In honor of #WomensHistoryMonth, we present Hollywood actress and US Army Reserve Colonel Martha Raye.
Bet you didm’t know: (Wikipedia)
USO Work and Entertainment:
Martha Raye toured extensively with the USO, entertaining troops in various theaters of conflict, including World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Martha Raye toured extensively with the USO, entertaining troops in various theaters of conflict, including World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
Vietnam Service:
She made multiple trips to Vietnam, often traveling to remote areas to entertain troops and provide medical assistance.
She made multiple trips to Vietnam, often traveling to remote areas to entertain troops and provide medical assistance.
“Colonel Maggie” Nickname:
Her dedication and bravery earned her the nickname “Colonel Maggie” and the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Special Forces.
Her dedication and bravery earned her the nickname “Colonel Maggie” and the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Special Forces.
Honorary Green Beret:
The Fifth Special Forces Group (Airborne) recognized her contributions by making her an honorary Green Beret.
The Fifth Special Forces Group (Airborne) recognized her contributions by making her an honorary Green Beret.
Medical Aid:
Raye, a former nurse, was known to jump into action to provide medical aid when needed, even putting on Army fatigues and assisting with wounded soldiers.
Raye, a former nurse, was known to jump into action to provide medical aid when needed, even putting on Army fatigues and assisting with wounded soldiers.
Presidential Medal of Freedom:
In 1993, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her lifetime of dedication to U.S. troops.
In 1993, President Bill Clinton awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her lifetime of dedication to U.S. troops.
Burial at Fort Bragg:
She was buried with full military honors at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the only woman to be interred there.
She was buried with full military honors at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the only woman to be interred there.
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 SF (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 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 ‘Smart Mouth’ 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.
There was the singer and actress, Martha Raye, with a SF (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 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 ‘Smart Mouth’ 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.
I made a new friend at church today. I went to a Latin mass in Irving, and I selected the low mass – quicker and held in the Parish Hall, with chairs against the back wall where I could sit and not kneel without being terribly obvious – and a family was to my left. Mom, Dad, infant boy(?), and two young girls, one blond and one brunette. I was watching the girls and the blonde girl was taking her sister’s stuff. The brunette had that emotionally bruised look on her face, and my heart went out to her. I… Read more »
I’m finally back home. I shared the Martha Raye story with both of my granddaughters, but I don’t think it made much of an impact on them. As I said before, Sunshine is signed up for next year’s classes, all honors. And she’s a budding young thespian who is learning Italian on her own via Duolingo. All weekend she was working through her lessons. I am impressed. The other granddaughter had her softball game Saturday morning. Let’s just say that throwing practice in their futures, but she was still her usual upbeat self afterwards. She is so sweet and loving,… Read more »
When I first came up here and for a number of years I never saw wild Virginia Creeper vine. It must have hitchhiked up here in some plants out of southern wholesale nursery growers. It is now everywhere in northeastern New Jersey. People would ask me what it was because they had never seen it up here before. You can’t control it and you can’t kill it.
Had a great time watching World of Outlaw sprint cars at Cotton Bowl Speedway last night. Didn’t get home until about 2:30AM, I’m hurtin.
This looks handy if one likes to take their vehicles off road. Sand is one thing, but mud is another.
Making dumb bombs smart, then smarter again. One of these can break a ship in half sending it to Davy Jones locker.
We’re having connectivity problems here with our internet service company. I’ll be back later.
Google buys Israeli cloud security software company, Wiz, for $32 billion.
Rumors of sightings of Leticia James and Alvin Bragg entering an Irish hotel have not been confirmed.
Ireland is now in a death race with the UK to the ninth level of hell. Bets are being booked on which nation commits suicide first.
Conor McGregor, MMA fighter, met with Trump and then announced he is running for president of Ireland. The Marxist regime in Dublin has now issued orders to have McGregor arrested for “incitement to hatred” for criticizing the government.
Hat Tips to Instapundit
Rumors of sightings in Istanbul of Merrick Garland and Jack Smith haven’t been corroborated… Timur Kuran on X: Istanbul mayor İmamoğlu was arrested on the very day of the primary that would make official his candidacy for president. Crowds of unprecedented size are at the polls anyway. The scene shows citizens waiting to vote in Kadıköy, Asian side of Istanbul. and, For six years, the Erdoğan regime dug for dirt on Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. It found none. But a panel of judges had him arrested anyway, based on hearsay from three anonymous witnesses. There’s a reason why Turkey ranks… Read more »
I’m old enough to remember when all the smart people, all the business experts, said Twitter would never recover and go bankrupt after Musk bought it.
I forgot to post the news X aka Twitter has now returned to the $44 billion value Elon Musk paid for it. He also runs the company on about 25% of the payroll it had when he bought it.
I’ll just leave this right here. 😀
Fixin’ Breakfast.
Mornin’ Gang
One wonders how long an industry can lose hundreds of millions every other month and continue to exist ? If anyone deserves to be humiliated by the American public it is Robert De Niro. Alec Baldwin has been reduced to making embarrassing reality TV with his fraudulent wife and seven unfortunate kids. De Niro bombs at $3 million on a $50 million movie. Per Deadline, as of Saturday morning, The Alto Knights is projected to earn a 3-day opening weekend gross of $3 million at the domestic box office, landing outside of the weekend’s Top 5 entirely, at No. 6. Given the fact that… Read more »
I’m up early because it’s departure day, sadly, and I had to eat early before mass. It also gives me some time with Lovely, Sunshine, and Little Prince.
I checked my email and found Malone’s Sunday Strip. I think this is the link.
I got to spend some quality time with the Little Prince today. He actually gave me a 3 second cuddle before going back to play at one point this afternoon, and on the way home from dinner out, he initiated attempts to wink at me. I taught him a few phrases and a new game, which he thoroughly enjoys. Maybe he’ll remember me when next he sees me.
Martha Raye, a lady of great distinction.
And a wonderful story of her great service to America.
Worth reading twice for sure.
Trump revokes security clearances for Adam Kinsinger, Liz Cheney, and Hitlery Clinton. Apparently, this just happened this week. My question is what took him so long to get these people out of the loop?
This popped up over yonder, talk about NASTY!!!
You lie like a Democrat.
Years of distrust comes home to roost. Retired business owner Catherine Byrd is thrilled with President Trump’s push to shrink what she considers a bloated federal workforce. And she isn’t at all concerned for the tens of thousands of people losing jobs. “I don’t feel bad for them a bit. I’ve worked in the private sector all my life,” and got laid off from jobs in the early days, the Georgia resident said. “You know what you do? You go out and find another job, and there are plenty of jobs to find.” While there is outcry over thousands of… Read more »
Hey, doc. What’s up?
Tom Petty’s twelve minute 2008 Halftime Super Bowl show.
Packaging tape.
I saw my elderly couple Leftist friends yesterday and they told me Trump erased all references to the Holocaust from Pentagon websites. The View, MSNBC and all the other demented fools have claimed it was an evil act by Trumphitler. I looked it up and it turns out only 3 pages got caught up in an AI sweep for DEI material. One page was returned yesterday and I’m sure the rest will be back soon. This is actually from the questionable site, Snopes: In early 2025, the U.S. Department of Defense removed at least three webpages related to the persecution… Read more »
Today’s link to the C&C
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/fiat-veritas-saturday-march-22-2025
Good morning, C&C, it’s Saturday! Time for the Weekend Edition. Today’s roundup includes: a morning monologue setting the “CIA Files” story in more context; political chaos in the Democrat party devolves into proper chaos, hate speech, and domestic terror; Trump’s new gold-card program already winning customers and gushing cash; Trump clears the security clearance deck, including scrapping all cabbage leftovers; and activist lawyers find themselves in the DOJ’s crosshairs.
I think the CPR on the racism body was the best WIP today.
And I also found out that Sunshine is signed up for honors level courses in everything for next school year. She is learning Italian via Duolingo at home on her own.
She has the genes. Noona, Mom, and Dad all enjoyed school and did well. Her grandfathers both have engineering degrees, like her father.
Popping in after Lil Darlin’s first softball game of the season. It did not go well for their team, but it is the first game. I was happy to hear that the coach said they are going to get more throwing practice. All of the runs against them were made because of bad throwing and pitching.
Fundamentals. Important.
Jus’ Sayin’…. 😉
You know you are old when “Getting any?” means sleep.
The stripper pic in TWIP is pretty funny.
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/moonovertheyear.jpg
The above was taken for 1.5 cycles of the moon. I would like to see this done for a year.
Same place, same time each day for a year.
Why am I not surprised and why is this still going on?
Democrats in Congress Drive Luxury Cars on Taxpayer Dime
I slept late this morning because I could. I woke up with a dreaded latin disease: snotus alotus. Claritin to the rescue.
defenestration /dē-fĕn″ĭ-strā′shən/
noun
Ruy Teixeira is one of the few, honest though partisan commentators on the Left. How Deep Is the Hole Democrats Are In ? Pretty Deep.On the plus side, voters in a February Navigator Research poll across the battleground Congressional districts thought Democrats in Congress “fight for what they believe.” However, they also thought Democrats don’t respect work, don’t share my values, don’tlook out for working people, don’t value work, don’t care about people like me, don’t have the right priorities and, by a massive 47 points, don’t get things done. Double ouch.There’s lots of polling data along these lines and they send a clear message: Democrats’ image is atrocious and therefore cannot present an attractive… Read more »
Did you have any idea American taxpayers were sending $600 million a year in grants to Australian universities ?
Life lessons learned from watching movies.
😀
‘MAGA leftist’ reveals why she now supports President Donald Trump’s agenda.
‘Second Class’ author Batya Ungar-Sargon says she has received thousands of messages from Democrats praising her outspokenness in support of President Donald Trump.
Well it looks like the Democrats now have their “Dream Team”
Senator, Bernie Sanders, and Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez AKA AOC. 😀
I say this because they drew 30K at a rally in Denver.
Please let this come true.
Great post, Squawk. I recalled her USO service, but I didn’t know the rest of the story. Raye died in 1994 so, sadly, only old geezers like us remember Martha Raye from black & white TV variety shows. She told the Hollywood Reporter in 1984: Politically, Raye was conservative, in a 1984 interview, she affirmed: “I believe in the constitution, strength in national defense, limited government, individual freedom, and personal responsibility. They reinforce the resolve that the United States is the greatest country in the world, and we can all be eternally grateful to our founding fathers for the beautiful legacy… Read more »
Wow. Tough gal. Thank you for your service Colonel Martha Raye.
G’Morning… its light grey outside, as opposed to dark… But I’m not holding my breath waiting for sunshine
A real nest O.C. piece and yes, I already knew about Martha Raye, I first saw her on TV in Vietnam and years later learned the rest of the story.
A chilly 40 degrees here but we’ll make the high 70’s by afternoon.
It’s the Weekend!
Mornin’ Gang