Posted on 08/18/2004 10:41:00 AM PDT by johnny7
Every war has them. The combat bullshit artists who go to elaborate extremes aggrandizing their military exploits for profit or promotion. In the Battle of the Little Big Horn, there were hundreds of these pathetic individuals but none with the creative flair of Theodore W. Goldin.
Mr. Goldin enlisted as a private in the 7th Cavalry on April 8th, 1876, just two months before that fateful Sunday when Custer's five companies would face off with 3000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors. He would be assigned to Company G, commanded by Lieutenant Donald MacIntosh who served under Major Marcus Reno during the battle. They did not go with Custer to his demise but rather, they retreated after charging and being repulsed by an overwhelming number of 'hostiles'. However, Mr. Goldwin was only seventeen when he enlisted. Army records indicate Goldin was discharged in August of 1877 for giving fraudulent enlistment information. In 1904, Theodore Goldin began his his own Kerry/Apocalypse Now quest for glory.
It begins here: There were only two troopers that Custer sent out as messengers. Sgt. Kanipe and trooper Martin(Martini). Kanipe was sent to Capt. Thomas McDougall's Company D who commanded the pack-train and Martin to Capt. Frederick Benteen who had command of three reserve companies. Mr. Goldin claimed that he was yet another messenger... the first one(he claims) Custer sent out and that he was ordered to find Reno. He states that he was re-assigned to the 7th's Headquarters unit before the Sioux Campaign for 'clerical work'. The fact being that Reno never received ANY communication from Custer after the order to attack the village did not deter Mr. Goldin one bit... men die or forget after 30 years and I'm sure he counted on this.
It was Col. W. A. Graham, United Staes Army (retired) who picked up on Theodore Goldin's 'flirt-with-fiction' in his classic text, The Custer Myth, published in 1953. In a series of letters recieved by him from various survivors of the 1876 debacle, Graham was able to discredit Goldin's visions of the grandois. Officers and enlisted men swore that Reno recieved no messengers from Custer. Reno used this in his appearance at The Court of Inquiry against allegations of cowardice . Goldin was a bullshitter. But Theodore W. Goldin did not just make one attempt at fabricating the past... he did it again, big-time in his bid for The Medal of Honor!
In 1882, Theodore W. Goldin was elected to office in Green County, Wisconsin. He later became Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee in 1896, 20 years after his participation in the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It was then that 'Theo' got the cajone's to put in for The Medal of Honor. He could not do this on his own so he had a Wisconsin acquaintance who happened to be the Assistant Secretary of War do it for him.
You see, 18 troopers recieved The Medal of Honor at the Little Big Horn fiasco. They were described as 'the water party'. When the wounded began howling for water during the Indian seige of the Reno/Benteen perimeter, these troopers made mad dashes down a steep slope to the river. It was a crap shoot when it came to getting killed or wounded. These 18 men received the highest medal immediately after the battle in 1877. They had volunteered. Goldin was not among them. Whatever actually happened, Theodore was awarded The Medal of Honor for volunteering to go for water. Was it earned honestly given the fact it was 20 years after the matter and that many old cavalry vets grumbled and discounted it as a 'political privelige'?
Today in 2004, 35 years after John Kerry's Viet Nam combat service, the Goldin saga seems to strike a chord.
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GARRY OWEN, Sir (U.S. 7th Cavalry Salute)
The U.S. 7th Cavalry's 2nd Battle of the Litte Big Horn = Victory in Vietnam
http://www.lzxray.com
Christmas in Vietnam 4-Real
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set2.htm
(See last Photo)
Christmas in America 4-Real
http://www.lzxray.com/Ronnie3.jpg
(See Photo)
Signed:.."ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer
Veteran-U.S. 7th Cavalry's Battle of the IA DRANG Valley/Vietnam-1965
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set1.htm
Contributing Author-'MODERN DAY HEROES-In Defense of America'
http://www.ModernDayHeroes.com/aloha
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US. 7th Cavalry "WE WERE SOLDIERS" Forum:
http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=8
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MEL GIBSON at the U.S. 7th Cavalry's Battle of IA DRANG-1965
http://www.WeWereSoldiers.com
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I recall hearing that years ago - they were sure handing them out like candy that day... Wow.
I've known a few vets who did things of extreme valor during combat but I did not find out until their demise. All I ever knew was that they had served.
When they died, their medals laid on their caskets and later, their widows and siblings told me of their actions.
As you often say... NEVER FORGET!
You think Custer saw a lot of Indians, you just wait 'til they count the Daschelle vote in November...
LOL....
They didn't have any other medals back then, so often a MOH would be awarded for what would get just a Bronze or Silver Star today.
Hey Ronnie. Did Teddy get that hat from some CIA guy he snuck into Laos in his Swift Olds? ;~))
Looks like he was only "half" the man he is today.
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Thank you for posting my young Senator TED KENNEDY Vietnam Photo. He was on a October 1965 Congressonal Junket surveying the temporary displacement of Vietnamese Villagers resulting from our 1st Military Operations of the war.
The Hat he is wearing in the photo taken at our 1st Cavalry Airmobile Headquarters was given to him by the Australian Army Unit in-country he had toured before us.
This was all long before TED KENNEDY went a "little" crackers, of course.
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Who was that character on the TV show "F Troop" who always boasted of fighting beside Davy Crockett at the Alamo?
It is Troop 'F' of the Massachusetts State Police that guards Logan Airport. These are highly-trained troopers. They are all at least 75 lbs. overweight, over 50 years of age and soon to be retiring on at least $50,000 a year pensions.
GOLDIN, THEODORE W.
Rank and organization: Private, Troop G, 7th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Little Big Horn, Mont., 26 June 1876. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 25 July 1855, Avon, Rock County, Wis. Date of issue: 21 December 1895. Citation: One of a party of volunteers who, under a heavy fire from the Indians, went for and brought water to the wounded .
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