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

We enlisted at Story City, Iowa, the 12th of August, 1862, and left from Nevada, Iowa the 13th of September the same year. On the last day of our stay in Nevada, we were feasted and banqueted in regular wedding fashion. At the tables, the soldiers, marching to the strains of music, were seated first, and directly afterwards those nearest of kin. But there was too much sorrow and weeping at the thought of parting that our appetites were small.

9707 Reads

Battle of Lake Erie

His Majesty's late Ship DETROIT, Put In Bay Lake Erie, 12 September 1813 The last Letter I had the Honor of Writing to you dated the 6th Instant, I informed you that unless certain intimation was received of more Seamen being on their way to Amherstburgh, I should be obliged to sail with the Squadron deplorably Manned as it was, to fight the Enemy (who Blockaded the Port) to enable us to get supplies of Provisions and Stores of every Description.

Note: by R.H. Barclay, RN 14272 Reads

It Was a Different Life

I got a very low draft number, so I was sure to be called. Instead of waiting to be called and being put into whatever anybody decided to do for me, I decided to try to guide my own destiny a bit. I enlisted in the Navy out of Floyd Bennet Naval Air Station, which was a reserve air station in Brooklyn, New York....I didn't want to be in the Army because I remembered all the stories and the movies about World War I were about people living in trenches.

Note: by Arnold Spring 9306 Reads

Chancellorsville, 1863

Saturday, May 2, 1863 A pleasant day, the Rebs ominously silent. We expected an attack early & vigorous. Soon after …. moved from the field & took up a position on the extreme left of the 11th corps. Commenced an advance ab’t. noon.

Note: by Caspar Tyler of the 141st Pennsylvania Infantry. He witnessed the death of his Cousin Logan Tyler as they were beating off the furious attack of Stonewall Jackson. 141st had the misfortune to be stationed right behind Howard's Corps as they gave away under Jackson's relentless attack. 9378 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 19608 Reads

Diary of Greece

21 April 1941
Today the sun is shining and Jerry Bombers have left us alone for a couple of hours. So will try and give a little more detail of events since we went into action. We evacuated our original position, overlooking Salonika. on the 9th. Hated leaving, but there was definitely the fear of being surrounded. So E troop remained behind to harrass and fight a rear-guard action.

Note: by Alan Jackson, 5th Field Regiment 8466 Reads

Chosin Reservoir

First served in Korea right after the end of World War II, from 1946 to 1948 with the following units. 1. 754 Tank BN, 7th Div. 2. Co "G" 2nd BN, 32nd Inf Regt, 7th Division. Started my tour of duty at Sui Saik, about 13 miles south of Seoul. Then moved up to Munsan next to the Imjim River, then up to Kaesong (now in hands of North Korea), and Onjin (a small pennsula of South Korea).

Note: by Clyde H. Queen, Sr 12963 Reads

War Bride

I was 16 years old when war broke out. We heard that Hitler had invaded Poland, and at 11 o'clock on Sunday morning, Sept. 3rd, the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlin, broadcasted to the nation that England was now at war with Germany.

9696 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 19185 Reads

George Washington on Recruiting and Maintaining an Army

TO THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS, Colonel Morris's, on the Heights of Harlem, September 24, 1776. Sir: From the hours allotted to Sleep, I will borrow a few Moments to convey my thoughts on sundry important matters to Congress. I shall offer them, with that sincerity which ought to characterize a man of candour; and with the freedom which may be used in giving useful information, without incurring the imputation of presumption.

11153 Reads

Casualty Clearing Station

In April 1918 I volunteered to go to France in response to the urgent call for more surgeons. For twenty years I had been in general practice in a suburb, and did a fair amount of surgery among patients and at the local hospitals. I had also had some war experience as one of the surgeons at the British Red Cross Hospital, Netley, in the first six months of the War, but I had no experience of cases fresh from the battlefield, and the surgical technique which had recently been adopted in dealing with them.

Note: by Captain John A. Hayward 15449 Reads

Bronco Bustin

Soon after arriving in Viet Nam I saw an OV-10 Bronco. It was love at first sight and I was determined to get a ride in one. Luckily my job as an information officer gave me the opportunity. The ALO (Air Liaison Officer, pronounced "aye lo") assigned to the division flew OV-10s so I tracked the unit down.

Note: by Forrest Brandt 9495 Reads

Mopping up at Sandakan

I have read several articles written recently regarding Sandakan and Australian prisoners of war held by the Japanese, and also the Death Marches carried out. Never once have I come across any mention of the further Australian action concerning our landing on Sandakan in Sept/Oct 1945.

Note: by Tom Turner 9103 Reads

Silent Night

It was raining hard again, the monsoon deluge pouring down in sheets. 2d platoon had been out in the field for how many days? Weeks maybe. I had no idea what day it was anymore, but at the last resupply, they'd brought out some Stars and Stripes dated December 21st, so I knew it was somewhere around Christmas.

Note: by James Worth. 8872 Reads

Service in the Desert

It was 3:00 A.M.. Although the sun’s rays had retreated hours before, its hot breath refused to dissipate from the steppes of Kuwait’s Ad Dibdibah plain. The heat attacked us from all sides. Airborne sandy powder hung above us and dimmed lights as if in a London fog.

Note: by Richard L. Klingler, MD LTC MC USAR, U.S. Army 310th MP Battalion 10718 Reads

Should National Guard troops be used to secure U.S. borders?