In honor of all American veterans:
Credits to fivemumaw | November 09, 2007 on youtube.com
who states this is a:Tribute to his late father who served in Vietnam and to all who’ve served in the U.S. Military… Past and Present: A Veterans Day Montage
From Guitar Guy 41503 on youtube.com:
Veterans Day is to honor all those who have served in an American branch of the armed services.
Please use this thread to remember friends and family members who have put on the uniform both in times of war and in times of peace.
This story needs to be told. I hope all those kids working so hard at St. Joseph’s Indian School in South Dakota and at the St. Labre Indian School in Montana have a chance to read it.
The story concerns a man named Roy W. Harmon, a sergeant with Company C, 362nd Infantry Regiment, 91st Division, US Army. Roy was born at Talala, Rogers County, Oklahoma, in 1915. He died in combat on 12 July 1944 in Italy and lies buried in the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial in Tuscany, Italy. This commendation you will find in his official military record:
“He was an acting squad leader when heavy machine gun fire from enemy positions, well dug in on commanding ground and camouflaged by haystacks, stopped his company’s advance and pinned down one platoon where it was exposed to almost certain annihilation. Ordered to rescue the beleaguered platoon by neutralizing the German automatic fire, he led his squad forward along a draw to the right of the trapped unit against three key positions which poured murderous fire into his helpless comrades. When within range, his squad fired tracer bullets in an attempt to set fire to the three haystacks which were strung out in a loose line directly to the front, 75, 150, and 250 yards away. Realizing that this attack was ineffective, Sgt. Harmon ordered his squad to hold their position and voluntarily began a one-man assault. Carrying white phosphorus grenades and a submachine gun, he skillfully took advantage of what little cover the terrain afforded and crept to within 25 yards of the first position. He set the haystack afire with a grenade, and when two of the enemy attempted to flee from the inferno, he killed them with his submachine gun. Crawling toward the second machine gun emplacement, he attracted fire and was wounded; but he continued to advance and destroyed the position with hand grenades, killing the occupants. He then attacked the third machine gun, running to a small knoll, then crawling over ground which offered no concealment or cover. About halfway to his objective, he was again wounded. But he struggled ahead until within 20 yards of the machine gun nest, where he raised himself to his knees to throw a grenade. He was knocked down by direct enemy fire. With a final, magnificent effort, he rose again, hurled the grenade and fell dead, riddled by bullets. His missile fired the third position, destroying it. Sgt. Harmon’s extraordinary heroism, gallantry, and self-sacrifice saved a platoon from being wiped out, and made it possible for his company to advance against powerful enemy resistance.”
In 1945, Sgt. Roy W. Harmon was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was one of six Native Americans to receive the Medal of Honor in World War II.
And if I may be allowed to tell one more “American” story from the Florence American Cemetery. On the monument in that hallowed ground is the name of a man called Erwin B. Lawrence Jr. He was a Black man born in Cleveland, Ohio. Erwin was one of 300 Black G.I.’s who graduated from fighter pilot training at the Tuskegee Army Airbase in Tuskegee, Alabama. He was one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.
Erwin and his fellow Tuskegee pilots were shipped to Italy in 1943. Captain Lawrence became the commander of the 99th Fighter Squadron composed of pilots who had had no combat experience whatsoever. Their primary mission was to escort Allied bombers through treacherous European airspace and to repell any German fighters which tried to attack the bombers. Unfortunately, they were in a completely segregated unit and the recipients of much scorn and racial vilification from other American troops. They were reportedly often given older planes and the worst equipment and sometimes discriminated against in terms of supplies.
Did that stop these men? You bet it didn’t. They flew 1, 578 escort missions as so-called “shepherds” for the bombers and never lost a single one of those bombers to the enemy. This was all the more remarkable in that the Tuskegee airman in their red-tailed aircraft flew right into the bombing territory with the bombers and did not hang back out of flak range as other squadrons often did. In fact, their reputation grew so immensely that the bomber crews began asking specifically that the Tuskegee airmen be their escorts on bombing runs.
By the end of the war, the Tuskegee airmen had destroyed or damaged more than 950 vehicles on the ground and 400 enemy aircraft, including an air-combat record of thirteen kills on a single day. They also sank a German destroyer. After the war, the airmen returned and wrote a book about their experiences called “The Lonely Eagles.” But 66 of those men did not return. Among the 66 was Capt. Erwin B. Lawrence. On 4 October 1944, as he was engaged in attacking a German airfield in Baden-Wurttemburg, his plane was hit; and Capt. Lawrence was lost to us forever. He is now part of that field of American heroes in Tuscany.
My thanks to Mr. Roy Walton for the elements of this story.
Thanks for the stories. Why don’t you mail Father Steve the story and ask that he share it? He will get right back to you on it.
I also think the Code Talkers are ringing the opening bell at the NY Stock Exchange this morning.
There are very few code talkers left.
If someone is looking for a Veterans Group to donate to, consider giving to build the Code Talker Museum.
http://navajocodetalkers.org/
Code Talker Keith Little is in charge of this initiative.
You Are Very Welcome.
It was our honor and privilege to serve this great country and its citizens. While every Vet welcomes your thanks, make sure that, if you know one, thank a combat vet. Personally, I was never in combat. THEY are the heroes.
And thank YOU for your support.
I will be thanking two in person later on this morning, Cargo. And I will thank you personally here. Thanks Cargo!
Concrete Bob posted this at UCV for today. Best Veterans Day vid I’ve seen in a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVgY0wSk42M&feature=player_embedded
@Cargo,
It is excellent. I agree. Concrete Bob has an excellent video up. Take your kleenex though.
Today I honor my father, Walter, my Uncle Ray, my Uncle Bill, all from WWII. I honor my brother in law Paul from Vietnam War era. I honor my Great Uncle Frank from WWI (and who was gassed.) And I honor my Confederate Great Great Grandfather Drury.
There is a Revolutionary many greats in there but I would have to look him up and there are a bunch of confederate uncles, but who’s counting.
Desert Storm and Somalia (not the sexy Hollywood Black Hawk Down part, just the getting our people out of the embassy part)
I always felt uncomfortable when civilians thanked me for my service. Every able male in my family served and it was just something we all did. I thought it was a pretty good deal in the sense that combat provides one with the ability to handle anything that life will ever possibly throw at you. Also, I got to go to college and got help buying my first house. And VA doctors ain’t half bad.
No, thank *you* taxpayers 🙂