Category: Uncategorized
Tools of the (old-school) trade: Kiwi shoe polish, an old T-shirt, a boot brush, panty
hose and a lot of elbow grease were all required to keep footwear up to scratch.
We’ve been everywhere together. We’ve trudged through fetid jungles, shivered in snow caves, crouched within powerful war machines, and even flung ourselves into the dark abyss underneath a parachute canopy. Through it all, we got over and around some of the roughest terrain on earth together.
It’s been said an army marches on its stomach. I disagree — an army marches on its boots. Of all the many-splendored cool-guy toys soldiers tote, pack, shoot, fly or drive, none are quite so important as boots. You may have the most lethal tricked-out rifle mankind can contrive, but if you’re scurrying about the Hindu Kush in dime store flip-flops, you aren’t going to be doing much with it.
Will’s new favorite, the Clash LT from Blauer. Lightweight, comfortable and rugged,
these high-tech wonders are light-years ahead of what they had “back in the day.”
Brogan History
My first set of LPCs (Leather Personnel Carriers) were the nondescript leather sort. Lacing was an arduous chore, they were hot in the summer and cold in the winter. However, the soles were grippy and they offered adequate protection against rocks, razor wire and similar pokey bits.
Jungle boots with speed laces represented a quantum improvement. They went on and off in a jiffy and the canvas uppers wore like sneakers. Vent holes in the bottom let air and water both in and out with comparable aplomb.
Holdovers from a previous age, jump boots were as heavy as Aunt Edna’s fruitcake. The slick leather soles didn’t offer much purchase and they took a lifetime to lace up, but I’m living proof you can use them to leap out of a perfectly good airplane and emerge with your ankles intact. The WWII versions were brown. Ours were black.
I have logged countless hours laboriously polishing with Kiwi and an old t-shirt. Squeeze the greasy stuff into all the crevices and then buff it out with a boot brush. The wooden-backed brush also makes a serviceable close-quarters weapon. One of my drunken soldiers earned an Article 15 for attacking some poor schmuck with his.
M-Nu paint blackened out the steel eyelets when they got shiny. A First Sergeant once told me it was so Soviet satellites couldn’t pick us out on the parade field. Sigh. When you’re all done, buff everything out with some of granny’s panty hose to really conjure a shine.
It’s tough to admit, but today’s versions are better. The uppers are rot-resistant nylon rather than canvas. The bodies are rough suede and won’t take polish if you rubbed them for a month. Today’s boys and girls in uniform don’t have to polish boots at all. I cannot imagine what they do with their time. Play video games, I suppose.
I’ve burned through a single pair of the new sorts, and they hold up nicely. The suede ages well and the soles grip like politicians grab other people’s money. The laces slide smoothly and let you get into them faster than you might a pair of cross trainers.
Why boots? These rancid feet actually belong to a friend of Will’s named Beth who
snapped this picture right after she finished a 100-mile road race.
This old jungle boot gave its life for Will when he wandered into some concertina
wire while answering nature’s call late one night in a moonless desert.
Top Of The Heap
I recently saw a scruffy-looking guy in my medical clinic and could not help but notice his high-mileage but well-maintained hard-use footwear. The kid was a former Marine who now worked an outside civilian job. Despite the grime his boots were meticulously maintained. It was my first hint he wasn’t your garden-variety thug.
I was so impressed with his boots I bought a pair myself. I’ve worn out at least half-a-dozen sets over the decades, and these are hands-down my favorites. They’re titled the “Clash LT” from Blauer, and they set me back a C-note.
These are tall ankle-supporting combat boots a full 6″ high. They wear like your favorite pair of running shoes and weigh a paltry 18 oz. The body of the boot is mixed suede and breathable mesh. There is also an integrated shank for stabilization should you need to fast rope into some evil despot’s lair. The psychedelic soles will have you climbing like a monkey on Adderall.
The coolest aspect of these uber-cool stompers is the integrated BOA lacing system. This inspired rig employs a braided stainless steel cable and a handy tightening wheel with a clutch of sorts making donning and doffing quick, easy and painless. With my nifty high-tech boots I’m through airport security faster than the nearby hippie in his Birkenstocks. If the unthinkable happens and my world is suddenly dark, jagged, upside down and on fire, I’m much better positioned to get out alive than my unwashed pal in sandals.
These boots felt broken-in out of the box and should last me the rest of my days. They’ll take me anywhere. Like my Army buddies, there’s really nothing we can’t do together.
Alaska in the winter is a foreboding, unforgiving place. It is also the
sort of place where folks throw down over roadkill. Public domain.
The Alaskan interior isn’t like the rest of the planet. The following conflict played out over the course of a couple of weeks on the front page of the Daily News Miner — the Fairbanks, Alaska newspaper. Of all the weird stuff I saw while there, this curious little drama centered around a dead moose was among the weirdest.
Moose are roughly the same size as horses. Their legs are long, so most of their body mass is carried up high. That’s bad. When you hit a moose with a car, which happens roughly 500 times a year in Alaska, the animal is notorious for riding up over the hood and coming through the cockpit with predictable results.
However, moose are nonetheless great to eat. Half a moose kept my family in meat for nearly two years while we were there. As it is just stupid cold in the wintertime, roadkill does not deteriorate as it might in warmer climes.
An Alaskan moose is a simply gigantic animal. Transforming one of these creatures into something edible, particularly in the wintertime, takes an enormous amount of work. Public domain.
When life gives you lemons, help feed the needy
When we lived there, roadkill moose officially became the property of the state. The state police maintained a rotating list of service organizations. When they heard of a dead moose on the road, these altruistic guys would then retrieve the beast, butcher it, and distribute the meat gratis to those less fortunate. It seemed a pretty solid plan.
Some hapless Alaskan hit a moose. His car was drivable, and he was not hurt, but the moose was demised. The unfortunate motorist limped back into town and called the Bureau of Land Management to report the moose. The rub, however, was that the bureau was not the action agency for dead moose in Alaska. That would be the state police. However, the bureau person dutifully made a note and thanked the man for his civic-mindedness.
Meanwhile …
Meanwhile, a 50-something-year-old Alaskan woman was out riding her snow machine and happened upon the dead moose on the side of the road. She lived alone in a little cabin out in the middle of no place and was just over the moon at her serendipitous discovery. This unexpected bounty would feed her for many months. She and a lady friend, who also lived alone in a different cabin in the middle of no place, then dragged the enormous stiff creature to the nearest domicile for processing. At the time, it was maybe -35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now imagine the kind of women who might voluntarily live alone in the middle of no place in Alaska and also skin their own moose. These are not the sorts of ladies I’d want chasing me with sticks. These chicks were of undeniably hearty stock.
In short order, they had the big animal field stripped, and the meat put away. However, as you might imagine, given the ghastly temperatures, this was no mean project.
While all this was going on, the Bureau of Land Management representative finally got around to notifying the state police. A state trooper dutifully investigated and found where the dead moose had been dragged off. He followed the trail to the first woman’s cabin and inquired about the moose. The lady explained that the moose was in her freezer and that he needed to leave. The state trooper wisely complied.
Once back at headquarters, this poor guy’s boss said, nope, that moose belonged to the state and directed him to retrieve it. The cop dutifully went back out to the cabin and engaged in a spirited discourse with the industrious lass. She explained what it had taken to process that 1,100-pound animal at 35 below and voiced her displeasure with his job, his mission, his boss, and likely his parentage.
Alaskan cops are all psychotherapists at heart, so the officer suggested a compromise. The lawman posited that he take half the moose and wrote her a receipt attesting that the other half was a gift from the state of Alaska to the scary woman. The lady was not happy about it, but she acquiesced with reluctance. The man then packed half of the frozen moose in the trunk of his squad car and returned to base rightly pleased with himself.
His boss, however, was apparently a real stickler about moose. He directed the poor man to go fetch the rest of the creature as well. The cop dutifully did so. According to the newspaper narrative, there was at least a passing period wherein the angry Alaskan woman threatened to kill the unfortunate peace officer while waving her duly-signed receipt in his face.
We all couldn’t wait each day to get our newspapers and find out the latest installment in the dead moose saga.
Alaska is indeed a magical place brimming with peerless natural beauty. It is also the only place I know of wherein a female hermit might threaten to murder a law enforcement officer over ownership of roadkill and find that 90% of the state’s residents would take her side in the matter.
Elizabeth McHutcheson was a hearty woman of Scottish descent cursed with a terminal case of wanderlust. She married a ship’s captain named Francis Sinclair and eventually produced six children. Elizabeth moved her family to New Zealand and established a farm. However, her husband and eldest son were later lost at sea along with most of the family’s possessions.
Down but not out, Elizabeth relocated to Canada and then Hawaii with the remains of her family. Once settled in she bought the Hawaiian island of Ni’ihau for $10,000. Ten grand was an astronomical sum in 1864, but it turned out to be a fairly prescient investment.
Ni’ihau is the furthest West and second smallest of the primary Hawaiian Islands. Ownership of the island passed down through the family until 1941 when Elizabeth’s great-grandson Aylmer Robinson maintained possession. Aylmer was a Harvard graduate who spoke fluent Hawaiian. He was a benevolent landlord who lived on nearby Kaua’i. His island was accessible by permission only which was seldom granted. Robinson made weekly visits by boat to check on the native islanders who held him in high esteem.
In 1941 one hundred thirty-six native islanders called Ni’ihau home. Among them were three individuals with Japanese ancestry. Aylmer Robinson administered his idyllic little kingdom free from government interference.
In the buildup to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese naval planners mistakenly assessed Ni’ihau as uninhabited. As a result, they briefed their aviators to divert to Ni’ihau in the event of battle damage preventing return to the carriers. The plan was for downed aircrew to survive on the island until they could be retrieved via submarine.
The Plot Thickens
On the morning of December 7, 1941, Airman First Class Shigenori Nishikaichi launched his A6M2 Zero fighter B11-120 from the carrier Hiryu as part of the second wave. Unlike the first attack that achieved complete tactical and strategic surprise, the second element flew into a hornet’s nest. American fighter resistance was negligible, but the warships anchored at Pearl bristled with antiaircraft guns. .50-caliber, 20mm, 40mm, and 5-inch antiaircraft weapons filled the sky with steel.
Nishikaichi’s Zero was badly damaged during a strafing run on Wheeler Field and limped away trailing smoke. Realizing that there was no way his nimble Zero was going to make it home, Nishikaichi diverted for Ni’ihau. Crash-landing his crippled fighter in a field near a local named Hawila Kaleohano, Nishikaichi was briefly dazed but otherwise unhurt.
The Chemical Formula for Awkward
The arrival of Nishikaichi’s Zero was the biggest event on Ni’ihau in collective memory, and the islanders all came out to gawk. They knew that the relationship between the United States and the Empire of Japan was strained. However, the Hawaiians are a naturally friendly people. Hawila Kaleohano relieved the young aviator of his handgun and personal documents, and the rest of the islanders threw the lad a party.
Only the three islanders with a Japanese nexus spoke Japanese, and the rest of the Ni’ihau inhabitants were unable to communicate with their new guest. For ease of explanation we will refer to these three individuals by their first names—Ishimatsu, Yoshio, and Irene. However, the Japanese pilot was becoming ever more agitated about the loss of his maps, weapon, and mission directives.
The island’s residents caught a report of the attack on a battery-powered radio and confronted the Japanese pilot. Their intent was to send him back with Mr. Robinson when he arrived on his next scheduled visit. Their guest now effectively became their prisoner.
Aylmer Robinson failed to arrive on his appointed day, and this unsettled the islanders. Robinson was typically quite punctual. However, the military had banned boat traffic, so Ni’ihau was effectively isolated.
Petty Officer Nishikaichi was remanded to the home of Yoshio and Irene, two of the islanders with Japanese connections, to be overseen by four volunteer guards. Unbeknownst to the rest of the island’s inhabitants, Yoshio and his wife were re-evaluating their loyalties. All the while the pilot’s classified documents remained in the possession of Hawila Kaleohano, the man who had originally encountered the pilot.
A Cold War Goes Hot
These people were not soldiers, and three of the four guards eventually wandered off. Seeing their opportunity Irene turned her phonograph up to cover the sounds of the ensuing struggle, while her husband and the pilot attacked the remaining guard. In short order the two had the man secured in a warehouse and had retrieved Nishikaichi’s pistol as well as a shotgun.
The two men then proceeded to Kaleohano’s home in search of the attack plans. They arrived during the man’s quality time, so he was serendipitously hidden unseen in his outhouse. When the moment was right Kaleohano fled the privy and ran for his life, shotgun blasts chasing him down the trail. Thusly alerted the islanders retreated to caves, thickets, and distant beaches, unable to believe that these people with whom they had shared the island were now actively firing upon their friend and neighbor.
The pilot and his compatriot then stripped a 7.7mm machinegun and ammo from the plane, unsuccessfully attempted to use the radio to contact the Japanese fleet, and set the Zero alight. They then went to Kaleohano’s home and burned it to the ground in a further effort to destroy Nishikaichi’s classified documents.
It Gets Worse…
Kaleohano, his home conflagrated, kept the Japanese military documents in his possession and took to a boat to row to the nearest nearby island. Not realizing he was gone, Nishikaichi and Toshio press-ganged a local couple named Ben Kanahale and his wife Ella into the hunt for Kaleohano. The pair took Ella hostage to motivate her husband to stay on task.
Ben wasted a little time pretended to search and returned to check on his wife. When Nishikaichi realized he was being deceived he pulled his pistol and threatened to kill everyone in the village. At this provocation Ben Kanahale went full Chuck Norris on the man.
The Gun
For reasons you will find out momentarily, the exact model of the handgun has been lost to history. However, the three most likely candidates are the 8mm Type 14 or Type 94 autoloaders or the Type 26 revolver. Balance of probability suggests that at the beginning of the war in the hands of an elite Japanese Naval Aviator his handgun was likely a Type 14 Nambu.
The Type 14 is a recoil-operated, locked-breech, semiautomatic handgun whose original mechanism dates back to the late 19th century. LTG Kijiro Nambu designed the weapon along with an array of other Japanese military arms. The locked-breech mechanism favors and was likely inspired by that of the Glisenti Model 1910.
The Type 14 debuted in 1925 and fires the relatively anemic bottlenecked 8x22mm round common to all Japanese wartime autoloading handguns. Considerably less powerful than the 7.62x25mm, 9mm Parabellum, and .45ACP rounds used by other combatant nations, the 8mm Nambu was marginal at best. The Type 14 fed from an 8-round box magazine, sported a 4.6-inch barrel and weighed about 2 pounds. About 400,000 copies were produced.
Japanese officers were expected to buy their own handguns, and the Type 14 was a popular souvenir of combat in the Pacific. As the war progressed and B29 attacks strangled the home islands the quality of these weapons declined precipitously. Bill Ruger bought a Type 14 from a returning Marine in 1945 and used it as a basis for his Ruger Standard pistol that eventually morphed into the Mk I, II, III, and IV .22 handguns so common today.
The Climax
Seeing an opportunity, Ben Kanahele and his wife Ella jumped the distracted Japanese pilot and his turncoat buddy. Ella grabbed his gun arm, but Yoshio Hamada peeled her off. Nishikaichi then shot Ben three times, striking him in the upper leg, groin, and abdomen. This turned out to be a grave mistake.
Kanahele was a sheep farmer and a powerful man. Despite his grievous injuries he took hold of the Japanese pilot, lifted him bodily, and threw him headlong into a stone wall. Ben and Ella then fell upon the dazed Japanese aviator with a vengeance. Ella smashed his head with a rock, and Ben cut the man’s throat with his hunting knife. Overcome by events, Nishikaichi’s ally Yoshio shot himself in the head with the shotgun.
Ella Kanahele snatched up the shotgun and pistol and ran for help. Along the way she inadvertently dropped the weapons. The pistol was never recovered, but the shotgun washed up in a flood some five years later.
Yoshio’s widow spent the next 31 months in prison and was released in June of 1944 despite never being formally charged with a crime. Ben Kanahele was evacuated to a nearby island with a hospital and ultimately recovered, being awarded the Medal for Merit and Purple Heart for killing the Japanese pilot in close combat. The remains of Nishikaichi’s Zero are on display at the Pacific Aviation Museum at Pearl Harbor today.
Categories
Happy ALAMO DAY !- N.S.F.W.
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Waugh during his Army service
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| Birth name | William D. Waugh |
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| Nickname(s) | “Billy”, “Mustang” |
| Born | December 1, 1929 Bastrop, Texas, United States |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/ agency |  United States Army Central Intelligence Agency |
| Years of service | 1948–1972 (Army) 1977–2005 (CIA) |
| Rank |  Sergeant major Paramilitary Operations Officer |
| Unit | 5th Special Forces Group Studies and Observations Group Special Activities Division |
| Battles/wars | Korean War Vietnam War Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan (OEF-A) Operation Iraqi Freedom |
| Awards | Silver Star Legion of Merit Bronze Star Medal (4) Purple Heart (8) |
| Alma mater | |
| Other work | United States Postal Service (1972–1977) |
William D. Waugh (born December 1, 1929) is a former United States Army Special Forces soldier and Central Intelligence Agency paramilitary operations officer who served more than 50 years between the U.S. Army‘s Green Berets and the CIA’s Special Activities Division.
Early life
Waugh was born in Bastrop, Texas, on December 1, 1929. In 1945, upon meeting two local Marines who returned from the fighting in World War II, the then 15-year-old Waugh was inspired to enlist in the Marine Corps.
Knowing that it was unlikely that he would be admitted in Texas because of his young age, Waugh devised a plan to hitchhike to Los Angeles, where he believed a person had to only be 16 to enlist. He got as far as Las Cruces, New Mexico, before he was arrested for having no identification and refusing to give his name to a local police officer.
He was later released after securing enough money for a bus ticket back to Bastrop. Now committed to serving in the military once he finished school, Waugh became an excellent student at Bastrop High School, graduating in 1947 with a 4.0 grade point average.[1]
Military career
Waugh enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1948, completing basic training at Fort Ord, California, in August of that year. He was accepted into the United States Army Airborne School and became airborne qualified in December 1948. In April 1951, Waugh was assigned to the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (RCT) in Korea.[2]
Special Forces
Shortly after the end of the Korean War, Waugh met two U.S. Army Special Forces members on a train in Germany, they informed him of openings for Platoon sergeants, shortly after he requested a transfer.[3] He began training for the Special Forces, and earned the Green Beret in 1954, joining the 10th Special Forces Group (SFG) in Bad Tölz, West Germany.[2]
As U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War increased, the United States began deploying Special Forces “A-teams” (Operational Detachment Alpha, or ODA, teams) to Southeast Asia in support of counterinsurgency operations against the Viet Cong (VC), North Vietnamese and other Communist forces. Waugh arrived in South Vietnam with his ODA in 1961, and began working alongside Civilian Irregular Defense Groups (CIDGs) there, as well as in Laos.
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Special Forces sleeve insignia, with “Airborne” tab
In July 1965, he was serving with 5th Special Forces Group A-team A-321 at Camp Bồng Sơn, Bình Định Province, commanded by Captain Paris Davis. Following a night raid with a Regional Forces unit on a VC encampment near Bong Son, the unit was engaged by a superior VC force.
Many of the Regional Forces soldiers refused to fight and most of the A team were injured by VC fire, including Waugh who was shot multiple times and left between the VC and U.S./South Vietnamese forces. Waugh was later rescued by Davis under fire.[4] He spent much of 1965 and 1966 recuperating at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., eventually returning to duty with 5th Special Forces Group in 1966. He received a Silver Star and a Purple Heart (his 6th) for the battle at Bong Son.
Special Forces Regimental Insignia
At this time Waugh joined the Military Assistance Command-Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACV-SOG). While working for SOG, Waugh helped train Vietnamese and Cambodian forces in unconventional warfare tactics primarily directed against the North Vietnamese Army operating along the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Prior to retirement from U.S. Army Special Forces service, Waugh was senior NCO (non-commissioned officer) of MACV-SOG’s Command & Control North (CCN) based at Marble Mountain on the South China Sea shore a few miles south of Da Nang, Vietnam. Waugh held this Command Sergeant Major role during the covert unit’s transition and name change to Task Force One Advisory Element (TF1AE). SGM Waugh conducted the first combat High Altitude, Low Opening (HALO) jump,[5] a parachuting maneuver designed for rapid, undetected insertion into hostile territory.
In October 1970, his team made a practice Combat Infiltration into the NVA owned War Zone D, in South Vietnam, for reassembly training, etc.[5] Waugh also led the last combat Special reconnaissance parachute insertion by American Army Special Forces HALO parachutists into denied territory which was occupied by communist North Vietnamese Army (NVA) troops on June 22, 1971.[2]
Waugh retired from active military duty at the rank of Sergeant Major (E-9) on February 1, 1972.[2]
CIA career
After Waugh retired from the military, he worked for the United States Postal Service until he accepted an offer in 1977 from ex-CIA officer Edwin P. Wilson to work in Libya on a contract to train that country’s special forces. This was not an Agency-endorsed assignment and Waugh might have found himself in trouble with U.S. authorities if it weren’t for the fact that he was also approached by the CIA to work for the Agency while in Libya.
The CIA tasked him with surveilling Libyan military installations and capabilities – this was of great interest to U.S. intelligence as Libya was receiving substantial military assistance from the Soviet Union at the time. This additional assignment quite possibly protected Waugh from prosecution after Wilson was later indicted and convicted in 1979 for illegally selling weapons to Libya.[6][7]
In the 1980s he was assigned to the Kwajalein Missile Range in the Marshall Islands to track Soviet small boat teams (Naval Spetsnaz: Dolfin) operating in the area and prevent them from stealing U.S. missile technology. Some of his more critical assignments took place in Khartoum, Sudan during the early 1990s, where he performed surveillance and intelligence gathering on terrorist leaders Carlos the Jackal and Osama bin Laden with Cofer Black.[7][8]
At the age of 71, Waugh participated in Operation Enduring Freedom from October to December 2001 as a member of the CIA’s Northern Alliance Liaison Team led by Gary Schroen which went into Afghanistan to work with the Northern Alliance to topple the Taliban regime and Al Qaeda at the Battle of Tora Bora.[9]
It is unknown how many missions Waugh was involved in during his career.
Education
Waugh in 2011.
In 1985, Waugh was again requested by the CIA for clandestine work. Before he took the offer, he decided to further his education, earning bachelor’s degrees in Business and Police Science from Wayland Baptist University in 1987.
He also earned a master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a specialization in criminal justice administration (MSCJA) in 1988 from Texas State University (formerly Southwest Texas State), in San Marcos, Texas.[9]
Publications
- Waugh, Billy; Keown, Tim (2004). Hunting the Jackal. William Morrow. ISBN 9780062133571.
- Jacobsen, Annie (May 2019). Surprise, Kill, Vanish; The Definitive History of Secret CIA Assassins, Armies, and Operations. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316441438.[10]
- Confronting Iran: Securing Iraq’s Border: An Irregular Warfare Concept, A Small Wars Journal collaboration with Brig. Gen. David L. Grange (USA, ret.), Scott Swanson (military) (AKA J.T. Patten, Author), Maj. Gen. John K. Singlaub (USA, ret.) and Billy Waugh, November 10, 2007.[11]
Awards and decorations (partial list)
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Combat Infantryman Badge (two awards) |
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Special Forces Tab |
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Master Parachutist Badge |
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Military Freefall Jumpmaster Badge with gold combat jump star (5 combat jumps) |
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Vietnam Parachutist Badge |
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7 Service stripes |
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? Overseas Service Bars |
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Silver Star[12] |
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Legion of Merit |
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Bronze Star Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters |
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Purple Heart with seven oak leaf clusters |
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Air Medal |
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Army Commendation Medal with Valor device and three oak leaf clusters |
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Army Presidential Unit Citation with oak leaf cluster (one award in 2001, SOG) |
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Good Conduct Medal (7 awards) |
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Army of Occupation Medal |
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National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star |
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Korean Service Medal with three campaign stars |
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Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal |
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Vietnam Service Medal with Arrowhead device and six service stars |
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Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation |
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Vietnam Presidential Unit Citation |
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Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation |
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Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation |
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United Nations Korea Medal |
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Vietnam Campaign Medal |
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Republic of Korea War Service Medal |
Categories
Have a Cav Day!
Colonel David Hunter USA
Lt. Col. William H. EmoryThe 6th U.S. Cavalry was the only Regular cavalry regiment raised during the Civil War. On 4 May 1861, General Order No. 16 was published and prescribed the plan of organization for the regiment. This order provided that the new cavalry regiment be composed of three battalions, each battalion of two squadrons, and each squadron of two companies. The organization of the 3d Regiment of Cavalry was announced in General Order No. 33, Adjutant Generals Office, 18 June 1861, with the headquarters directed to be established at Pittsburg, PA.
Prior to this time the mounted force of the army was organized as dragoons, mounted riflemen, and cavalry. In order to simplify matters for the large volunteer army then being organized, Congress enacted, on 3 August 1861, that all mounted regiments should be known as cavalry, and General Order No. 55, Adjutant General’s Office, 10 August 1861, prescribed that the 3d Cavalry be renumerated to the 6th Cavalry.
The assignment of companies to squadrons, and officers to companies, was announced in Regimental Order No. 1, 15 August 1861, and recruitment was immediately begun in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and western New York.
The regiment participated in every campaign in the eastern theatre. It was among the first units to experience battle during the campaign, and was the last unit to depart the battlefields of the Peninsula, serving as rear guard for the army. On 3 July 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the regiment rode to Fairfield to investigate a report of an unescorted rebel wagon train. North of the city the regiment was ambushed by the 7th VA Cavalry, but repulsed the rebel forces. General William Jones’ Confederate Cavalry Brigade launched a renewed assault, overwhelming the 6th U.S. Cavalry.
Medal of Honor, painting by Don Stivers
During this, the color bearer of the 6th U.S. was shot down. Private Platt appeared and rescued the flag. Platt ‘…tore the color from the staff, placed it in his bosom, and rammed the staff through the first enemy that came before him, and then cut his way through the ranks of the enemy.” The 6th U.S. Cavalry was defeated and suffered 242 casualties, but Private Platt and the unit’s flag survived.
The 6th received 16 battle streamers for its service with two 6th cavalrymen receiving the Medal of Honor.*
Following the Civil War, the Regiment spent the next 32 years stationed on the American frontier, scattered among various outposts in Texas and Louisiana (1865 – 1871), Kansas and Colorado (1871 – 1875), Arizona and New Mexico (1875 – 1890), and Nebraska, Wyoming, and Washington, DC (1890 – 1898). The regiment was continually called upon to fight hostile Indians, guard the courts of justice, assist revenue officers, aid in executing convicted criminals, supervise elections, pursue outlaws and murderers, and in general institute lawful proceedings where anarchy reigned. Of particular significance was the Battle of Little Wichita (1870), participation in the General Miles Expedition to end the Red River War (1874/75), the establishment of Fort Huachuca (1877), the surrender of Geronimo (1886), participation in the Pine Ridge Campaign (1890), and the Johnson County War (1892).
The regiment earned participation credit for 10 campaigns during the Indian Wars and 50 troopers earned the Medal of Honor.*
The call to arms sounded for the country with the sinking of the Maine in February 1898. The 6th U.S. Cavalry regiment was ordered to leave its various posts and take up camp at Chickamauga Park, GA, where most of the nation’s cavalry was camped. On 11 May 1898, the regiment (minus H Troop) moved by rail to Tampa, FL, and on 14 June it embarked on the transport steamer Rio Grande and sailed for Santiago, de Cuba. The 1st and 2nd Squadrons charged alongside Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the Battle of San Juan Hill, while the 3d Squadron participated in the Battle of Kettle Hill. H Troop served as escort and provost guard for General Brookes headquarters and accompanied that expedition to Puerto Rico. Upon Spain’s formal surrender on 17 July 1898, the regimental band had the honor of being selected to salute the flag as it was raised on the Palace, in the city of Santiago de Cuba, to replace the Spanish ensign.
The regiment earned one campaign streamer with the inscription SANTIAGO 1898 for its service during the Spanish American War.
Pursuant to telegraphic orders dated 23 December 1898, the regiment was reassigned to the Department of the Missouri and took stations at Forts Riley and Leavenworth, Kansas, and Forts Reno and Sill, Oklahoma Territory. In 1899 various troops were reassigned further west, with Troop C taking station at Fort Logan, Colorado, Troop E at Fort Walla Walla, Washington, Troops F and G ordered to the Department of California, and further assigned to the Sequoia National Park, Troop H to Boise Barracks, Idaho, and Troop M to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri.
Troop F at the Fallen Monarch, Yellowstone, 1899
In June 1900, the various scattered regimental elements amalgamated at Presidio de San Francisco, California, and on 1 July departed (minus 2nd Squadron) with orders to proceed to Nagasaki, Japan aboard the USAT Grant, and en route to China during the China Relief Expedition. As part of the 1st International Relief Expedition, M Troop was among the first units to enter the Forbidden City (Peking).
On 19 August 1900, the Regiment (less 2nd Squadron) conducted a mounted charge against Boxer forces at Gaw-Char-Chun. Sent on a minor expedition from the already-captured Tientsin, the squadron initially fought dismounted, then mounted and “charged hotly at the enemy.” During the charge, Corporal Rasmus Rasmussen was thrown from his horse at the point of furthest advance. Lieutenant J.R. Gaussen of the 1st Bengal Lancers. Gaussen saw Rasmussen lying on the ground near the Chinese trenches, and the Chinese, who had also seen Rasmussen, emerged from their trenches to take him prisoner. The race was on. Gaussen succeeded in mounting Corporal Rasmussen behind him and rode to the rear. For his bravery, Lieutenant Gaussen was awarded the China medal with clasp and named Companion of the Distinguished Service Order.
The Regiment (less 3d Squadron) was relieved of further duty with the China Relief Expedition and ordered to embark on transports which sailed for Manila, Philippines, for service during the Philippine Insurrection. It arrived in Manila Bay on 21 November 1900 and headquartered at Manila Station, whereupon its troops took various stations. It will be remembered that at this juncture the 6th U.S. Cavalry Regiment was composed of the Headquarters and 1st Squadron, stationed in the Philippines, the 3d Squadron, still stationed in China, and the 2nd Squadron, acting as the depot squadron, stationed with the Department of California, although each squadron soon rejoined the headquarters in the Philippines, whereupon each troop took respective stations at scattered outposts. It performed patrol, escort, enforcement and other duties until April 1903 when it was redeployed to Presidio de San Francisco, California, and further ordered to take station in the American West, headquartered at Fort Meade, South Dakota.
Troop L, 6th U.S. Cavalry, Ming Tombs.
Lt. Gaussen, 1st Bengal Lancers, rescues Cpl. Rasmussen, 6th U.S. Cavalry, during an engagement west of Tientsin, China.
In October 1906, the Regiment was called upon to intercept a band of White River Ute Indians who had left their Uintah Reservation in Utah and traveled through Wyoming toward South Dakota. The intervention peacefully ended and officially marked the last action against the American Indian. In August 1907 the regiment was ordered back to the Philippines in compliance with the schedule of rotation of the era. On 1 July 1908, Troops A and B, the Machine Gun Platoon, and a detachment from the Hospital Corps were sent to capture or destroy Jikiri and his band of Moro outlaws. Jikiri was located on the south coast of Jolo and traced to a cave entrance on an island covered with dense brush. The ensuing action saw the outlaw and his band killed, with four Medals of Honor earned for the action. In December 1909, the scattered regimental organizations left their respective stations in the Department of Mindanao and embarked on the U.S.A.T. Sheridan en route to the United States for station. From 1900 to 1909 it had earned the China and Philippine campaign streamers, along with four Medals of Honor.
In January 1910, the 6th U..S. Cavalry took station at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. This same year saw the Madero Revolution in Mexico, and in response to the violence, the Regiment was deployed along the Mexican Border. In January 1912, the Regiment was ordered back to Fort Des Moines. In February 1913, the Regiment was ordered to Texas City, Texas, in anticipation of problems along the U.S/Mexican border. Here, the various troops were scattered across the border until March 1916, when the Regiment reassembled and took part in the Mexican Punitive Expedition. The unit earned a campaign streamer for its service.
In April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and entered into the World War. The regiment continued patrolling the border at Marfa until 17 October 1917, when it marched 450 miles to San Antonio in preparation for the war. From San Antonio, it entrained and traveled by rail to Camp Merritt, New Jersey, and on 16 March 1918 sailed for France. After reaching La Havre on the 31st, the regiment entrained for Bordeaux. Here it was broken up into detachments and sent to various parts of France where the troops were assigned to military police duty. It was then reassembled for immediate duty at the front, but the signing of the armistice caused its delay, first at Gieveres, then at Vendome, until its return to the United States in June 1919. It earned a campaign streamer for its service.
Upon returning to the U.S., the 6th was permanently stationed at the Post at Fort Oglethorpe (1919 – 1942). During this period the Regiment became a “spit and polish” outfit. Competitive polo, military horse tournaments, team sports competition, parades and troop reviews were a way of life at the Post as were the many social activities that brought Chattanooga residents south to North Georgia. The training year annually closed with marches or maneuvers to Alabama, Tennessee and South Carolina.
In 1933, the 6th furnished officers and men to organize and instruct the newly formed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which saw the civilians paid more than the soldiers.
In 1938, the 6th formed the guard for FDR’s visit to Gainesville, Georgia, and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
While stationed at Fort Oglethorpe the 6th experimented with the merger of horse and mechanization, field tested the Bantam Car (later to be known as the Jeep) and motorcycle. The use of horses was over and when called for duty in WWII, the 6th Cavalry (Mechanized) landed in Northern Ireland without any horses. With this mechanization, modernization, and the general expansion of the army throughout the war, the 6th Cavalry Regiment and its troops would undergo many reorganizations and redesignations.
With the news of the Sunday, 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, leaves were canceled, units were called together and the regiment was assigned security duty, guarding the TNT Plant in Chattanooga, railroads, bridges and other vital resources in the area.
The transition from horse cavalry to a mechanized unit had begun but was not complete. In 1942 the regiment was transferred to Fort Jackson, Columbia, South Carolina to complete training and the mechanization process. With the departure of the regiment, the horse cavalry era ended at Fort Oglethorpe.
The 6th entered World War II assigned to Patton’s Third Army doing reconnaissance and landed at Utah Beach at D-Day+33.
The 6th Cavalry Group was committed on the night of 8 – 9 January 1945, on a 5,000-yard front along the General line Villers-La-Bonne-Eau-Betlange-Farm-Furhman with the mission of aggressive patrolling to follow up any enemy attempts to withdraw. When it became apparent on the morning of 9 January that the Germans had so organized the ground that it was impossible for the infantry on both flanks to advance, the 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) (Reinforced) attacked on its own initiative. In order to make the attack successful against a numerically superior and well-dug-in enemy, a special task force was constituted composed of elements of the various components of the group.
The task force spearheaded the attack, and the Group, making full use of the mobility and firepower, captured the towns of Betlange and Harlange. The attack, continuing through the night despite the bitter cold and deep snow, was delayed only by serious obstacles, including mines and blown bridges in the vicinity of Watrange.
At daylight on 10 January, these obstacles were quickly bypassed and the Group drove on. Taking finely calculated risks, all leaders made maximum use of both mobility and firepower and relentlessly sought out and destroyed the enemy. Open flanks were ignored by small units in the interest of speed. This speed along with the aggressive fighting spirit made possible the capture of the towns of Lutremange, Watrange, and Tarchamps, and the zone assigned to the Group was quickly cleared. Having completed its mission, and by doing so, making possible the advance of units on its flanks, the Group, in furtherance of the Corps plan, requested and was granted permission to advance far beyond its original objective. The Group drove on and assisted in the capture of Soniez.
The outstanding action of the 6th Cavalry Group broke the back of German resistance in the Harlange Pocket, which had held up the Corps advance for a period of 11 days. The determination and indomitable fighting spirit of the courageous officers and men exemplified the finest traditions of the military service. For this action, the 6th earned the Presidential Unit Citation for its part in the Battle of the Bulge 1944-1945.
At war’s end in Europe, the 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) (Reinforced) had participated in 281 days of continuous and victorious combat. Five campaign streamers were awarded for its service in World War II, in addition to occupation credit for the Occupation of Germany (2 May – 31 October 1945).
On 20 December 1948, the regiment was reorganized and redesignated as the 6th Armored Cavalry. The Regiment remained in Europe where it patrolled 172 miles of rugged mountain country along the German-Czech border. Also assisting in the reconstruction of Germany and helping at orphanages and schools.
The Bavarian Government was so thankful for the Regiment’s help that it presented a beautiful silver plaque embossed with the Shield of Bavaria. This gift is on display at the museum and is the only known official recognition given an American unit by a German State.
Returning to the U.S. in 1957 as part of Operation GYROSCOPE, the 6th Armored Cavalry Regiment was stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky until its inactivation on 24 October 1963. The 6th was reactivated on 23 March 1967 at Fort Meade, Maryland, and deployed upon the streets of Washington, DC during the 1968 Riots. On 31 March 1971, the regiment (less 1st Squadron) was inactivated, and 22 June 1973 it was reorganized and redesignated as the 6th Cavalry, a parent regiment under the Combat Arms Regimental System (CARS). On 16 July 1986, it was withdrawn from the CARS and reorganized under the United States Army Regimental System (USARS). Since 1973, the regimental headquarters has remained inactive (technically headquartered at Washington, DC, and manned at zero strength), while its various squadrons have been activated/inactivated during our nation’s call to arms.
* Many campaign streamers are consolidated over the course of history as more continue to be introduced. As such, the 6th Cavalry Regiment’s original 16 Civil War campaign streamers were consolidated into 11 campaign streamers (see picture). In addition, the original 10 Indian Wars campaign streamers were consolidated into 3 campaign streamers (see picture) authorized for display.
** The 6th Cavalry Brigade (Air Combat) and the 6th Cavalry Regiment are separate and distinct lineages. The brigade takes its lineage from the 6th Tank Group (1942). The Brigade was reconstituted 21 February 1975 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 6th Cavalry Brigade, and activated at Fort Hood, Texas. This reconstitution brought about the reactivation of the 1st Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, as a subordinate command under the Brigade, and later the 3d Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment as well.
