Can you recount a particular incident from your service, which may or may not have been funny at the time but still makes you laugh?:
If there was one thing that could strike fear into any Marine recruit back when we actually received service numbers, it was the fear of being sent back for some mischief, thus prolonging our time in purgatory. I faced that very real possibility between Phase 2 and Phase 3 at MCRD, San Diego, and it was Mess and Maintenance week.
Can you recount a particular incident from your service, which may or may not have been funny at the time but still makes you laugh?:
My all time favorite story is from my time as a Radio Operator aboard a P-2 at P31-31 DET NI. One of our pilots, nicknamed Porkie by the enlisted because he was portly and had a chubby face, had an incident the previous day training a new pilot. As three crew later told us. The student was high on glideslope and close to landing. He repeatedly told the student to get it down, get it down. He failed to do so adequately, and Lt. “Porkie” got angry and yelled, “I SAID GET IT DOWN!” Now they were already over the apron (Ideal touchdown area), and he wasn’t about to make a long landing. So he pulled back the power and dropped it like a rock onto the runway. The plane hit so hard it had to be towed back to the hangar.
A letter containing an order from the President ordering me to report for induction into military service “influenced” me to show up at my draft board office in Ashland, Ohio, on 8 Feb 1968 for the bus trip to Cleveland with several other young men to be inducted. The government was drafting 50,000 men monthly at the time I was drafted.
You may know Chuck Norris is a champion martial artist, and movie and television star of titles such as Walker, Texas Ranger, The Delta Force, and The Hitman. A martial arts legend who has contributed greatly to the development and popularization of martial arts in the United States and around the world, he has a long and impressive martial arts career, both as a competitor and as a teacher. He is a black belt in Tang Soo Do, Brazilian jiu jitsu and judo. However, before he became a Hollywood icon, Norris served in the United States military, where he honed his skills and developed the discipline that would later help him achieve great success. In this article, we'll take a closer look at Chuck Norris' military service, including his accomplishments and how they shaped his life and career. Chuck Norris’s Early Life Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris was born on March 10, 1940, in Ryan, Oklahoma. Norris' paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother were of Irish descent, while his paternal...
Privates Joyce Kutsch and Rita Johnson became the first women to graduate from a modified Basic Airborne Course on December 14, 1973. In 2007, Army medic Specialist Monica Lin Brown was only the second female soldier since World War II to receive the Silver Star. Eight women were admitted to Army Ranger School for the first time in 2015. All failed, but three were invited back for another try. Obviously, these were historical inroads in what had been the male soldiers' exclusive domain and evidence that the military is on the path for even more inclusion of women in traditional combat roles. Surprisingly, however, it wasn't until the summer of 1976 that women were allowed to become cadets in college ROTC programs and plebes in the United States Military Academy at West Point. "Refined by Fire," their first book in the Guarding of Peace historical fiction series about women in the military, Ruth Vandyke and Yvonne Doll masterfully entertain readers while providing accurate depictions...
On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces launched Operation Overlord, the largest and most complex amphibious landing in history until that point. Invading Hitler's Fortress Europe was no small matter, even with all the preparations and forethought Allied planners made in advance of the landings. In the years and decades that followed, D-Day became one of the most thoroughly studied and documented events of World War II. Still, it seems like more and more personal stories, fascinating accounts, and even urban legends from the invasion emerge every day. Only those who were there can really know what it was like to hit the beach that day. But given recollections from veterans, photos and film reel taken that day, and Steven Spielberg's realistic depiction of the event in the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan," we have a pretty good idea of what it looked like. Legend of the Scottish Soldier So it's all the more shocking to hear the legend of the Scottish soldier who walked up and down...
Senator Daniel Inouye served in the United States Senate from 1963 until his death in 2012. At the time of his death, he was America's second-longest sitting Senator, which is not at all surprising considering he could easily be considered one of World War II's hardest men to kill. Daniel Inouye's Early Life This Japanese-American, who faced discrimination and segregation, had every reason to sit this war out if he so chose with a bitter heart. But considering he was raised by a father who told him the following upon enlisting by his account: “My father just looked straight ahead, and I looked straight ahead, and then he cleared his throat and said, ‘America has been good to us. It has given me two jobs. It has given you and your sisters and brothers education. We all love this country. Whatever you do, do not dishonor your country. Remember – never dishonor your family. And if you must give your life, do so with honor.” Daniel Inouye was born in 1924 in Honolulu Hawaii, which as a...
In the early years of the U.S. War in Afghanistan, an anti-American militia leader named Ahmad Shah threatened to disrupt the elections for the newly-formed National Assembly of Afghanistan. Shah was just one of many Afghan nationals who sought power by bringing Islamic fundamentalists to his militia. In a mission called Operation Red Wings, a team of U.S. Navy SEALs was dispatched to reconnoiter the area where Shah and his men operated. But the SEALs were compromised and forced to fight Shah's men in overwhelming odds. The resulting battle led to Operation Red Wings II, the search and rescue operation for the initial SEAL team. It was a dark day for the U.S. military's special operations community, and it all started with a single goat herder. The Phases of Operation Red Wings Operation Red Wings was supposed to go down in five phases. The first phase was the insertion of a SEAL reconnaissance team to confirm Shah was in the area and assess the tactical situation. The...
'The Only Thing Worth Dying For' is the harrowing true story of eleven Green Berets who fought alongside the future leader of Afghanistan to topple the Taliban in southern Afghanistan and bring hope to a nation during the early days of the Global War on Terror, or Operation Enduring Freedom— when the Soldiers on the ground knew little about the enemy, and their commanders in Washington knew even less. How Eleven Green Berets Fought for a New Afghanistan On a moonless November night, in the aftermath of 9/11, five Blackhawk helicopters infiltrate southern Afghanistan, dropping Special Forces A-Team-ODA 574-deep behind enemy lines in the mountains of Uruzgan. Hundreds of miles to the north, the U.S. military, aided by the Northern Alliance's armies, is routing Taliban forces. However, here in the Pashtun tribal belt— the Taliban's own backyard— Captain Jason Amerine and his ten Green Berets are on a seemingly impossible mission. They must destroy the Taliban from within and prevent a...
Three years before President Truman courageously recognized Israel's statehood, the first international leader to do so, the keel of a vessel named SS Simmons Victory was laid down in Portland, Oregon, designated as a Fleet Issue Ship assigned the duty of carrying munitions and general cargo at the end of WWII across the PTO. From the onset of troubles in Korea, the ship made nine Far East voyages in support. The History of USS Liberty By 1964 it had been converted to a Technical Research Ship and reclassified AGTR-5 of the US Navy, christened USS Liberty in honor of the ten states with settlements of that name. Its first log entry included this rhyme by Mustang Lt. Lester Morserf, Jr: "… With a spirit of Trust and "Get the Job Done."We each did tremble as her colors were raised,With pride for the symbol, we all have praised –And vow to add fame through duties done well,To its historic name – the Liberty Bell." USS Liberty served with the Atlantic Fleet on many seas and to many...
Immediately after Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and other American bases in the Pacific, the United States declared war on Japan. Several days later Nazi German and Italy declared war on the U.S., embroiling the world into World War II. The war heightened American prejudice against German Americans and Italian Americans but the racism directed against Japanese Americans was particularly vicious. The calculated response culminated in the forced removal and unconstitutional incarceration of 120,000 residents of Japanese ancestry, including the complete elimination of communities and individuals from the entire West Coast of the United States. This racism was precipitated by the attack on Pearl Harbor but it had deep antecedents in the near half-century of legal, social, and economic policies directed against Asians in general within the United States. As the war progressed, however, more American units were needed to successfully fight the Axis powers. One such unit...
On June 15, 2014, the United States launched Operation Inherent Resolve, a three-pronged campaign against the Islamic State terrorist organization (ISIL) that had made stunning advances across Syria, Iraq, and Libya. At its peak, ISIL had an estimated 200,000 fighters and controlled a third of Syria and almost half of Iraq. The Uneasy Alliance's Role in the Fight against ISIS The fight against ISIL in the region is ongoing today, but the brutality inflicted on civilians by the terror group, and the danger of its spread sparked an uneasy alliance of otherwise geopolitical foes to come together to confront the threat. The U.S. and Western Allies, Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Iran all sent forces against ISIL, even if they weren't part of the official coalition. Between 2014 and 2019, ISIL lost 95% of its territory, including Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and its declared capital at the Syrian city of Raqqa, and its leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, was killed by the U.S....
