Military Memorials, Life and History

James Miller, War of 1812

2010-07-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

I found this at the Faulkner/Pulaski County line on Hwy 365 between Maumelle and Mayflower, Ar. Watch close or you'll miss it, going West on 365 you cross a bridge and its on the left.

Heres a link http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2872

Fort Gibson, Oklahoma

2010-06-26T09:08:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago the wife and I went to visit my daughters future In-Laws in Oklahoma. While there David and soon to be Son-in-Law Bryan took me on a tour of the area. The women were having a bridal shower.
Our first stop was old Fort Gibson. This fort was destroyed by Union soldiers during the Civil War. Franklin D. Roosevelt's CCC later rebuilt the Fort to exact specifications. I really enjoy History and this was one of the most interesting Military places that I had ever had the opportunity to visit.
I didn't know until reading about Fort Gibson that it was the end point for the Trail of Tears for many of the Native Americans involved in the move. The Osage were already in the area and the Cherokee's arrival kept both of the tribes on the verge of open warfare until the arrival of the Seventh United States Infantry. Be sure and check the links at the end of this posting.

Double click to get the big picture.

Ft. Gibson stockade and well 1824. Rich with history and romance. Restored by the Old Fort Club, 1933.

Cannon aimed at the gate.

Those are the stockade shackles. Must have been fun in the Oklahoma sun.

SouthEast corner of the Fort.

Inside the Fort.

This picture is looking at the fort from outside the walls.

If I'm not mistaken this was the enlisted mess outside the fort walls.

Enlisted mess.

I have no idea what this once was. It's several hundred yards from any other existing stucture. Actually there were quite a few remnants of old buildings like this. In one area there was a line of foundations which I suppose were barracks or maybe family living quarters, they were also a ways from the existing buildings.

These were officers quarters.

This plaque is referring to the two chimneys pictured below which is all that survives of the Adjutant Office. I don't know if it was restored and later burned or what.

The well above is next to the Adjutant Office which was where the two chimneys are now.

Officers quarters in the pic above.

Officers quarters.

If I'm not mistaken these were non-commissioned officers quarters.

Memorial to the military men at the new barracks building.

Barracks for the Seventh United States Infantry. This was a later addition.

The visitor center and museum, which wasn't open when we were there.

The East end of the Visitor Center-Museum.

Another look at the visitor center.

For more pictures and reading you can visit these links.
http://www.galenfrysinger.com/fort_gibson.htm

http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/okfortgibson.html

American Legion Post 22

2010-04-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

American Legion Post 22 is in Clarksville, Ar. and is situated next to Cedar Creek. To get there you turn off of Hwy 64 in downtown Clarksville South of the Bridge and across from a motorcycle shop, you go up a hill and cross over a pedestrian bycycle trail to get to Legion Island. This is the coolest Legion Post I've ever seen.

Cedar Creek is just past the trees in the background of the picture above.

Above is an old Anti Tank Gun, I think it may be a M3A1-37mm anti-tank gun, circa 1941.

This is Cedar Creek which flows along side Post 22.

Artillery in Russellville, Arkansas

2009-05-12T05:45:00.000-07:00

This piece of Artillery sits in front of the VFW on Hwy & North, Russellville, Ark.
There are a couple of Ship Anchors in front of the gun and a memorial plaque in the rear near the flag. I'm not sure what size or type of artillery this is.

M-41 Walker Bulldog Tank and the Civil War

2009-05-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

I found this in Greenwood, Ar. Nice tank, but no plaque, it was in front of the local VFW.

M-41 Walker Bulldog (if I'm not mistaken). I found the site below which shows that the above tank is an M-41 Walker Bulldog. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M41_Walker_Bulldog It was a replacement for the M-24 Chaffee Light Tank.

I knew from what little knowledge I have that the Chaffee Tank was a light tank and it and Camp Chaffee were named after Major General Adna R. Chaffee Jr., a World War One General who advocated the use of tanks. Below is a picture I found of an M-24 Chaffee Light Tank. The tanks do resemble each other.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/m-24-chaffee-light-tank.htm

I guess it would help if I mentioned that Greenwood borders Fort Chaffee. Fort Chaffee which was first named Camp Chaffee. The name change came in 1956. I was born in Camp Chaffee in 1952.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Chaffee

http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/215612/

Across the street in the city square was this plaque. This was all there was, I suppose it is in memory of a Senator or something that was also in the Civil War. This is something I found about the area.

http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3595
Heres another site mentioning W.B.W. Heartsill http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/inv/h/Heartsill,W.B.W.html .

Arkansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial

2009-03-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

The memorial is at the State Capital in Little Rock.

A school mate.

http://www.scguard.com/museum/docs/vietnam/1969/September1969.pdf

Arkansas Medal of Honor Recipient Memorial

2009-03-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

Below are some picture froms the Memorial at thte State Capital.
http://www.sosweb.state.ar.us/virtual_tour_02/popups/grounds/medalofhonor/medalofhonor_details.html

http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/states/ar.html

Here is a list of Native American MOH recipients (not neccessarily from Arkansas, I just like this kind of info).
http://www.homeofheroes.com/e-books/mohE_indian/list.html

Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park

2008-10-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

Of course this is at Prairie Grove, Ar. I did'nt go all the way around on the driving trail, it was a really dusty limestone gravel road and I was on my motorcycle.
I'll let most of the pics below talk for themselves and heres a few links.
http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/prairiegrovebattlefield/
http://travel.webshots.com/album/558930214wUsmDV
http://gorp.away.com/gorp/location/ar/parks/prair_gr.htm

Bronze Cannon.

The Morrow House

An old house on the property.

Siloam Springs Self Propelled Howitzer

2008-10-03T19:16:00.001-07:00

Motor Carriage M55 8-inch self-propelled howitzer (WWII), on display in front of VFW Hall along Hwy 62 in Lincoln, Ar.

A Vietnam Memorial Song

2008-09-24T05:51:00.000-07:00

This was sent to me, sung by George Jones, I thought I should post it here.
http://home.comcast.net/~singingman7/TNOTW.htm

Another email I recieved today

2008-09-21T10:32:00.001-07:00

Once again, if I get something that is meaningful in the mail and it is military related I just might post it. Heres one I thought was fantastic.

There is a huge rock near a gravel pit on Hwy.25 in rural Iowa
For generations, kids have painted slogans, names, and obscenities on this rock, changing its character many times. A few months back, the rock received its latest paint job, and since then it has been left completely undisturbed.
It's quite an impressive sight. Be sure to scroll down and check out the multiple photos. (all angles) of the rock.
I thought the flag was draped over the rock, but it's not. It's actually painted on the rock too.

Thanks to Ray "Bubba' Sorensen II for this great memorial.

To the VA

2008-09-18T18:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.veterans.arkansas.gov/

Tomorrow I go to the VA for an appointment. I hate checkups, but I do it because, come hell or high water I'm going to try and retire at 62. It might not happen, I may be 66 the way the economy is going.

Anyway, back to the VA. I've been going every six months since I got back from Desert Storm, not because I like going there. Its like Insurance, when I retire at 62, or if I do...the VA will be my only insurance. I have a service connected disability so it pays for me to go for checkups.

Why should'nt I go? Its there, its a benefit and its free. I got alot out of my time in service and this is one of the best things about being a Vet.

When I starting going to the VA in late 1991, I saw mostly older guys. Now, I see young people alot. Iraq is making a lot of Vets and alot of them are disabled.

So tonight, I'm going to eat a late meal, I was told to fast after midnight, so I'll eat at 2330 hrs.

Ft. Chaffee, Arkansas

2008-09-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

This is Ft. Chaffee's front gate. I have a picture somewhere of my Father manning it. He was an Army MP...and a Marine ....and a sailor.....not to mention his National Guard time. He was military all the way, whether he wanted to admit it or not.
http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2263

This is on the front of the Gate building.

The Barracks lined up nice and neat. I have'nt returned to the Fort since the fire earlier this year. I know many of these old barracks were burned down.
Below is a link to a video of the fire.
http://www2.arkansasonline.com/videos/2008/jan/30/1442/
Heres a link to the the News story.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_chaffeefire_080130/
Luckily Bldg. 803 where Elvis recieved his first Army haircut was spared..

These building were a fire waiting to happen.

I slept in these several times while in the National Guard. I hated the restrooms. At the end of the building was a room with toilets lined up, no privacy, none at all.
The little buildings were sometimes chow halls, orderly rooms, etc.
This is the infamous Ft. Chaffee Hospital. The birthplace of none other than, myself. Somewhere in there it all started.
Another view of the Hospital area.
And another one.
Cobra with explanation below.

M113 with explanation below.

Korat RTAFB

2008-09-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't noticed the link to the Korat site http://www.frontiernet.net/~freitag/Korat/, its in my links in the left column. I was there in 1973 for six months. It was a magical place, a place that I doubt anyone after being there could ever forget. I think of the place alot, I tried to stay in country, but the Air Force had other plans for me.
The website has tons of photos and some great videos. I just found the site a couple of days ago and was amazed at the number of pictures of Roscoe, the 388th TFW's mascot. I had no idea what happened to him until I found the site, its good to know he was able to stay a couple of years longer than I did.
Also, I've often wondered who the aircraft mechanic was that pulled the pin on the jet in the hanger which sent the seat through the roof, killing him. I was standing on the dock of my workshop looking at the hanger when it happened. I heard at the time that he was 21 years old but I never knew his name.
You can't imagine how thankful I am to the webmaster, Bob Freitag and all the contributers to his website. Even though there was a war going on, the memories are of some of the best times in my life.

Morrilton, Ar.

2008-09-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

This is the Conway County Courthouse in Morrilton. As you can see there are several monuments on the lawn. Since I started visiting these memorials, I have not seen another city with as many Monuments in one spot. A plaque for the heroes and victims of the 9-11 attack is at the Morrilton Library (see yesterdays post). Even with that said, I could not find a monument for the Persian Gulf War or the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is known as the Global War on Terror.
This is a monument to all the Armed Forces.
World War One
World War Two
The Korean War

Vietnam War.
This is a monument to Nathan G. Gordon is located one block from the court house at the Conway County Library. A Medal Of Honor recipient, Gordon was born in Morrilton. He died Sept. 9, 2008 at the age of 92. Below is a link to his story.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Green_Gordon

Another view of the lawn and monuments.

September 11, 2008

2008-09-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

A plaque beneath the flagpole at the Morrilton, Ar. Library.

I believe we owe a moment of silent rememberance to the men and women who died in the 2001 attacks and to military personnel who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of this country.
We also owe a debt of gratitude to those men and women of the United States Armed Forces and the civilians associated with those forces,who protect us and do their best to see that these kind of attacks never happen again.

I recieved this in an email today. I thought it appropriate to post here on this day.

Classrooms with no desk!?
Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a Social Studies teacher at Robinson High School in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom.
When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. Looking around, confused, they asked, 'Ms. Cothren, where're our desks?'
She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me what you have done to earn the right to sit at a desk.'
They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'
'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.'
She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'
And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period, still no desks in the classroom. By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms. Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.
The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk less classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom.
Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.
Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk.
The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall.
By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned.

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them.
It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens.
They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

This is a true story.... If you can read this - thank a teacher!
If you can read it in English - thank a soldier!
If you can understand the message - Thank God!

A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve - is someone who, at one point in their life, signed a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

Atkins, Ar.

2008-09-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

This is a large memorial along Hwy 64 in the little town of Atkins.

I found this small cannon at the Atkins Library.

Similar Tank

2008-09-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

In the last post was a pic of an M42 40mm Self-Propelled Twin Anti-Aircraft/Artillery Gun at Heber Springs. I took a picture this morning of one at VFW Post 4453 in Morrilton of another M42. I took more pictures which I'll post soon.

Anti Aircraft Tank

2008-09-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

M42 40mm Self-Propelled Twin Anti-Aircraft/Artillery Gun, Heber Springs, in front of the American Legion Hall on Park Drive.

Of course the motorcycle is what I ride and more of it can be seen at http://www.bikingarkansas.com/ .

Where else but the Military

2008-09-06T15:44:00.001-07:00

Where else but in the Military can a poor boy from Arkanas end up driving a Pinto Runabout to Alaska and stand in 30 below weather next to the Yukon River freezing his butt off and loving every minute of it?

I really liked that pinto. I could tell a horror story though. The time it got so cold one of the contacts broke off the points. It was 30 to 40 below and I had driven for two hours and seen nothing but the road in front of me. That was one of the few times in my life I felt that I just might have a problem making it to the next day.

Cpt. Michael V. Taylor

2008-09-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

Michael was a good man and a friend. We shared the same tent during the Persian Gulf War.
His helicopter was downed in Iraq on January 20, 2007. He was one of twelve killed.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/mvtaylor.htm

Six more days until the aniversary of 9-11

2008-09-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

Dardanelle, Ark. (Yell County)

2008-09-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

Yell County has two County Seats, the other is Danville (I'll gets pics from there later).
The first three pics are from the Veterans Park along the Arkansas River in the old part of town.

These next two are from the Dardanelle Courthouse and includes a memorial to Civil War Vets. There is a small monument in front of the Courthouse also, I'll have to get that pic later on.

Clarksville, Ark. (Johnson County)

2008-09-05T21:32:00.000-07:00

This is a large memorial with a four sided monument under the gazebo and another monument outside. If you'll look closely below Korea and Vietnam you'll see Grenada/Marlin Roy Maynard. Marlin was killed in the invasion of Grenada. I worked with his father Hershal Maynard.

I'll get some better pics of this memorial later to include the other wars.

Yellville, Arkansas (Marion County)

2008-09-05T21:28:00.001-07:00

This is at the Marion County Court House in Yellville.

Berryville, Arkansas (Carroll County)

2008-09-05T21:18:00.001-07:00

This is a nice memorial. The center of Berryville has a park with water fountains, picnic tables and these monuments.

Flag Rock

2008-09-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

This rock is along Highway 16 West of Clinton, Arkansas. I believe it speaks for itself.

Military Memorials / History of Arkansas

2008-09-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

I'm going to start this blog soon. If anyone out there would like to participate, let me know and see about putting you on the Authors list. If you've been in the military and have alot of pictures and stories that would be great.

Remember though, this is not a gun nut blog or a hate log, this is a memorial to all those that have given their time, health, limbs, sanity and possibly their life for this country. Personally I feel the only part of my life that has been more important to me is being a father to my children.

Let's honor those who deserve honor.