On Dec 19, 1972, an OV-10 Bronco observation plane flew through the scattered clouds over South Vietnam’s northern region west of the South China Sea. At the controls was Air Force pilot Capt. Frank Egan. His aerial observer (AO), a Marine officer known by the call sign, “Wolfman 44”, carefully searched for enemy activity in the rain-soaked jungle and mountains below.
The Siege of Bastogne was one of the most crucial fights of World War II, and it came amid the largest battle the U.S. Army has ever fought – the Battle of the Bulge. The Germans caught the Americans by surprise on Dec. 16, 1944, mustering more than 400,000 men, 550 tanks, and hundreds of other vehicles for one last offensive. The goal was to push the Allies back toward the sea and recapture the critical port of Antwerp. The Siege of Bastogne: Defending Against the German Forces German forces overwhelmed American defenses as they poured through the Ardennes Forest, forcing the retreat of tens of thousands of shocked American soldiers. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower knew his supply lines were already thin, a blizzard negated Allied air superiority and the Ardennes area was full of green and exhausted troops – some who had been fighting since D-Day. Eisenhower declared that holding the Belgian city of Bastogne would be the single most important mission of the battle and sent the 101st...
In the earliest years of the Iraq War, the city of Fallujah was one of the most contested cities in the country, but it didn't start out that way. Local citizens had taken control of maintaining order in the city, but a series of misunderstandings between Coalition forces and local leaders soon led to violence and outrage. At the end of March 2004, four private military contractors were massacred and mutilated by insurgents there. The same day, five American soldiers were killed by a massive explosive device near Habbaniyah while en route to Fallujah. The U.S. military decided something needed to be done. The First Battle of Fallujah: The Surge Begins On April 4, 2004, the U.S. launched a massive operation to capture or kill those responsible for murdering Blackwater contractors and the five American troops while pacifying the city. An estimated 10,000 troops, including U.S. Army soldiers from the 101st Airborne, 82nd Airborne, 10th Mountain Division, 1st Infantry Division, 3rd...
On March 31, 1941, Marine Iron and Shipbuilding in Duluth, Minnesota, laid the keel for the first Coast Guard vessel of a Mesquite new buoy tender class, joining the so-called "Black Hull" fleet. The new vessel measured 180 feet overall and had a beam of 37 feet at the extreme. She had a displacement of 935 tons and drew 12 feet. Marine Iron and Shipbuilding made all but one, the Coast Guard cutter Ironwood (USCGC Ironwood), coming in for $1,388,277, was built at the USCG yard in Curtis Bay, Maryland, and was launched and commissioned in 1943. USCGC Ironwood in the Pacific Theater After shakedown, USCGC Ironwood departed Norfolk for War in the Pacific, arriving in Noumea, New Caledonia, via Bora Bora and Pago Pago in March 1944. During World War II, the Ironwood and her sister ships covered thousands of miles of open ocean, working to establish LORAN stations, moving and establishing mooring buoys, and carrying cargo, mail, and personnel between South Pacific islands. "Some...
I was always sure that I would serve in the military from a very young age. Military Service in my family was always a strong influence. At about fifteen years old, I was very sure that I would make a career in the military. I had joined the Civil Air Patrol at the time, and I loved it. I was also sure that I would be a United States Marine, just as two of my cousins, an uncle, and a Great-grandfather had all been.
My Great-grandfather had joined the Marines in 1910 at 16, lying with his parents’ help about his age, saying his birth year was 1892, not 1893. He served until 1914, participating in the incursion into Vera Cruz, Mexico, after the “Tampico Incident.” During much of his four years, he was detached from his command to the Marine Corps Rifle Range Detachment at the Marine Barracks, Quantico, VA, as part of the marksmanship team. After finishing Boot Camp at Paris Island, South Carolina, he was assigned to an old Battleship, the USS Louisiana (BB-19) and later the USS Texas (BB-35), as part of the Marine detachment. He was a participant in most of the National matches at Camp Perry during that time, earning the National Match, Distinguished Marksmanship Gold Metal.
During World War II, Sweden was sandwiched between Finland and its ongoing war with the Soviet Union and Norway, which fell to the Nazis in the earliest days of the war in Europe. Somehow, throughout the war, it managed to maintain its neutrality – but that doesn’t mean the country or its diplomats did nothing during that time. The Lifeline in the Final Days of WWII A Swedish noble, Count Folke Bernadotte, was among the most active. He managed to negotiate a prisoner exchange, getting 11,000 POWs home through Sweden between 1942 and 1943. He also attempted to negotiate a peace deal between the Western Allies and Nazi Germany in 1945. His most lasting contribution, however, came toward the end of the war. The White Buses, as the operation has come to be called, saw 300 volunteer Swedes move an estimated 15,345 prisoners from German concentration camps to hospitals in Sweden. Jack DuArte is a former Air Force officer who received the Bronze Star during his service in the...
In any normal war, capturing an enemy capital would capture the imagination of soldiers and the public back home. During World War II, capturing the capital of one of the original members of the Axis Pact should have been a defining moment. That moment was overshadowed by another defining moment: D-Day, the amphibious invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. When the Allies captured Rome on June 4, 1944, however, the city was open because most of the fighting had taken place along the way – and the Allied soldiers paid dearly for their efforts almost the entire way. The Fall of Rome: A Pivotal Yet Overshadowed Victory of WWII Having kicked the Axis out of North Africa in 1943, the Western Allies' next target was Sicily, a resounding success that captured the island in just five weeks. They then prepared to move on to Italy, Europe's "soft underbelly" (as British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called it). Their victory on Sicily caused the overthrow of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini,...
I joined the Navy in 1968 and was able to get the choice of what I wanted to do in the military. During World War II, my father was in the Navy, and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. From my hometown of Odessa, Texas, you had to drive at least a hundred miles in any direction to find a river or lake.
For the first time in 82 years, airborne training returned to Camp Toccoa, Georgia. Between March 25-30, 2024, eight actors from the hit HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers" conducted airborne qualification training in preparation for jumping twice into Normandy, France, on June 3 and June 8, 2024, as part of the commemoration for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. D-Day Commemoration: Actors from "Band of Brothers" Prepare for Historic Jumps The actors' experiences are being captured in a feature documentary called "The Jump: Currahee to Normandy." Numerous non-profit organizations, including the All Airborne Battalion, Tunison Foundation, and Walk Among Heroes, are supporting the project. The original soldiers depicted in the "Band of Brothers" miniseries were first made famous by historian Stephen Ambrose in his 1992 book "Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest." Though none of the original members of Easy Company...
I was just 18 at the time and qualified to enlist at the enlistment center in Manchester, NH in Nov 1944. My father Charles H. Willey, was Navy all the way. Dad received the Medal of Honor in 1932. He was born in East Boston, MA on March 31, 1889. At the age of 19, he enlisted in the US Navy. As a Machinist Mate 2nd Class and he sailed all over the world on his first hitch. During Dad’s 2nd hitch he made Warrant Machinist in 1914. He was awarded the Medal Of Honor for exceptional heroism performed aboard the USS Memphis during a hurricane off Santa Domingo City in 1916. He received many other medals.
Now, you can bet that certainly influenced my decision to join the Navy. I was a 139 lb boy at that time. I went to Boot Camp as the Pacific war was still raging.
Many things. Growing up my father owned the local movie theater where we lived. The top movies in that time were war movies, so I grew up with movies like: “The Fighting Lady” and other such. Audie Murphy was a personal friend of dads as well. Another personal friend of dads was in the Merchant Marine during WWII and his stories were exciting to me when I was a teenager. I also had relatives that served in the Navy during Korea. I guess it was really the relatives that served in the Navy that really made up my mind. Dad got out of the Army as a 1stSgt and he would have liked to see me go into the Army but said he would back me whatever branch I decided on. He went with me to see all the different branches The Navy was the only one who didn’t PROMISE me the moon. They told me it was up to me and my abilities. Dad and I both liked that.
Pictured: L to R, Richard the Merchant Marine, Me, and Dad.
As I approached my 18th birthday, I had always been interested in enlisting in the Marine Corps. I probably read every book and saw every movie about the Marine Corps growing up. I knew I would be a Marine at some point in my life. You could have called me a Marine wanna-be. I don’t believe there was ever a single major influence that I can remember.
Boot Camp had no surprises for me. I anticipated rough treatment, verbal badgering, and the best basic military training in the world. I just kept my mouth shut and did what I was told as quickly as possible. I wasn’t disappointed.
