To All
. Good Monday morning May 18. . .It is starting out cool today and overcast clouds but the sun is starting to peek through now and clear skies are forecast t for around 10 and we will hit75 around 2. The forecast is for a lot of clear skies over the next week .
I got to talk to TR yesterday for a bit. His son was visiting him in the hospital. He sounded much better than the last time I talked to him and he really wants to go home.
I also talked to YP’s wife Carolyn and the best she can say is that they have him resting comfortably. I have not been able to talk to him in a while.
Regards,
Skip
HAGD
Just to remind you
Armed Forces Day...Third Saturday in May
The day to appreciate Americans currently serving in uniform
Veterans Day November 11
The day to honor Americans who once served in uniform
Memorial Day The last Monday in May
The day to remember Americans who never got to take the uniform off
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Saturday, May 16 was Armed Forces Day!!!!
Last week I was in Atlanta, Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camo's, as they began heading to their gate everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering. When I saw the soldiers, probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for it hit me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only red blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.
Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear of reprisal. Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our service men and women a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old, ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said "hi," the little girl then she asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her. The young soldier, he didn't look any older than maybe 22, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter’s name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter, Courtney, missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up.
When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.
After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, "I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you." He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek. He finished by saying "your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon."
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event unfolded. As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause.
As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness, turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.
We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.
A C-130 was lumbering along when a cocky F-16 flashed by. The jet jockey decided to show off.
The fighter jock told the C-130 pilot, 'watch this!' and promptly went into a barrel roll followed by a steep climb. He then finished with a sonic boom as he broke the sound barrier. The F-16 pilot asked the C-130 pilot what he thought of that?
The C-130 pilot said, 'That was impressive, but watch this!'
The C-130 droned along for about 5 minutes and then the C-130 pilot came back on and said: 'What did you think of that?'
Puzzled, the F-16 pilot asked, 'What the heck did you do?'
The C-130 pilot chuckled. 'I stood up, stretched my legs, walked to the back, took a leak, then got a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll.'
An old Chief and an old Gunny were sitting at the VFW arguing about who'd had the tougher career.
"I did 30 years in the Corps," the Gunny declared proudly, "and fought in three of my country's wars. Fresh out of boot camp I hit the beach at Okinawa, clawed my way up the blood soaked sand, and eventually took out an entire enemy machine gun nest with a single grenade. As a sergeant, I fought in Korea alongside General Mac Arthur. We pushed back the enemy inch by bloody inch all the way up to the Chinese border, always under a barrage of artillery and small arms fire. Finally, as a gunny sergeant, I did three consecutive combat tours in Vietnam. We humped through the mud and razor grass for 14 hours a day, plagued by rain and mosquitoes, ducking under sniper fire all day and mortar fire all night. In a fire fight, we'd fire until our arms ached and our guns were empty, then we'd charge the enemy with bayonets!"
"Ah," said the Chief with a dismissive wave of his hand, "all shore duty, huh?"
One day, a Navy Chief went to the Officers' Club with his Captain to eat lunch. When they entered the main dining room, they found the place was quite crowded.
They did notice three Lieutenants sitting at a table with two empty chairs, so the Captain asked them if they could join them. They promptly invited them to join them.
They ordered lunch and joined them in conversation as they ate. At one point, the Chief mentioned that he had observed characteristics about many officers from which he could determine the source of their commissioning.
The Lieutenants were eager to hear about this and asked if he could tell how each of them had been commissioned.
The Chief turned to the Lieutenant on his left and said he went through ROTC. The Lieutenant confirmed that was correct and asked how he had noted this. The Chief replied that the Lieutenant, through his conversation, seemed to have a strong academic background, but limited military experience.
The Chief then told the Lieutenant on his right that he had gone through OCS with previous enlisted service. The Lieutenant confirmed that this was correct and also asked how he had determined this. The Chief said, again through his conversation, that the Lieutenant seemed to have a firm military background and a lot of common sense.
The Lieutenant across the table from the Chief asked if he had determined his source of commission. The Chief replied that the Lieutenant had graduated from the United States Naval Academy.
The Lieutenant stated that was correct and asked if he had noticed his high level of intelligence, precise military bearing, or other superior qualities acquired at the United States Naval Academy.
The Chief replied that it was none of these that led to his determination. He had simply observed the Lieutenant's class ring while he was picking his nose.
A salesman goes up to a house and knocks on the front door. It's opened by a little ten year-old boy (son of a fighter pilot) who has a lighted cigar in one hand, a glass of whiskey in the other and a Playboy magazine tucked under his arm.
"Hello son. Is your mom or dad at home?" asked the salesman.
The boy replies, "What the hell do you think?"
The differences in military aviation…
- Naval Aviator—On a carrier, the Naval Aviator looks over at the Catapult Officer ("Shooter") who gives the run up engines signal by rotating his finger above his head. The pilot pushes the throttle forward, verifies all flight controls are operational, checks all gauges, and gives the Cat officer a brisk salute, continuing the Navy / Marine tradition of asking permission to leave the ship. The Cat officer drops to one knee while swooping his arm forward and pointing down deck, granting that permission. The pilot is immediately catapulted and becomes airborne.
- Air Force—We've all seen Air Force pilots at the air force base look up just before taxiing for takeoff and the ground crew waits until the pilot's thumb is sticking straight up. The crew chief then confirms that he sees the thumb, salutes, and the Air Force pilot then takes off. This time-tested tradition is the last link in the Air Force safety net to confirm that the pilot does not have his thumb up his ass.
- Army—If you've ever seen an Army helicopter pilot preparing for takeoff, you will note that the pilot gives the ground guy a thumbs up before he is given hover and takeoff signals. There are two theories about the origin of this gesture. One is that it is to show that the pilot has identified which of his fingers is the thumb so that he will be able to properly operate his controls. The most compelling theory says that this is to show the ground crewman that the pilot indeed knows which direction is up.
A private is on duty in the motor pool when the phone rings:
"Soldier, can you tell me what equipment is available for use immediately?"
The voice on the other end asked. "Well, sir, we have two tanks, a half dozen half-tracks, two armored personnel carriers, a couple of motorcycles, and fat-@$$ Johnson's command jeep."
"Soldier, Do you know who you are speaking to?"
"No sir."
"This is Major Johnson, your commander!"
"Uh Sir? Do you know who you are speaking to?"
"Not yet!"
"That's good! Bye, Fat-@$$!"
Hand salute to all those serving and their families!
Have a great week,
Al
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director’s corner for all 97 H-Grams
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
May 18
1775 Col. Benedict Arnold captures a British sloop at St. Johns in Quebec, Canada and renames her Enterprise, the first of many famous ships with that name.
1898 During the Spanish-American War, boat parties from USS St. Louis and USS Wompatuck, under Capt. Caspar F. Goodrich, cut communication cables at Santiago, Cuba.
1902 Marines and Sailors from the iron-hulled screw steamer, Ranger go ashore at Panama City, Colombia, to protect US citizen lives and property during an insurrection that results in Panamas eventual independence from Colombia on Nov. 3, 1903.
1944 USS Wilkes (DD 441) and USS Roe (DD 418), carrying the 1st Battalion 163rd Infantry, land on Wakde, off Dutch New Guinea, securing the island and setting up airstrip for the Southwest Pacific offensive.
1969 Apollo 10 is launched with Cmdr. John W. Young as command module pilot and Cmdr. Eugene Cernan as the lunar module pilot. The mission is a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
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Today in World History May 18
0526 St. John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
1643 Queen Anne, the widow of Louis XIII, is granted sole and absolute power as regent by the Paris parliament, overriding the late king's will.
1652 A law is passed in Rhode Island banning slavery in the colonies but it causes little stir and seems unlikely to be enforced.
1792 Russian troops invade Poland.
1802 Britain declares war on France.
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte becomes the Emperor of France.
1828 The Battle of Las Piedras, between Uruguay and Brazil, ends.
1860 Abraham Lincoln is nominated for president.
1864 The fighting at Spotsylvania in Virginia, reaches its peak at the Bloody Angle.
1896 The Supreme Court's decision on Plessy v. Ferguson upholds the "separate but equal" policy in the United States.
1904 Brigand Raisuli kidnaps American Ion H. Perdicaris in Morocco.
1917 The U.S. Congress passes the Selective Service act, calling up soldiers to fight World War I.
1931 Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashes his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He is picked up seven hours later by a passing ship.
1933 President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.
1942 New York ends night baseball games for the rest of World War II.
1944 The Allies finally capture Monte Cassino in Italy.
1951 The United Nations moves its headquarters to New York city.
1969 Two battalions of the 101st Airborne Division assault Hill 937 but cannot reach the top because of muddy conditions.
1974 India becomes the sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb.
1980 After rumbling for two months, Mount Saint Helens, in Washington, erupts 3 times in 24 hours.
At 8:32 a.m. PDT on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, a volcanic peak in southwestern Washington, suffers a massive eruption, killing 57 people and devastating some 210 square miles of wilderness.
Called Louwala-Clough, or “the Smoking Mountain,” by Native Americans, Mount St. Helens is located in the Cascade Range and stood 9,680 feet before its eruption. The volcano has erupted periodically during the last 4,500 years, and the last active period was between 1831 and 1857. On March 20, 1980, noticeable volcanic activity began with a series of earth tremors centered on the ground just beneath the north flank of the mountain. These earthquakes escalated, and on March 27 a minor eruption occurred, and Mount St. Helens began emitting steam and ash through its crater and vents.
Small eruptions continued daily, and in April people familiar with the mountain noticed changes to the structure of its north face. A scientific study confirmed that a bulge more than a mile in diameter was moving upward and outward over the high north slope by as much as six feet per day. The bulge was caused by an intrusion of magma below the surface, and authorities began evacuating hundreds of people from the sparsely settled area near the mountain. A few people refused to leave.
Flashback: Vintage Volcanic Eruptions
On the morning of May 18, Mount St. Helens was shaken by an earthquake of about 5.0 magnitude, and the entire north side of the summit began to slide down the mountain. The giant landslide of rock and ice, one of the largest recorded in history, was followed and overtaken by an enormous explosion of steam and volcanic gases, which surged northward along the ground at high speed. The lateral blast stripped trees from most hill slopes within six miles of the volcano and leveled nearly all vegetation for as far as 12 miles away. Approximately 10 million trees were felled by the blast.
The landslide debris, liquefied by the violent explosion, surged down the mountain at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. The avalanche flooded Spirit Lake and roared down the valley of the Toutle River for a distance of 13 miles, burying the river to an average depth of 150 feet. Mudflows, pyroclastic flows, and floods added to the destruction, destroying roads, bridges, parks, and thousands more acres of forest. Simultaneous with the avalanche, a vertical eruption of gas and ash formed a mushrooming column over the volcano more than 12 miles high. Ash from the eruption fell on Northwest cities and towns like snow and drifted around the globe for two weeks. Fifty-seven people, thousands of animals, and millions of fish were killed by the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
By late in the afternoon of May 18, the eruption subsided, and by early the next day it had essentially ceased. Mount St. Helens’ volcanic cone was completely blasted away and replaced by a horseshoe-shaped crater–the mountain lost 1,700 feet from the eruption. The volcano produced five smaller explosive eruptions during the summer and fall of 1980 and remains active today. In 1982, Congress made Mount St. Helens a protected research area.
Mount St. Helens became active again in 2004. On March 8, 2005, a 36,000-foot plume of steam and ash was expelled from the mountain, accompanied by a minor earthquake. Another minor eruption took place in 2008. Though a new dome has been growing steadily near the top of the peak and small earthquakes are frequent, scientists do not expect a repeat of the 1980 catastrophe anytime soon.
The Deadliest Volcanic Eruption in History
In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted on Sumbawa, an island of modern-day Indonesia. Historians regard it as the volcano eruption with the deadliest known direct impact: roughly 100,000 people died in the immediate aftermath. But far more died over the next several years, due to secondary effects that spread all over the globe, says Gillen D’Arcy […]
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Thanks to Barrel
From VDH
Victor Davis Hanson The New Middle East Narrative
This seems rather obvious to me as I have seen the evils of Islam in my travels.
https://youtu.be/HRuL4VWP77U?si=Zv_dH6irZahkxYqB
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May 18
Hello All,
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
Links to all content can now be found right on the homepage http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com. If you scroll down from the banner and featured content you will find "Today in Rolling Thunder Remembered History" which highlights events in the Vietnam war that occurred on the date the page is visited. Below that are links to browse or search all content. You may search by keyword(s), date, or date range.
An item of importance is the recent incorporation of Task Force Omega (TFO) MIA summaries. There is a link on the homepage and you can also visit directly via https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/task-force-omega/. There are 60 summaries posted thus far, with about 940 to go (not a typo—TFO has over 1,000 individual case files).
If you have any questions or comments about RTR/TFO, or have a question on my book, you may e-mail me directly at acrossthewing@protonmail.com. Thank you Dan
Thanks to Micro
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
For Monday May 18..
May 18: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1143
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear’s Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady’s work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
(This site was sent by a friend . The site works, find anyone you knew in “search" feature. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
By: Kipp Hanley
AUGUST 15, 2022
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When you are out in the middle of the ocean and there is no other place to land you have to come back to the Aircraft Carrier. Like the CO once said to the pilot who was having trouble getting aboard one night this is where the food is son. most of us have been there at least once….skip
Thanks to Dr. Rich and Dutch
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tSUshDDW6Lk?
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Masamitsu Yoshioka, last of Japan’s Pearl Harbor attack force, dies at 106
By
BRIAN MURPHY
THE WASHINGTON POST • September 28, 2024
________________________________________
Masamitsu Yoshioka stands in front of a Japanese bomber in 1941. (JAPAN Forward)
When Pearl Harbor came into view, black smoke was already rising from the U.S. ships hit by the first wave of Japan’s surprise attack. The crew of a Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bomber readied for its run.
The 23-year-old navigator and bombardier on board, Masamitsu Yoshioka, had practiced his part of the maneuver for months without knowing the mission. He was stunned when he was told his carrier group was part of a massive strike on American territory that included more than 300 Japanese warplanes. “The blood rushed out of my head,” Yoshioka recalled. “I knew that this meant a gigantic war.”
The Nakajima’s pilot steadied the wings at about 35 feet above the water. Yoshioka released the nearly 1,800-pound torpedo on a path toward the battleship USS Utah, which was being used as a training vessel.
By the time Yoshioka and the Nakajima crew were back on the aircraft carrier Soryu, a total of 58 men aboard the Utah had died — among the more than 2,400 U.S. military personnel and civilians killed and nearly 1,800 wounded in the Dec. 7, 1941, blitz on Hawaii that plunged the United States into World War II.
“Now I think of the men who were on board those ships we torpedoed. I think of the people who died because of me. They were young men, just like we were,” Yoshioka said in a 2023 interview in the Japan Forward, which described him as the last known surviving Japanese veteran of the Pearl Harbor attack.
“I am so sorry about it,” added Yoshioka, who died last month at age 106. “I hope there will not be any more wars.” His death was first announced Aug. 28 in social media posts and confirmed by Japanese media, but other details have not been made public.
As the ranks of World War II personnel fade, Yoshioka gained attention in Japan in recent years for being widely acknowledged as the only remaining witness to the Pearl Harbor attack from the side of the Imperial Japanese forces. His memory of the events remained vivid, recalling even the bite of the strong easterly wind before sunrise on the Soryu’s deck. The island of Oahu was more than 200 miles away.
The attack squadrons were under strict rules of radio silence, Yoshioka said. As navigator on the Nakajima torpedo bomber — a model dubbed “Kate” by American pilots — he relied on instruments and flight time to set their course. At one point, he flicked on a device that picked up a radio station from Hawaii. He listened for a few seconds. “We were right on track,” he recalled.
They saw Pearl Harbor just before 8 a.m. The naval base was “wrapped in black smoke,” he said in the Japan Forward interview with Jason Morgan, an associate professor at Reitaku University in Kashiwa, Japan. “There were only two ships that I could clearly see.”
He remembered seeing columns of seawater blast upward as the torpedo made a direct hit on the Utah. Then he realized the miscalculation that was made. Japanese commanders issued orders to ignore the Utah since it was no longer combat ready and was being used for anti-aircraft gunnery training. “As we flew over the deck I could see, in a flash going by, gun turrets without any barrels,” Yoshioka recalled. “A training ship. It was the Utah. A mistake!”
The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered a speech to senators and representatives on Capitol Hill. “Yesterday,” he said, “December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.” A declaration of war on Japan was swiftly approved by Congress. A formal state of war with Germany and its allies came days later.
Japan lost 29 aircraft and five mini-submarines at Pearl Harbor, claiming a total of more than 120 lives. Yoshioka said he did not expect to return — and a sense of guilt kept him silent about the war as the decades passed. “I’m ashamed that I’m the only one who survived and lived such a long life,” he said.
Secret training
Masamitsu Yoshioka was born in Ishikawa Prefecture in western Japan on Jan. 5, 1918. He joined the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1936, assigned to a ground crew whose work included keeping aloft an aging fleet of biplanes.
He began navigator training in 1938 and was posted the next year to the Soryu, a 746-foot carrier that was then involved in Japan’s war in China against the forces of nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek.
Then in August 1941, Yoshioka was shifted suddenly to torpedo training. At bases on the mainland, pilots practiced maintaining a flat flight-line just above the surface; Yoshioka and others were taught the precise moment and angle to release torpedoes.
“Despite all of our training, we got only one practice run with a real torpedo,” Yoshioka said.
On Nov. 26, 1941, the Soryu left the Kuril Islands, an archipelago now under Russian control. The crew still had no idea of the destination. They had been told to pack shorts, leading to rumors that the target was somewhere to the south, Yoshioka recalled.
The Soryu joined an armada of five other carriers, as well as battleships and other vessels. On Dec. 2, word came that talks had broken down between U.S. and Japanese envoys over issues including a freeze on Japanese assets in the United States, which effectively cut off access to U.S. oil shipments desperately needed by Japan.
As the war spread across the Pacific, he flew support missions during the battle for Wake Island just after Pearl Harbor and took part in Japan’s attack on Allied ships off British-controlled Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in spring 1942.
The Soryu was sunk in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. Yoshioka was at home on leave at the time. On the island of Peleliu, he contracted malaria and was evacuated for treatment before it was shelled and stormed by U.S. forces in 1944 in a grinding fight that left heavy casualties on both sides.
In August 1945, he was at an air base when Emperor Hirohito announced Japan’s surrender after atomic bombs ravaged Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the war, Yoshioka worked at a transport company and was part of the postwar Japanese navy, known as the Maritime Self-Defense Force, he told Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper in 2021.
Information on survivors was not immediately available.
During an interview in 2023, Yoshioka was asked if he had visited Hawaii after the war. No, he replied.
“If I could go, I would like to,” he added. “I would like to visit the graves of the men who died. I would like to pay them my deepest respect.”
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Boris has sent out the first run of his book “Brown Slick” About the USS Midway 72 to 73 Cruise on Yankee Station. I have already ordered another one for my son. Paul Ringwood and I went out to exercise the arresting gear catapults on a Friday in a response to A request from the ship. Climbing out of NKX I was headed toward San Clemente and turned on the TACAN for USS Midway and the needle pointed 90 degrees right. I called up the ship and checked in and they said Charlie on arrival. With nobody else in the pattern I thought we were going to get a bunch of traps and cats. When I picked up the ship it was headed north with a long wake but I noticed they were turning west and slowing down. We came in to the break. Got dirtied up and slowed down and trapped. I expected to head toward the cats but noticed that there was nobody there and noticed the yellow shirt was trying to get my attention to follow his directions to park next to the island. My initial thought was that there was something wrong with my airplane but then I noticed that Worm was parking next to me and the ship was turning north again and speeding back up. Nobody on the flight deck could tell us what was going on so we headed to our ready room. To get rid of our flight gear. We were told we were going into Alameda and we were confined to the ship. We managed to get a hold of the squadron back at NAS Miramar and to break into our lockers to get keys and what ever they could from our apartments and take care of our cars and motorcycles. It was a busy time as everything from every squadron was flown in to Alameda and craned aboard. Some were barley flyable. I will never forget that CNO came aboard early Monday Morning and addressed us from the Island. Essentially as soon as he was done he left the ship and we headed west. We went right by Hawaii but they did have some supply ships meet us and we got some parts and fuel but we kept heading west.
We came home almost a year later
From the archives Thanks to Boris
Remembered Sky Spring 2021 Postings (5)
The Spring posts for Remembered sky are now online. Unlike some editions, subject matter focus is varied. Also the last post from Christmas time is included due to the "coming home" nature and the period of Spring 1973 covered. From latest to earliest:
1. Phantoms to WartHogs http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4867
‘Dogfighting makes movies. Close air support wins wars,’
2. Anthology – RememberedSky Vietnam Air War ’72-’73 Stories http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4807
“Those of us who came home will never forget those who could not ” Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association
3. Of tin gods and STEEL MAGNOLIAS http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4766
This post is for the wives who wait… sometimes in vain… for the return of their tin gods from that charge into the fire.
These women most assuredly were and are Steel Magnolias.
4. The Flying Circus Toy Shop: Recommendations http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4649
Hey Mom, when I grow up I wanna be a fighter pilot …………… Son, I’m sorry, but you can’t do both
… of flight jackets, patches, aircraft pictures, models, books, watches, coffee mugs, ‘I luv me walls’ and old toys and … of history, memories, and of the friends
5. Missmus Bismus #4: Epilogue http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4444
I never would have made it if I could not have laughed. It lifted me momentarily out of this horrible situation, just enough to make it livable. — Viktor Frankl
All I claim to know is that laughter is the most reliable gauge of human nature. — Feodor Dostoyevsky
One of the drivers for RS is to preserve some history and words that could be easily lost over time if you're not a major aviation history reader. To that end the intent for the Summer postings is to provide excerpts from some of the older aviation writers like Earnest Gann, Richard Bach or James Salter.
Hope all is well...have a great summer. Comments and inputs welcome as always.
Ed Boris Beakley
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
Jelly beans have been to space.
What do Neil Armstrong, tortoises, and jelly beans have in common? Why, they’ve all been to space, of course. President Ronald Reagan was known for being a connoisseur of the chewy candy, so much so that he provided the astronauts aboard the Challenger shuttle with a bag full of them in 1983 — a gift that resulted in charming footage of them tossing the jelly beans in zero gravity before happily eating them. Reagan was also known to break the ice at high-level meetings by passing around jelly beans, even commenting that “you can tell a lot about a fella’s character by whether he picks out all of one color or just grabs a handful.”
Jelly beans are far from the only unexpected items to have been in space: Musical instruments (including bells and a harmonica), Lego, Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, and a pizza delivery have also found themselves among the stars.
“Jelly bean” used to be slang for a well-dressed man.
Back in the 1910s and ’20s, “jelly bean” didn’t just refer to candy. It was also used to describe a stylish young man, though it could be considered a case of damning someone with faint praise — in most cases, jelly beans weren’t thought to have much else going for them. The term could also be used for someone weak or unpleasant; in 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald published a short story called “The Jelly-Bean” about an idle loafer. The song “Jelly Bean (He's a Curbstone Cutie),” originally written in the 1920s, was made popular by Phil Harris’ 1940s rendition.
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Thanks to History Facts
Stonehenge was bought at auction in 1915.
WORLD HISTORY
Stonehenge has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986, but back in 1915 it was privately owned by one man — a barrister named Cecil Chubb, who purchased the prehistoric monument at an auction for £6,600 (more than $1 million in modern U.S. currency). Stonehenge had been privately owned since the reign of Henry VIII, passing from one wealthy proprietor to the next. According to popular legend, Chubb purchased the monument as an unusually extravagant gift for his wife, who purportedly sent him to bid on a set of curtains and got more than she bargained for when he instead returned with one of the most famous structures in the world.
The more likely reason for the purchase is that Chubb, hearing that an American was interested in buying and relocating the monument, wanted to ensure that the iconic landmark remained in the possession of locals. In fact, in 1918, Chubb donated Stonehenge to the British public. In recognition of this generous gift, Prime Minister David Lloyd George elevated Chubb to the level of nobility, and he became Sir Cecil Chubb, First Baronet of Stonehenge. The Neolithic monument is now owned by the British monarch and managed by English Heritage, which charges tourists a small fee to visit. Locals, as Chubb insisted over a century ago, still get in for free.
By the Numbers
Approximate age (in years) of Stonehenge
5,000
Distance (in miles) that many of the stones were transported during construction
180
Combined total weight (in tons) of all the stones in Stonehenge
120
Number of visitors Stonehenge attracted in 2022 alone
977,000
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Some 27C flying from back in the day. …..Skip
Thanks to Barrett
Barrett, Budd, Dick,
Here's some interesting color footage of Oriskany on Yankee Station one week before the fire:
--FredJ
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An olde but a goode
Cheers
Nordo
Joe Biden finally breaks down and visits a remote Native American reservation. With news crews following him around as they tour the place, the President asks the Indian Chief if there was anything they needed.
"Well," says the chief, "We have three very important needs. First, we have a medical clinic but no doctor to man it."
Biden whips out his cell phone, dials a number, talks to somebody for two minutes, and then hangs up. "I've pulled some strings. Your doctor will arrive in a few days. Now, what was the second problem?"
"We have no way to get clean water. The local mining operation has poisoned the water our people have been drinking for thousands of years. We've been flying bottled water in, and it's expensive."
Once again, Biden dials a number, yells into the cell phone for a few minutes, and then hangs up. "The mine has been shut down, and the owner is being billed for setting up a purification plant for your people. Now, what was that third problem?
The chief looks at him and says, "We have no cell phone reception out here!"
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This Day in U S Military History…….May 18
1944 – The Polish Corps, part of a multinational Allied Eighth Army offensive in southern Italy, finally pushes into Monte Cassino as the battle to break German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring’s defensive Gustav Line nears its end. The Allied push northward to Rome began in January with the landing of 50,000 seaborne troops at Anzio, 33 miles south of the Italian capital. Despite having met very little resistance, the Allies chose to consolidate their position rather than immediately battle north to Rome. Consequently, German forces under the command of Field Marshal Kesselring were able to create a defensive line that cut across the center of the peninsula. General Wladyslaw Anders, leader of the Polish troops who would raise their flag over the ruins of the famous Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, commenting on the cost of the battle, said, “Corpses of German and Polish soldiers, sometimes entangled in a deathly embrace, lay everywhere, and the air was full of the stench of rotting bodies.”
1944 – The US 163rd Infantry Regiment (General Doe) lands on Insoemar Island and advance to capture Wadke airfield.
1944 – The US 6th Army announces that the campaign in the Admiralty Islands has been completed. The Americans have suffered 1400 dead and wounded; the Japanese have suffered 3820 dead and 75 prisoners.
1945 – On Okinawa, the US 6th Marine Division, part of US 3rd Amphibious Corps, captures most of the Sugar Loaf Hill, as well as parts of the Half Moon and the Horseshoe positions that overlook it, after several days of bitter fighting. The US 1st Marine Division continues to battle for the Wana river valley and Wana Ridge but fails to eliminate Japanese resistance, even with flame-throwers and tanks in support. Meanwhile, the US 77th and 96th Divisions, parts of US 24th Corps, attack Japanese positions on Flat Peak without success.
1945 – On Luzon, American units make some progress toward Woodpecker Ridge.
1951 – Naval Task Force 77 suffered its worst single day of the war when six planes failed to return to their carriers.
1953 – Air Force Captain Joseph C. McConnell, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, qualified as the top ace of the war and the first of only two triple jet aces (15 kills) after shooting down another three MiGs. Captain McConnell completed his combat tour on 19 May with a total of 106 missions and 16 MiG kills.
1989 – A crowd of protesters, estimated to number more than one million, marches through the streets of Beijing calling for a more democratic political system. Just a few weeks later, the Chinese government moved to crush the protests. Protests in China had been brewing since the mid-1980s when the communist government announced that it was loosening some of the restrictions on the economy, allowing for a freer market to develop. Encouraged by this action, a number of Chinese (particularly students) began to call for similar action on the political front. By early 1989, peaceful protests began to take place in some of China’s largest urban areas. The largest of these protests took place around Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing. By the middle of May 1989, enormous crowds took to the streets with songs, slogans, and banners calling for greater democracy and the ouster of some hard-line Chinese officials. The Chinese government responded with increasingly harsh measures, including arrests and beatings of some protesters. On June 3, 1989, Chinese armed forces stormed into Tiananmen Square and swept the protesters away. Thousands were killed and over 10,000 were arrested in what came to be known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The protests attracted worldwide attention. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev applauded the protesters and publicly declared that reform was necessary in communist China. In the United States, the Chinese students were treated like heroes by the American press. Following the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a shocked U.S. government suspended arms sales to China and imposed economic sanctions. The Chinese government, however, refused to bend, referring to the protesters as “lawless elements” of Chinese society.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
KINSEY, JOHN
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company B, 45th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Spotsylvania, Va., 18 May 1864. Entered service at: —–. Birth: Lancaster County, Pa. Date of issue: 2 March 1897. Citation: Seized the colors, the color bearer having been shot, and with great gallantry succeeded in saving them from capture.
WHITMAN, FRANK M.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 35th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Antietam, Md., 17 September 1862. At Spotsylvania, Va., 18 May 1864. Entered service at: Ayersville, Mass. Birth: Woodstock, Maine. Date of issue: 21 February 1874. Citation: Was among the last to leave the field at Antietam and was instrumental in saving the lives of several of his comrades at the imminent risk of his own. At Spotsylvania was foremost in line in the assault, where he lost a leg.
*GRANDSTAFF, BRUCE ALAN
Rank and organization: Platoon Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry. Place and date: Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1967. Entered service at: Spokane, Wash. Born: 2 June 1934, Spokane, Wash. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. P/Sgt. Grandstaff distinguished himself while leading the Weapons Platoon, Company B, on a reconnaissance mission near the Cambodian border. His platoon was advancing through intermittent enemy contact when it was struck by heavy small arms and automatic weapons fire from 3 sides. As he established a defensive perimeter, P/Sgt. Grandstaff noted that several of his men had been struck down. He raced 30 meters through the intense fire to aid them but could only save 1. Denied freedom to maneuver his unit by the intensity of the enemy onslaught, he adjusted artillery to within 45 meters of his position. When helicopter gunships arrived, he crawled outside the defensive position to mark the location with smoke grenades. Realizing his first marker was probably ineffective, he crawled to another location and threw his last smoke grenade but the smoke did not penetrate the jungle foliage. Seriously wounded in the leg during this effort he returned to his radio and, refusing medical aid, adjusted the artillery even closer as the enemy advanced on his position. Recognizing the need for additional firepower, he again braved the enemy fusillade, crawled to the edge of his position and fired several magazines of tracer ammunition through the jungle canopy. He succeeded in designating the location to the gunships but this action again drew the enemy fire and he was wounded in the other leg. Now enduring intense pain and bleeding profusely, he crawled to within 10 meters of an enemy machine gun which had caused many casualties among his men. He destroyed the position with hand grenades but received additional wounds. Rallying his remaining men to withstand the enemy assaults, he realized his position was being overrun and asked for artillery directly on his location. He fought until mortally wounded by an enemy rocket. Although every man in the platoon was a casualty, survivors attest to the indomitable spirit and exceptional courage of this outstanding combat leader who inspired his men to fight courageously against overwhelming odds and cost the enemy heavy casualties. P/Sgt. Grandstaff’s selfless gallantry, above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
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*GUENETTE, PETER M.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company D, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). Place and date: Quan Tan Uyen Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1968. Entered service at: Albany, N.Y. Born: 4 January 1948, Troy, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Guenette distinguished himself while serving as a machine gunner with Company D, during combat operations. While Sp4c. Guenette’s platoon was sweeping a suspected enemy base camp, it came under light harassing fire from a well equipped and firmly entrenched squad of North Vietnamese Army regulars which was serving as a delaying force at the entrance to their base camp. As the platoon moved within 10 meters of the fortified positions, the enemy fire became intense. Sp4c. Guenette and his assistant gunner immediately began to provide a base of suppressive fire, ceasing momentarily to allow the assistant gunner time to throw a grenade into a bunker. Seconds later, an enemy grenade was thrown to Sp4c. Guenette’s right flank. Realizing that the grenade would kill or wound at least 4 men and destroy the machine gun, he shouted a warning and smothered the grenade with his body, absorbing its blast. Through his actions, he prevented loss of life or injury to at least 3 men and enabled his comrades to maintain their fire superiority. By his gallantry at the cost of his life in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, Sp4c. Guenette has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
*STEWART, JIMMY G.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1966. Entered service at: Ashland, Ky. Born: 25 December 1942, West Columbia, W. Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Early in the morning a reinforced North Vietnamese company attacked Company B, which was manning a defensive perimeter in Vietnam. The surprise onslaught wounded 5 members of a 6-man squad caught in the direct path of the enemy’s thrust. S/Sgt. Stewart became a lone defender of vital terrain–virtually 1 man against a hostile platoon. Refusing to take advantage of a lull in the firing which would have permitted him to withdraw, S/Sgt. Stewart elected to hold his ground to protect his fallen comrades and prevent an enemy penetration of the company perimeter. As the full force of the platoon-sized man attack struck his lone position, he fought like a man possessed; emptying magazine after magazine at the determined, on-charging enemy. The enemy drove almost to his position and hurled grenades, but S/Sgt. Stewart decimated them by retrieving and throwing the grenades back. Exhausting his ammunition, he crawled under intense fire to his wounded team members and collected ammunition that they were unable to use. Far past the normal point of exhaustion, he held his position for 4 harrowing hours and through 3 assaults, annihilating the enemy as they approached and before they could get a foothold. As a result of his defense, the company position held until the arrival of a reinforcing platoon which counterattacked the enemy, now occupying foxholes to the left of S/Sgt. Stewart’s position. After the counterattack, his body was found in a shallow enemy hole where he had advanced in order to add his fire to that of the counterattacking platoon. Eight enemy dead were found around his immediate position, with evidence that 15 others had been dragged away. The wounded whom he gave his life to protect, were recovered and evacuated. S/Sgt. Stewart’s indomitable courage, in the face of overwhelming odds, stands as a tribute to himself and an inspiration to all men of his unit. His actions were in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and the Armed Forces of his country.
*WAYRYNEN, DALE EUGENE
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 2d Battalion, 502d Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Quang Ngai, Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1967. Entered service at: Minneapolis, Minn. Born: 18 January 1947, Moose Lake, Minn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Wayrynen distinguished himself with Company B, during combat operations near Duc Pho. His platoon was assisting in the night evacuation of the wounded from an earlier enemy contact when the lead man of the unit met face to face with a Viet Cong soldier. The American’s shouted warning also alerted the enemy who immediately swept the area with automatic weapons fire from a strongly built bunker close to the trail and threw hand grenades from another nearby fortified position. Almost immediately, the lead man was wounded and knocked from his feet. Sp4c. Wayrynen, the second man in the formation, leaped beyond his fallen comrade to kill another enemy soldier who appeared on the trail, and he dragged his injured companion back to where the point squad had taken cover. Suddenly, a live enemy grenade landed in the center of the tightly grouped men. Sp4c. Wayrynen, quickly assessing the danger to the entire squad as well as to his platoon leader who was nearby, shouted a warning, pushed one soldier out of the way, and threw himself on the grenade at the moment it exploded. He was mortally wounded. His deep and abiding concern for his fellow soldiers was significantly reflected in his supreme and courageous act that preserved the lives of his comrades. Sp4c. Wayrynen’s heroic actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of the service, and they reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for May 18, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1918: American day bombing began with the arrival of the 96th Aero Squadron at Amanty Airdrome, France. (4) (11)
1942: The US and Panama signed an agreement for defense sites in Panama that included several airbases.
1949: New York’s first heliport opened at Pier 41, East River. (24) 1952: KOREAN WAR. An SA-16 amphibian from the 3 ARS, while under fire from the enemy shoreline, rescued a downed F-84 pilot. (28)
1953: Jacqueline Cochran, flying a Canadian-built F-86 Sabre at Edwards AFB, became the first woman to fly faster than sound. She averaged 652.337 MPH on a 100-kilometer closed-course (62 miles) to earn the women’s jet speed record. (24) Capt Joseph C. McConnnell, Jr., shot down his 16th enemy aircraft in the Korean War to become its top ace. (21)
1955: Leading four F-84 Thunderjets, Col Harold M. McClelland set a nonstop record for single engine jets by flying 4,840 miles from Yokota AB to Williamstown, Australia, in 12 hours 10 minutes. (24)
1958: The US recovered its first full-scale ablative-type nose cone from the Atlantic Ocean. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on a Jupiter missile. (6)
1964: Jacqueline Cochran set a speed record for women: 1,429 MPH at 37,100 feet in altitude, in an F-104G at Edwards AFB. First McDonnell-Douglas RF-4C flight lasted 50 minutes. (12)
1965: First flight of the Navy's F-111B. 1966: Ling-Temco-Vought Aerospace’s XC-142A triservice V/STOL transport made its first carrier takeoffs and landings during tests aboard the USS Bennington at sea off San Diego. (3)
1969: APOLLO X. Through 26 May Apollo X, the first lunar orbital mission using a complete Apollo spacecraft, launched from Kennedy Space Center on a Saturn V with Col Thomas F. Stafford (USAF), Capt John W. Young (USN), and Cmdr Eugene A. Cernan (USN) aboard. They landed eight days later in the Pacific. (26)
1968: The USAF delivered 88.5 tons of food and emergency materials to Ethopia after a massive flood. (8)
1973: Lockheed-Georgia delivered the last production-model C-5A aircraft, No. 81, to MAC at Dover AFB. (16) (26)
1980: After Mount St. Helens erupted, a C-141 from the 63 MAW at Norton AFB, Calif., and a C-130 from the 62 MAW at McChord AFB flew above the stricken area to provide communications for rescue aircraft. The USAF Rescue Coordination Center at Scott AFB managed 568 sorties by the ARRS, Coast Guard, Civil Air Patrol, and Army aircraft through 5 June that saved 101 lives. SR-71 aircraft conducted photoreconnaissance sorties to aid the rescue and recovery operations. (2) (21)
1992: A production C-17 Globemaster III flew for the first time in a flight from Long Beach to the test facility at Edwards AFB. (16)
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