TogetherWeServed Blog - The Most Incredible Military Stories

Firehammer by Ric Hunter

If you'd like to know what it's like to pilot a high-performance jet in training and combat - without risk and actually having to get into one - you cannot do better than to read Ric Hunter's just published 'Firehammer.' A resident of Burnsville, retired Col. Hunter had 27 years and 4,000 hours of high-performance jet time, and was commander of an F-15 C Eagle squadron. His book describes the last days of the Vietnam War, including the SS Mayaquez rescue and the final evacuation of military...

The Battle of Manila Bay

Battlefield Chronicles

The first major battle "The Battle of Manila Bay" of the Spanish-American War was also one of the U.S. Navy's most resounding victories. Much has been written about how and why the Spanish-American War started, what the catalyst for the war was, and who's to blame for it all. Once Spain declared war on the United States and the U.S. Congress responded in kind, the U.S. Navy was ready for action. When the war broke out, the Spanish had a formidable squadron of ships stationed in the...

WW2 – The Liberation of Auschwitz Concentration Camp

Military Myths and Legends, World War II

On January 27 1945 the Soviet Army pried open the gates of Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland and liberated some 7,000 emaciated prisoners. About 58,000 others had been hurriedly marched westward before the Soviet Army approached. Auschwitz, the German word for the Polish town of Oswiecim, was the site of the largest Nazi concentration camp during WWII. It consisted of a concentration camp, a labor camp, and large gas chambers and crematoria. More than 1.3 million people...

Cold War – 1983 Beirut Bombing

Battlefield Chronicles, Cold War

In 1975, a bloody civil war erupted in Lebanon, with Palestinian and leftist Muslim guerrillas battling militias of the Christian Phalange Party, the Maronite Christian community, and other groups. During the next few years, Syrian, Israeli, and United Nations interventions failed to resolve the factional fighting, and in August 1982 a multinational force arrived to oversee the safe and peaceful withdrawal of Yasir Arafat and the PLO from positions within Beirut and ensure the safety of the...

Brig Gen James Robinson Risner, U.S. Air Force (1943 – 1976)

Profiles in Courage, Vietnam War

James Robinson Risner was a man of humble origins, son of an Arkansas sharecropper, educated at secondary school level, not particularly ambitious, a common man save for two things: He could fly the hell out of an airplane; and, under terribly difficult circumstances as a Prisoner of War in North Vietnam, he rose to a level of heroic leadership matched by few men in American military history. Born in Mammoth Springs, Arkansas on Jan. 16, 1925 and raised in a religious family, Robinson Risner...

Cold War – Operation El Dorado Canyon

Battlefield Chronicles, Cold War

On April 5, 1986, the La Belle nightclub in Berlin, a popular off-duty spot for U.S. troops, exploded, injuring 229 people and killing three, including two American soldiers. Among the wounded were 79 more Americans. The bomb was placed underneath the DJ booth and went off at 1:45 in the morning. It killed Sgt. Kenneth T. Ford immediately. Sgt. James Goins was wounded in the blast but died of his injuries two months later. American intelligence agencies suspected Libyan...

Heroines of the Revolutionary War

Military Myths and Legends, Revolutionary War

Since various "Molly Pitcher" tales grew in the telling, some historians regard Molly Pitcher as folklore rather than history. In contrast, others suggest it may be a composite image inspired by the actions of a number of real women who carried water to men on the battlefield during the war. However, historical records and eye witness accounts identify the heroines of the Revolutionary War whose battlefield bravery marks them as genuine Molly Pitchers. They were Mary Ludwig Hays and Margaret...

Budapest to Vietnam by Nicholas J Hun

Military Book Reviews, Vietnam War

Today, an estimated 200,000 U.S. military members are not actually citizens of the United States. They join for many reasons; a pathway to citizenship, learning new skills, or just being part of the camaraderie of their respective services. It's nothing new; foreigners have been joining the armed forces since the birth of the nation. Times were no different during the Vietnam War. Many noncitizens joined to fight, and fight they did. One of those came from an unlikely place: Hungary....

Staff Sgt. Edward Carter Jr., U.S. Army (1932-1949)

Profiles in Courage, World War II

Biography of Edward Carter Jr. A career Army noncommissioned officer, Edward Carter Jr. was born May 26, 1916, in Los Angeles, California. He was the son of missionary parents who went to the Far East and finally settled in Shanghai, China. Edward ran away from this home when he was a young teen to begin a military exodus. However, it was not to be an ordinary journey as his material and spiritual paths intertwined. His first tour was short-lived, yet not too short to prevent the...

Famous Coast Guard Unit: National Motor Lifeboat School

Famous Military Units, Vietnam War

The basic National Motor Lifeboat School (NMLBS) headquartered at Cape Disappointment on the Columbia River in Washington, sometimes in collaboration with the Advanced Helicopter Rescue School, is a grueling four-week program to earn the coveted Surfman badge in the US Coast Guard. Training is provided in four possible ascending stages: 47' MLB Introduction47' MLB Heavy Weather Coxswain47' MLB Surfman47' MLB Operations Supervisor "Metal clinked on metal as three small groups of US Coast Guard...

Service Reflections of LCDR Stephen Goodman, U.S. Coast Guard (1966-1983)

Coast Guard Reflections, Vietnam War

It was the autumn of 1965, and I was at my first job after graduating from college in May. I was in a Wall Street training program with about five others who were preparing for the securities industry exams to become registered. One of the other trainees was biding his time as he had been accepted by the Navy for OCS and planned to go to Newport in the coming spring. We talked a lot about the different branches of service, and he tried to convince me to apply for Navy OCS. This was as we were approaching the height of the Vietnam War; all my friends were searching for reserve units that would accept them to avoid being drafted. Three friends joined the Coast Guard Reserve and found themselves together at boot camp in Cape May. I preferred to serve as an officer, and so I considered the officer candidate opportunities available. I have always loved the water, so I reduced it to the Navy or Coast Guard. One day in late 1965, during lunchtime, I walked from work to the US Customs House in lower Manhattan, where the Coast Guard District Office was. I spoke with a young officer about the Coast Guard’s mission and was given a brochure and the OCS application paperwork to take home.

The Ghosts of F.E. Warren AFB

Military Myths and Legends

Before F.E. Warren Air Force Base (F.E. Warren AFB) had the power to destroy most of civilization, it was a tiny Army outpost on the American frontier, built to protect Union Pacific Railroad workers. Being the oldest continuously active Air Force installation comes with a lot of history, but like most of the military, its history can get pretty bloody. The Battles and Bloodshed of the Indian Wars at F.E. Warren AFB After 186 years of accidents, death, and destruction, you're bound to...

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