Why do Americans choose from just two people to
run for president and 50 for Miss America ?
The first German attack, mounted by the 111th Panzer Brigade, fell on the
4th Armored Division's Reserve Command and the XII Corps' reconnaissance group
at Lunville on 18 September 1944. In sharp fighting, the under strength
U.S. forces, augmented by reinforcements from both the U.S. 4th and 6th Armored
Divisions, managed to beat back the attack. The Fifth Panzer Army had simply
bypassed Lunville and was moving north to strike at CCA's exposed position in
and around Arracourt. The battle that resulted was one of the largest armored
engagements ever fought on the Western Front.
The Association for all Military Officers
Companion Bulletin- January 2012
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Now that the holiday activities and celebrations are fond memories,
we focus on our resolutions being made for 2012. Whatever your resolutions are, good
luck and best wishes toward their fulfillment.
We begin our program year with an informative overview of how well select
Texas school districts are meeting the challenges of educating middle and
high school students. Since, in my opinion, education is the foundation
for the development of critical thinking and patriotism, our January
speaker Dr. Nancy Oelklaus was asked to share some of her observations
that have been documented in her book, EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION. Dr.
Oelklaus serves on the H-E-B's district judging team for their
Excellence in Education awards program. So make plans to attend our 12
January 2012 dinner meeting.
Contributions are always appreciated and needed to continue our
sponsorship of students for the 2012 Youth Leadership Conference and to
support the annual awards for our local junior and senior ROTC programs.
Also, suggestions for future programs are always welcomed. Some of you
have already provided a couple of suggestions that are being pursued.
However, if there are other ideas, just let me know.
It is not too early to identify the role you will assume to keep our
chapter viable and integral in supporting our Preamble. We need members
and ideas!
HAVE A HAPPY, HEALTHY AND
PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!
---COL Leon Holland, USA (Ret.)
VA's Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA) ensures families of the
fallen have
full access to the services and benefits to which they're entitled. It was
established by Public Law 110-389, Title II, Section 222, in OCT 08 to serve as
a resource regarding all benefits and services furnished by the Department to
survivors and dependents of deceased Veterans and members of the Armed Forces.
Source:
http://www.va.gov/survivors
Next Meeting. January 12
at the Holiday Inn for: $ 20. Please join us.
Federal law requires that credit card issuers allow their
customers to request a transaction be reversed for fraud and billing errors,
among other things. While most charge backs are related to stolen credit cards
and identity theft, disputing a merchant's transaction is your most potent
weapon and the merchant's worst nightmare.
Speaker: Dr. Nancy
Oelklaus is an executive coach, author, and catalyst for positive change. She
builds on more than 25 years of experience in leadership development, systems
thinking, and change management to help organizations, teams, and individuals
transform and focus emotional energy to attain the best in business and in life.
more
How is it one careless match can start a forest
fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire
MOWW Scripture and Commentary
January 2012 by Chaplain Ernie Dean
Give thanks to the Lord because God is good. God's love is eternal. (Psalm 107:1)
Psalm 107 is another masterpiece of faithfulness as is often expressed so
powerfully throughout the Psalms. One should read all of Psalm 107's forty-three
verses and ponder them. To rush would be to miss the grandeur of these
awe-inspiring words. The Psalmist tells us numerous times that
in their trouble they called to the Lord, and he saved them from their distress. (v.19)
he rescued the needy from their misery and made their families increase like flocks. (v.41)
The Psalmist knows and believes God is ever-present in grace and constant
love. We do not have an "absent God." We worship a God who wants the
best life has to offer for each of us, but in the sense of spiritual things, not
material ones.
May those who are wise think about these things; may they acknowledge the Lord's constant love. (v. 43)
Life is best when we want what God wants, a "peaceable kingdom."
(See Isaiah 11) We can work together with one another and with God to build a
remarkable world of peace by our own obedience and commitment for 2012. But the
choice is ours to make.
Repeat these words in praise to the Lord, all you whom he has saved. He has rescued
you from your enemies, and has brought you back from foreign countries, from east
and west, from north and south. (Ps. 107:2-3)
What vision do you have for such blessings? Where do you see yourself acting as
a care-giver and peace-maker today, tomorrow, and all of your tomorrows? Let's
make something good happen in 2012!
Pets to Vets is an organization which features a veteran helping
veterans, but in a different way. P2V (for Pets to Vets) matches veterans with
animals-mainly dogs-from local animal shelters to help service members cope with
their mental struggles. The founder suffered for eight years with depression and
thoughts of suicide, but having a canine buddy helped him The program currently
is active in the Washington, D.C. area, New York and San Diego with plans to
expand to other cities manage and begin the road to recovery.
Civil War: As the breeding ground for modern warfare, the Civil
War has long been known for its "firsts." It has been credited with
dozens like these:
A workable machine gun
A steel ship
A successful submarine
A "snorkel" breathing device
American conscription
American bread lines
American President assassinated
Aerial reconnaissance
Antiaircraft fire
Army ambulance corps
Blackouts and camouflage under aerial observation
American Army chaplains
Electrically exploded bombs and torpedoes
Fixed ammunition
Field trenches on a grand scale
Flame throwers
Hospital ships
Ironclad navies
Land-mine fields
Legal voting for servicemen
Long-range rifles for general use
Medal of Honor
Military telegraph
Military railroads
Naval torpedoes
Negro U.S. Army Officer (Major M.R. Delany)
Organized medical and nursing corps
Photography of battle
Railroad artillery
Repeating rifles
Revolving gun turrets
The bugle call, "Taps"
The Income tax
The wigwag signal code in battle
The periscope, for trench warfare
Telescopic sights for rifles
Tobacco tax
U.S. Navy Admiral
U.S. Secret Service
Withholding tax
Wire entanglements
Wide-scale use of anesthetics for wounded
[Source: Rhode Island Veterans Sentinel May-Jun 2010]
Chapter Officers
Commander Col Leon Holland 335-1224
Vice Commander
Treasurer Col Andrew McVeigh 261-6272
Adjutant Mrs. Patricia Egan 750-1399
Chaplin LtCol Ernest S. Dean 477-5390
Youth Leadership
ConferenceLtCol Thomas W. Anderson 445-4480
ROTC Awards Col Leon Holland 335-1224
Newsletter & Web Site LtCol J. Robert Howard 848-0285 Schedule:
1830-1900 - Social
1900-1905 - Invocation & Salutes
1905-1945 - Dinner
1945-2000 - Break
2000-2045 - Program
2045-2100 - Adjourn.
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you
with experience.
The voices in my head may not be real, but they
have some good ideas!
The Battle of Arracourt was a battle between U.S. and German armored forces
during World War II near the town of Arracourt, Lorraine, France, from
18-29 September 1944. As part of a counteroffensive against recent U.S.
advances in France, the German 5th Panzer Army had as its objective the
recapture of Lunville and the collapse of the U.S. XII Corps bridgehead
over the Moselle River at Dieulouard. With a local superiority in
troops and tanks, the Germans anticipated defeat of the defending CCA
(Combat Command A) of the U.S. 4th Armored Division. Against German
expectations, due in part to poor tactics and the terrain, the 4th Armored
Division's CCA, in concert with U.S. tactical air forces, defeated two
Panzer brigades and elements of two Panzer divisions.
As the weather began to deteriorate on 18 September and heavy fog settled in, U.S.
tactical air forces were unable to locate and destroy advancing German armored
units. However, while shielding the German advance from air observation and
attack, the weather also handicapped the 5th Panzer Army. Poor visibility
combined with a lack of motorized scouting and reconnaissance forces in the new
"Panzer Army" formations prevented German armored forces from
properly coordinating their attack, which soon degenerated into a disjointed
series of intermittent advances. Operational proficiency of the newly-formed
Panther equipped brigades had additionally been hampered by lack of time for
training, partly due to the need to quickly respond to the sudden advance of
the 4th Armored and partly due to inadequate fuel supplies owing to the loss of
oil production in Romania.
CCA's dispositions around Arracourt consisted of a thinly-held salient,
using an extended outpost line of armored infantry and engineers supported by
tanks, tank destroyers, and artillery. At 0800 on 19 September,
company-sized elements of the 113th Panzer Brigade penetrated CCA outposts on
the east and south faces of CCA's salient. Two tank destroyer platoons and a
medium tank company engaged the panzers in a running fight that extended into
the vicinity of CCA's headquarters, where a battalion of self-propelled M7
105-mm howitzers took the panzers under direct (point-blank) fire.
Poor tactical deployment of the German tanks soon exposed them to fire from
American tanks, tank destroyers, antitank forces, and artillery (mainly M4
Sherman medium tanks, a handful of M5A1 Stuart light tanks, M18 Hellcat tank
destroyers, and 105 mm artillery units). As the 5th Panzer Army was
not equipped with integral scouting forces, German panzer forces were forced to
advance blindly against the American forces, whose positions were shrouded by
thick morning fog. Reinforced with additional tank, infantry, and cavalry
elements, and aided by the Germans' persistence in repeating the same plan of
attack, CCA was able to locate and prepare for battle on ground of its own
choosing. A combination of concealed defensive positions, command of local
terrain elevations, and fire-and-maneuver tactics allowed the 4th's CCA to
negate the superior armor and firepower of the German AFVs. While the
advancing Germans were exposed to American fire, U.S. armor was able to
maneuver into favorable defensive positions, staying hidden until the German
AFVs had closed within range. The
fog that had allowed German forces tactical surprise and protection from U.S.
air attack also negated the superior range of their tank guns.
From 20 to 25 September, the Fifth Panzer Army fed the 111th Panzer Brigade
and the understrength 11th Panzer Division into a series of disjointed attacks
against the Arracourt position. On September 20, German Panther tanks moved
towards the headquarters component of the 4th Armored Division's Combat Command
A, several 4th AD support units were pinned down or trapped by the German
advance. An Army observation pilot, Major "Bazooka Charlie"
Carpenter took to the air with his bazooka-armed L-4 Cub to attack the
enemy. At first, Carpenter was unable to spot the enemy due to low clouds
and heavy fog, which finally lifted around noon. Spotting a company of
German Panther tanks advancing towards Arracourt, Carpenter dived through a
barrage of German ground fire in a continuing series of attacks against the
German panzers, firing all of his bazooka rockets in repeated passes.
Returning to base to reload, Carpenter flew two more sorties that afternoon,
firing no less than sixteen bazooka rockets at German Panther tanks and armored
cars, several of which were hit. Carpenter's actions that day were later
credited by ground troops with knocking out two German tanks and several
armored cars, while killing or wounding a dozen or more enemy soldiers. Carpenter's actions also forced the German tank
formation to retreat to its starting position, in the process enabling a
trapped 4th Armored water point support crew to escape capture and destruction.
Finally, on 21 September, Republic P-47 Thunderbolts of the 405th Fighter
Group, 84th Fighter Wing of the U.S. IX Tactical Air Command were able to begin
a relentless series of attacks on German ground forces. In addition to
missions of opportunity flown by IX TAC fighter-bombers, CCA was able to call
in tactical air strikes against German panzer concentrations. The 4th
Armored's close relationship with the USAAF's IX TAC and mastery of ground-air
tactical coordination was a significant factor in destroying the offensive
capability of the German armored formations.
By 24 September most of the fighting had moved to Chteau-Salins, where a
fierce attack by the 559th Volksgrenadier Division of the German First Army
nearly overwhelmed 4th Armored's Combat Command B until U.S. fighter-bombers
routed the attackers. The next day, Third Army received orders to suspend
all offensive operations and to consolidate gains. In compliance with corps
orders, the entire 4th Armored Division reverted to a positional defense on 26
September. CCA withdrew five miles to more defensible ground, and CCB,
relieved at Chteau-Salins by the 35th Division, linked up with the right
flank of CCA. The Fifth Panzer Army, by now reduced to only twenty-five
Panther tanks, pressed its attacks unsuccessfully for three more days until
clearing weather and increased American air activity forced the Germans to
suspend their counteroffensive altogether, and to commence a retreat towards
the German frontier... Wikipedia