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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.
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.
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.”
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.”..
administration launches-effort for-deported-veterans-
Plan could bring hundreds to thousands of veterans & families back to the United States
July 2021, The Washington Post, Maria Sacchetti
The Biden administration unveiled plans Friday to bring hundreds, possibly thousands, of deported veterans and their immediate family members back to the United States, saying their removal “failed to live up to our highest values.”
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ordered his department’s immigration agencies to “immediately” take steps to ensure that military families may return to the United States. He said the department would also halt pending deportation proceedings against veterans or their immediate relatives who are in the United States, and clear the way for those who are eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship.
“The Department of Homeland Security recognizes the profound commitment and sacrifice that service members and their families have made to the United States of America,” Mayorkas said in a statement Friday. “We are committed to bringing back military service members, veterans, and their immediate family members who were unjustly removed and ensuring they receive the benefits to which they may be entitled.”
A Promise from the campaign trail
IPresident Biden had promised on the campaign trail to direct DHS during his first 100 days in office to stop targeting veterans and their families for deportation and to create a process for veterans deported by the Trump administration to return to the United States.
Veterans advocates have expressed concern in recent weeks that few veterans or their relatives have returned, while others remained in deportation proceedings. Many deported veterans also say they have been unable to access benefits such as health care from overseas.
In a memo Friday, the heads of DHS’s immigration agencies said they will review policies to ensure that military veterans and their relatives are “welcome to remain in or return to the United States.” Officials said they would also work with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department to ensure that veterans can access their health benefits, including coronavirus vaccinations, and that recruits can take the oath of citizenship, including while at basic training.
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.
The First Medal of Honor Went to a Soldier Who Stole a Train
The Civil War 'Great Locomotive Race' led to the first 'Medal of Honor'
June 2021 by James Barber, Military.com
Jacob Parrott was a U.S. soldier who participated in the legendary Civil War mission popularly known as the Great Locomotive Race. His bravery as a member of the Union crew that stole a Confederate train led to recognition as the nation’s first Medal of Honor recipient.
Now, Parrott’s story is told in “Medal of Honor: Jacob Parrott,” the latest issue of the Association of the United States Army’s graphic novel series. You can view or download a free copy at www.ausa.org/parrott.
Prior to the Civil War, the democratic peoples of the United States resisted the very idea of military medals. Americans connected a chest covered in fruit salad with the kind of European traditions the new nation was designed to eliminate.
Give the credit to Lt. Col. Edward D. Townsend for first suggesting a medal of honor to his boss Commanding General of the U.S. Army Winfield Scott in 1861. Scott resisted, but the idea took hold. After Secretary of Navy Gideon Welles supported legislation for a Navy version, the Army got on board with the concept and Congress passed legislation that created the award.
The April 1862 mission, led by civilian spy James Andrews, was designed to cut off Confederate supply lines by destroying rail tracks and telegraph communications along a route between Marietta, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Andrews’ raiders boarded a train in Marietta and hijacked it when passengers got off for breakfast at the first stop heading north.
Jacob Parrott was one of six Army volunteers who received a medal of honor on March 25, 1863. Because he’d been physically abused in a Confederate prisoner of war camp, Parrott was the first man to receive his medal in recognition of his sacrifice. He was joined that day by Sgt. Elihu H. Mason, Cpl. William Pittinger, Cpl. William H. H. Reddick, Pvt. William Bensinger and Pvt. Robert Buffum.
The April 1862 mission, led by civilian spy James Andrews, was designed to cut off Confederate supply lines by destroying rail tracks and telegraph communications along a route between Marietta, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Andrews’ raiders boarded a train in Marietta and hijacked it when passengers got off for breakfast at the first stop heading north.
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.”..
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.
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.