Blog Archives
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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Short view of WWII Pacific Army Medicine
Buna casualty arrives at the 171st Station Hospital, at Port Moresby, Papua, Dec 42. This 500-bed Hospital arrived at Port Moresby early December and operated together with the 153d Sta Hosp, the 10th Evac Hosp, and a provisional Battalion of the 135th Med Regt. Because of malaria, those patients who, after treatment, were expected to remain unfit for duty more than 14 days, were usually sent to mainland Australia (Townsville or Brisbane).
Every combat Theater of WW2 had its unique medical history, but nowhere did disease pose a greater threat to the American G.I. and to military operations than in the bitter war against Japan!
US Armed Forces faced the dual challenges of fighting and supporting its troops in primitive, largely tropical environments, burdened by severe logistical problems.
View of one of the early Hospitals, located at the Advance Base, Port Moresby, Papua, Aug 42. As military operations in the region increased, basic medical facilities expanded, and by end of 42, new installations including General Hospitals, Field Hospitals, Portable Surgical Hospitals, and a Medical Supply Depot were built.
The first medical build-up was essentially based on expanding medical facilities and depots, constructing new hospitals, and revising medical contingency plans. The next project called for a more elaborate defense of the Commonwealth of the Philippines, under a new command; the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) under Lt. General Douglas MacArthur.
The war against Japan was fought in an immense area that covered roughly 1/3 of the earth’s surface! Although most of the decisive battles took place on the islands in the Pacific, inevitably bringing American Forces closer the Japanese mainland; fighting also occurred on mainland Asia.
Port Dispensary Tent on Biak Island, New Guinea, Aug 44. The large US Base (Base “H”) opened on Biak in Aug 44 under Col. August W. Splitter, MC. The 28th Hosp Cen operating on the island included 3 Gen Hosp and 1 Sta Hosp. From end Nov 44, evacuation took place by air, and C-54 aircraft carried patients directly to the ZI, via Guadalcanal, Canton Is., and Honolulu.
Distances were enormous, and everything could only be moved by sea or air – climates varied as well as landforms and included cold wind-swept Aleutians, jungle-clad Melanesian islands, palm-fringed Micronesia atolls, damp and tropical heat, volcanic islands, complex landmasses, steep mountain ranges, wooded high plateaus, rain forests, dense jungles – environmental conditions brought its own characteristic medical consequences involving frostbite, trenchfoot, malaria, fever, and jungle rot … All those elements had to be taken into account by the Medical Department, although none of the diseases were normally fatal, they could nevertheless put soldiers out of action as effectively as combat casualties.
36th Evacuation Hospital, at Palo, Leyte, Philippines, October 44. The 36th Evac Hosp (supporting X Army Corps) was set up in the San Salvador Cathedral. It served, together with the 58th Evac Hosp, in the Leyte and Luzon Campaigns.
Until the very last months of the fighting, the US Medical Department faced immense obstacles – supply lines were tenuous and environmental conditions almost intolerable, malaria epidemics broke out, logistical difficulties beset medical planners, diseases took their toll, medical support often broke down, amphibious medical evacuation had to be revised, and yet altogether death rates from disease were only slightly over 1 / 1000 troops / per year!
New methods of preventive medicine were created, logistics were improved, and recent discoveries were now provided on a large scale, such as Penicillin – Atabrine – and DDT. The ultimate lesson may however lie in the flexibility of spirit and organization shown by medical personnel, who were able to save lives and improve general health conditions during those years of bitter and unrelenting struggle for peace – in those harsh times the Medical Department successfully maintained the ‘fighting strength of the Army’.
View of Seagrave Hospital (formally activated as the 896th Med Clr Co in Oct 44) treating casualties in the open, near Myitkyina, Burma. The Hospital in fact operated like a mobile Evacuation Hospital, and whenever feasible, severe medical cases were either evacuated by rail or by air. During the campaign to capture Myitkyina, the Seagrave Hospital, supported by personnel of the 42d and 58th Ptbl Surg Hosp and a surgical team from the 25th Fld Hosp, treated American, British, Chinese, Indian, and Kachin wounded (and later also Japanese PWs). Dr. Gordon S. Seagrave was an American medical missionary running a Hospital close to the Burma Road and the Chinese border, his wide experience and organization were very much appreciated by both British and US authorities, and he was therefore sworn into the US Army as a Major in the Medical Corps on 21 Apr 42.
General Hospitals
1st GEN HOSP – 23 Dec 41 Philippines (also designated General Hospital No. 1)
2d GEN HOSP – 5 Jan 42 Philippines (also designated General Hospital No. 2)
4th GEN HOSP – 23 Jan 42 Australia (ex-56th GEN HOSP, activated 1 Feb 41, supplied cadres for other units, 12 Oct 43)
8th GEN HOSP – 27 Nov 42 New Caledonia
9th GEN HOSP – 31 Jul 43 Guadalcanal – 45 Papua-New Guinea (activated 15 Jul 42)
13th GEN HOSP – 5 Jan 44 New Guinea (activated 15 Jan 43)
18th GEN HOSP – 12 Jun 42 N. Zealand – 3 Oct 42 Fiji Islands – Sep 44 Ledo Road (India) – 12 Mar 45 Myitkyina, (Burma) (activated 20 Apr 42) (closed 5 Oct 45) (return to ZI 24 Nov 45)
18th GEN HOSP – 26 May 42 New Zealand – 45 Burma (ex-222d GEN HOSP, activated 16 Jun 41, supplied cadres for other units, 1 Apr 44, redesignated 134th GEN HOSP)
20th GEN HOSP – 19 Jan 43 India – Dec 43 Burma (activated 15 May 42)
27th GEN HOSP – 5 Jan 44 Australia (activated 15 Jul 42)
29th GEN HOSP – 3 Nov 44 New Caledonia (activated 1 Sep 42)
31st GEN HOSP – 18 Oct 43 Espiritu Santo (activated 1 Jun 43)
35th GEN HOSP – 44 New Guinea – 45 Luzon (activated 21 Mar 43) (inactivated 10 Dec 45 in the Philippines)
39th GEN HOSP – 3 Nov 42 New Zealand – 1 Jan 45 New Caledonia – Jan 45 Saipan (activated 15 Jul 42)
42d GEN HOSP – 19 May 42 Australia (ex-215th GEN HOSP, activated 16 May 41, supplied cadres for other units, 15 Apr 43, disbanded 11 Nov 44)
44th GEN HOSP – 25 Sep 43 Australia (activated 15 Jan 43)
47th GEN HOSP – 11 Jan 44 New Guinea – Burma (activated 10 Jun 43)
49th GEN HOSP – 1 Mar 45 Philippines
51st GEN HOSP – 1 Apr 44 New Guinea
53d GEN HOSP – ETO Sep-Oct 45 embarked for the South Pacific (activated 10 Feb 41, also supplied cadres for other units)
54th GEN HOSP – 30 Jun 44 New Guinea
60th GEN HOSP – 18 Jul 44 New Guinea – 2 Apr 45 Philippines (activated 25 May 43 in the ZI, return to ZI 13 Nov 45)
63d GEN HOSP – (activated 10 Feb 41, supplied cadres for other units, 15 Jan 43)
69th GEN HOSP – 45 Burma
71st GEN HOSP – 5 Jan 44 Australia (activated 10 Jun 43, supplied cadres for other units, 24 Jun 43)
105th GEN HOSP – 19 May 42 Australia (ex-203d GEN HOSP, activated 10 Feb 41, supplied cadres for other units, 29 Dec 43)
118th GEN HOSP – 19 May 42 Australia – 44 Philippines (activated 21 Apr 42)
133d GEN HOSP – 25 Nov 44 Leyte
142d GEN HOSP – 26 May 42 New Zealand – 43 Fiji – Nov 44 India (ex-217th GEN HOSP, activated 1 Jun 41, supplied cadres for other units, 28 Feb 44) (new 142d GEN HOSP activated 20 Apr 42)
147th GEN HOSP – 16 Jun 42 Hawaii – 19 Nov 43 Gilberts – 1 Aug 44 Hawaii (activated 1 May 41)
148th GEN HOSP – 21 Mar 42 Hawaii – 31 May 44 Saipan Is (activated 10 Feb 41)
172d GEN HOSP – 44 India – Burma – 45 China (activated 29 Jul 44) (inactivated 30 Apr 46 in China)
181st GEN HOSP – 43 India
204th GEN HOSP – 8 Apr 42 Hawaii – 28 Dec 44 Guam (activated 10 Feb 41)
204th GEN HOSP – 8 Apr 42 Hawaii (activated 10 Feb 41)
218th GEN HOSP – 8 Jan 42 Panama – 1 Aug 44 Hawaii (activated 6 Jun 41)
232d GEN HOSP – 27 Feb 45 Iwo Jima – Mar 45 Saipan
234th GEN HOSP
247th GEN HOSP – 45 Philippines (activated 15 Oct 44, ex-233d STA HOSP)
263d GEN HOSP – 43 India
307th GEN HOSP
Sternberg GEN HOSP – Philippines
Tripler GEN HOSP – Hawaii
GEN HOSP No. 1 – Limay, Philippines
GEN HOSP No. 2 – Cabcaben, Philippines
Malinta Tunnel GEN HOSP – Corregidor, Philippines
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Current News – 25 June 1950-2020 – Korean War 70 years ago today
News: Governor David Ige proclaimed June 25, 2020 as “Korean War Remembrance Day”
Remains of 147 South Korean Soldiers From the Korean War Return Home
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Military Medical Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Leo Agnew – Clinton, MA; US Army, Korea, RHQ/187th Reconnaissance Combat Team
Stephen Bertolino – UT; US Army, Iraq, SSgt., KIA (Haditha)
Ian Holm-Goodmayes – ENG; British Army / actor
Korean & Vietnam Wars Memorial, Monroe, MI
Jim Jarvis – Uniontown, OH; US Navy, WWII, USS Indianapolis survivor
Carman Kyle – Swathmore, PA; WWII, US Army Air Corps, Co. E/152th Artillery/11th Airborne Division
Dame Vera Lynn – Essex, ENG; Civilian, WWII, ENSA troop entertainer, Egypt & CBI
James L. Quong – OK; US Army, Korea, MSgt., Co. D/1/32/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)
Charles Ridgley – Baltimore, MD; US Army, Afghanistan, Captain, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, KIA (Nangarhar)
Francis J. Rochon – WI; US Army, Korea, Cpl., Co. C/1/23/2nd Infantry Division, KIA (Changnyeong, SK)
Woldgang K. Weninger – Concord, OH; USMC, Raider, Sgt.
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HELLO! Remember Me?
Tomorrow is 1 May, the start of Military Appreciation Month. I thought it appropriate to remind some about the flag they fly under and why……
Some call me Old Glory, others call me the Star Spangled Banner, but whatever you call me, I am your Flag – the Flag of the United States of America. There has been something that has been bothering me, so I thought that I might talk it over with you here today.
I remember some time ago, (I think it was Memorial Day, or was it Veterans’ Day?) that people were lined upon both sides of the street for a parade. A high school band was behind me and, naturally, I was leading the parade. When your Daddy saw me coming along, waving in the breeze, he immediately removed his hat and placed it so that his right hand was directly over his heart.
And you – I remember you.
Standing there straight as a soldier, you didn’t have a hat, but you were giving me the right salute. Remember, they taught you in school to place your right hand over your heart, and little sister, not to be outdone, was saluting the same as you. There were some soldiers home on leave and they were standing at attention giving the military salute. Oh, I was very proud as I came down your street that day.
Now, I may sound as if I am a little conceited. Well I am!
I have a right to be, because I represent you, the people of the United States of America.
But what happened? I am still the same old flag. Oh, I have a lot more stars added since the beginning of this country, and a lot more blood has shed since that patriotic day so long ago.
Now I don’t feel as proud as I used to. When I come down your street, some people just stand there with their hands in their pockets and give me a small glance and then look away. I see children running around and shouting. They don’t seem to know who I am.
Is it a sin to be patriotic anymore? Have some people forgotten what I stand for? Have they forgotten all the battlefields where men have fought and died to keep this nation free? When you salute me, you are actually saluting them!
Take a look at the memorial rolls some time. Look at the names of those who never came back. Some of them were friends and relatives of yours. That’s whom you are saluting – not me!
Lt. Bud Stapleton, 11th A/B Div., raising first flag over Tokyo on 3 Sept. 1945
Well, it won’t be long until I’ll be coming down your street again. So, when you see me, stand straight, place your hand over your heart and you’ll see me waving back – that’s my salute to you. And then I will know you remember who I am…..
~ Author unknown ~
From: the June 2017 issue of The Voice of the Angels” 11th Airborne Division Association, JoAnne Doshier, Editor
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor – 
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Quarantine Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Evelyn Boyd – Norwich, CT; Civilian, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, WWII
Eugene Carlson – Brockton, MA; US Navy, WWII, engineer, USS Shangri-La
John Donaldson (100) – Pittsburgh, PA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, LCT
William Facher (100) – San Diego, CA; US Army, WWII, PTO, 1st Calvary Mounted Artillery, 2 Bronze Stars
Harold Hicks – Broad Channel & East Meadow, NY/Archer, FL; US Army, 37th Armored Regiment
Bernard Lazaro – Waltham, MA; USMC, WWII
Vincent Massa – Staten Island, NY; US Navy, WWII, USS Fall River
Kent Ross – Dodge City, KS; US Army, WWII, Nuremberg, Sgt.
William Smith – Montrose, GA; US Army, WWII / Korea, POW / Vietnam, Sgt., 1/173 A/B, Purple Heart, 4 Bronze Stars, (Ret. 32 y.)
Robert Therrien – Sanford, ME; US Army, WWII
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Military during Thanksgiving
The Thanksgiving Day card GP Cox received from the National WWII Museum in New Orleans
I WISH TO EXPRESS MY THANKS TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU !!! AND MAY WE ALL THANK THOSE VETERANS WHO FIGHT FOR US !!!
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
Thanksgiving
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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Military Humor –
Navy
Army
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Farewell Salutes –
Donald Archer – Omaha, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, B-25 navigator
John Boone – Summerville, SC; US Army, WWII, ETO, light mortar, Co. I/319/80th Division
Juan Borjon Jr. – Morenci, AZ; US Army, Spc., 11th Airborne Division
WWII Memorial poem at Arlington Cemetery
Don Dyne – Kelseyville, CA; US Navy, WWII, PTO / Korea, radio tech.
Adolph J. Loebach – Peru, IL; US Navy, WWII, USS Oklahoma, KIA, (Pearl Harbor)
Donald McElwain – Holyoke, MA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, Ensign, LST
Frank Merritt – Broxton, GA; US Army, WWII, PTO
Charles G. Ruble – Parker City, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, TSgt., 441st Troop Carrier Group, KIA (Germany)
Elmo Sepulvado – Zwolle, LA; US Army, WWII, ETO
Gerald N. Wilson – Camden, MI; US Army, Korea, Cpl., 1st Calvary Division, KIA
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MEMORIAL DAY 2019
Luxembourg American Cemetery
Just a Common Soldier (A Soldier Died Today)
by A. Lawrence Vaincourt
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho’ sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we’ll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world’s a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
Michael, my son.
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won’t note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
Smitty, my father
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician’s stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps, a pension small.
James J. O’Leary, my uncle
It’s so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
Arthur Mulroy, my cousin, now deceased
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier’s part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he’s here to hear the praise,
Then at least let’s give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
© 1987 A. Lawrence Vaincourt
THESE TROOPS TOOK THE TIME TO FIGHT FOR YOU AND ME. PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO HONOR THEM.
Posted here courtesy of : Partnering With Eagles
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Not your usual Military Humor today….
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Farewell Salutes –
Vernon Bishop – Santa Rosa, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO, 1st Army Group
David Bond – Tampa, FL; USMC, Major (Ret.22 y.)
Tim Conway – Cleveland, OH; US Army / comedian 
Eugene Galella – Memphis, TN; US Navy, WWII, ETO/ETO, pilot / USNR, Lt. Commander (Ret.)
Charles Holland – Aberdeen, NC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. C/187/11th Airborne Division
Don Jesperson – Idaho Falls, ID; US Army, Korea, Co. B/187th RCT
Kaylie Ludwig – IL; US Navy, Lt., Medical Corps, 6th Fleet, USS Arlington
Ralph Manley – Springfield, MO; US Army, WWII, ETO, 101st Airborne Division, demolitions
I.M. Pei – brn. Canton, CHI; Civilian, WWII, bomb fuse creator / architect
Herman Wouk – NYC, NY; US Navy, WWII, destroyer minesweeper / author
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11th Airborne Paratrooper – Melvin Garten
Col. Melvin Garten
Wednesday, July 04, 2018
Media’s self-importance never dies
An Associated Press photographer died. He was the fellow who took the picture of a fully armed paramilitary immigration enforcement officer taking a screaming child of six by force who was hiding with an adult in a closet, as the Clinton administration had no compunction about separating a Legal Immigrant from his family on American soil.
The Associated Press ran a 749-word obituary on the photographer, Alan Diaz. It was an interesting story — AP hired him after he took the SWAT team-crying kid photo.
But the story was a bit much, and a reminder of the media’s overblown sense of importance. The word iconic appeared four times.
Which brings me to a story I read about Melvin Garten, a real hero. His death brought no AP obituary because he never got a byline:
Toby Harnden, the Times of London reporter who has covered war with the troops and United States politics with equanimity, tweeted on May 6, 2015: “Trumpeter, food blogger, actress, golfer get New York Times obits today, but this man has his death notice paid for by family.”
The man whose family had to pay for his obituary was Melvin Garten, the most decorated and forgotten soldier at the time of his death.
Heroes are born and made. Melvin Garten was born May 20, 1921 in New York City, where he became another smart Jewish boy attending City College of New York. Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, greatly altered his immediate plans. Upon graduation from CCNY, he joined the Army and became a paratrooper with the 11th Airborne Division. He then married his girlfriend, Ruth Engelman of the Bronx, in November 1942. She was a war bride. Everyone said the marriage wouldn’t last, and they were right because the marriage ended on January 9, 2013 — the day she died.
Melvin and Ruth Garten
Melvin went off to the Pacific Theater of the war, where he participated in what can only be described as an audacious airborne raid of Los Banos in 1945, rescuing more than 2,000 U.S. and Allied civilians from a Japanese prison camp. He was a highly decorated soldier, earning the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, a Presidential Unit Citation and the Purple Heart with three Oak Leak Clusters for his wounds in battle. He was tough and handsome and courageous.
As would war. At dawn on Sunday, June 25, 1950, with the permission of Stalin, the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel behind artillery fire. Melvin was back in combat. Captain Garten proved his mettle again as commander of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. President Eisenhower awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross.
The citation reads: “Captain Garten distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces near Surang-ni, Korea, on 30 October 1952. On that date, observing that assault elements of Companies F and G were pinned down by withering fire on a dominant hill feature, Captain Garten voluntarily proceeded alone up the rugged slope and, reaching the besieged troops, found that key personnel had been wounded and the unit was without command. Dominating the critical situation through sheer force of his heroic example, he rallied approximately eight men, assigned four light machine guns, distributed grenades and, employing the principle of fire and maneuver, stormed enemy trenches and bunkers with such tenacity that the foe was completely routed and the objective secured. Quickly readying defensive positions against imminent counterattack he directed and coordinated a holding action until reinforcements arrived. His inspirational leadership, unflinching courage under fire and valorous actions reflect the highest credit upon himself and are in keeping with the cherished traditions of the military service.”
Pork Chop Hill
Having served at Luzon and Pork Chop Hill, Captain Garten came home and the family moved around. Ruth took care of her men.
“I never even bought my own clothes,” Melvin told Mike Francis of the Oregonian a few months before her death. “I never went shopping. It was not a part of my life. As an Army wife, she took care of those things.”
Their sons were in their teens when the Vietnam War erupted. Melvin earned his Combat Infantry Badge for the third time — perfect attendance as those men with that distinction of serving in those three wars called their service. The Army put him in command of the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry in 1968 and he reinvigorated the unit, calling it the No Slack battalion.
Just as he almost completed the turnaround, his jeep ran over a Vietcong mine, sending shrapnel to his leg and to his head. Another war, another Purple Heart, only this time it cost him his leg. The military sent him to Walter Reed to recuperate.
Ruth went alone, shielding her sons from the news, as they were in college. She wanted to see how he was. Melvin was in horrible condition. His head wound was more serious than their sons realized. For nearly a year, he worked to recover from the explosion. Melvin wanted to stay on active duty as a one-legged paratrooper. She supported his decision. They had to appear before a medical board. Ruth told the Oregonian, “When I got there, they wanted to know only one thing. ‘Was he as difficult a man before was wounded as he is now?’ one board member asked. ‘No difference,’ I answered. And he passed.”
His assignment was as post commander of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, home of the Airborne and Special Operational Forces, a nod to his sterling and exemplary service under fire.
Gen. Eichelberger (C) w/ Gen. Swing (R) planning the raid of Los Banos
Melvin retired as the most decorated man in the Army at the time with the Distinguished Service Cross, four Silver Stars, five Bronze Stars, five Purple Hearts, two Legion of Merits, two Joint Service Commendations, a Combat Infantry Badge for each of three wars, and a Master Parachutist Badge with two combat jump stars. Melvin paid dearly for those awards, but so did Ruth. She was one of the few women to receive five telegrams over the years informing her that her husband was wounded in combat. And by few, I mean I do not know of another.
But his retirement in Florida began three wonderful decades for them. In 2000, Ruth and Melvin moved to Oregon to live near their son, Allan. Doctors diagnosed her as having Parkinson’s. Mike Francis interviewed Melvin and their sons 11 months before her death. Melvin said, “All these things she put up with. All the things she did for the family. She kept our lives going for 70 years. ”
Following her death on January 9, 2013, the family buried her in Arlington, where all our military heroes belong. He joined her there following his death on May 2, 2015.
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor –
Para-Toast.
‘I count only four parachutes. Where’s Mr. Simms?’
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Farewell Salutes –
Richard Bettinson – Pelly, CAN; RC Air Force/RAF, WWII, ETO
John Carberg – New London, CT; USMC
Robert Daughtery – Clinton, IN; US Army, WWII, PTO, 3rd Signal Battalion
Paul Fournier – Cleveland, OH; US Navy, WWII
John Graziano – Elkridge, MD; US Air Force, Captain, 87th Flying Training Squadron, KIA
Hank Kriha – Oshkosh, WI; US Army, WWII, PTO, 32nd Red Arrow Division
George McClary – Pueblo, CO; US Coast Guard, WWII, USS El Paso
James Ruff – Summitt, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, SSgt., 11th Airborne Division
Harold Sullivan – Morriston, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO / Korea, Purple Heart
John Yordan – Detroit, MI; US Army
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Veterans Day 2018
A MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES….
https://mailchi.mp/nara/0rjknzxchj-763401?e=2018eed2da
NO MATTER WHAT COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN – IF YOU ARE LIVING FREE – THANK A VETERAN !!!
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Here We Go……
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Farewell Salutes –
Daniel Buchta – Far Rockaway, NY; US Navy, USS Nimitz
Jean Danniels – ENG; WRENS, WWII
Waverly Ellsworth Jr. – Buffalo, NY; US Navy, Korea, medic
Virgil; Johnston – Grove, OK; USMC, WWII
Alma (Smith) Knesel – Lebanon, PA; Manhattan Project (TN), WWII
Samuel Mastrogiacomo – Sewell, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, MSgt., B-24 tail gunner, 2nd Air Div./8th A.F. (Ret. 33 y.)
Willis Sears Nelson – Omaha, NE; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, B-17 pilot
Gregory O’Neill – Fort Myers, FL; US Army, WWII, ETO, 787th
Orville Roeder – Hankinson, ND; US Army, Medic
Nicholas Vukson – Sault Saint Marie, CAN; RC Navy, WWII, Telegraphist, HMCS Lanark
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July Fourth 2018
While you enjoy your bar-b-ques and fireworks – take a moment to remember the troops that made it all possible for that to happen today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY USA !!!
Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s “Concord Hymn.” It was sung at the completion of the Concord Battle Monument on April 19, 1837.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world,
The foe long since in silence slept,
Alike the Conqueror silent sleeps,
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone,
That memory may their deed redeem,
When like our sires our sons are gone.
Spirit! who made those freemen dare
To die, or leave their children free,
Bid time and nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and Thee.
If you are setting off fireworks this evening, please be courteous to your neighboring veterans . Haven’t they heard enough?
Take good care of your pets
Click on images to enlarge.
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Fourth of July Humor – or is it?
courtesy of ‘America on Coffee’
courtesy of: Henry Kotula
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Farewell Salutes –
Hobert Bingham – Alcorn County, MS; USMC, WWII, PTO
James Conway – Sun City, AZ; US Army, WWII, 2nd Lt.
Irving Green – Mountaindale, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, bombardier
Charles Highley Jr. – Glen Ridge, NJ; USMC, WWII, PTO
Lois Jolly – Hempstead, NY; US Army WAC, WWII, ETO, nurse
Thomas Miller – Norfolk, VA; US Army Air Corps, 152nd AAA/11th Airborne Division
Joseph Rizzi – Bronx, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, CO A/457 Artillery/11th Airborne Divsion
Ray Sarvis – Bessemer City, NC; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Harold Tor – Beach, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co F/187th/11th Airborne Division
Robert Watz – Westerly, RI; US Army, Korea, Co A/187th RCT
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U.S. MEMORIAL DAY
“Taps” Please take a moment for them before you begin your holiday.
“Hymn To The Fallen” Support the troops.
Not every country holds Memorial Day on this date, many are in November when we hold our Veteran’s Day, and I’m certain you have your own ceremonies to display gratitude to your troops. Shake the hand of a veteran today!
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Military Family Remembrance –
courtesy of fellow blogger, Patty B.
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Farewell Salutes –
Walter Backman – Aurora, IL; US Navy, WWII, Radioman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Alan Bean – Fort Worth, TX; US Navy, NASA, astronaut
John C. England – Colorado Springs, CO; US Navy, WWII, Ensign, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Paul Etchepare Jr. – LaGrange, IL; US Army, Vietnam, 2nd LT.
Paul A. Nash – Carlisle, IN; US Navy, WWII, Fire Controlman, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Charles R. Ogle – Mountain View, MO; US Navy, WWII, Fireman 1st Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA
Richard Prior – Reese, MI, US Army, 11th Airborne Division, Medical Unit
Philip Roth – Newark, NJ; US Army (author)
Dominick Santoro – East Meadow, NY; US Army, WWII
Lowell Valley – Ontonagon, MI; US Navy, WWII, Fireman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA
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…and a Soldier Died Today…
Koji Kanemoto has started our Memorial Day weekend off with the proper remembrance and respect that our deceased veterans deserve.
