Fourth of July

 Red Skelton is amazing here – Please watch and have a happy and safe 4th of July!!

God Bless Our Troops

THE SOLDIER’S POEM

When this is over

And we come home again,

Forget the band

And cheers from the stand;

Just have the things

Well in hand –

The things we fought for.

UNDERSTAND?

                                                                                 _____Pfc C.G. Tiggas

♣

♥

ONLY A SAILOR

He’s only a sailor on the boundless deep,

Under foreign skies and tropical heat.

Only a sailor on the rolling deep,

In summer rain and winter sleet.

____Unknown

Remember when it was popular to be patriotic?  We had fun back then!!

Parades and picnics!!

Even the kids got involved!

 

 

Please remember that fireworks can cause PTSD reactions.  Please be considerate.  Thank you.

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Fourth of July – Humor or Truth ?

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Kenneth Alsdurf – Syracuse, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 11th Airborne Division

Phyllis Cox Birney – Floral City, FL; Civilian US Army & Air Force employee (Ret.)

Ray Flow – Broadway, NC; US Army

Dick Hickman – Louisville, KY; US Air Force, Vietnam, MSgt. (Ret), Bronze Star

Paul Hubble (103) – W.Palm Beach, FL; US Navy, WWII

Jack Jennings – Bronx, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Lt.Col. (Ret. 30 yr.), fighter pilot

Cyril Maceyka – Waltham, MA; USMC, WWII, PTO

Oiva Pakka – Butte, MT; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, 1st LT., B-29 navigator

Kenneth Steele – Kansas City, MI; US Navy, WWII, ETO

Franklin Trapkin – Ramsey, NJ; US Army, WWII

Robert Uhlman – Des Moines, IA; USMC, WWII, PTO

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U.S. Army’s 242nd Birthday / Flag Day

THE U.S. ARMY

AMERICA’S FIRST NATIONAL INSTITUTION

U.S. Army uniforms through the years

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FLAG DAY 

Today is Flag Day, an annual observance of the Second Continental Congress’ official adoption of the stars and stripes in 1777. At the time, they “resolved that the flag of the 13 United States” be represented by 13 alternating red and white stripes and the union by 13 white stars in a blue field, “representing a new constellation.” Now, more than 200 years later and with an updated design, the flag is an American icon.  Unfortunately, Pennsylvania is the only state to recognize it as a legal holiday.

U.S. Army Sergeant Joey Odoms’ audition to sing the National Anthem from Afghanistan. On  10 November 2016, he performed in Baltimore, Maryland.

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Farewell Salutes – 

Dillion Baldridge – Youngsville, NC; US Army, Afghanistan, 101st Airborne Division, Cpl., KIA

William Bays- Barstow, CA; US Army, Afghanistan, 101st Airborne Division, Sgt., KIA

Eric Houck – Baltimore, MD; US Army, Afghanistan, 101st Airborne Division, Sgt., KIA

R. Patrick McGinley – Plainville, CT; US Army, 11th Airborne Division

Robert ‘Allen’ O’Berry – Kissimmee, FL; US Army, Sgt. (Ret. 20 yrs.)

Marcella Remery – W.Palm Beach, FL; US Army WAC

Harold Roland Jr. – Atlanta, GA; US Army, Korea, 82nd Airborne Division

Richard Stackhouse – Indianapolis, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Lt., B-24 bombardier

Robert Wilke Sr. – Owens Cross Roads, AL; US Army, Vietnam, Lt.Colonel, Bronze Star, Purple Heart

Samuel Wilson – Rice, VA; WWII & Vietnam, ‘Merrill’s Marauders, Lt. General (Ret. 37 yrs.), Silver Star (2), Bronze Star (2)

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for the Veterans – Military Appreciation Month

Martha Cothren with her class

This is a contribution from my brother for the veterans!  There is a lesson here that the students of Little Rock High School will never forget.  I would presume also that most students would never have given this a thought……

In September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a History teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks in her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks.

‘Ms. Cothren, where are our desks?’

 She replied, ‘You can’t have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.’ 

 They thought, ‘Well, maybe it’s our grades.’ ‘No,’ she said.

 ‘Maybe it’s our behavior.’ She told them, ‘No, it’s not even your behavior.’

Martha Cothren

 And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period. Still no desks in the classroom. Kids called their parents to tell them what was happening and by early afternoon television news crews had started gathering at the school to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.

 The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk-less classroom. Martha Cothren said, ‘Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he or she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.’

 At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it. Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniform, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began

Martha Cothren with veterans

placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall. By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

 Martha said, ‘You didn’t earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. They went halfway around the world, giving up their education and interrupting their careers and families so you could have the freedom you have. Now, it’s up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don’t ever forget it.’ 

 

By the way, this is a true story. And this teacher was awarded the Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year for the State of Arkansas in 2006. She is the daughter of a WWII POW.

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Military Humor – 

INCOMING !!

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Farewell Salutes – 

Verdun Affleck – Timaru, NZ; RNZ Army # 8383, WWII, 20th NZ Btn., driver

Tommy Haynes – Abanda, AL; US Navy, WWII, Sea Bees

Joseph Hillman Jr. – Rock Run, GA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Engineers (Ret. 30 Years)

Ralph Iossa – Madison, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Sgt., 11th Airborne Division

Adolph Kiefer – Chicago, IL; US Navy, WWII, [Olympian swimmer]

Ralph Pierman – Shawnee, OK; US Navy, WWII, Carpenter 1st Mate, LST-471, 3 Bronze Stars

Wilburn Ross – Whitley City, KY; US Army, WWII, ETO, MSgt. (Ret.), Purple Heart, Medal of Honor

Kenji Tashiro – CA; US Army, WWII, ETO,  MSgt., 442 RCT / Korea & Vietnam

Leo Thorsness – Walnut Grove, MN; US Air Force, Vietnam, POW, Medal of Honor

Julius Younger – NYC, NY; US Army, WWII, Manhattan Project

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Working Dogs honored for their service

Sgt. Wes Brown & Isky

WASHINGTON — During a routine perimeter check in the desert of Afghanistan, Isky found a roadside bomb. He had come to a complete stop, sitting near the explosive device, patiently waiting for orders from his best friend, Army Sgt. Wess Brown.

The IED – buried two feet deep – was a 120-pound bomb. Isky, a German shepherd military working dog, had just saved countless lives.

For his service, he was honored on Capitol Hill – along with three other dogs – with the first-ever K-9 Medal of Courage. It is the nation’s highest honor for military dogs, acknowledging their extraordinary valor and service, awarded by the American Humane Association.

Isky found at least five deadly IEDs and 10 weapon caches as an explosive-detection dog deployed with Brown in July 2013. The two spent a year protecting U.S. political leaders, including President Barack Obama.

Isky and Brown were with 100th Military Working Dog Detachment and have been together since October 2011.

“After he came out of training from Lackland – he was about 18 months old – I was his first handler to certify with him,” Brown, now 27, said.

While most military working dogs can have two to seven handlers, Isky has only had one: Brown.

“I didn’t PCS,” Brown said. If he had, the dog would have gone to a new handler.

In May 2014, Isky’s military career came to an end.

“We were on a combat mission, one of many,” Brown said. “To avoid an ambush we had to get into the vehicles fairly quickly. While Isky was running up the stairs, I had a hold of him, but he fell off the side and broke his leg in six different spots.”

The leg had to be amputated.

“Once I knew he got injured and knew what was happening, as soon as his amputation was scheduled and his future with the Army was done,” Brown put in the paperwork to adopt him, he said.

Brown has been separated from Isky for only two weeks, and that was while Isky recovered. Even when Isky isn’t with him, Brown carries his picture.

These days, instead of searching for bombs, Isky suns himself on a porch in Virginia with Brown. He has become Brown’s PTSD service dog, and the two comfort each other.

“I have nightmares, I get night terrors stuff like that,” Brown said. “I’ll wake up, and he’s jumped up in bed with me. He kind of does the same thing. I’ll hear him have bad dreams and I’ll wake him up. For all I know he’s chasing a ball, but it sounds to me like he’s having a pretty rough time in some of these dreams. I’ll wake him up and he jumps right up in bed with me. And we both calm down.”

Brown has been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress, and has three crushed discs in his neck. He is currently waiting to be medically retired from the Army.

Isky hasn’t been trained as a PTSD dog. But his bond with Brown is strong enough that when Brown has an anxiety attack, Isky knows.

“When I look at him, I feel safe because of everything we did together in Afghanistan. If it wasn’t for him and doing what we did, there would be a lot more people unable to go home,” Brown said.

More than 200 Congressional staffers and 19 members of Congress attended the event to honor military working dogs. The other dogs who earned the Medal of Courage:

• Matty, a Czech German shepherd, was a bomb-detection dog in Afghanistan. Now retired Army Spc. Brent Grommet, his handler, says that Matty saved his life and the lives of everyone in his unit more than once. The two were wounded together, including being in a truck that was hit by two roadside bombs. They were flown back to the U.S. for treatment, and while Grommet was in surgery, Matty was wrongly given to someone else. The Humane Association helped reunite the two, and now Matty serves as a support dog for Grommet.
• Fieldy, a black Labrador retriever, served four combat tours in Afghanistan, where he worked to detect explosives. Handler Marine Cpl. Nick Caceres spent seven months deployed with Fieldy in 2011 and adopted him three years later when the lab was discharged.
• Bond, a Belgian Malinois, worked 50 combat missions and deployed to Afghanistan three times. He was a multipurpose dog with a special operations unit before he retired. Bond suffers from combat trauma and will be reunited with his handler, who will leave active duty in a few months.

From “Stars and Stripes.”

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Military Canine Humor –

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Farewell Salutes –

• Cairo, a Belgian Malinois used by U.S. Navy Seals in Operation Neptune Spear, in which Osama bin Laden was killed.
• Gander –  a Newfoundland, was posthumously awarded the Dickin Medall for his feats during the Battle of Hong Kong in WWII.
  

  Civil War mascot memorial

  Gunner –  Canine air-raid early warning system during the bombing of Darwin in World War II.

• Rags –  a Signal Corps mascot during World War I.
• Rifleman Khan –  a German Shepherd that won the Dickin Medal for bravery.
• Rip –  a Second World War search and rescue dog.
• Sarbi –  an Australian special forces explosives detection dog, that spent almost 14 months missing in action (MIA) in Afghanistan before being recovered in 2009.
• Sasha – bomb sniffing dog, posthumously awarded the Dickin Medal
• Smoky –  hero war dog of World War II, was a Yorkshire Terrier that served with the 5th Air Force in the Pacific after she was adopted by Corporal William Wynne.  Smoky was credited with twelve combat missions and awarded eight battle stars.

  .Sgt. Stubby –  a Boston bull terrier, the most decorated war dog of WWI and the only dog to be nominated for rank and then promoted to sergeant through combat.
• Tich –  Dickin Medal winner of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, WWII
• Treo –  awarded Dickin Medal for work as a Arms and Explosives Search dog in Helmand Province, Afghanistan
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US Marine Corps Birthday ~ 10 November 1775

What does the celebration mean to Marines across the globe?  To General John Lejeune it meant a great deal.  On 1 November 1921, he issued Marine Corps Order No. 47, Series 1921, which provided a summary of the history, mission and traditions of the Corps and directed that the order be read to every command each subsequent year on 10 November.

To see 29 facts you may not know about Marines – check out the USO blog HERE!!!

At the Marine Corps Ball, one key piece of the ceremony is to present the first piece of cake to the oldest Marine in the room, who in turn gives the next to the junior Marine.  This symbolic gesture is the passing of experience and knowledge from the veteran to the recruit.  We should all emulate their example and take part in history.

To all those who are able – Enjoy the fruits of your labor and revel in the spectacle and unabashed camaraderie that is the U.S. Marine Corps!!

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 Click on images to enlarge.

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Leatherneck Humor – 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Farewell Salutes –

Marvin Jackson – Speedway, IN; USMC, WWII, PTO, Cpl.

Robert Juergens – Cleveland, OH; USMC, Korea

Harry Lord – Jacksonville, NC; USMC, GySgt. (Ret.)

Austin Maloney – Jersey City, NJ; USMC, Korea

Eugene May – Scranton, PA; USMC, WWII, PTO

John O’Leary – Flushing, NY; USMC, Korea, Purple Heart

Leon “Red” Rickman – Wichita, KS; USMC, WWII, PTO

James Sheehan – Framingham, MA; USMC, Lt.Col. (Ret.)

Sandra Shepard – Cincinnati, OH; USMC, Vietnam

Donald Shockey – Savannah, GA; USMC, Lt.Col. (Ret.)

Jerry Vovcsko – Springfield Center, NY; USMC

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Purple Heart Day

“Wounded Warrior” painting by: US Marine Michael Fay

On this date in 1782, in Newburgh, New York, General George Washington created the “Badge for Military Merit,” a decoration consisting of a purple, heart-shaped piece of silk, edged in silver, with the word Merit etched.  It was to be presented for any one meritorious action and it permitted the wearer to pass guards and sentinels without challenge.   The honoree’s name and regiment were to be inscribed in “The Book of Merit.”

Purple Heart certificate given during the Korean War

Only three soldiers are known to have been awarded this medal during the Revolutionary War: Elijah Churchill, William Brown and Daniel Bissell Jr.  The Book of Merit was lost and the medal was virtually forgotten.  In 1927, General Charles Summerall  sent an unsuccessful draft bill to Congress to revive the Badge.

Patch for Afghanistan

General Douglas MacArthur took up the cause, hoping to get the medal reinstated for the bicentennial of George Washington’s birthday.  He succeeded – 22 February 1932 the US War Department announced the creation of the “Order of the Purple Heart.”

National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, New Windsor, NY

This medal is awarded to members of the US Armed Forces who have been killed or wounded in action against an enemy.  It is also given to soldiers who have suffered maltreatment as prisoners of war.

The ‘impersonal chaos of war’ display in the Hall of Honor

The most Purple Hearts awarded to any individual soldier is nine (9) to USMC Sergeant Albert Luke Ireland; five (5) for World War II and four (4) for his action in the Korean War.

http://partner.googleadservices.com/gpt/pubads_impl_92.jshttps://platform.twitter.com/js/button.1813ea3f78757294e1ba1cea21b068a0.js

Total Casualties as of May 27, 2013

	Total Serving	Battle Deaths	Other Deaths	Total Deaths	Wounded
Revolutionary War		4,435		4,435	6,188
War of 1812	286,730	2,260		2,260	4,505
Mexican War	78,718	1,733	11,550	13,283	4,152
Civil War	2,213,363	140,414	224,097	364,511	281,881
Spanish American	306,760	385	2,061	2,446	1,662
World War I	4,734,991	53,202	63,114	116,316	204,002
World War II	16,112,566	291,557	113,842	405,399	670,846
Korean War	5,720,000	33,746	3,249	36,995	103,284
Vietnam War	8,744,000	47,355	10,796	58,151	153,303
Desert Storm	2,225,000	147	235	382	467
Enduring Freedom		1784	318	2.286	9,675
Iraqi Freedom		3483	890	4,422	31,935
Totals		580,182	430,370	1,010,876	1,478,096

 

Click on images to enlarge.

 

 

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 Farewell Salutes – 

Charles Andres III – Harvey, LA; US Army, WWII, Lt.Col. (Ret.), Purple Heart

Anthony DiTommasso – Providence, RI; USMC, WWII, PTO, Purple Heart

Herbert Faulk – Alcatraz, CA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart

Kenneth French – Charleston, MI; US Army, WWII, Purple Heart

Joseph Gallagher – Radcliff, KY; US Army, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Lt.Col. (Ret. 37 years), 2 Bronze Stars, 3 Purple Hearts

Keith James – Easley, SC; US Army, Vietnam, Bronze Star, Purple Heart

William Kiernan – Williamsburg, VA; US Army, WWII, Corps of Engineers, Purple Heart

Herdis McCrary – Green Bay, WI; US Army, Korea, 2 Purple Hearts

Albert Russo – Ambridge, PA; US Army, WWII, ETO, 2nd Ranger Batt., bronze Star, 2 Purple Hearts

Noel Seeburg Jr. – Chicago, IL, US Army, WWII, PTO, Capt., Bronze Star, Purple Heart

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March 1944 (3)

Admiral Raymond A. Spruance w/ his staff

In other areas of the Pacific during this month_____

16 March – as the Japanese 12th Destroyer Group returned home. HIJMS Shirakumo and the cargo ship, Nichiren Maru, were sunk by the US submarine Tautog off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan.

18-19 March – a US task force group bombarded Mili Island in the Marshalls from air and sea.  The battleship, USS Missouri was hit by a shell from a coastal gun and was the only ship damaged.  A two-day bombardment at Wewak on enemy positions on the northern coast of New Guinea were carried out by US destroyers.

20 March –  the invasion of Emirau Island by the USMC 4th Division went without a hitch.  There were no Japanese on the island, and so the marines were able to make an unopposed landing and complete a circle of enemy-held Rabaul.  Work began on turning the island into a powerful base. The first airfield was ready by May, and was followed by a bomber base.

30-31 March – Under command of Adm. R. A. Spruance, Commander 5th Fleet, including carriers, fast battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, attacked the Western Carolines.  Carrier-based planes struck at the Palau group with shipping as primary target. They sank 3 destroyers, 17 freighters, 5 oilers and 3 small vessels, and damaged 17 additional ships. The planes also bombed the airfields, but they did not entirely stop Japanese air activity. At the same time, our aircraft mined the waters around Palau in order to immobilize enemy shipping in the area.

Part of the force struck Yap and Ulithi on 31 March.  Although the carrier aircraft encountered active air opposition over the Palau area on both days, they quickly overcame it.  Enemy planes approached the task force on the evening of 29 March and 30 March, but were destroyed or driven off by the combat air patrols. During the 3-day operation US plane losses were 25 in combat, while the enemy had 114 planes destroyed in combat and 46 on the ground.  These attacks were successful in obtaining the desired effect, and the operation in New Guinea went forward without opposition from the Western Carolines.

31 March – Japanese Adm. Koga and Adm. Fukudome headed to Mindanao, P.I. in 2 separate seaplanes.  After encountering a storm, Koga’s aircraft disappeared and was never seen again.  Fukudome, with the plans for Operation Z in a briefcase, went down off the waters of Cebu.  He and most of the flying boat’s crew were rescued by guerrillas. [2 escaped and made it back to Japanese HQ].  The head of the local guerrillas, Lt.Col. James Cushing, radioes MacArthur via Col. Wendell Fertig.

Fukudome had convinced his captors that he was Koga and MacArthur ordered Cushing, “the enemy prisoners must be held at all costs.”  But Cushing exchanged Fukudome for a ‘truce’ between the local guerrillas and enemy Col. Onishi’s troops.  The briefcase, with TOP SECRET stamped on its contents, made its way back the Gen. Mac by way of a submarine.

Fukudome was returned to Japan in disgrace.  Adm. Soemu Toyoda replaced Koga as Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, with Adm. Ryunosuki Kusaka as his Chief-of-Staff.

Click on images to enlarge.

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Current –  27 July 1953, Armistice is called in Korean War – 

https://pacificparatrooper.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/national-korean-war-veterans-armistice-day/

 

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Military Humor – Sad Sack – 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Tatsuo Asamen – Westmorland, CA; WWII Relocation Camp; US Army, Korea, 71st Mil. Gov’t. HQ

Dave Bald Eagle Jr. – Cheyenne River Rez, Sioux Falls, SD, US Army, WWII

Tubencio Carpio – Moline, IL; US Army, WWII & Korea

Robert Cox – Hoover, AL; US Navy, WWII & Korea

John Jerome – Hanover, MA; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, (Ret. 25 yrs.)

Richard Kogut – Celoron, NY; US Air Force, WWII, Korea & Vietnam (Ret.)

Tony Lukasavge – Sweet Valley, PA; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT

Michael Palazzo – Wild Wood, FL; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT

Edward Roche Jr. – Chesapeake, VA; US Army, Korea, 64th Field Artillery Batt. Medical Corps, Bronze Stars

Harold Smith Jr. – Ithaca, NY; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT, Bronze Star

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Memorial Day 2016

The Things That Make a Soldier Great


    The things that make a soldier great and send him out to die,
    To face the flaming cannon's mouth, nor ever question why,
    Are lilacs by a little porch, the row of tulips red,
    The peonies and pansies, too, the old petunia bed,
    The grass plot where his children play, the roses on the wall:
    'Tis these that make a soldier great. He's fighting for them all.

    'Tis not the pomp and pride of kings that make a soldier brave;
    'Tis not allegiance to the flag that over him may wave;
    For soldiers never fight so well on land or on the foam
    As when behind the cause they see the little place called home.
    Endanger but that humble street whereon his children run--
    You make a soldier of the man who never bore a gun.

    What is it through the battle smoke the valiant soldier sees?
    The little garden far away, the budding apple trees,
    The little patch of ground back there, the children at their play,
    Perhaps a tiny mound behind the simple church of gray.
    The golden thread of courage isn't linked to castle dome
    But to the spot, where'er it be--the humble spot called home.

    And now the lilacs bud again and all is lovely there,
    And homesick soldiers far away know spring is in the air;
    The tulips come to bloom again, the grass once more is green,
    And every man can see the spot where all his joys have been.
    He sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call,
    And only death can stop him now--he's fighting for them all.

by: Edgar A, Guest

31 May 1886, soldiers from John A. Andrew Post 15 of MA & the George G. Meade Post 38 of NY @ the Soldiers & Sailors Monument on Boston Common – pix by: Elmer Chickering, courtesy of Boston Public Library

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Following is the estimate of the total number of Americans KIA since the Civil War:

• In the Civil War 620,000 Americans died
• The First World War cost the lives of 116,516 U.S soldiers
• In the Second World War 405,399 Americans died
• In the Korean War 36,574 Americans died
• 58,220 American soldiers were killed in Vietnam War
• In Operation Desert Storm 383 Americans died.
• 4,424 Americans died in the Operation Iraqi Freedom.
• In Operation New Dawn 73 U.S Army personnel were killed
• 2,349 Americans perished in the Operation Enduring Freedom.

For Remembrances Days in other countries…

Click on images to enlarge.

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Farewell Salutes – 

KIA on Tarawa and buried in grave “D” of the East Division Cemetery.  Almost all were from A and B companies and are still listed as missing.  Located through Missing Marines.com

Athon, Frank L; # 27 shrapnel wound head
Baumbach, Elden; bayonet wound chest
Bayens, John Richard; #3 shrapnel head and chest
Cruz, Jacob; #29 gun shot wounds head
Dekker, Howard R; #1 gunshot wounds head and chest
Fahy, John M; # 28 gunshot wounds, head
Fricks, Hugh D; #20 gunshot wounds head and chest
Galland, Mervin D; # 25 gunshot wound, chest
Gillen, John E; #6 gunshot wound right chest, shrapnel
Hancock, J.L.: #15 shrapnel, head
Hatch, Robert J; #10 gunshot wound, groin
Hayden, Harold W; #22 gun shot wounds, head
Hill, Jack; #30 shrapnel, chest, groin
Hoffman, John W; #19 gunshot wound chest
Jenks, Robert D; #23 shrapnel head and chest
Johnson, Thomas F; #17 shrapnel, chest
Likens, Kenneth W; #12 shrapnel, head, chest buried 11-23-43
Livermore, Joseph R; #9 bayonet wound, throat, buried 11-23-43
Mccall, Quentin; #5 gunshot wound, head
Miller, Charles D; #11 gunshot wound, head, chest
Morris, Jerome B; #7 shrapnel, chest, buried 11-23-43
Resser, George R; #2 gunshot wounds, head
Stambaugh, Jack R; #14 gunshot wounds, chest, groin, saber wound throat
Stoddard, Donald D; #18 shrapnel, head
Summers, Arthur B; #21 gunshot wounds, head, chest
Tuhey, Raymond J; #24 gunshot wound head
VanZandt, Jack Bensen; #4 gunshot wound, head
Wallace, Charles E; #16 gunshot wound, head, chest, buried grid location: KN-283072-D-2
White, Glenn F; #26 shrapnel, head, chest buried 11-23-43
Whitaker, Channing

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A Korean War Christmas Story

Christmas 1950, Korea

“Home for Christmas” was the rallying cry as United Nations forces, spearheaded by American troops, were well on their way to clearing the entire Korean peninsula of Communist North Korean forces who had invaded South Korea in June, 1950. Then, in late November, in the dead of one of the coldest Korean winters on record, more than 300,000 troops from the Communist People’s Republic of China poured across the Yalu River and entered the war bent on the annihilation of U.N. forces and the installation of a Communist dictatorship for all of Korea. Within a few short days all hopes for a joyous Christmas were dashed. General Douglas MacArthur, the commander of all U.N. forces in Korea, said, “We face an entirely new war …”

Approximately 120,000 Chinese troops battered and besieged U.N. forces around the port city of Hungnam, in northeast Korea. When the U.N. command decided that the Hungnam area could not be held, a mass sea evacuation of troops, equipment and about 98,000 refugees began in mid-December.

At Taegu, South Korea, Norman Deptula, left, stands with two soldiers from the 581st Signal Radio Relay Company after they had been evacuated out of North Korea.
COURTESY OF NORMAN DEPTULA

 

It was a bone-chilling, dark, dingy day, and amid the clamor, the confusion, and the dockside noises accompanying a forced evacuation, my company boarded a freighter and we began a cold, forbidding, four hundred-mile journey to South Korea’s southernmost port city of Pusan. Upon arriving in Pusan, we clambered aboard an unheated train, plunked ourselves and our gear onto hard wooden benches and tried, unsuccessfully, to cover the broken windows, through which howled icy blasts of air. Our train would take us north, to the town of Kyong-ju, a seventy mile trip.

When we finally arrived at our destination, we were a cold, tired, unkempt, dispirited group. Even though we recovered from our strep throats, our colds, and other assorted ills, the awful memories of the suffering, the violent deaths, the brutal unremitting cold, and the destruction which we had witnessed and endured left scars that would never heal.

The days flowed on, one into another, and soon Christmas would be upon us. “Home for Christmas” was a forlorn hope, but we still hoped to be able to observe, in some small way, the birth of the Prince of Peace, here, in the midst of war. Then, the tiniest of miracles occurred! Someone, possible an archangel disguised as a comrade in arms, said that the Catholic church in Kyong-ju would be holding a midnight Mass and transportation would be made available for anyone who wished to go. Our prayers were answered, and we would be privileged to help celebrate Christmas in a very special way.

Before boarding the trucks that would take us to the church on that Christmas eve, we exchanged holiday greetings with our comrades who had been assigned to guard duty patrolling the company perimeter. It was a clear, cold, starry night; someone began to quietly sing, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”

The exterior walls of the small church were pockmarked and some of the windows were broken. We noted with surprise that there were separate entrances, one for men and the other for women and children. The men of the parish entered through the door on the left and we followed them to the left side of the church where we sat on tiny wooden chairs. As the women entered through their entrance on our right, they covered their heads with white shawls, took off their shoes, which they placed in neat rows at the rear of the church, and picked up straw kneeling mats from a large pile that was stacked near the door. Infants were carried on the backs of their mothers, supported there by wide bands of cloth which were tied above their mothers’ waists.

While waiting for the Mass to begin, I glanced around and saw that the ceiling had many shallow cavities, each one marking a spot where a chunk of plaster had come loose and fallen. The church was unheated, but no one really noticed. An inner warmth radiated from the few candles on the altar and also from small, colorful silk banners which were suspended from the craggy ceiling. The banners, on which were written Korean figures, carried, we assumed, Christmas greetings. However, in deference to the American guests in the congregation, one banner proclaimed, in bright letters, “Mahry Xmas!” The spelling may not have been perfect, but the sentiments of those wonderful people was obvious and I, for one, would not have wanted it any other way.

1950 Christmas, Korea

A complete Nativity scene filled the area to the left of the altar, which was draped in silk and decorated with flowers and candles; a “real” Christmas tree, completely trimmed with tinsel, ornaments, and garland, stood on the other side of the altar. The sight of that beautiful tree set off a whole train of memories of another Christmas tree occupying, at that very moment, a place of honor in a warn, loving, caring home 10,000 miles away which was “Untouched by the evil that is war …”

Schoolchildren from the parish, ably and lovingly shepherded by Korean nuns, occupied tiny chairs at the very front of the church. The large, heavily starched, snow-white headpieces of the sisters stood in sharp contrast to our wrinkled, stained, and torn trousers and parkas, but such was the love and gratitude that was showered upon us that we did not, even for a moment, feel ill at ease.

At the rear center of the church stood an old, rickety, out-of-tune organ which was played by one of the Korean nuns. She accompanied a choir of schoolgirls who sang Christmas carols. Even though the choir occasionally sang off key, we knew what carols were being sung because we could, with some difficulty, recognize the music that was played and, while the choir sang in Korean, we sang with them, but in English. It was a riot of sounds, but to our ears it was positively joyous and — almost — heavenly.

Father Kim, the celebrant, said the Mass in Korean, but when it ended, he turned to face the congregation and, in halting English, extended, to the Americans in particular, his personal holiday greetings and then, in a final emotional gesture, he gave us his blessing. “The Mass is ended; go in Peace.”

Many Christmases have come and gone, but when the approach of winter heralds the beginning of another Christmas season, my thoughts and memories traverse the many years and the thousands of miles and I recall a very special Christmas in a tiny jewel of a church in Kyong-ju, Korea, and for one brief shining moment, the war is forgotten. I’ll never know what happened to Father Kim and his devoted flock, but I sincerely hope and pray that they have a truly Blessed Christmas.

Published 24 December 2015, by Norman Deptula in Star and Stripes magazine

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Military Humor – 

Always yield to a vehicle packing a Slammer!

NOT always a good idea.

 

 

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Farewell Salutes – 

Michael Beazley – Kalkohe, NZ; RNZ Army, Vietnam

Louis Bonacasa – Manorville, NY; US Air Force, Afghanistan, KIA

“Remembering Our Fallen”, courtesy of: Cora Metz @ A Fresh Start

Michael Cinco – Mercedes, TX; US Air Force; Afghanistan, SSgt., KIA

Dennis Condom – AUS; RAIF, Korea, POW

Willard Holmes – Dubois, ID; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. C/187/11th Airborne

Scott Jamar – Sweetwater, TX; US Army, Iraq, Chief Warrant Officer, KIA

Joseph Lemm – W>Harrison, NY; US Air National Guard, Afghanistan, KIA

Meadow Lemon III – Wilmington, NC; US Army, (Harlem Globetrotter)

Chester McBride – Savannah, GA; US Air Force, Afghanistan, KIA

Peter Taub – Philadelphia, PA; US Air Force, Afghanistan, SSgt., KIA

Adrianna Vorderbruggen – Washington, D.C.; US Air Force, Major, KIA

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Thanksgiving – Yesteryear

This gallery contains 16 photos.

Originally posted on Pacific Paratrooper:
TO SHOW MY THANKS TO ONE AND ALL… For my previous Thanksgiving posts –  CLICK HERE and HERE! What was seen on the home front  1941-42… 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…