Being an earth dart...

**hillbilly** · 30-03-2009, 08:15 AM

My mind is racing.5555

But the final week before jump week involved a 3-mile jaunt to include Cardiac Hill. This 3-mile jog was to be done in under 18 minutes or less; or a soldier was out. You do the math.

The only problem was that the Black Hats would only run 1-mile and then switch. Here is what they would often sing.

**hillbilly** · 30-03-2009, 08:33 AM

It seems like a lifetime ago. But the truth is before I was an elementary teacher my life was different.

**Jet Gorgon** · 30-03-2009, 08:38 AM

^^ Good marching song. They let niggas in the Rangers now? (whooooooooops. Just joshin like.)

Originally Posted by kingwilly

great thread HB.

one of my prized possessions is my uncles 'wings' - just a cloth badge, but it means something.

Ya, stuff like that means alot to me. All of us kids got an heirloom for a certain birthday. I just wanted my cousin's purple heart THAT WAS ON GRANMA'S BOOKCASE WHEN SHE DIED. You think any of the fam would fess up to having it? No. I was the one who saved all the letters, did the history, called the US Army, went to his grave in Anzio, etc. Mom says, "take the silver plate, take the cameo, take the pearls"...(I noted she left out the fekin emerald necklace) No! I want that fekin Purple Heart.

**hillbilly** · 30-03-2009, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

^^ Good marching song. They let niggas in the Rangers now? (whooooooooops. Just joshin like.)

Not cool.

And thus ends another possible great thread...

**blackgang** · 30-03-2009, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by hillbilly

My Sgt. Major was in the 173rd in Nam.

Was a Prov Track co I was around in Tua Hoa, John Burrel was top, Robbie was next, had AK47 holes been patched up all over him. Tough motherfuckers and a damn fine bunch to be around, day or night.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Nothing really, just talking about an experience in my life.

And makes me proud to be a friend. lots more interesting than RayFairey and his platoon.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

Sometimes Milkman just doesn't make much sense

Seems that way at times, wonder if it is bonded or local he partakes of.?

Originally Posted by hillbilly

but also for his intelligence and ability to think on his feet.

Ain't never gonna be no Thai rangers unless it is to see who can take the most graft in the shortest time. And I have no respect for their military, not because of the troopers so much as their lack of personal pride of class as their Toxin class leadership, phoney pricks.
Altho my landlord is a tanker Sgt. and he seems OK.

Originally Posted by hillbilly

I actually tried out for Special Forces, but I flunked out about 3 weeks into the course...

Whats the matter hilly, did you want to cook that fucking snake before ya ate it?
Funny to look back and think of the shit a guy will eat when he is younger, ain't it?

**El Gibbon** · 30-03-2009, 03:46 PM

Speaking of "Rangers", anyone know the origin of the name? I happen to, but will wait a day for the answer. A truly 'daring' and brutal story......

BTW Currently reading Band of Brothers, yep the book that was the basis for the HBO production. About E company of one of the brigades of the 101st Airborn. A truly great read. You get to know the personalities of the men that started out in the south as a single unit, spent months in England training and jumped on D Day. So far a pretty remarkable story.

E. G.

**Jet Gorgon** · 30-03-2009, 09:04 PM

^ Would like to know.
Saving Private Ryan was on TV last night. Hanks played the captain of that Second Rangers battalion out looking for Ryan.

**Thetyim** · 30-03-2009, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by El Gibbon

Speaking of "Rangers", anyone know the origin of the name? I happen to, but will wait a day for the answer.

Does it go back to Roger's Rangers ?

**blackgang** · 30-03-2009, 09:33 PM

is this the ones
Early battalions
The three battalions that comprise the modern Rangers were originally World War II Ranger battalions. The 1st Ranger Battalion was organized and activated on June 19, 1942, at Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. The 1st Ranger Battalion participated in the North African landing at Arzeu, Algeria, the Tunisian Battles, and the critical Battle of El Guettar. The 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions were activated in Africa near the end of the Tunisian Campaign. The 1st, 3rd, and 4th Battalions formed the Ranger Force. They began the tradition of wearing the scroll shoulder sleeve insignia, which has been officially adopted for today's Ranger battalions. The 2nd and 5th Ranger Battalions participated in the June 6, 1944, D-Day landings at Omaha Beach, Normandy. It was during the bitter fighting along the beaches that the Rangers gained their motto, "Rangers, lead the way!" They conducted valiant missions to include scaling the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, overlooking Omaha Beach, to destroy German gun emplacements trained on the beachhead. The 6th Ranger Battalion operated in the Philippines and formed the rescue force that liberated American prisoners of war from a Japanese POW camp at Cabanatuan in January 1945. The 6th Battalion destroyed the Japanese POW camp and evacuated more than 500 prisoners. It was during the campaigns in the China-Burma-India Theater that the regiment became known as Merrill's Marauders after its commander, Major General Frank Merrill. The Ranger Battalions were deactivated at the close of the war.
The beginning of the Korean War in June 1950 again signaled the need for Rangers. Seventeen Korean War Ranger Companies were formed during the war. The Rangers went to battle throughout late 1950 and early 1951. They were attached first to one regiment and then to another. They performed "out front" work – scouting, patrolling, raids, ambushes, spearheading assaults, and as counterattack forces to regain lost positions.
The Rangers were reorganized once more on January 1, 1969, as the 75th Ranger Infantry Regiment (Airborne) under the U.S. Army Combat Arms Regimental System. Fifteen separate Ranger companies were formed from this reorganization. It is from this regiment that the modern 75th Ranger Regiment directly descends. Thirteen Ranger companies served in the Vietnam War until inactivation on August 15, 1972.

**blackgang** · 30-03-2009, 09:35 PM

Or this ones,
United States Army Rangers
[edit] Origin
American Ranger history predates the Revolutionary War. Captain Benjamin Church formed Church's Rangers, which fought hostile Native American tribes during King Philip's War.[1] Major Robert Rogers formed a Ranger unit to fight during the French and Indian War. They would become known as the "Rogers' Rangers." The Continental Congress formed eight companies of expert riflemen in 1775 to fight in the Revolutionary War. In 1777, this force of hardy frontiersmen commanded by Dan Morgan was known as The Corps of Rangers. Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox", organized another famous Revolutionary War Ranger element known as "Marion's Partisans."
During the War of 1812, companies of United States Rangers were raised from among the frontier settlers as part of the regular Army. Throughout the war, they patrolled the frontier from Ohio to Western Illinois on horseback and by boat. They participated in many skirmishes and battles with the British and their American Indian allies. The American Civil War included Rangers such as John Singleton Mosby who was the most famous Confederate Ranger during the Civil War. His raids on Union camps and bases were so effective, part of North-Central Virginia soon became known as Mosby's Confederacy. After the Civil War, more than half a century passed without military Ranger units in the United States.

**Jet Gorgon** · 30-03-2009, 10:31 PM

...ah, backwoods raiders. 1700s, no? French and Indian War?

**blackgang** · 30-03-2009, 10:57 PM

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

French and Indian War?

What it says, I had not heard of them and I have read about that war with the french tho

**Thai Pom** · 31-03-2009, 07:37 AM

Originally Posted by hillbilly

I actually tried out for Special Forces, but I flunked out about 3 weeks into the course...

Nothing to be ashamed of!!!

**El Gibbon** · 31-03-2009, 09:28 AM

TheTyim correct!

The family Rogers was the recipient of a land grant from the king of England that encompassed a very large part of what is now southern New Hampshire. It was 50 miles along the coast from north of Boston (now the NH state line) to almost what is now Portland Maine. It ranged inland for between 75 to 100 miles (history is foggy as to the exact boundary).

The reason for this was they were cutting the masts for English ships. Even today Mast Road is the main highway. When the roads were impassable they floated the masts down the Merrimack River to the coast. The spruce (I think) were the best available in the Empire for this purpose. Tall and straight as a needle.

In one of the original settlements on the edge of the western portion lived one Robert Rogers - one of 13 sons I believe - and a number of employees and family. It was/is Dunbarton.

The Indians in the area were not combative as was the case in just about all of what is now northern Mass. NH. Vermont and Maine. They coexisted with the settlers quite nicely. The Mohawks, Mohegans, Passamaquody and a host of other tribes were peaceful hunter/gatherers and had very little problems with the whites that lived in the region. Each race pretty much co-existed with the other and respected them.

The French wanted into the area from their base in Montreal and enlisted the aid of the Iroquois who were a lot more aggressive. The French seldom left their soft life styles but rather used the Iroquois as their surrogates in the mayhem.

The Iroquois were vicious combatants and meaner than skunks with halitosis.

Raiding of the outlying settlements became good sport for them. Pillage and rape along with scalping were common.

Rogers became incensed and decided to fight fire with fire. He and 17 or 18 of his friends and family decided to give it back in spades. Being born woodsmen accustomed to the area and the region as a whole and from hunting expeditions and meanderings. They were as good as the Iroquois in their woods-craft.

They set out to reek havoc on the French and their partners wherever they could be found. They rampaged throughout western NH and all of Vermont destroying completely everything that was Iroquois or French. They were actually marauders of the first order that put the fright into anyone that crossed their paths.

They were better a being Indian than the Indians. It was the forefather of true guerrilla warfare.

As reports of their escapades became known the British Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony enlisted their help to take pressure of Fort Henry at the start of the French and Indian War. The Brits had outpost forts along what is now western Penn. and NY. that were constantly being attacked by the French and Indian forces. Supply lines were always at risk of being broken and the overall cost of maintaining the external forts was becoming onerous.

Rogers' Rangers became famous for the exploits fighing the French and Indian forces from Fort Ticonderoga south through western NY and Penn. They eventually fought in what is now Detroit. They were infamous in their skill and brutallity and one of the most feared fighting units of the time.

Rogers' men were all woodsmen and sharpshooters that were comfortable living in the wilds and being self sustaining. It is purported that he could track moccasin prints in a stream bed or across a granite ledge, so good were his tracking skills. They added men of the same type in every area that fought in. Men with a hardon for the French or Indians that had been plaguing their lives.

So how did I come across this...... I've long wanted to write a book about the Crown Point Road and have done a lot of research in the area (two filing cabinets stored in NH presently - problem is the research is more fun than the writing!). A good depiction of the times is the movie Last of the Mohigans (Daniel Day Lewis), while not totally historical it provides a good rendition of life in those times.

While my memory may have confused the names and places the story is what it is. I've read the chronicles of Edward Rogers' (a brother who joined the fight) as published by his son. It is available in the New Hampshire State Library.

Rogers' Rangers are credited with being the first of their type to fight in an irregular formation with small units doing their own thing under one man's general leadership.
A remarkable piece of military history.

NOTE: During this period (French and Indian War) NH consisted of 90% farmland and 10% forrest. NH currently has about 45% farmland and 40% forrest.

EDIT: I seem to recall that from a band of small farmers Rogers' Rangers evolved into a rather large force of nearly 1000 men fighting in the same style.

E. G.

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