We Gotta Get Outa.... Paint it Black

We Gotta Get Outa This Place..... The Animals

Paint it Black... Rolling Stones - submitted by Tom Fryer...

Was this the best song from Vietnam Era?

Was this the best song from Vietnam Era?

BATTLE OF MIDWAY: WWII Pacific Turning Point

Contributed by Jim Huff BATTLE OF MIDWAY: WWII Pacific Turning Point Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States defeated Japan in one of the most decisive naval battles of World War II. Thanks in part to major advances in code breaking, the United States was able to preempt and counter Japan’s planned ambush of its few remaining aircraft carriers, inflicting permanent damage on the Japanese Navy. An important turning point in the Pacific campaign, the victory allowed the United States and its allies to move into an offensive position. On 4 JUN 1942, the Battle of Midway began. During the four-day sea-and-air battle, the outnumbered U.S. Pacific Fleet succeeded in destroying four Japanese aircraft carriers while losing only one of its own, the Yorktown, to the previously invincible Japanese navy. In six months of offensives prior to Midway, the Japanese had triumphed in lands throughout the Pacific, including Malaysia, Singapore, the Dutch East Indies, the Philippines and numerous island groups. The United States, however, was a growing threat, and Japanese Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto sought to destroy the U.S. Pacific Fleet before it was large enough to outmatch his own. A thousand miles northwest of Honolulu, the strategic island of Midway became the focus of his scheme to smash U.S. Resistance to Japan’s imperial designs. Yamamoto’s plan consisted of a feint toward Alaska followed by an invasion of Midway by a Japanese strike force. When the U.S. Pacific Fleet arrived at Midway to respond to the invasion, it would be destroyed by the superior Japanese fleet waiting unseen to the west. If successful, the plan would eliminate the U.S. Pacific Fleet and provide a forward outpost from which the Japanese could eliminate any future American threat in the Central Pacific. U.S. Intelligence broke the Japanese naval code, however, and the Americans anticipated the surprise attack. In the meantime, 200 miles to the northeast, two U.S. Attack fleets caught the Japanese force entirely by surprise and destroyed three heavy Japanese carriers and one heavy cruiser. The only Japanese carrier that initially escaped destruction, the Hiryu, loosed all its aircraft against the American task force and managed to seriously damage the U.S. Carrier Yorktown, forcing its abandonment. At about 5:00 p.m., dive-bombers from the U.S. Carrier Enterprise returned the favor, mortally damaging the Hiryu. It was scuttled the next morning. When the Battle of Midway ended, Japan had lost four carriers, a cruiser and 292 aircraft, and suffered an estimated 2,500 casualties. The U.S. Lost the Yorktown, the destroyer USS Hammann, 145 aircraft and suffered approximately 300 casualties. Japan’s losses hobbled its naval might–bringing Japanese and American sea power to approximate parity–and marked the turning point in the Pacific theater of World War II. In August 1942, the great U.S. Counteroffensive began at Guadalcanal and did not cease until Japan’s surrender three years later. (Source: http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-midway, June 4, 2017) ***********************  BATTLE OF MIDWAY UPDATE: LCdr C. Wade McClusky Jr Involvement C. Wade McClusky Jr. Faced a tough decision on June 4, 1942: turn his low-on-fuel U.S. Navy air squadron around or keep searching for the Japanese fleet headed for Midway. He decided to go on and wound up changing history. The dive bombers McClusky led that day in the Battle of Midway helped to gut the Imperial Japanese Navy and turned the tide of the war in the Pacific in the Allies' favor after a string of defeats following the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 4 JUN, 75 years to the day of his heroics, a clay model of a planned bronze statue of McClusky is being unveiled in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, as part of a new public memorial dedicated to local war heroes. McClusky, who died in 1976, is depicted as he looked after returning from the June 4, 1942, attack, still wearing his flight suit, flying helmet and goggles. "Wade McClusky finally will be getting his due recognition," said Lee Simonson, one of the organizers behind the event and the fundraising effort for the new memorial. "He's one of the greatest heroes in American history."  McClusky, born in Buffalo in 1902, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1926 and earned his pilot's wings a few years later. When the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew America into the war, he was a lieutenant commander in charge of the air squadron aboard the USS Enterprise, which escaped harm on Dec. 7, 1941, because it was at sea with the other U.S. Carriers. In late May 1942, a large Japanese fleet was steaming toward the U.S. Sea and air bases on Midway atoll, located about 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometers) northwest of Honolulu. Midway could provide the Japanese with a jumping-off point for more assaults on Hawaii, and possibly the West Coast.  The U.S. Navy, tipped off to the Japanese plans thanks to its breaking of the enemy's naval codes, ordered its only three aircraft carriers in the Pacific -- Yorktown, Hornet and Enterprise -- to head off the attack. McClusky's air squadron was tasked with finding the Japanese warships and sinking them. Despite the inside information, the planes initially were sent in the wrong direction after they took off on the morning of 4 JUN. More time -- and fuel -- was wasted as McClusky's group circled while waiting for other carrier-based planes that didn't show up. About two hours into the search and running low on gas, McClusky was faced with a choice: return to the Enterprise or keep searching, with the realization that most of his planes would have to ditch in the ocean. He kept going.  According to the U.S. Navy's official account of the battle, McClusky soon spotted a Japanese destroyer and correctly surmised it was headed toward the main Japanese fleet. Around 10:20 a.m., he led 30 other Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers into the attack against the Japanese aircraft carriers. When the day was over, the fliers from the Enterprise and Yorktown had sunk three carriers and mortally damaged a fourth. McClusky, wounded in the initial attack, made it back to his carrier with less than five gallons of fuel in his tank. Some of the other surviving two-man planes had even less. Ten planes in his squadron had to ditch in the sea and their crews were never found.  "This small group of people who did such a dynamite job at Midway should be lofted up as icons in American history, but for the most part their names go mostly forgotten," said Timothy Orr, who along with his wife Laura co-authored a recently published autobiography by N. Jack "Dusty" Kleiss, a member of McClusky's squadron who helped sink three Japanese warships at Midway. Kleiss was the last surviving Midway dive bomber pilot when he died last year at 100. For his actions at Midway, McClusky was awarded the Navy Cross, one of the U.S. military's highest decorations. He retired as a rear admiral in 1956. McClusky never lived in Buffalo after entering the Navy and has no family living there. According to his son, Phil, the Buffalo tribute is something the Navy hero would've never sought for himself. "He was a quiet guy. He was not a big talker," said the son, 63, who lives outside Baltimore and plans to attend Sunday's ceremony. "He was a professional naval officer." (Source: The Associated Press, Chris Carola, June 3, 2017) ---------------------------------

Hawk Hill Cam Ranh Bay, 70-72

I was stationed at Hawk Hill, Cam Ranh Bay from 6/70 to 1/72. This was a signal company at that time. We were told it was a former Hawk missile site. Located south of the airbase on the South China Sea.

We were across from the Air Force beach, close to the RMKBRJ paving plant. These may not have been there during your tour.

Some of the photo's look like our site, we had less vegetation. Herbicide?

I have slides if you want to compare/ view changes.

This was home for the 307th Signal Battalion for a short time and housed the 362nd Signal Company and the 518th Signal Company. Both were repair shops for microwave communications gear. I was with the 362nd Signal Company. This was one of the "oldest" companies in Vietnam, 1962-1972.

I was there as the war wound down and bases were closing. Nha Trang airbase was turned over to the Vietnam in 1970,  the Americans were packing up in 1971.

Troops dropped to 100,000 during my tour from the high of 500,000. The handwriting was on the wall.

Ken Parkinson

New retirement for service members

New retirement for service members

MILITARY RETIREMENT PAY UPDATE:  Troops Have 1-Year to Decide  The year ahead will prompt many of today’s 1.3 million active-duty service members to make a big decision about their retirement benefits: whether to preserve their place in the traditional military pension system or opt into a new "blended" benefits package. Troops can start doing their research this year, but those who are eligible to make a choice have a full year before they can opt in to the new plan. That window will last from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2018.  Everyone who joins the military on or after Jan. 1, 2018, will be automatically enrolled in the new plan. In the months to come, the Defense Department will roll out an expansive education program to ensure all troops understand the difference between the two benefits and are prepared to make such a critical personal financial decision. There will be classes, online educational tools and a calculator that will enable military personnel and their families to compare the two options based on their current career status and plans for the future.  The law contains a grandfather clause giving all troops entering the service prior to 2018 the option to keep the legacy retirement benefit, which offers a monthly pension check equal to 50 percent of basic pay after 20 years of service. The new retirement benefit offers a smaller pension check, 40 percent of basic pay after 20 years, yet also includes monthly government contributions to an individual retirement account that service members own outright after completing just two years of service. It will be similar to 401(k) contributions for private sector employees, and mark the first time the military offers some limited retirement benefit to troops who separate before reaching 20 years of service.  Historically, noncareer service members -- more than 80 percent of the force -- have received no retirement benefit. The new system will make individual retirement account contributions equal to at least one percent of basic pay. Beyond that, the government will provide matching funds to troops who contribute their own cash. The maximum is 5 percent, meaning if troops agree to contribute 5 percent of their own pay to the individual retirement account, the government will also contribute 5 percent. Individual contributions are tax-deferred, meaning the tax is payable upon withdrawal. But money deposited into these retirement accounts, known as a Thrift Savings Plan, is generally not available for withdrawal before the owner reaches age 59½. Early withdrawal comes with significant tax penalties. Personal finance experts say the most important factor in the decision will be whether an individual service member plans to stay for a 20-year military career. For those who expect to reach the 20-year mark, the traditional pension system is probably a better deal. Yet for young troops who are unsure about their career plans, the new system promises some retirement benefit for those who might leave after long before 20 years of service.  (Source: MilitaryTimes | Andrew Tilghman | December 31, 2016) -------------------------------------

Admiral McRavens Life Lesson #1

Memorial Day remembrances

Subject: Re: memorial day

Patrick,

Did you watch the veterans memorial concert on PBS?  I always watch that each year.  Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes.  Those stories of Vietnam bring sad memories that I had, during the 8 years that my father was in Vietnam.  My dad was in WW II, but he was older when he was in Vietnam.  He was 45 yrs old during the Tet Offensive.  And I was a young college student.  I lived my student life without my Dad, who stayed in Vietnam for 8 years until the Fall of Saigon in 1975.  He would only come home for two weeks each year.  But he never failed to write us pages, and pages of long handwritten letters on a yellow ruled pads.  Me and my family lived our life always wondering whether he was still alive or not.  I would read the newspapers daily, to see GI s and their allies missing, ambushed (by N V snipers), or killed in action.  I don't know how I ever got to concentrate on my college coursework during those days.  

He would write us daily about the good times in Saigon.  I remember some bits and pieces of his stories when he would come on vacation, saying, he and his colleagues would reconnoiter the area where there was an ambush. We at home would be worried about him, especially if he would go to Nha Trang because he said, it was dangerous there.  He worked as something like a para-military service Advisor, only later I knew, but back then his and other co-workers' job were deemed classified of some sort.  I don't quite know the work structure of people like my dad who were sent to Vietnam, but seems like it was under the auspices of the USAID.  As a young college girl, with a lack of full understanding about the war, I only hear my dad say those acronyms, like MAC-V,  ECCOI-V (the latter I know, since it was through this company that he was sent.....it's called Eastern Construction Company, Inc.).  Their office was in Su Van Hanh, Saigon.   They have another office in Cholon.   Sometimes they would go and do some inspection in the Mekong Delta.

Because I don't know the technical word for it,  I would say he was the 'side kick' of then Major General Edward Lansdale, who also stayed in Saigon.  Have you heard of him?  He was very much written about by our popular war and political historians.  Gen. Lansdale also wrote a book, In the Midst of War.  He mentioned my dad very briefly there, without detailing the true nature of my dad's job.  I was able to talk to Gen. Lansdale when I got married and moved to Michigan.  He lived in McClean, Virginia, and he sent me a nice note card telling me about the beautiful cherry blossoms that bloom in the spring in that D.C. area.  He was a tall and good-looking man.  I am in awe of the camaraderie that soldiers and civilians alike had and still have post wartime.  It is a kind of friendship that is rooted and grounded in natural and supernatural faith in God, determined to win, and determined to protect colleagues who were wounded in action.  Those types of bonding can never be erased and will forever be etched in the memory of those who fought and survived the rigors of war, and also in the memory of the families of the fallen.  I salute them for doing a job well done.

We at home during the Vietnam war were not able to communicate with my father, except via letters and by short wave radio.  Vivid in my memory was one time while me and my family were watching the evening news, that all of a sudden on the TV screen, a local correspondent in the Phils., Max Soliven, in fatigue uniform, but a foreign correspondent in Vietnam was interviewing my Dad.  We were all excited to see Daddy on national TV to be alive.  Dad was wearing a baseball hat, and holding a bazooka in his arm.  

This was not the first time Dad was in Vietnam.  In 1955, he was there along with other US & Phil servicemen, to help the Vietnamese establish and construct the Vietnamese constitution.  They studied French before they were sent to Vietnam at the time.

Anyway, this is too long already.  My scoop ....for Memorial Day!

Irene 

Irene Haug

East Lansing, Michigan