Men of the US 4th Division patrol the streets of Cherbourg on ‘liberated’ horses - 1944

Socked casts can be good if you have a sock that will fit!

commission for @rezqrecovery

U.S. Marine after firing a stinger training launch simulator as part of exercise Arctic Edge on Fort Greely, Alaska.

The U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Cody J. Ohira (2018).

Ferry Duty, Torching Clubs, & Privilege of 2nd Mech

I also got to take some pretty cool photos this summer at D-Day Conneaut in Ohio. It was super cool to get in with the troops on the beach and take photos.

American infantrymen hitch a lift on a captured German Kubelwagen - Carentan, June 1944

The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it's all that matters.

Spread love everywhere you go.

Medal of Honor Monday: Ernie West

On this day in 2021, a hero passes away. Ernest “Ernie” West was known for his humility—and his patriotism. He was a “man who would talk more about his fishing adventures at Dale Hollow than recalling his heroic actions of the Korean war,” as one local said when he passed.

West had much to brag about, if he’d wanted to. As a young soldier, he’d risked his life to retrieve wounded men as they lay stranded amid enemy fire.

But West wouldn’t have it any other way: “Brotherhood” demanded that he go back and help. He’d learned this growing up in an orphanage in Kentucky, where he felt that he had 125 brothers. Those boys all had each other’s backs.

“We didn’t leave nobody,” he said simply. “I was raised that way.”

The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-ernie-west-moh

A Green Beret during combined training with Finnish special operations forces in Lapland, Finland.

The U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Anthony Bryant (2023). Altered for security purposes.

UNIT PROFILE– 761ST TANK BATTALION (COLORED) BLACK HISTORY MONTH Of the three armor battalions composed of Black soldiers in the segregated U.S. Army of World War II, the 761st "Black Panther" Tank Battalion is arguably the best known. Constituted on 15 March 1942 in the Army of the United States and activated on 1 April 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, it was initially equipped with the M5 Stuart tank but transitioned to the M4 Sherman when the Army began fielding that system to the non-divisional armor units. After the battalion completed training in the United States - which included serving as the "aggressor" force against the student units of the tank destroyer school and participation in a phase of the Louisiana Maneuvers, the 761st was deemed "combat ready" and shipped overseas to the European Theater of Operations. Following a short stay in England, the battalion arrived in France on 10 October 1944, and was assigned to the Third Army commanded by the legendary proponent of armored warfare, Lieutenant General George S. Patton Jr. As a separate tank battalion, the 761st was attached to Infantry divisions - which had no organic armor units - for combat operations. As such, the "Black Panthers" entered combat for the first time on 7 November 1944. In 183 days of combat operations while attached to the all-white 26th, 71st, 79th, 87th, 95th and 103d Infantry Divisions, the 761st participated in the Allied drive through France, Patton’s relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and the breaching of the Siegfried Line. By the end of the war the Black Panthers had made it all the way to Austria (where they liberated the Gunskirchen concentration camp); the 761st was inactivated on 1 June 1946 in Germany. During WWII, the Black Panthers earned a Medal of Honor, a Presidential Unit Citation, 11 Silver Stars, 69 Bronze Stars, 296 Purple Hearts, and four campaign streamers (Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe). #Armyhistory #USArmy #TRADOC #WWII #WW2 #WW2History #Patton #Bastogne #BlackPanther #ShermanTank #BlackHistoryMonth #ArmyHeritage U.S. Army U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. #repostedfrom @armyhistory (at Columbia, Tennessee) https://www.instagram.com/p/CohszLPuF7Z/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=