Navy Cross
Valor Friday

John Ripley, who hailed from Radford, Virginia, first enlisted into the US Marine Corps in 1957. He did so at the age of 17, immediately after graduating Radford High School. He must have made quite the impression on the Corps, because a year later he received one of the rare appointments to the US Naval […]
Valor Friday

We’ve talked about a lot of legendary figures within their respective communities. Today’s subject is a legend in the naval aviation community, but is largely unknown outside those with wings of gold. The mission that made him famous among Airedales was actually, legitimately classified at the highest levels. His wartime heroics and feat of courage […]
Valor Friday

This one will be a tad longer than normal, but the subject is just that incredible. When someone hears about US Marines in World War II, the mind immediately goes to the South Pacific. The Marine Corps’ amphibious assault specialization meant they were a perfect fit for the island hopping campaign in the Pacific War. […]
WWII Navy ship found more than 4 miles down, deepest wreck

The destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts, sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf in 1944 (corrected from 1943 7/28/22), was found in over 22,600 feet of water last week by Caladan Oceanic, the same folks who found the world’s previous record-depth wreck, the USS Johnston, last year. The wreck of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, […]
Valor Friday

While working on last week’s Pearl Harbor-related article, I came across today’s subject. In the early daylight hours of Sunday 7 December, 1941, we all know that the American Pacific Fleet’s aircraft carriers were out of port and thus spared. This was fortuitous as World War II’s Pacific War would be dominated by aircraft, supplanting […]
Marine Raider receives Navy Cross for actions fighting ISIS in Iraq

Jeff LPH 3 sends in this Marine Corps Times article; A former Marine staff sergeant received the Navy Cross on Aug. 26 for his 2020 heroic actions that saved the life of one French special operator and attempted to save, then recover the bodies of two Marine Raiders while fighting ISIS in northern Iraq. Marine […]
Skip Archer – Fake Vietnam POW

The folks at MilitaryPhony send us their work on Howard “Skip” Archer. “Skip” – as he prefers to be called – comes to us from Centerville, Pennsylvania but also shows current addresses in Flemington, Missouri as well as Ashtabula, Ohio. Archer is 72 y/o at the time of this writing – Aug 2021. Archer has […]
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