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

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 8708 Reads

War Diary

The flights to our new station at K-2 (Taegu) consumed one day and within several days more the squadron was in full operation. While we unpacked and positioned our main equipment, hundreds of cans of exposed aerial film began to backlog in our holding area.

Note: by Sgt. Jack Morris, 363rd Recon Tech Squadron Korea. 9726 Reads

29th Troop Carrier Squadron in England

The first reaction to the new base at Folkingham was “It's immense”! On this base we had three concrete runways, each 6,000 feet, ample taxiways, a revetment for parking each aircraft, and four hangers. There were innumerable Nissen huts to house us, an Officers Club, an EM Club in the making, a consolidated officers' mess, and a consolidated enlisted men's, mess. We were the first tenants, and parts were still under construction.

Note: by Col. Joseph Harkiewicz 30406 Reads

How I Earned My Purple Heart

I remember when I earned my Purple Heart. We usually were packed up and ready to move out at first light, but for some reason or another we were just getting the order to move out and it was broad daylight. I had just finished packing everything away in my back pack when Charlie opened up on our position with a burst of full auto, AK-47. An early morning wake up call!

Note: by Sarge Lintecum 10688 Reads

Baptism of Fire

The next days are spent digging bunkers, filling sand bags and increasing the strength of our perimeter. We string endless lines of concertino wire, drive posts and set out trip flares, claymores and boo gas.( Buried 55 gallon drums that are a mixture of petroleum jelly and gasoline.) Instant crispy critter.

9354 Reads

42nd Battalion A.I.F.

6th May, 1916, signed the enlistment papers after having been previously rejected in 1915. 20th June, left Byron Bay by train to Lismore for the medical examination. This time, Dr Bignell passed me, without even examining me, because he could see that I was eager to enlist and men were badly needed.

Note: by Private Verdi George Schwinghammer 22084 Reads

NBC, nuclear-biological-chemical

NBC. Nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. These were some of the most thought about things in the blast furnace of Iraq. Not that we did not have other things to think about but the idea of a virus that could live 3-5 days in the desert environment was not something to take lightly.

Note: by David 14767 Reads

23rd Iowa Infantry

I, George Barker, enlisted in Company F., at Clarinda, Iowa, August 9, 1862, Volunteer, 23rd regiment, which was organized at Des Moines 1/4 mile northeast of the capitol building. We stayed and drilled until September 19, 1862 at which time we were sworn in service for 3 years, unless sooner discharged.

12907 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. 9171 Reads

A Year To Kill

From an altitude of thirty thousand feet, it's hard to determine where the blue of the Pacific meets the blue of the sky. Consequently, my sense of direction had diminished greatly since leaving the military base at Oakland, more than twenty hours earlier. Not that I really cared which direction I was traveling, I knew the destination well enough, but the disorientation only added to the sick feeling in my gut.

Note: by James F. McColloch, 9th Infantry Division 12926 Reads

A Day in the Life...LZ English

1967, LZ English, near Bong Son, about fifty meters inside the perimeter.

I woke up often at night over there, even after I learned to sleep through outgoing H&I fire. So I had searched for a watch with a generously luminous dial which would let me check the time in the dark. Why is it that when we wake up at night the first thing we want to know is, what time is it?

Note: by Ted Gittinger 18672 Reads

Blind over North Korea

March 22, 1952. I was just 22 years old. Dawn found me on the flight deck of the USS Valley Forge in the Sea of Japan, warming up my Skyraider. As a pilot in Fighter Squadron 194, the "Yellow Devils," I was the standby in case one of the 8 planes scheduled for the morning's flight became inoperative.

Note: by Ken Schecter 10509 Reads

Trucking in Vietnam

A starry night in January 1968, found me on a westbound Trailways Bus somewhere in the Nevada desert. My transistor radio was playing "Hey Jude", and my destination was Vietnam. The first time I had ever heard of Vietnam was in 1965. I was assigned to the 396th Truck Company located at Panzer Karserne in Boeblingen, Germany. Our CO would call us together periodically and brief us about this place called Vietnam.

Note: by Fred Probst, 566th Transportation Company 19613 Reads

The End of Bulgaria

After nine months in France, I joined the East Lancs. at Gugunci, travelling overland from Cherbourg to Taranto, thence by steamer to Itea, and finally by motor and rail across wild Greece to Salonika. On disembarking at Dudulah, an enemy aeroplane greeted us with its heavy drone, but proceeded on its way to bomb an ammunition dump some distance away.

Note: by Private N. C. Powell, 3/5th East Lancs. Regt. 10300 Reads

Letter from John Hawk Co.

Bell Plains, Va.
Jan 9th, 1863
Dear Father and Sister,
I embrace another opertunity of adressing you again. I received your letter last week, it found me well. I soppose you have herd that the 19th was in the battle of Fredricksburg, we was in Franklins Left grand division, Doubleers Division, Merideths Brigade.

8416 Reads

Should the military offer 18-month enlistments, as Congress is now proposing?