— Do you have a story about a past or present CC you’d like to share with the rest of us? — Are you a CC chapter and have some news about programs or fund-raising events you’d like to promote? — Do you have a photo of yourself as a Read more…
Synopsis The death of a salty old senior NCO who ran special operations in Vietnam leads Marine Gunner Shake Davis on a shocking and potentially lethal quest to find out what happened to hundreds of American POWs. Dale Dye graduated as a cadet officer from Missouri Military Academy but there Read more…
Jack Paxton received a call over Christmas from CC George Fritschi, whose wife had bought him Jack Laurence’ “The Cat from Hué: A Vietnam War Story” as a Christmas present. “After seeing my name mentioned in the book he called from Oregon for a lengthy chat. This prompted a thought Read more…
Executive Director Note: Many of us now getting a bit long in the tooth first met a young pink-cheeked, red-headed, raw-boned Texas reporter/photographer with UPI named Galloway in mid-1965. He was fresh from the Ie Drang Valley battle with the Army’s 7th Cavalry Division where he was “blooded” and later, decorated. He was the first civilian reporter to win the Bronze Star with Combat V. We lost track over the years as we plowed our pursuits in the corporate world and Joe honed his reportage from many of the world’s hot spots. We hooked up again when our Association awarded him the 2001 Denig Distinguished Performance Award. We have since been together many times as Joe is always the first to say “yes” when we need someone to enliven a PME panel at the conference. He was with us this year in San Antonio, signing autographs on his new book, written in collaboration with Army LtGen. (ret.) Hal Moore, “We Are Soldiers Still,” then enlivening our panel, Marines and the Media. He always tells it like it is and we always enjoy hearing it. We’re proud to include his Christmas column on our revitalized website and hope you find it of interest as well.
Joseph L. Galloway
By Joseph L. Galloway
McClatchy Newspapers
Even in hard times, this is the holiday season and a time when thoughts turn to home and family and dinner tables covered with food and gaily wrapped presents and bright lights.
Save a moment amid the celebrations to give thought to the hundreds of thousands of men and women in uniform in far-flung parts of this world who won’t be sitting down to dinner with their families.
More than 170,000 men and women of our military will spend their Christmas and New Year’s in Iraq and Afghanistan, where killing and dying never take a day off.
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DivPA Change: Needing to backfill a USMC/Joint billet, the Commandant has ordered recently-appointed PA Director, BrigGen. (s) Gregg Sturdevant to the National Military Command Center. Deputy Director, Col. Dave Lapan has again assumed the title of Acting Director of Public Affairs. Marines will remember that Col. Lapan also held that Read more…
Webmaster’s Note: Tom Bartlett and I worked together at Leatherneck magazine from 1990-94. Among the many, many stories he told, this was one of my favorites. Every year I would go into his office and make him read this to me. I can still hear his deep, smoke-roughened voice….
The Night They Gunned Down Santa Claus
by Chet Lynn
There’s strange things done ‘neath the Vietnamese sun
but the thing that locked my jaws
was the night ‘neath the moon, the third platoon
gunned down Santa Claus.
It started off right just another night,
you had to spend in the dirt,,
security was out., .360 about
with fifty percent alert.
Also, Marine Aaron Mankin, who was severely wounded in Iraq, talks about the fears and hopes he has for his baby daughter in this story: The Hero Figure
CCHQ received a call Thursday evening from the grandson of Col. Donald L. Dickson wanting to know more about his grandfather. We immediately “sick’d” him on to former Leatherneck Art Director Chuck Beveridge and to current Leatherneck Publisher/Editor Walt Ford. It occurs that many of you knew Don Dickson and Read more…
Robert Poos, who covered the Vietnam War as a reporter for the Associated Press and later served as managing editor for the outspokenly pro-military magazine Soldier of Fortune, has died at age 78.Poos died on Monday at a hospice in Arlington, Va., where he had been under care for nearly two years for respiratory ailments, his wife, Bobbie Poos, said. He recently had suffered a broken hip and a broken elbow in falls.