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Military Campaign Stories

Service Reflections of CDR Theodore Scheeser, U.S. Coast Guard (1961-1986)

Service Reflections of CDR Theodore Scheeser, U.S. Coast Guard (1961-1986)

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I was raised in Akron, OH, not noted for its water boundaries. My family vacationed in Marblehead, OH, and I watched the Coasties at the nearby rescue station with awe. Since the Draft was ever-present and college was not in the future, I decided to join. When it came time to enlist, the recruiter was never there (a sub-station). I almost went into the Navy to get out of Akron.

But my mother, God rest her soul, made me keep trying. She didn’t want me to lose my dream.

Finally, I caught the recruiter, MM1 Reitler, and enlisted. But to confuse the recruiter, I sent my twin that afternoon to enlist. We went to the buddy program.

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Service Reflections of BM3 Jack White, U.S. Navy (1964-1970)

Service Reflections of BM3 Jack White, U.S. Navy (1964-1970)

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Several factors influenced my decision to join the Navy in 1964. First, in 1960, my senior year at Canoga Park High School, I received a congressional appointment — fundamentally, a football scholarship — to the U.S. Naval Academy with the provision that I enroll at Pierce Community College in Woodland Hills, California. Pierce was one of the community colleges designated by the Naval Academy and their football coach, Wayne Hardin, as having an athletic training program capable of transitioning appointees to a higher level of experience and expertise before our entrance to the Academy. Well, that worked out fine for a few months; I had passed the Navy physical and had a good football season, but then my best childhood friend and I decided to join the Tri Chi (XXX) fraternity at Pierce College. Then, fraternity life provided an entirely new and exciting social avenue to discover; however, my grades suffered due to the newly introduced fun factor in my life.

Consequently, I failed to maintain the required grade point average and thus lost my appointment to the Academy. I considered the loss inconsequential at the time, as I had the time of my young life. I felt bad for my parents, who were pretty proud of the appointment and never really got over it. As for me, I suppose I will continue to replay the pros and cons of that decision through the years.

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Lieutenant Mark Baden – Heroic Pilot Just Managed to Land and Save His Buddy’s Life

Lieutenant Mark Baden – Heroic Pilot Just Managed to Land and Save His Buddy’s Life

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Being launched off the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is a normal routine, but adrenaline junkie pilots love the radical feel of about 4 Gs. On July 9, 1991, an A-6 Intruder modified to be a refueling aircraft was shot off the Abraham Lincoln in the Persian Gulf. Lieutenant Mark Baden was the pilot and had his friend and navigator (BN), Lieutenant Keith Gallagher beside him. It was Gallagher's birthday, and he advised Mark Baden when they returned it would be his 100th trap recovery on an aircraft carrier. A mid-air collision had occurred a few days earlier, and Mark Baden was slightly nervous. On top of all the other odd circumstances, he was actually assigned the plane with his name emblazoned on the side - unlike in the movies, the pilots don't always fly the plane with their name. He made all the normal checks and touched all the buttons and switches. Satisfied he was ready for anything, the aircraft was blasted off the end of the carrier to accomplish the mission: to refuel...

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Service Reflections of SGT Rafael Irizarry-Laporte, U.S. Army (1966-1968)

Service Reflections of SGT Rafael Irizarry-Laporte, U.S. Army (1966-1968)

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As a kid, I always liked the military. As a young kid, I wanted to join the Navy. When I got to high school, we had Army JROTC, and my interest changed to Army or Marines. My dad, who was in the Army, convinced me that the Army was the way to go because it was bigger and promoted faster. He was a tanker and tried to steer me to armor. I wanted to be an airborne ranger, and my dad said whatever you do, ensure you get what you want in your contract. When I went to the recruiter, I scored very high on the ASVAB. The career counselor told me that he didn’t have airborne infantry available. He said the only thing with airborne was the 31C Radio Operator, probably because of the high GT. I believed him and felt good about getting guaranteed airborne. It first took me to the 82nd, and as soon as I got there, I started applying for a Ranger assignment because I got put in the Engineer Battalion, and it wasn’t what I wanted. After a year and a half, I got my wish and orders for Ranger Indoctrination and the 2nd Ranger Battalion.

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Russian Sniper Roza Shanina

Russian Sniper Roza Shanina

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In the deep silence of the vast Russian pine forest, a small, lonesome figure was walking. It was just a few years before the outbreak of the Second World War. She had set out alone, without the permission of her parents, carrying only enough food to keep her on her feet for the long march. She was used to walking. Every day for years she had walked eight miles to and from her school in the little village closest to her home; she knew she could do it. Her self-belief and determined spirit drove her steadily on. She was fourteen years old. This was Roza Shanina. She walked one hundred and twenty miles all alone, at last reaching a train station. From the station, she took the train to the city of Arkhangelsk, where she enrolled in the city's college. She loved the city. The cinemas, the lights, the people and the bustle were worlds away from the isolation of her early years. She was friendly, quick, talkative, and highly intelligent, and so she made many friends. Often, she would...

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Service Reflections of CMSGT Bruce Hanke, U.S. Air Force (1967-2004)

Service Reflections of CMSGT Bruce Hanke, U.S. Air Force (1967-2004)

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Since my parents went through the Great Depression and only finished the 8th grade, there was never an incentive for me to go to college. I grew up a country boy with interests in Hot Rodding and playing fastpitch softball. I continued both during my service career. After High School, I assumed that I would get a job at the Kelly Springfield Tire Co, where my father was a bead room supervisor. The company would not hire me because I had not fulfilled my military draft obligation.

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On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides

On Desperate Ground by Hampton Sides

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On October 15, 1950, General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of UN troops in Korea, convinced President Harry Truman that the Communist forces of Kim Il-sung would be utterly defeated by Thanksgiving. The Chinese, he said with near certainty, would not intervene in the war. As he was speaking, 300,000 Red Chinese soldiers began secretly crossing the Manchurian border. Led by some 20,000 men of the First Marine Division, the Americans moved deep into the snowy mountains of North Korea, toward the trap Mao had set for the vainglorious MacArthur along the frozen shores of the Chosin Reservoir. What followed was one of the most heroic - and harrowing - operations in All US Air Force operations are oriented around the official Air Force Doctrine. Responsibility for developing doctrine rests on the Curtis E Lemay Center for Doctrine Development and Education at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. Doctrine exists to guide the Air Force in the effective American military history, and one...

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Service Reflections of MSGT Terry Bacon, U.S. Marine Corps (1977-1998)

Service Reflections of MSGT Terry Bacon, U.S. Marine Corps (1977-1998)

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PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The following Reflections represents MSGT Terry Bacon's legacy of his military service from 1977 to 1998. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The following Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life. Start recording your own Military Memories HERE. Please describe who or what influenced your decision to join the Marine Corps. When I was about 7 or 8, I had an uncle who had returned from Vietnam. It was in '67 or '68. He was a door gunner and crew chief on a UH-34D. When he got home, he gave me an eagle, globe, and anchor to play with, and I carried it with me everywhere. It left a lasting...

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The Revolutionary War – The Battle of Saratoga

The Revolutionary War – The Battle of Saratoga

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The road to the American Revolutionary War - or War of Independence - began in the wake of the French and Indian War (1754 - 1763) when the government of King George III of Great Britain decided that the American colonies should share in the costs associated with the War by adding taxes to common goods, such as sugar, molasses and tea. These attempts were met with increasingly stiff resistance. American colonists claimed they were unconstitutional, suggesting that they deserved to have representation in the British Parliament if they were to shoulder some of the war costs. Taking a harsh response, the British instead used their military to allow their representatives to safely perform their tax collection and other duties. At the time, the loyalties among the colonists were divided. Historians estimate that one-third of colonists supported the American Revolution, one-third sided with the British, and one-third remained neutral about breaking away from British rule. Background of the...

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Service Reflections of CAPT David Francis, U.S. Navy (1961-1994)

Service Reflections of CAPT David Francis, U.S. Navy (1961-1994)

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PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The following Reflections represents CAPT David Francis's legacy of his military service from 1961 to 1994. If you are a Veteran, consider preserving a record of your own military service, including your memories and photographs, on Togetherweserved.com (TWS), the leading archive of living military history. The following Service Reflections is an easy-to-complete self-interview, located on your TWS Military Service Page, which enables you to remember key people and events from your military service and the impact they made on your life. Start recording your own Military Memories HERE. Please describe who or what influenced your decision to join the Navy. Patriotism. Serve to win the Cold War. Submarine Service Elected in 1960, President John F. Kennedy inspired many of my generation to public service, including me. The Peace Corps, launched by the Kennedy Administration, allowed Americans to serve humanity overseas. Kennedy also...

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Did World War II Soldiers Mutiny after V-J Day?

Did World War II Soldiers Mutiny after V-J Day?

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On May 8, 1945, the Allies accepted the formal surrender of Nazi Germany. The capitulation of the last Axis power in Europe marked the end of World War II there. The war in the Pacific, however, was still raging. American troops, along with the rest of the Allies, began to reorient their forces to concentrate on fighting the Japanese. But they didn't have to work for very long. Just a few months later, the Japanese Empire also surrendered. On August 15, 1945, the Japanese forces officially surrendered, and World War II was finally over (V-J Day). The Allies had won the war.  What Was before V-J Day? Over the course of four years, the United States had enlisted, trained, equipped, and shipped some 7.6 million men and women overseas. They had done their duty, and they were ready to go home - they wanted to make it home by Christmas.  Unfortunately, four months was not enough time to move millions of men from the four corners of the globe back to their stateside homes. Many...

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Service Reflections of YN1y Gary Haythorn, U.S. Coast Guard (1966-1970)

Service Reflections of YN1y Gary Haythorn, U.S. Coast Guard (1966-1970)

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I was 18, having just finished a semester of junior college, and just had no clue where I wanted to go in life. My girlfriend broke up with me, so I thought I would join the Marines. But my cousin, who was already a USMC Captain, aviator, and Vietnam veteran, talked to me. He said, “If you join the Marine Corps, I’ll kick your a@#.” Then he laughed and said, “Look, you’d be a fine Marine, but join the Coast Guard or Air Force. They treat their people better.” Having grown up in Florida, being around water and boats all my life, I went to the CG recruiting office in Orlando, FL, where SS1 Gravett signed me up.

PS That girl that broke up with me married me four years later. We’ve been married for over 40 years now. Blessed.

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