deziloooooo
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:22:04 GMT -5
Posts: 10,723
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Post by deziloooooo on May 29, 2011 12:26:29 GMT -5
I came across this article today, and while we rememeber our fallen on todays day of remeberance, in our mind they are hero's who wore the different uniforms of their respective military branches, there are also other hero's that for most of us, we naturally don't give much thought to. Because of how they served in life , silently, but in death, I feel to remember them and give thanks for their service and sacrifice wouldn't be out of line by bringing them in from the cold in our thoughts and rememberances and this article seems to do a bit of that. --------------------------------------------- news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110529/ap_on_re_us/us_memorial_day_cia_casualties--------------------------------------------- [Click on link to read article] --------------------------------------------- Thursday May 26, 2011. Shah … .By MATT APUZZO and ADAM GOLDMAN, Associated Press Matt Apuzzo And Adam Goldman, Associated Press – Sun May 29, 7:40 am ET WASHINGTON – "For a small cadre of CIA veterans, the death of Osama bin Laden was more than just a national moment of relief and closure. It was also a measure of payback, a settling of a score for a pair of deaths, the details of which have remained a secret for 13 years. Tom Shah and Molly Huckaby Hardy were among the 44 U.S. Embassy employees killed when a truck bomb exploded outside the embassy compound in Kenya in 1998. Though it has never been publicly acknowledged, the two were working undercover for the CIA. In al-Qaida's war on the United States, they are believed to be the first CIA casualties. Their names probably will not be among those read at Memorial Day memorials around the country this weekend. Like many CIA officers, their service remained a secret in both life and death, marked only by anonymous stars on the wall at CIA headquarters and blank entries in its book of honor. Their CIA ties were described to The Associated Press by a half-dozen current and former U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because Shah's and Hardy's jobs are still secret, even now" |
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Post by BeenThere...DoneThat... on May 29, 2011 12:58:42 GMT -5
...while I appreciate the sentiment, dez, I'm surprised you don't feel uncomfortable about sharing what is considered confidential to this day... that the Associated Press ran the story is not surprising to me...  |
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deziloooooo
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:22:04 GMT -5
Posts: 10,723
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Post by deziloooooo on May 29, 2011 13:31:34 GMT -5
...while I appreciate the sentiment, dez, I'm surprised you don't feel uncomfortable about sharing what is considered confidential to this day... that the Associated Press ran the story is not surprising to me... You have to be kidding, it is a AP piece, a story on my providers, #2 in listing list of current stories of interest, that most providers have for their subscribers interests on current events. I am as comfortable in posting this story as any story and article of interest, and because of the normal secracy surrounding these folks, I knew no one here would even be aware of their sacrifice , give any thought to such as they, and the importance of their work so I made SURE to post it so those who care would be aware. While I appreciate your concern, I think in this one, a bit over done , but the thought is what counts so, understand the thought of, I wouldn't worry about any great secret being let out though. |
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deziloooooo
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 16:22:04 GMT -5
Posts: 10,723
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Post by deziloooooo on May 30, 2011 19:21:46 GMT -5
My father, a veteran of the RAF thought the greatest unsung heroes were the female pilots in World War II who flew the planes to the airfields. Several died, but they were denied military pensions under the basis that they were not military vets. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transport_AuxiliaryYour Da is correct , they were something, and I am privileged to know one of those gals, she lives in my complex , a bit under the weather now , but is a member of the VFW post we hang out at, and she can tell some stories of experience. She first was ferrying with in the states but went back and got checked out on multiengines and started to ferry cross Atlantic, and that was hairy, a few check flights with regular Air Force types and then basically handed the keys, usually through New Found land then to the northern air fields in the UK. Once she said they chanced upon one of those German long range planes, the Condor, they were unarmed, Condors were not and she said they shag ass ed away as fast as they could go just in case. I recently a, a few months ago caught a c span ceremony in Washington, that was held honoring those gals ansd all were getting a special medal cast for them and a whole bunch of them were there to be presented it. I beleive the Senators and Congessionals whom sponsored that , bi partison by the way, were all the woman of the Congress as well as some men , but they gave the speeches and it was quite something to watch, glad I caught it. ==================================== ww2db.com/other.php?other_id=25----------------------------------------------------- "In 1975, Colonel Bruce Arnold, son of General "Hap" Arnold, began lobbying for WASP pilots to be recognized as veterans. They were eventually successful. In 1977, with support of Senator and former ferry pilot Barry Goldwater, President Jimmy Carter signed the G. I. Bill Improvement Act which granted WASP pilots full military status" ----------------------------------------------------------- "WASP training was centralized at Sweetwater, Texas, United States, and trained pilots were deployed to 120 various air bases within the United States. By the end of the WASP program in Dec 1944, over 1,000 pilots were trained (including the predecessor programs WAFS and WFTD), who flew more than 60,000,000 miles of operational flights, which included the ferrying of aircraft from aircraft factories to ports and air bases, towing targets for live anti-aircraft artillery practice, simulated strafing missions, and transporting cargo. Speaking specifically of the ferrying missions, pilots of WASP delivered 12,650 aircraft during the war, which made up of over 50% of combat aircraft built in the United States during that time period." ------------------------------------------------ "Bain, who lives in North Austin, is one of 300 living WASP members soon to be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal. The bill to recognize the women was introduced by U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and the Senate passed it in May. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Florida, brought it up in the House, which approved the honor Tuesday. It now awaits the president's signature. If the measure is approved, the U.S. Mint will design and create individual gold medals to honor the accomplishments of the WASP. The medals will be given to all the pilots and to the families of those who have died." It was approved |
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