illis Franklin Hargis was born in Mount Enterprise, Rusk County, Texas, USA.. The son of George Franklin Hargis (1893-1924) and Euzelia LaGrande Still (1896-1986). Frank attended Nacogdoches Highschool, and Stephen F. Austin College. He entered the Army Air Corp. in 1943, training at Santa Ana, and Merced California as well as Phoenix and Chandler Arizonia. Frank served in the 10th. Troop Carrier Squadron, stationed in Scicily, Italy, and finally Trinidad at the end of World War II. His squadron was reactivated in September 1946, and played a vital role in the Berlin Airlift that lasted from June 1948 through September 1949. Frank was a crew member on the C-54 # 42-72698 which on December 5, 1948, crashed near the Fassberg AFB. All three crew members were killed. Frank was returned to Texas, and laid to rest December 31, 1948 at the Ross Family Cemetery in Mount Enterprise, Texas.
At the intersection of Willy Brandt Allee and Schiersteiner Straße. Monument
A red, rectangular granite block monument which commemorates the names of 31 American servicemen and civilian who died in service during the Berlin Airlift operations.
The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, road, and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Western control. The Soviets offered to drop the blockade if the Western Allies withdrew the newly introduced Deutsche Mark from West Berlin.
The Western Allies organised the Berlin Airlift (also known as Berliner Luftbrücke, literally "Berlin Air Bridge" in German) from 26 June 1948 to 30 September 1949 to carry supplies to the people of West Berlin, a difficult feat given the size of the city's population. Aircrews from the American, British, French, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, and South African:338 air forces flew over 200,000 sorties in one year, providing necessities such as fuel and food, with the original plan being to lift 3,475 tons of supplies daily. By the spring of 1949, that number was often met twofold, with the peak daily delivery totalling 12,941 tons.
Having initially concluded there was no way the airlift could work, its continued success became an increasing embarrassment for the Soviets. On 12 May 1949, the USSR lifted the blockade of West Berlin, although for a time the Americans and British continued to supply the city by air as they were worried that the Soviets would resume the blockade and were only trying to disrupt western supply lines. The Berlin Airlift officially ended on 30 September 1949 after fifteen months. The US Air Force had delivered 1,783,573 tons (76.40% of total) and the RAF 541,937 tons (23.30% of total), totalling 2,334,374 tons, nearly two-thirds of which was coal, on 278,228 flights to Berlin.
The C-47s and C-54s together flew over 92,000,000 miles (148,000,000 km) in the process, almost the distance from Earth to the Sun. At the height of the Airlift, one plane reached West Berlin every thirty seconds.
Seventeen American and eight British aircraft crashed during the operation. A total of 101 fatalities were recorded as a result of the operation, including 40 Britons and 31 Americans, mostly due to non-flying accidents.
The Berlin Blockade served to highlight the competing ideological and economic visions for postwar Europe and played a major role in drawing West Germany into the NATO orbit several years later in 1955.
Source of information: en.wikipedia.org
Photo taken of Frank Hargis's grave at the time of his burial Colorized by (Palate)
Fourth Recruit Battalion, Training Regiment, Recruit Depot, Mcb, San Diego, Calif
3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion (3rd AABn) is one of two active duty assault amphibian battalions in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion's primary weapon system is the Amphibious Assault Vehicle or AAV. The AAV is a 27.5-ton armored vehicle that carries up to 21 combat-loaded Marines and is armed with the UGWS (UpGunned Weapons Station), which mounts a .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2HB machine gun and a Mk-19 40 mm grenade launcher. The battalion is also equipped with the Amphibious Combat Vehicle or ACV, a rather new variant to the USMC’s amphibious armament which will replace the AAV in years to come. The AAV ACV are the only armored vehicles in the U.S. inventory that are fully capable of operations both on land and in the ocean. The battalion is part of the 1st Marine Division and the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The unit is based in Camp Pendleton, California.
The first wave of U.S. Marines in LVTs during the invasion of Peleliu on 15 September 1944
Marines waiting in their fighting holes
LVT-Amphibious-Assault-Vehicle
J
oseph Barham Hargis "Jodie" was born July 11, 1925 in Martinsville, Nacogdoches County, Texas, USA.. The son of Thaddeus Adelbert Hargis (1885–1973) and Annie M Kendrick (1889–1949). Jodie attended Nacogdoches High School. He married Eva Louise Perry (1925–2000). Jodie entered the Marines in October of 1943. He trained in Camp Elliote in San Diego California. He was assigned to the 1st. Division 3D Assault Amphibian Battalion. US Marines of the 1st Marine Division and then soldiers of the US Army's 81st Infantry Division fought to capture an airfield on the small coral island of Peleliu. The battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager, which ran from June to November 1944 in the Pacific Theater. Jodie was killed in action on Peleliu on October 16, 1944. On 27 November the island of Peleliu was declared secure, ending the 73-day-long battle. The reduction of the Japanese pocket around Umurbrogol mountain has been called the most difficult fight that the U.S. military encountered in the entire war. the 1st Marine Division suffered over 6,500 casualties during its month on Peleliu, over one third of the entire division. The battle was controversial in the United States because the island lacked strategic value and yet cost so many American lives. The defenders lacked the means to interfere with potential US operations in the Philippines, and the airfield captured on Peleliu did not play a key role in subsequent operations. Instead, the Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands was used as a staging base for the invasion of Okinawa. The high casualty rate exceeded all other amphibious operations during the Pacific War. Jodie was brought back to Nacogdoches County, and buried at Black Jack Cemetery. He was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart, a Presidential Unit Ciatation, and a Asian Pacific of Operations Ribbon.
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