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Posted on 06/27/2004 12:05:58 AM PDT by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 In separate actions, two GIs emerge as uncommon heroes in a common hell The irony was not lost on Navy Corpsman William R. Charette. Having read about the near-cataclysmic events at the Chosin Reservoir in 1950, he found himself, surprisingly, assigned three years later to the same company that had fought there. Most of the men had rotated out of Korea by January 1953, when Charette joined F Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. Now near Panmunjon, the company was located close to the site of the stalled peace talks.  Peace, though, wasn’t reigning anywhere near the three hills dubbed Reno, Carson and Vegas. One clear and freezing morning, Charette heard what he thought was thunder but, in reality, the roar was actually thousands of Chinese soldiers—attacking the 5th Marines that held the hills. In time, the hills fell, and, on March 27, Charette’s company was called to take part in a three-battalion assault on Vegas to recapture it. The intensity of the fighting was unmistakable as Charette saw men entangled in the barbed wire where they had died. Immediately, he began treating the wounded as his company moved ahead. Life soon became chaos for the young man as the cries for “corpsman” came from everywhere. Disregarding his own safety amid a hail of small-arms and mortar fire, Charette answered them as best he could throughout the day and into the night, literally losing all sense of time. He later recalled, “The Chinese above us were rolling grenades downhill onto us. There were so many going off there was no way to count them. It was just a constant roar.”  Charette, like the Marine corpman pictured here, was “Doc” to the men he treated under fire in the fierce March 1953 battle. Answering one of the calls for help, Charette came upon a marine in the point squad with severe wounds. A grenade landed near the corpsman and his patient. “I couldn’t see it in the dark. I knew it was there, and it was going to go off,” he said, describing how he used his medical bag to try to push the grenade away. Knowing his patient couldn’t survive more wounds, the Ludington, Mich., native shielded the man with his own body. The blast, which blew Charette’s helmet off and knocked him unconscious with wounds to the face, had also left him temporarily blind and deaf. When his sight returned, he saw he was the least wounded of the five men around him. The man Charette had shielded was also alive—thanks to the medical bag taking the brunt of the blow. Earlier Charette had given his coat to a wounded man, and now his medical supplies were nearly gone. Even so, he improvised, ripping his own clothes apart to make bandages and tourniquets, and pulled flak jackets from dead marines to cover their wounded comrades who were drawn to him like a magnet. Near dawn on March 28, the lead company was ordered to pull back. Under cover of darkness, Charette and other marines began evacuating the wounded from Vegas. When they came to a trench that had been torn up by an explosion, he didn’t hesitate to stand and carry a severely wounded marine to safety—an action he repeated over and over until the men were safe. “I could hear the bullets zipping by my head, but I had no choice.” Charette said, “I couldn’t leave the guy there.” Casualties were heavy for both sides in the battle for Vegas, with the Chinese sustaining more than thirteen hundred and the Marines; 118 dead, 801 wounded and 98 missing in action.  Nine months after the armistice, Charette was still in Korea, working in a postwar MASH unit when the chief surgeon gave him the news that he was to receive the Medal of Honor. Like many who have received the award, Charette protested that he did not deserve it. Home he went nonetheless. After spending Christmas with his family in Michigan, he traveled to the White House for the presentation on Jan. 12, 1954.  After receiving the Medal of Honor, Charette finished out his days of service training new corpsmen at Great Lakes, where he met his wife, Louise, who was in the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). After 90 days as a married civilian with a pregnant wife, Charette opted to make a career out of the Navy. He signed up for submarine school where, he said, “I found a home.” In 1958, he was honored to select the remains of what would become the Unknown Soldier of World War II. “This was a tremendous honor for me,” Charette said. “My grandchildren and their grandchildren will be able to visit the Tomb of the Unknowns and realize I had a small role in this national monument.”  After serving during Vietnam and the Cold War, Charette retired in 1977. When a local newspaper honored veterans from WWI, WWII and Vietnam, Charette was shocked that Korean veterans weren’t included. “ I don’t understand that, because 54,000 Americans lost their lives in Korea.”      |
Since the first night of this journey,
I been FReepin' 'cuz it is Right!!
Had my plans fer words and threads and dreams...
Formed a Band...I harp and sing!!
The first thing yer taught is "Don't LIE Like a Rug!!"
'Cuz yer lies bring you down!!
We FReep Kerry 'cuz Hanoi John LIED!!
Boy, Beware yer LustFerPower!!
I seen me a Lib'ral and "Lurch" was his name...
Kerry LIED 'bout his Comrades-In-Arms!!
Before Congress, Hanoi John slandered his FRiends...
Called them "Rapists" and "Killers"...has he no shame?!
There's just two ways to fight Lib'ral SCUM...
Remember...Left is all Red!!
One's the FRee Way...Reject Socialism!!
Right is fightin' 'til Big Guv'ment's DEAD!!
'Cuz Tyranny takes hold when Patriots ain't bold!!
Guv'ment's BAD when it warps yer head!!
Kerry is a Lib'ral and Big Guv'ment's his aim...
Just y'all wait 'til he "feels yer pain!!"
Massachusetts, Camelot's DreamWorld is stained...
Jack wails, "Kerry, why must you defame my name?!"
We're the RightWing, we FReep 'gainst Tyranny!!
'Gainst the Lib'rals, who loathe what's FRee!!
Have our plans fer Worlds where FReedom rings...
Join our Band...Fer Justice Sing!!
MoveOn-dot-org's THE Enemy...DemonRAT-Underground!!
Soros' Commies are Leftist SCUM!!
Retake the Cities from the kA.N.S.W.E.R.ous Powers!!
Reborn humans shall never cower!!
You see...
I seen me a Lib'ral and "Lurch" is his name...
He's no good...don't you vote fer his stain!!
Before Congress, Hanoi John slandered his FRiends...
Called them Rapists, Vile Killers...Have RATS No Shame?!!
FReegards...MUD
I always liked it when Captain Kangaroo went to the train room. It seemed like he had a hundred model trains running.
Kansas City weather @ 5pm overcast and 66 degrees, had some rain earlier, mostly a gentle, soaking rain today. Supposed to be 60 tonight, ah no A/C again
Afterwork Foxhole Bumperooni
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Hi alfa6. Imo, that's perfect weather when you don't need the air conditioner or the heater on day into night.
Hiya Mud!
Yea, It has been a weird June here in KC, I think We have run the A/C about one week or so. Usually by this time of year the temps are pushing 90 with humidity running 50 to 60%.
I am not gonna complain one bit about this weather, although we will probably pay for it next month, sheesh.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
LOL!
Afternoon alfa6. I liked "Tom terrific and Mighty Manfred the Wonder Dog". Sigh, a simpler time back then.
After serving during Vietnam and the Cold War, Charette retired in 1977. When a local newspaper honored veterans from WWI, WWII and Vietnam, Charette was shocked that Korean veterans weren’t included. “ I don’t understand that, because 54,000 Americans lost their lives in Korea.”
It's only been in the last 10 years or so that these guys have gotten the recognition they deserve.
Korea really was the "forgotten" War.
Thanks Valin.
Return To Heartbreak
Ridge
A Journey Into The Past
By Hal Barker
Chapter One
Purple Heart
I leaned back and threw the medal high in the air. The wind caught the symbol of blood spilled. The token of war sailed out of sight down the face of Heartbreak Ridge. The South Korean Officers with me applauded, and then became silent. We had our thoughts. I looked at my watch. It was 6 P.M., February 15, 1989. I couldn't feel the wind or the cold.
I was thinking what happened here, right here on this mountain, in the bitter fall of 1951, during the Korean War. A young Marine Corsair pilot, of Chicago, was hit by friendly fire over Heartbreak Ridge on October 7, 1951. His aircraft exploded, a wing came off, a parachute opened.
An urgent call came in to the operations tent at Marine Observation Squadron Six a few miles to the southeast of Heartbreak Ridge. Major Edward Lee Barker of Crockett, Texas, volunteered to attempt a helicopter rescue.
The Silver Star citation reads:
"...Making his way through a heavy artillery barrage, (Major Barker) bravely pressed on toward his objective and although his aircraft was hit and damaged, carried out three daring attempts to pick up the downed airman, returning to base only when it became apparent that rescue by helicopter was impossible..."
The Colonel
We stood on the apron at El Toro Marine Corps Air Base in September 1951, watching my father leave for the Korean War. I was almost 4 years old, a Marine brat born at Aiea Naval Hospital overlooking Pearl Harbor.
On that same transport plane was another Marine pilot, 2nd Lieutenant Arthur D. DeLacy. I have only the barest memories of the concrete, the smell of exhaust and the noise of the engines, the steps up to the aircraft, the control tower to my right, my mother holding my hand, the warm California sun. I was too young to understand what was happening. I would learn years later what it meant.
The Colonel I knew from photographs wore his medals well. And proudly. But without words. He would not talk about Korea, or really much else. I grew up with him, watched him, but knew nothing abouthim. Nothing at all. He was the Colonel, and I was the younger son. We were glad years later, when he went overseas again, it was a respite from order and discipline. My older brother took the brunt, nothing was expected from me. I lived my own life, deep in books. I was ignored, and I seemed to like it that way. I paid a price I could not afford.
My father would never talk about the medals on his dress blues. I found out for myself. A letter to Headquarters Marine Corps in 1979 brought the copy of his citation. I let it lay for a while.
It was tough growing up the son of a United States Marine pilot. I was a sickly child, with asthma and allergies, and all that goes with being sick a great deal of the time. I would strike out at baseball, and dad would yell at me as if I was an idiot. Coach put me in right field. I vividly remember my last baseball game at ten years old, Kingsville, Texas, when the fly ball landed at my side. I picked it up, threw valiantly, and struck the runner in the leg. Another error for Hal Barker, and I never played ball again. Later, the doctors at Camp Lejeune would find I was almost blind, and prescribed thick glasses.
In reality, I gained breathing space. I learned to smile and to take things easy. Most importantly, I learned to laugh at myself, that tough little kid in right field.
Twenty years later, I would read a book by Pat Conroy, The Great Santini. It was as if Conroy had gotten inside my head, telling the story of a Marine fighter pilot and his family. I put the book down, and called my father for the first time in years. I wanted to finally resolve a conflict. I flew to San Francisco a few days later, but it did not work out. He was still the Colonel, and I was the little kid who always struck out.
I didn't give up. In 1982, the Colonel and I finally talked about Korea.
"It was a case of getting up in the morning before daybreak, flying missions, coming back, sleeping when you could, and flying missions..."
"I wasn't a hero. I was scared. Medals were a dime a dozen. It was unbelievable what we did out there. It was the beginning of helicopter warfare. But medals were not just given, they were earned."
"I saw DeLacy. I knew him. He was lying flat on the ground. His parachute was beside him. We figured he was tied down, or severely injured. He may have been a decoy. I hovered over him, and we were hit by small arms fire. I went down into a valley while our aircraft strafed the area. I went back three times, and the third time we called it off, the F4-U's in the area had to go home, they were out of ammunition."
" I couldn't get him."
Click here for more
http://www.koreanwar.org/html/chapter_one.html
The soft-spoken Alabaman subsequently commanded the Special Forces Schools at Fort Bragg, N.C., until his retirement in June 1981.
They talk with their walk. AFAIK. ;^)
LOL. You're right, they sure do, IMO.
040615-N-6236G-004 Washington, D.C. (Jun. 15, 2004) - Karen France, Curator with the Naval Historical Center (NHC), examines the World War II battle flag of the destroyer USS Zellars (DD 777) after its recent conservation. The flag, damaged during a 1945 kamikaze attack, was preserved through the efforts of the NHC, USS Zellars Association, and the Stillwater Textile Conservation Studio. Zellars saw combat service in both World War II and Korea, was attacked by three kamikazes during the Battle of Okinawa and suffered 64 killed when two hit the ship. The conservation of the flag was especially meaningful of the USS Zellars Association's thirty surviving World War II members. U.S. Navy photo (RELEASED)
Thanks PE!! Always glad to get a Flag-o-gram!
LOL! Evening w_over_w.
They walk the walk, they don't need to talk. ;-)
Hey PE. Snippy and I were wondering about the Flag-O-gram and you today.
Duh! When are they gonna learn not to listen to these nutcases?
Yesterday was quite long, so Islept late. We went to church, then came home and I feel asleep for most of the afternoon. I feel like a slug today.
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