Official blog
TWS Website
TWS Website
U

MENU

Military Campaign Stories

Service Reflections of SGT John Graham, U.S. Marine Corps (1962-1966)

Service Reflections of SGT John Graham, U.S. Marine Corps (1962-1966)

,

PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The following Reflections represents SGT John Graham's legacy of his military service from 1962 to 1966. 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. I was at a decision point after graduating from High School. My dad had convinced me that I needed a college degree, so I had taken the entrance exams and signed up to attend East Texas College. I realized that my family did not really have the financial means to pay for...

read more
WW2 – D-Day Landings: The 82nd and 101st Airborne

WW2 – D-Day Landings: The 82nd and 101st Airborne

,

The amphibious landings of D-Day were hours away when the first combat missions by the US Army started in France. The Normandy invasion, also called Operation Overlord or D-Day, began with a large-scale parachute drop that included 13,100 Soldiers of the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions. During the night in the early hours of June 6th, 1944, the attack occurred and was the vanguard of the Allied operations in Normandy. What Was the Mission of the US 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions on D-Day? The troops were all part of the United States VII Corps assigned to capture Cherbourg, the coastal city in Normandy, and thus project power across the strategically essential Cotentin Peninsula. With Cherbourg secure, it could serve as a supply port for the Allied troops after the landing. They were also tasked with a specific mission: to block approaches into the vicinity of the amphibious landing at Utah Beach, to capture causeway exits off the beaches, and to establish...

read more
Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen

Dutch Girl by Robert Matzen

,

Twenty-five years after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains the most beloved of all Hollywood stars, known as much for her role as UNICEF ambassador as for films like Roman Holiday and Breakfast at Tiffany's. Several biographies have chronicled her stardom, but none has covered her intense experiences through five years of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. According to her son, Luca Dotti, "The war made my mother who she was."  Audrey Hepburn's war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant during the "Bridge Too Far" battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem's most famous young ballerina.  Audrey's own reminiscences, new interviews with people who knew her in the war, wartime...

read more
Service Reflections of AE2 Allan Muller, U.S. Coast Guard (1969-1975)

Service Reflections of AE2 Allan Muller, U.S. Coast Guard (1969-1975)

,

PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The following Reflections represents AE2 Allan Muller's legacy of his military service from 1969 to 1975. 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 Coast Guard. 07/23/1969 Last day as civilian LtoR pop, ME, Fred I had to do a verbal book report in the 7th grade. Now, I was really nervous about standing in front of my class and delivering this book report on the past history of forming the USCG through the present. The present was...

read more
Service Reflections of MSG Edwin Holt, U.S. Army (1967-2008)

Service Reflections of MSG Edwin Holt, U.S. Army (1967-2008)

,

PRESERVING A MILITARY LEGACY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS The following Reflections represents MSG Edwin Holt's legacy of his military service from 1967 to 2008. 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 Army. Basic training graduation, Ft. Lewis Washington After graduating from St. Paul Central High School in 1966, I spent one uninspired quarter at the University of Minnesota. During that time, I decided college was not for me just yet. My father served in the Army during World War II in the...

read more
Service Reflections of RM2 Darryl Cady, U.S. Navy (1966-1970)

Service Reflections of RM2 Darryl Cady, U.S. Navy (1966-1970)

,

In 1966, I was working at GE in Brockport, NY. I just purchased a small motorcycle. I had a 1957 Chevy and was having fun. I knew I would get drafted soon and was just waiting for that to happen. My dad was in the NAVY Seabees in WWII and kept telling me it would be better in the Navy than in the Army. My grandfather was in the Army in France during WW I. So, I grew up with my dad’s stories about his time in the South Pacific during WW II. I had it in my mind that the Navy would be better, but I did not like the idea of 4 years away from my family, friends, and girlfriend. So, I was going to wait for the draft. Then, one day in July 66, I ran into a friend from HS who had just joined the Navy. He said I should join him, and we could go in together and not have to go to Vietnam. We had already lost 5 or 6 guys from our HS in Holley, NY (8 altogether). So, I drove to the recruiter’s office in Batavia, NY, and signed up. I did not ask for any special training. It was a 120-day delay program, so we still got to enjoy the summer and fall. Then we got delayed a couple more weeks and finally left on November 22, 1966. That was my 19th birthday. That is how I started my time in the US Navy. Best thing I ever did.

read more
Service Reflections of CAPT LaVerne Arndt, U.S. Marine Corps (1963-1969)

Service Reflections of CAPT LaVerne Arndt, U.S. Marine Corps (1963-1969)

,

Military draft at age 22 into the Army. Enlisted in the USMC after talking with the Navy and AF recruiters. Fast-talking USMC Gunny Sgt. Culp, who was my girlfriend’s brother-in-law.

I wanted to get toughened up as an individual man, and the Marines were my best choice.

The Marine training at Parris Island and later at Quantico provided me with confidence in my abilities. I was very successful at PI, winning almost every award a recruit could win, including the American Spirit of Honor Medal: Leatherneck award, PFC, and rifle expert out of boot camp. I extended a year at boot camp to get Sea Duty because I wanted to travel. After two years of Sea Duty, I was selected meritoriously for OCS. At Quantico, I also did very well and finished 19th out of a class of 541 Officers. I selected the 0302 Infantry Officer MOS.

read more
Service Reflections of LTC Richard Swier, U.S. Army (1967-1990)

Service Reflections of LTC Richard Swier, U.S. Army (1967-1990)

,

My father, Joseph Swier, who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WW II in the Pacific Theater, inspired me to join the United States Army.

My father was in the seminary to become a priest, but when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, he left the seminary to join the Army.

President John F. Kennedy, who served in the Pacific Theater, as did my father, also influenced me.

Both of these men and fellow veterans were and still are my heroes.

read more
Service Reflections of MSGT Jan Klebukowski, U.S. Air Force (1985-2007)

Service Reflections of MSGT Jan Klebukowski, U.S. Air Force (1985-2007)

,

Early in my life, both my late parents took me to the 1964-65 Worlds Fair in Flushing Meadows Park, NY. I still remember the old Rocket displays from NASA that were on display at the fair. It got my interest in planes and the Space program.

I remember watching the first landing on the moon by Neil Armstrong on our old black and white TV at home. My late parents always watched the progress of the US Space Program from the beginning, with all the launches of the Saturn and Mercury Rockets until the historic moon landing by Neil Armstrong.

read more
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

,

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...

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

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

,

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.

read more
Russian Sniper Roza Shanina

Russian Sniper Roza Shanina

,

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...

read more