HERNANDEZ, RODOLFO P.

The President of the United States
in the name of The Congress
takes pleasure in presenting the

Medal of Honor

to

                    HERNANDEZ, RODOLFO P.

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company G, 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. Place and date: Near Wontong-ni, Korea, 31 May 1951. Entered service at: Fowler, Calif. Born: 14 April 1931, Colton, Calif. G.O. No.: 40, 21 April 1962.

Citation:

Cpl. Hernandez, a member of Company G, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. His platoon, in defensive positions on Hill 420, came under ruthless attack by a numerically superior and fanatical hostile force, accompanied by heavy artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire which inflicted numerous casualties on the platoon. His comrades were forced to withdraw due to lack of ammunition but Cpl. Hernandez, although wounded in an exchange of grenades, continued to deliver deadly fire into the ranks of the onrushing assailants until a ruptured cartridge rendered his rifle inoperative. Immediately leaving his position, Cpl. Hernandez rushed the enemy armed only with rifle and bayonet. Fearlessly engaging the foe, he killed 6 of the enemy before falling unconscious from grenade, bayonet, and bullet wounds but his heroic action momentarily halted the enemy advance and enabled his unit to counterattack and retake the lost ground. The indomitable fighting spirit, outstanding courage, and tenacious devotion to duty clearly demonstrated by Cpl. Hernandez reflect the highest credit upon himself, the infantry, and the U.S. Army.

http://www.stripes.com/news/us/korean-war-medal-of-honor-recipient-rudy-hernandez-dies-1.258884?=&
utm_source=Stars+and+Stripes+Emails&utm_campaign=Daily+Headlines&utm_medium=email#.UrwvK1jOZ10.email

Rodolpho "Rudy" Hernandez MOH

2013 Vietnam Era Frogs and SEALS Reunion from Bill Cumley on Vimeo.

R L  "Dick" PAYNE  /  My Korean  War  Pictures

From:Dick Payne 

to: Chief  Riojas

Thanks for your reply. You mention posting some pictures and story. Did you find my Picasa web site? 

http://picasaweb.google.com/RLPAYNEWA/KoreanWarPictures# 

That is an open site with anybody free to see it (although I originally prepared it for my family) so you have my OK. There is not much information available on the Internet about the Korean War. I like to spread the word about it. Pretty soon there will not be many of us left to do that. 

Did you know Lt. George Van Sant? He was a big, tall guy, maybe 6'5"--pants legs always above his field shoe tops. He was my 2nd Plt. Leader when I arrived in Korea in July, 1952. I just heard he had passed on a few days ago. He wrote a book, his memoirs, "Taking On The Burden Of History", which does an excellent job of describing the fighting in 1952 for the Marines. My memory of events differs from his in some instances but, all in all, an interesting account. He really slams the Battalion commander for needlessly getting Marines killed. 

Sadly, too many of our Korean War comrades are leaving us. I attended services today for a former Dog 2/1 Marine. About ten years ago I organized bi-monthly luncheons for the former members of 2/1 that live in the Puget Sound region. We started with about 15 to 20 Marines and Corpsman. Now we are really lucky to get five and usually have just three or four that meet due to deaths and the loss of mobility. 

I appreciate having your phone number, but my hearing is very bad--too many artillery and mortar shells too close plus a hand grenade which exploded just next to me caused the problem according to the VA. My VA hearing aids do not work well with telephone receivers. 

Where did you end up after the 3rd MarDiv went to Japan? 

The last entry Ancestry.com shows for you is: 

Name: Erasmo Riojas Muster Date: Aug 1953 Rank: E4 Station: Transients 2D Prov Cas Bn Force Troops Fmf Pac Camp Pendleton Calif, Mri Camp Pendleton 

We are both listed on the same page of the muster roll for the outfit. 

Did you also end up at Camp Lejeune? Or as I always think of it, "Swamp Lagoon". Although I ended up with some good duty there (TAD to Sick Call at the Camp Dispensary) and had been promised the next Med Cruise, I was sure happy to be sent to a ship home-ported at Brooklyn Navy Yard. Prior to my FMF time I had been at St. Albans Naval Hospital so was familiar with the area. 

A quick story. I served on a Hydrographic Survey Ship, the USS Maury, AGS 16--a part of the working Navy. I think I was the only sailor on the ship with combat experience. During the first inspection I stood on ship the captain said, " I see you have a Purple Heart. How did you get that?" I replied, " I served as a Navy Corpsman with the 1st Marine Division in Korea, Sir." He smiled, nodded his head and walked on. Every inspection after that he always nodded his head and smiled at me as he walked past. Normally he was a real stickler at inspection. I pushed things. I used to go without shaving for a couple of days, wear an unpressed uniform, un-shined shoes, etc. Always a nod and smile to me while other sailors were having their names taken. I did not push him too far, but played the game of staying at the edge. 

I had many interesting experiences with the Navy and enjoyed my time there, but since I primarily tell Marine stories, go to Marine Reunions and events, visit with Marines, wear a Marine cap, and so on my wife thinks of me as being a Marine. I do not know how she will react if they hold a US Navy service for me at the national cemetery when my time comes. I need to check into that. 

Regards 

Dick Payne

R L  "Dick" PAYNE  /  My Korean  War  Pictures

James A. Greenough in Vietnam  his Bio 18 Nov 2016      Semper Fi !

X

Submarine Lockouts by Navy Frogmen

NEGRON, CDR Delis Jr.Retired

CDR D. Negron, another Laredo TX, Anapolis graduate, Naval Aviator

x

Navy Frogman Recruiting Movie 

The following article was written by> Thomas L. Hawkins,
       President, UDT-SEAL Association
       President, Naval Special Warfare Foundation
For Publication in the Third Quarter edition (September 2002) of the  "BLAST" magazine (UDT-SEAL Assoc).

http://www.11tharmoreddivision.com/history/first_seal_jack_taylor.htm

America’s First SEa, Air, Land Commando
—Lieutenant Jack Taylor, USNR

History of OSS MU A Marine Section was established in the Special Operations Branch (SO) 20 January 1943, with responsibility for planning covert infiltration operations by sea. This section was removed from the SO Branch and redesignated Maritime Unit (MU), and given branch status under the general supervision of Office of the Deputy Director—Psychological Warfare Operations, effective 9 June 1943, by Supplement 4 to General Order 9, OSS, 10 June 1943. The Maritime Unit had overall responsibility for planning and coordinating infiltration of agents of other branches by sea; supplying resistance groups by sea; engaging in maritime sabotage; and developing special equipment to effectuate infiltration by sea. MU was abolished with OSS, effective 1 October 1945.America’s First SEa, Air, Land Commando —Lieutenant Jack Taylor, USNRBy: Tom Hawkins I must confess that I’ve become somewhat obsessed with Lieutenant Jack Taylor, who is ageless in my mind. I first learned about him several years ago, and since then, he is frequently somewhere in my thoughts. I think this is because I ceaselessly regret he did not live long enough to be known and honored by the Naval Special Warfare community. We have several photos of him (all printed in this edition of the BLAST) that I frequently uncover when sorting through my piles of papers. Finding his photographs always makes me pause and reflect upon his life and WWII experiences: successes, extreme hardships, suffering, intrepidity, and distinguished service to our Nation.

All of us in Naval Special Warfare need to know and appreciate Jack Taylor. He was, without question, America’s First Sea, Air, and Land commando. He was, of course, not technically a SEAL, since there were obviously not units called SEALs during WWII, but he was in the Navy, and he was posted to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Maritime Unit (MU), where he had no equal in the extraordinary service he performed.

To honor Lieutenant Taylor, I’ve been contemplating this dedicated edition of the BLAST for several years. The recent combat deaths of Neil Roberts and Matt Bourgeois, wounding of several more of our men in Afghanistan, and the recent article by Dave Del Giudice in the last BLAST (2Q2002), about the origins of SEAL Teams, have caused me to believe that now is the appropriate time. As you read about Lieutenant Taylor, I think the reasons will be obvious.

When World War II began, Dr. Jack Taylor was a 33-year old dentist with a well-established practice in Los Angeles, California. He enjoyed the fruits of his profession through a passion for the sea. Published stories tell about how he navigated in five California-to-Honolulu yacht races and two in Bermuda. He was a licensed pilot as well, and during an expedition to the Yukon, he had been trapped for two days in a gold mine after an earthquake struck. His life adventures before the war were a natural extension of his character, and what he experienced before the war would be no match for what he was to encounter. When the war came along, Dr. Taylor cast aside an assured commission in the Navy Medical Corps and became a line naval officer wanting to serve his nation in combat. He was at first assigned to a surface ship, but his reputation as a seaman had preceded him into the Navy, and the newly created OSS enlisted his services almost immediately. OSS needed officers and enlisted men that knew small boats and could navigate unknown coastlines in the night and slip ashore into enemy-held lands.

  In early 1942, Jack Taylor was, in fact, one of the first three officers assigned to the OSS component that would later become known as the Maritime Unit. He was enlisted from the Navy primarily to become an instructor in boat handling, navigation, seamanship, and underwater demolition. Training was set up at a secret school at an OSS base located on the Potomac River near Washington, DC. The base was known simply as "Area D." It was located in rural Maryland almost directly across the river from today’s Marine Corps Base, Quantico, VA.

Note: I have walked these grounds, which are now private property and a supreme and time consuming task to locate. There is little evidence today that anything significant occurred on the property. We have been unable to find a single photo taken at Area D. 

Jack Taylor was deeply involved in the early planning and development of the maritime school, as well as policy making for the future Maritime Unit. As the difficulty of training progressed, the OSS men expanded in to a wider variety of areas involving clandestine maritime infiltration, supply, and sabotage. Indeed, imbedded within recognized Maritime Unit training and operational activities are the pedigree and heritage of today’s SEAL Teams and Special Warfare Combatant Craft (SWCC).

In addition to amphibious small-boat training, in the autumn of 1942 OSS, men at Area D began experimenting with equipment that would provide them capabilities to perform missions involving underwater sabotage. Central to this was examination of the Jack Brow and Lambertsen Units, both experimental closed-circuit pure-oxygen underwater breathing apparatus. 

Note: Both UBAs were first tested by a Navy qualified Navy diver, Gunners Mate Third Class John Spence, who had been posted with OSS and later deployed with "L-Unit," the first operational group of OSS divers deployed for combat. We now consider Mr. Spence "America’s First Frogman," and he is a Lifetime Honorary Member of the UDT-SEAL Association. His story can be found in the 1Q2000 edition of the BLAST.

The Lambertsen Unit was subsequently adopted by OSS, and on 18 February 1943, General Donovan approved plans for the first underwater swimming group. The group was to be called "L-Unit," and consisted of two smaller groups. Lieutenant Taylor would command one of these groups and Lieutenant R.J.H. Duncan, USNR the other. The men were being specifically trained in the U.S. and later in England to launch attacks against German submarine pins on the South coast of France. 

During training with Dr. Chris Lambertsen, Lieutenant Jack Taylor swam underwater for over a mile and stayed down for a period extending more than 48 minutes.) This was an extraordinary accomplishment at the time, since self-contained breathing underwater was a new concept, and combining the capability with military tactical application had only been previously attempted (with great success) by the Italians and later the British (also with great success).

  Note: Dr. Christian J. Lambertson, MD had some part in training every group of combat divers assigned to OSS and also UDT divers after the war. He is considered by us "The Father of U.S. Combat Swimming," and is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the UDT-SEAL Association. Dr. Lambertsen is featured in the 2Q1997 edition of the BLAST. The OSS Diving Unit’s history is recounted in detail in the 1Q2000 and 2Q000 editions of the BLAST.

Before L-Unit was operationally deployed, the Maritime Unit had attained branch status, and Lieutenant Taylor was replaced in the diving unit and instead sent to organize MU operations in the Middle Eastern Theater of Operations. This region, designated METO by OSS, extended from the eastern approaches of Italy and included all of the area in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. As a Navy Lieutenant, Jack Taylor was actually one of the more senior and experienced officers in the MU and, thus, a natural if not necessary choice to send to command the MU in Europe.

  Lieutenant Taylor arrived in Turkey some time in July 1943 to serve as the first Chief of MU in the METO, and despite exceptional organizational skill and seamanship qualities, he had great difficult setting up OSS operations in the region. This resulted from of a combination of low rank (he had to stand against the bird Colonels—a familiar story!), military dominance (and Service arrogance) in the region, lack of equipment (boats and men—the military had little to spare.), and, too, lack of recognition within OSS itself.

Nonetheless, by August 1943 he had acquired several indigenous craft called "Caique" and set up an enormously successful infiltration and exfiltration operation using partisan personnel. Caiques were practically all small wooden-hulled vessels with auxiliary sails, averaging from 10 to 40 tons and powered by gasoline engines. They were manned by Greek crews almost without exception. (Note: This period of Lieutenant Taylor’s story is told in significant detail in the 3Q2001 and 4Q2001 editions of the BLAST.)

Including the summer of 1943, and for a period that encompassed about 18 months, Lieutenant Taylor conducted over 14 sorties into the hostile shores of Corfu, Yugoslavia, and Albania. On one mission he is said to have survived alone for 45 days on an enemy-held island off the coast of Albania. His most conspicuous mission, however, was yet to take shape.

  He was relieved of duties as Chief of MU the following December and largely, we can assume through personal initiative, got himself assigned with the OSS SO (Special Operations) desk in Bari, Italy, where he was to plan and participate in a behind-the-lines operation, including his now most well-known assignment called the DUPONT Mission. 

The DUPONT Mission would prove to be the most difficult and life-changing task Jack Taylor would ever experience.

  The mission was scheduled for the fall of 1944. The plan was for four men, one American and three Austrian partisans to parachute near the industrial city of Wiener Neustadt, Austria, about 25-miles south of Vienna. Here was located a major nexus of the German transportation system supplying the Italian front and the Rax Werke, a key German aviation plant. Here, as well, the Germans were said to be constructing major barriers against an Allied advance from the south, the so-called "Southeast Wall."

  OSS planners thought that the Allies might be able to marshal a resistance movement around Wiener Neustadt from among the many anti-Nazi Austrians believed to live in the area. American military forces had not one single source of intelligence from this region of the Reich. Successful penetration of Wiener Neustadt and the surrounding country could yield an intelligence harvest, and the DUPONT Mission was the answer.

  The DUPONT Mission would depart for the Reich on Friday, October 13, 1944, and this particular Friday the 13th would prove to be tremendously unlucky day for the men involved. We have provided a complete accounting of this mission through the debriefing papers of Lieutenant Jack Taylor in the next article in this edition of the BLAST.

  The same story is also told with additional detail in Chapter VIII of a book by author Joseph E. Persico entitled, Piercing the Reich, The Penetration of Nazi Germany by American Secret Agents During World War II (ISBN 0-670-55490-1). This book was first published in 1979 and has long been out of print. The book can be found on the Internet through a search of various on-line sources specializing in out-of-print publications. Mr. Persico’s book illustrates conflicting negative and positive views of Jack Taylor’s character. Through interview and discussion with other OSS MU personnel, we have not been able to establish anything negative about Jack Taylor. Conversely, he seemed always to have been "in search of the fight," with every desire to meet the most extreme operational challenges. (Hallmark of a true SEAL.)

You will note as you read about the DUPONT Mission that Jack Taylor and three companion partisan operatives were eventually captured, tried, convicted, and placed in prison camps. 

Much of Lieutenant Taylor’s first-person narrative is about his capture and imprisonment, but the complete story is quite compelling, and we hope you will attempt to read it in detail. The mission itself was quite successful from an intelligence collection perspective, however, it was conducted with much difficulty; resulting in the capture of all four men. Taylor, who had been given "special treatment" by the German SS, was sentenced to be executed and eventually was taken to the Mauthausen extermination camp. Although in poor physical and mental condition, he was liberated by American forces on 5 May 1945. His debrief contains the following statement:

"After the Americans had liberated us, I discovered that I should have been executed on 28 April 1945, along with 27 other prisoners from Block 13. A friendly Czech, Mylos, who worked in the political department had, unknown to me, removed my paper and destroyed it so that I was not included with the 27."

  He had unwittingly escaped execution, but his long-term fate was to be death by starvation and body shut down unless something dramatic happened, and it did. Again, in the words of Lieutenant Taylor:

  "American P-38's came over at about 100 feet and really gave us a thrill. Every machine gun in the camp opened up on them but nothing happened fortunately. We never dreamed that Americans would ever be near, but we heard rumors that they were in Regensburg and coming fast. The SS departed about the first of May, and were replaced with Vienna fire-police. On the 4th we could hear the American guns. No more executions or brutalities took place after the SS departed. On Saturday 5 May the guns were much louder but still some distance away, and I had no hoped that they would arrive before Sunday. Late in the afternoon, however, I heard rumors that an American jeep and half-tract were at the entrance, and staggering through the frenzied crowd, I found [U.S. Army] Sgt. Albert Kosiek, Troop D, 41st Calvary, RCN, Squad Mechanized, 11th Armored Division, 3rd U.S. Army. I could only say "God Bless America" and hold out my dog tags with a quavering hand." 

SSgt. Albert Kosiek and seven other American soldiers on patrol were entirely unaware of the two large concentration camps (Mauthausen and Gusen) in this area and were on routine reconnaissance for roadblocks, downed bridges, and the like. These men unknowingly became the "Guardian Angles of Mauthausen and Gusen."

  You will discern as you read Lieutenant Taylor’s detailed accounting of imprisonment that he forced himself to memorize and recall an astounding volume of names and details before and following his capture. After liberation, and with extreme passion, he forced himself to return to the extermination camp at Mauthausen, where he collected every scrap of paper, diaries, and journals he could find before they could be taken by the Russians (who were to occupy this area) and destroyed. It was from these papers and his memory that he could glean information to report about German atrocities he had seen and experienced first-hand. He later collected photographs taken by U.S. Army personnel, which became a part of his report.

Note: The DUPONT Mission was downgraded from SECRET to CONFIDENTIAL on 9 July 1976 for CIA circulation and limited historian use. The National Archives declassified our copy of the document on 13 February 1999. 

Jack Taylor was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and was in Europe to testify against the Nazi’s at the Nuremberg Trials, where we are certain he provided all or more of the detail in the story of the DUPONT Mission. For his time as Chief of MU and for the DUPONT Mission, Jack Taylor was subsequently awarded the Navy Cross.

The Citation reproduced below was obtained from the Awards and Special Project Branch of the CNO staff in 1999. While preparing this BLAST article, we discovered that a portion of the Citation was missing, and we are attempting to get a complete copy for retention in the NSW Historical Center archive collection. We are struck by the fact that the Citation is a single award for separate and distinct acts of extraordinary valor. Also, by the awkward way the Citation bounces around events and facts. It is either a combination of two awards or it was a single award likely drafted by someone that did not know Lieutenant Taylor personally, and wrote from accounts taken from his records. Citation: 

"For extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United States; as chief of the Maritime Unit, Office of Strategic Services Detachment, United States Armed Forces, in the Middle East, from September 1943 to March 1944, Lieutenant Jack Taylor, USNR, personally commanded fourteen separate sorties to the Greek and Balkan enemy-occupied coasts. This activity was carried out despite intense enemy efforts to prevent any kind of coastal traffic whatsoever. Lieutenant Taylor, through clandestine operations, deserving of the highest commendation and careful planning and skillful navigation effected numerous evacuations of intelligence agents, doctors, nurses, and downed airmen. Tons of arms, ammunition, explosives, and other military supplies were delivered to Marshal Tito and other resistance forces through the efforts of Lieutenant Taylor. For three months, at all times surrounded by enemy forces, and on three occasions forced to flee from enemy searching parties, Lieutenant Taylor and his intelligence team operated in Central Albania and transmitted by clandestine radio important information regarding enemy troop movements, supply dumps, coastal fortifications, anti-aircraft installations and other military intelligence of great value to the Allied forces. Parachuting into enemy territory on the night of 13 October 1944, with a team of three Austrian deserter-volunteers, he had personally trained and briefed, he began a secret intelligence mission to Austria. Handicapped from the very start by failure to their plane to drop radio equipment, living in constant danger of capture, and the physical and mental strain on his men, the courage and energy of Lieutenant Taylor prevailed and throughout the remainder of October and November, the mission collected target intelligence of the highest value to the Allies. On 30 November, the eve of their departure for Italy, the party was captured by the Gestapo. Through four months of imprisonment in Vienna and one month in Mauthausen prison camp, he was subjected to the customary interrogation methods of the Gestapo. During his capture, Lieutenant Taylor injured his left arm seriously. With this handicap and also being forced to exist on starvation rations and work at hard labor, he resisted all attempts to force him to divulge security……the brilliant results of his operations have been an essential aid to the victory of Allied Arms.

"You may actually listen to and view Jack Taylor on the day of his liberation from the Mauthausen extermination camp. This can be done by watching an extraordinary film clip that we have found on the Internet. Go to: http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Holocaust/mauthfilm.html

  The quality of the film as broadcast over the computer is not good, and much of the film has no sound, but be patient and wait for the portion of the film with real-time commentary by the recently liberated Lieutenant Taylor. Note in the film too, and in the still photos we have published in the BLAST, that Lieutenant Taylor is always dressed quite "formally" with tie and jacket (although perhaps a POW jacket). His appearance is remarkably good and belies the weight loss and harsh treatment he experienced at the hands of the German Gestapo. 

After returning to the United States, Jack Taylor quickly faded into civilian life, but became very nervous and unsettled as a result of his wartime experiences. Rather than immediately returning to dental practice, he attempted to establish "Taylor Products," a "Marine Specialties" company and continued exploiting his love of the sea. The business attempt apparently did not work out well for him, and he eventually began to devote full time to a dental practice in Santa Monica, CA. 

For a while, he did maintain contact with Dr. Chris Lambertsen who, after the war, returned to the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Lambertsen provided us a copy of a very self-explanatory item of correspondence from Jack Taylor, which is reproduced elsewhere in the BLAST. Like many of the veterans of WWII, life was particularly harsh on the men and women of OSS, whose exploits remained secret for many years after the war, and Jack Taylor was no exception. Sadly, he was to live only 13 more years after his return home.

  Dr. Jack Hendrick Taylor at the age of 51 years was killed in a car crash near his home in El Centro, California in the month of May1959; long before he could be afforded any public recognition. His wife, parents, daughter, and sister survived him. We have been unable to make contact with any family members. We suspect that his daughter is still alive somewhere in Southern California. At the time of her father’s death, she lived in the San Fernando Valley as Sally Taylor.

Jack Taylor did it all. Under, on, and from the sea; parachuting from the air; and, operating on land behind enemy lines. Was he the "First SEAL?" Not really, but he represents the epitome of today’s SEAL Team and SWCC operator, and certainly he served in the finest tradition of any past or current member of the Naval Special Warfare community. Assuredly, he must be embraced as America’s first true maritime special operations commando.

Since we could not honor him in life, we have strived in a small way to honor him after his untimely death. A man of admirable exploits. A man of distinguished valor! A true American Hero! HooYah! Jack Taylor.

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From Skid Row to the Corps,“Machete Eddie” McCourt Becomes a “Go-To” Warrior

www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck AUGUST 2011 LEATHERNECK 31 

 www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck

By Richard Botkin

VIETNAM
Second Lt Ed McCourt (right) coordinates with Bird Dog pilot Capt Bob Mathews, camera in hand, atop Northern I Corps’ Rockpile in December 1966. COURTESY OF ED MCCOURT
28 LEATHERNECK AUGUST 2011

Summer 1953 was a different time in Marine Corps history. It was “old Corps,” really old Corps. Old Corps in ways even today’s toughest, most grizzled veterans would accept as old Corps.

It was almost “other worldly” andindescribably more magnificent. Dan Daly and Smedley Butler were gone, but in the summer of 1953 a peppering of gents in the ranks had known and served with
them. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller remained on active duty. Others, thousands really,had campaigned at Guadalcanal, Tarawa,Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and again in Korea at Inchon and the Chosin Reservoir. There were so many of them on active duty that they were almost common in an uncommon way.

By 1953, they were still young by most measures—except for those experiences. And that was and is the draw of the Corps: to be a part of something meaningful and manly and dignified.

The Marine Corps always has been a sublimating force for young men who mmight have gone astray and who might have used their youthful exuberance and energy in socially unacceptable ways. They were the ones who might have turned left when told to go right.

There is something mystical, something not quite definable that draws someone to
the ways of the Corps. Like a narcotic, once injected it can control the soul, absorbing a person in ways that never can be fully understood or appreciated from the outside. For most, once the eagle,
globe and anchor has been earned, there is no divorce, no full recovery. The Corps is all-consuming, and most go willingly, like a moth to a flame, like sheep to slaughter.

Little in Ed McCourt’s initial pedigree suggested that he would amount to much. His father had done time in prison. His stepfather had done time in prison. Both were deserters from the U.S. Army. He had a cousin, also an Army deserter, who did time in Sing Sing for armed robbery.

Growing up in one of the toughest parts of Chicago, by the time he was 13 Ed McCourt had managed to obtain a license to drive the Uptown Supermarket’s meat truck. He dealt with thugs and mafia types near his home on Clark Street, three doors north of Division. He left that job and at 15, in 1951, was managing a parking lot on Lake Street and Wacker Drive, earning the

princely sum of $135 per week (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator that is the equivalent of $1,132 in 2010 dollars). His salary supported his extended and horribly dysfunctional family.

McCourt was unable to finish ninth grade because he had to support his mother, stepbrothers and sisters. Life in the bowery offered small attraction. Living across the street from the Foremost Theater and the Gold Coast Amusement Center, McCourt could count seven bars and pubs on his block alone. Even though the money was good, he tired of waiting to be “old enough” for something more suited to his need for purpose and direction.

Well before his 16th birthday, McCourt had hatched a plan of escape from his skid-row existence. Retrieving his baptismal certificate from the few records his mother kept, he began the process of altering his date of birth. It took seven attempts before he was satisfied that the copies appeared legitimate. He canvassed all the services—first the Air Force and then the Navy, followed by the Army. Once confident those recruiters were fooled by the forgeries, he made his run on the Marines. Bang. Success.

Convinced McCourt was about to turn 18, the recruiters did not even need his mother’s approval. So, by the time he was barely 16, Ed McCourt was boot camp bound. Everything was cool. On the
Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego rifle range, he was the high shooter for his entire recruit series and was among the few recruits to be meritoriously promoted to private first class due to his superior performance. He was dialed in, good-to-go and preparing for combat duty in Korea.

Had he been assigned to a different military occupational specialty, the Corps never might have discovered the deception, but at that time those in certain aspects of artillery required a security clearance. During that background investigation, Private First Class McCourt’s true date of birth was uncovered. As a result, after nine months and 16 days, PFC McCourt, minority discharge under honorable conditions in hand, was released from active duty with very little fanfare.

Figuratively bloodied but certainly unbowed, Ed McCourt did not let thatdischarge interrupt his appointment with destiny. At age 17, he informed his mothat he was going back in the Corps as soon as he was 18 with or without her consent. So why not make it 17 since a person can join the military at that age with parental consent? The next time he went in, it would be for good.

Able to reenlist legally in 1953 at 17 and keep his former rank, PFC McCourt hit the deck with all cylinders firing fully. Although disappointed that he had missed the action in Korea, he had little
time to despair. Ed McCourt was now a round peg in a round hole, the kid in the candy store, the young warrior monk seeking enlightenment. He was home. The Corps was his family, his tribe. The brothers and the father he never had known surrounded him, challenged him, embraced and uplifted him. Good things began to compound.

In assignment after assignment McCourt gained rank, education, experience and confidence. Behavioral scientists might have observed that he had fulfilled Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The Corps became his self-actualization. An outsider might have thought that if he had cut Ed
McCourt, he would have bled Marine Corps green.

The Corps can be a demanding and jealous mistress, consuming and absorbing one’s total passion, leaving little room or consideration for others. This love affair often comes at a high price, sometimes without reciprocity. During war the price may be a man’s own life or those of
cherished comrades. For others, the love affair leads not to “happily ever after,” but to marriages or families that lack a man’s full devotion. Some even buy into the adage that “if the Corps wanted you to have a wife, they’d have issued you one.” For a length of time, Ed McCourtwould fall for that line.

As America was leaving her unsatisfactory Korean experience behind and as her tastes were transitioning from Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to Bill Haley and the Comets, McCourt was in the Band of Brothers. His lifestyle and experience would absorb and consume him 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Assuming his duties as an infantryman and later as a recon Marine, in the next 11 years, Ed McCourt would serve at seven different duty stations, not including time spent at sea or the myriad of military schools attended. Along the way he picked up a nickname—“Machete Eddie”— which he would use with panache and aplomb. When he was not improving his
fighting or reconnaissance skills at schools or in training for the next war, Machete Eddie played on various varsity football teams the Corps maintained at its major bases. In between, he found time to get married twice.

Following a successful tour on recruiting duty, Staff Sergeant McCourt was transferred back to the Fleet Marine Force in mid-1964. Deployed to Okinawa, his battalion spent time on board amphibious ships floating off the coasts of Thailand and Vietnam. In April 1965, 2d Battalion, Third Marine Regiment was part of the buildup of leathernecks going ashore at Da Nang to begin expanded operations against the North Vietnamese Army(NVA) and Viet Cong (VC).

Due to his extensive training and skills as a troop leader, SSgt McCourt served as a rifle platoon leader, a job normally given only to commissioned officers. For six months, McCourt led the men of “Fox” Company’s 1st Platoon through the jungles, swamps and rice paddies. It was the perfect prelude and workup for an even more demanding second tour.

Returning Stateside in January 1966, McCourt endured the drudgery of what appeared bland after the intensity of combat. Assigned as a senior instructor to the rifle ranges at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif., he was marking time. Like any good Marine, he did the job he was given. At least he was training Marines, passing on the things he had learned.

With the American effort in Vietnam increasing, promotions came more quickly. In the early afternoon of 14 July 1966, a teletype message proclaimed his selection for promotion to gunnery
sergeant. Two hours later, before he could finish celebrating, another message announced his selection for promotion to second lieutenant.

It was difficult to enjoy the relative opulence of sunny Southern California knowing his friends were fighting and dying in Southeast Asia. The next day 2dLt McCourt went to his commanding
officer and requested orders for Vietnam. Three weeks later he was back in I Corps, leading Marines in combat.

Between the time 2dLt McCourt had concluded his first Vietnam tour and he returned for his second, the nature and intensity of the ground combat prosecuted by American Marines had changed dramatically. Before, most of the action had been against local VC, and contact with main force NVA regulars had been a rarity. By early 1967, the Marines were battling the NVA daily, virtually every time they left the wire. The VC were cunning, deceptive and fleeting, while the NVA were far better trained and more formidable than their southern allies. The
NVA did not back down from a fight, and the Marines had their hands full.

It was with India Co, 3/3 that Machete Eddie would come into his own as a warrior and troop leader. By the time of his second arrival, the meat grinder of Northern I Corps was consuming
Marines, small-unit leaders in particular, at a horrifyingly rapid rate. A problem common for all the 3dMarDiv infantry battalions operating in Northern I Corps was that constituent rifle companies and platoons were stretched thinly and always were engaged. Turnover of key personnel was a constant challenge.

.0

Second Lt McCourt quickly made a name for himself in 3/3. He seemed bred for the moment. He was a warrior, a gunfighter, the go-to guy when the stuff hit the fan, as things were doing with increasing frequency.

When the battalion went to the field as a complete unit, his platoon was usually on point. His men rallied to him. He loved his men with the same tough-love leadership he had felt throughout his Marine Corps experience. His feelings were reciprocated. His leadership reflected their reasons for joining the Corps rather than some other branch of service. They were confident he would do nothing foolish, nothing reckless and that he would be with them in every firefight at the precise point of contact.

Shortly after McCourt’s arrival for his second tour, 3/3’s Lima Co was taken over by John Ripley, a young captain. The gentleman from Virginia quickly became known for his aggressiveness and tactical savvy. His Marines, after particularly difficult action during March 1967, would be called by “Ripley’s Raiders,” a name that still sets them apart.

The urbane and genteel John Walter Ripley, whom some would call a 20thcentury Stonewall Jackson and who would become more famous for his 1972 heroics in destroying the Dong Ha bridge and seriously dulling the NVA offensive, was in most ways as different from Machete
Eddie as the East is from the West. A friendship that transcended their different backgrounds quickly developed: a brotherto- brother kinship made possible only by their shared circumstances and devotion to the Corps that would last until Ripley’s untimely death in 2008. (McCourt still
mourns deeply for his friend, who believed McCourt was the only man in Marine Corps history to reenlist at 17.)

Machete Eddie called Ripley “an NVA magnet.” McCourt and his men were convinced that to gain contact with the enemy, all they had to do was to operate with Lima Co. Although McCourt would be awarded medals for valor, including the Silver Star and Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Palm (the Vietnamese equivalent to our Silver Star), the praise and endorsements from John Ripley were more important.

Ripley felt his junior mate had “written the book on leadership in combat.” Ripley’s Raiders affirmed his thoughts, on more than a few occasions, when they exclaimed to their “skipper”: “Sir,
Lieutenant McCourt is on our flank. We are secure!”

All Marines have an acute understanding for the quality of leadership, especially in combat. It distills the necessary from the trivial, condenses all that is vital down to the few small issues that make the difference between life or death, victory or defeat.

An officer might coast for a while on personality or puffery; he even might convince superiors he is, in fact, the Second Coming. However, to those in his charge there are only actions and results. No amount of cosmetics or breast-beating can conceal the warts and imperfectionsof actual performance.

The young Marines, the squad leaders, the fire-team leaders, the guys humping mortar rounds and radios all know the truth. They suffer the poor decisions or survive the good ones. They are judge and jury. They are the ultimate customers of a combat leader’s ability.

T.he Marines of India Co’s 1st Plt were no different. Properly motivated and led, they would attempt anything. Machete Eddie’s Marines would do just about anything for him because they knew he would be out front doing it with them.

A poem, “The Ballad of Fort McCourt,” composed and given to McCourt by two of his Marines in November 1966, speaks in a simple, heartfelt way to that need for strong leadership and camaraderie. Taken out of context, it might seem hokey and homespun, almost obsequious, but the verse was not composed by brownnosing boys.

By the time it was written, co-authors Lance Corporal Michael Baronowski and LCpl Tim Duffy were seasoned veterans. Baronowski, who had only one month left on his tour, was killed walking point the day after the two close buddies completed their masterpiece. Duffy would go on to
serve in the combined-action program and be known for doing good things. Their poem is more precious to McCourt than medals and any other accolades.

Author’s note: Capt Ed McCourt reti

red from active duty in 1973 and spent another 25 years in law enforcement and highrisk security before his second retirement in 1997. In 1990, he married for the final time, and the third try was the charm. Like so many Marines, he married well, and he married up. His wife, Sue, has an MBA as well as a doctorate in health care
administration. The couple lives in South Texas. Machete Eddie continues to instruct in shooting and spends a great deal of time in contact with his extensive andimpressive list of old Corps Marine pals. Editor’s note: Rich Botkin is a Marine Corps infantry officer with active and Reserve service from 1980 to 1995. He is the author of “Ride the Thunder—A Vietnam War Story of Honor and Triumph.”

                   The Ballad of Fort McCourt

We wander through the jungles of Vietnam all day.
We find the Viet Cong dug in and chase them all away.
You’ll find no finer fighting men of any name or sort.
You’ll always find us ready here defending Fort McCourt.
He is the bravest man of all and that is plain to see.
And we’re his men of 1st Platoon of “India,” 3/3.
He’s taught us all to be Marines of very rugged sort.
We’re proud to be here fighting beside Lt Ed McCourt.
The first time here he learned the tricks to hunt the VC down.
He’s back again and meaner yet the second time around.
He leads the finest fighting men in Marine Corps infantry.
And we’re the fighting 1st Platoon of “India,” 3/3.
We patrol all day and watch all night for that’s the way he planned.
And where we find the Viet Cong that’s where we’ll make our stand.
And when you hear about us ’twill be a good report.
For here we are and here we’ll stay on top of Fort McCourt.
Although he works us very hard, he never is unfair.
He makes us feel that we’re the best Marines found anywhere.
You’ll never find morale as high at any other fort.
.There is no finer leader than Lt Ed McCourt.

by: LCpl Michael Baronowski and LCpl Tim Duffy

COURTESY OF ED MCCOURT COURTESY OF ED MCCOURT
www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck AUGUST 2011 LEATHERNECK 29

DR. SUE MCCOURT COURTESY OF ED MCCOURT
30 LEATHERNECK AUGUST 2011 


http://www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/article/skid-row-corps-
%E2%80%9Cmachete-eddie%E2%80%9D-mccourt-becomes-
%E2%80%9Cgo-to%E2%80%9D-warrior

Annice Byers

Philanthropist Cleve Carney(SEAL) is giving the College of DuPage $700,000, plus an in-kind contribution of artwork expected to be worth at least $300,000, which combined is expected to be the largest gift in the college's 45-year history.

http://www.defensemedianetwork.com/stories/origins-and-evolution-of-u-s-navy-seal-teams-1942-1962/

                    Franklin G. Shuler 
                                                  April 8, 1925 - June 4, 2012

  SANTEE - Franklin Grady Shuler passed away on June 4, 2012, at his home after a long illness. He was born on April 8, 1925 in Bowman, He attended Bowman High School and, shortly after graduating in 1942, enlisted in the United States Navy. His desire to fly was thwarted by colorblindness, but he went on to become a member of the second class of the Scouts and Raiders, the Navy’s first special warfare commandos, and forbearers of today’s Navy SEALs. He served with the Sino-American Cooperative Organization (SACO) in the China-Burma-India theatre. Frank was discharged from the Navy as a Gunner’s Mate, First Class, on December 24, 1945. The fitness principles he learned as a Scout and Raider served him well in later life, as he continued to walk up to 10 miles a day until age 84. After

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Pete "The Pirate" Carolan SEAL artist

          
                            Arthur M Downes Jr.                                  Beltran, and Jim Watson & Buddies at Jimbo's Bar

  
Richard Dick lawrence Hinson Jr.                            Fred "Doc" Cox

  
Bill Garnett,Bob Gormly, Doc McCarthy, Charlie BUmp, Pierre Birtz

 
Damien RIO Vasquez & Rudy Boesch

Gulfcoast SEALs at Airshow Display

Glen Grinnage Roy Dean Matthews Erasmo Riojas

SEALs at ST-2 50th Anniv Reunion

SEALs at ST-2 50th Anniv Reunion:      ?,    ?,    David Hyde, Rudy Boesch, Tom Sholders

Cuchi 'nam :   Roy Dean Matthews & Doc Riojas  2009

Rio Chico and Rio Grande

Mike

  
Bengal Tiger in 'nam

     
               Emery Lee Martin Jr.                                                           Adm. E. Olson

            
          John Cullet RIP              Adm.McRaven   

                            SEALs Pacific NorthWest

Frank "Bud" Yuric, UDT

IMPORTANT:  Please start reading from the bottom of this page upwards.  Thanks 

from: alan_pricealan_price  [at]  mac DOT  com
to:     jw <jequus  [at]  earthlink  DOT  net>nadoman  [at]  gmail  DOT  com, Franklin Anderson , Tom Juric ,      "Erasmo  "Doc" Riojas" <docrio45  [at]  gmail  DOTcom>
date: Sun, Jan 1, 2012 

Hello Tom and other commenters - 

I was in Class 17 at Coronado, then in UDT 12 and then back to UDT  training  as an instructor from 1957 - 1960.  Frank  had been an army paratrooper at Normandy. According to Don Belcher's "Fifties Frogs "Journal Obituaries , Frank  was in UDT One, Three, and Twelve. That probably put him in Korea with Team One. 

  As an instructor he taught lots of the land warfare classes, putting his army experience to good use. In order to improve our UDT training in land warfare I went in March 1960 with Frank and Alonzo Price to a concentrated  5 day USMC Scouting and Patrolling course conducted at Camp Pendleton by the USMC Recon  Battalion. At the end of the course, Frank was named as the honor graduate. 

 Upon our return to Coronado, we immediately were able to incorporate many things we had learned during our Recon Marine training  into the Coronado UDT Training course - including a more intensive INLAND recon operation in unknown territory in the San Clemente Island phase of BUD/S training. Like Jack Sudduth, I remember Frank (and Alonzo) as outstanding UDT instructors.    

Aloha, Al Price 

From:  Jack Sudduth
To:Franklin Anderson , Tom Juric , "Erasmo "Doc" Riojas, Al/Maureen
date :Sat, Dec 31, 2011 

 Hello all, 

Yes, Bud Juric was an instructor during my tour with BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition Seal) Training. Was also in UDT 12 with him prior to going to the Training Unit. So knew Bud Juric well and had a very high regard for him, both s a fellow Team member/Instructor and as an individual. Always liked his calm, mature, professional attitude. Good man! 

Jack Sudduth 

From: Jack Couture 
to: Al/Maureen, Jack, Franklin, Tom, Doc Rio

Dear Tom: Your father was an impressive man with whom I served at UDT-12. He was in the Intelligence Department and was a great Cartographer ( doing the charts after conducting hydrographic reconnaissance - measuring the depth and  checking for obstacles prior to amphibious landings). 

That time frame was between 
1957 and 1960. Dad could have participated in a recovery mission, but I have no first hand knowledge of that. As to Vietnam service, I draw a blank and my experience is as reported above. 

Al Price, who may have served with him as an Instructor or Jack Sudduth may be able to share UDT 12 experiences. So I have copied Al and Jack, so they may contribute to your quest for information about your Father. 

from: Franklin Anderson 
to: Jack Couture , "Erasmo "Doc" Riojas" , Tom Juric
date: Fri, Dec 30, 2011
subject: Web Page Questions mailed-by wildblue.net

Jack ---
Can you add to Frank Juric being in Vietnam—I know he wasn’t in SEAL’s and he would have had to be in UDT -12-- Was he with you- Franklin  

From: Tom Juric 
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011 
To: Franklin Anderson
Subject: Re: Web Page Questions  

Thank you so much for your input. I do get these little stories about his teaching but they are few and far between. I DO know dad went to Viet Nam as I saw his orders and award. THAT was interesting.  

Once again, thanks for your input.  

Sent from my iPad  

From: On Dec 30, 2011, "Franklin Anderson"
To:  Doc Riojas, Tom Juric, Jack Couture, 

Tom – Doc  ; has forwarded your e-mail to me. I was a Student in Class 18 (Feb 57), and your Father was one of the Instructors.. He was an excellent Instructor and taught stealth and concealment and Sentry disposal. “ You hit them over the head with a half-melted G-dunk Bar”, was a favorite expression. 

He was well qualified, as having been a POW for a time during WW II. I do correspond with your sister, Deni on occasion. When your father left the training unit- he returned to Team 12 and if I recall correctly, he retired shortly there after. 

As to his going to Vietnam, I am not sure unless it was with a Team 12 Deployment from WESTPAC---I am copying Jack Couture on this e-mail, as he served in Team 12 and may be able to answer questions that I am not familiar with.

 As to the space recovery program I do not believe that your father was part of the recovery team---Team 11 and 12 each had a space recovery group; and to my knowledge Frank Juric was not on it (Jack can you answer this). 

Bill Wetenkamp (sp) was in charge of the UDT-12 Group and Eugene Dunn was in charge of UDT-11 Group most of the actual group were young studs. Sorry, that I couldn’t be of more help . 

Franklin Anderson 

From: Erasmo "Doc" Riojas [
Sent: Friday, December 30, 2011
To: Tom Juric
Subject: Web Page Questions  about your Father JURIC UDT in photo on www.sealtwo.org/page11.htm

You wrote: " On the picture below on page eleven, it has the name Juric.....is that my dad? "  

Sorry Tom, I did no know your dad. I could not find the photo with his name on it. I wish you could have included the URL to it (right mouse photo and then click on properties and copy the URL.)  

I am forwarding this email to some of the West Coast Frogmen that may have known him and hopefully they will answer this , your email, because as I said i did not work with your father. I was a member of SEAL Team TWO in Little Creek Virginia.  

thank you for visiting www.sealtwo.org, it is always changing as my hobby is to search for SEAL pictures and add them to it. I am mostly interested in the REAL men and not only pictures of SEAL Training.  

Thank you very much. Happy New Year !  

Erasmo Riojas       aka: Doc Rio  

date: Fri, Dec 30, 2011
From:Tom Juric <jurictawww.sealtwo.org  [at]   gmail  DOT  com>
To: Mr Rojas,   docrio45 [at] gmail  DOT  com

My name it Tom Juric. Frank (Bud) Juric was my dad and I was wondering if you served as an instructor with him? I once started asking anyone and everyone for stories of my dad because he never talked about what he did. As a kid I KNEW he went to Viet Nam but was told no. Later I saw his records and found that he actually did go. I have a few questions that you or members of your unit may know:  

1. On the picture below it has the name Juric.....is that my dad?  

2. Do you have any stories about my day that you would like to donate?  

3. My dad once showed my mom a picture in a book while in Oregon and told her that it was he and a fellow member and they were recovering one of the space capsules. Any pictures out there?  

4. Anything you want to add?  

Thanks,  

Tom Juric  

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from: Kieran MacDonaugh capt.squint [at] gmail  DOT  com
to: docrio45 [at] gmail DOT com
date: Fri, Jan 20, 2012
subject: Helo Freefall

Doc Riojas,      Here is my brother on a helo, he jumps at sec 9! I can see in his aproach "gate" that he is super excited! I try not live vicariously through him but damn! I did not get much info about the crash but my mom said he called only a few hours ago!

Doc Donel Kinnard

           
Scott Allen O'Neill                                             Rick Woolard

 
Captain (SEAL) Rick Woolard

Don Shipley and Wife

               
Hershel Davis& Daughter         Ev Barrett  & Joe Dimartino                                "Pee Wee" Nealey

              
                                                                                 Mark Divine    Brad Mc Leod          Phil Blak,  Glen Doherty

        
Ranger Ricardo Cerros Jr          Chris Smith                                                Dan Cerrillo  

 
Mark Devine

2011 MUSTER Photos by Lowell Gosser:  HERE! and

 his movie is  HERE !  great Job Lowell!

          
01/14/2012 as of this day Don Lumsden  is the oldest frogman alive.                                   

      255 confirmed kills: Meet Navy SEAL Chris Kyle...

 the deadliest sniper in US history Served four tours of duty in Iraq, where he gained the nickname 'The Devil of Ramadi' from insurgents Longest shot was a 2,100-yard strike against a man armed with a rocket launcher Prefers a bolt-action .300 Winchester Magnum custom sniper rifle Left the Navy after 10 years to 'save his marriage'

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2081430/255-confirmed-kills-Meet-
Navy-SEAL-Chris-Kyle-- deadliest-sniper-US-history.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

         
Daniel Leary                                                             Frank Toms

         
  Adm McRaven          Marcus Lutrell                                    Jack Lynch

                                           
Jack Lynch Class29 EC

15 members of Class 114 

From: Thomas Campion
to: Doc RIojas
Rio,
I've attached a couple pictures from this year's muster at Fort Pierce. That's Herschel with my wife, me and my swim buddy Rick Sisk with Eric T. Olson, and one of the 15 members of Class 114 that came for our 30th reunion. I'm in the left of the photo with ADM Olson and front row 2nd from right in the class photo!
Have a wonderful Christmas 2011!!
R/ Tucker

Photos compliments of Thomas Campion; Thank you very much.

Thomas Campion, Rick Sisk, Eric T. Olson,

Mrs. Campion & Hershel Davis

Iam trying to find a picture of me at the Escape training tank at New London CONN while we were stationed there together. Yes I was on the pistol team with you. the picture of me in the upper left was the day I made W-1 at DSDS.in 1966. Th picture of the LTCOL is my son. The ASAF Acadamy kid is one of my grandsons a d the Navy guy is onother one of my grandson. I will try and find a picture of some of the tank guys.              Jack  Barnes                         WebMaster NOTE:  Jack and Doc Riojas were instructors at the SubEscapeTank, New London Conn. in the 1960's

Art Jones AVCM

     SEAL Team ONE KIA list

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lt. Cmdr. D.R. Davis MSC USN (Ret.<Sealdoc  [at]  aol  DOT  com>
Date: Fri, Feb 18, 2011 at 1:50 PM
Subject: Re: Were you a Navy SEAL?
To: docrio45 [at]  gmail  DOT  com 

Hey, Doc Rio.

Nice to hear from a fellow Corpsman!
I was sent to DaNang as a diving HM to be a part of MTT 10-62. I had no idea where I was going or what the unit designation stood for. Did you go through BUDS? I was independent duty qualified, a first class diver and medical diving tech. I was not jump qualed or other special training that early SEALs received but...I got the job and did it anyway. Do you think they would want me in their archives if I didn't go through BUDs? I look forward to hearing from you. 

DR Davis 

In a message dated 2/17/2011 11:41:07 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
To: <Sealdoc  [at]  aol  DOT  com>
From: docrio45   [at]  gmail  DOT com writes:
Subj: "Your name is NOT on the Corpsman SEAL data list. "

Rio,
Perhaps you should talk to the SEAL Archives and correct that error. 

Thank You      DR Davis

WEBMASTER's NOTE:    

Dr. Davis, What you ask me to do will not automatically make you an HM-8492 (Special Operation Tech.)  I believe only the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery can do that. 

 Being  TAD to a SEAL MTT unit makes you no more of a SEAL than the few Corpsmen that were attached to the UDT/Replacement units at Little Creek and Coronado back in the old days before BUD/S came into being.

I have not read your book I don't buy those SEAL books until they are for ONE PENNY on Amazon.com or the authors send me a free copy.

Erasmo Riojas
aka: Doc Rio HMC (SEAL) retired 

From: "pt-doc" <pt-doc [at]  tampabay.  DOT rr   DOT com> 
Date: Mon, Feb 21, 2011 7:37 pm
Subject: Re: I got your email address from Mr. ALan Routh
To: <docrio  [at] sealtwo  DOT  org>

RIO,
Good to hear from you. As I told Al I think he is just out for the money as his book is classified as fiction and not for real. 

He may have got some of the information from one of the MTT guys back in the states, a few drinks will loosen up anyone. In the book he never classifies himself as a SEAL but that he operated with SEALS.  His memory has to be the worlds best to be able to remember word for word some of the things in the book. 

The wife and I are doing real well, both healthy. So is our 1 year old spoiled rotten dashound I play golf 3 times a week. Not bad for a 76 year old f**t Sorry to hear about dickie Cyrus. 

wish I could help out. Keep in touch. 

PT Schwartz, Navy SEAL 

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from: MmeDefarge      mmedefarge  [at]  comcast  DOT  net
to: docrio45  [at]  gmail  DOT  com
date: Mon, Jul 18, 2011 
subject: US Navy SEALs 
Dear Doc Riojas: 

Please forgive me for just jumping into your inbox uninvited, but I feel the need to thank you - over and over - for the wonderful, incredible photographs and other information you have gathered regarding the USN SEALs. 

As a bit of background, I was married to a Surface Warfare officer,  Michael B. Booth, from 1967 to 1976, who served primarily in "tin cans". In July of 1979 he was the XO of the USS Barry as it was pulling into port in Mayport, Florida after a six month deployment. The ship was lacking a Weapons Officer at the time (having flown off the ship earlier to attend some school) and the crew was having some difficulty in securing the lines. My ex-husband (having been a Weapons Officer previously) offered to go down to the deck and assist with the lines. While on deck, one of the lines parted and whipped across the deck and severed both of his legs. They sent down divers in an attempt to recover same, but were not successful. However, thanks to using the uniform web belts as tourniquets, they were able to control the bleeding and his life was saved. I still remember having to tell our two sons about the loss of his limbs as the single hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life. I only tell you this story as a way of saying "I understand" when it comes to the immense sacrifices that Naval men have always made for their country. 

In 1974-1975, we were stationed in Panama City, Florida at what was then called the Naval Coastal Systems Laboratory. My husband was the CO of one of the last three remaining minesweepers in the USN, the USS Fidelity. Our next door neighbor was Jack Ringelberg, who became the CO of the Experimental Diving Unit in June 1975. At that time, the Experimental Diving Unit was transferring all of its personnel from the Naval Shipyard in Washington, D.C. to Panama City. (I believe the EDU's CO was Colin Jones.) Thanks to Jack Ringelberg being a neighbor, we were invited to all the events associated with EDU. 

As a result, I was extremely fortunate to be able to know both Jack Lynch , the former President of the UDT SEAL Assn, (whose passing in 2010 has left me extremely saddened) and Tom Hawkins. Both Jack and Tom exemplified all that a Navy SEAL should be and I have always had the utmost respect for both of them. In addition, they each possessed an outrageous sense of humor and I have so many fond memories of literally laughing myself silly at their antics. 

As the years have flown by, I think back fondly to my memories of Navy life and Navy days and all of your wonderful photographs and other memorabilia bring back such a sense of nostalgia and of "being there." God bless you for all that you have done to preserve the memory of it all! 

You are such an incredible human being yourself with all of the service and devotion you have given to our wonderful country. Again, I apologize for intruding into your inbox, but I just wanted to let you know how much your wonderful photographs and memories are appreciated by we "old-timers". 

Nancy Booth

                            

from: MmeDefarge      mmedefarge  [at]  comcast  DOT  net
to:: "Erasmo \"Doc\" Riojas" docrio45  [at]  gmail  DOT  com
date Tue, Jul 19, 2011 
subject: Re: US Navy SEALs 

Dear Doc Riojas: 

Thank you so much for the pictures of the 50th SEAL reunion! You look absolutely wonderful and I need to know your secret for continuing to look so young. I have to confess my favorite picture of you is still the one from 1949 when you were 17 years old. What a handsome young man you were with that dapper "pencil-thin" mustache. 

At your request, I am attaching a photograph of my ex-husband, Michael B. Booth, which was taken when he was XO of the USS Barry (DD 993). After the loss of his limbs, he was promoted to full Commander which is the rate at which he retired from the Navy due to complete disability. We are both residing in Jacksonville, Florida and are blessed with seven beautiful grandchildren. 

I am not sure why you would wish to post about a surface warfare officer to what is essentially a special warfare web site, but you have my permission to do so, if you wish. 

Again, I thank you so very much for all of the wonderful pictures and memories. 

Carry on. 

Nancy Booth

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WEBMASTER'S NOTE:
Thank you very much for the kudos, Nancy.  I wish to post your story and Mr. Booth's picture because www.sealtwo.org has pictures and stories , and readers, of OTHER THAN  U.S.Navy SEALs.  You are the prime example!  You and all the rest of the fans that visit this web site is my reason for continuing to add, and to edit www.sealtwo.org.
Again, My sincerest Thanks,
Your friend, Erasmo "Doc Rio" Riojas, USN Retired

From:  klk7   [at]  smunet  DOT Net
To: Doc Riojas
Wed, Jul 6, 2011

Thank you for your reply. 

I do appreciate you putting me on your web site. HOOT was one of my most favorite shipmates, although I didn't know him on the ship. He made several reunions, and he found out about them through my putting the notices in the VFW & Legion magazines. Thanks again for your service, and if there is a doubt of any kind about putting me on the web, I will understand. You Seals are the best special operative group ever organized. Take care & be well. 

Lane Kunath RM2/c
USS Hinsdale APA-120
Iwo Jima & Okinawa survivor

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source:  Fire in the Hole  Vol XXIV No. VII Spring 2009

These are some old pictures from my family back in Vietnam

Thu, May 12, 2011 
Quang Nguyen
Creative Director/Founder
Caddis Advertising, LLC
quang [at] caddisad  DOT com    Office

Chris Phan

22JUN2011

:-) Howdy, Rio ~ 
Good hearing back from you.

Glad to hear you folks are going to be in attendance for the 50th. That's great.

Yes, I served with ST-2 from 1984 to 1987. Rick Woolard was the skipper when I first checked aboard, and, of course, Rudy was the MCPOC and senior Bull Frog then. I sure did enjoy the time there. A bunch of hard-chargers to learn from, for sure.

Billy Hoffmann

 6

from: John Stevens
to: Doc Riojas
Mon, Apr 18, 2011
subject: My Dad

Doc Rio,

Recently, I was led to your website by a link in a message from a friend.  On page 15 .     I was surprised to see a copy of the email that I sent to Pat Park and a number of other friends, informing them of the death of my friend Ryan Job.  I am honored that you and Pat thought it worthy of inclusion on your site.  I often think of Ryan and give thanks I had the opportunity to meet him.

WEBMASTER NOTE:

Thank you very much John. I will meet your father in the future of in heaven in the Hall of Heroes.

-----Original Message-----
From: Larry Bailey [mailto:larrywb [at]suddenlink  DOT net]
Sent: Wednesday, April 20, 2011
To: john.edward.stevens [at] usa  DOT  net
Subject: Re: Thanks 

John, I couldn't open the attachment. Could you send it in the body of an e-maill? Thanks! 

My address is  Chocowinity, NC 27817. 

L.Bailey 

On Apr 20, 2011,
John Stevens wrote: 

Hi, Captain Bailey! 

It is good to hear from you. Doc Riojas has been kind enough to post the email I wrote about Ryan Job back in 2009 and to put my Dad's WWII Memorial page on his site. 

When I was about 6, I used to wear Dad's steel pot and march around with my Trainer rifle. Once, I asked him why he had scraped the Red Cross off the helmet (I could see where it had been), and he answered in kind of a grim way, "Because it was just a target for the Japs." (This was in the 50's before we had to be culturally sensitive.) 

He also explained to me how Corpsmen are pretty much the only Navy personnel that Marines will tolerate. Right after he finished advanced training for independent duty in the Pacific, he was at a bar with his buddy knocking a few back before they shipped out (to Okinawa, as it happened). A very large Army sergeant began to hector him, trying to pick a fight. My Dad was not a small man, but he said this guy had him worried. Just when he thought he was going to have to swing, a little Hispanic Gunnery Sergeant pushed him away, saying, "Stand aside, Doc. I'll take care of this prick." And the fight was on. At this point in the story, Dad would smile and say, "We took care of the Marines, and the Marines took care of us." 

I hope you are enjoying life. Maybe I can get out to Phoenix the next time you visit, and you, Mac, Steve, and I can all get together. 

Stay frosty, 
John 

P.S. I attached my contact info just in case you need to reach me for anything. Don't hesitate. I'm only two years from retirement and I don't give a @#$!

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

PTSD 

By Sylvia Riojas-Vaughn

Father's screams wake us again,
maybe the neighbors, too - thin walls.
We children huddle at our bedroom doors,
watch him thunder downstairs,
flailing his arms,
shouting, Get down, get down!
Mother rushes behind him, yells,
Wake up, wake up! You're safe!
Their low voices soon drift from the kitchen,
Mother hollers to go back to bed,
but sleep eludes me.
I remember the stories of the slain recounted
over arroz con pollo,
\wonder which firefight
Father relives tonight.

Nils Berger Olsen

              ACTIVITY DURING WWII 

MEMBER OF THE 99TH INFANTRY BATTALION (SEPARATE) NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN SKI TROOPS, 474TH INFANTRY REGIMENT DEVIL'S BRIGADE, 1ST SPECIAL FORCES.

 BORN IN NORWAY, HE WAS NATURALIZED A U.S. CITIZEN ON JUNE 18, 1943 AT LEADVILLE, COLORADO WHILE ASSIGNED SKI TROOP TRAINING AT CAMP HALE, COLORADO. 

HIS UNIT SAILED FROM THE U.S. ON THE SS MEXICO AND ARRIVED IN ENGLAND IN SEPTEMBER 1943. WENT ASHORE ON D-DAY PLUS 15. FIRST ACTION WAS IN THE TAKING OF CHERBOURG, FRANCE. 

HIS BROTHER WAS KILLED IN ACTION WHILE ADVANCING WITH HIS UNIT ON JULY 15, 1944. FOUND OUT ABOUT HIS BROTHER'S DEATH WHEN A LETTER HE HAD SENT WAS RETURNED AT THE BATTLEFRONT WITH 'DECEASED KILLED IN ACTION' WRITTEN ON THE ENVELOPE. 

HE SAW FURTHER ACTION IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM AND WAS ENGAGED WITH THE GERMANS IN THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE. WHILE ADVANCING WITH HIS UNIT IN BELGIUM, HE WAS ASLEEP SITTING AGAINST A TREE ON SEPTEMBER 19,1944 AND WOUNDED BY A GERMAN SNIPER. 

THE ROUND ENTERED AND EXITED THE FRONT OF HIS HELMET WHICH HE CONTINUED TO WEAR THROUGHOUT THE WAR. AWARDED THE BRONZE STAR AND PURPLE HEART.

NOTE: This narrative is being included in the World War II "Book of Remembrances" at the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C.   Entries such as this one for Nils Berger Olsen are available to all World War II participants.      CTRCM Thomas H. Helvig USN (Ret), Nephew

Veterans of Foreign Wars  September 1989            is the source of this article about UDT-18

Rear Admiral Gary W. Rosholt

Deputy Commanding General, Special Operations Command,
U.S. Central Command

Rear Admiral Gary W. Rosholt, the son of a career U.S. Air Force officer, was commissioned through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduating from Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, Class 106 in February 1980, he was assigned to Underwater Demolition Team 12, where he made two Western Pacific deployments with Amphibious Ready Groups. He was then transferred to SEAL Team 1 as the command's diving officer, and then completed another deployment to the 7th Fleet as a strike platoon commander.

Rosholt's shore duty assignment was as the training program coordinator for Naval Special Warfare officer and enlisted training with the Chief of Naval Technical Training in Millington, Tenn. During this time, he also completed his Master of Science degree in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas. In his next assignment, he served as the executive officer of Special Boat Unit 20. There he completed two deployments as deputy commander to Mobile Sea Base Hercules in the Northern Persian Gulf during Operation Earnest Will.

During his first assignment in the Reserve Component, Rosholt was a special projects officer with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, White Oak, Mass. He then served as an action officer for Joint and Navy Special Operations issues on the OPNAV staff in Warfare Policy. He was then assigned as commanding officer of NR SIMA Norfolk Detachment 406. With NR OPNAV N85/N86 106, he served as a requirements officer in the Expeditionary Warfare Division, Naval Special Warfare Branch. He also commanded both NR Special Boat Unit 20 and NR Naval Special Warfare Unit 4. As a Navy emergency preparedness liaison officer, he served with the Director of Military Support and as the Navy liaison within the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense. He then served as commanding officer of NR U.S. Special Operations Command Detachment 108 and commanding officer, NR Naval Special Warfare Command HQ.

Rosholt is currently serving as the deputy commanding general of the Special Operations Command, U.S. Central Command.

Rosholt’s personal decorations include two Defense Meritorious Service Medals, Meritorious Service Medal, four Navy Commendation Medals, the Army Commendation Medal and permanent award of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Identification Badge.

In his civilian career, Rosholt is a consultant specializing in Special Operations-peculiar research, development and acquisition programs. He is licensed as a professional engineer by the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Updated: 15 October 2008

http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=455

       
        Chuck Newell Jr. & his Kids                           John Eric Branchizio            Steve Waterman, Navy Photographer

      
                                Elle                                                    "Bad Bo" 

     REAR ADMIRAL HOWARD ROOP, USNR (ret)
 17 Oct 1924 - 02 June 2011

Rear Admiral Roop was born in Denver, Colorado, in 1924, and enlisted as a Naval Aviation Cadet in 1942. He was called to active duty in July 1943, and discharged as a seaman first class in January 1946, following various naval ground and flight schools.

He entered the University of Southern California on a football scholarship and graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in commercial aviation. Upon graduation, he received a direct commission to Ensign. Recalled to active duty in during the Korean conflict, he was assigned to the USS Logan (APA 195) as assistant boat group commander. Prior to release from active duty, he completed training at the Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado, joined Underwater Demolition Team FIVE, and served as Operations Officer.

Rejoining the Naval Reserve, he served in the air intelligence program from 1954 to 1967, as executive officer and, ultimately, Commanding Officer. In 1959, he achieved an MS degree, and in 1971, a Doctorate in Education, both from the University of Southern California.

Following promotion to Captain, he transferred to the Naval Air Reserve Staff, Naval Air Station, Los Alamitos, and ultimately was selected as the Commander. Following a brief tour with the Los Angeles Recruiting Office, he rejoined the intelligence community and, after transfer to Volunteer Training Unit 0994, continued in the intelligence program on a TAD basis until promotion to Rear Admiral in April 1980. At this time he took charge of the Reserve Command of Region 19. In 1982 he went on active duty as the Deputy Director of Naval Reserve at the Pentagon. Admiral Roop retired from the Navy in 1984 and returned to southern California.

Rear Admiral Roop has received the Meritorius Unit Commendation, WWII Victory Medal, American Theatre, China Service, Korean Conflict with one battle star, National Defense, Good Conduct, as well as several United Nations medals and awards.

While in retirement the Admiral was a consultant at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, California, assisting in the training of the candidates for the SEALS. In 1987 Admiral Roop returned again to the Washington area as the Commandant of the Defense Intelligence College until he retired in 1990.

In civilian life, the Admiral was an educator for 32 years, serving as teacher, coach, counselor, high school assistant principal, intermediate school principal, high school principal, and assistant superintendent of the Bellflower and Huntington Beach, Union High School Districts in California. Active in community affairs including Rotary and the Long Beach Boy Scout Council, he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Huntington Harbour Rotary Club. He served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the World Affairs Council of Orange County.

The Admiral was a consultant for the Commander, Thirtieth Space Wing, Vandenberg AFB, and to a directorate of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He taught Leadership at the Marshall School of Business, USC, and was also employed for leadership training by a number of businesses. 

 Howard is survived by his wife, Harriet B. Roop, daughters Catherine Grey and Darla Haller, grandchildren Anne Grey and Ryan Basden.

Celebration of Life June 17 at 12 PM-Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana-in lieu of flowers the family requests donations to Education Outreach of the World Affairs Council OC, the United States Navy League Orange County Council, or the Orange County Philharmonic Society.

 1

                                                           
                                                                            Margaret Mence  &  Erasmo Riojas

Seal Team Zero T shirt

A native of East Texas, where he graduated from Marshall High School and Stephen F. Austin State College, Larry Bailey was raised on a dairy farm, where he milked an estimated 300,000 Holsteins and Jerseys. Upon graduation from college, he went to Navy Officer Candidate School and was commissioned an ensign in 1962.  After a less-than-stellar eight months as a destroyer sailor, he volunteered for Underwater Demolition Training at Little Creek, Virginia, and graduated therefrom in January 1964.  After spending a year at UDT-22, he transferred to SEAL Team TWO, where he spent the next three years.  Among his deployments at that command were combat tours to the Dominican Republic and Viet Nam.

Larry's 27-year Navy career saw him stationed in Panama, Bolivia, Scotland, the Philippines, and Viet Nam, in addition to various stateside postings, which included Little Creek, VA; Coronado, CA; and Ft. Bragg, NC.  He commanded Naval Special Warfare Unit TWO in Machrihanish, Scotland, and Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado.  He retired from the US Special Operations Command in 1990.

Since retirement, Larry has worked as a consultant, speechwriter, fundraiser, and general gad-about.  His most notable activities included presiding over Vietnam Vets for the Truth, which campaigned against John Kerry in 2004, and over Vets for the Truth, which unsuccessfully tried to deny John Murtha a 17th term in Congress.

Larry and his wife Judy are the parents of two adult children: Tucker and Hallie.

Capt. (O-6) Bailey, Larry
U.S. Navy 1962-1990

http://www.oldwardogs.us

/larry_bailey/index.html

            What do you look for in a person when building a team?

I like to deal with people who have a degree of humility about themselves and who express themselves with a quiet confidence. I don't like a whole lot of high-fiving in the end zone or when people overstate and under-deliver. I like people who can understate and over-deliver. The great military men and women I've been around have had a great degree of humility in them even though they are great Americans that accomplished great things.

                              John Morgan, senior global strategist, Toffler Associates;     said that !

SSGT Bruce Cullen USMC

Doc

 
LT. R.W.Peterson USNavy SEAL

SRU announces 2013 Athletic Hall of Fame induction class Rick Allen, Louis Hanna, Cheryl Levick, Fred Lucas, Robert Peterson, Steve Rihel and Lucy Sack will be honored Sept. 28 during The Rock's home football weekend vs. Mercyhurst University

  Robert W. Peterson (SRU Class of 1961) earned All-America honors in swimming and lettered four years in track and field before starting a distinguished career as a Naval seal and intelligence officer.

Every Marine is  a rifleman

This is my rifle.
There are many like it, but this one is mine. .
It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. .
Without me my rifle is useless. Without my rifle, I am useless..
I must fire my rifle true..
I must shoot straighter than the enemy who is trying to kill me. .
I must shoot him before he shoots me..
I will..
My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, or the smoke we make..
We know that it is the hits that count..
We will hit.

My rifle is human, even as I am human, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel. I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other.

Before God I swear this creed. My rifle and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is America's and there is no enemy

Bruce and Cheryl Cullen

Norman K. Ott, Jr.
1931 - 2009

Ott, Jr., Norman K., 78, of St. Petersburg, died , March 25, 2009. 

He was an avid tennis player and worked as a league coordinator for the USTA and played in numerous leagues. He was a loving husband and father, scout master, football coach, soccer coach, basketball coach, advisor, provider and family comedian. Upon moving to St. Petersburg in 1988 and retiring in 1991, he spent his time playing with his granddaughters, sailing, playing tennis and was President of the local chapter of the UDT/SEAL Association. He is survived by wife, Ruth Ann Ott, St. Petersburg, FL.