21 Apr

Sign Language for Islamists



Sign Language for Islamists
In Sadr City, Hashem Hadi Obaid translates sermons by preachers loyal to Moktada al-Sadr, the anti-American cleric, into sign language.Iraq’s most anti-western demagogue is determined to bring the message to those who can’t hear it.
CLICK FOR VIDEO


http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=114adf2d4277ffb8f718efdb11f6f575b3452d4b

And this news from Iraq:
Muqtada al-Sadr followers refuse to disband militia in Iraq
BAGHDAD (AP)
Followers of hardline cleric Muqtada al-Sadr raised the stakes Sunday in the showdown with Iraq’s government, refusing to disband their militia as the U.S. military reported an “uptick” of fighting in the Iraqi capital.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, meanwhile, assured visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he will not back down in his confrontation with Shiite militias, even as mortar shells fired from Shiite areas struck the U.S.-protected Green Zone.
In a sign of that resolve, Iraqi soldiers took control Sunday of the last stronghold of al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia in the southern city of Basra, where an Iraqi offensive last month triggered the current wave of Shiite fighting.
Al-Maliki, a Shiite, has demanded that al-Sadr disband his Mahdi Army, the country’s biggest Shiite militia, or his followers will not be allowed to run in provincial elections this fall.


Wild Thing’s comment……..
The Sadr thug brigade is going to continue to whittle down to nothing as they get their clocks cleaned. He’s now been thoroughly discredited and isolated by the other Shite and Iraqi political parties.
So Mookie sits in his little Iranian hole awaiting orders. They will soon toss him to the wind as he will no longer serve any purpose. Not alive anyway.
Word is they will be having him leave Iran. When that happens, he’s done. Maybe even better to have him killed was he is still in Iran.

20 Apr

Hamas Says Carter Visit a Boost to Militants’ Legitimacy


Khaled Meshaal

Carter Meets Hamas Chief in Syria
DAMASCUS, Syria
Former President Carter defied U.S. and Israeli warnings and met Friday with the exiled leader of Hamas and his deputy, two men the U.S. government has labeled terrorists and Israel accuses of masterminding attacks that have killed hundreds of civilians.
Carter is the most prominent American to hold talks with Khaled Mashaal, whose Palestinian militant group claimed new legitimacy from the meeting along with two other sessions the Nobel laureate held with Hamas leaders in the Middle East this week.

“Political isolation (of Hamas) by the American administration has begun to crumble,” Mohammed Nazzal, a top figure in Hamas’ political bureau, told The Associated Press after Friday’s meeting at Mashaal’s Damascus office.

A senior Hamas official in Damascus, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to represent the group publicly, described the meeting as “warm.”
But he said Carter did not receive a response to either of the two requests the former president made in the session: that Hamas halt its rocket attacks against Israel, and agree to a meeting with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Eli Yishai to discuss a prisoner exchange.

Underscoring the impression that Carter did not win any concessions, Hamas said Friday that kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit will “not see the light” until Palestinian prisoners are also released in an exchange.
Carter’s convoy arrived at Mashaal’s office for the meeting under tight security, and reporters were prevented from getting near the site. The meeting was closed to media, and Carter was not available for comment.
He says Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, must be engaged in order to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
The controversy over his visit highlights two different approaches to foreign policy. Some, like Carter, believe that is impossible to resolve a conflict without engaging all parties, even those responsible for attacks on civilians. Others, including the Bush administration, contend that such meetings give credibility to hard-line militants and allow them to play for time when they are not serious about peace.
Echoing criticism from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice before the trip, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack suggested Friday that Carter had opened himself up to “exploitation” by both Hamas and the Syrian government.

“We find it very odd that one would encourage to have a conversation between the Israeli government and Hamas, which doesn’t even recognize the right of the Israeli government to exist,” McCormack said. “Is that really the basis of a conversation?”

Several members of Congress also urged Carter not to meet Hamas leaders, saying it would confer legitimacy on the group behind dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks that have killed some 250 Israelis.

“We have a policy in this country about Hamas. And he is just deliberately undermining that policy, and it’s wrong,” Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C., told Fox News on Friday, calling for the State Department to revoke the former president’s passport.

Friday’s meeting, which followed a session between Carter and Syrian President Bashar Assad, was the first public contact between a prominent American figure and Hamas officials since the Rev. Jesse Jackson met with Mashaal in Syria in 2006.
The U.S. government has no contact with Hamas after designating it a terrorist organization in 1995 _ an official label that means any financial or business transactions with the group are illegal. The government has also blacklisted Mashaal and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, making it illegal to conduct any transactions with them.
Marzouk, who attended Friday’s meeting with Carter, has been accused of organizing a network of Islamic charities to funnel money to Hamas. He spent two years in prison in a New York jail after his name appeared on a list of people suspected of terrorist activity. He was deported in 1997.
Hamas official Mushir Masri, in a fiery speech Friday to thousands of Hamas supporters in Gaza, said the meetings with Carter were proof that Hamas was not a terrorist group but a national liberation movement.

CAIRO, Egypt

Heading the Hamas delegation in Cairo were Gaza leaders Mahmoud Zahar and Said Siyam. “This meeting is a message to those who don’t recognize Hamas’ legitimacy as a movement,” Zahar said

In Cairo, Hamas spokesman Taher Nuhu told The Associated Press that the purported Thursday meeting would be “a recognition of the legitimacy” of Hamas’ victory in the Palestinians’ parliamentary election in 2006.

“We do not claim we are the only legitimate group there, but we are an integral part whose legitimacy was manifested in the elections,” Nuhu said.

Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since its bloody takeover last June, opposes peace negotiations with Israel and is committed to the Jewish state’s destruction. The Islamic militant group has killed some 250 Israelis in suicide bombings and is branded a terror organization by the U.S. and Israel.

.


Wild Thing’s comment……..
He really should be arrested for treason, this has gone on for far too long. It is shocking what our government allows this terrorist sympathizer and Jew hater to get away with.

20 Apr

Bush to Appear on ‘Deal or No Deal’ to Surprise US Soldier




In this image released by NBC, “Deal or No Deal” host Howie Mandel, left, is shown with contestant Capt. Joseph Kobes, right, and his supporter Laura Johnson during the taping of the game show in Los Angles. The program, scheduled to air on Monday, April 21,2008, features Kobes, as he attempts to win enough cash to pay off his parents’ home.

Bush to Appear on ‘Deal or No Deal’ to Surprise US Soldier
the News Tribune.com
President Bush has taped a surprise “good luck” video for a U.S. soldier, Captain Joe Kobes, who is a contestant on the popular television game show, “Deal or No Deal,” White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Friday.
The president’s video will air on Monday’s episode of NBC’s “Deal or No Deal,” and the network will be previewing clips from the video over the weekend.
The president’s video will thank Kobes for his military service and wish him luck on the game show, in which he will compete for a top prize of $1 million. “It really is actually an emotional moment for Captain Kobes and his family,” Fratto told reporters at the White House press briefing.
The president agreed to make the video when he learned from the producers of “Deal or No Deal” that he is one of Kobes’ heroes.
Army Capt. Joseph Kobes was blown away when host Howie Mandel segued to a taped greeting from President Bush, who thanked him for his three tours in Iraq and wished him good luck in the game show.
“He was definitely speechless, which is rare for him,” Ken Kobes said of his son.
The elder Kobes said Friday that he’s under orders from NBC not to divulge his son’s winnings from the show, taped last month at a studio in Culver City, Calif.
Kobes, 29, is a transportation officer in school at Fort Lee, Va. A few months back, he drove six hours to an open “Deal or No Deal” tryout in Philadelphia and got called back for a second audition. A month after that, the producers called again. He’d made the final cut.
The show put up his parents, Ken and Susan; his girlfriend; and his three brothers in a nice hotel for four days during the taping last month. The family enjoyed the impromptu reunion.
It was a nice departure from an intense past few years for the younger Kobes, a Sumner High School graduate who double-majored in nuclear physics and pre-med at West Point, Class of 2001.
He was in Iraq from March 2004 to March 2005. He led a transportation platoon in Iraq and volunteered for two other assignments from November 2006 to July 2007, a White House spokesman said Friday.
Kobes was twice awarded the Bronze Star for valor and has a Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds he suffered when his truck was bombed in 2004, his father said.
And what about that taped game show message from the president?
Kobes had an inkling something might be up, his father said, when he got a call from his assignment officer telling him his next job was on hold because the White House had been making inquiries about him.
Kobes thought maybe he was up for a White House fellowship or one of the other plum assignments there for military officers.
No such luck, but there’s some consolation in his next duty station: Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
The elder Kobes said producers at the taping told him they’d been trying to get the president on the show for a long time.
“They said, ‘Your son must be somebody really special for the president to do that,’” Kobes said. “And I thought, ‘Yeah, he is.’”


Wild Thing’s comment……..
What fun and how wonderful for Capt. Joe Kobes. I hope he wins the million dollars.

20 Apr

Boneheads vs. Jarheads By Russ Vaughn

Boneheads vs. Jarheads
Contributed by Russ Vaughn
TIME Magazine, that bastion of objective news reporting, where journalistic ethics are disappearing even faster than their readers (circulation rates down 17.5% in 2007 from the previous year according to Wikipedia) has trashed an American patriotic icon with its latest cover.
The cover is insulting to all American warriors but constitutes absolute sacrilege to one particular branch of American fighting men. TIME’s clueless, liberal editors may have endeared themselves to Al Gore and his Green Lemmings but they have surely incurred the wrath of a far more formidable green organization, the entire present and past United States Marine Corps, the lean, mean Green Machine.
In this confrontation between boneheads and Jarheads, all I can say is Semper Fi!
Russ Vaughn
Vietnam 65-66

…..Thank you Russ!

20 Apr

Cleric Sadr Threatens “open war” On Iraq Government




Cleric Sadr threatens “open war” on Iraq government
abc news
BAGHDAD
Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday threatened an “open war” against the Iraqi government unless it halted a crackdown by Iraqi and U.S. security forces on his followers.
The specter of a full-scale uprising by Sadr sharply raises the stakes in his confrontation with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who has threatened to ban the anti-American cleric’s movement from political life unless he disbands his militia.
A rebellion by Sadr’s Mehdi Army militia — which has tens of thousands of fighters — could abruptly end a period of lower violence at a time when U.S. forces are starting to leave Iraq.

“I’m giving the last warning and the last word to the Iraqi government — either it comes to its senses and takes the path of peace … or it will be (seen as) the same as the previous government,” Sadr said, referring to Saddam Hussein’s fallen regime, without elaborating.

“If they don’t come to their senses and curb the infiltrated militias, then we will declare an open war until liberation.”

Sadr’s movement accuses other Shi’ite parties of getting their militias into the Iraqi security forces, especially in southern Shi’ite Iraq where various factions are competing for influence in a region home to most of Iraq’s oil output.
Sadr launched two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004.
His movement then entered politics and backed Maliki’s rise to power in 2006. But the youthful Sadr split with Maliki, a fellow Shi’ite, a year ago when the prime minister refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

“Do you want a third uprising?” Sadr said, adding that he wanted Iraq’s Shi’ite clerical establishment to set a date for the departure of American troops.

In Sadr’s Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City, one Mehdi Army commander said he was “thrilled” about the statement.
“We will wait until tomorrow to see the response of the government. Otherwise they will see black days like they have never seen before i
Sadr’s threat could not come at a worse time. On Friday, U.S. forces said they had intelligence suggesting Sunni Islamist al Qaeda, pushed out of Baghdad and western Iraq last year, was plotting a return to the capital to stage major bomb attacks.
ROCKETS HIT HOSPITAL
In Baghdad, police described battles between security forces and gunmen that began on Friday in Sadr City as among the heaviest in the capital since Maliki launched a crackdown on the Mehdi Army in the southern city of Basra late last month.
Police said 12 people had been killed in the Shi’ite slum. Hospitals said they received more than 130 wounded overnight.
Late on Saturday, Ali Bustan, head of the health directorate in the eastern section of Baghdad, said three rockets hit the Sadr Hospital in the slum. It was unclear if there were any casualties. The U.S. military said it was not to blame.
Bustan said the bodies of three women had been brought in along with 40 wounded people following fresh clashes.
Maliki has threatened to ban Sadr’s movement from provincial elections this year if the cleric does not disband his militia.
In response, Sadr has threatened to formally scrap a ceasefire he imposed on the Mehdi Army last August, which has already been hanging by a thread given recent clashes.
In his statement, Sadr did not refer to the truce, but his spokesman in the holy city of Najaf, Salah al-Ubaidi, said the cleric was not bluffing.
“We mean every word,” Ubaidi told Reuters.
Sadr issued his warning after Iraqi soldiers swooped on the Mehdi Army’s stronghold in Basra. Iraqi officials said they now controlled the bastion, known as the Hayaniya district.
The dawn raid by government troops there was backed by a thunderous bombardment by U.S. warplanes and British artillery.
Maliki’s initial crackdown on the militia in Basra last month was criticized by U.S. commanders as poorly planned.
It failed to drive the Mehdi Army from the streets and sparked battles across the south and in Sadr City, the cleric’s Baghdad stronghold. The government dismissed 1,300 soldiers and police for refusing to fight in Basra, the port for most of Iraq’s oil exports.
On Saturday by contrast, Harith al-Idhari, head of the Sadr office in Basra, said the militia had not put up any resistance, in observance of a ceasefire declared by the cleric.
Major-General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an interior ministry spokesman, described the Basra operation as a major success.


Wild Thing’s comment……..
Some people just need killing. Bye Bye Sadr!

19 Apr

Warriors In Their Own Words



CLICK HERE TO SEE VIDEO

We have always had warriors, from as far back in history as one can go — warriors are timeless.
Warriors have a moral code and are not simply trained killers (as they are all too frequently portrayed).
If we did not have warriors, we would undoubtedly be speaking another language, German, Japanese, Chinese, or Russian.
Warriors are born, they are not created. Certainly they are trained, but to be a warrior is a calling.
We should be forever grateful to our warriors and to their families who are all so courageous.
We should honor our warriors. Warriors are NOT, as they are commonly portrayed, victims with no where else to go but the military.
This project will show people what intelligent, honorable, and brave people we have standing in the way of the free world’s demise.




Freedom is not Free website

“Our Mission is to Honor Our Warriors and to raise funding through our documentary, portrait book and exhibit –to aid wounded service members, their families, and the families of the fatally wounded.”

LETTERS FROM THOSE SERVING NOW
Sergeant Michael A Thomas Personal Narrative “3 A.M. IN BANGOR, MAINE”

“As I walked off the plane, I was taken aback; in the small, dimly lit airport, a group of elderly veterans were there waiting for us, lined up one by one to shake our hands. Some were standing, others were confined to wheelchairs, and all of then wore their uniform hats. Their now-feeble right hands stiffened in salutes, their left hands holding coffee, snacks, and cell phones for us.
“As I made my way through the line, each man thanking me for my service, I choked back tears. Here we were, returning from one year in Iraq where we had portable DVD players, three square meals, and phones, being honored by men who had crawled through mud for years while little more than the occasional letter from home. A few of them appeared to be veterans of the war in Vietnam, I couldn’t help but think of how they were treated when they came back to the U.S., and yet here they were to support us.”
“These soldiers – many of whom had lost limbs and comrades – shook our hands proudly, as if our service could somehow rival their own.”
“We later learned that this VFW group had waited for more than a day in the airport for our arrival.”


Wild Thing’s comment…….
This video is first class and the reason it is so awesome is because of our soldiers. Listen to their words, they speak from their heart and soul how they feel. It has me crying but that is what tears are for too. Grateful and awe inspiring tears of pride in our American’s that give so much for us to be free and for others too to learn what freedom is about.

….Thank you John 5 (VN 69/70) for sending this to me.

19 Apr

Happy Patriot’s Day ~ “the shot heard ’round the world”

On 19 April 1775, the brave Patriots at Lexington and Concord fired the opening volley for American liberty. Today we honor them, as well as those Patriots who continue in that tradition, shouldering the burden of American liberty, particularly those on the warfront with Jihadistan.




The famous Minuteman statue stands at the ready in the predawn hours in Lexington.

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.
On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.
Spirit, that made those heroes dare
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.




Patriots’ Day civic holiday in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and state of Maine and a public school observance day in Wisconsin.
Traditionally it was designated as April 19 in observance of the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War.
Observances and re-enactments of these first battles of the American Revolution occur annually at Lexington Green in Lexington, MA, and The Old North Bridge in Concord, MA.


On the evening of April 18, 1775 General Thomas Gage, the British Commander in Chief of the Massachusetts Bay Colony was ordered to bring the colonies under control. He ordered Lt. Col. Francis Smith to destroy Colonist’s war supplies held in Concord. Smith was also instructed to take Samuel Adams and John Hancock into British custody. Smith’s orders were to be carried out in secret. However, Joseph Warren, a doctor, learned of the plans and sent William Dawes and Paul Revere to warn the Patriots.

Paul Revere rode 16 miles from Olde North Church in Boston to Lexington. The British arrived in Lexington in the early dawn of April 19, 1775. It was there that the Patriots or ‘Minutemen’ and British confronted each other on the green and “the shot heard round the world” was fired.

At Lexington Green, the British were met by 77 American Minute Men led by John Parker. At the North Bridge in Concord, the British were confronted again, this time by 300 to 400 armed colonists, and were forced to march back to Boston with the Americans firing on them all the way. By the end of the day, the colonists were singing “Yankee Doodle” and the American Revolution had begun.


Wild Thing’s comment……..
The incident that precipitated the Alarm was a British raid on the colonial powder stored at the Powder House on the Somerville/Medford line. It was one of several “alarms,” including ones in Marblehead and Portsmouth, NH, that let the Provincials know the British were clamping down on them, militarily, before Lexington and Concord.
People armed were vital to this nation gaining freedom. Now, it’s vital to KEEPING it. One of the reasons the colonists were so pissed, was the British had come to confiscate their guns. Both the American and Texan revolutions began because of an attempt at “gun control”.

“Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then say, ‘What should be the reward of such sacrifices?’ Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship, and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!”—Samuel Adams
“The Sun never shined on a cause of greater worth.”—Thomas Paine
“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!”—George Washington
“The Revolution was effected before the war commenced. The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obligations… This radical change in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the people was the real American Revolution.”—John Adams
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”—Thomas Jefferson “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”—Patrick Henry

….Thank you Darth for the heads up that today is Patriot’s Day.

19 Apr

Global Warming Cult vs the U.S. Marines

“In that moment, Rosenthal’s camera recorded the soul of a nation.”

. . .Editors of US Camera Magazine.



This is the original photograph by Joe Rosenthal.

Global Warming Cult vs the U.S. Marines
My Northwest.com
Please CLICK LINK ABOVE TO HEAR ….Donald Mates and Jerry Rosenthal audio’s.
Donald Mates is a WWII veteran. He was a lead scout for the U.S. Marines and fought on Iwo Jima.
Donald Mates Interview
Donald Mates is a WWII veteran. He was a lead scout for the U.S. Marines and fought on Iwo Jima. He spoke to Dori on The Dori Monson Show.
Jerry Rosenthal Interview
The famous picture of WWII US Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima has been altered in a controversial new Time magazine cover story. The photographer’s grandson, Jerry Rosenthal, lives in Gig Harbor, WA and says his grandfather would be upset by Time’s decision.
“That global warming is the biggest joke I’ve ever known,” Lt John Keith Wells told the Business & Media Institute. “[W]e’ll stick a dadgum tree up somebody’s rear if they want that and think that’s going to cure something.”
Donald Mates was a lead scout for the Marines at Iwo Jima. “It’s an absolute disgrace,” Mates said. “Whoever did it is going to hell. That’s a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor.”


Wild Thing’s comment……..
I just can’t get over what Time has done. It breaks my heart.

19 Apr

“Patches” a C-130E Has Been Added To 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron




In Vietnam in 1968, the Herk resupplied the besieged Marine garrison at Khe Sanh. Exposed to enemy fire, C-130s often performed pallet insertion of desperately needed material.




Members of the 746th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit prepare to do maintenance “Patches.” The aircraft was inducted into history when Lt. Col. Howard Dallman, 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, landed his crew and aircraft under heavy enemy fire from the People’s Army of Vietnam to re-supply besieged Marines in Khe Sanh on Feb. 5, 1968. Col. Dallman received the Air Force Cross and his crew received the Silver Star for their effort to re-supply the Marines in Khe Sanh. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Domonique Simmons)




Senior Airman Richard Herling and Tech. Sgt. Kevin Sanderson, 746th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit C-130 crew chiefs go through a job guide to ensure all preparations are completed to remove and replace a window on “Patches,” the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron’s newly-acquired C-130E.

C-130 Unit Gets a New Bird With an Old History
By Senior Airman Tong Duong
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
U.S. Air Force, coalition and sister service forces have relied for years on the steady stream of supplies and equipment flown in by crewmembers of KC-135 Stratotankers, C-130 Hercules, C-17 Globemaster IIIs and other airlift workhorses.
One aircraft new to Southwest Asia carries something more – a rich history dating back more than 40 years.
The 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron recently added “Patches” a C-130E, Tail No. 62-1817 into its fleet, from Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

“She’s a great lady,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Tulley, 746th EAS commander, from Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. “I’ve seen a picture of her at Air Mobility Command headquarters at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and it was interesting to read about her crew’s contribution to history. I’m proud to have her on our ramp.”

According to Alan Marsh, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing historian, the People’s Army of Vietnam launched what became a 77-day battle at Khe Sanh on Jan. 21, 1968. During this time, overland supply routes to U.S.
troops at Khe Sanh were cut off and attempts to land aircraft were threatened by artillery fire from the North Vietnamese. Most supply efforts during this period were attempted by airdrops.
On Feb. 5, Tail No. 62-1817 and her crew flew into the storm of enemy fire to deliver much needed supplies to the Marines besieged at the outpost. Lt. Col. Howard Dallman and his 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron crew loaded ammunition and a medical evacuation team at Da Nang and headed for Khe Sanh. Confronted with overcast weather and no communications with Khe Sanh, Colonel Dallman landed the C-130 under heavy enemy fire.
One shell hit the aircraft and ignited a fire, threatening the cargo boxes of ammo loaded in the plane. The crew stayed with the C-130 as it taxied down the runway and took additional hits by enemy fire, blowing out a tire. One engine quit when a mortar round exploded and threw dirt into it.
After the fire was extinguished, the valuable cargo was unloaded and the tire repaired, the C-130 crew took off, again sustaining hits from the enemy. Colonel Dallman received the Air Force Cross for his efforts to re-supply the Marines at Khe Sanh and all crew members received the Silver Star.

Decades later, Tail No. 62-1817 is still bringing the fight to the enemy, this time in the Middle East.

“It gives our crewmembers and maintainers a sense of pride to know that one of their aircraft has been through something that significant,” Colonel Tulley said. “It reflects on the entire Air Force fleet, and is a testimony to the maintainers and crew members who fly them that these planes are still around and parked next to the newer C-130Js, doing the same missions.”

Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Seay, 746th Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief, has worked on “Patches” more than once, and said her history is what he finds most interesting about her.

“This is my third time deploying with her,” he said. “It’s great to be able to work on a 45-year-old aircraft with so much history.”

He said it’s especially meaningful because his father served in Vietnam.

At his home station, Pope Air Force Base, N.C., Sergeant Seay enjoys maintaining all C-130 aircraft, but prefers to work on the older planes.

“I would rather work on E models (built in the early ’60s) than the newer C-130Js (built in early 2000) because of their history and the significance of what they’ve done for our country,” he said. “I’ve worked on many different variations of C-130s, from older Vietnam-era planes to ones that have seen recent campaigns such as the AC-130 gunships they have at Hurlbert Field, Fla., but I’ve got to say, ‘Patches’ is probably the most interesting of them all.”

Since its activation in February, the 746th EAS has accomplished several combat airdrops, leaflet drops, and combat re-supply missions using its E, H and J model C-130 aircraft, Colonel Tulley said.

With the addition of another airframe, the 746th EAS can continue to impact the mission here and make history for future generations.

“Mobility Airmen and the planes we fly often make the greatest impact with sustained performance over time,” Colonel Tulley said. “It’s when you look back at the results after a period of time you realize the profound impact. For example, every one of our 19,000 passengers airlifted has been spared the danger of traveling via ground convoy, you can’t measure the lives and injuries saved through the consistent, reliable airlift mobility assets provide.”

19 Apr

Happy Passover To The IDF and Theodore’s World Jewish Friends



To all my Jewish friends and those in the IDF I wish you a joyous Passover.