We've all heard the phrase, "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" at some point in our lives. We may have even used it ourselves. But do we know what it actually means, aside from being a really cool thing to say right before you do something insane, irrational, or both? If you're a fan of U.S. Navy history, you might know it was the command barked by David Farragut during the Civil War Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864.
Badass orders weren't the only legacy Farragut left behind. He served some 60 years in the U.S. Navy. Farragut was also the reason Congress created new flag officer ranks for the Navy and is also probably the only naval officer that had to be tied down by his crew for his own safety. The life of Admiral David Farragut is a case study in favor of the old axiom "Fortune favors the bold."
Farragut joined the U.S. Navy at age nine, becoming a midshipman in 1810. During the War of 1812, he was aboard the frigate USS Essex, wreaking havoc on British shipping in the South Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. His first command was aboard a ship fighting pirates in the Caribbean. He later blockaded Mexico's ports during the Mexican-American War and established Mare Island as the port for repairs on the American West Coast.
When the Civil War broke out, Farragut had already been promoted to Captain, and although he hailed from Tennessee, he considered secession to be treason and moved his family to a town close to New York City. Since control of the Mississippi River was vital to the Union's war strategy, a leader like Farragut was bound to make himself a national hero by trying to take it.
His first target was the Confederate port of New Orleans in 1862. The assault on New Orleans came at a time when big victories for the Union Army were few and far between, and control of the mouth of the Mississippi was crucial to the Union's overall war plan. On April 18, Farragut led his squadron against Forts Jackson and St. Philip, slipping 13 ships into the river and negating the forts. Within six days, New Orleans was occupied by Union troops.
Before Farragut, U.S. Navy officers above the rank of Captain were simply called "flag officers" in an effort to differentiate themselves from the ranks of European naval forces. For his leadership in taking New Orleans, Congress created the rank of Rear Admiral for Farragut, making him the Navy's first Rear Admiral (along with three others on active duty).
But fighting on the Mississippi River proved difficult. First at Port Hudson and again at Vicksburg, Confederate defenses kept Farragut's flotillas from meeting their objectives. Despite his lack of success, both strongholds would fall to Union troops by the end of July 1863, and the Union would have complete control of the river. Farragut would then move on to his next battle and into the mouths of people, unknowingly quoting his famous command for more than a century: the Battle of Mobile Bay.
By 1864, Mo
bile Bay was the last major port city in rebel hands and was defended by three forts. Forts Morgan and Gaines held the entrance to the bay itself. Fort Powell guarded Grant's Pass, a small channel that allowed for low-draft vessels to transit. In all, 90 guns defended the bay. On top of that, the defenders planted torpedoes, a term for tethered naval mines at the time, but which were marked by buoys for rebel blockade runners to avoid. The only passage through the minefield ran under the guns of the forts. The city also had three gunboats and the ironclad CSS Tennessee, all with six guns each. It was a formidable defense, but Farragut was unfazed by any of it.
On August 2, 1864, he approached Mobile Bay with 12 wooden-hulled ships, two gunboats, and four ironclads, along with 2,000 soldiers to capture the forts. He lashed the wooden ships together so if one was disabled, it would keep moving with the fleet and put the ironclads in place to take the brunt of the damage and do most of the ship-to-ship fighting. In essence, he wanted to keep his ships moving and hit the rebels as fast and as hard as he could. Farragut's bravado would be on full display.
Not long after the shooting started, the Union ironclad Tecumseh wandered into the minefield, hit a torpedo, and sank. Confused about what to do next, given the size of the fleet and the presence of the mines. The rest of the ironclads signaled Farragut for instructions, to which he (allegedly) gave the now-famous reply, "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"
Despite the fate of the Tecumseh, the Admiral believed the mines had been underwater too long to still be effective, and he was correct: the rest of his ships passed through the minefield unharmed.
The CSS Tennessee then attacked the Union fleet by itself, a bold move, even for an armored ship. The Union attackers rammed it while unloading a barrage of cannon fire. None of the shots could breach its armor and sink the ship, but they did shoot away its smokestacks and rudder. Unable to move and its own guns ineffective, it was a sitting duck for the bigger guns of the Union's ironclads. It wasn't long before its armor bent under the continued force of the attacks, and the wood underneath began to splinter, inflicting casualties on the crew. Within three hours, the Tennessee had surrendered.
The forts, vulnerable from the rear, were now ready to be taken. Fort Powell surrendered almost immediately. Fort Gaines' garrison was outnumbered and taking effective cannon fire from the Union troops, who were firing at close range in its rear. The rebel commander surrendered the fort on August 8, leaving Fort Morgan alone and cut off from the city and any rebel assistance. Union soldiers were able to land without resistance and dig in. Farragut's ships and the Union troops bombarded Fort Morgan until August 23, when it, too, finally surrendered.
Though the combined Union forces didn't have enough troops to capture Mobile itself, they'd taken the port while suffering just 151 killed and 177 wounded to the Confederates' 13 killed and 22 wounded. Rebel blockade runners were finally cut off from their last major port and an important source of currency and supplies. Within weeks, Union Gen. William T. Sherman would take Atlanta and begin his famous March to the Sea. The string of victories resulted in President Abraham Lincoln's re-election in November and a death knell for the Confederate States of America.
In December 1864, Farragut was promoted to yet another new rank, Vice Admiral, and after the war, once again to full Admiral. He served on active duty until he died of a heart attack in 1870, having literally given his entire life to the Navy.
Few battles loom as large in modern Marine Corps history, like the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. A massive, combined force of U.S. Marines and U.S. Army soldiers, along with troops from Britain and South Korea, suddenly found themselves surrounded, outnumbered by around four-to-one and forced to fight their way out while enduring subzero temperatures and often knee-deep in snow.
The "Frozen Chosin" may not get a specific mention in the Marines' Hymn, but it was a defining moment for the Corps. For any other fighting force, being surrounded and outnumbered might have been a disaster. For the men of the 1st Marine Division, it simply meant they would be attacking in a different direction. Either side could technically claim victory; the Chinese People's Volunteer Army did manage to retake the battlefield, but not before suffering unbelievable losses in what devolved into a brutally cold slugfest at the hands of United States Marines. Most importantly, the UN forces would survive to fight another day.
North Korea won an impressive series of victories when it launched an invasion of its southern neighbor on Jun. 25, 1950. The invasion caught both American and Republic of Korea (RoK) forces by total surprise. The North Korean People's Army (KPA) advanced quickly down the Korean Peninsula while American forces, still drawing down from their massive World War II size, were ill-prepared to meet the sudden, overwhelming onslaught.
Despite being pushed back to the port city of Pusan (modern-day Busan), the American and South Korean forces held out around a tiny perimeter until they could be reinforced and resupplied. On Sept. 15, 1950, X Corps, a combined force of the U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Division and the 1st Marine Division, along with more than 8,000 RoK soldiers, landed at Inchon behind North Korean lines. The next day, 180,000 troops behind the Pusan Perimeter broke out and went on the offensive. By Sept. 28, Seoul was back under UN control, and North Korean forces fell back across the 38th parallel.
General Douglas MacArthur, bolstered by his success at Inchon, next launched a two-pronged invasion of North Korea. The U.S. 8th Army advanced up the western coast of the Korean Peninsula while the RoK I Corps and the U.S. X Corps marched up the eastern coast after an amphibious landing at Wonson. It was also a dazzling success: UN troops crossed the 38th Parallel on Oct. 7 and were in Pyongyang within two weeks.
But there was a disaster looming in the shadows. When Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong realized the Americans intended to unite the Korean Peninsula under southern rule and the KPA couldn't stop it, he secretly sent the Chinese People's Volunteer Army, more than 120,000 troops, into North Korea.
On Oct. 30, the 1st Marine Division was ordered to relieve the RoK I Corps in the area of the Chosin Reservoir in the country's Siberian northern region. The Chinese has already made their presence known. What the UN didn't know was just how many Chinese troops were present. The South Koreans had already made contact with the Chinese PVA south of the reservoir, and by Nov. 2, the Marines had engaged an entire division of Chinese troops outside of Sudong, 200 kilometers south of the reservoir.
But MacArthur didn't believe the Chinese troops posed a threat. He wrote off the danger and continued pressing north on all fronts, favoring an advance conducted as quickly as possible to keep the enemy off guard. Despite the UN's speed, the weather was beginning to catch up with them, setting the stage for a brutal winter. By Nov. 25, the temperature had dropped to below freezing, driving snow limited visibility, and weapons and vehicles started to fail.
MacArthur didn't know the Marines in the region around Chosin were walking into a trap; the Chinese were luring them towards the Chosin Reservoir, where they would be outnumbered and surrounded, with their main supply route cut off. Luckily for the Marines, their division commander, Maj. Gen. Oliver P. Smith was more worried about the supply lines than MacArthur. He risked his career with his caution, making sure they were supplied with ammunition and supplies at critical junctures along the way. It slowed the Marines' progress northward but proved valuable when the real shooting started.
On Nov. 27, the PVA suddenly launched a series of attacks all around the reservoir area and along the road to Koto-ri. At the same time, an entire Chinese division cut the communications lines between Yudam-ni and Hagaru-ri. The UN X Corps was spread too thin in the reservoir area, but the 1st Marine Division's slower progress meant that when the Chinese attacked, most of the division was together at Yudam-ni, more than 25,000 men strong.
In all, the UN had some 30,000 troops in the reservoir area, but they were all cut off by as many as 120,000 Chinese troops. Luckily, the Chinese focused on the attack at Yudam-ni, unaware they were fighting most of the 1st Marine Division there. The Chinese 9th Army Group led by Gen. Song Shilun opened the battle with a series of multi-day attacks, probing American defenses during the day and assaulting the Marines at night. These mass formation attacks with mortar support were mostly fought off with the help of nonstop artillery and close-air support.
At Yudam-ni, the 5th and 7th Marines dug in to repel nonstop PVA attacks, with assaults that often devolved into hand-to-hand combat. U.S. Army Regimental Combat Team 31, also known as Task Force Faith, guarded the Marines' right flank east of the Chosin. It would be destroyed by the Chinese. Meanwhile, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment was cut off from the rest of the division along the Toktong Pass, which connected Yudam-ni to Hagaru-ri. If the company couldn't hold its position, the 8,000 Marines at Yudam-ni would be cut off and captured by the Chinese. For five nights, the 220 men of Company F held off more than 6,000 Chinese soldiers. It was one of the most critical points of the entire battle – maybe the entire war – and the Marines of Fox Company held on.
At Hagaru-ri, the area was more lightly defended, but the Chinese were delayed in attacking the Marines there, so the defenders were ready for the assault when it came. What they weren't ready for was the overwhelming number of enemy troops. The enemy forced open gaps in the Marines' perimeter, but as the forces began to mingle, the Chinese broke off the main thrust of the attack and began looting food and supplies instead. This bought the Marines time to order a counterattack, push the enemy back, and close the gaps in their lines.
Back at Koto-ri, Col. Lewis "Chesty" Puller was assigned to lead a thrust north from Koto-ri to open the road to Hagaru-ri and deliver reinforcements and supplies. Dubbed Task Force Drysdale, it included 921 members of the British 41 Commando and two companies of Marines. In trying to resupply and reinforce the defenders of Hagaru-ri, the task force fought bravely and fiercely against a determined and numerous enemy but lost nearly two-thirds of its men on the way. Only 300 troops would be able to fight once they arrived at Hagaru-ri.
By the end of November, X Corps commander Maj. Gen. Edward M. Almond realized the only chance his troops had of getting out of the Chosin meat grinder was fighting their way to a friendly port and evacuating by sea. The Marines and the cold were inflicting heavy casualties on the poorly-equipped Chinese troops, but the UN defenders couldn't hold out forever. MacArthur ordered the Marines to make their way to the port of Hungnam.
On Dec. 6, the UN prepared to break out of the area, led by the 7th Marines in the front with the 5th Marines in the rear. The move was slow, but the 5th Marines maintained the perimeter around Hagaru-ri despite nighttime assaults from two Chinese divisions, while the 7th Marines cleared the road by capturing the high ground along the route. By the end of Dec. 7, everyone had arrived in Koto-ri – but they would still need to fight their way out of the Chosin Reservoir area.
Poor weather, ambushes, and blown bridges all contributed to the UN forces' slow move toward Hungnam, but they fought their way through all of it. They even assembled a portable bridge dropped by the U.S. Air Force in the Funchilin Pass, leaving the pass on Dec. 11, the same night they reached the perimeter around Hungnam. Some 193 ships evacuated all UN personnel and their equipment, along with 14,000 Korean refugees. The last ship departed the port on Dec. 24, destroying the port facilities as it left.
The fighting at the Chosin Reservoir left 4,385 US Marine Corps, 3,163 US Army, 2,812 South Korean, and 78 British Royal Marine casualties, along with more than 7,000 casualties related to the extreme weather. Most importantly, much of the UN's fighting capabilities survived to fight another day. The Chinese lost 12 divisions of men fighting the Marines, and the extreme cold, experienced soldiers the People's Volunteer Army could not replace. They managed to keep North and South Korea separate, returning all of North Korea to communist rule by the end of 1950. Since 12 of China's 30 divisions in North Korea were completely destroyed at the Chosin Reservoir, the communists' hopes of uniting Korea under North Korean rule were also dashed forever.
The website brings us back to a point in our lives that a country seems to want to forget about. Not that I want to dwell on it, but let us put our stories out there, and maybe, in some small way, it can help bring some closure. Maybe it can heal that small crack or mend a hole we have in our hearts and help set our minds at rest knowing we went, and we gave our all, and we remember those that gave the Ultimate Sacrifice of all.
PFC William J. Karandos US Marine Corps Veteran
Served 1968-1971
The U.S. Army's history is filled with heroes, battlefield legends, and stories that seem like they could only come from the minds of Hollywood screenwriters. There are few larger-than-life tales of greatness bigger than that of World War II legend Audie Murphy, whose battlefield daring became an instant silver-screen classic – starring Audie Murphy himself.
Murphy's early life did not suggest a life destined for greatness. He was the son of a Texas sharecropper who abandoned his family and a mother who died when he was a teen. Young Audie left school in the fifth grade to work in cotton fields and hunt game to help support his family. He joined the military in 1941, just days after the United States entered World War II. At the age of 16, he was technically too young to serve but forged papers allowed him to make it past the recruiter's office. Even so, he was turned down by every branch for being too small.
Luckily for the Army, it was the branch who finally accepted him for service. He would famously become the most decorated combat soldier in all of World War II. As a soldier, Murphy had the audacity (and the opportunity) to become a living legend. He took part in the invasion of Sicily in 1943, he fought at Anzio, liberated Rome, and invaded southern France as part of Operation Dragoon and fought his way across France. Along the way, he received every combat award the Army could give its troops. In the French region of Alsace, he fought a battle so intense he would receive the Medal of Honor.
As the 1944 Battle of the Bulge began to turn against the Nazi war machine, the German Army launched its last major operation on the Western Front of the war. Operation Northwind called for the 1st and 19th German Armies to support the German forces fighting in the ever-shrinking Bulge by destroying the Allied armies in Rhineland-Palatinate, Alsace, and Lorraine. It was kill or be killed. An estimated 30,000 Germans formed a pocket around the French city of Colmar that prevented the Allies from pushing into Germany itself.
By January 194
5, Murphy was a Lieutenant, having received a battlefield commission after directing his men by radio, under fire, to take a hill near L'Omet the previous October. He was wounded two weeks later, after being shot in the hip by a sniper, but rejoined his platoon on January 14 in the area around the Colmar Pocket. He was wounded yet again on January 24, after the Germans struck the city of Holtzwihr, but this time, he remained with his men – and it's a good thing he did.
Two days later, the attacking Germans hit an M10 tank destroyer, setting it on fire. As the crew abandoned the vehicle, Murphy ordered his soldiers to fall back into the treeline. As he'd done near L'Omet, Murphy stood ahead of the platoon with a radio and directed fire on the advancing enemy. Armed with only his M1 carbine to hold his position, he had to climb onto the burning tank destroyer. From there, he started pouring fire into the Germans with its mounted .50-caliber machine gun. As the M10 burned around him, he stayed on the gun for more than an hour, killing 50 enemy soldiers and holding off the entire advance. Despite being wounded in the leg, he only left the machine gun when he ran out of bullets. He rejoined his unit and led them in a counterattack.
For selflessly leading the defense of his platoon by mounting a burning tank destroyer, he received the Medal of Honor and a second Presidential Unit Citation when the 3rd Infantry Division received the award. He stayed on the front until February 18, when he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant and received the Legion of Merit.
His story doesn't end there. He remained in the Army Reserve and later the Texas National Guard until 1969, but in the meantime, he became an actor. After writing his memoir, "To Hell and Back," with the help of David "Spec" McClure, a fellow Army veteran, he found a series of bit parts in films before becoming a leading man in 1949's "Bad Boy," a movie about a delinquent teen (Murphy was only 24 years old at the time). Some 13 films later, he would star as himself in the film adaptation of "To Hell And Back." He appeared in 50 films over the course of his career.
Before he died in a 1971 plane crash, Murphy would become a fierce advocate for post-traumatic stress disorder research. He spent much of his postwar life suffering from the effects of PTSD. He tried to draw attention to the same struggles faced by returning veterans of the Korean and Vietnam wars and extend health care benefits to returning veterans. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery with an ordinary grave marker by his own request. It was an ordinary capstone to an otherwise extraordinary life.
"…We are poor little lambs
Who have lost our way?
Baa! Baa! Baa!
We are little black sheep
Who have gone astray.
Baa! Baa! Baa!
Gentlemen songsters off on a spree
Damned from here to eternity
God have mercy on such as we.
Baa! Baa! Baa!"
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit currently flying the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II. The Squadron's home field is Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ, assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 13 (MAG-13) of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW). The unit was commissioned as Marine Fighter Squadron 214 (VMF-214) on 1 Jul 1942 at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa on the island of Oahu. Initially called the "Swashbucklers," the Squadron was moved to Turtle Bay Airfield on Espiritu Santo in August. There Maj. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (Medal of Honor, Navy Cross) took command of 27 pilots who became the original "Black Sheep" of VMF-214. Boyington (1912-1988) is officially credited with two kills of a claimed six in China, plus another 22 with the Black Sheep, for a total of 28.
From Espiritu Santo, the Squadron was moved forward to Guadalcanal and Henderson Airfield in the Solomon Islands. At first, the Squadron was not assigned aircraft or ancillary personnel; its pilots flew to Guadalcanal and later the Russell Islands in borrowed planes. From Guadalcanal, they would be moved to Munda and Vella Lavella. Originally, the Squadron called itself "Boyington's Bastards" after its new commander, for the fact that all the pilots had been "orphans" and not attached to a squadron when they got together, and the fact they possessed few reliable planes and no mechanics. Although they dropped the moniker "Boyington's Bastards," the Squadron still retains the black bar of bastardy across its insignia. They chose for their badge the black shield of illegitimacy, the bar sinister, a black sheep superimposed, surrounded by a circle of 12 stars, and crowned with the image of their first aircraft, the Corsair.
The Black Sheep Squadron fought for 84 days. They met the Japanese over their own fields and territory, piled up a record of 203 planes destroyed or damaged, produced nine fighter aces with 97 confirmed air-to-air kills, sank several troop transports and supply ships, and destroyed many installations while notching numerous other victories. The original Black Sheep were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for extraordinary heroism in action. They ended their second combat tour on 8 Jan 1944, five days after Maj. Boyington was shot down and captured by the Japanese. The original Black Sheep were disbanded, and the pilots were placed in the pilot pool of Marine Aircraft Group 11. Exploits of this incarnation of the unit were fictionalized in the 1970s television series "Baa Baa Black Sheep," later renamed Black Sheep Squadron, starring Robert Conrad as Boyington.
"The VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron had just begun their combat tour on Sep 12th, 1943, but Sep 16th was their first engagement against the enemy. Their mission was to provide cover for a group of Torpedo Bombers and Dive Bombers, and then they ran into a large group of Japanese fighters over Ballalle. The 24 Black Sheep took on a group of 40 enemy aircraft. The dogfight was spread out over 200 square miles and lasted 30 minutes. The Black Sheep shot down 11 aircraft, and another nine were probable. One Black Sheep did not return and was later listed as MIA."
VMF-214 was reformed on 29 Jan 1944 at Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara near Goleta, California. They deployed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Franklin on 4 Feb1945 to join operations on Okinawa. On 19 Mar, a Japanese bomber hit USS Franklin. The explosion and resulting fire killed 772 people aboard Franklin, including 32 Black Sheep members; many of their aircraft were launching a strike on mainland Japan at the time. This ended VMF-214's involvement in World War II. During the war, the Squadron suffered 23 pilots killed in action or missing and lost 48 aircraft to accidents or enemy contact. In April 1945, the Black Sheep were moved to Marine Corps Air Station El Centro, CA, and then to MCAS El Toro, CA, in October 1945. In the next few years, the Black Sheep deployed for operations aboard USS Rendova, USS Bairoko, USS Badoeng Strait, and USS Boxer.
Marines TWS currently lists 775 registered members who have served with this unit. Its mission is to locate, attack, and destroy surface targets, intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, and provide electronic warfare support. They have flown the A-4M Skyhawk (1962-89), AV-8B Harrier II (1989-2022), F4F Wildcat (1942), F4U Corsair (1943-53), F9F Panther (1953); F2H Banshee (1953-57); FJ Fury (1957-62); and since 2022 the F-35B Lightning II. Their significant battle actions have included World War II, the Korean War (Battle of Pusan Perimeter, Battle of Inchon, Battle of Chosin Reservoir), Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, Global War on Terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and 2003 invasion of Iraq. VMF was changed to VMA on 9 Jul 1957, designating the Squadron as "attack" rather than "fighter."
In the FJ-4B Fury, this Squadron logged over 27,000 hours, including a stretch of over 20,000 accident-free flight hours. The Black Sheep were awarded, on 29 Aug 1961, the CMC safety award for the most outstanding safety record among Marine attack squadrons. In the fall of 1963, VMA-214 was selected as the first Marine Corps squadron to provide a detachment ("N") to deploy on a WestPac cruise aboard USS Hornet. The detachment was assigned to intercept Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 Bear and Tupolev Tu-16 Badger aircraft flying toward the anti-submarine naval task force in the Sea of Japan. They returned home to MCAS Kaneohe Bay in Apr 1964. In May 1965, the Black Sheep were reassigned to Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, and moved to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan. On 21 Jun 1965, the first Black Sheep division flew into Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam, landing on 4,000 feet of SATS runway. The unit rotated out of Vietnam in Feb 1966 to pick up new pilots and personnel. In Apr 1966, they deployed back to Chu Lai, where they flew more combat missions. The Black Sheep squadron put up 14,000 hours in combat, 13,000 sorties, and dropped more than 10,000 tons of ordnance, being awarded the Navy Unit Commendation with a Bronze Star.
VMA-214 returned from Vietnam in April 1967, moved to El Toro, and was reassigned to Marine Aircraft Group 33, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Once in El Toro, the unit became recognized as an operational training squadron for attack pilots, many of whom were replacement crew bound for Vietnam. During December 1970, the Black Sheep were reassigned to Marine Aircraft Group 13. From the late 1970s into the 1980s, the Squadron participated in the Unit Deployment Program, rotating between Marine Aircraft Group 12, Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan, and Marine Aircraft Group 13 at MCAS El Toro, CA. In Oct 1982, the Black Sheep were awarded the Lawson H. M. Sanderson Award for Attack Squadron of the Year. In Sep 1987, the Squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ. On 17 Oct 1987, the Black Sheep became the first Squadron to win the Sanderson Award for the second of four times.
In 1989, Black Sheep completed 30,000 accident-free hours in six years of flying. In June of that year, they introduced single-seat fixed-wing night attack aircraft to the Marine Corps with the first operational Squadron of AV-8B Harrier IIs. In Jul 1993, the Black Sheep conducted a dedicated Night Systems deployment to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-Nine Palms, CA. From Dec 1993 to Jul 1994, Marines of VMA-214 deployed aboard USS Peleliu and participated in Operation Restore Hope and Operation Quick Draw off the coast of Somalia. During this deployment, their Det B participated in Operation Distant Runner in Burundi and Rwanda. In Oct 1994, a detachment embarked aboard USS Essex to support the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit. While deployed, the detachment supported Operation Southern Watch in Southwest Asia and Operation United Shield off the coast of Somalia. During Apr 1996, MAS 214 again deployed a detachment aboard USS Tarawa in support of the 13th MEU active in Operation Southern Watch off the coast of Kuwait and Operation Desert Strike in Northern Iraq. In 1998-99, the Black Sheep Squadron deployed aboard USS Boxer, heading directly to the North Persian Gulf to take part in Operation Desert Fox.
The Squadron next deployed again to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, while Det Bravo sailed in support of the 13th MEU aboard USS Tarawa. During this period, the Marines of VMA-214 participated in humanitarian operations in East Timor and Indonesia. One month later, the detachment was off the coast of Yemen with the 13th MEU(SOC) participating in Operation Determined Response, the recovery of the destroyer USS Cole. VMA-214 was twice deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the first time during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and again from Feb-Aug 2004, when they were based out of Al Asad. The Squadron deployed to Afghanistan in May 2009 as part of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. They returned to MCAS Yuma in November 2009 after having flown some 3,000 hours on a six-month tour. During the deployment, they were based out of Kandahar International Airport as part of Marine Aircraft Group 40, which provided close air support and aerial reconnaissance. Beginning in May 2009, a detachment from VMA-214 deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) with the 13th MEU. During the deployment, they supported the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in southern Afghanistan and counter-piracy operations off the coast of Africa. On 25 Mar 2022, the Squadron was redesignated as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) as it began accepting new F-35B Lightning II aircraft from the Lockheed Martin factory in Fort Worth, Texas.
The opening theme of the 1975 television series "Baa Baa Black Sheep," the Whiffenpoof Song (Yale, 1909, derived from a Rudyard Kipling poem), has long been associated with VMA-214. One of the Squadron's members, Paul "Moon" Mullen, adapted the tune and lyrics for the Squadron's use. Pappy Boyington's autobiography was titled "Baa Baa Black Sheep." The United States Marine Corps averages between 2,800 and 3,400 pilots and has faced a pilot shortage, similar to the Navy and Air Force. Marine pilots undergo extensive training, including specialized flight and advanced training. They are taught to fly a variety of aircraft, including helicopters, planes, and hybrid machines. The Marine Corps offers flight training to its pilots as early as their freshman year of college. Marine Corps aviation officially began on 22 May 1912, when First Lieutenant Alfred Austell Cunningham reported to Naval Aviation Camp at Annapolis, MD, for duty in connection with aviation. In Feb 1957, VMA-214 became the first Marine squadron to be certified for "special weapons delivery": dropping nuclear weapons. This unit had produced thirteen combat Aces as of 2020 and participated in direct action in twenty-six campaigns from WWII to the present.
2006 saw Marine Aviation at its highest operational level since the Vietnam War, flying more than 120,000 combat hours in support of operations in and near Afghanistan and Iraq. Despite aging aircraft and a high operating tempo, Marine Aviation maintained a 74.5% mission-capable rate. The basic tactical and administrative unit of USMC aviation is the Squadron. Fixed-wing and tilt-rotor aircraft squadrons are denoted by the letter "V," which comes from the French verb "Voler" (to fly). Rotary wing squadrons use "H." Squadrons flying lighter than air vehicles (balloons), which were active from World War I to 1943, were indicated by the letter "Z" in the naval squadron designation. Marine squadrons are noted by the second letter "M." Squadron numbering is not in linear progression, as some were numbered in ascending order, and others took numbers from the wing or the ship to which they were assigned. From 1920 to 1941, Marine flying squadrons were identified by one-digit numbers. This changed on 1 Jul 1941 when all existing squadrons were redesignated to a three-digit system. Marine Corps flying units come under the cognizance of the Deputy Commandant for Aviation (DCA) at Headquarters Marine Corps, with the cooperation of the United States Navy.
TogetherWeServed.com ties it all together in a complete package for one to help remember one's own "Service and Duty to one's Country" and to pass it along to others, one's "Brothers in Arms", Family Members, and Progeny to share, relive, and remember for a long time to come. It is one's reflections, memories, life, history, and autobiography. Finally, someday it will become a part of one's "Ancestry" for others to discover and remember long after you are gone. It represents a "Job Well Done" and a "Mission Accomplished"! "Duty, Honor, Country, Life, Being.
Served 1966-1990
In the weeks just before Veterans Day, I talked to several companies' Veteran groups about their benefits. Across the groups, I noticed five common questions. I am sharing these, with answers, below.
Question 1 – I am not happy with the results of my claim for disability compensation. What can I do?
The short answer is: Appeal the decision. I described this process in detail in this article - https://blog.togetherweserved.com/two-quicker-options-to-appeal-a-va-decision/
When I asked each Veteran who posed this question, I learned that they filed the claim without help. That is, they completed the form and provided the supporting documentation. Most were unaware they could get no-cost assistance from a Veteran Service Officer (VSO). I describe more about that in this column - https://blog.togetherweserved.com/top-reasons-a-claim-for-va-disability-compensation-is-denied/
The key point is that a VSO is trained in VA processes and may have helped dozens of Veterans with similar issues. Their learning and experience can help a Veteran filing for the first time avoid mistakes and ensure their application is complete. In addition, they may be able to enhance it, knowing the injuries of Veterans with similar military service.
Question 2 – I served in the National Guard. Am I eligible for benefits?
Generally, Veteran benefits are available to all Veterans, regardless of how they served. The key for those in the National Guard is how eligibility is determined.
For the purpose of benefits, service in the National Guard can qualify you as a Veteran if you served 180 days or more in federal status outside of training. It is very important to pay attention to how you are activated:
• State Active Duty – Governors often call up their National Guard to help during natural disasters, to support law enforcement, and other reasons. This “State Active Duty” is paid for by state funds and does NOT qualify as active service for Veterans status.
• Title 10 Active Duty – The President “federalizes” the National Guard, calling them to active duty. This time counts as active duty for Veteran status.
• Title 32 Full-Time National Guard Duty – The Governor, with the approval of the President, orders the National Guard to active duty for homeland defense purposes. This time counts as active duty for Veteran status.
You also qualify as a Veteran if you served in the National Guard for at least 20 years.
Question 3 – How do I find out more information about my GI Bill benefits?
One of the best ways to get help is to call the GI Bill hotline at 888-GIBill-1 (888-442-4551). You can obtain information about remaining eligibility, enrollment status, and many other education-related questions. One important issue that often comes up is the transfer of benefits to the Veteran's dependents. Pay special attention to the dates of the reenlistment you committed to so your dependent is covered by your benefits.
Question 4 – I am purchasing a house, and my Real Estate Agent doesn't understand a VA Loan. Can someone help me?
Awareness of the requirements for using a VA Loan has increased among Real Estate Agents, but some need help. You can talk to a VA home loan representative by calling 877-827-3702, Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm ET. You can also call this number for help if you are having trouble paying your mortgage.
Question 5 – I saw a struggling Vietnam Veteran online set up GoFundMe page to help with daily living expenses. Isn't there a VA benefit available to him?
Veterans spoke to me about older Veterans they knew or knew of who were struggling financially to meet their financial demands. Some were selling possessions or set up online requests for assistance. In response to concerns about their well-being, we discussed the VA benefit known as the Veteran's Pension.
Under certain conditions, the VA provides a needs-based pension to eligible Veterans (and Survivors). The benefit is a tax-free monthly payment to those with limited financial resources, providing modest support that can be used without restrictions on their expenses. This benefit is not a true pension, which is really a retirement payout in its technical sense. Rather, VA pensions are a safety net payment for those in need.
If you know of such a Veteran, encourage them to reach out to the VA to see if they are eligible for this benefit. They can do this at VA.gov or by calling 800-827-1000.
Paul R. Lawrence, Ph.D., served as Under Secretary of Benefits at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs from May 2018 to January 2021. He is the author of "Veterans Benefits for You: Get What You Deserve," available from Amazon.
Operation Christmas Drop is more than a cheeky Hollywood romantic comedy (that can still be watched on Netflix, by the way). It's the United States Department of Defense's longest-running mission and the longest-continuing humanitarian airlift operation in the world. Every year for more than seven decades, aircrews from the U.S. Air Force have dropped tons of humanitarian goods to some of the most remote locations in the world, across an expanse larger than the continental United States.
The airmen aren't alone in their generosity. American civilians and military families play a large role in the success of the annual exercise. The spirit of the season combines with the airlift capabilities of the world's best Air Force to make Operation Christmas Drop a success, one that is certain to continue for decades to come.
In 1952, airmen aboard a B-29 Superfortress based in Guam spotted islanders waving at them from the island of Kapingamarangi, some 3,500 miles southwest of Hawaii (that's longer than the distance between New York and Los Angeles). Since it was the Christmas season and Kapingamarangi was so remote, the aircrew dropped a bundle of supplies on the island via parachute.
That first spontaneous airdrop began an official annual training and humanitarian operation, a tradition that continues to this day and has spread to more than 50 islands throughout the Pacific Ocean, throughout the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau. Other countries take part in the operation, officially sanctioned as training for supply drops - but also because "'tis the season."
In the months before Operation Christmas Drop takes off, volunteers create donation boxes and begin to raise money to purchase other supplies. Volunteers will pick up the boxes, which are usually filled with school supplies, clothing, rice, fishing equipment, and toys, and deliver them to the bases in Japan and Guam, where they are rigged and loaded aboard C-130J transport aircraft. Each 400-pound box is then airdropped into the waters just off the islands (to avoid landing on people).
For the aircrews, the drops are great training for real-world contingencies. Some 20,000 people across thousands of miles depend on the resupply, and the low-altitude drops are conducted at a very low cost, given the number of volunteers involved. The islanders are better prepared to weather any kind of potential disaster, while the aircrews are prepared to respond in kind to those disasters. And for the people of the islands, it creates an unforgettable experience.
One islander on Agrigan saw one of the earliest cargo drops, remembering that some children believed toys were being dropped from the sky. In those days, life on the island was simple; there was no electricity or running water, and the locals lived by hunting and gathering. The supplies raining from the heavens were desperately needed, and the small parachutes were a welcome sight.
The operation has been repeated every year since 1952, making Operation Christmas Drop the world's longest-running humanitarian operation. It's also a favorite for the aircrews who make the supply runs - after all, who wouldn't want to be a real-world Santa Claus?
It's one of the best programs out there. It was here before Facebook and all those others.
CMDCM(SW) Rick D. Mathis US Navy (Ret)
Served 1985-2015
In the very snowy 1950s New England, my family's Christmas' was fantasy-like wonderful to us four kids, but The Best Christmas that I and some of my U.S. Navy shipmates had ever had was Dec. 25, 1966 A.D. during my first combat tour in Swift Boats. It was at our small Swift Boat base in what is now Khanh Hoa Province, Cam Ranh, Binh Ba Bay, Vietnam.
Our 16 Patrol Craft Fast (PCF) Swift boats were 50' aluminum boats, shallow draft aft for patrolling inland brown jungle waters and V-hulled forward for the green seawater offshore. They were well armed and equipped with the best off-the-shelf gear the Navy could find; however, one must note that our putative "armor" was aluminum, yup, aluminum armor….and yes, rueful laughter allowed here.
We had a Swift that was hit by a recoilless rifle round that punched through both sides of the bow so neatly that the impact fuse did not ignite. That boat, with the crew likely praying madly, had to come home at full speed to keep those two gaping holes out of the water and accordingly beached with much velocity…. Perhaps a sailor or two knocked out the windshield, but no loss of life.
Even at Christmas, one would assume that such good feelings would not be likely to be felt 10,000 miles away from home.... in a confusing war that had bitterly divided our country, a country with its cities aflame with both racial and anti-war based riots, a country where the clash of age-based cultures had caused parents to see their college-aged children as The Other.
With eyes averted, they gave a pass which allowed the Ohio National Guard to shoot down some of those protesting unarmed young students on open ground with impunity ...over a losing war in which we were going to lose 58,212 boys as well.
We very much felt the ugliness/pain of the racial riots back home for sure but were somewhat at a loss of what to say to our valued black brother shipmates. Otherwise, we cared little about what the civilians back in CONUS * were rioting against one another about.
They and their lives were irrelevant ...they were not us. We chose this life together in Vietnam/Indochina* with its consequences, however mistaken it might be.
No matter how much we resembled other folks, mostly passing as "normal," inside our skins, we were different critters; while others fled duty and risk, each of us had volunteered to go to war in this distant, small, hot, quiet, beautiful, but lethal country. Subsequently, we discovered we were there for one another, ourselves alone.
My eight Swift Boat Patrol Team Bravo had just returned that Christmas morning from our individual separate patrols.
After re-arming and re-fueling our boats so we could leave toot sweet, if so ordered or if the threats hit the fan, we began our Christmas Day.
Our initial Post Patrol beers finished (quick-cooling aluminum Hamm's cans rationed one to each man until the boats were ready to go go go)...Mai Tai was made the Drink of the Day. The dear old USN had dropped a generous supply of rum and Trader Vic's Mai-Tai mix in pallets on our bayside beach.
That morning, sailorly astute students of the craft / art of Mixology soon realized that the more rum one mixed with the bottled mix, the better it tasted! And, just perhaps, the more effective the beverage became.
I went to have a quick drink with my crew at the only not-a-tent shelter on the base except for the latrine: The Enlisted Men's' Club. It was well-known as the longest bar in all Indochina (all from materials stolen or cumshawed * from the Army and the Air Force or stolen from Brown, Root, and Jones, Inc....an American company which seemed to have a lock on most construction in V-N. Rumor was that Lady Bird Johnson was a hidden partner.).
The Enlisted Men's Club was the first lumber-built structure on our base. Clearly, the United States Navy had its priorities straight and well in hand.
BTW, the lumber-built latrine also was well-known as the longest latrine In Country * (that is, had more seats, all open, one hole next to the next, populated by men cheek to cheek as it were, reading The Navy Times, oblivious to the tropical dysentery beset shipmate beside them. I used to laugh so much every time I saw it. There was something comic about the scene. Surreal. This was in the days before shame-based partitions for males crept into schools, Fenway Park, or anyplace else). Every senior Navy Commander and Admiral serving in or touring Vietnam came to see and actually use both highly regarded, singular facilities. Truly.
For Christmas, the bartenders from our boats were all outfitted in complete Santa Claus costumes given by the very active USO of WWII fame.
I appropriated one and proceeded to the boat crews' quarters to spread joy and get all the attention I could get.
To my surprise, a number of big clear plastic bags of Christmas presents were being delivered. Consequently, there were demanding cries for Santa, Santa! Being so drafted, early that morning, I sat down on a crate to do my duty even as it was interspersed with loud and ill-sung carols with harmonica accompaniment. The crew's arms draped shoulder to shoulder: I began handing out the great gifts sent by many, many kinds and quite generous American civilians....to the sailors and others in the country.
Each decorated gift came in transparent plastic wrappings (security, no doubt). We knew each other quite well and the person we each were...and the secrets we each thought was a secret. Ha! Therefore, my very insightful Elf (a thoroughly sharp, great lay psychologist), who had an ironic (actually jaundiced) and quite witty take on everyone, would pick the most suitable gift for each man after we had consulted together...funny, teasing, even hopefully embarrassing, and, perhaps, ...revealing. Each sailor had to sit on my knee and be made fun of by me and a highly participative, raucous audience in order to receive his gift.
Partway through the gift-giving and ridiculing, when sitting obediently on my somewhat smaller knee, a very broadly beaming shirtless, hairy, muscular 250 lb. Boatswain's Mate, with blue birds, tattooed on his chest's pectorals, flexed his pecs so that the birds appeared to fly, moving their wings to the loud, truly admiring cheers and Hooting laughter of all. I realized that THIS moment marked this Christmas Day, the best of my life.....as we laughed away together, sometimes for no seeming reason at all, when no joke had been let sail and the rum had not yet been sufficiently consumed that morning for any tipsiness… Perhaps because we were still alive when so many were not.
How happy I was ...how happy we all were that morning and afternoon. The feelings of caring amongst a brotherhood of volunteers.
We were among our own...WE FEW, on our own St. Crispin's Day.
In the days following, man after man came up to me and said, "This was the best Christmas of my life." And said With Feeling. THEY MEANT IT, as did I and often an unusually VERY firm shaking of hands. Many even saluted! It's not often done in a combat zone. And it is not often done due to our Swiftie lack of formal military courtesies.
And, so it was then, and so it remains now, The Best Christmas of My and other men's lives. Dare I say, the dearest.?
I think it also may have been that way because early that tomorrow, because of that choice we had made, early that next morning, our boats would be underway again for whatever was waiting out there. And it was, of course. We just did not know what it would be this time.
I still warm my eyes and hands over that Christmas picture and its soundtrack. It was such a joyous and generous gift of grace to have been given to us at a bad time, in a bad place, in a futile war.
Out in The World, they may not have understood our choices for risk and duty and our heartfelt JOY in this moment's embrace of us together, bonded by OUR understanding of one another.
It was, perhaps, a chosen but unfindable again, ONENESS, is what I guess.
The most un-alone we would ever know. Ever!
Even now, as I read this, 56 years later, even now I can feel again those long ago but so alive moments of oneness. Such a gift of Grace…. the fleeting comforting raucous laughter of men and boys at war. Together with our own.
Thanks for listening,
Michael T. Alogna
Aka NAHA
PCF 51 (R.I.P.)
(Patrol Craft Fast)
*The Mobile Riverine Force (MRF) was a truly combined fighting unit of the USN Brown Water Navy and the Army's Ninth Infantry. Using armored and heavily armed watercraft that looked like Civil War vessels (indeed, some were called "Monitors "), SWIFT Boats, and USN PBRs, this force aggressively interdicted VC activities in the Mekong with much success.
Combined with the efforts of local anti-Viet Cong Vietnamese militias (Including those from Catholic fishing villages that had fled from North VIETNAM), we had essentially won the war in the Delta, although some fighting and killing continued.
When the VC TET "uprising" occurred violating the Chinese / Vietnamese New Year Truce, it was disastrous for the VC in the Mekong and, in spite of media coverage of their temporary infiltration of the US Embassy in Saigon, it was not successful in much of South VIETNAM because the people did not rise up against the government as the VC and North Vietnam had urged them to do.
Therefore, unfortunately only the VC and the MRF knew we had won in the Delta. When the NVA overran SVN, the Mekong was the last to fall and the Catholic militias were the last of the last to stop fighting.
* " CONUS" = Continental United States; because we did not say the U.S. or America, our patois was more distancing than that.
* "Indo-China" because some boats sometimes enterprisingly went to other places, sometimes on their own, in pursuit of Hearts & Minds...for keeps.
* " CUMSHAW"; a corruption of Cantonese word "thankful gift" or some variant of that. The old British Navy of Wooden Ships and Iron Men had adopted it to describe getting something in China that your ship needed by suasion, trading, by hook or by crook, a modest bribe, and such. It soon gained worldwide use by the USN also.
Some sailors/ petty officers (NCOs) were gifted at getting all kinds of stuff on the sly; these treasures were known as Cumshaw Artists. Ship captains would say, " We really need X and the shipyard won't give us any. Who is the best cumshaw artist on board?" "Mission Accomplished, sir".
Joe Owen enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. He deployed shortly afterward with a forward observer squad during World War II. If you talked to the man, however, you would quickly learn it was the Korean War that defined his service to the country. In 1997, he would literally write a book about his experiences in Korea, an experience that culminated with the infamous Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. By the time North Korean tanks rolled into South Korea in June 1950, Owen was a Lieutenant, and he would be leading a company of hastily assembled reservists into a trial by fire.
"Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir" is the story of Owen and his fellow Marines in Korea. To write the book, he painstakingly gathered all the historical information he could and spoke at length with his fellow veterans about their own experiences. The result is an exhaustive first-person narrative that is both engrossing and real; it is a monument to the men who fought and died in the earliest days of the Korean War – and a testament to why it should not be forgotten.
Owen led Baker Company, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division from California to Korea in 1950. General Douglas MacArthur's now-famous amphibious assault on Inchon relieved the United Nations forces that had been pushed all the way down to Pusan and nearly into the ocean by the oncoming North Koreans. The North Korean People's Army (KPA) was undermanned and under-equipped, but the speed with which they invaded surprised the combined South Korean-American forces that summer.
United Nations troops, led by the United States, held a perimeter around Pusan for months as reinforcements and supplies arrived from Japan and the mainland United States. Just one day after the landing at Inchon, an American breakout from Pusan began. Seoul was recaptured by the Americans shortly after, and the North Korean Army effectively crumbled in the South and retreated North.
What followed was an almost lightning-fast invasion of North Korea by the combined UN-South Korean forces. By October 20, little more than a month after landing at Inchon, the United Nations captured the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The KPA had been effectively destroyed in the advance and had disappeared into the mountains north of the city. What Owen and the rest of his Marines didn't know was that China had intervened in the war, sending tens of thousands of troops across the Yalu River, North Korea's border with China.
They also didn't know that Chairman Mao had ordered the destruction of the 1st Marine Division. Owen and the Marines would meet the Chinese at the Chosin Reservoir, and he would vividly describe the fighting in his book, "Colder Than Hell."
"When we were fighting in the cold, we couldn't dig holes in the ground. It was completely frozen," Owen recalled. "So we would take Chinese bodies, stack 'em up, and that would be our position. The sons of bitches would come at us and keep coming and keep going down, and they would be piled up, running over each other to get at us. The sons of bitches would never stop, so we had to keep on killing them. Can you imagine that?"
"Our Marines beat the enemy, position by position, with no safety margin and under heavy fire because the enemy could see everything we did," Owen said in a 2014 interview. "So we had to keep our guys moving in the heavy snow and cold. The fatigue factor is serious. The guys forced themselves to keep going because they had to keep going, first for survival and because that was their nature. That's the fighting spirit of Marine riflemen. That's how we beat them."
Owen's account of the battle remains one of the most descriptive and realistic books ever written about the Korean War. It includes an account of Kurt Chew-Een Lee, the first Asian-American Marine Corps officer who fought alongside Owen. Joe Owen died in 2015, but his book remains an everlasting memorial to not only his own conduct in the Korean War but all the Marines who fought with him.
"Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir" is available in paperback, Kindle e-reader, and on audiobook, starting at $6.29 on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and wherever books are sold.
Badass orders weren't the only legacy Farragut left behind. He served some 60 years in the U.S. Navy. Farragut was also the reason Congress created new flag officer ranks for the Navy and is also probably the only naval officer that had to be tied down by his crew for his own safety. The life of Admiral David Farragut is a case study in favor of the old axiom "Fortune favors the bold." 
bile Bay was the last major port city in rebel hands and was defended by three forts. Forts Morgan and Gaines held the entrance to the bay itself. Fort Powell guarded Grant's Pass, a small channel that allowed for low-draft vessels to transit. In all, 90 guns defended the bay. On top of that, the defenders planted torpedoes, a term for tethered naval mines at the time, but which were marked by buoys for rebel blockade runners to avoid. The only passage through the minefield ran under the guns of the forts. The city also had three gunboats and the ironclad CSS Tennessee, all with six guns each. It was a formidable defense, but Farragut was unfazed by any of it.
The forts, vulnerable from the rear, were now ready to be taken. Fort Powell surrendered almost immediately. Fort Gaines' garrison was outnumbered and taking effective cannon fire from the Union troops, who were firing at close range in its rear. The rebel commander surrendered the fort on August 8, leaving Fort Morgan alone and cut off from the city and any rebel assistance. Union soldiers were able to land without resistance and dig in. Farragut's ships and the Union troops bombarded Fort Morgan until August 23, when it, too, finally surrendered. 
The "Frozen Chosin" may not get a specific mention in the Marines' Hymn, but it was a defining moment for the Corps. For any other fighting force, being surrounded and outnumbered might have been a disaster. For the men of the 1st Marine Division, it simply meant they would be attacking in a different direction. Either side could technically claim victory; the Chinese People's Volunteer Army did manage to retake the battlefield, but not before suffering unbelievable losses in what devolved into a brutally cold slugfest at the hands of United States Marines. Most importantly, the UN forces would survive to fight another day. 
On Oct. 30, the 1st Marine Division was ordered to relieve the RoK I Corps in the area of the Chosin Reservoir in the country's Siberian northern region. The Chinese has already made their presence known. What the UN didn't know was just how many Chinese troops were present. The South Koreans had already made contact with the Chinese PVA south of the reservoir, and by Nov. 2, the Marines had engaged an entire division of Chinese troops outside of Sudong, 200 kilometers south of the reservoir. 
At Yudam-ni, the 5th and 7th Marines dug in to repel nonstop PVA attacks, with assaults that often devolved into hand-to-hand combat. U.S. Army Regimental Combat Team 31, also known as Task Force Faith, guarded the Marines' right flank east of the Chosin. It would be destroyed by the Chinese. Meanwhile, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment was cut off from the rest of the division along the Toktong Pass, which connected Yudam-ni to Hagaru-ri. If the company couldn't hold its position, the 8,000 Marines at Yudam-ni would be cut off and captured by the Chinese. For five nights, the 220 men of Company F held off more than 6,000 Chinese soldiers. It was one of the most critical points of the entire battle – maybe the entire war – and the Marines of Fox Company held on. 
On Dec. 6, the UN prepared to break out of the area, led by the 7th Marines in the front with the 5th Marines in the rear. The move was slow, but the 5th Marines maintained the perimeter around Hagaru-ri despite nighttime assaults from two Chinese divisions, while the 7th Marines cleared the road by capturing the high ground along the route. By the end of Dec. 7, everyone had arrived in Koto-ri – but they would still need to fight their way out of the Chosin Reservoir area. 
Murphy's early life did not suggest a life destined for greatness. He was the son of a Texas sharecropper who abandoned his family and a mother who died when he was a teen. Young Audie left school in the fifth grade to work in cotton fields and hunt game to help support his family. He joined the military in 1941, just days after the United States entered World War II. At the age of 16, he was technically too young to serve but forged papers allowed him to make it past the recruiter's office. Even so, he was turned down by every branch for being too small. 
5, Murphy was a Lieutenant, having received a battlefield commission after directing his men by radio, under fire, to take a hill near L'Omet the previous October. He was wounded two weeks later, after being shot in the hip by a sniper, but rejoined his platoon on January 14 in the area around the Colmar Pocket. He was wounded yet again on January 24, after the Germans struck the city of Holtzwihr, but this time, he remained with his men – and it's a good thing he did. 
His story doesn't end there. He remained in the Army Reserve and later the Texas National Guard until 1969, but in the meantime, he became an actor. After writing his memoir, "To Hell and Back," with the help of David "Spec" McClure, a fellow Army veteran, he found a series of bit parts in films before becoming a leading man in 1949's "Bad Boy," a movie about a delinquent teen (Murphy was only 24 years old at the time). Some 13 films later, he would star as himself in the film adaptation of "To Hell And Back." He appeared in 50 films over the course of his career. 
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) is a United States Marine Corps aviation unit currently flying the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II. The Squadron's home field is Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ, assigned to Marine Aircraft Group 13 (MAG-13) of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (3rd MAW). The unit was commissioned as Marine Fighter Squadron 214 (VMF-214) on 1 Jul 1942 at Marine Corps Air Station Ewa on the island of Oahu. Initially called the "Swashbucklers," the Squadron was moved to Turtle Bay Airfield on Espiritu Santo in August. There Maj. Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (Medal of Honor, Navy Cross) took command of 27 pilots who became the original "Black Sheep" of VMF-214. Boyington (1912-1988) is officially credited with two kills of a claimed six in China, plus another 22 with the Black Sheep, for a total of 28. 
"The VMF-214 Black Sheep Squadron had just begun their combat tour on Sep 12th, 1943, but Sep 16th was their first engagement against the enemy. Their mission was to provide cover for a group of Torpedo Bombers and Dive Bombers, and then they ran into a large group of Japanese fighters over Ballalle. The 24 Black Sheep took on a group of 40 enemy aircraft. The dogfight was spread out over 200 square miles and lasted 30 minutes. The Black Sheep shot down 11 aircraft, and another nine were probable. One Black Sheep did not return and was later listed as MIA."
Marines TWS currently lists 775 registered members who have served with this unit. Its mission is to locate, attack, and destroy surface targets, intercept and destroy enemy aircraft, and provide electronic warfare support. They have flown the A-4M Skyhawk (1962-89), AV-8B Harrier II (1989-2022), F4F Wildcat (1942), F4U Corsair (1943-53), F9F Panther (1953); F2H Banshee (1953-57); FJ Fury (1957-62); and since 2022 the F-35B Lightning II. Their significant battle actions have included World War II, the Korean War (Battle of Pusan Perimeter, Battle of Inchon, Battle of Chosin Reservoir), Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, Global War on Terrorism, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and 2003 invasion of Iraq. VMF was changed to VMA on 9 Jul 1957, designating the Squadron as "attack" rather than "fighter."
VMA-214 returned from Vietnam in April 1967, moved to El Toro, and was reassigned to Marine Aircraft Group 33, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Fleet Marine Force, Pacific. Once in El Toro, the unit became recognized as an operational training squadron for attack pilots, many of whom were replacement crew bound for Vietnam. During December 1970, the Black Sheep were reassigned to Marine Aircraft Group 13. From the late 1970s into the 1980s, the Squadron participated in the Unit Deployment Program, rotating between Marine Aircraft Group 12, Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni, Japan, and Marine Aircraft Group 13 at MCAS El Toro, CA. In Oct 1982, the Black Sheep were awarded the Lawson H. M. Sanderson Award for Attack Squadron of the Year. In Sep 1987, the Squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, AZ. On 17 Oct 1987, the Black Sheep became the first Squadron to win the Sanderson Award for the second of four times.
The Squadron next deployed again to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, while Det Bravo sailed in support of the 13th MEU aboard USS Tarawa. During this period, the Marines of VMA-214 participated in humanitarian operations in East Timor and Indonesia. One month later, the detachment was off the coast of Yemen with the 13th MEU(SOC) participating in Operation Determined Response, the recovery of the destroyer USS Cole. VMA-214 was twice deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the first time during the 2003 invasion of Iraq and again from Feb-Aug 2004, when they were based out of Al Asad. The Squadron deployed to Afghanistan in May 2009 as part of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade. They returned to MCAS Yuma in November 2009 after having flown some 3,000 hours on a six-month tour. During the deployment, they were based out of Kandahar International Airport as part of Marine Aircraft Group 40, which provided close air support and aerial reconnaissance. Beginning in May 2009, a detachment from VMA-214 deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) with the 13th MEU. During the deployment, they supported the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade in southern Afghanistan and counter-piracy operations off the coast of Africa. On 25 Mar 2022, the Squadron was redesignated as Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 214 (VMFA-214) as it began accepting new F-35B Lightning II aircraft from the Lockheed Martin factory in Fort Worth, Texas.
Question 1 – I am not happy with the results of my claim for disability compensation. What can I do?
For the purpose of benefits, service in the National Guard can qualify you as a Veteran if you served 180 days or more in federal status outside of training. It is very important to pay attention to how you are activated:
Question 3 – How do I find out more information about my GI Bill benefits?
Veterans spoke to me about older Veterans they knew or knew of who were struggling financially to meet their financial demands. Some were selling possessions or set up online requests for assistance. In response to concerns about their well-being, we discussed the VA benefit known as the Veteran's Pension. 
The airmen aren't alone in their generosity. American civilians and military families play a large role in the success of the annual exercise. The spirit of the season combines with the airlift capabilities of the world's best Air Force to make Operation Christmas Drop a success, one that is certain to continue for decades to come. 
For the aircrews, the drops are great training for real-world contingencies. Some 20,000 people across thousands of miles depend on the resupply, and the low-altitude drops are conducted at a very low cost, given the number of volunteers involved. The islanders are better prepared to weather any kind of potential disaster, while the aircrews are prepared to respond in kind to those disasters. And for the people of the islands, it creates an unforgettable experience. 
Our 16 Patrol Craft Fast (PCF) Swift boats were 50' aluminum boats, shallow draft aft for patrolling inland brown jungle waters and V-hulled forward for the green seawater offshore. They were well armed and equipped with the best off-the-shelf gear the Navy could find; however, one must note that our putative "armor" was aluminum, yup, aluminum armor….and yes, rueful laughter allowed here. 
With eyes averted, they gave a pass which allowed the Ohio National Guard to shoot down some of those protesting unarmed young students on open ground with impunity ...over a losing war in which we were going to lose 58,212 boys as well.
Our initial Post Patrol beers finished (quick-cooling aluminum Hamm's cans rationed one to each man until the boats were ready to go go go)...Mai Tai was made the Drink of the Day. The dear old USN had dropped a generous supply of rum and Trader Vic's Mai-Tai mix in pallets on our bayside beach.
BTW, the lumber-built latrine also was well-known as the longest latrine In Country * (that is, had more seats, all open, one hole next to the next, populated by men cheek to cheek as it were, reading The Navy Times, oblivious to the tropical dysentery beset shipmate beside them. I used to laugh so much every time I saw it. There was something comic about the scene. Surreal. This was in the days before shame-based partitions for males crept into schools, Fenway Park, or anyplace else). Every senior Navy Commander and Admiral serving in or touring Vietnam came to see and actually use both highly regarded, singular facilities. Truly.
Each decorated gift came in transparent plastic wrappings (security, no doubt). We knew each other quite well and the person we each were...and the secrets we each thought was a secret. Ha! Therefore, my very insightful Elf (a thoroughly sharp, great lay psychologist), who had an ironic (actually jaundiced) and quite witty take on everyone, would pick the most suitable gift for each man after we had consulted together...funny, teasing, even hopefully embarrassing, and, perhaps, ...revealing. Each sailor had to sit on my knee and be made fun of by me and a highly participative, raucous audience in order to receive his gift.
Out in The World, they may not have understood our choices for risk and duty and our heartfelt JOY in this moment's embrace of us together, bonded by OUR understanding of one another. 
Joe Owen enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. He deployed shortly afterward with a forward observer squad during World War II. If you talked to the man, however, you would quickly learn it was the Korean War that defined his service to the country. In 1997, he would literally write a book about his experiences in Korea, an experience that culminated with the infamous Battle of the Chosin Reservoir. By the time North Korean tanks rolled into South Korea in June 1950, Owen was a Lieutenant, and he would be leading a company of hastily assembled reservists into a trial by fire.
United Nations troops, led by the United States, held a perimeter around Pusan for months as reinforcements and supplies arrived from Japan and the mainland United States. Just one day after the landing at Inchon, an American breakout from Pusan began. Seoul was recaptured by the Americans shortly after, and the North Korean Army effectively crumbled in the South and retreated North. 
"Our Marines beat the enemy, position by position, with no safety margin and under heavy fire because the enemy could see everything we did," Owen said in a 2014 interview. "So we had to keep our guys moving in the heavy snow and cold. The fatigue factor is serious. The guys forced themselves to keep going because they had to keep going, first for survival and because that was their nature. That's the fighting spirit of Marine riflemen. That's how we beat them."