Filed under: Veterans | Tags: American Civil War, Andy Turner, Cavalry, Gatehouse Press, John Opie
Today, in my email, I got one of the regular notification emails from Gatehouse Press, which publishes Morningside Books and Gettysburg magazine. Needless to say, I think they’re marvelous folks, but I’m not writing today because of that, but rather because I found there email and the associated story immensely amusing.
John Opie served in the Confederate cavalry and saw action in the major Virginia campaigns. His memoir A Rebel Cavalryman with Lee, Stuart, and Jackson is a light and humorous narrative on the life of a cavalryman. I’m guessing from the excerpt that Andy Turner published in his blog, that Mr. Opie must have been a hit whenever people gathered to hear stories of the war. It seems that his horse was not quite the gentle, loving companion that one always imagines when day-dreaming about being a cavalryman. In a few short chapters, Opie details how his seemed hell-bent on killing Opie, or, failing that, getting Opie killed. I’m not going to steal Andy or John’s fire, so click on over and read all about it.
Filed under: Battle of the Bulge, Medics, Normandy, Veterans | Tags: 1st Infantry Division, Big Red One, Omaha Beach
“He still gets nightmares, and he thinks back to the men he couldn’t save,” Bernard Friedenberg’s wife, Phyllis, told FoxNews.com.
Sergeant Bernard Friedenburg was a medic in the 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry. When he landed on Omaha Beach, 40 minutes into the landings, it was a nightmare. He came in near the D-1 “draw”, outside Vierville-sur-mer.
As a medic, he was trying to save men, but he is haunted by the terrible calculus of war. Trying to treat one soldier with a sucking chest wound, he had to give the young man morphine and move along to less-wounded men. He could save more of the others, but he is haunted by the memory of that one. He went into a minefield to save five men, only failing when the sixth man rolled over onto a mine. For that, they awarded him a Silver Star.
He ignored heavy fire in “Munsterbusch, Germany, to treat and evacuate wounded comrades. This earned him his second Silver Star.”
While his memoirs seem to be hard to find, both the memoirs and an oral interview can be found at The Veteran’s History Project of the Library of Congress.
Filed under: 509th, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Andrew Pelkey, Eric Greitens, Jim Broumley, Lions of Kandahar, Memorial Day, Morton Katz, Navy SEAL, Special Forces, Stuart Beare, Tufts University, William Bennett
As most of the country simply enjoys another day off, I’m sure those reading this are spending some time thinking about the true meaning of Memorial Day.
- Jim Broumley, who wrote an excellent book on the 509th (The Boldest Plan is the Best) notes that COL Morton Katz, who is expected to attend the Operation Dragoon seminar and commemoration in July, will be delivering the keynote speech at the Avon, Connecticut memorial service on Monday.
- Speaking at Tufts University, Navy SEAL Eric Greitens challenged graduating seniors to sacrifice, “to serve one’s country and to live magnanimously.” Greitens noted of his own service, “The more I thought about myself, the weaker I became. The more I recognized that I was serving a purpose larger than myself, the stronger I became.” I’m going to order his book, The Heart and the Fist: The education of a humanitarian, the making of a Navy SEAL
and I think everyone ought to. Thanks to Mr. Pelkey for the link to Bill Bennett’s column.
- On Wednesday, the “Lions of Kandahar“, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, were awarded the Canadian Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation by LTG Stuart Beare, Commander of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. LTG Beare compared the honor to the Presidential Unit Citation – this is only the 7th award of the citation and the first to a foreign unit since the citation was established in 2002.
Yesterday, at National Airport, an Honor Flight of World War II veterans landed and, as Chris Muller notes, they got a marvelous welcome to Washington. Headed into Memorial Day weekend, it’s good to be reminded that people do think of this as more than just a three day weekend that officially kicks off the summer. Thank you, soldier!
Filed under: Films, Henderson, Veterans | Tags: Class of 1967, USMA, Viet Nam, West Point
Last night, we went to see a screening of Into Harm’s Way, which is a terrific film. Actually, I should say, I know that 79 of the 94 minutes of the film are terrific.
It’s being shown as part of the GI Film Festival here in DC this week and my wife, two of her executives and I took my mother-in-law, whose husband LTC Richard Henderson served two tours in Viet Nam.
Synopsis
When 846 young men entered West Point in 1963, they signed up with an American Army at peace. At their graduation ceremony in 1967, the Vietnam War was raging. Into Harm’s Way is a story of Army officers who lead and lost soldiers in combat.
It’s a story of fathers and sons and duty to country. It’s a story of glory and sacrifice. Into Harm’s Way is the first person chronicle of the West Point Class of 1967.
The film is really well done, with the interviews emphasized and punctuated with impressionistic depictions of the events that the veterans are describing. In particular, as one is describing his encounter with a mortally wounded enemy soldier, the depiction of that’s soldier’s eyes adds a chilling effect as he describes the scene.
My mother-in-law, Mary Lou, was particularly moved by the film. One of the interviewees was the widow of one of the men in the Class of 1967 and they played some of the tapes he’d sent home from Viet Nam. Dick had also sent home tapes and photos, so she could identify with the emotions and experience. We’ll likely pull up those photos and listen to the tapes soon.
I would heartily recommend the film to everyone. They are looking to include it in film festivals going forward and I’d think that if you’re having an air show, a historical re-enactment or a gathering of ROTC students, this would be a fine film to view. I’d also recommend it for the Viet Nam on Film course I took back as an undergrad (I actually took it twice), if they still offered it.
Unfortunately, I missed the first 15 minutes of the film. Typically, the blame for this would be my own as I am often late. This time, I dropped off the four ladies a full 20 minutes before the scheduled start. It took me a while to find a parking spot (this was shown in the Congressional Auditorium in the US Capitol Visitor Center, though I was able to park just a block away) and STILL got through security and into my seat a full five minutes before the scheduled start. This was, unfortunately, 15 minutes into the film as they started 20 minutes early.
So much for the team-building exercise for my wife’s executive team.
Update: The good news is that the nice folks who run the festival made up for it by giving us two tickets for Sunday morning’s screenings. Waiting on the word about whether they can get us a DVD of Into Harm’s Way so that we can see the full movie.
Filed under: 506th, Band of Brothers, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: 30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Army Air Corps, B-25, Buchenwald, Doolittle Raid, France 1940, Hedy Lamarr, Joe Muccia, John McGrath, Marcus Brotherton, Torpedoes
“I demand satisfaction!” is a cry of an earlier time when I man could seek redress on a field of honor for slights suffered at the hands of others. If you long for such times, as opposed to the endless blathering of slanders and disagreements found on the internet, you will surely enjoy this video, courtesy of our friends re-enacting Easy Company.
- I may be going out on a limb here, but I don’t think any current leading ladies of film hold any technical patents, but Hedy Lamarr was far different, as Valerie Curl pointed out on her EpiphanyBlog, “In 1942, at the height of her Hollywood career, she patented a frequency-switching system for torpedo guidance that was two decades ahead of its time.”
- Robert Seale took some excellent photos of 3 of the 5 surviving Doolittle Raiders. The 70th anniversary of those “30 Seconds Over Tokyo” is approaching (18 April 2012) and he got to fly with Doolittle’s co-pilot, Colonel Richard E. Cole, in Larry Kelley’s B-25, Panchito.
- Speaking of re-enacting, there is apparently an event over in south-west Michigan that might be fun if you’re nearby, Lest We Forget: WWII Public Display and Battle Recreation. There will be a vehicle parade, beach landings, a public battle and a hangar dance. It will be held at the Southwest Michigan Regional Airport and the beaches of St. Joseph.
- At the GI Film Festival (don’t forget to help out Firewatch) there will be a film on The Lost Airmen of Buchenwald. Betsy Miller, in the Military History group on LinkedIn, had recently pointed out the fate of some American airmen who got trapped in the Holocaust, pointing us to the National Museum of the US Air Force for more information.
- Volunteer fireman and Easy Company veteran, John “Jack” McGrath passed away. McGrath was a humble man, not eager to tell his stories, leaving dedicated Easy Company researchers like Marcus Brotherton and Joe Muccia lamenting that they couldn’t learn more from him. Joe noted that, “in fact he spent more time asking me about my war”.
Filed under: Films, Marines, Veterans | Tags: 10th Marines, Danilo Prieto, Firewatch, GI Film Festival, Navy Memorial
Firewatch is a short film by Marine Danilo Prieto, who deployed to Afghanistan with Sierra Battery, 5th Battalion, 10th Marines. Sergeant Prieto wants to come to Washington, DC to see the film screened at GI Film Festival 2012 (Firewatch will be shown with 7 other short films Sunday morning, 20 May 2012, starting at 10am in the Naval Heritage Center, at the Navy Memorial). Unfortunately, he lives in California, so, in order to make it to the Festival, he has posted a Kickstarter project to raise funds for the trip. If you donate, he’ll send you the link or a DVD of the film as thanks for your support. If you’ve ever stood a fire watch when you’d rather have been spending time drinking with your buddies, send Prieto the $20 or $30 you’d have spent on drinking in a bar, then get your buddies together (have them buy the drinks) and sit down at your place with the DVD when it arrives. Honor your fallen brothers, like Prieto’s friends CPL Binh Le and CPL Matthew Wyatt. You won’t regret it.
If you live in the DC Metro area, I expect we’ll see you at the Festival, right? It’s 14-20 May 2012 and ticket prices are quite affordable.
Filed under: Homefront, Veterans | Tags: Denzel Washington, Fisher House, Kate Deyermond, Kathy Griffin, Russ Littel
I’d seen on Facebook a great photo of Denzel Washington down in San Antonio with several soldiers. There was an urban legend attached to it, but what Denzel did for the Fisher House was almost as good as the legend.
Our friend Kate managed the Fisher House here at Walter Reed when we met her and her husband, Russ, so we got to see what they’re like. The Fisher House provides a “home away from home” for military families while a loved one is hospitalized for illness, disease or injury. Sometimes, soldiers in rehabilitation have their families stay for months, which they would never be able to do otherwise. One of the great things for Kate and Russ was that many famous people would come by for events or just to thank the soldiers for their service. This meant that Kate and Russ got to meet a lot of those folks – Kate even appeared in an episode of Kathy Griffin’s “My Life on the D-List”.
In the urban legend, after visiting the Fisher House in San Antonio, Denzel Washington asks, “How much does it cost to build one of these?” Given the number, Denzel pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check for that amount. Great story, but a bit of an exaggeration. Just like me (perhaps the only similarity between Denzel Washington and myself), he doesn’t carry a checkbook around with him. However, his reputation for generosity is well-earned and he did, in fact, send a substantial check to help sponsor the Fisher House. Cary Clack of the San Antonio Express explained of the six-figure check, “It wasn’t enough to build one facility, but went a long way toward helping to build one.”
If you’ve been looking for a way to show veterans you care, 96% of donations go directly to helping veterans. Donate.
Filed under: Films, Military Working Dogs, Officers, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: 13th Warrior, Antonio Banderas, Neptunus Lex
While I haven’t made a Wandering post in a while, it is always nice to share what I find out there.
- One of my favorite films was the 13th Warrior, with Antonio Banderas. For a lyrical review that paints the imagery of the film, see The Village Smith.
- The military blogging community lost one of its brightest lights, Neptunus Lex. By chance, I spoke with one of his classmates who was stunned at both his passing and that he’d still been flying fighters at this age. The Captain was a great writer and I think it would behoove any of my readers to peruse his beliefs. The world is a poorer place without him.
- As you know, I love my puppy, so I was overjoyed to see a story about an Army Sergeant First Class by the name of Zeke who helps out his comrades in their time of need. (Hat tip to CDR Salamander – http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/)
In continuing support of our dogs-in-arms….
Filed under: 509th, German Perspective, Veterans, William Yarborough | Tags: Army Heritage and Education Center, Carlisle, Dr. Geoff Megargee, Fort Bragg, Special Forces
I’m so excited! Today and tomorrow, I’ll be up in Carlisle to see Dr Geoffrey Megargee give a talk on the German High Command in World War II and conduct some of my own research. The Army Heritage and Education Center is located in Carlisle, so there are loads of records stored there. I’m going to start by looking at records from Fort Bragg in regards to his time in the Special Forces. I’ll also be doing some research on LTG William Pelham Yarborough, who commanded the 509th later in the war and, like so many airborne officers, had his future in the Special Forces.
We're not lost, Sergeant, We're in ... France 