Modern War Heroes

This article was written by  a man named Kevin Tillman. Both he and his brother Pat joined the Army in 2002, serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Tragically, Pat was killed in Afghanistan in 2004. This article is just one way for Kevin to express his grief and pain over losing his brother.

Our hearts are with you Kevin. You, and every other person who lost a loved one for from home.

I ran across this website this morning. It was created by a man named Steven Curtis who was employed as a photographer during the Vietnam War. His about page mentions that he mostly was commissioned to photograph war images, but he personally was interested in capturing the human element in the midst of such inhumanity. These images are a real reminder that history is alive and that people just like you and me had to endure such hardships.

Nineteenth birthday party

Click here to travel to Stephen’s webpage.

Fighter pilot who fought in three wars died this past June at the age of 89. Our pilots certainly are extraordinary people!

Retired Marine Corps Col. Kenneth L. Reusser, 89, a highly decorated aviator who was shot down in three wars, died June 20. He lived in the Portland, Ore., suburb of Milwaukie.Col. Reusser flew 253 combat missions in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He was shot down in all three, five times in all.

His 59 medals included two Navy Crosses, four Purple Hearts, and two Legions of Merit.

In 1945, while based in Okinawa, he stripped down his F4U-4 Corsair fighter and intercepted a Japanese observation plane at high altitude. When his guns froze, he flew his fighter into the observation plane, hacking off its tail with his propeller.

In 1950, he led an attack on a North Korean tank-repair facility at Inchon, then destroyed an oil tanker, almost blowing himself out of the sky.

In Vietnam, he flew helicopters and was leading a rescue mission when his Huey was shot down. He needed skin grafts over 35 percent of his badly burned body. (source)

Understandably, the technology to produce color photography was still quite rare during the time of World War I. This website has a fairly large collection of color photographs. Very interesting, and certainly not something you see every day. I think it is important to see these reminders of our past. Check it out.

I ran across this story that was posted on July 4th of this year. As I understand it, this is a true story, but it almost seems  too good to be true. It tells of a former Army member who gives people in an airport an example of how to show their appreciation for a fallen Marine. It shows that the American people still remember their troops and do want to honor them whenever possible. Very touching and I highly recommend reading it.

Click here to read this story. It can really be amazing how people can band together for a cause – even if is as simple as welcoming a fallen soldier home for the last time.

The situation has gotten deadlier this month for our troops stationed in Afghanistan. Total numbers of men killed in action for this year have already nearly reached the total for 2008. And the year just half over.

This news clip shows  a young woman who lost her husband this month while serving in Afghanistan. My heart goes out to her and the soldier’s young son.

A day before New York Rep. Peter King called Michael Jackson a “pervert” unworthy of nonstop media coverage, the aunt of a U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan on the same day Jackson died asked why her nephew’s death went virtually unnoticed while the King of Pop got memorial shrines across the country.

“Mr. Jackson received days of wall-to-wall coverage in the media,” Martha Gillis wrote to the Washington Post. “Where was the coverage of my nephew or the other soldiers who died that week?”

Click here for video on troops getting ready to deploy.

Gillis’ nephew, Lt. Brian Bradshaw, 24, died in Kheyl, Afganistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Bradshaw, of Steilacoom, Wash., was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division in Fort Richardson, Alaska. He was one of at least 13 U.S. soldiers to die in Afghanistan since Jackson’s death on June 25.

Bradshaw’s mother, Mary, said she agreed with Gillis, saying the nonstop coverage of Jackson’s death has become “totally ridiculous” and laughable.

“I can watch the news many nights and there’s no mention of what’s going on in Afghanistan or Iraq and there’s boys dying over there,” Bradshaw told FOXNews.com. “Oh God, I can’t talk.” Read on…

I have to agree with these families. While Michael Jackson may have revolutionized the music scene, did he risk his life every day he was overseas like these young men and women? No. And yet he, and other celebrities, get constant media coverage. That’s just out of balance. Our soldiers deserve our regard. They’ve done so much for us, and in some cases, given all they had.

In Illinois the people are doing a little more to honor their men and women in service. They’ve created an organization called Sgt. Tommy’s Kids, an outreach program designed for the children and families of soldiers and people in the police/fire departments. It is named for a soldier named Thomas Gilbert, a young man who didn’t have children of his own, but wherever he went the children would flock to him. He was unfortunately killed while serving in Iraq.

Writer Mike Clifford is the one who originally started the project. He wanted to find some way to help out and heal the children who are often left behind by conflict. This article has more detail on Clifford and his plans for Sgt. Tommy’s Kids.

In a previous post, I had found a stunning collection of photos from World War II. This time, Life Magazine provides a slideshow of poignant images from the Vietnam War.

Click here to view.

Concept drawing of proposed memorial

UW alumnus John “Bud” Hawk earned a Medal of Honor for his actions near Chambois, France, on Aug. 20, 1944, during the Normandy campaign, which led to the surrender of more than 500 German soldiers, and is one of seven UW alumni that have been identified as Medal of Honor recipients.

This fall the UW — holding the highest number of Medal of Honor recipients in the United States, excluding military service academies — plans on commemorating Hawk and the six other UW alumni Medal of Honor recipients by building a memorial in the traffic circle on the south end of Memorial Way, near the flag pole.

While the Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government, recipients, such as Hawk, deflect the recognition away from their individual accomplishments.

“I was only one of 16 [million] to 18 million people serving [in World War II]. You do the best you can for the people around you, and they will do the best they can for you,” Hawk said. Read on…

That’s fantastic that the university wants to honor their veterans. It’s also quite prestigious for the school that they have had so many Medal of Honor recipients. The Medal of Honor is not given out lightly.