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Otto Warmbier Dies One Week After Being Released From North Korea

Just a week after being released by North Korea, 22-year old Otto Warmbier has died. His death is still a mystery although it is believed he received trauma at the hands of his North Korean captors.

He was arrested in 2016 after traveling to North Korea and attempted to steal a propaganda poster. He was released last week in a state of what doctors called “unresponsive wakefulness.”

The doctors who treated Warmbier said they had agreed not to speak about his outlook, but they had said he did not require help breathing.
The Warmbier family did not say how Otto died.
“We would like to thank the wonderful professionals at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center who did everything they could for Otto. Unfortunately, the awful torturous mistreatment our son received at the hands of the North Koreans ensured that no other outcome was possible beyond the sad one we experienced today,” the family said in their statement.
“It would be easy at a moment like this to focus on all that we lost — future time that won’t be spent with a warm, engaging, brilliant young man whose curiosity and enthusiasm for life knew no bounds,” the family added.
“You can tell from the outpouring of emotion from the communities that he touched — Wyoming, Ohio and the University of Virginia to name just two — that the love for Otto went well beyond his immediate family.”
Warmbier, a student at the University of Virginia, was detained in Pyongyang in January 2016 while on a tourist trip to North Korea. He was charged with committing a hostile act against the government after officials said he had tried to steal a propaganda banner from a hotel. After a one-hour trial, he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years’ hard labor.
Warmbier’s father, Fred, said his son was “brutalized” by the North Koreans.
In their statement, the family said that “when Otto returned to Cincinnati late on June 13th he was unable to speak, unable to see and unable to react to verbal commands.”
“He looked very uncomfortable — almost anguished. Although we would never hear his voice again, within a day the countenance of his face changed — he was at peace,” they said. “He was home and we believe he could sense that.”

President Trump didn’t mince words in his comments to the family on the loss of their son and about the rogue regime in Pyongyang.

“Melania and I offer our deepest condolences to the family of Otto Warmbier on his untimely passing,” President Donald Trump said in a statement. “There is nothing more tragic for a parent than to lose a child in the prime of life.

“Otto’s fate deepens my Administration’s determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people at the hands of regimes that do not respect the rule of law or basic human decency,” the president said. “The United States once again condemns the brutality of the North Korean regime as we mourn its latest victim.”

The entire article and interview from NBC News can be found here:

Featured photo: CNN

King Phillip’s War, The First War Against Native Americans in New England

The first Pilgrims came to Massachusetts Bay Colony in Plymouth in 1620. They lost nearly half of their number to sickness and starvation in the first winter. The Pokanoket people (an indigenous people of the Wampanoag Tribe) felt sympathy for the Pilgrims’ and helped them, showing them how to and what to plant in the New World. Although they were the native people mythicized in the first Thanksgiving feast, they, in fact, broke no bread with the English settlers.

Fifty-five years later, they’d go to war with the English and attack over half the towns in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Pokanoket would get progressively more upset with the influx of English settlers in the ensuing years, that they’d go to war with them.

At the cessation of hostilities, the Pokanoket people would refuse to sign the Treat of Casco in 1678. The first shots were fired in King Phillip’s War on this day in June 1675.

The Wampanoag chief, Metacomet had adopted an English name, Phillip because his father had been on good relations with the English since the Mayflower days. But tensions had been steadily rising as the native Americans were being steadily pushed out of their ancestral lands.

But things began to unravel quickly. Metacomet had succeeded his older brother Wamsutta, also known as Alexander by the English. Wamsutta had sold part of Wampanoag land in what is now Rhode Island to Roger Williams. The colonists in Plymouth were outraged and passed a law forbidding any trading with the Wampanoag and briefly arrested Wamsutta. However, the Wampanoag lived outside of the English colony and therefore, they exerted no rights over them.

In 1671, the latest treaty with the English, signed at Taunton, forced the Metacomet and the Wampanoag to give up their guns.

Metacomet/Phillip referred to as King Phillip by the English, as they considered the Native American chiefs as kings, couldn’t restrain his people much longer and began to conspire with Algonquin tribes to the west against the English at Plymouth.

The English dragged Metacomet before a Plymouth tribunal and although having no proof, threatened the Wampanoag with the loss of their lands and guns if they found any further evidence of conspiring against them. The Wampanoag interpreter John Sassamon was a convert to Christianity. He was an early graduate of Harvard and it was he who told the English governor of the plot with the Algonquin.

Not long after, Sassamon was found dead next to a nearby pond. When English officials in Plymouth charged and hanged three Wampanoag for the murder of Sassamon on June 6, it ignited the powder keg.

The war started on June 20, 1675, when members of the Pokanoket attacked several homesteads in the small Plymouth colony settlement of Swansea. Surrounding the small town, five days later, they attacked in force and destroyed it.

The English mobilized the militia from Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies and burned the Wampanoag village of Mount Hope (present day Bristol, Rhode Island). Other native American tribes soon joined the fray, the Podunk and Nipmuc tribes joined Metacomet and the Wampanoags.

The English militia had about 16,000 eligible men available during this time. Generally, they were poorly trained. Leaders were elected from the rolls of the troops. Mostly they fared poorly against the Indians except in cases where they were fortified with members of the friendly Indian tribes acting as advisors and scouts in fighting a war they were ill-equipped and trained for.

The Indians began a series of attacks across Massachusetts. During the bloody summer of 1675, they attacked Middleborough and Dartmouth, Mendon, Brookfield, and Lancaster. In early September, they attacked the towns of Deerfield, Hadley, and Northfield.

During a two-day siege of Brookfield, Indians ambushed a company of militia killed eight soldiers before being driven off with the arrival of fresh troops. The English sent an 80-man company of militia along with 17 teamsters to recover crops along the Connecticut for the winter.

The Nipmuc chief Muttawmp ambushed the wagon train, killing 40 of the militia and 17 teamsters before laying siege to Springfield. Most of the town, the largest in the Connecticut River colony, was burned to the ground.

During the winter of 1675-76, about 1000 militia laid waste to a series of Narragansett Indian villages in the area of South Kingston, Rhode Island killing 600 of the Native Americans. The militia lost 70 of their own with 150 wounded.

The Indians however regrouped and attacked Andover, Bridgewater, Chelmsford, Groton, Lancaster, Marlborough, Medfield, Medford, Portland, Providence, Rehoboth, Scituate, Seekonk, Suffield, Simsbury, Sudbury, Warwick, Weymouth, and Wrentham, including modern-day Norfolk and Plainville.

Lancaster was the scene of a slaughter of 30 colonists during a siege there. With the burning of the Providence and Warwick settlements, the colonists combined their citizens into the Newport and Portsmouth.

The Mohawk, from present day New York, traditional enemies of the Wampanoag began attacking their villages in the western part of Massachusetts. Many of Metacomet’s native American allies began to desert him and 400 surrendered to the English in July 1676.

Before the war ended, the colonists in New England lost nearly 8 percent of the adult male population which was a tremendous loss of life. Losses for the Indians were far worse. Over 2000 men were killed, with another 3000 dying of sickness, disease, and starvation with 1000 either forcibly moved or sold into slavery.

The war in New England reduced the native American population in the area by 40 to 80 percent. In the north, the war would drag on for decades as the northern tribes became allied with the French in Canada and become hostile to the English.

Six more wars would be fought with the Indian tribes in the next 75 years in the region. The colonists, until this time ignored by the Crown in London, began to develop more interest as the English government sought to capitalize monetarily on the plucky colonists who built and defended a new area on their own. The English established the Anglican Church in Boston in 1686 and ended the Puritan monopoly on religion in the new world. The exploitation would continue for another 90 years until the colonists rejected the English rule for good in 1776.

Illustration courtesy of Brittanica

US F-18 Shoots Down Syrian SU-22 After It Attacks SDF Troops

The Pentagon has reported that a US Navy F-18 fighter plane has shot down a Syrian SU-22 ground attack aircraft after the Syrian pilot attacked SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) on Sunday. The US-led SDF have been advised by US Special Operations forces, however, it isn’t known if any US troops were present when attacked by the Syrian jet.

The US has sought to avoid direct conflict with the Syrian forces of embattled President Assad, focusing instead on battling and removing the Islamist State (IS) forces. Once the Syrian pilot ignored warnings to turn away, however, it was quickly shot down.

The U.S.-led coalition also contacted their Russian counterparts in an effort to warn the pro-Assad forces to refrain from attacking the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The Syrians appeared to ignore the request and a Syrian SU-22 dropped bombs on the SDF fighters. The Syrian plane was immediately shot down by a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet.
The U.S. military has said it does not want to engage in a conflict with the Assad regime and is focused on defeating the Islamic State. But the U.S. military said it would defend U.S.-backed forces when necessary.
“The coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend coalition or partner forces from any threat,” the U.S. military said in a statement.
Iran and Russia are supporting the Assad regime and has deployed forces in Syria.
The U.S. military has several hundred advisers operating with Syrian Democratic Forces, which it is also supplying the organization with weapons and equipment.

After the downing of the Russian-made SU-22 north of Raqqa around the city of Tabqah, the Russian military has stated that they will treat any US or coalition aircraft operating west of the Euphrates River as targets.

“Any aircraft, including planes and drones belonging to the international coalition operating west of the Euphrates River, will be tracked by Russian anti-aircraft forces in the sky and on the ground and treated as targets,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said in a statement Monday

To read the entire article from the USA Today click here:

Photo courtesy US Navy

London Suffers Another Attack, Van Rams Muslim Worshipers

The British have suffered another terrorist incident, this time a driver of a van ran down a large group of Muslim worshippers as they left midnight Ramadan prayers at a London mosque.

The attack, which took place early Monday morning left one person dead and at least 10 others injured, eight of which were still in the hospital today. The attacker was described as a white man, 48 years old. He was tackled by onlookers and held until police arrived just moments later.

The attack has left London’s Muslim community scared and angry at both police and first responders for what many called a slow response time.
Ahmed Shakair, 25, left prayers at the nearby Muslim welfare center and witnessed a vehicle mounting the sidewalk with all four of its wheels.
He said there had been prayers for the Grenfell Tower victims before worshippers broke off to eat. “I came out … and started walking away when I heard screaming,” he said. “I saw a white van hurtling along at 40-50 miles an hour then it swerved onto the [sidewalk] … and smashed into a group.
Shakair added: “Remember there were 400-500 people on the street coming out at the end of prayers. So there were lots of people around.”
He recounted seeing “bodies all over the ground.”
Omar said it had been “an attack on Muslims practicing religion” — and one which occurred during the holy month of Ramadan.
“We have been warning that this would happen, that it is dangerous for Muslims because of far-right terrorism, but not enough has been done about it,” he said. “We’re not safe in our own community. If this was an affluent area then maybe the politicians, the authorities, they would care more. But this is a Muslim area, a mixed area. It is like what happened with the fire — people get ignored because they are poor.”
Many expressed similar sentiments, claiming that officials and local media had been slower to label the incident terrorism in comparison to recent attacks. However, Prime Minister Theresa May later said it had been declared a terrorist attack by police after only eight minutes.
Ahmed Kaballo, 28, said: “I am angry at the police response. It would have been different had the terrorist looked Muslim.”
Abdul Abdullah, 16, who regularly attends the nearby Finsbury Park Mosque, said there was “a lot of confusion and anger” in the area.
“I could see police here really quickly,” he said, but added that it felt like victims were “treated in the street for ages until ambulances came.”
Officials said it took 14 minutes for the first ambulance to arrive. The service aims to arrive at 75 percent of its serious call-outs within 8 minutes.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the attack was a clear example that “terrorism, extremism and hatred take many forms” and that the suspect’s goal was the same as those who wield violence against civilians in the name of Islam; “to drive us apart.”

“We will not let this happen,” May said.

To read the entire article from the NBC News click here:

Photo courtesy Reuters

Iraqi Christians Caught in US Deportation Face “Death Sentence” in Iraq

The crackdowns on illegal immigrants in the United States has taken a toll on the Christian community from Iraq. While the US is rounding up many of the illegals for deportation, a call is going out to stop the deportations of this particular group as they face as their advocates call a “death sentence” if they are returned to Iraq.

The Chaldean community in Detroit has been hard hit by the roundup. Detroit has been a hub for Iraqis immigrating to the United States and the Christian community is very big there.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) arrested more than 200 Iraqi nationals over the weekend who have been the subject of deportation orders following criminal convictions or pending criminal charges.
One hundred and fourteen people were detained in Detroit alone, most of whom are members of Iraq’s Chaldean minority – which, like other Christian groups, has been targeted for persecution by Islamic State and other jihadist groups.
Najah Konja, 55, who was arrested in Detroit on Sunday morning, immigrated to the US with his family in 1977. No other relatives remain in Iraq, according to his brother, Shoki “Steve” Konja.
“What is he going to do there?” Steve Konja, a US citizen, told the Guardian. “Basically, they are sentencing him to death.”
Konja said his brother does not speak Arabic, and that the last member of their family to leave Iraq was kidnapped twice and held for ransom because of his relatives in the US. “The government of Iraq cannot protect and defend its own citizens – let alone a bunch of Christians coming from the US,” Konja said.
These concerns were echoed by advocates including the Minority Humanitarian Foundation (MHF), which provides aid to Iraqi minorities. MHF planned to file a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union to stop the deportation of Chaldeans to Iraq.
“Donald Trump has essentially given these Christians a death sentence,” said MHF founder and president, Mark Arabo.
Ice spokeswoman Gillian Christensen said an “overwhelming majority” of those arrested were convicted for crimes including “homicide, rape, aggravated assault, kidnapping, burglary, drug trafficking, robbery, sex assault, weapons violations and other offenses”.
In Detroit, Christensen said the operation “was specifically conducted to address the very real public safety threat represented by the criminal aliens arrested”.
But community advocates scoffed at that claim, arguing many of the charges were handed down decades ago and those convicted had served their sentences for the crimes.

It is curious that the two groups of Iraqis hardest hit by the roundup by ICE are the Christians in Detroit and the Kurds in Nashville. Neither would fare well if forced back to the country of their birth. Some of the immigrants have been here decades and have turned their lives around. But face deportation for criminal offenses committed and paid for years ago.

To read the entire article from the Guardian, click here:

Photo courtesy AP

Port Terminal in Charleston Shut Down by One Phone Call…From Ohio

The Wando Terminal in Mt. Pleasant, SC part of the ports of Charleston was shut down on Wednesday night after a phone call to authorities from Ohio said there was a dirty bomb in a container in the terminal.

According to LT J.B. Zorn, at approximately 8 p.m. a caller stated that a “dirty bomb” (an explosive filled with radioactive material) was located inside of four containers in the Maersk Memphis. This caused evacuation of the terminal and until Thursday morning while authorities searched for any trace of explosives.

The caller was arrested on unrelated charges and may still face
The supposed plot was also outlined in a series of YouTube videos posted Wednesday.
The terminal was evacuated until early Thursday when the containers were scanned and declared safe.
Zorn and other Coast Guard officials at first said the caller was detained for questioning, but declined to discuss the matter further or provide more information on the man’s identity, citing the ongoing investigation.
The videos show two men, known for pushing far-right conspiracy theories, discussing the possibility of a threat on the Memphis. George Webb and Jason Goodman have racked up millions of views on YouTube discussing what they describe as political corruption.
In the video, Webb said he was told about a plot targeting Memphis, Tenn., before saying it might involve a ship by the same name.
Lt. Cmdr. Ryan Kelly, a Coast Guard spokesman based in Miami, said the man who reported the threat was detained by local authorities in Zanesville, Ohio on unrelated charges. A Zanesville Police Department jail officer confirmed to The Post and Courier a man named George Webb was arrested Wednesday night and granted $3,500 bail. The officer said she could not release further information, including what Webb was charged with and whether Webb was connected to the threat at the Port of Charleston.
Several other calls to Zanesville police officials were not returned. Other authorities could not release further information on the investigation.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent Donald Wood said he could not disclose much related to the investigation but did say “nobody was detained or arrested based on federal violations, or by the FBI” in connection with the threat.
Wood emphasized the investigation is ongoing.

The State Port Authority (SPA) said that although one shift was missed, the work was made up the following morning. It does set, however, a bad precedent for the parts of society that see an opportunity to make a political statement, regardless of the cost.

To read the entire article from the Post and Courier, click here:

Photo courtesy AP

Battle of Bunker Hill, June 16-17, 1775, America’s Independence is Born

The beginning of the Revolutionary War and America’s independence from England was simmering in New England in June of 1775. The Battles of Lexington and Concord had occurred just two months prior in April and the British were trying to break out of the city of Boston. General George Washington was on his way from New York at the time as the new head of the Continental Army but arrived too late before the battle was completed. But the clash would essentially pit the might of the British Empire against the Continental Army for the first time in a major battle.

While the Americans technically lost the battle and were forced off the heights in Charlestown, right next to Boston they showed the British that this was going to be a long, protracted war and their will to fight the mightiest army in the world was real. It was also the bloodiest engagement the British suffered in terms of officers lost in the war.

They under-estimated the plucky Colonials whom they thought of as rabble and the direct assault on the high ground of Charlestown would be the last time they would attempt that in the war. This was a story that every school in Massachusetts would teach but has sadly faded into an obscure footnote of our history.

The British Plan: British troops had been bottled up in Boston since Lexington and Concord. General Thomas Gage had been requesting reinforcements for his troops and they began arriving bring his force close to 6000 strong. Gage’s plan called for the British troops to take Dorchester Neck and once they reinforced the high ground on Dorchester Heights, the infantry would push the Colonials out of Roxbury. Then the British would turn their attention to heights in Charlestown. The attack was to begin on June 18.

Colonial spies found out about the plan and alerted the military and civilian leaders in New Hampshire. On June 15, General Ward ordered General Israel Putnam to set up defenses on the Charlestown Heights, specifically Bunker Hill.

On the evening of June 16^th, the Colonials under the command of Col. William Prescott led 1200 troops onto the peninsula where they could set up artillery to bear fire on the city of Boston. Prescott’s Engineer CPT Richard Gridley advised Prescott not to fortify Bunker Hill but the smaller Breed’s Hill which was more defensible. It was also closer to Boston.

The British could see the work being done on Breed’s Hill and shelled the colonists with 128 guns from the HMS Somerset and Lively as well as from Copp’s Hill in Boston but with little effect.

Opening Moves: British General Henry Clinton wanted to advance immediately through Charlestown Neck, cutting off any hope of retreat for the Colonials, but his idea was shot down by the other generals in part due to overconfidence and a bit of arrogance. Generals Thomas Burgoyne and William Howe wanted a frontal assault up the hill and thought the “rabble” of Colonials on the heights would be no match for their trained troops.

The British arriving on shore from longboats took nearly six hours to land 1500 troops of Howe’s on the eastern tip of the peninsula. He was reinforced with more troops of General Robert Pigot who, on the left flank would lead the direct assault on top of the hill. Howe, being cautious waited for Pigot’s men before beginning the assault lost an opportunity to flank the forces on Breed’s Hill, but while he was waiting for more longboats, it allowed the Colonials to place reinforcements of the 1^st and 3^rd New Hampshire on the northern flank under the command of Colonels John Stark and James Reed.

The Colonials behind the scenes were a tangled mess of confusion. Orders were mixed up or directly ignored. Some units didn’t cross into Charlestown as ordered and others milled around Bunker Hill in utter confusion.

First British Attack at 3 p.m.: The troops of General Howe, now numbering close to 2400 were finally ready by three in the afternoon and began their march. Pigot’s forces were receiving sniper fire from Charleston and incendiary fire from offshore set fire to the town. Pigot was to feint a frontal assault and draw some of the forces away from the flank.

Prescott, in an effort to conserve the Americans’ limited supply of ammunition, reportedly told his men, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes!” And he’d forever live in history as one of the first American heroes.

Howe then attempted to turn the Colonials left flank, he led his force of light infantry and grenadiers along the narrow beach and ran straight into the two New Hampshire regiments that had only just occupied their positions. But the New Hampshire men held the higher ground and had a bit of cover behind a fence which also was used to steady their aim. The Colonials put devastating fire on Howe’s troops and forced them into retreat, with heavy casualties.

Second British Assault: The British quickly reformed and hit the Colonials again. This time Pigot’s forces attempted a frontal assault on the hill where the Americans were dug in with good cover with a trench that they were able to stand in with good fields of fire. Howe’s troops moved along the rail fence instead of the beach attempting to envelop the men on Breed’s Hill.

Once again, the American militia held firm. Pigot’s men were forced back down the hill with heavy casualties. Howe’s troops fared even worse the second time with some companies sustaining nearly 90 percent casualties. Losses of the officers in the British assault was extremely high. The British were forced to retreat a second time.

But the Americans’ lack of a cohesive chain of command stopped them from pressing home the advantage. General Putnam on Bunker Hill was having little success at sending over reinforcements to Breed’s Hill and resupply was virtually non-existent. Ammunition was running low.

Final British Assault: The British were having problems in their rear of their own. The wounded who were ambulatory were streaming back to the beach and were taking the longboats back to Boston for medical treatment. Howe had signaled that he needed reinforcements. Clinton sent 400 more men from the Marines and 63^rd Regiment of Foot to bolster the attack.

Clinton then personally exhorted the troops and convinced 200 more wounded troops to reform, return to the line and bolster the assault. Had the Americans done so as well from the mainland and from Bunker Hill, the battle may have turned out differently.

Some of the colonists began to panic and flee although they had to this point sustained few casualties. The British once again made a frontal assault on the hill. Howe on the flank only feinted at trying to envelop the colonial left flank. Casualties were again heavy on the British side as the fire from the heights took a deadly toll.

But the militia ran out of ammunition on top of the hill. Here is where the British Army showed the resolve and years of training that they were famous for. They continued to march up the hill and crested the heights. With bayonets fixed (which the militia didn’t possess), they pushed the Colonials off the heights.

The retreat was made in good order thanks to the excellent work done by the men from New Hampshire and Colonel Starke who even got grudging praise from his counterpart Burgoyne who wrote that the retreat was, “no flight; it was even covered with bravery and military skill”. Most of the wounded were saved and the men retreated back across the peninsula to the mainland by 5 p.m. and into Cambridge. The British had won the heights.

Casualties on the British side were appallingly high. They lost 1054 during the battle including 228 dead and 828 wounded. The British dead and wounded included 100 commissioned officers, a large percentage of their officer corps in North America. Much of General Howe’s staff was among the casualties Major Pitcairn had been killed, and Lieutenant Colonel James Abercrombie fatally wounded. General Gage, in his report after the battle, reported the following officer casualties (listing lieutenants and above by name):

1 lieutenant colonel killed
2 majors killed, 3 wounded
7 captains killed, 27 wounded
9 lieutenants killed, 32 wounded
15 sergeants killed, 42 wounded
1 drummer killed, 12 wounded

American casualties amounted to 450 with 115 dead, most of which occurred in the retreat from the heights. Thirty of the most seriously wounded were left on the field and were taken prisoner by the British. Of those, 20 died while in custody. The Americans also abandoned five of the six artillery pieces on the hill which the British quickly turned to their use. Their biggest loss was Dr. Joseph Warren who was the President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress. He was given a commission as a Major General on the 14^th of June but it hadn’t taken effect by the battle and he fought and died as a volunteer private.

Aftermath: The bloody nose suffered by the British had an effect on their campaign in New England. They didn’t follow up their success with pushing the Continental Army out of the outskirts of Boston and hunkered down in static positions. In March of 1776, General Washington would seize all the surrounding hills and the British were forced to evacuate Boston.

The political fallout was even more profound. When General Gage’s report hit London, it caused in-fighting between the Tories and the Whigs and many in Parliament rethought their stance on the war in the Colonies. King George III took a much harder stance towards their brethren in America as well. The British hardening stance actually led to a move in the southern colonies to become more involved in the revolution.

Gage was sacked and replaced by Howe in October. But not before he wrote a scathing letter to Parliament in which he stated that, that “a large army must at length be employed to reduce these people (emphasis mine)”, that would require “the hiring of foreign troops.”

The die was cast and the British knew that the war was not going to over quickly and that would be a long, drawn-out affair. And when American/Colonial soldiers had good leadership, they often fought with the skill that they had mastered. But after Bunker Hill fallout from the American side showed resolve to stand together to fight the mightiest army in the world. The morale of the Colonists was bolstered by the results of the battle and after several bloody years of conflict, the Americans would win their independence.

So, while technically a defeat, the Battle of Bunker Hill laid the foundation for American Independence. And today, the ceremonies will mark where some pesky Colonial “rabble” showed the British Army that they were in for a long drawn out and bloody conflict.

Fifty years after the battle the cornerstone of the Bunker Hill Monument was laid on Breed’s Hill by the Marquis de Lafayette with an address by Daniel Webster. The monument is a stone obelisk that rises 221 feet above the hill. An interesting footnote was when Lafayette died, he had dirt from Bunker Hill spread over his casket by his son Georges.

Painting by Howard Pyle, Map courtesy of Wikipedia, Monument photo courtesy of the State of Massachusetts

Revisiting the SFAS Night Land Navigation Course

In previous articles, we’ve touched on the different aspects of land navigation. We’ve gotten a few questions and comments about night navigation which is the hardest part of land navigation because all your skills will be tested to the max in the hours of darkness.

Rather than re-hashing the entire Land Navigation series of articles, we’ll hit upon the high points and get across the rough patches that you’ll need to cross to get a first time go at night navigation. While I’ll be speaking in generalities about the Star Navigation course in Hoffman that is used by SFAS, these tips will help you in any Selection Land Navigation course.

Securing Your Gear: Sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it? I mean, you want to be in Special Operations and you’re here in Selection and this guy is writing that I have to tie down my gear like a noob? Yep. Most definitely. Every class that I was a cadre member for in SFAS had candidates losing maps, protractors, compasses etc. I can tell you that things haven’t changed that much out there. The Hoffman draws will feed on your gear. Tie everything down. And that includes your weapon.

Get a good smaller map case, preferably one with a lanyard and tie it to your gear and then stuff it into your shirt. You don’t need one of those huge ones that the mech guys used to be so fond of. Fold up your map so that the terrain you’re walking in is the only part showing. It makes it much easier to find where you are.

I can’t stress this enough; tie everything down, you think it is embarrassing tying all of your equipment down like a boot? Trust me you don’t want to be the red-faced candidate who has to tell the cadre members that he’s lost his map or compass.

Pace Count: Knowing your pace is very important, and even more so in the dark. What is your pace count with just your web gear? How different is it with a rucksack on? Your pace count will vary between day and night and it will increase as you tire. And depending on the type of terrain that you are operating in.

In time, you’ll become a seasoned pro at this and will know just by the conditions that you are dealing with what your pace count will be. And it will change over time. My pace with just web gear on flat terrain was 62 back in the days of Phase 1 at Camp Mackall.

But with a rucksack and a heavy load, it went up to 73. But I noticed after I had been in Group for a while and your rucksack becomes a part of you, my pace counted lessened to between 68-69 depending on conditions. You’ll find that you will have similar results.

Route Planning: Route planning and selection are even more important at night as opposed to during the daylight as many of the features are invisible or nearly so in the dark. Trying to use dead reckoning for 5-6 clicks in the dark is a very, very tough proposition.

And instead of moving for those 5 (or more) kilometers as a single movement, do a series of short movements and use the checkpoints along the way that you designate on your map and it will be much easier to keep track of and check your pace count.

Set checkpoints and handrails such as ridge lines or streams that you can terrain associate with and move out with a purpose while using your pace count. Use dead reckoning once you get to your attack point. That way if you get turned around, you have a known point you can go back to try it again.

Plot your points on the map using the smallest possible mark and write down all the information on either a small index card or tear a sheet off your notebook and place this inside the map case for quick reference.

Moving Out with a Purpose: One of the things that you’ll have to get good at and quickly is being able to move out in the darkness and cover some ground. Special Operations Forces own the night and the only way to get really good at it is to practice.

And the most useful feature of your compass at night is the bezel ring. If you’re following a basic azimuth, rotate your bezel ring so that your North seeking arrow aligns with the luminous bubble. So, say if you are traveling on an azimuth of 65 degrees, your North seeking arrow will be in the approximate 10 o’clock position, rotate the bezel ring so the bubble aligns with the North seeking arrow and it is a quick way to keep on your azimuth, especially in the dark.

Also, remember that each click in the bezel ring is three degrees. Keeping your compass at waist level now will allow you move out. Once the luminous dot and the North seeking arrow are aligned you are moving in the right direction.

If the terrain and conditions allow it, then shoot a point in the distance and move to it. But as we said above, you don’t want to use dead reckoning for long distances in the dark. Once you get better at it, terrain association is faster, easier and will allow you to find your way without getting lost. Your pace count then becomes just another way to check your progress and reference where you are on your map checks.

Just a few reminders, your visual range estimation is likely to be well off during the darkness. And your pace count, depending on the terrain is likely to vary a bit. And finally, your natural drift will likely be intensified in the dark, you’ll quickly find this out as you find yourself on the course. One way to combat this and I’ve heard this works for many navigators is to change hands holding your compass frequently.

Avoid the draws if you can, but if you have to, cross one check your compass every 20-25 paces as it is easy to get turned around in those things. There have been a ton of students out there, if you see a well-worn path that cuts across a draw, it probably means that the students before you have found the path of least resistance across the draw and I’d take advantage of that.

At Selection, an SFAS cadre member will be at the points to check you in and give you the next point on the course, but occasionally you’ll come across those green Engineer stakes with a tag on them. They’re land navigation points for the SFQC. Take the time, stop, and use the eight-digit grid on them to help you pinpoint your location. That is just like having a built-in GPS on the course. Those are placed in exactly where they’re supposed to be and they’re a great tool to use.

Red lens flashlights only! Don’t talk to other students while on the course but once you are done with the events of that particular event during the practice navigation, sit down and disseminate the information about what you saw and experienced with the other candidates. That is a good way to find out potential trouble spots and avoid them if possible.

Trust your map, pace count, and your azimuth as you move out on the course. And never let doubt creep into your mind. Your map and compass aren’t going to lie to you on the course. Your training and keeping a cool head will get you thru this. Thousands of SOF guys before you have done this and you can too.

You’ll become very familiar with many of the names and places on the map. Several remain from my time but there are a few new ones as well.

Five Points
Puppy Palace
Lake Baggett
Bones Fork Creek
3 Wire Road
Jurassic Park
Scuba Road
Dagobah (I don’t know who named this area in the north, but it is absolutely brilliant.)

Photo Courtesy of DOD

OSS, Special Forces Warrior, Diplomat Samuel Wilson Dies at 93

The Special Operations community lost a giant last week as Samuel V. Wilson passed away at the age of 93. Wilson rose from the rank of private in World War II to Lieutenant General at his retirement and served the Special Operations Forces both in and out of uniform.

He was a member of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in WWII the forerunner to both the US Army Special Forces and the CIA. He commanded the 6^th Special Forces Group at Ft. Bragg and played a key role in the formation of the Army’s Delta Force and the military’s Special Operations Command.

Known simply as “General Sam,” Lt. Gen. Wilson enlisted in the Army during World War II and served with the Office of Strategic Services and the famed Merrill’s Marauders, who fought the Japanese in northern Burma.
Lt. Gen. Kenneth E. Tovo, the commander of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, called Lt. Gen. Wilson a true Army special operations pioneer.
“Over the course of his professional military career, Lt. Gen. Samuel Wilson served in a number of significant roles that directly contributed to what we now know as modern special operations,” Tovo said in a statement Monday. “During his tenure at the U.S. Army Special Warfare School, then-Col. Wilson forged ideas in both insurgency and counter-insurgency that later led to doctrinal models.”
Throughout his career, Lt. Gen. Wilson was known as a warrior, diplomat and academic.
During the Cold War, he conducted clandestine intelligence, covert propaganda and paramilitary operations with the CIA. And he was deputy assistant to the secretary of defense for special operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.
In all, Lt. Gen. Wilson spent 37 years in uniform and also served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency before retiring at Fort Bragg in 1977.
Out of uniform, he continued to play a role in the evolution of special operations, helping create the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, more commonly known as Delta Force, and being part of the Holloway Commission following the 1980 Iranian hostage rescue attempt. That commission would lead to the creation of U.S. Special Operations Command.
In 2002, he spoke to a class of more than 180 new Green Berets at Fort Bragg, urging them to be “salesmen of freedom.”
‘‘You, my fellow warriors, must be able to describe, to put in simple, effective words, who you are, what you stand for, why you are doing what you are doing,’’ he said. ‘‘That means you must first be able to answer these questions for yourself, in your own mind, in your own heart.’’
Lt. Gen. Wilson commanded the 6th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. He also served as assistant commandant of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Institute for Military Assistance, another former name of the Special Warfare Center and School, and as assistant commander for operations with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Wilson was honored as an awardee of the “Bull Simons Award” in 1995 for outstanding contributions to the Special Operations community and was inducted as a Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment.

To read the entire article from the Fayetteville Observer, click here:

Photo courtesy Fayetteville Observer

Saudi Arabia Steps up Pressure of Fellow Muslim Nations to Cut Ties to Qatar

Saudi Arabia is upping the ante in an effort to put pressure on other Muslim nations to aid in their efforts to isolate and cut ties to Qatar. The Saudis are using the carrot and the stick approach, having promised financial packages for cooperation and reduced financial aid and quotas for the haj, the religious pilgrimage to Mecca for those who don’t support them.

Thus far, the Saudis have persuaded six nations to take action, not all, however, have severed diplomatic ties, but have taken other less drastic steps. Somalia has rejected an $80 million dollar aid package in return for severing ties with Qatar and has stated that they will look to improve relations with the embattled state.

The Saudi effort in Africa suggests that the kingdom is seeking to tighten the screws on Qatar more than a week into a Saudi and UAE-led diplomatic and economic boycott that has failed to persuade the tiny Gulf state to bow to demands that it halt its support for Islamists and militants and curb, if not shutter, Qatar-funded media outlets, including Al Jazeera.
Saudi efforts, however, despite the actions of the six countries ― Senegal, Chad, Niger, Comoros, Mauritius, and Djibouti – are proving to be only partially successful. Of the six states, only Mauritius severed its diplomatic ties with Qatar. Senegal, Chad, Niger and the Comoros restricted themselves to recalling their ambassadors from Doha while Djibouti, like Jordan, simply reduced the level of its diplomatic relations.
The six countries joined six other economically dependent nations, including Bahrain, Egypt, the Maldives, Mauritania, and the Saudi-UAE backed internationally recognized government of Libya that controls only part of the country, who had already followed the Saudi-UAE lead in breaking off diplomatic relations with Qatar.
Somalia, a strategically located, war-torn nation in the Horn of Africa, has emerged amid the mixed response to the Saudi and UAE effort as something of a mystery. Somalia has maintained neutrality despite the fact that Dubai-owned P&O Ports signed in April a $336 million, 30-year agreement to develop and manage a multi-purpose port in Bosaso in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland. The self-declared republic of Somaliland agreed weeks later to allow the UAE to establish a military base in the port of Berbera and signed a $442 million deal with P&O to turn the port into a world-class training hub.
Somali media moreover reported that President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed had rejected a Saudi offer of $80 million in return for his government breaking off diplomatic relations with Qatar. Somali planning, investment and economic development minister Jamal Mohamed Hassan announced nonetheless this week that Saudi Arabia had agreed to increase Somalia’s haj quota by 25 percent. Somalia’s strategic importance to the Gulf in commercial as well as military terms would seem to be the only logical explanation for it being rewarded despite refusing to join the Saudi-UAE campaign.

Turkey has renounced the isolation of Qatar and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has pledged not only his support but 3000 troops if necessary. Erdogan said the move to isolate Qatar was “inhumane and against Islamic values”, and said the methods used against the Gulf state were unacceptable and analogous to a “death penalty.”

To read the entire article from the Huffington Post, click here:

Photo courtesy CNN