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On Memorial Day, we honor all those who gave their life while serving in the United States military.  We owe every man and woman who died and their families our unbending gratitude and respect.

How appropriate that my wife wanted our family to watch the HBO movie, Taking Chance, last night.  Every lump in a throat or tear running down a cheek was testament to the effectiveness of the movie.  We felt respect for the fallen warrior, shared loss with his family and buddies, and empathy for those fellow Marines who questioned “Why not me instead of Chance?”

If you don’t know, the movie tells of the experiences of Lt. Col. Mike Strobl (USMC), who volunteered to be the military escort for PFC Chance Phelps’ body back to his home in Dubois, Wyoming.  Phelps, who was only 19, was killed in Ramdi, Iraq in 2004 while providing cover for fellow Marines who came under enemy attack.

The care and respect given Phelps’ remains and LTC Strobl at every step in the journey was touching and reassuring.  I highly recommend this movie.

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Written by Janet Holsinger, History Associates Incorporated

“Why not shoot for a million?”

15-year old Shauna Fleming, DOD photo, http://www.defenselink.mil

In response to her father’s challenge, high school freshman Shauna Fleming started a campaign in 2004 to collect and distribute one million letters and emails of gratitude and appreciation to America’s military forces.  With approval from her principal, Greg Pinick, Shauna made “A Million Thanks” into a school-wide service project.  As the morale-boosting letters poured in, the teen continued to promote her campaign by teaming up with NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth in California and country music superstar John Michael Montgomery, with whom she did more than 70 radio and television interviews.  Actor Gary Sinise, star of CSI: NY and co-founder of Operation Iraqi Children, also helped Shauna spread the word through television interviews.

Six months later after beginning her ambitious campaign, Shauna presented to President Bush the one-millionth thank you letter, a handmade card from a high school student in St. Charles, Missouri.  With her original goal reached, Shauna’s next target upped the number to 1.4 million thank you letters – one for each member of the U.S. active duty military.  After reaching this second milestone in November 2005, she launched the “2.6 in 2006” letter-writing campaign, representative of the total number of people in the armed forces, including the National Guard and Reserve.

When the Pentagon honored Shauna and her school in 2007, Greg Pinick explained that Shauna had always humbly gone about her task, and that for her, “It’s always been about thanking men and women who are laying their lives down every day.”

Today, A Million Thanks is still going strong.  Shauna and A Million Thanks are also launching a new charity organization, Wounded Soldiers Wish, a non-profit designed to help wounded soldiers receive the things they need most.  For more information about A Million Thanks and Wounded Soldiers Wish, visit http://www.amillionthanks.org/. 

Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U. S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. William J. Gainey hangs a copy of the 2.6 millionth letter to the troops in his office at the Pentagon, Feb. 1, 2007. DOD photo, http://www.defenselink.mil/PhotoEssays/photoessay.aspx?ID=198&Page=3&Count=5

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On Monday a memorial honoring more 14,000 female veterans was unveiled at the Connecticut state Capitol.

You can read the whole story here.

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The Board of Directors and Staff of The National Museum of Americans in Wartime want to wish all of America’s Mothers a Happy Mother’s Day. Whether a Mother serving in our Armed Forces, a mother of any of our men and women serving , a Mother of a Veteran, or Mothers who are veterans may this be a wonderful Mother’s Day for you and yours and thank you for your service to our nation.

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Written by Janet Holsinger, History Associates Incorporated

“For you we have the greatest admiration and respect.”

In 1920, 7-year-old Frances Slanger escaped from increased Jewish persecution in Lodz, Poland, and arrived in Boston.  The daughter of a fruit peddler, Slanger dreamed of becoming a writer, and as she grew older, her aspirations expanded to include nursing. “I want to serve they who are less fortunate than I,” she wrote in letter to the Boston City Hospital School of Nursing, where she enrolled in 1934.  Often reprimanded for being too caring and compassionate towards her patients, Slanger graduated from nursing school three years later.  After World War II started, Slanger joined the Army Nurse Corps in 1943.  Originally limited to stateside service because of her poor vision, Slanger pleaded with the Army to allow her to serve in France alongside the front line soldiers.  Desperate for nurses in Europe, the Army granted her wish to serve overseas.

Frances Slanger was among the first nurses to arrive on French soil following D-Day when she landed with the 45^th Field Hospital Unit at Normandy on June 10, 1944.  As they traveled across France and into Belgium, Slanger’s unit treated the most severely wounded soldiers who would likely die without immediate surgery.  Working tirelessly, Slanger exhibited the same compassion for these GIs as she had in nursing school. 

By October, the 45^th Field Hospital Unit was stationed in Elsenborn, Belgium, where it tended soldiers from the Battle of Aachen.  The night of October 19, Slanger couldn’t sleep.  She and her tent mates had been discussing the heroism of the men who put their lives on the line every day, and she felt the need to set her thoughts to paper.  The next day, she sent her letter to the Stars and Stripes editors, which ran in the November 7 edition.

Frances Slanger did not live to see her letter published.  On October 21, just after the Allies wrested control of Aachen away from the Germans, the field hospital came under attack.  Hit by artillery shrapnel, Slanger died shortly after.  Unaware of her death, Stars and Stripes published her words which still resonate today:

We wade ankle deep in mud.  You have to lie in it…Sure, we rough it, but in comparison to the way you men are taking it, we can’t complain, nor do we feel that bouquets are due us.  But you, the men behind the guns, the men driving our tanks, flying our planes, sailing our ships, building bridges and to the men who pave the way and to the men who are left behind – it is to you we doff our helmets.  To every GI wearing the American uniform, for you we have the greatest admiration and respect.

Yes, this time we are handing out the bouquets…but after taking care of some of your buddies; seeing them when they are brought in bloody, dirty, with the earth, mud and grime, and most of them so tired.  Somebody’s brothers, somebody’s fathers and somebody’s sons.  Seeing them gradually brought back to life, to consciousness and to see their lips separate into a grin when they first welcome you.  Usually they kid, hurt as they are.  It doesn’t amaze us to hear one of them say, “How’ya, babe,” or “Holy Mackerel, an American woman!” or most indiscreetly, “How about a kiss?”

These soldiers stay with us but a short time, from 10 days to possibly two weeks.  We have learned a great deal about our American soldier, and the stuff he is made of.  The wounded do not cry.  Their buddies come first.  The patience and determination they show, the courage and fortitude they have is sometimes awesome to behold.  It is we who are proud to be here.  Rough it?  No.  It is a privilege to be able to receive you, and a great distinction to see you open your eyes and with that swell American grin, say, “Hi-ya babe!’

Three days after being killed, Slanger was buried at the US Military Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, and the November 22, 1944, issue of the Stars and Stripes reported Slanger’s death as the “1^st ETO Nurse Killed in Action.”  In 1947, her mother requested that her body be brought back home to Roxbury, Massachusetts. 

On Memorial Day, 1945, three weeks after V-E day, the US Ambassador to Belgium spoke about Frances Slanger at the Henri-Chapelle cemetery.  “Her courage, her strength, her endurance, and her unfailing hope are the essence of the things which have given us this victory and which we believe will never die.”

Frances Slanger, France. NARA, Photo 111 SC 190310

The National Museum of Americans in Wartime honors the service of Frances Slanger, and all other Americans who have served the cause of freedom.

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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

You could say that Jack Lucas was something of a troublemaker in the Marines.  He lied to get in, then deserted his post when it didn’t suit him.  Declared AWOL and demoted, he finally reappeared as a stowaway on a troopship far away from the rest of his unit.  But despite his disregard for certain rules, Lucas was more patriot than troublemaker.  He had boarded the troopship because it was Iwo Jima bound.  Within hours of arriving there, Lucas became the youngest Marine to ever earn 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 5^th 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.

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/i03000/i03872.jpg  

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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!

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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.

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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.

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