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From: Skip Leonard <sleonard001@san.rr.com>
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Cc: "sleonard001@san.rr.com" <sleonard001@san.rr.com>; Skip Leonard <skip.leonard43@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2026 at 10:48:43 AM PDT
Subject: [TheList] 7595
The List 7595
Good Tuesday morning July 14 2026 . Please see H Gram 100 from Admiral Cox.
Warm Regards,
skip
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Sunday Morning July 14. Just a couple of years ago President Trump was wounded.
I am glad that former President Trump is still with us. He was probably only a couple millimeters away from being killed
Today, in rural Butler, Pennsylvania, during a Trump rally with many people in attendance, someone fired a number of shots at Trump. Either one of the rounds, or a piece of debris from (a teleprompter?) clipped Trump on the ear. The Secret Service immediately surrounded him and moved him to safety. One person behind Trump was killed, and two others critically injured. So far, that is all we know. There may be others we learn of later.
Who else could have provided 250 year celebration of our country like he just did and turn around and let Iran know that he is not anyone to try to push around.
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
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
1813 During the War of 1812, Lt. John M. Gamble becomes the first Marine to command a ship in battle, USS Greenwich, when she captures British whaling ship Seringapatam.
1853 Commodore Matthew C. Perry lands and holds the first meeting with the Japanese at Uraga, in which he delivers President Millard Fillmores request for a treaty to representatives to the Emperor. Allowing time for reflection and discussion, Commodore Perry returns in March 1854 and finalizes the Treaty of Kanagawa.
1945 In the first naval gunfire bombardment of the Japanese home islands, Task Unit 34.8.1 warships bombard ironworks plant at Kamaishi, Japan.
1952 The keel to the Navy's first supercarrier, USS Forrestal (CVA 59), is laid down.
1955 The first flight of jet-propelled Martin P6M seaplane is completed at Baltimore, Md.
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This Day in World History July 14
1223 In France, Louis VIII succeeds his father, Philip Augustus.
1430 Joan of Arc, taken prisoner by the Burgundians in May, is handed over to Pierre Cauchon, the bishop of Beauvais.
1456 Hungarians defeat the Ottomans at the Battle of Belgrade, in present-day Yugoslavia.
1536 France and Portugal sign the Treaty of Lyons, aligning themselves against Spain.
1789 Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops storm and dismantle the Bastille, a royal fortress and prison that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs, on July 14, 1789. This dramatic action signaled the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed.
By the summer of 1789, France was moving quickly toward revolution. Bernard-René Jordan de Launay, the military governor of the Bastille, feared that his fortress would be a target for the revolutionaries and so requested reinforcements. On July 12, royal authorities transferred 250 barrels of gunpowder to the Bastille, and Launay brought his men into the massive fortress and raised its two drawbridges.
At dawn on July 14, a great crowd armed with muskets, swords, and various makeshift weapons began to gather around the Bastille. Launay’s men were able to hold the mob back, but as more and more Parisians were converging on the Bastille, Launay raised a white flag of surrender over the fortress. Launay and his men were taken into custody, the Bastille’s gunpowder and cannons were seized, and the seven prisoners were freed. Upon arriving at the Hotel de Ville, where Launay was to be arrested and tried by a revolutionary council, he was instead pulled away by a mob and murdered.
The capture of the Bastille symbolized the end of the ancien regime and provided the French revolutionary cause with an irresistible momentum. In 1792, the monarchy was abolished and Louis and his wife Marie-Antoinette were sent to the guillotine for treason in 1793.
1798 The Sedition Act is passed by the U.S. Congress.
1864 At Harrisburg, Mississippi, Federal troops under General Andrew Jackson Smith repulse an attack by General Nathan Bedford Forrest.
1900 European Allies retake Tientsin, China, from the rebelling Boxers.
1933 Nazi Germany promulgates the Law for the Protection of Hereditary Health--the beginning of the Euthanasia program.
1938 Howard Hughes and crew set a new world record for an around-the-world flight.
1940 A force of German bombers attacks Suez, Egypt, from bases in Crete.
1941 Vichy French Foreign Legionaries sign an armistice in Damascus, allowing them to join the Free French Foreign Legion.
1945 American battleships and cruisers bombard the Japanese home islands for the first time.
1951 The George Washington Carver National Monument in Joplin, Missouri becomes the first national park honoring an African American.
1964 The United States sends 600 more troops to Vietnam
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To All,
On17 November 2016 I received H-Gram 001. .I literally thought I had died and gone to History Heaven. Every one after that was like having a birthday present. With the recent receipt of H-Gram 100 it has been 10 years since the admiral set out on this epic journey to provide the history of our US Navy to all of us. With access to all of the historical documents he has access to it has been a monumental task but such a treat to all of us.
Thankyou Admiral Cox
New from Director Cox
In his H-Gram 100, Director Sam Cox recounts some of his initial experiences as a brand-new midshipman in the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1980 during the academy's 1976 Plebe Summer. His highly readable account is insightful, poignant—and humorous.
On 6 July 1976, I joined the United States Navy with the US Naval Academy Class of 1980.&nbsp;Over the last few months, I have had the privilege to participate with other classmates at “Another-Link-in-the-Chain” event, and to meet with parents and midshipman candidates of the Class of 2030.&nbsp;As a result, I had the honor of a primo seat on the ramp leading from Tecumseh Court to Bancroft Hall as a guest of the superintendent for the induction ceremony for the Class of 2030. The superintendent, Lieutenant General Borgschulte, USMC, gave a rousing set of remarks heavily laced with history.&nbsp;The best part, for me, was a call and response, wherein he called out Admiral Farragut’s famous order at the Battle of Mobile Bay, “Damn the Torpedoes!” to which the Class of 2030 responded with a roar, “Full Speed Ahead!!!”&nbsp;I admit, seeing the induction ceremony was more emotional than I anticipated, as it dawned on me that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the dozen of us Class of 1980 seated on the ramp.&nbsp;So, for this H-gram, I thought I would be a bit self-indulgent and cover my experience that day 50 years ago—and I would note I wrote this (H-100-1) over 20 years ago, having no idea I would one day be the director of the Naval History and Heritage Command.
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H-100-1: Fifty Years—A U.S. Naval Academy Plebe in 1976—A Personal Reminiscence
A Naval Academy midshipman first class marches with newly arrived plebes of the Class of 1980 at the end of their first day of in-processing, July 1976 (L39-10-07-02).
H-Gram 100, Attachment 1
Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC
10 July 2026
I actually wrote this in 2003–2004, when I had time on my hands as a geo-bachelor in Newport, California, on the CNO Strategic Studies Group.
6 July 1976, Tecumseh Court, US Naval Academy (USNA), Annapolis, Maryland
“I, Samuel Cox, having been appointed a Midshipman in the United States Navy, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”
Dazzled by the sea of new white uniform jumpers in the late afternoon sun, awash in conflicting emotions, and reeling from sensory overload on my first day at the Academy, I maintained enough presence of mind as I recited the oath of office to know that this would be a defining moment in my life. Nothing would ever be the same again. I’d felt guilty when I said good-bye to my mom because, although I knew I would miss her greatly, I also knew I didn’t feel nearly as bad as she did. I just had no doubt that it was time to leave home and go out into the world. Despite palpable apprehension, I also knew that there was no other place I wanted to be.
Why was I here? In the post-Vietnam period, it certainly wasn’t the most popular choice to go to a service academy, but the concept of serving my country was something I’d just been brought up with, and my father and grandfather were both Navy men. I’d wavered during my senior year in high school, almost choosing to go to Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service on an Army ROTC scholarship, but in the end, my family’s Navy heritage won out. My grandfather, Samuel J. Cox, was a Navy veteran, an enlisted battleship sailor on the USS Idaho at the very end of World War I, and later a Seabee chief petty officer and warrant officer during the Pacific campaigns of World War II. My father, Richard S. Cox, was an enlisted Navy veteran of the Korean War. Sometimes, I figured I went to Annapolis despite my father, who had offered his typically unsubtle advice as I’d wrestled with my decision, saying, “Son, you can go anywhere you want. But anyone who would turn down an appointment to the Naval Academy is a @#$damn fool!”
Nevertheless, it was my love of naval history that probably had the most to do with my decision, and that I owed to my father. At a very young age, I knew all about my grandfather’s experiences fighting the Japanese on New Georgia, Bougainville, and Guam. I knew of my father’s cousin, Bobby Ortiz, a US Marine Corps flame-thrower operator, recipient of a posthumous Navy Cross at Iwo Jima. My father had drilled me on homemade flash cards (he’d been a draftsman in the Navy) of World War II battleships and aircraft carriers. I could recognize the difference between the Yamato, Bismarck, Enterprise, and every capital ship in every navy of the world before I was in kindergarten. I remember sneaking off to the bushes during the second grade to look at the pictures and line drawings in my dad’s very expensive Jane’s All the World's Fighting Ships and getting in trouble because I couldn’t explain away how the dirt got in the pages. My dad owned the entire set of Samuel Eliot Morison’s History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, and by the third grade, I’d read all 15 volumes.
I loved any kind of history, but I was especially moved by the accounts of naval heroism: the sacrifice of Torpedo Squadron 8 at Midway, the horrific night battles in “Ironbottom Sound” off Guadalcanal, the exploits of the submarines USS Wahoo and USS Tang, and the charge of the American destroyers into certain destruction against the Japanese battleships off Samar during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, an action that saved MacArthur’s invasion force. Ernest Evans, commanding officer of USS Johnston, awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor at Samar, was my personal hero when other kids had sports heroes. But what fascinated me most were the naval aviators, such as Butch O’Hare, John Thach, Jim Flatley, and David McCampbell. More than anything, I wanted to fly fighter jets off aircraft carriers in defense of my country. Even at the time, I knew I didn’t join the Navy for the usual reasons. I didn’t join for the education, or the technical skills, or the medical or retirement benefits, and certainly not for the pay. I literally joined so that I could be a part of the history of this great institution, the United States Navy.
“…and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” As I finished the oath, I banished any thoughts from my mind of turning back. I assumed the only way I would survive the rigors of Plebe Year at the Academy was to be totally committed. I knew Plebe Year would be very hard, but I had only a vague comprehension of precisely what would make it so hard. I knew that attrition of up to one-third of an entering class was not uncommon.
I was comforted by all the memorabilia of naval history on display throughout the Yard, as the Naval Academy campus was called. Many of those monuments depicted those sailors who had made the ultimate sacrifice, and I reasoned that the commitment expected of me during Plebe Year would be far less by comparison. Nevertheless, my fear of the unknown was very real, and I was not alone.
I remember very clearly the last meal of the condemned: the evening meal after the induction ceremony and our last good-byes to our parents. Up until then, the midshipmen first class (seniors) who would be our leaders during Plebe Summer were not allowed to put any pressure on us. But the gloves would come off at the first “formation” after that evening meal. As I later understood, the “Firsties” relished this particular meal—big, meaty steaks and huge lobster tails, and a table full of new plebes all too nervous and scared to eat any of it. The Firsties gorged themselves on the “all-they-could-eat” surf and turf special.
July 1976, Bancroft Hall, USNA
“Unsat,” stated our company officer, Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Caplinger (known also as “Crapslinger”). I started to hyperventilate.
It was our first formal room inspection since the start of Plebe Summer at the Naval Academy. My roommate, Kurt Baden from Rolla, Missouri, and I had spent hours getting our room ready, scraping soap film off the shower with a razor blade, cleaning tile grout with Q-tips, and folding every sock and piece of underwear and placing them on the shelves exactly in accordance with “the MHP” (the three-inch-thick book of regulations). We were confident we were ready for the inspection.
LCDR Caplinger entered the room followed by the midshipman company commander and sub-commander, both midshipmen first class. We snapped to attention and sounded off, “Midshipman Fourth Class Cox, Sir!” I was the designated ICOR (in-charge of room).
Without a word, LCDR Caplinger went straight to the sink and wiped his white glove on the counter. “No problem,” I thought. I’d dusted that.
“What's this, Mr. Cox?” he demanded. There was a light coating of blue fuzz on his glove.
I stammered out an, “I’ll find out, Sir!” It struck me as a really stupid response, but the only other three options we were allowed were “Yes, Sir;” or “Aye, Aye, Sir;” or “No excuse, Sir,” and none of them seemed to fit. (We weren’t permitted to say, “No, Sir” yet.) I could only figure that the dust was on his glove before he came in. Then, he opened the medicine cabinet, took out my electric razor, and pulled off the head. Sure enough, there were whiskers inside. I hadn’t thought of that.
“What's this?” He glared as he dumped the whiskers on the counter.
“I’ll find out, Sir!”
“Unsat!” he growled. Then he reached into the sink basin, twisted the drain cover, and pulled it out. I didn’t even realize it could come out. It was covered in slime. And again, the “What’s this?—I’ll find, out, Sir—Unsat!” cycle.
I was starting to feel a sense of panic. We were going to fail the inspection, even after all the work we’d put in. I’d never failed anything in my life!
Then, LCDR Caplinger pointed to a corner by the shower, saying, “What’s that?”
I couldn’t see anything.
“Come closer and take a look!”
Since we were standing at attention, I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to move and still stay at attention. I sort of waddled stiffly toward where he was pointing. I still couldn’t see anything, so I just responded with, “I’ll find out, Sir.”
“It’s dirt!” he snarled. As he started to rummage through my storage cabinet, I started waddling backward toward my original position. Kurt later said he saw it coming, but didn’t know how to communicate a warning.
I fell backward over my open safe drawer, landing with a thud on the floor. I popped back up more embarrassed than hurt, with a “No excuse, Sir!”
LCDR Caplinger decided at that point he’d seen enough of our room and left. The two Firsties then proceeded to tear the entire room apart, throwing the contents of drawers and shelves on the floor, ripping the sheets off the meticulously made beds, flipping the mattresses over and onto the floor. I was overcome with sheer rage and hate, but I dared not say anything. My heart was pounding and I was breathing as hard as if I’d just finished a fast mile. “Unsat!” they said, adding as they left, “and calm down, Mr. Cox.”
I was completely traumatized. Kurt and I remained frozen at attention for what seemed like a good minute. Then Kurt started to laugh. I looked at him like he was crazy, but as I surveyed the devastation in the room, the absurdity of the whole thing hit me. We both had to be crazy to even be here. I started to laugh. Kurt laughed harder. I laughed harder. Soon we were rolling on the floor laughing. I thought I was going to split a gut. I’d never laughed so hard in my life. We cleaned up our room, laughing late into the night. We did so many more times that summer. The worse things got, the more we laughed. I can’t explain it. It was just one of the things you had to live through to understand.
July 1976, Outside Luce Hall, USNA
Our column of 12 plebes marched directly at the construction wall ahead of us. There was nothing we could do about it. Already cowed into complete submission, we awaited orders. Perhaps the Firsty platoon leader was going to test us with some sort of tricky “First Squad, Left Oblique, March!” maneuver order before we reached the wall. None came.
The lead plebe in our column reached the green wooden wall, stopped, and started marking time in silence. The rest of us behind him did the same. The two columns to our right continued along in silence, except for one plebe belting out, off-key, one of the truly irritating cadence-keeping songs we were required to sing while marching: “Oh here we go. We’re at it again. We’re moving up. We’re moving in. We’re moving up and [pause] moving in [repeat].” (Bawdy cadences had been banned since we were the first class in Naval Academy history to have female midshipmen.)
We’d been told we were the cream of American high school graduates, a collection of honor students, student council presidents, and star athletes. Only one out of 13 applicants was admitted. And not one of us could figure a way out of our predicament. We weren’t permitted to speak until spoken to, and we followed our orders.
The platoon commander had misjudged the distance from the wall. He had no idea that only two of his three columns were still following him as he led two-thirds of the platoon to dawn physical training. It took him over 150 yards to figure it out. He halted the rest of the platoon and walked back, shouting commands, “First Squad, Halt! Right, Face! Two steps forward, March! Left, Face! Forward, March!” His face was beet red in embarrassment. We could say nothing. But he knew that we knew that an illusion had been shattered. He knew we were all laughing at him inside. The Firsties were not invincible or infallible. In fact, they could be downright stupid, just like we Plebes.
The construction wall blocked off access to a hole in the ground. At some point in the distant past, somebody had determined that, due to the perpetual construction at the Academy, the number of holes in the Yard was a constant. This phenomenon was known as the “Law of the Diggers and Fillers,” or the “Law of Conservation of Holes.” For every hole filled, an equal and opposite hole would be created. This law had a corollary called the “Law of Conservation of Good Deals.” For every good deal, there must be an equal and opposite screw job. This law, actually explained a lot about how the Navy really works.
August 1976, Outside Mitscher Hall, USNA
Still in three-column formation, our platoon ran back to Bancroft Hall from a strenuous daybreak physical training session, breaking into a sprint the last 200 yards to demonstrate how gung-ho and spirited we were. However, our platoon leader had misjudged again.
All of a sudden, the plebe directly in front of me zagged to the left. Only then did I see the fire hydrant dead ahead, too late to veer, stop, or jump. I hit the hydrant in full stride, wiping out on the decorative sidewalk slabs at the entrance to Mitscher Hall, basically medium-sized bits of gravel cemented into the pavement, much like a very rough grade of sandpaper. I don’t remember feeling any pain, or having any other thought but to rejoin my unit. I didn’t want to let my squad down by staying down. I bounced back up, finished the run, and stood in formation in silence, until my squad leader noticed that I was bleeding profusely from both wrists, both elbows, both knees, and one hip, at which point he ordered me to medical. Somewhat to my amazement, I broke no bones, but my hip still has scars from the gravel gouges.
August 1976, Bancroft Hall, USNA
One of my squad mates was ambushed right outside my door. Midshipman Fourth Class Lee Hall from Stayton, Oregon, was the most squared-away plebe in our 12-man squad, but today was not his day. The poor guy was probably just trying to go to the head.
I could hear the Firsties yelling and shouting. I heard, “Whiteworks Foxtrot! Go!” It was a command for Lee to run to his room and change from his current uniform into the designated one and run back. It was called a “uniform race.” If the victim wasn’t fast enough, he or she would be barraged with questions that, if answered incorrectly, would result in demerit points that had to be worked off by hours of marching. If the victim wasn’t fast enough, based on completely capricious standards, he’d have to change into yet another uniform, frequently ever more complex and sometimes nonsensical. “Dinner Dress Blue, with boondockers [boots], Go!” It also took teamwork to survive a uniform race. If your clothes weren’t folded and stowed properly, other Firsties could enter your room while you were gone and “fry” you (put you on report) for having “gear adrift.”
I knew Lee’s roommate was at some other scheduled event, along with mine. I don’t remember giving it much thought. One of my squad mates was in trouble and needed help. I left the comparative safety of my room, hoping they wouldn’t jump me too, ran across the open-air passage between the building wings, and then ducked into Lee’s room. I picked up and folded the clothes from his first uniform change that he’d left strewn about in his desperate rush to make it back in time. Then I stood by the window, where I could just barely hear the next uniform command.
By the time Lee ran back, I had the next uniform rigged and laid out. We had no time to talk. He was like a wild, hunted animal, but I saw in his eyes something like gratitude but not really explainable. We were just two guys helping each other survive. I knew from that look that he would have done the same for me. We repeated the cycle about four times.
I was looking out the window when I sensed a presence. I turned and faced Midshipman First Class Keith Munson, the most intimidating and fearsome of all the Firsties. He made movie versions of drill instructors look like wimps. The glare in his eye was pure evil. He’d obviously been expecting to find an empty “undefended” room to trash.
“What are you doing, Mr. Cox?” he said, in his typical quiet, menacing Texas twang.
I figured it was pretty obvious, since I held several hangers of different uniform combinations in my hands, but I answered, “Helping my classmate, Sir!”
I had a feeling of doom. That wasn’t one of the authorized responses, and I could see the wheels turning as he decided what to do about it.
“What's the menu for evening meal?” he asked.
I fumbled it badly, disconcerted by his piercing stare, forgetting the marinara sauce and dessert. I was sure he would “fry” me. He’d always been merciless. But he just glared in silence, turned and left without a further word. I could only figure that by sticking my neck out to help my classmate, I had done something that he respected.
We all thought that Keith Munson was hard-core Marine Infantry, but when service selection night came during second semester, he opted to enter the program to become a medical doctor.
Lee and I wound up as roommates for the next four years and lifelong friends. Even though our careers took us down widely divergent paths and we rarely saw each other over the years, I have no doubt that, to this day, either of us would go to great lengths to help the other if needed.
August 1976, Bancroft Hall, USNA
I hadn’t shot worth a damn and had failed to qualify as an expert marksman with a .45 caliber pistol. But I had succeeded at my primary objective, which was to always keep another midshipman between any Firsty and me, so no Firsty would see that I hadn’t shaved, a “fry-able” offense.
Our alarm hadn’t gone off that morning. Kurt and I had awakened to the sound of the reveille bell—too late to do everything that needed to be done before having to be in morning formation. Later, the boat returning us from the shooting range was late. I only had a couple minutes to finally shave, change into a new uniform for inspection, memorize the menu and several new silly factoids (“rates”) from the book Reef Points (basically the plebe bible), read the required two newspaper articles—one from the front page and one from the sports page—and then make it to the noon meal formation in the required two minutes before the bell rang. I got it all done, except the sports page article.
As we stood at attention around the table waiting to start the noon meal, our squad leader announced that the company sub-commander, Midshipman Lieutenant Junior Grade Crowe, would be our guest at lunch.
The first thing the sub-commander said was, “Mr. Cox. What did you read in the sports page today?”
I answered with one of the authorized responses, “No excuse, Sir!”
“You didn't read the sports page?”
“No excuse, Sir!”
“Mr. Cox, you have embarrassed your entire squad by being completely unprepared. I can tolerate a lot. But I can’t tolerate someone who doesn’t read the paper.” The irony was that I completely agreed with him. I normally devoured the front page of the paper. It was about the only enjoyable thing I was allowed to do. I only read the sports page because they made me.
“Mr. Cox, I have no choice but to put you on report. Bring around a Form 2.” After the meal I would have to bring him a Form 2, which was the conduct offense report form.
“Aye Aye, Sir!”
“Five demerits, one hour’s marching,” he stated later as he filled out the form. It was the smallest punishment allowable, but it was the first time I’d been fried. I was crushed. I’d never been in trouble with authority in my entire life. Even worse, because of my failure, the sub-commander had lit into the rest of the squad, grilling them mercilessly until three more of us were on report.
Two days later, I went to the appointed location to march off my demerits in an inspection- quality uniform and with cleaned rifle. If these weren’t perfect, I’d get fried again, and I could expect to get grilled again on the day’s rates, another opportunity to get fried. Getting fried tended to result in a downward spiral of getting repeatedly fried.
I felt a sense of dread. I felt like a worthless criminal. Then, I turned the corner and almost burst out laughing. The passageway was lined end-to-end, shoulder-to-shoulder with plebes on report. There had to be 500 of us, fully half the class. Obviously, this was “the” place to be.
At the end of Plebe Summer, all demerits, including my five, were erased, and we started the academic year with a clean record. I never got another demerit my entire time at the academy, which is either a record, or tied with it. I certainly wasn’t a saint. A surprising number of times I benefited from the fact that, since I had no demerits, I would be let off with a warning. If I’d gotten fried a first time, it would have been downhill on the slippery slope afterward. I even owned a car a year ahead of when we were allowed, and I was regularly well beyond the seven-mile weekend liberty limit visiting my girlfriend in Towson, both 75-demerit “Black-N” offenses, the maximum. Three of those and you were out. But one of the things I learned best from the academy program was—how not to get caught.
August 1976, Tecumseh Court, USNA
“White Christmas” blared out the window of some sadistic upperclassman’s room as all the plebes stood in formation in front of Bancroft Hall. Parents’ Weekend was over. It was the first time we’d been able to see our families since the start of Plebe Summer almost two months before, and it would be the last time until Christmas. It had never been my favorite Christmas song, but as I listened to the words I got a lump in my throat that felt like a baseball. Other plebes were choking up; many were crying. Parents were crying and weeping on the other side of the low wall. It was awful.
We’d also been warned by the Firsties that tonight would be a special night in hell for us. They weren’t kidding. As soon as the formation ended and the parents disappeared, they hit us with everything: mass uniform races, room trashing, marathon questioning, pushups, and running up and down the stairwells, accompanied by screaming and shouting late into the night.
At one point, we were ordered to put our carefully folded clothes into a laundry bag and return to the main passageway. Folding our entire uniform set was hours of work, so many plebes put the minimum amount of clothes in the bag. The Firsties knew that trick. We were all ordered to go back and put more into our bags, although they didn’t specify more of what. As we returned to the passageway, the Firsties went into our rooms and threw whatever clothes they found out into the passageway. Then, we were ordered to dump the contents of our bags in the middle of the passageway and mix everything up. For some reason I’ll never understand, the plebe next to me had stuffed a typewriter into his laundry bag.
We were then given five minutes to find our own stuff and put it in our bags. If you hadn’t marked every sock and piece of underwear with your “alpha code” (mine was 801416), you were SOL. It quickly became apparent that there was no way to find all your stuff in the time allotted, so we just started grabbing whatever we could and would sort it out later.
We finished the night with “carrier landings.” With the passageway wetted and soaped, each plebe would take a running start, dive headfirst onto the floor and slide for distance. The longest slider got to return to his room to clean it up. The rest had to slide again until no one was left and the night of hell was over. In our shared misery, we’d all forgotten how much we missed our parents.
Back to H-Gram 100 Overview
Published: Fri Jul 10 15:51:54 EDT 2026
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Rollingthunderremembered.com .
July 14
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).
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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 Tuesday July 14
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This is funny and good luck to see it work
Thanks to T.J.and RS
According to Candid Camera….
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Trying again…skip
thanks to RS
On 9/11, with the word that there was an errant airliner headed for DC, the Washington National Guard dispatched two unarmed F-16’s to bring it down if necessary … Here’s a great interview with Gen. “Sass” Sasseville (Maj. then) , and LT Heather “Lucky” Penney who flew that mission, after only a few minute briefing on how, unarmed, they might bring down an civilian airliner.
Heather’s dad, John Penney, was a United Captain who developed an interest in warbirds and brought many MiG’s into the country, checked me out in our MiG-15 and -17, and flew “Rare Bear” in the Reno Air Races Unlimited Category … I’d heard the story from John, but never to this detail …
If you have a “Smart” TV you can also find this on YouTube … This is the full CBS interview ...
Enjoy!
Rich
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
7 Amazing Facts About America’s Famous Founding Fathers
Few figures loom as large in American history as the Founding Fathers. Although wrapped in myth and shrouded in legend, these leaders lived fascinating lives molding a fractious colony into a new nation. Although their stories have been meticulously detailed — through their own writings as well as centuries of biographies and classroom textbooks — not everything about them is well known. Which famous general lost more battles than he won? Which two Founding Fathers died on the same day? Which one invented a strange musical instrument? Here are seven little-known facts about the men who created a nation.
1 of 7
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson Died on the Same Day
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, bitter political rivals and, at times, close friends, died on the very same day — July 4, 1826, 50 years after signing the Declaration of Independence. The two were the last surviving of the original revolutionaries who helped forge a new nation after breaking with the British Empire. During their presidencies, the two diverged on policy and became leaders of opposing political parties, but at the urging of another founding father, Benjamin Rush, around 1812, Adams and Jefferson began a correspondence that lasted the rest of their lives. On his deathbed at the age of 90, Adams’ last words were reportedly “Jefferson still lives,” but he was mistaken — Jefferson had died five hours earlier in Monticello, Virginia.
2 of 7
James Madison Was the Shortest President in U.S. History
Although James Madison’s signature doesn’t adorn the Declaration of Independence, as the nation’s fourth President and chief architect of the Bill of Rights, he’s widely regarded as one of the most influential Founding Fathers. Madison had a large impact on early U.S. history even though he is also the country’s shortest President thus far, standing just 5 feet and 4 inches tall. That makes Madison a full foot shorter than America’s tallest President, Abraham Lincoln (and no, that height doesn’t include Lincoln’s signature stovepipe hat).
3 of 7
John Hancock Was Accused of Smuggling
Portrait of John Hancock.Credit: Stock Montage/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
On May 24, 1775, John Hancock became the presiding officer over the Second Continental Congress. A little more than a year later, his signature became famous when he wrote his name in grandiose letters, taking up some 6 square inches, on the Declaration of Independence. (Legend says Hancock wanted the king to be able to see it without spectacles.) However, Hancock was also known as an importer, and — at least when it came to British tea — was accused of being a smuggler. The British seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 because of suspected smuggling, which instigated a riot. Luckily, fellow founding father and lawyer John Adams cleared Hancock of all charges, and there was only flimsy evidence for the charges in the first place.
4 of 7
Sam Adams Might Never Have Brewed Beer
Sam Adams was the most influential member of the Sons of Liberty, a loosely organized political organization that formed in opposition to the Stamp Act in 1765. But to many Americans, he’s also the name behind one of the most successful beer brands in the U.S. The company says it picked the name because its founder, Jim Koch, “shared a similar spirit in leading the fight for independence and the opportunity for all Americans to pursue happiness and follow their dreams.” That’s good, because it’s not clear whether Sam Adams actually ever brewed beer. After his father’s death in 1748, Adams inherited his malt house, which is where grains are converted into malt that’s then sold to brewers. But within only a few years, the business was bankrupt and the malt house itself was crumbling; the whole family estate was then put up for auction. Adams proved more effective as a political firebrand than as a “maltster.”
5 of 7
George Washington Lost More Battles Than He Won
General George Washington embodies the phrase “losing the battle but winning the war,” because during the American Revolution, he lost more battles than he won. Despite some experience in the British army, Washington had little experience fielding a large fighting force, and the Continental Army was filled with soldiers who were far from professional fighters. However, Washington’s resilience, determination, and long-term strategy eventually won the day. According to Washington’s aide Alexander Hamilton, the plan was simple: “Our hopes are not placed in any particular city, or spot of ground, but in preserving a good army … to take advantage of favorable opportunities, and waste and defeat the enemy by piecemeal.” Washington, also aided by competent generals such as Nathanael Greene and assisted by the French Navy, decisively ended British ambitions in the colonies at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
6 of 7
Benjamin Franklin Invented a Musical Instrument Used by Mozart and Beethoven
In the mid-1700s, while serving as a delegate for the American colonies in Europe, Benjamin Franklin experienced a popular musical performance — singing glasses. Intrigued by the beautiful sound of a wet finger on glass, Franklin developed an instrument known as a “glass armonica” in 1761. Working with a glassblower in London, Franklin altered the thickness of glass bowls, interlocked along a rod, in order to produce a range of pitches.
Far from being one of Franklin’s odder ideas (like his failed phonetic alphabet), the glass armonica was an 18th-century sensation. Some of the era’s greatest composers, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, wrote music for the instrument. However, it was largely forgotten by the 1820s — many musicians complained of dizziness and other symptoms after playing it, with some blaming lead poisoning or the instrument’s vibrations as the cause. Today, a few musicians still practice the subtle, ethereal art of the glass armonica.
7 of 7
Alexander Hamilton Was Captain of One of the Oldest U.S. Army Regiments in Existence
Alexander Hamilton is known for many things — he was the prolific writer behind the Federalist Papers, the first secretary of the treasury, the creator of the U.S. Coast Guard, and the inspiration for one of Broadway’s biggest musicals. What’s less celebrated about Hamilton is his military career, though when fighting broke out, the eager immigrant from Nevis island in the Caribbean joined the cause. On March 14, 1776, Hamilton was named captain of the New York Provincial Company of Artillery, and soon fought in the battles at Kip’s Bay and White Plains, among others. Hamilton slowly climbed up the military ladder, first serving as General George Washington’s aide and then as commander of a light infantry battalion at the decisive Battle of Yorktown. However, it’s his original artillery company that holds a singular distinction. Known today as 1st Battalion, 5th Field Artillery Regiment, Hamilton’s former artillery unit is one of the oldest active regiments still serving in the U.S. Army.
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Thanks to History Facts
Ancient Egyptians shaved their eyebrows when their cats died.
Though ancient Egyptians didn’t literally worship cats, they did see them and other animals as symbols of the gods’ divine qualities. They admired felines as much for their hunting prowess as they did for the way they nurtured their young, and both aspects factored into their reverence. Their devotion was so fierce, in fact, that they shaved their eyebrows when their own cats died — the beginning of a mourning period that didn’t end until their eyebrows grew back. Keeping a cat in one’s home was considered a way of both attracting good fortune and warding off evil spirits, and a cat’s passing was considered a significant loss — many Egyptians even mummified them.
This royal treatment began not with commoners but with the actual royalty, who let their cats eat from their plates in addition to adorning them in gold jewelry. Perhaps the most important feline deity was Bastet, a goddess of the home, fertility, childbirth, and, yes, cats themselves. Bastet was first depicted as a lioness before later being portrayed as a small domestic cat. Sekhmet, a lioness goddess of war who defended the sun god Ra from his enemies, represented the other half of cats’ most revered qualities. Statues of these “divine felines” remain to this day in museum collections.
By the Numbers
Estimated number of animals mummified in ancient Egypt
70 million
Deities in the Egyptian pantheon
2,000+
Length (in years) of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, the longest
250
Mummified cats discovered in 1890
200,000+
DID YOU KNOW?
Many ancient Egyptians didn’t name their cats.
Despite their love of cats, evidence suggests that many ancient Egyptians didn’t give their cats unique names, but rather referred to all kitties by the Egyptian word for “cat”: “miu,” an onomatopoeic reference meaning “he or she who mews.” There are notable historical exceptions, of course: The first known cat with a name was Nedjem, which means “sweet” or “pleasant.” Said feline belonged to the high priest Puimre, who lived during the reign of Thutmose III. People were even named after cats in some cases: The Egyptian name Ta-mitt comes from the word for female cat, and Pa-mitt comes from the word for tomcat.
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From the archives
A bit of humor from Carl
Some sophisticated observations offered by sports heroes.....
Don Meredith, Dallas Cowboys Quarterback once said: “Coach Tom Landry is such a perfectionist that if he was married to Raqel Welch he'd expect her to cook.”
Harry Neale, professional hockey coach: "Last year we couldn't win at home and we were losing on the road. My failure as a coach was that I couldn't think of anyplace else to play.”
Reggie Jackson commenting on Tom Seaver: "Blind people come to the ballpark just to listen to him pitch."
Doug Sanders, professional golfer: "I'm working as hard as I can to get my life and my cash to run out at the same time. If I can just die after lunch Tuesday, everything will be perfect."
Mickey Lolich, Detroit Tigers pitcher: "All the fat guys watch me and say to their wives, 'See, there's a fat guy doing okay. Bring me another beer.'"
Tommy LaSorda , L A Dodgers manager: "I found out that it's not good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people who hear them don't care and the other twenty percent are glad I'm having them."
E.J. Holub, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker regarding his 12 knee operations: "My knees look like they lost a knife fight with a midget."
Vic Braden, tennis instructor: "My theory is that if you buy an ice-cream cone and make it hit your mouth, you can learn to play tennis. If you stick it on your forehead, your chances aren't as good.”
Walt Garrison, Dallas Cowboys fullback when asked if Tom Landry ever smiles: "I don't know. I only played there for nine years."
John Breen, Houston Oilers: "We were tipping off our plays. Whenever we broke from the huddle, three backs were laughing and one was pale as a ghost.”
Bum Phillips, New Orleans Saints, after viewing a lopsided loss to the Atlanta Falcons:"The film looks suspiciously like the game itself."
Al Hrabosky, major league relief pitcher: “When I'm on the road, my greatest ambition is to get a standing boo."
Paul Horning, Green Bay Packers running back on why his marriage ceremony was before noon: “Because if it didn't work out, I didn't want to blow the whole day."
Lou Holtz , Arkansas football coach: "I have a lifetime contract. That means I can't be fired during the third quarter if we're ahead and moving the ball."
Knute Rockne, when asked why Notre Dame had lost a game: "I won't know until my barber tells me on Monday."
Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers: "I learned a long time ago that 'minor surgery' is when they do the operation on someone else, not you."
George MacIntyre, Vanderbilt football coach surveying the team roster that included 26 freshmen and 25 sophomores: "Our biggest concern this season will be diaper rash."
Rick Venturi, Northwestern football coach: "The only difference between me and General Custer is that I have to watch the films on Sunday.”
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This Day in U S Military History…….July 14
1825 – The visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to America in 1824-
1825 was in every sense a triumphal procession. The 2nd Battalion, 11th New York Artillery, was one of many militia turned out to welcome him. This unit decided to adopt the title “National Guard” in honor of Lafayette’s command of the Garde Nationale de Paris during the French Revolution. The 11th Battalion, later designated as the 7th Regiment, was prominent in the line of march on the occasion of Lafayette’s final passage through New York en route home to France. Taking note of the troops named for his old command he alighted from his carriage walked down the line clasping each officer by the hand as he proceeded. The 7th New York, with its designation “National Guard” went on to become one of the most famous of all Guard units well into the 20th century. Its nickname has come to represent all American militia for more than century.
1862 – Congress passed an act stating that: ” . . . the spirit ration in the Navy of the United States shall forever cease, and . . . no distilled spiritous liquors shall be admitted on board vessels of war, except as medical stores . . . there shall be allowed and paid to each person in the Navy now entitled to the ration, five cents per day in commutation and lieu thereof, which shall be in addition to their present pay.” Assistant Secretary of the Navy Fox and officers generally held that it was in the Navy’s best interest to abolish the spirit ration….and they thought that golf bags were only for Golf clubs……
1945 – Over 1000 US naval aircraft raid Hokkaido and the port of Kamaishi. Also, the American battleships South Dakota, Indiana and Massachusetts, as well as 2 heavy cruisers and 4 destroyers, bombard the Kamaishi steel works in the first naval gunfire directed against the Japanese home islands.
1950 – The week long Battle of Taejon begins. This was an early battle between American and North Korean forces during the Korean War. Forces of the United States Army attempted to defend the headquarters of the 24th Infantry Division. The 24th Infantry Division was overwhelmed by numerically superior forces of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) at the major city and transportation hub of Taejon. The 24th Infantry Division’s regiments were already exhausted from the previous two weeks of delaying actions to stem the advance of the KPA. The entire 24th Division gathered to make a final stand around Taejon, holding a line along the Kum River to the east of the city. Hampered by lack of communication, equipment and shortage of heavy weapons to match KPA firepower, the American forces being outnumbered, ill-equipped and untrained were pushed back from the river bank after several days before fighting an intense urban battle to defend the city. After a fierce three-day struggle, the Americans withdrew. Although they could not hold the city, the 24th Infantry Division achieved a strategic advantage by delaying the North Koreans, providing time for other American divisions to establish a defensive perimeter around Pusan further south. The delay imposed at Taejon probably prevented an American rout during the subsequent Battle of the Pusan Perimeter. During the action the KPA captured Major General William F. Dean, the commander of the 24th Infantry Division, and highest ranking American prisoner during the Korean War.
1952 – Laying of keel of USS Forrestal, the first 59,900 ton aircraft carrier.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HIBSON, JOSEPH C.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 48th New York Infantry. Place and date: Near Fort Wagner, S.C., 13 July 1863, Near Fort Wagner, S.C., 14 July 1863; Near Fort Wagner, S.C., 18 July 1863. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: England. Date of issue: 23 October 1897. Citation: While voluntarily performing picket duty under fire on 13 July 1863, was attacked and his surrender demanded, but he killed his assailant. The day following responded to a call for a volunteer to reconnoiter the enemy’s position, and went within the enemy’s lines under fire and was exposed to great danger. On 18 July voluntarily exposed himself with great gallantry during an assault, and received 3 wounds that permanently disabled him for active service.
HOLTON, CHARLES M.
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, Company A, 7th Michigan Cavalry. Place and date: At Falling Waters, Va., 14 July 1863. Entered service at: Battle Creek, Mich. Born: 25 May 1838, Potter, N.Y. Date of issue: 21 March 1889. Citation: Capture of flag of 55th Virginia Infantry (C.S.A.). In the midst of the battle with foot soldiers he dismounted to capture the flag.
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“This Day in Aviation History” brought to you by the Daedalians Airpower Blog Update. To subscribe to this weekly email, go to https://daedalians.org/airpower-blog/.
July 12, 1976
The Navy retired the last C-117 Skytrain.
July 13, 1977
A pilot in an F-4J Phantom II from NATC Patuxent River, Maryland, made the first landing using the microwave landing system at the FAA Test Facility, Atlantic City, N.J. The system was designed to reach out electronically, catch target aircraft, and fly them to safe landings without the pilots touching the controls.
July 14, 1922
Daedalian Life Member Brig. Gen. Robin Olds, a fighter pilot and triple ace with 16 official aerial victories in two wars, was born on this date as Robert Oldys Jr., at Luke Field Hospital, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. He was the first son of Daedalian Founder Member #12856 Capt. Robert Oldys, Air Service, United States Army, and Eloise Wichman Nott Oldys. In 1931, the family name was legally changed from Oldys to Olds. As a child, Robert Jr., became known as “Robin,” a dimunuitive of Robert. Learn more about this member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame HERE. .
July 15, 1939
The Army Air Corps acquired performance rights to the song “Wild Blue Yonder” by composer Robert Crawford. It subsequently became the official U.S. Air Force song.
July 16, 1969
Apollo 11, crewed by Neil A. Armstrong, Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., USAF, and Lt. Col. Michael Collins, USAF, launched from John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida. On July 20, Armstrong and Aldrin in lunar module Eagle separated from command and service module Columbia and descended to the moon. “Houston, Tranquility Base here — the Eagle has landed,” Armstrong reported to mission control when the lunar module touched down on the moon at 1618 EDT. At 2256 EDT, a naval aviator became the first person to walk on the moon when Armstrong stepped onto the surface. Collins, who retired as a major general in the Air Force Reserve, is a Daedalian Life Member.
July 17, 1989
The first Northrop B-2A Spirit, 82-1066, took off from Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, on its first flight. The crew was Northrop Chief Test Pilot Bruce J. Hinds and Col. Richard Couch. The top secret “stealth bomber” prototype landed at Edwards AFB, California, 1 hour, 52 minutes later. After completing the flight test program, -1066 was placed in storage until 1993, awaiting upgrade to the Block 10 operational configuration. In 2000 it was again upgraded to the Block 30 standard. It is now named Spirit of America and assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Missouri.
July 18, 1980 NASA astronaut Charles Conrad Jr. became the 12th naval aviator enshrined at the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio. Conrad, who died in 1999, was a Daedalian Life Member.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 14, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
14 July
1914: Dr. Robert H. Goddard received a US patent for a liquid-fueled rocket. (21)
1922: Aeromarine Airways began a flying boat service from Detroit to Cleveland. (24)
1943: Comiso Airfield was the first airfield recaptured in Sicily. Afterwards, a German JU-88 landed amid US flak shots. The pilot climbed out, shook his fist at the flak battery, and much to his surprise, became a prisoner. Later, two German ME-109s also landed, believing the airfield to be in German hands. They were also taken prisoner. (4)
1944: Navy PB4Y Liberators flew from Saipan to make the first strike on Iwo Jima by shore-based planes. (24)
1945: From Hollandia, A-20s set fire to Japanese oil fields at Boela, Ceram. They used rocket bombs for the first time in the Southwest Pacific. (24)
1948: Through 20 July, in the first West-East transatlantic flight of jets, 16 F-80s flew from Selfridge Field to Scotland. The trip across the Atlantic took 9 hours 20 minutes. (16) (26)
1950: KOREAN WAR. The 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group (FIG) moved from Japan to a new airfield at Pohang, thus becoming the first USAF fighter group to be based in S. Korea during the war. The 6132d Tactical Air Control Squadron, the first tactical air control unit in the war, activated at Taegu AB to provide forward, ground-based air control for aircraft providing close air support of UN forces. (28)
1951: KOREAN WAR. In one of the more spectacular night strikes of the war, a single B-26 of the 452 BG attacked two enemy convoys north of Sinanju in the early morning hours, claiming sixty-eight destroyed or damaged vehicles. Additionally, the first KB-29P flying boom refueling took place over enemy territory when a RB-45C was refueled over North Korea. (18) (28) Boeing delivered the first KC-97E tanker (number 51-183) to SAC’s 306 AREFS at MacDill AFB. (1)
1952: The Ground Observer Corps started its Skywatch program under a nationwide air defense effort. (16) (24)
1958: The USAF decided that the flying boom delivery system would be its standard for air refueling aircraft. (18)
1960: Operation SAFARI. The Congo Airlift started from Evreux, France. (24)
1965: Launched on 28 November 1964, Mariner IV, came within 5,500 miles of Mars. It relayed the first photos of Mars taken from a spacecraft over 134 million miles to earth. (21)
1970: The C-5A Galaxy completed its first transpacific flight of 21,500 miles, inaugurating service to Hickam AFB, Andersen AFB, Clark AB, and Kadena AB. (16) (26)
1974: Gen Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, the first CSAF, died at Walter Reed General Hospital at age 83.
1980: From Vandenberg AFB, the 394th ICBM Test Maintenance Squadron launched the last Block 5D-1 Defense Meteorological Satellite. A Thor booster failed to place it in orbit. (6)
2001: A prototype Minuteman ICBM interceptor targeted and destroyed an unarmed Minuteman II ICBM over the central Pacific. Ten minutes after launch, the interceptor destroyed the warhead, traveling some 15,000 mph at more than 140 miles in altitude above the Earth. The 30th Space Wing at Vandenberg AFB and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization conducted the Ground-based Midcourse Defense Segment, formerly called the National Missile Defense Program, test. (AFNEWS Article 0961, 17 Jul 2001)
2005: An FA/22 Raptor flown by an AFFTC pilot dropped its first 1,000-pound GBU-32 JDAM at supersonic speed. The test significantly increased the Raptor’s operational capabilities. (3)
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