Published: June 22, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ga. — Ruediger Richter barely recognizes himself in the yellowed military photograph hanging in his den — one of the best-known images of the Vietnam War. Read more
Above and Beyond
Cpl. Kyle Carpenter is the 6th living American Medal of Honor recipient. (From the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan).
Thank you, Kyle. Semper Fi.
19 June 2014
The Battle Cry of Freedom
As performed by the 8th Regiment Band
Written by George F. Root, “The Battle Cry of Freedom” was an immediate success in the North after its first public performance on April 24, 1862. Considered a “rally” song, it was played and sung with gusto by virtually every Federal regimental brass band and many others throughout the remainder of the war. Its tune also became popular in the South, which composed its own lyrics.
Ribbons that…Aren’t
🙂
Museum of Flight
Sixty years ago today, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk first took flight. Throughout a 26-year span, 2,960 Skyhawks were built, making it one of the longest production runs of any American combat aircraft. The Museum’s A-4F (pictured here) was built in 1966 and flew with the Navy in Southeast Asia. Active in Navy squadrons throughout the 1970s, the plane was transferred to the Blue Angels in 1980 and was often flown in the number 4 or “slot” position. When the Blues Angels fly in diamond formation, the slot flies directly behind the leader, surrounded on three sides by other aircraft.
Want to experience the Blues? The U.S. Navy Blue Angels are back at The Museum of Flight, the launchpad for Seafair’s Boeing Air Show, on August 1 to 3. Get ready for a celebration of acceleration at Need For Speed, taking place in conjunction with Marine Week Seattle, with the U.S. Navy’s F/A-18 Hornets, C-130 “Fat Albert,” and Patriots Jet Team’s L-39 Albatross.
via: The Museum of Flight
Perfect Cover
Josephine Baker in her World War II Uniform, c. 1945.
During World War II, Josephine served with the French Red Cross and was an active member of the French resistance movement. The French Resistance was a group of individuals who helped to win the war against the German Nazis enemy with undercover work. Using her career as a cover Baker became an intelligence agent, carrying secret messages written in invisible ink on her sheet music. She was awarded honor of the Croix de Guerre, and received a Medal of the Resistance in 1946. In 1961 she received the highest French honor, the Legion d’Honneur from French president Charles deGaulle.
Ejected
✈
Pilot ejection seats. They only have to work once, but they HAVE to work.
Blast-out ejection ✈
An ejection seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rocket motor, carrying the pilot with it. The purpose of an ejection seat is pilot survival.
hover over images for captions
FDR signs G.I. Bill: 1944
On this day in 1944:
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the G.I. Bill, an unprecedented act of legislation designed to compensate returning members of the armed services–known as G.I.s–for their efforts in World War II. Read more
Letters Home: WWII Soldier Strips the Romance Out of Life at War
By Andrew Carroll
Military censorship and a desire not to worry loved ones at home kept most troops from disclosing the strains and hardships they faced in battle. But when they heard stories of war fatigue on the home front or sensed that the public did not fully grasp the enormity of combatants’ and civilians’ suffering, a spark of frustration could emerge in correspondence home. “Every time you hear somebody say that the war will be over soon,” one soldier wrote to his wife in May 1944—a full sixteen months before hostilities ceased—”look them straight in the eye and tell them that a lot of people are still dying over here.” In the spring of 1944 a U.S. Army major named Oscar Mitchell, who was serving in the China-Burma-India theater, received a letter from a close friend in New York expressing how much she missed him and suggesting it would be exciting to be with him. Mitchell understood the good intentions of her sentiment, but nevertheless felt the need to gently admonish her for romanticizing, in any way, life in a war zone.
All you who sleep tonight
“All you who sleep tonight
far from the ones you love,
No hand to left or right,
And emptiness above–
Know that you are not alone
The whole world shares your tears,
Some for two nights or one,
And some for all their years.”
Maiden on the Midway 
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