Memorial Day - 2023
Someone I work with thanked me for my military service on Saturday, saying they wanted to thank me on this Memorial Day weekend. I told them I was grateful for the acknowledgment but this weekend is not about recognizing my service. Memorial Day is for those who died while serving in our nation's military. Not just for those who fell on the field of battle.
Private First Class Luther Story was killed in action on September 1, 1950 near Agok Korea. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in combat. You can read the citation that accompanied the medal here. The remains of PFC Story were missing for more than 70 years and recovered and returned home in 2023.
From September 1980 through December 1981, I was stationed at Andersen Air Base on Guam. My unit of less than 450 personnel lost five members during my time there. Two because they swam into an off-limits area. One who walked in an off-limits area and was swept out to sea. One was killed by a stonefish. The Fifth took his own life.
March 20, 1985. Team Spirit 85 was in full swing. It was a joint U.S. Republic of Korea training exercise that would involve more than 200,000 personnel. One of those people was Colonel Pat R. Paxton. At that moment he was the Commander of the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing, out of Elemdorf Air Force Base in Alaska. He was piloting an F-15A Eagle fighter jet when he crashed into the Yellow Sea. I knew nothing of this days later, when I got a call to report to the office of our base commander. At the time I was the base public affairs rep, the alert photographer and had other additional duties, along with being the only available person who had a security clearance and knowledge of how to operate the 3/4 inch videoplayer. I was ordered to take that piece of equipment to a conference room where a bunch of senior officers were waiting for my arrival. I was handed a tape and told to play it for those officers. They were doing the initial phase of the "flight mishap" investigation. The tape was the gun camera tape that had been recovered from the wreckage of the F-15A. I was ordered to say nothing about what I had seen. That tape had images that are burned into my brain nearly 40 years later.
Here are 6 names, lost to history.
Capt. Edward R. Bushnell
1st Lt. Gary W. Crass
1st Lt. Michael P. O'Brien
1st Lt. Timothy J. Hoffman
Tech. Sgt. Kenneth G. Suhr
Sgt. Detlef W. Ringler
I've mentioned the crew of Swan 38 before. While I was still in high school in 1974, it turns out that my unit on Guam maintained the WC-130 they were flying when they did a storm penetration mission for Typhoon Bess. There was no report of an emergency. Nothing but a small amount of debris remained of the plane or its brave crew.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. The eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt was a Brigadier General earned the Medal of Honor for heroism on D-Day. He begged to be allowed to accompany the first wave of soldiers that landed at Utah Beach on D-Day. When General Omar Bradley was asked to name the single most heroic action he had ever seen in combat, he said "Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach. Just over a month later, General Roosevelt died of a heart attack. He and his father are one of only two father-son combinations in U.S. history to have both earned the Medal of Honor. The first was Douglas MacArthur and his father Arthur MacArthur.
*****
We have looked at combat deaths, non-combat deaths and more. But there is one last type of military death to examine. Fratricide, also known as friendly fire.
Perhaps the most well-known incident involving a friendly fire death is the loss of former NFL star Pat Tillman. He turned down a 3-year, $3.6 million contract to enlist in the U.S. Army. He successfully completed the Army Ranger School, no easy feat. On April 22, 2004, Tillman was killed at Forward Operating Base Salemo. It was later disclosed that this was a death by friendly fire.
December 7, 1941 found US Army 2nd Lieutenant John L. Dains flying in combat against the Japanese pilots attacking Pearl Harbor. He shot down the first Japanese aircraft downed by an American during World War II. Soon after, he was shot down and killed as the result of a friendly fire incident.
Today we honor all of the men and women who died while in military service. RIP
Private First Class Luther Story was killed in action on September 1, 1950 near Agok Korea. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in combat. You can read the citation that accompanied the medal here. The remains of PFC Story were missing for more than 70 years and recovered and returned home in 2023.
From September 1980 through December 1981, I was stationed at Andersen Air Base on Guam. My unit of less than 450 personnel lost five members during my time there. Two because they swam into an off-limits area. One who walked in an off-limits area and was swept out to sea. One was killed by a stonefish. The Fifth took his own life.
March 20, 1985. Team Spirit 85 was in full swing. It was a joint U.S. Republic of Korea training exercise that would involve more than 200,000 personnel. One of those people was Colonel Pat R. Paxton. At that moment he was the Commander of the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing, out of Elemdorf Air Force Base in Alaska. He was piloting an F-15A Eagle fighter jet when he crashed into the Yellow Sea. I knew nothing of this days later, when I got a call to report to the office of our base commander. At the time I was the base public affairs rep, the alert photographer and had other additional duties, along with being the only available person who had a security clearance and knowledge of how to operate the 3/4 inch videoplayer. I was ordered to take that piece of equipment to a conference room where a bunch of senior officers were waiting for my arrival. I was handed a tape and told to play it for those officers. They were doing the initial phase of the "flight mishap" investigation. The tape was the gun camera tape that had been recovered from the wreckage of the F-15A. I was ordered to say nothing about what I had seen. That tape had images that are burned into my brain nearly 40 years later.
Here are 6 names, lost to history.
Capt. Edward R. Bushnell
1st Lt. Gary W. Crass
1st Lt. Michael P. O'Brien
1st Lt. Timothy J. Hoffman
Tech. Sgt. Kenneth G. Suhr
Sgt. Detlef W. Ringler
I've mentioned the crew of Swan 38 before. While I was still in high school in 1974, it turns out that my unit on Guam maintained the WC-130 they were flying when they did a storm penetration mission for Typhoon Bess. There was no report of an emergency. Nothing but a small amount of debris remained of the plane or its brave crew.
Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. The eldest son of President Theodore Roosevelt was a Brigadier General earned the Medal of Honor for heroism on D-Day. He begged to be allowed to accompany the first wave of soldiers that landed at Utah Beach on D-Day. When General Omar Bradley was asked to name the single most heroic action he had ever seen in combat, he said "Ted Roosevelt on Utah Beach. Just over a month later, General Roosevelt died of a heart attack. He and his father are one of only two father-son combinations in U.S. history to have both earned the Medal of Honor. The first was Douglas MacArthur and his father Arthur MacArthur.
*****
We have looked at combat deaths, non-combat deaths and more. But there is one last type of military death to examine. Fratricide, also known as friendly fire.
Perhaps the most well-known incident involving a friendly fire death is the loss of former NFL star Pat Tillman. He turned down a 3-year, $3.6 million contract to enlist in the U.S. Army. He successfully completed the Army Ranger School, no easy feat. On April 22, 2004, Tillman was killed at Forward Operating Base Salemo. It was later disclosed that this was a death by friendly fire.
December 7, 1941 found US Army 2nd Lieutenant John L. Dains flying in combat against the Japanese pilots attacking Pearl Harbor. He shot down the first Japanese aircraft downed by an American during World War II. Soon after, he was shot down and killed as the result of a friendly fire incident.
Today we honor all of the men and women who died while in military service. RIP
posted by me at 7:54 AM
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