Forward Observers now on Hist Chan U.S. (Time Warner)

[John Kettler]

Started 11 a.m. PST and looks like it's going to cover the history and development of FOs.

Regards,

John Kettler

[John Kettler]

For what it was, it was fairly good, taking the craft of the FO back to its beginnings in the 1400s in Constantinople and advancing from there. While North Africa wasn't explicitly discussed, Italy was,

notably the fight at Sommocolonia in the Gothic Line where a self-sacrificing black FO (of the all black 91st), in order to keep the Germans from overrunning the lightly held (two platoons) town and cutting a key supply route, unhesitatingly called down fire (commanded by a personal friend) directly on his own position, with the shattered tower where he was until the fire landed on him mute destiny to extraordinary devotion to duty which, nearly five decades later, brought him a posthumous Medal of Honor. Also noteworthy was an interview with an FO who was at Mortain and called in some 198 fire missions over a period of 2? days to keep his surrounded unit alive. He wrote a book titled something like ENEMY

TO THE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST. If you happen to catch the program on rebroadcast, though, his definition of Time on Target is wrong. There was a chilling segment on artillery vs. Chinese human waves in Korea. Can you say carpet of dead bodies? Vietnam and the Gulf War got some coverage, too.

Regards,

John Kettler