Veterans...Get the hell in here now!

I'm having a box built from chessnut to keep the letters my dad sent my mother, the ones my spouse sent me, and the ones I now receive from my kid.
This guy does beautiful woodwork, mostly from reclaimed barn wood so I'm quite excited to have a custom piece.

Damn...

Hydrotech364 said:

I was there...

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I was in SA about a week after Kuwait was invaded, then multiple times after.

Today in Military History:

On February 8, 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the Solomon Islands.

Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of Australia and have 87 indigenous languages, were discovered in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra (1541-95). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands, except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the Australians) to the British in 1900.

The Japanese invaded the Solomons in 1942 during World War II and began building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal. On August 7 of that year, U.S. Marines landed on the island, signaling the Allies’ first major offensive against Japanese-held positions in the Pacific. The Japanese responded quickly with sea and air attacks. A series of bloody battles ensued in the debilitating tropical heat as Marines sparred with Japanese troops on land, while in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy fought six major engagements with the Japanese between August 24 and November 30. In mid-November 1942, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, died together when the Japanese sank their ship, the USS Juneau.

Both sides suffered heavy losses of men, warships and planes in the battle for Guadalcanal. An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were killed, over 4,000 were wounded and several thousand more died from disease. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers. On December 31, 1942, Emperor Hirohito told Japanese troops they could withdraw from the area; the Americans secured Guadalcanal about five weeks later.

The Solomons gained their independence from Britain in 1978. In the late 1990s, fighting broke out between rival ethnic groups on Guadalcanal and continued until an Australian-led international peacekeeping mission restored order in 2003. Today, with a population of over half a million people, the Solomons are known as a scuba diver and fisherman’s paradise.

raratt said:

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I was in from 80-83. They were just starting to be women on the supply ships then. We called them the love boat.

This day in Military History, February 16, 1945, the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines was recaptured by American troops, almost three years after the Bataan Death March.

On April 3, 1942, the Japanese infantry staged a major offensive against Allied troops in Bataan, the peninsula guarding Manila Bay of the Philippine Islands. The invasion of the Japanese 14th Army, led by Gen. Masaharu Homma, had already forced Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s troops from Manila into Bataan. By March, after MacArthur had left for Australia on President Roosevelt’s orders and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Edward P. King Jr, the American Luzon Force and its Filipino allies were starving and suffering from malnutrition, malaria, beriberi, dysentery, and hookworm.

Homma and reinforcements took advantage of the U.S. and Filipino weakness by launching another major offensive, which resulted in Admiral King’s surrender on April 9. The largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender was taken captive by the Japanese. The prisoners, both Filipino and American, were led 55 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando.

The journey became known as the “Bataan Death March.” At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of the brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, kicked, and bayoneted those too weak to carry on. Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to POW, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least 1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and starvation.

America revitalized their efforts in the Philippines with the invasion of Leyte Island in October 1944. General MacArthur, who in 1942 had famously promised to return to the Philippines, made good on his word. With the help of the U.S. Navy, which succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet and left Japanese garrisons on the Philippine Islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated the Japanese resistance.

We drove that route when I was a young kid.
All I remember of it was small white crosses everywhere along the road.

BarnBuster said:

This day in Military History, February 16, 1945, the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines was recaptured by American troops, almost three years after the Bataan Death March.

On April 3, 1942, the Japanese infantry staged a major offensive against Allied troops in Bataan, the peninsula guarding Manila Bay of the Philippine Islands. The invasion of the Japanese 14th Army, led by Gen. Masaharu Homma, had already forced Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s troops from Manila into Bataan. By March, after MacArthur had left for Australia on President Roosevelt’s orders and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Edward P. King Jr, the American Luzon Force and its Filipino allies were starving and suffering from malnutrition, malaria, beriberi, dysentery, and hookworm.

Homma and reinforcements took advantage of the U.S. and Filipino weakness by launching another major offensive, which resulted in Admiral King’s surrender on April 9. The largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender was taken captive by the Japanese. The prisoners, both Filipino and American, were led 55 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando.

The journey became known as the “Bataan Death March.” At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of the brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, kicked, and bayoneted those too weak to carry on. Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to POW, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least 1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and starvation.

America revitalized their efforts in the Philippines with the invasion of Leyte Island in October 1944. General MacArthur, who in 1942 had famously promised to return to the Philippines, made good on his word. With the help of the U.S. Navy, which succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet and left Japanese garrisons on the Philippine Islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated the Japanese resistance.

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Spent alot of time there, used to volunteer for it. We would keep 4 helos and fly frogs to suspected al queerda training camps. I remember throwing food to the monkeys @ 0500 and @ 1700 heading back to town those Monkeys would throw the food back! They thought we were just assholes throwing fruit.

raratt said:

Trump budget zeroes out funding for Stars and Stripes, the military's newspaper

The Trump administration pulled funding in its 2021 budget for Stars and Stripes, the U.S. military news organization that has published a daily newspaper continuously since World War II for troops stationed around the world.

www.yahoo.com

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I heard that on NPR the other night. It will be a shame if it does go away.

Today in Military History:

U.S. Marines invaded Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, after months of naval and air bombardment. The Japanese defenders of the island were dug into bunkers deep within the volcanic rocks. Approximately 70,000 U.S. Marines and 18,000 Japanese soldiers took part in the battle. In thirty-six days of fighting on the island, nearly 7,000 U.S. Marines were killed. Another 20,000 were wounded. Marines captured 216 Japanese soldiers; the rest were killed in action. The island was finally declared secured on March 26, 1945. It had been one of the bloodiest battles in Marine Corps history.

After the battle, Iwo Jima served as an emergency landing site for more than 2,200 B-29 bombers, saving the lives of 24,000 U.S. airmen. Securing Iwo Jima prepared the way for the last and largest battle in the Pacific: the invasion of Okinawa.

The flag-raising atop Mt. Suribachi took place on February 23, 1945; five days after the battle began. Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took the famous photograph of five Marines and one Navy corpsman raising the flag. The flag raisers were Cpl. Harlon Block, Navy Pharmacist’s Mate John Bradley, Cpl. Rene Gagnon, PFC Franklin Sousley, Sgt. Michael Strank, and Cpl. Ira Hayes. Three of these men—Strank, Sousley, and Block—were killed before the battle for Iwo Jima was over. (Article below is about mis-identification of flag raisers.bb)

The photograph was quickly wired around the world and reproduced in newspapers across the United States. The image was used as a model for the Marine Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery.

Twenty-seven Medals of Honor (our country’s highest military award for bravery) were awarded for action on Iwo Jima—more than any other battle in U.S. history.

@curious2garden

"In February 1944, the U.S. military launched Operation Hailstone, a massive military assault on Japanese fortified positions in the Pacific. On Monday, Feb 17 — 76 years later — researchers announced the discovery of three U.S. aircraft remains associated with seven service members missing in action.

Project Recover identified the wrecks of two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers and one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The nonprofit, which works to locate and repatriate Americans missing in action, located the three planes that launched from the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Intrepid to strafe Japanese-held islands during the two-day air assault.

Over four expeditions, researchers with Project Recover scanned the ocean floor with advanced sonar surveys and high-resolution imaging devices. The organization used underwater autonomous vehicles tethered to surface vessels and human divers to “interrogate” the sites — survey them for verification and identification of the remains."

BarnBuster said:

"In February 1944, the U.S. military launched Operation Hailstone, a massive military assault on Japanese fortified positions in the Pacific. On Monday, Feb 17 — 76 years later — researchers announced the discovery of three U.S. aircraft remains associated with seven service members missing in action.

Project Recover identified the wrecks of two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers and one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia.

The nonprofit, which works to locate and repatriate Americans missing in action, located the three planes that launched from the carriers USS Enterprise and USS Intrepid to strafe Japanese-held islands during the two-day air assault.

Over four expeditions, researchers with Project Recover scanned the ocean floor with advanced sonar surveys and high-resolution imaging devices. The organization used underwater autonomous vehicles tethered to surface vessels and human divers to “interrogate” the sites — survey them for verification and identification of the remains."

Three downed aircraft, associated with seven MIAs from famous WWII battle, located in Pacific Ocean

Project Recover identified the remains of two SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers and one TBM/F-1 Avenger torpedo bomber in Truk Lagoon, now known as Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia. The site may contain as many as 33 down U.S. aircraft numbering nearly 100 service members missing in...

www.militarytimes.com

The Search for World War II Aircraft in the Pacific (Published 2020)

The private group Project Recover announced that it had found three U.S. Navy warplanes lost during the February 1944 battle for the island of Truk in the Pacific Ocean.

www.nytimes.com

Home

Project Recover is a collaborative effort to find and repatriate American MIAs for their recognition and closure for families and the Nation.

www.projectrecover.org

The BentProp Project

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One of the dives I went on in Guam was to a Japanese Val bomber. The coral had covered up most of it, but there was a landing gear strut that was sticking up and somehow the chrome on it was still shiny.

The end:

You gotta love them A-10 Warthogs