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No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. -- General George Patton Jr |
After our repairs were completed, we were supposed to go on our post-repair trial run. But instead, on July 15th, we were ordered to go to San Francisco to take on some cargo. I was amazed to notice that there was a quiet, almost dead Navy Yard. We tied up at the dock there and two big trucks came alongside. The big crate on one truck was put in the port hanger.
As soon as the Freedom Bird began to lose altitude the noise level on the craft began to rise. Idle conversation tended to either stop completely or to take on a more intense quality. From one end of the plane to the other the word spread with the speed of magic. We're coming into McChord.
Dear Mom: Well, I suppose you wonder where I am, and where I have been. I will start at the beginning. We left for Korea the 1st of July. We were the first regiment to hit there and fight. The North Koreans had about ten divisions to our one regiment. About all we could do was hit them and back up and they would get us surrounded all the time.
The battle of Bull Run or Manassas was the first, and in many respects the most remarkable, battle of our Civil War. It was a series of surprises—the unexpected happening at almost every moment of its progress. Planned by the Union chieftain with consummate skill, executed for the most part with unquestioned ability, and fought by the Union troops for a time with magnificent courage, it ended at last in their disastrous rout and the official decapitation of their able commander.
On the 8th of November, 1864, at 2 o'clock A.M., Captain Turner, of the Sixteenth Iowa, Captain Strang, of the Thirtieth Illinois, Lieutenant Laird, of the Sixteenth Iowa, and myself, made our escape through the guard lines at "Camp Surghum," near Columbia, South Carolina, with a view of making our way to the gunboats near the mouth of the Edisto river.
If I had known what was in store for me on the day I was captured, and the 802 days that followed, I would have continued to fight, even though there was no chance of survival. The damaged weapons carrier slid to a halt, and we piled up against the cab. The noise was deafening and we could have been yelling at each other but I don't remember hearing anything but the noise of the mortar rounds.
It was the fall of 1944. I was fresh out of USAC basic at Keesler Field and was assigned to B-29 gunnery training at Buckingham Field, Fort Myers, FL As a lot of good "cadets" did then, I chose this instead of "on the line" training. Within the first week at Buck Field, I was fitted with a parachute harness and "invited" to take an orientation ride in a funny-looking B-24.
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" 3465 Reads
Monday, 8 December. Report made by Capt. B. d. Godbold, Commanding "D" Battery F.D.R. 0700 two officers, Capt. Godbold, F.B.D. and Lt. Grealy with enlisted men moved to the battery position by truck as ordered. In addition to his duties as battery commander, Capt. Godbold acted as Peale Island Strong Point Commander. 0730 Battery reported manned and realy, to Island Commander, C.P. Director, height finder, power plant. 3 guns manned, 4 gun directors, power plants, and 02 sandbagged prior to occupation of position.
CHARLESTON, S.C., October 6, 1863.
SIR: I have the honor to report that on Monday evening, 5th instant, Lieut. W. T. Glassell, Confederate Navy, in charge of the propeller David (a small submerged steamer), with the following crew, viz, James H. Toombs, acting first assistant engineer; Walker Cannon, pilot; James Sullivan, second fireman, started f 'ore the city and proceeded down the main ship-channel, passing through the entire fleet of the enemy's vessels and barges, until we arrived abreast of the U.S. frigate Ironsides, at 8.30 p.m. We then stood off and on for thirty minutes waiting for the flood tide to make. Note: This is the battle report of James Toombs an engineer on one of the famous Confederate "David" torpedo boats. 1324 Reads
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This Day in History
1700:
Swedens 17 year old King Charles XII defeats the Russians at Narva.
1864: Nearly a week into the famous March to the Sea, the army of Union General William T. Sherman moves toward central Georgia, destroying property and routing small militia units it its path. 1943: One of the bloodiest battles in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps began. The 2nd Division landed on Tarawa, an atoll in the Gilbert Islands, on amphibious tractors with little armor. Despite heated debate about the execution of Tarawa, it was an undisputed victory. Almost the entire Japanese garrison, a total of 4,690 men, had been killed. 1945: Twenty-four high-ranking Nazis go on trial in Nuremberg, Germany, for atrocities committed during World War II. The Nuremberg Trials were conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and Great Britain. 1950: The 41 British Marine Independent Commando, with 14 officers and 221 other ranks, joined the U.S. 1st Marine Division at Hungnam. Forty-one Commando, which had earlier seen action at Kunsan as part of a diversionary raid in support of the Inchon Invasion, fought with distinction at Koto-ri and the Chosin/Changjin Reservoir. 1950: U.S. troops push to the Yalu River, within five miles of Manchuria. 1950: The 60th Indian Field Ambulance and Surgical Unit arrived at Pusan to join the U.N. forces in Korea. 1962: The blockade of Cuba lifted. 269: Diocletian is proclaimed emperor of Numerian in Asia Minor by his soldiers. He had been the commander of the emperors bodyguard. |