Golfing with the 173rd

Every unit in the military has a moment they are known for, several have many moments they were known for.  My unit, the 29th Infantry Division will always be remembered for storming the beaches at Normandy.  We were also the first National Guard unit that was combat arms called up for Bosnia, and we did rotations of both Iraq and Afghanistan.  I was lucky enough to join the unit in Afghanistan, and for the second half of that deployment we were actually assigned to the 173rd Airborne.  At the time, we were less than excited about that prospect, because if one of our squads got hit by an enemy about 5 times our strength, the 173rd policy was to hold the enemy in place, and they’d come out and take care of the rest.  Not always the most encouraging thing you can hear over the radio when rounds are flying by you.

But the 173rd lives up to their reputation.  Originally actived in WWI, the unit deployed to France but didn’t see any action.  During WWII they were assigned to George Patton’s 3rd Army where they saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and at the Rhine River Crossing.

After WWII it was deactivated and reactivated several times until Vietnam, when the Brigade was the first Army unit sent to the republic of South Vietnam in May 1965.  As their website makes clear:

 In the combat operations to follow, the paratroopers made their superb training payoff.  They were the first to go into “War Zone D” to destroy enemy base camps. They introduce small, long range patrols. The fought the battles of the iron triangle, conducted the only major combat parachute jump in the Tay Ninh Area, and blocked NVA incursions during the bloodiest fighting of the war at “Dak To” during the summer and fall of 1967, culminating in the capture of “Hill 875”. Elements of the Brigade conducted an amphibious assault against NVA and VC forces as part of an operation to clear the rice growing lowlands along the “Bong Song” Littoral.

 The Troopers of the 173d Airborne Brigade wear their combat badges and decorations with pride. During more than six years of nearly continuous combat in Vietnam, The brigade earned four unit citations, had 13 Medal of Honor winners, had over 130 distinguished service crosses winners. 1731** Sky Soldiers were killed in action and another 8,345 were wounded in action. These 10,076 casualties incurred by the Brigade were five times greater then the 187th Airborne Regiment in Korea, fourtimes greater than those suffered by the 11th Airborne Division in the Pacific in WWII, more than twice those suffered by the 101st Airborne Division in Europe in WWII, and two thirds of those suffered by the entire 82nd Airborne Division in WWII. The Brigade took part in 14 designated campaigns and conducted the only U.S. line combat parachute assault of the Vietnam war. The Brigade was Deactivated on 14 January 1972 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

  In 2000 the unit was activated again in Vincenza Italy, and a year later, with the start of the War on Terror would begin a new legacy of heroism.

I’ve been extraordinarily lucky to know quite well the three 173rd paratroopers who have received the Medal of Honor during the War on Terror: Sal Giunta, Kyle White and Ryan Pitts.  Ryan and I spent a week together riding in the mountains of Montana on horseback, with a friend of his (and Silver Star recipient named Mike Denton.)  Ryan, Mike, our Legislative Director Ian DePlanque and I shared a cabin together for the week, and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much as we did that week.  This is well before Ryan would receive his Medal of Honor, so I just knew him as Ryan, and we bonded over a host of subjects, including our love of all New England Sports teams.   If I had to spend time with just one of them, it would likely be Ryan, if only because if it were Sal my liver would quit on me after about four days, and Kyle is just as talkative as I am, which is to say not at all.

If you’ve never seen our video on Ryan, you should:

(Ryan and Me)

Likewise, I am one of Sal Giunta’s biggest fans.  But as I said in a Facebook page this weekend, “Sal Giunta is the most exhausting person on the planet. Dude uses more words in 20 mins than I use in 3 weeks.”  He’s also one of the most entertaining people I’ve ever met.  I could listen to him talk about deciduous trees for 10 minutes.  Actually, I did listen to him talk about them twice this weekend.  I was lucky enough to interview him as well a few years ago.

(Sal Giunta holding court.)

So anyway, this weekend I was invited to take part in the 173rd’s annual (hopefully) golf tournament.  Sal and Ryan were there with the 3rd recipient, Kyle White.  I got to know Kyle a little bit last year when he gave out our Spirit of Service award at the convention, which you can watch here:

Anyway, the tournament was Monday, and Sunday night was a reception at a local house where Ryan married his beautiful wife Amy.  I got to talking to Kyle a bit more, and while he’s not the chatty cathy that Sal is, his sense of humor is awesome.  Somehow out of the discussion we decided that Kyle, myself and Jedda, a 173rd guy who I had met YEARS ago when he was at Walter Reed would go out and do a practice round in the morning before the regular tournament.  Glad I did because it gave me a better chance to meet Kyle.

Sometimes it’s hard on these guys to receive the Medal.  People wanting their pictures and autographs, which they are happy to give, but often times they feel “why me?”  But even I succomb to the feeling of pride being near these guys, and I get to see them fairly often.  So the Golf Tournament was a way to let the public at large get to meet them as well.

We played at the Manchester Country Club in Manchester, NH.  Thankfully it was a scramble, and both of the guys that Jedda and I were attached to were awesome.  We did use a few of our shots, but one of our guys sank two 30 foot putts that helped us salvage a -2 on the day.  Of course one team fired up an 11 under par, so we were kind of out after about hole #3.  Which was fine with us.

All told the event raised over $20,000 for the 173rd Foundation, and 81 golfers took part.  Not bad for a start to this event.  Eric Hitchcock, the 173rd President spoke briefly afterward, thanking everyone for contributing time and money.  Ryan talked about how the money would help the injured paratroopers (he himself went through Landstuhl and Walter Reed, and got much of his clothes from the 173rd foundation.)  Kyle attended college after the Army using the GI Bill and funds provided by the 173rd, and now works in the financial sector.  Sal talked about the Gold Star parents and mothers who were present, or who would benefit from the largesse raised during the event.

Golf tournaments are a great way to raise money for charity, and certainly this one was no exception.  It takes a lot of work to put one on, but the $20,000+ raised will benefit future sky soldiers.  My thanks to the 173rd Foundation for allowing me the opportunity to attend, see some old friends, and meet new ones.

Category: Politics