Official blog
TWS Website
TWS Website
U

MENU

The Christy Collection

Military Stories and Articles

Korean War – Sacrifice And Survival at Chosin Reservoir

Korean War – Sacrifice And Survival at Chosin Reservoir

,

For 19-year-old Pat Finn, a Minnesota Marine with Item Co, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, the night seemed colder and darker than any of the others he'd experienced since landing in Korea. His Battalion had just arrived at a desolate, frozen lake he would remember for the rest of his life: the Chosin Reservoir. Chosin Reservoir Hit by a Devastating Surprise Attack As the sun went down on November 27, 1950, and temperatures sank to 20 degrees below zero, Marines at Yudam-ni, a small village on the...

read more
PFC Vicki M. Taylor, U.S. Marines (1980-1981)

PFC Vicki M. Taylor, U.S. Marines (1980-1981)

On December 6, 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq which was then one of the most volatile cities in the world Major Megan Malia McClung was killed in action when an IED struck her Humvee during a mission escorting journalists embedded with Marine forces. She was 34. What made her presence on that convoy so powerful was this: she didn t have to be there. She was the senior public affairs officer in the region she could have delegated the mission. But Megan believed leaders share risk, not avoid it. She believed in showing the world what our Marines were doing and standing beside them while they did it.

read more
Cpl William Thomas Perkins Jr., U.S.M.C. (1966-1967) – Vietnam War Combat Photographer

Cpl William Thomas Perkins Jr., U.S.M.C. (1966-1967) – Vietnam War Combat Photographer

,

The only Medal of Honor to be awarded to a combat photographer is now on display in the Medal of Honor Gallery in the "Price of Freedom" exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. William Perkins Jr’s Medal of Honor at the Smithsonian Marine Cpl. William Thomas Perkins Jr. died at the age of 20 on Oct. 12, 1967, when he flung himself on a grenade to preserve the lives of three other Marines during Operation Medina, a Marine search and destroy operation in Quang Tri...

read more
Iraq War – The Battle of Abu Ghraib

Iraq War – The Battle of Abu Ghraib

,

Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison was notorious long before U.S. troops were found guilty of abusing detainees there. Originally built in the 1960s, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein used the site to house and later execute political prisoners. He closed the prison in 2002, but when the U.S.-led Coalition ousted Hussein by force in 2003, it was reopened. Because Coalition forces used it as an internment camp, it also became a forward operating base – and a target for insurgents.  The Battle of Abu...

read more
LT Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy (2000–2005)

LT Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy (2000–2005)

,

Whether you're a fitness enthusiast or not, you might have heard about "The Murph Challenge." Every Memorial Day, veterans, military members, and fitness nuts around the country pledge to take the challenge. It not only helps remember the courage and sacrifice of Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy, but also helps send military-connected individuals to college through the Lt. Michael P. Murphy Memorial Scholarship Foundation. Lt. Michael P. Murphy Leads SEAL Mission in Afghanistan To call the...

read more
MAJ Mark Nunn, U.S. Army (1988-2010)

MAJ Mark Nunn, U.S. Army (1988-2010)

Did Any of Your Parents or Grandparents Serve? What Facts or Stories Do You Remember About Their Service?:

My father, 1st Lieutenant Omar Nunn, flew the C-47 Transport Plane in the Pacific off Saipan during WWII. On Oct 12, 1944, he landed on Peleliu while the battle still raged and was confronted by a platoon of ragged Marines. Although they were filthy, dirty, skinny from starvation and dehydration, with clothes torn to tatters, they had an air of excitement and anticipation about them.

read more
To Hear Silence by Ronald W. Hoffman

To Hear Silence by Ronald W. Hoffman

,

Five years ago, the author returned to Vietnam on a battlefield tour with his wife, Nancy. In a conversation with the guide, Bill Stilwagen, he mentioned how his unit had accomplished a lot in its first 13 months in-country, yet when he looked on the internet, he couldn’t find anything. Stilwagen challenged him by saying, “Why don’t you write a book about it?” Hoffman took the challenge seriously.

read more
Service Reflections of JOC Arthur Frith, U.S. Navy (1970-1991)

Service Reflections of JOC Arthur Frith, U.S. Navy (1970-1991)

,

Several things influenced my decision to join the Navy. Two other classmates and I at Lemoore High School were considering joining the Air Force. Being a “Navy Brat”, I was looking at being stationed someplace I’d not lived where my father had been stationed in the Navy. We completed the physical and paperwork and had a date in July to enlist and head for San Antonio. However, when the time arrived, I received a call from the Air Force recruiter saying that my date had been moved to October. Given the fact that I’d quit my job at Boy Scout summer camp, quit my jobs with the Fresno Bee and Lemoore Advance, and the fact that Dad was PCSing to NAS Memphis in September, I had very few options other than the Draft. I drove to Visalia, picked up my package from the Air Force recruiter, and walked down the hall to the Navy’s office. There was a Chief sitting at a desk. I put my folder in front of him and asked, “Chief, how soon can I enlist?” He looked it over, looked up at me, and said: “What about tomorrow? I asked him if I could use his phone. I called Dad at his office back on NAS Lemoore: “Hey. Do you have anything going on tomorrow?” He said, “Nope.” “Good. You’re taking me up to Fresno to swear me in the Navy.” It was off to RTC San Diego the following afternoon.

read more
Cpl William Stilwagen, U.S. Marine Corps (1968-1970)

Cpl William Stilwagen, U.S. Marine Corps (1968-1970)

What memorabilia/souvenirs have you kept from your military service? What special meaning do these have for you?:

Who knows how many lives each of us destroyed in Vietnam. Confirmed kills is a term for the official way of counting dead enemy bodies. But unless you were a sniper whose spotter could document your kills, you really have no way of knowing. The environmental conditions in Vietnam were such that clear sightings and clear shots were illusive. The vegetation and terrain were extremely rugged and concealing. Once we located the enemy, we d saturate the area with firepower and/or call in supporting arms. Unless you saw an individual go down when you squeezed the trigger, you never knew if it was truly your bullet that ended the life of an enemy soldier. We knew we were responsible in part for enemy deaths, but there was really no way to make a quantitative accounting for the individual warrior. Most times, the killing took place in an obscured environment, or at a healthy distance in the case of mortars and artillery.

read more
Service Reflections of HM1 Kenneth Smith, U.S. Navy (1987-2007)

Service Reflections of HM1 Kenneth Smith, U.S. Navy (1987-2007)

,

I had always wanted to join the Navy, ever since I was 12 years old.
My uncle was in the Navy and he would always come home with more sea stories to tell.
When my dad went back in the Navy, after 10 years of broken service, we moved to San Diego. I was immersed in the Navy culture and I knew I wanted to become a Sailor. I joined the Sea Cadet Corps and stayed in it for 3 years, until we moved to Minneapolis, MN.
I joined the Minnesota National Guard, while still in high school because the Navy didn’t want me until I graduated. I wanted to serve my country as soon as I could I finally joined the Navy in April of 1987 and went to Boot Camp in Jun 1987.
While in Boot Camp, a Chaplin asked my company why we joined. I was the only one in the company to say I simply wanted to serve my country. It was not popular, back then, to be as patriotic as I was. But I was proud to serve, and I am proud to have gotten as far as I did.

read more