Veterans...Get the hell in here now!

raratt said:

Start cart for SR-71. Sound on, not quite the same as being there...lol.

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Different context but also a cool sound

cannabineer said:

Different context but also a cool sound

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I got chills - had to listen to it a couple of times (at large increments of increasing volume).

WOW!

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)

So, hypothetically, how many RPG's would it take to remove a face from Mt Rushmore? Asking for a friend.

raratt said:

So, hypothetically, how many RPG's would it take to remove a face from Mt Rushmore? Asking for a friend.

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One

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.

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

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I wonder how it took to flying

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

Today in Military History:


"The Hardest Day is a Second World War air battle fought on 18 August 1940 during the Battle of Britain between 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:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hardest_Day

Highway to the vomit zone

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.

How many of us have Dad's knife? Saw this today:

WW2 Nose art

those remind me of the gun trucks in Vietnam....