Mark Hertling Profile picture
Jun 6, 2021 5 tweets 3 min read Read on X
La Fiere bridge, a few miles west of Ste Mere Eglise, was a key objective of the 82d Airborne. Securing would ensure the flow off Utah Beach. The 15th century farmhouse is today a B&B
A few yards away, an “Iron Mike” - similar to the one at Ft Bragg SC - stands watch over the Merderet River
Every year, Airborne troopers from @USArmyEURAF @173rdAbnBde reenact this mission...and so far, none have landed on the steeple of the church in Ste Mere Eglise (as occurred in the original drop)
My last year in command of @USArmyEURAF I was honored to meet a few of the REAL heroes of that fight...
...and then some French reenactors invited me to ride with them on their Sherman tank into the town. Heard some great stories that day from American veterans and French citizens.

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More from @MarkHertling

Nov 30
WRT national security & global threats, an extremely dangerous time re US "foes." -Massive Russian strikes in Ukraine -Georgia's "frozen conflict" heating up. -Moldova dealing with Russian troops in Transnistria -Russian economy collapsing...due to Putin's wars --Assad flees to Russia 1/4
-China intimidates Philippines, assaults Hong Kong's autonomy, represses Tibet & Xinjiang, threatens Taiwan, blocks international trade routes -N. Korea troops & weapons in Russia, increases missile capabilities -Hamas destroyed, but Hezbollah, IJ, MB & the Africa terror groups still active. 2/4
-Piracy increases in Persian Gulf and Red Sea regions -US, Mexico & Philippines rated as most active human trafficking countries -Draughts, famine & other climate change factors + outcome of conflicts causes increased migration into US & Europe. -Domestic terrorism indicators rising. 3/4
Read 4 tweets
Nov 5
It's interesting & emotional that @VP will be spending election night at her alma mater @HowardU in Washington, D.C.

A beautiful campus, an excellent institute of higher learning...

...and one that is connected to my own alma mater, @WestPoint_USMA

How so? A short 🧵 1/ Image
Howard U. is name after one of its founder & its first university president, Oliver Otis Howard.

An 1850 graduate of Maine's Bowdoin College at the age of 19, Howard entered & became a member of the class of 1854 at West Point.

He graduated 4th in his class of 46 cadets. 2/ Image
In 1855, Howard married Lizzy Waite (they would have 7 children).

Howard's 1st assignment was Florida during the Seminole Wars. While there, he converted to evangelical Christianity & considered being a minister.

After the war, he was sent to West Point to teach Math. 3/ Image
Read 10 tweets
Nov 4
Today, I remembered a couple of Iraqis I met during my last deployment in 2007-8, during the surge

It had to do with trust, confidence...and voting.

A short 🧵 1/10 Image
Image
The 1st was Muhammed, the man in the white thobe.

The battalion commander in the area asked me to come meet him, as Muhammed had been an insurgent who pledged allegiance to the new Iraqi government.

A fascinating guy. Spoke good English, had been a university student. 2/ Image
He told me he had been fighting the coalition, but he realized the "power of the finger was better than the power of the gun."

He was talking about the finger tdipped in blue ink indicating voting.

He said he would stop fighting, go back to school, & study politics. 3/
Read 10 tweets
Oct 4
Watching the Israeli operations in S. Lebanon today, as the IDF releases numerous photos of arms caches found in & near homes. 1/7Image
Image
Image
These are similar to what US forces found throughout Iraq when we were there.

Using civilian locations provides terror organizations w/ unique advantages:
- difficult to find
- difficult to target
- when found, striking/destroying results in civilian casualties. 2/Image
This morning, the IAF also struck a 3.5 km tunnel complex between Syria & Lebanon that provided a means of bringing those weapons to Hezbollah.

Between 0900-1100 hrs local time today, Hezbollah launched over 100 rockets & drones into N. Israel. 3/Image
Read 7 tweets
Sep 22
During a break in an MBA leadership class, a student asked me: What's it like serving in government, and what did you do to keep yourself fired up?

A thread 🧵 1/11
My response?

Sometimes it's tough - especially during deployments & the tough times being away from family.

But the vast majority of the people you work with, and the things you get to do, make it all worthwhile. 2/
Having never been on an airplane & having never left my hometown until I joined the Army, the adventures and the places I went to serve were awesome!

New countries, unique cultures, different languages, seeing the world, meeting new people? Yeah, nothin' better. 3/
Read 11 tweets
Sep 18
A few thoughts on what occurred in two different conflicts yesterday...the use of "killer pagers" by Israel and Ukraine's attack on the large ammo cache at Toropets military base 300+ miles inside Russia.

A short 🧵 1/12
First, the pagers.

In this article (gifted) from the @nytimes, the author claims there "no clear strategy" for this coordinated attack.

I disagree. Having used electronic & signals countermeasures in Iraq, the strategy is clear. 2/

nytimes.com/2024/09/18/wor…
Terrorist organizations - unlike conventional militaries who have encrypted signal capabilities - must find ways to communiate. It is important to continue to disrupt & counter this ability.

In Iraq, terrorist use of cell phones allowed US and ISF to glean valuable information & disrupt their networks. 3/
Read 13 tweets

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