Americans are brave

This was delivered to a TEA party gathering in  June 2010. The speech ran too long, so I left out the Naval battle, but I put it back in here, as it is one of the most valorous fights in WW II - a  destroyer going up against the largest Japanese battleship as well as heavy cruisers, to protect CVE's - escort carriers.

Roy Horsey

American Character – Bravery

Our current administration thinks Americans are dependent, foolish, and simply not very smart. Administration Liberals don’t seem to know what it means to be American – but we know, even if we always can’t immediately put it into words. The concepts of Bravery, Valor, Honor, Honesty, Truth, Justice, and Freedom are not even in their lexicon. I want to focus on just one characteristic right now – American bravery.

As I read history, I come across countless examples of American valor and bravery. I have selected four to tell you about. The first is from the Revolutionary War ( Taken from The First American Army, by Bruce Chadwick).

John Greenwood,15, enlisted as a fifer in the 12th Massachusetts Regiment in June 1775, and was at the battle of Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston. “The British were constantly sending bombs at us,” wrote Greenwood, “and sometimes two to six at a time could be seen in the air overhead, looking like moving stars in the heavens. The shells were mostly 13 inches in diameter, and it was astonishing how high they could send such heavy things.” Once, a British shell arced through the night sky and landed right in front of a building housing Greenwood and about 200 other men. One of Greenwood’s teenaged friends in his company, Private Shubael Rament, 17, saw it coming through the air. He raced from the door of the building into the yard, stopping it as it rolled along the ground, and managed to pull the fuse out before it went off, saving the lives of the men inside.

Skipping over the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, we come to the Civil War. The Civil War was our most terrible war, hard-fought, because there were American boys on both sides, who had flocked to the colors of their States.

My second example is the story of the First Maine Heavy Artillery, at Petersburg, Virginia. ( Taken from The Maine Bugle, 1894 ) Recruited in the Penobscot Valley as the 18th Maine, The regiment, re-designated 1st Maine Heavy Artillery, was assigned to the defenses of Washington manning the heavy guns. In 1864 a number of heavy artillery regiments were re-equipped as infantry. They had one serious battle at Spotsylvania Court House, suffering about 400 casualties, so they were not green when they were called to attack at Petersburg on the 18th of June 1864. Here is Joel Brown, Co. I: “… about ten or fifteen hundred yards across an open field having a little rise and a cover of corn stubble were the rebel works, bristling with artillery, still as death, awaiting our onslaught. …our old Colonel, who was I believe, the coolest man it would be possible to find, took his station as on dress parade, … and then put us through the manual of arms as quietly as though we were still in the defenses of Washington, and all the while bullets from the sharpshooters humming about his ears like bees. Then came the word “Forward, Double Quick, Charge,” and with a wild cheer which seemed to me more like the bitter cry wrung out in a death agony we sprang forward. I saw the works plainly before me. I saw the blinding flash of red flame run along the crest of those works and heard the deafening crash as the awful work began; then the air seemed filled with all the sounds it was possible for it to contain, the hiss of the deadly Minie, the scream of the shell, the crackle, crash, and roar of every conceivable missile, and through it all the red blaze along the crest of that work which we must cross, as we, with bowed heads, breasted the storm. … I looked to right, to left, and found that I was almost alone; we were turning back…how I ever got back, I cannot tell… I remember well that the first thing I heard as I came into the road was this greeting from the rest of the Corps, “Didn’t you fellows know better than to go in there?” “History says that Gen. Birney massed the Second Corps and made a desperate charge that day. So he did, but it was the First Maine Heavy Artillery that made the charge alone. The rest of the corps never crossed the sunken road. I went up the road towards the left to where the Colonel was, just as Gen. Birney rode up, and heard him say “Colonel Chaplin, where are your men?” I shall never forget his answer: “There they are, out on that field where your tried veterans dared not go. Here, you can take my sword; I have no use for it now;” and the old hero sat down in the road and cried like a child. …Out of the nine hundred men of the regiment about seven hundred had fallen. … I had a bullet through my cap cutting off a lock of hair close to the skin, one took off the heel of my shoe, two went through my canteen, one cut the bayonet scabbard in two, and one went through the left sleeve of my blouse leaving a small splinter in my arm, where it is yet.” Joel Brown’s Company I numbered 150 at Spotsylvania, 75 at Petersburg, and 7 after the charge.

Skipping over the War with Spain and the First World War, we come to my third example, from World War Two, the story of the destroyer USS Johnston, DD-557. ( Taken from Blood on the Sea, by Robert S. Parkin ) Her captain was Commander Earnest Evans, an Oklahoman of Cherokee descent. In Leyte Gulf in the Philippines, the Johnston was part of the screen for Admiral Sprague’s six escort carriers. On October 25th , 1944 Japanese battleships, heavy cruisers, and destroyers attacked. Commander Evans drove his destroyer headlong into the mouths of the battleships’ 14-inch guns, trailing a heavy, black smoke screen in her wake. Johnston opened her 5-inch battery on the nearest cruiser, scoring damaging hits. In 5 furious minutes Johnston pumped 200 rounds at the enemy, then Comdr. Evans ordered, "Fire torpedoes !" The destroyer got off 10 torpedoes then whipped around to retire behind her heavy smoke screen. When she came out of the smoke a minute later, Japanese cruiser Kumano could be seen burning furiously from torpedo hits. Kumano later sank. But Johnston took three 14-inch shell hits from a battleship followed closely by three 6-inch shells from a light cruiser: Lt. Kagen, gunnery officer - "It was like a puppy being smacked by a truck. The hits resulted in the loss of all power to the steering engine, all power to the three 5-inch guns in the after part of the ship…." At 7:50 a.m., Admiral Sprague ordered destroyers to make a torpedo attack. Now there was so much smoke that Evans ordered no firing unless the gunnery officer could see the ship. Lt. Kagen: "At 8:20, there suddenly appeared out of the smoke a 30,000-ton Kongo-class battleship, only 7,000 yards off our port beam. I took one look at the unmistakable pagoda mast, muttered, 'I sure as hell can see that!" and opened fire. In 40 seconds we got off 30 rounds, at least 15 of which hit the pagoda superstructure.... The battleship belched a few 14-inchers at us, but, thank God, registered only clean misses." Johnston soon observed Gambier Bay (CVE-73) under fire from a cruiser: "Comdr. Evans then gave me the most courageous order I've ever heard: “Commence firing on that cruiser, draw her fire on us and away from Gambier Bay." Johnston scored four hits in a deliberate slugging match with a heavy cruiser, then the Japanese destroyer squadron was closing rapidly ... Johnston outfought the entire Japanese destroyer squadron, concentrating on the lead ship until the enemy quit cold, then concentrated on the second destroyer until the remaining enemy units broke off to get out of effective gun range before launching torpedoes, all of which went wild. Johnston took a hit …. Her bridge untenable, Evans shifted his command to Johnston's fantail, yelling orders through an open hatch to men turning her rudder by hand. At her one remaining 5-inch battery a Texan gun captain kept calling "More shells! More shells!" Still the destroyer battled desperately to keep the Japanese destroyers and cruisers from reaching the five surviving American carriers: Lt. Kagen: "We were now in a position where all the gallantry and guts in the world couldn't save us, but we figured that help for the carrier must be on the way, and every minute's delay might count.... By 9:30 we were going dead in the water; even the Japanese couldn't miss us. They made a sort of running semicircle around our ship, shooting at us like a bunch of Indians attacking a prairie schooner. Our lone engine and fire room was knocked out; we lost all power, and even the indomitable skipper knew we were finished. At 9:45 he gave the saddest order a captain can give: 'Abandon Ship.'... At 10:10 Johnston rolled over and began to sink. A Japanese destroyer came up to 1,000 yards and pumped a final shot into her to make sure she went down. A survivor saw the Japanese captain salute her as she went down. That was the end of Johnston."
From Johnston's complement of 327, only 141 were saved. 92 men, including Comdr. Evans, were alive in the water after Johnston sank, but were never heard from again.

My fourth example of bravery is recent – we are skipping the Korean War, the Viet Nam War, The Gulf War, and are going to hear a citation for the Silver Star, our third-highest medal for valor, in the War on Terror presently ongoing, for a soldier from Wiscasset, Maine.

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Andrew R. Small, Private First Class, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in Afghanistan, on 11 August 2006. On that date, PFC Small was attached to the lead element of a 22-man platoon on patrol in the mountains of Nuristan, Afghanistan….the enemy ambushed the Americans… Three Americans were killed immediately and the remainder of the platoon was pinned down under enemy fire. PFC Small was the sixth man in an extremely tight trail. …. The only cover available was to hug the side of the mountain… His team leader, Sergeant Smallwood, was then hit by an RPG, which seriously wounded him and left him exposed to enemy fire. PFC Small exposed himself and laid down suppressive fire against the well-fortified enemy position. By doing this, he drew fire to his own position, but he refused to seek cover. The action allowed his team leader to drag himself over a cliff to cover. … the enemy launched another barrage of rocket-propelled grenades into PFC Small’s position. This volley severely injured two soldiers who later succumbed to their wounds and struck PFC Small in the back with shrapnel. Even though PFC Small was wounded he got back up and continued to lay down suppressive fire, refusing to seek cover or medical aid until he was able to facilitate the maneuver of his squad out of the kill zone. PFC Small continued to engage and be engaged by the enemy who outnumbered him seven to one. This allowed the rest of the platoon and close air support to suppress and kill the enemy. When the patrol leader was able to move up to PFC Small’s position, he found him lying in the trail, weapon in his hands, oriented toward the enemy and out of ammunition.

There are my four examples of American bravery: Private Shubael Rament, 1775; the First Maine Heavy Artillery, 1864; the USS Johnston, 1944, and Private First Class Andrew Small, 2006. Ladies and gentlemen, Americans are brave and valorous beyond measure, and it is necessary to know and remember this. Thank you for your attention.