohrdruf was the first Nazi camp to be liberated by US forces. On April 12, a week after the camp’s liberation, Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, and Omar Bradley toured the site, led by a prisoner familiar with the camp. Numerous corpses were found scattered around the camp grounds, lying where they were killed prior to the camp’s evacuation. A burned out pyre was discovered with the charred remains of prisoners, proof of the SS’s hurried evacuation and attempt to cover their crimes. Evidence of torture was present, and prisoners demonstrated for the generals various torture methods used by the guards. In a shed, a pile of roughly 30 emaciated bodies were discovered, sprinkled with lime in an attempt to cover the smell. Patton, a man privy to the violent scenes of war, refused to enter this shed as the sights and smells in the camp had previously caused him to vomit against the side of a building. German citizens from the nearby town of Ohrdruf were forced to view the camp and bury the dead, a practice that was later repeated in other camp liberations. Following the tour, the mayor of Ohrdruf and his wife were discovered to have hung themselves in their home.

Following the generals’ visit to the camp, Eisenhower ordered all American units in the area and not engaged in frontline battle to be sent to Ohrdruf. He cabled General George C. Marshall, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., requesting that members of Congress and journalists be sent to liberated camps to witness and document the horrific scenes US troops were uncovering. Additionally, the generals discovered the prisoner who acted as their guide during their visit to Ohrdruf was recognized by another prisoner as a former camp guard, and was beaten to death. Though Eisenhower said visiting Ohrdruf left him feeling sick from the overpowering sights, he acknowledged it put him “in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to ‘propaganda.’”

A group of prominent journalists, led by the dean of American publishers, Joseph Pulitzer, came to see the concentration camps. Pulitzer initially had “a suspicious frame of mind,” he wrote. He expected to find that many of “the terrible reports” printed in the United States were “exaggerations and largely propaganda.” But they were understatements, he reported.

Within days, Congressional delegations came to visit the concentration camps, accompanied by journalists and photographers. General Patton was so angry at what he found at Buchenwald that he ordered the Military Police to go to Weimar, four miles away, and bring back 1,000 civilians to see what their leaders had done, to witness what some human beings could do to others. The MP’s were so outraged they brought back 2,000. Some turned away. Some fainted. Even veteran, battle-scarred correspondents were struck dumb. In a legendary broadcast on April 15, Edward R. Murrow gave the American radio audience a stunning matter-of-fact description of Buchenwald, of the piles of dead bodies so emaciated that those shot through the head had barely bled, and of those children who still lived, tattooed with numbers, whose ribs showed through their thin shirts. “I pray you to believe what I have said about Buchenwald,” Murrow asked listeners. “I have reported what I saw and heard, but only part of it; for most of it I have no words.” He added, “If I have offended you by this rather mild account of Buchenwald, I am not in the least sorry.”

The liberation of Ohrdruf opened the eyes of many Americans, soldiers and civilians, to the barbaric conditions innocent people faced under Nazism. American troops would move on to discover and liberate multiple camps, including Dora-Mittelbau, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Buchenwald. Elie Wiesel, author of Night, was imprisoned in Buchenwald at the time of the camp’s liberation. As more camps were uncovered by Allied forces, it became evident to the world that the Third Reich had committed unprecedented atrocities everywhere the regime had reigned. Following the discovery of Ohrdruf, Eisenhower stated simply but profoundly: “We are told the American soldier does not know what he is fighting for. Now, at least, we know what he is fighting against.”"



https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1380&context=graddis



_
​


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 5, 2021)

Eddie Bauer: A Brief History - Sporting Classics Daily


Eddie Bauer set out to create a jacket – he ended up creating a successful and innovative company and helping win World War II.




sportingclassicsdaily.com


----------



## raratt (Apr 5, 2021)

Valkyrie drone launches even smaller drone from inside payload bay


In its sixth flight test, the Valkyrie released a payload while in flight for the first time.




www.defensenews.com


----------



## doublejj (Apr 5, 2021)

Jonny Kim, 36, Navy SEAL, Harvard trained physician, NASA's first Korean-American astronaut


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2021)

Navy Seabees Build VP Kamala Harris a Desk Out of Wood from USS Constitution


The vice president and Navy secretary now have new desks built out of materials from some of the most storied ships in U.S. history.




www.military.com



_Past and present came together when a team of Navy Seabees crafted a desk made of timber from USS Constitution for the Vice President of the United States. The desk project was initiated to deliver a desk of comparable provenance, history, and heritage as the president’s HMS Resolute desk. 

One of the first six frigates of the U.S. Navy, USS Constitution was launched in 1797 in Boston, Massachusetts. Today, 224 years later, Constitution is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat. Her resolve and the Sailors who crew “Old Ironsides” are symbols of American steadfastness and naval history and heritage.

The team also built a desk for the Secretary of the Navy made of parts from the frigates USS Constitution, USS Chesapeake, sloop of war USS Constellation, and battleships USS Texas, USS New Jersey, and USS Arizona. The Secretary’s desk was made primarily of salvaged excess wood and copper from Constitution, a small amount of donated original wood from the frigate USS Chesapeake, donated salvage wood from the museum frigate USS Constellation, donated metal from the museum battleships USS Texas and USS New Jersey and a relic from the battleship USS Arizona. 

“It’s a huge opportunity to be a part of,” said Builder 1st Class Hilary Lemelin, assigned to USS Constitution. “It’s amazing to create a desk for someone who makes such large decisions for the country and Navy; knowing they’ll sit there every day is huge. The importance of their job can affect everything we do. It’s a piece of history now.”

The Seabees constructed the desks in about seven weeks. Staining and applying finishing coats was the longest part of the process due to the 24-hour drying time between each layer. They used wood, copper, and nails from Constitution, wood from Chesapeake and Constellation, steel plating from Texas and Arizona, and deck bolts from New Jersey.

The team left square-nail holes in parts of the panels to show they came from the planks of the Constitution and as a reminder that Sailors served on it. The panels were a piece of history they didn’t want to cover up. Yet, these weren’t the parts of the desk that mean the most to Lemelin.

“In each desk, we built pen trays in the center drawer and SECNAV Kenneth Braithwaite has a note written in there with a piece of the Arizona,” said Lemelin. “That’s the biggest thing for me because every time they open that tray to sign an important document that could potentially change the Navy or the nation, I think I put that there for them to use. For me, that’s history and we’re helping whoever sits in those seats think about the immense weight they hold.”

The team unanimously stated it was more than personal pride, there was the pride of being a Seabee. The Construction Battalion’s “can do” motto reigned true throughout the entire mission.

“This was the highlight of my career for sure,” said Senior Chief Constructionman Noah Ziegler, assigned to Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Atlantic. “We worked together every day and learned from each other while we made desks that I’m extremely proud of. Watching the way the team meshed and helped each other on top of knowing these desks would be used for many years to come, it was an awesome overall experience. Saying it was an honor is a significant understatement.”

Ziegler said the team constantly talked about how they can maximize the materials they used to capture the spirit of the old ships and all the Sailors who served on them.

Steelworker 2nd Class Elijohana Cole, assigned to Public Works Department Washington, confirms how the learning and cross-rate training exemplified what being a “can do” Seabee is all about. She explained although she wasn’t as experienced with wood-working, her team didn’t let her down and in turn, she didn’t let them down.

“I didn’t know too much in that aspect so I was kind of afraid and nervous,” said Cole. “The whole team helped me understand how it worked and I was confident later on within myself that they could leave me with a task and I’d be able to do it.”

This tasking showed the quality and strength of the Seabees because it required four Sailors from different commands to come together and work as a solid unit in such a small time on a highly visible product. The desks are now a part of history and the pride of the team that put them together can be re-visited with every picture from here on out.

“People seem to think Seabees only do humanitarian work or putting up structures,” said Cole. “No, we are a construction force who also knows how to make awesome furniture. We have all the crafts and we excel in everything we do. I am proud to be a Seabee and I am really proud we had the chance to do this task.”_


----------



## smokinrav (Apr 6, 2021)

Great story. Thanks for sharing. Here's a better shot of Harris' desk in place


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## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Great story. Thanks for sharing.


IKR? Gives us a new perspective of the Seabees.


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## smokinrav (Apr 6, 2021)

I loved the seabees since I was a kid fascinated with WW2. Here's an example of what they did with some of that historic battleship metal. I think this is from the SecNav desk


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## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2021)

U.S. Navy Seabee Museum


Collecting, preserving and displaying historical material of the Seabees and the Civil Engineer Corps




seabeemuseum.wordpress.com





​_PEARL HARBOR, HI, UNITED STATES
05.07.2019
Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Allen Amani 
Navy Public Affairs Support Element Detachment Hawaii 

190507-N-YM720-1287 PEARL HARBOR (May 7, 2019)
Steelworker 3rd Class Cameron Fields, crew leader at Construction Battalion Maintenance Unit 303 detachment Hawaii, cuts a piece of steel salvaged from the USS Arizona. This piece, as well as other historical relics, will be displayed in one of more than 100 locations around the world. These visible pieces will allow the public to consider and discuss the significance of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Allen Michael McNair)_


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## smokinrav (Apr 6, 2021)

I could get lost in that link all day


----------



## doublejj (Apr 6, 2021)

My wife was born at Port Hueneme Ca Seabee base. Her father was a Seabee in WWII. He suffered terribly from PTSD and committed suicide when she was 8.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2021)

Salvage divers from the Seabee's were the ones that dove on many of the Dec 7 Pearl Harbor ships for rescue and remains retrieval. In 1942 and 1943, divers worked to repair, salvage, raise, remove unexploded ordinance and dismantle the ships and planes, spending a combined 16,000 hours underwater during 4,000 dives, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Ed Raymer was the Senior Petty Officer in charge of the Navy salvage dive team that were the first ones to enter the _Arizona _in early January 1942. His team brought up the initial 40 some bodies from _Arizona_ before it was decided by Navy and Congress that due to the horrific condition of the remains, it was best to leave them entombed. The team was also instrumental in raising the_ West Virginia_, _Nevada_ and _California_. The book is his story. bb 
*Descent into darkness : Pearl Harbor, 1941: a Navy diver's memoir* / Edward C. Raymer.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 7, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*On April 7, 1945, the Japanese battleship Yamato, one of the greatest battleships of its time, is sunk in Japan’s first major counteroffensive in the struggle for Okinawa.*
_
Weighing 72,800 tons and outfitted with nine 18.1-inch guns, the battleship Yamato was Japan’s only hope of destroying the Allied fleet off the coast of Okinawa. But insufficient air cover and fuel cursed the endeavor as a suicide mission. Struck by 19 American aerial torpedoes, it was sunk, drowning 2,498 of its crew._









Death of the Super Battleship Yamato and Musashi


The battleship Yamato, the world’s largest and most powerful, was destroyed in under two hours by an uncounted number of bombs and torpedoes.




warfarehistorynetwork.com









H-044-3: Death of Battleship Yamato


H-Gram 044, Attachment 3 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC April 2020




www.history.navy.mil












The Yamato's Last Mission


In April 1945, the Yamato and what was left of the Imperial Japanese Navy was ordered to Okinawa by the emperor himself. It would be the end of the fleet.




www.historynet.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 8, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​_ON APRIL 8, 2009, four pirates armed with AK-47s clambered up the side of the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama, sailing off the coast of Somalia. But after a brief scuffle with some of the 20 crewmembers, the pirates opted to abandon the 508-foot long ship, sailing off in one of its motorized lifeboats. They may not have captured the Maersk Alabama, nor looted its millions of dollars' worth of food and humanitarian aid bound for Kenya, but they didn't leave empty handed. The pirates had a captive: Maersk Alabama's captain, Richard Phillips.

*Four days later, three of the four pirates were dead -- each from a single .30-caliber rifle bullet to his brain, courtesy of the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team Six.* The fourth pirate, just 16 years old, was in Navy custody. And Phillips was on his way home, unharmed but for the psychological strain from four days in captivity in a sweltering lifeboat, unsure whether he would live or die. The fourth pirate, Abdul Wali Muse, who was already aboard the Bainbridge for medical treatment, was brought to the United States for trial. Muse was the first person charged with piracy in a US court in over 100 years. In May 2010, Muse pled guilty to hijacking, kidnapping and hostage-taking. In February 2011, Muse was sentenced to almost 34 years in federal prison. _









8,000 Miles, 96 Hours, 3 Dead Pirates: Inside a Navy SEAL Rescue


A 2009 pirate standoff that could have ended in military disaster was instead resolved bloodlessly for the U.S., thanks in large part to a small team of far-flying, night-parachuting, tireless, sharpshooting Navy commandos. Their exploits would remain relatively obscure, if not for a retired...




www.wired.com












3 shots. 3 kills. How SEALs carried out rescue.


From wire reports WASHINGTON The hard part was not the distance, 75 feet, an easy range for an experienced sniper. Far more difficult were all the moving parts: the bobbing lifeboat, the rolling ship, hitting three targets simultaneously in darkness - and all without harming the hostage, Capt...




www.pilotonline.com









Piracy Off the Horn of Africa


Lauren Ploch Analyst in African Affairs Christopher M. Blanchard Analyst in Middle Eastern Affairs Ronald O'Rourke Specialist in Naval Affairs R. Chuck Mason Legislative Attorney Rawle O. King Analyst in Financial Economics and Risk Assessment September 28, 2009




www.history.navy.mil






http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/04/08/excerptchapter1.pdf


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## smokinrav (Apr 8, 2021)

The difficulty of those shots cannot be understated


----------



## DarkWeb (Apr 8, 2021)

Linking up...


----------



## raratt (Apr 8, 2021)




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## BarnBuster (Apr 8, 2021)

*'I feel like I’m with him': Gold Star mothers skydive in memory of their sons.*
​








'I feel like I’m with him': Gold Star mothers skydive in memory of their sons


Two Gold Star mothers experienced a slice of their sons’ best moments, courtesy of Special Operations Command’s elite parachute demonstration team.




www.stripes.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 9, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
_*"In Appomattox Court House, Virginia, on April 9, 1865, Robert E. Lee surrenders his 28,000 Confederate troops to Union General Ulysses S. Grant, effectively ending the American Civil War*. Forced to abandon the Confederate capital of Richmond, blocked from joining the surviving Confederate force in North Carolina, and harassed constantly by Union cavalry, Lee had no other option.
In retreating from the Union army’s Appomattox Campaign, the Army of Northern Virginia had stumbled through the Virginia countryside stripped of food and supplies. At one point, Union cavalry forces under General Philip Sheridan had actually outrun Lee’s army, blocking their retreat and taking 6,000 prisoners at Sayler’s Creek. Desertions were mounting daily, and by April 8 the Confederates were surrounded with no possibility of escape. On April 9, Lee sent a message to Grant announcing his willingness to surrender. The two generals met in the parlor of the Wilmer McLean home at one o’clock in the afternoon.

Lee and Grant, both holding the highest rank in their respective armies, had known each other slightly during the Mexican War and exchanged awkward personal inquiries. Characteristically, Grant arrived in his muddy field uniform while Lee had turned out in full dress attire, complete with sash and sword. Lee asked for the terms, and Grant hurriedly wrote them out. All officers and men were to be pardoned, and they would be sent home with their private property–most important, the horses, which could be used for a late spring planting. Officers would keep their side arms, and Lee’s starving men would be given Union rations.

Shushing a band that had begun to play in celebration, General Grant told his officers, “The war is over. The Rebels are our countrymen again.” Although scattered resistance continued for several weeks, for all practical purposes the Civil War had come to an end."









Civil War Casualties


Roughly 2% of the population, an estimated 620,000 men, lost their lives in the line of duty during the Civil War. Taken as a percentage of today's population, the toll would have risen as high as 6 million souls.




www.battlefields.org




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 10, 2021)

​


----------



## Singlemalt (Apr 10, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4875280 View attachment 4875281​


I remember that on the evening news


----------



## smokinrav (Apr 10, 2021)

Panel: 'Navy Has Done Itself a Major Favor' in Releasing Thresher Investigation - USNI News


The rolling release of a previously secret report and investigation of the 1963 loss of USS Thresher (SSN-593), the Navy’s worst submarine disaster, is providing new lessons for today’s sailors and shipbuilders, said the former submarine commander who brought suit to declassify the documents...




news.usni.org


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## cannabineer (Apr 10, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> I remember that on the evening news


When I was nine, a friend of my parents was moving back to Germany. She gave them a stack of National Geographic, 1963 to 1970. They gave them to me. I remember the very first article I read was about the loss of 593.

It was months before I found the pictorial feature on some Amazon tribe that was still almost pristine. They wore a belt of some sort.


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## curious2garden (Apr 10, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> When I was nine, a friend of my parents was moving back to Germany. She gave them a stack of National Geographic, 1963 to 1970. They gave them to me. I remember the very first article I read was about the loss of 593.
> 
> It was months before I found the pictorial feature on some Amazon tribe that was still almost pristine. They wore a belt of some sort.


ROFLMAO you were a bit slow


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## doublejj (Apr 10, 2021)

* Prisoner-of-war flag returns to perch atop White House*
*White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that the return was “in keeping with the president and first lady’s commitment to honor the sacrifices of all those who serve.” *


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 13, 2021)

'I'm Very Proud of Him:' Sergeant Major of the Army Reacts to Black Lieutenant's Traffic Stop


"He represented himself and our Army well through his calm, professional response to the situation -- I'm very proud of him."




www.military.com












Virginia Attorney General Investigating Windsor Police Department


The Attorney General's office requested documents on the department's use of force policies and personnel records for the officers who pepper-sprayed Lt. Caron Nazario Dec. 5.




www.npr.org


----------



## DarkWeb (Apr 13, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> 'I'm Very Proud of Him:' Sergeant Major of the Army Reacts to Black Lieutenant's Traffic Stop
> 
> 
> "He represented himself and our Army well through his calm, professional response to the situation -- I'm very proud of him."
> ...


I saw that last night on the news.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 13, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> I saw that last night on the news.


"You're getting ready to ride the lightning"
Seriously?!?

Fuckin fat punk with a utility belt & tin badge.


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## DarkWeb (Apr 13, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> "You're getting ready to ride the lightning"
> Seriously?!?
> 
> Fuckin fat punk with a utility belt & tin badge.


The cop at the back of the suv looks very green....like first week green.


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## smokinrav (Apr 13, 2021)

I'll never understand how fat cops pass fitness requirements, assuming they exist at all in law enforcement. The fat one here couldn't run 100 yards in shorts and a t shirt, much less with 40 lbs of kit on him.


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## Singlemalt (Apr 13, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> The cop at the back of the suv looks very green....like first week green.


High School green


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 13, 2021)

As a qualified Engineering Officer of the Watch we had to know the location and function of every control panel, valve & piping system on the entire vessel.


----------



## doublejj (Apr 14, 2021)

‘Pink tax’ on women’s military uniform items would be eliminated under new proposal


The move follows reports that women pay thousands more in uniform costs over their careers than their male counterparts.




www.militarytimes.com


----------



## smokinrav (Apr 14, 2021)

What the actual fuck? You have to pay for uniforms? The military gets a trillion dollars a year, ffs.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 18, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
*On April 18, 1942, 16 American B-25 bombers, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet 650 miles east of Japan and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, attack the Japanese mainland.*
_
The now-famous Tokyo Raid did little real damage to Japan (wartime Premier Hideki Tojo was inspecting military bases during the raid; one B-25 came so close, Tojo could see the pilot, though the American bomber never fired a shot)–but it did hurt the Japanese government’s prestige. Believing the air raid had been launched from Midway Island, approval was given to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s plans for an attack on Midway–which would also damage Japanese “prestige.” Doolittle eventually received the Medal of Honor._









Trained in Secret, These Fearless Pilots Retaliated for Pearl Harbor


On April 18, 1942, Jimmy Doolittle led a squadron on one of the most daring missions of World War II.




www.nationalgeographic.com






https://www.uss-hornet.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Website-Extended-Info-Doolittle-Raid.pdf




https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2014/February%202014/0214mission.pdf










Doolittle's Raider: The North American B-25 Mitchell | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


The first bomber to hit Japan after Pearl Harbor, the B-25 Mitchell was found in every theater of the war and was a rugged, multipurpose bomber beloved by her aircrew for its survivability and ease to fly.




www.nationalww2museum.org


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 18, 2021)

​
_*April 18, 1943 – An aircraft carrying the Commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto, is shot down by P-38 Lighting fighters over Bougainville.* Yamamoto is killed. This action is the result the interception of a coded Japanese message announcing a visit by Yamamoto. The Japanese fail to deduce that their codes are insecure. 

The Bougainville jungle was so thick, and Yamamoto’s crash site so remote, that Japanese search planes could only circle overhead, vainly seeking any sign of survivors. A rescue party finally hacked through to the downed Betty the next day. The admiral’s body was found near the wreckage, belted upright in his seat and still holding his sword, leading some to believe he survived the crash and might have been saved. More likely his body was arranged by another dying victim, in a demonstration of the reverence his countrymen felt toward him. Tokyo did not admit his loss until May 21.

In all of American history, the only equivalent is the operation that killed al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. Yamamoto was no different from any officer caught in a sniper’s crosshairs—in uniform, on a combat mission, a legitimate military target. Today, when the enemy rarely wears a uniform, the debate centers on targeting terrorist leaders with remote-controlled drones. Few remember that the precedent was set 70 years ago, over the jungles of Bougainville._






The National Interest: Blog







nationalinterest.org












A P-38 Pilot Describes the Attack on Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto


P-38 pilot Roger Ames flew with the mission to shoot down Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack.




warfarehistorynetwork.com









Magic and Lightning | Air & Space Forces Magazine


For US pilots, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto was a “high-value” target but also a fleeting one.




www.airforcemag.com





*Operation Vengeance : the astonishing aerial ambush that changed World War II*_ /_ Dan Hampton. (The decision, planning and execution of VENGEANCE, the operation to find Yamamoto's flight and shoot him down.bb)


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## smokinrav (Apr 18, 2021)

Spent the last hour reading all that and this, from wiki: the Japanese retaliation 

*Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaignEdit*
After the raid, the Japanese Imperial Army began the Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign (also known as Operation Sei-go) to prevent these eastern coastal provinces of China from being used again for an attack on Japan and to take revenge on the Chinese people. An area of some 20,000 sq mi (50,000 km2) was laid waste. "Like a swarm of locusts, they left behind nothing but destruction and chaos," eyewitness Father Wendelin Dunker wrote.[2] The Japanese killed an estimated 10,000 Chinese civilians during their search for Doolittle's men.[50] People who aided the airmen were tortured before they were killed. Father Dunker wrote of the destruction of the town of Ihwang: "They shot any man, woman, child, cow, hog, or just about anything that moved, They raped any woman from the ages of 10–65, and before burning the town they thoroughly looted it ... None of the humans shot were buried either ..."[2] The Japanese entered Nancheng, population 50,000 on June 11, "beginning a reign of terror so horrendous that missionaries would later dub it 'the Rape of Nancheng.' " evoking memories of the infamous Rape of Nanjing five years before. Less than a month later, the Japanese forces put what remained of the city to the torch. "This planned burning was carried on for three days," one Chinese newspaper reported, "and the city of Nancheng became charred earth."[2]

When Japanese troops moved out of the Zhejiang and Jiangxi areas in mid-August, they left behind a trail of devastation. Chinese estimates put the civilian death toll at 250,000. The Imperial Japanese Army had also spread cholera, typhoid, plague infected fleas and dysentery pathogens. The Japanese biological warfare Unit 731 brought almost 300 pounds of paratyphoid and anthrax to be left in contaminated food and contaminated wells with the withdrawal of the army from areas around Yushan, Kinhwa and Futsin. Around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their biological weapons attack rebounded on their own forces.[51][_circular reference_]

Shunroku Hata, the commander of Japanese forces involved of the massacre of the 250,000 Chinese civilians, was sentenced in 1948 in part due to his "failure to prevent atrocities". He was given a life sentence but was paroled in 1954.[


----------



## raratt (Apr 18, 2021)

Just kidding, kinda.


----------



## doublejj (Apr 19, 2021)

*Biden to nominate Coast Guard's first woman four-star admiral*








Biden to nominate Coast Guard's first woman four-star admiral


Linda Fagan would be the Coast Guard's second highest-ranking officer if confirmed.




www.axios.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 19, 2021)

doublejj said:


> *Biden to nominate Coast Guard's first woman four-star admiral*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When I was AD I worked for and with all races, genders, religions etc. . .
It's all about performance and personality and nothing else.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 20, 2021)

Military Daily News


Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.




www.military.com


----------



## smokinrav (Apr 20, 2021)

SOF using jetpacks! The tech is really becoming compact now

Futurism: Special Ops Soldier With Jetpack Boards Ship in Amazing Video.








Special Ops Soldier With Jetpack Boards Ship in Amazing Video


Woah.




futurism.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 22, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​*Pat Tillman, who gave up his pro football career to enlist in the U.S. Army after the terrorist attacks of September 11, is killed by friendly fire while serving in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. *_The news that Tillman, age 27, was mistakenly gunned down by his fellow Rangers, rather than enemy forces, was initially covered up by the U.S. military.

Patrick Daniel Tillman was born the oldest of three brothers on November 6, 1976, in San Jose, California. He played linebacker for Arizona State University, where during his senior year he was named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year. In 1998, Tillman was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals. He became the team’s starting safety as well as one of its most popular players. In 2000, he broke the team record for tackles with 224. In May 2002, Tillman turned down a three-year, multi-million-dollar deal with the Cardinals and instead, prompted by the events of 9/11, joined the Army along with his brother Kevin, a minor-league baseball player. The Tillman brothers were assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment in Fort Lewis, Washington, and did tours in Iraq in 2003, followed by Afghanistan the next year.

On April 22, 2004, Pat Tillman was killed by gunfire while on patrol in a rugged area of eastern Afghanistan. The Army initially maintained that Tillman and his unit were ambushed by enemy forces. Tillman was praised as a national hero, awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart medals and posthumously promoted to corporal. Weeks later, Tillman’s family learned his death had been accidental. His parents publicly criticized the Army, saying they had been intentionally deceived by military officials who wanted to use their son as a patriotic poster boy. They believed their son’s death was initially covered up by military officials because it could’ve undermined support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A criminal investigation was eventually launched into the case and in 2007 the Army censured retired three-star general Philip Kensinger, who was in charge of special operations at the time of Tillman’s death, for lying to investigators and making other mistakes. “Memorandums of concern” were also sent to several brigadier generals and lower-ranking officers who the Army believed acted improperly in the case.









Evidence Shows Pat Tillman Murdered According to Medical Experts - Sportscasting | Pure Sports


Pat Tillman died a true American hero. What has always been in question was how he died. According to evidence, some medical experts think he was murdered.




www.sportscasting.com




_








The NFL, the Military, and the Hijacking of Pat Tillman’s Story


Pat Tillman’s life and death is an all-American story. It’s just not the kind that Donald Trump and his supporters want it to be.




theintercept.com












H. Rept. 110-858 - MISLEADING INFORMATION FROM THE BATTLEFIELD: THE TILLMAN AND LYNCH EPISODES


House report on MISLEADING INFORMATION FROM THE BATTLEFIELD: THE TILLMAN AND LYNCH EPISODES. This report is by the Oversight and Government Reform



www.congress.gov


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 23, 2021)

4 Unsolved Mysteries of the Jimmy Doolittle Raid on Tokyo


The Jimmy Doolittle Raid on Tokyo began and ended in secrecy; some 70 years later, the secrecy still flies high. These four mysteries remain.




warfarehistorynetwork.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 24, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​_On Nov. 4, 1979, approximately 3,000 Iranian militants took control of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding 63 Americans hostage. An additional three U.S. members were seized at the Iranian Foreign Ministry for a total of 66. This was in response to President Jimmy Carter allowing Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the recently deposed Iranian ruler, into the U.S. for cancer treatment. New leadership in Iran wanted the shah back as well as the end of Western influence in their country.

After a few weeks, 13 hostages, all women or African Americans, were released but the remaining 53 would wait out five months of failed negotiations.

President Carter, originally wanting to end the hostage crisis diplomatically and without force, turned to alternative solutions as he felt the political pressure to resolve the problem. On April 16, 1980, he approved Operation Eagle Claw, a military rescue operation involving all four branches of the U.S. armed forces.

*On April 24, 1980, helicopters and planes were supposed to land with about 160 soldiers—mainly Delta Force—at a staging base called Desert One.* Then embedded CIA agents would drive soldiers into Tehran. Troops would cut power to the city, capture an Air Force Base, evacuate the embassy, and fly to safety.

Things first went wrong when the helicopters ran into a sandstorm, which damaged two of the aircraft. A tanker truck then happened upon the scene—smuggling fuel, the vehicle tried to flee, but soldiers blew it up with a rocket. A bus full of Iranian civilians was halted on the same road, and the 44 occupants were detained.

These events put Eagle Claw behind schedule and under-equipped. Commanders sought and were granted the order to abort. Two aircraft—one plane and one helicopter—needed refueling immediately. As the helicopter attempted to “hover taxi” (to fly low and slow for a short distance), more blowing sand confused the pilot, and he crashed into the airplane waiting to refuel. Both exploded. Eight men died. Five helicopters were left behind as the operation’s remaining personnel returned to nearby airfields. 

The mission’s failure doomed future rescue attempts—and, at least partially, Jimmy Carter’s hopes for reelection in 1980.

A number of significant lessons were learned from Operation Eagle Claw, which led to the establishment of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and its USAF component, the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The operation also highlighted the necessity of Joint planning and training.

The need for enhanced capabilities between more than one military service was the prediction for the future of the Armed Forces. Significant military reforms, such as the Goldwater-Nichols Act and Joint Doctrine, addressed the readiness and capability issues demonstrated in Operation Eagle Claw. It pointed out the necessity for a dedicated special operations section within the Department of Defense with the responsibility to prepare and maintain combat-ready forces to successfully conduct special operations.

Today, the different branches training alongside each other is common practice. Planning for missions consist of specific details with back up plans to the back up plans. Ultimately, the lives lost as Desert One weren’t in vain. The lessons learned from that mission made special operations into what we know them as today._









Operation Eagle Claw - The Disaster that Changed American Special Operations


The April 24th Op is a major event in the history of the United States’ Special Forces operations not just because it was among the first missions of the




www.warhistoryonline.com









Desert One | Air & Space Forces Magazine


The mission was to rescue the hostages held in Iran, but it ended in disaster.




www.airforcemag.com












Operation Eagle Claw, Disaster At Desert One Brings Changes to Special Operations


The images were stark and startling after the debacle at Desert One in Iran on April 24, 1980, 37 years ago today.




sofrep.com


----------



## smokinrav (Apr 24, 2021)

I knew an Air Force guy who was on an AC 130 overhead. He is still pissed over that FUBAR mission.


----------



## raratt (Apr 27, 2021)

Exercise Gold Rush 21-1 in progress. 4 F-15's visiting Beale AFB.


----------



## BarnBuster (Apr 29, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​_*"During the Dachau liberation reprisals, German prisoners of war were killed by U.S. soldiers and concentration camp internees at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, during World War II*. It is unclear how many SS members were killed in the incident but most estimates place the number killed at around 35–50. In the days before the camp's liberation, SS guards at the camp had forced 7,000 inmates on a death march that resulted in the death of many from exposure and shooting. When Allied soldiers liberated Dachau, they were variously shocked, horrified, disturbed, and angered at finding the massed corpses of internees, and by the combativeness of some of the remaining guards who allegedly fired on them."_






Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks | Read eBooks online | Free eBooks


Project Gutenberg Self-Publishing - eBooks




self.gutenberg.org


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 29, 2021)

This is one Bad Ass Lady!











The Last Surviving Woman To Have Served as a World War II British Spy Turns 100


Pippa Latour, the last surviving woman to have parachuted into France with the British Special Operations Executive, turned 100 last week.




coffeeordie.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 29, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> View attachment 4890086​_*"During the Dachau liberation reprisals, German prisoners of war were killed by U.S. soldiers and concentration camp internees at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, during World War II*. It is unclear how many SS members were killed in the incident but most estimates place the number killed at around 35–50. In the days before the camp's liberation, SS guards at the camp had forced 7,000 inmates on a death march that resulted in the death of many from exposure and shooting. When Allied soldiers liberated Dachau, they were variously shocked, horrified, disturbed, and angered at finding the massed corpses of internees, and by the combativeness of some of the remaining guards who allegedly fired on them."_
> 
> 
> ...


Watch "Shutter Island" - I believe it has a reference to this incident.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 30, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Watch "Shutter Island" - I believe it has a reference to this incident.


Here's a brief synopsis of the liberation





A few books about the liberation/ reprisals:
*The liberators : America's witnesses to the Holocaust*_ / Michael Hirsh.
*Dachau : the hour of the avenger : an eyewitness account* / by Howard A. Buechner
*Where the birds never sing : the true story of the 92nd Signal Battalion and the liberation of Dachau* / Jack Sacco._

...and a dvd. I don't know if it's on YouTube:
_*Histories of the Holocaust. Dachau : liberation & retribution */ written by Peter Morgan Jones ; an ArtsMagic production_


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 30, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Here's a brief synopsis of the liberation
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm trying to muster an inkling of remorse for the Nazi SS but not having much luck.
"It was my job" does not really work in a situation like this for me.


----------



## smokinrav (May 1, 2021)

I love new toy day! These things look crazy cool









The Army's New Night-Vision Goggles Look Like Technology Stolen From Aliens


When you think of night-vision goggles, you probably imagine the pitch black of night being illuminated in a sea of green that helps improve visibility. That’s ancient technology now as the US Army’s Lancer Brigade of Joint Base Lewis–McChord demonstrates what soldiers see through the military’s...




gizmodo.com


----------



## BarnBuster (May 3, 2021)

Today in Military History:

"*Scratch One Flat Top*"​_*"May 3, 1942* – *The first day of the first modern naval engagement in history, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Japanese invasion force succeeds in occupying Tulagi of the Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan’s defensive perimeter. *The United States, having broken Japan’s secret war code and forewarned of an impending invasion of Tulagi and Port Moresby, attempted to intercept the Japanese armada. Four days of battles between Japanese and American aircraft carriers resulted in 70 Japanese and 66 Americans warplanes destroyed. This confrontation, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, marked the first air-naval battle in history, as none of the carriers fired at each other, allowing the planes taking off from their decks to do the battling. Among the casualties was the American carrier Lexington; “the Blue Ghost” (so-called because it was not camouflaged like other carriers) suffered such extensive aerial damage that it had to be sunk by its own crew. Two hundred sixteen Lexington crewmen died as a result of the Japanese aerial bombardment. Although Japan would go on to occupy all of the Solomon Islands, its victory was a Pyrrhic one: The cost in experienced pilots and aircraft carriers was so great that Japan had to cancel its expedition to Port Moresby, Papua, as well as other South Pacific targets."_

(Many Australians believe'd at the time and still do today that this battle essentially "saved Australia" by stopping the southern expansion of IJN forces. At one time immediately after the war, they celebrated Coral Sea Week to honor USA and ANZAC forces. "More recently the commemorative emphasis has moved from the ‘Battle that saved Australia’ to the broader concept of the ‘Battle for Australia’, held on the first Wednesday in September. This now marks not only the Battle of the Coral Sea, but also the contribution and significance of all those who helped defend Australia at its most vulnerable time – the men on the Kokoda Track, the airmen in northern Australia and Papua, the sailors and merchant seamen keeping supply lines open, and the men and women in Australia in the services, as civilian workers, or volunteers on the home front.") bb

Four Medals of Honor were awarded at Coral Sea:

Lieutenant John J. Powers (Yorktown, VB-5) for actions while attacking Shoho on 7 May at Tulagi, and on 8 May in while attacking Shokaku (killed in action)
Lieutenant Milton E. Ricketts (Yorktown), engineering repair party, on 8 May (killed in action)
Lieutenant William E. Hall (Lexington, VS-2) for his attack on Shoho on 7 May and interception of Japanese torpedo planes (too few available fighter aircraft forced the use of dive/scout bombers as low-level interceptors) on 8 May (survived)
Chief Water Tender Oscar V. Peterson (Neosho) for his heroism in the ship's engineering spaces on 7 May (died of wounds)
4 books worth a read, specifically about the Battle of the Coral Sea:
_*The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle (Campaign)*_ – by Mark Stille
*Blue Skies and Blood: The Battle of the Coral Sea* – by Edwin P. Hoyt
_*The Battle of the Coral Sea: Combat Narratives*_ – by Office of Naval Intelligence
_*Scratch One Flattop: The First Carrier Air Campaign and the Battle of the Coral Sea *_– by Robert C. Stern

also:
_*The First South Pacific Campaign: Pacific Fleet Strategy, December 1941-June 1942*_ - by John B. Lundstrom
_*The Barrier and the Javelin*_ - H.P.Willmott






The Battle of the Coral Sea - ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee


anzac day commemoration committee




anzacday.org.au









On Course to Midway: The Battle of Coral Sea | The Sextant


By the Naval History and Heritage Command, Communication and Outreach Division The Battle of Coral Sea, fought in the waters southwest of the Solomon Islands and eastward from New Guinea, was the first of the Pacific War’s six fights between opposing aircraft carrier forces. Though the Japanese...




usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil












The Battle of the Coral Sea: The Debut of Aircraft Carriers - History


The Battle of the Coral Sea was a 1942 Pacific naval battle between Japan, the U.S. and Australia. Aircraft carriers engaged each other for the first time




www.historyonthenet.com









The End of the Beginning of the War in the Pacific – The Battle of the Coral Sea | The Sextant


By Ed Furgol, Ph.D., National Museum of the U.S. Navy The Battle of the Coral Sea has a claim for an eminent place in the history of Naval Aviation. The closing stages of the action witnessed the first combat between two fleets solely by carrier plane. Furthermore, the battle was the first time...




usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil


----------



## BarnBuster (May 4, 2021)

_"Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas strongly dissented to a decision filed Monday not to hear the case of a former United States Military Academy cadet who alleges the government failed to adequately prevent and respond to her rape on campus. As the lower courts did, the majority deferred to the Feres Doctrine, a 1950 decision that ruled service members cannot sue the federal government for injuries sustained while serving. That includes not only combat or training injuries, but preventable damage caused by fellow troops or government employees ― to include, until last year, medical malpractice.








Supreme Court justice castigates Feres Doctrine over cadet’s rape lawsuit


Justice Clarence Thomas argued it's time to rewrite the rules for troops filing claims against the government.




www.militarytimes.com




_


----------



## smokinrav (May 4, 2021)

30+ years on the bench, and that lousy piece of shit finally does or says something respectable. It's about time, Clarence.


----------



## BarnBuster (May 4, 2021)

​
*"Retired Army Col. and Columbus resident Ralph Puckett Jr. will receive the nation’s highest award for valor in combat more than seven decades after leading his soldiers through a bloody battle on a Korean hill.*_ Puckett, 94, received a phone call around 5 p.m. Friday (4/30/2021) from President Joe Biden, informing and congratulating him on being the nation’s latest Medal of Honor recipient, retired Army Lt. Col. J.D. Lock and Puckett’s wife, Jean, told the Ledger-Enquirer Monday.

Lock has led the push, trying to get the Army to reconsider Puckett’s actions for nearly two decades. The White House did not respond to questions from a Ledger-Enquirer reporter before publication. Puckett’s award was first reported by WRBL News.

“We’re very honored and a little bit overwhelmed with all this coming down the pipe,” Jean told the Ledger-Enquirer. “But, we’re looking forward to it.”

Puckett, the company commander of the then newly-conceived Eighth U.S. Army Ranger Company, was wounded during a critical battle at Hill 205 on Nov. 25 and 26, 1950 where Chinese soldiers surrounded Puckett’s company. The Chinese launched human wave attacks at Puckett’s position for more than four hours.

According to an account of the battle from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s History Office and interviews Puckett has given over the years, the 23-year-old commander from Tifton, Georgia, and the company of 51 Rangers prepared for a nighttime counter-assault in near-zero weather. The Americans had captured the hill earlier in the day.

Bugles announced the first Chinese wave, and the Americans beat them back. Puckett was wounded in the left thigh by a hand grenade during this attack but refused to be evacuated.

The next two Chinese attacks were quickly repelled. Puckett was wounded again — this time in the left shoulder — but he reported that his Rangers still controlled the hill. Throughout the attacks, Puckett exposed himself to enemy fire. Ammunition was running low after the fourth and fifth waves were turned away. A call went out for the Rangers to “fix bayonets and prepare for counterattack.”

They waited.

Two mortars landed a fraction of a second apart and exploded almost on top of Puckett’s command foxhole. He now had wounds to both feet, left shoulder and left arm, thighs and buttocks. His right foot was so badly mangled he later had to persuade medical personnel not to amputate it.

After the barrage, the Chinese launched their sixth and final attack. Lead Chinese soldiers threw hand grenades. Short on ammunition and unable to get artillery, Puckett made his last radio call: “It’s too late. Tell Colonel Dolvin we’re being overwhelmed.”

Chinese soldiers were moving in on the Rangers. William L. Judy found Puckett, unable to move, and the commander told Judy to leave him behind.

But Judy and Rangers Billy G. Walls and David L. Pollock got Puckett to medical aid, with Walls and Pollock eventually having to drag Puckett by his wrists down the hill. Puckett received the Distinguished Service Cross for these actions.

“I am pleased that Walls and Pollock disobeyed my orders to leave me behind on the hill,” Puckett said in an oral history interview about the battle.

He’ll receive the award much later than other distinguished service members. Puckett was one of four soldiers to benefit from a provision in the latest defense budget that waives the five-year limit between the acts of valor and approval of the Medal of Honor.

A date for Puckett’s ceremony hasn’t been set. The White House is coordinating with the retired colonel to schedule it. The event is expected to be held at the White House, Jean said."_


----------



## raratt (May 4, 2021)

The F-22 and F-35 Can Now Talk to Each Other, All Because of a U-2


The boomer spy plane bridges the generation gap between millennial and Gen Z fighters.




www.yahoo.com


----------



## NewGrassCity (May 4, 2021)

Twenty year vet checking in. What’s up nerds


----------



## smokinrav (May 4, 2021)

Man, I should have done the 20 but I was dumb, young and full of come. 
Welcome NGC


----------



## raratt (May 4, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Man, I should have done the 20 but I was dumb, young and full of come.
> Welcome NGC


21 years, 3 months, 3 days, but who counted...


----------



## NewGrassCity (May 4, 2021)

Used to smoke bud in high school, haven’t smoked since I joined. Do you know how good it feels to finally be able to light up again after 20 years?

No knee pain, for starters…


----------



## curious2garden (May 4, 2021)

NewGrassCity said:


> Twenty year vet checking in. What’s up nerds


Hub did 22+ I'm sure some of the others will be along shortly.


raratt said:


> 21 years, 3 months, 3 days, but who counted...


I didn't count  He may have another take on it.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 4, 2021)

NewGrassCity said:


> Twenty year vet checking in. What’s up nerds


Close enough for me to call it 24.
Welcome aboard shipmate.
~ Kinda guessing there ~


----------



## wascaptain (May 5, 2021)

20 years 8 months, 4 active , 17 as a reservist,
thats no great news ,
but, this is.......

went to my daughter and son in law(former marine) baby sex revel supper last night , 




we got another marine reporting in!


----------



## NewGrassCity (May 5, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Close enough for me to call it 24.
> Welcome aboard shipmate.
> ~ Kinda guessing there ~


Nailed it.


----------



## NewGrassCity (May 5, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> 20 years 8 months, 4 active , 17 as a reservist,
> thats no great news ,
> but, this is.......
> 
> ...


Congratulations!


----------



## smokinrav (May 5, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> 20 years 8 months, 4 active , 17 as a reservist,
> thats no great news ,
> but, this is.......
> 
> ...


Congrats!
No colorful explosions, I hope.


----------



## curious2garden (May 5, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Congrats!
> No colorful explosions, I hope.


LOL if there was the new grandpa's a firefighter so I think we're covered!


----------



## BarnBuster (May 6, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​*On May 6, 1942, U.S. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders all U.S. troops in the Philippines to the Japanese.*
_
The island of Corregidor remained the last Allied stronghold in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan (from which General Wainwright had managed to flee, to Corregidor). Constant artillery shelling and aerial bombardment attacks ate away at the American and Filipino defenders. Although still managing to sink many Japanese barges as they approached the northern shores of the island, the Allied troops could hold the invader off no longer. General Wainwright, only recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and commander of the U.S. armed forces in the Philippines, offered to surrender Corregidor to Japanese General Homma, but Homma wanted the complete, unconditional capitulation of all American forces throughout the Philippines. Wainwright had little choice given the odds against him and the poor physical condition of his troops (he had already lost 800 men). He surrendered at midnight. All 11,500 surviving Allied troops were evacuated to a prison stockade in Manila.

General Wainwright remained a POW until 1945. As a sort of consolation for the massive defeat he suffered, he was present on the USS Missouri for the formal Japanese surrender ceremony on September 2, 1945. He would also be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman. Wainwright died in 1953—exactly eight years to the day of the Japanese surrender ceremony._


----------



## raratt (May 7, 2021)




----------



## smokinrav (May 8, 2021)

I posted this earlier this year or late last, but the updated photos and info of the new army squad vehicle are still astounding to me. No armor, no doors, no roof. After 15 years of IEDs.
GM gets 3 billion dollars tho!











GM Defense Infantry Squad Vehicle (ISV)


The GM Defense ISV (Infantry Squad Vehicle) is a military-grade vehicle commissioned for the U.S. military. The model is based on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, an




gmauthority.com


----------



## Grandpapy (May 9, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> I posted this earlier this year or late last, but the updated photos and info of the new army squad vehicle are still astounding to me. No armor, no doors, no roof. After 15 years of IEDs.
> GM gets 3 billion dollars tho!
> 
> 
> ...


Who would of thought of going back to "Idiot Lights on the Dash" would be so expensive?
The fancy wheels would make a nice score.


----------



## bam0813 (May 9, 2021)

Just poking my head in to say a big thanks to all. Freedom moocher out


----------



## doublejj (May 11, 2021)

Flying Tiger Airlines flight 739....
The March 15, 1962, night shift started like any other aboard the Standard Oil super tanker Lenzen.
The ship and its crew were cutting through the waters between Guam and the Philippines. It was calm on the seas and in the skies. Above, scattered clouds floated pale across the inky blackness. About 1:30 a.m., the night watchman spotted what looked like a vapor trail high above him. When he spoke later to investigators, he said it appeared to be moving in an east-west direction. He tracked it until it passed behind a cloud. Then, something exploded.

Night turned to day as a flash lit up the deck. Crew members recalled seeing a “white nucleus surrounded by a reddish-orange periphery” and two large, flaming objects falling to Earth. The captain, now wide awake, hurriedly used the stars to estimate where the burning wreckage may have landed. The vessel, in hot pursuit, steamed into the night. 
It wasn’t until the next day the crew learned what they’d witnessed: the last probable sighting of a plane taking 93 Army Rangers to a mission so secret, it’s a mystery to this day.









'He knew something': The Bay Area flight of Rangers that vanished


The mission, still a secret to this day, was so dangerous many men bid emotional goodbyes...




www.sfgate.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 11, 2021)

doublejj said:


> Flying Tiger Airlines flight 739....
> The March 15, 1962, night shift started like any other aboard the Standard Oil super tanker Lenzen.
> The ship and its crew were cutting through the waters between Guam and the Philippines. It was calm on the seas and in the skies. Above, scattered clouds floated pale across the inky blackness. About 1:30 a.m., the night watchman spotted what looked like a vapor trail high above him. When he spoke later to investigators, he said it appeared to be moving in an east-west direction. He tracked it until it passed behind a cloud. Then, something exploded.
> 
> ...


Fair winds and following seas. : (


----------



## doublejj (May 13, 2021)

*U.S. Marine Major Christopher Warnagiris is arrested for participating in Capitol riot*

Major Christopher Warnagiris, who is the first active-duty member of the U.S. armed forces to be charged in connection with the riot, is accused of pushing his way past a line of police protecting the Capitol and forcing his way through a doorway in the East Rotunda of the Capitol.








Capitol riot: U.S. Marine Major Warnagiris arrested for role in Trump mob


The Marine is the latest person charged in the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, which occurred after President Donald Trump urged supporters to march to Congress.




www.cnbc.com


----------



## smokinrav (May 13, 2021)

The most amusing thing about the capital riot is few of them were wearing masks, making them identifiable. I chuckle every time I think about how stupid you'd have to be to do that.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 13, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> The most amusing thing about the capital riot is few of them were wearing masks, making them identifiable. I chuckle every time I think about how stupid you'd have to be to do that.


Yeah, like there's no cameras or surveillance equipment near that building.


----------



## smokinrav (May 13, 2021)

Or media, or other shit heads holding their phones up, identifying people, and posting the video online. Jesus lol Christ.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 13, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Or media, or other shot heads holding their phones up, identifying people, and poring the visa online. Jesus lol Christ.


It was an incredibly stupid move by incredibly stupid people.


----------



## smokinrav (May 13, 2021)

Autocorrect really screwed me on that last post lol


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 13, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Autocorrect really screwed me on that last post lol


"Shot heads & poring visa" What's not to get?


----------



## Singlemalt (May 13, 2021)

doublejj said:


> *U.S. Marine Major Christopher Warnagiris is arrested for participating in Capitol riot*
> 
> Major Christopher Warnagiris, who is the first active-duty member of the U.S. armed forces to be charged in connection with the riot, is accused of pushing his way past a line of police protecting the Capitol and forcing his way through a doorway in the East Rotunda of the Capitol.
> 
> ...


Kiss that career goodbye


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 13, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> Kiss that career goodbye


Good riddance.


----------



## curious2garden (May 13, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> The most amusing thing about the capital riot is few of them were wearing masks, making them identifiable. I chuckle every time I think about how stupid you'd have to be to do that.


Actually facial recognition can get you off your eyes.


----------



## smokinrav (May 13, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Actually facial recognition can get you off your eyes.


Damn. The older I get the happier I am I'll be dead in 20 years or so. Whatever corporate run dystopia that awaits my kids in 50 years, I don't want to see.


----------



## curious2garden (May 13, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Damn. The older I get the happier I am I'll be dead in 20 years or so. Whatever corporate run dystopia that awaits my kids in 50 years, I don't want to see.


YES, you get it!! I am right there with you


----------



## Grandpapy (May 13, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Damn. The older I get the happier I am I'll be dead in 20 years or so. Whatever corporate run dystopia that awaits my kids in 50 years, I don't want to see.


----------



## doublejj (May 13, 2021)




----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 14, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Damn. The older I get the happier I am I'll be dead in 20 years or so. Whatever corporate run dystopia that awaits my kids in 50 years, I don't want to see.





curious2garden said:


> YES, you get it!! I am right there with you


Damn, I didn't know we were racing!


----------



## smokinrav (May 14, 2021)

Mario Kart ftw!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 14, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Mario Kart ftw!


I could never figure out if FTW meant "For The Win" or "Fuck The World".



Ok, & now you get to wonder about that too.


----------



## raratt (May 14, 2021)




----------



## smokinrav (May 14, 2021)

Nothing a nice EMP couldn't fix lol


----------



## BarnBuster (May 15, 2021)

How to Die Well


I knew him less than three days, yet I count him among my dearest friends. He showed me how to die well.




americanhandgunner.com


----------



## Lenin1917 (May 15, 2021)

Yeah, but chances are ya won't like me very much, got out of the army 2011 and became a communist and anti imperialist activist. Needless to say I'm no longer on good terms with most of my former "battle buddies"


----------



## BarnBuster (May 16, 2021)

Today In Military History:

​_"The Dambusters raid of May 1943 was an RAF bombing that destroyed a number of important German dams. Known as Operation Chastise, the raid is one of the most famous air operations of the Second World War and was immortalised in the 1955 film 'The Dam Busters'."_









The Incredible Story Of The Dambusters Raid


On the night of 16-17 May 1943, Wing Commander Guy Gibson led 617 Squadron of the Royal Air Force on an audacious bombing raid to destroy three dams in the Ruhr valley, the industrial heartland of Germany. The mission was codenamed Operation 'Chastise'.




www.iwm.org.uk








__





The WW2 Dambusters Raid of 1943: How Successful Was Operation Chastise? | HistoryExtra


The 1943 Dambusters raid, known as Operation Chastise, is one of WW2's most famous air operations. But how much damage did it really inflict? Find out here



www.historyextra.com


----------



## Obepawn (May 17, 2021)

Also, people who used their cell phones in that building, data was down loaded and tracked. That's why people were snatched up off planes and in airports, before they even left DC.


----------



## raratt (May 17, 2021)




----------



## BarnBuster (May 18, 2021)

Today In Military History: 

*Some six weeks after the United States formally entered the First World War, the U.S Congress passes the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917, giving the U.S. president the power to draft soldiers.*
_
When he went before Congress on April 2, 1917, to deliver his war message, President Woodrow Wilson had pledged all of his nation’s considerable material resources to help the Allies—France, Britain, Russia and Italy—defeat the Central Powers. What the Allies desperately needed, however, were fresh troops to relieve their exhausted men on the battlefields of the Western Front, and these the U.S. was not immediately able to provide. Despite Wilson’s effort to improve military preparedness over the course of 1916, at the time of Congress’s war declaration the U.S. had only a small army of volunteers—some 100,000 men—that was in no way trained or equipped for the kind of fighting that was going on in Europe.

To remedy this situation, Wilson pushed the government to adopt military conscription, which he argued was the most democratic form of enlistment. To that end, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which Wilson signed into law on May 18, 1917. The act required all men in the U.S. between the ages of 21 and 30 to register for military service. Within a few months, some 10 million men across the country had registered in response to the military draft.

The first troops of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), under commander in chief General John J. Pershing, began arriving on the European continent in June 1917. The majority of the new conscripts still needed to be mobilized, transported and trained however, and the AEF did not begin to play a substantial role in the fighting in France until nearly a year later, during the late spring and summer of 1918. By that time, Russia had withdrawn from the conflict due to internal revolution, and the Germans had launched an aggressive new offensive on the Western Front. In the interim, the U.S. gave its allies much-needed help in the form of economic assistance: extending vast amounts of credit to Britain, France and Italy; raising income taxes to generate more revenue for the war effort; and selling so-called liberty bonds to its citizens to finance purchases of products and raw materials by Allied governments in the United States.

By the end of World War I in November 1918, some 24 million men had registered under the Selective Service Act. Of the almost 4.8 million Americans who eventually served in the war, some 2.8 million had been drafted_.


----------



## BarnBuster (May 18, 2021)

How ‘Rear Adm. Jack Meehoff’ fooled a bunch of real retired generals and admirals


'Thank you for standing tall.'




taskandpurpose.com


----------



## raratt (May 18, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> How ‘Rear Adm. Jack Meehoff’ fooled a bunch of real retired generals and admirals
> 
> 
> 'Thank you for standing tall.'
> ...


Reach around?


----------



## cannabineer (May 18, 2021)

raratt said:


> Reach around?


All hands on dick!

~edit~ I wanted to say something about seamen but it won’t come to hand.


----------



## Obepawn (May 18, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> All hands on dick!
> 
> ~edit~ I wanted to say something about seamen but it won’t come to hand.


Lol


----------



## raratt (May 18, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> won’t come to hand.


Aim High, Air Force!


----------



## raratt (May 18, 2021)




----------



## DarkWeb (May 18, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> All hands on dick!
> 
> ~edit~ I wanted to say something about seamen but it won’t come to hand.


It's butt and cum in that context......


----------



## BarnBuster (May 18, 2021)

Prolly took a MCPO to figure it out @GreatwhiteNorth


----------



## BarnBuster (May 19, 2021)

The Secret Reason America Wins the Wars It Wages


Modern American warriors retain the old GI’s capacity to innovate and adapt technology on the battlefield.




nationalinterest.org


----------



## smokinrav (May 19, 2021)

Wins? What war has america won after ww2 not involving a vastly inferior opponent?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 19, 2021)

Iraq.
Equipment aside, Saddam held the 4th largest standing force in the world prior to Desert Storm.









Desert Storm: A Look Back


Operation Desert Storm was the first major foreign crisis for the United States after the end of the Cold War.



www.defense.gov


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 19, 2021)

Yeah, give the Navy accolades & expect Coasties to applaud your lame speech during their commencement ceremony?









Biden Calls Coast Guard Graduates ‘Dull’ For Not Applauding During His Speech | The Daily Wire







www.dailywire.com


----------



## cannabineer (May 19, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Yeah, give the Navy accolades & expect Coasties to applaud your lame speech during their commencement ceremony?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Somehow, none of that sinks to the level of his predecessor characterizing those Americans who gave their lives in uniform overseas as “suckers and losers”.


----------



## thisbuds4u101 (May 19, 2021)

Former Navy Corpsman spent a lot of time in the fields patching up those brothers and sisters. Some gave the ultimate sacrifice or continue to live those moments over and over. For the Former President of the very country they gave all for he refers to them as losers. Those captured referring them as not very good soldiers or they wouldn’t of got caught. What an idiot!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 19, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> Somehow, none of that sinks to the level of his predecessor characterizing those Americans who gave their lives in uniform overseas as “suckers and losers”.


Years ago I shifted to "Undeclared" so I could vote for whom I wanted to.

I have yet to find any I want to though.
2 party system sucks balls!

~ Edit ~ Wayyyy off track, my apologies - I'll focus now.


----------



## thisbuds4u101 (May 19, 2021)

You know I can understand why my words might upset some folks especially those that are supporters of our former President. But I do call them as I see them. That’s another reason why they fought for our country. Our ability to even have this conversation. I’m the last person on earth to political I judge no man and wish for the same. So think about that for a while folks again no harm meant to anyone who I offended.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 19, 2021)

Long story short, the Commander in Chief (whom ever it may be) should disparage NO Military members.

Period!


----------



## doublejj (May 19, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Long story short, the Commander in Chief (whom ever it may be) should disparage NO Military members.
> 
> Period!


This applies to every citizen.....


----------



## smokinrav (May 21, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Long story short, the Commander in Chief (whom ever it may be) should disparage NO Military members.
> 
> Period!


Let's extend that to members of Congress too









Veterans slam ‘sedition-loving traitor’ Ted Cruz after he mocks ‘woke, emasculated’ US military


VoteVets calls Cruz ‘sedition-loving traitor’ and Illinois Senator says he shouldn’t go after army who ‘protected him from an insurrection he helped foment’




www.independent.co.uk


----------



## raratt (May 21, 2021)

I'm doing 10 mph through there...


----------



## BarnBuster (May 22, 2021)

Ranger Puckett receives MOH. Citation reading.


----------



## smokinrav (May 22, 2021)

Holy shit....before live fire training! What a dumbass! Can I have one please?









Baked on the range: Canadian soldier allegedly served weed cupcakes to her unit


Canadian soldier faces 18 charges for allegedly serving marijuana-laced cupcakes to her artillery unit.




www.armytimes.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 22, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Ranger Puckett receives MOH. Citation reading.


I wonder why it took over 70 years for it to be awarded to him?


----------



## BarnBuster (May 22, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I wonder why it took over 70 years for it to be awarded to him?


Here's a couple of articles that explain some of it "Congress had approved a* time waiver for the award*. The law was tucked away in a military spending bill that passed earlier this year". 
His MOH was a upgrade from his DSC so unless he (you can't self nominate) or others on his behalf petition for an upgrade it probably wouldn't happen. Also, military politics enter into the decision _"If you upgrade anyone's award, that means you're questioning the judgment of the people who turned it down the first time...Nobody wants to offend or question the judgment of anyone prior to them lest in the future they get their judgment questioned too"_



https://media.defense.gov/2016/Jun/08/2001714247/-1/-1/1/DODIG-2016-095.pdf










Getting a Medal of Honor upgrade could be a tall order


With only 2.6 percent of Medals of Honor having been awarded to Black troops since 1863, legislative action may be needed.




www.13newsnow.com






https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/04/30/he-mentored-decades-army-rangers-94-hell-receive-medal-honor/










Seven decades after extraordinary valor in Korea, Georgian Ralph Puckett to receive Medal of Honor


COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — More than 70 years removed from a brutal battle on a North Korean hilltop, a Columbus man will be the recipient of the nation’s highest mi…




www.wavy.com


----------



## BarnBuster (May 23, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
_*May 23, 1900, Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery on July 18, 1863, while fighting for the Union cause as a member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry*. Sgt. Carney, earned the honor for protecting one of the United States' greatest symbols during the Civil War -- the American flag._

(Many of the Civil War MOH’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors (Flag) and advancing thru heavy sustained rifle and cannon fire. The Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. (The criteria for issuance of the MOH during the Civil War were different than later years and Congress set down guidelines in 1918 to clear away any inconsistencies of the legislation which had grown around the medal and to finalize rules for its award. 911 MOH’s were invalidated of the 2,625 that were issued during the US Civil War. Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up, protecting, retreiving the fallen colors and advancing. None of these Medals issued for those actions were ever invalidated.) bb​
_"During the American Civil War, as in earlier conflicts, the flags of a combat unit (its "colors") held a special significance. They had a spiritual value; they embodied the very "soul" of the unit. Protecting a unit's flag from capture was paramount; losing one to the enemy was considered disgraceful . There were practical reasons for the flags as well, as the regimental flags marked the position of the unit during battle. The smoke and confusion of battle often scattered participants across the field. The flag served as a visual rallying point for soldiers and also marked the area where to attack the enemy. Carrying the colors for the regiment was the greatest honor for a soldier. Generally the flag bearers were selected or elected to their position by the men and officers of the unit. As one Union Colonel told his men, “the colors bear the same relation to the soldier as honesty and integrity do to manhood. It is the guiding star to victory. When in the smoke and din of battle the voice of the officer is drown by the roar of artillery, the true soldier turns his eye to the colors that he may not stray too far from it, and while it floats is conscious of his right and strength. Take it… guard it as you would the honor of the mother, wife or friend you left behind.”_​
_*He was the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor*, which is the nation’s highest military honor. The 54th Massachusetts, formed in early 1863, served as the prototype for African American regiments in the Union army. 

On July 16, 1863, the regiment saw its first action at James Island, South Carolina, performing admirably in a confrontation with experienced Confederate troops. Three days later, the 54th volunteered to lead the assault on Fort Wagner, a highly fortified outpost on Morris Island that was part of the Confederate defense of Charleston Harbor. 

Struggling against a lethal barrage of cannon and rifle fire, the regiment fought their way to the top of the fort’s parapet over several hours. Sergeant William Harvey Carney was wounded there while planting the U.S. flag. The regiment’s white commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, was killed, and his soldiers were overwhelmed by the fort’s defenders and had to fall back. Despite his wound, Carney refused to retreat until he removed the flag, and though successful, he was shot again in the process. Carney lost a lot of blood and nearly lost his life, but not once did he allow the flag to touch the ground. His heroics inspired other soldiers that day and were crucial to the North securing victory at Fort Wagner. Carney was promoted to the rank of sergeant for his actions. 

The 54th lost 281 of its 600 men in its brave attempt to take Fort Wagner, which throughout the war never fell by force of arms. The 54th went on to perform honorably in expeditions in Georgia and Florida, most notably at the Battle of Olustee. Carney eventually recovered and was discharged with disability on June 30, 1864."








William H. Carney: The first black soldier to earn the Medal of Honor


From slave to sergeant, a Civil War hero's story.




www.militarytimes.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (May 26, 2021)

USS Constitution Sails Again After More Than A Year


The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented us all from living our normal lives, including Old Ironsides. This 220-year-old ship hasn't left her berthing since




www.warhistoryonline.com


----------



## BarnBuster (May 26, 2021)

_*"Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, in the course of what was known as Operation Dynamo, more than 300,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated by an armada made up of Royal Navy destroyers and warships, pleasure steamers and hundreds of those famous little ships manned by civilian sailors*.

The evacuation was publicized as a miracle to boost public morale. The successful rescue, across seas that stayed unusually calm for nine days, was thereafter referred to as ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’. But as well as this, the terrifying prospect that the depleted British armed forces might have to fight the Germans on home soil caused the nation, galvanized under Winston Churchill, to devote itself entirely to war. It did so not only effectively but, perhaps surprisingly, with total confidence in eventual victory.

The ‘Dunkirk spirit’, reflecting a nation united and working against apparently impossible odds to thwart Hitler’s ambitions, was born."_ 


*The Dunkirk Jack is the House Flag of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, under permission of the Admiralty, the College of Heralds and the City of Dunkirk. The jack consists of the Cross of St. George (the flag of Admiralty) defaced with the Arms of Dunkirk. This jack can be worn by Member Ships at any time when the owner is aboard. Member Ships are limited to civilian vessels that took part in the Dunkirk rescue operation between 27 May and 4 June 1940.*
​








Dunkirk’s darkest day: when the evacuation came close to disaster


Through the letters and diaries of survivors, a leading historian recounts the bombings and sinkings of 29 May 1940 that put the entire rescue – and the fate of 300,000 Allied troops – in peril




www.theguardian.com












Dunkirk evacuation - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org












The Evacuation of Dunkirk - May 1940


'Retreat to Victory'. The evacuation of more than 300,000 Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, between May 26th and June 4th 1940...




www.historic-uk.com


----------



## curious2garden (May 26, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> _*"Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, in the course of what was known as Operation Dynamo, more than 300,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated by an armada made up of Royal Navy destroyers and warships, pleasure steamers and hundreds of those famous little ships manned by civilian sailors*.
> 
> The evacuation was publicized as a miracle to boost public morale. The successful rescue, across seas that stayed unusually calm for nine days, was thereafter referred to as ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’. But as well as this, the terrifying prospect that the depleted British armed forces might have to fight the Germans on home soil caused the nation, galvanized under Winston Churchill, to devote itself entirely to war. It did so not only effectively but, perhaps surprisingly, with total confidence in eventual victory.
> 
> ...











Dunkirk (2017 film) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org




It was a good movie.


----------



## raratt (May 29, 2021)

FYI
*Is there someone to call if a veteran is in crisis or at risk of suicide?*
The Veterans Crisis Line is a toll-free, confidential resource that connects Veterans in crisis and their families and friends with qualified, caring VA responders.
Veterans and their loved ones can call or chat online to receive free, confidential support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, even if they are not registered with VA or enrolled in VA health care.

Call: *1-800-273-8255* and *Press 1*
Chat Online: https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/get-help/chat


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## BarnBuster (May 30, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
*By proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, the first major Memorial Day observance is held May 30, 1868 to honor those who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion.” Known to some as “Decoration Day,” mourners honored the Civil War dead by decorating their graves with flowers.*_ On the first Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Civil War soldiers buried in the cemetery.

The 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances that had taken place in various locations in the three years since the end of the Civil War. In fact, several cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Mississippi; Macon, Georgia; Richmond, Virginia; Boalsburg, Pennsylvania; and Carbondale, Illinois. In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon B. Johnson, declared Waterloo, New York, the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event, during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.

By the late 19th century, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day, and after World War I, observers began to honor the dead of all of America’s wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. It is customary for the president or vice president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. More than 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually. Some Southern states set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day._


----------



## raratt (May 30, 2021)

To Stem Suicide and Sexual Assault, the Air Force Dons Headsets


MCGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. — The three airmen sat quietly adjusting their headsets, murmuring to their colleague, who was in distinct trouble. “Everyone goes through rough patches sometimes,” each said, a few moments apart, to the same despondent and mildly intoxicated man, whose wife recently...




www.yahoo.com


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## BarnBuster (May 31, 2021)

​


----------



## DarkWeb (May 31, 2021)

Thank you.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 31, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4913160​


That's a gut punch.


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## Dreminen169 (May 31, 2021)

Grounds keeper saw grieving mother crying at son grave site & started watering it everyday cuz, “that was the least he could do for a veteran.”


----------



## smokinrav (May 31, 2021)

WW2 Marine vets last mission honoring MOH recipients









Former Marine paints Medal of Honor recipients for his final mission


In the final eight years of his life, he painted over 220 of them in action, which have now been published in a book.




www.cbsnews.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (May 31, 2021)

Here's the Only Marine to win a Medal of Honor and Navy Cross During WWII


Amid home-front honors, Guadalcanal's Gunnery Sgt. "Manila John" Basilone fought to return to the fight.




www.military.com


----------



## smokinrav (Jun 1, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Here's the Only Marine to win a Medal of Honor and Navy Cross During WWII
> 
> 
> Amid home-front honors, Guadalcanal's Gunnery Sgt. "Manila John" Basilone fought to return to the fight.
> ...


Two very different hells on Earth, Guadalcanal and Iwo. I have the book, "I'm Staying with my Boys" and he is as inspiring and selfless as he was courageous.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 1, 2021)

*June 1, 1813, in the midst of a bloody sea battle between an American and a British frigate a few miles north of Boston, one of America’s most memorable wartime slogans was born.*_ As the mortally wounded Captain James Lawrence of the US frigate Chesapeake lay dying in his cabin, his crew locked in hand-to-hand combat on the quarterdeck above, he is alleged to have uttered the memorable words:* “Don’t give up the ship!”*

His rallying cry, published a few weeks later in a Baltimore newspaper, became the unofficial motto of the US Navy for decades thereafter, long predating “Remember the Maine” or “Remember Pearl Harbor.” Just two months after the battle, a bright blue banner emblazoned with Lawrence’s words flew at the masthead of a namesake vessel, USS Lawrence. Its captain, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, won a decisive victory on Sept. 10 over British naval forces in the Battle of Lake Erie.

Given the way it has echoed through the years, you might think Lawrence’s memorable plea marked a heroic moment in the history of American armed forces. It didn’t. Not only did Lawrence’s surviving crew give up the ship almost immediately after his exhortation, but historians and military analysts would later conclude that Lawrence had disobeyed orders to avoid combat in the first place, then committed a series of tactical blunders that all but guaranteed he and his ship would lose.








Don't Give Up The Ship


Through the first year of the War of 1812, the infant United States Navy won a number of stunning victories in ship-to-ship engagements over Royal Navy vessels, including the capture of three British frigates. While this string of Yankee successes may not have surprised the American people, it...




www.navalhistory.org









Infamous Words from Failed Battle Inspire Naval Victory | The Sextant


By Devon Hubbard Sorlie, Communication and Outreach Division, Naval History and Heritage Command When it comes to memorable flags, they’re not always the Stars and Stripes of the American flag. Sometimes it can be just a simple piece of cloth with a meaningful message that will be the driving...




usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil




_


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## raratt (Jun 1, 2021)

Huge American flag stolen from California veterans cemetery


Authorities said a huge American flag and several smaller flags were stolen from a Southern California veterans cemetery over the Memorial Day weekend. Les' Melnyk, a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration, said the garrison flag at Los Angeles...




www.yahoo.com





Hope they find the assholes.


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## Herb & Suds (Jun 1, 2021)

raratt said:


> Huge American flag stolen from California veterans cemetery
> 
> 
> Authorities said a huge American flag and several smaller flags were stolen from a Southern California veterans cemetery over the Memorial Day weekend. Les' Melnyk, a spokesperson for the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration, said the garrison flag at Los Angeles...
> ...


LOCK THEM UP !


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## curious2garden (Jun 1, 2021)

Herb & Suds said:


> LOCK THEM UP !


How about 1000 hours community service in that cemetery?


----------



## DarkWeb (Jun 1, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> How about 1000 hours community service in that cemetery?


An hour per dollar of damage and repair.


----------



## Singlemalt (Jun 1, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> How about 1000 hours community service in that cemetery?


sans testicles


----------



## curious2garden (Jun 1, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> sans testicles


Ultimate community service could be as a N source


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 1, 2021)

VA.gov | Veterans Affairs


Apply for and manage the VA benefits and services you’ve earned as a Veteran, Servicemember, or family member—like health care, disability, education, and more.




www.ptsd.va.gov


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 3, 2021)

Bravo Zulu Colonel Campbell



On April 7, 2003, Kim Campbell piloted her A-10 Warthog over Baghdad. She received an urgent call for air support from troops in contact. When she and her flight lead arrived overhead, they saw Iraqi troops firing RPGs at the friendly unit below. The two A-10s strafed the enemy with 30mm Gatling guns and rockets. As Campbell pulled out on her final run, an explosion rocked the tail of her aircraft, rolling the jet violently toward the earth. Campbell identified she'd lost all hydraulics and placed the aircraft into a backup manual control mode. With seconds to react, she used cranks and cables to recover out of the dive and get the aircraft back into the sky. Her flight lead came alongside and identified hundreds of small holes and a football-size one in her right horizontal stabilizer. Despite the damage, Campbell elected to risk the flight back to base rather than bail out over Baghdad.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
An hour later, she arrived over Kuwait with crash recovery teams and rescue helicopters standing by. Miraculously, Campbell brought the jet down without issue. The next day, she was back in the air in another A-10 flying a search and rescue mission. For her heroism supporting the friendly unit on the ground and magnificent skill recovering her aircraft and bringing it safely home, Campbell was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with "V".
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Campbell later deployed a second time in support of OEF. She amassed 375 hours of combat flying between Iraq and Afghanistan. She is still on active duty after 23 years of service, now a full Colonel on faculty at the Air Force Academy.


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## smokinrav (Jun 3, 2021)

Love that story. Retire the A-10? Fuck off in the worst way possible. It's the infantrys best friend.


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## raratt (Jun 3, 2021)

The pilot sits in a titanium "bathtub" that protects them from small arms fire and small shrapnel.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 3, 2021)

DPAA expects to identify 90% of USS Oklahoma unknowns by year’s end


The Defense Department expects by year’s end to have identified 90% of the exhumed remains of 388 sailors and Marines who died aboard the USS Oklahoma during the 1941 surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.




www.stripes.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 4, 2021)

Today In Military History:
​
*On this day in 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II–begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy.*

_In six months of offensives prior to Midway, the Japanese had triumphed in lands throughout the Pacific, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines and numerous island groups. The United States, however, was a growing threat, and Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto sought to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet before it was large enough to outmatch his own.

A thousand miles northwest of Honolulu, the strategic island of Midway became the focus of his scheme to smash U.S. resistance to Japan’s imperial designs. Yamamoto’s plan consisted of a feint toward Alaska followed by an invasion of Midway by a Japanese strike force. When the U.S. Pacific Fleet arrived at Midway to respond to the invasion, it would be destroyed by the superior Japanese fleet waiting unseen to the west. If successful, the plan would eliminate the U.S. Pacific Fleet and provide a forward outpost from which the Japanese could eliminate any future American threat in the Central Pacific. U.S. intelligence broke the Japanese naval code, however, and the Americans anticipated the surprise attack.

In the meantime, 200 miles to the northeast, two U.S. attack fleets caught the Japanese force entirely by surprise and destroyed three heavy Japanese carriers and one heavy cruiser. The only Japanese carrier that initially escaped destruction, the Hiryu, loosed all its aircraft against the American task force and managed to seriously damage the U.S. carrier Yorktown, forcing its abandonment. At about 5:00 p.m., dive-bombers from the U.S. carrier Enterprise returned the favor, mortally damaging the Hiryu. It was scuttled the next morning.

When the Battle of Midway ended, Japan had lost four carriers, a cruiser and 292 aircraft, and suffered an estimated 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft and suffered approximately 300 casualties.

Japan’s losses hobbled its naval might–bringing Japanese and American sea power to approximate parity–and marked the turning point in the Pacific theater of World War II. In August 1942, the great U.S. counteroffensive began at Guadalcanal and did not cease until Japan’s surrender three years later_






The Battle of Midway, 1942


Eyewitness account of the pivotal battle of World War II in the Pacific.



www.eyewitnesstohistory.com












The Battle of Midway: The Complete Intelligence Story


The Battle of Midway in June of 1942 was one of the most important naval battles in world history and a turning point in the Second World War. Between



warontherocks.com






Explaining the “Miracle” at Midway | NAVAL AVIATION NEWS




The Principle of the Objective


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## Sofa King Smoooth (Jun 4, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Bravo Zulu Colonel Campbell
> 
> View attachment 4915337
> 
> ...



Reading that literally gave me goosebumps, hair stood up on my neck. Heart racing.


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## Detroitwill (Jun 4, 2021)

(Not a vet) Just wanted to let you guys know that I come in here occasionally and back read a bit. It’s very entertaining for me. (Not a fckn insult) it’s like watching me and the men in my family talking. Oh ya . I’m a asshole too.


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## smokinrav (Jun 4, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Today In Military History:
> View attachment 4915996​
> *On this day in 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II–begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy.*
> 
> ...


This is a fantastic read


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 4, 2021)

Detroitwill said:


> (Not a vet) Just wanted to let you guys know that I come in here occasionally and back read a bit. It’s very entertaining for me. (Not a fckn insult) it’s like watching me and the men in my family talking. Oh ya . I’m a asshole too.


You don't have to be a Vet to come in here, just be advised some of us are a bit unhinged.


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## Detroitwill (Jun 4, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You don't have to be a Vet to come in here, just be advised some of us are a bit unhinged.


So I’m in good company here


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## raratt (Jun 4, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You don't have to be a Vet to come in here, just be advised some of us are a bit unhinged.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 6, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_Considered one of the most important battles in U.S. Marine Corps history, the story of Belleau Wood continues to have a significant impact on military culture today. Every U.S. marine knows the famous quotes from their comrades fighting in 1918 in the Battle of Belleau Wood: “Retreat, hell we just got here!” by Capt. Lloyd Williams, and “C’mon you sons-of-bitches, do you want to live forever?” by Gunnery Sgt. Dan Daley. 

Every marine proudly claims the “Devil dogs” moniker because of their ferocity in combat. Alongside the Battles of Fallujah, Khe Sanh, Chosin, and Iwo Jima, Belleau Wood occupies a hallowed place in U.S. Marine Corps lore and history. These battles are ingrained in the Marines’ collective consciousness from the first days of boot camp, during ceremonies at birthday balls, on walls in museums, and on pages of publications.

The first large-scale battle fought by American soldiers in World War I begins in Belleau Wood, northwest of the Paris-to-Metz road.

In late May 1918, the third German offensive of the year penetrated the Western Front to within 45 miles of Paris. U.S. forces under General John J. Pershing helped halt the German advance, and *on June 6, Pershing ordered a counteroffensive to drive the Germans out of Belleau Wood. U.S. Marines under General James Harbord and Allied forces led the attack against the four German divisions positioned in the woods and by the end of the first day suffered more than 1,000 casualties.*

For the next three weeks, the Marines, backed by U.S. Army artillery, launched many attacks into the forested area, but German General Erich Ludendorff was determined to deny the Americans a victory. Ludendorff continually brought up reinforcements from the rear, and the Germans attacked the U.S. forces with machine guns, artillery, and gas. Finally, on June 26, the Americans prevailed but at the cost of nearly 10,000 dead, wounded, or missing in action._









5 Things You Didn't Know About the Battle of Belleau Wood


What is the Battle of Belleau Wood? Here's everything you need to know.




www.military.com












The Importance of the Battle of Belleau Wood - War on the Rocks


Every U.S. marine knows the famous quotes from their comrades fighting in 1918 in the Battle of Belleau Wood: “Retreat, hell we just got here!” by Capt.



warontherocks.com






https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/05/31/the-battle-of-belleau-wood-was-bloody-deadly-and-forgotten-but-it-forged-a-new-marine-corps/


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## Sofa King Smoooth (Jun 6, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> 
> View attachment 4917379​
> _Considered one of the most important battles in U.S. Marine Corps history, the story of Belleau Wood continues to have a significant impact on military culture today. Every U.S. marine knows the famous quotes from their comrades fighting in 1918 in the Battle of Belleau Wood: “Retreat, hell we just got here!” by Capt. Lloyd Williams, and “C’mon you sons-of-bitches, do you want to live forever?” by Gunnery Sgt. Dan Daley.
> ...


My great grandfather was a grunt who served under Pershing's command in WW1.

He was consider a mean son of a bitch by my mom and uncles but knowing now about PTSD and other issues first hand, I have an entirely different outlook and have tried to explain to my mom why he was how he was. 
After talking to her she seemed to have understood that he was most likely suffering from PTSD and living with terrible memories.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 6, 2021)

Sofa King Smoooth said:


> My great grandfather was a grunt who served under Pershing's command in WW1. He was consider a mean son of a bitch by my mom and uncles but knowing now about PTSD and other issues first hand, I have an entirely different outlook and have tried to explain to my mom why he was how he was. After talking to her she seemed to have understood that he was most likely suffering from PTSD and living with terrible memories.


It's inconceivable to imagine not having PTS after being shelled for days, weeks, months with heavy artillery. During the first day of the Battle of Verdun, the Germans alone fired 1 million shells at the French troops.


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## curious2garden (Jun 6, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> It's inconceivable to imagine not having PTS after being shelled for days, weeks, months with heavy artillery. During the first day of the Battle of Verdun, the Germans alone fired 1 million shells at the French troops.


Surprisingly some do not. Theoretically they have healthier bilateral hemispheric communication pathways via the corpus callosum that enhances trauma processing. A few outliers actually thrive on it!


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 6, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Surprisingly some do not. Theoretically they have healthier bilateral hemispheric communication pathways via the corpus callosum that enhances trauma processing. A few outliers actually thrive on it!


Those were the guys that had "Lighting in their bones".


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## curious2garden (Jun 6, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Those were the guys that had "Lighting in their bones".


I've known two. Both were well above average intelligence and quite mentally healthy.


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## wascaptain (Jun 6, 2021)

went enjoy d-day


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## raratt (Jun 6, 2021)

Hide the checkbook.








Military Aircraft For Sale | Retired Surplus Military Planes Civilians Can Buy


Powerful military aircraft for sale. See retired and surpluse military planes civilians can buy. Decomissioned US military aircraft for sale.




yeahmotor.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 8, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> This is a fantastic read


You'd probably like this book/author *The eagle's claw : a novel of the Battle of Midway*_ / Jeff Shaara._ He writes about WW2 and American Civil War.
Well researched, blended historical military fact and literary fiction.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 10, 2021)

China's Aircraft Carrier Killer Missiles Just Lost Their Edge (Thanks to This)


It would not be too much of a crazy stretch to say the existence of this refueler could be the difference in victory or defeat in a possible war against China.




nationalinterest.org


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## smokinrav (Jun 10, 2021)

Wow, think of the multiple purposes that platform will be able to use in the future. Command and control, SaR, refueling in combat, just to start.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 11, 2021)

​
_*On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA*. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife.

He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head.

He ignored these wounds and began administering first aid. The rescue chopper left as it was not designed to extract men. An extraction chopper was sent for, and Benavidez took command of the men by directing their fire around the edges of the clearing in order to facilitate the choppers landing. When the aircraft arrived, he supervised the loading of the wounded on board, while throwing smoke canisters to direct the choppers exact landing. He was wounded severely and at all times under heavy enemy crossfire, but still carried and dragged half of the wounded men to the chopper.

He then ran alongside the landing skids providing protective fire into the trees as the chopper moved across the LZ collecting the wounded. The enemy fire got worse, and Benavidez was hit solidly in the left shoulder. He got back up and ran to the platoon leader, dead in the open, and retrieved classified documents. He was shot in the abdomen, and a grenade detonated nearby peppering his back with shrapnel.

The chopper pilot was mortally wounded then, and his chopper crashed. Benavidez was in extremely critical condition, and still refused to fall. He ran to the wreckage and got the wounded out of the aircraft, and arranged them into a defensive perimeter to wait for the next chopper. The enemy automatic rifle fire and grenades only intensified, and Benavidez ran and crawled around the perimeter giving out water and ammunition.

The NVA was building up to wipe them out, and Benavidez called in tactical air strikes with a squawk box and threw smoke to direct the fire of arriving gunships. Just before the extraction chopper landed, he was shot again in the left thigh while giving first aid to a wounded man. He still managed to get to his feet and carry some of the men to the chopped, directing the others, when an NVA soldier rushed from the woods and clubbed him over the head with an AK-47. This caused a skull fracture and a deep gash to his left upper arm, and yet he still got back up and decapitated the soldier with one swing of his knife, severing the spine and all tissue on one side of the neck. He then resumed carrying the wounded to the chopper and returning for others, and was shot twice more in the lower back. He shot two more NVA soldiers trying to board the chopper, then made one last trip around the LZ to be sure all documents were retrieved, and finally boarded the chopper. He had lost 2 quarts of blood. Before he blacked out, he shouted to one of the other Green Berets, Another great day to be in South Vietnam!

Suffering from 37 bayonet, bullet, and shrapnel wounds in various parts of his body, Benavidez used the last of his strength to pull himself on board the helicopter, the last man to leave the battlefield. The helicopter was completely riddled with holes, covered in blood, and without any functioning instruments, but the pilot somehow took off and got the team out of there. Benavidez lost consciousness as soon as he knew they were clear.

Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez of the 1st Special Forces was credited with single-handedly saving the lives of eight men during six hours of non-stop battle. When a recovery team went through the site a few days later they discovered over 30 empty NVA foxholes with heavy weapons, and saw the battlefield littered with more dead than they had time to count.

After the rescue helicopters landed at the base, Roy Benavidez's motionless body was carried off the helicopter, and after a preliminary inspection by the medical personnel on-site, the hero was gently laid onto a gurney and wheeled into the coroner's office.

*Just as they were zipping up his body bag, Benavidez used the last of his energy to spit in the doctor's face.*

The mostly-dead Benavidez was rushed into surgery immediately, then transferred to Saigon for many months of intensive rehabilitation. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroic balls-out actions, and once the full details of the battle came declassified the award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest award for military bravery offered by the United States military. He lived to be 63.











Roy Perez Benavidez | Vietnam War | U.S. Army | Medal of Honor Recipient


U.S. Army Master Sergeant Roy Perez Benavidez was presented the Medal of Honor for military valor during the Vietnam War.




www.cmohs.org












Passage of Defense Bill Could Mean Fort Hood Gets New Name


One name in the mix is Master Sgt. Roy Benavidez.




spectrumlocalnews.com












It’s Time to Rename Fort Hood for a Truly Texan Hero: Roy Benavidez


We should honor this badass Medal of Honor winner, not an incompetent Confederate general who fought against the United States government in defense of slavery.




www.texasmonthly.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 14, 2021)

​


----------



## doublejj (Jun 14, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4920939​
> _*On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA*. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife.
> 
> He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head.
> ...


Sgt Benavidez was a medic..... R.I.P. Sargent


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 14, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4920939​
> _*On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA*. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife.
> 
> He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head.
> ...


He's one Bad Ass MFer.
Much respect!


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 17, 2021)

USS Oklahoma Brothers Accounted For From World War II (Barber, M., L., & R.)


The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that brothers; Navy Fireman 1st Class Malcolm J. Barber, 22; Navy Fireman 1st Class Leroy K. Barber, 21; and Navy Fireman 2nd Class



www.dpaa.mil












Officials identify remains of West Virginia sailor killed in Pearl Harbor attack


Authorities used DNA, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, to identify Navy Patternmaker 1st Class Stanislaw F. Drwall, 25.




www.navytimes.com


----------



## Sofa King Smoooth (Jun 17, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4920939​
> _*On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA*. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife.
> 
> He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head.
> ...


That man is the true meaning of bad ass


----------



## raratt (Jun 18, 2021)




----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 19, 2021)

Today in Military History:






*Lieutenant Junior Grade Alexander Vraciu, USNR, Fighting Squadron 16 "ace", holds up six fingers to signify his "kills" during the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" on 19 June 1944. Taken on the flight deck of the USS Lexington (CV-16)*
​*"On June 19, 1944, in what would become known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,” U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.*

_The security of the Marianas Islands, in the western Pacific, were vital to Japan, which had air bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. U.S. troops were already battling the Japanese on Saipan, having landed there on the 15th. Any further intrusion would leave the Philippine Islands, and Japan itself, vulnerable to U.S. attack. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance, was on its way west from the Marshall Islands as backup for the invasion of Saipan and the rest of the Marianas. But Japanese Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo decided to challenge the American fleet, ordering 430 of his planes, launched from aircraft carriers, to attack. In what became the greatest carrier battle of the war, the United States, having already picked up the Japanese craft on radar, proceeded to shoot down more than 300 aircraft and sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, losing only 29 of their own planes in the process. It was described in the aftermath as a “turkey shoot.”

Admiral Ozawa, believing his missing planes had landed at their Guam air base, maintained his position in the Philippine Sea, allowing for a second attack of U.S. carrier-based fighter planes, this time commanded by Admiral Mitscher, to shoot down an additional 65 Japanese planes and sink another carrier. In total, the Japanese lost 480 aircraft, three-quarters of its total, not to mention most of its crews. American domination of the Marianas was now a foregone conclusion.

Not long after this battle at sea, U.S. Marine divisions penetrated farther into the island of Saipan. Two Japanese commanders on the island, Admiral Nagumo and General Saito, both committed suicide in an attempt to rally the remaining Japanese forces. It succeeded: Those forces also committed a virtual suicide as they attacked the Americans’ lines, losing 26,000 men compared with 3,500 lost by the United States. Within another month, the islands of Tinian and Guam were also captured by the United States.

June 1944 represented a conspicuous moment of military achievement for the Allied powers with historian Craig Symonds declaring, “June 1944 might well be labeled the decisive month of the entire Second World War.” As the Allies landed in Normandy, breaching Hitler’s Festung Europa, the Empire of Japan’s airpower suffered near annihilation in the Philippine Sea

*The Japanese government of Premier Hideki Tojo resigned in disgrace at this stunning defeat, in what many have described as the turning point of the war in the Pacific."*_






Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19-20 June 1944


The Battle of the Philippine Sea or 'Great Marianas Turkey Shoot (19-20 June 1944) was the first major naval battle in the Pacific since 1942 and was a crushing American victory that permanently destroyed Japanese naval aviation, leaving their carriers as hollow shells for the rest of the war



www.historyofwar.org








__





Decisive Battle: The Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 18th to June 20th, 1944






www.microworks.net









Great Marianas 'Turkey Shoot' - WW2 Timeline (June 19th - 20th, 1944)


Timeline of events related to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot air battle of the Pacific Theater of World War II..



www.secondworldwarhistory.com








__





"The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot"


The U.S. Navy’s offensive in the Central Pacific gathered tremendous strength in early 1944 and moved to within striking distance of Japan. With the threat of an American push into the Marianas Islands by June, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) hoped to protect their home islands. Realizing the...




www.history.navy.mil


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## DarkWeb (Jun 19, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> 
> View attachment 4926408
> 
> ...


My grandfather was in the area of Palau. A signalman on a ship during this. I have heard some stories, a little from him and more from my uncle. I also just got last year from a family member a letter my grandfather wrote to my great grandmother from the ship. 









Mariana and Palau Islands campaign - Wikipedia







en.m.wikipedia.org


----------



## raratt (Jun 19, 2021)

Starting soon:








OC Air Show Livestream Saturday


Bring Show Center to you with AirDotShow Livestream! Catch all the action from multiple cameras, go behind the scenes down to the military flight line and up to air boss control!




air.show


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 20, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> My grandfather was in the area of Palau. A signalman on a ship during this. I have heard some stories, a little from him and more from my uncle. I also just got last year from a family member a letter my grandfather wrote to my great grandmother from the ship.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Much respect for Grandpa - that was an especially tough campaign.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 21, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*22 June, 1945 Battle of Okinawa ends. During World War II, the U.S. 10th Army overcomes the last major pockets of Japanese resistance on Okinawa Island, ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.*

_The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II. On April 1, 1945—Easter Sunday—the Navy’s Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. The invasion was part of Operation Iceberg, a complex plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa.

*OKINAWA ISLAND*
By the time American troops landed on Okinawa, the war on the European front was nearing its end. Allied and Soviet troops had liberated much of Nazi-occupied Europe and were just weeks away from forcing Germany’s unconditional surrender.

On the Pacific front, however, American forces were still painstakingly conquering Japan’s Home Islands, one after another. After obliterating Japanese troops in the brutal Battle of Iwo Jima, they set their sights on the isolated island of Okinawa, their last stop before reaching Japan. Okinawa’s 466 square miles of dense foliage, hills and trees made it the perfect location for the Japanese High Command’s last stand to protect their motherland. They knew if Okinawa fell, so would Japan. The Americans knew securing Okinawa’s airbases was critical to launching a successful Japanese invasion.

*LANDING ON THE BEACHHEADS*
As dawn arrived on April 1, morale was low among American troops as the Fifth Fleet launched the largest bombardment ever to support a troop landing to soften Japanese defenses. Soldiers and Army brass alike expected the beach landings to be a massacre worse than D-Day. But the Fifth Fleet’s offensive onslaught was almost pointless and landing troops could have literally swum to shore—surprisingly, the expected mass of awaiting Japanese troops wasn’t there.

On D-Day, American troops fought hard for every inch of beachhead—but troops landing on Okinawa’s beaches surged inland with little resistance. Wave after wave of troops, tanks, ammunition and supplies went ashore almost effortlessly within hours. The troops quickly secured both Kadena and Yontan airfields.

*THE ENEMY WAITS*
Japan’s 32nd Army, some 130,000 men strong and commanded by Lt. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, defended Okinawa. The military force also included an unknown number of conscripted civilians and unarmed Home Guards known as Boeitai. As they moved inland, American troops wondered when and where they’d finally encounter enemy resistance. What they didn’t know was the Japanese Imperial Army had them just where they wanted them. 

Japanese troops had been instructed not to fire on the American landing forces but instead watch and wait for them, mostly in Shuri, a rugged area of southern Okinawa where General Ushijima had set up a triangle of defensive positions known as the Shuri Defense Line.

*BATTLESHIP YAMATO*
American troops who headed North to the Motobu Peninsula endured intense resistance and over 1,000 casualties, but won a decisive battle relatively quickly. It was different along the Shuri Line where they had to overcome a series of heavily-defended hills loaded with firmly-entrenched Japanese troops. On April 7, Japan’s mighty battleship Yamato was sent to launch a surprise attack on the Fifth Fleet and then annihilate American troops pinned down near the Shuri Line. But Allied submarines spotted the Yamato and alerted the fleet who then launched a crippling air attack. The ship was bombarded and sank along with most of its crew.

After the Americans cleared a series of outposts surrounding the Shuri Line, they fought many fierce battles including clashes on Kakazu Ridge, Sugar Loaf Hill, Horseshoe Ridge and Half Moon Hill. Torrential rains made the hills and roads watery graveyards of unburied bodies. Casualties were enormous on both sides by the time the Americans took Shuri Castle in late May. Defeated yet not beaten, the Japanese retreated to the southern coast of Okinawa where they made their last stand.

*KAMIKAZE WARFARE*
The kamikaze suicide pilot was Japan’s most ruthless weapon. On April 4, the Japanese unleashed these well-trained pilots on the Fifth Fleet. Some dove their planes into ships at 500 miles per hour causing catastrophic damage.

American sailors tried desperately to shoot them down but were often sitting ducks against enemy pilots with nothing to lose. During the Battle of Okinawa, the Fifth Fleet suffered:

36 sunk ships
368 damaged ships
4,900 men killed or drowned
4,800 men wounded
763 lost aircraft

*HACKSAW RIDGE*
The Maeda Escarpment, also known as Hacksaw Ridge, was located atop a 400-foot vertical cliff. The American attack on the ridge began on April 26. It was a brutal battle for both sides.

To defend the escarpment, Japanese troops hunkered down in a network of caves and dugouts. They were determined to hold the ridge and decimated some American platoons until just a few men remained. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand and particularly ruthless. The Americans finally took Hacksaw Ridge on May 6.

All Americans who fought in the Battle of Okinawa were heroic, but one soldier at the escarpment stood out—Corporal Desmond T. Doss. He was an army medic and Seventh-Day Adventist who refused to raise a gun to the enemy. Still, he remained on the escarpment after his commanding officers ordered a retreat. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, he went alone into the battle fray and rescued 75 of his wounded comrades. His heroic story was brought to life on the big screen in 2016 in the film Hacksaw Ridge.

*SUICIDE OR SURRENDER*
Most Japanese troops and Okinawa citizens believed Americans took no prisoners and they’d be killed on the spot if captured. As a result, countless took their own lives. To encourage their surrender, General Buckner initiated propaganda warfare and dropped millions of leaflets declaring the war was all but lost for Japan.

About 7,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered, but many chose death by suicide. Some jumped from high hills, others blew themselves up with grenades.
When faced with the reality that further fighting was futile, General Ushijima and his Chief of Staff, General Cho, committed ritual suicide on June 22, effectively ending the Battle of Okinawa.

*LEGACY OF THE BATTLE OF OKINAWA*
Both sides suffered enormous losses in the Battle of Okinawa. The Americans bore over 49,000 casualties including 12,520 killed. General Buckner was killed in action on June 18, just days before the battle ended.

Japanese losses were even greater—about 110,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives. It’s estimated between 40,000 and 150,000 Okinawa citizens were also killed.

Winning the Battle of Okinawa put Allied forces within striking distance of Japan. But wanting to bring the war to a swift end, and knowing over 2 million Japanese troops were awaiting battle-weary American soldiers, Harry S. Truman chose to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6.
Japan didn’t give in immediately, so Truman ordered the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9. Finally, Japan had had enough. On August, 14, 1945, they finally surrendered, marking the end of World War II._ 

_*Twenty-three Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor for their conduct during the 82 days of fighting in The Battle of Okinawa.*_








The Battle of Okinawa - The National Medal of Honor Museum







mohmuseum.org




++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++​(Some insight to the fanaticism of both civilians and military, kamikaze bombers and why; "The bomb vs. invasion".)bb
_*Bloody Okinawa : the last great battle of World War II *_/ Joseph Wheelan.

*Crucible of hell : the heroism and tragedy of Okinawa, 1945* / Saul David 

*The Final Campaign Marines in the Victory of Okinawa *


https://www.marines.mil/portals/1/Publications/The%20Final%20Campaign_Marines%20in%20the%20Victory%20on%20Okinawa%20%20PCN%2019000313500.pdf?ver=2017-04-25-143959-527


----------



## ttystikk (Jun 22, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> 
> View attachment 4926408
> 
> ...


Only one minor detail in the first pic is off; there were no nuclear powered aircraft carriers in service in WWII.


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## doublejj (Jun 22, 2021)

ttystikk said:


> Only one minor detail in the first pic is off; there were no nuclear powered aircraft carriers in service in WWII.


what nuclear carrier was in that picture?.....


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## ttystikk (Jun 22, 2021)

doublejj said:


> what nuclear carrier was in that picture?.....


That's the USS Enterprise CVN-65, commissioned in 1960. It was the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier.

It has no smokestack. All carriers in WWII had stacks.

The artwork is first rate, which is how I recognised it.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 23, 2021)

Families Aren't Happy With Plans Not To Identify 85 USS Arizona Crewmen


The U.S. military has found itself in a tough situation regarding the identification of 85 sailors from the USS Arizona. In particular, the Defense




www.warhistoryonline.com


----------



## curious2garden (Jun 23, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Families Aren't Happy With Plans Not To Identify 85 USS Arizona Crewmen
> 
> 
> The U.S. military has found itself in a tough situation regarding the identification of 85 sailors from the USS Arizona. In particular, the Defense
> ...


Oh for fuck's sake! You take the DNA and match it against all the extant DNA databases, for example; Ancestry, 23 and Me, DOJ etc... Then you wait and eventually the fucking question will be answered for you.


----------



## Singlemalt (Jun 23, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Oh for fuck's sake! You take the DNA and match it against all the extant DNA databases, for example; Ancestry, 23 and Me, DOJ etc... Then you wait and eventually the fucking question will be answered for you.


Yep, and they do have the resources. Call it a training mission for recovery diving and the additional $8500~ for the DNA tests.


----------



## doublejj (Jun 23, 2021)

A Black WWII veteran who was denied the Purple Heart due to racism finally receives the honor at 99 | CNN


For nearly eight decades, former Army Private Osceola "Ozzie" Fletcher's experience in the Battle of Normandy went unrecognized.




www.cnn.com


----------



## Sofa King Smoooth (Jun 24, 2021)

doublejj said:


> A Black WWII veteran who was denied the Purple Heart due to racism finally receives the honor at 99 | CNN
> 
> 
> For nearly eight decades, former Army Private Osceola "Ozzie" Fletcher's experience in the Battle of Normandy went unrecognized.
> ...


About damn time


----------



## raratt (Jun 24, 2021)




----------



## smokinrav (Jun 25, 2021)

My uncle Larry died yesterday. He was a multiple tour Vietnam veteran and returned home pretty fucked up. But we were buddies (I was 10). He taught me to shoot pool and guns and smoke pot, and was generally the stabity I needed in my life, to let you know how fucked up that was. And to top it off, he stopped being g my uncle when my mom divorced in 1978. But we never lost touch. I'll miss him greatly.


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## curious2garden (Jun 25, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> My uncle Larry died yesterday. He was a multiple tour Vietnam veteran and returned home pretty fucked up. But we were buddies (I was 10). He taught me to shoot pool and guns and smoke pot, and was generally the stabity I needed in my life, to let you know how fucked up that was. And to top it off, he stopped being g my uncle when my mom divorced in 1978. But we never lost touch. I'll miss him greatly.


My condolences


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## DarkWeb (Jun 26, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> My uncle Larry died yesterday. He was a multiple tour Vietnam veteran and returned home pretty fucked up. But we were buddies (I was 10). He taught me to shoot pool and guns and smoke pot, and was generally the stabity I needed in my life, to let you know how fucked up that was. And to top it off, he stopped being g my uncle when my mom divorced in 1978. But we never lost touch. I'll miss him greatly.


Sorry to hear that bud.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 26, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> My uncle Larry died yesterday. He was a multiple tour Vietnam veteran and returned home pretty fucked up. But we were buddies (I was 10). He taught me to shoot pool and guns and smoke pot, and was generally the stabity I needed in my life, to let you know how fucked up that was. And to top it off, he stopped being g my uncle when my mom divorced in 1978. But we never lost touch. I'll miss him greatly.


It hurts to have to let someone close go.
Condolences.


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## raratt (Jun 28, 2021)

1/2 of the go fast equation.


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## Singlemalt (Jun 28, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4932435
> 
> 1/2 of the go fast equation.


where and how does that attach to the airframe?


----------



## raratt (Jun 28, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> where and how does that attach to the airframe?


A couple of BIG bolts at the center line.


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## raratt (Jun 28, 2021)

It's a J-58.








Pratt & Whitney J58 - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## doublejj (Jun 28, 2021)

This was the first program I worked on at Boeing after I got out of the Army. PHM 1 Pegasus class Hydrofoil Fast Attack Boat. I guess because I had spent time on the Navy Tango boats and knew port from starboard Boeing figured I would fit in here. Plus i could qualify for a security clearance. I actually worked in the tool and die shop assigned to this program. Making jigs and weld fixtures mostly Oh and pulling wheel chocks every time they moved her. Pegasus was the first one so there was a lot of R&D and it went back and forth from Lake Washington to the hanger in Renton a lot.









USS Pegasus (PHM-1) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## Churchlady (Jun 28, 2021)

doublejj said:


> This was the first program I worked on at Boeing after I got out of the Army. PHM 1 Pegasus class Hydrofoil Fast Attack Boat. I guess because I had spent time on the Navy Tango boats and knew port from starboard Boeing figured I would fit in here. Plus i could qualify for a security clearance. I actually worked in the tool and die shop assigned to this program. Making jigs and weld fixtures mostly Oh and pulling wheel chocks every time they moved her. Pegasus was the first one so there was a lot of R&D and it went back and forth from Lake Washington to the hanger in Renton a lot.
> View attachment 4932789
> 
> 
> ...


Wow, what year was that? What was the 2nd program you worked on? So exciting!


----------



## doublejj (Jun 28, 2021)

Churchlady said:


> Wow, what year was that? What was the 2nd program you worked on? So exciting!


you would have had to been there.........


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## Churchlady (Jun 28, 2021)

doublejj said:


> you would have had to been there.........


I was. I don't recall you. Again, what year and what was the 2nd program you worked on there bigshot?


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## doublejj (Jun 28, 2021)

Churchlady said:


> I was. I don't recall you. Again, what year and what was the 2nd program you worked on there bigshot?


It was a long time ago & looked a lot different back then


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## Churchlady (Jun 28, 2021)

doublejj said:


> It was a long time ago & looked a lot different back then


So you don't recall the year you worked on that 1st program, or what the 2nd program was that you worked on while at Boeing? These are about the easiest questions you could get on this topic you brought up. They will get more difficult.


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## doublejj (Jun 28, 2021)

Churchlady said:


> So you don't recall the year you worked on that 1st program, or what the 2nd program was that you worked on while at Boeing? These are about the easiest questions you could get on this topic you brought up. They will get more difficult.


You are going to have to see my publicist.....I wont answer that many questions for free.


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## Grandpapy (Jun 28, 2021)

raratt said:


> It's a J-58.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


6000 lbs.


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## Churchlady (Jun 28, 2021)

doublejj said:


> You are going to have to see my publicist.....I wont answer that many questions for free.


Understood. Those were difficult questions lol. A year. A program. No way would I answer that lol. Unless I was full of shit.


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## doublejj (Jun 28, 2021)

Churchlady said:


> Understood. Those were difficult questions lol. A year. A program. No way would I answer that lol. Unless I was full of shit.


well maybe you are......who are you?


----------



## Churchlady (Jun 28, 2021)

doublejj said:


> well maybe you are......who are you?


You'll have to see my publicist. I won't answer that question for free. Derp.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 29, 2021)

doublejj said:


> This was the first program I worked on at Boeing after I got out of the Army. PHM 1 Pegasus class Hydrofoil Fast Attack Boat. I guess because I had spent time on the Navy Tango boats and knew port from starboard Boeing figured I would fit in here. Plus i could qualify for a security clearance. I actually worked in the tool and die shop assigned to this program. Making jigs and weld fixtures mostly Oh and pulling wheel chocks every time they moved her. Pegasus was the first one so there was a lot of R&D and it went back and forth from Lake Washington to the hanger in Renton a lot.
> View attachment 4932789
> 
> 
> ...


I was stationed aboard a CG Cutter out of Key West & remember her - Man, was she fast & deadly!
As I recall they experienced a whale strike with the forward foil while "flying", several of the crew were seriously injured.


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## raratt (Jun 29, 2021)

Grandpapy said:


> 6000 lbs.


25,500 lbs thrust. I worked on an electronic system for that bird that weighed almost 1000 pounds.


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## doublejj (Jun 29, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I was stationed aboard a CG Cutter out of Key West & remember her - Man, was she fast & deadly!
> As I recall they experienced a whale strike with the forward foil while "flying", several of the crew were seriously injured.


They were fast, aluminum hulls. The 'bridge' looked like the cockpit from a 747 with yoke sticks. They did literally fly thru the waves. Once on plane it didn't mater how ruff the seas were she rode flat & steady. The Navy crew members that i talked to said her speed and turn rates were much better than those posted. They were designed to engage several targets at once, land, sea, or air...


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## wascaptain (Jun 29, 2021)

what a heart break,

a bro i served with in the crotch, sent me this pic, of a pic, of his dads grad class from ft. knocks in 1942.

his dad made it back and retired from the ford plant in kanas city mo.

but has been pasted since before i served with spider in the 70s.

spider or any of his living kin cant make him out. 

makes me wonder how many made it back....and if any or left at all.

r.i.p spiders pop


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 29, 2021)

One of the men whom shaped who I am today was the XO on this ship.
He carried some grievous shrapnel scars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USCGC_Point_Welcome_(WPB-82329)


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## BarnBuster (Jun 30, 2021)

Letters From Vietnam: A Daughter's Discovery


A daughter's discovery of her father's letters from Vietnam reveals unexpected truths.




www.historynet.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jun 30, 2021)

Pilot Jack DeTour, who flew bombing missions in WWII, dies at 97


Jack DeTour piloted B-25 Mitchell bombers in the Southwest Pacific during World War II, helping perfect the technique of attacking at 300 to 350 mph at very low altitude with multiple .50-caliber machine guns blazing.




www.stripes.com












77 years later, a WW2 Marine is laid to rest


Sgt. Donald Stoddard was laid to rest in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado.




www.marinecorpstimes.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 1, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_*At 7:30 a.m on this day in 1916., the British launch a massive offensive against German forces in the Somme River region of France*. The Battle of the Somme, which took place from July to November 1916, began as an Allied offensive against German forces on the Western Front and turned into one of the most bitter and costly battles of World War I.

British forces suffered more than 57,000 casualties—including more than 19,000 soldiers killed—on the first day of the battle alone, making it the single most disastrous day in that nation’s military history. By the time the Battle of the Somme (sometimes called the First Battle of the Somme) ended nearly five months later, more than 3 million soldiers on both sides had fought in the battle, and more than 1 million had been killed or wounded.

Prior to the attack, the Allies launched a week-long heavy artillery bombardment, using some 1.75 million shells, which aimed to cut the barbed wire guarding German defenses and destroy the enemy’s positions. On the morning of July 1, 11 divisions of the British 4th Army (many of them volunteer soldiers going into battle for the first time) began advancing on a 15-mile front north of the Somme. At the same time, five French divisions advanced on an eight-mile front to the south, where the German defenses were weaker.

Allied leaders had been confident the bombardment would damage German defenses enough so that their troops could easily advance. But the barbed wire remained intact in many places, and the German positions, many of which were deep underground, were stronger than anticipated. Along the line, German machine gun and rifle fire cut down thousands of the attacking British troops, many of them caught in no man’s land.

*Some 19,240 British soldiers were killed and more than 38,000 wounded by the end of that first day—almost as many casualties as British forces suffered when the Allies lost the battle for France during World War II (May-June 1940), including prisoners.

Trench Warfare & War of Attrition*
Other British and French forces had more success to the south, these gains were limited compared to the devastating losses sustained on that first day of battle. But Haig was determined to press on with the offensive, and over the next two weeks the British launched a series of smaller attacks on the German line, putting increasing pressure on the Germans and forcing them to divert some weapons and soldiers from Verdun.

Early on the morning of July 15, British troops launched another artillery barrage followed by a massive attack, this time on Bazentin Ridge, in the northern part of the Somme. The assault took the Germans by surprise, and the British were able to advance some 6,000 yards into enemy territory, occupying the village of Longueval. But any small advance continued to come at the expense of heavy casualties, with the Germans losing 160,000 soldiers and the British and French more than 200,000 by the end of July.

Near the end of August, with German morale running low due to lost ground both on the Somme and at Verdun, Germany’s General Erich von Falkenhayn was replaced by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. The command change marked a change in German strategy: They would build a new defensive line behind the Somme front, conceding territory but allowing them to inflict even more casualties on the advancing Allied troops.

*Tanks Join the Battle*
On September 15, during an attack at Flers Courcelette, the British artillery barrage was followed by an advance of 12 divisions of soldiers accompanied by 48 Mark I tanks, making their first-ever appearance on the battlefield. But the tanks were still early in their development stages, and many of them broke down before making it to the front line. Though the British were able to advance some 1.5 miles, they sustained some 29,000 casualties and fell short of a true breakthrough.

As October began, bad weather stymied another Allied attack, with soldiers struggling to cross muddy terrain under fierce fire from German artillery and fighter planes. The Allies made their final advance of the battle in mid-November, attacking the German positions in the Ancre River valley. With the arrival of true winter weather, Haig finally called the offensive to a halt on November 18, ending the battle of attrition on the Somme, at least until the following year. Over 141 days, the British had advanced just seven miles, and had failed to break the German line.

*Legacy of the Battle of the Somme*
More than anything else, the Battle of the Somme—and especially its devastating first day—would be remembered as the epitome of the brutal and seemingly senseless carnage that characterized trench warfare during World War I. British officers, especially Haig, would be criticized for continuing the offensive in spite of such devastating losses.

Many of the British soldiers who fought at the Somme had volunteered for army service in 1914 and 1915 and saw combat for the first time in the battle. Many were members of so-called Pals battalions, or units that were made up of friends, relatives and neighbors in the same community. In one poignant example of a community’s loss, some 720 men from the 11th East Lancashire battalion (known as the Accrington Pals) fought on July 1 at the Somme; 584 were killed or wounded.

Despite its failure, the Allied offensive at the Somme did inflict serious damage on German positions in France, spurring the Germans to strategically retreat to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917 rather than continue battling over the same land that spring.

Though the exact number is disputed, German losses by the end of the Battle of the Somme probably exceeded Britain’s, with some 450,000 soldiers lost compared with 420,000 on the British side. The surviving British forces had also gained valuable experience, which would later help them achieve victory on the Western Front.

*49 men would receive the Victoria Cross, (Great Britain's highest Military Award for Valor) including 9 on the first day.*_


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## BarnBuster (Jul 1, 2021)

_(Veteran Owned & Operated)_








Independence Day


Whether you’re spending the 4th of July hanging out by the cooler, holding down the grill, or blowing sh*t up with fireworks, America’s Coffee is here to help you celebrate Independence Day the right way. The more you spend more on coffee, apparel, and gear, the more you’ll save during our 4th...




www.blackriflecoffee.com


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## BarnBuster (Jul 1, 2021)

I'm sure many of these guys are ex-Military EOD and were confident and practiced in their skills and assessment of the situation(s). 
Murphy is a mutherfucker!








Explosion inside LA police bomb disposal truck after illegal fireworks seized, 17 injured


Los Angeles Explosion: The blast occurred after police were received a call about illegal fireworks.




abc13.com


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## Singlemalt (Jul 1, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I'm sure many of these guys are ex-Military EOD and were confident and practiced in their skills and assessment of the situation(s).
> Murphy is a mutherfucker!
> 
> 
> ...


This fiasco was begging to go south: 5000 lbs in the single container! And I bet they didn't wet it down with copious water before putting in container. Heads are gonna roll


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## doublejj (Jul 1, 2021)

*Blue Angels release date for a return to San Francisco*








Blue Angels release date for a return to San Francisco


The U.S. Navy's daredevil fighter jet pilots are coming back.




www.sfgate.com


----------



## curious2garden (Jul 1, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> This fiasco was begging to go south: 5000 lbs in the single container! And I bet they didn't wet it down with copious water before putting in container. Heads are gonna roll


That amount of explosives sort of highlights what I'm dealing with nightly. The LASD doesn't pay as much attention to fireworks like LAPD does.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 2, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> This fiasco was begging to go south: 5000 lbs in the single container! And I bet they didn't wet it down with copious water before putting in container. Heads are gonna roll


I thought that although 5000 lbs were seized, only 10 lbs were in the truck when it exploded, that's what surprised me, although this article said explosion appeared to start outside of containment. Notice they are questioning if the truck could have defects. Agree they should have been wetting it down especially since it was all homemade. More than a few "Oh, Shit's" on this FUBAR.








LAPD Speaks On Botched Firework Explosion That Injured 17 In South L.A.


LAPD spoke on the botched explosion in a South L.A. neighborhood that was meant to be a controlled detonation of dangerous fireworks.




www.laweekly.com





This has a little more detail








Questions remain in wake of LA homemade fireworks blast


LOS ANGELES (AP) — A massive explosion rocked a Los Angeles neighborhood as homemade fireworks were being destroyed by a bomb squad, leaving a trail of destruction, injuries and questions




gazette.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 2, 2021)

_"The U.S. Army approved the upgrade of 60 Army special operators’ awards for their heroic actions during Operation Gothic Serpent—more commonly known as the Battle of Mogadishu or “Black Hawk Down.” Fifty-eight awards were upgraded to Silver Stars and two were upgraded to Distinguished Flying Crosses."_








60 Army Special Operators awards upgraded for Operation Gothic Serpent


July 1, 2021 News Release #21-07-001 60 Army Special Operators awards upgraded for Operation Gothic Serpent FORT BRAGG, N. C. – The U.S. Army approv...




www.army.mil





Pgs 38-47


https://static.dvidshub.net/media/pubs/pdf_8232.pdf


----------



## curious2garden (Jul 2, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I thought that although 5000 lbs were seized, only 10 lbs were in the truck when it exploded, that's what surprised me, although this article said explosion appeared to start outside of containment. Notice they are questioning if the truck could have defects. Agree they should have been wetting it down especially since it was all homemade. More than a few "Oh, Shit's" on this FUBAR.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


After being up AGAIN until 3 am or so I wish they'd just touched them all off in place. 

PS they need to use robotics for explosive handling the military has the tech.


----------



## wascaptain (Jul 4, 2021)

wake up! .....wake up!!.....waaake up!!!!........ to another great day in america 

happy 4th


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 4, 2021)

​


----------



## DarkWeb (Jul 4, 2021)

Thank you.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 5, 2021)

​








It’s time to call the ‘Ghost Army’ what they are: Heroes


Because their exploits were deemed “Top Secret” for nearly 50 years after the war, the Ghost Army never received the recognition they deserve.




thehill.com


----------



## raratt (Jul 6, 2021)




----------



## doublejj (Jul 6, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4938068


They pack a punch....a bunch of them


----------



## raratt (Jul 6, 2021)

doublejj said:


> They pack a punch....a bunch of them
> View attachment 4938077
> View attachment 4938076


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 6, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 4938085


Dad was a structural Mech on the BUFF before & during Nam - spent a year in Rocket City & more places I didn't recognize.


----------



## raratt (Jul 6, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Dad was a structural Mech on the BUFF before & during Nam - spent a year in Rocket City & more places I didn't recognize.


I worked backshop EWS on them on Guam. We were a warm status ILM.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 6, 2021)

raratt said:


> I worked backshop EWS on them on Guam. We were a warm status ILM.


Prior to Dad retiring we lived exclusively on SAC bases.


----------



## raratt (Jul 6, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Prior to Dad retiring we lived exclusively on SAC bases.


I was SAC until it went away. We were a SAC detachment on a PACAF base on Guam. Our Captain didn't listen to the PACAF colonel running the base...lol.


----------



## raratt (Jul 6, 2021)

We had a snow day on Guam. The base commander used to have a tape recorder when he went on his run and his secretary would write down the "discrepancies" on little white pieces of paper then send them down to each building. Our flight chief had a handful off them one day and he got to one asking what the "cylindrical object was by our side door" It was a concrete door stop. He threw the rest in the air and called a snow day, so we went home.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 8, 2021)

Today in Military History:


*Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand (left) and Maj. Dale Buis (right) •July 8, 1959: Ovnand and Buis were killed during an ambush on a U.S. compound in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, marking the first American casualties of the Vietnam war*​Article as it appeared in ASSOCIATED PRESS | July 8, 2009 at 8:39 am 
_"It was July 8, 1959 and Stanley Karnow, Time magazine’s chief correspondent in Asia, was on his first trip to Saigon when he heard about an attack at an Army base about 20 miles north of the city.

Six northern Vietnamese had attacked the Army’s residential compound in the town of Bien Hoa, killing two American men while they watched a movie on a home projector. Karnow wrote three paragraphs about it for Time.

“It was a minor incident in a faraway place,” said Karnow, who reported from southeast Asia from 1959 to the early 1970s. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that these two guys would be the first in a memorial to 50,000-some others.”

Today, those guys — U.S. Army Maj. Dale Buis and Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand — were remembered on the anniversary of their deaths during a special ceremony near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. An armed services color guard marched and a bugler played “Taps” on a hill overlooking the memorial wall, where Buis’ name is listed first, followed by Ovnand’s, in panel 1E, Row 1, at the wall’s apex.

“Today we are here to reflect and honor the individuals who paid the supreme sacrifice for our country,” said Jan Scruggs, president and founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, a nonprofit authorized by Congress in 1980 to build the memorial.

Scruggs said the group began organizing today’s ceremony just three weeks ago. “We thought it would be a really good idea to remind people of this first tragedy among many deaths that followed from the Vietnam War,” he said, adding that he hoped people would pause to remember servicemen and women killed in combat, as well as those at war now.

More than 58,000 Americans and some 1.5 million Vietnamese were killed during the Vietnam War.

According to Karnow’s 1959 Time article, Ovnand, of Texas, had just mailed a letter to his wife and Buis, who was from California, was showing off pictures of his three sons. They were two of eight men who lived at the compound, and among the six who took a break in the mess hall that July 8 to watch “The Tattered Dress,” starring Jeanne Crain.

The soldiers were sprayed with bullets by “terrorists” when Ovnand turned on the lights to change the home projector’s first reel, Karnow wrote.

Ovnand was just a month away from finishing up his yearlong tour of duty, according to Nathaniel Ward IV of San Diego, a retired Army captain whose father was chief of staff of the U.S. Army Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam. Ward was 17 at the time of the Bien Hoa attack and remembers his father changing into his fatigues to rush to the outpost that had been ambushed.

Ward and others said little is known about Ovnand, except that he was married when he died at 44.

Buis was originally from Nebraska, but was living in California before he went to Vietnam. He was a 1942 graduate of Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Mo., and is one of 13 Wentworth graduates listed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Buis arrived in Vietnam just two days before he was killed at 37, leaving behind a wife and three young sons. Ward, who in the mid-1980s tried to locate relatives of Ovnand and Buis, said only one of Buis’ sons is alive today and lives in San Diego.

Today, a wreath of daises, lilies and irises was laid at the memorial wall under the year 1959, where Buis and Ovnand’s names appear. Mementos propped against the wall included a plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of their deaths, a red Wentworth Military Academy flag and a copy of a story in the Pacific Stars and Stripes, with the banner headline: “2 Americans Killed by Saigon Terrorist.”

“They became a part of history,” Ward said of the fallen soldiers, “when they never intended to.”_


----------



## Singlemalt (Jul 8, 2021)

Some light reading:








Pentagon Warns Of An “Increased Potential” For Nuclear Conflict In Newly Disclosed Manual


The risk of regional conflicts between nuclear-armed nations is rising according to a document prepared by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.




www.thedrive.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 13, 2021)

Arlington, July 8, 2021. Photo By: Elizabeth Fraser, Army​


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 17, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*An ammunition ship explodes while being loaded in Port Chicago, California, killing 320 people on July 17, 1944. *_The United States’ World War II military campaign in the Pacific was in full swing at the time. Poor procedures and lack of training led to the disaster.

Port Chicago, about 30 miles north of San Francisco, was developed into a munitions facility when the Naval Ammunition Depot at Mare Island, California, could not fully supply the war effort. By the summer of 1944, expansion of the Port Chicago facility allowed for loading two ships at once around the clock. The Navy units assigned to the dangerous loading operations were generally segregated African American units. For the most part, these men had not been trained in handling munitions. Additionally, safety standards were forgotten in the rush to keep up frenetic loading schedules.

On the evening of July 17, the SS Quinault Victory and SS E.A. Bryan, two merchant ships, were being loaded. The holds were being packed with 4,600 tons of explosives—bombs, depth charges and ammunition. Another 400 tons of explosives were nearby on rail cars. Approximately 320 workers were on or near the pier when, at 10:18 p.m., a series of massive explosions over several seconds destroyed everything and everyone in the vicinity. The blasts were felt as far away as Nevada and the resulting damage extended as far as San Francisco. Every building in Port Chicago was damaged and people were literally knocked off their feet. Smoke and fire extended nearly two miles into the air. The pilot of a plane flying at 9,000 feet in the area claimed that metal chunks from the explosion flew past him.

*Nearly two-thirds of the people killed at Port Chicago were African American enlisted men in the Navy—15 percent of all African Americans killed during World War II*. The surviving men in these units, who helped put out the fires and saw the horrors firsthand, were quickly reassigned to Mare Island. *Less than a month later, when ordered to load more munitions, but still having received no training, 258 African American sailors refused to carry out the orders. Two hundred and eight of them were then sentenced to bad conduct discharges and pay forfeiture. The remaining 50 men were put on trial for general court martial. They were sentenced to between eight and 15 years of hard labor, though two years later all were given clemency. A 1994 review of the trials revealed race played a large factor in the harsh sentences. In December 1999, President Clinton pardoned Freddie Meeks, one of only three of the 50 convicted sailors known to be alive at the time.*

The Port Chicago disaster eventually led to the implementation of far safer procedures for loading ammunition. In addition, greater emphasis was put on proper training in explosives handling and the munitions themselves were altered for greater safety. There is now a national memorial to the victims at the site._


----------



## wascaptain (Jul 19, 2021)

our local lowes gives a vet discount and offers a few parking spaces.

thank you lowes for yall service!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 19, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> our local lowes gives a vet discount and offers a few parking spaces.
> 
> thank you lowes for yall service!


Ours here (and Home Depot) do as well.


----------



## raratt (Jul 19, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> our local lowes gives a vet discount and offers a few parking spaces.
> 
> thank you lowes for yall service!


Both Lowes and Home depot have 10% veterans discounts, no veteran parking here, I'm sure it would be misused anyway. Hard enough to keep people out of handicapped slots. Edit, I type slow.


----------



## raratt (Jul 24, 2021)




----------



## Budden (Jul 24, 2021)

Love the direction of this thread!! 
I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.


----------



## cannabineer (Jul 24, 2021)

Budden said:


> Love the direction of this thread!!
> I.Y.A.A.Y.A.S.


Please unpack the acronym


----------



## raratt (Jul 24, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> Please unpack the acronym


I think I said that acronym the last time I smashed a finger.


----------



## cannabineer (Jul 24, 2021)

raratt said:


> I think I said that acronym the last time I smashed a finger.


I expected an F or two


----------



## Budden (Jul 24, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> Please unpack the acronym


If
You
Ain’t 
Ammo
You 
Ain’t 
Shit

Army fellas call us Ordinance


----------



## cannabineer (Jul 24, 2021)

Budden said:


> If
> You
> Ain’t
> Ammo
> ...


Thank you


----------



## raratt (Jul 24, 2021)

BB stacker.


----------



## Budden (Jul 24, 2021)

raratt said:


> 21 years, 3 months, 3 days, but who counted...


19 years 3 months active duty


----------



## cannabineer (Jul 24, 2021)

Budden said:


> 19 years 3 months active duty


Thank you for your *

*I thought about putting a stupid word here, but it all focuses back on

thank you for your service


----------



## curious2garden (Jul 24, 2021)

Budden said:


> 19 years 3 months active duty


Only 9 more months to go. Think of it like a pregnancy.


----------



## Budden (Jul 24, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Only 9 more months to go. Think of it like a pregnancy.


Forced to retire early.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 24, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Only 9 more months to go. Think of it like a pregnancy.


I already birthed my DD-214.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 24, 2021)

Budden said:


> Forced to retire early.


Are you getting your retirement/VA comp?


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 25, 2021)

Why Japan's 'Rising Sun' Flag Provokes Olympic Ire


Japan’s “rising sun” flag is a focus of anger at the Olympics, with some in the Koreas, China and other Asian nations calling for it to be banned.




www.military.com


----------



## DarkWeb (Jul 25, 2021)

RIP Dale Snodgrass.








Dale 'Snort' Snodgrass Killed In Idaho Accident - AVweb


Dale “Snort” Snodgrass, one of the warbird world’s most respected pilots, was killed on Saturday in the crash of a Marchetti SM.109 in Lewiston, Idaho. Details remain sketchy but the crash occurred just after noon. The aircraft is a high-wing STOL design based on the Cessna 0-1 Bird Dog and...




www.avweb.com


----------



## Budden (Jul 25, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Are you getting your retirement/VA comp?


Yes! I had a really good friend of mine help me navigate that. It was a night mare, and that was 10 years ago. I feel for the young guys entering that arena now….


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 26, 2021)

​


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 26, 2021)

Budden said:


> Yes! I had a really good friend of mine help me navigate that. It was a night mare, and that was 10 years ago. I feel for the young guys entering that arena now….


I'm in the process of trying to get the VA to increase my disability & covid has just made it that much more complicated.


----------



## Budden (Jul 26, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I'm in the process of trying to get the VA to increase my disability & covid has just made it that much more complicated.


I had to fight with them over one of my ratings early on. My ex was in nursing school, wrote a long letter with symptoms and legal jargon and they raised it. Only thing she ever done for me!! Lol.


----------



## Budden (Jul 26, 2021)

It took me awhile to get off my VA induced chemical coma, and it took me a few years to figure out what worked best for me both quantity and strain wise. 

I have a couple strains I really like, but my question is what’s some of your favorite strains when you’re having a VET moment? The heaviest strain I like to use in time of need is Mango Tango from elemental.
Pretty sure it has saved a life of two!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 26, 2021)

Budden said:


> It took me awhile to get off my VA induced chemical coma, and it took me a few years to figure out what worked best for me both quantity and strain wise.
> 
> I have a couple strains I really like, but my question is what’s some of your favorite strains when you’re having a VET moment? The heaviest strain I like to use in time of need is Mango Tango from elemental.
> Pretty sure it has saved a life of two!


My go to is something very Indica, heavy couch-lock.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 27, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_"In the 1994 version of its annual publication, "Service and Casualties in Major Wars and Conflicts", the Pentagon put US Korean War battle deaths at 33,652 and "other deaths" meaning deaths in the war zone from illness, accidents and other non-battle causes at 3,262. 

146 United States military personnel received the Medal of Honor for valor in combat during the Korean War. 103 Medals were awarded posthumously."_


----------



## wascaptain (Jul 29, 2021)

december 7th 2005.....

i was cleaning out my closet and found this uniform shirt. was wearing it when i got injured ending my 25 year career.

how the time has flown by.


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 30, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
*30 JULY 1945 - U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS SUNK. Japanese warships sink the American cruiser Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen in the worst loss in the history of the U.S. navy. *_As a prelude to a proposed invasion of the Japanese mainland, scheduled for November 1, U.S. forces bombed the Japanese home islands from sea and air, as well as blowing Japanese warships out of the water.

The end was near for Imperial Japan, but it was determined to go down fighting. Just before midnight of the 29th, the Indianapolis, an American cruiser that was the flagship of the Fifth Fleet, was on its way, unescorted, to Guam, then Okinawa. It never made it. It was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. Interestingly, the sub was commanded by a lieutenant who had also participated in the Pearl Harbor invasion.

There were 1,196 crewmen onboard the Indianapolis; over 350 died upon impact of the torpedo or went down with the ship. More than 800 fell into the Pacific. Of those, approximately 50 died that first night in the water from injuries suffered in the torpedo explosion; the remaining seamen were left to flounder in the Pacific, fend off sharks, drink sea water (which drove some insane), and wait to be rescued.

Because there was no time for a distress signal before the Indianapolis went down, it was 84 hours before help arrived. This was despite the fact that American naval headquarters had intercepted a message on July 30 from the Japanese sub commander responsible for sinking the Indianapolis, describing the type of ship sunk and its location. (The Americans assumed it was an exaggerated boast and didn’t bother to follow up.)

Only 318 survived; the rest were eaten by sharks or drowned. The Indianapolis’s commander, Captain Charles McVay, was the only officer ever to be court-martialed for the loss of a ship during wartime in the history of the U.S. Navy. Had the attack happened only three days earlier, the Indianapolis would have been sunk carrying special cargo-the atom bomb, which it delivered to Tinian Island, northeast of Guam, for scientists to assemble._



https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/publications/Publication-PDF/AGraveMisfortune_USS-Indianapolis_Jan2019_web.pdf










The Worst Shark Attack In History & The Sinking Of The USS Indianapolis


The 800-odd seamen who survived the sinking of the cruiser were greeted with a horrifying sight when the sun rose. Hundreds of shark fins cutting through




www.warhistoryonline.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jul 31, 2021)

The Last Battle for Iwo Jima Legend Woody Williams, Only Surviving WWII Medal of Honor Recipient


At age 97, Woody Williams still has promises to Gold Star families to keep.




www.military.com


----------



## curious2garden (Jul 31, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> december 7th 2005.....
> 
> i was cleaning out my closet and found this uniform shirt. was wearing it when i got injured ending my 25 year career.
> 
> how the time has flown by.


I'd be willing to bet that still fits you ;D


----------



## smokinrav (Jul 31, 2021)

One man, 3 billion dollars in damage.









US Navy charges sailor with setting fire that destroyed USS Bonhomme Richard last July


A Navy sailor has been charged with starting a fire on an amphibious assault ship last summer that injured more than 60 firefighters and caused billions in damage. The 22-year-old USS Bonhomme Richard burst into flames on July 12, 2020, and smoldered for more than four days off San Diego. More...




news.google.com


----------



## Singlemalt (Jul 31, 2021)

Something seems not right here. Sounds like the ship was a tinderbox, and raises doubts about it's ability to survive in battle. Not defending the sailor at all but there is much more to this. Old tech WW2 ships survived massive shelling.


----------



## Cannacranky (Jul 31, 2021)

Army vet here, and I would like to thank the United States military for providing me more reasons to get stoned than civilian life ever did.


----------



## smokinrav (Jul 31, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> Something seems not right here. Sounds like the ship was a tinderbox, and raises doubts about it's ability to survive in battle. Not defending the sailor at all but there is much more to this. Old tech WW2 ships survived massive shelling.


Yeah, this comment was weird

"The fire started in the ship’s lower storage area, where cardboard boxes, rags and other maintenance supplies were stored, but winds quickly swept fire throughout the vessel."

Winds? In the lower storage areas? I think not.


----------



## doublejj (Jul 31, 2021)

I found some old pictures. Yours truly at Ft Ord 1969...Please note the Expert Marksman Medal 
....I'm pretty proud of that


----------



## raratt (Jul 31, 2021)

doublejj said:


> I found some old pictures. Yours truly at Ft Ord 1969...Please note the Expert Marksmanship Medal on my chest.....I'm pretty proud of that
> View attachment 4955405


I have one of those also. but ours were ribbons.


----------



## doublejj (Jul 31, 2021)

My elk hunting buddy in elk camp circa 1971 with my old 56 Ford PU in the background. Note the Medic insignia on his jacket. We were both still in the army at this time...


----------



## Singlemalt (Jul 31, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Yeah, this comment was weird
> 
> "The fire started in the ship’s lower storage area, where cardboard boxes, rags and other maintenance supplies were stored, but winds quickly swept fire throughout the vessel."
> 
> Winds? In the lower storage areas? I think not.


Yep, you'd expect that with the old oaken man o' wars 200 yrs ago


----------



## doublejj (Jul 31, 2021)

Yours truly at same elk camp 1971......


----------



## DarkWeb (Jul 31, 2021)

doublejj said:


> I found some old pictures. Yours truly at Ft Ord 1969...Please note the Expert Marksmanship Medal on my chest.....I'm pretty proud of that
> View attachment 4955405


My dad has one of those


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 31, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Yeah, this comment was weird
> 
> "The fire started in the ship’s lower storage area, where cardboard boxes, rags and other maintenance supplies were stored, but winds quickly swept fire throughout the vessel."
> 
> Winds? In the lower storage areas? I think not.


My initial though is either they had additional mechanical ventilation or there might have been access ports cut into the hull for equipment transfer.
IDK, sounds weird to me as well.



doublejj said:


> I found some old pictures. Yours truly at Ft Ord 1969...Please note the Expert Marksman Medal
> ....I'm pretty proud of that


I managed to pull both Expert pistol and rifle outta basic & continued on through my career including Practical pistol & rifle quals each time. TBH I never found it that difficult. Too many guys tried to "Rambo" it instead of listening to the DI & RM - Heck, they could tell you what you're doing wrong just by watching where the rounds were grouping. All you had to do was listen.


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 1, 2021)

*On August 1, 1943, 177 B-24 bombers take off from an Allied base in Libya, bound for the oil-producing city Ploiești, Romania, nicknamed “Hitler’s gas station.”*
_
Operation Tidal Wave began ominously, with an overloaded bomber crashing shortly after takeoff and another plunging into the Adriatic Sea. 167 of the original 177 bombers made it to Ploiești, whose oil fields and refineries provided the Germans with over 8.5 million tons of oil per year. Whereas most Allied bombing in World War II was carried out from a high altitude, the bombers that raided Ploiești flew exceptionally low in order to evade the Germans’ radar. The bombers lost the element of surprise, however, when one group veered off on the wrong direction, forcing the others to break radio silence in order to direct them back on course. This unplanned adjustment also led to the bombers approaching from the south, where the Nazis had concentrated their anti-aircraft batteries.

The ensuing attack was dramatic, chaotic and costly. The Allies suffered heavy casualties, and smoke from the explosions caused by the first wave of bombers made visibility difficult for subsequent waves. Survivors reported debris like branches and barbed wire hitting and even ending up on the inside of their planes. Lt. Col. Addison Baker and Maj. John Jerstad were awarded the Medal of Honor for their (unsuccessful) attempt to fly higher and allow the crew to bail of our their badly damaged plane. Another pilot, Lt. Lloyd Herbert Hughes, also received a posthumous Medal of Honor for flying his critically-damaged B-24 into its target. Col. John Kane and Col. Leon Johnson, who each led bombing groups that reached their targets, were the only men who won the Medal of Honor and survived the raid.

Although the Allies estimated that the raid had reduced Ploiești’s capacity by 40 percent, the damage was quickly repaired and within months the refineries had outstripped their previous capacity. The region continued to serve as “Hitler’s gas station” until the Soviet Union captured it in August of 1944. 310 airmen died, 108 were captured and another 78 were interned in neighboring Turkey.






Operation Tidal Wave is largely considered a failure from the American perspective for this reason. However, there is some argument that can be made that this delay in production, even if only brief, was a victory for the Allies. It allowed the Red Army to take advantage of the lack of fuel for the panzers and launch two offensives at Smolensk and Dnieper, which helped liberate those previously German controlled areas.

Of the 178 planes that took off from Benghazi, only 89 returned. While the enemy destroyed 54 planes, others crash landed at bases throughout the area. Over 300 men died, over 100 captured, and 78 were interred in Turkey. Of the 89 returning planes, over a third were unfit to fly afterward. .

*Operation Tidal Wave remains the most highly decorated military mission in U.S. History. Five Medals of Honor, 3 posthumously, were awarded, the most for any single air mission in history. 998 enlisted aircrew flew in Tidal Wave. 900 were decorated. 10 Silver Stars, 16 Distinguished Service Crosses and 879 Distinguished Flying Crosses were awarded to bombadiers, gunners, engineers and radioman for their heroics.*_


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 4, 2021)

​_"The United States Coast Guard celebrates its 231st birthday today. The Coast Guard was created on August 4, 1790, when the first Congress authorized Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton to construct ten vessels, known as “revenue cutters,” to combat smuggling and enforce tariff laws. Hamilton carried out his charge with enthusiasm, which is why he is considered to be “the father of the Coast Guard.” For the next eight years, the Coast Guard was the United States’ only armed maritime force. Congress didn’t establish the Navy until 1798. (The Navy prefers to say “re-establish” as it dates its founding to an October 1775 act passed by the Continental Congress.)"_


----------



## cannabineer (Aug 4, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My initial though is either they had additional mechanical ventilation or there might have been access ports cut into the hull for equipment transfer.
> IDK, sounds weird to me as well.
> 
> 
> ...


Festina lente


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 4, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> Festina lente


Slow is smooth and smooth is fast


----------



## cannabineer (Aug 4, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Slow is smooth and smooth is fast


It took me 1000 rounds to learn that.


----------



## TheCropMan (Aug 4, 2021)

*... *


----------



## smokinrav (Aug 5, 2021)

remote piloted A10 vs. phalanx.

Ignore this one, watch the one below


----------



## smokinrav (Aug 5, 2021)

Thats not the video i wanted to post damnit

This ones cool, but still not as cool. Target practice.

Wait. Theres a fucking parachute
out at 45 sec! And another at 1 minute. Wtf?


----------



## smokinrav (Aug 5, 2021)

So the lesson here is never fight an ocean war with a ground attack force?


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 6, 2021)

​
*On August 6, 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter in Afghanistan, killing all 38 people on board, including 15 Navy SEALS from Team Six’s Gold Squadron.*

_The Tangi Valley, located along the border between Afghanistan’s Wardak and Logar provinces some 80 miles southwest of Kabul, is a remote, inaccessible area known for its resistance to foreign invasion. Alexander the Great suffered heavy troop losses there during his campaign in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C. In the 1980s, mujahideen fighters in Wardak and Logar provinces devastated an entire division of Soviet fighters.

In 2009, U.S. forces from the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army established a base in the Tangi Valley area after it became clear the Taliban had taken advantage of low coalition presence there to establish a stronghold within striking distance of the Afghan capital. As the United States and NATO allies began a drawdown of their troops in the spring of 2011, U.S. forces turned over the Tangi Valley outpost to their Afghan counterparts. They continued to run operations in the area, however, using helicopters and special operations forces to combat groups of insurgents in the region.

Under cover of darkness on the night of August 6, 2011, a special ops team that included a group of U.S. Army Rangers began an assault on a Taliban compound in the village of Jaw-e-Mekh Zareen in the Tangi Valley. The firefight at the house went on for at least two hours, and the ground team called in reinforcements. As the Chinook CH-47 transport helicopter (call sign: Extortion 17) carrying 30 U.S. troops, seven Afghan commandos, an Afghan civilian interpreter and a U.S. military dog approached, the insurgents fired on the helicopter and it crashed to the ground, killing all aboard.

Of the 30 Americans killed, 22 were Navy personnel, and 17 were SEALs. These included two bomb specialists and 15 operators in the Gold Squadron of DEVGRU, or Team Six, the highly classified unit that conducted the raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan the previous May. None of the operators killed in the Afghan helicopter crash had been involved in that mission, officials said. In addition to the SEALs, the others killed in the Chinook crash included five other Naval Special Warfare (NSW) personnel, three Air Force forward air controllers and five Army helicopter crewmembers.

The attack on August 6 was the most devastating day in SEAL Team Six history, as well as the single largest loss of life for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in October 2001. More than twice as many NSW personnel died in the Wardak crash than were killed on June 28, 2005, during Operation Redwings. That day, eight SEALs and eight members of the members of the Army’s 160th Special Forces Operations Regiment (SOAR) were killed when insurgents shot down their Chinook helicopter in Kunar province, near Asadabad. Three SEALs involved in a firefight on the ground were also killed, in what would stand as the deadliest day in NSW history since the Normandy landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

“No words describe the sorrow we feel in the wake of this tragic loss,” General John R. Allen, senior commander of the international military coalition in Afghanistan, said after the crash. “All of those killed in this operation were true heroes who had already given so much in the defense of freedom. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

As funerals for the fallen sailors and other servicemen took place throughout the United States, a team of specialists conducted an official investigation to determine the cause of the crash. The resulting report, delivered in October 2011, concluded that a Taliban fighter shot down the Chinook with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) as the helicopter neared its landing zone, and that “all operational decisions, linked to the incident, were deemed tactically sound.”

Some later questioned the official narrative of the Extortion 17 crash, even suggesting the attack could have been an inside job, with Afghan forces tipping the Taliban off about the mission beforehand. Others criticized the planning and execution of the mission, including the decision to fly the helicopter into an area where it could be easily shot down and the use of a conventional helicopter rather than one designed for special operations missions. Family members of some of the SEAL Team Six operators killed in the crash, along with some military personnel, claimed that the U.S. government had turned the members of the elite unit into a target by revealing their role in the bin Laden raid. A congressional oversight committee even held a controversial hearing into the events surrounding the crash in early 2014.

Though the U.S.-led coalition formally ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014, the war has continued for more than two years beyond that point, marking its 15th anniversary last October. As of 2016, some 9,800 U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense estimates the total number of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan at 2,254. Meanwhile, the civilian toll of the war grows ever higher; one estimate, by the organization International Physicians for the Prevention of War, put the total number of Afghans killed in the first 12 years of the conflict at some 220,000.









The Final Flight of Extortion 17


It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the history of U.S. special operations. Why did it happen?




www.airspacemag.com






https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-113hhrg87499/pdf/CHRG-113hhrg87499.pdf










Setting the record straight: Myths and misinformation about Extortion 17


The 6 August, 2011 downing of Extortion 17 has continued to make international headlines years after the terrible tragedy. This continued attention is due




sofrep.com




_


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 6, 2021)

Bravo Zulu Admiral Fagan 









Biden selects first woman four-star admiral for the Coast Guard


President Joe Biden plans to nominate Coast Guard Vice Adm. Linda Fagan to the role of vice commandant, making her the first woman to achieve a fourth-star in the service, Defense News has learned.




news.yahoo.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 7, 2021)

Today in Military History:









_"*On this day in 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the code name for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands and was the first U.S. offensive of the war.*

Although not as well-known as the Battles of Midway or Iwo Jima, the Battle of Guadalcanal played a key role in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The six-month-long Guadalcanal Campaign took place on and around the island of Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands located in the South Pacific, to the northeast of Australia

On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. In response on August 7, 1942, , the U.S. launched Operation Watchtower, in which American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain, including Guadalcanal. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tananbogo met much initial opposition from the Japanese defenders.

But the Americans who landed on Guadalcanal met little resistance—at least at first. More than 11,000 Marines had landed, and 24 hours had passed, before the Japanese manning the garrison there knew of the attack. The U.S. forces quickly took their main objective, the airfield, and the outnumbered Japanese troops retreated, but not for long. Reinforcements were brought in, and fierce hand-to-hand jungle fighting ensued. “I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting,” wrote one American major general on the scene. “These people refuse to surrender.” The struggle on Guadalcanal was protracted, and the period from August 1942 to February 1943 saw some of the most bitter fighting of the war

The Americans were at a particular disadvantage, being assaulted from both the sea and air. But the U.S. Navy was able to reinforce its troops to a greater extent, and by February 1943, the Japanese had retreated on secret orders of their emperor (so secret, the Americans did not even know it had taken place until they began happening upon abandoned positions, empty boats, and discarded supplies). In total, the Japanese had lost more than 25,000 men, compared with a loss of 1,600 by the Americans. Each side lost 24 warships. The battle for Guadalcanal proved to be extremely costly for the Japanese Empire in terms of both material losses and strategy. With Guadalcanal secure, the Solomon Islands quickly fell to American forces as Henderson Field offered a direct base of support for American air units in the area. The sheer number of Japanese troops, supplies, and naval units were also irreplaceable at this point of the war. For many historians, the American victory at Guadalcanal, therefore, was a turning point for the war-effort as Guadalcanal served as a major boost to American morale, and a tremendous success for American military efforts in the Pacific.

*Douglas Albert Munro was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during the Battle of Guadalcanal.. As of 2019, he is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the United States Coast Guard.* Munro was assigned to Naval Operating Base Cactus at Lunga Point, from which small boat operations were being coordinated. At the Second Battle of the Matanikau in September 1942, he was tasked with leading the extrication of a force of United States Marines that had been overrun by Japanese forces. He died of a gunshot wound at the age of 22 while using the Higgins boat he was piloting to shield a landing craft filled with marines from Japanese fire.

*One of the first Medals of Honor given to a Marine in WW2 was awarded to Sgt. John Basilone for his fighting during Operation Watchtower. According to the recommendation for his medal, he “contributed materially to the defeat and virtually the annihilation of a Japanese regiment.” Later, Gunnery Sgt. Basilone would be posthumously awarded the the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross for his actions on Iwo Jima"*_

(20 MOH's were awarded for the Guadalcanal campaign.bb)

Books:
*Midnight in the Pacific : Guadalcanal : the World War II battle that turned the tide of war / Joseph Wheelan*. _(One of the best I’ve read on Guadalcanal)_
*The conquering tide : war in the Pacific Islands, 1942/1944* / Ian W. Toll.
*Pacific crucible : war at sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 */ Ian W. Toll.
_*The barrier and the javelin : Japanese and Allied Pacific strategies, February to June 1942* _/ H.P. Willmott
*The first South Pacific campaign : Pacific Fleet strategy, December 1941-June 1942* / by John B. Lundstrom









The Hot, Bloody, Brutal Campaign Of Guadalcanal: America’s First WWII Offensive In The Pacific


What started as a simple mission to capture an airstrip in the Pacific from the Japanese dragged on for six months as Japan kept trying to take it back.




allthatsinteresting.com









Battle of Guadalcanal - New World Encyclopedia







www.newworldencyclopedia.org





These last two are detailed Army and Navy reports and analysis of the campaign(s) at Guadalcanal:


https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/War%20and%20Conflict/WWII-Pacific-Battles/Battle%20of%20Guadalcanal%205.pdf




https://history.army.mil/html/books/005/5-3/CMH_Pub_5-3.pdf


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## curious2garden (Aug 9, 2021)

The Japanese dispatched four planes from Rabaul on New Britain to scour the seas for their foes, and one of the aircraft flew toward Mono Island and on its return patrol leg at 0935 sighted _Jarvis_, bearing 231° and about 100 miles from Tulagi. Another one of the planes discovered the destroyer as well at 1100, but the pilot misidentified her as an _Achilles_-class ship. The snooper determinedly tracked _Jarvis_ while Lt. Nakamura Tomoo led a strike group of 17 Type 1s of the _Misawa Kōkūtai_, escorted by 15 Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 0 carrier fighters, against the U.S. carriers that diverted to assail the ship. Nakamura and his strike group reached the scene by about 1300, relieved the shadower, and attacked. The badly damaged destroyer proved no match for the bombers and they torpedoed her more than 130 miles southeast of Tulagi, not far from where the _Dauntless_ had sighted her. _Jarvis_ put up a stout fight and splashed two of the attacking planes, a third ditched due to battle damage, and the warship lightly damaged three more planes, but the enemy recorded that _Jarvis _“split and sank” at about 1300 on 9 August 1942, and she went down with all hands.



"They that go down to the sea in ships, and occupy their business in great waters; These men see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep."


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## BarnBuster (Aug 9, 2021)

I think _Jarvis_ was the first ship to get a 5" gun in battery and fire after the attack on Pearl.


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## curious2garden (Aug 9, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I think _Jarvis_ was the first ship to get a 5" gun in battery and fire after the attack on Pearl.


Yup, she was


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## MisterKister (Aug 9, 2021)

Heres the chopper I crashed in. Good times!


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## curious2garden (Aug 9, 2021)

MisterKister said:


> View attachment 4961418Heres the chopper I crashed in. Good times!


Any crash you can talk about was a good landing! How are you doing?


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## MisterKister (Aug 9, 2021)




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## MisterKister (Aug 9, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Any crash you can talk about was a good landing! How are you doing?


Good my back is still kind of fucked though


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## cannabineer (Aug 9, 2021)

MisterKister said:


> View attachment 4961418Heres the chopper I crashed in. Good times!


Those things are beasts.


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## MisterKister (Aug 9, 2021)

Yeah not bad for Vietnam era tech


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## MisterKister (Aug 9, 2021)

Geraldo Rivera taught me to never trust the fucking media.. he went on air live saying we were in an intense firefight meanwhile we were just sitting there listening to his bullshit.


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## doublejj (Aug 9, 2021)

MisterKister said:


> View attachment 4961418Heres the chopper I crashed in. Good times!


a good crew chief will have that patched up and back in the air in no time....
Welcome home


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## MisterKister (Aug 9, 2021)

doublejj said:


> a good crew chief will have that patched up and back in the air in no time....
> Welcome home


No we took all the sensitive equipment and tossed a couple thermite grenades on it..fucker went up quick with it's magnesium skin


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## BarnBuster (Aug 10, 2021)

The USS Bonhomme Richard is gone. Experts say that could benefit the sailor accused of torching it.


The attorney for the sailor accused of starting the ship fire last year said he was given limited time and resources to conduct his own onboard investigation.




www.navytimes.com


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## curious2garden (Aug 10, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> The USS Bonhomme Richard is gone. Experts say that could benefit the sailor accused of torching it.
> 
> 
> The attorney for the sailor accused of starting the ship fire last year said he was given limited time and resources to conduct his own onboard investigation.
> ...


A friend shared the search warrant with me (it's googleable) and  is all I can say.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 12, 2021)

WWI's Harlem Hellfighters To Receive Congressional Gold Medal


On Monday, Congress signed the Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act, which will see the WWI infantry unit awarded with the nation's highest




www.warhistoryonline.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 12, 2021)

An F-35 pilot’s helmet costs more than a Ferrari and takes two days to get fitted


Air Force F-35 pilot helmets must fit down to the millimeter or it throws off the high-tech displays that keeps them alive.




taskandpurpose.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 13, 2021)

Military Daily News


Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.




www.military.com


----------



## wascaptain (Aug 13, 2021)

Keep my chow line moving.


----------



## Laughing Grass (Aug 13, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> Keep my chow line moving.


What is that? The stuff with the fork in it.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 13, 2021)

Laughing Grass said:


> What is that? The stuff with the fork in it.


If you are in a situation that calls for MRE's you ask no questions, you just eat it.


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## Laughing Grass (Aug 13, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> If you are in a situation that calls for MRE's you ask no questions, you just eat it.


So you don't know either?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 13, 2021)

Laughing Grass said:


> So you don't know either?


Much of what comes out of the "Main course" pkg looks the same regardless of what it says.


----------



## Breelow (Aug 13, 2021)

6ohMax said:


> Sup motherfuckers
> 
> 
> 
> I know there are some of you around


Air Force veteran over here too, how’s it going!?


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## Laughing Grass (Aug 13, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Much of what comes out of the "Main course" pkg looks the same regardless of what it says.


Does it tell you on the package what's inside or is it just a mystery?


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 13, 2021)

Laughing Grass said:


> Does it tell you on the package what's inside or is it just a mystery?


It says on the pkg what it's supposed to resemble.



Breelow said:


> Air Force veteran over here too, how’s it going!?


CG here, Pops was AF though.


----------



## Breelow (Aug 13, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> It says on the pkg what it's supposed to resemble.
> 
> 
> 
> CG here, Pops was AF though.


Nice. I’m the only Air Force in my family, or female who enlisted for that matter. All my uncles were Army, dad and gramps Navy!


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## BarnBuster (Aug 13, 2021)

​


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 13, 2021)

Breelow said:


> Nice. I’m the only Air Force in my family, or female who enlisted for that matter. All my uncles were Army, dad and gramps Navy!


Nice - Welcome to RIU.
A bit of advice, most of the sane (ish) people around here avoid politics like the plague. The place is toxic + chock full of nuts & trolls.


----------



## Breelow (Aug 13, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Nice - Welcome to RIU.
> A bit of advice, most of the sane (ish) people around here avoid politics like the plague. The place is toxic + chock full of nuts & trolls.


I too enjoy avoiding politics, religion, and conspiracy theories!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 13, 2021)

Breelow said:


> I too enjoy avoiding politics, religion, and conspiracy theories!


Good plan.
Glad you showed up.


----------



## raratt (Aug 13, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> If you are in a situation that calls for MRE's you ask no questions, you just eat it.


The corned beef hash is good.


----------



## raratt (Aug 13, 2021)




----------



## wascaptain (Aug 14, 2021)

Laughing Grass said:


> What is that? The stuff with the fork in it.


that is chicken stew.
that mre was from the 90s. 

ate plenty of them over the years and i have to say....never had a mre i didnt like


----------



## wascaptain (Aug 14, 2021)

please 

join me in a toast,

to all our fallen brothers and sisters... RIP

sips and passes


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 14, 2021)

​


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 14, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> please
> 
> join me in a toast,
> 
> ...


----------



## curious2garden (Aug 14, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> that is chicken stew.
> that mre was from the 90s.
> 
> ate plenty of them over the years and *i have to say....never had a mre i didnt like*


LOL Marine's gotta love 'em  
(PS Hub's dad was a marine he served in WWII and Korea).


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 14, 2021)

I ate c rats from the 30's in 1977. The cigs were the worst!


----------



## curious2garden (Aug 14, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I ate c rats from the 30's in 1977. * The cigs were the worst!*


In '77 that could have been the point


----------



## raratt (Aug 14, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> c rats


They gave us some of those in basic when we were running the confidence course, 81.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 14, 2021)

I found mine in a shed next to an abandon WWII air strip in the Aleutians.

Lots of war junk all over the place.


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 16, 2021)

Today in Military History:
 ​_*On August 16, 1945, Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, (captured by the Japanese on the island of Corregidor, in the Philippines), is freed from a POW camp in Manchuria, China.*

When President Franklin Roosevelt transferred Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command in the Philippines to Australia in March 1942, Maj. Gen. Wainwright, until then under MacArthur’s command, was promoted to temporary lieutenant general and given command of all Philippine forces. His first major strategic decision was to move his troops to the fortified garrison at Corregidor. When Bataan was taken by the Japanese, and the infamous Bataan “Death March” of captured Allies was underway, Corregidor became the next battle ground. Wainwright and his 13,000 troops held out for a month despite heavy artillery fire. Finally, Wainwright and his troops, already exhausted, surrendered on May 6.

The irony of Wainwright’s promotion was that as commander of all Allied forces in the Philippines, his surrender meant the surrender of troops still holding out against the Japanese in other parts of the Philippines. Wainwright was taken prisoner, spending the next three and a half years as a POW in Luzon, Philippines, Formosa (now Taiwan), and Manchuria, China. Upon Japan’s surrender, Russian forces in Manchuria liberated the POW camp in which Wainwright was being held. _

(Read below of the O.S.S. involvement (CARDINAL) in the rescue and their task to prevent retaliation to all prisoners being held in Japanese camps in Manchuria. bb)

_The years of captivity took its toll on the general. The man who had been nicknamed “Skinny” was now emaciated. His hair had turned white, and his skin was cracked and fragile. He was also depressed, believing he would be blamed for the loss of the Philippines to the Japanese.

When Wainwright arrived in Yokohama, Japan, to attend the formal surrender ceremony, Gen. MacArthur, his former commander, was stunned at his appearance. Wainwright was given a hero’s welcome upon returning to America, promoted to full general and awarded the Medal of Honor.









Operation Cardinal: OSS in Manchuria


A five-man OSS team parachutes into Mukden, Manchuria to rescue American and British POWs during WWII.



www.academia.edu












The OSS' Operation Cardinal: Locating General Jonathan Wainwright


The OSS Cardinal Mission located General Jonathan Wainwright at a Japanese prison camp in Manchuria.




warfarehistorynetwork.com












Jonathan Wainwright, Hero of Corregidor, Rescued By OSS August 1945


n 1945, the OSS had set up specially constructed teams to infiltrate ahead of the allied advance and assist with the freeing of Allied POW camps.




sofrep.com




_
Further Reading:
*Hero of Bataan: The Story of General Wainwright /* Duane P. Schultz 
*General Wainwright's Story* / Jonathan M. Wainwright


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 16, 2021)

​*On August 16, 1940, 48 volunteer members of the U.S. Army Parachute Test Platoon performed the first official U.S. military parachute jump at Fort Benning, Georgia. Today, the date is celebrated as National Airborne Day, a day to honor the U.S. Airborne Forces.*
_
After the first jump, a large force of more 100,000 paratroopers was formed and assigned to the 11th 13th, 17th, 82d, and 101st Airborne Divisions, which fought in every theater during World War II, according to the Department of Defense. Parachutes were an innovative technique used by the Allied Forces, enabling them to deploy troops behind enemy lines. Parachute assaults were key to the US military’s success in the battles for Sicily, Salerno, and D-Day. During the operation into Holland in September, 1944, the airborne forces secured all of their objectives.

Building on the success of the airborne divisions in WWII, the United States military continued to develop this means of enveloping the enemy from above. This approach grew to include Ranger and Special Forces units in the Army, and airborne organizations in the Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy. Airborne forces have made combat jumps in Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, Afghanistan, and Iraq. A number of our HFOT Veterans were serving in airborne units when they were injured.

In 2002, President George W. Bush proclaimed August 16 to be National Airborne Day stating: “Airborne combat continues to be driven by the bravery and daring spirit of sky Soldiers. Often called into action with little notice, these forces have earned an enduring reputation for dedication, excellence, and honor. As we face the challenges of a new era, I encourage all people to recognize the contributions of these courageous Soldiers to our Nation and the world.”_


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 16, 2021)

Questions About Infamous Lost Sub Resurface as Navy Releases New Documents Tied to Decades-Old Mystery


The Thresher sank with 129 men aboard.




www.military.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 16, 2021)

New Review to Give a Second Chance at Medals of Honor for Black, Native American Vets


The review, ordered by Defense Secretary Austin will cover Black and Native American veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars.




www.military.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 19, 2021)

Today in Military History:
 ​
_During the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeats the British frigate Guerrière in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off the Constitution‘s sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood. By the war’s end, “Old Ironsides” destroyed or captured seven more British ships. The success of the USS Constitution against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic.

The Constitution was one of six frigates that Congress requested be built in 1794 to help protect American merchant fleets from attacks by Barbary pirates and harassment by British and French forces. It was constructed in Boston, and the bolts fastening its timbers and copper sheathing were provided by the industrialist and patriot Paul Revere. Launched on October 21, 1797, the Constitution was 204 feet long, displaced 2,200 tons, and was rated as a 44-gun frigate (although it often carried as many as 50 guns).

In July 1798 it was put to sea with a crew of 450 and cruised the West Indies, protecting U.S. shipping from French privateers. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson ordered the American warship to the Mediterranean to fight Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli. The vessel performed commendably during the conflict, and in 1805 a peace treaty with Tripoli was signed on the Constitution‘s deck.

When war broke out with Britain in June 1812, the Constitution was commanded by Isaac Hull, who served as lieutenant on the ship during the Tripolitan War. Scarcely a month later, on July 16, the Constitution encountered a squadron of five British ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Finding itself surrounded, the Constitution was preparing to escape when suddenly the wind died. With both sides dead in the water and just out of gunnery range, a legendary slow-speed chase ensued. For 36 hours, the Constitution‘s crew kept their ship just ahead of the British by towing the frigate with rowboats and by tossing the ship’s anchor ahead of the ship and then reeling it in. At dawn on July 18, a breeze sprang, and the Constitution was far enough ahead of its pursuers to escape by sail.

*One month later, on August 19, the Constitution caught the British warship Guerrière alone about 600 miles east of Boston. After considerable maneuvering, the Constitution delivered its first broadside, and for 20 minutes the American and British vessels bombarded each other in close and violent action. After one cannonball bounced "harmlessly" off the side of Constitution, a crew member is said to have yelled "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!" The British man-of-war was de-masted and rendered a wreck while the Constitution escaped with only minimal damage. The unexpected victory of Old Ironsides against a British frigate helped unite America behind the war effort and made Commander Hull a national hero. The Constitution went on to defeat or capture seven more British ships in the War of 1812 and ran the British blockade of Boston twice.*

After the war, Old Ironsides served as the flagship of the navy’s Mediterranean squadron and in 1828 was laid up in Boston. Two years later, the navy considered scrapping the Constitution, which had become unseaworthy, leading to an outcry of public support for preserving the famous warship. The navy refurbished the Constitution, and it went on to serve as the flagship of the Mediterranean, Pacific, and Home squadrons. In 1844, the frigate left New York City on a global journey that included visits to numerous international ports as a goodwill agent of the United States. In the early 1850s, it served as flagship of the African Squadron and patrolled the West African coast looking for slave traders.

In 1855, the Constitution retired from active military service, but the famous vessel continued to serve the United States, first as a training ship and later as a touring national landmark.

She was restored in the 1920s through the donations and efforts of the Elks Lodge, Hollywood, private citizens, merchandise, and $148,000 came from the pennies of school children who wanted to save “Old Ironsides”.

At first, she was a museum ship, but she eventually returned to active duty. She has since sailed through the Panama Canal, served as a brig for those awaiting court martial, and participated in the United States Bicentennial.

She is currently located at Dry Dock 1 in the Boston Harbor and is manned by six officers and 46 enlisted active duty Navy personnel. It is a special honor to be assigned to the USS Constitution and the crewmen treasure the opportunity. Some of them say the ship talks to them and one former commander says “she’s alive.”_ 

She is the oldest commissioned warship afloat, HMS Victory (a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy and flagship of the First Sea Lord) is older but has not sailed in over 100 years and is in permanent dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Yard, England, bb 






USS Constitution in the War of 1812


Additional history resources are listed here.




www.history.navy.mil


----------



## Singlemalt (Aug 19, 2021)

RIP Joe Galloway


https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/joseph-galloway-dead/2021/08/18/9c5f647a-feac-11eb-a664-4f6de3e17ff0_story.html



In November 1965, journalist Joseph L. Galloway hitched a ride on an Army helicopter flying to the Ia Drang Valley, a rugged landscape of red dirt, brown elephant grass and truck-size termite mounds in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Stepping off the chopper, he arrived at a battlefield that one Army pilot later called “hell on Earth, for a short period of time.”

Mr. Galloway, a 24-year-old reporter for United Press International, went on to witness and participate in the first major battle of the Vietnam War, in which an outmanned American battalion fought off three North Vietnamese army regiments while taking heavy casualties. He carried an M16 rifle alongside his notebook and cameras, and in the heat of battle, he charged into the fray to pull an Army private out of the flames of a napalm blast.
“At that time and that place, he was a soldier,” Maj. Gen. Joseph K. Kellogg said more than three decades later, when the Army awarded Mr. Galloway the Bronze Star Medal for his efforts to save the private. “He was a soldier in spirit, he was a soldier in actions and he was a soldier in deeds.”


----------



## BarnBuster (Aug 20, 2021)

Trying—and Failing—to Save the Family of the Afghan Who Saved Me


Twelve years ago, Tahir Luddin helped us both escape after we were kidnapped by the Taliban. Now I am struggling to get his family out of Kabul.




www.newyorker.com


----------



## doublejj (Aug 20, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> View attachment 4968500 View attachment 4968501​
> _During the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeats the British frigate Guerrière in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off the Constitution‘s sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood. By the war’s end, “Old Ironsides” destroyed or captured seven more British ships. The success of the USS Constitution against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic.
> 
> ...


I just watched "Master & Commander" again the other day. The French ship in the movie was based on the Constitution....


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## BarnBuster (Aug 21, 2021)

doublejj said:


> I just watched "Master & Commander" again the other day...


I did too! If you like that genre of movie, any of the UK produced ones about Horatio Hornblower are pretty good (Based on the C.S. Forester novels). They may not be available to stream but our library had them on DVD's with interesting Special Features included. There were 8 films altogether. Bernard Cornwell was inspired by them to write the Richard Sharpe series (also some films I believe) about the Napoleonic Wars on land. Roddenberry was also influenced by the Hornblower character when he created characters Kirk and Picard for Star Trek.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 23, 2021)

​


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## BarnBuster (Aug 24, 2021)

​


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## BarnBuster (Aug 24, 2021)

Dover Air Force Base, Delaware​


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## BarnBuster (Aug 26, 2021)

US troop death toll now at 13, with 18 wounded, in HKIA attack: CENTCOM


Pentagon spokesman confirmed the event on Thursday via tweet.




www.militarytimes.com


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## cannabineer (Aug 26, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I did too! If you like that genre of movie, any of the UK produced ones about Horatio Hornblower are pretty good (Based on the C.S. Forester novels). They may not be available to stream but our library had them on DVD's with interesting Special Features included. There were 8 films altogether. Bernard Cornwell was inspired by them to write the Richard Sharpe series (also some films I believe) about the Napoleonic Wars on land. Roddenberry was also influenced by the Hornblower character when he created characters Kirk and Picard for Star Trek.


That series induced me to read the books.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 26, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> That series induced me to read the books.


Also the ones by Dewey Lambdin. I had to get books on naval nomenclature of the era to understand what was said.


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## cannabineer (Aug 26, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Also the ones by Dewey Lambdin. I had to get books on naval nomenclature of the era to understand what was said.


I’ll check the branch library in West Buttscratch.


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## MisterKister (Aug 26, 2021)

Here's some of my pics of operation red wings.


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## wascaptain (Aug 28, 2021)

hunkered down for ida. 

me and my dog,

wife bugged out to dallas.

being i have 10 mature pine and oak trees in striking distance of my house, 

gunna be donning my kevlar and vest, get in the cab of my truck , park it in my garage and toke it out.


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## DarkWeb (Aug 28, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> hunkered down for ida.
> 
> me and my dog,
> 
> ...


How about your head? Good luck and stay safe bud.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 28, 2021)

We begged my MIL to allow us to come get her & come north to get through this.
I think a bit of dementia has kicked in and she flatly refused to go anywhere.

And she's in the Bullseye!

I've been through hurricanes & helped clean up in the aftermath of them.
I'm worried for her.


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## DarkWeb (Aug 28, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> We begged my MIL to allow us to come get her & come north to get through this.
> I think a bit of dementia has kicked in and she flatly refused to go anywhere.
> 
> And she's in the Bullseye!
> ...


Hope all will be well bud. You should be good right?


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 28, 2021)

DarkWeb said:


> Hope all will be well bud. You should be good right?


Yeah, we're fine - too far north to worry about anything more than lots of rain & some wind (knocks on wood). MIL not so much.
Time for me to start assembling rescue supplies & ammo.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 28, 2021)

*Eleven Marines, one sailor and one soldier were among the dead in a suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport Thursday, which also claimed the lives of more than 160 Afghans. Top row, from left: Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola and Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui. Center row, from left: Seaman Maxton W. Soviak, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo and Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss. Bottom row, from left: Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz and Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover. (Facebook, U.S. Marine Corps, Twitter, Instagram)








‘He was just a kid’: Families, communities begin paying tribute to troops killed in Kabul


As military personnel were going through the grim task of notifying the troops’ next of kin, some of their names emerged Friday before the government formally announced them.




www.stripes.com




*​


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## curious2garden (Aug 28, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> hunkered down for ida.
> 
> me and my dog,
> 
> ...


Wear a helmet if you got one and wear your seatbelt in the truck. I'd be drinking. Then again I'm an earthquake kinda girl. Stay as safe as you can and let us know you're ok as soon as you can. You'll be in my thoughts.


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## smokinrav (Aug 28, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 4974824
> 
> *Eleven Marines, one sailor and one soldier were among the dead in a suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport Thursday, which also claimed the lives of more than 160 Afghans. Top row, from left: Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola and Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui. Center row, from left: Seaman Maxton W. Soviak, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo and Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss. Bottom row, from left: Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz and Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover. (Facebook, U.S. Marine Corps, Twitter, Instagram)
> 
> ...


13 beers









13 beers, an empty table: A quiet but powerful way restaurants honor those killed in Kabul


Restaurants and businesses across the country are choosing to reserve a table and 13 beers to honor the service members who died during Thursday's bombing near Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport. Ironwood Cafe in Ohio said the news hit close to home – Maxton "Max" Soviak is a native of...




news.google.com


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## doublejj (Aug 29, 2021)

Today at the Atlanta Braves baseball game....1 section for the 13 dead americans


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## wascaptain (Aug 29, 2021)

no problems here, 
didnt even get high winds or rain.

hats off to those in the fight.


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## curious2garden (Aug 29, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> no problems here,
> didnt even get high winds or rain.
> 
> hats off to those in the fight.


You're are all I thought about the last 24 hours! I am so glad you're ok


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 30, 2021)

MIL had the eye pass directly over our niece's house where she holed up with them (about 30 miles from the coast). No reports of injuries but the house shifted on it's foundation.

Oh well, things you can always repair, you can't fix dead.


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## raratt (Aug 30, 2021)




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## MisterKister (Aug 30, 2021)

raratt said:


>


That was my nickname in the army Hurricane because of my love of destruction and my efforts to create it..lol


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## raratt (Aug 31, 2021)

This is being used over the Caldor fire, I would assume for IR mapping of the incident.








Obscure National Guard Spy Plane Assesses Hurricane Harvey's Aftermath


The RC-26B Condor's main job is hunting drug smugglers, but the planes routinely help out after natural disasters.




www.thedrive.com


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## Davo68 (Aug 31, 2021)

6ohMax said:


> Well if you were near any kinds of burnpits then you are subject for some type of comp.


The heroin users were forced to burn the shit from latrines in ‘nam but don’t think there’s any compensation for those burn pits??


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## wascaptain (Sep 2, 2021)

All quite on southern fromt


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## BarnBuster (Sep 2, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​*On Sunday, September 2, 1945 more than 250 Allied warships lay at anchor in Tokyo Bay. Representatives from the Japanese government and Allied forces assembled aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay to sign the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, which effectively ended World War II*_. The flags of the United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and China fluttered above the deck of the Missouri. The Missouri flew from its foremast the flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. 

The nine members of the Japanese delegation, led by the foreign minister, Shigemitsu Mamoru, were brought to the Missouri from Yokohama in a U.S. destroyer. They stood facing the Allied commanders with two copies of the surrender document on a small table before them. As he opened the ceremony, MacArthur was accompanied by Nimitz and Halsey, and at his side were Lieut. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright and Lieut. Gen. Sir Arthur E. Percival, both of whom had recently (end of August 1945) been rescued from Japanese prison camps. After a few preliminary remarks, MacArthur invited the Japanese representatives to sign the instrument of surrender, which included the clear statement: “We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under Japanese control wherever situated.” Shigemitsu signed first, on behalf of the emperor and the Japanese government, followed by Gen. Umezu Yoshijiro, on behalf of the Imperial General Headquarters (his aides wept as he made his signature). 

Supreme Commander MacArthur next signed, declaring, “It is my earnest hope and indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion a better world shall emerge out of the blood and carnage of the past.” Nine more signatures were made, by the United States, China, Britain, the USSR, Australia, Canada, France, the Netherlands and New Zealand, respectively. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz signed for the United States.. After a 30-minute ceremony, hundreds of Allied warplanes from nearby carriers and land bases flew over Tokyo and additional ground troops were landed from the ships in Tokyo Bay. As the ceremony ended, the sun burst through low-hanging clouds. The most devastating war in human history was over._









Surrender of Japan - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org






https://catalog.archives.gov/id/1752336


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## curious2garden (Sep 2, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> All quite on southern fromt


Do you have power? Did your wife make it back home?


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## wascaptain (Sep 2, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> Do you have power? Did your wife make it back home?


We never lost power, my wife made it home safe and sound.

I whored my self out for security work in new oreleans.
All is well!


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## raratt (Sep 2, 2021)

Over 20 mins long, but interesting. Ca 1957.


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## curious2garden (Sep 2, 2021)

raratt said:


> Over 20 mins long, but interesting. Ca 1957.


Oh my that music


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## BarnBuster (Sep 3, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_*September 3, 1777 *– *The American flag is flown in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Maryland. *Patriot General William Maxwell ordered the stars and strips banner raised as a detachment of his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops.

The rebels were defeated and forced to retreat to General George Washington’s main force near Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania. Three months before, on June 14, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes.

According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend. With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union.

In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states. On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. As instructed by Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance._


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## curious2garden (Sep 4, 2021)

‘It looked apocalyptic’: Airmen describe Afghan departure


Lined up on the runway at the Kabul airport Monday night were the five last C-17s to leave the country after a chaotic and deadly airlift evacuation that marked the end of America’s involvement in the Afghanistan war.




www.airforcetimes.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 4, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> ‘It looked apocalyptic’: Airmen describe Afghan departure
> 
> 
> Lined up on the runway at the Kabul airport Monday night were the five last C-17s to leave the country after a chaotic and deadly airlift evacuation that marked the end of America’s involvement in the Afghanistan war.
> ...


IMHO we need to keep the drones in the air & use the intel we have available to serve notice on these isis fuckers.
They have no regard for innocents so we should deal the same with the not so innocents.
It'll make them keep their heads down at the very least.


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## MisterKister (Sep 4, 2021)

curious2garden said:


> ‘It looked apocalyptic’: Airmen describe Afghan departure
> 
> 
> Lined up on the runway at the Kabul airport Monday night were the five last C-17s to leave the country after a chaotic and deadly airlift evacuation that marked the end of America’s involvement in the Afghanistan war.
> ...


My old unit was the last ones in Afghanistan 2-504th parachute infantry regiment


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## MisterKister (Sep 4, 2021)

MG Donahue was a colonel when I was under his leadership and he was supposedly the last man to step on the bird going home


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## MisterKister (Sep 4, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> IMHO we need to keep the drones in the air & use the intel we have available to serve notice on these isis fuckers.
> They have no regard for innocents so we should deal the same with the not so innocents.
> It'll make them keep their heads down at the very least.


Problem with that is without people on the ground no intel will be gathered


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## drolove (Sep 4, 2021)

Been gone awhile... No one here looks familiar... lol


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## MisterKister (Sep 4, 2021)

Shit joe... you better get your situational awareness squared away


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## Singlemalt (Sep 4, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> IMHO we need to keep the drones in the air & use the intel we have available to serve notice on these isis fuckers.
> They have no regard for innocents so we should deal the same with the not so innocents.
> It'll make them keep their heads down at the very least.


Problem is though we aren't that friendly with any bordering countries to base them


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## BarnBuster (Sep 5, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
_*September 5, 1969, Lt. William Calley is charged with six specifications of premeditated murder in the death of 109 Vietnamese civilians at My Lai in March 1968.* Calley, a platoon leader in Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, 11th Infantry Brigade (Light) of the 23rd (Americal) Division had led his men in a massacre of Vietnamese civilians, including women and children, at My Lai 4, a cluster of hamlets that made up Son My village in Son Tinh District in Quang Ngai Province in the coastal lowlands of I Corps Tactical Zone on March 16, 1968. The company had been conducting a search and destroy mission as part of the yearlong Operation Wheeler/Wallowa (November 1967 through November 1968

In search of the 48th Viet Cong (VC) Local Force Battalion, the unit entered Son My village but found only women, children, and old men. Frustrated by unanswered losses due to snipers and mines, the soldiers took out their anger on the villagers, indiscriminately shooting people as they ran from their huts and systematically rounding up the survivors, allegedly leading them to nearby ditch where they were executed.

Reportedly, the killing was only stopped when Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, an aero-scout helicopter pilot landed his helicopter between the Americans and the fleeing South Vietnamese, confronting the soldiers and blocking them from further action against the villagers. The incident was subsequently covered up, but eventually came to light a year later.

An Army board of inquiry, headed by Lt. Gen. William Peers, investigated the massacre and produced a list of 30 persons who knew of the atrocity, but only 14, including Calley and his company commander, Captain Ernest Medina, were charged with crimes. All eventually had their charges dismissed or were acquitted by courts-martial except Calley, whose platoon allegedly killed 200 innocents. He was found guilty of personally murdering 22 civilians and sentenced to life imprisonment, but his sentence was reduced to 20 years by the Court of Military Appeals and further reduced later to 10 years by the Secretary of the Army. Proclaimed by much of the public as a “scapegoat,” Calley was paroled by President Richard Nixon in 1974 after having served about a third of his 10-year sentence._



https://ttu-ir.tdl.org/bitstream/handle/2346/23276/31295017969790.pdf?sequence=2




https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/MyLaiReport.pdf




https://tjaglcspublic.army.mil/documents/27431/2439298/2018-Mar-Borch-Lore+of+the+Corps-My+Lai.pdf/c05f4184-3dc1-499a-9fe4-37efaf1f8570?version=1.0


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## BarnBuster (Sep 5, 2021)

_"Officials have yet to disclose what caused the crash, but five sailors on the deck of Abraham Lincoln were also injured in the mishap, two of whom had to be evacuated off the ship. U.S. 3rd Fleet officials said Wednesday that the helicopter was “operating on deck before crashing into the sea.”








Navy identifies 5 sailors who died in helicopter crash


The five died after their MH-60S Knighthawk crashed into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday.




www.navytimes.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 7, 2021)

When I Explain 9/11 to My Kids


It doesn't seem like 20 years ago. I suppose that's how I know I'm getting older. The time has passed so fast.




www.military.com


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## BarnBuster (Sep 8, 2021)

Navy releases more details on what caused last week’s fatal helicopter crash


Five sailors died in Tuesday's mishap.




www.navytimes.com


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## wascaptain (Sep 8, 2021)

got back from that stink hole, i could of contracted out for another week, but i called it.

once electric got back on, turned out to be a ez post. 

i really had no problems, the boys on rover teams had to deal with looters and the homeless.

i was in the rear with the gear.... kicking back, chowing on mre"s living in the luxury hotel i was guarding.


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## raratt (Sep 8, 2021)

RIP brothers.








Navy helicopter rotor hit flight deck in incident that killed five sailors


The Navy helicopter crash that killed five sailors began when the main rotor hit the flight deck.




www.yahoo.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 8, 2021)

raratt said:


> RIP brothers.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I always hated U/W Helo ops (and our ships were MUCH smaller.
Especially night time.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 9, 2021)

​
_"Tuesday would have been the 106th birthday of the former Air Force pilot Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole, who died April 9, 2019.
He was celebrated during the final years of his life as the last surviving member of the legendary Doolittle Raid of World War II in which 80 crew members manning 16 aircraft bombed Japanese cities, including Tokyo.
To honor him and his service, Gen. Charles Q. Brown, the Air Force chief of staff, posthumously promoted Cole to the rank of colonel in a ceremony held at Joint Base San Antonio in Texas Sept 7."









Military Daily News


Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.




www.military.com





Doolittle’s Raiders The Giant Begins to Stir
Mission Accomplished_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2021)

​


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## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2021)

US flag, sewn at POW camp, settles at Smithsonian


An American flag, assembled secretively and at risk in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, was fashioned out of pieces of red blanket, white bedsheets and blue denim dungarees. It is on its way to the Smithsonian.




www.stripes.com


----------



## raratt (Sep 11, 2021)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 14, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
*On September 14, 1944, the U.S. 1st Marine Division lands on the island of Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands in the Pacific, as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was preparing to invade the Philippines. The cost in American lives would prove historic.*
_
The Palaus, part of the Caroline Islands, were among the mandated islands taken from Germany and given to Japan as one of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles at the close of World War I. The U.S. military lacked familiarity with the islands, and Adm. William Halsey argued against Operation Stalemate, which included the Army invasion of Morotai in the Dutch East Indies, believing that MacArthur would meet minimal resistance in the Philippines, therefore making this operation unnecessary, especially given the risks involved.

Peleliu was subject to pre-invasion bombardment, but it proved of little consequence. The Japanese defenders of the island were buried too deep in the jungle, and the target intelligence given the Americans was faulty. Upon landing, the Marines met little immediate resistance—but that was a ploy. Shortly thereafter, Japanese machine guns opened fire, knocking out more than two dozen landing craft. Japanese tanks and troops followed, as the startled 1st and 5th Marine regiments fought for their lives. Jungle caves disgorged even more Japanese soldiers. Within one week of the invasion, the Marines lost 4,000 men. By the time it was all over, that number would surpass 9,000. The Japanese lost more than 13,000 men. Flamethrowers and bombs finally subdued the island for the Americans—but it all proved pointless. MacArthur invaded the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection from either Peleliu or Morotai.
_
_Whether or not the islands should have been taken is a matter that is still hotly contested by veterans and historians alike. Whatever the arguments, it must be remembered that:_​​_General Douglas MacArthur's flank was secured for his return to the Philippines and the danger posed by airstrikes or troop reinforcements from the Palau Islands were removed._​​_Several thousand of the best Japanese troops had been eliminated and the remaining troops in the Western Carolines could be effectively contained with air and naval power from the bases on Peleliu and Angaur._​​_This operation served as an early indicator to the change in Japanese tactics that would be seen in other operations to come (such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa) and of what to expect in the planned invasion of the Japanese homeland (Operation Downfall)._​​_General Clifton B Cates, who after World War Two became Commandant of the US Marine Corps, suggested that Peleliu was one of the most vicious, stubbornly contested and least understood battles of the war - a significant appraisal coming from a veteran (wounded six times) of the battles for Belleau Wood and Soissons during the First World War and of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima in the Second._​​_Major General Roy Geiger called Peleliu 'the toughest fight of the war". Harry Gailey exclaims, "in terms of heroism, every man who fought at Peleliu deserved the highest awards his country can bestow." Eugene Sledge wrote that it was a "nether world of horror from which escape seemed less and less likely as casualties mounted and the fighting dragged on and on. Time had no meaning; life had no meaning. The fierce struggle made savages of us all." Leon Uris states "the Marine battle for Peleliu was one of the most savage of the Second World War." Tom Bartlett (Managing Editor, Leatherneck) said "Peleliu . . . shows perhaps more than any other World War II invasion, the true mettle of the Marines and their devotion to each other, their units, and the Corps."_​





Peleliu, battle for (Operation Stalemate II) - The Pacific War's Forgotten Battle, September-November 1944


Operation Stalemate, the battle for Peleliu, one of the US Marine Corps' hardest battles of the Pacific War



www.historyofwar.org






https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA429028.pdf




https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Hough_The%20Assault%20on%20Peleliu.pdf


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 17, 2021)

Today in Military History:






*Beginning early on the morning of September 17 in 1862, Confederate and Union troops in the Civil War clash near Maryland's Antietam Creek in the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. *_The Battle of Antietam marked the culmination of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the Northern states. Guiding his Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River in early September 1862, the great general daringly divided his men, sending half of them under the command of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson to capture the Union garrison at Harper's Ferry.

President Abraham Lincoln put Major General George B. McClellan in charge of the Union troops responsible for defending Washington, D.C., against Lee's invasion. McClellan's Army of the Potomac clashed first with Lee's men on 14 September, with the Confederates forced to retreat after being blocked at the passes of South Mountain. Though Lee considered turning back toward Virginia, news of Jackson's capture of Harper's Ferry reached him on 15 September.

That victory convinced him to stay and make a stand near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Over the course of 15 and 16 September, the Confederate and Union armies gathered on opposite sides of Antietam Creek. On the Confederate side, Jackson commanded the left flank with General James Longstreet at the head of the centre and right. McClellan's strategy was to attack the enemy left, then the right, and finally, when either of those movements met with success, to move forward down the centre.

When fighting began in the foggy dawn hours of 17 September, this strategy broke down into a series of uncoordinated advances by Union soldiers under the command of Generals Joseph Hooker, Joseph Mansfield and Edwin Sumner.

Cannon fire opened the battle with puffs of white smoke rising from the tree line. As 500 artillery pieces firing over 50,000 rounds of ammunition thundered and raked their shot and shell across the rolling terrain and into the battle lines downing men of both sides, sounds of musketry too would crackle as disciplined soldiers stood in rank and file formations only to vanish as though a large and ominous sickle had just swept them from the field. The numerous ridges made excellent locations for cannon. The infantry of both sides made easy targets as they marched across low-lying, open fields nearby_

_[The single-shot, muzzle-loading musket dictated that infantry fight in closely formed, standing lines of battle to achieve effective concentration of fire. In spite of the revolution caused by the adoption of the rifle-musket, which increased the effective range of a regiment from seventy-five yards to well over 250 yards, the battles of 1861 and early 1862 were largely fought with the smoothbore muskets of earlier periods, and officers were trained to handle their men accordingly. Volley fire (necessitated by the inherent inaccuracy of the smoothbore musket) demanded strict attention to proper alignment of all segments of a military unit, lest a portion of the unit's fire fall harmlessly short. The combination of new rifles that could be shot with great accuracy from far away and old-fashioned battle lines led to unprecedented deaths in the Battle of Antietam (and in the Civil War in general). As in other Civil War battles, both sides in Antietam arranged their infantry shoulder-to-shoulder in two long parallel lines before marching into battle. This type of linear formation made sense in earlier years, when military weaponry consisted mostly of smoothbore muskets (which were accurate only at short range) and bayonets (which, likewise, could only be used at close range). But by the beginning of the Civil War, rifling—the use of helical grooves in the barrel of a weapon, which stabilize a bullet, leading to greater shooting accuracy—was widespread. Now soldiers could make an aimed shot from 100 yards away and shoot into an enemy line with hope of hitting someone from 400 yards away. Armed with rifled muskets, a defensive line could do serious damage when attackers attempted to charge.]_​
_Posted on the ridgelines, the cannoneers devastated the soldiers in the swales below them. The landscape and the heavy reliance on artillery by both sides made Antietam one of the most significant artillery battles in the Civil War. Cannonading during the battle had never been seen afore on the continent.

As savage and bloody combat continued for eight hours across the region, the Confederates were pushed back but not beaten, despite sustaining some 15,000 casualties. At the same time, Union General Ambrose Burnside opened an attack on the Confederate right, capturing the bridge that now bears his name around 1 p.m.

In a square of ground, centered on the cornfield, measuring about 1,000 yards on a side, nearly 12,000 men from both sides lay dead or wounded. The slaughter had taken four hours at most before it came to a sullen, exhausted halt. In all directions lay hundreds of dead horses, some of which had been partly burned, but the task of thus destroying them was evidently too great for the force detailed for that purpose and they had been left to the elements and the buzzards. Every house, barn and church was turned into a hospital. Dead men and horses lay unburied for days in the brutal September heat. Flies and maggots covered the living and dead in undulating masses, adding to the unsanitary conditions. The stench was unimaginable.

As night fell, thousands of bodies littered the sprawling Antietam battlefield and both sides regrouped and claimed their dead and wounded. Just twelve hours of intense and often close-range fighting with muskets and cannons had resulted in around 23,000 casualties, including an estimated 3,650 dead.

Civil War soldiers had a 7 to 1 chance of surviving a battle wound. Two-thirds of all the 364,000 soldiers in the Union army died of disease. Only one-third died from actual wounds sustained during the war. About 80 percent of the wounds soldiers received during the Civil War were in the soldier’s arms, hands, legs and feet. Amputations had an approximately twenty-seven percent fatality rate.

Burnside's break to reorganise his men allowed Confederate reinforcements to arrive, turning back the Union advance there as well. By the time the sun went down, both armies still held their ground, despite staggering combined casualties. McClellan's centre never moved forward, leaving a large number of Union troops that did not participate in the battle.

On the morning of 18 September, both sides gathered their wounded and buried their dead. That night, Lee turned his forces back to Virginia. The battle also gave President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which, on January 1, 1863, declared all slaves in the Confederate states free.

*Twenty Union soldiers received Medals Of Honor for their gallantry on the Battle of Antietam. Eight of the twenty men were awarded the Medal for either capturing or saving flags.*_

(The criteria for issuance of the MOH during the Civil War were different than later years and Congress set down guidelines in 1918 to clear away any inconsistencies of the legislation which had grown around the Medal and to finalize rules for its award. 911 MOH’s were invalidated of the 2,625 that were issued during the US Civil War. Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors (Flag) and advancing. None of these Medals were invalidated as the Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. see below, bb)​
_During the American Civil War, as in earlier conflicts, the flags of a combat unit (its "colors") held a special significance. They had a spiritual value; they embodied the very "soul" of the unit. Protecting a unit's flag from capture was paramount; losing one to the enemy was considered disgraceful . There were practical reasons for the flags as well, as the regimental flags marked the position of the unit during battle. The smoke and confusion of battle often scattered participants across the field. The flag served as a visual rallying point for soldiers and also marked the area where to attack the enemy. Carrying the colors for the regiment was the greatest honor for a soldier. Generally the flag bearers were selected or elected to their position by the men and officers of the unit. As one Union Colonel told his men, “the colors bear the same relation to the soldier as honesty and integrity do to manhood. It is the guiding star to victory. When in the smoke and din of battle the voice of the officer is drown by the roar of artillery, the true soldier turns his eye to the colors that he may not stray too far from it, and while it floats is conscious of his right and strength. Take it… guard it as you would the honor of the mother, wife or friend you left behind.”









Battle Of Antietam


Facts About The Battle Of Antietam (a.k.a. Battle Of Sharpsburg) during the American Civil War Battle Of Antietam Summary: The Battle of Antietam, a.k.a.




www.historynet.com









Battle of Antietam Civil War Antietam Battle Casualties Army


Battle of Antietam Sharpsburg Maryland, Antietam Killed Wounded Deaths Casualties Battle of Antietam Fatalities Casualty Order Battlefield American Civil War Timeline Map Union Confederate Army Cannon



thomaslegioncherokee.tripod.com






StackPath


_


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 17, 2021)

​_
*"National POW/MIA Recognition Day — which this year falls on Sept. 17 — was established in 1979 through a proclamation signed by President Jimmy Carter. *

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, there are about 81,600 Americans missing — from the battlefields of World War II to recent conflicts. About 75% of those are in the Indo-Pacific region. About 41,000 of the 81,600 missing are presumed lost at sea.

As for POWs, the Congressional Research Service reports:
There are 130,201 World War II POWs; of those, 14,072 died.
There are —7,140 Korean War POWs; of those, 2,701 died.
There are —725 Vietnam War POWs; of those, 64 died.
There have been 37 POWs since the Vietnam War; no one is still in captivity.

The POW/MIA flag was created for the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Southeast Asia. That's why the flag has the alternate longer name, as well. That nonprofit organization, which has been recognized by Congress, was created to account for those who are still prisoners or missing in Southeast Asia.

The flag itself was created by Newton F. Heisley in 1972. Heisley served in the Army Air Corps as a pilot during World War II; after the war, he became a graphic artist. The silhouette of a man, head bowed, with a guard tower in the background is actually Heisley's son Jeffrey, a 24-year-old Marine. The artist died in 2009 at age 88."_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 17, 2021)

DOD Identifies Most Remains of Those Killed on USS Oklahoma


The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency has identified most of those killed on the USS Oklahoma when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941.



www.defense.gov


----------



## smokinrav (Sep 18, 2021)

Wow!









General Milley cannot undermine civilian authority. The US is not a military junta | Lt Col Daniel L Davis (ret)


A new book claims the US’s top military officer secretly told the Chinese military he would warn if Trump ordered an attack. His reasons don’t matter – he must be relieved of command




www.theguardian.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 18, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
*"On September 17, 1944, the Allies launched Operation Market Garden, a bold and dangerous operation they had hoped would catapult their armies across the Rhine, into the heart of Germany, and end World War II in the European theater before Christmas. It would fail.*
_
Operation Market Garden was a flawed plan from the very beginning. Allied planners ignored crucial intelligence indicating that the Germans were much stronger than previously believed and that German SS armored units had been placed in key locations. They also were relying on a single two-lane highway, aptly nicknamed “Hell’s Highway” to advance to the Rhine while resupplying their troops. This would allow German forces to cut the road in numerous places.

One could easily make the argument that Operation Market Garden was the Western Allies’ biggest blunder of the war. Although the Allied supply chain was stretched to its breaking point from the Normandy beaches, the broad front strategy had the German army reeling. It is possible that the German army would have collapsed had the Allies kept up the pressure much longer.

However, even though the attack failed, the Allies had made bridgeheads across the Waal and the Maas Rivers. Although their advance into Germany would be delayed for several months, they were now poised for the inevitable attack into the industrial heartland of the Reich. But this attack wouldn’t come in the fall of 1944 but in the spring of 1945.

While it only prolonged the inevitable, the failure of Market Garden bought the Germans valuable time to strengthen their defenses and thus exact a heavier toll in the engagements in Germany proper."

Airborne forces losses:_

_British 1st Airborne: 1,446 Dead (including 229 glider pilots), 6,414 Wounded or POWs_
_Polish Independent Brigade: 97 Dead, 111 Wounded or POWs_
_U.S. 82nd Airborne: 215 Dead, 790 Wounded, and 427 Missing_
_U.S. 101st Airborne: 315 Dead (including 12 glider pilots), 1,248 Wounded, and 547 Missing (of which 122 U.S. glider pilots)_
_








A Bridge Too Far: Operation Market Garden Begins on September 17, 1944 | SOFREP


Operation Market Garden was a spectacular, yet flawed, "airborne carpet” of troops that tried to create a salient in the German front.




sofrep.com






https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/30056/ww2_market_garden.pdf


_


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## doublejj (Sep 18, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Wow!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


"The Guardian"....lol


----------



## smokinrav (Sep 18, 2021)

Actually Lt. Colonel Davis (ret.)


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 19, 2021)

​








Lost grave markers surface from a distant World War II battlefield


Last month, the National Museum of the Marine Corps officially acquired crosses and other grave artifacts from a nonprofit archaeological firm that has been excavating on Tarawa for more than a decade.




www.stripes.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2021)

​
_*On Thursday, September 20, 1945, Wernher von Braun arrived at Fort Strong. The small military site on the northern tip of Boston Harbour’s Long Island was the processing point for Project Paperclip, the government programme under which hundreds of German scientists were brought into America*. 

Von Braun filled out his paperwork that day as the inventor of the Nazi V-2 rocket, a member of the Nazi party, and a member of the SS who could be linked to the deaths of thousands of concentration camp prisoners. 

Two and a half decades later on Wednesday, July 16, 1969, von Braun stood in the firing room at Kennedy Spaceflight Centre and watched another of his rockets, the Saturn V, take the Apollo 11 crew to the Moon.











Project Paperclip - Air & Space Forces Magazine


It was an all-out race to seize the best German scientists and technologies. America won.




www.airforcemag.com












Wernher von Braun: History’s most controversial figure?


Pivotal to the history of spaceflight, von Braun’s Nazi past makes him incredibly difficult to talk about.




www.aljazeera.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2021)

Discharged LGBTQ veterans now eligible for benefits under new guidance issued by VA


LGBTQ veterans who were kicked out of the military under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy of the 1990s and 2000s will now be eligible for government benefits, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday.




www.stripes.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 20, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Discharged LGBTQ veterans now eligible for benefits under new guidance issued by VA
> 
> 
> LGBTQ veterans who were kicked out of the military under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy of the 1990s and 2000s will now be eligible for government benefits, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced Monday.
> ...


Good luck trying to jump through the VA hoops after 20-30 years.
This is window dressing, very few will be able to get the VA to recognize disability - hell, it's hard enough with a reasonably recent discharge and your med record in hand.


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## curious2garden (Sep 20, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Good luck trying to jump through the VA hoops after 20-30 years.
> This is window dressing, very few will be able to get the VA to recognize disability - hell, it's hard enough with a reasonably recent discharge and your med record in hand.


Especially when all mental health clinic records are destroyed after 5 years.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 23, 2021)

Today in Military History: 

​
_During the American Revolution, the U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, off the eastern coast of England.

Scottish-born John Paul Jones first sailed to America as a cabin boy and lived for a time in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his brother had a business. He later served on slave and merchant ships and proved an able seaman. After he killed a fellow sailor while suppressing a mutiny, he returned to the American colonies to escape possible British prosecution. With the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, he traveled to Philadelphia and was commissioned a senior lieutenant in the new Continental Navy. He soon distinguished himself in actions against British ships in the Bahamas, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel.

In August 1779, Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard and sailed around the British Isles. *On September 23, 1779, the Bonhomme Richard engaged the Serapis and the smaller Countess of Scarborough, which were escorting the Baltic merchant fleet. After inflicting considerable damage to the Bonhomme Richard, Richard Pearson, the captain of the Serapis, asked Jones if he had struck his colors, the naval signal indicating surrender. From his disabled ship, Jones replied, “Sir, I have not yet begun to fight,” and after three more hours of furious fighting it was the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough that surrendered.* After the victory, the Americans transferred to the Serapis from the Bonhomme Richard, which sank the following day.

Though Bonhomme Richard sank after the battle, the battle's outcome was one of the factors that convinced the French crown to back the colonies in their fight to become independent of British authority. Bonhomme Richard's final resting location was the subject of much speculation. A number of unsuccessful efforts had been conducted to locate the wreck. The location was presumed to be in approximately 180 feet (55 m) of water off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, a headland near where her final battle took place. The quantity of other wrecks in the area and a century of fishing trawler operations had complicated all searches. In 2018 remains, possibly those of the Bonhomme Richard, were found in shallow water very close to the coast of Filey, North Yorkshire, England, by the Land and Sea search team Merlin Burrows. However, the location of this wreck does not corroborate with multiple eyewitness accounts from observers on land, who noted that on the morning of September 25, 1779, the Bonhomme Richard disappeared out of sight over the horizon.

Jones was hailed as a great hero in France, but recognition in the United States was somewhat belated. He continued to serve the United States until 1787 and then served briefly in the Russian navy before moving to France, where he died in 1792 amidst the chaos of the French Revolution. He was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1905, his remains were located under the direction of the U.S. ambassador to France and then escorted back to the United States by U.S. warships. His body was later enshrined in a crypt at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland._ 





__





SO482A--Battle of Flamborough Head






www.usna.edu


----------



## BarnBuster (Sep 26, 2021)

*The Congress, by Senate Joint Resolution 115 of June 23, 1936 (49 Stat. 1895 as amended), has designated the last Sunday in September as “Gold Star Mother’s Day.”*​









A Proclamation on Gold Star Mother's and Family’s Day, 2021 | The White House


Throughout our history, America's men and women in uniform have dedicated their lives and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom and the




www.whitehouse.gov


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## BarnBuster (Oct 1, 2021)

*Horse Cavalry Detachment of the 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas








History of the 1st Cavalry Division Horse Detachment | 1st Cavalry Division Association


The present day Horse Cavalry Detachment of the 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, was formed under the direction of MG James C. Smith (Commander May 1971 to September 1973) of the 1st Cavalry Division – a general noted both for his ability to build morale among his troops and a...




1cda.org




*​


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 1, 2021)

Rolls-Royce selected to supply new engines for the B-52


The 70-year-old B-52 Stratofortress bomber is finally set to get new engines decades after the US became interested in the idea. The B-52's current




www.warhistoryonline.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 1, 2021)

My Dad would have been very happy to see the old BUFF in service past the century mark.


----------



## raratt (Oct 1, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Rolls-Royce selected to supply new engines for the B-52
> 
> 
> The 70-year-old B-52 Stratofortress bomber is finally set to get new engines decades after the US became interested in the idea. The B-52's current
> ...


I'm curious to see if they stay with 8 engines.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 1, 2021)

raratt said:


> I'm curious to see if they stay with 8 engines.


The contract specs are for 608 engines for the 76 airframes in inv. plus spares; 608/76=8.

_"The Air Force has also considered replacing the B-52’s eight engines with four large turbofans, as is typical on commercial airliners. Engineering challenges made that approach nonviable. Potential interference with flaps and control surfaces, ground clearance issues, yaw effects, the need for extensive new flight testing and weapon separation evaluations, the need to replace large sections of the cockpit and throttles, and to redesign the rudder ruled out such a change. USAF has opted to stick with eight engines of the class that typically powers large business jets."
Air Force Magazine; Re-Engining the B-52 By John A. Tirpak Jan. 21, 2019_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 1, 2021)

raratt said:


> I'm curious to see if they stay with 8 engines.


"The Air Force requested that any new engines must use the B-52’s existing engine pods as a cost-saving measure. "


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## raratt (Oct 1, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> "The Air Force requested that any new engines must use the B-52’s existing engine pods as a cost-saving measure. "


Not awake enough to read yet.


----------



## smokinrav (Oct 1, 2021)

She prayed while caught in a flash flood. Marines arrived to save her.


A minute after she prayed, a group of Marines seemed to appear out of nowhere.




www.cbsnews.com


----------



## Singlemalt (Oct 1, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Rolls-Royce selected to supply new engines for the B-52
> 
> 
> The 70-year-old B-52 Stratofortress bomber is finally set to get new engines decades after the US became interested in the idea. The B-52's current
> ...


RR engines were a great match for the P51


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 1, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> RR engines were a great match for the P51


Yes, yes they were!


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 2, 2021)

_"The 18 Silver Star medals presented in a ceremony 10/1/2021 at Fort Benning, Ga., for those who were serving 28 years ago in the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment were upgrades of Bronze Star medals with combat “V” for valor that the Rangers were presented months after returning from Somalia. The Battle of Mogadishu, in which 18 American soldiers were killed, was later made famous by the best-selling book “Black Hawk Down” and the Hollywood movie of the same name."








‘Black Hawk Down’ Rangers receive Silver Stars 28 years after Mogadishu heroics


During 23 years in the Army — much of it in the elite ranks of the 75th Ranger Regiment — Jeff Struecker saw combat in Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan, but nothing compared to the infamous October 1993 gunfight through the streets of Mogadishu.




www.stripes.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 3, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the war in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 300 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanistan*_. The attack was the bloodiest battle for US forces since the Battle of Wanat in July 2008, which occurred 20 miles (32 km) away from Kamdesh. The attack on COP Keating resulted in 8 Americans killed and 27 wounded while the Taliban suffered an estimated 150 killed.

As a result of the battle, COP Keating was partially overrun and nearly destroyed. Observation Post Fritsche was attacked simultaneously, limiting available support from that position. The Coalition forces withdrew from the base shortly after the battle. A deliberate withdrawal had been planned some time before the battle began, and the closing was part of a wider effort by the top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, to cede remote outposts and consolidate troops in more populated areas to better protect Afghan civilians. The Americans "declared the outpost closed and departed—so quickly that they did not carry out all of their stored ammunition. The outpost's depot was promptly looted by the insurgents and bombed by American planes in an effort to destroy the lethal munitions left behind."

27 soldiers were awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat. 37 soldiers were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device for valor. 3 soldiers were awarded the Bronze Star Medal, and 18 others the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device for valor. Nine soldiers were awarded the Silver Star for valor. Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos' Silver Star was later upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. 1st Lt. Andrew Bundermann's Silver Star was upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross as well.

The flight crews of three United States Army AH-64D Apache helicopters were later decorated for actions during the battle. Captain Matthew Kaplan, CW3 Ross Lewallen, CW3 Randy Huff, CW2 Gary Wingert, CW2 Chad Bardwell, and CW2 Chris Wright were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for conducting close combat attacks on the Taliban during the battle. Capt. Michael Polidor and Capt. Aaron Dove, pilot and weapon systems officer of one of the F-15E aircraft coordinating close air support, were also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

On 11 February 2013, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha, a survivor of the battle. He became the fourth surviving soldier from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to be awarded the Medal of Honor due to courageous actions during the battle.

Staff Sergeant Ty Carter (then Specialist) was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage during the battle. He was awarded the medal on 26 August 2013.

Following the battle, the U.S. Central Command conducted an investigation on what had occurred, led by US Army General Guy Swan. The report, released to the public in June 2011, concluded "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command" facilitated the attack, but praised the troops fighting at the base for repulsing the attack "with conspicuous gallantry, courage and bravery." Four U.S. Army officers—Captain Melvin Porter, Captain Stoney Portis, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Brown, and Colonel Randy George—who oversaw COP Keating were admonished or reprimanded for command failures. _





__





Battle at COP Keating and OP Fritsche






cryptome.org












The Battle of COP Keating - National Medal of Honor Museum


On the morning of October 3, 2009, members of the U.S. Army’s Black Knight Troop (3-61 Cav, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division) were attacked at their base – Combat Outpost Keating – by more than 300 well-armed Taliban soldiers. Located deep within Afghanistan’s remote and...




mohmuseum.org












Camp Keating Officers Disciplined for Attack That Killed 8 U.S. Troops


Commanders of Camp Keating are disciplined for not taking proper measures that led to deaths of eight U.S. soldiers and the wounding of 22 others in a Taliban attack.




abcnews.go.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 3, 2021)

"_The attack on COP Keating resulted in 8 Americans killed and 27 wounded while the Taliban suffered an estimated 150 killed._"


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## smokinrav (Oct 3, 2021)

Check out the movie The Outpost on Netflix. It's the retelling of this battle. It was beautiful and sad.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 5, 2021)

Popcorn, slushies and tunes: US troops, volunteers give Afghan refugees in Germany a taste of America


As Afghan evacuees at Rhine Ordnance Barracks wait to move on, they are being introduced to aspects of American life.




www.stripes.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 6, 2021)

​
_“History was made” at Arlington National Cemetery on September 29, 2021, said Col. Patrick Roddy, commander of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (Old Guard), the Army’s official ceremonial unit and escort to the president, in a post on Twitter. “For the first time in the 84-year vigil, on the 30,770th day of
the continuous guard, an all-woman changing of the guard occurred under the direction of the 38th Sergeant of the Guard, Sgt. 1st Class Chelsea Porterfield.”









Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Has First All-Female Guard Change


The all-woman guard change occurred on the 30,770th day of continuous guarding.




www.warhistoryonline.com




_


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## raratt (Oct 6, 2021)

I don't know what is visiting the base today, can't identify it by sound. Some kind of fighter.


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 8, 2021)




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## raratt (Oct 8, 2021)

raratt said:


> I don't know what is visiting the base today, can't identify it by sound. Some kind of fighter.


One of the Blue Angels was messing around and stopped by. F-18


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## DarkWeb (Oct 8, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> View attachment 5005271


I saved that. Good post


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## BarnBuster (Oct 9, 2021)

Why the US Navy Manages Its Own Private Forest


When you need 200-year-old trees to repair a 200-year-old ship, where do you go? The Navy thought ahead.




www.military.com


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## raratt (Oct 9, 2021)




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## BarnBuster (Oct 12, 2021)

​_*On October 12, 1945, President Harry S. Truman presented Doss with the Medal of Honor in a ceremony on the White House lawn*. Truman shook Doss’s hand and told him, “I’m proud of you. You really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being president.” Doss was the first--and only--conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor during World War II. Of the honor Doss said, “I feel that I received the Congressional Medal of Honor because I kept the Golden Rule that we read in Matthew 7:12. ‘All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’"_


*The Citation*​_“He was a company aidman when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. 

Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying them one by one to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. 

On 2 May, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and two days later he treated four men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within eight yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making four separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. 

On 5 May, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small-arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small-arms fire, and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire.

On 21 May, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aidman from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited five hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. 

The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, this time suffering a compound fracture of one arm. 

With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.”_

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++​
_Most of his post-war years were spent dealing with health issues related to his time in the Pacific. Although disabled and unable to work, Desmond
Doss spent a good deal of his remaining life attending patriotic functions and tirelessly telling his inspiring story. He also donated the $100 per month stipend he received for being a Medal of Honor recipient to his community’s Civil Defense service.

“I don’t consider myself to be a hero,” Desmond Doss said in 1987. “They were my men. I loved them and they loved me. I couldn’t go off and leave them, even if it cost me my life.”









Private First Class Desmond Thomas Doss Medal of Honor | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


On October 12, 1945, US Army medic Desmond Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor.




www.nationalww2museum.org






https://mrpickersgill.weebly.com/uploads/5/2/8/1/52818823/the_medic__miracle_on_hacksaw_r_-_adam_palmer.pdf




http://www.nnhs65.com/BILL-LEE/DESMOND-THOMAS-DOSS.pdf


_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 12, 2021)

Chevy Moves 95-Year-Old World War II Vet To Front Of Corvette Waitlist


World War II veteran Bobbie Carson was sent to the front of the waiting list for the 2022 Corvette. The 95-year-old received his car at the Corvette Museum.




www.motor1.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2021)

5 US Navy sailors' remains recovered from 5,300 feet below ocean killed in August helicopter crash


On Friday, U.S. Navy recovered the bodies of five helicopter aircrew members killed after their MH-60S Seahawk crashed into the ocean off the coast of




americanmilitarynews.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 14, 2021)

Project Oxcart: Why you had to be married to fly the CIA's fastest plane


The SR-71 Blackbird remains the fastest operational military aircraft in history to this day, despite leaving service more than two decades ago, but its




www.sandboxx.us


----------



## raratt (Oct 14, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Project Oxcart: Why you had to be married to fly the CIA's fastest plane
> 
> 
> The SR-71 Blackbird remains the fastest operational military aircraft in history to this day, despite leaving service more than two decades ago, but its
> ...


They had to machine out the ribs in the engine bay because they didn't know hot to cast them, from what I was told. They were about 4" wide and there were triangles machined out of them, possibly for weight? With that kind of thrust weight doesn't mean that much, so who knows.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 15, 2021)

Coming Up: 2 days only: Public allowed to approach Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for 100th Anniversary


For the first time in the 100 years since it was dedicated, the public will be allowed to approach the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National




americanmilitarynews.com


----------



## raratt (Oct 16, 2021)




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## BarnBuster (Oct 18, 2021)

kentucky world war ii army soldier berton mcqueen comes home







www.stripes.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 19, 2021)

​


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 20, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5012648​


We lost a Great and Intelligent man.
How unfortunate for our country.

RIP Sir, you are relieved of the watch.


----------



## BarnBuster (Oct 22, 2021)

​
*In action on October 22, 1965 near Phu Cuong, about 35 miles northwest of Saigon, PFC Milton Lee Olive III of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, throws himself on an enemy grenade and saves four soldiers, including his platoon leader, 1st Lt. James Sanford.*
_
The action came during a patrol that made contact with Communist forces on the southern fringes of the infamous “Iron Triangle,” a traditional Communist stronghold. Private Olive’s body absorbed the full, deadly blast of the grenade and he died saving his comrades. Lieutenant Sanford later said of Olive’s act that “It was the most incredible display of selfless bravery I ever witnessed.” 

Olive, a native of Chicago, was only 18 years old when he died; he received the Medal of Honor posthumously six months later. The city of Chicago honored its fallen hero by naming a junior college, a lakefront park, and a portion of the McCormick Place convention center after him. 

At a ceremony on the steps of the White House, on April 21, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Olive's Medal of Honor to his father and stepmother. Also in attendance were two of the four men whose lives were saved by Olive's actions.

*He was the first African-American recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Vietnam War.*_


*The Citation*​
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Olive was a member of the 3d Platoon of Company B, as it moved through the jungle to find the Viet Cong operating in the area. Although the platoon was subjected to a heavy volume of enemy gunfire and pinned down temporarily, it retaliated by assaulting the Viet Cong positions, causing the enemy to flee.​​As the platoon pursued the insurgents, Pfc. Olive and 4 other soldiers were moving through the jungle together when a grenade was thrown into their midst. Pfc. Olive saw the grenade, and then saved the lives of his fellow soldiers at the sacrifice of his own by grabbing the grenade in his hand and falling on it to absorb the blast with his body.​​Through his bravery, unhesitating actions, and complete disregard for his safety, he prevented additional loss of life or injury to the members of his platoon. Pfc. Olive's extraordinary heroism, at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.​


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## BarnBuster (Oct 22, 2021)

*Air Force 2nd Lt. Oberon-Coultrane Peter plays with Afghan children in Liberty Village, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.*​


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## growerNshower (Oct 22, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5014471​
> *In action on October 22, 1965 near Phu Cuong, about 35 miles northwest of Saigon, PFC Milton Lee Olive III of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, throws himself on an enemy grenade and saves four soldiers, including his platoon leader, 1st Lt. James Sanford.*
> _
> The action came during a patrol that made contact with Communist forces on the southern fringes of the infamous “Iron Triangle,” a traditional Communist stronghold. Private Olive’s body absorbed the full, deadly blast of the grenade and he died saving his comrades. Lieutenant Sanford later said of Olive’s act that “It was the most incredible display of selfless bravery I ever witnessed.”
> ...


A special human being.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 23, 2021)

Today in Military History:







*The body of the Unknown Soldier chosen by Sergeant Edward F. Younger is loaded on the train in France.(World War I Signal Corps Collection).*​
_Inspired by both Britain and France honoring their unknown warriors, the U.S. Congress approved Public Resolution 67 in 1921 and the process of locating U.S. unknown soldier for burial in Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) began. *On October 23, 1921, in the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne, an American officer selects the body of the first “Unknown Soldier” to be honored among the approximately 77,000 United States servicemen killed on the Western Front during World War I*.

According to the official records of the Army Graves Registration Service deposited in the U.S. National Archives in Washington, four bodies were transported to Chalons from the cemeteries of Aisne-Marne, Somme, Meuse-Argonne and Saint-Mihiel.

All were great battlegrounds, and the latter two regions were the sites of two offensive operations in which American troops took a leading role in the decisive summer and fall of 1918. As the service records stated, the identity of the bodies was completely unknown: “The original records showing the internment of these bodies were searched and the four bodies selected represented the remains of soldiers of which there was absolutely no indication as to name, rank, organization or date of death.”

The four bodies arrived at the Hotel de Ville in Chalons-sur-Marne on October 23, 1921. At 10 o’clock the next morning, French and American officials entered a hall where the four caskets were displayed, each draped with an American flag. Sergeant Edward Younger, the man given the task of making the selection, carried a spray of white roses with which to mark the chosen casket. According to the official account, Younger “entered the chamber in which the bodies of the four Unknown Soldiers lay, circled the caskets three times, then silently placed the flowers on the third casket from the left. He faced the body, stood at attention and saluted.”

The casket was inscribed: 'An Unknown American who gave his life in the World War.' The coffin was sealed and then draped with the Stars and Stripes. The original spray of white roses was laid upon the new casket and, as the strains of Chopin's 'Funeral March' broke upon the silence, the pallbearers lifted the casket and bore it to the catafalque in a shrine erected in the center of the large hall facing the principal gate of the Hotel de Ville."

After the selection of the Unknown Soldier, the remaining three caskets were immediately loaded onto a waiting tuck and taken to Romagne Cemetery where they were reburied in grave numbers 1, 2 and 3. The casket lay in state until late afternoon when it was loaded onto a special train and taken to Paris where it remained overnight. On the morning of October 25, the train carried the Unknown Soldier to the port of Le Havre where the casket was transferred to the American cruiser "Olympia for the final journey home:

"As the body was being transferred to the vessel, the band of the Olympia played the 'Marseillaise' and the 'Star Spangled Banner.' The American Marines were lined on the Quai d'Escale and presented arms as the pallbearers with the Unknown passed.

The casket was placed on the stern of the cruiser, which had been beautifully decorated with wreaths, flowers and flags. The school children of Le Havre went aboard and banked flowers around the casket. During the ceremonies, the two French destroyers, which had been acting as escorts to the American cruiser, were pulled out beyond the breakwater. Silently, the Olympia moved slowly from the pier and steamed out into the bay. She was met by a salute of 17 guns from the French destroyer in honor of America's Cherished hero, to which she promptly responded. The Nameless Warrior was leaving for his last resting place in the land of his birth."

The Olympia was Admiral Dewey's Flagship during the Spanish-American war. She served in the Mediterranean during World War I. Transporting the Unknown Soldier back to the US was her last mission.

Once back in the United States, the Unknown Soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.

(The United States Army was given the honor of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1926, as the Army is the oldest of the military services. Prior to 1926, there were no military guards posted at the Tomb. In fact, after the internment of the Unknown Soldier in 1921, the Tomb remained unguarded until 1925, when a civilian guard would be present during the day. The military posted its first guard on March 25th, 1926. These guards were troopers from the 3rd Cavalry, "Brave Rifles", who were posted nearby on Fort Myer. Since April 6, 1948, (known then as "Army Day"), when the regiment was reactivated, it has been guarded by soldiers from 3rd Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard". The first 24-hour guard was posted on midnight, July 2, 1937. The Tomb of the Unknowns has been guarded continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since that time. Inclement weather, terrorist attacks, et cetera, have never caused the watch to cease. It is considered one of the highest honors to serve as a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Fewer than 20 percent of all volunteers are accepted for training and of those only a fraction pass training to become full-fledged Tomb Guards.

The Tomb Guard Identification Badge (TGIB) is awarded after the Sentinel passes a series of tests. The TGIB is permanently awarded after a Sentinel has served nine months as a Sentinel at the Tomb. As of August 2021, 688 soldiers have been awarded this badge since its creation in the late 1950's (on average 10 per year), the badge has also been revoked for 23 people. And while the TGIB can be revoked, the offense must be such that it discredits the Tomb of the Unknowns. Revocation is at the 3rd Infantry Regimental Commander’s discretion and can occur while active duty or even when the Sentinel is a civilian. It is the third-least awarded badge in the US Military, after the Military Horseman Identification Badge and the Astronaut Badge.) _



_




_

*The World War I Unknown is below the marble sarcophagus. Other Unknowns are beneath the white slabs on the ground (World War II, right; Korean War, left). A Vietnam War Unknown was under the middle slab until 1998, when he was identified.*​



CHAPTER I - The Last Salute


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## BarnBuster (Oct 25, 2021)

This week in Military History:


*USS Enterprise under Kamikaze attack*​
*The Battle of Leyte Gulf is considered to have been the largest naval battle of World War II and is, by some criteria, a contender for the title "largest naval battle in history", with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon, from 23–26 October 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), as part of the invasion of Leyte, which aimed to isolate Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia which were a vital source of industrial and oil supplies.*

_By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer capital ships (aircraft carriers and battleships) left than the Allied forces had total aircraft carriers, underscoring the disparity in force strength at this point in the war. Regardless, the IJN mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but it was repulsed by the U.S. Navy's Third and Seventh fleets.

The battle consisted of four main separate engagements: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar, as well as lesser actions.

This was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks, and the last naval battle between battleships in history. The IJN suffered heavy losses and never sailed in comparable force thereafter, stranded for lack of fuel in their bases for the rest of the war and were unable to affect the successful Allied invasion of Leyte._

_This decision to employ suicide bombers against the American fleet at Leyte, an island of the Philippines, was based on the failure of conventional naval and aerial engagements to stop the American offensive. Declared Japanese naval Capt. Motoharu Okamura: “I firmly believe that the only way to swing the war in our favor is to resort to crash-dive attacks with our planes…. There will be more than enough volunteers for this chance to save our country.”_​​_The first kamikaze force was in fact composed of 24 volunteer pilots from Japan’s 201st Navy Air Group. The targets were U.S. escort carriers; one, the St. Lo, was struck by a A6M Zero fighter and sunk in less than an hour, killing 100 Americans. More than 5,000 kamikaze pilots died in the gulf battle-taking down 34 ships._​​_For their kamikaze raids, the Japanese employed both conventional aircraft and specially designed planes, called Ohka (“cherry blossom”) by the Japanese, but Baka (“fool”) by the Americans, who saw them as acts of desperation. The Baka was a rocket-powered plane that was carried toward its target attached to the belly of a bomber._​​_All told, more than 1,321 Japanese aircraft crash-dived their planes into Allied warships during the war, desperate efforts to reverse the growing Allied advantage in the Pacific. While approximately 3,000 Americans and Brits died because of these attacks, the damage done did not prevent the Allied capture of the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa._​
_In one morning sortie, “Ace of Aces” David McCampbell had shot down nine enemy planes, an unparalleled achievement in American fighter aviation._


Dave McCampbell



Read about USS Tang (SS-306) one of the most successful US subs during WW2 and her skipper Richard H. O'Kane (MOH)








How the most successful submarine in US Navy history ended up sinking itself


By October 1944, the USS Tang had racked up the best record of any US Navy submarine, but its own torpedo brought the run to an end.




www.businessinsider.com












Medal of Honor Monday: Navy Rear Adm. Richard O'Kane


Navy Rear Adm. Richard H. O'Kane is considered the most successful submarine commander of World War II, sinking and damaging several Japanese warships in the Pacific, and his leadership earned him the



www.defense.gov






http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/SS-306_Tang.pdf



*The Battle of Leyte Gulf ; the death knell of the Japanese fleet* / Edwin P. Hoyt





Battle of Leyte Gulf







www.cs.mcgill.ca












Greatest of All Sea Battles


The fight for the Philippines 50 years ago in and around Leyte Gulf involved 300 ships, 200,000 men, snap decisions, and geographic luck.




www.usni.org


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## smokinrav (Oct 25, 2021)

Tucked inside the greatest naval battle in history is the most courageous last stand ever. 









Battle off Samar - Wikipedia







en.m.wikipedia.org


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## BarnBuster (Oct 25, 2021)

Today in Military History: 

​
*"On October 26, 1942, the last U.S. carrier manufactured before America’s entry into World War II, the Hornet, is damaged so extensively by Japanese war planes in the Battle of Santa Cruz that it must be abandoned.*

*"STRIKE - REPEAT - STRIKE"*
Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, October 26, 1942​
_The battle for Guadalcanal was the first American offensive against the Japanese, an attempt to prevent the Axis power from taking yet another island in the Solomon chain and gaining more ground in its race for Australia. On this day, in the vicinity of the Santa Cruz Islands, two American naval task forces had to stop a superior Japanese fleet, which was on its way to Guadalcanal with reinforcements. As was the case in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942, the engagement at Santa Cruz was fought exclusively by aircraft taking off from carriers of the respective forces; the ships themselves were not in range to fire at one another.

Japanese aerial fire damaged the USS Enterprise, the battleship South Dakota, and finally the Hornet. In fact, the explosions wrought by the Japanese bombs that rained down on the Hornet were so great that two of the Japanese bombers were themselves crippled by the blasts, and the pilots chose to dive-bomb their planes into the deck of the American carrier, which was finally abandoned and left to burn. The Hornet, which weighed 20,000 tons, had seen battle during the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo (its commander at the time, Marc Mitscher, was promoted to admiral and would be a significant player in the victory over Japan) and the Battle of Midway.

While the United States losses at Santa Cruz were heavy, the cost in aircraft to the Japanese was so extensive—more than 100, including 25 of the 27 bombers that attacked the Hornet—that they were unable finally to reinforce their troops at Guadalcanal, paving the way for an American victory.

By many reasonable measures the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands marked a Japanese victory—and a strategic one. The Imperial Japanese Navy had pursued Kinkaid’s retiring fleet, indeed forced it away from the battle zone. The day after the action, the Japanese possessed the only operational carrier force in the Pacific. In addition to having sunk more ships—of greater combat tonnage—the Japanese had more aircraft remaining and were in physical possession of the seas. Although a big share of credit goes to Japanese aviators and even American destroyermen, the sinking of a U.S. fleet carrier, the Hornet, by surface torpedo attack was also a notable achievement. Arguments based on aircrew losses or who owned Guadalcanal are about something else—the campaign, not the battle. Admiral Yamamoto and the Combined Fleet failed to exploit the success at Santa Cruz, but the fact that the naval effort later went sideways cannot diminish the Imperial Japanese Navy’s achievement on 26 October 1942."









Solving the Mysteries of Santa Cruz


It was a key engagement of the Guadalcanal campaign, but the 1942 Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands has yet to yield all its answers to history.




www.usni.org




_





Santa Cruz: October 26, 1942


At the end of the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, 26 October 1942, Enterprise CV-6 was the last US carrier left in the Pacific.



www.cv6.org









Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands







www.cs.mcgill.ca


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## BarnBuster (Oct 27, 2021)

*Blue Angels, the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, perform over Huntington Beach, Calif., Oct. 2, 2021. Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Bobby Baldock*​


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## raratt (Oct 27, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5017616
> *Blue Angels, the Navy’s flight demonstration squadron, perform over Huntington Beach, Calif., Oct. 2, 2021. Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Bobby Baldock*​


Oops. broke the sound barrier.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 27, 2021)

I remember living on SAC bases as a kid & we'd hear them do it quite often - I believe there is now a regulation regarding that?


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## raratt (Oct 27, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I remember living on SAC bases as a kid & we'd hear them do it quite often - I believe there is now a regulation regarding that?


Yup, homeowners don't like their windows broken. The SR did a flyover for an air show here and broke it at altitude, but the atmosphere attenuates it to a certain extent. One accidentally did it when I was out fishing in a canyon, he was at a relatively low level and I about shit myself. I was watching for rock slides from it. The Sr made a double boom when breaking it, I guess from the nacelles on the engine and the nose.


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## curious2garden (Oct 27, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I remember living on SAC bases as a kid & we'd hear them do it quite often - I believe there is now a regulation regarding that?


Frowned on over the contiguous US. 



raratt said:


> Yup, homeowners don't like their windows broken. The SR did a flyover for an air show here and broke it at altitude, but the atmosphere attenuates it to a certain extent. One accidentally did it when I was out fishing in a canyon, he was at a relatively low level and I about shit myself. I was watching for rock slides from it. The Sr made a double boom when breaking it, I guess from the nacelles on the engine and the nose.


Hmmmm, now to arrange one and 'accidentally' break all my windows  Homeowner's insurance to the rescue.


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## doublejj (Oct 28, 2021)

*‘She was just doing her job’: Homeless vet loses service dog during arrest for panhandling*








‘She was just doing her job’: Homeless vet loses service dog during arrest for panhandling


An Iraq War veteran said he was wrongfully arrested and his service dog tased by police, causing the animal to run away and be hit by a car.




www.armytimes.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 28, 2021)

doublejj said:


> *‘She was just doing her job’: Homeless vet loses service dog during arrest for panhandling*
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I just don't have the words to describe how I feel about this.

Yes I do. "Mag Dump" seems appropriate


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## BarnBuster (Oct 28, 2021)

Arlington Cemetery to re-create solemn 1921 procession to Tomb of the Unknowns


Arlington National Cemetery said Wednesday that it will host a public memorial procession and military flyover on Nov. 11 in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Tomb of Unknowns.




www.stripes.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 28, 2021)

Airman who helped with Afghan evacuations donates blouse from iconic photo


The National History Museum of the U.S. Air Force, located on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, has been collecting items from Operation Allies Refuge even before the last U.S. troops had left the country.




www.militarytimes.com


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## Alcoholock (Oct 28, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Project Oxcart: Why you had to be married to fly the CIA's fastest plane
> 
> 
> The SR-71 Blackbird remains the fastest operational military aircraft in history to this day, despite leaving service more than two decades ago, but its
> ...



Crazy they engineered that with protractors, paper, rulers and American ingenuity....

"Though I Fly through the valley of death,
I shall fear no evil
For I am at 80,000 feet and climbing"


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## BarnBuster (Oct 29, 2021)

Japan’s Kamikaze Pilots Hit Hundreds of Ships


In early 1945 the Japanese tried to stave off defeat by employing swarms of suicide pilots, but their expensive gambit failed.




warfarehistorynetwork.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 2, 2021)

_*Army Sgt. Seth Marshall, assigned to 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, fixes a bike for an Afghan child at Fort McCoy, Wis., Oct. 8, 2021. Soldiers routinely walk through the neighborhoods to assist Afghan evacuees in any way they can as part of Operation Allies Welcome.



Marine 1st Lt. Jacob Sugg, deputy director of communication strategy and operations for the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, left, and Karley Sirota, with Department of Homeland Security external affairs, read a book to Afghan children at Fort Pickett, Va., Oct. 26, 2021. *_​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 5, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
_*On November 5, 2009, 13 people are killed and more than 30 others are wounded, nearly all of them unarmed soldiers, when a U.S. Army officer goes on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood in central Texas*. The deadly assault, carried out by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, was the worst mass shooting at a U.S. military installation.

Early in the afternoon of November 5, 39-year-old Hasan, armed with a semi-automatic pistol, shouted “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “God is great”) and then opened fire at a crowd inside a Fort Hood processing center where soldiers who were about to be deployed overseas or were returning from deployment received medical screenings. The massacre, which left 12 service members and one Department of Defense employee dead, lasted approximately 10 minutes before Hasan was shot by civilian police and taken into custody.

The Virginia-born Hasan, the son of Palestinian immigrants who ran a Roanoke restaurant and convenience store, graduated from Virginia Tech University and completed his psychiatry training at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland, in 2003. He went on to work at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., treating soldiers returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder. In May 2009, he was promoted to the rank of major in the Army, and that July, was transferred to Fort Hood. Located near the city of Killeen, Fort Hood, which includes 340 square miles of facilities and homes, is the largest active-duty U.S. military post. At the time of the shootings, more than 50,000 military personnel lived and worked there, along with thousands more family members and civilian personnel.

In the aftermath of the massacre, reviews by the Pentagon and a U.S. Senate panel found Hasan’s superiors had continued to promote him despite the fact that concerns had been raised over his behavior, which suggested he had become a radical and potentially violent Islamic extremist. Among other things, Hasan stated publicly that America’s war on terrorism was really a war against Islam.

In 2013, Hasan, who was left paralyzed from the waist down as a result of shots fired at him by police attempting to stop his rampage, was tried in military court, where he acted as his own attorney. During his opening statement, he admitted he was the shooter. (Hasan had previously told a judge that in an effort to protect Muslims and Taliban leaders in Afghanistan, he had gunned down the soldiers at Fort Hood who were being deployed to that nation.) For the rest of the trial, Hasan called no witnesses, presented scant evidence and made no closing argument. On August 23, 2013, a jury found Hasan guilty of 45 counts of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder, and he later was sentenced to death for his crimes.

Following his conviction and sentencing, Nidal Hasan was incarcerated at the United States Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas to await execution. According to Chris Haug, Fort Hood's Chief of Media Relations, Hasan was also stripped of his rank and dismissed from the US Army. Hasan would only be referred to as "Inmate Nidal Hasan" going forward. On September 5, 2013, it was reported that Hasan had his beard forcibly shaved. Fort Leavenworth authorities justified their decision by citing that Hasan would be subject to Army regulations even though he had been dismissed from the Army and forfeited all pay and allowances. Despite Army regulations banning personnel from having facial hair, Hasan had begun growing a beard following the Fort Hood Shooting in 2009 by citing his religious beliefs. Although no new photos of Hasan have been released since his incarceration, military authorities have confirmed that a video recording of the forced shaving exists, as per military regulations. In response, John Galligan, Hasan's former civilian lawyer, had planned to sue the military for violating his religious beliefs. Galligan argued that a military council in 2012 had allowed Hasan to keep his beard for the duration of the trial and dismissed the Army's actions as vindictive.

On August 28, 2014, his attorney said Hasan had written a letter to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, then head of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). In the letter, Hasan requested to be made a citizen of the Islamic State and included his signature and the abbreviation SoA (Soldier of Allah)._ 



https://extremism.gwu.edu/sites/g/files/zaxdzs2191/f/Nidal%20Hasan.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Nov 6, 2021)

Today in Military History:








*On 6th November 1917, after three months of fierce fighting, British and Canadian forces finally took control of the tiny village of Passchendaele in the West Flanders region of Belgium, so ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War I*_. *With approximately a third of a million British and Allied soldiers either killed or wounded,* the Battle of Passchendaele (officially the third battle of Ypres), symbolises the true horror of industrialised trench warfare.

The Passchendaele campaign was preceded by what was then the largest planned explosion in history. For months, British, Canadian and Australian tunnellers had burrowed underneath the German defences on Messines Ridge in the Ypres Salient, where they planted 21 massive explosive mines. At 3 a.m. on June 7, 1917, 19 of them were detonated in rapid succession. The resulting blasts knocked waiting British troops off their feet; the rumble could be heard as far away as London. An estimated 10,000 German soldiers perished and the cratered landscape was soon in Allied hands. Amazingly, two of the mines failed to explode. One was detonated by lightning in 1955, killing a cow. The other, its location since discovered, lies underneath a Belgian farm. Authorities have declared it too difficult and dangerous to dismantle even 100 years later.

General Sir Douglas Haig, the British Commander in Chief in France, had been convinced to launch his forces at the German submarine bases along the Belgian coast in an attempt to reduce the massive shipping losses then being suffered by the Royal Navy. General Haig also believed that the German army was close to collapse and that a major offensive …“just one more push”, could hasten the end the war.

Thus the offensive at Passchendaele was launched on the 18th July 1917 with a bombardment of the German lines involving 3,000 guns. In the 10 days that followed, it is estimated that over 4¼ million shells were fired._

(WW1 artillery shells had a 30% detonation failure rate. Coupled with the fact that they buried themselves sometimes yards deep, areas of WW1 battlefields are off limits still today and farmers regularly turn up UXO (unexploded ordinance)/ERW (explosive remnants of war) The “Iron Harvest” is the annual “harvest” of war remnants including UXO, barbed wire, and shrapnel collected by Belgian and French farmers after ploughing their fields; see Red Zone below bb.)

_The actual infantry assault followed at 03.50 on 31st July, but far from collapsing, the German Fourth Army fought well and restricted the main British advance to relatively small gains.

Shortly after the initial assault, the heaviest rains in more that 30 years began to fall on Flanders, drenching the soldiers and the low lying fields over which the battle was taking place. The artillery shells that had bombarded the German lines only days before had not only torn up the land but had also destroyed the drainage systems that were keeping the reclaimed marshland dry. With the continued pounding, the rain drenched ground quickly turned into a thick swamp of mud.

Even the newly-developed tanks made little headway; unable to move, they quickly became stuck fast in the liquid mud. With each new phase of the offensive the rain kept falling, filling the shell holes with water. The clinging mud caked the soldier’s uniforms and clogged their rifles, but that was the least of their worries as in places the mud had become so deep that both men and horses were drowned, lost forever in the stinking quagmire. It took six men to stretcher a wounded soldier across the glue-like surface. Many survivors recalled stumbling along, their boots being sucked off their feet and then came the sensation of sinking up to their waists in mud. Additionally, thousands of exhausted horses and mules died attempting to haul gun carriages across the devastated, cratered landscape which had been churned up by shelling.

The only solid structures in this sea of desolation were the enemy’s concrete pillboxes; from here the German machine-gunners could scythe down any Allied infantry that had been ordered to advance

With the hopelessness of the situation apparent, General Haig temporarily suspended the attack.

A fresh British offensive was launched on the 20th September under the command of Herbert Plumer which eventually resulted in some small gains being made including the capture of a nearby ridge just east of Ypres. General Haig ordered further attacks in early October which proved less successful. Allied troops met stiff opposition from German reserves being poured into the area, and many British and Empire soldiers suffered severe chemical burns as the Germans employed mustard gas to help defend their position.

Unwilling to accept failure, General Haig ordered three more assaults on the Passchendaele ridge in late October. Casualty rates were high during these final stages, with Canadian divisions in particular suffering huge losses. When British and Canadian forces finally reached Passchendaele on 6th November 1917 hardly a trace of the original village structures remained. The capture of the village did however give General Haig the excuse to call an end to the offensive, claiming success.

In the three and half months of the offensive the British and Empire forces had advanced barely five miles, suffering horrendous casualties. Perhaps their only consolation was that the Germans had suffered almost as badly with around 250,000 killed or injured. In the aftermath of the battle, General Haig was severely criticized for continuing the offensive long after the operation had lost any real strategic value.

Perhaps more than any other, Passchedaele has come to symbolize the horrors and the great human costs associated with the major battles of the First World War.* British Empire losses included approximately 36,000 Australians, 3,500 New Zealanders and 16,000 Canadians – the latter of which were lost in the last few days / weeks of the final bloody assault. Some 90,000 bodies were never identified and 42,000 never recovered.*_

_*61 Victoria Crosses were awarded during the entire Passchendaele campaigns*_​
_These battles and the British Empire soldiers that perished in them are today commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, the Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing._









Passchendaele: they called it ‘the Battle of the Mud’


Officially known as the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele became infamous not only for the scale of casualties, but also for the mud…




defencehq.medium.com












Red Zone | National Geographic Society


France's Zone Rouge is a lingering reminder of World War I's Battle of Verdun.




www.nationalgeographic.org












Passchendaele – Inside the First World War's Infamous Slaughter in the Mud - MilitaryHistoryNow.com


“The appalling casualties, the mud and the overall futility of the offensive have made Passchendaele an emblem of the mind-boggling waste of the First World War.” By Darrell Duthie “I DIED IN HELL,” wrote famed...




militaryhistorynow.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 8, 2021)

Today in Military History: 

​
*Lawrence Joel was a United States Army paratrooper who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars. Joel received the Silver Star and the Medal of Honor for his heroism on November 8, 1965, in a battle outside Bien Hoa against the Viet Cong.*_ At the time, he was serving in South Vietnam as a medic with the rank of SP5 assigned to the 1st Battalion of the 503rd Infantry in the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

*He was the first medic to earn the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam War and the first living black American to receive the medal since the Spanish-American War of 1898.*

Joel was born in 1928, the third of 16 children in a family that grew up very poor in Winston-Salem, NC. His family was in such poverty that he was raised by his next-door neighbors until he had reached the age of 18. He then joined the Merchant Marine. A year later, in 1946, he joined the U.S. Army. 

When the Vietnam war started his unit deployed to the country. By November 1968, although his unit had been in Vietnam for nearly four months, combat with the enemy had been sporadic and light. That was all about to change. 

Joel’s unit was conducting an all-day patrol searching for the Viet Cong. Joel recalled the initial operation as “fairly routine… just like back at Ft. Bragg — going to play war games.” But soon his unit was ambushed by a Viet Cong battalion that outnumbered the American paratroopers six to one.

When the Viet Cong sprang their ambush, nearly every soldier in the lead squad was killed or wounded. Joel was wounded twice in the initial burst of fire. He bandaged his own wounds, gave himself a shot of morphine, and set about taking care of the many wounded troops. 

Ignoring the calls from his commander to stay down, Joel moved amongst 13 wounded men, including one soldier who was suffering from a “sucking chest wound” and provided him with a makeshift bandage to keep his lung from deflating. Once he ran out of medical supplies, he went to the rear to get more and resumed taking care of his wounded paratroopers, hobbling along on a makeshift crutch while the battle raged around.

“I found a stick on the ground with a little crook in it,” he recalled. “I broke it about waist high and sort of cradled my arm in it so I could hobble around. That way I could make it from one man to the next — sort of fall down beside him, then pull myself up on a tree or something when I finished.” A fellow paratrooper, SP4 Randy Eickhoff, was running ahead of Joel providing covering fire to protect the unarmed medic who was treating the wounded.

Eickhoff was awarded the Silver Star and the Purple Heart for his own actions. After the battle, Joel was medevaced first to Saigon and then to Tokyo to recover from his wounds. He was initially awarded a Silver Star and a Purple Heart for his actions. 

His commanding officer said of the medic’s actions that day, “Joel was definitely not worried about getting wounded. Usually, when you hear metal flying, the normal inclination is to get as low as you can or to get something between you and the flying metal. But not Joel.”

After three months of recovery, he was told that he was being put in to upgrade his Silver Star to the Medal of Honor. On March 9, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson, in a White House ceremony, presented Joel with the medal. 

President Johnson spoke of Joel’s “very special kind of courage — the unarmed heroism of compassion and service to others.” “I’m glad to be alive,” Joel said before the ceremony. “I just wish I could have done more. I never say that I deserved the medal. That’s just not for me to say. It was just my job.” Later, the city of Winston-Salem gave Joel a large parade to honor his heroism. It was the first time the city had conducted a military parade for a single individual. 

Joel was married to Dorothy Region and had two children—Tremaine and Deborah Louise. After his retirement from the army, he worked for the Veterans Administration in Hartford, CN. However, he returned to Winston-Salem in 1982. Two years later he died from complications caused by diabetes. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1986 the Winston-Salem Board of Aldermen voted to name the city’s new coliseum the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum._

*The Citation:*​
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp6c. Joel demonstrated indomitable courage, determination, and professional skill when a numerically superior and well-concealed Viet Cong element launched a vicious attack which wounded or killed nearly every man in the lead squad of the company. After treating the men wounded by the initial burst of gunfire, he bravely moved forward to assist others who were wounded while proceeding to their objective. While moving from man to man, he was struck in the right leg by machine-gun fire. Although painfully wounded his desire to aid his fellow soldiers transcended all personal feeling. He bandaged his own wound and self-administered morphine to deaden the pain enabling him to continue his dangerous undertaking. Through this period of time, he constantly shouted words of encouragement to all around him. Then, completely ignoring the warnings of others and his pain, he continued his search for wounded, exposing himself to hostile fire; and, as the bullets dug up the dirt around him, he held plasma bottles high while kneeling completely engrossed in his lifesaving mission. Then, after being struck a second time and with a bullet lodged in his thigh, he dragged himself over the battlefield and succeeded in treating 13 more men before his medical supplies ran out. Displaying resourcefulness, he saved the life of one man by placing a plastic bag over a severe chest wound to congeal the blood. As one of the platoons pursued the Viet Cong, an insurgent force in concealed positions opened fire on the platoon and wounded many more soldiers. With a new stock of medical supplies, Sp6c. Joel again shouted words of encouragement as he crawled through an intense hail of gunfire to the wounded men. After the 24-hour battle subsided and the Viet Cong dead numbered 410, snipers continued to harass the company. Throughout the long battle, Sp6c. Joel never lost sight of his mission as a medical aidman and continued to comfort and treat the wounded until his own evacuation was ordered. His meticulous attention to duty saved a large number of lives and his unselfish, daring example under most adverse conditions was an inspiration to all. Sp6c. Joel's profound concern for his fellow soldiers, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 10, 2021)

*On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia passed a resolution stating that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces with the fleet. This resolution established the Continental Marines and marked the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.*​


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## doublejj (Nov 10, 2021)

*Woman graduates Army sniper course for the first time*








First woman graduates from Army sniper course


A Montana Army National Guard soldier has become the first woman to complete the seven-week U.S. Army Sniper Course at Fort Benning, Ga., military officials said.




www.stripes.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2021)

​


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## DarkWeb (Nov 11, 2021)

Thank you


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## raratt (Nov 11, 2021)

Happy Veterans Day to all my military brothers and sisters.


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## raratt (Nov 11, 2021)




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## raratt (Nov 11, 2021)

Tinker Air Force Base Col. Gary Donovan relieved of AWACS command


Tinker Air Force Base Col. Gary Donovan was relieved of his AWACS command following safety concerns and missions scrubbed due to crew fatigue.




www.yahoo.com


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## raratt (Nov 11, 2021)




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## Severed Tongue (Nov 11, 2021)

Thanks to all the Vets whom stood up to take down the Lion.

Very Proud to be Canadian and all of the contributions and sacrifice my fellow Canadians, and all our allies have made to better our world.

God bless you all


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## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2021)

*
The first military guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on March 25, 1926. To prevent visitors from climbing or stepping on the tomb, soldiers from Fort Myer, Va., were assigned to guard it during daylight hours beginning in 1926. In 1937, the guard became a 24/7 presence.*​
*A casket containing the unidentified remains of a World War I soldier was carried in a horse-drawn wagon through Washington, D.C., across the Potomac River, and into Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11, 1921.*

_Thousands of dignitaries, veterans and American citizens packed into the Memorial Amphitheater at the cemetery, where then-President Warren G. Harding led a state funeral for the unknown soldier. When the ceremony began at noon, bells tolled, and Americans across the country observed two minutes of silence for the fallen man.

“The name of him whose body lies before us took flight with his imperishable soul,” Harding said. “We know not whence he came, but only that his death marks him with the everlasting glory of an American dying for his country. He might have come from any one of millions of American homes.”

Thursday marks 100 years since the remains were entombed at Arlington, creating the iconic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The tomb, which attracts millions of visitors every year, now includes the remains of soldiers from World War II and the Korean War. In the past 100 years, it has become a symbol of American service and sacrifice, as well as a place for mourning and reflection.

To mark the anniversary, Arlington National Cemetery planned a series of events, including a procession Thursday that is intended to evoke elements of the unidentified soldier’s funeral procession from 1921. For the first time in decades, visitors to the tomb this week will be allowed to approach it and place flowers near its base.

“One hundred years ago, we laid to rest an unidentified American who fell in the First World War. He has been in our charge ever since,” said Karen Durham-Aguilera, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries. “The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier stands, physically and symbolically, at the heart of the cemetery — and the heart of the nation.”

The idea for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier came from Britain and France, which created similar tombs in 1920. Unidentified remains of fallen World War I soldiers were buried that year at Westminster Abbey in London and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. In both countries, one unidentified soldier symbolized all the unknown troops who were killed in action.

In December 1920, New York Congressman Hamilton Fish Jr., a World War I veteran, proposed legislation that ordered the entombment of one unidentified American soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Its purpose was to “bring home the body of an unknown American warrior who in himself represents no section, creed or race in the late war and who typifies … the soul of America and the supreme sacrifice of her heroic dead,” according to the legislation.

Congress approved the burial on March 4, 1921. In October of that year, four bodies of unidentified soldiers were exhumed from American military cemeteries in France. Sgt. Edward Younger, a World War I veteran, selected the soldier who would be sent to Arlington National Cemetery by placing white roses on one of the caskets. Younger was given the honor because of his superior service record.

The remains arrived in Washington by ship on Nov. 9, 1921. The casket lay in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Nov. 10, where about 90,000 people came to pay their respects before the remains were taken to Arlington the following day._


__
*A guard of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier marches at the back of the tomb on Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2021. While they typically guard the front of the tomb, the sentinels were moved to the back during a two-day ceremony that allowed members of the public to place flowers at the tomb’s base. (Nikki Wentling/Stars and Stripes)*​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 12, 2021)

*Flowers surround the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Nov. 11, 2021.*

*Participants march with The Ground Zero Flag during the annual New York City Veterans Day Parade, Nov. 11, 2021. The parade is the largest of its kind in the nation and has been held every year since 1919.*​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 13, 2021)

​
*Near the end of a weeklong national salute to Americans who served in the Vietnam War in 1982, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of veterans of the conflict*_. The long-awaited memorial was a simple V-shaped black-granite wall inscribed with the names of the 57,939 Americans who died in the conflict, arranged in order of death, not rank, as was common in other memorials.

The designer of the memorial was Maya Lin, a Yale University architecture student who entered a nationwide competition to create a design for the monument. Lin, born in Ohio in 1959, was the daughter of Chinese immigrants. Many veterans’ groups were opposed to Lin’s winning design, which lacked a standard memorial’s heroic statues and stirring words. However, a remarkable shift in public opinion occurred in the months after the memorial’s dedication. Veterans and families of the dead walked the black reflective wall, seeking the names of their loved ones killed in the conflict. Once the name was located, visitors often made an etching or left a private offering, from notes and flowers to dog tags and cans of beer.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial soon became one of the most visited memorials in the nation’s capital. A Smithsonian Institution director called it “a community of feelings, almost a sacred precinct,” and a veteran declared that “it’s the parade we never got.” “The Wall” drew together both those who fought and those who marched against the war and served to promote national healing a decade after the divisive conflict’s end.









The First and the Last Names on The Wall


Scholars debate about when the Vietnam War really began and in many ways it has never ended. It’s still fought in the bodies and minds of the men who waged it all those decades ago. Little about it is concrete.




www.uso.org






Wall Information


_
​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 13, 2021)

Named after one of our greatest battleships, USS New Jersey (BB-62). Christening is at the last 10 minutes of the video.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 13, 2021)

How the U.S. Hid an Airstrike That Killed Dozens of Civilians in Syria (Published 2021)


The military never conducted an independent investigation into a 2019 bombing on the last bastion of the Islamic State, despite concerns about a secretive commando force.




www.nytimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 14, 2021)

Today in Military History

 ​
_*November 14, 1965*_*, *_*In the first major engagement of the war between regular U.S. and North Vietnamese forces, elements of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) fight a pitched battle with Communist main-force units in the Ia Drang Valley of the Central Highlands.*

On this morning, Lt. Col. Harold G. Moore’s 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry conducted a heliborne assault into Landing Zone X-Ray near the Chu Pong hills. Around noon, the North Vietnamese 33rd Regiment attacked the U.S. troopers. The fight continued all day and into the night. American soldiers received support from nearby artillery units and tactical air strikes. The next morning, the North Vietnamese 66th Regiment joined the attack against the U.S. unit. The fighting was bitter, but the tactical air strikes and artillery support took their toll on the enemy and enabled the 1st Cavalry troopers to hold on against repeated assaults.

At around noon, two reinforcing companies arrived and Colonel Moore put them to good use to assist his beleaguered soldiers. By the third day of the battle, the Americans had gained the upper hand. The three-day battle resulted in 834 North Vietnamese soldiers confirmed killed, and another 1,000 communist casualties were assumed.

In a related action during the same battle, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry, was ambushed by North Vietnamese forces as it moved overland to Landing Zone Albany. Of the 500 men in the original column, 150 were killed and only 84 were able to return to immediate duty; Company C suffered 93 percent casualties, half of them deaths.

Despite these numbers, senior American officials in Saigon declared the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley a great victory. The battle was extremely important because it was the first significant contact between U.S. troops and North Vietnamese forces. The action demonstrated that the North Vietnamese were prepared to stand and fight major battles even though they might take serious casualties. Senior American military leaders concluded that U.S. forces could wreak significant damage on the communists in such battles–this tactic lead to a war of attrition as the U.S. forces tried to wear the communists down. The North Vietnamese also learned a valuable lesson during the battle: by keeping their combat troops physically close to U.S. positions, U.S. troops could not use artillery or air strikes without risking injury to American troops. This style of fighting became the North Vietnamese practice for the rest of the war._ 

*Medals of Honor awarded for actions in the Ia Drang Valley, Vietnam on 14 November 1965: MAJ Bruce P. Crandall. A Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, CPT Ed W. Freeman, A Company, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1LT Walter Joseph Marm, A Company, 1-7th Cavalry.*





__





Chapter 1: Fight at Ia Drang






 history.army.mil






http://www.frabr245.org/Mil%20Hist%20-%20VN%20Battle%20of%20the%20Ia%20Drang%20Valley.pdf










Civilian Bronze Star recipient recalls sacrifices of Vietnam War


REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- In his personal account reporting from the battlefields of Vietnam and subsequent wars, internationally recognized war journalist Joe Galloway encouraged today's Soldiers and veterans to share their own wartime experiences.




www.army.mil












The Tragedy of LZ Albany: Teaching the lessons of a battle lost


On November 17, 1965, Lt. Don Cornett along with 154 Troopers from 2/7 Cav were killed in the Ia Drang Valley at a small clearing known as Landing Zone Albany. He died less than 100 yards from where his best friend lay wounded. James Lawrence, a 77.....




www.army.mil












Army Investigating 'We Were Soldiers' Legend for Inflating Awards


The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that the late Command Sgt. Major Basil Plumley wore unauthorized combat and valor awards.




www.military.com


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## raratt (Nov 17, 2021)




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## Singlemalt (Nov 17, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5030615


Why not, it's 2 yrs younger than me lol


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## BarnBuster (Nov 18, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*On November 18, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln boards a train for Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to deliver a short speech the following day at the dedication of a cemetery of soldiers killed during the battle there on July 1 to July 3, 1863*_. The address Lincoln gave in Gettysburg became one of the most famous speeches in American history.

Lincoln had given much thought to what he wanted to say at Gettysburg, but nearly missed his chance to say it. Shortly before the trip, Lincoln’s son, Tad, became ill with a fever. The president and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln were no strangers to juvenile illness: They had already lost two sons to disease. Prone to fits of hysteria, Mary Lincoln panicked when her husband prepared to leave. However, Lincoln felt the opportunity to speak at Gettysburg and present his defense of the war was too important to miss, so he boarded a train and headed to Pennsylvania.

Despite his son’s illness, Lincoln was in good spirits during the journey. He was accompanied by an entourage that included Secretary of State William Seward, Postmaster General Montgomery Blair, Interior Secretary John Usher, Lincoln’s personal secretaries John Hay and John Nicolay, several members of the diplomat corps, some foreign visitors, a Marine band, and a military escort.

When Lincoln arrived in Gettysburg, he was handed a telegram that lifted his spirits: Tad was feeling much better. Lincoln enjoyed an evening dinner and a serenade by the Fifth New York Artillery Band before he retired to finalize his famous Gettysburg Address._

"Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."​
_By the time the guns fell silent of the fields of Gettysburg on July 3, 1863, more than 40,000 men lay dead, dying or wounded. A turning point of the civil war, the battle was also among the conflict's bloodiest. Of the 94,000 Union troops who fought in the three day conflict, 23,000 became casualties, with 3,100 killed. The Confederates were outnumbered — with 71,000 fighting in the battle, and a greater proportion wounded and killed. 28,000 Southerners were casualties in the battle — 39% of its total fighting force that day— with of them 3,900 killed. _


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## raratt (Nov 19, 2021)




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## doublejj (Nov 19, 2021)

*Army bars vaccine refusers from promotions and reenlistment as deadline approaches*








Army bars vaccine refusers from promotions and reenlistment as deadline approaches | CNN Politics


With less than one month until the Army's deadline to vaccinate its active-duty force, the service will begin barring soldiers who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 without an exemption from reenlistment, promotions, and other "favorable personnel actions."




www.cnn.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 21, 2021)

Today In Military History:


​
*"Shortly after 2:00 am on the morning of November 21, 1970, the night sky near Hanoi was shattered by the roar of planes on their way to undertake one of the most carefully planned and executed rescue missions of the Vietnam War – the raid on Son Tay Prison to rescue American prisoners of war.*_ Son Tay, 23 miles west of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, was attacked and, less than an hour later, the plan had been carried out faultlessly. Then the bitterly disappointed Raiders were on their way home, having rescued no-one

The American Armed Forces had sent 56 Green Berets and 28 aircraft manned by 92 airmen to Son Tay and the only casualty of the raid was the flight engineer of the Blueboy helicopter, who had his ankle fractured by a fire extinguisher that had broken loose in the crash landing. *As a result of the raid, the members were awarded six Distinguished Service Crosses, five Air Force Crosses, and all 50 members of the ground crew, in addition to 35 of the active members, received Silver Stars. General Manor received the Distinguished Service Medal.*

The armed services believed the mission to be a complete tactical success as it was so well-planned and executed, but the intelligence failure was a significant blow to all involved. It was later learned that there were 65 prisoners interred at Son Tay, and they had been moved 15 miles closer to Hanoi due to a threat of flooding. This move had taken place on the 14th of July, almost four months before the raid – a major gaffe on the part of the intelligence agencies responsible.

This raid was severely criticized in the media and by opponents of the Nixon Administration and to the Vietnam War. The major charge made was the poor quality of intelligence upon which the operation was mounted. One of the greatest fears was that as a result of this abortive raid, the prisoners in other camps would be treated worse.

In fact, reports from prisoners later confirmed that this raid did, in fact, improve their conditions. Prisoners that had been kept for long periods in solitary confinement were placed in cells with other prisoners, which improved their morale considerably. The amount and quality of the food they were given also improved._

*While the success or failure of this raid can be debated ad infinitum, it is recognized as being a model for the planning, training, and deployment of this type of mission. It formed the blueprint for future missions of a similar nature, and for that reason, it deserves its place in history."*









The Failed Son Tay Prison Raid


Shortly after 2:00 am on the morning of November 21, 1970, the night sky near Hanoi was shattered by the roar of planes on their way to undertake one of the most carefully planned and executed resc…




cherrieswriter.com






https://aircommando.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Air%20Commando%20Journal%20Vol%201%20Issue%203.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Nov 22, 2021)

_"On Wednesday, November 17, 2021 the official Twitter account for the U.S. Pacific Fleet announced that the soon-to-be named USS Daniel Inouye had set sail on a tour of the Hawaiian islands in honor of its namesake. The destroyer is expected to be officially commissioned on Dec. 8, and will be based out of Hawaii’s Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. On June 21, 2000, Inouye’s Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, which was presented to him at the White House by President Bill Clinton, 55 years after that battle."









This is Daniel Inouye, a one-man wrecking crew and the namesake of the Navy’s newest warship


He was shot by a sniper, blown up by a grenade, and then shot again, yet somehow he kept going.




taskandpurpose.com




_
_*The Citation*_​
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Second Lieutenant Daniel K. Inouye distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 21 April 1945, in the vicinity of San Terenzo, Italy.​​While attacking a defended ridge guarding an important road junction, Second Lieutenant Inouye skillfully directed his platoon through a hail of automatic weapon and small arms fire, in a swift enveloping movement that resulted in the capture of an artillery and mortar post and brought his men to within 40 yards of the hostile force. Emplaced in bunkers and rock formations, the enemy halted the advance with crossfire from three machine guns. With complete disregard for his personal safety, Second Lieutenant Inouye crawled up the treacherous slope to within five yards of the nearest machine gun and hurled two grenades, destroying the emplacement. Before the enemy could retaliate, he stood up and neutralized a second machine gun nest. Although wounded by a sniper’s bullet, he continued to engage other hostile positions at close range until an exploding grenade shattered his right arm. Despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation and continued to direct his platoon until enemy resistance was broken and his men were again deployed in defensive positions. In the attack, 25 enemy soldiers were killed and eight others captured. By his gallant, aggressive tactics and by his indomitable leadership, Second Lieutenant Inouye enabled his platoon to advance through formidable resistance, and was instrumental in the capture of the ridge. Second Lieutenant Inouye’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 23, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_*"On Nov. 23, 1943, as World War II raged, United States forces seized control of the Tarawa atoll from the Japanese; a day later it secured the nearby atoll of Makin*. After 76 hours of fighting, the battle for Betio was over. The final casualty figures for the 2d Marine Division in Operation GALVANIC were 997 Marines and 30 sailors (organic medical personnel) dead; 88 Marines missing and presumed dead; and 2,233 Marines and 59 sailors wounded. Total casualties: 3,407. Of the roughly 4,800 Japanese defenders, about 97% were thought to have been killed. Only 146 prisoners were captured — all but 17 of them Korean laborers. More casualties would come in operations on surrounding islands.

The intense bloodshed on Tarawa, documented by war correspondents who were close to the fighting, sparked outcry in the US. Many criticized the strategy and tactics at Tarawa, but the Navy and Marine Corps drew lessons from the battle and applied them throughout the war, and Betio's airfield supported operations against other vital positions in the Pacific.

"The capture of Tarawa knocked down the front door to the Japanese defenses in the Central Pacific," said Admiral Chester Nimitz, the commander in chief of the Pacific fleet.

In the words of military historians Jeter Isely and Philip Crowl, “The capture of Tarawa, in spite of defects in execution, conclusively demonstrated that American amphibious doctrine was valid, that even the strongest island fortress could be seized.”

The costs of the forcible seizure of Tarawa were two-fold: the loss of Marines in the assault itself, followed by the shock and despair of the nation upon hearing the reports of the battle. The gains at first seemed small in return, the "stinking little island" of Betio, 8,000 miles from Tokyo. In time, the practical lessons learned in the complex art of amphibious assault began to outweigh the initial adverse publicity.

*Four Medals of Honor were earned at Tarawa, one of them posthumously. Thirty-four Navy Crosses, the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, were issued along with some 250 Silver Stars."*_ 









75 years ago, US Marines waded into 'the toughest battle in Marine Corps history' — here are 25 photos of the brutal fight for Tarawa


The commander of the task force attacking Tarawa called Betio "a little Gibraltar" and said that "only the Marines could have made such a landing."




www.businessinsider.com








__





Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa






www.ibiblio.org












Battle of Tarawa - MCA


Tarawa (20-23 November 1943) Japanese Rear Admiral Keiji Shibasaki proclaimed, “A million men cannot take Tarawa in 100 years.” The Second Marine Division did it in four days. The Battle




mca-marines.org


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## wascaptain (Nov 25, 2021)

MAKE WAY!!!!!

another marine reporting in


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## curious2garden (Nov 25, 2021)

wascaptain said:


> MAKE WAY!!!!!
> 
> another marine reporting in
> View attachment 5035096


Ahhh what a cutie!


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## BarnBuster (Nov 27, 2021)

This Week in Military History:
​
_The Inchon landing by the X Corps in September 1950 and the breakout from Pusan by the 8th Army led to a stunning reversal in the Korean War. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s risky plan had unhinged the Korean People’s Army (KPA) position, and the rapid advance had led to its almost certain destruction. A supremely confident MacArthur declared to President Truman that “organized resistance will be terminated by Thanksgiving.” Later he announced to his troops that they would be home by Christmas.

The X Corps, commanded by the ever-aggressive Maj. Gen. Edward Almond, was keen to be the first United Nations force to reach the Yalu River. As the temperatures in the mountains of North Korea plummeted, Almond continued to direct his commanders to advance faster. By late November, the 1st Marine Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Oliver Smith and the 31st Regimental Combat Team (7th Infantry Division) took up positions in the snowcapped mountains around Chosin Reservoir.

While confidence reigned supreme at MacArthur’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, the situation at the front was becoming ever more concerning. A Siberian cold front had descended on the region, and temperatures plunged to as low as -36 degrees F. The relentless cold led to frostbite in the ranks, frozen weapons, frozen medical supplies, dead batteries, and more. Even worse, MacArthur and Almond disregarded growing evidence that a sizeable Chinese force had crossed the Yalu to oppose the UN advance approaching its Manchurian border. China’s Chairman Mao Zedong had directed that the veteran 9th Army attack the Marines and Army forces near Chosin. Stealthily, the Chinese army – roughly 120,000 soldiers from the 20th and 27th Corps – took up positions near the US forces.

*After midnight on November 27, 1950, the Marines in their dugouts could hear strange sounds emanating from the woods below. Loudspeakers broadcast curses and commands. Cymbals clanged, and bugles blared. And a chorus of “Marines, tonight you die!” came from the waves of Chinese troops from the 59th, 79th, and 89th Divisions moving up the slopes in their white quilted uniforms.*

Caught by surprise, the Marines struggled from their sleeping bags and grabbed their weapons. With star shells now illuminating the ground before them, the Marines on the front line attempted to slow the overwhelming Chinese assault with their M-1 rifles, machine guns, and grenades.

The lead Marine elements around Yudam-ni struggled to hold back the Chinese assault while Charlie and Fox Companies of the 7th Marines struggled to defend their thin lines near Toktong Pass. During these intense nighttime battles, Marines such as Private Hector Cafferata, Staff Sergeant Robert Kennemore, 1st Lieutenant Frank Mitchell, and Corporal Lee Phillips would earn the Medal of Honor for their brave and resolute actions.

Fox Company, led by Captain William Barber, managed to hold the critical hill above Toktong pass and the vital road below for five days. Despite a severe wound to his leg, Barber kept moving amongst his men’s foxholes, keeping them focused. Barber’s company had taken grievous losses in the fight (only 82 out of 220 original men remained effective), but they had also inflicted great harm on the enemy. As reported in his Medal of Honor citation, Barber’s “heroic command accounted for approximately 1,000 enemy dead in this epic stand in sub-zero weather.”

Over the next 5-7 days, the Americans fought, or as MajGen O.P. Smith said, "attacked in another direction," down a winding, treacherous, snow-packed road to Hungnam, a North Korean port 70 miles away. Through extraordinary willpower, exceptional war-fighting skills, and countless acts of valor, US Marines and soldiers escaped the Chosin trap.

By the time US forces, with thousands of North Korean refugees in tow, reached the evacuation beaches, nearly 6,000 Americans were dead or missing; thousands more were wounded. None of the men who survived the horrific battle would ever be the same. Today they are called “The Chosin Few.”

Mao’s attempt at destroying 1st Marine Division, however, had come at a high price. The communist dictator had lost an estimated 50,000 soldiers, including his eldest son, and had learned to never again underestimate the American fighting man

*This fierce battle led to the withdrawal of all United Nations forces from North Korea and to the award of 13 Medals of Honor to soldiers, pilots, and Marines who fought at the “frozen Chosin.”*_










Battle of Chosin Reservoir - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org






https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Frozen%20Chosin%20US%20Marines%20at%20the%20Changjin%20Reservoir%20%20PCN%2019000410000.pdf




https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA471198.pdf


----------



## BarnBuster (Nov 29, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_On 11 November 1944 B-29 air strikes against Tokyo were cancelled and Archerfish, originally assigned to lifesaving duties, was free to patrol the waters near Tokyo Bay. *On the night of 28 November she spots what is believed to be a tanker leaving the bay. Lookouts later determine that it’s a large aircraft carrier with three destroyer escorts.*

Archerfish CO, CDR Joseph F. Enright, begins a six-hour surface track on the carrier in anticipation of a submerged attack. When the carrier turned into the sub’s path six torpedos were fired. They were set for shallow running in order to increase the chances of a hit in case they ran deeper than set. Two torpedo hits were seen and four more were heard. The carrier sank in 5 hours.

Enright believed the target to be, and was credited for, a Hayataka-class carrier weighing 28,000 tons. Post war accounting identified the target as the Shinano, a 72,000 ton supercarrier, originally laid down as a Yamato-class battleship, the first of its kind. It was so secret it was being transferred from Yokusuka to Kure for final fitting out. One of the items on the list for installation were her watertight doors. Once the torpedos hit, the inexperienced crew could do nothing to save her. 

*Shinano remains the the largest warship ever sunk buy a submarine. Archerfish earned the Presidential Unit Citation for this patrol and Enright was awarded the Navy Cross. *

On September 2, 1945, Enright and his crew, along with eleven other submarines, were honored with the task of protecting USS Missouri (BB-63) during the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender._









USS Archerfish: Sinking the 72,000-ton Aircraft Carrier Shinano


USS Archerfish (SS-311) was a Balao-class submarine named after a toxotoid fish. The archerfish is an adept predator that shoots a high-pressure stream of




www.warhistoryonline.com


----------



## Hiphophippo (Nov 29, 2021)

6ohMax said:


> Unfortunatly those type are not within the ranks or they would be subject to all kinz of UCMJ


I got my ass handed to me in basic once by a woman with a mustache


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## smokinrav (Nov 29, 2021)

I had one of the first female DI in basic. She was a beast lol. No disrespect intended


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## BarnBuster (Nov 30, 2021)

_"Project Recover began as Dr. Pat Scannon’s vision to bring MIAs home from Palau in 1993. Formerly known as The BentProp Project, the organization has grown from a grassroots effort to a team of dedicated professionals and volunteers using innovative science to bring our MIAs home. Over nearly three decades, the team has located more than 30 US World War II aircraft associated with more than 100 MIAs in missions around the globe. 

In 2012, Project Recover was informally founded as a collaborative partnership between Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, and University of Delaware. In 2016, the partnership was formalized. In 2018, The BentProp Project officially changed its name to Project Recover. The organization works in close partnership with Scripps and UDel."_








Home


Project Recover is a collaborative effort to find and repatriate American MIAs for their recognition and closure for families and the Nation.




www.projectrecover.org








__





The BentProp Project






legacy.bentprop.org


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## BarnBuster (Dec 1, 2021)

​
*December 1, 1943, The first operational use of the American P-51D Mustang is in a fighter sweep over occupied Belgium.*_ The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain’s request. The design showed promise and AAF purchases of Allison-powered Mustangs began in 1941 primarily for photo recon and ground support use due to its limited high-altitude performance. 

But in 1942, tests of P-51s using the British Rolls-Royce “Merlin” engine revealed much improved speed and service ceiling, and in Dec. 1943, Merlin-powered P-51Bs first entered combat over Europe. Providing high-altitude escort to B-17s and B-24s, they scored heavily over German interceptors and *by war’s end, P-51s had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other fighter in Europe.*

The Mustang was the first single-engine plane based in Britain to penetrate Germany, first to reach Berlin, first to go with the heavy bombers over the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania, and first to make a major-scale, all-fighter sweep specifically to hunt down the dwindling Luftwaffe.

One of the highest honors accorded to the Mustang was its rating in 1944 by the Truman Senate War Investigating Committee as “the most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence.”

Mustangs served in nearly every combat zone, including the Pacific where they escorted B-29s to Japan from Iwo Jima. Between 1941-5, the AAF ordered 14,855 Mustangs (including A-36A dive bomber and F-6 photo recon versions), of which 7,956 were P-51Ds. During the Korean War, P-51Ds were used primarily for close support of ground forces until withdrawn from combat in 1953.



North American P-51 Mustang


_


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## raratt (Dec 1, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5038531​
> *December 1, 1943, The first operational use of the American P-51D Mustang is in a fighter sweep over occupied Belgium.*_ The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain’s request. The design showed promise and AAF purchases of Allison-powered Mustangs began in 1941 primarily for photo recon and ground support use due to its limited high-altitude performance.
> 
> But in 1942, tests of P-51s using the British Rolls-Royce “Merlin” engine revealed much improved speed and service ceiling, and in Dec. 1943, Merlin-powered P-51Bs first entered combat over Europe. Providing high-altitude escort to B-17s and B-24s, they scored heavily over German interceptors and *by war’s end, P-51s had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other fighter in Europe.*
> ...


My favorite WWII airplane. Nothing like the sound of those V12's.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 1, 2021)

raratt said:


> My favorite WWII airplane. Nothing like the sound of those V12's.


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## raratt (Dec 1, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


>


D-Day invasion stripes. They were put on before the campaign to identify the good guys to the ground troops so they wouldn't shoot at them.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 1, 2021)

raratt said:


> D-Day invasion stripes. They were put on before the campaign to identify the good guys to the ground troops so they wouldn't shoot at them.


My day is complete - I did not know that.


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## raratt (Dec 1, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My day is complete - I did not know that.


I have a bunch of useless knowledge.


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## curious2garden (Dec 2, 2021)

raratt said:


> I have a bunch of useless knowledge.


I'm calling dibs on you for any game of Trivial Pursuit!


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 2, 2021)

raratt said:


> I have a bunch of useless knowledge.


Comes with age


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## MisterKister (Dec 2, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My day is complete - I did not know that.


Now a days we have glint tape


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## GoatSoup (Dec 2, 2021)

I just watched "We were Soldiers" about Hal Moore and the I Drang valley, Nov 1965.
I was in Quin Nong and they came around asking for volunteers to help the Graves Registration unit process the truck loads of bodies from that battle. I'd been in country for three months and would soon fly all over the country resupplying the SF camps, even Dak To up in the I Drang. We always got shot at going there, 50 cals flying past the tailgate and had to pull up and hard right to avoid the mountain at the end of the valley.
If I have PTSD from Viet Nam it not due to combat, but from the realization that Washington and the Pentagon was not interested in us poor soldiers, but that a war meant more stars would fall on the ambitious cocksuckers that forced us into that hell hole for no reason.

FTA!


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## BarnBuster (Dec 3, 2021)

​
_*Specialist 2nd Class Charles Saunders of Winnie, Texas is finally home, 80 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The 18-year-old sailor from Winnie was among more than 400 who died on the USS Oklahoma, but his remains weren't identified until a few months ago through advanced DNA testing.*

At about 6 p.m. Thursday 12/2/2021, a Southwest Airlines jet carrying Saunders' remains landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport, under a ceremonial spray of water. Family members, the military and first responders were there for the arrival.

The casket draped in an American flag was removed from the jet and placed on a hearse for an escort to Broussard's in Winnie, accompanied by a large number of law enforcement officers, firefighters and other first responders. Our pictures and video are courtesy of Broussard's with the Houston Airport Authority allowing access.

A full military funeral with honors is scheduled for December 7 in Winnie, the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. A Graveside Service with Military Honors for Seaman 2nd Class Charles L. Saunders will be held at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, December 7, 2021, at Fairview Cemetery, Winnie. Exactly 80 years after his death he'll be buried next to his parents.

Saunders served as a Seaman, Second Class on the USS Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor on Ford Island in Hawaii. He was one of 429 sailors and marines who were killed when the USS Oklahoma was moored in the December 7 attack by Japanese forces.

On February 11, 2021, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) notified Saunders’ relatives that the remains of Seaman Second Class Charles Louis Saunders, missing from World War II, had been identified.

The family of Saunders says it provides a sense of relief and closure to finally know the fate of the Winnie sailor who never came home--until Thursday night. Saunders' niece says family members had been hoping and praying for the opportunity to bring him home.

Now it's finally happening, in time for a full military burial December 7, the 80th anniversary of the attack at Pearl Harbor_.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 3, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5039806​
> _*Specialist 2nd Class Charles Saunders of Winnie. Texas is finally home, 80 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The 18-year-old sailor from Winnie was among more than 400 who died on the USS Oklahoma, but his remains weren't identified until a few months ago through advanced DNA testing.*
> 
> At about 6 p.m. Thursday 12/2/2021, a Southwest Airlines jet carrying Saunders' remains landed at Bush Intercontinental Airport, under a ceremonial spray of water. Family members, the military and first responders were there for the arrival.
> ...


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## BarnBuster (Dec 4, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
*On December 4, 1917, well-known psychiatrist W.H. Rivers presents his report The Repression of War Experience, based on his work at the Craiglockhart War Hospital for Neurasthenic Officers, to the Royal School of Medicine*_. Craiglockhart, near Edinburgh, was one of the most famous hospitals used to treat soldiers who suffered from psychological traumas as a result of their service on the battlefield.

By the end of World War I, the army had been forced to deal with 80,000 cases of “shell shock,” a term first used in 1917 by a medical officer named Charles Myers to describe the physical damage done to soldiers on the front lines during exposure to heavy bombardment. It soon became clear, however, that the various symptoms of shell shock—including debilitating anxiety, persistent nightmares, and physical afflictions ranging from diarrhea to loss of sight—were appearing even in soldiers who had never been directly under bombardment, and the meaning of the term was broadened to include not only the physical but the psychological effects produced by the experience of combat.

The most important duty of doctors like Rivers, as prescribed by the British army, was to get the men fit and ready to return to battle. Nevertheless, only one-fifth of the men treated in hospitals for shell shock ever resumed military duty. Rivers’s patients included the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, who later wrote of his fellow inmates of Craiglockhart: These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished/Memory fingers in their hair of murders/Multitudinous murders they once witnessed._









Shell Shock Victims


British Pathe, the world's leading multimedia resource with a history stretching back over a century. The finest and most comprehensive archive of fabulous footage and stunning stills.




www.britishpathe.com









SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals


Subscription and open access journals from SAGE Publishing, the world's leading independent academic publisher.




journals.sagepub.com


----------



## smokinrav (Dec 4, 2021)

Interesting. As an out of shape burn out, I had no problem meeting 1987 basic training fitness standards. Not with that new lineup of exercises though. Good thing or bad, I don't know.
Females should not have to meet the fitness standards of men. This isn't the Marines.









Army replaces decades-old fitness exam with more rigorous test


The pushups and situps of the 1980s will be replaced by deadlifts, a medicine-ball throw and other drills better suited to prepare soldiers for modern warfare.




www.nbcnews.com


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## raratt (Dec 4, 2021)

Most of ours was running, but I was used to working at 4K feet so the air in San Antonio was really thick to me.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 5, 2021)

Today in Military History:












_*1964 December 05 The first Medal of Honor awarded to a U.S. serviceman for action in Vietnam is presented to Capt. Roger Donlon of Saugerties, New York, for his heroic action earlier in the year.*

Captain Donlon and his Special Forces team were manning Camp Nam Dong, a mountain outpost near the borders of Laos and North Vietnam. Just before two o’clock in the morning on July 6, 1964, hordes of Viet Cong attacked the camp. He was shot in the stomach, but Donlon stuffed a handkerchief into the wound, cinched up his belt, and kept fighting. He was wounded three more times, but he continued fighting–manning a mortar, throwing grenades at the enemy, and refusing medical attention.

The battle ended in early morning; 154 Viet Cong were killed during the battle. Two Americans died and seven were wounded. Over 50 South Vietnamese soldiers and Nung mercenaries were also killed during the action. Once the battle was over, Donlon allowed himself to be evacuated to a hospital in Saigon. He spent over a month there before rejoining the surviving members of his Special Forces team; they completed their six-month tour in Vietnam in November and flew home together. In a White House ceremony, with Donlon’s nine surviving team members watching, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented him with the Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism and intrepidity at the risk of his own life above and beyond the call of duty.” Donlon, justifiably proud of his team, told the president, “The medal belongs to them, too.”_

*The Citation*​
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while defending a U.S. military installation against a fierce attack by hostile forces. Capt. Donlon was serving as the commanding officer of the U.S. Army Special Forces Detachment A-726 at Camp Nam Dong when a reinforced Viet Cong battalion suddenly launched a full-scale, predawn attack on the camp. During the violent battle that ensued, lasting five hours and resulting in heavy casualties on both sides, Capt. Donlon directed the defense operations in the midst of an enemy barrage of mortar shells, falling grenades, and extremely heavy gunfire. Upon the initial onslaught, he swiftly marshaled his forces and ordered the removal of the needed ammunition from a blazing building. He then dashed through a hail of small arms and exploding hand grenades to abort a breach of the main gate. En route to this position he detected an enemy demolition team of three in the proximity of the main gate and quickly annihilated them. Although exposed to the intense grenade attack, he then succeeded in reaching a 60-mm mortar position despite sustaining a severe stomach wound as he was within five yards of the gun pit. When he discovered that most of the men in this gun pit were also wounded, he completely disregarded his own injury, directed their withdrawal to a location 30 meters away, and again risked his life by remaining behind and covering the movement with the utmost effectiveness. Noticing that his team sergeant was unable to evacuate the gun pit he crawled toward him and, while dragging the fallen soldier out of the gun pit, an enemy mortar exploded and inflicted a wound in Capt. Donlon's left shoulder. Although suffering from multiple wounds, he carried the abandoned 60-mm mortar weapon to a new location 30 meters away where he found three wounded defenders. After administering first aid and encouragement to these men, he left the weapon with them, headed toward another position, and retrieved a 57-mm recoilless rifle. Then with great courage and coolness under fire, he returned to the abandoned gun pit, evacuated ammunition for the two weapons, and while crawling and dragging the urgently needed ammunition, received a third wound in his leg by an enemy hand grenade. Despite his critical physical condition, he again crawled 175 meters to an 81-mm mortar position and directed firing operations which protected the seriously threatened east sector of the camp. He then moved to an eastern 60-mm mortar position and upon determining that the vicious enemy assault had weakened, crawled back to the gun pit with the 60-mm mortar, set it up for defensive operations, and turned it over to two defenders with minor wounds. Without hesitation, he left this sheltered position, and moved from position to position around the beleaguered perimeter while hurling hand grenades at the enemy and inspiring his men to superhuman effort. As he bravely continued to move around the perimeter, a mortar shell exploded, wounding him in the face and body. As the long awaited daylight brought defeat to the enemy forces and their retreat back to the jungle leaving behind 54 of their dead, many weapons, and grenades, Capt. Donlon immediately reorganized his defenses and administered first aid to the wounded. His dynamic leadership, fortitude, and valiant efforts inspired not only the American personnel but the friendly Vietnamese defenders as well and resulted in the successful defense of the camp. Capt. Donlon's extraordinary heroism, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.​


----------



## Singlemalt (Dec 5, 2021)

Norfolk’s Eddie Shames, last remaining ‘Band of Brothers’ officer, dies at 99


Eddie Shames was the last surviving officer of E Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division — the famous “Easy Company” that inspired the miniseries and the book “Band of Brothers.”




www.pilotonline.com




*Norfolk’s Eddie Shames, last remaining ‘Band of Brothers’ officer, dies at 99*
A Norfolk native and World War II veteran who parachuted into Normandy, fought in the Battle of the Bulge and inspired one of the characters in the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers,” has died.

Edward D. Shames, 99, died at home Friday in Virginia Beach. He was the last surviving officer of E Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division — the famous “Easy Company” that inspired the miniseries and book “Band of Brothers.”

Shames is survived by his sons Douglas and Steven, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. His wife, Ida, died in 2019. The couple had been married for 73 years.

Shames enlisted in the Army in 1942. He was only 19, and volunteers had to be 21 or older. So, he forged his mother’s signature knowing she would never agree to it, as told in The Lucky Few, a Pilot series on D-Day.


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## raratt (Dec 5, 2021)




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## raratt (Dec 5, 2021)




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## DarkWeb (Dec 5, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5041055


Grandpa had a international just like that.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 5, 2021)

RIP, Bob

​
_Former senator Bob Dole almost didn't make it to his 22nd birthday, let alone past his 90th. More than 70 years ago while on active duty in the hills of Italy during World War II, he was hit by Nazi machine-gun fire.

Dole had joined the Army's Enlisted Reserve Corps in 1942 and soon became a second lieutenant in the 10th Mountain Division. On April 14, 1945, Dole's "I" Company of the 85th Regiment was attempting to take Hill 913 in their zone when they ran into intense enemy fire raking a clearing they had to cross. Dole threw a grenade at a machine-gun nest and dove into a shell hole.

In his 1988 autobiography he wrote, "I could see my platoon's radioman go down … After pulling his lifeless form into the foxhole, I scrambled back out again. As I did, I felt a sharp sting in my upper right back."

Although he left the Army as a captain, in 2019 Congress voted to promote him to Colonel in honor of his service. 

In a 1998 campaign video Dole describes his wounding graphically: "Some high-explosive bullet entered my right shoulder, fractured my vertebrae in my neck. I — I saw these — things racing — my parents, my house. I couldn't move my arms, my legs." A medic gave the young lieutenant morphine, and then marked Dole's forehead with an "M" in his own blood. After nine hours on the battlefield before being evacuated to an Army field hospital, Dole was not expected to live.

Although Dole himself often makes light of his maimed right arm and his hospital stay, recalling his "bedpan promotion" to captain, in reality his recovery took him through several hospitals, nine operations, and over three years of rehabilitation and recuperation. He learned to write with his left hand and to rely on that arm, since his other cannot be used.

As one journalist pointed out during Dole's last presidential campaign, Dole neither exploits his disability nor shuns it. Rather, he has "folded it into his life" — through establishment of the Dole Foundation to help the disabled, by pushing the Americans With Disabilities Act through Congress, and by aligning himself with the physically impaired.









Bob Dole, Old Soldier and Stalwart of the Senate, Dies at 98


Mr. Dole, a son of the Kansas prairie who was left for dead on a World War II battlefield, became one of the longest-serving Republican leaders.




www.nytimes.com






Dole's War Record


_


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## DarkWeb (Dec 5, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> RIP, Bob
> 
> View attachment 5041235​
> _Former senator Bob Dole almost didn't make it to his 22nd birthday, let alone past his 90th. More than 70 years ago while on active duty in the hills of Italy during World War II, he was hit by Nazi machine-gun fire.
> ...


RIP Mr Dole


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## raratt (Dec 5, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> RIP, Bob
> 
> View attachment 5041235​
> _Former senator Bob Dole almost didn't make it to his 22nd birthday, let alone past his 90th. More than 70 years ago while on active duty in the hills of Italy during World War II, he was hit by Nazi machine-gun fire.
> ...


The Greatest Generation.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 6, 2021)

__





80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor brings end to victim-identification program (via the Wash


Twin brothers Leo and Rudolph Blitz were 16 when they applied to join the Navy. They were so young that their father had to go to the recruiting office in Omaha and give his permission. Rudolph wanted



www.dpaa.mil













USS Oklahoma casualties identified - Pearl Harbor National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)







www.nps.gov


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## Grandpapy (Dec 6, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5041055


Slippers?


----------



## raratt (Dec 6, 2021)

Grandpapy said:


> Slippers?


?


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## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2021)

​


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## Grandpapy (Dec 7, 2021)

raratt said:


> ?


It looks like two civilians on the tarmac, one with slippers next to him.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2021)

Grandpapy said:


> It looks like two civilians on the tarmac, one with slippers next to him.


I was thinking the guy working on the nose wheel/landing gear assy had what looks like a slip on type of shoe. Even blown up I couldn't say for sure.
Maybe anti-spark?


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## Singlemalt (Dec 7, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> I was thinking the guy working on the nose wheel/landing gear assy had what looks like a slip on type of shoe. Even blown up I couldn't say for sure.
> Maybe anti-spark?
> View attachment 5042241


The pic looks like it's an early 1950's color pic; check the style of clothes and the cops uniform


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## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2021)

Singlemalt said:


> The pic looks like it's an early 1950's color pic; check the style of clothes and the cops uniform


_"B-25 bomber planes at the North American Aviation, Inc., being hauled along an outdoor assembly line with an "International" tractor, in Kansas City, Kansas, in October, 1942" _Photograph by Alfred Palmer
_








World War II: The American Home Front in Color


Part 8 of a weekly 20-part retrospective of World War II




www.theatlantic.com




_
Search on Palmer's name , he's got quite a few photos of the North American and other Wartime plants.








North American B-25 bomber is prepared for painting on the outside assembly line, N[orth] A[merican] Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, Calif.


1 transparency : color.



www.loc.gov


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## BarnBuster (Dec 8, 2021)

Could a Young Army Pilot Have Prevented the Pearl Harbor Tragedy?


A fateful day—and question—shadowed Kermit Tyler all his life.




www.historynet.com


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## BarnBuster (Dec 8, 2021)

**
*An Afghan evacuee watches Air Force Senior Airman Stephen Crain smooth concrete onto a field at Task Force Holloman on Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Dec. 2, 2021. Photo By: Army Spc. Ashleigh Maxwell


A World War II veteran shows his French Legion of Honor medal during an event to mark the 80th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Oahu in Honolulu, Dec. 7, 2021. Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Aja Bleu Jackson 

*
*Navy Lt. j.g. Elizabeth Hwang greets a World War II "Rosie the Riveter" upon her arrival at the Honolulu International Airport, Dec. 2, 2021, to attend events marking the 80th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Oahu. Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Molly Crawford*​


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## BarnBuster (Dec 9, 2021)

_"It’s a shame that the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor received so little public attention. We are living in an era that holds some unpleasant resemblances to the period before the Japanese attack. And we are losing the capacity for surprise that could help us anticipate or avert a similar catastrophe in the future."









Opinion | Pearl Harbor and the Capacity for Surprise


Could we avert a similar catastrophe in the future?




www.nytimes.com













America Learned the Wrong Lessons From Pearl Harbor—And the World Is Still Living With the Consequences


How we remember Pearl Harbor and World War II has adversely shaped America's role in the world to this day




time.com




_


----------



## Hiphophippo (Dec 9, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> _"It’s a shame that the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor received so little public attention. We are living in an era that holds some unpleasant resemblances to the period before the Japanese attack. And we are losing the capacity for surprise that could help us anticipate or avert a similar catastrophe in the future."
> 
> 
> 
> ...


This is what I say about 9/11 kids today don’t understand the importance of our history and what we learn from it these are events that changed and defined the ways we live everyday today


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## BarnBuster (Dec 9, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> House passes bill to clear path for Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe to receive posthumous Medal of Honor
> 
> 
> A bill passed Tuesday night waives the federally mandated time limit for presenting Army Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe the nation’s highest award for valor.
> ...


at last








Alwyn Cashe to finally receive posthumous Medal of Honor for Iraq War heroism


Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe who died after walking through fire to save his men in Iraq, will finally be awarded the Medal of Honor.




taskandpurpose.com


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## BarnBuster (Dec 9, 2021)

Hiphophippo said:


> This is what I say about 9/11 kids today don’t understand the importance of our history and what we learn from it these are events that changed and defined the ways we live everyday today


When I was still working 15, 20 years ago (amongst the millennials of the day, many of them honor roll, merit grad's), I would ask them the significance of Dec 7, 1941 or the year 1776. Fully half or better had no clue.


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## Hiphophippo (Dec 9, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> When I was still working 15, 20 years ago (amongst the millennials of the day, many of them honor roll, merit grad's), I would ask them the significance of Dec 7, 1941 or the year 1776. Fully half or better had no clue.


Just a shame! when you forget your history it’s all bound to repeat itself and when I say repeat I mean the bad will repeat itself. we have to learn together and grow together as a nation and a world. I try to always explain the significance of our history to my children and wife for that part. If not our history and past what do we truly have


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## raratt (Dec 9, 2021)

*If you know a Veteran who is in crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and press 1.*


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## curious2garden (Dec 9, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> When I was still working 15, 20 years ago (amongst the millennials of the day, many of them honor roll, merit grad's), I would ask them the significance of Dec 7, 1941 or the year 1776. Fully half or better had *no clue*.


Doomed to repeat it


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## BarnBuster (Dec 9, 2021)

*
Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, a Tuskegee Airman, comments on a Red Tail painting during a tour of the 99th Flying Training Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, Dec. 6, 2021*.​_McGee earned his wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant on June 30, 1943, part of class 43-F. Along with his fellow pilots, he was sent to Selfridge Army Airfield in Michigan to begin combat training. By December 22, the group departed for overseas service. By February 1944, McGee was stationed in Italy. During his time fighting in the European Theater, he conducted harbor and coastal patrols, strafed targets on the ground, protected bombers in the air on their dangerous missions, and performed fighter sweeps against German targets.

On August 24, 1944 during a mission to escort B-17s to Czechoslovakia, McGee and two other Tuskegee Airmen each shot down enemy aircraft. McGee’s aerial victory was a German Fw-190. During his time in World War II, he flew the Bell P-39Q Airacobra, Republic P-47D Thunderbolt and North American P-51 Mustang.

McGee returned stateside on December 1, 1944, having flown a total of 136 combat missions. He then became an instructor pilot for the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber for the 477th Bombardment Group – all black bomber pilots, navigators and bombardiers that were being prepared for war, but did not deploy before the end of conflict.

McGee remained on active duty 30 years. He became a command pilot with over 6,000 total flight hours, 1,151 of those in combat. He flew fighter aircraft combat tours in three major military conflicts, completing 409 combat missions for the Army Air Forces and the Air Force, one of the highest by any Air Force fighter pilot*. * *He is the only known fighter pilot who flew 100 or more combat missions in each of the following wars: World War II, Korea and Vietnam. *

He went on to command the 44th Fighter Bomber Squadron in the Philippines from 1951-53, the 7230thSupport Squadron in Italy from 1961-63, the 16th Training Squadron from 1967-68, and was the commander of the Richard-Gebaur Air Reserve Base in Missouri in 1972, the first black commander of a stateside Air Force Wing.

Upon his retirement from the United States Air Force on January 31, 1973, Colonel McGee amassed many awards for his service and valor. These include the* Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with two clusters, Bronze Star, Air Medal with 25 clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with cluster, Presidential Unit Citation, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Hellenic Republic WWII Commemorative Medal, the French Legion of Honor*, and several campaign and service ribbons. On March 29, 2007, at a ceremony inside the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to McGee and all other surviving and deceased Tuskegee Airmen. The Congressional Gold Medal is the nation's highest civilian award. 

In 2011, he was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame. In February 2020, was promoted from colonel to brigadier general.
_


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## smokinrav (Dec 10, 2021)

Awesome story. Loved it.


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## smokinrav (Dec 10, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Could a Young Army Pilot Have Prevented the Pearl Harbor Tragedy?
> 
> 
> A fateful day—and question—shadowed Kermit Tyler all his life.
> ...


Love ya Kermit. It wasn't on you buddy.
I was Signal Corps. 33 Mike at the time. Even in the 80s we were treated as secondary soldiers. Just sayin...


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## smokinrav (Dec 10, 2021)

When I was at Fort Gordon, our busy work was guarding a camouflaged duess and a half. In the fucking Georgia desert (yes, it has one)


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## smokinrav (Dec 10, 2021)

Don't get me started on flowboxes and arrows lol


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## BarnBuster (Dec 10, 2021)

In addition to Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe that I mentioned yesterday, President Biden will present the MOH to 2 other soldiers in the coming weeks_, 

"Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee, a Green Beret who played a pivotal role in fighting off a complex suicide attack at FOB Ghazni, Afghanistan, in August 2013 and Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Celiz, an Army Ranger who died of wounds received in Paktia Province, Afghanistan, during a firefight with Taliban militants in July 2018."_









Three soldiers to be awarded Medals of Honor: report


The three soldiers will be honored in the coming weeks.




www.armytimes.com












Sergeant First Class Alwyn Cashe, Two Special Operations Soldiers To Receive Long Delayed Medal of Honor


SOFREP has followed the story of Alywin Cashe and the quest to see him awarded the Medal of Honor since September 2020. Now he and tow others will finally receive it.




sofrep.com


----------



## CatHedral (Dec 10, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> When I was at Fort Gordon, our busy work was guarding a camouflaged duess and a half. In the fucking Georgia desert (yes, it has one)


Ok where is this dry place in the state?


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## smokinrav (Dec 11, 2021)

Fort Gordon, Georgia. It has a spectacular array of landscapes, but guarding a truck, unused for years, in the middle of one of the largest army bases on Earth, deep in America, with an unloaded weapon, is just stupid.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 11, 2021)

Today in Military History:
​
_"When World War II abruptly gripped the United States in its deadly embrace, a people seething with anger struggled to avoid being sucked into a vortex of gloom. The stunning Japanese carrier raid of December 7, 1941 on Pearl Harbor turned out to be just the first in a succession of blows that threatened to sweep the American military out of East Asia and the Central Pacific. Although President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration endeavored to conceal the full extent of the US Pacific Fleet’s losses, no amount of censorship could conceal the fact that Japan had gained the upper hand. The valiant defense of Wake Island by US Marines, sailors, soldiers, and civilians became a potent rallying point for Americans in the dark days after Pearl Harbor._​
*"On December 11, 1941 a Japanese invasion task force steamed toward the beaches of Wake Island*_. Marine gunners played them like the sports fish in the water beneath the war machines. They watched the cruiser and six destroyers carefully and blasted them with the five-inch naval guns at 4500 yards.

One destroyer was sunk. Several of the other ships were damaged. The flotilla retreated with the knowledge there were true fighting men on Wake Island.

After the initial raid was fought off, American news media reported that, when queried about reinforcement and resupply, Cunningham was reported to have quipped “Send us more Japanese!” In fact, Commander Cunningham sent a long list of critical equipment—including gunsights, spare parts, and fire-control radar—to his immediate superior. It is believed that the quip was actually padding that is a technique of adding nonsense text to a message to make cryptanalysis more difficult.

The Japanese kept hammering at the island defenses, and ten days later the only surviving Wildcat fighter was lost. Pilots were assigned rifles and bayonets. A renewed enemy landing force sailed onto the beach, and 900 trained infantrymen invaded during the night of December 23. Construction workers and Marines fought side-by-side with everything they could, but by dawn, it was clear that there were too many Japanese.

The Commander Cunningham radioed Pearl Harbor. “Enemy on island. Issue in doubt.”

The Commander would later be quoted as saying, “I tried to think of something…We could keep on expending lives, but we could not buy anything with them.” He gave the order to surrender. The surviving eighty-one Marines and eighty-two civilians obeyed but destroyed everything they could find that the enemy could use as a weapon and disabled all the equipment they could. The Japanese claimed the victory at a great price.

Two destroyers and one submarine had been sunk by the Americans. Seven other ships were damaged, and twenty-one aircraft were shot down. The total lives lost by the Japanese was close to 1000. Their leaders were furious and exacted revenge on the prisoners. Stripped and tied with wire in such a way a sudden movement would cause strangulation, soldier, and civilian alike were made to sit in the sun on the concrete they had recently poured.

No water or food was given to them for two days. At one point, the captors installed machine guns near them, for a mass execution, they imagined. But, at last, they were fed spoiled and unsavory bits of food, and instructed to put quickly on clothing but not necessarily their own. Marines donned civilian pants, and construction workers were in khaki.

A spit polished, crisply white uniformed Japanese commander addressed the prisoners. An interpreter informed the group “the Emperor has graciously presented you with your lives.” One unfazed Marine replied, “Well, thank the son of a bitch for me!”

Toward the middle of January 1942, a merchant ship laid anchor at Wake Island. The prisoners were transported to China by ship. But as they were shoved toward the ship, two columns of Japanese sailors with clubs and belts formed and the prisoners were made to run between them, enduring savage beatings.

They were stuffed into the ship’s hold, became despondent, and were savagely treated. Shuffled about China and Japan, the Marines regained their spirit and endured tremendous hardships for the next three years. Eventually, after the atomic bomb attacks and Japanese surrender, they were rescued.

Ironically, the prisoners left on the island received a worse fate, working as slave labor until October 1943. Then on 5 October 1943, American naval aircraft from Yorktown raided Wake. 

*Two days later, fearing an imminent invasion, the Japanese Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered the execution of the 98 captured American civilian workers who had initially been kept to perform forced labor. The 98 were taken to the northern end of the island, blindfolded and executed with a machine gun.*

One of the prisoners (whose name has never been discovered) escaped the massacre, apparently returning to the site to carve the message 98 US PW 5-10-43 on a large coral rock near where the victims had been hastily buried in a mass grave. The unknown American was recaptured, and Admiral Sakaibara personally beheaded him with a katana. The inscription on the rock can still be seen and is a Wake Island landmark.

Before the final rescue, in July 1945, a strange thing happened in the prison camp. Japanese officers provided a formal dinner for the American officers, offering toasts and speaking of friendship. In the end, a high-ranking Japanese officer proposed a toast to “everlasting friendship between America and Japan.”

His side of the table smiled, nodded and waited for the American response. The skeleton faces of the Americans were still. At last a Major stood and said lightly, “If you behave yourselves, you’ll get fair treatment.”

The proverbial tables had turned. And the Americans promise of fair treatment far outshines the despicable behavior of the Japanese. On August 16 the prison guards were gone. Small children were assigned to protect the prisoners from possible civilian attack.

On September 1, the Marines patched a makeshift American flag together and hoisted it into the air. Supplies were air-dropped and at last, the 1st Cavalry Division liberated the prisoners. The war was over.

*After the war, Sakaibara and his subordinate were sentenced to death for the massacre of the 98 and for other war crimes. Several Japanese officers in American custody had committed suicide over the incident, leaving written statements that incriminated Sakaibara.

Admiral Sakaibara was hanged on 18 June 1947.* Eventually, Tachibana’s sentence was commuted to life in prison. The murdered civilian POWs were reburied after the war in Honolulu’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, commonly known as Punchbowl Crater.
_
*The Wake Island Device is an award device of the United States military which is presented as a campaign clasp to both the Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medals. A total of only 449 Marine Corps and 68 Navy personnel were eligible for the Wake Island Device, making it one of the rarest of United States military awards."*

“Wake Island began the war magnificently for the Marine Corps, and America found that the old soldierly virtues are still embodied in its fighting men. . . . Out of such actions as this a people’s strength and ultimate victory must come. America remembers Wake Island and is proud. The enemy remembers Wake Island and is uneasy.”​Major General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the Marine Corps (March 10, 1942)

​








Battle Of Wake Island


Facts, information and articles about the Battle Of Wake Island, December 8-23. 1941 Dates: December 8-23. 1941 Location: Wake Island in




www.historynet.com












The Battle of Wake Island: Nation’s Morale Lifted in 1941 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


The valiant defense of Wake Island by US Marines, sailors, soldiers, and civilians became a potent rallying point for Americans in the dark days after Pearl Harbor.




www.nationalww2museum.org












Battle of Wake Island


The Battle of Wake Island began simultaneously with the Attack on Pearl Harbor and ended on 23 December 1941, with the surrender of the American forces to the Empire of Japan. It was fought on and around the atoll formed by Wake Island and its islets of Peale and Wilkes Islands by the air, land...




military-history.fandom.com








__





The Forsaken Defenders of Wake Island


Described as one of the loneliest atolls in the Pacific, Wake Island is a submerged volcano top, which consists of Wake and two other islets, Wilkes and Peale. Wake Island is 450 miles from the nearest land, and approximately 2,300 miles from Honolulu. Claimed and annexed by the United States in...




www.history.navy.mil












Battle of Wake Island - All Those Who Surrendered Were Tortured, 98 Were Machine-Gunned


Before the threat of war in the Pacific and the outbreak of World War II, Wake Island was a stopping off point for vacationers aboard Pan American flights




www.warhistoryonline.com


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 11, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> Fort Gordon, Georgia. It has a spectacular array of landscapes, but guarding a truck, unused for years, in the middle of one of the largest army bases on Earth, deep in America, with an unloaded weapon, is just stupid.


Security forces school?


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## doublejj (Dec 13, 2021)

*USS Winston Churchill executive officer fired after refusing to get COVID vaccine*

WASHINGTON — A Navy commander has been fired from his job as the executive officer of a warship because he refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine as required and refused to be tested for the virus, Navy officials said Friday.

Cmdr. Lucian Kins was relieved of his duties Friday as second in command of the USS Winston Churchill, a destroyer, by Navy Capt. Ken Anderson, commander of Naval Surface Squadron 14. Officials said Kins was the first naval officer to be fired as a result of a vaccine refusal.









USS Winston Churchill executive officer fired after refusing to get COVID vaccine


Cmdr. Lucian Kins was relieved of his duties Friday as second in command of the USS Winston Churchill. Officials said Kins was the first naval officer to be fired as a result of a vaccine refusal.




www.stripes.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 13, 2021)

doublejj said:


> *USS Winston Churchill executive officer fired after refusing to get COVID vaccine*
> 
> WASHINGTON — A Navy commander has been fired from his job as the executive officer of a warship because he refused to get a COVID-19 vaccine as required and refused to be tested for the virus, Navy officials said Friday.
> 
> ...


Well, his career just went off the rails.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 14, 2021)

_The Monuments Men Foundation honors the legacy of the men and women who served in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section, known as the “Monuments Men,” and their unprecedented and heroic work protecting and safeguarding civilization’s most important artistic and cultural treasures from armed conflict.








Monuments Men and Women Foundation


The Monuments Men and Women Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization created to raise worldwide awareness about the service of the Monuments Men and Women. Its mission focuses on restitution of missing art, and education and preservation of these heroes' legacy.




www.monumentsmenfoundation.org














_​_








Rose Valland: Art Historian Turned Spy To Save Art From Nazis


How can it be that Rose Valland, a major heroine of the resistance against Nazi art plunder remains barely known? Even after spying in front of Nazis, including Göring, for four years.




www.thecollector.com




_​


----------



## raratt (Dec 14, 2021)

Air Force discharges 27 for refusal to get COVID vaccine


The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots. The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either...




www.yahoo.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 14, 2021)

raratt said:


> Air Force discharges 27 for refusal to get COVID vaccine
> 
> 
> The Air Force has discharged 27 people for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, making them what officials believe are the first service members to be removed for disobeying the mandate to get the shots. The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands have either...
> ...


In 24 years of active duty I cannot recall ever being "asked" if I wanted a shot/vaccine - you just dropped trow, took it & got back to work.


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## MisterKister (Dec 14, 2021)

I dodged the small pox vaccine repeatedly. Plus I never completed my anthrax vaccinations.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 14, 2021)

You joined 3 years ago so you're 43 y/o, born 1978 ish.
Routine Small Pox vaccinations ended in 1977.

Sounds like it was pretty easy to dodge.









Smallpox vaccine - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


----------



## MisterKister (Dec 14, 2021)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You're 40 y/o, so born 1978 ish.
> Routine Small Pox vaccinations ended in 1977.
> 
> Sounds like it was pretty easy to dodge.
> ...


It was a requirement before being deployed to Afghanistan.


----------



## MisterKister (Dec 14, 2021)




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## SpaceGrease (Dec 14, 2021)

Lol,I had to check for the scar coulda swore it was on the right arm ,nope .


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 14, 2021)

SpaceGrease said:


> Lol,I had to check for the scar coulda swore it was on the right arm ,nope .


I hid mine.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 15, 2021)

_“Helping Both Ends of the Leash”_









U.S. Soldier Seeking Help to Get Abandoned Puppies He Rescued Overseas Home for the Holidays


This holiday season Paws of War is seeking assistance with relocating two abandoned puppies for Staff Sgt. Jay who rescued both dogs while deployed overseas.




people.com





_








Paws of War


Paws of war trains and places shelter dogs to serve and provide independence to our U.S. military veterans that suffer from the emotional effects of war.




pawsofwar.org













Help a Vet...Save A Pet


pay with paypal




pawsofwar.networkforgood.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 16, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_*On December 16, 1944, the Germans launch the last major offensive of the war, Operation Autumn Mist, also known as the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium*. The Battle of the Bulge, so-called because the Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line, was the largest fought on the Western front.

The Germans threw 250,000 soldiers into the initial assault, 14 German infantry divisions guarded by five panzer divisions-against a mere 80,000 Americans. Their assault came in early morning at the weakest part of the Allied line, an 80-mile poorly protected stretch of hilly, woody forest (the Allies simply believed the Ardennes too difficult to traverse, and therefore an unlikely location for a German offensive). Between the vulnerability of the thin, isolated American units and the thick fog that prevented Allied air cover from discovering German movement, the Germans were able to push the Americans into retreat.

One particularly effective German trick was the use of English-speaking German commandos who infiltrated American lines and, using captured U.S. uniforms, trucks, and jeeps, impersonated U.S. military and sabotaged communications. The ploy caused widespread chaos and suspicion among the American troops as to the identity of fellow soldiers–even after the ruse was discovered. Even General Omar Bradley himself had to prove his identity three times–by answering questions about football and Betty Grable–before being allowed to pass a sentry point.

The battle raged for three weeks, resulting in a massive loss of American and civilian life._ _The devastating ferocity of the conflict also made desertion an issue for the American troops; General Eisenhower was forced to make an example of Private Eddie Slovik, the first American executed for desertion since the Civil War.

The war would not end until better weather enabled American aircraft to bomb and strafe German positions._
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
*Nazi atrocities abounded, including the murder of 72 American soldiers by SS soldiers in the Ardennes town of Malmedy. *​








How a Convicted Nazi War Criminal and 72 of His Men Walked Free


In the end, the man who had survived the Eastern and Western fronts and evaded the U.S. military justice system could not escape his past.




www.historynet.com












The Malmedy Massacre | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


Hitler had from the beginning posited the war effort as presenting only two possible outcomes: total victory or absolute defeat.




www.nationalww2museum.org





*MALMEDY MASSACRE INVESTIGATION*
*THE ARDENNES: THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE WINTER DEFENSE*


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## BarnBuster (Dec 16, 2021)

Selfless service and sacrifice: Meet the 3 newest Medal of Honor recipients


“Today we honor three outstanding soldiers whose actions embody ... selfless service."




taskandpurpose.com





*Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe 
The Citation*​Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn C. Cashe distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while engaging with the enemy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom on Oct. 17, 2005.​​Cashe was conducting a nighttime mounted patrol when the Bradley Fighting Vehicle he was in charge of was attacked by enemy small-arms fire. An improvised explosive device disabled the vehicle, causing it to become engulfed in flames.​​After exiting the vehicle, Cashe began to extract the trapped driver from the vehicle. After opening the hatch, Cashe and a fellow Soldier pulled the driver out, extinguished the flames on him and moved him to a position of relative safety. While doing so, Cashe’s fuel-soaked uniform ignited, causing severe burns to his body, but he continued toward the rear of the vehicle to help other Soldiers who were trapped in the troop compartment.​​At this time, the enemy noted Cashe’s movements and began to direct fire on his position. When another element of the company engaged the enemy, Cashe seized the opportunity by moving into the open troop door and aiding four of his Soldiers to escape from the burning vehicle. Afterwards, he noticed two other Soldiers had not been accounted for, and he reentered the burning vehicle to retrieve them. Despite the severe second- and third- degree burns covering the majority of his body, Cashe persevered through the pain to encourage his fellow Soldiers and ensured they received needed medical care.​​When the medical evacuation helicopters arrived, he selflessly refused to board until all of the other wounded Soldiers were evacuated first. Cashe died from wounds sustained in this action on Nov. 8, 2008, at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas. His heroic actions, at the cost of his life, saved the lives of his teammates.​​Throughout the entire engagement, Cashe repeatedly placed himself in extreme danger to protect his team and to defeat the enemy. Cashe’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.​​​*Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee 
The Citation*​
Then-Staff Sgt. Earl D. Plumlee distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while engaging with the enemy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 28, 2013.​​Plumlee served as a weapons sergeant assigned to Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), at Forward Operating Base Ghazni, when the complex was attacked. Plumlee instantly responded to a massive explosion that caused a 60-foot breach in the base’s perimeter wall. Ten insurgents wearing Afghan National Army uniforms and suicide vests poured through the breach.​​“The strongest emotion I had from that day was the last time we were pushing down and had really gotten organized we were moving as a really aggressive, synced up stack, moving right into the chaos,” Plumlee said. “It was probably the proudest moment of my career, just to be with those guys, at that time, on that day was just awesome.”​​Plumlee and five other special operations Soldiers, intent on defending the base, mounted two vehicles and raced toward the detonation site. Plumlee’s driver purposefully maneuvered the vehicle into enemy fire to shield three dismounted teammates, two of whom were injured, placing the vehicle under effective enemy fire from the front and right side.​​Using his body to shield the driver from enemy fire, Plumlee exited the vehicle while simultaneously drawing his pistol and engaging an insurgent 15 meters to the vehicle’s right. Without cover and with complete disregard for his safety, he advanced toward the enemy force, engaging multiple insurgents with only his pistol. Upon reaching cover, he killed two insurgents.​​Plumlee left cover and continued to advance alone. Moving forward, he engaged several combatants at close range. Under intense enemy fire, Plumlee temporarily withdrew to cover, where he joined another Soldier.​​Plumlee, ignoring his injuries, quickly regained his bearings and reengaged the enemy. Intense enemy fire once again forced the two Soldiers to temporarily withdraw. Undeterred and resolute, Plumlee joined a small group of American and coalition soldiers moving from cover to counterattack the infiltrators. As the coalition forces advanced, Plumlee engaged an insurgent to his front-left.​​Plumlee then ran to a wounded Soldier, carried him to safety, and rendered first aid. Afterwards, he organized three coalition members in a defensive stance as he methodically cleared the area, remained in a security posture and continued to scan for any remaining threats.​​Throughout the entire engagement, Plumlee repeatedly placed himself in extreme danger to protect his team and the base, and to defeat the enemy. Plumlee’ s extraordinary heroism and selflessness beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.​

*Sgt. 1st Class Christopher A. Celiz
The Citation*​
Sgt. 1st Class Christopher A. Celiz distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while engaging with the enemy in Paktia Province, Afghanistan, on July 12, 2018.​​As the leader of a special operations unit comprised of partnered forces and members of the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Celiz led an operation to clear an area of enemy forces and thereby disrupt future attacks against the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.​​Shortly after his team reached their initial objective, a large enemy force attacked. The enemy placed effective fire on him and his team, preventing them from maneuvering to a counterattack. Realizing the danger to his team and the operation, Celiz voluntarily exposed himself to intense enemy machine-gun and small-arms fire.​​Under fire, he retrieved and employed a heavy weapon system, thereby allowing U.S. and partnered forces to regain the initiative, maneuver to a secure location, and begin treating a critically wounded partnered force member.​​As the medical evacuation helicopter arrived, it was immediately engaged by accurate and sustained enemy fire. Knowing how critical it was to quickly load the wounded partner, Celiz willingly exposed himself again to heavy enemy fire so he could take charge to direct and lead the evacuation. As the casualty was moved from a position of cover, Celiz made a conscious effort to ensure his body acted as a physical shield to protect his team, the injured partner and the crew of the aircraft from enemy fire. After the wounded partner was loaded, Celiz's team returned to cover, but he remained with the aircraft, returning a high volume of fire and constantly repositioning himself to act as a physical shield to the aircraft and its crew.​​With his final reposition, Celiz placed himself directly between the cockpit and the enemy, ensuring the aircraft was able to depart. Upon the helicopter’s liftoff, Celiz was hit by enemy fire. Fully aware of his injury, but understanding the peril to the aircraft, Celiz motioned to the pilots to depart rather than remain to load him. His selfless actions saved the life of the evacuated partnered force member and almost certainly prevented further casualties among other members of his team and the aircrew. Celiz died as a result of his injuries. His extraordinary heroism and selflessness beyond the call of duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 16, 2021)

Where's the Salute emoji?


----------



## smokinrav (Dec 16, 2021)

I need one here, too. RIP and thank you.









Biden grants Medal of Honor to first black soldier since Vietnam


Sgt Alwyn Cashe was among three US veterans to receive the highest US military award.



www.bbc.com


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 16, 2021)

smokinrav said:


> I need one here, too. RIP and thank you.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yep, he was the first in BB's post.
RIP Brother.


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## smokinrav (Dec 16, 2021)

Ha. Didn't even see it. Much better descriptions as well.


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 17, 2021)

*President Joe Biden on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, signed into law a bill to award Congressional Gold Medals to the 11 Marines, one sailor and one soldier who died in a suicide bombing Aug. 26 at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. Top row, from left: Sgt. Nicole L. Gee, Cpl. Daegan W. Page, Lance Cpl. David L. Espinoza, Lance Cpl. Dylan R. Merola and Lance Cpl. Kareem M. Nikoui. Center row, from left: Seaman Maxton W. Soviak, Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, Cpl. Hunter Lopez, Sgt. Johanny Rosario Pichardo and Staff Sgt. Ryan C. Knauss. Bottom row, from left: Lance Cpl. Rylee J. McCollum, Lance Cpl. Jared M. Schmitz and Staff Sgt. Darin T. Hoover. *​


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 19, 2021)




----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 20, 2021)

Today in Military History:

​
_"The 1st American Volunteer Group, also known as AVG, and more famously as the Flying Tigers—was a group of volunteer American pilots from various branches of the military, led by Lieutenant General Claire Lee Chennault.

Answering a call from Madame Chiang Kai Shek, Chennault initially gathered together the AVG to perform a survey of the Chinese Air Force. The AVG was comprised of 3 squadrons: 1st Adam and Eves, 2nd Panda Bears, and 3rd Hell’s Angels.

*The group first saw combat after Pearl Harbor on December 20, 1941, and went on to produce multiple victories against the Japanese, and emerged with multiple Flying Aces*. Chennault employed his fighter doctrine, which was based on careful study of the enemy’s tactics, while employing their strengths in altitude. The Flying Tigers were famous too for their successes in the air battle over Rangoon.

*In addition to their combat victories, the Flying Tiger members and Chennault were highly celebrated, and in 1992, AVG veterans were finally recognized as members of the U.S.military services, and all members were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The ground crew were rewarded the Bronze Star. The AVG was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for "professionalism, dedication to duty, and extraordinary heroism." In 2015 China gave solid gold medals to five surviving members of the Flying Tigers.*

"The Flying Tigers is the trailblazer of China-U.S. cooperation," Li Qiangmin, consul general of the People's Republic of China in Houston, told people gathered Saturday at the Chennault Aviation & Military Museum in Monroe. "With the blood we shed together, we achieved the victory against Japan and built the new world order, which aimed to bring peace and prosperity to all mankind."

Pilot Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, who would go on to receive the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross, told Aviation History Magazine in the 1980s: "I resigned my commission and accepted the job with the AVG in September 1941, since rank was slow in coming and I needed the money. ... And with an ex-wife, three kids, debts and my lifestyle, I really needed the work."

The last surviving member of the original AVG, Frank Losonsky, died in February 2020.

In popular culture, the Flying Tigers are readily recognizable in their iconic shark face nose art."_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 20, 2021)

I could watch & listen to this all day!


----------



## SubmergedGrow (Dec 20, 2021)

Hey there Fuctards!

20 years on Submarines, retired in 2016, 100% P&T, kicked the VA’s pills and I started growing my own since 20OCT21.

I am in Prohibition Land, so my “local” hydro store is a 6 hour round trip drive.

Just starting out and tried to drowned all my first seedlings.

As long as I learn from each mistake and don’t make the same one twice….I’m hoping my first run is actually usable!

So basically, I am about to graduate Cannabis Boot Camp and start my real medical work!

Grow on my brothers and sisters!!


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 20, 2021)

Welcome aboard mate.
24 years A/D, 14 years riding ships (on the top though).


----------



## raratt (Dec 20, 2021)

SubmergedGrow said:


> Hey there Fuctards!
> 
> 20 years on Submarines, retired in 2016, 100% P&T, kicked the VA’s pills and I started growing my own since 20OCT21.
> 
> ...


This site is a great resource for anything growing. Most all the things you need to know are in it. Welcome to RIU brother.








How to Grow Cannabis (Easy 10-Step Guide) | Grow Weed Easy


Are you ready to start growing cannabis at home? It's surprisingly easy when you stick to the 10 simple steps in this grow guide. Start growing today!




www.growweedeasy.com


----------



## SubmergedGrow (Dec 20, 2021)

raratt said:


> This site is a great resource for anything growing. Most all the things you need to know are in it. Welcome to RIU brother.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Jumpin down the rabbit hole now!!

Thanks brother!!


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 20, 2021)

SubmergedGrow said:


> Hey there Fuctards!
> 
> 20 years on Submarines, retired in 2016, 100% P&T, kicked the VA’s pills and I started growing my own since 20OCT21.
> 
> ...






Welcome to RIU


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## Sir Napsalot (Dec 20, 2021)

When I joined the navy it was the only branch of the military which excluded bedwetters


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 21, 2021)

Today in Military History:

*On December 21, 2003, Time Magazine names "The American Soldier" as Person of the Year*

​


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 21, 2021)

Sir Napsalot said:


> When I joined the navy it was the only branch of the military which excluded bedwetters


Someone was coached by his recruiter to say "no" wern't they?


----------



## smokinrav (Dec 21, 2021)

I'd love to have met Pappy Boyington, but he'd probably beat the shit out of me for being such an Army pussy lol


----------



## doublejj (Dec 21, 2021)

The missing weaponry includes assault rifles, machine guns, handguns, armor-piercing grenades, artillery shells, mortars, grenade launchers and plastic explosives.








New reforms target US military's missing weapons problem


The Department of Defense is overhauling how it keeps track of its guns and explosives, and Congress is requiring more accountability from the Pentagon -- responses to an Associated Press investigation that showed lost or stolen military weapons were reaching America’s streets.




apnews.com


----------



## doublejj (Dec 21, 2021)

This day in military history......
*Sherman’s March to the Sea*
From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.









Sherman’s March to the Sea


From November 15 until December 21, 1864, Union General William T. Sherman led some 60,000 soldiers on a 285-mile march from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia. The




www.history.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 21, 2021)

*Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Christophe Decasanova helps Gunner Sadler cut a cake in Gunner’s home in Bloomington, Ill., Dec. 18, 2021. The Marine Corps coordinated with the Sadler family to conduct the ceremony to honor Gunner’s strength and tenacity, guided by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Gunner’s father is a Marine Corps veteran who wanted to share a Corps tradition with his son. Photo By: Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Tyler M. Solak*
​


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## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2021)

*
Anthony McAuliffe (centre) and his officers in Bastogne, Belgium, December, 1944. The commander of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne would go down in history for his defiant, one syllable reply to a German surrender ultimatum.*​

_In mid-December 1944, Allied forces were surprised by a massive German offensive through the Ardennes Forrest that created a “bulge” in the Allied lines. Caught in what would become known as the “Battle of the Bulge,” the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Armed Forces was holed up in Bastogne while German armored divisions encircled the town. Outnumbered, outgunned, and running out of food, ammunition, and medical supplies, the embattled assistant division commander, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, faced bleak prospects.

*On December 22, the American troops were sent an ultimatum from the German forces outside of the town, demanding “the honorable surrender” of the town within two hours. General McAuliffe reply was brief and succinct:*_

*“To the German Commander:

N U T S !

The American Commander”*​
_Having made their position clear, the Americans dug in and waited for the attack. Contrary to German expectations, the 101st held out and reinforcements arrived in the form of the US Army’s 4th Armored Division. The Battle of the Bulge continued for several more weeks, with thousands of casualties on both sides, but by the end of January 1945, the Allies had retaken all the territory lost to the Germans and were headed toward Berlin.









The story of the NUTS! reply


This story retraces the events of December 22nd, 1944 at Bastogne, Belgium, the day we received German surrender ultimatum and issued the subsequent




www.army.mil












Surrounded. Low on supplies. Freezing. The Nazis demanded his surrender. He replied: 'Nuts!"


On Dec. 22, 1944, 4 German soldiers walked to American lines in Bastogne, Belgium with a message asking for surrender. The general said no.




taskandpurpose.com




_


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 23, 2021)

Today in Military History:

*
USS Pueblo crew members cross the bridge from North Korea at Panmunjom after their release on December 23, 1968. (Pete Vegell/Stars and Stripes*​
*The crew and captain of the U.S. intelligence gathering ship Pueblo are released December 23, 1968, after 11 months imprisonment by the government of North Korea. *_The ship, and its 83-man crew, was seized by North Korean warships on January 23 and charged with intruding into North Korean waters.

The seizure infuriated U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. Later, he claimed that he strongly suspected (although it could not be proven) that the incident with the Pueblo, coming just a few days before the communist Tet Offensive in South Vietnam, was a coordinated diversion. At the time, however, Johnson did little. The Tet Offensive, which began just a week after the ship was taken by North Korea, exploded on the front pages and televisions of America and seemed to paralyze the Johnson administration. To deal with the Pueblo incident, the United States urged the U.N.’s Security Council to condemn the action and pressured the Soviet Union to negotiate with the North Koreans for the ship’s release.

It was 11 long months before the Pueblo‘s men were freed. Both captain and crew were horribly treated and later recounted their torture at the hands of the North Koreans. With no help in sight, Captain Lloyd Bucher reluctantly signed a document confessing that the ship was spying on North Korea. With this propaganda victory in hand, the North Koreans released the prisoners and also returned the body of one crewman who died in captivity. Some Americans criticized Johnson for not taking decisive retaliatory action against North Korea; others argued that he should have used every diplomatic means at his disposal to secure a quick release for the crew. In any case, the event was another blow to Johnson and America’s Cold War foreign policy.

Commander Bucher did not receive any kind of award for his leadership and conduct in captivity. However, several of his crewmen did as a result of exceptional resistance to North Korean interrogation and torture, although all were downgraded one level below what Bucher recommended. Sergeant Robert J. Hammond, USMC, was awarded the Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism as he “through his unyielding resistance and fierce loyalty to his shipmates and country, became a symbol of resistance, courage, and dedication to the United States.” Silver Star Medals were awarded to Lieutenant Frederic Carl Schumacher and posthumously to Fireman Duane Hodges. In addition, six Bronze Star Medals (with Combat V) were awarded. When the Prisoner of War Medal was created in 1985, the crew of Pueblo was initially not considered eligible (despite the “Combat V” on previous awards) because the U.S. Navy classified them as “illegally detained” rather than “prisoners of war.” Congress passed a law overturning this characterization, and the crew was awarded the Prisoner of War Medal in 1990 along with a Purple Heart for wounds suffered in the initial attack, and beatings and torture endured in captivity.

Following his release, Bucher was subjected to a court of inquiry by the Navy. A court martial was recommended. However, the Secretary of the Navy, John H. Chafee, intervened on Bucher's behalf and no action was taken against him. Bucher followed his orders to not start any international incidents, and he felt that while a ship could be replaced, lives could not.

Bucher was not found guilty of any indiscretions and continued his Navy career until retirement in the rank of commander.

*USS Pueblo remains the second oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy.* However, it is a museum ship in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang._









Pueblo crew of 82 freed by N. Korea


The 82 crewmen of the USS Pueblo began their trek to freedom Monday at 11:30 a.m. Korean standard time across a small footbridge nicknamed "the bridge of no return" leading from North Korea to the truce site at Panmunjom.




www.stripes.com








__





H-025-3 USS Pueblo Crew Release


H-Gram 025, Attachment 3 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC 31 January 2019




www.history.navy.mil


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## Thodoph (Dec 23, 2021)

To all my brothers and sisters thank you for your sacrifice and your service.
Also MERRY Christmas to all.
All soldiers past or present hold a special place in heart.
Jump no 82nd


----------



## Thodoph (Dec 23, 2021)

Thodoph said:


> To all my brothers and sisters thank you for your sacrifice and your service.
> Also MERRY Christmas to all.
> All soldiers past or present hold a special place in heart.
> Jump no 82nd


I meant. Jump on 82nd not jump no 82nd


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## BarnBuster (Dec 23, 2021)

​
_"Eighth Army soldiers did Thursday what Eighth Army soldiers have done in South Korea’s capital city this time of year since 1951. They turned out for temporary duty as Santa’s helpers and delivered toys to the Namsan-won Orphanage built by their predecessors during the Korean War. For 70 years, Namsan-won and Eighth Army have worked together to make Christmas a holiday the children can look forward to. The orphanage, founded in 1951 in Namsan in the heart of Seoul, was built by South Korean and Eighth Army soldiers. The orphanage, itself a historic site, is home today to 47 children – 19 boys and 28 girls ranging from 3 months to teenagers."_








Eighth Army continues Christmas toy tradition in Seoul born of Korean War


For 70 years, Namsan-won Orphanage and Eighth Army have worked together to make Christmas a holiday the children can celebrate.




www.stripes.com


----------



## doublejj (Dec 24, 2021)

*Wave of suicides hits Texas National Guard on border mission*








Wave of suicides hits Texas National Guard’s border mission


Operation Lone Star's sudden and rapid expansion has left many Texas guardsmen struggling to balance their military and civilian lives, sometimes with tragic results.




www.armytimes.com


----------



## doublejj (Dec 24, 2021)

Mounted US Coast Guard patrols WW2.....Gotta love those Coasties


----------



## curious2garden (Dec 24, 2021)

doublejj said:


> Mounted US Coast Guard patrols WW2.....Gotta love those Coasties


@GreatwhiteNorth can horses swim well?


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 24, 2021)

_"Every year around the holidays, millions of children worldwide anticipate the festivities associated with Christmas: the carefully wrapped presents, a fresh snowfall that covers Santa Claus-decorated households, the piney smell of the tree, and spending time with friends and family.

But in 1948, the children of Berlin weren’t searching for Santa Claus — they needed a Christmas miracle. And his name was Gail Halvorsen, the famed “Berlin Candy Bomber” who dropped boxes of chocolate and gum from his plane using tiny handkerchief parachutes to the smiling children below, often at the instruction of crayon-drawn maps and letters. The spirit of Christmas was fueled by Halvorsen’s desire to restore the hope the Soviets were threatening to extinguish_."













Fighting Communism with Candy: The Berlin Candy Bomber


But in 1948, the children of Berlin weren’t searching for Santa Claus — they needed a Christmas miracle. And his name was Gail Halvorsen, the famed “Berlin Candy Bomber” who dropped boxes of chocolate and gum from his plane using tiny handkerchief parachutes to the smiling children below, often...




coffeeordie.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 25, 2021)

Today in Military History:

 ​_
*Just after midnight on Christmas morning 1914 , the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols*. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.

At the first light of dawn, many of the German soldiers emerged from their trenches and approached the Allied lines across no-man’s-land, calling out “Merry Christmas” in their enemies’ native tongues. At first, the Allied soldiers feared it was a trick, but seeing the Germans unarmed they climbed out of their trenches and shook hands with the enemy soldiers. The men exchanged presents of cigarettes and plum puddings and sang carols and songs. There was even a documented case of soldiers from opposing sides playing a good-natured game of soccer.

The so-called Christmas Truce of 1914 came only five months after the outbreak of war in Europe and was one of the last examples of the outdated notion of chivalry between enemies in warfare. In 1915, the bloody conflict of World War I erupted in all its technological fury, and the concept of another Christmas Truce became unthinkable.









The Real Story of the Christmas Truce


The Christmas Truce has become one of the most famous and mythologised events of the First World War. But what was the real story behind the truce? Why did it happen and did British and German soldiers really play football in no-man's land?




www.iwm.org.uk












The Story of the WWI Christmas Truce


It has become a great legend of World War I. But what really happened when British and German troops emerged from their trenches that Christmas Day?




www.smithsonianmag.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Dec 25, 2021)

Christmas Day in a war torn world


25th December 1941: From Washington to Hong Kong via North Africa, France and Russia




www.ww2today.com


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## cannabineer (Dec 25, 2021)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> 
> View attachment 5053453 View attachment 5053454​_
> *Just after midnight on Christmas morning 1914 , the majority of German troops engaged in World War I cease firing their guns and artillery and commence to sing Christmas carols*. At certain points along the eastern and western fronts, the soldiers of Russia, France, and Britain even heard brass bands joining the Germans in their joyous singing.
> ...


I have read it said that that was the last night of the 19th century.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 25, 2021)

cannabineer said:


> I have read it said that that was the last night of the 19th century.


I had not heard/read that. A couple of additional articles...








The Last Gasp of Peace: The Christmas Truce of 1914 and the Modern Profession of Arms - War on the Rocks


Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2019. The story of the Christmas Truce of 1914 is often considered “played out,” especially in



warontherocks.com





*The Christmas Truce: Myth, Memory, and the First World War*


----------



## BarnBuster (Dec 30, 2021)

​
*Sinbad, the canine-mascot of the USCGC Campbell during World War II, passed away at his last duty station, the Barnegat Lifeboat Station, at the ripe old age of 15 on December 30, 1952.*_ He served on board the cutter throughout the war and earned his way into Coast Guard legend with his shipboard and liberty antics.

The Coast Guard Cutter Campbell steamed out from New York in the winter of 1937. Like most peacetime cutters, she was patrolling the American coast, both for national defense and lifesaving mission. On the first day of their patrol, the captain addressed his crew, explaining the seriousness of their missions, and that he expected all of them to be well behaved, hardworking, and disciplined. What he didn’t expect, though, was to be greeted by a small brown dog barking at him from behind the crew.

The night before, one of the crew, Boatswain’s Mate “Blackie” Roth had gotten his girlfriend a dog, hoping to make his absence less painful. But he hadn’t taken into account that her landlord had a no pets policy, and she couldn’t take the small brown ball of fur. Stowing the pup in his duffel bag Roth sneaked back on board, just before 8 PM. He and the other men decided that this small mutt would be their new mascot and that he needed a fitting salty sailor name. After much debate, they settled on Sinbad the Sailor.

The next day, during muster, while the captain was addressing the crew, Sinbad made his presence known. The Chief Boatswain’s Mate, a very respected position on board a cutter, pleaded with the captain, asking that Sinbad be allowed to stay on board. The captain was a kind fellow, and like all sailors had a soft spot for those trapped at sea. He allowed Sinbad to stay on board, with the warning that he was the crew’s responsibility, and that he would have to learn to behave himself.

Sinbad, the Coast Guard Sailor, was one of the most important aspects of life on board the Campbell. He won the heart of everyone he met, and the entire crew rallied around him.

During his 11 years at sea, he almost caused two international incidents, one in Greenland, the other in Casablanca. He also helped fight submarines, drank whiskey and beer, and did his duty to cheer up every sailor he met. Once at Barnegat, he continued this service until his last days._

_ _
​








Meet Chief Dog Sinbad, The Cheerful and Brave Coast Guard Mascot of WW2


The Coast Guard Cutter Campbell steamed out from New York in the winter of 1937. She had a small four legged stowaway on board, who would soon be her mascot.




www.warhistoryonline.com








__





Naval History Magazine


Bringing the history of the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard to life.




www.navalhistory.org












Sinbad (dog) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## raratt (Dec 30, 2021)




----------



## raratt (Dec 30, 2021)

__





Home | pin-ups-for-vets







www.pinupsforvets.com


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## Thodoph (Dec 30, 2021)

Happy new year to all my brothers and sisters.
I hope the new year brings you peace and wealth.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 30, 2021)

In basic we actually had to memorize Sinbad stories during CG history classes.

He was/is a legend.


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## doublejj (Dec 30, 2021)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5056739


These are the mandatory vaccinations that all service members are required to receive before initial entry or basic training:


Adenovirus
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Influenza
Measles, mumps, rubella
Meningococcal
Poliovirus
Tetanus-Diphtheria
Varicella
Other vaccines administered depending on risk and occupation:


Anthrax
Haemophilus influenzae type B
Japanese encephalitis
Pneumococcal
Rabies
Smallpox
Typhoid fever
Yellow fever
and now you can add Covid...
*The Marine Corps Is Rapidly Forcing Out Vaccine Refusers, As Promised*








The Marine Corps Is Rapidly Forcing Out Vaccine Refusers, As Promised


According to the Corps’ latest update, it has separated 206 Marines to date with the vaccine refusal discharge code.




www.military.com


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## BarnBuster (Jan 1, 2022)

Military suicides are increasing. Theater of War is offering more than just a show of sympathy.


Introducing a Greek tragedy about a soldier who dies by his own hand is not what you think of as normal duty for one of the military's top brass. But that was the mission recently of the Special Operations Command Central commander in Tampa.




www.stripes.com


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## BarnBuster (Jan 4, 2022)

_Capt. Amy Bauernschmidt assumed command of the carrier in August, becoming the first female carrier skipper._








US Navy aircraft carrier deploys for the first time under the command of a female captain


The carrier also set sail with the first Marine Corps F-35C stealth-fighter squadron on board, making it the second carrier to deploy with these jets.




www.businessinsider.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 5, 2022)

*The first snow of the year covers headstones and wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Jan. 3, 2022*. *Photo By: Elizabeth Fraser, Army*



*A soldier assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as "The Old Guard," walks the mat during a snowstorm at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery, Va., Jan. 3, 2022*. *Photo By: Elizabeth Fraser, Army*



*Navy Cmdr. Laura Santiago’s son pins on her new rank during a promotion ceremony aboard the USS Tripoli in San Diego, Dec. 20, 2021.  Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Malcolm Kelley*​


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## doublejj (Jan 5, 2022)

*Active Army achieves 98 percent vaccination rate with less than one percent refusal rate*
The United States Army announced today that 468,459 active-component Soldiers have been vaccinated against COVID-19, fewer than 120 days after a vaccination mandate went into effect for all U.S. service members. That number represents 98 percent of the active-duty force who have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 96 percent – a total of 461,209 Soldiers – are fully vaccinated. 








Active Army achieves 98 percent vaccination rate with less than one percent refusal rate


The United States Army announced today that 468,459 active-component Soldiers have been vaccinated against COVID-19, fewer than 120 days after a vaccina...




www.army.mil


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## BarnBuster (Jan 7, 2022)

Lawrence Brooks, the Oldest Veteran in the US, Dead At 112


Brooks served with the 91st Engineer Battalion before being discharged in 1945.




www.warhistoryonline.com


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## GreauxFast (Jan 7, 2022)

SwarthySchlong said:


> View attachment 3399545 Air Force ride bicycles for PT.. and they have the hottest womens
> 
> Our army womens had mustaches and broad shoulders.


Marine Corps was worse….if we even saw a woman!


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## curious2garden (Jan 7, 2022)

GreauxFast said:


> Marine Corps was worse….if we even saw a woman!


Interesting, 4 posts in the grow area then it's all politics and here. Fascinating choice of who to reply to as well. Possibly you knew each other?

Anyway, welcome to RIU, praise rolli and post often.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 8, 2022)

A Soldier Sent a Letter to His Mom in 1945. It Was Just Delivered.


A letter from a 22-year-old U.S. Army sergeant serving in Germany was finally delivered last month to his widow in Woburn, Mass.




www.nytimes.com





_In 2020, the National Park Service announced that veterans and Gold Star Families, who've lost loved ones in the line of service to this country, would receive free access to the park service's 423 sites around the country. This new law makes the move permanent and also cements the *free annual passes* available for active-duty military.









Now Active-Duty Military, Veterans, And Gold Star Families Can Visit National Parks and Other Federal Lands For Free For Life


The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), signed into law on Dec. 27 after passing the House and ...




www.theepochtimes.com




_


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## DarkWeb (Jan 8, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> A Soldier Sent a Letter to His Mom in 1945. It Was Just Delivered.
> 
> 
> A letter from a 22-year-old U.S. Army sergeant serving in Germany was finally delivered last month to his widow in Woburn, Mass.
> ...


I have a letter from my grandfather sent to my great grandmother from somewhere in the Pacific. He was 16 when he joined.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 9, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​

*On "S-Day", 9 January 1945, the U.S. 6th Army landed on a roughly 25 mi (40 km) beachhead at the base of the Gulf between the towns of Lingayen and San Fabian beginning the invasion of Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the Philippines, thereby fulfilling Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur's 1942 pledge to recapture the island from the Japanese.*
_
Since the Japanese controlled nearly every island between the Philippines and Hawaii in 1942, getting to the Philippines meant seizing many of those islands, which included Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tinian, Tarawa and Peleliu. The islands would provide runways for U.S. aircraft and deny them to Japan.

Rather than strike directly at Luzon, Army and Navy planners decided first to capture the Philippine islands of Leyte and Mindoro to the south. Two airfields were established on Mindoro in late December 1944 from which aircraft would be launched to assist in the upcoming landings on Luzon. A U.S. fleet of some 70 ships carried 175,000 troops from the 6th Army to the beaches of Lingayen Gulf, on northwest Luzon, where the landings took place, Jan. 9, 1945. A naval bombardment of the shore assisted.

According to several naval historians, kamikazes were likely used more successfully by the Japanese at Lingayen Gulf, and beginning in the last two weeks of December 1944 in the Western Philippine islands of the Visayas and Mindoro, than in any other Pacific conflict with the possible exception of the Battle of Okinawa. At least for the kamikaze attacks on January 6 at Lingayen Gulf and likely earlier in the battle, eminent Naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote, they were "the most effective of the war in relation to the number of planes involved – 28 kamikazes and 15 fighter escorts." Though General McArthur had written that 58 kamikazes were employed on January 6, and 18 fighter escorts, a few more than Morison's estimate, Morison's conclusion as to the effectiveness of kamikazes still seems well taken considering the staggering damage done by roughly 100–200 kamikazes to around 47 ships in the ten days of the battle between January 3 – January 13, shown in the large table below. Those ten days in January 1945 on the way to and within Luzon's Lingayen Gulf resulted in the deaths of around 738 and the wounding of 1282 ship-based seamen, marines, and infantry

Then on Jan. 15, a second smaller invasion took place, 45 miles southwest of the capital Manila. Ultimately, 10 U.S. divisions and five independent regiments would see action on Luzon, making it the largest campaign of the Pacific war and involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy or southern France.

After heavy fighting, elements of the 1st Cavalry Division entered Manila, Feb. 4, 1945. In so doing, the soldiers liberated a camp holding about 4,000 civilian prisoners. 

Liberating Manila, the largest city in Southeast Asia, was not easy, however. Fighting continued until March 4, 1945, when the city was officially declared liberated.

Capture of Manila didn’t end the fighting, which continued in the hinterlands of Luzon right up until the surrender of Japan, Aug. 15, 1945.

Casualties on both sides were staggering. Around 230,000 Japanese were killed on Luzon. American casualties were also high. Ground combat casualties for the 6th and 8th Army were 10,380 killed and 36,550 wounded. 

By the summer of 1945, the Americans had thus destroyed nine of Japan's best divisions and made another six combat ineffective on Luzon. Losses stemming from the battle so drastically reduced Japanese air power that their use of kamikaze operations was necessary throughout the rest of the war.

It should be noted that Mexican and Australian troops also participated in the battle for Luzon, as well as a very large number of Filipino fighters._









Terror & Triumph at Lingayen Gulf


U.S. warships faced an onslaught of kamikazes off Luzon during the second great American amphibious landing in the Philippines.




www.usni.org












Invasion of Lingayen Gulf - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## BarnBuster (Jan 10, 2022)

The Pentagon’s 2021 report card: Cs, a couple Fs, and an incomplete


If the Pentagon were to be graded on its performance in 2021, the results would range from underwhelming to terrible — even on a curve.




taskandpurpose.com


----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 10, 2022)

*Marines walk together with Afghan children at Fort Pickett, Va., Jan. 5, 2022. *Photo By: Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Intriago



*The Stars and Stripes of the American flag are on display in the cockpit of an F-16 Fighting Falcon as the pilot prepares for refueling by a KC-10 Extender from Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 25, 2021*.  Photo By: Air Force Master Sgt. Dan Heaton



*Marine Corps 1st Lt. Gregory Dreibelbis enjoys a snowball fight with Afghan children at Fort Pickett, Va., Jan. 3, 2022.* Photo By: Marine Corps Lance Cpl. David Intriago​


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## raratt (Jan 10, 2022)

What it's like to spend 125 days flying the U-2, according to the only active-duty pilot to ever do it


Flying the U-2 means flying "alone, unarmed, and unafraid, many miles from your home base," a U-2 pilot told Insider.




www.yahoo.com





I might have spent 3000 hours in the engine bay doing wiring mods...


----------



## BarnBuster (Jan 12, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*January 12, 1879, the British-Zulu War begins as British troops under Lieutenant General Frederic Augustus invade Zululand from the southern African republic of Natal.*

In 1843, Britain succeeded the Boers as the rulers of Natal, which controlled Zululand, the neighboring kingdom of the Zulu people. Boers, also known as Afrikaners, were the descendants of the original Dutch settlers who came to South Africa in the 17th century. Zulus, a migrant people from the north, also came to southern Africa during the 17th century, settling around the Tugela River region.

In 1838, the Boers, migrating north to elude the new British dominions in the south, first came into armed conflict with the Zulus, who were under the rule of King Dingane at the time. The European migrants succeeded in overthrowing Dingane in 1840, replacing him with his son Mpande, who became a vassal of the new Boer republic of Natal. In 1843, the British took over Natal and Zululand.

In 1872, King Mpande died and was succeeded by his son Cetshwayo, who was determined to resist European domination in his territory. In December 1878, Cetshwayo rejected the British demand that he disband his troops, and in January British forces invaded Zululand to suppress Cetshwayo. The British suffered grave defeats at Isandlwana, where 1,300 British soldiers were killed or wounded, and at Hlobane Mountain, but on March 29 the tide turned in favor of the British at the Battle of Khambula.

At Ulundi in July, Cetshwayo’s forces were utterly routed, and the Zulus were forced to surrender to the British. In 1887, faced with continuing Zulu rebellions, the British formally annexed Zululand, and in 1897 it became a part of Natal, which joined the Union of South Africa in 1910._

*(The heroic defence of Rorke's Drift by British and Colonial troops occured 22–23 January 1879. 150 troops defended the station attack against 4000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, the most ever received for a single action by one regiment. bb)








Defence of Rorke's Drift | National Army Museum


The defence of Rorke's Drift took place on 22 and 23 January 1879 during the Zulu War (1879). A huge force of Zulus attacked a small British garrison who eventually repelled their assault after more than 12 hours of bitter fighting.




www.nam.ac.uk




*









Zulu War | National Army Museum


In 1879, the British fought a war against the Zulu kingdom. The Zulus resisted bravely and were only defeated after a series of particularly bloody battles that have gone down in the annals of colonial warfare.




www.nam.ac.uk





*THE BRITISH INVASION OF ZULULAND
The Zulu War Of 1879*


----------



## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 12, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> 
> View attachment 5065277​
> _*January 12, 1879, the British-Zulu War begins as British troops under Lieutenant General Frederic Augustus invade Zululand from the southern African republic of Natal.*
> ...


Dad passed down an original Martini-Henry Rifle in .577/450. I've never fired it & probably won't due to the complexity/expense of the ammunition though I see there are adapters out there to allow firing .45 Colt. I have one in my shopping cart - I may go that route.


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## doublejj (Jan 12, 2022)

*A letter from an American soldier has been delivered to his family -- 76 years after he mailed it*








A letter from an American soldier has been delivered to his family -- 76 years after he mailed it | CNN


Angelina Gonsalves received an unexpected, yet cherished, delivery from the US Postal Service last month -- a letter her late husband wrote to his mother while deployed overseas in 1945.




www.cnn.com


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## BarnBuster (Jan 13, 2022)

​
*On Jan. 13, 1942, German U-boat attacks officially started against merchant ships along the Eastern Seaboard of North America. From then until early August, German U-boats dominated the waters off the East Coast, sinking fuel tankers and cargo ships with impunity and often within sight of shore.*

_In less than seven months, U-boat attacks would destroy 22 percent of the tanker fleet and sink 233 ships in the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The U-boats killed 5,000 seamen and passengers, more than twice the number of people who perished at Pearl Harbor.

While thousands of New Englanders looked to the sky for enemy airplanes, few had any idea about the carnage wreaked in the waters nearby.

The U.S. Navy lied to the public about the terrifying U-boat attacks. The news media agreed to government censorship, which helped to hide the military’s incompetence in protecting shipping and the lives of merchant seamen.

In the first three weeks of January, U-123 would destroy eight ships and damage a ninth. During that time the nine German U-boats in the Atlantic destroyed 35 Allied merchant ships and a British destroyer and killed 1,219 crew and passengers.

In February, the killing continued. Sixteen U-boats destroyed 34 more Allied merchant ships and a warship between Nova Scotia and Venezuela and 15 more vessels, mostly oil tankers, in the Caribbean. The cargo ship Dixie Sword sank on Feb. 12, 1942 near Monomoy Island off Cape Cod.

The United States fired nary a shot in their defense. But by then, the U.S. military began to take some defensive measures against the U-boat attacks. Mine fields were laid in the harbors and mobile artillery was positioned to protect the harbors. Shore craft and planes were ordered to be ready for combat. It was something, at least.

In March, the U-boats attacked 48 ships, and almost all sank. They were easy prey as the U-boats could spot them easily against the lighted cars, buildings, streetlights and billboards along the coast. Ships continued to operate with all their lights on.

The U-boat attacks were destroying ships faster than the British and Americans could replace them. 
By April, the U.S. finally had a plan and a fleet of 65 antisubmarine vessels. At the end of the month, all tankers were ordered into port. No tankers hauled oil around the Atlantic Ocean until the they had escorts. From then on, most merchant ships traveled in escorted mini-convoys known as bucket brigades along the coast. At night, merchant ships put into sheltered harbors.

The Civil Air Patrol, one-fifth of which were women, began sorties. Pilots in small, privately owned aircraft patrolled the coast from bases stretching from Trenton, Maine, to Lantana, Fla.

Though they weren’t effective at sinking U-boats, the little planes prevented attacks. The U-boats were under orders to submerge at the sight of an aircraft. From March 5, 1942 to August 31, 1943, the Coastal Patrol flew 86,865 missions, sighted 173 U-boats, reported 91 ships in distress and 17 floating mines and rescued 363 survivors of U-boat attacks. Ninety planes were lost on those missions, and 26 people died.

Less effective than the ‘Flying Minutemen’ was the auxiliary patrol comprised of luxury yachts and small fishing boats known as the Hooligan Navy. Some, including Ernest Hemingway, volunteered. Some were requisitioned.

The Hooligan Navy didn’t sink any U-boats. The crew of one cabin cruiser was shocked to see a U-boat coming at them off the Florida coast. A German crewman yelled at them, “Get the hell out of here, you guys! Do you want to get hurt? Now scram.” The Hooligan Navy, however, did rescue hundreds of survivors of vessels sunk by U-boat attacks.

By the second half of April, Allied shipping losses fell by half. On April 17, a Coast Guard cutter sank U-175 with depth charges while escorting a convoy south of Iceland. On May 9, another Coast Guard vessel sunk U-352 in the North Atlantic.

In May and June, there were only 87 U-boat attacks on U.S. shipping. By July and August, the government finally ordered the coast blacked out, and U-boat attacks fell to 26 on the East Coast.

Military air defenses were getting stronger, and on July 7 the first Army Air Corps bomber sank U-701 with two bombs.

On July 19, German Admiral Donitz ordered the U-boats redeployed. Operation Drumbeat was over._









Undefended shore: American antisubmarine operations in 1942


In 1942 American merchant ships up and down the Atlantic Coast were being relentlessly attacked by German U-boats. Why did the U.S. Navy secretly decide to leave them unprotected?




www.navytimes.com




_








Fighting U-Boats in American Waters


By January 1942, German submarines had moved into American coastal waters and posed a serious threat to U.S. and Allied shipping. During the first three months of 1942, German U-boats sank more than



www.nationalmuseum.af.mil









U-Boats Off the Virginia Coast


U-Boats Off the Virginia Coast



www.virginiaplaces.org












‘Unbelievable how many ships we sank’ — When Nazi submarines had free rein of the East Coast


‘We were expecting the worst, but the Americans were totally unprepared. We had our choice of targets.’




taskandpurpose.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Jan 17, 2022)

Oldest World War II veteran is sent home with jazz band, White House letter


Lawrence Brooks praised in New Orleans at National WWII Museum funeral




www.nola.com













Tuskegee Airman Brig. Gen. Charles McGee dies at 102


Brig. Gen. Charles Edward McGee was one of the last surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen.




www.militarytimes.com


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## raratt (Jan 18, 2022)

Success! Eglin AFB, Hurlburt Field airmen involved in improving AC-130 gunship weapon


Airmen from Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field were involved in a successful effort to improve the 105mm gun used aboard AC-130 gunships.




www.yahoo.com





14 min long FYI.


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## raratt (Jan 18, 2022)

There is a command and control module that is compartmentalized that is slid into the cargo bay. That does all the target identification and weapon aiming/firing using IR/night vision imaging.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 18, 2022)

First Woman to Serve as Commanding Officer of USS Constitution in Ship’s 224-year History


BOSTON – USS Constitution’s first female commanding officer will take command of Old Ironsides during a change-of-command ceremony, scheduled for Friday, Jan. 21, at noon.



www.navy.mil


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## raratt (Jan 18, 2022)




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## cannabineer (Jan 18, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5069889


“that’s a nasty discharge you have there”


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## raratt (Jan 18, 2022)

cannabineer said:


> “that’s a nasty discharge you have there”


I don't know if a general will get you one of those...
Edit: they are issued for all discharges and include narratives outlining the offense/s.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 19, 2022)

raratt said:


> I don't know if a general will get you one of those...
> Edit: they are issued for all discharges and include narratives outlining the offense/s.


If I remember correctly a General will convert to a Good Conduct in 6 months lacking extenuating circumstances.
At least that's the way it used to work.


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## CatHedral (Jan 19, 2022)

One for the vets


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## BarnBuster (Jan 21, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​

*On January 21, 1977, U.S. President Jimmy Carter grants an unconditional pardon to hundreds of thousands of men who evaded the draft during the Vietnam War.*
_
In total, some 100,000 young Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early '70s to avoid serving in the war. Ninety percent went to Canada, where after some initial controversy they were eventually welcomed as immigrants. Still others hid inside the United States. In addition to those who avoided the draft, a relatively small number—about 1,000—of deserters from the U.S. armed forces also headed to Canada. While the Canadian government technically reserved the right to prosecute deserters, in practice they left them alone, even instructing border guards not to ask too many questions.

For its part, the U.S. government continued to prosecute draft evaders after the Vietnam War ended. A total of 209,517 men were formally accused of violating draft laws, while government officials estimate another 360,000 were never formally accused. If they returned home, those living in Canada or elsewhere faced prison sentences or forced military service. During his 1976 presidential campaign, Jimmy Carter promised to pardon draft dodgers as a way of putting the war and the bitter divisions it caused firmly in the past. After winning the election, Carter wasted no time in making good on his word. Though many transplanted Americans returned home, an estimated 50,000 settled permanently in Canada.

Back in the U.S., Carter’s decision generated a good deal of controversy. Heavily criticized by veterans’ groups and others for allowing unpatriotic lawbreakers to get off scot-free, the pardon and companion relief plan came under fire from amnesty groups for not addressing deserters, soldiers who were dishonorably discharged or civilian anti-war demonstrators who had been prosecuted for their resistance.

Years later, Vietnam-era draft evasion still carries a powerful stigma. Though no prominent political figures have been found to have broken any draft laws, Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and Vice Presidents Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney—none of whom saw combat in Vietnam—have all been accused of being draft dodgers at one time or another. Donald Trump received five draft deferments during the Vietnam War, once for bone spurs in his heels. Although there is not currently a draft in the U.S., desertion and conscientious objection have remained pressing issues among the armed forces during the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.









10,000 AFFECTED NOW (Published 1977)


Pres Carter pardons almost all evaders; vows to initiate immediate study of those who deserted with view to upgrading less‐than‐honorable discharges; move affects estimated 10,000; draws protests from veterans orgns and conservative pols; is mildly praised by pro‐amnesty groups; Reprs Koch and...




www.nytimes.com




_


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## curious2garden (Jan 21, 2022)

Human error, tech glitches and tape caused May 2020 F-22 crash


The Air Force declined to say whether anyone was disciplined for the incident.




www.airforcetimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Jan 21, 2022)

*Air Force Col. Meredith Seeley walks alongside an Afghan evacuee at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Jan 13, 2022. Photo By: Army Pfc. Anthony Sanchez*


*Air Force Col. Meredith Seeley, Task Force Holloman vice commander, plays with Afghan evacuees at Aman Omid Village on Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Jan 13, 2022. Photo By: Army Pfc. Anthony Sanchez*​


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## BarnBuster (Jan 22, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*The Battle of Rorke’s Drift took place in South Africa on this day and is remembered as one of the world’s most remarkable military engagements.*

Britain was intent on expanding its territory and influence in South Africa in the 1870s and had declared war on the Kingdom of Zululand. Rorke’s Drift was a mission station near the border between the British colony of Natal and the Zulu Kingdom and had been occupied by British troops. When the battle began, though, only 139 soldiers were encamped there. They had no idea what lay in store.

*At 4.20pm on January 22, 1879 a force of 4,000 Zulu warriors began to lay siege to the station*. Their intermittent attacks were to last for almost twelve hours.

Fortunately for the British, although some of the Zulus had old muskets and antiquated rifles, most were armed only with a short spear called an assegai and a shield made of cowhide. So in weaponry they were no match for the highly trained soldiers with their (then) sophisticated rifles and firepower. But the manpower advantage lay massively in favour of the Zulus.

By 4am, after nearly 12 hours repulsing wave after wave of attacks involving hand-to-hand combat, a number of British soldiers lay dead. Most of the others were exhausted, rapidly running out of ammunition, and probably in no condition to repel another assault. But they didn’t have to. As dawn broke they saw that the Zulus were gone, leaving behind a battleground littered with the dead and dying. Zulu casualties were around 500, while the British sustained 17 dead and 10 wounded.

*The Victoria Cross is Britain’s highest medal for bravery. Eleven were awarded to the defenders of Rorke's Drift – the most ever received in a single action by one regiment.*

According to American military historian Victor Davis Hanson: “In the long annals of military history it is difficult to find anything quite like Rorke's Drift, where a beleaguered force, outnumbered forty to one, survived and killed twenty men for every defender lost.”

Sir Garnet Wolseley, taking over as Commander-in-Chief from Lord Chelmsford, was unimpressed with the awards made to the defenders of Rorke’s Drift, saying ‘it is monstrous making heroes of those who shut up in buildings at Rorke’s Drift, could not bolt, and fought like rats for their lives which they could not otherwise save.’

The medical consequences of the battle: It seems likely that a number of the defenders of Rorke’s Drift subsequently suffered from what is now classified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder: Corporal Schiess ‘fell on hard times’ and died in 1884 aged 28 years; Private John Fielding’s hair is said to have turned white shortly after the battle; William Jones, in old age, suffered from nightmares that the Zulus were about to attack; Robert Jones shot himself in 1896._

*


rorkesdriftvc.com -










The Battle of Rorke’s Drift


Neil Thornton describes the epic battle between an assortment of British forces and Zulu warriors on 22-23 January 1879




www.militaria-history.co.uk






https://www.anglozuluwar.com/images/Journal_33/Rorke's_Drift__The_enigma_and_analysis_of_the_Chard_Report.pdf


*


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## lokie (Jan 22, 2022)

1/21/2022
*Billie Farrell Becomes First Woman Commander Of USS Constitution*


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## BarnBuster (Jan 23, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*The Marias Massacre is a little-known one-sided incident that took place in Montana on January 23, 1870*_. Though receiving little attention in history, the massacre, which killed some 200 Piegan Indians, mostly women and children, was described by one company commander as “the greatest slaughter of Indians ever made by U.S. troops.”

Before this event, relations between the Blackfoot Confederacy comprised the Blackfoot, Blood, and Piegan tribes, and the white settlers had been hostile for several years. Amidst low-level hostilities in 1869, a young warrior named Owl Child stole several horses from Malcolm Clarke, a white trader. Afterward, Clarke tracked down Owl Child and beat him in front of his camp for the offense. Humiliated, Owl Child, with a band of rogue Piegans, sought revenge and killed Clarke.

The killing inflamed the public, which caused General Philip Sheridan to send out a band of cavalry led by Major Eugene Baker to track down and punish the offending party.

On January 23, 1870, the cavalry received a scouting report that the Piegan, led by Mountain Chief, was camped along the Marias River. At first light, 200 dismounted U.S. cavalrymen lay spread out in an ambush position along the snowy bluffs overlooking the Marias River. As they awaited the command to fire, the chief of the camp came out of his lodge, walking toward the bluffs waving a safe-conduct paper. It was not Mountain Chief, who had been forewarned and had already left the area. Rather, it was Piegan leader Heavy Runner, who had enjoyed friendly relations with the white men. When an Army scout by the name of Joe Kipp shouted that this was the wrong camp, he was threatened into silence. Another scout, Joe Cobell, then fired the first shot, killing Heavy Runner and the massacre ensued.

In those early morning hours, the Indian camp was unprotected as most men were out hunting. Bullets riddled the lodges, collapsing some into smoking fire pits and suffocating the half-awake victims. When the carnage was over, 173 lay dead – mostly women, children, and the elderly. 140 others were captured, later to be turned loose without horses, adequate food, and clothing. As the refugees made their way to Fort Benton, some 90 miles away, many of them froze to death.

In the meantime, Major Eugene Baker led his troops downstream to find the real target designated clearly in his orders. However, by the time they arrived, Mountain Chief and his band had fled to safety in nearby Canadian territory.

Only one cavalryman died in the massacre after falling off his horse and breaking his leg. Lieutenant Gus Doane, commander of F Company, described the massacre as “the greatest slaughter of Indians ever made by U.S. troops.”

Afterward, there was a brief storm of outraged protest in Congress and in the eastern press. However, General William Sherman deflected a public inquiry by silencing the protests of General Alfred Sully, the Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent of Montana Indians, and Lieutenant William Pease, the Piegan Indian Agent who had reported the damning body-count. Sherman responded by issuing a press release denying any military guilt and insisting that most of the dead Piegans were warriors in Mountain Chief’s camp.

Many blamed Major Baker, a known alcoholic, for the massacre and failure to capture Mountain Chief’s men. However, in the subsequent controversy, General Sheridan expressed his confidence in Baker’s leadership. Between Sheridan and Sherman’s statements, an official investigation into the incident never occurred.

Though the incident was every bit as significant as many others, such as the Bear River, Sand Creek, and Washita Massacres, history has overlooked this incident, with little mention of the event in the books and journals of the past. No sign or monument marks the site of the mass grave of the Piegan victims.








Remembering the Marias Massacre - Flathead Beacon


For more than two decades, John Murray always knew where he’d be on the morning of Jan. 23, pressing himself against a wind-swept foothill or a snow-marbled bluff overlooking the Marias River, contemplating a history he’d rather forget — or, at least, one he’d rather not have to remember. Some...



flatheadbeacon.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Jan 24, 2022)

​
*After 28 years of hiding in the jungles of Guam, local farmers discover Shoichi Yokoi on January 24, 1972, a Japanese sergeant who fought in World War II.*
_
Guam, a 200-square-mile island in the western Pacific, became a U.S. possession in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. In 1941, the Japanese attacked and captured it, and in 1944, after three years of Japanese occupation, U.S. forces retook Guam. It was at this time that Yokoi, left behind by the retreating Japanese forces, went into hiding rather than surrender to the Americans. In the jungles of Guam, he carved survival tools and for the next three decades waited for the return of the Japanese and his next orders. 

After he was discovered in 1972, he was finally discharged and sent home to Japan, where he was hailed as a national hero. He subsequently married and returned to Guam for his honeymoon. His handcrafted survival tools and threadbare uniform are on display in the Guam Museum in Agana._

The story is pretty interesting:





» WWII: Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi, Last Straggler on Guam


The Online Resource About Guam




www.guampedia.com












The Japanese WWII Soldier Who Refused to Surrender for 27 Years


Unable to bear the shame of being captured as a prisoner of war, Shoichi Yokoi hid in the jungles of Guam until January 1972




www.smithsonianmag.com












Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese soldier who held out in Guam


The story of Shoichi Yokoi, the Japanese soldier who spent nearly three decades hiding in the jungles of Guam after the end of World War II.



www.bbc.com












WWII Japanese Soldier Surrenders 27 Years after War’s End!


An article about Japanese Sergeant Shoichi Yokoi, who finally surrendered on Guam on 24 January 1972 – nearly 27 years after WWII had ended.




blog.genealogybank.com


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## BarnBuster (Jan 24, 2022)

Every year since 2002, the Simon Wiesenthal Center publishes this report on the progress various countries have or have not made on the 
investigation and prosecution of Nazi war criminals. I put an older report in here to cover the dates back thru 2002.

*Worldwide Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals 2020*

*Worldwide Investigation and Prosecution of Nazi War Criminals 2009-2010*


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## curious2garden (Jan 24, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5073121​
> *After 28 years of hiding in the jungles of Guam, local farmers discover Shoichi Yokoi on January 24, 1972, a Japanese sergeant who fought in World War II.*
> 
> _Guam, a 200-square-mile island in the western Pacific, became a U.S. possession in 1898 after the Spanish-American War. In 1941, the Japanese attacked and captured it, and in 1944, after three years of Japanese occupation, U.S. forces retook Guam. It was at this time that Yokoi, left behind by the retreating Japanese forces, went into hiding rather than surrender to the Americans. In the jungles of Guam, he carved survival tools and for the next three decades waited for the return of the Japanese and his next orders.
> ...


I remember that.


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## BarnBuster (Jan 24, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> I remember that.


There were actually many sightings of holdouts (many disproved)


Chronology of Japanese Holdouts


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## BarnBuster (Jan 26, 2022)

​
_*January 26, 1970, U.S. Navy Lt. Everett Alvarez Jr. spends his 2,000th day in captivity in Southeast Asia.* First taken prisoner when his plane was shot down on August 5, 1964. Alvarez was downed over Hon Gai during the first bombing raids against North Vietnam in retaliation for the disputed attack on U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964. Alvarez was the first U.S. pilot to be shot down and detained during the Vietnam War and spent over eight years in captivity, making him the second longest-held U.S. POW, after U.S. Army Colonel Floyd James Thompson._

_Alvarez was released in 1973 after spending over eight years in captivity, the first six months as the only American prisoner in North Vietnam. From the first day of his captivity, he was shackled, isolated, nearly starved, and brutally tortured. Although he was among the more junior-rank prisoners of war, his courageous conduct under horrendous conditions and treatment helped establish the model emulated by the many other POWs that later joined him. After retirement from the Navy, he served as deputy director of the Peace Corps and deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration during the Reagan administration, before founding his own military consulting firm. The Lone Sailor Award was given to Alvarez in Washington, D.C. on September 18, 2012. This award is given to sea service veterans who have excelled with distinction in their respective civilian careers while exemplifying the U.S. Navy's stated core values of honor, courage and commitment. In March 2014, Alvarez was appointed to the Vietnam War Commemoration Advisory Council by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel._

​


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## BarnBuster (Jan 26, 2022)

Lifesaving private's 1857 Victoria Cross medals group sells at auction


The group of six medals had not been sold on the open market for more than 100 years and sold for £40,000 above top estimate.




www.forces.net





(The Victoria Cross [Great Britain's Medal of Honor] can be bought and sold unlike our MOH which under Federal law, cannot be sold or traded.
Since its inception in 1856, there have been 1,358 VCs awarded. 3,473 Medals of Honor have been awarded since it's inception in 1863.)


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## BarnBuster (Jan 27, 2022)

*(Prisoner examined by Soviet Dr on left, gas chamber photo on right. The marks are what you think they are)*​
*On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops enter Auschwitz, Poland, freeing the survivors of the network of concentration camps—and finally revealing to the world the depth of the horrors perpetrated there.*

_Auschwitz was really a group of camps, designated I, II, and III. There were also 40 smaller “satellite” camps. It was at Auschwitz II, at Birkenau, established in October 1941, that the SS created a complex, monstrously orchestrated killing ground: 300 prison barracks; four “bathhouses” in which prisoners were gassed; corpse cellars; and cremating ovens. Thousands of prisoners were also used for medical experiments overseen and performed by the camp doctor, Josef Mengele, the “Angel of Death.”

The Red Army had been advancing deeper into Poland since mid-January. Having liberated Warsaw and Krakow, Soviet troops headed for Auschwitz. In anticipation of the Soviet arrival, the German Gestapo began a murder spree in the camps, shooting sick prisoners and blowing up crematoria in a desperate attempt to destroy the evidence of their crimes. When the Red Army finally broke through, Soviet soldiers encountered 648 corpses and more than 7,000 starving camp survivors. There were also six storehouses filled with hundreds of thousands of women’s dresses, men's suits and shoes that the Germans did not have time to burn._









Auschwitz Photos


Sometimes thousands of words can not replace the picture. After watching these Auschwitz pictures you will truly understand, how important is this place for our history. Photos below are only a small part of what happened there, but will give you almost full picture of Auschwitz Concentration...




discovercracow.com












The Shocking Liberation of Auschwitz: Soviets ‘Knew Nothing’ as They Approached


While some had been driven from the camp, thousands of emaciated prisoners had been left behind to die.




www.history.com














Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Search Results







collections.ushmm.org










(Below is a 20 min film clip of the liberation taken by the Soviets. They shot thousands of feet of film during the various camp liberations. Virtually none of it has been digitized or is available for viewing outside of Russia.)





Auschwitz liberated - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum







collections.ushmm.org


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## BarnBuster (Jan 28, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​*
The Coast Guard Cutter Blackthorn sank Jan. 28, 1980, after colliding with a tanker near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Only 27 of the 50-member crew survived. According to written reports, the accident was the Coast Guard’s worst peacetime disaster.*
_
The Blackthorn was a 180-foot buoy tender home ported in Galveston, Texas from 1976 to 1980. Its primary mission was to set and repair aids to navigation on navigable waterways along the Texas and Louisiana coast.

The vessel had just completed an extensive overhaul in a shipyard in Tampa. About 7:20 p.m., Jan. 28, 1980, as the Blackthorn was departing Tampa Bay to return to Galveston, it collided with the 605-foot oil tanker Capricorn, near the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Reports say both vessels were maneuvering to allow a passenger ship to pass through the channel. Mixed signals results in the two vessels colliding head-on.

During the collision, the cutter became entangled in Capricorn’s seven-ton anchor. The anchor imbedded in the cutter’s hull, ripped open the port side, and as the 990-foot anchor chain became taut, the Capricorn pulled the Blackthorn through the water causing it to capsize. The Blackthorn sank in less than five minutes in 40-feet of water.

A marine board of investigation found evidence of violation of various navigation laws on the parts of the master and pilot of the Capricorn. There were similar findings on the part of the commanding officer and officer of the deck of the Blackthorn. Primary responsibility for the collision was placed on the Blackthorn's captain, Lt. Commander Sepel, as he had made an inexperienced junior officer (Ensign Ryan) officer of the deck and allowed him to navigate the ship through an unfamiliar waterway with heavy traffic.
_
_Consequently, the Coast Guard developed new training requirements and made changes to navigational aids in and around Tampa Bay. In addition, the Coast Guard established the Command and Operations School at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn. The school offers courses to prepare command-level officers and senior enlisted members for command duty afloat. Commanding officers are now required to formally assess risks such as transiting an unfamiliar port at night, are given full discretion, and encouraged to say no if they feel the risks involved are unnecessary._
_+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++_​_Seaman Apprentice William "Billy" Flores was originally from Carlsbad, New Mexico and attended Western Hills High School in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2000 he was posthumously awarded the Coast Guard Medal, the service's highest award for heroism in peacetime. SA Flores, who had been out of boot camp just one year, opened the life jacket locker as Blackthorn capsized, securing its hatch open with his belt, and made sure that his shipmates were able to access and use the life jackets. His actions saved a number of lives during the accident. His heroic role was initially overlooked by the two official reports by the Coast Guard and the NTSB, but was later given the recognition he deserved. His family was presented with the Medal on 28 January 2000, the 20th anniversary of the tragedy. Seaman Apprentice Flores died aboard Blackthorn. In October 2010, it was announced that the third new Sentinel-class fast response cutter, a 154-foot patrol boat, would be named for Flores._

*NTSB collision summary BLACKTHORN CAPRICORN safety recommendations*
*Marine Casualty Report - Blackthorn Capricorn - DOT Coast Guard*


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## raratt (Jan 28, 2022)




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## Singlemalt (Jan 28, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5076228


Howling!!


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## BarnBuster (Jan 30, 2022)

Today In Military History:
​
*In Londonderry, Northern Ireland on January 30, 1972, 13 unarmed civil rights demonstrators are shot dead by British Army paratroopers in an event that becomes known as “Bloody Sunday.”*_ The protesters, all Northern Catholics, were marching in protest of the British policy of internment of suspected Irish nationalists. British authorities had ordered the march banned, and sent troops to confront the demonstrators when it went ahead. The soldiers fired indiscriminately into the crowd of protesters, killing 13 and wounding 17.

The killings brought worldwide attention to the crisis in Northern Ireland and sparked protests all across Ireland. In Dublin, the capital of independent Ireland, outraged Irish citizens lit the British embassy aflame on February 2.

The crisis in Northern Ireland escalated in 1969 when British troops were sent to the British possession to suppress nationalist activity by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and to quell religious violence between Protestants and Catholics.

In April 1972, the British government released a report exonerating British troops from any illegal actions during the Londonderry protest. Irish indignation over Britain’s Northern Ireland policies grew, and Britain increased its military presence in the North while removing any vestige of Northern self-rule. On July 21, 1972, the IRA exploded 20 bombs simultaneously in Belfast, killing British military personnel and a number of civilians. Britain responded by instituting a new court system composed of trial without jury for terrorism suspects and conviction rates topped over 90 percent.

The IRA officially disarmed in September 2005, finally fulfilling the terms of the historic 1998 Good Friday peace agreement. It was hoped that the disarmament would bring with it an end to decades of politically motivated bloodshed in the region.

The incident remained a source of controversy for decades, with competing accounts of the events. In June 2010 the Saville Report, the final pronouncement of a government inquiry initiated by British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 1998, concluded that none of the victims had posed any threat to the soldiers and that their shooting was without justification._









50 Years On, Bloody Sunday’s Wounds Are Still Felt


A half-century after the killings in Northern Ireland, symbols of division and hostility still hold their potency.




www.nytimes.com












Bloody Sunday: What happened on Sunday 30 January 1972?


Thirteen people were shot dead and several others injured during a civil rights demonstration in 1972.



www.bbc.com


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## BarnBuster (Jan 30, 2022)

Today in Military History:





_*"On January 30, 1945, during World War II, United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas liberated more than 500 Allies prisoners from the Japanese POW camp near Cabanatuan City, in the Philippines.*

After the fall of the Philippines and Bataan in the early day of World War II, Cabanatuan was the largest POW camp in the country. At its peak, it held over 5000 prisoners but by the time of the raid, also known as the “Great Raid”, it held just a bit more than 500. The prisoners had survived the Bataan Death March, brutal conditions in the camp as well as disease and malnutrition.

General Douglas MacArthur authorized the rescue attempt when it was feared that the Japanese were planning on murdering the prisoners before the US forces would liberate them. The Japanese had already done so at the Puerto Princesa Prison Camp on the island of Palawan. They herded 150 prisoners into an air raid shelter where they were doused with gasoline and burned alive.

*The Plan:*
The initial plan set up by LTC Henry Mucci, commander of the 6th Ranger Bn. had two teams of Alamo Scouts, 14 in all and they would set up a reconnaissance and surveillance detachment on the camp.

Mucci had 120 Rangers from Company C and Company F. They had to march 30 miles behind the Japanese lines to reach the camp undetected to do the assault. The plan was to set up around the camp, put fire on the Japanese guards, eliminating them, rescue the prisoners and get them all back to friendly lines.

The assault was to be led by Captain Robert Prince with 90 Rangers. The support element of 30 Rangers was led by Lt. John Murphy.

The Rangers were bolstered with 200 Filipino guerrillas under the command of CPT Juan Pajota who would serve as guides and support the assault. Pajota’s men set up a roadblock on a bridge spanning the Cabu River to stop Japanese reinforcements from reaching the camp.

The Rangers would have to crawl across open terrain where the Japanese had cleared, to cut down on prisoner escape attempts. To distract the guards, an Army Air Corps P-61 Black Widow buzzed the camp, performing aerobatics and backfiring his engine in an attempt to allow Prince’s men to get in position. During this time, Filipino guerrillas cut the telephone lines to Cabanatuan where the other Japanese forces were.

*The Assault:*
At 1940 hours Murphy’s men put devastating fire on the Japanese positions and within 15 seconds had neutralized every guard tower and pillbox. One Ranger blew the lock of the gate with a .45 pistol.

The Rangers at the main gate shifted fire in the Japanese guard barracks and the officer’s quarters. Bazooka teams targeted a shed that was thought to have tanks but Japanese soldiers attempting to flee in two trucks were targeted and destroyed.

Prince’s Rangers rushed the compound where the prisoners, fearing that the raid was a Japanese ruse to lure them out to be killed, hid from their American rescuers. But eventually, the prisoners, led by the Rangers made their way to the main gate. Many had to be carried due to their weakened condition.

A Japanese mortar fired three rounds injuring several Rangers and Filipino guerrillas, mortally wounding Ranger Bn. surgeon CPT James Fisher. Murphy’s men from Company F quickly killed the soldier on the mortar.

At the sound of the attack on the camp, CPT Pajota’s guerrillas fired on the Japanese forces from across the river, detonating explosives on the bridge that didn’t destroy it, but blew a hole large enough where tanks or other vehicles couldn’t cross. One guerrilla destroyed four Japanese tanks with a bazooka, having just been trained on its use by the Rangers earlier.

A Japanese flanking force trying the cross the river behind Pajota’s guerrillas was spotted and annihilated.

Prince’s men cleared the camp and he fired a red star cluster to indicate that the last men had left the camp. The Rangers carried and led the POWs to the Pampanga River, where a caravan of 26 carabao carts waited to transport them to Plateros, driven by local villagers organized by CPT Pajota.

Once all of the carts and Rangers had crossed the river, Prince fired a second red star cluster to signal Pajota’s men to withdraw. Mucci radioed the Sixth Army HQs that the mission was a success and that they had all of the POWs safely out of the camp.

The Americans reached their lines at Talavera on January 31, the amount of carts had swelled from 26 to 102 as many of the prisoners found it increasingly difficult to walk. The raid freed 489 POWs and 33 civilians.

General MacArthur wrote about the raid stating, “No incident of the campaign in the Pacific has given me such satisfaction as the release of the POWs at Cabanatuan. The mission was brilliantly successful.” Mucci and Prince were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for their actions. All the other officers and several Rangers received Silver Stars. The rest of the force received Bronze Stars. The fourteen Alamo Scouts received Presidential Unit Citations.

*The raid was one of the most successful POW rescue attempts in US military history and serves as a beacon with what would be the joint special operations of today. The Rangers have a history rich in tradition. The raid at Cabanatuan is among their finest mom*_*ents."*









Rescue at Cabanatuan


The fate of the Americans left behind in the Philippines weighed heavily on the senior leaders who escaped.




arsof-history.org












Great Raid on Cabanatuan


American and Filipino soldiers and irregulars mounted a daring rescue of 500 U.S. prisoners in a raid on Cabanatuan during World War II.




warfarehistorynetwork.com












The Rangers Raid Cabanatuan: A Classic Joint Special Operation


The raid on Cabanatuan was a classic example of a joint special operations mission that was incredibly planned and executed.




sofrep.com






https://arsof-history.org/articles/pdf/v14n2_cabanatuan.pdf


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## raratt (Jan 31, 2022)

FYI for those of you in So Cal.



https://www.marchfield.org/calendar/saturday-sunday-april-2nd-3rd-sr-71-weekend-2022/?fbclid=IwAR3uN9XLIqgAXB6Dco_SIwvW17fyKfOhZ-rXoBCxnAL5__CtBcZcg_YJC5w


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## BarnBuster (Jan 31, 2022)

Remains being repatriated to USA by Graves Registration Service in France after WWI. The remains of 46,000 soldiers were returned to the States at their families’ request, while another 30,000—roughly 40 percent of the total—were laid to rest in military cemeteries in Europe.













The construction of American cemeteries and repatriation of American soldiers after the First World War. - verdun1916.eu


Approximately 116,000 American soldiers died in WWI; another 204,002 were wounded. The debate over what to do with America’s fallen soldiers began during the war itself, as grief-stricken parents and…




verdun1916.eu


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## BarnBuster (Feb 2, 2022)

Today in Military History:





*1943, February 02, the last German troops in the Soviet city of Stalingrad surrender to the Red Army, ending one of the pivotal battles of World War II.*

_On June 22, 1941, despite the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact of 1939, Nazi Germany launched a massive invasion against the USSR. Aided by its greatly superior air force, the German army raced across the Russian plains, inflicting terrible casualties on the Red Army and the Soviet population. With the assistance of troops from their Axis allies, the Germans conquered vast territory, and by mid-October the great Russian cities of Leningrad and Moscow were under siege. However, the Soviets held on, and the coming of winter forced a pause to the German offensive.

For the 1942 summer offensive, Adolf Hitler ordered the Sixth Army, under General Friedrich von Paulus, to take Stalingrad in the south, an industrial center and obstacle to Nazi control of the precious Caucasian oil wells. In August, the German Sixth Army made advances across the Volga River while the German Fourth Air Fleet reduced Stalingrad to a burning rubble, killing over 40,000 civilians. In early September, General Paulus ordered the first offensives into Stalingrad, estimating that it would take his army about 10 days to capture the city. Thus began one of the most horrific battles of World War II and arguably the most important because it was the turning point in the war between Germany and the USSR.

In their attempt to take Stalingrad, the German Sixth Army faced a bitter Red Army under General Vasily Zhukov employing the ruined city to their advantage, transforming destroyed buildings and rubble into natural defensive fortifications. In a method of fighting the Germans began to call the Rattenkrieg, or “Rat’s War,” the opposing forces broke into squads eight or 10 strong and fought each other for every house and yard of territory. The battle saw rapid advances in street-fighting technology, such as a German machine gun that shot around corners and a light Russian plane that glided silently over German positions at night, dropping lethal bombs without warning. However, both sides lacked necessary food, water, or medical supplies, and tens of thousands perished every week.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin was determined to liberate the city named after him, and in November he ordered massive reinforcements to the area. On November 19, General Zhukov launched a great Soviet counteroffensive out of the rubble of Stalingrad. German command underestimated the scale of the counterattack, and the Sixth Army was quickly overwhelmed by the offensive, which involved 500,000 Soviet troops, 900 tanks, and 1,400 aircraft. Within three days, the entire German force of more than 200,000 men was encircled.

Italian and Romanian troops at Stalingrad surrendered, but the Germans hung on, receiving limited supplies by air and waiting for reinforcements. Hitler ordered Von Paulus to remain in place and promoted him to field marshal, as no Nazi field marshal had ever surrendered. Starvation and the bitter Russian winter took as many lives as the merciless Soviet troops, and on January 21, 1943, the last of the airports held by the Germans fell to the Soviets, completely cutting the Germans off from supplies. On January 31 Paulus disobeyed Hitler and agreed to give himself up. *Twenty-two generals surrendered with him*, and on February 2 the last of 91,000 frozen starving men (all that was left of the Sixth and Fourth armies) surrendered to the Soviets. The Soviets recovered 250,000 German and Romanian corpses in and around Stalingrad, and total Axis casualties (Germans, Romanians, Italians, and Hungarians) are believed to have been more than 800,000 dead, wounded, missing, or captured. Of the 91,000 men who surrendered, only some 5,000–6,000 ever returned to their homelands (the last of them a full decade after the end of the war in 1945); the rest died in Soviet prison and labour camps. On the Soviet side, official Russian military historians estimate that there were *1,100,000 Red Army dead, wounded, missing, or captured in the campaign to defend the city. An estimated 40,000 civilians died as well. *Besides being a turning point in the war, Stalingrad was also revealing of the discipline and determination of both the German Wehrmacht and the Soviet Red Army. The Soviets first defended Stalingrad against a fierce German onslaught. So great were Soviet losses that at times, the life expectancy of a newly arrived soldier was less than a day, and the life expectancy of a Soviet officer was three days. For the heroism of the Soviet defenders of Stalingrad, the city was awarded the title Hero City in 1945

The Battle of Stalingrad turned the tide in the war between Germany and the Soviet Union. General Zhukov, who had played such an important role in the victory, later led the Soviet drive on Berlin. On May 1, 1945, he personally accepted the German surrender of Berlin. Von Paulus, meanwhile, agitated against Adolf Hitler among the German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union and in 1946 provided testimony at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. After his release by the Soviets in 1953, he settled in East Germany._ 





__





The Battle of Stalingrad


Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism.




www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org












Battle of Stalingrad | History, Summary, Location, Deaths, & Facts


Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942–February 2, 1943), successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, U.S.S.R., during World War II. Russians consider it to be one of the greatest battles of their Great Patriotic War, and most historians consider it to be the...



www.britannica.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 2, 2022)

Biden signs bill awarding Congressional Gold Medal to WWII's 'Ghost Army' | CNN Politics


President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a bill into law that awards the Congressional Gold Medal to a top-secret US Army unit that used deceptive tactics like inflatable tanks, fake radio transmissions and sound effects to fool enemy forces during World War II.




www.cnn.com













Ghost Army Legacy Project: The Unit


A brief history of the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, known as The Ghost Army, in WWII



www.ghostarmylegacyproject.org












Text - S.1404 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act


Text for S.1404 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Ghost Army Congressional Gold Medal Act



www.congress.gov


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## BarnBuster (Feb 2, 2022)

*Sailors from the Pearl Harbor Honor Guard transport a casket during an internment ceremony for Navy Petty Officer 1st Class James McDonald at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Jan. 19, 2022. McDonald was one of 429 sailors and Marines assigned to the USS Oklahoma who lost their lives during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Photo By: Army Sgt. Mitchell Ryan


Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Erika Carruth hugs her daughter at Hector International Airport, N.D., Jan. 20, 2022, after returning from six-month deployment to southwest Asia. Photo By: David Lipp, Air Force*​


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## doublejj (Feb 2, 2022)

*Army to immediately start discharging vaccine refusers*








Army to immediately start discharging vaccine refusers


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army said Wednesday it will immediately begin discharging soldiers who have refused to get the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine , putting more than 3,300 service members at risk of being thrown out soon.




apnews.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 7, 2022)

Today in Military History:​




*On February 8, 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the Solomon Islands.*

_Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of Australia and have 87 indigenous languages, were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra (1541-95). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands, except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the Australians) to the British in 1900.

The Japanese invaded the Solomons in 1942 during World War II and began building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal. On August 7 of that year, U.S. Marines landed on the island, signaling the Allies’ first major offensive against Japanese-held positions in the Pacific. The Japanese responded quickly with sea and air attacks. A series of bloody battles ensued in the debilitating tropical heat as Marines sparred with Japanese troops on land, while in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy fought six major engagements with the Japanese between August 24 and November 30. In mid-November 1942, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, died together when the Japanese sank their ship, the USS Juneau.

Both sides suffered heavy losses of men, warships and planes in the battle for Guadalcanal. An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were killed, over 4,000 were wounded and several thousand more died from disease. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers. On December 31, 1942, Emperor Hirohito told Japanese troops they could withdraw from the area; the Americans secured Guadalcanal about five weeks later.

The Solomons gained their independence from Britain in 1978. In the late 1990s, fighting broke out between rival ethnic groups on Guadalcanal and continued until an Australian-led international peacekeeping mission restored order in 2003. Today, with a population of over half a million people, the Solomons are known as a scuba diver and fisherman’s paradise._ 

*Guadalcanal The First Offensive*
*US Fights Back The Battle of Guadalcanal*


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## curious2garden (Feb 8, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Feb 8, 2022)

Cerberus (AKA Dita IRL), was "retired" from his active role on Seal Team due to PTSD a real problem facing MWD's. On the show he now plays the role of Jason's pet at home on the couch. Dita and Pepper (Cerberus' replacement on the series and Dita's sister) are both K9's, owned, trained and living with Justin Melnick a LE K9 officer.

 
*At home with Baby Melnick*​





Login • Instagram


Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.




www.instagram.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 13, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*During World War II, Allied bombing raids on February 13–15, 1945, almost completely destroyed the German city of Dresden. The raids became a symbol of the “terror bombing” campaign against Germany, which was one of the most controversial Allied actions of the war.*

_Throughout the war, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had called for increased British air raids against the population centres of Germany in order to swamp German authorities and services, particularly transportation, with hordes of refugees. As the Allied forces closed in on the Third Reich in 1945, such targets became more feasible because of the air superiority and improved navigation techniques of the Anglo-American bomber force.

Before World War II, Dresden was called “Florence on the Elbe” and was considered one of the world’s most beautiful cities because of its architecture and art treasures. Having never previously been attacked in the war, the city offered increased value for terror bombing against an inexperienced population. On the night of February 13, the British Bomber Command hit Dresden with an 800-bomber air raid, dropping some 2,700 tons of bombs, including large numbers of incendiaries. Aided by weather conditions, a firestorm developed, incinerating tens of thousands of people. The U.S. Eighth Air Force followed the next day with another 400 tons of bombs and carried out yet another raid by 210 bombers on February 15.* It is thought that some 25,000–35,000 civilians died in Dresden in the air attacks, though some estimates are as high as 250,000, given the influx of undocumented refugees that had fled to Dresden from the Eastern Front. Most of the victims were women, children, and the elderly.*

After the war, German and Soviet authorities considered leveling the Dresden ruins to make way for new construction. But local leaders forced a compromise for rebuilding part of the city centre and placing the modern construction outside—in effect, encircling old Dresden with a newer city. After reunification in 1990, Germany undertook the extensive reconstruction of the inner city as a moral and political objective, unveiling new works at various stages with much fanfare in an effort still ongoing in the 21st century. Dresden has returned to much of its former grandeur as a centre for art and culture.

The bombing of Dresden was a historic benchmark that demonstrated the power of strategic bombing. Critics say that the military value of the bombing did not justify Dresden’s near destruction and that the city could have been spared, like Rome, Paris, and Kyōto. Given the high number of civilian casualties and the relatively few strategic targets, some even called the bombing of Dresden a war crime, though both the British and the American militaries defended the bombing as necessary.

*








Apocalypse in Dresden, February 1945 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


What happened in Dresden in February 1945 was apocalyptic.




www.nationalww2museum.org
 



*_
_*Why Dresden was Bombed A Review of the Reasons and Reactions*
*Bombings of Dresden*_


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## BarnBuster (Feb 13, 2022)

​
*The earliest military action to be awarded a Medal of Honor is performed by Colonel Bernard J.D. Irwin, an assistant army surgeon serving in the first major U.S.-Apache conflict on February 13, 1861*_. Near Apache Pass, in southeastern Arizona, Irwin, an Irish-born doctor, volunteered to go to the rescue of Second Lieutenant George N. Bascom, who was trapped with 60 men of the U.S. Seventh Infantry by the Chiricahua Apaches. 

Irwin and 14 men, initially without horses, began the 100-mile trek to Bascom’s forces riding on mules. After fighting and capturing Apaches along the way and recovering stolen horses and cattle, they reached Bascom’s forces on February 14 and proved instrumental in breaking the siege.

The first U.S.-Apache conflict had begun several days before, when Cochise, the Chiricahua Apache chief, kidnapped three white men to exchange for his brother and two nephews held by the U.S. Army on false charges of stealing cattle and kidnapping a child. When the exchange was refused, Cochise killed the white men, and the army responded by killing his relatives, setting off the first of the Apache wars.

Although Irwin’s bravery in this conflict was the earliest Medal of Honor action, the award itself was not created until 1862, and it was not until January 21, 1894, that Irwin received the nation’s highest military honor.









‘The Fighting Doctor’ Unwittingly Earns the First-Ever Congressional Medal of Honor - Defense & Aerospace Report


In February 1861, U.S. Army Assistant Surgeon Bernard J.D. Irwin defied long distance and a snow storm to ensure that soldiers wounded in the nation’s first major battle with the Apaches at Apache Pass, Arizona, could get medical care. He then joined the fight and helped to break the siege...



defaeroreport.com












More Than “The Fighting Doctor”: Brigadier General Bernard J. D. Irwin


Brigadier General Bernard J. D. Irwin (1829–1917),1 earned the epitaph the “Fighting Doctor” for his exploits during the Civil War and against Indians out west.




academic.oup.com




_


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## smokinrav (Feb 13, 2022)

I have a difficult time with "terror bombing" of Dresden after V1 and V2 rockets sent at London.


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## BarnBuster (Feb 13, 2022)

Why Are There So Few African American Air Force Pilots? - FLYING Magazine


The U.S. Air Force has fewer than 300 active-duty Black pilots, and one just quit. Here's why.




www.flyingmag.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 14, 2022)

*A World War II veteran places his hand on the names of the Connecticut fallen at the National Iwo Jima Memorial in New Britain, Conn., Feb. 11, 2022.*​


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## BarnBuster (Feb 14, 2022)

Today in Military History:




​*The fall of Singapore to the Japanese Army on February 15th 1942 is considered to be one of the greatest military defeats in the history of the British Empire*

_An island city, “Gibraltar of the East” and a strategic British stronghold and the capital of the Straits Settlement of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore had been a British colony since the 19th century. In July 1941, when Japanese troops occupied French Indochina, the Japanese telegraphed their intentions to transfer Singapore from the British to its own burgeoning empire. Sure enough, on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, 24,000 Japanese troops were transported from Indochina to the Malay Peninsula, and Japanese fighter pilots attacked Singapore, killing 61 civilians from the air.

The battle between Japanese and British forces on the Malay Peninsula continued throughout December and January, killing hundreds more civilians in the process. The British were forced to abandon and evacuate many of their positions, including Port Swettenham and Kuala Lumpur.

On February 8, 5,000 Japanese troops landed on Singapore Island. Pro-Japanese propaganda leaflets were dropped on the islands, encouraging surrender. On February 13, Singapore’s 15-inch coastal guns–the island’s main defensive weapons–were destroyed. Tactical miscalculations on the part of British Gen. Arthur Percival and poor communication between military and civilian authorities exacerbated the deteriorating British defense. Represented by General Percival and senior Allied officers, Singapore surrendered to Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita in front of Japanese newsreel cameras. Sixty-two thousand Allied soldiers were taken prisoner; more than half eventually died as prisoners of war.

With the surrender of Singapore, Britain lost its foothold in the East. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill attempted to prop up morale by urging Brits “to display the calm and poise, combined with grim determination, which not so long ago brought us out of the very jaws of death.”

The Japanese took 100,000 men prisoner in Singapore . Many had just arrived and had not fired a bullet in anger. The people of Singapore fared worse. Many were of Chinese origin and were slaughtered by the Japanese. After the war, Japan admitted that 5000 had been murdered, but the Chinese population in Singapore put the figure at nearer 50,000. With the evidence of what the Japanese could do to a captured civilian population (as seen at Nanking), 5000 is likely to be an underestimate. Some of these POW's were used to construct theThai-Burma Railway _(Bridge over the River Kwai, bb)_. Of the 60,000 Allied POWs who worked on the railway , some 12,500 died, many from disease, starvation and ill-treatment. A great many more Asian labourers, estimated at 75,000, also lost their lives while working on this railway.

The fall of Singapore was a humiliation for the British government. The Japanese had been portrayed as useless soldiers only capable of fighting the militarily inferior Chinese. This assessment clearly rested uncomfortably with how the British Army had done in the peninsula."_ 

*








Fall of Singapore


Run by historian David Howell, Kokoda Historical tours to Kokoda and PNG Battlegrounds with a historical perspective




kokodahistorical.com.au












The fall of Singapore: An avoidable catastrophe?







ukdefencejournal.org.uk




*
*BICYCLE BLITZKRIEG THE MALAYAN CAMPAIGN AND THE FALL OF SINGAPORE*


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## BarnBuster (Feb 14, 2022)

Capt. Crozier, hero to his Teddy Roosevelt sailors and then fired, set to retire


Crozier was relieved in the spring of 2020 after an email pleading for more help for his sailors was leaked to the media.




www.navytimes.com


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## curious2garden (Feb 14, 2022)

smokinrav said:


> I have a difficult time with "terror bombing" of Dresden after V1 and V2 rockets sent at London.


F'n relativism....... sigh, both sides..... grrr.


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## smokinrav (Feb 14, 2022)

Dresden was the kinder, gentler bombing campaign compared to what Curtis LeMay and his B-29s did to Japan. We burned 48 of the 50 biggest Japanese cities to the ground. I don't think I have to tell you what happened to the other two....


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## smokinrav (Feb 15, 2022)

Oh no! A bunny made it past all security to make it to the Pentagon courtyard! The Russians are coming!

"“It is currently living peacefully somewhere in the Pentagon’s courtyard, a location that is likely the most heavily guarded rabbit burrow on the planet… that is until the restaurant in the Courtyard decides to have an extremely locally sourced courtyard-to-table special.”











A bunny has apparently infiltrated the Pentagon | ARLnow.com


If you thought the Pentagon chicken was impressive, wait until you hear about the Pentagon courtyard bunny. In what might be the world's fluffiest and most adorable infiltration of a secure military installation, a bunny was recently spotted hopping around in the 5.1 acre




www.arlnow.com


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## smokinrav (Feb 15, 2022)

Oh lord, hordes of wild pigs are coming for the Civil servants next! 









‘Nervous’ wandering chicken caught at US Pentagon security checkpoint


Hen was found running loose near the US Department of Defense headquarters on the outskirts of Washington DC




www.theguardian.com


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## curious2garden (Feb 16, 2022)

smokinrav said:


> Oh lord, hordes of wild pigs are coming for the Civil servants next!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## BarnBuster (Feb 16, 2022)

smokinrav said:


> ...Curtis LeMay...


...definitely a "In Case Of War, Break Glass" General. As General Russell Dougherty (CINCSAC '74-77) said: _"You would not want General LeMay to teach your kids' Sunday School class". _


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## smokinrav (Feb 16, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> ...definitely a "In Case Of War, Break Glass" General. As General Russell Dougherty (CINCSAC '74-77) said: _"You would not want General LeMay to teach your kids' Sunday School class". _


Lit cigar chomping...."now open your God damn bibles to the fucking Psalms and read that shit out loud!"


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## BarnBuster (Feb 16, 2022)

*Interview with Jane LeMay Lodge, Daughter of Gen. Curtis LeMay September 10, 1998*





LeMay - Air Force Magazine


Doolittle and Eaker said he was the greatest air commander of all time.




www.airforcemag.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 19, 2022)

Today in Military History:








_*"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue"*_
—Admiral Chester W. Nimitz ​
_*U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, after months of naval and air bombardment*_*. *_The Japanese defenders of the island were dug into bunkers deep within the volcanic rocks. Approximately 70,000 U.S. Marines and 18,000 Japanese soldiers took part in the battle. In thirty-six days of fighting on the island, nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines were killed. Another 20,000 were wounded. Marines captured 216 Japanese soldiers; the rest were killed in action. The island was finally declared secured on March 26, 1945. It had been one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history.

After the battle, Iwo Jima served as an emergency landing site for more than 2,200 B-29 bombers, saving the lives of 24,000 U.S. airmen. Securing Iwo Jima prepared the way for the last and largest battle in the Pacific: the invasion of Okinawa.

The flag-raising atop Mt. Suribachi took place on February 23, 1945; five days after the battle began. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the famous photograph of five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the flag. The flag raisers were Cpl. Harlon Block, Navy Pharmacist’s Mate John Bradley, Cpl. Rene Gagnon, PFC Franklin Sousley, Sgt. Michael Strank, and Cpl. Ira Hayes. Three of these men—Strank, Sousley, and Block—were killed before the battle for Iwo Jima was over. _(Article below is about mis-identification of flag raisers.bb)









Famous Iwo Jima Flag Photo Had Another Misidentified Man, Marines Say (Published 2019)


In 2016, the Marine Corps said it had wrongly identified another of the men in the famous photograph.




www.nytimes.com





_The photograph was quickly wired around the world and reproduced in newspapers across the United States. The image was used as a model for the Marine Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

*Twenty-seven Medals of Honor were awarded for action on Iwo Jima—more than any other battle in U.S. history.*_








Rarely seen footage from the battle of Iwo Jima reveals more about the US troops who fought and died there


More than 50 Marine combat cameramen operated across the 8 square miles of Iwo Jima during the battle, shooting at least 24 hours of footage.




www.businessinsider.com












The Battle of Iwo Jima: A 36-day bloody slog on a sulfuric island


The Japanese defending Iwo Jima on D-day displayed superb tactical discipline. As Lieutenant Colonel Justus M. ‘Jumpin’ Joe’ Chambers led his 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, across the first terrace on the right flank of the landing beaches, he encountered interlocking bands of automatic-weapons...




www.militarytimes.com





*The United States Marines On Iwo Jima The Battle and the Flag Raisings*


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## BarnBuster (Feb 20, 2022)

_*"On February 20, 1962, John H. Glenn, Jr., became the first American to orbit Earth.* An Atlas launch vehicle propelled a Mercury spacecraft into Earth orbit and enabled Glenn to circle Earth three times. The flight lasted a total of 4 hours, 55 minutes, and 23 seconds before the Friendship 7 spacecraft splashed down in the ocean. Most major systems worked smoothly, and the flight was a great success as an engineering feat.

This Mercury-Atlas (MA) 6 mission also reestablished NASA and the U.S. as a strong contender in the space race with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had launched the world’s first spacecraft, Sputnik, in October 1957 and had also sent the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into space on April 1961. NASA responded by sending the first American, Alan Shepard, into space in May 1961, but Shepard’s flight was only a suborbital lob, whereas Gagarin had orbited Earth. With Glenn’s orbital mission, NASA was finally able to pull back even with the Soviets.

The flight was the culmination of a tremendous amount of work in a relatively short time. On October 7, 1958, the newly formed NASA had announced Project Mercury, its first major undertaking. The objectives were threefold: to place a piloted spacecraft into orbital flight around Earth, observe human performance in such conditions, and recover the human and the spacecraft safely. Despite Shepard’s successful first flight, many questions had still remained about how Americans could survive and function in space.

The success of the Friendship 7 mission enabled NASA to accelerate further its efforts with Project Mercury. During less than five years, from Mercury’s start to finish, more than two million people from government and industry pooled their skills and experience to produce and manage the Nation’s first six piloted spaceflights. Mercury flights demonstrated that people could survive in microgravity for over a day without deterioration of normal physiological functions.

Mercury also set the stage for Projects Gemini and Apollo during the 1960s and all later U.S. human spaceflight activities. Thus, the MA-6 mission of Friendship 7 was both a capstone event and the beginning of many more achievements in human spaceflight for NASA."_

*I felt exactly how you would feel if you were getting ready to launch and knew you were sitting on top of two million parts—all built by the lowest bidder on a government contract.*
— John Glenn, Jr, from speech announcing his Senate retirement (20 Feb 1997)

​


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## BarnBuster (Feb 21, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​
*At 7:12 a.m. on the morning of February 21, 1916, a shot from a German Krupp 38-centimeter long-barreled gun—one of over 1,200 such weapons set to bombard French forces along a 20-kilometer front stretching across the Meuse River—strikes a cathedral in Verdun, France, beginning the Battle of Verdun, which would stretch on for 10 months and become the longest conflict of World War I*_.

By the beginning of 1916, the war in France, from the Swiss border to the English Channel, had settled into the long slog of trench warfare. Despite the hard conditions in the trenches, Erich von Falkenhayn, chief of staff of the German army, believed that the key to winning the war lay not in confronting Russia in the east but in defeating the French in a major battle on the Western Front. 

In December 1915, Falkenhayn convinced the kaiser, over the objections of other military leaders such as Paul von Hindenburg, that in combination with unrestricted submarine warfare at sea, a major French loss in battle would push the British—whom Falkenhayn saw as the most potent of the 

The chosen mark of Falkenhayn’s offensive was the fortress city of Verdun, on the Meuse River in France. The city was selected because in addition to its symbolic importance—it was the last stronghold to fall in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War—it was possible to attack the fortress city from three sides, which made it a good strategic target.

Ignoring intelligence that warned of a possible German attack in the region, French command had begun in 1915 to strip its forces at Verdun of the heavy artillery essential to defensive warfare, choosing instead to focus on an offensive strategy masterminded by General Ferdinand Foch, the director of the army’s prestigious War College, and dubbed Plan XVII. Thus the German attack of February 21 caught the French relatively unprepared.

From the beginning, the Battle of Verdun resulted in heavy losses on both sides. Falkenhayn famously admitted that he did not aim to take the city quickly and decisively, but to bleed the French white, even if it meant an increased number of German casualties. Within four days of the start of the bombardment on the Meuse, the French forward divisions had suffered over 60 percent casualties; German losses were almost as heavy.

After a few quick German gains of territory, the battle settled into a stalemate, as casualties swiftly mounted on both sides. The newly promoted French commander in the region, Henri-Philippe Petain, was determined to inflict the maximum amount of damage on the German forces, famously pledging to his commander-in-chief, Joseph Joffre, that, They shall not pass.

By the latter half of 1917, German resources were stretched thinner by having to confront both a British-led offensive on the Somme River and Russia’s Brusilov Offensive on the Eastern Front. In July, the kaiser, frustrated by the state of things at Verdun, removed Falkenhayn and sent him to command the 9th Army in Transylvania; Paul von Hindenburg took his place. Petain had been replaced in April by Robert Nivelle, who by early December had managed to lead his forces in the recapture of much of their lost territory. 

From December 15 to 18, the French took 11,000 German prisoners; on December 18, Hindenburg finally called a stop to the German attacks after ten long months. With a German death toll of 143,000 (out of 337,000 total casualties) and a French one of 162,440 (out of 377,231), Verdun would come to signify, more than any other battle, the grinding, bloody nature of warfare on the Western Front during World War I._









Battle of Verdun - The second phase of the battle


The Germans had failed to gain an immediate decision at Verdun, and they soon realized that the British army was preparing an attack on the Somme. For the next four months, they kept the Battle of Verdun going with furious tenacity in order to disorganize the attack being prepared by the Allies...



www.britannica.com












The Battle of Verdun


“Neither in France nor in Germany, up to the present moment, has the whole story of the battle been told, describing its vicissitudes, and following step by step the development of the stirring drama.”




www.theatlantic.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 22, 2022)

​_*A retired military working dog named Hertz has been awarded a medal known as the animals’ Victoria Cross for his service in Afghanistan*. The German shorthaired pointer is the first dog in British military history to detect electronic communications equipment such as mobile phones, voice recorders, sim cards and GPS devices. Hertz, who serviced with the Royal Air Force police, has been awarded the PDSA Dickin medal, the 74th recipient of the honour since it was first awarded in 1943._









Pioneering RAF sniffer dog given ‘animal Victoria Cross' award


Hertz, the first dog in the British military trained to sniff out electronic communication devices, was awarded PDSA Dickin Medal.




www.irishnews.com




_








PDSA Dickin Medal


The PDSA Dickin Medal is the highest award any animal can receive while serving in the military. It recognises the outstanding bravery displayed by service animals in theatres of war worldwide.




www.pdsa.org.uk




_


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## BarnBuster (Feb 24, 2022)

Today in Military History: 
​

_*"SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE on Feb. 23, 1945, elements of the U.S. 11th Airborne Division along with Filipino resistance fighters struck the Japanese prisoner of war camp at Los Baños, Luzon, 40 miles south of Manila and deep in enemy-held territory.*

It was a daring air, sea and land operation to liberate 2,146 civilian internees — most of them American men, women and children — held captive since the Japanese invaded the Philippines more that three years earlier.

In 1944, with the war going badly for the Japanese, the guards at Los Baños had turned more brutal; prisoners were being starved on orders of the vicious, Western-hating camp commander who had promised the prisoners: “Before I’m done, you’ll be eating dirt.” Those caught escaping — even those returning with food for the starving — were shot. With medical supplies scarce, prisoners were dying of diseases like malaria, dysentery and tuberculosis. Then, in February 1945, the Japanese began digging deep trenches near the prisoners’ barracks. Many in camp feared preparations were being made for mass executions and burials.

*The Los Baños prison camp raid — a forerunner to today’s special operations — is considered the most successful airborne operation in history, and is still taught at America’s military academies and war colleges. Only three Americans were killed in the operation and two wounded. The Filipinos lost two of their number, while as many as 80 Japanese perished in the assault.*

A half century later, General Colin Powell told surviving participants of the mission at their 50th reunion: “I doubt that any airborne unit in the world will ever be able to rival the Los Baños prison raid. It is a textbook operation for all ages and all armies.”

Yet back in February 1945, Americans saw little in their hometown newspapers about the triumph in the Philippines that could count the number of innocents saved rather than the number of enemy killed or ground gained. But the lack of press attention had nothing to do with wartime censorship. For on the same day as the raid – Feb. 23, 1945 — a combat photographer named Joe Rosenthal snapped an image of five soon-to-be-famous U.S. Marines raising the Stars and Stripes atop Mount Suribachi at a place called Iwo Jima."_ 









Raid on Los Baños – The WW2 Prison Camp Rescue That History Forgot - MilitaryHistoryNow.com


“The coordinated strike on the camp by 170 U.S. paratroopers and 75 Filipino guerrillas would use the element of surprise to overwhelm the few guards that remained at their posts.” By Bruce Henderson SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE...




militaryhistorynow.com












The Los Baños Raid


Carried out in a virtually flawless manner, the rescue of 2,000 internees from a Philippine prison compound is remembered as a textbook operation.




warfarehistorynetwork.com









World War II: Liberating Los Baños Internment Camp


As Allied forces reclaimed the Philippines, a number of prisons were liberated, including a civilian internment camp on the island of Luzon.




www.historynet.com


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## raratt (Feb 25, 2022)




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## ANC (Feb 26, 2022)

Eating veggies won't protect your heart, study says, but critics disagree | CNN


Eating vegetables, especially cooked ones, won't protect your heart, according to a new study, but critics call the findings questionable.




edition.cnn.com


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## raratt (Feb 26, 2022)

Over 32,000 watching US spyplane on Flightradar24 - Airline Ratings


The most-watched aircraft on the flight tracking App Flightradar 24 is a Global Hawk unmanned spy plane that has been flying over Eastern Ukraine and then the Black Sea just south of Russia’s naval base at Sevastopol. Over 32,000 people are watching the activities of the Global Hawk which has a...




www.airlineratings.com


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## raratt (Feb 26, 2022)

This is just appalling.


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## DarkWeb (Feb 26, 2022)

raratt said:


> This is just appalling.


I saw that. The person survived. 








Video Shows Tank Crushing Civilian Car in Ukraine


The disturbing video has been shared widely.




www.snopes.com


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## curious2garden (Feb 26, 2022)

raratt said:


> This is just appalling.


Yeah, and worse I saw them bringing in thermobaric bombs. It looked like he slid on ice or lost control somehow. Anyway I'm glad the victim survived.


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## BarnBuster (Feb 27, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​

*At 8:00 p.m. on February 27, 1943, nine Norwegian commandos trained by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) left their hideout in the Norwegian wilderness and skied several miles to Norsk Hydro's Vemork hydroelectric power plant*_. All the men knew about their mission was the objective: Destroy Vemork's "heavy water" production capabilities. 

The operation was a resounding success. The commandos destroyed the electrolysis cells and over 500 kg of heavy water. They managed to escape without firing a single shot or taking any casualties.

The Germans repaired the damage by May, but subsequent Allied air raids prevented full-scale production. Eventually, the Germans ceased all production of heavy water and tried to move the remaining supply to Germany.

In a last act of sabotage, a Norwegian team led by one of the Gunnerside commandos sank the ferry transporting the remaining heavy water on February 20, 1944, although at the cost of 14 Norwegian civilians.

The operations helped foil Germany's nuclear ambitions, and the Nazis never built an atomic bomb or a nuclear reactor. Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies in early May 1945, two months before the US's bigger and better-resourced Manhattan Project tested the first nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945.

*Their mission would be one of the most successful in special-operations history,* and it contributed to one of the Allies' most important goals in World War II: Preventing Nazi Germany from developing nuclear weapons.

All members of the team were decorated, with Joachim Rønneberg, the mission commander receiving Britain's DSO and Norway's War Cross with Sword' the highest ranking Norwegian gallantry decoration. Media coverage of the Vemork missions (a total of six) was extensive. In addition to books and articles, in 1948 a Norwegian movie about the missions was released, starring some members of the team. In 1965, Columbia Pictures released the movie The Heroes of Telemark starring Kirk Douglas and Richard Harris, a highly fictionalized version of the action._









How a daring raid by Norwegian commandos kept the Nazis from building a nuclear bomb


The Norwegian commandos who set out on Operation Gunnerside knew what their objective was but not what was at stake.




www.businessinsider.com












Norwegian heavy water sabotage


The Norwegian heavy water sabotage was a series of actions undertaken by Norwegian salboteurs during World War II to prevent the German nuclear energy project from acquiring heavy water (deuterium oxide), which could be used to produce nuclear weapons. In 1934, at Vemork, Norsk Hydro built the...




military-history.fandom.com












Sabotaging heavy water in Norway - TracesOfWar.com







www.tracesofwar.com


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## BarnBuster (Feb 27, 2022)

_"Walter Cronkite, the CBS News anchor, billed as the nation’s most trustworthy voice, *who on Feb. 27, 1968, told his audience of millions that the (Vietnam) war could not be won.* Commentary like this was remarkable back then because of both custom and the Fairness Doctrine, a federal policy requiring broadcasters to remain neutral about the great questions of the day."













Opinion | When Walter Cronkite Pronounced the War a ‘Stalemate’ (Published 2018)


The nation’s most trusted news anchor had not been critical of the Vietnam War. A visit to Hue during the Tet offensive changed his mind.




www.nytimes.com




_


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## raratt (Feb 27, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> _"Walter Cronkite, the CBS News anchor, billed as the nation’s most trustworthy voice, *who on Feb. 27, 1968, told his audience of millions that the (Vietnam) war could not be won.* Commentary like this was remarkable back then because of both custom and the Fairness Doctrine, a federal policy requiring broadcasters to remain neutral about the great questions of the day."
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No "Alternate truths" in that mans world.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 1, 2022)

​
*On Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, the House voted to award the only all-female, Black unit to serve in Europe during World War II with the Congressional Gold Medal. *_The 422-0 vote follows a long-running campaign to recognize the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The Senate passed the legislation last year. The unit, known in short as the Six Triple Eight, was tasked with sorting and routing mail for millions of American service members and civilians. Only a half-dozen of the more than 850 members are still alive.

The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was credited with solving a growing mail crisis during its stint in England and, upon their return, serving as a role model to generations of Black women who joined the military.

“The Six Triple Eight was a trailblazing group of heroes who were the only all-Black, Women Army Corps Battalion to serve overseas during World War II,” said Wisconsin Rep. Gwen Moore, who sponsored the bill after being contacted by the daughter of 6888th members Anna Mae Robertson.

“Facing both racism and sexism in a warzone, these women sorted millions of pieces of mail, closing massive mail backlogs, and ensuring service members received letters from their loved ones,” she continued. “A Congressional Gold Medal is only fitting for these veterans who received little recognition for their service after returning home.”

The House also voted Monday night to the rename the Central Park Post Office in Buffalo as the “Indiana Hunt-Martin Post Office Building” after veteran Indiana Hunt-Martin, a member of the 6888th. Hunt-Martin died in 2020 at the age of 98.

“Throughout her life and military service, Indiana Hunt-Martin experienced racism and sexism firsthand, but no amount of discrimination prevented her from serving her country,” New York Democratic Rep. Brian Higgins, who sponsored the post office bill and also was a co-sponsor of the Congressional Gold Medal bill, said in a statement. “Her courage and bravery paved the way for future generations of African American women serving in the military.”

The 6888th was sent overseas in 1945, a time when there was growing pressure from African-American organizations to include Black women in what was called the Women’s Army Corps and allow them to join their white counterparts overseas.

The unit dodged German U-boats on their way to England and scrambled to escape a German rocket once they reached a Glasgow port.

They were deployed to unheated, rat-infested airplane hangars in Birmingham, England, and given a daunting mission: Process the millions of pieces of undelivered mail for troops, government workers and Red Cross workers. The mountains of mail had piled up and troops were grumbling about lost letters and delayed care packages. Thus their motto, “No Mail, Low Morale.”

They cleared out a backlog of about 17 million pieces of mail in three months — half the time projected. The battalion would go on to serve in France before returning home. And like so many Black units during World War II, their exploits never got the attention afforded their white counterparts.

Despite their achievements, the unit endured questions and criticism from those who didn’t support Black women in the military.

Housing, mess halls and recreation facilities were segregated by race and sex, forcing them to set up all their own operations. The unit commander, Maj. Charity Adams, was also criticized by a general who threatened to give her command to a white officer. She reportedly responded, “Over my dead body, sir.”

Many of the women had plenty of success after getting out of the military.

Elizabeth Barker Johnson was the first female to attend Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina on the GI Bill. She took part in the school’s graduation ceremony at the age of 99 — 70 years after getting her degree. Hunt-Martin worked for the New York State Department of Labor for 41 years.

McClendon joined the Air Force after the military was integrated and retired in 1971. She was the first female to command an all-male squadron with the Strategic Air Command. Another unit member, the late Doris Moore, became the first Black social worker in New Hampshire, her family said.

“This is a long-overdue honor and recognition for the women of the Six Triple Eight, including New Hampshire’s own Doris Moore,” New Hampshire Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas said in a statement. “Doris and her sisters in arms were trailblazers and patriots who answered the call to service. It’s even more remarkable that their sacrifice and service in defense of freedom came at a time when many of the very freedoms they fought for were not yet available to them.”_


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## BarnBuster (Mar 1, 2022)

Graveyard of B-29 bombers is hidden under Western Pacific and NOAA intends to find it


One of the world’s largest concentrations of sunken warplanes is hiding somewhere off the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, and a NOAA-backed team sets out this week to find it.




www.stripes.com




.


2016 Deepwater Exploration of the Marianas: Mission Logs: July 9: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research


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## BarnBuster (Mar 1, 2022)

​
*The Battle of the Bismarck Sea occurred March 2-4, 1943, when planes from the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a convoy of Japanese ships carrying troops and supplies to Lae, New Guinea.*_ The bombing campaign ended with the destruction of four Japanese destroyers, eight Japanese troop transport ships, 102 Japanese fighter planes, and some 3,000 enemy soldiers.

Gen. Douglas MacArthur called the Allied victory in the Bismarck Sea “one of the most complete and annihilating combats of all time.” The three-day battle on March 2–4, 1943, simply stunned the Japanese military and changed the course of the Pacific war. “Japan’s defeat there was unbelievable,” one of the destroyer skippers, Capt. Tameichi Hara, said. “Never was there such a debacle.” Thereafter, the war in New Guinea, New Britain, and the Solomon Islands was a losing fight for Japan. Vice Adm. Gunichi Mikawa, the commander of the Japanese Eighth Fleet at Rabaul, lamented shortly afterward, “It is certain that the success obtained by the American air force in this battle dealt a fatal blow to the South Pacific.”

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill chose March 4, the official end of the battle, to congratulate President Franklin D. Roosevelt, since that day was also the 10th anniversary of the president’s first inauguration. “Accept my warmest congratulations on your brilliant victory in the Pacific, which fitly salutes the end of your first 10 years

More than that, the Battle of the Bismarck Sea would become an enduring milestone in modern air power history, a lopsided naval defeat that involved not a single ship on the victorious side.

The battle immediately convinced the Japanese that they could not operate even strongly escorted convoys in areas within range of land-based Allied airplanes. From then on, they were forced to rely on barges, small coastal vessels, and submarines to provide a lifeline to their vital strategic outposts in the archipelago. Aerial attacks continued to exact a dreadful price on Japanese ships, even as they hugged the coasts in desperate attempts to escape detection from above. Submarines met with more success but could not move significant quantities of men and materiel._









Battle of the Bismarck Sea


During World War II, the Japanese try to reinforce New Guinea in the South Pacific, only to face the wrath of Allied Air Power - a battle that showed what air power could do to surface vessels running largely without air cover.




www.historynet.com












Air Power Dominant: Battle of the Bismarck Sea


The Battle of the Bismarck Sea was fought March 2-4, 1943, during World War II and saw Allied aircraft inflict heavy losses on the Japanese ships.




www.thoughtco.com





*The Battle of the Bismarck Sea An Evaluation of the Halt-Phase Strategy*
*WE SENT THE JAPS TO HELL THE BATTLE OF THE BISMARCK SEA*


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## raratt (Mar 7, 2022)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 8, 2022)

In honor of the beginning of Womens History Month, we would like to recognize Col. Ruby Bradley. Born on December 19, 1907, in Spencer, West Virginia, Ruby Bradley was an Army surgical nurse and veteran of World War II and Korean War. She was one of the most decorated women in the United States military, earning 34 medals and citations of bravery including two Legion of Merit medals, two Bronze Stars, a UN Korean Service Medal and the Florence Nightingale Medal from the International Red Cross.
As a career Army nurse prior to World War II, Colonel Bradley served as the hospital administrator in Luzon in the Philippines in 1941, when the Japanese invaded, she and a doctor and fellow nurse hid in the hills, but three weeks later, she was captured by the Japanese army and held as a Prisoner of War for over three years. During that time, Bradley help treating fellow POWs, assisted in more than 230 major surgeries and delivered 13 babies. She would regularly smuggle food to hungry children in the camp, despite dropping to under 90 pounds herself when the Americans liberated the camp in 1945. She was returned to the United States where she continued her career in the army. Bradley served as the 8th Army’s chief nurse on the front lines of the Korean war in 1950. She managed to evacuate all of the wounded soldiers onto a plane while under heavy fire and was the last to jump aboard the plane just as her ambulance was shelled. In 1958, Bradley was promoted to the rank of Colonel and retired in the Army in 1963. After her retirement, Ruby worked as a supervising nurse in West Virginia for 17 years. This true American hero passed away on May 28, 2002 at age of 94 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
We salute and honor Colonel Ruth Bradley's exemplary service for our country.
https://fallenyetnotforgotten.com/


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## BarnBuster (Mar 8, 2022)

Modern design technique gives 60-year-old B-52s new lease on life


The B-52's current engines, which date back to the early 1960s, are soon reaching the end of their life spans and must be replaced.




www.defensenews.com


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## raratt (Mar 8, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Modern design technique gives 60-year-old B-52s new lease on life
> 
> 
> The B-52's current engines, which date back to the early 1960s, are soon reaching the end of their life spans and must be replaced.
> ...


It would have been nice if they could have gone to 4 turbofans instead of keeping eight engines but the hard points couldn't handle the weight.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 9, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*"If war with the Japanese does come, we’ll fight mercilessly,” General George C. Marshall told news reporters in an off-the-record briefing on November 15, 1941, three weeks before Pearl Harbor. “Flying Fortresses will be dispatched immediately to set the paper cities of Japan on fire. There won’t be any hesitation about bombing civilians—it will be all-out.” More than three years of brutal global warfare would pass before Marshall’s prediction came true, but come true it did on the night of March 9-10, 1945*_.

_U.S. warplanes launched a new bombing offensive against Japan, dropping 2,000 tons of incendiary bombs on Tokyo over the course of the next 48 hours. Almost 16 square miles in and around the Japanese capital were incinerated, and between 80,000 and 130,000 Japanese civilians were killed in the worst single firestorm in recorded history_.

_Early on March 9, Air Force crews met on the Mariana Islands of Tinian and Saipan for a military briefing. They were planning a low-level bombing attack on Tokyo that would begin that evening, but with a twist: Their planes would be stripped of all guns except for the tail turret. The decrease in weight would increase the speed of each Superfortress bomber—and would also increase its bomb load capacity by 65 percent, making each plane able to carry more than seven tons. Speed would be crucial, and the crews were warned that if they were shot down, all haste was to be made for the water, which would increase their chances of being picked up by American rescue crews. Should they land within Japanese territory, they could only expect the very worst treatment by civilians, as the mission that night was going to entail the deaths of tens of thousands of those very same civilians. “You’re going to deliver the biggest firecracker the Japanese have ever seen,” said U.S. Gen. Curtis LeMay.

The cluster bombing of the downtown Tokyo suburb of Shitamachi had been approved only a few hours earlier. Shitamachi was composed of roughly 750,000 people living in cramped quarters in wooden-frame buildings. Setting ablaze this “paper city” was a kind of experiment in the effects of firebombing; it would also destroy the light industries, called “shadow factories,” that produced prefabricated war materials destined for Japanese aircraft factories.

The denizens of Shitamachi never had a chance of defending themselves. Their fire brigades were hopelessly undermanned, poorly trained and poorly equipped. At 5:34 p.m., Superfortress B-29 bombers took off from Saipan and Tinian, reaching their target at 12:15 a.m. on March 10. Three hundred and thirty-four bombers, flying at a mere 500 feet, dropped their loads, creating a giant bonfire fanned by 30-knot winds that helped raze Shitamachi and spread the flames throughout Tokyo. Masses of panicked and terrified Japanese civilians scrambled to escape the inferno, most unsuccessfully. The human carnage was so great that the blood-red mists and stench of burning flesh that wafted up sickened the bomber pilots, forcing them to grab oxygen masks to keep from vomiting.

The raid lasted slightly longer than three hours. “In the black Sumida River, countless bodies were floating, clothed bodies, naked bodies, all black as charcoal. It was unreal,” recorded one doctor at the scene. Only 243 American airmen were lost—considered acceptable losses._



Japan Air Raids.org – A Bilingual Historical Archive


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## BarnBuster (Mar 11, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*After struggling against great odds to save the Philippines from Japanese conquest, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur abandons the island fortress of Corregidor under orders from President Franklin Roosevelt on March 11, 1942.*_ Left behind at Corregidor and on the Bataan Peninsula were 90,000 American and Filipino troops, who, lacking food, supplies, and support, would soon succumb to the Japanese offensive.

After leaving Corregidor, MacArthur and his family traveled by boat 560 miles to the Philippine island of Mindanao, braving mines, rough seas, and the Japanese Navy. At the end of the hair-raising 35-hour journey, MacArthur told the boat commander, John D. Bulkeley, “You’ve taken me out of the jaws of death, and I won’t forget it.” On March 17, the general and his family boarded a B-17 Flying Fortress for Northern Australia. He then took another aircraft and a long train ride down to Melbourne. During this journey, he was informed that there were far fewer Allied troops in Australia than he had hoped. Relief of his forces trapped in the Philippines would not be forthcoming. Deeply disappointed, he issued a statement to the press in which he promised his men and the people of the Philippines, “I shall return.” The promise would become his mantra during the next two and a half years, and he would repeat it often in public appearances.

For his valiant defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and celebrated as “America’s First Soldier.” Put in command of Allied forces in the Southwestern Pacific, his first duty was conducting the defense of Australia. Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Bataan fell in April, and the 70,000 American and Filipino soldiers captured there were forced to undertake a death march in which at least 7,000 perished. Then, in May, Corregidor surrendered, and 15,000 more Americans and Filipinos were captured. The Philippines–MacArthur’s adopted home–were lost, and the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff had no immediate plans for their liberation.

After the U.S. victory at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, most Allied resources in the Pacific went to U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz, who as commander of the Pacific Fleet planned a more direct route to Japan than via the Philippines. Unperturbed, MacArthur launched a major offensive in New Guinea, winning a string of victories with his limited forces. By September 1944, he was poised to launch an invasion of the Philippines, but he needed the support of Nimitz’s Pacific Fleet. After a period of indecision about whether to invade the Philippines or Formosa, the Joint Chiefs put their support behind MacArthur’s plan, which logistically could be carried out sooner than a Formosa invasion.

On October 20, 1944, a few hours after his troops landed, MacArthur waded ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte. That day, he made a radio broadcast in which he declared, “People of the Philippines, I have returned!” In January 1945, his forces invaded the main Philippine island of Luzon. In February, Japanese forces at Bataan were cut off, and Corregidor was captured. Manila, the Philippine capital, fell in March, and in June MacArthur announced his offensive operations on Luzon to be at an end; although scattered Japanese resistance continued until the end of the war in August. Only one-third of the men MacArthur left behind on March 11, 1942, survived to see his return. “I’m a little late,” he told them, “but we finally came.”_

_*Lying to the Troops American Leaders and the Defense of Bataan*
*


Decision To Withdraw to Bataan










From the Jaws of Death: MacArthur's Escape from the Philippines


In March 1942, General Douglas MacArthur and his family escaped from the Philippines in a daring PT-Boat operation.




warfarehistorynetwork.com




*_


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## BarnBuster (Mar 13, 2022)

_*"On March 13, 1942, the Quartermaster Corps (QMC) of the United States Army begins training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program, or “K-9 Corps.”*

Well over a million dogs served on both sides during World War I, carrying messages along the complex network of trenches and providing some measure of psychological comfort to the soldiers. The most famous dog to emerge from the war was Rin Tin Tin, an abandoned puppy of German war dogs found in France in 1918 and taken to the United States, where he made his film debut in the 1922 silent film The Man from Hell’s River. As the first bona fide animal movie star, Rin Tin Tin made the little-known German Shepherd breed famous across the country.

In the United States, the practice of training dogs for military purposes was largely abandoned after World War I. When the country entered World War II in December 1941, the American Kennel Association and a group called Dogs for Defense began a movement to mobilize dog owners to donate healthy and capable animals to the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army. Training began in March 1942, and that fall the QMC was given the task of training dogs for the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well.

The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian sheep dogs, Doberman Pinschers, collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes and Eskimo dogs. Members of the K-9 Corps were trained for a total of 8 to 12 weeks. After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs or mine-detection dogs. In active combat duty, scout dogs proved especially essential by alerting patrols to the approach of the enemy and preventing surprise attacks.

The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Trained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender. The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart—all of which were later revoked due to an Army policy preventing official commendation of animals."_








11 Dog Charities And Nonprofits That Help K9s And Veterans


Looking for dog charities that benefit working dogs and veterans? Check out this list of 11 nonprofits that aid K9s and veterans.




iheartdogs.com












Ways to Support - K9s For Warriors


There are many ways to support K9s For Warriors. Learn about the many ways you can give to save the lives of Veterans and Service Dogs.




k9sforwarriors.org


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## BarnBuster (Mar 16, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*On March 16, 1968, a platoon of American soldiers brutally kills as many as 500 unarmed civilians at My Lai, one of a cluster of small villages located near the northern coast of South Vietnam. The crime, which was kept secret for nearly two years, later became known as the My Lai Massacre.*

_In March 1968, a platoon of soldiers from Charlie Company received word that Viet Cong guerrillas had taken cover in the Quang Ngai village of Son My. The platoon entered one of the village’s four hamlets, My Lai 4, on a search-and-destroy mission on the morning of March 16. Instead of guerrilla fighters, they found unarmed villagers, most of them women, children and old men.

The soldiers had been advised before the attack by army command that all who were found in My Lai could be considered VC or active VC sympathizers, and were told to destroy the village. They acted with extraordinary brutality, raping and torturing villagers before killing them and dragging dozens of people, including young children and babies, into a ditch and executing them with automatic weapons. The massacre reportedly ended when an Army helicopter pilot, Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, landed his aircraft between the soldiers and the retreating villagers and threatened to open fire if they continued their attacks.

The events at My Lai were covered up by high-ranking army officers until investigative journalist Seymour Hersh broke the story. Soon, My Lai was front-page news and an international scandal._





My Lai at 50 | Written Case Study | CAPL


In March of 1968 a platoon of Soldiers from the Americal Division, led by 2LT William Calley, commited atrocities in the village My Lai. This case study examines the My Lai massacre 50 years later.




capl.army.mil









What Really Happened on 16 March 1968? What Lessons Have Been Learned? A Look at the My Lai Incident Fifty Years Later – The Campaign for the National Museum of the United States Army







armyhistory.org












Opinion | The Truth Behind My Lai (Published 2018)


Fifty years ago today, U.S. troops slaughtered some 500 Vietnamese civilians in a small coastal village. Why was only one man punished?




www.nytimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Mar 19, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*On March 19, 1916, eight Curtiss “Jenny” planes of the First Aero Squadron take off from Columbus, New Mexico, in the first combat air mission in U.S. history.*_ The First Aero Squadron, organized in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I, was on a support mission for the 7,000 U.S. troops who invaded Mexico to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa.

On March 9, 1916, Villa, who opposed American support for Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, led a band of several hundred guerrillas across the border on a raid of the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17 Americans. On March 15, under orders from President Woodrow Wilson, U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing launched a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture Villa. Four days later, the First Aero Squadron was sent into Mexico to scout and relay messages for General Pershing.

Despite numerous mechanical and navigational problems, the American fliers flew hundreds of missions for Pershing and gained important experience that would later be used by the pilots over the battlefields of Europe. However, during the 11-month mission, U.S. forces failed to capture the elusive revolutionary, and Mexican resentment over U.S. intrusion into their territory led to a diplomatic crisis. In late January 1917, with President Wilson under pressure from the Mexican government and more concerned with the war overseas than with bringing Villa to justice, the Americans were ordered home._

__​


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## BarnBuster (Mar 20, 2022)

They Spent Years Caring for Their Veterans. Now They Are Losing a Lifeline


A review by the Department of Veterans Affairs of a program that gives stipends to veterans' caregivers is removing thousands of participants.




www.military.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 20, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> They Spent Years Caring for Their Veterans. Now They Are Losing a Lifeline
> 
> 
> A review by the Department of Veterans Affairs of a program that gives stipends to veterans' caregivers is removing thousands of participants.
> ...


They'll reallocate these funds to more lawyers so they can deny Veterans claims that much faster.


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## curious2garden (Mar 20, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> They'll reallocate these funds to more lawyers so they can deny Veterans claims that much faster.


Getting help for a disabled veteran is a full time job. I'm dealing with the VA right now more than I would like even when represented by a very good attorney. So if you wonder where I am, I'm buried under mounds of paperwork.

Which begs the question; if someone with my education, resources and professional connection has this much trouble how do people with full time jobs outside the health care sector, while caretaking their loved one manage at all? I won't even discuss the many veterans who you see with all kinds of presumptive disorders from their service eschew the VA because they don't want this emotional pain from having it not just implied but said to your face you are 'grifting'. How dare they.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 20, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> Getting help for a disabled veteran is a full time job. I'm dealing with the VA right now more than I would like even when represented by a very good attorney. So if you wonder where I am, I'm buried under mounds of paperwork.
> 
> Which begs the question; if someone with my education, resources and professional connection has this much trouble how do people with full time jobs outside the health care sector, while caretaking their loved one manage at all? I won't even discuss the many veterans who you see with all kinds of presumptive disorders from their service eschew the VA because they don't want this emotional pain from having it not just implied but said to your face you are 'grifting'. How dare they.


VA actually stands for "Vicious Attorneys".


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## curious2garden (Mar 20, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> VA actually stands for "Vicious Attorneys".


They are giving the state of VA a bad name too.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 21, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*On March 21, 1918, near the Somme River in France, the German army launches its first major offensive on the Western Front in two years*_.

At the beginning of 1918, Germany’s position on the battlefields of Europe looked extremely strong. German armies occupied virtually all of Belgium and much of northern France. With Romania, Russia and Serbia out of the war by the end of 1917, conflict in the east was drawing to a close, leaving the Central Powers free to focus on combating the British and French in the west. Indeed, by March 21, 1918, Russia’s exit had allowed Germany to shift no fewer than 44 divisions of men to the Western Front.

German commander Erich Ludendorff saw this as a crucial opportunity to launch a new offensive–he hoped to strike a decisive blow to the Allies and convince them to negotiate for peace before fresh troops from the United States could arrive. In November, he submitted his plan for the offensive that what would become known as Kaiserschlacht, or the kaiser’s battle; Ludendorff code-named the opening operation Michael. Morale in the German army rose in reaction to the planned offensive. Many of the soldiers believed, along with their commanders, that the only way to go home was to push ahead.

Michael began in the early morning hours of March 21, 1918. The attack came as a relative surprise to the Allies, as the Germans had moved quietly into position just days before the bombardment began. From the beginning, it was more intense than anything yet seen on the Western Front. Ludendorff had worked with experts in artillery to create an innovative, lethal ground attack, featuring a quick, intense artillery bombardment followed by the use of various gases, first tear gas, then lethal phosgene and chlorine gases. He also coordinated with the German Air Service or Luftstreitkrafte, to maximize the force of the offensive.* Over 3,500,000 shells were fired in five hours, hitting targets over an area of 400 km2 (150 sq mi) in the biggest barrage of the war.*

Winston Churchill, at the front at the time as the British minister of munitions, wrote of his experience on March 21: There was a rumble of artillery fire, mostly distant, and the thudding explosions of aeroplane raids. And then, exactly as a pianist runs his hands across a keyboard from treble to bass, there rose in less than one minute the most tremendous cannonade I shall ever hear. It swept around us in a wide curve of red flame

By the end of the first day, German troops had advanced more than four miles and inflicted almost 30,000 British casualties. As panic swept up and down the British lines of command over the next few days, the Germans gained even more territory. By the time the Allies hardened their defense at the end of the month, Ludendorff’s army had crossed the Somme River and broken through enemy lines near the juncture between the British and French trenches. By the time Ludendorff called off the first stage of the offensive in early April, German guns were trained on Paris, and their final, desperate attempt to win World War I was in full swing._


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## BarnBuster (Mar 21, 2022)

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency > News & Stories > Releases


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
March 21, 2022
USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Phillips, M.)

March 21, 2022
USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Boemer, P.)

March 11, 2022
Airman Accounted For From World War II (Salsbury, R.)

March 11, 2022
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Canup, G.)

March 10, 2022
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Ryan, E.)

March 10, 2022
Airman Accounted For From World War II (Benson, E.)

March 9, 2022
USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Burger, O.)

March 8, 2022
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Mills, N.)

March 7, 2022
Soldier Accounted For From World War II (Lobacz, C.)

March 3, 2022
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Shauvin, E.)


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## BarnBuster (Mar 21, 2022)

This may have been mentioned earlier but I noticed many names from the USS Oklahoma (BB-37) recently identified.
 
​





View of The USS "Oklahoma" Identification Project | Forensic Anthropology







journals.upress.ufl.edu




.




__





Remains from the USS Oklahoma that could not be ID'd will be reinterred at Punchbowl (via


At least 51 unidentified crew members of the USS Oklahoma were returned to Hickam Field on Thursday—and while no families were there to rejoice over the identification of a relative, as has been the



www.dpaa.mil












Military Ends Pearl Harbor Project to Identify the Dead (Published 2021)


The remains of 355 sailors and Marines from the U.S.S. Oklahoma were identified using DNA and dental records, but 33 crew members could not be.




www.nytimes.com


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## raratt (Mar 23, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Mar 23, 2022)

*Red Flag-Nellis Air Force Base, March 9, 2022 **Photo By: Air Force Tech. Sgt. Alexandre Montes*​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 24, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5106678


I'm sure there are a LOT of ground pounders out there that hear that girl in their happy dreams.
I don't believe there is a better fixed wing CAS aircraft out there.


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## Friendly_Grower (Mar 24, 2022)

Saw the Title and am checking in.

USAF 1980 to 1984 : Bitburg GE. and Phoenix AZ. F15 Crew Chief. 

Proud to have served.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 24, 2022)

Friendly_Grower said:


> Saw the Title and am checking in.
> 
> USAF 1980 to 1984 : Bitburg GE. and Phoenix AZ. F15 Crew Chief.
> 
> Proud to have served.


Welcome to RIU & specifically the Vet room.
Thank you for your service my friend.
+


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## raratt (Mar 24, 2022)

Friendly_Grower said:


> Saw the Title and am checking in.
> 
> USAF 1980 to 1984 : Bitburg GE. and Phoenix AZ. F15 Crew Chief.
> 
> Proud to have served.


Welcome to the show brother, USAF 1981-2002. Electronic Countermeasures, SR-71, U-2, B-52. Short stint working ICBM's under Kansas first.


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## Friendly_Grower (Mar 24, 2022)

raratt said:


> Welcome to the show brother, USAF 1981-2002. Electronic Countermeasures, SR-71, U-2, B-52. Short stint working ICBM's under Kansas first.


That's cool.

I thought it was really cool to be working the Cool F15 Fighter and plus I went to Germany. At 18 it was.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2022)

Today in Military history:

 ​
*The mass escape of 76 Allied airmen from a Nazi POW camp March 25, 1944 remains one of history’s most famous prison breaks. Although the German Luftwaffe designed the Stalag Luft III camp to be escape-proof, the audacious, real-life prison break immortalized in the 1963 movie "The Great Escape" proved otherwise.*
_
When the Nazis built the maximum-security camp 100 miles southeast of Berlin to house Allied aviators captured in World War II—many of whom had made previous escapes—they took elaborate measures to prevent tunneling, such as raising prisoners’ huts off the ground and burying microphones nine feet underground along the camp’s perimeter fencing. In addition, the camp was built atop yellow sand that would be tough to tunnel through and difficult to conceal by anyone who tried.

The Nazis, however, didn’t account for the daring and ingenuity of the British, American Canadian and other Allied flyboys who toiled for nearly a year to construct a tunnel that would allow them to flee from captivity. For the aviators, the penalty for being caught trying to escape—generally 10 days in solitary confinement under the rules of the Geneva Convention—was worth the risk.

The secret operation was led and organized by Roger Bushell, a Royal Air Force pilot who had been shot down over France while assisting with the evacuation of Dunkirk. In the spring of 1943, Bushell and over 600 prisoners of war began building three tunnels with the code names of Tom, Dick and Harry. The plan called for each tunnel to stretch for more than 300 feet to the protective cover of the forest outside the camp’s perimeter fence.

Inside Hut 104, the prisoners building the Harry tunnel toiled for days chipping away at the building’s support columns to avoid being seen working underneath the barracks. From a trap door concealed below a heating stove always kept lit to discourage the Nazi guards from getting too close, they burrowed down more than 30 feet to be out of the range of the microphones. Working in claustrophobic conditions, diggers stripped to their long johns or took off all their clothes so that the bright golden sand wouldn’t stain them and raise the suspicions of the German guards. The captives excavated at least 100 tons of sand, which they stuffed into concealed socks and discreetly sprinkled and raked into the soil of the small gardens tended by the prisoners.

Scavenging and stealing materials for the operation, the prisoners stripped some 4,000 wooden bed boards to build ladders and shore up the sandy walls of the two-foot-wide tunnels to prevent their collapse. They stuffed 1,700 blankets against the walls to muffle sounds. They converted more than 1,400 powdered milk tin cans provided by the Red Cross into digging tools and lamps in which wicks fashioned from pajama cords were burned in mutton fat skimmed off the greasy soup they were served.

As the tunnel lengthened and oxygen levels fell, the prisoners used a stolen wire to hook up to the camp’s electrical supply and power a string of light bulbs. They even fashioned a crude bellows-type air pump system built in part with hockey sticks, knapsacks and ping pong paddles. And they constructed an underground trolley system pulled by ropes to transport the sand with switchover junctions named after two London landmarks—Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square.

To prevent the Nazis from learning of the operation, the airmen employed an elaborate lookout system and used subtle signs such as turning the page of a book or fiddling with a shoelace to raise notice of an approaching guard. By bribing guards with Red Cross goods unavailable in Germany—such as chocolate, coffee, soap and sugar—prisoners obtained cameras and travel documents that a team of artists used to forge identity cards, passports and travel passes. They replicated travel stamps by carving patterns in boot heels and using shoe polish as ink. The plan was to break out some 200 POWs, chosen by who had the best language and escape skills to succeed, who worked most in the preparation and, then, by lottery.

The Nazis eventually discovered the tunnel Tom and summoned photographers to chronicle their find before its demolition. While the Nazis celebrated their discovery, however, they were unaware that work on the two other underground passages continued. The prisoners eventually turned Dick into a storage space and focused all construction on Harry, which was completed at the end of winter in 1944.

Around 10:30 pm. on the frigid, moonless night of March 24, 1944, British bomber pilot Johnny Bull slowly traversed the tunnel more than 30 feet below the oblivious Nazi guards and peeked his head out of the snowy ground beyond the camp’s fence. As he breathed in the glacial air and filled his lungs with freedom, the sweat-soaked prisoner discovered that the tunnel had stopped feet short of the protective cover of the forest. The blunder slowed the escape process—those emerging from the tunnel had to wait for a “coast clear” rope-tug signal from an escapee already in the forest—and dashed plans to break out the full 200 men.

The process was tedious as the prisoners, dressed in civilian clothes and carrying forged documents, lay down on the rope-operated wooden trolley and were pulled one-by-one through the tunnel to their escapes. Fewer than a dozen men made it through every hour, and a partial tunnel collapse and a one-hour blackout during a midnight air raid further slowed the operation.

Around 5 a.m., a German soldier on patrol nearly fell into the exit shaft and discovered the tunnel. The prisoners inside scrambled back to the hut and burned their forged documents. The Nazis discovered that 76 prisoners had broken out of their supposed escape-proof camp.

The audacity and resourcefulness demonstrated by the Allied pilots was the stuff movies are made of, and the breakout was immortalized in the 1963 blockbuster The Great Escape, which starred Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson and James Coburn. There was no Hollywood ending, however, for most of the 76 men who broke out of Stalag Luft III.

The Nazis mobilized a massive manhunt. They erected roadblocks, increased border patrols and searched hotels and farms. Within two weeks, the Germans had recaptured 73 of the escapees. Only three men successfully fled to safety—two Norwegians who stowed away on a freighter to Sweden and a Dutchman who made it to Gibraltar by rail and foot.

*A furious Adolf Hitler personally ordered the execution of 50 of the escapees as a warning to other prisoners. In violation of the Geneva Convention, Gestapo agents drove the airmen—including Bushell and Bull—to remote locations and murdered them. Following the war, British investigators brought the Gestapo killers to justice. In 1947, a military tribunal found 18 Nazis guilty of war crimes for shooting the recaptured prisoners of war, and 13 of them were executed*._


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## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2022)

​
_The United States Congress has designated March 25th of each year as National Medal of Honor Day, a day dedicated to Medal of Honor recipients (Public Law 101-564). Conceived in the State of Washington, this holiday should be one of our most revered. Unfortunately, all too many Americans are not even aware of its existence. The date of March 25th was chosen because it was on March 25, 1863, that the first Medals of Honor were presented to six members of Andrews' Raiders.





Congressional Medal of Honor Society | Official Website







www.cmohs.org




_


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## BarnBuster (Mar 25, 2022)

*Sailors from the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Guard, the U.S. Navy Ceremonial Band, and the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (the Old Guard) Caisson Platoon conduct military funeral honors with funeral escort for U.S. Navy Seaman 1st Class Walter Stein in Section 36 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., March 24, 2022. Stein was killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor while serving aboard the USS Oklahoma.*​


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## raratt (Mar 25, 2022)

Watch your 6.








Russian troops attack own commanding officer after suffering heavy losses


Russian troops reportedly attacked their own commanding officer by running him over with a tank after many in their brigade were killed amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.Ukrainian journalist Roman Tsymbaliuk said in a post on Facebook that Russian Col. Yuri Medvedev was attacked after...




www.yahoo.com


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## curious2garden (Mar 25, 2022)

raratt said:


> Watch your 6.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That takes fragging to a whole new level! You go Russia!


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 25, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> That takes fragging to a whole new level! You go Russia!


Fragging with a Tank - I think that's pretty creative.
+ to our Russian buddies that see what's really going on.


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## curious2garden (Mar 25, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Fragging with a Tank - I think that's pretty creative.
> + to our Russian buddies that see what's really going on.


I keep wondering if Ukraine offered citizenship if a Russian defected and fought for them how many Russian troops they could turn on Russia. I mean currently Russia is the biggest supplier of tanks to Ukraine. So how about trained military personnel?

Historically if you look at what Stalin did to returning POWs they'd be better off remaining in Ukraine.


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## Friendly_Grower (Mar 26, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> I keep wondering if Ukraine offered citizenship if a Russian defected and fought for them how many Russian troops they could turn on Russia. I mean currently Russia is the biggest supplier of tanks to Ukraine. So how about trained military personnel?
> 
> Historically if you look at what Stalin did to returning POWs they'd be better off remaining in Ukraine.


Only one more man needs to die to stop this conquest for a place in history.
Dear God. Please consider calling your creation back to Heaven or please do P.M. Me if I'm calling the wrong place.

Thanks.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Mar 27, 2022)

Friendly_Grower said:


> Only one more man needs to die to stop this conquest for a place in history.
> Dear God. Please consider calling your creation back to Heaven or please do P.M. Me if I'm calling the wrong place.
> 
> Thanks.


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## wascaptain (Mar 28, 2022)

new plack at my local VA clinic

on your feet and join me


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## BarnBuster (Mar 28, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*"The St Nazaire Raid or Operation Chariot was a British amphibious attack on the heavily defended Normandie dry dock at St Nazaire in German-occupied France during the Second World War. The operation was undertaken by the Royal Navy (RN) and British Commandos under the auspices of Combined Operations Headquarters on 28 March 1942*_. St Nazaire was targeted because the loss of its dry dock would force any large German warship in need of repairs, such as Tirpitz, sister ship of Bismarck, to return to home waters by running the gauntlet of the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy and other British forces, via the English Channel or the North Sea.

The obsolete destroyer HMS Campbeltown, accompanied by 18 smaller craft, crossed the English Channel to the Atlantic coast of France and was rammed into the Normandie dock gates. The ship had been packed with delayed-action explosives, well hidden within a steel and concrete case, that detonated later that day, putting the dock out of service until 1948.

A force of commandos landed to destroy machinery and other structures. German gunfire sank, set ablaze, or immobilized virtually all the small craft intended to transport the commandos back to England. The commandos fought their way through the town to escape overland but many surrendered when they ran out of ammunition or were surrounded by the Wehrmacht defending Saint-Nazaire.

Of the 612 men who undertook the raid, 228 returned to Britain, 169 were killed and 215 became prisoners of war. German casualties included over 360 dead, some of whom were killed after the raid when Campbeltown exploded. To recognise their bravery, _*89 members of the raiding party were awarded decorations, including five Victoria Crosses, two Distinguished Service Orders, four Conspicuous Gallantry Medals, five Distinguished Conduct Medals, 17 Distinguished Service Crosses, 11 Military Crosses, 24 Distinguished Service Medals and 15 Military Medals. Four men were awarded the Croix de guerre by France After the war, St Nazaire was one of 38 battle honours awarded to the commandos. The operation has been called "the greatest raid of all" in British military circles."*






Raid on St. Nazaire (Operation Chariot), Part One - Planning


Raid on St. Nazaire (Operation Chariot), Part One - Planning



www.historyofwar.org












Sacrifice at Saint-Nazaire


As the spring of 1942 appro




www.usni.org


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## Kgrim (Mar 28, 2022)

4th Bn 22nd INF 25 ID (Light) 1986-1989 11C (Mortars)
I Was a proud "ground pounder" until my knee, and feet gave out and they sent me home.


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## BarnBuster (Mar 29, 2022)

​


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## raratt (Mar 30, 2022)

'Ghostrider' gunship training to leave Hurlburt Field beginning this summer


Aircrew training for the AC-130J 'Ghostrider' aircraft will move from Hurlburt Field to New Mexico's Kirtland Air Force Base beginning this summer.




www.yahoo.com


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## Crumpetlicker (Mar 30, 2022)

Lest we remember


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## curious2garden (Apr 1, 2022)

Crumpetlicker said:


> Lest we remember


Do you mean the Asimov book or did you mean, "Lest we forget"?


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## raratt (Apr 1, 2022)

I forget.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 2, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_*"The Third Battle of Petersburg, also known as the Breakthrough at Petersburg or the Fall of Petersburg, was fought on April 2, 1865,* south and southwest of Petersburg, Virginia, at the end of the 292-day Richmond–Petersburg Campaign (sometimes called the Siege of Petersburg) and in the beginning stage of the Appomattox Campaign near the conclusion of the American Civil War.

The Third Battle of Petersburg was costly to both sides in terms of casualties. The Confederacy lost approximately 4,250 soldiers (killed, wounded, and captured/missing), compared with 3,500 men lost for the Union.

The battle was also a death knell for the Army of Northern Virginia. Retreating from its entrenchments around Petersburg doomed the tired and hungry Confederate army to fall to the overwhelming federal forces it faced the next week.

*Sixty men would receive the Medal of Honor for their actions in this battle. More than 15 medals were presented to soldiers who risked their lives to capture the Confederate unit flags and fully half of the rest were recognized for conspicuous gallantry as color bearer(s) . On April 6, 1865, fifty-six soldiers earn Medals of Honor at Deatonsville (Sailor’s Creek), VA. Among them on this day was 2d Lt. Thomas Custer who earned his second Medal of Honor, becoming the only Army man in the Civil War to receive two."*_

(The criteria for issuance of the MOH during the Civil War were different than later years and Congress set down guidelines in 1918 to clear away any inconsistencies of the legislation which had grown around the medal and to finalize rules for its award. 911 MOH’s were invalidated of the 2,625 that were issued during the US Civil War. Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors (Flag) and advancing or the capture of enemy colors. None of these Medals were invalidated as the Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. Battle fought Flags always command premium prices when they rarely appear at auction. bb) 









For the Colors - Antietam National Battlefield (U.S. National Park Service)







www.nps.gov












Why Civil War Flags Were So Important


Flags were enormously important in the American Civil War for both practical and symbolic reasons.




www.thoughtco.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 2, 2022)

no downside to this that I can see.








Send Free Military Care Package for Our Troops | Crown Royal


Crown Royal Gift That Keeps On Giving




pack.crownroyal.com












Send Care Packages | Packages From Home


Packages From Home is a care package nonprofit with a national and global reach; supporting active duty, veterans, and military K9s.




www.packagesfromhome.org


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## Kgrim (Apr 3, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> no downside to this that I can see.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Every Veteran should fill out the Crown Royal package, and send our troops a little something from home, it's free, and only takes 2 minutes. Send them a note, and let them know that they are not forgotten. It could change their whole day, from shitty, to getting a care package from a stranger that just says thank you, means the world to a soldier deployed.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 4, 2022)

Today in Military History:
*What We Fought Against: Ohrdruf
On April 4, 1945, the US 4th Armored Division and 89th Infantry Division of the Third US Army came face to face with the horrors of Nazi brutality. The men discovered Ohrdruf, a Nazi labor camp and a subcamp of the Buchenwald system.*














*Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, and Omar Bradley view charred prisoner remains that SS troops tried to destroy and corpses found scattered around the camp grounds, lying where they were killed prior to the camp’s evacuation.*​_"In November 1944, the Nazis established Ohrdruf south of Gotha, Germany. As a subcamp, Ohrdruf was located about 30 miles west of Buchenwald. Codenamed SIII, the Ohrdruf camp was established to supply forced labor to construct a route that would lead to a communications center in the basement of nearby Mühlberg Castle, located in the town of Ohrdruf. Prisoners were to connect the castle with a railway by digging tunnels through nearby mountains. The tunnels would also serve as an emergency shelter for the train that contained Hitler’s headquarters, the Führersonderzug, in the event of an evacuation from Berlin. Local civilians were hired to handle the dynamiting, while prisoners would come in behind to dig and pick up rocks. With poor working conditions and no protective gear offered, many prisoners suffered from serious injuries and often were killed in the process. The communications center, however, was never completed and the project was abandoned due to the advance of US troops.

By March 1945, the prisoner population in Ohrdruf reached 11,700. The prisoners included people of various nationalities—French, Belgian, German, Hungarian, Czech, Latvian, Italian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and Yugoslav. In addition, the camp housed prisoners who the Nazis judged as anti-social, plus homosexuals and Jews. In early April, with the oncoming advance of Allied forces, the SS evacuated almost all of the prisoners in a death march to Buchenwald. Many prisoners who were too weak or ill to partake in the march were summarily killed.

Ohrdruf was the first Nazi camp to be liberated by US forces. On April 12, a week after the camp’s liberation, Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower, George S. Patton, and Omar Bradley toured the site, led by a prisoner familiar with the camp. Numerous corpses were found scattered around the camp grounds, lying where they were killed prior to the camp’s evacuation. A burned out pyre was discovered with the charred remains of prisoners, proof of the SS’s hurried evacuation and attempt to cover their crimes. Evidence of torture was present, and prisoners demonstrated for the generals various torture methods used by the guards. In a shed, a pile of roughly 30 emaciated bodies were discovered, sprinkled with lime in an attempt to cover the smell. Patton, a man privy to the violent scenes of war, refused to enter this shed as the sights and smells in the camp had previously caused him to vomit against the side of a building. German citizens from the nearby town of Ohrdruf were forced to view the camp and bury the dead, a practice that was later repeated in other camp liberations. Following the tour, the mayor of Ohrdruf and his wife were discovered to have hung themselves in their home.

Following the generals’ visit to the camp, Eisenhower ordered all American units in the area and not engaged in frontline battle to be sent to Ohrdruf. He cabled General George C. Marshall, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., requesting that members of Congress and journalists be sent to liberated camps to witness and document the horrific scenes US troops were uncovering. Additionally, the generals discovered the prisoner who acted as their guide during their visit to Ohrdruf was recognized by another prisoner as a former camp guard, and was beaten to death. Though Eisenhower said visiting Ohrdruf left him feeling sick from the overpowering sights, he acknowledged it put him “in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to ‘propaganda.’”

A group of prominent journalists, led by the dean of American publishers, Joseph Pulitzer, came to see the concentration camps. Pulitzer initially had “a suspicious frame of mind,” he wrote. He expected to find that many of “the terrible reports” printed in the United States were “exaggerations and largely propaganda.” But they were understatements, he reported.

Within days, Congressional delegations came to visit the concentration camps, accompanied by journalists and photographers. General Patton was so angry at what he found at Buchenwald that he ordered the Military Police to go to Weimar, four miles away, and bring back 1,000 civilians to see what their leaders had done, to witness what some human beings could do to others. The MP’s were so outraged they brought back 2,000. Some turned away. Some fainted. Even veteran, battle-scarred correspondents were struck dumb. In a legendary broadcast on April 15, Edward R. Murrow gave the American radio audience a stunning matter-of-fact description of Buchenwald, of the piles of dead bodies so emaciated that those shot through the head had barely bled, and of those children who still lived, tattooed with numbers, whose ribs showed through their thin shirts. “I pray you to believe what I have said about Buchenwald,” Murrow asked listeners. “I have reported what I saw and heard, but only part of it; for most of it I have no words.” He added, “If I have offended you by this rather mild account of Buchenwald, I am not in the least sorry.”

The liberation of Ohrdruf opened the eyes of many Americans, soldiers and civilians, to the barbaric conditions innocent people faced under Nazism. American troops would move on to discover and liberate multiple camps, including Dora-Mittelbau, Dachau, Mauthausen, and Buchenwald. Elie Wiesel, author of Night, was imprisoned in Buchenwald at the time of the camp’s liberation. As more camps were uncovered by Allied forces, it became evident to the world that the Third Reich had committed unprecedented atrocities everywhere the regime had reigned. Following the discovery of Ohrdruf, Eisenhower stated simply but profoundly: “We are told the American soldier does not know what he is fighting for. Now, at least, we know what he is fighting against.”"_ 

*The Congressional Investigation of Liberated Concentration Camps in 1945*


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## BarnBuster (Apr 4, 2022)

Update





Boeing Gears Up to Replace B-52 Engines


Boeing Gears Up to Replace B-52 Engines




www.nationaldefensemagazine.org


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## raratt (Apr 4, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5113139
> Update
> 
> 
> ...


Finally, no more water injection.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 5, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​*
DOVER, Del., April 6, 2009— For the first time since the Obama administration reversed an 18-year-old ban on news coverage of returning fallen soldiers, the military allowed media to cover the arrival tonight of an airman killed in Afghanistan.*
_
The arrival of remains of Staff Sgt. Phillip A. Myers, a 30-year-old supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, at Dover Air Force Base at 11 p.m. today marked the first time that the transfer of any of the nearly 5,000 U.S. troops who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan was open to the media.

The transfer of the flag-draped casket was carried out with great dignity, for the seven family members present. One of the men present dabbed his eyes with a tissue. After a prayer was said by a chaplain, Maj. Klabens Noel, a carry team of eight airmen and women wearing battle dress uniforms with white gloves moved Myers' flag-draped casket from an Atlas Air 747 cargo jet to a waiting panel truck.

In the cool night, under a light breeze, the only noise was the hum of the jet's auxiliary power unit, until the quiet was pierced by the engine of the lift lowering the casket from the jet to the tarmac. The eight airmen and women carried the casket to a white panel truck, placed it inside, as the doors were slowly closed, the call went out for present arms. The saluting arms were then slowly lowered.

The entire transfer was very methodical and very dignified. About 40 members of the media were present, and throughout the transfer there were no flashes, no talking, though cameras clicked as casket went by.

In February, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates lifted the ban on media coverage of returning war dead, ending what some have called an era of censorship enforced by President George W. Bush. Under the new policy, Myers' family was given the option of whether to admit the media and they chose to let news media cover the dignified transfer.

Myers, from Hopewell, Va., died April 4 of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device, the Air Force said in a statement. He was assigned to the 48th Civil Engineer Squadron, with the Royal Air Force Lakenheath, U.K., and in March 2008 received the Bronze Star for valor.

Since the casket ban was implemented by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, the policy has been hotly debated. To some, it kept ongoing conflict away from the public eye and disguised the cost of war. To others, it allowed the families of fallen soldiers to grieve in private. Neither President Bill Clinton nor President George W. Bush ever changed the policy, although an exception was made in 2000 after the terrorist attack on USS Cole. Since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, more than 4,200 flag-draped war dead have arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Vice President Joe Biden has said the coffins are being "snuck back into the country" and called the policy shameful. Other Democrats have accused Bush of censorship. Gates overturned the ban after President Barack Obama requested that he review the policy. But the change was not without conditions. For example, media can photograph returning war dead at the Delaware military base only if the families of the fallen troops agree.

When he announced the reversal in February, Gates said decisions about such coverage "should be made by those most directly affected."

The change was welcomed by government transparency advocates, but despite the condition upholding the wishes of soldiers' families, some advocates for the relatives of the war dead did not support the new policy. After Gates' decision, three members of the Delaware congressional delegation, Democratic Sens. Tom Carper and Ted Kaufman and Republican Rep. Mike Castle, said in a joint statement that they backed the new policy, but emphasized that the needs of the familes must remain a top concern.

"We urge all of those involved to be respectful of the wishes of the families of these brave men and women," the statement read._


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## BarnBuster (Apr 5, 2022)

U.S. Navy and Coast Guard Moving to Adopt Mark 44 30mm on MSI Mount - Naval News


At Sea Air Space 2022, Northrop Grumman is releasing information on their Mark 44 (MK44) 30mm autocannon on MSI mount.




www.navalnews.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 5, 2022)

The A-10 Prepares For 'Bomb Truck' Configuration Carrying 16 GBU-39 SDBs During Developmental Tests


The Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) integration, is one of the many programs to keep the A-10 Warthog flying in the 2030s. The U.S. Air Force recently released,




theaviationist.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​*The Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing) was an early battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. *_The Union Army of the Tennessee (Major General Ulysses S. Grant) had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and was encamped principally at Pittsburg Landing on the west bank of the Tennessee River, where the Confederate Army of Mississippi (General Albert Sidney Johnston, P. G. T. Beauregard second-in-command) launched a surprise attack on Grant's army from its base in Corinth, Mississippi. Johnston was mortally wounded during the fighting; Beauregard took command of the army and decided against pressing the attack late in the evening. Overnight, Grant was reinforced by one of his divisions stationed farther north and was joined by three divisions from the Army of the Ohio (Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell). The Union forces began an unexpected counterattack the next morning which reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day.

On April 6, the first day of the battle, the Confederates struck with the intention of driving the Union defenders away from the river and into the swamps of Owl Creek to the west. Johnston hoped to defeat Grant's army before the anticipated arrival of Buell and the Army of the Ohio. The Confederate battle lines became confused during the fighting, and Grant's men instead fell back to the northeast, in the direction of Pittsburg Landing. A Union position on a slightly sunken road, nicknamed the "Hornet's Nest" and defended by the divisions of Brig. Gens. Benjamin Prentiss and William H. L. Wallace, provided time for the remainder of the Union line to stabilize under the protection of numerous artillery batteries. Wallace was mortally wounded when the position collapsed, while several regiments from the two divisions were eventually surrounded and surrendered. Johnston was shot in the leg and bled to death while leading an attack. Beauregard acknowledged how tired the army was from the day's exertions, and decided against assaulting the final Union position that night.

Tired but unfought and well-organized men from Buell's army and a division of Grant's army arrived in the evening of April 6 and helped turn the tide the next morning, when the Union commanders launched a counterattack along the entire line. Confederate forces were forced to retreat, ending their hopes of blocking the Union advance into northern Mississippi. Though victorious, the Union army had suffered heavier casualties than the Confederates, and Grant was heavily criticized in the media for being taken by surprise.

The Battle of Shiloh was the bloodiest engagement of the Civil War up to that point, with nearly twice as many casualties as the previous major battles of the war combined. Union casualties were 13,047 (1,754 killed, 8,408 wounded, and 2,885 missing); Grant's army bore the brunt of the fighting over the two days, with casualties of 1,513 killed, 6,601 wounded, and 2,830 missing or captured. Confederate casualties were 10,699 (1,728 killed, 8,012 wounded, and 959 missing or captured). The dead included the Confederate army's commander, Albert Sidney Johnston, as well as Brigadier General Adley H. Gladden. George W. Johnson, the head of Kentucky's shadow Confederate government, was also mortally wounded. The highest ranking Union general killed was W. H. L. Wallace.

The loss of life on both sides at Shiloh—which, ironically, means place of peace in Hebrew—was staggering. But there were other sad consequences of the battle as well. Johnston’s death was a damaging blow to Confederate morale, particularly for President Jefferson Davis, who held Johnston high in personal and professional esteem. After the war, Davis wrote, “When Sidney Johnston fell, it was the turning point of our fate; for we had no other hand to take up his work in the West.” With the Confederate loss, their best opportunity to retake the Mississippi Valley and achieve numerical superiority with the Union armies in the west disappeared, and the heavy losses suffered at Shiloh represented the start of an unwinnable war of attrition.

Grant, though victorious, was vilified in the press after being caught unprepared at Pittsburg Landing on April 6. Critics called for him to be dismissed, but Abraham Lincoln defended his general , declaring “I can’t spare this man, he fights.” Corinth fell to the Union by the end of May, allowing Grant to focus on gaining control of the Mississippi River._









Battle Of Shiloh


Information about the Battle Of Shiloh, a major Civil War Battle of the Western Theater during the American Civil War Battle Of Shiloh Summary: The Battle




www.historynet.com












Battle of Shiloh - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org












Battle of Shiloh: Shattering Myths


History article on the Battle of Shiloh in April of 1862




www.battlefields.org


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## BarnBuster (Apr 6, 2022)

*Air Force Tech. Sgt. Maurice Tooles, left, and Senior Airman Zamiyah Warner, both assigned to Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, prepare an American flag at Dover Air Force Base, Del., March 30, 2022. Airmen assigned to the team work to make sure each flag draped over a casket of a fallen service member is immaculate.* Photo By: Jason Minto, Air Force​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 7, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_In early 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy made a difficult decision: it would sacrifice the largest, most powerful battleships ever built to protect Okinawa, the gateway to Japan’s Home Islands. The decision sealed the fate of the battleship Yamato and its crew, but ironically did nothing to actually protect the island from Allied invasion.

The battleship Yamato was among the largest and most powerful battleships of all time. Yamato has reached nearly mythical status, a perfect example of Japan’s fascination with doomed, futile heroics. Built in 1937 at the Kure Naval Arsenal near Hiroshima, it was constructed in secrecy to avoid alarming the United States. Japan had recently withdrawn from the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited battleship tonnages, and was free to build them as large as it wanted.

And what ships it built. 839 feet at the waterline and weighing seventy thousand tons fully loaded, Yamato was the largest ship of the war, eclipsed only by postwar American aircraft carriers. It and its sister, Musashi, were armed with nine eighteen-inch naval guns, mounted in turrets of three; six 155-millimeter secondary naval guns; twenty-four five-inch guns; 162 twenty-five-millimeter antiaircraft guns; and four 13.2-millimeter heavy machine guns.

All of this firepower was meant to sink enemy battleships—more than one at a time if necessary. The extremely large number of antiaircraft guns, added during a refit, were meant to keep the ship afloat in the face of American air power until it could close within striking range of enemy ships.

Unfortunately for Yamato and its crew, it was obsolete by the time it was launched in 1941. The ability of fast aircraft carriers to engage enemy ships at the range of their embarked dive and torpedo bombers meant a carrier could attack a battleship at ranges of two hundred miles or more, long before it entered the range of a battleship’s guns. Battleships were “out-sticked,” to use a modern term.

By early 1945, Japan’s strategic situation was grim. Japanese conquests in the Pacific had been steadily rolled back since the Allied landings on Guadalcanal in August 1942. The Philippines, Solomons, Gilberts and Carolines had all been lost and the enemy was now literally at the gates. Okinawa, the largest island in the Ryukyu island chain was the last bastion before the Home Islands itself. The island was just 160 miles from the the mainland city of Kagoshima, coincidentally the birthplace of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

The invasion of Okinawa began on April 1, 1945. In response, the Japanese Navy activated Operation Ten-Go. Yamato, escorted by the cruiser Yahagi (commanded by the famous Tameichi Hara) and eight destroyers, would sail to Okinawa and disrupt the Allied invasion force. Yamato would then beach, becoming coastal artillery. It was a humiliating end for a battleship capable of twenty-seven knots, but the lack of fuel and other military resources made for truly desperate times.

Yamato and its task force, designated the Surface Special Attack Force, departed Tokuyama, Japan on April 6, proceeding due south to transit the Bungo Strait. American forces had already been alerted to the Ten-Go operation, thanks to cracked Japanese military codes, and two American submarines were waiting to intercept the flotilla. Yamato and its escorts were duly observed by the submarines, but the subs were unable attack due to the task force’s high rate of speed and zigzagging tactics. The sighting report was pushed up the chain of command.

Allied naval forces in and around Okinawa were the obvious target, and the massive fleet braced itself accordingly. Six older battleships from the Gunfire and Covering Support Group, or Task Force 54, under Rear Admiral Morton Deyo, prepared to defend the invasion force, but were pulled away in favor of an air attack.

*At 0800 hours on April 7, 1945, scout planes from Admiral Mitscher’s Fast Carrier Force, or Task Force 58, located Yamato, still only halfway to Okinawa. Mitscher launched a massive strike force of 280 fighters, bombers and torpedo planes, and the fight was on*.

For two hours, the Surface Special Attack Force was subjected to a merciless aerial bombardment. The air wings of eleven fleet carriers joined in the attack—so many planes were in the air above Yamato that the fear of midair collision was real. The naval aviators were in such a hurry to score the first hit on the allegedly unsinkable ship plans for a coordinated attack collapsed into a free-for-all. Yamato took two hits during this attack, two bombs and one torpedo, and air attacks claimed two escorting destroyers.

A second aerial armada consisting of one hundred aircraft pressed the attack. As the Yamato started to go down, U.S. naval aviators changed tactics. Noticing the ship was listing badly, one squadron changed its torpedo running depth from ten feet—where it would collide with the main armor belt—to twenty feet, where it would detonate against the exposed lower hull. Aboard Yamato, the listing eventually grew to more than twenty degrees, and the captain made the difficult decision to flood the starboard outer engine room, drowning three hundred men at their stations, in an attempt to trim out the ship.

Yamato had taken ten torpedo and seven bomb hits, and was hurting badly. Despite counterflooding, the ship continued to list, and once it reached thirty five degrees the order was given to abandon ship. The captain and many of the bridge crew tied themselves to their stations and went down with their ship, while the rest attempted to escape.

At 14:23, it happened. Yamato’s forward internal magazines detonated in a spectacular fireball. It was like a tactical nuclear weapon going off. Later, a navigation officer on one of Japan’s surviving destroyers calculated that the “pillar of fire reached a height of 2,000 meters, that the mushroom-shaped cloud rose to a height of 6,000 meters.” The flash from the explosion that was Yamato’s death knell was seen as far away as Kagoshima on the Japanese mainland. The explosion also reportedly destroyed several American airplanes observing the sinking.

When it was all over, the Surface Special Attack Force had been almost completely destroyed. Yamato, the cruiser Yahagi and three destroyers were sunk. Several other escorts had been seriously damaged. Gone with the great battleship were 2,498 of its 2,700-person crew.

The destruction of Yamato was inevitable even as far back as the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was clear that the age of the aircraft carrier had already superseded the battleship, but the insistence of battleship-minded general officers to cling to obsolete military technology undermined Japan’s conduct of the war and sent thousands of Japanese sailors needlessly to their deaths. 









Death of the Super Battleship Yamato and Musashi


The battleship Yamato, the world’s largest and most powerful, was destroyed in under two hours by an uncounted number of bombs and torpedoes.




warfarehistorynetwork.com









H-044-3: Death of Battleship Yamato


H-Gram 044, Attachment 3 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC April 2020




www.history.navy.mil












The Yamato's Last Mission


In April 1945, the Yamato and what was left of the Imperial Japanese Navy was ordered to Okinawa by the emperor himself. It would be the end of the fleet.




www.historynet.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 7, 2022)

_"Various narratives of the events that followed have emerged in closed social media groups and a since-deleted blog post. However, all of the narratives described the event as an intentional destruction of both aircraft. Army Times could not independently verify the details of the crash sequence or Bellew’s intentions." _








Double helicopter crash at Fort Stewart was ‘not an accident’


The Army's Criminal Investigation Division is leading the investigation into the incident.




www.armytimes.com


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## raratt (Apr 7, 2022)

J-58 engine.


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## doublejj (Apr 7, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5114207
> *Air Force Tech. Sgt. Maurice Tooles, left, and Senior Airman Zamiyah Warner, both assigned to Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations, prepare an American flag at Dover Air Force Base, Del., March 30, 2022. Airmen assigned to the team work to make sure each flag draped over a casket of a fallen service member is immaculate.* Photo By: Jason Minto, Air Force​



The Old Guard, in general, is known to have some of the highest standards of uniform discipline in the Army, as one of its most public-facing units. The regiment is the "official ceremonial unit and escort to the president, and it also provides security for Washington, D.C., in time of national emergency or civil disturbance," according to its website.
The Caisson Platoon conducts up to eight military funerals per day, depending on the season, according to a senior leader in the Old Guard. 
*Army report finds horses that carry the caskets of America's heroes live in 'unsatisfactory' conditions, after 2 die*








Army report finds horses that carry the caskets of America's heroes live in 'unsatisfactory' conditions, after 2 die | CNN Politics


The military horses that carry America's heroes to their final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery are living in unsanitary and potentially life-threatening conditions, according to a US Army report reviewed exclusively by CNN, consuming poor-quality feed, suffering from parasites and...




www.cnn.com


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## raratt (Apr 7, 2022)

raratt said:


> J-58 engine.
> 
> View attachment 5114683


It's bolted in with 3 GBF bolts.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 7, 2022)

doublejj said:


> View attachment 5114751
> The Old Guard, in general, is known to have some of the highest standards of uniform discipline in the Army, as one of its most public-facing units. The regiment is the "official ceremonial unit and escort to the president, and it also provides security for Washington, D.C., in time of national emergency or civil disturbance," according to its website.
> The Caisson Platoon conducts up to eight military funerals per day, depending on the season, according to a senior leader in the Old Guard.
> *Army report finds horses that carry the caskets of America's heroes live in 'unsatisfactory' conditions, after 2 die*
> ...


Wouldn’t you think there’s enough retired 2/3/4 Stars or even retired Intelligence with a Armored / Cavalry lineage that own spreads in McLean or Bethesda that could afford to send up some truckloads of decent hay or grain and pay for Vet visits every couple of months?


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## BarnBuster (Apr 8, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*ON APRIL 8, 2009, four pirates armed with AK-47s clambered up the side of the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama, sailing off the coast of Somalia.* But after a brief scuffle with some of the 20 crewmembers, the pirates opted to abandon the 508-foot long ship, sailing off in one of its motorized lifeboats. They may not have captured the Maersk Alabama, nor looted its millions of dollars' worth of food and humanitarian aid bound for Kenya, but they didn't leave empty handed. The pirates had a captive: Maersk Alabama's captain, Richard Phillips.

*Four days later, three of the four pirates were dead -- each from a single .30-caliber rifle bullet to his brain, courtesy of the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team Six.* The fourth pirate, just 16 years old, was in Navy custody. And Phillips was on his way home, unharmed but for the psychological strain from four days in captivity in a sweltering lifeboat, unsure whether he would live or die. The fourth pirate, Abdul Wali Muse, who was already aboard the Bainbridge for medical treatment, was brought to the United States for trial. Muse was the first person charged with piracy in a US court in over 100 years. In May 2010, Muse pled guilty to hijacking, kidnapping and hostage-taking. In February 2011, Muse was sentenced to almost 34 years in federal prison._ 









Pirate Interdiction and the U.S. Navy


Pirate interdiction and the U.S. Navy have a long history that goes all the way back to the early years of the nation when President Thomas Jefferson found himself involved in one of the first conflicts overseas known as the First Barbary War. Algerine (Barbary) pirates were attacking American...




www.history.navy.mil












8,000 Miles, 96 Hours, 3 Dead Pirates: Inside a Navy SEAL Rescue


A 2009 pirate standoff that could have ended in military disaster was instead resolved bloodlessly for the U.S., thanks in large part to a small team of far-flying, night-parachuting, tireless, sharpshooting Navy commandos. Their exploits would remain relatively obscure, if not for a retired...




www.wired.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 8, 2022)

*Thomas Griffith, the nephew of Marine Corps Pvt. William E. Rambo, receives the American flag during his uncle's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia, April 4, 2022. In November 1943, Rambo was a member of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, and was killed in the Battle of Tarawa, Nov. 20. He was accounted for by DPAA on June 24, 2019.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Fern Sumpter Winbush, DPAA's Principal Deputy Director, presents a photo collage of Marine Cpl. Thomas H. Cooper's accounting to Cooper's daughter, Virginia Frogel. Cooper, 22, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, killed during World War II, was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, March 10, 2022. Cooper was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibious Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, and was killed in the Battle of Tarawa on Nov. 20, 1943. *​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 9, 2022)

_"*Today is National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day* and is different and separate from National POW/MIA Recognition Day. It was officially designated by Congress in 1988, Public Law 100-269 [Sen J Res 253 100th Congress]. as a Presidentially-proclaimed observance and commemorates the April 9, 1942 surrender of approximately 10,000 United States military personnel and 65,000 Filipino soldiers on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines by Major General Edward P. King to the invading Imperial Japanese Army headed by General Masaharu Homma. Bataan was the largest mass surrender in United States military history. The surrender was followed immediately by the infamous Bataan Death March. Although this remembrance day is for all who were POWs, it is most associated with those who were POWs of Imperial Japan during WWII. The Philippine nation marks "Araw ng Kagitingan" (Day of Valor) on April 9 of every year to highlight the valor and heroism of the Filipino and American soldiers who fought in the Philippines during World War II."_ 
​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 9, 2022)

*"On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward P. King Jr. surrenders at Bataan, Philippines—against General Douglas MacArthur’s orders—and 78,000 troops (66,000 Filipinos and 12,000 Americans), the largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender, are taken captive by the Japanese.*

_The prisoners were at once led 55 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan peninsula, to San Fernando, on what became known as the “Bataan Death March.” At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of the extreme brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, and kicked them on the way; those who became too weak to walk were bayoneted. Those who survived were taken by rail from San Fernando to POW camps, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least 1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and starvation. If an item “Made in Japan” was found in their possession, they were immediately executed. To the Japanese military for whom surrender was not an option, the captives, surrendered by their commander, were considered cowards (“dogs”).

After the war, the International Military Tribunal, established by MacArthur, tried Lieutenant General Homma Masaharu, commander of the Japanese invasion forces in the Philippines. He was held responsible for the death march, a war crime, and was executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946"._









Surrender at Bataan Led to One of the Worst Atrocities in Modern Warfare


When the Battle of Bataan ended on April 9, 1942, about 12,000 Americans and 63,000 Filipinos became prisoners of war. What followed became known as the Bataan Death March—a brutal journey that left thousands dead.




www.uso.org





*What Price Surrender? The Court Martial of General Edward P. King*


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## BarnBuster (Apr 9, 2022)

​
*On this day, Confederate General Robert E. Lee agreed to surrender his Army of Northern Virginia, marking a symbolic end to the Civil War on April 9, 1865.*
_
The overall Confederate surrender took place in stages over the following two months, with other Confederate armies reaching surrender agreements after Lee met with Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House.

Lee’s troops had been besieged by Grant’s Union forces at Petersburg and Richmond for a 10-month period starting in June 1864. Lee used his considerable experience as a combat engineer to have his troops dig trenches to slow the Union advance. But on April 1, 1865, Union forces led by General Phillip Sheridan took a critical transportation link at Five Forks, and Grant broke through the Petersburg defenses the following day.

Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia withdrew to the southwest harried by Grant’s forces. On April 6, about a quarter of Lee's army surrendered after it was cut off from Lee and surrounded by Union forces. The next day, Lee and Grant started corresponding about a possible surrender of the rest of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Grant said it was “my duty to shift from myself the responsibility of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the Army of Northern Virginia.” Lee then asked about surrender terms.

The two military leaders agreed to meet under a truce at the home of Wilmer McLean in Appomattox on the afternoon of April 9. A sharply dressed Lee and Lieutenant Colonial Charles Marshall arrived first, followed by a slightly disheveled Grant and his officers, a group that included Robert Todd Lincoln.

The generals had met once before during the Mexican-American War, and they briefly chatted about the experience. Lee then asked Grant to write down the surrender terms, which allowed Lee’s officers to keep their sidearms and horses, and a similar provision was provided for Lee’s cavalry and artillery troops. All of Lee’s troops were to "be allowed to return to their homes, and not be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside." Grant also provided rations for the starved Confederate troops.

The generous surrender terms avoided potential trials of Confederate leaders and served as a blueprint for other surrenders that followed. After the papers were signed, Lee and Grant shook hands. After Lee mounted his horse, Grant and his officers saluted Lee, who returned the gesture. Approximately, 28,000 Confederate soldiers laid down their weapons over the next three days and returned home.

*204,000 men, 110,100 Union soldiers and 94,000 Confederate soldiers, were killed in battle. Battlefield deaths only account for about one third of the total deaths during the Civil War, with 388,580 men perishing of disease. It has been estimated that one out of every four men who went to fight in the Civil War did not return home. For every man killed on the battlefield, there were typically around two wounded. Many soldiers who suffered wounds were often disabled or disfigured permanently. A typical procedure for dealing with shattered arms or legs was amputation, so many men came out of the war missing a limb or, perhaps, more. This had a dramatic impact upon their lives and the lives of their families.*_

_*Many men who experienced the horrors of the battlefield often came home with post-traumatic stress disorder. Since this condition was unknown at the time, treatments for those who suffered from it were limited. This meant that they had to struggle with painful memories of what they experienced in the war for the rest of their lives.*










Civil War Cost & Conflict | How Much Did the Civil War Cost? - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com


Examine how much the American Civil War cost. Learn about the financial and human costs of the civil war and understand its cultural and economic...




study.com




_


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## raratt (Apr 9, 2022)

Had to share this. I will accept any punishment deemed necessary by admin.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 10, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher, an atomic submarine, sinks in the Atlantic Ocean, killing the entire crew. One hundred and twenty-nine sailors and civilians were lost when the sub unexpectedly plunged to the sea floor roughly 300 miles off the coast of New England.*
_
The Thresher was launched on July 9, 1960, from Portsmouth Naval Yard in New Hampshire. Built with new technology, it was the first submarine assembled as part of a new class that could run more quietly and dive deeper than any that had come before.

On April 10, 1963, at just before 8 a.m., the Thresher was conducting drills off the coast of Cape Cod. At 9:13 a.m., the USS Skylark, another ship participating in the drills, received a communication from the Thresher that the sub was experiencing minor problems.

Other attempted communications failed and, only five minutes later, sonar images showed the Thresher breaking apart as it fell to the bottom of the sea. Sixteen officers, 96 sailors and 17 civilians were on board. All were killed.

On April 12, President John F. Kennedy ordered that flags across the country be flown at half-staff to commemorate the lives lost in this disaster. A subsequent investigation revealed that a leak in a silver-brazed joint in the engine room had caused a short circuit in critical electrical systems. The problems quickly spread, making the equipment needed to bring the Thresher to the surface inoperable.

The disaster forced improvements in the design and quality control of submarines. Twenty-five years later, in 1988, Vice Admiral Bruce DeMars, the Navy’s chief submarine officer, said “The loss of Thresher initiated fundamental changes in the way we do business—changes in design, construction, inspections, safety checks, tests, and more. We have not forgotten the lessons learned. It’s a much safer submarine force today.”









55 Years After Thresher Disaster, Navy Still Keeps Secrets on Sub Loss


The doomed submarine's hull imploded at a depth of 2,400 feet with a force of about 22,000 pounds of TNT.




www.military.com












USS Thresher (SSN-593) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org












Questions About Infamous Lost Sub Resurface as Navy Releases New Documents Tied to Decades-Old Mystery


The Thresher sank with 129 men aboard.




www.military.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 12, 2022)

China's military has US aircraft carriers in its sights, but those flattops aren't 'little teacups,' their captains say


China will be gunning for US aircraft carriers, but those flattops are "designed to take it," Capt. Paul Campagna said.




www.businessinsider.com


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## raratt (Apr 13, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Apr 14, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*The first U.S. Air Service aerial victories by fighter planes in the American sector in France were by Lts. Alan Winslow and Douglas Campbell, two pilots of the 94th Aero Squadron, which had just been transferred to the front. *
_
*On Sunday morning, 14 April 1918, they were on alert at Gengoult Aerodrome near Toul, France*. German planes were reported in the area and the two U.S. pilots, completely inexperienced in aerial combat, took off in their Nieuport 28s. Almost immediately they saw two German aircraft and attacked them directly over the flying field at less than 1,000 feet altitude, in full view of not only the Americans at Gengoult Aerodrome but also the French citizens of Toul. Winslow shot down an Albatross D.V and a minute later Campbell destroyed a Pfalz D.III. They were both back on the ground in a matter of minutes. This initial fighter combat by the U.S. Air Service, although probably successful due as much to luck as skill, convinced the French people that the Americans were "super-human."

On 31 May 1918, Campbell became the first U.S.-trained pilot to receive official credit for his fifth victory, thus becoming an ace. Winslow was decorated for a later action but was shot down on 31 July, lost an arm and spent the remainder of the war as a POW.



https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/1988/April%201988/0488victory.pdf


_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 14, 2022)

Russian Cruiser Damaged - Flagship of the Black Sea Fleet | SOF News


The Moskva, a cruiser that served as the flagship of the Black Sea, was severely damaged and abandoned on Thursday, April 14, 2022.




sof.news


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## bam0813 (Apr 14, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Apr 15, 2022)

Most decorated Native American soldier in US history, FOUR Silver Stars, Three Wars


Pascal Cleatus Poolaw, Sr., the most decorated Native American soldier in US history4 Silver Stars5 Bronze Stars3 Purple HeartsHe earned a total of 42 medals and citations.Born on January 29, 1922, in Apache, Oklahoma, Poolaw, a full-blooded Kiowa, served with the United States Army in World War...




theinfidel.co













The Epic Story Of Pascal Cleatus Poolow, Sr. Spans 20 Years Of Battle, And 42 Medals


He fought in three wars to save his sons, his men, and his country.




blog.theveteranssite.greatergood.com





​


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## BarnBuster (Apr 16, 2022)

_"Commissioned in 1943, 'The Sullivans' is one of four remaining examples of the Fletcher-class destroyer left in the world, according to the park. The ship measures 376 feet long and was crewed by 310 sailors. Named after five brothers who died during the battle of Guadalcanal, the destroyer left Pearl Harbor in 1944 and served in the Pacific for the remainder of World War II. According to the U.S. Navy, The Sullivans bombarded airfields on Iwo Jima, defended against Japanese air attacks, searched for submarines, rescued American sailors and Japanese merchant seaman, and supported the invasion of Okinawa."_

​_








World War II Navy Ship Is Tilting Into the Buffalo Waterfront


The U.S.S. The Sullivans, which survived combat in the Pacific, suffered a hull breach this week at a naval park in Buffalo. “We have a problem and we don’t know what it is,” a park official said.




www.nytimes.com












Crews working around the clock to save USS The Sullivans


"We have made the mantra that we're not going to give up the ship and failure is not an option," said Paul Marzello, president and CEO of the Naval and Military Park




www.wgrz.com









Save The Sullivans – We Stick Together







savethesullivans.org




_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 18, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​*On April 18, 1942, 16 American B-25 bombers, launched from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet 650 miles east of Japan and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James H. Doolittle, attack the Japanese mainland.*

_The now-famous Tokyo Raid did little real damage to Japan (wartime Premier Hideki Tojo was inspecting military bases during the raid; one B-25 came so close, Tojo could see the pilot, though the American bomber never fired a shot)–but it did hurt the Japanese government’s prestige. Believing the air raid had been launched from Midway Island, approval was given to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s plans for an attack on Midway–which would also damage Japanese “prestige.” Doolittle eventually received the Medal of Honor.









Doolittle's Raider: The North American B-25 Mitchell | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


The first bomber to hit Japan after Pearl Harbor, the B-25 Mitchell was found in every theater of the war and was a rugged, multipurpose bomber beloved by her aircrew for its survivability and ease to fly.




www.nationalww2museum.org












Trained in Secret, These Fearless Pilots Retaliated for Pearl Harbor


On April 18, 1942, Jimmy Doolittle led a squadron on one of the most daring missions of World War II.




www.nationalgeographic.com




_
*Mission Accomplished
America Strikes Back*

******************************************************************************************************

*​
_*April 18, 1943 – An aircraft carrying the Commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto, is shot down by P-38 Lighting fighters over Bougainville.* Yamamoto is killed. This action is the result the interception of a coded Japanese message announcing a visit by Yamamoto. The Japanese fail to deduce that their codes are insecure.

The Bougainville jungle was so thick, and Yamamoto’s crash site so remote, that Japanese search planes could only circle overhead, vainly seeking any sign of survivors. A rescue party finally hacked through to the downed Betty the next day. The admiral’s body was found near the wreckage, belted upright in his seat and still holding his sword, leading some to believe he survived the crash and might have been saved. More likely his body was arranged by another dying victim, in a demonstration of the reverence his countrymen felt toward him. Tokyo did not admit his loss until May 21.

In all of American history, the only equivalent is the operation that killed al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden. Yamamoto was no different from any officer caught in a sniper’s crosshairs—in uniform, on a combat mission, a legitimate military target. Today, when the enemy rarely wears a uniform, the debate centers on targeting terrorist leaders with remote-controlled drones. Few remember that the precedent was set 70 years ago, over the jungles of Bougainville_

*Search Killing Yamamoto*








A P-38 Pilot Describes the Attack on Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto


P-38 pilot Roger Ames flew with the mission to shoot down Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack.




warfarehistorynetwork.com









Magic and Lightning | Air & Space Forces Magazine


For US pilots, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto was a “high-value” target but also a fleeting one.




www.airforcemag.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 19, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​
*On April 19, 1943, Himmler sent in SS forces and their collaborators with tanks and heavy artillery to liquidate the Warsaw ghetto*_.
In Warsaw, Poland, Nazi forces attempting to clear out the city’s Jewish ghetto are met by gunfire from Jewish resistance fighters, and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins.

Shortly after the German occupation of Poland began, the Nazis forced the city’s Jewish citizens into a “ghetto” surrounded by barbwire and armed SS guards. The Warsaw ghetto occupied an area of less than two square miles but soon held almost 500,000 Jews in deplorable conditions. Disease and starvation killed thousands every month, and beginning in July 1942, 6,000 Jews per day were transferred to the Treblinka concentration camp. Although the Nazis assured the remaining Jews that their relatives and friends were being sent to work camps, word soon reached the ghetto that deportation to the camp meant extermination. An underground resistance group was established in the ghetto—the Jewish Combat Organization (ZOB)—and limited arms were acquired at great cost.

On January 18, 1943, when the Nazis entered the ghetto to prepare a group for transfer, a ZOB unit ambushed them. Fighting lasted for several days, and a number of Germans soldiers were killed before they withdrew. On April 19, Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler announced that the ghetto was to be emptied of its residents in honor of Hitler’s birthday the following day, and more than 1,000 S.S. soldiers entered the confines with tanks and heavy artillery. Although many of the ghetto’s remaining 60,000 Jewish dwellers attempted to hide themselves in secret bunkers, more than 1,000 ZOB members met the Germans with gunfire and homemade bombs. Suffering moderate casualties, the Germans initially withdrew but soon returned, and on April 24 launched an all-out attack against the Warsaw Jews.

Thousands were slaughtered as the Germans systematically progressed down the ghettos, blowing up the buildings one by one. The ZOB took to the sewers to continue the fight, but on May 8 their command bunker fell to the Germans and their resistant leaders died by suicide. By May 16, the ghetto was firmly under Nazi control, and mass deportation of the last Warsaw Jews to Treblinka began. During the uprising, some 300 German soldiers were killed, and thousands of Warsaw Jews were massacred. Virtually all those who survived the Uprising to reach Treblinka were dead by the end of the war.

*An estimated 7,000 Jews perished during the Warsaw ghetto uprising, while nearly 50,000 others who survived were sent to extermination or labor camps*. It’s believed that the Germans lost several hundred men in the uprising.

*The Warsaw ghetto uprising was the largest, symbolically most important Jewish uprising, and the first urban uprising, in German-occupied Europe. The resistance in Warsaw inspired other uprisings in ghettos (e.g., Bialystok and Minsk) and killing centers (Treblinka and Sobibor).*_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 19, 2022)

​
*April 19, 1775: At about 5 a.m., 700 British troops, on a mission to capture Patriot leaders and seize a Patriot arsenal, march into Lexington to find 77 armed minutemen under Captain John Parker waiting for them on the town’s common green.*_ British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment’s hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. Suddenly, a shot was fired from an undetermined gun, and a cloud of musket smoke soon covered the green. When the brief Battle of Lexington ended, eight Americans lay dead or dying and 10 others were wounded. Only one British soldier was injured, but *the American Revolution had begun*.

By 1775, tensions between the American colonies and the British government approached the breaking point, especially in Massachusetts, where Patriot leaders formed a shadow revolutionary government and trained militias to prepare for armed conflict with the British troops occupying Boston. In the spring of 1775, General Thomas Gage, the British governor of Massachusetts, received instructions from England to seize all stores of weapons and gunpowder accessible to the American insurgents. On April 18, he ordered British troops to march against the Patriot arsenal at Concord and capture Patriot leaders Samuel Adams and John Hancock, known to be hiding at Lexington.

The Boston Patriots had been preparing for such a military action by the British for some time, and upon learning of the British plan, Patriots Paul Revere and William Dawes were ordered to set out to rouse the militiamen and warn Adams and Hancock. When the British troops arrived at Lexington, a group of militiamen were waiting. The Patriots were routed within minutes, but warfare had begun, leading to calls to arms across the Massachusetts countryside.

When the British troops reached Concord at about 7 a.m., they found themselves encircled by hundreds of armed Patriots. They managed to destroy the military supplies the Americans had collected but were soon advanced against by a gang of minutemen, who inflicted numerous casualties. Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith, the overall commander of the British force, ordered his men to return to Boston without directly engaging the Americans. As the British retraced their 16-mile journey, their lines were constantly beset by Patriot marksmen firing at them from behind trees, rocks, and stone walls. At Lexington, Captain Parker’s militia had its revenge, killing several British soldiers as the Red Coats hastily marched through his town. By the time the British finally reached the safety of Boston, nearly 300 British soldiers had been killed, wounded, or were missing in action. The Patriots suffered fewer than 100 casualties.

The battles of Lexington and Concord were the first battles of the American Revolution, a conflict that would escalate from a colonial uprising into a world war that, seven years later, would give birth to the independent United States of America._


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## Kgrim (Apr 19, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Wouldn’t you think there’s enough retired 2/3/4 Stars or even retired Intelligence with a Armored / Cavalry lineage that own spreads in McLean or Bethesda that could afford to send up some truckloads of decent hay or grain and pay for Vet visits every couple of months?


This is an absolute disgrace. The commander says "they aren't lacking medical care" or "supplements" I call BS on that, the reports dating back almost 5 years says different. They may have been "looked at" but they weren't taken care of, as is evident of 2 horses dying of similar problems shortly apart. I agree with you that there should be some old retirees that have acceptable hay or grain available. I bet if they asked for donations, instead of funding, the horses would be eating proper food and not have their intestines impacted full of gravel. They should be taken care of properly, I bet you don't see any of the canine units lacking funding, and the horses shouldn't either.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## BarnBuster (Apr 19, 2022)

"Better BUFF" pg 37


https://www.airforcemag.com/app/uploads/2022/03/April22_issue.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Apr 20, 2022)

​*On April 20, 1971, the Pentagon releases figures confirming that fragging incidents are on the rise*_. In 1970, 209 such incidents caused the deaths of 34 men; in 1969, 96 such incidents cost 34 men their lives. Fragging was a slang term used to describe U.S. military personnel tossing of fragmentation hand grenades (hence the term “fragging”) usually into sleeping areas to murder fellow soldiers. It was usually directed primarily against unit leaders, officers and noncommissioned officers.

Fragging was rare in the early days of U.S. involvement in ground combat, but it became increasingly common as the rapid turnover caused by the one-year rotation policy weakened unit cohesion. With leadership and morale already declining in the face of repetitive Vietnam tours, the withdrawal of public support led to soldiers questioning their purpose on the battlefield. The situation worsened with the gradual U.S. troop withdrawal that began in 1969. As some troops were withdrawn, discipline and motivation declined as many remaining soldiers began to question why they had to continue fighting.

Fragging incidents in combat were usually attempts to remove leaders perceived to be incompetent and a threat to survival. Most fragging incidents, however, occurred in rear-echelon units and were committed by soldiers on drugs or because unit leaders were enforcing anti-drug policies. Unit leaders who were perceived to be too stringent in the enforcement of discipline or regulations sometimes received warnings via a fragmentation grenade, with the safety pin left on, but with their name painted on it left on their bunk, or a smoke grenade discharged under their bunk. Most understood the message, and intimidation through threat of fragging far exceeded actual incidents.

Marine Colonel Robert D. Heinl Jr., in his seminal article “The Collapse of the Armed Forces” published in the June 1971 Armed Forces Journal, claimed the morale, discipline and battle worthiness of the U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam were probably worse during this period than at any time in the 20th century—possibly in the history of the United States. An unnamed officer was quoted in a January 1971 Newsweek article as saying, “Vietnam has become a poison in the veins of the U.S. Army.”_


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## curious2garden (Apr 20, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5121552​*On April 20, 1971, the Pentagon releases figures confirming that fragging incidents are on the rise*_. In 1970, 209 such incidents caused the deaths of 34 men; in 1969, 96 such incidents cost 34 men their lives. Fragging was a slang term used to describe U.S. military personnel tossing of fragmentation hand grenades (hence the term “fragging”) usually into sleeping areas to murder fellow soldiers. It was usually directed primarily against unit leaders, officers and noncommissioned officers.
> 
> Fragging was rare in the early days of U.S. involvement in ground combat, but it became increasingly common as the rapid turnover caused by the one-year rotation policy weakened unit cohesion. With leadership and morale already declining in the face of repetitive Vietnam tours, the withdrawal of public support led to soldiers questioning their purpose on the battlefield. The situation worsened with the gradual U.S. troop withdrawal that began in 1969. As some troops were withdrawn, discipline and motivation declined as many remaining soldiers began to question why they had to continue fighting.
> 
> ...


Then Russia said, "Hold my beer"








Russian commander deliberately run over by own soldiers has DIED


Western officials believe Colonel Yuri Medvedev was brutally taken out after his 37th Motor Rifle Brigade suffered huge losses.




www.dailymail.co.uk


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## doublejj (Apr 20, 2022)

*Veterans With PTSD Often Struggle With Memory Loss*
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with a wide range of symptoms, but one of the most frequently overlooked is memory loss. Since the ability to recall information is essential for work and day-to-day functioning, it’s vital that Veterans have access to the resources they need to manage their condition. 

Experts aren’t entirely sure why people with PTSD struggle with memory. To some extent, the sleep disturbances and general stress associated with a PTSD diagnosis might play a role. PTSD has also been known to damage the hippocampus, which is the part of your brain that regulates emotions, stores long-term memories, and helps you tell the difference between new memories and memories of past events.

Everyone’s experience is a little different, but PTSD can damage both long-term and short-term memory. You may find it difficult to remember certain events from your past, as well as phone numbers, dates, directions, or other details needed to complete daily tasks.

In severe cases, people with PTSD can exhibit memory impairment similar to that of a person suffering from dementia. However, counseling and medication combined with lifestyle modifications typically help improve PTSD-related memory problems.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​
*In the well-trafficked skies above the Somme River in France, Baron Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious German flying ace known as the Red Baron,” is killed by Allied fire on April 21, 1918.*
_
Richthofen, the son of a Prussian nobleman, switched from the German army to the Imperial Air Service in 1915. By 1916, he was terrorizing the skies over the Western Front in an Albatross biplane, downing 15 enemy planes by the end of the year, including one piloted by British flying ace Major Lanoe Hawker. In 1917, Richthofen surpassed all flying-ace records on both sides of the Western Front and began using a Fokker triplane, painted entirely red in tribute to his old cavalry regiment. Although only used during the last eight months of his career, it was this aircraft with which Richthofen was most commonly associated and that led to an enduring English nickname for the German pilot—the Red Baron.

On April 21, 1918, with 80 victories under his belt, Richthofen led his squadron of triplanes deep into Allied territory in France on a search for British observation aircraft. The flight drew the attention of an Allied squadron led by Canadian Royal Air Force pilot Captain Arthur Roy Brown. As Richthofen pursued a plane piloted by Brown’s compatriot, Wilfred R. May, the Red Baron ventured too far into enemy territory and too low to the ground. Two miles behind the Allied lines, just as Brown caught up with Richthofen and fired on him, the chase passed over an Australian machine-gun battery, whose riflemen opened fire. Richthofen was hit in the torso; though he managed to land his plane alongside the road from Corbie to Bray, near Sailley-le-Sac, he was dead by the time Australian troops reached him. Brown is often given credit for downing Richthofen from the air, though some claimed it was actually an Australian gunner on the ground who fired the fatal shot; debate continues to this day.

Manfred von Richthofen was buried by the Allies in a small military cemetery in Bertangles, France, with full military honors. He was 25 years old at the time of his death. His body was later moved to a larger cemetery at Fricourt. In 1925, it was moved again, at the behest of his brother, Karl Bolko, this time to Berlin, where he was buried at Invaliden Cemetery in a large state funeral. In a time of wooden and fabric aircraft, when 20 air victories ensured a pilot legendary status, the Red Baron downed 80 enemy aircraft and went down in history as one of the greatest heroes to emerge from World War I on either side of the conflict.









The Death of The Red Baron


The Death of The Red Baron, essay by Frederick Holmes, MA, MD, FACP




www.kumc.edu














The Death of Manfred von Richthofen






net.lib.byu.edu









The (other) man who shot down the Red Baron | The Western Front Association







www.westernfrontassociation.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2022)

__





Entire U.S. Stockpile of VX Nerve Agent Eliminated







www.globalsecurity.org


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## BarnBuster (Apr 21, 2022)

_*The guided missile destroyer USS Zumwalt steams through the Pacific Ocean, April 9, 2022.* __Photo By: Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Peter Burghart_​









Latest Zumwalt Hypersonic Missile Installation Plan Calls For Removing Gun Mounts - USNI News


The most recent plan for adding hypersonic weapons to the Zumwalt-class guided-missile will involve removing the two massive 155 mm Advanced Gun Systems aboard the trio of destroyers, the Zumwalt program manager told USNI News on Wednesday. In October of next year, USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is...




news.usni.org




.








Why the Zumwalt-Class Destroyers Failed to Meet the Navy's Expectations


A surface warfare role may best leverage the Zumwalt’s stealth capabilities, allowing it to range ahead of the fleet and penetrate “anti-access” zones threatened by long-range anti-ship missiles.




nationalinterest.org












Zumwalt-Class Destroyers Get a New Lease on Life With Hypersonic Missiles


The Navy will equip Zumwalt-class destroyers with hypersonic weapons.




nationalinterest.org












Hypersonics







www.dynetics.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 23, 2022)

Verdict announced in first ever Air Force general court-martial


A military judge found Air Force Maj. Gen. William Cooley guilty of one charge of abusive sexual contact on the sixth day of an historic




americanmilitarynews.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 24, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_On Nov. 4, 1979, approximately 3,000 Iranian militants took control of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding 63 Americans hostage. An additional three U.S. members were seized at the Iranian Foreign Ministry for a total of 66. This was in response to President Jimmy Carter allowing Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the recently deposed Iranian ruler, into the U.S. for cancer treatment. New leadership in Iran wanted the shah back as well as the end of Western influence in their country.

After a few weeks, 13 hostages, all women or African Americans, were released but the remaining 53 would wait out five months of failed negotiations.

President Carter, originally wanting to end the hostage crisis diplomatically and without force, turned to alternative solutions as he felt the political pressure to resolve the problem. On April 16, 1980, he approved Operation Eagle Claw, a military rescue operation involving all four branches of the U.S. armed forces.

*On April 24, 1980, helicopters and planes were supposed to land with about 160 soldiers—mainly Delta Force—at a staging base called Desert One.* Then embedded CIA agents would drive soldiers into Tehran. Troops would cut power to the city, capture an Air Force Base, evacuate the embassy, and fly to safety.

Things first went wrong when the helicopters ran into a sandstorm, which damaged two of the aircraft. A tanker truck then happened upon the scene—smuggling fuel, the vehicle tried to flee, but soldiers blew it up with a rocket. A bus full of Iranian civilians was halted on the same road, and the 44 occupants were detained.

These events put Eagle Claw behind schedule and under-equipped. Commanders sought and were granted the order to abort. Two aircraft—one plane and one helicopter—needed refueling immediately. As the helicopter attempted to “hover taxi” (to fly low and slow for a short distance), more blowing sand confused the pilot, and he crashed into the airplane waiting to refuel. Both exploded. Eight men died. Five helicopters were left behind as the operation’s remaining personnel returned to nearby airfields.

The mission’s failure doomed future rescue attempts—and, at least partially, Jimmy Carter’s hopes for reelection in 1980.

A number of significant lessons were learned from Operation Eagle Claw, which led to the establishment of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) and its USAF component, the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The operation also highlighted the necessity of Joint planning and training.

The need for enhanced capabilities between more than one military service was the prediction for the future of the Armed Forces. Significant military reforms, such as the Goldwater-Nichols Act and Joint Doctrine, addressed the readiness and capability issues demonstrated in Operation Eagle Claw. It pointed out the necessity for a dedicated special operations section within the Department of Defense with the responsibility to prepare and maintain combat-ready forces to successfully conduct special operations.

Today, the different branches training alongside each other is common practice. Planning for missions consist of specific details with back up plans to the back up plans. Ultimately, the lives lost as Desert One weren’t in vain. The lessons learned from that mission made special operations into what we know them as today._









Operation Eagle Claw - The Disaster that Changed American Special Operations


The April 24th Op is a major event in the history of the United States’ Special Forces operations not just because it was among the first missions of the




www.warhistoryonline.com












Operation Eagle Claw, Disaster At Desert One Brings Changes to Special Operations


The images were stark and startling after the debacle at Desert One in Iran on April 24, 1980, 37 years ago today.




sofrep.com









Desert One | Air & Space Forces Magazine


The mission was to rescue the hostages held in Iran, but it ended in disaster.




www.airforcemag.com


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## BarnBuster (Apr 25, 2022)

*Air** Force Capt. Brian Kemp collects sand from Invasion Beach at Iwo Jima, Japan, April 20, 2022*. Photo By: Air Force Senior Airman Gary Hilton

​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Apr 25, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5124225
> *Air** Force Capt. Brian Kemp collects sand from Invasion Beach at Iwo Jima, Japan, April 20, 2022*. Photo By: Air Force Senior Airman Gary Hilton
> 
> View attachment 5124229​


It took a few moments but I quickly realized that is Mount Suribachi.


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## BarnBuster (Apr 25, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> It took a few moments but I quickly realized that is Mount Suribachi.


Here's a link to the USMC film repository, lots of film about Iwo




__





CONTENTdm







digital.tcl.sc.edu





and some more from the National Archives but not as well indexed. The site is where the film that has been digitized on WW2 is available for viewing. Much film (the thousands of feet that was taken on the concentration camps, for instance) has not been digitized but with advance permission and having to be on site, is viewable.


https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=iwo%20jima&f.materialsType=movingimages


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## BarnBuster (Apr 27, 2022)

Today in Military History:


*"...to the shores of Tripoli"*​
_*April 27, 1805 – After marching 500 miles from Egypt, U.S. agent William Eaton leads a small force of U.S. Marines and Berber mercenaries against the Tripolitan port city of Derna.* The Marines and Berbers were on a mission to depose Yusuf Karamanli, the ruling pasha of Tripoli, who had seized power from his brother, Hamet Karamanli, a pasha who was sympathetic to the United States. The First Barbary War had begun four years earlier, when U.S. President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states–Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. American sailors were often abducted along with the captured booty and ransomed back to the United States at an exorbitant price. Lieutenant Presley O’ Bannon, commanding the Marines, performed so heroically in the battle that Hamet Karamanli presented him with an elaborately designed sword that now serves as the pattern for the swords carried by Marine officers.











Battle of Derna, 27 April 1805: Selected Naval Documents


With the unsatisfactory result of the bombardments of Tripoli in 1804 the Tripolitan War had languished in a stalemate. In early 1805 the US Navy Agent for the Barbary Regencies, William Eaton, resolved to combine diplomacy with a land campaign to bring stronger pressure on the Bashaw, Yususf...




www.history.navy.mil












The Shores Of Tripoli


OUR FIRST FIGHT AGAINST INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS




www.americanheritage.com




_
O'Bannon's Sword? (page 3)


https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Fortitudine%20Vol%2014%20No%201.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Apr 27, 2022)

*A soldier assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, known as “The Old Guard,” conducts military funeral honors for Army Sgt. Elwood M. Truslow at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., April 22, 2022. Truslow was reported missing in action in 1950 after his unit was attacked near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced his remains were accounted for last year.*​








Military Funeral Honors with Funeral Escort are Conducted for U.S. Army Sgt. Elwood M. Truslow in Section 33


A firing party from the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) fires 3-rifle volleys as part of military funeral honors for U.S. Army Sgt. Elwood M. Truslow in Section 33 of Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., April 22, 2022. From the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) press...




www.dvidshub.net




*


Service Member Profile










The Korean War and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir - Bill of Rights Institute







billofrightsinstitute.org




*


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## BarnBuster (Apr 28, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_Three weeks into a journey from Tahiti to the West Indies, the HMS Bounty is seized in a mutiny led by Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate. Captain William Bligh and 18 of his loyal supporters were set adrift in a small, open boat, and the Bounty set course for Tubuai south of Tahiti.

In December 1787, the Bounty left England for Tahiti in the South Pacific, where it was to collect a cargo of breadfruit saplings to transport to the West Indies. There, the breadfruit would serve as food for enslaved passengers. After a 10-month journey, the Bounty arrived in Tahiti in October 1788 and remained there for more than five months. On Tahiti, the crew enjoyed an idyllic life, reveling in the comfortable climate, lush surroundings and the hospitality of the Tahitians. Fletcher Christian fell in love with a Tahitian woman named Mauatua.

On April 4, 1789, the Bounty departed Tahiti with its store of breadfruit saplings. *On April 28, near the island of Tonga, Christian and 25 petty officers and seamen seized the ship.* Bligh, who eventually would fall prey to a total of three mutinies in his career, was an oppressive commander and insulted those under him. By setting him adrift in an overcrowded 23-foot-long boat in the middle of the Pacific, Christian and his conspirators had apparently handed him a death sentence. *By remarkable seamanship, however, Bligh and his men reached Timor in the East Indies on June 14, 1789, after a voyage of about 3,600 miles*. Bligh returned to England and soon sailed again to Tahiti, from where he successfully transported breadfruit trees to the West Indies.

Meanwhile, Christian and his men attempted to establish themselves on the island of Tubuai. Unsuccessful in their colonizing effort, the Bounty sailed north to Tahiti, and 16 crewmen decided to stay there, despite the risk of capture by British authorities. Christian and eight others, together with six Tahitian men, a dozen Tahitian women, and a child, decided to search the South Pacific for a safe haven. In January 1790, the Bounty settled on Pitcairn Island, an isolated and uninhabited volcanic island more than 1,000 miles east of Tahiti. The mutineers who remained on Tahiti were captured and taken back to England where three were hanged. A British ship searched for Christian and the others but did not find them.

In 1808, an American whaling vessel was drawn to Pitcairn by smoke from a cooking fire. The Americans discovered a community of children and women led by John Adams, the sole survivor of the original nine mutineers. According to Adams, after settling on Pitcairn the colonists had stripped and burned the Bounty, and internal strife and sickness had led to the death of Fletcher and all the men but him. In 1825, a British ship arrived and formally granted Adams amnesty, and he served as patriarch of the Pitcairn community until his death in 1829.

In 1831, the Pitcairn islanders were resettled on Tahiti, but unsatisfied with life there they soon returned to their native island. In 1838, the Pitcairn Islands, which includes three nearby uninhabited islands, was incorporated into the British Empire. By 1855, Pitcairn’s population had grown to nearly 200, and the two-square-mile island could not sustain its residents. In 1856, the islanders were removed to Norfolk Island, a former penal colony nearly 4,000 miles to the west. However, less than two years later, 17 of the islanders returned to Pitcairn, followed by more families in 1864. Today, just a few dozen live on Pitcairn Island, and all but a handful are descendants of the Bounty mutineers. About a thousand residents of Norfolk Island (half its population) trace their lineage from Fletcher Christian and the eight other British sailors.

Meanwhile Captain Bligh prospered, and in 1805 he was appointed Governor of New South Wales in Australia. However his strict discipline again proved difficult for people to accept, and his policy of preventing the importation of liquor provoked the ‘Rum Rebellion’: yet another mutiny then!
Bligh was arrested, this time by mutinous soldiers, and kept in custody until February 1809 before being sent back to England in May 1810.

Not that this ended his illustrious career; he was made an Admiral in 1814. He died on December 7th 1817 at his London home._


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## BarnBuster (Apr 29, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*"During the Dachau liberation reprisals, German prisoners of war were killed by U.S. soldiers and concentration camp internees at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, during World War II*. It is unclear how many SS members were killed in the incident but most estimates place the number killed at around 35–50. In the days before the camp's liberation, SS guards at the camp had forced 7,000 inmates on a death march that resulted in the death of many from exposure and shooting. When Allied soldiers liberated Dachau, they were variously shocked, horrified, disturbed, and angered at finding the massed corpses of internees, and by the combativeness of some of the remaining guards who allegedly fired on them."_









Dachau Liberation - Soldiers Killed 2 | Scrap Book Pages


Dachau was the first regular concentration camp set up by the Nazi government. It was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory




www.scrapbookpages.com






https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/online-documents/holocaust/report-dachau.pdf


*Beyond the Front Page American Soldiers Encountering Nazi Atrocities and Liberation in World War II*


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## BarnBuster (Apr 30, 2022)

Today in Military History:
 ​*
The South Vietnamese stronghold of Saigon (now known as Ho Chi Minh City) falls to People's Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong on April 30, 1975. The South Vietnamese forces had collapsed under the rapid advancement of the North Vietnamese.*_ The most recent fighting had begun in December 1974, when the North Vietnamese had launched a major attack against the lightly defended province of Phuoc Long, located due north of Saigon along the Cambodian border, overrunning the provincial capital at Phuoc Binh on January 6, 1975. Despite previous presidential promises to provide aid in such a scenario, the United States did nothing. By this time, Nixon had resigned from office and his successor, Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress to make good on Nixon’s earlier promises to rescue Saigon from communist takeover.

This situation emboldened the North Vietnamese, who launched a new campaign in March 1975. The South Vietnamese forces fell back in total disarray, and once again, the United States did nothing. The South Vietnamese abandoned Pleiku and Kontum in the Highlands with very little fighting. Then Quang Tri, Hue, and Da Nang fell to the communist onslaught. The North Vietnamese continued to attack south along the coast toward Saigon, defeating the South Vietnamese forces at each encounter.

The South Vietnamese 18th Division had fought a valiant battle at Xuan Loc, just to the east of Saigon, destroying three North Vietnamese divisions in the process. However, it proved to be the last battle in the defense of the Republic of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese forces held out against the attackers until they ran out of tactical air support and weapons, finally abandoning Xuan Loc to the communists on April 21.

Having crushed the last major organized opposition before Saigon, the North Vietnamese got into position for the final assault. In Saigon, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned and transferred authority to Vice President Tran Van Huong before fleeing the city on April 25. By April 27, the North Vietnamese had completely encircled Saigon and began to maneuver for a complete takeover.

When they attacked at dawn on April 30, they met little resistance. North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace and the war came to an end. North Vietnamese Col. Bui Tin accepted the surrender from Gen. Duong Van Minh, who had taken over after Tran Van Huong spent only one day in power. Tin explained to Minh, “You have nothing to fear. Between Vietnamese there are no victors and no vanquished. Only the Americans have been beaten. If you are patriots, consider this a moment of joy. The war for our country is over.”_

*CAUSES, ORIGINS, AND LESSONS OF T H E VIETNAM WAR
*
*The Fall of South Vietnam: Statements by Vietnamese Military and Civilian Leaders*


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## BarnBuster (Apr 30, 2022)

​
_*On April 30, 1943, Lieutenant Norman Jewell, commanding the submarine HMS Seraph (P219), read the 39th Psalm over the man who never was.* With briefcase containing “secret” documents padlocked to his wrist, the homeless man who in death would help defeat Nazi Germany, was gently pushed into the Atlantic, off the Spanish coast.

The idea was a head fake. Disinformation intended to make the Nazi government believe that their adversaries intended to invade Sardinia and Greece in 1943, rather than the real targets of North Africa and Sicily. British Military Intelligence called it “Operation Mincemeat”.

The hoax worked out, nicely. A Spanish fisherman recovered the body and a Nazi agent intercepted the papers, as intended. Mussolini insisted correctly that the allied attack would come through Sicily, but Hitler wasn’t buying it. He had swallowed the Mincemeat scam whole, insisting that the Sicilian attack was nothing but a diversion from the real objective.

When the Allies invaded Sicily on the 9th of July, the Germans were so convinced it was a feint that forces were kept out of action for a full two full weeks. After that, it was far too late to effect the outcome.











Operation Mincemeat - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org










This Man Pulled Off One of the Greatest Deceptions in Military History—After His Death | HistoryNet


Undercover The 'man who never was' pulled off one of the greatest deceptions in military history--after his death. When the campaign in North Africa was




www.historynet.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Apr 30, 2022)

​
*Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, committed suicide via gunshot on 30 April 1945 in his bunker in Berlin*_. Eva Braun, his wife of one day, also committed suicide by taking cyanide. In accordance with his prior written and verbal instructions, that afternoon their remains were carried up the stairs through the bunker's emergency exit, doused in petrol, and set alight in the Reich Chancellery garden outside the bunker.

Although records in the Soviet archives indicate that the burned remains of Hitler and Braun were recovered and interred in successive locations until 1946, and that they were exhumed again and cremated in 1970, this has been shown to be extremely unlikely, since eyewitnesses testified that there were no bodies per se remaining after the burning, just ashes. The suggestion that the bodies were serially exhumed and re-buried is considered to be part of a Soviet disinformation campaign on the order of Joseph Stalin to sow confusion regarding Hitler's death.

One of the Nazi principles was that death was better than dishonor, which may have prompted Hitler to rather choose suicide than (if he survived the capture) be tried for his crimes against humanity. He may also have believed that a captain doesn’t abandon a sinking ship, which would make trying to flee a dishonorable act. Hitler may have decided to stay in Berlin right till the end to prove that he stand by his ideals and was there for his people.

While hiding out in the bunker, Hitler got word that Mussolini was captured when trying to escape with his mistress and that they both were shot and their bodies hung a town square where they were reviled by vengeful people. Hitler didn’t want anything like that to happen to him and wrote in his last will and testament that he didn’t want to become a “spectacle.”









Adolph Hitler: His Life, Ideology, Rise, and Downfall - History


Adolph Hitler, German politician and leader of the Nazi Party, led his nation into a disastrous war and exterminated millions of his own citizens.




www.historyonthenet.com




_








Death of Adolf Hitler - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## raratt (Apr 30, 2022)

Going on now.








2022 Fort Lauderdale Air Show - Saturday Livestream, Air Force Thunderbirds, F-35 Lightning II Demo


2022 Tour Schedule ▶️ https://air.show - Skip Ahead Below: 00:00:00 Pre-Show - Watch the Military Flight Line00:40:00 Opening Ceremonies00:40:40 SOCOM Para_...




show.us11.list-manage.com


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## doublejj (Apr 30, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5126340​
> _*On April 30, 1943, Lieutenant Norman Jewell, commanding the submarine HMS Seraph (P219), read the 39th Psalm over the man who never was.* With briefcase containing “secret” documents padlocked to his wrist, the homeless man who in death would help defeat Nazi Germany, was gently pushed into the Atlantic, off the Spanish coast.
> 
> The idea was a head fake. Disinformation intended to make the Nazi government believe that their adversaries intended to invade Sardinia and Greece in 1943, rather than the real targets of North Africa and Sicily. British Military Intelligence called it “Operation Mincemeat”.
> ...


My father was in the invasion of Africa & Sicily and Italy.....


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## BarnBuster (May 1, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​
_*"On May 1, 1960, a U-2 flight piloted by Francis Gary Powers disappeared while on a flight over Russia.* The CIA reassured the president that, even if the plane had been shot down, it was equipped with self-destruct mechanisms that would render any wreckage unrecognizable and the pilot was instructed to kill himself in such a situation. Based on this information, the U.S. government issued a cover statement indicating that a weather plane had veered off course and supposedly crashed somewhere in the Soviet Union. With no small degree of pleasure, Khrushchev pulled off one of the most dramatic moments of the Cold War by producing not only the mostly-intact wreckage of the U-2, but also the captured pilot-very much alive. A chagrined Eisenhower had to publicly admit that it was indeed a U.S. spy plane.

The U-2 was the brainchild of the Central Intelligence Agency, and it was a sophisticated technological marvel. Traveling at altitudes of up to 70,000 feet, the aircraft was equipped with state-of-the-art photography equipment that could, the CIA boasted, take high-resolution pictures of headlines in Russian newspapers as it flew overhead. Flights over the Soviet Union began in mid-1956. The CIA assured President Eisenhower that the Soviets did not possess anti-aircraft weapons sophisticated enough to shoot down the high-altitude planes.

On May 16, a major summit between the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France began in Paris. Issues to be discussed included the status of Berlin and nuclear arms control. As the meeting opened, Khrushchev launched into a tirade against the United States and Eisenhower and then stormed out of the summit. The meeting collapsed immediately and the summit was called off. Eisenhower considered the “stupid U-2 mess” one of the worst debacles of his presidency. The pilot, Francis Gary Powers, was released in 1962 in exchange for a captured Soviet spy, Soviet Colonel Rudolf Abel, a senior KGB spy who was caught in the United States five years earlier. (Abel returned to Moscow, where he was forced into retirement by the KGB, who feared that during his five years of captivity U.S. authorities had convinced him to become a double agent. He was given a modest pension and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs. He died in 1971."_





U-2 Spy Plane Incident | Eisenhower Presidential Library







www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov




.


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## raratt (May 2, 2022)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 2, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5127428


If you didn't live it you probably won't understand, but I wouldn't trade my childhood for any other!


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## BarnBuster (May 3, 2022)

Today In Military History:


"*Scratch One Flat Top*" (Lieutenant Commander Robert E. Dixon, May 7, 1942, Coral Sea)​
_*"May 3, 1942* – *The first day of the first modern naval engagement in history, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, a Japanese invasion force succeeds in occupying Tulagi of the Solomon Islands in an expansion of Japan’s defensive perimeter. *The United States, having broken Japan’s secret war code and forewarned of an impending invasion of Tulagi and Port Moresby, attempted to intercept the Japanese armada. Four days of battles between Japanese and American aircraft carriers resulted in 70 Japanese and 66 Americans warplanes destroyed. This confrontation, called the Battle of the Coral Sea, marked the first air-naval battle in history, as none of the carriers fired at each other, allowing the planes taking off from their decks to do the battling. Among the casualties was the American carrier Lexington; “the Blue Ghost” (so-called because it was not camouflaged like other carriers) suffered such extensive aerial damage that it had to be sunk by its own crew. Two hundred sixteen Lexington crewmen died as a result of the Japanese aerial bombardment. Although Japan would go on to occupy all of the Solomon Islands, its victory was a Pyrrhic one: The cost in experienced pilots and aircraft carriers was so great that Japan had to cancel its expedition to Port Moresby, Papua, as well as other South Pacific targets."_

(Many Australians believed at the time and still do today that this battle essentially "saved Australia" by stopping the southern expansion of IJN forces. At one time immediately after the war, they celebrated Coral Sea Week to honor USA and ANZAC forces. "More recently the commemorative emphasis has moved from the ‘Battle that saved Australia’ to the broader concept of the ‘Battle for Australia’, held on the first Wednesday in September. This now marks not only the Battle of the Coral Sea, but also the contribution and significance of all those who helped defend Australia at its most vulnerable time – the men on the Kokoda Track, the airmen in northern Australia and Papua, the sailors and merchant seamen keeping supply lines open, and the men and women in Australia in the services, as civilian workers, or volunteers on the home front.") bb​
Four Medals of Honor were awarded at Coral Sea:

Lieutenant John J. Powers (Yorktown, VB-5) for actions while attacking Shoho on 7 May at Tulagi, and on 8 May in while attacking Shokaku (killed in action)
Lieutenant Milton E. Ricketts (Yorktown), engineering repair party, on 8 May (killed in action)
Lieutenant William E. Hall (Lexington, VS-2) for his attack on Shoho on 7 May and interception of Japanese torpedo planes (too few available fighter aircraft forced the use of dive/scout bombers as low-level interceptors) on 8 May (survived)
Chief Water Tender Oscar V. Peterson (Neosho) for his heroism in the ship's engineering spaces on 7 May (died of wounds)
4 books worth a read, specifically about the Battle of the Coral Sea:

_*The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle (Campaign)*_ – by Mark Stille
*Blue Skies and Blood: The Battle of the Coral Sea* – by Edwin P. Hoyt
_*The Battle of the Coral Sea: Combat Narratives*_ – by Office of Naval Intelligence
_*Scratch One Flattop: The First Carrier Air Campaign and the Battle of the Coral Sea *_– by Robert C. Stern

also:
_*The First South Pacific Campaign: Pacific Fleet Strategy, December 1941-June 1942*_ - by John B. Lundstrom
_*The Barrier and the Javelin*_ - H.P.Willmott






The Battle of the Coral Sea - ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee


anzac day commemoration committee




anzacday.org.au












The Battle of the Coral Sea: The Debut of Aircraft Carriers - History


The Battle of the Coral Sea was a 1942 Pacific naval battle between Japan, the U.S. and Australia. Aircraft carriers engaged each other for the first time




www.historyonthenet.com








__





Battle of the Coral Sea


The Battle of the Coral Sea was the first time since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that the enemy’s seemingly relentless advance into the Pacific was checked. It was also the first major U.S. Navy fleet action against Japan and the first naval engagement in history in which the...




www.history.navy.mil












Battle of the Coral Sea


The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4–8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and Allied naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged...




military-history.fandom.com


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## BarnBuster (May 4, 2022)

Today In Military History: 

 ​
*On May 5, 1945 in Lakeview, Oregon, Mrs. Elsie Mitchell and five neighborhood children are killed while attempting to drag a Japanese balloon out the woods.*_ Unbeknownst to Mitchell and the children, the balloon was armed, and it exploded soon after they began tampering with it. They were the first and only known American civilians to be killed in the continental United States during World War II. The U.S. government eventually gave $5,000 in compensation to Mitchell’s husband, and $3,000 each to the families of Edward Engen, Sherman Shoemaker, Jay Gifford, and Richard and Ethel Patzke, the five slain children.

The explosive balloon (called by the Japanese 'Fu-Go' or fire-balloon campaign) found at Lakeview was a product of one of only a handful of Japanese attacks against the continental United States, which were conducted early in the war by Japanese submarines and later by high-altitude balloons carrying explosives or incendiaries. The U.S. government estimates that, of the 9000 balloons launched by Japan, 1000 probably reached the mainland and, of those balloons, only approximately 284 have been found (according to National Geographic).

J. David Rodgers of the Missouri University of Science and Technology told National Public Radio that the balloon bombs “were 33 feet in diameter and could lift approximately 1,000 pounds, but the deadly portion of their cargo was a 33 lb anti-personnel fragmentation bomb, attached to a 64–foot-long fuse that was intended to burn for 82 minutes before detonating.” In addition to the high explosives, the balloons also carried a payload of incendiary chemicles._

*(Undetonated bombs are still found periodically, the latest ones in 2014 by a forest service crew working in the Monashee Mountains northeast of Vancouver, British Columbia, and by a hunter near McBride, British Columbia in October 2019, bb)*

There was a movie about the construction of the bombs; "On Paper Wings" if you can find it.









In 1945, a Japanese Balloon Bomb Killed Six Americans, Five of Them Children, in Oregon


The military kept the true story of their deaths, the only civilians to die at enemy hands on the U.S. mainland, under wraps




www.smithsonianmag.com












Elsie Winters Mitchell of Port Angeles and five children are killed in Oregon by enemy balloon bomb on May 5, 1945.







www.historylink.org


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## BarnBuster (May 6, 2022)

Today in Military History:

  ​
*On May 6, 1942, U.S. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders all U.S. troops in the Philippines to the Japanese.*

_The island of Corregidor remained the last Allied stronghold in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan (from which General Wainwright had managed to flee, to Corregidor). Constant artillery shelling and aerial bombardment attacks ate away at the American and Filipino defenders. Although still managing to sink many Japanese barges as they approached the northern shores of the island, the Allied troops could hold the invader off no longer. General Wainwright, only recently promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and commander of the U.S. armed forces in the Philippines, offered to surrender Corregidor to Japanese General Homma, but Homma wanted the complete, unconditional capitulation of all American forces throughout the Philippines. Wainwright had little choice given the odds against him and the poor physical condition of his troops (he had already lost 800 men). He surrendered at midnight. All 11,500 surviving Allied troops were evacuated to a prison stockade in Manila. 

(Homma was executed for war crimes in 1946)









LTG Masaharu Homma Executed on This Day 1946, For Bataan Death March


Homma made 10 different requests to Tokyo for food for the POWs, requesting 100,000 tons of rice. But the Japanese sent him just 1/30th of his request.




sofrep.com




_ 
_Three years and three months later, in August 1945, Wainwright was released from a liberated prisoner-of-war camp. Two weeks later, he stood behind MacArthur on the USS Missouri when the general signed the Japanese surrender documents. After that, Wainwright returned to the Philippines to witness the surrender of the local Japanese commander. 

Wainwright considered himself a failure because he had surrendered, but in September 1945, he was promoted to four-star general and awarded the Medal of Honor. He received a hero's welcome when he returned to the United States. After the war, Wainwright commanded the 4th Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, before retiring from active duty in August 1947. He died in 1953 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Loyalty was high on his list of virtues, and he went to his grave as firm an admirer of Douglas MacArthur as he had been in 1941. As a soldier, Wainwright would never be remembered for his global vision or strategic insight. Yet the old cavalryman—tough, brave, and always mindful of his men—in many respects embodied the cardinal virtues of the Old Army. It was his tragedy that he never got over his responsibility for the largest surrender in American history.









'A Dreadful Step': Surrender at Luzon


Former cavalry officer Jonathan Wainwright sank to unimaginable depths after he was compelled to surrender American forces to the Japanese in the Philippines in April 1942.




www.historynet.com












LTG Masaharu Homma Executed on This Day 1946, For Bataan Death March


Homma made 10 different requests to Tokyo for food for the POWs, requesting 100,000 tons of rice. But the Japanese sent him just 1/30th of his request.




sofrep.com




_


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## BarnBuster (May 7, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*On May 7, 1915, less than a year after World War I (1914-1 erupted across Europe, a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania, a British ocean liner en route from New York to Liverpool, England.*

_The earlier German attacks on merchant ships off the south coast of Ireland prompted the British Admiralty to warn the Lusitania to avoid the area or take simple evasive action, such as zigzagging to confuse U-boats plotting the vessel’s course. The captain of the Lusitania ignored these recommendations, and at 2:12 p.m. on May 7, in the waters of the Celtic Sea, the 32,000-ton ship was hit by an exploding torpedo on its starboard side. The torpedo blast was followed by a larger explosion, probably of the ship’s boilers. The Lusitania sank within 20 minutes.

Germany justified the attack by stating, correctly, that the Lusitania was an enemy ship, and that it was carrying munitions. It was primarily a passenger ship, however, and among the 1,201 drowned in the attack were many women and children, including 128 Americans. Colonel Edward House, close associate of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, was in London for a diplomatic visit when he learned of the Lusitania‘s demise. America has come to the parting of the ways, he wrote in a telegram to Wilson, when she must determine whether she stands for civilized or uncivilized warfare. We can no longer remain neutral spectators.

Wilson subsequently sent a strongly worded note to the German government—the first of three similar communications—demanding that it cease submarine warfare against unarmed merchant ships. Wilson’s actions On the afternoon of May 7, 1915, the British ocean liner Lusitania is torpedoed without warning by a German submarine off the south coast of Ireland.

Faced with the overpowering size and strength of the British Royal Navy at the outset of World War I, Germany realized its most effective weapon at sea was its deadly accurate U-boat submarine. Consequently, in February 1915, the German navy adopted a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, declaring the area around the British Isles a war zone, in which all merchant ships, including those from neutral countries, would be subject to attack.

Though the United States was officially neutral at this point in the war, Britain was one of the nation’s closest trading partners, and tensions arose immediately over Germany’s new policy. In early May 1915, several New York newspapers published a warning by the German embassy in Washington that Americans traveling on British or Allied ships in war zones did so at their own risk. On the same page, an advertisement announced the imminent sailing of the British cruise liner Lusitania from New York back to Liverpool.

On the German side, fear of further antagonizing Wilson and his government led Kaiser Wilhelm and Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg to issue an apology to the U.S. and enforce a curb on the policy of unrestricted submarine warfare. By early 1917, however, under pressure from military leaders who advocated an aggressive naval policy as an integral component of German strategy in World War I, the government reversed its policy, and on February 1, 1917, Germany resumed its policy of unrestricted U-boat warfare. Two days later, Wilson announced that the U.S. was breaking diplomatic relations with Germany; the same day, the American liner Housatonic was sunk by a German U-boat. The United States formally entered World War I on April 6, 1917."_ 









Sinking the Lusitania, Part 2: Death and Blame, May 7, 1915


Reports and opinions in Scientific American on a key tragedy in World War I




blogs.scientificamerican.com


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## BarnBuster (May 8, 2022)

​
*"On May 8, 1945, both Great Britain and the United States celebrate Victory in Europe Day. Cities in both nations, as well as formerly occupied cities in Western Europe, put out flags and banners, rejoicing in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during World War II.*

_The eighth of May spelled the day when German troops throughout Europe finally laid down their arms: In Prague, Germans surrendered to their Soviet antagonists, after the latter had lost more than 8,000 soldiers, and the Germans considerably more; in Copenhagen and Oslo; at Karlshorst, near Berlin; in northern Latvia; on the Channel Island of Sark—the German surrender was realized in a final cease-fire. More surrender documents were signed in Berlin and in eastern Germany.

The main concern of many German soldiers was to elude the grasp of Soviet forces, to keep from being taken prisoner. About 1 million Germans attempted a mass exodus to the West when the fighting in Czechoslovakia ended, but were stopped by the Russians and taken captive. The Russians took approximately 2 million prisoners in the period just before and after the German surrender. Meanwhile, more than 13,000 British POWs were released and sent back to Great Britain.

Pockets of German-Soviet confrontation would continue into the next day. On May 9, the Soviets would lose 600 more soldiers in Silesia before the Germans finally surrendered. Consequently, V-E Day was not celebrated until the ninth in Moscow, with a radio broadcast salute from Stalin himself: “The age-long struggle of the Slav nations… has ended in victory. Your courage has defeated the Nazis. The war is over.”_


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## raratt (May 8, 2022)




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## Hiphophippo (May 8, 2022)

I’ve been watching these new documentaries on war stories that’s the name it has literally every battle during every conflict and moments throughout and breaks them down into hour long if not longer documentaries of very good style and goes in-depth on every situation using actual footage and stories and witnesses of the actual events to put it together any history buff or military buff would love it check it out war stories


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## MaritLage (May 9, 2022)

Hiphophippo said:


> I’ve been watching these new documentaries on war stories that’s the name it has literally every battle during every conflict and moments throughout and breaks them down into hour long if not longer documentaries of very good style and goes in-depth on every situation using actual footage and stories and witnesses of the actual events to put it together any history buff or military buff would love it check it out war stories


|that is a great resource . 
|thanks for posting it .


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## BarnBuster (May 11, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​
*May 10-20, 1969: Hamburger Hill was the scene of an intense and controversial battle during the Vietnam War. Known to military planners as Hill 937 (a reference to its height in meters), the solitary peak is located in the dense jungles of the A Shau Valley of Vietnam, about a mile from the border with Laos*_.

The Vietnamese referred to the hill as Dong Ap Bia (or Ap Bia Mountain, “the mountain of the crouching beast”). Though the hill had no real tactical significance, taking the hill was part of Operation Apache Snow, a U.S. military sweep of the A Shau Valley. The purpose of the operation was to cut off North Vietnamese infiltration from Laos and enemy threats to the cities of Hue and Da Nang.

Under the leadership of General Melvin Zais, commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, paratroopers engaged a North Vietnamese regiment on the slopes of Ap Bia Mountain on May 10, 1969. Entrenched in well-prepared fighting positions, the North Vietnamese 29th Regiment repulsed the initial American assault, and after suffering a high number of casualties, U.S. forces fell back.

The soldiers of the North Vietnamese 29th Regiment—battle-hardened veterans of the Tet Offensive—beat back another attempt by the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry on May 14. An intense battle raged for the next 10 days as the mountain came under heavy air strikes, artillery barrages and 10 infantry assaults, some conducted in heavy tropical rainstorms that reduced visibility to near zero.

Due to the bitter fighting and the high casualty rate, Ap Bia Mountain was dubbed “Hamburger Hill” by journalists covering the Vietnam War. Speaking to a reporter, 19-year-old Sergeant James Spears said, “Have you ever been inside a hamburger machine? We just got cut to pieces by extremely accurate machine gun fire.”

On May 20, General Zais sent in two additional U.S. airborne battalions (the 1st Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment), plus a South Vietnamese battalion as reinforcements for his increasingly disgruntled soldiers.

One U.S. soldier—who had fought in nine of the 10 assaults on Hamburger Hill—was quoted as saying, “I’ve lost a lot of buddies up there. Not many guys can take it much longer.”

Finally, in the 11th attack, the North Vietnamese stronghold was captured on May 20, when thousands of U.S. troops and South Vietnamese soldiers fought their way to the summit. In the face of the four-battalion attack, the North Vietnamese retreated to sanctuary areas in Laos.

On June 5—just days after the hard-won victory—Ap Bia Mountain was abandoned by U.S. forces because it had no real strategic value. The North Vietnamese re-occupied Hamburger Hill a month later.

“The only significance of the hill was the fact that your North Vietnamese (were) on it … the hill itself had no tactical significance,” General Zais was quoted as saying.

Reports of casualties vary, but during the 10 days of intense fighting, an estimated 630 North Vietnamese were killed. U.S. casualties were listed as 72 killed and 372 wounded.

The bloody battle over Hamburger Hill and the fleeting victory resulted in a firestorm of criticism from anti-war activists. Outrage over what appeared to be a senseless loss of American lives was exacerbated by photographs published in Life magazine of U.S. soldiers killed during the battle.

On the floor of the U.S. Senate, Edward Kennedy scorned the military tactics of the Nixon administration. Kennedy condemned the battle for Ap Bia Mountain as “senseless and irresponsible.” General Creighton Abrams, commander of U.S. Military Assistance Command Vietnam, was subsequently ordered to avoid such intensive ground battles.

But not all the soldiers and military leaders agreed that Hamburger Hill was a wasted effort. Of the criticisms leveled at U.S. commanders, General Zais said, “Those people are acting like this was a catastrophe for the U.S. troops. This was a tremendous, gallant victory.”











Battle Of Hamburger Hill During The Vietnam War


Information On The Battle of Hamburger Hill During The Vietnam War, also known as Hill 937, and as depicted in the 1987 Movie "Hamburger Hill"




www.historynet.com









Studies in Battle Command | eHISTORY







ehistory.osu.edu




_


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## doublejj (May 11, 2022)

Soldier dies after being attacked by bear on base in Alaska


Officials say it happened during a training exercise. They're still looking for the bear.




www.cbsnews.com


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## BarnBuster (May 11, 2022)

doublejj said:


> Soldier dies after being attacked by bear on base in Alaska
> 
> 
> Officials say it happened during a training exercise. They're still looking for the bear.
> ...


@GreatwhiteNorth 
Don't they usually have bears around landfills up there? No bear guard?


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 11, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> @GreatwhiteNorth
> Don't they usually have bears around landfills up there? No bear guard?


The smart solution is to have an electrified fence - dunno, sounds like he/she just got unlucky.


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## BarnBuster (May 16, 2022)

Today in Military history:
​
*On May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of a group of American bombers based in Britain, becomes one of the first B-17 crews to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States*_.

The Memphis Belle performed its 25th and last mission, in a bombing raid against Lorient, a German submarine base. But before returning back home to the United States, film footage was shot of Belle‘s crew receiving combat medals. This was but one part of a longer documentary on a day in the life of an American bomber, which included dramatic footage of a bomber being shot out of the sky, with most of its crew parachuting out, one by one. Another film sequence showed a bomber returning to base with its tail fin missing. What looked like damage inflicted by the enemy was, in fact, the result of a collision with another American bomber.

The Memphis Belle documentary would not be released for another 11 months, as more footage was compiled to demonstrate the risks these pilots ran as they bombed “the enemy again and again and again—until he has had enough.” The film’s producer, Lieutenant Colonel William Wyler, was known for such non-military fare as The Letter, Wuthering Heights and Jezebel._








Memphis Belle: 25 Trips to Hell and Back


In the flak-filled sky over a German U-boat installation in occupied France on January 23, 1943, Memphis Belle was battling for her life. The U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17F,




www.historynet.com





_["The Cold Blue"_ an outstanding film from the restored outtakes of William Wilders classic _"Memphis Belle". _16mm to 4K_. _The color enhancement is amazing. Sound was masterfully added as well. Wilder's original film was shot during 5 actual B-17 WW2 bombing runs over Germany. Make sure you watch the "Extras"]bb
​








Review: ‘The Cold Blue’ painstakingly restores vivid WWII footage of 8th Air Force missions


Fans of classic war stories and aerial action are in for a unique and stirring mix of audio and visuals in Erik Nelson’s “The Cold Blue.”




www.latimes.com






See the "Memphis Belle" in all her restored glory at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio

__​


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## Hiphophippo (May 16, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military history:
> View attachment 5134380​
> *On May 17, 1943, the crew of the Memphis Belle, one of a group of American bombers based in Britain, becomes one of the first B-17 crews to complete 25 missions over Europe and return to the United States*_.
> 
> ...


They don’t make beauties like that anymore.


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## BarnBuster (May 16, 2022)

Hiphophippo said:


> They don’t make beauties like that anymore.


IKR? There are still some 40 B-17's extant with maybe 10 or so still airworthy. Isn't that amazing?








List of surviving Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses


The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber aircraft primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Developed by Boeing, a total of 12,731 aircraft had been produced by Boeing, Douglas and Lockheed from 1936 until 1945. A vast majority...




military-history.fandom.com





Much rarer are the B-29's with only 26 known surviving and I belive only 2 (_Doc_ and_ FiFi_) with an airworthiness certificate. Imagine having that type rating designation on your license!

B-24 Liberator, 13 survive today, two of which are airworthy. Eight of the thirteen aircraft reside in the United States.
B-25 Mitchells, about 100 survive most of them are on static display in museums, but about 45 are still airworthy.
The Martin B-26 Marauder is probably the rarest, only a few survive and none that I know of are airworthy.


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## Hiphophippo (May 16, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> IKR? There are still some 40 B-17's extant with maybe 10 or so still airworthy. Isn't that amazing?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It’s crazy how we look back on the past and think about how those things were wasted away and tossed aside and thrown in junk piles with no significance given to them whatsoever and today we look back and think what the hell is wrong with us why didn’t we keep that stuff why didn’t we stowaway in a hanger in the condition it was in and keep it that way forever just goes to show how we take the things that are in our faces for granted like they’re always going to be there sorry this is a run on Sentence it was voice to text


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## Hiphophippo (May 16, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> IKR? There are still some 40 B-17's extant with maybe 10 or so still airworthy. Isn't that amazing?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If I was very rich and had no worries I would travel the world and just go to historical sites of all times in different conflicts especially all of the World War I memorials throughout Europe and France and Germany


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## BarnBuster (May 16, 2022)

Hiphophippo said:


> If I was very rich and had no worries I would travel the world and just go to historical sites of all times in different conflicts especially all of the World War I memorials throughout Europe and France and Germany


The overseas military cemeteries and ossuaries are very sobering.


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## curious2garden (May 17, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> The overseas military cemeteries and ossuaries are very sobering.


I remember the graves when I visited Verdun. You could feel the weight in your chest. I felt that same weight at Valley Forge.


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## wascaptain (May 17, 2022)

Getting in some pt in gator field


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## raratt (May 17, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> I remember the graves when I visited Verdun. You could feel the weight in your chest. I felt that same weight at Valley Forge.


When I went to the USS Arizona everyone was totally silent.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 17, 2022)

raratt said:


> When I went to the USS Arizona everyone was totally silent.


I've been to the Memorial several times and spent a lot of time in Yorktown VA and I felt literally overwhelmed.


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## BarnBuster (May 17, 2022)

_"The U.S. Air Force achieved a “major accomplishment” in successfully firing a hypersonic weapon from a B-52 bomber on Saturday, the service announced Monday."_









Another US Hypersonic Missile Hits Mach 5 in Test, Air Force Says


Three different U.S. weapons have now demonstrated successful hypersonic flight.




www.defenseone.com













Hypersonics


Going Mach 5, or over 60 miles per minute, creates complex engineering and physics challenges which is why Lockheed Martin leverages hypersonic expertise and technology from across the corporation.




www.lockheedmartin.com








__





AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon







www.globalsecurity.org


----------



## curious2garden (May 17, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> _"The U.S. Air Force achieved a “major accomplishment” in successfully firing a hypersonic weapon *from a B-52* bomber on Saturday, the service announced Monday."_
> 
> 
> 
> ...


----------



## raratt (May 17, 2022)

The ALCM racks in the bomb bay were impressive when they had them. They were on hard mounts on the wings also.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 17, 2022)

The old BUFF sets another milestone.
I love those girls!


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## raratt (May 17, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> The old BUFF sets another milestone.
> I love those girls!


I have a tail gun cleaning rod I picked up when they deleted them.


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## BarnBuster (May 18, 2022)

Take a Ride of a Lifetime - B-29 Doc


Experience history up-close and personal with a flight on B-29 Doc!




www.b29doc.com


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## BarnBuster (May 19, 2022)

WWII Merchant Mariners Receive Congressional Gold Medal


The Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the U.S. merchant mariners of World War II, who played crucial roles in the country



www.defense.gov


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## BarnBuster (May 23, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​_
*Sergeant William Harvey Carney is awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery on July 18, 1863, while fighting for the Union cause as a member of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry. He was the first African American to receive the Medal of Honor.*

The 54th Massachusetts, formed in early 1863, served as the prototype for African American regiments in the Union army. 

On July 16, 1863, the regiment saw its first action at James Island, South Carolina, performing admirably in a confrontation with experienced Confederate troops. Three days later, the 54th volunteered to lead the assault on Fort Wagner, a highly fortified outpost on Morris Island that was part of the Confederate defense of Charleston Harbor. 

Struggling against a lethal barrage of cannon and rifle fire, the regiment fought their way to the top of the fort’s parapet over several hours. Sergeant William Harvey Carney was wounded there while planting the U.S. flag. The regiment’s white commander, Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, was killed, and his soldiers were overwhelmed by the fort’s defenders and had to fall back. 

Despite his wound, Carney refused to retreat until he removed the flag, and though successful, he was shot again in the process. The 54th lost 281 of its 600 men in its brave attempt to take Fort Wagner, which throughout the war never fell by force of arms. The 54th went on to perform honorably in expeditions in Georgia and Florida, most notably at the Battle of Olustee. Carney eventually recovered and was discharged with disability on June 30, 1864._

(Many of the Civil War MOH’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors and advancing thru heavy sustained rifle and cannon fire. The Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. (The criteria for issuance of the MOH during the Civil War were different than later years and Congress set down guidelines in 1918 to clear away any inconsistencies of the legislation which had grown around the medal and to finalize rules for its award. 911 MOH’s were invalidated of the 2,625 that were issued during the US Civil War. Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up, protecting, retreiving the fallen colors and advancing. None of these Medals issued for those actions were ever invalidated.) bb​​_"During the American Civil War, as in earlier conflicts, the flags of a combat unit (its "colors") held a special significance. They had a spiritual value; they embodied the very "soul" of the unit. Protecting a unit's flag from capture was paramount; losing one to the enemy was considered disgraceful . There were practical reasons for the flags as well, as the regimental flags marked the position of the unit during battle. The smoke and confusion of battle often scattered participants across the field. The flag served as a visual rallying point for soldiers and also marked the area where to attack the enemy. Carrying the colors for the regiment was the greatest honor for a soldier. Generally the flag bearers were selected or elected to their position by the men and officers of the unit. As one Union Colonel told his men, “the colors bear the same relation to the soldier as honesty and integrity do to manhood. It is the guiding star to victory. When in the smoke and din of battle the voice of the officer is drown by the roar of artillery, the true soldier turns his eye to the colors that he may not stray too far from it, and while it floats is conscious of his right and strength. Take it… guard it as you would the honor of the mother, wife or friend you left behind.”_​


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## raratt (May 24, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (May 24, 2022)

American 'heroes' nominated to replace Confederate officers' names on Army bases


Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Army's first Hispanic four-star general are among those who will be honored under an Army plan to eliminate commemoration of Confederates.



www.usatoday.com


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## raratt (May 27, 2022)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 27, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5140106


People that do this disgust me.


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## BarnBuster (May 28, 2022)

Today in Military History:
 ​
*Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter received mass distribution on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on Memorial Day, May 29, 1943.*_ Rockwell’s illustration features a brawny woman taking her lunch break with a rivet gun on her lap, beneath her a copy of Hitler’s manifesto, Mein Kampf and a lunch pail labled “Rosie”. Rockwell based the pose to match Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling painting of the prophet Isaiah.

Rockwell’s model was a Vermont resident, then 19-year-old Mary Doyle Keefe who was a telephone operator near where Rockwell lived, not a riveter. Rockwell painted his “Rosie” as a larger woman than his model, and he later phoned to apologize. The Post’s cover image proved hugely popular, and the magazine loaned it to the U.S. Treasury Department for the duration of the war, for use in war bond drives._

*Overview*​*By Penny Colman*​​_One of the most dramatic changes during World War II was the number of women who went to work. As the armed forces filled its ranks with manpower, industry filled its jobs with womanpower. For the duration of the war, the U.S. government and industry wooed American women to work in the war effort. The title of a song, "Rosie the Riveter," quickly became the catchphrase that represented all women war workers._​​_During World War II, more than six million women joined the workforce. In August 1943, Newsweek magazine reported: "They [women] are in the shipyards, lumber mills, steel mills, foundries. They are welders, electricians, mechanics, and even boilermakers. They operate streetcars, buses, cranes, and tractors. Women engineers are working in the drafting rooms and women physicists and chemists in the great industrial laboratories." More than two million women joined the war effort as clerical workers, nearly one million of whom were hired by the federal government. Women also became police officers, taxicab drivers, lawyers, statisticians, journalists, and members of symphony orchestras, as men left for the armed forces. Women ran farms, planted crops, tended animals, and harvested tons of vegetables, fruits, and grains._​​_Volunteers for the Civilian Defense took classes on how to care for the wounded, like these women in a first aid class in New York City in 1941. Photo Credit: Library of Congress_​​_In addition, three million women served as Red Cross volunteers. Millions of women worked for the Civilian Defense as air-raid wardens, fire watchers messengers, drivers, auxiliary police. Women volunteers also devoted hours to scanning the sky with binoculars, looking out for enemy planes. Thousands of women joined the military through organizations like the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS) and the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), and the Women's Army Corps (WAC)._​​_About the time World War II ended, American factories had produced 296,429 airplanes, 102,351 tanks and self-propelled guns, 372,431 artillery pieces, 47 million tons of artillery ammunitions, 87,620 warships, and 44 billion rounds of small-arms ammunition. Time magazine called America's wartime production a miracle. The "miracle" would not have happened without Rosie the Riveter._​​​


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## wascaptain (May 28, 2022)

did a 6 mile ruck hump in honor of louisianas fallen in battle this morning.

11,000 souls since the revolution


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## raratt (May 29, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (May 29, 2022)

*"In Our Youth Our Hearts Were Touched With Fire"*​
_"So to the indifferent inquirer who asks why Memorial Day is still kept up we may answer, it celebrates and solemnly reaffirms from year to year a national act of enthusiasm and faith. It embodies in the most impressive form our belief that to act with enthusiam and faith is the condition of acting greatly." …

"But grief is not the end of all. I seem to hear the funeral march become a paean. I see beyond the forest the moving banners of a hidden column. Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death – of life to which in their youth they lent the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will."_

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.(a Civil War vet), Memorial Day, May 30, 1884, at Keene, NH, before John Sedgwick Post No. 4, Grand Army of the Republic

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/justice-oliver-wendell-holmes-and-memorial-day/239637/


Holmes Memorial


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## doublejj (May 30, 2022)

That day the Crips and Army Rangers had a shoot out.....
over 300 shots fired. "0" Army Rangers hurt; Crips injuries unknown?


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## BarnBuster (May 31, 2022)

*Vikki and Mark Pier visit the grave of their son, Noah, who was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in July 2011. They used to visit every few months, but they have been unable to make it in recent years. *- Erin Stalnaker  


 
*Marvin Endito, a veteran U.S. Marine who fought in the 2004 battle of Ramadi, Iraq, leans on a monument before climbing First Sergeant's Hill above the 5th Marines headquarters to mark Memorial Day at Camp Pendleton, California, U.S. May 30, 2022.* REUTERS/David Swanson 



*A man embraces U.S. Marine Corp Staff Sgt. Tim Chambers during the "Rolling to Remember" motorcycle rally as it rides through Washington to bring attention to issues faced by veterans, in Washington, May 29, 2022. *REUTERS/Ken Cedeno ​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (May 31, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5141956
> *Vikki and Mark Pier visit the grave of their son, Noah, who was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in July 2011. They used to visit every few months, but they have been unable to make it in recent years. *- Erin Stalnaker
> 
> 
> ...


Not to mention the VA likely has more lawyers denying claims than Dr's treating vets.

Fuck Cancer and Fuck the VA!


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## BarnBuster (Jun 1, 2022)

​
*June 1, 1813, in the midst of a bloody sea battle between an American and a British frigate a few miles north of Boston, one of America’s most memorable wartime slogans was born.*_ As the mortally wounded Captain James Lawrence of the US frigate Chesapeake lay dying in his cabin, his crew locked in hand-to-hand combat on the quarterdeck above, he is alleged to have uttered the memorable words:* “Don’t give up the ship!”*

His rallying cry, published a few weeks later in a Baltimore newspaper, became the unofficial motto of the US Navy for decades thereafter, long predating “Remember the Maine” or “Remember Pearl Harbor.” Just two months after the battle, a bright blue banner emblazoned with Lawrence’s words flew at the masthead of a namesake vessel, USS Lawrence. Its captain, Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, won a decisive victory on Sept. 10 over British naval forces in the Battle of Lake Erie.

Given the way it has echoed through the years, you might think Lawrence’s memorable plea marked a heroic moment in the history of American armed forces. It didn’t. Not only did Lawrence’s surviving crew give up the ship almost immediately after his exhortation, but historians and military analysts would later conclude that Lawrence had disobeyed orders to avoid combat in the first place, then committed a series of tactical blunders that all but guaranteed he and his ship would lose.



https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/commemorations/commemorations-toolkits/war-of-1812/pdf/PreciselyAppropriateForThePurposeEssay.pdf


_


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## curious2garden (Jun 1, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Not to mention the VA likely has more lawyers denying claims than Dr's treating vets.
> 
> Fuck Cancer and Fuck the VA!


They have claims reps and adjudicators who handle and deny claims. Attorneys for the VA get involved at the Board of VA examiners when they argue for the government in front of an Administrative Law Judge, but they don't deny claims that's up to the Admin. Judge. 

That's why we lawyered up early. Clients who have attorneys follow a slightly different claim path which gives them access to the senior level reviewers and their computer system. So it's easier to correct an error earlier, fewer errors happen and the process seems to happen a bit quicker. But as in most things you pay for it.

Nota Bene (as I know you know all this, I'm hoping it might encourage someone else to apply and lawyer up early):
An enrolled VA attorney can only take 20% max. They also can't represent you until after your first denial. If you have a complex claim you can hire an out of system attorney and usually pay more but then you get a little quicker treatment and better service. Over all you have to decide on the cost/benefit ratio.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 1, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> They have claims reps and adjudicators who handle and deny claims. Attorneys for the VA get involved at the Board of VA examiners when they argue for the government in front of an Administrative Law Judge, but they don't deny claims that's up to the Admin. Judge.
> 
> That's why we lawyered up early. Clients who have attorneys follow a slightly different claim path which gives them access to the senior level reviewers and their computer system. So it's easier to correct an error earlier, fewer errors happen and the process seems to happen a bit quicker. But as in most things you pay for it.
> 
> ...


Sorry, I was frustrated and venting.
We still have avenues and a good chance thank God.


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## curious2garden (Jun 1, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Sorry, I was frustrated and venting.
> We still have avenues and a good chance thank God.


I knew it  I just wanted to springboard off it to offer some advice to others who are at the beginning of this horrible process. If I knew then what I know now sort of thing.

Anyway I'm now going to smoke myself sideways and drag my taller half around the 'hood.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 1, 2022)

*U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Michael Wolff, a KC-130J Super Hercules pilot with Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), receives the Distinguished Flying Cross from Maj. Gen. Bradford J. Gering, 3rd MAW commanding general, at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, May 25, 2022.* (Cpl. Rachaelanne Woodward/U.S. Marine Corps/TNS)​








Military Daily News


Daily updates of everything that you need know about what is going on in the military community and abroad including military gear and equipment, breaking news, international news and more.




www.military.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 1, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> I knew it  I just wanted to springboard off it to offer some advice to others who are at the beginning of this horrible process. If I knew then what I know now sort of thing.
> 
> Anyway I'm now going to smoke myself sideways and drag my taller half around the 'hood.


You Dear are a sweet heart and a bestie.
Someday we shall meet and I promise a hug!

Or 2.


----------



## Grandpapy (Jun 1, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> You Dear are a sweet heart and a bestie.
> Someday we shall meet and I promise a hug!
> 
> Or 2.


Just make sure she puts the dog on the ground first!


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## BarnBuster (Jun 2, 2022)

Boy oh boy there is so much that can go wrong here. I can see ex LE and military being allowed to carry but just your average teacher? Psych evals required? Nope
_
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Schools in Ohio could soon start seeing more firearms in the hands of their teachers, thanks to a bill passed by Republicans Wednesday, June 1. Sub House Bill 99, would give a school board the option to allow any adult in a school to carry a firearm with an ambiguous amount of training. The bill, although having a *maximum of 24 hours of training*, doesn't specify a minimum.

This is an opt-in proposal, so schools are not forced to do it.

At least *four of the 24 hours have to be training of "scenario-based"* or simulated training exercises, but it is unclear if that needs to be with a live weapon. Although it is not specified how much time is needed, there is a requirement to complete "tactical live firearms training."

The new bill also has an annual requalification training, but it can't be more than eight hours. That being said, the bill does not prohibit a school district from requiring additional training — it just can't be mandated by the state._


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## BarnBuster (Jun 3, 2022)

*"Battle Cat"*









Carrier USS Kitty Hawk Arrives in Brownsville for Dismantling


The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk has reached her final berth at the Port of Browns...




www.maritime-executive.com








*Presidential Unit Citation*
*Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Navy Unit Commendation (Six Awards)
Meritorious Unit Commendation (Three Awards)
Navy "E" Ribbon (Three Awards)
Navy Expenditionary Medal (Four Awards)
National Defense Service Medal (Three Awards)
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Sixteen Awards)
Vietnam Service Medal (Seventeen Awards)
Southwest Asia Service Medal
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Humanitarian Service Medal (One Award)
Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (Eighteen Awards)
Navy/Marine Corps Overseas Service Medal (Ten Awards)*
*Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation *






Kitty Hawk II (CVA-63)


Displacement 80,000 (full load); length 1,047'; beam 129.4'; extreme width at flight deck 252'; draft 35'; speed 30 + knots; complement 4,582; armament: two twin Terrier surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems aft (MK 10 Mod 3 starboard side for RIM-2F; MK 10 Mod 4 port side for RIM-2D), two 40 mm...




www.history.navy.mil


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## BarnBuster (Jun 3, 2022)

_*On 2 May 1968, 12 Green Berets were surrounded near Loc Ninh, South Vietnam, by an entire battalion of NVA*. They were thus outnumbered, 12 men versus about 1,000. They dug in and tried to hold them off, but were not going to last long. Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez heard their distress call over a radio in town and boarded a rescue helicopter with first aid equipment. He did not have time to grab a weapon before the helicopter left, so he voluntarily jumped into the hot LZ armed only with his knife.

He sprinted across 75 meters of open terrain through withering small arms and machine gun fire to reach the pinned down MACV-SOG team. By the time he reached them, he had been shot 4 times, twice in the right leg, once through both cheeks, which knocked out four molars, and a glancing shot off his head.

He ignored these wounds and began administering first aid. The rescue chopper left as it was not designed to extract men. An extraction chopper was sent for, and Benavidez took command of the men by directing their fire around the edges of the clearing in order to facilitate the choppers landing. When the aircraft arrived, he supervised the loading of the wounded on board, while throwing smoke canisters to direct the choppers exact landing. He was wounded severely and at all times under heavy enemy crossfire, but still carried and dragged half of the wounded men to the chopper.

He then ran alongside the landing skids providing protective fire into the trees as the chopper moved across the LZ collecting the wounded. The enemy fire got worse, and Benavidez was hit solidly in the left shoulder. He got back up and ran to the platoon leader, dead in the open, and retrieved classified documents. He was shot in the abdomen, and a grenade detonated nearby peppering his back with shrapnel.

The chopper pilot was mortally wounded then, and his chopper crashed. Benavidez was in extremely critical condition, and still refused to fall. He ran to the wreckage and got the wounded out of the aircraft, and arranged them into a defensive perimeter to wait for the next chopper. The enemy automatic rifle fire and grenades only intensified, and Benavidez ran and crawled around the perimeter giving out water and ammunition.

The NVA was building up to wipe them out, and Benavidez called in tactical air strikes with a squawk box and threw smoke to direct the fire of arriving gunships. Just before the extraction chopper landed, he was shot again in the left thigh while giving first aid to a wounded man. He still managed to get to his feet and carry some of the men to the chopped, directing the others, when an NVA soldier rushed from the woods and clubbed him over the head with an AK-47. This caused a skull fracture and a deep gash to his left upper arm, and yet he still got back up and decapitated the soldier with one swing of his knife, severing the spine and all tissue on one side of the neck. He then resumed carrying the wounded to the chopper and returning for others, and was shot twice more in the lower back. He shot two more NVA soldiers trying to board the chopper, then made one last trip around the LZ to be sure all documents were retrieved, and finally boarded the chopper. He had lost 2 quarts of blood. Before he blacked out, he shouted to one of the other Green Berets, Another great day to be in South Vietnam!

Suffering from 37 bayonet, bullet, and shrapnel wounds in various parts of his body, Benavidez used the last of his strength to pull himself on board the helicopter, the last man to leave the battlefield. The helicopter was completely riddled with holes, covered in blood, and without any functioning instruments, but the pilot somehow took off and got the team out of there. Benavidez lost consciousness as soon as he knew they were clear.

Sergeant Roy P. Benavidez of the 1st Special Forces was credited with single-handedly saving the lives of eight men during six hours of non-stop battle. When a recovery team went through the site a few days later they discovered over 30 empty NVA foxholes with heavy weapons, and saw the battlefield littered with more dead than they had time to count.

After the rescue helicopters landed at the base, Roy Benavidez's motionless body was carried off the helicopter, and after a preliminary inspection by the medical personnel on-site, the hero was gently laid onto a gurney and wheeled into the coroner's office.

*Just as they were zipping up his body bag, Benavidez used the last of his energy to spit in the doctor's face.*

The mostly-dead Benavidez was rushed into surgery immediately, then transferred to Saigon for many months of intensive rehabilitation. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroic balls-out actions, and once the full details of the battle came declassified the award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, the highest award for military bravery offered by the United States military. He lived to be 63.









The Baddest Dude Who Ever Lived Survived 37 Bullet and Bayonet Wounds: Roy Benavidez


Sea trials of USNS Benavidez (T-AKR-306) by Northrop Grumman Ship System Avondale Operations in the Gulf of Mexico, May 30, 2003. U.S. Navy photo by Ron Elias. USNS Benavidez (T-AKR-306) proudly bears the name of U.S. Army Master Sergeant Raul (Roy) Perez Benavidez, who received the Medal of...




theinfidel.co




_


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## BarnBuster (Jun 4, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*On June 4 1942, the Battle of Midway–one of the most decisive U.S. victories against Japan during World War II–begins. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy.*

_In six months of offensives prior to Midway, the Japanese had triumphed in lands throughout the Pacific, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines and numerous island groups. The United States, however, was a growing threat, and Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto sought to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet before it was large enough to outmatch his own.

A thousand miles northwest of Honolulu, the strategic island of Midway became the focus of his scheme to smash U.S. resistance to Japan’s imperial designs. Yamamoto’s plan consisted of a feint toward Alaska followed by an invasion of Midway by a Japanese strike force. When the U.S. Pacific Fleet arrived at Midway to respond to the invasion, it would be destroyed by the superior Japanese fleet waiting unseen to the west. If successful, the plan would eliminate the U.S. Pacific Fleet and provide a forward outpost from which the Japanese could eliminate any future American threat in the Central Pacific. U.S. intelligence broke the Japanese naval code, however, and the Americans anticipated the surprise attack.

In the meantime, 200 miles to the northeast, two U.S. attack fleets caught the Japanese force entirely by surprise and destroyed three heavy Japanese carriers and one heavy cruiser. The only Japanese carrier that initially escaped destruction, the Hiryu, loosed all its aircraft against the American task force and managed to seriously damage the U.S. carrier Yorktown, forcing its abandonment. At about 5:00 p.m., dive-bombers from the U.S. carrier Enterprise returned the favor, mortally damaging the Hiryu. It was scuttled the next morning.

When the Battle of Midway ended, Japan had lost four carriers, a cruiser and 292 aircraft, and suffered an estimated 2,500 casualties. The U.S. lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft and suffered approximately 300 casualties.

Japan’s losses hobbled its naval might–bringing Japanese and American sea power to approximate parity–and marked the turning point in the Pacific theater of World War II. In August 1942, the great U.S. counteroffensive began at Guadalcanal and did not cease until Japan’s surrender three years later.






The Battle of Midway, 1942


Eyewitness account of the pivotal battle of World War II in the Pacific.



www.eyewitnesstohistory.com












The Battle of Midway: The Complete Intelligence Story


The Battle of Midway in June of 1942 was one of the most important naval battles in world history and a turning point in the Second World War. Between



warontherocks.com




_








Miracle at Midway?


At 10 o’clock on the morning of June 4, 1942, the Japanese were winning the Pacific War; an hour later, three Japanese aircraft carriers were on fire and sinking.




www.navytimes.com





_*The Principle of the Objective* _


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## BarnBuster (Jun 4, 2022)

*The Dunkirk Jack is the House Flag of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, under permission of the Admiralty, the College of Heralds and the City of Dunkirk. The jack consists of the Cross of St. George (the flag of Admiralty) defaced with the Arms of Dunkirk. This jack can be worn by Member Ships at any time when the owner is aboard. Member Ships are limited to civilian vessels that took part in the Dunkirk rescue operation between 27 May and 4 June 1940*

_"Between 26 May and 4 June 1940, in the course of what was known as Operation Dynamo, more than 300,000 British and French soldiers were evacuated by an armada made up of Royal Navy destroyers and warships, pleasure steamers and hundreds of those famous little ships manned by civilian sailors.

The evacuation was publicized as a miracle to boost public morale. The successful rescue, across seas that stayed unusually calm for nine days, was thereafter referred to as ‘the miracle of Dunkirk’. But as well as this, the terrifying prospect that the depleted British armed forces might have to fight the Germans on home soil caused the nation, galvanized under Winston Churchill, to devote itself entirely to war. It did so not only effectively but, perhaps surprisingly, with total confidence in eventual victory.

The ‘Dunkirk spirit’, reflecting a nation united and working against apparently impossible odds to thwart Hitler’s ambitions, was born."_ 









Dunkirk evacuation - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org












Dunkirk’s darkest day: when the evacuation came close to disaster


Through the letters and diaries of survivors, a leading historian recounts the bombings and sinkings of 29 May 1940 that put the entire rescue – and the fate of 300,000 Allied troops – in peril




www.theguardian.com


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## BarnBuster (Jun 5, 2022)

​


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## BarnBuster (Jun 8, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*June 8. 1967, During the Six-Day War, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attack the USS Liberty in international waters off Egypt’s Gaza Strip*_. The intelligence ship, well-marked as an American vessel and only lightly armed, was attacked first by Israeli aircraft that fired napalm and rockets at the ship. The Liberty attempted to radio for assistance, but the Israeli aircraft blocked the transmissions. Eventually, the ship was able to make contact with the U.S. carrier Saratoga, and 12 fighter jets and four tanker planes were dispatched to defend the Liberty. When word of their deployment reached Washington, however, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered them recalled to the carrier, and they never reached the Liberty. The reason for the recall remains unclear.

Back in the Mediterranean, the initial air raid against the Liberty was over. *Nine of the 294 crew members were dead and 60 were wounded*. Suddenly, the ship was attacked by Israeli torpedo boats, which launched torpedoes and fired artillery at the ship. Under the command of its wounded captain, William L. McGonagle, the Liberty managed to avert four torpedoes, but one struck the ship at the waterline. Heavily damaged, the ship launched three lifeboats, but these were also attacked–a violation of international law. Failing to sink the Liberty, which displaced 10,000 tons, the Israelis finally desisted. In all, 34 Americans were killed and 171 were wounded in the two-hour attack. In the attack’s aftermath, the Liberty managed to limp to a safe port.

Israel later apologized for the attack and offered $6.9 million in compensation, claiming that it had mistaken the Liberty for an Egyptian ship. However, Liberty survivors, and some former U.S. officials, believe that the attack was deliberate, staged to conceal Israel’s pending seizure of Syria’s Golan Heights, which occurred the next day. The ship’s listening devices would likely have overheard Israeli military communications planning this controversial operation. _*Captain McGonagle was later awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic command of the Liberty during and after the attack.*









Fifty Years Later, NSA Keeps Details of Israel’s USS Liberty Attack Secret


New Snowden documents provide precious few new details about an incident that remains shrouded — and controversial.




theintercept.com









H-007-1 Attack on USS Liberty


H-Gram 007, Attachment 1 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC 8 June 2017 USS Liberty’s mission was to collect intelligence on activity along the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Although Liberty was a U.S. Navy ship with a mostly U.S. Navy crew, its mission was in support of National Security...




www.history.navy.mil





*ATTACK ON THE USS LIBERTY A STAB AT THE TRUTH*


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## BarnBuster (Jun 8, 2022)

The Gallant Destroyers of D-Day


Spunky destroyers come within 1,000 yards from the Normandy shoreline, providing direct gunfire support for troops on the beach.




www.usni.org






https://www.youtube.com/c/USNavalInstitute


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## BarnBuster (Jun 9, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. It was fought on June 9, 1863,* around Brandy Station, Virginia, at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign by the Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton against Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry.

Union commander Pleasonton launched a surprise dawn attack on Stuart's cavalry at Brandy Station. After an all-day fight in which fortunes changed repeatedly, the Federals retired without discovering Gen. Robert E. Lee's infantry camped near Culpeper. This battle marked the end of the Confederate cavalry's dominance in the East. From this point in the war, the Federal cavalry gained strength and confidence.

Union casualties were 907 (69 killed, 352 wounded, and 486 missing, primarily captured); Confederate losses totaled 523. Some 20,500 men were engaged in this, the largest predominantly cavalry battle to take place during the war.

Stuart argued that the battle was a Confederate victory since he held the field at the end of the day and had repelled Pleasonton's attack. The Southern press was generally negative about the outcome. The Richmond Enquirer wrote that "Gen. Stuart has suffered no little in public estimation by the late enterprises of the enemy." The Richmond Examiner described Stuart's command as "puffed up cavalry," that suffered the "consequences of negligence and bad management."

Subordinate officers criticized Pleasonton for not aggressively defeating Stuart at Brandy Station. Maj. Gen. Hooker had ordered Pleasonton to "disperse and destroy" the Confederate cavalry near Culpeper, but Pleasonton claimed that he had only been ordered to make a "reconnaissance in force toward Culpeper," thus rationalizing his actions.

For the first time in the Civil War, Union cavalry matched the Confederate horsemen in skill and determination. Stuart falling victim to two surprise attacks, which cavalry was supposed to prevent, foreshadowed other embarrassments ahead for him in the Gettysburg campaign._






Prelude to Gettysburg: The Battle of Brandy Station - Gettysburg National Military Park (U.S. National Park Service)







www.nps.gov






StackPath


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## raratt (Jun 11, 2022)

Happening now.


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## raratt (Jun 14, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Jun 15, 2022)

The Need for Speed: Top Engineers Influence Top Gun


Lockheed Martin Skunk Works®thrives on tackling seemingly impossible work, developing technologies for tomorrow’s challenges before the need is even identified.



lockheedmartin.com


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## MisterKister (Jun 15, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5149328


Reminds me of the saying if you aren't sure where the claymore is facing its facing you


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## raratt (Jun 16, 2022)

Enjoy.





Zeno's Warbird Videos - World War II Pilot Training videos & air combat documentaries playing for free over the Internet


Watch World War 2 aircraft pilot training films for free over the 'Net for the A-20, B-17, AT6/SNJ, P-51, P-38, P-39, P-40, F4U, F6F, P-47, P-6 1, B-29, B-24, B-25, A-26, B-26 & more in broadband video. See charts, pictures, diagrams and performance specifications from World War II pilot's...



www.zenoswarbirdvideos.com


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## BarnBuster (Jun 17, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​_
*Early on 17 June 2017, the United States Navy destroyer USS Fitzgerald collided with MV ACX Crystal,* a Philippine-flagged container ship, about 80 nautical miles (150 kilometres; 92 miles) southwest of Tokyo, Japan; 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) southeast of the city of Shimoda on the Japanese mainland (Honshu).

The accident killed seven Fitzgerald sailors. Their bodies were recovered from the flooded berthing compartments of the ship. At least three more of the crew of nearly 300 were injured, including the ship's commanding officer, Commander Bryce Benson. The top two senior officers and the top enlisted sailor were relieved of duty and faced criminal charges, which were later dismissed; about a dozen other sailors will receive non-judicial punishment. The owners of the merchant vessel have agreed to pay $27 million in compensation to the US Navy.









NTSB: ‘Unexplained’ Course Change Was ‘A Critical Error’ in Fatal USS Fitzgerald Collision - USNI News


Federal investigators highlighted an “unexplained course change” by a U.S. guided-missile destroyer as “a critical error” that put the warship on the path to the fatal 2017 collision that would kill seven sailors, according to a new report released Thursday. Eight minutes before the collision...




news.usni.org












Worse than you thought: inside the secret Fitzgerald probe the Navy doesn’t want you to read


It was kept secret from the public in part because it was designed to prep the Navy for potential lawsuits in the aftermath of the accident.




www.navytimes.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Jun 17, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*"At Waterloo in Belgium on June 18, 1815, Napoleon Bonaparte suffers defeat at the hands of the Duke of Wellington, bringing an end to the Napoleonic era of European history.*

_The Corsica-born Napoleon, one of the greatest military strategists in history, rapidly rose in the ranks of the French Revolutionary Army during the late 1790s. By 1799, France was at war with most of Europe, and Napoleon returned home from his Egyptian campaign to take over the reins of the French government and save his nation from collapse. After becoming first consul in February 1800, he reorganized his armies and defeated Austria. In 1802, he established the Napoleonic Code, a new system of French law, and in 1804 was crowned emperor of France in Notre Dame Cathedral. By 1807, Napoleon controlled an empire that stretched from the River Elbe in the north, down through Italy in the south, and from the Pyrenees to the Dalmatian coast.

Beginning in 1812, Napoleon began to encounter the first significant defeats of his military career, suffering through a disastrous invasion of Russia, losing Spain to the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsula War, and enduring total defeat against an allied force by 1814. Exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean, he escaped to France in early 1815 and set up a new regime. As allied troops mustered on the French frontiers, he raised a new Grand Army and marched into Belgium. He intended to defeat the allied armies one by one before they could launch a united attack.

On June 16, 1815, he defeated the Prussians under Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher at Ligny, and sent 33,000 men, or about one-third of his total force, in pursuit of the retreating Prussians. On June 18, Napoleon led his remaining 72,000 troops against the Duke of Wellington’s 68,000-man allied army, which had taken up a strong position 12 miles south of Brussels near the village of Waterloo. In a fatal blunder, Napoleon waited until mid-day to give the command to attack in order to let the ground dry. The delay in fighting gave Blucher’s troops, who had eluded their pursuers, time to march to Waterloo and join the battle by the late afternoon.

In repeated attacks, Napoleon failed to break the center of the allied center. Meanwhile, the Prussians gradually arrived and put pressure on Napoleon’s eastern flank. At 6 p.m., the French under Marshal Michel Ney managed to capture a farmhouse in the allied center and began decimating Wellington’s troops with artillery. Napoleon, however, was preoccupied with the 30,000 Prussians attacking his flank and did not release troops to aid Ney’s attack until after 7 p.m. By that time, Wellington had reorganized his defenses, and the French attack was repulsed. Fifteen minutes later, the allied army launched a general advance, and the Prussians attacked in the east, throwing the French troops into panic and then a disorganized retreat. The Prussians pursued the remnants of the French army, and Napoleon left the field. French casualties in the Battle of Waterloo were 25,000 men killed and wounded and 9,000 captured, while the allies lost about 23,000.

Napoleon returned to Paris and on June 22 abdicated in favor of his son. He decided to leave France before counterrevolutionary forces could rally against him, and on July 15 he surrendered to British protection at the port of Rochefort. He hoped to travel to the United States, but the British instead sent him to Saint Helena, a remote island in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa. Napoleon protested but had no choice but to accept the exile. With a group of followers, he lived quietly on St. Helena for six years. In May 1821, he died, most likely of stomach cancer. He was only 51 years old. In 1840, his body was returned to Paris, and a magnificent funeral was held. Napoleon’s body was conveyed through the Arc de Triomphe and entombed under the dome of the Invalides."_









The Waterloo Medal of 1816 : Considering Medals in War and Society


Medals have long fascinated collectors and historians alike. The Waterloo Medal of 1816 was the first British military campaign medal issued to all ranks of soldiers after the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.




owlcation.com





*The Causes of Napoleon Bonaparte’s Loss at Waterloo 1815.pdf*


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## BarnBuster (Jun 18, 2022)

​
*June 18, 1812: The day after the Senate followed the House of Representatives in voting to declare war against Great Britain, President James Madison signs the declaration into law—and the War of 1812 begins.*_ The American war declaration, opposed by a sizable minority in Congress, had been called in response to the British economic blockade of France, the induction of American seaman into the British Royal Navy against their will, and the British support of Indian tribes along the Great Lakes frontier. A faction of Congress known as the “War Hawks” had been advocating war with Britain for several years and had not hidden their hopes that a U.S. invasion of Canada might result in significant territorial land gains for the United States.

In the months after President Madison proclaimed the state of war to be in effect, American forces launched a three-point invasion of Canada, all of which were decisively unsuccessful. In 1814, with Napoleon Bonaparte’s French Empire collapsing, the British were able to allocate more military resources to the American war, and Washington, D.C., fell to the British in August. In Washington, British troops burned the White House, the Capitol, and other buildings in retaliation for the earlier burning of government buildings in Canada by U.S. soldiers.

In September, the tide of the war turned when Thomas Macdonough’s American naval force won a decisive victory at the Battle of Plattsburg Bay on Lake Champlain. The invading British army was forced to retreat back into Canada. The American victory on Lake Champlain led to the conclusion of U.S.-British peace negotiations in Belgium, and on December 24, 1814, the Treaty of Ghent was signed, formally ending the War of 1812. By the terms of the agreement, all conquered territory was to be returned, and a commission would be established to settle the boundary of the United States and Canada.

British forces assailing the Gulf Coast were not informed of the treaty in time, and on January 8, 1815, the U.S. forces under Andrew Jackson achieved the greatest American victory of the war at the Battle of New Orleans. The American public heard of Jackson’s victory and the Treaty of Ghent at approximately the same time, fostering a greater sentiment of self-confidence and shared identity throughout the young republic._


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## BarnBuster (Jun 19, 2022)

Today in Military History:

*Lieutenant Junior Grade Alexander Vraciu, USNR, Fighting Squadron 16 "ace", holds up six fingers to signify his "kills" during the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" on 19 June 1944. Taken on the flight deck of the USS Lexington (CV-16)*​*"On June 19, 1944, in what would become known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,” U.S. carrier-based fighters decimate the Japanese Fleet with only a minimum of losses in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.*

_The security of the Marianas Islands, in the western Pacific, were vital to Japan, which had air bases on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. U.S. troops were already battling the Japanese on Saipan, having landed there on the 15th. Any further intrusion would leave the Philippine Islands, and Japan itself, vulnerable to U.S. attack. The U.S. Fifth Fleet, commanded by Admiral Raymond Spruance, was on its way west from the Marshall Islands as backup for the invasion of Saipan and the rest of the Marianas. But Japanese Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo decided to challenge the American fleet, ordering 430 of his planes, launched from aircraft carriers, to attack. In what became the greatest carrier battle of the war, the United States, having already picked up the Japanese craft on radar, proceeded to shoot down more than 300 aircraft and sink two Japanese aircraft carriers, losing only 29 of their own planes in the process. It was described in the aftermath as a “turkey shoot.”

Admiral Ozawa, believing his missing planes had landed at their Guam air base, maintained his position in the Philippine Sea, allowing for a second attack of U.S. carrier-based fighter planes, this time commanded by Admiral Mitscher, to shoot down an additional 65 Japanese planes and sink another carrier. In total, the Japanese lost 480 aircraft, three-quarters of its total, not to mention most of its crews. American domination of the Marianas was now a foregone conclusion.

Not long after this battle at sea, U.S. Marine divisions penetrated farther into the island of Saipan. Two Japanese commanders on the island, Admiral Nagumo and General Saito, both committed suicide in an attempt to rally the remaining Japanese forces. It succeeded: Those forces also committed a virtual suicide as they attacked the Americans’ lines, losing 26,000 men compared with 3,500 lost by the United States. Within another month, the islands of Tinian and Guam were also captured by the United States.

June 1944 represented a conspicuous moment of military achievement for the Allied powers with historian Craig Symonds declaring, “June 1944 might well be labeled the decisive month of the entire Second World War.” As the Allies landed in Normandy, breaching Hitler’s Festung Europa, the Empire of Japan’s airpower suffered near annihilation in the Philippine Sea

*The Japanese government of Premier Hideki Tojo resigned in disgrace at this stunning defeat, in what many have described as the turning point of the war in the Pacific."*_

*Decisive Battle: The Battle of the Philippine Sea, June 18th to June 20th, 1944*






Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19-20 June 1944


The Battle of the Philippine Sea or 'Great Marianas Turkey Shoot (19-20 June 1944) was the first major naval battle in the Pacific since 1942 and was a crushing American victory that permanently destroyed Japanese naval aviation, leaving their carriers as hollow shells for the rest of the war



www.historyofwar.org









Great Marianas 'Turkey Shoot' - WW2 Timeline (June 19th - 20th, 1944)


Timeline of events related to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot air battle of the Pacific Theater of World War II..



www.secondworldwarhistory.com


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## BarnBuster (Jun 21, 2022)

Today in Military History: 

 ​
*21 June, 1945 Battle of Okinawa ends. During World War II, the U.S. 10th Army overcomes the last major pockets of Japanese resistance on Okinawa Island, ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.*

_The Battle of Okinawa was the last major battle of World War II. On April 1, 1945—Easter Sunday—the Navy’s Fifth Fleet and more than 180,000 U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps troops descended on the Pacific island of Okinawa for a final push towards Japan. The invasion was part of Operation Iceberg, a complex plan to invade and occupy the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa.

*OKINAWA ISLAND*
By the time American troops landed on Okinawa, the war on the European front was nearing its end. Allied and Soviet troops had liberated much of Nazi-occupied Europe and were just weeks away from forcing Germany’s unconditional surrender.

On the Pacific front, however, American forces were still painstakingly conquering Japan’s Home Islands, one after another. After obliterating Japanese troops in the brutal Battle of Iwo Jima, they set their sights on the isolated island of Okinawa, their last stop before reaching Japan. Okinawa’s 466 square miles of dense foliage, hills and trees made it the perfect location for the Japanese High Command’s last stand to protect their motherland. They knew if Okinawa fell, so would Japan. The Americans knew securing Okinawa’s airbases was critical to launching a successful Japanese invasion.

*LANDING ON THE BEACHHEADS*
As dawn arrived on April 1, morale was low among American troops as the Fifth Fleet launched the largest bombardment ever to support a troop landing to soften Japanese defenses. Soldiers and Army brass alike expected the beach landings to be a massacre worse than D-Day. But the Fifth Fleet’s offensive onslaught was almost pointless and landing troops could have literally swum to shore—surprisingly, the expected mass of awaiting Japanese troops wasn’t there.

On D-Day, American troops fought hard for every inch of beachhead—but troops landing on Okinawa’s beaches surged inland with little resistance. Wave after wave of troops, tanks, ammunition and supplies went ashore almost effortlessly within hours. The troops quickly secured both Kadena and Yontan airfields.

*THE ENEMY WAITS*
Japan’s 32nd Army, some 130,000 men strong and commanded by Lt. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, defended Okinawa. The military force also included an unknown number of conscripted civilians and unarmed Home Guards known as Boeitai. As they moved inland, American troops wondered when and where they’d finally encounter enemy resistance. What they didn’t know was the Japanese Imperial Army had them just where they wanted them.

Japanese troops had been instructed not to fire on the American landing forces but instead watch and wait for them, mostly in Shuri, a rugged area of southern Okinawa where General Ushijima had set up a triangle of defensive positions known as the Shuri Defense Line.

*BATTLESHIP YAMATO*
American troops who headed North to the Motobu Peninsula endured intense resistance and over 1,000 casualties, but won a decisive battle relatively quickly. It was different along the Shuri Line where they had to overcome a series of heavily-defended hills loaded with firmly-entrenched Japanese troops. On April 7, Japan’s mighty battleship Yamato was sent to launch a surprise attack on the Fifth Fleet and then annihilate American troops pinned down near the Shuri Line. But Allied submarines spotted the Yamato and alerted the fleet who then launched a crippling air attack. The ship was bombarded and sank along with most of its crew.

After the Americans cleared a series of outposts surrounding the Shuri Line, they fought many fierce battles including clashes on Kakazu Ridge, Sugar Loaf Hill, Horseshoe Ridge and Half Moon Hill. Torrential rains made the hills and roads watery graveyards of unburied bodies. Casualties were enormous on both sides by the time the Americans took Shuri Castle in late May. Defeated yet not beaten, the Japanese retreated to the southern coast of Okinawa where they made their last stand.

*KAMIKAZE WARFARE*
The kamikaze suicide pilot was Japan’s most ruthless weapon. On April 4, the Japanese unleashed these well-trained pilots on the Fifth Fleet. Some dove their planes into ships at 500 miles per hour causing catastrophic damage.

American sailors tried desperately to shoot them down but were often sitting ducks against enemy pilots with nothing to lose. During the Battle of Okinawa, the Fifth Fleet suffered:

36 sunk ships
368 damaged ships
4,900 men killed or drowned
4,800 men wounded
763 lost aircraft

*HACKSAW RIDGE*
The Maeda Escarpment, also known as Hacksaw Ridge, was located atop a 400-foot vertical cliff. The American attack on the ridge began on April 26. It was a brutal battle for both sides.

To defend the escarpment, Japanese troops hunkered down in a network of caves and dugouts. They were determined to hold the ridge and decimated some American platoons until just a few men remained. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand and particularly ruthless. The Americans finally took Hacksaw Ridge on May 6.

All Americans who fought in the Battle of Okinawa were heroic, but one soldier at the escarpment stood out—Corporal Desmond T. Doss. He was an army medic and Seventh-Day Adventist who refused to raise a gun to the enemy. Still, he remained on the escarpment after his commanding officers ordered a retreat. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, he went alone into the battle fray and rescued 75 of his wounded comrades. His heroic story was brought to life on the big screen in 2016 in the film Hacksaw Ridge.

*SUICIDE OR SURRENDER*
Most Japanese troops and Okinawa citizens believed Americans took no prisoners and they’d be killed on the spot if captured. As a result, countless took their own lives. To encourage their surrender, General Buckner initiated propaganda warfare and dropped millions of leaflets declaring the war was all but lost for Japan.

About 7,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered, but many chose death by suicide. Some jumped from high hills, others blew themselves up with grenades.
When faced with the reality that further fighting was futile, General Ushijima and his Chief of Staff, General Cho, committed ritual suicide on June 22, effectively ending the Battle of Okinawa.

*LEGACY OF THE BATTLE OF OKINAWA*
Both sides suffered enormous losses in the Battle of Okinawa. The Americans bore over 49,000 casualties including 12,520 killed. General Buckner was killed in action on June 18, just days before the battle ended.

Japanese losses were even greater—about 110,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives. It’s estimated between 40,000 and 150,000 Okinawa citizens were also killed.

Winning the Battle of Okinawa put Allied forces within striking distance of Japan. But wanting to bring the war to a swift end, and knowing over 2 million Japanese troops were awaiting battle-weary American soldiers, Harry S. Truman chose to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6.
Japan didn’t give in immediately, so Truman ordered the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9. Finally, Japan had had enough. On August, 14, 1945, they finally surrendered, marking the end of World War II.

*Twenty-three Americans were awarded the Medal of Honor for their conduct during the 82 days of fighting in The Battle of Okinawa.*_ 


*The Final Campaign Marines in the Victory on Okinawa*


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## injinji (Jun 23, 2022)

I've never listened to the fishes, but most nights I do walk down to the pond. The frogs will let you know if anything serious is going on well before you get there. So the idea is sound. (pi)


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## BarnBuster (Jun 24, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*24 June 1948 - One of the most dramatic standoffs in the history of the Cold War begins as the Soviet Union blocks all road and rail traffic to and from West Berlin. The blockade turned out to be a terrible diplomatic move by the Soviets, while the United States emerged from the confrontation with renewed purpose and confidence.*

Following World War II, Germany was divided into occupation zones. The United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and, eventually, France, were given specific zones to occupy in which they were to accept the surrender of Nazi forces and restore order. The Soviet Union occupied most of eastern Germany, while the other Allied nations occupied western Germany. The German capital of Berlin was similarly divided into four zones of occupation. Almost immediately, differences between the United States and the Soviet Union surfaced. The Soviets sought huge reparations from Germany in the form of money, industrial equipment, and resources. The Russians also made it clear that they desired a neutral and disarmed Germany. The United States saw things in quite a different way. American officials believed that the economic recovery of Western Europe was dependent on a strong, reunified Germany. They also felt that only a rearmed Germany could stand as a bulwark against Soviet expansion into Western Europe. In May 1946, the Americans stopped reparations shipments from their zone to the Soviets. In December, the British and Americans combined their zones; the French joined some months later. The Soviets viewed these actions as a threat and issued more demands for a say in the economic future of Germany. On June 22, 1948, negotiations between the Soviets, Americans, and British broke down. On June 24, Soviet forces blocked the roads and railroad lines into West Berlin.

American officials were furious, and some in the administration of President Harry S. Truman argued that the time for diplomacy with the Soviets was over. For a few tense days, the world waited to see whether the United States and Soviet Union would come to blows. In West Berlin, panic began to set in as its population worried about shortages of food, water, and medical aid. The United States response came just two days after the Soviets began their blockade. A massive airlift of supplies into West Berlin was undertaken in what was to become one of the greatest logistical efforts in history. For the Soviets, the escapade quickly became a diplomatic embarrassment. Russia looked like an international bully that was trying to starve men, women, and children into submission. And the successful American airlift merely served to accentuate the technological superiority of the United States over the Soviet Union. On May 12, 1949, the Soviets officially ended the blockade._ 









Gail Halvorsen, ‘Candy Bomber’ in Berlin Airlift, Dies at 101


Lieutenant Halvorsen came up with the idea to drop candies, chocolate and chewing gum for the children of West Berlin during a tense Cold War standoff.




www.nytimes.com




.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 25, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_*On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south*. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself. After some early back-and-forth across the 38th parallel, the fighting stalled and casualties mounted with nothing to show for them. Meanwhile, American officials worked anxiously to fashion some sort of armistice with the North Koreans. The alternative, they feared, would be a wider war with Russia and China–or even, as some warned, World War III. Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War came to an end. In all, some 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the war. The Korean peninsula is still divided today._


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## Weedoguido (Jun 25, 2022)

SwarthySchlong said:


> Since this is the vet thread, can i post all my army stuff here?
> Even cell phone vids of shoveling charred bodies out of civilian trucks? Psyche. Not gonna post that but i might have some noteworthy stuff
> 
> I recorded one of my jumps on my phone. I have to find that phone though


I wish cell phones where around when I was in the Army.


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## raratt (Jun 25, 2022)

24 June 1942 - This Day in Aviation


24 June 1942: The first production Vought-Sikorsky F4U-1 Corsair, Bu. No. 02155, made its first flight at Stratford, Connecticut. (Some sources state 25 June.) The Corsair was designed by Rex Buren Beisel, and is best known for its distinctive inverted “gull wing,” which allowed sufficient...



www.thisdayinaviation.com


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## BarnBuster (Jun 26, 2022)

*The Queen distributing the first Victoria Crosses in Hyde Park, 26th June 1857. In the middle distance the Queen shown presenting the first medals to the recipients, who approach from the right. The first to recieve it was a sailor. Prince Albert rides on the left.*​
_The Victoria Cross (VC) was awarded to 111 members of the British Armed Forces during the Crimean War (also known as the Russian War) that lasted from 1854 to 1856. *The first ceremony was held on 26 June 1857 where Queen Victoria invested 62 of the 111 Crimean recipients in Hyde Park.*

The VC was introduced in Great Britain on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War. It takes precedence over all other Orders, decorations and medals; it may be awarded to a person of any rank in any service and to civilians under military command. 

Until 1907, it was policy not to award the VC posthumously. Between 1857 and 1901, nine notices were published in the London Gazette for soldiers who would have been awarded the VC had they survived. 

In a partial reversal of policy in 1902, medals were sent to the next of kin of the three mentioned for the Boer War and at the same time the first three official posthumous awards, again for the Boer War, were gazetted. In 1907, the posthumous policy was completely reversed and medals were sent to the next of kin of the remaining six officers and men. As a result of the change of policy, one quarter of all awards for the First World War were posthumous but it was only in the general revision of the warrant issued in 1920 that a clause was inserted to explicitly allow posthumous awards.

Contrary to common belief, the Victoria Cross is not made from the bronze from Russian cannons that were captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean war but from Chinese cannons captured from the Russians.

Hancock's Jewelry in London has been the sole supplier of the award since issue. Unlike any other award for gallantry the Victoria Cross is not made in a die. It is not struck, as are coins and many other medals, it is cast. Traditionally it is sand cast in moulds usually containing four specimens at a time. The medals are removed from the sand moulds when the metal has cooled, and then the hand finishing process begins. The suspender bar from which the cross itself is hung, is cast at the same time as the medal and receives the same hand finishing. The obverse and reverse are hand chased even to the minutest detail and the whole medal has a special bronze finish applied at the end of the process. This gives a nice even colour to the medal because the bronze from which it is cast does not have an overall attractive appearance. Typically twelve Victoria Crosses are produced at a time.

A medal was awarded to 'The unknown warrior of the United States of America' and placed on the grave of the Unknown Soldier in the vault of the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery by Lord Beatty on 11th November 1921. This VC symbolically honoured all the men and women who died for the Allied cause during the Great War. (The Unknown Warrior who lies in Westminster Abbey received the reciprocal award of the Congressional Medal of Honour, but not the VC.) To date no woman has been awarded the Victoria Cross. Each recipient receives an annual pension of £10,000 tax free.

The largest number of Victoria Crosses won in a single action was on January 22nd 1879 at Rorke’s Drift during the Zulu War. Following this action, 11 men were awarded the VC.

Occasionally the medals come up for auction (unlike the USA Medal of Honor which is forbidden by law from being sold or traded), where they always sell for extremely high prices. The latest auctioned in April 2022 to honor Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf sold for £682,000 at auction. Many of the medals can be seen today in regimental museums including the National Army Museum in Chelsea and the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth.

In 1997 a new, permanent exhibition of the Victoria Cross and George Cross Collection, consisting of 25 VCs and 16 GCs (the civilian equivalent of the VC), opened at the Imperial War Museum. At the opening by the Prince of Wales, the actual ingot of metal from the captured Russian cannons was displayed before being returned to its secure vault._






The VC and GC Association


Victoria Cross and George Cross Association Official Website




vcgca.org


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## BarnBuster (Jun 27, 2022)

*Last Living WW2 Medal of Honor Recipient Receives Special Flight Home*

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as demolition sergeant serving with the 21st Marines, 3d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 23 February 1945. Quick to volunteer his services when our tanks were maneuvering vainly to open a lane for the infantry through the network of reinforced concrete pillboxes, buried mines, and black volcanic sands, Cpl. Williams daringly went forward alone to attempt the reduction of devastating machine-gun fire from the unyielding positions. Covered only by four riflemen, he fought desperately for four hours under terrific enemy small-arms fire and repeatedly returned to his own lines to prepare demolition charges and obtain serviced flamethrowers, struggling back, frequently to the rear of hostile emplacements, to wipe out one position after another. On one occasion, he daringly mounted a pillbox to insert the nozzle of his flamethrower through the air vent, killing the occupants, and silencing the gun; on another he grimly charged enemy riflemen who attempted to stop him with bayonets and destroyed them with a burst of flame from his weapon. His unyielding determination and extraordinary heroism in the face of ruthless enemy resistance were directly instrumental in neutralizing one of the most fanatically defended Japanese strongpoints encountered by his regiment and aided vitally in enabling his company to reach its objective. Cpl. Williams' aggressive fighting spirit and valiant devotion to duty throughout this fiercely contested action sustain and enhance the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.​


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## BarnBuster (Jun 27, 2022)

'Arctic Angels' assist with 2022 Colony Glacier recovery efforts


JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — On November 22, 1952, a U.S. Air Force C-124 Globemaster II flying from McChord Air Force Base, Washington, to...




www.army.mil


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## BarnBuster (Jun 27, 2022)

​
*On June 28, 2005, while behind enemy lines east of Asadabad in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan, a four-man Navy SEAL team was conducting a reconnaissance mission at the altitude of approximately 10,000 feet.*
_
The SEALs, Lt. Michael P. Murphy, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Danny Dietz, Sonar Technician 2nd Class Matthew Axelson and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Marcus Luttrell, were scouting Ahmad Shah—a terrorist in his mid-30s who grew up in the adjacent mountains just to the south. Shah led a guerrilla group known to locals as the “Mountain Tigers” that had aligned with the Taliban and other militant groups close to the Pakistani border.

A firefight erupted between the four SEALs, who were outnumbered by more than 50 anti-coalition militia. Despite the intensity of the firefight and suffering grave gunshot wounds himself, Murphy is credited with risking his own life to save the lives of his teammates.

Murphy’s “undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and inspirational devotion to his men in the face of certain death” was the impetus behind Murphy being able to relay the position of his unit, an act that ultimately led to the rescue of Luttrell and the recovery of the remains of the three who were killed in the battle.

An MH-47 Chinook helicopter, with eight additional SEALs and eight Army Night Stalkers aboard, was sent in as part of an extraction mission to pull out the four embattled SEALs.

As the Chinook raced to the battle, a rocket-propelled grenade struck the helicopter, killing all 16 men aboard.

On the ground and nearly out of ammunition, the four SEALs—Murphy, Luttrell, Dietz and Axelson—continued the fight. By the end of the two-hour gunfight, Murphy, Axelson, and Dietz had been killed. An estimated 35 Taliban were also dead.

“The Naval Special Warfare (NSW) community will forever remember June 28, 2005 and the heroic efforts and
sacrifices of our special operators. We hold with reverence the ultimate sacrifice that they made while engaged in that fierce firefight on the front lines of the global war on terrorism NSW (GWOT).”

Luttrell’s perspective would later be retold in the book “Lone Survivor” and a movie of the same name. Luttrell later received the Navy Cross, which was also awarded posthumously to Dietz and Axelson. Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

The list of those lost that day are as follows:_

*Navy SEALs*
_*SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 1, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.*_
Lt. (SEAL) Michael P. Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y.
Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class (SEAL) Matthew G. Axelson, 29, of Cupertino, Calif.
Machinist Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Eric S. Patton, 22, of Boulder City, Nev.
Senior Chief Information Systems Technician (SEAL) Daniel R. Healy, 36, of Exeter, N.H.
Quartermaster 2nd Class (SEAL) James Suh, 28, of Deerfield Beach, Fla.

_*SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2, Virginia Beach, Va.*_
Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class (SEAL) Danny P. Dietz, 25, of Littleton, Colo.

*SEAL Team 10, Virginia Beach, Va.*
Chief Fire Controlman (SEAL) Jacques J. Fontan, 36, of New Orleans, La.
Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Erik S. Kristensen, 33, of San Diego, Calif.
Electronics Technician 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffery A. Lucas, 33, of Corbett, Ore.
Lt. (SEAL) Michael M. McGreevy Jr., 30, of Portville, N.Y.
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class (SEAL) Jeffrey S. Taylor, 30, of Midway, W.Va.

​
*Army Night Stalkers
3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Air Field, Ga*.
Staff Sgt. Shamus O. Goare, 29, of Danville, Ohio.
Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature, 35, of Clarks Grove, Minn.
Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, Fla.
Sgt. 1st Class Marcus V. Muralles, 33, of Shelbyville, Ind.
Maj. Stephen C. Reich, 34, of Washington Depot, Conn.
Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Russell, 31, of Stafford, Va.
Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach, 40, of Jacksonville, Fla.

*HQ Company, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.*
Master Sgt. James W. Ponder III, 36, of Franklin, Tenn. 









An Overlooked Hero of Navy SEALs' Operation Red Wings







abcnews.go.com









Remembering Operation Red Wings - US Patriot Blog


A string of events took place on that desolate mountainside that serve as a firm reminder of what the brotherhood really is for these US Navy SEALs.




blog.uspatriottactical.com




.








Operation Red Wings Through the Eyes of the Night Stalkers


The sun was fading behind Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush mountains the evening of June 27, 2005, as a team of four U.S. Navy SEALs walked up the ramp into the back of U.S. Army Captain Matt Brady’s MH-47 Chinook helicopter on Bagram Air Base.




coffeeordie.com





*OPERATION RED WINGS – The (Mis)Information Aftermath*


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## injinji (Jun 28, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> View attachment 5154268​
> _*On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army poured across the 38th parallel, the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south*. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf. As far as American officials were concerned, it was a war against the forces of international communism itself. After some early back-and-forth across the 38th parallel, the fighting stalled and casualties mounted with nothing to show for them. Meanwhile, American officials worked anxiously to fashion some sort of armistice with the North Koreans. The alternative, they feared, would be a wider war with Russia and China–or even, as some warned, World War III. Finally, in July 1953, the Korean War came to an end. In all, some 5 million soldiers and civilians lost their lives during the war. The Korean peninsula is still divided today._


Uncle Bobby, the famous bank robber in the wife's family fought in the Korean War. Folks say he turned out like he did because of the war, but family says he was always that way.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 29, 2022)

_Four soldiers who fought in Vietnam will receive the Medal of Honor, the White House announced June 28.

President Joe Biden will recognize Staff Sgt. Edward Kaneshiro, Spc. 5 Dwight Birdwell, Spc. 5 Dennis Fujii and retired Maj. John Duffy with the nation’s highest award for valor July 5 at the White House. Kaneshiro will be honored posthumously.

All four men had previously received awards for their actions in Vietnam—Kaneshiro, Fujii and Duffy received the Distinguished Service Cross, while Birdwell was awarded the Silver Star.

The upgrades are the result of extensive reviews of past valor awards to determine if a soldier’s actions merit a higher award. Additionally, the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act included a provision waiving the time limit that requires the medals be awarded within five years of the combat action for Kaneshiro and Fujii._


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## FirstCavApache64 (Jun 29, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> 
> View attachment 5146569​
> _*The Battle of Brandy Station, also called the Battle of Fleetwood Hill, was the largest predominantly cavalry engagement of the American Civil War, as well as the largest ever to take place on American soil. It was fought on June 9, 1863,* around Brandy Station, Virginia, at the beginning of the Gettysburg Campaign by the Union cavalry under Maj. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton against Maj. Gen. J.E.B. Stuart's Confederate cavalry.
> ...


I deer hunt there every year. We have a hunting lease there and in Culpeper. You can still find musket balls pretty easily after a heavy rain in a fresh tilled field in certain areas of Culpeper from where they were encamped. My buddy has mason jars full of them. Lots of history up around there. Good deer hunting now too.


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## FirstCavApache64 (Jun 29, 2022)

injinji said:


> Uncle Bobby, the famous bank robber in the wife's family fought in the Korean War. Folks say he turned out like he did because of the war, but family says he was always that way.


My dad was on Pork Chop Hill with the 7th ID as a .30 cal machine gunner when the armistice was signed. He had only been there 10 months so he didn't have to pull his full year and was lucky because Pork Chop was a nasty place to be stationed then. Not that anywhere was good. The Korean War Memorial in DC is really a good one to visit if you have a chance. It's across the mall from the Vietnam Memorial.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 29, 2022)

FirstCavApache64 said:


> My dad was on Pork Chop Hill with the 7th ID as a .30 cal machine gunner when the armistice was signed. He had only been there 10 months so he didn't have to pull his full year and was lucky because Pork Chop was a nasty place to be stationed then. Not that anywhere was good. The Korean War Memorial in DC is really a good one to visit if you have a chance. It's across the mall from the Vietnam Memorial.


My Dad spent a year in Da Nang - I have his journal he kept. The nickname for that place was very appropriate.
He was a Korean war vet as well.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 29, 2022)

Explorers find USS Samuel B. Roberts shipwreck


The World War II Navy destroyer has become the deepest wreck to be discovered, according to explorers.




www.navytimes.com


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## bam0813 (Jun 29, 2022)




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## FirstCavApache64 (Jun 29, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> My Dad spent a year in Da Nang - I have his journal he kept. The nickname for that place was very appropriate.
> He was a Korean war vet as well.


Vietnam was a mess. My Uncle did the equivalent of 4 tours over there. He went over right after graduation from West Point as a green Liutenant and came home wanting to go back. So he joined the newly formed Special Forces and trained to be a Ranger and Green Beret. Then he spent 3 years in the Northern part of the country training Montagnard rebels and guerilla fighting VC units with them in small units. He's a little wacky to say the least. I lost a cousin over there as well. It was a horrible place to have to fight a war. Glad your dad made it home safely. His journal must be a real treasure.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 30, 2022)

I just posted about Woody, RIP 








Hershel Williams, a Hero in the Battle for Iwo Jima, Dies at 98


He was the last of the 27 Marines and Navy servicemen who received Medals of Honor in the 36-day fight for the Japanese island.




www.nytimes.com












Congresswoman calls for legislation allowing Woody Williams to lie in state


Rep. Miller posted a statement again Wednesday following Williams' death.




www.wtap.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 30, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> I just posted about Woody, RIP
> 
> 
> 
> ...


If you ever see someone wearing that top ribbon ya better stand the FU(K up and salute!


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 30, 2022)

Oops.
I had wondered where this had gone as have not heard about the outcome for quite some time.
Edit: Link is safe - it's an MSN article.



Four of Five Navy Officers Convicted in Long-Running 'Fat Leonard' Bribery Case


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## doublejj (Jun 30, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> If you ever see someone wearing that top ribbon ya better stand the FU(K up and salute!


I've had the honor to meet a MOH recipient once. He was an Army medic in Vietnam. He spoke to our graduation class at Ft Sam Houston. I believe he died years ago. There was a air about him, you could tell we went thru some sh*t.


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## BarnBuster (Jun 30, 2022)

I've wondered how Capt. Brett Crozier has faired, can never find anything current on him or assignment. His last Linked in notation:

Director, Naval Aviation ReadinessDirector, Naval Aviation Readiness
Commander, Naval Air Force, PacificCommander, Naval Air Force, PacificApr 2020 - Mar 2022 · 2 yrsApr 2020 - Mar 2022 · 2 yrsSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego, California

Responsible for the funding and scheduling of 11 aircraft carriers and 170 Naval Aviation Squadrons to include the execution and management of a $7.9B program that resources the operations and maintenance of all Naval Aviation forces across the globe.
but nothing after that


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jun 30, 2022)

doublejj said:


> I've had the honor to meet a MOH recipient once. He was an Army medic in Vietnam. He spoke to our graduation class at Ft Sam Houston. I believe he died years ago. There was a air about him, you could tell we went thru some sh*t.


I got to meet one as well in the atrium of the exchange on Scott AFB - I don't recall his name, but I made sure I shook his hand and told him he was greatly appreciated.

You normally don't get to meet them in person as most are awarded posthumously.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 1, 2022)

Today in Military History:





_*At 7:30 a.m on July 1, 1916, the British launch a massive offensive against German forces in the Somme River region of France*. The Battle of the Somme, which took place from July to November 1916, began as an Allied offensive against German forces on the Western Front and turned into one of the most bitter and costly battles of World War I.

British forces suffered more than 57,000 casualties—including more than 19,000 soldiers killed—on the first day of the battle alone, making it the single most disastrous day in that nation’s military history. By the time the Battle of the Somme (sometimes called the First Battle of the Somme) ended nearly five months later, more than 3 million soldiers on both sides had fought in the battle, and more than 1 million had been killed or wounded.

Prior to the attack, the Allies launched a week-long heavy artillery bombardment, using some 1.75 million shells, which aimed to cut the barbed wire guarding German defenses and destroy the enemy’s positions. On the morning of July 1, 11 divisions of the British 4th Army (many of them volunteer soldiers going into battle for the first time) began advancing on a 15-mile front north of the Somme. At the same time, five French divisions advanced on an eight-mile front to the south, where the German defenses were weaker.

Allied leaders had been confident the bombardment would damage German defenses enough so that their troops could easily advance. But the barbed wire remained intact in many places, and the German positions, many of which were deep underground, were stronger than anticipated. Along the line, German machine gun and rifle fire cut down thousands of the attacking British troops, many of them caught in no man’s land.

*Some 19,240 British soldiers were killed and more than 38,000 wounded by the end of that first day—almost as many casualties as British forces suffered when the Allies lost the battle for France during World War II (May-June 1940), including prisoners.

Trench Warfare & War of Attrition*
Other British and French forces had more success to the south, these gains were limited compared to the devastating losses sustained on that first day of battle. But Haig was determined to press on with the offensive, and over the next two weeks the British launched a series of smaller attacks on the German line, putting increasing pressure on the Germans and forcing them to divert some weapons and soldiers from Verdun.

Early on the morning of July 15, British troops launched another artillery barrage followed by a massive attack, this time on Bazentin Ridge, in the northern part of the Somme. The assault took the Germans by surprise, and the British were able to advance some 6,000 yards into enemy territory, occupying the village of Longueval. But any small advance continued to come at the expense of heavy casualties, with the Germans losing 160,000 soldiers and the British and French more than 200,000 by the end of July.

Near the end of August, with German morale running low due to lost ground both on the Somme and at Verdun, Germany’s General Erich von Falkenhayn was replaced by Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff. The command change marked a change in German strategy: They would build a new defensive line behind the Somme front, conceding territory but allowing them to inflict even more casualties on the advancing Allied troops.

*Tanks Join the Battle*
On September 15, during an attack at Flers Courcelette, the British artillery barrage was followed by an advance of 12 divisions of soldiers accompanied by 48 Mark I tanks, making their first-ever appearance on the battlefield. But the tanks were still early in their development stages, and many of them broke down before making it to the front line. Though the British were able to advance some 1.5 miles, they sustained some 29,000 casualties and fell short of a true breakthrough.

As October began, bad weather stymied another Allied attack, with soldiers struggling to cross muddy terrain under fierce fire from German artillery and fighter planes. The Allies made their final advance of the battle in mid-November, attacking the German positions in the Ancre River valley. With the arrival of true winter weather, Haig finally called the offensive to a halt on November 18, ending the battle of attrition on the Somme, at least until the following year. Over 141 days, the British had advanced just seven miles, and had failed to break the German line.

*Legacy of the Battle of the Somme*
More than anything else, the Battle of the Somme—and especially its devastating first day—would be remembered as the epitome of the brutal and seemingly senseless carnage that characterized trench warfare during World War I. British officers, especially Haig, would be criticized for continuing the offensive in spite of such devastating losses.

Many of the British soldiers who fought at the Somme had volunteered for army service in 1914 and 1915 and saw combat for the first time in the battle. Many were members of so-called Pals battalions, or units that were made up of friends, relatives and neighbors in the same community. In one poignant example of a community’s loss, some 720 men from the 11th East Lancashire battalion (known as the Accrington Pals) fought on July 1 at the Somme; 584 were killed or wounded.

Despite its failure, the Allied offensive at the Somme did inflict serious damage on German positions in France, spurring the Germans to strategically retreat to the Hindenburg Line in March 1917 rather than continue battling over the same land that spring.

Though the exact number is disputed, German losses by the end of the Battle of the Somme probably exceeded Britain’s, with some 450,000 soldiers lost compared with 420,000 on the British side. The surviving British forces had also gained valuable experience, which would later help them achieve victory on the Western Front._

_*49 men would receive the Victoria Cross, including 9 on the first day.*_​


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## BarnBuster (Jul 1, 2022)

Today in Military History:





*The three-day Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1, 1863. It proved to be a turning point in the Civil War.*

_As measured by the number of troops engaged, the first day ranks as the 23rd biggest battle of the war. It began as an engagement between units of the Army of Northern Virginia under Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Army of the Potomac under Union Maj. Gen. George Meade. Before the sun had set, it had escalated into a major battle — one that culminated in the outnumbered and defeated Union forces retreating to high ground south of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. About one quarter of Meade’s army, some 22,000 men, and one third of Lee’s army, roughly 27,000, joined in that day’s struggle.

In September of the previous year, Lee had ventured north into Maryland where, at Antietam, the bloodiest single day of the Civil War occurred. Although that battle was judged to be a draw, Lee’s invasion was turned back.

Emboldened by his subsequent victory at Chancellorsville, Virginia, Lee decided to once again invade the North. After emerging victorious at Gettysburg, Lee had hoped to strike at Harrisburg and Philadelphia, with the eventual goal of breaking the Union’s will to fight.

On June 30, Union Gen. John Buford had taken possession of Seminary Ridge west of Gettysburg. On July 1, Gen. George Reynolds arrived with the First Corps to assist Buford. Reynolds opened the battle but was struck by a bullet and killed before noon. His death set the tone for the day. While the first day of the clash proved to be a Confederate victory, by the following day the tide turned irrevocably in the Union’s favor.

The primitive nature of Civil War medicine, both in its intellectual underpinnings and in its practice in the armies, meant that many wounds and illnesses were unnecessarily fatal. Our modern conception of casualties includes those who have been psychologically damaged by warfare. This distinction did not exist during the Civil War. Soldiers suffering from what we would now recognize as post-traumatic stress disorder were uncatalogued and uncared for.

The Battle of Gettysburg left approximately 7,000 corpses in the fields around the town. Family members had to come to the battlefield to find their loved ones in the carnage. The blazingly hot July sun further complicated the unprecedented challenges of burying the dead, usually in shallow (12-18 inched deep) graves and trenches. Apart from the human carnage, some 5,000 horses and mules died in the battle. They, too, had to be collected and burned in great pyres, leaving a stench that hung over the area for weeks._


_*64 men were awarded the Medal of Honor for the Gettysburg Campaign.* _​
(Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors (Flag) and advancing thru heavy sustained rifle and cannon fire. The Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. bb)_ During the American Civil War, as in earlier conflicts, the flags of a combat unit (its "colors") held a special significance. They had a spiritual value; they embodied the very "soul" of the unit. Protecting a unit's flag from capture was paramount; losing one to the enemy was considered disgraceful . There were practical reasons for the flags as well, as the regimental flags marked the position of the unit during battle. The smoke and confusion of battle often scattered participants across the field. The flag served as a visual rallying point for soldiers and also marked the area where to attack the enemy. Carrying the colors for the regiment was the greatest honor for a soldier. Generally the flag bearers were selected or elected to their position by the men and officers of the unit. As one Union Colonel told his men, “the colors bear the same relation to the soldier as honesty and integrity do to manhood. It is the guiding star to victory. When in the smoke and din of battle the voice of the officer is drown by the roar of artillery, the true soldier turns his eye to the colors that he may not stray too far from it, and while it floats is conscious of his right and strength. Take it… guard it as you would the honor of the mother, wife or friend you left behind.”_

*Union*
3,155 killed
14,529 wounded
5,365 missing & captured

*Confederate*
3,903 killed
18,735 wounded
5,425 missing & captured


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## wascaptain (Jul 4, 2022)

happy 4th friends


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## DarkWeb (Jul 4, 2022)

Happy 4th


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## FirstCavApache64 (Jul 4, 2022)

Oh hell yeah, today's one of my favorite day's. We're celebrating with a shooting day for a few friends. Living way out in the boonies has its perks, and being able to shoot whatever caliber, up to .50 BMG, and in whatever fire selection mode you're legally licensed for is one of them. Happy Fourth of July everyone, and be safe. My neighbors are going to think it's WW3 around here .


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## Dorian2 (Jul 4, 2022)

Happy 4th guys. Hope you're looking past all the distraction for today.


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## DancesWithWeeds (Jul 4, 2022)

Folks, I stopped in just to thank all of you for your service and to wish every a Happy Independence Day.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 5, 2022)

Biden Awards Medal of Honor to Vietnam Soldiers for ‘Incredible Heroism’


“They went far above and beyond the call of duty,” the president said as he bestowed America’s highest military honor upon four recipients.




www.nytimes.com












Major John J. Duffy | Medal of Honor Recipient | U.S. Army


The official U.S. Army website for Major John J. Duffy, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts during the Korean War



www.army.mil




.








Specialist Five Dennis M. Fujii | Medal of Honor Recipient | U.S. Army


The official U.S. Army website for Specialist Five Dennis M. Fujii, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts during the Korean War



www.army.mil












Specialist Five Dwight W. Birdwell | Medal of Honor Recipient | U.S. Army


The official U.S. Army website for Specialist Five Dwight W. Birdwell, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts during the Korean War



www.army.mil












Staff Sergeant Edward Kaneshiro | Medal of Honor Recipient | U.S. Army


The official U.S. Army website for Staff Sergeant Edward Kaneshiro, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts during the Korean War



www.army.mil


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## injinji (Jul 5, 2022)

I really liked that two were indigenous and one Japanese American.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 8, 2022)

Today in Military History:





*Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand (left) and Maj. Dale Buis (right) •July 8, 1959: Ovnand and Buis were killed during an ambush on a U.S. compound in Bien Hoa, Vietnam, marking the first American casualties of the Vietnam war*​Article as it appeared in ASSOCIATED PRESS | July 8, 2009 at 8:39 am

_"It was July 8, 1959 and Stanley Karnow, Time magazine’s chief correspondent in Asia, was on his first trip to Saigon when he heard about an attack at an Army base about 20 miles north of the city.

Six northern Vietnamese had attacked the Army’s residential compound in the town of Bien Hoa, killing two American men while they watched a movie on a home projector. Karnow wrote three paragraphs about it for Time.

“It was a minor incident in a faraway place,” said Karnow, who reported from southeast Asia from 1959 to the early 1970s. “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that these two guys would be the first in a memorial to 50,000-some others.”

Today, those guys — U.S. Army Maj. Dale Buis and Master Sgt. Chester Ovnand — were remembered on the anniversary of their deaths during a special ceremony near the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. An armed services color guard marched and a bugler played “Taps” on a hill overlooking the memorial wall, where Buis’ name is listed first, followed by Ovnand’s, in panel 1E, Row 1, at the wall’s apex.

“Today we are here to reflect and honor the individuals who paid the supreme sacrifice for our country,” said Jan Scruggs, president and founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, a nonprofit authorized by Congress in 1980 to build the memorial.

Scruggs said the group began organizing today’s ceremony just three weeks ago. “We thought it would be a really good idea to remind people of this first tragedy among many deaths that followed from the Vietnam War,” he said, adding that he hoped people would pause to remember servicemen and women killed in combat, as well as those at war now.

More than 58,000 Americans and some 1.5 million Vietnamese were killed during the Vietnam War.

According to Karnow’s 1959 Time article, Ovnand, of Texas, had just mailed a letter to his wife and Buis, who was from California, was showing off pictures of his three sons. They were two of eight men who lived at the compound, and among the six who took a break in the mess hall that July 8 to watch “The Tattered Dress,” starring Jeanne Crain.

The soldiers were sprayed with bullets by “terrorists” when Ovnand turned on the lights to change the home projector’s first reel, Karnow wrote.

Ovnand was just a month away from finishing up his yearlong tour of duty, according to Nathaniel Ward IV of San Diego, a retired Army captain whose father was chief of staff of the U.S. Army Military Assistance Advisory Group in Vietnam. Ward was 17 at the time of the Bien Hoa attack and remembers his father changing into his fatigues to rush to the outpost that had been ambushed.

Ward and others said little is known about Ovnand, except that he was married when he died at 44.

Buis was originally from Nebraska, but was living in California before he went to Vietnam. He was a 1942 graduate of Wentworth Military Academy in Lexington, Mo., and is one of 13 Wentworth graduates listed at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Buis arrived in Vietnam just two days before he was killed at 37, leaving behind a wife and three young sons. Ward, who in the mid-1980s tried to locate relatives of Ovnand and Buis, said only one of Buis’ sons is alive today and lives in San Diego.

Today, a wreath of daises, lilies and irises was laid at the memorial wall under the year 1959, where Buis and Ovnand’s names appear. Mementos propped against the wall included a plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary of their deaths, a red Wentworth Military Academy flag and a copy of a story in the Pacific Stars and Stripes, with the banner headline: “2 Americans Killed by Saigon Terrorist.”

“They became a part of history,” Ward said of the fallen soldiers, “when they never intended to.”_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 9, 2022)

I was finally able to get appointments to have our ID cards replaced. We have to drive 200+ miles round trip just to have it done!
But it's necessary, a DEERS thing.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 10, 2022)

*The Battle of Britain begins*​
_*"July 10, 1940, the Germans begin the first in a long series of bombing raids against Great Britain, as the Battle of Britain, which will last three and a half months.*

It has been described as the first major military campaign fought entirely by air forces. The British officially recognize the battle's duration as being from 10 July until 31 October 1940, which overlaps the period of large-scale night attacks known as The Blitz, that lasted from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941. German historians do not accept this subdivision and regard the battle as a single campaign lasting from July 1940 to June 1941, including the Blitz.

After the occupation of France by Germany, Britain knew it was only a matter of time before the Axis power turned its sights across the Channel. And on July 10, 120 German bombers and fighters struck a British shipping convoy in that very Channel, while 70 more bombers attacked dockyard installations in South Wales. Although Britain had far fewer fighters than the Germans–600 to 1,300–it had a few advantages, such as an effective radar system, which made the prospects of a German sneak attack unlikely. Britain also produced superior quality aircraft. Its Spitfires could turn tighter than Germany’s ME109s, enabling it to better elude pursuers; and its Hurricanes could carry 40mm cannon, and would shoot down, with its American Browning machine guns, over 1,500 Luftwaffe aircraft. The German single-engine fighters had a limited flight radius, and its bombers lacked the bomb-load capacity necessary to unleash permanent devastation on their targets. Britain also had the advantage of unified focus, while German infighting caused missteps in timing; they also suffered from poor intelligence.

Historian Stephen Bungay cited Germany's failure to destroy Britain's air defences to force an armistice (or even outright surrender) as the first major German defeat in World War II and a crucial turning point in the conflict.

But in the opening days of battle, Britain was in immediate need of two things: a collective stiff upper lip–and aluminum. A plea was made by the government to turn in all available aluminum to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. “We will turn your pots and pans into Spitfires and Hurricanes,” the ministry declared. And they did."

*“The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the world war by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”*
--Prime Minister Winston Churchill referring to the pilots of Fighter Command, House of Commons, 20 August 1940_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 14, 2022)

Ted Strong. His last name says it all!


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## BarnBuster (Jul 14, 2022)

Congress salutes Marine veteran, the last WW2 Medal of Honor recipient


Only six other private citizens have received the honor: civil rights icon Rosa Parks, the Rev. Billy Graham and four Capitol police officers.




www.marinecorpstimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Jul 16, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*On 16 July, 1950, 19th Infantry Regiment Chaplain Herman Felhoelter and 100 other men attempted to escape from advancing North Korean troops after a battle near Taejon while carrying nearly 30 wounded Soldiers*_. When evading the enemy with so many injured men proved impossible, the Catholic Chaplain stayed behind with the wounded while others escaped. From a distance, a sergeant looked back to see enemy troops overcome and murder the wounded, to include Chaplain Felhoelter, who was praying over them. Eleven days after American Soldiers had entered the fight, and on the day before his 37th birthday, the first Army chaplain casualty of the Korean conflict lay dead on the battlefield.
“I am not comfortable in Korea (that is impossible here) but I am happy in the thought that I can help some souls who need help,” Chaplain Felhoelter had written to his mother four days before his death.

Felhoelter was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his selfless service. During the Korean conflict, 13 chaplains were killed. Six died in the first month of the war. In 1953, 175 Army chaplains had received 218 decorations including 22 Silver Stars. More medals were awarded later, including to CH (CPT) Emil Kapaun, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on 12 April 2013._

The President of the United States of America, under the provisions of the Act of Congress approved July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Captain (Chaplain) Herman Gilbert Felhoelter (ASN: 0-549715), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while attached to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. Captain (Chaplain) Felhoelter distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces on the Kum River, north of Taejon, Korea, on 16 July 1950. When seriously wounded men of the 19th Infantry could not be evacuated in the face of an overwhelming night attack by superior enemy forces who had cut off the main route of withdrawal, Chaplain Felhoelter, without regard for his own personal safety, voluntarily remained behind to give his wounded comrades spiritual comfort and aid. When last seen, Chaplain Felhoelter was still administering to the wounded.​​







Chaplain–Medic massacre - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## wascaptain (Jul 18, 2022)

in honor of my brother in law
20 year firefighter, 10 year deputy sheriff, 4 years air force and life long motor cycle rider.

bells and a 21 gun salute send off.....i would take that


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## wascaptain (Jul 18, 2022)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jul 18, 2022)

wascaptain said:


> View attachment 5165270


Sorry for your loss Capt. but an honorable send off.
+

They are slated to shoot over me when it's my turn.


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## curious2garden (Jul 19, 2022)

wascaptain said:


> in honor of my brother in law
> 20 year firefighter, 10 year deputy sheriff, 4 years air force and life long motor cycle rider.
> 
> bells and a 21 gun salute send off.....i would take that



Sounds like you lost a wonderful guy may many happy memories keep him alive in your heart.


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## raratt (Jul 19, 2022)

It's the freakin Borg's.  









Russia Says It’s Losing Because Ukraine Has Experimental Mutant Troops Created in Secret Biolabs


MIGUEL MEDINANearly five months into its senseless war against Ukraine, Russia has concocted a wild new explanation for why the Kremlin’s plans for a quick takeover fell apart so spectacularly—because Ukrainian troops were turned into superhuman killing machines during “secret experiments” in...




www.yahoo.com


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## RonnieB2 (Jul 19, 2022)

6ohMax said:


> Sup motherfuckers
> 
> 
> 
> I know there are some of you around


Navy SAR reporting in


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## RonnieB2 (Jul 19, 2022)

SwarthySchlong said:


> View attachment 3399616 View attachment 3399617


My best friend was Delta. He was shot 2 times and caught by a mine once. That one retired him. 338 lapua to the arm. 12 gauge to the chest and the bouncing Betty. He had to stand on that mine with that nail in his foot 16 hours until eod and a nearby seal team could stage a rescue. A piece caught him in the foot. He walks on two canes now with two arm braces. But he was a bad mother fucker


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## raratt (Jul 24, 2022)




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## RonnieB2 (Jul 24, 2022)

Anyone know the sound makes when shit goes through a fan? Maaaaaaaaa'rine I kid I kid.


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## RonnieB2 (Jul 24, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5168929


2LTs are known for getting people lost. I worked with the Army while in the navy. And the LT couldn't read a map for shit


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## CaliRootz88 (Jul 24, 2022)

I had a different experience. My LT I deployed with to Iraq was prior service Staff SGT. I lucked out.


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## BarnBuster (Jul 24, 2022)

Could You Survive...The Moon, The Stars and The Navigators Triangle?©


For more information on the Navigators Triangle, read “The 'Navigator’s Triangle'...What?©”, HERE and for more on how to use the nigh...




thewoodsmansjournalonline.blogspot.com


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## BarnBuster (Jul 30, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sinks within minutes in shark-infested waters. Only 316 of the 1,196 men on board survived.*_ However, the Indianapolis had already completed its major mission: the delivery of key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped a week later at Hiroshima to Tinian Island in the South Pacific.

The Indianapolis made its delivery to Tinian Island on July 26, 1945. The mission was top secret and the ship’s crew was unaware of its cargo. After leaving Tinian, the Indianapolis sailed to the U.S. military’s Pacific headquarters at Guam and was given orders to meet the battleship USS Idaho at Leyte Gulf in the Philippines to prepare for the invasion of Japan.

Shortly after midnight on July 30, halfway between Guam and Leyte Gulf, a Japanese sub blasted the Indianapolis, sparking an explosion that split the ship and caused it to sink in approximately 12 minutes, with about 300 men trapped inside. Another 900 went into the water, where many died from drowning, shark attacks, dehydration or injuries from the explosion. Help did not arrive until four days later, on August 2, when an anti-submarine plane on routine patrol happened upon the men and radioed for assistance.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, inflicting nearly 130,000 casualties and destroying more than 60 percent of the city. On August 9, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, where casualties were estimated at over 66,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. government kept quiet about the Indianapolis tragedy until August 15 in order to guarantee that the news would be overshadowed by President Harry Truman’s announcement that Japan had surrendered.

In the aftermath of the events involving the Indianapolis, the ship’s commander, Captain Charles McVay, was court-martialed in November 1945 for failing to sail a zigzag course that would have helped the ship to evade enemy submarines in the area. McVay, the only Navy captain court-martialed for losing a ship during the war, committed suicide in 1968. Many of his surviving crewmen believed the military had made him a scapegoat. In 2000, 55 years after the Indianapolis went down, Congress cleared McVay’s name._

 ​
_*On July 30, 2020, the United States Congress awarded the Congressional Gold Medal—its highest civilian honor—to the Final Crew of the USS Indianapolis CA 35 during a ceremony at the Indiana War Memorial. The virtual ceremony was held on the 75th anniversary of the loss of the vessel.*

The specially cast gold medal has a unique design that commemorates all 1195 crew members of the USS Indianapolis CA 35. Created by the U.S. Mint, every Congressional Gold Medal is one-of-a-kind solid gold, unlike any other one in the world.

“On behalf of the 1,195 Sailors and Marines who served aboard USS Indianapolis, it is an honor to receive a Congressional Gold Medal,” Harold Bray, 93, the youngest remaining survivor and chair of the USS Indianapolis CA-35 Survivors Organization, said in a Wednesday statement provided to USNI News.

“Eight survivors remain today, and we are proud to represent our shipmates who are no longer with us. We are very grateful to Congress for this special recognition.”_

*Fatal Voyage: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis*_ by Dan Kurzman
*In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors* by Doug Stanton
*Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man* Lynn Vincent
*Abandon Ship!: The Saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, the Navy's Greatest Sea Disaster Hardcover *by Richard F. Newcomb, Peter Maas_


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## BarnBuster (Jul 31, 2022)

Today in Military History:









*On July 31, 1917, the Allies launch a renewed assault on German lines in the Flanders region of Belgium, in the much-contested region near Ypres, during World War I. The attack begins more than three months of brutal fighting, known as the Third Battle of Ypres*_.

While the first and second battles at Ypres were attacks by the Germans against the Allied-controlled salient around Ypres—which crucially blocked any German advance to the English Channel—the third was spearheaded by the British commander in chief, Sir Douglas Haig. After the resounding failure of the Nivelle Offensive–named for its mastermind, the French commander Robert Nivelle–the previous May, followed by widespread mutinies within the French army, Haig insisted that the British should press ahead with another major offensive that summer. The aggressive and meticulously planned offensive, ostensibly aimed at destroying German submarine bases located on the north coast of Belgium, was in fact driven by Haig’s (mistaken) belief that the German army was on the verge of collapse, and would be broken completely by a major Allied victory.

After an opening barrage of some 3,000 guns and some 4.5 million shells_ *(It is estimated,that as much as 30% of WWI ordnance failed to explode. Areas of France are still off limits due to UXO, ERW. See "Zone Rouge" bb)* _Haig ordered nine British divisions, led by Sir Hubert Gough’s 5th Army, to advance on the German lines near the Belgian village of Passchendaele on July 31; they were joined by six French divisions. In the first two days of the attacks, while suffering heavy casualties, the Allies made significant advances—in some sectors pushing the Germans back more than a mile and taking more than 5,000 German prisoners—if not as significant as Haig had envisioned. The offensive was renewed in mid-August, though heavy rains and thickening mud severely hampered the effectiveness of Allied infantry and artillery and prevented substantial gains over the majority of the summer and early fall.

Dissatisfied with his army’s gains by the end of August, Haig had replaced Gough with Herbert Plumer at the head of the attack; after several small gains in September, the British were able to establish control over the ridge of land east of Ypres. Encouraged, Haig pushed Plumer to continue the attacks towards the Passchendaele ridge, some 10 kilometers from Ypres.

Thus the Third Battle of Ypres–also known as Passchendaele, for the village, and the ridge surrounding it, that saw the heaviest fighting–continued into its third month, as the Allied attackers reached near-exhaustion, with few notable gains, and the Germans reinforced their positions in the region with reserve troops released from the Eastern Front, where Russia’s army was foundering amid internal turmoil. Unwilling to give up, Haig ordered a final three attacks on Passchendaele in late October. The eventual capture of the village, by Canadian and British troops, on November 6, 1917, allowed Haig to finally call off the offensive, claiming victory, despite *some 310,000 British casualties, as opposed to 260,000 on the German side, and a failure to create any substantial breakthrough, or change of momentum, on the Western Front. Given its outcome, the Third Battle of Ypres remains one of the most costly and controversial offensives of World War I, representing–at least for the British–the epitome of the wasteful and futile nature of trench warfare.* In 1918 all the ground that had been gained there by the Allies was evacuated in the face of a looming German assault. Passchendaele would be remembered as a symbol of the worst horrors of the First World War, the sheer futility of much of the fighting, and the reckless disregard by some of the war’s senior leaders for the lives of the men under their command._
​*Some 61 Victoria Crosses, the British Empire’s highest decoration for military valour, were awarded after the fighting. More Victoria Crosses—14 in total—were awarded for actions on the opening day of the Battle of Passchendaele than for actions on any other single day of combat in World War I.*









Battle of Passchendaele | Facts, Maps, Summary, & Casualties


Battle of Passchendaele, also called Third Battle of Ypres, (July 31–November 6, 1917), World War I battle that served as a vivid symbol of the mud, madness, and senseless slaughter of the Western Front. The third and longest battle to take place at the Belgian city of Ypres, Passchendaele was...



www.britannica.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 1, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​
*On August 1, 1943, 177 B-24 bombers take off from an Allied base in Libya, bound for the oil-producing city Ploiești, Romania, nicknamed “Hitler’s gas station.”*

_Operation Tidal Wave began ominously, with an overloaded bomber crashing shortly after takeoff and another plunging into the Adriatic Sea. 167 of the original 177 bombers made it to Ploiești, whose oil fields and refineries provided the Germans with over 8.5 million tons of oil per year. Whereas most Allied bombing in World War II was carried out from a high altitude, the bombers that raided Ploiești flew exceptionally low in order to evade the Germans’ radar. The bombers lost the element of surprise, however, when one group veered off on the wrong direction, forcing the others to break radio silence in order to direct them back on course. This unplanned adjustment also led to the bombers approaching from the south, where the Nazis had concentrated their anti-aircraft batteries.

The ensuing attack was dramatic, chaotic and costly. The Allies suffered heavy casualties, and smoke from the explosions caused by the first wave of bombers made visibility difficult for subsequent waves. Survivors reported debris like branches and barbed wire hitting and even ending up on the inside of their planes. Lt. Col. Addison Baker and Maj. John Jerstad were awarded the Medal of Honor for their (unsuccessful) attempt to fly higher and allow the crew to bail of our their badly damaged plane. Another pilot, Lt. Lloyd Herbert Hughes, also received a posthumous Medal of Honor for flying his critically-damaged B-24 into its target. Col. John Kane and Col. Leon Johnson, who each led bombing groups that reached their targets, were the only men who won the Medal of Honor and survived the raid.

Although the Allies estimated that the raid had reduced Ploiești’s capacity by 40 percent, the damage was quickly repaired and within months the refineries had outstripped their previous capacity. The region continued to serve as “Hitler’s gas station” until the Soviet Union captured it in August of 1944. 310 airmen died, 108 were captured and another 78 were interned in neighboring Turkey._

​_Operation Tidal Wave is largely considered a failure from the American perspective for this reason. However, there is some argument that can be made that this delay in production, even if only brief, was a victory for the Allies. It allowed the Red Army to take advantage of the lack of fuel for the panzers and launch two offensives at Smolensk and Dnieper, which helped liberate those previously German controlled areas.

Of the 178 planes that took off from Benghazi, only 89 returned. While the enemy destroyed 54 planes, others crash landed at bases throughout the area. Over 300 men died, over 100 captured, and 78 were interred in Turkey. Of the 89 returning planes, over a third were unfit to fly afterward. .

*Operation Tidal Wave remains the most highly decorated military mission in U.S. History. Five Medals of Honor, 3 posthumously, were awarded, the most for any single air mission in history. 998 enlisted aircrew flew in Tidal Wave. 900 were decorated. 10 Silver Stars, 16 Distinguished Service Crosses and 879 Distinguished Flying Crosses were awarded to bombadiers, gunners, engineers and radioman for their heroics*_



https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/cutting-off-the-nazi-oil-production.html




https://media.defense.gov/2016/May/18/2001540805/-1/-1/0/AFD-160518-001-011.PDF


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 3, 2022)

Drove to Ft Leonard Wood to get new ID's & hit the commissary yesterday, on the drive out I pointed out an A10 doing manovers about a mile away to momma - then I noticed another about 1000 yards to his 6 and saw this:  

I was jumping around in the drivers seat yelling "Did you see that??"

She didn't.


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## raratt (Aug 3, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Drove to Ft Leonard Wood to get new ID's & hit the commissary yesterday, on the drive out I pointed out an A10 doing manovers about a mile away to momma - then I noticed another about 1000 yards to his 6 and saw this:
> View attachment 5174321
> I was jumping around in the drivers seat yelling "Did you see that??"
> 
> She didn't.


I watched an AC-130 go over the range at Tyndall, the amount of firepower they carry is insane. If you see a C-130 doing slow left hand circles above you you are screwed.


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## raratt (Aug 3, 2022)




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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 3, 2022)

raratt said:


> I watched an AC-130 go over the range at Tyndall, the amount of firepower they carry is insane. If you see a C-130 doing slow left hand circles above you you are screwed.


Yep, Dad told very few Vietnam stories but one that stands out is the destruction of a NVC compound that was somewhat close to Da nang by an AC-130. He was a B 52 guy so he knew fire power & to hear his description of that machine and what was happening on the ground was awe inspiring. The boys in boots loved her too!


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## BarnBuster (Aug 4, 2022)

_*The United States Coast Guard celebrates its 231st birthday today. The Coast Guard was created on August 4, 1790, when the first Congress authorized Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton to construct ten vessels, known as “revenue cutters,” to combat smuggling and enforce tariff laws*. Hamilton carried out his charge with enthusiasm, which is why he is considered to be “the father of the Coast Guard.” For the next eight years, the Coast Guard was the United States’ only armed maritime force. Congress didn’t establish the Navy until 1798. (The Navy prefers to say “re-establish” as it dates its founding to an October 1775 act passed by the Continental Congress.)"_


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## Carnitastaco (Aug 4, 2022)

Coast Guard flies helicopters that look like the one from Airwolf.


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## CaliRootz88 (Aug 4, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Drove to Ft Leonard Wood to get new ID's & hit the commissary yesterday, on the drive out I pointed out an A10 doing manovers about a mile away to momma - then I noticed another about 1000 yards to his 6 and saw this:
> View attachment 5174321
> I was jumping around in the drivers seat yelling "Did you see that??"
> 
> She didn't.


Old Fort Lost in the Woods. Ill never forget boot camp there in 2007. Froze my ass off going in January


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## BarnBuster (Aug 5, 2022)

A couple of days ago in Military History:

​
*The battle which, more than any other, established Horatio Nelson’s fame began as the sun set on August 1st, 1798, over a French fleet of seventeen ships*_. Fifteen miles east of Alexandria and close to the Rosetta mouth of the Nile, anchored in line across Aboukir Bay on the Egyptian coast, they were in a strong and carefully selected defensive position, close inshore and protected by shoals and a shore battery on an island. Nelson had found them there after weeks of anxiously searching the Mediterranean.

At thirty-nine, Rear Admiral Sir Horatio Nelson’s keenness for action, rapidity of judgement and eye for an opportunity were unequalled, as was his capacity to inspire his subordinates. ‘I had the happiness to command a band of brothers,’ he wrote to Lord Howe afterwards, ‘therefore, night was to my advantage.’

Not a moment was lost as the British fleet approached Aboukir Bay from the north-west at about 5.30pm. The French commander assumed they would not attack so late, but the wind was blowing directly along the French line and Nelson’s fourteen battleships divided into two groups. One group sailed along the outside of the French line, while the other, led by Captain Hood in Zealous and Captain Foley in Goliath, snaked through a narrow gap between the foremost French ship and the shore. The French were caught napping and were attacked from close quarters on both sides simultaneously in a wildly unorthodox and effective Nelsonian manoeuvre. The Culloden ran aground on the shoals, but the thirteen other English ships fell on the first eight of the French.

The firing began at 6.28pm and by 7 o’clock it was so dark that the British ships hoisted a row of white lamps at the mizzen peak so that they could distinguish each other from the enemy. The Bellerophon under Captain Darby was dismasted and almost wrecked by a colossal broadside from the huge French flagship L’Orient of 120 guns, but the attack was continued and the French ship caught fire soon after nine and blew up at 10.05, by which time six other French battleships had surrendered. In the end only two French ships of the line and two frigates were able to get away. Nelson himself, in Vanguard, was struck in the forehead by a piece of shrapnel and temporarily blinded by a flap of skin which dropped over his one good eye. It was quickly stitched by the surgeon and he resumed command.

On the 15th, Nelson sent seven of his ships with six enemy prizes to Gibraltar and himself made for Naples (where he was fatefully to meet Lady Hamilton). The news of the action was received with delight in England and the victor was raised to the peerage as Baron Nelson of the Nile. Parliament voted him a pension, the City of London presented him with a sword, the East India Company gave him £10,000 (equivalent to £5 million or so today) and the Sublime Porte conferred on him the Order of the Crescent with a superb aigrette or ‘plume of triumph’. Napoleon’s army in Egypt was left stranded, cut off from France, and eventually could only tamely surrender, and French designs on India were thwarted.

The Battle of the Nile has been called "arguably, the most decisive naval engagement of the great age of sail", and "the most splendid and glorious success which the British Navy gained." Historian and novelist C. S. Forester, writing in 1929, compared the Nile to the great naval actions in history and concluded that "it still only stands rivalled by Tsu-Shima as an example of the annihilation of one fleet by another of approximately equal material force". The effect on the strategic situation in the Mediterranean was immediate, reversing the balance of the conflict and giving the British control at sea that they maintained for the remainder of the war. The destruction of the French Mediterranean fleet allowed the Royal Navy to return to the sea in force, as British squadrons set up blockades off French and allied ports. 






Battle of the Nile


Admiral Nelson's victory over the French Fleet on 1st August 1798 that made him a household name throughout Europe




www.britishbattles.com









Battle of the Nile


AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF HIS MAJESTY' s SQUADRON, UNDER THE COMMAND OF REAR-ADMIRAL SIR HORATIO NELSON, FROM ITS SAILING FROM GIBRALTAR TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE GLORIOUS BATTLE OF THE NILE; DRAWN UP FROM THE MINUTES OF AN OFFICER OF RANK IN THE SQUADRON. THE THIRD EDITION...




www.history.navy.mil












Thunder at Dusk: The Battle of the Nile


The French had made a brilliant move, but Admiral Nelson discovered a means that might bring it all to naught.




warfarehistorynetwork.com






https://nelson-society.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/BattleOfTheNile.pdf


_


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 5, 2022)

Carnitastaco said:


> Coast Guard flies helicopters that look like the one from Airwolf.


I think you're talking about the HH-65 Dolphin - when I was in we called them "The whistling shitcan" because they made an odd high pitched noise while flying and were grounded for maintenance so much.



If I was in need I'd much rather be sent an HH-60 Jayhawk.
Much more reliable & battle tested.


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## curious2garden (Aug 5, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I think you're talking about the HH-65 Dolphin - when I was in we called them "The whistling shitcan" because they made an odd high pitched noise while flying and were grounded for maintenance so much.
> 
> View attachment 5175706
> 
> ...






Gimme a huey and call it a day. Although I do have a soft spot in my heart for little birds.


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## Kgrim (Aug 5, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I think you're talking about the HH-65 Dolphin - when I was in we called them "The whistling shitcan" because they made an odd high pitched noise while flying and were grounded for maintenance so much.
> 
> View attachment 5175706
> 
> ...


I see them almost daily as they fly from Selfridge along the St Clair River out into Lake Huron. Totally understand why they are called the "whistling shitcan". When they are flying low, it makes a god awful screeching sound, almost like a bearing has went bad at high speed.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 6, 2022)

Today in Military History:


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## BarnBuster (Aug 6, 2022)

and:
​*On August 6, 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter in Afghanistan, killing all 38 people on board, including 15 Navy SEALS from Team Six’s Gold Squadron.*

_The Tangi Valley, located along the border between Afghanistan’s Wardak and Logar provinces some 80 miles southwest of Kabul, is a remote, inaccessible area known for its resistance to foreign invasion. Alexander the Great suffered heavy troop losses there during his campaign in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C. In the 1980s, mujahideen fighters in Wardak and Logar provinces devastated an entire division of Soviet fighters.

In 2009, U.S. forces from the 10th Mountain Division of the U.S. Army established a base in the Tangi Valley area after it became clear the Taliban had taken advantage of low coalition presence there to establish a stronghold within striking distance of the Afghan capital. As the United States and NATO allies began a drawdown of their troops in the spring of 2011, U.S. forces turned over the Tangi Valley outpost to their Afghan counterparts. They continued to run operations in the area, however, using helicopters and special operations forces to combat groups of insurgents in the region.

Under cover of darkness on the night of August 6, 2011, a special ops team that included a group of U.S. Army Rangers began an assault on a Taliban compound in the village of Jaw-e-Mekh Zareen in the Tangi Valley. The firefight at the house went on for at least two hours, and the ground team called in reinforcements. As the Chinook CH-47 transport helicopter (call sign: Extortion 17) carrying 30 U.S. troops, seven Afghan commandos, an Afghan civilian interpreter and a U.S. military dog approached, the insurgents fired on the helicopter and it crashed to the ground, killing all aboard.

Of the 30 Americans killed, 22 were Navy personnel, and 17 were SEALs. These included two bomb specialists and 15 operators in the Gold Squadron of DEVGRU, or Team Six, the highly classified unit that conducted the raid that killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan the previous May. None of the operators killed in the Afghan helicopter crash had been involved in that mission, officials said. In addition to the SEALs, the others killed in the Chinook crash included five other Naval Special Warfare (NSW) personnel, three Air Force forward air controllers and five Army helicopter crewmembers.

The attack on August 6 was the most devastating day in SEAL Team Six history, as well as the single largest loss of life for U.S. forces since the war in Afghanistan began in October 2001. More than twice as many NSW personnel died in the Wardak crash than were killed on June 28, 2005, during Operation Redwings. That day, eight SEALs and eight members of the members of the Army’s 160th Special Forces Operations Regiment (SOAR) were killed when insurgents shot down their Chinook helicopter in Kunar province, near Asadabad. Three SEALs involved in a firefight on the ground were also killed, in what would stand as the deadliest day in NSW history since the Normandy landings on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

“No words describe the sorrow we feel in the wake of this tragic loss,” General John R. Allen, senior commander of the international military coalition in Afghanistan, said after the crash. “All of those killed in this operation were true heroes who had already given so much in the defense of freedom. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten.”

As funerals for the fallen sailors and other servicemen took place throughout the United States, a team of specialists conducted an official investigation to determine the cause of the crash. The resulting report, delivered in October 2011, concluded that a Taliban fighter shot down the Chinook with a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) as the helicopter neared its landing zone, and that “all operational decisions, linked to the incident, were deemed tactically sound.”

Some later questioned the official narrative of the Extortion 17 crash, even suggesting the attack could have been an inside job, with Afghan forces tipping the Taliban off about the mission beforehand. Others criticized the planning and execution of the mission, including the decision to fly the helicopter into an area where it could be easily shot down and the use of a conventional helicopter rather than one designed for special operations missions. Family members of some of the SEAL Team Six operators killed in the crash, along with some military personnel, claimed that the U.S. government had turned the members of the elite unit into a target by revealing their role in the bin Laden raid. A congressional oversight committee even held a controversial hearing into the events surrounding the crash in early 2014.

Though the U.S.-led coalition formally ended its combat mission in Afghanistan in December 2014, the war has continued for more than two years beyond that point, marking its 15th anniversary last October. As of 2016, some 9,800 U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense estimates the total number of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan at 2,254. Meanwhile, the civilian toll of the war grows ever higher; one estimate, by the organization International Physicians for the Prevention of War, put the total number of Afghans killed in the first 12 years of the conflict at some 220,000._ 









The Final Flight of Extortion 17


It was the deadliest helicopter crash in the history of U.S. special operations. Why did it happen?




www.smithsonianmag.com












Setting the record straight: Myths and misinformation about Extortion 17


The 6 August, 2011 downing of Extortion 17 has continued to make international headlines years after the terrible tragedy. This continued attention is due




sofrep.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 7, 2022)

Today in Military History:





​
_"*On August 7, 1942, the U.S. 1st Marine Division begins Operation Watchtower, the code name for the U.S. plan to invade Guadalcanal and the surrounding islands and was the first U.S. offensive of the war.*

Although not as well-known as the Battles of Midway or Iwo Jima, the Battle of Guadalcanal played a key role in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The six-month-long Guadalcanal Campaign took place on and around the island of Guadalcanal, one of the Solomon Islands located in the South Pacific, to the northeast of Australia

On July 6, 1942, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal Island and began constructing an airfield there. In response on August 7, 1942, , the U.S. launched Operation Watchtower, in which American troops landed on five islands within the Solomon chain, including Guadalcanal. Although the invasion came as a complete surprise to the Japanese (bad weather had grounded their scouting aircraft), the landings on Florida, Tulagi, Gavutu and Tananbogo met much initial opposition from the Japanese defenders.

But the Americans who landed on Guadalcanal met little resistance—at least at first. More than 11,000 Marines had landed, and 24 hours had passed, before the Japanese manning the garrison there knew of the attack. The U.S. forces quickly took their main objective, the airfield, and the outnumbered Japanese troops retreated, but not for long. Reinforcements were brought in, and fierce hand-to-hand jungle fighting ensued. “I have never heard or read of this kind of fighting,” wrote one American major general on the scene. “These people refuse to surrender.” The struggle on Guadalcanal was protracted, and the period from August 1942 to February 1943 saw some of the most bitter fighting of the war

The Americans were at a particular disadvantage, being assaulted from both the sea and air. But the U.S. Navy was able to reinforce its troops to a greater extent, and by February 1943, the Japanese had retreated on secret orders of their emperor (so secret, the Americans did not even know it had taken place until they began happening upon abandoned positions, empty boats, and discarded supplies). In total, the Japanese had lost more than 25,000 men, compared with a loss of 1,600 by the Americans. Each side lost 24 warships. The battle for Guadalcanal proved to be extremely costly for the Japanese Empire in terms of both material losses and strategy. With Guadalcanal secure, the Solomon Islands quickly fell to American forces as Henderson Field offered a direct base of support for American air units in the area. The sheer number of Japanese troops, supplies, and naval units were also irreplaceable at this point of the war. For many historians, the American victory at Guadalcanal, therefore, was a turning point for the war-effort as Guadalcanal served as a major boost to American morale, and a tremendous success for American military efforts in the Pacific.

*Douglas Albert Munro was a United States Coast Guardsman who was posthumously decorated with the Medal of Honor for an act of "extraordinary heroism" during the Battle of Guadalcanal.. As of 2019, he is the only person to have received the medal for actions performed during service in the United States Coast Guard.* Munro was assigned to Naval Operating Base Cactus at Lunga Point, from which small boat operations were being coordinated. At the Second Battle of the Matanikau in September 1942, he was tasked with leading the extrication of a force of United States Marines that had been overrun by Japanese forces. He died of a gunshot wound at the age of 22 while using the Higgins boat he was piloting to shield a landing craft filled with marines from Japanese fire.

*One of the first Medals of Honor given to a Marine in WW2 was awarded to Sgt. John Basilone for his fighting during Operation Watchtower. According to the recommendation for his medal, he “contributed materially to the defeat and virtually the annihilation of a Japanese regiment.” Later, Gunnery Sgt. Basilone would be posthumously awarded the the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross for his actions on Iwo Jima"*_

*(20 MOH's were awarded for the Guadalcanal campaign.bb)*

Books:
*Midnight in the Pacific : Guadalcanal : the World War II battle that turned the tide of war / Joseph Wheelan*. _(One of the best I’ve read on Guadalcanal)_
*The conquering tide : war in the Pacific Islands, 1942/1944* / Ian W. Toll.
*Pacific crucible : war at sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 */ Ian W. Toll.
_*The barrier and the javelin : Japanese and Allied Pacific strategies, February to June 1942* _/ H.P. Willmott
*The first South Pacific campaign : Pacific Fleet strategy, December 1941-June 1942* / by John B. Lundstrom






Battle of Guadalcanal - New World Encyclopedia







www.newworldencyclopedia.org












The Hot, Bloody, Brutal Campaign Of Guadalcanal: America’s First WWII Offensive In The Pacific


What started as a simple mission to capture an airstrip in the Pacific from the Japanese dragged on for six months as Japan kept trying to take it back.




allthatsinteresting.com





These last two are detailed Army and Navy reports and analysis of the campaign(s) at Guadalcanal:
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/browse-by-topic/War and Conflict/WWII-Pacific-Battles/Battle of Guadalcanal 5.pdf
https://history.army.mil/html/books/005/5-3/CMH_Pub_5-3.pdf


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Aug 7, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> and:
> View attachment 5175921​*On August 6, 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter in Afghanistan, killing all 38 people on board, including 15 Navy SEALS from Team Six’s Gold Squadron.*
> 
> _The Tangi Valley, located along the border between Afghanistan’s Wardak and Logar provinces some 80 miles southwest of Kabul, is a remote, inaccessible area known for its resistance to foreign invasion. Alexander the Great suffered heavy troop losses there during his campaign in Afghanistan in the fourth century B.C. In the 1980s, mujahideen fighters in Wardak and Logar provinces devastated an entire division of Soviet fighters.
> ...


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## BarnBuster (Aug 9, 2022)

Today in Military History:


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## BarnBuster (Aug 10, 2022)

Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency


Recently Accounted For


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## BarnBuster (Aug 14, 2022)

Today in Military History:






*In what later became known as Victory Day, an official announcement of Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allies is made public to the world on August 14, 1945.*_ Japan formally surrendered in writing two weeks later, on September 2, 1945.

Even though Japan’s War Council, urged by Emperor Hirohito, had already submitted a declaration of surrender to the Allies, via ambassadors, on August 10, fighting continued between the Japanese and the Soviets in Manchuria and between the Japanese and the United States in the South Pacific. In fact, two days after the Council agreed to surrender, a Japanese submarine attacked the Oak Hill, an American landing ship, and the Thomas F. Nickel, an American destroyer, both east of Okinawa.

On the afternoon of August 14 (August 15 in Japan, because of time-zone differences), Japanese radio announced that an Imperial Proclamation was soon to be made, accepting the terms of unconditional surrender drawn up at the Potsdam Conference. That proclamation had already been recorded by the emperor. The news did not go over well, as more than 1,000 Japanese soldiers stormed the Imperial Palace in an attempt to find the proclamation and prevent its being transmitted to the Allies. Soldiers still loyal to Emperor Hirohito repulsed the attackers.

That evening, General Anami, the member of the War Council most adamant against surrender, committed suicide. His reason: to atone for the Japanese army’s defeat, and to be spared having to hear his emperor speak the words of surrender.

At the White House, U.S. president Harry S. Truman relayed the news to the American people; celebrations broke out in Washington, D.C. and across the country._

__​


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## BarnBuster (Aug 16, 2022)

*On August 16, 1940, 48 volunteer members of the U.S. Army Parachute Test Platoon performed the first official U.S. military parachute jump at Fort Benning, Georgia. Today, the date is celebrated as National Airborne Day, a day to honor the U.S. Airborne Forces.*​


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## BarnBuster (Aug 16, 2022)

Today in Military History:








_*On August 16, 1945, Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, (captured by the Japanese on the island of Corregidor, in the Philippines), is freed from a POW camp in Manchuria, China.*

When President Franklin Roosevelt transferred Gen. Douglas MacArthur from his command in the Philippines to Australia in March 1942, Maj. Gen. Wainwright, until then under MacArthur’s command, was promoted to temporary lieutenant general and given command of all Philippine forces. His first major strategic decision was to move his troops to the fortified garrison at Corregidor. When Bataan was taken by the Japanese, and the infamous Bataan “Death March” of captured Allies was underway, Corregidor became the next battle ground. Wainwright and his 13,000 troops held out for a month despite heavy artillery fire. Finally, Wainwright and his troops, already exhausted, surrendered on May 6.

The irony of Wainwright’s promotion was that as commander of all Allied forces in the Philippines, his surrender meant the surrender of troops still holding out against the Japanese in other parts of the Philippines. Wainwright was taken prisoner, spending the next three and a half years as a POW in Luzon, Philippines, Formosa (now Taiwan), and Manchuria, China. Upon Japan’s surrender, Russian forces in Manchuria liberated the POW camp in which Wainwright was being held._

(Read below of the O.S.S. involvement (CARDINAL) in the rescue and their task to prevent retaliation to all prisoners being held in Japanese camps in Manchuria. bb)

_The years of captivity took its toll on the general. The man who had been nicknamed “Skinny” was now emaciated. His hair had turned white, and his skin was cracked and fragile. He was also depressed, believing he would be blamed for the loss of the Philippines to the Japanese.

When Wainwright arrived in Yokohama, Japan, to attend the formal surrender ceremony, Gen. MacArthur, his former commander, was stunned at his appearance. *Wainwright was given a hero’s welcome upon returning to America, promoted to full general and awarded the Medal of Honor.*_









Operation Cardinal: OSS in Manchuria


A five-man OSS team parachutes into Mukden, Manchuria to rescue American and British POWs during WWII.



www.academia.edu












The OSS' Operation Cardinal: Locating General Jonathan Wainwright


The OSS Cardinal Mission located General Jonathan Wainwright at a Japanese prison camp in Manchuria.




warfarehistorynetwork.com












Jonathan Wainwright, Hero of Corregidor, Rescued By OSS August 1945


n 1945, the OSS had set up specially constructed teams to infiltrate ahead of the allied advance and assist with the freeing of Allied POW camps.




sofrep.com





Further Reading:
*Hero of Bataan: The Story of General Wainwright /* Duane P. Schultz
*General Wainwright's Story* / Jonathan M. Wainwright


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## Fadedawg (Aug 16, 2022)

Semper fi brothers and sisters! OOOra!!


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## the known grower (Aug 16, 2022)

I hear Army Airforce, not 1 Marine, those who went to Iraq & Afghanistan stationed in San Diego went to Okinawa for a promotion for 5 more yrs. before retirement, I knew a lot of guys in the military including Greene from Shephard AFB Maki from the same, ROGERs, & Adkins name off more, a lot you see & gone never to be seen again if you're lucky enough to run by them again, you know guys that died, which I knew a few, as when Trump said those that died in the war were cowards, to me he was the coward he faked an illness to avoid it


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## curious2garden (Aug 16, 2022)

the known grower said:


> I hear Army Airforce, not 1 Marine, those who went to Iraq & Afghanistan stationed in San Diego went to Okinawa for a promotion for 5 more yrs. before retirement, I knew a lot of guys in the military including Greene from Shephard AFB Maki from the same, ROGERs, & Adkins name off more, a lot you see & gone never to be seen again if you're lucky enough to run by them again, you know guys that died, which I knew a few, as when Trump said those that died in the war were cowards, to me he was the coward he faked an illness to avoid it


Welcome to RIU. Could you try that again, this time in English and without the political reference please? We have a politics forum for that if you'd like to engage.





Politics


News and politics



rollitup.org


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## DarkWeb (Aug 16, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> Welcome to RIU. Could you try that again, this time in English and without the political reference please? We have a politics forum for that if you'd like to engage.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think it left  





such hatered, chasing new comers out


I went into a few forums I have seen drama it's not my 1st run at the rodeo, but I have never developed such hatred towards these forums, you get bad advice & they laugh at you when you mention it, and they add an emoji with a face laughing like we don't know what they are doing, to me that...



www.rollitup.org


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## BarnBuster (Aug 16, 2022)

I don't think there's a period in any of the 37 posts.


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## BarnBuster (Aug 19, 2022)

Today in Military History:











_During the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeats the British frigate Guerrière in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off the Constitution‘s sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood. By the war’s end, “Old Ironsides” destroyed or captured seven more British ships. The success of the USS Constitution against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic.

The Constitution was one of six frigates that Congress requested be built in 1794 to help protect American merchant fleets from attacks by Barbary pirates and harassment by British and French forces. It was constructed in Boston, and the bolts fastening its timbers and copper sheathing were provided by the industrialist and patriot Paul Revere. Launched on October 21, 1797, the Constitution was 204 feet long, displaced 2,200 tons, and was rated as a 44-gun frigate (although it often carried as many as 50 guns).

In July 1798 it was put to sea with a crew of 450 and cruised the West Indies, protecting U.S. shipping from French privateers. In 1803, President Thomas Jefferson ordered the American warship to the Mediterranean to fight Barbary pirates off the coast of Tripoli. The vessel performed commendably during the conflict, and in 1805 a peace treaty with Tripoli was signed on the Constitution‘s deck.

When war broke out with Britain in June 1812, the Constitution was commanded by Isaac Hull, who served as lieutenant on the ship during the Tripolitan War. Scarcely a month later, on July 16, the Constitution encountered a squadron of five British ships off Egg Harbor, New Jersey. Finding itself surrounded, the Constitution was preparing to escape when suddenly the wind died. With both sides dead in the water and just out of gunnery range, a legendary slow-speed chase ensued. For 36 hours, the Constitution‘s crew kept their ship just ahead of the British by towing the frigate with rowboats and by tossing the ship’s anchor ahead of the ship and then reeling it in. At dawn on July 18, a breeze sprang, and the Constitution was far enough ahead of its pursuers to escape by sail.

*One month later, on August 19, the Constitution caught the British warship Guerrière alone about 600 miles east of Boston. After considerable maneuvering, the Constitution delivered its first broadside, and for 20 minutes the American and British vessels bombarded each other in close and violent action. After one cannonball bounced "harmlessly" off the side of Constitution, a crew member is said to have yelled "Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!" The British man-of-war was de-masted and rendered a wreck while the Constitution escaped with only minimal damage. The unexpected victory of Old Ironsides against a British frigate helped unite America behind the war effort and made Commander Hull a national hero. The Constitution went on to defeat or capture seven more British ships in the War of 1812 and ran the British blockade of Boston twice.*

After the war, Old Ironsides served as the flagship of the navy’s Mediterranean squadron and in 1828 was laid up in Boston. Two years later, the navy considered scrapping the Constitution, which had become unseaworthy, leading to an outcry of public support for preserving the famous warship. The navy refurbished the Constitution, and it went on to serve as the flagship of the Mediterranean, Pacific, and Home squadrons. In 1844, the frigate left New York City on a global journey that included visits to numerous international ports as a goodwill agent of the United States. In the early 1850s, it served as flagship of the African Squadron and patrolled the West African coast looking for slave traders.

In 1855, the Constitution retired from active military service, but the famous vessel continued to serve the United States, first as a training ship and later as a touring national landmark.

She was restored in the 1920s through the donations and efforts of the Elks Lodge, Hollywood, private citizens, merchandise, and $148,000 came from the pennies of school children who wanted to save “Old Ironsides”.

At first, she was a museum ship, but she eventually returned to active duty. She has since sailed through the Panama Canal, served as a brig for those awaiting court martial, and participated in the United States Bicentennial.

She is currently located at Dry Dock 1 in the Boston Harbor and is manned by six officers and 46 enlisted active duty Navy personnel. It is a special honor to be assigned to the USS Constitution and the crewmen treasure the opportunity. Some of them say the ship talks to them and one former commander says “she’s alive.”_

She is the oldest commissioned warship afloat, HMS Victory (a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy and flagship of the First Sea Lord, also the same ship that Lord Nelson fought at the Battle of Trafalgar and Jervis's flagship at the Battle Cape St Vincent) is older but has not sailed in over 100 years and is in permanent dry dock at Portsmouth Naval Yard, England, bb


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## BarnBuster (Aug 22, 2022)

How far has the US Navy come since the McCain, Fitzgerald collisions?


Six officials with first-hand knowledge of the surface force then and now spoke to Defense News leading up to the anniversary of the McCain collision.




www.defensenews.com


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## doublejj (Aug 22, 2022)

*Marines, sailors ate all of Greek town’s eggs, meat on port visit*

A Greek town was left scrambled after Marines ate all of the city’s eggs and meat and overindulged on tattoos during a recent training exercise visit with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

Marines and sailors visiting the northeastern military port city of Alexandroupoli, Greece, put their appetites to work this past May, as reported by the outlet Greek Reporter in July and later by Task & Purpose, overwhelming local business owners.


“Yesterday, 1,500 people had breakfast in Alexandroupolis and ate eggs, sausages and bacon,” said restaurant owner Giorgos Alavantas, according to Greek City Times. “Yesterday, 6,000–7,000 eggs were needed. In other words, we don’t have eggs.”








Marines, sailors ate all of Greek town’s eggs, meat on port visit


The hospitality of one Greek town went over easy welcoming Marines and sailors on a May port visit.




www.navytimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Aug 26, 2022)

Today in Military History:
_




_​

_During the Hundred Years War, King Edward III’s English army annihilates a French force under King Philip VI at the Battle of Crecy in Normandy. *The battle, which saw an early use of the deadly longbow by the English, is regarded as one of the most decisive in history.*

On July 12, 1346, Edward landed an invasion force of about 14,000 men on the coast of Normandy. From there, the English army marched northward, plundering the French countryside. Learning of the Englishmen’s arrival, King Philip rallied an army of 12,000 men, made up of approximately 8,000 mounted knights and 4,000 hired Genoese crossbowmen. At Crecy, Edward halted his army and prepared for the French assault. *Late in the afternoon of August 26, Philip’s army attacked.*

The Genoese crossbowmen led the assault, but they were soon overwhelmed by Edward’s longbowmen, who could reload faster and fire much further. The crossbowmen then retreated and the French mounted knights attempted to penetrate the English infantry lines. In charge after charge, the horses and riders were cut down in the merciless shower of arrows. At nightfall, the French finally withdrew.

The Battle of Crécy decimated the French nobility. Nearly a third of their army lay slain on the field, including Philip’s brother, Charles II of Alencon; his allies King John of Bohemia and Louis II of Nevers. English archers devastated the French who lost 11 princes, 1,200 knights and 30,000 common soldiers. The English lost just 100 men. In this particular battle, 20,000 English soldiers defeated 60,000 French soldiers. This single battle is taken as proof of how just effective the longbow was as a weapon.

The battle marked the decline of the mounted knight in European warfare and the rise of England as a world power. From Crecy, Edward marched on to Calais, which surrendered to him in 1347.

*The nearly 8,000 longbowmen at Crécy probably fired 75,000-90,000 arrows in the 40-60 seconds it took the French to close the range, each arrow speeding near 140 miles per hour, each archer keeping two and some three in the air at once. An experienced archer could shoot an arrow every four or five seconds. After the battle, observers wrote that the white feathers from the flights were so thick on the ground, it looked like snow.*

One story told in medieval times was that an arrow fired from a long bow could penetrate four inches into oak. Recent tests have shown that this anecdote is true when the arrow is fired close up. From 200 metres, a longbow arrow penetrated over one inch of solid oak – more than sufficient power to penetrate the armour worn by soldiers. Plate armour gave more protection but could still be penetrated from 100 metres. The maximum range of a long bow was 400 metres but at this distance, it was far less effective.

The surviving examples of longbows look unfinished and it is probable that most of the bows had this appearance: the junction of the inner and outer woods would rarely be straight but this was not important. Interestingly English yew was not considered suitable to make bows and the staves were imported, largely from Italy and Spain. To ensure a regular supply, each ton of certain imports, including wine, had to be accompanied by 10 yew staves.

The best longbows were made of yew. The staves were cut in winter when no sap was running, from the junction of the inner heartwood and the outer sapwood. The staves were seasoned and worked on gradually over a period of three to four years.

Today only six longbows survive, none from the "golden age" and sources do not agree on the dimensions. Most give the length as about 70in. with a drawing pull of 75-100lbs. The arrows were between 27-36in. long._ 






The Battle of Crecy | Squaducation


26th August 1346 - A new type of warfare, that was to last until the nineteenth century, was unleashed by Edward III on the French in the fourteenth century – projectile warfare. Before gunfire the use of massed ranks of longbow men became a method of attack that was not only highly useful and...




www.squaducation.com












Battle of Crécy


The Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346 CE saw an English army defeat a much larger French force in the first great battle of the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453 CE). Edward III of England (r. 1327-1377...




www.worldhistory.org


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## BarnBuster (Aug 27, 2022)

With new radar and engines in sight, the B-52 gets ready for 'largest modification in its history' - Breaking Defense


“There's a lot that can go wrong on the program management side,” Col. Louis Ruscetta, senior materiel leader of the B-52 division, said of the bomber's upcoming modernization. “We have to try to manage and reduce what can go wrong."




breakingdefense.com


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## wascaptain (Aug 29, 2022)

when the navy was salty.....and skylarking was cool.....


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## BarnBuster (Aug 29, 2022)

wascaptain said:


> when the navy was salty.....and skylarking was coolView attachment 5189392.....


...and "flogging 'round the fleet" although I think that was British


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## BarnBuster (Aug 30, 2022)

​
_"A suicide bombing took place at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on 26 August 2021, at 17:50 local time (13:20 UTC), during the evacuation from Afghanistan.At least 183 people were killed, including 170 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the United States military, the first American military casualties in the War in Afghanistan since February 2020."_

The Islamic State – Khorasan Province (IS-KP) claimed responsibility for the attack.









FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE 2021 KABUL AIRPORT ATTACK


One year ago, on August 26, 2021, our Nation lost thirteen brave service members—eleven United States Marines, a Fleet Marine Force Navy Corpsman, and a United States Army Soldier. In an act of



www.marines.mil


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## BarnBuster (Sep 1, 2022)

As much as I can appreciate the value of digital mapping, GPS and all the other tools of modern cartography, I sure do like having paper maps/charts close at hand cause, you know, shit happens.










Paper charts scrapped for Royal Navy after 225 years


The CEO of the UK Hydrographic Office told Forces News the charts will become digital to reflect mariners' needs.




www.forces.net


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## BarnBuster (Sep 2, 2022)

Today in Military History:


​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 2, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> As much as I can appreciate the value of digital mapping, GPS and all the other tools of modern cartography, I sure do like having paper maps/charts close at hand cause, you know, shit happens.
> View attachment 5191145
> 
> 
> ...


I spent 2 tours on CG Buoy tenders during the twilight of paper charts and LORAN C converting over to GPS.
It was quite the transition for the Quartermasters with sextants.


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## BarnBuster (Sep 3, 2022)

Today in Military history:





_*September 3, 1777 *– *The American flag is flown in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch’s Bridge, Maryland. *Patriot General William Maxwell ordered the stars and strips banner raised as a detachment of his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops.

The rebels were defeated and forced to retreat to General George Washington’s main force near Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania. Three months before, on June 14, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” The national flag, which became known as the “Stars and Stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes.

According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend. With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union.

In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states. On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. As instructed by Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance._


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## wascaptain (Sep 7, 2022)

leaving for vaction this morning, getting myself fired up for a memorial 911 climb in flordia.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 7, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 8, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*The Siege of Leningrad, also called 900-day siege, started today in history (September 8, 1941–January 27, 1944) of the city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in the Soviet Union by German and Finnish armed forces during World War II. The siege actually lasted 872 days.*

_After Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, German armies had by early September approached Leningrad from the west and south while their Finnish allies approached to the north down the Karelian Isthmus. Leningrad’s entire able-bodied population was mobilized to build antitank fortifications along the city’s perimeter in support of the city’s 200,000 Red Army defenders. Leningrad’s defenses soon stabilized, but by early November it had been almost completely encircled, with all its vital rail and other supply lines to the Soviet interior cut off.

The ensuing German blockade and siege claimed 650,000 Leningrader lives in 1942 alone, mostly from starvation, exposure, disease, and shelling from distant German artillery. Sparse food and fuel supplies reached the city by barge in the summer and by truck and ice-borne sled in winter across Lake Ladoga. These supplies kept the city’s arms factories operating and its two million inhabitants barely alive in 1942, while one million more of its children, sick, and elderly were being evacuated. *There were somewhere between 1,000 and 2,000 documented cases of cannibalism throughout the siege.* Rations were reserved for those most integral to the protection of the city. As a result, *children were not a priority* for food.

On January 27, 1944, after nearly 900 days under blockade, Leningrad was freed. The victory was heralded with a 24-salvo salute from the city’s guns, and civilians broke into spontaneous celebrations in the streets. “People brought out vodka,” Leningrader Olga Grechina wrote. “We sang, cried, laughed; but it was sad all the same—the losses were just too large.”

*In total, the siege of Leningrad had killed an estimated 800,000 civilians—nearly as many as all the World War II deaths of the United States and the United Kingdom combined.*_ 









A Brief History of the Siege of Leningrad


Read about the longest and most destructive siege in history: the Siege of Leningrad.




theculturetrip.com












872 Days, 1.5 Million Deaths: A Disturbing Look Into WWII's Siege Of Leningrad


There are as many as 1,500 documented cases of cannibalism throughout the siege as citizens became desperate for food.




allthatsinteresting.com


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## BarnBuster (Sep 8, 2022)

Interesting piece of militaria at auction. There was a older WW2 movie that showed these although they looked different, maybe _The Longest Day_?









Bonhams Skinner : Rare World War II Operation Titanic Paradummy Parachutist


constructed of tan burlap or "Hessian cloth" in small human form, the torso with four tape-edged flaps with brass grommets, the head, torso, arms, and legs with cotton cord ties to secure interior stuffing (original stuffing missing). Overall ht. 36 in.




www.bonhams.com


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## raratt (Sep 8, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 9, 2022)

Today in Military Aviation History:
​
_*"On September 9, 1972, Captain Charles Barbin DeBellevue, United States Air Force, a Weapons System Officer flying on F-4D and F-4E Phantom II fighters, became the high-scoring American Ace of the Vietnam War when he and his pilot, Captain John A. Madden, Jr., shot down two Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG 19 fighters of the Không Quân Nhân Dân Việt Nam (Vietnam People’s Air Force), west of Hanoi.*

Captain DeBellevue was assigned to the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base. With Captain Richard S. Ritchie, he had previously shot down four MiG-21 fighters using AIM-7 Sparrow radar-guided missiles. Then while flying a combat air patrol in support of Operation Linebacker, he and Captain Madden, aboard F-4D-29-MC Phantom II 66-0267, call sign OLDS 01, used two AIM-9 Sidewinder heat-seeking missiles to destroy the MiG-19s. These were Madden’s first two aerial victories, but for DeBellevue, they were numbers 5 and 6.

Madden and DeBellevue had fired two AIM-7 Sparrow radar-guided missiles at a MiG-21 which was on approach to land at the Phúc Yên Yen airbase northwest of Hanoi, but both missiles missed. The MiG was then shot down by gunfire from an F-4E flown by Captain Calvin B. Tibbett and 1st Lieutenant William S. Hargrove (after two of their missiles also missed). The flight of Phantoms was then attacked by MiG-19s. DeBellevue reported:

“We acquired the MiGs on radar and positioned as we picked them up visually. We used a slicing low-speed yo-yo to a position behind the MiG-19s and started turning hard with them. We fired one AIM-9 missile, which detonated 25 feet from one of the MiG-19s. We then switched the attack to the other MiG-19 and one turn later we fired an AIM-9 at him.

I observed the missile impact the tail of the MiG. The MiG continued normally for the next few seconds, then began a slow roll and spiraled downward, impacting the ground with a large fireball. Our altitude was approximately 1,500 feet at the moment of the MiG’s impact.”

After becoming the war’s highest-scoring American ace, Chuck DeBellevue was sent to Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, for pilot training. He became an aircraft commander of F-4E Phantom IIs. He retired from the Air Force as a colonel in 1998, after 30 years of service.

DeBellevue’s F-4D, 66-0267, was destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It was reassembled with parts from other damaged Phantoms and is on display as a “gate guard” at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida.

F-4D-29-MC 66-7463, in which he scored his first and fourth kills with Steve Ritchie, is on display at the United States Air Force Academy. Like DeBellevue, this airplane is also credited with 6 victories. DeBellevue’s F-4E-36-MC, 67-0362." _




​


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## BarnBuster (Sep 10, 2022)

*"We have met the enemy, and they are ours."
In the first unqualified defeat of a British naval squadron in history*, *U.S. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry leads a fleet of nine American ships to victory over a squadron of six British warships at the Battle of Lake Erie during the War of 1812.*​

_*On September 10, 1813, at 7 a.m., British Commodore Robert Heriot Barclay, in his flagship HMS Detroit, met Captain Perry near Put-in-Bay, Ohio (Erie). Barclay's six ships were magnificently massive, outweighing and out-gunning Perry's nine vessels, including his flagship, the Lawrence.*

At 10 a.m., Mother Nature began to fill Perry's flagship sails with a favorable wind. He and his crew proceeded towards the British flagship.

At 11:45 a.m. the Detroit fired a 24-pound ball from an extreme distance at the Lawrence, causing nothing more than a big splash. A few minutes later, a second 24-pounder was launched, but this time plummeted through the bulwarks of the Lawrence. The impact of the second cannon ball caused boat debris and flying splinters to puncture lungs and inflict numerous fatal wounds upon the Americans.

The Lawrence's cannons were still out of range, so Perry issued orders to the Scorpion, with one long 24-pounder, and the Ariel, with four long 12-pounders, to open fire. Thirty minutes of unrelenting British bombardment slowly ticked away, with Perry still struggling to get within range. The whole British Fleet had made successful cannon strikes against it. The Lawrence was now dead in the water.

Luckily for the Americans, the Niagara, still out of range and relatively undamaged, was their last chance at victory. Collecting four of the last remaining able-bodied men, Commodore Perry manned the flagship's rowboat and rowed a mile through a barrage of explosions to the seaworthy Niagara. Perry then furiously prepared the Niagara for immediate action, and sailed toward the Royal line. Although the British had wreaked havoc on the Lawrence, Barclay sustained a horrible wound; the captain and first lieutenant of every British vessel also were severely wounded.

With only junior officers directing the English fleet, the Americans found easy targets. When the greenhorn sailors observed the Niagara closing water against them, they attempted to turn to expose unused cannons. The result was devastating for the English; the already battered Detroit and Queen Charlotte collided and became hung up, dead in the water.

Perry took little time to take complete advantage of the rookie mistakes. He unleashed two broadsides, tearing up the seemingly indestructible Royal fleet.

A few minutes after 3 p.m., the British threw down all their arms; the four largest vessels surrendered one by one. The last two British gunboats attempted to escape, but were quickly chased down and captured. The British fleet in Lake Erie was now a thing of the past. By nightfall, the British had lowered their flag and surrendered to Perry, who was only twenty-seven years old.

Although Perry won the battle on the Niagara, he received the official British surrender on the deck of the Lawrence to allow the British to witness the terrible price his men had suffered. Perry sent a dispatch to General William Henry Harrison, recounting the details of the battle. In the dispatch, he wrote: 'Dear General: We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem. O.H. Perry.'_

*Battle of Lake Erie proved to be one of the most telling encounters of the War of 1812. The American victory secured control of the lake, forcing the British to abandon Fort Malden and retreat up the Thames River for Canada.*

_General Harrison's army clinched the naval victory by decisively defeating the small British army and its allied Indian force on October 5, 1813, at the Battle of the Thames. Later, after the Battle of Plattsburgh, British and American peace talks were initiated, which ensured that the states of Ohio and Michigan were to be forever United States property_."

_*Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History* _- Craig L. Symonds


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## raratt (Sep 10, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 11, 2022)

​


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## wascaptain (Sep 14, 2022)

did this years 911 climb in gator statium.

it was hot, it was brutal

in honor to all 343


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## wascaptain (Sep 14, 2022)

my view of the game.....
it was hot it was brutal...lol


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## BarnBuster (Sep 14, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​*On September 14, 1944, the U.S. 1st Marine Division lands on the island of Peleliu, one of the Palau Islands in the Pacific, as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who was preparing to invade the Philippines. The cost in American lives would prove historic.*

_The Palaus, part of the Caroline Islands, were among the mandated islands taken from Germany and given to Japan as one of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles at the close of World War I. The U.S. military lacked familiarity with the islands, and Adm. William Halsey argued against Operation Stalemate, which included the Army invasion of Morotai in the Dutch East Indies, believing that MacArthur would meet minimal resistance in the Philippines, therefore making this operation unnecessary, especially given the risks involved.

Peleliu was subject to pre-invasion bombardment, but it proved of little consequence. The Japanese defenders of the island were buried too deep in the jungle, and the target intelligence given the Americans was faulty. Upon landing, the Marines met little immediate resistance—but that was a ploy. Shortly thereafter, Japanese machine guns opened fire, knocking out more than two dozen landing craft. Japanese tanks and troops followed, as the startled 1st and 5th Marine regiments fought for their lives. Jungle caves disgorged even more Japanese soldiers. Within one week of the invasion, the Marines lost 4,000 men. By the time it was all over, that number would surpass 9,000. The Japanese lost more than 13,000 men. Flamethrowers and bombs finally subdued the island for the Americans—but it all proved pointless. MacArthur invaded the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection from either Peleliu or Morotai.

Whether or not the islands should have been taken is a matter that is still hotly contested by veterans and historians alike. Whatever the arguments, it must be remembered that:_

_General Douglas MacArthur's flank was secured for his return to the Philippines and the danger posed by airstrikes or troop reinforcements from the Palau Islands were removed._​​_Several thousand of the best Japanese troops had been eliminated and the remaining troops in the Western Carolines could be effectively contained with air and naval power from the bases on Peleliu and Angaur._​​_This operation served as an early indicator to the change in Japanese tactics that would be seen in other operations to come (such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa) and of what to expect in the planned invasion of the Japanese homeland (Operation Downfall)._​​_General Clifton B Cates, who after World War Two became Commandant of the US Marine Corps, suggested that Peleliu was one of the most vicious, stubbornly contested and least understood battles of the war - a significant appraisal coming from a veteran (wounded six times) of the battles for Belleau Wood and Soissons during the First World War and of Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima in the Second._​​_Major General Roy Geiger called Peleliu 'the toughest fight of the war". Harry Gailey exclaims, "in terms of heroism, every man who fought at Peleliu deserved the highest awards his country can bestow." Eugene Sledge wrote that it was a "nether world of horror from which escape seemed less and less likely as casualties mounted and the fighting dragged on and on. Time had no meaning; life had no meaning. The fierce struggle made savages of us all." Leon Uris states "the Marine battle for Peleliu was one of the most savage of the Second World War." Tom Bartlett (Managing Editor, Leatherneck) said "Peleliu . . . shows perhaps more than any other World War II invasion, the true mettle of the Marines and their devotion to each other, their units, and the Corps."_​





Peleliu, battle for (Operation Stalemate II) - The Pacific War's Forgotten Battle, September-November 1944


Operation Stalemate, the battle for Peleliu, one of the US Marine Corps' hardest battles of the Pacific War



www.historyofwar.org






https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/Hough_The%20Assault%20on%20Peleliu.pdf




https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA429028.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Sep 14, 2022)

​
_*On September 14, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner.” *The poem, originally titled “The Defence of Fort McHenry,” was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the “Star-Spangled Banner”: “And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”

Francis Scott Key was born on August 1, 1779, at Terra Rubra, his family’s estate in Frederick County (now Carroll County), Maryland. He became a successful lawyer in Maryland and Washington, D.C., and was later appointed U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore.

After one of Key’s friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. However, Key and Beanes weren’t allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed.

The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called “To Anacreon in Heaven” by composer John Stafford Smith. People began referring to the song as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931. Francis Scott Key died of pleurisy on January 11, 1843_ .










Star-Spangled Banner | Smithsonian Institution


The original Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the song that would become our national anthem, is among the most treasured artifacts in the collections of the Smi... Learn more




www.si.edu


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## BarnBuster (Sep 15, 2022)

Legendary Army Ranger, who fought in three wars, dies at 97


The soldier for whom the Army’s Best Ranger Competition is named passed away Sept. 11 at age 97.




www.armytimes.com





​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 15, 2022)

My God, look at the chest salad.
He has literally "Been there, Done that" many times over.
RIP


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## BarnBuster (Sep 16, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*On September 16, 2013, a 34-year-old man goes on a rampage at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., killing 12 people and wounding several others over the course of an hour before he is fatally shot by police.*_ Investigators later determined that the gunman, Aaron Alexis, a computer contractor for a private information technology firm, had acted alone.

Shortly after 8 a.m., Alexis used his security pass to enter Building 197 at the Navy Yard, a former shipyard, dating to the early 1800s, and weapons plant that now serves as an administrative center for the Navy. At approximately 8:16 a.m., Alexis, armed with a sawed-off Remington 870 shotgun and dressed in a short-sleeve polo shirt and pants, shot his first victim. Over the course of the next hour, he moved through the 630,000-square-foot, multi-level Building 197, the headquarters of the Naval Sea Systems Command, gunning down more victims and exchanging fire with law enforcement officials. Alexis was shot and killed by police at 9:25 a.m. The shooting spree caused officials to put part of Washington on lockdown due to initial suspicions that other gunmen might have been involved in the incident; however, by the end of the day, authorities determined that Alexis had acted alone.

A Navy reservist from 2007 to 2011, Alexis began work as a computer technician at the Navy Yard on September 9, 2013. Five days later, at a gun store in Virginia, he purchased the Remington 870 and ammunition used in the attack. Investigators found no evidence that any specific event triggered the deadly massacre, and they believed Alexis shot his victims at random. The shotgun he used (he also took a handgun from one of his victims) was etched with several phrases, including “Better off this way” and “My ELF weapon,” and the FBI announced there was a variety of evidence indicating Alexis was under the “delusional belief” he was being controlled by extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves. In August 2013, Alexis told police in Rhode Island, where he was working, that he was hearing voices. The private IT contracting firm employing Alexis took him off his assignment for a few days then let him back on the job; weeks later, he went to work at the Navy Yard.

The 12 men and women murdered during the September 16th rampage ranged in age from 46 to 73. They were memorialized by then-President Barack Obama at a September 22, 2013, ceremony in which he remembered them and also issued a call to tighten America’s gun laws. That call largely went unheeded, and the number of mass shootings in the U.S. has continued to rise._


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## BarnBuster (Sep 17, 2022)

Today In Military History:
​
*Beginning early on the morning of September 17 in 1862, Confederate and Union troops in the Civil War clash near Maryland's Antietam Creek in the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. *_The Battle of Antietam marked the culmination of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the Northern states. Guiding his Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River in early September 1862, the great general daringly divided his men, sending half of them under the command of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson to capture the Union garrison at Harper's Ferry.

President Abraham Lincoln put Major General George B. McClellan in charge of the Union troops responsible for defending Washington, D.C., against Lee's invasion. McClellan's Army of the Potomac clashed first with Lee's men on 14 September, with the Confederates forced to retreat after being blocked at the passes of South Mountain. Though Lee considered turning back toward Virginia, news of Jackson's capture of Harper's Ferry reached him on 15 September.

That victory convinced him to stay and make a stand near Sharpsburg, Maryland. Over the course of 15 and 16 September, the Confederate and Union armies gathered on opposite sides of Antietam Creek. On the Confederate side, Jackson commanded the left flank with General James Longstreet at the head of the centre and right. McClellan's strategy was to attack the enemy left, then the right, and finally, when either of those movements met with success, to move forward down the centre.

When fighting began in the foggy dawn hours of 17 September, this strategy broke down into a series of uncoordinated advances by Union soldiers under the command of Generals Joseph Hooker, Joseph Mansfield and Edwin Sumner.

Cannon fire opened the battle with puffs of white smoke rising from the tree line. As 500 artillery pieces firing over 50,000 rounds of ammunition thundered and raked their shot and shell across the rolling terrain and into the battle lines downing men of both sides, sounds of musketry too would crackle as disciplined soldiers stood in rank and file formations only to vanish as though a large and ominous sickle had just swept them from the field. The numerous ridges made excellent locations for cannon. The infantry of both sides made easy targets as they marched across low-lying, open fields nearby_

_[The single-shot, muzzle-loading musket dictated that infantry fight in closely formed, standing lines of battle to achieve effective concentration of fire. In spite of the revolution caused by the adoption of the rifle-musket, which increased the effective range of a regiment from seventy-five yards to well over 250 yards, the battles of 1861 and early 1862 were largely fought with the smoothbore muskets of earlier periods, and officers were trained to handle their men accordingly. Volley fire (necessitated by the inherent inaccuracy of the smoothbore musket) demanded strict attention to proper alignment of all segments of a military unit, lest a portion of the unit's fire fall harmlessly short. The combination of new rifles that could be shot with great accuracy from far away and old-fashioned battle lines led to unprecedented deaths in the Battle of Antietam (and in the Civil War in general). As in other Civil War battles, both sides in Antietam arranged their infantry shoulder-to-shoulder in two long parallel lines before marching into battle. This type of linear formation made sense in earlier years, when military weaponry consisted mostly of smoothbore muskets (which were accurate only at short range) and bayonets (which, likewise, could only be used at close range). But by the beginning of the Civil War, rifling—the use of helical grooves in the barrel of a weapon, which stabilize a bullet, leading to greater shooting accuracy—was widespread. Now soldiers could make an aimed shot from 100 yards away and shoot into an enemy line with hope of hitting someone from 400 yards away. Armed with rifled muskets, a defensive line could do serious damage when attackers attempted to charge.]_​
_Posted on the ridgelines, the cannoneers devastated the soldiers in the swales below them. The landscape and the heavy reliance on artillery by both sides made Antietam one of the most significant artillery battles in the Civil War. Cannonading during the battle had never been seen afore on the continent.

As savage and bloody combat continued for eight hours across the region, the Confederates were pushed back but not beaten, despite sustaining some 15,000 casualties. At the same time, Union General Ambrose Burnside opened an attack on the Confederate right, capturing the bridge that now bears his name around 1 p.m.

In a square of ground, centered on the cornfield, measuring about 1,000 yards on a side, *nearly 12,000 men from both sides lay dead or wounded*. The slaughter had taken four hours at most before it came to a sullen, exhausted halt. In all directions lay hundreds of dead horses, some of which had been partly burned, but the task of thus destroying them was evidently too great for the force detailed for that purpose and they had been left to the elements and the buzzards. Every house, barn and church was turned into a hospital. Dead men and horses lay unburied for days in the brutal September heat. Flies and maggots covered the living and dead in undulating masses, adding to the unsanitary conditions. The stench was unimaginable.

As night fell, thousands of bodies littered the sprawling Antietam battlefield and both sides regrouped and claimed their dead and wounded. Just twelve hours of intense and often close-range fighting with muskets and cannons had resulted in around 23,000 casualties, including an estimated 3,650 dead.

Civil War soldiers had a 7 to 1 chance of surviving a battle wound. Two-thirds of all the 364,000 soldiers in the Union army died of disease. Only one-third died from actual wounds sustained during the war. About 80 percent of the wounds soldiers received during the Civil War were in the soldier’s arms, hands, legs and feet. *Amputations had an approximately twenty-seven percent fatality rate.*

Burnside's break to reorganise his men allowed Confederate reinforcements to arrive, turning back the Union advance there as well. By the time the sun went down, both armies still held their ground, despite staggering combined casualties. McClellan's centre never moved forward, leaving a large number of Union troops that did not participate in the battle.

On the morning of 18 September, both sides gathered their wounded and buried their dead. That night, Lee turned his forces back to Virginia. The battle also gave President Abraham Lincoln the opportunity to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which, on January 1, 1863, declared all slaves in the Confederate states free.

*Twenty Union soldiers received Medals Of Honor for their gallantry on the Battle of Antietam. Eight of the twenty men were awarded the Medal for either capturing or saving flags.*_

(The criteria for issuance of the MOH during the Civil War were different than later years and Congress set down guidelines in 1918 to clear away any inconsistencies of the legislation which had grown around the Medal and to finalize rules for its award. 911 MOH’s were invalidated of the 2,625 that were issued during the US Civil War. Many of the Medal’s issuance’s were for picking up the fallen colors (Flag) and advancing toward the enemy. None of these Medals were invalidated as the Flag was an important and reverent rallying symbol for open field, charging troops. Sharpshooters on both sides targeted Standard Bearers before officers. see below, bb)​
_During the American Civil War, as in earlier conflicts, the flags of a combat unit (its "colors") held a special significance. They had a spiritual value; they embodied the very "soul" of the unit. Protecting a unit's flag from capture was paramount; losing one to the enemy was considered disgraceful . There were practical reasons for the flags as well, as the regimental flags marked the position of the unit during battle. The smoke and confusion of battle often scattered participants across the field. The flag served as a visual rallying point for soldiers and also marked the area where to attack the enemy. Carrying the colors for the regiment was the greatest honor for a soldier. Generally the flag bearers were selected or elected to their position by the men and officers of the unit. As one Union Colonel told his men, “the colors bear the same relation to the soldier as honesty and integrity do to manhood. It is the guiding star to victory. When in the smoke and din of battle the voice of the officer is drown by the roar of artillery, the true soldier turns his eye to the colors that he may not stray too far from it, and while it floats is conscious of his right and strength. Take it… guard it as you would the honor of the mother, wife or friend you left behind.”_









Battle Of Antietam


Facts About The Battle Of Antietam (a.k.a. Battle Of Sharpsburg) during the American Civil War Battle Of Antietam Summary: The Battle of Antietam, a.k.a.




www.historynet.com









Battle of Antietam Civil War Antietam Battle Casualties Army


Battle of Antietam Sharpsburg Maryland, Antietam Killed Wounded Deaths Casualties Battle of Antietam Fatalities Casualty Order Battlefield American Civil War Timeline Map Union Confederate Army Cannon



 thomaslegioncherokee.tripod.com





*Civil War Wounded*


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## BarnBuster (Sep 18, 2022)

9/11 Flag Story Page


Eder Flag




ederflag.com


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## BarnBuster (Sep 18, 2022)

Military heroes are invited to Queen's funeral


British military heroes who hold the Victoria Cross - including an RAF ace who sunk a German U-boat then landed his damaged plane while wounded - will be invited to the Queen's funeral on Monday.




www.dailymail.co.uk


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## BarnBuster (Sep 19, 2022)

_"An American Navy veteran captured in Afghanistan two years ago has been freed in exchange for an Afghan man who was imprisoned by the U.S., a senior Biden administration official said Monday."








Navy veteran abducted in Afghanistan swapped for convicted drug lord


An American Navy veteran captured in Afghanistan two years ago has been freed in exchange for an Afghan man who was imprisoned by the U.S., a senior Biden administration official said Monday.




www.stripes.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 19, 2022)

*A Clemson University ROTC cadet runs with a POW/MIA flag at the university in South Carolina, Sept. 15, 2022. Cadets ran in teams for one-hour shifts for 24 hours, and dedicated each shift to a prisoner of war or a service member still missing in action.



*
*National POW/MIA Recognition Day SEPTEMBER 15, 2022*​


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## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2022)

Tarawa Cemetery 11 - Memorial Grave - Missing Marines


Also known as "West Division Cemetery," this memorial cemetery on Betio embodies many of the challenges faced by Tarawa researchers.




missingmarines.com


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## BarnBuster (Sep 20, 2022)

Today In Military History:
__​
_*"The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between U.S. and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia*. It was the first major battle of the war fought in Georgia, the most significant Union defeat in the Western Theater and involved the second-highest number of casualties after the Battle of Gettysburg with nearly 35,000 total casualties. The casualties amounted to nearly 40% of both armies, a staggering number.

For the end of the Union line, it was a shattering defeat. The Confederate Army captured 8,000 men, 15,000 muskets, 51 cannons, and a huge amount of material. It was the greatest tactical victory of the Confederate army in the west and also the last major victory in the battlefield for the Confederacy in the entire war.

The battle was damaging to both sides in proportions roughly equal to the size of the armies: *Union losses were 16,170 (1,657 killed, 9,756 wounded, and 4,757 captured or missing), Confederate 18,454 (2,312 killed, 14,674 wounded, and 1,468 captured or missing).* They were the highest losses of any battle in the Western Theater during the war and, after Gettysburg, the second-highest of the war overall. Among the dead were Confederate generals Benjamin Hardin Helm (husband of Abraham Lincoln's sister-in-law), James Deshler, and Preston Smith, and Union general William H. Lytle. Confederate general John Bell Hood, who had already lost the use of his left arm from a wound at Gettysburg, was severely wounded with a bullet in his leg, requiring it to be amputated. Although the Confederates were technically the victors, driving Rosecrans from the field, Bragg had not achieved his objectives of destroying Rosecrans or of restoring Confederate control of East Tennessee, and the Confederate Army suffered casualties that they could ill afford."_

*'The Rough Side of War' The Civil War Journal of Chesley A. Mosman*​​"b_out 10am we halted to bury the bones of dead men who fell here Saturday evening September 19th, out of Hazen's Brigade. Papers near the bones of one showed that he was Harrison Emery of the 101st Ind. Regiment. I was surprised to find how well preserved the parts of the bodies covered by pantaloons were. The coats and shirts were generally open and did not protect the upper body as well. Some lay as they fell, others had been rooted and tossed about by the hogs and turned over. Heads were missing from some. The chests seem to have decayed very fast. It is just two months and eleven days since the battle and the scene is awful. The Rebels may have intended to bury them but they certainly did not._​​_Along the road, close to a house where apparently a stand had been made there was about 100 corpses that had had earth thrown upon them from the knees to the chin, leaving heads and feet exposed. It was a shockingly cruel sight. Many died of their wounds, unattended and uncared for. A woman nearby told me that "but for the meanness all would have been buried." Whose meanness do you mean, I asked. "Gen. Bragg," she answered, "The citizens wanted to bury them but he would not allow it."_​​_Cartridge boxes, belts, cups, tins, haversacks and other debris covered the ground. We have not seen the field of the heaviest fighting yet. It is to our rear. The 9th Ind. boys found the ground over which they fought and the grave of a lieutenant of the Regiment names S.B Parks. They had left an envelope on him with his name, Company and REgiment on it, and the envelope was still on the grave. The Rebels had buried him and built a tall pen over his grave. A tree near the ground the 9th fought on has the names of two of the 10th and one of the 19th South Carolina cut upon it. Their graves were near its foot and also of Lockhard and Lindsay of the 24th Ala.There were many graves of members of the 32nd, 18th and other Tennessee Regiments that fought Grose's Brigade. Men not on duty play chuck-a-luck while details bury the dead."_​








Battle of Chickamauga - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org












Battle of Chickamauga Facts, APUSH, Civil War, 1863


Facts, details, and statistics about the Civil War Battle of Chickamauga for kids and students doing homework, social studies, and APUSH.



www.americanhistorycentral.com








__





Death and Dying--Civil War Era National Cemeteries: Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary






www.nps.gov












Battle of Chickamauga: Death in the Deep Woods


In the deep woods of Chickamauga Creek, wary Union and Confederate soldiers thrashed the the under brush seeking a confrontation to the death.




warfarehistorynetwork.com


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## BarnBuster (Sep 22, 2022)

Today in Military History:



*In New York City on September 22, 1776, Nathan Hale, a Connecticut schoolteacher and captain in the Continental Army, is executed by the British for spying.*

_A graduate of Yale University, Hale joined a Connecticut regiment in 1775 and served in the successful siege of British-occupied Boston. On September 10, 1776, he volunteered to cross behind British lines on Long Island to spy on the British in preparation for the Battle of Harlem Heights.

Disguised as a Dutch schoolmaster, the Yale-educated Hale slipped behind British lines on Long Island and successfully gathered information about British troop movements for the next several weeks. While Hale was behind enemy lines, the British invaded the island of Manhattan; they took control of the city on September 15, 1776. When the city was set on fire on September 20, British soldiers were told to look out for sympathizers to the Patriot cause. The following evening, September 21, Hale was captured while sailing Long Island Sound, trying to cross back into American-controlled territory. Although rumors surfaced that Hale was betrayed by his first cousin and British Loyalist Samuel Hale, the exact circumstances of Hale’s capture have never been discovered.

Hale was interrogated by British General William Howe and, when it was discovered that he was carrying incriminating documents, General Howe ordered his execution for spying, which was set for the following morning. *After being led to the gallows, legend holds that the 21-year-old Hale said, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.” There is no historical record to prove that Hale actually made this statement, but, if he did, he may have been inspired by these lines in English author Joseph Addison’s 1713 play Cato: “What a pity it is/That we can die but once to serve our country.”*

In the diary entry of one of the British officers made on the day of Hale’s execution, it was said: “He behaved with great composure and resolution, saying he thought it the duty of every good Officer, to obey any orders given him by his Commander-in-Chief; and desired the Spectators to be at all times prepared to meet death in whatever shape it might appear.”









A Time for Heroes: The Story of Nathan Hale


This short biography outlines Nathan Hale's life and examines the myths and facts surrounding his remarkable story and his famous last words. He is representative




www.varsitytutors.com




_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 23, 2022)

Today in Military History:






_During the American Revolution, the U.S. ship Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, wins a hard-fought engagement against the British ships of war Serapis and Countess of Scarborough, off the eastern coast of England.

Scottish-born John Paul Jones first sailed to America as a cabin boy and lived for a time in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where his brother had a business. He later served on slave and merchant ships and proved an able seaman. After he killed a fellow sailor while suppressing a mutiny, he returned to the American colonies to escape possible British prosecution. With the outbreak of the American Revolution in 1775, he traveled to Philadelphia and was commissioned a senior lieutenant in the new Continental Navy. He soon distinguished himself in actions against British ships in the Bahamas, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel.

In August 1779, Jones took command of the Bonhomme Richard and sailed around the British Isles. *On September 23, 1779, the Bonhomme Richard engaged the Serapis and the smaller Countess of Scarborough, which were escorting the Baltic merchant fleet. After inflicting considerable damage to the Bonhomme Richard, Richard Pearson, the captain of the Serapis, asked Jones if he had struck his colors, the naval signal indicating surrender. From his disabled ship, Jones replied, “Sir, I have not yet begun to fight,” and after three more hours of furious fighting it was the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough that surrendered.* After the victory, the Americans transferred to the Serapis from the Bonhomme Richard, which sank the following day.

Though Bonhomme Richard sank after the battle, the battle's outcome was one of the factors that convinced the French crown to back the colonies in their fight to become independent of British authority. Bonhomme Richard's final resting location was the subject of much speculation. A number of unsuccessful efforts had been conducted to locate the wreck. The location was presumed to be in approximately 180 feet (55 m) of water off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, a headland near where her final battle took place. The quantity of other wrecks in the area and a century of fishing trawler operations had complicated all searches. In 2018 remains, possibly those of the Bonhomme Richard, were found in shallow water very close to the coast of Filey, North Yorkshire, England, by the Land and Sea search team Merlin Burrows. However, the location of this wreck does not corroborate with multiple eyewitness accounts from observers on land, who noted that on the morning of September 25, 1779, the Bonhomme Richard disappeared out of sight over the horizon.

Jones was hailed as a great hero in France, but recognition in the United States was somewhat belated. He continued to serve the United States until 1787 and then served briefly in the Russian navy before moving to France, where he died in 1792 amidst the chaos of the French Revolution. He was buried in an unmarked grave. In 1905, his remains were located under the direction of the U.S. ambassador to France and then escorted back to the United States by U.S. warships. His body was later enshrined in a crypt at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland._ 





__





SO482A--Battle of Flamborough Head






www.usna.edu


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## bam0813 (Sep 23, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 26, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_*This day in history, September 26, 1945, Lt. Col. Peter Dewey, a U.S. Army officer with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in Vietnam, is shot and killed in Saigon. While it may have been another decade before the US was “officially” involved in Vietnam, Dewey was really the first of the more than 58,000 troops who paid the ultimate price there.*

Once World War II broke out in Europe in May 1940, during the Battle of France, Dewey was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Polish Military Ambulance Corps with the Polish Army fighting in France. Following the defeat of the French army, Dewey escaped through Spain to Portugal. Upon return to the United States, Dewey was selected for OSS.

Dewey parachuted into Southern France in August of 1944 and radioed reports of German troop movements behind enemy lines for six weeks as part of a ten-man OSS "Jedburgh" team. OSS operatives were the forerunners of the US Army Special Forces and CIA.

For his actions in France, General William “Wild Bill” Donovan personally awarded him the Legion of Merit while the French gave him the Legion of Honor and a second Croix de Guerre.

Dewey was then shipped to Saigon in September of 1945 to command a seven-man OSS team “to represent American interests” and collect intelligence. Working with and sympathetic to the Viet Minh and Ho Chi Minh, whom he considered a freedom fighter, during an operation code named Project Embankment, *he arranged the repatriation of 4,549 Allied POWs, including 240 Americans, from two Japanese camps near Saigon. Dewey freed the Americans from two Japanese camps in Saigon. The majority of them had been held in Burma for most of the war and employed, as slave labor building a railroad line that was to cross the Kwai River, later made famous by the movie Bridge On The River Kwai.*

Camp Poet in Saigon held five POWs, and Camp 5-E, just outside of Saigon, contained 209. Of these, 120 were from the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery of the 36th Division, a National Guard anti-aircraft outfit from Texas that had landed in Java by mistake and had been captured intact. These POWs would later become known as the “Lost Battalion.” Among the other POWs, 86 were survivors of the cruiser Houston, sunk on the night of 29 February 1942 off the coast of Java. Their fate was also unknown until Dewey liberated them. The other eight were airmen shot down over Indochina.

Because the British occupation forces who had arrived to accept the Japanese surrender were short of troops, they armed French POWs on September 22 to protect the city from a potential Viet Minh attack. The French were wanting to re-establish colonial rule in Vietnam, something the Viet Minh were adamantly against and considered themselves the rightful government.

In taking control of the city, the 1400 freed French soldiers quickly ousted the Viet Minh who had just taken power. The British commander, General Douglas Gracey, was firmly against the Viet Minh and only too happy to assist the French in their quest to re-establish their colonial rule.

He established two distinct zones under his authority, the French and the English, and he flew in 300 Gurkha troops to keep control. Dewey who was quite outspoken, and blasted Gracey for his subjecting the Viet Minh to the French again. Eventually, Gracey took exception to Dewey’s objections and declared him persona non grata.

As with military tradition, Gracey prohibited anyone but general officers from flying their nations’ flags from their vehicles. Dewey had wanted to fly an American flag for easy identification among the Viet Minh, who Dewey claimed were only concerned about attacking the French. The jeep he rode in prior to his death had a flag wrapped around a pole that was unidentifiable.

Because the airplane scheduled to fly Dewey out did not arrive on time at Tan Son Nhut International Airport, he returned for a lunch meeting with war correspondents Bill Downs and Jim McGlincy at the villa that OSS had requisitioned in Saigon as well as visit an American who was wounded by Viet Minh soldiers who ironically enough mistook him for a Frenchman. As he neared the villa, he was shot in the head in an ambush by Viet Minh troops. Dewey’s jeep overturned, and Dewey’s subordinate, Captain Herbert Bluechel, escaped, pursued by Viet Minh soldiers. Bluechel informed OSS HQs of the tragedy. “We were returning to the O.S.S. hostel when we passed through a partial double roadblock. As we drive through, Annamese (Vietnamese) in a ditch beside the road opened with a machine gun not ten yards away. The charge caught Peter in the head.”

“The jeep overturned in the ditch. I saw Peter was dead and I couldn’t help him, so I crawled from under the jeep. While the Annamese still were firing, I crawled along a hedge for 150 yards, firing my .45 back at them, slowing them down. When I reached the house I alerted the other offices and we broke out the arsenal. The Annamese besieged the house for about three hours until British Gurkha troops arrived. The natives had cut our telephone wires and I had to radio O.S.S. headquarters in Kandy, Ceylon, who radioed the British in Saigon to send help.”

The Viet Minh afterward claimed that their troops mistook him for a Frenchman after he had spoken to them in French. Bluechel later recalled that Dewey had shaken his fist and yelled insults for some reason at three Vietnamese soldiers in French while driving back to headquarters.

According to Vietnamese historian Trần Văn Giàu, Dewey’s body was dumped in a nearby river and was never recovered. But other reports had Viet Minh troops dumping his body in a well and then burying it elsewhere in a small village after it was learned that he was an American. Reportedly, Ho Chi Minh sent a letter of condolence about Dewey’s death to U.S. President Harry S. Truman while also ordering a search for the colonel’s body. Ho also offered the large sum of 5000 piasters for the return of the Major’s body.

*Dewey is not listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. *because the United States Department of Defense has ruled that the war officially started, from a U.S. perspective, on November 1, 1955, after the U.S. took over following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu_


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## BarnBuster (Sep 26, 2022)

​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Sep 26, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Sep 26, 2022)

Today in Military History:

__​_In the U.S. Coast Guard’s illustrious 227-year history, only one of its members has ever been recognized with the Medal of Honor. Signalman First Class Douglas Munro earned the decoration in September 1942 at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.

*On September 27, 1942, Munro was in charge of a group of small boats that were used to drop about 500 Marines at a beachhead known as Point Cruz, by the Matanikau River.* The plan was for the Marines to drive the Japanese from the area west of the river and establish an inland patrol base.

When Munro’s boats returned to their rallying point after the dropoff, they were told that the conditions where the Marines had been left were much worse than anticipated – they were under attack from a huge Japanese force and needed to be extracted immediately.

Munro quickly volunteered for the job and devised a way to evacuate the battalion. If his crew didn’t save them, the men would surely be slaughtered.

Despite heavy fire from machine guns on the island, Munro directed five of his small craft toward the shore to pick up the Marines who had made it back to the beach. As they closed in, he signaled the other boats to land. They were able to collect up most of the Marines, but some were struggling. In an effort to block them from enemy fire, Munro moved his own boat as a shield between the beachhead and the other boats.

His actions helped the crew of the other boats evacuate the last of the stranded Marines, but it cost Munro his life. He was hit by enemy fire and killed. According to fellow signalman Ray Evans, who enlisted with Munro and was on the boat with him when he died, Munro’s last words were, “Did they get off?” referring to the last of the Marines.

Colonel Lewis Puller, the Marine officer who had ordered the attack in which Munro perished, nominated the Coast Guardsman for the Medal of Honor. Puller himself was one of several hundred Marines from 1/7 evacuated. The nomination was endorsed by Admiral William Halsey Jr., and President Franklin Roosevelt approved the decoration on or about May 1, 1943. The medal was presented to Munro's parents on May 24 by Roosevelt in a White House ceremony

Munro saved hundreds of men who would have otherwise surely died. For his leadership, planning and devotion to the cause, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in May 1943, as well as the Purple Heart.

One poignant note in his story involves Munro’s mother Edith. After his death, she sought to join the Coast Guard female auxiliary, the SPARS (Semper Paratus, Always Ready). Though the Coast Guard initially was reluctant to have a Gold Star mother serve, she was persistent. When commissioned as an officer, she insisted on going through basic training. Though at 48 she was twice the age of her fellow recruits, she successfully completed the training and was the first female officer on a Coast Guard district staff.

Munro's remains were recovered from Guadalcanal in 1947 and were reinterred at Laurel Hill Memorial Park in Cle Elum in 1948, his family having declined a full military burial at the Arlington National Cemetery. In 1954, the City of Cle Elum expanded Munro's gravesite with the installation of two decommissioned Mk22 naval deck guns to either side of the tombstone. Munro's parents were later buried on either side of their son's grave at Laurel Hill. The entire site has since been added to the Washington Heritage Register as the Douglas Munro Burial Site

Munro’s Medal of Honor is on display at the Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, not far from a memorial that’s dedicated to him. The Coast Guard has named two cutters for Munro, too. The most recent, the Coast Guard National Security Cutter Munro, was commissioned in April. The Navy also named a ship in his honor – a destroyer escort that served in World War II and the Korean War._




*The Citation*​For extraordinary heroism and conspicuous gallantry in action above and beyond the call of duty as Petty Officer in Charge of a group of 24 Higgins boats, engaged in the evacuation of a battalion of Marines trapped by enemy Japanese forces at Point Cruz Guadalcanal, on 27 September 1942. After making preliminary plans for the evacuation of nearly 500 beleaguered Marines, Munro, under constant strafing by enemy machine guns on the island, and at great risk of his life, daringly led 5 of his small craft toward the shore. As he closed the beach, he signaled the others to land, and then in order to draw the enemy's fire and protect the heavily loaded boats, he valiantly placed his craft with its 2 small guns as a shield between the beachhead and the Japanese. When the perilous task of evacuation was nearly completed, Munro was instantly killed by enemy fire, but his crew, 2 of whom were wounded, carried on until the last boat had loaded and cleared the beach. By his outstanding leadership, expert planning, and dauntless devotion to duty, he and his courageous comrades undoubtedly saved the lives of many who otherwise would have perished. He gallantly gave his life for his country.​


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## BarnBuster (Sep 27, 2022)

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ships/uss-jacob-jones.html?chrome=1


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## wascaptain (Sep 27, 2022)

this is our newest park. it was a 100 arce horse farm that was donated to the city for this purpose.

got a nice play ground for the kids and a 2 mile paved running/walking track. dog park and what i think is the nicest of all......

a veterns memorial, even got a space force flag.. the best part its right next to my gym, no more 1/4 mile circles to run


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## BarnBuster (Sep 27, 2022)

This Is What The B-52 Will Look Like With Its New Rolls-Royce Engines


Boeing's video marked the completion of wind tunnel testing with the new nacelles, which will house Rolls-Royce F130 engines.




www.thedrive.com


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## BarnBuster (Sep 29, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*On Sept. 29, 1864, during the Battle of New Market Heights* (part of the larger Battle of Chaffin’s Farm) near Richmond, several regiments of United States Colored Troops launched an assault on a well-fortified Southern position at the gates of the Confederate capital. 

Northern newspapers touted the Union’s win at Chaffin’s Farm as “highly encouraging,” but they suffered an estimated 3,300 casualties. Although African-Americans represented a small proportion of Union forces in the battle, USCT losses made up 43 percent of the casualties. The 6th U.S. Colored Infantry lost 87 percent of its men.

Because of this action, _*14 black soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest decoration for acts of valor in combat. These men represent the largest group of African-Americans from a single battle to be so recognized.*









The Battle of Chaffin’s Farm: September 29-30, 1864


Name: The Battle of Chaffin's Farm (and New Market Heights) Other Names: Combats at New Market Heights, Forts Harrison, Johnson, and Gilmer; Laurel Hill L




www.beyondthecrater.com












Fourteen black soldiers received the Medal of Honor for feats of valor at Chaffin’s Farm on the outskirts of Richmond, Va.


By William E. Welsh Union soldiers streamed across the pontoon bridge at Deep Bottom on the tidal portion of the James River in the early morning hours of September 29, 1864. Among the troops that tramped north towards the Confederate position at New Market Heights on the Chaffin Farm east of...




warfarehistorynetwork.com












Covered With Glory: The African American Heroes of New Market Heights


Fourteen African American soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions during the Sept. 29, 1864 Battle of New Market Heights. These men represent...




www.battlefields.org












September 29-30, 1864: The Battle of New Market Heights and the Contributions of the United States Colored Troops


On September 29, 1864, Black soldiers serving in the U.S. Colored Troops (USCTs) led an assault against Confederate defenses protecting Richmond during the Battle of New Market Heights. New Market …




blog.fold3.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 1, 2022)

Thousands of National Guardsmen help in Florida after Hurricane Ian


National Guard members from several states are helping Florida communities devastated by Hurricane Ian.




www.militarytimes.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 1, 2022)

_"this brief study provides evidence that group-based archaeology programmes for military personnel may lead to a positive and sustained improvement in their psychological wellbeing. Whilst the improvements identified were not clinically significant, they may form the basis of preparatory work for formal psychological therapy." _









How digging up the past is helping US military veterans build a future | CNN


For many armed forces veterans, the return to civilian life can be a challenge. But one organization is taking an unusual approach to helping ex-service personnel find their feet -- involving them in archaeological projects to bring home the remains of fallen soldiers.




www.cnn.com












The legacy of Mars: battlefield archaeology and improved military wellbeing


Engaging on challenging duties, and returning to civilian life, are part of a routine military life both of which may negatively impact on their wellbeing. Numerous initiatives exist which aim to s...



www.tandfonline.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 3, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*The Battle of Kamdesh took place during the war in Afghanistan. It occurred on October 3, 2009, when a force of 300 Taliban assaulted the American Combat Outpost ("COP") Keating near the town of Kamdesh in Nuristan Province in eastern Afghanistan*_. The attack was the bloodiest battle for US forces since the Battle of Wanat in July 2008, which occurred 20 miles (32 km) away from Kamdesh. The attack on COP Keating resulted in 8 Americans killed and 27 wounded while the Taliban suffered an estimated 150 killed.

As a result of the battle, COP Keating was partially overrun and nearly destroyed. Observation Post Fritsche was attacked simultaneously, limiting available support from that position. The Coalition forces withdrew from the base shortly after the battle. A deliberate withdrawal had been planned some time before the battle began, and the closing was part of a wider effort by the top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, to cede remote outposts and consolidate troops in more populated areas to better protect Afghan civilians. The Americans "declared the outpost closed and departed—so quickly that they did not carry out all of their stored ammunition. The outpost's depot was promptly looted by the insurgents and bombed by American planes in an effort to destroy the lethal munitions left behind."

27 soldiers were awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat. 37 soldiers were awarded the Army Commendation Medal with "V" device for valor. 3 soldiers were awarded the Bronze Star Medal, and 18 others the Bronze Star Medal with "V" device for valor. Nine soldiers were awarded the Silver Star for valor. Staff Sgt. Justin Gallegos' Silver Star was later upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross. 1st Lt. Andrew Bundermann's Silver Star was upgraded to a Distinguished Service Cross as well.

The flight crews of three United States Army AH-64D Apache helicopters were later decorated for actions during the battle. *Captain Matthew Kaplan, CW3 Ross Lewallen, CW3 Randy Huff, CW2 Gary Wingert, CW2 Chad Bardwell, and CW2 Chris Wright were awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for conducting close combat attacks on the Taliban during the battle. Capt. Michael Polidor and Capt. Aaron Dove, pilot and weapon systems officer of one of the F-15E aircraft coordinating close air support, were also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.

On 11 February 2013, President Barack Obama presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Clinton Romesha, a survivor of the battle. He became the fourth surviving soldier from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to be awarded the Medal of Honor due to courageous actions during the battle.*_

_*Staff Sergeant Ty Carter (then Specialist) was also awarded the Medal of Honor for his courage during the battle. He was awarded the medal on 26 August 2013.*

Following the battle, the U.S. Central Command conducted an investigation on what had occurred, led by US Army General Guy Swan. The report, released to the public in June 2011, concluded "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command" facilitated the attack, but praised the troops fighting at the base for repulsing the attack "with conspicuous gallantry, courage and bravery." Four U.S. Army officers—Captain Melvin Porter, Captain Stoney Portis, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Brown, and Colonel Randy George—who oversaw COP Keating were admonished or reprimanded for command failures._

*Battle at COP Keating and OP Fritsche*








The Battle of COP Keating - National Medal of Honor Museum


On the morning of October 3, 2009, members of the U.S. Army’s Black Knight Troop (3-61 Cav, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division) were attacked at their base – Combat Outpost Keating – by more than 300 well-armed Taliban soldiers. Located deep within Afghanistan’s remote and...




mohmuseum.org












Camp Keating Officers Disciplined for Attack That Killed 8 U.S. Troops


Commanders of Camp Keating are disciplined for not taking proper measures that led to deaths of eight U.S. soldiers and the wounding of 22 others in a Taliban attack.




abcnews.go.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 3, 2022)

__​_
On 22 August, Task Force Ranger, consisting of one company of Rangers from 3/75, a special forces unit, and a deployment package of the 160th SOAR (A), was ordered to deploy to Mogadishu, Somalia. They departed on 26 August.

The mission of the 160th SOAR (A) as defined by the task force commander was: “When directed, [to] deploy to Mogadishu, Somalia; [to] conduct operations to capture General Aideed and/or designated others. The aviation task force must be prepared to conduct two primary courses of action: moving convoy and strong point assault. . . . Success is defined as the live capture of General Aideed and designated individuals and recovery to the designated transload point; safely and without fratricide.”

In Mogadishu the task force occupied an old hangar and old construction trailers under primitive conditions. During the month of September, the force conducted several successful missions to arrest Aideed sympathizers and to confiscate arms caches. The aircraft also made frequent flights over the city to desensitize the public to the presence of military aircraft and to familiarize themselves with the narrow streets and alleys of the city.

*On the afternoon of 3 October 1993, informed that two leaders of Aideed’s clan were at a residence in central Mogadishu, the task force sent 19 aircraft, 12 vehicles, and 160 men to arrest them.*

During the mission, one of the Rangers fast-roping from an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, missed the rope and fell 70 feet to the street below, badly injuring himself.

The two leaders were quickly arrested, and the prisoners and the injured Ranger were loaded on a convoy of ground vehicles. Armed Somalis were converging on the target area from all over the city.

In the meantime, another MH-60, call sign Super 61 and piloted by CW4 Clifton P. Wolcott and CW3 Donovan Briley, was flying low over the street a few blocks from the target area, and was struck from behind by an rocket propelled grenade (RPG). The MH-60 crashed to the street below.

The convoy and the Somali crowds immediately headed for the crash site. An MH-6 Little Bird, call sign Star 41, piloted by CW4 Keith Jones and CW3 Karl Maier, landed in the street next to the downed MH-60 and attempted to evacuate the casualties. Both Wolcott and Briley had been killed in the crash. Jones went to assist survivors, successfully pulling two soldiers into the Little Bird, while Maier laid down suppressive fire from the cockpit with his individual weapon.

Under intense ground fire, the MH-6 departed with its crew and survivors. In the meantime, Blackhawk Super 64, with pilot CW3 Michael Durant, copilot CW4 Raymond Frank, and crewmembers SSG William Cleveland and SSG Thomas Field, moved in to take Super 61’s place in the formation.

As Super 64 circled over the target area, an RPG suddenly struck it. The Blackhawk’s tail rotor was severely damaged, and the air mission commander ordered it back to the airfield. En route to the airfield, the tail rotor and much of the rear assembly fell off, and the helicopter pitched forward and crashed.

Meanwhile the ground convoy had lost its way, and rescue forces were already overtaxed at the site of the first Blackhawk crash. As armed Somalis rushed toward the Super 64 crash site, the crew’s only hope came from SFC Randall Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon aboard the covering Blackhawk, Super 62, who volunteered to jump in and protect the crew of the downed helicopter. They would ultimately sacrifice their lives for their downed comrades. Durant and Frank had both suffered broken legs in the crash, and both of the crew chiefs were severely wounded.

A large crowd of Somalis, organized by the local militia, surrounded the crew and their rescuers and engaged in a fierce firefight, killing all but Durant. Then, they rushed the downed pilot, severely beating him and taking him prisoner. Meanwhile another Blackhawk carrying a rescue team arrived over the crash site of Super 61 and the 15-man team fast-roped to the ground.

They found both Wolcott and Briley already dead, but crew chiefs Staff Sgt. Ray Dowdy and Staff Sgt. Charlie Warren were still alive in the wreckage. It took hours to pry Wolcott’s body from the wreckage. In the meantime, the soldiers set up a perimeter to protect against attack from Somali militia and armed civilians and awaited the arrival of a convoy from the 10th Mountain Division to rescue them.

The militia had taken Mike Durant captive, planning to trade him for Somali prisoners. But before they could get him back to their village, they were intercepted by local bandits, who took Durant, intending to use him for ransom. He was taken back to a house where he was held, interrogated, and videotaped. Later, after Aideed paid his ransom, Durant was moved to the apartment of Aideed’s propaganda minister.

After five days, he was visited by a representative of the International Red Cross and interviewed by British and French journalists. Finally, after ten days, with the intervention of former U.S. Ambassador to Somalia Robert Oakley, he was released and flew home to a hero’s welcome. The mission was over.

The 160th SOAR (A) had been involved in the fiercest battle since the Vietnam War. It had lost two MH-60 aircraft with two more severely damaged, suffered eight wounded and five killed in action, and had had one of its pilots taken captive. Despite the public perception that this was a failed mission, Task Force Ranger did take into custody and delivered the two leaders from Aideed’s clan, resulting in mission accomplishment. President Clinton expressed sorrow at the deaths of American soldiers in Somalia, but reaffirmed those U.S. forces would stay in the African nation.
_
*That 2-day action resulted in awards of 2 Medals of Honor (both posthumously), 1 Air Force Cross, and at least three dozen Silver Stars including awards to 2 Air Force personnel, 5 Navy Seals, and two dozen or more Army soldiers, pilots, Rangers, and Delta Force members.*

*








Battle of Mogadishu


From an NCO perspective, the Battle of Mogadishu presents how leaders must be proactive in planning and following mission command principles. This helps leaders make sound decisions appropriate to the situation and prepares them for the challenges ahead.



www.armyupress.army.mil












Battle of Mogadishu (1993) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org







https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA366316.pdf


*


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## FirstCavApache64 (Oct 3, 2022)

A guy I served with was with 10th Mountain Division over there when all that happened. It was a shit show of epic proportions. The heroism shown by individuals that day is mind boggling. I know a couple guys from the 160th too, they're a crazy bunch. We did a joint operation with them down in Mexico and got to hang out a lot as we didn't have much to do. Pilots are a wild bunch, but SOAR pilots are a special breed lol


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## BarnBuster (Oct 6, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*Yom Kippur War, also called the October War, the Ramadan War, the Arab-Israeli war of October 1973, or the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, fourth of the Arab-Israeli wars, which was initiated by Egypt and Syria on October 6, 1973, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur*_. It also occurred during Ramadan, the sacred month of fasting in Islam, and it lasted until October 26, 1973. The war, which eventually drew both the United States and the Soviet Union into indirect confrontation in defense of their respective allies, was launched with the diplomatic aim of persuading a chastened—if still undefeated—Israel to negotiate on terms more favourable to the Arab countries.

The Six-Day War (1967), the previous Arab-Israeli war, in which Israel had captured and occupied Arab territories including the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights, was followed by years of sporadic fighting. Anwar Sadat, who became Egypt’s president shortly after the War of Attrition (1969–70) ended, made overtures to reach a peaceful settlement if, in accordance with United Nations Resolution 242, Israel would return the territories it had captured. Israel rejected those terms, and the fighting developed into a full-scale war in 1973.

On the afternoon of October 6 Egypt and Syria attacked Israel simultaneously on two fronts. With the element of surprise to their advantage, Egyptian forces successfully crossed the Suez Canal with greater ease than expected, suffering only a fraction of the anticipated casualties, while Syrian forces were able to launch their offensive against Israeli positions and break through to the Golan Heights. The intensity of the Egyptian and Syrian assaults, so unlike the situation in 1967, rapidly began to exhaust Israel’s reserve stocks of munitions. Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir turned to the United States for aid, while the Israeli general staff hastily improvised a battle strategy. The reluctance of the United States to help Israel changed rapidly when the Soviet Union commenced its own resupply effort to Egypt and Syria. U.S. Pres. Richard Nixon countered by establishing an emergency supply line to Israel, even though the Arab countries imposed a costly oil embargo and various U.S. allies refused to facilitate the arms shipments.

With reinforcements on the way, the Israel Defense Forces rapidly turned the tide. Israel succeeded in disabling portions of the Egyptian air defenses, which allowed Israeli forces commanded by Gen. Ariel Sharon to cross the Suez Canal and surround the Egyptian Third Army. On the Golan front, Israeli troops, at heavy cost, repulsed the Syrians and advanced to the edge of the Golan plateau on the road to Damascus. On October 22 the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 338, which called for an immediate end to the fighting; despite this, however, hostilities continued for several days thereafter, prompting the UN to reiterate the call for a cease-fire with Resolutions 339 and 340. With international pressure mounting, the war finally ceased on October 26. Israel signed a formal cease-fire agreement with Egypt on November 11 and with Syria on May 31, 1974.

The war did not immediately alter the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but it did have a significant impact on the trajectory of an eventual peace process between Egypt and Israel, which culminated in the return of the entire Sinai Peninsula to Egypt in exchange for lasting peace. The war proved costly for Israel, Egypt, and Syria, having caused significant casualties and having disabled or destroyed large quantities of military equipment. Furthermore, although Israel had staved off any advance by Egypt to recapture the Sinai Peninsula during the war, it never restored its seemingly impenetrable fortifications along the Suez Canal that Egypt had destroyed on October 6. The results of the conflict thus required the two countries to coordinate arrangements for disengagement in the short term and made more immediate the need for a negotiated permanent settlement to their ongoing disputes.

In an effort to maintain the cease-fire between Israel and Egypt, a disengagement agreement signed on January 18, 1974, provided for Israel to withdraw its forces into the Sinai west of the Mitla and Gidi passes and for Egypt to reduce the size of its forces on the east bank of the canal. A United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force established a buffer zone between the two armies. The Israel-Egypt agreement was supplemented by another, signed on September 4, 1975, that included an additional withdrawal of forces and the expansion of the UN buffer zone. On March 26, 1979, Israel and Egypt made history by signing a permanent peace agreement that led to Israel’s full withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula and to the normalization of ties between the two countries.









The October Arab-Israeli War of 1973: What happened?


Forty-five years since the October war in 1973, Israel still occupies Palestinian territories and Syrian Golan Heights.




www.aljazeera.com









Background & Overview - Yom Kippur War


Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism.




www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org




_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 7, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_*"On October 7, 1943, Rear Adm. Shigematsu Sakaibara, commander of the Japanese garrison on the island, orders the execution of 96 Americans POWs, claiming they were trying to make radio contact with U.S. forces.*

In late December 1941, the Japanese reinforced existing forces on Wake Island, part of a coral atoll west of Hawaii, in massive numbers after being unable to wrest the island from a small number of Americans troops earlier in the month. The Japanese strength was now overwhelming, and most of those Americans left alive after the battle were taken by the Japanese off the island to POW camps elsewhere. Ninety-six (?,bb) remained behind to be used as forced labor. The Allied response was periodic bombing of the island—but no more land invasions, as part of a larger Allied strategy to leave certain Japanese-occupied islands in the South Pacific to basically starve in isolation.

The execution of those remaining American POWs, who were blindfolded and shot in cold blood, remains one of the more brutal episodes of the War.

Sakaibara had the 98 prisoners machine-gunned en masse on the beach. One of them managed to survive and escape the slaughter, but was recaptured shortly after, and is supposed to have been personally beheaded by the admiral. It’s said that unidentified man carved a (misdated) testimony to the crime on a nearby coral rock known as “98 Rock”: “98 US PW 5-10-43”.

Although the Japanese had hastily exhumed the murdered POWs and reburied them in a cemetery as the end of the war approached, the cover story on the “Wake Island Massacre” soon cracked.

After the war, Sakaibara was taken into custody by the American occupation authorities, extradited to Guam, and sentenced to death by a military tribunal for war crimes in connection with his actions on Wake Island. *He was hanged on June 18, 1947.* Until the end, he maintained, "I think my trial was entirely unfair and the proceeding unfair, and the sentence too harsh, but I obey with pleasure."_ 



https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/battle-of-wake-island-japanese-atrocities.html?chrome=1


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## BarnBuster (Oct 7, 2022)

*Florida Army National Guardsmen help residents evacuate Pine Island, Fla., Sept. 30, 2022. Guardsmen assisted state and local partners with Hurricane Ian relief. Photo By: Army Sgt. 1st Class Trinity Bierley*


*A National Guard soldier delivers aid to residents of Englewood, Fla., during relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Oct. 5, 2022. Englewood is located in Charlotte County, one of the areas most heavily impacted by the hurricane. Photo By: Army Spc. Christian Wilson*​


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## BarnBuster (Oct 7, 2022)

Today in British Military History:
​
*The Battle of Loos took place from September 25 and ended on October 8, 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas*_ and the first mass engagement of New Army units. 142 tons of chlorine gas was released with mixed results; in places the gas was blown back onto British trenches, while in others it caused the Germans considerable difficulty. Due to the inefficiency of contemporary gas masks, many soldiers removed them as they could not see through the fogged-up eyepieces or could barely breathe with them on, which led to some being affected by their own gas. The British gas attack failed to neutralize the defenders and the artillery bombardment was too short to destroy the barbed wire or machine gun nests. 

The French and British tried to break through the German defences in Artois and Champagne and restore a war of movement. Despite improved methods, more ammunition and better equipment, the Franco-British attacks were largely contained by the Germans, except for local losses of ground. The battle was the third time that specialist Royal Engineer tunnelling companies were used to dig under no-man's-land, to plant mines under the parapets of the German front line trenches, ready to be detonated at zero hour.

German tactical defensive proficiency was still dramatically superior to the British offensive planning and doctrine, resulting in a British defeat.

British casualties in the main attack were 48,367 and they suffered 10,880 more in the subsidiary attack, a total of 59,247 losses from the 285,107 British casualties on the Western Front in 1915. James Edmonds, the British official historian, gave German losses in the period 21 September – 10 October as  26,000 of 141,000 casualties on the Western Front during the autumn offensives in Artois and Champagne. In Der Weltkrieg, the German official account, 6th Army casualties are given as 29,657 to 21 September; by the end of October losses had risen to 51,100 and total German casualties for the autumn battle (Herbstschlacht) in Artois and Champagne, were given as 150,000 men. About 26,000 of the German casualties were attributable to the Battle of Loos.

54 Commonwealth Commanding Officers were killed or wounded in the battle. The Loos Memorial commemorates over 20,000 soldiers of Britain and the Commonwealth who fell in the battle and have no known grave.

*21 Victoria Crosses were awarded, among them regimental bagpiper Daniel Laidlaw nicknamed "The Piper of Loos" in the Scottish press. *

Above the din and confusion of battle, the commanding officer, seeing Piper Laidlaw with his bagpipes shouted above the noise, "pipe them together Laidlaw, for God's sake pipe them together".

With complete disregard for his safety, Daniel Laidlaw climbed up onto the parapet of the trench and played to his comrades in full view of the enemy. In the face of heavy withering machine-gun fire and to the sound of 'Blue Bonnets o'er the Border' the 7th Battalion rallied and climbed out of their trenches. As the Borderers advanced forward across no-man’s land under fire, Laidlaw continued to play and struck up the Regimental Charge 'Standards on the Braes o' Mar'. Laidlaw fell wounded in front of the enemy's trenches and did not reach the German's front line.
_
From his VC citation: “Prior to an assault on German trenches near Loos and Hill 70 on 25th September 1915. During the worst of the bombardment, when the attack was about to commence, Piper Laidlaw, seeing that his company was somewhat shaken from the effects of gas, with absolute coolness and disregard of danger, mounted the parapet, marched up and down and played the company out of the trench. The effect of his splendid example was immediate, and the company dashed out to the assault.”​_
Laidlaw was quick to give credit to the other pipers who had played during the battle, and who had also rendered extraordinary service in great danger by bringing in the wounded. In particular Pipe Major Douglas Taylor, although wounded in the hand and unable to pipe, continued to bring in wounded men from the battlefield for 36 hours after the attack._


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## BarnBuster (Oct 8, 2022)

​
*"On October 8, 1918, United States Corporal Alvin C. York reportedly kills over 20 German soldiers and captures an additional 132 at the head of a small detachment in the Argonne Forest near the Meuse River in France. The exploits later earned York the Medal of Honor.*

_Born in 1887 in a log cabin near the Tennessee-Kentucky border, York was the third of 11 children in a family supported by subsistence farming and hunting. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a fundamentalist Christian around 1915. Two years later, when the United States entered World War I, York was drafted into the U.S. Army. After being denied conscientious-objector status, York enlisted in the 82nd Infantry Division and in May 1918 arrived in France for active duty on the Western Front. He served in the successful Saint-Mihiel offensive in September of that year, was promoted to corporal and given command of his own squad.

The events of October 8, 1918, took place as part of the Meuse-Argonne offensive—what was to be the final Allied push against German forces on the Western Front during World War I. York and his battalion were given the task of seizing German-held positions across a valley; after encountering difficulties, the small group of soldiers—numbering some 17 men—were fired upon by a German machine-gun nest at the top of a nearby hill. The gunners cut down nine men, including a superior officer, leaving York in charge of the squad.

As York wrote in his diary of his subsequent actions: “[T]hose machine guns were spitting fire and cutting down the undergrowth all around me something awful…. I didn’t have time to dodge behind a tree or dive into the brush, I didn’t even have time to kneel or lie down…. As soon as the machine guns opened fire on me, I began to exchange shots with them. In order to sight me or to swing their machine guns on me, the Germans had to show their heads above the trench, and every time I saw a head I just touched it off. All the time I kept yelling at them to come down. I didn’t want to kill any more than I had to. But it was they or I. And I was giving them the best I had.”

Several other American soldiers followed York’s lead and began firing; as they drew closer to the machine-gun nest, the German commander—thinking he had underestimated the size of the enemy squadron—surrendered his garrison of some 90 men. On the way back to the Allied lines, York and his squad took more prisoners, for a total of 132. Though Alvin York consistently played down his accomplishments of that day, he was given credit for killing more than 20 German soldiers. Promoted to the rank of sergeant, he remained on the front lines until November 1, 10 days before the armistice. In April 1919, York was awarded the highest American military decoration, the Medal of Honor.

Lauded by The New York Times as “the war’s biggest hero” and by General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF), as “the greatest civilian soldier” of World War I, York went on to found a school for underprivileged children, the York Industrial Institute (now Alvin C. York Institute), in rural Tennessee. In 1941, his heroism became the basis for a movie, Sergeant York, starring Gary Cooper. Upon York’s death in 1964, U.S. President Lyndon Johnson called him “a symbol of American courage and sacrifice” who epitomized “the gallantry of American fighting men and their sacrifices on behalf of freedom.”_


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## wascaptain (Oct 8, 2022)

i have a former plantion about 12 miles from me. thers signs like this all around my area.

well, first "they" took down general moutons statue in our town, now there are after these types of memeriols. when will it stop.

good or bad its histroy "they" are erasing.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 8, 2022)

wascaptain said:


> i have a former plantion about 12 miles from me. thers signs like this all around my area.
> well, first "they" took down general moutons statue in our town, now there are after these types of memeriols. when will it stop.
> good or bad its histroy "they" are erasing.
> View attachment 5209471


Just the kind of thing you want to sit down with your kids when they're young and TALK about why there was a Civil War, what led up to it, what was right or wrong about it, and the importance of it in a historical context. Let them know that signs (and statues) like this are not a glorification of anything except the sacrifices AMERICANS made fighting for what they believed at this time in history was the right and honorable thing to do..


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## BarnBuster (Oct 12, 2022)

​


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## BarnBuster (Oct 12, 2022)

​
_*On October 13, 1775, the Continental Congress commissioned two ships, each with eighty sailors, “for intercepting such transports as may be laden with warlike stores and other supplies for our enemies.”* The foe at the time was Great Britain, whose navy ruled the seas. By the end of the Revolutionary War, the Continental Navy had grown to about fifty ships. In 1789, the U.S. Constitution guaranteed the navy’s future by granting Congress the power “To provide and maintain a navy.”

George Washington once said that “as certain as that night succeeds the day, that without a decisive naval force we can do nothing definitive—and with it, everything honorable and glorious.” Those words are even more appropriate in the twenty-first century when U.S. interests span the globe. To serve and protect those interests the U.S. Navy today has 292 deployable ships, more than 2,626 operational aircraft, 341,996 active duty personnel, 59,152 reserve personnel, and more than 279,471 civilian employees (As of 201_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 13, 2022)

​
_*"For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California.* The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis,” was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.

Because of the secrecy of the project, Bell and Yeager’s achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot, and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general."_ 

​


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## raratt (Oct 13, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5211989​
> _*"For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound, theorizing that transonic drag rise would tear any aircraft apart. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the X-1 over Rogers Dry Lake in Southern California.* The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then released through the bomb bay, rocketing to 40,000 feet and exceeding 662 miles per hour (the sound barrier at that altitude). The rocket plane, nicknamed “Glamorous Glennis,” was designed with thin, unswept wings and a streamlined fuselage modeled after a .50-caliber bullet.
> 
> Because of the secrecy of the project, Bell and Yeager’s achievement was not announced until June 1948. Yeager continued to serve as a test pilot, and in 1953 he flew 1,650 miles per hour in an X-1A rocket plane. He retired from the U.S. Air Force in 1975 with the rank of brigadier general."_
> ...


He was an asshole.


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## raratt (Oct 14, 2022)

Keep the engine troop out of the kitchen.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 14, 2022)

raratt said:


> Keep the engine troop out of the kitchen.
> 
> View attachment 5212645


JPL crew in elementary school.


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## raratt (Oct 14, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> JPL crew in elementary school.


We used to set up our van on a hill on Edwards where they used to test rocket engines. Pretty cool to see it.


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## Dorian2 (Oct 14, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Today in Military History:
> 
> View attachment 5208434​
> *Yom Kippur War, also called the October War, the Ramadan War, the Arab-Israeli war of October 1973, or the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, fourth of the Arab-Israeli wars, which was initiated by Egypt and Syria on October 6, 1973, on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur*_. It also occurred during Ramadan, the sacred month of fasting in Islam, and it lasted until October 26, 1973. The war, which eventually drew both the United States and the Soviet Union into indirect confrontation in defense of their respective allies, was launched with the diplomatic aim of persuading a chastened—if still undefeated—Israel to negotiate on terms more favourable to the Arab countries.
> ...


Thank you for the history lesson. My Dad was deployed to Egypt with the UN Peacekeepers in the late 60's. Never talked about it much, if at all. I just know that he despised Camels.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 14, 2022)

Dorian2 said:


> Thank you for the history lesson. My Dad was deployed to Egypt with the UN Peacekeepers in the late 60's. Never talked about it much, if at all. I just know that he despised Camels.


Now that I think of it I can't think of anyone whom is fond of them.


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## curious2garden (Oct 14, 2022)

raratt said:


> He was an asshole.


Not the Yeager I knew.


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## Preflower (Oct 14, 2022)

whitebb2727 said:


> Sup. I'm Air Force vet.
> 
> What I miss? Why is mainliner jumping your shit?


Ditto. Ssgt, USAF


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## BarnBuster (Oct 15, 2022)

Other Voices: Yeager Through the Eyes of His Peers


For millions of people around the world, General Chuck Yeager is the man who best epitomizes the unique blend of qualities that writer Tom Wolfe captured in the title of his 1979 best seller, The Right Stuff. For Wolfe, Yeager stood at the apex of "the ziggurat pyramid of flying" and was "the...




www.chuckyeager.com


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## curious2garden (Oct 15, 2022)

Preflower said:


> Ditto. Ssgt, USAF


Active duty? My husband is USAF ret. Welcome to RIU.


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## curious2garden (Oct 15, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Other Voices: Yeager Through the Eyes of His Peers
> 
> 
> For millions of people around the world, General Chuck Yeager is the man who best epitomizes the unique blend of qualities that writer Tom Wolfe captured in the title of his 1979 best seller, The Right Stuff. For Wolfe, Yeager stood at the apex of "the ziggurat pyramid of flying" and was "the...
> ...


So many memories. I remember Bob Hoover well too. Hoover's antics in his Shrike were amazing. Thanks for that.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 16, 2022)

_"The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center collects and preserves the firsthand interviews and narratives of United States military veterans from World War I through the present."








The Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress


Collecting and preserving the memories of U.S. veterans in your life and community. Learn more about these first-hand accounts from WWI to the current conflicts at loc.gov/vets.



www.loc.gov




_


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## BarnBuster (Oct 18, 2022)

Image of New B-52 Cockpit Shows a Cleaner Layout | Air & Space Forces Magazine


A new digital rendering of the B-52 bomber’s new cockpit shows a layout with many new “glass cockpit” color displays.




www.airandspaceforces.com


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## raratt (Oct 18, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Oct 19, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​_*October 19, 1781, Hopelessly trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force, effectively bringing an end to the American Revolution*.

Lord Cornwallis was one of the most capable British generals of the American Revolution. In 1776, he drove General George Washington’s Patriots forces out of New Jersey, and in 1780 he won a stunning victory over General Horatio Gates’ Patriot army at Camden, South Carolina. Cornwallis’ subsequent invasion of North Carolina was less successful, however, and in April 1781 he led his weary and battered troops toward the Virginia coast, where he could maintain seaborne lines of communication with the large British army of General Henry Clinton in New York City. After conducting a series of raids against towns and plantations in Virginia, Cornwallis settled in the tidewater town of Yorktown in August. The British immediately began fortifying the town and the adjacent promontory of Gloucester Point across the York River.

General George Washington instructed the Marquis de Lafayette, who was in Virginia with an American army of around 5,000 men, to block Cornwallis’ escape from Yorktown by land. In the meantime, Washington’s 2,500 troops in New York were joined by a French army of 4,000 men under the Count de Rochambeau. Washington and Rochambeau made plans to attack Cornwallis with the assistance of a large French fleet under the Count de Grasse, and on August 21 they crossed the Hudson River to march south to Yorktown. Covering 200 miles in 15 days, the allied force reached the head of Chesapeake Bay in early September.

Meanwhile, a British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves failed to break French naval superiority at the Battle of Virginia Capes on September 5, denying Cornwallis his expected reinforcements. Beginning September 14, de Grasse transported Washington and Rochambeau’s men down the Chesapeake to Virginia, where they joined Lafayette and completed the encirclement of Yorktown on September 28. De Grasse landed another 3,000 French troops carried by his fleet. During the first two weeks of October, the 14,000 Franco-American troops gradually overcame the fortified British positions with the aid of de Grasse’s warships. A large British fleet carrying 7,000 men set out to rescue Cornwallis, but it was too late.

On October 19, General Cornwallis surrendered 7,087 officers and men, 900 seamen, 144 cannons, 15 galleys, a frigate, and 30 transport ships. Pleading illness, he did not attend the surrender ceremony, but his second-in-command, General Charles O’Hara, carried Cornwallis’ sword to the American and French commanders. As the British and Hessian troops marched out to surrender, the British bands played the song “The World Turned Upside Down.”

*Although the war persisted on the high seas and in other theaters, the Patriot victory at Yorktown effectively ended fighting in the American colonies*. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of war._ 

*March to Victory: Washington, Rochambeau,and the Yorktown Campaign of 1781*


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## BarnBuster (Oct 21, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
*In one of the most decisive naval battles in history on October 21, 1805 the British fleet under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson defeats a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar, fought off the coast of Spain.*

_At sea, Lord Nelson and the Royal Navy consistently thwarted Napoleon Bonaparte, who led France to preeminence on the European mainland. Nelson’s last and greatest victory against the French was the Battle of Trafalgar, which began after Nelson caught sight of a Franco-Spanish force of 33 ships. Preparing to engage the enemy force on October 21, Nelson divided his 27 ships into two divisions and signaled a famous message from his flagship HMS Victory: “England expects that every man will do his duty.” Nelson’s default instruction to his officers was ‘No captain can do wrong if he puts his ship alongside the nearest enemy’.

In five hours of fighting, the British devastated the enemy fleet, destroying 19 enemy ships. British casualties were 1,587 men killed and wounded. The French and Spanish casualties were never revealed, but are thought to have been around 16,000 men killed, wounded or captured.

The battle raged at its fiercest around the Victory, and a French sniper shot Nelson in the shoulder and chest. The admiral was taken below and died about 30 minutes before the end of the battle. Nelson’s last words, after being informed that victory was imminent, were “Now I am satisfied. Thank God I have done my duty.”

Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar ensured that Napoleon would never invade Britain. Nelson, hailed as the savior of his nation, was given a magnificent funeral in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Rather than bury his body at sea, Nelson’s quick-thinking Irish surgeon William Beatty preserved it in a cask of brandy lashed to the deck of the ship. (A hurricane is on the horizon and the mast has been shot off; there is no way to hang the sails that would get ship (and body) to England quickly.)

The victory at the Battle of Trafalgar ensured that Britain’s dominance at sea remained largely unchallenged for the rest of the ten years of war against France, and continued worldwide for further one hundred and twenty years. His death brought about an outpouring of public grief hardly equaled to this day. Fascination with his life, both personal and public, had begun. In death, Nelson had finally achieved his greatest ambition, immortality. Even today, Nelson is revered as one of England’s greatest heroes. A column was erected to his memory in the newly named Trafalgar Square, and numerous streets were renamed in his honor.

HMS Victory, lies in Portsmouth Harbour Historic Dockyard , preserved as it was at the time of the battle. Victory currently has a dual role as the Flagship of the First Sea Lord and as a living museum to the Georgian Navy. She transferred to The National Museum of the Royal Navy in 2012._ 









The Battle of Trafalgar. 21 October 1805


Nelson’s crushing defeat of the French and Spanish Navies on 21st October 1805, establishing Britain as the dominant world naval power for…




graham100200.medium.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 22, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
*In action on October 22, 1965 near Phu Cuong, about 35 miles northwest of Saigon, PFC Milton Lee Olive III of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry, throws himself on an enemy grenade and saves four soldiers, including his platoon leader, 1st Lt. James Sanford.*

_The action came during a patrol that made contact with Communist forces on the southern fringes of the infamous “Iron Triangle,” a traditional Communist stronghold. Private Olive’s body absorbed the full, deadly blast of the grenade and he died saving his comrades. Lieutenant Sanford later said of Olive’s act that “It was the most incredible display of selfless bravery I ever witnessed.”

Olive, a native of Chicago, was only 18 years old when he died; he received the Medal of Honor posthumously six months later. The city of Chicago honored its fallen hero by naming a junior college, a lakefront park, and a portion of the McCormick Place convention center after him.

At a ceremony on the steps of the White House, on April 21, 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson presented Olive's Medal of Honor to his father and stepmother. Also in attendance were two of the four men whose lives were saved by Olive's actions.

*He was the first African-American recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Vietnam War.*_


*The Citation*​
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Pfc. Olive was a member of the 3d Platoon of Company B, as it moved through the jungle to find the Viet Cong operating in the area. Although the platoon was subjected to a heavy volume of enemy gunfire and pinned down temporarily, it retaliated by assaulting the Viet Cong positions, causing the enemy to flee.​​As the platoon pursued the insurgents, Pfc. Olive and 4 other soldiers were moving through the jungle together when a grenade was thrown into their midst. Pfc. Olive saw the grenade, and then saved the lives of his fellow soldiers at the sacrifice of his own by grabbing the grenade in his hand and falling on it to absorb the blast with his body.​​Through his bravery, unhesitating actions, and complete disregard for his safety, he prevented additional loss of life or injury to the members of his platoon. Pfc. Olive's extraordinary heroism, at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.​


Medal of Honor - Pfc Milton Lee Olive III


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## BarnBuster (Oct 23, 2022)

_"In 2021, a Brown University study found that 30,177 veterans have committed suicide since September 11, 2001; that’s four times more deaths than the 7,057 service members killed during combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq."_

*High Suicide Rates among United States Service Members and Veterans of the Post9/11 Wars* 








Veterans Crisis Line


24/7, confidential crisis support for Veterans and their loved ones. Contact the Veterans Crisis Line: Dial 988 then Press 1, chat online, or text 838255.




www.veteranscrisisline.net


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## raratt (Oct 23, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> _"In 2021, a Brown University study found that 30,177 veterans have committed suicide since September 11, 2001; that’s four times more deaths than the 7,057 service members killed during combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq."_
> 
> *High Suicide Rates among United States Service Members and Veterans of the Post9/11 Wars*
> 
> ...


988, National suicide hotline, if you are a vet PM me and we can talk, I'll give you my number.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 23, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​* USS Enterprise under Kamikaze attack

The Battle of Leyte Gulf is considered to have been the largest naval battle of World War II and is, by some criteria, a contender for the title "largest naval battle in history", with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. It was fought in waters near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon, from 23–26 October 1944, between combined American and Australian forces and the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), as part of the invasion of Leyte, which aimed to isolate Japan from the countries it had occupied in Southeast Asia which were a vital source of industrial and oil supplies.*

_By the time of the battle, Japan had fewer capital ships (aircraft carriers and battleships) left than the Allied forces had total aircraft carriers, underscoring the disparity in force strength at this point in the war. Regardless, the IJN mobilized nearly all of its remaining major naval vessels in an attempt to defeat the Allied invasion, but it was repulsed by the U.S. Navy's Third and Seventh fleets.

The battle consisted of four main separate engagements: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle of Cape Engaño and the Battle off Samar, as well as lesser actions.

This was the first battle in which Japanese aircraft carried out organized kamikaze attacks, and the last naval battle between battleships in history. The IJN suffered heavy losses and never sailed in comparable force thereafter, stranded for lack of fuel in their bases for the rest of the war and were unable to affect the successful Allied invasion of Leyte._

_This decision to employ suicide bombers against the American fleet at Leyte, an island of the Philippines, was based on the failure of conventional naval and aerial engagements to stop the American offensive. Declared Japanese naval Capt. Motoharu Okamura: “I firmly believe that the only way to swing the war in our favor is to resort to crash-dive attacks with our planes…. There will be more than enough volunteers for this chance to save our country.”_​​_"The first kamikaze force was in fact composed of 24 volunteer pilots from Japan’s 201st Navy Air Group. The targets were U.S. escort carriers; one, the St. Lo, was struck by a A6M Zero fighter and sunk in less than an hour, killing 100 Americans. More than 5,000 kamikaze pilots died in the gulf battle-taking down 34 ships._​​_For their kamikaze raids, the Japanese employed both conventional aircraft and specially designed planes, called Ohka (“cherry blossom”) by the Japanese, but Baka (“fool”) by the Americans, who saw them as acts of desperation. The Baka was a rocket-powered plane that was carried toward its target attached to the belly of a bomber._​​_All told, more than 1,321 Japanese aircraft crash-dived their planes into Allied warships during the war, desperate efforts to reverse the growing Allied advantage in the Pacific. While approximately 3,000 Americans and Brits died because of these attacks, the damage done did not prevent the Allied capture of the Philippines, Iwo Jima and Okinawa."_​
_*In one morning sortie, “Ace of Aces” David McCampbell had shot down nine enemy planes, an unparalleled achievement in American fighter aviation.*_

*Dave McCampbell*

Read about USS Tang (SS-306) one of the most successful US subs during WW2 and her skipper Richard H. O'Kane (MOH) 








How the most successful submarine in US Navy history ended up sinking itself


By October 1944, the USS Tang had racked up the best record of any US Navy submarine, but its own torpedo brought the run to an end.




www.businessinsider.com












Medal of Honor Monday: Navy Rear Adm. Richard O'Kane


Navy Rear Adm. Richard H. O'Kane is considered the most successful submarine commander of World War II, sinking and damaging several Japanese warships in the Pacific, and his leadership earned him the



www.defense.gov












Greatest of All Sea Battles


The fight for the Philippines 50 years ago in and around Leyte Gulf involved 300 ships, 200,000 men, snap decisions, and geographic luck.




www.usni.org





*The Battle of Leyte Gulf ; the death knell of the Japanese fleet* / Edwin P. Hoyt


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 23, 2022)

Impressive word salad, just a suggestion though.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 24, 2022)

Waaay back in Military History:
​
_During the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, Henry V, the young king of England, leads his forces to victory at the Battle of Agincourt in northern France.* The battle took place on October 25, 1415* opposing the French and English armies in the Hundred Years’ War close to the French village of Agincourt.

Two months before, Henry had crossed the English Channel with 11,000 men and laid siege to Harfleur in Normandy. After five weeks the town surrendered, but Henry lost half his men to disease and battle casualties. He decided to march his army northeast to Calais, where he would meet the English fleet and return to England. At Agincourt, however, a vast French army of 20,000 men stood in his path, greatly outnumbering the exhausted English archers, knights, and men-at-arms.

At 11 a.m. on October 25, the battle commenced. The English stood their ground as French knights, weighed down by their heavy armor, began a slow advance across the muddy battlefield. The French were met by a furious bombardment of artillery from the English archers, who wielded innovative longbows with a range of 250 yards. French cavalrymen tried and failed to overwhelm the English positions, but the archers were protected by a line of pointed stakes. As more and more French knights made their way onto the crowded battlefield, their mobility decreased further, and some lacked even the room to raise their arms and strike a blow. At this point, Henry ordered his lightly equipped archers to rush forward with swords and axes, and the unencumbered Englishmen massacred the French.

*Almost 6,000 Frenchmen lost their lives *_(the figures vary according to source, bb)_ *during the Battle of Agincourt, while English deaths amounted to just over 400. Regardless, with odds greater than three to one, Henry had won one of the great victories of military history*.

Most importantly, the battle was a significant military blow to France and paved the way for further English conquests and successes. The French nobility, weakened by the defeat and divided among themselves, were unable to meet new attacks with effective resistance. Henry managed to subjugate Normandy in 1419, a victory that was followed by the Treaty of Troyes in 1420, which betrothed Henry to King Charles VI’s daughter Catherine and named him heir to the French crown.

The Battle of Agincourt was immortalized by William Shakespeare in his play Henry V._

_THE LONGBOW, defined as one over 4ft. in length, was probably first used by the Germans or Scandinavians in about 500AD. In about 1000AD it was being used in Wales but it is not known if it was developed there independently or if it was borrowed from other parts of Europe. Around 1300, during a skirmish with the Welsh, an English knight received a wound from an arrow that had penetrated his chain mail, passed through his thigh, the chain mail on the other side of his leg, a wooden saddle and wounded the horse. The English decided this was a weapon with real potential as lowly infantry could handle a weapon that could defeat the finest armor. Early tests showed that the longbow could fire an arrow with such force that it could penetrate a four inch oak door with a handspan of the arrow’s shaft exposed on the other side._​​_The first time it played a major role was at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 when Edward I defeated William Wallace, largely due to a devastating hail of arrows from Welsh archers against the Scots._​​_English archers proved decisive against the French during the 100 Years War (1337-1453) at the battles of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt. Each of these major victories were won against far larger French armies._​​_The best longbows were made of yew. The staves were cut in winter when no sap was running, from the junction of the inner heartwood and the outer sapwood. The staves were seasoned and worked on gradually over a period of three to four years. Today only six longbows survive, none from the "golden age" and sources do not agree on the dimensions. Most give the length as about 70in. with a drawing pull of 75-100lbs. The arrows were between 27-36in. long. A trained archer could shoot 12 arrows a minute, but some sources say that the most skilled archers could fire twice this number. The arrow could wound at 250 yards, kill at 100 yards and penetrate armor at 60 yards._​
_*At the battle of Agincourt in 1415, 1,000 arrows were fired every second. After the battle, observers wrote that the white feathers from the flights were so thick on the ground, it looked like snow.*

The surviving examples of longbows look unfinished and it is probable that most of the bows had this appearance: the junction of the inner and outer woods would rarely be straight but this was not important. Interestingly English yew was not considered suitable to make bows and the staves were imported, largely from Italy and Spain. To ensure a regular supply, each ton of certain imports, including wine, had to be accompanied by 10 yew staves.

The French did not at first credit the major victories of the English to the longbow but to the other tactics, especially the use of the English knights fighting on foot. The French did start to train some infantry in the use of the longbow in the late 1300s but the king was most concerned about peasants having such powerful weapons and the idea was dropped.

The training adopted by the English was rigorous. All sports were banned on Sundays and men between 12 and 65 were expected to practice their archery. Every man with an income of over £2 a year was required to own a bow.

The longbow was the most powerful weapon in Europe from about 1300 to 1588. In that year, the Spanish Armada, aware of the English skill with the longbow, armed their troops with bows. The English however experimented by having 10,000 harquebusiers (early firearms) which proved superior. However, the longbow still had its supporters. After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, a senior British officer seriously suggested the readoption of the longbow by the infantry._









164. The Myth of Agincourt and Lessons on Army Modernization | Mad Scientist Laboratory






madsciblog.tradoc.army.mil












Agincourt was a battle like no other … but how do the French remember it?


As the 600th anniversary of Henry V’s triumph approaches, a Paris exhibition will devote an exhibition to a day the French prefer to forget




www.theguardian.com












Battle of Agincourt | Facts, Summary, & Significance


Battle of Agincourt, (October 25, 1415), decisive battle in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) that resulted in the victory of the English over the French. The English army, led by King Henry V, famously achieved victory in spite of the numerical superiority of its opponent. The battle repeated...



www.britannica.com





*The Lessons of Agincourt, Combined arms warfare and offset strategy in the 15th century*


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## BarnBuster (Oct 24, 2022)

B-21 Raider


B-21 Raider, the future of long-range strike, will be capable of penetrating the toughest defenses to deliver precision strikes anywhere in the world.




www.northropgrumman.com


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## BarnBuster (Oct 24, 2022)

*The body of the Unknown Soldier chosen by Sergeant Edward F. Younger is loaded on the train in France.(World War I Signal Corps Collection).*​
_Inspired by both Britain and France honoring their unknown warriors, the U.S. Congress approved Public Resolution 67 in 1921 and the process of locating U.S. unknown soldier for burial in Arlington National Cemetery (ANC) began. *On October 23, 1921, in the French town of Chalons-sur-Marne, an American officer selects the body of the first “Unknown Soldier” to be honored among the approximately 77,000 United States servicemen killed on the Western Front during World War I*.

According to the official records of the Army Graves Registration Service deposited in the U.S. National Archives in Washington, four bodies were transported to Chalons from the cemeteries of Aisne-Marne, Somme, Meuse-Argonne and Saint-Mihiel.

All were great battlegrounds, and the latter two regions were the sites of two offensive operations in which American troops took a leading role in the decisive summer and fall of 1918. As the service records stated, the identity of the bodies was completely unknown: “The original records showing the internment of these bodies were searched and the four bodies selected represented the remains of soldiers of which there was absolutely no indication as to name, rank, organization or date of death.”

The four bodies arrived at the Hotel de Ville in Chalons-sur-Marne on October 23, 1921. At 10 o’clock the next morning, French and American officials entered a hall where the four caskets were displayed, each draped with an American flag. Sergeant Edward Younger, the man given the task of making the selection, carried a spray of white roses with which to mark the chosen casket. According to the official account, Younger “entered the chamber in which the bodies of the four Unknown Soldiers lay, circled the caskets three times, then silently placed the flowers on the third casket from the left. He faced the body, stood at attention and saluted.”

The casket was inscribed: 'An Unknown American who gave his life in the World War.' The coffin was sealed and then draped with the Stars and Stripes. The original spray of white roses was laid upon the new casket and, as the strains of Chopin's 'Funeral March' broke upon the silence, the pallbearers lifted the casket and bore it to the catafalque in a shrine erected in the center of the large hall facing the principal gate of the Hotel de Ville."

After the selection of the Unknown Soldier, the remaining three caskets were immediately loaded onto a waiting tuck and taken to Romagne Cemetery where they were reburied in grave numbers 1, 2 and 3. The casket lay in state until late afternoon when it was loaded onto a special train and taken to Paris where it remained overnight. On the morning of October 25, the train carried the Unknown Soldier to the port of Le Havre where the casket was transferred to the American cruiser "Olympia for the final journey home:

"As the body was being transferred to the vessel, the band of the Olympia played the 'Marseillaise' and the 'Star Spangled Banner.' The American Marines were lined on the Quai d'Escale and presented arms as the pallbearers with the Unknown passed.

The casket was placed on the stern of the cruiser, which had been beautifully decorated with wreaths, flowers and flags. The school children of Le Havre went aboard and banked flowers around the casket. During the ceremonies, the two French destroyers, which had been acting as escorts to the American cruiser, were pulled out beyond the breakwater. Silently, the Olympia moved slowly from the pier and steamed out into the bay. She was met by a salute of 17 guns from the French destroyer in honor of America's Cherished hero, to which she promptly responded. The Nameless Warrior was leaving for his last resting place in the land of his birth."

The Olympia was Admiral Dewey's Flagship during the Spanish-American war. She served in the Mediterranean during World War I. Transporting the Unknown Soldier back to the US was her last mission.

Once back in the United States, the Unknown Soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C.

(The United States Army was given the honor of guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in 1926, as the Army is the oldest of the military services. Prior to 1926, there were no military guards posted at the Tomb. In fact, after the internment of the Unknown Soldier in 1921, the Tomb remained unguarded until 1925, when a civilian guard would be present during the day. The military posted its first guard on March 25th, 1926. These guards were troopers from the 3rd Cavalry, "Brave Rifles", who were posted nearby on Fort Myer. Since April 6, 1948, (known then as "Army Day"), when the regiment was reactivated, it has been guarded by soldiers from 3rd Infantry Regiment, "The Old Guard". The first 24-hour guard was posted on midnight, July 2, 1937. The Tomb of the Unknowns has been guarded continuously, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, since that time. Inclement weather, terrorist attacks, et cetera, have never caused the watch to cease. It is considered one of the highest honors to serve as a Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Fewer than 20 percent of all volunteers are accepted for training and of those only a fraction pass training to become full-fledged Tomb Guards.

The Tomb Guard Identification Badge (TGIB) is awarded after the Sentinel passes a series of tests. The TGIB is permanently awarded after a Sentinel has served nine months as a Sentinel at the Tomb. As of August 2021, 688 soldiers have been awarded this badge since its creation in the late 1950's (on average 10 per year), the badge has also been revoked for 23 people. And while the TGIB can be revoked, the offense must be such that it discredits the Tomb of the Unknowns. Revocation is at the 3rd Infantry Regimental Commander’s discretion and can occur while active duty or even when the Sentinel is a civilian. It is the third-least awarded badge in the US Military, after the Military Horseman Identification Badge and the Astronaut Badge.)_ 


*The World War I Unknown is below the marble sarcophagus. Other Unknowns are beneath the white slabs on the ground (World War II, right; Korean War, left). A Vietnam War Unknown was under the middle slab until 1998, when he was identified.*​*CHAPTER I - The Last Salute *


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## BarnBuster (Oct 25, 2022)

​
*"On October 24, 1942, during the Battle for Henderson Field, Basilone's unit came under attack by a regiment of about 3,000 soldiers from the Japanese Sendai Division using machine guns, grenades, and mortars against the American heavy machine guns*_. Basilone commanded two sections of machine guns which fought for the next two days until only Basilone and two other Marines were left standing. As the battle went on, ammunition became critically low. Despite their supply lines having been cut off by enemies who had infiltrated into the rear, Basilone fought through hostile ground to resupply his heavy machine gunners with urgently needed supplies. Basilone moved an extra gun into position and maintained continual fire against the incoming Japanese forces. He then repaired and manned another machine gun, holding the defensive line until relief arrived.

When the last of the ammunition ran out shortly before dawn on the second day, Basilone, using his pistol and a machete, held off the Japanese soldiers attacking his position. By the end of the engagement, Japanese forces opposite the Marines' lines had been virtually annihilated. For his actions during the battle, Basilone received the United States military's highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor. "_
​








A One-Man Army: The Legend of John Basilone


Eight months to the day after the devastating attack at Pearl Harbor, America took a major step forward in the fight against the Japanese Empire. On August 7, 1942, the 18,700-strong Marine Corps 1st Division under Major General Alexander A. Vandegrift conducted the first American amphibious...




www.thisiswhywestand.net


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## TerryTeacosy (Oct 27, 2022)

I know this is somewhat obscurely off-topic, but I want to share something with you all:

An old friend & very faithful piece of kit finally met its denoument today. 



My Custom-made (non-issue) Jelly-Bean Gore-Tex jacket finally gave-up after 30+ years of faithful service.

It's been with me all over Australia, Malaysia & a few other places..... Veteran of MANY water-bourne operations, jumped with me dozens of times on airborne op's & has kept me & my mates from the brink of hypothermia more times than I care to mention.

It's finally time to say thank-you for your service & let you go......


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## BarnBuster (Oct 27, 2022)

TerryTeacosy said:


> I know this is somewhat obscurely off-topic, but I want to share something with you all:
> 
> An old friend & very faithful piece of kit finally met its denoument today.
> 
> ...


Decades ago, I had a Eddie Bauer expedition coat that needed some repairs and "touch up" which the factory expertly took care of. Could you return yours to Gore-Tex for work if that's what's needed? I really have a hard time getting rid of anything that's still serviceable.





GORE-TEX Repair Information


Along with routine care, repair is an integral part of getting the most useful life from your GORE-TEX garment. Our products are designed and tested to be durable, but occasionally damage does occur even with normal use. If your product is damaged, you’ll need permanent repair by a Gore...




www.gore-tex.com


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## TerryTeacosy (Oct 27, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> Decades ago, I had a Eddie Bauer expedition coat that needed some repairs and "touch up" which the factory expertly took care of. Could you return yours to Gore-Tex for work if that's what's needed? I really have a hard time getting rid of anything that's still serviceable.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thank you. I appreciate the thought, but I honestly think it's time to let this go, along with a heap of memories that no longer serve me.


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## BarnBuster (Oct 28, 2022)

What a great photo

*An Air Force F-22 Raptor flies in formation with a World War II-era P-51 Mustang during an airshow at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Sept. 24, 2022.Photo By: Adam Bowles, Air Force*​


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## BarnBuster (Oct 29, 2022)

__





Rhineland Campaign – Rescue of the Lost Battalion – Go For Broke







goforbroke.org




_
"By October 29, the situation for the Lost Battalion was desperate. Isolated for six days, the men had beaten back five enemy assaults. Deaths and casualties mounted, yet they couldn’t evacuate the bodies. They pooled their meager supplies of food and ammunition and risked German sniper fire to get water..

...the Nisei had fought for five days, but hadn’t made much progress against the heavily entrenched Germans. Third Battalion’s I and K Companies, exposed on a narrow ridge with a steep drop on the left and right, had no choice but to go straight up the middle in a “banzai charge.

For the US Army, the rescue of the Lost Battalion remains one of the top ten ground battles in its history. For many, questions remain unanswered about the campaign to this day. But at the time, the Nisei soldiers didn’t ask questions. They just performed their duty as American soldiers.

The 442nd is the most decorated unit in U.S. military history for its size and length of service, with its component 100th Infantry Battalion earning the nickname "The Purple Heart Battalion" due to the number injured in combat.

In 1962, Texas Governor John Connally made the veterans of the 442nd "honorary Texans" for their role in the rescue of the Lost Battalion. *Due to the discrimination of that era, three members of the 442nd, Barney Hajiro, James Okubo, and George Sakato, were originally awarded lesser military medals for their participation in the rescue, later upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2000, Okubo posthumously*. A* special law was passed in 2010 awarding members of the unit, and those of the Military Intelligence Service, the Congressional Gold Medal*, for which a ceremony was held at the Emancipation Hall of the U.S. Capitol in October 2011, followed by local ceremonies in California, Hawaii, and other states from which unit members had been unable to travel to Washington, D.C._





__





Loading…






encyclopedia.densho.org


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## BarnBuster (Oct 29, 2022)

This is a pretty cool video of the USS Texas (BB-35) in dry dock undergoing restoration. Make sure you crank up the quality setting for the detail as he does the walk and talk. (The blister he keeps talking about is a passive defence system of plating against naval torpedoes.) The "Battleship Texas Foundation" has other videos on their YT site. I got lost down that rabbit hole last night lol. A lot of naval architecture minutiae so not for everybody.














Experience History


Commissioned in 1914 as the most powerful weapon in the world, Battleship Texas is credited with the introduction and innovation of advances in gunnery, aviation, and radar. She is the last surviving Dreadnought as well as the only battleship in existence today that fought in both World War I...




battleshiptexas.org


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## raratt (Oct 30, 2022)

FYI: It's a designation, not a code name, but still good info.









Why did the Blackbird's codename change from RS-71 to SR-71?


Answer: Fig:- President Lyndon Johnson. 1. The SR-71 was designed by a team of Lockheed personnel led by Clarence "Kelly" Johnson, at that time vice president of the company's Advanced Development Projects, known as the "Skunk Works." 2. This entire project was kep...




www.quora.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 31, 2022)

Meanwhile at our last home.


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## Hook Daddy (Oct 31, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Meanwhile at our last home.
> 
> View attachment 5220080


I was on the Rush pre-fram, back in the late 80s. Had some good times. Here’s what she looked like back then. Hard to believe they are all gone now.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Oct 31, 2022)

Hook Daddy said:


> I was on the Rush pre-fram, back in the late 80s. Had some good times. Here’s what she looked like back then. Hard to believe they are all gone now.


Did you serve with Capt Ross Bell? He skippered both the Rush & Jarvis.
I did a couple of 210 tours and a couple 180's as well.


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## Hook Daddy (Oct 31, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> Did you serve with Capt Ross Bell? He skippered both the Rush & Jarvis.
> I did a couple of 210 tours and a couple 180's as well.


He was our CO if I recall correctly. I had several friends on the Jarvis as well, we were both out of Alameda at the time. I did a few years on a buoy tender as well, but the 157’


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## curious2garden (Oct 31, 2022)

Hook Daddy said:


> He was our CO if I recall correctly. I had several friends on the Jarvis as well, we were both out of Alameda at the time. I did a few years on a buoy tender as well, but the 157’











USS Jarvis (DD-393) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org





My uncle served on her, USN though and in that incarnation she was a Bagley class destroyer. Welcome to RIU.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 5, 2022)

Chief select gives birth. Chiefs mess pins her at the hospital


Big life events came at Chief Hospital Corpsman Jacqueline Reyes and her family last month.




www.navytimes.com


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## raratt (Nov 5, 2022)

Colorado could become 2nd state to decriminalize mushrooms


Fresh off his third tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Jason Lopez awoke in crisis from an alcohol-induced nap during a family gathering in Colorado in 2014. Instead, he turned to what he had dabbled with for much of his life: psychedelic mushrooms. Lopez is among a group of veterans...




www.yahoo.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 7, 2022)

‘Continue the healing’: How thousands of volunteers put faces to names on the Vietnam memorial


After more than two decades of detective work, the Wall of Faces, a project to find a photo for every service member listed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, was completed in August, ahead of the memorial’s 40th anniversary.




www.stripes.com









THE WALL OF FACES - Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund


The virtual Wall of Faces features a page dedicated to honoring and remembering every person whose name is inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. In an effort to further preserve the legacy of those who sacrificed all in Vietnam, VVMF is committed to finding a photo to...




www.vvmf.org


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## raratt (Nov 7, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Nov 8, 2022)

​
*On 6th November 1917, after three months of fierce fighting, British and Canadian forces finally took control of the tiny village of Passchendaele in the West Flanders region of Belgium, so ending one of the bloodiest battles of World War I*_. *With approximately a third of a million British and Allied soldiers either killed or wounded,* the Battle of Passchendaele (officially the third battle of Ypres), symbolises the true horror of industrialised trench warfare.

The Passchendaele campaign was preceded by what was then the largest planned explosion in history. For months, British, Canadian and Australian tunnellers had burrowed underneath the German defences on Messines Ridge in the Ypres Salient, where they planted 21 massive explosive mines. At 3 a.m. on June 7, 1917, 19 of them were detonated in rapid succession. The resulting blasts knocked waiting British troops off their feet; the rumble could be heard as far away as London. An estimated 10,000 German soldiers perished and the cratered landscape was soon in Allied hands. Amazingly, two of the mines failed to explode. One was detonated by lightning in 1955, killing a cow. The other, its location since discovered, lies underneath a Belgian farm. Authorities have declared it too difficult and dangerous to dismantle even 100 years later.

General Sir Douglas Haig, the British Commander in Chief in France, had been convinced to launch his forces at the German submarine bases along the Belgian coast in an attempt to reduce the massive shipping losses then being suffered by the Royal Navy. General Haig also believed that the German army was close to collapse and that a major offensive …“just one more push”, could hasten the end the war.

Thus the offensive at Passchendaele was launched on the 18th July 1917 with a bombardment of the German lines involving 3,000 guns. In the 10 days that followed, it is estimated that over 4¼ million shells were fired._

(WW1 artillery shells had a 30% detonation failure rate. Coupled with the fact that they buried themselves sometimes yards deep, areas of WW1 battlefields are off limits still today and farmers regularly turn up UXO (unexploded ordinance)/ERW (explosive remnants of war) The “Iron Harvest” is the annual “harvest” of war remnants including UXO, barbed wire, and shrapnel collected by Belgian and French farmers after ploughing their fields; see Red Zone below bb.)

_The actual infantry assault followed at 03.50 on 31st July, but far from collapsing, the German Fourth Army fought well and restricted the main British advance to relatively small gains.

Shortly after the initial assault, the heaviest rains in more that 30 years began to fall on Flanders, drenching the soldiers and the low lying fields over which the battle was taking place. The artillery shells that had bombarded the German lines only days before had not only torn up the land but had also destroyed the drainage systems that were keeping the reclaimed marshland dry. With the continued pounding, the rain drenched ground quickly turned into a thick swamp of mud.

Even the newly-developed tanks made little headway; unable to move, they quickly became stuck fast in the liquid mud. With each new phase of the offensive the rain kept falling, filling the shell holes with water. The clinging mud caked the soldier’s uniforms and clogged their rifles, but that was the least of their worries as in places the mud had become so deep that both men and horses were drowned, lost forever in the stinking quagmire. It took six men to stretcher a wounded soldier across the glue-like surface. Many survivors recalled stumbling along, their boots being sucked off their feet and then came the sensation of sinking up to their waists in mud. Additionally, thousands of exhausted horses and mules died attempting to haul gun carriages across the devastated, cratered landscape which had been churned up by shelling.

The only solid structures in this sea of desolation were the enemy’s concrete pillboxes; from here the German machine-gunners could scythe down any Allied infantry that had been ordered to advance

With the hopelessness of the situation apparent, General Haig temporarily suspended the attack.

A fresh British offensive was launched on the 20th September under the command of Herbert Plumer which eventually resulted in some small gains being made including the capture of a nearby ridge just east of Ypres. General Haig ordered further attacks in early October which proved less successful. Allied troops met stiff opposition from German reserves being poured into the area, and many British and Empire soldiers suffered severe chemical burns as the Germans employed mustard gas to help defend their position.

Unwilling to accept failure, General Haig ordered three more assaults on the Passchendaele ridge in late October. Casualty rates were high during these final stages, with Canadian divisions in particular suffering huge losses. When British and Canadian forces finally reached Passchendaele on 6th November 1917 hardly a trace of the original village structures remained. The capture of the village did however give General Haig the excuse to call an end to the offensive, claiming success.

In the three and half months of the offensive the British and Empire forces had advanced barely five miles, suffering horrendous casualties. Perhaps their only consolation was that the Germans had suffered almost as badly with around 250,000 killed or injured. In the aftermath of the battle, General Haig was severely criticized for continuing the offensive long after the operation had lost any real strategic value.

Perhaps more than any other, Passchedaele has come to symbolize the horrors and the great human costs associated with the major battles of the First World War.* British Empire losses included approximately 36,000 Australians, 3,500 New Zealanders and 16,000 Canadians – the latter of which were lost in the last few days / weeks of the final bloody assault. Some 90,000 bodies were never identified and 42,000 never recovered.*_

_*

61 Victoria Crosses were awarded during the entire Passchendaele campaigns*_​
_These battles and the British Empire soldiers that perished in them are today commemorated at the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, the Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial to the Missing._ 









Passchendaele – Inside the First World War's Infamous Slaughter in the Mud - MilitaryHistoryNow.com


“The appalling casualties, the mud and the overall futility of the offensive have made Passchendaele an emblem of the mind-boggling waste of the First World War.” By Darrell Duthie “I DIED IN HELL,” wrote famed...




militaryhistorynow.com












Red Zone | National Geographic Society


France's Zone Rouge is a lingering reminder of World War I's Battle of Verdun.




education.nationalgeographic.org


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## BarnBuster (Nov 8, 2022)

_"A team from the University of Delaware, working in partnership with the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), recently located the wrecks of five B-24 Liberator bomber aircraft that crashed into the Adriatic Sea during World War II. Of the five B-24s, three were positively identified and are associated with the loss of 23 U.S. service members."_









Missing WWII aircraft found | UDaily


UD researchers lead team to the Adriatic Sea in search of missing aircraft




www.udel.edu


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## raratt (Nov 8, 2022)

FYI:








Veterans Day 2022 free meals, discounts and offers - VA News


These Veterans Day free meals, discounts and other programs are for Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors are aware of all resources available to them.




news.va.gov


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## BarnBuster (Nov 9, 2022)

_“Bataan veterans deserve the recognition of our nation’s highest and most distinguished honor for their perseverance and patriotism. We must never forget their undaunted heroism in the face of unthinkable conditions and horrific abuses,_”









Descendants of WWII POWs call into question congressional bill that only honors defenders of Bataan and Corregidor


The current version of the bill honors only those who served on Bataan and Corregidor. It does not mention the thousands of U.S. troops who were fighting in other parts of the Philippines until the top U.S. commander surrendered all American and Filipino forces in the Philippines when Corregidor...




www.stripes.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 9, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> _“Bataan veterans deserve the recognition of our nation’s highest and most distinguished honor for their perseverance and patriotism. We must never forget their undaunted heroism in the face of unthinkable conditions and horrific abuses,_”
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I lived in the Philippines in the 60's, we toured Corregidor and drove the Bataan Death March route. Small white crosses everywhere on the road side.
Unfortunately I understood the story Dad told and I knew what the crosses meant.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 9, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I lived in the Philippines in the 60's, we toured Corregidor and drove the Bataan Death March route. Small white crosses everywhere on the road side.
> Unfortunately I understood the story Dad told and I knew what the crosses meant.



Here's the story on the markers they now have along the route:


Bataan’s Death March Markers – B.L.A.S.T. – Live Life to the Fullest ……… Don't Stay Put










Death March Markers - Filipino American Memorial Endowment







filipino-americanmemorials.org


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## BarnBuster (Nov 9, 2022)

_"Once Completed and Installed in 2024, “A Soldier’s Journey” Will be the Largest Freestanding High-Relief Bronze in the Western Hemisphere."_









An Exclusive Preview of the New World War I Memorial


One sculptor and his team of artists take on the epic project of conveying the century-old conflict through a massive bronze installation




www.smithsonianmag.com












First Colors Ceremony


On April 16, 2021 the World War I Centennial Commission will celebrate the Inaugural Raising of the Flag of the United States of America over the newly constructed National World War I Memorial site in Washington, DC.




firstcolors.worldwar1centennial.org


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## BarnBuster (Nov 10, 2022)

*On November 10, 1775, the Second Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia passed a resolution stating that "two Battalions of Marines be raised" for service as landing forces with the fleet. This resolution established the Continental Marines and marked the birth date of the United States Marine Corps.*​


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## raratt (Nov 10, 2022)

Love it!


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## raratt (Nov 10, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Nov 10, 2022)

​


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## Budzbuddha (Nov 10, 2022)

“ 5-5-Duece “ 5 Bat 52nd Air Defense Artillery / Radar way back at Fort Stewart / Rammstein .
Hawk / Patriot Missile systems .

_It’s Veteran’s Day_ …. *Everyday *






*BTW - Hey , VLAD …… EAT A DICK  *


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## raratt (Nov 10, 2022)

Almost made it around the world twice in one year if I add up the miles flown.


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## DarkWeb (Nov 11, 2022)

Thank you.


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## curious2garden (Nov 11, 2022)

Happy Veterans Day folks!


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## raratt (Nov 11, 2022)

Happy Veterans day to my brothers from all services. I even bought a large assortment of crayons for the Marines to snack on!


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## CaliRootz88 (Nov 11, 2022)

To all my fellow brothers and sisters past and present who have served during a time our nation had a calling, Happy Veterans Day!


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## curious2garden (Nov 11, 2022)

raratt said:


> Happy Veterans day to my brothers from all services. *I even bought a large assortment of crayons for the Marines to snack on!*


I'm definitely not telling @wascaptain you said that


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## BarnBuster (Nov 11, 2022)

_"According to the Department of Defense, nearly half of the known American casualties from the Battle of Tarawa were never recovered. Approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors lost their lives on the small sandbar November 20-23, 1943, in the US military’s first offensive of the war in the central Pacific. Government figures show 72,627 Americans are currently classified as missing in action from World War II."_



https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/11/us/veterans-day-history-flight-ctrp










Tarawa | History Flight







historyflight.com


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## raratt (Nov 11, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> I'm definitely not telling @wascaptain you said that


Meh.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 12, 2022)

​
*The five Sullivan brothers were World War II sailor brothers of Irish American descent who, serving together on the light cruiser USS Juneau, were all killed in action during and shortly after its sinking around November 13, 1942.*_ The five brothers, the sons of Thomas (1883–1965) and Alleta Sullivan (1895–1972) of Waterloo, Iowa.

The Sullivans enlisted in the US Navy on January 3, 1942, with the stipulation that they serve together. The Navy had a policy of separating siblings, but this was not strictly enforced. George and Frank had served in the Navy before, but their brothers had not. All five were assigned to the light cruiser USS Juneau.

Juneau participated in a number of naval engagements during the months-long Guadalcanal Campaign beginning in August 1942. Early in the morning of November 13, 1942, during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Juneau was struck by a Japanese torpedo and forced to withdraw. Later that day, as it was leaving the Solomon Islands' area for the Allied rear-area base at Espiritu Santo with other surviving US warships from battle, the Juneau was struck again, this time by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-26. The torpedo likely hit the thinly armored light cruiser at or near the ammunition magazines and the ship exploded and quickly sank.

Captain Gilbert C. Hoover, commanding officer of the light cruiser USS Helena, and the senior officer present afloat (SOPA) of the battle-damaged US task force, was skeptical that anyone had survived the sinking of Juneau and believed it would be reckless to look for survivors, thereby exposing his wounded ships to a still-lurking Japanese submarine. Therefore, he ordered his ships to continue on towards Espiritu Santo. Helena signaled a nearby US B-17 bomber on patrol to notify Allied headquarters to send aircraft or ships to search for survivors.

But in fact, approximately 100 of Juneau's crew had survived the torpedo attack and the sinking of their ship and were left in the water. The B-17 bomber crew, under orders not to break radio silence, did not pass the message about searching for survivors to their headquarters until they had landed several hours later. The crew's report of the location of possible survivors was mixed in with other pending paperwork actions and went unnoticed for several days. It was not until days later that headquarters staff realized that a search had never been mounted and belatedly ordered aircraft to begin searching the area. In the meantime, Juneau's survivors, many of whom were seriously wounded, were exposed to the elements, hunger, thirst, and repeated shark attacks.

Eight days after the sinking, ten survivors were found by a PBY Catalina search aircraft and retrieved from the water. The survivors reported that Frank, Joe and Matt were all killed instantly, Al drowned the next day, and George survived for four or five days, before suffering from delirium as a result of hypernatremia (though some sources describe him being "driven insane with grief" at the loss of his brothers);[additional citation(s) needed] he went over the side of the raft he occupied. He was never seen or heard from again.

Security required that the Navy not reveal the loss of Juneau or the other ships so as not to provide information to the enemy. Letters from the Sullivan sons stopped arriving at the home and the parents grew worried, which prompted Alleta Sullivan to write to the Bureau of Naval Personnel in January 1943, citing rumors that survivors of the task force claimed that all five brothers were killed in action. 

This letter was answered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on January 13, 1943, who acknowledged that the Sullivans were missing in action, but by then the parents were already informed of their fate, having learned of their deaths on January 12. *That morning, the boys' father, Tom, was preparing for work when three men in uniform – a lieutenant commander, a doctor and a chief petty officer – approached his door. "I have some news for you about your boys," the naval officer said. "Which one?" asked Tom. "I'm sorry," the officer replied. "All five."*

As a direct result of the Sullivans' deaths (and the deaths of four of the Borgstrom brothers within a few months of each other two years later), the U.S. War Department adopted the Sole Survivor Policy.






Sole Survivor Policy - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org




_


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## BarnBuster (Nov 14, 2022)

During WWII, Native American code talkers used Navajo language to create an unbreakable code that helped America win the war


Native Americans were told to stop speaking their language for years. But 400 Navajos used it to create a code that was instrumental in the war.




www.insider.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 16, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_Margaret Cochran Corbin (November 12, 1751 – January 16, 1800) was a woman who fought in the American Revolutionary War. *On November 16, 1776, her husband, John Corbin, was one of some 600 American soldiers defending Fort Washington in northern Manhattan from 4,000 attacking Hessian troops under British command. *

Margaret, too nervous to let her husband go into battle alone, decided she wanted to go with him. Since she was a nurse, she was allowed to accompany her husband as a nurse for injured soldiers. 

John Corbin was on the crew of one of two cannons the defenders deployed; when he fell in action, Margaret Corbin took his place and continued to work the cannon until she too was seriously wounded. It is said that Corbin was standing next to her husband when he fell during battle. Immediately, she took his post, and because she had watched her husband, a trained artilleryman, fire the cannon so much, she was able to fire, clean and aim the cannon with great ease and speed. 

This impressed the other soldiers and was the beginning of her military career. She later became the first woman in U.S. history to receive a pension from Congress for military service when she could no longer work due to injury, and was enlisted into the Corps of Invalids. _









Margaret Corbin - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## BarnBuster (Nov 16, 2022)

​
*“Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines (or simply Leatherneck) is a magazine for United States Marines. It was first published as a newspaper by off-duty Marines at Marine Corps Base Quantico November 17, 1917*_, and was originally named The Quantico Leatherneck. In 1918, “Quantico” was dropped from the magazine’s name.

In 1920, with the formation of the Marine Corps Institute (MCI) by Commandant of the Marine Corps John A. Lejeune, Leatherneck became an official Marine Corps publication under the auspices of MCI, and was moved to Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C. In 1925, the format was changed from a newspaper to a magazine.

During World War II, many of the Marine Corps’ combat correspondents were assigned to Leatherneck. In 1943, the Leatherneck Association was formed to govern the magazine, making it more autonomous and answerable only to the Commandant.

Leatherneck was an official Marine Corps publication until 1972, staffed primarily by active-duty Marines. That year all active-duty positions were eliminated and the magazine returned to Quantico. In 1976, the Leatherneck Association merged with the Marine Corps Association (MCA). As of 2010, MCA continues to publish Leatherneck alongside another Marine Corps periodical the Marine Corps Gazette.”_



https://mca-marines.org/magazines/leatherneck/


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## doublejj (Nov 17, 2022)




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## doublejj (Nov 17, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Nov 17, 2022)

Not too many of them left








WWII Marine fighter pilot, Guadalcanal veteran, dead at 102


Samuel Folsom, a Marine Corps fighter pilot who battled Japanese Zeros over Guadalcanal in World War II, died Saturday.




www.stripes.com












Samuel B. Folsom Collection


Lieutenant Colonel, Marine Corps, World War, 1939-1945 - Pacific Theater; Korea; Japan; Norway; United States; Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Enewetak Atoll (Marshall Islands). Korean War, 1950-1953.



www.loc.gov


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 17, 2022)

doublejj said:


>


Again the CG gets ignored however my recruiter insisted on showing me pics of bad ass boats with beautiful ladies on them.

Hook, Line & Sinker.


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## Hook Daddy (Nov 17, 2022)

raratt said:


> Happy Veterans day to my brothers from all services. I even bought a large assortment of crayons for the Marines to snack on!


At least the Marines eat crayons, the Navy guys kept eating all our urinal cakes, I think they thought they were breath mints.


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## TerryTeacosy (Nov 18, 2022)

It's amazing how simple & profound a simple word can be in unrelated circumstances.

I was out mowing the grass this arvo & the dogs were going berserk around the mower, getting in the way etc.

My partner took them away/inside, blocked the doorway & yelled "CLEAR!". That was it. I was triggered back to live-fire CQB.

After all this time....... Fuck me!!!


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## BarnBuster (Nov 19, 2022)

I posted about these when they were first issued but worth a repeat. SIG's Custom Shop took a lot of pride in the production and it shows. Design by Marine, Tim Butler.
















Photo of the day: Sig Sauer M17 pistols presented to the Sentinels of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier


The M17 Tomb of the Unknown Pistols are unique M17 pistols that were created using the same specifications for the U.S. Army’s M17 Modular Handgun System.




sofrep.com







SIG Media Library: Collection Preview


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## raratt (Nov 21, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Nov 21, 2022)

​
*"Shortly after 2:00 am on the morning of November 21, 1970, the night sky near Hanoi was shattered by the roar of planes on their way to undertake one of the most carefully planned and executed rescue missions of the Vietnam War – the raid on Son Tay Prison to rescue American prisoners of war.*_ Son Tay, 23 miles west of Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, was attacked and, less than an hour later, the plan had been carried out faultlessly. Then the bitterly disappointed Raiders were on their way home, having rescued no-one

The American Armed Forces had sent 56 Green Berets and 28 aircraft manned by 92 airmen to Son Tay and the only casualty of the raid was the flight engineer of the Blueboy helicopter, who had his ankle fractured by a fire extinguisher that had broken loose in the crash landing. *As a result of the raid, the members were awarded six Distinguished Service Crosses, five Air Force Crosses, and all 50 members of the ground crew, in addition to 35 of the active members, received Silver Stars. General Manor received the Distinguished Service Medal.*

The armed services believed the mission to be a complete tactical success as it was so well-planned and executed, but the intelligence failure was a significant blow to all involved. It was later learned that there were 65 prisoners interred at Son Tay, and they had been moved 15 miles closer to Hanoi due to a threat of flooding. This move had taken place on the 14th of July, almost four months before the raid – a major gaffe on the part of the intelligence agencies responsible.

This raid was severely criticized in the media and by opponents of the Nixon Administration and to the Vietnam War. The major charge made was the poor quality of intelligence upon which the operation was mounted. One of the greatest fears was that as a result of this abortive raid, the prisoners in other camps would be treated worse.

In fact, reports from prisoners later confirmed that this raid did, in fact, improve their conditions. Prisoners that had been kept for long periods in solitary confinement were placed in cells with other prisoners, which improved their morale considerably. The amount and quality of the food they were given also improved._

*While the success or failure of this raid can be debated ad infinitum, it is recognized as being a model for the planning, training, and deployment of this type of mission. It formed the blueprint for future missions of a similar nature, and for that reason, it deserves its place in history."* 









The Failed Son Tay Prison Raid


Shortly after 2:00 am on the morning of November 21, 1970, the night sky near Hanoi was shattered by the roar of planes on their way to undertake one of the most carefully planned and executed resc…




cherrieswriter.com






https://aircommando.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/ACJ-Vol-9-Issue-2.pdf


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## BarnBuster (Nov 22, 2022)

Today in Military History:





_*"On November 22-23, 1943, as World War II raged, United States forces seized control of the Tarawa atoll from the Japanese; a day later it secured the nearby atoll of Makin*. After 76 hours of fighting, the battle for Betio was over. The final casualty figures for the 2d Marine Division in Operation GALVANIC were 997 Marines and 30 sailors (organic medical personnel) dead; 88 Marines missing and presumed dead; and 2,233 Marines and 59 sailors wounded. Total casualties: 3,407. Of the roughly 4,800 Japanese defenders, about 97% were thought to have been killed. Only 146 prisoners were captured — all but 17 of them Korean laborers. More casualties would come in operations on surrounding islands.

The intense bloodshed on Tarawa, documented by war correspondents who were close to the fighting, sparked outcry in the US. Many criticized the strategy and tactics at Tarawa, but the Navy and Marine Corps drew lessons from the battle and applied them throughout the war, and Betio's airfield supported operations against other vital positions in the Pacific.

"The capture of Tarawa knocked down the front door to the Japanese defenses in the Central Pacific," said Admiral Chester Nimitz, the commander in chief of the Pacific fleet.

In the words of military historians Jeter Isely and Philip Crowl, “The capture of Tarawa, in spite of defects in execution, conclusively demonstrated that American amphibious doctrine was valid, that even the strongest island fortress could be seized.”

The costs of the forcible seizure of Tarawa were two-fold: the loss of Marines in the assault itself, followed by the shock and despair of the nation upon hearing the reports of the battle. The gains at first seemed small in return, the "stinking little island" of Betio, 8,000 miles from Tokyo. In time, the practical lessons learned in the complex art of amphibious assault began to outweigh the initial adverse publicity._
_
_​
_*Four Medals of Honor were earned at Tarawa, one of them posthumously. Thirty-four Navy Crosses, the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, were issued along with some 250 Silver Stars."*_ 









75 years ago, US Marines waded into 'the toughest battle in Marine Corps history' — here are 25 photos of the brutal fight for Tarawa


The commander of the task force attacking Tarawa called Betio "a little Gibraltar" and said that "only the Marines could have made such a landing."




www.businessinsider.com












Battle of Tarawa - MCA


Tarawa (20-23 November 1943) Japanese Rear Admiral Keiji Shibasaki proclaimed, “A million men cannot take Tarawa in 100 years.” The Second Marine Division did it in four days. The Battle




mca-marines.org






Across the Reef: The Marine Assault of Tarawa


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## BarnBuster (Nov 22, 2022)

*A U.S. Coast Guard crew member feeds a young child who was rescued from a distressed migrant vessel off Key Largo Monday, Nov. 21, 2022.*​


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## BarnBuster (Nov 23, 2022)

​
_"Not only was the DFC ceremony the largest of its kind in decades, but also, according to the Distinguished Flying Cross Society’s president and board, Capt. Rhea McFarland, 14th Airlift Squadron C-17 pilot, and Capt. Leslie Green, 375th Air Expeditionary Squadron flight nurse, are the _*first female African Americans to be awarded the DFC in the 96-year history of the award.."*









Largest Distinguished Flying Cross Ceremony ‘in Decades’ Honors More Than 50 Airmen | Air & Space Forces Magazine


Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan handed out 51 Distinguished Flying Cross medals at Joint Base Charleston for Operation Allies Refuge.




www.airandspaceforces.com


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## BarnBuster (Nov 25, 2022)

That old boy don't know how incredibly lucky he was. 








Thanksgiving Miracle: Coast Guard Rescues Overboard Passenger from the Carnival Valor


A passenger on the Carnival Valor who went overboard sometime after 11:00 p.m. Wednesday night was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard the following day




www.cruiselawnews.com


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## DarkWeb (Nov 25, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> That old boy don't know how incredibly lucky he was.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I read that just a bit ago. I'm sure he's thankful today.


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## Greengrouch (Nov 25, 2022)

I got out to not have people order me around anymore thanks though.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 25, 2022)

Greengrouch said:


> I got out to not have people order me around anymore thanks though.


I got around that by advancing in rank.
I've had O4's + try & have me do things I refused to & they never got their way!
E-9, FTW.


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## TerryTeacosy (Nov 26, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I got around that by advancing in rank.
> I've had O4's + try & have me do things I refused to & they never got their way!
> E-9, FTW.


Mate, I have the utmost respect for members with your experience. There are times, however, when speaking truth to power can come from any level. 
Bear with me whilst I tell the story.........

During Exercise Kangaroo '92 in the top-end of Australia, we (1st Cdo. Reg.) were tasked with being the Enemy (Kamarians) & given a POE job on the port/airfield town of Wyndham in Northern WA. 

The SAS patrol who had been scoping it for us for several weeks considered it a Company-strength raid operation. Bear in mind that an Australian Commando Company packs a SHITLOAD of a lot of firepower......Half of the Company went-in amphibiously to take the port. The rest of us jumped-in at night at about 500ft to take the airfield. 

At the time of insertion, the CHQ had already been awake for at least 48 hrs, planning the op. I was part of CHQ & was a mere Sig. (a Private), but made myself available to provide the Boss (an ex-SAS Major) with any communications advice he needed or asked-for (sometimes, I would provide advice he didn't ask-for, but was grateful for it in hindsight).

We took the town/port/airfield before dawn, then prepared for the inevitable counter-attack.

We sat there for another 48 hrs with nothing happening, except for a Recce. helicopter that we shot down.

Here's where the "truth to power" story starts..........

After a couple of days of no sleep, the Boss confronted me: 

Boss: "Pom, how long has it been since you slept?"

Me: "About as long as you"

Boss: "I want you to get some sleep"

Me: : "Yeah, I want YOU to get some sleep too - you're walking around like a fucking zombie" 

Boss: "I'm fucking serious, Pom. I need you to be on top of your game when the shit happens"

Me: "I'm fucking serious too, Boss. I can be replaced, but if you're not on top of YOUR game, then we're ALL fucked when the shit happens"

Boss: "Do I have to make this an order?"

I pulled the Thermarest I was sitting-on from under my arse & chucked it across the room at him. I mean...... AT him.

Me: "No, Boss, you don't have to make it an order, but you can lead by example & get some sleep for the benefit of your men when the shit happens"

The CSM got up from the other side of the room & was preparing to tear me another arsehole. The Boss stopped him.

Boss: "CSM, stand-down. I'm taking this one on advisement."

He turned to me & said "OK, Pom. Point taken. I'll get some kip. If anything happens, I charge YOU with waking me."

Me: "I promise you'll need to know if anything important happens - you have my word"

A few hours later, I got the call over the radio that we had Armour approaching into a choke point we'd created. 

The CSM smiled at me & said "You made the promise, Pom......." I made the Boss a cup of coffee & woke him up. We went into E&A mode & got away.

After that, the Boss always specifically asked for me by name to be his Sig. on operations.


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## Greengrouch (Nov 26, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> I got around that by advancing in rank.
> I've had O4's + try & have me do things I refused to & they never got their way!
> E-9, FTW.


i made e4 twice in 4 years


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Nov 26, 2022)

Greengrouch said:


> i made e4 twice in 4 years


I made E5 twice in one year.
I was a testosterone charged idiot at that time.

Edit: The only thing that has changed between then and now is the T ratio.


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## BarnBuster (Nov 27, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_The Inchon landing by the X Corps in September 1950 and the breakout from Pusan by the 8th Army led to a stunning reversal in the Korean War. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s risky plan had unhinged the Korean People’s Army (KPA) position, and the rapid advance had led to its almost certain destruction. A supremely confident MacArthur declared to President Truman that “organized resistance will be terminated by Thanksgiving.” Later he announced to his troops that they would be home by Christmas.

The X Corps, commanded by the ever-aggressive Maj. Gen. Edward Almond, was keen to be the first United Nations force to reach the Yalu River. As the temperatures in the mountains of North Korea plummeted, Almond continued to direct his commanders to advance faster. By late November, the 1st Marine Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Oliver Smith and the 31st Regimental Combat Team (7th Infantry Division) took up positions in the snowcapped mountains around Chosin Reservoir.

While confidence reigned supreme at MacArthur’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, the situation at the front was becoming ever more concerning. A Siberian cold front had descended on the region, and temperatures plunged to as low as -36 degrees F. The relentless cold led to frostbite in the ranks, frozen weapons, frozen medical supplies, dead batteries, and more. Even worse, MacArthur and Almond disregarded growing evidence that a sizeable Chinese force had crossed the Yalu to oppose the UN advance approaching its Manchurian border. China’s Chairman Mao Zedong had directed that the veteran 9th Army attack the Marines and Army forces near Chosin. Stealthily, the Chinese army – roughly 120,000 soldiers from the 20th and 27th Corps – took up positions near the US forces.

*After midnight on November 27, 1950, the Marines in their dugouts could hear strange sounds emanating from the woods below. Loudspeakers broadcast curses and commands. Cymbals clanged, and bugles blared. And a chorus of “Marines, tonight you die!” came from the waves of Chinese troops from the 59th, 79th, and 89th Divisions moving up the slopes in their white quilted uniforms.*

Caught by surprise, the Marines struggled from their sleeping bags and grabbed their weapons. With star shells now illuminating the ground before them, the Marines on the front line attempted to slow the overwhelming Chinese assault with their M-1 rifles, machine guns, and grenades.

The lead Marine elements around Yudam-ni struggled to hold back the Chinese assault while Charlie and Fox Companies of the 7th Marines struggled to defend their thin lines near Toktong Pass. During these intense nighttime battles, Marines such as Private Hector Cafferata, Staff Sergeant Robert Kennemore, 1st Lieutenant Frank Mitchell, and Corporal Lee Phillips would earn the Medal of Honor for their brave and resolute actions.

Fox Company, led by Captain William Barber, managed to hold the critical hill above Toktong pass and the vital road below for five days. Despite a severe wound to his leg, Barber kept moving amongst his men’s foxholes, keeping them focused. Barber’s company had taken grievous losses in the fight (only 82 out of 220 original men remained effective), but they had also inflicted great harm on the enemy. As reported in his Medal of Honor citation, Barber’s “heroic command accounted for approximately 1,000 enemy dead in this epic stand in sub-zero weather.”

Over the next 5-7 days, the Americans fought, or as MajGen O.P. Smith said, "attacked in another direction," down a winding, treacherous, snow-packed road to Hungnam, a North Korean port 70 miles away. Through extraordinary willpower, exceptional war-fighting skills, and countless acts of valor, US Marines and soldiers escaped the Chosin trap.

By the time US forces, with thousands of North Korean refugees in tow, reached the evacuation beaches, nearly 6,000 Americans were dead or missing; thousands more were wounded. None of the men who survived the horrific battle would ever be the same. Today they are called “The Chosin Few.”

Mao’s attempt at destroying 1st Marine Division, however, had come at a high price. The communist dictator had lost an estimated 50,000 soldiers, including his eldest son, and had learned to never again underestimate the American fighting man

*This fierce battle led to the withdrawal of all United Nations forces from North Korea and to the award of 13 Medals of Honor to soldiers, pilots, and Marines who fought at the “frozen Chosin.”*_

*








Battle of Chosin Reservoir - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org




*
*Frozen Chosin U.S. Marines at the Changjin Reservoir*
*THE 31ST REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM AT CHOSIN RESERVOIR, KOREA 1950*


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## BarnBuster (Nov 29, 2022)

Black Special Forces Veteran Close to Being Awarded Medal of Honor After Decades of Roadblocks


A Pentagon official told Military.com on the condition of anonymity that Capt. Paris Davis' nomination was approved by Gen. Mark Milley.




www.military.com


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## BarnBuster (Dec 1, 2022)

​
*December 1, 1943, The first operational use of the American P-51D Mustang is in a fighter sweep over occupied Belgium.*_ The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain’s request. The design showed promise and AAF purchases of Allison-powered Mustangs began in 1941 primarily for photo recon and ground support use due to its limited high-altitude performance.

But in 1942, tests of P-51s using the British Rolls-Royce “Merlin” engine revealed much improved speed and service ceiling, and in Dec. 1943, Merlin-powered P-51Bs first entered combat over Europe. Providing high-altitude escort to B-17s and B-24s, they scored heavily over German interceptors and *by war’s end, P-51s had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other fighter in Europe.*

The Mustang was the first single-engine plane based in Britain to penetrate Germany, first to reach Berlin, first to go with the heavy bombers over the Ploiesti oil fields in Romania, and first to make a major-scale, all-fighter sweep specifically to hunt down the dwindling Luftwaffe.

One of the highest honors accorded to the Mustang was its rating in 1944 by the Truman Senate War Investigating Committee as “the most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence.”

Mustangs served in nearly every combat zone, including the Pacific where they escorted B-29s to Japan from Iwo Jima. Between 1941-5, the AAF ordered 14,855 Mustangs (including A-36A dive bomber and F-6 photo recon versions), of which 7,956 were P-51Ds. During the Korean War, P-51Ds were used primarily for close support of ground forces until withdrawn from combat in 1953.
_
*North American P-51 Mustang*


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## TerryTeacosy (Dec 1, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5232548​
> *December 1, 1943, The first operational use of the American P-51D Mustang is in a fighter sweep over occupied Belgium.*_ The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain’s request. The design showed promise and AAF purchases of Allison-powered Mustangs began in 1941 primarily for photo recon and ground support use due to its limited high-altitude performance.
> 
> But in 1942, tests of P-51s using the British Rolls-Royce “Merlin” engine revealed much improved speed and service ceiling, and in Dec. 1943, Merlin-powered P-51Bs first entered combat over Europe. Providing high-altitude escort to B-17s and B-24s, they scored heavily over German interceptors and *by war’s end, P-51s had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other fighter in Europe.*
> ...


Just curious - Is there a back-story to the painting? The P-51D is being attacked by a Spitfire & both of them are sporting white ID stripes (not the B&W "invasion stripes" that would place the incident shortly after D-Day).


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## curious2garden (Dec 1, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5232548​
> *December 1, 1943, The first operational use of the American P-51D Mustang is in a fighter sweep over occupied Belgium.*_ The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain’s request. The design showed promise and AAF purchases of Allison-powered Mustangs began in 1941 primarily for photo recon and ground support use due to its limited high-altitude performance.
> 
> But in 1942, tests of P-51s using the British Rolls-Royce “Merlin” engine revealed much improved speed and service ceiling, and in Dec. 1943, Merlin-powered P-51Bs first entered combat over Europe. Providing high-altitude escort to B-17s and B-24s, they scored heavily over German interceptors and *by war’s end, P-51s had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other fighter in Europe.*
> ...


It looks like a video game rendition of a P-51 vs a ME-109









Messerschmitt Bf 109 - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## TerryTeacosy (Dec 1, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> It looks like a video game rendition of a P-51 vs a ME-109


Ah! OK then. It was the elliptical wings & white "Allied" stripes that threw me. On closer look, the tailplane has the diagonal support struts & there are MG ports on top of the engine cowling ('though not firing?). Obviously video games aren't known for much accuracy......


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## BarnBuster (Dec 2, 2022)

Jeez, guys, LOL, BB could have picked a better image in hindsight


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## TerryTeacosy (Dec 2, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> lol, BB could have picked a better image in hindsight


There's lots we could've all done better in hindsight, eh?


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## BarnBuster (Dec 2, 2022)

Today in Military History:

​
_"When war broke out with Great Britain in 1775, the colonists realized they needed a new flag. *The Grand Union Flag was first flown on the US Navy's first flagship, the USS Alfred on December 2-3, 1775*. This is why it is sometimes called the "First Navy Ensign." (An ensign is a flag.) 

The first fleet of ships commissioned by the Second Continental Congress sailed from Philadelphia on the Delaware River. The Alfred's First Lieutenant, John Paul Jones, raised the Grand Union Flag aboard the Alfred, as well as the Gadsden Flag, which was the standard of the Navy's first Commodore, Esek Hopkins. 

The second known flying of the Grand Union Flag happened at the Siege of Boston on January 2, 1776. The Continental Army was reorganized under George Washington's command on January 1. The following day, General Washington had the Grand Union Flag hoisted on Prospect Hill near his headquarters at Cambridge. This is why the Grand Union Flag is sometimes called the Cambridge Flag (even though it was not flown at Cambridge, but at nearby Prospect Hill).

Historians are divided about who designed the flag or how it came to be adopted by the Continental Army and Navy as the first American flag."_









Grand Union Flag


Revolutionary War Flags: the Grand Union Flag



www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com


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## BarnBuster (Dec 2, 2022)

B-21 reveal tonite









Ahead of B-21 Raider reveal, Northrop CEO touts tech you won't see - Breaking Defense


“When people see the exterior of the B-21, it will be very similar to the B-2,” Kathy Warden said in an interview with Breaking Defense. “The real differences are inside of the platform."




breakingdefense.com











B-21 Raider


B-21 Raider, the future of long-range strike, will be capable of penetrating the toughest defenses to deliver precision strikes anywhere in the world.




www.northropgrumman.com





NG you did good, she's a beauty

​


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## BarnBuster (Dec 4, 2022)

​
*On December 4, 1917, well-known psychiatrist W.H. Rivers presents his report The Repression of War Experience, based on his work at the Craiglockhart War Hospital for Neurasthenic Officers, to the Royal School of Medicine*_. Craiglockhart, near Edinburgh, was one of the most famous hospitals used to treat soldiers who suffered from psychological traumas as a result of their service on the battlefield.

By the end of World War I, the army had been forced to deal with 80,000 cases of “shell shock,” a term first used in 1917 by a medical officer named Charles Myers to describe the physical damage done to soldiers on the front lines during exposure to heavy bombardment. It soon became clear, however, that the various symptoms of shell shock—including debilitating anxiety, persistent nightmares, and physical afflictions ranging from diarrhea to loss of sight—were appearing even in soldiers who had never been directly under bombardment, and the meaning of the term was broadened to include not only the physical but the psychological effects produced by the experience of combat.

The most important duty of doctors like Rivers, as prescribed by the British army, was to get the men fit and ready to return to battle. Nevertheless, only one-fifth of the men treated in hospitals for shell shock ever resumed military duty. Rivers’s patients included the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, who later wrote of his fellow inmates of Craiglockhart: These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished/Memory fingers in their hair of murders/Multitudinous murders they once witnessed._









Shell Shock Victims


British Pathe, the world's leading multimedia resource with a history stretching back over a century. The finest and most comprehensive archive of fabulous footage and stunning stills.




www.britishpathe.com





*The Repression of War Experience*


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## curious2garden (Dec 4, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5233732​
> *On December 4, 1917, well-known psychiatrist W.H. Rivers presents his report The Repression of War Experience, based on his work at the Craiglockhart War Hospital for Neurasthenic Officers, to the Royal School of Medicine*_. Craiglockhart, near Edinburgh, was one of the most famous hospitals used to treat soldiers who suffered from psychological traumas as a result of their service on the battlefield.
> 
> By the end of World War I, the army had been forced to deal with 80,000 cases of “shell shock,” a term first used in 1917 by a medical officer named Charles Myers to describe the physical damage done to soldiers on the front lines during exposure to heavy bombardment. It soon became clear, however, that the various symptoms of shell shock—including debilitating anxiety, persistent nightmares, and physical afflictions ranging from diarrhea to loss of sight—were appearing even in soldiers who had never been directly under bombardment, and the meaning of the term was broadened to include not only the physical but the psychological effects produced by the experience of combat.
> ...











Random Harvest (film) - Wikipedia







en.wikipedia.org


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## BarnBuster (Dec 5, 2022)

​


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 5, 2022)

No judgement, just curious if anyone was taught the M16 using this stance? I've never seen it before.


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## raratt (Dec 5, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> No judgement, just curious if anyone was taught the M16 using this stance? I've never seen it before.
> 
> View attachment 5234176


Not me, standard range positions were standing supported, standing unsupported, kneeling supported and un, and prone.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 5, 2022)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> No judgement, just curious if anyone was taught the M16 using this stance? I've never seen it before.


An odd position. Closest I found was under _"Seated Sniper Cradle" _toward the end of the page. Interesting explanation(s).








A Marksman's Guide to the Sitting Position - Everyday Marksman


In rifle shooting, the sitting position is the most versatile. It is nearly as stable as prone, but lets you see over brush and terrain. Let's take a look.




www.everydaymarksman.co





and this of WW2 German sniper Matthaus Hetzenauer


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## TerryTeacosy (Dec 6, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> An odd position. Closest I found was under _"Seated Sniper Cradle" _toward the end of the page. Interesting explanation(s).
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Plenty of stable body-triangles in these positions & doesn't matter how you do it as long as you get your first round on-target.

One round is usually all it takes as long as it's accurate.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 7, 2022)

​


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## wascaptain (Dec 7, 2022)




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## raratt (Dec 8, 2022)




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## BarnBuster (Dec 9, 2022)

US Navy lays keel for Virginia-class Block V submarine Arizona


The US Navy has authenticated the keel for its future Virginia-class nuclear-powered fast attack Block V submarine USS Arizona (SSN 803).




www.naval-technology.com


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## BarnBuster (Dec 10, 2022)

This photo got me 



Another hero crosses the Rainbow Bridge. MWD Ayila/R272 18 SFS. Retired back in 2019 to vet tech Yurika San. RMWD Ayila was the vet clinic mascot and got all the head pats and love from the vet clinic staff and handlers every time she went to work with mom. Rest easy, Ayila we have the watch from here.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 11, 2022)

Today in Military History:





_"When World War II abruptly gripped the United States in its deadly embrace, a people seething with anger struggled to avoid being sucked into a vortex of gloom. The stunning Japanese carrier raid of December 7, 1941 on Pearl Harbor turned out to be just the first in a succession of blows that threatened to sweep the American military out of East Asia and the Central Pacific. Although President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration endeavored to conceal the full extent of the US Pacific Fleet’s losses, no amount of censorship could conceal the fact that Japan had gained the upper hand. The valiant defense of Wake Island by US Marines, sailors, soldiers, and civilians became a potent rallying point for Americans in the dark days after Pearl Harbor._

*"On December 11, 1941 a Japanese invasion task force steamed toward the beaches of Wake Island*_. Marine gunners played them like the sports fish in the water beneath the war machines. They watched the cruiser and six destroyers carefully and blasted them with the five-inch naval guns at 4500 yards.

One destroyer was sunk. Several of the other ships were damaged. The flotilla retreated with the knowledge there were true fighting men on Wake Island.

After the initial raid was fought off, American news media reported that, when queried about reinforcement and resupply, Cunningham was reported to have quipped “Send us more Japanese!” In fact, Commander Cunningham sent a long list of critical equipment—including gunsights, spare parts, and fire-control radar—to his immediate superior. It is believed that the quip was actually padding that is a technique of adding nonsense text to a message to make cryptanalysis more difficult.

The Japanese kept hammering at the island defenses, and ten days later the only surviving Wildcat fighter was lost. Pilots were assigned rifles and bayonets. A renewed enemy landing force sailed onto the beach, and 900 trained infantrymen invaded during the night of December 23. Construction workers and Marines fought side-by-side with everything they could, but by dawn, it was clear that there were too many Japanese.

The Commander Cunningham radioed Pearl Harbor. “Enemy on island. Issue in doubt.”

The Commander would later be quoted as saying, “I tried to think of something…We could keep on expending lives, but we could not buy anything with them.” He gave the order to surrender. The surviving eighty-one Marines and eighty-two civilians obeyed but destroyed everything they could find that the enemy could use as a weapon and disabled all the equipment they could. The Japanese claimed the victory at a great price.

Two destroyers and one submarine had been sunk by the Americans. Seven other ships were damaged, and twenty-one aircraft were shot down. The total lives lost by the Japanese was close to 1000. Their leaders were furious and exacted revenge on the prisoners. Stripped and tied with wire in such a way a sudden movement would cause strangulation, soldier, and civilian alike were made to sit in the sun on the concrete they had recently poured.

No water or food was given to them for two days. At one point, the captors installed machine guns near them, for a mass execution, they imagined. But, at last, they were fed spoiled and unsavory bits of food, and instructed to put quickly on clothing but not necessarily their own. Marines donned civilian pants, and construction workers were in khaki.

A spit polished, crisply white uniformed Japanese commander addressed the prisoners. An interpreter informed the group “the Emperor has graciously presented you with your lives.” One unfazed Marine replied, “Well, thank the son of a bitch for me!”

Toward the middle of January 1942, a merchant ship laid anchor at Wake Island. The prisoners were transported to China by ship. But as they were shoved toward the ship, two columns of Japanese sailors with clubs and belts formed and the prisoners were made to run between them, enduring savage beatings.

They were stuffed into the ship’s hold, became despondent, and were savagely treated. Shuffled about China and Japan, the Marines regained their spirit and endured tremendous hardships for the next three years. Eventually, after the atomic bomb attacks and Japanese surrender, they were rescued.

Ironically, the prisoners left on the island received a worse fate, working as slave labor until October 1943. Then on 5 October 1943, American naval aircraft from Yorktown raided Wake.

*Two days later, fearing an imminent invasion, the Japanese Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered the execution of the 98 captured American civilian workers who had initially been kept to perform forced labor. The 98 were taken to the northern end of the island, blindfolded and executed with a machine gun.*

One of the prisoners (whose name has never been discovered) escaped the massacre, apparently returning to the site to carve the message 98 US PW 5-10-43 on a large coral rock near where the victims had been hastily buried in a mass grave. The unknown American was recaptured, and Admiral Sakaibara personally beheaded him with a katana. The inscription on the rock can still be seen and is a Wake Island landmark.

Before the final rescue, in July 1945, a strange thing happened in the prison camp. Japanese officers provided a formal dinner for the American officers, offering toasts and speaking of friendship. In the end, a high-ranking Japanese officer proposed a toast to “everlasting friendship between America and Japan.”

His side of the table smiled, nodded and waited for the American response. The skeleton faces of the Americans were still. At last a Major stood and said lightly, “If you behave yourselves, you’ll get fair treatment.”

The proverbial tables had turned. And the Americans promise of fair treatment far outshines the despicable behavior of the Japanese. On August 16 the prison guards were gone. Small children were assigned to protect the prisoners from possible civilian attack.

On September 1, the Marines patched a makeshift American flag together and hoisted it into the air. Supplies were air-dropped and at last, the 1st Cavalry Division liberated the prisoners. The war was over.

*After the war, Sakaibara and his subordinate were sentenced to death for the massacre of the 98 and for other war crimes. Several Japanese officers in American custody had committed suicide over the incident, leaving written statements that incriminated Sakaibara.

Admiral Sakaibara was hanged on 18 June 1947.* The murdered civilian POWs were reburied after the war in Honolulu’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, commonly known as Punchbowl Crater.

“Wake Island began the war magnificently for the Marine Corps, and America found that the old soldierly virtues are still embodied in its fighting men. . . . Out of such actions as this a people’s strength and ultimate victory must come. America remembers Wake Island and is proud. The enemy remembers Wake Island and is uneasy.”_
Major General Thomas Holcomb, Commandant of the Marine Corps (March 10, 1942)

*The Wake Island Device is an award device of the United States military which is presented as a campaign clasp to both the Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Medals. A total of only 449 Marine Corps and 68 Navy personnel were eligible for the Wake Island Device, making it one of the rarest of United States military awards."*












The Battle of Wake Island: Nation’s Morale Lifted in 1941 | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans


The valiant defense of Wake Island by US Marines, sailors, soldiers, and civilians became a potent rallying point for Americans in the dark days after Pearl Harbor.




www.nationalww2museum.org












Battle Of Wake Island


Facts, information and articles about the Battle Of Wake Island, December 8-23. 1941 Dates: December 8-23. 1941 Location: Wake Island in




www.historynet.com








__





The Forsaken Defenders of Wake Island


Described as one of the loneliest atolls in the Pacific, Wake Island is a submerged volcano top, which consists of Wake and two other islets, Wilkes and Peale. Wake Island is 450 miles from the nearest land, and approximately 2,300 miles from Honolulu. Claimed and annexed by the United States in...




www.history.navy.mil






https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/battle-of-wake-island-japanese-atrocities.html?chrome=1


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## wascaptain (Dec 11, 2022)

getting my christmas cheer run going.

had to take a few drips and rips along way.

3 cheers for all our veterns here and there!


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## BarnBuster (Dec 11, 2022)

This is a pretty cool documentary about the Lancaster bomber


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## harris hawk (Dec 11, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> B-21 reveal tonite
> 
> 
> 
> ...


now if that don't look like a "flying saucer" !!!! my whole family are Vets and have one in each military branch - 1 committed sucide - 1 PTSD and the other membes very dissapointed/sad/pissed-off in the way we left Afghan What about our latest prisoner swap ???????????????


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## BarnBuster (Dec 12, 2022)

A sneaky photo taken the last time a stealth bomber was unveiled shows why some parts of the new B-21 are still under wraps


When the B-2 was unveiled in 1988, some clever journalists got a glimpse of parts of the bomber that the US Air Force didn't want to show off.




www.businessinsider.com


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## BarnBuster (Dec 12, 2022)

Wreaths Across America


I just sponsored a Veteran's Remembrance Wreath that will be placed in honor of a hero on Wreaths Across America Day. Join me in supporting WAA's mission to Remember, Honor, and Teach!




donate.wreathsacrossamerica.org





​


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## BarnBuster (Dec 12, 2022)

Today in Military History:

 ​
_*On December 13, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army marched into China's capital city of Nanking and proceeded to murder 300,000 out of 600,000 civilians and soldiers in the city.* The six weeks of carnage would become known as the Rape of Nanking and represented the single worst atrocity during the World War II era in either the European or Pacific theaters of war._
​_[...the soldiers turned their attention to the women of Nanking and an outright animalistic hunt ensued. Old women over the age of 70 as well as little girls under the age of 8 were dragged off to be sexually abused. More than 20,000 females (with some estimates as high as 80,000) were gang-raped by Japanese soldiers, then stabbed to death with bayonets or shot so they could never bear witness._​​_Pregnant women were not spared. In several instances, they were raped, then had their bellies slit open and the fetuses torn out. Sometimes, after storming into a house and encountering a whole family, the Japanese forced Chinese men to rape their own daughters, sons to rape their mothers, and brothers their sisters, while the rest of the family was made to watch. Those who were not killed on the spot were taken to the outskirts of the city and forced to dig their own graves, large rectangular pits that would be filled with decapitated corpses resulting from killing contests the Japanese held among themselves. Other times, the Japanese forced the Chinese to bury each other alive in the dirt. _​​_*I**n the United States, reports published in the New York Times, Reader's Digest and Time Magazine, were greeted with skepticism from the American public. The stories smuggled out of Nanking seemed almost too fantastic to be believed.*]_​

*Event*​*Location*​*From**To**Lowest Death Estimates*​*Highest Death Estimates*​Darfur GenocideDarfur, Sudan2003Present98,000500,000Rohingya GenocideMyanmar2017Present9,00043,000Genocide of Yazidis by the Islamic StateIslamic State-controlled territory in northern Iraq and Syria20142019400010,000Congo (Kivu Genocide)North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo2002200360,00070,000East Timor GenocideEast Timor, Indonesia1975199985,320196,720Massacres of Hutus during the First Congo WarZaire19961997200,000232,000Guatemalan GenocideGuatemala1962199632,632166,000Bosnian GenocideBosnia and Herzegovina19921995Just over 8,00031,107–39,199Rwandan GenocideRwanda19941994491,000800,000Isaaq GenocideSomalia1988199150,000200,000

more Nanking info at my older post here:
_





On this day:


on this day....Darwins....On the Origin of Species was published..... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species He is my hero. I have been working for the last five or six years on Darwin Dope. Looking for that strain that will thrive on neglect. My veg buddy did go a long way in...



rollitup.org




_


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## BarnBuster (Dec 14, 2022)

​


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## raratt (Dec 15, 2022)

AKA tire kicker...


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## FirstCavApache64 (Dec 15, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5238109
> 
> AKA tire kicker...


As a retired Apache Longbow crew chief I can't say thanks enough for this one. Too true on a bunch of them.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 15, 2022)

FirstCavApache64 said:


> As a retired Apache Longbow crew chief I can't say thanks enough for this one. Too true on a bunch of them.


Thanks for your Service.
Your country and I appreciate it much.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 21, 2022)

Today in Military History:

*On December 21, 2003, Time Magazine names "The American Soldier" as Person of the Year*​


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## Greengrouch (Dec 21, 2022)

One thing lots of us forget when we get out are the discounts, thrns out there are a few companies that give them to regular vets not just retirees and actively serving military members. Mostly premium clothing brands but also lowes and Home Depot(excludes construction material), carhartt, Oakley, rayban, and sunglass hut, dc seed exchange also does veteran discounts. I might be seriously mentally ill, but at least I look fresh


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 21, 2022)

Greengrouch said:


> One thing lots of us forget when we get out are the discounts, thrns out there are a few companies that give them to regular vets not just retirees and actively serving military members. Mostly premium clothing brands but also lowes and Home Depot(excludes construction material), carhartt, Oakley, rayban, and sunglass hut, dc seed exchange also does veteran discounts. I might be seriously mentally ill, but at least I look fresh


Good luck brother & thank you for your service.
PTSD is a bitch & I feel ya.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 22, 2022)

Today in Military History:


*Anthony McAuliffe (centre) and his officers in Bastogne, Belgium, December, 1944. The commander of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne would go down in history for his defiant, one syllable reply to a German surrender ultimatum.*​

_In mid-December 1944, Allied forces were surprised by a massive German offensive through the Ardennes Forrest that created a “bulge” in the Allied lines. Caught in what would become known as the “Battle of the Bulge,” the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Armed Forces was holed up in Bastogne while German armored divisions encircled the town. Outnumbered, outgunned, and running out of food, ammunition, and medical supplies, the embattled assistant division commander, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, faced bleak prospects.

*On December 22, the American troops were sent an ultimatum from the German forces outside of the town, demanding “the honorable surrender” of the town within two hours. General McAuliffe reply was brief and succinct:*_

*“To the German Commander:

N U T S !

The American Commander”*​
_Having made their position clear, the Americans dug in and waited for the attack. Contrary to German expectations, the 101st held out and reinforcements arrived in the form of the US Army’s 4th Armored Division. The Battle of the Bulge continued for several more weeks, with thousands of casualties on both sides, but by the end of January 1945, the Allies had retaken all the territory lost to the Germans and were headed toward Berlin._ 









The story of the NUTS! reply


This story retraces the events of December 22nd, 1944 at Bastogne, Belgium, the day we received German surrender ultimatum and issued the subsequent




www.army.mil












Surrounded. Low on supplies. Freezing. The Nazis demanded his surrender. He replied: 'Nuts!"


On Dec. 22, 1944, 4 German soldiers walked to American lines in Bastogne, Belgium with a message asking for surrender. The general said no.




taskandpurpose.com


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## lokie (Dec 22, 2022)

Cut paste from YouTube video 
*Drill Sergeants, What Was The Funniest Thing A Recruit Said?*


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## BarnBuster (Dec 23, 2022)

*USS Pueblo crew members cross the bridge from North Korea at Panmunjom after their release on December 23, 1968. (Pete Vegell/Stars and Stripes*​
*The crew and captain of the U.S. intelligence gathering ship Pueblo are released December 23, 1968, after 11 months imprisonment by the government of North Korea. *_The ship, and its 83-man crew, was seized by North Korean warships on January 23 and charged with intruding into North Korean water_ . _*USS Pueblo remains the second oldest commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy.* However, it is a museum ship in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang._ 









Pueblo crew of 82 freed by N. Korea


The 82 crewmen of the USS Pueblo began their trek to freedom Monday at 11:30 a.m. Korean standard time across a small footbridge nicknamed "the bridge of no return" leading from North Korea to the truce site at Panmunjom.




www.stripes.com


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Dec 23, 2022)

WWII era USCG sail training vessel

Robert Louis Stevenson’s poem, “Christmas at Sea,” was first published on December 22, 1888

Christmas at Sea...

The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seamen scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor'wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.
They heard the surf a-roaring before the break of day;
But 'twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,
And we gave her the maintops'l, and stood by to go about.
All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.
We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard:
So's we saw the cliffs and houses, and the breakers running high,
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.
The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every 'long-shore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.
The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessed Christmas morn,
And the house above the coastguard's was the house where I was born.
O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,
My mother's silver spectacles, my father's silver hair;
And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,
Go dancing round the china-plates that stand upon the shelves.
And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;
And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessed Christmas Day.
They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.
"All hands to loose topgallant sails," I heard the captain call.
"By the Lord, she'll never stand it," our first mate Jackson, cried.
..."It's the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson," he replied.
She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,
And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood.
As the winter's day was ending, in the entry of the night,
We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.
And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,
As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;
But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,
Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.


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## raratt (Dec 24, 2022)




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## curious2garden (Dec 24, 2022)

Greengrouch said:


> One thing lots of us forget when we get out are the discounts, thrns out there are a few companies that give them to regular vets not just retirees and actively serving military members. Mostly premium clothing brands but also lowes and Home Depot(excludes construction material), carhartt, Oakley, rayban, and sunglass hut, dc seed exchange also does veteran discounts. *I might be seriously mentally ill, but at least I look fresh*


My husband would agree  I appreciate most extend the discounts to the spouses too!


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## curious2garden (Dec 24, 2022)

raratt said:


> View attachment 5241294


Until finally they can do everything with nothing, sigh.... My family had it's fair share of Marines.


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## FirstCavApache64 (Dec 24, 2022)

I'd like to wish all my Veteran brothers and sisters a Merry Christmas and a very special Merry Christmas to those who are still serving. I don't remember many Christmas dinners enjoyed with my family when I was active duty and I'm sure the same is true for many of you.
This is a pic of Arlington National Cemetery showing every grave with a wreath. My grandfather and several of my friends are buried there and it's a really amazing thing they do every year. If anybody wants to volunteer to place wreaths at Veterans cemeteries these are the folks that do it. There's also the opportunity to sponsor a wreath if that's what you want to do. This year's event has passed but they do it every year.








American Pride on Display at this Year’s National Wreaths Across America Day Event


More than 2.7 million Sponsored Veterans’ Wreaths were Placed by Volunteers at 3,702 Participating Locations Across the Country




www.wreathsacrossamerica.org


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## raratt (Dec 24, 2022)

FirstCavApache64 said:


> I'd like to wish all my Veteran brothers and sisters a Merry Christmas and a very special Merry Christmas to those who are still serving. I don't remember many Christmas dinners enjoyed with my family when I was active duty and I'm sure the same is true for many of you.
> This is a pic of Arlington National Cemetery showing every grave with a wreath. My grandfather and several of my friends are buried there and it's a really amazing thing they do every year. If anybody wants to volunteer to place wreaths at Veterans cemeteries these are the folks that do it. There's also the opportunity to sponsor a wreath if that's what you want to do. This year's event has passed but they do it every year.
> 
> 
> ...


Merry Christmas Brother.


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## FirstCavApache64 (Dec 24, 2022)

raratt said:


> Merry Christmas Brother.


You too, hope Santa brings you some good garden goodies.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 25, 2022)

​


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## BarnBuster (Dec 26, 2022)

Today in Military History:
​
_During the American Revolution, Patriot General George Washington crosses the Delaware River with 5,400 troops, hoping to surprise a Hessian force celebrating Christmas at their winter quarters in Trenton, New Jersey. The unconventional attack came after several months of substantial defeats for Washington’s army that had resulted in the loss of New York City and other strategic points in the region.

*At about 11 p.m. on Christmas, Washington’s army commenced its crossing of the half-frozen river at three locations*. The 2,400 soldiers led by Washington successfully braved the icy and freezing river and reached the New Jersey side of the Delaware just before dawn. The other two divisions, made up of some 3,000 men and crucial artillery, failed to reach the meeting point at the appointed time.
*
At approximately 8 a.m. on the morning of December 26, Washington’s remaining force, separated into two columns, reached the outskirts of Trenton and descended on the unsuspecting Hessians.* Trenton’s 1,400 Hessian defenders were groggy from the previous evening’s festivities and underestimated the Patriot threat after months of decisive British victories throughout New York. Washington’s men quickly overwhelmed the Germans’ defenses, and by 9:30 a.m. the town was surrounded. Although several hundred Hessians escaped, nearly 1,000 were captured at the cost of only four American lives. However, because most of Washington’s army had failed to cross the Delaware, he was without adequate artillery or men and was forced to withdraw from the town.

The victory was not particularly significant from a strategic point of view, but news of Washington’s initiative raised the spirits of the American colonists, who previously feared that the Continental Army was incapable of victory._ 






10 Facts about Washington's Crossing of the Delaware River


General George Washington and the Continental Army famously crossed the Delaware River on December 25-26, 1776.




www.mountvernon.org


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## Hook Daddy (Dec 26, 2022)

Thought I’d throw this up in here. I made it a while back then a friend and I stained it. It’s going up in the grow room today along with a few other things.


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## BarnBuster (Dec 26, 2022)

a piece of WW2 OSS militaria I have never seen before, check out some of the other OSS items in the auction:








WWII OSS McLAGLEN PESKETT CLOSE COMBAT WEAPON | Centurion Auctions LLC


WWII OSS McLAGLEN PESKETT CLOSE COMBAT WEAPON for auction. WWII OSS McLaglen Peskett "CCW" close combat weapon. Multipurpose weapon machined from a high-grade steel. One piece cylindrical body with annular grooves. At the top end is a weighted steel ball, stamped on the annular protrusion at the...




centurionauctions.hibid.com


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## BarnBuster (Dec 29, 2022)

On this Sad Day in Military History:
 ​
*On December 29, 1890, in one of the final chapters of America’s long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.*

_Throughout 1890, the U.S. government worried about the increasing influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement, which taught that Native Americans had been defeated and confined to reservations because they had angered the gods by abandoning their traditional customs. Many Sioux believed that if they practiced the Ghost Dance and rejected the ways of the white man, the gods would create the world anew and destroy all non-believers, including non-Indians. On December 15, 1890, reservation police tried to arrest Sitting Bull, the famous Sioux leader, who they mistakenly believed was a Ghost Dancer, and killed him in the process, increasing the tensions at Pine Ridge.

On December 29, the U.S. Army’s 7th cavalry surrounded a band of Ghost Dancers under the Sioux Chief Big Foot near Wounded Knee Creek and demanded they surrender their weapons. As that was happening, a fight broke out between an Indian and a U.S. soldier and a shot was fired, although it’s unclear from which side. A brutal massacre followed, in which it’s estimated almost 150 Native Americans were killed (some historians put this number at twice as high), nearly half of them women and children. The cavalry lost 25 men.

The conflict at Wounded Knee was originally referred to as a battle, but in reality it was a tragic and avoidable massacre. Surrounded by heavily armed troops, it’s unlikely that Big Foot’s band would have intentionally started a fight. Some historians speculate that the soldiers of the 7th Cavalry were deliberately taking revenge for the regiment’s defeat at the Little Bighorn in 1876. Whatever the motives, the massacre ended the Ghost Dance movement and was the last major confrontation in America’s deadly war against the Plains Indians.

Conflict came to Wounded Knee again in February 1973 when it was the site of a 71-day occupation by the activist group AIM (American Indian Movement) and its supporters, who were protesting the U.S. government’s mistreatment of Native Americans. During the standoff, two Native Americans were killed, one federal marshal was seriously wounded and numerous people were arrested._

*(18 Medal's of Honor were awarded during this massacre. There is a bill in congress "Remove the Stain Act" to rescind the Medals. bb)*​





'Remove the Stain Act' Moves Forward as House Passes Defense Bill | Currents


WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes legislation to address the slaughter of hundreds of Lakota men, women and children at the Wounded Knee massacre a century ago. ...




nativenewsonline.net












Setting the Record Straight Regarding ‘Remove the Stain Act’


The Honorable John F. Reed, ChairmanThe Honorable James M. Inhofe, Ranking MemberSenate Armed Services CommitteeU.S. SenateWashington, DC 20515 Dear Chairman Reed and Ranking Member Inhofe: I am wr…




armyatwoundedknee.com


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## .The Outdoorsman. (Dec 29, 2022)

BarnBuster said:


> On this Sad Day in Military History:
> View attachment 5242773 View attachment 5242774​
> *On December 29, 1890, in one of the final chapters of America’s long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.*
> 
> ...


Not the right post to rif off, hash oil talking, but fun fact I am published for a native american artifact I found as a kid. Could be 10,000 years old. Knife river flint hide scraper tool, knife river flint comes from western north dakota, found it snorkeling minnesota lake, large knaps suppose to be done by an experienced flint knapper


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## curious2garden (Dec 29, 2022)

.The Outdoorsman. said:


> Not the right post to rif off, hash oil talking, but fun fact I am published for a native american artifact I found as a kid. Could be 10,000 years old. Knife river flint hide scraper tool, knife river flint comes from western north dakota, found it snorkeling minnesota lake, large knaps suppose to be done by an experienced flint knapper


You can't hijack a thread about a fascinating item then not give us pics!! Where's the PICS!


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## raratt (Dec 29, 2022)

I can't knapp during the Flintstones.


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## .The Outdoorsman. (Dec 29, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> You can't hijack a thread about a fascinating item then not give us pics!! Where's the PICS!


I didnt even think about hijacking, let us migrate


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## curious2garden (Dec 29, 2022)

.The Outdoorsman. said:


> I didnt even think about hijacking, let us migrate


ROFLMAO I wasn't commenting about your mens rea as much as your lack of pics!!


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## BarnBuster (Dec 29, 2022)

.The Outdoorsman. said:


> Not the right post to rif off, hash oil talking, but fun fact I am published for a native american artifact I found as a kid. Could be 10,000 years old. Knife river flint hide scraper tool, knife river flint comes from western north dakota, found it snorkeling minnesota lake, large knaps suppose to be done by an experienced flint knapper


we have our own "knapper" here @Blue Wizard


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## curious2garden (Dec 30, 2022)

I bet @raratt is one of the few who knows what this fucking thing is used for. This was the only thing my husband brought home from his 22 years in the USAF. But what he lost in creativity he made up for in volume. I threw hundreds of those mother fuckers away over the past couple of decades.

PS, rat this was the place I found that picture: https://amcmuseum.org/collections/crew-chief-pencil/


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## raratt (Dec 30, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> View attachment 5243301
> 
> I bet @raratt is one of the few who knows what this fucking thing is used for. This was the only thing my husband brought home from his 22 years in the USAF. But what he lost in creativity he made up for in volume. I threw hundreds of those mother fuckers away over the past couple of decades.
> 
> PS, rat this was the place I found that picture: https://amcmuseum.org/collections/crew-chief-pencil/


I learned it was better to carry a regular red pencil because the red end would stab you in the face when you were in the typical awkward positions working on something. No erasers allowed!


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## BarnBuster (Dec 30, 2022)

_.."it rolled around in the back of his van for a few days before he decided to take a closer look.."





UXO News Wire Service (UXO Blog): Man Buys $3 Civil War-era Ordnance from Scrap Yard


Unexploded Ordnance Information (UXOInfo.com) Blog - news and information for the UXO industry: Man Buys $3 Civil War-era Ordnance from Scrap Yard



uxoinfo.com




_
this is a pretty interesting site to sign up for email updates_. _


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## raratt (Dec 30, 2022)

curious2garden said:


> View attachment 5243301
> 
> I bet @raratt is one of the few who knows what this fucking thing is used for. This was the only thing my husband brought home from his 22 years in the USAF. But what he lost in creativity he made up for in volume. I threw hundreds of those mother fuckers away over the past couple of decades.
> 
> PS, rat this was the place I found that picture: https://amcmuseum.org/collections/crew-chief-pencil/


I have one of the two keys with the switch that was used to launch an ICBM. It has the ID tag for the missile complex it came from. It was XB3 so it wasn't tracked. I could probably get some good money for it on Ebay, but I won't sell it. It's a reminder of the fun I had under Kansas.


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## lokie (Dec 31, 2022)

A Gentleman Pirate.


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## .The Outdoorsman. (Dec 31, 2022)

raratt said:


> I have one of the two keys with the switch that was used to launch an ICBM. It has the ID tag for the missile complex it came from. It was XB3 so it wasn't tracked. I could probably get some good money for it on Ebay, but I won't sell it. It's a reminder of the fun I had under Kansas.


 singed up for an army recruit info paper work. Army recruit came to my door after i smoked a J. Are you "my name". I looked to my left, looked my right. Whos asking? Oh just seeing you singed up for the army questionare. Tripped me out, thought i was getting drafted. Would have serverd if they let me smoke in my free time. I can shoot the tits off a jack rabbit at 100 yards. Props to those that searved. Respect.


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## .The Outdoorsman. (Dec 31, 2022)

Quoted you @raratt my bad


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## raratt (Dec 31, 2022)

These were my jobsites. They were scattered around the farmland in Kansas.


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## raratt (Dec 31, 2022)

.The Outdoorsman. said:


> Quoted you @raratt my bad


You can edit a post.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 3, 2023)

@raratt - seen many of these?
Don't bother running if you're on the hard deck.


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## raratt (Jan 3, 2023)

GreatwhiteNorth said:


> @raratt - seen many of these?
> Don't bother running if you're on the hard deck.
> 
> View attachment 5244589


Been inside of one at Hurlburt field. Saw one at the range there also doing the slow left turns and burning stupid amounts of gunpowder. The control capsule slides in the cargo bay and looks like a box. IR cameras and laser guidance for the guns. I'd hate to have the job of chucking shells into the 105. There is a pad on the floor with a seatbelt to hold the guy in place. The rounds have proximity fuses and one malfunctioned during the gulf war and detonated after it left the barrel, blew the wing off. The trip to Hurlburt was kind of a boondoggle when I was an instructor. We went to the Naval Air Museum at Pensacola while we were down there. Highly recommended. They had a flight of Blue Angels hanging from the ceiling.


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## injinji (Jan 3, 2023)

wascaptain said:


> getting my christmas cheer run going.
> 
> had to take a few drips and rips along way.
> View attachment 5236422
> 3 cheers for all our veterns here and there!


My BIL got a small still for Christmas this year. He is buying cheap wine and practicing making brandy for now.


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## injinji (Jan 3, 2023)

BarnBuster said:


> On this Sad Day in Military History:
> View attachment 5242773 View attachment 5242774​
> *On December 29, 1890, in one of the final chapters of America’s long Indian wars, the U.S. Cavalry kills 146 Sioux at Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.*
> 
> ...


I'm still pissed with the Cherokee for siding with Jackson against the Creek at Horseshoe Bend. (I'm 98.5% western european and my creek cousins were not even red sticks, but I still find it hard to forgive and forget)


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## raratt (Jan 3, 2023)

I like a long FOD walk in the rain...



I'm just a romantic at heart.


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## GreatwhiteNorth (Jan 4, 2023)

Our longest FOD walk was the length of the (Helo) flight deck on ships.


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## curious2garden (Jan 4, 2023)

raratt said:


> I like a long FOD walk in the rain...
> 
> View attachment 5244654
> 
> I'm just a romantic at heart.


My husband got in trouble regularly because he wouldn't pick up cigarette butts. He said he didn't smoke them so he wasn't cleaning them up


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## raratt (Jan 4, 2023)

curious2garden said:


> My husband got in trouble regularly because he wouldn't pick up cigarette butts. He said he didn't smoke them so he wasn't cleaning them up


I always had the smokers clean up around the smoke pit for that very reason.


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## raratt (Jan 4, 2023)




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## BarnBuster (Jan 8, 2023)

*U.S. Air Force Maj. Katie Lunning of the 133rd Medical Group receives the Distinguished Flying Cross Decoration from Lt. Gen. Michael Loh on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, in St. Paul. Lunning was presented the nation’s highest-flying award for her extraordinary actions during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021*

​








MN Air National Guard member receives Distinguished Flying Cross for efforts after Kabul Airport bombing


Katie Lunning is the first Air National Guard flight nurse to receive the award.




www.twincities.com


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## curious2garden (Monday at 7:36 AM)

BarnBuster said:


> View attachment 5246552
> *U.S. Air Force Maj. Katie Lunning of the 133rd Medical Group receives the Distinguished Flying Cross Decoration from Lt. Gen. Michael Loh on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2023, in St. Paul. Lunning was presented the nation’s highest-flying award for her extraordinary actions during the evacuation of Kabul, Afghanistan on Aug. 26, 2021*
> 
> View attachment 5246553​
> ...


I think they should have also given the DFC to the female pilot who when told she had too much weight to make it off the runaway replied, "Watch me".


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## BarnBuster (Monday at 7:52 AM)

curious2garden said:


> I think they should have also given the DFC to the female pilot who when told she had too much weight to make it off the runaway replied, "Watch me".


was that the C-17 that had 800 SOB?


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## BarnBuster (Tuesday at 8:49 AM)

36 Min in:








Antiques Roadshow | PBS


Kick off season 27 with fascinating Filoli finds from Woodside, CA including a 1928 English sterling silver horse, a Pairpoint puffy owl lamp, ca. 1907, a...



www.pbs.org





Col. Robert Lewis Stirm
​


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