Good Sunday Morning May 16
May 16
This Day in Naval History
1811 The frigate President, commanded by John Rodgers, exchanges several shots with HMS Little Belt during the night. Each captain claims the other fired first, increasing tensions between the two countries prior to the War of 1812.
1820 The frigate Congress becomes the first U.S. warship to visit China when she visits Guanhzhou (now Canton).
1919 Three Curtiss NC seaplanes leave from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, Canada for the first trans-atlantic flight. Only NC 4 makes the flight successfully reaching the Azores on May 17.
1943 USS MacKenzie (DD 614) sinks the German submarine (U 182) west of Madeira. Before being sunk, (U 182) sinks five Allied merchant vessels, including the American steam merchant Richard D. Spaight on March 10, 1943.
1944 USS Franks (DD 554), USS Haggard (DD 555) and USS Johnston (DD 557) sink the Japanese submarine (I 176), 150 miles north of Cape Alexander, Solomon Islands, forcing Japanese to shift the position of their subs in the New-Guinea-Carolines area.
1965 The first US naval gunfire support in Vietnam is performed by USS Henry W. Tucker (DD-875) as she fires upon the Viet Cong coastal concentrations southeast of Saigon.
1992 Military Sealift Commands USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199) is christened and launched at New Orleans, La.
Thanks to CHINFO
No CHINFO on the weekend
Today in History May 16
1770 | Marie Antoinette marries future King Louis XVI of France. | |
1863 | At the Battle of Champion's Hill, Union General Ulysess S. Grant repulses the Confederates, driving them into Vicksburg. | |
1868 | President Andrew Johnson is acquitted during Senate impeachment, by one vote, cast by Edmund G. Ross. | |
1879 | The Treaty of Gandamak between Russia and England sets up the Afghan state. | |
1920 | Joan of Arc is canonized in Rome. | |
1928 | The first Academy Awards are held in Hollywood. | |
1943 | A specially trained and equipped Royal Air Force squadron destroys two river dams in Germany. | |
1951 | Chinese Communist Forces launch second phase of the Chinese Spring Offensive in the Korean War and gain up to 20 miles of territory. | |
1960 | A Big Four summit in Paris collapses because of the American U-2 spy plane affair. | |
1963 | After 22 Earth orbits, Gordon Cooper returns to Earth, ending the last mission of Project Mercury |
1940 Roosevelt asks congress for 900 Million to finance the construction of 50,000 airplanes a year
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This was one year ago. Now look around and see where we are
Proclamation on Armed Forces Day, 2020
Issued on: May 15, 2020
In times of war and peace alike, on land, at sea, in the skies, in cyberspace, and beyond the Earth's atmosphere, the men and women of our Nation's Armed Forces serve with honor and distinction and stand ready to selflessly defend our Nation. On Armed Forces Day, we pay tribute to these patriots, whose work enables our country to shine always as a beacon of freedom and hope for the world.
Throughout our Nation's history, our Armed Forces have protected our country, our liberty, and our founding principles. Earlier this month, we marked the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, when United States and Allied forces liberated Europe and North Africa from tyranny and oppression. The courageous actions of these heroes will stand always as monuments to the very best of our Nation. Today, many of our service members have been called into action on the home front to aid in our fight against a new type of enemy — the coronavirus. Our Guardsmen, engineers, logisticians, and medical service members have provided critical lifesaving treatment, protective equipment, facilities, and other vital services and provisions quickly and efficiently to those in need. In March, I was honored as Commander in Chief to salute those aboard the USNS Comfort as these heroes set sail from the shores of Norfolk, Virginia, to bring aid and comfort to people in need of care in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. As they have shown throughout this crisis, working to ease the burdens on healthcare workers and first responders, our Armed Forces can adapt to any challenge and succeed in any mission.
My Administration will always remain committed to ensuring our Nation has the strongest and most advanced military in the world. We owe it to our warriors to ensure that we provide them with the necessary training and equipment to meet current and future challenges. Since I took office, we have invested a historic $2.2 trillion in the United States military, purchasing the finest American-made planes, missiles, rockets, ships, and other pieces of military equipment. Additionally, last year, I was proud to sign into law legislation that provided a 3.1 percent pay raise for our troops — the largest pay raise for our military men and women in a decade — in recognition of their unparalleled duty, honor, courage, and commitment.
This year, we also celebrate the historic creation of the United States Space Force, the first new military branch since the establishment of the United States Air Force more than 70 years ago. We recognize that to combat the evolving threats of a 21st-century world, we must look to the newest warfighting domain and address malign activities in space. America's leadership in space is unparalleled, and with the addition of the United States Space Force, we are now even better positioned to meet the evolving threats in this emerging frontier of technology, exploration, and discovery. Approximately 16,000 military and civilian personnel have already been assigned to the Space Force, embarking on their mission to organize, train, and equip these new fighters responsible for protecting the United States and allied interests in the vast domain of space.
Today, and every day, we reaffirm our unwavering support for the millions of American patriots who fill the ranks of our Armed Forces. We are eternally grateful for every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Coast Guardsman, and member of the Space Force, and we deeply appreciate the sacrifices their families and loved ones make on our behalf. As one Nation, we pledge to always honor this service and this devotion given to our great country.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States, continuing the tradition of my predecessors in office, do hereby proclaim the third Saturday of each May as Armed Forces Day.
I invite the Governors of the States and Territories and other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, to provide for the observance of Armed Forces Day within their jurisdiction each year in an appropriate manner designed to increase public understanding and appreciation of the Armed Forces of the United States. I also invite veterans, civic, and other organizations to join in the observance of Armed Forces Day each year.
Finally, I call upon all Americans to display the flag of the United States at their homes and businesses on Armed Forces Day, and I urge citizens to learn more about military service by attending and participating in the local observances of the day.
Proclamation 9892 of May 17, 2019, is hereby superseded.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-fourth.
DONALD J. TRUMP
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Thanks to Carl….could be your thoughts for the day
(My subscription to Epoch Times had these "Words of Wisdom" quotes each day. I saved the better ones for months and think these are worth sharing!)
"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power." LAO TZU
"A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues." CICERO
"A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." JOHN ADAMS
"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ARISTOTLE
"Whoever would overthrow the liberty of a nation must begin by subduing the freeness of speech." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
"The greatest tyrannies are always perpetuated in the name of the noblest of causes." THOMAS PAINE
"The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours." AYN RAND
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." CICERO
"Thanks are the highest form of thought, and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder." G.K. CHESTERTON
"It is easy to hate and it is difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get." CONFUCIUS
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it." THOMAS PAINE
"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." ARISTOTLE
"The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." WINSTON CHURCHILL
"Watch your thoughts, for they will become actions. Watch your actions, for they'll become... habits. Watch your habits for they will forge your character. Watch your character, for it will make your destiny." MARGARET THATCHER
"Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!" ANNE FRANK
"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." SENECA
"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing the monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward." C. S. LEWIS
"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity" ALBERT EINSTEIN
"It's not what happens to you but how you react to it that matters." EPICTETUS
"It is no use saying 'we are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary." WINSTON CHURCHILL
"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny." RONALD REAGAN
"Relations between a man and a woman are always strange: nothing can be foreseen, they have no predictable direction, no law." ALEKSANDR SOLZHENITSYN
"Whatever you are, be a good one." ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." MAYA ANGELOU
"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." ARISTOTLE
"I no longer listen to what people say, I just watch what they do. Behavior never lies." WINSTON CHURCHILL
"Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." GALILEO GALILEI
"Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character." ALBERT EINSTEIN (Very interesting since he did NOT have good character in his personal life!)
"Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility." PETER DRUCKER
"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you." WALT WHITMAN
"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible." DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
"Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance." THEODORE ROOSEVELT
"The best way to predict your future is to create it." ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has." EPICTETUS
"For all the virtues will be present when the one virtue, practical wisdom, is present." ARISTOTLE
"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." AESOP
"Why has government been instituted at all? Because the passions of man will not conform to the dictates of reason and justice without constraint." ALEXANDER HAMILTON
"I pay no attention whatever to anybody's praise or blame. I simply follow my own feelings." WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
"God allows us to experience the low points of life in order to teach us lessons that we could learn in no other way." C. S. LEWIS
"Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power." SENECA
"Courage isn't having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don't have strength." NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." THOMAS EDISON
"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." ALBERT EINSTEIN
"Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character." HERACLITUS
"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." G.K. CHESTERTON
"It is never too late to be what you might have been." GEORGE ELIOT
"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds."
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
I prefer peace. But if trouble must come, let it come in my time, so that my children can live in peace. -THOMAS PAINE
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. HENRY FORD
"These are the times that try men's souls." THOMAS PAINE
"If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable." SENECA
"The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph." GEORGE WASHINGTON
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." EDMUND BURKE
"My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth." ABRAHAM LINCOLN
"But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars." MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR
"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance." JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN
"Real men despise battle, but will never run from it." GEORGE WASHINGTON
"The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time." THOMAS JEFFERSON
"There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail" HENRY FORD
"Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable." GEORGE PATTON
"The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection." THOMAS PAINE
"Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential." WINSTON CHURCHILL
"Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties." JOHN MILTON
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." HENRY FORD
"A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not." SENECA
"In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit." ANNE FRANK
"Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving." DALE CARNEGIE
"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." CALVIN COOLIDGE
"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy." DALE CARNEGIE
"The reason angels can fly is because they take themselves lightly." G.K. CHESTERTON
"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." NAPOLEAN HILL
"Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." HENRY FORD
"You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." MARCUS AURELIUS
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— ... For The List for Sunday, 16 May 2021... Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-68)..
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 16 May 1966...
"A Misty Reflects"
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This 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
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20 years of Fear
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
SPACEX - ISS Docking Simulator
Pretty amazing for running in a browser!!
Thanks to Craig ….
You can waste a lot of time trying to master this one !! I just did!!!!!
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS For May 16
FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR MAY 16
THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1919: FIRST ATLANTIC CROSSING BY AIR. Lt Cmdr Albert C. "Puffy" Read and his five-man crew left Trepassy Bay, Newfoundland, in an NC-4. They arrived at the Azores on 17 May and at Lisbon, Portugal, on 27 May, thus completing the first crossing of the Atlantic by air. Two other flying boats failed to finish the trip. (9)
1940: President Roosevelt asked for the production of 50,000 planes a year. (12) (24)
1945: Fighter-bombers assaulted the Ipo Dam area, Luzon, with the largest mass employment of napalm in the Pacific War. (21) (24)
1947: Over New York, 101 B-29s "theoretically" dropped bombs in SAC's first maximum effort mission. (1) 1950: The USAF gained full responsibility for developing and operating the Joint Long Range Proving Ground Division. The Division had the status of a major air command.
1951: KOREAN WAR. In a maximum effort through 26 May, 315 AD cargo aircraft flew an average of over 1,000 tons of supplies daily from Japan to Korea to support UN ground forces seeking to halt the communist offensive. (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Through 17 May, in an emergency unit movement by air, the 315 AD dispatched C-119, C-54, and C-46 aircraft to transport 2,361 members of the 187th Regimental Combat Team and combat equipment, vehicles, and supplies from Japan to Pusan, Korea. The team quelled rioting POWs at Koje-do, where the UN Command had established a large POW compound. (28)
1958: Capt Eli L. Beeding, Jr. became the first man to absorb 83 "Gs" in a Daisy Track experiment. Over a 10-mile level course at Edwards AFB, Capt Walter W. Irwin flew a Lockheed F-104A Starfighter to a FAI speed record of 1,404.09 MPH. (9) The first F-101 Voodoo aircraft to reach Europe arrived at Phalsbourg AB, France. (4)
1964: SECDEF McNamara accelerated the phaseout of Atlas E and Titan I missiles. His directive advanced the retirement from FY1968 to FY1965. (6)
1968: MAC airlifted 88.5 tons of food and relief material to Ethiopia in response to a flood. (16) (26)
1978: Operation ZAIRE I/MACKAY TROPHY. Through 27 May, after Katangan rebels from Angola attacked Zaire's Shaba province, MAC used one C-5 and 42 C-141 missions to carry 931 tons of cargo and 124 passengers to support Belgian and French operations. During the C-5 mission, Lt Col Robert F. Schultz and his 436 MAW aircrew carried a 130,000-pound outsized load and earned the Mackay Trophy for overcoming fatigue, limited en route support, crippling mechanical problems, and adverse operational conditions in a hostile area. (21)
1980: General Dynamics launched the Tomahawk GLCM for the first time at the Utah Test and Training Range. (3)
1984: MAC C-141s flew 22 tons of medical supplies to Afghan refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan. (16)
1989: Operation BLADE JEWEL. Based on deteriorating relations between the US and Panama, President Bush ordered military dependents not residing on American bases to leave Panama. MAC evacuated 5,915 dependents, mainly on civil aircraft, to the US. (18)
2001: Operation FOCUS RELIEF. Through 24 May, in Operation FOCUS RELIEF II, five C-5 missions airlifted 201 US troops and 217 short tons of cargo from Fort Bragg and Ramstein AB to Ghana and Senegal, where they trained indigenous military personnel to support UN peacekeeping efforts in Sierra Leone. From August to October 2000, in Operation FOCUS RELIEF I, AMC flew American forces and equipment to Nigeria to help train Nigerian forces for a peacekeeping role in Sierra Leone. By late 2001, AMC flew another 4 C-5, 4 C-17, and 2 C-141 missions for peacekeeper training in Ghana, Senegal, and Nigeria. Seven airlift sorties from 11 September through 2 October were flown as FOCUS RELIEF III missions. (22)
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Thanks to YP
Since the string seems to be on buzz jobs/flathatting, I offer this story. Another story, referred to in the attachment, "Dances With Womens," amplifies things.
YP
On May 13, 2020, at 8:03 AM, Jack Woodul wrote:
Beg forgiveness for forwarding this snippet of email string with a friend, that started off about crop dusting.
Then, my morning barrel of coffee took over…
Check out the short video tour of my local area. The ghost town is Koehler Mining Camp, where Carolyn largely grew up. It is behind Ted Turner's locked gates, but I can see it any time I want.
YP
Begin forwarded message:
From: Jack Woodul
I can tell buzz job and flat-hatting (very low level flight) stories til the cows have to go to market. A friend and I in Phantoms bracketed another (rancher) friend, who was plowing, very low and very FAST. He got blowed off the tractor. He later called us bad things. Earlier in life, I had done an aileron roll at a hundred feet and a leisurely Skyhawk 360 knots over a water skier somewhere down South. He falled off. I could not catch his comments.
Somebody went over Jema Volpato's house in Maxwell so low and so fast that some windows came to grief. Must have been the frabbing Air Force.
Somebody flew over Parker and Bobbye Woodul's house one night at about a hundred feet with no lights on and lit afterburner. That got everybody out of the house. My parents joined others cursing the frabbing Air Force.
I wrote a story about putting on a airshow for a crew of Stearman crop dusters that were working a rancher's place about 40 miles south of Portales. It was a traditional thing to do, but the cropdusters enjoyed it. This was in the Crusader.
Finally, the FBO operator in Portales, where I learned to fly, crop dusted to pay the bills. His plane leaked malathyon and parathyion (sp), and he always seemed to be soaked in the stuff. He had a discernable twitch.
I attach a short video of a low level tour of the local area. Donny and Bill will recognize most of it as part of my normal tour. Forgive the thickening of my accent. My bud in the back seat, the video taker, is from Mis'sippy, and I can't help it.
Hi res big screen is better.
YP
A ride in YP's Air Cam: https://youtu.be/q4zIIEsN80k
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This day in American Military History
May 16
1960 – In the wake of the Soviet downing of an American U-2 spy plane on May 1, Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev lashes out at the United States and President Dwight D. Eisenhower at a Paris summit meeting between the two heads of state. Khrushchev's outburst angered Eisenhower and doomed any chances for successful talks or negotiations at the summit. On May 1, 1960, the Soviets shot down a CIA spy plane and captured the pilot, Gary Francis Powers. The United States issued public denials that the aircraft was being used for espionage, claiming instead that it was merely a weather plane that had veered off course. The Soviets thereupon triumphantly produced Powers, large pieces of wreckage from the plane, and Powers' admission that he was working for the CIA. The incident was a public relations fiasco for Eisenhower, who was forced to admit that the plane had indeed been spying on Russia. Tensions from the incident were still high when Eisenhower and Khrushchev arrived in Paris to begin a summit meeting on May 16. Khrushchev wasted no time in tearing into the United States, declaring that Eisenhower would not be welcome in Russia during his scheduled visit to the Soviet Union in June. He condemned the "inadmissible, provocative actions" of the United States in sending the spy plane over the Soviet Union, and demanded that Eisenhower ban future flights and punish those responsible for this "deliberate violation of the Soviet Union." When Eisenhower agreed only to a "suspension" of the spy plane flights, Khrushchev left the meeting in a huff. According to U.S. officials, the president was "furious" at Khrushchev for his public dressing-down of the United States. The summit meeting officially adjourned the next day with no further meetings between Khrushchev and Eisenhower. Eisenhower's planned trip to Moscow in June was scrapped. The collapse of the May 1960 summit meeting was a crushing blow to those in the Soviet Union and the United States who believed that a period of "peaceful coexistence" between the two superpowers was on the horizon. During the previous few years, both Eisenhower and Khrushchev had publicly indicated their desire for an easing of Cold War tensions, but the spy plane incident put an end to such talk, at least for the time being.
1963 – After 22 Earth orbits Gordon Cooper returned to Earth in Friendship Seven, ending Project Mercury.
1964 – Governor Nelson Rockefeller accepts President Johnson's offer to brief all Republican candidates for the presidency; afterwards, he agrees with a questioner that Americans are not getting the full story of the situation. Senator Barry Goldwater openly charges that US pilots have died because of obsolescent planes.
1965 – First US gunfire support in Vietnam by USS Tucker.
1965 – What is described by the United States government as "an accidental explosion of a bomb on one aircraft which spread to others" at the Bien Hoa air base leaves 27 U.S. servicemen and 4 South Vietnamese dead and some 95 Americans injured. More than 40 U.S. and South Vietnamese planes, including 10 B-57s, were destroyed.
1969 – 23rd Infantry and 101st Airborne Divisions conduct Operation Lamar Plain southwest of Tamky in Quangtin Province through 13 August.
1972 – A series of air strikes over five days destroys all of North Vietnam's pumping stations in the southern panhandle, thereby cutting North Vietnam's main fuel line to South Vietnam. These strikes were part of Operation Linebacker, an air offensive against North Vietnam that had been ordered by President Richard Nixon in early April in response to a massive communist offensive launched on March 30.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken this Day
*MULLER, JOSEPH E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 305th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Ishimmi, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, 15-16 May 1945. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Birth: Holyoke, Mass. G.O. No.: 71, 17 July 1946. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. When his platoon was stopped by deadly fire from a strongly defended ridge, he directed men to points where they could cover his attack. Then through the vicious machinegun and automatic fire, crawling forward alone, he suddenly jumped up, hurled his grenades, charged the enemy, and drove them into the open where his squad shot them down. Seeing enemy survivors about to man a machinegun, He fired his rifle at point-blank range, hurled himself upon them, and killed the remaining 4. Before dawn the next day, the enemy counterattacked fiercely to retake the position. Sgt. Muller crawled forward through the flying bullets and explosives, then leaping to his feet, hurling grenades and firing his rifle, he charged the Japs and routed them. As he moved into his foxhole shared with 2 other men, a lone enemy, who had been feigning death, threw a grenade. Quickly seeing the danger to his companions, Sgt. Muller threw himself over it and smothered the blast with his body. Heroically sacrificing his life to save his comrades, he upheld the highest traditions of the military service.
BALLARD, DONALD E.
Rank and organization: Hospital Corpsman Second Class, U.S. Navy, Company M, 3d Battalion, 4th Marines, 3d Marine Division. Place and date: Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam, 16 May 1968. Entered service at: Kansas City, Mo. Born: 5 December 1945, Kansas City, Mo. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life and beyond the call of duty while serving as a HC2c. with Company M, in connection with operations against enemy aggressor forces. During the afternoon hours, Company M was moving to join the remainder of the 3d Battalion in Quang Tri Province. After treating and evacuating 2 heat casualties, HC2c. Ballard was returning to his platoon from the evacuation landing zone when the company was ambushed by a North Vietnamese Army unit employing automatic weapons and mortars, and sustained numerous casualties. Observing a wounded marine, HC2c. Ballard unhesitatingly moved across the fire swept terrain to the injured man and swiftly rendered medical assistance to his comrade. HC2c. Ballard then directed 4 marines to carry the casualty to a position of relative safety. As the 4 men prepared to move the wounded marine, an enemy soldier suddenly left his concealed position and, after hurling a hand grenade which landed near the casualty, commenced firing upon the small group of men. Instantly shouting a warning to the marines, HC2c. Ballard fearlessly threw himself upon the lethal explosive device to protect his comrades from the deadly blast. When the grenade failed to detonate, he calmly arose from his dangerous position and resolutely continued his determined efforts in treating other marine casualties. HC2c. Ballard's heroic actions and selfless concern for the welfare of his companions served to inspire all who observed him and prevented possible injury or death to his fellow marines. His courage, daring initiative, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of extreme personal danger, sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
*ROARK, ANUND C.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry, 4th Infantry Division. Place and date: Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam, 16 May 1968. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Born: 17 February 1948, Vallejo, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Roark distinguished himself by extraordinary gallantry while serving with Company C. Sgt. Roark was the point squad leader of a small force which had the mission of rescuing 11 men in a hilltop observation post under heavy attack by a company-size force, approximately 1,000 meters from the battalion perimeter. As lead elements of the relief force reached the besieged observation post, intense automatic weapons fire from enemy occupied bunkers halted their movement. Without hesitation, Sgt. Roark maneuvered his squad, repeatedly exposing himself to withering enemy fire to hurl grenades and direct the fire of his squad to gain fire superiority and cover the withdrawal of the outpost and evacuation of its casualties. Frustrated in their effort to overrun the position, the enemy swept the hilltop with small arms and volleys of grenades. Seeing a grenade land in the midst of his men, Sgt. Roark, with complete disregard for his safety, hurled himself upon the grenade, absorbing its blast with his body. Sgt. Roark's magnificent leadership and dauntless courage saved the lives of many of his comrades and were the inspiration for the successful relief of the outpost. His actions which culminated in the supreme sacrifice of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, and reflect great credit on himself and the U.S. Army .
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Thanks to Mike
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