Paul von Hindenburg, the ailing second president of the Weimar Republic (successor to the German Empire) died on Aug. 2, 1934. Following Hindenburg's death, Adolf Hitler, the political leader of Germany and the head of the Federal Government, 
declared himself dictatorial head of Germany and with that declaration, the last remnants of Germany's democratic government were dismantled. Adolf Hitler was now the sole master of a nation intent on war and genocide.
Shortly after coming to power, he ordered a bloody purge of his own political party, assassinating hundreds of Nazis whom he believed had the potential to become political enemies in the future. Another thousand perceived political opponents of the regime were sent to Dachau, a concentration camp opened in Bavaria in March 1933. But it wasn't long before other groups that the Nazis deemed "undesirable" were rounded up and sent away. Foremost among them were the Jews.
Hitler had hated the Jews since 1907 when his mother died of cancer while under the care of a Jewish doctor, whom he blamed for her death. His hatred grew during his service as a soldier in World War I. When the armistice was called, he assumed that Germany had lost the war because of a backroom deal, and he blamed Jews for the capitulation. In his mind, Germany's humiliation was the fault of the Jews and he wanted them to pay for it.
At the time, Jews made up less than 1% of the German population, yet they controlled Germany's manufacturing, banking and a large share of small businesses.
Since they wielded such economic clout, Hitler also blamed them for Germany's Great Depression following WW I. There was also the issue of race: Hitler believed that the "Aryan race" was the best and strongest race. Jews were considered to be of such an inferior race, that they were not even considered to be "people" by the Nazis and, for that reason, Europe had to be rid of this "threat to German racial purity."
After a decade of increasingly severe discriminatory measures against the Jews and other "undesirables," Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime came up with a plan to annihilate the European Jewish population and "solve" the so-called "Jewish Problem." They euphemistically called it the "Final Solution." Every arm of Germany's bureaucracy was involved in the planning and execution of the mass-killing centers constructed in the concentration camps of occupied Poland as part of the "solution."
Six million Jewish men, women, and children were killed during the Holocaust - fully two-thirds of the Jews living in Europe before World War II. Other victims of Nazi crimes included Romanis (gypsies), ethnic Poles and other Slavs, communists, homosexuals, priests, trade unionists, 
Jehovah's Witnesses, anarchists, the mentally and physically disabled, and resistance fighters. If you add in the 3.3 million Soviet prisoners of war killed in German camps the total is 16.3 million. Some history books place the total as high as 19.3 million.
Although Adolf Hitler was the murderous madman responsible for the extermination of countless millions, he wasn't alone. In fact, Hitler's henchmen - his inner circle of fanatical and ruthless subordinates - were often just as evil as he was, and sometimes even eviler.
One of the evilest and sinister men in the world was Heinrich Himmler, the head of the cold-blooded SS and the madman in charge of the brutal Eastern death camps. After being captured by the Allies, Himmler committed suicide by biting a vial of cyanide that he had hidden in his mouth.
Other cold-blooded "exterminators" responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent victims were the high ranking SS officers shown in this rare photograph. From left to right are Richard Baer 
(Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau), Dr. Josef Mengele (the Angel of Death), Josef Kramer (Commandant of Bergen-Belsen), Rudolf Hoess (Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau) and Anton Thumann (Commandant of Majdanek). Kramer, Hoess, and Thumann were hanged. Baer escaped but was caught later and died in prison awaiting execution. Dr. Mengele escaped to South America, where he died in Brazil on February 7, 1979.
Although these men and others like them ordered the killings, German soldiers were more directly involved in the extermination that Hitler set into motion. In retaliation for sabotage, German soldiers would round up and execute all the men in a village, burn it to the ground, and send all the women and children off to concentration camps. They routinely shot dozens and even hundreds of hostages.
With the defeat of Hitler and his Nazi regime, a series of military tribunals, known as the Nuremberg Trials, were held by the Allied forces. The first tribunal was given the task of trying 23 of the most important political and military leaders of the Third Reich who had planned, carried out, or otherwise participated in the Holocaust and other war crimes.
The second set of trials was for the lesser war criminals and included the Doctors' Trial and the Judges' Trial. The Doctors' Trial was for the 20 medical doctors and 3 Nazi officials accused of involvement in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia, while the Judges' Trial was for the 16 German jurists and lawyers accused of implementing and furthering the Nazi "racial purity" program through eugenic and racial laws.
Many of the war criminals that were tried were found guilty and sentenced to death either by hanging or by firing squads. For one reason or another, selected Nazi war criminals were tried and acquitted. Others managed to get away with murder, but most of those were minor members of the Nazi party whose roles weren't as significant. Since they were less important and less involved, it was easier to find ways to completely deny their involvement.
Although the Allied forces considered the trials over, and the most deserving were executed or imprisoned, the Jewish people now living in Israel felt strongly that justice had not been served. They pointed to the many Nazi war criminals who were allowed to go unpunished or were never hunted down by authorities. These were the Gestapo agents and SS guards who'd broken into homes, dragged terrified citizens into the streets, 
crammed them into cattle cars, and carried them off to concentration camps to be slaughtered or starved to death. As a result, the Israelis formed death or revenge squads to track down and kill these former SS and Wehrmacht officers who had participated in the atrocities and eluded serious punishment.
Working under the code name "Operation Judgment," those who volunteered for the killings had lost their families and communities in the Holocaust and were burning with hatred. Others were previously members of the Jewish Brigade, part of the British Eighth Army, which fought with distinction in northern Italy in the latter stages of the war. Most members of the death squads believed their people would never forgive them if they did not exploit the opportunity to kill the Nazis who were guilty of crimes against humanity.
Among themselves, they were referred to as "Din" squads, a Hebrew word meaning "revenge." They operated in teams of three or four. One "Din" unit, acting on intelligence, raided a house in Austria where it was thought a Nazi Party official was living. The team of three found the house littered 
with jewelry and clothes. The lady of the house told the three revenge squad men that it had all once belonged to Jews. The "Din" men told the man and his wife that they would be executed on the spot for crimes against humanity. In a plea bargain, the former Nazi Party official gave a list of the current names and addresses of senior SS officers to the revenge squad.
Probably the most infamous person killed by the revenge squads was Dr. Ernst-Robert Grawitz. He was the chief medical officer of the SS and he is credited with creating the gas chambers used in the death camps. Surviving Nazis believed that he had committed suicide but a "Din" unit claimed responsibility, reporting that they had activated a grenade, killing Grawitz, his wife, and his children.
Other senior Nazis executed by the revenge squads included SS Colonel Dr. Hans Geschke and SS Lieutenant Kurt Mussfeld, who oversaw the ovens at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The last person killed by the revenge squads was Aleksander Laak, who had run the Jagala concentration camp in Estonia, where 100,000 were murdered under his rule. In 1960 Laak must have thought he was safe in Winnipeg, Canada but a revenge squad found him, confronted him with his crimes and talked him into hanging himself.
As well as the execution of 1,500 suspected SS and Gestapo war criminals, the Brigade also
assisted tens of thousands of concentration camp survivors to reach Palestine, despite the fact that the British government was firmly opposed to Jewish immigration at the time and the country was the subject of a naval blockade.
While the Foreign Office, under the arch anti-Zionist Ernest Bevin, was hostile to the Jewish Brigade and wanted it to be stopped, the British military command refused to act and turned a blind eye to the brigade's clandestine activities.
When the death squads disbanded in 1960, its members went their separate ways, taking with them their stories - grisly tales that add a unique dimension to the Holocaust, a dimension which poses several complex questions: Were they right to be judge, jury, and executioner? At what point had they become just as bad as the evil they wanted to destroy? Did they start out as righteous warriors only to prove that hatred isn't a quality exclusive to Nazis?
Many of the assassins became founders of Mossad, Israel's Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations. Within Mossad is Kidon, an elite group of expert assassins who operate under the Caesarea branch of the espionage organization. Not much is known about this mysterious unit, details of which are some of the most closely guarded secrets in the Israeli intelligence community, except that they are an anchoring part of the philosophy of the Jewish people in Israel that they will do whatever it takes to prevent another Holocaust.
In November 1975, I was a nineteen-year-old Operations Specialist Seaman in the OI division on the USS Belknap (CG-26). We had just finished nearly three weeks of operational readiness training exercises in the Mediterranean. 
As I recall, the Belknap had scored highest on Naval Gunfire Support, Anti-Aircraft Warfare, and Anti-Submarine Warfare exercises. The mood was upbeat, and there were rumors that we would be rewarded with some R&R in Barcelona. Then the collision happened. Any student of history knows that November 22 is an auspicious date in US history. In 1963, that was the day that our 35th president, John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. It is a cruel irony that it was 12 years later, to the day that we collided with the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67)
It was near 2200 hours, local time, and I was preparing to go on watch in CIC. I believe we were still on port/starboard working hours. We felt a shudder as I was on the ladder up from the OI Division berthing area. As a young Seaman, I looked to more experienced shipmates for reactions. They did not look unconcerned. We all hastened to the passageway under the main deck. Smoke began to fill the passageway and someone had sealed the hatch to the main deck. We all started putting our shirts over our faces in order to get some relief from the smoke. At that point, I knew that there was a major emergency underway.
It wasn't very long before the hatch to the main deck was opened and we all scurried up to the main deck, were my eyes were opened to what looked like daylight. But it wasn't daylight. It was fire. Fire for as far and high as the eye could see. As a result of the collision with John F. Kennedy's overhanging deck, JP-5 fuel lines were ruptured spraying fuel over an adjacent catwalk, and fires ensued aboard both ships.
My group was on the forward part of the ship where we immediately put our damage control training to work. It became clear that there was a collision as we could see the Kennedy drifting away, dead in the water.
We immediately started the P-250 and P-500 pumps and trained seawater on the blazing inferno. Before long, the USS Claude V. Ricketts pulled alongside and transferred many of the injured, via Stokes litters, over to the Ricketts. The 3 inch and 5-inch magazines were exploding, but the Ricketts was undeterred and accepted our wounded.
We didn't know the fate of our shipmates that were aft of the superstructure and didn't find out until much later, what seemed like hours later, that the crew on the fantail was doing the same thing: fighting the fire toward the center.
After a long night of fighting the flames, and with the sun beginning to come up, we witnessed the smoking, burned-out superstructure of the once-majestic ship.
Now the really hard work began: finding the bodies of our dead shipmates. I remember being with a group that discovered the body of DS3 Gerald Ketcham, 
a shipmate and I enjoyed playing cards with during off time. I could tell other stories about other shipmates who lost their lives that night. FA David Messmer joined the crew the same day as I did in April of that year. STG3 Brent Lassen was a fellow Operations Department member. My other fallen shipmates, MM1 James Cass, EM2 Mike Kawola, MM2 Doug Freeman and DS2 Gordon St. Marie were all good men with whom I had the pleasure of serving. The name of the sailor that perished on the USS John F. Kennedy was PO 2nd Class Yeoman David A. Chivalette
The history books will tell the rest of the story. They will tell how we were towed to Palermo, Sicily to await orders; how we were flown back stateside a short time after the collision. What they may not tell is how ordinary sailors, put in a position of saving the ship that night, were up to the task.
I witnessed people, officers whom I looked up to, reduced to tears; and I saw some of my enlisted shipmates, perform heroic deeds, all night long. That night at sea, with the fires raging, and explosions rocking the ship, rank meant little. But actions spoke volumes about the character of the fine men I was proud to stand next to as we successfully doused the flames so that the Belknap could sail again.
My next duty station was in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where my next ship, the USS Tattnall (DDG-19) was in dry dock. It was January 1976 (I think), when I was chipping paint very high on the Tattnall's superstructure. That height offered a bird's-eye view of a very strange sight. It was a U.S. Navy destroyer, with a compact, sealed-up superstructure being towed up the Delaware River. Could it be? It was. The Belknap had just finished its long journey across the Atlantic to be repaired and refitted at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
These are my recollections, 35 years later. I'm sure others could tell other stories about the Belknap and about that night. As a nineteen-year-old Seaman, I felt like I grew up a lot and learned a lot about myself and about life, as a result of being involved in this incident. I finished my tour in 1978, but no other duty station ever came close to the experiences I had on the 'Bonnie B', as we used to call her. No other duty station ever compared with the great bunch of men with whom I was privileged to serve.
Before I finish, there is one more coincidence I will share. In October 2003 (I think), I was camping at Hanna Park near Mayport, Florida. I looked out across the bay and saw a large '67' painted on what looked like a building. 
After getting some binoculars, I realized it was the hull number of the USS John F. Kennedy. This was the first time I had seen that ship since the fateful night in '75. I took the ferry over to Mayport and talked my way into the berth where the Kennedy was. It was a strange experience for me, but I felt like I had now come full circle. I was able to talk to the ship's Public Information Officer and tell her the story of the Belknap and the Kennedy. I also told her that there was a Belknap reunion about to take place in a few weeks and that it might be a nice gesture to send a letter and a flag to the men of Belknap. She and the CO of the Kennedy agreed. I arrived at the reunion just in time to see several grown men (much older now) in tears, as the letter was read and the flag presented. It seems, after the accident, the Kennedy permanently installed, what they called a 'Belknap pole' as a reminder and a remembrance of what happened so long ago in the Mediterranean.
I have attended three reunions, in Pensacola, Charleston, and Norfolk. I have had a chance to speak with Capt. Shafer, our commanding officer at the time. And I am lucky to have been able to thank him for his leadership that night. Both the Belknap and the Kennedy have been decommissioned now, but hopefully, the story will live on.
I arrived in Vietnam on November 1, 1969, and quickly realized that this was going to be the most extraordinary year of my life. I was assigned to the 91st Evac Hospital in Chu Lai, just 75 kilometers south of Da Nang in I Corp. My uniform for the next elven and a half months was green fatigues and combat boots. I spent three months working on a medical ward treating malaria, hepatitis, jungle rot, and intestinal parasites. Twelve-hour shifts were the norm, with one day off each week. My personal space was a 9 x 12 room with a metal twin bed and locker, the footlocker that I had brought from home and a bare light bulb. Free time was spent at the officers club, on our tiny beach, waterskiing on the South China Sea or making trips to the PX to see what the latest shipment had brought. Beanie weenies and condoms were among the always-available items.
The remaining eight and a half months of my tour were spent in the emergency room at the hospital. We received the wounded, U.S. as well as Vietnamese, directly from the field. Amputees of one or more limbs, massive head wounds, multiple shrapnel injuries, and gunshot victims were nearly every day occurrence. 
Many of my 12-hour days became 14 or 15-hour days. I very soon realized that I was doing nursing I would never have an opportunity to practice again.
When I returned to "the world" after serving as an Army nurse during the war, I continued to think about that country, its people and how my time there had changed my life. I also was convinced that the beauty of the land would return at war's end. I knew that I wanted to visit the country during peacetime. I didn’t know how or when but was thrilled when the opportunity came in 1994 while I was working as a travel agent.
Return Trip I
At that time, tour companies and airlines offered family trips, giving agents the opportunity to travel at a greatly reduced price to individual countries, cruise ships, specific hotels, etc. 
Such an opportunity came along in 1994 and I joined a group of 15 other travel agents for my first return trip to the Far East. I was amazed at the attitude of the Vietnamese people. They simply loved having visitors. Because the United States had just lifted its embargo on Vietnam, things had not changed that dramatically since I left in 1970.
On this first visit, we did not get to Chu Lai where my hospital had been. I knew that there was almost nothing left to see as the Vietnamese had sold the property to a Singapore company to build an oil refinery on the site. I did, however, have time to reacquaint myself with places where I had been during the war. One area that I was particularly interested in was the Hai Van Pass, from Da Nang to Hue, through the mountains with
beautiful views of the fishing villages below. With the destructive effects of the herbicide Agent Orange having worn off a bit over the previous 24 years, the foliage was even lusher.
We also visited Saigon, Da Nang, Hoi An, Haiphong, Halong Bay, and Hanoi. I paid my first visit to China Beach, now well known as a result of the TV show. The lengthy curve of pristine white sand lived up to my expectations. Haiphong was a dank, dirty city. I found Halong Bay, a peaceful cove with underwater mountains, hiding stunning caverns, to be one of the most beautiful places that I had ever been to. Hanoi was chilly, gray and clearly more influenced by the French than Americans, a stark contrast to the colorful, lively Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). We also spent time in the Delta down south (very hot) as well as Cu Chi where we crawled through the tunnels. They were used by the VC to gather information and avoid being captured. Incredible!
Return Trip II
In January of 1996, a longtime girlfriend, who had not served in the war, accompanied me back to Vietnam in an effort to get to where my hospital had been during the war. We visited the places that I had been to in 1994 and added a visit to My Lai, site of the March 1968 massacre where dozens of innocent Vietnamese civilians were killed. A tombstone listing the dead was located in each of the houses’ foundations. It was a very sobering experience.
Making our way back north on Highway One, we turned onto a side lane, bouncing along until we reached a beach. We were about to get as close to the hospital site as possible. At the command of our guide, 
I jumped out of the car and ran towards the water. I shot numerous photos, realizing that we were truly near the base of the cliff on which the hospital had set. It was the closest that I would ever get to re-living my year in the war.
The final stop on the 1996 trip was to the "Hanoi Hilton" (Hoa Lo prison) where many of the American POWs were incarcerated. During my 1994 trip, I was able to sneak into an area of the prison where I could still photograph cells that housed prisoners. However, by January 1996, all of that had been demolished to make room for a high-rise hotel. All that remained was a small museum, still, present and open to visitors today.
Return Trip III
In September 2013, accompanied by my husband, we had an opportunity to visit Vietnam once more. With a group of lawyers and spouses, we toured Vietnam, Cambodia, Northern Thailand and Myanmar. The changes in the cities were dramatic. Numerous hotels had sprung up in Saigon, Hue, Da Nang, and Hanoi. When we visited Halong Bay in 1996, my friend and I did not encounter another boat on the water. In 2013, numerous boats were taking tourists to the hidden caves, several of which had been fitted with stairs, walkways and brightly colored floodlights. We even spent the night on a boat that housed 100 people.
Tourism had definitely come to Vietnam. Compared to the places that I had stayed on my two trips in the 90s, our hotels for this trip were extremely lavish. 
Most of the hotels were under five years old and the landscape, especially in the cities, had changed dramatically since 1996. While in the countryside rice is still planted by hand with the use of water buffalo, in the cities ATMs were plentiful, bars too numerous to count. Traffic congestion went from bicycles and motorbikes to full-size cars and even SUVs. I also was amazed at the number of foreign visitors. In 1996, my friend and I did not meet a single other American tourists during our 10-day stay. On the 2013 tour, we encountered travelers from many countries - shopping, biking, boating, hiking, and dining at fine restaurants. For the record, ti cho (dog) was not available on those menus!
Trip IV
I thought that I had made my last trip to Vietnam when, in September 2014, I was privileged to be included in a group of 12 veterans, 11 men and myself, through a program at the College of the Ozarks in southern Missouri, who would tour Vietnam.
Each of us veterans, partnered with students from the college, made the trip to Vietnam to locate, as best we could, where we had been stationed during the war. Our routes took us off the beaten path and took me to areas of Vietnam I had not yet been to. I had not experienced the Central Highlands and relished the cooler climate. Some of the men took our group not just to the cities but in search of specific buildings within the cities. Some were stationed along the river in the Mekong Delta area where the heat was most intense. Photo of Da Lat, a principal city in the Central Highlands.
As we made our way across the country, the student that was assigned to a particular veteran would write a blog at the end of the day about that vet and his/her visit. Two of the men in our group were former POWs having been imprisoned in the Hanoi Hilton for six years apiece. Another member of our group was a Medal of Honor recipient. As fellow Vietnam vets, we easily bonded over the two-week trip. It truly was the adventure of a lifetime.
Vietnam has undergone many changes since I set foot in Long Binh in 1969. Despite the war, the embargo, and the numerous countries that have attempted to rule it, Vietnam has endured.
James Nicholas "Nick" Rowe was born on February 8, 1938, in McAllen, Texas, to Lee Delavan and Florence [nee Survillo] Rowe, a Russian immigrant who had lived through the Bolshevik Revolution. His older brother, Richard, attended West Point in preparation for a military career. Tragically, Richard died just prior to graduation. Richard's classmates invited the family to attend the graduation in Richard's honor, and the ceremony so inspired six-year-old Nick that he vowed to fulfill Richard's unfinished military destiny.
Rowe kept his childhood promise. But shortly after his own graduation from West Point in 1960, he had an unnerving experience. For three consecutive nights,
he dreamed he was captured during a firefight with Viet Cong guerrillas. True to his nightmare, two years later in 1963, while serving as an advisor in Southeast Asia, Nick was captured during a brutal firefight. Later, he would have a premonition of his own death.
Rowe qualified as a U.S. Special Forces officer and in July 1963 was sent to Vietnam as the executive and intelligence officer of a 12-man team assigned 6-month's temporary duty that would end in mid-December 1963. His team's camp, Detachment A-23, was built deep in the U Minh Forest on the site of a former French fort in Tan Phu, Thoi Binh District in the Mekong Delta region of South Vietnam.
Their primary mission was to work with their South Vietnamese Special Forces counterparts to organize and train Civilian Irregular Defense Group (CIDG) strikers to kill and capture VC in an area. The camp's isolated location in the midst of a known heavy enemy presence made it vulnerable to attack, and the close proximity came with a cost: when it was time to return stateside, all but two of the team's original 12 members had been wounded in combat, five of them from a single mortar airburst above their sleeping quarters during only their second night in-country.
On October 28, 1963, U.S. Army Military Assistance Advisory Group intelligence adviser Capt. Humbert R. "Rocky" Versace met with the Thoi Binh district chief and learned that an irregular platoon of VC (Viet Cong) had moved into the small hamlet of Le Coeur with the intent of establishing a VC command post there.
The possibility that it would be used to direct attacks against the Tan Phu Special Forces Camp approximately eight kilometers southeast of the hamlet was unacceptable. After meeting with the district chief, Capt. Versace made a liaison visit to Special Forces Team A-23 stationed at Tan Phu Special Forces Camp.
Although unauthorized to accompany CIDG field operations, Versace joined a hastily planned operation at Tan Phu scheduled to leave before dawn the next morning on October 29, 1963, to attack the Le Coeur hamlet's VC outpost. Also accompanying the 129-man CIDG force, comprised of two mobile strike force (striker) companies from Tan Phu and one Thoi Binh district militia company, where Sgt. First Class Daniel "Dan" Pitzer, the detachment's medic, and Rowe, who had growing reservations about the finalized plan as it called for passing through a number of occupied hamlets in VC-controlled territory, increasing the risk of early detection and mission compromise.
Le Coeur was located in a VC-dominated area on one of the main canals leading into the dreaded U Minh Forest. It was also located approximately 17 miles due north of Quan Long, 22 miles east of the Gulf of Thailand, 55 miles west-southwest of Soc Trang, 59 miles southwest of Can Tho and 135 miles southwest of Saigon. The American and allied troops had never ventured into that area before, and the close proximity to the enemy's well-established sanctuary in the legendary "Forest of Darkness" (so-named because of the exceptionally dense triple-canopy jungle), made it a cinch that there would be a large scale firefight.
The basic plan was to roust the small VC unit with the district militia's assault company, forcing them from the hamlet toward the U Minh Forest and into an ambush laid by the two striker companies. When the district militia's assault company led by Vietnamese Special Forces Lt. Lam Quang Tinh, with Versace as his mission advisor, reached the village, the enemy fled as expected. The CIDG troops swept the hamlet for intelligence, and Rowe picked up a Russian K-44 shell casing, signifying that instead of a small irregular VC unit, they had rousted a well-trained and well-armed regional or main force unit.
However, when the VC fled Le Coeur, instead of running toward the U Minh Forest and the ambush as expected, they went in the opposite direction. 
The American advisors subsequently directed the assault company to return to camp while they joined the two ambush companies for the return trip which included following the retreating VC a short distance. At approximately 10 AM, the two ambush companies started back to Tan Phu camp, traveling along a canal. After a short and fruitless pursuit occasionally punctuated by ineffective VC sniper rounds, the two companies turned toward Tan Phu down an intersecting canal to return to camp. Roughly two kilometers down the canal, after discovering and destroying a VC arms factory, they spotted a line of black-clad figures rapidly moving into position from the northeast across an adjacent rice paddy that separated them from a nearby canal.
As it turned out, the VC had their own ambush plans and were attempting to cut off their return route to camp. The enemy jammed radio communications, preventing immediate fire support from the mortars at Tan Phu or the 155mm howitzers at Thoi Binh. And the hastily planned operation lacked the dedicated air support or immediate helicopter reinforcements necessary to prevent the unfolding blood bath.
Once the enemy successfully closed to 900 meters, they opened fire with automatic weapons. While ineffective at that distance, the ground fire did pin the friendly forces in place long enough for the communists to begin firing 60mm mortars at them. A group of Vietnamese strikers broke for the bank of a rice paddy for easier and faster traveling, which was all the VC needed as they already had the correct range. The VC proceeded to fire a salvo of 12 mortar rounds that nearly wiped out all the strikers located along that bank.
As the allied forces moved rapidly into a tree-lined hamlet to set up a defensive perimeter, the VC immediately tried to lure them across an open rice field into a classic three-sided ambush: a blocking force from the direction of Tan Phu camp, a pressure force from a second side, and the main force of 3 platoons on the third side in the trees lining the open rice paddy waiting in ambush.
The enemy ground fire of all types continued coming in from both pressuring sides. Allied troops maintained an accurate and lethal return fire, stacking the enemy dead like cordwood a mere 10 to 15 meters away. Rowe believed that the assault company would return to give them a hand as they had previously been informed by radio prior to the jamming that the others were in trouble. Unfortunately, that company had also been ambushed and subsequently decimated by the VC while returning to help, and could not provide assistance.
For three hours the allies battled roughly 1,000 seasoned guerrilla fighters of the Main Force 306th VC Battalion, a unit the CIDG had whipped soundly in an all-night battle just three months prior, which had re-emerged re-energized and re-armed and re-manned. With dwindling ammunition supplies and endless waves of VC still attacking, Versace, Pitzer, and Rowe told their troops to pull out and withdraw, saying that the Americans would cover them and then leapfrog back. As a VC assault squad suddenly came through the trees at close range in front of them, Pitzer vaporized the point man with his M-79 grenade launcher, stopping the attackers dead in their tracks. Nearly two years before it was officially deployed to American troops in Vietnam, the 40mm weapon's unexpectedly destructive power also took down several adjacent attackers and gave the Americans time to escape.
As the Americans caught up with the disorganized strikers, they moved together into a field of reeds with the three advisors continuing to cover the rear. The VC fired a captured BAR at the retreating column with three rounds striking Versace in the leg. As he fell to the ground, an enemy grenade exploded nearby, peppering him with shrapnel. Rowe was struck in the face and chest by grenade fragments as he reached to help Versace, and the concussion knocked him to the ground. As he attempted to get up, the wounded Versace put his arms around Rowe, and he tried to drag him off the trail to hide in the reeds until the enemy passed by. The Americans broke reeds back across their trail to camouflage it.
Versace's wounds were bleeding profusely. Rowe put a compress on one of the wounds and was putting another bandage on the second one when the 
VC suddenly broke through the reeds yelling, "Do tay len!" ("Hands up!"), and they looked up to see dozens of weapons pointing down at them. Rowe continued bandaging the second wound. When he finished, the VC grabbed him by the arms, pulled him to his feet and tied him with a large VC flag that he had tucked into a pocket after one of the strikers gave it to him in the hamlet.
During the firefight, in addition to the wounds suffered by Rowe and Versace, Pitzer also suffered grenade fragmentation wounds and a severely sprained ankle. The CIDG suffered roughly 60 dead, a like number wounded, and 30 missing in action. The wounded CIDG strikers had their hands tied behind their backs by the VC and were forced to lay face down in rows, then each was shot once in the back of the head.
Spared from execution because the VC wanted American prisoners for their propaganda value, the three Americans were stripped of their boots before being led into the U Minh Forest - a dark maze of mangrove, canals and swamps. The prisoners were kept in small bamboo cages, deprived of food, and exposed to insects, heat and disease. In the early days of their captivity, the three Americans were photographed together in a staged setting in the U Minh Forest. It was evident from the beginning that Versace, who spoke fluent French and Vietnamese, was going to be a problem for the Viet Cong. In an attempt to break him, his captors kept him isolated, frequently gagged, and flat on his back in irons, in a dark hot box barely larger than a coffin. As the senior ranking officer in the prison camp, Versace frequently communicated with the others by singing messages to them to the tune of popular songs of the day.
Increasingly the VC separated Versace from the other prisoners as he continued to strictly adhere to the Code of Conduct, the code all military personnel are required to follow should he or she become a Prisoner of War. He proved very uncooperative, a situation that infuriated the communists, and his actions drew more scrutiny onto himself and away from the others. The VC made it clear right from the start they had absolute power of life and death over the prisoners. They frequently stated, "Do not think that merely because the war ends that you will go home. You can rest here long after the war."
One day Versace was gone. The last time Rowe and Pitzer heard him, Versace was singing "God Bless America" at the top of his lungs from the isolation box. On Sunday, September 28, 1965, Hanoi "Liberation Radio" announced the execution of Capt. Rocky Versace and Special Forces Sgt. First Class Kenneth Roraback in retaliation for the deaths of three terrorists by South Vietnamese officials in Da Nang.
As opportunities presented themselves, Rowe and Pitzer also attempted escapes (3 by Rowe alone), but were quickly recaptured and punished. Rowe himself spent a total of five years confined to a small bamboo cage while being permitted to venture out to a distance of only 40 yards during the day. He fought disease and malnutrition (something that 2 fellow POWs fatally succumbed to while with Rowe), all while being submitted to continuous brainwashing and attempts to break his will and admit to his 'crimes.' He busied himself chopping firewood and setting traps to capture small animals to supplement his diet of rice and fish.
As his team's intelligence officer, Rowe retained valuable knowledge that could be exploited by the VC, so he fooled them for years by claiming to be an engineer, a claim they repeatedly and unsuccessfully tested. The VC eventually uncovered the truth and began trying to extract the info in earnest. Rowe remained unbroken and became known to his captors as "Mr. Trouble" for his resistance. Fed up with his actions, they sentenced him to be executed in January of 1969. The execution was to take place in front of higher ranking VC officials. Knowing that would mean travel through the jungle, he planned another escape.
During an ongoing U.S. Helicopter gunship sweep of their area that was intended to wipe out the pockets of VC camps, including several prisoner camps where Rowe had been rotated, Rowe and his guards went on the run through the swamp over a period of several days. A guard Rowe had nicknamed "Porky" was showing resistance to the bumbling tactics of the other guards. As everyone was tiring and running low on food and supplies, Rowe sought to influence Porky with tidbits of info about the gunship tactics that were proving true, and Porky began listening to him. Rowe explained that the entire group was cutting a wide swath walking abreast through the swampy reeds, which was sure to expose their presence to the helicopter gunships and endanger their lives. He explained that if Porky wanted to survive, all he had to do was to slowly move away from the group.
Despite the noise and confusion of nearby combat, the cadre continued to walk abreast through the reeds, drawing the attention of the gunships to them like a blazing neon sign. Rowe continued to guide Porky away from the killing zone, and in the process disorienting him to the point where he could not figure out exactly where the main group was since they were hidden by the reeds.
Porky was armed with a Korean War vintage PPSh-41 submachine gun slung across his back. When the guard got hung up in some brush, Rowe was able to silently reach up and release the magazine allowing it to drop into the muck below. After a while, Porky realized that his magazine was gone and that there was no round in his weapon's chamber. At that point, Rowe was able to drop the guard with a well-delivered blow to the back of his head with a tree branch along with two karate chops to the neck.
Although he was free of his guard, Rowe was barefoot, unarmed and dressed in black pajamas in a free-fire zone during an active combat operation against the VC in the area. Overhead were two Cobra and four Huey gunships, along with a command ship, all of whom were firing away at targets in his general vicinity. Rowe frantically waved his mosquito net as he tried to get the attention of the helicopter aircrews. Several of the helicopter gunners had him in their sites when the command ship radioed to hold their fire, and that the command helicopter was going down to get a prisoner.
The door gunner realized he had an American in his sights when he saw Rowe's black beard. The command ship landed and Rowe leaped on board yelling for the pilot to take off. After 62 months in captivity, on 
Dec. 31, 1968, unshaven, gaunt, disease-riddled Nick Rowe was free once again. Twenty minutes later the helicopter landed at Ca Mau airfield with their unexpected passenger. Once on the ground, Rowe learned he had been promoted from First Lieutenant to major while in captivity. He was immediately flown from Ca Mau to the 24th Evacuation Hospital at Long Binh for a brief medical examination before boarding an evacuation flight to San Antonio, Texas.
In 1971, Rowe published 'Five Years to Freedom', in which he recounted his ordeal as a Viet Cong prisoner, his eventual escape, and his return home. The book was the result of the diary he wrote while a prisoner, writing it in German, Spanish, Chinese, and his own special code in order to deceive his captors. In 1974 he retired from the Army.
The Army recalled Rowe to active duty in 1981 as a lieutenant colonel to use his POW experience to create the SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) course, now taught at the Colonel James
"Nick" Rowe Training compound at Camp Mackall, North Carolina. Variations of the SERE course are considered the most important advanced training for special operations personnel in every branch of service. In 1985, Lt. Col. Rowe was placed in command of Fort Bragg's First Special Warfare Training Battalion, a position he held until 1987, when he was promoted to colonel and made chief of the Army Division at the Joint U. S. Military Advisory Group (USMAG) headquarters in Quezon City, Philippines.
In February 1989, the 51-year-old Rowe had acquired intelligence information which indicated that the communists were planning a major terrorist act. He warned Washington that a high-profile figure was about to be assassinated and that he himself was second or third on the assassination list. At around 7 AM in the morning of April 21, 1989, as he was being driven to work, his armored limousine was hit by twenty-one bullets; one round entered through an unarmored portion of the vehicle frame and struck Rowe in the head, killing him instantly. Rowe's driver, Joaquin Vinuya, was wounded.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Philippine officials said they believed the killers were rebels from the Communist New People's Army. The rebels had threatened to attack American targets unless the United States closed its military bases in the Philippines and end its support of the Philippine military's fight against the insurgency.
The Special Forces community was stunned by Rowe's death. Green Berets cried openly on the streets of Fayetteville, N.C. Many who know of him continue to speak of Rowe with awe.
Rowe was survived by two daughters, Deborah and Christina, from his first marriage to Jane Caroline Benson on December 27, 1969, and his widow Mary from his second marriage along with their two sons, Stephen and Brian.
On Sunday, June 25, 1950, just before as sunrise, South Korean soldiers and their American advisors awakened to what they expected to be just another routine day guarding the demarcation line separating South Korea from Communist North Korea. Instead, they woke up to North Korean artillery blowing apart their positions, followed by heavy tanks and thousands of screaming North Korean soldiers. 
Outnumbered and outgunned, the UN forces were powerless to rout the invaders, forcing them into a disorderly withdrawal south.
Never able to get their footing, UN forces continued moving south down the Korean peninsula, fighting delaying actions in Seoul, Osan, Taegu, Masan, P'ohang, and the Naktong River. Their withdrawal took nine days, ending at the southeastern-most tip of South Korea near the port city of Pusan on the Sea of Japan. Exhausted and on the brink of defeat, they hurriedly set up the 'Pusan Perimeter' to make their final stand against the determined North Korean army.
Fighting was fierce and bloody all along the entire perimeter from August 4 to September 18, 1950. North Korean troops, although hampered by supply shortages and massive losses, continually staged attacks on UN forces in an attempt to penetrate the perimeter and collapse the line. UN forces held on while using the port to amass an overwhelming advantage in troops, equipment, and logistics from numerous UN combatants. After six weeks and fighting small skirmishes and large battles, the North Korean force collapsed and retreated back north in chaos with UN forces in pursuit.
Many historians considered the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter one of the most brutal fights of the Korean War where both sides endured major losses: U.S. forces suffered 4,599 dead, 12,058 wounded, 401 captured and 2,700 missing in action. North Koreas had a total of 63,590 casualties and 3,380 captured.
In September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, cutting off many of the North Koreans soldiers retreating north. Those that escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, or into the mountainous interior. At this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951. During this time, the front lines constantly changed as each side gained the upper hand over the other. Realizing that neither side would be able to overcome the other, the combatants met in July 1951 at the village of Kaesong to begin armistice negotiations. In October 1951, the meeting was moved to Panmunjom.
By 1953, while the leaders of the People's Republic of Korea and Communist China continued deliberating with UN delegates in peace talks at Panmunjom, their soldiers continued to fight in several costly stalemate battles along a series of hills running west to east just north of the 38th parallel were several small but intense and bloody battles took place.
One of the better-known battles fought at this time was the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, so named for the hill's topographical appearance. Pork Chop Hill, or Hill 255, was a 300-meter high exposed hill outpost in front of the main line of resistance and was rather insignificant in terms of military or tactical importance. However, U.S. media attention to the event gave it great propaganda value since it was an ongoing struggle that lasted longer than any other single battle going on at the time.
The Battle of Pork Chop Hill was actually two skirmishes during the spring and summer of 1953. The first skirmish (Apr. 16-18) was victorious for the UN when the Communists broke contact and retreated after two days of battle.
In the second skirmish, beginning on July 6 and ending on July 10, both sides committed many more troops and the conflict lasted for five days. On the morning of July 11, the commander of the U.S. I Corps decided to abandon Pork Chop Hill to the Chinese and the 7th Infantry Division withdrew under fire.
UN forces first occupied Pork Chop Hill in October 1951 when the U.S. 8th Cavalry Regiment took over the hill. The hill was again occupied in May 1952 by Company I of the U.S. 180th Infantry Regiment. By November 1952, Pork Chop Hill was occupied and defended by the 21st Thai Battalion of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, which successfully repulsed an attack by the Chinese People's Volunteers. Beginning on December 29, 1952, the outpost became part of the U.S. 7th Infantry Division's defensive sector. Pork Chop Hill, itself, was one of several exposed hill outposts was defended by a single company or platoon positioned in sand-bagged bunkers connected with trenches.
Opposing the 7th Infantry Division were two divisions of the Chinese Communist Forces: the 141st Division of the 47th Army, and the 67th Division of the 23rd Army. These were veterans, well-trained units, an expert in night infantry assaults, patrolling, ambushes, and mountain warfare. Both armies were part of the 13th Field Army.
In a surprise night attack on March 23, 1953, a battalion of the Chinese 423rd regiment 141st Division attacked a hilltop outpost known as "Old Baldy" not far from Pork Chop Hill. Defending the hill was B Company from the 31st Regiment's Colombian Battalion, commanded by Lt. Col. Alberto Ruiz Novoa. To relive the beleaguered defenders, the regimental commander, Col. William B. Kern, ordered C Company of the Colombian Battalion to relieve overwhelmed B Company, despite the Colombian commander's protest. The movement began at 3:00 PM under heavy fire, making it difficult for C Company to advance toward their new position. B Company had been under constant artillery fire since their arrival and were eager to rotate.
During the relief process, the enemy caught both companies exposed, enabling them to seize many of the defensive positions. For two days of stiff resistance, the badly beaten B and C Companies failed in retaking the hill since the 31st Regiment Command failed to send reinforcements. Rather than suffer more losses, the UN Command ordered “Old Baldy†abandonment. This preliminary fight exposed Pork Chop to a three-sided attack, and, for the next three weeks, Chinese patrols probed it nightly.
On the night of April 16, 1953, Company E, 31st Infantry commanded by 1st Lt. Thomas V. Harrold manned Pork Chop Hill. Shortly before midnight, an artillery barrage foreshadowed a sudden infantry
assault by a battalion of the Chinese 201st regiment; Pork Chop Hill was quickly overrun, although pockets of U.S. soldiers defended isolated bunkers. A counterattack to retake the hill was ordered by Maj. Gen. Arthur Trudeau, command general of the 7th Infantry Division.
The two rifle companies selected for the counterattack were Company's K and L, 31st Infantry. The tactical commander of the assault was 1st Lt. Joseph G. Clemons, Jr., company commander of K Company. L Company's commander was 1st Lt. Forrest J. Crittendon. At 04:30 AM on April 17, the two rifles companies began systematically maneuvering up the hillsides under the cover of a heavy preparatory artillery barrage on enemy positions.
Although the Chinese defenders fought hard with everything they had, Company K and half of Company L (the other half had not been able to leave the trenches of an adjacent outpost) pushed forward to the top of the hill and into the main enemy trenches, often engaging in hand-to-hand combat. By dawn 
Pork Chop Hill belonged to the UN forces which had suffered almost 50 percent casualties. Concerned he did not have enough men to hold the hill should the Chinese return, Clemons called back for reinforcement. Since 2nd Battalion 17th Infantry was already attached to the 31st Infantry, G Company, commanded by 1st Lt. Walter B. Russell - Clemons's brother-in-law - was immediately sent forward, linking up with Company K at 08:30 AM. All three companies were subjected to almost continuous shelling by Chinese forces (CCF) artillery as they cleared bunkers and dug in again.
Through a series of miscommunications between command echelons, Division headquarters ordered Russell's company to withdraw at 3:00 PM after they too had suffered heavy losses, and did not realize the extent of casualties among the other two companies. By the time the situation was clarified, the companies of the 31st Infantry were down to a combined 25 survivors. Maj. Gen. Arthur Trudeau, by then on the scene, authorized Col. Kern to send in a fresh company to relieve all elements on Hill 255 and placed him in tactical command with both the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 17th Infantry attached and at his direction.
Kern sent forward Capt. Monroe D. King's Company F, 17th Infantry which started up the hill at 9:30 PM under heavy artillery fire but reached the trenches at 10 PM suffering 19 killed in the process. At 11 PM, Col. Kern then ordered 1st Lt. Gorman C. Smith's E Company, 17th infantry, to move up to reinforce F Company. To avoid the bulk of the artillery fire, Smith moved his rifle company around the right flank of the hill and up the side facing the Chinese positions.
Clemons' Company K, had incurred 125 casualties, including 18 killed, of its original 135 men. After twenty hours of steady combat, the remaining seven members started off the hill singly just after midnight of April 17-18 and withdrew without further losses.
During the early morning of April 18, the Chinese 201st Regiment renewed its attack at 1:30 AM and again inflicted heavy losses on the defenders, nearly overrunning F Company. 
The timely counterattack by Lt. Smith's E Company caught the Chinese by surprise on their flank and ended the organized assault. The Chinese 141st Division renewed attacks in company strength at 03:20 and 04:20 but did not gain further ground.
At dawn on April 18, an additional U.S. rifle company (A Company, 17th Infantry) climbed the hill to reinforce the 2nd battalion companies. Together the three companies spent the bulk of the day clearing the trenches and bunkers of all hiding Chinese and securing the hilltop. The battle ended that afternoon.
UN artillery had fired over 77,000 rounds in support of the three outposts attacked, including nearly 40,000 on Pork Chop Hill alone on April 18; the Chinese expended a similar amount.
Both the Chinese and U.S. infantry assaulted the hill initially under cover of a moonless night. Each used a heavy preparatory artillery barrage to force the defenders to take cover in bunkers and to screen the approach of the attacking troops. Chinese forces used rapid movement and infiltration tactics to close quickly on the trenches and surprise the defenders, while the US forces used small arms fire placed approximately 1 - 2 feet above the ground surface to limit defensive small arms fire, then maneuvered systematically up the hillsides under shellfire. Neither side employed supporting fire from tanks or armored personnel carriers (APC) to protect attacking troops.
Once inside the trench line, troops of both forces were forced to eliminate bunkers individually, using hand grenades, explosive charges, 
and occasionally flame throwers, resulting in heavy casualties to the attackers. For the UN forces, the infiltration of cleared bunkers by bypassed Chinese was a problem throughout the battle and hand-to-hand combat was a frequent occurrence.
Evacuation of casualties was made hazardous by almost continuous artillery fires from both sides. The 7th Infantry Division made extensive use of tracked M-39 APCs to evacuate casualties and to protect troops involved in the resupply of water, rations, and ammunition, losing one during the battle. In addition, the UN forces employed on-call, pre-registered defensive fires called "flash fire" to defend its outposts, in which artillery laid down an almost continuous box barrage in a horseshoe-shaped pattern around the outpost to cover all approaches from the Chinese side of the main line of resistance.
The 7th Infantry Division rebuilt its defenses on Pork Chop Hill in May and June 1953, during a lull in major combat. Final agreements for an armistice were being hammered out and the UN continued its defensive posture all along the MLR, anticipating a cease-fire in place.
On the night of July 6, in the second skirmish, using tactics identical to those in the April assault, the Chinese again attacked Pork Chop. The hill was now held by Company A, 17th Infantry, under the temporary command of 1st Lt. Alton Jr. McElfresh, its executive officer. B Company of the same regiment, in ready reserve behind the adjacent Hill 200, was immediately ordered to assist, but within an hour, A Company reported hand-to-hand combat in the trenches. A major battle was brewing and division headquarters ordered a third company to move up. The battle was fought in a persistent monsoon rain for the first three days, making both resupply and evacuation of casualties difficult. The battle is notable for its extensive use of armored personnel carriers in both these missions.
On the second night, the Chinese made a new push to take the hill, forcing the 7th Division to again reinforce. Parts of four companies defended Pork Chop under a storm of artillery fire from both sides. At the dawn of July 8, the rain temporarily ended and the initial defenders were withdrawn. A fresh battalion, the 2nd Battalion of the 17th, counter-attacked and re-took the hill, setting up a night defensive perimeter.
On both July 9 and July 10, the two sides attacked and counter-attacked. A large part of both Chinese divisions was committed to the battle, and ultimately five battalions of the 17th and 32nd Infantry Regiments were engaged, making nine counter-attacks over four days. On the morning of July 11, the commander of the U.S. I Corps decided to abandon Pork Chop Hill to the Chinese and the 7th Infantry Division withdrew under fire.
Four of the thirteen U.S. company commanders were killed. Total U.S. casualties were 243 killed, 916 wounded, and nine captured. 163 of the dead were never recovered. 
Of the Republic of Korea troops ("KATUSA") attached to the 7th, approximately 15 were killed and 120 wounded. Chinese casualties were estimated at 1,500 dead and 4,000 wounded.
Less than three weeks after the Battle of Pork Chop Hill, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed by the United Nations Command (Korea), Chinese Peoples' Liberation Army, and North Korean Peoples' Army, ending the hostilities.
In 1959 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios released the film ‘Pork Chop Hill' starring Gregory Peck as 1st Lt. Joseph G. Clemons, Jr, Rip Torn as Lt. Walter Russel, and George Peppard as Cpl. Chuck Fedderson. The film is based upon the book by U.S. military historian Brig. Gen. S. L. A. Marshall.
Below is a short piece featuring Peck talking about A.L. Marshall's book as well as clips from the movie.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPaEECzwUxI
Would you like to meet fellow Together We Served members? Our Air Force members have a group that plans a reunion every year at various locations throughout the country. TWS itself has had a yearly reunion for all service branches.
Have you ever thought of having a local TWS event? You would be surprised at how many members live in your area. Many of our members get together for lunch or coffee at least once a month.
Whether it's just for coffee or a big get together for the year, planning is the key.
Big Events
1. Pick the place - When planning a big event, the place is your starting point. You want somewhere with interesting things to do and see. If possible, have at least one event on your calendar that involves history and/or the military. (A tour of a museum, or local historic place.)
2. Find the hotel - Many hotels offer group rates for military functions. Here is where you have to be careful. Before signing any contract with a hotel, understand their booking and cancellation policies. Look for one that will allow you to drop the rooms on hold if they are not filled by a certain time without penalty. Put on hold the least amount you can get away with and still get a good rate. Keep in mind that booking and filling a certain number of rooms will get you free access to a meeting room. If you don't book your quota, you may have to rent the room. Be sure you put on hold at least one handicap accessible room.
When looking for a hotel, it's best to do some recon. If you can't do it yourself, send someone local to talk to the Group Sales Manager and get a tour of the facilities. Take pictures so you can compare them. Does it have a nice restaurant or banquet facilities? Ask to see them. If they are open, have lunch. Test the waters. Does it provide a secure parking garage or lot? Do you have to pay for parking? Does it have free Wi-fi? Are the rooms clean and in good condition? Do you smell mold? Are the grounds easily accessible to someone who may be in a wheelchair or have trouble walking?
3. Something to do - Most TWS events are at least two days long with a group event planned. Look around for something interesting that you think a group of military people would enjoy doing. Historic sites, museums, tours are always a good thing to do but make sure you consider transportation costs and tickets. Check with the location and see if they have group rates. Most museums will provide a guided tour if you go as a group.
4. Banquet or meal - if it's a small group, it's usually easier and less expensive to find a local restaurant that has a nice room for larger groups. If it's a larger group, get the price of the meal set so you can let the members know.
5. Extras- Name tags and souvenirs. Let Admin know how many are going to be in your group and we can get name tags for you. We've also done pens, coffee mugs and challenge coins at past events.
6. Registration Fee - It is up to you if you want to charge a fee to register for the event. It is one way to make sure that any penalties for cancellations don't come out of your pocket.
Small Events
Choose a central location for lunch. Ask members to confirm attendance so you know how many to expect. Make a reservation. Remind members a few days before the event. Make some new friends and have some fun.
Review
"Lucky Hank - A World War II Air Force Navigator" is not a long book. In fact it is only 79 pages in length yet Goldman's precise detail style covers a lot of ground. Like most memoirs, he starts with his enlistment in the U.S. Army Air Force when he was a 20-year-old Pennsylvania college student. For more than a year, he received aviation, navigation and bombardier training. Upon graduation, he pinned on two wings and the gold bars of a newly minted 2nd Lieutenant. He was then assigned as navigator of a six-man B-25 medium bomber crew. After six months of extensive training exercises on operating a B-25, the crew flew across the Pacific to Tacloban, Leyte, the Philippines where they joined the 499th Bombardment Squadron.
A few days after arriving, the crew was briefed on operations and shown a map of all the friendly bases in the area. They were also told to memorize the map as it was a court-martial offense to make a copy. Goldman spent a lot of time becoming familiar with that map knowing it was up to him to guide the aircraft and its crew to the target and back home. Turns out, his keen recollection of the map features - and his extraordinary skills as a navigator - saved the lives of the crew more than once. On their second mission, their starboard engine was hit by enemy ground fire near Bataan. Losing power and unable to return to base, Goldman, recalling the information he had memorized on the map, expertly shepherded the crippled aircraft to a friendly airstrip atop a mountain only he knew existed. The touchdown was difficult, resulting in a crash landing.
Two days later and on another mission, Goldman's aircraft again received enemy fire on their starboard engine and were forced to abandon the mission and return home. When the pilot requested to land, he was told to circle as another plane was already on approach. Certain his disabled plane could not stay in the air much longer and would crash, the concerned pilot headed for the ocean and ditched the plane. Goldman suffered a major back injury in the crash, earning a one-month convalescence leave to a rest center in Sidney, Australia.
After recovering from his back injury, Goldman returned to combat to find his pilot and best friend had been killed on a mission in his absence, one reason he calls himself "Lucky Hank."
In July 1945, Goldman's squadron, along with three others from their bomber group, was moved to Shima Island just west of Okinawa where Goldman got hepatitis. He was evacuated to the general hospital on Saipan. When he returned to his unit six weeks later, he learned the squadron lost about twenty-five percent of its combat personnel - including three aviators with whom he shared the same tent. Sadden by the devastating news, he realized once again just how lucky he really had been.
With the war over and 25 missions completed, including targets in Bataan, Formosa, Indo-China, Philippines, and Okinawa, Goldman returned home on leave. Only a week or so home, his sister introduced Goldman to Sonya "Sunny" Zabludoff. Several days later, Goldman traveled to Indiantown Gap and processed out of the Army. Ten months later Goldman and Sunny were married.
The very last line in his book, Goldman wrote, "I really feel that I have been, and still am, Lucky Hank."
The book is straight forward in its chronological storytelling of Goldman's combat and human interest experiences. Unpretentious, Goldman's modest writing style makes reading the book a pleasure and in so doing, hold the reader's attention right straight to page 79.
Spend a couple of hours reading this book and you will be glad you did.
Reader Reviews
Thank you, Hank, for telling me about ditching in the ocean and saving my father from the sinking B-25 Mitchel Plane.
~Barry
Facing enemy fire and bad weather, Goldman complete 25 missions over Japanese territory and icy oceans. Thanks to his careful record-keeping and the memories he shared, we can re-live each harrowing flight of him and his crew. A gripping read.
~Robert Deeds
About the Author
Jacob Henry (Hank) Goldman was born in Philadelphia, Penn in 1922. He flew twenty-five combat missions in World War II as an Army Air Corps Navigator in a B-25 Mitchell medium bomber. Twice his aircraft was hit by enemy fire and forced down.
In 1946 he was married to Sonya "Sunny" Zabludoff and they moved to New York. He was active in the textile industry until 1985 when he and Sunny moved to Boca Raton, Fla. Together they had a son and daughter.
In 2005 he lost his beloved Sunny to an incurable brain disorder after 59 years of marriage.
http://www.amazon.com/Lucky-Hank-World-Force-Navigator/dp/1452853967/ref=cm_cr_pr_pl_footer_top?ie=UTF8
