Thread: Wild Bill for America: "Ed Died Today"

OBITUARY - VAN T. BARFOOT, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT. FIGHTS TO FLY THE FLAG HE FOUGHT FOR

Posted by Marlene Hessler on April 2, 2014 at 5:09pm in General, Town Hall

May he Rest In Peace.

Van T. Barfoot died at the age of 92 on 2 March 2012.

Remember the guy who wouldn't take the flag pole down on his Virginia property a while back?

You might remember the news story several months ago, about a crotchety old man in Virginia who defied his local Homeowners Association, and refused to take down the flagpole on his property along with the large American flag he flew on it.

Now we learn who that old man was.

On June 15, 1919, Van T. Barfoot was born in Edinburg, Texas. That probably didn't make news back then.

But twenty-five years later, on May 23, 1944, near Carano, Italy , that same Van T. Barfoot, who had in 1940 enlisted in the U.S. Army, set out alone to flank German machine gun positions from which gunfire was raining down on his fellow soldiers.

His advance took him through a minefield but having done so, he proceeded to single-handedly take out three enemy machine gun positions, returning with 17 prisoners of war.

And if that weren't enough for a day's work, he later took on and destroyed three German tanks sent to retake the machine gun positions.

That probably didn't make much news either, given the scope of the war, but it did earn Van T. Barfoot, who retired as a Colonel after also serving in Korea and Vietnam , a well deserved Congressional Medal of Honor.

What did make news...

was his Neighborhood Association's quibble with how the 90-year-old veteran chose to fly the American flag outside his suburban Virginia home.

Seems the HOA rules said it was OK to fly a flag on a house-mounted bracket, but, for decorum, items such as Barfoot's 21-foot flagpole were "unsuitable".

Van Barfoot had been denied a permit for the pole, but erected it anyway and was facing court action unless he agreed to take it down.

Then the HOA story made national TV, and the Neighborhood Association rethought its position and agreed to indulge this aging hero who dwelt among them.

"In the time I have left", he said to the Associated Press, "I plan to continue to fly the American flag without interference."

As well he should.

And if any of his neighbors had taken a notion to contest him further, they might have done well to read his Medal of Honor citation first. Seems it indicates Mr. Van Barfoot wasn't particularly good at backing down.

Van T. Barfoot's Medal of Honor citation:

This 1944 Medal of Honor citation, listed with the National Medal of Honor Society, is for Second Lieutenant Van T. Barfoot, 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry:

If you got this email and didn't pass it on - guess what - you need your butt kicked!

I sent this to you, because I didn't want to get MY butt kicked! Do the right thing!

WE ONLY LIVE IN THE LAND OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE! AND, BECAUSE OF OLD MEN LIKE VAN BARFOOT!

Wonderful person

BARFOOT, VAN T.
Rank: Second Lieutenant
Organization: U.S. Army

Company:
Division: 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division
Born: June 15, 1919, Edinburg, Miss.
Departed: Yes (03/02/2012)
Entered Service At: Carthage, Miss.
G.O. Number: 79
Date of Issue: 09/28/1944
Accredited To:
Place / Date: Near Carano, Italy, 23 May 1944



For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 23 May 1944, near Carano, Italy. With his platoon heavily engaged during an assault against forces well entrenched on commanding ground, 2d Lt. Barfoot (then Tech. Sgt.) moved off alone upon the enemy left flank. He crawled to the proximity of 1 machine gun nest and made a direct hit on it with a hand grenade, killing 2 and wounding 3 Germans. He continued along the German defense line to another machine gun emplacement, and with his tommy gun killed 2 and captured 3 soldiers.

Members of another enemy machine gun crew then abandoned their position and gave themselves up to Sgt. Barfoot. Leaving the prisoners for his support squad to pick up, he proceeded to mop up positions in the immediate area, capturing more prisoners and bringing his total count to 17. Later that day, after he had reorganized his men and consolidated the newly captured ground, the enemy launched a fierce armored counterattack directly at his platoon positions. Securing a bazooka, Sgt. Barfoot took up an exposed position directly in front of 3 advancing Mark VI tanks. From a distance of 75 yards his first shot destroyed the track of the leading tank, effectively disabling it, while the other 2 changed direction toward the flank. As the crew of the disabled tank dismounted, Sgt. Barfoot killed 3 of them with his tommygun.

He continued onward into enemy terrain and destroyed a recently abandoned German fieldpiece with a demolition charge placed in the breech. While returning to his platoon position, Sgt. Barfoot, though greatly fatigued by his Herculean efforts, assisted 2 of his seriously wounded men 1,700 yards to a position of safety. Sgt. Barfoot's extraordinary heroism, demonstration of magnificent valor, and aggressive determination in the face of pointblank fire are a perpetual inspiration to his fellow soldiers.

http://www.cmohs.org/recipient-detai...foot-van-t.php


http://patriotaction.net/forum/topic...sg_share_topic

Fox News

An Army Ranger who helped rescue former POW Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital in 2003 has died after being shot in Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced.



Army Ranger Who Helped Rescue Jessica Lynch Dies From Combat Injuries

49-year-old Command Sgt. Maj. Martin R. Barreras died May 13 in Texas after...
Fox News

Army Ranger who helped rescue Jessica Lynch dies from wounds sustained in Afghanistan

Published May 16, 2014FoxNews.com

Command Sgt. Maj. Martin R. Barreras in a US Army photograph, left, and in the foreground planning for the Jessica Lynch rescue, right.

An Army Ranger who helped rescue former POW Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital in 2003 has died after being shot in Afghanistan, the Defense Department announced Thursday.
The Pentagon said in a statement that Command Sgt. Maj. Martin R. Barreras, 49, died May 13 in Texas after suffering injuries in Afghanistan on May 6.

Barreras, known as “Gunny,” was the top enlisted soldier for a unit based in Fort Bliss, Texas at the time of his death, according to the Army Times. He joined the Army in 1988 after serving five years in the Marine Corps.
The Army Times reports Barreras served 22 years in the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. In that time he served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and also deployed to Panama and Haiti.
A friend and fellow Ranger said in an email to Fox News that Barreras was the leader of the Army battalion that conducted the successful rescue of Lynch from an Iraqi hospital. The friend said Barreras personally handed Lynch to another soldier to transfer her to the helicopter that evacuated her from the area.
Barreras, according to the friend, then fended off multiple attacks in order to retrieve all 9 of the bodies of the other U.S. soldiers missing in action to bring them home.
“Marty never even asked for a thank you,” the friend said.
Barreras, who was originally from Arizona, is survived by his wife, two daughters and son, according to the Army Times.

Fox News' Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/16...n-afghanistan/

Major Headline: **Army Ranger who helped save Jessica Lynch dead of injuries suffered in Afghanistan**

Army Ranger Command Sgt. Maj. Martin R. "GUNNY" Barreras has passed away due to gun shot wounds he received in Afghanistan on May 6th.
Gunny, joined the Army in 1988 after serving five years in the Marine Corps serving 22 years in the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. In that time he served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and also deployed to Panama and Haiti.

THANK YOU Gunny for your service to our Great Nation. We will never forget.



Army Ranger who helped save Jessica Lynch dead of injuries suffered in Afghanistan

The Defense Department announced Thursday 49-year-old Command Sgt. Maj....
rare.us

Army Ranger who helped save Jessica Lynch dead of injuries suffered in Afghanistan

Carolyn Bolton, Rare Staff
Posted on May 16, 2014 9:26 am




Fox News/screenshot

The Defense Department announced Thursday 49-year-old Command Sgt. Maj. Martin R. Barreras, who in 2003 helped rescue former POW Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital, is dead after suffering gunshot wounds in Afghanistan.
“A friend and fellow Ranger said in an email to Fox News that Barreras was the leader of the Army battalion that conducted the successful rescue of Lynch from an Iraq hospital. The friend said Barreras personally handed Lynch to another soldier to transfer her to the helicopter that evacuated her from the area,” reports Fox News.
The father of three and longtime soldier, also known as “Gunny,” died May 13 after suffering injuries in Afghanistan last week.
The Arizona man joined the Army in 1988 after serving five years in the Marine Corps and served numerous times in Iraq and Afghanistan over the course of his 22-year Army career.
During the same operation, in addition to helping rescue Lynch, Command Sgt. Barreras “fended off multiple attacks in order to retrieve all nine of the bodies of the other U.S. soldiers missing in action to bring them home,” the friend told Fox News.
He is survived by his wife and three children, reports the Army Times.

Like our Military page on Facebook for more stories like this one Carolyn Bolton is a content editor for Rare. Follow her on Twitter @carbolton

http://rare.us/story/army-ranger-who...n-afghanistan/

Last crew member of Enola Gay dies in Georgia

By KATE BRUMBACK 55 minutes ago


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ATLANTA (AP) — The last surviving member of the crew that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, hastening the end of World War II and forcing the world into the atomic age, has died in Georgia.
Theodore VanKirk, also known as "Dutch," died Monday of natural causes at the retirement home where he lived in Stone Mountain, Georgia, his son Tom VanKirk said. He was 93.
VanKirk flew nearly 60 bombing missions, but it was a single mission in the Pacific that secured him a place in history. He was 24 years old when he served as navigator on the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb deployed in wartime over the Japanese city of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945.
He was teamed with pilot Paul Tibbets and bombardier Tom Ferebee in Tibbets' fledgling 509th Composite Bomb Group for Special Mission No. 13.
The mission went perfectly, VanKirk told The Associated Press in a 2005 interview. He guided the bomber through the night sky, just 15 seconds behind schedule, he said. As the 9,000-pound bomb nicknamed "Little Boy" fell toward the sleeping city, he and his crewmates hoped to escape with their lives.
They didn't know whether the bomb would actually work and, if it did, whether its shockwaves would rip their plane to shreds. They counted — one thousand one, one thousand two — reaching the 43 seconds they'd been told it would take for detonation and heard nothing.
View gallery

Portrait of four of the twelve members of the crew of the B-29 bomber Enola Gay, 1945. Pictured are, …

"I think everybody in the plane concluded it was a dud. It seemed a lot longer than 43 seconds," VanKirk recalled.
Then came a bright flash. Then a shockwave. Then another shockwave.
The blast and its aftereffects killed 140,000 in Hiroshima.
Three days after Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The blast and its aftermath claimed 80,000 lives. Six days after the Nagasaki bombing, Japan surrendered.
Whether the United States should have used the atomic bomb has been debated endlessly. VanKirk told the AP he thought it was necessary because it shortened the war and eliminated the need for an Allied land invasion that could have cost more lives on both sides.
View gallery

circa 1945: The Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber which dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima du …

"I honestly believe the use of the atomic bomb saved lives in the long run. There were a lot of lives saved. Most of the lives saved were Japanese," VanKirk said.
But it also made him wary of war.
"The whole World War II experience shows that wars don't settle anything. And atomic weapons don't settle anything," he said. "I personally think there shouldn't be any atomic bombs in the world — I'd like to see them all abolished.
"But if anyone has one," he added, "I want to have one more than my enemy."
VanKirk stayed on with the military for a year after the war ended. Then he went to school, earned degrees in chemical engineering and signed on with DuPont, where he stayed until he retired in 1985. He later moved from California to the Atlanta area to be near his daughter.
Like many World War II veterans, VanKirk didn't talk much about his service until much later in his life when he spoke to school groups, his son said.
"I didn't even find out that he was on that mission until I was 10 years old and read some old news clippings in my grandmother's attic," Tom VanKirk told the AP in a phone interview Tuesday.
Instead, he and his three siblings treasured a wonderful father, who was a great mentor and remained active and "sharp as a tack" until the end of his life.
"I know he was recognized as a war hero, but we just knew him as a great father," Tom VanKirk said.
VanKirk's military career was chronicled in a 2012 book, "My True Course," by Suzanne Dietz. VanKirk was energetic, very bright and had a terrific sense of humor, Dietz recalled Tuesday.
Interviewing VanKirk for the book, she said, "was like sitting with your father at the kitchen table listening to him tell stories."
A funeral service was scheduled for VanKirk on Aug. 5 in his hometown of Northumberland, Pennsylvania. He will be buried in Northumberland next to his wife, who died in 1975. The burial will be private.

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http://news.yahoo.com/last-crew-memb...210637939.html

Decorated soldier from 'Black Hawk Down' battle in Somalia dies at 52

Published October 23, 2014FoxNews.com



Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Gallagher was in Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 and in Baghdad for the U.S. invasion in 2003. When he retired, he worked to serve soldiers. He died on Oct. 13 at age 52. (3rd Infantry Division/Facebook)

A decorated soldier who participated in the Somalia battle immortalized by Hollywood blockbuster “Black Hawk Down” was reportedly found dead in his Georgia home earlier this month.
Retired Command Sgt. Maj. Robert Gallagher, 52, died of natural causes as a result of a heart condition, the Army Times reports. He served as the command sergeant major for the Army’s Wounded Warrior Program, but had extensive experience in major combat operations, including Operation Just Cause in Panama and with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia, which was later made famous by the 2001 film.

“You know, I don’t say this lightly, but Bob is probably one of, probably the best soldier I ever served with, retired Col. Greg Gadson told the newspaper. “That man really cared about soldiers.”
Born in Bayonne, N.J., Gallagher joined the Army in 1981 and later earned several awards and decorations, including a Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and two Bronze Stars. He earned the Silver Star in 2002 during Operation Iraqi Freedom as troops advanced from Kuwait to Baghdad, when he suffered a leg wound but continued to direct his men.
“The best day and worst day of my life was when I served in Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 3, 1993, as part of Task Force Ranger,” Gallagher said in 2010. “It was the worst day, because we lost 18 soldiers and 84 others, including myself, were wounded. It was the best day of my life because it showed the incredible performance of our warriors in long-protracted battle under extraordinary circumstances in an urban environment. Throughout it all, the warriors that fought that day performed in a manner that was consistent with the values of our nation, and I was very proud of that.”
A memorial ceremony is scheduled for Oct. 31 at Fort Benning in Georgia. Gallagher will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but a date has not yet been determined. He is survived by his wife, Denene, and sons Patrick and Sean.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/10/23...ia-dies-at-52/

Laura Ingraham

WATCH: The oldest World War II veteran dies, and the internet rallies to support the vet and his family at the funeral.



Internet rallies crowd for WWII veteran's funeral
Community and reddit honors WWII veteran
video.lauraingraham.com

Video at the page link:

http://video.lauraingraham.com/Inter...2#.VE8WJTotC1t

Conservative Daily

Well done, America...



Oldest WWII Vet in the US Worried No One Would Come to His Funeral. This is What It Looked Like...
He wasn't forgotten. Not by a long shot.
ijreview.com|By Juan Leon

Oldest WWII Vet in the US Worried No One Would Come to His Funeral. This is What It Looked Like…

By Juan Leon (21 hours ago) | Culture, Editor's Choice, Nation

Video at the page link:

He was the oldest WWII veteran in Kentucky. And the oldest WWII veteran in the country.
Roscoe Cassidy, born in 1907, passed away at 107 years old on Tuesday, October 21. Cassidy reportedly told family “he always worried that because he had outlived so many of his friends, no one would come to his funeral.”
But he needn’t have worried. This is what his funeral looked like:



Image credit: WKYT
According to WKYT, dozens of friends, family, veterans, and complete strangers came out to Cassidy’s funeral on October 25 to honor him:



Image credit: WKYT
In an age where so much attention is focused on people and things that haven’t contributed a thing to society, it’s profound to see an ordinary man’s life celebrated in the way the Bath County community honored Roscoe Cassidy — a man who, come to think of it, wasn’t ordinary at all.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/1952...d-like-passed/