Operation Just Cause... ...for as long as it takes
Sent in by The History Net
Make it a point to thank a veteran today!
As we mark the last Veterans Day of the century in the United States, it’s important to reflect on the men and women who have sacrificed life, health and livelihood to preserve and protect the freedoms we enjoy here and to impede the darkness of tyranny abroad. Asked to lay their lives on the line, common people have displayed uncommon courage time and again, not for personal reward or renown, but because they accepted our collective call to combat for causes and principles deemed worthy of the sacrifice.
It has been our privilege at TheHistoryNet to relate some great stories of individual and collective sacrifice and heroism from wars past. If you or someone you know needs to be reminded of why we take this day to honor our veterans, take a look at some of these selected articles:
On November 11, 1918, World War I officially ended, but for American troops in the Russian town of Toulgas, the war was just beginning.
America's Oldest, Bravest Soldier
A veteran long before the War for Independence, Sam Whittemore was America's oldest, bravest soldier.
A perilous airborne strike and the mightiest assemblage of seaborne power yet seen heralded the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.
From Roger Donlon in 1964 to Roy Benavidez in 1981, the Medal of Honor was awarded to 239 Americans who served in Vietnam.
Butler's Battlin' Blue Bastards
While the German Ardennes offensive pushed forward all around it, the 3rd Battalion of the 395th Infantry Regiment stubbornly held its ground.
Proud Survivor of the ‘Chosin Few’
In 1950, as U.S. Marines tried to fight their way out of a Chinese trap, Korea suffered its worst winter of the century. The men who struggled there suffered accordingly.
Losing Hill 700 to the Japanese meant defeat for the American forces on Bougainville. To the men of the 37th Infantry Division, that was unthinkable.
Exploits of a Doolittle Raider
Major James H. Doolittle was already a legend before 1st Lt. James H. Macia was assigned to serve under him. “One thing was clear," Macia decided. “This mission was very important if he was involved in it.”
Hamburger Hill proved to be the telling battle of the Vietnam War, as Pork Chop Hill was for the Korean War.
He had been wounded twice in Korea. He had lost part of his left leg in a parachute training accident. Still, Donald Hamblen earned two more Purple Hearts while serving in Vietnam.
A tremendous explosion in Leyte Gulf on October 24, 1944, broke the American light carrier in two and devastated the light cruiser USS Birmingham.
A year after leaving West Point, Lt. Joe Kingston was en route to Korea, where he, like a lot of others, found himself retreating and advancing in a single day.
The Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team The Japanese-American 442nd Regimental Combat Team fought bravely in eight major campaigns in World War II.
Marine Sergeant Al Schmid lost an eye while heroically manning a machine gun in bloody fighting on Guadalcanal.
One of the saddest legacies of the Vietnam War is the cruel misperception that the American fighting men there did not measure up to their predecessors in World War II and Korea. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Maine's Greatest Hero of the Civil War
A college professor with strong convictions became Maine's
greatest hero of the American Civil War.
A retired soldier recounts the fear and excitement of his first
day of combat as a nineteen-year-old GI in November
1944--and how his desire for a souvenir almost turned that first
day on the line into his last.
On the Road to Victory: The Red Ball Express
More than 6,000 trucks kept gasoline and other vital supplies
rolling in as American troops and tanks pushed the Germans
back toward their homeland.
Outclassed by the approaching Japanese carrier task force, the
American airmen at Midway prepared to do their best--unaware
that a U.S. Navy carrier force was coming to their aid.
When 1st Lt. Charles Schneider joined a general hospital unit, he
expected to spend the war behind the lines. Instead, he would
perform his duties under shot and shell.
Hiroshi Miyamura's Medal of Honor
For more than two years, Hiroshi Miyamura's Medal of Honor was
a tightly guarded secret.
“All hell broke loose as the 'Slicks' approached the landing zone.
But you did not break formation. You sucked it up and flew into
the bowels of the Grim Reaper.”
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Roger L. Vance
Editor-in-Chief
TheHistoryNet
