Texas Instruments is a name you know and recognize from math class, but they don’t just make calculators. They also make missile systems. Check this video out.
Mike Ergo enlisted with the Marine Corps Band but then decided to go Infantry and wound up engaged in heavy urban fighting in the Second Battle of Fallujah in 2004.
One of Ergo’s defining tattoos from the war is an image on his left forearm of St. Michael holding a scale of justice and a foot on the face of a dead Iraqi he came across in a combat.
“For a long time I was seeing this person’s face every single day, sometimes every single hour of the day,” said Ergo. “My thinking was if I had to see his face, everyone else had to see it as well. It was a tattoo I got out of anger.”
“Vietnam vets talk about their experiences coming back and the big gulf that happened between the veterans and civilians,” continues Ergo. “This is an opportunity for our generation to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Ergo’s story is part of War Ink: 11 for 11, a video series presented by We Are The Mighty. The series features 11 combat veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan using tattoos to tell their stories on and off the battlefield. Each week for the next 11 weeks, a different tattooed veteran will share his or her story.
Do you have a tattoo that tells the story of your war experiences? Post a photo of it at We Are The Mighty’s Facebook page with the hashtag #WeAreTheMightyInk. WATM will be teeing up the coolest and most intense ones through Veteran’s Day.
Kamikaze pilots struck fear in the hearts of allied troops as they conducted their nose-dives right into U.S. ships during World War II’s Pacific fight.
Reportedly, the first kamikaze operation of the war occurred during the Battle of the Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.
After a mission had been planned, the pilots of the “Special Attack Corps” received a slip of paper with three options: to volunteer out of a strong desire, to simply volunteer, or to decline.
These Kamikaze pilots pose together for the last time in front of a zero fighter plane before taking off from the Imperial Army airstrip.
On Apr. 6, 1944, Marines and sailors aboard Naval vessels located in the Pacific were going about their regular workday knowing the enemy was planning something soon — something big.
On the nearby island, the Japanese gathered every operational plane remaining in their arsenal. Many of the Kamikaze pilots were inexperienced but highly devoted to the Empire.
Once they were armed and loaded, the flying fleet took off in waves heading toward their American targets.
A Kamikaze operated plane takes off from the Japanese airstrip heading toward their American target. (Source: Smithsonian Channel)
As the suicidal pilots reached their target, they began an attack that would supersede any air raid in history. Over the course of two days, over 350 enemy planes imposed absolute havoc on the allied vessels.
As American forces defended themselves with well-trained fighter pilots and ship gunners, the enemies’ ambitious nature proved costly.
The Japanese crashed over 1,900 planes in choreographed kamikaze dives around Okinawa — sinking a total 126 ships and damaging 64 others.
Sailors and Marines work together putting out the fires caused by the Kamikaze pilots. (Source: Smithsonian Channel/ Screenshot)
Although the destruction took a toll on allied forces, it also helped fortify their motivation to continue with the fight — eventually defeating their Japanese adversaries.
Check out the Smithsonian Channel’s video below to see the historic and rare footage for yourself.
Warfighters have charged into battle throughout history with fully bearded chins. Sadly, the need to survival chemical weapons attacks has overshadowed the need to keep one’s chin beautiful.
Today, the most widely stated reason for requiring troops to keep a clean-shaven face is because facial hair prevents the proper sealing of a gas mask. Many studies and personnel trials have proven this true time and time again. That’s right, folks. Chemical weapons are so evil that they’ve even killed beards.
Even though chemical warfare is uncommon, we might have a potential enemy who isn’t afraid to use it. (Photo by Sgt. Scott Wolfe)
Maintaining a clean shave isn’t a problem for most troops. Military regulations prohibit facial hair and every male service member must remain baby-faced. This isn’t solely for potential chemical warfare reasons, but rather for maintaining a uniform and professional appearance among troops.
However, troops with religious reasons or a medical profile may be exempt from the shaving requirement. Unfortunately, their luck runs out when it’s time to visit the CS chamber. Despite knowing that their beards will prevent a complete seal, some in the chain of command will still send these troops in for whatever reason.
I’m not saying these leaders are setting up those troops for failure, but they really are. (Photo by Pierre Courtejoie)
Well, my bearded friends, the military is developing an alternative to the standard M50 gas mask that will protect a troop from chemical weapons by forming a skin-tight seal at the neck instead of the chin. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much progress with the technology, even from the Canadian military, but trials are still ongoing.
This doesn’t mean that bearded gentlemen are completely screwed out of wearing a gas mask. A Marine veteran and survivalist YouTuber, TEOTWAWKI Man, has found a field expedient solution — all it takes is a bunch of Vaseline. What you need to do is slather the edges of the mask with Vaseline and coat your beard with it, too. It should be a nasty amount of goo.
It won’t be pleasant, but it will be a lot faster than shaving and a lot less painful than sucking up CS gas.
While everyone talks about D-Day, what’s often forgotten is that getting past the Atlantic Wall was only the first step. The Allies had to fight their way out of Normandy and into the rest of France — not to mention across Germany.
This wasn’t easy. Germany had some very well-trained troops who were determined to put up a fight. One of the places where the Nazis held up the Allies was Villers-Bocage — a village to the southwest of Caen, a major objective of the initial staged.
This version of the M4 Sherman could take on the German Tiger tank on even terms and win. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
According to Battle of Normandy Tours, on June 13, 1944, a force of British tanks from the famous 7th Armoured Division — also known as the “Desert Rats” — headed towards Villers-Bocage. At that village, a company of German Tiger tanks, under the command of Michael Wittman, fought the British force of Cromwell and Sherman Firefly tanks.
A German Tiger in Sicily, 1943. (U.S. Army photo)
When all was said and done, Wittman’s force had destroyed 27 Allied tanks, according to WarfareHistoryNetwork.com. The Germans had also killed, wounded, or captured 188 Allied troops.
This video shows some of the fighting that took place during the Battle of Villers-Bocage. Warning: It does show some of the consequences of when armored vehicles are destroyed.
We’ve all heard the saying: “All is fair in love and war.” While it may hold true for love, the war part couldn’t be further from the truth for our troops.
According to the “Sanremo Handbook on Rules of Engagement” posted by the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, the rules do not dictate how the troops achieve results. But they do say what’s unacceptable.
Shortly after the Sep. 11 terrorist attacks, New York Gov. George E. Pataki wrote a letter to the Navy requesting to bestow the name “New York” on a warship in honor of the victims.
During the naming ceremony aboard the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in Manhattan, Pataki said, “USS New York will ensure that all New Yorkers and the world will never forget the evil attacks of September 11, and the courage and compassion New Yorkers showed in response to terror,” according to the Navy.
“Squad”is a super-realistic modern shooter that pits large teams of players, up to 50 on each side, in combat using modern weapons, vehicles, and battlefields. Most importantly, the game features such realism that modern tactics are necessary to win.
Players in the game are broken down by squad and can opt to fill roles from squad leader to medic to rifleman.
These squads move forward under the command of their leader in what quickly becomes a tense, suspense-filled match. Every player can die from just a round or two hitting them center mass, making it super important that players spot their enemy first.
This makes the long movements over the sprawling maps stressful in the best way. The point man needs to stay super alert while the squad moves in a wedge behind him. Crossing linear danger areas like roads and rivers in a tactical manner can save the team from detection and destruction.
In short, If you learned it in basic training, it’s probably important in “Squad.”
All this realism makes every decision feel important and heavy. Selfish glory hogs are quickly outed in the game as leaving a blocking position or moving away from overwatch can doom the rest of the team, no matter how many kills the hero gets.
This makes it easy to tell a veteran from a newb despite how simple the controls are. Veterans carefully position themselves in areas of cover or concealment and assault through dead space to hide their approach while new or unskilled players quickly die because they’re trying to defend a point on the map from an exposed position.
Vets make sure to work as a team, frequently talking to each other in the in-game voice chat that actually works similar to a radio network. There are separate channels for speaking within the squad or within the platoon as a whole. Hot keys allow players to quickly choose whether they’re speaking on the squad or platoon net.
The game is still in Alpha mode, so there are a lot of tweaks and new features being added. But, it’s already a fun and tense experience that players can buy on Steam today.
Any time anything can be made into a competition, it’ll almost certainly be taken to the next level. In a reload faceoff, you might be competing for your life.
The only reason we do more pushups after we max out is to raise that middle finger to the dude who said he could do more. We cheer our boys on during weapon qualifications to let that other squad know we’re better.
Sh-t gets real when it’s time for Marine Corps Martial Arts Program bouts or Modern Army Combatives Program tussles — we’ve all seen it at one time or another.
That’s why when an Marine infantryman and a machine gunner get into a speed reload competition, the whole unit got involved.
It’s a best out of three competition to see who can drop their magazine, slap a new one in, slam that bolt forward, and take a good firing position.
Blink and you’ll miss it but the first two speed reloads are a tie.
Check out the video down below to see who wins this reload match: The infantryman or the machine gunner.
[WARNING: There’s some salty Marine language sprinkled throughout, so this video is stamped NSFW]
Booby traps are terrifying weapons of choice for the troops who want to seriously wound their enemies without having to spend precious time waiting for them to show up.
Placed at specific areas on the battlefield where the opposition is most likely to travel, these easily assembled devices have the ability to take troops right out of the fight or cause a painful delayed death.
Snake pits, flag bombs, and cartridge traps are just a few of the creative inventions the Viet Cong engineered to bring harm to their American and South Vietnamese adversaries.
With mortality rates in Vietnam reaching almost 60,000, trip wires or land mines contributed to 11% of the deaths during the multi-year skirmish.
Although VC troops were productive in their dead trap concepts, Americans like Tom Schober were just as creative and clever.
Tom Schober cooling himself down in a Vietnamese river (Source: Wisconsin Public Television/YouTube/Screenshot)
“The VC weren’t the only ones who rigged up booby traps,” Schober admits, “We got pretty good at rigging up mechanical ambushes with claymores.”
Sporting a 1st Cav jacket throughout his time in the war, Tom managed to use the basic materials the Army gave him to get some much-earned payback against his VC enemy.
Proud American and Vietnam veteran Tom Schober (Source: Wisconsin Public Television/YouTube/Screenshot)
“I feel kind of strongly that we all owe a debt to those who didn’t make it,” Schober says. “To live our lives better.”
Check out Wisconsin Public Television‘s video for Schober’s thrilling tale of how he would use an old battery, blasting cap, some string and a spoon to help take down the enemy.
The Dillon Aero M134D minigun is the world’s ultimate gatling gun, firing upwards of 6,000 rounds per-minute. And the awesome weapon can be carried on everything from small helicopters to fixed wing planes to the backs of infantrymen.
The 7.62mm minigun got its start in Vietnam where the Army adopted it for vehicle and infantry use while the Air Force bought it for its first-generation “Spooky” gunships. The infantry version of the weapon requires a tripod and large batteries and was rarely deployed.
But the vehicle-mounted versions of the weapon were a hit. The AC-47 carried three of the miniguns on its left side and would fly through the skies of Vietnam at night, dropping flares to illuminate enemies attacking U.S. forces and then wasting them with the three miniguns. It was later nicknamed “Puff the Magic Dragon” because of the way its tracers lit up the night.
Night attack of a U.S. Air Force Douglas AC-47D Spooky gunship over the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) Team 21 compound at Pleiku in May 1969. This time lapse photo shows the tracer round trajectories. (Photo: U.S. Army Spec. 5 Thomas A. Zangla)
The Air Force eventually turned to a larger plane and larger guns for aerial gunships, leading to the AC-130 variants still flying today. But the M134 saw expanded deployments as the Navy began mounting them on ships and boats and the Army expanded the weapon onto more helicopters and vehicles.
But the original M134s were prone to jamming, so Dillon Aero went back to the drawing board and eventually rolled out the M134D, a more reliable version of the weapon.
(GIF: YouTube/Discovery UK)
Today, it continues to be deployed across the world on everything from modified SUVs to helicopters. The M134D has even shown up in recent video of Rangers deployed to Syria. The special operators have Strykers outfitted with the minigun.
The Navy Special Warfare Combatant Craft crews rely heavily on the weapon when conducting riverine operations and landing SEALs. The high rate of fire allows them to quickly subdue a riverbank or to suppress an enemy chasing Navy SEALs during a pick up.
See the awesome weapon in action in the video below:
Bob Hope was among the brightest stars during his era. He was known for his comedic one-liners and performances over a long career in entertainment.
He passed away in 2003 at the age of 100 but left a legacy of humor and humanitarianism having traveled the world for more than half his life to deliver laughter and entertainment to American troops. His legacy of service to the troops lives on through the Bob Dolores Hope Foundation, thanks to his granddaughter Miranda Hope and Easterseals.
You can help support veterans with Easterseals Southern California. Shop at any Vons or Pavilions in Southern California and donate at the register!
