The Patriot Files :: Dedicated to the preservation of military history

It was July 1951. I was training with the division in Japan on the island of Honshu. The next part of our training was to be a mock invasion on Yokohama Beach. This landing would be exactly like a real invasion. All our vehicles were equipped for land service, but when the orders came down, they were to be retrofitted with snorkels, which would allow them to operate in shallow water such as beaches.

Note: by Bill Arnold, 143d FA 40th ID 4467 Reads

Normandy Invasion, 6 June 1944

The Naval Combat Demolition Units were charged with the responsibility of clearing sixteen 50- yard gaps on the beaches assigned to that force. They worked in conjunction with the Army engineers who were charged with the responsibility of clearing the shoreward obstacles.

Note: by Lieutenant Commander Joseph H. Gibbons, USNR, CO of U.S. Navy Combat Demolitions Units in Force "O" 5123 Reads

The Landing

We were dropped into the channel from the mother ship at about 4:30 in the morning. I was the intelligence sergeant in headquarters company so a few weeks prior to the invasion I was put into a Quonset hut that had triple Concertina wire around it and was under 24 hour guard.

Note: by Herb Epstein, Intelligence Sergeant, Headquarters Company, 5th Ranger Battalion 2645 Reads

From Thomas Warner to his wife, Mary Ann Warner - April 29, 1813

York (U.C)
April 29th, 1813
My Dear Wife, It is with sincere satisfaction that I inform you of my being well after a pretty severe engagement. Our Captain has lost his leg, Lester Irvine is badly wounded and poor Hazeltine. They will I expect recover, at least I hope so. I did intend to have resigned after the engagement but now it is impossible in consequence of the wounded officers.

Note: by Ens. Thomas Warner 2797 Reads

Shells Thick as Hail

Helena Arks
July 6th.. 1863
Dear Parents
I will Inform you with Pleasure that I am well at the Present & I Hope that when this Reaches you that it May find you all well I Had a light chill yesterday But I feel all O. K. to day.

Note: by Newton Robert Scott, Private, Company A, of the 36th Infantry, Iowa Volunteers. 2403 Reads

Mystery Guests--The LRRP's drop in unexpectedly

It was January of '68, shortly after I'd turned 19. I'd been in the war for 10 months by then, my first 6 months as a dogface with the 101st Airborne. By the time they'd picked me to volunteer for the LRRP's, I was a newly made squad leader, an acting jack sgt., waiting for my permanent stripes.

Note: from: EVERYMAN STROLLS THROUGH HELL, Chapter 6, by: James Worth. 10244 Reads

Antietam

The war had now assumed proportions altogether vaster than had been anticipated by either the North or the South. No man at the North, perhaps no man on either side, had at its beginning a clearer perception of the probable magnitude of the struggle than General W. T. Sherman.

Note: by General John B. Gordon 2411 Reads

Private Amos E. Hardy

I am at present at the Soldiers Rest Home, Bangor, Me. In the Year 1865.
I enlisted July 19th 1862 in the town of Hampden, Penobscot County, State of Maine. I was then 19 years of age and consequently a minor. My parents, being loyal people, they gave their consent to my enlisting. I enlisted in Co. F, 18th Regt Maine Vol. Infantry and we were rendevouzed at the County Fair Grounds near Bangor City.

Note: Private Amos E. Hardy Enlisted July 19th 1862 in Co F. 2818 Reads

Battle of Santiago

USS New York, 3 July 1898 Sir-I have the honor to make the following report upon the battle with and the destruction of the Spanish squadron, commanded by Admiral Cervera, off Santiago de Cuba, on Sunday, July 3, 1898. The enemy's vessels came out of the harbor between 9.35 and 10 AM, the head of the column appearing around Cay Smith at 9.31, and emerging from the channel five or six minutes later.

Note: by Admiral Sampson, USN 2873 Reads

Square Needles

I had the pleasure of being assigned to Ft Lewis from 3/67 to 6/68. During that time I worked at the post dispensory and occasionally had the bad luck of being assigned to the dreaded "shot line".

Note: By Jim Calbreath 2444 Reads

Dong Nai River Firefight

In May 1969, I was transferred from 229th Aviation Unit to HHC 1st Bn. 8th Cav. Upon arrival at the 8th Cav, I met a friend, named Preston Taylor. We had completed our Advanced Individual Training together at Fort Sam Houston to become Medics. Preston had just arrived in South Vietnam from the States.

Note: by John D. Dennison. 2863 Reads

NVA In The Wire

Approximately August or September of 1967 on some mountaintop, somewhere around Tam Ky, Vietnam. I'm here as a squad leader with Delta Company, 4th of the 31st, 196th Light Infantry Brigade, supposedly to support the Marine Corps in "I" Corps.

Note: by Patrick (Beanie) Camunes, D\4\31 196TH Lt. Inf. Bde. 2893 Reads

U.S. Navy Nurse in Saigon

It was November 1st, 1963, and the pot had been stirring. The feelings against the Diem government were running higher and higher by the day. There were the pro-Diem faction and the anti-Diem faction. It was the Catholics versus the Buddhists. Diem and his family were Catholic and the Buddhist monks were stirring up trouble. You could just sense the tension in Saigon as it was building. You knew something was about to happen.

Note: by Lieutenant Commander Bobbi Hovis, Nurse Corps 9057 Reads

Boatswain's Mates Don't Cry

Since 1878, a group of people have left the shelter of land and rammed small boats into the angry sea with a single purpose: to save others from drowning. These rescuers have known full well they could die in the attempt. Over the years Americans have not given this group much thought. Yet the crews of the U.S. Coast Guard's small boat rescue stations Continue to push into gale-swept waters, asking only to help those "in peril on the sea."

Note: by Dennis L. Noble 6362 Reads

The First Gas Attack

It was Thursday evening, April 22nd, 1915. In a meadow off the Poperinghe-Ypres road, the men of the Queen Victoria Rifles were taking their ease. We had just fought our first big action in the fight for Hill 60. We had had a gruelling time, and had left many of our comrades on its slopes. We survivors were utterly spent and weary; but we felt in good heart, for only an hour ago we had been personally congratulated by Sir John French, also the Army Commander, General Smith-Dorrien.

Note: by Anthony R. Hossack, Queen Victoria Rifles 3898 Reads

Should VA employment be restricted to veterans and military personnel?