Posted on 08/14/2019 9:06:54 AM PDT by fugazi
1900: After fighting their way 80 miles from the port of Tientsin, an eight-nation relief force (the United States, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, Austria-Hungary, Germany, France, and Italy) arrives at the walls of Peking. A young Marine private named Dan Daly earns his first of two Medals of Honor during the battle by single-handedly holding off hundreds of Chinese soldiers. Meanwhile, U.S. Army Cpl. Calvin P. Titus (depicted above, holding flag) earns the Medal of Honor for volunteering to scale the city wall surrounding Peking. The troops break the siege, effectively bringing an end to the Boxer Rebellion.
In our nation’s history, only two Marines earned the Medal of Honor for two seperate actions — Dan Daly and Smedley Butler, both of whom fought at Peking. 18-year-old captain (having just received a brevet promotion for valor at Tientsin) Butler was wounded in this day’s action, and would say that Daly was “The fightin’est Marine I ever knew.”
1942: While ferrying P-38 Lightning fighters from Maine to England, Maj. John W. Weltman and 2nd Lt. Elza E. Shahan spot a German long-range reconnaissance plane gathering weather data and spotting convoys for the U-boats below. The pilots shoot down the Fw-200 Condor (sharing the credit), marking the first Army Air Force victory of World War II.
1945: The night before the United States accepts the surrender of Japan
(Excerpt) Read more at victoryinstitute.net ...
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Don't know how historically accurate it is (probably "not very"), but it's still Chuck Heston.
Great movie. Eva Gardner is absolutely stunning as a sassy Russian countess wearing Edwardian clothing.
I think it was fairly accurate in general but not in details.
I read an account of it written by a German soldier who had just been issued the new 98 Mauser.
He said that every time a U.S. Marine fired, a Boxer died. The marines were using the 6mm Lee Navy.
Is it a ‘war’ that should have been fought? Does the aim of getting foreigners out of one’s country put you on the side of villainy? If we tried to get rid of our illegal aliens and Islamic population, should other countries invade the US to put us back down?
Fascinating question. Depends on your moral compass; might makes right... divinely commanded to ethnically cleanse and conquer... defending your civilization from being wiped out... liberating the oppressed... there are a lot of motivating factors when it comes to war and how people justify or oppose it. Who is right and who is wrong isn’t as much of a defining factor as who can defeat the other.
Old Gimlet Eye, first published in 1933, is the biography of U.S. Marine Corp legend Smedley Butler (1881-1940). Butler, who at the time of his death was the most decorated Marine in U.S. History, joined the Marines at age 16 and took part in military actions in the Philippines, China, Central America, Mexico, Cuba, and France in World War I. The book ends with Butler’s retirement in 1931, but he would go on to become a leading critic against the unbridled power of monied interests in the United States, and their use of the military to achieve their own selfish ends. Author and journalist Lowell Thomas tells the story of Smedley in the first-person, and includes both the serious and lighthearted moments of Smedley’s long service, making for an enjoyable reading experience.
Smedley Butler was one of the finest soldiers our nation ever produced.
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