Memorial to Warriors

Special Operations Soldiers honor fallen comrades with new memorial

RELEASE NUMBER: 090421-01
DATE POSTED: APRIL 21, 2009
Special Operations Soldiers honor fallen comrades with new memorial

Kabul, Afghanistan (Courtesy of CJSOTF-A Public Affairs, April 21, 2009) -Soldiers from the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan unveiled a memorial dedicated to its fallen brethren killed in Operation Enduring Freedom during a ceremony at Camp Vance, Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan April 9.
new memorial

It was a somber occasion as formations of Soldiers observed a moment of silence while the monument, dedicated to those CJSOTF-A Soldiers who have died in service to their nation, made its second debut.

Standing in its humble grandeur in front of the CJSOTF-A headquarters, aptly draped in an olive drab parachute, the new memorial was rededicated at the site of the new headquarters which moved to a new location on Bagram Airfield.

“Today, once more, we set in stone the anchor which honors our past, and sets a standard of excellence for the future,” said the CJSOTF-A Commander, Col. Gus Benton II.

Ninety six names have been etched into the marble stone of the memorial over the past seven years beginning with Sergeant 1st Class Daniel Petithory, of Cheshire, Mass. who was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, of Fort Campbell, Ky. Petithory was killed in action Dec. 5, 2001.

“We are here today,” said Benton, “to honor the selfless service and sacrifice of the men of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force; to preserve the memory of their service to their nation, and set an example for future generations; so that they will never forget and will continue forward.”
remembering the fallen


“These soldiers to whom we pay special homage are much more than names on a wall or gravestone,” Benton added, “they are symbols of our march toward a time when the world order will stand for justice, democracy, and economic freedom.”

Benton, along with the CJSOTF-A Command Sergeant Major, Terry Peters, slowly peeled away the chute to reveal the newest tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

“It is absolutely critical for us to both remember and to mark the occurrences of that incredible loss of life for something much greater than ourselves,” said Peters.

“We take the time here to recognize them because we understood them before when they were alive, we appreciated them in their passing, we honor them every day and we will always remember what they have meant to both us and this great nation,” added Peters.

“Let us not mourn in sadness for the loss of these extraordinary men,” said Benton, “but rather revel in their greatness, be honored to have served alongside them, remember them, and thank God that such men lived. De Oppresso Liber.”

--usasoc--

RIP to the last of the "Bedford Boys"

Last surviving D-Day 'Bedford Boy' dies at 94

When World War II broke out, the "Bedford Boys" left home to serve. Many of them didn't come home — so many that the community had among the greatest losses per capita on D-Day.

Now the last survivor has died.

Elisha Ray Nance died Sunday in Bedford, a spokesman at Tharp Funeral Home and Crematory said Monday. He was 94.

Nance was among 38 National Guardsmen from the close-knit community of Bedford who were in Company A of the 116th Infantry, a spokeswoman at the National D-Day Memorial Foundation said. On June 6, 1944, 19 were killed when they landed on Omaha Beach at the start of the D-Day invasion. Two more died later.

The great loss from a town of 3,200 and its surrounding area led Bedford's selection as the site of the D-Day Memorial.

Somali Pirates

I didn't bother to blog about the pirates since everyone else was talking about it. I have been blogging about them for a while now. Obviously since they have operated without serious consequences and have made a great deal of money they are undeterred. I'm sure the threat of an American jail has them very worried now since they live in Somalia for fucks sake.

Congrats to the shooters though for a job well done.

RIP Russell E. Dunham MOH

Medal of Honor recipient dies at 89

Although he survived World War II to receive the Medal of Honor and was the region's most decorated veteran, Russell Dunham now has joined the ranks of those that live on only in memory.

Dunham, 89, died of congestive heart failure in his sleep at 12:56 a.m. Monday at his home in Godfrey.

Citation from Wikipedia

DUNHAM, RUSSELL E.
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kayserberg, France, 8 January 1945. Entered service at: Brighton Ill. Born: 23 February 1920, East Carondelet, Ill. G.O. No.: 37, 11 May 1945.
Citation:
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. At about 1430 hours on 8 January 1945, during an attack on Hill 616, near Kayserberg, France, T/Sgt. Dunham single-handedly assaulted 3 enemy machineguns. Wearing a white robe made of a mattress cover, carrying 12 carbine magazines and with a dozen hand grenades snagged in his belt, suspenders, and buttonholes, T/Sgt. Dunham advanced in the attack up a snow-covered hill under fire from 2 machineguns and supporting riflemen. His platoon 35 yards behind him, T/Sgt. Dunham crawled 75 yards under heavy direct fire toward the timbered emplacement shielding the left machinegun. As he jumped to his feet 10 yards from the gun and charged forward, machinegun fire tore through his camouflage robe and a rifle bullet seared a 10-inch gash across his back sending him spinning 15 yards down hill into the snow. When the indomitable sergeant sprang to his feet to renew his 1-man assault, a German egg grenade landed beside him. He kicked it aside, and as it exploded 5 yards away, shot and killed the German machinegunner and assistant gunner. His carbine empty, he jumped into the emplacement and hauled out the third member of the gun crew by the collar. Although his back wound was causing him excruciating pain and blood was seeping through his white coat, T/Sgt. Dunham proceeded 50 yards through a storm of automatic and rifle fire to attack the second machinegun. Twenty-five yards from the emplacement he hurled 2 grenades, destroying the gun and its crew; then fired down into the supporting foxholes with his carbine dispatching and dispersing the enemy riflemen. Although his coat was so thoroughly blood-soaked that he was a conspicuous target against the white landscape, T/Sgt. Dunham again advanced ahead of his platoon in an assault on enemy positions farther up the hill. Coming under machinegun fire from 65 yards to his front, while rifle grenades exploded 10 yards from his position, he hit the ground and crawled forward. At 15 yards range, he jumped to his feet, staggered a few paces toward the timbered machinegun emplacement and killed the crew with hand grenades. An enemy rifleman fired at pointblank range, but missed him. After killing the rifleman, T/Sgt. Dunham drove others from their foxholes with grenades and carbine fire. Killing 9 Germans--wounding 7 and capturing 2--firing about 175 rounds of carbine ammunition, and expending 11 grenades, T/Sgt. Dunham, despite a painful wound, spearheaded a spectacular and successful diversionary attack.

Welcome Home Air Force Maj. John Lee McElroy

RIP Sir.

Kentucky airman killed in Vietnam to be buried

Forty years after his death in a daring rescue mission in Vietnam, a Kentucky airman will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in what his son calls a "Christmas family miracle."

Air Force Maj. John Lee McElroy, of Eminence in north-central Kentucky, will be interred next Thursday with his crewmates, who died when their C-130 aircraft was shot down on Mother's Day in 1968 while evacuating soldiers from a military base being overrun by enemy forces.

In May 1968, McElroy's crew volunteered to fly into a Special Forces base being overrun by enemy forces, his son said. Other aircraft had already been shot down trying to evacuate troops, he said.

The C-130 left the base with about 150 South Vietnamese soldiers and their families aboard, he said.

For some kids there really is a Santa

10 Members of ODA 3336 3rd SF Group Receive Silver Star for Afghan Battle

10 Green Berets to Receive Silver Star for Afghan Battle

A harrowing, nearly seven-hour battle unfolded on that mountainside in Afghanistan's Nuristan province on April 6, as Walton, his team and a few dozen Afghan commandos they had trained took fire from all directions. Outnumbered, the Green Berets fought on even after half of them were wounded -- four critically -- and managed to subdue an estimated 150 to 200 insurgents, according to interviews with several team members and official citations.

Today, Walton and nine of his teammates from Operational Detachment Alpha 3336 of the 3rd Special Forces Group will receive the Silver Star for their heroism in that battle -- the highest number of such awards given to the elite troops for a single engagement since the Vietnam War

Very intense article.

As Ford and Staff Sgt. John Wayne Walding returned fire, Walding was hit below his right knee. Ford turned and saw that the bullet "basically amputated his right leg right there on the battlefield."

Walding, of Groesbeck, Tex., recalled: "I literally grabbed my boot and put it in my crotch, then got the boot laces and tied it to my thigh, so it would not flop around. There was about two inches of meat holding my leg on." He put on a tourniquet, watching the blood flow out the stump to see when it was tight enough.

Then Walding tried to inject himself with morphine but accidentally used the wrong tip of the syringe and put the needle in this thumb, he later recalled. "My thumb felt great," he said wryly, noting that throughout the incident he never lost consciousness. "My name is John Wayne," he said.

Congratulations gentlemen and thank you for your service.

Welcome home Ranger Cpl. Librado Luna

Soldier Missing in Action from Korean War is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.
He is Cpl. Librado Luna, U.S. Army, of Taylor, Texas. He will be buried on Nov. 25 in Taylor.
Representatives from the Army's Mortuary Office met with Luna's next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.
In late November 1950, Luna was assigned to the 8th Army Ranger Company, 25th Infantry Division, then attached to B Company, 89th Medium Tank Battalion as part of Task Force Dolvin. The 8th Army Ranger Company was deployed on Hill 205 in Kujang County along the leading edge of the U.S. position. On November 25, the Chinese Army struck in force in what would become known as the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River. Task Force Dolvin, including the 8th Army Ranger Company, was forced to withdraw to the south. Of the 91 men from B Company, 89th Medium Tank Battalion and the 8th Army Ranger Company, only 22 made it to safety. Ten men, including Luna, went missing on November 26 near Hill 205.
In 1998, a joint U.S.-Democratic People's Republic of North Korea (D.P.R.K.) team, led by the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), excavated a burial site in Kujang County where a girl had uncovered possible American remains on a hill near her school. The site correlates with the area where members of the 8th Army Ranger Company fought as part of Task Force Dolvin. The team recovered human remains and non-biological material evidence.
Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of Luna's remains.
For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.

Family happy to finally bid soldier proper farewell

Family happy to finally bid soldier proper farewell
Updated: 11/24/2008 7:43:47 PM
By: Karina Kling

It's been nearly 60 years since one Central Texas soldier went missing during a Korean War battle.

But Saturday the remains of Army Cpl. Librado Luna were
brought home.

His family will finally give him a proper burial Tuesday, decades late. They said it's been a long journey, 58 years in the making.

It was the early stages of the Korean War, late November 1950, when Pvt. 1st Class Cpl. Luna found himself on the front lines of a battle on historic Hill 205, which would later be known as the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River.
More Information

Members of the 8th Army Ranger Company, part of the 25 Infantry Division, were under attack from the Chinese army.

As soldiers were ordered to get off the hill, Luna was one of four in his company who remained.

"On the day he went missing in action, that night was his 18th
birthday," Luna's nephew, Saul Salazar, said.

But Luna's body was never found, and the mystery kept his family searching for answers. His siblings never stopped carrying Luna's memory with them.

"It's as if he lived through them and their stories, and
we being the next generation, we kept it up and we always talked about him and hoped," Luna's niece, Susie Mokry, said.

Salazar and Mokry never met their uncle, but they made it
their mission to know him. A few years ago, their sister gave them DNA samples.

Then earlier this month, army officials confirmed partial remains of Luna's were found years ago by North Korean school children preparing to plant trees on what would have been Hill 205.

"We honestly never thought this was going to happen. We were
hoping - but none of this," Salazar said.

Now 58 years later, on what would have been Corporal Luna's
76th birthday, he'll be laid to rest in Taylor on Tuesday. A
proper burial, his family said, will finally give them closure.

"What's in the casket is his, and he's here with us now," Salazar said.

Not just pictures anymore, but a piece of their uncle finally paid tribute, they said, he so deserved.

"Everyone of us will be proud Tuesday, and will be standing
really tall," Mokry said.

Funeral services for Army Corporal Librado Luna will take place at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Taylor.

A burial with full military honors will follow at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Cemetery.

Father, son soldiers get simultaneous Silver Stars

Father, son soldiers get simultaneous Silver Stars

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Two generations of a family of soldiers received Silver Stars during simultaneous ceremonies at Fort Campbell and a U.S. base in Afghanistan.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jonathan Harris and his father Gary, a retired U.S. Army staff sergeant, were given the military’s third-highest decoration for valor today for their courageous action in Afghanistan and Vietnam.

The elder Harris was mailed his award in 1969, but never received a ceremony, so when his son was nominated for the award, the Army decided to conduct two ceremonies linked by video teleconference.

Outstanding!

Victory in Iraq Day

Victory in Iraq Day


Congrats to the troops and thanks for a job well done.

Whatever happens to Iraq now you did your part.

Zombie Time proclaims Victory in Iraq Day November 22, 2008

Victory in Iraq Day November 22, 2008

We won. The Iraq War is over.

I declare November 22, 2008 to be "Victory in Iraq Day." (Hereafter known as "VI Day.")

By every measure, The United States and coalition forces have conclusively defeated all enemies in Iraq, pacified the country, deposed the previous regime, successfully helped to establish a new functioning democratic government, and suppressed any lingering insurgencies. The war has come to an end. And we won.

What more indication do you need? An announcement from the outgoing Bush administration? It's not gonna happen. An announcement from the incoming Obama administration? That's really not gonna happen. A declaration of victory by the media? Please. Don't make me laugh. A concession of surrender by what few remaining insurgents remain in hiding? Forget about it.