The Best Christmas Present Ever

Seventy years ago, US Navy demolition teams, Army engineers, and hundreds of other American servicemen, all part of a UN force that weeks earlier had numbered over 100,000, watched as a massive explosion – the largest since World War II – erupted over a small port in North Korea. With docks, warehouses, and wharfs bursting…

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Listening to Our Better Angels

Civilians evacuating at Hungnam

“I have always thought of Christmas as a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time.” – Fred, the nephew of Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol With the holiday season once again upon us, Americans from all walks of life – and every race, creed, and religion – become observers, and in many cases, active…

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Jimmy Stewart’s Wonderful Life

Lt. Gen. Valin, Chief of Staff, French Air Force, awards the Croix De Guerre with Palm to Col. Jimmy Stewart for exceptional services in the liberation. (U.S. Air Force photo)

With the holiday season once again upon us, it’s time to share a story I wrote a year ago about Jimmy Stewart. I’ve always admired the Academy-award winning actor for his role in the classic Christmas movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” and for his service as WWII bomber pilot. But it wasn’t until I started researching his…

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A Country Worth Fighting For

Marines landing at Guadacanal (PC: Karl Soule, USMC Archives)

http://nedforney.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/A-Country-Worth-Fighting-For.mp3 “If this country is worth living in, it’s worth fighting for. There is no set pattern – no time when you can say you’ve done enough.” – Albert Ireland, USMC, WWII and Korean War veteran, 9-time Purple Heart recipient Born in Cold Spring, New York, during the final months of WWI, Albert L. Ireland seemed…

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A Shining Example to the World

Veterans Day Parade 2016 (PC: Spencer Platt Getty Images)

WW2 Army Air Corps veteran Jimmy Stewart WWII Veteran Richard Overton, US Army, who died at the age of 112 (PC: AP) Col. Ruby Bradley, US Army Nurse Corps (PC: findagrave) Marine veteran Jin Park, Iraq (PC: Jin Park) Korean War veteran and MOH recipient PFC Gene Obregon, USMC (PC: US Marine Corps) Veterans Day,…

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We’ll Go Down Fighting Like Marines

Marines fighting their way through Seoul, September 1950. (PC: USMC)

“Hang on, Bert. I’m coming to get you!” – Medal of Honor recipient PFC Gene Obregon to his buddy, PFC Bert Johnson, during a firefight in Seoul Athletic, witty, and hard working, Eugene “Gene” Obregon, was the kind of kid everyone liked. Born on November 12, 1930, in Los Angeles, California, he graduated from LA’s Theodore Roosevelt…

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They Stood Proud and Strong

Marines begin the long, cold trek to Hungnam, many would not survive.

“We grunts never knew, one day from the next, where we were or what we were accomplishing. The mountains, valleys, stinking rice paddies, and frozen mountains all seemed the same to us. We were living and dying in our own violent little world.” – Marine serving during the Korean War with 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines The…

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