Category Archives: Vietnam
A Christmas Tradition from the Pacific
Soldier in Japan delivers presents as ‘Father Christmas’
After 71 years, a yearly tradition continued with the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and 25th Infantry Division all joining forces on December 4 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, to wrap presents to ship to the Holy Family Home in Japan.
The 25th Infantry Division shared photos of soldiers taking part in the annual tradition, tweeting, “It’s a long standing tradition, and it just goes to show that it doesn’t matter what nation you’re from, in the bigger picture, people help people.”
4 Dec. 2020, presents for orphans, (pic by: SSgt. Thomas Calvert
On Christmas Day in 1949, the 27th Infantry Regiment “Wolfhounds” were overwhelmed by the sight of tiny, barefoot children living in the decaying Holy Family orphanage in Osaka, Japan. The soldiers accompanied a Red Cross representative to the crumbling home that was brimming with underfed children in ragged clothes.
Sgt. Hugh Francis Xavior O’Reilly was still raw from the battlefield in those cold winter months following the end of World War II, but the site of those Japanese orphans provided the soldier with a new, gentler perspective.
The following payday, O’Reilly led the Wolfhounds in collecting donations for the struggling orphanage and donated what they could on New Year’s morning.
But for the Wolfhounds, that just wasn’t enough.
Soldiers and their families wrapping presents
Over the next year, the 27th continued to collect funds for the orphaned Japanese children, and by the time Christmas 1950
Soldiers writing out cards to send to Japan
rolled around, the Wolfhounds dragged a sleigh filled with supplies and toys, along with “Father Christmas.”
Now 71 years later, the 27th is still at it.
While the coronavirus pandemic did prevent the soldiers from hand-delivering the gifts to the children at the orphanage, over 600 gifts were wrapped and shipped the roughly 4,000 miles from the soldiers’ base in Hawaii to the Holy Family home in Osaka.
MARINES ALSO DELIVER AN EARLY CHRISTMAS TO AN ORPHANAGE IN SOUTH KOREA!
A couple of children happily receive toys at Jacob’s House orphanage, Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Dec. 22, 2013. Over 300 toys were donated by U.S. military personnel stationed in South Korea.
ARMANDO R. LIMON/STARS AND STRIPES
Pacific Paratrooper has also had their own tradition during Christmas…
TO ALL THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN FREEDOM AND PEACE: MERRY CHRISTMAS!! FROM: PACIFIC PARATROOPER!!
PLEASE… REMEMBER THOSE THAT FOUGHT FOR US IN THE PAST…
[To see the pictures that accompany the past and present – CLICK HERE!]
AND THOSE WHO CONTINUE TO PROTECT US TODAY!!!
AND FOR THOSE SPECIAL PEOPLE WHO WAIT PATIENTLY AT HOME…
TO ALL THOSE WHO DO NOT CELEBRATE THIS HOLIDAY … I WISH YOU THE WARMTH AND PEACEFUL CONTENTMENT THAT ARE REPRESENTED BY THIS SEASON !!!
Click on still images to enlarge.
Military Christmas Humor –
Easton, MD–Dec. 22, 2011–This is a Christmas display at the home of Tom and Alice Blair, which includes an F 104 jet, Santa and his sleigh, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, etc. staff photo/Barbara Haddock Taylor} [Sun Photographer] #9306
Aboard the USS Nimitz
Yank mag. 24 Dec. 1943
Farewell Salutes –
Francis Borgstrom – Forsythe, MT; USMC, WWII, PTO
Mamie (Weber) Cook – Deerfield, MO; Civilian, WWII, B-29 riveter
Robert Dutton – Niagara Falls, NY; US Army, WWII
Raymond Erickson – Orton Flat, SD; US Navy, WWII, PBY communications crewman
Alfred T. Farrar (100) – Lynchburg, VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII / FAA engineer
Wesley Grace – Chicago, IL; US Army, WWII, ETO, mine clearing
Paul T. Ichiuji – Pacific Grove, CA; US Army, WWII, MISer (Intelligence)
James Mackey – Windsor, CT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, aircraft mechanic
Alfred Shehab – Cape May, NJ; US Army, WWII, ETO, 102nd Calvary, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Lt. Col. (Ret. 21 y.) / NASA
Lloyd Zett – Loretta, WI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ATO, aircraft mechanic (Nome)
Pre-Christmas post from Star and Stripes – 75th Anniversary
In The Past
1964, a Vietnam Christmas for Bob Hope
Bob Hope brings Christmas cheer to troops in Vietnam
1964 | BIEN HOA, South Vietnam — Bob Hope brought some laughter to a place of war Christmas Eve.
Residents of an outer island of Palau retrieve boxes from the U.S. Air Force’s 1999 Christmas drop.
Airmen prepare for annual Christmas gift drop to Pacific islanders
2005 | ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam — Airmen geared up to deliver items to Pacific islanders who can only dream of department stores.
Santa Claus hands out presents to the men of Detachment 35, Company B, 5th Special Forces Group, in Vietnam at the end of 1968. The Air Force lent Santa six C7 Caribou cargo planes for his deliveries in Vietnam. The planes enabled him to visit some 50 isolated outposts – such as this Special Forces camp in Nahon Cho, 80 miles northeast of Saigon – from Dec. 24th until late in the afternoon Christmas day.
JAMES LINN/STARS AND STRIPES |
Eight deer traded in for 6 ‘Santabou’ in waning days of 1968
1968 | NHON CHO, Vietnam — Santa’s reindeer were constantly bogged down in mud and his sleigh broke on the bumpy, snowless airstrips. The Air Force lent Santa six C7 Caribou cargo planes for his deliveries in Vietnam.
In The Present
Staff Sgt. Hector Frietze, right, and Senior Airman John Allum, left, 36th Airlift Squadron loadmasters, wave to the people of the Island of Angaur, Republic of Palau, during the first bundle airdrops of Operation Christmas Drop 2020, Dec. 6. OCD is the world’s longest running airdrop training mission, allowing the U.S. and its allies to deliver food, tools and clothing to the people who live on remote islands in the South-Eastern Pacific region. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Spalding)
SE PACIFIC – OPERATION CHRISTMAS DROP
Deployed
Service members serve on all seven continents — there is one service member in Antarctica — and on all the seas. Military personnel serve in more than 170 countries.
Service members deployed around the world during Christmas:
- Afghanistan: 14,000
- Bahrain: 7,000
- Iraq: 5,200
- Jordan: 2,795
- Kuwait: 13,000
- Oman: 300
- Qatar: 13,000
- Saudi Arabia: 3,000
- Syria: Unknown
- Turkey: Unknown
- United Arab Emirates: 5,0000
Sailors will man their ships from the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Mexico. Navy officials maintain that roughly a third of the Navy is deployed at any one time.
Air Force missileers and airmen are in the silos, by the planes and in the command centers ensuring the nuclear system is ready if needed.
And Please remember the military families !
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Military Christmas Humor –
Humor from deployed Marines
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Farewell Salutes –
Bennie Adkins – Waurika, OK; US Army, Vietnam, Sgt. (Ret. 22 y.), Green Beret, Silver Star, Purple Heart
Bon Nell Bentley – Russellville, AR; Civilian, riveter / US Navy WAVE, WWII / USN nurse / Civilian, nurse w/ Veterans Admin. (Ret. 30 y.)
Pedro ‘Pete’ Coronel – Hereford, AZ; US Army, WWII, PTO, 7th Cavalry, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Lee E. James (106) – Spearman, TX; US Army, WWII, CBI, Colonel (Ret. 27 y.)
William Kinney – Toledo, OH; US Navy, WWII
Levi A. Presley – Crestview, FL; US Army, Sgt. 1st Class
Louis Pugh – Courtdale, PA; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT, 2 Bronze Stars, Purple Heart
Jesse O. Sandlin – Granby, VA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, pilot, 8th AF / Korea, Lt. Colonel (Ret. 28 y.)
Owen Tripp – Tacoma, WA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Bronze Star
Donald Urquhart – New Orleans, LA; US Army, WWII, 81st Infantry Division, Purple Heart
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Thanksgiving from: Pacific Paratrooper
Rakkasans of today.
187th RCT
I WISH TO EXPRESS MY THANKS FOR EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU !!! AND MAY WE ALL BE THANKFUL FOR THOSE VETERANS WHO FIGHT FOR US !!!
US troops in Afghanistan give thanks.
Thanksgiving during WWII…
They’re celebrating Thanksgiving on this very day,
My thoughts are at home, though I’m far away;
I can see everyone, eating dinner deluxe,
Whether it be chicken, turkey or even duck;
The fellows over here won’t whimper or moan,
They’ll look to the next one and hope to be home.
Truly and honestly, from way down deep,
They want you to be happy and enjoy your feast.
These holidays are remembered by one and all,
Those happy days we can always recall.
The ones in the future, will be happier, I know
When we all come back from defeating the foe.
_______Poem by an Anonymous WWII Veteran
For those of you living where there is no official Thanksgiving Day on this date – look around – family, friends, Freedom and life itself – all enough to give thanks for each day !
FROM: PACIFIC PARATROOPER – May you all have a happy and healthy Holiday Season !!
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Please be considerate to those who may not be celebrating…..
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Thanksgiving Humor –
Army turkey
US Navy turkey?
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Farewell Salutes –
Holland ‘Dutch’ Chinn (100) – brn: CHI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, mechanic
Denzel Clouse – Terre Haute, IN; US Army, WWII, ETO / Treasury Dept.
Edward Debrowski – Donora, PA; US Navy, WWII, 2nd Class Petty Officer, USS Shannon
Julia Garcia – San Francisco, CA; Civilian, WWII, welder
Harold ‘Hal’ Jackson – Davenport, IA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, pilot
Thomas Ligotti (105) – Buffalo, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, 70th Engineers
Jennings Mitchell – Athens, AL; US Merchant Marines, WWII, Academy graduate
Eugene O’Thomas – Detroit, MI; US Army, WWII, Signal Corps
William Sawyer – Bleffton, IN; US Army, WWII, ATO, Medic (Ret. 20+ y.)
Ronald Webster – Roxbury, KS; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI
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From: Pacific Paratrooper
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Veterans Day 2020 Remembrance and Gratitude
My post for this Veterans Day is dedicated to Sgt. Walter Morgan Bryant Jr., USMC; R.I.P my dear friend!
… there is an old Marine poem… it says: ‘When I get to heaven, To St. Peter I will tell, Another Marine reporting sir, I’ve served my time in hell.” ______ Eugene Sledge, USMC veteran of Peleliu & Okinawa
For the U.S. Marine Birthday, 10 November – CLICK HERE!!
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young Marine saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.
I thought, how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?
How many Pilots’ planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, Freedom is not free.
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant “Amen”
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
at the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, Freedom isn’t free!!
by: Kelly Strong, posted at vietvet.org
For Remembrance of the Pacific War, from: “The Voice of the Angels” newspaper of the 11th Airborne Association
For All Those In Free Countries Celebrating Remembrance 0r Poppy Day
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For The Military Today –
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert Avrutik – Yonkers, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, radioman
Grover “Spook” Browning – Newdale, ID; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart
Anthony Colavito – West Calwell, NJ; US Army, WWII, PTO, demolition
James Dunn – Lubbock, TX; US Navy, WWII, Purser, USS Franklin
Morris Horton – Sidney, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. F/187/11th Airborne Division
Adrian Miller – Winamac, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 101st Airborne Division
Albert Sakey – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII, ATO & PTO, PT-boat radioman
Ottis Stout (101) – TX & CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-17 tail gunner
James Thomas – Dry Ridge, KY; US Army, 188/11th Airborne Division
Paul W. Wilkins – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., B Co./1/21/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Choch’iwan, SK)
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I have a list of parades and celebrations, if anyone is interested, tell me where you’ll be 11 November 2020 and I will see if I can locate one near you!!
No Veteran Should Be Without a Place to Call Home
Free Help for Homeless Veterans Dial 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838) for 24/7 access to VA services for homeless and at-risk Veterans
Homeless Veteran Chat Confidential, 24/7 online support for homeless Veterans and friends
https://www.va.gov/homeless for more information
Are You a Veteran in Crisis or Concerned About One?
Did you know that VA offers same day services in Primary Care and Mental Health at 172 VA Medical Centers across the country? Make the Connection Resource Locator
Contact the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1, Chat, or Text 838255.)
Don’t know what number to call?
1-800-MyVA411 (800-698-2411) is never the wrong number
Have a concern, compliment, or recommendation for VA?
Call the White House VA Hotline at 1-855-948-2311
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Current News – Missing In Action
Video from the U.S. Army, filmed 2 weeks ago.
Right now, there are about 82,000 total people still missing from every major conflict since World War II. Of those, 81 are from Nevada. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is a government agency that is actively searching for all of those people.
The DPAA is working to get DNA swabs of family members related to those missing so that if and when they’re found, they can be identified. They then work to actually locate the remains of the people missing.
Last year, 217 people were found and identified. About 75% of those are former unknown soldiers. The DPAA researches what is known about the unknown soldiers, then if they are confident they can identify them positively, they’re able to do DNA testing on the remains.
The other way MIA are identified is through a search. The DPAA researches anything from where the person was last seen to where planes went down to where major battles were fought. They conduct interviews with any witnesses then determine the best area to search. Then, they bring in teams of dozens of people and dig for about a month, hoping to find any human remains. Even if it’s just a tooth, that’s all it takes to ID a person and solve the mystery of what happened to them.
The DPAA held a meeting in Henderson to update local families on their loved ones’ cases. Attendees heard updates on new technology being used to search and their own personal cases. There were also chances for family members to give DNA swabs.
For the families of the POWs and/or MIAs – CONTACT
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert C. Agard Jr. – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., 2/24/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Taejon, SK
Jacob Cruz – Los Angeles, CA; USMC, WWII, Pvt., Co. D/1/6/2nd Marine
HONOR
Division, KIA (Tarawa)
Elmer E. Drefahl – USA; USMC, WWII, Cpl., USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Henry E. Ellis – USA; USMC, Korea, Pfc., HQ Co./1/1st Marine Division, KIA (Koto-Ri, NK)
Harry Gravelyn (101) – Grand Rapids, MI; US Army, WWII, Captain, Co. D/331/83rd Division
Jesse D. Hill – Highland Park, MI; US Army, Korea, Sgt., Co. C/1/32/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)
Marilyn Mackson – Lansing, MI; US Army WAC, WWII, Signal Corps decoder
Aurekui Ortiz – San Diego, CA; US Army, Korea, HQ Co./2/187th RCT
Joseph Pincinotti – Charleroi, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. D/457 Artillery/11th Airborne Division
Jimmy Young – Johnson City, TN; US Army, 89th Artillery, 11th Airborne Division
[The MIA’s recovered from the Korean War, and gradually being identified to come home, have been made possible by the joint talks between President Trump and North Korea]
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National Airborne Day 16 August 2020 80 years
The history of United States Airborne Forces did not begin on the training fields of Fort Benning, Georgia, as some believe. In fact, the origin of Airborne Forces in the U.S. military began with a familiar name to American military history, Brigadier General William L. “Billy” Mitchell (1879-1936).
As well as being considered the spiritual father of the United States Air Force, which he advocated for fiercely during his tenure in the military, BG Mitchell was the first to imagine airborne tactics and sought the creation of U.S. Airborne Forces.
Billy Mitchell
It is not recorded exactly when he organized a demonstration of Airborne Infantry for U.S., Russian and German observers. However, according to records at Ft. Benning, Georgia, it is confirmed that BG Mitchell held the demonstration “shortly after World War I” at Kelly Field, in San Antonio, Texas. During the demonstration, six soldiers parachuted from a Martin Bomber. After landing safely, the soldiers assembled their weapons and were ready for action in less than three minutes after they exited the aircraft.
Reprinted and broadcast countless times, High Flight is regarded as one of the world’s great war poems and the greatest anthem of aviation. It is the official poem of the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Air Force. First year cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy are required to memorize it. Extracts have been quoted in a variety of occasions. The most famous example occurred on Jan. 28, 1986, when President Ronald Reagan, speaking of the Challenger, Space Shuttle disaster, closed his address with the sentence: “We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of Earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’”
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. Hov’ring 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 nor 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.
– Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr.
AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY !
These men with silver wings
Troopers from the sky above
In whom devotion springs
What spirit so unites them?
In brotherhood they say
Their answer loud and clear.
“Airborne All the WAY!”
These are the men of danger
As in open door they stand
With static line above them
And ripcord in their hand.
While earthbound they are falling
A silent prayer they say
“Lord be with us forever,
Airborne All the Way.”
One day they’ll make their final jump
Saint Mike will tap them out
The good Lord will be waiting
He knows what they’re about
And answering in unison
He’ll hear the troopers say
“We’re glad to be aboard, Sir,
Airborne All the Way!”
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Military, Airborne Humor –
Para-Toast.
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert Abney – Richmond, IN; US Army, Vietnam, 173rd Airborne Division, Purple Heart
Lynn Adams – Pocatello, ID; US Army, Vietnam, 82nd Airborne Division
James Cook – OH; US Army Air Corps, Japan Occupation, 11th Airborne Division
William Farrell – Augusta, GA; US Army, WWII & Korea, 504/82nd Airborne Division, US Army War College grad, Capt. (Ret. 20 y.)
Trevor Goldyn – USA; USMC, Bahrain, Sgt., 5th Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Albert Hayden – Capr Giradeau County, MO; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Hershel Hegwoods – Forest, MS; US Army Air Corps, WWII, 11th Airborne Division, Purple Heart
John Latham (100) – Chicago, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-17 mechanic, TSgt. (Ret.)
Debrah Lepley – Coshocton, OH; US Army, 101st Airborne Division
Allan Stoll – Bossier City, LA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO
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Current News – Lee Greenwood & the Air Force Band Singing Sergeants
Home Free – Greenwood & the Air Force Band Singing Sergeants
The traditional rendition of country music singer Lee Greenwood’s iconic “God Bless the U.S.A.,” already has a broad appeal as an uplifting song inspiring patriotism and love of country.
It’s likely you have listened to the song in recent days as Americans celebrated the 244th birthday of our nation on Independence Day.
But a stirring new version of the song that features members of the U.S. Air Force Band joining Greenwood and a cappella group Home Free has been produced that might just blow you away.
Recordings were done during the corona virus pandemic in studios in Nashville, Tenn., Los Angeles, Calif., Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis, Minn. There are no guitars, drums, keyboards, but the sound is unbelievably full and strong.
If you like a cappella, and if you’re a fan of military members in uniform with a talent to sing, you will very likely love this new rendition of a song that has been a perennial favorite since 1984.
Give it a listen. We got this article and song from “Stars & Stripes”
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Military Humor – from Stars & Stripes –
“Shape up or ship out …..”
“Snap out of it Ed … other guys have received ‘Dear Johns’.
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert Alleyne – Brooklyn, NY; US Army, WWII, ETO, Sgt.
David “Bill” Breen – Elsmere, KY; US Navy, WWII, SeaBees
Mary Cecce – Bath, NY; Civilian, WWII, Mercury Aircraft
Thomas W. Chase (100) – Warroad, MI; US Navy, WWII / Honeywell Aerospace
David Geiser – Waukon, IA; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Richard L. Henderson Jr. – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., HQ Battery/57 FAB/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)
William Kovaly – Bound Brook, NJ; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Cabot
William H. Melville – USA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 2nd Lt., P-39Q pilot, 38/8th Fighter Group, KIA (New Guinea)
Francis J. Rochon – Superior, WI; US Army, Korea, Cpl., Co. C/1/23/2nd Infantry Division, KIA (Changnyeong, SK)
Donald Slessler – Belchertown, MA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Chief Warrant Officer (Ret. 36 y.)
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The Most Dangerous Paper Route in the World
Stars and Stripes, which dates back to the Civil War, has published continuously since World War II. In 2010, the paper won a prestigious George Polk Award for revealing the Defense Department’s use of a public relations firm that profiled reporters and steered them toward favorable coverage of the war in Afghanistan. In 2015, the publication broke the news that NBC anchor Brian Williams had exaggerated a story about his reporting in Iraq. Much of the day-to-day coverage is news of direct concern to service members and their families: pay and benefits, life on base and in the field, the real people behind the global geopolitics.
Central Command Area of Responsibility (Apr. 4, 2003) — Command Sgt. Maj. John Sparks, delivers copies of Stars and Stripes to U.S. Marines from Weapons Platoon, 3-2 India Company. The Marines are part of Task Force Tarawa, deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. USMC photo by 1st Sgt. David K. Dismukes.
The paper is a modern multimedia operation with a website, a social media presence and a couple of podcasts, and the print edition reaches troops in parts of the world where Internet access is absent.
“I remember being in al-Anbar and Haditha and picking up Stars and Stripes in the middle of a war zone,” says Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), one of Moulton’s committee colleagues and a fellow Marine veteran. “I didn’t have a cellphone. Access to the Internet was very limited. But with every mail delivery there came a Stars and Stripes, and I was able to keep connected to the world.”
“Stars and Stripes kept our spirits up and kept us informed at some of the most difficult times,” says Moulton, who served four tours of duty in Iraq. “Just knowing they were out there doing their job — looking out for us by doggedly pursuing the truth — gave us more faith in our work and reinforced the values we were literally putting our lives on the line for.”
The paper’s publisher, Max Lederer, said, “You can give a service member the best gun in the world, but if his mind is elsewhere — if he’s worried about things at home — then he’s not going to be as good a soldier, and part of our role is to provide that information to give him a sense of comfort.”
Bill Mauldin
“This service cannot be duplicated in the private sector and should be maintained,” Thornberry said in a statement to The Post. “Ultimately, ‘Stripes’ should be preserved, but the business model will have to change so that the program can be maintained without taxing DOD resources.” But Thornberry concedes the fundamental point: “Stars and Stripes performs a useful function for men and women in uniform, particularly those who are forward deployed with limited access to news.” As Gates puts it, “Nobody else covers the Defense Department schools in Japan.”
Star and Stripes faces challenges, and rewards, every day in producing a newspaper for hundreds of thousands of service members, their families and other DoD employees deployed around the world, and in delivering that paper to its readers, including those in dangerous war and contingency areas.
1945 Stars & Stripes
Stripes’ allegiance to independent news – uncensored by military command influence – has established a unique, trusting relationship between the paper and its readers that is like no other. Readers trust Stripes to tell the truth, even though it has the conflicting challenge of delivering First Amendment-protected news while technically part of the Department of Defense.
If you wish to contact Stars & Stripes – Click Here!
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Military Humor – Stars & Stripes style –
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Farewell Salutes –
Norbert T. Beck – Suffolk, Va; US Army, WWII
Reine Corbeil – MT; US Navy, SeaBee engineer
Iraq
King Dixon – SC; USMC (Ret. 22 y.), Bronze Star / SC football star & coach
E.G. Galarosa – Sta.Magdalena Soraogon, PI; US Army/Philippine Scouts, WWII, POW
Angelo ‘Buck’ Godici – Southington, CT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO
Charles Hogan – Vancouver, CAN; Allied International Service, WWII, PTO
Hugh Moore – Tomahawk, WI; US Navy, WWII, USS Wolverine
Frank E. Petersen Jr. – Topeka, KS; USMC, Korea & Vietnam, LT.General (Ret. 38 y.)
John M. Robertson – Camden, AR; US Air Force, Vietnam, pilot, Colonel (Ret. 23 y.)
Robert Sandona – Rockford, IL; US Navy, WWII, USS James C. Owens
Gerald Winters – Glen Falls, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Tower Operator
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JULY 4, For those who sacrifice for the freedoms you so enjoy!
Somehow this post went backwards 8 months, so I’m reblogging it.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY U.S.A.
Let’s show our support!
In Vietnam, Korea and World Wars Past
Our Men Fought Bravely so Freedom Would Last
Conditions Where Not Always Best They Could Be
Fighting a Foe You Could Not Always See:
From Mountain Highs to Valley Lows
From Jungle Drops to Desert Patrols
Our Sinewy Sons Were Sent Over Seas
Far From Their Families And Far From Their Dreams
They Never Wrote Letters Of Hardships Despair
Only Of Love, Yearning That One Day Soon:
They Would Come Home, They Would Resume
And Carry On With The Rest of Their Lives
The P.O.W.¹S Stood Steadfast
Break time for the prisoners.
by: Ben Steele, POW
Against the Indignities And Cruelties Of War
They Could Not Have Lasted as Long as They Did
If They Had Relinquished Their Hope That Some Day:
They Would Come Home, They Would Resume
And Carry On the Rest Of Their…
View original post 396 more words
Memorial Day + “You Are Not Forgotten” book review
From Arlington to remote prairie shrines to foreign fields, America provides a resting place for her fallen. Now, on this poignant 25th day of May, we revive the memory of those heroes, though we should honor them every day. Long after the agony of Bunker Hill, Heartbreak Ridge, Normandy, the Chosin Reservoir, the Tet Offensive and Bagdad, the dead lie in peace. They and their comrades have left us names the world should never forget. Make certain they did not die in vain.
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“You Are Not Forgotten”
Two men, their lives separated by over 60 years, became forever intertwined.
“You Are Not Forgotten” shows the inspiration and commitment of the American military. For this nonfiction story, it goes from the Pacific in WWII to a memory and experience of Iraq.
A USMC, F4U Corsair pilot, Major Marion ‘Ryan’ McCown, is lost during a battle over New Guinea and the jungle swallows all trace of him on 20 January 1944.
Over 60 years later, U.S. Army Major George Eyster V, despite coming from a long ancestry of military officers, became disillusioned after serving in Iraq. Instead of ending his career, he joined the JPAC (Joint Pow/MIA Accounting Command), a division whose sole purpose is to leave no man behind. With the author, Bryan Bender, at the helm, he brings these two lives together with researched firsthand information.
Read how facts and clues are pieced together to locate those that have fallen and that we so wish to remember and honor today.
This book was gifted to me from Judy Guion of the Greatest Generation Lessons, who found this book not only fascinating, but educational. Thank you very much, Judy.
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GP Cox’s Veterans
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Farewell Salutes –
Iona Anderson – Garber, IA; Womens USMC, WWII, Sgt.
Trevarius Bowman – Spartansburg, SC; US National Guard, Afghanistan, 1st Lt., 228th Tactical Signal Brigade
Peter Clark Jr. – Menasha, WI, USMC, WWII
Henry Hoffman III – Brooklyn, NY; US Army Air Corps, Japan Occupation, 11th Airborne Division
Charles Jackson – Thackerville, OK; US Coast Guard, (Ret.28 y.)
Moyne Linscott – Sumner, MO; US Army Air Corps, Japan Occupation, 1127 Airborne Engineers/11th Airborne Division
WWII Memorial poem at Arlington Cemetery
John Myers – Toledo, OH; US Coast Guard, WWII / US Army, Korea, mine sweeper
William Opalka – Chicago, IL; US Merchant Marines, WWII
Terrance Plank – Santa Cruz, CA; US Army, Vietnam, medic, 3/506/101st Airborne Division, Purple Heart, Bronze Star
Gene Vance – Garner, TX; US Navy, WWII, PTO / US Army, Vietnam, 11th Airborne Div. & 10th Special Forces Group, Sgt. Major (Ret.) / FAA
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courtesy of fellow blogger, Patty B.
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