Captain Bill Cooper was an American World War II fighter. He flew 70 missions, including during D-Day, Battle of the Bulge and the invasion of Holland. One of his planes was the P-47 Thunderbolt, of which he said, “It took a lot of punishment.” Shot down three times, he always managed to get back to …
In October 1944, General Douglas Macarthur stepped onto the Philippine island of Leyte, and made his radio announcement to let the Japanese and the world know: “People of the Philippines, I have returned!” It was December 1944. PFC Dirk Vlug and his regiment were was on Leyte Island to chase retreating Japanese across the jungle. He …
One Soldier Meets 5 Tanks: ”Nobody’s gonna get past MY roadblock!” Read More »
On Easter Sunday morning 1972, Marine Corps Captain John Ripley was in a South Vietnamese village. He was there to help train 600 South Vietnamese Marines. But no one was thinking about that now. An enemy armored division had appeared on the other side of the river. Two hundred tanks and 20,000 men were assembling …
Men need cool and aggressive leadership when under fire. Captain Roger Donlon displayed just that on July 5, 1964. At 2:26 AM a barrage of mortar shells rained on his Special Forces Detachment camp. He had just written to his wife, “All hell is going to break loose here before the night is over.” He …
It was July 31st, 1861. Federal troops were just north of Manassas, Virginia. There were many who thought they would send the Rebels reeling, putting an end to the rebellion. The day was Sunday, and a throng of civilian sightseers had come down from the U.S. capitol, just 25 miles away. Lieutenant Tibdall commanded a …
George Washington paused and said, “Gentlemen, you must pardon me.” But I get ahead of myself. It was 1782. Except for some skirmishes, hostilities in the Revolutionary War had ended with the surrender of British General Cornwallis at Yorktown. But a peace treaty had not not yet been negotiated and signed, and British garrisons were still on American …
Tony saw plenty of combat in the Pacific. But he is most famed for his actions at the Battle of Iwo Jima. A son of immigrants, Tony Stein enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942, becoming a Paramarine. Paramarines were an experiment to test the idea of dropping Marines into battle. His regiment saw plenty of combat. In …
Retired Army Colonel Van T. Barfoot loved his country and had served it bravely in three wars, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. So, he proudly flew his American flag on a 21 foot pole in the front yard of his Virginia home. But in December 2009, his local homeowners’ association told the veteran, now 90 years of …
How tough do you have to be to survive a Nazi concentration camp, defend a hilltop against wave after wave of enemy troops – twice – then spend 2 ½ years in another hellish prison camp, and still live through it? Hard as nails tough, Corporal Rubin tough. That’s him in the photo. Hungarian-born Tibor …
In Vietnam, he was part of an operation to battle and stop the Viet Cong’s resupply line along the coast. Within a year the enemy had to go inland to move supplies, using the tortuous Ho Chi Minh Trail as it wound through Laos and Cambodia. Chief Warrant Officer Bernard Webber added that victory to …
“You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.” Read More »
