“It must not be killed or shot at except in an emergency arising out of self-defense.”
That was one of the U.S. State Department’s cardinal rules for American fortune seekers, proto-cryptozoologists, and/or adventurers who were making the trek into the Himalayas and hoped to encounter the Abominable Snowman—also known as the Yeti.
The Yeti, like its legendary North American relative Bigfoot, is a mythical ape-like creature that many have claimed is real. Some said they saw the creature, while others say they’ve found evidence (in the form of footprints and folk tales) of what they believe to be the beast.
Also just like the Bigfoot myth, there is no conclusive evidence that the Yeti exists or has ever existed. Despite this fact, the Department of State, specifically the U.S. Embassy in Nepal, determined it needed key rules for any Americans who should encounter one of them.
The U.S. National Archives, upon releasing this document, was careful to stress that the existence of the memo did not mean the United States government recognized the existence of the Yeti. It was just a means for the U.S. to demonstrate its support for Nepal’s national sovereignty.
The whole enterprise was a Cold War-era policy designed to keep Nepal, strategically situated between China and India, in the American sphere of influence and out of the Soviet Union’s.
#ColdWar #MilitaryHistory #Yeti #History #marines
Is someone yelling random words at you? Or are they trying to tell you something? It’s the Phonetic Alphabet, today on Explaining Army Stuff to Normies #thomtran #standup #usarmy #military #comedian
Everyone remembers Gordon and Shughart’s last stand in “Black Hawk Down.” Fewer people know the movie overlooked the third Delta sniper aboard their Black Hawk helicopter, Super Six-Two: Sgt. 1st Class Brad Halling.
Before Gordon and Shughart fast-roped down to protect the Super Six-Four crash site, one of Super Six-Two’s crew chiefs was shot through the hands. Halling provided aid, took over the minigun, and helped maintain the Black Hawk’s aerial fire support over Mogadishu.
When Gordon and Shughart went to the ground, Halling stayed aboard Super Six-Two to man the gun. It wasn’t long before the Black Hawk was also struck by an RPG, one that severed Halling’s left leg.
Using another soldier’s belt and a screwdriver, Halling improvised a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.
Despite losing his leg and his sniper teammates, Halling fought to stay on active duty. He later regained his airborne status, retired as a sergeant major, and helped set a precedent allowing amputees to continue serving.
Full article found at We Are The Mighty titled “The third Delta Force sniper you didn’t see in ‘Black Hawk Down.’” By Miguel Ortiz.
#BlackHawkDown #Mogadishu #DeltaForce #MilitaryHistory
Flip them down slowly, and your worldview changes instantly.
For more than 80 years, the US military has handed troops some version of the same promise: we own the night.
What gets left out is the part where depth perception becomes a personal problem, AA batteries become life support, and every branch, divot, and strand of wire suddenly has a vote.
From the Starlight Scope in Vietnam to PVS-14s, white phosphor, thermal, and whatever comes next, the history of night vision is also the history of soldiers learning to move through a strange green world without eating the ground.
Full article found at We Are The Mighty titled “A nod to NODs and the history of US military night vision” by Adam Gramegna.
#NightVision #MilitaryHistory #Veterans #MilitaryCommunity
The retirement ceremony is the easy part.
The flag is folded, the speeches are kind, the family takes pictures, and then Monday morning comes. For the first time in your adult life, nobody is waiting for you at 0600.
That’s when the real transition begins.
After 25 years in the Air Force, Michael Komorous writes about which leadership lessons survive the trip across the fence and which ones get you in trouble fast. The chain of command does not work the same way. Speed without trust is reckless. The mission keeps moving. And the best veteran leaders he has met since retiring are the quiet ones who listen first, name the problem precisely, and then go to work.
Full article found at We Are The Mighty titled “‘The Long Road Home:’ leadership lessons from the cockpit to Congress” by Michael Komorous.
#VeteranTransition #MilitaryLeadership #Veterans #MilitaryCommunity
Remember The First Gulf War? Persian Gulf War? Desert Storm and/or Desert Shield? They’re all the same war. Whatever we call it now, it was the war that expelled Iraqi troops from Kuwait, checked a decade of Saddam Hussein’s aggression toward his neighbors, and broke the looming spectre of Vietnam that hung over the U.S. military.
Because they might as well learn about the first conflict in the Persian Gulf, here are 21 facts about your daddy’s Iraq War.
1. The Iran-Iraq War led to the invasion of Kuwait.
Iraq owed $80 million in foreign debt from its 1980-1988 war with Iran. Saddam Hussein demanded that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait forgive $30 billion of that debt, because in his mind, Iraqis were protecting Kuwait from Shia Iranian forces for eight years. When that didn’t work, he then accused Kuwait of stealing Iraqi oil through slant drilling.
2. In 1991, Iraq had the fifth-largest army in the world.
It’s true, Iraq’s armed forces boasted more than a million men in uniform in 1991, but only a third of those were skilled professional fighting forces. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait with 120,000 of these and 2,000 tanks.
3. Saddam thought the U.S. gave him the go-ahead to invade Kuwait.
President Bush’s Ambassador to Iraq was April Glaspie, who, in a meeting with the Iraqi dictator, stressed to him that the U.S. did not want a trade war with Iraq.
4. Hussein thought Arab states would be okay with Iraq annexing Kuwait.
Wrong. The invasion happened during the first Palestinian Intifada, which enjoyed broad Arab support.
The Arab League was not okay with this.
5. Iraq rolled over Kuwait in two days.
Unlike the Iran-Iraq War (which went on for eight years), Iraq’s Elite Republican Guard (with names which sound like they were made up by an American teenager, like the 1st Hammurabi Armored Division or the 4th Nebuchadnezzar Motorized Infantry Division) swiftly defeated Kuwaiti forces, reaching Kuwait City in an hour.
Full list found at We Are The Mighty.
#GulfWar #DesertStorm #MilitaryHistory #Veterans
These Red Bulls don’t have wings. The 34th Infantry Division. Today on Explaining Army Stuff to Normies. #thomtran #standup #usarmy #military #comedian
Calvin Graham was 12 years old when he talked his way into the U.S. Navy during World War II.
He wore his older brother’s clothes, put on a fedora, deepened his voice, and somehow got past the enlistment process despite still having baby teeth. The Navy sent him to the USS South Dakota, where he became a gunner during the Guadalcanal Campaign.
During the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Graham was wounded by shrapnel, lost his front teeth, fell through three stories of superstructure, and still helped wounded sailors through the night.
Then his mother saw him in newsreel footage. The Navy discovered his real age, took his medals, removed his disability benefits, and discharged him.
It took decades for Calvin Graham’s service to be recognized again.
Full article found at We Are The Mighty titled “Meet the 12-year-old sailor who fought at Guadalcanal” by Stephen Ruiz.
#WorldWarII #NavyHistory #USNavy #MilitaryHistory
Lacking much formal education because of difficult family circumstances, Percy Spencer was determined to learn on his own.
The emerging wireless technology industry of the early 20th century intrigued Spencer, who enlisted in the United States Navy in 1912 intent on becoming a radio operator. The sailor served less than two years in the military, but in that relatively short span, he acquired as much knowledge as possible while in uniform.
“I just got hold of a lot of textbooks and taught myself while I was standing watch at night,” Spencer said.
A chronic ear condition ended Spencer’s time in the Navy. It did nothing to blunt his rampant curiosity, however. Holder of more than a hundred patents, Spencer became a prolific inventor. One of Spencer’s inventions looms above all the rest, primarily because of its impact on everyday Americans’ lives.
One day, Spencer stood near a magnetron with a candy bar coincidentally on him. The chocolate treat melted, which piqued the inquisitive Spencer’s interest. He requested someone bring home some unpopped popcorn. When he placed the kernels in front of the magnetron, they popped.
For his next impromptu experiment, Spencer notched a hole into a kettle, fetched an egg, and put it inside. The microwaves from the magnetron caused the egg to violently break its shell; not only that, but they projected pieces of yolk onto the face of one of Spencer’s co-workers who positioned himself in front of the hole.
What’s a little egg on the face, though, in the name of progress?
#NavyVeteran #MilitaryHistory #Microwave #Veterans
Every separating veteran’s situation is unique, so it’s hard for the military to supply a list of your personal benefits when you get out. What’s so great about the HonorEarned tool: it gathers everything you could be eligible for and takes about 20 seconds. It includes links to apply for those benefits and even has the option to download a printable PDF.
Veterans begin by answering eight questions, including the state in which they reside, their branch, service status, disability rating, marital status, employment, and era. That’s it. There’s no name needed. No email capture. Nothing the site could sell to a third party. Answer those questions and the HonorEarned tool compiles your potential benefits.
From there, veterans can apply for those benefits, or download the list. Anyone who accidentally closes the window and loses their list can just enter their answers to the eight questions again and the list repopulates. It’s free and covers every state’s benefits along with the District of Columbia.
“This idea came to me due to many of my veteran friends expressing their frustration in all things benefits and VA related and I believe those who served deserve a clear and easy solution to finding the benefits they earned,” Connor Benn, the founder and creator of HonorEarned, said in a statement.
“My own research suggests that millions in veteran benefits go unclaimed every year, not just because veterans don’t want them, but because no one has made the system simple enough to use. HonorEarned is trying to fix that, while simultaneously keeping the service free forever.”
So active duty, reservists, Guard members, and veterans who just want to make sure they’re signed up for everything or have no idea where to start, can start here.
Link in the comments.
#VeteransBenefits #VAClaims #MilitaryLife #Veterans
The 29th Infantry Division … Combat for the Pepsi Generation. Today on Explaining Army Stuff to Normies. #thomtran #standup #usarmy #military #comedian
In 1976, Capt. Arthur Bonifas and 1st Lt. Mark Barrett reported to the Korean DMZ for what should have been a tree-trimming detail.
The target was a 100-foot-tall poplar tree blocking the view between a UN observation post and UN Command Post No. 3. The work party was unarmed because regulations limited the number of armed people allowed in the area at one time.
Then 15 North Korean soldiers appeared. According to the story, they watched the crew work for roughly 15 minutes before demanding they stop. When Bonifas ordered the work to continue, the situation turned deadly.
North Korean soldiers picked up the axes dropped by the work party and beat Bonifas to death on the spot. Barrett was later found badly hacked with the axes and died on the way to a hospital in Seoul.
Three days later, the U.S. launched Operation Paul Bunyan. This time, the tree came down with helicopters overhead, bombers nearby, South Korean Special Forces on the ground, and enough firepower in place to start another Korean War.
Full article found at We Are The Mighty titled “Gruesome ax murders in the Korean DMZ almost started another Korean War.” Blake Stilwell
#KoreanDMZ #MilitaryHistory #KoreanWar #NorthKorea
