To All.
Good Friday morning April 17, 2026. Nice day out there and is supposed to stay sunny all day and for the next 3..
.I hope that you all have a great weekend
Regards,
skip
HAGD
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director’s corner for all 97 H-Grams
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
This Day in U S Military History…….April 17
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
. April 17
1778 The sloop-of-war Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones, captures British ship, Lord Chatham, in St. Georges Channel, during the American Revolution.
1808 Napoleon Bonaparte issues the Bayonne Decree, which authorizes the French seizure of all United States ships entering all ports of the Hanseatic League. Napoleon argues the decree will help the United States enforce the Embargo Act signed by President Thomas Jefferson in December 1807.
1915 Chief Gunners Mate Frank Crilley, a naval diver, rescues a fellow diver who had become entangled at a depth of 250 feet during salvage operations for USS F-4 submarine that had sunk March 25, 1915, with the loss of her entire crew. For his heroism on this occasion, he is awarded the Medal of Honor in 1929.
1918 USS Stewart (DD 13) is on escort duty in Quiberon Bay, France when nearby the American steamship Florence H suffers an internal explosion. Ships Cook Third Class Jesse W. Covington and Quartermaster Frank M. Upton dive overboard to save an exhausted survivor surrounded by exploding power boxes. For their actions, both sailors receive the Medal of Honor.
1942 USS Searaven (SS 196) begins rescue of stranded Australian sailors, airmen, and soldiers from Japanese-occupied Timor, N.E.I.
1944 Minesweeper USS Swift (AM 122) and patrol craft USS PC 619 sink the German submarine, U 986, in the North Atlantic.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in World History
April 17
858 Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
1492 Christopher Columbus signs a contract with Spain to find a western route to the Indies.
1524 Present-day New York Harbor is discovered by Giovanni da Verrazzano.
1535 Antonio Mendoza is appointed first viceroy of New Spain.
1758 Frances Williams, the first African-American to graduate from a college in the western hemisphere, publishes a collection of Latin poems.
1808 Bayonne Decree by Napoleon Bonaparte of France orders seizure of U.S. ships.
1824 Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54' 40'.
1861 Virginia becomes the eighth state to secede from the Union.
1864 General Ulysses Grant bans the trading of prisoners.
1865 Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination.
1875 The game "snooker" is invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain.
1895 China and Japan sign peace treaty of Shimonoseki.
1929 Baseball player Babe Ruth and Claire Hodgson, a former member of the Ziegfeld Follies, get married.
1946 The last French troops leave Syria.
1947 Jackie Robinson bunts for his first major league hit.
1961 Some 1,400 Cuban exiles attack the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.
1964 Jerrie Mock becomes first woman to fly solo around the world.
1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
1970 Apollo 13--originally scheduled to land on the moon--lands back safely on Earth after an accident.
1975 Khmer Rouge forces capture the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
1983 In Warsaw, police rout 1,000 Solidarity supporters.
.nnnnnnnnn
1970 Apollo 13--originally scheduled to land on the moon--lands back safely on Earth after an accident.
With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth on April 17, 1970.
On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Swigert reported to mission control on Earth, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light and water had been disrupted.
History Shorts: How Apollo 13 Found Its Way Home
Stranded in space, the Apollo 13 astronauts managed to find their way back home by using technology invented centuries earlier.
An error occurred
Something went wrong while setting up a Google DAI stream.
The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, looped around it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth.
The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its oxygen supply, as well as running on batteries due to the loss of the fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13‘s course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. On April 17, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13 astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
1861 – U.S.S. Powhatan, Lieutenant D. D. Porter, arrived off Pensacola. Under her protecting guns, 600 troops on board steamer Atlantic were landed at Fort Pickens to complete its reinforcement. President Lincoln had stated “I want that fort saved at all hazards.” The President’s wish was fulfilled, and use of the best harbor on the Gulf was denied the Confederacy for the entire war, while serving the Union in¬dispensably in the blockade and the series of devastating assaults from the sea that divided and de¬stroyed the South.
1897 – The Aurora, Texas, UFO incident reportedly occurred on April 17, 1897 when, according to locals, a UFO crashed on a farm near Aurora, Texas. The incident (similar to the more famous Roswell UFO incident 50 years later) is claimed to have resulted in a fatality from the crash and the alleged alien body is to have been buried in an unmarked grave at the local cemetery.
1943 – Lieutenant Ross P. Bullard and Boatswain’s Mate First Class C. S. “Mike” Hall boarded the U-175 at sea after their cutter, the CGC Spencer, blasted the U-boat to the surface with depth charges when the U-boat attempted to attack the convoy the Spencer was escorting. They were part of a boarding party sent to seize the U-boat before the Nazi crew could scuttle it. The damage to the U-boat was severe, however, and it sank after both had boarded it and climbed the conning tower. Both men ended up in the water as it slipped beneath the waves. Nevertheless, they carry the distinction of being the first American servicemen to board an enemy warship underway at sea since the War of 1812. The Navy credited the Spencer with the kill. She rescued 19 of the U-boat’s crew and her sister cutter, Duane, rescued 22. One Spencer crewman was killed by friendly fire during the battle.
1945 – U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash commandeers over half a ton of uranium at Strassfut, Germany, in an effort to prevent the Russians from developing an A-bomb. Pash was head of the Alsos Group, organized to search for German scientists in the postwar environment in order to prevent the Russians, previously Allies but now a potential threat, from capturing any scientists and putting them to work at their own atomic research plants. Uranium piles were also rich “catches,” as they were necessary to the development of atomic weapons.
1961 – The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA financed and trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter failure. Fidel Castro had been a concern to U.S. policymakers since he seized power in Cuba with a revolution in January 1959. Castro’s attacks on U.S. companies and interests in Cuba, his inflammatory anti-American rhetoric, and Cuba’s movement toward a closer relationship with the Soviet Union led U.S. officials to conclude that the Cuban leader was a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere. In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba. John F. Kennedy inherited this program when he became president in 1961. Though many of his military advisors indicated that an amphibious assault on Cuba by a group of lightly armed exiles had little chance for success, Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the attack. On April 17, 1961, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons and using American landing craft, waded ashore at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The hope was that the exile force would serve as a rallying point for the Cuban citizenry, who would rise up and overthrow Castro’s government. The plan immediately fell apart–the landing force met with unexpectedly rapid counterattacks from Castro’s military, the tiny Cuban air force sank most of the exiles’ supply ships, the United States refrained from providing necessary air support, and the expected uprising never happened. Over 100 of the attackers were killed, and more than 1,100 were captured. The failure at the Bay of Pigs cost the United States dearly. Castro used the attack by the “Yankee imperialists” to solidify his power in Cuba and he requested additional Soviet military aid. Eventually that aid included missiles, and the construction of missile bases in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union nearly came to blows over the issue. Further, throughout much of Latin America, the United States was pilloried for its use of armed force in trying to unseat Castro, a man who was considered a hero to many for his stance against U.S. interference and imperialism. Kennedy tried to redeem himself by publicly accepting blame for the attack and its subsequent failure, but the botched mission left the young president looking vulnerable and indecisive.
1970 – With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth. On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Mission commander Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth. The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13’s course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. On April 17, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13 astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
2003 – US Special Forces captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti (5 of clubs), a half brother of Saddam Hussein. He was 3rd on the list of 55 former Iraqi officials wanted by the US.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CRILLEY, FRANK WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Chief Gunner’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 13 September 1883, Trenton, N.J. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. (19 November 1928). Citation: For display of extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession above and beyond the call of duty during the diving operations in connection with the sinking in a depth of water 304 feet, of the U.S.S. F-4 with all on board, as a result of loss of depth control, which occurred off Honolulu, T.H., on 25 March 1915. On 17 April 1915, William F. Loughman, chief gunner’s mate, U.S. Navy, who had descended to the wreck and had examined one of the wire hawsers attached to it, upon starting his ascent, and when at a depth of 250 feet beneath the surface of the water, had his lifeline and air hose so badly fouled by this hawser that he was unable to free himself; he could neither ascend nor descend. On account of the length of time that Loughman had already been subjected to the great pressure due to the depth of water, and of the uncertainty of the additional time he would have to be subjected to this pressure before he could be brought to the surface, it was imperative that steps be taken at once to clear him. Instantly, realizing the desperate case of his comrade, Crilley volunteered to go to his aid, immediately donned a diving suit and descended. After a lapse of time of 2 hours and 11 minutes, Crilley was brought to the surface, having by a superb exhibition of skill, coolness, endurance and fortitude, untangled the snarl of lines and cleared his imperiled comrade, so that he was brought, still alive, to the surface.
COVINGTON, JESSE WHITFIELD
Rank and organization: Ship’s Cook Third Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: At sea aboard the U.S.S. Stewart, 17 April 1918. Entered service at: California. Born: 16 September 1889, Haywood, Tenn. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Jesse W. Covington, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself, fully realizing that similar powder boxes in the vicinity were continually exploding and that he was thereby risking his life in saving the life of this man.
UPTON, FRANK MONROE
Rank and organization: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 April 1896, Loveland, Colo. Accredited to: Colorado. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H, on 17 April 1918. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Frank M. Upton, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself. Fully realizing the danger from continual explosion of similar powder boxes in the vicinity, he risked his life to save the life of this man.
BURKE, FRANK
(also known as FRANCIS X. BURKE) Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Nuremberg, Germany, 17 April 1945. Entered service at: Jersey City, N.J. Born: 29 September 1918, New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 4, 9 January 1946. Citation: He fought with extreme gallantry in the streets of war-torn Nuremberg, Germany, where the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, was engaged in rooting out fanatical defenders of the citadel of Nazism. As battalion transportation officer he had gone forward to select a motor-pool site, when, in a desire to perform more than his assigned duties and participate in the fight, he advanced beyond the lines of the forward riflemen. Detecting a group of about 10 Germans making preparations for a local counterattack, he rushed back to a nearby American company, secured a light machinegun with ammunition, and daringly opened fire on this superior force, which deployed and returned his fire with machine pistols, rifles, and rocket launchers. From another angle a German machinegun tried to blast him from his emplacement, but 1st Lt. Burke killed this guncrew and drove off the survivors of the unit he had originally attacked. Giving his next attention to enemy infantrymen in ruined buildings, he picked up a rifle dashed more than 100 yards through intense fire and engaged the Germans from behind an abandoned tank. A sniper nearly hit him from a cellar only 20 yards away, but he dispatched this adversary by running directly to the basement window, firing a full clip into it and then plunging through the darkened aperture to complete the job. He withdrew from the fight only long enough to replace his jammed rifle and secure grenades, then re-engaged the Germans. Finding his shots ineffective, he pulled the pins from 2 grenades, and, holding 1 in each hand, rushed the enemy-held building, hurling his missiles just as the enemy threw a potato masher grenade at him. In the triple explosion the Germans were wiped out and 1st Lt. Burke was dazed; but he emerged from the shower of debris that engulfed him, recovered his rifle, and went on to kill 3 more Germans and meet the charge of a machine pistolman, whom he cut down with 3 calmly delivered shots. He then retired toward the American lines and there assisted a platoon in a raging, 30-minute fight against formidable armed hostile forces. This enemy group was repulsed, and the intrepid fighter moved to another friendly group which broke the power of a German unit armed with a 20-mm. gun in a fierce fire fight. In 4 hours of heroic action, 1st Lt. Burke single-handedly killed 11 and wounded 3 enemy soldiers and took a leading role in engagements in which an additional 29 enemy were killed or wounded. His extraordinary bravery and superb fighting skill were an inspiration to his comrades, and his entirely voluntary mission into extremely dangerous territory hastened the fall of Nuremberg, in his battalion’s sector.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for April 17, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
17 April
1923: Lt Rutledge Irvine flew a Douglas DT with a Liberty engine to a world altitude record for class C airplanes with a load of 1,000 kilograms by reaching 11,609 feet over McCook Field. (5)
1923: Lt Harold R. Harris set a world speed record of 114.35 MPH for 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) in a DH-4L Liberty 375 at Dayton. He also set a speed record of 114.22 MPH for 2,000 kilometers in this flight. (24)
1943: Eighth Air Force made its first 100-plane attack on a single target at Bremen, Germany. (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR/Operation MiG. An intelligence operation behind enemy lines resulted in the recovery of vital components of a crashed MiG-15. A YH-19 helicopter flew a U.S. and South Korean team to the crash area south of Sinanju, N. Korea. Under friendly fighter cover, the party extracted MiG components and samples and obtained photographs. On the return flight southward the helicopter came under enemy ground fire and received one hit. The successful mission led to greater technical knowledge of the MiG. (28)
1954: The US Army announced that it was delivering the Corporal guided rocket and the Honest John ballistic rocket to troops for ground fighting. (16) (24)
1961: The USAF Cambridge Research Center launched a constant-altitude balloon from Vernalis, Calif. It stayed at 70,000 feet for 9 days with a 40-pound payload. (16) (24)
1962: Maj David W. Crow flew a MATS C-135B to 47,171 feet to set new weight/altitude records for payloads of 33,069, 44092, 55,115, and 66,138 pounds. (24)
1964: Mrs. Jerrie Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world when she landed her Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus at Columbus after a 29-day, 11-hour, 59-minute flight. She made 21 stops in flying 23,206 miles and became the first woman to fly across both the Atlantic and Pacific. (9)
1967: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird set a record for the longest Mach 3 flight in history. The Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) successfully launched a Minuteman II on its first attempt from Vandenberg AFB. (1)(6) At Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam, PACAF’s 19 FS (Commando) transferred its F-5s to the Vietnamese Air Force’s 522 FS. (17)
1969: After being dropped by a B-52, test pilot Maj Jerauld R. Gentry completed the X-24 Lifting Body’s first free-flight over Edwards AFB. (3)
1970: SAC emplaced its first Minuteman III into a 91 SMW silo at Minot AFB. (6) 1988: MACKAY TROPHY. Through 23 July, improved relations between the Soviet Union and the US led to joint verification experiments to monitor nuclear testing. Refueled by KC-10s, C-5s carried test equipment and scientists from the US to Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. To complete the first mission to Semipalatinsk, Capt Michael Eastman and fellow crewmembers (Maj John L. Cirafici, Capt James Runk and Kelly Scott; SMSgt Arthur Vogt; MSgts Robert Downs, Charles Finnegan, James Maurer, and William Tobler; TSgts William Nunn Jr.; SSgt Timothy Hahn; and Sgts Andrew Benucci, Jr. and Thomas Siler) had to overcome a void of information and numerous obstacles. For that effort, they received the Mackay Trophy for 1988. (18)
1972: Apollo 16 carried John W. Young, Charles M. Duke, Jr., and Thomas K. Mattingly II from the Kennedy Space Center on the fifth lunar landing mission. The lunar module “Orion” touched down in the moon’s Descartes region on 20 April, lifted off on 24 April, rejoined the “Casper” command module, and landed in the Pacific on 27 April after an 11-day, 2-hour mission. Apollo 16 experienced several minor glitches en route to the Moon. These culminated with a problem with the spacecraft's main engine that resulted in a six-hour delay in the Moon landing as NASA managers contemplated having the astronauts abort the mission and return to Earth, before deciding the problem could be overcome. Although they permitted the lunar landing, NASA had the astronauts return from the mission one day earlier than planned. (John Young saluting the United States flag while jumping up on the Moon, with the Apollo Lunar Module Orion and Lunar Roving Vehicle in the background. Young later piloted STS-1 in 1981).
1989: Lockheed delivered the 50th and last C-5B Galaxy transport to the USAF. (16) Through 18 April, Lockheed test pilots Jerry Hoyt and Ron Williams set 16 time-to-climb and altitude records in a NASA U-2C at the Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards AFB. After the flight, the aircraft retired to a museum. (20)
1996: Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. The operation in Haiti officially came to an end. The US only lost one soldier to hostile fire in the 18-month operation in which US military forces dismantled a military dictatorship. (26) 1998: The USAF accepted the first of two C-38A Courier aircraft. Two ANG pilots from the 201 AS flew the aircraft from St. Louis to Andrews AFB to replace the older C-21. (32) The 20 SOS at Hurlburt Field, Fla., received the Air Force’s first production-modified MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter from Lockheed Martin. (AFNEWS Article 980545, 25 April)
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. The USAF sent the RQ-1 Predator on its first flights into a combat zone to perform reconnaissance over Serbia. (21)
2000: Through 20 April, a 437 AW C-17 from Charleston AFB airlifted Polish soldiers and equipment from Strachowice AB in southwestern Poland to Mitrovica, Kosovo, to augment NATO peacekeeping forces in the Yugoslav province. In four days, Air Mobility Command moved 130 Polish troops and 205,000 pounds of equipment. A single C-17 Globemaster III, flown by several aircrews, performed the shuttle missions between Ramstein AB, Strachowice, and Mitrovica. (22)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
--
April 16
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
.
Rollingthunderremembered.com .
April 16
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
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Rollingthunderremembered.com .
April 16
Hello All,
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
Links to all content can now be found right on the homepage http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com. If you scroll down from the banner and featured content you will find "Today in Rolling Thunder Remembered History" which highlights events in the Vietnam war that occurred on the date the page is visited. Below that are links to browse or search all content. You may search by keyword(s), date, or date range.
An item of importance is the recent incorporation of Task Force Omega (TFO) MIA summaries. There is a link on the homepage and you can also visit directly via https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/task-force-omega/. There are 60 summaries posted thus far, with about 940 to go (not a typo—TFO has over 1,000 individual case files).
If you have any questions or comments about RTR/TFO, or have a question on my book, you may e-mail me directly at acrossthewing@protonmail.com. Thank you Dan
Thanks to Micro
From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..April 17 . .
April 17: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=527
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
The site works, find anyone you knew in “search" feature. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
By: Kipp Hanley
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
While searching through the archives this morning I came across this piece from the Bear
“THE LEGENDARY UNION OF LAOTIAN UNFORTUNATES”… The “LULU’s”…
Operation COMMANDO HUNT was fought in the skies of Laos. Hundreds of American warriors would fall into the jungles and mountains of the small nation bounded on the east by warring neighbors North and South Vietnam. Laos became a torrid battleground–a sanctuary for the North that could not be allowed to go unchecked by the South, especially the logistic pipeline called the “Ho Chi Minh Trail.” The brunt of the air war over Laos was fought by the Air Force flying out of Thailand bases and Navy attack aircraft flying off carriers in the Gulf of Tonkin. Over the years, 1961 through 1973, including COMMANDO HUNT–1968-1972, more than 570 American warriors were downed and listed as missing in action in Laos. Another 90 were missing in Cambodia. More than 300 of those brave souls remain missing in 2019. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (March 2019): “Of the remaining 288 Americans still unaccounted for in Laos, 11 are in a ‘non-recoverable’ category. This means as a result of a rigorous investigation we have conclusive evidence the individual perished, but do not believe it possible to recover his remains. On rare occasions, new leads can arise to bring a case back to an active status.” The search goes on. DPAA is working to resolve: “Last Known Alive ” cases: “Of the original 81 individuals in this category–those who may of may not have survived their loss incident and were either alive on the ground, in captivity, or in immediate proximity of capture, but did not return, DOD has confirmed the death of 54, with 17 still unresolved. Of the 64 whose deaths have been confirmed, the remains of 20 have been located and identified; effforts continue to recover the remaining 44. U.S. and Vietnamese specialists will meet in Hanoi later this year to discuss Last Known Alive cases in areas of Laos controlled by Vietnamese forces during the war.”… The search goes on… That is the current status of “Unaccounted-for Americans in the Vietnam War”…
https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/569617/progress-in-laos/
THE SAGA OF A “LULU”– 1LT STEPHEN G. LONG, USAF…
After the American raid on the North Vietnamese POW facility at Son Tay in November, 1970, the North Vietnamese decided to bring all the American POWs under one umbrella in central Hanoi. What followed was “Unity, Chaos, and the Fourth Allied POW Wing,” the title of chapter 24 in the brilliant story of our Vietnam POWs, HONOR BOUND–American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1961-1973, by Stuart J. Rochester and Frederick Kiley. Humble Host snipped the following from pages 522-524 of HONOR BOUND…
“When the PWs at the suburban camps at Dan Hoi (Faith) and Cu Loc (Zoo) were herded into the city late in 1970, they found themselves in a section of Hoa Lo none had seen before. It was a separate compound on the northwest side of the prison that contained seven large open-bay cells ringing the perimeter in roughly a U-shape and three detached smaller cell blocks, two of those with individual rooms and a third an open bay.”… “By year’s end, then, over 340 U.S. prisoners of war–all of those captured in the North and known to be alive–were gathered in one location. It was the first time all the aviators had been together in a single camp. They called the place ‘Unity.'”….
“‘Pandemonium’ is a word that appears often in the PW’s postwar reminiscences to describe both the confusion and high emotion that accompanied their consolidation in Unity, the excitement heightened by the holiday season and a buzz of rumors about the attack on Son Tay. Like classmates discovering long lost or forgotten pals at a college reunion, comrades exhanged embraces and stories as they circulated and staked out places for their bedding. ‘There was so much hugging and handshaking going on,’ Guarino wrote, ‘I had to sit down and patiently wait my turn.’ ‘Names, faces and voices all came together.’ said Risner. Dramesi noted that ‘it was amazing how different people looked. Some ended up being shorter that expected. Some people turned out to be older. It was always different looking at a person in full view rather than seeing him through a crack in a wall.’ They were still divided into separate rooms, but in each of the large chambers dozens of men milled about laughing, crying and speculating as to what it all meant. ‘For years it had taken as much as twenty-four hours to get a message around that crowd and twenty-four to get the answer back,’ Rutledge penned in his memoir. ‘Men had risked and suffered much to communicate a sentence a day. Now, suddenly, we were face-to-face. Everybody wanted to talk to everybody else simultaneously.’
“Not everyone whom mates hoped to find could be located–Storz, Cameron, Connell, and the other so called ‘Lonely Hearts’ who had dropped out of sight over the years remained sorely missing–but typical was the reunion of Jack Fellowes and George Coker, who had known of each other’s whereabouts since separated four days after their capture incident in 1966. One of the more interesting collections of prisoners surfaced in a corner of the compound in one of the smaller buildings that the PWs gave the numerical designation ‘0’ (Zero). Here in separate two- and three-man cells were lodged the four Air Force full colonels, FOUR AMERICANS CAPTURED IN LAOS (my highlighting), three Thais, and a South Vietnamese Air Force lieutenant. The Laotian captives were a fascinating story in themselves. ERNIE BRUCE and JIM BEDINGER had been joined at Hoa Lo by MAJOR WALTER STISCHER and LT STEPHEN LONG in November 1970. The quartet had been spotted by other Americans in Vegas in December, and by the time they were moved into Unity their isolation and denial of mail privileges had already earned them the label ‘LEGENDARY UNION OF LAOTIAN UNFORTUNATES’ (LULUs).”… End Honor Bound quotes…
MAJOR STEVE LONG included the following in a note he wrote (in third person) in response to families with men missing in action in Laos who were asking for information about capture and captivity in Laos.
He wrote: “Stephen Long was shot down near Mugia Pass, Laos, on 28 February 1969. After spending a few days in the caves of Laos, Steve was transported to Hanoi. after enduring an extended period of interrogation and subsequent medical treatment for a broken femur, he was inducted into the prison facilities at Camp Vegas, more commonly known as Hanoi Hilton… After six months of solitary, Steve was moved within the compound to a room occupied by MAJOR WALTER STISCHER, USAF, shot down and captured in Laos, 13 April 1968…Later that same year, two other POWs captured in Laos, Navy LT HENRY (Jim) BEDINGER (Shot down and captured 22 November 1969) and civilian EARNEST BRACE (Captured 21 May 1965), became cellmates in the other parts of Camp Vegas…. BRACE’s gripping story of nearly eight brutal years in captivity, in the jungle and in Hanoi, is excellently portrayed in his book, A CODE TO KEEP…. as a result of the Son Tay raid on 21 November 1970, the North Vietnamese captors decided to consolidate American POWs in Camp Unity. At this time, the four Laotian prisoners were separated from other POWs and formed what was to become known as the LULUs….The LULUs were later moved from prison to prison, sometimes each in a solitaire and sometimes sharing cells but never, ever with other American prisoners known to have been captured in other than Laos. At this time, it became apparent that the North Vientamese had identified the LULUs for different treatment because of their origin of capture. The LULUs were to be denied any exchange of packages or letters from the U.S. and in fact their existence was hidden from other prisoners, separated by walls and makeshift barriers, and their names were not present on any list of known POWs until after the war… On 7 February 1970 the POWs in Camp Unity held a ‘Song Fest’ and the LULUs were moved from their solitaire cell in Building 0 to Camp Briar Patch to make their cell available to punish the leaders of the ‘Song Fest.’ The LULUs remained in solitaire.”…
There is this elsewhere on the internet concerning the LULUs. “The LULUs were paraded through a number of prisons during their tenure in North Vietnam, finally being joined in the Snake Pit behind Camp Vegas (Hanoi Hilton) by USAF CHARLES REESE (shot down and captured 24 December 1972), and two young missionaries, LLoyd Oppel and Sam Mattix, captured in Laos a few months earlier. Eventually the LULUs were released through an elaborate ceremony on 28 March 1973 where an Asian participant identified as a Laotian handed the LULUs over to the North Vietnamese, who in turn released the LULUs to the U.S. officials (Operation Homecoming)… While there were other American servicemen captured in Laos and Cambodia during the SEA conflict, these seven servicemen and three civilians in the LULU group were the (only) ones the NVN identified as such and identified for ‘special treatment.’ Post-war inquiries questioning if all POWs had been released raised an issue that perhaps there were other POWs who had been captured in North and South Vietnam, or even Cambodia and Laos. While no parallel prison system was ever determined to have existed, the LULU experience was as close to ‘separate’ treatment as could be identified.”
“PROUD EX-POW’s STORY IS DEVOID OF BITTERNESS” by Deborah Hastings, Associated Press, Dateline: Las Vegas, 28 November 1999…
“He awoke while falling through the sky. He jerked the rip cord of his chute, but it was too late for a safe landing. His leg snapped. People were shooting t him. He tried to run, but his useless leg wouldn’t move. He was thrown on the back of a truck. Eventually he was sent to prison. For five months he sat alone in pitch blackness (in a cave) with a cast on his leg. Steve Long was a prisoner of war for four years (1,490 days), shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War. He could be angry or bitter, but like many of the veterans he addressed at a reunion of the Special Operation Association. Instead, Long is thankful.
“‘I have a lovely wife and a lovely family,’ he said. ‘But the POW experience was the biggest thing in my life. It changed me. And it’s up to you to make it a change for the better.’ Unlike his audience, Long wasn’t in Special Operations. But in 1969 he was on a secret Air Force assignment over Laos, mapping sites for dropping listening devices. It was Long’s first (Igloo White) mission. His plane was shot down about 100 miles northeast of the Laotian capital of Vientiane. ( Not true– 1LT LONG was shot down near the Mugia Pass and after a few days in Laotian caves, he was transported to Hanoi)… His North Vietnamese captors took him to Hanoi. After 30 weeks in darkened solitary, he was moved to another cell. This one had light. Then the tapping began, and a voice whispered through the wall. It explained a kind of Morse code the prisoners used to communicate (Tap Code). ‘You could put your ear next to any wall and it sounded like Western Union,’ Long said. He passed the days creating new professions. One week he was a lawyer. Day one was law school. Day two, he took the bar exam. By week end, he had his own practice.
“He was freed only because fellow prisoner who were exchanged for North Vietnamese POWs in 1973 told American officials there were four men who’d been shot down in Laos stll in Hanoi prison. The four were released after U.S. military commanders threatened a bombing strike, Long said. ‘It was the happiest day of my life. The scariest, too, because I had no idea what the future would hold for me. His wife had divorced him. Her letter, placed in his military file, told him so (It was handed to him on the day of Operation Homecoming). He didn’t blame her. ‘She was young,’ he said. She pressed on with her life.’ But just as he had in prison, through hunger and beatings, Long refused to despair. ‘I couldn’t sleep more than three hours a night,’ he said. ‘Life was great. It is great. And it is beautiful.’
“He stayed in the military flying until he retired in 1987. He remarried and has two grown children. Now he is an activist for Veteran’s rights (Deputy Director for Veteran’s Affairs for the State of Nevada). In a hallway outside the reunion hospitality suite, the genteel former pilot said he understands covert warfare and the soul-robbing toll it takes on those who wage it. These (Special Operations) guys have a comaraderie and a respect for each other,’ he said, pointing down the hall. ‘I think that most of those missions were for the best of our country. Maybe not all of them, but most of them.'”… End AP story…
Three links for further POW reading…
(1) House Committee on Foreign Affairs Hearing “American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, 1970” (150 pages)..
https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/American-POW_SE-Asia.pdf
American Prisoners of War in Southeast Asia, Hearings, 1970
AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1970 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1970 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEEON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, COMMITTEEON NATIONALSEC~TY POLICYAND SCIENTIFICDEVELOPMENTS, Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 10:05 a.m. .in room 2255, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Clement J. Zablocki (chairman of the subcom-
(2) “Americans Missing in Laos: No Mystery Here”… Humble Host asked a dear friend and fellow Utahn, who flew SAR Helo flights over Laos and NVN during Rolling Thunder and was an escort officer for Operation Homecoming in 1973, to comment on this unpublished nine page effort to dispel any suggestion that there were POWs left in Southeast Asia after the March 1973 release of the POWs in Hanoi. FRED BERGOLD offered this: “I can understand why it was not published. There are some major errors based on the data I have learned over the years (four + decades). For starters, my source is rather credible, LT STEVE LONG (listed in the report). His info to me was: when the POW list was published in Hoa Lo prison and his name and the other POW’s captured in Laos was not on it, he went to the camp commander and was told he was captured in Laos and would go home when the Laotian war was over! Fortunately, the names came out in the Public Information debrief and Kissinger’s crew was forced to go back to Paris and get them a release. There were ten, seven Air Force pilots, one CIA, and two missionairies. Also, Steve’s roommate at the time was a Thai pilot–the NVA held him for three more years… She (the analyst who performed the ‘No Mystery Here’ study) overlooks the data on POW signals that were ‘walked’ into the areas of known POW camps. Since I did not have access to the recon flight data of the areas it is hard to tell what some really knew and when. POWs abandoned in Laos? –Yes. Also no mention of POWs going to China and the Soviet Union. The later admitted to by the Russians. Again, I can see why it was not published. … P.S. How many back seaters were captured and never returned. Didn’t Red McDaniels talk about that? (See Red’s great book, go abebooks.com: BEFORE HONOR reprinted as SCARS and STRIPES)…
(McDaniels’ BN was LT JAMES KELLY PATTERSON, who broke his leg during the ejection/parachute landing, was on his radio but in extremely hostile country 20 miles south of Hanoi. He was able to evade and hide for four days. The employment of the “Fulton Extraction System” was attempted but the North Vietnamese intercepted the parachuted Fulton package and LT KELLY PATTERSON was n ever heard from again. See RTR archives for 19 May 1967.) LEFT BEHIND AND UNACCOUNTED FOR… As Hobson notes in VIETNAM AIR LOSSES: “LT JAMES PATTERSON is still not accounted for and his case remains one of the most perplexing and intriquingof the many mysterious incidents relating to the fate of missing US servicemen in Southeast Asia.
http://www.miafacts.org/laos.htm
Americans Missing in Laos: No Mystery Here - MIA Facts
Americans Missing in Laos: No Mystery Here Summary. One of the many favorite refrains of the MIA "activists" is that only nine Americans captured in Laos returned, while 471 returned from North Vietnam and over 100 returned from South Vietnam.
(3) “MIA Facts Site: The Overwater Losses: Skewing the Statistics.” This is a companion paper that explains the uselessness of comparing POW recovery rates for Laos with those of North and South Vietnam. Good numbers are used to make the case that deleting overwater losses from the losses in the three areas demonstrates the number of unaccounted pilots and aircrew are comparable. It is an interesting argument.
http://www.miafacts.org/ow.htm
The Overwater Losses
The Overwater Losses: Skewing the Statistics. Summary: One of the continuing myths that plagues the MIA issue is the refrain that, because so high a proportion of the men lost in Laos were declared Missing In Action (MIA) versus Killed In Action/Body Not Recovered (KIA/BNR), this must mean that men survived and were captured in large numbers, never to be returned.
HUMBLE HOST END NOTE… MAJOR STEPHEN G. LONG, who passed away on 10 August 2018, was among the bravest of the brave and his sacrifice and service for his entire life are worthy of your attention. His biography and the citation for his second Distinguished Flying Cross are at:…
http://veterantributes.org/TributeDetail.php?recordID=1024
Veteran Tributes
Steve Long was born on February 16, 1944, in Hastings, Nebraska. He entered Officer Training School on March 13, 1967, and was commissioned a 2d Lt in the U.S. Air Force at Lackland AFB, Texas, on May 27, 1967.
Lest we forget… Bear
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
From Skip
One of my favorite actors
Here's a detailed article about NavAv Robert Taylor:
https://roberttayloractor.blog/2015/05/24/lt-robert-taylor-united-states-naval-reserve-1943-1945/
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in U S Military History…….April 17
1861 – U.S.S. Powhatan, Lieutenant D. D. Porter, arrived off Pensacola. Under her protecting guns, 600 troops on board steamer Atlantic were landed at Fort Pickens to complete its reinforcement. President Lincoln had stated “I want that fort saved at all hazards.” The President’s wish was fulfilled, and use of the best harbor on the Gulf was denied the Confederacy for the entire war, while serving the Union in¬dispensably in the blockade and the series of devastating assaults from the sea that divided and de¬stroyed the South.
1897 – The Aurora, Texas, UFO incident reportedly occurred on April 17, 1897 when, according to locals, a UFO crashed on a farm near Aurora, Texas. The incident (similar to the more famous Roswell UFO incident 50 years later) is claimed to have resulted in a fatality from the crash and the alleged alien body is to have been buried in an unmarked grave at the local cemetery.
1943 – Lieutenant Ross P. Bullard and Boatswain’s Mate First Class C. S. “Mike” Hall boarded the U-175 at sea after their cutter, the CGC Spencer, blasted the U-boat to the surface with depth charges when the U-boat attempted to attack the convoy the Spencer was escorting. They were part of a boarding party sent to seize the U-boat before the Nazi crew could scuttle it. The damage to the U-boat was severe, however, and it sank after both had boarded it and climbed the conning tower. Both men ended up in the water as it slipped beneath the waves. Nevertheless, they carry the distinction of being the first American servicemen to board an enemy warship underway at sea since the War of 1812. The Navy credited the Spencer with the kill. She rescued 19 of the U-boat’s crew and her sister cutter, Duane, rescued 22. One Spencer crewman was killed by friendly fire during the battle.
1945 – U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash commandeers over half a ton of uranium at Strassfut, Germany, in an effort to prevent the Russians from developing an A-bomb. Pash was head of the Alsos Group, organized to search for German scientists in the postwar environment in order to prevent the Russians, previously Allies but now a potential threat, from capturing any scientists and putting them to work at their own atomic research plants. Uranium piles were also rich “catches,” as they were necessary to the development of atomic weapons.
1961 – The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA financed and trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter failure. Fidel Castro had been a concern to U.S. policymakers since he seized power in Cuba with a revolution in January 1959. Castro’s attacks on U.S. companies and interests in Cuba, his inflammatory anti-American rhetoric, and Cuba’s movement toward a closer relationship with the Soviet Union led U.S. officials to conclude that the Cuban leader was a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere. In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba. John F. Kennedy inherited this program when he became president in 1961. Though many of his military advisors indicated that an amphibious assault on Cuba by a group of lightly armed exiles had little chance for success, Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the attack. On April 17, 1961, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons and using American landing craft, waded ashore at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The hope was that the exile force would serve as a rallying point for the Cuban citizenry, who would rise up and overthrow Castro’s government. The plan immediately fell apart–the landing force met with unexpectedly rapid counterattacks from Castro’s military, the tiny Cuban air force sank most of the exiles’ supply ships, the United States refrained from providing necessary air support, and the expected uprising never happened. Over 100 of the attackers were killed, and more than 1,100 were captured. The failure at the Bay of Pigs cost the United States dearly. Castro used the attack by the “Yankee imperialists” to solidify his power in Cuba and he requested additional Soviet military aid. Eventually that aid included missiles, and the construction of missile bases in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union nearly came to blows over the issue. Further, throughout much of Latin America, the United States was pilloried for its use of armed force in trying to unseat Castro, a man who was considered a hero to many for his stance against U.S. interference and imperialism. Kennedy tried to redeem himself by publicly accepting blame for the attack and its subsequent failure, but the botched mission left the young president looking vulnerable and indecisive.
1970 – With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth. On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Mission commander Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth. The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earth’s atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13’s course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. On April 17, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13 astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
2003 – US Special Forces captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti (5 of clubs), a half brother of Saddam Hussein. He was 3rd on the list of 55 former Iraqi officials wanted by the US.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CRILLEY, FRANK WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Chief Gunner’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 13 September 1883, Trenton, N.J. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. (19 November 1928). Citation: For display of extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession above and beyond the call of duty during the diving operations in connection with the sinking in a depth of water 304 feet, of the U.S.S. F-4 with all on board, as a result of loss of depth control, which occurred off Honolulu, T.H., on 25 March 1915. On 17 April 1915, William F. Loughman, chief gunner’s mate, U.S. Navy, who had descended to the wreck and had examined one of the wire hawsers attached to it, upon starting his ascent, and when at a depth of 250 feet beneath the surface of the water, had his lifeline and air hose so badly fouled by this hawser that he was unable to free himself; he could neither ascend nor descend. On account of the length of time that Loughman had already been subjected to the great pressure due to the depth of water, and of the uncertainty of the additional time he would have to be subjected to this pressure before he could be brought to the surface, it was imperative that steps be taken at once to clear him. Instantly, realizing the desperate case of his comrade, Crilley volunteered to go to his aid, immediately donned a diving suit and descended. After a lapse of time of 2 hours and 11 minutes, Crilley was brought to the surface, having by a superb exhibition of skill, coolness, endurance and fortitude, untangled the snarl of lines and cleared his imperiled comrade, so that he was brought, still alive, to the surface.
COVINGTON, JESSE WHITFIELD
Rank and organization: Ship’s Cook Third Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: At sea aboard the U.S.S. Stewart, 17 April 1918. Entered service at: California. Born: 16 September 1889, Haywood, Tenn. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Jesse W. Covington, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself, fully realizing that similar powder boxes in the vicinity were continually exploding and that he was thereby risking his life in saving the life of this man.
UPTON, FRANK MONROE
Rank and organization: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 April 1896, Loveland, Colo. Accredited to: Colorado. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H, on 17 April 1918. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Frank M. Upton, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself. Fully realizing the danger from continual explosion of similar powder boxes in the vicinity, he risked his life to save the life of this man.
BURKE, FRANK
(also known as FRANCIS X. BURKE) Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Nuremberg, Germany, 17 April 1945. Entered service at: Jersey City, N.J. Born: 29 September 1918, New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 4, 9 January 1946. Citation: He fought with extreme gallantry in the streets of war-torn Nuremberg, Germany, where the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, was engaged in rooting out fanatical defenders of the citadel of Nazism. As battalion transportation officer he had gone forward to select a motor-pool site, when, in a desire to perform more than his assigned duties and participate in the fight, he advanced beyond the lines of the forward riflemen. Detecting a group of about 10 Germans making preparations for a local counterattack, he rushed back to a nearby American company, secured a light machinegun with ammunition, and daringly opened fire on this superior force, which deployed and returned his fire with machine pistols, rifles, and rocket launchers. From another angle a German machinegun tried to blast him from his emplacement, but 1st Lt. Burke killed this guncrew and drove off the survivors of the unit he had originally attacked. Giving his next attention to enemy infantrymen in ruined buildings, he picked up a rifle dashed more than 100 yards through intense fire and engaged the Germans from behind an abandoned tank. A sniper nearly hit him from a cellar only 20 yards away, but he dispatched this adversary by running directly to the basement window, firing a full clip into it and then plunging through the darkened aperture to complete the job. He withdrew from the fight only long enough to replace his jammed rifle and secure grenades, then re-engaged the Germans. Finding his shots ineffective, he pulled the pins from 2 grenades, and, holding 1 in each hand, rushed the enemy-held building, hurling his missiles just as the enemy threw a potato masher grenade at him. In the triple explosion the Germans were wiped out and 1st Lt. Burke was dazed; but he emerged from the shower of debris that engulfed him, recovered his rifle, and went on to kill 3 more Germans and meet the charge of a machine pistolman, whom he cut down with 3 calmly delivered shots. He then retired toward the American lines and there assisted a platoon in a raging, 30-minute fight against formidable armed hostile forces. This enemy group was repulsed, and the intrepid fighter moved to another friendly group which broke the power of a German unit armed with a 20-mm. gun in a fierce fire fight. In 4 hours of heroic action, 1st Lt. Burke single-handedly killed 11 and wounded 3 enemy soldiers and took a leading role in engagements in which an additional 29 enemy were killed or wounded. His extraordinary bravery and superb fighting skill were an inspiration to his comrades, and his entirely voluntary mission into extremely dangerous territory hastened the fall of Nuremberg, in his battalion’s sector.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This is from years ago the story behind the daily history of the USAF. When I first found the piece it was all run together from the first word to the last and took quite a while to break it down by each day but it was worth the time…skip
Yesterday while searching for some Air Force History like the Naval History I include in the daily List I came across this site and used it for the first time below I am now trying to contact him Skip
Note; I did eventually contact him and found out that nobody has continued his fine work. Sad that all that work is stopped around 2007
HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENLACKLAND AFB, TEXAS 23 February 2009
In 1981, as an Air Force enlisted historian, I worked for the Research Division of the Air Force Historical Research Agency (then Albert F. Simpson Historical Center) at Maxwell AFB, Al. For the next two years, I answered inquiries and conducted the Historian’s Development Course. While there I discovered a real “nugget,” A Chronology of American Aerospace Events from 1903-1974, gathering dust on an obscure shelf. I knew the draft document would be a handy reference for all enlisted field historians. In 1983, I took a copy of this chronology with me on my next assignment with the 39th Tactical Group in Turkey. The chronology proved to be an invaluable source in promoting Air Force history. It allowed me to prepare “Today in Aerospace History” slides for weekly staff meetings and write a weekly “Aerospace Highlights” column for the base newspaper. But at that time, the chronology was arranged by year and date, and it took considerable time to find events by specific dates. In 1985, I moved to the Ballistic Missile Office at Norton AFB, California, to write about the Peacekeeper and Small ICBM programs. The introduction of computers allowed me to convert the original chronology into a “By Date” product. I knew that the chronology was not an all inclusive listing, so I began to integrate events from other works—like the Development of Strategic Air Command, 1946-1986, The SAC Missile Chronology, and The Military Airlift Command Historical Handbook, 1941-1986—into an electronic product. This incorporation process has grown to include 32 different chronologies. I also began indexing all entries and began to add events selectively in categories of firsts, lasts, and other significant accomplishments. I kept adding to my aerospace chronology over the years. During my first civilian assignment as the historian for Eighth Air Force at Barksdale AFB, I started a third section for organizational and personnel events. E-mail allowed me to send daily history notes, which brought further attention to the chronology and Air Force History Program. This e-mail endeavor then led commanders to request daily highlights for their speeches and special presentations. Since my assignment to the Office of History in 2004, I have loaded my chronology on the Air Force History Office portal page to make it accessible to Air Force Historians and Air Force personnel in general.
My chronology is now being used by the National Museum of the Air Force to present Today in Air and Space History to its many visitors and by several Air Force schools and ROTC programs to make their students aware of Air Force history. My chronology will remain a work in progress, as I continue
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS
FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for April 17, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
17 April
1923: Lt Rutledge Irvine flew a Douglas DT with a Liberty engine to a world altitude record for class C airplanes with a load of 1,000 kilograms by reaching 11,609 feet over McCook Field. (5)
1923: Lt Harold R. Harris set a world speed record of 114.35 MPH for 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) in a DH-4L Liberty 375 at Dayton. He also set a speed record of 114.22 MPH for 2,000 kilometers in this flight. (24)
1943: Eighth Air Force made its first 100-plane attack on a single target at Bremen, Germany. (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR/Operation MiG. An intelligence operation behind enemy lines resulted in the recovery of vital components of a crashed MiG-15. A YH-19 helicopter flew a U.S. and South Korean team to the crash area south of Sinanju, N. Korea. Under friendly fighter cover, the party extracted MiG components and samples and obtained photographs. On the return flight southward the helicopter came under enemy ground fire and received one hit. The successful mission led to greater technical knowledge of the MiG. (28)
1954: The US Army announced that it was delivering the Corporal guided rocket and the Honest John ballistic rocket to troops for ground fighting. (16) (24)
1961: The USAF Cambridge Research Center launched a constant-altitude balloon from Vernalis, Calif. It stayed at 70,000 feet for 9 days with a 40-pound payload. (16) (24)
1962: Maj David W. Crow flew a MATS C-135B to 47,171 feet to set new weight/altitude records for payloads of 33,069, 44092, 55,115, and 66,138 pounds. (24)
1964: Mrs. Jerrie Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world when she landed her Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus at Columbus after a 29-day, 11-hour, 59-minute flight. She made 21 stops in flying 23,206 miles and became the first woman to fly across both the Atlantic and Pacific. (9)
1967: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird set a record for the longest Mach 3 flight in history. The Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) successfully launched a Minuteman II on its first attempt from Vandenberg AFB. (1)(6) At Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam, PACAF’s 19 FS (Commando) transferred its F-5s to the Vietnamese Air Force’s 522 FS. (17)
1969: After being dropped by a B-52, test pilot Maj Jerauld R. Gentry completed the X-24 Lifting Body’s first free-flight over Edwards AFB. (3)
1970: SAC emplaced its first Minuteman III into a 91 SMW silo at Minot AFB. (6) 1988: MACKAY TROPHY. Through 23 July, improved relations between the Soviet Union and the US led to joint verification experiments to monitor nuclear testing. Refueled by KC-10s, C-5s carried test equipment and scientists from the US to Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. To complete the first mission to Semipalatinsk, Capt Michael Eastman and fellow crewmembers (Maj John L. Cirafici, Capt James Runk and Kelly Scott; SMSgt Arthur Vogt; MSgts Robert Downs, Charles Finnegan, James Maurer, and William Tobler; TSgts William Nunn Jr.; SSgt Timothy Hahn; and Sgts Andrew Benucci, Jr. and Thomas Siler) had to overcome a void of information and numerous obstacles. For that effort, they received the Mackay Trophy for 1988. (18)
1972: Apollo 16 carried John W. Young, Charles M. Duke, Jr., and Thomas K. Mattingly II from the Kennedy Space Center on the fifth lunar landing mission. The lunar module “Orion” touched down in the moon’s Descartes region on 20 April, lifted off on 24 April, rejoined the “Casper” command module, and landed in the Pacific on 27 April after an 11-day, 2-hour mission. Apollo 16 experienced several minor glitches en route to the Moon. These culminated with a problem with the spacecraft's main engine that resulted in a six-hour delay in the Moon landing as NASA managers contemplated having the astronauts abort the mission and return to Earth, before deciding the problem could be overcome. Although they permitted the lunar landing, NASA had the astronauts return from the mission one day earlier than planned. (John Young saluting the United States flag while jumping up on the Moon, with the Apollo Lunar Module Orion and Lunar Roving Vehicle in the background. Young later piloted STS-1 in 1981).
1989: Lockheed delivered the 50th and last C-5B Galaxy transport to the USAF. (16) Through 18 April, Lockheed test pilots Jerry Hoyt and Ron Williams set 16 time-to-climb and altitude records in a NASA U-2C at the Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards AFB. After the flight, the aircraft retired to a museum. (20)
1996: Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. The operation in Haiti officially came to an end. The US only lost one soldier to hostile fire in the 18-month operation in which US military forces dismantled a military dictatorship. (26) 1998: The USAF accepted the first of two C-38A Courier aircraft. Two ANG pilots from the 201 AS flew the aircraft from St. Louis to Andrews AFB to replace the older C-21. (32) The 20 SOS at Hurlburt Field, Fla., received the Air Force’s first production-modified MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter from Lockheed Martin. (AFNEWS Article 980545, 25 April)
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. The USAF sent the RQ-1 Predator on its first flights into a combat zone to perform reconnaissance over Serbia. (21)
2000: Through 20 April, a 437 AW C-17 from Charleston AFB airlifted Polish soldiers and equipment from Strachowice AB in southwestern Poland to Mitrovica, Kosovo, to augment NATO peacekeeping forces in the Yugoslav province. In four days, Air Mobility Command moved 130 Polish troops and 205,000 pounds of equipment. A single C-17 Globemaster III, flown by several aircrews, performed the shuttle missions between Ramstein AB, Strachowice, and Mitrovica. (22)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SkipsList" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to skipslist+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/skipslist/CACTjsm2Jd4EmyJBS%3DXQjMoC74Wmq0Ey5SNUTpVu7ZDhZaDy%2BAA%40mail.gmail.com.
