Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 1 Rangers, I do not have good news for you, rather I have great news. First, the election results. You voted 96% approval of the revised association Constitution and By- laws. As with the previous docu- ments, the Board follows these rules with passion. Equally impres- sive was the strong win of Art Silsby re-elected as Southern Re- gion Director (SRD). The Bylaws revisions took 14 drafts to complete for your attention. Lots of hard work by many, especially John Hollstein the OIC. We got her done in one year. Getting this done and issuing the first printed financial statement as we did last Issue marks two of my main platform promises. The third was to give you honest, trans- parent leadership; done and con- tinuing. Still more improvements are on the way. The new Bylaws require prop- erty accounting. I promised to bring the Marketing Program under Board control, especially the prop- erty that Vendors send us. Craig Vanek has recently, post ARM 2007, completed the first Property Book. The inventory is accounted for down to specific items and Frank Casey accounts for what is handed out to Rangers at School Graduations. As of this writing, the Book shows $2,565 property on- hand. These items are in our Co- lumbus, GA storage room and available to the Exec VP for use at Ranger School and RIP gradua- tions, and stored for future Annual Ranger Muster (ARM) or local use. Ranger Grimshaw, the previous Marketing Director, provided his written accounting for missing in- ventory sent him for ARM 2006… “To the best of my knowledge and recall, all items sent to me were dis- tributed in support of USARA objec- tives. I do not recall all of the per- sons to whom these items were given nor the places and times the promotional items were given away... All the…items were distrib- uted far and wide, spontaneously, and with good intention…” The ac- counting, according to our Legal Advisor, meets minimum Georgia Corporate Law requirements. So, after some time I can now state we are in compliance with minimum property accountability require- ments. We have the biggest tasks accomplished in just over a year! ARM 2007 was a huge success, Many old attendees said it was the best one they’d been to. It was cer- tainly the largest with 140 expected at the Reception. The Butch Nery acquired raffle prizes brought in $3,955, The Ranger Store collected $1,082.50. Other donations and Registration sales plus those earn- ings totaled $11,843! All record setting numbers. The credits here go to Art Silsby, SRD; Frank Casey, Exec VP, Butch Nery, IRD and Craig Vanek VP Log and Marketing Director. After expenses, $2,327.51 was added to your funds. I do point out that money-making is not the objective of our Musters, nor is money losing, but #1 is that atten- dees have the best possible time gathering with Rangers, young and old. Another super highlight I missed due to having to attend meetings with the other Ranger associations, was the Red Cloud Range weap- ons firing. Butch arranged the event that had our Rangers firing every R R A A N N G G E E R R R R E E G G I I S S T T E E R R THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY RANGER ASSOCIATION, INC. DEDICATED TO THE IDEALS AND PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY RANGER. IN THIS ISSUE: GEN Wayne A. Downing ………... 4 ARM 2008 ………………….…….…. 4 Midyear Marketing Report ……... 5 Northern Region Bad E-Mail Ad- dresses …………………….………... 5 MG Jack Singlaub Honored by O.S.S. Society …………….……..…. 6 New Book Releases: The General and His Daughter … 6 Patriotic Sacrifices of Valor Re- membered: How America Be- came a World Power ..…..…...…. 7 Word History: Why Do Soldiers Fight? ………..………………………. 7 Oldest Serving Ranger …...………. 7 Major General Israel Putnam— Ranger Leader ……………………… 8 “Phony Soldiers” ………...………….. 8 USARA Elections 2008 …………….. 9 Rangers in the News …………….... 9 !st Batt. Memorial Dedicated …. 10 From the CO’s Tent RANGERS!! Please visit the Ranger Store at http://armyranger.usptgear .com or use the convenient order form in this issue.
Transcript
RANGER REGISTER SUMMER-FALL 2007
Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 1
Rangers, I do not have good news for you, rather I have great news. First, the election results. You voted 96% approval of the revised association Constitution and By-laws. As with the previous docu-ments, the Board follows these rules with passion. Equally impres-sive was the strong win of Art Silsby re-elected as Southern Re-gion Director (SRD). The Bylaws revisions took 14 drafts to complete for your attention. Lots of hard work by many, especially John Hollstein the OIC. We got her done in one year. Getting this done and issuing the first printed financial statement as we did last Issue marks two of my main platform promises. The third was to give you honest, trans-parent leadership; done and con-tinuing. Still more improvements are on the way. The new Bylaws require prop-erty accounting. I promised to bring the Marketing Program under Board control, especially the prop-erty that Vendors send us. Craig Vanek has recently, post ARM 2007, completed the first Property Book. The inventory is accounted for down to specific items and Frank Casey accounts for what is handed out to Rangers at School Graduations. As of this writing, the Book shows $2,565 property on-hand. These items are in our Co-lumbus, GA storage room and available to the Exec VP for use at Ranger School and RIP gradua-tions, and stored for future Annual Ranger Muster (ARM) or local use. Ranger Grimshaw, the previous Marketing Director, provided his written accounting for missing in-ventory sent him for ARM 2006…
“To the best of my knowledge and recall, all items sent to me were dis- tributed in support of USARA objec-tives. I do not recall all of the per-sons to whom these items were given nor the places and times the promotional items were given away... All the…items were distrib-uted far and wide, spontaneously, and with good intention…” The ac-counting, according to our Legal Advisor, meets minimum Georgia Corporate Law requirements. So, after some time I can now state we are in compliance with minimum property accountability require-ments. We have the biggest tasks accomplished in just over a year! ARM 2007 was a huge success, Many old attendees said it was the best one they’d been to. It was cer-tainly the largest with 140 expected at the Reception. The Butch Nery acquired raffle prizes brought in $3,955, The Ranger Store collected $1,082.50. Other donations and Registration sales plus those earn-ings totaled $11,843! All record setting numbers. The credits here go to Art Silsby, SRD; Frank Casey, Exec VP, Butch Nery, IRD and Craig Vanek VP Log and Marketing Director. After expenses, $2,327.51 was added to your funds. I do point out that money-making is not the objective of our Musters, nor is money losing, but #1 is that atten-dees have the best possible time gathering with Rangers, young and old. Another super highlight I missed due to having to attend meetings with the other Ranger associations, was the Red Cloud Range weap-ons firing. Butch arranged the event that had our Rangers firing every
RRAANNGGEERR RREEGGIISSTTEERR THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY
RANGER ASSOCIATION, INC. DEDICATED TO THE IDEALS
AND PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN MILITARY RANGER.
IN THIS ISSUE: GEN Wayne A. Downing ………... 4 ARM 2008 ………………….…….…. 4 Midyear Marketing Report ……... 5 Northern Region Bad E-Mail Ad-dresses …………………….………... 5 MG Jack Singlaub Honored by O.S.S. Society …………….……..…. 6 New Book Releases: The General and His Daughter … 6 Patriotic Sacrifices of Valor Re-membered: How America Be-came a World Power ..…..…...…. 7 Word History: Why Do Soldiers Fight? ………..………………………. 7 Oldest Serving Ranger …...………. 7 Major General Israel Putnam— Ranger Leader ……………………… 8 “Phony Soldiers” ………...………….. 8 USARA Elections 2008 …………….. 9 Rangers in the News …………….... 9 !st Batt. Memorial Dedicated …. 10
(CO’s tent cont.) new soldier’s weaponry up to 50 cal. Talk about war stories back at the hotel. Sorry I missed that. Bottom line, look for Muster 2008 15-19 SEP ‘08 in this Issue and do not miss it! Super, beautiful location and just-off season rates on Lake George, NY. New Fall scenery should be great. It’s close to Ranger roots as Roger’s Island is nearby. Walt Eckhardt, NRD is the Lead on this one and Col. Rich Clark has said he will attend, world situations permitting. Y’all come! Both of the current senior Ranger Commanders and their wives at-tended the Reception. All wanted me to pass on their thanks for what you do supporting the Ranger Training Brigade (RTB) and the 75th Ranger Regiment. Butch and/or Frank attend every Ranger and RIP graduation and the Best Ranger Competition where our $1,500.00 donation is appreciated. The RTB CO, Col. Hager replied when I mentioned to let me know if he needed anything from us, to let him know if there’s anything USARA needs from him. My meetings with MG Leuer and the Ranger Memorial Fund Com-mittee and later meeting with other Ranger associations at the VFW went very well. I assured all that USARA will support them and all causes supporting Rangers. I priori-tize support as #1 you, the Mem-bership; Active Duty Ranger Units and their Rangers, other AD Rang-ers, other Ranger associations and Rangers everywhere. We donate, educate, gather and have fun among Rangers. We are a 501(c)(19) tax exempt veterans’ (Ranger) organization, in-corporated in Georgia. Some object to my insisting on accounting for money and property but this year we will be filing for the first time, an Income Tax Return because it is required! Georgia Law requires the accounting and that’s good. I also stress, we are a registered “Frater-nal” association. That means we
are supposed to get along as Ranger buddies; no more negative campaigning as occurred in this election will be tolerated. Those do-ing so should be automatically ex-cluded from seeking or holding of-fice. Why the Tax Return? Because our Treasurer points out, income this year will exceed the $25,000 threshold. USARA Treasurer, Bob Kvederas, also reported at the ARM your cash position amounted to $105,967.30! Another record, tri-ple digits for the first time and all protected in insured accounts. While not required, I had Bob and two non-Board Rangers do an ac-counting at the Muster. Wade Lnenicka and Len Boulas along with Bob scrubbed the Books. Len’s report is in this issue. Be aware also that only two Rangers have authority to write association Checks. I've appointed Frank and Bob for this task. New www.ranger.org Website ownership (ours) and Web Admin-istrator, Hal Marshall gives you a new improved look. More and more we’ll be communicating via the Website. Check it out, believe you’ll like it. Thanks to Peter Bostrom and with willing help from John Senor and Jake Freivald, USARA now owns the Site. Strange as it seems, somehow ownership changed over time and now it’s back as it should be. SCHOLARSHIPS. $3 K still fenced for USARA use and the system re-mains to be worked. The big news is a new scholarship took the lead 11 JUL. A phone call in the eve-ning about Ranger matters that’s not all unusual, but this call was. A male stated he was a Georgia Southern University (GSU) booster from Atlanta with a potential big donor who wanted to endow a scholarship for Ranger children named for his father-in-law, R. S. Haywood but was having trouble finding help. The USARA was his last chance. The deal was full tui-tion and books for four years at GSU. No-Brainer, right? Problem
was that Ranger Haywood was a Korean War Vet suffering with Alz-heimer and a student was needed for entry this year, meaning only weeks before the school year be-gan. With no safety net but with-hopes this offer was true, I alerted the Board and Frank and Butch contacted the CO’s and CSM’s of the RTB and Regiment for candi-dates. While this was happening, I was trying to do the due process to find out was this deal true. God, was I am hoping it was. After rather frantic student search, four rose for consideration with the son of the 4th RTB’s CSM, Tony Collazos (with a GPA of 3.62 and already accepted at Univ. of Alabama, pre-Med) selected by us for the Univer-sity’s consideration. The criteria was restricted to a child of a Ranger, with need also a con-sideration. Learned the deal was true when the University confirmed $5,000 was in the bank; that cov-ered one year. Then the Donor, Mr. Gillespie and GSU signed the deal for a $400,000 endowment. The school invests the funds so earn-ings will support a new Ranger son or daughter every year in perpetu-ity. Thirteen days after the first call, Tony Callazos was admitted. An Email to CSM Collazos this week confirms Tony’s doing great and is a happy camper at GSU. The Ranger Robert Stone Haywood Scholarship begins. The future USARA-GSU relationship remains to be put on paper, but from idea to acceptance took only two weeks. That must be some record. Next Is-sue will tell more about Ranger Haywood. Our support for at-large Rangers, not USARA members is best illus-trated reading what SFC Brian Gustin has to say: 7/26/2007 “Again, the USARA is the epit-ome of what I would call true friends to the Ranger commu-nity.
RANGER REGISTER SUMMER-FALL 2007
Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 3
(CO’s tent cont.) I want to thank the Board mem-bers for helping Ranger Hager’s family out through this. It meant the world to ------ and ------ to have me there, she will never forget you or my chain of com-mand for this nor will I…..” Background was a call from Mrs. Hager pleading for our help get-ting a Ranger to Escort SFC Josh Hager’s remains to CO. He was KIA serving with the 3ID in Iraq. Problem- DOD pays and supports just one Escort; Josh’s USCG brother was that desig-nated Escort. Brain and Josh were Ranger Instructors (RI's) at Camp Rudder before reassign-ment. Determined we needed $400.00 to cover SFC Gustin’s trip to Ft Carson. The Board ap-proved and check was on the way in a day. Money well spent! Yes? Eboard decisions since last re-port: 15-2007-- Approved $200 for Rgr. Casey’s grandsons to stuff ballots and revised documents for mailing. This deal beat the local shop estimate of $600. 16-2007—Approved $500 for Ranger Store inventory to sup-port the Muster. 18-2007--(skipped 17-2007) Suspend a member who threatened to dis-rupt the ARM and personal threats against Board members approved unanimously by all vot-ing Board members (8 of 10). Two not voting. 19-2007-- (9/6/07) Appointments made and approved as follows: • VP Personnel, Mark Pel-
phrey • Legal Advisor, John Holl-
stein • Chaplain, Gregg Orth (Also
Secretary) • Sergeant-at-Arms, Ralph
(Rafe) Delli-Bovi • Historian, Dick Stewart • Finance and Budget Com-
mittee Chairman, John Senor III [Also USARA POC to Col. Clark, Commander, 75th Rgr Regt (75RR)]
• Nomination Committee Chair-man, Len Boulas
• Web Administrator, Hal Mar-shall
• Editor, Ranger Register, Mike “McGeek” McClintock
• Director Marketing, Craig Vanek (Also VP Log)
• Inspector General, Steve Jae-ger
• Deputy Director Southern Re-gion, Wade Lnenicka
Now be aware all Officers are unsalaried volunteers. I do not have space to speak to every-one’s virtues but be assured, these are super Rangers. Sig-nificantly, Mark, Rafe, and Hal, all from 1/75 service represent a new generation added to the USARA leadership. Also Peter Bostrom whose day job prevents his appointment, adds super website and computer usage at the cutting edge to assist his old 1/75 buddies. Peter was the key Ranger switching the Website ownership to us and is helping Hal, who is a website designer by trade, continually improve our move to electronic communica-tions that we certainly need. Steve Jaeger is known to many, he’s our “Go To” guy to check out Ranger wannabees. I add fraud, waste and abuse to his IG portfolio. Dick Stewart- Super respected among the Ranger community at Benning, and has a significant memory bank of where the USARA has been. While the Historian slot has ex-isted since day one, we have no “historical” record on the Books. Many records were supposedly lost. An attempt at reconstructing the record is needed. The new younger appointees have kids in college or about to enter. Mine have been paid for and are off on their own. While I have not submitted for any reim-bursements since assuming this job, others need some financial aid to compensate them for some expenses when they must attend events or Board meetings
away from home. Current rules prohibit any cover when attend-ing the Muster. That’s fine for guys living in Columbus during frequent meetings there. But, I feel such a rule penalizes those living outside Georgia. We need diversity in rank, location and status after earning the Tab or leaving Service after retirement or separation. This will be con-sidered in the future. Your input to your Region Director is re-quested. But I digress, back to Board decisions. EBoard 20-2007-- Approved $250 donation to the POWNet-work (Mary and Chuck Schan-tag). These Honorary USARA Members assist Steve Jaeger to uncover wannabees. 21-2007-- Approved $250 donation to 2/75 to help defray costs of two bronze plaques to memorialize Rangers Brehm and Barraza who were KIA’s during their last deployment. 22-2007-- (9/26/2007) Approved $500.00 for the usual donation to the 1/75 and 2/75 Ranger Bns. In this case the 1/75. At the Muster Board meeting, the Teller’s re-port was accepted. Rangers Ca-sey. Orth, Silsby, Nery and Laf Keaton elected. Sorry this report took so long getting to you, entirely my fault, but it’s all great news, The State of the association is super good and getting better. You have su-per Rangers leading the way and giving way together. We've come a long way with more tasks to be done. Be patient. It is with complete confidence, I’m telling you to bring your bud-dies into the association, we’re worth it! No more negative cam-paigning. Rangers support Rangers in this outfit. Walt could use some assistance with ARM-2008 at Lake George, NY. Any upstate NY, MA, VT or NH Ranger can help make ARM 2008 as good as ARM 2007. Please contact him at: [email protected]. See you at Lake George.
RANGER REGISTER SUMMER-FALL 2007 (CO’s tent cont.) Finally, last thoughts are for our member, Ranger Wayne A. Downing and his family. God speed General; have cold ones ready for us at our final rendez-vous point.
Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 4
Gen Wayne A. Downing
GEN WAYNE A. DOWNING 10 May 1940 – 18 July 2007
eneral Wayne A. Down-ing, who commanded
American Special Operations forces before becoming a senior advisor to President Bush for counterterrorism, died on July 18, 2007 in Peoria, IL, of multiple mye-loma, a form of cancer, and bacterial meningitis. GEN Downing was inducted into the Ranger Hall of fame in recognition of his distin-guished service to the coun-try and the Ranger and Spe-cial Operations community. He served two combat tours in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and the 25th Infantry Division and was awarded two Silver Stars, the Soldiers medal, the Bronze Star with V de-vice and 5 oak leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart. Gen-eral Downing served in the
newly activated 1st Ranger Battalion as the S-3 and XO (1975-77) and commanded the 2d Ranger Battalion (1977-79) where he intro-duced the Ranger Creed. As the first officer to serve in both Ranger Battalions, he helped to standardize tacti-cal techniques and proce-dures and develop a shared Ranger culture. In October 1984, following command of an armored Brigade in Ger-many, he activated the 75th Ranger Regiment and the 3rd Ranger Battalion. As the 3rd Colonel of the Regiment, he personally wrote the op-erations and organization documents and standardized tactical operations and train-ing for the future Ranger force. He adopted the World War II Ranger scroll for the entire Regiment and suc-cessfully petitioned the Cen-ter for Military history for the lineage and history of the WW II, Korean War, and Vietnam War Ranger units. He actively supported the initial efforts to promote the Ranger brotherhood among all Ranger units and indi-viduals, past and present.
At ARM 2007 in Columbus, GA, the USARA Board of Di-rectors approved the Fort Wil-liam Henry Resort and Conven-tion Center in Lake George New York as the location of the an-nual Ranger Muster 2008. The dates of the ARM will be Mon-day, September 15 to Friday, September 19, 2008. The dates were selected because there will
be a French & Indian War En-campment by re-enactors at Rogers Island, Fort Edward, New York, on Saturday and Sunday, September 20th and 21st. Lake George is only 15 miles northwest of Fort Edward and about 25 miles north of Saratoga Springs. The theme of the ARM will be a return to one of our Ranger Roots. Rogers Island was the base for Rogers’ Rangers from 1756 to 1759 during the French and Indian War. It was here he wrote the document that became known as Rogers’ Ranger Rules. Our plans include a French & Indian War narrated bus tour of Fort Edward and Rogers Island, Fort William Henry, and Fort Ticonderoga. The area also was important during the Revolu-tionary War and we are planning a narrated bus tour of Whitehall, Bennington, and Saratoga battle-fields. The Battle of Saratoga, fought on September 19th and October 7th 1777, was a turning point in the Revolutionary War. British General Burgoyne sur-rendered on October 17th and his troops were sent back to Eng-land. Our Banquet Speaker on Friday night will be chosen to speak on this Ranger history. The Fort William Henry Resort and Convention Center is a full service 196 room hotel that in-cludes a Bar and Restaurant, has capacity for a 250 Person Ban-quet, and an Indoor and Outdoor swimming pool. The resort is across Beach Road from Lake George and the Cruise ship docks, and is adjacent to Fort William Henry Museum. The rate for ARM 2008 will be $91 Single, or $46 per person for two or more plus 11% tax. The total = $101.01 Single, or $51.06 per person per night. Also, several
G
RANGER REGISTER SUMMER-FALL 2007
Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 5
motels are across the street from the resort if we should need more rooms. Adirondack Barbell, a fully equipped, very large exercise fa-cility, is on the grounds of the resort, is open 7AM to 9PM, and is free to hotel guests. Also, the Spa Studio in the hotel offers Massage, Facials, Manicure, Pedicure, and Waxing services. We are also planning to offer a Saratoga Springs narrated bus tour and shopping for ladies who may be bored by the war stuff. There are Cruise boats on Lake George and we will schedule a dinner Cruise on Lake George if we can get at least 80 partici-pants. Luncheon cruises are available; however, Dinner Cruises are not run after Labor Day unless they are guaranteed 80 paying guests. Cruises are also available on the Champlain Canal from Fort Edward to Whitehall. There is shopping at the Factory Outlet Center, Adirondack Out-let Mall, Mountain View Out-lets, French Mountain Com-mons, and Lake George Plaza. Also there are twelve Antique Shops in the nearby area. Chil-dren will like the Great Escape that includes six thrilling roller coasters from mild to wild. The Ausable Chasm, a Fish Hatch-ery, and five other museums are also nearby. Lake George is at Exit 21 off In-terstate 87, Saratoga Springs is serviced by Amtrak, and the Al-bany International Airport is only 50 miles south of the Re-sort. Albany airport is serviced by several carriers including Southwest Airlines. The Resort offers pickup and return to the
airport for $25.00 each way if you request it and advise them of the flight number and arrival time. Registration forms and a detailed schedule of activities are being developed. Look for them in the next Ranger Register and on the web site (www.ranger.org) soon. Comments and suggestions are welcome. Volunteers are also welcome.
NORTHERN REGION BAD E-MAIL ADDRESSES
By Walt Eckhardt, Director Recently I mailed 29 letters to Rangers to whom e-mails I sent bounced. This may be caused by full mailboxes or changes in service providers. I received 15 replies. The follow-
ing Rangers from the Northern Region have bad e-mail ad-dresses in the USARA data-base. If your name is here, please send me an e-mail to: [email protected] so I can update your e-mail ad-dress. If you no longer have e-mail please call me on 301-370-3444 so I can record that fact.
• Alvin D. Schwapp, Jr. LRR2624
• Bruce Heerter HON2380
• Clifford G. Finkle LRR3403
• David B. Moore ARR3844
• David P. Stowell ARR3882
• Dennis W. Skidmore LRR3433
• Itmars Ritins ARR3562 • John A. Summers
ARR3825 • John J. Perry SR
LRR1853 • John P. Yoshimura
LRR3581 • Lawrence R. Dedent
ARR3409 • Patrick Keon
ARR3763 • Paul F. Schubert
LRR2596 • Peter Joannides
LRR2415
I also sent 49 letters to North-ern Region Rangers that did not have an e-mail address in the database. So far I have re-ceived 16 replies with an e-mail address. If you received one of these letters and have an e-mail address but did not reply yet, please do so. Send an e-mail to:
Income from royalties and com-missions for the 1st and 2nd Quarters of CY 2007 is $4,135.58. Income from Ranger Store sales at the 2007 Columbus ARM is $1,082.50 Please visit our vendors who sell USARA Logo'd items: Hot Sauce: www.sauce2u.com
Steve got to talk shop with these guys. They were impressed. They now have "walk right in" permission to call on Steve in his third floor Walter Reed Office. I just recalled, the Ranger's name was Vaughn, name Tag re-flected PFC. I asked him if he was promoted to Corporal yet, he replied he was told he was Spec 4 but hadn’t seen any Or-ders yet.
By Linc German
On 20 SEP 2007, Ranger Hall of Fame member Major General John K. Singlaub was presented with the “Wild Bill Donovan Award’ by the O.S.S. Society. The affair was held at the Shera-ton Premiere Hotel in Tysons Corner, VA. When they started planning for Ranger Singlaub’s award dinner, they were expect-ing perhaps up to eighty folks to attend; we had 535 in the Grand Ballroom! Those included at least four USARA Ranger cou-ples, MG and Mrs. Joan Singlaub, Linc and Jane Ger-man, Steve and Susan Maguire and Ranger and Mrs. Peter Bostrom.
Someone else paid for the Open Bars after the dinner concluded, I counted four bars in the Lobby; Jane and I headed for home. After getting some work done, I hit the sack at 0130. Truly a night when the Stars were out; super congratulations to Jack and Joan Singlaub for spending some time with Rangers when
there were so many others com-peting for their attention. A well deserved OSS Society Bill Donovan Award going to our USARA Member.
Were the Stars ever out: the Na-tional Intelligence Czar, the Com-mander USSO-COM (both Admi-rals); Ross Perot, and former Attor-ney General Ed Meese, just to name a few rec-ognizable faces, not to mention a
dozen WWII OSS folks in-cluding two women. Also a Joint Military Color Guard, with all services represented, the Old Guard Chorus and many old CIA, SOF, and Intelligence hands. I called Ross over while in the Lobby and Steve and Peter were impressed to say the least. I knew Ross from my SOD, OJCS days where he gave cash to help bail out an American Army Gen-eral abducted by the Italian Red Cell folks. What a Patriot is Ross Perot; not only was he an event Sponsor, he also paid about a $1,000 for a Table beside ours for Wounded Warriors, one a Ranger who was with his Mom.
NEW BOOK RELEASES:
The General and His
Daughter Authored By
Barbara Gavin Fauntleroy
Lieutenant General James M. Gavin was one of America’s most respected combat commanders in World War II. As commander of the 82nd
Airborne Division, Gavin was the youngest Major General to command a division during the war. He was referred to as "The Jumping General", because of his practice of taking part in combat drops with the paratroopers he commanded. During combat, he was known for his habit of carrying an M1 Garand rifle, as opposed to the sidearm traditionally favored by officers. His men, who respected him a great deal, also called him "Slim Jim" due to his athletic figure. Gavin also fought against segregation in the U.S. Army, which gained him some notoriety. This book is a collection of the
letters written by the au-thor’s father to her dur-ing WWII. There are more than two hundred letters in the book. LTG Gavin wrote with great clarity and grace—about his airborne command, about battles from Sicily to Germany, about the concerns and hardships he shared with his sol-diers, and about Amer-ica’s new responsibility as a world power. Throughout the war, GEN Gavin wrote to his daughter with his char-acteristic intelligence,
directness, and honesty. Infused with love and concern for her welfare, his letters also sparkled with humor and attentiveness to the everyday affairs of his men.
Jane and Linc German, and Steve and Susan Maguire
USARA paratrooper veterans will enjoy reading this book and will relate to the many shared experiences about which the au-thor’s father wrote. Many of those who were with him and their families will remember these events and enjoy reading
RANGER REGISTER SUMMER-FALL 2007
Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 7
MG James M. Gavin, CG,
82nd ABN Division about the more personal feelings of their commander during the wartime period. Autographed copies of her book are available from the author at:
www.gavin505.com.
The website also includes links to a number of other Airborne-related web sites. Price $27.95 plus shipping and handling. PATRIOTIC SACRIFICES OF VALOR REMEMBERED: How
America Became a World Power
E. Hamilton Brooks, Author This book has been exten-sively researched and is about the many troop units that volunteered in the Spanish-American War after the mysterious sinking of the battleship USS Maine. Mr. Brooks has dedicated his book to his Army Ranger son, CW2 Thomas J. Brooks,
who served from 1980-1991. It is available directly through Tate Publishing at 1-888-361-9473 or www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore, or through Wal-mart, Amazon.com, or Bar-nes and Noble. Book pur-chases benefit the “Make-A-Wish Foundation.”
WORD HISTORYWhy do soldiers fight? One answer is hidden in the word soldier itself. Its first recorded occurrence is found in a work composed around 1300, the word having come into Mid-dle English (as soudier) from Old French soudoior and An-glo-Norman soudeour. The Old French word, first re-corded in the 12th century, is derived from sol or soud, Old French forms of Modern French sou. There is no longer a French coin named sou, but the meaning of sou alerts us to the fact that money is involved. Indeed, Old French sol referred to a coin and also meant “pay,” and a soudoior was a man who fought for pay. This was a concept worth expressing in an era when many men were not paid for fighting but did it in service to a feudal superior. Thus soldier is parallel to the word mercenary, which goes back to Latin mercçnnârius, derived from mercçs, “pay,” and meaning “working for pay.” The word could also be used as a noun, one of whose senses was “a soldier of fortune.”
Oldest Serving Ranger
Once a Ranger, always a Ranger. But even though we often say that we would go back on
active duty in a heartbeat, few of us old Rangers are really physi-cally up to it. But, one of us has actually risen to the challenge. COL Howard “Ted” Harcke, MD is Chief of Forensic Radiology for the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology at the Dover AFB Port Mortuary (see photo below of Dr. Harcke at work—note Ranger tab). Ranger Harcke is part of the Re-tiree Recall Program directed to those with critical skills in short supply [participation is voluntary at this time]. Certain Medical Specialties like Radiology are on the list. Dr. Harcke has 31 years in uniform acquired over time through service in all Army Components [Active, Guard, and Reserve]. Branches have been Engineer, Army SecurityAgency (ASA), and Medical Corps. Re-cent deployments were with Combat Support Hospitals in Af-ghanistan (2002)(2005) and Kosovo (2004). As Rangers know, Ranger training applied in some way to all he has done, even when the connection may seem distant. The Dover AFB Port Mortuary is where the remains of all service members who died while serving in OIF/OEF are processed [as well as other military cases]. As part of the process total body xrays, to include Computed To-mography (CT), are done on each case to assist the Medical Examiners. These are all digital images amenable to computer processing in 2D and 3D. The radiographic data allows analy-sis of ballistic and blast injury as well as other factors contributing to the fatality. The principle goal of the work done
by Dr. Harcke is to improve sur-vival in the combat environment. Information generated supports current and futureresearch and development of Force Protection Systems.
Most people associate Putnam with his service during the Revo-lutionary War. He is probably
best remembered for his words, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes,” uttered at the Battle of Bunker/Breed’s Hill in 1775. When I returned home, I did some research on Putnam and discovered that dur-ing the French and Indian War, he had been a Captain in Rogers Rangers, and one hell of a Ranger. He may actually have outshone Rogers in his skills as a Ranger and as a Ranger leader. I also posed a question on the internet to see if any USARA members knew any thing about the installation of the Tab on the monument. A response was not long in coming.
shire, Nathan Hale of Knowlton’s Rangers in Con-necticut, Col Benjamin Church of Church’s Rangers in Rhode Island, and Marty Watson of RICA Connecticut.
Major General Israel Putnam—
Ranger Leader By
Ranger Bob Kvederas
Recently, while driving through Brooklyn, CT, I decided to stop for a close-up look at the im-pressive equestrian statue of Revolutionary War hero Major General Israel Putnam. The statue, which sits atop the gen-eral’s burial sarcophagus, is lo-cated on the side of CT Route 169 in the old Town Center of Brooklyn. It was designed by Karl Gerhardt and erected in
1888 by the state of CT. Need-less to say, I was quite surprised to find a small bronze Ranger Tab attached to the left side of the base of the monument. It appeared to have been attached in the recent past, most likely, with someone's approval. The Tab can be seen (center) on the upper left side of the tablet on the base.
It appears that the Tab was at-tached on April 27, 1996 by rep-resentatives of the Association of Ranger Infantry Companies (Airborne) of the Korean War (RICA). On that date, they held a Ranger Memorial Ser-vice (RMS) for Major General Putnam. The service was one of a series of five conducted in the Northeast by RICA. The others included John Harwood of Rogers Rangers in New Hamp-
“Phony Soldiers” By
Mike McClintock, Editor Daytime talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh, has been raked over the coals recently for calling a Ranger wannabee a “phony sol-dier.” Phony soldiers are not ac-tive duty personnel or military veterans who exercise their Constitutional rights to free speech. Phony soldiers are those who falsely claim to have served honorably, in combat, and/or in special operations units. Fortunately, there are enough astute Army Rangers, Special Forces, and Navy SEALs out there who recognize a phony soldier when they see one and expose them for what they are. Unfortunately, the me-dia and political activists don’t seem to recognize phony sol-diers, especially if they can spin a yarn that fits their precon-ceived notions about what who soldiers are and what they do. Limbaugh was speaking about Jesse Adam MacBeth (born Jesse Adam Al-Zaid) who falsely claimed he was a decorated war hero when he took the stage at demonstrations held in opposi-tion to the U.S.’s role in Iraq. This pencil-necked geek claimed that he was an Army Ranger who killed more than 200 peo-ple, many at close range, includ-ing some as they prayed in a mosque. He spoke at an anti-war rally in Tacoma, WA and appeared in a 20-minute anti-war video that was made in both English and Arabic that was cir-culated widely on the Internet. The truth about this miserable excuse for a human being is that he only made it through six
RANGER REGISTER SUMMER-FALL 2007
Volume XIV, Number 3 Page 9
weeks of basic training before the Army got rid of him. According to the U.S. Army, there is no record of Macbeth being a Ranger, or having served in a combat unit: he was discharged from the service after having been declared unfit or unsuitable for the Army, or both, before he could complete basic training. MacBeth’s lies were exposed by bloggers in May 2006, destroying his credibility and embarrassing the Seattle company that produced the video about his alleged exploits.
Jesse Adam Macbeth (Al-Zaid) MacBeth said that he had been in the Army for more than three years and had achieved the rank of corporal. He also claimed he had been awarded a Purple Heart and that he was dis-charged because he suffered from PTSD. In his antiwar video, entitled “Jesse MacBeth: An Iraq Veteran Speaks Out,” MacBeth told of brutal killings he carried out at the behest of his com-manding officers. “They would actually feel the hot muzzle of my rifle on their forehead,” he reportedly said on the video, which is no longer in circulation. On June 7, MacBeth pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements to the U.S. De-partment of Veterans Affairs. He
admitted to filing a false claim for VA benefits in 2005, which in-cluded a fraudulent military-discharge form.
Financial Review Len Boulas
As noted under the CO’s Tent, Ranger Wade Lnenicka, Treas-urer Bob Kvederas, and myself at the request of the USARA President conducted a financial review of the Association’s fi-nancial records, and supporting documentation. This review also covered the processes and sys-tems in place to insure the safe guarding of Association funds, and their proper accounting to include investment policy, fi-nancial controls, accounting software, bonding and insurance, and general financial policy and procedures.
In September, Macbeth was sentenced to five months in prison. He was also sentenced to three months in a halfway house after his release and three years of probation.
ANNUAL RANGER MEMBERS
SEND YOUR RENEWALS AND ADDRESS CHANGES
TO:
SECRETARY, USARA, INC. PO BOX 52126
FORT BENNING, GA 31995-2126
USARA Based on this review a report was rendered to the Board of Di-rectors indicating that the ac-counts were in excellent order, all funds were properly ac-counted for, and that the Treas-urer had established a financial accounting system that provided for the safe guarding of Associa-tion’s Funds. The newly ap-pointed Treasurer, Bob Kevederas has done yeoman’s work to bring all accounts up to date. The report additionally covered several recommenda-tions discussed with the Treas-urer and made to the Board of Directors for improvements to the current system.
ELEC Len Boulas
TIONS 2008 Chairman Nominating Committee As reported elsewhere in this newsletter the 2007 Election of Officers is over. That does not mean that you should put the topic of elections on the back burner. Elections of USARA Of-ficers is an annual event with ½ of the Association’s Officers be-ing elected each year. The 2008 election will take place during the month of August, prior to the ARM. The positions up for elec-tion will be: President, Vice President for Logistics, Treas-urer, Northern Region Director, and the Central Region Director. RANGERS in the NEWS If you are interested in running for one of positions or would like to get involved as a member of the nominating committee, or just have questions about the elections process, please con-tact me or one of the officers of the association. I can be reached through one of the fol-lowing methods:
Ranger Jim Steiner (Class 4-79) has announced his bid for Con-gress in New Hampshire’s 2d Cong. Dist. Ranger Hall of Fame member Jim Marshall is currently serving his 3rd term in Congress representing Georgia’s 8th Cong. Dist. Ranger Marshall serves on the House Armed services Com-mittee. Ranger Dick Gordon is on the Gordon Co. (GA) Board of Commissioners. Ranger Paul M. Van Haute is the Asst. County Manager for Spalding County, GA.
U.S. ARMY RANGER ASSOCIATION OFFICERS NATIONAL OFFICERS PRESIDENT: LINC GERMAN (703) 830-2484 [email protected] V.P.: FRANK CASEY (706) 565-8199 [email protected]. LOGISTICS: CRAIG VANEK (253) 964-8436 [email protected]. PERSONNEL MARK PELPHREY (614) 985-0605 [email protected]: GREGG ORTH (704) 503-0595 [email protected]: BOB KVEDERAS (860) 537-1998 [email protected] DIRECTORS NORTH: WALT ECKHARDT (301) 370-3444 [email protected]: ART SILSBY (478) 628-2406 [email protected]: TIM SWAIN (309) 692-7301 [email protected]: LAF KEATON (503) 284-6525 INTERNATIONAL: BUTCH NERY (706) 663-7653 [email protected] WEBSITE: WWW.RANGER.ORG ADMINISTRATOR HAL MARSHALL (609)658-2763 [email protected] ALTERNATE PETE BOSTROM (212) 330-1700 RANGER REGISTER EDITOR: MIKE MCCLINTOCK (650) 341-7331 [email protected] DIRECTOR CRAIG VANEK (253) 964-8436 [email protected] STORE The Ranger Store is on-line at http://armyranger.usptgear.com. See also order form inside this issue.
