Medal of Honor: Kaho'ohanohano

Note that this soldier killed 13 enemies in melee, wielding an entrenching shovel...

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS ANTHONY T. KAHO'OHANOHANO
UNITED STATES ARMY

CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Private First Class Anthony T. KAHO'OHANOHANO, Company H, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above the call of duty in action against the enemy in the vicinity of Chupa-ri, Korea, on 1 September 1951. On that date, Private First Class KAHO'OHANOHANO was in charge of a machine-gun squad supporting the defensive positioning of Company F when a numerically superior enemy force launched a fierce attack. Because of the enemy's overwhelming numbers, friendly troops were forced to execute a limited withdrawal. As the men fell back, Private First Class KAHO'OHANOHANO ordered his squad to take up more defensible positions and provide covering fire for the withdrawing friendly force. Although having been wounded in the shoulder during the initial enemy assault, Private First Class KAHO'OHANOHANO gathered a supply of grenades and ammunition and returned to his original position to face the enemy alone. As the hostile troops concentrated their strength against his emplacement in an effort to overrun it, Private First Class KAHO'OHANOHANO fought fiercely and courageously, delivering deadly accurate fire into the ranks of the onrushing enemy. When his ammunition was depleted, he engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat until he was killed. Private First Class KAHO'OHANOHANO's heroic stand so inspired his comrades that they launched a counterattack that completely repulsed the enemy. Upon reaching Private First Class KAHO'OHANOHANO's emplacement, friendly troops discovered 11 enemy soldiers lying dead in front of the emplacement and two inside it, killed in hand-to-hand combat. Private First Class KAHO'OHANOHANO's extraordinary heroism and selfless devotion to duty are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 7th Infantry Division, and the United States Army. 

Dolphins

Trinity had a service at the 31st Street Park this morning, and we saw dolphins in the water about 100 yards out from the beach.

A Bicycle Built for Two

Went to the boardwalk today and rented a two-person surrey bike. We took it up and down the boardwalk--not quite the whole length, because the bike is fairly heavy, there's no gearing, it's a lot of work to get it to go up a slope, and the seats weren't what you'd call "comfortable". But aside from that, it was fun. Nice clear day at the beach but not too hot, with lots of people out having a good time.

Waterloo

Just got Fading Glory, GMT's reprint of four Napoleonic 20 games from Victory Point Games. Included are Waterloo, Smolensk, Borodino, and Salamanca. I had a good time my first go at the Waterloo scenario, and I've signed up for Rising Glory, the next one in the series.

New Books

American Gods, by Neal Gaiman
To Sail a Darkling Sea, by John Ringo, the second of his Zombie Apocalypse (Black Tide) series
Under Heaven, set in a version of Tang China, by Guy Gavriel Kay

Bald Eagle

I happened to be looking out over the back deck and saw a bald eagle flying north along the river. He was moving at a pretty good clip; I saw a flash of white head and white tail and said "Hey! Eagle!" and he wasbehind the trees and out of sight.

Blueberries

We got a pair of blueberry bushes last winter, and we've just had our first blueberry harvest. Most of them are a paler blue than what you'd see in a store, but some of them are as deep and intense as you could ask for. I have no idea why the birds and squirrels haven't gotten them.

Trireme

Josh, Chris Rees and I went to a 14-player Trireme game at Ryan's, with After Action Report at Battle Honors.

Independence Day in Williamsburg

Hurricane Arthur having passed and the sky cleared by late morning, we--Diana, Josh, Gwen, Gwen's brother Chris and I--went to Colonial Williamsburg. At the Courthouse, Josh served as a Justice of the Peace ("Guilty!", he cried); Chris presented a complaint about the Inpector of Roads not doing his job, and ended up as the new Inspector himself. An hour or so later, Josh enlisted as a private soldier in the Continental Army; Chris declined to renounce loyalty to the King or to swear allegiance to the Continental Congress, and was on the verge of being blacklisted until the Major questioning him decided that he must be drunk and from New Jersey. We visited the Magazine and saw the muskets, fowlers, halberds, and a couple of guns; we sat through the court session; and we visited the gunsmith. Listened to the Fife and Drum Corps for an hour. Picnic dinner behind the Visitor's Center. Got out light sticks and then went to the Palace Green, where the orchestra was playing; they started out with the Star Spangled Banner, and just about everyone stood with hand on heart. After that, we went back to the Visitor's Center beside the pedestrian bridge, and watched a spectacular fireworks display; as far as I could figure, we were only about 1000ft from where the rockets were bursting, including altitude.  Diana and I gave our glow sticks to a couple of wide-eyed little girls, then we bundled our crew back into the car and headed back to the Beach.

Tornado

The outer bands of Hurricane Arthur, the first hurricane of the 2014 season, arrived in Hampton Roads last night. We got a cell phone alert at 1am with a tornado warning, and it appears that shortly after that, a weak (EF-0) tornado landed about 2.5 miles NNW of here, and another one in Norfolk on Granby Street. We didn't see any sign of it, just a gust front of what was reported to be 50mph winds.