On June 15, 2014, the United States launched Operation Inherent Resolve, a three-pronged campaign against the Islamic State terrorist organization (ISIL) that had made stunning advances across Syria, Iraq, and Libya. At its peak, ISIL had an estimated 200,000 fighters and controlled a third of Syria and almost half of Iraq.
The fight against ISIL in the region is ongoing today, but the brutality inflicted on civilians by the terror group, and the danger of its spread sparked an uneasy alliance of otherwise geopolitical foes to come together to confront the threat. The U.S. and Western Allies, Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Iran all sent forces against ISIL, even if they weren't part of the official coalition.
Between 2014 and 2019, ISIL lost 95% of its territory, including Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and its declared capital at the Syrian city of Raqqa, and its leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, was killed by the U.S. Army. Critical to the success of the fight against ISIL on the ground was the support of Kurdish militia fighters, the Peshmerga.
The Kurds of Iraq were early victims of ISIL. As an autonomous region inside Iraq, the Peshmerga is responsible for the security of Iraqi Kurdistan. When ISIL fighters quickly overran Samarra, Mosul, and Tikrit in 2014, the Iraqi government forces folded, and Kurdish fighters were forced to fall back. As ISIS advanced, they murdered thousands and threatened to wipe out minority populations like the Yazidi.
Threats of genocide caused the United States to intervene for the Kurdish Peshmerga with airstrikes and supplied weapons. By December 2014, U.S. troops were on the ground alongside the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, fighting ISIL directly. They pushed the terrorists out of Tikrit by April 2015.
The following month brought two historical moments for Operation Inherent Resolve; both came on the same mission: the first American soldier killed by ISIL fighters and the first and only Medal of Honor action.
U.S. Special Forces identified an ISIL prison complex near Hawija, in ISIL-occupied Kirkuk. American special operators from Delta Force and a Peshmerga counterterrorism group (CTG) launched a raid on the prison, which held an unknown number of hostages. The prisoners, if left in ISIL hands, would surely be killed in a mass execution if not rescued.
As the Special Operators trained and rehearsed the mission, the intelligence from the prison facilities only got worse. Freshly dug holes began to appear outside the building, holes that were certainly going to be graves. In light of the imminent danger to the estimated 75 hostages, the Army gave the mission the green light.
After being inserted by Chinook helicopters, members of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta and the Kurdish CTG raided the prison in brownout conditions. They landed in the middle of an intense firefight. SGM Thomas Payne led one of the teams to clear a building in the prison complex. As they moved into a blocking position, they learned that Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler had been wounded. There wasn't time to process the news or learn how bad his wounds were. As Payne's team cleared their objective and freed 38 hostages, fighting raged in another building.
Under heavy fire from multiple points of contact, Payne's team moved to assist. They took a position over the building engulfed in a firefight and began firing their weapons and throwing grenades. A suicide bomber set off a vest that shook their building. Heavy fire was coming from all sides, and the second building was on fire. Payne's team pressed on to assist.
As they entered the other building, they began to take casualties because the prison door was locked and armored – someone needed to cut the locks before the team could advance and free the remaining hostages. With the building engulfed in flames, Payne exposed himself to enemy fire to cut the locks. Under fire and through heavy smoke, he moved to cut the locks twice.
As the hostages moved out, a mandatory evacuation order came over the radio. The building was going to collapse. Still, Payne went back in three times to help move the hostages out. As the newly-freed prisoners moved to the helicopters, the operators and the Peshmerga formed a human wall to protect them as they moved.
It was only after the mission that they learned that Sgt. Wheeler had died of his wounds. Wheeler was posthumously awarded a Silver Star. For his conspicuous gallantry, SGM Thomas Payne received the Medal of Honor.
It's the only Medal of Honor so far awarded during Operation Inherent Resolve, and Payne is the first living member of Delta Force to receive the medal. It was presented to him by President Donald J. Trump in 2020 during a ceremony at the White House.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, it started very poorly for the Union Army. Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor surrendered to the Confederates on April 13. Skirmishes and fights had broken out all over the country, but the major battles like those at Bull Run and Leesburg saw significant Union defeats.
Throughout 1861, Virginia was pushing the Federal forces out, Missouri's pro-Confederate State Guard was on the warpath, and the Confederate invasion of Kentucky effectively ended the state's neutrality. In doing so, it provided the Union Army there, led by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had the opportunity to turn its fortune around. The Union cause needed a big win, and Grant delivered it at the February 1862 Battle of Fort Henry, Kentucky.
The Union's strategy for defeating the Confederate Army required it to gain control of the Mississippi River, splitting the Confederacy in two and allowing its riverine boats unfettered access to the South for troop movements and naval gun support. Control of the river and its tributaries would enable the Union to move quickly, deep into enemy territory, so even the smaller rivers became essential battlegrounds.
Fort Henry was situated on the mouth of the Tennessee River, the largest tributary of the Ohio River, a primary water source for the Mississippi. The fort sits just inside the Kentucky border, across from Tennessee. While Kentucky had declared its neutrality early in the war, the Confederates invaded anyway, capturing Columbus, Kentucky, on September 3, 1861.
Confederate Brig reinforced the city and its 14,000 defenders. Gen. Gideon Pillow with 140 guns, underwater mines, and a heavy river chain that would prevent the movement of Union gunboats to the South. Controlling the area meant the South lost Kentucky as a buffer zone, but it prevented the Union from moving men and ships deep into the Confederacy, including Mississippi and Alabama, via the Tennessee River.
Since Kentucky had already lost its neutrality, the Union also moved into the area. One of its most aggressive commanders would head for Fort Henry, a man who would become famous for kicking rebels around Ulysses S. Grant.
Grant first captured nearby Paducah, Kentucky, and the transportation hub it had there. The railways allowed the Union to move 15,000 men into the area. He planned to float seven gunboats to Fort Henry to bombard it as the bulk of the Union Army arrived to attack the fort by land.
Within three days of approval of his plan, Grant moved two divisions from Cairo, Illinois, to the Tennessee River. Meanwhile, the Western Gunboat Flotilla under Flag Officer Andrew Hull Foote (the U.S. Navy didn't have vice admirals until 1864) moved in first. The fort's 3,400 defenders had 17 guns to defend Fort Henry.
Aside from being outnumbered, the Confederates at Fort Henry had a lot going against them. A downpour of rain had affected its earthwork walls, and the river also rose, submerging all but nine guns and the powder magazine underwater. The rain delayed the advance of Union forces, but since the bulk of the fighting was to be done by the Navy, the Army's delay actually helped the Union attack.
On February 6, four Union ironclads and three wooden gunboats opened fire on the fort for more than an hour. The Confederates returned fire but could only hit the ironclads where their armor was strongest. The wooden ships were out of range of the fort's remaining guns. The Confederate commander of Fort Henry, Lloyd Tilghman, fought for 75 minutes, buying time for his retreating men to escape before surrendering to the flotilla.
By the time Grant's troops arrived, the fighting was over, and Tilghman was a prisoner of war. The Union immediately sent expeditions to destroy other forts in the area and to chase down Confederate ships in missions that penetrated as far south as Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The Confederates were unprepared for an incursion that deep, and the Union raids were a total success.
The capture of the waterways also forced the 17,000 Confederates in Columbus to withdraw from the now-untenable positions, securing Western Kentucky for the Union.
I really didn't start to think about putting some proverbial "footprints in the sand" until 10/13. As I started on the TWS website, I reflected on how little I knew of my father's war. He jumped into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne and was wounded and disabled at the Battle of the Bulge. I regretted not knowing more and wanted to leave my family and friends more about what my war was like.
In addition, TWS enabled me to connect with Lt. John Dawson's family, who then posted his TWS profile. His classmates from high school had him recognized as an outstanding graduate in the year (2013). I also was able to get a better sense of the battle where he was killed, and I was wounded by Tom Jacobs, Mike Thompson, Bob Lascher, and the Silver Star Citations of Mathews and Hackett.
As a TWS history volunteer, I have been fortunate to assist in completing or adding profiles to the website. I am up to over 6,500 profiles now.
Paratrooper Gary Linderer deployed to Vietnam with the 101st Airborne and often went out into the jungle with a six-man Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol. During one patrol, he claimed to have encountered a creature with "deep set eyes on a prominent brow… five feet tall, with long muscular arms, walking upright with broad shoulders and a heavy torso."
Linderer had no idea what he saw, but he wasn't the first American to report seeing an ape-like creature while out on patrol, and he definitely wasn't the last. Some Army platoons reported coming under attack from the apes and even fighting them in hand-to-hand combat. There are no known species of apes native to Vietnam, but that didn't stop reports of large, ape-like creatures dwelling in the country's jungles during the entire Vietnam War.
Bigfoot didn't get drafted or come over to Vietnam as a figure of the American imagination, either. The Vietnamese, Cambodians and even Laos had a word for the apes: Nguoi Rung, or "People of the Forest."
Like its Nepalese cousin, the Yeti, or it's North American counterpart, Bigfoot, Nguoi Rung is a creature of Vietnamese folklore. And just like the Yeti, Bigfoot, or other cryptids, no one has ever captured a specimen or even captured credible photographic evidence of its existence. But as the Vietnam War progressed, so many PAVN troops reported contact with the great ape of Vietnam that the North Vietnamese government actually sent scientists to investigate its existence.
The scientists sent by the Communist party in Hanoi actually did find something they believed proved the existence of the animals. Dr. Vo Quy, a respected environmental researcher, scoured the Central Highlands of South Vietnam and discovered a large footprint. He made a cast of a print that was much too large to be human but also too big to be any kind of recorded ape.
North Vietnam united South Vietnam by force in 1975, two years after the United States ended its involvement in the country. With the fighting over, North Vietnamese scientists could conduct more research, and they did. Tran Hong Viet, another animal researcher, returned to the battlefields of the jungles and found even more footprints.
He made casts of the prints in 1982 that were interesting enough to catch the eyes of zoologist John MacKinnon. MacKinnon is an expert on tropical climates and especially wildlife in Southeast Asia, who believed there was still much to discover in the jungles of Vietnam. He also discovered multiple new species of mammals in the country.
MacKinnon had previously explored the sighting of other unknown great apes, similar to the legends of Nguoi Rung. In the late 1960s, he studied the rumors of an ape-like creature called Batatut in the jungles of Borneo. Based on his experience and research in Vietnam, he didn't expressly declare the animal must be real, but he said its existence is possible.
The Vietnamese bigfoot wasn't the only mystery animal reported in the jungles of Southeast Asia. American troops also told tales of an enormous snake, 100 feet long – which would dwarf the largest-known snake by 75 feet – while on patrol in the jungle, which is far more worrisome to a sleeping trooper.
Three years before President Truman courageously recognized Israel's statehood, the first international leader to do so, the keel of a vessel named SS Simmons Victory was laid down in Portland, Oregon, designated as a Fleet Issue Ship assigned the duty of carrying munitions and general cargo at the end of WWII across the PTO. From the onset of troubles in Korea, the ship made nine Far East voyages in support. By 1964 it had been converted to a Technical Research Ship and reclassified AGTR-5 of the US Navy, christened USS Liberty in honor of the ten states with settlements of that name. Its first log entry included this rhyme by Mustang Lt. Lester Morserf, Jr:
"… With a spirit
of Trust and "Get the Job Done."
We each did tremble as her colors were raised,
With pride for the symbol, we all have praised –
And vow to add fame through duties done well,
To its historic name – the Liberty Bell."
She served with the Atlantic Fleet on many seas and to many destinations from South Africa to Dakar, from Hampton Roads to Ivory Coast and ports between, indeed adding fame to her name, but by tragic means, none could have foreseen before 8 Jun 1967 in the Mediterranean Sea near the Sinai Peninsula, reportedly 14 nautical miles from Israel's coast.
On that awful day, the Liberty was strafed by warplanes of the Israeli Air Force and torpedoed by gunboats of its Navy in a deeply regrettable mistaken identity friendly fire incident, killing 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian NSA employee), wounding 171 crew members, and severely damaging the ship.
From 5 – 10 Jun 1967, Israel was under sustained military attack by Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and a coalition of hostile Arab partners determined, once again, to eliminate its sovereignty and people. Although most of the action involved air and ground forces, the sea bordering Israel was closely monitored for aggressive initiatives that might commence on that front, especially by Egypt. Several days before the war began, as warlike rhetoric escalated, Liberty was ordered to proceed into waters immediately adjacent to Israel to gather SIGINT under our national colors in a neutral capacity.
"With the outbreak of war, Captain William L. McGonagle of Liberty immediately asked Vice Admiral William I. Martin at the United States Sixth Fleet headquarters to send a destroyer to accompany Liberty and serve as its armed escort and as an auxiliary communications center. The following day, Admiral Martin replied: 'Liberty is a clearly marked United States ship in international waters, not a participant in the conflict and not a reasonable subject for attack by any nation. Request 
denied.' He promised, however, that in the unlikely event of an accidental attack, jet fighters from the Sixth Fleet would be overhead in ten minutes."
When the war began, General Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli Air Force chief of staff, reportedly informed Commander Ernest Carl Castle, the American naval attaché in Tel Aviv, that Israel would defend its coast with every means at its disposal, including sinking unidentified ships. He asked the US to keep its ships away from Israel's shore or at least inform Israel of their exact positions. It was disputed whether any such communication was ever sent to or received by the US government or our Navy.
The Liberty, her stars and stripes flying, prepared to defend itself against an approaching formation of as yet unidentified boats. In the conflagration of fire aboard and ammunition cooking off due to previous air strikes, the Israeli boats fired five torpedoes against her, one of which struck with numerous casualties resulting. Thereupon, the small boats also strafed the vessel and its ship's rescue company. For reasons which have not been satisfactorily explained, the ship's identity may or may not have been confirmed before or during deadly weapons fire. It took from 1400 until 1530 to establish her identity through electronic communication, and signal measures had been undertaken aboard and by Israel to do so. Shortly before her identity became clear, the nearby USS Saratoga launched eight armed aircraft armed toward Liberty. Once the ship's auspices were confirmed, IDF General Staff was notified, and an apology was sent to naval attaché Castle. All aircraft approaching Liberty were recalled to the Saratoga. When the horrible mistake was realized, Israel offered to send naval assistance and launched IAF helicopters to render aid.
Liberty had been badly damaged with a 39' wide by 24' high hole amidships and twisted keel. The valiant crew kept her afloat, so she was able to leave the area under her own power. She was met by two US Navy destroyers and a cruiser. Medical personnel were brought aboard, and she was escorted to Malta to receive interim repairs.
Although the controversy has not abated by 2023, American official investigations as to culpability or lack thereof by any party to the incident included:
• U.S. Naval Court of Inquiry of June 1967
• Joint Chief of Staff's Report of June 1967
• CIA Intelligence Memorandums of June 1967
• Clark Clifford Report of July 1967
• Senate Foreign Relations Committee Testimony during hearings of the 1967 Foreign Aid Authorization bill, July 1967
• House Armed Services Committee Investigation of 1971
• The NSA History Report of 1981
The Israeli government conducted its own inquiries, including:
• Fact Finding Inquiry by Colonel Ram Ron (June 1967)
• Preliminary Inquiry (Hearing) by Examining Judge Yeshayahu Yerushalmi (July 1967) (Adjudication of IDF negligence complaints.)
• Historical Report "The Liberty Incident"- IDF History Department report (1982)
In 1968, the Israeli government paid $3.32 million (equivalent to $25.9 million in 2021) compensation for the families of those killed in the attack; in 1969, a further $3.57 million ($26.4 million in 2021) to the men who had been wounded; and in 1980 $6 million ($19.7 million in 2021) plus 13 years of interest as the final settlement for material damage to Liberty itself.
Memorials honoring the fallen are to be seen at Arlington National Cemetery, the NSA National Cryptologic Memorial, and the Israeli Clandestine Naval Museum. Liberty was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation with Combat Action Ribbon in 1967 and later the NDSM. Cmdr. McGonagle received the Medal of Honor in 1968. Eleven crew members were awarded Silver Stars, twenty Bronze Stars, and over two hundred received Purple Hearts. Navy TWS member CTI2 Allen Merle Blue was among the fallen.
Declared excess to the needs of the Navy, Liberty was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1970. She was purchased the same day by Boston Metals Co., physically delivered to them in December 1970, and broken up for scrap.
Being part of "Together We Served" has given me another opportunity to relive and document some highlights from my career in the Coast Guard. Providing a platform to read stories and communicate with other Coast Guard personnel has really been enjoyable. Through TWS, I communicated with a member of the Honor Guard Drill Team, who marched during the same period as I did. Even though we did not remember each other, it was kind of cool sharing old stories.
Thank you!
.
BM2 Charles Lazarski US Coast Guard Veteran
Served 1967-1973
The PACT Act is a new law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances.
The PACT Act adds to the list of health conditions we assume (or "presume") are caused by exposure to these substances. This law helps us provide generations of Veterans - and their survivors - with the care and benefits they’ve earned and deserve.
This page will help answer your questions about what the PACT Act means for you or your loved ones. You can also call us at 800-698-2411 (TTY: 711). And you can file a claim for PACT Act-related disability compensation or apply for VA health care now.
For more information, please click here to visit the VA website.
Every Labor Day since 1946, Canada has held its International Air Show on the shores of Lake Ontario near Toronto. It's an incredible display of Canadian, American, and allied aircraft, bringing together the best military and civilian aerospace technology.
1982 was a special year for the exhibition because the crowd got a special visit from a rare sight: an SR-71 Blackbird flying so close, they could almost touch it. The real treat came for the Sacramento Airport when the Blackbird made its return trip.
SR-71 pilot Maury Rosenberg spoke to a crowd at the Western Museum of Flight in 2018 about the characteristics of the SR-71 and what it was like to fly the plane, along with some anecdotes about his time flying it across the Soviet Union, Cuba, and North Korea, to name a few.
The SR-71 was the first titanium-built aircraft. It was designed to fly at high speeds and high altitudes while using its array of sensors, cameras, and other equipment to collect intelligence on areas other aircraft would not reach without substantial risks to the pilot and plane.
By 1982, Rosenberg had flown 220 combat sorties in the Vietnam War. He was one of the first pilots selected for "Wild Weasel" training. American aircraft would intentionally be targeted by enemy surface-to-air missile (SAM) sites to reveal their locations. It would serve him well later over North Korea when his SR-71 was targeted by a North Korean SAM.
At the Western Museum of Flight, Rosenberg recalled a story about requesting a "flyby" from Sacramento's air traffic control tower. After performing with his SR-71 at the Canadian International Air Show, he flew the Blackbird back to Beale Air Force Base in California.
As he went to make his descent, he realized he had a lot of fuel left. He asked the "backseater," his reconnaissance systems officer (RSO), whether he wanted to make an approach to nearby Sacramento.
"Can we do that?" the RSO asked.
"Why not?" was Rosenberg's reply.
After heading toward the Sacramento Airport's airspace, they switched communications to the tower at "Sac Metro." As they got closer, they asked for an approach with their landing gear down. After the tower cleared them for an approach, Rosenberg asked whether they wanted a flyby down the runway or down the ramp.
The tower's reply was an enthusiastic, "down the ramp!"
Rosenberg put the landing gear up and then pushed the power up. As he flew toward the ramp and the tower, he rolled the plane away from the tower and lit the afterburner.
The SR-71 could cruise at 2,200 mph, even at 85,000 feet. Its two Pratt & Whitney engines could produce 32,500 pounds of thrust. He later discovered that passengers and personnel in the terminal threw themselves to the ground when he passed the tower, afterburners blazing.
Even so, the tower wanted the Blackbird to do it again. Rosenberg had to decline.
When he finally landed at Beale AFB, Rosenberg was met by his Squadron Commander in the hangar. His Commander asked whether there were any regulations against making approaches to Sacramento Airport. Rosenberg replied that he didn't know of one.
"I want one on my desk at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning," the Commander said.
When the U.S. military finds a good piece of gear, it tends to hang on to it for as long as possible. Generations of veterans have used weapons like the M1911 sidearm, the M16 family of rifles, and the M2 "Ma Deuce" machine gun.
When it comes to nonlethal equipment, helmets, and body armor come and go, but there's one piece that has remained unchanged since around the time the M16 was first introduced: the Skilcraft pen.
It would be very difficult to believe anyone who's served in the military or worked in federal service hasn't come across the workhorse of U.S. military bureaucracy at some point in their career. The government's go-to ballpoint turns 55 years old in 2023 and shows no signs of being replaced any time soon.
First introduced in April 1968, they are made by the National Industries for the Blind (Skilcraft is the NIB's trade name), a nonprofit that provides training and employment for the visually impaired. They churn out a great product at just 60 cents per unit while living up to 16 full pages of government-mandated requirements.
The pens must be able to write a continuous line one mile long and be able to do it in temperatures ranging from -40 degrees to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Its ink must dry within five seconds without smearing or blotting; it can be submerged in water for up to 48 hours and will withstand two bleachings. They also have to be 5⅛ inches long so that they can be fully inserted into a uniform pocket.
Durability is a critical factor for any piece of equipment that has served in every American conflict since the Vietnam War, but in that time period, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines have found a number of off-label uses for the pen.
On many maps, some Sailors say, the pen's length is equal to 150 nautical miles, which makes it easy to measure distance using the pen as a quick reference. The bottom part of the pen's barrel is supposedly the same length as a two-minute fuse, and some medics have reportedly seen the pen's barrel used for emergency tracheostomies.
Skilcraft pens have been used to keep the nails of female troops in regulation, to repair connectors on military aircraft avionics, plug holes in pipes, and who knows how many other uses that have been specific to one's military occupational specialty. Rumor even has it that they are refillable, but there are few anecdotes of anyone using all the ink before losing one.
Civilians interested in test-driving a Skilcraft pen but who aren't employed by the United States can still have the chance to take one home accidentally. As the official pen of the federal government, they can be found at post offices around the country.
I had never heard of Together We Served until just recently. I don't know where they got my information from when I was in the Navy. But I am thankful they did. I am thankful they reached out to me and showed me a sample of the plaque I received. And Together We Served made me think about my shipmates that I served with in the Tonkin Gulf. Although the Vietnam War was winding down, we were still in an area where the war was still being fought. That time in Vietnam drew us closer and forged our friendship in a way that can't be broken. Even though I haven't seen any of my shipmates since then, I still hold that friendship we had high. We did serve together. Together We Served reminded me of that friendship.
Together We Served reminded me of the life I had before the Navy and the life I have now. My military service is a part of my life that I cherish. And I think that with Together We Served, it may be possible to find some of those shipmates that I have not seen since I was in the Navy.
GMG3 Ronnie Gregory, US Navy Veteran
Served 1971-1975
After struggling for many years on my case with the VA regarding Agent Orange Exposure, I was really getting frustrated. After decades of climbing mountains, hiking, and other healthy things, I started getting sick. I had even run some twenty-six-mile marathons. But in my forties, I began showing up to doctor's offices
and hospitals at an alarming rate. By my fifties, I had been sick for several years. One day I was in a wheelchair at the Portland VA hospital, being pushed down the hall to a room. Nurses and doctors repeatedly asked me two questions. One was, "When were you in Vietnam?" The other was, "Where were you in Vietnam?" I kept telling them I was stationed at the DMZ in Korea from 1967 to 1969. They would say, "Oh," and walk off. The day I was being pushed down the hall, a patient walking near us leaned over and said to me, "Agent Orange in Korea." The nurse told me to ignore him, stating that he was a patient in the mental wing. Then she reminded me of something I had often heard: "Agent Orange was only sprayed in Vietnam."
But that day, what that guy said to me really bothered me. I searched online for things such as "Agent Orange in Korea." All I got was, "Agent Orange was only sprayed in Vietnam." I kept looking for about a year, and then it happened. I got an email from a woman named Tara. She had seen my pleas and responded. It turned out that her husband had died from Agent Orange-related illnesses and diseases. Tara, along with eight other veterans from Korea, had formed a small group to research the possibility of AO in Korea. They all had spoken to VA personnel and medical doctors but were getting rejected, as "Agent Orange was only sprayed in Vietnam."
We worked together for around ten years, but no one was having any luck. Slowly they were dying off or giving up. Finally, I just struck out on my own. But I couldn't knock down the barriers at the VA. At one point, I just gave up. I remember breaking down and crying. I was just done.
Although I wasn't challenging the VA anymore, I would complain to anyone I saw. Sitting on buses, having a drink at a coffee shop, or someone walking down the street, it didn't matter. I just opened my mouth and told my story. Of course, no one listened, and life went on. The VA had been tired of me too. I was told I was wasting their time, making stories and similar comments. The final blow was being told that I was a "disgrace to the uniform." So, I just gave up. I put everything in boxes and up in the attic.
One day some months later, I was at a BBQ with friends. Sitting next to anyone who would listen, I told my story as there were a couple of veterans there. Finally, one of the guys told me that his wife once said someone she knew had seen pictures of American soldiers spraying Agent Orange in Korea a long time ago. I was in total shock. He went and got his wife. I told my story once again, and she patiently listened. Finally, she told me that her ex-husband of decades ago had once told her he had pictures of AO being sprayed in Korea. She agreed to try and find him, and a month later, the photos were mailed to me. I was out of my mind with excitement. Agent Orange was sprayed at the very camp I was stationed in.
Also, around this time, I was told that the soldier who was ordered to spray AO at my military camp in Korea was still alive. I was told he lived in a small town in the state of Washington. No matter how hard I tried, I could not reach him. Finally, I called the local police department. They located someone with the same last name as the guy I was trying to find. It turned out that they were his parents. After contacting them, I was told that he did not want to be disturbed. He felt so bad about all the veterans who were sick from his spraying of AO that he didn't want to talk to anyone about it. I explained to his parents that he had direct orders to do the spraying. He did not have a choice. He had to do it. I also said that he could help a lot of sick Korea veterans by passing on what he knew. After a little struggle, the parents said they would go get some paperwork and also a certified letter from him about his spraying AO in Korea. He did; a month later, I had both written proof and pictures.
When I went to the VA, the man who had said hurtful things to me let out a loud, "Where did you get these!" Even with all that evidence, I was denied once again. The claim was then sent back to Washington, DC. Several months later, I was sitting in front of a judge on a screen. Months later, I was informed that I had won my case.
The strangest thing of all this is sitting down on a picnic table, blabbing about my story, and someone telling me his wife might know who has living proof. How could this happen? It is genuinely a mystery and a huge blessing from God. For several years now, I have been able to help many other Korea Veterans from the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has been an honor and a privilege to do that. I am just passing on what was so generously given to me.
Ron Weber
rw11954@gmail.com
One might think that by now, every World War II story there is to tell has already been told, but people tend to forget just how massive the scale of that conflict really was. More than 16 million Americans served in the armed forces during World War II, and each of them that came back did so with unique experiences.
William Grannetino had more than a handful of stories to tell. His son Tom grew up listening to the stories his father told about his service in the Second World War. In 2019, he gathered them into a compendium, using his father's mantra, his most used phrase whenever he discussed his exploits in the war: "I should have written a book."
That's how "I Should Have Written a Book: A Sailor's Journey From Omaha Beach to Japan During World War II" came to be.
Just like the title suggests, Grannetino's story begins shortly before the June 6, 1944, landings in Nazi-occupied Normandy. The sailor reveals some of the little-known landings that took place before Operation Overlord kicked off in full. From the beaches to the city of Caen, delivering supplies to the Battle of the Bulge, and even being shipped off to the Pacific Theater, Grannetino offers a detailed, heartfelt account of his experiences.
"I Should Have Written a Book" is more than just the accounts of the battle from Grannetino's point of view. His story details the emotions he felt and saw in his fellow soldiers and sailors as they fought their way across occupied Europe and were sent to Japan. Along with violence, trauma, and death, Grannetino discusses joy and jubilation at the war's end and the devastation experienced by the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Grannetino was a Landing Craft Tank Sailor who vividly describes what it felt like to be drafted, land on the beaches of Europe, and fight in World War II combat. Tom Grannetino recounted his father's stories with such authenticity that the book reads like a sailor's diary, recalling close friends and shipmates. The stories make for a real page-turner, giving the distinctive feeling of what being enlisted on the front lines was really like – not just for a day, but for an entire career.
Its simple writing style comes from the loving pen of the sailor's son, who painstakingly recreated his father's stories and his career during the war. Tom Grannetino credits his father for his work ethic and technical abilities, but the younger Grannetino isn't a trained writer; he's a craftsman and construction superintendent. He uses the same attention to detail in authoring his father's book of stories that he might use in constructing a new building.
The result is a book that will be hard for anyone to put down, whether they love reading history or not. "I Should Have Written a Book" has less to do with dates, battles, and "Big Man History" than it does about recalling the lives of the people who invaded Hitler's Fortress Europe to risk their lives for the freedoms of people they'd never met.
"I Should Have Written a Book: A Sailor's Journey From Omaha Beach to Japan During World War II" is available on Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle eReader format. The paperback retails for $8.02, but the Kindle version can be purchased for $3.99.
The fight against ISIL in the region is ongoing today, but the brutality inflicted on civilians by the terror group, and the danger of its spread sparked an uneasy alliance of otherwise geopolitical foes to come together to confront the threat. The U.S. and Western Allies, Russia, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Iran all sent forces against ISIL, even if they weren't part of the official coalition. 
Threats of genocide caused the United States to intervene for the Kurdish Peshmerga with airstrikes and supplied weapons. By December 2014, U.S. troops were on the ground alongside the Peshmerga and Iraqi forces, fighting ISIL directly. They pushed the terrorists out of Tikrit by April 2015. 
After being inserted by Chinook helicopters, members of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta and the Kurdish CTG raided the prison in brownout conditions. They landed in the middle of an intense firefight. SGM Thomas Payne led one of the teams to clear a building in the prison complex. As they moved into a blocking position, they learned that Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler had been wounded. There wasn't time to process the news or learn how bad his wounds were. As Payne's team cleared their objective and freed 38 hostages, fighting raged in another building. 
As the hostages moved out, a mandatory evacuation order came over the radio. The building was going to collapse. Still, Payne went back in three times to help move the hostages out. As the newly-freed prisoners moved to the helicopters, the operators and the Peshmerga formed a human wall to protect them as they moved. 
Throughout 1861, Virginia was pushing the Federal forces out, Missouri's pro-Confederate State Guard was on the warpath, and the Confederate invasion of Kentucky effectively ended the state's neutrality. In doing so, it provided the Union Army there, led by Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had the opportunity to turn its fortune around. The Union cause needed a big win, and Grant delivered it at the February 1862 Battle of Fort Henry, Kentucky. 
Since Kentucky had already lost its neutrality, the Union also moved into the area. One of its most aggressive commanders would head for Fort Henry, a man who would become famous for kicking rebels around Ulysses S. Grant. 
On February 6, four Union ironclads and three wooden gunboats opened fire on the fort for more than an hour. The Confederates returned fire but could only hit the ironclads where their armor was strongest. The wooden ships were out of range of the fort's remaining guns. The Confederate commander of Fort Henry, Lloyd Tilghman, fought for 75 minutes, buying time for his retreating men to escape before surrendering to the flotilla. 
Linderer had no idea what he saw, but he wasn't the first American to report seeing an ape-like creature while out on patrol, and he definitely wasn't the last. Some Army platoons reported coming under attack from the apes and even fighting them in hand-to-hand combat. There are no known species of apes native to Vietnam, but that didn't stop reports of large, ape-like creatures dwelling in the country's jungles during the entire Vietnam War. 
The scientists sent by the Communist party in Hanoi actually did find something they believed proved the existence of the animals. Dr. Vo Quy, a respected environmental researcher, scoured the Central Highlands of South Vietnam and discovered a large footprint. He made a cast of a print that was much too large to be human but also too big to be any kind of recorded ape. 
MacKinnon had previously explored the sighting of other unknown great apes, similar to the legends of Nguoi Rung. In the late 1960s, he studied the rumors of an ape-like creature called Batatut in the jungles of Borneo. Based on his experience and research in Vietnam, he didn't expressly declare the animal must be real, but he said its existence is possible. 
of Trust and "Get the Job Done."
denied.' He promised, however, that in the unlikely event of an accidental attack, jet fighters from the Sixth Fleet would be overhead in ten minutes."
In 1968, the Israeli government paid $3.32 million (equivalent to $25.9 million in 2021) compensation for the families of those killed in the attack; in 1969, a further $3.57 million ($26.4 million in 2021) to the men who had been wounded; and in 1980 $6 million ($19.7 million in 2021) plus 13 years of interest as the final settlement for material damage to Liberty itself. 
SR-71 pilot Maury Rosenberg spoke to a crowd at the Western Museum of Flight in 2018 about the characteristics of the SR-71 and what it was like to fly the plane, along with some anecdotes about his time flying it across the Soviet Union, Cuba, and North Korea, to name a few. 
After heading toward the Sacramento Airport's airspace, they switched communications to the tower at "Sac Metro." As they got closer, they asked for an approach with their landing gear down. After the tower cleared them for an approach, Rosenberg asked whether they wanted a flyby down the runway or down the ramp. 
When it comes to nonlethal equipment, helmets, and body armor come and go, but there's one piece that has remained unchanged since around the time the M16 was first introduced: the Skilcraft pen. 
On many maps, some Sailors say, the pen's length is equal to 150 nautical miles, which makes it easy to measure distance using the pen as a quick reference. The bottom part of the pen's barrel is supposedly the same length as a two-minute fuse, and some medics have reportedly seen the pen's barrel used for emergency tracheostomies. 
and hospitals at an alarming rate. By my fifties, I had been sick for several years. One day I was in a wheelchair at the Portland VA hospital, being pushed down the hall to a room. Nurses and doctors repeatedly asked me two questions. One was, "When were you in Vietnam?" The other was, "Where were you in Vietnam?" I kept telling them I was stationed at the DMZ in Korea from 1967 to 1969. They would say, "Oh," and walk off. The day I was being pushed down the hall, a patient walking near us leaned over and said to me, "Agent Orange in Korea." The nurse told me to ignore him, stating that he was a patient in the mental wing. Then she reminded me of something I had often heard: "Agent Orange was only sprayed in Vietnam." 
One day some months later, I was at a BBQ with friends. Sitting next to anyone who would listen, I told my story as there were a couple of veterans there. Finally, one of the guys told me that his wife once said someone she knew had seen pictures of American soldiers spraying Agent Orange in Korea a long time ago. I was in total shock. He went and got his wife. I told my story once again, and she patiently listened. Finally, she told me that her ex-husband of decades ago had once told her he had pictures of AO being sprayed in Korea. She agreed to try and find him, and a month later, the photos were mailed to me. I was out of my mind with excitement. Agent Orange was sprayed at the very camp I was stationed in. 
When I went to the VA, the man who had said hurtful things to me let out a loud, "Where did you get these!" Even with all that evidence, I was denied once again. The claim was then sent back to Washington, DC. Several months later, I was sitting in front of a judge on a screen. Months later, I was informed that I had won my case. 
William Grannetino had more than a handful of stories to tell. His son Tom grew up listening to the stories his father told about his service in the Second World War. In 2019, he gathered them into a compendium, using his father's mantra, his most used phrase whenever he discussed his exploits in the war: "I should have written a book." 
Its simple writing style comes from the loving pen of the sailor's son, who painstakingly recreated his father's stories and his career during the war. Tom Grannetino credits his father for his work ethic and technical abilities, but the younger Grannetino isn't a trained writer; he's a craftsman and construction superintendent. He uses the same attention to detail in authoring his father's book of stories that he might use in constructing a new building.