Wednesday, July 28, 2010

BLUEGHOST REUNION 2010


John "Doc" Anderson (L)
Richard "Gus" Gustafson(R)

Orlando, FL reunion by Blueghost737, Carter Davis.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Nick Bacon

Vietnam MoH recipient Nick Bacon, 64, dies


The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jul 20, 2010 8:27:28 EDT

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Medal of Honor recipient and former director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs Nick Bacon has died, the department said Saturday.

Bacon, 64, died Saturday morning after suffering from cancer, according to a release from the department. He served in the Army from 1963-84 and received the Medal of Honor for his actions during a 1968 battle in Vietnam.

Gov. Mike Beebe called Bacon an “American hero.”

“He never wanted anything for himself, but always wanted to protect other people in uniform. Arkansas will miss him,” Beebe told reporters Saturday.

According to the Army’s website, Bacon, a staff sergeant, took command of two platoons after the leaders of each were wounded during a battle near Tam Ky, Vietnam, on Aug. 26, 1968.

Bacon, using grenades, destroyed an enemy bunker before single-handedly killing an enemy gun crew and disabling an anti-tank weapon. He then helped rescue several wounded and trapped soldiers, according to the website’s account.

He served as director of the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs from 1993 to 2005.

Bacon was born Nov. 25, 1945, in Caraway in northeast Arkansas and moved with his family as a child to Arizona, where he joined the Army.

He returned to Arkansas in 1990 and most recently lived in Rose Bud, about 65 miles north of Little Rock.

Funeral services are planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock.

Related reading

Read Nick Bacon’s Medal of Honor citation

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Blue Ghosts 1967-68

  These are the original Blue Ghosts that were constituted as Troop C, 7/17 Cavalry at Fort Knox, Ky. in 1967 and deployed as a unit to RVN in October of that year.  These men remained together as a combat unit from early 1967 until late 1968. It has been said that the primary reason for the great record of this unit was the fact that it remained virtually intact for almost two years.

"We were so lucky to have been deployed as a unit. I have often thought what that did for us in building bonds. Most of the WO pilots had been together for almost 18 months before we set foot in Qui Nhon and the enlisted and RLO's had been a unit for at least a period of months. The Army learned that you don't fight for your country or your flag - you fight for the guy next to you and they abandoned individual rotations in the '80's. But we knew it in '67 and proved it repeatedly."  Quote from John Shepardson, Blue Ghost 1967-68.