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USO Canteen FReeper Style ~ TRIBUTE TO THE USS TARAWA (LHA-1)& FReeper Brian Wells ~ January 20 2003
January 20, 2003 | snippy about it

Posted on 01/20/2003 5:03:05 AM PST by snippy_about_it

Our very own FReeper bkwells is deployed on the
USS TARAWA (LHA-1)


Tarawa's Mission
Global events continue to spotlight the requirement to successfully project power from the sea. Tarawa's capabilities make her the world's most formidable amphibious power projection platform. Her primary war fighting mission is to land and sustain United States Marines on any shore during hostilities. A "national asset," the Tarawa's location and readiness are briefed daily to the National Command Authority.

Characteristics,Tarawa Class (This information is derived from US NAVY Fact Files.)

USS Tarawa (LHA-1) Tarawa class, General Purpose Amphibious Warship
Description: Primary landing ships, resembling small aircraft carriers, designed to put troops on hostile shores.
Features: Modern U.S. Navy amphibious assault ships are called upon to perform as primary landing ships for assault operations of Marine expeditionary units. These ships use Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC), conventional landing craft and helicopters to move Marine assault forces ashore. In a secondary role, using AV-8B Harrier aircraft and warfare helicopters, these ships perform sea control and limited power projection missions.
Background: Amphibious warships are uniquely designed to support assault from the sea against defended positions ashore. They must be able to sail in harm's way and provide a rapid built-up of combat power ashore in the face of opposition. The United States maintains the largest and most capable amphibious force in the world.

Specs
Builders: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
Power Plant: Two boilers, two geared steam turbines, two shafts, 70,000 total shaft horsepower
Length: 820 feet (249.9 meters)
Beam: 106 feet (31.8 meters)
Displacement: 39,400 tons (40,032 metric tons) full load
Speed: 24 knots (27.6 miles per hour)
Ships:USS Tarawa (LHA 1), San Diego, Calif.
USS Saipan (LHA 2), Norfolk, Va.
USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3), Sasebo, Japan
USS Nassau (LHA 4), Norfolk, Va.
USS Peleliu (LHA 5), San Diego, Calif.
Crew: Ships Company: 82 officers, 882 enlisted an embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit of 1,900 plus
Armament: Two RAM launchers; two Phalanx 20 mm CIWS mount; four 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns; five .50 caliber guns;
Commisioned: May 29, 1976

Aircraft
(Actual mix depends upon mission)
Nine CH-53 Super Stallion helicopters -heavy lift aircraft
Twelve CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters -medium lift aircraft
Four AH-1W Cobra Helicopters -attack aircraft
Six AV-8B Harrier attack aircraft -close air attack and support aircraft
Two UH-1N Iriqouis helicopters -command and control aircraft

Landing Craft
1 LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion)-Air cushion craft for transporting, ship-to-shore and across the beach, personnel, weapons, equipment, and cargo of the assault elements of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force.
2 LCU (Landing Craft Utility)-Landing craft are used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops to the shore.

Tarawa mission Link



She's a beauty! Eagle of the Sea


A RAM missile being launched from the USS Tarawa



PhalanxClose-In Weapons System-----------Mark 38 ~ 25 mm machine gun system


Marines from 13MEU train for an amphibious assault on a beachhead



Four AV-8B Harriers await launch from the flight deck of the USS Tarawa.



An LCU leaves the welldeck of the Tarawa while two CH-53's commence flight operations off her port side



A CH-153 heavy lift helicopter takes off of the flight deck.



An AH-1W Cobra attack helicopter hovering by in the Persian Gulf.



well deck



USS Tarawa off the coast of Yemen


The Official USS Tarawa Ship's Photo



The Battle of Tarawa ~ History

The Central Pacific's Gilbert Islands were strategically important to the Allies in World War II. Tarawa, an atoll in those islands, was the scene of a major amphibious assault and on of the proudest testaments to valor in U.S. Marine Corps history.

Japan's Rear Admiral Shibasaki Meichi was quoted as saying before the assault that it would take the American forces "a million men and a hundred years" to capture the atoll. The Japanese had backed up this boast with an elite force of almost 5,000 men and heavily fortified the island of Betio in the southwestern corner of the atoll. Since capturing the islands three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had spent two years positioning coastal defense guns, antiaircraft guns, anti-boat guns, light and heavy machine guns, and an airstrip they could use to strike at allied troops stationed in the area. The atoll was strategically vital to both sides, and the stage was set for one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific.

The Allies were faced with serious problems in capturing Tarawa. The big coastal guns would keep the Navy guns either under constant fire or at bay, and the Japanese had used sunken ships and other pieces of metal to create obstacles which blocked the avenues of approach from the sea. The approaching craft would have to slow down to maneuver, putting them in prearranged ambush sites where they would be subject to deadly, concentrated fire from fortified positions. The next line of obstacles included a double apron of barbed wire, log barriers, and concrete obstacles which surrounded the island. After breaching these defenses, the Marines would still be faced with the beach itself, where the Japanese had fortified heavy machine guns which created a series of interlocking fields of fire in addition to antipersonnel mines and anti-vehicle mines in the fringing reefs where the boats would have to land. With the added benefit of antiaircraft guns and planes of their own, the defenders were well prepared for any assault.

The Allies had to take Tarawa, however, and on November 19, 1943 the assault began. Faced with the near-impossible odds and hounded from all sides, the Marines made it to the beach; by the last day of battle the Japanese had been forced into the east end of the the three-mile long island. They had prepared a series of fortified positions to fall back on in their retreat, and had defended each one almost to the last man. Those three miles may be some of the longest in Marine Corps history, as they slowly advanced at a terrible price. Organized resistance on Tarawa ceased by 1:30 PM on the third day.

The Battle of Tarawa took 76 hours and cost the lives of 1,020 Marines. The list of Americans wounded was listed as high as 2,296. The cost was much higher for the Japanese defenders- of the 4,386 elite troops on Betio, only 146 were left alive.

Four Marines received the Medal of Honor for their heroism, three of them posthumously. The fourth, Colonel David M. Shoup, Commanding Officer of the 2nd Marines and Betio Island Assault forces, later became the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

USS Tarawa (LHA-1) website



Introducing FReeper Brian Wells (bkwells)

I am married with 2 kids, a boy age 8 and a girl age 4. We have lived in Las Vegas for almost 3 years now.

I am an Air Force brat and have moved around all my life. In fact, when I hit the 10th grade, that was my 8th different school! Graduated from Hirschi High School in Wichita Falls, TX in 1985 and joined the Navy in Feb 1986.

I have been stationed aboard the USS MT WHITNEY (LCC-20), NAS Kingsville TX (Where I met my wife!), the USS CONSTELLATION (CV-64), Guam, Brunswick Maine, and now the USS TARAWA (LHA-1).

I am a Senior Chief Petty Officer (E-8) and my field is Meteorology (AG rating in Navy lingo - Weather Guesser for slang Navy lingo).

My primary job is running the weather office but as with all Navy ships, I have other duties throughout the ship among them:

Operations Department Leading Chief Petty Officer (I'm the senior enlisted man within my department), I am in charge of a Repair Locker during Battle Stations - we fight fires, control flooding, run a denomination station in case of chemical,biological, or nuclear attack, etc.... and I run a duty section when we are inport.

It's more than enough to keep me busy!

Places I've been:

England, Belgium, Portugal, France, Copenhagen, Ft Lauderdale, St Thomas, Nassau, Curacao, Trinidad-Tobago, Acapulco, Vancouver, Hawaii, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Australia (Perth, Sydney, and Darwin), Jebal Ali UAE, Bahrain, and Seychelles.

Sat off the coast of Kuwait Cit, and sat off the coast of Aden Yemen in support of Operation Determined Response after the terrorist bombing of the USS COLE.





TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Announcements; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Free Republic; Front Page News; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: California; US: Nevada; Unclassified; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: freepermilitary; marines; sailors; tarawa; troops
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To: tomkow6; Radix
Radu's "Bat"mobile - giggle

(thank you, snow bunny!)

101 posted on 01/20/2003 10:06:49 AM PST by radu
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To: bentfeather

Mornin' to ya, ms feather.

102 posted on 01/20/2003 10:07:55 AM PST by Kathy in Alaska (God Bless the USA and our Military who protect us all)
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To: tomkow6
"Now I think I know where my hearing aid is."

Ya got something handy to clean my 'puter screen with? I forgot..."Don't drink and read jokes at the same time." LOL!!!
103 posted on 01/20/2003 10:11:46 AM PST by radu
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To: radu
LOL!
104 posted on 01/20/2003 10:12:53 AM PST by Bethbg79 (God Bless the USA!!)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; bentfeather; southerngrit; Bethbg79; TEXOKIE; redhead; MoJo2001; LindaSOG; ...
We can get that cable car to go really FAST down the hills, I'll bet! WAAAHOOO!

Hmmmm, hills....I'll bring some Dramamine, just in case y'know?
105 posted on 01/20/2003 10:19:41 AM PST by radu (fading...fading)
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To: Bethbg79
You don't know how many times I've laughed with my mouth full of Coke. You'd think I'd learn! LOL!!! This poor 'puter.
106 posted on 01/20/2003 10:23:05 AM PST by radu (fading...fading...fading)
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To: tomkow6
Brrrrrrr is right !

On an unrelated note...

Tag also includes terrorist-lovers:


107 posted on 01/20/2003 10:26:44 AM PST by MeekOneGOP (9 out of 10 Republicans agree: Bush IS a Genius !!)
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To: radu; bentfeather; redhead; TEXOKIE; southerngrit; MoJo2001; LindaSOG; LaDivaLoca; ...
Considering the cast of the "Speed Crew", Dramamine would be a wise choice. LOL!!
108 posted on 01/20/2003 10:28:09 AM PST by Kathy in Alaska (God Bless the USA and our Military who protect us all)
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To: radu
LOL! I can just see you spitting coke everywhere!
109 posted on 01/20/2003 10:29:53 AM PST by Bethbg79 (God Bless the USA!!)
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To: Bethbg79; southerngrit
Thank you, Papa, for your service to our country. And for leading Beth to the Canteen to help honor our military, past and present.


110 posted on 01/20/2003 10:37:19 AM PST by Kathy in Alaska (God Bless the USA and our Military who protect us all)
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To: Kathy in Alaska; radu; bentfeather; Bethbg79; All
Good afternoon, Canteen Girlz, Guyz, and Troops!

God Bless our Freeper, Brian Wells and your gang on the Tarawa!

Great thread, snippy!

HMMMMMMMMMMM a streetcar!!! This suggests numerous creative possibilities!!! :-)

111 posted on 01/20/2003 10:41:49 AM PST by TEXOKIE
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To: Kathy in Alaska; bentfeather; southerngrit; Bethbg79; TEXOKIE; fatima; LaDivaLoca; redhead; ...

I'll tell ya what...I'll leave this with y'all in case someone needs it before I get back to the Canteen. As late as it is now, it'll be well after dark before I wake up. LOL!!!

I think I'll grab up Spanky, who came home from the vet's this morning, and grab a little sleep. See everyone later this evening! Y'all have a wonderful afternoon!

112 posted on 01/20/2003 10:42:25 AM PST by radu (fading...fading...fading...faded out)
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To: radu
Night night, rad! Thanks for the Dramamine! I dont need it personally, but I'll see that anyone who needs it will have it!

Take care of those kitties, and have a great nap!

113 posted on 01/20/2003 10:45:43 AM PST by TEXOKIE
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To: Bethbg79
LOL! I can just see you spitting coke everywhere!

shhhhhh! Don't let my hubby find out! Fortunately he's never been in the room when it happened. If he ever finds out, I'll be banished back to the webtv! LOL!!!

114 posted on 01/20/2003 10:45:54 AM PST by radu (fading...fading...fading...faded out)
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To: TEXOKIE; All
TEEEEEX!! Hello! I hope you're here when I wake up (if I ever get to sleep - giggle) Looks to be promising for a roller coaster of a Wild Ride tonight. hmmmm, the more I think about this, extra Dramamine may be required for myself. LOL!

Night, night. See ya in a bit!

115 posted on 01/20/2003 10:51:29 AM PST by radu (fading...fading...fading...faded out)
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To: southerngrit
*BLUSH* sorry Ms Grit for not including you in on above ping. I stayed up til the small hours, and havent had my "morning" beverage yet!

(Image is dedicated to my 2 family members who feel it necessary to jump out of perfectly good airplanes!)

116 posted on 01/20/2003 10:59:20 AM PST by TEXOKIE
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To: 68-69TonkinGulfYatchClub; All
Thanks for the pings Tonkin

Good morning/afternoon everybody (-:
117 posted on 01/20/2003 11:01:50 AM PST by firewalk
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To: tomkow6
"Ethel, I'm glad you saw this thing. Now I think I know where my hearing aid is."

Groan!!

118 posted on 01/20/2003 11:02:33 AM PST by Kathy in Alaska (God Bless the USA and our Military who protect us all)
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To: Kathy in Alaska
Hi Kathy, thanks for the pings (-:
119 posted on 01/20/2003 11:04:49 AM PST by firewalk
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To: Valin
Born on this day in 1973, at noon, as Richard Nixon was taking his oath of office, Nancy Jennifer Barr at United Hospital in Port Chester, NY (my daughter)
120 posted on 01/20/2003 11:11:30 AM PST by Betteboop
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