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PRIVATE FIRST CLASS JACOB NAMMINGA

9/26/2021

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LIEUTENANT COLONEL FLOYD B MITCHELL

9/19/2021

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ALASKA

9/12/2021

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By Dick Martin
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​In testimony before the House Committee on Military Affairs in 1935, visionary, but controversial one-star General Billy Mitchell, who is considered to be the father of the US Air Force, testified that “in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world.”  Even more prescient was Secretary of State William Seward who 154 years ago purchased for 2 cents an acre the 586,000 square miles of land rich in natural resources and a future strategic military possession in any face-off with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran which are thousands of miles closer to Alaska than any other point in the continental United States.
 
I first became aware of this when I was sent to Korea in January 1972.  Our packed troop plane left in the morning from Seattle when it was still dark and made a refueling stop at Anchorage where it was still dark.  I never did figure out if it was am or pm.   
 
Alaska’s military significance is due to it being on the polar route for any missile attack from our potential adversaries.  This is why Alaska is the heart of America’s missile defense, with 40 interceptor missiles on standby and more to be added this year.  In addition, the US has decided to base over 100 of its best fighter jets in Alaska.

Recently, a member of the Senate has described the 13-page arctic policy prepared by the pentagon in 2013 as a joke.  As a result, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force have all released more serious policy reports, ie the army now has a 1st Striker Brigade, based at Ft Wainwright, Alaska, that can be anywhere in the northern Hemisphere in seven hours.
 
Of course, one must keep in mind that while “Alaska offers the quickest flight access to strategic locations across the Pacific region and western Russia.” The strategy notes “it is also the shortest distance for adversaries to threaten the homeland with strategic air and missile attacks.”
​
Taken from an article in the Washington Examiner “Alaska’s growing strategic importance” written by Jamie McIntyre
 

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Lieutenant Colonel John J Martin

9/5/2021

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This web page is a work in progress. It has been created through the donated efforts of Laura Genant Martin, Dick Martin, and Jim Hornstra. When Laura was made aware of what we needed, she took the initiative to research and educate herself on how to create a web site to identify, respect and honor the military veterans in Springfield. The web site had to be easy to navigate and had to provide the viewer a method of providing feedback. Most of the written material has been provided by Dick Martin over the past couple of years with some important contributions from others, i.e. Jim Kirk.  Jim Hornstra has been the reliable source as he has been the collector of information concerning Springfield Veterans and has provided Laura much of what has gone into the web site.
  • World War I
    • Veteran Photos
    • Veteran Photos
    • Biographies >
      • Edwin Dwight Wood
  • World War II
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Lawrence Namminga
      • Fred C Hornstra
      • Chuck Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • John Palsma
      • Clarence Ludens
      • Jack Martin
      • Bob Slade
      • Joe Uken Jr
    • Springfield Was There
    • Biographies A-H >
      • Walter Babcock
      • Wayne Barham
      • Charles "Chuck" Dawes
      • Grover DeLong
      • Jake DenOuden
      • Biographies K-Ma >
        • Bernard Kastein
        • James Kirk
        • Leonard Lange
        • Ted Lindeman
        • Clarence Ludens
        • John C. Ludens
        • John "Jack" Martin
        • Richard "Darby" Martin
      • Robert DeRoos
      • Shorty Halsey
      • Nanno Hiemstra
      • Fred C Hornstra
    • Biographies Mi-O >
      • Floyd Mitchell
      • Jacob Namminga
      • Lawrence Namminga Sr
      • Ode Odens
      • Lawrence Owens
    • Biographies P-S >
      • Allen Palsma
      • John Palsma
      • Virgil Rauch
      • Jack Rich
      • Robert Slade
    • Biographies Th-U >
      • Clark Thomas
      • Neil Thomas
      • Merle Toyne
      • Joe Uken
  • Korean War
    • Veteran Photos
    • The Rest of the Story >
      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
    • Biographies >
      • Donald Dempster
      • Gelvin "Gil" DeRoos
      • Robert "Bob" Ludens
      • Virginia McClure
      • Donald McMillan
      • Peter Monfore
      • Wilbert Renner
      • Clarence Vanderlei
  • Cold War
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      • Robert McCollum
  • Vietnam War
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      • Daryl Heusinkveld
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      • Lee Merchen
      • Larry Talsma
    • My Week in Hue City
    • Biographies >
      • Daryl Heusinkveld
      • Harvey Kastein
      • Perry Lundin
      • Dan Mejstrik
      • Lee Merchen
      • Robert Monfore
      • Larry Talsma
  • Middle East Wars
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    • Biographies >
      • James "Uke" Uken
  • Army National Guard
    • Veteran Photos
    • Rapid City Flood
    • Japanese Internment