Sept 13, 1951 the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge began.
Sept. 14, 1814 Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner and, in 1966, the Battle of Attleboro began.
Sept. 15, 1944 the battle of Pelelieu began and, in 1950, the Inchon landing took place.
This should be Chesty Puller day!! The battle of Pelelieu didn’t get much press because the commanding General didn’t want reporters on the island and tried to keep correspondants off. This was one of the worst fights in history, the 1st Marine Division took horrible losses, I’ve always been astounded that they even managed to get any ground at all. The saddest thing about Pelelieu to me is that it was not strategically important at all, and could have easily been skipped without effecting the overall strategy. A sad sad day in history, my hat’s off to everyone involved, and especiall all those who gave their lives for their families and countrymen yet to come.
madda
There is a map showing the location of the Palau island groupe here:
http://www.peleliu.net/Maps/Pacwarmap.htm
My Dad landed at Palau. That was his third landing with one more to go. The last was Iwo Jima. It was there he was wounded and spent a year and a half in the hospital getting his face rebuilt. He was blinded in his right eye. It never slowed him down though.
Salute to your dad Berny! My great uncle was with Edson’s Raiders on Guadalcanal. I owe them a debt that I can never repay.
madda
Berny,
Greetings and salutations to you and yer dad.
Marines are always a source of inspiration to me.
Their motto, “Semper Fi”, says it all…
Cheers,
LeeTree
My Dad was a great man and a great father. He went into the Marines in June, '41. He knew that the U.S. would soon be at war and wanted to be ready. He was proud to be a Marine and up to his death at the age of 70, he let it be known that he was a former Marine.
When I came back from Vietnam for the funeral of my Mother, at O’Hara airport I had animal blood thrown on me by a group of war protesters. In the state of mind I was in at the time, I punched out one of the SOB’s. From out of nowhere came Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard uniforms. The airport security and police stood back as we beat the crap out of them. After the fight, the protesters were carried out with handcuffs on.
My dad could not understand why. He believed a person in a military uniform should be shown respect and admired. They should be able to stand tall and proud, not the object of protest.
In later years he always told me that when I had the uniform on to be proud of it. He said a lot of good men died wearing the uniform and if nothing more, I should show my respect for them by standing tall and proud. That is something I never forgot. I told the same thing to my two sons who also wear the Air Force uniform.
Great story Berny. I wish the fury of the veterans had been unleashed on the protesters more often.
DJ
Your father was right Berny, soldiers should be respected and admired. I for one, do! I have a brother -in-law in the Air Force and I told him how I appreciate what he is doing in the war against terror. He realizes that it is at times a thankless job. What really ticks him off are the protesters. He puts his life on the line, so the pacifists can run around doing antiwar protests and vandalizing our cities in the process. Much like Nam-eh? [V]
A lot of people do not realize the common GI or for that matter any military person in any service in any country does not dictate policy. They are the poor slobs that has to go out and do the job for the leaders of the country. So why pick on the military person when he is only doing what is required of him or her. It is his job to follow orders from higher up. The anti war protesters make me sick. They need to fight for a better cause, like hunger, illiteracy, and social reforms just to name a few, and leave the military alone.
Enough politics, time to get back to model building.