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Posted on 01/15/2005 6:52:06 PM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 The Medal of Honor One of the many instances of supreme soldiering in the New Year’s Nordwind engagement is the action of Sergeant Charles MacGillivary. MacGillivary came to the United States when he was 16, from Prince Edward Island, Canada. He took up residence with his older brother in Boston. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, he volunteer for the army. As he told the United States Senate Subcommittee on Immigration 50 years later, when he was in boot camp in Massachusetts, "an officer asked me and two other immigrants ... whether we wanted to become U.S. citizens. [They took us] to a federal courthouse and [swore us] in before a judge. I thought that if I was going to fight for this country, I should be a U.S. citizen." On New years Day, Company I, 71st Regiment, was alerted and ordered to move one mile to be in a position in the event of an enemy breakthrough within the Regimental area. As the Company was proceeding along the road from Wolfling to Gros Rederching, MacGillivary, the squad leader in the second platoon, was given the mission of protecting the left flank. Sergeant MacGillivary, alone, closed in from the left flank and reported the enemy, grenadiers of the 17th Waffen SS Division, digging in.  A few minutes later the enemy opened fire with machine guns, halting the advance. Company K was given the mission to come around the right flank and knock out the opposition. Sgt MacGillivary knowing the position of the enemy, volunteered for a solo patrol and went around the left flank in the rear of one enemy machine gun. With his M1 rifle, at the distance of three feet, killed both the gunner and his assistant. Company I continue to its forward assembly area. By his own initiative and prompt action, after giving knowledge of enemy positions and their fire sectors, he prevented great loss of life to our troops. As Company I went into attack again, it came under heavy machine gun fire. Sergeant MacGillivary, again upon his own initiative, knowing the enemy positions, crawled alone towards the nests of six machine guns, which had halted the attacking force and destroyed three machine gun teams, killing all of them before he himself became seriously wounded by a fourth machine gun. The Sergeant lost one arm as a result of this action. For this extraordinary heroic action, with utter disregard for his own personal safety, his aggressiveness and self sacrifice above and beyond the call of duty, Sgt MacGillivary was awarded the nations highest honor, The Medal of Honor. in the name of The Congress takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to MacGlLLlVARY, CHARLES A.  Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 71st Infantry, 44th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Woelfling, France, 1 January 1945. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: “He led a squad when his unit moved forward in darkness to meet the threat of a breakthrough by elements of the 17th German Panzer Grenadier Division. Assigned to protect the left flank, he discovered hostile troops digging in. As he reported this information, several German machineguns opened fire, stopping the American advance. Knowing the position of the enemy, Sgt. MacGillivary volunteered to knock out 1 of the guns while another company closed in from the right to assault the remaining strong points. He circled from the left through woods and snow, carefully worked his way to the emplacement and shot the 2 camouflaged gunners at a range of 3 feet as other enemy forces withdrew. Early in the afternoon of the same day, Sgt. MacGillivary was dispatched on reconnaissance and found that Company I was being opposed by about 6 machineguns reinforcing a company of fanatically fighting Germans. His unit began an attack but was pinned down by furious automatic and small arms fire. With a clear idea of where the enemy guns were placed, he voluntarily embarked on a lone combat patrol. Skillfully taking advantage of all available cover, he stalked the enemy, reached a hostile machinegun and blasted its crew with a grenade. He picked up a submachine gun from the battlefield and pressed on to within 10 yards of another machinegun, where the enemy crew discovered him and feverishly tried to swing their weapon into line to cut him down. He charged ahead, jumped into the midst of the Germans and killed them with several bursts. Without hesitation, he moved on to still another machinegun, creeping, crawling, and rushing from tree to tree, until close enough to toss a grenade into the emplacement and close with its defenders. He dispatched this crew also, but was himself seriously wounded. Through his indomitable fighting spirit, great initiative, and utter disregard for personal safety in the face of powerful enemy resistance, Sgt. MacGillivary destroyed four hostile machineguns and immeasurably helped his company to continue on its mission with minimum casualties.”      |
Cool you found him. The link I had for that little soldier was dead. ;-)
ROFL That bird looks PI$$ED!
It's a whole series of gifts called "The Mad Bluebird"
That's an interesting site.
The difference between the valor of Sgt. Charles MacGillivary and the faux de guerre of Jean Fraud Kerry is the difference between horsepower and horsepoop.
Lowenstein was all of that, and an investigator into the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
I will stipulate that JFK's betrayal of the Bay of Pigs invasion, forfeiture of Pershing missiles in Turkey, acceding to the erection of the Berlin Wall, and attempted withdrawal from Vietnam (NSAM 263) marked him as expendable; further that Robert F. Kennedy was even more dangerous (being as he was, as radical as Edward, without the saving grace of being an unelectable ass-clown).
However, it's always irritating to have someone (CIA) peeing on your leg telling you it's raining (Tenet in 2002 telling Iranian opposition, Oh to be sure we already knew about that uranium processing operation.)
RFK was hit point-blank (stippling) four times from back-to-front right-to-left down-to-up--while Sirhan was kept in front and several feet away by--among others--Rosie Grier three hundred pounds of pass interference.
LAPD disappeared doors, door jambs, ceiling and wall panels containing bullet holes, thus concealing the fact that Sirhan's eight-shot revolver could not have fired the fourteen shots that night.
March 14, 1980, Lowenstein, a major pain in LAPD/CIA's butt, was shot five times with a handgun by Dennis Sweeney, deranged former colleague in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Now we have Ted Kennedy calling Iraq Bush's quagmire and there isn't a lone nut with a gun in sight.
In other news, FBI agents are investigating whether the murder of a NJ family of four was committed by Islamists. The victims were bound, gagged and slashed to death after the father was threatened on a website regarding his criticism of Islam: "We're going to track you down and kill you like a chicken."
Bump!
How do I find where to get permission to use the prayer I see listed on this site? I have been trying to come up with one to use on my website, and this one seems to fit perfectly.
If you wish to preview my website, to see if you agree here is the link www.bluestarsforsafereturn.com
Thanks
Jimm
You know, Mayor, this world too often gets me down, such an uphill struggle sometimes, strength not failing, but steadily being sapped, getting very low at times during illness, with the intellect inadequate. I long for Home and completeness at last, to become my real self, to be made complete, to see not like through a glass darkly. This world gets tiresome.
I am being called Home, but there is Duty here on this world first. He wants me to do my duty here, before I go There. Well, He wants me to do what I truly want to do, that is, His Will, though I usually can't figure out that sort of thing (or much of anything else, either). But Duty first, then Heaven, comes through loud and clear.
I have a strange mission, not anything like I expected, not anything like I have done before, one I don't understand, that slowly comes clear week by week, year by year.
McGillivary I am sure felt the same way.
How is the school bus stuff coming? I have a good materialist argument against the Darwin Hypothesis, by the way. Numerical. Sends them packing. The whole thing is BS in every way.
BTTT!!!!!!
I hear you Iris7, I really do.
We have challenges in front of us and as long as we keep Him in front and in focus we will get through.
We have to keep in our hearts, mind and soul that it must be for His Glory.
The school bus issue is still going on, I got a threatening freep mail last night.
Another person wanting to fight behind a screen name. I know it is someone local.
I am going to take on the school with the issue of the principal suspended with pay after he was arrested on felony drug charges....
They will do everything they can to discredit me and my wife but they will not be victorious, we have nothing to hide.
I will continue to stay in the view of the public, argue in the open, I am not a coward like these people.
1780 Battle at Cape St Vincent admiral Rodney beats Spanish fleet
I like this one. The Spanish siege of Gibraltar went on for years during this period, and likely Gibraltar would have been lost except for this one sea action.
No Gibraltar, probably Napoleon would have won.
Without Gibraltar, the Med would have been a German lake in 1940, which means control of Middle Eastern oil and likely tie up with Japan in the first half of 1942. This would have been the end for Russia.
I like your photo of the 5th Air Force style B-25 gunship.
Those machines did not come stock, but were built from stock B-25s in Australia. They proved extremely useful. The name most often associated with this type of aircraft is "Pappy" Gunn.
Perhaps the Foxhole might like the story of the truly colorfull "Pappy" Gunn? Lots of folks made the New Guinea situation come out right, and Pappy was as responsible for this as any. (Old man, don't you know, 41 years old. A really tough old codger.)
You might enjoy ("Pappy" site):
http://members.aol.com/__121b_8WR1fUlMriqt5uiZECXA9hxWmqMIsa75
A more official, and complete, view of what the 5th accomplished:
http://www.afa.org/magazine/aug1996/0896victory.asp
One of the "Pappy" stories, very early 1942:
On 27 March, a few days after Davis took over the Reapers, Gunn came into Big Jim's office and grinned. "Johnny, there's a couple dozen B-25s at Batchelor Field* in Melbourne."
Davis was surprised and asked if the executive officer had heard anything. Strickland shook his head. He had not heard of any aircraft reaching Australia for consignment to the 3rd Bomb Group. Davis then turned to Gunn with a frown.
"They aren't exactly ours," Gunn said. "I think they've been allocated to the Dutch Air Force, but from what I hear, they'll never use them because they have no pilots. The planes are just sitting there, and we've got a war to fight. Why don't we go down and get them."
Davies grinned. "You mean steal them?"
"They said our planes were on the way," Gunn shrugged. "Who's to say those Mitchells aren't ours?"
If you are talking about the opening prayer on our daily Foxhole thread we wrote it but a prayer belongs to no one as far as I see it, so you may use it. Perhaps a link back to the Foxhole button on the front of FR would be a nice gesture. Thanks.
Evening Phil Dragoo.
The MG-42 was a "bad" weapon. Some guy was selling a non-firing one at the last Military Days show at Camp Withycomb. You should have seen me drooling and manhandling it.
GoD save us from the enemy within our own Country.
You've peeked my curiosity. Do you happen to have a link about this?
I HATE MONDAYS!!!
Rheinmetall MG-3 post dealer samples are going less than $1000 as I recall. Maybe $800? Can check. Get a Class 3 license, keep it a few years, and you can keep unsold stock for personal use.
"An invasion of England was high on the enemy's agenda.
As Napoleon's land army took possession of most of Continental Europe the English fleet in the Mediterranean faced an impossible situation. The only 2 bases that remained under their control were Corsica and Elba and it was impossible to maintain a fleet under these circumstances.
So in December it was shortage of supplies that forced the English fleet to quit the Mediterranean for the first time in centuries.
In the meantime the Mediterranean fleet had been under the command of Sir John Jervis since the summer of 1795. In that short time Jervis turned the fleet into a disciplined and formidable force. He might have taken for his motto, "Men must be made to fear their officers more than danger" and he led them by the fear of the lash and the force of his example.
In 1797 Jervis was 62 years old but he had under him some fine young captains including Captain Nelson in the Agamemnon. Nelson wrote to his wife: "At home they know not what this fleet is capable of performing, any and everything. Of all fleets I ever saw, I never saw one in point of officers and men to our present one, and with a commander-in-chief fit to lead them to glory".
The Great Siege of Gibraltar (also known as the 14th Siege - place has been fought over some, over the years) by the French and Spanish, from July 1779 to February 1783."
If Gib were lost then the French could combine their Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets at will, and add the Spanish fleet to make a Grand Fleet when useful.
The battle of Trafalgar was to prevent the combined French and Spanish Mediterranean fleets escaping from the Med past Gib, since when united with the French and Spanish Atlantic Fleets the English fleet really could not keep the French out of Ireland - where the Irish would welcome them. Invasion of England from Ireland is easy compared to invasion of England from France, and the biggest reason the English were interested in, hmmm, "Irish politics" in those days. The Spanish did land at Kinsale, Ireland, in 1601, and it was a near thing for the English, who have long memories.
Gibraltar was important. Very, very.
In the Hitler war, control of Gibraltar meant that Kriegsmarine submarines had to base out of France, well within aircraft range. Out of the Med, the closest British air base would have been the Canary Islands, I think, if the Canaries could be held (fat chance).
The Royal Navy kept Rommel's supply situation impossible. Imagine if the combined French and Italian fleets plus the German Kriegsmarine controlled the Med. You could have built a bridge of warship hulls from Sicily to North Africa.
Back to 1800, The Siege of Gibraltar was only six months old and the English were out of food, out of drinking water, and running out of men and ammunition. A relief convoy was organized under Royal Navy Admiral George Rodney. Rodney had to fight his way through, had to keep French and Spanish fleets away from the convoy, whose ships were unarmed and very slow compared to a line of battle ship. The best way to do this was to keep the French and Spanish to afraid of him to leave port. So, time for battle.
From website ("On this day in Naval history sort of thing, best I could find):
http://www.seawaves.com/newsletters/TDIH/january/16Jan.txt
"1780 - The First Battle of Cape St. Vincent - This engagement, more commonly known as "The Moonlight Battle," was a British victory by a fleet under the command of Admiral Sir George Rodney over a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara.
The battle took place during the American War of Independence. France, Spain, and the Dutch had joined in on the American side. This had two major effects - the balance of power was shifted in favor of the Americans; and British seaborne commerce in Europe and to the colonies became threatened.
Britain felt that her vital interests were at stake and she reacted strongly.
Admiral Rodney set sail in early January with 21 ships of the line. An intercepted neutral merchantman informed him that a Spanish fleet of 11 ships of the line had left Cadiz and was headed northward along the coast.
Rodney altered southward in the hope of intercepting them. At 13 -00 on 16 January, the 74-gun ship Bedford sighted the enemy force off Cape St. Vincent.
Clearly outnumbered, the Spanish turned away and headed back towards Cadiz. Rodney ordered "General Chase". He also ordered his force to engage from leeward (the wind was from the NW), vice from windward, as per normal procedure, which also involved forming a line-of-battle. His purpose was to overtake the Spaniards and get between them and safety.
The swiftest British ships soon forged ahead - Resolution, followed closely by Defence and Edgar, caught the first of the trailing Spanish ships as the sun was setting and a full was moon rising. A mêlée of single-ship actions lasted through most of the night, fought by moonlight.
Rodney's flagship, Sandwich, captured two ships - the Spanish flagship Fénix and the smaller Monarcha. In total, four of De Langara's ships managed to escape while four were taken as prizes, two were wrecked on the Spanish coast, and one blew up.
The Battle of Cape St. Vincent was not of strategic significance but it had major implications for the future conduct of British naval warfare. The battle was unique on two counts. First, Admiral Rodney abandoned the standing fleet tactical instructions. No other fleet engagement had ever been fought from the outset under the signal "General Chase." Second, the battle had tremendous romantic impact because it was fought at night under a full moon. This captured the public imagination and focused Britons attentions on naval affairs in a way an 'ordinary' engagement of this scale could never have done. Admiral Rodney received many awards for his victory in this battle and, despite a very distinguished career afterwards, always regarded this The Moonlight Battle as his greatest triumph."
This piece was written by an American about a battle won by our enemy. He neglects two points in an otherwise good piece, one, that Rodney was protecting the Gibraltar convoy, and two, that convoy reached Gibraltar with no losses. Also, three, the British island of Minorca was resupplied, an important place from a Naval point of view. The place was given back to the Spanish, and therefore to the French, by the rotten Whigs in 1803.
Boy, that ended up longer than I expected!
The best book of Naval history about this period, bar none, is by the American United States Navy Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, "The Influence of Sea Power on History, 1660 - 1783". Lots of good lessons in that book, many important to our national security yet today.
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