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“Voices from Vietnam” by: Kayleen Reusser / Review
‘Voices from Vietnam’ by: Kayleen Reusser
VOICES FROM VIETNAM
by: Kayleen Reusser
Vietnam was the 10-year “Police Action” that developed and escalated in my generation’s youth. We saw casualty lists in the newspapers increasing daily. Here in Kayleen Reusser’s book are interviews with the troops that managed to survive the horror that was the Vietnam War.
Keyleen Reusser
In this book, a background story is given for each contributor, their branch of military, method of service and then, what they experienced. But the pains of war did not stop with their return home. These gallant people told Kayleen of what they ran into upon returning to the United States. The events, such as protesters, and name calling, are embarrassing, disheartening and downright disappointing to know how the people of this country were behaving toward these troops.
Despite the home front’s utter fear of the draft and disapproval of the war, these veterans carried on and we are privileged to read of their accomplishments. There are photos of them, so that you can visualize the veteran to the story.
Vietnam veterans
This era was opposite that of WWII, but I hope “Voices from Vietnam” has the same affect on other readers as it had on me. It brought back memories, but added an insight that can still be learned by this and future generations. You will find yourself turning the pages and going from one story to another.
Just as Kayleen’s book, “We Gave Our Best” inspired me and gave me hope for our future and our military – I recommend this book wholeheartedly and hope many will give these men and women the time to tell their stories that no one wanted to hear in the ’60’s and ’70’s.
Through it all, they remained true and loyal.
This is an honest and straightforward depiction of that era – A MUST READ.
TO LOCATE KAYLEEN REUSSER AND HER BOOK – CLICK HERE!
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Walter Morgan Bryant – Delray Beach, FL; USMC, Vietnam, Sgt.
Leo Cummings, Jackson, MI; US Army, 11th Airborne Division
Jim Grewe – Edina, MN; US Army, Vietnam, 4th Infantry & 101st Airborne Division
Gilbert L. Harris – Spotsylvania, VA; US Army, 82nd Airborne Division, Green Beret
Stephen Hoke – Meadville, PA; US Army, Vietnam, 1st Calvary & 82nd Airborne Division
Jerry L. O’Nan – Lexington, KY; USMC, Vietnam, Pfc. # 2132524, E Co/4/2/3rd Marine Division, KIA (Quang Nam Province, SV)
Michael R. Paul – Williamsburg, KY; US Army, Vietnam, radio repair, 101st Airborne Division
Robert J. Reginald – Lindenhurst, NY; US Army, Vietnam, Cpl. # 52748547, B/502/2/101st Airborne Division, KIA (SV)
Timothy C. Reitmann – Valley Stream, NY; US Army, Vietnam, Spec. # 52748020, vehicle repair, A/2/5/11 Field Force, KIA (SV)
Eugene “Butch” Skoch – East Meadow, NY; US Army, Vietnam, Pfc., KIA
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The U.S.O.’s 80th Anniversary
“Until everyone comes home” is the motto of the U.S.O., the nonprofit organization has stuck to that motto, doing its best to bring support and entertainment to American military personnel around the world.
To connect to the organization, please click HERE!
Over the course of the USO’s 80-year history, the organization has seen it all: the beaches of France, the jungles of Vietnam, the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the mountains of Afghanistan. But most importantly, the USO has witnessed several generations of service members, military spouses and military families pass through its doors – and has provided them with crucial support by boosting their morale and keeping them connected to one another throughout their time in the military.
Boxing match w/ Sugar Ray Leonard & Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney as referee.
Starting in 1941 and in the eight decades since, the USO has remained committed to always standing by the military’s side, no matter where their service takes them.
Eleven months before the United States’ official entry into World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was already creating a support system for the nation’s Armed Forces. Bringing together the Salvation Army, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA), the National Catholic Community Service, the National Travelers Aid Association and the National Jewish Welfare Board, these six organizations formed the United Service Organizations (USO) on 4 February 1941. The USO was created specifically to provide morale and recreation services to the troops.
“Until everyone comes home” is the motto of the U.S.O., the nonprofit organization has stuck to that motto, doing its best to bring support and entertainment to American military personnel around the world.
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Jesse Anderson – Boise, ID; National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer 4, instructor pilot
Dale F. Bruhs – Milford, MD; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
Millie Hughes-Fulford – Mineral Wells, TX; US Army Reserve, Medical Corps / NASA, 1st female astronaut- 
Michael Gastrich – Cincinnati, OH; US Navy, Petty Officer 2nd Class, air crew mechanic/flight engineer
Roland Horn – Des Moines, IA; US Army, WWII, Chief Warrant Officer (Ret.)
George Laubhan – Boise, ID; National Guard, Chief Warrant Officer 3, instructor pilot
Charlotte MacDonough – Boston, MA; Civilian, WWII, made B-17 fuel bladders
Ryan Mason – Carthage, NY & TX; US Army, Middle East, Sgt.
Matthew Peltzer – Napa, ID; National Guard, Chief Petty Officer 3, pilot
George P. Shultz (100) – Englewood, NJ; USMC, WWII, PTO / Secretary of Labor, Treasury and State
Julian Vargas – Silver City, NM; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, 187/11th Airborne Division
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Military Radio – Armed Forces Network
1943 ‘G.I. Jive’ sheet music by Johnny Mercer
ARMED FORCES NETWORK
Although American Forces Network Radio has officially been on the air for 60 years, listeners began tuning in at the end of World War I.
A Navy lieutenant in France broadcasted information and live entertainment to troops accompanying President Wilson to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Radio was a novelty then, and little equipment was given to overseas military broadcasting until the United States started gearing up for World War II.
playing music for the troops
Bored soldiers in Panama and Alaska created makeshift transmitters and aired records, according to an Armed Forces Radio pamphlet. The U.S. military was unaware of the broadcasts until celebrities wrote asking how to send the stations recordings.
During the first days of the U.S. entry into World War II, Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s staff members set up military radio stations in the Philippines. Their success paved the way for the Armed Forces Radio Service.
In May 1942, the Army commissioned broadcasting executive Tom Lewis as a major and assigned him to create a viable military radio network.
Its primary goal was to keep morale high, a daunting task when the enemy already was broadcasting to Allied troops, in the personas of the infamous “Axis Sally” and “Tokyo Rose.” Playing popular American music, they tried to demoralize troops with talk about missing home.
On July 4, 1943, the Armed Forces Network went on the air, using the BBC’s London studios. With British and Canadian radio stations, it formed the Allied Expeditionary Forces Program. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted to ensure the stations worked together and all allies were getting the same message.
“G.I. Jive” disc, 1943
To boost morale, AFRS headquarters in Los Angeles produced shows such as “G.I. Jive,” shipping them to stations on special “V-Discs.” By early 1945, about 300 Armed Forces Radio Stations worldwide were broadcasting. (There are some V-discs available on e-bay)
Then came peacetime.
By 1949, just 60 stations were operating. But broadcasters who remained in Europe with the occupying forces took on a new role. Music and information were broadcast from Bremen to Berlin — giving many Europeans their first exposure to American culture and music.
AFN brought jazz, blues, rock ’n’ roll and country and western to audiences starved for music. The shows were so popular that when the leftist Greens Party urged Germany to quit NATO in the 1980s and called for U.S. troops to leave, it made one exception.
“The U.S. military should go home, but leave AFN behind,” a Greens leader demanded.
When the Korean War started in 1950, AFRS leased several portable trailers and followed the troops as “Radio Vagabond.” The American Forces Korea Network was established in Seoul later that year.
While the organization changed its name to the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service in 1954, the focus remained on radio.
The American Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) was established in 1962, during the Vietnam War, mostly for numerous military advisers there. It served as the backdrop for the 1988 movie, “Good Morning, Vietnam!”
But broadcasting to the troops as the war heated up was no day on a Hollywood set.
During the Tet Offensive, AFVN studios in Hue City were attacked. The staff fought off the Viet Cong for five days before the station manager and several others were captured. They spent five years in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.
Recently, Armed Forces Radio quickly mobilized for operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
A mobile broadcasting van deployed to Saudi Arabia, where the American Forces Desert Network was established in 1991 and broadcast for the first time from Kuwait shortly after the Iraqi occupation ended. Since then, it has become a fixture throughout the region.
Tech. Sgt. Mark Hatfield, 36, was “out in the middle of nowhere … at a secret base detached from civilization” as a structural maintainer on F-15s, with the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing (Provisional) during Desert Storm.
About a month after he arrived, AFDN went into operation.
“I remember when they came on line … I had my little transistor radio, and sure enough, there it was,” he said.
Someone also bought a radio for the hangar. “We cranked it because news was coming out left and right about the war,” Hatfield added.
“It was good because that was our only source of real information. You get out in the middle of nowhere, you don’t really hear it from the U.S side of things … uncensored, coming in from the U.S.”
“Good Morning, Vietnam!”
Today, American Forces Radio and Television Service operates about 300 radio and television outlets, serving an audience of 1.3 million listeners and viewers on every continent and U.S. Navy ship at sea.
“As long as there’s military there, we’re going to be there.”
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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Military Humor –
Marines from Los Angeles
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Farewell Salutes –
Anthony Bermudez – Dallas, TX; US Army, Kuwait, SSgt.
Edward R. Burka – Washington D.C.; US Army Medical Corps (airborne), BGeneral
Dorothy (Schmidt) Cole (107) – OH; USMC Women’s 1st Battalion, WWII
Hyman Coran – Sharon, MA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, flight instructor
Michael Domico – Westville, NJ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Sgt., radio/gunner
Veronica Federici – Fulton, NY; US Navy WAVE, WWII
Michael Morris – Cass Lake, MN; US Air Force, TSgt., 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (Europe)
Vincent Pale – Philadelphia, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, POW
Claude Spicer – McComas, WV; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, (Ret. 30 y.)
Robert Wendler – Newport, RI; US Navy, WWII, Navy band
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Veterans Day 2020 Remembrance and Gratitude
My post for this Veterans Day is dedicated to Sgt. Walter Morgan Bryant Jr., USMC; R.I.P my dear friend!
… there is an old Marine poem… it says: ‘When I get to heaven, To St. Peter I will tell, Another Marine reporting sir, I’ve served my time in hell.” ______ Eugene Sledge, USMC veteran of Peleliu & Okinawa
For the U.S. Marine Birthday, 10 November – CLICK HERE!!
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young Marine saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.
I thought, how many men like him
Had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?
How many Pilots’ planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, Freedom is not free.
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant “Amen”
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
at the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, Freedom isn’t free!!
by: Kelly Strong, posted at vietvet.org
For Remembrance of the Pacific War, from: “The Voice of the Angels” newspaper of the 11th Airborne Association
For All Those In Free Countries Celebrating Remembrance 0r Poppy Day
Poem from another Vietnam veteran…
https://militaryfamilymuseumwarstories.wordpress.com/2022/06/25/remember-us/
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For The Military Today –
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert Avrutik – Yonkers, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, radioman
Grover “Spook” Browning – Newdale, ID; US Army, WWII, ETO, Purple Heart
Anthony Colavito – West Calwell, NJ; US Army, WWII, PTO, demolition
James Dunn – Lubbock, TX; US Navy, WWII, Purser, USS Franklin
Morris Horton – Sidney, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. F/187/11th Airborne Division
Adrian Miller – Winamac, IN; US Army Air Corps, WWII, ETO, 101st Airborne Division
Albert Sakey – Boston, MA; US Navy, WWII, ATO & PTO, PT-boat radioman
Ottis Stout (101) – TX & CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, B-17 tail gunner
James Thomas – Dry Ridge, KY; US Army, 188/11th Airborne Division
Paul W. Wilkins – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., B Co./1/21/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Choch’iwan, SK)
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I have a list of parades and celebrations, if anyone is interested, tell me where you’ll be 11 November 2020 and I will see if I can locate one near you!!
No Veteran Should Be Without a Place to Call Home
Free Help for Homeless Veterans Dial 1-877-4AID-VET (1-877-424-3838) for 24/7 access to VA services for homeless and at-risk Veterans
Homeless Veteran Chat Confidential, 24/7 online support for homeless Veterans and friends
https://www.va.gov/homeless for more information
Are You a Veteran in Crisis or Concerned About One?
Did you know that VA offers same day services in Primary Care and Mental Health at 172 VA Medical Centers across the country? Make the Connection Resource Locator
Contact the Veterans Crisis Line (1-800-273-8255 and press 1, Chat, or Text 838255.)
Don’t know what number to call?
1-800-MyVA411 (800-698-2411) is never the wrong number
Have a concern, compliment, or recommendation for VA?
Call the White House VA Hotline at 1-855-948-2311
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Current News – Missing In Action
Video from the U.S. Army, filmed 2 weeks ago.
Right now, there are about 82,000 total people still missing from every major conflict since World War II. Of those, 81 are from Nevada. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is a government agency that is actively searching for all of those people.
The DPAA is working to get DNA swabs of family members related to those missing so that if and when they’re found, they can be identified. They then work to actually locate the remains of the people missing.
Last year, 217 people were found and identified. About 75% of those are former unknown soldiers. The DPAA researches what is known about the unknown soldiers, then if they are confident they can identify them positively, they’re able to do DNA testing on the remains.
The other way MIA are identified is through a search. The DPAA researches anything from where the person was last seen to where planes went down to where major battles were fought. They conduct interviews with any witnesses then determine the best area to search. Then, they bring in teams of dozens of people and dig for about a month, hoping to find any human remains. Even if it’s just a tooth, that’s all it takes to ID a person and solve the mystery of what happened to them.
The DPAA held a meeting in Henderson to update local families on their loved ones’ cases. Attendees heard updates on new technology being used to search and their own personal cases. There were also chances for family members to give DNA swabs.
For the families of the POWs and/or MIAs – CONTACT
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Military Humor –
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Farewell Salutes –
Robert C. Agard Jr. – USA; US Army, Korea, Cpl., 2/24/24th Infantry Division, KIA (Taejon, SK
Jacob Cruz – Los Angeles, CA; USMC, WWII, Pvt., Co. D/1/6/2nd Marine
HONOR
Division, KIA (Tarawa)
Elmer E. Drefahl – USA; USMC, WWII, Cpl., USS Oklahoma, KIA (Pearl Harbor)
Henry E. Ellis – USA; USMC, Korea, Pfc., HQ Co./1/1st Marine Division, KIA (Koto-Ri, NK)
Harry Gravelyn (101) – Grand Rapids, MI; US Army, WWII, Captain, Co. D/331/83rd Division
Jesse D. Hill – Highland Park, MI; US Army, Korea, Sgt., Co. C/1/32/7th Infantry Division, KIA (Chosin Reservoir)
Marilyn Mackson – Lansing, MI; US Army WAC, WWII, Signal Corps decoder
Aurekui Ortiz – San Diego, CA; US Army, Korea, HQ Co./2/187th RCT
Joseph Pincinotti – Charleroi, PA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. D/457 Artillery/11th Airborne Division
Jimmy Young – Johnson City, TN; US Army, 89th Artillery, 11th Airborne Division
[The MIA’s recovered from the Korean War, and gradually being identified to come home, have been made possible by the joint talks between President Trump and North Korea]
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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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The Timelessness of July 4th
SEEMS WE DON’T SAY IT ENOUGH – SO, I’M TRYING TO FIX THAT RIGHT HERE – GOD BLESS THE USA!!!
A 1940’s CELEBRATION WRAPPED AROUND A 1776 WAR SONG
HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!!
HARK, hark the sound of war is heard,
And we must all attend;
Take up our arms and go with speed,
Our country to defend.
Our parent state has turned our foe,
Which fills our land with pain;
Her gallant ships, manned out for war,
Come thundering o’er the main.
There’s Charleton, Howe and Clinton too,
And many thousand more,
May cross the sea, but all in vain,
Our rights we’ll ne’er give o’er.
Our pleasant homes they do invade,
Our property devour;
And all because we won’t submit
To their despotic power.
Then let us go against our foe,
We’d better die than yield
We and our sons are all undone,
If Britain wins the field.
Tories may dream of future joys,
But I am bold to say,
They’ll find themselves bound fast in chains,
If Britain wins the day.
Husbands must leave their loving wives,
And sprightly youths attend,
Leave their sweethearts and risk their lives,
Their country to defend.
May they be heroes in the field,
Have heroes’ fame in store;
We pray the Lord to be their shield,
Where thundering cannons roar.
We can rant, we can complain and we can thank the troops for giving us the right to do so! Today we celebrate our country’s birthday, traditional BBQ’s, fireworks, family and friends, we have a day off and have a ball! – and to whom do we owe it all? You guessed it_____
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.
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE!
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4th of July Humor –
Most Americans will celebrate and enjoy a day off work – some NOT all.
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Farewell Salutes –
Donald Bryant – Canton, OH; US Army, Korea, 187th RCT
Anthony Debasio – Newburgh, NY; US Army, WWII, CBI
Alice Fellows (102) – Durham, ME; US Army WAC, WWII
Thomas Garvin – Burlington, KY; US Navy, WWII, PTO
James Hoke – Huntsville, TX; US Army, WWII, ETO, Sgt.
Charles Lapr – Rumford, RI; US Merchant Marines, WWII, Chief Petty Officer
John Roberts – Baltimore, MD; USMC, WWII, PTO, Purple Heart / US Army, Korea
Shane Shanem – UT & NV; US Army Air Corps, WWII
Louis Vetere – Flushing, NY; US Army Air Corps, WWII, PTO, Co. A/675th Artillery/11th Airborne Division
William Woolfolk – Los Angeles, CA; US Army Air Corps, WWII, Korea & Vietnam, Lt. Colonel (Ret.)
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TAKE A MOMENT FOR YOUR NATIONAL ANTHEM – in its entirety!!!
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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….
CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE.
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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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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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CBI – British receive POW’s / Vietnam in the picture
Japanese POWs in Malaya
“From May onwards, prisoners in a terrible state came in daily,” recorded a British gunner unit in Burma, “many of them armed with nothing more dangerous than bamboo spears, trembling with a mixture of malaria and humiliation.”
British soldiers in Burma
But if some proved ready to quit, others did not. To the end, most Japanese who lost their ships at sea deliberately evaded Allied rescuers. On the deck of HMS Saumarez, destroyer Captain Martin Power was directing rescue operations after sinking a Japanese convoy off the Nicobars, when he suddenly heard a “clang” against the ship.
Andaman and Nicobars Islands
Peering over the side, he saw a bald, heavily built Japanese man clinging to a scrambling net with one hand, while hammering the nose of a shell against the hull with the other. Power drew his pistol, leaned over and whacked the man’s head.
“I could not think of anything else to do – I spoke no Japanese. Blood streaming down his face, he looked up at me, the pistol 6 inches from his eyes, the shell in his hand… I do not know how long I hung in this ridiculous position, eyeball to eyeball with a fanatical enemy, but it seemed too long at the time. At last he dropped the shell into the sea, brought up his feet, and pushed off from the ship’s side like an Olympic swimmer, turned on his face and swam away.”
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By this time of the Pacific War, the Vietnam area of Indochina was in dispute. DeGaulle demanded that the current Vichy government take a firm stand, but this was a disaster. The Japanese had staged a pre-emptive coup against the Saigon administration. Frenchmen became POW’s and their future fate would cause Anglo-American arguments. When US planes arrived from China to carry out evacuations, the French were furious that the aircraft did not bring them cigarettes.
London’s Political Warfare Executive sent a directive to Mountbatten that highlighted the political and cultural complexities of the CBI: “Keep off Russo-Japanese, Russo-Chinese and Sino-Japanese relations except for official statements. Show that a worse fate awaits Japan if her militarists force her to fight on… Continue to avoid the alleged Japanese peace feelers.”
The Dutch, French and British owners of the old Eastern empires were increasingly preoccupied with regaining their lost territories – and they were conscious that they could expect scant help from the Americans to achieve this. The British Embassy in Washington told the Foreign Office:
“If we prosecute the Eastern War with might and main, we shall be told by some people that we are really fighting for our colonial possessions the better to exploit them and that American blood is being shed to no better purpose than to help ourselves and Dutch and French to perpetrate our degenerate colonial Empires; while if we are judged not to have gone all out, that is because we are letting America fight her own war with little aid, after having her pull our chestnuts out of the European fire.”
Quotes taken from “Retribution” by Max Hastings
Click on images to enlarge.
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Military Humor – 
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Farewell Salutes –
Edward Bailey – Parma, MI; US Navy, WWII, PTO, 2nd Lt., pilot, KIA
David Cruden – Hurtsville, AUS; RA Air Force # 422443, 460 & 582nd Bomber Command Squadrons
Fred Hermes Jr. – Villas, NJ; US Coast Guard, Academy Grad., Commander (Ret.)
William A. Laux – LaCrosse, WI & Arrow Lakes, CA; US Army, WWII, ETO
John Moore – Baltimore, MD; US Navy, WWII, Captain (Ret.)
Ronald S. Richardson – Gisborne, NZ; RNZ Air Force, WWII, ETO, Lt. Commander, pilot, KIA
Robert Stoner – Buffalo, NY; US Navy, minesweeper
Harry Thomas – Marlington, WV; US Army, WWII
Michael C. Ukaj – Johnstown, NY; USMC, Iraq (the NY limo crash on his 34th birthday)
Elwood Wells – Epsom, NH; US Army Air Corps, WWII, CBI, Captain, 1337 A.F. Base, KIA
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Pacific Paratrooper 