Corp. Joseph Richards, Donaldson, Schuylkill County A Rebel in the Union Army.

The Rebel Works At Hatchers Run.

CORPORAL JOSEPH RICHARDS

A REBEL FROM DONALDSON FIGHTS FOR THE UNION AT HATCHERS RUN, VA.

Company F of the 184th Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment was raised in Schuylkill County. The regiment was organized in May of 1864. This letter was written to the Miners Journal in 1865.
This is an interesting story about a boy from Donaldson, Schuylkill County.

Editors Miners Journal. On the 5th inst. We broke camp and took our line of march for the south side railroad. On the afternoon of the same day, we encountered the enemy. Slight skirmishing took place, we driving the enemy to the other side of Hatchers Run where we found that he had heavy works in which he took refuge. We then formed in line of battle and threw up works, but before we had them finished the enemy charged on us with four lines of battle, but were repulsed three different times. In the thickest of the fray, one form could be seen urging the men to deeds of bravery, by his actions and words. Many were the question’s asked by other regiments, who could it be that appeared to lead a charmed life, for it seemed that neither bullet or shell could hit him, but when he came along the line to his own regiment the shout went up from the boys of the 184th, “Welcome to Joe,” for he is a favorite of all. I enquired who he was, and was told it was Joseph Richards of Co. F a returned prisoner of war from Andersonville. His encouraging words will be remembered d by many, for there is not a man in the 184th but would follow him to death.
The strange thing is, he is a deserter from the Rebel Army. He deserted when Lee made his first raid into Pennsylvania, and lived in Donaldson until last spring when he enlisted under Lieut. William D. Williams from Tremont. On the 22 day of June he was taken prisoner and stayed in bondage for five months, but has returned to his company to revenge the wrongs which he experienced at the hands of the rebels.

Lt. Harrison Jones
184th P.V.V.

Lieut. William D. Williams from Tremont Died at White House , Va. On June 9, 1865 from wounds he received at Cold Harbor, Va.


184th Pennsylvania


7 companies of this regiment, recruited in various and widely separated sections of the Commonwealth, for a term of three years, rendezvoused at Camp Curtin, where, in May, 1864, they were organized, and on the 14th of that month, moved under command of Major Charles Kleckner, to join the Army of the Potomac, coming up with it as it was crossing the Pamunky River, on the 28th of May. It was immediately assigned to the Second Brigade, Second Division, of the Second Corps, and on the day following its arrival, was led to battle at Tolopotomy Creek. It was engaged in skirmishing on the way to Cold Harbor, and on the second day of the battle, led the brigade in two desperate assaults upon the enemy's works, losing sixty-seven killed, and one hundred and thirteen wounded, and leaving some of its dead on the enemy's entrenchments. Lieutenants William D. Williams, and S. Hamilton Norman, were mortally, and Leonard F. Brahm, severely wounded. For its unflinching bravery, it was warmly commended by its brigade commander. For ten days it remained upon the front line, heavy skirmishing being constantly kept up. It then moved with the corps, and crossing the James, assaulted the enemy's works on the 16th, repeating the assault on the two following days, and losing in each very heavily. On the 22d the assault was renewed, and the brigade, after having charged and gained a position close upon the fortifications, was out-flanked, and a large number were taken prisoners. In this engagement, the regiment lost fifty-two in killed and wounded, and one hundred and fifteen taken prisoners. Captains Evans, Haines, Huff, and M'Keage, and Lieutenants Rahn, Stover, Bryan, and Adjutant Muffly, were among the prisoners. Out of five hundred men who stood in the ranks on the banks of the Tolopotomy, on the 29th of May, three hundred and fifty, including twelve officers, had been either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, in a period of twenty-five days-a loss unprecedented. Of the number taken prisoners on the 22d, sixty-seven died at Andersonville, and a number at Salisbury and Florence. The greater part of the -wounded prisoners died at Petersburg. Near the close of July, the handful which remained, joined in an expedition to Deep Bottom, where it was engaged in skirmishing for a day, returning on the 29th. On the 16th of August, the command again crossed the James, and in the neighborhood of Deep Bottom, after skirmishing during the entire forenoon, made a determined assault, in which it lost, out of ninety-seven 152 ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOURTH REGIMIENT, engaged, twenty-seven in killed and wounded. Returning to the Petersburg front, the corps, with but little delay, moved out upon the Weldon Railroad, and commenced its destruction. On the afternoon of the 25th, the enemy attacked with terrible earnestness, but was three times repulsed, with fearful slaughter. In a fourth assault, which he delivered with fresh troops, and in overpowering numbers, the little brigade was overborne, and compelled to fall back. Lieutenant Colonel Kleckner, in command, while at the head of his regiment, cheering on his men, was severely wounded. On the same night, the fragment that remained marched back to Petersburg, and was placed in the trenches, where it was employed in fatigue duty, until near the close of October. In the meantime, three new companies, recruited for one year's service, were added to the regiment, completing its full number. On the 25th of October, the regiment marched with the corps to Hatcher's Run, where, on the 27th, it was hotly engaged, the corps being outflanked and roughly handled. The regiment lost fifteen in killed and wounded. After the battle, it returned and was placed in the trenches between forts Haskell and Steadman. It was here subjected to constant duty, in close proximity to the enemy's lines, where it lost a number in killed and wounded, from the unerring fire of his sharp-shooters, Captain Joseph S, Jenkins being instantly killed. In December, the regiment moved to the left flank of the army, and here it was joined on the 1st of January, 1865, by Colonel John H. Stover, who had been commissioned at its organization, and now assumed command. Colonel Stover had previously served as Captain in the Tenth, and Major of the One Hundred and Sixth. On the 5th of February, he led-his command to Hatcher's Run, where, on that and on the following day, it was warmly engaged. It encamped on the field, and remained there during the winter, the lines being extended to that point. On the 28th of March it broke camp, and on the 1st of April, took position in line of battle in front of the enemy. On the 2d, in common with nearly the entire army, it moved to the assault, breaking the enemy's lines, and capturing his works with but small loss. It then moved with the corps in pursuit, and skirmished as it went, until it reached Appomattox Court House, where the rebel army surrendered. It then marched back to the neighborhood of Washington, and participated in the grand review of the armies. On the 2d of June, the three companies last added to the command, were mustered out, and the remaining seven, which formed th

STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN IN BATTLE

82ND AIRBORNE DIVISION PATCH

This is a great letter written by a Schuylkill Haven Soldier during the campaign in Italy. While serving with the 82nd Airborne Division.

STRANGE THINGS HAPPEN IN BATTLE.
SGT. JOHN A. HAAS

APRIL 1943
POTTSVILLE JOURNAL


Sergeant John A. Haas Son of Mr. And Mrs. John Haas, of 733 Garfield Ave, Schuylkill Haven a paratrooper, who was wounded in action in Italy but now is fully recovered and back with his outfit wrote home telling about his experience in the battle.
Sgt. Haas is attached to the crack 505th Infantry Regt. Of the 82nd Airborne Division paratroopers...

Dear Dad,
I just received your letters and enjoyed hearing from you once again. I am glad to hear everything is well at home and I pray it will continue to be that way. We are in good health over here now, too, and my wound is almost completely healed. I believe I will have a small scar between my shoulder blades where the slug came out but it will only be a small one. I imagine you would like to know how it felt to get hit, so I will tell you a little about it. Another fellow and I were in position together when the Krauts began their attack we never expected them because it was seven o’clock in the morning and at that time they usually lay low because it was flat terrain. Their usual tactics were to attack at night but this time they were mixing up the plays to try and catch us off guard. They never even laid down an artillery or mortar barrage before the attack. They simply crawled up close to our lines during the dark and when dawn came they began their assault.
“It was pure suicide for them because we have the Garand rifle and that really throws out the lead fast. My buddy and I were in a barn firing through a big window and really having a swell time. If we only saw one Kraut we would take turns shooting. It never took more than two shots because they were only a hundred yards away and as I said before, the Garand rifle is a good gun. I had just got my third Kraut and stepped back from the window when my legs just went numb and I hit the floor. My entire body was numb but there was no pain and I couldn’t even tell were I was hit until the medic came and pulled off my jacket. By that time the numbness left me and although I felt tired and my left arm was stiff, I did not have any pain. Just about that time the Krauts realized they were really stuck. They couldn’t advance through our fire and to retreat meant going back over about a thousand yards of open fields which we had covered with our machine guns and rifles. Then they made a dumb move and laid in shell holes out in the field and then our boys really had a time. They would take field glasses and locate a German in a hole. Then they would wait until he stuck his head up and everyone would take a shot. I wasn’t in on the fun because I was to weak to even stand up and I just had to lay on the floor and hope for darkness to come so I could get evacuated to the hospital. However this time the Germans did something that would help me a lot. It was about four in the afternoon and I had been laying there on my stomach for eight hours, so I was getting pretty tired. I had begun to think darkness would never come when I heard one of the fellows say that the Germans were coming over with a Red Cross flag. They wished to evacuate their dead and wounded and wanted us to hold our fire until they could do so. We agreed, and while they took care of their wounded, we were also taken away to our doctors. Perhaps this seems strange to you dad and perhaps you would say they would never do so much for us if our wounded was out there instead of theirs.
However, I was present at a time when our own medics raised a Red Cross flag under similar conditions. The Germans were shelling us with very accurate mortar and artillery fire but they stopped as soon as they saw the Red Cross flag and allowed our medics to work in the field unhindered. A very humors thing occurred in connection with this episode. At the time the medics raised the Red Cross flag, we had two German soldiers pinned down by our fire. We couldn’t get them out because they had a perfect position and they couldn’t harm us as long as we kept down. One of our men who was about twenty yards from the Germans could speak German and it’s good he could because he was a help. When the Red Cross flag was raised the Germans thought we were surrendering so they came out of their holes and asked our German kid if we gave up. He said “Hell No, and went back into their holes. Fifteen minutes later the battle was begun all over again. Some people hardly believe such things happen on a battlefield but they do, because I’ve seen them and been part of them.

John



505th Patch

Editors note:
In April 1943, the 82nd departed Fort Bragg and eventually arrived at Casablanca, Morocco, on 10 May. Shortly, the Division moved to Oujda where intense training was conducted for the invasion of Sicily -- Operation HUSKY. The 505th, commanded by Colonel James Gavin, was chosen to spearhead the assault. The 505th was reinforced with the 3rd Battalion, 504th. On 9 July 1943, Gavin's 505th Combat Team conducted the first American regimental combat parachute assault in the vicinity of Gela, Sicily. The paratroopers were widely scattered, but were able to gather into small groups to harass the enemy. Colonel Gavin formed one group on Biazza Ridge where the Herman Goering Division was stopped before reaching the newly established American beachhead at Gela. On the evening of 11 July, the remainder of the 504th parachuted into Sicily. Passing over the American fleet, the transports were mistaken for enemy bombers and 23 were shot down. Eighty-one troopers were killed, including the assistant division commander, Brigadier General Charles Keerans. The 82nd continued its fighting in Sicily by leading Patton's westward drive to Trapani and Castellmare. In five days, the Division moved 150 miles and took 23,000 prisoners.

On 9 September 1943, General Clark's Fifth Army launched Operation AVALANCHE with an amphibious landing at Salerno, Italy. Several operations had been planned for the 82nd, including a drop on Rome, but were cancelled. Within four days the Allied beachhead was in trouble. General Clark sent an urgent request to General Ridgway who was in Sicily with the 82nd. On 13 September 1943, Colonel Reuben Tucker led his 504th combat team (minus 3rd battalion) on a parachute assault at Paestum, south of Salerno. On the 14th, the 505th jumped. The paratroopers were rushed to the front line where they engaged the enemy in the rugged hills and drove them back. On the 15th, the 25th and 3/504th conducted an amphibious landing near Salerno. Throughout September and October the 82nd conducted operations in the Salerno/Naples area. The 82nd was the first unit to enter Naples. The Division advanced north to the Volturno River, cleared the area of the enemy, and became the first unit to set sail for England, via Ireland, to prepare for the invasion of Normandy.

Deserting Drafted Men 1864-1865 Schuylkill County

Tag picture to enlarge
The Posted Bill For Drafted Deserters.
This is an interesting find from the Schuylkill County Historical Society it is a listing of the Drafted men from the county who are listed as deserters in May of 1865 If you take notice there are some interesting names listed here.
This is certainly a list I would'nt want to find my relatives on!
Schuylkill County had a problem during the Civil War with the draft from early on. If you are interested contact me and I will email you the info.

Dedicated to the Aircraft Mechanic.

The Aircraft Mechanic at his job.

Todays Blog is dedicated to all the aircraft mechanics from Schuylkill County who have worked on aircraft while in the U.S. Armed Forces, From World War 1 to the War on Terror. This article is about my time spent as an Aircraft Mechanic in the USAF 1968-1972.

Recently I was thinking about my time spent in the Air Force, a very enjoyable time doing something that I always wanted to do. AN AIRCRAFT MECHANIC. In 2004 I was at the Reading World War 2 event held every year in June. At this event a few of my hero’s were present, you know those old ww2 soldiers, pilots etc. Sitting at one of the tables and signing one of his books was
Maj. Gen. Frederick C. Blesse. General Blesse graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1945, flew two combat tours during the Korean War, completing 67 missions in F-51s, 35 missions in F-80s and 121 missions in F-86s. During his second tour in F-86's, he was officially credited with shooting down nine MiG-15s and one LA-9.
At the time of his return to the United States in October 1952, he was America's leading jet ace.
General Blesse remained with fighter aircraft for practically his entire military career. During the 1955 Air Force Worldwide Gunnery Championship, he won all six trophies offered for individual performance, a feat never equaled. During the Vietnam Conflict, he served two tours in Southeast Asia; while on his first tour in 1967-1968, he flew 156 combat missions.
He retired from the USAF in 1975, with more than 6,500 flying hours in fighter-type aircraft .
What an amazing individual, I could have stayed there the whole day talking to this man. Anyway, I was wearing a hat that stated that I was with the C7A Caribou transport in Vietnam. General Blesse glanced at my hat and said, “ I see your hat there, were you a pilot on the Caribou? I said, “Oh no, I was just an aircraft mechanic,” He looked right at me grabbed my hand and shook it and said, “ Son, without you guys we pilots would have been nothing, we owe all the flights to you and your hard work.”. Well to me that was the greatest compliment an aircraft mechanic could ever receive, I felt great. I bought his book and he signed with,

To Stu,
My best wishes to a guy who kept our aircraft flying. Boots Blesse.



Maj. General Frederick "Boots" C. Blesse

Well that made all the hours of crawling in airplanes and knuckle busting my hands, hitting my head on wings, landing gear, engines, or wearing out my hearing while exposed to high pitched screaming engines trying to troubleshot and repair broken birds sitting on the ramp or out in the field. His compliment made it all worth it.

Thank you General Blesse!



In reality the pilots have there poem, it is called High Flight, it has become a mantra to pilots over the years.
Well here is my mantra for all the aircraft mechanics out there..

In The Docks:

Oh I have slipped on puddles of engine oil.
And slipped and fell on cursed silver wings;
On engines I have climbed, and cut my hands on
Broken pieces of safety wire, and little metal things;
You’ll never know the pain of a double engine change
Down in the docks dim lit lights glowing strings.
I’ve fought with the engine mechanic, and threatened
To hit him with my wrench. Shouting foul curses in the air;
Up, up on the engine stand, shining bright and yellow
I’ve stood on its teetering rails, hooking up wire harnesses there.
The docks is a place where a pilot never dares to go
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve worked for him there,
In the high untresspassed sanctity of aircraft maintenance,
And I put out my hand and touched the face of JOE PATRONI.

Joe Patroni, The famous aircraft mechanic from the movie Airport, played by George Kennedy. Our famous of all movie aircraft mechanics, jeez now that I think about it, he is the only one!

Oh yea the Docks … The place were an aircraft undergoes its periodic tear down and maintenance.

It is a known fact that when any one thinks of aviation, airplanes, high flying combat, the glamour of airline flying or just the sky and clouds in general the first thing that comes to mind is the pilot, that God like creature that guides the sleek jet fighter flashing through the sky or the large airliner passing from city to city. But little credence is ever given to the aircraft mechanic. That not so glamour’s job in aviation, The USAF mechanic, whether he is a crew chief, APG, electrician, hydraulic, engine, or instrument type, those long forgotten about men and women of field and organizational maintenance squadrons.

There are hundreds of books and movies written about the pilots and their feats of daring, but absolutely nothing but a paragraph or two written about the hard working aircraft mechanics. The guys who keep the aircraft flying. There are no slick form fitting flying suits adorned with mission patches and squadron emblems or silver wings adorning the uniform of the aircraft mechanic. Our badge of honor is the hydraulic, engine oil stained uniform, with an occasional tear in the knee or the hat so greasy you could lube a landing gear strut with it. . Kids growing up in my generation had the ambition to be like the movie star pilots, like John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Jimmy Cagney or Earl Flynn, or the real war time hero’s like Eddy Rickenbacker, Dick Bong, Chuck Yeager, or Thomas B. McGuire to name a few. I really can’t recall any famous cargo hauling pilots except the Duke in “No Highway in the Sky” or the "High and the Mighty" one of my all time favorites.

John wayne as the Pilot in the High and Mighty

Did you ever wonder who the mechanics were for the “Red Baron”? Who kept his aircraft serviced and maintained? How about the mech’s for the aces in WW2, or the guys who kept those B-17’ B-24’s and B-29’s flying those long missions to targets, or the guy’s who worked on the C-46’s and C-47’s that flew the long and dangerous missions on the Hump.

Mech's at work WW2

What about the mechanics that spent long hours on the flight line keeping the aircraft flying while freezing their butts off in the cold of the Korean War? Its not that I am complaining or anything but aircraft mechanics have been in the background since the Wright Brothers took to flight in 1903 and I am very proud of what we have done over the years.



C7A Caribou "The Bou", Trash Hauler

While serving in Vietnam in the 483rd FMS as a 20 year old buck Sgt. working as an aircraft electrician, I worked on the C7A caribou a twin engine cargo aircraft made by Dehavilland Aircraft Company of Canada. Of all the aircraft I have worked on in 15 years of working on aircraft the caribou was the best.
The Caribou was one of the hardest working aircraft in Vietnam, It flew into some of the hairiest places you could fly into in Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.
While in Vietnam I worked with some of the greatest people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The engine mechanics, hydraulic men and the APG guys. I worked the nerve racking early morning launches at Cam Ranh Bay and Bien Hoa, riding in that old blue FMS metro truck full of oily engine rags, hydraulic oil and engine parts with greasy engine mechanics. We towed a couple of tanks of nitrogen to blow those old damp engine mags out because of that damn hot humid air of South Vietnam. We worked hard trying to get those old wornout engine generators to come on line etc. This was A time when your skills as a mechanic were tested at the highest in trying to troubleshot and repair all types of maintenance flaws.
In Vietnam I worked with some of the greatest pilots I ever had the chance to meet, men who really treated the mechanic types like we were important. I have no complaints about them at all,except for some of their write ups in the form one. And you know they were mostly all Lieutenants and Captains who flew the hell out these old “Bou’s”. During my time spent in Vietnam I gained the confidence in my skills as an aircraft electrician while being required to go out in the field to repair a broken bird sitting on some dirt strip at a desolate looking fire base while the grunts living there were calling it a mortar magnet and wanted it out of the area. We aircraft electricians were beholding to all the different types of mechanics that work on aircraft, it is a known fact that electricity runs everything on an aircraft! well almost everything. But almost every major job requires the special expert thinking and skills of the Aircraft Electrician.
The one thing I will always give created to is the U.S. Air Force. They take an inexperienced young kid, train him/her, send them to a specialty school and within one year they hand them the responsibility for the lives of others and the skills to maintain, work on and keep in the air multi million dollar aircraft. Where on the outside can you give the responsibility of the safety of an aircraft, carrying valuable cargo, or the lives of passengers to a young 19 or 20 year old? Go Air Force!
The DeHavilland Caribou (BOU) entered service with the US Army in the 1960’s The Air Force took over the responsibility of the Caribou in late 1960’s over a dispute of the Army flying bigger fixed wing cargo aircraft.



During my time spent in the U.S. Air Force I worked on a variety of aircraft, The Douglas C-118,

C-118 USAF


C-124,



C-133

Convair C-131,






Boeing KC-97.



Each and everyone of these aircraft had their own special annoying problems, but man was it fun working on these great aircraft. After the C7A Caribou in Vietnam, I was transferred off of cargo aircraft and spent my last year and a half on the famous old F-106 Delta Dart , in the 83 rd FIS at Loring Air Force Base Maine.

Here is a few photo’s of what I did in Vietnam, Thailand, not much of a war story but a lot of hard, hard, work.


A series of Photo's of a crashed C7A Caribou that I worked on in Cheng Mai Northwest Thailand, They say the top hatch blew open and the pilot set her down with the gear already going up. We changed both engines, did some sheetmetal repair and had it back in service in a couple of weeks.


alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5236676579636690594" />

















Our Operations shack after a near hit by an enemy 122mm rocket attack. Bien Hoa Vietnam. I Remember the night very well!


The other side of the shack, Bien Hoa, Vietnam