The Big Dutch Oven ] Maine field school

Tomahawk / Whisky jack & Brock Dangerman talking about the food in the 16" dutch oven at the Maine field school.

Tomahawk / WJ - Scouts Out!

shelter 2 ] Tomahawk / Whisky jack in Maine

Tomahawk / Whisky Jack talking about his finished shelter in the Maine North woods.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

shelter 1 ] Tomahawk / Whisky jack in Maine

Tomahawks shelter in Maine - 1

Ill add a few pictures later.

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tomahawk/whisky jack ] weather report

Tomahawk / Whisky jack giving a brief report on the weather at the jack Mountain Field School in Maine.

Tomahawk / WJ - Scouts Out!

Pictures from Jack Mountain Guide school in Maine

Tomahawks / Whisky Jacks [ evaluation of the mad trappers gear

A few months ago I was lucky to receive a link via email from a friend for the Discovery channel Canada show about the autopsy of “The Mad Trapper”. It was an excellent show but a little inaccurate as to the equipment Johnson carried on his run from the law. The documentary showed TMT with a small partially loaded ruck sack instead of a Trapper Nelson frame pack and he was carrying a rifle saddle scabbard tied to his pack. A saddle scabbard for your rifle would be a very impractical item due to its weight, bulk, and once frozen in the extreme temperatures of the arctic it would be like sheet iron thus making getting your rifle into play nearly impossible.

Also, the documentary showed the character playing Johnson wearing cotton military style clothing – another inaccuracy. Its just me, I have not watched TV in years but when I do I expect things to be portrayed accurately. I find that TV types are extremely vexing and annoying in the liberties they take. Portraying anything with inaccuracies only detracts from the true story and tends to cloud any issues involved in the story. I digress.....

Recently, I was staying with a friend in New Hampshire and happened to find the book “The Mad Trapper of rat River” - by Dick North. Appendix “A” - Exhibit “C” lists all of the equipment Albert Johnson AKA “The Mad Trapper” had in his possession at the time he was killed by the RCMP.

Pretty cool to me and I'm sure to many others. I had personally never seen this list before and found it interesting to note that Johnson (according to the RCMP list) didn't have extra clothing of any kind, no socks, wool cap, extra mittens, undies and he didn't have a blanket or sleeping bag or food, just some salt and red pepper. During the manhunt He was never known to build a fire to warm himself or cook a meal. I'm just guessing but Perhaps he made small twig fires cook small game like the whiskey jack and squirrel or to brew some spruce or pine needle tea in his lard bucket cooking pot. If he didn't stop to cook or make a brew, I can only imagine that he was chewing snow for water and eating the small game he shot raw.

Looking over this list of equipment I think it shows definite wilderness savvy and potential skill. The Gear Johnson was packing was practical ad functional and suited to the environment. His choice of rifles was excellent, one each for large and small game. Johnson even had an oily rag to swab down his guns. The axe, knives (2), sewing kit, matches, Compass, fishing gear, and babiche to repair his snow shoes all show that Johnson was no tenderfoot and knew what to carry for an extended stay in the wilderness. Smart, functional and practical but about average for your typical “sour dough” I think.

Many of the items Johnson carried on his run from the RCMP closely resemble what I have in my pack now....Like red pepper, salt, sewing kit, fishing gear, .22 rifle & ammo, Matches, cooking pot, small mirror, buckskin rifle case, match safe, cash, razor. I do have a blanket, tent or hammock, minimal food and clothing.

I would like to find one of those old trapper nelson packs though, They look pretty cool but are getting hard to find. I might have to locate a craftsman who could make me a copy of one. I like the simple design of the wooden frame and the canvas pack sack. I did some research into the Trapper Nelson packs and found that they first hit the scene in 1927 and were popular up through WW2 and were used by the Alaskan Army scouts during the war.

In fact, I watched the movie “Death Hunt” with Lee Marvin and Chuck Bronson, which is based in the “Mad Trapper” story and noticed that “Johnson” was wearing a Trapper Nelson pack in the film. You could also see his extra rifle and axe handle sticking up out of the pack.

Below I have copied the list exactly as it is written in the Dick North Book about “The Mad Trapper”. I'm too old and broken down now to do it myself but Id like to see someone replicate Johnson's run from the law using this same gear. Personally?? I doubt anyone could do it.

Tomahawk – Scouts Out!

Albert Johnson “The mad trapper”
(Gear)

When Johnson was killed he had the following possessions in is pockets and pack;
$2,410 in Canadian and American money.

A small glass jar containing 5 pearls valued at $15.00

5 pieces of gold dental work valued at $3.20

another small jar containing 13 penny weight of alluvial gold valued at $9.36

a model 99 Savage “Featherweight” rifle in 30.30

an Iver Johnson sawed off shotgun in 16 guage

a Winchester .22 rifle model 58

39 30-30 shells

4 16 guage shotgun shells

64 .22 bullets

a compass

a package of 32 pills

an axe; a trapper nelson pack ; lard can with lid in old sack; a dead squirrel; a dead whiskey jack

knife made from a trap spring

match safe

Gillette safety razor

envelope containing a piece of a 3 cornered file, an awl and a chisel made from a nail

a small knife with a moose skin cover

moose skin rifle cover, moose skin pouch, moose skin sewing bag containing needles and thread

small spring, nails wrapped in tin foil, Matches wrapped in tin foil, 30-30 cartridge box containing a small empty bottle and a small piece of wax.
7 pieces of moose hide, a sack containing 6 empty sacks, 15 pieces of babiche, 1 large bundle of babiche snow shoe lacing,1 bundle of sewing thread, 1 moose skin lace.
Calico rifle cover
Large envelope containing;
1 box pony matches
1 bundle sulfur matches wrapped in tin foil
1 bundle sulfur matches wrapped in paper
1 tinfoil packet containing 2 pills
1 paper package of 6 pills
1 paper package of fish hooks
1 tinfoil package containing oily rag
1 leather cover containing comb and sewing materials
4 loose .22 shells
a moose hide container holding a small mirror
1 packet of red pepper
1 packet of salt
1 bundle of rag twine

Tomahawk "Whisky Jack" heading to Maine | Pathfinder Tom's Adventure Tr...

Howdy Folks, I have been offline for the past week due to traveling to the Maine north woods, and instructing a student on a military type Scout course.

We came out of the woods today to check email and do laundry etc. in the big city but we will head back to the woods in the early AM.

My student "Mr. Grey" is attending the 1st ever Tomahawk Scout course. "Mr. Grey" is heading over seas to work as a military contractor and wants me to teach him some tracking, observation and pandemic survival skills he can use in the Area in which he will be operating. This course is loosely based on the former U.S. Army Indian scouts and their skills as well as the Rhodesian Armies Selous scouts. We use minimal gear and immerse our selves in the wilderness beginning on the first day.

Tomorrow we will resume our immersion and practice weapons making and more stalking,tracking and observation skills.This scout student has chosen to spend 2 weeks in the wilderness practicing these skills but I can arrange to spend any length of time a prospective student may care to stay.

Please feel free to contact me via email if you are interested, also, Ill be doing this same type course in Arizona this winter.

I have been approached by a TV network about making a film to submit for a "New type of survival show". I need a decent camera and some other equipment . Any / All donations will be put to good use buying the electronics I need to get this video made.

For your convenience you can find the Paypal button in the right hand column of my blog.

Thanks in advance!

See you on the trail.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

AMPHIBIOUS SCOUTS AND RAIDERS - WW2

Cliff Morrison - Amphibious Scout WW2


I found this old picture of my Uncle Cliff Morrison, he is my mothers youngest brother. I never got to know him very well and only actually met him once about 30 years ago. I know that after his service in the navy in WW2 he went on to complete 20 plus years in the Army - I don't know what career field though.

Looking at this picture, I was surprised to see a unit patch on a Navy uniform, so I began doing some research on WW2 Unit patches and Navy Insignia. I was surprised to see this patch on a website called "Scouts and raiders" at http://www.ussalmaack.com/Scouts%20and%20Raiders.html

Below, I have attached a copy and paste from that websites page on Navy Scouts, I hope you find it as interesting as I have.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Before there were Navy SEALs or Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT) or Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDU), there were Scouts and Raiders. Formed as a joint Army-Navy beach recon unit eight months after Pearl Harbor, the first S & R boat crews underwent intense training at Amphibious Training Base (ATB) Little Creek in Virginia before deploying to North Africa where they earned eight Navy Crosses. This was just the first of many war-time missions for the versatile Scouts and Raiders. Sterling Baker was one of these men.

In January 1943 the Scouts and Raiders School moved to Fort Pierce, Florida. Until December of 1943 when the school became all-Navy, the instructor cadre and the trainees were both Army and Navy men. The training course included running, swimming, obstacle course, log PT, hand-to-hand combat, and classes in Signaling, Radio, Gunnery, etc. According to John "Barry" Dwyer in his comprehensive book SCOUTS AND RAIDERS, "When LT Draper Kauffman was sent to Ft. Pierce in July 1943 to form the first NCDUs, he adopted and condensed the S & R PT course in what his men called "Hell Week", which evolved into the physically and pyschologically demanding ordeal known as BUD/S, Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL Training, which must be survived by anyone wishing to become a Navy SEAL."

The first ten volunteers for S & R were big, athletic men from the Navy's Physical Training Program headed up by Commander Gene Tunney. Among them was Phil H. Bucklew who would earn two Navy Crosses and go on to become the recognized 'father of U S Naval Special Warfare'. Another S & R veteran, Richard Lyon, would become Rear Admiral and the first designated Special Warfare Officer to attain flag rank. Today Admiral Lyon is mayor of Oceanside, California.

After North Africa, the Scouts and Raiders participated in landings in Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, the Adriatic, Normandy, and Southern France. They also served in the Pacific on a variety of assignments, as Beachmasters, UDTs, and even helped train Nationalist Chinese guerrillas for operations against Japanese forces.

By the time World War Two ended in September 1945, over 1200 men trained and operated as Scouts and Raiders. After the war they were disbanded with some of the men joining UDT. SEAL Team TWO veteran Rudy Boesch, who went on to become the longest-serving enlisted man in the Navy at over 45 years, and the longest serving SEAL, retiring as a Master Chief Boatswain's Mate, began his career as a member of Amphibious Roger #5, the last Scouts and Raiders training class.

The men who were Scouts and Raiders were well educated (Class 8 was made up of 52 Ensigns!), exceptionally athletic, adventuresome trailblazers. Some gave their lives to the war effort; others have succumbed to life's natural conclusion. There are many former Scouts and Raiders who are alive and well and stay in touch with one another regularly, thanks to the efforts of their teammate, N. Joe Lee, Jr., Class 7 graduate. Joe produces a newsletter and maintains a current directory.

Ray Machalinski - A real American Hero

Ray and his Family today

Ray Machalinski sitting at the far left

USS Yorktown (CV5) and its Devastator Aircraft

From time to time I like to post about Real American Heroes especially those from the WW2 era. I recently found out from my friend Sgt. Mac over at Bushcraftusa forum that his father served in the Pacific theater as a tail gunner on the "Devastator" torpedo planes used by the U.S. Navy. He was assigned to the USS Yorktown(CV5) which was sunk a little later in the war. Prior to serving in the South pacific the USS York town was in the Atlantic Helping the British navy hunt down the German Wolf pack subs.

Macs father Ray and his pilot Lt. Ewoldt had to ditch their aircraft after a fight with the Japanese navy. Ray and and his pilot survived a life raft ordeal and were rescued by friendly natives and coast watchers. They were later repatriated to the Navy. All pretty cool stuff to me ,and I am sure it is interesting to many other folks too.

Now at the age of 95 Ray Machalinski lives with his wife and family in Northern Illinois. He and his wife raised 8 kids. Ray retired from the U.S. Navy in 1961 after 22 years of service but continued to work for another 20 years as an electronic instructor at the Great lakes Naval Station in Illinois. Even after all of the service to his country Ray continued to work as a teacher at a local community college for another 5 years.

I would certainly like to meet Mr. Machalinski and shake his hand and to personally thank him for his service to his country as part of what some folks call "The greatest generation", and for being an inspiration to us all.

Please find below a story put together by me from Rays own words about his experience, I also borrow a bit from Tammie Jo over at afloat@truewarstory.com I hope you like it.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Dec 7th 1941, petty officer Ray Machalinski was standing in the head of the USS Yorktown, taking care of business. He was surprised to hear someone out on the passage way shouting that the Japanese had just bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Machalinski thought Bullshit! as he zipped up and headed back to his work station get the straight scoop on what he had just heard..

Ray was the Aviation Chief Radio Technician/Tail Gunner on a TBD Devastator aircraft assigned to the USS Yorktown(CV5). At the time the Yorktown was in the Atlantic assisting the British Navy in Hunting down the German Submarine Wolf pack. But the ship was soon issued new orders and set sail for the south pacific, passing through the Panama Canal on their way to Pearl.

The Yorktown anchored well out of the way of Pearl harbor itself, due to being worried that the Japanese would try an attack again. The devastation at Pearl was terrible, there were still small fires burning here and there, And the harbor was slick with oil.

So it was on the afternoon of May 4, 1942 that Lieutenant Leonard Ewoldt and Petty Officer Ray Machalinski strode toward their torpedo bomber, ready to take off from the deck of the Carrier USS Yorktown, for the second strike of the day. The Yorktown was in the South Pacific, on the Coral Sea, just east of the second largest island in the world, Papua New Guinea.

The flags dropped and their bomber roared off the flight deck, into the cloudless sky. Ray Machalinski readied his guns. His mission was clear. Protect his country. Exterminate the enemy.

In Rays own words:

Near Guadalcanal we spotted an enemy cruiser and dove to torpedo her through a heavy barrage of anti aircraft fire. Believe me its no fun going through that stuff and we thanked God as we pulled out safely after the run. But we said our thanks too soon. “Have we been hit?” asked Ewoldt. “The plane is not responding correctly.” Machalinski loosened his safety belt to look around. “I see no damage, but we still have the torpedo with us.”

The release mechanism had failed us and the torpedo was still hanging under the plane. Ewoldt made a 180 degree turn and back we went, through the same rain of fire. This time the torpedo let go and went crashing through the waves toward its target. I fired my guns at the ship below. The enemy returned their fire. Ewoldt peered down the muzzle of a gun that was blazing away at them. This time the torpedo disappeared under the Japanese craft below, exploding it into bits, showering wood and metal fragments over the placid sea.

In the cockpit Ewoldt mentally recorded the hour and location of the strike for his log… Mission Accomplished! He and Machalinski took a deep breath and leaned back momentarily.

Ewoldt lifted his plane and circled around pouring on speed to catch up with the rest of the squadron as they disappeared into the clouds which had appeared out of nowhere.

But their squadron was nowhere to be seen!

In Rays own words:

Heading back to the carrier we discovered that our radio equipment was fouled up. Out of sight of the Yorktown with no radio we were lost. We flew in search of the Carrier until we ran out of gas,then there was nothing to do but crash land at sea.

I have always been small in stature, and it always had bothered me that I was small, but this day my small size saved me and my pilot. The plane hit the water hard and I scrambled to a compartment in the rear of the plane to get the life raft and supplies. There was a very small hatch that he had to climb through to get them.

I was for the first time in my life glad to be small because I was able to get to our survival equipment. The plane did not stay afloat long, it went down fast as we got aboard the life raft

We were now adrift, floating aimlessly. We spent four days adrift on the life raft, ate some flying fish that had jumped into the raft, and we were able to harvest some rain one night. A pack of sharks circled us at one time, and we thought that they were going to attack us.

"The next four days were like a series of nightmares, The sun was blistering hot during the day, and the water was icy at night. On the second day we saw two destroyers. When the ships got close we discovered the rising meat ball flying over their fantails. Apparently the Japanese figured we weren't worth shelling or that the sharks would get us, because they rolled on."

On the third day they spotted land in the distance and they rowed toward it. It took them 36 hours. They didn't know but the land they saw was the Island of Guadalcanal. The surf was moderately strong as they broke through the reef around the Island. Ewoldt was in worse shape then I was.

I got out of the raft at one point when the water was shallow enough to pull us onto the beach. I cut my ankle badly on some Coral (This later became very infected). We were exhausted, weak from hunger and thirst. I saw some coconuts on the ground but didn't have the means or knowledge to open them. I realized later, that Ewoldt and me were the first American serviceman to ever set foot on Guadalcanal.

Suddenly some Natives broke through the brush startling us. As a kid I had loved watching Westerns at the movies and thought I would try to communicate with them. I motioned that we were hungry and thirsty. The natives realizing that they were not Japanese, produced water for us to drink, and one man shimmied up a coconut tree and harvested some coconuts for us. The head native of the group asked me;

"You shipum goin airum or goin seaum?" ( they spoke pigeon English) I replied with "Me shipum goin airum" the native replied "Hmm that bad" (The natives were used to seeing Allied planes, prob small bombers with a crew of five, he thought since there were only two of them, they had lost three crew members) The Japanese were not
yet on Guadalcanal but were on near by Tulagi.

Through the help of the natives, Dutch Missionaries, and Martin Clemons the Australian Coast watcher, we were nursed back to health and Island hopped toward safer lines. Our last voyage toward freedom was with 6 Cantonese merchants who were also trying to escape capture by the Japanese.

The escape to freedom was made in an island trading boat, 42 feet long or about twice as big as a good sized canoe. Lt. Ewoldt was the Shipper, I was the Executive Officer ,and the 6 Chinese merchants the crew. The boat which was never intended for service on the open seas was pounded mercilessly by the sweeping waves, making the entire crew seasick for most of the voyage.

To keep from being spotted by the Japanese we traveled only at night when possible, until we were out of range of their patrol planes. Plotting our course from home made charts given to us by an old German planter we made our course from Island to Island. Finally on June 2, 1942 ( Almost a month from the battle of Coral Sea) we arrived in the New Hebrides Islands to find American Destroyers anchored there".

Traveling by Destroyer back to Pearl we learned for the first time that the USS Yorktown had been sunk by a Japanese sub while it was in tow from being heavily damaged during the battle of Midway.

Petty officer Machalinskis' decorations include but are not limited to:
Wings of of a Navy Air Crewman with three stars
One for aircraft vs aircraft combat
One for aircraft vs surface vessel combat
One for aircraft vs shore installations battle.
The American Defense Ribbon
The American Theater of War ribbon
The Asiatic War area Medal.

This is a very interesting and inspiring story about brave men, told by a very brave man. I have always greatly admired and respected the men and women who fought in WW2. I firmly believe that they are “The greatest generation”.

Tomahawk
Masardis, Maine July 7th 2011

Paul Petzoldt

Paul Petzoldt is another one of those unsung American icons of wilderness travel and education. I first heard about him back in the early 70s when I saw a show on National Geographic called "30 days to survival". After watching the show on TV, I wrote to the school and soon received the info I asked for along with a catalog of gear made by Paul P. I still have some of it today.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Paul Kiesow Petzoldt (January 16, 1908 – October 6, 1999) was one of America's most accomplished mountaineers. He is perhaps best known for establishing the National Outdoor Leadership School in 1965. In 1938 Paul Petzoldt was a member of the first American team to attempt a climb on K2 and made his first ascent of the Grand Teton in 1924 at the age of 16. Paul did not use assisted oxygen, he learned to use rhythmic breathing. He and a partner were the first climbers ever to traverse the Matterhorn twice in one day. During World War II Petzoldt served in the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division.

Petzoldt's other accomplishments in the outdoors are also considered major advances among wilderness enthusiasts. Before the establishment of NOLS, he had a hand in creating a Colorado addition to the Outward Bound program as well as the first guide service in the Tetons. Noted in his introduction to The New Wilderness Handbook, his experience in NOLS, Outward Bound and love of the wilderness, evolved into the Wilderness Education Association. WEA courses, certification and knowledge are still helping many advocates of the environment learn ways to have low-impact adventures in the environment.

82nd Airborne @ Ft. Bragg, NC

This Video brings back memories. Scout platoon 2/505th - H minus!

Tomahawk Scouts out!

Captain America: The First Avenger - Trailer

Its about time Hollywood made a movie about this character.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

sexy ISRAELI GIRLS of the IDF showing off their guns! Kicking Muslis ASS's

I need a few of these.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

Rhodesian Security Forces

One more from Rhodesia.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

Rhodesian Selous Scouts: Pamwe Chete

I love these old films from Rhodesia. I had a few friends that went there and got involved in the war.Kinda wish I would have also.

Tomahawk - scouts out!

Eskimo Scouts - The Alaska Territorial Guard

When I was working in Kuwait a few years ago, I had the pleasure to meet a real Eskimo scout from the Alaska National Guard who was on his way to Iraq. This Scout told me about his unit and a little about the scouts of Alaska in general. It was pretty interesting stuff to me. I have since researched the unit and found several more interesting things about these scouts. One of the coolest things for me was reading about the scouts on little Diomede Island which is only a few miles from Russia. I have posted a news paper article by Molly Moore below, it contains statistics about the scouts and she can write a hellavalot better then I can.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

Special Eskimo Unit Guards America's Frigid Frontier on Soviet Border
By: MOLLY MOORE

Huddled on a strip of tundra surrounded by frozen sea, the Eskimo village appears to be hibernating through the rages of winter.

Savage winds pushing blinding sheets of snow lash the jumble of weathered gray houses. Doorways are draped with animal skins, protection from temperatures that typically reach 30 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

This is the time of year when most of the 400 people on remote St. Lawrence Island, a barren piece of the United States far out in the Bering Sea, stay indoors. While the winds blast outside, they while away the time carving tiny ivory whales and polar bears for tourists down in Anchorage, or stitching fur-lined parkas for their own families.

For the Eskimo Scouts, this bitter season is the time for training. They conduct military drills in weather so severe that metal cracks, radio batteries last five minutes and just touching the icy barrel of an M-16 rifle can rip the skin off an ungloved hand.

This highly specialized unit of the National Guard uses centuries-old Arctic survival skills to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance missions on U.S. terrain that lies at the frigid back door of Soviet territory. Their place in the U.S. military is so unique that they sometimes train elite Army special forces sent up from the Lower 48.

'Eyes, Ears of North'

"They are the eyes and ears of the North," said Capt. Timothy Wipperman, training officer for one of the three scout battalions. "No one can be trained to do the job they do in this environment."

The 1,500 scouts come from 91 isolated Eskimo villages along the west coast and interior of Alaska. Most scouts are sustenance hunters who spend spring and summer pursuing the walrus, seals, whales, caribou and fish that provide their families with food, clothing and income. Because hunting and fishing are so critical to Eskimo survival, the National Guard conducts training only in the most bitter winter months, when it will create the least disruption to village life.

Using the same skills that keep them alive in one of the world's least hospitable places, they lead snowshoe marches across miles of roadless white tundra, packing rifles and special supplies that include body-warming chunks of whale blubber, muktuk, and strips of dried fish.

They navigate the dark Arctic desert more by instinct than compass. It is a place where an unexpected blizzard can turn a military exercise into a real life-or-death survival test.

Snow-Going Guerrillas

Most of their combat training is in unconventional warfare and guerrilla tactics, and the best of them earn the guard's coveted "Arctic Warrior" badge.

Combat training is secondary, however, to the scouts' mission of watching for any air, sea or land military operation from the Soviet mainland just 37 miles west of here.

"We're not combat units," said Maj. Gen. John W. Schaeffer, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, the first Eskimo to hold that position. "We provide the early warning."

The scouts also do reconnaissance from nearby Little Diomede, a small U.S. island barely 2 1/2 miles from Soviet-owned Big Diomede Island, where the opposing superpower is expanding military operations.

On those islands and the vast shorelines of western Alaska, the scouts perform their most important military mission as forward lookouts, witnesses to the expanding Soviet military activity in the northwest region that has concerned U.S. officials in recent years.

Pentagon officials have reported increased Soviet naval and air activity. U.S. interceptor pilots reported 56 Soviet aircraft, many of them Bear bombers, near U.S. territorial airspace last year, compared to 34 in 1986.

Watching for Soviets

The scouts are trained to report any overflight, submarine surfacing, suspicious person or items washed ashore. Military officials said that rarely a day goes by without such a report coming from a scout somewhere along the hundreds of miles of the Alaskan frontier.

Alaskan-based military intelligence officials said that sightings of unidentified persons, particularly men in wet suits, off the coast of St. Lawrence Island also have increased, from one or two a year to about seven in each of the last two years.

Alaskan intelligence officials suspect that the Soviets train special forces on isolated Alaskan islands, but said they have no concrete evidence and have never positively identified a member of a Soviet \o7 Spetsnaz\f7 team on American soil here.

Pentagon officials discount reports that the Soviets would use even uninhabited Alaskan territory for such operations, but the reports persist. In one typical encounter, scout Michael Apatiki reported that while he and his family were boating off St. Lawrence Island, he spotted what appeared to be a man in a wet suit. The frogman fled when he realized he had been seen, according to Apatiki's report.

USS Kersarge, The Mountain, and Charles Moore

I went hiking today up Mount kersarge here in new Hampshire. I tried to get here in time to hike on the day of the famous Civil war battle but simply couldnt make it here in time. Throughout my life I have heard from family members, the name of the famous war ship USS Kersarge which engaged and defeated the CSS Alabama in the only Civil War battle fought in Europe.

I have a distant relative, Charles Moore who earned the Congressional medal of Honor that day along with 16 other crew members. Interestingly to me is that there were 3 individuals in my family tree that have earned the congressional Medal of honor(CMH)throughout the course of U.S. Military history.

Today's Hike was enjoyable due to the company I had, My friends Melinda ,Jada, and Jemmy came along with their dogs. It was a cool pleasant day and the hiking was easy on an old man for once.

Ill post some pictures as soon as I can get some from the ladies.

Tomahawk - Scouts Out!

USS Kearsarge, a Mohican-class sloop-of-war, is best known for her defeat of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama during the American Civil War. The Kearsarge was the only ship of the United States Navy named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire. Subsequent ships were later named Kearsarge in honor of the ship.

Hunting Confederate raiders

She was built at Portsmouth Navy Yard in Kittery, Maine under the 1861 American Civil War emergency shipbuilding program. The new 1,550 long tons (1,570 t) steam sloop of war was launched on 11 September 1861 sponsored by Mrs. McFarland, wife of the editor of the Concord Statement, and commissioned on 24 January 1862, with Captain Charles W. Pickering in command. Soon after, she was hunting for Confederate raiders in European waters.

Kearsarge departed Portsmouth on 5 February 1862, for the coast of Spain. She thence sailed to Gibraltar to join the blockade of Confederate raider CSS Sumter, forcing her abandonment in December. However, Sumter's commanding captain, Raphael Semmes, soon commissioned Confederate raider CSS Alabama on the high seas off the Azores.

From November 1862-March 1863, Kearsarge prepared for her fight with Alabama at Cádiz, then searched for the raider from along the coast of Northern Europe to the Canaries, Madeira, and the Outer Hebrides. Arriving at Cherbourg, France, on 14 June 1864, she found Alabama in port where she had gone for repairs after a devastating cruise at the expense of 65 ships of the United States' merchant marine. Kearsarge took up patrol at the harbor's entrance to await Semmes' next move.

Battle of Cherbourg (1864)

On 19 June, Alabama stood out of Cherbourg Harbor for her last action. Mindful of French neutrality, Kearsarge's new commanding officer — Capt. John Winslow — took the sloop-of-war clear of territorial waters, then turned to meet the Confederate cruiser.
The deck of Kearsarge after her engagement with CSS Alabama.

Alabama was the first to open fire, while Kearsarge held her reply until she had closed to less than 1,000 yd (0.91 km). Steaming on opposite courses, the ships moved in seven spiraling, circles on a southwesterly course as each commander tried to cross his opponent's bow to deliver deadly raking fire. The battle quickly turned against Alabama due to the quality of her long-stored and deteriorated powder, fuses, and shells. Unknown at the time to Captain Semmes aboard the Confederate raider, Kearsarge had been given added protection by chain cable triced in tiers along her port and starboard midsection abreast vital machinery.

This hull armor had been installed in just three days, more than a year before, while Kearsarge was in port at the Azores. It was made using 720 ft (220 m) of 1.7 in (43 mm) single-link iron chain and covered hull spaces 49 ft 6 in (15.09 m) long by 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) deep. It was stopped up and down to eye-bolts with marlines and secured by iron dogs. It was concealed behind 1 in (25 mm) deal-boards painted black to match the upper hull's color. This chaincladding was placed along Kearsarge's port and starboard midsection down to the waterline, for the purpose of protecting her engines and boilers when the upper portion of the cruiser's coal bunkers were empty. This armor belt was hit twice during the fight: First in the starboard gangway by one of Alabama's 32-pounder shells that cut the chain armor, denting the hull planking underneath, then again by a second 32-pounder shell that exploded and broke a link of the chain armor, tearing away a portion of the deal-board covering. If those rounds had come from Alabama's more powerful 100-pounder Blakely pivot rifle, the likely result would not have been too serious, as both struck the chain armor a little more than 5 ft (1.5 m) above the waterline. Even if both shots had penetrated Kearsarge's side, they would have completely missed her vital machinery.

One hour after she fired her first salvo, Alabama had been reduced to a sinking wreck by Kearsarge's powerful 11 in (280 mm) Dahlgren smoothbore pivot cannons. Semmes struck his colors and sent a boat to Kearsarge with a message of surrender and an appeal for help. Kearsarge rescued the majority of Alabama's survivors, but Semmes and 41 others were picked up by British yacht Deerhound and escaped in her to the United Kingdom.
"The Battle of the Kearsarge and the Alabama" by Édouard Manet

The battle between Kearsarge and Alabama is honored by the United States Navy by a battle star on the Civil War campaign streamer. In addition, 17 of Kearsarge's crew received the Medal of Honor for valor during this action:

Michael Aheam
John F. Bickford
William S. Bond
James Haley
Mark G. Ham
George H. Harrison
John Hayes
James H. Lee
Charles Moore
Joachim Pease
Thomas Perry
William B. Poole
Charles A. Read
George E. Read
James Saunders
William Smith
Robert Strahan

The medals were awarded on 31 December 1864.
Charles Moore:
Birth: 1835, Holland (defunct)
Death: Mar. 30, 1891
Long Island City
Queens County
New York, USA

Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. He entered the Union Navy in Gibraltar. His citation reads "Served as a Seaman on board the USS Kearsarge when she destroyed the Alabama off Cherbourg, France, 19 June 1864. Acting as sponger and loader on the 11-inch pivot gun of the second division during the bitter engagement, Moore exhibited marked coolness and good conduct and was highly recommended for gallantry under fire by the divisonal officer."