Posts Tagged ‘US Army’
Doolittle Raiders: Mission Completed
Seventy-seven years ago today, one of the most storied and dangerous bombing missions of WWII began. The Doolittle Raiders, as the 80 men in the top-secret mission were called, were on their way to strike a blow at the heart of the Japanese empire: Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, as the first of 16 Army…
Read MoreThe Bravest Man I Ever Knew
“My God, to witness him sing the national anthem in response to having a rifle pointed at his face – well, that was something to behold. Unforgettable.” – John McCain A tribute to George “Bud” Day, one of the most decorated veterans in US history and the only person to be awarded the Medal of…
Read MoreThey Pray Like Angels and Fight Like Demons
“The Puerto Ricans are proud of their heritage, and on top of that, the soldiers of the 65th Infantry are very proud of their Regiment . . .” – William W. Harris, Commanding Officer, 65th Infantry Regiment Fought in sub-zero temperatures, brutal terrain, and knee-deep snow, the Chosin-Hungnam campaign, the most costly and potentially disastrous four weeks…
Read MoreThe Fighting Irish of the Korean War
As a young boy, I remember how proud my grandfather, Patrick J. Sullivan, was of his Irish ancestry. As the son of an Irish immigrant from County Kerry, he was also proud of the USA and everything it stood for. From his humble beginnings in Holyoke, Massachusetts, to his international career as a US Public…
Read MoreEnter to Learn, Go Forth to Serve
Born in 1926, Julius W. Becton Jr., the first of two children in a proud family from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, was the kind of student that teachers and coaches loved. He was polite, smart, athletic, and driven. It’s what his parents expected. Growing up in Bryn Mawr Courts, an apartment complex where his father worked…
Read More1,010 Days of Hell
“They closed in steadily on us. There was no rush, no storming our positions. We kept knocking them down like ducks in a shooting gallery but they kept coming.” – Marine SSgt James Nash Chosin: Hellfire Valley Throughout the horrific night of November 29, 1950, Major John “Jack” McLaughlin and his men fought off wave…
Read MoreA “Timeless” Tribute to the Korean War
In one of the most unlikely events of holiday primetime television, the writers of “Timeless,” a science fiction drama series with a following of millions, showcased the Korean War’s Hungnam Evacuation. The show’s final episode, which aired on December 20 and highlighted the little-known military and humanitarian operation, became the talk of the town on…
Read MoreA Christmas Miracle
Thousands of refugees, huddled at the water’s edge and anxiously waiting to board American ships, knew what would happen if they were left behind. The Chinese, massing in the nearby mountains, would storm into Hungnam and make an example of anyone who had defied them. US and ROK collaborators, Christians, anti-communists, and anyone deemed a…
Read MoreWork, Fight, Sacrifice!
On December 7, 1941, a day that would live in infamy, Pauline Peyton Forney, a mother of three, including a son who was serving in the Marines, knew her life was about to change. With over 2,300 Americans dead, more than a thousand wounded, and the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet crippled, President Roosevelt would soon…
Read MoreOn the East Side of Chosin
As the helicopter took off and disappeared over the North Korean mountains, Lt. Col. Don Faith, watching from his desolate, wind-swept command post at Chosin Reservoir, threw his newly awarded Silver Star into the snow. After enduring a horrific night of fighting against overwhelming Chinese forces, his commanding officer had just ordered him and his…
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