Good Friday evening June 4
We lost our internet last night and it has taken until a bit ago to get it back. It took the tech guy about 2 minutes to locate and fix the problem. Then he did some tests to check out the entire system.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
.
Regards
skip
On This Day in Naval History June 4
1934
USS Ranger (CV 4), the first U.S. Navy ship designed from the keel up as a carrier, is commissioned at Norfolk, Va. During World War II, she participates in Operation Torch and Operation Leader.
1942
The Battle of Midway begins. During that morning, after sending planes to attack the U.S. base at Midway, the Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga and Soryu are fatally damaged by dive bombers from USS Enterprise (CV 6) and USS Yorktown (CV 5). Later in the day, USS Yorktown is abandoned after bomb and torpedo hits by planes from Hiryu. The latter is, in turn, knocked out by U.S. carrier planes. Compelled by their losses to abandon their plans to capture Midway, the Japanese retire westward. The battle is a decisive win for the U.S, bringing an end to Japanese naval superiority in the Pacific.
1942
As the Battle of Midway continues, US dive-bomber pilots spot the whole Japanese carrier strike force below. The Japanese combat air patrol that should have been above the carriers to protect them were at sea level destroying the American torpedo-bombers. The SBD Dauntless dive bombers attack from 15,000 feet just at the moment when the decks of the carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu are loaded with planes, fuel and ordnance. They were quickly enveloped in flames and destroyed.
1943
TBF aircraft from USS Bogue (CVE 9) attack German submarine U 603 in the Atlantic. Though U 603 is not sunk, its forced to submerge, sparing a nearby LCI convoy from attack. USS Bronstein (DE 189) finally sinks U 603 in the North Atlantic on March 1, 1944.
1944
The hunter-killer group comprised of five destroyer escorts and USS Guadalcanal (CVE 60) captures German submarine, (U 505). This marks the first time a U.S. Navy vessel captures an enemy vessel since the early 19th century. The feat earns Lt. Albert L. David, who led the team to board the sub, the Medal of Honor.
1944
USS Flier (SS 250) sinks Japanese troopship Hakusan Maru about 375 miles southwest of Chichi Jima, Bonin Islands. Also on this date USS Golet (SS 361) sinks Japanese guardboat No.10 Shinko Maru east of Japan.
2011
USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) is commissioned at the Port of Mobile, Ala. The destroyer, the 60th in her Arleigh Burke-class, departs soon after to her homeport at Naval Station San Diego.
This day in History June 4
1615 The fortress at Osaka, Japan, falls to Shogun Leyasu after a six-month siege.
1647 Parliamentary forces capture King Charles I and hold him prisoner.
1717 The Freemasons are founded in London.
1792 Captain George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for Britain.
1794 British troops capture Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
1805 Tripoli is forced to conclude peace with the United States after a conflict over tribute.
1859 The French army, under Napoleon III, takes Magenta from the Austrian army.
1864 Confederates under General Joseph Johnston retreat to the mountains in Georgia.
1911 Gold is discovered in Alaska's Indian Creek.
1918 French and American troops halt Germany's offensive at Chateau-Thierry, France.
1919 The U.S. Senate passes the Women's Suffrage bill.
1940 The British complete the evacuation of 300,000 troops at Dunkirk.
1943 In Argentina, Juan Peron takes part in the military coup that overthrows Ramon S. Castillo.
1944The U-505 becomes the first enemy submarine captured by the U.S. Navy.
1944 Allied troops liberate Rome.
1946 Juan Peron is installed as Argentina's president.
1953 North Korea accepts the United Nations proposals in all major respects.
1960 The Taiwan island of Quemoy is hit by 500 artillery shells fired from the coast of Communist China.
1972 Black activist Angela Davis is found not guilty of murder, kidnapping, and criminal conspiracy.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
June Rites of Passage
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
Every June, we Marines are reminded of a fateful day in 1918 wherein our reputation in the modern era was enhanced by some unbelievable shooting, a bit of tooth-to-eyeball combat, and a few Marine-friendly reporters on the Western Front in France. For on June 6 of that year, Marines attacked and destroyed Imperial German Army positions during the Battle of Belleau Wood, an old French hunting preserve near Chateau-Thierry, in a grisly close-quarters slugfest, after which the Germans – convinced the Marines were special American "shock troops" – nicknamed their foes, teufelhunden, devil dogs.
What happened that day became the stuff of legend, or rather lore since the heroics of June 6, 1918 were confirmed by several sources, not the least of which was the enemy.
At one point during the fighting, Gunnery Sgt. Dan Daly – a two-time Medal of Honor recipient – dashed out in front of his Marines and shouted to them: "Come on you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?!"
A German after-action report, read: "The Marines are considered a sort of elite Corps designed to go into action outside the United States. The high percentage of marksmen, sharpshooters, and expert riflemen, as perceived among our prisoners, allows a conclusion to be drawn as to the quality of the training in rifle marksmanship that the Marines receive. The prisoners are mostly members of the better class, and they consider their membership in the Marine Corps to be something of an honor. They proudly resent any attempts to place their regiments on a par with other infantry regiments."
Twenty-six years – to the day – later, just after 2 a.m., Army paratroopers, members of the soon-to-be famous 82nd and 101st airborne divisions, as well as British airborne forces, began jumping behind German lines in the opening hours of the great Allied invasion of Normandy, also in France.
The paratroopers were described by German propagandists as being nothing more than gangsters and cutthroats who had learned to handle a parachute. In reality, they were young men fresh off the farm – and not far removed from their high school football fields – who had volunteered for something that not even their commanders were convinced would work on a large scale.
Following the paratroopers were waves of glider borne forces.
Offshore, thousands of warships, freighters, and supporting vessels were crossing the English Channel and moving into position off the French coast.
In less than five hours, the first sea borne assault waves of the initial 175,000-man Allied amphibious force began storming the beaches along a 50 to 60-mile front in the Bay of Seine between Caen and the Cherbourg peninsula. Supporting the invasion force were thousands of Allied warplanes.
Like Belleau Wood for the Marines, the invasion of Normandy made famous – for the Army – the pioneering U.S. Airborne divisions, not to mention the tens-of-thousands of sea borne soldiers, including Rangers, who kicked in the door of Hitler's Fortress Europe.
June is also a special military month for us here in South Carolina.
For on June 28, 1776, the "first decisive victory of American forces over the British Navy" was achieved by S.C. artillerists during the American Revolution.
That day, the garrison at Fort Sullivan – today Fort Moultrie on Sullivan's Island in Charleston harbor, under the command of militia Col. William Moultrie – repulsed Royal Navy forces under the command of Admiral Sir Peter Parker.
The 12-plus hour battle began around 9 a.m. when Parker's ships opened fire on the fort: many of the British shells sinking harmlessly into the soft palmetto logs of which the fort is constructed. The ships, on the other hand, some of which run aground on the harbor's shoals were constructed of oak, which Moultrie's artillerists quickly shatter sending deadly splinters into the unfortunate British crews.
Moultrie was destined to become a major general in the Continental Army and a South Carolina governor, and afterwards, S.C. would forever be known as the "Palmetto State."
Incidentally, this author's five-times great grandfather, Capt. Thomas Woodward – commanding a company of S.C. Rangers on Moultrie's extreme left – helped thwart an attempt by Royal Marines to land on Sullivan's Island. Woodward survived the battle, but was killed a few years later while in pursuit of a band of Loyalist horsemen. According to reports, he was literally blown out of his saddle by a blast of enemy buckshot. An obelisk to Woodward can be seen from the highway between Simpson and Winnsboro, S.C.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Boris
Remember Midway
"An aircraft carrier is a noble thing. It lacks almost everything that seems to denote nobility, yet deep nobility is there. A carrier has no poise. It has no grace. It is top-heavy and lop-sided. It has the lines of a cow. It doesn't cut through the water like a cruiser, knifing romantically along… It just plows… Yet a carrier is a ferocious thing, and out of its heritage of action has grown nobility. I believe that every Navy in the world has it as its No. 1 priority the destruction of enemy carriers. That's a precarious honor, but it's a proud one." Ernie Pyle, 1945
1942 – The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 7 – Midway Trilogy (3 of 3)
http://rememberedsky.com/?p=2072
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Remember that this battle for Okinawa has been going on since 1 April and still has a way to go to get to the 82 days until it completes and at great cost to both sides.
Another outstanding H-GRAM from Admiral Cox and the Naval History and Heritage Command
H-GRAM 48 THE NAVAL BATTLE OF OKINAWA
Be sure to click on all the highlighted text to get more information on each subject…skip
Contents
Kamikaze Attacks on U.S. Flagships off Okinawa
The Naval Battle of Okinawa (Continued), 11 May–5 June 1945
75th Anniversary of World War II
This H-gram covers the naval battle of Okinawa from late May to early June 1945, including the kamikaze hits on flagships Bunker Hill (CV-17, Vice Admiral Marc "Pete" Mitscher), New Mexico (BB-40, Admiral Raymond A. Spruance) and Enterprise (CV-6, Vice Admiral Mitscher). All of these ships survived, although the hits on Bunker Hill caused the most casualties in a single ship from a kamikaze attack, with 396 crewmen killed. The mass kamikaze attacks Kikusui No. 6, 7, and 8, and Typhoon Viper are also discussed.
Kamikaze Attacks on U.S. Flagships off Okinawa
As the ground campaign at Okinawa dragged on in a bloody slog against fierce Japanese resistance, Japanese kamikaze aircraft continued to hit U.S. ships around the island in a series of mass attacks of more than 100 aircraft, interspersed with smaller raids that could occur at any hour, creating immense strain on crews that had to react almost instantly to the threat. The great majority of Japanese kamikazes were shot down by U.S. fighters and antiaircraft fire, but planes flown by pilots who intended to die proved very difficult to stop, and invariably some got through even the best defenses.
On 11 May, two kamikazes in quick succession hit the carrier Bunker Hill, Vice Admiral Mitscher's Task Force 58 flagship, at a critical time, when the flight deck was packed with planes that were armed, fueled, manned, and about to launch. The result was a conflagration of unspeakable horror as 396 Americans died or went missing in the flames and suffocating toxic smoke, the largest loss of life aboard a single ship due to a kamikaze attack. Even when it seemed all hope was lost, Bunker Hill's gunners kept shooting, and her damage control teams never quit. They saved the ship, although she would never be operational as an aircraft carrier again. (Mitscher's chief of staff, Commodore Arleigh A. Burke, was awarded a Silver Star for extricating men from a burning compartment.)
On 13 May, a kamikaze hit Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet flagship, the old battleship New Mexico, the second time his flagship had been hit. For a time, Spruance was missing after the plane hit; he was finally found manning a firehose with other Sailors. Despite taking heavy casualties (54 dead Navy and Marine Corps personnel, mostly gunners), the battleships were built to take punishment, and New Mexico stayed in the line as the flagship until Spruance's turnover with Admiral William F. Halsey on 27 May. Spruance was awarded a Navy Cross.
No sooner had Vice Admiral Mitscher transferred his TF 58 flag to Enterprise than she, too, fell victim to a kamikaze attack. On 14 May, 26 Japanese planes attacked. Only one made it through the gauntlet to put Enterprise and her 20 battle stars (the record) out of action for the rest of the war. As the "night carrier," Enterprise had all planes de-armed and de-fueled, gasoline lines drained, and bomb magazines buttoned up, so her damage was far less severe than that of Bunker Hill. Enterprise would be the last carrier to be hit by a kamikaze. For more on the kamikaze attacks on the three flagships (and to see what actor Paul Newman had to do with it), see attachment H-048-1.
The Naval Battle of Okinawa (Continued), 11 May–5 June 1945
Between Kikusui No. 6 on 10–11 May and Kikusui No. 9 on 3–7 June, there was a steady toll of U.S. warships (mostly destroyers) sunk, damaged beyond repair, or put out of action for the rest of the war by kamikaze attacks. Some of these ships put up valiant resistance, shooting down multiple kamikazes before they could complete their attacks. Some U.S. ships faced one or two kamikazes that just kept on coming no matter how many times they were hit. In most cases the crews saved their ships when they should have sunk, even though many of those ships would never fight again. Crews on other ships simply never had a chance. In every case, a common theme was uncommon valor: Numerous Navy Crosses were awarded to commanding officers who continued to fight even as their ships burned. Navy Crosses went to junior officers, too, such as Ensign Leo D. Fay on Douglas H. Fox (DD-779), who despite mortal wounds led a decimated damage control team in saving the ship from a magazine explosion. Another was Lieutenant Edgar B. Wicklander, USNR, commanding officer of LCS(L)-356, who boldly brought his ship alongside a burning destroyer that had just suffered a magazine explosion and saved the lives of numerous stunned and wounded Sailors.
The most tragic events were the loss of destroyers Longshaw (DD-559) and Drexler (DD-741). Longshaw ran aground and was hit in a forward magazine by shore battery fire, which obliterated the entire ship forward of the bridge, killing 86 crewmen, including the commanding officer. Drexler, a new Allen M. Sumner–class destroyer, was hit by a kamikaze, which caused an explosion so powerful that she went down in less than a minute, taking 164 crewmen to the bottom with her. Damaged Bates (APD-47) was heroically towed into an anchorage area, only then to capsize and sink. LSM-135 was sunk while in the act of rescuing survivors. LST-808 became yet another ship lost to a kamikaze.
During this period, several ships were damaged beyond repair, including four destroyers: Thatcher (DD-514), Butler (DD-636), Forrest (DD-461), and Shubrick (DD-639); destroyer escort O'Neill (DE-188); and the three fast transports Chase (APD-54), Bates, and Roper (APD-20), which had been the first U.S. ship to sink a German U-boat, in 1942. They all would have sunk but for the heroic actions of their crews and some luck.
Other ships were badly damaged, and repairs were not completed until after the war ended: four destroyers, including Braine (DD-630), which survived despite high casualties (67 dead and 103 wounded); a fast destroyer transport; an assault transport; and an LCS (landing craft, support). Other ships were knocked out of action for more than 30 days, but made it back into the war before it was over.
The Japanese continued their dismal track record with Kaiten-equipped submarines, as an Avenger off escort carrier Anzio (CVE-57) caught I-361 on the surface and sank her (and five Kaiten manned torpedoes) with a Fido acoustic homing torpedo.
Finally, several days after Admiral Halsey relieved Admiral Spruance and Fifth Fleet became Third Fleet again, Typhoon Viper hit. All four carriers in Task Group 38.1 suffered significant damage, particularly fleet carriers Wasp (CV-18) and Bennington (CV-20), which had their forward flight decks bashed in. The new heavy cruiser Pittsburgh (CA-72) survived, having had 104-feet of her bow torn off; fortunately, her skipper had just called the crew to battle stations, so the forward berthing compartments were empty and no one was killed. Although Typhoon Viper caused far less damage and far lower personnel losses than Typhoon Cobra had claimed in December 1944, the court of inquiry was scathing in its conclusions of "lessons not learned" from Cobra.
For more on the naval battle of Okinawa, see attachment H-048-2. And if you are getting tired of reading about kamikazes, imagine what the crews thought as they kept getting hit. There were still three more weeks to go in what seemed like an interminable battle, and they would be costly weeks, too.
For more on the background history of the invasion of Okinawa, please see H-Gram 044. See also H-Gram 045 and 046 for coverage of the earlier stages of the Naval Battle of Okinawa (March–May 1945).
Sources for this H-gram include the Naval History and Heritage Command Dictionary of American Fighting Ships (DANFS) for U.S. ships and "Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy" (http://combined fleet.com) for Japanese ships. Additional sources: History of United States. Naval Operations in World War II, Vol. XIV: Victory in the Pacific, by Samuel Eliot Morison (Little, Brown and Co., 1960); Kamikaze: To Die for the Emperor, by Peter C. Smith (Pen and Sword Aviation, 2014); The Twilight Warriors, by Robert Gandt (Broadway Books, 2010); Kamikaze Attacks of World War II: A Complete History of Japanese Suicide Strikes on American Ships by Aircraft and Other Means, by Robin L. Reilly (McFarland, 2010); Desperate Sunset: Japan's Kamikazes Against Allied Ships, 1944–45, by Mike Yeo (Osprey, 2019); "Anti-Suicide Action Summary, August 1945," COMINCH Document P-0011, 31 August 1945; The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific 1944–1945, by James D. Hornfisher (Bantam Books, 2016); Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II, by John Prados (Random House, 1995); U.S. Navy Codebreakers, Linguists, and Intelligence Officers Against Japan, 1910-1941, by Steve E. Maffeo (Roman and Littlefield, 2016); Information at Sea: Shipboard Command and Control in the U.S. Navy from Mobile Bay to Okinawa, by Timothy S. Wolters (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013); Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947, by D. M. Giangreco (Naval Institute Press, 2009). "Who Sank Destroyer Drexler," by Bill Gordon, http://kamikaze images.net, 2006). Award citations are from "Military Times Hall of Honor" (http://valor.militarytimes.com).
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Ray. My apologies that this got lost down in the mass of emails I have been sorting through
It has been my want for the past several years to send you this reflection on Memorial Day. Thank you for your noble service.
Glory gained, duty done. Ray Fitzgerald
STILL THE NOBLEST CALLING
The Wall Street Journal
May 24, 1996
I visited with three old friends recently at a park in my town. It seems like only yesterday that we were all together, but actually it had been 28 years. There was a crowd at the park that day, and it took us awhile to connect, but with the aid of a computer we made it. I found Lance at Panel 54W, line 037, Lynn over at Panel 51W, line 032, and Vince down at line 103 on Panel 27W. We were gung-ho young fighter pilots in Vietnam, the cream of the crop of the US Air Force pilot training system, and now their names are on that 250-foot-long, half-size model of the Vietnam Memorial that moves around the country. I had intentionally avoided visiting the wall when it came to town in years past, because I did not trust myself to behave in a composed manner, but after nearly three decades it was time to try for some closure on this issue. I told my wife that I preferred to go alone, if that was all right, and, truth be known, I nearly backed out at that.
Standing in front of that somber wall, I tried to keep it light, reminiscing about how things were back then. We used to joke about the psychiatric term for a passionate love affair with inanimate flying objects—we flew F-100's—and we marveled at the thought that the taxpayers actually paid us to do this "work." We were not draftees, but college graduates there by choice, opting for the cramped confines of a jet fighter cockpit over the comfort of corporate America. In all my life I've not been so passionate about any other work. If that sounds like an exaggeration, then you've never danced the wild blue with a supersonic angel.
I vividly remember the Sunday afternoon, in the summer of '68, when we flew out of Travis Air Force Base, California, on a troop transport headed for Vietnam. Lynn, Lance and I crowded around the same porthole and watched the Golden Gate Bridge disappear below broken clouds. We had gone through fighter pilot school together and had done some serious bonding. In an exceedingly rare moment of youthful fighter pilot humility, I wondered if I would live to see that bridge again. For reasons I still don't understand, I was the only one of the three who did.
Once in Vietnam, we passed the long, lonely off-duty hours at Dusty's Pub, a lounge that we lieutenants built on the beach of the South China Sea at Tuy Hoa Air Base. The roof at Dusty's doubled as a sun deck and the walls were non-existent. The complaint heard most often around the bar, in the standard gallows humor of a combat squadron, was that it was "...a lousy war, but it's the only one we have." (I've cleaned up the language a bit.) We sang mostly raunchy songs that never seemed to end—someone was always writing new verses—and, as an antidote to loneliness, fear in the night, and the sadness over dead friends, we often drank too much.
Vince joined us at Dusty's Pub halfway through my tour of duty, and since he was a like-minded country kid from Montana, we hit it off. He had a wide grin, slightly stooped shoulders, and his own way of walking—he just threw his feet out and stepped on them. But what he lacked in military bearing he made up for with the heart of a tiger. He often flew as my wingman, and we volunteered for the night missions on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. One starless night, the longest, saddest night of my life, we got into a really nasty gun duel with some anti-aircraft artillery batteries. I watched Vince die in a mushroom shaped fireball that for a moment turned night into day.
Lance—a New York boy who took unmerciful grief from the rest of us because he talked like a New Yawker—crashed into the side of a mountain in the central highlands while attacking a target. Lynn, a happy-go-lucky jock from Pennsylvania's Slippery Rock College with a hound named John the Basset, returned to his base on a stormy night in July after weather aborted his mission. Two miles of wet runway weren't enough to stop an F-100 landing at 160 knots with all it bombs still on board. He ran off the end, flipped over, and slid through the minefield at the perimeter fence, setting off a gruesome sound and light show.
At the wall, I told the guys only about the good parts of the last 28 years. Lacy, one of our associates from Dusty's Pub, became an astronaut, and a few summers ago I watched from my back yard, near Tampa, as he blasted off. His voice over the radio from space was at least an octave lower than it was the day I heard him radio for help while swinging from his parachute hung up in a tree in Laos. Another Dusty's patron, Rick, is now a two-star general, and I reminded them of what we used to say about the military promotion system—it's like a septic tank, only the really big chunks floated to the top.
I didn't tell them about how ostracized Vietnam vets are, that during that same week, one of the nation's leading newspapers has run an article that implied we Vietnam vets were, to quote one syndicated columnist, "either suckers or psychos, victims or monsters." I didn't tell them that the secretary of defense they fought for back then has now declared that he was not a believer in the cause for which he assigned them all to their destiny. I didn't tell them that a draft age kid from Arkansas, who hid out in England to dodge his duty while they were fighting and dying, is now the commander-in-chief. And I did not tell them we lost that lousy war. I gave them the same story I've used since the Nixon administration: "We were winning when I left."
I relived that final day as I stared at the black onyx wall. The dawn came up like thunder after a year and 268 combat missions in the valley of the shadow. The ground trembled as 33 F-100's roared off the runway, across the beach, and out over the South China Sea, climbing into the rising sun. On the eastern horizon a line of towering deep purple clouds stood shoulder-to-shoulder before a brilliant orange sky that slowly turned powder blue from the top down. From somewhere on that stage, above the whine of spinning turbine blades, I could hear a choir singing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" in fortissimo: The "...Lord God Omnipotent reigneth...," and He was bringing me home, while Lance and Lynn and Vince will remain as part of the dust of Southeast Asia until the end of time.
I was not the only one talking to the wall through tears. A leather-vested, bare-chested biker two panels to my left was in even worse shape. I backed about twenty-five yards away from the wall and sat down on the grass under a clear blue sky and mid-day sun that perfectly matched the tropical weather of the war zone. The wall, with all 58,200 names, consumed my field of vision. I tried to wrap my mind around the mega-tonnage of violence, carnage and ruined lives that it represented. Then I thought of how Vietnam was only one small war in the history of the human race, and I was overwhelmed with a sense of mankind's wickedness.
My heart felt like wax in the blazing sun, and I was on the verge of becoming a spectacle in the park. I arose and walked back up to the wall to say good-bye and ran my fingers over the engraved names—Lance and Lynn and Vince—as if I could communicate with them in some kind of spiritual Braille. I wanted them to know that God, duty, honor, and country will always remain the noblest calling. Revisionist history by the elite dodgers who are trying to justify their actions cannot change that.
I have been a productive member of society since the day I left Vietnam. I am proud of what I did there, and I am especially proud of my friends—heroes who voluntarily, enthusiastically gave their all. They demonstrated no greater love to a nation who's highbrow opinion makers are still trying to disavow them. May their names, indelibly engraved on that memorial wall, likewise be found in the Book of Life.
http://www.jdwetterling.com/_b_still_the_noblest_calling__b__97048.htm
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
LOOKING BACK 55-YEARS to the Vietnam Air War— ... For The List for Friday, 4 June 2021... Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 4 June 1966 "Remembering the great Joe Louis...HE was 'The Greatest'"....
https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-4-june-1966-brown-bomber/
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in American Military History
4 June
1876 – A mere 83 hours after leaving New York City, the Transcontinental Express train arrives in San Francisco. That any human being could travel across the entire nation in less than four days was inconceivable to previous generations of Americans. During the early 19th century, when Thomas Jefferson first dreamed of an American nation stretching from "sea to shining sea," it took the president 10 days to travel the 225 miles from Monticello to Philadelphia via carriage. Even with frequent changing of horses, the 100-mile journey from New York to Philadelphia demanded two days hard travel in a light stagecoach. At such speeds, the coasts of the continent-wide American nation were months apart. How could such a vast country ever hope to remain united? As early as 1802, Jefferson had some glimmer of an answer. "The introduction of so powerful an agent as steam," he predicted, "[to a carriage on wheels] will make a great change in the situation of man." Though Jefferson never saw a train in his lifetime, he had glimpsed the future with the idea. Within half a century, America would have more railroads than any other nation in the world. By 1869, the first transcontinental line linking the coasts was completed. Suddenly, a journey that had previously taken months using horses could be made in less than a week. Five days after the transcontinental railroad was completed, daily passenger service over the rails began. The speed and comfort offered by rail travel was so astonishing that many Americans could scarcely believe it, and popular magazines wrote glowing accounts of the amazing journey. For the wealthy, a trip on the transcontinental railroad was a luxurious experience. First-class passengers rode in beautifully appointed cars with plush velvet seats that converted into snug sleeping berths. The finer amenities included steam heat, fresh linen daily, and gracious porters who catered to their every whim. For an extra $4 a day, the wealthy traveler could opt to take the weekly Pacific Hotel Express, which offered first-class dining on board. As one happy passenger wrote, "The rarest and richest of all my journeying through life is this three-thousand miles by rail." The trip was a good deal less speedy and comfortable for passengers unwilling or unable to pay the premium fares. Whereas most of the first-class passengers traveled the transcontinental line for business or pleasure, the third-class occupants were often emigrants hoping to make a new start in the West. A third-class ticket could be purchased for only $40–less than half the price of the first-class fare. At this low rate, the traveler received no luxuries. Their cars, fitted with rows of narrow wooden benches, were congested, noisy, and uncomfortable. The railroad often attached the coach cars to freight cars that were constantly shunted aside to make way for the express trains. Consequently, the third-class traveler's journey west might take 10 or more days. Even under these trying conditions, few travelers complained. Even 10 days spent sitting on a hard bench seat was preferable to six months walking alongside a Conestoga wagon on the Oregon Trail. Railroad promotions, however, naturally focused on the speedy express trains. The arrival of the Transcontinental Express train in San Francisco on this day in 1876 was widely celebrated in the newspapers and magazines of the day. With this new express service, a businessman could leave New York City on Monday morning, spend 83 hours in relaxing comfort, and arrive refreshed and ready for work in San Francisco by Thursday evening. The powerful agent of steam had effectively shrunk a vast nation to a manageable size.
1896 – At approximately 1:30 a.m., Henry Ford test-drove his Quadricycle, the first automobile he ever designed or drove. Ford was working at the Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit at the time that he began building the Quadricycle. He had reportedly seen an article on the gasoline engine in American Machinist while in the company of friend and fellow engineer, Charles King. In King's recollection Ford claimed, "I want to build one of these." Ford employed the help of his friends in the Detroit engineering community to build an internal combustion engine on his kitchen table. It's important to note to what extent Ford was a visionary and an organizer. He was an engineer, of course, but he didn't by any means accomplish his engineering feats alone. Men like King, along with a whole slew of other engineers, volunteered their time to Ford's projects. King provided Ford with a whole crew of workers who worked in the makeshift machine shop Ford had constructed in his garage behind his Bagley Avenue residence in Detroit. Ford even convinced his neighbor, Felix Julian, to donate his half of the shed to the cause. King was building his own vehicle at the time, and actually preempted Ford in testing the horseless carriage in March of 1896. Ford followed King's carriage's test run on his bicycle. Ford did make one major innovation in building his first vehicle: he decided not to attach an engine to an existing carriage, but rather to construct a four-wheel body based on the principles of bicycle manufacturing. Ford completed his "Quadricycle" early in the morning on this day in 1896. He couldn't wait to test the invention. Only one of his associates, Jim Bishop, was present at the time of the vehicle's completion. In all of his enthusiasm in getting the car together, Ford failed to consider that his contraption was wider than the doors of the shed in which he built it. He and Bishop set upon the door and adjacent walls with axes in order to hack an entrance sufficient for the Quadricycle. The 500-pound, two-cylinder vehicle came to life in the alley behind Ford's house. Ford drove it down Bagley Avenue to Grand River Avenue, to Washington Boulevard, when the Quadricycle stopped. Bishop and Ford pushed the automobile to the Edison plant, where they replaced a nut and spring that had come loose. The next month, Henry drove his vehicle to his father's farm to show it off. His father apparently walked around it cautiously. Later he expressed his doubts to one of his neighbors: "John and William (Henry's brothers) are all right, but Henry worries me. He doesn't seem to settle down, and I don't know what's going to become of him." Maybe he'll become the most powerful citizen in the country!
1939 – During what became known as the "Voyage of the Damned," the SS St. Louis, carrying more than 900 Jewish refugees from Germany, was turned away from the Florida coast. Also denied permission to dock in Cuba, the ship eventually returned to Europe. The passengers were divided among England, France, Belgium and Holland and a number of the refugees later died in Nazi concentration camps. By 2003 efforts to track their fates identified 935 out of the 937 passengers. Some 260 ended in Nazi killing centers.
1942 – Japanese Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, commander of the fleet that attacked Pearl Harbor, launches a raid on Midway Island with almost the entirety of the Japanese navy. As part of a strategy to widen its sphere of influence and conquest, the Japanese set their sights on an island group in the central Pacific, Midway, as well as the Aleutians, off the coast of Alaska. They were also hoping to draw the badly wounded U.S. navy into a battle, determined to finish it off. The American naval forces were depleted: The damaged carrier Yorktown had to be repaired in a mere three days, to be used along with the Enterprise and Hornet, all that was left in the way of aircraft carriers after the bombing at Pearl Harbor. On the morning of June 4, Admiral Nagumo launched his first strike with 108 aircraft, and did significant damage to U.S. installations at Midway. The Americans struck back time and again at Japanese ships, but accomplished little real damage, losing 65 of their own aircraft in their initial attempts. But Nagumo underestimated the tenacity of both Admiral Chester Nimitz and Admiral Raymond Spruance, commanders of the American forces. He also miscalculated tactically by ordering a second wave of bombers to finish off what he thought was only a remnant of American resistance (the U.S. forces had been able to conceal their position because of reconnaissance that anticipated the Midway strike) before his first wave had sufficient opportunity to rearm. A fifth major engagement by 55 U.S. dive-bombers took full advantage of Nagumo's confused strategy, and sunk three of the four Japanese carriers, all cluttered with aircraft and fuel trying to launch another attack against what they now realized-too late–was a much larger American naval force than expected. A fourth Japanese carrier, the Hiryu was crippled, but not before its aircraft finished off the noble American Yorktown. The attack on Midway was an unmitigated disaster for the Japanese, resulting in the loss of 322 aircraft and 3,500 men. They were forced to withdraw from the area before attempting even a landing on the island they sought to conquer.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*DAVID, ALBERT LEROY
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Navy. Born: 18 July 1902, Maryville, Mo. Accredited to: Missouri. Other Navy award: Navy Cross with gold star. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while attached to the U.S.S. Pillsbury during the capture of an enemy German submarine off French West Africa, 4 June 1944. Taking a vigorous part in the skillfully coordinated attack on the German U-505 which climaxed a prolonged search by the Task Group, Lt. (then Lt. j.g.) David boldly led a party from the Pillsbury in boarding the hostile submarine as it circled erratically at 5 or 6 knots on the surface. Fully aware that the U-boat might momentarily sink or be blown up by exploding demolition and scuttling charges, he braved the added danger of enemy gunfire to plunge through the conning tower hatch and, with his small party, exerted every effort to keep the ship afloat and to ass1st the succeeding and more fully equipped salvage parties in making the U-505 seaworthy for the long tow across the Atlantic to a U.S. port. By his valiant service during the first successful boarding and capture of an enemy man-o-war on the high seas by the U.S. Navy since 1815, Lt. David contributed materially to the effectiveness of our Battle of the Atlantic and upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
*BARKER, CHARLES H.
Rank and organization: Private First Class (then Pvt.), U.S. Army, Company K, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Sokkogae, Korea, 4 June 1953. Entered service at: Pickens County, S.C. Born: 12 April 1935, Pickens County, S.C. G.O. No.: 37, 7 June 1955. Citation: Pfc. Barker, a member of Company K, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and indomitable courage above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. While participating in a combat patrol engaged in screening an approach to "Pork-Chop Outpost," Pfc. Barker and his companions surprised and engaged an enemy group digging emplacements on the slope. Totally unprepared, the hostile troops sought cover. After ordering Pfc. Barker and a comrade to lay down a base of fire, the patrol leader maneuvered the remainder of the platoon to a vantage point on higher ground. Pfc. Barker moved to an open area firing his rifle and hurling grenades on the hostile positions. As enemy action increased in volume and intensity, mortar bursts fell on friendly positions, ammunition was in critical supply, and the platoon was ordered to withdraw into a perimeter defense preparatory to moving back to the outpost. Voluntarily electing to cover the retrograde movement, he gallantly maintained a defense and was last seen in close hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. Pfc. Barker's unflinching courage, consummate devotion to duty, and supreme sacrifice enabled the patrol to complete the mission and effect an orderly withdrawal to friendly lines, reflecting lasting glory upon himself and upholding the highest traditions of the military service.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for June 4, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1907: Corporal Edward Ward, the first NCO in the Army's new balloon organization, detailed to learn balloon manufacturing. The unit later became the Signal Corps' Aeronautical Division. (24)
1920: Congress created a new rating of "Airplane Pilot" and authorized flying pay of 50 percent above base pay. (12)
1927: Clarence D. Chamberlin and Charles A. Levine made the first nonstop flight from New York to Germany in a Bellanca 15-Wright 200 in 43 hours 49 minutes 33 seconds. They set a 3,910- mile FAI straight-line distance record by landing at Eisleben. (9) (24)
1930: Lt Apollo Soucek (USN) flew a Wright Apache to a 43,166-foot FAI altitude record at NAS Anacostia DC. (9) (24)
1931: Stunt pilot William G. Swan flew his first flight in a rocket-powered glider at Atlantic City, N.J. He climbed 100 feet and flew 1,000 feet before making a perfect landing. The glider, with 10 rockets able to produce 50 pounds of thrust each, only used one rocket for the flight. (7)
1952: KOREAN WAR. An H-19 helicopter of the 3d Air Rescue Squadron picked up a downed British pilot, encountering automatic weapons fire during the rescue. (28)
1953: REFLEX OPERATIONS. The USAF began "reflexing" B-47 wings to England on 90-day rotational training and alert duty in Europe. From 4-6 June, SAC deployed 45 B-47s in equal flights of 15 bombers from the 306 BMW at MacDill AFB to RAF Fairford, UK. On 6 June, a B-47 set a new record of 5 hours 22 minutes for the 3,120-mile flight to RAF Fairford to break the former record of 6 April 1953. (1)
Note from Skip My family was at MacDill AFB in 1957 and we lived on base pretty close to the runway and real close to the taxi way. There were large sirens on poles everywhere and one night they all came on. Pilots and their families lived above us. Before the sirens had stopped you could hear folks running around above us and then running down the stairs and out to the cars. Very shortly you could hear the first jets being started and soon they were taxiing by the house. B-47s nose to tail swinging on to the runway and blasting off one after another and it lasted for a long time. Their wives told us later they would be gone a couple months.
1954: Maj Arthur Murray flew the Bell X-1A to an unofficial record of 91,000 feet. (3) (9) (24)
1958: At Cape Canaveral, a Thor missile completed its first launch from a prototype tactical-type launcher. (6) 1959: Max Conrad set a world nonstop distance record, flying a Piper Comanche 7,683 miles from Casablanca, Africa, to Los Angeles. (24)
1963: An Atlas-E, launched from Vandenberg AFB, flew on a 4,000-mile flight down the Pacific Missile Range. Jacquelin Auriol flew a jet at 1,266 MPH to capture the 100-kilometer record from Jacquelin Cochran.
1966: Arthur Godfrey, Richard Merrill, Fred Austin, and Karl Keller flew a Jet Commander 23,333 miles around the world at a FAI record pace. They flew from New York and back in 86 hours 9 minutes at an average of 271.31 MPH. (9)
1968: Lockheed rolled out the VX-4B Hummingbird II VTOL aircraft at its plant in Marietta. (16)
1969: The Thunderbirds held their first demonstration using the F-4 Phantom. (16) (26)
1970: Flying the NF-104 modified with a rocket engine, Gen Alton D. Slay reached 104,000 feet in altitude to become the first general officer to surpass 100,000 feet. (3)
1983: At Hill AFB, F-105 Thunderchiefs made a final flyby to signal the inactivation of the last AFRES F-105 squadron. (16)
1991: Col Clarence "Dick" Anderegg and his backseater, Maj Hugh Riley, flew PACAF's last F-4 mission. They flew from Clark AB, Philippines, to Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., where the Phantom would be mothballed. The flight ended over a quarter of century of service for the F-4 with PACAF. (17)
1992: Operation PROVIDE HOPE. A C-141 from Charleston AFB flew the first mission in this operation since the activation of AMC to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Between June 1992 and May
1993, AMC flew 109 missions, including 25 by commercial aircraft, to deliver 2,438 tons of cargo for the operation. (18)
1996: Lyle Schaefer, Lockheed-Martin's chief test pilot, flew the advanced-technology C-130J Hercules on its first test flight. The 6-hour 14-minute sortie launched from Dobbins ARB, Marietta. (AFNEWS, 2 Jul 96)
1997: The Air Force reached a milestone recently in advanced missile propulsion with the successful ground testing of the Variable Flow Ducted Rocket at Atlantic Research Corp., Gainesville, Va. A solid-fuel, ducted rocket engine, the VFDR increased the capabilities of conventional rockets by burning fuel-rich rocket-exhaust gases with air, thereby doubling or tripling the total energy produced by the engine (AFNEWS, 30 June).
1999: In a proposal to the NGB, the Virginia ANG suggested moving the 192 FW from Richmond IAP to Langley AFB to form a new Virginia ANG associate unit to fly the new F-22 "Raptor" along with the 1 FW when it received the aircraft. (32)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
World News for 4 June thanks to Military Periscope
USA—F-16s Join Arctic Challenge Drills In Sweden Air Force News Service | 06/04/2021 A detachment of U.S. Air Force F-16s has joined the multinational Arctic Challenge Exercise in Sweden, reports the Air Force News Service. The drills kicked off on Wednesday and are scheduled to conclude on June 18. Flight operations will take place from June 7 to June 18, reported the Swedish armed forces. About 300 airmen from the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, deployed to Kallax Air Base with their F-16s on May 19 for the Norwegian-led exercise, the Air Force said on Wednesday. The Arctic Challenge Exercise began in 2013 and is hosted on a rotating basis by Finland, Norway and Sweden. Contingents from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and U.K. are also taking part this year. More than 3,000 personnel and 70 aircraft are participating, including fighter, transport, aerial refueling and airborne warning and control aircraft along with transport and search-and-rescue helicopters. Aircraft are being hosted at Kallax in Sweden, Rovaniemi in Finland and Bodo and Orland in Norway. Arctic Challenge is designed to enhance national capabilities and interoperability between the participants. The U.S. F-16 detachment will conduct a variety of joint operations and air defense training, including suppression of enemy air defense, air-to-ground strike, defensive counter-air and close air support missions.
USA—FBI Points Finger At Russian Group For JBS Cyberattack Federal Bureau of Investigation | 06/04/2021 The Federal Bureau of Investigation has attributed this week's cyberattack on JBS, a Brazil-based meat-processing firm, to Russian hacking groups. The attack on JBS, the world's largest meat-processing company, first reported on Tuesday, was carried out by REvil and Sodinokibi, the FBI said in a Wednesday release. REvil and Sodinokibi are two names for the same hacking group with ties to Russia, reported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The hack targeted servers used by JBS for its operations in North America and Australia. It is not clear if the hackers demanded a ransom or if one was paid. The attacks did not affect the company's backup servers, and production at all plants was expected to resume on Thursday at close to full capacity globally, said JBS on Wednesday as cited by NPR.
USA—Justice Elevates Cyber Crime Investigations Following High-Profile Attack Reuters | 06/04/2021 The U.S. Justice Dept. is elevating ransomware investigations to a similar priority as terrorism following increasingly damaging cyberattacks, reports Reuters. U.S. attorney's offices received guidance on Thursday to coordinate any investigations into ransomware with a new central office in Washington. This will allow investigators to identify linkages between seemingly disparate attacks regardless of location, said John Carlin, principle associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Dept. This model was used in the past to help confront terrorist threats, said Carlin. Issues to be referred include those involving counter anti-virus services, illicit online marketplaces, cryptocurrency exchanges, bulletproof hosting services (which allow users to host almost any kind of service on their platform), botnets and online money laundering services. The new priority follows the massive hack of Colonial Pipeline in May that shutdown some systems and caused a short-term gas shortages on the East Coast.
United Kingdom—Hanwha Defense To Offer Latest K9 Variant Offered For Howitzer Program | 06/04/2021 Hanwha Defense in South Korea says it is offering the latest version of of its self-propelled howitzer for the British army's Mobile Fires Platform program. The company has started formal discussions with several British partners for a "Made in the U.K." version of its 155-mm K9 howitzer to be offered for the program, which will replace the U.K.'s aging AS90 systems, Hanwha said in a release on Thursday. British suppliers involved in the talks include Lockheed Martin UK, Pearson Engineering and Horstman. Soucy Defense of Canada, which manufactures composite rubber track systems, is also involved in the bid, said a Hanwha spokesman quoted by Defense News. Hanwha plans to transfer related technology and know-how to British partners and introduce specialist training and new skills for the long-term development, manufacture, maintenance and support of the K9 in British service. The firm plans to offer the newest K9A2 configuration for the program, which features an uncrewed turret, mine-protection kits and composite rubber tracks. Testing of this variant is already underway, with the goal of increasing the K9's capabilities, including maximum rate of fire and automatic loading functions. The automated turret is expected to increase the sustained rate of fire from six to eight rounds per minute to nine or 10. Hanwha is also offering a robotic version of the K10 ammunition resupply vehicle for an automatic resupply capability. A request for proposals for the Mobile Fires Platform program is expected to be released in 2022. A final contract is anticipated in 2025.
United Kingdom—Testing Of New Armored Vehicles Halted To Resolve Issues Defense News | 06/04/2021 The British army halted trials of its newest armored vehicle after they revealed several design problems, reports Defense News. Testing of the Ares reconnaissance variant of the Ajax armored vehicle was paused from November to March due to rough handling and noise issues, reported London's Daily Telegraph. The vehicle also experienced difficulty in reversing over obstacles more than 7.8 in (200 mm) high. Those problems led the army to impose speed restrictions of 20 mph (32 kph) and limited soldier time inside the vehicle to 1.5 hours, according to a leaked government report. The U.K. Defense Ministry confirmed that testing had been halted but said that work had resumed "with appropriate safety measures in place." A ministry spokesperson said that initial operational capability (IOC) was still anticipated in the summer of 2021. General Dynamics UK told Defense News that "recent trials have confirmed many of the required capabilities across the Ajax family of vehicles, including operations across the full range of speed and reverse step obstacle climb." A small number of outstanding issues were being reviewed and closed out ahead of the IOC milestone, the company said. The U.K. ordered 589 Ajax armored vehicles in 2014, with service entry anticipated by 2024, reported BBC News. To date, 14 vehicles have been delivered for trials, all in the Ares configuration.
United Kingdom—TPP Members Agree To Accession Talks British Broadcasting Corp. | 06/04/2021 The members of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trading bloc have agreed to open talks with the U.K. on possible accession, reports BBC News. On Wednesday, the 11 TPP members approved the start of negotiations with the U.K., reported Bloomberg News. A working group will be formed to discuss issues such as tariffs and the rules governing trade and investment. The U.K. initially requested to join the bloc in February. Accession talks are not expected to be completed until 2022 at the earliest. The members of the TPP are Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru. The U.S. was a major player in setting up the bloc until then-President Donald Trump pulled out in 2017. The addition of the U.K. would strengthen economic ties between the U.K. and Japan and increase the economic size of the TPP to equal the European Union, Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said.
France—Joint Ops With Malian Troops Suspended Following Coup British Broadcasting Corp. | 06/04/2021 The French government says it is halting joint operations with the Malian military following last week's coup, reports BBC News. On Thursday, the French Armed Forces Ministry said that the pause would remain in effect until the Malian government returns to civilian rule. The ministry noted that "requirements and red lines have been set by ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African States] and the African Union to clarify the framework for the political transition in Mali." Until Paris receives guarantees of Mali's return to civilian rule, all joint operations and national advisory missions are suspended. The decision will be reviewed in the coming days based on talks with the Malian authorities, reported Reuters. The French Barkhane mission will continue to operate independently, the ministry said. The French-led Takuba special operations force, however, will suspend operations, reported Agence France-Presse. President Emmanuel Macron warned that if Mali moves toward radical Islamism following the coup, France would withdraw all of its forces.
Netherlands—Keel Laid For New Support Ship Damen Shipyards Group | 06/04/2021 Dutch shipbuilder Damen says it has laid the keel for a new combat support ship for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The keel-laying ceremony for the Den Helder took place at Damen Shipyards Galati in Romania on Wednesday, according to a release from the shipbuilder. First steel for the ship was cut in December 2020. All the building blocks for the construction of the ship in Romania are now ready, said Damen Construction of the ship is expected to be completed in 2023, after which point it will undergo testing and shipyard trials. The ship will then sail to Den Helder in the Netherlands where it will be equipped with accessories and the combat management system ahead of its delivery in 2025. The Den Helder is based on the Karel Doorman joint support ship previously built by Damen. It is 590-feet (180-m) long and has a standard crew of 75 with room for up to 85 additional personnel. The ship can carry fuel and munitions to resupply other ships along with helicopters and 20 standard containers.
Germany—Foreign Minister Rejects Ukrainian Request For Weapons Deutsche Presse-Agentur | 06/04/2021 Top German officials say they will not supply weapons to Ukraine, reports Deutsche Presse-Agentur. On Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung that Germany had not yet provided any military assistance but could do so, noting that Ukraine could use missile boats, patrol craft, assault rifles, communications equipment and armored vehicles. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas subsequently said that he was convinced that Ukraine's conflict with Russia and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine could only be solved politically and that weapons deliveries would not help such a solution to be achieved, reported Euractiv. Maas noted that Berlin supported Ukraine's right to self-defense and emphasized that Germany was Kyiv's largest bilateral donor, having provided 2 billion euros (US$2.45 billion) in civilian aid since 2014.
European Union—More Sanctions Planned For Burma's Junta Reuters | 06/04/2021 European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the bloc intends to impose additional sanctions on the Burmese junta that took power in the military coup in February, reports Reuters. Following a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Jakarta on Thursday, Borrell told the news agency a third round of coordinated sanctions would be announced in the coming days. The measures would target members of the junta and the entity that represents the economic interests of the military, he said. Since the coup, the E.U. has frozen assets or applied travel bans to 21 military and civilian members of the junta and forbidden European citizens or companies from making funds available to them.
Kyrgyzstan—Border Tensions Resurface With Tajikistan After Alleged Incursion Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty | 06/04/2021 The Kyrgyz government says Tajik forces have violated its border in a disputed segment of the mutual frontier, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. On Friday, Tajik military personnel entered a disputed area of the border in the Chon-Alai district of the Osh region and placed a container on the spot, according to the Kyrgyz State Committee for National Security (UKMK). The troops moved about 1,090 yards (1,000 m) into Kyrgyz territory, violating all bilateral agreements on the delimitation of the mutual border, the committee said. The troops withdrew to Tajik territory after about three hours, leaving the container, said the UKMK. Tajik border officials denied that its forces had violated agreements made with Kyrgyzstan following violence in the area in April. The Tajik unit had moved into a site defined under those new agreements, the officials said. Dozens of people were killed in clashes along the Kyrgyz-Tajik border in April.
Australia—Army Seeks AH-64Es From U.S. U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency | 06/04/2021 The U.S. State Dept. has approved the possible sale of AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to Australia, reports the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency. The proposed US$3.5 billion deal covers 29 AH-64E Apaches; 64 T700-GE 701D engines; 85 AGM-114R Hellfire missiles; 29 M36E8 Hellfire captive air-training missiles; 2,000 Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System guidance sections (APKWS-GS); M230E1 + M139 AWS automatic gun; M261 rocket launchers; M299 missile launchers; 2.75-inch rockets; 30-mm rounds; Manned-Unmanned Teaming-2 (MUMT-X) video receivers; and Manned-Unmanned Teaming-2 (MUMT-X) Air-Air-Ground kits. The potential sale also includes 29 AN/ASQ-170 Modernized Target Acquisition and Designation Sight/AN/AAR-11 Modernized Pilot Night-Vision Sensors (M-TADS/PNVS); 16 AN/APG-78 fire-control radars with radar electronic units; 29 AN/APR-48B modernized radar frequency interferometers; 70 Embedded Global Positioning Systems with inertial navigation systems plus multimode receiver (EGI+MMR); 35 AAR-57 Common Missile Warning Systems (CMWS); 70 AN/ARC-231A VHF/UHF radios; APR-39 radar signal detecting sets; AN/AVR-2B laser detecting sets; AN/APX-123A identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) transponders; IDM-401 improved data modems; Link 16 KOR-24-A small tactical terminals; and improved countermeasure dispensing systems (ICMD). The proposed sale would strengthen Australia's ability to meet current and future threats and enhance interoperability with U.S. and allied forces, the agency said.
Afghanistan—8 Killed In Kabul Bombings TOLONews | 06/04/2021 At least eight civilians have been killed in two explosions in Shi'ite neighborhoods of Kabul, reports Tolo News (Kabul). On Thursday, an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated next to a small bus in the city's Chahar Qala area, killing four civilians, said police. Another six people were wounded. Four hours later, another blast targeted a passenger car in the Kot-e-Sangi area, killing four people and wounding five. Among those killed in the attacks was Mina Khairi, a presenter at Ariana News. There were no immediate claims of responsibility.
Algeria—Polisario Front Leader Returns From Spain Middle East Eye | 06/04/2021 The leader of the Polisario Front movement for the independence of Western Sahara has returned to Algeria after receiving medical treatment for the novel coronavirus in Spain, reports the Middle East Eye (London). On Wednesday, Brahim Ghali, the secretary-general of the Polisario Front and president of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, arrived in Algeria. The medical aircraft used for the flight was charted by the Algerian government. His departure was made possible after a Spanish court rejected a request by prosecutors to detain Ghali over alleged human-rights abuses, reported Radio France Internationale. The prosecutors had failed to provide clear evidence of Ghali's involvement in the alleged crimes, the judge ruled. Ghali's stay in Spain severely strained relations with Morocco, which regards Ghali as a war criminal.
Chad—Defenses Strengthen Along CAR Frontier After Cross-Border Attack Agence France-Presse | 06/04/2021 Chadian security forces have bolstered their presence along the border with the Central African Republic after a cross-border attack on Sunday that killed six soldiers, reports Agence France-Presse. On Thursday, Gen. Moussa Haroun Tirgo, the governor of Eastern Logone province, said that border positions in the area had been fortified with additional men and materiel. The move comes despite an agreement reached on Tuesday with the CAR government to jointly investigate the May 30 attack. Six soldiers were killed in the attack, five of whom were kidnapped and later killed, Radio France Internationale reported at the time. Chadian officials have accused the Central African Republic of deliberately planning the attack.
Ivory Coast—Allies Plan Return For Former President Gbagbo Al Jazeera | 06/04/2021 Former President Laurent Gbagbo is set to return home to Ivory Coast after being acquitted on charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, reports Al Jazeera (Qatar). Gbagbo plans return to Ivory Coast on June 17, Assoa Adou, the general secretary of Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party, said on Monday. Gbagbo was arrested in April 2011 on charges of crimes against humanity during the months of violence following his loss in 2010 to President Alassane Ouattara that left over 3,000 people dead. Gbagbo refused to step down but was eventually forced out of power. He was later transferred to the ICC along with his aide Charles Ble Goude for trial. Both were acquitted in 2019, a decision that was appealed by prosecutors. The acquittals were sustained in March, setting the stage for Gbagbo to return. On Wednesday, the Ivorian government was scheduled to meet with FPI officials to discuss Gbagbo's return, reported Agence France-Presse. Officials told the news agency that the return date was to be discussed consensually, which had not happened. The government wants a lower profile return for the controversial figure, to reduce the opportunity for potential unrest, while the FPI wants to hold a larger event, noted Africa News. Further complicating matters is Gbagbo's conviction in absentia in November 2019 on charges of misappropriating funds from the regional central bank. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In April, President Ouattara said that Gbagbo was welcome to return and ordered his government to cover travel expenses. He has not confirmed whether Gbagbo had been pardoned.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.