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Personal Impact: Operation Urgent Fury (Grenada)
The following are letters and emails sent to USARA in regards to Operation Urgent Fury.
The Fallen (Received 6 Jan 2002)
Webmaster:
Upon viewing the pictures from the True Blue Campus Memorial (Operation Urgent Fury page), I noted your request to provide the names and correct spellings of those who fell in Grenada.
I am aware of the following, all from A/1-75 Rgr:
SGT Randy E. Cline
SP4 Mark O. Yamane
PFC Russell L. Robinson
SGT Mark A. Rademacher
PFC Marlin R. Maynard
Please pass on to the author of the letter my appreciation. It is important to remember the ultimate sacrifices that were made during that operation. Rangers Lead the Way:
Blair Alexander
(Wpns/A/1-75 Rgr, Plt Ldr during Operation Urgent Fury)
Ranger Kevin Lannon (Received 12 Dec 2001)
Mariann Lannon, Ranger Kevin Lannon's sister, has asked me to see about posting this picture. Kevin was also a friend and it does bring great memories. According to his sister this photo was taken on October 27, 1983 just hours before his death in Grenada. RLTW! Chris Parnos
Personal Recon Recollection (Received 1 Feb 01)
I couldn't help but reply to the message sent by Alan Jenkins.
I have recently retired from the Michigan Army National Guard and for nostalgia was looking up information on Operation Urgent Fury. I believe for most service members through the ages their combat service creates a peak experience that they reflect on. So here goes my reflection on a small personal note concerning the early morning recon of a suspected enemy position.
I was the 3rd platoon leader (affectionate called the "third herd") of Co B, 2-325 82nd Abn.. We had been assigned the mission of being the LP/OP of the battalion. The evening prior we had come across some heavily armed Cubans and I felt anxious about this whole new experience. I did take refuge in that I was with a solid platoon sergeant and some sharp troops. We had formed a 360 degree perimeter and had radio contact with the main company. Early morning, 0430?, I received contact with Cpt. Ritz that he would be arriving into our perimeter soon. When he arrived sometime later he informed us of wanting to do a leaders recon of future placements of his troops. Initially there were about seven of us leaving the perimeter to include the 1rst platoon leader.
We moved to an area near a lookout of barracks where the 1rst platoon leader and members were dropped off. I believe at this point we were within eye sight of the perimeter. We continued on with Cpt Ritz in the front followed by myself and Sgt Quinn. We moved to a location between our perimeter highpoint and a hilltop directly in front of us. We were in this "saddle" and Cpt. Ritz found an abandoned enemy placement left with crates of hand grenades, commo equipment and such. He studied the area for a brief moment and picked up a commo wire heading up to the hill. He motioned for us to follow him as he drew his .45 and we moved towards the hilltop. It was at this point that I thought this was not a good idea as we were moving away from our fire support and we had zero radio contact.
We moved up the hill and continued on towards where this commo line was taking us. When we approached the top of the hill, covered with some thicker foliage, the world went nuts around us. I was anticipating some possible engagement so when the first round was fired I was on the ground returning fire in seconds. Many things happen at this time in a quick fashion. Sgt. Quinn let out a blood curdling scream, bullets flying, etc.... I did fire off a magazine and reload and was a bit surprised I was still living as we were so close that I extended my rifle with my hand and was within feet of the Cubans. Upon realizing that I would have an opportunity to make it back I took off my flashlight to get me closer to the ground, it was attached front of LCE, and moved back towards the platoon perimeter. All of this was done under fire and not certain as to why I was fortunate enough to be writing this. This is a short footnote to my reality of this incident in relation to Alan Jenkins response. I do honor in my heart those soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice each year, especially during Oct.
Sincerely, Steve Seager
Lt Jeffrey R. Scharver, USMC (Received 4 January 2001)
To the Rangers:
Thank you for providing this web page with details about Operation Urgent Fury. Our son, Lt. Jeffrey R. Scharver USMC was one of the cobra pilots that was shot down in St. George's Bay on 10/25/83. His name is the 4th from the bottom on the plaque at St. George's school. Jeb Segal, the name under Jeff's was also a Marine. It has been 17 years since Jeff's death, but sometimes it feels like yesterday.
Three years ago, my Husband and I stopped in Grenada while on a cruise. We met the Prime Minister who arranged for a tour of the monuments and also gave me flowers to take when we visited. It was most touching to see all the names. Every branch of the service is to be commended for helping this small, tiny, poor island overthrow the communists. Jeff was married at the time, with no children. His wife Pati remarried another Marine about 3 years after. I do not think St. George has our names or address because we were not invited to the dedication of the memorial as some of the other parents were.
My email is VESFIVE@AOL.COM.
THANKS! VIVIAN AND LARRY SCHARVER
Return to Grenada
Recently a 1st Ranger Battalion Operation Urgent Fury veteran toured the island of Grenada. Here are some pictures he forwarded to us. He has asked that he remain anonymous. The comments provided are from him.
Excerpt from his letter:
"...Along with my membership dues, I have enclosed some photographs from my vacation to Grenada. I would like for my name to remain anonymous... I went back to Grenada over the same dates that the invasion took place 15 years ago. I realize this is a small piece of Ranger history and it sometimes gets overlooked, but I feel that it is an important one. The successes and failures we had made our special operations forces better. It also made believers out of those who were skeptical about why we needed to maintain such forces. 19 men died on the island and they should be remembered for their sacrifice, 5 of the 19 were Rangers from the 1st Ranger Battalion. It was a very emotional trip, the island has changed a little in 15 years. The memorials, yes two, that have been erected were very nicely done. I have enclosed pictures...
...I would also like to mention that every year on 25 Oct, the True Blue Campus holds a Memorial Service for the brave men that died during the invasion..."
Captain Michael F. Ritz
Recently the son of Ranger Michael F. Ritz contacted us, wanting to know more about his father, killed during Operation Urgent Fury. Email him.
emailed to the webmaster:
I was looking at this story about Grenada on the Ranger web page and saw this note about Cpt. Ritz. I was in his company in the 82nd Airborne Division, B 2/325. I was there from August of '81 to February of '85 and was a rifleman in the second squad of the second platoon. Cpt. Ritz took command of our company in the spring of 1983.
Our battalion was on DRF 1 when the callout to Grenada happened. When we arrived down there on the afternoon of the 25th our planes landed one at the time to off load us. The Ranger battalions had secured the Pt. Salines airfield so it was not under fire. We moved out north of the airfield and set up positions along a small ridge for the night. Cpt. Ritz took the first platoon leader (I can't remember his name) and a sergeant ( I think his name was Terry Gwyne) on a leaders recon, on the morning of the 26th, of this compound full of Cubans at the east end of the runway. We were setting up to attack from one side and the Rangers from the other. When they were ambushed Cpt. Ritz was killed instantly and Sgt. Gwyne was shot through the chest, the medic saved his life, the lieutenant fired off a magazine and got away un-injured. After our battalion commander, LTC Hamilton, found out that Cpt. Ritz had been killed he was mad.
There were three 105 artillery pieces that fired into the compound, the Cubans wouldn't surrender. Then two A-7's made several staffing passes and they finally gave up. It was a good thing for them because LTC Hamilton was going to napalm them next. After the Cubans were rounded up my platoon went out to retrieve Cpt. Ritz. I covered a hillside while several others went and brought him back. We continued on to St. Georges and ended up in the mountains rounding up Cuban stragglers. The people of the island were very grateful for our arrival and during our patrols through towns, they would bring out food and cold drinks wherever we stopped.
A week before we were sent to Grenada, we had an emergency deployment exercise where we were to rescue hostages from a compound. The officers knew this operation was pending and this was a practice mission. Cpt. Ritz and a few others had gone on a leaders recon of this compound and were spotted and fired at by the "enemy". After he had been killed on Grenada many of us thought of the eerie co-incidence of this practice mission a week earlier.
We knew that Cpt. Ritz's wife was 7-8 months pregnant when he was killed and everyone really felt bad about that. I don't think he had any children before Grenada so I assume you are that person. Several months later our battalion had a ceremony dedicating the Ritz-Epps sports complex near the division headquarters. It was a cloudy, drizzly day and I remember several civilians on the reviewing stand, I never knew if Mrs. Ritz was one or not. Sergeant Epps was also in our company and we was killed by a booby trap the same morning as Cpt. Ritz.
I hope this helps, feel free to contact me if you like.
Sincerely,
Alan Jenkins
ajenkins251@home.com (email address now obsolete)
Capt Jeb Seagle, USMC
FYI
I was searching the web for info on Urgent Fury and came across the Ranger history on USARA page. I noticed that you folks needed Jeb Seagle's info. Seagle was a Captain assigned to HMM-261. He was Capt. Timothy Howard's copilot. Their Cobra was shot down while attacking Ft. Frederick. Capt. Seagle was killed trying to signal for assistance after the shootdown.
R/S
SSgt Muccia
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