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Richard Etchberger
Richard Loy Etchberger (March 5, 1933 – March 11, 1968) was a senior non-commissioned officer in the United States Air Force who posthumously received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Battle of Lima Site 85 in the Vietnam War. The medal was formally presented to his three sons by President Barack Obama during a ceremony at the White House on September 21, 2010. Military career A native of Hamburg, Pennsylvania, Etchberger graduated from Hamburg High School in 1951. He joined the Air Force on August 31 of that year, and was promoted to Chief Master Sergeant on April 1, 1967. Battle of Lima Site 85 During the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos and the Vietnam War, Etchberger was among a group of Airmen hand-picked for a classified mission: manning secret radar facilities in the Kingdom of Laos. According to the 1962 International Agreement on the Neutrality of Laos, the U.S. was to have no military facilities in that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamburg, Pennsylvania
Hamburg (Pennsylvania German: ''Hambarig'') is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,270 at the 2020 census. The town is thought to have been named after Hamburg, Germany, but this is likely to have been a corruption of Bad Homburg. Geography Hamburg is located in northern Berks County at (40.556271, −75.982667), on the east bank of the Schuylkill River. It is bordered on the north, east, and south by Windsor Township and on the west, across the river, by West Hamburg in Tilden Township. According to the United States Census Bureau, Hamburg has a total area of , of which is land and , or 3.55%, is water. Climate It has a hot-summer humid continental climate (''Dfa'') and average monthly temperatures range from 28.4 °F in January to 73.4 °F in July. The hardiness zone is 6b. Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 4,114 people, 1,824 households, and 1,156 families residing in the borough. The population dens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Vietnamese Invasion Of Laos
North Vietnam supported the Pathet Lao to fight against the Kingdom of Laos between 1958–1959. Control over Laos allowed for the eventual construction of the Ho Chi Minh Trail that would serve as the main supply route for enhanced NLF (the National Liberation Front, the Vietcong) and NVA (North Vietnamese Army) activities in the Republic of Vietnam. As such, the support for Pathet Lao to fight against Kingdom of Laos by North Vietnam would prove decisive in the eventual communist victory over South Vietnam in 1975 as the South Vietnamese and American forces could have prevented any NVA and NLF deployment and resupply if these only happened over the 17th Parallel, also known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a narrow strip of land between North and South Vietnam that was closely guarded by both sides. It also helped the Pathet Lao win against the Kingdom of Laos, even though the Kingdom of Laos had American support. Prelude to conflict Souvanna Phouma announced that, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stars And Stripes (newspaper)
''Stars and Stripes'' is a daily American military newspaper reporting on matters concerning the members of the United States Armed Forces and their communities, with an emphasis on those serving outside the United States. It operates from inside the Department of Defense, but is editorially separate from it, and its First Amendment protection is safeguarded by the United States Congress to whom an independent ombudsman, who serves the readers' interests, regularly reports. As well as a website, ''Stars and Stripes'' publishes four daily print editions for U.S. military service members serving overseas; these European, Middle Eastern, Japanese, and South Korean editions are also available as free downloads in electronic format, and there are also seven digital editions. The newspaper has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. History Creation On November 9, 1861, during the Civil War, soldiers of the 11th, 18th, and 29th Illinois Regiments set up camp in the Missouri city of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the extremity of Myanmar. Thailand also shares maritime borders with Vietnam to the southeast, and Indonesia and India to the southwest. Bangkok is the nation's capital and largest city. Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 11th century. Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon, Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region, competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang, Sukhothai, Lan Na and Ayutthaya, which also rivalled each other. European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayuttha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PAVN
The People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN; vi, Quân đội nhân dân Việt Nam, QĐNDVN), also recognized as the Vietnam People's Army (VPA) or the Vietnamese Army (), is the military force of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the armed wing of the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam. The PAVN is a part of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces and includes: Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, Border Guard and Coast Guard. However, Vietnam does not have a separate Ground Force or Army branch. All ground troops, army corps, military districts and specialised arms belong to the Ministry of Defence, directly under the command of the Central Military Commission, the Minister of Defence, and the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army. The military flag of the PAVN is the flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, with the words ''Quyết thắng (Determination to win)'' added in yellow at the top left. During the French Indochina War (1946–1954), the PAVN was often referred to as th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
AK-47
The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov, it is the originating firearm of the Kalashnikov (or "AK") family of rifles. After more than seven decades since its creation, the AK-47 model and its variants remain one of the most popular and widely used firearms in the world. The number "47" refers to the year the rifle was finished. Design work on the AK-47 began in 1945. It was presented for official military trials in 1947, and, in 1948, the fixed- stock version was introduced into active service for selected units of the Soviet Army. In early 1949, the AK was officially accepted by the Soviet Armed Forces and used by the majority of the member states of the Warsaw Pact. The model and its variants owe their global popularity to their reliability u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UH-1H
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois military helicopter, first introduced in 1959, is the first production member of the prolific Huey family of helicopters, and was itself developed in over twenty variants, which are listed below. XH-40 and YH-40 The first Bell helicopter to use a turbine engine was a modified Model 47 (designated XH-13F), which had its initial flight in October 1954. The U.S. Army began a competition for a new helicopter for general utility and medical/casualty evacuation in 1955. In June 1955, Bell Helicopter was awarded a contract to develop the next generation turbine-powered utility helicopter for the U.S. Army. The resulting Bell Model 204 was designated XH-40 by the U.S. military and first flew on 22 October 1956. Two more prototypes were built in 1957, and six YH-40 pre-production helicopters were delivered in 1958.Donald, David, ed. "Bell 204". "Bell 205". ''The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft''. Barnes & Nobel Books, 1997. . The YH-40's cabin was len ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air America (airline)
Air America was an American passenger and cargo airline established in 1946 and covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1950 to 1976. It supplied and supported covert operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, including providing support for drug smuggling in Laos.'' The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade'', by McCoy, with Cathleen B. Read and Leonard P. Adams II, 2003, p. 385 Early history: Civil Air Transport (CAT) CAT was created by Claire Chennault and Whiting Willauer in 1946 as Chinese National Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (CNRRA) Air Transport to airlift supplies and food into war-ravaged China. It was soon pressed into service to support Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang forces in the civil war between them and the communists under Mao Zedong. Many of its first pilots were veterans of Chennault's World War II combat groups, popularly known as Flying Tigers. By 1950, following the defe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonov An-2
The Antonov An-2 ("kukuruznik"—corn crop duster; USAF/DoD reporting name Type 22, NATO reporting name Colt) is a Soviet mass-produced single-engine biplane utility/agricultural aircraft designed and manufactured by the Antonov Design Bureau beginning in 1947. Its durability, high lifting power, and ability to take off and land from poor runways have given it a long service life. The An-2 was produced up to 2001 and remains in service with military and civilian operators around the world. The An-2 was designed as a utility aircraft for use in forestry and agriculture, but the basic airframe is highly adaptable and numerous variants of the type have been developed; these include hopper-equipped versions for crop-dusting, scientific versions for atmospheric sampling, water-bombers for fighting forest-fires, flying ambulances, float-equipped seaplane versions and lightly armed combat versions for dropping paratroops.Harpole, Tom"Antonovs in America" [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guerrilla Warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility, to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military. Although the term "guerrilla warfare" was coined in the context of the Peninsular War in the 19th century, the tactical methods of guerrilla warfare have long been in use. In the 6th century BC, Sun Tzu proposed the use of guerrilla-style tactics in '' The Art of War''. The 3rd century BC Roman general Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus is also credited with inventing many of the tactics of guerrilla warfare through what is today called the Fabian strategy. Guerrilla warfare has been used by various factions throughout history and is particularly associated with revolutionary movements and popular resistance against invading or occupying armies. Guerrilla tact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forward Air Control
Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC). A primary forward air control function is ensuring the safety of friendly troops during close air support. Enemy targets in the front line ("Forward Edge of the Battle Area" in US terminology) are often close to friendly forces and therefore friendly forces are at risk of friendly fire through proximity during air attack. The danger is twofold: the bombing pilot cannot identify the target clearly, and is not aware of the locations of friendly forces. Camouflage, a constantly changing situation and the fog of war all increase the risk. Present day doctrine holds that Forward Air Controllers (FACs) are not needed for air interdiction, although there has been such use of FACs in the past. An additional concern of forward air controllers is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed from 1945 to 1976 and was recognized in 1954. Both the North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese states ceased to exist when they unified as the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. During the August Revolution following World War II, Vietnamese communist revolutionary Hồ Chí Minh, leader of the Việt Minh Front, declared independence on 2 September 1945, announcing the creation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The Việt Minh ("League for the Independence of Vietnam"), led by communists, was created in 1941 and designed to appeal to a wider population than the Indochinese Communist Party could command. From the very beginning, the DRV regime sought to consolidate power by purging other nationalist movements. Meanwhile, France moved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
