[fugazi]

ping list

[OKSooner]

"1941: Although the United States has not yet entered the war, U.S. Naval vessels are serving as convoy escorts. When a German U-boat wolfpack attacks an Allied convoy near Iceland, the American destroyer USS Reuben James places itself between an incoming torpedo and an ammunition ship. The torpedo detonates the destroyer’s magazine, blowing the Reuben James in half. 115 sailors perish in the first sinking of a U.S. warship in World War II."

I had never heard that story until today.

[Snickering Hound]

1972: Two Navy SEAL advisors and their South Vietnamese naval commando counterparts on a reconnaissance mission realize they were accidentally inserted smack dab in the middle of thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers.

As the team maneuvers back to the sea, they are compromised. Lt. Thomas Norris receives a massive facial wound, and a Vietnamese frogman tells Petty Officer Michael E. Thornton that Norris is dead.

Instead of leaving his supposedly fallen officer behind (Norris was alive – barely – but unconscious), Thornton fights his way through a murderous field of fire to rescue Norris, then swam out to sea for four hours before being rescued while holding two incapacitated teammates – even though Thornton himself had been wounded multiple times.

Thornton will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his incredible lifesaving feat.

[Rummyfan]

Today’s post is in honor of 1st Lt. Todd J. Bryant, who was killed by an improvised explosive device during a patrol in Fallujah, Iraq on this day in 2003. The 23-year-old native of Riverside, Calif. was assigned to 1st Battalion, 34th Armor Regiment, 1st Infantry Division and is one of nine graduates of the U.S. Military Academy’s Class of 2002 who gave their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Lt Bryant was one of the cadets / graduates featured in

In Time of War...

A very good read....