Coolest veteran you met?

There a veteren I've never met but I would have loved to.
He was the first Australian Aboriginal to be commisioned as an officer.

He fought in the Middle East, then Greece, he was cut of and spent the good part of a month behind enemy lines in Crete until he was reunited (with Brit Commandos I believe). The ship he was on in the Mediteranian was then sunk. He fought at Tobruk, and was then part of the force brought back to New Guinea. He fought on the Kokoda Trail, and throughout the South Pacific campaign. He stayed on in the Army after WW2, and fought in the Korean War. He was the OC of Charlie Company 3rd Battalion at the battle of Kapyong.

He has one hell of a war record and deserves a whole lot of recognition. I would have loved to get the chance to talk to him.
 
Lets throw another name in here, Our platoon office a Lt Bob Hennessey who was a character and a half, like me Bob had been called up for his National Service, but with his education was given a short Term Commission. When he left the the Forces his missed no end but could not get back into his old Regiment, so he joined the Australian Army and went to Vietnam became the most decorated chap in the Australian Army since the end of WW2. He rose to the Rank of Colonel and ran their Staff College for years. Regrettably he died a few years back, great guy and sadly missed.
 
i met Staff Sar Reign Blackburn of the US Army Rangers (ret) at a church function earlier this year. he was a drug user as an early teen but then was saved by the girl he loved at his church youth group events. this girl was also the reverend's daughter. they later got married and had a child.

he entered the military as a chaplain. while he was stationed in germany, he was away on a field op and he got word that his wife and child died in a car accident. after learning this, he snapped. he was mad at himself, at his life, and especially God. he quit being a chaplain and became a full blown ranger airborne where he saw action in bosnia, in iraq during the gulf war, and was one of the rangers at Somalia during the infamous Black Hawk Down story.

during this time, he was an animal. he had no cares, no worries, and no concience. during one of the battles he was in, he heard a PFC praying to God not to let him die. he yelled out, "God cant save you. only your rifle can save you. point your weapon and fire." he was one of those people who wished he would just die but for some reason he wouldnt. he was hit 3 times by gunfire, took shrapnel shards to the legs and arms, and was even hit by an AA round as he was parachuting. he has a dent in his chest that you can fit your fist in from the AA round. his heart has moved over in his chest and his rib cage was shattered. yet he lived. he begged to God to just let him die, but for some reason, he didnt. he left this military after awhile and since then has been on meds for his flashbacks and sleepwalking and all that stuff.

one day as he was walking around the beach, he heard a minister preaching on the boardwalk and he mentioned something that his wife told him before he accepted God into his life. (he didnt tell me what it was). right then he broke down into tears and went up to the preacher. since then he has worked with troubled youth in the area to help set them straight. he has recently moved to hawaii where they are expanding their program.

he finally realized why God didnt let him die. his mission wasnt accomplished yet.

i will forever remember this man.
 
I’ve met many veterans in my lifetime. My grandfather was in Korea but never spoke of it. Also, two of my Army JROTC instructors were in Vietnam... Some other people stand out in my mind.
But right now, the "coolest" veteran that I know would have to be Mr. Feldman at my school. He served in Vietnam with the Airforce, he received the Bronze Star with the V. the helicopter that he was riding with was shot down, and the gunner broke his leg and was unable to use the machine gun. Mr. Feldman went to the M.G. and held off the V.C for about an hour until his crew was rescued.
There’s a lot more to the story, I'm just unsure on how to tell it, because it is his story.
 
I met one of the crewmen from the EP-3 that went down in China a few years back. Scott was one of my ASF'ers while I was on active duty recall. We heard the unclassified version of what went on.

In my career I"ve served with some guys that I'd class as #1 Americans. Many of them did what none of us had to do. Most of those guys were Marines or Navy Corpsmen. I have one HMCM friend that was part of the FMF(if that was the right term back then) in Vietnam. He had one Navy Cross and three Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with V device and one Silver Star with a V, a few Navy Commendation Medals with at least one V and a few Navy Achievement Medals with at least one V. Basically he got his ass shot up a few times and was recognized for it. His brother was also an HMCM, but he had very few decorations. Only one brother was sent into harms way. During Desert Storm the one with the rack of medals also went to Kuwait/Saudi Arabia and added to his collection.

I'm just your regular run of the mill sailor. I think I posted my stuff somewhere on the board a while back. Nothing spectacular.

I did meet the CNO and SECNAV on several occasions in 2002. Pretty much regular people to us underlings. SECNAV is probably the smartest man I have ever met, he really had a grip on everything in his house. He is now the Assistant or Deputy Secretary of Defense. (Gordon England, just in case anyone didn't know)

I did have the opportunity to meet a few of the survivors from Pearl Habor. I had met them origianlly in 1991 when I was recalled for Desert Storm, they repeated the stories, but I wasn't about to tell them I'd heard them before. Their recollection was just as good in 2004 as they were in 1991. Those guys were some of our real hero's.
 
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Looking for Reign Blackburn

I was able to find this post through a search engine...

I am looking for Reign Scott Blackburn, he knows me as 'mello'. He and I met in Hawaii and fell in love. Our relationship was brief but long enough to decide we wanted to add to our family (I had a 2 year old daughter at the time) and we created another. He left where we lived in Kailua-Kona, then I left the island (5 mos pregnant) and eventually returned to NH to raise my kids.

Reign has a daughter, a little girl who he has never met. Her name is Vanessa and she will be 2 years old in March. Reign is a beautiful man inside and out and I wish I had been strong enough to be there for him to take his PTSD meds (he went off them about 2 months in, and didn't tell me right away). Maybe I could have saved him from the casual drugs and alcohol. We were on the same spiritual level in the beginning, I swear it felt like it was my fate to make a baby with him. But quickly, his meds/drugs ruled his every action and took the utmost priority. I had to first protect my daughter and stabilize her life and mine, plus prepare for the coming baby.

My oldest daughter's dad helped me get through Vanessa's pregnancy, but the reality is that I have been single since I lost Reign. A lot is because I still hurt so badly that I lost a great love and friend - and I have taken away from him another child. I do wish things had turned out differently. The girls and I are doing well, we live a stable life in a happy home, just the three of us (and some pets).

If anyone knows where Reign may be, please email me through the forum or you can find me and share on myspace.com/threesweetchicks Thank you. My real name is Mandy.

I know it is tough for you, too. You have all been through a lot and you go through a lot every day. I wish you all the very best and a happy holiday. Love. :santa:


i met Staff Sar Reign Blackburn of the US Army Rangers (ret) at a church function earlier this year. he was a drug user as an early teen but then was saved by the girl he loved at his church youth group events. this girl was also the reverend's daughter. they later got married and had a child.

he entered the military as a chaplain. while he was stationed in germany, he was away on a field op and he got word that his wife and child died in a car accident. after learning this, he snapped. he was mad at himself, at his life, and especially God. he quit being a chaplain and became a full blown ranger airborne where he saw action in bosnia, in iraq during the gulf war, and was one of the rangers at Somalia during the infamous Black Hawk Down story.

during this time, he was an animal. he had no cares, no worries, and no concience. during one of the battles he was in, he heard a PFC praying to God not to let him die. he yelled out, "God cant save you. only your rifle can save you. point your weapon and fire." he was one of those people who wished he would just die but for some reason he wouldnt. he was hit 3 times by gunfire, took shrapnel shards to the legs and arms, and was even hit by an AA round as he was parachuting. he has a dent in his chest that you can fit your fist in from the AA round. his heart has moved over in his chest and his rib cage was shattered. yet he lived. he begged to God to just let him die, but for some reason, he didnt. he left this military after awhile and since then has been on meds for his flashbacks and sleepwalking and all that stuff.

one day as he was walking around the beach, he heard a minister preaching on the boardwalk and he mentioned something that his wife told him before he accepted God into his life. (he didnt tell me what it was). right then he broke down into tears and went up to the preacher. since then he has worked with troubled youth in the area to help set them straight. he has recently moved to hawaii where they are expanding their program.

he finally realized why God didnt let him die. his mission wasnt accomplished yet.

i will forever remember this man.
 
Poppa Ken .............

The coolest veteran I ever met, was an Army Sgt (E-5) {he was advanced and busted more times than I've got fingers}, that was stationed in Korea in the same unit as I was. I believe he was the first Medal of Honor recipient I ever met. He used to spend hours doing advanced math problems that covered sheet after sheet of lined paper (both sides of the sheets) - he was into nuclear physics at a time when it was still in it's infancy. When he wore his Class A's, he had row after row after row of ribbons and more hash marks on his sleeve than I could count.

On those days that he had a few drinks under his belt, you could sometimes get him to talk about his prior service experiences (he was usually blitzed by then). It seems he was one of those soldiers that survived "The Death March" ... he talked about seeing the Japs bayoneting and shooting those soldiers that were unable to stay with the column (his hatred was as strong then, as it was over 20 years earlier). What was surprising, was how gentle and soft spoken he was when he was sober. He stood barely five feet tall, was as skinny as a rail ... he loved kids, but was unable to stay married long enough to have any of his own (he blamed his war experiences and an inability to stay sober, which resulted in marriage problems). He managed to stay on the wagon a month at a time, and then he would go on a toot where he was half drunk for a week or so and then he would sober up, only to go through the same thing all over again. That accounted for why he was only an E-5 (even though he had reached the rank of E-9, but ended up being busted on several occasions). At the time I knew him, he had managed to stay E-5 for four years. By then, he was nearing the end of his service, and the Army generally over-looked his alcohol problems.

Even with his ghosts, he was still able to single handedly sponsor a Korean orphanage that took care of 24 children. He spoke Korean like a native ... and would sit for hours in conversation with the orphanage caretakers and children. All of the orphanage kids called him Poppa (as did most of us 'youngsters').

Ultimately, he retired to Korea with over 45 years of service and he is still there as far as I know {I lost track of him in the late 90s (he was in his early 80s). His retirement wage would have set him up in comfort in Korea {75% pay at an E-9 pay-grade ... with no taxes}. He would have also received full medical coverage at any military base. (Medal of Honor recipient benefits).

I have forgotten his real name ... I knew him as Poppa Ken (or Pops).
 
My grandfather would only ever talk of the funny side of WW1, never the horrors. He and his buddies would talk and laugh for hours while I as a small boy sat on the floor listening to them.

My grandfather always swore he should have won the Victoria Cross. During one major battle ammunition was running low, a number of men were sent back to the rear to collect ammunition, every single one was killed attempting to bring it up to the line. My grandfather volunteered, went to the rear, gathered a number of mules then loaded them with ammunition, somehow he managed to get through to the front line. He had his name taken by an officer, stating he is going to recommend my grandfather for a medal. A day later the officer was killed, so my grandfather never got his medal. He was very peeved about that lol.

Then my uncle Charlie who served in the LRDG, again he would only ever tell the funnier side and very very rarely about his time actually fighting, he was very modest about his part.

My uncle Roy served with the Royal Horse Artillery with the BEF, was one of the lucky ones evacuated at Dunkirk, he would never speak of his experiences. After arriving in UK he spent months in hospital suffering from what would be called PTSD today. During the making of the film Battle of Britain, German aircraft flew over where he lived and worked, it brought back a lot of horrific memories for him.
 
One ANZAC day (A national remembrance day for all veterans here in Australia) A Corporal friend of mine was the last one out of a group of mates at a pub, this old soldier covered in medals came and sat down near him and they began talking. The guy had been to Korea and Vietnam, he also had a strange accent for an Australian soldier that my mate noticed. Towards the end of the night my mate asked him which medal means the most to him, the guy put his hand down his shirt a little and pulled out a red and black ribbon with an iron cross on it!

Missed this one back in 2006. Great story. What a hoot.
 
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