November 2009 - Argghhh!

There are five Medals awarded for actions on this day. Three posthumous, and two recipients who survived. We also meet three relatively famous recipients, including two Marine Corps legends.World War II. The fighting at Tarawa continues, though the issue may no longer be in doubt, as it was the day before. Third day of fighting, third and fourth Medals of Honor - including those two legends of the Corps, Lieutenant Bonnyman and eventual Commandant of the Corps, David Shoup - the leader I mentioned...

[Part 1 here ] To say that the appearance of General Petraeus was not the highlight of the day is to give you some sense of how extraordinary were the day's other events, but I'll start with Petraeus. His time took the form of a brief statement, and then questions and answers moderated by Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute. This isn't my best writing, but I wanted to get it out there ASAP... The little theatre where we gathered was packed wall-to-wall, with people lining...

I'm about to make myself useful for John, since this is a principally Army blog. I have, below, the excerpts of an email I received from a fellow airline pilot. It is a summary of another pilot's conversation with Tim Cheney, the Captain of NW Flight 188, that overflew MSP. My comments are in [brackets].

I didn't have a TV when Benson first aired, but I enjoyed it in reruns and so was happy to find it on Hulu yesterday. This morning I discovered season 1, episode 5 , and the last few minutes of the show just about made me fall out of my chair with laughter. Oh, the parallels! Setting: It's 1979 and the governor misses his 8-year-old daughter's school play because the president has called him to the White House and the governor's state desperately needs help that the president can...

...will, for many troops, "look remarkably the same as any other day." I know Colonel George from my time at Fort Leavenworth. He commands the 4-4 IBCT of the 10th Mountain. Note the joint nature of the "Infantry Brigade Combat Team."Hello Everyone,Below is COL George's Thanksgiving Message to Task Force Mountain Warrior that he wanted to share with everyone back home. On behalf of COL George and the rest of our Mountain Warriors, Happy Thanksgiving.To the Soldiers, Sailors...

There were six Medals earned for actions on this day during our history. Two during a Civil War cavalry skirmish, two, one posthumous, during WWII, and two, both posthumous, during the Vietnam War.Civil War, and a sharp little cavalry engagement at Nineveh, Virginia.ADAMS, JAMES F. Rank and organization: Private, Company D, 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Place and date: At Nineveh, Va., 12 November 1864. Entered service at: ------. Birth: Cabell County, Va. Date of issue: 26 November 1864. Citation:...

This panel followed the Band of Brothers , and in some ways it was a bracing reality check. There is so much to be proud of in how America conducted itself--both home and abroad--during World War II, but when we hold the entire panorama up to scrutiny, it makes the failings of that time seem even starker. While the men of Easy Company were being held to the highest standards of training, with the expectation that they would play a vital role in the war, another group of men were being held to the...