Military Pics & Videos

[pipedreams]

Ola Mildred Rexroat (August 28, 1917 – June 28, 2017) was the only Native American woman to serve in the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP).[1][2]
Rexroat was born in Argonia, Kansas, to a Euro-American father and an Oglala mother. The family moved to South Dakota when she was young, and she spent at least part of her youth on the Pine Ridge Reservation.[3] She attended public school in Wynona, Oklahoma, for a time, and graduated from the St. Mary's Episcopal Indian School in Springfield, South Dakota, in 1932.[4] Rexroat initially enrolled in a teachers college in Chadron, Nebraska, but left before completing her degree to work for what is now the Bureau of Indian Affairs for a year.[5] She earned a bachelor's degree in art from the University of New Mexico in 1939.[4] After college, she again worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Gallup, New Mexico for a year.[5]
Rexroat next worked for engineers building airfields, where she decided to learn how to fly. In order to do so, she would need her own airplane or to join the WASPs. Selecting the latter, she moved to Washington, D.C., with her mother and sisters, and was also employed at the Army War College.[5] Rexroat then went for WASP training in Sweetwater, Texas, and was assigned the dangerous job of towing targets for aerial gunnery students at Eagle Pass Army Airfield after her graduation.[6] She also helped transport cargo and personnel. When the WASPs were disbanded in December 1944, she joined the Air Force, where she served for ten years as an air traffic controller at Kirkland Air Force Base in New Mexico during the Korean War.[2][6][7] She continued to work as an air traffic controller for the Federal Aviation Administration for 33 years after her time in the Air Force Reserves was complete.[5]
In 2007 she was inducted into the South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame.[8]
Rexroat died in June 2017 at the age of 99.[9] Immediately before her death she was the last surviving WASP in South Dakota and one of 275 living WASPs out of the original 1,074.[10] Several months after her death, the airfield operations building at Ellsworth Air Force Base was named after her.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ola_Mildred_Rexroat

[Batesmotel]

On 10/15/2022 at 9:24 AM, pipedreams said:

Display of the USAF's arsenal Circa 1958.

At least three of those are still in service. 

[Batesmotel]

On 9/25/2022 at 10:51 PM, Schmidt Meister said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I say that's a C-17 Globemaster ...

Where????

[Schmidt Meister]

[pipedreams]

"An American pilot from Indiana, Louis Curdes was not only a fighter ace but one of the few pilots with the rare distinction of shooting down an aircraft from each of the big-three Axis air forces. Equally unusual, he is also credited with shooting down an American aircraft, which happened to be carrying his future wife. The scale of WWII meant anything that could happen did happen, and Curdes is certainly evidence for that."

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/louis-curdes-shot-down-german-japanese-italian-american-planes.html?fbclid=IwAR00i-8L6Nf5Yk2jpYSscuAcdRWMfPjFt1fDcaMp9lH7MM0CEF-usgaYrhI&firefox=1

[pipedreams]

"In 1991 the Gulf War set the stage for a large-scale tank battle that pit the US’ M1A1 Abrams main battle tank (MBT) and supporting vehicles against a numerically superior force. When US tanks found the bulk of Iraq’s armored vehicles sitting unprepared in the desert, the ensuing battle was a turkey shoot for the American vehicles. This dominating display of power over the mostly Russian-sourced tanks is often described as “the last great tank battle of the 20th century.”

Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster (now retired) played a major role in the Battle of 73 Easting. Recently, he served as the United States National Security Advisor, but back in 1991, McMaster was the captain in command of Eagle Troop, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR).

Iraq invaded Kuwait in August of 1990 and placed a huge portion of the Western world’s oil supply in jeopardy, triggering the Gulf War. By mid-December, the 2nd ACR was already in Saudi Arabia preparing to fight."

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/battle-of-73-easting.html?fbclid=IwAR2wZFUvw4a6oJOWfrDJbhK9BTNu-ERXlb09WoTy089se9mUciqvoOvU6ug&firefox=1

[pipedreams]

"Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone died on February 19^th, 1945 on the volcanic rock of Iwo Jima.  For his actions that day, this Medal of Honor recipient was awarded the Navy Cross.

He was the only enlisted Marine to receive both the Medal of Honor and Navy Cross during World War 2 as he valiantly earned the respect of his men, the admiration of the entire Marine Corps, and a well-deserved place in warfighter history."

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/military-vehicle-news/battle-of-73-easting.html?fbclid=IwAR2wZFUvw4a6oJOWfrDJbhK9BTNu-ERXlb09WoTy089se9mUciqvoOvU6ug&firefox=1

[Schmidt Meister]

Despair and weariness. Tim Page in Quang Ngai, Vietnam. 1966.

[pipedreams]

Waist gunner killed, ball turret gunner killed, radio operator blown out of the airplane completely,

but this Fortress still managed to get home and land without cracking in half.

[pipedreams]

BOUGAINVILLE OPERATION, November 1943.

Cpl William Coffron, USMC, fires at a sniper on Puruata Island, during landing operations in Empress Augusta Bay, Bougainville, November 1943. He was covering Marine gun positions firing from Puruata on Torokina Island nearby.

The invasion of Puruata Island (1-2 November) took place on the same day as the main Allied invasion of nearby Bougainville and saw a force of Marine raiders capture this small island close to the main American beachhead.

[pipedreams]

Crew members, Gefreiter Hempl and Obergefreiter Lehrrieder in their Panzer III Ausf J (5cm KwK L/42) of 1./Panzer Regiment 35, 4.Pz.Div. in the vicinity of Seredyna-Buda in the north east of the Ukraine.  12th of March 1943.

 

[pipedreams]

During the Second World War, U.S. Navy sailors jonesing for some hooch used to steal fuel from their torpedoes (which was 180-proof alcohol) to mix with various flavorings to make a concoction called "torpedo juice".

The fuel contained methanol, which was causing some sailors to go blind, but this didn't deter them from imbibing the illicit rotgut.

To stop this practice, the Navy added Croton oil to the alcohol fuel, which would cause, among other painful symptoms, explosive diarrhea, often laced with blood from the intestines.

[pipedreams]

~ Hershel "Woody" Williams
Iwo Jima veteran
Medal of Honor recipient

Mr. Williams passed away on June 29th, 2022. He was the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor for actions during the Second World War.

Rest in Peace, Marine, and thank you.

[Schmidt Meister]

Launched by the U.S. Navy in 1933, the airship USS Macon (ZRS-5) was one of the largest flying machines in history and holds the world record, along with its sister ship, Akron, for helium-filled rigid airships.
(The Hindenburg and Graf Zeppelin II were both hydrogen-filled.)
Built for scouting and as a flying aircraft carrier, the Macon could carry biplane parasite aircraft, the Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk or the Fleet N2Y-1.
Macon had eight German-made Maybach VL II 12-cylinder, 560 hp (418 kW) gasoline-powered engines that drove outside propellers.The propellers could be rotated down or backwards, providing an early form of thrust vectoring to control the ship during takeoff and landings. The rows of slots in the hull above each engine were part of a system to condense out the water vapor from the engine exhaust gases for use as buoyancy compensation ballast to compensate for the loss of weight as fuel was consumed.
Macon was armed with 8 .30 cal. machine guns.
Christened on March 11 1933, named for the city of Macon, GA, the Macon first flew on April 21 and stayed aloft for 13 hours with 105 aboard, just over 2 weeks after the loss of the USS Akron, April 4 1933, in which the Commander and 72 others were killed.
Macon was commissioned into the U.S. Navy on June 23 1933.
Macon first operated aircraft on 6 July 1933 during trial flights out of Lakehurst, New Jersey. The planes were stored in bays inside the hull and were launched and retrieved using a trapeze.
The Macon suffered damage on a flight on February 12 1935 and was lost off the coast of CA near Monterey Bay. Only 2 crew members were lost, one from abandoning ship by jumping from a height that was unsurvivable and one from drowning.
Macon made 50 flights since it was commissioned and was stricken from the Navy list on 26 February 1935. Subsequent airships for Navy use were of a nonrigid design.
Several trips were made to the site of the sinking in much later years and recovered artifacts. The site was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on 29 January 2010.

[pipedreams]

USN Flight School, Pensacola, FL - 1949.

[pipedreams]

When the Army went Mad Max: Vietnam gun trucks

"A largely forgotten part of the war in South East Asia was the one fought by the U.S. Army’s gun trucks as part of convoy operations through the heart of enemy territory.

While Hollywood would tell you everything moved by chopper in Vietnam, the hard fact of life was that it was truck convoys that schlepped the bulk of the food, fuel and ammo to American and allied units stationed in the countryside. However, these predicable routes became target for enemy ambushes.

One of the worst supply runs was that along Route 19, some 150 miles of winding nowhere that became known as “Ambush Alley” for the motor transportation guys having to make the drive.

The response: hit the scrap piles and, using salvaged steel, sandbags and anything else they could find, up-armor Deuce and a Half and later 5 ton trucks then pile on whatever ordnance they could mount. In some instances, this ran all the way up to entire M113 armored personnel carrier bodies."

 

 

 

 

 

[pipedreams]

WWII-The Deadliest Job of being a B 17 Ball Turret Gunner

Photo: T/Sgt. Benedict "Benny" Borostowski, ball turret gunner of Capt. Oscar D. O'Neil's

B-17 Flying Fortress "Invasion 2nd" (serial 42-5070) of the 401st Bomb Sq, 91st BG.

"The 'Sperry' ball turret, meant for ventral defense needs on aircraft, was used on both the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberator as well as the United States Navy's Liberator, the PB4Y-1. The Sperry ball turret was very small in order to reduce drag, and was typically operated by the shortest man of the crew. To enter the turret, the turret was moved until the guns were pointed straight down. The gunner placed his feet in the heel rests and then crouched down into a fetal position. He would then put on a safety strap, close and lock the turret door. The gunner sat in the turret with his back and head against the rear wall, his hips at the bottom, and his legs held in mid-air by two footrests on the front wall. This left him positioned with his eyes roughly level with the pair of light-barrel Browning AN/M2 .50 caliber machine guns which extended through the entire turret, and located to either side of the gunner. The cocking handles were located too close to the gunner to be operated easily, so a cable was attached to the handle through pulleys to a handle near the front of the turret. Small ammo boxes rested on the top of the turret and the remaining ammo belts were stowed in the already cramped turret by means of an elaborate feed chute system. A reflector sight was hung from the top of the turret, positioned at head height, there was no room inside for a parachute, which was left in the cabin above the turret. A few gunners wore a chest parachute.

The turret was directed by two hand control grips with firing buttons similar to a one-button joy stick. Hydraulics normally powered elevation and azimuth. Hand cranks were available for backup. The left foot was used to control the reflector sight range reticle. The right foot operated a push-to-talk intercom switch."

 

https://youtu.be/hqNsAniqblo

 

[Schmidt Meister]

[Schmidt Meister]

X-3 Douglas Stiletto - Experimental aircraft to study feasibility of sustained supersonic flight - First Official Flight - 10.20.1952 - 1954 Photo - X-3 (Front) Then Clockwise D-558-I, XF4D-1 And The First D-558-II.

[Schmidt Meister]

Wright Brothers Patent for "Flying Machine" - Pat. #821,393

[Schmidt Meister]

X-3 Douglas Stiletto - Experimental aircraft to study feasibility of sustained supersonic flight - First Official Flight - 10.20.1952 - 1954 Photo - X-3 (Front) then clockwise D-558-I, XF4D-1 and the first D-558-II.

[Schmidt Meister]

S-40 Sikorsky 38 Passenger Amphibious Plane. The Pan American Airways "American Clipper" Over New York - 1931

I thought I was putting this in 'Old Pictures.'

[pipedreams]

We recently lost Tuskegee Airman Christopher Newman and wanted to share this beautiful shot of him with his P-51 Mustang 'Goodwiggle' at Ramitelli Air Field, Italy in 1944. Only a few months prior to this photo, Newman's P-39 caught on fire and he had to be rescued from it, only to spend two and a half months in the hospital recovering from extensive burns.

[pipedreams]

[pipedreams]

Israeli Merkava battle tank during a military exercise

in the Golan Heights along the border with Syria . .