Wednesday Hero

This post was suggested by Kathi


Pfc. Clarence Wolf Guts  86 years old from South Dakota  1924? - June 16, 2010
 
When the towers of the World Trade Center fell on Sept. 11, 2001, Clarence Wolf Guts asked his son to call the U.S. Department of Defense to see if the country needed his code talking abilities to find Osama Bin Laden. Wolf Guts was in his late 70s at the time, so his son did not make the call, but said the request personified his father's love of country. "He still wanted to help. He was trying to still be patriotic". Pfc. Wolf Guts was the last surviving Oglala Lakota code talker from WWII. You can read more about Pfc. Wolf Guts here

 These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

 Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

 This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go  here.

Wednesday Hero

Invasion Of Normandy
 Friday marks the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, or D-Day. In the early hours of June 6, 1944, 156.000 troops from 12 nations including America, United Kingdom and Canada set out with the largest seaborne invasion force in history. The invasion marked the end of Germany's occupation of Europe and turned the course of the war. When the fight was over, there were 12,000 Allied casualties and 4,414 dead. We remember these brave men on Friday, as well as today, for the sacrifices they made in the name of freedom. With each passing year we lose more and more of these veterans until one day they'll be gone. They didn't set out to make history or garner glory, but that's precisely what they did. So cherish and honor them while we still have them.
You can find more information about D-Day  here and here

 These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

 This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go  here.

The Granite Men of Henri-Chapelle

I was privileged to receive 

 The Granite Men of Henri-Chapelle: Stories of New Hampshire's WW II Soldiers by Aimee Gagnon Fogg

for my birthday back in October (thanks,Mom! :)

This book featured the stories of 38 New Hampshire World War II soldiers buried in Belgium,one of those being her own uncle,  and it was a fascinating read about each soldiers life, both before the war and during their service in the military.

It meant a great deal to me because my own uncle is also buried in Belgium , and so the stories that Aimee was able to find out about the men could have so easily been about my uncle and the men who were buried with him,also. So I highly recommend this book!

Another reason I felt very privileged to receive this book was that it's written by someone I've 'known' online from way back to 2006, when I first 'met' Aimee while she was blogging, and began following her writing. She's an excellent author!

Wednesday Hero

This post was suggested by Cindy

Nelson Draper  96 years old from Barstow, California  June 23, 1917 - September 22, 2013
 
Another Navajo Code Talker has passed away. Nelson Draper died on September 22 at the age of 96. There are only an estimated 25-65 Code Talkers left with us.  I couldn't find much on Mr. Draper, but what I could you can read   here and  here

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero.

 Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

 This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go  here.

Wednesday Hero

This post was suggested by Michael

Cmdr. Samuel David Dealey   37 years old from Dallas, Texas  Commander USS Harder (SS-257)  September 13, 1906 - August 24, 1944
 
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Commanding Officer of the U.S.S. Harder during her 5th War Patrol in Japanese-controlled waters. Floodlit by a bright moon and disclosed to an enemy destroyer escort which bore down with intent to attack, Comdr. Dealey quickly dived to periscope depth and waited for the pursuer to close range, then opened fire, sending the target and all aboard down in flames with his third torpedo. Plunging deep to avoid fierce depth charges, he again surfaced and, within 9 minutes after sighting another destroyer, had sent the enemy down tail first with a hit directly amidship. Evading detection, he penetrated the confined waters off Tawi Tawi with the Japanese Fleet base 6 miles away and scored death blows on 2 patrolling destroyers in quick succession. With his ship heeled over by concussion from the first exploding target and the second vessel nose-diving in a blinding detonation, he cleared the area at high speed. Sighted by a large hostile fleet force on the following day, he swung his bow toward the lead destroyer for another "down-the-throat" shot, fired 3 bow tubes and promptly crash-dived to be terrifically rocked seconds later by the exploding ship as the Harder passed beneath. This remarkable record of 5 vital Japanese destroyers sunk in 5 short-range torpedo attacks attests the valiant fighting spirit of Comdr. Dealey and his indomitable command. You can read more about Cmdr. Dealey  here

   These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives just so others may get to enjoy freedom. For that I am proud to call them Hero

 Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look

 This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

December 7, 1941

(This Post Was Written By Cindy  Thank you, Cindy, for sharing this with others to post!)

Pearl Harbor was originally a shallow embankment called Wai Momi (Pearl Water) or Pu'rloa (long Hill). It was considered the home of the shark goddess, Ka'ahupahua, and her brother, Kahiuka. Tradition says that Keaunui, the legendary chief of the Ewa chiefs is the one w ho created a navigable channel near the present day Pu'uloa saltworks. The estuary known as "Pearl River" was then accessible to shipping. It was never used for large shipping because of the shallow entrance. As whaling and trading began to use the islands as a half-way point in the Pacific, by 1820 the US was looking for a major harbor. It was not until the turn of the century that Pearl Harbor began to be refitted for larger naval vessels.The naval base we know today was formally opened when the dry dock was open to flooding on August 21, 1919.

As early as February 1, 1933, the Navy staged a mock attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. The exercise was a disaster. Even in 1933 it was known that Pearl Harbor's defenses were considered, after the mock attack by Japan, a failure. It makes the events of December 7, 1941 even more heart-wrenching. The War Department knew the attack was coming. They did not know when. They did not realize that Pearl Harbor, which was basically a sitting duck, was to be the location of the attack. It was assumed the attack would come in the Philippines.


Photo taken by a Japanese plane shows Battleship Row at the beginning of the attack, along with the strike on the USS Oklahoma

Under the command of Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, the attack was devastating in loss of life and damage to the U.S. fleet. At 06:05 on December 7, the six Japanese carriers launched a first wave of 183 aircraft composed mainly of dive bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters. The Japanese hit American ships and military installations at 07:51. The first wave attacked military airfields of Ford Island. At 08:30, a second wave of 170 Japanese aircraft, mostly torpedo bombers, attacked the fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The battleship Arizona was hit with an armor-piercing bomb which penetrated the forward ammunition compartment, blowing the ship apart and sinking it within seconds. Overall, nine ships of the U.S. fleet were sunk and 21 ships were severely damaged. Three of the 21 would be irreparable. The overall death toll reached 2,403, including 68 civilians, and 1,178 injured. Of the military personnel lost at Pearl Harbor, 1,177 were from the Arizona. The first shots fired were from the destroyer Ward on a midget submarine that surfaced outside of Pearl Harbor; Ward sank the midget sub at approximately 06:55, about an hour before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan would lose 29 out of the 350 aircraft they attacked with...."

USS Arizona   The attack on Pearl Harbor, called Hawaii Operation or Operation Al by the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters was designed to prevent the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with their military actions in Southeast Asia, against overseas territories of the United Kingdom, Netherlands, and the US. The Japanese attack was so thorough that only 29 aircraft and five midget submarines were lost. The US death toll was 2,403. Only 65 Japanese servicemen were killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured.  Arizona Memorial  Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam WWII In The Pacific

More about Staff Sergeant John W."Bill" Daley

I remember as a Very small child(3 or 4 years old?) noticing a picture of a very handsome young man in a military uniform at Grandma Daley's house, and when I asked who was in the picture? I was told that that was Dad's " older brother Bill, who was killed in WW II in the  Battle of the Bulge ".

And that picture has stayed in my mind over the years, an old sepia toned picture ....so much so, that when I first saw Band of Brothers and the episodes about that battle, I began to cry, thinking of my Dad's brother.

I found out where my Dad's brother is buried, on the

American Battle Monuments Commission website

John W. Daley

Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army
Service # 35463480
346th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division
Entered the Service from: Ohio

Died: 6-Jan-45
Buried at: Plot F Row 7 Grave 25
Luxembourg American Cemetery
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Awards: Purple Heart

and this link tells you more about
Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial

This has been bittersweet, to find out more about another link that our family has back to World War II military service, and a little more about someone in our family who gave their life in service to our country.

Remembering those who served on the USS Pamanset in WW II

In June of 2006, I posted (on the first incarnation of this blog)

Some of My Family History, Grandad in WW II

about my grandfather, Donald McNulty's, service aboard the USS Pamanset in WW II.

Today, I received in the mail an article about one of his shipmates

Carbon Hill Veteran Honors Lost Shipmates

Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for remembering all those who served aboard the USS Pamanset.
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Mr. Johnson sent me a picture he had of my Grandad aboard the Pamanset, after I had posted about my Grandad's service, and my mother also sent me the picture of the ship that she had inherited from Grandad, I posted those pictures Here in 2008.