Memories of the deeds of men from another war inhabit several blogs this weekend. It begins over at The Destroyermen in a post that traces the journey of the USS Russell as she leaves Pearl Harbor and passes sites of several of the most legendary battles in naval history. Sailing Through History .
In addition, just about every deployment brings a tour of the legendary sites of the largest naval war in history. And for RUSSELL, the trip takes on greater significance as the previous USS RUSSELL, DD-414, participated in many of those engagements, earning sixteen battle stars in just three years of war service.
The Doolittle Raid , courtesy of Steeljaw Scribe tells of the raid by 16 volunteer crews who flew off the decks of a pitching carrier to carry out the first raid on Japan.
Conceived in the dark aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the raid had its genesis in the idea of CAPT Frank Lowe, USN who predicted that Army twin-engine bombers could be launched form a carrier under the right conditions.
And in a series of post entitled Fullbore Friday, CDR Salamander remembers the bravery of men who crewed World War II Destroyers.
The destroyer escort was part of a screening unit to protect a force of American aircraft carriers. When the enemy opened fire at 7 o'clock that morning, the ROBERTS immediately sought to protect her "flattops." The first step was to lay a smoke screen and then, steaming under cover of her own screen, the ROBERTS approached within 4,000 yards of a Jap heavy cruiser, fired three torpedoes, and returned to the protection of the smoke. One of the torpedoes struck home and started fires in the enemy ship.
Finally, history that is being made as you read it. LT G, author of Kaboom War Journal and possibly the most talented writer to ever pick up a pen or strike a keyboard in this war, writes in a style that looks beyond the obvious to let us inside the minds of those we ask to serve. House of the Holy is his latest post.
Augustly, it shoots out of the Babylonian dust to defy the sandstone skyline. Surrounded by a haphazard maze of tiny homes and shops lacquered in grime, a sea green minaret sits on top of the building like a crown. It has overseen more easy wars and more fragile peaces than any human being could ever fathom, even in this post- oral history era. The mosque stands as proudly today as the day it first became a place of worship, many dawns ago. This is just one of those dawns.
Pick any thing he has written and you will find yourself amazed at his prose. The Five-O and Sadr's Spring Jam offer a little taste.
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