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Teddy Sheean's Valour in Armidale's Final Moments
John Morris posted a topic in The Veterans Corner and Causes Forum
I found this a very interesting read, hope you enjoy it too. Teddy Sheean The painting by artist Dale Marsh that captures Teddy Sheean's valour in Armidale's final moments. He was later awarded the Victoria Cross. Edward ‘Teddy’ Sheean was born on 28 December 1923 at Lower Barrington, Tasmania, fourteenth child of James Sheean, labourer, and his wife Mary Jane, née Broomhall. Soon afterwards the family moved to Latrobe. Teddy was educated at the local Catholic school. Five foot 8½ inches (174cm) tall and well built, he took casual work on farms between Latrobe and Merseylea. In Hobart on 21 April 1941 he enlisted in the Royal Australian Naval Reserve as an Ordinary Seaman, following in the steps of five of his brothers who had joined the armed forces (four of them were in the Army and one in the Navy). On completing his initial training, he was sent to Flinders Naval Depot, Westernport, Victoria, in February 1942 for further instruction. In May Sheean was posted to Sydney where he was billeted at Garden Island in the requisitioned ferry Kuttabul, prior to joining his first ship as an Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun loader. Granted home leave, he was not on board Kuttabul when Japanese midget submarines raided the harbour and sank her on 31 May. Eleven days later he returned to Sydney to help commission the new corvette HMAS Armidale (I), which carried out escort duties along the eastern Australian coast and in New Guinea waters. Ordered to sail for Darwin in October, Armidale arrived there early next month. On 29 November Armidale sailed for Japanese-occupied Timor, in company with the corvette HMAS Castlemaine, to withdraw the exhausted Australian 2/2 Independent Company, evacuate about 150 Portuguese civilians and 190 Dutch troops, and land soldiers to reinforce Dutch guerrillas on the island. Arriving off Betano before dawn on 1 December, the ships rendezvoused with the naval tender HMAS Kuru, which had already taken the civilians on board. When these people were transferred to Castlemaine, she sailed for Darwin, leaving the other two vessels to carry out the rest of the operation. From 12:28 Armidale and Kuru came under repeated attack from Japanese aircraft. Despite requests, no air cover was received. Shortly before 14:00 on 1 December 1942, Armidale, by then separated from Kuru, was attacked by no less than thirteen aircraft. The corvette manoeuvred frantically. At 15:15 a torpedo struck her port side and another hit the engineering spaces; finally a bomb struck aft. As the vessel listed heavily to port, the order was given to abandon ship. The survivors leapt into the sea and were machine-gunned by the Japanese aircraft. Once he had helped to free a life raft, Sheean scrambled back to his gun on the sinking ship. Although wounded in the chest and back, the 18-year-old sailor shot down one bomber and kept other aircraft away from his comrades in the water. He was seen still firing his gun as Armidale slipped below the waves. Only 49 of the 149 men who had been on board survived the sinking and the ensuing days in life rafts. Sheean was mentioned in dispatches for his bravery and in 1999 HMAS Sheean, a Collins Class submarine, was named after him - the only ship in the RAN to bear the name of a junior sailor. In 2020, following a sustained public campaign to have Ordinary Seaman Sheean’s selfless actions appropriately recognised, an expert panel recommended to the Australian Government that he be considered for the the award of a Victoria Cross. On 12 August 2020 His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II had approved a posthumous award of the Victoria Cross to Ordinary Seaman Sheean. In doing so, Ordinary Seaman Sheean became the first member of the Royal Australian Navy to be awarded Australia's highest honour for valour. On 1 December 2020, 78 years to the day since the death of Ordinary Seaman Sheean and the loss of HMAS Armidale, the Governor-General presented the insignia of the Victoria Cross for Australia to Teddy Sheean’s family at a ceremony held at Government House in Canberra, ACT. More Information https://anzacportal.dva.gov.au/stories/biographies/edward-sheean
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Patriot Woodworker Ernie Richardson has Passed Away
John Morris posted an article in Honoring the Fallen
A Memorial Page for Ernie Richardson It is with great sadness that one of our own has passed away. Ernie Richardson passed on December 7th, 2016, just two days ago. He has been sparse here on The Patriot Woodworker the last few months, but I have been in contact with him via email and Facebook messaging. He never gave any indication that he was heading towards this life event, although he did seem a bit down, and just kind of not feeling well in spirit. Ernie faced a lifetime of disability. Ernie Richardson was a good man, even with his disability challenges, he focused outward towards helping others, instead of focusing on his own challenges. He loved working in an organization called Bugles Across America and he was a bugler for funeral services of our veterans. Ernie also counted on his best friend Ruby, his service dog. Ernie loved that dog dearly. Ernie loved coming on here and sharing his work and shop. He received a scroll saw he was very proud of. As a matter of fact we were very proud of that scroll saw too, our Patriot Woodworker's came together, and purchased that saw for Ernie. His shop was small, but he had a blast in it. Ernie loved to make pens for his friends and family and he gave them to veterans as well. I will miss the fact that Ernie is not with us anymore, I wish I could be in contact more with many of our folks here in The Patriot Woodworker community, I wish I could live near many of you, to visit, and just drop in from time to time and say howdy, I wish I could have met Ernie in person, and let him know that I personally appreciated his huge efforts with our veterans, and his presence here. He sometimes felt like he was in the way around here, he felt at times like he was asking too many questions or he was being a burden on us because he sometimes had difficulty navigating the site. It could not have been further from the truth, we loved him here, and we jumped in when we could to give Ernie a hand up. Ernie, nor anyone is ever a burden here, never. I hope Ernie understood that. Another thing about Ernie, he always regretted not serving our country, frequently he would remind us of that, but he always said, that he hoped by playing "Taps" for our fallen and naturally deceased veterans, that he could somehow make up for what he could not do in service. I remember many of us always shot back to Ernie "Hey sir, you're doing a grand thing by playing that bugle, don't ever feel like you did not do your part for our nation!" Right now I have no doubt Ernie is blowing into that bugle in Heaven and playing side by side with the Angels. And he is standing at the gates, welcoming all our military souls as they cross in. I have one last thing to say, well done Ernie Richardson, well done sir! We installed this memorial page for Ernie in our Veterans Forum, because he earned it! Ernie's organization Ernie's Gallery Reach out to our elderly, reach out to friends, reach out to our veterans, repair a fence for someone who cannot, be there for your neighbor. -
I share this because the Angel Flight brings our heroes home. These dedicated men/women gave ALL for what they believed in their hearts was right. God Speed my heroes. Please view this in full page mode and be sure to have your speakers turned up. Also, please watch all the way to the end. And have your handkerchief handy. When the plane releases its decoy missiles, as is shown in several of the pictures, it creates an Angel shape in the smoke. But it is much more than just visual. See for yourself. Listen to the words of the pilot and the tower and make sure you sit quietly and listen to the very end. This is beautiful.
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I used to have a huge garden in OH. A really old farmer plowed and disced it for me. He died and I got a new guy. He used an 8 foot rototiller and it did a fine job. He loved to talk and when he was done, we did a lot of that. We became good friends and he never mentioned WWII. I had not seen him for about a month and was concerned. I went to his house and we talked. He said it was easier to talk to another combat vet. He was one of the GIs that landed on Normandy and survived. He was among the ones liberated France. He said that they gave away candy to kids and food to adults. He hadn't been home because he took a freedom flight with other vets to Normandy. He was one of the few that didn't need assistance walking. He said that as they went thru a town, an old lady came over and hugged him tightly, wouldn't let go. When she did and looked at him, she told him she was one of the kids that he handed candy too. He stood about 6 foot 7 with a large nose, easy to remember. They hugged and cried for a long time.
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June 6th 1944 was a turning point in the war against Germany. Code name Operation Neptune, Allied troops laid it all on the line for the freedoms that we enjoy today as thousands of brave men and women stormed the beaches of France by sea and air. It seems so very long ago but we must never forget the valor of these who fought and died for us. Please take the time to sit back and honor those who fought by watching this archival clip of that day and just REMEMBER.
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100 years ago today, the United States was thrust into the "war to end all wars". It was a brutal war that involved warfare like none seen before or since. The treaty following the war forever changed the map of the world. May we pause today to honor those who fought so bravely in that war. This CSPAN video reflects on World War I. https://www.c-span.org/video/?425800-1/100th-anniversary-us-entry-world-war
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Lt. Gen. Hal Moore dies; depicted in film 'We Were Soldiers'
John Morris posted a topic in The Veterans Corner and Causes Forum
I am very saddened personally, one of my all time heroes, Lt. General Hal Moore dies today. Many of you may of known of him before the popular Mel Gibson Movie "We Were Soldiers" but for me, I did not know about him until that gritty and realistic movie came to the big screen. LTC (rank at the time) Hal Moore, historians and the men who were there said Mel Gibson nailed it, that was Hal Moore. After seeing the movie I immediately researched this man and found out he also was in the Korean War as well. Knowing this legend is no longer among the living leaves a void in our living history that is passing away each and every day at an alarming rate. I have this to say, we owe our lives as Americans and our way of life to the men like LTG Hal Moore and all those who served under these giant leaders. We'll always and forever be in your debt Sir. Rest in Peace, I know you have a lot of brothers in heaven waiting on your arrival, my gosh, can you imagine the reception up there? The men he lead, the men who fought and died while in his command, they were proud to be with him in battle, and I am sure they are proud to have him once again in their midst. Links of Interest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Moore http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/hal-moore-portrayed-by-actor-mel-gibson-in-we-were-soldiers-dies-at-age-94 http://www.stripes.com/news/us/lt-gen-hal-moore-dies-depicted-in-film-we-were-soldiers-1.453672 http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0010423/bio -
Today while I was in Walmart, I met and talked to a WWII vet in a wheel chair. I always shake their hands and thank them. This guy was on a mountain the Pacific islands spotting Jap ships and subs. He detailed what his job was and the dangers involve. How ironic. I saw a History channel special about his job and how it change the course of the war. The Japs couldn't operate safely there to reload/recharge. He is a true war hero. By the way, he was waiting on his wife of nearly 65 years. IF YOU SEE A WWII VET THANK HIM. THERE ARE SO FEW LEFT YOU MAY NOT TO GET THE CHANCE AGAIN!
