There is a great write up in the Washington Times today about the 2009 Milblog Conference and our very own Craig Stewart is quoted. You can check out the article here.
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Written by Will Armstrong, History Associates
The Marine “deserter” who earned the Medal of Honor
While it was not uncommon for young men to lie about their age to join the military, few World War II veterans had signed on as 14-year-old high school freshmen. But big, athletic Jack Lucas, a cadet at the Edwards Military Institute in North Carolina, was determined to fool the Marine recruiters. He enlisted in August 1942 with forged documents and saw duty at several Stateside locations before being sent to Pearl Harbor in late 1943. The Marines eventually discovered his true age, and while they did not discharge him, they kept him well away from combat duties.
At Pearl Harbor, Private First Class Lucas served with a Marine Base Depot. Though it was important, the duty did not suit him—he wanted to be a combat Marine. In January 1945 he left his unit without authorization. He made his way to the docks where he snuck aboard the attack transport USS Deuel, hiding among men of the 5th Marine Division destined for the assault on Iwo Jima. His shipmates, appreciating Lucas’ desire to assist in the coming invasion, did not alert their superiors to his presence and even shared their rations. When he finally turned himself in, instead of being punished he was assigned to Headquarters Company for the invasion. He was about to turn seventeen.
When he hit the beach Lucas did not even have a rifle, so he took one dropped by a fallen Marine. The next day, with no break in the vicious fighting, his group was pounced upon by Japanese soldiers. Lucas’ rifle jammed after only one shot, and before he knew it, two Japanese grenades were lying at his feet. Determined to save the lives of his buddies, he smothered both grenades. After his fellow Marines defeated the remaining enemy soldiers, they approached his mangled body, thrown in the air by the force of the explosion. To their surprise, Lucas had survived the blast and was still conscious.
His self-sacrifice at Iwo Jima earned Lucas the Medal of Honor. Evacuated to a hospital ship, he underwent 21 surgeries. Many small grenade fragments were never removed, and Lucas would set off metal detectors for the rest of his life. While he recovered, the Marines forgave his unauthorized absence and restored his rank. Private First Class Jacklyn Lucas passed away in 2008.
The National Museum of Americans in Wartime honors the service of Jack Lucas and all other Americans who have served the cause of freedom.
I am finally getting the pictures posted from our event this past Sunday, you can check them out here. We had a great time and thank you again to all who attended. If you have pictures you want to add to our collection please forward them along. We look forward to seeing everyone again! Craig and I had a great time at this year’s Milblog Conference and can’t thank everyone enough for making us feel like part of the family. Yesterday we hosted an event at the “Tank Farm” for many of the conference attendees and want to thank all who came out. I’ll be posting pictures later in the day (I stupidly left the USB cord in my apartment this morning). Thanks again to the Milblog Community for all of their support.
Would you like to see one of the world’s largest privately-owned collections of military vehicles, including 70+ operational tanks? The National Museum of Americans in Wartime (NMAW) is inviting interested MilBlog Conference attendees to experience vintage military vehicles (World War I forward) up close, on display and in demonstration. Who: MilBlog Conference attendees are invited What: Personal viewing of 110+ operational, vintage military vehicles; refreshments. When: 9:00-11:00 AM, Sunday, April 26. Where: The collection is housed in Prince William County about 40 miles south of Washington. How: NMAW will provide directions for those with cars. RSVP: If you can join us or have questions, please send us an email and don’t forget to include the number of guests.
A Hero of Ia Drang, He Gave His Life Saving Others at the World Trade Center
Written by Will Armstrong, History Associates Incorporated
A photograph of Rescorla taken in Ia Drang was later made famous as the cover photo for the book We Were Soldiers Once…and Young, the definitive account of the battle written by Col. Moore and National Museum of Americans in Wartime board member Joe Galloway.
Some of Rescorla’s earliest memories were of American soldiers preparing for the Normandy invasion in his hometown of Cornwall, England, and they made a lasting impression. As a young man he joined the British Army, seeing hazardous duty on the island of Cyprus, and then joined the colonial police in Northern Rhodesia, a British protectorate. It was in Northern Rhodesia that he first met a lifelong American friend who persuaded him to immigrate from England to the United States.
Uneasy about the spread of Communist totalitarianism, Rescorla came to see the American military as the strongest bulwark against it. At the urging of his friend, he joined the U.S. Army in 1963 and quickly found himself at home. “I’ve got so many buddies now that I feel more settled than I’ve ever been before,” Rescorla said later that year.
He quickly gained recognition as an outstanding leader, seemingly fearless and always leading by example, and he wanted his platoon to be the best. In Vietnam, at the Battle of the Ia Drang in November 1965, Rescorla’s platoon held off the main thrust of a North Vietnamese attack at Landing Zone (LZ) X-Ray, never losing ground to the enemy. As he often did, Rescorla tried to inspire his men by singing old Cornish songs. After a brief rest, Rescorla’s platoon was sent back to the battlefield to reinforce besieged 7th Cavalry forces at LZ Albany, some distance away from LZ X-Ray.
That night, North Vietnamese soldiers prowled the silent battlefield, executing many Americans who had been wounded earlier in the day. Rescorla, upon hearing the news from a survivor, led a small patrol beyond the American defensive perimeter and past enemy patrols to rescue as many of his wounded comrades as possible. Those who watched him in action in Vietnam described Rescorla as one of the Army’s best platoon leaders, and Col. Hal Moore, commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, later referred to him as a ‘battlefield legend’ and “the best platoon leader I ever knew.”
Rescorla proudly became an American citizen in 1967. He left the regular Army and joined the Reserves. Recipient of the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and the Purple Heart, as well as the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, Rescorla earned a law degree and settled into the peaceful life of an ordinary American.
Almost 36 years after the Battle of Ia Drang, Rick Rescorla was retired from the Reserves and working at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Now director of security and an executive vice president at the firm, Rescorla worried constantly about the security of the World Trade Center complex and its vulnerability to terrorism, which he had voiced even before the complex was bombed by terrorists in 1993. Yet at age 62, he looked forward to spending his retirement days with his wife, whom he had wed in 1999. It was not to be.
When an explosion at the north tower rocked the World Trade Center complex on the morning of September 11, 2001, Rescorla knew something was seriously wrong. He ordered an evacuation and guided workers to the stairwells, ignoring officials who urged people to remain at their desks. When explosions tore through the south tower about 15 minutes later, Rescorla reassured the people descending the stairs, urging them to keep calm. He spent the next hour making sure that everyone was evacuated, offering words of comfort and, as he had in Vietnam, singing old Cornish songs. “Today is a day to be proud to be an American,” an evacuee heard him say.
Soon, Rescorla was aware that the morning’s explosions had been from aircraft flown into each of the Twin Towers. He started a final search to make sure everyone had been evacuated, but time ran out. At 9:59 am the south tower collapsed, killing Rescorla and hundreds of others still trapped inside. In all, the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center killed 2,749 people. Yet the vast majority of Rescorla’s colleagues at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, whose evacuation he had personally overseen in the first moments after the attack, survived.
The National Museum of Americans in Wartime honors the service of Col. Rick Rescorla and all other Americans who have served the cause of freedom.
DUNKIN’ DONUTS ANNOUNCES “ICED COFFEE DAY” EVENT Small Iced Coffees to be sold for 50 cents on April 21; You can read all about it here. Thanks to the hardwork of a good friend, NMAW now has an official blog. You may have noticed that our blog was not interactive and that it seemed like nothing more than a word document. Well it pretty much was, but I’m happy to announce we are now up and running with an actual blog. It took us some time, but we’re officially part of the real blog world now. We are still fixing a few things here and there, but all in all I think it looks great! Thanks Chris! Written by Janet Holsinger, History Associates Incorporated Surrounded for five days in the Argonne Forest, beleaguered American infantrymen survive through grit, determination—and the heroism of a carrier pigeon. As part of the American offensive, General Pershing ordered elements of the 77th Division to attack the German lines between the Argonne Forest and the Meuse River. On October 2, 1918, Major Charles Whittlesey led the under-strength and exhausted 308th Infantry’s First Battalion into the Argonne Forest. Whittlesey’s troops, along with Captain George McMurtry’s Second Battalion, faced heavy German fire along a ravine, halting their advance. After altering their course, Whittlesey’s and McMurtry’s men broke through the German line, the only successful attack that day along the Argonne front. Their success, however, did not last. Reserve units advanced through the Argonne that night, but only one company under Captain Nelson Holderman located Whittlesey’s position. The Germans, meanwhile, moved reinforcements forward and surrounded the 308th. Isolated and without reinforcements of their own, the Americans quickly ran out of rations and low on medical supplies, and German machine gun and trench mortar attacks bombarded their position, killing or severely wounding one third of Whittlesey’s force. On October 4 a patrol from the 308th found a gap in the German lines, but to retreat meant leaving the wounded behind, something Whittlesey refused to do. The 308th would hold out for reinforcements, but first Whittlesey’s men would have to be found. Communication with the main American command post was difficult at best. Without telephones, the 308th relied on runners who faced slim prospects for survival, and carrier pigeons that transported messages on slips of paper attached to their legs. Whittlesey sent two of his four carrier pigeons to headquarters, requesting additional supplies and support. German riflemen shot them from the sky. Then disaster struck, in the form of American artillery and bombs, which exploded in the American pocket for over two hours. A desperate Whittlesey sent his last pigeon, Cher Ami, to Headquarters with the message, “Our own artillery is dropping a barrage directly on us. For heaven’s sake, stop it.” The German riflemen found their mark once again. Cher Ami was struck through the chest by a bullet, and Whittlesey’s last hope for a reprieve seemed to be gone. But Cher Ami was not to be deterred. Severely wounded, he somehow managed to fly on. By the time he reached American lines, Cher Ami was in bad shape. One of his legs had been shot away, he was blinded in one eye, and he was losing blood from the severe chest wound. Yet the message he carried arrived intact, and the shelling ceased. Not only had Whittlesey’s remaining men been saved, but the Army knew the unit still survived behind enemy lines. Full relief did not come immediately. Allied planes dropped food and ammunition the next day, but it landed behind German lines. Nine men crawled across the German line in search of the missing food and ammunition packages, only to be captured. The Germans sent one man back with a surrender proposal, but Whittlesey and McMurtry refused to acknowledge the surrender request, despite a fifty percent casualty rate and being surrounded without food or supplies. On the evening of October 7, the weak and exhausted troops of the “Lost Battalion” finally greeted a patrol from the 307th Infantry. The five-day siege was over. The next morning, less than 200 of the men trapped in the pocket walked back through the valley to headquarters. Another 200 were seriously wounded, with over 100 dead and 60 missing. Following the battle, Whittlesey, McMurtry, and Holderman received the Congressional Medal of Honor, and the Army decorated numerous others under their command. Cher Ami, who had carried Whittlesey’s final message, got the best medical treatment the Army could provide. Medics even fashioned a prosthetic leg, and before long the famous pigeon was able to return to the U.S., personally escorted by General Pershing. Sadly, he died of his wounds in 1919. Cher Ami received the Croix de Guerre with Palm for heroism in action. He is preserved at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, in the exhibition “The Price of Freedom: Americans At War.” Above Left: Lt Col Charles W. Whittlesey receives the Congressional Medal of Honor, Dec 24, 1918. NARA, Photo 111-SC- 95781 Above Center: Cher Ami. http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/collection/object.asp?ID=10 Above Right: Men from the “Lost Battalion” of the 308th Inf., 77th Division, a few weeks after being trapped by the Germans. NARA, Photo 111-SC-42759 Would you like to see one of the world’s largest privately-owned collections of military vehicles, including 70+ operational tanks? The National Museum of Americans in Wartime (NMAW) is inviting interested MilBlog Conference attendees to experience vintage military vehicles (World War I forward) up close, on display and in demonstration. Who: MilBlog Conference attendees are invited What: Personal viewing of 110+ operational, vintage military vehicles; refreshments. When: 9:00-11:00 AM, Sunday, April 26. Where: The collection is housed in Prince William County about 40 miles south of Washington. How: NMAW will provide directions for those with cars. If enough milbloggers respond, we will try to arrange round-trip transportation. RSVP: If you can join us or have questions, please send us an email and don’t forget to include the number of guests. |
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You could say that Jack Lucas was something of a troublemaker in the Marines.
As a lieutenant in the 7th Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam, Rick Rescorla found that whenever his superiors needed a job done, and done right, they sent his platoon to do it.
