Some of the 'Services' and 'Programs we have available
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.
Johnny Cash might have intercepted secret Russian code
October 2022, by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Before legendary country musician Johnny Cash became the Man in Black, he served during the Cold War as a man in blue with the U.S. Air Force.
Shortly after his marriage to first wife, Vivian, Staff Sgt. Cash was sent to Landsberg, West Germany, where the rumor began that the young airman had intercepted and cracked a secret Russian code about the March 1953 death of Soviet Premier Leader Joseph Stalin.
In his autobiography “Cash,” the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee wrote, “I was the ace. I was who they called when the hardest jobs came up. I copied the first news of Stalin’s death. I located the signal when the first Soviet jet bomber made its first flight from Moscow to Smolensk; we all knew what to listen for, but I was the one who heard it...”
One source, however, has since debunked that statement — to a degree.
While Cash was involved in some way, the idea that he alone decrypted the transmission confirming Stalin’s death is likely an exaggeration.
In his book, “The Man Called Cash”, biographer Steve Turner writes that, although Cash was indeed serving in the right place at the right time for the message intercept, the singer’s account is a bit overblown.
The story told by Cash brought a “wry smile to the faces of those who worked with him,” Turner wrote.
Turner quotes one of Cash’s fellow airmen as saying, “‘He didn’t understand Russian, and if it came in code we wouldn’t have been able to decipher it anyway.’”
Cash served from 1950-54. Before his separation, he wrote to Arkansas Congressman Ezekial Gathings requesting to transition to work for the National Security Agency. Gathings sent back a typewritten letter saying he believed Cash’s chances of being accepted were favorable.
I'm a Vietnam War veteran.writing my memoir helped me heal
October 2022 U. S. Veterans Magazine
I fought in Vietnam for 13 months at the age of 18. After my tour in Vietnam, I returned home a changed man. And while there was nothing extraordinary about my experience compared with others who had fought, I remain changed by my experiences there.
It’s estimated that around 30 percent of Vietnam Veterans have experienced PTSD in their lifetime. The disorder, however, doesn’t have to be as a result of war; it can be caused by any traumatic experience. For veterans who have fought in wars, PTSD can be lurking just under the surface and ready to take the place of rational thought. It pushes you into an uncontrollable urge to win the perceived battle. My urges are deep-seated and come from just over a year of constant combat.
I Had to Get My Story Out
When I came home, I knew I had an amazing story to tell. It took me nearly 50 years, but last year, I published my memoir, On Full Automatic: Surviving 13 Months in Vietnam. I always knew getting my story down on paper would be a great way to explain to those who have never fought in a war, what it’s like to actually be there. What I didn’t expect was that the whole process would be so cathartic.
Here’s How Writing My Book Has Been Healing:
I've Found a Way to Honor the Heroes I Knew in Vietnam
I’m not the hero in my book. People have said to me, “Thank you for your service. You are a hero in my eyes.” But I’m thinking, “I’m not the hero. The guys in my book that I wrote about are the heroes. Especially those that gave their all, they are the real heroes.” I was just a scared kid and in a lot of ways it was pure luck that brought me home at the end of my tour. Many guys weren’t as lucky.
In writing my book, I’ve been able to tell the story of all the men I knew. Many of them lost their lives but writing about them is a way of honoring them. They are back with us forever. My story is their story, and it’s finally being told.
I’ve Helped Other Survivors Process Their Own Experiences
So many veterans come home from war and can’t talk about it. They keep their experiences bottled up inside, where they can do real harm. But people respond to shared experiences. When I’ve talked to other vets who have been through war, our stories just come out automatically. It completes, verifies and justifies something inside us. I’ve had a lot of feedback from other vets who have read my book and feel that by telling my story, they have found healing too. In a way it’s their story, the one they weren’t able to tell themselves or to their families.
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Saginaw Grant, Korean War Marine vet, noted Native American
Born July 20, 1936, in Pawnee, Oklahoma, Grant was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran
August 2021, Military Times
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Saginaw Grant, a Marine veteran who served during the Korean War then went on to become a prolific Native American character actor and hereditary chief of the Sac & Fox Nation of Oklahoma, has died. He was 85.
Grant died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes on Wednesday at a private care facility in Hollywood, California, said Lani Carmichael, Grant’s publicist and longtime friend.
“He loved both Oklahoma and L.A.,” Carmichael said. “He made his home here as an actor, but he never forgot his roots in Oklahoma. He remained a fan of the Sooner Nation.”
“He thought it was important for Native people to get recognized as veterans,”
He began acting in the late 1980s and played character roles in dozens of movies and television shows over the last three decades, including “The Lone Ranger,” “The World’s Fastest Indian” and “Breaking Bad,” according to Grant’s IMDB filmography.
Grant was active for years in the powwow circuit in California and traveled around the globe to speak to people about Native American culture, Carmichael said.
“His motto in life was always respect one another and don’t talk about one another in a negative way,” she said.
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.
Betty White former member American Women’s Voluntary Service
legendary comedian, dies at 99
January 2022, Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Actress Betty White, who lit up the silver screen for nine decades, died Friday. She was 99.
Her 100th birthday would have been Jan. 17.
Known primarily as a comedian whose career began at the age of eight, White also served during World War II with the American Women’s Voluntary Service.
“We are saddened by the passing of Betty White,” the U.S. Army tweeted. “Not only was she an amazing actress, she also served during World War II as a member of the American Women’s Voluntary Services.”
The volunteer group amassed more than 300,000 members and “provided a variety of services and support; they sold war bonds, and delivered messages, they drove ambulances, trucks, cycle corps and dog-sleds, they also worked in navigation, aerial photography, aircraft spotting, and fire safety,” according to Museum Textile Services.
“It was a strange time and out of balance with everything,” White is reported to have said of her time aiding the war effort.
When the war ended in 1945, she married U.S. Army Air Force pilot Dick Barker. The couple moved to an Ohio chicken farm owned by Barker’s parents, but their marriage ended after eight short months, Newsweek wrote.
After the divorce, White was married to Hollywood talent agent Lane Allen for two years until he asked her to give up her career for domesticity. She refused.
Her big break came the same year as her second divorce, in 1949, when she earned a spot on Hollywood on Television with host Al Jarvis. For her work with the series, she took home the Best Actress Emmy nomination in 1951, and became the first female host of a TV show after Jarvis and his successor Eddie Albert exited.
Remembering One Tough Veteran: Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy
She was the first Asian American woman in the Navy
November 2021
By Flip Cuddy and Christine Cuddy
She was the first Asian American woman in the Navy and the first woman gunnery officer teaching air combat tactics. During World War II, Lieutenant Cuddy trained Navy pilots in dogfighting maneuvers and firing .50-caliber machine guns.
But her children, Flip and Christine Cuddy, didn’t know about her accomplishments until later in life. In 2018, they came to StoryCorps to remember her.
To read more about this story watch the video ... https://storycorps.org/stories/a-brother-and-sister-remember-their-trailblazing-mother-lieutenant-susan-ahn-cuddy/
First and only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor
The newest issue of “Medal of Honor,”
August 2021, by J.D. Simkins, Observarion Post
The seventh installment in an illustrated series dedicated to soldiers whose actions earned them the nation’s highest award for military valor is now available online.
The newest issue of “Medal of Honor,” a graphic series produced by the Association of the U.S. Army, spotlights the Civil War heroics of Mary Walker, the first woman in the U.S. to earn a medical degree and the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor.
Born in Oswego, New York, to abolitionist parents, Walker attended Syracuse Medical College prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, when she saw an opportunity to serve as a surgeon in the U.S. Army.
But the arrangement wasn’t a seamless one. In 1861, Walker attempted to join the ranks of U.S. Army surgeons but was denied for being a woman. Like many obstacles she encountered prior to 1861, Walker refused to allow the hiccup to derail her.
Years as an unpaid surgeon’s assistant finally paid off when, at the height of the war, Walker was issued a contract as a credentialed War Department surgeon at the recommendation of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas.
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The Original 'Airman Snuffy' Was Real and a Total Badass
You may be cool, but you'll never be "earning the Medal of Honor for peeing on a fire at 30,000 feet
July 2021, by Blake Stilwell, Military.com
For decades, Air Force military training instructors have been using the example of an "Airman Snuffy" in preparing new trainees for the active Air Force. He (or she) is your average, everyday airman, working in the Air Force.
"Airman Snuffy is working the CQ desk one night when an MTI shows up without his CAC [ID card]," the Air Force training instructor would say. "What should Airman Snuffy do when the MTI demands to be let in?"
These are the questions that make trainee airmen sweat in their sleep.
Airman Snuffy is at times an instructional figure, showing young recruits how to do things. At other times, he's a cautionary tale, illustrating the potential dangers of making poor decisions while wearing the uniform.
The real Airman Snuffy, Maynard Smith, was both of those things and more; when Smith was notified that he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he was on KP duty as a punishment. Nothing could be more illustrative of his military career.
To read the full article click on the 'red-bar', find out more' on the right....
when Smith was notified that he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he was on KP duty as a punishment.
In 1942, he enlisted and volunteered to be an aerial gunner, because aerial gunners got an automatic promotion to a non-commissioned officer's rank and the pay that comes with it. Nobody wanted to fly with Smith, not because it was one of the most dangerous jobs of World War II, but because Smith was not a great airman -- yet.
He hated taking orders. He displayed a total disrespect for younger men of any rank. He was just as spoiled in the Army Air Forces as he ever was as a civilian. Now he was just getting paid for it. He was stubborn and belligerent. So it took a full six weeks before he ever flew a combat mission over occupied France.
World War I Marine gave us the best weapon name ever
“The outfit consists of two violins, a banjo, piano, drum, and the bazooka.”
September 2021 by Todd South, Observation Post
Arkansas native Bob Burns enlisted in the Marine Corps during World War I and sailed to France in 1918 as part of the 11th Regiment.
The artillery detachment converted quickly to infantry for trench fighting but saw little action, allowing time for Sgt. Burns, the lead in the Marine Corps’ jazz band, to fashion a homemade instrument that would become a part of combat lore for decades to come.
Back in the States the following year, a newspaper article noted that Burns’ deft jazz playing was drawing in young men to a Marine Corps recruiting office in New York City, according to Sept 1919 edition of the New York Evening Telegram.
“We play everything from Berlin (Irving) to Mr. Beethoven and will tackle anything except a funeral march,” said Robbie (Bob) Burns. “The outfit consists of two violins, a banjo, piano, drum, and the bazooka.”
Bazooka. The word traces its origins back to “bazoo,” a slang term for mouth that, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary, may have come from the Dutch term for trumpet, “bazuin.”
“According to tales told by the Marines, the Melody Six are the snappiest, zippiest, jazziest aggregation of tune artists in any branch of Uncle Sam’s service,” the newspaper article noted in a section adjacent to Burns’ own instructions to building that very item: “Two pieces of gas pipe, one tin funnel, a little axle grease and a lot of perseverance.”..
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.
How a 12-yearold tricked the Navy letting him fight in WWll
October 2022, by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
In 1942, Calvin Graham was an 11-year-old living in an abusive situation that forced him and his brother into a Texas boarding home. It was there that he hatched a daring escape plan: Join the U.S. Navy and fight Nazis.
In an effort to look older, Graham began shaving his face and practicing a deeper voice. But being a 5′2, 125-pound sixth-grader with razor burn hardly fooled anyone. It was forging his mother’s signature for consent and lifting a notary stamp that ultimately sealed the deal on his enlistment.
Graham simply told his mother that he was going to stay with relatives for a while, according to Business Insider.
He did, however, run into trouble when a dentist realized Graham still had baby teeth — a tad uncharacteristic of a self-proclaimed 17-year-old. But Graham was persistent, and the flustered dentist waived him through.
Graham was sworn into the Navy on Aug. 15, 1942, at 12 years old, making him the youngest person to enlist during World War II.
DC Marvel veterans team up for ‘Junkyard Joe’ military comic
October 2022, by Sarah Sicard, Military Times
Writer Geoff Johns, artist Gary Frank and colorist Brad Anderson have been working in comics for decades, earning their stripes in the Marvel and DC universes with works related to Shazam, Batman and the Incredible Hulk.
Today, the trio released a comic series called “Junkyard Joe” about a robot soldier searching for belonging in the wake of the Vietnam War.
“My grandfather served during World War II and it changed his life forever,” Johns told Military Times. “Junkyard Joe felt like an opportunity to raise not only visibility for these two amazing veteran organizations, but real financial support. It’s an honor to be working with the NCHV and VA.”
The six-issue comic book series is a story of brotherhood, families, loss and hope for veterans.
The first issue, set in Vietnam in 1972, centers on a platoon of homesick soldiers called the junkyard dogs. Embarking on one last mission, the unit gets ambushed — until a strange soldier steps in to help. The men soon learn it’s a robot, which the platoon ultimately bonds with. Another ambush, however, leaves only two survivors — the robot and Pvt. Muddy Davis, who also happens to be a budding cartoonist.