McKeesport Amvets Post 8

You're a 19 year old kid. You are critically wounded and dying in the jungle somewhere in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam . Its November 14, 1965 . LZ (landing zone) X-ray. Your unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 yards away, that your CO (commanding officer) has ordered the MedEvac helicopters to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.... Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter. You look up to see a Huey coming in. But.. It doesn't seem real because no MedEvac markings are on it. Captain Ed Freeman is coming in for you. He's not MedEvac so it's not his job, but he heard the radio call and decided he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire anyway. Even after the MedEvacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 3 of you at a time on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses and safety. And, he kept coming back!! 13 more times!! Until all the wounded were out. No one knew until the mission was over that the Captain had been hit 4 times in the legs and left arm. He took 29 of you and your buddies out that day. Some would not have made it without the Captain and his Huey. Medal of Honor Recipient, Captain Ed Freeman, United States Army, died at the age of 70, in Boise, Idaho. May God Bless and Rest His Soul. I know he is sitting with our Lord telling each other stories! I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing,Medal of Honor Winner Captain Ed Freeman. Now... YOU pass this along. Honor this real hero.

Here's the heartbreaking story of the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor from the Korean War, who is also still Missing in Action (MIA) HONORING CHARLES LEON GILLILAND, the youngest recipient of the MEDAL OF HONOR from the Korean War and still Missing in Action (MIA since April 25, 1951) Charles Leon Gilliland (May 24, 1933 April 25, 1951) was a United States Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his courageous actions in the Korean War. I l...Continue reading

WWII uncovered: Charles Jackson French a Hero's Hero "On September 5, 1942, United States Navy Petty Officer First Class Charles Jackson French, of Omaha Nebraska, swam through the night for 6 - 8 hours pulling a raft of 15 wounded sailors with a rope around his stomach through shark infested waters after the USS Gregory was hit by Japanese naval fire near Guadalcanal. French successfully brought the men to safety on the shores of the Solomon Islands. French was the first b...lack swimmer to earn the Navy Medal for his heroism in 1943. French's story first came to light when Robert N. Adrian a young ensign, told a reporter from the Associated Press about how Charles braved the Pacific Ocean to bring the men to safety. Ensign Adrian was the only one on the bridge to survive and floated over into the water as the ship sank below him. Hearing voices, he found a life raft filled with 15 wounded men. Adrian, though superficially wounded, was able to hang on. I knew that if we floated ashore we'd be taken as prisoners of war," he said. "Then French volunteered to swim the raft away from shore. He asked for help to tie a rope around his waist and towed them to safety." Adrian told him it was impossible that he would only be giving himself up to the sharks that surrounded them "French responded that he was not afraid. He was a powerful swimmer, and swam all night, 6 to 8 hours, until they were eventually saved by a landing craft." Once Charles Jackson French was identified, he became a national hero. A depiction of French's heroic actions was included in the WWII Commemorative Card Set produced by Gum Inc., based in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. In addition to the War Gum trading card, his story was told in syndicated comic strips, on calendars and he made public appearances across the country to promote the sale of War Bonds. Pictured is Charles with his sister Viola during a public appearance at a football game in Omaha, Nebraska,1943. He is also recognized by the International Swimming Hall of Fame." (Sources: The International Swimming Hall of Fame and www.swimmingworldmagazine.com) Petty Officer First Class Charles Jackson French passed away on November 7th, 1956 at the age of 37. Lest We Forget. #ww2uncovered #worldwar2history #ww2 #greatestgeneration #WorldWarII #worldwar2 #USNavy #lestweforget #WWII #USNavyVet #ww2veteran #Hero #HeroesInUniform #BlackHistory #WWIIVet #WWIIveteran #coastguard #ww2history #omahanebraska #blackhistorymonth2021 #Salute #swimming #SaluteAndRespect #SaluteToService #NavyStrong #usnavysailor #navy Original description and photo sourced by The International Swimming Hall of Fame, www.swimmingworldmagazine.com and ancestry.com Information presented by WWII uncovered is not to be used for commercial purposes by any third-party business. WWII uncoveredis not associated with or does not endorse QT Tee Veteran

"The Nazis called them 'Night Witches' because the whooshing noise their plywood and canvas airplanes made reminded the Germans of the sound of a witch’s broomstick. The Russian women who piloted those planes, onetime crop dusters, took it as a compliment. In 30,000 missions over four years, they dumped 23,000 tons of bombs on the German invaders, ultimately helping to chase them back to Berlin. Any German pilot who downed a 'witch' was awarded an Iron Cross. These young hero...ines, all volunteers and most in their teens and early 20s, became legends of World War II but are now largely forgotten. Flying only in the dark, they had no parachutes, guns, radios or radar, only maps and compasses. If hit by tracer bullets, their planes would burn like sheets of paper." So begins a NY Times tribute to one of the most famous "Night Witches," Nadezhda Popova, pictured here. Popova, who flew 852 missions during the war, passed away in 2013 at the age of 91. For a gripping historical fiction novel for adult readers that explores the history of the Night Witches, we highly recommend "The Huntress" at https://www.amightygirl.com/the-huntress For a fascinating YA historical fiction novel based on the Night Witches, for ages 13 and up, we recommend "Among the Red Stars" at https://www.amightygirl.com/among-the-red-stars For adult readers who would like to learn more about the role of Russian women combat pilots during WWII, there are several excellent books including "The Unwomanly Face of War" (https://amzn.to/2KcO6BJ), "Night Witches: The Amazing Story Of Russia's Women Pilots in World War II" (http://amzn.to/2e6z2BQ), "Wings, Women, and War: Soviet Airwomen in World War II Combat" (http://amzn.to/1fyPOs8), and "Flying for Her Country: The American and Soviet Women Military Pilots of World War II" (http://amzn.to/1mTMad9) For an inspiring book about more courageous women who stood up to the Nazi regime, we highly recommend "Women Heroes of World War II: 32 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue" for teens and adults like, ages 13 and up, at https://www.amightygirl.com/women-heroes-of-world-war-ii For adults who love to read about heroic women of WWII, you can find more of the best fiction and non-fiction books in our blog post, "Telling Her Story: 30 Books for Adult Readers About Women Heroes of WWII," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=24501 For books for children and teens about girls and women living through the WWII period, visit our "WWII & Holocaust" section at http://amgrl.co/1l9UWIe And for books for tweens and teens about the experience of girls living under authoritarian regimes, visit our blog post "The Fragility of Freedom: Mighty Girl Books About Life Under Authoritarianism" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=32426

Tuskegee Airman Claude Rowe was a graduate of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and a Flight Sergeant in the Royal Canadian Air Force before joining the US Army Air Force, making him the only known Tuskegee Airman to finish two demanding flight training programs and wear both sets of wings! Rowe was born and raised in the Detroit area and wanted to fly, but opportunities in the US were almost non-existent unless you were fortunate enough to get a slot with the #Tuske...geeAirmen. Looking at Canada across the lake, Claude knew there was another option. He followed several thousand Americans across the border to Canada to sign up for the BCATP. During WWII, at least 8,800 Americans trained as pilots as part of the BCATP, and a small number of them happened to be Black. The RCAF was a major contributor to the British Commonwealth's success in the war, training almost 50,000 pilots and more than 87,000 aircrew from 1940 to 1945. While Rowe earned his wings and graduated from the BCATP in late 1944, the war was drawing to a close, and Americans were being sent back to the USAAF or discharged. Given his training, though, Rowe was accepted into the Tuskegee program and, in mid-1946, he qualified as a twin-engine pilot and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the last pilot training class to graduate at Tuskegee. With a surplus of pilots at the end of WWII - many with long and distinguished combat records - anyone who wanted to stay in had to expand their skill-set, so Lieutenant Rowe trained as a weather officer, first at Keesler Air Force Base, MS, and then at Chanute Air Force Base, IL. He retired in 1964 as a Captain. Captain Rowe passed away in 2018. Our thanks to a knowledgeable fan who told us about Rowe recently! Had you ever heard of Rowe's remarkable story?

*** AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY: 19 APRIL 1989! TODAY IS THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRAGEDY ON BOARD THE USS IOWA BB-61..... THE TURRET EXPLODED KILLING 47 AMERICAN SAILORS!... WE WILL NEVER FORGET! On 19 April 1989, an explosion occurred in turret 2 of the battleship USS Iowa BB 61 as the ship conducted gunnery practice near Puerto Rico. The explosion, which began in the gunpowder charge of the center gun, spread through the three gun rooms and much of the lower levels of the turret. 47 Sailors were killed in the explosion. The problem of storing and handling large quantities of high explosives in a shipboard environment, whether in peacetime or in combat, posed a major challenge for ship and ordnance designers from the earliest enclosed mounts of the late 19th century. Turret explosions on Navy ships, while rare, caused significant loss of life, but internal protective systems prevented the magazine explosions that would have destroyed the ship. USS Mississippi BB 41 had the misfortune to experience two: a peacetime explosion in 1924 that took 48 lives, and an explosion during a 1943 wartime shore bombardment mission that killed 43. Twenty Sailors died and 36 were injured in a 1972 explosion in turret 2 of the cruiser USS Newport News CA 148, operating off Vietnam. These tragedies, and the USS Iowa explosion, are a reminder that Naval combatants and their crews handle dangerous things in dangerous situations for a living, and that the highest standards of crew training and ship design are nonnegotiable. There were several version for the cause of the explosion including some people to believe an unhappy Sailor blowing himself and 46 of his fellow shipmates up. However, during the investigation into the explosion the Navy had discovered that the bags of propellant, dating from the Korean war, had been improperly stored for 5 months in temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, the point at which the propellant becomes unstable. The investigation also showed that the Sailor operating the rammer had over-rammed the propellant, 5 bags instead of the expected 6, slamming it into the warhead. There were a lot of unsung heroes that day that saved their ship and shipmates. I will post some of their stories in the future. REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE, WE LOST 47 SAILORS THAT DAY! NEVER FORGET! RIP Shipmates! You stand Relieved. We have the watch.*** See more