Navy Crosses for Two Fallen Marines
On January 18, 2014, two Marines, Staff Sergeant Sky R. Mote and Captain Matthew P. Manoukian, were posthumously awarded Navy Crosses (the nation’s second highest valor award, after the Medal of Honor) for their heroic actions while deployed to Afghanistan in 2012. Major General Mark A. Clark, commanding general of Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), presented the awards to the men’s families during a ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Mote and Manoukian were assigned to Marine Special Operations Team 8133, Marine Special Operations Company C, 1st Marines Special Operations Battalion, Marine Special Operations Regiment, U.S Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, when their unit came under attack by an Afghan uniformed police officer firing from inside the perimeter of their tactical operations center.
Mote, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, courageously exposed himself to a hail of gunfire, drawing attention away from his comrades and halting the shooter’s pursuit of them. In his final act of bravery, he boldly remained in the open and engaged the shooter, no less than five meters in front of him. Mote pressed his assault against the enemy before succumbing to his injuries. His heroic actions enabled his teammates to escape, and the shooter ultimately withdrew.
At the award ceremony, Major General Clark praised Mote, saying, “[He] reacted quickly and courageously to the attack.” Clark added, “His actions saved the lives of his fellow Marines.”
Manoukian, the team commander, was working in the operations center when the initial attack commenced with AK-47 fire ripping through the walls and partitions of the operations room. He immediately ordered his Marines to move to safety. With Mote now critically injured, Manoukian courageously drew the enemy fire to himself, disrupting the shooter’s pursuit of his comrades and saving their lives by allowing them to escape. Although outgunned, Manoukian continued engaging the enemy until falling mortally wounded as a result of the shooter’s overwhelming fire.
Mote and Manoukian are the third and fourth Marines in MARSOC’s seven-year history to be awarded the Navy Cross, and they are the 15th and 16th Marines to receive it for actions that were part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
– From a story by Lance Corporal Joshua Murray, I Marine Expeditionary Force.
Air Force Special Ops Airmen Receive Silver Stars
On January 10, 2014, during a ceremony at Pope Army Airfield, Fort Bragg, N.C., Lieutenant General Eric Fiel, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), presented Silver Star medals (the nation’s third-highest decoration for gallantry in combat) to Master Sergeant Delorean M. Sheridan and Staff Sergeant Christopher G. Baradat. The Airmen, assigned to 21st Special Tactics Squadron, received the awards in recognition of their heroic actions while deployed to Afghanistan in 2013.
Sheridan, in March 2013, during his sixth deployment to Afghanistan, was preparing for a mission with an Army Special Forces team when an Afghan National Police officer working with the team opened fire with a machine gun at 25 feet. The teammates to Sheridan’s immediate left and right were hit. When Sheridan realized what was happening, he turned to get his team leader out but saw that he had been shot in the head. At the same time, a group of about 20 insurgents fired on the team from a position outside of the base in a coordinated attack.
Sheridan said the insider attack was like “having someone sneak into your house in the middle of the night,” and that it provoked an instantaneous reaction. He ran toward the shooter, jumped into the turret of an armored vehicle and shot the enemy twice with his pistol and nine times with an M4 rifle.
Then, one by one, Sheridan dragged his team leader, team sergeant and the infantry squad noncommissioned officer in charge to an area where they could be extracted by medevac. He called in six medevac flights and assisted in transferring his injured teammates to litters while controlling the aircraft overhead, ultimately helping to save the lives of 23 critically wounded personnel.
Baradat, who in April 2013 was on his third deployment, was working as part of an Army Special Forces team when he was tasked to retrieve a group of pinned-down coalition forces. His job was to control the air assets supporting the team on the mission. When the Special Forces team came under fire, Baradat directed the 30 mm guns of the A-10 attack aircraft flying overhead onto the enemy and then took cover with his teammates. Realizing he could not effectively control the aircraft from his covered position, Baradat moved to the center of the compound, where he was sprayed with dirt thrown up by the heavy machine-gun fire.
Baradat stood in the thick of the firefight as his teammates urged him to take cover. However, he explained, “That was where I needed to be standing to communicate with the aircraft and to get the mission done.” Even as his team left the area with the coalition members, Baradat continued directing the A-10 and AC-130 aircraft by jumping on the running board of his vehicle, again exposing himself to enemy fire. As a result of his actions, 150 coalition members were saved and more than 50 insurgents were killed.
At the award ceremony, Lieutenant General Fiel said of Sheridan and Baradat: “Your strength and tenacity epitomizes what being a warrior and a Special Tactics Airman is all about.”
– From a story by Rachel Caldwell, 24th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs.
Worthy Cause
Boulder Crest Retreat’s mission is to provide a free, first-class retreat where America’s seriously wounded warriors and their families can reconnect, recreate, recover and reintegrate. The facility sits on 37 acres in Bluemont, Va., and is located about an hour’s drive from Washington, D.C., where many wounded veterans receive their medical treatment. In the retreat’s natural, rural environment, wounded veterans and their families engage in healing activities that are recognized as effective models for improving physical, emotional, financial and spiritual strength and resilience.
To learn more about the retreat, or to make a tax-deductible donation to support this worthy cause, visit bouldercrestretreat.org.
“Oh, Say Can You See?” Yes, You Can!
In honor of the 200th anniversary year of Francis Scott Key’s composition of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the original, handwritten manuscript of the poem will be on display from June 14 to July 7, 2014, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Featured alongside the manuscript will be the historic flag whose “broad stripes and bright stars” were the inspiration behind the now-famous words.
During the War of 1812, Key, who had been detained by the British, had a ringside seat the night of September 13-14, 1814, aboard a ship in the British fleet during its bombardment of Fort McHenry, which guarded the water approach to Baltimore Harbor. (See ACG Battle Studies, January 2014.) The next morning, Key was thrilled to see “by the dawn’s early light” that “our flag was still there,” flying above the fort, and he was inspired to compose the poem that became the lyrics to the national anthem of the United States.
According to the Smithsonian, this will be the first time Key’s manuscript (on temporary loan from the Maryland Historical Society in Baltimore) and the 30-by-42-foot Fort McHenry flag have been united in the same exhibit. Appropriately, the exhibit opens on Flag Day, June 14, and the Smithsonian plans a number of activities commemorating the flag and the anthem in a program titled “Raise It Up! Anthem for America.”
For more information about the Smithsonian’s historic exhibit and commemoration activities, visit americanhistory. si.edu/anthemforamerica.
“Shock and Awe” in 1814
On July 5, 1814, U.S. regular Soldiers of the Army of the Niagara used the “shock” of devastating volley fire followed by the “awe” of a fierce bayonet charge to defeat British army regulars and win the War of 1812 Battle of Chippawa (often spelled “Chippewa”) in Canada. The skill and discipline exercised by the U.S. Soldiers represented a turning point in U.S. Army history, as the men demonstrated that the American republic could field a professional army capable of tactically defeating British regulars on a conventional battlefield.
The U.S. regulars’ success at Chippawa was due to the inspired leadership of Brigadier General Winfield Scott, Army of the Niagara commander. Under enemy artillery and musket fire, Scott maneuvered the disciplined American regiments into line opposite the British. The command to fire produced a musket volley that caused great devastation and the collapse of the British line. Then, at just the right moment, Scott ordered 25th U.S. Infantry Regiment, positioned opposite the British left flank, to charge with bayonets, sealing the victory.
American Soldiers at the Battle of Chippawa generally carried the Third Pattern of M1795 Springfield musket, a U.S. arsenal-manufactured version of the .69-caliber French Charleville smoothbore. Engaging the enemy with musket fire at an effective range of 50-75 yards afforded only a slow rate of fire of two to three shots per minute. However, when several hundred muskets within the line formation fired simultaneously, they delivered a powerful volley with a murderous impact. The subsequent charge with bayonets, accompanied by the terrifying cry in unison from hundreds of men running full speed across the terrain, understandably struck fear into the opponents’ hearts. Scott’s disciplined troops reached the enemy line before it could recover from the initial volley, and the combination of the musket fire and well-timed bayonet charge resulted in an 1814 version of “shock and awe” that routed the British formation.
This steel socket bayonet, manufactured at the second national arsenal at Harper’s Ferry around 1808, was designed for quick mounting on the end of a musket barrel. The 3-inch long, 1-inch diameter socket body fit over the barrel, while the notch and bridge at its base fit over a stud on the barrel and was locked into place by turning the bayonet. The bayonet’s overall length is 17.25 inches, with a blade measuring 14.25 inches long and 1 inch wide at the base. The triangular fluted blade, with a 6-inch-long blood groove on the blade’s face, allowed for easier insertion and extraction. The blood groove and the bridge at the socket base were the two primary design modifications made to post-Revolutionary War bayonets.
This bayonet is part of the U.S. Army Core Collection, which documents the material culture of the U.S. Army Soldier.
– Submitted by Colonel (Ret.) Robert Dalessandro and Dieter Stenger, Curator, U.S. Army Center of Military History. For information about the National Museum of the U.S. Army, slated to open in 2019, visit armyhistory.org.
National Coast Guard Museum Headed for New London
Since the United States Coast Guard was founded as the Revenue Marine in 1790, it has served as a branch of the U.S. military, yet the Coast Guard’s history and the role the organization has played in defending the nation’s shores have long been underappreciated. However, that is about to change.
Since April 2013, the National Coast Guard Museum Association has been working with the Coast Guard, the state of Connecticut and the city of New London to bring a modern museum to the city’s waterfront district. In February 2014, the association announced that Arnold Palmer, Charlie Gibson, J.D. Power III and John Amos have joined it as honorary chairs.
“I deeply appreciate the National Coast Guard Museum Association’s continued efforts and leadership to establish a National Coast Guard Museum in New London,” said Admiral Bob Papp, commandant of the Coast Guard. “The fact that the association is bringing onboard distinguished luminaries who have served in the Coast Guard or have a special connection to the Coast Guard is a testament to the association’s commitment to make the museum a world-class venue.”
Plans for the museum include a 54,300-square-foot building with four floors of interactive exhibits, event space and lecture rooms, as well as a reception area with a gift shop and café. As an additional attraction, there are plans for “America’s Tall Ship” the USCGC Eagle to be docked at an adjacent pier. A pedestrian overpass will connect the museum with the local ferry terminal and train station, helping to usher visitors to this first national museum dedicated to the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.
To learn more about the museum and the USCGC Eagle, visit coastguardmuseum.org.
– Submitted by Peter Suciu.
ACG Website has a New Look!
Recent visitors to popular website, armchairgeneral.com, likely have noticed that it ACG’s is sporting a new look. Thanks to Brian King, Weider History Group Director of Internet Operations, and Gerald Swick, Senior Online Editor, our website has been redesigned for the first time since 2008.
King noted that the redesign “adds video to help keep the front page fresh and interesting” and that the format and design changes “make it much easier for visitors to see a ‘top level’ view of our articles.”
Swick added, “I’m really excited about this new design. Apart from being more visually appealing, it lets visitors find what they want faster and easier. The new marquee allows for larger images, the most recent articles all appear in the middle of the page, and all of our articles are grouped into nine categories, from PC, board game and book reviews, to ‘War College’ history articles and ‘History in the News’ to our ‘Tactics 101’ series and Carlo D’Este’s monthly articles. I think site visitors are really going to like the new format.
We invite all of our readers to visit armchairgeneral.com and check out its updated look!
Originally published in the July 2014 issue of Armchair General.
