On vacation in Florida, Army SSG Eddie Peoples walked in on a bank robbery in Sarasota, Florida.
Since the bank robber waved the gun at his children, Peoples followed the man outside and used his rental van to block in the bank robber’s car (what fool parks the getaway car such that he has to back out of his parking spot?)
SSG Peoples has had many guns pointed at him during four deployments overseas (3 to Iraq and one to Afghanistan), so when the robber hopped out and pointed his gun at Peoples, it was a minor annoyance. Peoples dealt with “bad men” on deployment every day, so he used his training and disarmed the man, holding him until the police could arrive.
Was Peoples Airborne or Special Forces or a Navy SEAL? Nope. He’s just a regular soldier with the 14th Transportation Battalion in Vincenza, Italy, but he is someone you should know.
The gun ended up being a replica, but no one knew that until after he was disarmed.
Bill Warner thinks SSG Peoples looks like LL Cool J and I’d have to agree. You can also see the rap sheet of the bank robber on Warner’s blog and it becomes clear what kind of fool he is. Yes, Eddie Peoples got the bad man.
Filed under: Battle of the Bulge, Veterans, WWII | Tags: Battle of the Bulge, Fort Benning, Marksmanship, Sniper, Ted Gundy
When he arrived in Europe as a replacement, Ted Gundy was handed a sniper rifle because he’d scored the highest in his company during training. Today, sniper selection and training is far more complex and involved, but, truth be told, Ted Gundy would likely be a sniper if he enlisted today. Given a replica of his old rifle and 65 years later, Gundy showed he is still a marksman.
Today, Gundy’s gait might be uncertain, his hands shaky and his hearing electronically enhanced (but not always quite enough), but when he settled behind “his” 03 Springfield A4 sniper rifle, none of that mattered.
From a basic rest, he proceeded to make hits on a silhouette target -at 300 yards. Each one was better than the previous, with the final round landing dead center. Shooting Wire, February 8, 2010
I think this was passed to me the reenactors I know, but I’ve lost the original email, so can’t tell you which one passed it along. Gundy watches Shooting USA on TV and had emailed them about the long-range shots modern snipers make. When they realized they had a sniper from the Battle of the Bulge, they coordinated with the Army Marksmanship Unit (established back in 1956 by Eisenhower) to grant Gundy a chance to make a 1000-yard shot himself. It made for marvelous television.
On occasion, when I email or interview someone about the Bizory monument and Mark Patterson’s vandalism of it, they ask me why I’m bringing it up. Some of them simply want to forget about it. Some of them don’t want to harm Mark’s reputation. Some comment on how terrible it was, but state that they just want to put it behind them. Everyone finds the issue at least somewhat uncomfortable.
At his request, I interviewed Mark in March. Mark pointed out to me that a number of veterans and others have been upset by the monument’s limited scope (only memorializing Easy Company), feeling that it serves as a slap in the face to those who actually fought in that spot. It’s not that they dislike the veterans of families of Easy Company, they just feel that all the attention is focused on them because of the book and HBO series.
The typical protest has been the arrangement of small stones indicating the other units that actually fought there (like the 501st). Some folks have stated that they do that every time they visit it. I’m told that one 501st veteran even arranged stones to refer to Easy Company as “Sleazy Easy”. Obviously, we have a serious problem with the current monumentation.
Mark contends that it would have been a simple matter to include those units on the Bizory monument or to have included D/506 on the Brecourt monument (the Brecourt monument memorializes some Easy Company men who did not fight at Brecourt and ignores D Company which did). While I don’t think they should be obligated to do so, it would have been wise. Notably, the Richard Winters Leadership Project, which will unveil a statue of the Easy Company commander in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont on the 2012 anniversary of D-Day, is more inclusive, stating that it is Dedicated to all U.S. Army junior officers who led the way on June 6, 1944.
Since the damage to the monument is still there (not as evident as a year ago, but visible nonetheless), pretending it never happened isn’t going to work. People know something happened and that Mark was responsible, so if there is no record of it, but only a whispering campaign, his reputation will be in the trash anyway. So anyone who thinks ignoring it will make it go away is wrong.
I get at least one search hit every day for information on this vandalism, though Mark tells me that he and a friend are the one hitting Google on a daily basis (some days I get several searches, other days, I get none).
I’m going to continue writing about this as I learn more, because I think the best way to prevent these things from happening in the future is for people to know what happened and get some insight into the reasons. I think articles should be written for historical journals and magazines about this and about the problems with these monuments. Otherwise, the next frustrated person might go vandalize another monument.
As a historian, I feel that the best course is always more information, not less.
Filed under: Leadership, Normandy, POWs, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Anniversary, Baseball, Veterans
One of the most tragic events for Americans in World War II unfolded 69 years ago. Approximately 75,000 Americans and Filipinos who had surrendered on Bataan were force-marched to prisoner of war camps. At least 6,000 to 11,000 never reached the camps. Another example of man’s inhumanity to man….
- I found a wonderful post on two survivors of the Death March that explains the event very well, and can’t help but move you to tears.
- Fortunately, there was one young boy in Japan who fed one of the Death March survivors working in a factory during the war.
- Our Canadian on travel in France posted a great note entitled Things I Learned while in France that will make anyone who has visited feel nostalgic and want to go again….
- Baseball just started the regular season, so some folks have Opening Day Jitters.
- Another Canadian (Caleb) has started Bloggy Wogg and reviewed a book on Football in Germany.
- We lose WWII veterans by the hundreds every day, but for the children of those men, it’s a percentage. It’s 100% of their father. Louis Cohen’s sons learned a lot from him.
- Mitch wrote a nice piece on the defining characteristic of Normandy: the Hedgerow and the tools the Americans improvised to defeat them.
- Another reminder of good leadership can be found over at XBradTC’s Bring the Heat, as he relates the story of a company commander, a General and a father-to-be. Take care of your people. They remember that forever.
Filed under: Marines, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Afghanistan, Causes of the Civil War, Detroit Catholic Central
I don’t watch much basketball, but you can’t help but dive into the NCAA tournament with gusto. I absolutely love it because you see the raw emotions and the stunning extra effort put forth by young men striving together for a goal. What makes it both sad and joyous is that at the end of March Madness, we have only one team on top. So, I’ll spend a lot of my free time over the next few weeks watching a bunch of boys run up and down a court with a ball. I’ll scream and shout. I’ll laugh and I’ll cry. I always told my Boy Scouts that what is interesting about sports is one of the main thing that is interesting about studying war – it exposes the struggles of men and allows you to see them triumph or fail.
- In a completely different vector, Eric Wittenburg posted a letter from Bud Hall, great-grandson of a Mississippi Confederate in Barksdale’s brigade and a Viet Nam veteran himself, on the true cause of the Civil War. Hall quotes Longstreet and Mosby.
- 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines is coming home. My high school classmate, LT Bill Hlavin, serves as the Chaplain for 3/25. Bill had previously served as a Naval officer on a destroyer and as an NROTC instructor before entering the ministry. He offered a prayer before their deployment, and again, as they finished their tour, he published another, “3rd Battalion, 25th Marines has been officially relieved of all duties in Afghanistan. We’ll be on our way home soon. Thanks be to God!”
Filed under: 101st, Band of Brothers, Normandy, Officers, Veterans | Tags: Band of Brothers, Dick Winters, Easy Company, Monument, Veterans
As this posts, the memorial service for Major Winters is starting in Hershey, Pennsylvania. While the accolades that have been bestowed upon him reflect things we should have noticed in many more officers during World War II and many conflicts since, I think it fitting and proper that we commemorate the service and the example of Dick Winters. He was a skilled and caring leader of men. There were others like him, but he’s the one we know the best.
There is a good slideshow of photos in tribute to the Major. You can also check a report on the ceremony held in late January for Major Winters in Carentan.
There is movement to erect a monument in Normandy, using his likeness and
identified as 1st Lt. Richard Winters, E-Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, but will also be representative of ALL U.S. Army junior officers of all the divisions who were responsible for leading soldiers into combat in Normandy on June 6, 1944 and will showcase all the division names and corps of those who fought in Normandy in the very early stages of D-Day. The monument will prominently feature the words Leadership 6-6-1944 and a quote from Major Winters below his likeness which will read: “Wars do not make men great, but they do bring out the greatness in good men.” The monument will also have the words inscribed: Dedicated to all U.S. Army junior officers who led the way on June 6, 1944.
I do support this, because it is dedicated to all those junior officers, without whom failure of the whole enterprise would have been certain.
A mix of links this week, including one historical novel that has a love story to celebrate Valentine’s Day.
- There’s an interesting sounding novel out called Officer’s Row 1904 that takes place at Fort Rosecrans in San Diego a century ago. Having truly enjoyed watching Downton Abbey on PBS recently, the late-Victorian era and it’s social conventions are starting to intrigue me. It’s perhaps too late to order this as a Valentine’s Day present for your sweetheart, but you could always buy early for 2012! Sales of the book benefit families of Explosive Ordinance Disposal personnel in all the armed services.
- Craig Swann had a good post about the Walmart/Wilderness decision.
- I’d recently read Battling Buzzards, which chronicles the history of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team. I wanted to understand more about the unit, since I’ve met several of the men over the last few years. They’re having what the think might be their final annual reunion July 13th-18th down in Atlanta and I think I’m going to see if I can attend. Like the Operation Dragoon and Colmar Pocket events, it offers a unique experience to meet history.
Filed under: 506th, Marines, Navy, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings | Tags: Lessons Learned
Super Bowl Sunday is a uniquely American experience, parties that start mid-afternoon on a Sunday and last until the game ends. Loads of food, a good amount to drink and a game on in the background. Oh, I almost forgot the commercials! The commercials are usually the best part.
- Every year, folks go out and commemorate the Battle of the Bulge with a reenactment at Fort Indiantown Gap. Friends of mine were there and passed along a link to a good article about the event. Hat tip to Brim.
- Craig made a good post to commemorate Operation Flintlock on its 67th anniversary. Operation Flintlock is a textbook example of “joint” operations built by experience – a prime example of Lessons Learned.
Filed under: Homefront, Veterans, Weekend Wanderings, WWII | Tags: Japanese Internment, Korean War, RAF, Veterans
This weekend, the Jets and Steelers face off for the AFC championship, while the Packers and Bears have an old-school matchup for the NFC championship. Hopefully, nothing gets in the way of your chicken wings, ribs, burgers, cold beers and NFL watching. As always, I will be checking what Terry and Howie have to say, but first, here’s the most interesting stuff I’ve found this week….
- New Zealand provided pilots to the RAF and one of their daughters posted up photos from her Dad’s service in 127 Squadron. Hopefully, she’ll post some of his journal entries.
- Three veterans in New Jersey shared some stories with the Wyckoff Historical Society. There are several inaccuracies in the article, as it puts Saigon in Korea (it was probably a town that sounded the same instead of the capital of South Viet Nam) and vaguely refers to the Korean War starting “less than 10 years after World War II” instead of 5 years, but provides interesting little tidbits nonetheless. With World War II veterans dimishing in numbers every day, their stories drift away with them. Hopefully, we can record as many as possible, while also putting them in context with slightly more accurate historical knowledge….
- One of the darkest chapters of American history is the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II. A blogger writes about their own mother’s inability to talk about her internment and has an interview with one of the women was interned on video. If it doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you must be made of stone….
Filed under: 101st, Officers, Veterans | Tags: Band of Brothers, Dick Winters, Veterans
Sad news today. Of course, if you follow the obituaries, there seems to be sad news every day, as World War II veterans pass in the hundreds every day. Dick Winters was the most well-known living company commander from World War II and it is indeed sad that he is no longer with us. The men of Easy Company were lucky to have him and the rest of us were lucky to have his example to study and to follow. May he rest in peace.
Pennlive.com has a wonderful article about Winter’s passing and the most poignant part is about 11-year-old Jordan Brown, who’d been working to gather money for Tim Gray Media’s efforts to build a memorial to Major Winters:
“There’s no good way to tell your kid his hero has died,” Brown said. “But I told him he should take comfort in knowing Maj. Winters was happy with his efforts. In a way, [with his efforts] he’d joined the ‘Band of Brothers,’ too.”
Donald van den Bogert of the Para Research Team has put together a beautiful collection of photos and stories about Major Winters that I highly recommend.
We're not lost, Sergeant, We're in ... France 