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

In the summer of 1950, I had just completed electronics school in Memphis, TN. I was ordered to Geiger counter school in San Diego, CA. Upon arrival in San Diego, we noticed a high degree of alert and activity at the base. I soon learned of the Korean War and how it would change my life.

Note: by Ed Buckman, VF-193, USS Princeton Task Force 77 10589 Reads

Diary - L/cpl Samuel Weingott, Platoon A Company, 1st Battalion AIF Egypt, 1915

Friday, January 1 1915
Old Drill dispensed with in place of platoon drill, adopted by the Imperial Army. Mail arrives from Australia dated 4.11.1914. Troops presented with chocolates and cigarettes from the Aust. War Contingent, London.

Note: Sam Weingott, born 1892, died on active service 5th June 1915. 13352 Reads

Lt. George Blow's report on the Condition of the Wrecked Spanish Cruiser Infanta

U. S. S. POTOMAC,

Caimanera, Cuba, August 23, 1898.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the work done on the wreck of the Maria Teresa since the last inspection made by Lieutenant-Commander Pillsbury, on August 15, 1898.

6424 Reads

Three Years with the New Zealanders

NEW ZEALAND, or Aoteâ-roa (The Long White Cloud), as it was called by the ancient Maori inhabitants, that fertile, beautiful country, lying in its loneliness in the Pacific Ocean some twelve hundred miles from huge Continental Australia, did not hesitate, after the outbreak of war, to take up its share of the Empire's burdens, and by August 29th, 1914, the Samoan Expeditionary Force, consisting entirely of New Zealand troops, had captured Samoa, the crown of Germany's possessions in the Southern Pacific.

Note: by Lt.-Col. C. H. Weston, D.S.O., LL.B. (N.Z.) 9222 Reads

The Red Fighter Pilot

The members of my family - that of Richthofen - have taken no very great part in wars until now. The Richthofens have always lived in the country; indeed, there has scarcely been one of them without a landed estate, and the few who did not live in the country have, as a rule, entered the State service. My grandfather and all my ancestors before him had estates about Breslau and Striegau. Only in the generation of my grandfather it happened that the first Richthofen. his cousin, became a General.

Note: by Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (The Red Baron) 8811 Reads

Civil War Diary, 1864-1865

Rome Ga Nov 10th 1864

During the last two weeks we have been expecting "marching orders". More than a week since we rec'd orders to prepare for a "long arduous & successful campaign".

Note: by Cornelius C. Platter, 81st Ohio Infantry 23157 Reads

Moving From Tent City to Barracks

For the last four months we were living at a camp in Japan called Camp McNair . It was located at the base of Mt. Fuji. It consisted of 440 twelve-man squad tents and several Quonset buildings as mess halls. The streets were bulldozed into the mountainside. They looked like steps.

Note: by Bill Arnold, 143d FA 40th ID 9741 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 7750 Reads

Letter, W.A. Thompson, Jr,

Front, Aug. 9, 1918
Dear Uncle Clem:
I know you must be waiting anxiously for a letter from me and wondering why I have not written before. Ever since July 15, the day of Clem's death, and the opening of the German offensive which we turned into defeat, we have been on the go night and day, and a good share of the time have been used as infantry.

Note: W.A. Thompson, Jr served with the Rainbow Division of Engineers in France. 6621 Reads

CSS SHENANDOAH

On the evening of the 8th day of October, 1864, there met on Princesses dock, Liverpool, twenty-seven men. They were nearly unacquainted with each other, and knew nothing of their destination. All were officers of the Confederate navy, by commission or warrant, and each had his distinct order to report to this place at the same hour. My commission was that of assistant surgeon.

Note: by Dr. F. J. McNulty 8092 Reads

Long Range Shelling

July 18th 1918 Dear Mother, Well there has been great activity in the line of warfare since my last letter. I never realized before that destruction of material things as well as human life could possibly occur in a few hours. Just a few days ago we witnessed the greatest artillery fire, and also its effect, since the war began.

Note: letter by Corp. Roy Bainbridge, 117 Am. Train Co C. 6852 Reads

General John Sullivan's Expediton against the Iroquois, May 24 - August, 1779

General Orders.
Head Quarters, Easton, May 24, A.D., 1779.
When the army shall be fully assembled the following arrangements are to take place:--

Light corps, commanded by Gen. Hand, to consist of - Armandt's, Hubley's, Shott's, 6 companies of Rangers, Wm. Butler's battalion, Morgan's corps, and all volunteers who may join the army.

Note: Journal written by Lt. Col. Adam Hubley. 9801 Reads

Operation Hickory

In May of 1967, and as a young Marine PFC aboard the USS Okinawa (LPH-3), attached to the 1st Bn. 3rd Marines, RLT 26, I was already years older than my chronological number of 19. Our Battalion had been using this ship as a Combat Assault Base since we left Khe Shan in late February.

Note: As remembered by PFC Joseph C. Connelly, Alpha Co., Ist Bn 3rd Marines. 7718 Reads

6 May 1969

In the early morning darkness of 6 May, the NVA retaliated with an intensive rocket and mortar barrage, followed by a massive 95th Regiment pincer grand assault against 2 sides of the base an hour later. LZ Carolyn's garrison was reduced by the absence of several line companies on patrol, and the withering defensive fires of the battalion's COMPANY C and E were unable to prevent the onrushing battalions from storming through the wire and into the LZ from both directions.

Note: by Tom Lane 8944 Reads

War on the Somme

I remember the first occasion when I was called upon to go over the top. It was during the Somme "do," where our battalion had already been in some nasty business near the Briqueterie and Trones Wood. I heard about the Third Company's experiences in Trones Wood during my recovery from an overdose of rum, and I was new enough a soldier to feel the strain on my heart-strings when I realized that rum stupor had saved me from participation.

Note: by Fred Ball 8149 Reads

Has the U.S. military taken adequate precautions to prevent a recurrence of the Gulf War illnesses?