Good Friday Morning April 2.
I hope that you all have a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip.
This Day In Naval History – April 2
1781
During the American Revolution, the Continental frigate Alliance, commanded by John Barry, captures the British privateers Mars and Minerva off the coast of France.
1916
Lt. R.C. Saufley sets an altitude record for a Navy aircraft, 16,072 feet in a Curtiss pusher type hydroplane at Pensacola, Fla., bettering the record he set on March 29 that was set with a record of 16,010 feet.
1943
USS Tunny (SS 282) sinks the Japanese transport No.2 Toyo Maru west of Truk.
1951
Two F9F-2B Panthers of VF-191, each loaded with four 250- and two 100-pound general-purpose bombs, are catapulted from USS Princeton (CV 37) for an attack on a railroad bridge near Songjin, North Korea. This mission is the first US Navy use of a jet fighter as a bomber.
1960
After floods cause destruction at Paramaribo, Suriname, USS Glacier (AGB 4) begins 12 days of relief operations, providing helicopter and boat transportation and emergency supplies to the residents.
1991
USS Chicago (SSN 721) arrives at San Diego, Calif., homeport following Operation Desert Storm. During the six-month deployment, the attack submarine works with US and coalition forces deployed to the Southwest Asia area of operations, conducting surveillance and reconnaissance operations.
Thanks to CHINFO
Executive Summary:
• The Washington Post reported the military seeks to modernize military technologies to outpace the threat from China. Outlets also reported on the construction of illegal structures in the South China Sea by China.
• Multiple outlets reported on the finding of the wreckage of the USS Johnston (DD 557), lost during the famed Battle off Samar in 1944.
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This day in World history April 2,
1792 | The United States authorizes the minting of the $10 Eagle, $5 half-Eagle & 2.50 quarter-Eagle gold coins as well as the silver dollar, dollar, quarter, dime & half-dime. | |
1796 | Haitian revolt leader Toussaint L'Ouverture takes command of French forces at Santo Domingo. | |
1801 | The British navy defeats the Danish at the Battle of Copenhagen. | |
1865 | Confederate President Jefferson Davis flees Richmond, Virginia as Grant breaks Lee's line at Petersburg. | |
1910 | Karl Harris perfects the process for the artificial synthesis of rubber. | |
1914 | The U.S. Federal Reserve Board announces plans to divide the country into 12 districts. | |
1917 | President Woodrow Wilson presents a declaration of war against Germany to Congress. | |
1917 | Jeannette Pickering Rankin is sworn in as the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. | |
1931 | Virne "Jackie" Mitchell becomes the first woman to play for an all-male pro baseball team. In an exhibition game against the New York Yankees, she strikes out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. | |
1932 | Charles Lindbergh pays over $50,000 ransom for his kidnapped son. | |
1944 | Soviet forces enter Romania, one of Germany's allied countries. | |
1958 | The National Advisory Council on Aeronautics is renamed NASA. | |
1963 | Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King begins the first non-violent campaign in Birmingham, Alabama. | |
1982 | Argentina invades the British-owned Falkland Islands. |
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The battle for Okinawa started yesterday 1 April 1945 and lasted 82 days. You can read the intro below and/or click on the two below to learn a whole lot more about the largest landing in US History.
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Battle for Okinawa Medal of Honor Recipients
Overview
On the very day that the Marines declared organized resistance over on Iwo Jima (16 March 1945), Admiral Raymond Spruance, Fifth Fleet commander, was on board his flagship Indianapolis (CA-35), enroute to the Ryukyus in company with Admiral Marc Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force 58 (TF 58). In the coming weeks, more than 1,600 ships and 350,000 naval personnel from other task forces under Spruance's overall command would assemble to form the largest amphibious assault force of World War II. Their objective would be to secure the island of Okinawa, thus removing the last barrier standing between the U.S. forces and Imperial Japan. With both this and Iwo Jima firmly in hand, the U.S. military could finally bring its full might to bear upon the Japanese, conducting unchecked strategic air strikes against the Japanese mainland, blockading its logistical lifeline, and establishing forward bases for the final invasion of Japan (Operation Olympic) in the fall of 1945. Before then, however, they would have to endure one of the most brutal battles of the war. A preview of the carnage that awaited came on 19 March while TF 58 conducted strikes against targets on mainland Japan to prepare for the invasion. During the launch of strikes against Honshū and Kobe Harbor, Franklin (CV-13) was hit by two bombs from a Japanese dive bomber. Her crew heroically saved their ship, but more than 800 Sailors died in the attack.
The Japanese military was greatly diminished by this point, but U.S. Navy planners fully anticipated that the ferocity of their resistance would increase the closer they got to the mainland. With the action now mainly concentrated around the Central Philippines and the Ryukus, the Japanese were now close enough to bring their land-based aircraft at Taiwan and Kyushu to bear. They would not, however, be using them to conduct conventional air campaign, but rather, to act as human-guided missiles against U.S. forces. Such tactics had previously been deployed at Leyte Gulf, Luzon and Lingayen, and Iwo Jima, but not on a particularly alarming scale. Now, with Fifth Fleet so close to the Japanese mainland, Navy planners feared that as many as 3,000–4,000 planes could be expected. Regrettably, these estimates proved to be quite on the mark, with the prolonged land battle enabling the Japanese to launch numerous air attacks that proved even more effective than anticipated. Spruance received an early taste of what was to come on 31 March when a diving kamikaze clipped his flagship Indianapolis, severely damaging her with a bomb as it splashed into the sea. This forced Indianapolis to San Francisco for repairs and placed her on a fateful trajectory.
Despite this threat from above, the initial stages of Okinawa proceeded as planned. Minesweeping, pre-invasion bombardments from warships, and tactical strikes from carrier-based aircraft paved the way for an uncontested amphibious landing of Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.'s U.S. Tenth Army (made up of U.S. Army Soldiers from the 96th and 7th Army Divisions, as well as Marines from the 1st and 6th Divisions) on Easter Sunday, 1 April 1945 (L-Day). The force landed on the western side of the island close to the primary objective, two airstrips. Incredibly, these too were taken without contest. Immediately after, the ground force split. Marines moved northeast to secure the northern portion of the island, while the Army moved south towards Shuri. By mid-April, the Marines secured their less defended portion. Army forces, on the other hand, faced more formidable defenses, which led to a slower, more methodical advance. Later joined by the Marines, Army forces slogged it out with the Japanese, suffering high casualties against the well-defended Shuri Line. The fierce nature of the fighting and appalling numbers of casualties taken by U.S. forces continued into June, with the total number of American casualties reaching 49,151, of which 12,520 were killed or missing
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I was thinking that for the home front the end of 1944 and the first 6 months of 1945 with the Batttle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima and then Okinawa it must have been pretty rough with all the casualties.
Thanks to Carl
The freezing hell of the Battle of the Bulge: Colorized images show resilience of US troops in snow camouflage advancing on Ardennes and tank crews huddling together in front of camp fires ahead of one of the most brutal encounters of WWII
Germany launched the offensive against the Allies on December 16, 1944 - Hitler's last offensive of the war
US troops fought back and held off the Siege of Bastogne but thousands of people including civilians died
These colorized photographs show the freezing conditions soldiers fighting in the battle had to content with
More From Wikipedia
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II, and took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg, towards the end of the war in Europe. The offensive was intended to stop Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp and to split the Allied lines, allowing the Germans to encircle and destroy four Allied armies and force the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favor.
The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance due to bad weather. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war. The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and, later, Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) also sustained heavy losses. The Germans had attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions that grounded the Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success. Columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. The farthest west the offensive reached was the village of Foy-Nôtre-Dame, south east of Dinant, being stopped by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division on 24 December 1944.[15][16][17] Improved weather conditions from around 24 December permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. On 26 December the lead element of Patton's U.S. Third Army reached Bastogne from the south, ending the siege. Although the offensive was effectively broken by 27 December, when the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts with only partial success, the battle continued for another month before the front line was effectively restored to its position prior to the attack. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defenses of the Siegfried Line.
The Germans' initial attack involved 410,000 men; just over 1,400 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns; 2,600 artillery pieces; 1,600 anti-tank guns; and over 1,000 combat aircraft, as well as large numbers of other armored fighting vehicles (AFVs).[4] These were reinforced a couple of weeks later, bringing the offensive's total strength to around 450,000 troops, and 1,500 tanks and assault guns. Between 63,222 and 98,000 of these men were killed, missing, wounded in action, or captured. For the Americans, out of a peak of 610,000 troops,[18] 89,000[5] became casualties out of which some 19,000 were killed.[5][19] The "Bulge" was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II[20][21][22] and the third-deadliest campaign in American history.
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Thanks to Barrel
That Time a Marine Mechanic Took a Joyride in a Stolen A4M Skyhawk
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
http://a.msn.com/01/en-us/BB1fcPpN?ocid=se
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Thanks to Denny……we are doomed
Russian vs. US Recruiting Ads! Any Questions?
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Thanks to 'Bad Fred' – and Wheels
F-14 Tomcat Monument
RADM 'Bad Fred' Lewis and the Board of Directors of the F-14 Tomcat Monument Association are pleased to announce a change in corporate governance effective 1 June 2021.
After successful monument installations in the Naval Aviation Monument Park at the boardwalk on Virginia Beach, VA, and at the National Naval Aviation Museum aboard NAS Pensacola, FL. the next focus is an installation in a San Diego location, where the iconic aircraft began it's long and historic naval service.
According to RADM Lewis, "the Virginia Beach and Pensacola sites were fairly easy to determine and construction clearance from cognizant authorities was straight forward. The long pole in the tent for the San Diego Monument continues to be selection of an appropriate site. Several potential locations have been examined with their own pro's and con's, but it has been more challenging to work long distance through the various governing bodies in that region. As leadership of the F-14 Tomcat Monument Association passes to those who reside in San Diego, this noble endeavor will be in the hands of highly capable and motivated Tomcat guys who are well positioned with more knowledge of the local regulatory and political landscape in San Diego."
In order to guide the latest effort, incoming Chairman RADM James 'JJ' Quinn, USN Ret. has selected several other retired F-14 personnel with strong links to the West Coast area, including CAPT Jim 'Guido' DiMatteo and CDR Mike 'Viz' Vizcarra, among others.
Fundraising will continue as the new Board of Directors and other volunteers work on identifying the best West Coast site for the latest monument honoring the thousands of personnel involved in the design, operation, and maintenance of the Tomcat, and memorializing those F-14 aviators who lost their lives serving our country.
The final Tomcat monument destined for San Diego has been slightly re-designed in order to accommodate 20 more donor names per panel. Fully subscribing all the available donor names will completely fund this final install. If you live on the West Coast and worry that you'll never see the fruits of your donation, please consider donating now! Remember that if you donated for the Virginia Beach monument you are included on the Pensacola and San Diego monuments as well.
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Thanks to Chuck
The U.S. system created the world's most advanced military. Can it maintain an edge?
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
Friday, 2 April 2021... Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
ROLLING THUNDER JOURNAL post of 3 April 1966 From the archives of http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com
"The Bravest of the Brave—the Forward Air Controller (FACs)"
http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-2-april-1966/
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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This Day in U S Military History April 2
1945 – On Okinawa, forces of the US 10th Army easily advance across the island to the east coast and make some progress to the north and south. At sea, in addition to the bombardment and air support missions performed by the US naval forces, there are attacks by the British carriers on Skashima Gunto Island. In Japanese Kamikaze attacks four US transports are badly damaged with many casualties among the troops aboard.
1975 – As North Vietnamese tanks and infantry continue to push the remnants of South Vietnam's 22nd Division and waves of civilian refugees from the Quang Ngai Province, the South Vietnamese Navy begins to evacuate soldiers and civilians by sea from Qui Nhon. Shortly thereafter, the South Vietnamese abandoned Tuy Hoa and Nha Trang, leaving the North Vietnamese in control of more than half of South Vietnam's territory. During the first week in April, communist forces attacking from the south pushed into Long An Province, just south of Saigon, threatening to cut Highway 4, Saigon's main link with the Mekong Delta, which would have precluded reinforcements from being moved north to assist in the coming battle for Saigon. This action was part of the North Vietnamese general offensive launched in late January 1975, just two years after the cease-fire had been established by the Paris Peace Accords. The initial objective of this campaign was the capture of Ban Me Thuot in the Central Highlands. The battle began on March 4 with the North Vietnamese quickly encircling the city. As it became clear that the communists would take the city and probably the entire Darlac province, South Vietnamese president Thieu decided to protect the more critical populous areas. He ordered his forces in the Central Highlands to pull back from their positions. Abandoning Pleiku and Kontum, the South Vietnamese forces began to move toward the sea, but what started out as an orderly withdrawal soon turned into panic. The South Vietnamese forces rapidly fell apart. The North Vietnamese pressed the attack and were quickly successful in both the Central Highlands and farther north at Quang Tri, Hue and Da Nang. The South Vietnamese soon collapsed as a cogent fighting force and the North Vietnamese continued the attack all the way to Saigon. The South Vietnamese surrendered unconditionally on April 30.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
There were 83 Medals awarded this date for actions in the Civil War and the Indian wars in the West. Here are a few of them.
SWAN, CHARLES A.
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 4th lowa Cavalry. Place and date. At Selma, Ala., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Mt. Pleasant, lowa. Born: 29 May 1838, Green County, Pa. Date of issue: 17 June 1865. Citation: Capture of flag (supposed to be 11th Mississippi, C.S.A., and bearer.
THOMPSON, FREEMAN C.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company F, 116th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Monroe County, Ohio. Date of issue: 12 May 1865. Citation: Was twice knocked from the parapet of Fort Gregg by blows from the enemy muskets but at the third attempt fought his way into the works.
TRACY, CHARLES H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company A, 37th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Spotsylvania, Va., 12 May 1864; At Petersburg, Va., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Springfield, Mass. Birth: Jewett City, Conn. Date of issue: 19 November 1897. Citation: At the risk of his own life, at Spotsylvania, 12 May 1864, assisted in carrying to a place of safety a wounded and helpless officer. On 2 April 1865, advanced with the pioneers, and, under heavy fire, assisted in removing 2 lines of chevaux_de_frise; was twice wounded but advanced to the third line, where he was again severely wounded, losing a leg.
TUCKER, ALLEN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company F, 10th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Sprague, Conn. Birth: Lyme, Conn. Date of issue: 12 May 1865. Citation: Gallantry as color bearer in the assault on Fort Gregg.
VAN MATRE, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 116th Ohio Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Mason County, W. Va. Date of issue: 12 May 1865. Citation: In the assault on Fort Gregg, this soldier climbed upon the parapet and fired down into the fort as fast as the loaded guns could be passed up to him by comrades
WELCH, RICHARD
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company E, 37th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Williamstown, Mass. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 10 May 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.
WHITE, ADAM
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company G, 11th West Virginia Infantry. Place and date: At Hatchers Run, Va., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Parkersburg, W. Va. Birth: Switzerland. Date of issue: 13 June 1865. Citation: Capture of flag.
WILSON, FRANCIS A.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company B, 95th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Petersburg, Va., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Philadelphia Pa. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 25 June 1880. Citation: Was among the first to penetrate the enemy's lines and himself captured a gun of the 2 batteries captured.
DEARY, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company L, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Apache Creek, Ariz., 2 April 1874. Entered service at:——. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 12 April 1875. Citation: Gallantry in action.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for April 2, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
2 April
1915: President Wilson appointed the first members to the NACA.
1916: Lt Richard C. Saufley (USN), flying a Curtiss Hydroairplane at Pensacola, bettered his own American altitude record with a mark of 16,072 feet. (24)
1931: First contract for a Navy fighter with retractable landing gear, the FF-1 biplane, made with Grumman. (24)
1942: Maj Gen Lewis H. Brereton led three heavy bombers in the first Tenth Air Force combat mission to attack ships near Port Blair, Andaman Islands, in the Bay of Bengal. (24)
1944: The XX Bomber Command's first B-29 landed in India. 1954: To 6 April, the 59 ARS and its H-19 helicopters helped refugees in Iraq's flooded Tigris River Valley. In 66 sorties, the H-19s dropped 30,000 pounds of food to 4,000 victims. (2)
1959: Out of 110 candidates, NASA selected Air Force Capts L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton; Navy Lt Cmdrs Walter M. Shirra, Jr., and Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Lt M. Scott Carpenter; and Marine Lt Col John H. Glenn, Jr., as the Project Mercury Astronauts. (20)
1963: Explorer XVII, NASA's stainless steel satellite, entered an almost perfect orbit after being launched aboard a Delta Rocket. It reported data tripling all previous direct measurement of neutral gases in the upper atmosphere.
1966: SAC inactivated the 576 SMS (ICBM Atlas), its last Atlas unit. (1) (6)
1976: The last C-118A Liftmaster in the active inventory went to Davis Monthan for storage. (16) (26)
1990: In the McDonnell Douglas NF-15B Short Takeoff and Landing (STOL) Maneuvering Technology Demonstrator, Maj Erwin "Bud" Jenschke demonstrated in-flight thrust reversing for the first time over Edwards AFB. (20)
1997: A C-141 assigned to the 459 AW (AFRES) at Andrews AFB left Scott AFB for Sucre, Bolivia, with enough donated medical equipment to set up two surgical rooms. The Diocese of Joliet Peace and Justice at Romeoville, Ill., donated the cargo. (22)
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Thanks to Boysie ... And Dr. Rich
Lettuce, Whores, and Hockey
A man in a Florida supermarket tried to buy half a head of lettuce.
The very young produce assistant told him that they sell only whole heads of lettuce.
The man persisted and asked to see the manager.
The boy said he'd ask his manager about it.
Walking into the back room, the boy said to his manager: 'Some asshole wants to buy half a head of lettuce.'
As he finished his sentence, he turned to find the man standing right behind him, so he added, 'And this gentleman has kindly offered to buy the other half.'
The manager approved the deal, and the man went on his way.
Later the manager said to the boy, 'I was impressed with the way you got yourself out of that situation earlier. We like people who think on their feet here. Where are you from, son?'
'Canada, sir,' the boy replied.
'Well, why did you leave Canada?' the manager asked.
The boy said, 'Sir, there's nothing but whores and hockey players up there.'
"Really?' said the manager. 'My wife is from Canada.'
'No kidding?' replied the boy. 'Who'd she play for?'
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