Remembering American Sacrifices In Victory, Defeat, And Forgotten Wars

Memorial Day is the day set aside to remember those lost their lives as part of the American military. In this generation, we have become acquainted with the tragic losses in the War On Terror. Almost two decades after the September 11 attacks, most Americans know someone who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan. These conflicts have cost the lives of an estimated 7,000 American soldiers. Countless others have been maimed or suffer the emotional effects of PTSD.

Yet, as costly as the War On Terror has been, other wars have been even more bloody and have had an even greater impact on American society. In Vietnam, a war which lasted longer than the War On Terror, the Veterans Administration puts the total death toll at 58,220 American soldiers. The death toll for the Korean conflict, a war which technically is still ongoing, was 36,574. More than 400,000 American servicemen died in World War II and in World War I, a conflict in which America only fought for two years, more than 115,000 US soldiers died. In the Civil War (more appropriately called the War Between the States), a total of almost half a million Americans were killed.

In addition to taking the miraculously low casualty rates of the War On Terror for granted, we also take for granted that the US military today, as the best in the world, will come out on top despite strategic missteps by leaders in Washington. Our technology, from drones and smart bombs to protective body armor, gives American soldiers an important advantage over our foes. It wasn’t always that way.

Today, we mainly remember the victories from American history. We often hear the roll call of names where the US was victorious, often at great cost: Saratoga, Yorktown, Gettysburg, Midway, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Inchon, Khe Sanh, Tora Bora, Baghdad.

No less important are the disasters that the American military has suffered throughout our history. The American Republic almost ended many times before the British surrendered at Yorktown and then again a few years later when the redcoats burned Washington, D.C. during the War of 1812. The Confederacy came within a whisker of tearing the Union apart not long after that as the great Generals Lee and Jackson routed the Union army time and again.

Pearl Harbor is remembered as the greatest military catastrophe of American history, but it is far from the only disaster to befall the US military. The attack on Hawaii was only the tip of the iceberg as the Japanese ravaged American and British outposts in the Pacific. The fall of Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippine Islands is largely forgotten today as is the Bataan death march in which Japanese captors mercilessly marched American and Filipino POWs into captivity with thousands dying along the way.

A few years ago I read Rick Atkinson’s great Liberation Trilogy that covers the American campaigns against the Nazis and was surprised to discover the extent of the military disasters suffered by the United States on the road to Berlin. The Battle of Kasserine Pass was a disaster in which the US Army lost 300 dead, as well as 3,000 missing and another 3,000 wounded. More than 1,300 Americans were killed or wounded in a failed attempt to cross Italy’s Rapido River in January 1944. Sometimes the victories were worse than the defeats. When the US Army performed an amphibious landing at Anzio in Italy, the fighting eventually cost 7,000 killed and 36,000 wounded or missing over a five-month period.

There are also thousands of Americans who died in small, unknown conflicts that are largely forgotten by history. Max Boot’s “The Savage Wars of Peace” is the definitive history of these undeclared wars that have been waged going back to the earliest days of our nation. From the shores of Tripoli in Jefferson’s day to the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines and the 20^th century interventions in Latin America, American soldiers have gone where their Uncle Sam sent them and many never returned.

A few years ago, a friend in my hometown noticed a Memorial Day marker on the town square that honored Private DeWitt Rucker, who gave his life in what was designated as the “MPE” with no explanation. After some online detective work, we found that Pvt. Rucker was a Buffalo Soldier, a black cavalryman, who accompanied Gen. “Black Jack” Pershing on his attempt to capture the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa in 1916, the Mexico Punitive Expedition. In a story detailed on my blog, we learned that Rucker died in the Battle of Carrizal, Mexico on June 21, 1916. This tragic encounter with Mexican cavalry is all but forgotten, along with Pvt. Rucker and the other 11 Americans and 30 Mexicans killed that day.

Our country and the world as we know it today was forged in the blood of American patriots. Without their sacrifice, the world would be a very different place today. Even the soldiers who gave their lives military defeats or seemingly pointless battles helped to shape the world as we know it. Often, failed battles bought time for other forces to organize or taught lessons that ultimately led to victory. Without the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, today's world would be dominated by Russia and China, if not Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

America’s wars could never have been won without the sacrifices of our veterans, but, as you read the military histories and memoirs of the people involved, it becomes apparent that although they may have enlisted for patriotic reasons or been conscripted by the draft, once in combat, soldiers often reported fighting for a different reason. Once on the line, soldiers often find themselves fighting for their buddies, the other men in their unit. Sometimes, the fear of letting down their buddies was worse than the fear of death.

This may be what leads soldiers to lay down their own lives. It is not only for love of country but for the guy in the foxhole next to them, for the airman sitting beside them in the cockpit, for the crewmates on their ship. The bond between people have faced combat and death together is strong.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”

   Originally published on the Resurgent

DeWitt Rucker: Buffalo Soldier of the M.P.E.

It was around Memorial Day 2011 that a high school friend posted a message on her Facebook page. In my hometown, there was a display on the town square honoring the veterans from Hart County who were killed in action. Predictably, there were veterans from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, but one memorial was a mystery.

This memorial honored Private DeWitt Rucker. The conflict listed under his name was simply “M.P.E.” Since the memorial did not give the date of Pvt. Rucker’s death, my friend wondered what conflict the M.P.E was. After trying unsuccessfully to determine how and when Rucker died, she described the experience on Facebook to see if anyone else knew. Searches of the military and history websites for some clue to Rucker’s story yielded nothing. Googling “M.P.E.” did not turn up any relevant results. Eventually, with a handful of people scouring the internet, some details of how DeWitt Rucker died for his country became known.

The break came when Pvt. Rucker’s name was found listed on a memorial to Buffalo Soldiers at Ft. Bliss, Tx. The Buffalo Soldiers were black soldiers in the U.S. Army. The nickname was acquired during the Indian Wars, but all-black units of Buffalo Soldiers fought in several American wars until the armed forces were desegregated.

The key to decoding the “M.P.E.” reference was also on the website describing the Buffalo Soldiers memorial. Pvt. Rucker was among the casualties of the Battle of Carrizal, Mexico on June 21, 1916. The battle was part of a campaign known as the Mexico Punitive Expedition, the M.P.E.

The adventure into Mexico began on March 9, 1916 when Mexican bandits under Francisco “Pancho” Villa, who led one of the factions vying for control of Mexico, raided the border town of Columbus, N.M. according to the National Archives. The raid killed 10 American soldiers and eight civilians with another seven soldiers and two civilians wounded. An estimated 100 bandits were killed, seven wounded, and one captured before the remainder escaped back into Mexico. The Americans pursued the bandits several miles into Mexico, but were forced to turn back due to a shortage of ammunition and supplies.

As a result of the raid, President Woodrow Wilson, apparently without congressional authorization, ordered a U.S. force that eventually numbered 11,000 men under Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing to capture Villa. With tacit approval, but very little in the way of cooperation, from Mexican president Venustiano Carranza, the U.S. Army set out into the Mexican state of Chihuahua, south of New Mexico and west Texas. For the first time, trucks and airplanes were used in a military expedition (with less than stellar results).

Pancho Villa and his men retreated before the American onslaught, hiding in the rugged mountains of Mexico. Although the local Mexicans hated Villa, they like the Americans even less and offered little help. There were a few skirmishes with Villa’s men, but the bandit chief eluded capture.

To make matters worse, there were also skirmishes with the Mexican army. On April 13, 1916, the Mexican army attacked Americans of the 13^th Cavalry at Parral. One American was killed and one was wounded, while the Mexicans lost at least 14 men.

Other skirmishes were fought against the bandits as well. Dozens of bandit were killed or captured with few American losses, but Villa remained at large. At the same time, Mexican raiders continued to raid border towns in Texas. In May and June 1916, Congress approved activation of National Guard units to patrol the U.S. side of the border.

On June 21, American soldiers again clashed with the Mexican army at Carrizal. Acting on intelligence that Pancho Villa was in the town, Pershing dispatched the Buffalo Soldiers of C and K Troops of the 10^th Cavalry under Capt. Charles Boyd with orders “to avoid a fight if possible.” Instead of Villa, the cavalrymen ran into Mexican government soldiers who were guarding the town. Max Boot describes what happened next in his excellent book, “The Savage Wars of Peace:”

There was no good reason not to bypass the town, and that is precisely what Boyd’s civilian guides advised, but for some mysterious reason Boyd insisted on going through with it. He was not deterred even when the Mexican general commanding the Carrizal garrison informed him that if he advanced “he would have to walk over the dead bodies of Mexican soldiers.” Boyd was said to have instructed a messenger, “Tell the son of a bitch that we’re going through!” Boyd dismounted his cavalry and ordered them to advance across a grassy field toward an irrigation ditch where the vastly superior Mexican force was dug in. When the Americans were about 250 yards from their position, the Carrancistas opened fire with rifles and machine gun. Nearly all the men in Troop C were wounded. The Buffalo Soldiers fought bravely, but with bullets “falling like rain,” and their own ammunition running out, they had no chance of prevailing. All the officers, including Captain Boyd, were killed quickly. The troopers, left leaderless, were routed by Mexican cavalry. Twelve Americans were killed that day, 10 wounded, and 24 captured. The rest ran away. The Mexicans lost more men – at least 30 killed, 40 wounded – but the battle of Carrizal was an unmitigated disaster for the U.S. Army.

Pvt. DeWitt Rucker, native of Hart County and U.S. Army Buffalo Soldier, was among the dead. It was rumored that Pancho Villa watched with amusement from a hideout in the mountains as his two enemies battled, but in reality he is believed to have been wounded at the time.

At this point, the U.S. and Mexico were on the brink of war. Leaders of both countries paused. Carranza agreed to release the U.S. prisoners who had survived the battle. According to Boot, these men blamed Boyd for provoking the battle in violation of his orders from Pershing, which helped calm the situation. Eventually, the U.S. agreed to withdraw its forces from Mexico if Carranza could control Villa. The American forces in Mexico began to return home in January 1917. The conflict officially ended on February 5. The National Guard was demobilized and the troops returned home.
Army units remained along the border to protect against further raids.

In spite of the failure to capture Pancho Villa, the expedition was officially considered a success. The National Archives records the words of Secretary of War Newton Baker: “[the] objective, of course was the capture of Villa, if that could be accomplished, but its real purpose was a display of the power of the United States into a country disturbed beyond control of the constituted authorities of the Republic of Mexico as a means of controlling lawless aggregations of bandits and preventing attacks by them across the international frontier.  This purpose is fully and finally accomplished."

Only a few months after the end of the American incursion into Mexico, President Wilson and General Pershing were fighting a new enemy as the United States entered WWI. Memory of the Mexico Punitive Expedition was overshadowed by the epic struggle against the Kaiser in Europe. A 1917 silent movie, “A Trooper of Troop K,” was based on Buffalo Soldiers at the Battle of Carrizal.

Fighting continued in Mexico as it had before the Americans had arrived. Carranza fought for control of Mexico against Villa and Emiliano Zapata. Carranza was assassinated in 1920 while fleeing a coup attempt. Pancho Villa was given amnesty by the new government, but was assassinated himself in 1923. Another rumor has him saying as he died, “Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something.” In reality, he is reported to have died instantly.

There are many similarities between current Mexican-American relations those of 100 years ago. Violence along the border is increasing and threatens to spill over into the United States. The National Guard has been called upon to patrol border areas. Tensions are running high between the two nations over illegal immigration and the Obama Administration’s policy of allowing guns to be smuggled to Mexican drug cartels. Perhaps, the lessons of the past can teach us to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Originally published on Examiner.com":
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/dewitt-rucker-buffalo-soldier-of-the-m-p-e