Memorial Day

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rgrokelley
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Memorial Day

Post by rgrokelley »

From time to time I write on other websites, trying to inform those who are not in the military about the world we live in. This commentary wsa written in 2002, the first Memorial Day after September 11th.

Tonight I sat with my buddy, Bert, and we talked of many things. Point of Fork, Afghanistan, movies. However there is always that which bonds us, just under the surface.
There is also more.
We are Rangers.
Sua Sponte
There are no ex-Rangers, same as there is no ex-Marines.
I sat in the parking lot of my school today, doing parking lot duty while the graduation went on. A coach told me that he had a father who wouldn’t talk much about Vietnam. However once in a while a small story would escape, telling of what he saw.
For most Americans it is the mystery behind the curtain. What is there? What is so horrific? What is so secret?
There is not much. Veterans won’t talk much because the audience just won’t get it.
It’s a veteran thing, you just won’t understand.
A war story is a lie. Imagine the stories of those men at Bunker Hill or Savannah. They may remember that they had no clothes except a blanket, but the experience of blood, and fierce desperation can’t be told. It is all a lie, and it is the absolute truth.
In the movie “Saving Private Ryan” there are two extremely profound words.
“Earn this”
I often wondered if I am earning “this.”

Earn this.

Bert wonders when he will go, I tell him it is nothing much. I tell him it is more of the “men behind the wire” attitude of the modern military. I say this because I don’t want him to go. I also don’t want to be left out. I also want him to go more than anything, but not without me.
A paradox.
Memorial Day is a day when folks go to the beach, meet with friends, take naps, and recharge their batteries. However for some of us, we few, we happy few, there lies a bit more under the surface.
This is a time when civilians can look upon Memorial Day in a different light. Memorial Day is not your Aunt Zelda who passed away a year ago due to a heart problem. Memorial Day is over 2,000 lives snuffed in a ball of smoke and flame. Each life had a purpose. Each life planned to go to the movies, the eat dinner out, to kiss their children goodnight. Each life did not know that their final wave goodbye would be the last their families would ever see.

Earn this.

In our minds we are always 18 or 21 or 30. We do not age. The memory dulls, but the experiences are only yesterday. From the “old timer” who talks of jumping into the Normandy, to the cold Ranger who experiences the Afghanistan winter. We are the same. It is the scariest time of your life, it is the most memorable time of your life, and it also defines who we are. On our graves it does not mention that we were accountants, or teachers. It only says:

March 3, 1966 – November 22, 1985
PFC Russell Hobgood
Ranger

Sua Sponte

It is a military Haiku. It says nothing, and it says everything. It is what defines us.

Earn this

I live in quiet now. My students ask why do I want to be so boring. Why not have a more interesting life.

I have seen the streets on fire. I have danced between the raindrops. I have seen the unadulterated joy of a liberated people. I was a Warrior King. I have felt the pieces of skull in my hand. I have felt the loss. I have heard the heart-stopping CRACK of the AK-47. Washington said, “I heard the bullets whistle, and believe me, there is something charming in the sound.”

Obviously this was before Nobel created his nitro. It is not charming. It scares the crap out of you.
This weekend is one that you can enjoy. Remember though. It is a day for memories. For you it is one of hot dogs and sunshine. For some it is of black and white photographs, and the smell of the jungle.
Remember please.

Today is not for them, but for you who can enjoy this day in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. You can enjoy these inalienable rights because of these few men.

Memorial Day is for you to remember those who have gone before you, even though you don’t know their names. Every year I list name of the men I new in the military who paid the price. I usually just list the names, but this year I thought I would tell you about them. This is not many, but all of these men were under 30 years old. If you think of everyone you knew who died before their 30th birthday, it would not be a long list, there may be no list at all.

For those of us who stay, we all have a list.
It is long enough.

Earn this.

1LT Robert Breitmayer, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, killed in Operation Gallant Eagle, 1982
Breitmayer was fairly new at the soldier business, however he advanced rapidly. He was the company XO when we jumped in Fort Irwin, California in 1982. That was the jump that had 5 men killed, and hundred “wounded” on the jump, due to the high winds. He was 27.

CPT Michael Ritz, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, killed in action, Grenada, 1983
On the morning of October 26th the battalion was gearing up for the assault on the Cuban barracks at the Calliste area. The Cubans had held out, not wanting to surrender. Throughout the night they had done some probes to break out, but were unable to get far. Captain Ritz was the company commander of B Company, and was to spearhead the assault on the barracks. The 82nd owned the hills, and the barracks was in the valley. Ritz decided to do a leader’s reconnaissance on the objective (right out of the book on that one). He took with him some platoon leaders, and his RTO, a buddy of mine named SGT Guinn. Most of what I know about his death came from my friend. Ritz came off the hill, and began to move towards the Cuban barracks, following a radio line. However he tripped a flare. The last thing that Guinn saw was Ritz standing there with his pistol raised in the glare of the magnesium. The Cubans opened up on the recon party, killing Ritz and wounding the lieutenants and Guinn. Guinn lay on the ground with a sucking chest wound. The Cubans ran up, saw that there was one dead and one wounded still remaining. They gave the Guinn first aid, then left him there and went back to their position. When B Company found out, they let loose with a violent attack. Our company was in support and we fired back with machineguns and sniper rifles. An air strike was called in and hit the Cubans with 20mm cannon. The Cubans withstood this attack for about an hour, and then surrendered. I remember Ritz being passed down the line by his men, carried to the aircraft that would return him home.

SSG Gary Epps, B Company, 2nd Battalion 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, killed in action, Grenada, 1983
Epps was a squad leader of a squad in Ritz’s company. After the attack on the Cuban compound there was equipment laying everywhere. This was day two of the operation. Unlike popular opinion, we did not outnumber the Cubans or the Grenadians at that time, and we had no intell. Epps decided to disable all of the large Cuban guns, so that they could not be used against the paratroopers as they moved on. Unfortunately Epps decided to use the Cuban’s grenades, which were actually Soviet grenades. His squad was near him as he pulled the pin. He was placing the grenade into a Soviet SPG-9 recoilless rifle when the grenade went off in his hand, killing him, and wounding others in his squad.

PVT Wesley McDavid, 3rd Ranger Battalion, killed in training accident, 1984
After the 3rd Ranger Battalion was formed in 1984 the whole unit went into a Ranger crash course. We did the Ranger school on a Battalion level. We went to Florida, went to Texas, and went to Dahlonega, Georgia. Private McDavid died in a climbing accident in the mountains of Georgia. He was 18.

PFC Russell Hobgood, 3rd Ranger Battalion, killed in training accident, 1985
To be in a Ranger Battalion is to be one of a very, very few men in the world. It is not the US Army Ranger School, which only lasts 72 days. It is to be a Ranger every day of your life. There is a saying, the Ranger Tab is just a badge, but the Scroll (the Ranger Battalion patch) is a way of life. You are one of the Spartans. You are the Mongodai.
The 3rd Battalion started out at the same time, so all the men knew each other very well. We had been in there for almost 2 years and had done all the training together. In my squad was a 19 year old kid by the name of Russell Hobgood. Hobgood was one of those gullible guys, who believe what you tell him is true. He always had a good word for folks, and did not look for the bad in anyone. He had married his high school sweetheart, and both had saved themselves for their marriage night. His wife, 18 years old, became pregnant and we were all happy for him.
The Rangers train very, very realistically, and almost always with live rounds. The Rangers also suffer more casualties in training than they ever do in war. On a live fire exercise, where our platoon would assault an objective, my squad was in support. We would lay down the base of fire while another platoon would assault. When we moved into position the grass was high, about 3 feet high, and many of the Rangers had to stand, crouch, or kneel to see the targets. We fired up the targets and were doing fine, then someone yelled, “cease fire! Someone is out there!!”. I got up and looked, annoyed that some stupid civilian or something had moved onto the area. However I saw nothing. I looked to where everyone was pointing and saw a movement by cement block. I ran to the block and saw it was a Ranger. I didn’t know who though because most of his face was covered in blood. I picked up pieces of his skull to hold in place, trying to stop the blood. The medic arrived and I moved back, wondering who it was. We were told to do a formation and check for accountability. After holding formation I discovered Hobgood was gone. The shock hit us hard. This was one of my squad, and we were stunned. As the medevac chopper carried him away I asked the medic how was he. He was dead. After the investigation it was determined that Hobgood had crawled to the block to get a better field of fire. However he crawled in front of an M-60 machinegun and two SAWs.
We stayed with his wife for almost a week. We lived in her house. We took care of her. We are Rangers. It is the bond that we have. His wife was pregnant, and had a son two months later. He was named Russell Hobgood, Junior.
I have heard she remarried another Ranger.
Sua Sponte

SGT Sean O'Kelley, 3rd Ranger Battalion, killed 1987
My brother was older than me. Two years older. He was the good looking one. He was the body builder who had trained with Franco Columbo, Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He joined the Marines after hearing of my exploits in the Army. He would have gone in the Army, but the Army recruiter talked about college and bonus pay. The Marine just told him that he may or may not make it. It was the challenge my brother wanted. In the Marines he was a Marine Sniper, and would have done a second tour in the Marines. However he was told he would be behind a desk at an air wing. Not for my brother. He got out and became a below waterline ship welder, and made good money. He was married once, and got divorced while in the Marines. He said women would be the death of him. He still liked the military lifestyle, so he went into the Special Forces Reserve in Tampa, Florida. He became a paratrooper. I think he still liked the lifestyle I was leading, so he joined the Army again, so he could be a Ranger. He easily finished Army basic (breaking a Drill SGTs arm in hand to hand combat training) and he went into the Rangers. I was in C Company, he was in B Company of the 3rd Ranger Battalion. Things went wrong when he remarried a wife of a Marine. She divorced him and married my brother. However about 4 weeks after he married her, she left him. A week later someone walked into his trailer in Fort Benning, GA, and shot him dead.
The Rangers escorted his body back to Tampa, Florida. It is the bond we have.
Sua Sponte

SSG Gregory Fronius, 7th Special Forces Group, killed in action, El Salvador, 1987
I don’t remember where I met Greg. He was in the forgotten war in El Salvador. It was as violent as the early days in Vietnam, but it wasn’t in the news at all. He was killed when the Nicaraguan backed rebels assaulted their base camp. From what the guys who were there told me, it was a scene out of Khe Sanh, with the enemy coming over the walls in waves. However, they were no match for the men manning the guns. Bodies were stacked up everywhere in front of the .50s. He was brought home, to a world that did not know he was even gone.
De Oppresso Liber

SGT Franklin Dennis Winters, 1st Ranger Battalion, killed in training accident, 1987
I knew Winters from some school that we had gone to. The Rangers are a small community. All go to the same school, and you keep bumping into each other throughout your military career and beyond. In the 1980s there was a constant threat of the Nicaraguans spreading into the rest of Central America. Reagan was president and he had the big stick. When he needed to he would wave it to keep the bad guys away. These operations, where you wave that big stick, is called a “show of force.” They happened all the time. Rangers or Special Forces would go to a disputed area and dare the bad guys to do something. If they did, retaliation would be violent. If not, then the impending violence would stop for a while. Winters was doing such a mission in Honduras. While in Honduras the Battalion was training to keep their warrior instincts honed. On one of these training missions mortar rounds landed on Rangers, instead of the target, killing Winters.
Sua Sponte

SGT Leonard Russ, Group Support Company, 5th Special Forces Group, killed, Saudi Arabia, 1991
In an amazing time of warrior kings and spectacular battles the 5th Special Forces Group did not suffer one man wounded or killed to enemy fire during Desert Storm. This is truly amazing if you knew of the missions they conducted behind the lines. SGT Russ was one of our support troops. He was not an operator, but instead was one of the men who helped us do those amazing missions. I think he was in the motor pool. Every man was armed at all times during the war. It was not written in stone that the Iraqis would just roll over. During the war we had been told about Nerve Gas, and the 4th largest army in the world in Iraq. We also were foot soldiers, not tankers. So we all thought that it was only a matter of time before the Iraqis would wipe out an A Team or drive to KKMC. ( They did attempt this, but only got as far as Khafgi). During the air war part of Desert Storm Russ was playing cards with a friend of his. His friend, joking around, drew out his pistol and told him he better not be cheating. The pistol went off, hitting Russ and killing him instantly.
He was our only casualty.
De Oppresso Liber

SGM Patrick Hurley, SFOD-D, killed in action, Iraq, 1991
I knew him as First Sergeant Hurley. He had come to the 3rd Ranger Battalion from that mythical place known as Delta Force. To advance in rank you sometimes had to do things outside of the world of action heroes. He was a quiet First Sergeant, but one of the best I ever had. He was the first sergeant of C Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion. I didn’t know his first name was Patrick until after he died. I always thought his first name was First Sergeant. During Desert Storm the Delta Force had a mission of finding the SCUD missiles. They would do this by zooming around the desert in their special vehicles, and then calling in air strikes, or just attacking them directly. On one mission the vehicle carrying SGM Hurley overturned, injuring some of the operators. Hurley was one of them. He had a back injury. A medevac was called in, which would take awhile where they were at. However, the medevac would come. It is the bond we have.
The injured men were loaded onto the chopper, but they still had to fly across the Iraqi air defense to get there. On the return trip the helicopter was shot down, killing all on board.
Sua Sponte

SFC Robert Deeks, 5th Special Forces Group, killed by a land mine, Somalia, 1993
Long before the battle of the Black Sea on October 3, 1993, there were men in Somalia. This was before Christianna Amanpour did her own version of Yellow Journalism and got us into a no win situation. After the initial US forces had arrived there were Special Forces teams were in the countryside, determining what is the best way to deal with the crap sandwich that had been given to us. On one of these missions Robert Deeks and his vehicle had run over a mine in the road. There were mines everywhere, and this was probably not intentional. The wheel of Deek’s HUMV had been blown off. There was another vehicle with them, and I was told that Deeks told them to move back to an area where the radio would work, and get help. I was not there, but I was told that Deeks did not tell them that he had been wounded too. Deeks was the medic of the A Team and began to work on the other men. He continued working on them, giving them comfort, and keeping them alive until help would arrive. All the time his life was draining out of him. He gave all he had to the men, so much so that they all survived. However he did not take care of his own wounds, and he died on that hot dry road in Somalia.
He was only given Legion of Merit, because this wasn’t a war (right?).
De Oppresso Liber

SFC Randy Shughart, SFOD-D, killed in action, Somalia, 3 October 1994
I knew Shughart from a Special Force school we had gone to together. He was in Delta at the time. Most of you know him now because of the movie, “Blackhawk Down”. Shughart was one of two men, the other being MSG Gary Gordon, who fastroped into the helicopter crash with Michael Durant. They knew they would not come out alive. There was no help. There was no relief. No storybook endings. They would die. However they went.
It is the bond we have.
Never leave a fallen comrade
They were last seen by their families being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu.
Both men received the Medal of Honor.
Citation: Sergeant First Class Shughart, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant First Class Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter, which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Sergeant First Class Shughart's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.
Last edited by rgrokelley on May 27th, 2010, 3:24 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by K.Ingraham »

RIP Comrades.
SSG Mark Alexander
MSG Tim Martin
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Post by Jim »

SSG Gregory Fronius, 7th Special Forces Group, killed in action, El Salvador, 1987
I don’t remember where I met Greg. He was in the forgotten war in El Salvador. It was as violent as the early days in Vietnam, but it wasn’t in the news at all. He was killed when the Nicaraguan backed rebels assaulted their base camp. From what the guys who were there told me, it was a scene out of Khe Sanh, with the enemy coming over the walls in waves. However, they were no match for the men manning the guns. Bodies were stacked up everywhere in front of the .50s. He was brought home, to a world that did not know he was even gone.
De Oppresso Liber
He was a brave man, I had the good fortune to serve with him. He died leading some Salvos in an exfiltrate out of the Quartel, which was being over-run. The next morning, the counterattack force reestablished control -- they found his body.

Earn This!
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Post by BruteForce »

Damn, rgrokelley.

That was an outstanding tribute, and I sincerely thank you for taking the time to post this.
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Post by rgrpuck »

Once again my brother you exceed the standard.....
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,

Post by Chiron »

That's what it's about.

I only wish that more people would "earn this" and stop expecting it to be served on a silver plater to them.

Thanks for the post it keeps things in perspective even to me.
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Post by rgrokelley »

BruteForce wrote:Damn, rgrokelley.

That was an outstanding tribute, and I sincerely thank you for taking the time to post this.
I can no longer leap tall buildings in a single bound, nor bend steel in my bare hands, like I did many years ago, but I can write.

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Thanks
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Post by Ranger Bill »

Nice words, rgrokelley.
WE NEED MORE RANGERS!

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Post by RetPara »

That was well done. I was the SDO at Regiment the night of Ranger Hobgood's death. In the years since I've wondered if his wife and unborn child had made it through the valley.
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Post by rgrokelley »

RetPara wrote:That was well done. I was the SDO at Regiment the night of Ranger Hobgood's death. In the years since I've wondered if his wife and unborn child had made it through the valley.
He was from Lompoc, California. I did a web search when I was researching my latest book, and I found out that a Russell Hobgood (the same name as his deceased dad) graduated High School there not too long ago. I figure that it is the same son, but I was never able to find out.
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Post by rgrokelley »

rgrokelley wrote:
RetPara wrote:That was well done. I was the SDO at Regiment the night of Ranger Hobgood's death. In the years since I've wondered if his wife and unborn child had made it through the valley.
He was from Lompoc, California. I did a web search when I was researching my latest book, and I found out that a Russell Hobgood (the same name as his deceased dad) graduated High School there not too long ago. I figure that it is the same son, but I was never able to find out.
Wow!

I'm sitting on my couch, resting from yesterday's 4th of July explosives/drinking thing, when I get a call. It is from Russell Hobgood II. He had read my comments about his dad at my website

http://bluehousetavern.com/

He didn't know any details about his dad, since his mom didn't want to bring it up. His mom had married twice, and had seven kids. He had gone into the army, but got mangled in basic training and was medically discharged.

Its up to me to fill him in on what happened to his dad.

Pretty wild.
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Post by Invictus »

rgrokelley wrote:
rgrokelley wrote:
RetPara wrote:That was well done. I was the SDO at Regiment the night of Ranger Hobgood's death. In the years since I've wondered if his wife and unborn child had made it through the valley.
He was from Lompoc, California. I did a web search when I was researching my latest book, and I found out that a Russell Hobgood (the same name as his deceased dad) graduated High School there not too long ago. I figure that it is the same son, but I was never able to find out.
Wow!

I'm sitting on my couch, resting from yesterday's 4th of July explosives/drinking thing, when I get a call. It is from Russell Hobgood II. He had read my comments about his dad at my website

http://bluehousetavern.com/

He didn't know any details about his dad, since his mom didn't want to bring it up. His mom had married twice, and had seven kids. He had gone into the army, but got mangled in basic training and was medically discharged.

Its up to me to fill him in on what happened to his dad.

Pretty wild.
Wow, pretty wild is an understatement.
Who better to share with this young man about his father than you.
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Post by rgrpuck »

I just tried to call you man.
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Re: Memorial Day

Post by rgrokelley »

[quote="rgrokelley"]1LT Robert Breitmayer, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, killed in Operation Gallant Eagle, 1982
Breitmayer was fairly new at the soldier business, however he advanced rapidly. He was the company XO when we jumped in Fort Irwin, California in 1982. That was the jump that had 5 men killed, and hundred “woundedâ€
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Re: Memorial Day

Post by rgrpuck »

rgrokelley wrote:1LT Robert Breitmayer, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 325th Infantry, 82nd Airborne Division, killed in Operation Gallant Eagle, 1982
Breitmayer was fairly new at the soldier business, however he advanced rapidly. He was the company XO when we jumped in Fort Irwin, California in 1982. That was the jump that had 5 men killed, and hundred wounded.
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