Page Eight
and Other Diving Shipmates
War K9 funeral
Paul Charles Sackley R.I.P.
1925 – 2016
Requiem
It is with great sadness that we announce this week’s passing of Special Operators:
Tommy W. Reagan [USN/UDT], 53, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, on 22 August 2016
Charles “Chuck” A. Newell [USN/UDT], 79, of Green Cove Springs, Florida, on 18 August 2016
David M. Heflick [USN/SEAL], 66, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on 07 July 2016
Tommy W. Reagan R.I.P.
1963 – 2016
McCullough grad, retired Navy SEAL Reagan dies in overseas car accident
A Family Man and also a member of the GULFCOAST SEALs branch of UDT-SEAL Assn.
docrio45 [at] gmail DOT com needs help Identifying some of these women and men.
Please email me. thank you.
To: Bill Langley From: :G.G. Conklin
RE: Jim Cook resident of Westminster Canterbury on the Chesapeake Bay, Va.Beach, VA
Reply to Philip, ggconk, Francis, wmlbishop, Larry, allanarchey, abbjac13, aubseal, Bud, Lowell, CARL, chuckdetmer, Tom, me, david, dogofmadness, DocThomas564, Donald, danielmcevoy, don-judyh, drbudt12, Tom, elsonsj, fmilcusguns, ftoothman , docrio
I talked to Instructor Cook yesterday and I learned some interesting UDTR history. I will share and I hope I get it right.
Jim Cook and Henry Spiegel both graduated with Class “B” in 1947 in Little Creek, VA. Jim will have to tell us what year the numbering system started. I believe it started in 1948. Class Bravo must have been the first Little Creek class. Class “A” came over from the west coast and became their instructors. The “O” Coarse had not yet been constructed but they still had the mud flats and the sand dunes with Sarabachi (sp) and much more.
Jim will be 90 (I think) on October 4, 2018.
Hope to see everyone at Little Creek in July,
Bill
Subject: Jim Cook
GG – thank you for reminding me that Jim Cook is still with us…what a man! I just sent him a long email thanking him for his assistance to you through your rough time with our brother Chuck. Jim was always a cool head and first class leader while we BUDS Trainees were fighting to keep sane through our six-month ordeal many years ago.
Carol and I think of you daily and pray for your health and well being. We are already making plans for the 2018 reunion, hoping some others of our class will be there too. We plan to swim Chuck’s ashes out to sea…hopefully, Va Beach will allow it. (And if they don’t, can we do it anyway?) That could become a yearly remembrance for our fallen brothers.
Weather is getting better here and things are looking up! Hope to see you soon.
Fondly,
Phil and Carol
From:G.G. Conklin <ggconk [at] gmail.com> On Jan 20, 2018, wrote: To: Bill Langley
I ran into Jim Cook today (as I often do) when visiting Westminster Canterbury on the Chesapeake Bay where my Mom, Jim Cook, Billy Burbank, and others reside. Jim is in great condition as always. Today I introduced him to my Brother and Sister-in-Law from Richmond, VA, and afterwards both commented on his firm handshake. I smiled…I recall how surprisingly overwhelmed Chuck was at the cards and emails he received from Jim last year…he had such great respect for this instructor who, in recent years, became a good friend. My Mother has often commented on Jim serving communion in the retirement community’s church services. He remains a stellar gentleman, and his son, Steve (and family), are often there when I have the pleasure of running into him. He is well-loved in this group of prominent senior citizens.
Billy Burbank has encountered dementia over the last year and a half. His son, Billy, Jr., is with him often now when I see him. As Jim and I agreed, Billy seems to have reached a plateau…not getting any worse, yet no apparent improvement.
I trust you will all keep both of these friends in prayer. Jim’s email is: jfcph442003@gmail.com. Drop him a line if you get a chance. No doubt he will respond. And his son, Steve, is at oxbsurf50@gmail.com.
Such blessings!
Love to all…
G.G. Conklin, 528 Warren Avenue, Chesapeake, VA 23322-3825
From: Franklin Anderson
Subj: American Legion Magazine 1967
Re: American Legion Magazine 1967 Erasmo “Doc” Riojas <docrio45@gmail.com>
Attached is the cover of the American Legion Magazine Dated August l967. The Photo was actually taken in Feb/Mar l965. I was totally unaware of the Photographer—I was discussing the origins of the weapons we had capture on a night operation along the coast of Vietnam. The International Control Commission(ICC) was composed of a Polish Officer (L) Canadian ©. And India—
The extreme right is Joe Perez (Naval Intelligence Liaison Officer (NILO). Basically they were useless and stuck there nose into everything- The India and Poland Official were pro-Communist and the Canadian was pro USA. The rifles we captured were manufactured in Russia and China. The Polish Official was adamant that Russia wasn’t providing support to the VC.
He was very quiet when I showed him the markings. This happen on numerous occasions and they kept wanting to know if was I leading the VNN (LDNN), I said “NO”, I AM JUST THEIR ADVISOR. My Good Friend Vic Poma gave me the magazine-the first I knew about it. Found it while rummaging thru my Files.
Franklin Anderson fwaranch AT wildblue DOT net
Doc Rio’s NOTE: Captain Anderson, Please go rummage some more and email it to me.
it is going to be posted on Page EITHT.
thank you sir,
RIO
Click edit button to change this text. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Mr. Hightower was born May 7, 1934, in Havana, FL. He entered the US Navy in January 1952 and served as a member of Underwater Demolition Teams 2 & 21.
He worked with the Identification Division of the FBI for about a year and served with the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Police Department for almost seven years. Bob came to Georgia in 1963, working with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation for about nine years and achieving the rank of Captain. He was appointed as the Public Safety Director over the Cobb County Police Department in 1972. Bob became the first director over the Cobb County Department of Public Safety in 1993.
Retiring from Cobb County in May 1999, he accepted an appointment from Gov. Roy Barnes as Colonel of the Georgia State Patrol. In 2000, Hightower was appointed to the newly-created position of Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
In late 2001, he became the first Chairman of the Georgia Homeland Security Task Force as part of his Department of Public Safety responsibilities and he served Gov. Barnes in these positions until March 2003.
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Once A Team, Always A Team The late US Navy SEAL CPO Kevin Houston, shown here seated third from the right in the first row (# 46), as one of the captains for the 1993 BHS football team, will be memorialized Saturday at 1 p.m. at the school. Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to attend. Credit Photo Courtesy of BHS Athletic Hall of Fame, Inc. http://barnstable-hyannis.patch.com/articles/yarmouth-police-ride-for-fallen-for-navy-seal-kevin-houston-cape-natives-lost
R.J. Thomas & Hunter F. Grimes III in Vietnam and he was the heavy (7.62MM M-60) machine gunner in my squad. I am carrying a Stoner 63A which was a linked (5.56MM) system with a hundred round drum magazine. SEAL Teams were the only military forces to be issued this weapon and it ultimately evolved into the Squad Automatic Weapon System (SAWS). I lost that Stoner when I was shot down in a Seawolf Helo while conducting a sniper recon. Best Regards, RJ Thomas
CDR R.J. Thomas one of the Deadliest Men Alive
Photograph courtesy of Bill Rutledge, SeaWolf Gunner
SEAWOLF DETACHMENT THREE
BATTLE AT HA TIEN 23 MARCH 1969 DA DUNG MOUNTAIN AREA
Background: Other articles with limited information have been written about this difficult day in the lives of these brave Pilots and Gunners from Detachment Three. As in other articles I have written, I write this to add to our history and to pay tribute to those that fought these horrific battles, those Killed In Action and the survivors. In other articles, details and participants were left out that need to be recognized for their Heroism and participation in these missions. I have collected much of this missing history and using official documents, written first hand accounts, citations and phone conversations with individuals on scene, have for the most part been able to reconstruct part if not most of what occurred on these missions. I have not been able to contact everyone involved and apologize if some details are missing and personnel not noted.
Until May 1970 when President Nixon legalized incursions into Cambodia , there were to be no crossing of the Border. Although there had been several large operations along and over the border, one being operations SEALORDS, many other covert missions had been executed of which the Seawolves were involved in with no after action report or one reflecting the action being flown this side of the border. It was hard at times to distinguish which side of the border you were on and since the Cambodians let enemy units openly operate and stage from the Cambodian side, make raids into Vietnam and escape back across the border knowing we would not follow and attack. On many occasions they were in for a surprise.
The Battle:
HA TIEN 23 MARCH 1969 , Approximately 10 AM. I don’t have all the details on this mission when the Navy light Fire team of two heavily armed Gunships from HA(L)3, Detachment Three staging from Ha Tien on the Northwest coast of Vietnam near the Cambodian Border were on a scouting/strike mission to locate a local Warlord in the Da Dung Mountains area . The Warlord had been coming off the Mountains, pillaging, plundering and killing residents of the local Villages and having his troops attack military outposts. He would then retreat back into the mountains and using his 4 inch Mortar rain down havoc on the villages and any pursuing troops. With this intel. The Det 3 Gun ships went out.
The situation on Det 3 with three FTLs (Fire Team Leader) at the time was 48 hrs on 24 off and alternating the FTL after each strike.
On the first mission the Lead bird was manned by
LTJG Randy Miller,
Fireteam Leader (FTL).
LCDR Keyes (Copilot),
Petty Officer Mike Schafernocker (Gunner/Crew Chief)
Petty Officer Dan Riordon (Gunner)
The Trail Gunship was manned by
LTJG Dick Barr, Attack Helicopter Aircraft Commander (AHAC),
LTJG Pawlowski (Copilot),
Petty Officer Rick Abbott (50 Cal.Gunner/ Crew Chief)
Petty Officer Howard Meute (Gunner) Navy SEAL,
Petty Officer Second Class Robert Thomas (Recon/Observer).
The area where the strike to be put in was very near Ha Tien and consisted of rice paddies leading up to two mountains the Nui Sa Ky and Nui Di yung. Nui Dai Yung was the target where the Warlord operated from. As LTJG Miller rolled his Fire team in he started taking heavy fire from both mountains and the surrounding area. LCDR Keyes and Both gunners commenced firing on the enemy positions. Miller’s Gunship was armed with 14 Rockets with Proximity fuses.
The enemy fire was so heavy that when the fourth rocket was launched it was exploded by the intense enemy fire just in front of his aircraft. Not being able to fire any more rockets for fear of one being exploded immediately after launching he broke off the attack to save the bird and his crew and returned the Fire team to Ha Tien to fix a problem with a rocket pod, rearm with PD rockets, refuel and go out again.
On this strike LTJG Barr became FTL with his crew and LTJG Miller the cover bird. Arriving back on target and Rolling in again under the heaviest fire every seen by the Fire team, LTJG Barr launched several rockets with all other weapons firing, his Gunship took a disabling enemy hit and Barr called he was hit and going down to Miller. Miller followed the lead bird around and again Barr radioed he was hit, meaning he personally had taken a hit in the foot. Auto rotating to the ground from around 500 ft his bird hit hard within firing range of both mountains. The trail bird saw Petty Officer Thomas the Navy SEAL thrown a distance from the crashed lead bird.
Smoke is seen coming from the wreck and no one is seen moving as Miller makes a decision to land and let Petty Officer Riordan out of his Gunship to help with the crew of the downed bird and gets airborne again positioning his bird between the Mountains and the downed crew to take the fire off them. Now with Schafernocker as his lone Gunner and LCDR Keyes using the 4, M60 external flex guns he makes pass after pass, radioing a May Day for assistance. Immediately Petty Officer Riordan is wounded in the leg, but continues on and pulls Petty Officer Rick Abbott and LTJG Barr from the wreck as Navy SEAL Thomas works his way back to Barr lying on the ground.
To protect the injured Barr from the enemy fire Thomas lays across Barr’s body, grabs the only weapon available, Barr’s 45 pistol, and takes the enemy who are coming across a dike line under fire. LTJG Barr relates that Petty Officer Thomas was hitting an enemy with virtually every round. During this ground action LTJG Miller has made contact with two Army Helos from the 175th Assault Helicopter Company who were inbound. Miller seeing the advancing enemy makes a pass from behind the wreck shooting rockets over the downed bird into them.
Shafernocker and Keyes continue firing on the enemy with Miller making more rocket runs. The first Army Helo on scene is immediately shot up trying to make the rescue, with the Pilot being hit and leaves the area trailing fuel. The SEAL Team from Ha Tien have made their way on the ground to the battle zone and along with LTJG Miller and his only Gunner Schafernocker on trail bird placing fire on the advancing enemy allows the second Army Helo with Copilot Kent Graham aboard to make an attempt at the rescue. This rescue Slick was also hit numerous times with the Pilot being hit in the face and hand.
With the wounded Pilot the Army bird goes in again, lands and makes the evacuation of the surviving downed Seawolves and Navy SEAL. As they are loaded up Petty Officer Thomas’s injured back gives out. Seeing an enemy soldier as he falls to the ground he turns over in one motion and with one shot blows him away at 15 yards. During the rescue LTJG Miller keeps his Gunship positioned between the rescue bird and the enemy taking the fire off them.
Getting in the Dust Off the wounded are taken to Third Surg Hospital in Binh Thuy as the SEALS on the ground recover the Seawolf KIAs. LTJG Miller returns to Ha Tien with his shot up bird. Have you ever seen a dusty bare field when a hard rain hits it and makes the thousands of marks in the dust? That is how heavy the enemy fire was hitting the ground around the downed Seawolf Gunship was described. Fast Movers (Jets) arrived and unloaded rockets and napalm on the area.
The down Seawolf Gunship was destroyed in place.
Comments from the Army rescue Copilot, Kent Graham, “The most striking part of the rescue was the way the Seawolf cover bird (LTJG Miller and his crew) stayed with his downed comrades. What we did was SOP, anyone would have done the same thing. The Seawolf Wingman (LTJG Miller) was the real hero. I have no doubt that he would have continued making attacks until he ran out of fuel.
This is one of the most important lessons of my life, no matter what happens, NEVER let your comrades down, Thanks Seawolves”.
Results of the battle:
One Seawolf gunship shot down/destroyed,
One Seawolf Gunship shot up, destroyed in place
Two Army S.licks from the 175th AHC shot up
LTJG Pawloski ( KIA)
AN Meute (KIA),
LTJG Barr (WIA),
Petty Officer Navy SEAL Roberts (WIA),
Petty Officer Riordan (WIA)
Petty Officer Abbott (WIA)
2 Army Pilots (WIA).
MSNBC.COM Silent Warriors Episode 1
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MSNBC.COM Silent Warriors Episode 3
SEAL Innovation Rev. E. J. Mc Mahon S.J.
Original Message
From: Udt21frogman [at] aol DOT com, Ralph Leonard
To: doc Rio
Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2007 Subject: Re: Who is UDT21frogman? .
My instructor in Class 12, Feb 54 was Don Griffin. I went thru Fort Benning with Comutes in 56. Retired as Commander. I are Ralph Leonard now living in PGA Palm Beach Gardens FL. Come see me and Don, he lives in Port St.Lucie.
MY NOTE: I am awaiting photos of these two gentlemen. Stick around. Doc Riojas
From: art nelson knelson [at] spe.midco.net
To: Doc Riojas docrio45 [at] gmail.com
Sent: Friday, June 06, 2008
Subject: Don’t write Woody now he is out of town
Thanks Doc for Woody’s email address. I was also down there in KeyWest (61-64) aboard the USS PENGUIN ASR 12. Used to a lot of sport diving with Shorty Lions (UWSS) and MDV Joe Tallerico. Joe died and have’nt heard about Shorty for years.
ART NELSON
‘American hero’ dies of cancer
Saturday, April 27, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Saturday, April 27, 2002 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Highly decorated Navy SEAL survived 300 combat missions in 29-year military career Scott Lyon, a longtime Las Vegan who survived 300 raids and combat missions and liberated dozens of prisoners of war during his 29-year military career, lost his battle with brain cancer late Thursday.
He was 67. With his passing, the nation lost one of its most respected and highly decorated Navy veterans, friends and fellow SEAL team members said. His wife, Patricia, said through a family spokesman, “Scotty was my best friend. He was my life. “I’ve never met a person who could hold a candle to him,” she said. “Scott Lyon was a true American hero in every sense of the word.” Plans are pending for a memorial service with full military honors at the Naval Amphibious Base in Coronado, Calif. As a Sea Air Land leader who rose in rank from enlisted man to officer, he often was called to serve on secret assignments for the CIA.
Those operations comprised two-thirds of his missions. His assignments ranged from chasing after Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara in the mid-1960s while thwarting the spread of communism in South America, to leading 109 combat missions in Vietnam and Southeast Asia in 1967 and 1968 and capturing 17 Viet Cong leaders. One of his close friends, political consultant Kent Oram, who met Lyon when he moved to Las Vegas in 1982, revered him as a true U.S. hero whose gallantry made him “the real James Bond.” “I’m proud that Scott Lyon considered me one of his best friends,” Oram said. “Scott was a legitimate American hero. He was my personal hero.
It’s really important America never forgets people like Scotty who constantly risked their lives to protect our freedoms. “I believe if Scotty could ask for one thing, it would simply be that people Page 1 of 4 http://www.reviewjournal.com/cgi-bin/printable.cgi?/lvrj_home/2002/Apr-27-Sat-2002/n… 11/26/2010 never forget our veterans. Not ever,” Oram said. Fellow SEAL Bob Gormly, author of “Combat Swimmer — memoirs of a Navy SEAL,” described the selfless and humble attitude of Lyon’s teams. “Nearly all of us had at least one Purple Heart. … The feeling among we officers was that, every time we went on an operation, we could have handed out medals to all hands, but that would have cheapened the medals. “Scotty got an incredible number of medals for a SEAL of that era,” Gormly said. Lyon’s list includes a Silver Star, five Bronze Stars, the Joint Service Medal, four Navy commendations, two Vietnam Medals of Honor, the Bolivian Presidential Award, the Purple Heart and 28 separate combat awards.
He is mentioned in several best-selling books: “Seals at War” by Barry Enoch; “Crossfire” and “Centrifuge” by James Pollack; “The Men Behind the Trident” by Dennis Cummings; and “The Monkey Handlers” by G. Gordon Liddy. In a November interview at his home on a golf course in northwest Las Vegas, Lyon said he was most proud of the time he and six other men liberated 26 prisoners of war from a camp on Oct. 6, 1968. “I crawled up on top of this little knoll and saw the (the guards) were asleep. I took those six guys and ran into this camp. We killed six or seven. We didn’t lose a single person,” he said. In that interview, he offered his insights on the nation’s war against terrorism, saying today’s special forces “are a group of special guys who can do it on their own. “They don’t need generals telling them how to do their jobs, or admirals trying to tell them how to get there. They’re a lot smarter than we were. I’m not saying they were a lot gutsier.”
In 1980, Adm. R.S. Lyon, who is not related to Scott Lyon, said, “My first choice out of 132 SEAL officers to send on independent duty is Lt. Cmdr. Scott Lyon.” The “independent” nature of the duty refers to having a free hand to accomplish the mission. Most of the time, he said, his objective was to “gather intelligence, search and destroy.” Scott Lyon predicted terrorist leader Osama bin Laden probably won’t be found alive. “I don’t think you’re going to get him. I think he’s going to be found in a ditch someplace.” In 1985, Lyon was asked how real-life Vietnam combat veterans stacked up against their portrayal in the film “Rambo,” starring Sylvester Stallone.
His Page 2 of 4 http://www.reviewjournal.com/cgi-bin/printable.cgi?/lvrj_home/2002/Apr-27-Sat-2002/n… 11/26/2010 answer: “Sylvester Stallone couldn’t even drink out of the same beer glass as any one of my men. I personally know of at least 100 guys who can actually do some of that stuff. Not all of it, of course, because no one man can do what Rambo did.” Scott Robert Lyon was born in Rochester, N.Y., on March 14, 1935. “I tried to get in the Army when I was 15. They threw me back, and I joined the Navy when I was 17.” His Navy career began in July 1953 in Norfolk, Va., and ended with his retirement in February 1982 in Las Vegas, where he was assigned to a detachment out of Long Beach, Calif. An enlisted man, he reached the rank of chief petty officer before being promoted to warrant officer in October 1967. He retired as a lieutenant commander. He played football for two Navy teams, the Bainbridge, Md., Commodores and the Pensacola, Fla., Goshawks, before joining the Navy’s elite Underwater Demolition Team.
His special operations with that unit involved fighting with the Greeks against the Turks in Cypress in 1961. He served three tours in Vietnam beginning in the 1960s, including a stint with the Provincial Reconnaissance Unit, an agency set up by the CIA to use North Vietnamese deserters in combat. He received the Silver Star for gallantry for leading 20 men deep into a Viet Cong stronghold to destroy a mine warhead factory while engaging in a 26-hour firefight. In the early 1970s, he was the officer in charge of the Leap Frogs, the Navy’s parachute demonstration team, a part of the Navy’s recruiting effort. In 1972, he was on the staff of the Command Naval Special Warfare Group Pacific, based in Coronado, Calif.
After his retirement, he was hired by the Clark County manager as a project analyst. In 1985, he became one of the directors and founders of the Las Vegas Panasonic Pro-Am Invitational Golf Tournament. An avid golfer, he was the
2001 President’s Cup champion at the Las Vegas Country Club. He was one of three principals who founded Western Acceptance Corp., now a publicly traded insurance premium finance company. He served as board chairman from 1986 to 1988. In 1988, he became the first head of security for Arizona Charlie’s. In 2000, he joined QTS, a payroll and tax service company, as a board member and director of business development. He was a past president of Special Operations Association and was the group’s president from 1987 to 1990; Southern Nevada Military Council;
Page 3 of 4 http://www.reviewjournal.com/cgi-bin/printable.cgi?/lvrj_home/2002/Apr-27-Sat-2002/n… 11/26/2010 Veterans of Foreign Wars; Nevada Saints and Sinners; Fraternal Order of UDT/Navy SEALs Disabled American Veterans; and was appointed by the governor and approved by the U.S. Senate to be the Nevada State Director of Selective Service, receiving the Meritorious Service Award. He was a member of the U.S. Boxing Association and was an honorary member of the Nellis Air Force Base Support Team. He is survived by his wife, Patricia Lyon; son, Keith Lyon; daughter Michelle Hynes; three grandchildren; a brother, David Lyon; and his mother, Martha Loyst of Fairport, N.Y. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers donations to the Nathan Adelson Hospice of Las Vegas or the UDT-SEAL Association Scholarship Fund. T
is story is located at: Page 4 of 4 http://www.reviewjournal.com/cgi-bin/printable.cgi?/lvrj_home/2002/Apr-27-Sat-2002/n… 11/26/2010
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http://www.reviewjournal.com/cgi-bin/printable.cgi?/lvrj_home/2002/Apr-27-Sat-2002/n… 11/26/2010
Mike Boynton,Harry Constance, Hook Turre,Pete Peterson, Murphy KIA
Riojas,Butch Ashton,Roy D. Matthews, Mike Boynton, Roy Dean Matthews
Jack Rowell 7th ST-2
Nam Delta working off an LST.
Mike Mc Quillis& Shadow
STOLEN VALOR ACT A MISTAKE
12June2006,13:03 Capt. Norm Olson’s letter to Navy Times
Editor,
I read with stunned amazement the naivety of Lt. Col. Strandberg, who describes these shameless pretenders or wannabes as poor souls that we should pity. It’s far more reaching than that. The unfortunate truth is that these individuals use “stolen valor” to earn unmerited promotions, pay raises, VA benefits, and to pilfer money from unsuspecting women. They’re not just barroom Rambo’s trying to impress girls or their drinking buddies, they’re college professors, law enforcement officials, politicians, lawyers, preachers, actors, etc. that have doctored their resumes in an attempt to gain respectability in their profession, their community and their family. Perhaps equally surprising is that many have never served a day in the military. And when they are faced head-on and exposed for what they are, it seldom works because their families, co-workers and friends have been so brainwashed that they standby them, in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
This phenomenon began to surface when Vietnam veterans started to gain long deserved respectability. From a Navy SEAL perspective, when our small community went from being virtually unnoticed to what it is today, the SEAL wannabes have also grown exponentially. When the issue of fake warriors began to surface, a very small, dedicated group of former SEALs working on their own with no outside financial support started a campaign to unmask these pretenders. To date, they have uncovered over 10,000, most of whom are Vietnam vintage. What makes this figure even more startling is that since WWII, we have graduated little over 10,000 from Basic Underwater/Demolition SEAL Training, and during the Vietnam Conflict, we never had more than a few hundred UDTs and SEALs operating in-country at any one time.
Regrettably, The phenomenon has resurfaced…..we now have Mid-East Fake Warriors coming out of the woodwork. With patriotism and respect for the military at its highest level since World War II, the magnitude of the problem is closely associated with that very same high public esteem. Why then is it important to identify, expose and punish those who are either pretenders or wannabes? It’s to uphold the honor and reputation of scores that have given their lives in the service of our nation. Imposters who are allowed to remain unexposed are an insult to the memory of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice, and who can no longer speak for themselves.
Again, I’m totally astounded that a military officer would wrap himself in such phony logic, i.e., families would not be able to purchase decorations their loved ones deserved. The only ones that would be barred from purchasing those decorations would be the very pretenders and wannabes that the Act is being directed toward.
Captain (SEAL) Norman H. Olson, USN, Retired
__________________
The grist mill of SEAL justice turns slowly but it grinds exceedingly fine.
Vietnam Memorial on Continental Divide
Published on Oct 14, 2013 Cycle ride from Tomichi Creek off of Highway 50 near Gunnison, CO up to the Continental Divide, where we found this war memorial tucked away in seclusion. You won’t find it on any maps. An old local at the Tomichi Trading Post said the Park Rangers keep it off maps…the story is that a Vietnam Vet somehow used a chopper to sneak the pieces in. If anyone knows the true story, I’d love to hear it.
If you notice that all the pictures DO NOT load, keep hitting the REFRESH key !
Injured SEAL gets help for future
John Leptich, Tribune Columnist August 2, 2007 – 3:10AM
Despite losing sight in both eyes to a sniper’s bullet a year ago today in Iraq, former Navy SEAL Ryan Job isn’t into self-pity. Nor does he expect sympathy from others.
“This is just something that happened to me,” Job said. “I can’t change it. What are you going to do, stop living? It just made me take a different approach. I had goals and plans that had to change.”
A single bullet took Job’s right eye, damaged his optic nerve and wiped out his dream of becoming a commercial pilot. But it didn’t damage his mind, attitude, drive and spirit.
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/94331 go here for the rest of the story.
UDT-21 in 1964/5 L-R Bill Langley, Tom Parkinson, Lou Pallottini, sitting-Ltjg Feltman, standing in back-Mike Spencer and Lt Hunt, John Pokrzyk.
Tom Parkinson was the UDT-21 photographer and an outstanding Diving Supervisor.
- Clay Grady and Per Erik “Swede” Tornblom
X-LDNN Thang turned V.C.
Hi Doc,
I have noticed the guy from LDNN named Thang who was assigned in Nam Can Team, which Darryl Young wrote about his turned coat. (Page:319 – 320 of SEALs, UDT, Frogmen: Men Under Pressure) I have met Darryl Young from my home a few years before his death.
I have someone who knew him and he is still living somewhere in Go Cong near Saigon Capital. He became a high ranking officer after Vietnam fall and working for the bastard Commies.
You remember Thang is never interested on me and of course I am not the one wanted to talk or see him too.
Best regards,
Kiet Nguyen
2010/11/7 TTPhat <phat28_6@yahoo.com>
TTPhat <phat28_6 [at] yahoo DOT com
toktnguyen95 [at] yahoo DOT com
ccdocrio45 [at] gmail DOT com,
spikey1971 [at] aol DOT com
dateSun, Nov 7, 2010
subjectLDNN : VO VAN THANG ( He is a good man)
Chao anh Kiet,
Toi la Phat o BH . SPVDH thuyen chuyen ve LDNN nam 1972 , dau nam 1974 co di chung voi anh ra dao Song Tu Tay (Truong Sa) .Trong toan co Tr/u Xon , anh Tu Le,Banh, Lam Chau Tinh, Tu ‘Ca Chinh’ Kiet va Phat ( toan cua minh ban min lam thuy dao va van chuyen vat lieu cho Cong Binh xay cat doanh trai tren dao)
Thoi gian da lau ! chac anh Kiet khong con nho toi…
Nhan day, toi muon noi ve anh Thang (LDNN Vo Van Thang)
1 – Toi ve NN di toan o Nam Can , co nguoi da canh bao voi toi anh Thang da tung” noi tuyen” nuong sach 2 toan SEAls My o My Tho , vi the toi cung de y moi khi di chung voi anh ay
Toi o Nam Can gan 2 nam , lau dan …toi va anh Thang tro nen than thiet , toi hieu rat ro lap truong va chinh kien ve mot nguoi linh cua anh Thang . Vi vay toi doan chac rang anh ay khong he ” phan boi dong doi va dong minh cua chung ta”
Trong thoi gian nay anh cung co tam su voi toi ve tham hoa cua Xpray Platoon,cung di voi toan Xpray anh da thoat chet trong duong to ke toc . Sau do ANQD moi anh len de lam ro ve viec nay , an ninh My cung theo theo doi anh mot thoi gian , roi ho cung xac dinh anh Thang khong biet truoc Vung + Toa do cong tac va chi biet sau khi hop roi cung toan Xpray xuong seal boat ma thoi .(vi vay ho khong truy cuu)
Tieng don xau ve anh Thang tu do va con am vang den ngay nay .
* Khong ly do gi,mot nguoi bi tinh nghi la noi tuyen cho VC ma con nhon nho trong hang ngu QD den thang 4/75 ???
2 – LDNN Vo Van Thang chua tung la si quan cao cap cua VC
Dieu nay duoc khang dinh nhu sau :
Tinh co toi lien lac voi Nguyen Tram (BH) va Tram co cho toi nhung so dien thoai cua cac ban : Bach van Dong , Hoang Doan ,Liem va Le Thanh Tat .
Cung hom do( khoang thang 8 nam2008) toi goi de tham Tat va Tat cho toi biet “Thang Co” cung o Go Cong . Ho gap nhau trong luc tap trung ” Nguy quan” nam 75 (Tat que o mien Trung ve que vo o Go Cong.)
Thang 10 nam 2008 toi va Hoang ngo Ky xuong Go Cong tham anh Thang va Tat , moi biet ra ,vo chong anh da song cuoc doi co cuc trong nhieu nam tai que nha …Gio day Tat va anh Thang cung kha hon roi !
Le Thanh Tat biet ro anh Thang tu sau 75 den nay .
Anh Van (k3) dang o VN , hom 28/10/10 Phat va anh “Van Com “co di tham anh Thang o GCong.
Day la nhung thong tin chinh xac va trung thuc ve anh Thang , toi hi vong se duoc coi mo va sang to ve hanh vi cua anh ay .
Men chuc anh va gia dinh duoc an lanh hanh phuc .
TT Phat
WEBMASTER: TT Phat included this photo and I wonder if that is him in this picture. If it is, i remember him well, he lost one foot in an Op 1967 out at the CHina Sea Coast with the ST-2’s 7th plt.
HOOOOYAH ! Stanley Holloway RIP
Never Fight Fair !
Puerto RIco SDV Frogmen: Jim and Karen Allgeier sent htisw info of this platoon. BACK: Auger, Bob Salsbury, Dale Bright Lt. Clark on end? Front Row L to R: Skinny Andy Anderson, Ed Schmidt, Bobby Putman, Chris Kellas, K row L to R: Scotty Slaughter, ???, Frank Wysocki, ???, ???, Bob Chuck “Upchuck”? ; ??? Dave Nye? I m not sure about Dave Nye.
From: Rick Herron herronrjh [at] gmail DOT com
Date: Sun, Nov 14, 2010
Subject: Page 8 – Puerto RIco SDV Frogmen
To: docrio45 [at] gmail DOT com
Doc Riojas,
On this page of your photo album: https://www.sealtwo.org/photoalbum08.htm
In the photo labeled: “Puerto RIco SDV Frogmen”
I am in the front row 2nd from the right.
I was with the SDV Platoon from only a few weeks so I don’t know very
many of the guys except for Wysocki and Salsbury. We served together
in UDT-21, 1st Platoon while on a Med cruise.
Wysocki is in the back row 3rd from the left. Salsbury is next to
him 4th from the left.
Being a corpsman, I moved from platoon to platoon. I was in the 1st,
3rd, SDV then lastly in the 5th. Chief Sam Bailey was our Chief in
the 5th.
I have several of these Platoon photos including the one in your
album. I’ll get them scanned and send them along to you for your
collection.
I was in the Navy from 68 – 74. Was in UDT-21 from 71-74. I did not
go to BUDs, but was sent through FMF at Lejeune , SCUBA in Key West
then Jump School at Benning and then straight to Little Creek and
UDT-21. I had a lot of catching up to do.
regards,
Rick “Doc” Herron HM2 SS DV PJ
1921 State Route
Bethel, OH. 45106
R. L. Crossland is a recently retired naval captain with 35 years service, active and reserve, in the SEALs (“one cold war and two hot ones.”) He has extensive experience in Far East and the Pacific in general. Widely published on maritime unconventional warfare and naval history, he holds a merchant marine captain’s license and is a practicing trial lawyer.
http://dreadnaughts-bluejackets.com/about.php
—– Original Message —–
From: BullDevine
Sent: Thursday, November 26, 2009 1:00 PM
Subject: The “Frog” Community has lost a great one
Thanksgiving 2009: John F. Callahan Jr. UDT/R (West) Class#19, UDT-11, UDT-21, ST-2( Plank owning first CO), Chart House Restaurants executive, (“The Callahan Cut”), Passed away this morning from complications of liver failure in Peru Vermont where he had been staying with his daughter, son in law and grand sons since his wife Michelle passed away December of last year.
In January of this year John underwent surgery for cancer of the liver. His health had been up and down since but he was well enough that it allowed John to spend time with both his children (Chad and Monica Callahan NY, Colleen and Mike Bunker VT) and their families. Services are pending..
We will miss the Big Guy…Team Mate and Pal……………..Tad Devine, Class 20
BUD/S class Standing: Mr. Ritter, Dennis McCormack, Tom McDonald, Gerry Harmon, Mr. Ratcliff. Kneeling: Harry Monahan, Ed Fisher, Carl Mariott, Frank Watton
NOV 2009 Roy Dean
click on sign to see photos on www.sealtwo.org
Vietnam Photos HERE!NOV 2009 Roy Dean Vietnam Photos HERE!NOV 2009 Roy Dean
Jeffrey Scott Taylor
Hospital Corpsman First Class (SEAL)
This week is for the Frogmen who took the walk to Valhalla, we will never forget!
November 12, 2009
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Jeffrey S. Taylor was born 18 May 1975 in Beckley, West Virginia. He attended Independence High School in Coal City, West Virginia, and enlisted in the Navy on 20 June 1994.
HM1 Taylor’s duty assignments included Recruit Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois; NSHS San Diego, California Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, Virginia; Field Medical Service School, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, Naval Special Warfare Center, Coronado, California; SEAL Team EIGHT, Little Creek, Virginia; USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71), Norfolk, Virginia; John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; and SEAL Team TEN, Little Creek, Virginia.
As Platoon Leading Petty Officer, HMl Taylor was an extremely strong leader who knew how to get the job done. He was known as a serious, yet lighthearted person. In his off-duty time, he was an avid gun collector.
Petty Officer Taylor’s awards include the Bronze Star Medal (with “V” for Valor), Purple Heart Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with Combat “V”) (2 awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Presidential Unit Citation, Navy Unit Commendation (2 awards), Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy Battle “E” Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal (4 awards), Navy Fleet Marine Force Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal (2 awards), Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (3 awards), Expert Rifle Medal and Expert Pistol Medal.
HM1 Taylor is survived by his father John, mother Carrie, and wife Erin.
The 50’s Frogs reunion in San Antonio Texas, River Walk. Black guy is Billy Dishman, black lady is Nella his wife. Doc Riojas with hand on Billy’s shoulder. Guy in dark blue shirt on the right is Steve Bourcski , his wife Stella is in salmon colored sweater; Guy with cap is Fermin Simms and the lady in front of him by Steve is MArie Calendar Fermin’s friend. Guy to right of the lady in red is Billy Hilton and lady in red is Bonnie his wife. Guy in green and black is Robert Berry. Lady in blue next to Robert is, Anne Cooper’s wife. JP Cooper is in stripped pull-over. Photo by : Doc RioIs Billy Hilton (behind you) the same William Charles Hilton III OS1 UDT-21 that I’ve been looking for on my list? Jan Albertie
GMGCM Everett Barrett SEAL USN-Ret. Class 6 R.I.P.
Kimberly Dozier tell’s Lt. Jason Redman (SEAL) remarkable story
US Navy SEALs – CQB Training
“Closed Quarter Battle” NOTE: after page open, hit “refresh” if you encounter problem
Frank Heinrich “Best Job in the World”
“LONE SURVIVOR” the movie showed an “FNG” reciting our well known poem: AROUND THE WORLD TWICE but in the film it was edited. Here is a LINK to the real one: AROUND THE WORLD TWICE!
SEAL TWO dot Org is here for historical reasons. When I die these pages will be available for as long as “GoDaddy.com” remains in business. I guarantee it ! Doc Riojas
Mi Vida Loca – Copyright ©1998 – All Right Reserved email: docrio45@gmail.com
Morning Folks,
Doc Riojas, if you want to publish it on your website, here’s a humorous trailer for you of my next book. IF not, enjoy the read…. Later, Carl
Howdy men, I hope everybody is impatiently awaiting the arrival of the third installment in The Indomitable Patriot series. The book takes us back to 1943 and the submarine USS Great White (SS-299), commanded by LCDR Marcus Spencer. You will recall the Great White and Captain Spencer from the first book, FERTIG, along with Evelyn “Pinky” Pinkert and LCDR (detailed OSS) David Meyers from both FERTIG and book two, DEAN. The Great White is at Mare Island for overhaul and installation of some OSS communications gear. After attending meetings at OSS headquarters, Spencer, Meyers and Pinky drive the the OSS training academy, the former Congressional County Club. All right, here’s a short, humorous trailer from book three….
The meeting continued for a couple more hours before breaking. Meyers, Captain Spencer and Pinky drove to the Country Club to spend the night with Pinky in the guesthouse. The following morning they would fly to Fort Monmouth in Pinky’s Staggerwing Beechcraft.
~~~ ~~~
“It never fails to amaze me, whenever I come down here,” Meyers said as they parked in front of the administration building. “I’ll never forget the first two weeks of the academy when Pinky shared a bunk in a dormitory with twenty-three other men.”
“That’s all right, Mister Meyers,” Pinky said, ice in her voice. “We can save that story for another time!”
“Now my interest is peaked,” Spencer replied.
“Later, sir,” Pinky replied as she deeply blushed. “Only after a martini will I be able to tell that story.”
“My humble command,” Pinky said when Meyers and Spencer stopped and stared at the barbed-wire encased Quonset huts. “Come inside administration for a moment and I will introduce you to Colonel Godfrey, our administrator. Not even the Colonel has clearance to enter the barbed wire. After meeting the Colonel, David and I will give you a tour of the facility.”
As they drove around the complex, David and Pinky explained the training program for OSS Special Agents. They were parked at one of the five-hundred yard ranges when Spencer asked, “You went through all this firearms training, Pinky?”
“Captain Spencer,” Meyers answered, “Pinky is a distinguished master with a rifle. She can outshoot me.”
Spencer glanced at Pinky. “My COB, or Chief Of the Boat on the Great White is a thin, wiry fellow. Almost soft-spoken, but get under his skin or fail to obey a command, he instantly becomes a grizzly bear. I suspect, ma’am, the two of you are not that different.”
Pinky started up and then abruptly stopped their Jeep. “You see that man out there, Captain, the one leading that squad. He will be going to Tinian with you. His name is Carlos Hathcock, Senior. He can outshoot all of our firearms instructors. He can hit bull’s eyes at a thousand yards with an iron-sighted rifle.”
Spencer slowly shook his head as Pinky started up again. “Such young men we produce, to go in harm’s way,” he muttered under his breath.
~~~ ~~~
Captain Spencer, David and I ate in the cadet’s mess. The food service was very good for cafeteria-style service. Afterward, we adjourned to the recreation room where I fixed martinis for the three of us. David brought up the subject of the academy again… to my great embarrassment.
“You delight in forcing me to tell that story, don’t you, Mister Meyers,” Pinky said as she broke out in laughter.
“Marcus (Spencer had told them to dispense with the Captain Spencer routine), my family owns this place, the former Congressional Country Club. I lived in the guesthouse when they leased it to the OSS for the duration of the war, under the condition I continue residing in the guesthouse. My uncles didn’t want me moving back to Chicago where I would be too close to them. The OSS hired me, and I applied for special agent training. David and I were in the first academy class.”
“For the first two weeks of physical, as well as stress training, everybody lived in open barracks. If you survived that period, you moved into individual rooms for the remainder of the training. Their theory, the enemy would neither discriminate nor go easy on a female, so they lumped everybody together.”
“Sunday afternoon, the day before the training officially began; I’m arranging my uniforms and gear in my locker… in an open bay with twenty-three other guys.”
Marcus began to chuckle and then laugh aloud. “Excuse me, Pinky, I’m picturing you bunking in the crew quarters on a sub and being with eighty men who have not bathed in a week or two. It gets pretty foul at times on a boat!”
“We are all tending to our gear while our drill instructor marches up and down the aisle, screaming ‘The enemy intends to kill you, pretty women as quickly as big, tough men,’ and all that.”
“And then Gunny stops at my bunk. I come to attention. The rim of his Smokey Bear hat a fraction of an inch from my forehead. ‘Pinkert, you get one privilege,’ he screams… spittle landing all over my face. ‘There is one stall in the head with a curtain. That stall is yours alone. In exchange for that privilege, you shall not use the men’s urinal. Do you understand that?’”
“Sir, yes sir,” I screamed in Gunny’s face, biting my tongue to keep from laughing. Then Gunny screams, “Men, you will report immediately if you catch Pinkert using your urinal. Do you understand that?”
“A chorus of ‘Sir, yes sir,’ rang throughout the barracks. By now I’m about to explode with laughter.”
“It got worse when Gunny yelled at us about one shower for everybody,” David interrupted. “I’ll save Pinky further embarrassment and leave that to your imagination.”
“Pinky, water is in such short supply on a sub that bathing usually amounts to a gallon of water, once a week if you’re lucky,” Marcus replied. “There is an officer’s head on board, but it’s usually crammed full of supplies for most of a patrol. Everybody uses one head in the after torpedo room. That, too, becomes pretty foul after weeks at sea.”
Carl McLelland
One of our guys, although he had the misfortune of going Army instead of Navy, has become a writer in This fictional accounting is based upon the actual military records and reports of one man’s impossible achievements against overwhelming odds; against an enemy who outnumbered him a hundred to one. Wendell Fertig, a civil engineer and untrained amateur in the ways of war, defied the predictions of the experts and brought the Japanese Army to its knees. Enjoy this first installment in the new Behind The Lines series of combat thrillers based upon historical records. The book is available from Amazon in either print or Kindle versions, or by special order from almost any book retailer. About the Author Carl’s professional career began as an Army and then FAA air traffic controller. He advanced from a small radar van in the Central Highlands of Vietnam to the TRACON in one of our nation’s busiest airports. He also became a commercial pilot and flight instructor, retiring after thirty-nine years of flying. By 1986 he was experiencing severe burnout. He put himself through the police academy, resigned from the FAA and became a deputy Sheriff in Reno, Nevada. He retired after a distinguished career on the street. Not only the cop on the beat, Carl became a renowned traffic accident reconstructionist on his departments Major Accident Investigation Team, as well as a highly acclaimed crime scene investigator. Throughout his life Carl has been a student of the paranormal and often experienced the effects of the supernatural in his personal life. In 2012 he became involved in the saga of the haunted Allen House in Monticello, Arkansas and its resident spirit, Ladell Allen Bonner. The result of dozens upon dozens of paranormal interactions with Ladell led Carl to write his first book about Ladell’s life and death. Writing that first book sparked a latent avocation in his life: writing. Carl has always been a connoisseur of military history, and that interest began a new direction for his writing. This latest book is the story of Wendell Fertig, and the beginning of a thrilling new series, ‘Behind The Lines.’ While the stories are fictionalized, they are all based upon factual military history. Join in with Carl and enjoy his books as you gain an interesting new insight in what war is all about. The following is typical of the reviews I’m receiving on the book:
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can read. |
THE INDOMITABLE PATRIOT Fertig, The Guerrilla General
Doc Riojas Comment: Once i started reading this book, i have find myself hard to putting it down! because of my very old age (84 yr old eyes and at the end of being able to correct my vision) I find that the way the paragraphs are other important text are spaced to be extremly easy to read.
Having retired from the Navy and traveled to that part of the orient reminds me of my days as a guerrilla combatant as part of the Navy SPecial Warfare serving as a Navy SEAL in the Jungles of Vietnam.
The author is equally as good a military writter as Tom Clancy. This story may possibly be material for a great movie similar to the the movie produced about the POW rescue in WWII by Filipino Guerilla fighters and the U.S. Army Rangers. “The Great Raid”
Do not wait to buy it tomorrow, order it today ! It was recommended to me by CDR R.D. Thomas (recommended for the Medal of Honor by the US Army, but our politically correct US Navy downgraded it to a Navy Cross. SHame on them !
