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Good Saturday morning August 1, 2026 .We are clear and heating up this morning to 92 by 2 and dropping to 75 by 9. Some thigs old and some things new and a few others this morning.
I hope that you all have a great weekend.
Regards,
skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/. Go here to see the director’s corner for all 100 H-Grams
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
August 1
1801 The schooner, USS Enterprise, commanded by Lt. Andrew Sterett, encounters the Barbary corsair, Tripoli, west of Malta. After a three-hour battle, USS Enterprise broadsides the vessel, forcing Tripolis surrender.
1849 - Pope Pius IX and King Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies, briefly visit USS Constitution and marks the first time that a Roman Catholic pope steps foot on American territory.
1921 A high-altitude bombsight, mounted on a gyroscopically stabilized base was successfully tested at Torpedo Station, Yorktown, Va. This test was the first phase of Carl L. Nordens development of an effective high-altitude bombsight, which became known as the Norden Bombsight.
1944 PBY aircraft attacked Japanese convoy, sink ammunition ship, Seia Maru, in Taliaboe Bay, Soela Island. Also on this date, USS Puffer (SS 268) damages Japanese oiler, Sunosaki, northeast of Borneo.
1946 President Harry S. Truman approves legislation establishing the Office of Naval Research (ONR), charging ONR to "...plan, foster and encourage scientific research in recognition of its paramount importance as related to the maintenance of future naval power, and the preservation of national security..."
1952 During the Korean War, USS Carmick (DMS 33) is fired on by enemy shore guns in the vicinity of Songjin lighthouse. Returning fire, Carmicks battery fire silences the guns.
1961 Adm. George W. Anderson, Jr., takes office as the 16th Chief of Naval Operations, serving until Aug. 1, 1963. During Adm. Anderson's tenure as CNO, he oversaw the U.S. Navy's quarantine of Cuba, thus enabling the Kennedy administration to compel the Soviet Union to remove its nuclear weapons from the island.
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This day in World History
1464 Piero de Medici succeeds his father, Cosimo, as ruler of Florence.
1664 The Turkish army is defeated by French and German troops at St. Gotthard, Hungary.
1689 James II's siege of Londonderry, Ireland, ends in failure. James' force had suffered some 8,000 casualties to the defenders' 3,600.
1740 Thomas Arne's song "Rule Britannia" is performed for the first time.
1759 British and Hanoverian armies defeat the French at the Battle of Minden, Germany.
1791 Robert Carter III, a Virginia plantation owner, frees all 500 of his slaves in the largest private emancipation in U.S. history. An 1839 mutiny aboard a Spanish ship in Cuban waters raised basic questions about freedom and slavery in the United States.
1798 Admiral Horatio Nelson routs the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile at Aboukir Bay, Egypt.
1801 The American schooner Enterprise captures the Barbary cruiser Tripoli. Often venturing into harm's way, America's most famous sailing ship, the Constitution, twice came close to oblivion.
1834 Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire.
1864 Union General Ulysses S. Grant gives general Philip H. Sheridan the mission of clearing the Shenandoah Valley of Confederate forces. After nearly 10 months of trench warfare, Confederate resistance at Petersburg, Virginia, suddenly collapsed.
1872 The first long-distance gas pipeline in the U.S. is completed. Designed for natural gas, the two-inch pipe ran five miles from Newton Wells to Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1873 San Francisco's first cable cars begin running, operated by Hallidie's Clay Street Hill Railroad Company.
1880 Sir Frederick Roberts frees the British Afghanistan garrison of Kandahar from Afghan rebels.
1893 A machine for making shredded wheat breakfast cereal is patented.
1914 Germany declares war on Russia.
1937 The Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany becomes operational. The Nuremberg Trial would later bring high-ranking Nazis to justice.
1939 Synthetic vitamin K is produced for the first time.
1941 The Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo plane makes its first flight.
1942 Ensign Henry C. White, while flying a J4F Widgeon plane, sinks U-166 as it approaches the Mississippi River, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard.
1943 Over 177 B-24 Liberator bombers attack the oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, for a second time.
1944 The Polish underground begins an uprising against the occupying German army, as the Red Army approaches Warsaw.
1946 President Harry S Truman establishes the Atomic Energy Commission.
1950 Lead elements of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division arrive in Korea from the United States.
1954 The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam into two countries at the 17th parallel.
1957 US and Canada create North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
1960 Singer Chubby Checker releases "The Twist," creating a new dance craze. The song had been released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters the previous year but got little attention.
1964 Arthur Ashe becomes the first African-American to play on the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.
1966 Charles Whitman, shooting from the Texas Tower at the University of Texas, kills 16 people and wounds 31 before being killed himself.
1988 Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh begins his national radio show.
2004 In Asuncion, Paraguay, a fire in the Ycua Bolanos V supermarket complex kills nearly 400 people and injures 500.
2007 The I-35W bridge at Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/. Go here to see the director’s corner for all 100 H-Grams
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
August 1
1801 The schooner, USS Enterprise, commanded by Lt. Andrew Sterett, encounters the Barbary corsair, Tripoli, west of Malta. After a three-hour battle, USS Enterprise broadsides the vessel, forcing Tripolis surrender.
1849 - Pope Pius IX and King Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies, briefly visit USS Constitution and marks the first time that a Roman Catholic pope steps foot on American territory.
1921 A high-altitude bombsight, mounted on a gyroscopically stabilized base was successfully tested at Torpedo Station, Yorktown, Va. This test was the first phase of Carl L. Nordens development of an effective high-altitude bombsight, which became known as the Norden Bombsight.
1944 PBY aircraft attacked Japanese convoy, sink ammunition ship, Seia Maru, in Taliaboe Bay, Soela Island. Also on this date, USS Puffer (SS 268) damages Japanese oiler, Sunosaki, northeast of Borneo.
1946 President Harry S. Truman approves legislation establishing the Office of Naval Research (ONR), charging ONR to "...plan, foster and encourage scientific research in recognition of its paramount importance as related to the maintenance of future naval power, and the preservation of national security..."
1952 During the Korean War, USS Carmick (DMS 33) is fired on by enemy shore guns in the vicinity of Songjin lighthouse. Returning fire, Carmicks battery fire silences the guns.
1961 Adm. George W. Anderson, Jr., takes office as the 16th Chief of Naval Operations, serving until Aug. 1, 1963. During Adm. Anderson's tenure as CNO, he oversaw the U.S. Navy's quarantine of Cuba, thus enabling the Kennedy administration to compel the Soviet Union to remove its nuclear weapons from the island.
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This day in World History
1464 Piero de Medici succeeds his father, Cosimo, as ruler of Florence.
1664 The Turkish army is defeated by French and German troops at St. Gotthard, Hungary.
1689 James II's siege of Londonderry, Ireland, ends in failure. James' force had suffered some 8,000 casualties to the defenders' 3,600.
1740 Thomas Arne's song "Rule Britannia" is performed for the first time.
1759 British and Hanoverian armies defeat the French at the Battle of Minden, Germany.
1791 Robert Carter III, a Virginia plantation owner, frees all 500 of his slaves in the largest private emancipation in U.S. history. An 1839 mutiny aboard a Spanish ship in Cuban waters raised basic questions about freedom and slavery in the United States.
1798 Admiral Horatio Nelson routs the French fleet in the Battle of the Nile at Aboukir Bay, Egypt.
1801 The American schooner Enterprise captures the Barbary cruiser Tripoli. Often venturing into harm's way, America's most famous sailing ship, the Constitution, twice came close to oblivion.
1834 Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire.
1864 Union General Ulysses S. Grant gives general Philip H. Sheridan the mission of clearing the Shenandoah Valley of Confederate forces. After nearly 10 months of trench warfare, Confederate resistance at Petersburg, Virginia, suddenly collapsed.
1872 The first long-distance gas pipeline in the U.S. is completed. Designed for natural gas, the two-inch pipe ran five miles from Newton Wells to Titusville, Pennsylvania.
1873 San Francisco's first cable cars begin running, operated by Hallidie's Clay Street Hill Railroad Company.
1880 Sir Frederick Roberts frees the British Afghanistan garrison of Kandahar from Afghan rebels.
1893 A machine for making shredded wheat breakfast cereal is patented.
1914 Germany declares war on Russia.
1937 The Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany becomes operational. The Nuremberg Trial would later bring high-ranking Nazis to justice.
1939 Synthetic vitamin K is produced for the first time.
1941 The Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo plane makes its first flight.
1942 Ensign Henry C. White, while flying a J4F Widgeon plane, sinks U-166 as it approaches the Mississippi River, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard.
1943 Over 177 B-24 Liberator bombers attack the oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, for a second time.
1944 The Polish underground begins an uprising against the occupying German army, as the Red Army approaches Warsaw.
1946 President Harry S Truman establishes the Atomic Energy Commission.
1950 Lead elements of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division arrive in Korea from the United States.
1954 The Geneva Accords divide Vietnam into two countries at the 17th parallel.
1957 US and Canada create North American Air Defense Command (NORAD).
1960 Singer Chubby Checker releases "The Twist," creating a new dance craze. The song had been released by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters the previous year but got little attention.
1964 Arthur Ashe becomes the first African-American to play on the U.S. Davis Cup tennis team.
1966 Charles Whitman, shooting from the Texas Tower at the University of Texas, kills 16 people and wounds 31 before being killed himself.
1988 Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh begins his national radio show.
2004 In Asuncion, Paraguay, a fire in the Ycua Bolanos V supermarket complex kills nearly 400 people and injures 500.
2007 The I-35W bridge at Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses into the Mississippi River during evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.
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Thanks to the Bear and Dan Heller. We will always have the url for you to search items in Rolling Thunder
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER …
. rollingthunderremembered.com .
.
Thanks to Micro
From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..August 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
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/ )
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. From the archives
The Man Who Rode Thunder
Worth 3 minutes of your time.
An old true happening but maybe you have not heard it before. dj
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From the archives
. Thanks to Barrett
Skip, thanks for the link to Jim's story. Jon Guttman knows a great deal about aces, but I'll add some insight because I knew Jim tolerably well. (I think Jon meant two- and three-second bursts; two and three rounds would be semi-impossible at 800 rpm. I've got singles from an M60, and pinwheeled a 700 meter falling target with one tracer but that was because the 60 cycles at about 550-600.)
Jim was an O-6 with an O-2 attitude. Just a delightful gent. He said that when his squadron alit on Guadalcanal the CO called an AOM to announce he would not fly combat because as the only Regular officer he was Too Valuable To Risk. Jim: "That went over like a lead balloon with us lieutenants."
When the coast guard crew pulled alongside to investigate the downed aviator one of them asked, "Are you an American?" Jim's USMC four-letter reply removed all doubt.
Ref the July '43 combat: Jim always called Manny (aka Harold) Segal his swimming partner after that episode (it was Manny's first shootdown). He was an original: dubbed himself Murderous Manny for his 12 kills. He dressed like a Vegas lounge lizard with leisure suit and gold necklace.
Armament:
When I was aces secretary I spent mucho tiempo crunching numbers. I'd suspected that four .50s were the optimum WW II VF armament but lacked data. When it became available via Frank Olynyk's encyclopedic volumes, I computed that upping to six guns produced 50 percent more firepower, of course, but only a 10 percent increase in claimed lethality.
Some aces (Joe Foss, Swede Vejtasa, George Wrenn come to mind) liked the F4F-4's six guns even with less trigger time than the dash three, as Joe said "You could switch off two guns and keep them for get me home insurance."
Lapse-dissolve, fade to outside, day.
Barber, Swett, Bill Harris, Porter Bend 9-94_3.jpg
Bend Oregon c. 1995.
Other aces L-R: Rex Barber, Jim, AAF star Bill Harris (16 v.) and Bruce Porter, F4U and F6F (night fighter) ace.
An art gallery sponsored a litho signing with Oregon and California aces. Crossing the parking lot I noted a Dodge camper with California MoH plates, an NRA life member decal and a big yellow bumper sticker: I SUPPORT TAILHOOK. (he was one of at least 4 MoH members including Dave McCampbell, Tom Hudner and Jim Stockdale.)
As ever,
Barrett
I remember thinking: I don't know who this is but I hope he has a daughter! Nope, two sons, both went USMC Vietnam as I recall.
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Thanks to Shadow and Black
This is a classic
Subject: Movie - The Great Santini
Here’s to Robert Duvall, RIP 🍻
The movie came out in 1979 - filmed at Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, SC.
The Officers Club scene, as depicted here, was definitely NOT a one-off back in the day, as several of you Bcc’d here can attest.
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From the Archives
Thanks to Bill
Subject: The Naval Aviator Wine Taster
At a wine merchant's warehouse the regular taster died, and the director started looking for a new one to hire. He posted a sign at the entrance to the building... EXPERIENCED WINE TASTER NEEDED -- POSITION STARTS IMMEDIATELY. A retired Navy pilot named "Ace," drunk and with a ragged dirty look and smelling of last night's rounds, strolled by the building and saw the sign. He went into the building to apply for the position. Aghast at his appearance, the director wondered how to send him away but, to be fair, he gave him a glass of wine to taste. The old Navy pilot held the glass up to his left eye, tilted his head toward incoming sunlight and studied the contents looking through the glass. He then took a sip and said, "It's a Southern California Muscat , three years old, grown on a north slope, matured in steel containers. Somewhat low-grade but acceptable.""That's correct," said the boss. Glancing at his assistant he said..."Another one, please."
The old Navy pilot took the goblet, full of a deep red liquid, stuck his nose into the glass, sniffed deeply and took a long slow sip....rolling his eyeballs in a circle, he then looked at the director and said... "It's a Cabernet Sauvignon, eight years old, south-western slope, oak barrels, matured at eight degrees. Requires three more years for the finest results."
"Absolutely correct. A third glass," said the director. Receiving another glass, again, the Navy pilot eyed the crystal, took in a little bit of the aroma and sipped very softly... ''It's a pinot blanc champagne, very high grade and exclusive,'' said the pilot calmly.
The director was astonished and winked at his assistant to suggest something. She left the room and came back in with a wine glass half-full of urine.
The old Navy pilot eyed it suspiciously... a color he could not quite recall . He took a sip, swishing it over his tongue and across his teeth, musing upward all the while.
"It's a blonde, 26 years old, three months pregnant, and if I don't get the job, I'll name the father
NEVER, EVER ... UNDERESTIMATE THE TALENTS OF A NAVY PILOT!
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Thanks to Billy
Be sure to turn up your sound! A nifty P-51 video from OshGosh 2026:
(Credit Dave Verret)
Blue Skies & Tailwinds...
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Thanks to Brett
The Iran War at the Crossroads
Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
We are now in Stage III of the Iran War: the familiar monotony of bomb, talk, bomb.
It is now the liberal consensus that the war has failed, if not been won by Iran.
Hardly. It will likely take a decade for Iran to recover and rearm.
The Iran War at the Crossroads
Thanks to
Victor Davis Hanson
American Greatness
We are now in Stage III of the Iran War: the familiar monotony of bomb, talk, bomb.
It is now the liberal consensus that the war has failed, if not been won by Iran.
Hardly. It will likely take a decade for Iran to recover and rearm.
Russia has been sidelined in the Middle East. China is losing its influence with the Iranian theocracy. Nor is Beijing riding high; instead, it is grappling with trade, demographic, energy, and food challenges.
The Gulf states are more pro-American than they have been in decades.
Israel is stronger than ever and has humiliated an enemy that, for nearly 50 years, remained on a war footing while enjoying a population ten times larger.
But what’s next?
We could be entering the war’s final stage, marked by an effort to escalate decisively before disengaging.
We know the tired Iranian strategy by now. We might call it "theocratic rope-a-dope." For the theocrats and their terrorist proxies, survival means outlasting Trump, waiting for the next cash-laden Democratic administration, and using "moderates" to play good cop while haggling away months.
The mullahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps feign indifference even as their half-century, half-trillion-dollar investments in what is now essentially a vaporized military-industrial-nuclear complex continue to be destroyed.
The war has finally revealed the full extent of Iran’s vast conventional arsenal, nuclear program, and missile and drone industry.
These munitions proved far more numerous and deadlier than experts had imagined. The regime had poured much of its GDP into conventional arms, missiles, drones, and its nuclear program in hopes of dominating the Gulf, holding Israel beneath a nuclear sword of Damocles, and eventually bringing European cities within range of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.
The Islamic government shows no real concern for the attendant suffering of its own 93 million people. In the theocrats’ view, it matters little whether 1,000 civilians die as collateral damage from allied bombing or 36,000 are murdered by their own government. All that concerns these corrupt grandees is preserving their own comfort amid the rubble.
The Iranian zealots are counting on the Trump administration to withdraw, thereby avoiding a two-year-long impeachment and lawfare circus while preserving the Republican House majority. Yet doing so also requires relative calm in the Gulf, a denuclearized Iran, an open Strait of Hormuz, oil prices between $60 and $70 a barrel, and gasoline prices of roughly $2.50 to $3.00 a gallon—all conditions the theocrats believe they can control.
So what would best accomplish the Trump administration’s objectives, both militarily abroad and politically at home?
We may see another week or two of intensive strikes against Iran’s dual-use infrastructure. At some point, the United States may also seal Pickaxe Mountain and any other remaining sites suspected of storing or producing enriched uranium.
The United States has already severed many of Iran’s rail and maritime links to China, Russia, and their allies. It can reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force and convert frozen Iranian assets into a maritime insurance fund to compensate any foreign tanker damaged by Iranian attacks.
Then, by mid-August, the United States could disengage, leaving a small naval flotilla and regional air bases to coordinate Gulf and Israeli retaliation against Iranian missile and drone attacks while maintaining all sanctions and embargoes until Tehran ends its attacks on the Gulf and shipping through the Strait.
One reason, among many, that the Shah fell in January 1979 was that the Ayatollah Khomeini spent 13 years in exile in Iraq, where he built a veritable shadow theocracy. As resistance to the Shah mounted, Khomeini moved in 1978 to the more visible and media-friendly setting of Paris for four months before returning to Tehran to hijack the revolution and seize control of the country.
Iranian anti-clerical dissidents should reverse that model by establishing their own provisional government in exile, pledged to oversee a transition to consensual rule once it assumes power. Western governments should recognize it, transfer frozen Iranian assets to finance its media and outreach, help arm it, and negotiate exclusively with it while shunning all contact with the theocratic prevaricators.
Its agenda should entail a comprehensive plan to replace the theocracy with the help of seized Iranian assets and Western military and financial support.
Unlike the Obama administration’s haphazard and incoherent intervention in Libya, the United States could make any direct assistance contingent on a viable provisional government presenting a concrete plan for national unity, a realistic timetable for elections, demonstrable support within Iran, and a determination to prevail.
The Iranian people remain pro-Western.
They will likely eventually regain their determination to rid themselves of their corrupt, mass-murdering rulers once the bombing stops. Then the full extent of the damage will become clear, and the theocracy will try once again to rebuild its garrison state and subsidize Arab terrorists abroad—at the expense of an already destitute Iranian people.
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This Day in U S Military History…….August 1
1941 – Parade magazine called it “…the Army’s most intriguing new gadget…a tiny truck which can do practically everything.” During World War I, the U.S. Army began looking for a fast, lightweight all-terrain vehicle, but the search did not grow urgent until early 1940. At this time, the Axis powers had begun to score victories in Europe and Northern Africa, intensifying the Allies’ need for an all-terrain vehicle. The U.S. Army issued a challenge to automotive companies, requesting a working prototype, fit to army specifications, in just 49 days. Willy’s Truck Company was the first to successfully answer the Army’s call, and the new little truck was christened “the Jeep.” General Dwight D. Eisenhower said that America could not have won World War II without it. Parade was so enthusiastic about the Jeep, that, on this day, it devoted three full pages to a feature on the vehicle.
1942 – Ensign Henry C. White, while flying a J4F Widgeon plane, sank U-166 as it approaches the Mississippi River, the first U-boat sunk by the U.S. Coast Guard. In the summer of 1942, German submarines put saboteurs ashore on American beaches.
1943 – Operation Tidal Wave: The American Eighth Air Force began staging a series of heavy bomber air raids against the oil fields and refineries around Ploesti. These fields furnished about 80% of the Nazis’ petroleum requirements and were a key military target. Of the 177 B-24 Liberator bombers, 50 are lost.
1943 – A Japanese destroyer rams an American PT (patrol torpedo) boat, No. 109, slicing it in two. The destruction is so massive other American PT boats in the area assume the crew is dead. Two crewmen were, in fact, killed, but 11 survived, including Lt. John F. Kennedy. Japanese aircraft had been on a PT boat hunt in the Solomon Islands, bombing the PT base at Rendova Island. It was essential to the Japanese that several of their destroyers make it to the southern tip of Kolombangara Island to get war supplies to forces there. But the torpedo capacity of the American PTs was a potential threat. Despite the base bombing at Rendova, PTs set out to intercept those Japanese destroyers. In the midst of battle, Japan’s Amaqiri hit PT-109, leaving 11 crewmen floundering in the Pacific. After five hours of clinging to debris from the decimated PT boat, the crew made it to a coral island. Kennedy decided to swim out to sea again, hoping to flag down a passing American boat. None came. Kennedy began to swim back to shore, but strong currents, and his chronic back condition, made his return difficult. Upon reaching the island again, he fell ill. After he recovered, the PT-109 crew swam to a larger island, what they believed was Nauru Island, but was in fact Cross Island. They met up with two natives from the island, who agreed to take a message south. Kennedy carved the distress message into a coconut shell: “Nauru Is. Native knows posit. He can pilot. 11 alive need small boat.” The message reached Lieutenant Arthur Evans, who was watching the coast of Gomu Island, located next to an island occupied by the Japanese. Kennedy and his crew were paddled to Gomu. A PT boat then took them back to Rendova. Kennedy was ultimately awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, for gallantry in action. The coconut shell used to deliver his message found a place in history-and in the Oval Office. PT-109, a film dramatizing this story, starring Clift Robertson as Kennedy, opened in 1963.
1944 – After nine days of fighting in a battle termed “the perfect amphibious operation of World War II,” MajGen Harry Schmidt, commander of V Amphibious Corps, declared the island of Tinian secured. The combination of surprise, heavy preassault bombardment, and effective logistical support was responsible for Tinian’s recapture with a much lower casualty rate (344 killed and 1550 wounded) than had been experienced in previous landings.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*BAKER, ADDISON E. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 93d Heavy Bombardment Group. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Akron, Ohio. Born: 1 January 1907, Chicago, Ill. G.O. No.: 20, 11 March 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy on 1 August 1943. On this date he led his command, the 93d Heavy Bombardment Group, on a daring low-level attack against enemy oil refineries and installations at Ploesti, Rumania. Approaching the target, his aircraft was hit by a large caliber antiaircraft shell, seriously damaged and set on fire. Ignoring the fact he was flying over terrain suitable for safe landing, he refused to jeopardize the mission by breaking up the lead formation and continued unswervingly to lead his group to the target upon which he dropped his bombs with devastating effect. Only then did he leave formation, but his valiant attempts to gain sufficient altitude for the crew to escape by parachute were unavailing and his aircraft crashed in flames after his successful efforts to avoid other planes in formation. By extraordinary flying skill, gallant leadership and intrepidity, Lt. Col. Baker rendered outstanding, distinguished, and valorous service to our Nation.
*HUGHES, LLOYD H. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 564th Bomber Squadron, 389th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: San Antonio, Tex. Born: 12 July 1921, Alexandria, La. G.O. No.: 17, 26 February 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On August 1943, 2d Lt. Hughes served in the capacity of pilot of a heavy bombardment aircraft participating in a long and hazardous minimum-altitude attack against the Axis oil refineries of Ploesti, Rumania, launched from the northern shores of Africa. Flying in the last formation to attack the target, he arrived in the target area after previous flights had thoroughly alerted the enemy defenses. Approaching the target through intense and accurate antiaircraft fire and dense balloon barrages at dangerously low altitude, his plane received several direct hits from both large and small caliber antiaircraft guns which seriously damaged his aircraft, causing sheets of escaping gasoline to stream from the bomb bay and from the left wing. This damage was inflicted at a time prior to reaching the target when 2d Lt. Hughes could have made a forced landing in any of the grain fields readily available at that time. The target area was blazing with burning oil tanks and damaged refinery installations from which flames leaped high above the bombing level of the formation. With full knowledge of the consequences of entering this blazing inferno when his airplane was profusely leaking gasoline in two separate locations, 2d Lt. Hughes, motivated only by his high conception of duty which called for the destruction of his assigned target at any cost, did not elect to make a forced landing or turn back from the attack. Instead, rather than jeopardize the formation and the success of the attack, he unhesitatingly entered the blazing area and dropped his bomb load with great precision. After successfully bombing the objective, his aircraft emerged from the conflagration with the left wing aflame. Only then did he attempt a forced landing, but because of the advanced stage of the fire enveloping his aircraft the plane crashed and was consumed. By 2d Lt. Hughes’ heroic decision to complete his mission regardless of the consequences in utter disregard of his own life, and by his gallant and valorous execution of this decision, he has rendered a service to our country in the defeat of our enemies which will everlastingly be outstanding in the annals of our Nation’s history.
*JERSTAD, JOHN L. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army Air Corps, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Racine, Wis. Born: 12 February 1918, Racine, Wis. G.O. No.: 72, 28 October 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. On 1 August 1943, he served as pilot of the lead aircraft in his group in a daring low-level attack against enemy oil refineries and installations at Ploesti, Rumania. Although he had completed more than his share of missions and was no longer connected with this group, so high was his conception of duty that he volunteered to lead the formation in the correct belief that his participation would contribute materially to success in this attack. Maj. Jerstad led the formation into attack with full realization of the extreme hazards involved and despite withering fire from heavy and light antiaircraft guns. Three miles from the target his airplane was hit, badly damaged, and set on fire. Ignoring the fact that he was flying over a field suitable for a forced landing, he kept on the course. After the bombs of his aircraft were released on the target, the fire in his ship became so intense as to make further progress impossible and he crashed into the target area. By his voluntary acceptance of a mission he knew was extremely hazardous, and his assumption of an intrepid course of action at the risk of life over and above the call of duty, Maj. Jerstad set an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the U.S. Armed Forces.
JOHNSON, LEON W. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 44th Bomber Group, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Moline, Kans. Born: 13 September 1904, Columbia, Mo. G.O. No.: 54, 7 September 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. Col. Johnson, as commanding officer of a heavy bombardment group, let the formation of the aircraft of his organization constituting the fourth element of the mass low-level bombing attack of the 9th U.S. Air Force against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. While proceeding to the target on this 2,400-mile flight, his element became separated from the leading elements of the mass formation in maintaining the formation of the unit while avoiding dangerous cumulous cloud conditions encountered over mountainous territory. Though temporarily lost, he reestablished contact with the third element and continued on the mission with this reduced force to the prearranged point of attack, where it was discovered that the target assigned to Col. Johnson’s group had been attacked and damaged by a preceding element. Though having lost the element of surprise upon which the safety and success of such a daring form of mission in heavy bombardment aircraft so strongly depended, Col. Johnson elected to carry out his planned low-level attack despite the thoroughly alerted defenses, the destructive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, the imminent danger of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions, and of intense smoke obscuring the target. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, Col. Johnson so led his formation as to destroy totally the important refining plants and installations which were the object of his mission. Col. Johnson’s personal contribution to the success of this historic raid, and the conspicuous gallantry in action, and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty demonstrated by him on this occasion constitute such deeds of valor and distinguished service as have during our Nation’s history formed the finest traditions of our Armed Forces.
KANE, JOHN R. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Colonel, U.S. Army Air Corps, 9th Air Force. Place and date: Ploetsi Raid, Rumania, 1 August 1943. Entered service at: Shreveport, La. Birth: McGregor, Tex. G.O. No.: 54, 9 August 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry in action and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 August 1943. On this date he led the third element of heavy bombardment aircraft in a mass low-level bombing attack against the vitally important enemy target of the Ploesti oil refineries. En route to the target, which necessitated a round-trip flight of over 2,400 miles, Col. Kane’s element became separated from the leading portion of the massed formation in avoiding dense and dangerous cumulous cloud conditions over mountainous terrain. Rather than turn back from such a vital mission he elected to proceed to his target. Upon arrival at the target area it was discovered that another group had apparently missed its target and had previously attacked ??and damaged the target assigned to Col. Kane’s element. Despite the thoroughly warned defenses, the intensive antiaircraft fire, enemy fighter airplanes, extreme hazards on a low-level attack of exploding delayed action bombs from the previous element, of oil fires and explosions and dense smoke over the target area, Col. Kane elected to lead his formation into the attack. By his gallant courage, brilliant leadership, and superior flying skill, he and the formation under his command successfully attacked this vast refinery so essential to our enemies’ war effort. Through his conspicuous gallantry in this most hazardous action against the enemy, and by his intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, Col. Kane personally contributed vitally to the success of this daring mission and thereby rendered most distinguished service in the furtherance of the defeat of our enemies.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for AUGUST 1, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY Elimination Balloon Race in a 206.4-mile flight from Birmingham to Commerce, Ga. (7)
1939: Capts C. S. Irvine and P. H. Robey used a Boeing YB-17A to set a 34,016.88-foot altitude record with a payload of 11,023 pounds.
1942: The Coast Guard’s Squadron 212 sank the first enemy submarine off the passes of the Mississippi. (24)
1943: Operation TIDAL WAVE. In this operation, 177 B-24 Liberators used low-level routes to drop 311 tons of bombs on the Ploesti Oil Refinery in Rumania. This was the first large-scale, minimum-altitude attack against a strongly defended target, and the longest major bombing mission from base to target undertaken to date. MEDALS OF HONOR. During the Ploesti raid, the lead aircraft flown by Lt Col Addison Baker, the 93 BG Commander, received serious damage and caught fire. Baker, who was a mobilized guardsman from Ohio, continued to lead the formation and dropped his bombs before trying to gain enough altitude for the crew to parachute. The attempt failed and the B-24 crashed. For that gallant leadership and intrepidity, Colonel Baker earned the Medal of Honor. In this raid, Col Leon W. Johnson, Col John R. Kane, 2Lt Lloyd H. Hughes, and Maj John L. Jerstad also earned Medals of Honor. The Eighth lost 54 bombers, but successfully reduced Ploesti’s refining capacity by 40 percent. (4)(21)
1945: In the largest one-day B-29 combat effort, 851 Superfortresses attacked four Japanese urban areas, a petroleum plant, and mine fields. (24) At Edwards AFB, prototype YP-80As displayed their ability to attack bombers, even when outnumbered by six to one.
1946: Capts B. L. Grubaugh and J. L. England flew a B-29 from New York to Burbank in 7 hours 28 minutes 3 seconds to set a FAI speed record for multi-engined aircraft. (9)
1950: The Collins-Vandenberg Agreement established cooperation between ADC and the Army Antiaircraft Command for the air defense of the US. (16) (24) KOREAN WAR. The USAF established the 6147th Tactical Control Squadron (Airborne) at Taegu for forward air control operations with T-6 aircraft. The 22 BG and 92 BG dispatched 46 B-29s to bomb the Chosen Nitrogen Fertilizer Factory at Hungnam, the largest chemical plant in the Far East. (28)
1951: Canada and the US exchanged diplomatic notes to erect and operate a radar defense network in Canada. (16)
1954: First flight of Convair’s XFY-1 vertical takeoff fighter.
1955: The USAF began the first zero gravity research flight in T-33 jet trainers to study the effects of weightlessness. (16) (24)
1956: President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a bill to include flight instruction in Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) programs. (16)
1958: The US detonated a missile-borne nuclear weapon at high altitude over Johnston Island in the Pacific as part of an anti-ICBM defense program. (16) (24) Capt Marion Boling, a commercial pilot, flew a Beechcraft Bonanza 6,979 miles from Manila, Philippines, to Pendleton, Oreg., to set a distance record for nonstop flight in a single-engine aircraft. (24)
1960: General Thomas S. Power, CINCSAC, accepted the first of 12 operational supersonic B-58 Hustlers to be delivered to the 43 BMW at Carswell AFB. (1)
1961: The AFRES mobilized five C-124 groups and more than 15,000 reservists in response to the construction of the Berlin Wall. (21)
1962: From an underground silo at Vandenberg AFB, the USAF launched its first operationally configured Atlas F. It landed near the Marshall Islands. (6) (12)
1963: NASA’s Mariner II, launched on 27 August 1962, completed its first orbit around the sun after a trip of 540 million miles. (26)
1968: The USAF Southern Command flew 13,000 pounds of disaster relief supplies to San Jose, Costa Rica, to aid more victims of the Mount Arenal volcano. (16) (26)
1969: The Air Force added Quicktape, using broadcast tapes recorded in the air from a ground radioman and rebroadcast directly through the plane’s loudspeaker, to its psychological warfare program in SEA. (16)
1972: The first B-52 SRAM wing activated on schedule at Loring AFB. 1974: William P. Clements, Jr., the Deputy SECDEF, approved plans for the A-10 close air support aircraft. (12)
1976: Through 2 August, two USAF UH-1 Iroquois helicopter crews saved 81 people stranded by a flash flood in Big Thompson Canyon, Colo. (16) (26)
1987: Rockwell International received a $1.3 billion contract to build a replacement space shuttle for the lost Challenger.
1988: The 177 FG retired the last three F-106 Delta Darts from the USAF’s active inventory. Two of the F-106s were A-models and one was a B-model. (26)
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