Freedom’s Voice The Monthly Newsletter of the Military History Center 112 N. Main ST Broken Arrow, OK 74012

http://www.okmhc.org/

“Promoting Patriotism through the Preservation of Military History”

Volume 6, Number 1 January 2018

Wreaths Across America Important Date

March 15 – Oklahoma Vietnam Veterans Day

The MHC will host its annual Oklahoma Vietnam Veterans Day observance in the evening of Thursday, March 15. The February newsletter will contain detailed information. In the meantime, please mark your calendars, and plan to attend this important, patriotic event.

MSGT Vincent Donaldson (U.S. Army, Ret.), Susan Virdell, Dan Eiler, Teresa Eiler and Lindsey Donaldson

Wreaths Across America is a national volunteer organiza- tion. “Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, our mission to Remember, Honor and Teach is carried out by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington Na- tional Cemetery, as well as over 1,200 additional locations in all fifty U.S. states, at sea and abroad”. In 2017, Wreaths Across America Day was December 16. Lindsey Donaldson (MHC volunteer) organized a group of volun- teers to lay wreaths on veterans’ graves in Floral Haven Memo- rial Gardens in Broken Arrow. MHC docents, Mitch Reed and Janet Viel and MHC volunteer, Susan Virdell, were among the volunteers. The MHC congratulates Ms. Donaldson and all other volun- teers for their patriotism and generosity of time in performing this important, patriotic activity.

MHC Christmas Party

The MHC held its annual Christmas party on December 21. MHC Presi- dent, Tom Mancino, addresses the attendees. From left to right: Peter Plank (Board Secretary) Dennis Hoch (docent), Jean Bailie (MHC Execu- tive Assistant), Tom Mancino, Ken Collins (docent, in the doorway) and Claudia Price (volunteer). MHC volunteer, Susan Virdell, laying a wreath on a

veteran’s grave – Wreaths Across America Day

TU Honors Hometown Hero

Museum Hours and Admission Fee

Tuesday – Friday: 10:00 – 4:00; Saturday: 10:00 – 2:00 Closed Sunday and Monday and major Federal holidays

Adults – $5.00 Members and Children under 18 – Free

For more information, call (918) 794-2712

www.okmhc.org

Support the Military History Center

We believe the MHC provides a valuable service to the lo- cal community, especially to veterans and students, by “Pro- MHC docent Dennis Hoch, Oscar “Junior” Nipps and TU Vice moting Patriotism through the Preservation of Military His- President and Director of Athletics, Dr. Derrick Gragg tory”. We ask for your financial support to help the MHC con- tinue our educational endeavors and to help our ongoing mis- At a basketball game on January 14, University of Tulsa paid sion of promoting patriotism and honoring our veterans for tribute to World War II veteran, Oscar “Junior” Nipps, as their the sacrifices they have made, and are making, to keep Amer- South Pointe Auto Mall Hometown Hero. As a trooper of the 5th ica free. Cavalry “Black Knights” Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, he was For more information, please contact the Military History one of the liberators of the Philippines in 1945. When Junior was Center at (918) 794-2712 to learn how you can be a financial introduced, the crowd burst into sustained cheering and ap- supporter, or click on the link below to go to the MHC website plause. Patriotism is alive and well among TU fans. at www.okmhc.org/donate/. The MHC congratulates Junior on receipt of this special Monetary donations, as well as gifts in kind, are tax de- honor. He is a native of Broken Arrow, who spends most of his ductible, subject to IRS regulations. spare time at the MHC, where we affectionately refer to him as our living artifact.

Hero of Samar The Tet Offensive

Fifty years ago, this month, at dawn on January 30, 1968, on the first day of the Tet holiday truce, Viet Cong forces, supported by large numbers of North Vietnamese troops, launched their largest and best coordinated offensive of the Vietnam War up to that time. They pushed into the center of South Vietnam’s seven largest cities and attacked thirty provincial capitals from the Delta to the DMZ. Among the cities taken during the first four days of the offensive were Hue, Dalat, Kontum and Quang Tri. In the north, all five provincial capitals were overrun. At the same time, enemy forces shelled numerous Allied airfields and bases. In Saigon, a 19-man Viet Cong suicide squad seized the U.S. Em- bassy and held it for six hours until an assault force of U.S. para- troopers landed by helicopter on the building’s roof and killed them. Nearly 1,000 Viet Cong were believed to have infiltrated Gunners Mate Third Class Paul Henry Carr Saigon, and it took a week of intense fighting by an estimated 11,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops to dislodge them. Paul Henry Carr was born at Webbers Falls (Muskogee By February 10, the offensive was largely crushed, except at County), Oklahoma, on February 13, 1924. He was living in Hue, but with heavy casualties on both sides. The former impe- Checotah (McIntosh County), Oklahoma, when he enlisted in the rial capital of Hue required almost a month of savage house-to- Navy on June 29, 1942. house combat to regain. Efforts to assess the offensive’s impact On October 25, 1944, he was serving as a Gunner’s Mate began well before the fighting ended. On February 2, President Third Class on the destroyer escort, Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) Johnson announced that the Viet Cong had suffered complete or Sammy B, as her crew called her. On that day, Task Unit military defeat. General Westmoreland echoed that appraisal 77.4.3, of which Sammy B was a part, engaged a superior Japa- four days later in a statement declaring that Allied forces had nese force off the eastern Philippine island of Samar. Carr killed more enemy troops in the previous seven days than the served as the gun mount captain of the aft 5-inch gun. In Sammy had lost in the entire war up to that time. B’s final action, he led his gun mount team in firing 324 rounds Militarily, Tet was decidedly an American/South Vietnamese in thirty-five minutes. GM3 Carr was found dying at his station, victory, but psychologically and politically, it was a disaster. The gripping the last unfired round. Soon afterwards, the Japanese offensive was a crushing military defeat for the Viet Cong and commander lost his nerve and retired from the battle, giving the the North Vietnamese, but the size and scope of the communist Americans a victory and saving the Leyte landing force from po- attacks caught the American and South Vietnamese by surprise. tentially severe damage. The early reporting of a smashing communist victory went GM3 Paul Henry Carr was buried at sea. His name is en- largely uncorrected in the media and led to a psychological vic- graved on the Tablets of the Missing in Manila American Ceme- tory for the communists. The heavy U.S. and South Vietnamese tery. He was posthumously awarded a Silver Star for his actions casualties incurred during the offensive, coupled with the disil- during the battle. The heroic young sailor was just twenty years lusionment over the earlier overly optimistic reports of progress old. in the war, accelerated the growing disenchantment with Presi- Samuel B. Roberts finally sank from the pounding she re- dent Johnson’s conduct of the war. Johnson, frustrated with his ceived from the much heavier Japanese guns. The 120 surviving inability to reach a solution in Vietnam, announced on March 31, crew members spent fifty hours in life rafts before rescue. 1968, that he would neither seek nor accept the nomination of On July 27, 1985, the Navy commissioned the frigate, USS his party for re-election. (History.com) Carr (FFG-52), in honor of the World War II hero. Carr was de- commissioned on March 13, 2013, and eventually sold to the government of Taiwan.

GM3 Carr’s memorial in Greenlawn Cemetery U.S. Marines move through the hamlet of Dai Do Checotah, Oklahoma after several days of intense fighting

Oklahoma Okie base, meanwhile making arrangements for their rescue. The out- standing courage and self-sacrifice displayed by Lieutenant Cox on this occasion reflect the highest credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of the United States”.

When Cox received his newly delivered B-17F a few days later, he named her Oklahoma Okie. In 1943, “Okie” still had negative connotations originating from the Dust Bowl Era. Cox hoped to change “Okie” from a name of shame and ridicule to one of pride. By July 1943, Cox had completed his required twenty-five missions. In addition to the DSC, he was awarded four Air Med- als while flying in the European Theater. Instead of taking a desk job or training assignment, he chose to learn to fly the newest Air Force bomber, the B-29 Superfortress. His next combat as- signment was with the 869th Bomb Squadron, 597th Bomb Group, XXI Bomber Command, , stationed on

1LT Leonard L. Cox Tinian in the Mariana Islands. On January 14, 1945, now, Captain Cox, was commander of a B-29 named Pacific Union. His mission Leonard Lorenza Cox was born at Sand Springs, Oklahoma, that day was Nagoya, Japan. on May 10, 1915. His family later moved to Tulsa, where he The early B-29s were plagued by frequent mechanical issues, graduated from high school. He graduated from Oklahoma A&M including unexplained engine fires. The engines were under College (now Oklahoma State University) with a Bachelor of Arts maximum stress on take-off and while climbing to cruising alti- degree in 1939. Cox joined the Army Air Force in 1941. He at- tude, fully loaded with fuel and bombs. Not long after take-off, tended flight school at the AAF Central Flying Command’s 2549th northwest of the Marianas, Pacific Union’s number three engine Army Air Force Base Unit at Chickasha Field (now Chickasha Mu- caught fire. Cox jettisoned the bombs in preparation for a return nicipal Airport), Chickasha, Oklahoma. He was commissioned a to base, but fragments from the burning engine struck the air- 2nd Lieutenant in the Army Air Force on September 15, 1941. craft damaging it. Cox attempted to ditch in the ocean, but the By 1943, Cox was a first lieutenant assigned to the 324th Bom- center section of the B-29 exploded just before she struck the bardment Squadron, 91st (H), Eighth Air water. Captain Cox and five crewmen were killed. The other Force, stationed at Bassingbourn, England. Oklahoma Okie was four crew members were rescued by the Navy, about a third of 1LT Cox’s third B-17. The first two had been heavily damaged in the way from the Marianas to Iwo Jima. combat and removed from service. Cox was flying his second The lost crewmembers’ names are inscribed on tablets in the ship on a bombing mission over Germany on May 21, 1943. His Courts of the Missing in National Memorial Cemetery of the Pa- Distinguished Service Cross Citation describes what happened cific at Honolulu. on his way back to base: * * * * * “The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the On December 31, 1943, Oklahoma Okie flew her last mission, Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Leon- destined for Bordeaux, France. The bomber flight was instead ard L. Cox (ASN: 0-422385), United States Army Air Forces, for diverted to Cognac to bomb a German air base. Oklahoma Okie extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations was shot down by antiaircraft fire and crashed with no survivors, against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a B-17 Heavy near the village of Lesperon.

Bomber in the 324th Bombardment Squadron, 91st Bombard- ment Group (H), , while participating in a bomb- ing mission over Germany on 21 May 1943, against enemy ground targets in the European Theater of Operations. The air- craft which he was piloting was seriously damaged by enemy fire and as a result was unable to stay in flying formation with the remainder of the group. On the return trip to a friendly air base, Lieutenant Cox sighted a badly crippled aircraft being attacked by enemy fighters. In spite of the condition of his own aircraft, he immediately elected to remain with the other aircraft, which had exhausted its ammunition supply, and give it protection. Af- ter a long flight, he successfully warded off the enemy attack and accompanied the crippled aircraft to the point where its crew were forced to abandon it in the sea. After assuring himself that The names of the crew of Oklahoma Okie are inscribed on a the crew were safe in their dinghies, he returned to a friendly air memorial in a churchyard in Lesperon, France

Battle of New Orleans General Sir Edward Packenham, a brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington and a proven commander, who had won battlefield honors in the Napoleonic wars. The battle on January 8 opened when Pakenham launched an early morning attack all along the line. American cannon and rifle fire raked the massed British infantry. Few British soldiers actually reached the earthen berm. The earthworks and barri- cades of cotton bales were so effective that fighting lasted only half an hour. The British suffered 2,037 casualties: 291 killed, including Packenham and many of his officers, 1,262 wounded and 484 captured. The Americans suffered just thirteen dead, thirty-nine wounded and nineteen captured.

The 7th Infantry Regiment defending the right of the American line at the Battle of New Orleans. In the bottom, left foreground, two of Jean Lafitte’s pirates are shown servicing the gun. Several of his men were expert artillerymen. The 7th Infantry is the United States’ fifth oldest continuously serving regular army regiment. Because the regiment fought behind a breastwork of cotton bales at New Orleans, its first ma- jor battle, it later adopted “Cottonbalers” as the regimental nickname.

The Battle of New Orleans was the final and most important battle of the War of 1812. It was actually a series of battles fought between December 14, 1814, and January 18, 1815. The most important and decisive of the battles, and the one that eve- ryone remembers, occurred on January 8, two hundred, three years ago this month. The war is sometimes called the second American Revolution militiaman, Jean Hyacinthe de Laclotte, painted this scene of the battle from sketches and notes he made during the fighting. because the British had not accepted the outcome of the first one. Over the following years, the British navy had impressed At mid-day, the British asked for a truce to retrieve their (kidnapped) more than 5,000 sailors off American merchant wounded and bury their dead. They withdrew from the field ten ships. They had stirred up and armed the Indian tribes on the days later. New Orleans and the American west were saved. frontier. Neither did they accept Napoleon’s right to sell the The British never again challenged the United States’ right to in- Louisiana Territory to the United States. They believed it still dependence. Secretary of War James Monroe wrote, "History rightfully belonged to Spain. A peace treaty was signed at Ghent records no example of so glorious a victory obtained with so lit- in Flanders (now in Belgium) on December 24, 1814. Word did tle bloodshed on the part of the victorious”. not reach the United States until February 14, when President Madison received the treaty. The Senate ratified the Treaty of Ghent on February 15, formally ending the war. The treaty not- withstanding, the British intended to keep New Orleans and con- trol of the lower Mississippi River, had they captured the city. Major General Andrew Jackson of the Tennessee militia com- manded a motley force of two under-strength regular army reg- iments – 7th and 44th – a company of marines, the West Tennes- see militia, including a small cavalry force, contingents of the Louisiana militia, including the New Orleans free black battalion, 2,000 Kentucky militiamen, who arrived mostly unarmed, a com- pany of Mississippi territorial dragoons, local citizen volunteers, a contingent of fewer than 100 Choctaw warriors and part of Jean Lafitte’s pirate gang. Altogether, he had about 5,300 men. They made their stand behind an 800-yard long line called Rodri- Repulse of the Highlanders by Col. Charles H. Waterhouse, USMCR de- quez Canal, in reality, an enlarged drainage ditch. An earthen picts United States Marines repulsing redcoats of the 93rd Regiment of berm, reinforced in places with cotton bales, was constructed Foot (Sutherland Highlanders). The participation of marines in the Bat- behind the canal. Jackson faced about 6,000 British soldiers tle of New Orleans is almost unknown outside the Marine Corps. fresh from easy victories around , including burning Formed in 1799, the Sutherland Highlanders have a storied history in the public buildings in the capital. They were reinforced by four the British army. When the Army was reorganized in 2006, the regi- West Indian regiments, mostly Jamaicans and a battalion of ment was made a battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Highlanders sent from Spain. The British were commanded by Oklahoma Vietnam War MIAs

This month, and over the next eleven months, we will be tell- ing the stories of Oklahoma’s thirty Vietnam War MIAs, whose remains have not been recovered. The stories will be featured in the month the MIA went missing or was confirmed KIA. The names of all the MIAs are inscribed on tablets in the Courts of the Missing in National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Hon- olulu, Hawaii, and for those confirmed or presumed dead, on the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, DC. Missing in action does not mean that the Defense Depart- ment doesn’t know what happened to the service man. MIA means only that his remains have not been recovered. A great many MIAs, sailors lost at sea, for instance, have been confirmed First Lieutenant Wayne C. Irsch – MIA by witnesses to have been killed or were aboard ship when it sank. On the other hand, many Vietnam War MIAs have not Wayne Charles Irsch was born at Tulsa, Oklahoma, on April been accounted for, and we don’t know exactly what happened 25, 1942. He was a graduate of Central High School, where he to them. was a star athlete. He entered the Air Force on September 25, 1965. On January 8, 1968, he was a 1st Lieutenant assigned to the 497th Tactical Fighter "Night Owls" Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter “Wolfpack” Wing, , based at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base. On that day, his mission was interdiction of North Vietnamese traffic on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southeast- ern Laos. 1LT Irsch was piloting an F-4 Phantom. His backseat man was LT Colonel Norman M. Green. As the Phantom made its target run, it was hit and disabled by intensive 37mm anti- aircraft fire from the gun he was attacking. The crash site was soon discovered, but no sign of life. It’s not known whether the two airmen were killed in the crash or were able to eject and were captured. In either case, the Laoti- ans never claimed them as prisoners and neither have their re- mains been recovered.

Captain James P. Gauley – MIA On January 9, 1974, the Air Force declared 1LT Irsch pre- sumed dead and promoted him to Captain. He has a memorial James Paul Gauley was born at Ringwood (Major County), headstone In Fort Gibson National Cemetery, Oklahoma. Oklahoma, on March 22, 1939. He entered the Air Force in 1961. In 1967, he was assigned to the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 288th Tactical Fighter Wing, Seventh Air Force, based at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base in Thailand. He was a fighter pilot, fly- ing F-105 Thunderchiefs. On January 10, 1967, his mission took him over the Plain of Jars in northern Laos, where he was shot down by ground fire. Witnesses report that his parachute failed to open after he ejected. His body was never recovered.

A memorial has been erected for Captain Gauley in Captain Irsch’s Memorial headstone Memorial Park Cemetery at Enid, Oklahoma. Ft. Gibson National Cemetery, Oklahoma

First Lieutenant Robert W. Burnes – MIA Captain Steven B. Johnston – MIA

Robert Wayne Burnes was born at Ninnekah (Grady County), Steven Bryce Johnston was born on January 22, 1946, at ei- Oklahoma, on January 27, 1941. He was a 1959 graduate of Lind- ther Tulsa or Muskogee. Both cities appear in various records. say High School (Lindsay, Oklahoma). He attended the Univer- His military city of record is Muskogee. sity of Tulsa on a track scholarship, but graduated from Central On January 4, 1973, Captain Johnston was assigned to the State College (now Central State University) at Edmond. Burnes 497th Tactical Fighter "Night Owls" Squadron, 8th Tactical Fighter was living in Edmond with his wife and child, when he enlisted in “Wolfpack” Wing, Seventh Air Force, stationed at Ubon Royal the Marine Corps. Edmond is his military city of record. Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. He was a weapons systems officer On January 5, 1970, Burnes was a 1st Lieutenant assigned to on an F-4D Phantom fighter. On January 4, he was performing Marine Attack Fighter Squadron 542 (VMA-542), Marine Attack an operational mission in Laos. His aircraft was struck by hostile Group 11, 1st Marine Air Wing, stationed at Da Nang, South Vi- ground fire, forcing Johnston and the pilot to eject. Voice con- etnam. He was the navigator of a McDonnell Douglas Phantom tact was established with the pilot immediately upon landing. II Fighter (F-4B) over Savannakhet, Laos, when his aircraft Captain Johnston landed under a large tree limb and appeared crashed, killing him. His body was never recovered. VMA-542 to have a broken neck. Examination of his body revealed no flew its last mission in Vietnam eight days later. signs of life. His body could not be recovered due to darkness and hostile fire in the area. The pilot, who landed safely, was rescued. Captain Johnston was killed on his first mission in the Vietnam Theater. There is no memorial for Captain Johnson other than his name inscribed on a tablet in the Courts of the Missing at Na- tional Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and the Vietnam War Memorial – the Wall.

Memorial to 1LT Robert W. Burnes Arlington National Cemetery Oklahoma Vietnam War MIA Memorial

On September 16, 2017, at the POW/MIA Recognition Day Commemoration, the MHC dedicated its brick memorial to Ok- lahoma’s Vietnam War MIAs. The Memorial contains thirty-two bricks, one for each MIA. Since its construction, two MIA’s re- mains have been recovered and identified. An “R” has been placed on their bricks to denote their status.

This Month’s Featured Exhibit

Persian Gulf and Iraq War Exhibit

The Persian Gulf and Iraq War Exhibit displays numerous artifacts related to the Persian Gulf and Iraq wars. The former is com- monly known as Operation Desert Shield for the opening air war and Operation Desert Storm for the combined all-services war that began with the opening of the ground attack to drive the Iraqi army from Kuwait. The Iraq War, initiated in the mistaken belief that Iraq possessed large amounts of “weapons of mass destruction”, is also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom. The mannequin at the left is dressed in the combat gear of a U.S. Army infantryman of the period. The United States service deaths from all causes in the two wars were 294, including one Oklahoman, in the Persian Gulf War (1990-91) and 4,512, including seventy-five Oklahomans, in the Iraq War (2003-2011).

Petty Officer Third Class William Aaron Holt of Sand Springs was the only Oklahoman killed in the Persian Gulf War. He was crew chief of an MH-53 Sea Dragon helicopter aboard the am- phibious assault ship, USS Peliliu, stationed in the Persian Gulf. On September 14, 1991, Holt’s helicopter lifted off from Peleliu about forty miles north of Bahrain and almost immediately plunged into the Persian Gulf. All six crew members were killed. William Aaron Holt was born in Creek County, Oklahoma, on June 18, 1964. He graduated from Sand Springs’ Charles Page MH-53 Sea Dragon – The “Blackhawks” are a mine countermeasures squadron. The helicopters drag various instruments through the water High School in 1982. He joined the Navy in 1987. At the time of to detect and detonate mines. his death, Holt was a member of Squadron HM-15, based at Al- ameda Naval Air Station, California. PO3 Holt is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery near Mannford, Oklahoma.

Squadron HM-15 – “Blackhawks” USS Peleliu – Decommissioned March 31, 2015

“Lest We Forget”

Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial – Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine, France

Suresnes American Cemetery and Memorial is located high on the slopes of Mont Valérien in Suresnes, a western Paris suburb. The cemetery was originally established as a World War I cemetery, but later, twenty-four unknown dead of World War II were interred there. The small cemetery of seven and a half acres contains 1,541 graves. Bronze tablets on the walls of the chapel record the names of 974 World War I missing. Rosettes mark the names of any since recovered and identified.

Freedom is not free.

Freedom’s Voice is the voice of MVA, Inc. dba Military History Center, a 501(C)3 private foundation, as a service to its members and supporters. Contents may be reproduced only when in the best interest of the Military History Center. Please direct comments or suggestions to the Editor at [email protected]. Ken Cook, Editor