The Twins Platoon

BGEN William Weise, USMC (Ret)

This book published in 2014 is about an extraordinary man and a great leader. In the book you can read about the General’s connection to Twins Platoon member Private Skip Schmidt. Because of what General Weise has done, he is held in high regard by Skip’s family and all of Skip’s fellow Marines, who came from across the Country to attend two special ceremonies for Skip Schmidt.  For more information about the book and how to purchase a copy, see “Buy Related Book” on the right hand side of this page and click on “One Magnificent Bastard”.

Veterans Day 2013 finds Diane Finnemann holding the photo of her brother Twins Platoon member Wallace “Skip” Schmidt, who died as a result of his military service in Vietnam. Her loss and how she is helping to make history is the subject of a well written feature story appearing in the Pioneer Press newspaper on Sunday November 10^th. “The Memory of 1 Face Drives a Search for 1,074 Others” by Erin Lengas details how Diane is contributing to the success of the planned Education Center accompanying the Vietnam Veterans memorial in Washington D.C..

To read the full story go to. http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_24485936/minnesota-woman-tries-bring-honor-vietnam-veterans-memory  For a listing of the names of fallen Vietnam soldiers whose photos are needed go to https://www.facebook.com/notes/faces-to-go-with-names-minnesota-fallen-vietnam-soldiers/as-of-1112013-we-still-need-these-297-photos-to-complete-mn/170388939789029 (Ctrl+click to follow link). Or you can email Diane at dfinnemann@msn.com.

The 2011 winners of the prestigious “Stars and Flags” military book awards were recently annnounced.   In the category Non-fiction Biography “The Twins Platoon” tied for1st place. For a complete listing of all the winners click on the below link.

http://starsandflags.com/BA-2011-winners.html .

http://forestlaketimes.com/2012/01/11/twins-platoon-vietnam-story-wins-national-book-contest-award/

Pictured above are 21 of the 24 first sworn in on Labor Day 2011.  On December  2, 2011 they completed their basic training.  Both young ladies graduated from P.I. and recruit Eugene McGhee is right behind and should earn the title Marine before Christmas. The torch is being carried on in good hands. 

 (Click on the photo to enhance the picture)

Future Marines  (Photo courtesy of USMC)

The Minnesota Twins Baseball Organization hosted a pre-game ceremony on September 5th, 2011, at Target Field, in commemoration of the original “Twins Platoon”, who likewise were sworn into the United States Marine Corps in June of 1967. Their stories are the subject of the book. The United States Marines Corps honors their service by proudly recognizing the Corp’s future enlisting 24 young men and woman into what is called “The Modern Day Twins Platoon”.

During the performance of the National Anthem three members of the Twins Platoon had the honor of raising the American flag during the 50th Anniversary of the Minnesota Twins Baseball organization. Clayton Carr, who fought and was severely wounded in the Battle of Hue City during TET 1968, is pictured saluting old glory after raising the flag on September 3, 2010. Mark Nelsen, Jeff Barnes and his brother Bill Barnes, also a Vietnam veteran, were the flag raisers for the other two days of the celebration weekend.

After reading the Twins Platoon, Anthony Johnson, United States Air Force, Alaska, wanted to do something to show Vietnam Veterans his appreciation and gratitude for their service to our country. At his own expense he designed and paid to have a commemorative coin made for each member of the Twins Platoon.

See Coin here then click on photo to enlarge it.

The “Road of 10,000 Pains” by Otto J. Lehrack is a very important addition to the collective written history of the Vietnam War. The events written about in this book tie to the experiences of the Twins Platoon. To learn more about this fine book go to the “Buy Related Books” link and click on the book’s title.

The New York Public Library has the “Twins Platoon” listed as recommended reading for teens under the category “War and Peace”. For more information go to the below NYPL sites.

http://www.teensreadtoo.com/NYPL07Page3.html
www.amazon.com/2007-NYPL-quot-Books-Teen/lm/R3QPF0D0EXA50N

The Television special “Spotlight-The Twins Platoon” originally aired in July 2007. It went on to win a regional Emmy for “Outstanding Documentary” and the Hatch Award for “Outstanding Marine Corps Documentary”. The military stories in the documentary are taken from the book “The Twins Platoon” by Christy Sauro. Fox Sports North (FSN) producer Trevor Fleck is pictured holding the awards.