U.S. Warships: USS Russell (DDG-59)

From the Paralyzed Veterans of America November 2021 Calendar.

Each month, this calendar features a U.S. Navy warship that is currently in service.

This month's ship is the guided missile destroyer USS Russell (DDG-59).

It is an Arleigh Burke-class ship, commissioned 20 May 1995 and home ported in San Diego.  It is the second ship in the U.S. Navy by the name of John Henry Russell.  John Henry Russell was a rear admiral in the Navy who fought in the Mexican War and the Civil War.  His son, John Henry Russell, Jr. was the 16th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps.

It was built at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

--Cooter

U.S. Warships: USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76)

From the 2021 Paralyzed Veterans of America calendar.  December 2020.

The aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) leads a formation of Carrier Strike Force (CSG) 5 ships as U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress aircraft and U.S. Navy F/A-18 Hornets pass overhead for a photo exercise during Valiant Shield 2018.

The biennial U.S. only, field-training exercise focuses on integration of joint training among the U.S. Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.

This is the seventh exercise in the Valiant Shield series, which began in 2006.

Quite the display of strength.

Go Navy, Marines and Air Force.  What, No Army?  --Cooter

A World War II Marine Comes Home-- Part 2: Howard E. Miller, Killed on Betio in the Pacific

Howard Miller was born  May 6, 1921, and died on November 22, 1942, the third day of the hard-fought battle for Betio, Tarawa while serving  with Company A, 1st Battalion,  6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force.  Almost 6,400 Japanese, Koreans and Americans died in the fight for Betio.

Miller attended San Mateo High School and was a football player.  After graduation, he worked at Bethlehem Steel in San Francisco.  He was on a four-day furlough from Marine boot camp, when he married Elizabeth Bettinger. She learned he had died on New Year's Day, 1944.

His body was found after nearly a decade of excavations by History Flight, a Florida non-profit that researches and recovers missing U.S. service members.  This group has accounted for most of the lost Marines on Betio.

The Marines were buried, but the location of those sites was lost.  Mr. Miller's boots had bone fragments in it and DNA on those led to his identification.  They also found his dog tags nearby.

A World War II Marine Comes Home, A Fitting Veterans Day Story-- Part 1

From the November 10, 2020, East Bay Times by Peter Hagarty.  San Mateo, California.

A U.S. Marine  has come to his final resting place decades after gunfire cut him down as he was defending this nation thousands of miles  from home.

Howard Miller died during the grueling Island Hopping Campaign across the Pacific as Americans moved closer and closer to striking distance against Japan. Back then, his brothers in arms lowered the 22-year-old  private first class into  an unmarked grave on Betio, a little-known island that is part of the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands.

His remains were flown into San Francisco where active-duty Marines in full dress blues moved the casket and it was then transported  to San Mateo for burial.

Happy 245th Birthday USMC

Today marks the 245th anniversary of one of the world's greatest fighting forces, the United States Marine Corps.

Today's Corps traces its roots back to the Continental Marines of the American Revolution.  It was formed by Captain Samuel Nicholas by resolution of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775, hence today's birthday.

Nicholas was authorized to raise two  battalions of Marines, and that was the beginning.

Happy BD, Jarheads!!!  --CootJar

Happy 244th USMC!!!

Today marks the 244th birthday of the United States Marine Corps.  I am sure it will be celebrated all over the world, wherever they're stationed, also all retired Marines.

Once a Marine, always a Marine.

The United States Marine Corps traces its origins to the Continental Marines of the American Revolution.  They were formed by Captain Samuel Nicholas, by a resolution of the Second Continental Congress on 10 November 1775, to raise two battalions of Marines.

That date is regarded and celebrated as the date of the Marine Corps' birthday.

I can remember that MASH episode of the Marines celebrating their birthday during the Korean War and Norm getting the pool ball stuck in his mouth.

Happy Birthday, Jarheads!!  --CootRine

The Interesting Story of Col. Eugene Lietensdorfer-- Part 3

According to one account I read, Col. Eugene Lietensdorfer was William Eaton's chief of staff for the move on Derna, in which the Marines earned the line "Shores of Tripoli" in the Marine Corps Hymn.

After the evacuation of Derna, Lietensdorfer continued his wanderings until 1809, when he arrived in Salem, Massachusetts, and looked up William Eaton.  He then made his way to Washington, D.C., and armed with letters of recommendation from Eaton, got a job with Thomas Jefferson's chief architect, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, as surveyor of public buildings.

In 1833, as part of his role in the March to Derna, he received 300 acres in Missouri, where he lived until his death in 1845.

That is all I can find out him.  Sure wish there was more.

But, Quite a Life.  --Cooter

Five Great Places to Honor Our Veterans This Veterans Day

From the November 10, 2017, USA Today  "10 great places to honor military on Veterans Day" Larry Bleiberg.

He has more written about each site.  I'm just listing them.

1.  Lejeurne Memorial Gardens--  Jacksonville, North Carolina

2.  USS Alabama Battleship Park--  Mobile, Alabama

3.  USS Arizona Memorial--  Honolulu, Hawaii

4.  National Museum of the Marine Corps--  Triangle, Virginia

5.  Soldiers' National Cemetery--  Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

I'd like to add the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial in Wilmington, North Carolina.

Here's Hoping That Everyone Will Do Something Today to Honor Our Veterans.  --Cooter

Today's Marine Corps Came of Age in WW I-- Part 1: Just How Well Would They Perform?

From April 24, 2017 Army Times.com  by Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia (ret).

BELLEAU WOOD SHOWCASED GRIT, GUILE THAT STILL DEFINES THE SERVICE.

(Sgt. Major Brysan B. Battaglia served 36 years in the Marine Corps including as the senior enlisted adviser to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (2011-1016).  Quite a record for him.

America's initial entry into World War I, which came three years after the war began, was more promise than power for the Allies.  Military experts on both sides of the Atlantic knew that  the Americans had the numbers, but their was little experience as far as combat troops.

The Army had been deployed to the Philippines to fight insurgents and units (and National Guard) had served along the Mexican border during the Pancho Villa times during the Mexican Revolution.

But this service was to be different from what they had faces.

--Cooter

Happy Birthday to USMC

This date, 240 years ago, November 10, 1775, the Continental Congress passed legislation for the United States Marine Corps.

And, the rest, as they say, is history.

Saturday I will be working at the Marine Corps 240th Anniversary breakfast and Toys for Tots kickoff at the American Legion in Fox Lake, Illinois.  Serving that Marine Corps staple SOS and scrambled eggs and lots and lots of really strong black coffee.

Ooh-Rah!!  --Cooter

Shorpy Photo: USNA Class of '92 (As in 1892)

The Dec. 22, 2013, Shorpy had an interesting picture of the United States Naval Academy's Class of 1892, including one midshipman who later became Commandant of the USMC from 1934-1936, Major-General John R. Russell.

These men served in the Spanish-American War as junior officers and were involved with the rise of the Dreadnaught battleships as well as submarines and aviation. Quite a change to naval technology. They served as senior officers in World War I.

--Cooter