Good Sunday Morning May 2.
I hope that you all are enjoying the weekend.
Regards,
Skip.
This day in Naval History May 2
1863 During the Civil War, the steam screw sloop Sacramento, commanded by Captain Charles S. Boggs, seizes the British blockade-runner Wanderer off Murrells Inlet, N.C.
1896 A landing party of 15 Marines and 19 Seaman from USS Alert arrive at Corinto, Nicaragua, to protect American lives and property during a period of political unrest.
1942 USS Drum (SS 228) sinks Japanese seaplane carrier, and USS Trout (SS 202) sinks a Japanese freighter off the southeast coast of Honshu.
1945 USS Springer (SS 414) torpedoes and sinks the Japanese frigate in the Yellow Sea and then sinks a Japanese coastal defense ship the next day.
1945 Hospital Apprentice Robert E. Bush administers aid to a wounded Marine officer and fires back at the Japanese at the same time, earning the Medal of Honor.
1992 USS Anzio (CG 68) is commissioned at her homeport of Norfolk, Va. The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser is named for the Italian allied amphibious assault in May 1944 during World War II.
2011 President Barack Obama announces Navy SEALs raided Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed America's most wanted terrorist during Operation Neptune Spear.
Thanks to CHINFO
No CHINFO on the weekend
1972 End of an era at the FBI »
Today in History May 2
1670 | The Hudson Bay Company is founded. | |
1598 | Henry IV signs Treaty of Vervins, ending Spain's interference in France. | |
1748 | Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of Devolution in France. | |
1776 | France and Spain agree to donate arms to American rebels fighting the British. | |
1797 | A mutiny in the British navy spreads from Spithead to the rest of the fleet. | |
1798 | The black General Toussaint Louverture forces British troops to agree to evacuate the port of Santo Domingo. | |
1808 | The citizens of Madrid rise up against Napoleon. | |
1813 | Napoleon defeats a Russian and Prussian army at Grossgorschen. | |
1863 | Stonewall Jackson smashes Joseph Hooker's flank at Chancellorsville, Virginia. | |
1865 | President Andrew Johnson offers a $100,000 reward for the capture of the Confederate President | |
1885 | King Leopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State. | |
1890 | The Territory of Oklahoma is created. | |
1919 | The first U.S. air passenger service starts. | |
1923 | Lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready take off from New York for the West Coast on what will become the first successful nonstop transcontinental flight. | |
1941 | Hostilities break out between British forces in Iraq and that country's pro-German faction. | |
1942 | Admiral Chester J. Nimitz, convinced that the Japanese will attack Midway Island, visits the island to review its readiness. | |
1945 | Russian forces take Berlin after 12 days of fierce house-to-house fighting. | |
1946 | Prisoners revolt at California's Alcatraz prison. | |
1968 | The U.S. Army attacks Nhi Ha in South Vietnam and begins a fourteen-day battle to wrestle it away from Vietnamese Communists. | |
1970 | Student anti-war protesters at Ohio's Kent State University burn down the campus ROTC building. The National Guard takes control of campus. |
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Now would be a good excuse to call your brother or sister if you have not done so for a while,….skip
From Al's archives
Brothers and Sisters Day is observed on May 2,. It is a day in which siblings cherish one another. Of course, there may be times you don't like to talk to your brother or sister, but this day should not be one of them. Go visit them and give them a hug, or at least give them a call to let them know how important they are to you. Imagine how your life would be without them. If you don't have siblings, just act like a brother or sister by being nice to someone you like. Maybe you even have a friend who's like a brother or sister to you.
Today's truism--If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.
Best friends are the siblings God forgot to give us.
Older siblings—The only people who will pick on you for their own entertainment and beat up anyone else who tries.
Mom always said she didn't have a favorite child, which was tough because I don't have any brothers or sisters.
Brother/Sister Property Rules
If I like it, it's mine.
If I'm holding it, it's mine.
If I can take it from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it must never appear to be yours anyway.
If it just looks like mine, it's mine.
If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
If it's broken, it's yours.
Five-year-old Jimmy was playing with his little sister, one-year-old Jenny, in the playroom while their mother was in the kitchen. Hearing screams, she ran into the playroom and saw Jenny with a handful of Jimmy's hair, yanking away.
She separated the two, and Jimmy was yelling "Spank her! Spank her!"
"It's not her fault, son," their mom said. "She doesn't understand that it hurts when she pulls your hair."
The mom walked back into the kitchen, but 30 seconds later she heard screams again. She ran back into the playroom to see Jenny in tears.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"Not much," Jimmy said. "Only now she understands."
Submitted by Kelly Dodson and Rick Hein:
Two young boys walk into a pharmacy one day, pick out a box of Tampax and proceed to the checkout counter. The man at the counter asks the older boy, "Son, how old are you?"
"Eight," the boy replies.
The man continues, "Do you know what these are used for?"
"Not exactly," the boy says. "But they aren't for me. They're for him. He's my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. Right now he can't do either one."
Submitted by Chuck Kincade:
A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds. After explaining the Fourth Commandment to "Honor" thy father and thy mother," she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?"
Without missing a beat one little boy (the oldest of a family) answered, "Thou shalt not kill."
TEACHER: "Desmond, your composition on "My Dog" is exactly the same as your brother's. Did you copy his?"
DESMOND: "No, teacher, it's the same dog!"
Submitted by Mary Fisher:
Dear God,
My brothers told me about being born but it doesn't sound right. They are just kidding, aren't they?
Signed, Marsha
Submitted by Skip Leonard:
Mary was having a tough day and had stretched herself out on the couch to do a bit of what she thought to be well-deserved complaining and self- pitying.
She moaned to her mom and brother, "Nobody loves me ... the whole world hates me!"
Her brother, busily occupied playing a game, hardly looked up at her and passed on this encouraging word: "That's not true, Mary. Some people don't even know you."
A new law recently passed in Arkansas: When a couple gets divorced, they're still brother and sister.
Submitted by Bill Quintero:
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare &serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.
I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her."
As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away".
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.
Have a great week,
Al
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Thanks to Mike from last year at this time. Still worth the repeat
I Like the Thoughts...
Food for thought from a friend…and potential for compassionate adaptation.
Go USA!
Thankfully as a nation this crisis is causing us to reevaluate our priorities: faith, family, community and freedom; and seeing the easy dispatch of liberty also reignites that oft forgotten flickering flame…
Journalists are less important than janitors. Our nation's best athletes are healthcare workers rushing to assist those in need The true heroes are not celebrities, but rather farmers, truck drivers, stock clerks, and supermarket cashiers.
The most valuable businesses do not glitter or present themselves with self-congratulatory award shows; they do today what they have always done to keep our food supply flowing. Perhaps now, at least for a few short weeks, we stop taking them for granted.
Effective right now comfortably invisible workers are recognized as critical priorities; or as the government has officially designated them "essential services." These folks form the network of our lives; they always have, but we didn't notice. Everything else is less than.
The average hard-working American is worth more today than all those who chase the golden statues of Hollywood; and ultimately if they want to go down the superiority path… well, what they provide is essentially useless.
Florida Power and Light won the prestigious International Edward Demming award for excellence in multi-platform engineering and efficiency superiority. They didn't blow every PhD intellectual out of the water with slide rules, CAD programs and engineering acumen. They did it with hard hats and dirty fingernails.
Because they lost the award, the Japanese spent 6 months studying FPL and later published a 1,000 page dissertation essentially saying FPL "wasn't really good, they were just lucky"….. FPL field leadership laughed, took out markers and wrote on the back of their hard hats: "WE'RE NOT GOOD, WE'RE RUCKY"….
When every single Kuwaiti oil field was blown up by Saddam Hussein, they said it would take over five years to cap them all off and restart their oil pumping industry. The Kuwaitis and Saudis called Texans, who had them all capped and back in working order in ten months.
We are a nation that knows how to get shit done.
When the Northern Chile mine workers were trapped two miles underground, they said no-one could save them. Who did they call for help? A bunch of hick miners from USA coal country who went down there, worked on the fly, engineered the rescue equipment on site, and saved every one of them….
That's our America.
Don't lose sight of it.
When a half-breed Islamic whack job, armed with an AK-47 and a goal to meet his virgins, begins opening fire on a train in France, the Americans on board didn't run to the nearest safe room and hide themselves amid baguettes and brie. They said "let's go", and beat the stuffing out of that little nut with a death wish.
Legion d'Honneur or not, that's us. That's you.
That's just how we roll.
Lady Liberty can stroll along the Champs-Elysées with a swagger befitting Mae West because without her arrival they'd be speaking German in the Louvre. Yet for the better part of the past decades groups of intellectual something-or-others have been selling an insufferable narrative that it's better to be sitting around a campfire eating sustainable algae cakes and picking parasites off each other. Enough!
Ordinary people, just like you and me, gave their lives and crashed flight #93, a commercial airliner, into a field in Shanksville Pennsylvania so they could save our nation's capital. Yeah, I think we can wash our hands, quit touching our faces and stay inside for a few days.
In case you missed it, it wasn't FEMA driving jacked-up monster trucks into the flooded neighborhoods around Houston Texas to rescue people from their homes; it was a bunch of glorious rednecks assembled like the second division of the Cajun Navy… which also just happens to be a fabulous bunch of shallow water boat operators who convoy their gear voluntarily into the aftermath of hurricanes and floods.
That's America folks; in all her magnificent colorblind glory.
Git-r'-done ain't government.
Quoting from Bart Hall:
Truckers are saying "f--k the log rules, I'm hauling" and they're getting supplies to the stores. People are stocking the shelves all night and letting old people shop first. Folks are buying meals for truckers, who (obviously) can't go through the drive-ups. Asking 'em what they want, then buying it for them.
Carnival Cruise Line has told Trump "We can match those big Navy Hospital ships with some fully staffed cruise ships"
GM and Ford have said "hold our cars and watch this — we can make ventilators where we were just making car parts, starting next week" — by re-engineering seat ventilators which their engineers hacked together for a new purpose. In under a week.
In a project with which I'm loosely associated, a very-effective agricultural disease-control agent was re-purposed and re-labeled specifically for Corona-virus control by the FDA and EPA in under ten days, from initial request to distribution.
Restaurants and schools have said, "we've got kitchens and staff; we can feed the poor kids who used have school lunch."
NBA basketball players have said, "Hold our basketballs while we write checks to pay the arena staff."
Construction companies are saying, "Here are some high-end masks for medical staff and doctors".
Distilleries are making sanitizer out of distilling "heads and tails" which are normally discarded. Nasty shit to drink, but effective sanitizer.
People are tipping grocery check-out clerks and thanking them for taking the risk.
Local, state, and county governments are taking control of everything the feds cannot do. Some are doing it wrong, but for the first time in decades … they're doing it. Federalism is re-emerging, and the smallest unit of government is the individual and the family. This, too, is re-emerging after decades of dormancy.
As Japanese Admiral Isokuru Yamamoto said, after Pearl Harbor … "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."
I sense this has just happened. We have a wonderful country, the greatest single force for good in all human history. We have closed our borders, with good reason, yet we have top medical people now assisting North Korea in their response to the virus.
Many things have been re-set, and will never be the same.
By microbiological accident, we are living in profoundly transformative historical times.
So I ask you a question, what part are you to play?
If you feel comfortable sitting in your socially distant box and bitching about all things that are not right, or might be not be right…. Or, if you prefer to allow yourself to be overcome with dark imaginings simply because what cannot be done is more comfortable than the effort to oversee what needs to be done…. well, that's okay.
You can do that.
And when you're done doing that you'll still be in the same place.
Or, you can check on older neighbors to make sure they are OK and make sure they have necessities. If older neighbors need something at the store, get it for them. Friends and neighbors who are anxious, send them a card or note with positive comments on it. Give people hope. If you don't want to send a card, send an e-mail checking up on people.
Order an extra lunch or dinner from a local restaurant just so you can give a tip to the delivery person who shows up at your door. Then stick the extra in the fridge and eat it tomorrow. We can do this.
No-one is saying this doesn't suck; but some people know that standing around bitching about the comparative values of current life in suckdom doesn't actually accomplish anything.
President Trump is doing what needs to be done; with far more information than me; and in the best manner he can assemble to keep America great. He does this while simultaneously swatting away thousands of piranhas biting at him on an hourly basis.
So again, ask yourself a question: what part are you to play?
Live your best life.
You only have this moment once.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— The Post for Sunday, 2 May 2021... Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
Operation Rolling Thunder (1965-68)...
LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam air war...
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 2 May 1966...
"The wisdom of my Great Uncle Robert"
http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-2-may-1966-uncle-robert/
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…….May 2
1942 – The Japanese begin the concentration of forces for what will become the battle of the Coral Sea. Their objective is to occupy Port Moresby. Admiral Takagi commands a covering force including the aircraft carriers Zuikaku and Shokaku. Admiral Goto commands the naval support force for the landing, including the carrier Shoho and four heavy cruisers. Admiral Inouye is in command of the main invasion force concentrated at Rabaul. American code breaking allows Admiral Nimitz to concentrate Allied forces to oppose the Japanese forces. Initially these forces include only Admiral Fletcher's Task Force 17 with the carrier Yorktown. Later Task Force 11 (Admiral Fitch) with the aircraft carrier Lexington and Task force 44 (Admiral Crace) with Australian and American cruisers.
1945 – At noon the German surrender becomes effective. The long, difficult and controversial campaign in Italy is over. Allied forces reach Trieste, Milan and Turin during the course of the day, while others are advancing north toward Brenner Pass where they will link up with US 7th Army forces from the north. Approximately 1 million German soldiers lay down their arms as the terms of the German unconditional surrender, signed at Caserta on April 29, come into effect. Many Germans surrender to Japanese soldiers-Japanese Americans. Among the American tank crews that entered the northern Italian town of Biella was an all-Nisei (second-generation) infantry battalion, composed of Japanese Americans from Hawaii. Early that same day, Russian Marshal Georgi K. Zhukov accepts the surrender of the German capital. The Red Army takes 134,000 German soldiers prisoner.
2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
2011 – Osama bin Laden, the founder and head of the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda, was killed in Pakistan shortly after 1:00 am PKT (20:00 UTC, May 1) by U.S. Navy SEALs of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group (also known as DEVGRU or SEAL Team Six). The operation, code-named Operation Neptune Spear, was carried out in a Central Intelligence Agency-led operation. In addition to DEVGRU, participating units included the U.S. Army Special Operations Command's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) and CIA operatives. The raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, was launched from Afghanistan. After the raid, U.S. forces took bin Laden's body to Afghanistan for identification, then buried it at sea within 24 hours of his death. The United States had direct evidence that Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, knew of bin Laden's presence in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Al-Qaeda confirmed the death on May 6 with posts made on militant websites, vowing to avenge the killing.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BUSH, ROBERT EUGENE
Rank and organization: Hospital Apprentice First Class, U.S. Naval Reserve, serving as Medical Corpsman with a rifle company, 2d Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Okinawa Jima, Ryukyu Islands, 2 May 1945. Entered service at: Washington. Born: 4 October 1926, Tacoma, Wash. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Medical Corpsman with a rifle company, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Jima, Ryukyu Islands, 2 May 1945. Fearlessly braving the fury of artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire from strongly entrenched hostile positions, Bush constantly and unhesitatingly moved from 1 casualty to another to attend the wounded falling under the enemy's murderous barrages. As the attack passed over a ridge top, Bush was advancing to administer blood plasma to a marine officer Iying wounded on the skyline when the Japanese launched a savage counterattack. In this perilously exposed position, he resolutely maintained the flow of life-giving plasma. With the bottle held high in 1 hand, Bush drew his pistol with the other and fired into the enemy's ranks until his ammunition was expended. Quickly seizing a discarded carbine, he trained his fire on the Japanese charging pointblank over the hill, accounting for 6 of the enemy despite his own serious wounds and the loss of 1 eye suffered during his desperate battle in defense of the helpless man. With the hostile force finally routed, he calmly disregarded his own critical condition to complete his mission, valiantly refusing medical treatment for himself until his officer patient had been evacuated, and collapsing only after attempting to walk to the battle aid station. His daring initiative, great personal valor, and heroic spirit of self-sacrifice in service of others reflect great credit upon Bush and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
*FOSTER, WILLIAM ADELBERT
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 17 February 1915, Cleveland, Ohio. Accredited to: Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman with the 3d Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain 2 May 1945. Dug in with another marine on the point of the perimeter defense after waging a furious assault against a strongly fortified Japanese position, Pfc. Foster and his comrade engaged in a fierce hand grenade duel with infiltrating enemy soldiers. Suddenly an enemy grenade landed beyond reach in the foxhole. Instantly diving on the deadly missile, Pfc. Foster absorbed the exploding charge in his own body, thereby protecting the other marine from serious injury. Although mortally wounded as a result of his heroic action, he quickly rallied, handed his own remaining 2 grenades to his comrade and said, "Make them count." Stouthearted and indomitable, he had unhesitatingly relinquished his own chance of survival that his fellow marine might carry on the relentless fight against a fanatic enemy, and his dauntless determination, cool decision and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon Pfc. Foster and upon the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.
BENAVIDEZ, ROY P.
Rank and Organization: Master Sergeant, Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group, Republic of Vietnam. Place and Date: West of Loc Ninh on 2 May 1968. Entered Service at: Houston, Texas June 1955. Date and Place of Birth: 5 August 1935, DeWitt County, Cuero, Texas. Master Sergeant (then Staff Sergeant) Roy P. Benavidez United States Army, who distinguished himself by a series of daring and extremely valorous actions on 2 May 1968 while assigned to Detachment B56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. On the morning of 2 May 1968, a 12-man Special Forces Reconnaissance Team was inserted by helicopters in a dense jungle area west of Loc Ninh, Vietnam to gather intelligence information about confirmed large-scale enemy activity. This area was controlled and routinely patrolled by the North Vietnamese Army. After a short period of time on the ground, the team met heavy enemy resistance, and requested emergency extraction. Three helicopters attempted extraction, but were unable to land due to intense enemy small arms and anti-aircraft fire. Sergeant Benavidez was at the Forward Operating Base in Loc Ninh monitoring the operation by radio when these helicopters returned to off-load wounded crewmembers and to assess aircraft damage. Sergeant Benavidez voluntarily boarded a returning aircraft to assist in another extraction attempt. Realizing that all the team members were either dead or wounded and unable to move to the pickup zone, he directed the aircraft to a nearby clearing where he jumped from the hovering helicopter, and ran approximately 75 meters under withering small arms fire to the crippled team. Prior to reaching the team's position he was wounded in his right leg, face, and head. Despite these painful injuries, he took charge, repositioning the team members and directing their fire to facilitate the landing of an extraction aircraft, and the loading of wounded and dead team members. He then threw smoke canisters to direct the aircraft to the team's position. Despite his severe wounds and under intense enemy fire, he carried and dragged half of the wounded team members to the awaiting aircraft. He then provided protective fire by running alongside the aircraft as it moved to pick up the remaining team members. As the enemy's fire intensified, he hurried to recover the body and classified documents on the dead team leader. When he reached the leader's body, Sergeant Benavidez was severely wounded by small arms fire in the abdomen and grenade fragments in his back. At nearly the same moment, the aircraft pilot was mortally wounded, and his helicopter crashed. Although in extremely critical condition due to his multiple wounds, Sergeant Benavidez secured the classified documents and made his way back to the wreckage, where he aided the wounded out of the overturned aircraft, and gathered the stunned survivors into a defensive perimeter. Under increasing enemy automatic weapons and grenade fire, he moved around the perimeter distributing water and ammunition to his weary men, reinstilling in them a will to live and fight. Facing a buildup of enemy opposition with a beleaguered team, Sergeant Benavidez mustered his strength, began calling in tactical air strikes and directed the fire from supporting gunships to suppress the enemy's fire and so permit another extraction attempt. He was wounded again in his thigh by small arms fire while administering first aid to a wounded team member just before another extraction helicopter was able to land. His indomitable spirit kept him going as he began to ferry his comrades to the craft. On his second trip with the wounded, he was clubbed from additional wounds to his head and arms before killing his adversary. He then continued under devastating fire to carry the wounded to the helicopter. Upon reaching the aircraft, he spotted and killed two enemy soldiers who were rushing the craft from an angle that prevented the aircraft door gunner from firing upon them. With little strength remaining, he made one last trip to the perimeter to ensure that all classified material had been collected or destroyed, and to bring in the remaining wounded. Only then, in extremely serious condition from numerous wounds and loss of blood, did he allow himself to be pulled into the extraction aircraft. Sergeant Benavidez' gallant choice to join voluntarily his comrades who were in critical straits, to expose himself constantly to withering enemy fire, and his refusal to be stopped despite numerous severe wounds, saved the lives of at least eight men. His fearless personal leadership, tenacious devotion to duty, and extremely valorous actions in the face of overwhelming odds were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect the utmost credit on him and the United States Army.
KELLER, LEONARD B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. place and date: Ap Bac Zone, Republic of Vietnam, 2 May 1967. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 25 February 1947, Rockford, Ill. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sweeping through an area where an enemy ambush had occurred earlier, Sgt. Keller's unit suddenly came under Intense automatic weapons and small-arms fire from a number of enemy bunkers and numerous snipers in nearby trees. Sgt. Keller quickly moved to a position where he could fire at a bunker from which automatic fire was received, killing 1 Viet Cong who attempted to escape. Leaping to the top of a dike, he and a comrade charged the enemy bunkers, dangerously exposing themselves to the enemy fire. Armed with a light machine gun, Sgt. Keller and his comrade began a systematic assault on the enemy bunkers. While Sgt. Keller neutralized the fire from the first bunker with his machine gun, the other soldier threw in a hand grenade killing its occupant. Then he and the other soldier charged a second bunker, killing its occupant. A third bunker contained an automatic rifleman who had pinned down much of the friendly platoon. Again, with utter disregard for the fire directed to them, the 2 men charged, killing the enemy within. Continuing their attack, Sgt. Keller and his comrade assaulted 4 more bunkers, killing the enemy within. During their furious assault, Sgt. Keller and his comrade had been almost continuously exposed to intense sniper fire as the enemy desperately sought to stop their attack. The ferocity of their assault had carried the soldiers beyond the line of bunkers into the treeline, forcing snipers to flee. The 2 men gave immediate chase, driving the enemy away from the friendly unit. When his ammunition was exhausted, Sgt. Keller returned to the platoon to assist in the evacuation of the wounded. The 2-man assault had driven an enemy platoon from a well prepared position, accounted for numerous enemy dead, and prevented further friendly casualties. Sgt. Keller's selfless heroism and indomitable fighting spirit saved the lives of many of his comrades and inflicted serious damage on the enemy. His acts were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
LIVINGSTON, JAMES E.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps, Company E, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. place and date: Dai Do, Republic of Vietnam, 2 May 1968. Entered service at: McRae, Ga. Born: 12 January 1940, Towns, Telfair County, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Commanding Officer, Company E, in action against enemy forces. Company E launched a determined assault on the heavily fortified village of Dai Do, which had been seized by the enemy on the preceding evening isolating a marine company from the remainder of the battalion. Skillfully employing screening agents, Capt. Livingston maneuvered his men to assault positions across 500 meters of dangerous open rice paddy while under intense enemy fire. Ignoring hostile rounds impacting near him, he fearlessly led his men in a savage assault against enemy emplacements within the village. While adjusting supporting arms fire, Capt. Livingston moved to the points of heaviest resistance, shouting words of encouragement to his marines, directing their fire, and spurring the dwindling momentum of the attack on repeated occasions. Although twice painfully wounded by grenade fragments, he refused medical treatment and courageously led his men in the destruction of over 100 mutually supporting bunkers, driving the remaining enemy from their positions, and relieving the pressure on the stranded marine company. As the 2 companies consolidated positions and evacuated casualties, a third company passed through the friendly lines launching an assault on the adjacent village of Dinh To, only to be halted by a furious counterattack of an enemy battalion. Swiftly assessing the situation and disregarding the heavy volume of enemy fire, Capt. Livingston boldly maneuvered the remaining effective men of his company forward, joined forces with the heavily engaged marines, and halted the enemy's counterattack Wounded a third time and unable to walk, he steadfastly remained in the dangerously exposed area, deploying his men to more tenable positions and supervising the evacuation of casualties. Only when assured of the safety of his men did he allow himself to be evacuated. Capt. Livingston's gallant actions uphold the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.
VARGAS, M. SANDO, JR.
Rank and organization: Major (then Capt.), U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. Place and date: Dai Do, Republic of Vietnam, 30 April to 2 May 1968. Entered service at: Winslow, Ariz. Born: 29 July 1940, Winslow, Ariz. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commanding officer, Company G, in action against enemy forces from 30 April to 2 May 1968. On 1 May 1968, though suffering from wounds he had incurred while relocating his unit under heavy enemy fire the preceding day, Maj. Vargas combined Company G with two other companies and led his men in an attack on the fortified village of Dai Do. Exercising expert leadership, he maneuvered his marines across 700 meters of open rice paddy while under intense enemy mortar, rocket and artillery fire and obtained a foothold in 2 hedgerows on the enemy perimeter, only to have elements of his company become pinned down by the intense enemy fire. Leading his reserve platoon to the aid of his beleaguered men, Maj. Vargas inspired his men to renew their relentless advance, while destroying a number of enemy bunkers. Again wounded by grenade fragments, he refused aid as he moved about the hazardous area reorganizing his unit into a strong defense perimeter at the edge of the village. Shortly after the objective was secured the enemy commenced a series of counterattacks and probes which lasted throughout the night but were unsuccessful as the gallant defenders of Company G stood firm in their hard-won enclave. Reinforced the following morning, the marines launched a renewed assault through Dai Do on the village of Dinh To, to which the enemy retaliated with a massive counterattack resulting in hand-to-hand combat. Maj. Vargas remained in the open, encouraging and rendering assistance to his marines when he was hit for the third time in the 3-day battle. Observing his battalion commander sustain a serious wound, he disregarded his excruciating pain, crossed the fire-swept area and carried his commander to a covered position, then resumed supervising and encouraging his men while simultaneously assisting in organizing the battalion's perimeter defense. His gallant actions uphold the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.
WRIGHT, RAYMOND R.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 3d Battalion, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. Place and date: Ap Bac Zone, Republic of Vietnam, 2 May 1967. Entered service at: Moriah, N.Y. Born: 5 December 1945, Moriah, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. While serving as a rifleman with Company A, Sp4c. Wright distinguished himself during a combat patrol in an area where an enemy ambush had occurred earlier. Sp4c. Wright's unit suddenly came under intense automatic weapons and small-arms fire from an enemy bunker system protected by numerous snipers in nearby trees. Despite the heavy enemy fire, Sp4c. Wright and another soldier leaped to the top of a dike to assault the position. Armed with a rifle and several grenades, he and his comrade exposed themselves to intense fire from the bunkers as they charged the nearest one. Sp4c. Wright raced to the bunker, threw in a grenade, killing its occupant. The 2 soldiers then ran through a hail of fire to the second bunker. While his comrade covered him with his machinegun, Sp4c. Wright charged the bunker and succeeded in killing its occupant with a grenade. A third bunker contained an automatic rifleman who had pinned down much of the friendly platoon. While his comrade again covered him with machinegun fire, Sp4c. Wright charged in and killed the enemy rifleman with a grenade. The 2 soldiers worked their way through the remaining bunkers, knocking out 4 of them. Throughout their furious assault, Sp4c. Wright and his comrade had been almost continuously exposed to intense sniper fire from the treeline as the enemy desperately sought to stop their attack. Overcoming stubborn resistance from the bunker system, the men advanced into the treeline forcing the snipers to retreat, giving immediate chase, and driving the enemy away from the friendly unit so that it advanced across the open area without further casualty. When his ammunition was exhausted, Sp4c. Wright returned to his unit to assist in the evacuation of the wounded. This 2-man assault had driven an enemy platoon from a well prepared position, accounted for numerous enemy casualties, and averted further friendly casualties. Sp4c. Wright's extraordinary heroism, courage, and indomitable fighting spirit saved the lives of many of his comrades and inflicted serious damage on the enemy. His acts were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for May 2, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
2 May
1918: Lt Col Henry J. Damm and Maj Oscar Brindley were killed while testing a DH-4 at Dayton. (24)
1923: MACKAY TROPHY/DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS. After adding extra fuel tanks to their Fokker T2 Liberty 400, Lts Oakley G. Kelly and John A. Macready flew the first nonstop transcontinental flight from New York to San Diego, flying the 2,520 miles in 26 hours 50 minutes 3 seconds. (9) (18)
1948: The Navy successfully tested a submarine capable of firing guided missiles. (16) (24)
1957: The USAF accepted its first F-101A Voodoo. (12)
1963: Jacqueline Cochran flew a Lockheed TF-104G near Edwards AFB to a world speed record for women of 1,203.94 MPH over a closed 100-kilometer course.
1965: Early Bird satellite went into operation as a public communications facility by shuttling TV programs across the North Atlantic. The Oklahoma ANG's "Talking Bird" C-97 Command Post flew to the Caribbean to support US forces in the Dominican Republic. (See Operation POWER PACK) (16)
1970: Ground fire in Cambodia claimed an F-4, the first PACAF aircraft to be lost in combat operations in that country. (17)
1971: At Lancaster, Calif., Lois Elmstrom flew a Piccard Balloon to a FAI duration record of 2 hours 6 minutes 10 seconds for balloons, subclasses AX-3 and AX-4 (400-900 cubic meters). (9)
1975: The Navy selected the Northrop and McDonnell-Douglas team to develop the twin-engine F-18 air combat fighter. (12)
1977: 1Lt Christine E. Schott became the first woman undergraduate pilot student to solo in the T-38 Talon. (16) (26)
1979: Through 3 May, two E-3A Sentry aircraft flew the first AWACS training mission over the Central Region of Europe. (16) (26)
1981: Davis-Monthan AFB received TAC's first OA-37 Dragonfly. It replaced the O-2A in the forward air control role. (11) In a first, an airborne laser destroyed an aerial target, when the Airborne Laser Laboratory, a modified KC-135 aircraft armed with a carbon dioxide laser, shot down a drone over White Sands Missile Range. (21)
1988: Col Phillip J. Ford, the 384th Bomb Wing Commander, and Lt Gen Ellie G. "Buck" Shuler, Jr., the Eighth Air Force Commander, flew the last B-1B from the Rockwell International plant to McConnell AFB. (http://www.sr-71.org/aircraft/b-1.php)
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. Serbian ground forces shot down an F-16 over Yugoslavia. It was the second and last US aircraft lost in the operation. An MH-60 helicopter rescued the pilot. (21) An AFFTC aircrew from Edwards flew an NC-130J loaded with Red Cross supplies to Sofia, Bulgaria in support of Operation ALLIED FORCE. (3)
2002: An AFFTC B-1B dropped three different weapons (a MK-82, a MK-84, and a CBU-89) on a single pass. The B-1B released the bombs from separate bomb bays to strike individual targets that were 10,000 feet apart. AFFTC conducted this Air Force "first" as part of the B-1 Block E Computer Upgrade Test Program at Edwards AFB. (3)
2004: The 164 AW (Tennessee ANG) in Memphis phased out the last C-141 (tail no. 60157) from the ANG inventory. The then unit converted to C-5s. (32)
2006: The Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate at Edwards AFB conducted the first full-scale test of Thiokol's new solid-propellant motor for ICBMs. It was similar in size and weight to the Minuteman III first stage motor, but used advanced case, propellant, and thrust vector technologies. The new engine produced over 282,000 pounds of thrust, compared to Minuteman motor's 202,000 pounds. (3)
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A short, but worthwhile, article:=
"The Betrayal of the New Woke Department of Defense
April 15, 2021 | Colonel David Bolgiano
The Betrayal of the New Woke Department of Defense
This month all of the Department of Defense's uniformed service members and civilian employees will be forced to participate in a so-called Anti-Extremist Briefing. What they will see is a slide show of anti-white and anti-conservative indoctrination that encourages those attending to "turn in" those who don't parrot the gospel of the woke. Americans should not be encouraged to spy on their fellow citizens because of differing political views. Such behavior is reminiscent of Germany during the thirties.
"White supremacists" and ISIS are the only groups specifically identified in the briefing slides. Never mind that Black Lives Matter and Antifa have caused a thousandfold more damage, injury and deaths than the Capitol incident of January 6, 2021. What message does this send to soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines? This is especially corrosive and dangerous since many white soldiers might feel unduly stereotyped and targeted. These soldiers—often hunters, ranchers and farmers from rural areas—make up the majority of those at the tip of the spear: Infantry, Special Operations Forces and other Combat Arms branches.
During my decades of service in the Armed Forces, we were never so Balkanized. From basic training onward, we were taught to honor and appreciate the individual—regardless of race—based on performance, humility and recognition of the greater good of all. Now, Lloyd Austin's Department of Defense seems determined to entrench the divisive Critical Race Theory instead of selfless and virtuous leadership. This is sad beyond description to those who have fought in wars to preserve the Constitution and its attendant rights.
Adding insult to this injury is Austin's latest proclamation that the military must "celebrate" so-called transexuals. More disturbingly, taxpayers will now pay for these sad individuals' "sex change" surgeries. This policy is imposed even though Johns Hopkins Medical School—one of the first in the nation to offer such surgeries—ended them in the wake of a study that found patients undergoing the surgeries showed no improvement in their mental or social health. In addition, such individuals have suicide and mental disorder rates over twenty times higher than the average rate. This policy does not enhance our readiness. Why do this?
Forcing traditional warriors to celebrate something that is anathema to their religious and moral beliefs is also insane. America appears to be marching (and slouching) toward Gomorrah. One of the last bastions of normalcy—the military—has jumped on the bandwagon with full force. Climate change and wokeness seem to be its new mission, not closing with and destroying the enemy. China must be laughing at us. This Easter season, I will pray for a return to right reason and virtue before it is too late.
About the Author:
Lt. Col. David G. Bolgiano is a retired paratrooper who has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan on multiple occasions. He is the author of Combat Self-Defense: Saving America's Warriors from Risk-Averse Commanders and their Lawyers and co-author of Fighting Today's Wars: How America's Leaders Have Failed Our Warriors."
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