Taps Archives
Taps
By John
This just sucks.
Friend, blogger and contributor to The Blog of War, LTC Brian Delaplane was serving as the assistant professor of military Science at St. John’s University in Queens (NY), where he was found unconscious by his cadets last week. The autopsy revealed that it was a sudden death from a pulmonary embolism.
Here are the details.
Lt. Col. Brian N. Delaplane United States Army May 6, 1960 - Oct 9, 2007Lieutenant Colonel Brian N. Delaplane passed away suddenly on Tuesday, October 9, 2007 in New York following a pulmonary embolism. He was a Logistical Officer in the United States Army currently serving as The Professor of Military Science at Saint Johns University in Queens, New York. Brian Neal Delaplane was born on May 6, 1960 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado to Helen and David Delaplane. He graduated in 1970 from Glenwood Springs High School. He joined the Army in 1984. He received his Bachelors Degree from Metropolitan State College, Denver, Colorado and his Masters Degree from St. Bonaventure University, Olean, New York. He continued his career in the U.S. Army for 23 years and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He received multiple medals and accommodations to include the Bronze Star Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal. Brian was a man of distinction, character, and integrity and was known for his compassionate leadership, mentorship and friendship. Brian married Pamela Mackowiak on May 22, 1999 in Olean, New York who survives him and lives in Colorado Springs. LTC Delaplane is survived by his wife: Pamela, his parents: Helen Delaplane of Silt, Colorado and David Delaplane of Denver, Colorado. Pam's children: Molly, Matthew and Sarah, children by his first wife, Felice: Matthew and Jessica, and his brothers: Timothy, Mark and Glen. Visitation is planned for 4-7 pm on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at the Shrine of Remembrance Chapel in Colorado Springs. A Vigil Service will follow at 7:00 pm in the Chapel. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 AM on Friday, October 19, 2007 at St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church, 8755 Scarborough Drive, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920. Graveside services with full Army Honors will follow at Evergreen Cemetery. The family and friends will return to St. Gabriel's Church Narthex for Fellowship.
Another warrior marches through Valhalla's gates. Godspeed, Sir.
Taps
By John
Sad, sad day for the VMI family.
Navy identifies 3 aviators killed in crash off carrier.
The three aviators aboard a radar plane that crashed off the coast of North Carolina were declared dead Friday after the Navy called off its search for survivors.Atlantic Fleet Naval Air Force spokesman Mike Maus identified the men as Lt. Cameron N. Hall, 30, of Natchitoches, La., Lt. Ryan K. Betton, 31, of Collinsville and Lt. j.g. Jerry R. Smith, 26, of Greenville, Maine.
Betton and Hall were instructors with Norfolk-based Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 120; Smith was a student.
The weather and seas were calm Wednesday night as the E-2 Hawkeye practiced carrier takeoffs and landings from the aircraft carrier Harry S. Truman. The plane crashed around 11 p.m., shortly after its catapult launch off the carrier deck.
Maus said searchers covered 2,100 square miles of sea and found some debris from the twin-engine turboprop plane.
“Most of it was pretty small pieces,” Maus said. “The majority of it apparently sunk.”
The water there is about 3,000 feet deep, he said. An investigating board will determine whether it’s necessary to recover the wreckage to determine the cause of the crash, Maus said.
Lt. Ryan K. Betton, left, Lt. JG Jerry R. Smith, middle and Lt. Cameron N. Hall
Betton – whose nickname was “Tater” – graduated in 1998 from the Virginia Military Institute, according to a statement from his family. He had been an instructor pilot with the Norfolk squadron since 2005, after a tour aboard the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk with Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 115.
VMI is such a tightly knit family that any and all losses, no matter how distant (I never knew Ryan), feel close and personal.
Thoughts and prayers are with the family, as Tater slips the surly bonds of this earth, to touch the face of God.
LtCol P adds... Very sad news. The Roanoke Times has some more detail about Tater and his family.
Requiem For The Military Club System
By Lt Col P
This post goes under "Taps" because I think it's the only appropriate place for it.
I am now on my AT at a major Army post in the southeast U.S. (More on that, later.) I went to the O Club last night to get a proper dinner, since I have been mostly just subsisting for the last few days. That place was dead. One young couple having dinner, and a pair of what I think were newly minted lieutenants at the bar (they smelled like cash sales). And me. Maybe things picked up later on, since I left at about 1945, but somehow I think not.
What has happened to the club system?
Yes, the absence of many units from their home stations has robbed the clubs of their patrons, but there has to be more to it. It used to be that the club and its appendages were the heart of the base's officer corps. I know that the changes in the military that began in the 80s are partly responsible, where expansion forced many personnel off base and shifted to a more civilian-centric lifestyle. This was evident in 1990 when I reported to Camp Lejeune, but the Club was still going strong.
In the absence of regimental messes such as British and Commonwealth forces have (had?), the O Club formed the place where lieutenants were socialized into the service, and where a battalion or squadron's leadership could settle down for a cold one or two and hash out some problems. Lieutenants, Lieutenant Colonels, and Lieutenant Generals were all welcome. A new Lieutenant might get glared at and growled at, but he learned when to linger at the bar and when to take his beer into a dark corner.
The Club is where the Lieutenant once got a good part of his education, as opposed to his instruction. It reminds me of a comment that a Marine battalion CO (VMI '87) made to me about two years ago, when he was contrasting his formative years at Lejeune before the Gulf War versus his command now. On the positive side, he said, the training and equipment available to his Lieutenants today, because of the war, is extraordinary. On the other hand, it's not normal, and he lamented his inability to "socialize" his young men into what can only be called the "normal" Marine Corps-- peacetime rotations, limited funds, endless exercises. Part of that life was the CO taking his boys to the Club for a beer or two, there to learn all sorts of things. Like, say, that the battalion S-4 is not just the worn-out naysayer he appears to be, but is a pretty sharp character with a wealth of experience. (See John Masters' classic Bugles And A Tiger for a great treatment of this most important part of a young officer's training.)
I don't know how to bring the clubs back. You can make people join, like we were all forced to join. "IF YOU DON'T WANT TO JOIN, LIEUTENANT, YOU'LL HAVE TO GO SEE THE BASE C.G. AND TELL HIM WHY." But I'm not sure that's a good idea, and it wouldn't work anyway. No, people have to want to join. My solution? Turn it over to some senior lieutenants and let them figure it out.
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A Sad Day in Dayton
By Bull Nav
It was a gray, cloudy day. Off and on, the skies were threatening. Still, along thousands of others, my son and I headed down to Dayton to watch the air show.
Thunderbirds, lots of static displays, lots of performances.
I took lots of pictures and wanted to write witty remarks about it, but I can't do that.
A man died entertaining us.
Mr. Jim LeRoy, former Marine, crashed his biplane into the runway while performing for the second time today. It is something that will forever be imprinted in my memory.
My thoughts and prayers are with his family tonight.
If you would like to read more coverage, go to the Dayton Daily News.
We Will Joust!
By John
Pinch has a phenomenal first hand account of escorting legendary fighter pilot Robin Olds to a post-conference party. I'm pretty sure it's how the man would want to be remembered (General Olds passed recently):
Robin at age 75 or so, was still in ‘ burner ‘! Given that my grip on his sport coat had become a very stabilizing force in his life, other than an occasional teeter, he was showing no wear!At my rickety edge of consciousness I meekly re-suggested a departure.
“Are you saying I am too drunk to drive?” he bellowed again.
To which I tactfully replied, “Absolutely not, sir, I only desire the honor and the privilege of driving the General to his quarters.”
He demurred.
Another hour passed before he sensed my weakened state and offered a window of opportunity.
“I demand an honorable challenge before going to quarters,” he declared.
Thinking that I retained superior SA [ another error in judgment ] I replied:
“Let the General engage with his weapon of choice! ”
“ Get me two brooms and those two empty scotch bottles over there. We will Joust! ”
The story is so classic fighter pilot, it hurts. Read the whole thing.
Major Zembiec's Funeral
By Lt Col P
Folks, you may have read about Major Doug Zembiec in the pages of Blackfive recently, with heartfelt and glowing praise from his Marines, especially his First Sergeant, now Sergeant Major Skiles, and the sniper's sniper, Sergeant Ethan Place. One of my fellow Marine field historians, Major Joe Winslow, had the chance to sit down with (then) Captain Zembiec and (then) First Sergeant Skiles in late summer 2004, when their battalion was headed out of Iraq. Today Joe attended Doug Zembiec's funeral and asked me to post this for him.
SgtMaj Skiles accomplished his final casualty evacuation today….
Except this time it was not under fire, or in Fallujah, or side by side with his commander Maj Doug Zembiec. Instead, today, SgtMaj Skiles ensured that body of his commander was solemnly borne into and out of the US Naval Academy Chapel. What probably very few know, is that SgtMaj Skiles, Maj Zembiec’s 1st Sgt in Fallujah, was single-handedly responsible for moving day-after-day under intense enemy fire and mortar attacks to evacuate the wounded and dead Marines of Echo Company who pushed deep into the heart of enemy held territory - enemy held territory smack in the middle of that sorrowful, small city on the Euphrates. This time he has come to the aide his “captain” and borne him from the battle.
I was at the funeral today - as I came to know Maj Zembiec and SgtMaj Skiles in Fallujah. I was recording their operations for the Marine Corps History Division. The accounts we gathered were emotional, heart-felt stories of physical strength and determination, of pride and humility, but also of grief and sorrow for those who did not return from the battle. Chief among these were the accounts of SgtMaj Skiles, who spent hours with me in a small room, recounting the actions of his Marines, his Corpsmen, his commander. Maj Zembiec did the same, spending hours recollecting the actions of his Marines, and never quite seeming to remember any details about himself, unless, of-course, it was showing me where he still had shrapnel in legs, and his flak jacket, which still had a huge chunk embedded, you guessed it, right in front of his crotch.… He was proud of this and laughed as he recalled it.
Today, on the grounds of the Naval Academy, I entered the Chapel. Soaring ceilings, the sun beaming down through the haze of incense and coming to rest on the pink granite walls, images of valor carved into every surface, enormous stained glass windows, flags, and anchors at every turn, it all rests on the bones of John Paul Jones… It was filled to capacity by Marines and Sailors, all friends to Doug Zembiec. Quiet - very, very quiet. Black mourning bands on uniforms, ushers, and the meeting of old friends, when, if met under different circumstances, would have been full of handshakes and friendly insults. Today, stiff upper lips where the order of the day, and a profound sorrow, often masked with reserved smiles and red eyes could be felt like a pall hanging over the funeral. All felt as though they were family, all were family indeed.
I was awed - for I’ve never encountered a more august group of warriors. …This was no endless legion of retired, old soldiers of another war with faded medals and rosettes hung on suits which have seen better days, but a battalion or two of strong, proud, physical men. Warriors, as evidenced by their row-upon row of medals and aquilletes, who have faced the enemy not in the halls of the CP, but on the uneven, unyielding fields of valor which have beckoned us forward. They’ve stepped into that dangerous clearing in the woods, fought it out and survived.
And so it is that this gathering represented what Doug Zembiec was a large part of, but most importantly, ensured grew and flowered. He brought together, through a dynamic spirit, brute physical strength, and his unyielding friendship, groups of warriors who pursued their mission with zeal and a deep belief in their cause. He, and the other warriors here today, helped foster this, our new generation of happy warriors, who will carry the colors forward. He was both a ruthless gardener and joyful planter on the blood soaked fields of valor which he tilled.
This was the family that gathered to honor this man, this was the family that grieved, but most importantly, this was the family that found strength through what Maj Zembiec brought to the world, and to our Corps.
And so, as SgtMaj Skiles performed his final mission in support of his commander, you could hear the tinkling of his medals it was so, so quiet. SgtMaj Skiles' sword was drawn as he led the procession out of the chapel, accompanied by a mournful Gregorian chant, sung by a lone baritone, in navy whites, somewhere in the distance.
Maj Joe Winslow, USMC
16 May 07
Blue Skies
By Slab
The Blue Angels lost an F/A-18 near Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C. today. Sadly, the pilot died in the crash. Requiescat in pace, brother.
The Blue Angels flying the Missing Man formation in honor of Capt Voris in Oct 2005.
