Navy Cross
Valor Friday
Where last we left Lieutenant Colonel Iceal “Gene” Hambleton and 1st Lieutenant Mark Clark they were trapped in South Vietnam, amidst the largest North Vietnamese Army (NVA) combined arms offensive of the war. It was April 5, 1972, and Hambleton had been alone on the ground for three days after being the lone survivor from […]
Valor Friday
One group of American heroes that I have yet to dive deeply into are those in the submarine service. World War I proved the effectiveness of submarines, but subs saw their most devastating use in WWII, with the German U-Boats being a scourge on convoy traffic in the North Atlantic. They were also critical for […]
Valor Friday
Thanksgiving Day is generally known in America as that last Thursday in November where we eat turkey and watch the Dallas Cowboys lose a football game, but it’s also the name for other holidays around the world. It’s celebrated on 25 October in the tiny Caribbean island nation of Grenada. The reason, if you can […]
Valor Friday
Kurt Chew-Een Lee was the child of Chinese immigrants. Growing up in Sacramento, when America entered World War II, Lee was only 15. As a participant in JROTC during those high school years, it should be no surprise that he enlisted as soon as he turned 18. The eldest son of six children (three boys, […]
Valor Friday
As yesterday was the anniversary of the day “which will live in infamy,” the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, for this Valor Friday we’ll be revisiting some past articles. Of the men who served at Pearl, I’ve written about; Ensign Joseph Taussig – Officer of the Deck on USS Nevada (BB-36). Earned the 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 […]
Captain Royce Williams recounts his heroics over Korea
You might recall the tale of Royce Williams. I spoke about his incredible one-man fight to the death against a bunch of Soviet MiGs during the Korean War in a recent Valor Friday piece. Fox News has the man himself discussing the incident with the Soviet MiGs. It was so highly classified at the top […]
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 […]
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