Today is Doug’s day.
Doug was KIA in Iraq when the Blackhawk he was on crashed with 12 souls on board.
I miss him.
I can’t get through this post without crying like a little girl.
Here’s the post with more details of the tragedy that took away a bright star from our universe.
…to all my Brothers and Sisters who have served with honor for this country.
You Rock!
…remember those deployed.
I pick up my brother from the airport today.
He’s finally home from Afghanistan.
Hooah!
…a great read.
PHILADELPHIA — It was called a “fortress in the clouds.”
The 21st Regiment of the Second Division of the North Vietnamese Army had carved a stronghold into the steep slopes of Nui Chom, a mountain with rugged peaks covered by a towering jungle canopy that blocked the sky. There, the NVA had dug 250 machine-gun bunkers to defend a secret field hospital.
On Nov. 20, 1968, Michael J. Crescenz of Philadelphia walked into an ambush on Nui Chom. His squad was pinned down when he made a snap decision to grab an M60 machine gun and charge the bunkers. He took out three, killing six enemy soldiers who may have been dumbstruck in their last seconds to see a lone American running into their fusillade of bullets.
As he charged a fourth bunker, Crescenz, 19, was killed.
via Soldiers recall Vietnam firefight that led to posthumous MoH for Cpl. | Army Times | armytimes.com.
…and it’s about friggin’ time.
It’s time to get this over with. It’s been too long.
ORT HOOD, TEXAS — A jury was selected Tuesday to hear the case against an Army psychiatrist accused in the Fort Hood shooting, whose long-awaited murder trial is set to begin next month.
The panel comprising 13 officers will hear the case against Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder. Hasan faces the death penalty if convicted in the November 2009 attack at the Central Texas Army post.
There are nine colonels, three lieutenant colonels and one major on the panel, the Killeen Daily Herald reported. They were brought in from Army posts nationwide for questioning.
Two officers on the panel have said they are skeptical about the death penalty, the Austin American-Statesman reported. They did not appear to feel as strongly about capital punishment as two other officers who were dismissed Tuesday.
Col. Tara Osborn, the military judge overseeing the court-martial, agreed to dismiss one officer who admitted he had already decided on whether Hasan was guilty.
Prosecutors used their lone challenge to strike the second dismissed officer, the Statesman reported.
Death penalty cases in the military require at least 12 jurors, more than in other cases. All members of the panel must approve a death sentence.
via Jury selected to try Fort Hood shooting suspect | Army Times | armytimes.com.
…and the pain involved will be excruciating.
Sooo, how are those cuts going to be worked out in the Army?
Here’s a good clue.
Just like the last time a Democrat gutted the military, it’s going to be very, very painful.
This may even prevent the US from projecting its power abroad. That’s what they want you say? Maybe…
The Army will inactivate 194 units as part of a massive organizational overhaul slated to take place over the next four years.
The cuts are part of a comprehensive effort to shrink the active-duty force by 80,000 soldiers — bringing the force from a wartime high of about 570,000 to 490,000 — and reorganize the Army’s brigade combat teams.
On June 25, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno announced the Army will cut 10 BCTs and reorganize the rest by adding a third maneuver battalion to most of the infantry and armored BCTs and boosting the engineer capabilities in each.
Under the Budget Control Act, the Army is required to cut$170 billion between now and 2020.
The Army also will relocate, convert and move various detachment- and platoon-level units through corps and component command headquarters, said Army spokesman William Layer.
There also are plans to “adjust” personnel levels at Army schools, garrison headquarters and training facilities at 36 installations. This includes increasing the number of personnel assigned to the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program, he said.
via Unit overhaul: 10,000 soldiers must move | Army Times | armytimes.com. (Subscription)
Today is the birthday of the 1st Infantry Division. The Big Red One. It is the oldest continuously active division in the Army. To my fellow Big Red One Veterans, happy birthday to a great Division and to all who have served in the Big Red One, her history includes you. Well done and congratulations!
World War I
The First Expeditionary Division was constituted in May 1917 from Army units then in service on the Mexican border and at various Army posts throughout the United States. On June 8, 1917 it was officially organized in New York, New York. This date is the 1st Infantry Division’s official birthday. The first units sailed from New York and Hoboken, N.J., June 14, 1917. Throughout the remainder of the year, the rest of the Division followed, landing at St. Nazaire, France, and Liverpool, England. After a brief stay in rest camps, the troops in England proceeded to France, landing at Le Havre. The last unit arrived in St. Nazaire on Dec. 22. Upon arrival in France, the Division, less its artillery, was assembled in the First (Gondrecourt) training area, and the artillery was at Le Valdahon.
On the 4th of July, the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, paraded through the streets of Paris to bolster the sagging French spirits. At Lafayette’s tomb, one of General Pershing’s staff uttered the famous words, “Lafayette, we are here!” Two days later, July 6, the First Expeditionary Division was redesignated the First Infantry Division. On the morning of Oct. 23, the first American shell of the war was sent screaming toward German lines by Battery C, 6th Field Artillery. Two days later, the 2nd Bn., 16th Inf., suffered the first American casualties of the war.
By April 1918, the Germans had pushed to within 40 miles of Paris. In reaction to this thrust, the Big Red One moved into the Picardy Sector to bolster the exhausted French First Army. To the Division’s front lay the small village of Cantigny, situated on the high ground overlooking a forested countryside. It was the 28th Infantry, who attacked the town, and within 45 minutes captured it along with 250 German soldiers, thus earning the special designation “Lions of Cantigny” for the regiment. The first American victory of the war was a First Division victory.
The First Division took Soissons in July 1918. The Soissons victory was costly – more than 7000 men were killed or wounded. The First Infantry Division then helped to clear the St. Mihiel salient by fighting continuously from Sept. 11-13, 1918. The last major World War I battle was fought in the Meuse-Argonne Forest. The Division advanced seven kilometers and defeated, in whole or part, eight German divisions. This action cost the 1st Division over 7600 casualties. In October 1918, the Big Red One patch as it is now known was officially approved for wear by members of the Division.
The war was over when the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. The Division was then located at Sedan, the farthest American penetration of the war. The Division was the first to cross the Rhine into occupied Germany where it remained until the peace treaty formally ending WW I was signed. It deployed back to the United States in August and September.
By the end of the war, the Division had suffered 22,668 casualties and boasted five Medal of Honor recipients. Its colors carry campaign streamers for: Montdidier-Noyon; Aisne-Marne; St. Mihiel; Meuse- Argonne; Lorraine1 917; Lorraine, 1918; Picardy, 1918.
World War II
On On August 1, 1942, the first Division was reorganized and redesignated as the 1st Infantry Division.
The 1st Infantry Division entered combat in World War II as part of “Operation Torch”, the invasion of North Africa, the first American campaign against the Axis powers. On Nov. 8, 1942, following training in the United Kingdom, men of
the First Division landed on the coast of Algeria near Oran. The initial lessons of combat were harsh and many men were casualties in the campaign that followed and which stretched from Algiers into Tunisia. On May 9, 1943, the commander of the German “Afrika Korps” surrendered his force of 40,000 and North African operations for the Big Red One ended. The Division then moved on to take Sicily in “Operation Husky.” It stormed ashore at Gela, July 10, 1943, and quickly overpowered the Italian defenses. Soon after, the Division came face-to-face with 100 tanks of the Herman Goering Tank Division. With the help of naval gunfire, its own artillery and Canadian allies, the First Infantry Division fought its way over the island’s hills, driving the enemy back. The Fighting First advanced on to capture Troina and opened the Allied road to the straits of Messina. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Big Red One stormed ashore at Omaha Beach. Soon after H-Hour, the Division’s 16th Infantry Regiment was fighting for its life on a strip of beach near Coleville-sur-Mer that had been marked the “Easy Red” on battle maps. As the assault progressed, the beach became so congested with destroyed equipment, the dead and the wounded, that there was little room to land reinforcements. Col. George Taylor, commander of the 16th Infantry Regt., told his men, “Two kinds of people are staying on this beach! The dead and those who are going to die! Now, let’s get the hell out of here!” Slowly, spurred by the individual heroism of many individuals, the move inland got underway.
A German blockhouse above the beach became a command post named “Danger Forward.”
After the beachhead was secured, the Division moved through the Normandy Hedgerows. The Division liberated Liege, Belgium, and pushed to the German border, crossing through the fortified Siegfried line. The 1st Inf. Div. attacked the first major German city, Aachen, and after many days of bitter house-to house fighting, the German commander surrendered the city on Oct. 21, 1944.
The Division continued its push into Germany, crossing the Rhine River. On Dec. 16, 24 enemy divisions, 10 of which were armored, launched a massive counterattack in the Ardennes sector, resulting in what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The Big Red One held the critical shoulder of the “Bulge” at Bullingen, destroying hundreds of German tanks in the process. On Jan. 15, 1945, the First Infantry attacked and penetrated the Siegfried line for the second time and occupied the Remagen bridgehead. On Easter Sunday, April 1, 1945, the Division marched 150 miles to the east of Siegen. On April 8, the Division crossed the Weser River into Czechoslovakia. The war was over May 8, 1945.
At the end of World War II, the Division had suffered 21,023 casualties and 43,743 men had served in its ranks. Its soldiers had won a total of 20,752 medals and awards, including 16 Congressional Medals of Honor. Over 100,000 prisoners had been taken.
Following the war, the First Division remained in Germany as occupation troops, until 1955, when the Division moved to Fort Riley, Kan.
You can read the rest of the Division’s history here: Society of the First Infantry Division
Truth, Lies and In Between 