Ross Dunfee “Soldier, put those bodies in the graves and get them buried.” “Sargent, what names should I put on each of the grave markers?” “I don’t know. For now, just mark it Unknown.” This conversation has occurred throughout many wars around the world. Identifying and repatriating the deceased is a logistical nightmare. It is…
Tag: Support Our Troops
Features, December 2022
U.S. Military History: Unrecognized Heroes
Ross Dunfee When you hear your service-song played and you were in that branch of military service, please stand and be recognized. And so, the song goes, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Coast Guard, and now Space Force. In turn, veterans of each branch of military service stand, the audience appropriately applauds the veterans, and…
Features, September 2022
U.S. Military History: U.S. Flag Folding—Part 1 of 2
Ross Dunfee While not officially adopting a flag at the time of the Declaration of Independence, the “Continental Colors” (aka the “Grand Union” flag), has historically been referred to as the first national flag of the United States. That flag has a striking resemblance to the British East India Company (1707-1801), where the canton resembles…
Clubs & Classes, June 2022
U.S. Military History: USS Enterprise
Ross Dunfee Enterprise means “readiness to engage in daring or difficult action,” and such was the lot for the crews of the eight colonial and U.S. ships named Enterprise. All Enterprises were participants in conflict, armed and ready for action. The U.S. ships named Enterprise are as follows: * Enterprise (1775-1777), a 70-ton, 22-gun, 50-crew…
Features, May 2022
U.S. Military History: Memorial Day Poppies
Ross Dunfee World War I concluded with about 10 million military personnel killed, and a like number of civilians. One particularly bloody battle during WWI was at the Second Battle of Ypres (Belgium) where, on April 22, 1915, Germany fired 150 tons of lethal chlorine gas against two French and Algerian Divisions and two days…
Features, April 2022
U.S. Military History: U.S. Coast Guard Flag, Song, and Motto
Ross Dunfee The Coast Guard has a rich history of consolidation with other federal services. The Coast Guard was created in 1915 when the Revenue Cutter Service (from 1790) was merged with the Life Saving Service (from 1848). In 1939, the Lighthouse Service (from 1789) was added, and the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation…
Features, February 2022
U.S. Military History: U.S. Navy Flag, Seal, and Song
Ross Dunfee Flag: What do you think of when reading the following list: Fluked, Admiralty, Stockless, Grapnel, Herreshoff, Northill, CQR, Delta, Danforth, and Bruce? If your answer was “various kinds of anchors,” you are correct. The first (unofficial) flag of the Continental Navy, called the Infantry Battalion Flag, was adopted in December 1864. It consisted…
Features, January 2022
U.S. Military History: Some U.S. Navy History
Ross Dunfee Prior to the American Revolution, the colonies had no naval forces, but did have a large maritime population and many merchant vessels employed in domestic and foreign trade. That merchant service was familiar not only with the sea but also with warfare. On Oct. 13, 1775, the Continental Congress authorized the first Navy.…
Features, December 2021
U.S. Military History: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Ross Dunfee It was still dark, at 3:42 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, when the minesweeper USS Condor AMc-14 saw a two-man Japanese submarine two miles from the mouth of Pearl Harbor. The USS Ward APD-16 that located and destroyed the submarine at 6:45 a.m., was herself sunk later that day by a kamikaze military…
Features, October 2021
U.S. Military History: Some U.S. Marine Corps History
Ross Dunfee What is a Marine? A sailor, a soldier, infantry, amphibious assault members? They are all–soldiers serving on ships ready for land action. Their history, etched in antiquity, has records in ancient Greece and Rome. In the 17th century, the English, in its wars with the Dutch, referred to Marine units as naval infantry.…