Category: Military

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 the Solomon Islands northeast of Australia, Tony took out 5 snipers in a single day.

Tony was reassigned to the Fifth Marine Division in 1944. He had been a  toolmaker before the war, and he worked with an armorer to modify an aircraft machine gun from a dive bomber. Called “Stinger,” the weapon had twice the rate of fire of the Browning .30 caliber infantry machine gun.

When Tony hit the beach at Iwo, his platoon got pinned down by mortar and machine gun fire. To locate enemy positions, Tony stood up and waved to draw fire.

Then he charged, Stinger blazing away. One after another he assaulted the pillboxes.

Stinger’s heavy rate of fire meant Tony quickly ran out of ammo. So he kicked off his boots and helmet so he could move fast on the sand, and headed back to the beach for more ammo.

On his way he picked up a wounded Marine, carrying him back for treatment.

He made this trip 8 times, each time bringing a wounded man back to the beach and grabbing more belts of ammunition.

Finally, he directed fire from a half-track against a stubborn pillbox until all the fortifications were destroyed.

The Marines pushed on until the American flag was raised on Mount Suribachi.

Corporal Tony Stein was wounded in that battle. Evacuated to a hospital ship, his actions would earn him a Medal of Honor. But while recovering on his cot, Tony got word that his regiment was taking heavy casualties during the continuing battle for the island.

This Marine simply got up and returned to his unit.  What a brave man! May we all have the courage to stand up for what’s right when duty calls.

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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 age, to take down that flagpole because, according to them, it “violated the neighborhood’s aesthetic guidelines”, and they threatened legal action.

They didn’t know who they were messing with. Barfoot was someone very special, and was not used to backing down.During his long military career Barfoot earned the Bronze Star for valor during the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943.He earned the Silver Star for actions during the invasion of mainland Italy in December 1943.During his next campaign he was to earn the Medal of Honor. Here’s how that story goes:In January 1944, Sergeant Barfoot landed at Anzio and advanced inland and his unit became isolated and their communications cut. What did Barfoot do?

His Medal of Honor citation reads:

He “single-handedly destroyed a set of German machine gun nests, killed eight enemy soldiers, took 17 prisoners and stared down a tank before destroying it and killing its crew — all in a single day. Exhausted by his herculean efforts, he still managed to move two of his wounded men 1,700 yards to safety.”

That was in Italy. By the time he moved on to France he was a lieutenant.Barfoot didn’t hang up his uniform until 1973.

What was this group thinking? They were trying to deny permission to put up a pole to fly the Stars and Stripes of the nation he loved and had so honorably served? Well, the news got out. The American Legion rallied behind him, and so did the Governor of Virginia, and the White House.Colonel Barfoot’s flag kept flying.

As a result of this so called “controversy, ”in February 2010, the Virginia Senate approved a bill to bar homeowners associations from prohibiting display of the U.S. flag.

Thank you for another victory, Colonel Barfoot. Well done!

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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 Rubin was 13-years-old when the Nazi’s swept over his family’s land. Because he was Jewish, Rubin was shipped off to Mauthausen Concentration Camp. Somehow, he managed to survive for 14 months until liberated by American troops.

To repay the favor, Rubin managed to make his way to America and enlist in the US Army. Assigned to the 1^st Cavalry Division, he was soon in the Korean War.

Corporal Rubin’s unit was atop a hill when it was attacked by “overwhelming numbers of North Korean troops.” Every one of his teammates were killed, but Rubin didn’t quit and didn’t run.

His Congressional Medal of Honor citation states he “inflicted a staggering number of casualties on the attacking force during his personal 24-hour battle, single-handedly slowing the enemy advance and allowing the 8th Cavalry Regiment to complete its withdrawal successfully.”

When reinforcements arrived they found Rubin with a smoking gun, out of ammo, and surrounded by more enemy casualties than could be counted.

Two weeks later he made a one-man assault and captured over 100 enemy troops, by himself.

A few months later his unit was hit by a massive nighttime assault. Manning a machine gun throughout the night and the next day, he allowed his unit to retreat. He kept at it until he ran out of ammo, was severely wounded and captured by enemy soldiers.

Despite an offer by his captors to return him to Hungary, Rubin stayed. He saved the lives of 40 of his buddies by repeatedly sneaking out of the POW camp to scrounge up food and medical supplies to care for wounded and starving prisoners.

Using raw courage and what he’d learned in the Nazi camps, Corporal Rubin kept at it for 2 ½ years until he and his fellow prisoners were finally released.  Thank you for your service Corporal.  May we all be as brave and courageous as you.

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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 a long career, and retired.

But that’s not why we know him today…

Webber was in the Merchant Marines during WW 2. When the war ended, he joined the Coast Guard. Good thing, too, because he was to perform an impossible rescue.

It was February, 1952. A major storm had snapped a couple of oil tankers in half. Webber led three other sailors out to sea in 36′ wooden boat, plowing through waves bigger than a house.

You go overboard in those conditions, you die.

I know, because I got caught in stormy seas when I was in uniform. You cannot breathe on the surface in something like that! I only lived because I was in scuba gear, with two large tanks of air. And Old Man Sea took rare pity: before my air ran out, he shoved me into the only tiny cove in a mile of sheer cliffs.

Don’t ask why I was in there, but I was not meant to be in that water when the storm hit. When it did, I had little hope.

But these men knowingly sailed into an even bigger storm! The sea tore away their compass, but they bravely pressed on. 

They found one of the tankers and rescued 32 of the 33 on board. That feat alone just couldn’t be done.

But every man in the Coast Guard knows the slogan:

“You have to go out. You don’t have to come back.”

Well Done USCG! Thank you for all that you do.

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Before the Battle of the Bulge of WWII, American forces fought the Battle of Hurtgen Forest – the longest single battle in the history of the US Army. When the Germans were defeated in France in August 1944, GIs began to believe the war would be over by Christmas, but when the Americans reached German territory, things changed. It became the longest battle on German soil.

It was fierce combat that went on for three months, in German woods that looked like something out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. And like those stories, death lurked around the corner. Julius Astin was there:

“The Germans were dug in. We couldn’t make any headway because the forest was thick with vegetation, booby traps and mines. One thing we hated was the airburst 88mm shells, fused to explode as soon as they struck the trees, sending shrapnel and wood splinters sharp as spears down on us.”

So the Americans became tree-huggers to avoid the rain of death from above. “You move, you die,” Astin said. “A lot of the shrapnel is still in there,” referring to his body.

Private Marcario Garcia was also in the Hurtgen Forest. His company was pinned down by machine gun fire at on November 27th, 1944. Seriously wounded, Garcia decided to do something about it. He crawled forward, inch-by-inch, until he was close enough to hurl a grenade into the machine gun nest.

Another machine gun opened up as Garcia got back to his teammates. Now he was pretty fed up, so he charged the second nest and destroyed it, returning with four prisoners.

Still bleeding, Garcia continued to fight until his company’s objective was taken. His Medal of Honor citation states, “Only then did he permit himself to be removed for medical care.”

Private Garcia  was the first Mexican citizen to receive America’s highest award for bravery. (Later in 1945 President Truman honored him at a White House ceremony. Garcia became an American citizen in 1947.)

During Hurtgen Forest,a dozen American Infantry, Airborne, and Armored Divisions ducked it out with 14 divisions of the Wehrmacht. And the only reason it ended was because the Battle of the Bulge started up.

The Battle of the Hurtgen Forest lasted from September 1944 to February 1945. Despite its length and great loss of life, it was overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge victory. It takes its place as one of the forgotten battles of World War II.

We may forget the details of the battles and the war, but let’s never forget about those individual women and men, the heroes, like Private Garcia, who sacrificed much and served so bravely.  Thank you for making America proud Private Garcia.

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This is the second story about “The Filthy 13.” If you missed the first one, you can read it here.

Known for their disregard of military discipline, they didn’t take a lot of baths, didn’t keep their barracks clean. Too busy going AWOL.

They were members of the 101st Airborne, as you can see from the left shoulder patch in the photo here. Demolition and sabotage experts, they were dropped behind enemy lines and in advance of Allied forces.

Sergeant McNiece called himself “the head troublemaker.” Half Choctaw, he had an idea before D-Day:

“When we got ready to jump into Normandy, all of us had scalplocks (Mohawks). We also had our faces painted.”

This is the same McNiece who described what his enlisting officer had to say:

“You may just be 23. I don’t know, but your face and your head looks like it’s been used as practice for hand grenade tossing and wore out three bodies already.”

The Filthy 13 were airdropped into France during the Normandy Invasion. They had orders to secure or destroy bridges over the Douve River, the boundary between Utah and Omaha Beach landings.

Robert “Ragsman” Cone was there:

“We landed near a hedgerow, from which the Germans were firing at us, and the guy I was with was killed. I got hit in the right shoulder, which broke my arm all the way down into the forearm. The bullet was lodged in there for a year.”

That’s Ragsman in the photo, checking packs of weapons, ammo and TNT.

When they got to the bridge they didn’t bother to secure it. True to form, they just blew it up instead, blocking enemy reinforcements from getting to the front.

The survivors of the Filthy 13 stayed intact as a unit until the Allies finally conquered Nazi Germany. They were in too many engagements to detail here, things like parachuting into encircled Bastogne in the middle of the Battle of the Bulge.

But those are tales for another day.

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Have you ever seen the movie, The Dirty Dozen? The real life soldiers it was based on were known as “The Filthy 13.” And a crew of troublemakers they were!

Jack Agnew recalled it like this:

“We weren’t murderers or nothing. We just did a lot more than they asked us to do, and we were always getting in trouble for that.”

The Filthy 13 was an unofficial demolition unit of the 101^st Airborne. Sergeant Jake McNiece is probably its most famous (or infamous) member. Always in trouble for skipping reveille, one time he claimed that it violated his mother’s Choctaw Indian heritage. That didn’t work, so he went on a drinking binge in town:

“I ended up beating the MPs with their own nightsticks.”

A few days later he got out of the stockade.

“But we went AWOL every weekend that we wanted to and we stayed as long as we wanted till we returned back, because we knew they needed us badly for combat. And it would just be a few days in the brig. We stole Jeeps. We stole trains. We blew up barracks. We blew down trees. We stole the colonel’s whiskey and things like that.”

They became famous when Stars and Stripes newspaper featured a photo of them.

McNiece had the idea to cut their hair into mohawks and wear war paint, as part of their upcoming mission behind enemy lines on D-Day.

And blow things up they sure did. Jake himself made four combat jumps, staring with with one on D-Day. He wasn’t an Airborne Screaming Eagle for nothing.

We’ll cover some of that in the next installment.

And I’ll tell you how they got their name.

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There are “birds of war” that aren’t the metal flying machines equipped with abilities to release weapons on targets, but the flesh and blood feathered kind – pigeons, equipped with another type of targeting ability. Pigeons have been used as message carriers for over 5,000 years. Their service of delivering vital messages to the right places at the right time saved thousands of lives during WWI and WWII.

Pigeons have not been given the credit they are due, unless you know more about their history.  They are far more than “rats with wings” that mess up your car windshields, or are a nuisance in the park. They deserve as much gratitude and honor as any other veteran heroes of war.

The heroic actions of one pigeon in particular, Cher Ami, (French, meaning “Dear Friend) saved nearly  200 U.S troops , despite being badly injured. The bird was a gift from the British to the U.S. Signal Corps, and he served with the 77th Infantry Division in World War I.

It was late September of 1918 in northern France. A group of 500 American soldiers led by Lt. Colonel Charles Whittlesey were trapped in a small depression of a hill, surrounded by Germans. After the first day, only 200 of his “lost battalion” remained.

Not only was the 77th, stranded behind enemy lines, they came under friendly fire from unknowing U.S. troops. Whittlesey sent out two pigeons, but German troops quickly shot them down.

Whittlesey attached one last plea to the leg of pigeon Cher Ami.  As the bird flew away, German troops immediately shot at Cher Ami wounding him in the breast and in the leg. But the bird pressed on. It took him 25 minutes to fly through a rain of bullets the 25 miles back to Allied lines. Despite his wounds, and being blinded, Cher Ami successfully delivered Whittlesey’s message. It read:

“For heaven’s sake, stop it.”

Cher Ami became an American hero, inspiring the writer Harry Webb Farrington to write a poem commemorating the incident that cost Cher Ami his leg. The poem ends,

“It’s hard a-standing on one leg!”  

For his service, Cher Ami earned the Croix de Guerre. Today, you can visit a taxidermied Cher Ami in the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

So, the next time you see pigeons in the park, perched on a wire, or see their “calling cards” left on your car, be a little more forgiving and remember their noble history and brave service. Give their kind a little more respect for having saved hundreds of American lives.

 

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The Korean War took place between 1950 and 1953. But it may surprise you to know almost 80 years before that American Sailors and Marines fought in Korea.  It has been virtually forgotten, but it was the very first U.S. military action within the country. But no history should be forgotten.

The ruling Joseon dynasty, not fond of communicating with the outside world, was in control of Korea at the time, in 1871. In 1866, an American merchant ship was destroyed as a result of a series of misunderstandings (and a healthy dose of stupidity on the part of the American merchants).That same year some Christian missionaries met a very unpleasant end, and the French Navy came to punish the Koreans. However, the French ships were repelled by Korean cannons.Five years later the American Navy arrived to Korea to establish trade and see what became the merchant ship. Americans made contact with local citizens, telling them what they planned. Several U.S. ships then sailed into the Han River, but came under fire from a Korean fortress. American vessels returned fire, silencing the fort’s guns.  The American fleet withdrew, but demanded an apology (which was not forthcoming). Ten days later, five American vessels returned and got into it with another fort. While artillery flew back and forth, American Sailors and Marines landed and climbed the walls. Two Marines captured the Korean commander’s flag. Another Marine, facing heavy fire, raised the Stars and Stripes on the fort. You can see Marines above with the captured flag. In total, five forts were destroyed. It took five more years before Korea and America established diplomatic relations.

As a result of this military action, fifteen US servicemen received medal of honor.  This was the first instance of US awards for military action during foreign conflicts.

 

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“Fightin’ Joe” Wheeler has the distinction of serving as both a Confederate General in the Civil War, and later as a U.S. Army General. That’s him in the photo, in front of the others.

Joseph Wheeler graduated from West Point in 1859. After completing Cavalry School, he was posted to Fort Craig in New Mexico Territory. It was out West that he got his nickname.

2^nd Lieutenant Wheeler was escorting a wagon that had a pregnant woman on board. Suddenly, marauding Indians attacked. The wagon driver and Wheeler were the only defense. Wheeler charged the attackers. With fire from both men, they managed to drive off them off. When the soldiers heard the story later, Joe became “Fightin’ Joe.”

Things changed the next year when Wheeler’s home state of Georgia seceded from the Union: he resigned his commission and joined the Confederate Army.

Due to his skills and success as a cavalry officer, Fightin’ Joe rose quickly up the ranks, becoming a major general by 1863. He had 16 horses shot out from under him, and was wounded three times. Robert E. Lee considered him one of the two finest cavalry officers of the war. (Lee was himself a West Point graduate, and had been commandant of West Point Military Academy.)

After the war, Wheeler settled down in Alabama and raised a family. In 1880, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he served many terms.

When the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, Wheeler left Congress to volunteer in the Army. He was 61.

Assigned by the President to command the cavalry in Cuba, Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders were under his command. You can see future President Roosevelt to the far right in the photo above.

“Fightin’ Joe” was aggressive, and his men fought the first major battle of the war in Cuba. When the Spanish began to retreat, Wheeler is reported to have hollered out, “Let’s go, boys! We’ve got the damn Yankees on the run again!” His adjutant had to remind him that he was one of the Yankees.

Wheeler came down with malaria, but was able to get up from his sick-bed in time to take command during the Battle of San Juan Hill.

After success in Cuba, Wheeler was sent to the Philippines, where he continued to fight in the Spanish-American War for over a year.

Fighting Joe Wheeler has been honored in various ways, including having a Liberty Ship and an Army base named for him. His statue stands in the Statuary Hall in the United States Capital building, and he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

 

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Sergeant Major Edward Baker was born in a frontier wagon in 1865, while his parents were on the Oregon Trail. At age 17, he joined one of the toughest, battle-hardened units in the U.S. Army: the 10th Cavalry.The men of the 10th were known as Buffalo Soldiers, African-Americans up through the NCO ranks. Baker was in some ferocious shootouts in the Old West, but this story begins in Cuba.What? Cuba? That’s right. America was in the middle of a tussle with Spain. One morning Sergeant Major Baker was at the edge of a jungle, staring at a fortified Spanish position. To his right was the 1st Volunteer Cavalry (the 1st commanded by Lt. Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, the future president. But the Buffalo Soldiers were the professional, seasoned veterans. Baker was going to have to lead his men out of the jungle, over open ground, across a river, up a hill, through barbed wire and enemy trenches. And then take the fortress at the top of the hill.Soon Baker was racing, artillery explosions and bullets zinging all around him. He kept his men going and got across the river.Suddenly, a scream from behind him. One of his men was in the middle of the river, badly hit. Baker went back in, pulled his man to the safety of cover. (Teddy Roosevelt would later write about the bravery of the 10th that day.)Then the 10th stormed up the hill. All hell broke loose, but nothing was going to stop the Americans that day. Corporal John Conn of the 24th Infantry later wrote:“When that pack of demons swept forward, the Spaniards stood as long as mortals could stand, then quit their trenches and retreated.” Soon the fighting was hand-to-hand. Then the Spanish lines broke, the retreating men followed by the 10th Cavalry.The Battle of San Juan Hill in 1898 is now legendary. Baker and three other men of the 10th would be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions that day. And Baker was promoted to Lieutenant, becoming one of the first black officers of the United States Army.

 

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The battle for the island of Saipan in 1944 was brutal, but the ingenuity and courage of one Marine saved a lot of lives on both sides.

Guy Gabaldon grew up in poverty on the streets of East Los Angeles. Knowing how to live by his wits, he shined shoes at age 10 to help his parents and 6 siblings, and belonged to a street gang where he always took on the biggest kid. One day he got his nose broken in a fight, and went to the hospital to get it fixed. On that same night he got into another fight and got it broken again.

At age 12 Gabaldon met twins Lane and Lyle Nakano, children of Japanese immigrants, and became fascinated by Japanese culture. When the family took Guy in to live with them, he went to their Japanese school and became one of the family. Little did he know that what he learned then would lead him to perform one of the greatest feats of World War II.  

Guy Gabaldon’s dream was to join the Navy, and serve on a submarine where he hoped he would see the most dangerous action.  But his perforated eardrums and height of only 5 feet 3 inches disqualified him from the Navy.

But Gabaldon remembered a Marine Corps ad looking for Japanese speakers. Although his Japanese was limited, he told them he “knew Japanese like a native,” betting that his Japanese was better than any Marine recruiter’s. Because the need for interpreters was so great, the Marines overlooked his size and perforated eardrums and swore 17 year old Guy into the US Marine Corps. at age 17.

Soon Gabaldon found himself engaged in the bloody fighting on Saipan. There he got the idea to use his knowledge to good advantage:

“At night I’d usually go to caves — Saipan is just full of caves — and I’d get to one side of the mouth of the cave and I’d say, ‘You are completely surrounded. I’ve got a bunch of Marines here with me behind the trees. If you don’t surrender, I’ll have to kill you.’ And usually it worked.”

He promised them dignity and to get them back to Japan when the war was over.

The first time he went out, Private Gabaldon managed to get two Japanese prisoners. He was threatened with a court-martial. But he ignored that warning and on his next try, he captured over 50 enemy soldiers. After that, his missions became official:

“I’d [capture] maybe 10 or 15, 20 at a time and one day I got 800.”

There he was, surrounded by more than 800 Japanese, some of them still armed, but they were his prisoners. Guy Gabaldon is credited with single handedly capturing over 1,500 enemy soldiers and civilians.

His citation for the Silver Star states he “daringly entered enemy caves, pillboxes, buildings and jungle brush, frequently in the face of hostile fire.”

He was one tough little Marine – a kid from the streets of East LA and Marine Hero “Pied Piper of Saipan.” Well done private!

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