US Army Ranger School Adds Bayonet Assault Course

The last US military bayonet charge was led by the late US Army Col. Lewis L. Millett (Ret.). He received the Medal of Honor during the Korean War for leading Company E, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, in a bayonet charge up Hill 180 near Soam-Ni, Korea on 7 Feb 1951: Medal of Honor Winner

The US Army also recently reopened its Jungle Warfare Training Center in Panama. The Defense Department is truly reverting back to the 1947 Dept of War. The trillions of dollars spent on warfare and wasteful contracts guarantees there will be no funds for universal healthcare for Americans, as enjoyed by the residents of Israel, Germany, Canada, Cuba, Iran, Taiwan, Greenland, tiny Albania, and in 2027, Mexico.

A WW1 bayonet instructor I knew loved the nickname infantry troops bestowed on him: Bucket of Blood. No bucket, no blood, he'd laugh, just "the act ... the patter." Ironically, he never got to the front.

Last century I knew a British WWI veteran who survived the trenches.

He told us for entertainment the soldiers would arrange battles between corpse rats (rodents that grew in size by eating human flesh) and cats.

The rats were huge and I can't recall how the poor kitties fared against them.

Human nature doesn't change.

During the first Gulf War, soldiers pitted desert scorpions against goliath beetles for entertainment.

Their Ipads run out of juice?

I was stranded on I-95 between Savannah and Jacksonville one time at night, courtesy of a rented U-Haul with a wonky gas gauge. Started walking down the shoulder with my friend, stepping over carcasses of god knows what in an unlit stretch of highway.

I told my friend, a former Army Ranger, that I was never so happy to be with someone who could kill with his bare hands.

I am an American veteran, and yeah, I do mourn the fact that American fascism is on the march, in training grounds, and certainly in the minds of people like Hegseth and Trump. We are murdering at will across the world, and no one has the will, or the military to stop us. All I have is my tiny vote, and if still alive will cast that tiny vote against the Republican Fascist Trump Party.
Wonder how many Cubans we will kill soon, how many more Iranians we will murder in order to steal their oil for Netanyahu.

Hugh Mass: I hope the VA cuts don't affect you. My friend attends a facility that is getting axed and he already drove a long distance to get there.

Note that our oldest son, when he was in Army infantry boot camp in 1989, was taught how to use a bayonet as an offensive weapon.

OCU

At my boot camp ours was called the "John Wayne Bayonet Assault Course," but I don't recall in which film "the Duke" barked out: "Fix bay-o-Nets!"

#9 Try as I might, Coriolanus, I cannot find that specific John Wayne movie (and, damn I do remember it!), but here's one from 1993's Gettysburg that was unforgettable, too...

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www.google.com

Maybe?

www.naplesnews.com

my old hometown newspaper... which once carried a story about a famous comedienne who once told a joke about how all the old people don't live in Naples... all the old people live in Sarasota.

Their parents live in Naples.

#11 Thanks, Corky. You're good people.

Thanks, Corky, that's the film then. I hadn't seen The Green Berets in years.

Last century when I was a NYC college student and playing music on the side, I also worked as a security guard on a night shift. This was a great time to read and write papers. I also did my PT (push-ups and sit-ups and went up and down the stairs) because I was also a US Army Reservist and needed to stay fit.

One night, the HVAC maintenance fellow came upon me when I doing my PUs. An elderly fellow with a nice face and slight paunch, he said: "Not bad, son," checking out my form and crew-cut hair. (Yeah, this drummer had to cut his Flock of Seagulls tresses for Uncle Sam).

I gets up off the floor, knock the dust off and says "thanks" as I catch my breath.

"You want a hear an interesting story?" 'JR' asks me.

Being that it's the night shift and he's a good guy, I am all ears and not disinclined for company, so I heartily agree.

'JR' then proceeds to relate this story to me, as follows:

"Back in 1962, I was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. One morning during a company formation, the commander put us all at ease and said some NCOs had an announcement for us.

I peered around the soldiers in front of me and saw three NCOs with shiny EIBs or CIBs, and jump wings and Ranger tabs, and wearing funny colored berets.

"Good morning! We are looking for volunteers. Special volunteers. If you speak another language, or are scuba-diver qualified, or practice a martial art, we have a challenging assignment for you!"

Heads turned left and right and whispers and mumbling of curiosity went through the company.

A hand here or there cautiously went up.

Then I thought, I just earned my Black Belt in Shotokan Karate, and that's what these NCOs in the strange-looking berets are looking for.

So, I put up my hand too.

After the formation, the handful of us who volunteered were then interviewed by these commandos.

Within a few days, I was one of the first Green Berets in the US Army."