To All
. Good Friday morning May 1. We are overcast and cool this morning and had a great Bubba Breakfast with 26 attending. It is supposed to clear later this morning around 10 and continue to heat up to around 77 for the rest of the day
. Regards,
Skip
HAGD
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director’s corner for all 97 H-Grams
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
1811 The American brig Spitfire is stopped by the British frigate Guerriere off Sandy Hook, N.Y., and the American seamen are taken aboard. On May 6, the frigate President, commanded by John Rodgers, was ordered to protect American shipping off Sandy Hook.
1822 60 men from USS Alligator, USS Grampus, and the chartered ship Jane, capture four pirate schooners near Sugar Key, West Indies.
1898 The American squadron, commanded by Commodore George Dewey, defeats the Spanish squadron under the command of Rear Adm. Montojo at Manila Bay, Philippines.
1934 Lt. Frank Akers makes a hooded landing in an OJ-2 at College Park, Maryland, in the first blind landing system intended for an aircraft carrier.
1943 USS Pogy (SS 266), in attack on a Japanese convoy, torpedoes and sinks the Japanese gunboat Keishin Maru off Iwaki, Japan.
1945 Bomber aircraft from VPB 11 and FAW-1 sink Japanese cargo vessel Kyugkoku Maru off Mokpo, Korea.
1951 During the Korean War, AD-4 Skyraiders from Squadron VA-195, USS Princeton (CV-37), attack Hwachon Dam using aerial torpedoes, the only use of these weapons during the Korean War.
1980 - 11 Navy ships begin operations assisting Coast Guard in rescuing Cuban refugees fleeing Cuba in overcrowded boats
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This ‘Day in World History
May 1
408 Theodosius II succeeds to the throne of Constantinople.
1308 King Albert is murdered by his nephew John, because he refused his share of the Habsburg lands.
1486 Christopher Columbus convinces Queen Isabella to fund expedition to the West Indies.
1805 The state of Virginia passes a law requiring all freed slaves to leave the state, or risk either imprisonment or deportation.
1863 The Battle of Chancellorsville begins as Union Gen. Joe Hooker starts his three-pronged attack against Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.
1867 Reconstruction in the South begins with black voter registration
1877 President Rutherford B. Hayes withdraws all Federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.
1898 The U.S. Navy under Commodore George Dewey defeats the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay in the Philippines.
1915 The luxury liner Lusitania leaves New York Harbor for a voyage to Europe.
1927 Adolf Hitler holds his first Nazi meeting in Berlin.
1931 The Empire State Building opens in New York.
1934 The Philippine legislature accepts a U.S. proposal for independence.
1937 President Franklin Roosevelt signs an act of neutrality, keeping the United States out of World War II.
1941 The film Citizen Kane--directed and starring Orson Welles--opens in New York.
1944 The Messerschmitt Me 262, the first combat jet, makes its first flight.
1945 Martin Bormann, private secretary to Adolf Hitler, escapes the Fuehrerbunker as the Red Army advances on Berlin.
1948 North Korea is established.
1950 Gwendolyn Brooks becomes the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry called Annie Allen.
1960 Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spy plane is shot down over Russia.
1961 Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba.
1968 In the second day of battle, U.S. Marines, with the support of naval fire, continue their attack on a North Vietnamese Division at Dai Do.
1970 Students from Kent State University riot in downtown Kent, Ohio, in protest of the American invasion of Cambodia.
1986 The Tass News Agency reports the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident.
2011 Osama Bin Laden is killed in Abbottabad Pakistan by US Navy SEALS in Operation Neptune Spear.
1898 The Battle of Manila Bay »
1931 Empire State Building dedicated
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May 1
Hello All,
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
Links to all content can now be found right on the homepage http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com. If you scroll down from the banner and featured content you will find "Today in Rolling Thunder Remembered History" which highlights events in the Vietnam war that occurred on the date the page is visited. Below that are links to browse or search all content. You may search by keyword(s), date, or date range.
An item of importance is the recent incorporation of Task Force Omega (TFO) MIA summaries. There is a link on the homepage and you can also visit directly via https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/task-force-omega/. There are 60 summaries posted thus far, with about 940 to go (not a typo—TFO has over 1,000 individual case files).
If you have any questions or comments about RTR/TFO, or have a question on my book, you may e-mail me directly at acrossthewing@protonmail.com. Thank you Dan
Thanks to Micro
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
For Friday May 1. ..
May 1: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2854
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear’s Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady’s work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
(This site was sent by a friend . The site works, find anyone you knew in “search" feature. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
By: Kipp Hanley
AUGUST 15, 2022
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From the archives
Thanks to Barrett
In the month to come we will be looking at 1942 and the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway, The previous MOH note shows how one man might have been pivotal in those battles. Just as the One Marine with a Machine gun survived and stopped the last Japanese suicide charge on the Island of Guadalcanal a few months later.
This helps to feed into the Battle of Midway information which will start soon.
Thanks to Barrett Tillman for putting this together for The List on the Coral Sea Battle and its important relation to the Battle of Midway.
The battle of the Coral Sea.
Most histories treat the first two aircraft carrier battles separately, but in fact they were closely related. Coral Sea directly influenced Midway four weeks later, not only tactically but strategically.
On May 7-8, 1942 two fleets engaged in combat without sighting each other. It had never happened before, and it only occurred four times thereafter. The naval millennium had finally arrived.
The Battle of the Coral Sea began with Japan’s thrust toward the Allied base at Port Moresby on New Guinea’s southeast coast, opposite Australia. PacFleet intelligence picked up Tokyo’s plans, allowing Admiral Chester Nimitz to dispatch the carriers Lexington (CV-2) and Yorktown (CV-5) to intervene. They were opposed by three Japanese flattops: a small one screening the troop transports and a striking arm of two large fleet carriers.
The Americans got in the first blow. On the morning of May 7, a 93-plane strike from both U.S. flattops overwhelmed Japan’s small Shoho, which went down in about 20 minutes. Subsequently dive bombers from Vice Adm. Chuichi Naguno’s strike force sank a U.S. oiler and destroyer, and that evening another Japanese formation found Vice Adm. Frank Jack Fletcher’s force. A dusk dogfight erupted with heavy losses to the Japanese—one or two of whom entered Yorktown’s traffic pattern.
The next day was an all-out battle between heavyweights: “Lex” and “Yorky” versus the sisters Shokaku and Zuikaku. Again the Americans struck first, badly damaging Shokaku and mauling her sister’s air group. But the Japanese retaliated, inflicting mortal damage on CV-2 and hitting Yorktown with bombs. She limped away, making knots for Pearl where yard crews urgently waited.
Japan’s drive at Moresby was thwarted—a strategic win for the U.S. while “Lady Lex” was a far greater loss than little Shoho. Yorktown was sufficiently repaired to make Midway, mainly with beached Saratoga (CV-3) squadrons.
Thus, Coral Sea and Midway remain hand in glove. Had either Shokaku or Zuikaku made the Midway lineup, the battle probably would have been irretrievable for PacFleet.
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From the archives in case you have missed this one
Thanks to Dr. Rich
Eyes in the skies … “Starshield”
If SpaceX’s secret constellation is what we think it is, It’s game changing ( updated)
A constellation of hundreds of sensor equipped satellites would offer unpresented strategic and tactical surveillance around the globe
🎶 I always feel like somebody's watching meeeee🎶
Tam
https://www.twz.com/space/if-spacexs-secret-constellation-is-what-we-think-it-is-its-game-changing
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From the archives
Thanks to Glenn….These are great and all new to me
You can't blame anyone else if you fall in your driveway. It's your own asphalt.
I've started telling everyone about the benefits of eating dried grapes.
It's all about raisin awareness.
I've started investing in stocks: beef, vegetable, chicken. One day I hope to be a bouillianaire.
If you boil a funny bone, it becomes a laughing stock. Now that's humerus.
I accidentally rubbed ketchup in my eyes. Now I have Heinz sight.
Scientifically, a raven has 17 primary wing feathers, the big ones at the end of the wing. They are called pinion feathers. A crow has 16. So, the difference between a raven and a crow is only a matter of a pinion.
I was walking in the jungle and saw a lizard on his hind legs telling jokes.
I turned to a local tribal leader and said, "That lizard is really funny!"
The leader replied, "That's not a lizard. He's a stand-up chameleon.
I tried to come up with a carpentry pun that woodwork. I thought I nailed it but nobody saw it.
Singing in the shower is fine until you get soap in your mouth. Then it's a soap opera.
The Black-Eyed Peas can sing us a song ...But the chick peas can only hummus one.
Then there was the time Fruit of the Loom took Hanes to court... It was a brief case.
How much does a chimney cost? Nothing, it's on the house.
My friend said she wouldn't eat cow's tongue because it came out of a cow's mouth. I gave her an egg.
Once upon a time there was a King who was only 12 inches tall. He was a terrible King but he made a great ruler.
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Thanks to 1440
Good morning, it's Friday, May 1. The US' longest partial government shutdown is finally coming to an end.
Also in today's Digest: Saudi funding dries up for LIV Golf (Sports, Ent., & Cult.), the coming era of Chipotle tacos (Bus. & Mkts.), the enduring legacy of "cool" (In-Depth), and much more.
Need To Know
Partial Shutdown Ends
The House voted unanimously to approve the Senate's bill to end the 76-day partial government shutdown, sending the bill to President Donald Trump’s desk for approval. The move is expected to soon end the longest partial government shutdown in US history.
The bill funds all Department of Homeland Security agencies except for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol. Republicans will now work to supply additional funding to ICE and CBP through the budget reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority, forgoing the need for Democratic support. That process kicked off this week, with House committees directed to draft legislation to deliver $70B to ICE and CBP through the end of Trump’s term.
Democrats have refused to fund ICE and CBP without reforms following the deaths of US citizens in Minnesota (see standoff details). The shutdown saw more than 1,000 TSA agents leave the agency.
Birth of the Weekend
Today marks 100 years since Ford Motor Company became one of the first American companies to officially adopt the five-day, 40-hour workweek for factory workers, a decision that reshaped work-life balance.
Henry Ford’s idea to eliminate Saturday from the workweek initially met hesitation from some hourly workers worried about reduced pay. However, his daily wages of $5 to $6—roughly double the industry average—helped to ease concerns (read 1920s reactions). Ford reportedly redirected Saturday wages to hire thousands more people for Monday through Friday shifts, reducing unemployment. The move also boosted productivity, reduced turnover, strengthened morale, and gave workers more leisure time, some of which they spent buying and traveling in Ford cars.
The US formally codified the 40-hour workweek in 1940, mandating overtime pay for hourly employees. More recently, momentum has grown around four-day workweeks, with the largest trial yet suggesting they could improve productivity and well-being.
Fastest 2 Minutes in Sports
The 152nd Kentucky Derby will be run tomorrow at Churchill Downs, with 20 3-year-old thoroughbreds set to cover 1.25 miles in the “Run for the Roses.” The race carries a $5M purse, including $3.1M to the winner. Coverage begins at 2:30 pm ET (NBC and Peacock), with post time set for 6:57 pm ET.
As of this writing, Renegade is the favorite to win at 5-1 after a dominant Arkansas Derby, though he drew the No. 1 post, which has not produced a winner since 1986. Other contenders include Commandment (7-1), Chief Wallabee (9-1), The Puma (8-1), and Japan’s unbeaten Danon Bourbon (14-1). This year, 18 of the 20 entrants were born in central Kentucky, though some were trained elsewhere. See how horses qualify here and a race simulator here.
First run in 1875—with a roughly $3K purse—the Derby is the oldest continuously held US sporting event and the Triple Crown’s opening leg. Traditions include a hand-sewn 40-pound garland of 465 roses, as well as mint juleps, with over 125,000 served
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Thanks to Brett
Japan’s Evolving Security Posture
Tokyo is increasingly realizing that it can’t rely solely on its partners.
By: Victoria Herczegh
Earlier this month, Japan announced that it will allow the sale of lethal weapons systems to a wider group of partners abroad, explicitly framing the change as a response to an “increasingly challenging security environment.” Its decision to scrap long-standing limits on arms exports is a turning point in the country’s postwar security posture, reinforced by the fact that the government under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has also launched discussions on revising the National Security Strategy and two related documents. The timing is particularly telling, amid intensifying regional tensions, deepening ties with NATO and growing uncertainty about the reliability of the United States as Japan’s top security guarantor. It also reflects a broader recognition in Tokyo that deterrence in the Indo-Pacific is no longer solely a question of alliance commitments but increasingly a matter of industrial capacity, networked partnerships and the ability to sustain long-term military competition.
For Japan, this moment is the culmination of a gradual departure from the pacifist framework it adopted after World War II. For decades, Tokyo maintained one of the world’s strictest arms export bans, rooted in both constitutional constraints and political objectives. That began to change under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2014, when Japan first permitted limited transfers abroad as part of cooperation or security arrangements. Later reforms expanded these allowances incrementally, from radar sales to the Philippines to participation in the Global Combat Air Program alongside European partners. Each new step reflected a change in Japan’s role from a passive beneficiary of the U.S.-led order to a much more active contributor to regional and global security. The latest decision effectively removes the remaining structural barriers, signaling Tokyo’s willingness to function as a significant security actor, a role that includes being a supplier within an emerging global defense industrial system.
This transformation cannot be understood without considering the recently evolving expectations of the United States. Under the second Donald Trump administration, Washington has pursued a strategy that combines continued leadership with a clear push for burden-sharing – and, increasingly, burden-shifting. Japan is at the center of this recalibration. American strategy in the Indo-Pacific still relies heavily on the U.S.-Japan alliance, particularly in maintaining a “denial defense” posture along the first island chain, aimed at preventing adversaries, mainly China, from achieving their military goals. The logic behind the strategy, however, has shifted. The United States no longer seeks to underwrite regional security alone – instead, it expects strong, capable allies like Japan to assume primary responsibility for conventional deterrence in their immediate neighborhoods while integrating into a broader coalition framework.
(click to enlarge)
At the same time, the credibility of U.S. commitments has become more difficult to assess. The unpredictability of the Trump administration’s foreign policy complicates deterrence calculations, particularly regarding crisis scenarios in places like the Taiwan Strait. While official U.S. strategy documents continue to highlight the importance of the Indo-Pacific, Washington’s engagement in Iran and elsewhere has stretched U.S. resources and attention. The tension between stated priorities and behavior has therefore introduced a level of uncertainty into the United States’ relations with its allies. For Japan, the challenge is not simply whether the U.S. remains committed to supporting its partners but how consistently and under what conditions that commitment would function in the future.
Faced with this ambiguity, Japan has adopted a dual-track approach: It has repeatedly reinforced its alliance with the United States but is also actively diversifying its security partnerships. Tokyo has recently intensified engagement with NATO, deepened bilateral defense ties with European states such as Germany (in the form of a reciprocal access agreement) and France (with joint drills and cooperation on space and cybersecurity), and expanded cooperation with regional actors including Australia and the Philippines. These efforts are meant not to replace the U.S.-centered system but to supplement it by creating a more resilient and interconnected network of security partnerships. The growing participation of Japanese forces in multilateral exercises (most recently in the Balikatan drills in the Philippines for the first time) underscores this shift toward a complex security architecture in which interoperability and coordination across multiple actors are increasingly crucial.
Japan’s evolving security role is particularly visible in its relationship with states along the first island chain. Cooperation with the Philippines, for example, has expanded from equipment transfers to joint exercises involving combat troops, reflecting a move toward more operationally meaningful integration. Tokyo’s engagement with Taiwan – while constrained by diplomatic sensitivities – has also taken on greater strategic significance. Japanese leaders have recently openly framed a Taiwan contingency as an existential threat, underscoring the geographic and economic stakes involved. In this context, Japan is emerging not merely as a supporting actor but as a critical link in a broader deterrence network connecting regional and extra-regional partners.
China’s behavior in the region has been a central driver of these developments. Heightened tensions in the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, combined with persistent “gray zone” activities in the South China Sea, have reinforced perceptions in Tokyo that the regional security environment is deteriorating. Beijing’s increasingly assertive posture, including maritime incursions, economic coercion and military signaling, has motivated and accelerated Japan’s security normalization. At the same time, China’s response to Japan’s policy shifts, often framed by Beijing as historical revisionism and militarism, highlights the risk of a security dilemma in which defensive measures are interpreted as offensive intentions, further increasing tensions.
The broader international context further complicates Japan’s strategic positioning. The ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have strained global military resources and exposed the limits of existing security arrangements. For Japan, the Middle East crisis is particularly significant, because it diverts U.S. attention and capabilities away from the Indo-Pacific. This dynamic reinforces Tokyo’s perception that it must be prepared to act with greater autonomy, even as it remains deeply embedded in its alliance with Washington. The recent developments also underscore the importance of Japan’s efforts to build its defense industrial capacity, both to support its own needs and to contribute to allied supply chains. Against this backdrop, Japan’s strategy of diversification appears both necessary and constrained. On one hand, Tokyo has achieved notable success in expanding its network of partnerships, benefiting from a high level of trust among Southeast Asian countries and growing interest from European actors in Indo-Pacific security. Its focus on capacity building, development assistance and adherence to international norms has allowed it to strengthen ties without triggering widespread regional backlash. However, a number of structural limitations remain. Japan’s constitutional constraints, domestic political debates and historical legacy continue to shape perceptions of its role, requiring careful management to avoid undermining the very trust it seeks to build.
Moreover, diversification cannot fully substitute for the U.S. alliance. The United States remains indispensable in terms of military capabilities, extended deterrence and global reach. Japan’s efforts, therefore, are best understood as hedging rather than rebalancing – an attempt to mitigate risk without fundamentally altering the current alliance structure. This leaves Japan in a precarious position, having to demonstrate greater autonomy and capability to meet U.S. expectations, while simultaneously reinforcing the perception of its indispensability to American strategy.
Looking ahead, Japan’s regional security role is likely to continue expanding, in terms of both scope and depth. The removal of arms export restrictions will enable Tokyo to play a significantly more active role in shaping the regional balance of power, not only through direct military contributions but also through the provision of equipment and technology to partners. Its participation in multilateral initiatives, such as joint exercises and defense industrial cooperation, will further integrate it into a broad security network that spans the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic. The current debate over the revision of the nation’s three key security documents is likely to also contribute to this evolution with an increased defense budget and new measures to boost the Self-Defense Forces’ capabilities. This evolution will also come with new challenges. Managing relations with China will remain a significant concern, particularly as both sides increase their military activities in contested areas. For Takaichi, maintaining domestic support for a more proactive security policy will also be critical, especially as debates over constitutional revision and defense spending intensify.
Japan’s transformation is taking place under conditions that fundamentally constrain its strategic freedom. As recent developments in the U.S.-Japan relationship during the second Trump administration show, the alliance is not simply evolving but becoming more explicitly transactional, with growing uncertainty about the consistency and terms of U.S. commitments. The main question is not whether Japan can adapt, but whether it can escape structural reliance on an increasingly unpredictable partner. The available alternatives – greater military self-sufficiency, regional security coalitions or accommodation with China – each carry significant political or strategic costs. As a result, Japan’s trajectory is best understood as an attempt to stabilize its position under uncertain conditions, rather than transition away from U.S. influence. In this new environment, Japan is likely to remain both more capable and more constrained – a stronger security actor, yet still operating within the limits of an alliance that it cannot replace, even as it can no longer fully rely on this partnership in the way it did before.
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Thanks to History Facts I DONOT BELIEVE I EVER DRANK ANY OF THESE…SKIP
5 Beverages People Don’t Drink Anymore
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Vintage soft drinks are some of the most nostalgic pieces of cultural ephemera. These mundane everyday items seem to take on a certain mystique once they become unfamiliar relics of the past — there are even organizations dedicated to identifying and recording information about forgotten and discarded bottles. Here are five beverages that are in various stages of acquiring antique appeal, as their onetime popularity has significantly waned, or disappeared entirely.
Moxie
Moxie was developed by physician Augustin Thompson in 1876 as a medicinal syrup. It was made from gentian root extract, an ingredient with a polarizing flavor that is commonly used in aperitifs such as Suze, Salers, and Avèze. Originally called “Moxie Nerve Food,” the strange-even-for-the-19th-century latter part of the name came from Thompson’s belief that the tonic “cured anything caused by nervous exhaustion. It restored nervous people who were tired out mentally or physically.” Between 1884 and 1885, Thompson trademarked the name “Moxie Nerve Food,” mixed the syrup with carbonated water, and bottled it as a soft drink. The drink was an immediate success, but just how much of a success is lost to history: Though Moxie is frequently referenced as having sold 5 million bottles in its first year, Thompson’s tendency to exaggerate numbers and make spurious claims (such as Moxie having “cured 200,000 drunks” in Lowell, Massachusetts) casts some doubt on the truth of that company data. But in the years after the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 required the company to shorten the name (as unfounded health claims in advertising were outlawed), Moxie became an indelible part of early-20th-century pop culture: Calvin Coolidge publicly called it his favorite drink, and observed his 1923 inauguration in Plymouth Notch, Vermont, with a bottle purchased from a nearby general store. The author E.B. White once wrote, “There is a certain serenity here that heals my spirit, and I can still buy Moxie in a tiny supermarket six miles away. Moxie contains gentian root, which is the path to the good life.” Legendary baseball player Ted Williams also endorsed the drink, and the word “moxie” itself became a slang word for vigor, boldness, and determination that has entered the dictionary.Today, Moxie is obscure except in the New England region: As the birthplace of Thompson, the state of Maine has hosted a Moxie Day festival since 1984. The soda was also named Maine’s official state soft drink in 2005.
Nehi Sodas
Nehi sodas were a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks introduced in 1924 by the Chero-Cola company, which was founded by pharmacist Claud Hatcher and named after the cherry cola drink he developed. The Nehi line included flavors such as grape, peach, orange, and root beer, and was successful enough that the company changed its name to the Nehi Corporation four years later. (This came after a period of waning Chero-Cola sales due to a lawsuit from Coca-Cola; the lawsuit prevented use of the word “cola,” and mandated the drink be renamed “Chero,” causing a loss of brand recognition.)Nehi soda’s success was short-lived, however. Sales declined in 1930 with the onset of the Great Depression, and Hatcher died in 1933. The following year, company president H.R. Mott reintroduced a cola called Royal Crown, and it was so successful that it overshadowed Nehi in both sales and branding: Royal Crown sales were 10 times higher than Nehi sales, and by 1959, the company changed its name to Royal Crown Cola Company (also known as RC Cola). Nehi, meanwhile, can still be found in limited distribution, and it endures as a nostalgic pop culture emblem. Grape Nehi was depicted as the favorite drink of the character Radar in the 1970s TV series M*A*S*H, and the leg lamp in the 1980 film A Christmas Story was based on vintage Nehi advertisements.
TaB
TaB wasn’t the first diet cola, but it was the first developed by Coca-Cola. Before its introduction in 1963, other diet drinks, such as No-Cal and Diet Rite, were stocked on the over-the-counter medicine shelves at stores or pharmacies, and had a reputation for poor flavor. Coca-Cola sought to take advantage of the emerging diet drink market by creating a product with improved flavor, which would be stocked in beverage sections along with conventional drinks. Like No-Cal and Diet Rite, TaB was formulated with the artificial sweeteners cyclamate and saccharin. But after the FDA banned cyclamate in 1970 due to concerns that it was a carcinogen, TaB was reformulated using only saccharine. Its flavor was described by devotees as clean, with hints of lemon and bubble gum, and its (very dated) advertising was aimed at women. Though it took some time to catch on, by the 1970s, TaB was the most popular diet drink in the U.S. But when saccharine was implicated in the National Toxicology Program’s 1981 Report on Carcinogens, and Coca-Cola introduced the aspartame-sweetened Diet Coke the following year, TaB began a long and steady decline that saw it reduced to 1% market share by 2001. Even still, TaB had a persistent cult following up until it was finally discontinued in 2020.
Odwalla Fruit Juices
Odwalla was founded in 1980 by entrepreneur Greg Steltenpohl, along with members of his jazz band, as a way to help financially support the band. The company started out as a homespun operation, selling fresh-squeezed orange juice around the San Francisco Bay Area out of the band’s Volkswagen van, until eventually it caught the attention of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs commissioned the company to juice apples for him on a one-off basis, which led to an agreement to stock the Apple cafeterias with Odwalla apple juice. It was the start of a massive period of growth that led to Odwalla juices being the trendy health-conscious beverage of the late 1980s and early 1990s: In 1991, annual sales reached $6 million and saw a growth rate of approximately 30% each year. In 1992, Odwalla introduced juice blends with nutrition-pun names such as C-Monster, Mo’ Beta, and Femme Vitale. High-profile cultural leaders were seen with Odwalla drinks, and the company went public in 1993, projecting $90 million in sales over the next few years.Then, in 1996, lowered safety standards led to an E.coli outbreak in Odwalla apple juice that sickened dozens of people. The company nearly went bankrupt in the fallout, but rebounded in the late ’90s and eventually sold to Coca-Cola in 2001. Ultimately, changing consumer tastes, particularly around sugar content, led to a more gradual decline for the brand. By 2020, Coca-Cola discontinued production of Odwalla juices.
Original New York Seltzer
As a line of flavored carbonated water drinks, Original New York Seltzer was a predecessor to the present-day sparkling water trend. The company was formed in 1982 by Alan Miller as a sort of revival of the family business — his grandfather sold bottles of flavored seltzer on the streets of Brooklyn in the 1900s. Miller’s business was also intended as a way to give his 18-year-old son Randy some direction, as he was made president of the nascent company. Original New York Seltzer was positioned as a preservative-free and “naturally flavored” soft drink that occupied a new category: more flavorful than sparkling mineral water, but not as sweet as soda, though unlike much of today’s flavored sparkling water, Original New York Seltzer was sweetened with sugar. It was available in 10 flavors: vanilla cream, blueberry, raspberry, cola & berry, black cherry, orange, peach, root beer, lemon-lime, and Concord grape. The company did not use any coloring in its formula, making each flavor as clear as sparkling water. The product was a resounding success, reaching $100 million in sales in just three years, and becoming a quintessential touchstone of flamboyant 1980s pop culture. As a publicity (and actual) stunt, Randy Miller jumped off a 10-story hotel and onto a cushioned pad bearing the company logo. He was profiled on an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, with footage of the stunt, and clips of the bengal tiger he liked to bring to the office. Beverage giant Anheuser-Busch came calling with an offer to buy the company, but was turned down.After the novelty wore off (and perhaps as consumers realized that Original New York Seltzer still contained a not-insignificant 25 grams of sugar per 10-ounce bottle), the company entered a decline, and the Millers quietly discontinued production in the early ’90s. But the brand was revived under different ownership in 2015, and the drinks are once again available in limited distribution.
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Thanks to Boris from the archives
Revolt of the admirals follow-up
. Skip,
Been meaning to send this along after you posted the “Revolt of the Admirals” pieces from Adm Cox.. This is from Harnessing the Sky, the biography of Frederick ‘Trap’ Trapnell for whom the field at Pax is named. As noted Admiral Radford testified to Congress on the issues around cancellation of the CV USS America, the AF Curtis Lemay led idea that navy air was essentially unnecessary, and in particular the “amazin” capabilities of the B-36.
To buttress Radford’s arguments, Trap took the stand the following day before the committee on one of the rare occasions in which a test pilot had testified before Congress in a professional capacity. The following excerpts from his testimony are grounded in his intimate knowledge of the jet airplanes he had personally tested:
“During the past three years the Navy has acquired considerable experience in the operation of a series of jet fighters culminating in the so-called Banshee. This airplane gives us altitude performance superior to any other United States airplane presently in service. But it is not an interceptor fighter; it is a general purpose fighter carrying a rather large fuel load and having comparatively great range. Nevertheless, the Banshee flies at speeds and altitudes far greater than those of which the B-36 is capable. There is every reason to believe that the enemy will have fighters as good as ours. The British do. And the Russians have publicly demonstrated numbers of very advanced designs. At the Naval Air Test Center we get good results in detecting, tracking, and controlling jet fighters at altitudes well above 40,000 feet with radar equipment that is four years old and without any special electronic aids in the airplanes.
Because the B-36 is a vastly more favorable target than these jet fighters, we expect better results against it. From our experience we see no grounds for the statement that the B-36 can go undetected in enemy territory simply because it is flying at 40,000 feet. You have already received testimony that we may not expect for [another] five years any night fighter capable of intercepting the B-36. This evidence has to be reconsidered [because] the Corsair night fighter now in service has performance adequate to intercept the B-36 at 40,000 feet. It has a radar which is effective with ground control. [Moreover] the Douglas Skyknight, a two-seat jet night fighter that will soon go into service, has performance and radar adequate under all conditions to intercept the B-36 at 40,000 feet. It completed five successful night interceptions above 40,000 feet on its first radar test, [and] the target airplane was another small jet fighter—a poor radar target. The night fighter version of the Banshee, with overwhelmingly superior performance, will go into service very soon.
The experience of the Navy in the operation of fighters at high altitude may perhaps be unique . . . if so it is impossible to avoid criticism of the Air Force’s design policy. . . . That is, a notable tendency in Air Force designs to concentrate on high-speed at considerable sacrifice of high altitude performance.
Trap concluded his testimony by suggesting that the B-36 program seemed ill-advised.
The Navy lost the battle over the B-36, and although naval aviation was not absorbed into the U.S. Air Force, the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command became the pre-eminent strategic defense arm of the United States. The introduction of jet bombers and ICBMs carrying nuclear weapons gave rise to the prospect of mutually assured annihilation and the troubled peace of the Cold War. The hot conflicts that later enmeshed the United States, however, presented challenges that were distinct from those of the Cold War, and naval aviation was a force to be reckoned with in every one, providing a robust demonstration of the value and versatility of carrier-based aviation. Banshees, Panthers, Corsairs, and Skyknights played decisive roles in the Korean War, and their successors served well in subsequent fields of engagement.”
Of note: In 1949, the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences (now the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) elected Trap to be an associate fellow and presented him the Octave Chanute Award, which was given each year for “an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the art, science, and technology of aeronautics.” The citation highlights “his outstanding ability not only in flying every type of aircraft but also in detecting critical defects in new airplanes and suggesting ways to deal with them,” noting in addition his “contributions to flight testing of experimental aircraft, with particular reference to operating requirements for carrier-based jet propelled airplanes.”…
Under Trap’s leadership, Patuxent had become a full-fledged, state-of-the-art test center with broad capabilities to develop and implement highly advanced flight test methodology. He had played a key role in founding the Naval Test Pilot School and inspired a cadre of first-rate officers who would provide leadership for the ongoing development of naval aviation. Upon his departure from Patuxent, Navy carriers still operated propeller-driven aircraft for attack and other special missions, but all of their fighters were jets. He had guided the evolution and testing of the first generation of carrier-based jet fighters, thereby ushering naval aviation into the jet era and setting standards that paved the way for the modern aviation Navy.
Trapnell Jr., Frederick M.; Tibbitts, Dana. Harnessing the Sky (pp. 185-187). Naval Institute Press. Kindle Edition.
Note when the Korean war broke out the navy and its carriers were the ones that saved the day.
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This Day in U S Military History…….May 1
1785 – Kamehameha I, the king of HawaiÊ»i, defeats KalanikÅ«pule and establishes the Kingdom of HawaiÊ»i. The Battle of NuÊ»uanu, fought on the southern part of the island of OÊ»ahu, was a key battle in the final days of King Kamehameha I’s wars to unify the Hawaiian Islands. It is known in the Hawaiian language as KalelekaÊ»anae, which means “the leaping mullet”, and refers to a number of Oahu warriors driven off the cliff in the final phase of the battle. The Battle of NuÊ»uanu began when Kamehameha’s forces landed on the southeastern portion of OÊ»ahu near WaiÊ»alae and Waikiki. After spending several days gathering supplies and scouting Kalanikupule’s positions, Kamehameha’s army advanced westward, encountering Kalanikupule’s first line of defense near the Punchbowl Crater. Splitting his army into two, Kamehameha sent one half in a flanking maneuver around the crater and the other straight at Kalanikupule. Pressed from both sides, the OÊ»ahu forces retreated to Kalanikupule’s next line of defense near LaÊ»imi. While Kamehameha pursued, he secretly detached a portion of his army to clear the surrounding heights of the NuÊ»uanu Valley of Kalanikupule’s cannons. Kamehameha also brought up his own cannons to shell LaÊ»imi. During this part of the battle, both Kalanikupule and Kaiana were wounded, Kaiana fatally. With its leadership in chaos, the OÊ»ahu army slowly fell back north through the NuÊ»uanu Valley to the cliffs at NuÊ»uanu Pali. Caught between the Hawaiian Army and a 1000-foot drop, over 400 OÊ»ahu warriors either jumped or were pushed over the edge of the Pali (cliff). In 1898 construction workers working on the Pali road discovered 800 skulls which were believed to be the remains of the warriors that fell to their deaths from the cliff above.
1944 – The Messerschmitt Me 262 Sturmvogel, the 1st jet bomber, made its first flight.
1972 – North Vietnamese troops capture Quang Tri City, the first provincial capital taken during their ongoing offensive. The fall of the city effectively gave the communists control of the entire province of Quang Tri. As the North Vietnamese prepared to continue their attack to the south, 80 percent of Hue’s population–already swollen by 300,000 refugees–fled to Da Nang to get out of the way. Farther south along the coast, three districts oof Binh Dinh Province also fell, leaving about one-third of the province under communist control. These attacks were part of the North Vietnamese Nguyen Hue Offensive (later called the “Easter Offensive”), a massive invasion by North Vietnamese forces designed to strike the blow that would win them the war. The attacking force included 14 infantry divisions and 26 separate regiments, with more than 120,000 troops and approximately 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles. The main North Vietnamese objectives, in addition to Quang Tri in the north, were Kontum in the Central Highlands, and An Loc farther to the south. Initially, the South Vietnamese defenders were almost overwhelmed, particularly in the northernmost provinces, where they abandoned their positions in Quang Tri. At Kontum and An Loc, the South Vietnamese were more successful in defending against the attacks, but only after weeks of bitter fighting. Although the defenders suffered heavy casualties, they managed to hold their own with the aid of U.S. advisers and American airpower. Fighting continued all over South Vietnam into the summer months, but eventually the South Vietnamese forces prevailed against the invaders, retaking Quang Tri in September. With the communist invasion blunted, President Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese victory proved the viability of his Vietnamization program, which he had instituted in 1969 to increase the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces so U.S. troops could be withdrawn
2007 – First Silver Star Service Banner Day (SSSBD) sponsored by The Silver Star Families of America (SSFOA). SSFOA is a service banner organization dedicated to supporting and assisting our wounded, ill, injured and dying active duty and veterans and their families of ALL branches of service from ALL wars. May 1st is meant to be a day set aside to honor their service and sacrifice; to bring remembrance to those so deserving of our thanks. Since 2007, SSSBD has been observed by all 50 states (including over 3,000 cities, towns and counties), the District of Columbia and Guam. The day has also been endorsed by Resolutions in the US House of Representatives and the Senate, as well as by the POTUS.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
MULLEN, PATRICK (Second Award)
G.O. No.: 62, 29 June 1865. Second award. Citation: Served as boatswain’s mate on board the U.S.S. Don, 1 May 1865. Engaged in picking up the crew of picket launch No. 6, which had swamped. Mullen, seeing an officer who was at that time no longer able to keep up and was below the surface of the water, jumped overboard and brought the officer to the boat, thereby rescuing him from drowning, which brave action entitled him to wear a bar on the medal he had already received at Mattox Creek, 17 March 1865.
O’NEILL, STEPHEN
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company E, 7th U S. Infantry. Place and date: At Chancellorsville, Va., 1 May 1863. Entered service at: ——. Birth: St. Johns, New Brunswick. Date of issue: 28 September 1891. Citation: Took up the colors from the hands of the color bearer who had been shot down and bore them through the remainder of the battle.
SMITH, MAYNARD H. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization. Sergeant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 423d Bombardment Squadron, 306th Bomber Group. Place and date: Over Europe, 1 May 1943. Entered service at: Cairo, Mich. Born: 1911, Cairo Mich. G.O. No.: 38, 12 July 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty. The aircraft of which Sgt. Smith was a gunner was subjected to intense enemy antiaircraft fire and determined fighter airplane attacks while returning from a mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe on 1 May 1943. The airplane was hit several times by antiaircraft fire and cannon shells of the fighter airplanes, 2 of the crew were seriously wounded, the aircraft’s oxygen system shot out, and several vital control cables severed when intense fires were ignited simultaneously in the radio compartment and waist sections. The situation became so acute that 3 of the crew bailed out into the comparative safety of the sea. Sgt. Smith, then on his first combat mission, elected to fight the fire by himself, administered first aid to the wounded tail gunner, manned the waist guns, and fought the intense flames alternately. The escaping oxygen fanned the fire to such intense heat that the ammunition in the radio compartment began to explode, the radio, gun mount, and camera were melted, and the compartment completely gutted. Sgt. Smith threw the exploding ammunition overboard, fought the fire until all the firefighting aids were exhausted, manned the workable guns until the enemy fighters were driven away, further administered first aid to his wounded comrade, and then by wrapping himself in protecting cloth, completely extinguished the fire by hand. This soldier’s gallantry in action, undaunted bravery, and loyalty to his aircraft and fellow crewmembers, without regard for his own personal safety, is an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR MAY 1 THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1 May
1913: Army airplanes flew in their second maneuvers, when Lt Thomas DeWitt Milling in a Burgess tractor and Lt Roy C. Kirtland in a Wright airplane flew reconnaissance from Texas City for the 2d Division. Lt William C. Sherman and Lt Eric L. Ellington rode as observers with Milling and Kirtland, respectively. (24)
1925: Ward T. Orman and C.K. Wollam won the National Balloon Race at St. Joseph, Mo., landing at Reform, Ala., after covering a distance of 941.468 kilometers, or 584 miles. (24)
1934: Using a Berliner-Joyce OJ-2, Navy Lt Frank Akers made a blind (instrument only) landing at College Park to demonstrate a system designed for carrier use. (20)
1941: Barrage balloon operations transferred from the Air Corps to the Coast Artillery Corps.
1943: MEDAL OF HONOR: A bomber, with Sgt Maynard H. Smith as gunner, came under intense enemy fire while returning from a mission to enemy-occupied Europe. Smith, on his first mission, elected to fight a fire, administer first aid, man the waist guns, and fight intense flames alternately. For his actions, Sergeant Smith received his medal. (4)
1945: Operation CHOW HOUND. Eighth Air Force sent nearly 400 B-17s from England on a mercy mission to drop nearly 700 tons of food over German-occupied Holland. The Germans approved this flight and promised not to shoot down the bombers if they flew along specified routes. Eighth and RAF bombers flew five more “Chow Hound” missions during the next week and delivered nearly 7,900 tons of food. (7)
1958: The Air Force redesignated the Florida Missile Test Range as the Atlantic Missile Range. (6)
1959: Construction of the first Titan I launch and support facilities began at Lowry AFB. (6)
1960: Soviet air defenses shot down a U-2 from Incirlik AB while flying from Pakistan to Norway. They captured Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) pilot Francis Gary Powers near Sverdlovsk. (4)
1962: SECDEF Robert S. McNamara told the British that the US would not support the Thor squadrons in England after 31 October 1964. (6) Construction ended on the first squadron of Model A Minuteman I facilities at Malmstrom AFB. SAC also activated its third and last Model A squadron, the 490 SMS, there. (6)
1963: The Bell Helicopter Company successfully test flew its Wing Ding, a winged helicopter designed to lift heavy loads. The Air Force Weapons Laboratory established from R&D elements of the Air Force Special Weapons Center and became the tenant unit at Kirtland AFB, N. Mex. The USAF dedicated the General H. H. Arnold, the first Advanced Range Instrumentation Ship, at Port Canaveral. The 6511th Test Group (Parachute) dropped a full size test module of the Apollo manned spacecraft from a modified C-133 during the first test of the earth landing system. (3)
1964: PROJECT ADDED EFFORT to phaseout first-generation ICBMs began by taking the first Atlas-D off alert with the 576 SMS at Vandenberg AFB. (6) (12)
1965: The YF-12A (SR-71 prototype) set nine FAI records at Edwards AFB: 2,070.101 MPH for straightaway speed; 1,642 MPH for a 500-kilometer closed course; 1,688 MPH for a 1,000-kilometer closed course; and 80,257 feet for sustained altitude in horizontal flight. Col Robert L. Stevens and Lt Col Daniel Andre set two records, while Maj Walter F. Daniel and Capt James Cooney set the other two. (3) (9)
1967: A UH-1F helicopter in Ohio completed the first two-way communication to a NASA ground station in Australia via satellite relay. (16)
1968: ANG tactical refueling units completed a year of overseas duty on a continuous basis without mobilization. This was the first operation of its type in Guard and Reserve history. (26)
1974: For the first time, a KC-135 refueled a C-5 in an operational setting. (18)
1983: Operations BAHAMAS AND TURKS. MAC’s Twenty-Third Air Force supported South Florida’s Task Force on Organized Crime. Two 20 SOS H-1s and aircrews deployed from Hurlburt Field to the Bahamas, where they flew surveillance missions to help local police capture drug traffickers. In its first year, the task force seized or destroyed $114 million in cocaine, $179 million in Marijuana, ten vessels, and 17 aircraft, while apprehending 72 people. (2)
1992: Through 11 May, after race riots in Los Angeles, MAC aircraft airlifted troops, police, and their equipment to southern California. (26)
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. The AFRC mobilized its first units to support this operation. Eventually the command called six tanker wings and one rescue wing to active duty. (21) Operation ALLIED FORCE. The 171 AREFW (Pennsylvania ANG) received an order to deploy about 400 personnel and 14 KC-135Es for this operation. Additionally, the ANG mobilized the 117 AREFW (Alabama), 128 AREFW (Wisconsin), 141 AREFW (Washington), 151 AREFW (Utah), and the 161 AREFW (Arizona). (32) Operation CORONET NIGHTHAWK. The Air National Guard shifted its drug interdiction program with fighter aircraft in the Caribbean region from Panama to Curacao with the pending closure of U.S. military bases in Panama. (32)
2001: The Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at Edwards AFB after a mission to the International Space Station to deliver a robotic arm, a multipurpose logistics module, and an UHF antenna. (3)
2003: END OF MAJOR IRAQI FREEDOM COMBAT OPERATIONS. President George W. Bush declared the major combat operations in Iraq to be over on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in a speech before 5,000 crewmembers. (22) END OF Operation NORTHERN WATCH. The Operation NORTHERN WATCH mission ended. Between 1 January 1997 and the final NORTHERN WATCH sortie on 17 March 2003, more than 100,000 American, British, Turkish, and French airmen had rotated through Incirlik AB to enforce UN Security Council resolutions north of the 36th parallel in Iraq. (22)
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