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Posted on 03/07/2005 10:32:19 PM PST by SAMWolf
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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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Before and during mobilization for World War II, officials in Washington, D.C., debated whether or not African-American soldiers should be used in armored units. Many military men and politicians believed that blacks did not have the brains, quickness or moral stamina to fight in a war.  Referring to his World War I experiences, Colonel James A. Moss, commander of the 367th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Division, stated, "As fighting troops, the Negro must be rated as second-class material, this primarily to his inferior intelligence and lack of mental and moral qualities." Colonel Perry L. Miles, commander of the 371st Infantry Regiment, 93rd Division, voiced a similar opinion: "In a future war, the main use of the Negro should be in labor organizations." General George S. Patton, Jr., in a letter to his wife, wrote that "a colored soldier cannot think fast enough to fight in armor." The armed forces embraced these beliefs even though African Americans had fought with courage and distinction in the Revolutionary War and every other war and conflict ever waged by the United States. They overlooked the fact that four regiments of the 93rd Division had served with the French during World War I and that the French government had awarded the coveted Croix de Guerre to three of the four regiments and to a company of the fourth, as well as to the 1st Battalion, 367th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Division.  Aerial view of post troops section, Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, 1941. Yes, those are mostly all tents. Photo credit: US Army Signal Corps, Lieutenant General Leslie J. McNair, chief of the U.S. Army ground forces, was the main proponent of allowing African Americans to serve in armored units. He believed his nation could ill afford to exclude such a potentially important source of manpower. The black press, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Congress of Racial Equality also placed increasing pressure on the War Department and President Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration to allow black soldiers to serve on an equal footing with white soldiers. In the summer of 1940, Congress passed into law the Selective Training and Service Act, which said, "In the selection and training of men under this act, there shall be no discrimination against any person on account of race and color." In October, however, the White House issued a statement saying that, while "the services of Negroes would be utilized on a fair and equitable basis," the policy of segregation in the armed forces would continue. In March 1941, 98 black enlisted men reported to Fort Knox, Ky., from Fort Custer, Mich., for armored warfare training with the 758th Tank Battalion (light). The pioneer black tankers trained in light tank operations, mechanics and related phases of mechanized warfare, as enlisted men from other Army units joined their ranks.  Tank crew at Camp Claiborne (National Archives) The 758th trained on the M-5 light tank, which carried a crew of four. Powered by twin Cadillac engines, it could reach a maximum speed of 40 mph and had an open-road cruising range of 172 miles. It was armed with a .30 caliber machine gun mounted to fire along the same axis as the tank's main armament, a 37mm cannon. When the tracer bullets from the .30 caliber registered on a target, the cannon would be fired, hopefully scoring a direct hit. The M-5 was also armed with two more .30-caliber machine guns, one on the turret and one in the bow. The light tank was employed to provide fire support, mobility and crew protection in screening and reconnaissance missions. The 5th Tank Group, commanded by Colonel LeRoy Nichols, was to be made up of black enlisted personnel and white officers. With the 758th Tank Battalion in place, two more tank battalions were needed to complete the 5th Tank Group. On March 15, 1942, the War Department ordered the activation of the 761st Tank Battalion (light) at Camp Claiborne, La., with an authorized strength of 36 officers and 593 enlisted men. (The final battalion--the 784th--would be activated on April 1, 1943.) On September 15, 1943, the 761st Battalion moved to Camp Hood, Texas, for advanced training; there they changed from light to medium tanks.  Cleaning the equipment (photo from National Archives) On July 6, 1944, one of the 761st's few black officers, Lieutenant Jackie Robinson, was riding a civilian bus from Camp Hood to the nearby town of Belton. He refused to move to the back of the bus when told to do so by the driver. Court-martial charges ensued but could not proceed because the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Paul L. Bates, would not consent to the charges. The top brass at Camp Hood then transferred Robinson to the 758th Tank Battalion, whose commander immediately signed the court-martial consent. The lieutenant's trial opened on August 2 and lasted for 17 days, during which time the 761st departed Camp Hood. Robinson was charged with violating the 63rd and 64th Articles of War. The first charge specified, "Lieutenant Robinson behaved with disrespect toward Captain Gerald M. Bear, Corps Military Police, by contemptuously bowing to him and giving several sloppy salutes while repeating, O'kay Sir, O'kay Sir, in an insolent, impertinent and rude manner." The second charge stipulated, "Lieutenant Robinson having received a lawful command by Captain Bear to remain in a receiving room at the MP station disobeyed such order." Robinson was eventually acquitted, and he was not charged for his actions on the bus. Three years later, Robinson was riding buses in the major leagues after breaking baseball's color barrier. In October 1944, after two years of intense armored training, the 761st Tank Battalion, known as the "Black Panthers," landed in France. The tankers received a welcome from the Third Army commander, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., who had observed the 761st conducting training maneuvers in the States: "Men, you're the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don't care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sons of bitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all your race is looking forward to you. Don't let them down and damn you, don't let me down!"  Major General J. Lesley McNair On November 8, 1944, the Black Panthers became the first African-American armored unit to enter combat, smashing into the towns of Moyenvic and Vic-sur-Seille. During the attack, Staff Sgt. Ruben Rivers, in Able Company's lead tank, encountered a roadblock that held up the advance. With utter disregard for his personal safety, he courageously climbed out of his tank under direct enemy fire, attached a cable to the roadblock and removed it. His prompt action prevented a serious delay in the offensive and was instrumental in the success of the attack. On November 9, Charlie Company ran into an anti-tank ditch near Morville. The crack German 11th Panzer Division began to knock out tanks one by one down the line. The tankers crawled through the freezing muddy waters of the ditch under pelting rain and snow while hot shell fragments fell all around them. When German artillery began to walk a line toward the ditch, the tankers' situation looked hopeless. After exiting his burning tank, 1st Sgt. Samuel Turley organized a dismounted combat team. When the team found itself pinned down by a counterattack and unable to return fire, Turley ordered his men to retreat, climbed from the ditch and provided covering fire that allowed them to escape.
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Whew! I was worried about you. Well how was it? Did she let out a real
CHAAAAARRRRRFFFF!?!?! or Hic . . . up!
So Sam, are you saying you've moved up in the world since you met me. Enjoying the finer things in life now are you? he he he.
The way I see it is this way, if we go broke, we're going to have fun on the way!
w, since I met Sam I've moved all the way across the country, opened a business, have bird feeders all over my deck, eat more meat and potatoes than ever and walk more, work more and sleep less.
Who's getting the better deal here? :-)
No spell checker either. ;-)
Sounds like your wife has good taste!
Ugh . . . well . . . ya know . . . I've always prided myself in being a good listener. Yeah! That's the ticket! Okay, I'm observing . . .
[But on a serious note . . . you, young lady are tough, adventurous, smart and have a heart of gold . . . all your endeavors will pay off, bet some already have.]
Volcano Alert At Mount ST. Helens National Monument WA. Mar. 08
http://www.teamamberalert.net/news/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7455
Breaking News Alert Washington Mt St Helens Awakes Washington USA -- Breaking News Alert Mount St Helens is Releasing Steam and Ash.
Team Amber Alert News has learned Mount St Helens is spewing ash and steam after being some what calm for several months now. Local media is continuing to cover this new event live.
"There was an eruption at 5:30 pm local time and the cloud of ash is estimated at 36,000 feet (10,800m)," Rob Harper of the Washington State Emergency Management service said. "We are monitoring the situation."
Team Amber Alert News is gathering more information on this breaking news story as St. Helens awakens after being some what silent for a couple of months as a mellow mountain of fire. A more explosive eruption, possibly dropping ash within a 10-mile radius of the crater, is possible at any time, scientists have said.
Breaking News Mount St. Helens has awakened dramatically this evening. The Volcano has periodically spewed ash and steam since last fall, when thousands of small earthquakes marked a seismic reawakening of the 9,677-foot mountain.
The plume was accompanied by an earthquake of about 2.0 magnitude. The volcano in SW Washington had rumbled to life again last fall, pumping out lava as the mountain nears the 25th anniversary of the devastating eruption of May 18th, 1980, that killed 57 people.
This latest volcanic venting from the mountain comes just after the state Board on Geographic Names unanimously chose Tulutson, the Cowlitz Indian word for ice, as the name for the glacier that has grown inside the mountain's crater.
The eruption occurred at about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday. The plume was accompanied by an earthquake of about 2.0 magnitude.
Mike Fergus, FAA, said he believes the cloud was mostly steam and did not present a danger to airplanes in the area. An ashfall advisory is in effect until 9 p.m. for the south Washington Cascade foothills and the south Washington Cascades.
The winds are expected to take the ash plume to the east and north of Mount St. Helens, with the heaviest amounts to fall in Skamania County, and lighter amounts in Cowlitz County.
Breathing volcanic ash can be dangerous to many people, especially those with respiratory problems.
More Details Residents in the area should stay tuned to local news radio and television news or NOAA radio. We recommend King Channel 5
Mount St. Helens rumbled back to life Sept. 23, with shuddering seismic activity that peaked above magnitude 3 as hot magma broke through rocks in its path. Molten rock reached the surface Oct. 11, marking resumption of dome-building activity that had stopped in 1986.
Posted on Tuesday, March 08 @ 22:16:06 CST by TAA
snippy, BE CAREFUL!
post photos!
On April 30, 1971 he happened to walk into a Detroit Liquor store during a robbery, and was shot to death by the store owner, who assumed that being an African-American like the two men who were holding up the store, Dwight Hal Johnson was also one of the robbers. Sergeant Johnson was in reality only stopping in to buy food for his infant son. His murder was never investigated by the Detroit police.
:-(
it's not bad if you cut it with this...
Glad to hear that business has picked up :-) The bad news is that you will have to unload more of them there seed bags :-(
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
And when I hear the word *hero* misapplied, I think of those guys, and I sometimes get more than a little annoyed.
Indeed!
Thanks Valin. I'll be careful. What we could see from the store was the cloud of steam. Looked like those photos of bomb explosion we see sometimes. All white, some gray on the outer fringes. Then we heard it would be blowing East, away from us. We are downwind, south east. It was neat to see it in the distance rising above the tall pines from our store. I tried to take pictures from the bluff at earlier eruptions but it's too far away for my camera to show it in any detail.
LOL. You flatter me, and yes my endeavors have paid off. I'm one lucky gal!
That picture is what we could see from the store, just add some tall pines in front of the bottom of the picture and that's it. Of course I had been taking pictures of the birds at my feeder at home so I didn't have the camera with me at work. Figures!
I tried to take pictures from the bluff at earlier eruptions but it's too far away for my camera to show it in any detail.
Grumble Grumble Grumble.
Looks like Mt. St Helen is making an ash of it's self.
Well SOMEONE had to say it.
We have a load coming in tomorrow, My arms hurt just thinkinng about it. ;-)
Slackers!
You're out of Ohio and in Oregon, what can be better than that? :-)
Good night Ralph!
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