Memorial Day, 2009

[chefcraig]

Thank you to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and to your families for the brave sacrifices you have made for the good of this country. You will live forever in our hearts and thoughts.




What Is A Vet?

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity. Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the bar room loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back at all.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

He is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say "Thank you." That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.

Two little words that mean a lot: Thank you.

~ Author Unknown ~

Source (http://www.sniksnak.com/usa/memorialday.html)

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[kwame k]

Nicely Done, Craig!

My thanks and prayers go out to all the men and women who have served their country.

[FORD]

The Last U.S. Soldier From the Great War
Only Known Living American Veteran of World War 1, Frank Buckles Has One Last Task
By ALICE MAGGIN

http://a.abcnews.com/images/WN/ht_frank_buckles_2_090522_mn.jpg
May 22, 2009—

"Right from the start I was very conscious of the war being a very serious situation," says Frank Buckles of Charles Town, W. Va. The war he's referring to is the First World War.

Buckles is the only known living American veteran of that war.

Though Buckles is now 108 years old, in 1917 at age 16 he was too young to enlist. So he said he lied to the army recruiter. "I didn't lie, I just misrepresented," he says with a laugh.

Buckles' misrepresentation worked and he became an U.S. Army corporal.

"I went overseas in December 1917 on the Carpathia the ship that came to the rescue of the Titanic," he said. The RMS Carpathia was bound for England but that wasn't where the action was.

"I was all gung ho to get to France," Buckles says. "A regular army sergeant said to get into France in a hurry, you go into the ambulance corp." Buckles had learned to drive on his family farm so he joined the motor pool and then escorted Germans back to Germany after the armistice.

The First World War was a global military conflict which involved almost all of the world's great powers. Over 70 million military personnel were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. Over 15 million people were killed during the conflict, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.

The war didn't diminish Buckles' wanderlust. Soon after the war he got a job with an international shipping company. He was working in Manila when the Japanese attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941. As the Japanese swept across the Pacific, Buckles was captured and spent three years in a prison camp.

As one of the last living veterans of World War One, Buckles has been feted by former President George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole, the former Republican senator from Kansas.

Though he is many decades removed from harm's way, Buckles says he has one more battle to fight. There is no World War One memorial in Washington, DC, only a dilapidated monument honoring area residents who died in the war. Buckles says he is fighting for his fellow veterans to be remembered on the National Mall.

"I hope they'll have something of national importance," says Buckles, who is honorary chairman of the World War 1 Memorial Foundation.

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventures

[Seshmeister]

I cunt believe that's another year gone already, this time last year I was in the States for the reunion tour thing.

I'm still struck by how many days you have for the glorification of your military - is it 3 or 4?

The US is kind of more Klingon than it would like to admit... :)

[Nickdfresh]

I cunt believe that's another year gone already, this time last year I was in the States for the reunion tour thing.

I'm still struck by how many days you have for the glorification of your military - is it 3 or 4?

The US is kind of more Klingon than it would like to admit... :)


Two. One more day than you have actually...

What's worse? "Bank holidays" glorifying prick loan sharks? Or a day honoring the guy who had his nuts shot off at Gettysburg?

[Seshmeister]

Hah our holidays being called bank holidays doesn't mean we celebrate the fucks it just means that the banks are on holiday. :)

Just stirring things a bit but it's undeniable that the US culture is far more militaristic than any other western country.

[Nickdfresh]

Hah our holidays being called bank holidays doesn't mean we celebrate the fucks it just means that the banks are on holiday. :)

Just stirring things a bit but it's undeniable that the US culture is far more militaristic than any other western country.


The US only became unduly "militaristic" when terrorist assholes plowed airliners into the WTC, and those on the executive branch celebrated their little oil lebensraum.

However, I take issue with the fact that endemic US culture is any more militarized than say the UK and European countries. We haven't had conscription since 1973. The UK was pretty militaristic when dealing with Northern Ireland as were many of the NATO countries faced with terrorist threat in the 1970s. The US also spawned a massive peace movement which largely brought down the Vietnam War and ended the draft severally curtailing the ability to launch wars until the Bush-Cheney assholes decided that actual fundamental military doctrine no longer mattered in the invasion of Iraq. I don't recall any other international equivalent actually, feel free to provide examples though...

I think you're spouting the same cliches without actually looking at the facts...

[FORD]

Hah our holidays being called bank holidays doesn't mean we celebrate the fucks it just means that the banks are on holiday. :)

Just stirring things a bit but it's undeniable that the US culture is far more militaristic than any other western country.

Seventeen (a.k.a. The Alarm) - "Bank Holiday Weekend" (http://www.rshb.org.uk/dust/seventeen_bankholidayweekend.mp3)

[kwame k]

Two Words, Sesh......Tony Blair and throw in a side of Margaret Thatcher to boot.

Europe is the bastion of free love and peace?

It's the old saying isn't it, "Don't bitch about your neighbor's lawn when your grass is 2' high".

Our country is more militarist than Europe or the rest of the world......please.

[chefcraig]

Ummm...Sesh?
OK, enough sidetracking nonsense. Yep, the words to our national anthem include the words
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

...inherent militarism agreed. http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-ashamed-smileys-705.gif (http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/)

Yet...

This day is offered to recognize those that made the sacrifice.

If you can not honor that without feeling a need to "stir up shit", then fine. It speaks far more about your own personal integrity than anything else.

And good luck with that.

[FORD]

The reason that Memorial Day is strictly a US holiday - as opposed to Veterans Day/Armistice Day/ Rembrance Day, which is a bit more universal - is because it was originally dedicated to the memory of those who died in the (poorly named) "Civil War". And despite the best efforts of the BCE, to this day, that war that killed more Americans than any other.

The purpose of the day was changed to recognize those killed in all wars after World War I.

[GAR]

I remember alot of psychological damage Vietnam vets suffered locally, some of these guys walked around deranged, living in the nursery or the desert or the reservoir.

One issue I have with the veterans is, how the VA will just medicate them off and wish them well. That's fucked.

The VA really really needs to spend alot more money on psyche rehab than flippin' em Prozac then crossing their fingers they get a job after being discharged.

[hideyoursheep]

Pops, B co. 2/7 Cavalry Dec. 67-Dec. 68 ...I'm glad he came back. Most of the people he went to basic training with are on the Memorial Wall.

<a href="http://s185.photobucket.com/albums/x119/brakeman_2007/?action=view&current=l_05bf3d71c0ce40898d41008f0d9d2d82.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x119/brakeman_2007/l_05bf3d71c0ce40898d41008f0d9d2d82.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>


The company "mascot"........:fighting0043:


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:usfl::war:

[ZahZoo]

Just stirring things a bit but it's undeniable that the US culture is far more militaristic than any other western country.

Not sure about that Sesh... I think we take a distant back seat to the UK. Just y'all fightin with France is pretty nuts...

Anglo-French Wars-Wars between England (also known as Great Britain or the United Kingdom), and France.

Norman Invasion of England, (1066) -William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy and a vassal of the French king, conquered the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, and made himself King of England. Resulting from this, the English and French royal families would fight many bloody wars trying to settle who was supposed to rule what. William's family acquired lands throughout France and ruled them as Englishmen, which really upset the French kings. This is a pretty watered-down, basic description of this rivalry, but these two nations have fought many, many wars, and William's conquest of England was the starting point for many of the earlier ones.
Anglo-French War, (1109-1113)

Anglo-French War, (1116-1119)

Anglo-French War, (1123-1135)

Anglo-French War, (1159-1189)

Anglo-French War, (1202-1204)

Anglo-French War, (1213-1214)

Anglo-French War, (1242-1243)

Anglo-French War, (1294-1298)

Anglo-French War, (1300-1303)

The Hundred Years' War (1337-1453)-The Hundred Years' War was actually a series of wars between England and France which lasted 116 years. Most historians break this conflict into four distinct wars.

Anglo-French War, (1337-1360)
Anglo-French War, (1369-1373)

Anglo-French War, (1412-1420)

Anglo-French War, (1423-1453)

Anglo-French War, (1475)

Anglo-French War, (1488) -Also known as Henry VII's Invasion of Brittany (a region in NW France).

Anglo-French War, (1489-1492) -Also known as Henry VII's Second Invasion of Brittany.

Anglo-French War, (1510-1513)-Also known as the War of the Holy League, England joined with the Pope, several Italian states, Swiss cantons and Spain against France. King Henry VIII of England won a favorable peace from France after winning the Battle of the Spurs on August 16, 1513. The rest of the Holy League continued fighting France until the Pope Julius II's death, which helped cause the dissolution of the League.

Anglo-French War, (1521-1526)-Henry VIII joined the Hapsburg Empire in a war against France. The war proved unpopular in England and expensive financially, and the King had difficulty raising money from Parliament. After 1523, England did not participate much in the war.

Anglo-French War, (1542-1546)-Henry VIII again joined the Hapsburg Empire in a war against France. The English captured the port of Boulogne and the French had to accept that seizure when the peace treaty was signed. The war cost England two million English pounds.

Anglo-French War, (1549-1550)-French King Henry II declared war with the intention of retaking Boulogne, which fell to him in 1550. This war was preceded by years of border combat short of all-out war.

Anglo-French War, (1557-1560)-England's Queen Mary drew her country into war allied to Spain , whose king was her husband. A very unpopular war with the English people. England lost possession of Calais on the French mainland. When Queen Elizabeth later took the throne, religious and political differences would make England and Spain bitter enemies.

Anglo-French War, (1589-1593)-England was caught up in the great Protestant-Catholic wars sweeping Europe. England sided with Protestant Dutch rebels against Catholic Spain and with the Protestant (Huguenot) French against the Catholic French in the Wars of Religion, a series of French religious civil wars. In 1589, while still fighting Spain after defeating the famous Spanish Armada, Elizabeth sent troops to aid the French Protestants.

Anglo-French War, (1627-1628)-Also known in France as the Third Bearnese Revolt, England came to the aid of Huguenot rebels fighting the French government.

Anglo-French War, (1666-1667)



Anglo-French War, (1689-1697)-Known in Europe as the War of the League of Augsburg AND as the War of the Grand Alliance. In North America the colonial aspect of the conflict was known as King William's War.

Anglo-French War, (1702-1712)-Known in Europe as the War of the Spanish Succession, in North America as Queen Anne's War and in India as the First Carnatic War. This conflict also included the Second Abnaki War. The Abnaki Indian tribe allied itself with the French against the English colonists in North America.

Anglo-French War, (1744-1748)-Known in Europe as the War of the Austrian Succession and in North America as King George's War.

Anglo-French War, (1749-1754)-Known in India as the Second Carnatic War. The British East India Company and its Indian allies battled the French East India Company and its Indian allies.

Anglo-French War, (1755-1763)-Known in Europe as the Seven Years' War and in North America as the French and Indian War. France forever lost possession of Quebec/Canada. In many ways, England's victory set the stage for the American Revolution.





Anglo-French War, (1779-1783)-Also known as the American Revolution. Also involved Spain, the United States and the Netherlands against Britain. Can also be considered as an Anglo-French War, an Anglo-Spanish War and an Anglo-Dutch War.



Wars of the French Revolution, (1792-1802)-The Wars of the French Revolution spanned a decade of great political, social and military change throughout the European continent. After the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789, the conservative, monarchical powers of Europe attempted to extinguish the new French Republic and restore the Bourbon Royal Family. When several nations combined against France, the alliances were known as "Coalitions". Thus, this series of wars are known as the Wars of the Coalitions.

Austro-Prussian Invasion of France, (1792)-In support of the deposed, but still living French King Louis XVI, Austria and Prussia invaded France. French Revolutionary armies defeated the Allies at Valmy and Jemappes and conquered Austrian-ruled Belgium. France also defeated Austrian forces in northern Italy, seizing Savoy and Nice. Can also be considered as a Franco-Austrian War and a Franco-Prussian War.
War of the First Coalition, (1792-1798)-Britain, Austria, Prussia, Spain, Russia, Sardinia and Holland combined to fight Revolutionary France. Can also be considered as a Franco-Austrian War , a Franco-Prussian War, a Franco-Dutch War , a Franco-Russian War, Anglo-French War, and a Franco-Sardinian War. Russia left the Coalition in 1794 to deal with troubles in Poland. French victories forced Holland, also known then as the Batavian Republic, to leave the Coalition in 1795. Prussia and Spain made peace with France in 1795 and Austria signed the Treaty of Campo-Formio in 1798, surrendering the Austrian Netherlands (now Belgium) to France.

This war included the battles of Neerwinden, Mainz, Kaiserlautern (early Allied victories). Later, as the Revolutionary government organized the populace and fielded huge "citizen armies" commanded by brilliant young generals like Napoleon Bonaparte, the French won many battlefield victories.

War of the Second Coalition, (1798-1801)-Britain, Austria, Russia, Portugal, Naples and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) combined to fight Revolutionary France. Spain later joined France against Portugal. Can also be considered as a Franco-Austrian War , a Franco-Russian War, a Anglo-French War, a Franco-Turkish War, a Franco-Neapolitian War , a Franco-Portuguese War and a Franco-Russian War. This alliance against France formed to counter French moves in Italy; formation of the Roman, Ligurian, Cisalpine and Helvetic Republics in Switzerland and Italy, and the deposition of Papal rule in Rome. Naples was conquered by the French in early 1799 and declared to be the new Parthenopean Republic.

After the Coalition war began, France intervened in an internal revolt in the Swiss Confederation. The Swiss Revolt of 1798, (1798) ended with the Swiss Confederation dissolved and the Helvetic Republic in its place. Throughout the rest of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Swiss were effectively under French rule with an army of occupation in place.

Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Turkish Egypt and won the Battle of the Pyramids, continuing his march into what is now Israel and Lebanon. British Admiral Horatio Nelson wiped out the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Due to French victories on land against both Turkish and British troops, the Ottoman Empire made peace with France at the Convention of El-Arish in 1800.

Part of this Coalition war is the so-called War of the Oranges (1801), in which France and Spain invaded Portugal. France sought to end Portugal's trade with Britain, and Spain sought Portuguese territory. In the Peace of Badajoz, Portugal promised to end trade with Britain, give land to Spain, and part of Brazil to France. This "Brazilian" land is the modern-day French Guiana.

This war included the battles of Cassano, Tribbia River and Novi (early Allied victories). Following Russian withdrawal from the war due to quarrels with Austria, the French under First Consul Bonaparte won the Battle of Marengo in 1800. The Coalition collapsed after Austria lost the Battle of Hohenlinden in December, 1800 and signed the Peace of Luneville in February, 1801.

[Seshmeister]

Hah.

More an England France thing.

Of course Britain has a bad record for being into a good war historically.

I was talking more post WWII though since when the US has taken over that mantle.

1945-1949

1945-49 Occupation of part of Germany.

1945-55 Occupation of part of Austria.

1945-46 Occupation of part of Italy.[citation needed]

1945-52 Occupation of Japan.

1944-46 Temporary reoccupation of the Philippines during WWII and in preparation for previously scheduled independence.[citation needed]

1945-49 Occupation of South Korea and defeat of a leftist insurgency.[citation needed]

1946 -- Trieste (Italy). President Truman ordered the increase of US troops along the zonal occupation line and the reinforcement of air forces in northern Italy after Yugoslav forces shot down an unarmed US Army transport plane flying over Venezia Giulia..[citation needed] Earlier US naval units had been sent to the scene.[RL30172] Later the Free Territory of Trieste, Zone A.

1945-47 US Marines garrisoned in mainland China to oversee the removal of Soviet and Japanese forces after World War II.[3]

1948 -- Palestine. A marine consular guard was sent to Jerusalem to protect the US Consul General.[RL30172]

1948 -- Berlin. Berlin Airlift After the Soviet Union established a land blockade of the US, British, and French sectors of Berlin on June 24, 1948, the United States and its allies airlifted supplies to Berlin until after the blockade was lifted in May 1949.[RL30172]

1948-49 -- China. Marines were dispatched to Nanking to protect the American Embassy when the city fell to Communist troops, and to Shanghai to aid in the protection and evacuation of Americans.[RL30172]

[edit] 1950-1959

1950-53 -- Korean War. The United States responded to North Korean invasion of South Korea by going to its assistance, pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions. US forces deployed in Korea exceeded 300,000 during the last year of the conflict. Over 36,600 US military were killed in action.[RL30172]

1950-55 -- Formosa (Taiwan). In June 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War, President Truman ordered the US Seventh Fleet to prevent Chinese Communist attacks upon Formosa and Chinese Nationalist operations against mainland China.[RL30172]

1954-55 -- China. Naval units evacuated US civilians and military personnel from the Tachen Islands.[RL30172]

1955-64 -- Vietnam. First military advisors sent to Vietnam on 12 Feb 1955. By 1964, US troop levels had grown to 21,000. On 7 August 1964, US Congress approved Gulf of Tonkin resolution affirming "All necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States. . .to prevent further aggression. . . (and) assist any member or protocol state of the Southeast Asian Collective Defense Treaty (SEATO) requesting assistance. . ."[Vietnam timeline]

1956 -- Egypt. A marine battalion evacuated US nationals and other persons from Alexandria during the Suez crisis.[RL30172]

1958 -- Lebanon. Lebanon crisis of 1958 Marines were landed in Lebanon at the invitation of President Camille Chamoun to help protect against threatened insurrection supported from the outside. The President's action was supported by a Congressional resolution passed in 1957 that authorized such actions in that area of the world.[RL30172]

[edit] 1960-1969

1959-60 -- The Caribbean. Second Marine Ground Task Force was deployed to protect US nationals following the Cuban revolution.[RL30172]

1962 -- Thailand. The Third Marine Expeditionary Unit landed on May 17, 1962 to support that country during the threat of Communist pressure from outside; by July 30, the 5,000 marines had been withdrawn.[RL30172]

1962 -- Cuba. Cuban Missile Crisis On October 22, President Kennedy instituted a "quarantine" on the shipment of offensive missiles to Cuba from the Soviet Union. He also warned Soviet Union that the launching of any missile from Cuba against nations in the Western Hemisphere would bring about US nuclear retaliation on the Soviet Union. A negotiated settlement was achieved in a few days.[RL30172]

1962-75 -- Laos. From October 1962 until 1975, the United States played an important role in military support of anti-Communist forces in Laos.[RL30172]

1964 -- Congo (Zaire). The United States sent four transport planes to provide airlift for Congolese troops during a rebellion and to transport Belgian paratroopers to rescue foreigners.[RL30172]

1959-75 -- Vietnam War. US military advisers had been in South Vietnam for a decade, and their numbers had been increased as the military position of the Saigon government became weaker. After citing what he termed were attacks on US destroyers in the Tonkin Gulf, President Johnson asked in August 1964 for a resolution expressing US determination to support freedom and protect peace in Southeast Asia. Congress responded with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, expressing support for "all necessary measures" the President might take to repel armed attacks against US forces and prevent further aggression. Following this resolution, and following a Communist attack on a US installation in central Vietnam, the United States escalated its participation in the war to a peak of 543,000 military personnel by April 1969.[RL30172]

1965 -- Dominican Republic. Invasion of Dominican Republic The United States intervened to protect lives and property during a Dominican revolt and sent 20,000 US troops as fears grew that the revolutionary forces were coming increasingly under Communist control.[RL30172]

1967 --Israel. The USS Liberty incident, whereupon a United States Navy Technical Research Ship was attacked June 8, 1967 by Israeli armed forces, killing 34 and wounding more than 170 U.S. crew members.

1967 -- Congo (Zaire). The United States sent three military transport aircraft with crews to provide the Congo central government with logistical support during a revolt.[RL30172]

1968 -- Laos & Cambodia. U.S. starts secret bombing campaign against targets along the Ho Chi Minh trail in the sovereign nations of Cambodia and Laos. The bombings last at least two years. (See Operation Commando Hunt)

[edit] 1970-1979

1970 -- Cambodia Campaign. US troops were ordered into Cambodia to clean out Communist sanctuaries from which Viet Cong and North Vietnamese attacked US and South Vietnamese forces in Vietnam. The object of this attack, which lasted from April 30 to June 30, was to ensure the continuing safe withdrawal of American forces from South Vietnam and to assist the program of Vietnamization.[RL30172]

1973 -- Operation Nickel Grass, a strategic airlift operation conducted by the United States to deliver weapons and supplies to Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

1974 -- Evacuation from Cyprus. United States naval forces evacuated US civilians during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[RL30172]

1975 -- Evacuation from Vietnam. On April 3, 1975, President Ford reported US naval vessels, helicopters, and Marines had been sent to assist in evacuation of refugees and US nationals from Vietnam.[RL30172]

1975 -- Evacuation from Cambodia. On April 12, 1975, President Ford reported that he had ordered US military forces to proceed with the planned evacuation of US citizens from Cambodia.[RL30172]

1975 -- South Vietnam. On April 30, 1975, President Ford reported that a force of 70 evacuation helicopters and 865 Marines had evacuated about 1,400 US citizens and 5,500 third country nationals and South Vietnamese from landing zones near the US Embassy in Saigon and the Tan Son Nhut Airfield.[RL30172]

1975 -- Cambodia. Mayag&#252;ez Incident. On May 15, 1975, President Ford reported he had ordered military forces to retake the SS Mayag&#252;ez, a merchant vessel which was seized from Cambodian naval patrol boats in international waters and forced to proceed to a nearby island.[RL30172]

1976 -- Lebanon. On July 22 and 23, 1974, helicopters from five US naval vessels evacuated approximately 250 Americans and Europeans from Lebanon during fighting between Lebanese factions after an overland convoy evacuation had been blocked by hostilities.[RL30172]

1976 -- Korea. Additional forces were sent to Korea after two American soldiers were killed by North Korean soldiers in the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea while cutting down a tree.[RL30172]

1978 -- Zaire (Congo). From May 19 through June 1978, the United States utilized military transport aircraft to provide logistical support to Belgian and French rescue operations in Zaire.[RL30172]

[edit] 1980-1990

1980 -- Iran. Operation Eagle Claw On April 26, 1980, President Carter reported the use of six US transport planes and eight helicopters in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue American hostages being held in Iran.[RL30172]

1981 -- El Salvador. After a guerrilla offensive against the government of El Salvador, additional US military advisers were sent to El Salvador, bringing the total to approximately 55, to assist in training government forces in counterinsurgency.[RL30172]

1981 --Libya. First Gulf of Sidra Incident On August 19, 1981, US planes based on the carrier USS Nimitz shot down two Libyan jets over the Gulf of Sidra after one of the Libyan jets had fired a heat-seeking missile. The United States periodically held freedom of navigation exercises in the Gulf of Sidra, claimed by Libya as territorial waters but considered international waters by the United States.[RL30172]

1982 -- Sinai. On March 19, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of military personnel and equipment to participate in the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. Participation had been authorized by the Multinational Force and Observers Resolution, Public Law 97-132.[RL30172]

1982 -- Lebanon. Multinational Force in Lebanon. On August 21, 1982, President Reagan reported the dispatch of 80 Marines to serve in the multinational force to assist in the withdrawal of members of the Palestine Liberation force from Beirut. The Marines left September 20, 1982.[RL30172]

1982-1983 -- Lebanon. On September 29, 1982, President Reagan reported the deployment of 1200 marines to serve in a temporary multinational force to facilitate the restoration of Lebanese government sovereignty. On September 29, 1983, Congress passed the Multinational Force in Lebanon Resolution (P.L. 98-119) authorizing the continued participation for eighteen months.[RL30172]

1983 -- Egypt. After a Libyan plane bombed a city in Sudan on March 18, 1983, and Sudan and Egypt appealed for assistance, the United States dispatched an AWACS electronic surveillance plane to Egypt.[RL30172]

1983 -- Grenada. Citing the increased threat of Soviet and Cuban influence and noting the development of an international airport following a bloodless Grenada coup d'&#233;tat and alignment with the Soviets and Cuba, the U.S. launches Operation Urgent Fury to invade the sovereign island nation of Grenada.[RL30172]

1983-89 -- Honduras. In July 1983 the United States undertook a series of exercises in Honduras that some believed might lead to conflict with Nicaragua. On March 25, 1986, unarmed US military helicopters and crewmen ferried Honduran troops to the Nicaraguan border to repel Nicaraguan troops.[RL30172]

1983 -- Chad. On August 8, 1983, President Reagan reported the deployment of two AWACS electronic surveillance planes and eight F-15 fighter planes and ground logistical support forces to assist Chad against Libyan and rebel forces.[RL30172]

1984 -- Persian Gulf. On June 5, 1984, Saudi Arabian jet fighter planes, aided by intelligence from a US AWACS electronic surveillance aircraft and fueled by a U.S. KC-10 tanker, shot down two Iranian fighter planes over an area of the Persian Gulf proclaimed as a protected zone for shipping.[RL30172]

1985 -- Italy. On October 10, 1985, US Navy pilots intercepted an Egyptian airliner and forced it to land in Sicily. The airliner was carrying the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro who had killed an American citizen during the hijacking.[RL30172]

1986 -- Libya. Action in the Gulf of Sidra (1986) On March 26, 1986, President Reagan reported on March 24 and 25, US forces, while engaged in freedom of navigation exercises around the Gulf of Sidra, had been attacked by Libyan missiles and the United States had responded with missiles.[RL30172]

1986 -- Libya. Operation El Dorado Canyon On April 16, 1986, President Reagan reported that U.S. air and naval forces had conducted bombing strikes on terrorist facilities and military installations in the Libyan capitol of Tripoli, claiming that Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi was responsible for a bomb attack at a German disco that killed two U.S. soldiers.[RL30172]

1986 -- Bolivia. U.S. Army personnel and aircraft assisted Bolivia in anti-drug operations.[RL30172]

1987-88 -- Persian Gulf. After the Iran-Iraq War resulted in several military incidents in the Persian Gulf, the United States increased US joint military forces operations in the Persian Gulf and adopted a policy of reflagging and escorting Kuwaiti oil tankers through the Persian Gulf, called Operation Earnest Will. President Reagan reported that US ships had been fired upon or struck mines or taken other military action on September 21 (Iran Ajr), October 8, and October 19, 1987 and April 18 (Operation Praying Mantis), July 3, and July 14, 1988. The United States gradually reduced its forces after a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq on August 20, 1988.[RL30172] It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.[4]

1987-88 -- Operation Earnest Will was the U.S. military protection of Kuwaiti oil tankers from Iraqi and Iranian attacks in 1987 and 1988 during the Tanker War phase of the Iran-Iraq War. It was the largest naval convoy operation since World War II.

1987-88 -- Operation Prime Chance was a United States Special Operations Command operation intended to protect U.S. -flagged oil tankers from Iranian attack during the Iran-Iraq War. The operation took place roughly at the same time as Operation Earnest Will.

1988 -- Operation Praying Mantis was the April 18, 1988 action waged by U.S. naval forces in retaliation for the Iranian mining of the Persian Gulf and the subsequent damage to an American warship.

1988 -- Operation Golden Pheasant was an emergency deployment of U.S. troops to Honduras in 1988, as a result of threatening actions by the forces of the (then socialist) Nicaraguans.

1988 -- USS Vincennes shoot down of Iran Air Flight 655

1988 -- Panama. In mid-March and April 1988, during a period of instability in Panama and as the United States increased pressure on Panamanian head of state General Manuel Noriega to resign, the United States sent 1,000 troops to Panama, to "further safeguard the canal, US lives, property and interests in the area." The forces supplemented 10,000 US military personnel already in the Panama Canal Zone.[RL30172]

1989 -- Libya. Second Gulf of Sidra Incident On January 4, 1989, two US Navy F-14 aircraft based on the USS John F. Kennedy shot down two Libyan jet fighters over the Mediterranean Sea about 70 miles north of Libya. The US pilots said the Libyan planes had demonstrated hostile intentions.[RL30172]

1989 -- Panama. On May 11, 1989, in response to General Noriega's disregard of the results of the Panamanian election, President Bush ordered a brigade-sized force of approximately 1,900 troops to augment the estimated 11,000 U.S. forces already in the area.[RL30172]

1989 -- Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru. Andean Initiative in War on Drugs. On September 15, 1989, President Bush announced that military and law enforcement assistance would be sent to help the Andean nations of Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru combat illicit drug producers and traffickers. By mid-September there were 50-100 US military advisers in Colombia in connection with transport and training in the use of military equipment, plus seven Special Forces teams of 2-12 persons to train troops in the three countries.[RL30172]

1989 -- Philippines. 1989 Philippine coup attempt. On December 2, 1989, President Bush reported that on December 1 US fighter planes from Clark Air Base in the Philippines had assisted the Aquino government to repel a coup attempt. In addition, 100 marines were sent from the US Navy base at Subic Bay to protect the US Embassy in Manila.[RL30172]

1989-90 -- Panama. Operation Just Cause On December 21, 1989, President Bush reported that he had ordered US military forces to Panama to protect the lives of American citizens and bring General Noriega to justice. By February 13, 1990, all the invasion forces had been withdrawn.[RL30172] Around 200 Panamanian civilians were reported killed. The Panamanian head of state, General Manuel Noriega, was captured and brought to the U.S.

1990 -- Liberia. On August 6, 1990, President Bush reported that a reinforced rifle company had been sent to provide additional security to the US Embassy in Monrovia, and that helicopter teams had evacuated US citizens from Liberia.[RL30172]

1990 -- Saudi Arabia. On August 9, 1990, President Bush reported that he had ordered the forward deployment of substantial elements of the US armed forces into the Persian Gulf region to help defend Saudi Arabia after the August 2 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. On November 16, 1990, he reported the continued buildup of the forces to ensure an adequate offensive military option.[RL30172]

[edit] 1991-1999

1991 -- Iraq. Persian Gulf War On January 16 America attacked Iraqi forces and military targets in Iraq and Kuwait, in conjunction with a coalition of allies and UN Security Council resolutions. Combat operations ended on February 28, 1991.[RL30172] (See Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm)

1991 -- Iraq. On May 17, 1991, President Bush stated that the Iraqi repression of the Kurdish people had necessitated a limited introduction of US forces into northern Iraq for emergency relief purposes.[RL30172]

1991 -- Zaire. On September 25-27, 1991, after widespread looting and rioting broke out in Kinshasa, US Air Force C-141s transported 100 Belgian troops and equipment into Kinshasa. US planes also carried 300 French troops into the Central African Republic and hauled evacuated American citizens.[RL30172]

1991-96 -- Operation Provide Comfort. Delivery of humanitarian relief and military protection for Kurds fleeing their homes in northern Iraq, by a small Allied ground force based in Turkey.

1992 -- Sierra Leone. On May 3, 1992, US military planes evacuated Americans from Sierra Leone, where military leaders had overthrown the government.[RL30172]

1992-1996 -- Operation Provide Promise was a humanitarian relief operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav Wars, from July 2, 1992, to January 9, 1996, which made it the longest running humanitarian airlift in history.[5]

1992 -- Kuwait. On August 3, 1992, the United States began a series of military exercises in Kuwait, following Iraqi refusal to recognize a new border drawn up by the United Nations and refusal to cooperate with UN inspection teams.[RL30172]

1992-2003 -- Iraq. Iraqi No-Fly Zones The U.S. together with the United Kingdom declares and enforces "no fly zones" over the majority of sovereign Iraqi airspace, prohibiting Iraqi flights in zones in southern Iraq and northern Iraq, and conducting aerial reconnaissance and bombings. (See also Operation Southern Watch) [RL30172]

1992-95 -- Somalia. "Operation Restore Hope" Somali Civil War On December 10, 1992, President Bush reported that he had deployed US armed forces to Somalia in response to a humanitarian crisis and a UN Security Council Resolution. The operation came to an end on May 4, 1993. US forces continued to participate in the successor United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM II). (See also Battle of Mogadishu)[RL30172]

1993-Present -- Bosnia-Herzegovina.

1993 -- Macedonia. On July 9, 1993, President Clinton reported the deployment of 350 US soldiers to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to participate in the UN Protection Force to help maintain stability in the area of former Yugoslavia.[RL30172]

1994-95 -- Haiti. Operation Uphold Democracy US ships had begun embargo against Haiti. Up to 20,000 US military troops were later deployed to Haiti.[RL30172]

1994 -- Macedonia. On April 19, 1994, President Clinton reported that the US contingent in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had been increased by a reinforced company of 200 personnel.[RL30172]

1995 -- Bosnia. NATO bombing of Bosnian Serbs.[RL30172] (See Operation Deliberate Force)

1996 -- Liberia. On April 11, 1996, President Clinton reported that on April 9, 1996 due to the "deterioration of the security situation and the resulting threat to American citizens" in Liberia he had ordered US military forces to evacuate from that country "private US citizens and certain third-country nationals who had taken refuge in the US Embassy compound...."[RL30172]

1996 -- Central African Republic. On May 23, 1996, President Clinton reported the deployment of US military personnel to Bangui, Central African Republic, to conduct the evacuation from that country of "private US citizens and certain U.S. Government employees", and to provide "enhanced security for the American Embassy in Bangui."[RL30172]

1997 -- Albania. On March 13, 1997, US military forces were used to evacuate certain U.S. Government employees and private US citizens from Tirana, Albania. (See also Operation Silver Wake)[RL30172]

1997 -- Congo and Gabon. On March 27, 1997, President Clinton reported on March 25, 1997, a standby evacuation force of US military personnel had been deployed to Congo and Gabon to provide enhanced security and to be available for any necessary evacuation operation.[RL30172]

1997 -- Sierra Leone. On May 29 and May 30, 1997, US military personnel were deployed to Freetown, Sierra Leone, to prepare for and undertake the evacuation of certain US government employees and private US citizens.[RL30172]

1997 -- Cambodia. On July 11, 1997, In an effort to ensure the security of American citizens in Cambodia during a period of domestic conflict there, a Task Force of about 550 US military personnel were deployed at Utapao Air Base in Thailand for possible evacuations. [RL30172]

1998 -- Iraq. US-led bombing campaign against Iraq.[RL30172] (See Operation Desert Fox)

1998 -- Guinea-Bissau. On June 10, 1998, in response to an army mutiny in Guinea-Bissau endangering the US Embassy, President Clinton deployed a standby evacuation force of US military personnel to Dakar, Senegal, to evacuate from the city of Bissau.[RL30172]

1998 - 1999 Kenya and Tanzania. US military personnel were deployed to Nairobi, Kenya, to coordinate the medical and disaster assistance related to the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. [RL30172]

1998 -- Afghanistan and Sudan. Operation Infinite Reach On August 20, air strikes were used against two suspected terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical factory in Sudan.[RL30172]

1998 -- Liberia. On September 27, 1998 America deployed a stand-by response and evacuation force of 30 US military personnel to increase the security force at the US Embassy in Monrovia.[RL30172]

1999 - 2001 East Timor. East Timor Independence Limited number of US military forces deployed with UN to restore peace to East Timor.[RL30172]

1999 -- NATO's bombing of Serbia in the Kosovo Conflict.[RL30172] (See Operation Allied Force)

[edit] 2000- present

2000 -- Sierra Leone. On May 12, 2000 a US Navy patrol craft deployed to Sierra Leone to support evacuation operations from that country if needed.[RL30172]

2000 -- Yemen. On October 12, 2000, after the USS Cole attack in the port of Aden, Yemen, military personnel were deployed to Aden.[RL30172]

2000 -- East Timor. On February 25, 2000, a small number of U.S. military personnel were deployed to support of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). [RL30172]

2001 -- Afghanistan. War in Afghanistan. The War on Terrorism begins with Operation Enduring Freedom. On October 7, 2001, US Armed Forces invade Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks and "begin combat action in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda terrorists and their Taliban supporters."[RL30172]

2002 -- Yemen. On November 3, 2002, an American MQ-1 Predator fired a Hellfire missile at a car in Yemen killing Qaed Senyan al-Harthi, an al-Qaeda leader thought to be responsible for the USS Cole bombing.[RL30172]

2002 -- Philippines. OEF-Philippines. January 2002 U.S. "combat-equipped and combat support forces" have been deployed to the Philippines to train with, assist and advise the Philippines' Armed Forces in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."[RL30172]

2002 -- C&#244;te d'Ivoire. On September 25, 2002, in response to a rebellion in C&#244;te d'Ivoire, US military personnel went into C&#244;te d'Ivoire to assist in the evacuation of American citizens from Bouake.[6] [RL30172]

2003 -- 2003 invasion of Iraq leading to the War in Iraq. March 20, 2003. The United States leads a coalition that includes Britain, Australia and Spain to invade Iraq with the stated goal of eliminating Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and undermining Saddam Hussein.[RL30172]

2003 -- Liberia. Second Liberian Civil War On June 9, 2003, President Bush reported that on June 8 he had sent about 35 combat-equipped US military personnel into Monrovia, Liberia, to help secure the US Embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and to aid in any necessary evacuation from either Liberia or Mauritania.[RL30172]

2003 -- Georgia and Djibouti "US combat equipped and support forces" had been deployed to Georgia and Djibouti to help in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."[7]

2004 -- 2004 Ha&#239;ti rebellion occurs. The US sent first sent 55 combat equipped military personnel to augment the US Embassy security forces there and to protect American citizens and property in light. Later 200 additional US combat-equipped, military personnel were sent to prepare the way for a UN Multinational Interim Force, MINUSTAH.[RL30172]

2004 -- War on Terrorism: US anti-terror related activities were underway in Georgia, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Eritrea.[8]

2006 -- Pakistan. 17 people including known Al Qaeda bomb maker and chemical weapons expert Midhat Mursi, were killed in an American MQ-1 Predator airstrike on Damadola (Pakistan), near the Afghan border.[9][10]

2006 -- Lebanon. US Marine Detachment, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit[citation needed], begins evacuation of US citizens willing to the leave the country in the face of a likely ground invasion by Israel and continued fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.[11][12]

2007 -- Somalia. Battle of Ras Kamboni. On January 8, 2007, while the conflict between the Islamic Courts Union and the Transitional Federal Government continues, an AC-130 gunship conducts an aerial strike on a suspected Al-Qaeda operative, along with other Islamist fighters, on Badmadow Island near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia.[citation needed]

2008 -- South Ossetia, Georgia. Helped Georgia humanitarian aid[13], helped to transport Georgian forces from Iraq during the conflict. In the past, the US has provided training and weapons to Georgia.

2009-- Pakistan, In relation to efforts in Afghanistan, U.S. Forces struck an insurgent encampment in the Northern mountains, killing 24, with missiles fired from an unmanned aerial assault vehicle.

[Big Train]

When is National Camera on Every Street Corner Appreciation Day in the UK?

[FORD]

When is National Camera on Every Street Corner Appreciation Day in the UK?

Maybe the same day it is in LA?
(http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/10/local/me-camera10)

[Seshmeister]

When is National Camera on Every Street Corner Appreciation Day in the UK?

I'm not a fan but I think there's some confusion about that.

The cameras are not all run by the same people. In a street the bank might have a camera for security, then the local gas station, then one by the roads people to monitor traffic and so on. After a crime the police can get a warrant from court to get access to these different videos from their owners. The stuff in the Bourne film for example was fantasy.

At least we don't need a permit from the government in order to have a protest against the government like you do in the land of the free...

[Seshmeister]

Maybe the same day it is in LA?
(http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/10/local/me-camera10)


"What happened in London was horrible, but video surveillance was obviously not an effective deterrent despite the fact that London was the most surveyed city in the free world," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty project for the American Civil Liberties Union. "It's foolish law enforcement."

I kind agree and disagree with that. I don't know what the fuck deterrent you can use against someone that is going to blow themselves up??? Maybe that's his point.

What he doesn't mention is that the camera evidence after the event meant that the people involved can be identified and you can then see if they are part of a bigger cell.

In any case even without terrorists subway systems by their nature obviously have to be closely monitored, you need to keep an eye on obstructions to the track, fire risks and so forth.

[Blaze]

Footnote in history:
The first two named commanders, Mythological or otherwise.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Yellow_Emperor.jpg
黄帝 (Yellow emperor)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Chi_You.gif
蚩尤 (Chi You)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/134506140_77310fc007_b.jpg
Photo by Ben Eenhoorn

[Nickdfresh]

Ummm...Sesh?
OK, enough sidetracking nonsense. Yep, the words to our national anthem include the words
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

...inherent militarism agreed. http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/smileys/free-ashamed-smileys-705.gif (http://www.easyfreesmileys.com/)

Yet...

This day is offered to recognize those that made the sacrifice.

If you can not honor that without feeling a need to "stir up shit", then fine. It speaks far more about your own personal integrity than anything else.

And good luck with that.

Those rockets were British ones being fired at a US fort (McHenry) during the Battle of Baltimore...

The music is actually from an old English drinking song...:)

[Seshmeister]

Don't get me started on national anthems, the British one was written to celebrate the slaughter of a Scottish rebellion... :)

[Big Train]

Maybe the same day it is in LA?
(http://articles.latimes.com/2005/jul/10/local/me-camera10)

The only ones that work are on the trains and occasional lucrative traffic cams (where employed people don't have time to fight the $500.00 rolling stop tickets). Downtown and the east side, not as many cameras.

Ours for the most part don't work. Half of them are not in operation due to funding cutbacks and the rest are just tagged over.

[Full Bug]

Here is one American you would want on your side, thats for sure.....

Badass of the Week.

Ron Speirs

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e128/fullbug/speirs2.jpg

"The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it."

It's Memorial Day weekend here in the United States -- a special time of the year when we all take a moment to honor the memories of all those brave men and women who died in the service of our country. Our friends at the History Channel, for their part, generally choose to acknowledge this solemn day by basically running the incredible HBO miniseries Band of Brothers non-stop for like seventy-two hours straight, which, quite honestly, is something pretty much all of us should be able to get behind.

So I guess let me start by saying that American paratroopers are seriously fucking badass. I mean, there really aren't a whole lot of people out there willing to jump out of a fast-moving airplane several hundred feet above the ground under ideal conditions, let alone attempt it in the middle of the pitch-black goddamned night wearing sixty pounds of battle gear while crazy Germans are trying to ram a bunch of anti-aircraft flak cannons up your ass. While you�d think it would be basically impossible to get anybody to actually volunteer for this line of duty, the paratroopers don't seem to give a shit. These guys just go out there and do their job, and they don't really give a crap about trivial garbage like blindly leaping into unfamiliar territory teeming with hidden enemy soldiers or constantly being surrounded by people trying to kill them.

Now, among this aforementioned brotherhood of hard-drinking, hard-fighting badasses, few men have been more respected or feared than Captain Ronald Speirs of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. This tough-as-fuck Scottish-born Bostonian crotch-stomped his way across Europe in World War II, generally just kicking asses, ruining German lives, and making a name for himself as a completely fucking insane asskicker who didn't show fear, didn't back down, and didn't hesitate to pop a cap in the face of anyone who pissed him off for any reason.

Speirs was a Lieutenant in Company D of the 506th when he combat dropped into France in 1944 and immediately went to work softening up Nazi positions for the D-Day assault on the beaches of Normandy. He probably best effected this when he and Captain Dick Winters led a dozen men on the Brecourt Manor Assault � single-handedly attacking the four German 105mm artillery guns that were shelling the American positions on Utah Beach. During the battle, it was Spiers and his boys that captured the fourth artillery piece in an appropriately badass manner - by charging across a couple hundred feet of open ground (running full-speed towards a gargantuan gun barrel roughly the width of a pimped-out Volkswagen), leaping muzzle-first into the German entrenchments, and taking down a couple squads of elite Nazi paratroopers by bodyslamming them onto some TNT. To this day, the Brecourt Manor Assault is studied at West Point as one of the best examples of small-unit tactics and large-testicled badassitude ever demonstrated. In fact, I'm pretty sure the after-action report is required reading in Asskicking 101.

That's just how Speirs operated � the dude was completely fearless, aggressive, and didn't give a shit about trivial things like bullets flying around his head or artillery shells blowing up in his face. He was going to kick serious asses, and nothing was going to deter him from his mission to grab a couple SS troopers and crack their helmets together so hard that their heads exploded. And by the same token, Speirs inspired the sort of fear that you generally don't hear about any more these days. Countless rumors circulated about this guy being an insane, cold-blooded asskicker � some claimed that he once lined up twenty to thirty German prisoners of war, gave them cigarettes, and then gunned down all but one of them. Another rumor circulated that he shot one of his own Sergeants in the head for being drunk and/or repeatedly disobeying direct orders on the battlefield. Speirs, for his part, did nothing to dissuade these rumors. He, like a real badass, didn't need to talk about how fucking hardcore he was, and the fact that he never confirmed or denied any of these rumors only made everybody under his command fear him that much more. Sure, maybe earning a reputation as a man who will just whip out his sidearm and shoot you in the balls for the most trivial of offenses might not be the most ethical way to keep your men in line, but you really can't dispute its effectiveness. Nobody wants to argue with the meanest, toughest son-of-a-bitch in the whole regiment.



Speirs also won the Silver Star during the Arnhem Campaign for going on a borderline-insane one-man �lone wolf� reconnaissance mission deep into enemy territory. When he was ordered to scout enemy positions on the far side of the Neder Rijn River near Rendijk, Holland, Spiers (in the true balls-out fashion we�ve all come to expect from the man) just waited until the middle of the night, jumped in the water, swam across the river, and started sneaking around the enemy camp like a ninja with a Tommy gun. He scouted out positions of enemy machine gun nests, mortar teams, and artillery positions, stole an inflatable raft, and then burned rubber out of there while the German gunners took potshots at him. He got capped by an MG-42 while hauling ass across the river, but this apparently only served to make him more angry and bitter. Speirs made it back to Allied lines intact, and his intel was vital to the combat operations of his unit.

What Ron Speirs is best known for, however, is the utterly fucking badass way he handled the assault on the Belgian town of Foy during the infamous Battle of the Bulge. After somehow surviving a brutal siege of Bastogne in the dead of winter, where the 101st Airborne was completely surrounded and getting pounded day and night by the most elite SS Panzer Regiments the Germans had to offer, the men of Company E of the 506th Parachute Infantry launched a counter-attack on Foy. Well their commanding officer, Lieutenant Norman Dike, was basically a worthless moron who couldn't lead his way out of a quart-sized Ziploc freezer bag if you gave him a welding torch and a machete. Dike split up the assault team into two forces, and promptly went about getting both sides of his divided force utterly ass-reamed by German tanks and artillery. After a couple minutes of watching his best buddies get torn apart by the Nazis, Major Dick Winters had enough of that bullshit. He grabbed the first officer he saw, who just so happened to be Ronald Speirs, and told him to go deal with the situation.

Speirs didn't even fucking blink.



The young, battle-hardened officer just grabbed his submachine gun and started sprinting across the field toward Foy, determined to bail out the pinned-down Americans and shove his foot up some Nazi asses. He ran over to Lieutenant Dike, who at this point was basically so shell-shocked and brain-dead that he probably couldn't remember how to tie his bootlaces, and told him he was taking over as company commander. Dike, utterly awed by being in the presence of such an unflinching hardass who obviously meant business, simply nodded.

Spiers ran over, gave out orders for a mortar team to take out a German sniper position, regrouped the soldiers, and provided Easy Company with some much-needed tactical direction. The assault continued, morale was bolstered, and the Americans stopped getting their fucking asses handed to them on a silver platter.

Then there was this whole issue of the assault force being stupidly divided into two teams, neither one really coordinating properly with the other. Speirs had a plan there, too, and it's got to be one of the most awesome/badass/crazy battlefield plans ever devised � Ron Speirs just grabbed his rifle and fucking ran directly through the German positions to reach the Americans on the other side. No shit, he fucking blew past Nazi artillery crews, riflemen, and Tiger tanks like he was out for a run around Boston Common on a quiet Sunday morning.

At this point basically every German firearm in the town of Foy was trying to bust a chunk of lead into Lieutenant Speirs' brain, but he didn't give a crap. He ran through the streets, bullets and explosions going off all around him, and reached the Americans on the other side. Then, once he gave them his updated orders, he fucking ran BACK THROUGH THE GODDAMNED TOWN to his original position. How nuts do you have to be?!

The plan worked; Speirs emerged unharmed, and the 101st captured Foy. Not only is this completely awesome, but it also makes for the greatest scene in the entire Band of Brothers miniseries. I just love the look on the faces of those 88 crewmen when Speirs blows by them like a camouflaged lightning bolt.

Speirs made Captain after the battle, and was placed in command of Company E. He led Easy Company through the rest of the war, oversaw the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest, and beat the shit out of some punk soldier who flipped out and shot one of his own men ("When you talk to an officer, you say 'sir'.") After the fall of the Third Reich, He still hadn't had his fill of ass-kicking, so he decided to stay in Europe despite the fact that he had more than enough "points" to go home. Hell, he didn't even limit his face-wrecking to the Nazis � after World War II, he commanded a rifle company in the Korean War, fought in Laos, served as an intelligence officer working against the Soviets in the Cold War, and was the US ambassador of Spandau Prison in Berlin, where he personally ensured that ex-Nazi prisoners-of-war didn't escape (they didn't). He passed away in April 2007, one of the toughest motherfuckers to ever wear the uniform and a man that nobody � even the most hardcore US Army Paratroopers � wanted to cross.

[Nickdfresh]

LOL Speirs retired a Lt. Colonel, and when men would come up to him at reunions and say they served under him, he would say, "which war?" Speirs stayed in the military and became active in special operations forces...

One interesting about him you didn't see in the HBO miniseries you learn when you read Stephen Ambrose's "Band of Brothers," was that he married a British widow and essentially wanted to adopt her children. Her husband had been a British soldier that was "killed" in Africa I think. It turned out that he wasn't in fact dead, but was captured by the Germans and held until he was liberated after the Afrika Korp collapsed. He returned to Britain to find his wife had married a slightly psychotic US Army Airborne Officer. But, Speirs was magnanimous about it and he and he consented to an annulment but remained friends with not only his ex-wife, but her husband and was considered and American uncle by her children as he kept up a relationship with them...

BTW, Sesh might like to know that Speirs was born in Edinburgh prior to his family's emigration to the US...

[chefcraig]

Bump for 2010.

[Nitro Express]

I cunt believe that's another year gone already, this time last year I was in the States for the reunion tour thing.

I'm still struck by how many days you have for the glorification of your military - is it 3 or 4?

The US is kind of more Klingon than it would like to admit... :)

The UK doesn't glorify it's military? Your monarchy certainly does. Spit, polish, marching, rifles, bayonets, swords, pikes, fury hats, and royal men who serve. At least they aren't draft dodging or none serving chicken hawks like Clinton, Bush Jr., and Obama.

[Nitro Express]

Don't get me started on national anthems, the British one was written to celebrate the slaughter of a Scottish rebellion... :)

Our national anthem was a pub drinking song that later had a poem used as lyrics. So you have to sing the celebration of the slaughter of your own people? Nice.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Sesh's comments from last year on our "militaristic" culture resulted in me realizing how many American deaths we've sustained in supposed "defense" of a FOREIGN country....

World War II was basically a push.... While the Pacific campaign was clearly a result of Pearl Harbor, the European campaign for the US was a defense of our allies.... Ever wonder where your country would be today without American involvement, Sesh ??

Korea ?? All for South Korea....

Vietnam ?? All for South (as it was known then) Vietnam.....

Afghanistan ?? At first, snuffing out the Taiban, who were harboring Bin Laden... But now, who knows...

Iraq ?? Ask Bush....

[Blaze]

It will be a challenge for many families this year, no matter what reason for the wars were/are.
May God have mercy on all the families.

[Seshmeister]

Our national anthem was a pub drinking song that later had a poem used as lyrics. So you have to sing the celebration of the slaughter of your own people? Nice.

It's specifically mentioned in a later verse noone sings any more but in any case I can't remember ever singing the British national anthem, I may have when I was under 10. Apart from the fact it's a miserable dirge 'God save the Queen' doesn't really work for me as an athiest republican.

When they used to play it at Scotland matches it must have confused the fuck out of the opposition. 80 000 people would sit in polite silence and then applaud the oppositions national anthem and then when their own started boo and scream abuse. :)

[Seshmeister]

Sesh's comments from last year on our "militaristic" culture resulted in me realizing how many American deaths we've sustained in supposed "defense" of a FOREIGN country....

World War II was basically a push.... While the Pacific campaign was clearly a result of Pearl Harbor, the European campaign for the US was a defense of our allies.... Ever wonder where your country would be today without American involvement, Sesh ??


Do you ever wonder where your country would be without Scotland? :)

No country music?

No KKK?

If General Wolf hadn't won the battle of Quebec then you would all be speaking French just now.

I'm a romantic so I like to think that only almost all wars are about money as opposed to all of them.

Britain only paid off the money we had to borrow from the US to fight the Nazis just a couple of years ago.

Where would we be? I don't know but I wouldn't advise you ever asking anyone from South or Central America that question. I don't think most Americans realise how incredibly unethical US foreign policy has been there. Back to WWII the US only joined the war after being attacked and Germany declaring war on you so don't lets pretend that it was about saving Jews or British. My best guess is that without the US Russsia would have won the war and Britain would have been an independant ableit socialist state. With most of Europe under the control of Russia and the Japanese running South East Asia I think the US would have been far poorer. Very few people to trade with and no great economic boost from the war sh would be in decline. The Russians would have been the only country with a space program as they would have got all the best German scientists. Apart from that who knows?

Anyhoo I get the impression this militarisation of the US culturally is relatively new and post WWII. I think ever since WWII and Eisenhower backs me on this, the 'defence' industry took over Washington. The rest of the Western nations use public spending on health and welfare as a means of power and control and for economic stability, in the US that same public sector spend is on an insanely huge military which can only be justified in an environment of regular foreign adventures and militaristic patriotism. And stuff.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

If General Wolf hadn't won the battle of Quebec then you would all be speaking French just now.



LMFAO.... Yeah right, France would be our Daddy, I got ya....

I do wonder sometimes though how much longer the US would have stayed out of the war in Europe had the Japanese not attacked Pearl Harbor....

[Seshmeister]

I think until about 1950.

[Seshmeister]

As ever don't get me wrong.

There was some incredible work done by American soldiers in WWII. There still is.

But this isn't ancient fucking Greece here where most of the guys stand there and vote whether to go to war or not and there are few enough people where a vote makes a difference statistically.

The 'we saved your ass' thing doesn't really stand up when you consider

1) You personally didn't do anything, so now we are in the choosing ancestors game. Did you rape a slave? I didn't think so..,

2) Most of the people that did fight had no choice, There was no war referendum. Whilst US politicians had a choice they chose not to get involved.

3) The people that made them do it did it for alterior motives,

4) It was economically advantagous for the US to join the war.

5) All of this was 70 years ago now. In the next 20 years there will be no one left alive who was involved even at a junior level.

6) For every German soldier killed by an American 10 were killed by a Russian.

[Dr. Love]

1) You personally didn't do anything, so now we are in the choosing ancestors game. Did you rape a slave? I didn't think so..,


That's hardly fair, I was never even given the opportunity.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

1) You personally didn't do anything, so now we are in the choosing ancestors game. Did you rape a slave? I didn't think so..,

Well, "I" didn't, but my grandfather died in the Netherlands in Dec. 1944, so it means a bit more to me....

[chefcraig]

As ever don't get me wrong.

There was some incredible work done by American soldiers in WWII. There still is.

But this isn't ancient fucking Greece here where most of the guys stand there and vote whether to go to war or not and there are few enough people where a vote makes a difference statistically.

The 'we saved your ass' thing doesn't really stand up when you consider

1) You personally didn't do anything, so now we are in the choosing ancestors game. Did you rape a slave? I didn't think so..,

2) Most of the people that did fight had no choice, There was no war referendum. Whilst US politicians had a choice they chose not to get involved.

3) The people that made them do it did it for alterior motives,

4) It was economically advantagous for the US to join the war.

5) All of this was 70 years ago now. In the next 20 years there will be no one left alive who was involved even at a junior level.

6) For every German soldier killed by an American 10 were killed by a Russian.

So, what is your big fucking point? The United States chooses to have a few days demarcated to those that served/died in the military. Wow, how offensive. To me, there should be more days honoring service folks. And yes, it's wonderful to sit back with a computer and come up with stats without ever having to serve to provide them. Swell, you keep doing that, friend. All I know is that my father and brother served their time, and came away with the scars for doing so. These "holidays" honor their memory.

So fuck you and your stats, you asshole. Me and my mom will be standing by a pair of flags this weekend. And both will be American, at half mast.

[Seshmeister]

Typical aggressive militaristic response. ;) :)

[chefcraig]

Typical aggressive militaristic response. ;) :)

Nah, to tell ya the truth I'd been in a cranky mood all afternoon. I get home, and not one but two messages on the answering machine, from scam/telemarketers wanting to speak to my deceased brother about contributions for some non-existent veterans fund. Wow, if these organizations were even half-way legitimate, wouldn't they know that he died 6 years ago?

[Seshmeister]

Sorry to hear that.

For a while I was on some sort of list were I got phoned all the time selling investment possibilities and eventually I lost it.

"Fuck off you cunt!"
"You can't speak to me like that!"
"Yes I can cunt, stop phoning me you fucking prick"
"How dare you!"
"Fuck you pal!"

This went on for a couple of minutes and I've never been phoned again. I think I've been put on some sort of dangerous nutcase list.

It was a win-win, I totally recommend it.

[Nitro Express]

The US didn't want to get involved in any of the european great wars. It got dragged into WWI (which my grandfather served in as a machine gunner) due to Americans getting killed on the Lusitania. The US didn't want to get into a fight with Hitler and the Brits gave us crap about not helping them. Roosevelt did the lend lease thing and then Pearl Harbor got us into it. I guess we should have just left after German surrendered and let Stalin take it all. We could have spent the money on the Marshall Plan here in the States.

[Nitro Express]

The cold war basically turned the US into a military economy. 60% of our budget is spent on the war machine. We don't make anything and we spend most our money on war as the government grabs more control. We used to make fun of the Soviets for having such a shit country and spending everything on weapons. Now we are turning into what we made fun of.

[Seshmeister]

I can't see any way out of it.

Maybe a really radical change to campaign funding. You would think that congressmen would hate spending 5 hours a day begging for money and having to kiss ass with the lobby groups.

[Nitro Express]

I can't see any way out of it.

Maybe a really radical change to campaign funding. You would think that congressmen would hate spending 5 hours a day begging for money and having to kiss ass with the lobby groups.

The citizens put up with it as long as they can be bought off but when the greed finally bites them in the ass, they wake up and the old game of bribes isn't going to fly anymore. The enrich the health insurance industry law and the BP oil spill mixed with a economic depression is the changing point. People are getting fed up.

It runs in cycles. A crash, recovery, comfort, passiveness, greed, and then another crash. Usually the crash involves a war but with modern weapons, none of the big boys are going to duke it out anymore with each other and we already have a war on two fronts going, so technology has changed the war dynamic. Also, people are more politically informed than they used to be due to internet communications. The old dogs who have been screwing humanity over the years are scratching their heads on this as well.

We are in uncharted territory. This November election should be interesting. Also another question is what does the world do about all this derivative debt? It's so huge none of it is going to be payed off. We are at a stage also that people don't trust the investment institutions and paper money worldwide is being devalued.

I mean we are in for some huge changes and we can either kill each other over an illusion or erase the debt and start the world economy off from a set point which means simply erasing debt worldwide and starting over. This is how huge the world wide financial fuck up is.