US WWII Tank Crews must of had solid Brass Balls! 
Category: Hard Nosed Folks Both Good & Bad
From the daily Time waster!
This is how I would like to go out instead of being just a pile of tubes & Machines – Grumpy
By Michael O’Donnell
It was philosopher and theologian Plato who once said, “A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand men.†We all know heroes of the past, Alvin York of World War I and Audie Murphy of World War II, but what about the heroes of Vietnam? Among the veterans of Vietnam, there are countless stories of valor, yet they have been largely ignored or forgotten over time. For the 543,400 Americans on the ground at the height of the Vietnam War, the 58,226 who were killed or missing in action, the 211,529 who were wounded, and the 4 million total who served in the Vietnam “theater,†there was one who stood out among all the rest. His name is Staff Sergeant Joe Ronnie Hooper, and not only was he a hero in the Vietnam War; he is also the most decorated soldier in American international combat, even eclipsing both York and Murphy.
Joe Ronnie Hooper was born on August 8th, 1938 in Piedmont, South Carolina. His family moved when he was a child to Moses Lake, Washington, where he attended high school. Hooper grew up a tough kid who knew how to scrap and take care of himself, and would even on some occasions go looking for a fight. This mentality would find itself of use when Hooper enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17 in the summer of 1955. There he served until 1961 when he left for the Army. Joe served multiple tours of duty in Vietnam, one from 1966-67 and another from 1967-68, with D company, 2nd Battalion, 501st Airborne Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. He would return to action in 1969 with special permission from the president. It was while serving in Vietnam that Hooper proved why he would later become the most decorated American soldier of all time.
One of the most noteworthy of all of Hooper’s battles took place on February 21st, 1968, in Hue, South Vietnam. For his actions on this day, Hooper would receive the military’s highest award for valor: the Medal of Honor.
It was dawn on the morning of the 21st. The sun rose over the fields of Hue and painted the sky red, an eerie sight during these bloody days of the Tet Offensive. D Company, 2/501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division”the Delta Raiders”were assaulting a strong enemy position when they began to receive heavy fire from the Viet Cong.
Rockets blazed through the jungle, and the sound of machine guns and other automatic weapons filled the air. Company D’s advance on the enemy was halted by their squad leader, then”Sgt. Hooper, in front of a stream approximately 20 feet-wide.
Hooper gathered a few of his men and dashed across the stream, up into the face of the enemy fire. Although the enemy was firing from a protected bunker on the opposite side of the stream, it was quickly taken by Sgt. Hooper and the men that fearlessly followed him.
Soon, the rest of Company D began to follow Sgt. Hooper’s example, taking the fight to the enemy. A couple of men were wounded, leaving them exposed to the wrath of enemy fire. Without a second thought, Sgt. Hooper braved the crossfire and went out after his wounded brothers.
Hooper helped one man back to safety, then returned for the second man. He got to the wounded soldier, but in the process was wounded himself. Still, he brought the man to safety, saving him from certain death.
Returning to the fight, Hooper found SSG Thomas pinned down by enemy fire. Trying to decipher where the shots were coming from, Hooper called through the rattle of gunfire and explosions to SP4 Mount, who was up ahead, to see if there was room to maneuver between two small houses in the direction of the fire.
Joe Ronnie Hooper (August 8, 1938 – May 6, 1979) was an American who served in both the United States Navy and United States Army where he finished his career there as a captain. He was awarded the Medal of Honor while serving as an army staff sergeant on February 21, 1968 during the Vietnam War. He was one of the most decorated U.S. soldiers of the war and was wounded in action eight times.
Contents
Early life and education[edit]
Hooper was born on August 8, 1938 in Piedmont, South Carolina. His family moved when he was a child to Moses Lake, Washington where he attended Moses Lake High School.
Career[edit]
[edit]
Hooper enlisted in the United States Navy in December 1956. After graduation from boot camp at San Diego, California he served as an Airman aboard USS Wasp (CV-18) and USS Hancock (CV-19). He was honorably discharged in July 1959, shortly after being advanced to petty officer third class.
U.S. Army[edit]
Hooper enlisted in the United States Army in May 1960 as a private first class, and attended Basic Training at Fort Ord, California. After graduation, he volunteered for Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia and then was assigned to Company C, 1st Airborne Battle Group, 325th Infantry,[1] 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and was promoted to corporal during his assignment. He then served a tour of duty in South Korea with the 20th Infantry in October 1961 and shortly after arriving he was promoted to sergeant and was made a squad leader. He left Korea in November 1963 and was assigned to the 2nd Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas for a year as a squad leader and then became a squad leader with Company D, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was promoted to staff sergeant in September 1966 and volunteered for service in South Vietnam. Instead he was assigned as a platoon sergeant in Panama with the 3rd Battalion (Airborne), 508th Infantry, first with HQ Company and later with Company B.
Hooper couldn’t stay out of trouble and suffered several Article 15 hearings, being reduced to the rank of corporal in July 1967. He was promoted once again to sergeant in October 1967, and was assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell and deployed with the division to Vietnam in December as a squad leader. During his tour of duty with Delta Company (Delta Raiders), 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 501st Airborne Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, he was recommended for the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on February 21, 1968 outside of Hue.
He returned from Vietnam and was discharged in June 1968. He reenlisted in the Army the following September, and served as a public relations specialist. On March 7, 1969, he was presented the Medal of Honor by President Richard Nixon during a ceremony in the White House. From July 1969 to August 1970, he served as a platoon sergeant with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Infantry in Panama. He managed to finagle a second tour in Vietnam; from April to June 1970, he served as a pathfinder with the 101st Aviation Group, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile), and from June to December 1970, he served as a platoon sergeant with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). In December 1970, he received a direct commission to second lieutenant and served as a platoon leader with Company A, 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile) until April 1971.
Upon his return to the United States, he attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course at Fort Benning and was then assigned as an instructor at Fort Polk, Louisiana. Despite wanting to serve twenty years in the Army, Hooper was made to retire in February 1974 as a first lieutenant, mainly because he had only completed a handful of college courses beyond his GED. As soon as he was released from active duty, he joined a unit of the Army Reserve’s 12th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Washington as a Company Executive Officer. In February 1976, he transferred to the 104th Division (Training), also based in Washington. He was promoted to captain in March 1977. He attended drills only intermittently and was separated from the service in September 1978.
For his service in Vietnam, the U.S. Army also awarded Hooper two Silver Stars, six Bronze Stars, eight Purple Hearts, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Service Medal with six campaign stars, and the Combat Infantryman Badge. He is credited with 115 enemy killed in ground combat, 22 of which occurred on February 21, 1968. He became one of the most decorated soldiers in the Vietnam War, and was one of three soldiers who were wounded in action eight times in the war.
Later life and death[edit]
Rumors persist that he became distressed by the anti-war politics of the time and took to excessive drinking which contributed to his death.[2] He died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Louisville, Kentucky on May 6, 1979, at the age of 40.
Hooper is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 46, adjacent to the Memorial Amphitheater.
Military awards[edit]
Hooper’s military decorations and awards include:
 |
|||
|
|||
 
|
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| Combat Infantryman Badge | |||||||||||
| Medal of Honor | Silver Star w/ 1 bronze oak leaf cluster |
||||||||||
| Bronze Star w/ Valor device and 1 silver oak leaf cluster |
Purple Heart w/ 1 silver and 2 bronze oak leaf clusters |
Air Medal | |||||||||
| Army Commendation Medal | Army Good Conduct Medal w/ 3 bronze Good conduct loops |
Navy Good Conduct Medal | |||||||||
| National Defense Service Medal | Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal | Vietnam Service Medal w/ 1 silver and 1 bronze campaign stars |
|||||||||
| Vietnam Cross of Gallantry w/ Palm |
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal | Navy Pistol Marksmanship Ribbon w/ “E” Device |
|||||||||
 |
||
.png){kind=small} |
 |
 |
| Army Presidential Unit Citation | ||
| Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation | Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation | Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation |
 |
 |
 |
| Master Parachutist Badge | Expert Marksmanship Badge w/ 1 weapon bar |
Vietnam Parachutist Badge |
Medal of Honor citation[edit]
Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company D, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Near Hue, Republic of Vietnam, February 21, 1968. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Born: August 8, 1938, Piedmont, S.C.
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Staff Sergeant (then Sgt.) Hooper, U.S. Army, distinguished himself while serving as squad leader with Company D. Company D was assaulting a heavily defended enemy position along a river bank when it encountered a withering hail of fire from rockets, machine guns and automatic weapons. S/Sgt. Hooper rallied several men and stormed across the river, overrunning several bunkers on the opposite shore. Thus inspired, the rest of the company moved to the attack. With utter disregard for his own safety, he moved out under the intense fire again and pulled back the wounded, moving them to safety. During this act S/Sgt. Hooper was seriously wounded, but he refused medical aid and returned to his men. With the relentless enemy fire disrupting the attack, he single-handedly stormed 3 enemy bunkers, destroying them with hand grenade and rifle fire, and shot 2 enemy soldiers who had attacked and wounded the Chaplain. Leading his men forward in a sweep of the area, S/Sgt. Hooper destroyed 3 buildings housing enemy riflemen. At this point he was attacked by a North Vietnamese officer whom he fatally wounded with his bayonet. Finding his men under heavy fire from a house to the front, he proceeded alone to the building, killing its occupants with rifle fire and grenades. By now his initial body wound had been compounded by grenade fragments, yet despite the multiple wounds and loss of blood, he continued to lead his men against the intense enemy fire. As his squad reached the final line of enemy resistance, it received devastating fire from 4 bunkers in line on its left flank. S/Sgt. Hooper gathered several hand grenades and raced down a small trench which ran the length of the bunker line, tossing grenades into each bunker as he passed by, killing all but 2 of the occupants. With these positions destroyed, he concentrated on the last bunkers facing his men, destroying the first with an incendiary grenade and neutralizing 2 more by rifle fire. He then raced across an open field, still under enemy fire, to rescue a wounded man who was trapped in a trench. Upon reaching the man, he was faced by an armed enemy soldier whom he killed with a pistol. Moving his comrade to safety and returning to his men, he neutralized the final pocket of enemy resistance by fatally wounding 3 North Vietnamese officers with rifle fire. S/Sgt. Hooper then established a final line and reorganized his men, not accepting treatment until this was accomplished and not consenting to evacuation until the following morning. His supreme valor, inspiring leadership and heroic self-sacrifice were directly responsible for the company’s success and provided a lasting example in personal courage for every man on the field. S/Sgt. Hooper’s actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.[3]
Sighting in a rifle is an important thing to do if you want your rifle to be dead on when taking a shot.
Which brings us to the Carlos Hathcock way of sighting in a rifle.
For those that don’t know who Carlos Hathcock is, he was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills.
Hathcock’s record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He was a serious threat to the NVA (North Vietnamese Army), which they placed a bounty of U.S. $30,000 on Hathcock’s head.
The following is a story by Gus Fisher a retired MGySgt USMC who talks of the time he met Carlos.
What was unique was the way Carlos had taught Gus to sight in a rifle. Here’s the excerpt from M14Forum:
As mentioned before, I was a very young Marine Sergeant when I came up to THE Marine Corps Rifle Team the first time as the junior Armorer.
I didn’t grow up using high power rifles. We used shotguns to hunt quail, rabbits, squirrels, pheasants, ducks and geese. I used a Mark I Ruger Target .22 pistol for racoon hunting and used a Model 74 Winchester .22 to really learn the basics of rifle marksmanship. My introduction to both high power shooting and long range shooting was in Marine Corps Boot Camp.
On Qual Day in Boot Camp, I ran 7 consecutive bullseye’s from the offhand position at 200 yards. The 8th round was a pinwheel bullseye, but it was on the target next to mine, so I got a maggie’s drawers. Knee High wind got me after that and I fell apart and only shot Sharpshooter in boot camp.
I bought a sporterized Mauser in .308 with a scope on it from a fellow Marine during the time I was going through the Armorer’s OJT program on Camp Pendleton. I used that for ground squirrel hunting, but was never really satisfied with my zero on the rifle.
So after I came up on “The Big Team,” I asked the second senior Armorer – Ted Hollabaugh, if he could show me how to REALLY sight in a rifle with a scope.
He said sure and he would do it, but since we had all the talent in the world at MTU, why didn’t I ask one of the shooters?
Well, I was a young kid and I didn’t know any of the shooters that well – most of them were much older than I. That’s when he suggested I ask Carlos Hathcock for some help.
I didn’t know Carlos then and did not know of his exploits in NM and Sniper shooting. Ted talked to Carlos about it and Carlos stopped by the shop later that afternoon.
Carlos looked at me and said, “So you want to sight in your rifle, eh? OK, thoroughly clean the bore and chamber. Dry the bore out with patches just before you come down to Range 4 tomorrow at noon on the 200 yard line. Have the sling on the rifle that you are going to use in hunting.” Then he went on about his business.
When I got to Range 4 the next day, he had a target in the air ready for me. He told me to get down in the best prone position I had. He checked me and adjusted my position just a bit. Then he said, “Before you shoot.
The MOST important thing I want you to do is take your time and make it the best shot possible. It doesn’t matter how long you take, just make it a good shot.
ALSO, and this is as important, make sure you give me an accurate call on where you think the bullet hit the target.” After I broke the shot, I told him where I thought the bullet had hit.
He checked it by using a spotting scope when the target came back up. He grinned just slightly and said, “not a bad call.” He then took a screwdriver and adjusted my scope a bit. He had me record everything possible about the shot and weather, humidity, temperature, wind, how I felt when the shot went off, what kind of ammo I was using, the date, and virtually everything about the conditions on the range that day.
I had never seen such a complete and precise recording of such things in a log book. He told me that if a fly had gone by the rifle and farted while I was shooting, to make sure I recorded that.
Then he told me to thoroughly clean the bore and chamber, and have it dry when I came back at 12 noon the next day. I was kind of surprised he only had me shoot once, but when you are getting free lessons – you don’t question or argue.
The next day, he told me the same thing. I called the shot and it was closer to the center of the bullseye. He made another slight adjustment and told me to clean the bore and chamber, dry the bore thoroughly and come back the next day at noon. Then we recorded everything possible about that day.
The following day, the shot was darn near exactly centered on the bullseye. Then he told me to clean and dry the bore before coming back the next day. Then we recorded everything about that day.
About a week into the process, Ted asked me how it was going. I said it was going really well, but we were only shooting one shot a day. Ted grinned and said, “How many shots do you think you are going to get at a deer? Don’t you think you had better make the first one count?” There was a level of knowledge and wisdom there that I immediately appreciated, though I came to appreciate it even more as time went on.
We continued this process with the sitting position at 200 yards, then prone and sitting at 300 yards and 400 yards. Then we went down to 100 yards and included offhand in the mix. Each day and each shot we recorded everything possible in the book and that included the sight settings for each position at each yard line. We also marked the scope adjustment settings with different color nail polish for each yard line.
When that was over after a few weeks, I thought I had a super good zero on the rifle. But no, not according to Carlos. He started calling me up on mornings it was foggy, rainy, windy, high or low humidity, etc., etc. and we fired a single shot and recorded the sight settings and everything else about the day. (I actually used four or five log books by the time we were through and put that info all into one ring binder.) I almost had an encyclopedia on that rifle. Grin.
Well, after a few months, we had shot a single round in most every kind of condition there was. Then about the 12th of December, it was REALLY cold and it seemed like an artic wind was blowing, there was about four inches of snow on the ground and freezing rain was falling. He called me up and told me to meet him at Range 4 at noon. I had gotten to know him well enough to joke, “Do you really want to watch me shoot in this kind of weather? He chuckled and said, “Well, are you ever going to hunt in this kind of weather?” I sighed and said, “See you at noon.”
By the next spring, I had records for sight settings for the first shot out of a “cold” barrel for almost any weather, position and range I would use and temperature/wind/humidity condition imagineable. He had informed me months before that was bascially how he wanted all Marine Snipers to sight in their rifles as only the first shot counts, though of course they would do it out to 700 yards on a walking target and further on a stationary target. They also practiced follow up shots, of course and we did some of that as well. It gave me great confidence that I could dial in my scope for anything I would come across.
Some years later in the late 90’s or really early this century, I was talking to a Police Sniper and he was really impressed I knew Carlos. I told him about the way Carlos had me sight in my rifle and suggested he do the same thing as he was a sniper for the Henrico Country SWAT team. He had never heard of that and took it to heart. About two and a half years later, he got called to a domestic situation where a husband had a handgun to his wife’s head and was going to kill her. After the Sergeant in charge and the Pysch guy determined the husband was really going to do it, the Police Officer was asked if he could hit the guy at just over 200 yards and not hit the wife. He said he knew he could (because he had followed Carlos method), so they told him to take the shot. One shot and the perp’s head exploded.
The wife was scared crapless, but unharmed.
When he told me about it about when I saw him the first time a week after the incident, the first thing I asked him if he was OK about taking the shot. He understood I was talking about the pyschological aspects and he really appreciated it. He said, it had bothered him a little that night until he remembered that if he had not taken the shot, the wife would have died. I checked back with him and he really was OK with having taken the shot. I’ve checked back every gun show I see him at and I know he is doing fine about it.
Sources: M14Forum
- Don’t inquire into a person’s past. Take the measure of a man for what he is today.
- Never steal another man’s horse. A horse thief pays with his life.
- Defend yourself whenever necessary.
- Look out for your own.
- Remove your guns before sitting at the dining table.
- Never order anything weaker than whiskey.
- Don’t make a threat without expecting dire consequences.
- Never pass anyone on the trail without saying “Howdy”.
- When approaching someone from behind, give a loud greeting before you get within shooting range.
- Don’t wave at a man on a horse, as it might spook the horse. A nod is the proper greeting.
- After you pass someone on the trail, don’t look back at him. It implies you don’t trust him.
- Riding another man’s horse without his permission is nearly as bad as making love to his wife. Never even bother another man’s horse.
- Always fill your whiskey glass to the brim.
- A cowboy doesn’t talk much; he saves his breath for breathing.
- No matter how weary and hungry you are after a long day in the saddle, always tend to your horse’s needs before your own, and get your horse some feed before you eat.
- Cuss all you want, but only around men, horses and cows.
- Complain about the cooking and you become the cook.
-
Cowboy Drinking
Always drink your whiskey with your gun hand, to show your friendly intentions.
- Do not practice ingratitude.
- A cowboy is pleasant even when out of sorts. Complaining is what quitters do, and cowboys hate quitters.
- Always be courageous. Cowards aren’t tolerated in any outfit worth its salt.
- A cowboy always helps someone in need, even a stranger or an enemy.
- Never try on another man’s hat.
- Be hospitable to strangers. Anyone who wanders in, including an enemy, is welcome at the dinner table. The same was true for riders who joined cowboys on the range.
- Give your enemy a fighting chance.
- Never wake another man by shaking or touching him, as he might wake suddenly and shoot you.
- Real cowboys are modest. A braggert who is “all gurgle and no guts” is not tolerated.
- Be there for a friend when he needs you.
- Drinking on duty is grounds for instant dismissal and blacklisting.
- A cowboy is loyal to his “brand,” to his friends, and those he rides with.
- Never shoot an unarmed or unwarned enemy. This was also known as “the rattlesnake code”: always warn before you strike. However, if a man was being stalked, this could be ignored.
- Never shoot a woman no matter what.
- Consideration for others is central to the code, such as: Don’t stir up dust around the chuck wagon, don’t wake up the wrong man for herd duty, etc.
- Respect the land and the environment by not smoking in hazardous fire areas, disfiguring rocks, trees, or other natural areas.
- Honesty is absolute – your word is your bond, a handshake is more binding than a contract.
- Live by the Golden Rule.
Why do I think that this could of happened?
Private comes out of the box at at NTC with necklace of Donovian ears
FORT IRWIN, Calif. — Pfc. Amanda Richards surprised peers and superiors alike when she emerged from six weeks “in the box” at the National Training Center with an eerie hollowness in her eyes and a necklace of Donovian ears, sources confirmed today.
“Here at the National Training Center, we provide America’s soldiers with the highest quality, most realistic training available,” said Brig. Gen. Geoffrey Broadway, NTC Commander. “As they use the newest technologies to face the intense challenges of the profession of arms, they emerge as better fighters, better teams, and better prepared for complex…what the fuck? She did what? God almighty. How did she even do that? God help us all.”
National Training Center Rotations are designed to place soldiers in austere environment where they can develop new techniques, tactics, and procedures, while honing strengths and identifying weaknesses. Soldiers assigned to play opposing forces, or OPFOR, use tactics of notional countries such as Atropia or Donovia.
In the case of Pfc. Richards, who previously expressed little interest in basic soldier skills, the NTC experiment revealed she had always been three weeks of intensity away from being an elite killing machine, and six weeks of intensity away from being a war criminal, according to defense officials.
“We encourage the most realistic scenarios possible at the National Training Center,” Broadway added. “But not like that. Fuck me. Those men had families. The more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war, but, for the love of God, we don’t mean real blood.”
Richards, a dental hygienist assigned to Charlie Company, 3834th Combat Hospital, was nervous about “time in the box,” but came to thrive in the intense environment.
“On day one at the RUBA, Amanda couldn’t shut up about not having her cell phone,” said Spc. Kelsey Appleton, Richards’ former roommate. “She’d been texting a guy who had a car and we were all pretty upset about the timing. But by day six, she was really getting into it, yelling at us when we went to the wag bag without our MILES gear on. By week two, she’d pulled all the aces out of a deck of cards ‘for her kills,’ By week four she walked out of the battalion fighting position shirtless with nothing but a DAGR and a dagger, challenging anyone to quench her thirst for blood and vengeance.”
Richards, after a thorough after-action report, will return to her duties as the records clerk at the Raymond Bliss Dental clinic until such time as an investigating board can determine if she is, as she states, the surviving embodiment of Tiger Force.
“I blame myself. When I put that bumper sticker on my Ram that said, ‘kill ‘em all, let God sort ‘em out,’ a couple of the PC types asked me if I was setting a good example for my soldiers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Rainier, Richards’ platoon sergeant.
“I said, ‘we’re all POGs, I don’t think anyone is taking this seriously. But then…sweet Jesus. Amanda just had to exact vengeance after the first harassing small arms fire. Men. Women. Some of those men weren’t even Donovian. I think they were OCs. Sometimes, as I drift off to sleep, I still hear them choking on their own blood as they futilely yell ‘ENDEX.’”
“Here at the National Training Center, we provide America’s soldiers with the highest quality, most realistic training available,” said Brig. Gen. Geoffrey Broadway, NTC Commander. “As they use the newest technologies to face the intense challenges of the profession of arms, they emerge as better fighters, better teams, and better prepared for complex…what the fuck? She did what? God almighty. How did she even do that? God help us all.”
National Training Center Rotations are designed to place soldiers in austere environment where they can develop new techniques, tactics, and procedures, while honing strengths and identifying weaknesses. Soldiers assigned to play opposing forces, or OPFOR, use tactics of notional countries such as Atropia or Donovia.
In the case of Pfc. Richards, who previously expressed little interest in basic soldier skills, the NTC experiment revealed she had always been three weeks of intensity away from being an elite killing machine, and six weeks of intensity away from being a war criminal, according to defense officials.
“We encourage the most realistic scenarios possible at the National Training Center,” Broadway added. “But not like that. Fuck me. Those men had families. The more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war, but, for the love of God, we don’t mean real blood.”
Richards, a dental hygienist assigned to Charlie Company, 3834th Combat Hospital, was nervous about “time in the box,” but came to thrive in the intense environment.
“On day one at the RUBA, Amanda couldn’t shut up about not having her cell phone,” said Spc. Kelsey Appleton, Richards’ former roommate. “She’d been texting a guy who had a car and we were all pretty upset about the timing. But by day six, she was really getting into it, yelling at us when we went to the wag bag without our MILES gear on. By week two, she’d pulled all the aces out of a deck of cards ‘for her kills,’ By week four she walked out of the battalion fighting position shirtless with nothing but a DAGR and a dagger, challenging anyone to quench her thirst for blood and vengeance.”
Richards, after a thorough after-action report, will return to her duties as the records clerk at the Raymond Bliss Dental clinic until such time as an investigating board can determine if she is, as she states, the surviving embodiment of Tiger Force.
“I blame myself. When I put that bumper sticker on my Ram that said, ‘kill ‘em all, let God sort ‘em out,’ a couple of the PC types asked me if I was setting a good example for my soldiers,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Rainier, Richards’ platoon sergeant.
“I said, ‘we’re all POGs, I don’t think anyone is taking this seriously. But then…sweet Jesus. Amanda just had to exact vengeance after the first harassing small arms fire. Men. Women. Some of those men weren’t even Donovian. I think they were OCs. Sometimes, as I drift off to sleep, I still hear them choking on their own blood as they futilely yell ‘ENDEX.’”
The following was kindly provided by Captain T.W. Forrest of the D.C. Army National Guard.
Suggestions for
Professional Officer Development Readings
Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.
As soldiers it is our duty to continue are professional development by reading. General George S. Patton, Jr. (1885-1945), was known for his study and reading of military history.
In 1952, his widow, Beatrice Patton, provided a list of his favorite books for an issue of Armor magazine (Patton, Beatrice Ayer, “A Soldier’s Reading,” Armor 61 (November-December 1952, pp. 10-11). I provide it to you for your professional development:
- Maxims of Frederick the Great
- Maxims of Napoleon, and all the authoritative military biographies of Napoleon
- Commentaries, Julius Caesar
- Treatises by von Treitchke, and von Clausewitz
- Memoirs of General the Baron de Marbot, and de Fezansec, a colonel under Napoleon
- Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World, Creasy
- Charles XII of Sweden, Klingspor
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Vols 1, 2, 3) (Vols 4, 5, 6), Gibbon
- Strategicon, Marcus and Spaulding
- The Prince, Machiavelli
- The Crowd, Le Bon
- A History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages, Oman
- The Influence of Sea Power Upon History,, Mahan
- Stonewall Jackson, Henderson
- Memoirs of U. S. Grant, and those of McClellan
- Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, R. E. Lee, and Lee’s Lieutenants, Freeman
- Years of Victory and Years of Endurance, Bryant
- Gallipoli, Hamilton
- Thucydides’ Military History of Greece
- Memoirs of Ludendorff, von Hindenburg and Foch
- Genghis Khan, Alexander, Lamb
- Alexander, Weigall
- The Home Book of Verse
- Anything by Winston Churchill
- Kipling, complete
- Anything by Liddle Hart
- Anything by J. F. C. Fuller, especially ‘Generalship: Its Diseases and Their Cure’
She also explained that during WW II, Patton read about the areas in which he fought and for an understanding of tactics. For example:
- The Normans in Sicily, Knight
- The Greatest Norman Conquest, Osborne
- The History of the Norman Conquest of England, five volumes by Freeman
- Caesar’s Gallic War
- Infantry Attacks, Rommel
For further study in the importance of professional reading and how it can shape a soldier I recommend the following:
- Dietrich, Steve E. “The Professional Reading of General George S. Patton, Jr.” Journal of Military History 53 (October 1989)
- Nye, Roger H., The Patton Mind: The Professional Development of an Extraordinary Leader. Garden City, N.Y.: Avery Publishing Group, Inc., 1993.
- _____, “Whence Patton’s Military Genius?” Parameters 21 (Winter 1991-92), pp. 60-73.
Dear IRS & the California Tax Board, You guys of course know that I always pay exactly the amount of my hard earned money. That I owe, To you under appreciated and vital part of the Government! Grumpy
Left to right: Charles Duke (Apollo 16), Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), Walter Cunningham (Apollo 7), Al Worden (Apollo 15), Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17), Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Fred Haise (Apollo 13)
We really dropped the Ball on Space Exploration!