16 July, 2015 - Terrorist attack in Chattanooga...

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The most innocent of all...

The extraordinary challenges presented to my father in his life were many in number.

God's first challenge to His future warrior was cataclysmic.

My grandmother died of intestinal blockage when my father was a very young lad.

She was the only mother figure in his life; now she was gone.

Joyce Lilla Daw and Ted Daw were synergistic.

My parents consolidated forces to provide the inertia and drive to allow each to succeed in immeasurable ways.

Selfishly, her giving birth to yours truly is one of my Mother's top accomplishments.

As Heaven's angels, my Mother and Lisa are providing Overwatch even today.

The Best of the Best...

Two tours in Vietnam found my father's unsurpassed bravery being displayed on a regular basis.

His fellow warriors have recounted numerous combat firefights where my father's actions saved countless lives.

After my father's return from his first combat tour, he wasted no time in arranging for the family to visit his best friend's widow in Kentucky.  Like my father, he was an 'advisor'.

Some of the most lethal combat infantrymen on the planet were selected to provide combat training to poorly prepared and motivated men.

And insert themselves in battle.

Unfortunately, the military was shackled by the State Department and the traitors in the Demoncrat party.  With public relations souring on LBJ, something must be done to keep this carnage out of the public eye and vilify those damn soldiers who are killing the enemy.

Therefore, commit only enough cannon fodder such as to calm the raging war in Vietnam, furthering the protection of the political power of Demoncrats.

The traitorous Fourth Estate and liberal Demoncrats, noting the damage done to Lyndon Baines 'Hell, we'll have them niggers voting Democrat for two hundred years!' Johnson's presidency by Tet.

And, for political expediency and the only use the Demoncrats had for our military, was (and still is...) to cover their asses:

 They continued obfuscation of our true role in Vietnam.

Demoncrat pollsters and PR assholes:

Let's call these warriors "Advisors"...

That innocuous moniker will give the stupid lemming electorate the image of a cigar-chomping, boots on the desk, NCO 'advising' his clerk to bring him his lunch.

No, these men were unparalleled in their combat skills, especially jungle warfare.

Those years while my family worried about our father's return found the Fourth Estate and hippies like Jane 'Burn in Hell' Fonda and others exacerbating those constant worries.

'Advisors', my ass.

The bond between combat soldiers rivals that of their mothers.  My father took a punch in the stomach when this 'advisor' was killed.

  In many ambush situations, the ARVN's would drop their weapons and flee. 

Such was the case: 

My father's best friend, another highly talented special operator, was killed in a Viet Cong ambush where the ARVN's just left him.

He took a lot of the VC and NVA with him.

His widow was visibly grateful for our family's visit.  Her smile was genuine and the hugs she dispersed were firm.

May God bless that family.

Anecdote:  as fall in Kentucky necessitated a bigger outdoor winter coat for his ever-growing son, my father ensured I was well dressed for this occasion with the purchase of a really nice coat that doubled as a great hunting coat.

Each time I donned that coat, I reflected on a heroic warrior fending off the enemy while the cowards around him deserted.

God knows...

Takes an act of congress to discipline a CSM.

Just sayin'...

As stated before, SFC Ted Daw elevated the CMA Rifle Team on the national stage to heights that were unprecedented.

World class marksmen, including one of the Remington Studs, provided leadership and efforts instilled in them by their coach.

Army leadership maximized SFC Daw's battlefield experience by sending him back to Vietnam.

The Daw family braced for another year of constant worry for the safe return of this warrior.  

We prayed daily to God for His watchful eye over our father.

CSM Daw's initial active duty assignment with the United States Army was Fort Carson, CO.

 His military training as a North Carolina National Guardsman would serve him well as a buck sergeant in the Army. 

 President John F. Kennedy's proclamation in 1961 to put a man on the moon caused a military-wide search for astronaut candidates. 

Fort Carson identified SGT Daw as a prospective candidate.  His son recounts the story of trying to place a folded blanket in the top of the closet, but something impeded his doing so.  He grabbed a chair and peered up into the closet and discovered a parachute.

 His mother explained about his father's selection for astronaut training. He was so proud and let his classmates know, of course!

 CSM Daw's passion, however, was being a Drill Instructor; he felt he could impact the Army's readiness on a larger scale than an astronaut could.

  The Army granted his request and he pursued the necessary career path in order to accomplish the requirements to become the best of the best: a Drill Instructor.  

After three years in Hawaii in special operations training with the 25th Infantry Division, Fort Knox became home for three years.

 Fort Carson provided rigorous and dangerous training in the Rocky Mountains. 

 SGT Daw was scheduled for night vehicle navigation with light discipline when he was called in from the field.  SGT Daw was to be the hatch gunner on an armored vehicle convoy, navigating the treacherous and twisting dirt roads in the mountains.

  His son earlier that day had fallen on ice and cracked some vertebrae in his neck, requiring hospitalization. 

The seriousness of the injury prompted his command to pull SGT Daw from the field. 

 Tragically, the soldier who became the hatch gunner was killed when his vehicle plummeted into a ravine that evening.
 

After two tours of Vietnam and his second assignment to Fort Knox, CSM Daw's years as a Drill Instructor prompted his next assignment to Fort McClellan, AL, as one of the first male Drill Instructors at the Women's Army Corps (WAC) training center.

  Unprecedented challenges were expected by the Department of Defense, and Army leadership trusted SFC Daw (soon to be Master Sergeant Daw) to lead other DI's in the transition of women into the male ranks.

 The Women's Army Corps lost branch status in 1979. 

 MSG Daw's battalion commander, LTC Clark, recognized the leadership attributes of MSG Daw; she promoted him to battalion First Sergeant.  LTC Clark went on to become a Brigadier General in Panama and commanded a US Army unit during Operation Just Cause, the invasion of Panama.

With the dissolution of the WAC, First Sergeant Daw was selected for the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy in Fort Bliss, TX.  

MSG Daw's physical condition and military skills enabled him to successfully graduate from the Army's premier training facility.

  As a Sergeant Major, unfavorable personnel actions directed against the SGM must be approved by the US Congress.

The Department of Defense had one combat deployed division - the US Second Infantry Division, as part of Eighth Army, US Forces, Korea. 

Asymmetrical warfare, however, as demonstrated in Vietnam, forced military planners to develop counterinsurgency and small unit tactics to operate in numerous locations across the world.

  Southeast Asia allies were being confronted with guerilla warfare from not only communist forces, but also an increasing Islamist insurgency as well.  As a consequence, jungle warfare training was a high  priority for the Army.

  Another indication of the Army's confidence in SGM Daw was the fact that, as a junior Sergeant Major, he was selected as the NCO Academy Commandant at Fort Sherman, Panama.

The nation's premier Jungle Operations Training Center.

 This leadership position required SGM Daw's full commitment; he was unable to attend his son's graduation and commissioning as a Second Lieutenant at UTC. 

 Yet another sacrifice made by our military in service to the country...

After his tour in Panama was completed, SGM Daw was reassigned to a reserve Army aviation unit in Jackson, MS. 

 His wife accepted a head nurse position at the VA hospital there.

  Twenty years in the Army now had SGM Daw contemplating retirement, but the lure of command and his love of training troops made SGM Daw decide to accept promotion to Command Sergeant Major and assignment to Fort Jackson, SC, as the senior enlisted aid to the commander. 

After completion of this assignment, CSM Daw decided he was ready for retirement.

 His son, a captain assigned to Fort Rucker, AL, attended his father's retirement ceremony and was impressed and proud of the accolades his commander rendered that day toward CSM Daw. 

CSM Daw's highly decorated career included not only the Silver Star, but the Army's highest skill badges:  the Combat and Expert Infantryman Badges.

Retirement was just too dull for CSM Daw; the Daw family returned to Jackson, MS and CSM Daw became a JROTC instructor at a high school there.  He provided leadership and guidance for many teens, many of whom were in single parent homes, and other at-risk youth. 

After a few years in Jackson, the Daw family came back to their home in Hixson.  CSM Daw joined the JROTC cadre at Ooltewah High until the untimely passing of his wonderful wife and mother of his three children, Joyce, in 1999.

 He now fishes as much as possible in North Carolina's Blount Creek where his cousin, Bob Daw, has a fish camp.  

In a nation where only one percent of the citizens have served in the military (70% of those from south of the Mason Dixon line), the incredible leadership and positive influence on, literally, thousands of individuals by CSM Daw clearly deserves consideration for recognition.

Thanks for this recognition offered by the Times Free Press; keep up the good work.

CONTACT:

DENNIS KEITH DAW, DDS

875-2035

https://www.army.mil/article/255873/training_fact_sheet_expert_badges_how_do_i_know_when_i_am_ready

 The Army recognizes three expert skill badges: the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB), the Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB), and the Expert Soldier Badge (ESB). 

My father earned this, I believe, as a soldier with the 25th ID.

Even as a ten year old, I recognized the significance of this infrequently-seen badge on the uniforms of the battalions of Army studs in my huge extended family.

  Yet another recognition of my father's accomplishments in the Army...

https://www.moore.army.mil/Infantry/EIB/

Instant respect from fellow warriors when this is on your uniform...

Very difficult to earn; my brother in law, Ricky Doss' cousin, Darren, earned one.

Another Southern Manly Man...

How can filthy civilian liberals who know nothing of the importance of pride in a soldier's military assignments be allowed to rename major military posts?

Hatred for the military...

No, this is not Fort Moore; in my and other veterans' minds, it remains Fort Benning, GA.

I remember the Black Hats on my first day at Airborne School, O-dark-thirty, bursting into our barracks:

"OK, men - let's go for a little run to Alabama!"

The knowledge I was in Georgia quickened my pulse.  Routinely running a couple of miles daily, I was in shape to run four miles or so in boots.

The initial two miles were always enjoyable. About another half mile or so, however, found that enjoyment increasingly becoming less so...

As a young wide-eyed cadet, I cast a glance around the barracks and noted the other Airborne candidates had somewhat of an incredulous look on their faces.  

We informally segregated ourselves, active duty Army, active duty Navy and senior ROTC candidates.

Most Airborne School candidates were active duty soldiers; the Black Hats  had a particular disdain for ROTC cadets.

No love lost for future officers by these NCO's...

"OK, men - let's go for a little run to Alabama!"

Although our first interaction with instructors, all Jumpmasters at the nation's much-vaunted and premier combat parachute training facility, Fort Benning, involved a run of unknown length (hopefully, he was not serious...), the universal expression on the faces of my fellow candidates was absent on a small group of sailors a few bunks over from me.

I approached one sailor with that question:  "He isn't serious, is he?".

"Yup...", he replied.  "That's OK; we run five miles in the sand every day."

The sailors were Navy SEALs.

Fortunately, the run to Phenix City, AL, was a relatively short one... 

Further, I was assigned to Fort Benning for the annual REFORGER exercise in 1982.

I provided oral surgical augmentation as part of the medical staff with the Second Combat Support Hospital.

Despite the Demoncrats capriciously changing historic names of schools and scores of public buildings as well as rewriting history, veterans refuse to accept these vapid non-veterans' insane actions.

United States military installations are not items on your

RACIST

list of things to screw up!

That illumination of near total darkness in my night land navigation testing for the EFMB will be in the top five of the lengthy list of the times I was blessed with God's grace in my life...

https://usacimt.tradoc.army.mil/ltb/esb/esb.html

The Army recognizes extraordinary performances by soldiers of other branches, as well.

Truly, justifiable pride in this accomplishment...