Thursday, April 14, 2011

Marines


The Marine Corp have took part in many wars such as the Korean war. The tactics the Marine Corp uses is very technical and there training is for many weeks. There are a few places you can go for your training and many peple sign up for the marines every day.


Two places you can go to for training in the marines is Parris Island in South Carolina, or you could go to San Diego in California(" Surviving Marine Corp Basic Training"). People who sign up in the west usually end up going to San Diego, people that sign up in the east end up going to Parris Island, and if women sign up they have only one place to go and thats Parris Island(" Surviving Marine Corp Basic Training"). Parris Island graduates about 17,000 people a year and San Diego graduates almost 21,000 people a year(" Surviving Marine Corp Basic Training"). Every day in the U.S 3,786 men sign up for the marines and 600 women sign up, and the average age for a male recruit is 19.1 and a females average age is 19.3(" Surviving Marine Corp Basi Training"). Marine boot camp is harder than any other boot camp for any other U.S military branch, most of the marines that come out of it say that its the hardest thing that they have evr done in their life(" Surviving Marine Corps Training"). Marines say that it is important to train in andvance so that you are in good enough shape or else they'll send you to the (PCP) Physical Conditioning Platoon, and in order to get out of the (PCP) you have to be able to do 3 pull ups 40 sit ups in 3 minutes and be able to run 3 miles in 20 minutes(" Surviving Marine Corps Basic Training").


If you are higher up in the marines such as an officer, the headquarters is located in Arlington, Virginia("Headquarters Marine Corps" 1). The (USMC) Untied States Marine Corp use the mobility of the navy in order to deliver combined-arms("Headquarters Marine Corps" 1). In the Marine Corp there is over 190,000 on active duty and they have over 40,000 on reserve if the need them(" Headquarters Marine Corps" 1). But the Marines operate under the U.S Department of the Navy(" Headquarters Marine Corps" 1).


That is basic information on the marine corp and how they work. The marines are one of the most physical boot camps and if you want to be opne you have to train for many months and be ready for one of the hardest things you have ever tried to do in your life.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011




For centuries, people have been fighting each other for countless reasons. And as time passed we have found better and better ways to bring harm to one another. One of the most creative, if not one of the most dangerous weapons developed for warfare would have to be the machine gun.


It may be unknown by many, but there is more than just 1 type of machine gun in existence. In fact there are 4 credible categories of them. Manually operated machine guns dating as far back as 1718, light machine guns dating back to WWI, Machine pistols also dating back to WWI, and modern machine guns dating back to WWII. (The Worlds Greatest Machine Guns)


One of the first questions that came up about machine guns was, what exactly is a machine gun? Well according to Unites States gun law, a machine gun is any fully automatic firearm mounted or portable. It will not be classified if it shoots rounds that are explosives either, those are known as auto cannons, or grenade launchers. But in order for a firearm to truly be considered a machine gun, it must follow a simple rule. It must capable of firing more than a single round without assistance through 1 action. Whether it is a hand crank or a trigger. (worldencyclopedia.com)


The first class of machine guns is known as the manually operated guns. True, as far back as 400 B.C.E. the Chinese had rapid firing crossbow; but that's not what we're interested in. Again a machine gun is a firearm. In 1718 a man by the name of James Puckle came up with the idea for a rapid fire cannon. It was to expensive and unappealing to manufacture though. It wasn't until the civil war that the idea of rapid firing guns became popular. In 1862 we had the first model Gatling Gun and that was when things started to take off. Manually operated guns did not use a trigger, but instead were fired using a hand crank. Some people believed they should have been semi-automatic rifles instead but they were classified as machine guns none the less.(inventors.about.com)


As WWII opened up, nations found they needed a lighter, cheaper, and more efficient weapon for their soldiers. Thus the light machine gun class was born. Sure some of the guns from WWI would be considered light machine guns, they were expensive and no where's near perfected. With WWII came the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) the Thompson, the MP class and so many more. Every nation had its own creation to throw into the mix. The light machine gun is very well considered the gun that changed war, and many versions of the early WWII models are still in use completely unchanged. (The Worlds Greatest Machine Guns)


Believe it or not, there is a lighter class of light machine guns, known as machine pistols. These little guys appeared in WWI a little, but again did not really take off until WWII. They were meant to be lighter, cheaper, and have a faster rate of fire from their big brothers. This is where we got guns like the Uzi. (The Worlds Greatest Machine Guns)


It seems odd to call the next class modern, mainly because some wouldn't consider WWII modern, but that's exactly what this class was named. Modern machine guns are all the heavy hitting or revolutionary firearms that didn't really fit into the other categories. From this you get guns like the MG class, the Heckler and Koch machine guns and many many more. many of these guns have literally remained unchanged since their creation, but are still used by the military today. (The Worlds Greatest Machine Guns)


It's no surprise that machine guns were huge in the military world. The advancements made in just 100 years alone to these firearms is astounding to say the least. It almost makes you wonder, what could we possibly come up with next?


Korean War U.S AirForce.

The Korean War is known as the "forgotten war", evan though there were hundereds of thousands of casualties from both South and North Korea, many from the U.S Airforce. The U.S Airfroce during this war focused on strategic bombing which would allow them to win the war from the air and not cause so many civilian casualties.



Strategic Bombing is known as hittin the enemy were it really hurts in this situation hittin North and South Korea at there power plants, railroad bridges, port facilites. The reason they attacked this way is so it would make the enemy "lose it's capability and will to sustain in the war"

They also used a differant method of bombing known as "tactical bombing" which is aiming rite for the enemy military forces, strongholds and ammunition and weapon barracks.



There were many units in the korean war some aacs units were, 1249th aacs sqdn, 1818th aacs group, 1935th aacs sqdn. Some air control units were 116th tactical control sqdn, 502nd tactical control group, 605th tactical control sqdn. Some air control units, 3rd air rescue group, 3rd air rescuse sqdn

This is some reasons why the korean war was so bad and so many people died. :(





















chosin reservoir

The Korean war is known as the "forgotten war" but there are many battles in this bloody war that will never be forgotten. Some of these battles are the Battle of Bloody Ridge, Chosin Reservoir, and the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge. Out of all of these battle many men died and were bloody but no battle put stress on the soldiers and lasting bad memories like that of the Chosin Reservoir.


Fought in November/December 1950 in North Korea, in sub-freezing temperatures, this battle displayed the valor and courage of American ground forces by fighting against a vastly larger force to retreat and reform their lines. The U.S. Naval forces that provided close air-support also faced equally harsh temperatures at sea. When "The Forgotten War" is talked about, this battle is always the most memorable combat action seen in the war.



During this bloody battle the U.S. was fighting a tough and numerous army of the Chinese and North Koreans. Due to the great numbers there resulted in a huge number of deaths primarily on the Chinese front. In all the China army attacked with over 120000 thousand soldiers trying to overwhelm the U.S. But the bloody battle wasn't the only thing killing soldier over 30000 Chinese soldiers died from frostbite and 7500 on the U.S. side died from cold related sickness.(Chosin reservoir epic of endurance). To combat many of these deaths the U.S. soldiers had to be well equipped with layers of clothing including 3 wool pants, 2 wool socks, 2 sweatshirts, 2 mittens, 2 jackets, 2 hoods, boots, and a helmet. even with all of this equipment though many soldiers died due to frostbite and cold.(Hammel, Chosin Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War)


Athough this war is known as the forgotten war , it will never be forgotten for those who fought at the bloody and hard battle of the chosin revervoir and endured a climate and enemy that many of us never could.







Chosin Reservoir


The Chosin Reservoir Also know as "Death Valley" or "Hell Fire Valley." It was given this nickname because of its temperature and how the Chinese Communist could ambush from all sides. As the Americans kept moving foward they ended up in what seems one of the worst battles of the Korean War.


The Chosin Reservoir was one of the worst wars in Korea. Its temperature was 30 degrees below zero and how the Americans were ill-equipped, understrength, and poorly trained. So the basic point was the Americans were not ready for war. Their budgets were slashed and there was no rescue and no relief (DiNicolo). As the Americans were advancing through Hagaru-ri they made it to the Chosin. As soon as they got there their were under heavy fire. The Chinese Communist launched a heavy offnsive attack that drove the Eighth Army back to Pyongyang but, they were able to surrond the 1st Marine Divison at the Reservoir. Hundreds of more Chinese came from Manchuria. Most of the Americans didnt think they existed there thats why the Chinese were called the Ghost Armies of Manchuria. Due to lack of intelligence the Americans were not good because they didnt know how to reload and didnt know the Manchurian language (Roe, Patrick C.). The Chinese had about 200,000 men and the United Nations had about 20,000 men. The Chinese were lead by General Song Shi-Lun who was communist. The Americans were lead by General MacAruthur. The veterans were evacuated from the Reservoir and the withdrawl from the Reservoir was certianly a high point in U.S. Marine Corp History (Hickman, Kennedy).


The Chosin Reservoir was one of the worst wars in Korea. The chinese were just too good for the Americans due to lack of intelligence and strength. Though the Americans retreated they were able to push back the Chinese Communist. Then they were able to eventually win the war. This war changed everyones life and still today people are still mentally ill because of it. So the moral of this story is a rock and a hard place.



Not many people have climbed mount Everest .its a very hard mountain to climb it has high elevation and allot of jagged cliffs and drop offs .Many people have died while attempting to climb it.




Mountain Everest was formed about 60 million years ago. The top of the mount is a staging 29,035ft it is the tallest mountain in the world.it got its name from the Nepal name sagarmatha witch means goddness of the sky. The location of the mountain is 27 degrees 59' n latitude and 86degrees 56'w longitude. The fastest person to climb the mt from the south is 16 hours and 56 min from the north it is 16hours and 45 min.There are about 120 dead bodies still on the mountain. The person how stayed on top the longest is 21 and 1/2 hours.(http://www.mnteverest.net/history.html) The north face of the mt has a dingle ditch that is very hard to climb. In 1963the first American group of mt climbers climb the treacherous peaks.(Americans of Everest) Some of the ways that they make it safer is by using satellite phones. They also use GPS to tell if you have made it to the top or if you have died. the equipment they use have to work in extreme cold tempature.(http://www.exploresweb.com/everest_k2/b)








Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Project Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder





Many people have their anxiety problems. Most ones can be more traumatic then others. One anxiety disorder called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common and dangerous in many ways.


PTSD accrues when a traumatic event happens in your life. Like a car accent, seeing some one die, dead body's, natural disasters, prison, abuse, rape, also loosing a close friend or family. This could come about right after the event or not until years later. It could last only 3 months or many years. People have suffered their whole life with this disorder. This can accrue in any age group. Young or old you can get this. The cause of it is unknown. It could be psychological, genetic, physical, and social reasons. Its a body's response to a stress change. This effects stress hormones and chemicals to change when being carried to the nerves. Having good social support could prevent from this to happen. The could re-experience events in several ways like dreams, memories, flashbacks, or being up set during anniversaries of the event. ("Post-traumatic stress disorder-Overview.")

Trying to get over PTSD is difficult therapy. First you got to think you are not the victim any more. YOU are a survivor or the incident. If you think you still are a victim, you are not over your ordeal. One problem is you cant think you're a survivor forever. It may rise above the victim status but you still are thinking about what happened to you. Also you must maintain your dignity and self worth. (Simpson pgs 115-121)


Fighting PTSD can be very difficult and complicated. Time doesn't heal all wounds. It could make more.