Colonel David SmileyColonel David Smiley, who died on January 9 aged 92, was one of the most celebrated cloak-and-dagger agents of the Second World War, serving behind enemy lines in Albania, Greece, Abyssinia and Japanese-controlled eastern Thailand.
After the war he organised secret operations against the Russians and their allies in Albania and Poland, among other places. Later, as Britain's era of domination in the Arabian peninsula drew to a close, he commanded the Sultan of Oman's armed forces in a highly successful counter-insurgency...
Harry W. O. Kinnard - "Nuts:
Lt. Gen. Harry W. O. Kinnard, who inspired the storied retort “nuts” to a German surrender ultimatum during the Battle of the Bulge, died Monday in Arlington, Va. He was 93.
General Kinnard parachuted into Normandy in the first hours of D-Day. He received the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism during Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack in the German-occupied Netherlands. And he helped pioneer the airmobile concept, sending troops into combat aboard helicopters during the Vietnam War. ...
1 comment:
First, after reading about Smiley, I'm going to go ahead and just turn in my cards now: no use even attempting to live up anything remotely like the example he set. What a guy. Second, I think that I met Kinnard back in the late 80s in San Antonio. If it wasn't him, it was another officer on McAullife's staff--I was introduced to him by someone who knew him and he asked Kinnard (or the other guy) to recount the story which is exactly the same as the obituary provided.
Two good men down and doubtful we'll see anyone like Smiley again.
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