NEED to KNOW!!!! These Heroes!!!

[center:2n3g13ky]Harvey C. "Barney" Barnum
Medal of Honor Vietnam
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It was Military Day at Cheshire High School, Cheshire, Connecticut, and the military service representatives were attempting to recruit students into their respective branches. The junior and senior boys were assembled in the school auditorium, with faculty members observing from the rear of the room as each recruiter got up to give his pitch.
The Air Force recruiter got up to explain the advantages of joining the United States Air Force. He was greeted with catcalls and whistles from the young high-schoolers.
The Army recruiter received the same treatment, as did the Navy recruiter.
Then the Marine recruiter, a seasoned gunnery sergeant, rose and glared.
"There is no one here worthy of being a United States Marine," he growled. "I'm deplored that the faculty in the back of the room would let the students carry on like this. There isn't anybody here I want in my Marine Corps."
When he sat back down, several eager students swarmed around his table.
________________________________________
One of those hovering around the gunny's table was Cheshire High School Senior Class President Harvey Barnum, Jr. He did the paperwork to enlist as a senior in high school and joined the Platoon Leadership Class when he got to St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.
He joined the Marine Corps--raised his hand--November 12, 1958.

Read the rest at: http://homeofheroes.com/barney/index.html

Sgt. Robert K. Shafer, to be laid to rest, today at 10:00est, in Arlington Cemetery.

RIP Bob, and thanks for your Service.

[center:1muzvcvj]Roger Donlon

Medal of Honor
Vietnam War[/center:1muzvcvj]

Roger Donlon grew up in Saugerties, New York, the eighth of Paul and Marion Donlon's ten children. In his family he learned the important values of honesty, integrity, hard work, and personal commitment. As a young Boy Scout he learned patriotism and leadership. As a growing young man he tried to guide his life by the principles of the Ten Commandments and the Scout Oath.

Military service was almost a tradition in the Donlon family, where the patriarch was a World War I veteran. Rogers brothers all served, one of them wounded in action. In this atmosphere young Roger developed inner character and leadership qualities that would guide him during a military career of his own, and sustain him and his soldiers on one horrible night in Vietnam.

President of his high school junior class and a stand-out athlete, Roger joined the Air Force in 1953, then attended the US Military Academy at West Point for nearly two years. In 1959 he was commissioned as a US Army infantry lieutenant after graduating from Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. From there he attended airborne training, followed by the US Army Special Warfare School at Fort Bragg. After rugged training the young officer became one of America's elite, a Special Forces officer of the Green Berets.

By 1964 Roger Donlon, now a Special Forces Captain responsible for a twelve man A-Team, was stationed in Vietnam. At the small Camp Nam Dong, deep in the dark jungles, his team served as advisors to 311 South Vietnamese soldiers. In the darkness of the early morning hours of July 6, more than 900 Viet Cong soldiers attacked Nam Dong with mortars, grenades, rifles and other small arms. Two members of Team A-726 died.

Read the rest at: http://homeofheroes.com/donlon/index.html

[center:1wqpuuwq]David "Davy" Crockett [/center:1wqpuuwq]
[center:1wqpuuwq] [/center:1wqpuuwq]

David Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) was a celebrated 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is referred to in popular culture as Davy Crockett and after the 1950s by the epithet “King of the Wild Frontier.” He represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution, and died at the Battle of the Alamo.

Crockett grew up in East Tennessee, where he gained a reputation for hunting and storytelling. After being elected to the rank of colonel in the militia of Lawrence County, Tennessee, he was elected to the Tennessee state legislature in 1821. In 1826, Crockett was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Congressman Crockett vehemently opposed many of the policies of President Andrew Jackson, most notably the Indian Removal Act. Crockett's opposition to Jackson's policies led to his defeat in the 1834 elections, prompting his angry departure to Texas shortly thereafter. In early 1836, Crockett took part in the Texas Revolution and was killed at the Battle of the Alamo in March.

Crockett became famous in his own lifetime for larger-than-life exploits popularized by stage plays and almanacs. After his death, he continued to be credited with brazen acts of mythical proportion. These led in the 20th century to television and movie portrayals, and he became one of the best-known American folk heroes.[1][2]

Read about his controval death: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davey_Crockett#Death_and_controversy



EDITED to Add Quote:
"We have rights, as individuals, to give as much of our own money as we please to charity; but as members of Congress we have no right so to appropriate a dollar of public money."

~ David Crockett, Congressman 1827-35

[center:zy91pn54]July 4, 1826 [/center:zy91pn54]
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The celebration of our Nation's 50th birthday was saddened this day in history by the death of our second president, John Adams. It was the eloquent Adams who had so persuasively defended Thomas Jefferson's DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE before the Continental Congress in 1776, ultimately leading to the birth of this new Nation. It may have been the last time Adams and Jefferson agreed on anything.
Jefferson's Declaration was born on June 7, 1776 when Virginia delegate Richard Henry Lee laid before the Congress a resolution calling for the 13 colonies to be "free and independent states, absolved of all allegiance to the British crown." Moderates argued against the historic resolution, pointing out that the middle colonies of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware were undecided about complete separation of the colonies from crown rule. By day's end there was little consensus, but members of the delegation appointed a five-man committee to draft a declaration of independence for consideration at the July 1st meeting.
The task of drafting the declaration should have fallen to elder statesman Benjamin Franklin, but his illness precluded a timely completion of the task. The task then should have fallen to Adams, who argued instead that Jefferson should write it. Jefferson at first attempted to defer to Adams until, in frustration, the Massachusetts delegate grudgingly stated, "You are 10 times the writer I am." Thus Jefferson prepared the draft with suggestions for revisions coming from both Franklin and Adams. The finished document was presented to the Second Continental Congress on June 28th. A poor speaker, Jefferson's written work impressed the Assembly, despite some reservations. The more eloquent Adams vigorously defended the work, which was adopted on July 2nd. That evening Adams wrote his thoughts on the new declaration to his wife, stating in part: "The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival."

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Read the rest at: http://homeofheroes.com/profiles/profiles_jeffadams.html

[center:8f70s7pe]Mike Novosel [/center:8f70s7pe]
Mike Passed Away on April 2, 2006
[center:8f70s7pe]Medal of Honor
Vietnam War[/center:8f70s7pe]

[center:8f70s7pe] [/center:8f70s7pe]

Mike Novosel is a genuine, 24-carat American war hero. He is the real deal; he has at least as much of the right stuff as any astronaut, and a Medal of Honor, too.
Before Pearl Harbor, when Novosel enlisted in the Army Air Corps, he wasn't setting out to be a hero. In fact, it looked like he would never get into combat at all. After fast-talking his way into the aviation cadet program (he was too short to pass the physical) and getting his wings, his services as a heavy bomber instructor pilot were too valuable to risk him overseas bombing the Axis. Germany's defeat and the consequent drawdown of the air corps's pilot training released Novosel to the Pacific theater. Assigned as a B-29 Super-fortress command pilot, he got to Tinian just before the Enola Gay took off to end World War II in the skies over Hiroshima. Following the war he combined careers as an airline pilot and Air Force Reserve officer. the end of his war story? Not by a long shot!

Read the rest at: http://homeofheroes.com/novosel/index.html

[center:1hw52hj1] homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_living/z_moh_navy.gif

JONES, HERBERT CHARPOIT [/center:1hw52hj1]

Rank and organization: Ensign, U.S. Naval Reserve. Born: 1 December 1918, Los Angeles, Calif. Accredited to: California.
Citation: For conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl Harbor, by Japanese forces on 7 December 1941. Ens. Jones organized and led a party, which was supplying ammunition to the antiaircraft battery of the U.S.S. California after the mechanical hoists were put out of action when he was fatally wounded by a bomb explosion. When 2 men attempted to take him from the area which was on fire, he refused to let them do so, saying in words to the effect, "Leave me alone! I am done for. Get out of here before the magazines go off."

http://homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_1940_wwii/jones.html

[center:2l68c9yp]"Code talkers" [/center:2l68c9yp]

[center:2l68c9yp] [/center:2l68c9yp]

Code talkers was a term used to describe people who talk using a coded language. It is frequently used to describe Native Americans who served in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was the transmission of secret tactical messages. Code talkers transmitted these messages over military telephone or radio communications nets using formal or informally developed codes built upon their native languages. Their service was very valuable because it enhanced the communications security of vital front line operations during World War II.
The name code talkers is strongly associated with bilingual Navajo speakers specially recruited during World War II by the Marines to serve in their standard communications units in the Pacific Theater. Code talking, however, was pioneered by Choctaw Indians serving in the U.S. Army during World War I. These soldiers are referred to as Choctaw Code Talkers.
Other Native American code talkers were deployed by the United States Army during World War II, including Cherokee, Choctaw, Lakota[1] Meskwaki, and Comanche soldiers. Soldiers of Basque ancestry were used for code talking by the U.S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating.


Read all about the tribes “Code Talkers” : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_talker

[center:1rdpjeee]William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody [/center:1rdpjeee]

[center:1rdpjeee] [/center:1rdpjeee]

Military service:
After his mother recovered, Cody wished to enlist as a soldier, but was refused for his age. He began working with a United States freight caravan which delivered supplies to Fort Laramie. In 1863 he enlisted as a teamster with the rank of Private in Company H, 7th Kansas Cavalry and served until discharged in 1865.[1][5]
The next year Cody married Louisa Frederici, and they had four children together. Two died young.
From 1868 until 1872 Cody was employed as a scout by the United States Army. Part of the time he scouted for Indians. At other times, he hunted and killed bison to supply the Army and the Kansas Pacific Railroad. In January 1872 Cody was a scout for Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia's highly publicized royal hunt.[6]
Medal of Honor:In 1872 Cody was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor for "gallantry in action" while serving as a civilian scout for the 3rd Cavalry Regiment. In 1917, the U.S.Congress—after revising the standards for award of the medal—revoked 911 medals previously awarded either to civilians, or for actions that would not warrant a Medal of Honor under the new higher standards. Among those revoked was Cody's.
In 1977 Dr. Mary Edwards Walker's medal was restored, and other reviews began. Cody's medal—along with those given to four other civilian scouts—was re-instated on June 12, 1989.[7][8]


read his story history at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffalo_Bill#Military_service

[center:1r4ywsjj]Louis Silvie Zamperini [/center:1r4ywsjj]

Olympian . World War II Prisoner of War . True American Hero



Louis Silvie Zamperini (born January 26, 1917) is a World War II prisoner of war survivor, inspirational speaker, and former American Olympic distance runner.
Early life: Louis Zamperini was born in Olean, New York to Anthony and Louise Zamperini. The Zamperini family moved to Torrance, California in the 1920s, where Louis attended Torrance High School. The son of Italian immigrants, Louis spoke no English when his family moved to California. This made him a target for bullies, so his father taught him how to box in self-defense. Soon, according to Louis, he was "beating the tar out of every one of them... but I was so good at it that I started relishing the idea of getting even. I was sort of addicted to it."[1]
"Before long he was picking fights just to see if anyone could keep up with him. From juvenile thug, he progressed to 'teenage hobo.' Hopping a train to Mexico, he courted danger for the thrill of it. 'I caught a wild cow in a ravine and tore my kneecap till it was just hanging off,' he recalls. 'I snapped my big toe jumping out of some giant bamboo; they just sewed it back on. I’ve got so many scars, they’re criss-crossing each other!'"
(USC News, "The Great Zamperini", 2003)
Louis had a knack for getting into trouble, so his brother got him involved in the school track team. In 1934 Louis set a world interscholastic record for the mile, clocking in at 00:04:21.2 at the preliminary meet to the state championships.[2][3][4][5] The following week he won the championships with a 04:27.8[6] That record helped Louis win a scholarship to the University of Southern California and eventually a place on the 1936 U.S. Olympic team in the 5000 metres, the youngest U.S. qualifier in that event.[7]
While attending USC, Zamperini was a member of The Kappa Sigma Fraternity and lived in the fraternity house along with his older brother.

Olympic career
Sport Running

College/university team University of Southern California

Medal record: Men’s Track and Field
1936 Summer Olympics
5,000 m (8th)

In the Olympic trials at Randalls Island, Louis finished in a dead heat against world-record holder Don Lash and qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, though neither he nor Lash had much chance at winning the 5000 meter race. Louis has related several amusing anecdotes from his Olympic experience, including gorging himself on the boat trip to Europe. "I was a Depression-era kid who had never even been to a drugstore for a sandwich," he said. "And all the food was free. I had not just one sweet roll, but about seven every morning, with bacon and eggs. My eyes were like saucers.” By the end of the trip, Louis, in common with most athletes on the ship, had gained much weight - in Louis' case, 12 pounds. While the weight gain was not advantageous for his running it was necessary for his health, as he had lost 15 pounds while training in the summer heat in New York for the Olympic Trials.
Louis finished eighth in the 5000 meter distance event at that Olympics, but his final lap of 56 seconds was fast enough to catch the attention of Adolf Hitler, who insisted on a personal meeting.[8] As Louis tells the story, Hitler shook his hand, and said simply "Ah, you're the boy with the fast finish."[9]
Two years later, in 1938, Zamperini set a national collegiate mile record which held for fifteen years. He was nicknamed the "Torrance Tornado".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Zamperini

http://s1.assets.usoc.org/assets/images/article/photo/28932/full/LouisZamperinicropped.jpg?1257873825




Louis & Gary Sinise Honoring War Heroes

BTW, I was also Born in Torrace, Califorina, only 39 later.