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Veteran Stories
Civil War 1862 Diary Union
Civil War 1861 Diary Confederate
Civil War 1861 Diary Confederate
Sgt. Henry W. Tisdale enlisted in Company I, Thirty-Fifth Regiment,Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on July 10, 1862 at the age of 25. Sgt. Tisdale kept a very detailed diary of his service from 1662 t0 1865. His son and his sons wife typed and bound the diary in 1926. Please click on the picture and you will see the diary.
Civil War 1861 Diary Confederate
Civil War 1861 Diary Confederate
Civil War 1861 Diary Confederate
Pvt. L. Leon of the Charlotte Grays, Company C, First North Carolina Regiment, recounted his service in the Confederacy from 1861, and titled it "Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier. Put. Leon copyright and published the diary in 1913. Please click on the picture and you can read his story.
Spanish-American War Diary 1898
Civil War 1861 Diary Confederate
Spanish-American War Diary 1898
Pvt. George Edgar Cripps of the 34th Michigan Volunteer Infantry left Michigan in June of 1898 bound for Cuba.This diary is re-typed from the handwritten diary he left. You will greatly enjoy his account of time spent from Michigan to Cuba and back. Please click on the picture to read his diary.
First World War 11/11/1918
Korean War Diary entries 1951
Spanish-American War Diary 1898
Charles Normington was in Paris France and recounted in a letter to his mother the jubilation of the war being declared ended. Just click on the above picture and under "First-Hand Accounts" click on the letter from Paris 11 Nov 1918, to view his letter.
WWII "Loose Lips Sink Ships"
Korean War Diary entries 1951
Korean War Diary entries 1951
Induction Center in Baltimore, Maryland 1942. And actually all inductees were told especially 'what not to do', because "loose lips could sink ships'. So click on the picture and choose 'World War II' at top of site and choose the heading "loose lips sink ships', and get the whole story of induction education.
Korean War Diary entries 1951
Korean War Diary entries 1951
Korean War Diary entries 1951
The Battle that started the Korean War and Trials and Tribulations are a few of the true events taken from many soldiers diaries during the Korean War years.
WWII Vet Charles Bronson Got His Big Break Playing WWII Vet
In “Man With a Camera,” Bronson plays World War II veteran and combat photographer Mike Kovac.
June 2021 by James Barber, Military.com
World War II veteran Charles Buchinsky kicked around Hollywood for almost a decade playing minor roles in film and TV while he waited for his big break. That break came when he was cast as the lead in the 1958 ABC drama “Man With a Camera.” The complete series is out now on Digital and DVD from MPI Media Group.
Buchinsky changed his name to Charles Bronson in 1955 after his agent convinced him that his Eastern European family name would draw the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee as they hunted for communists in Hollywood.
In “Man With a Camera,” Bronson plays World War II veteran and combat photographer Mike Kovac. Combat photographers made a big impression in post-war America, since images like Joe Rosenthal’s iconic shot of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima came to define American’s memories of the conflict....
Bronson was working in a Pennsylvania coal mine before he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces 1943,
Bronson was working in a Pennsylvania coal mine before he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1943, serving as an aerial gunner on a B-29 Superfortess in the Pacific. He flew 25 combat missions, including several over Japanese home territories. Buchinsky was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received in battle.
Bronson went straight from “Man With a Camera” to his breakthrough movie role in the iconic western “The Magnificent Seven.” Director John Sturges liked the actor so much that he also cast him in the WWII thriller “The Great Escape.” “The Dirty Dozen” came a few years later and Bronson went on to become one of the biggest action stars of the ’70s, beginning with “Death Wish.”
After 70 years, Pentagon identifies Korean War Chaplain
Father Emil Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously and is being considered for sainthood
.March 2021, by Dan De Luce, NBC News
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Friday it has identified the remains of an army chaplain who was lauded by fellow soldiers for his selfless example in the Korean War, received the Medal of Honor and is being considered for sainthood by the Roman Catholic Church...
Rev. Emil Kapaun, of Pilsen, Kansas, died of pneumonia on May 23, 1951, as a prisoner of war during the Korean War. An army chaplain in World War II and the Korean conflict, he was captured on Nov. 2, 1950, near Unsan, North Korea, as he helped wounded troops surrounded by Chinese forces.
Kapaun, who served in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, tended to the sick and wounded among the POWs, carrying men who had faltered on a forced march, according to his fellow soldiers. His indomitable spirit served as a rallying point for the other men in captivity, Bob Wood, a fellow prisoner of war, told NBC News in a 2013 report.
“He was the finest man I ever k
Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2013, following a decades-long campaign
Mike Dowe, another former prisoner of war, said that Kapaun saved men who otherwise would have perished in captivity from cold and hunger. “A good number of those that survived, I’d say at least half of them, really owe their lives to Father Kapaun, me included,” Dowe told NBC News.
Kapaun was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously in 2013, following a decades-long campaign by Korean War veterans from his unit.
According to the Medal of Honor citation, Kapaun “calmly walked through withering enemy fire” and hand-to-hand combat to provide medical help, words of comfort or prayers..
THE FIRST WOMAN TO ENLIST IN THE MILITARY
Enlisted as a Navy Yeoman (referred to then as 'Yeomanettes' on March 17, 1917
May 2021, U.S. Veterans Magazine
The U.S. Naval Reserve Act of 1916 permitted the enlistment of qualified “persons” for service in the Navy. When the Secretary of the Navy asked whether this applied only to males and was told that it did not, the Navy began enlisting women less than a month later.
Historical records reflect that on March 17, 1917, the first woman to enlist in the Navy was Loretta Perfectus Walsh.
She was born on April 22, 1896, in Philadelphia and thus had the distinction of being the first woman to service in any of the U.S. armed forces in other than a nursing assignment. Until Walsh’s enlistment, women had served as Navy nurses but were civilian employees with few benefits....
On March 21, 1917, Walsh was sworn in as Chief Yeoman, becoming the first woman Chief Petty Officer
She served her active duty at the Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia and when World War I ended, Walsh and all the Yeoman(F) personnel were released from active duty. As Walsh had enlisted in the Naval Reserve for a 4-year enlistment she continued on inactive reserve status, receiving a modest retainer pay, until the end of her enlistment on March 17, 1921.
Meet the lassies that brought doughnuts to front during WWI
“send over some lassies.” and Doughnuts
June 2021 by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Comforts were few and far between for the soldiers fighting in the trenches during World War I. And there’s frankly nothing that says home like a warm piece of fried dough — at least, thats what the ladies of the Salvation Army reckoned.
Evangeline Booth, daughter of Salvation Army founder William Booth, began a National War Board at the outset of World War I to ensure the welfare of American soldiers. In 1917, she called upon Lt. Col. William Barker to assess what soldiers needed abroad, and he reportedly asked her to “send over some lassies.”
Booth set to work and the organization set up canteens run primarily by women that offered baked goods and warm drink to those at the front lines. But they quickly realized that traditional pastry-making in the midst of combat with limited resources was not exactly feasible.
Two Salvation Army volunteers, Ensigns Margaret Sheldon and Helen Purviance, who were stationed with the 1st Division of the American Expeditionary Forces, opted for a simpler (and frankly more delicious) option: doughnuts.
“With only flour, sugar, lard, baking powder, cinnamon and canned milk at their disposal, it was agreed that they would make and serve Doughnuts,” according to records from the World War I Centennial Commission. “The dough was patted into shape by hand and fried, seven at a time, in a small pan. The tempting fragrance of frying doughnuts drew the homesick soldiers to the hut and they lined up in the rain waiting for a taste.”..
SOME STORIES YOU DON'T NORMALLY HEAR.........
Surprising Civil War Stories
Surprise Facts of the Spanish American War 1898
Surprise Facts of the Spanish American War 1898
1. One-third of the soldiers who fought for the Union Army were immigrants, and nearly one in 10 was African American.
The Union Army was a multicultural force—even a multinational one. We often hear about Irish soldiers (7.5 percent of the army), but the Union’s ranks included even more Germans (10 percent), who marched off in regiments such as the Steuben Volunteers. Other immigrant soldiers were French, Italian, Polish, English and Scottish. In fact, one in four regiments contained a majority of foreigners. Blacks were permitted to join the Union Army in 1863, and some scholars believe this infusion of soldiers may have turned the tide of the war.
Surprise Facts of the Spanish American War 1898
Surprise Facts of the Spanish American War 1898
Surprise Facts of the Spanish American War 1898
We remember the Maine, but we don’t understand it.
In January 1898, as tensions flared between Cuban revolutionaries and Spanish troops, the battleship USS Maine was sent to Havana to protect American interests and civilians there. On February 15 a massive explosion sank the vessel, killing 266 sailors. Sensationalist newspaper articles and advocates of war accused the Spanish of destroying the ship, and a naval inquiry soon concluded that a mine had caused the disaster. With the rallying cry “Remember the Maine!” galvanizing Americans, President William McKinley reluctantly signed a resolution supporting Cuban independence and threatening Spain with military action. Today, however, experts generally doubt the Spanish had a hand in Maine’s demise. Though we may never know for sure what unleashed the tragedy that helped spark a war, recent investigations have implicated the ship’s design, ammunition storage and coal bunker.
CRAZY STORIES FROM WWII
Surprise Facts of the Spanish American War 1898
CRAZY STORIES FROM WWII
In 1943, British intelligence was asked to help conceal Allied intentions of invading Sicily that summer. Germany and the Allies were involved in a high stakes deception/ guessing game to determine just exactly where the first European attack would occur. British intelligence officers came up with the idea of Operation Mincemeat, a plan to disseminate false information by allowing the Germans to "accidentally" discover faked top secret documents.
To carry out Operation Mincemeat, the British acquired the cadaver of homeless man Glyndwr Michael, transforming him into "Major William Martin." By the time a submarine crew pushed Michael/Martin's body gently into the water off the coast of Spain, he was handcuffed to a briefcase stuffed with falsified military documents and mundane items.
Secret WWII Weapons
What we didn't know about the Vietnam War
CRAZY STORIES FROM WWII
If the Germans had finished building it, the 1,000-ton Ratte would have been the largest conventional tank ever built. The Nazis envisioned the Ratte as a kind of battleship for land, literally. Its massive 283 mm cannon was to be taken directly off the deck of a Scharnhorst-class battleship, and would have been capable of hammering hard targets up to 17 miles away.
With armor 14.2 inches thick in some places, the Ratte would have been almost invulnerable to all but the biggest bombs in the Allied arsenal.
Korean War Facts we may not have known
What we didn't know about the Vietnam War
What we didn't know about the Vietnam War
10 Facts About the Korean War
Over six decades later, we are no closer to a peaceful ending of the conflict.
1. The North Koreans captured an American general.
A month after the Korean War broke out, Major General William F. Dean, commander of 24th Infantry Division, was separated from his forces in Taejon while trying to help wounded soldiers. While out seeking water for a particularly injured G.I., he fell down a cliff and was knocked unconscious. He would be isolated in the mountains for the next 36 days, losing 80 pounds in addition to the broken shoulder and head wound he had sustained. When two South Koreans found him, they pretended to lead him to safety, but in fact brought him to a North Korean ambush site. Though Dean tried to fight his captors, he was down to 130 pounds and too weak to resist for long. He was taken prisoner on August 25, 1950, and remained prisoner until the end of the war.
What we didn't know about the Vietnam War
What we didn't know about the Vietnam War
What we didn't know about the Vietnam War
The Americans weren’t alone
Many people mistakenly believe — much like the comical ‘coalition of the willing’ in Iraq in 2003 — that the Americans acted unilaterally in Vietnam. In fact, New Zealand, Australia, Cambodia, Laos and South Korea all contributed significant numbers of troops to the war.
The Americans used people sniffers
Everyone knows about the defoliant, Agent Orange, because of the horrible birth defects it caused, but not many people know people sniffers — known as Operation Snoopy. Northern troops on the Ho Chi Minh Trail were notoriously difficult to find, so the Americans used sensors to detect effluents of human sweat and urine. While they frequently turned up false results, leading to attacks on civilians and cattle, they did prove to be somewhat effective. Though, the North Vietnamese Army eventually learned to hang buckets of mud mixed with urine from trees to throw off the sensors.
White Feather: The Most Feared,Fearless Sniper in Vietnam
Additional Information
An American hero can be a complex beast. In some cases the title is controversial, particularly when it comes to military service.
Carlos Hathcock is one of those heroes. He served his country with distinction during the Vietnam War (1955 – 75) across 2 tours. Yet he did that as a sniper, a role which had a controversial reputation even among military ranks.
A 1987 profile in The Washington Post sums up the attitude, writing that the sniper was “an affront to the Gary Cooper mentality, the idea that in ‘High Noon’ — or America — the sheriff never draws first.”
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“Hathcock, who had done everything asked of him and more, felt unfairly stigmatized. ‘I was simply doing my job,’ he says. ‘I was just doing what they told me to do. Maybe being a sniper is something that only another sniper really can understand.’”
By the time he came home for good — and still a young man at 27 — he had 93 confirmed kills under his belt, with many more unverified. His marksmanship was beyond doubt, and in some respects Hathcock sounded like something out of a movie.
CHRISTMAS 's During War time click -on pics for more story
The American Civil War Christmas
Christmas Eve Mass during the Korean War
A "V-Mail" Christmas Card from WWII
On the first Christmas Day during the war, Lincoln hosted a Christmas party during the evening; earlier that day, he spent many hours trying to legitimize the capture of Confederate representatives to Great Britain and France, John Slidell and James Murray Mason (the Trent Affair).[1]
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and his son Thomas "Tad" Lincoln
In 1862, the Lincolns visited injured soldiers at the various hospitals.[2] Many Union soldiers in 1863 received gifts "From Tad Lincoln", as Tad had been deeply moved by the plight of Union soldiers when he was taken by his father to see them. The gifts were mostly books and clothing.[3] The most famous Christmas gift Lincoln ever received came on December 22, 1864, when William Tecumseh Sherman announced the capture of Savannah, Georgia.[4]
A "V-Mail" Christmas Card from WWII
Christmas Eve Mass during the Korean War
A "V-Mail" Christmas Card from WWII
Christmas has always been a major holiday in the United States, but during World War II (1941-45) it took on special meaning as many families had a “loved one” serving in the military who could not be home for Christmas. During the war years “Peace on Earth” was not just a nice phrase found on Christmas cards, but the number one wish of all peace loving people throughout the world. The Christmas season gave hope that while this year many were away, maybe next year the war would be over and missing family members would return home.
Wartime brought about a unique turnaround in consumer purchasing power and availability of goods. Before the war, America was still recovering from the great depression when money and jobs were scarce. Shoppers were often limited to window shopping, not having any extra money to purchase anything not considered a necessity. When the war began, war production went into high gear with more good paying jobs and additional discretionary income to purchase goods.
Christmas Eve Mass during the Korean War
Christmas Eve Mass during the Korean War
Christmas Eve Mass during the Korean War
By Carlos Bongioanni, Stars and Stripes-
Amid the horrors and devastation of war, a midnight Mass 65 years ago in a dilapidated church in Kyong-ju, South Korea, would prove to be a miracle of sorts for Army Pfc. Norman Deptula.
It was December 1950, six months into the Korean War. Deptula, then 21, was among the approximately 100,000 United Nations troops who had just been evacuated out of North Korea. He had been among the "Chosin Few" who had escaped intense battles against overwhelming Chinese forces in the Chosin Reservoir campaign.
In a telephone interview Wednesday from his home in Webster, Mass., Deptula, now 86, recalled how frightened he was after an estimated 300,000 Chinese crossed over the Yalu River into North Korea, intent on annihilating the U.N. forces.
Spending Christmas in Vietnam
Christmas during Operation Desert Storm
Christmas Eve Mass during the Korean War
Christmas could be a lonely time for a soldier deployed in Vietnam.
For many, this holiday would be the first time that they were away from their families. Deployed to a strange country, and in the middle of a war zone, the holiday period could bring tears to the eyes of the most hardened of troops as they remembered their families’ celebrations back home.
The music on the Army Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN) often did not help. As the holiday approached, their radio stations across the country and on ships in the area would play a variety of Christmas music. According to some, Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” and Nat King Cole’s “A Christmas Song” were often on the playlist. However, while others remember hearing Bing Crosby or Johnny Mathis’ versions of “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” in some areas and on some stations, the song was banned as bad for morale.
Christmas during Operation Desert Storm
Christmas during Operation Desert Storm
Christmas during Operation Desert Storm
"It was tremendous. Baghdad was lit up like a Christmas tree," said a U.S. wing commander back from bombing the Iraqi capital.
"I didn't run out of adrenalin. There were lots of bombs going off. It was an awesome display," said another pilot who took part in the first raids of the gulf war to drive Iraq out of Kuwait.Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from American warships, U.S. and Saudi F-15E fighter-bombers, British and Saudi Tornadoes, French Jaguars and Kuwaiti Hawks were among hundreds of planes which took off from bases in Saudi Arabia and the gulf early Thursday in a United Nations-sanctioned assault against Iraq.
Pilots said targets included surface-to-air missile sites around Baghdad. President Bush said U.S.-led forces were determined to destroy Iraq's chemical weapons and nuclear bomb potential.
Christmas in a War Zone
Christmas during Operation Desert Storm
Christmas during Operation Desert Storm
I was a member of the 68AES, an Air Force Reserve medevac unit, stationed out of Norton Air Force Base, California. In December of 1990, I was doing my two week tour in Hawaii when our unit contacted me and asked if I wanted to go on another sandy trip. The Gulf War was getting ready to start. They were asking for volunteers. I was single and had just graduated from college. I said yes.
Twenty volunteer medics and nurses left the week before Christmas. At the same time we left, Bob Hope departed as well, ready to do his last military tour for the troops. Our civilian plane took us to Dover Air Force Base, where we waited with several other soldiers. The C-5 transport did what most C-5s do; it broke down…a lot. After a few days, we got in the air and flew to Ramstein Air Force Base, Germany, where it promptly broke down again. We huddled in tents before finally getting back on the plane to fly to Dhahran in Saudi Arabia. By then, it was Christmas Eve.
He volunteered for WWII so his family wouldn't be interned
Kenneth Higashi was assigned to the 442nd Combat Team
Sept.1, 2019
Jim Holland, Rapid City Journal
SPEARFISH, S.D. — Kenneth Higashi sat at attention, only his use of a wheelchair keeping him from rising to receive France’s highest civil and military distinction, the Legion of Honor, before grateful family, friends and neighbors.
Higashi, 97, a second-generation Japanese-American man from Spearfish, sat stoically as Guillaume Lacroix, consul general of France for the Midwest, pinned the Chevalier De La Legion D’Honneur on his sweater on behalf of the French Republic.
"A debt that France owes America's greatest generation for their service in World War II is a debt that the French people will never be able to repay in full," Lacroix said. "The French people will never, ever forget the sacrifice of Mr. Higashi, of all the men and women who served in Europe for their country, but also for my country."
2nd Generation Japanese-American receives Frances highest Military distinction, "Legion of Honor"
Japanese-American families, particularly those on the West Coast, were forced to uproot their lives, ordered to give up their homes and businesses, and forced into relocation centers or internment camps.Government officials also visited the Higashi family in Spearfish and ordered them to give up their shotgun and radio.
They told Kenneth and his older brother, Clarence, that their family could avoid being moved to a camp if one of them enlisted in the military.
Kenneth volunteered.
"He thought it better that his brother stay and work as a mechanic to provide for their family," Master of Ceremonies Gregory Dias said.
Deported American Veterans stranded from home
veterans at a Memorial Day ceremony held annually on the bridge from Texas to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
Ivan Ocon thought he would be headed back to civilian life as a U.S. citizen after serving the U.S. Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Ocon, who was born in Mexico, came to the United States as a legal permanent resident in 1985 to reunite with his mother. He joined the Army in 1997, and his recruiter assured him that enlisting would make him a U.S. citizen.
When Ocon received orders of deployment to Iraq he was given a pre-deployment checklist to help him get his affairs in order. Confirming his immigration status wasn’t on that list, because citizenship is not required for overseas military service.
Ocon deployed as a noncitizen. He figured if he made it home alive, he would finish the naturalization process.
Instead, Ocon was convicted of a crime and jailed in 2007, released for good behavior after nine years, and summarily deported. Today, he is stranded in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, separated from his family and fighting to come home....
Unfulfilled promises
I am a political scientist who studies political rights across borders. I began collecting deported veterans’ stories after my brother, a U.S. Army veteran, was deported to Mexico in 2005. So this work, and this problem, is personal for me.
Military service is supposed to qualify veterans for naturalization as U.S. citizens – and extends status benefits to family members – because honorable service satisfies the “good moral character” requirements for naturalization, according to the 1940 Nationality Act.
The promise of naturalization is sometimes a military recruitment strategy targeting immigrant communities. After 9/11, immigrant military members even became entitled to expedited citizenship, which could speed up the naturalization process from three years to one year.
Deported Army Veteran returns to US in Bid to become Citizen
September 25, 2019 By: Sophia Tareen, The Associated Press
Perez is among several deported military members who have been recently pardoned by Democratic governors. His case has received wide support, including from including from Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a veteran who said Tuesday that Perez should never been deported in the first place.
Perez was born in Mexico, but his family immigrated when he was a young child. His parents are naturalized U.S. citizens and his two children were born in the U.S.
He joined the Army in 2002 and served in Afghanistan where he suffered a brain injury and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
It was the disorder, which caused crippling anxiety, that led him to the drug charge, according to Bergin. Perez wasn’t able to immediately get medical care through a federal Veterans Administration hospital, so he turned to drugs.
An Army veteran who was deported to Mexico in 2018 arrived back in Chicago, his boyhood hometown
The 41-year-old Perez has a green card as a permanent U.S. resident, but after serving time for a 2008 non-violent drug conviction was deported last year. Then last month, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a pardon , erasing the conviction and reviving Perez’s chances to become a citizen.
Deported Veterans, Stranded Far from Home After Service,
Ivan Ocon thought he would be headed back to civilian life as a U.S. citizen
March 2021, by Jennifer Martinez-Medina, The Conversation, Military.com
Ivan Ocon thought he would be headed back to civilian life as a U.S. citizen after serving the U.S. Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
Ocon, who was born in Mexico, came to the United States as a legal permanent resident in 1985 to reunite with his mother. He joined the Army in 1997, and his recruiter assured him that enlisting would make him a U.S. citizen.
When Ocon received orders of deployment to Iraq he was given a pre-deployment checklist to help him get his affairs in order. Confirming his immigration status wasn’t on that list, because citizenship is not required for overseas military service.
Ocon deployed as a noncitizen. He figured if he made it home alive, he would finish the naturalization process.
Instead, Ocon was convicted of a crime and jailed in 2007, released for good behavior after nine years, and summarily deported. Today, he is stranded in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, separated from his family and fighting to come home.
PTSD-related crimes
As of 2018, the United States had 94,000 noncitizen military veterans. Ocon is one of at least 92 to be deported between 2013 and 2018, according to data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agencies.
The majority – 78%, according to federal data – were removed because of criminal convictions. Under the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act, "aggravated felonies" are a basis for automatic deportation.
Unfulfilled promises
About the reporter Ms. Martinez-Medina
I am a political scientist who studies political rights across borders. I began collecting deported veterans’ stories after my brother, a U.S. Army veteran, was deported to Mexico in 2005. So this work, and this problem, is personal for me.
Military service is supposed to qualify veterans for naturalization as U.S. citizens – and extends status benefits to family members – because honorable service satisfies the "good moral character" requirements for naturalization, according to the 1940 Nationality Act.
The promise of naturalization is sometimes a military recruitment strategy targeting immigrant communities. After 9/11, immigrant military members even became entitled to expedited citizenship, which could speed up the naturalization process from three years to one year.