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Operation Longhorn was the Jade Helm of the 1950’s

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So many people were up in arms about Jade Helm in 2015, but have you  ever heard about Operation Longhorn? Watch YouTube or many of the alternative media outlets and according to some, the military was preparing to take over cities across the United States and enact martial law.

Military invades Texas Jade Helm Style
Texas Newspaper Article on Military Invasion

“Little Lampasas tonight waited for a green clad enemy to take it over- to test Army military government and to show what happens when you lose your everyday liberties”

“…it took us about a month to convince some people that this ” play” war wasn’t going to mean they were going to be pulled out of their beds at midnight”

Ok, take a deep breath and calm down. This was written in In April of 1952 when over 115,000 military men and women of the Army and Air Force invaded Lampasas Texas and occupied an area of 1,800 sq miles. This was before the age of social media and I imagine few outside of Texas knew about the 18 day operation.

First let me tell you I am NOT a conspiracy theorists, I am a realist and realize that the possibility of keeping a secret between more than a dozen citizens, or thousands of military members and hundreds of journalists just is impossible. I do not believe in the 911 conspiracies, death squads, death camps, or the gloom and doom some are predicting about Jade Helm. Entire books have been written about Jade Helm and I’ll be interested to see how many conspiracy theories are debunked and end up being false.

Debunked!: Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Evil Plots of the 21st CenturyWhat Is The Jade Helm 15 Project?:  Is it Martial law?Jade Helm Prophecy: A Revelation From Rev. David SteeleJade Helm 15: The Patriot Report (The Strategic Incremental steps towards martial law in America)

Largest Civilian Military Exercise in the United States

There have been several military training exercises that use public land and use civilians to role-play casualties. If you live near an Army National Guard base you see trucks, tanks, and other military equipment, you get used to maneuvers and understand the relationship with the local military and the citizens of the area. However, if you aren’t used to military protocols, or operations the name Jade Helm might scare you to death.

Military Agressors and Government to Run Town
Military Agressors and Government to Run Town

Military operations on public land, or using civilians to play act as participants (as wounded etc) is nothing new, we just haven’t done this in a large massive scale in a few generations.

The largest domestic military exercise in the United States involved the Army and the United States Air Force where the goal was to invade a town of 20,000 people in Lampasas Texas. My Dad was one of the paratroopers that landed northwest of Austin Texas as a member of the 508th division of the 82nd Airborne.

Facts About The Texas Invasion

  • Operation lasted for 18 days
  • Military invaders wore German styled caps
  • Flyers distributed outlined the following:
    • A 6pm curfew on the town
    • Theatres closed until “Centralist” entertainment films arrive
    • Churches closed
    • Men will be posted outside school classrooms to “check” on teachings
    • Private vehicles confiscated
  • However the working day was shortened to only 22 hours (isn’t that nice)
  • Over 20,000 people watched the maneuvers including many “foreign observers”

This mythical war happened just a few years after the end of World War II, and memories of Nazi invasion was still fresh in the minds of many people.

Mock War Down in Texas Is No Laughing Matter

Mock War in Texas- newspaper article from 1952
Mock War in Texas- newspaper article from 1952

Although this was a training exercise, a mock war, it was no “laughing matter”. Many from the 82nd Airborne lost their lives when they tangled in chute rigging, or their chutes failed to open. A total of 10 men died during Operation Longhorn. Planning took months, and it was a “paper operation”, but when the cocky parachute infantrymen hit the lazy Lampasas, you couldn’t tell it from the real thing”

These few newspaper clippings represent the little I know about my Father and his military career. Many of the articles sound as if  they could have been written today. The biggest difference is the lack of social media. The frenzy was isolated to the geographic region, not the entire country. Life Magazine did cover the “event” and considering their influence at the time they were the social media of the day, yet did not “spin the news” to martial law.

Invasion of Texas and the closing of Churches in Operation Longhorn
Invasion of Texas and the closing of Churches in Operation Longhorn

No matter how much we don’t trust or government, we should trust the men and women of our military. They are citizens of the United States and have taken an oath to protect and serve the United States. Just like in Operation Longhorn, the communities participating in Jade Helm have been briefed, consulted, and are fully cooperating with the military.

Accounts of Operation Longhorn

 

82nd Airborne 508th before leaving for Operation Longhorn, much like Jade Helm
Texas 1952 (April) – Before jump at “Operation Longhorn”. 3rd Platoon, K Co., 508th RCT, 82nd Airborne Division (photo credit to John G Hopkins Family)

Operation Longhorn– G503 Military Forum Photos, Photographer: John Dominis

Soldier Recalls Invasion of Lampasas County in Operation Longhorn, Lampasas Dispatch, Oct 26, 2010

Actual Military Video Footage of Operation Longhorn, Shutterstock.com

Grandmas Ranch and Operation Longhorn, Tyler Morning Telegraph 2/15/2015

Photos and flyers from the Agressors, The Circle Trigonists

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Information About Jade Helm

Texans brace for Jade Helm 15, massive federal military exercise

Even the governor is encouraging state troops to monitor Jade Helm, which is largely subject to a media blackout. Conspiracy theories about the goals of Jade Helm 15 include imposition of martial law.

Local fears swell as Jade Helm brings troops to Camp Bullis

SAN ANTONIO — Hundreds of U.S. military troops are coming through San Antonio as part of an 8-week training program shrouded in secrecy. The operation, called Jade Helm, begins on the 15th and involves 1200 troops across a number of Southern states.

Jade Helm 15, the military exercise that begat a thousand …

It begins. The geographically sweeping military training exercise, known as Jade Helm 15 is upon us. Special forces and troops arrive in  Texas and other states where they will train.

Texans Just Responded To Jade Helm In This EPIC Way …

The Houston Chronicle reported Friday that several hundred people started Operation Counter Jade Helm. The aim is not to stop the operation, but to practice their own skills.

Jade Helm 15: One nation under siege? — RT Op-Edge

Jade Helm 15 is the largest domestic military exercise ever held on US soil. Over 1000 members from the nation’s elite forces, including Green Berets, Special Ops from the Navy and seige in Texas.

 Military Books on Code of Conduct and Secret Operations

Between Threats and War: U.S. Discrete Military Operations in the Post-Cold War World (A Council on Foreign Relations)Code of Conduct, an inspiration story of self-healing by an ex-POWLincoln’s Code: The Laws of War in American HistoryCode of Conduct, Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Training (Army Regulations Series)

Patriotic Video That Gets It Right

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The Best Patriotic Video

Across the internet are scores of videos with patriotic songs, words, and performers that inspire and lift the heart. My plan this Independence Day weekend was to post several of my favorite patriotic videos here, and I had quite the list. But once I saw this ad by Food City centered around the true meaning of the holiday I changed my plans and only posted one.

Food City Patriotic video
Food City Patriotic video

The respect between these two men is overwhelming, and it’s a trait I see with people who serve in the military to those who have served before them.

As a Marine Mom this has special meaning to me. My two sons are in the United States Marine Corps and their grandfather was a WWII veteran and a paratrooper in the Army Airborne. He died in 1995, but would have been able to fit into his uniform. I could see him doing just this for one of his grandsons as they came home.

I normally don’t cry during patriotic videos, but I can’t help it on this one. The look on the Mothers face as she watches the two salute each other would bring a tear to even the hardest heart.

“At Food City, we honor those people that serve and protect our country, and we know that without the men and women who watch out for us, we would not have any of the luxuries we do. We are the land of the free because of the brave and we salute you!” Food City

It’s not often a company gets an ad right, but when they do it deserves recognition. I know these are actors, and not everything in the video may be accurate, but it accomplishes what it was meant to do. Remind the public that holidays such as Memorial Day, and Independence Day, often referred to as the 4th of July, are not just about picnics, barbecues and parties. But about recognizing why we celebrate our country’s freedom. It’s because of the brave men and women of our military, who for hundreds of years have fought for freedom so we can have the rights we have today.

If you have a favorite patriotic video please place the link below, I would love to see it and may even create a regular feature on either #MilitaryMonday or #WarriorWednesday

 

Deployed Dad Writes his Daughter a Song

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This deployed dad1 knows how hard being away from is on his family, especially his little girl, and he wanted to make her feel better. Most military children understand that Mommy or Daddy is doing a very important job for the country and the other parent takes on not only the double task of parenting but also comforting, reassuring and keeping the connection strong. But it doesn’t make it any less painful or lonely.

Today is Friday and many people use this day to remind others that our military is still deployed overseas in countries far away from their family.

In this day of technology, cell phones, iPads, internet, Facebook overseas communication is much easier and faster than years ago when you waited for a letter in the mail or the rare phone call. Facetime, Snapchat, and Skype are sometimes nightly rituals with servicemen and women to stay in contact with their families. They might use it to help their children with homework, watch a birthday party, or even the birth of a new baby.

He is currently a Fort Drum soldier on deployment in Afghanistan and enlisted the help of his fellow soldiers to sing a song to his daughter who is missing him back in Watertown, NY. Sgt. First Class  Jamie McIntyre is on his fifth deployment to Afghanistan and says his 5-year-old daughter Jessie, was missing her dad and having a tough time dealing with him being away from home.

To cheer her up, McIntyre asked some fellow soldiers to help him write and sing a song to Jessie using Facetime. In the video, McIntyre – who is of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team with the 10th Mountain Division – is the soldier positioned third from the left.

Thank you to all the deployed Dads and Moms and everyone in the military who serve our great country. You sacrifice your lives, and have found ways to endure, carry on and keep the bonds strong at home.

Red Friday remember Everyone Deployed

Colonel Tom Brewer: Warrier to Congressman

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I am honored to know Tom Brewer, and his family. I don’t normally venture into politics on my blog, photography is my gig, but have made a few exceptions, Colonel Tom Brewer is reason to make that exception.  The more I learn about politics the more I’m fed up and tired of politics as usual and the career politicians who place their own interest first. We need more people in Washington that love America, understand what freedoms we truly have, and are willing to fight to keep that freedom.

Colonel Tom Brewer for Congress 2014
Click to go to the official Tom Brewer for Congress website

We have a commander in chief who has never served in the military, who doesn’t understand international politics and policies and has made decisions that have not only hurt our country but put thousands of our men and women in the military in harms way and placed them in danger.

This is where my endorsement (for what it’s worth) and political stance is front and center. I totally believe, trust and stand behind Colonel Tom Brewer for Congress for the third district in Nebraska. I have been fortunate to know him and his family for many years as they have lived in Eastern Nebraska and his kids have gone to the same high school as mine. His daughter is a good friend of my sons and I think the world of her.Click to the Colonel Tom Brewer for Congress 2014

Tom has not only served his country with honor and commitment, stood in the line of fire to protect his men, but also been placed in diplomatic leadership positions with international leaders and advisers. He was critical in helping build the Afghan National Army in the years after 9/11. There is much I can say about the man and his values, but I have decided to link to the media stories and interviews to let him tell it himself.

People in the third district don’t have “bad” things to say about Adrian Smith, but they really can’t say something positive he’s done either. Although it has come to light that Rep Adrian Smith In a recent poll in the Grand Island Independent  more than 70% think the 3rd District needs a military man to represent them in Congress.

Since then Colonel Brewer has taken Congressman Smith to task for not supporting the families of the men killed at Benghazi and has urged him to support HR 36 which would would support Congressional action to investigate the terrorist attack on Benghazi on September 11, 2012.

Tom Brewer speaks about Benghazi
CLICK to hear the radio interview

I have been following the events of Benghazi from the beginning as my oldest son was at Camp Bastion just a few months before the attack and it really hit close when men he knew and worked with died and were injured in the attack. Colonel Brewer knew and served with Navy SEAL Glen Doherty and in a radio interview this week stated the following:

“The mortars used to kill Americans on September 11, 2012 in Benghazi had American tail fin numbers. They were killed with our own weapons. And for the life of me, I don’t understand why Congressman Adrian Smith will not support an investigation that would allow the truth to come out.”

What is going on in Washington? Why are some state representatives hiding their head in the sand? The sitting Republican Congressman Adrian has time and time again turned down Tom Brewers request to debate before the primary. What is he afraid of, I say let’s get Tom Brewer elected, send him to Washington and let him take names and kick butt.

 

I encourage you to visit his website, contribute what you can, pass his information along to anyone in the country. It’s not just Nebraska he represents but all veterans, patriots and Americans. If you have contacts in the media or in the press get them in contact with Colonel Brewer and his campaign office. He not only has a story to tell, but is a leader who will get things done in Washington.

Colonel Tom Brewer Official Links

Video Stories

Nebraska Soldier retires After 36 years

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAEYYxFoC8w

Watch the Brewer vs Smith Debate

Watch the Republican primary debate between Tom Brewer and Adrian Smith at UStream.com decide for yourself who won the political debate. I have watched many political debates over the years and Tom Brewer did a fantastic job in my opinion, you would never know he hasn’t debated before, or been in the political area. I didn’t know he had such a public speaking presence.


Video streaming by Ustream
 Political Interviews

Learn where Tom Brewer stands on abortion (Pro-Life), the second Amendment (life time NRA member), Benghazi, immigration, the national budget, national defense, the Keystone Pipeline, the Tea Party, immigration, leadership, and more important issues facing our country today. He has a vast amount of knowledge and experience in domestic and international affairs.

Articles About Colonel Tom Brewer

Tom Brewers Military Career

Books

Chronicles the attack near Kabul Afghanistan where Tom Brewer and his men were outnumbered 10 to one, yet they held off the enemy for more than an hour before support arrived. Tom Brewer was shot six times yet still continued to fight and received his first Purple Heart.

If you know Colonel Tom Brewer you understand what he stands for, if you don’t get to know this man, he will tackle Washington like he has him military life, with honor and commitment.

 

Honoring My Dad, an 82nd Airborne Paratrooper

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My Dad was a two time veteran, first on a destroyer in World War Two and then later when he served in the 508th Airborne Infantry as part of the 82nd Airborne Division.

82nd Airborne Paratrooper Division Training 1951, Ft Benning

On this Memorial Day weekend I find myself going through my Dad’s military photos and paperwork. Unfortunately his World War II records and US Army 82nd Airborne Veteran desktop flag. American Monster Projects (AMP) is veteran owned and operated. The AMP family has served for generations and uses this tradition to make products geared to fellow veterans and people who are proud to be American!

ORDER US Army 82nd Airborne Veteran Desk Flag HERE

However, I do have his records and articles from his second enlistment in the Army Airborne during the 1950’s including paratrooper training photos from the 1951  508th Airborne Infantry division.

I found the family photo albums when my Mom died in 2011, many I have never before, nor any of the articles. I’m in the process of scanning and restoring the photos I inherited.

I also found his original Airborne Creed, I should frame it like this one.

The Army Airborne creed is near and dear to all 82nd Airborne veterans. Find Army Airborne gifts and remember Airborne All The Way
ORDER an Army Airborne Creed framed print

I hope with this post maybe someone will remember, have memorabilia, or even the WW II personal items of Leo Thomas Tyrrell. His nickname was “Tiny Terry the Terrible” during his time on a destroyer in the European and Pacific theatre.

According to his discharge papers, Leo T. Tyrrell attended training at TIC Fort Benning, GA and QM School Fort Lee, VA between May 1951-Jan 1952.

He completed the Basic Airborne and Parachute Packer and repairman courses as well as Basic Military Training.

Along with the photos were clippings of many training airborne maneuvers between 1951 and 1953 including the biggest maneuver in U.S. history  Operation Longhorn.

This military exercise at Fort Hood Texas involved The 508th Regimental Combat Team. Over 3,089 troops dropped as part of an Army exercise also included the 82nd Airborne in a make-believe war involving over 100,000 military personnel over a 17 day period. 

Order a Vintage Army Airborne print

Over 20,000 civilians either participated as their towns were invaded or watched maneuvers, unfortunately just like in real war there were two fatalities and 221 were injured.

Below is a photo of my Dad, he’s inside the glider so it doesn’t do much good but I love the glider, someone told me they were left over from WWII

Cargo Glider at Fort Hood 1952
Cargo Glider at Fort Hood 1952

Dad was also stationed at Fort Bragg and Camp Drum NY, where he participated in Exercise Snowstorm at Snow Ridge ski resort near Turin New York.

He was honorably discharged as a Private First Class on August 17th, 1954. It appears he was attached to the 623rd Quartermaster Company as his most significant duty assignment.

PFC Leo T. Tyrrell 1952

Leo Thomas (Terry)  Tyrrell born 1925, died 1995

Miss you Dad, wish you had been around to see my kids grow and your grandsons become U.S. Marines. You would have loved the US Army Airborne Christmas ornament I created below.

UPDATE: 4/14/2014

I was recently contacted by a fellow Blogger who is documenting her family history and genealogy. Her Dad John G Hopkins was in the 508th with my Dad and there is a photo of the plane with the all the men sitting in front of it. My Dad is in the photo!! I think I have it narrowed down, he is either 4th from right on top row, or 4th from right on the bottom row.

82nd Airborne 508th before leaving for Operation Longhorn, much like Jade Helm
82nd Airborne 508th before leaving for Operation Longhorn

Related 82nd Airborne articles

Books About the 82nd and 508th Airborne

The Sword of St. Michael: The 82nd82nd Airborne (Military Power)Boots on the Ground: A Month withJUMP: INTO THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW:History of the 508th Parachute RegimentPut Us Down In Hell: The Combat