The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Operation Reckless (4/22/1944) - Sep 2nd, 2004

World War II Magazine | March 1994 | Al Hemingway

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

...................................................................................... ...........................................

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Leapfrogging the Coast

Bypassing Japanese strongholds at Wewak and Hansa Bay, General Douglas MacArthur chose instead a more daring plan--attacking Hollandia and Aitape.

A light drizzle fell as the assault troops from the U.S. 24th Infantry Division inched their way down the cumbersome rope ladders to the waiting landing craft below. Although hampered by rough seas, the LCVPs (landing crafts, vehicle and personnel) from the 542nd Engineer Boat and Shore Regiment were quickly filled, and the vessels promptly formed a line of departure to hit the beach.

At precisely 6 a.m., the ear-shattering roar of 8-inch shells from the cruisers HMAS Australia and HMAS Shropshire pierced the humid air. Immediately following came the cracks of the 5-inch and 4.7-inch rounds from U.S. and Australian destroyers positioned offshore. The attack on Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea, had begun.


General Douglas MacArthur

By the end of 1943, the Allied drive in the Pacific had two distinct strategic courses--one through the Southwest Pacific, and the other via the Central Pacific.

General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Forces, lobbied intensely for the seizure of the coastal areas around Formosa, Luzon and the China coast as staging areas for the attack on the Japanese mainland. He also wanted desperately to make good his promise to "return" to the Philippines.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, the commander of the Central Pacific Forces, had other ideas concerning the best way to defeat the Japanese. He opted to seize the Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa and then strike at the Japanese mainland.


Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

By mid-March the Joint Chiefs of Staff had reached the conclusion that both drives should continue during 1944. MacArthur's forces would continue to hop along the western New Guinea coast and leap to the Philippines by the end of 1944. Nimitz would neutralize the huge Japanese supply base at Truk and take the Marianas and Palau Islands by September.

Knowing that the Japanese were in great strength around Wewak and Hansa Bay, MacArthur proposed another plan. He wanted to bypass those sites and land at the lightly defended area surrounding Hollandia--a 580-mile jump that would isolate nearly 40,000 enemy troops on New Guinea.


41st Div. Troops Pour Ashore: New Guinea

While MacArthur's staff pored over maps and documents to see if such a hold leap was feasible, another problem arose: air coverage. Hollandia was out of range of General George C. Kenney's aircraft. The Japanese had land-based aircraft to the west that could prove disastrous both to the supply ships offloading on the beachhead and to the vulnerable troops wading ashore. But Nimitz had an answer to the dilemma: carrierbased aircraft. And in a directive to the admiral, dated March 12, the Joint Chiefs ordered him to give his full support to MacArthur's Hollandia operation.

Nimitz flew to Brisbane, Australia, to confer with MacArthur. On the surface, the two leaders were friendly. However, both were at loggerheads over fighter cover for the operation. Nimitz was deeply concerned about leaving his carriers susceptible to air raids off the coast of Dutch New Guinea, where the enemy was building airstrips. He told MacArthur that his carriers would remain in the area until D-day plus 3.



MacArthur had no choice but to accept those terms. He was disappointed because he wanted Nimitz's carriers to stay near Hollandia until D-day plus 8. By that time, engineers would hopefully have constructed an airfield so Kenney's planes could furnish an umbrella of air support for his troops.

The G-2 section of the Southwest Pacific Command finally arrived at a solution. The small town of Aitape, approximately 125 miles southeast of Hollandia, was selected to be overrun. The enemy had already built an airfield near the Tadji Plantation, eight miles from Aitape itself. Once the airdrome was seized, Kenney's planes could swing into action over Hollandia. Eight escort carriers, originally slated to accompany the bigger carriers at Hollandia, were diverted to the Aitape operation.

MacArthur's planners also had another reason to take Aitape--Allied forces could establish a barrier to protect the eastern flank of the assault units. If Aitape were not taken, the Japanese Eighteenth Army in eastern New Guinea could reinforce the Hollandia garrison once the attack was underway.



The invading forces were split into two groups. The Hollandia arm of the assault was commanded by Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger and code-named "Reckless." It consisted of the 24th and 41st Infantry divisions. Hollandia was located on Humboldt Bay and posed one problem: it had two sandspits, one running northwest and the other southeast from Humboldt Bay. A narrow channel between the two spits gave access to the New Guinea coast via Jautefa Bay, a small body of water inundated with mangrove swamps. Four landing beaches were designated: White 1, White 2 and White 3 were on the pair of low-lying sandspits; White 4 was on the western coast of Jautefa Bay and south of the village of Pim. The 41st Division, under Maj. Gen. Horace H. Fuller, drew the White 4 assignment.

Twenty-five miles west of Humboldt Bay was the other landing site in the Hollandia area: Tanahmerah Bay. The 24th Division, led by Maj. Gen. Frederick A. Irving, was scheduled to disembark on Red Beaches 1and 2 near Depapre Bay. A battalion from the 21 st Infantry Regiment was to move rapidly inland and report the condition of the terrain surrounding the Depapre area. The road leading to Lake Sentani and the airstrips was rugged and hilly and could pose a problem if the Japanese reorganized and set up ambushes and roadblocks along the way.



Meanwhile, in an assault code-named "Persecution," the 163rd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) from the 41st Division, headed by Brig. Gen. Jens A. Doe, was set to swoop down on the unsuspecting Japanese at Aitape, move on the Tadji airstrips as quickly as possible and give flank support to the Hollandia landings.

[SAMWolf]

On the gray, overcast morning of April 22, the LVCPs plodded their way to the beachhead on Tanahmerah Bay. Soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 19th Infantry, and 2nd Battalion, 21st Infantry, hastily set up a perimeter defense. There were no Japanese to oppose the infantrymen, and a concentrated push to the enemy's air, strips soon commenced.


13th Bomb Squadron landing within first 24-hours of arrival at Hollandia

By 8:30 a.m. on D-day, Lt. Col. Thomas E. Clifford's 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry, began its march up the Depapre-Lake Sentani Trail to seize the airstrips at Tadji Plantation. The terrified enemy had been taken completely by surprise and had fled when the 24th Division landed. Within several hours the battal, ion had secured the village of Mariboe. Clifford pushed his men and by noon had entered the village of Kantome. Fearing that a Japanese force might attack from the rear and sever his lines of communications, the cautious commander remained in Kantome for the night.

Clifford's fears were realized about midnight, when a small contingent of enemy soldiers attempted to penetrate the battalion's left flank. Tracers laced the darkness as the infantrymen fought to prevent the Japanese from getting to the rear and breaching their lines of defense. By dawn, the enemy had withdrawn.

CG disembarks troops near Hollandia

In the early morning light of April 23, the dogfaces of the 21st Infantry resumed their trek toward Tadji. Experiencing no resistance, the column moved past the village of Sabron. Two platoons from B Company crossed a small stream and stumbled into a Japanese ambush. Automatic weapons fire raked the platoon's ranks, killing four soldiers as the rest of the group found cover. Clifford radioed for air support from the fighters of Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher's Task Force 58, and soon three Hellcats were strafing the concealed positions. Additional firepower in the form of 81mm mortars and .50-caliber machine guns were also brought to bear on the Japanese.

Surprisingly, the fierce bombardment failed. Clifford dispatched several small patrols to outflank the enemy machine gun nests, but they, too, were turned back by heavy small-arms fire. Clifford withdrew his men to the village of Sabron while the mortars and 105mm howitzers from the 52nd Field Artillery Battalion pounded the entrenched Japanese. In return, enemy artillery shells from a 90mm anti-aircraft gun plagued the soldiers throughout the night. While the 1st Battalion was locked in combat with the enemy, the other two battalions moved up before nightfall without any incident.

U.S. NAVY LCT's DISCHARGING CARGO FOR THE AUST. 6th DIVISION.

Torrential rains fell on the 23rd, transforming the trail into a sea of thick, oozing mud. Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, already low on food and ammunition, would soon be without either unless resupplied quickly. A makeshift shuttle system composed of troops from other units was swiftly organized. Laden with boxes of ammunition on their backs, soldiers slipped and fell attempting to negotiate the slick jungle trails.

While the 1st Battalion was replenishing its supplies, the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry, sent out combat patrols to assess the situation. Carefully approaching the ambush site, the infantrymen discovered that all the enemy either had been killed in the mortar and artillery barrages or had made a hasty exit. Reassured that the Japanese had left the area, General Irving had the regiment consolidate its positions. Unfortunately, bad weather continued to hamper the resupply of forward elements, and a scheduled airdrop could not be made because of the rains. By the 26th, three infantry battalions, two anti-tank companies and two cannon companies were assigned the arduous task of resupplying their sister units.

Assault Waves At New Guinea

In spite of the supply situation, General Irving decided to continue with the push. Intelligence reported that the enemy was evacuating its positions near the airfields. Nevertheless, this was a hard decision on Irving's part because rain had made sections of the Depapre-Lake Sentani Trail impassable. If supplies did not reach his men, the results could be disastrous.

Just after dawn on April 26, the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 21st Infantry jumped off to seize the airfields. Apart from some sporadic resistance, the soldiers secured the eastern end of the field by late afternoon with relative ease, and Colonel Charles B. Lyman, regimental commander, radioed General Irving that the airstrips were in friendly hands. By nightfall the 2nd Battalion had moved up, and the entire regiment set up a perimeter defense around the Hollandia airdrome.

Under Heavy Fire At Aitape

While the 24th Division was busy at Tanahmerah Bay, the 41st Division was having an easier time of it at Humboldt Bay. At 7 a.m. on the 22nd, LCPRs (landing crafts, personnel, ramp) delivered the soldiers of Companies K and L, 3rd Battalion, 162nd Infantry, at White 1. Once the beachhead was secured, the remainder of the battalion scurried ashore.

A platoon from Company A, 1st Battalion, 162nd Infantry, set up a perimeter defense around Cape Pie, the extreme southern tip of the sandspit. Company 1, 3rd Battalion, 186th Infantry, did the same on the northern end. Two dominant hills, dubbed Pancake and Jarremoh, were quickly seized. Atop Pancake Hill, infantrymen uncovered an unused anti-aircraft gun.

The Hollandia landing had so shocked the Japanese that their shore defenses had left, leaving behind weapons and supplies.

By day's end the 41st Division had moved rapidly, taking all its assigned objectives at the cost of six killed and 16 wounded.

The following morning at 7:30 the 2nd and 3rd battalions, 162nd Infantry, began their advance toward Hollandia itself, and by late morning the town was in American hands. By April 26, patrols from the 186th Infantry had made contact with elements of the 21st Infantry. The pincer movement between the 24th and 41st divisions was complete.

[SAMWolf]

As the Hollandia operation was winding down to a successful conclusion, the Aitape part of MacArthur's scheme was heating up. As scheduled, the 2nd and 3rd battalions, 163rd RCT, of the Persecution Task Force hit Blue Beach on April 22. Or so they thought. Because of dense fog, visibility was extremely poor, and the assault forces landed at the wrong location. But Lady Luck was with the Americans that day. Their landing at the native village of Wapil soon proved beneficial for all concerned. The LSTs (landing ships, tank) and other supply vessels would be able to unload there much easier than at the landing site originally selected.


41st Infantry Patch

As the soldiers from the 163rd RCT scrambled ashore, they soon learned that the enemy had bolted to the hills as their peers had done at Hollandia. Uneaten breakfasts, still warm, and unmade bunks gave evidence that the Japanese had been caught with their pants down.

Without hesitation, General Doe set out to secure the Tadji airfields to support the troops 125 miles away in the Hollandia area. By nightfall both the fighter and bomber fields were captured. Engineers from the 872nd and 875th Aviation battalions quickly went to work on the bomber strip while the No. 62 Works Wing, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), began repairs on the fighter field. Laboring around the clock for 48 hours, the Aussies managed to fix the strip so that 25 Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks from the RAAF could land and commence combat operations.

With fighters patrolling the skies over Aitape and Hollandia, General Doe decided to expand his beachhead at Aitape and begin the second phase of his orders: observing enemy movement in the Wewak area toward Hollandia.


24th Infantry Patch

The movement of the 163rd progressed at a snail's pace. With no enemy resistance to speak of, Doe became increasingly agitated with the regimental commander's timidness. Frustrated, Doe petitioned Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger, commander of the Sixth Army, and requested that the colonel be relieved of his command. Krueger did so.

Aggressive patrolling coninued, and on April 28 and 29, Company L, 163rd Infantry, ran into an estimated 200 Japanese at the village of Kamti. The enemy conducted harassment attacks until Battery A, 126th Field Artillery, lobbed more than 200 rounds of 105mm shells into the village to disperse them. More than 90 Japanese bodies were found when the American soldiers reentered Kamti. This was the only organized Japanese effort to attack in the western sector of Aitape. On April 23, elements of the 127th RCT landed in Aitape to bolster the ground forces there. On May 4, Maj. Gen. William H. Gill, 32nd Division commander, came ashore with the 126th RCT Gill ordered the 126th RCT to hold the western sector, and he gave the 12th RCT the eastern sector to defend. All this reorganization came none too soon for the defenders of Aitape. There were indications that Lt. Gen. Hatazo Adachi's Eighteenth Army was driving westward from Wewak to retake the Tadji airfields.


"Pannel Job" cruises over the Tadji area just after Operation RECKLESS, the invasion of Hollandia

U.S. forces took immediate steps to thwart the Japanese threat. Colonel Merle H. Howe, commanding officer of the 127th RCT, was told to hold the east sector and "maintain contact with the enemy, discover enemy intentions, and delay any westward movement on the part of elements of the Eighteenth Army."

Forward outposts were established at Anamo and Nyaparake along the coast and at Chinapelli and Afua farther inland. Intelligence stated that elements of the Japanese 20th Division had been sighted erecting fighting positions on the east bank of the Danmap River. The Japanese 41st Division was also believed to have arrived in the same area. Large groups of enemy soldiers were spotted by reconnaissance aircraft between the villages of Danmap and Wewak.


Lt. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger

Howe sent a reinforced rifle company from the 1st Battalion, 127th RCT, to Nyaparake and Babiang, about eight mites farther up the coast at the mouth of the Dandriwad River. The 2nd Battalion, 127th RCT took positions at Chinapelli, Palauru and Afua, approximately 10 mites inland. Finally, the 3rd Battalion, 127th. RCT, set up permanent positions at Anamo, located at the mouth of the Driniumor River, and at Afua also.

The Nyaparake force, led by Captain Tally D. Fulmer and comprised of Company C and elements of Company D, started combat patrols on May 7. And the Japanese were waiting.


Crossing Raihu River, Aitape

After a brisk firefight with a Japanese patrol, Fulmer's men continued their eastward push up the Old German Road, a path that paralleled the coastal trait and was so named because of the German presence in that I part of New Guinea prior to World War 1. The infantrymen trudged on for 5,000 yards, under sporadic fire most of the way. Upon their return to Babiang, Fulmer came to the realization that the Japanese were trying to encircle him and cut off his troops from the main body. Fulmer radioed Colonel Howe at his command post and requested airstrikes along both the Old German Road and the coastal trail. Howe concurred, and the next day eight P-40s from the RAAF hammered the two roads and bombed Marubian, a suspected enemy staging area. One platoon from the Nyaparake force occupied Marubian with no fight; the remainder of the soldiers drove in an easterly direction to determine enemy intentions. Driven back by intense enemy automatic weapons fire, the 3rd Platoon observed a platoon-size enemy force proceeding into the jungle. Hearing this, Fulmer moved the rest of the Nyaparake force to Marubian to continue its drive.



On May 12, 3rd Platoon again started to advance, but Japanese machine-gun fire brought it to an abrupt halt. The next day, the 2nd Platoon joined the 3rd Platoon, along with a section of 81mm mortars and .50-caliber machine guns, and resumed its advance along the same trail where the 3rd Platoon had met the enemy the previous day. For nearly a half-hour the heavy mortars and machine guns delivered preparatory fire. When firing ceased, the 3rd Platoon moved 500 yards along the coastal trail with ease. Meanwhile, the 2nd Platoon ran into stiff opposition as they struggled through thick underbrush over unforgiving terrain. The dense growth also restricted visibility to a mere five to 10 yards.

Seeing the 2nd Platoon's dilemma, Captain Fulmer ordered it to withdraw and link up with the 3rd Platoon, then assault the enemy from the southeast. The two platoons moved quickly, overrunning a supply dump and first-aid station before hitting intense enemy automatic weapons fire once again. Fulmer instructed his force to regroup and dig in for the night because he anticipated an attempt by the Japanese to hit his perimeter as soon as the sun went down.

Additional Sources:

www.skylighters.org
www.vitechgroup.com.au
www.thewarpage.com
www.history.navy.mil
www.geocities.com/swansondd443
www.aerothentic.com
www.uscg.mil
www.25thida.com
www.dtic.mil
www.4point2.org
www.foxvalleyhistory.org
www.army.mil
www.fadedgiant.net
www.leisuregalleries.com
www.ibiblio.org
www.ngb.army.mil
www.brooksartprints.com
www.elmendorf.af.mil
www.homeofheroes.com

[SAMWolf]

In the early morning hours of May 14, the inky blackness erupted with the flashes and hammering of gunfire. Grenades and mortar shells hurtled into the perimeter. Suddenly, screams of "Banzai" rent the night air as an estimated 100 to 200 Japanese from the 78th Infantry, 20th Division, dashed toward the lines of the 3rd Platoon along the coast. The soldiers of the Nyaparake force unleashed a flurry of grenades, mortars and rifle fire on the attackers and broke up the sudden onslaught. Slipping back into the jungle, the determined Japanese tried once again, this time from a southeasterly direction, about an hour later. And once again the infantrymen poured automatic weapons fire, grenades and mortars into the ranks of the frenzied enemy and drove them back. But the Japanese were not through. just before dawn, they undertook still a third assault on the entire eastern portion of Fulmer's lines, but as before, this, too, was dispersed.


Unloading LST's, Red Beach 2 (Hollandia).

In the morning, Company A, 127th RCT arrived, headed by Captain Herman Boucher, to relieve the tired soldiers of Fulmer's Nyaparake force. Fulmer insisted that with a rifle platoon from Company A he could resume his eastward trek. General Gill and Colonel Howe disagreed. Their main concern was resupplying a force of that size far from the main body. Gill's primary mission was to safeguard the Tadji airfields, not conduct offensive operations against the enemy. Gill issued orders that the Nyaparake force be relieved by Boucher's Company A, which was to set up a defensive line on the west side of the Dandriwad River.

Company A commenced digging in at Ulau Mission, near the mouth of the Dadriwad River, while the Nyaparake force stayed, temporarily at least, at Marubian. However, it was soon discovered that the enemy was maneuvering between the two units in an attempt to annihilate them both. Gill quickly dispatched small naval craft from his boat units to pick up the two forces and return them to Nyaparake, farther west along the coast.


Pointing his gun at a hole in a log, a U.S. soldier in the Aitape area of Dutch New Guinea orders a Japanese soldier inside to surrender. The enemy soldier, one of thousands trapped by Allied forces in the Aitape jungles, was shot trying to resist capture.

Companies C and D, the original Nyaparake force, were replaced by Company A, 127th RCT, and the 32nd Reconnaissance Troop and placed under the command of Captain Boucher. Boucher's men soon found themselves surrounded. Escaping the trap, the Nyaparake force made its way to safety and dug in near the village of Yakamul.

There was no doubt that the enemy was moving toward Tadji, and General Gill promptly dispatched the 1st Battalion, 126th RCT, and Batteries B and C from the 126th Field Artillery to support the infantry. Lieutenant Colonel Cladie A. Bailey, commander of the 1st Battalion, 126th RCT, sped toward Yakamul, driving the Japanese westward. Meanwhile, Company G, 127th RCT, took over Boucher's positions, and his men went to the rear for some well-deserved rest.

Bailey divided his forces: Company A, part of Company D, and Headquarters Company, led by Captain Gile A. Herrick and designated the Herrick force, remained at Yakamul to patrol toward the Toricelli Mountains. Meanwhile, Bailey would take the remainder of the battalion, named the Bailey Force, and reconnoiter the coastline.


4.2-inch chemical mortar in action

The Japanese struck the Herrick force on the evening of June 1 and 2. On June 3, the enemy made a few thrusts at Company A's perimeter, which was isolated from the rest of the unit by a stream about 4 feet deep and 10 to 50 yards wide. Other enemy troops moved between the Herrick force and the perimeter of Company G, 127th RCT Finally, on June 4, a company-size contingent of Japanese exploded from the jungle and lunged at the perimeter between Company A and the Herrick force. Herrick's troops sent volleys of automatic weapons fire at the enemy before they retreated. When the attack petered out, Herrick ordered Company A to move to Yakamul because he feared the company would be overrun. During the Company A withdrawal, the Japanese did seize some of its machinegun positions. A wild rush ensued as the rest of the company made a mad dash across the stream to Herrick's lines. In their haste, the company left nearly 25 dead and wounded plus weapons and equipment behind. Throughout the night, the Japanese probed the perimeter and pounded the compound with grenades and mortars.

Hearing of Herrick's predicament, Brig. Gen. Clarence A. Martin, assistant division commander of the 32nd Division, hurriedly sent Bailey force to rescue the Herrick force. Realizing the urgent need for haste, the commander sent small boats speeding up the coast, accompanied by an LCM (landing craft, mechanized) for supporting fire, to pick up the beleaguered soldiers. While the LCM battered enemy positions with rocket and machine-gun fire, Herrick's men clambered aboard the small boats to safety. Losses for the 1st Battalion, 126th RCT, were high: 18 killed, 75 wounded and eight missing. Japanese casualties were estimated at about 100 dead and wounded.



While the fierce fighting raged in the east, to the west the Hollandia airdrome was in full operation. It was already reaping benefits as an excellent naval, air and logistical jumping off point for future combat operations in western New Guinea.

Meanwhile, the eastern sector near Aitape was a hotly contested region. Pulling back to the Driniumor River, the foot soldiers found patrolling increasingly hazardous as the Japanese Eighteenth Army flowed into the area. Elements of the 128th RCT soon landed to support the 126th and 127th RCTs and await the coming of the Japanese.

[SAMWolf]

SUPPORT FOR UPCOMING ELECTION

If you support the policies and character that our current President, George W. Bush, stands for, please drive with your headlights on during the day this coming Sunday.

If you support John Kerry, please drive with your headlights off at night.

---

John Kerry told the world we were war criminals who raped, tortured and murdered in Vietnam. Now, thirty-three years later, we will tell America the truth.

Join us at the rally we call:

What: A peaceful remembrance of those with whom we served in Vietnam - those who lived and those who died.
We will tell the story of their virtues and how that contrasts with the lies told by John Kerry.

When: Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004 @ 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT

Where: The West Front of the U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC

All Vietnam veterans and their families and supporters are asked to attend. Other veterans are invited as honored guests. This will be a peaceful event--no shouting or contact with others with different opinions. We fought for their rights then, and we respect their rights now. This is NOT a Republican or a pro-Bush rally. Democrats, Republicans and independents alike are warmly invited.

Our gathering is to remember those with whom we served, thereby giving the lie to John Kerry's smear against a generation of fine young men. B.G. "Jug" Burkett, author of "Stolen Valor," will be one of our speakers. Jug has debunked countless impostors who falsely claimed to be Vietnam veterans or who falsely claimed awards for heroism. Jug recommends that we refrain from dragging fatigues out of mothballs. Dress like America, like you do every day. Dress code: business casual, nice slacks, and shirt and shoes. No uniform remnants, please. Unit hats OK.

Selected members will wear badges identifying them as authorized to speak to the media about our event. Others who speak to the media will speak only for themselves.

The program will be controlled in an attempt to stay on-message. Speakers are encouraged not to engage in speculative criticism of John Kerry but (1) to stick to known and undisputed facts about John Kerry’s lies while (2) reminding America of the true honor and courage of our brothers in battle in Vietnam.

Send this announcement to 10 or more of your brothers! Bring them by car, bus, train or plane! Make this event one of pride in America, an event you would be proud to have your mother or your children attend.

Contact: kerrylied.com

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Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

---

UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004



The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

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[snippy_about_it]

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[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy

[snippy_about_it]

Good thread Sam. Thanks and good night.

[Neil E. Wright]

Hiya Kids, Just stopping in for a quick cold brew. You people have the coldest beer in town, and the coolest threads, I really enjoy the history on these threads. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
NOW WHO THE HE!! IS THAT GRUNT ON MY BARSTOOL?????

±

"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Neil

Darksheare makes sure the beer stays cold

NOW WHO THE HE!! IS THAT GRUNT ON MY BARSTOOL?????

Oh Oh Darksheare, now you've done it!

[Iris7]

Nice piece, SAM. Used to be very familiar with the campaign up to Buna. Always wanted to walk the battlefields in New Guinea.

I notice that our people ran a good operation. Not the least sign of things that dishearten. Brings quiet satisfaction.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[The Mayor]

September 2, 2004

Faith Mixed With Doubt

Read: Psalm 42

Why are you cast down, O my soul? . . . Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him. —Psalm 42:11

Bible In One Year: Psalms 137-139; 1 Corinthians 13

---

When my close friend Sharon was killed in a car accident, my heart broke. I'm ashamed to admit it, but when life's circumstances hurt so much, my faith is often mixed with doubt. When Sharon died, I cried out to God with these questions:

Lord, I sure don't understand You. Why did You allow this death? "Have you not heard? The everlasting God . . . neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable" (Isaiah 40:28). "My thoughts are not Your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways" (Isaiah 55:8).

Lord, You are beyond my understanding. But I still wonder, have You turned Your back on the world? "God sits on His holy throne" (Psalm 47:8) and "rules by His power forever" (66:7).

Lord, I do believe You are ruling this world, but do You care about the pain? Have You forgotten to be good? I am "good and ready to forgive, and abundant in mercy to all those who call upon [Me]" (Psalm 86:5).

Yes, Lord, You have been good to me in countless ways, including listening to my doubts and questions about You.

The answers God gives us in His Word may not take away our sadness, but we can always rest in the truth that He is wise, sovereign, and good. —Anne Cetas

God understands your heartache,
He knows the bitter pain;
O trust Him in the darkness,
You cannot trust in vain. —Smith

Every loss leaves an empty space that only God's presence can fill.

[alfa6]

Another Reckless Foxhole BUMP!!!!

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[manna]

Present!

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.
From the vast Alfa6 files

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[Samwise]

G'morning PE!

[Soaring Feather]

Lovely Flag-o-gram today, PE, thank you.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 02:
1661 Georg Bohm German organist/composer
1837 James Harrison Wilson, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1925
1838 Queen Lydia Kamekeha Liliuokalani last queen of Hawaii (1891-93)
1839 Henry George land reformer/writer (Progress & Poverty)
1850 Albert Spaulding baseball player/founded Spaulding sports company
1853 Wilhelm Ostwald Germany, physical chemist (Nobel 1909)
1856 Yang Hsiu-ch'ing commander in chief of the Taiping Rebellion
1866 Hiram Johnson (Gov-Progressive-Cal)
1884 Frank Laubach Benton Pa, educator, taught reading through phonetics
1901 Adolph Rupp, basketball coach at the University of Kentucky who achieved a record 876 victories.
1917 Cleveland Amory Nahant Mass, conservationist/TV reviewer (TV Guide)
1918 Allen Drury author (Advise & Consent-1960 Pulitzer Prize)
1918 Martha Mitchell wife of Attorney General John Mitchell
1919 Marge Champion LA Calif, dancer (Marge & Gower Champion Show)
1936 Joan Kennedy 1st wife of Mass Senator, Ted
1937 Peter Ueberroth organized 1984 LA Olympics/baseball commissioner
1940 Jimmy Clanton Baton Rogue, La, rock vocalist (Just a Dream)
1943 Rosalind Ashford Detroit,vocalist (Martha Reeve & Vandellas)
1944 Claude Nicollier Vevey Switzerland, astronaut (STS 61-K, sk: 46)
1948 Sharon Christa Corrigan McAuliffe teacher/astronaut (Challenger)
1948 Terry Bradshaw NFL QB (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1951 Mark Harmon Burbank Calif, actor (Dr Caldwell-St Elsewhere)
1951 Michael Gray Chicago Ill, actor (Ronnie-Brian Keith Show)
1952 Jimmy Connors tennis brat (US Open-78,82,83 Wimbledon-74,82)
1964 Keanu Reeves actor (Speed)

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Deaths which occurred on September 02:
1384 Louis I, duke of Anjou/king of Naples (Battle of Poitiers)
1547 Hernan Cortes Spanish general defeated Aztec Indians
1862 Thornton F Brodhead, US lawyer/politician/brig-general, dies at 40
1937 Baron Pierre de Coubertin revivor of Olympics, dies at 74
1964 Francisco H Craveiro Lopes, Portuguese gen/pres (1951-58), dies at 70
1964 Morris Ankrum, actor (Kronos, Earth vs Flying Saucers), dies at 67
1969 President Ho Chi Minh of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam dies of a heart attack
1970 Allan Walker actor/writer (Red Buttons Show), dies at 64
1973 J R R Tolkien, British story writer
1982 Jay Novello actor, dies of cancer at 78
1994 Richard M Major, US anti-terror specialist (CIA Red Book), dies at 72
1997 Viktor Frankl, psychotherapist (Man's Search for Meaning), dies at 92

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1963 CRUZ RAPHAEL STOCKTON CA.
[GROUP BURIAL? REM RET 10/30/96]
1963 MC KINNEY NEIL BERNARD MUNCIE IN.
[LAST RADIO CONTACT VIC ZB061805 REM RET 10/30/96]
1963 PURCELL HOWARD PHILIP LANSDOWNE PA.
[LAST RADIO CONTACT VIC ZB061805 REM RET 10/30/96]
1965 COLLINS JAMES Q. CONCORD NC.
02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 BENNETT WILLIAM G. BIRMINGHAM AL.
[SURVIVAL UNLIKELY]
1972 GREENWOOD ROBERT R. JR. PORTSMOUTH VA.
1972 HEROLD RICHARD W. PLATTSBURGH NY.
1972 WOOD WILLIAM C. JR. PARIS TN.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0490 BC Phidippides runs 1st marathon, seeking aid from Sparta vs Persia
0031 BC Battle of Actium; Octavian defeats Antony, becomes Emp Augustus
0911 Viking monarch Oleg of Kiev, Russia signs treaty with Byzantines
1192 Sultan Saladin & King Richard the Lion Hearted sign cease fire
1620 The Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth with 102 Pilgrims.
1666 Great Fire of London starts; destroys St Paul's Church
1732 Pope Clement XII renews anti-Jewish laws of Rome
1752 Last day of Julian calendar in Britain, British colonies
1789 US Treasury Department established by Congress
1792 Paris masses remove nobles/clergymen out of jails and slaughter them
1859 Gas lighting introduced to Hawaii
1864 Union General William T Sherman captures Atlanta
1870 Napoleon III surrenders to Prussian armies
1894 Forest fires destroy Hinckley Minnesota: about 600 die
1898 Lord Kitchener retakes Sudan for Britain
1898 Machine gun 1st used in battle
1901 VP Theodore Roosevelt advises, "Speak softly & carry a big stick"
1919 Communist Party of America organized in Chicago
1922 Pres Ebert declares "Deutschland uber alas" as German national anthem
1927 Rumour starts that Yankee Lou Gehrig will be traded to Tigers
1930 1st non-stop airplane flight from Europe to US (37 hrs)
1935 A hurricane slams the Florida Keys killing 423
1936 1st transatlantic round-trip air flight
1940 Great Smoky Mountains National Park dedicated
1941 Academy copyrights Oscar statuette
1944 Anne Frank (Diary of Anne Frank), is sent to Auschwitz
1944 During WW II, George Bush ejects from a burning plane
1945 Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independence from France (National Day)
1945 V-J Day; formal surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri (WWII ends)
1946 Johnny Neun replaces Bill Dickey as Yankee manager
1949 Fire in riverfront area kills 1,700 (Chungking China)
1954 Hurricane Edna batters NE US, killing 20
1957 Milwaukee Braves' Frank Torre scores 6 runs in 1 game
1956 Tennessee National Guardsmen halt rioters protesting the admission of 12 African-Americans to schools in Clinton.
1963 Alabama Gov George C Wallace prevents integration of Tuskegee HS
1963 CBS & NBC expand network news from 15 to 30 minutes
1964 Norman Manley scores 2-consecutive holes-in-one at Del Valley, Cal
1971 Cesar Cedeno hits an inside-the-park grand slammer
1978 Graham Salmon set the worlds record for 100 meters by a blind man
1978 John McClain performs 180 outside loops in an airplane over Houston
1978 Reggie Jackson is 19th player to hit 20 HR in 11 straight years
1983 Yitzhak Shamir (Herut) endorsed by Menachem Begin for Israelli PM
1986 Cathy Evelyn Smith sentenced to 3 years for death of John Belushi
1987 Donald Trump takes out a full page NY Times ad lambasting Japan
1987 Kevin Bass is 1st NLer to switch hit HRs in a game twice in 1 season
1987 West German pilot Mathias Rust, who flew a private plane from Helsinki Finland, to Moscow's Red Square, goes on trial in Russia
1988 Amnesty International's Human Rights Now! tour begins in Wembley
1989 Rev Al Sharpton leads a civil rights march through Bensonhurst
1991 Jerry Lewis' 26th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $45 Million

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Vietnam : Independence Day (1945)
USA : National Sleepwalking Day.
International Gay Square Dance Month
National Spanish Green Olive Week (Day 5)
National Religious Reference Books Week (Day 5)
Victory in Japan Day (V-J Day)
Bourbon Month

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Religious Observances
Luth : Commemoration of Bp Nikolai Grundtvig, renewer of the Church
Old Catholic : Feast of St Stephen, 1st King of Hungary
Christian : Feast of St William, English bishop, apostle to Danes
RC : Commem of Bl Andre Grasset, Canadian Holy Cross brother
Saint Agricola of Avignon Feast Day
Ang : Feast of the martyrs of New Guinea

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Religious History
1758 The first Anglican service of worship to be held on Canadian soil was led by Rev. Robert Wolfall at Frobisher Bay, on Baffin Island.
1784 English clergyman Thomas Coke, 37, was consecrated, the first "bishop" of the Methodist Episcopal Church, by founder John Wesley. Coke afterward journeyed to America, where he and Francis Asbury oversaw Methodism in the Colonies.
1930 While a missionary in the Philippines, American linguistic pioneer Frank Laubach wrote in a letter: 'God is always awaiting the chance to give us high days. We so seldom are in deep earnest about giving him his chance.'
1949 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.'
1973 Death of J.R.R. Tolkien, 81, English Christian language scholar and novelist. His 1954-55 "Lord of the Rings" trilogy describes a war between good and evil in which evil is routed through courage and sacrifice.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"Etiquette tip: More people will get out of your way if you say "I'm gonna puke!" than if you say "Excuse me."

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Translating Southern United States Slang to English...
RANCH - noun. A tool.

Usage: "I think I left my ranch in the back of that pickup truck my brother from Jawjuh bard a few munts ago."

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Things a Cat Thinks About...
Hmmm ... If dogs serve humans, and humans serve cats, why can't we cats ever get these STUPID dogs to do anything for us?!

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Politically Correct Terms for Females...
She does not have a great butt,
she is gluteus to the maximus

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Bumper Stickers...
Your kid may be an honor student but your still stupid!

[Samwise]