USS Barb has been called a “Pacific killer sub par excellence.” Here’s some of the story.

The USS Barb was on its last war patrol. She and her crew had served six patrols in the European Theater, and had been in the Pacific for 19 months. The Barb racked up one of the most outstanding records of the war, including sinking an aircraft carrier.

Her skipper while she fought in the Pacific was Commander Eugene “Lucky” Fluckey, also known to the crew as “Dead Eye Fluckey,” One of his mottos was:

“I’ve always believed luck is where you find it, but by God, you’ve got to go out there and find it.”

In addition to an outstanding combat record during WW II, the Barb may be the only US submarine that “sank” a railroad locomotive and train.The captain had observed railroad freight trains near an enemy supply station on the coast. He wondered if he could take out the rail line.Engineman 3rd Class Billy Hatfield had an idea. As a boy, he had put nuts between railroad ties, and when the rails sagged as the trains rolled over them, the shells cracked. He suggested putting a switch between two ties, rigged to explosives.Eight men snuck ashore, including Hatfield. There had been no shortage of volunteers. Half of the team were former Boy Scouts. The captain was a former scout and knew they had been trained on what to do if they got lost. He told them:“Boys, if you get stuck, head for Siberia….”They were the first and only American combatants to set foot on one of the Homeland Islands. They had their share of exciting moments. One was when Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Markuson climbed up a water tower to assess the landscape, only to discover it was a lookout post. He crept down, never waking the sleeping guard.As seven men looked over his shoulder, Hatfield set the bomb. Then everyone hightailed it to the beach. They were halfway to the sub 600 yards offshore when a train thundered down the track.

The captain bellowed into a megaphone, “Paddle like the devil!”Fireworks lit the sky. Barb’s crew cheered the pyrotechnic show from the deck.  Five minutes later, the men were back on board. The Barb had sunk a train.The sub quietly left the area, returning to Midway.  

Fluckey, who had earned  himself a couple of nicknames: “The Galloping Ghost of the China Coast” and “Dead Eye” Fluckey, knew his mission was to “help tighten the steel belt around Japan” and “strangle her.”

Seemed like he did an outstanding job of it.  For his service as the Barb’s commander Fluckey received the Medal of Honor and four Navy Crosses.  Not, bad, Captain “Lucky.”

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Location: Bastogne, Belgium

Date: December 22, 1944

Four German soldiers approached American lines at Bastogne, Belgium in December 22, 1944. Major Wagner of the 47th Panzer Corps was coming to deliver a typed message demanding American surrender. The message, as you can imagine, was not too polite. Among other things, it pointed out that the Americans were surrounded, and included these words: “If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne.” The 101st Airborne was defending Bastogne. Its acting commander was Brigadier General McAulliffe (that’s him in the center of the photo above). He was not the kind of soldier who thought a little thing like being surrounded and out-numbered was that big a problem, so he misunderstood the message.

The General asked, “They want to surrender?” Lt. Colonel Moore replied, “No sir, they want us to surrender.” McAulliffe exploded in anger. He took the paper, looked at it, and said, “Us surrender, aw nuts!” and dropped it on the floor. Major Wagner was told that the 101st was not going to surrender, but he insisted on a formal, written reply. When General McAulliffe was told this, he wondered aloud, “Well, I don’t know what to tell them.” An officer present said, “What you said first would be hard to beat.” McAulliffe asked “What do you mean?” The officer replied, “Sir, you said nuts.” So McAulliffe wrote it down on a message pad and ordered, “Have it typed up.”The reply was typed up, centered on a full sheet of paper. It read:                                    “December 22, 1944                                    To the German Commander                                    N U T S !

The American Commander”

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Location: Omaha Beach WWII.

Surrounded by steep cliffs and heavily defended, aerial bombardment did little damage to the defensive fortifications. Rough surf was hard on the landing craft, and only 2 of 29 tanks reached the shore. It was a bloodbath.At the spearhead was, John Spalding, in command of a 32-man platoon. He was a green lieutenant, but Spalding had a tough sergeant, Philip Streczyk, of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. Streczyk was battle-hardened in North Africa and Italy (that’s him above, Field Marshal Montgomery is pinning on a medal).

Private Stanley Dzierga said this of the sergeant: “He was fearless.… it just seems he was immune to the fire.”The platoon took a beating, but made its way to the foot of the bluffs. Streczyk charted a path to ascend a ravine. Later a general wrote this:

“To the best of my knowledge, he was the first one on the beach and it was the path that he took that I picked up. The rest of our battalion followed, and then later on I think almost the whole corps went up that same path.” The platoon advanced, but suddenly they came under heavy fire. Spalding and a few others rushed the machine gun nest, taking the enemy gunner prisoner.The prisoner turned out to be from Poland, pressed into service. Streczyk spoke Polish, and interrogated him. There were 16 more men behind him, and he claimed they had voted that morning not to fight, but were forced to stay put and resist.Streczyk was not convinced. He smacked the man in the head, saying “So why are you shooting at us now?”The platoon kept advancing, taking out enemy positions and gathering 17 prisoners. Without their efforts, many more US men would have died on the beach. Spalding, Streczyk and five other men in the platoon received the Distinguished Service Cross.

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Location: Iraq

Operation Iraqi Freedom

As a truck filled with 2000 pounds of explosives barreled into camp, two Marines, lightly armed, took heroic action. 150 men and their families will forever be thankful for their sacrifice.

We celebrate the bravery of these two young men. Their names were Johnathan Yale and Jordan Haerter; Johnathan was a poor Virginia kid and Jordan was a middle-class Long Island native.

One night, the two men were tasked with watching guard over a make-shift marine barracks. In the middle of their shift, a truck carrying 2000 pounds of explosives came barreling down the road, charging the marines’ position. Johnathan and Jordan immediately opened fire, desperately hoping to stop the suicide bomber before it was too late.

They succeeded; however, it cost them both their lives. That night they saved the lives of over 50 of their fellow marines and 100 brave Iraqi policemen.

Well done, Marines! You died with honor and bravery and will never be forgotten. Johnathan and Jordan are true American Heroes and their memory will always live on through all those they saved that night.

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On July 31st, 2017 James C. McCloughan, receives America’s highest military honor. President Donald Trump had the special privilege of presenting the 71 year old Vietnam veteran with the Medal of Honor at the White House.

McCloughan reported to Army basic training in Kentucky in September 1968. On his last day of training the 23 year old private first class got his orders and was shipped off to Vietnam. He served as a combat medic for the next year, until March 1970.

Armed Forces members who distinguish themselves by going above and beyond the call of duty in battle earn the Medal of Honor. McCloughan certainly did just that.

Here’s what happened on  probably two of the worst days of his life:

May 13th 1969

On the morning of May 13, 1969, “Charlie Company” was combat assaulted into an area near Tam Kỳ and Nui Yon Hill. During the combat assault, two American helicopters were shot down. The first crashed roughly 100 meters from the company’s position. With fierce enemy gun fire surrounding the position, a rescue helicopter could not land. Instead, a squad was sent out and ordered to bring the pilot and crew back to Charlie Company’s defense perimeter.

When the squad reached the perimeter around the crash site, they saw a wounded Soldier lying on the ground nearby who was too injured to move. McCloughan ran 100 meters to the Soldier through an open field, ducking and dodging the crossfire of his company and a charging platoon of North Vietnamese Army.

“I weaved and sprinted through the fire and slid in next to him like I was sliding into second base.” ~ James McCloughan

Upon reaching the wounded Soldier, McCloughan shouldered him and raced back to the company, saving his fellow Soldier from being captured or killed.

At Nui Yon Hill, later that afternoon the 2nd Platoon was ordered to scout the area. They were ambushed by a large NVA force and sustained heavy casualties. McCloughan entered a trench as American airstrikes were being dropped on the nearby NVA targets. He spotted 2 Soldiers without weapons huddled near a bush. With complete disregard for his life and personal safety, McCloughan leaped on the berm of the trench and ran low to the ground toward the ambush and the two U.S. Soldiers.

While McCloughan was looking for wounds on the men, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded and pelted him with shrapnel. He pulled the two Soldiers into the safety of the trench. Wounded and covered in blood, he ignored a captain’s suggestion to leave the battlefield to get medical attention. He stayed until the battle was over, tending to the men and fighting the enemy.  He braved an enemy assault, moving into the kill zone on four more occasions to extract wounded comrades.

Bleeding extensively, McCloughan treated the wounded and prepared their evacuation to safety. Although the Americans were heavily outnumbered by NVA forces, he refused to evacuate and remained at the battle site with his fellow Soldiers, knowing they would need a medic.

May 14th 1969

On May 14, 1st Platoon was ordered to move out toward Nui Yon Hill. They advanced to the initial trench line, and were approaching the second trench.  That’s when they saw the enemy moving in the grass ahead of them.

The Americans fired on the NVA and they called in an airstrike on the enemy’s position. After receiving orders to continue moving forward, they were ambushed. The medic from the 1st Platoon was killed, leaving McCloughan as the sole medical specialist in the company.

“The second day we lose our only other medic that we got … now I’m the only medic.”

~ James McCloughan

During that intense battle, McCloughan was wounded a second time. This time it was by small arms fire and shrapnel from a RPG – all while he was rendering aid to two Soldiers in an open rice paddy.

In the final phase of the attack, two companies from the NVA and an element of 700 soldiers from a Viet Cong regiment surrounded Company C’s position on three sides. McCloughan, again with complete disregard for his own life, went into the crossfire to extract wounded Soldiers, while also fighting the enemy. His relentless, courageous actions inspired and motivated his comrades to fight for their survival.

That night, when supplies ran low, McCloughan volunteered to hold a blinking light in an open area as a marker for a nighttime re-supply drop. He remained steadfast while bullets landed all around him and RPGs flew over his exposed body.

May 15th 1969

During the dark, early morning hours of May 15th, 1969, McCloughan knocked out the RPG position with a grenade. He continued to fight and eliminate enemy soldiers. In addition, he treated numerous casualties, kept two critically wounded Soldiers alive during the night and organized the dead and wounded for evacuation at daylight.

He risked his life nine times, while continuously being pelted with shrapnel.

The Pentagon credits McCloughan with saving the lives of 10 men in his company.  For his actions, he is awarded America’s highest military honor, The Medal of Honor.

McCloughan has also received other Army awards, decorations, and citations for his military service, including the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and many others.  He has also been an an accomplished outstanding private citizen in his community.

Thank you for your service to our country James McCloughan, Medal of Honor recipient!

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If you’ve watched movies from the 40’s and 50’s then you’ve most likely seen Jimmy Stewart in starring roles in It’s a Wonderful Life, Rear Window, The Spirit of St. Louis, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and more. He was a kind, soft-spoken, and down to earth guy with a distinctive drawl that helped him portray roles of struggling middle class American men.

Many consider him one of the most influential actors in the history of American cinema. Over his career he won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globes, and numerous Lifetime Achievement awards.

Surely he was proud of his acting achievements, but probably he was more proud of his military career in the Air Corps. He became the first major American movie star to wear a military uniform in World War ll.

He was always interested in aviation, but his father discouraged him from attending the U. S. Naval Academy. He went to Princeton instead where he began his acting career, and eventually ended up in Hollywood making movies.  

During this time, Stewart pursued his passion for aviation, logging over 400 hours of flight time as a pilot two years before the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Stewart was drafted into the Army in 1940 but was rejected because he was too skinny. At 6’ 3” he weighed only 138 pounds. After eating a steady diet of spaghetti, steaks, and milkshakes he finally qualified and shouted to fellow actors, “I’m in! I’m in!” He was stationed at Moffett Field, California and earned his pilot wings in the Air Corps.

Stewart’s salary dropped from $12,000 per week to $21 per month, but he dutifully sent a 10 percent cut to his agent each month.

He went on to be flight instructor, attended bombardier school, became operations officer, and then squadron commander. The actor-turned-commander was a successful, popular officer. A roommate recalled: “I always got the feeling that he would never ask you to do something he wouldn’t do himself.”

In January 1944, Stewart, now a major, became commander of all four squadrons of the 445th Bomb Group.

As his squadrons returned from a raid over Germany, Stewart saw the lead group, the 389th, was off course, heading directly for dangerous Luftwaffe airfields in northern France. He radioed the lead plane to explain, but the reply back was a curt no, they weren’t, “and stay off the radio!”

Stewart had to make a difficult decision: stay with the formation on the correct course, or follow the errant lead squadron. Two squadrons would be at peril, but a single one didn’t have much of a chance. He chose to stay with them and add his gun power to theirs.

Soon over Luftwaffe airfields, 60 planes swarmed up from bases below. The 389th commander’s plane went down in flames, along with seven others. But all the bombers in Stewart’s squadron made it home. A fellow officer later pointed out, “There were a lot of lives saved that day because he knew what he was doing and when he had to do it.”

Stewart’s closest call with death happened on a mission the following month. Lead planes hurled bundles of chaff overboard to try to fool the German anti-aircraft radar guns, but it only attracted gunfire to them. On the way home, after hitting their target,  a flak shell burst inside Stewart’s B-24 right behind the nose wheel. Somehow it kept  flying all the way back to base. But on landing the fuselage buckled, and cracked open like an egg. The crew climbed out, unhurt. Stewart looked at the crippled aircraft and in his characteristically understated fashion said, “Sergeant, somebody sure could get hurt in one of those damned things.”

Stewart ended the war with 20 combat missions.  He was awarded Distinguished Flying Cross,  Croix de Guerre and others. ” When he returned to Hollywood in 1945 , he refused a lavish welcome home party, saying, “Thousands of men in uniform did far more meaningful things.”

He remained in the USAF Reserve, was promoted to brigadier general in July 1959, and retired in May, 1968. He once said “I’d like people to remember me as someone who was good at his job and seemed to mean what he said.”

Jimmy Stewart is certainly remembered for being, not just good, but excellent, at both jobs, one on and one off the movie screen.

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Location: Hilltop Base somewhere in South Vietnam

17 Americans and 410 South Vietnamese troops came under attack at 4 AM.  Special Forces Sergeant First Class Adkins was there.Adkins was blown from his position with shrapnel burning in his back. Shaking it off, he fought back with his own mortar fire. Adkins got word that 2 of his men were hit, so he raced through thick enemy fire to drag them to safety. When things calmed down enough, choppers came to evac the wounded. Adkins helped load injured men.

Suddenly gunfire erupted. He turned to see a truck bearing down on them, with a dozen traitorous South Vietnamese firing on them. Bad move, going over to the enemy. Adkins opened fire and the attack was stopped within minutes. The battle continued on. Adkins raced outside the base walls 2 times, to pull a wounded man from a trench, and to retrieve ammunition and food that was airdropped into the middle of a minefield.  The following day, an assault was launched by North Vietnamese troops. Adkins was again blown from his post and wounded. He just brushed it off and fired back with mortar, bazooka and his M-16.Adkins was hit by a bullet and shrapnel from a grenade, but kept fighting. He even managed to take out some of the enemy by tossing their own grenade back at them. It was close-quarters combat as their position was overrun. With 18 bullet and shrapnel wounds, Adkins and seven other Green Berets volunteered to hold off the enemy while most of the survivors were lifted out by helicopters.  After the evac, Adkins was left with seven other Green Berets and a couple of dozen South Vietnamese soldiers. Wounded, with no sleep for two days, he began to elude the enemy in the dense jungle. For 48 hours they dodged their pursuers. They had some unusual assistance: they were stalked by a tiger following the blood scent from their wounds. But the tiger helped make the enemy cautious. They finally got to a position to make contact and be rescued.Adkins completed three tours in Vietnam, and was awarded the Medal of Honor. That’s one tough soldier we shall never forget.

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If you have ever wondered how Chicago’s O’Hare Airport got its name, here is the American hero it’s named for.   Three months after Pearl Harbor, the US Navy’s aircraft carrier Lexington, known as the “Blue Ghost,” was carrying out the dangerous task of penetrating enemy waters. The carrier’s radar picked up enemy bombers inbound, and it directed its Airborne Wildcats to intercept them.Butch O’Hare and his wingman Duff Dufilho were the closest and raced to the bombers, arriving over their V-formation nine miles from the Lexington. Preparing to engage, the two pilots test-fired their 50 caliber guns. Duff’s guns would not fire. Butch would have to tackle the bombers on his own. (That’s him in the photo above.)He didn’t hesitate, diving into the enemy formation. Tracers from the enemy bombers streamed toward him, but Butch took cool aim and blew the engines off of its mountings.Coming around to the other side of the formation, he fired on another bomber and took it out of the fight.Butch’s Wildcat carried 450 rounds for each of its four guns. He could fire for just over 30 seconds total, so he had to be very disciplined on these attacks.With the bombers closing on his ship, Butch swung around, fired, and took down a third plane.With no time to spare, Butch O’Hare continued his attacks, managing to damage two more of the bombers before he ran out of ammo.The remaining bombers came up on the carrier. The Lexington opened up with its anti-aircraft gun, and more Wildcats arrived to dispatch the surviving bombers.As Butch’s Wildcat approached to land, a nervous gunner on the carrier shot at him. Butch maintained his approach, landed, and told one of the deck crew,

“I’m okay. Just load those ammo belts and I’ll get back up.”

He strolled over to the gun platform and looked down at the embarrassed gunner who had fired on him, saying:“Son, if you don’t stop shooting at me when I’ve got my wheels down, I’m going to have to report you to the gunnery officer.”

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What battle was the biggest, bloodiest battle that Americans fought in WW2?

The Battle of the Bulge

It lasted 41 days from December 1944 to January 1945, and spanned territory in three countries. On December 16, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Germany’s favor.

The Battle of the Bulge, so-called because the Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line. It was the largest fought on the Western front. The Germans called it Operation Mist. It came as a complete surprise to the Allies, and it was massive. The 7th Armored Division was there. Nicknamed the Lucky 7th, it was a tough, hard-fighting unit. Its commander, General Hasbrouck, tells us about a wounded enemy soldier who remarked,

“Hell, this is no green division, this is the 7th Armored.”Hasbrouck described being sent forward to slow the German advance:“We just came down here and learned that the Germans were making a counterattack. We didn’t know much about their strength…”Well, the Germans were attacking with just about everything they had. It was rough going, but at one point they got some help. Again, General Hasbrouck:“We were hungry and thirsty but fortunately the 82nd Airborne Division arrived at that time…”Another story is worth relating. Lieutenant Rogers was the commander of a retreating tank destroyer. He stopped alongside a scruffy-looking soldier digging a foxhole near the road.The trooper looked up and said:“If yer lookin’ for a safe place, just pull your vehicle behind me. I’m the 82nd Airborne, and this is as far as the bastards are going.”The men on the tank hesitated, but Lt. Rogers spoke:“You heard the man. Let’s set up for business!”That paratrooper was PFC Martin. He and Rogers formed the nucleus that grew to a major stronghold.

After the American victory, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated,

“This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.”

Thanks to men like PFC Martin of the 82nd Airborne, it truly was.

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Lieutenant “Jack” Lee had a reputation as a fearless and aggressive leader who had led his tank company through France, Germany and Austria. Lee was described as “bright and inquisitive” young man who was a star football player and an avid cavalry rider. These skills helped him gain an exceptional talent for maneuvering Sherman tanks.

During his years of combat, Lee was promoted and hailed as a “swashbuckling” leader and fearless officer who won the Distinguished Service Cross. Every day Lee faced death from his turret. A biographer wrote,

“Because he was so good at what he did, he always got put out front.”

It was in the dramatic final days of World War II in Europe, and Lee  found himself in Austria, eagerly anticipating the end of hostilities after Hitler’s suicide and the fall of Berlin.

One day as he was chewing on a cigar,  Major Josef Gangl showed up. Gangl was a hardcore Wehrmacht veteran of 17 years. He’d had enough of the Nazi SS atrocities, and he was there to tell the Americans about some political prisoners at a nearby castle. Reichsführer Himmler had been using the castle for VIPs from France, including two French prime ministers, two former supreme commanders, and the sister of Charles de Gaulle. The guards had abandoned their posts, but the prisoners knew too much about Dachau concentration camp 75 miles away. The SS had been ordered to retake the castle. In no time, Jack was on his way with two tanks, six volunteers from another unit, Major Gangl and a truckload of German soldiers.This unlikely rescue party encountered SS troops at a roadblock. The American and German troops opened fire, brushing them aside. When they got to the castle, the French dignitaries were unimpressed with this odd force (insert a  sigh here). They were even less dazzled by Jack’s attitude. You know the one, that American cocksure, “Get off your high horse” approach to things. But the French were soon glad he was there: crack troops of the 17th Waffen-SS Panzer Division surrounded the castle and opened up. The American and Wehrmacht troops fighting for their lives and those of the prisoners. Ammo was running low when a phone rang in the castle. It was American Major John Kramers calling from a nearby town. (Really, I just couldn’t make this stuff up!) Kramers told Jack that help was coming.  The Waffen-SS were about to blast through the front gate of the castle when they heard the sound of automatic weapons and tank guns behind them. Kramer and his force were fighting their way through. When they arrived, Jack went up to one of the tank commanders and said, “What kept you?”  

A cigar wasn’t mentioned, but I like to imagine one in his hand. And maybe a bottle of schnapps.

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