Stories spread through Bataan about a captain who seemed to appear and disappear in the jungle.
Something was crawling behind Japanese lines at night, ambushing patrols, hitting their positions, and vanishing before they could react.
It was one American officer, often alone, with a Thompson and a handful of grenades.
American troops began calling him the Ghost of Bataan.
This is the story of Arthur Wermuth..🧵1/6
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It could not last. In April 1942, Bataan fell. It was one of the worst defeats in American history, and the men who surrendered were forced on the brutal Bataan Death March.
Wermuth was too badly wounded to be driven on that march. Instead he began more than three years as a prisoner of war, an ordeal that was its own kind of nightmare.
He survived the notorious Japanese prison ships. In December 1944 he was aboard the Oryoku Maru when American aircraft, unaware that Allied POWs were packed below deck, attacked the vessel, killing hundreds of the prisoners aboard. He survived that, along with starvation, disease, and brutal transport in boxcars. By the end of the war he had earned four Purple Hearts. He was finally liberated in 1945.
The One-Man Army of Bataan had walked into the jungle to hunt an invading army almost alone, and somehow, against everything, he came home.
This was the story of Arthur Wermuth.
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Already shot in the side, he climbed a 100-foot cliff on D-Day, hunted down five enemy guns the Germans had hidden inland, and destroyed them almost single-handedly with grenades and the butt of his rifle.
Those guns could have killed thousands on the beaches.
A historian called him the most important American on D-Day after Eisenhower.
This is the story of Bud Lomell..🧵1/6
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The Rangers completed their mission before nine o'clock that morning. But the cost was terrible. Of the 225 Rangers who had landed at Pointe du Hoc, only about 90 were still standing by the end of the fighting.
Six months later, in the frozen hell of the Hürtgen Forest, Lomell led the capture and defense of a critical hilltop known as Hill 400, was wounded again, and earned the Silver Star. He finished the war as one of the most decorated Rangers in the Army, with the Distinguished Service Cross, the British Military Medal, and the French Legion of Honor among his decorations.
The historian Stephen Ambrose later wrote that, other than General Eisenhower himself, no single American did more to make D-Day a success than Bud Lomell.
And almost no one knew it. Lomell came home, went to law school, and became a quiet, respected lawyer in New Jersey. He rarely spoke about the war. For years, even his own law partners had no idea that the modest man in the next office had climbed a cliff under fire and saved thousands of lives on the most important day of the 20th century.
This was the story of Bud Lomell.
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America 250 Story Time.
One of the best stories you probably never heard of the American Revolution.
The Stocking Gunpowder Mill (also known as the Stocking Mill) was a vital American Revolutionary War ammunition factory located in Cotton Hollow in South Glastonbury, Connecticut. Run by George Stocking Sr. and his family, it supplied gunpowder for George Washington's Continental Army. Specifically high quality powder needed for cannons.
The mill exploded on August 23, 1777, instantly killing George Sr., three of his sons, and two other workers. At the time, the owner’s wife, Eunice Cobb Stocking, was on horseback returning from a supply delivery for the army. Upon hearing the blast, she returned home to find her husband and sons dead.
Refusing to give up, Eunice Stocking enlisted financial assistance, rebuilt the factory, and continued supplying crucial gunpowder to the Continental Army for the duration of the Revolutionary War.
She didn’t start a group MAGP (Mothers Against Gun Powder)
She showed resilience, determination, grit…through devastating loss.
A heavy price was paid by many for our freedoms.
We are not just proud to name our company after this story but grateful for all the sacrifices endured by those who helped secure our freedoms.
-Eddie
🇺🇸 Most Badass Football Players: Combat Veterans Edition #7 Alejandro Villanueva
Alejandro Villanueva, an Army Ranger and two time Pro Bowler, was one badass football player.
Born in 1988 and raised in a military family, Villanueva attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he primarily played offensive tackle for the Army Black Knights.
After graduating in 2010 and being commissioned as an infantry officer, he served with the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division.
During his first deployment to Afghanistan as a rifle platoon leader, Villanueva’s unit responded to a call involving a local teacher who had opened fire on Taliban fighters near a mosque.
As they moved in, the platoon walked into a heavy Taliban ambush.
One of his soldiers, Pfc. Jesse Dietrich, was shot near the armpit.
While under intense enemy fire, Villanueva pulled the wounded Dietrich down an alley and into a second mosque so a medic could begin treating him.
He then returned to the fight.
Later, when the medic told him the wounded needed to be moved to a safer location for medevac, Villanueva personally carried another injured soldier on his shoulders through the danger zone to a nearby school, where they waited for a helicopter.
Despite these efforts, Dietrich tragically died of his wounds on the helicopter.
The loss deeply affected him.
For his actions in rescuing wounded soldiers while under enemy fire, Villanueva was awarded the Bronze Star with “V” for valor in combat.
He had earned his Ranger tab and served two additional tours in Afghanistan with the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.
Many of those operations remain classified.
He was also awarded a second Bronze Star for service.
After nearly five years of active duty and three combat deployments, Villanueva left the Army as a captain to pursue a career in the NFL.
He signed with the Philadelphia Eagles as an undrafted free agent before joining the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he became one of the league’s most reliable left tackles.
During his time with the NFL, he started over 100 games and was selected to the Pro Bowl twice, in 2017 and 2018.
Alejandro Villanueva is an American Badass.
Thank you, Captain! 🫡🇺🇸
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The Boston Tea Party would have happened much earlier if the Sons of Liberty had this blend available.
One of the best dark roasts you’ll ever taste.
https://t.co/zeGlHpGkg8
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New Flagship Blend and T-Shirt.
All orders will come with matching decal.
Will arrive in Time for July 4th.
A new dark roast that has become my fav.
In honor of 250 years of American excellence and an event which helped shape a resistance that turned into a nation….The Sons of Liberty and the Boston Tea party.
Design is based off of descriptions given of the disguises worn when they tossed the tea into the harbor.
The described war paint used was to honor the flag flown by SOL.
We present The Harbor
Link is for T shirt.
https://t.co/EWiWw9E9jn