Insane as it sounds, the pilots who bombed Libya in 1986 in response to the Lockerbie airplane terrorism, a soldier who received the Silver Star in El Salvador in 1987, soldiers killed and wounded during the Cold War in West Germany, a Sergeant awarded the Medal of Honor in Somalia, the 12 Airmen who received Silver Stars in Kosovo/Bosnia, the Long Islander who received a Purple Heart and Silver Star in Afghanistan, and the 700 soldiers on the present Sinai 'peacekeeping' mission would NOT be eligible to purchase military service credit in NY !
Just in case someone in New York thinks New York honors its veterans in an equitable manner, and one suspects no reader of this site would think that, here are the details of some events that occurred outside of the current law's arbitrarily favored times and places for military service credit!
Demand an answer from your legislator!
Apr 14, 1986:
The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Gregory A. Fronius, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the 3d Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), in El Salvadore, on 31 March 1987. On that date, pro-Cuban guerrillas of the Marxist group Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front launched a well-planned, early morning attack on the base camp at El Paraiso, El Salvador. Staff Sergeant Frontius, an advisor serving at that base camp, rallied the defense in action that resulted in many casualties among the attacking forces, before he was himself mortally wounded. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.
Just in case someone in New York thinks New York honors its veterans in an equitable manner, and one suspects no reader of this site would think that, here are the details of some events that occurred outside of the current law's arbitrarily favored times and places for military service credit!
Demand an answer from your legislator!
Apr 14, 1986:
U.S. Pilots Bomb Libya
April 14, 1986, the United States launches air strikes against Libya in retaliation for the Libyan sponsorship of terrorism against American troops and citizens. The raid, which began shortly before 7 p.m. EST (2 a.m., April 15 in Libya), involved more than 100 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft, and was over within an hour. Five military targets and "terrorism centers" were hit, including the headquarters of Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi.
During the 1970s and '80s, Qaddafi's government financed a wide variety of Muslim and anti-U.S. and anti-British terrorist groups worldwide, from Palestinian guerrillas and Philippine Muslim rebels to the Irish Republican Army and the Black Panthers. In response, the U.S. imposed sanctions against Libya, and relations between the two nations steadily deteriorated. In 1981, Libya fired at a U.S. aircraft that passed into the Gulf of Sidra, which Qaddafi had claimed in 1973 as Libyan territorial waters. That year, the U.S. uncovered evidence of Libyan-sponsored terrorist plots against the United States, including planned assassination attempts against U.S. officials and the bombing of a U.S. embassy-sponsored dance in Khartoum, Sudan.
In December 1985, five American citizens were killed in simultaneous terrorist attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports. Libya was blamed, and U.S. President Ronald Reagan ordered expanded sanctions and froze Libyan assets in the United States. On March 24, 1986, U.S. and Libyan forces clashed in the Gulf of Sidra, and four Libyan attack boats were sunk. Then, on April 5, terrorists bombed a West Berlin dance hall known to be frequented by U.S. servicemen. One U.S. serviceman and a Turkish woman were killed, and more than 200 people were wounded, including 50 other U.S. servicemen. U.S. intelligence reportedly intercepted radio messages sent from Libya to its diplomats in East Berlin ordering the April 5 attack on the LaBelle discotheque.
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*FRONIUS, GREGORY A. (KIA)Citation:The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star Medal (Posthumously) to Gregory A. Fronius, Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action while serving with the 3d Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), in El Salvadore, on 31 March 1987. On that date, pro-Cuban guerrillas of the Marxist group Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front launched a well-planned, early morning attack on the base camp at El Paraiso, El Salvador. Staff Sergeant Frontius, an advisor serving at that base camp, rallied the defense in action that resulted in many casualties among the attacking forces, before he was himself mortally wounded. His actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.
Home Town: Greensburg, Pennsylvania
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THREE U.S. SOLDIERS KILLED, AT LEAST 12 INJURED IN EXPLOSION
Jun. 29, 1987 12:47 PM ET
HOHENFELS, WEST GERMANY HOHENFELS, West Germany (AP) _ An 18-member team of U.S. military experts arrived in West Germany today to investigate an explosion the Army said killed three American soldiers and injured 12 others.
The investigators from the Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, Ala., were examining evidence at the site of Sunday's explosion in Hohenfels, said Maj. Kim Hunt, a spokeswoman for the Army's 5th Corps in Frankfurt.
The Army said the cause of the blast was not known, but that it occurred during a training exercise at the Army's largest maneuver area in West Germany. The site is 35 miles southeast of Nuremberg.
The Army today identified the three soldiers killed as Sgt. Joseph M. Renaldi, 25, of Springdale, Pa.; Spec. 4 Keith Lavoie, 21, of Burton, Mich.; and Staff Sgt. Joseph L. Dewease, 27, of Khewsville, Md.
U.S. military authorities said 12 soldiers were hospitalized. West German police said up to 30 servicemen were injured, some seriously, in the explosion.
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Sergeant First Class Randall D. Shughart
- Organization: U.S. Army
- Place and Date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia
Citation: Sergeant First Class Shughart, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant First Class Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Sergeant First Class Shughart's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.
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June 2000
PDF
Silver Stars
Ten airmen were awarded the Silver Star for their heroic efforts in the Kosovo campaign.
In Operation Allied Force, NATO forces flew more than 38,000 sorties, and the Serbs shot down just two aircraft. No airman lost his life in combat. To outsiders, the air operation seemed effortless. In fact, so-called human-rights experts and others criticized NATO for not running greater risks with the lives of its pilots to try to protect civilians on the ground.
Throughout the 78-day war, however, the skies over Yugoslavia were much more dangerous than they appeared to be on the evening news. Unlike the Iraqis during the 1991 Persian Gulf War-who fired and promptly lost most of their air defenses in the first days of bombing-the Serbs used their anti-aircraft weapons sparingly. That left much of the Serb air defense system intact through the end of the war. The Serbs' sporadic efforts to shoot down NATO aircraft meant that for some pilots, routine flights suddenly became high-intensity combat. The courage of airmen was severely tested, and there were moments of selfless heroism.
On the night of May 2, 1999, for instance, with a full moon glinting off scattered clouds, Capt. Adam B. Kavlick was flying one of four F-16s on a mission to find and destroy Surface-to-Air Missile sites near Novi Sad, in northern Serbia. They found some. The Serbs launched three SA-3 missiles from two separate sites at the four-ship formation. One of the missiles caught Kavlick's wingman, knocking his airplane out of the sky near Belgrade. The pilot ejected safely but spent the next two hours fleeing from Serb forces trying to hunt him down.
Kavlick remained overhead and hastily arranged a rescue effort. First, he made contact with his downed colleague. Then he organized a flow plan for tanker aircraft to keep a constant stream of fighters over the crash site. He coordinated the fighter orbits so that aircraft would be available to knock out any SAMs that popped up. The Serbs still managed to get off a few shots, at one point forcing Kavlick's new wingman to jettison his weapons to outmaneuver a missile.
Against the Sun
Meanwhile, NATO had launched rescue helicopters from Bosnia in a desperate push to reach the pilot before sunrise, which was to arrive in less than two hours. There was no time to wait for the A-10 gunships that typically accompany such a rescue package, so the helicopters flew without them. For more than an hour, Capt. Kent A. Landreth, as flight leader in an MH-53 Pave Low, led the three special operations helicopters through sporadic barrages of SAMs, anti-aircraft fire, and small arms fire. One MH-60 Pave Hawk, flown by Capt. William F. Denehan, was targeted by an SA-9 missile, which missed by only 100 feet. Later on, the same helicopter took rounds in the fuselage and left engine cowling from small arms fire.
The rescue aircraft went to the initial coordinates, which proved to be 17 miles from the pilot's actual location. From overhead, Kavlick finally directed them to the pilot's true position. With sunrise moments away, Denehan's helicopter touched down, and the pilot clambered aboard. As the rescue aircraft streaked away, the sun winked over the horizon, giving Serb gunners one last chance to claim an American victim. They missed.
For their performance during Allied Force, Kavlick, Landreth, and Denehan each received the Silver Star, the Air Force's third highest award for valor in combat-after the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross.
Throughout the 78-day war, however, the skies over Yugoslavia were much more dangerous than they appeared to be on the evening news. Unlike the Iraqis during the 1991 Persian Gulf War-who fired and promptly lost most of their air defenses in the first days of bombing-the Serbs used their anti-aircraft weapons sparingly. That left much of the Serb air defense system intact through the end of the war. The Serbs' sporadic efforts to shoot down NATO aircraft meant that for some pilots, routine flights suddenly became high-intensity combat. The courage of airmen was severely tested, and there were moments of selfless heroism.
On the night of May 2, 1999, for instance, with a full moon glinting off scattered clouds, Capt. Adam B. Kavlick was flying one of four F-16s on a mission to find and destroy Surface-to-Air Missile sites near Novi Sad, in northern Serbia. They found some. The Serbs launched three SA-3 missiles from two separate sites at the four-ship formation. One of the missiles caught Kavlick's wingman, knocking his airplane out of the sky near Belgrade. The pilot ejected safely but spent the next two hours fleeing from Serb forces trying to hunt him down.
Kavlick remained overhead and hastily arranged a rescue effort. First, he made contact with his downed colleague. Then he organized a flow plan for tanker aircraft to keep a constant stream of fighters over the crash site. He coordinated the fighter orbits so that aircraft would be available to knock out any SAMs that popped up. The Serbs still managed to get off a few shots, at one point forcing Kavlick's new wingman to jettison his weapons to outmaneuver a missile.
Against the Sun
Meanwhile, NATO had launched rescue helicopters from Bosnia in a desperate push to reach the pilot before sunrise, which was to arrive in less than two hours. There was no time to wait for the A-10 gunships that typically accompany such a rescue package, so the helicopters flew without them. For more than an hour, Capt. Kent A. Landreth, as flight leader in an MH-53 Pave Low, led the three special operations helicopters through sporadic barrages of SAMs, anti-aircraft fire, and small arms fire. One MH-60 Pave Hawk, flown by Capt. William F. Denehan, was targeted by an SA-9 missile, which missed by only 100 feet. Later on, the same helicopter took rounds in the fuselage and left engine cowling from small arms fire.
The rescue aircraft went to the initial coordinates, which proved to be 17 miles from the pilot's actual location. From overhead, Kavlick finally directed them to the pilot's true position. With sunrise moments away, Denehan's helicopter touched down, and the pilot clambered aboard. As the rescue aircraft streaked away, the sun winked over the horizon, giving Serb gunners one last chance to claim an American victim. They missed.
For their performance during Allied Force, Kavlick, Landreth, and Denehan each received the Silver Star, the Air Force's third highest award for valor in combat-after the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross.
In total, only 10 pilots who flew during Allied Force received the Silver Star. Three of them earned the award during the rescue of the F-16 pilot, and three others earned theirs during the rescue of an F-117 pilot who was shot down March 27, 1999. The four remaining Silver Star recipients were recognized for heroic efforts to protect their comrades or for attacks on the Serbs. Nearly 20 other aviators received the Distinguished Flying Cross-the next highest award for valor-and the Air Force is considering other nominees.
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Long Island soldier wounded in Afghanistan receives Silver Star for heroism
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Loheide of Patchogue, L.I., was praised for his work in getting injured soldiers safely to helicopters after a bomb exploded — even though he was among those who were badly hurt.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, April 6, 2013, 6:06 PM
New York soldier who suffered a traumatic brain injury said he was “humbled” to receive the Silver Star for helping to evacuate wounded troops during his first big mission in Afghanistan.
Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Loheide of Patchogue, L.I., told the Daily News his platoon as a whole deserved the credit for delivering the injured soldiers safely to helicopters in June 2010 after a bomb was dropped — even though he was among the badly hurt as he marked a landing zone for the aircraft.
“It was a team effort,” said the modest military man, who was treated at an Afghanistan hospital for 10 days. “It was a culmination of training and bravery of the men of the platoon.”
While battling enemy fire on rocky terrain in the Kunar Valley, an Air Force jet dropped a bomb about 15 feet away from Loheide and the other soldiers in what appeared to be friendly fire. The 31-year-old recalled the blur of events that forced him to think on his feet.
“I remember, due to the enemy contact that we were making, it was a very limited time frame where we could actually get the helicopters in and get casualties on the helicopters and out of the area,” he said.
The dramatic series of events unfolded on the first of three days of the mission, Operation Strong Eagle I.
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Sinai peacekeepers under siege as Egypt battles Islamists
American-led peace-keeping troops in the Sinai are living in a state of siege as fighting between the Egyptian army and militant Islamists groups threatens the viability of the mission.
Conditions for the 1,660-strong team, who were put in place under the 1979 Camp David peace accord but keep a low profile, have become "very tense and very dangerous", according to Egyptian sources.
Multi-national Force of Observers (MFO) soldiers, of whom almost 700 are American and others come from countries including France, Italy, Australia and Canada, cannot leave their bases without wearing body armour, while those in Al Gora, the biggest camp, are starting to dig their own wells for water so as not to have to rely on local supplies.
They have also started bringing in food from Israel, rather than from Egypt, which was a considerably cheaper option, say the Egypt-based analysts.
Conditions in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula have been unstable for some years, but deteriorated sharply since the removal by the army of President Morsi in July unleashed further violence.
Operations of the MFO have also become more restricted and time-consuming with each task exposing soldiers to danger for extended periods.
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