Senior Chief Petty Officer Douglas "Mike" Day was the first to breach a small room while on a house raid in Iraq's Anbar Province in April 2007. The moment he walked in, he felt like a sledgehammer hit him.
It was the first of many bullets he would take in the next few minutes. The entire gunfight was about to take place inside of a 12-foot room.
Day and his fellow U.S. Navy SEALs were tasked with taking down a terror cell run by al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the group that years later would morph into the Islamic State. With them was a team of Iraqi scouts on the hunt for a high-value target inside an AQI terror cell. They had shot down a pair of American helicopters, killing everyone aboard.
To catch him, they were raiding a suspect's house at night. This particular house they were raiding was full of enemy insurgents. The room he just entered contained three of those insurgents. They opened fire on him as soon as he entered the room. The gunfire hit his rifle, knocking it out of his hand.
"After I realized that I actually was getting shot, my second thought was, ‘God get me home to my girls, and then extreme anger," Day told Fox News in a 2014 interview. "Then I just went to work. It was muscle memory. I just did what I was trained to do."
Taken aback but still on his feet, he returned fire and dropped the man who had just shot him. The other two terrorists began firing at Day. One of them dropped a grenade as the SEAL shot him too. The explosion stunned Senior Chief Day, briefly knocking him unconscious.
His fellow SEALs hadn't seen him enter the room, so they didn't know where he was or why he wasn't answering calls on the radio.
As Senior Chief Day woke up, he saw the two remaining terrorists firing at his fellow SEALs in another room. He began firing at them from 10 feet away. When they turned and shot back at him, they hit him and the magazine well on his weapon. Day was able to clear his weapon and keep firing, killing both insurgents.
The body armor worn by the SEALs that night was designed to stop the impact from a 7.62mm round, the ammunition used in the AK-47. This rifle is the most commonly used weapon by insurgent groups in Iraq and elsewhere.
The ceramic armor plating stops bullets by shattering the ceramic and spreading the kinetic energy, thus the bullet's penetrating power. After one hit, a shattered plate shouldn't stop more bullets, and any round after the first one should have killed him. Day pressed on.
He managed to draw his sidearm and finish off the last insurgent in the room. Day finished the raid, directed three scouts to certain positions in the house. With the house cleared and the mission finished, he walked back to the helicopter to be evacuated to a hospital.
When all was said and done, Mike Day had been shot 27 times. A full 16 of those rounds were found in his legs, arms, groin, buttocks, and abdomen. Only 11 hit him in his body armor. The fragmentation from the grenade was also lodged in his body and armor.
"I mean, you throw a finger on me, anywhere except my head, and I got shot there," told CBN in an interview.
Senior Chief Day spent two weeks recovering from his most serious wounds, losing 55 pounds in the process. It would take another two years to recover from the wounds he sustained that night completely.
For his performance in the raid, despite all the wounds he sustained, he was awarded the Silver Star:
"Despite multiple gunshot wounds, he continued to engage the enemy, transitioning to his pistol after the loss of his primary weapon, eliminating three enemy personnel without injury to the women and children in close proximity to the enemy personnel. Additionally, his decisive leadership and mental clarity in the face of his injuries ensured the success of the mission, which resulted in the destruction of four enemy personnel and the recovery of sensitive United States military equipment and valuable intelligence concerning enemy activity in the area."
Unfortunately, Day wasn't the only casualty on that raid. Another SEAL died of a gunshot wound to the neck, and two Iraqi scouts were hit in the chest and died.
"People hear my story, and they can't believe it," Day said. "I was there, and I can't believe it."
Day was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury from the incident. He would retire after 21 years in the Navy. In his post-military years, Mike Day spends his time working as an advocate for wounded warriors and those suffering from PTSD for the U.S. Special Operations Command. He also raises funds for brain injury treatment programs.
In the early days of the Korean War, things looked pretty bleak for the American and South Korean forces in the Korean Peninsula. The sudden Communist advance across the 38th parallel took the allies by complete surprise, and despite stiff resistance, North Korean troops almost pushed the U.S. and South Korea into the Sea of Japan.
Those defenders fell back into a 140-mile battle line around the port city of Pusan (now Busan) at the southeastern tip of the peninsula. They determined that this Pusan Perimeter would be their last stand until they were either relieved or overrun.
For six weeks, the Americans and South Koreans held out until reinforcements could be brought en masse. After landing a large force in the North Korean rear at Inchon, the besieged troops inside the perimeter broke out of the line and sent the Communists scrambling back to the North Korean border - and beyond.
On June 25, 1950, North Korea decided to take advantage of the post-World War II drawdown of American forces in the Pacific region. With the strongest American presence being all the way in Japan, the Communists sent 89,000 troops in six columns across the 38th parallel, the postwar border between North and South Korea.
Caught completely by surprise, 38,000 South Korean defenders were neutralized almost immediately. Pockets of resistance were crushed in the initial North Korean advance. The U.S. Army's 24th Infantry Division was immediately ordered from Japan to Korea to help stop the bleeding, but they were still outnumbered.
As North Korea's Korean People's Army (KPA) advanced, allied resistance toughened, but it would not be enough to stop the KPA completely. However, the increasing resistance bought the allies time to disrupt the North Korean movement and took a heavy toll on the KPA's numbers.
It cost the Communists, 58,000 men to push the allies to Pusan. They would have to use untrained conscripts and green soldiers to continue, which would prove critical in defense of Pusan's 140-mile front.
The United Nations also voted to intervene in Korea, proving pivotal in pushing the North Koreans back. With the Pusan Perimeter in place, the allies fought the Communists back as they waited for help from abroad.
During this time, the North Koreans didn't help themselves much. Their own supply lines were stretched thin with their quick advance across the peninsula. To recoup the loss in manpower, it took to push the defenders to Pusan; they raised 13 infantry divisions of inexperienced troops to face a firm allied defensive line.
By July 1950, the Republic of Korea (the South Koreans, also known as ROKs) had taken some 70,000 casualties. At the line, 70,000 KPA soldiers and 40 Soviet-built T-34 tanks faced down an estimated 47,000 American ground troops and another 45,000 ROK soldiers.
But the UN forces had complete control of the seas around the peninsula and complete air superiority. Ships from the Royal Navy and British Commonwealth countries provided naval support.
The Pusan Perimeter itself was bounded on either side by large bodies of water, with the Sea of Japan to the east and the Naktong River to the west. Punch through the line required the KPA to traverse difficult mountainous terrain in the thick summer weather. There would be no more retreat for the United Nations forces.
In August 1950, the North Koreans advanced on the Pusan Perimeter in four separate locations; Masan and Naktong in the south, Taegu in the north, and Kyongju in the east.
At Masan, Task Force Kean met the KPA in three days of heavy fighting and managed to capture Chondong-ni, but a Communist counterattack with T-34 tanks wiped out American artillery units in the area. Marine Corps tanks responded in force, but the Americans were forced to withdraw to Masan, giving up all the ground they'd retaken.
In Naktong, the Communists managed to cross the Naktong River and advance between the American lines. This attack caught the U.S. forces by surprise, and the KPA made some quick initial gains. American forces pushed them back across the river within seven days. The North Koreans retreated in such a hurry; they left behind their artillery, which the Americans quickly turned on them.
Around P'ohang-dong, Taegu, and elsewhere, the fighting raged in a similar fashion. American planners failed to anticipate the North Koreans' ability to cross rivers effectively and were often caught unprepared for the KPA advance. But even where the Communists had the superiority in numbers, they only had 70,000 troops along the entire perimeter.
The North Koreans made more than a half-dozen river crossings to penetrate the Pusan Perimeter but were repelled, scattered, or annihilated within days - and sometimes hours - of the allies' response. Many times, UN naval bombardment and aerial support were the critical factors in pushing back the KPA advance.
Even in areas where North Korea massed its most experienced and well-supplied troops, they were unable to face down a force of U.S. Army and ROK soldiers and the United States Marines supplied by air and supported by naval guns and aerial bombing.
By the end of August, the Communist forces were in desperate need of supplies. The U.S. and UN air forces were wreaking havoc on transportation hubs and other military centers in their rear, and UN forces were massing all along the Pusan Perimeter. Moreover, they had taken tank losses in numbers they could not afford.
Its last-ditch effort to push the Americans into the sea came after dark on August 31st and in the early morning hours of the next day to negate UN naval and air supremacy. A total of 13 divisions pushed nearly simultaneously at five points along the fighting line, in what the North called "The Great Naktong Offensive."
Once again, the UN forces were caught by surprise, believing that North Korea no longer had the ability to mount such an offensive. From September 1st to September 8th, the KPA forced the United Nations troops to desperately defend the perimeter. The line was stretched thin and mobile reserves had to be moved all along the lines to control the incoming invaders' ebb and flow.
The Communist offensive managed to break through the line but never effectively broke out in any single area. It forced the 8th Army headquarters in Taegu to fall back to Pusan, and it forced the Army to form another fallback position. By the 8th of September, however, it was apparent the Pusan Perimeter would hold.
On Sept. 15, Gen. Douglas MacArthur landed 40,000 allied infantry far behind the perimeter at the port city of Inchon. With their supply lines decimated, amasses a group of fresh troops behind the perimeter, and now 40,000 UN troops in their rear, the North Korean People's Army fell apart.
The remaining North Korean troops hightailed it from Pusan to the 38th parallel, being chased by UN forces along the way.
On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces launched Operation Overlord, the largest and most complex amphibious landing in history until that point. Invading Hitler's Fortress Europe was no small matter, even with all the preparations and forethought Allied planners made in advance of the landings.
In the years and decades that followed, D-Day became one of the most thoroughly studied and documented events of World War II. Still, it seems like more and more personal stories, fascinating accounts, and even urban legends from the invasion emerge every day.
Only those who were there can really know what it was like to hit the beach that day. But given recollections from veterans, photos and film reel taken that day, and Steven Spielberg's realistic depiction of the event in the 1998 film "Saving Private Ryan," we have a pretty good idea of what it looked like.
So it's all the more shocking to hear the legend of the Scottish soldier who walked up and down Sword Beach playing the bagpipes - and survived.
The truth is that it really happened. As the sounds of artillery exploded around them, as bullets whizzed by and the general din of combat echoed all around him, Private Bill Millin of the British 1st Special Service Brigade filled the air with the sounds of his bagpipes.
Millin landed on Sword Beach at 0820 local time and waded to shore as his fellow commandos fell to the heavy machine-gun fire from the defenders' many pillboxes. The 21-year-old private, wearing a ceremonial dagger and his father's World War I-era kilt, pulled out his pipes while he was still in waist-deep water.
He serenaded an assault force made up of British troops, along with Free French Forces, Polish and Norwegian troops, with a stirring rendition of Hielan' Laddie, a regimental march but also a popular Scottish folk song.
The private wasn't crazy or eccentric; he was acting on orders. They were illegal orders, but those were his orders nonetheless.
Bagpipers being used in combat had been banned during World War II, as the pipers used in World War I suffered an astronomically high casualty rate. They made themselves easy targets in the trenches of the First World War, with the sound giving away their positions.
Millin's commanding officer was Brig. Gen. Simon Fraser, Chief of the Clan Fraser and the 15th Lord Lovat. Knowing Pvt. Millin had been a bagpiper since the age of 12 and was in his outfit; Fraser appointed the young man as his personal piper. He ordered Millin to play the pipes for landing forces.
When he pointed out that bagpipers were forbidden by British Army regulations, Fraser wrote off the regs, telling Millin, "Ah, but that's the English War Office. You and I are both Scottish, and that doesn't apply."
For the troops in the landing craft, the bagpiper's music was what we would call a "Force Multiplier" these days. Morale among the men was lifted along with their spirits, and for Millin, it allowed him to concentrate on something other than the seasickness and death that swirled around him on the beach.
As Millin played, bullets seemed to go right around him, his fellow troops waved him on, and the legend of the "Mad Piper of Normandy" was born.
It was those bagpipes that likely saved his life. An estimated 4,400 Allied troops fell on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, but Millin walked away physically unharmed. Pvt. Millin continued to play the pipes as the combined force took the beach and began to move inland, stopping only a handful of times.
As his unit moved, they were decimated by German sniper fire. When asked why they didn't target the piper after the battle, German snipers said they didn't shoot him because they thought he was either insane or an idiot.
He played throughout the day on June 6, as his unit moved to link up with British paratroopers who had landed earlier in the evening. Millin continued to play into the following day but was forced to stop when shrapnel tore through the instrument. He would find another set of pipes later in the war and play those until they were damaged too.
Millin lived to see the end of the war and donated both sets of pipes to museums. He lived until the age of 88. Complications from a stroke finally took down "the Mad Piper" in 2010.
Despite the escalating commitment of US military consultants, Special Forces, and other resources beginning in 1955, by 1964, the Vietnam Conflict was going poorly for South Vietnamese forces. More to the point, enemy tactics were not well understood, leaving the military without an effective response. Then in February 1965, an Army helicopter accidentally discovered Communist forces infiltrating coastal and interior waterways to supply what would turn out to be one-third of all men and arms. In response, the U.S. “Gulf of Tonkin” resolution authorized on April 29, 1965, empowered President Johnson to wage all-out war against North Vietnam, that same day committing the Coast Guard to wartime service for the first time since World War II and giving birth to USCG Squadron One. Serving with distinction until the eventual transfer of Squadron assets to the Republic of Vietnam in 1970, the squadron thwarted enemy infiltrations and earned multiple combat commendations but is perhaps better known for heroism as the unwitting victim of a friendly fire engagement.
Squadron One's story began with a collaboration between the Secretary of the Navy and Treasury Department officials (responsible for peacetime Coast Guard operations) based on the need to halt enemy waterway infiltrations. The Navy had contrived Operation Market Time for this purpose, a mission ideally suited for Coast Guard assets utilizing larger, 82-foot Point Class cutters along the coast and smaller, more rapid River Patrol Boats inland. Squadron One was conceived to execute coastal operations comprised of twenty-six cutters and organized into three divisions, 11, 12, and 13.
Division 11 - Point Young, Point Glover, Point Garnet, Point Clear, Point Mast, Point Comfort, Point Grey, Point Banks, Point Marone
Division 12 - Point Caution, Point Arden, Point Orient, Point Lomas, Point Dume, Point Gammon, Point Welcome, Point Ellis
Division 13 - Point League, Point Partridge, Point Jefferson, Point White, Point Slocum, Point Kennedy, Point Hudson, Point Grace, Point Cypress
Racing to turn the tide of war, in April 1965, both Coast Guard personnel and ships were transferred to operational control of the Navy, though both required a significant makeover. Originally built for the purpose of search and rescue operations and law enforcement, the ships initially accommodated a crew of eight and sported unmistakable Coast Guard colors and markings. While the boats underwent retrofit to handle an expanded crew of thirteen, communication systems, and enhanced firepower (four M2 machine guns and mortars), sailors underwent extensive stateside training involving weapons systems, survival training, patrol procedures, combat indoctrination, and a variety of related subjects.
Ultimately, Squadron One was commissioned at the Alameda, California Coast Guard base on May 27th with the Point Class ships then transported to Subic Bay, the Philippines, to reunite with their crews. After further training and two-week sea trials, by the end of July Divisions, 11 and 12 were operationally combat-ready and reported to their duty stations at An Thoi and Da Nang, respectively. Similarly, in February 1966, Division 13 arrived at its duty station at Cat Lo.
Upon arrival, the Point Class cutters began combat patrols to enforce the intended blockade of the coast and interior shoreline. The Operation Market Time rules of engagement allowed any vessel except warships to be stopped, boarded, and searched within three miles of the coastline, and from three to twelve miles offshore, both identification and a declaration of intent could be demanded. Outside the twelve-mile limit, only vessels of South Vietnamese origin could be stopped, boarded, and searched. Overflying the whole area were Navy aircraft flying predetermined tracks and reporting any traffic to five Coastal Surveillance Centers. Reported movements by suspicious vessels were relayed to the nearest patrol boats whose duty it was to search for contraband and persons without proper identification.
Almost immediately, while attempting to board a trawler Point Orient, came under fire from several shore batteries. By returning fire, the crew became the first Coast Guard unit to engage the enemy in Vietnam, but further, this encounter led to Coast Guard boats being painted deck gray to increase the effectiveness of night operations but eliminating easy visual identification.
By September 1965, the Squadron hit its stride, and in a single day, Point Glover made the first capture of a Vietcong junk while later that same day assisting Point Marone in a second seizure. In both cases, the Viet Cong refused boarding, opened fire, and after combat engagements caught fire and sunk in shallow waters. Subsequent salvage recovered rifles, ammunition, hand grenades, documents, and money. But, despite the success of these and similar engagements, the crews could not foresee what 1966 would bring…or from where.
Beginning in late February 1966 and extending into April, the Navy implemented Operation Jackstay, an effort to deny food, water, and ammunition to VC operating in the Rung Sat Special Zone. With increased Coast Guard patrols, enemy activity escalated, bringing non-stop ground fire from VC shore locations and the most intense naval combat operations of the war. Following the completion of Jackstay, trawler incursions continued with armaments now measured in tons, and USCG cutters found themselves teaming with other ships (e.g., the destroyer escort USS Briter and destroyer USS Hoverfield), together with Air Force jets to attack enemy vessels and shoreline installations. Unwittingly, this and other developments over the prior year led, in part, to a truly tragic friendly fire event.
On August 11, 1966, Poin
t Welcome was patrolling immediately south of the Demilitarized Zone. At 03:40, the cutter was mistaken by an Air Force Forward Controller as an enemy vessel, resulting in a B-57 and two F-4 fighters being redirected from an attack on several VC trawlers just north of point Welcome's position. The Officer of the Deck (OOD), LTJG Ross Bell, and Junior OOD Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Mark Mckenney watched as enemy boats were assaulted in the distance, but as Point Welcome began to steam south, the jets engaged in illuminating and repeatedly strafing the cutter. The ensuing hailstorm of 20 mm bullets ignited a fire on the fantail, killed the Captain (LTJG David Bostrom) and Engineman Second Class, Jerry Phillips, severely wounded the OOD and nine others. From the outset of the attack, Chief Boatswain's Mate Richard Patterson took command to extinguish fires, radio the attack, lead the crew in caring for the injured, and initiate defensive maneuvers. While the pilots began bombing runs, earlier radio calls were relayed to the Air Force and terminated the attack, but Point Welcome's hell was not yet over. Believing the hull had been breached, Patterson gently beached the cutter, paired able-bodied sailors with the wounded, and ordered abandon ship. As rubber boats approached the beach, machine-gun fire erupted from shore. Unbelievably, Vietnamese forces located north of the cutter mistook them for VC while Viet Cong forces to the south properly identified Point Welcome as American, catching the crew in a deadly crossfire. With Point Orient and Point Caution arriving to effect rescue operations in response to earlier radio calls, survivors were pulled from the water.
The horror experienced by the crew of Point Welcome is amplified by the friendly fire component of that combat, not once but twice. The mere notion of lives lost to misidentification and failed communication protocols, bad intel, assumptions, failed training…, or countless other sources give us pause and often evokes avoidance behavior that clouds the valor and leadership demonstrated by those involved. Tragic as it is, friendly fire has been documented involving all conflicts and nations, predating the American Revolution and beyond, though realistically underreported. In one example, a World war II occurrence came to light only after a pilot's death in the 1990s when it was revealed in his last will and testimony. Comparatively speaking, World War II demonstrates the highest known instance of friendly fire (88), followed by the War in Afghanistan (27), World War I (17), Vietnam War (15), Iraq War (14), and the Persian Gulf War (10). For his actions and heroism on August 11th, Chief Patterson was awarded a Bronze Star with the combat "V" device.
The balance of Squadron One's time in-country was comprised largely of defending the US blockade, rescuing downed airmen, providing emergency medical aid, and conducting goodwill campaigns with Vietnamese villages. In early 1968 enemy incursions and combat, activity peaked as Viet Cong forces bolstered the failing Tet Offensive but afterward settled to a level sustainable by RVN forces. Accordingly, Squadron One began training initiatives leading to the eventual transfer of Coast Guard cutters to the Vietnamese Navy in April 1970. During Squadron One's five years of service, the success of the blockade served to change the dynamics of the Vietnam War, forcing the North Vietnamese to use a more costly and time-consuming route down the Ho Chi Minh trail to supply their forces. In doing so, Squadron One boats cruised over four million miles, inspected over 280,000 vessels, and earned 9 Presidential Unit Citations, 3 Navy Unit Commendations, 18 Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations, Vietnam Service Medal, 26 Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, and 26 Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medals.
Retired Army Col. Ralph Puckett waited more than 70 years to receive the nation's highest award for combat valor. And when he got word that he'd be presented with the Medal of Honor, he questioned why the White House would go to all the trouble of presenting it to him.
"I understand that your first response to us hosting this event was to ask 'why all the fuss ... can't they just mail it to me?'" President Joe Biden quipped at Friday's presentation ceremony. "I'm incredibly proud to give Col. Ralph Puckett's acts of valor the full recognition they have always deserved."
On Nov. 25, 1950, then-1st Lt. Ralph Puckett Jr. exposed himself to enemy machine guns, effectively using himself as bait to enable his Army Rangers to spot their locations. That evening, he led his 51-man company in defending against hundreds of Chinese soldiers who attacked their position for hours.
Puckett repeatedly left the safety of his foxhole to spot the enemy and direct artillery fire, sometimes calling in "danger close" attacks, meaning he was ordering them to drop bombs close to his own position to keep the Chinese assault at bay.
In doing so, he was wounded several times and eventually was unable to move. Fearing their position was about to be overrun, Puckett ordered his men to fall back and leave him behind so as not to slow them down. Two privates, Billy G. Walls and David L. Pollock ignored his order and carried him to safety.
"This is an honor that was long overdue," Biden said. "More than 70 years overdue."
According to the White House, Puckett's Medal of Honor ceremony was unique in that it was the first to be attended by a foreign world leader. Biden welcomed South Korean President Moon Jae-in to highlight the alliance between the two nations and discuss a wide variety of topics, and to hold a joint press conference.
"Col. Puckett is a true hero of the Korean War," Moon said in remarks during the ceremony. "Without the sacrifice of veterans including Col. Puckett, [the] freedom and democracy we enjoy today couldn't have blossomed in Korea."
Puckett was pushed in a wheelchair to a stage at the East Room at the White House to receive the medal. Two young Army officers initially stood beside him, supporting him as he stood for Biden's remarks. But when the citation was read, he stood up on his own. A soldier quickly retrieved a walker for him to hold onto, but he pushed it away. Puckett wore the Army's new Green Service Uniform, sporting his other awards, including five Purple Hearts.
Puckett, 94, was originally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions leading the 8th Army Ranger Company on Hill 205, just 60 miles from the Chinese border. He received a call from Biden last month, informing him that his DSC would be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
"It was quite a shock," Puckett said in a call with reporters Thursday. "I was surprised I received a call from the president. I never thought he'd be calling to speak to me. I was surprised by how humble and ordinary he sounded."
Puckett noted the huge gravity of earning the Medal of Honor. Some previous recipients have called the award a burden or felt undeserving of the prestige.
"I'm certainly honored," he added. "The people who earned that medal are the Rangers who did more than I asked. I think it's important for them. They're the ones who did the job; they did the fighting and suffered."
Puckett had a 22-year career that included a second Distinguished Service Cross and two Silver Stars in Vietnam. He earned five Purple Hearts across the two wars, as well as two Bronze Stars with a "V" device for valor. He retired as a colonel in 1971. He is an "honorary colonel" for the 75th Ranger Regiment and is a frequent speaker for the Army. He regularly meets with Rangers at Fort Benning, Georgia.
- Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.comSteve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.
The Witness to War Foundation (www.WitnessToWar.org) is an Atlanta-based, non-profit organization, which conducts video interviews with combat veterans from every branch of service, conflict, and theater; including medical personnel and civilians who have wartime experiences to share. These interviews began with WWII veterans in 2001 and have expanded to include veterans from even the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The idea behind the project is to help the general public understand, as much as possible, what it was like to “be there,” and to instill a sense of appreciation for the sacrifices of our servicemen and women. These interviews are conducted free-of-charge for the veterans and their families, and each veteran receives copies of their interview to keep.
The organization has conducted nearly 3,000 interviews, and the website boasts over 7,000 individual stories edited from the longer interviews. The Witness to War team travels across the country meeting with veterans, speaking to educational groups and historians, and working alongside museum curators. The program also collects written materials, such as combat logs, diaries, and memoirs, along with in-theater photographs.
If you or someone you know has an interest in participating in this program, please reach out to the Director, Emily Carley, via email: emily@witnesstowar.org.
You can also follow along with Witness to War on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WitnessToWar
Twitter: @WitnessToWar
Emily Carley | Director | Witness to War Foundation
Preserving & Sharing the Oral Histories of Combat Veterans
Technically, United States Marines are always on Team USA, but Staff Sgt. John Stefanowicz will represent his country this summer at the Tokyo Olympics. He'll be the first wrestler from the Marine Corps shooting for Olympic gold since 1992.
Stefanowicz didn't wrestle in high school or college, so he wasn't an award-winning wrestler before joining the Marines. He couldn't qualify for state tournaments, and college programs didn't want him. So he joined the Marines and sharpened his skills with the All-Marine Wrestling Team, a Greco-Roman team that trains for competition year-round.
Stefanowicz's work over the years led him to earn one of the 15 wrestling spots on the U.S. Olympic Team. According to the Jacksonville Daily News, he's also the best American wrestler in his 87-kilogram (191.5-pound) weight class. Stefanowicz was just one year old the last time a Marine went to the Olympics. That Marine was Buddy Lee, who finished sixth in the Barcelona Games.
"It feels so much bigger, seeing my team and my family and wife and brothers and sisters in the stands. I never thought I'd be here," he told the North Carolina newspaper. “I never thought in a million years I thought I'd wake up and say, 'I'm an Olympian.'"
After joining the Corps as an imagery analysis specialist, Stefanowicz, 30, put on 70 pounds, grew to 5 feet, 10 inches, and started wrestling again. By 2017, he was competing in world-class wrestling events.
In true Marine Corps fashion, he says he couldn't have done it alone. He credits his teammates for their support, along with All-Marine Wrestling Team head coach Jason Loukides. Stefanowicz called him “the best coach in America."
To qualify for the games, Stefanowicz won three consecutive matches at the USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 2, 2021. One match was against 2020 Team USA wrestler Joe Rau, who will join Stefanowicz in Tokyo.
Around 288 wrestlers will compete at the 2020 Olympics this year, which were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are scheduled to be held July 23-Aug. 8. Wrestlers compete in men's and women's divisions and in two styles: freestyle and Greco-Roman.
Stefanowicz will wrestle in the Greco-Roman style, where wrestlers can use only their arms and upper bodies to attack, and they only can use those parts in holds. Team USA is considered one of the world's best teams, along with Russia, Iran, and Mongolia.
While wrestling, Stefanowicz raises two children with his wife, is working on a college degree, and does intelligence work with the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune, NC.
"Just adversity and having enough grit to get through it," Stefanowicz said in a USA Wrestling interview. "I've been dealing with it since I was a kid. It's one of those things. The more something breaks down, as long as you keep getting back up, it's going to make you stronger. At this point, I feel unstoppable."
On the 26th February 2021, Air Combat Command's A-10 Demonstration Team took to social media to share the first images of their latest specially painted aircraft.
The design honors all the "Vietnam War Prisoners of War, Missing in Action and Veterans". Tail number 81-0962 could be seen out in the Arizona sunshine, resplendent in her new South East Asia (SEA) camouflage scheme, representative of what was worn by many types during the Vietnam War and beyond.
We caught up with digital aviation artist Ryan Dorling to discuss his involvement in the project to create the flying memorial, a process that began in November 2019 when he was contacted "out of the blue".
Designing a paint scheme for a military aircraft is a unique process and requires great attention to detail. Ryan, the owner of Ryan Dorling Military Litho Prints, had his name was put forward by a member of the Demo Team. He told Square D Aviation that he thought that it would be a design for the tails of the aircraft, however, "the mind kicked in" when "Shiv said that they would like a full paint scheme."
This is when work on the design commenced.
The A-10 Demo Team belongs to the 355th Wing, based at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ - a unit that is shrouded in a rich history. Remembering the past is vital for civilians and military units alike.
It is in this spirit that Ryan tells us "they wanted to celebrate and commemorate the unit's Vietnam Heritage."
This included remembering the 355th Wing's 354th and 357th Fighter Squadrons, who "both flew F-105 Thunderchiefs out of Thailand during the Vietnam Conflict".
Starting life as the 355th Fighter Group on the 12th November 1942 at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida, the unit went on to move to Steeple Morden, England just under a year later in September 1943. Here it became fully operational comprising of three Squadrons - including the two we see today.
After logging over 17,000 sorties and destroying more than 860 enemy aircraft, the Group was deactivated in November 1946. Following a short operational period in 1955 for three years, the unit was reinstated as the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) on the 1st April 1962. After a brief period at George AFB, California, they began operating the Republic F-105 Thunderchief from McConnell AFB, Kansas.
By 1965, the 355th had moved to Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, where they would remain for five years. In this time they flew more than 101,000 combat hours, operating over Laos and North Vietnam. The unit was involved in air-to-air combat, strike missions and armed reconnaissance - delivering in excess of 200,000 tons of munitions in pursuit of over 12,500 targets. They became highly decorated as a result and received three Presidential Citations plus the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.
Roland Heatly was an Aircraft Electrical Repairman Technician on F-105s whilst the 355th were assigned to Takhli from December 1969 until the wing's deactivation in 1970.
"After launching the B-66 aircraft to Korat RTAFB in August 1970, we launched the last F-105 squadrons to various bases within SEA and stateside".
"When the Wing colors were retired, a 12 unit flight performed a flyover".
The 355th reactivated in 1971 but were now assigned to Tactical Air Command, operating the A-7D Corsair from Korat RTAFB. In 1974 they withdrew, offering up their Corsairs to the Air National Guard and equipping with the A-10 Thunderbolt II. Having redesignated as the 355th Tactical Training Wing in 1979, they trained pilots for USAF A-10 squadrons around the world.
By 1992 the unit had returned to Fighter Wing status, becoming the 355th Wing in January 2019 as a result of realignment. The 354th and 357th Fighter Squadrons still operate the A-10, the latter continuing the training role.
So, as an aviation enthusiast, what did Ryan want to see?
"It needed to look authentic to an F-105" which he said, "lends itself to my job as an aviation artist".
This meant that whilst focussing on the F-105 type design, it was key to remember that "the aircraft is still an A-10" and thus subtle details, such as the 'Star and Bar' were kept in place. This ensured it remained "pleasing to the eye and not strange or out of place".
Ryan points out that he used the team's previous demo jet (80-0275), which depicts a USAAF P-51 Mustang, as a reference when designing the SEA livery.
He identified that "USAAF P-51s had large insignias on the fuselage. Therefore, #275's design, "with the star and bar depicted large on the engine", fits well "with the representation of the Mustang". So for Ryan, keeping the insignia where it is worn by standard A-10s matches that of the SEA painted F-105s, something he feels "fits perfectly".
So speaking of the other jet, how did tail #962 become chosen as this year's display aircraft?
"The jet is chosen based on the hours the jet has left to fly prior to heading for depot maintenance".
Despite there being over a year from the beginning of the project to its unveiling, Ryan tells us that he "finished the scheme very quickly in one evening". Feeling lucky that the team loved the design, he admits that "only one sample was produced, with the MIA/KIA/POW names and squadron badges added by the team as a finishing touch".
All projects come with their own quirks and challenges. For Ryan, the biggest was when he "had to produce the top view, as the scheme needed to match up with the side profiles". This was essential to ensure that nothing was out of place for the team responsible for painting the
aircraft.
We asked Ryan for a final reflection on the project. He said:
"It was a huge privilege and great experience to design this paint scheme, but on reflection, I feel the most important thing is what [the jet] means to not only the Demo Team but to the Vietnam Veterans. I hope that everyone enjoys the paint scheme and the great demonstration that “Gator” will perform in the jet".
Despite not having any plans at present, Ryan states that he has "really enjoyed this process and would definitely do it again" - and we agree he would be a fantastic choice for anyone looking to design a special paint scheme.
In 2007, Iraq was mired in a nearly country-wide civil war. The United States military needed Iraqis to help them quell the violence between Sunni and Shia militias who were tearing the country apart and ambushing American troops.
Bodies were turning up in the streets overnight, IEDs were a constant threat to U.S. forces, and innocent civilians were caught in the crossfire. Thousands of Iraqis, most with no military training, risked their lives to be interpreters for American military units throughout the country.
Their services proved invaluable in the years to come, and they became part of the “family” of the American men and women with whom they served. At home, however, they and their close relatives faced violence, death threats, and other reprisals for aiding the United States. Death Squads roamed the streets and raided homes to find, intimidate and kill Iraqi interpreters.
To incentivize Iraqis to continue their service, Congress authorized special visas for interpreters and at-risk family members who aided U.S. troops. In 2007, that help was not coming fast enough.
Col. Steve Miska and the Army's 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division - also known as the Dagger Brigade - created a way to funnel at-risk translators from Baghdad to Amman in neighboring Jordan. Miska's new book, “Baghdad Underground Railroad: Saving American Allies in Iraq,” recounts that effort.
Dozens of Iraqi interpreters escaped through the Dagger Brigade's modern-day underground railroad, escaping the Death Squads and arriving in the safety of the Jordanian capital. The book also offers a detailed explanation of just how these interpreters helped U.S. troops, how close they got to the troops with which they served, and the troubles they still face as they wait for their special visas to clear so they and their families can enter the United States.
The withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is renewing the urgency of bringing these interpreters home to the country for which they served in combat - unarmed - for years on end. “Baghdad Underground Railroad” is a stunning book that highlights why the U.S. needs to help these men and women who risked their lives because they believed in the promise of America.
American men and women who served with them are pushing harder and harder for the U.S. government to speed up the process of approving the 100,000 Iraqi interpreters and at-risk family members and the 70,000 interpreters and family members waiting in Afghanistan.
Col. Steve Miska is a retired U.S. Army officer with 25 years of service. He was the Director of Iraq on President Obama's National Security Council before retiring in 2015. Since then, he's been a leading advocate for foreign military interpreters and other American allies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Baghdad Underground Railroad: Saving American Allies in Iraq is available on Amazon in hardcover for $32.00, paperback for $15.35, or for the Amazon Kindle Reader for $9.99
Day and his fellow U.S. Navy SEALs were tasked with taking down a terror cell run by al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), the group that years later would morph into the Islamic State. With them was a team of Iraqi scouts on the hunt for a high-value target inside an AQI terror cell. They had shot down a pair of American helicopters, killing everyone aboard. 
As Senior Chief Day woke up, he saw the two remaining terrorists firing at his fellow SEALs in another room. He began firing at them from 10 feet away. When they turned and shot back at him, they hit him and the magazine well on his weapon. Day was able to clear his weapon and keep firing, killing both insurgents. 
When all was said and done, Mike Day had been shot 27 times. A full 16 of those rounds were found in his legs, arms, groin, buttocks, and abdomen. Only 11 hit him in his body armor. The fragmentation from the grenade was also lodged in his body and armor. 
Those defenders fell back into a 140-mile battle line around the port city of Pusan (now Busan) at the southeastern tip of the peninsula. They determined that this Pusan Perimeter would be their last stand until they were either relieved or overrun. 
It cost the Communists, 58,000 men to push the allies to Pusan. They would have to use untrained conscripts and green soldiers to continue, which would prove critical in defense of Pusan's 140-mile front. 
In August 1950, the North Koreans advanced on the Pusan Perimeter in four separate locations; Masan and Naktong in the south, Taegu in the north, and Kyongju in the east. 
By the end of August, the Communist forces were in desperate need of supplies. The U.S. and UN air forces were wreaking havoc on transportation hubs and other military centers in their rear, and UN forces were massing all along the Pusan Perimeter. Moreover, they had taken tank losses in numbers they could not afford. 
In the years and decades that followed, D-Day became one of the most thoroughly studied and documented events of World War II. Still, it seems like more and more personal stories, fascinating accounts, and even urban legends from the invasion emerge every day. 
Bagpipers being used in combat had been banned during World War II, as the pipers used in World War I suffered an astronomically high casualty rate. They made themselves easy targets in the trenches of the First World War, with the sound giving away their positions. 
It was those bagpipes that likely saved his life. An estimated 4,400 Allied troops fell on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, but Millin walked away physically unharmed. Pvt. Millin continued to play the pipes as the combined force took the beach and began to move inland, stopping only a handful of times. 
Squadron One's story began with a collaboration between the Secretary of the Navy and Treasury Department officials (responsible for peacetime Coast Guard operations) based on the need to halt enemy waterway infiltrations. The Navy had contrived Operation Market Time for this purpose, a mission ideally suited for Coast Guard assets utilizing larger, 82-foot Point Class cutters along the coast and smaller, more rapid River Patrol Boats inland. Squadron One was conceived to execute coastal operations comprised of twenty-six cutters and organized into three divisions, 11, 12, and 13.
t Welcome was patrolling immediately south of the Demilitarized Zone. At 03:40, the cutter was mistaken by an Air Force Forward Controller as an enemy vessel, resulting in a B-57 and two F-4 fighters being redirected from an attack on several VC trawlers just north of point Welcome's position. The Officer of the Deck (OOD), LTJG Ross Bell, and Junior OOD Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Mark Mckenney watched as enemy boats were assaulted in the distance, but as Point Welcome began to steam south, the jets engaged in illuminating and repeatedly strafing the cutter. The ensuing hailstorm of 20 mm bullets ignited a fire on the fantail, killed the Captain (LTJG David Bostrom) and Engineman Second Class, Jerry Phillips, severely wounded the OOD and nine others. From the outset of the attack, Chief Boatswain's Mate Richard Patterson took command to extinguish fires, radio the attack, lead the crew in caring for the injured, and initiate defensive maneuvers. While the pilots began bombing runs, earlier radio calls were relayed to the Air Force and terminated the attack, but Point Welcome's hell was not yet over. Believing the hull had been breached, Patterson gently beached the cutter, paired able-bodied sailors with the wounded, and ordered abandon ship. As rubber boats approached the beach, machine-gun fire erupted from shore. Unbelievably, Vietnamese forces located north of the cutter mistook them for VC while Viet Cong forces to the south properly identified Point Welcome as American, catching the crew in a deadly crossfire. With Point Orient and Point Caution arriving to effect rescue operations in response to earlier radio calls, survivors were pulled from the water.
"I understand that your first response to us hosting this event was to ask 'why all the fuss ... can't they just mail it to me?'" President Joe Biden quipped at Friday's presentation ceremony. "I'm incredibly proud to give Col. Ralph Puckett's acts of valor the full recognition they have always deserved."
Puckett, 94, was originally awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions leading the 8th Army Ranger Company on Hill 205, just 60 miles from the Chinese border. He received a call from Biden last month, informing him that his DSC would be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
The Witness to War Foundation (www.WitnessToWar.org) is an Atlanta-based, non-profit organization, which conducts video interviews with combat veterans from every branch of service, conflict, and theater; including medical personnel and civilians who have wartime experiences to share. These interviews began with WWII veterans in 2001 and have expanded to include veterans from even the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The idea behind the project is to help the general public understand, as much as possible, what it was like to “be there,” and to instill a sense of appreciation for the sacrifices of our servicemen and women. These interviews are conducted free-of-charge for the veterans and their families, and each veteran receives copies of their interview to keep.
Stefanowicz didn't wrestle in high school or college, so he wasn't an award-winning wrestler before joining the Marines. He couldn't qualify for state tournaments, and college programs didn't want him. So he joined the Marines and sharpened his skills with the All-Marine Wrestling Team, a Greco-Roman team that trains for competition year-round. 
To qualify for the games, Stefanowicz won three consecutive matches at the USA Wrestling Olympic Team Trials in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 2, 2021. One match was against 2020 Team USA wrestler Joe Rau, who will join Stefanowicz in Tokyo.
The design honors all the "Vietnam War Prisoners of War, Missing in Action and Veterans". Tail number 81-0962 could be seen out in the Arizona sunshine, resplendent in her new South East Asia (SEA) camouflage scheme, representative of what was worn by many types during the Vietnam War and beyond. 
This included remembering the 355th Wing's 354th and 357th Fighter Squadrons, who "both flew F-105 Thunderchiefs out of Thailand during the Vietnam Conflict". 
"When the Wing colors were retired, a 12 unit flight performed a flyover".
He identified that "USAAF P-51s had large insignias on the fuselage. Therefore, #275's design, "with the star and bar depicted large on the engine", fits well "with the representation of the Mustang". So for Ryan, keeping the insignia where it is worn by standard A-10s matches that of the SEA painted F-105s, something he feels "fits perfectly". 
aircraft.
In 2007, Iraq was mired in a nearly country-wide civil war. The United States military needed Iraqis to help them quell the violence between Sunni and Shia militias who were tearing the country apart and ambushing American troops. 
The withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is renewing the urgency of bringing these interpreters home to the country for which they served in combat - unarmed - for years on end. “Baghdad Underground Railroad” is a stunning book that highlights why the U.S. needs to help these men and women who risked their lives because they believed in the promise of America.