Posted on 04/30/2003 5:26:17 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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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.
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.
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. . . as told by Chris Woods, Crew Chief of Swift 2-2. "Gentlemen, start your engines." The laconic command copied from the Indianapolis 500 auto races, echoed from the 1MC, the public-address system of the U.S.S. Hancock. Moments later, the Commanding Officer of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 463, LtCol. Herbert Fix, lifted his CH-53A Sea Stallion off the deck of the aging carrier. When the other seven choppers in his squadron had left the deck, they fluttered off in a tight formation through blustery winds and dark, ominous rain clouds that hovered over the South China Sea. Operation "Frequent Wind," the emergency evacuation of the last Americans in Saigon was under way. During the preceding eight days, U.S. planes had evacuated almost 40,000 American and South Vietnamese refugees from Tan Son Nhut airbase near Saigon. By last week, the airlift was growing increasingly dangerous. Artillery shells and rockets closed Tan Son Nhut airport Monday morning, April 28, 1975. The next day, an U.S. C-130 transport was hit by a rocket on the runway and burst into flames as the crew escaped. A short time later, two Marine Corporals, Cpl. N. McMahon of Massachusetts and LCpl. D. Judge of Iowa, guarding the US defense attachés compound at Tan Son Nhut, were killed by Communist artillery. News of the destruction of the C-130 and the Marines deaths reached President Ford during a meeting with his energy and economic advisers. He scribbled a note to the deputy director of the National Security Council, LtGen. Brent Scowcroft: "Wed better have a NSC meeting at 7." Plainly, evacuation by commercial flights, by military airplanes or by sea was no longer feasible. The security advisers discussed whether conditions might permit a resumption of the military airlift. If not, they would have to go a fourth option, the riskiest of all: evacuation by Marine helicopters. Scarcely two hours after the meeting ended with no decision, Ford learned that two C-130s attempting to land at Tan Son Nhut had been waved off; the airport was blocked by thousands of panicky South Vietnamese, by then all of Fords advisers, including Martin agreed that it had to be "Option Four." At 10:45 p.m., the President ordered Operation Frequent Wind to begin. Kessinger telephoned Ford to report that a fleet of 81 helicopters was about to embark on its mission, then, at 1:08 a.m. Tuesday, he called again with the news that the evacuation had begun. In Saigon, the center of activity for much of the day was the landing at Tan Son Nhut airport, a tennis court near the defense attachés compound. Landing two at a time, the helicopters unloaded their squads of Marines- 860 in all, who reinforced the 125 Marines already on the scene- and quickly picked up evacuees. As the operation continued, many helicopters came under fire. Most evacuees sat in cold panic as their choppers took off. "For the next three minutes as we gained altitude," reported TIME Correspondent William Stewart, "we held our breaths." We knew the Communists had been using heat-seeking missiles, and we were prepared to be shot out of the sky. As I turned around to see who was aboard, Buu Vien, the South Vietnamese Interior Minister, smiled and gave a thumbs-up signal. "Forty minutes later we were aboard the U.S.S. Denver, a landing-platform dock, and safe." By nightfall, the mission had been completed at Tan Son Nhut, but the evacuation of the embassy was still to be accomplished. Sheets of rain were pelting the city, and visibility had dropped to barely a mile. Some choppers had to rely on flares fired by Marines within the embassy compound to find landing zones; others homed in on flashlights. Through Tuesday night, the Vietnamese crowd grew uglier, hundreds tried to scale the ten-foot wall, despite the barbed wire strung on top of it. Marines had to use tear gas and rifle butts to hold back the surging mob. Some screamed, some pleaded to be taken along. Floor by floor, the Marines withdrew toward the roof of the embassy with looters right behind them. Abandoned offices were transformed into junkyards of smashed typewriters and ransacked file cabinets. Even the bronze plaque with the names of the five American servicemen who died in the embassy during the 1968 Tet offensive was torn from the lobby wall. Marines hurled tear-gas grenade into the elevator shaft; at time the air was so thick with tear gas that the helicopter crews on the roof were effected. A HMH-463 crew stands before YH-12 on the deck of the USS Hancock sometime during operations Eagle Pull (the evacuation of Phnom Phen, Cambodia) and Frequent Wind (the evacuation of Saigon). Standing left to right are: Major J. R. Howell, pilot; Cpl R. L. Bartlett, crew/chief; and 1Lt C. L. Stonecypher, co-pilot. Sitting left to right are Cpl D. R. Levin, 1st mech. and Sgt R. D. Brookins, gunner. - photo courtesy of R D Brookins By that time, tempers were frayed in Washington as well as in Saigon. Martin had drawn up a list of 500 Vietnamese to be evacuated; he refused to leave until all were safely gone. His delay prompted one Administration official to quip, "Martin got all 600 of his 500 Vietnamese out." Finally, at 5:00 p.m., Washington time- it was 5:00 a.m., in Saigon- Kessinger told the president that Martin was closing down the embassy and destroying its communications equipment. Minutes later, Lady Ace 09 landed on the embassy helo pad and Ambassador Martin boarded the helicopter as Major James Kean urged the CH-46 pilot Captain Berry, to please be sure someone comes for them. After lift off, Captain Berry broadcast the message; "Lade Ace Zero Nine, Tiger-Tiger-Tiger." As many as 130 South Vietnamese planes and helicopter, including F-5 fighter-bombers, transports and attack planes, were reported meanwhile to have reached the US run Utapao airbase in Thailand with about 2,000 soldiers and civilians; already some 1,000 Cambodian refugees were crowed into tents there. Alarmed, the Thai government announced that the refugees had to leave within 30 days and that it would return the planes to "the next government in South Vietnam." Defense Secretary James Schlesinger firmly advised Bangkok that it should do no such thing; under aid agreements, the equipment cannot be transferred to a new government but must revert to U.S. possession. By the end of the week, another seven or so South Vietnamese helicopters had landed or tried to land on the U.S. naval vessels. One South Vietnamese pilot set his chopper down on top of another whose blades were still turning. Others ditched their craft and had to be fished out of the water. An American search-and-rescue from the U.S.S. Hancock crashed at sea, and two of its crewmembers, Captain William C. Nystul and First Lieutenant Michael J. Shea were listed and missing, possible the last American fatalities of the war. The Crew Chief, Cpl. Steve Wills and the left gunner were rescued by another CH-46, Swift 0-7, during a zero visibility, night water landing to pick up the two wounded Marines. "The last days of the evacuation were very hairy indeed," Ford confesses afterward. "We were never sure whether we were going to have trouble with the mobs." As Ford noted, the whole operation had gone better "than we had any right to expect." According to the Defense Department, 1,373 Americans and 5,680 South Vietnamese- many more that the US had originally intended- had been removed. Another 32,000 desperate Vietnamese had managed to make their way by sampan, raft and rowboat to the US ships offshore, bringing to about 70,000 the number evacuated through the week. For the next three hours the Marines wait, and grow more concerned as they discover no one responds to their radio signals. Finally, after they have resigned that they will not be rescued, and have voted to make an Alamo-like stand, the Marines hear the familiar sound of rotor blades slapping the humid air, a CH-46 Sea Knight, and two AH-1G Cobra escorts come in to view. Dodging small arms fire and using riot control agents against people attempting to force their way to the rooftop, Major Kean and his 10 Marines boarded a HMM-164 CH-46 helicopter, Swift 2-2. After closing the ramp, Swift 2-2 (piloted by Captains Holden and Cook, and crewed by Sergeant Stan Hughes, left machine gunner and Sergeant Chris Woods, Crew Chief and right gunner) lifted into a hover and the pilots were overcome by CS gas had to set back down on the embassy helo pad. Regaining their composure, Captain Holden lifted the helo and departed the embassy rooftop. The last American helicopter to leave South Vietnam, Caption Holden radioed the last official message from Saigon: Swift 2-2 airborne with 11 passengers, ground security force onboard. Clearing antennas and church steeples, Swift 2-2 picked up the Saigon River and descended to tree top level and followed the river out to the awaiting American Forces. During the flight along the river, Sergeant Woods sighted approximately eight communist tanks, parked side-by-side, waiting until the eighth hour to enter the city. Checking his watch, Major Kean noted that it was two minutes until eight, only 23 hours since the NCOIC of Marine Security Guard, Manila, had called him to relay a message from his wife in Hong Kong that she was pregnant. Only 32 minutes later on that unforgettable day, 30 April 1975, the 11 Marines exited Swift 2-2 onto the deck of the U.S.S. Okinawa. Disembarking, many on board the Okinawa, the consensus was why so much time had elapsed between the arrival of the Ambassadors flight and Swift -2-2, well over two hours. Had someone forgotten these Marines were still at the Embassy? The answer is no. The intention was to remove the Ambassador while some security still remained at the Embassy, and then have other helicopters pick up the remaining Marines, but it appears that when Captain Berrys aircraft transmitted "Tiger is out," those helicopters still flying, including Captain Walters who was orbiting the Embassy at the time the Ambassador left, thought the mission was complete. This particular transmission had been the preplanned code to indicate when the Ambassador was on board a helicopter outbound to the task force. Having waited so long for his departure, this transmission caused some to conclude that he had departed as part of the last group to leave the Embassy. Captain Berry late explained that radio message " Tiger-Tiger-Tiger was the call to be made when the Ambassador was on board and on his was out of Saigon. It had absolutely nothing to do with the cessation of the operation. We had originally planned to bring the Ambassador out on the afternoon of the 29th." At this juncture, thinking the mission complete and the Ambassador safe, Captain Walters headed back to the USS Okinawa. Subsequent to his landing at approximately 0700, the command realized that Captain Walters did not have the remaining Marines on board. Due to a misunderstanding and miscommunication, they were still at the Embassy. General Carey immediately recycled the HMM-164 CH-46 "Swift 2-2", but by this time due to the ships offshore movement, the time required to reach the Embassy exceeded 40 minutes. With two hours of fuel on board, the CH-46 did not have any room for error. Swift 2-2 landed on the USS Okinawa with two "LOW FUEL" lights, or 20 minutes of fuel remaining. To the Marines waiting in Saigon, attempts by the South Vietnamese to reach the rooftop kept them busy and as a consequence, they did not notice the extended gap between the flights. Major Kean later stated that he and his Marine did not become alarmed because they knew that another CH-46 would arrive. "We never had a doubt that our fellow Marines would return and pick us up. They had been doing it all night long." This was a term paper in did in August 1996. I have made every attempt to state the facts to the best of my knowledge having dusted the cobwebs from my memory.
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I believe it explains the current intolerance for war protesters today as regards Iraq.
The leftist war protesters of this country brought us to those shamefull scenes on the roof of that Embassy in Saigon. We must never allow them to rule the streets in this country as they did from 1965 to 1980. The silent majority seems to have found it's voice for now.
Great post.
FAREWELL AFGHANISTAN Soldiers assigned to Coalition Task Force 82, of the 82nd Airborne Division, salute while standing in formation April 29 during an inactivation ceremony. The task force soldiers held a ceremony casing the colors, adding closure to their tour of duty here at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The soldiers are packing up their belongings to head home to Fort Bragg, N.C. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Milton H. Robinson FLOWERS FOR THE TROOPS Children from the Kuwaiti Public Authority of Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources hand out flowers and mugs to coalition service members to show their appreciation for the support of Operation Iraqi Freedom at Camp Commando, Kuwait. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Maj. Kathleen A. Hoard SOCCER BALLS & GIRL SCOUT COOKIES Lt Col. Dave Long, Sgt. 1st Class T. Bucci and Maj. Phil Osterli, 3rd Civil Affairs give soccer balls and girl scout cookies to the head instructors at the newly renovated Umm Qasr High School in Iraq, April 24, 2003. 3rd CAG is in Iraq for support in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Operation Iraqi Freedom is the multinational coalition effort to liberate the Iraqi people, eliminate Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and end the regime of Saddam Hussein. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Maj. Kathleen A. Hoard FRIENDLY VISIT Marine Gunnery Sgt. Edna Janet Nunez, admin chief for the 6th Communications unit, plays with a young Kuwaiti girl from a Public Authority of Agriculture and Fish Resource group that came to Camp Commando, Kuwait, to show their appreciation for Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Maj. Kathleen A. Hoard DEDICATED SAILOR Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Micah Martin, a fire controlman from Canandaigua, N.Y., staffs one of the ship's 50 cal. machine guns used to defend against small craft on board USS Donald Cook April 26. Donald Cook is one of the many warships supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Alan J. Baribeau CLASS IS STARTING U.S. Army Capt. Herb Joliot, of the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, talks to Iraqi children on the opening day of a school in Abu Grahib, Iraq, April 26. The school had been closed since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Cherie A. Thurlby
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Wednesday's wierd warship, the french navy's Jeanne D'arc
Jeanne D'arc class armored cruiser
Displacement. 11300 t.
Lenght. 475'8"
Beam. 63'8"
Draft. 26'6"
Speed. 21.7 k.
Complement. 651
Armament. 2 7.6"; 14 5.5"; 16 3pdr; 8 1pdr; 2 18" tt.
Jeanne D'arc was laid down at Toulon France in October 1896 and launched in June 1898 and commissioned in 1902. She was much larger and faster than any other french armored cruiser. She would have made a good warship, if only she were used as such. She spent almost all of her career as a training ship before being scrapped in 1934.
How to drink wine in heavy seas without spilling any on your uniform.
Welcome Home
Zachary Johnson, 9, gets sandwiched between his parents Julie Johnson, left, and Navy Chief Jeremy Johnson, right, after his father arrived at North Island Naval Station in Coronado, Calif. Wednesday April 30, 2003 on a C-2 Greyhound from the aircraft carrier the USS Abraham LIncoln. The Linclon and her crews have been deployed in the Persian Gulf for over nine months. President Bush visits the carrier Thursday. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy) Navy Chief Jeremy Johnson walks with his wife Julie Johnson and daughters Taylor, 9, left, and Devin, 11, right, after arriving at North Island Naval Station in Coronado, Calif., Wednesday, April 30, 2003 Lt. Greg Scovel, center, is greeted by Lt. Mike Mulloy, left, as he walks with his wife, Gigi Scovel, after arriving at North Island Naval Station in Coronado, Calif., Wednesday, April 30, 2003, Tameka Myers holds her 4-month-old son, Amairi, at her Arlington, Wash., home, Monday, April 21, 2003. Amairi, was born on Jan. 4, while his his father, Seaman Antonio Myers was serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in the war against Iraq (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Jim Bryant) Spencer Dick, 12, foreground cheers the arrival of his father Maj. Jerome Dick at Buckley Air Force Base near Denver, Wednesday, April 30, 2003. Maj. Dick is a member of the 120th Fighter Squadron and flew his F-16 back from the war in Iraq. Hundreds of family members were on hand to welcome the pilots home. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski) Colorado Air National Guard Maj. Tim Conklin, of Denver, is greeted by his wife Emily, right, as he arrives at Buckley Air Force Base near Denver, Wednesday, April 30, 2003. Conklin is a member of the 120th Fighter Squadron and flew his F-16, background, back from the war in Iraq. The couple were married a month before he was called to duty. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski) Colorado Air National Guard Col. John Mooney, of Denver, is greeted by his wife Kelly, right, as he arrives at Buckley Air Force Base near Denver, Wednesday, April 30, 2003. Mooney the wing commander of the 120th Fighter Squadron flew his F-16 back from the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski) Colorado Air National Guard Major Tracy Sailer, left, of Denver, is greeted by her mother Ada as she arrives at Buckley Air Force Base near Denver, Colo., Wednesday, April 30, 2003. Sailer the only female F-16 figher pilot with the 120th Fighter Squadron returned from the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski) Colorado Air National Guard Maj. James Reeman of Denver is greeted by his sons Mitchell, 7, left, and Jonah, 4, and his wife, Stephanie, right, as he arrives at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., on Wednesday, April 30, 2003. Reeman is a member of the 120th Fighter Squadron and flew his F-16 back from the war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)
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Like when Black Adder shoots the regiments only courier Pigeon and Generals favorite......"Sparkling Jim"!
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