Richard Nixon Archives - TogetherWeServed Blog

SSG Victoria Ryan, U.S. Army (1973-1988)

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

I never knew my natural father, although I learned that he had been in the Army. My stepfather was stationed in the Philippines during WWII; however, he never spoke of his time on active duty during the war. Fast-forward to 1970, when my younger brother was 18 and Richard Nixon was the US President. The Vietnam War was in full force, and changes regarding military enlistment were afoot; a military draft lottery drawing had been instituted the prior year. My mother was terrified that my brother Bill would be drafted, sent to Vietnam, and killed. Rather than take his chances with becoming a draftee, Bill enlisted in the Army as a surveyor, went to Fort Sill, OK and on to Germany for his permanent duty station in 1971.

How Armistice Day Became Veterans Day

Military Myths and Legends, World War I

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, the belligerent armies fighting World War I finally laid down their arms and stopped killing each other for the same pieces of blown-up mud they'd been fighting over since 1914. The Origins of Veterans Day The First World War killed as many as 22 million people worldwide and left some 23 million more wounded. An estimated 53,000 of those killed were American service members. Another 204,000 Americans would return home wounded....

Operation Top Cover, a Year On The Dew Line By Arthur Wayland

Cold War, Military Book Reviews

During the Cold War, the United States relied on three radar lines to detect incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles that might come from the Soviet Union. The most important and most capable of the three was the Distant Early Warning Line - affectionately known as the DEW Line. About the Author of Operation Top Cover In Cape Lisburne, Alaska, Arthur Wayland was manning the 711 Aircraft Control and Warning station. It was a very remote radar station, the westernmost site of the DEW...

Cpt Maurice Lee Britt, U.S. Army (1941-1944) – Medal of Honor Recipient

Profiles in Courage, World War II

American professional football player, Medal of Honor recipient of World War II, businessman, and Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, Britt was a highly accomplished individual. Born June 29, 1919, he played for the Detroit Lions in 1941 and later served as the eleventh Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas during Governor Winthrop Rockefeller’s administration from 1967 to 1971.

Past Presidents Who Served In The Military

Military Myths and Legends

Looking Back at Past Presidents Who Served in the Military With the blood and fire in which the United States was forged, it is unsurprising that, looking back at past Presidents who served in the military, the number is a considerable one. Whether leading the US Army during the War of Independence in the 18th century or serving in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War, almost two thirds of all men who have acted as Commander-in-Chief of the United States Armed Forces have also...

Service Reflections of GMC Jory Luchsinger, U.S. Coast Guard (1965-2001)

Coast Guard Reflections, Vietnam War

My father and his two brothers were all WWII veterans, and my great grandfather was a Civil War vet for the Union Army. With the draft approaching in 1965, my dad suggested I start thinking about what I was going to do since I was out of college for a semester and had lost my student deferment.

Vietnam War – Fire Base Mary Ann

Battlefield Chronicles, Vietnam War

Richard Nixon had campaigned in the 1968 presidential election under the slogan that he would end the war in Vietnam and bring 'peace with honor.' However, there was no plan in place to do this, and the American commitment continued for another five years. The goal of the American military effort was to gradually build up the strength and confidence of the South Vietnamese armed forces by re-equipping it with modern weapons so that they could defend their nation on their own. This policy...

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