Ranger News

The Secretary of Defense has announced that Army BG Clarence K. K. Chinn has been nominated for appointment to the rank of major general.

Chinn is in Afghanistan currently serving as Deputy Commander for the Regional Command-East, which is a component of the International Security Assistance Force Joint Command.  Regional Command East is made up of 14 provinces covering 43,000 square miles, approximately the size of Ohio and sharing 450 miles of border with Pakistan.

Chinn previous assignments:  Commanding General, Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk; Deputy Commanding General (Support), 82d Airborne Division; Deputy Commanding General (Support), 82d Airborne Division/Combined Joint Task Force-76, Afghanistan; Chief of Staff, ISAF Joint Command – Afghanistan; Chief of Staff, 82d Airborne Division; Chief, Current Operations Division, United States Special Operations Command; Commander, Ranger Training Brigade; Deputy Commander, 75th Ranger Regiment; and Commander, 4th Ranger Training Battalion, Ranger Training Brigade.

Chinn is a 1981 graduate of the United States Military Academy.

Annual competitions pitting soldiers against one another to crown the next best Ranger or drill sergeant or warrior or hand-to-hand fighter have been scaled back or postponed in light of the Army’s budget crisis. Read more from Army Times…

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, March 13, 2013) Captain Andrew Michael Pedersen-Keel, 28, of Madison, Conn., died Mar. 11, of wounds received from small-arms fire in Wardak Province, Afghanistan.

He was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C., and was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Pedersen-Keel was commissioned as an Infantry Officer after graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in 2006. After graduation he attended the Infantry Officer Basic Course and the U.S. Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Ga. Following his training, he was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division (Light) at Fort Hood, Texas.

In June 2008, Pedersen-Keel deployed to Afghanistan for 12 months with the 3rd BCT where he served as a company executive officer and platoon leader. Upon completion of the deployment, he volunteered for the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course. After completing the Special Forces Qualification Course and language training, he was assigned to the 1st Bn., 3rd SFG (A) as a detachment commander in August 2012. He deployed with the unit to Afghanistan later that year.

His military education includes U.S. Army Airborne School, U.S. Army Ranger School, Combat Lifesaver Course, Combatives Level I Course, Sniper Employment Leaders Course, Pathfinder Course, Maneuver Captain's Career Course, the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course, and the Special Forces Detachment Officer Qualification Course.

Pedersen-Keel's awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (2), the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Air Assault Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Pathfinder Badge, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Ranger Tab, and the Special Forces Tab.

He is survived by his parents and sister.

Gordon H. Mansfield, 71, died of aortic disease at the Washington, D.C., VA Medical Center on January 29, 2013. Formerly of Alexandria, Va., he lived in St. Michaels, Md., and Naples, Fla.

A combat-wounded veteran, he dedicated his life to veteran’s service. He joined the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) board of directors in 2009 following his role as the deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from 2004 to 2009. He served as acting secretary of Veterans Affairs from October 1, 2007 through December 20, 2007.

From 2001 to 2004, Mr. Mansfield served as the VA assistant secretary for congressional and legislative affairs, functioning as the senior legislative advisor to the secretary of Veterans Affairs and representing the VA’s programs, policies, investigations, and legislative agenda to Congress.

Before joining the VA, Mr. Mansfield was the executive director of Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), an organization that represents and advocates for paralyzed veterans. As the executive director, he oversaw daily operations of PVA’s national Washington, DC office. Mr. Mansfield held several positions at PVA from 1981 to 1989.  Mr. Mansfield served as assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1993. Prior to 1981, he practiced law in Ocala, Florida.

Mr. Mansfield was born Sept. 15, 1941, in Pittsfield, Mass.  After graduating from Villanova University he joined the US Army in 1964 and served two tours of duty in Vietnam. While serving as company commander with the 101st Airborne Division during his second tour, he was wounded in the Tet Offensive of 1968, sustaining a spinal cord injury. For his actions under fire, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He was medically retired at the rank of captain.  His other combat decorations include the Bronze Star, two Purple Hearts, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, and the Presidential Unit Citation. Mr. Mansfield was inducted into the US Army Officer Candidate School Hall of Fame in 1997 and the US Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 2007.

While recovering from wounds sustained in Vietnam, he began studying for his law degree at American University, and eventually graduated from the University of Miami in 1973.

Mr. Mansfield also received the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service, the Presidential Distinguished Service Award, the Robert Dole Service to Our Nation Award, Disabled American Veterans Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year Award, and was inducted into the Spinal Cord Injury Hall of Fame.

His first marriage, to Suzanne Petroske, ended in divorce. Survivors include his wife of 25 years, Linda Coughtry Mansfield of St. Michaels; two sons from his first marriage, Gordon P. Mansfield of Leesburg and Leon Mansfield of Ashburn; three sisters; one brother; and four grandchildren

Wake will be at Everly-Wheatly at 1500 West Braddock Road, Alexandria, Va., on Monday, Feb. 11, 2013, from 4 to 8 p.m. with Mass at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church on Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013, at 11 a.m.

Interment at Arlington National Ceremony will take place on Tuesday, March 19, 2013.

Contributions in Mr. Mansfield's honor may be made to the Fisher House, Wounded Warrior Project or Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Edward A. (Ted) McLogan died suddenly January 25, 2013 at his home in Ann Arbor.  He was born April 2, 1920 in Flint to Edwin and Helen (Austin) McLogan, graduated from Flint Central High School and The University of Michigan, class of 1942.  Ted was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. An ROTC graduate, he entered active service with the U.S. Army as a 2nd Lieutenant.

He joined the 25th Division on Guadalcanal and the Solomon Islands, from which he volunteered for the special mission that became Merrill's Marauders, the legendary Ranger guerilla force in Burma.  He was awarded the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.  In 2001 he was inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame at Fort Benning, Georgia.  He frequently gave talks about Merrill’s Marauders to groups and organizations.

At the end of the war, Captain McLogan married his college sweetheart Beatrice Bouchard of Ann Arbor, and together they raised seven children in Flint where he managed the family business, McLogan & Austin China Closet. After the firm’s sale he spent the next 30 years in brokerage and financial services with First of Michigan Corp., and Morgan Stanley in Traverse City. He maintained an active practice until he was nearly 80.

Committed to public service, Ted served as board member and chair of numerous volunteer organizations, including YMCA, Red Cross, Big Brothers, Hurley Hospital, and Flint Public Schools. Ted was a 65-year member and director of Rotary Club.

He was elected to the Michigan Constitutional Convention in 1961 and then managed the successful statewide referendum resulting in its adoption.  He was elected to the Flint Charter Revision Commission in 1965, and twice to the Genesee County Board of Commissioners, 1968-72.  He remained devoted to service above self his entire life, and modeled that for all who knew him.

Ted is survived by his wife of 67 years, and their children:  Deborah Nelson, Matthew (Jane Brierley) McLogan, Martha Morrow, Jennifer (Daniel Gurskis) McLogan, Mary (Daniel) Ziegeler, Elizabeth (Robert) Sugar, and Helen (Carl) Chamberlain; 21 grandchildren:  Jessica Cohen, Matthew Nelson, Elizabeth Harvey, Amy Nelson; Katherine, Molly, and Timothy McLogan; Helen and Elizabeth Morrow; Emily, Edward, and Elizabeth Gurskis; Claire, Daniel, and Charles Ziegeler; Sarah, Hannah, and Betsy Sugar; Elaine, William, and Henry Chamberlain; and four great-grandchildren.  Ted is also survived by his brother, James, and by many nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by his brother Donald and cousin Elaine McLogan Steinmetz.  

In 1985, Ted and Bea left Flint for Traverse City and then Suttons Bay.  Following Ted's retirement, they moved to Bea's hometown of Ann Arbor where they became involved in all things Maize and Blue at University Commons and where Ted joined the VP Club.

Funeral mass will be on Saturday, February 2^nd at 11:00 am at St. Mary’s Student Chapel in Ann Arbor. Memorial contributions may be made to Rotary Charities or St. Mary's Student Parish.  The family is being served by Muehlig Funeral Home of Ann Arbor.

Ranger Steven L. Yuhas, 71, of Austin, Texas passed away on Thursday, January 17, 2013. He served two tours in Vietnam. His decorations and badges include the Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star, Master Aviator Badge, Senior Parachutist Badge, and Ranger Tab. His book, “Charlie, I’m Sorry I Missed Ya!” was published June 29, 2013.   Steven is survived by his brother Jim, two sons, Brad and Chris, and four grandchildren.

A visitation will take place at Harrell Funeral Home in Austin at 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, January 30, 2013.   Military services will be conducted at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 30, 2013, at Fort Sam Houston Veterans Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

Ranger Bo Prehar, Georgetown, Texas represented the United States Army Ranger Association at the visitation ceremony on January 30, 2013.

Herbert R. Appel, B Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion, WWII, passed away this last Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012 at the age of 93. He was a Ranger to the very end. He was a replacement after D-day; a mortar man and company runner. He was wounded in France, re-joined his company in Belgium, and survived 48 hours of shelling in the Hurtgen Forest.

He wrote of this experience, "Many had passed through this crisis, their moment of truth, on D-Day. For myself and most of the new men it had happened in the Hurtgen Forest. I now understand why, as a green replacement, I had not been fully and immediately accepted by many of the D-Day men. Now that I was a full member of the Battalion, it meant more to me than ever before. I was part of it, and it was part of me, more so than any other group to which I had, or would belong."

A memorial service will be held this Saturday at Schumacher and Benner Funeral Home, 359 King Street, Pottstown, PA at 11AM.

Ralph E. Goranson, 93, of Libertyville, Illinois passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2012, at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville.

He was born July 4, 1919, in Chicago and was a 29-year resident of Libertyville and a former resident of Gurnee and Avon Park, Florida.

Ralph was an Army Ranger and commanding officer of C Company, 2nd Ranger Battalion during the initial assault wave landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day during World War II; actions for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart.

He was a member of the Libertyville American Legion Post No. 329, Grace Lutheran Church and was a retired account executive with the E.F. McDonald Company in Chicago.

Surviving are his children, Robert (Valerie) Goranson of Libertyville, Jeffrey (Pat) Goranson of West Peoria, Ill., Sally (James) Dunn of Carpentersville, Nancy Goranson of Fond du Lac, Wis., and Carol Mount of Inverness; 11 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Einar and Agnes Goranson; by his wife, Ruth in 2002; by his brother, Jack in 1945; and also by a grandson, Craig Dunn.

Interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS

Rank: Captain

Unit: Commanding Officer Company C, 2nd Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army

Action: The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Ralph E. Goranson (0-1299035), Captain (Infantry), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Commanding Officer of Company C, 2d Ranger Infantry Battalion, in action against enemy forces on 6 and 7 June 1944, at Vierville-sur-Mer, France. Captain Goranson landed with his Ranger company at "H" hour on D-Day with the initial assault wave in the invasion of France, in the face of heavy automatic enfilading fire from three different directions and mortar and artillery fire from cliffs overlooking the beach. In spite of extremely heavy casualties, Captain Goranson calmly and courageously reorganized his company and led them in a successful assault upon the enemy positions. He then led his company in an advance to force a junction with the main body of the assault. Though it took ten hours of the heaviest kind of fighting to reach the main body, his men, inspired by his outstanding leadership, continuously advanced until the mission was accomplished. Captain Goranson's heroic actions, personal bravery and zealous devotion to duty exemplify the highest traditions of the military forces of the United States and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Details: Headquarters, First U.S. Army, General Orders No. 28 (June 20, 1944).

U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno presented the Distinguished Service Cross to Sgt. Craig D. Warfle, from Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, during an award ceremony at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., Oct. 26, 2012. Warfle received the Army's second highest award for valor for his actions during combat operations in Afghanistan.

At the ceremony, three other Rangers from 1st Battalion received the Silver Star, the third-highest award for valor.

In addition, the battalion and its subordinate units received a Presidential Unit Citation for its “extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy” between May 15 and Oct. 20, 2010. The battalion, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, was “outstanding in bringing the fight to the enemy and was responsible for numerous successes on the battlefield,” according to the citation for the award.

Read more details…

FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Oct. 14, 2012)undefinedA U.S. Army Ranger was killed in action Oct. 12, 2012 during combat operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Sgt. Thomas R. MacPherson, 26, was assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

MacPherson was killed by direct fire from enemy forces during a heavy firefight while conducting combat operations in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.

A native of Long Beach, Calif., he enlisted in the U.S. Army in May 2007. For more than four years, MacPherson served as a mortarman and a Ranger Team Leader with 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment.

The 75th Ranger Regiment has been continuously deployed to Afghanistan since October 2001.

“Sgt. Tom MacPherson lost his life courageously leading his Rangers into a close quarters fight with the enemy,” said Lt. Col. Gregory Anderson, Commander of 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. “Tommy MacPherson never backed away from the dangers of combat, and his warrior spirit, personal example, and zeal for life continue to inspire all who knew him. We will honor his service to our Nation and the heroic example he set for all Rangers. Our thoughts and prayers are with the MacPherson Family.”

MacPherson previously served one deployment to Iraq and this was his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.

“Sgt. Thomas MacPherson personified the traits of the consummate Ranger: commitment and courage,” said Col. Mark W. Odom, Commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment. “He deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq multiple times and always seemed to be at the critical points on the battlefield.”

MacPherson is survived by his wife, Claudia MacPherson, and their son, Brayden, of Tacoma, Wash., and his parents, Troy and Diona MacPherson of Long Beach, Calif.

Biography:

Sgt. Thomas R. MacPherson, 26, was killed by enemy forces during a heavy firefight while conducting combat operations in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan. He was leading an assault against an enemy position when he was mortally wounded by small arms fire.

MacPherson was a team leader assigned to Company D, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. He previously served one deployment to Iraq and this was his fourth deployment to Afghanistan.

MacPherson was born July 20, 1986 in Long Beach, Calif. and graduated from Los Alamitos High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in May 2007 and completed One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning, Ga., as an infantryman. After graduating from the Basic Airborne Course there, he was assigned to the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program also at Fort Benning.

MacPherson graduated from the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program and was then assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment in December 2007, where he served as a mortarman. After three years, he was assigned to Company D where he served as a Fire Team Leader.

His military education includes the Basic Airborne Course, Ranger Assessment and Selection Program, U.S. Army Ranger School, Infantry Mortar Leader’s Course, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course (SERE), and the Warrior Leader Course.

His awards and decorations include the Ranger Tab, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Expert Infantryman’s Badge, the Parachutist Badge, and the U.S. Army Expert Rifle Marksmanship Qualification Badge.

MacPherson has also been awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three Campaign Stars, Iraq Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, and the NATO Medal.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service and Purple Heart.

MacPherson is survived by his wife, Claudia MacPherson, and their son, Brayden of Tacoma, Wash., and his parents, Troy and Diona MacPherson of Long Beach, Calif.