 Martha Raye
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,207 Likes: 58
Fe Butt
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OP
Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,207 Likes: 58 |
This was sent to me, I have heard it before but it is cool no matter how many times I read it.
It was well recognized that Martha Raye endured less comfort than any other Vietnam entertainer.
I did not know this, I bet you didn't either. Don't let the sun go down without reading this about Martha Raye.
The most unforgivable oversight of TV is that her shows were not taped.
I was unaware of her credentials or where she is buried. Somehow I just can't see Brittany Spears, Paris Hilton, or Jessica Simpson doing what this woman and the other USO women, including Ann Margaret & Joey Heatherton did for our troops in past wars.
Most of the old time entertainers were made of a lot sterner stuff than today's crop of activist bland whiners.
The following is from an Army Aviator who takes a trip down memory lane:
"It was just before Thanksgiving '67 and we were ferrying dead and wounded from a large GRF west of Pleiku. We had run out of body bags by noon, so the Hook (CH-47 CHINOOK) was pretty rough in the back.
All of a sudden, we heard a 'take-charge' woman's voice in the rear.
There was the singer and actress, Martha Raye, with a Special Forces beret and jungle fatigues, with subdued markings, helping the wounded into the Chinook, and carrying the dead aboard.
Maggie' had been visiting her Special Forces (SF) 'heroes' out 'west'. We took off, short of fuel, and headed to the USAF hospital pad at Pleiku.
As we all started unloading our sad pax's, a USAF Captain said to Martha ... "Ms. Raye, with all these dead and wounded to process, there would not be time for your show!"
To all of our surprise, she pulled on her right collar and said "Captain, see this eagle? I am a full 'Bird' in the US Army Reserve, and on this is a 'Caduceus' which means I am a Nurse, with a surgical specialty ... now, take me to your wounded!"
He said, "Yes ma'am ... follow me."
Several times at the Army Field Hospital in Pleiku, she would 'cover' a surgical shift, giving a nurse a well-deserved break.
Martha is the only woman buried in the SF (Special Forces) cemetery at Ft Bragg.
Hand Salute! A great lady.
I did not know this about Martha Raye ...
thought you might like to read it .
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: Martha Raye
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Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,207 Likes: 58
Fe Butt
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OP
Fe Butt
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 23,207 Likes: 58 |
Col. Maggie Amazing Lady More The more I read the more I feel she should be remembered. She fully deserved to be buried at Ft Bragg.
I learned all I need to know about life by killing smart people and eating their brains.
Eat right ,Exercise ,Stay fit, Die Anyway!
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Re: Martha Raye
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6
Worn Saddle
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Worn Saddle
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 6,060 Likes: 6 |
Thanks for the cool story. I would never had guessed. Kinda like the Lee Marvin military background story.
Fidelis et Fortis
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Re: Martha Raye
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Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,995 Likes: 10
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 3,995 Likes: 10 |
Thanks for that Ian  Cool brave Lady!
Dinosaur.
"Oh Man I only ride 'em.I don't know what makes 'em work". Donald "Oddball" Sutherland
"Don't let the bastards get you down". Kris Kristofferson
"I am only paranoid because everyone is against me". Larry [Frank Burns] Linville
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Re: Martha Raye
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,465 Likes: 2
Loquacious
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Loquacious
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,465 Likes: 2 |
Did not know that Ian. My mom (Army/Ft. Carson) handled scheduling & logistics for a lot of the troop entertainers coming out of Hollywood during WWII. She never named names, but said that a surprising number of the big names wanted to head into the heat of conflict, while many others only did it for the publicity and would only go to safe sites (they were the ones with the entourage to document their "service"). She developed a cynical view of celebrities.
Glad to know that Martha Raye was one of the good ones.
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Re: Martha Raye
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 429
Adjunct
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Adjunct
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 429 |
Nice story thanks for posting it.
You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one
John Lennon
Imagine
Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty, anyone who keeps learning stays young, the greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.
Henry Ford
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Re: Martha Raye
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Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 7,630 Likes: 7
Monkey Butt
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Monkey Butt
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 7,630 Likes: 7 |
We all like to think of ourselves as rugged individualists. But when push comes to shove most of us are sheep who do what we are told. Worst of all, a lot of us become unpaid agents of whoever is controlling the agenda by enforcing the current dogma on the few rugged individualists who actually exist.
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