Seeing Memorial Day Through The Eyes Of A Veteran, The Democratic Party, And The RNC
[guest post by Dana]
Tomorrow is Memorial Day. Originally known as Decoration Day, it is the day set aside to honor and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.
Retired Army Staff Sgt. Luke Murphy, who served two tours with the 101st Airborne Division’s 187th Infantry Regiment and lost his right leg as a result of a roadside bomb blast in 2006, shares his thoughts about Memorial Day in a brief yet poignant essay:
As a wounded veteran who served two tours in Iraq, I’ve been asked to give speeches at Memorial Day celebrations. It’s one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever done.
Veterans Day is easy. Fourth of July, a piece of cake.
But Memorial Day, that’s a tough one.
Service members like me think about the soldiers we lost pretty often. I remember when he was alive, all the stuff we did — the training, combat and even just hanging out together off duty. Then my mind usually goes to the day of his death. I remember where I was when I heard about it, or what it felt like to see him catastrophically wounded. I picture their faces. They’re young; they never get old.
…
When soldiers die, they don’t just roll over and quit like in the movies. They fight like hell. They do whatever they can to stay alive — sometimes that’s their hardest fight. And sometimes they lose.
And sadly:
Memorial Day is supposed to remind Americans what other people have sacrificed for them. But sometimes, I think nobody’s paying attention.
They’re too self-absorbed.
After reading Murphy’s essay, I saw this:
Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone! pic.twitter.com/TMBSu187Pb
— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) May 22, 2015
God Bless Jake Tapper:
Respectfully, @TheDemocrats, this is not what Memorial Day Weekend is about. https://t.co/331F9IX2Xz
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 23, 2015
The Republican National Committee shames itself as well:
Have coffee with a real leader today. http://t.co/RAonnWUNtx Use code #MEMDAY for a special discount today. pic.twitter.com/VRVoqty8uq
— RNC (@GOP) May 23, 2015
–Dana
Hello.
(Apologies for tweets not embedding. I’ve asked Patterico to fix them.)
Dana (86e864) — 5/24/2015 @ 3:06 pmexecrable wankers
happyfeet (831175) — 5/24/2015 @ 3:09 pmThank you, Dana, for reminding me to put aside some time and think again about the sacrifices made on our behalf by others. Something to discuss with my children.
Very serious business indeed, and a good reminder of how partisanship is corrosive no matter who does it.
Simon Jester (c94262) — 5/24/2015 @ 3:11 pmI do a post every year on my own blog.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/24/2015 @ 3:31 pmThis one from a few years ago seems appropriate, too
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/24/2015 @ 3:37 pmhttp://projects.washingtonpost.com/911victims/robert-penninger/
I had previously sold my ’88 LX convertible. You could only do so much to it before your ran up to the limits of speed density fuel injection system.
The there was Dan Shanower.
http://naperville.il.us/shanower.aspx
The body count kinds of racks up from there. In honor of their memories, I just did the seven basic elbows of Krav Maga and some Indian club mills.
No, I’m not being unserious. All gave some, some gave all. I am still here with more to give.
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 4:00 pm75% of success in the Navy is showing up on time with a hair cut.
Dan showed up on time with a hair cut.
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 4:09 pmIf we are thinking of the 9 /11 victims, don’t forget Rick Rescorla.
At 8:46 a.m. on the morning of September 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 struck World Trade Center Tower 1, (The North Tower). Rescorla heard the explosion and saw the tower burning from his office window in the 44th floor of World Trade Center Tower 2 (The South Tower). When a Port Authority announcement came over the P.A. system urging people to stay at their desks, Rescorla ignored the announcement, grabbed his bullhorn, walkie-talkie and cell phone, and began systematically ordering Morgan Stanley employees to evacuate, including the 1,000 employees in WTC 5. He directed people down a stairwell from the 44th floor, continuing to calm employees after the building lurched violently following the crash of United Airlines Flight 175 38 floors above into Tower 2 at 9:03 A.M. Morgan Stanley executive Bill McMahon stated that even a group of 250 people visiting the offices for a stockbroker training class knew what to do because they had been shown the nearest stairway.
Rescorla had boosted morale among his men in Vietnam by singing Cornish songs from his youth, and now he did the same in the stairwell, singing songs like one based on the Welsh song “Men of Harlech”:
If any of you have seen the hardcover book Heart of a Soldier, the cover photo is of Rick Rescorla at the Ia Drang Valley battle. He saved a company that was cut off by the NVA. He sand Cornish drinking sings all night to keep their spirits up.
He saved all the employees and the woman he was looking for when he went back was already out.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/24/2015 @ 4:35 pmhttp://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/%E2%80%9Ccharge%E2%80%9D-philippine-scouts-and-the-last-horse-cavalry-charge-of-the-u-s-army/
2nd Lt. Eliseo Malari, Platoon Leader, 2nd Platoon, Troop E, 26th Cavalry Regiment (Philippine Scouts)
Beats the h3ll out of my several tours in the Navy policing light fixtures.
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 4:41 pmMike, I think the point is to remember those who died because they were willing to wear the uniform of the United States military.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Stethem
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 5:00 pmThe problem, I think, is that there is no reminder every year. No event, no activity, no common experience that reminds people what the day is about.
And so it is just a bank holiday like all the others.
I wonder if there are enough people willing to join in some kind of distributed observance that might wake people up annually and remind them what the day is about. Maybe everyone who can, takes a bugle out into their front yard and plays taps at sundown. Or everyone puts a candle in the window. Probably too much to ask folks to go down to the federal cemetery and put flowers on a grave.
But the reason they forget is they’re thinking barbecue and baseball and beer. And forgetting how lucky it is that the US hasn’t had a hostile shot fired within its borders in 150 years.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/24/2015 @ 5:22 pmMy sons and I go spruce up veterans’ graves on that day, most years. And we talk.
Simon Jester (128815) — 5/24/2015 @ 5:27 pmSalon tools just can’t help themselves on Memorial Day weekend:
Dana (86e864) — 5/24/2015 @ 5:39 pmNo link for them.
the article is about defense budget spending which apparently precludes other essential service for society. No mention about cutting spending….
Dana (86e864) — 5/24/2015 @ 5:42 pmAnd though I am certain you know this, Dana, you have to watch them: a decrease in an increase is usually called a cut in the modern lexicon. But since most people just see headlines…well…
Simon Jester (128815) — 5/24/2015 @ 5:48 pmR.I.P. Anne Meara, actress, wife of Jerry Stiller, mother of Ben Stiller
Icy (797871) — 5/24/2015 @ 5:56 pmThe National Memorial Day concert from Washington DC is on PBS television tonight.
elissa (f12021) — 5/24/2015 @ 6:13 pmGiven how busy our store was today, the RNC was pretty much on target although tomorrow there will be several local ceremonies.
Perhaps it needs to be moved, or simply merged with Veteran’s Day. I think most people think of it as the start of summer, not at all apposite to its real meaning.
So herewith reverting to its origin.
kishnevi (adea75) — 5/24/2015 @ 6:51 pmThe Bloody Angle on the battlefield of Spotsylvania Courthouse. May 1864. Don’t be fooled by the park-like appearance (photo taken last year, 150 years after the battle, almost exactly to the day).The combined casualties (Union and Confederate) for the full day of fighting here exceeded the combined casualties (Allied and Axis) for 6 June 1944.
(Apologies for tweets not embedding. I’ve asked Patterico to fix them.)
What I learned is that you have to embed the Tweet, save it, then immediately publish. Do NOT preview the post. For some weird reason, that changes the Tweet from embed picture to embed body. Don’t know why.
The other weird thing is that sometimes the Tweet will embed as a picture, then at some point switch over to just the body of the Tweet, then later switch back. The troubled genius of WordPress, I suppose.
Happy Memorial Day, Dana. Thanks for the great blogging you have been doing over the past few months. I’m glad you are so much better at it than I.
JVW (8278a3) — 5/24/2015 @ 6:54 pmthe article is about defense budget spending which apparently precludes other essential service for society.
Having all those weapons is keeping us from fully funding Cowboy Poetry Festivals and Queer Studies Departments at our universities. Imagine how great things would be in America if we had more of those two essential programs.
JVW (8278a3) — 5/24/2015 @ 7:00 pmKevin @11, I am at the same time the most respectful observer of Memorial Day and the least. Because every day is Memorial Day. I don’t think a day goes by during which I don’t think of someone who died in harness. I don’t dwell on it, though. I do think about how I’m going to fight my way out of the mall in case everything goes all Nairobi on me. Or Baltimore.
My first aid kit is a Craftsman tool box full of medical supplies. Every one of which I know how to use. I keep all my Red Cross certifications current. No one dies on me if I can prevent it.
Memorial Day is necessary because most people don’t have much connection to the service.
As for me what excuse do I have to offer my friends and ancestors in the after life about the times when I didn’t speak up? When I didn’t fight back? That I was afraid of dying? Or, worse, afraid of being called names? Don’t think that’ll fly.
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 7:14 pmThe Republican National Committee shames itself as well:
Beyond that, I’m totally fed up with Republicans for colluding with Obama on the new Asian trade bill, apparently full of crud that will merely further the same-old, same-old and won’t help America’s economy one iota.
On this Memorial Day, welcome to the USA as a living version of Potterville from the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Increasingly amoral, feckless, exhausted and greedy.
Mark (09522c) — 5/24/2015 @ 7:19 pmMike, I think the point is to remember those who died because they were willing to wear the uniform of the United States military.
If you think Rick Rescorla didn’t wear the uniform with distinction, you didn’t read any of what I posted. He might well have been a candidate for the Medal of Honor but it was early in Vietnam. His behavior on 9/11 was just another example of his valor. He had also predicted what happened and had strongly advised his employer to move out of the WTC after 1993.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/24/2015 @ 7:38 pmhe was the UK, born in one of the commonwealth countries, and served in the La Drang valley,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/24/2015 @ 7:46 pmthe site of the battle commemorated in ‘We Were Soldiers’
JVW,
Thanks for the embed advice. I’m going to try that. I usually avoid using tweets in a post because I’m such an abysmal failure at embedding and always end up having to call on to help get them right.
Thank you so much for your encouragement. It’s certainly a fun posting. Even if I end up taking it on the chin in the comments section!
Dana (86e864) — 5/24/2015 @ 7:48 pm“When people scream that we fight “unjust and amoral wars.” Remember young men of this quality, who freely gave of their lives. And that throughout history America has never taken possession of the land, the people or the resources of their enemies. Rather, America in victory, has rebuilt their enemies in the image of freedom and liberty. Would that the youth of other nations have the courage and love of their fellow man that the American Fighting man has for humanity.”- Paul Skurnick
pitchforkntorches (ef0337) — 5/24/2015 @ 7:50 pmWhat I learned is that you have to embed the Tweet, save it, then immediately publish. Do NOT preview the post. For some weird reason, that changes the Tweet from embed picture to embed body
JVW, I went to the tweet, I hit the three little dots and selected “embed tweet”. I went to the code, select all, copy, and then pasted in the place on the post. Hit update (since you can’t save once the post is done and you’re updating). Still no embedded tweet….
Dana (86e864) — 5/24/2015 @ 8:19 pmI see Jake Tapper is posting the photos of those who have sent him pics of loved ones lost during service to their country. It’s a lovely tribute, and it’s a lovely thing that these noble individuals are still missed and loved by those left behind.
Dana (86e864) — 5/24/2015 @ 8:23 pmI can’t remember the Word Press terminology but you might try saving tweets the same way you save photos.
DRJ (e80d46) — 5/24/2015 @ 8:32 pmYes, I’ve tried, DRJ. It captures the photo, but not any text.
Dana (86e864) — 5/24/2015 @ 8:53 pmI’m not sure why we expect the public to be more mindful of Memorial Day when we elected a Commander in Chief who doesn’t know the difference between this day and Veteran’s Day.
Gazzer (d3f7b0) — 5/24/2015 @ 9:04 pmhttp://www.navsource.org/archives/03/features/taffy3m.htm
I don’t think any battle has deserved more, but has gotten less, attention, than the Battle off Samar.
Samuel B. Roberts’ call sign was “little wolf.” When Ziggy Srague issued the order “small boys attack” little wolf asked does that include small small boys. The skipper Robert Copeland didn’t wait for an answer. He just turned to and went bow on to the threat.
Aviators who were winchester, out of ammo, dove on ships just to draw fire so that aviators who had ordnance would have a decent shot. The aviators who had armed aircraft were inappropriately armed. They were armed for getting the troops ashore, and also anti-submarine warfare. Not for combating a surface threat.
Back aboard little wolf Paul H. Carr died at his station. He was a gunner’s mate, and apparently his gun got a little hot. But since he was trading broadsides with the Chikuma he had other priorities.
http://media.navysna.org/HOF/C/Carr.htm
There’s a name you might think of tomorrow. “Horribly wounding” is the nice way of saying ripped open. His shipmates cleaned him out of the turret and laid him next to it, expecting him to die in short order. When they went by again before abandoning ship he had clawed his way back into the turret and his dying wish is that someone would help him get off another round.
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 9:07 pmhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uht5e4_U5wQ
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 9:14 pmrnc
mg (31009b) — 5/24/2015 @ 9:18 pmrepublican nation of communists
Every time i see bitch mcconnolls face, I want to kick it in.
mg (31009b) — 5/24/2015 @ 9:20 pmWhat about this?
DRJ (e80d46) — 5/24/2015 @ 9:23 pmYeah, this was the little bit of nothing little wolf took on that day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_cruiser_Chikuma_%281938%29#Battle_of_Leyte_Gulf
It doesn’t exactly jibe with my version of events, but it’s wikipedia.
Steve57 (fb1453) — 5/24/2015 @ 9:34 pmkishnevi, good reminder @18. I have a French heavy cavalry pallasch that will turn 200 next July. A near Napoleonic. Obviously the blade was rehilted to the 1854 standard. And just as obviously, what it was doing there, in small shop just off a Civil War battlefield.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:43 amhttp://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=59891
Israel needs to win its wars.
It’s no big deal. I couldn’t get through Army Ranger school, either, ladies. We all have our God given talents. I think I have what it takes to be first shellman on a five inch gun. Or keeping a tank firing. Which I think is more apropos to the subject at hand.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:19 amA good read for Memorial Day.
http://www.amazon.fr/Dawn-Like-Thunder-Torpedo-Squadron/dp/0316056537
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:29 amI don’t think any battle has deserved more, but has gotten less, attention, than the Battle off Samar.
I’ll drink to that. Sprague and his guys saved Halsey’s ass from a fool stunt he pulled that day.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:57 amA Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight
Alvin Kernan’s book, is also great and he was there. Kernan’s story is incredible. His other book, Crossing the line is also great. He was there and was on the Enterprise at Pearl Harbor. When he came back from the war, he went to college and ended as dean of the graduate school at Princeton. My review of the book from 2005 is here.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:03 amSprague and his guys saved the invasion force from Kurita and his center force. They weren’t fighting to preserve Halsey’s reputation.
The Army had a toe hold on Leyte and the last thing some Navy guys did in life was make sure they kept it.
It’s nice to know that should the roles be reversed they would return the favor.
To pick one on this Memorial Day.
http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3481/sabo-jr-leslie-h.php
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:13 amI take it you are Michael T. Kennedy?
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:29 amGreetings:
Back in the summer of the last ’68, I was doing my military service down in Texas which, besides the Bronx, is the place I’d most like to be form. For several months, I was assigned to the base’s funeral detail. We would provide pallbearers and a rifle squad for those requesting military funerals in the local area.
Military-wise, it wasn’t bad duty. On the days when we weren’t scheduled for a funeral, we would spend several hours practicing our “drill and ceremonies” and a couple of more squaring away our uniforms and equipment. On funeral days, we would head out as early as necessary on q 44-passenger bus, often in civilian clothes or else fatigues with our first-class uniforms in tow. Often we would change into our duty uniforms at the funeral home, once in the casket display room, or on the bus itself.
It being Texas and the Viet Nam war being in full swing, we often had several funerals a week to perform. There was a certain spectrum from the World War graduates through the Viet Nam casualties. The former might involve a local veterans’ group and an afterward BBQ or such. The latter were somewhat more emotionally raw as most of us were facing our own deployments in the near future.
Two funerals of the latter sort have stayed with me through the years. The first was of a young Private First Class who had been MIA for several months before his remains were recovered. I was on the pallbearer squad that day and when we went to lift that casket, it almost flew up in the air. There was so little of the young soldier left that we totally overestimated the weight we were lifting and almost looked decidedly unprofessional.
The other was that of a Negro Specialist 4th Class. I was in the rifle squad that day. In the rendering of military honors, there is a momentary pause between the end of the (21-gun) rifle salute and the beginning of the playing of “Taps”. It is a moment of profound silence in most cases. During that moment, the soldier’s mother gave out a yowl from the depths of her grief that so startled me that I almost dropped the rifle out of my hands. That yowl echoes within me still.
I’ll readily admit that as a result of my experiences, I became much imbued with a sense of duty and respect to and for our fallen. Hopefully, this year, when our media do their reporting they will show some of the same and let “Taps” be played out in its entirety. It would be nice for a change.
11B40 (6abb5c) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:41 am“They weren’t fighting to preserve Halsey’s reputation.”
I didn’t say that. Halsey should have been court martialed for that and for his gross error in taking the fleet into a typhoon. The Navy decided they could not do that for morale reasons and so John McCain (the Senator’s grandfather) was relieved of commend and died soon after. He was not allowed to be at the surrender ceremony while Halsey’s reputation was preserved.
Because of 100 mph (87 kn; 160 km/h) winds, very high seas and torrential rain, three destroyers capsized and sank, and a total of 790 lives were lost. Nine other warships were damaged, and over 100 aircraft were wrecked or washed overboard; the aircraft carrier Monterey was forced to battle a serious fire that was caused by a plane hitting a bulkhead.
Those guys died too.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:10 amI’m well aware of Typhoon Cobra. And yes, those guys died too. And I hope the investigations into non-aviation mishaps do some good.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:16 am* And I hope the investigations I made into non-aviation mishaps do some good.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:18 amTruscott, who nobody ever heard of, said what Halsey never said.
I have Truscott’s book in my bookcase.
Truscott’s life.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:46 amThanks fot the posts Mike k.
mg (31009b) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:56 amhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxj16vzScfw
faxhorn (12b8fd) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:27 amI take it you are Michael T. Kennedy?
A salute will be sufficient. It is not necessary to kiss my ring.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 10:39 amNot dead yet! Spunky 92 year old British WWII vet flies a Spitfire for the first time in 70 years.
Watch the BBC video. Note the hair dye and pink lipstick! You will laugh at her one complaint about the flight–“too much talking”.
http://www.weaselzippers.us/224601-sunday-smile-92-yr-old-wwii-pilot-gets-to-fly-her-favorite-plane-again-after-70-years/
elissa (8008e9) — 5/25/2015 @ 10:51 am“Can I just eat my waffle cone?”
carlitos (c24ed5) — 5/25/2015 @ 12:04 pmthis post made me realize an epiphany in my head
i’d really really like to see carly replace priebus
i think she’d be much much more effective
and this priebus is getting a lil too entrenched for my taste
happyfeet (831175) — 5/25/2015 @ 12:27 pmThat may be the rare two seat spitfire at Duxford. I would love to have had a chance in it but didn’t have enough time when I was there. Nice museum. But the US part is closed now.
Large area refurbishing old war birds.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 12:30 pmAny car guy can tell you the engine provides its own music.
If I got a hop in a Spitfire, my one and only hop and at 92 my last, and somebody tried to talk over that Rolls Royce Merlin I’d be P.O.d too.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 3:52 pmI never knew that Truscott tale,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 3:54 pmsome years ago, I read Hornfischer’s account of the naval part of the Solomon’s engagement, ‘Neptune’s Inferno’ in part based on the journal of one of those who are there,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:06 pmI followed the link to where you said I’d find your review from 2005. There was one review from 2005, by a guy named Michael. I wanted to confirm you were the same Michael.
Let’s not get carried away with the ring kissing and the saluting.
Another name to remember.
http://darbysrangers.tripod.com/id110.htm
These guys trained together.
Laughing Wolf of Blackfive bumped into the helmsman of the Satterlee in Normandy back in 2013.
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2013/06/pointe-du-hoc.html
The skipper of the Satterlee said if he had to run his ship aground to support those Rangers, that’s what he was going to do. He damned near did.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:13 pmOther presidents, ones that perhaps loved this country more, treated Memorial Day with more respect.
Here’s the Gipper, in 1984
Kevin M (25bbee) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:15 pmnarciso, if you haven’t read Hornfischer’s Ship of Ghosts and Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors I recommend that you do.
http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/82864/ship-of-ghosts-by-james-d-hornfischer/
http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Stand-Sailors-Extraordinary/dp/0553381482
They bracket the Navy’s WWII experience. From outclassed in December 1941, staring at smoking wreckage and trying to figure out what to do next, to figuring out what to do next and outclassing everyone by the end of the war.
It’s a shame we’re giving away what these men fought so hard to achieve.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:28 pmsadly so, Steve:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/23/historian-america-no-longer-able-to-win-wars/
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:35 pmKevin @61, since Prom Queen despises this country and thinks it’s very existence is illegitimate, why should he respect the memory of those who fought and died for it?
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:35 pmI once lived in the woods in a cabin and one of the 90 other people that lived throughout that wilderness was an old guy named Chuck who had been a part of Carlson’s Raiders. It wasn’t surprising he lived in such a remote area as he was not particularly fond of people. He had a colorful background growing up in NYC, enlisting in the Marine Corps and lying about his age. The first time, they turned him over to his mama who gave him a shiner for lying, and then he went to a different recruiter and lied again and they took him. He regretted breaking her heart, but he was young and invincible and there was a war going on demanding his attention and he knew that girls were crazy for soldiers. Anyway, he was filled with stories. What always strikes me with the old vets is that while their stories are big, they almost always see their roles as small and almost insignificant. There is an admirable humility and modesty about them. Except for when they are with only other vets of that generation. Per my octogenarian parent who is a vet, when he and the other surviving vets from WWII and Korea get together for their bi-weekly lunches, the bullshit is non-stop, the branches still try to outdo each other, and they themselves nearly single-handedly won the every battle they faced. Absolutely charming.
Dana (86e864) — 5/25/2015 @ 4:42 pmhttp://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2015/05/fullbore-friday_22.html#disqus_thread
As we have seen, as I have attempted to show, this OHP-ckass frigate wasn’t the first Sammy B to provide a benchmark. The Butler class DE set a pretty high bar.
Oh, and relevant on this memorial day. Attention to citation.
http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=80612
Petty Officer Mayo died heroically but only as a result of multiple failures in security that, as far as I can see, have resulted in no civilian losing his or her job. The report of the investigation into the circumstances that resulted in Petty Officer Mayo’s death is dismaying.
But Petty Officer Mayo, at least answered yes to CDR Salamander’s question. He was ready. He stood his watch and was 100% there. You expect it in the Persian Gulf but you don’t always expect it pierside in the states. But it’s never your choice.
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/navy/l/blsentry.htm
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:12 pmDid you know, Dana, that Saddam Hussein waited until I and the Carl Vinson left the AO before invading Kuwait?
Sure, the Carl Vinson and the rest of the battle group played a small role. But it was largely me and my intimidating personal presence that stayed his hand.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:21 pmwell that’s one view of the matter:
http://www.blazingcatfur.ca/2015/05/25/sydney-siege-inquest-gunman-secretive-defiant-narcissist/
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:37 pmclearly someone drew a cartoon to provoke that guy, narciso.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:42 pmBad s*** just doesn’t happen with Muslims unless Pamela Geller and cartoons don’t happen.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:43 pma more particular view:
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/higher_standards/
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:52 pmTo get back on track. Attention to citation.
http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detail/3447/williams-james-e.php
But does Boats Williams let little details like this give him pause? I think you know the answer.
That “larger concentration” was something like 200. Admittedly no one was in the mood to do any fine accounting, but Boats Williams and his partners in crime damaged or destroyed about a quarter of them.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 5:57 pmhttp://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSob=c&GSlh=1&GRid=74715857&
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:00 pm‘Neptune’s Inferno’ in part based on the journal of one of those who are there,
One feature of that book is the info that more sailors died at Guadalcanal than Marines.
Truscott had a lot to do with Darby.
Also, I had an English teacher and football coach who was a Raider. Jim Arneberg. He was 17 when he was a raider.
A few photos of Normandy when I took my daughter to see it.
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:01 pmYeah.
My parish priest, Monsignor Tillman, captured 11 NORKs at the point of his .45.
Every once in a while when I’m tempted to have a high opinion of myself I think of these guys just to remind myself I’m not exactly Alexander the Great.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:08 pma distant relative of mine:
The invasion force was left stranded, and after 72 hours of fighting, Mr. San Roman radioed a message from the beachhead that he was abandoning the effort. ”Tanks are in sight,” his message said. ”I have nothing to fight with. I cannot wait for you.” #20 Months in Cuban Jail He was taken prisoner along with about 1,100 of his men, spent 20 months in jail and was set free after the United States provided more than $50 million in food and medical supplies to Cuba.
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:10 pmhttp://neveryetmelted.com/2015/05/25/six-seconds/
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:33 pmThe Navy gets a bad rap for the circumstances surrounding Guadalcanal. I can still get into fights with Marines for daring to defend ADM. Fletcher. Marines who think his actions were indefensible. I recommend the book by Lundstrom, Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal, as the antidote.
Oddly enough, just as Neptune’s Inferno was based on the journal of those who were there, the strongest defense of Fletcher’s actions is based on the personal papers of a Marine who was on Fletcher’s staff. Papers which didn’t come to light until the man died and his family found them as they were sorting out his estate.
When Fletcher “abandoned” the Marines on Guadalcanal, forcing the Navy supply ships to withdraw before offloading all the the Marines supplies, he really had no choice. Going toe to toe with the land-based air force at Rabaul was a losing game. Fletcher’s fighters were rapidly being attrited. Plus his ships were going through fuel oil like it was going out of style.
The Japanese navy was just head and shoulders above the USN in night fighting. This is why Iron Bottom Sound got its name. Night fighting takes practice. The USN did not have the money to practice during the Great Depression. So, it didn’t. It also didn’t have the money to figure out, holy s***, those ships were going to burn through fuel at an ungodly rate when maneuvering in combat. Everyone’s estimates were wildly off.
From the Marine’s personal notes, it was clear that Fletcher had no choice but to clear out. He was going through planes and gas too fast. He had to get out of range of Rabaul. If I recall correctly, the there was only one tanker left at Noumea. The other had been sunk by a sub. While he still had enough fuel to keep the keel down he had to get out of Dodge. One tanker is a slim hope.
What did the Marines want? A bunch of Navy ships out of gas, bobbing around, targets?
I think all the dead sailors off Guadalcanal are evidence the Navy never abandoned them.
I’m still researching for my book tentatively entitled, Green Dragons And Black Cats; A Love Story.
AKA, STFU Marines.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:42 pmplus we had fallen for the delusion of the Washington Conference on Naval Disarmament,
Hornfischer makes the images as vivid as one can imagine, a sea born counterpart to Private Ryan,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:46 pmI didn’t recall this part:
http://www.weaselzippers.us/224652-mike-rowe-maybe-today-we-are-all-related-to-those-who-gave-their-lives/
the way his relative survived as a POW was a story in itself,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 6:51 pmThe New York Times asks: What do you do with a cultured sailor?
Dana (86e864) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:05 pmDid Petty Officer Mayo not do as well, Coronello? Not to take anything away from the Marines. The sea services are sort of incestuous. I wouldn’t have become a Naval officer unless a Marine DI approved of my existence. Later I went on to do counter narcotics and harbor defense with the Coast Guard.
Semper Fidelis. Semper Paratus. Sic Semper Tyrannus.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:08 pmI’m not a fan of Fletcher. At Midway, he turned over his command to Spruance and Spruance did the right things.
I commented to Don Rumsfeld at a book signing, where he insisted on a standup desk, that Spruance also used one.
He agreed and said he learned that in the Navy,
I would have voted for Rummy for president,
Mike K (90dfdc) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:17 pmIs that the whole story, Mike? Did Fletcher have a choice at Midway?
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:19 pmSpruance was a fine commander but even he’d tell you that Fletcher was, too.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:20 pmthere is the rest of the story:
http://www.usni.org/magazines/navalhistory/1992-06/frank-jack-fletcher-got-bum-rap-part-one
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:21 pmand more of that:
http://www.ww2pacific.com/fletcher3.html
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:23 pmOur host has fixed the tweets. It’s a much more complete post with them actually appearing.
Dana (86e864) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:31 pmhttp://www.midway42.org/Features/Fletcher2.aspxhttp://www.midway42.org/Features/Fletcher2.aspx
Did Admiral Fletcher make mistakes? Sure. Who wouldn’t have. He largely shouldered the burden for the entire Pacific war for the first seven months. There was no play book. No one knew how an aircraft carrier war was supposed to go. And Fletcher was a black shoe, not an aviator.
But he got a lot of stuff right. When he retired he commented (not his exact words) that his critics were mostly talking out of their @$$. I tend to agree.
Rest your oar, sailor. You done good.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:38 pmthat link doesn’t work, other officers had Morrison’s ear, just like the sources that Halberstam listened to, who proffered nary a dissent till Elegant and more recently Moyar,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 7:44 pmhttp://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3419826
The skipper of the Shigure lived to pronounce the American victory at Vella Gulf was perfect. His book, along with Zengi Orita’s I Boat Captain, was to have a major influence on my life.
http://www.usni.org/store/books/recently-published/japanese-destroyer-captain
The XO of the Maury, Russel Crenshaw, also wrote his own book.
http://www.amazon.com/South-Pacific-Destroyer-Battle-Solomons/dp/1591141435
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:21 pmCrenshaw also wrote the textbook on ship handling.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0870214748/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3485228338&hvqmt=p&hvbmt=bp&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_aqvfr1h3p_p
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:25 pmI mistransliterated Orita Zenji’s name.
Also, no one in the Shigure knew the Americans had even touched them until a later dry dock availability. When they saw the nice, clean, round hole the torpedo had punched through the rudder.
Which cleared up the mysterious funny-handling characteristics their ship had all of a sudden developed.
Vella Gulf served as a wake up call. Up until then the Japanese had owned the night. Vella Gulf showed the Americans were capable of adapting. Even though their torpedoes would be inferior throughout the war, the Japanese were on notice. And I believe we all know how things worked out.
It’s only a matter of getting up one more time.
In Requiem For A Battleship I read how the the Japanese JOs redlined a report about how the Americans had attacked and killed a sub with sonobuoys and an aerial torpedo. The Japanese could do none of those things. When they pointed out how the Americans and British were innovating their superiors retorted that they weren’t operating with the proper yamato damashi. The spirit of Bushido would carry the day.
The Japanese JOs belatedly concluded their only hope was to kill everyone O-4 and above and start over.
This is kinda sorta relevant to today as we, like those Japanese junior officers, have people who want to kill us and a government that’s lying to us.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:51 pmafter yamamoto, and yamashita, who MacArthur scapegoated, capable staff and flag officers were few and far between,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:55 pmfrom the Horde:
http://donsurber.blogspot.com/2015/05/nyt-snubs-him-i-dont-melvin-garten-most.html
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 8:58 pmyamashita, the tiger of manila, blamed for actions committed by well connected superiors,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:02 pmMy little brother Ralph has said it briefly, and I think well. Ending a conversation between he, my Dad, and I on a Memorial Day Lunch when vets were asked to stand and Dad and I had made faces before standing, then sitting and discussing that: “Oh. We’re celebrating that you’ve survived, and you’re mourning those you remember who didn’t.” That’s the best or at least most understandable explanation I’ve seen.
I usually say “Blessed Memorial Day”, hoping you’ve all had such; I’m trying to … I don’t know, avoiding “Happy”, which it is, in a way, but not the usual value of happy. WW2 vets Navy LT. Mom and Army 2LT. Dad are buried together in Leavenworth National Cemetery.
htom (4ca1fa) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:09 pmhttp://www.nmajmh.org/exhibitions/catalog-hallOfHeroes/cat31.php
No one figured this guy. He was from an ultra-orthodox family and as a kid wore coke bottle glasses. But he decided he was going to fly from an early age. It’s like his eyes got better from sheer will.
At torpedo 9 his XO, later CO after CDR Waldron was killed, was Swede Larsen. A vicious anti-Semite. Which was cool with Katz, as he later said he preferred his anti-Semitism straight up.
Not even Larsen could stop Katz from showing his stuff.
As an aside, everyone agrees that Swede Larsen mellowed over the years.
If I talk like I knew these guys, I did. Or at least I knew some of them, and the men who served with and flew with them.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:19 pmAnyone see Obama’s Memorial Day address? It’s at Pajama Media, among other places.
Absolutely disgraceful. Just beyond words and imagination.
Every single person who voted for this man should be whipped and stripped of citizenship.
Estragon (ada867) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:28 pmwhat’s the moderation about, Yamashita’s railroading in the military tribunal,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:30 pmthat’s doubleunplusgood thinking.
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:34 pmThe male with the minus touch finds a way to dig even deeper. Do you think that he thinks that if he digs deeply enough he’ll end up in Hawaii? Indonesia?
htom (4ca1fa) — 5/25/2015 @ 9:40 pm97-Estragon
mg (31009b) — 5/25/2015 @ 10:00 pmI raise my glass to that.
You know people mean well when they wish you a Happy Memorial Day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3nncd4sxaM#t=669
Benavidez’ call sign was Tango Mike Mike. Tango Mike Mike stands for That Means Mexican. It’s still used when the fight isn’t breaking your way and uncommon courage is needed.
Not by me. I’m not special forces. But I know what it means when I hear it.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 10:17 pmI guess to round things out, here are three airmen whose graves you won’t be visiting anytime soon.
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/05/01/air-force-cross-silver-stars-combat-controllers/26639629/
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 10:31 pmI raise my glass to Airmen Temple, Greiner, and Goodman.
Who kept at least several guys from being memorialized this Memorial Day.
Hopefully one day this country will recover and be worthy of their efforts.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 10:36 pmhttp://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_10/bells.html
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/25/2015 @ 10:49 pmThanks Steve57. You are a special man.
mg (31009b) — 5/26/2015 @ 3:03 amI don’t feel special, mg. I knew people who are. Like this man.
http://homeofheroes.com/valor/02_awards/silverstar/6_PostRVN/05_grenada.html
After he recovered from his wounds he became an intel officer. He was assigned to III MEF at some . and I worked with him in USS Belleau Wood. Not that he’d know me from Adam. He retired as a Colonel in 2006. I remember like it was yesterday seeing him in the gym working out with grim determination. Because at one point his life did depend on it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1588316/posts
When I knew him he was Major Howard. You didn’t know MAJ Timothy Howard and not be improved by the experience.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/26/2015 @ 4:39 amIf I am special at all, give credit to these gentlemen.
http://www.blackfive.net/photos/uncategorized/2008/02/18/drill_inst_2.jpg
It was a different crew back then, but they were my new bunch of best friends when I showed up at AOCS in Pensacola back in ’88.
We were inseparable for a few months.
Steve57 (6b60b5) — 5/26/2015 @ 4:42 amThis thread began by targeting Obama having an ice cream cone and the GOP hawking discounted coffee mugs.
After three straight busy days at work, I am pretty sure Obama and the RNC are well within the mainstream of how the Populus observe this day. In fact, Obama showing up at Arlington to help move that wreath in place probably did more ti actually observe Memorial Day than they did.
kishnevi (9c4b9c) — 5/26/2015 @ 8:07 amtargeting, interesting choice of words, if this had happened under W, one wouldn’t avoid hearing about it for a month, it would be on the cover of Time,
narciso (ee1f88) — 5/26/2015 @ 8:24 amWho built that ice cream cone?
And why is it vanilla instead of twist or chocolate?
htom (4ca1fa) — 5/26/2015 @ 3:09 pm