The FReeper Foxhole Profiles General Matthew Bunker Ridgway - Jul. 12th, 2003

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/ridgway.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Our Military Today
USS Reagan Commissioning

Two crewmembers stationed aboard the navy's newest nuclear powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, stand on the bow of the ship Tuesday, July 8, 2003, at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. The Reagan is to be commissioned Saturday, July 12, 2003, during a ceremony at Norfolk Naval Station, with Vice President Dick Cheney as the main speaker. The Navy expects up to 20,000 people to attend the invitation-only ceremony.(AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)


Petty Officer 2nd Class Ivan Landrum, 33, of Greenville, Miss., is photographed in the ceremonial quarterdeck area of USS Ronald Reagan, July 8, 2003, at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Va. The area includes both a bust and a statue of the former president. The Reagan is to be commissioned Saturday, July 12, 2003, during a ceremony at Norfolk Naval Station, with Vice President Dick Cheney as the main speaker. The Navy expects up to 20,000 people to attend the invitation-only ceremony. (AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)


Petty Officer 1st Class Paul Fulsom, of Yakima, Wash., the first sailor assigned aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, stands on the flight deck Friday, July 11, 2003, as the ship is prepared for its commissioning ceremony at Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)


Navy Captain Bill Goodwin, the commander of the Navy's newest aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, talks to the media from the flight deck of the ship on Friday, July 11, 2003, at Naval Station in Norfolk, Va. The USS Ronald Reagan is to be commissioned Saturday during a traditional ceremony at Norfolk Naval Station. (AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)


Nancy Reagan, wife of former President Ronald Reagan, rides in a golf cart as she tours the flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan, Friday, July 11, 2003 as the ship is prepared for its commissioning ceremony on Saturday at Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)


Nancy Reagan, the wife of former President Ronald Reagan, shakes hands with several crew members aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, Friday, July 11, 2003, as the ship is prepared for its commissioning ceremony scheduled for Saturday, at Norfolk Naval Station in Norfolk, Va. (AP Photo/Gary C. Knapp)


Petty Officer 1st Class Michael Gilberg surveys the crowd at the USS Ronald Reagan commissioning in Norfolk, Virginia on July 12, 2003. The USS Ronald Reagan will be the ninth ship of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. REUTERS/Stefan Zaklin


Tommy Sammons of Richmond, Virginia looks at the USS Ronald Reagan during a commissioning ceremony in Norfolk, Virgina on July 12, 2003. The USS Ronald Reagan will be the ninth ship of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. REUTERS/Evan Vucci


Thousands attend the commissioning ceremony of the USS Ronald Reagan in Norfolk, Virginia on July 12, 2003. The USS Ronald Reagan will be the ninth ship of the Nimitz-class aircraft carriers. REUTERS/Evan Vucci


Nancy Reagan, wife of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, waves to the crowd gathered for commissioning ceremony of the USS Ronald Reagan in Norfolk, Virginia, July 12, 2003. The USS Ronald Reagan is the newest nuclear powered Nimitz class aircraft carrier in the US Navy, and will be stationed in San Diego, California. REUTERS/Stefan Zaklin REUTERS


(L-R) Lynne Cheney, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney , and Nancy Reagan, wife of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan), cover their hearts during the national anthem at the commissioning ceremony of the USS Ronald Reagan in Norfolk, Virginia July 12, 2003. The USS Ronald Reagan is the newest nuclear powered Nimitz class aircraft carrier in the US Navy, and will be stationed in San Diego, California. REUTERS/Stefan Zaklin

[SAMWolf]

Morning Victoria.

Nice graphic and song. Born to be Wild gets me moving in the morning.

Yes, we read the thread last night. Just give me a heads up so I can plan to have some time off.

[SAMWolf]

We're heading downtown to see the sights and the riverfront, then up to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park and the Test Rose Gardens.

See you all when we get back. Snippy has a digital camera, hopefullly we'll have some good pics to post later this evening.

[Victoria Delsoul]

I sure will, Sam. It'll be just a weekend for me, but I will let you know for sure. Hope you guys are having a marvelous time. Miss you both.

[Soaring Feather]

Hi Sam,

Love these pictures fo the USS Reagan!! Nancy looks terrific. God Bless our great former President Ronald Reagan and Nancy.

[snippy_about_it]

Yes, Victoria, SAM's right we both read your post last night. We are having a wonderful time. He's wearing me out! It's been another great day and it's not over yet.

We just got home after another full day and he's cooking dinner tonight. Today is his wife's birthday and we are celebrating tonight!

[Darksheare]

Morning.
And I'm assuming by now your two remaining sliders have either diminished by one, or have become extinct.

I ended up going to a parade, got to see my brother's fire department march.
No, I will not be joining the fire department myself. I have a problem with accepting that sometime's there's no way to 'win'. And my luck would run into having to accept it with someone trapped inside a building. Not something I can personally deal with. Not many people can, and I'm smart enough to know what my limits are in that respect.
So, before anyone offers that up, no.. I cannot be a good firefighter.
,*-) clunk. *chuckle*

[radu]

Our Military Today
USS Reagan Commissioning

I just happened to step inside for a moment this afternoon and caught a little coverage of this on tv. WOW! What a beauty of ship, huh?

Thanks for posting these pics of the different events leading up to today's commissioning ceremony.

[PhilDragoo]

General Ridgway listens as an unidentified Colonel briefs him in the Recce Tech Lab.

Ridgway's finest hour began on Dec. 26, 1950, when he assumed command of the Eighth Army in Korea, replacing Gen. Walton Walker, who had been killed in a jeep accident. Things looked bleak for United Nations forces. China had entered the war a month before, pushing American and allied troops south of the 38th Parallel. 'By the end of December the poison of defeatism and despair deeply infected the U.N. command,' according to Goldstein. 'All traffic headed south.'

Gen. Courtney Whitney, a senior aide to Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur, who was based in Tokyo, advised: 'We should pull out, bring everybody and everything back to Japan, and make our stand from here.'

Ridgway acted simultaneously to restore faltering morale and to blunt the Chinese offensive. He shuttled all over the front, sometimes on foot.

'To see General Ridgway up in the line was a real shot in the arm,' said Sgt.Rembert Parker, a 24th Infantry Division soldier. 'If he could stick it out, so could we.' Ridgway ordered his troops to stand fast, and maneuvered them to take maximum advantage of U.S. superiority in air power and artillery....

'I am not interested in real estate -- just killing the enemy,' Ridgway said at the time. 'The old business of fire and move -- you can't beat it.'

After three months of hard fighting, Ridgway pushed the Communists north of the 38th Parallel, and recaptured the South Korean capital of Seoul. The lines stabilized.

In April 1951, Ridgway replaced MacArthur as supreme commander of Allied forces in the Far East after President Truman sacked MacArthur for insubordination. He held that post until May 1952, when he was named supreme allied commander in Europe. This gave Ridgway the distinction of having succeeded in command both the legendary generals of WWII, MacArthur and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower.

'His brilliant, driving leadership would turn the tide of battle like no other generals in our military history,' said Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Korean War.

He was named Walker's successor and was soon on his way to Korea. Was credited with rallying United Nations forces, whose morale had been severely strained by heavy losses and bitterly cold weather. He stayed conspicuously at the front lines, exhorting his troops to concentrate on killing the enemy rather than trying to regain ground. But in a series of hard-fought counteroffensives, he succeeded in driving the Communist forces out of all but the northwestern corner of South Korea, seizing strategic territory north of the 38th Parallel.

This is a smashing accomplishment.

On April 11, 1951, Truman removed Genera MacArthur, a national hero, from his command in the Far East, provoking a public uproar, and named Ridgway to succeed him. James A. Van Fleet replaced Ridgway as commander of United Nations forces in Korea, where the war settled into a stalemate while peace talks dragged on for two years at Pananmujon, near the 38th Parallel.

Today the North Koreans are poised to put a nuclear Taepodong any place they like.

[The CIA admits NK is further along in weapons production than previously thought. A top NK defector says they are very close to a demonstration. Note that the last "demonstration" was the August 1998 Taepodong over Japan--when CIA had said the rogue ICBM threat was fifteen years out. CIA: Catastrophe Is Assured.]

The real issues are whether the power of Western civilization, as God has permitted it to flower in our beloved lands, shall defy and defeat Communism

This is a giant of a man. We are still at that crossroads--look at the horizon and tell me where Hillary Clinton swears her allegiance.

That First Cav patch was on a jacket I inherited from my oldest brother and wore when ten.

Undated summary by Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway of a conference in Tokyo, Japan, on August 8 (Tokyo time), 1950, at which General Douglas MacArthur outlined his military needs and advocated an early offensive in Korea. Papers of Harry S. Truman: President's Secretary's Files.

Emboldened, Ridgway began Operation “Thunderbolt,” with both I and IX Corps sending one division reinforced with a ROK regiment north on 25 January. The advancing troops met light resistance.

General Ridgway’s first act in command was to get up to the front to see for himself what needed to be done to dispel the atmosphere of defeat that permeated the command. A shaken MacArthur, who had warned the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the Communists could drive the UN forces out of Korea, invested Ridgway with complete authority to plan and execute operations in Korea.

Betty Hutton left, gives out that familiar smile as do other members of her troupe.

“The primary purpose of an Army - to be ready to fight effectively at all times - seemed to have been forgotten.... The leadership I found in many instances was sadly lacking and I said so out loud. The unwillingness of the Army to forgo certain creature comforts, its timidity about getting off the scanty roads, its reluctance to move without radio and telephone contact, and its lack of imagination in dealing with a foe whom they soon outmatched in firepower and dominated in the air and on the surrounding seas – these were not the fault of the Soldier, but of the policymakers at the top.”

General Matthew B. Ridgway, U.S. Army

[Soaring Feather]

Hey SAM, snippy, you guys done hiking for the day?

Snippy, does SAM make good coffee?

I am not coming to visit you Sam if you make lousy coffee!! ROTFLOL!!

[Victoria Delsoul]

I'm glad you're having such a great time, Snippy. That's just wonderful.

Here is a song for you both to dance.

[SAMWolf]

Happy Birthday Captain Michael Scott Speicher!! (ALERT)

The Foxhole has been invited by NikkiUSA to visit her Captain Speicher Thread.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Thanks Victoria, a little to fast for me. Believe me no one wants to see me dance.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you Jinxy. It is beautiful here and we are really enjoying each other's company.

[snippy_about_it]

He did lose me at the store. LOL.

I did what I was supposed to and stayed in one area, I knew he'd find me! LOL. After that he tried to lose me downtown and at the rose garden but I hung on to him so he couldn't. LOL. They have a beautiful Vietnam Memorial that we visited also, very moving. We are taking our time but making full days of it.

We have no time to sleep SAM, so much to see and do in 8 days.

[snippy_about_it]

Yes Darksheare the sliders are gone! lol.

No firefighting for you, you have a book to write.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you Phil.

[snippy_about_it]

We went for a walk after dinner down to a lookout about four blocks away from his house and you can see the mountains and down the valley, beautiful spot and then we took the long way home. Nice cool evening and good time to walk of the dinner.

Yep, he makes a very good cup of coffee. He even lets me drink out of his Wolf coffee cup.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you Victoria. We've been doing so much walking and hiking we've no time left to dance. lol.

[Soaring Feather]

Sounds like you are having a fabulous time snippy!

The sight-seeing sounds great. I must get there one of these days.

Snippy, sleep well and I'll see you tomorrow.

You too, Sam! Good night. :-)