I am retired. I have a cemetery in Kansas City, Kansas; 120 acres, 80 years old. I manage rental property, commercial and residential.
I am a spokesman for the National Combat Medical Memorial and Youth Education Center, for corpsmen and medics that were killed in combat saving the Marines. It will be built in the Kansas City area. If we raise enough money then we will have a youth education center attached that takes the young scouts and keeps them interested in serving in a uniform to do good for our country, until we can hand them off to the US military to finish out their service to this great country. But asking for help in raising funds is very hard for me. But we will do everything we can to do our part.
Inquire at my Email or mailing address about getting the limited edition "Medal of Honor" book. This beautiful book is a collector's item that you will want to add to your collection or give as a gift to someone who respects and appreciates the military. An autographed copy of this book can be obtained by making a tax deductible contribtution of $50 or more to the Combat Medical Memorial and Youth Education Center.
We just published a new book called "DOC" sells for $35.00 you can get it at the Natl Combat Med Memorial. for a $25.00 donation. We also sell the Medal of Honor book for a donation of $50.00 This is a great collectors book. Written by the MOH recipients themselves. Lots of photos for the marines. HA HA just kidding. We love them. Semper Fi.
Other Comments:
I spent a total of 35 years in the military, 5 years in the USNavy, 2 years of them in FMF with the 1st Bat 6th Marines and 3rd Bat 4th marines.
I then went into the USArmy, got a commission and 30 years later I retired 06 colonel. Most of that time was in the Reserves and or National Guard.
I am currently seeking help from friends and former marines to help reach the fund raising goals. It's so vitally important to train our youth to become good citizens and better leaders for tomorrow's challenges. Our country has many enemies, both foreign and domestic. If we don't take action now, who will and when will they get started? Failure is not an option.
Patriotism is nearly lost today and without proper guidance we cannot expect our youth to do any better job than we did, without inspiraton and guidance. Our war against complacency must be met with vengeance and patriotism through education.
Can the country count on your support?
If you feel the sense of urgency that we do, you can help us by spreading the word about our goals and please make your tax deductible contribution to:
National Combat Medical Memorial and Youth Education Center c/o Don "Doc" Ballard P. O. Box 34593 North Kansas City, MO 64116
Semper Fi.
Doc Ballard
Vietnam War/Counteroffensive Phase IV Campaign (68)
From Month/Year
April / 1968
To Month/Year
June / 1968
Description This Campaign period was from 2 April to 30 June 1968. The Naval air and gun fire support to operations such as Operation Silver Mace gave ground units the needed firepower while AirForce units were moved to air operations over Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam. From 7 to 18 April, ground, air, and naval units from each of the American services, the Vietnamese Navy, and the Vietnamese Marine Corps conducted Silver Mace II, a strike operation in the Nam Can Forest on Ca Mau Peninsula. The enemy avoided heavy contact with the allied force, but his logistical system was disrupted.
Enemy air defenses caused aviators more concern for by 1968 the Communists had developed a defensive system that was well-armed, coordinated, and supported. On the ground throughout North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and Laos, the enemy trained skyward thousands of small arms, automatic weapons, and antiaircraft artillery. North Vietnam alone contained 8,000 weapons of many calibers, concentrated around key targets. Beginning in early 1965, surface-to-air missiles (SAM) were added to this defensive arsenal, and by early 1968 over 300 SAM sites dotted the North Vietnamese countryside. The entire defensive system was tied together with a sophisticated network of communications, air alert stations, and early warning, ground control-interceptor, and fire control radars. New and replacement weapons and ammunition were amply supplied by sympathetic Communist countries. The loss in Southeast Asia of 421 fixed-wing aircraft from 1965 to 1968 attested to the strength of these defenses. The aviators killed, missing, or made prisoner totaled 450. The operating environment was especially dangerous in North Vietnam, where 382 Navy planes were shot down, 58 of them by SAMs.
Although only accounting for eight of the Navy's aircraft during this three-year period, the North Vietnamese air units posed a constant threat to U.S. operations, thus requiring a diversion of vital resources for protection. The enemy air force varied from 25 to 100 MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-19, and MiG-21 jet fighters. The country's jet-capable airfields included Gia Lam, Phuc Yen, Cat Bi, Kep, Kien An, Yen Bai, Son Tay, Bai Thuong, Hoa Lac, and Vinh. The U.S. Navy engaged in its first air-to-air encounter of the war on 3 April 1965, when several MiG-15s unsuccessfully attacked a flight of F-8 Crusaders near Thanh Hoa. On 17 June, two Midway F-4 Phantoms registered the first kills in the long conflict when they downed two MiG-17s south of Hanoi.
