From the April 22,1968 edition of “Tropic Lightning News”.
Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Cathy’s Tip of the Week
Sunday, May 10th, 201540th Anniversary of the End of the Viet Nam War
Thursday, April 30th, 2015Saigon, the capitol of the Republic of Viet Nam, fell 40 years ago today on 30 April, 1975 to invading North Viet Namese troops after decades of fighting. Seen below is an image of the evacuation of Saigon. There are so many iconic images from that war but this one shows us the end of the struggle.
Viet Nam was very much a part of our national psyche as I grew up in the 60s, 70s and 80s and affected me in may ways. When I enlisted in 1985 my drill sergeant was a Viet Nam veteran as were most of the senior NCOs and Officers I worked for over the next decade. Much of what I learned about soldiering came from them and their hard earned lessons of fighting a very capable enemy. I owe them all much.
I’d like to take today to reflect on them, their service and the generation that raised me, including my father. I’d also like to raise a toast to those who fell during that conflict in defense of our ideals.
Thank you all for your dedication. I personally gained a lot from it and it was not in vain.
ANZAC Day 2015 – 100th Anniversary
Saturday, April 25th, 2015Each year, April 25th is observed as ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand to commemorate the first military action at Gallipoli of the Australia New Zealand Army Corps.
It’s a century on now and we all owe a moment of gratitude for our coalition partners who’ve stuck by us on the side of right. They’ve been with us through thick and thin and that says a lot for three countries separated by a common language but who all share common values amd a commitment to them.
Having served with units from both Australia and New Zealand during my military service, they often come to mind, and each ANZAC Day in particular.
Cheers, Mates.
Remember The Men We Lost During Operation Eagle Claw
Friday, April 24th, 2015Today marks the anniversary of Operation Eagle Claw. In the early morning hours of 25 April, 1980 President Carter announced to a stunned world that the United States had undertaken an ambitious raid into Iran to liberate 52 American hostages held illegally at our Embassy in Tehran. Unfortunately, Operation Eagle Claw was unsuccessful and we lost eight American servicemen in a horrible aircraft ground collision. Join me in remembering their sacrifice.
Their sacrifice was not in vain. The hostages were eventually returned and the accident was the watershed event that created, over the next several decades, the world’s preeminent Special Operations capability; USSOCOM and its components. We wouldn’t be where are today with the determination of that fledgling task force. Join me in remembering those that paved the way.
“Stand your ground. Don’t fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”
Sunday, April 19th, 2015On this day, some 240 years ago, John Parker, Captain of Militia, uttered those instructions to his men as they stood on Lexington Green, ready, if need be, to engage 500 British troops set to sieze the militia’s arsenal.
What may have begun as a show of force on the side of the militia soon became an active firefight as the British advance guard met a percieved provocation with demands to disperse. The fog of war set in and a firefight soon broke out. The Colonist militia quickly gained the upper hand and drove a British force which over the course of the day had grown to 1700, all the way back to Charlestown and beyond. What wouod ultimately become the siege of Boston, happened over a year before the Declaration of Independence.
We owe these men our very nation. Their sheer determination in the face of tyranny embodies the American spirit. Please join me in honoring their memory this Patriot’s Day.
Loaded for Bear
Thursday, April 16th, 2015This layout is from a WWII paratrooper in the 503rd Regimental Combat Team of the 11th Airborne Division which fought in the Pacific.
No frills here, just lots of whoopass.
Thanks MH at KreigesGewehr
FBI HRT
Tuesday, April 14th, 2015An oldie but a goodie from the Joan London show featuring FBI HRT.
Thanks Matt
“No Substitite For Victory” with Your Host John Wayne
Tuesday, March 31st, 2015
