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Guam
Guam
In a lot of Pacific War histories, Guam is swept aside and banished as insignificant. How soon they forget, many might say.
In Tokyo, soundtrucks festooned with World War II colors still extol those lost in a gallant defeat. In America, elders like Louis H. Wilson Jr. and George Tweed would never forget.
Masashi Ito and Bunzo Minagawa spent young manhood into middle age in the tropical underside of an island that tourists now praise as a paradise. They were holdouts, soldiers who refused to surrender and would forage for
survival for 16 years.
Soichi Yokoi, before and after
The last known Japanese survivor, Shoichi Yokoi, held out until 1972, captured by chance as he ventured out to empty a fish trap. Yokoi had never crept out of dense cover to hear the happy shouts of Japanese tourists and honeymooners. Nor had he walked the lobby of the Hilton or the Cliffside.
Luxury hotels swarm over the beachfront and jungle growth has covered the faint traces of war, and Guam gets only a passing nod as a battlefield beside Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Okinawa and Leyte. Thirty-six years ago [now it is 76 ½ years ago] shellfire plowed across Guam. Some 18,500 Japanese were trying to pry loose the fingerhold that many more thousands of American soldiers and Marines had fastened on beaches and cliffsides.
Many of the Americans barely had a respite between battles, having first seized Saipan to pull the keystone of the Marianas archway. Guam was almost a point-of-honor afterthought. The island was an American possession until a handful of Marines, soldiers and Guamanian militia made a no-choice surrender only three days after Japanese bombers pounded Hawaii.
The III Amphibious Corps and the 77th Infantry Division are not going in blindfolded that July 21, 1944. Eleven days before the landing, as American warships savage Guam’s coastal defenses, a tall figure sprints down a beach and plunges into the surf, swimming with desperate strength until he is within hailing distance of a destroyer.
George Tweed
George Tweed is pulled aboard and tells an astonishing story. He was one of the 288 men on the island as 5,000 Japanese surged ashore, ignoring the flea-bite firepower of a few .30 cal. machine guns as they overwhelmed the thin garrison and forced the Naval Governor, Capt. George J. McMillin, into quick submission.
Tweed and five others slipped away, hunted by Japanese who probed the underbrush with bayonets. Only Tweed survived, living on land crabs and coconuts, warily evading the patrols that shook every palm tree and banyan for him. Tweed saw his pursuers far more often than they saw him, and his sketchpad mind has taken it all down — every gun emplacement, trenchline and fortified cave. The Japanese failure to capture or kill this ragged stray will cost them dearly.
Exacting naval gunfire singles out visible and concealed coastal guns – all but a few. As the 3rd Marine Division and the 1st Marine Brigade board barges that cut paint-stroke wakes toward the western side of Guam, sharp flashes burst along the coastline. Barges turn over like crumpled buckets.
“You never get it for free,” an older Marine mutters as the barges push ashore — the division between Adelup and Asan Points and the brigade wedging between Point Bangi and the town of Agat. Beachheads are “tightly fastened and the coastal guns erased.
There are already wolfish shouts from the jungle along the coastline. Fierce counterattacks tear into the Marine lines and one lunge rips through the brigade. It is contained after a desperate brawl with bullets, blades and even fists.
The Marines begin moving inland, slowly closing a gap between division and brigade as hey crush across Apra Harbor and Orote Peninsula, squeezing
the defenders between them. But the Japanese put no markdown price tags on anything, heaping fallen defenses with Marine dead. As the two Marine forces grasp .hands, another enemy rush pours forth — the futile bravery of 500 Japanese sailors who die in an inferno of shellfire.
Capt. Louis H. Wilson Jr. is a company commander in the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. He thrusts ahead of the others to take high and important ground, holding it against human-avalanche counterattacks.
His Medal of Honor citation will stiffly relate that Wilson “contributed essentially” to the success of the assault, passing over the fact that he was wounded three times and fought aside agonized delirium to rally his Marines.
Capt. Louis H. Wilson Jr., USMC
Soldiers of the 77th, fed slowly into the advance, must do the deadly, mop-and-dustpan work in southern Guam as the Marine advance lunges on. The suicidal determined Japanese will tear tiny leaks and large gaps in the line, and the effort to repulse them will often get down to hand-to-hand piecework.
The advance will spider all over the island, with Guam declared secure as Marines reach the northernmost tip on Ritidian Point. Everything is back under American colors by Aug. 10.
The past will be wiped away over the years. Wreckage will be swept aside. Foundations for posh hotels will be sunk along the beachfront. Andersen AFB and Agana NAS will assure a stronger military presence than those unfortunate few of late 1941.
Strangers will be strafed by stiff expense but nothing else.
“Robinson Crusoe, USN” by: George Tweed
Tweed will write a book, “Robinson Crusoe, USN.”
Wilson will become Marine Corps Commandant.
Battle histories will little note nor long remember Guam.
But Wilson, Tweed, many Americans and a few Japanese, will always share a thin fund of private memories.
From the Archives of the Stars & Stripes, August 10, 1980
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Military Humor –
‘Howitzers at dawn.’
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Farewell Salutes –
Howard Buescher – Cleveland, OH; US Navy, WWII, PTO
Andrew Caneza – New Orleans, LA; US Army, WWII, PTO
Mead Clark – Joliet, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 17th Airborne Division
George Fry – St. Paul, MN; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Ed Guthrie (102) Omaha, NE; US Navy, WWII, electrician’s mate 2nd Class, USS Banner, last known Pearl Harbor survivor
John Harris – NY & FL; US Navy, WWII, Korea & Vietnam (Ret. 28 y.)
Glen Kloiber – Milwaukee, WI; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 791st AAA Battalion
Dallas Lehn – Elba, NE; US Army, WWII, PTO, Purple Heart
Michael D. Miller – OH; US Army Air Corps, WWII
John Rudberg – Minneapolis, MN; US Navy, V-12 Program
Ordnance – M4 Sherman Tank in the Pacific War
M4 Sherman tank with the 24th Marines, Iwo Jima, WWII
Once again, we come upon a piece of ordnance that is more well-known in the European Theater, but did get use in the Pacific – the M4 Sherman Tank, named by the British for the American General William Tecumseh Sherman (February 8, 1820 – February 14, 1891).
The M4 Sherman pilot unit was assembled by Lima Locomotive works in February 1942 varying from the T6 mainly in the removal of the hull side doors. Total manufacturing in 3 factories, Lima, Pressed Steel, and Pacific Car & Foundry began the next month, every one of these original manufacturing models being cast hull tanks, named M4A1.
In the Pacific Theater, the Japanese fought fanatically, but were hampered by obsolete and inferior weapons of all types, the Shermans clearly outclassed enemy light tanks.
Japanese Type 97 Chi-Ha tank
The M4 Sherman in the Pacific Theater first saw combat was at Tarawa Atoll in 1943 where it fought against Japanese tanks such as the Type 97 Chi-Ha. In this area of operations, the Shermans were better than the Chi-Ha due to the Sherman’s armor was thicker and the M4 Sherman also had better firepower. The Japanese Army began develop countermeasures to take out Shermans such as the Towed 47mm Guns that were capable to penetrate certain parts of its armor at shorter distances, however, other methods were used under extreme measures such as soldiers who voluntarily used Type 99 hand-thrown Mines or Lunge Mines.
The M4Could be easily be adapted for a variety of different uses, such as: the Mark 1 flamethrower which could throw napalm 150 yards; fitted with 
floatation screens for amphibious landings; plows; additional firepower; steel teeth to push through hedgerows and Sherman ‘Crab’ fitted with rotating chains to detonate land mines.
While only a bit over 49,000 M4’s being produced, half of that production and the other variants were given to other Allied Nations, including Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union under the Lend Lease Program.
American Heritage Museum, Korean War tank
Later, in the Korean War, an astute soldier realized that 1950 was the Chinese Year of the Tiger. Word went out for tanks crews to paint tiger faces on the front of their tanks instead of the usual camouflage. The idea was that “superstitious” Chinese would not shoot at them for fear of ‘bad luck’ or
Tiger Tank, Korean War
the very least hesitate long enough for the tankers to get the first shot off.
The 5th Regimental Combat Team, known as the Bobcats got the most frightening and complete tiger scheme. But once the 
Chinese New Year passed in March 1951, the tanks were painted over, so the results of this psychological scheme is difficult to find.
The American Heritage Museum has been restored and re-painted, by Dan Wrightington, exactly as the 5th RCT’s M4A3 appeared in combat January 1951 near Inchon.
Sherman in the Pacific 1943-1945
For further data on the Sherman in the Pacific, the book by Raymond Giuliani, shows the extraordinary metamorphosis of the famous American tank, its first disastrous engagement on “Bloody Atoll” Tarawa, in the island of Okinawa, the last bastion of the Rising Sun. The terrible experience of fire against an enemy, as brave as fanatical, required Americans to adapt and transform the Sherman to resist and win the war.
Resources: WWII History magazine, The Collins Foundation & the American Heritage Museum yearly report; and WWII Weapons.com
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Elwood Culp – Hazelton, PA; US Navy, WWII, PC-491, radarman
Arthur ‘Jerry’ Hamilton Jr. – UT; US Army, Japanese Occupation
Irene Ladish – Knoxville, TN; US Navy WAVES, WWII
John Le Carre (David Cornwell) – Poole, ENG; British Army, Intelligence Group, German Occupation / MI5
Jack Robinson – Fort Wright, KY; US Army, WWII
John Stevenson – Paris, TX; US Navy, WWII
Patricia Truitt – Kelso, WA; Cadet Nursing Corps, WWII
Merl Utsler – Winterset, IA; US Coast Guard, WWII
Norman Winterhoff – Asheville, OH; US Army, WWII / US Navy, Chaplin, Commander (Ret. 22 y.)
James Yeatts – Chesterfield, VA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Cpl., Forward Observer, 188th Field Artillery Battalion
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Pacific War Trials – part three
Kempeitai
The British prosecuted Japanese along the Malay Peninsula, in Borneo, New Britain, Rangoon and Singapore. In Malay, 35 Kempeitai (secret police) were tried and 29 went to the gallows. The most publicized trial involved those at the “River Kwai” for causing almost 600 deaths of the 2,000 POWs that built the Burma Siam railroad.
Shiro Ishii
Australia listed 35 separate charges, including cannibalism and mutilation of a dead body. The most famous was Shiro Ishii of Unit 731 for subjecting prisoners to horrendous experiments. These crimes against humanity were normally held in cooperation with British and American officials. One trial held on New Guinea was for a Japanese officer who ate part of an Australian POW. The defense claimed starvation as a reason for his mental demise – he was hanged.
The largest trial of 503 Japanese was held by Australia for cruelty to prisoners on Amoina and 92 were convicted. In Rabaul, New Britain, 1,000 American and British POWs were forced to march 165 miles and only 183 made it the entire route. The Japanese commander executed the survivors. The officer had survived the war – but not the court.
Michiaki Kamada
The Netherlands tried an ugly case for Vice Admiral Michiaki Kamada who ordered 1,500 natives of Borneo murdered. Four others were executed for their participation in the awful treatment of 2,000 Dutch prisoners on Flores Island. Another case involved the treatment of 5,000 Indonesian laborers, 500 Allied POWs and 1,000 civilians.
China tried 800 defendants, whereby 500 were convicted and 149 sentenced to death.
The French held the least number of trials and dealt with them as ordinary crimes. Five Japanese were given the death penalty for the murder of American airmen in Indochina. The French were still holding their trials as late as November 1951.
As mentioned previously, the Russian “trials” were held as propaganda against the West. The charges would be dismissed, due to “arrested development.” ( suggesting that the Japanese were hindered in their development since they were not subject to Soviet culture and education.) The Soviets publicly made it clear that they were “on to” Japan and her American friend’s plot against them.
Abe Koso under guard.
The U.S. Navy tried the Japanese accused of crimes on the Pacific islands. Three were held on Kwajalein, in the Marshall Islands and 44 were put on trial on Guam. These were closely held in conjunction with British, Australian and Indonesian officials. Abe Koso, became the naval commander at Kwajalein and ordered the beheading of nine Marine Raiders that were left behind after the Makin Raid. Koso defended his acts by claiming the Marines were U.S. spies. The tribunal rejected his claim and 19 June 1947, he was hanged.
To be continued…
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
La Fayette A. Bronston – Springfield, OH; USMC, VIetnam, SSgt., 3 Purple Hearts, Bronze Star, Silver Star
Max W. Daniels (103) – Lake Como, PA; USMC, WWII, cook
WHAT IS A VETERAN?
Joe, Francis & Harry Doyle – Arthur, CAN; Canadian Armed Forces, WWII, KIA (in Memorandum by the Doyle Family)
James Fleming – Hawkes Bay, NZ; NZEF, WWII # 103747, NZ Engineers
Leo Hines – Albany, NY; US Army, Vietnam, 506/11/101st Airborne Division
Wally McLaughlin – Minneapolis, MN; US Army, Korea, 187 RCT/11th Airborne Division
William Schroeder – Boise, ID; USMC, Korea, B Co./1/7th Marines
Michaela Ticha – CZE; MFO Sgt. (Multinational Force & Observers), KIA (So. Sinai)
Gregory Troutman – Salisbury, NC; US Army, Korea & Vietnam, 187th RCT / Pentagon, Col. (Ret. 30 y.)
John ‘Val’ Wachtel IV – Topeka, KS; US Army, Vietnam, Green Beret
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
Poem from another Vietnam veteran…
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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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Halloween 2020
Halloween this year has many comparisons to that which went on during WWII, but there were no episodes of mass destruction in the cities as I have seen in Philadelphia.
WWII put quite the damper on any activity as chaotic as Halloween was back in those days, people weren’t making heroes out of criminals … according to history, war shortages made everyone edgy, and towns clamped down on Halloween pranking with both curfews and notices sent home from principals and police. There was a national plea for conservation: any piece of property damaged during Halloween pranking was a direct affront to the war effort.
In 1942 the Chicago City Council voted to abolish Halloween and institute instead “Conservation Day” on October 31st. (This wasn’t the only attempt to reshape Halloween: President Truman tried to declare it “Youth Honor Day” in 1950 but the House of Representatives, sidetracked by the Korean War, neglected to act on the motion. In 1941 the last week of October was declared “National Donut Week,” and then years later, “National Popcorn Week.”)
A day for dressing up.
Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when it was believed the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead become blurred. It has since evolved into a holiday when spooky legends, myths and folklore take center stage—each with their own dark history.
The first Halloween during WWII was in 1942, when the nation was in full-tilt war production mode and millions of men were in uniform. Children and teenagers were suddenly set free from adult supervision, as mothers and fathers spent more time working or away from home altogether. There were widespread fears of juvenile delinquency and criminal behavior. Fear was a dominant emotion during the war years and the vandalism one might expect on Halloween now seemed to portend greater crimes. Many communities did, in fact, cancel Halloween that year.
Some folks saw the opportunity to co-opt, rather than ban, the holiday by hosting costume parties, dances, etc. to lure the would-be delinquents off the streets and into safer environments. (Still not much candy available though, due to the rationing of sugar.) It worked. Halloween vandalism feel off in 1942 and after the war, neighborhoods began hosting a kind of roving festival for kids – trick-or-treating.
For templates to create your own military pumpkins ___ CLICK HERE!!
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Military HALLOWEEN Humor ~
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Farewell Salutes –
James Blaney – Milwaukee, WI; US National Guard, Major General (Ret.)
Eric Bunger – Sioux Falls, SD; US Army, Afghanistan & Iraq, Sgt., 82nd Airborne Division
Christopher Crossett – Philadelphia, PA; US Army, WWII, ETO, Silver Star, Purple Heart
Alpha Farrow – Lindsay, OK; US Army, WWII, ETO, Pvt., 10th Mt. Division / Vietnam & Korea, Chaplain, Col. (Ret.)
Morgan Garrett – Weddington, NC; US Coast Guard, Ensign
William Hinchey – Middletown, RI; USMC, WWII, CBI
Duane T. Kyser – Muskogee, OK; US Navy, WWII, Seaman 2nd Class, USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)Rhiannon Ross – Waxom, MI; US Navy, Lt.
David Mansfield (100) – Thorold, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII
Carlisle Trost – Valmeyer, IL; US Navy, Naval Academy grad ’53, 23rd Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral (Ret. 37 y.)
Walter S. Wojtczak (105) – Newbury, NH; US Army, WWII, Major, Corps of Engineers
Pacific War in art – 1944
As promised, here is an example of other works of art for the following year of the Pacific War…
USMC in the Marshall Islands, 31 Jan 1944, by: James V. Griffin
Truk Island, Carolinas, by: Frank Lemon
RNZAF, May 1944 with Corsairs
Saipan Jun-july 1944, by: Robert Benney
War Weary, by: Jack Fellows
Guam, July-Aug. by: Howard Gerard
Peleliu Invaded, Sept. 1944, By: Tom Lea
Avengers of the Philippines, by: John D. Shaw
November 14, 1944 . . . As smoldering enemy ships mark a trail to Manila Bay, Avengers and Hellcats of Air Group 51 overfly the isle of Corregidor on their return to the carrier U.S.S. San Jacinto.
With the misty mountains of Bataan standing as a silent sentinel, Naval LT (JG) George H.W. Bush pilots his TBM in one of his last combat missions of WWII. The valor of Bush’s group in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and in the strikes on Manila Bay helped pave the way for MacArthur’s campaign to liberate the Philippines
Kamikazes in the Philippines, by Usaburo Ibara
Japanese paratroopers, Leyte, by Tsuruto Goro
Some 750 men, mainly from the 2nd Raiding Brigade, of this group were assigned to attack American air bases on Luzon and Leyte in the night. They were flown in Ki-57 transports, but most of the aircraft were shot down. Some 300 commandos managed to land in the Burauen area on Leyte.
The paratroopers of the 11th A/B, including Gen. Joseph Swing and Smitty, found themselves fighting Japanese parachutists who had landed near the San Pablo airstrip. The Japanese were wiped out in a 5-day engagement. In a continuous series of combat actions, Japanese resistance was reduced on Leyte by the end of December 1944.
Resources:
IHRA: for their blog and their books and prints
Jack Fellows website
Barse Miller –
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-C-WWII/index.htm
Frank Lemon lithograph –
James V. Griffin –
https://www.jamesgriffinillustration.com/works
Robert Benney
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/artists/the-art-of-robert-benney.html
Tom Lea
1000 Yard Stare by: Tom Lea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Lea_III
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Bruce Bacon Sr. – Toledo, OH; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division
Roy Brumbaugh – Platte, SD; US Army, German Occupation + Middle East, 11th Airborne Division
Margaret Fletcher – Woodland, CA; Civilian, Civil Air Patrol, pilot
John G. Herring – Copperhill, TN; US Army
Joseph Kelly – New Canaan, CT; US Army, WWII, ETO, Forward Observer
Mary LaPlante (100) – Kansas City, MO; US Navy WAVE, WWII, encryptor
Jack Martin – Greensboro, NC; US Army, Korea, 77th Special Forces (Green Berets)
John Morrison (101) – Moose Jaw, CAN; RC Army, WWII, 1st Survey Regiment
Gerard Simpson – Staten Island, NY; US Army, Vietnam, 82nd + 101st Airborne Divisions, Purple Heart
Bill Wingett – Salem, OR; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, Co. E/506/101st Airborne Division, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
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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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WWII Canine Heroes
Search and Rescue dogs
U.S. Army launches Canine Units
On March 13, 1942, the Quartermaster Corps (QMC) of the United States Army begins training dogs for the newly established War Dog Program, or “K-9 Corps.”
Well over a million dogs served on both sides during WWI, carrying messages along the complex network of trenches and providing some measure of psychological comfort to the soldiers. The most famous dog to emerge from the war was Rin Tin Tin, an abandoned puppy of German war dogs found in France in 1918.
When the country entered WWII in December 1941, the American Kennel Association and a group called Dogs for Defense began a movement to mobilize dog owners to donate healthy and capable animals to the Quartermaster Corps of the U.S. Army. Training began in March 1942, and that fall the QMC was given the task of training dogs for the U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard as well.
The K-9 Corps initially accepted over 30 breeds of dogs, but the list was soon narrowed to seven: German Shepherds, Belgian sheep dogs, Doberman Pinschers, collies, Siberian Huskies, Malumutes and Eskimo dogs. Members of the K-9 Corps were trained for a total of 8 to 12 weeks. After basic obedience training, they were sent through one of four specialized programs to prepare them for work as sentry dogs, scout or patrol dogs, messenger dogs or mine-detection dogs.
The top canine hero of World War II was Chips, a German Shepherd who served with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Trained as a sentry dog, Chips broke away from his handlers and attacked an enemy machine gun nest in Italy, forcing the entire crew to surrender. The wounded Chips was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
U.S. Marine Corps’ War Dogs!
As early as 1935, the Marines were interested in war dogs. They had experienced the enemy’s’ sentry dogs used in Haiti and in the other “Banana Wars” in Central America where dogs staked around guerrilla camps in the jungle sounded the alarm at the approach of the Marines.
The very first Marine War Dog Training School was located at Quantico Bay, Cuba, on January 18, 1943, under the direction of Captain Samuel T. Brick. Fourteen Doberman Pinschers were donated by the Baltimore, Maryland and Canton, Ohio members of the Doberman Pinscher Club of America. An old warehouse served as both headquarters and kennels.
The school’s location was short lived, however. A week later, the War Dog Training Center had been established at Camp Knox, site of a former CCC camp at Camp Lejeune, NC. They were soon joined by a Boxer named Fritz, the very first dog sworn and signed into the Marine Corp.
Camp leJeune, 1943, Higgins boat training
Dogs For Defense wasn’t the only organization recruiting dogs for the armed services, in 1942 the Doberman Pinscher Club of America was formally approached to procure Dobes for the newly formed Marine Corps War Dog Training Facility at Camp LeJeune, New River, North Carolina.
The Marine dogs were named “Devildogs,” a name, that the Marines earned during WWI, fighting against the Germans. There were also Labs, German Shepherds and other breeds, that were obtained from the Army’s Quartermaster Corps. Actually towards the end of the war, German Shepherds replaced the Dobermans, as the preferred breed. Arriving in Camp LeJeune NC, the new canine recruits were first entered in a forty-page dog service record book. The Marine Corps was the only branch of the service to have such a record for their dogs.
Dobes began their training as Privates. They were promoted on the basis of their length of service. After three months the Dobe became a Private First Class, one year a Corporal, two years a Sergeant, three years a Platoon Sergeant, four years a Gunner Sergeant, and after five years a Master Gunner Sergeant. The Dobes could eventually outrank their handlers.
During World War II, a total of seven Marine War Dog Platoons were trained at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. All of the dog platoons served in the Pacific in the war against the Japanese.
The First War Dog Platoon, was commanded by Lt. Clyde A. Henderson, and served with the 2nd Raider Battalion on Bougainville. From this and other units, the First Marine Brigade was formed and invaded Guam along with the Third Marine Division and the 77th Army Division.
More units were added to form the 6th Marine Division which invaded Okinawa. The First War Dog Platoon saw action on Bougainville, Guam, and Okinawa. The 2nd, commanded by Lt. William T. Taylor and 3rd War Dog Platoons, commanded by 1st Lt. William W. Putney, saw action on Guam (Lt. Putney was also the vet for both the 2nd and 3rd platoon), Morotai, Guadalcanal, Aitape, Kwajalein, and Eniwetok.
Because of the Dobes’ keen sense of smell and hearing, they could detect the presence of men several hundred yards away. In one instance, the dogs detected the presence of Jap troops one half mile away.
The Dobes’ handlers always had help digging their foxholes, the other Marines always wanted the handler and their dogs nearby.
No unit protected by one of the dogs was ever ambushed by the Japanese or was there ever a case of Japanese infiltration.
Putney War Dog Monument
More than 1,000 dogs had trained as Marine Devil Dogs during World War II. Rolo, one of the first to join the Devil Dogs, was the first Marine dog to be killed in action. 29 war dogs were listed as killed in action, 25 of those deaths occurred on the island of Guam. Today, the U.S. Marine Corp maintains a War Memorial (created by former 1st Lt. William W. Putney, who was the veterinarian for the dogs on Guam; and funded by public donation), on Guam, for those 25 War Dogs that served and died there during WW II.
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Current Military Dog News –
Navy working dog donates blood to save Air Force colleague !
For a more modern story, author DC Gilbert recommends:
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
John H. Autry IV – Hamlet, NC; US Army, Vietnam, Sgt., 82nd Airborne Division & 75th Rangers, Bronze Star & Purple Heart
Nick Bravo-Regules – Largo, FL; US Army, Jordon, Spc., 2/43/11th ADA Brigade
Okinawa
John Bethea – Sturgis, MS; US Army, Vietnam, 101st Airborne Division + 173rd A/B Brigade, West Point graduate, Colonel (Ret. 21 y.)
James Cowan – Fort Myers, FL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI
Arnold Gittelson – CA; USMC, WWII, 1st Sgt.
John Holmes – Selma, AL; US Army, WWII
Francis Kennedy – Pittston, PA; US Army, Korea, artillery spotter, Silver Star, 2 Purple Hearts
Frank Strahorn – Clinto, MD; USMC, Iraq & Afghanistan
Earl Urish – IL; US Army Air Corps, Japanese Occupation, 11th Airborne Division
Phillip “Joe” Woodward – Wabash, IN; US Army, Korea, 37 FAB/2nd Division, 3 Bronze Stars
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Armed Forces Day/Week
A 12 MINUTE HIGHLIGHT VIDEO OF THE LONGEST RUNNING ARMED FORCES DAY PARADE, FROM BREMERTON, WASHINGTON.
Armed Forces Week is celebrated in the week leading up to Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May). For American service members, Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remember past and present service for all branches of the service. The week also includes “Children of Fallen Patriots Day” 13 May.
Armed Forces Day was observed for the first time on May 20, 1950, the day was created on August 31, 1949 to honor Americans serving in the five U.S. military branches. Armed Forces Day/Week was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense.
Today, there are many Armed Forces Week events around the globe, but sources report the “longest continuously running Armed Forces Day Parade” for Americans is held in Bremerton, Washington. In 2018 Bremerton marked the 70th straight year of its Armed Forces Day Parade. Unfortunately, as expected, the festivities are postponed this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Armed Forces Week is another time for Americans to reflect on the sacrifices made by those in uniform, and local communities often pay tribute to their missing or fallen loved ones and friends. There may be ceremonies in your local area (especially if a military installation is nearby) to pay respects to those missing or killed in action.
Being as we cannot hold parades or visit military installations this year…
More ways to celebrate
- Wear red, white and blue
- Fly the American flag
- Thank a man or woman who serves or has served
- Talking with or writing to a military member
- Donate to veteran or military-based organizations
- Send care packages for those serving overseas
- Volunteer through the VA or a veterans service organization
What makes Armed Forces Day different from Veterans Day and Memorial Day?
Unlike Veterans Day, which honors those who served, and unlike Memorial Day, which honors those who died serving, Armed Forces Day is a day to honor all of the men and women currently serving as well as those who have served, both active and former military.
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Military Humor – 
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Quarantine Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Arthur W. Barstow – Hadley, MA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 5th Air Force
Hilton Carter – New Orleans, LA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, MSSgt., Tuskegee pilot-crew chief-gunner
Daniel Daube – Donora, PA; US Air Force, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Lt. Colonel (Ret.)
Carl Groesbeck – Chicago, IL; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, bombardier-navigator, POW
Hansford ‘Hank’ Hancock – Greenville, KY; US Army, WWII, ETO
Dorville Johnson – Jonesboro, AR; US Navy, WWII & Korea (Ret. 21 y.)
Paul Krogh Jr. – Old Saybrook, CT; US Navy, WWII, USS Slater
Walter Mallin – Manchester, NH; US Army, WWII, Pearl Harbor survivor
Joseph Phillips – Toronto, CAN; RC Air Force, WWII, ETO, radioman-navigator
Jerry Stiller – Brooklyn, NY; US Army, WWII / Beloved actor
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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
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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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Pacific Paratrooper 