Good Monday Morning January 17
I hope that you all had a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History
January 17
1863—Union iron-clad gunboat Baron de Kalb, with "tinclad" gunboats Forest Rose and Romeo, along with an Army transport, clear out Confederate strongholds up White River to Des Arc, AR.
1899—Gunboat Bennington, commanded by Cmdr. E. D. Taussig, claims Wake Island for the United States, giving the U.S. a cable route between Honolulu and Manila, a factor that influences territorial demands in the Pacific.
1943—Submarine Whale (SS 239) sinks the Japanese transport Heiyo Maru.
1943—Light aircraft carrier Cowpens (CV 25) is launched. Redesignated CVL 25 six months later, she serves in the Pacific during World War II.
1944—Dauntless SBD scout planes and Avenger TBF torpedo bombers bomb Japanese shipping at Rabaul and sink three ships, damaging a third.
1977 - A freighter collided with a liberty boat carrying Sailors and Marines from USS Guam and Trenton killing 49 men near Barcelona, Spain. In response to this tragedy, the first two US Navy Special Psychiatric Rapid Intervention Teams (SPRINT) were deployed to support Sailors affected by addressing the emotional and psychological wounds following this traumatic event.
January 17
1601 | The Treaty of Lyons ends a short war between France and Savoy. | |
1746 | Charles Edward Stuart, the young pretender, defeats the government forces at the battle of Falkirk in Scotland. | |
1773 | Captain James Cook becomes the first person to cross the Antarctic Circle. | |
1819 | Simon Bolivar the "liberator" proclaims Columbia a republic. | |
1893 | Queen Liliuokalani, the Hawaiian monarch, is overthrown by a group of American sugar planters led by Sanford Ballard Dole. | |
1852 | At the Sand River Convention, the British recognize the independence of the Transvaal Board. | |
1912 | Robert Scott reaches the South Pole only a month after Roald Amundsen. | |
1939 | The Reich issues an order forbidding Jews to practice as dentists, veterinarians and chemists. | |
1945 | The Red army occupies Warsaw. | |
1963 | Soviet leader Khrushchev visits the Berlin Wall. | |
1985 | A jury in New Jersey rules that terminally ill patients have the right to starve themselves. |
1950
Boston thieves pull off historic robbery
On this day in 1950, 11 men steal more than $2 million from the Brinks Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts. It was the perfect crime–almost–as the culprits weren't caught until January 1956, just days before the statute of limitations for the theft expired.
The robbery's mastermind was Anthony "Fats" Pino, a career criminal who recruited a group of 10 other men to stake out the depot for 18 months to figure out when it held the most money. Pino's men then managed to steal plans for the depot's alarm system, returning them before anyone noticed they were gone.
Wearing navy blue coats and chauffeur's caps–similar to the Brinks employee uniforms–with rubber Halloween masks, the thieves entered the depot with copied keys, surprising and tying up several employees inside the company's counting room. Filling 14 canvas bags with cash, coins, checks and money orders–for a total weight of more than half a ton–the men were out and in their getaway car in about 30 minutes. Their haul? More than $2.7 million–the largest robbery in U.S. history up until that time.
No one was hurt in the robbery, and the thieves left virtually no clues, aside from the rope used to tie the employees and one of the chauffeur's caps. The gang promised to stay out of trouble and not touch the money for six years in order for the statute of limitations to run out. They might have made it, but for the fact that one man, Joseph "Specs" O'Keefe, left his share with another member in order to serve a prison sentence for another burglary. While in jail, O'Keefe wrote bitterly to his cohorts demanding money and hinting he might talk. The group sent a hit man to kill O'Keefe, but he was caught before completing his task. The wounded O'Keefe made a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to testify against his fellow robbers.
Eight of the Brinks robbers were caught, convicted and given life sentences. Two more died before they could go to trial. Only a small part of the money was ever recovered; the rest is fabled to be hidden in the hills north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. In 1978, the famous robbery was immortalized on film in The Brinks Job, starring Peter Falk.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post
… … For The List for Monday, 17 January 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 17 January 1967… Walt Rostow memo to LBJ…
http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/rolling-thunder-remembered-17-january-1967-hanoi-wants-out/
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.
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Thanks to Barrel
I've seen some good ones but not like this!!
This is possibly the most amazing card trick you may have EVER seen! It was developed by the magician after the terrorist attacks in Paris, France.
Supposedly, he did this in front of Penn and Teller on TV and they just shook their heads in disbelief. This is truly a must watch.
Shin Lim // A message - YouTube
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Thanks to Al
Monday Morning Humor--Random Thoughts
Submitted by Mike Ryan:
Every box of raisins is a tragic tale of grapes that could have been wine.
They say we can have gatherings with up to eight people without issues. I don't even know eight people without issues.
Theme parks can snap a crystal-clear picture of you on a roller coaster going 70 mph, but bank cameras can't get a clear shot of a robber standing still.
Someone posted that they had just made synonym buns. I replied "you mean just like the ones that grammar used to make?" I am now blocked.
Dear paranoid people who check behind their shower curtains for murderers .. if you do find one, what's your plan.
The more I get to know people, the more I realize why Noah let only animals on the boat.
Facial recognition software can pick a person out of a crowd but the vending machine at work can't recognize a dollar bill with a bent corner.
When all this pandemic stuff is over, I still plan to wear a mask. It hides the perpetual look of annoyance I have for most people.
Covid-19 Fact:87% of gym members don't even know their gym is closed.
I never make the same mistake twice. I do it like, five or six times, you know, to make sure.
My train of thought derailed. There were no survivors.
If you see someone buying candy, popcorn and a soda at the movies, they are a drug dealer. There's no other explanation for that type of income.
After a year of this pandemic, I'm either going out for ice cream or to commit a felony. I'll decide in the car.
I know it's time to clean out my purse when my car assumes it's an extra passenger who isn't wearing a seat belt.
Dr. Oz says rubbing coffee grounds on your naked body will get rid of cellulite. Apparently you can't do this in Starbucks. And now the cops are here.
Do not vaccinate health care workers first. If it fails, we're all in trouble. Vaccinate the politicians first. If we lose a few of them, it won't matter.
In the 1980's I fell off my bike and skinned my knee. I'm telling you this now because we didn't have social media then.
Some people seem to have aged like fine wine. I aged like milk ... I got sour and chunky.
Dear Sneeze: If you're going to happen, happen. Don't just put a stupid look on my face and then leave.
Vegetarians live up to nine years longer than meat-eaters. Nine horrible, worthless, bacon-less years.
I still have a full deck... I just shuffle slower.
Submitted by Colleen Grosso:
When one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison.
To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it.
Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.
It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles.
The older I get, the earlier it gets late. That's for sure!
When I say, "The other day," I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.
I remember being able to get up without making sound effects.
I had my patience tested. I'm negative.
Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.
If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"
When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say "nothing," it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.
I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.
I run like the winded.
I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.
When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"
When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?
I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.
When I ask for directions, please don't use words like "east."
Don't bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That'll freak you right out.
Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life out of nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people cops.
My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.
Submitted by Skip Leonard:
If a poison's "use by" date expires, is it less poisonous or more poisonous?
Which letter is silent in the word "Scent," the S or the C?
Do twins ever realize that one of them was unplanned?
Why is the letter W, in English, called double U? Shouldn't it be called double V?
Maybe oxygen is slowly killing you, and it just takes 75-100 years to fully work.
Every time you clean something, you just make something else dirty
The word "swims" upside-down is still "swims"
100 years ago, everyone owned a horse, and only the rich had cars. Today everyone has cars and only the rich own horses.
If you replace "W" with "T" in "What, Where and When", you get the answer to each of them
At a movie theater, which armrest is yours?
If people evolved from monkeys, why are monkeys still around?
Why is there a 'D' in fridge, but not in refrigerator?
Who knew what time it was when the first clock was made?
Why does the word "Funeral" start with FUN?
Why isn't a fireman called a waterman?
How come Lipstick doesn't do what it says?
If money doesn't grow on trees, how come banks have branches?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
How do you get off a non-stop flight?
Why are goods sent by ship called CARGO, and those sent by truck called SHIPMENT?
Why do we put cups in the dishwasher, and dishes in the cupboard?
Why is it called "Rush Hour" when traffic moves at its slowest then?
How come noses run and feet smell ?
Why do they call it a TV "set" when there is only one?
What are you vacating when you go on a vacation?
Who thinks this stuff up? [Probably retired people who do not have much to do or those of us stuck in isolation.
Submitted by Al Anderson:
With the rise of self-driving vehicles, there will eventually be a country song about how your truck left you.
We are not aging, we are ripening to perfection.
We all know mirrors don't lie. I'm just grateful that they don't laugh.
Who would've thought one day we'd be smoking weed at a family gathering, but the illegal part would be the family gathering.
I never thought I'd be the kind of person who'd wake up early in the morning to exercise…and I was right.
Apparently, it's only appropriate to say, "Look at you! You got so big!" to children. Adults tend to get offended.
I just paid for a 12-month gym membership. My bank called to see if my credit card was stolen.
They say every piece of chocolate you eat shortens your life by two minutes. I've done the math…it seems I died in 1537.
For those weddings cancelled due to Covid, God is giving you a second chance to think about it.
One minute you're young and fun. And the next, you're turning down the stereo in your car to see better.
So…you've been eating hot dogs and McNuggets all your life, but don't want the vaccine because "you don't know what's in it"?
And so ends another week without me becoming unexpectedly rich.
Submitted by John Hudson:
Have you ever noticed that all instruments searching for intelligent life are pointed away from Earth.
The irony for mankind is that a computer program asks a human to prove that they're not a robot.
Remember when we used to stand in line at a fair and pay to see a fat, tattoed lady? Now they're everywhere.
Marriage is a relationship where one person is always right and the other person is the husband.
Working at an unemployment office has to be a tense job…knowing it you get fired, you still have to come in the next day.
Why do eggs come in flimsy Styrofoam cartons and batteries come in a package only a chainsaw can open?
I'm thinking of taking the wine box back to complain. It said once opened it would last six weeks…it only lasted me three hours.
Some people don't understand that sitting in your own house in peace, eating snacks, and minding your own business is priceless.
Women have only two problems: (1) Nothing to wear, and (2) No room for all their clothes.
Finally figured out why I look so bad in pictures…it's my face.
You ever been crazy about somebody back in the day and you see them now and you're like "glad I missed that ship!"
As the Kardashians celebrate their 20th season, I would like to congratulate myself for never watching a single episode.
Have a great week,
Al
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Interesting Facts…..this just sounds awful in more ways than one
When McDonald's tried to add bubblegum-flavored broccoli to Happy Meals, kids weren't lovin' it. In 2014, the fast food giant's then-CEO, Donald Thompson, revealed the bizarre experiment at an event hosted by a venture capitalist firm. Under pressure to make Happy Meals healthier, the company reflected on how toothpaste and amoxicillin producers had used artificial bubblegum flavoring to make their goods more palatable to children. McDonald's decided to try a similar tactic with the divisive cruciferous veggie. |
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We start carrier landings ... 111 years ago !
Thanks to Ted and Dutch ….
Jan. 18, 1911: Flying over San Francisco Bay in his Curtiss Pusher Model "D" aircraft, pioneer aviator Eugene B. Ely approaches the anchored cruiser USS Pennsylvania and manages to land onto a special platform fitted with a makeshift tailhook system aboard the ship. Upon landing, he purportedly says, "It was easy enough. I think the trick could be successfully turned nine times out of ten."
Ely's landing is the first-ever airplane landing aboard a ship. Ely already had become the first man to take off from a ship in November. In July, he will be commissioned a second lieutenant in the California National Guard.
In October, he will be killed in a crash during an aerobatic demonstration in Macon, Georgia.
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Thanks to Jim and Dick for this personal note on the article: BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI ' The Real Story by CAPT Paul N. Gray, USN, Ret, USNA'41, former CO of VF-54 Below
Believe it or not. the written story by the then C.O. of VA-54 is true, except for the target'S name "Toko-Re". The real name was " me-jin-ne". I was "Tail-end-Charley", flying an F4U in VF-13.
Jim Foster, USN(Retired)
BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI ' The Real Story by CAPT Paul N. Gray, USN, Ret, USNA'41, former CO of VF-54.
Recently, on TV . . some friends saw the movie: " The Bridges at Toko-Ri." After seeing it they said : " You planned and led the raid. Why don't you tell us what really happened there at Toko - Ri ?"
Here goes.
I hope Mr. Michener will forgive the actual version of the raid. His fictionalized account certainly makes more exciting reading.
On 12 December 1951 when the raid took place, Air Group 5 was attached to Essex . . the flag ship for Task Force 77. We flew daily strikes against the North Koreans and Chinese. And Man was it was cold out there on that carrier's deck.
The main job was to interdict the flow of supplies coming south from Russia and China. The rules of engagement imposed on us by politicians in Washington would not allow us to bomb the bridges across the Yalu River where the enemies' supplies could easily have been stopped. We had to wait until they were dispersed then hidden in North Korea. Then . . try to stop them.
The Air Group consisted of two jet fighter squadrons flying Banshees and Grumman Panthers plus two prop attack squadrons flying Corsairs and Sky-raiders. To provide a base for the squadrons, Carrier Essex was stationed 100 miles off the East Coast of Korea during that bitter cold Winter of 1951 and 1952. I was CO of VF-54, the Skyraider squadron. VF-54 started with 24 pilots . . seven pilots were killed during the cruise. And the reason 30 percent of our pilots were shot down and lost was due to our mission. The targets were usually heavily defended railroad bridges.
In addition, we were frequently called in to make low-level runs with rockets and napalm to provide close support for the troops. Due to the nature of the targets assigned, the attack squadrons seldom flew above 2000 or 3000 feet. it was a rare flight when a plane did not come back without some battle damage from enemy AA or ground fire. The single-engine plane we were flying carry the same bomb load that B-17 bombers carried in WWII. After flying the 100 miles from the carrier, we could stay on station for 4 hours and strafe, drop napalm, fire rockets or drop bombs. The Sky Raider was the right plane for this war.
On a gray December morning, I was called to the flag bridge. Admiral " Black Jack" Perry, [USNA'20] Carrier Division Commander, told me they had a classified request from UN headquarters to bomb some critical enemy supply bridges . . in the central area of the North Korean peninsula. The bridges were a dispersion point for many of the supplies coming down from the North, and were vital to the flow of most of the essential supplies.
The Admiral asked me to take a look at the targets and see what we could do about taking them out. As I left, the staff intelligence officer handed me the pre-strike photos, the coordinates of the target . . and said . . to get on with it. He did not mention those bridges were defended by fifty-six [ 56 ] . . radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns.
That same evening, the Admiral invited the four squadron Commanders to his cabin for dinner. Writer James Michener was there.
After dinner, the Admiral asked each squadron commander to describe his experiences in flying over North Korea. By this time, all of us were hardened veterans of the war and had more than a few ' hairy stories ' to tell about life in the high speed lane over North Korea.
When it came my time, I described how we bombed the railways and strafed anything else that moved.
I also described how we had planned for the next day's strike against some vital railway bridges near a village Michener named Toko-Ri {actual village's name was something else.} Our preparations had been done with extra care Why ? Because our pre-strike pictures showed the bridges were surrounded by 56 anti-aircraft guns . . and we knew this strike was not going to be just a 'park walk.'
All of the pilots scheduled for the rail bridges raid participated in its planning. A close study of the aerial photos confirmed the 56 guns. Eleven radar sites controlled the guns. They were mainly 37 MM. And some five inch heavies. All were positioned to concentrate on the path we would have to fly to hit the bridges. It was a known World War II air defense system, but still very dangerous.
How were we going to silence those batteries long enough to destroy those strategic bridges ? Those narrow bridges were supporting key railroad tracks . . only three feet wide. To achieve the needed accuracy, we would have to use glide bombing runs to hit those narrow targets.
A glide bombing run is longer and slower than a dive bombing run. And we would be sitting ducks for those radar assisted AA batteries to shoot us down. This meant we needed to destroy the gun radar and guns before we bombed the bridges.
There were four strategies discussed to take out the radar sites. One was to fly in on the deck and strafe the guns and radars. This idea was discarded because the area was too mountainous, and in our way.
The second was to fly in on the deck and fire rockets into the gun sites. But this idea was discarded because our rockets didn't have enough killing power. The third was to come in at a high altitude and drop conventional bombs on the targets. This is what we would normally do. But this idea was also discarded in favor of an insidious cunning modification. We all agreed the best idea would be to come in fairly high, rotate to straight down vertically overhead and release our bombs that were triple checked and carefully fused . . to explode immediately above the protective guns and their radar assisted sites.
To do this, we decided to take 12 planes: 8 Skyraiders and 4 Corsairs. Each plane would carry a 2,000 pound bomb with a proximity fuse set to detonate about 50 to 100 feet above the ground, allowing shrapnel from those huge bombs to explode in mid-air .. hopefully devastating the exposed enemy gunners and radar operators.
Our flight plan was to fly in at 15,000 feet until entering the target area . . make VERTICAL bombing runs to drop the proximity-fused weapons on them. Each pilot had a specific complex to hit. But as we approached the target we started to pick up some flak; but it was high and behind us.
At the initial point of the bombing runs we separated and rolled into our vertical dives, where the defensive flak really became heavy. I rolled in first. After I released my bomb, I pulled out south of the target area and waited for the rest to join up.
One of the Corsairs reported that he had been hit on the way down thus he had to pull out before dropping his bomb. Three other planes suffered minor flak damage but nothing serious yet. After the join up, I detached from the group and flew over the target area to see if there were any AA guns still firing. Sure enough, there was heavy 37 MM fire from one site. I whipped my airplane around and got out of there in a hurry.
Then I called in our reserve big bomb-laden Skyraider . . still circling at 15,000 feet to strike the remaining gun site. He dropped a one ton bomb which exploded right over the target. Suddenly things became very quiet The shrapnel from those 2,000 lbs. bombs must have been deadly for the crews serving the guns and radars. We never saw another 37 MM burst from any of the FIFTY SIX radar-directed guns.
From that moment on, it was just another day at the office. Only sporadic machine gun and small arms fire was encountered. As we made repeated glide bombing runs and completely destroyed all the bridges. We even brought gun camera pictures back to prove those bridges were gone.
After a final check of the target area, we joined up, inspected each others plane for damage before heading for the carrier.
Mr. Michener plus most of the ship's crew watched from Vulture's Row . . while 'Dog' Fannin, the landing signal officer, brought us back aboard. With all the pilots returning to the ship safe and on time, the Admiral was actually seen to be dancing a joyful jig on the flag Bridge. From that moment on, the Admiral had a soft spot in his heart for us attack pilots. I think his fatherly regard for us had a bearing on what happened in our liberty port after the raid on Toko-ri.
This raid was indeed was exciting. But in our minds, it became dwarfed by the incident that occurred at the end of this combat tour . The next operation was officially named . . OPERATION PINWHEEL. We pilots called it: OPERATION PIN HEAD !
This third tour had been particularly savage for VF-54. Five of our pilots had been shot down; three of them not recovered. I had been shot down three times. The mechanics and ordnance men had worked back-breaking hours under medieval conditions to keep us flying. Finally we were headed for Yokosuka for ten days of desperately needed rest and recuperation.
As we steamed up Japan's coast, the Air Group Commander, CDR Marsh Beebe, called CDR Trum, the CO of the Corsair squadron, and me to his shipboard office. He told us that the prop squadrons would participate in an exercise dreamed up by the ship's commanding officer. And it had been named OPERATION PIN-WHEEL. The Corsairs and AD Skyraiders were to be tied down on the port side of the flight deck. And upon signal from the bridge, all engines were to be turned up to full power to assist the tugs to push the ship sideways to the dock.
CDR Trum and I both said to Beebe : " You realize that those engines are vital to the survival of all the attack pilots. We fly those single engine planes 300 to 400 miles from the ship over freezing water and over very hostile land. Overstressing these engines is not going to make any of us very happy." Marsh knew the danger. But he said, " The captain of the ship, CAPT. Wheelock wants this done. So do it!"
As soon as the news of this brilliant scheme hit the ready rooms, the operation was quickly named OPERATION PIN HEAD. And CAPT. Wheelock became known as Captain Wheel Chock.
On the evening before arriving in port, I talked with CDR Trum and told him, "I don't know what you are going to do. But I am telling my pilots that our lives depend on those engines and do not give them more than half power. And if that engine temperature even begins to rise . . cut back to idle." And that is what we did.
About an hour after the ship had been secured to the dock, the Air Group Commander screamed over the ships intercom for Gray and Trum to report to his office. When we walked in and saw the pale look on Beebe's face, it was apparent that CAPT. Wheelock had cut a new aperture in poor old Marsh.
The ship's CO had gone ballistic when he didn't get the full power from the lashed down Corsairs and Skyraiders. He informed CDR Beebe his fitness report would reflect this miserable performance of duty.
Air Group Commander Beebe had flown his share of strikes. And it was a shame that he became the focus of the wrath of CAPT. Wheelock for something he had not done. However, tensions were high and in the heat of the moment, he informed CDR Trum and me that he was placing both of us and all our pilots 'in hack' until further notice. This was a very severe sentence after 30 days on the line in combat.
The Carrier Division Commander, Rear Admiral John "Black Jack" Perry could present a personally considerate and soft side. But his official character would strike terror into the heart of the most hardened criminal. Otherwise, he loved to talk to the pilots; and in deference to his drinking days, Admiral Perry would reserve a table at the Fujia Hotel bar and would sit there drinking Coca cola while buying drinks for any pilot enjoying R & R in the hotel.
Even though we were not comfortable with this gruff older man, he was a good listener and everyone enjoyed telling the Admiral about his latest escape from death. I realize now he was keeping his finger on the morale of the pilots and how they were standing up to the terror of daily flights over a very hostile land.
The Admiral had been in the hotel about three days. One evening, he said to some of the fighter pilots sitting at his table, "Where are the attack pilots ? I have not seen any of them since we arrived." One of them answered, "Admiral, I thought you knew. They were all put in hack by the Air Group Commander and restricted to the ship"
In a voice that could be heard all over the hotel, the Admiral bellowed to his aide, "Get that idiot Beebe on the phone in 5 minutes. And I don't care if you have to use the Shore Patrol, Army Military Police or the Japanese Police to find him. I want him on the telephone NOW !"
The next morning, after three days in hack, the attack pilots had just finished marching lockstep into the wardroom for breakfast, singing the 'prisoners' song, when the loudspeaker blared out for Gray and Trum to report to the Air Group Commander's stateroom immediately.
When we walked in, there sat Marsh looking like he just had a near death experience. It was apparent that he had been worked over by a real pro. In a trembling voice, his only words were, " The hack is lifted. All of you are free to go ashore. There will not be any negative note of this in your fitness reports. Now get out of here and leave me alone." Posters saying, "Thank you Black Jack" went up in the ready rooms. The long delayed liberty was now at hand.
When writing about this cruise, I must pay homage to the talent we had in the squadrons. LTJG Tom Hayward was a fighter pilot who went on to become the U.S. Navy's Chief Naval Operations. LTJG Neil Armstrong another fighter pilot became the astronaut who took the first step on the moon. My wingman, Ken Shugart, was an all-American basketball player, then later a Navy Admiral. Al Masson, another wingman, became owner of one of New Orleans' most famous restaurants. All of the squadrons were manned with the best and brightest young men the U.S. could produce.
The mechanics and ordnance crews who kept the planes armed and flying deserve as much praise as the pilots for without the effort they expended, working day and night under cold and brutal conditions, no flight would have been flown. It was a dangerous cruise. I will always consider it an honor to have worked with those young men who served with such bravery and dignity. The officers and men of this air group once again demonstrated what makes America the most outstanding country in the world today.
To those whose spirits were taken from them during those grim days and didn't come back, I will always remember you."
Courtesy of LCDR George Everding, USN (ret.)
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This Day in U S Military History 17 January
This Day in U S Military History
1790 – American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84. Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin became at 12 years old an apprentice to his half brother James, a printer and publisher. He learned the printing trade and in 1723 went to Philadelphia to work after a dispute with his brother. After a sojourn in London, he started a printing and publishing press with a friend in 1728. In 1729, the company won a contract to publish Pennsylvania's paper currency and also began publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette, which was regarded as one of the better colonial newspapers. From 1732 to 1757, he wrote and published Poor Richard's Almanack, an instructive and humorous periodical in which Franklin coined such practical American proverbs as "God helps those who help themselves" and "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." As his own wealth and prestige grew, Franklin took on greater civic responsibilities in Philadelphia and helped establish the city's first circulating library, police force, volunteer fire company, and an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. From 1737 to 1753, he was postmaster of Philadelphia and during this time also served as a clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1753, he became deputy postmaster general, in charge of mail in all the northern colonies. Deeply interesting in science and technology, he invented the Franklin stove, which is still manufactured today, and bifocal eyeglasses, among other practical inventions. In 1748, he turned his printing business over to his partner so he would have more time for his experiments. The phenomenon of electricity fascinated him, and in a dramatic experiment he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is an electrical discharge. He later invented the lightning rod. Many terms used in discussing electricity, including positive, negative, battery, and conductor, were coined by Franklin in his scientific papers. He was the first American scientist to be highly regarded in European scientific circles. Franklin was active in colonial affairs and in 1754 proposed the union of the colonies, which was rejected by Britain. In 1757, he went to London to argue for the right to tax the massive estates of the Penn family in Pennsylvania, and in 1764 went again to ask for a new charter for Pennsylvania. He was in England when Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. His initial failure to actively oppose the controversial act drew wide criticism in the colonies, but he soon redeemed himself by stoutly defending American rights before the House of Commons. With tensions between the American colonies and Britain rising, he stayed on in London and served as agent for several colonies. In 1775, he returned to America as the American Revolution approached and was a delegate at the Continental Congress. In 1776, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in July signed the final document. Ironically, Franklin's illegitimate son, William Franklin, whom Franklin and his wife had raised, had at the same time emerged as a leader of the Loyalists. In 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin, one of the embattled United States' most prominent statesmen, to France as a diplomat. Warmly embraced, he succeeded in 1778 in securing two treaties that provided the Americans with significant military and economic aid. In 1781, with French help, the British were defeated. With John Jay and John Adams, Franklin then negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain, which was signed in 1783. In 1785, Franklin returned to the United States. In his last great public service, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and worked hard for the document's ratification. After his death in 1790, Philadelphia gave him the largest funeral the city had ever seen.
1961 – The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA financed and trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter failure. Fidel Castro had been a concern to U.S. policymakers since he seized power in Cuba with a revolution in January 1959. Castro's attacks on U.S. companies and interests in Cuba, his inflammatory anti-American rhetoric, and Cuba's movement toward a closer relationship with the Soviet Union led U.S. officials to conclude that the Cuban leader was a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere. In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba. John F. Kennedy inherited this program when he became president in 1961. Though many of his military advisors indicated that an amphibious assault on Cuba by a group of lightly armed exiles had little chance for success, Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the attack. On April 17, 1961, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons and using American landing craft, waded ashore at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The hope was that the exile force would serve as a rallying point for the Cuban citizenry, who would rise up and overthrow Castro's government. The plan immediately fell apart–the landing force met with unexpectedly rapid counterattacks from Castro's military, the tiny Cuban air force sank most of the exiles' supply ships, the United States refrained from providing necessary air support, and the expected uprising never happened. Over 100 of the attackers were killed, and more than 1,100 were captured. The failure at the Bay of Pigs cost the United States dearly. Castro used the attack by the "Yankee imperialists" to solidify his power in Cuba and he requested additional Soviet military aid. Eventually that aid included missiles, and the construction of missile bases in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union nearly came to blows over the issue. Further, throughout much of Latin America, the United States was pilloried for its use of armed force in trying to unseat Castro, a man who was considered a hero to many for his stance against U.S. interference and imperialism. Kennedy tried to redeem himself by publicly accepting blame for the attack and its subsequent failure, but the botched mission left the young president looking vulnerable and indecisive.
1970 – With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth. On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Mission commander Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth. The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13's course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. On April 17, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13 astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CRILLEY, FRANK WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Chief Gunner's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 13 September 1883, Trenton, N.J. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. (19 November 1928). Citation: For display of extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession above and beyond the call of duty during the diving operations in connection with the sinking in a depth of water 304 feet, of the U.S.S. F-4 with all on board, as a result of loss of depth control, which occurred off Honolulu, T.H., on 25 March 1915. On 17 April 1915, William F. Loughman, chief gunner's mate, U.S. Navy, who had descended to the wreck and had examined one of the wire hawsers attached to it, upon starting his ascent, and when at a depth of 250 feet beneath the surface of the water, had his lifeline and air hose so badly fouled by this hawser that he was unable to free himself; he could neither ascend nor descend. On account of the length of time that Loughman had already been subjected to the great pressure due to the depth of water, and of the uncertainty of the additional time he would have to be subjected to this pressure before he could be brought to the surface, it was imperative that steps be taken at once to clear him. Instantly, realizing the desperate case of his comrade, Crilley volunteered to go to his aid, immediately donned a diving suit and descended. After a lapse of time of 2 hours and 11 minutes, Crilley was brought to the surface, having by a superb exhibition of skill, coolness, endurance and fortitude, untangled the snarl of lines and cleared his imperiled comrade, so that he was brought, still alive, to the surface.
COVINGTON, JESSE WHITFIELD
Rank and organization: Ship's Cook Third Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: At sea aboard the U.S.S. Stewart, 17 April 1918. Entered service at: California. Born: 16 September 1889, Haywood, Tenn. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Jesse W. Covington, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself, fully realizing that similar powder boxes in the vicinity were continually exploding and that he was thereby risking his life in saving the life of this man.
UPTON, FRANK MONROE
Rank and organization: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 April 1896, Loveland, Colo. Accredited to: Colorado. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H, on 17 April 1918. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Frank M. Upton, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself. Fully realizing the danger from continual explosion of similar powder boxes in the vicinity, he risked his life to save the life of this man.
BURKE, FRANK (also known as FRANCIS X. BURKE)
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Nuremberg, Germany, 17 April 1945. Entered service at: Jersey City, N.J. Born: 29 September 1918, New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 4, 9 January 1946. Citation: He fought with extreme gallantry in the streets of war-torn Nuremberg, Germany, where the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, was engaged in rooting out fanatical defenders of the citadel of Nazism. As battalion transportation officer he had gone forward to select a motor-pool site, when, in a desire to perform more than his assigned duties and participate in the fight, he advanced beyond the lines of the forward riflemen. Detecting a group of about 10 Germans making preparations for a local counterattack, he rushed back to a nearby American company, secured a light machinegun with ammunition, and daringly opened fire on this superior force, which deployed and returned his fire with machine pistols, rifles, and rocket launchers. From another angle a German machinegun tried to blast him from his emplacement, but 1st Lt. Burke killed this guncrew and drove off the survivors of the unit he had originally attacked. Giving his next attention to enemy infantrymen in ruined buildings, he picked up a rifle dashed more than 100 yards through intense fire and engaged the Germans from behind an abandoned tank. A sniper nearly hit him from a cellar only 20 yards away, but he dispatched this adversary by running directly to the basement window, firing a full clip into it and then plunging through the darkened aperture to complete the job. He withdrew from the fight only long enough to replace his jammed rifle and secure grenades, then re-engaged the Germans. Finding his shots ineffective, he pulled the pins from 2 grenades, and, holding 1 in each hand, rushed the enemy-held building, hurling his missiles just as the enemy threw a potato masher grenade at him. In the triple explosion the Germans were wiped out and 1st Lt. Burke was dazed; but he emerged from the shower of debris that engulfed him, recovered his rifle, and went on to kill 3 more Germans and meet the charge of a machine pistolman, whom he cut down with 3 calmly delivered shots. He then retired toward the American lines and there assisted a platoon in a raging, 30-minute fight against formidable armed hostile forces. This enemy group was repulsed, and the intrepid fighter moved to another friendly group which broke the power of a German unit armed with a 20-mm. gun in a fierce fire fight. In 4 hours of heroic action, 1st Lt. Burke single-handedly killed 11 and wounded 3 enemy soldiers and took a leading role in engagements in which an additional 29 enemy were killed or wounded. His extraordinary bravery and superb fighting skill were an inspiration to his comrades, and his entirely voluntary mission into extremely dangerous territory hastened the fall of Nuremberg, in his battalion's sector
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 17, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
17 January
1932: MACKAY TROPHY. After a severe snowstorm, 7 aircraft from the 11th Bomb Squadron flew missions for 4 days to deliver supplies to Navajo Indians near Winslow, Ariz. Lieutenant Charles H. Howard received the trophy for this effort. (5)
1936: Contract let to produce the B-17 bomber. (5) 1943: On Guadalcanal, B-17s from Henderson Field dropped water, ammunition, and rations to troops near Mount Austen. (24)
1945: Ninety-one B-29s flew the last Superfortress mission from Chengtu, China, against the enemy airfield at Shinchiku, Formosa. (24)
1951: Convair's RB-36D reconnaissance plane made a 51-hour, 20-minute trip without refueling. (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR. A 4th Fighter-Interceptor Group detachment began operating from Taegu Air Base, S. Korea, to restore F-86 operations in Korea. The Sabre Jets flew in their air-to-ground role as fighter-bombers, conducting armed reconnaissance and close air support missions. Far East Air Forces temporarily suspended Tarzon bombing missions because of a shortage of the radio-guided bombs. (21) (28) Through 18 January, Far East Air Forces Combat Cargo Command flew 109 C-119 sorties to drop more than 550 tons of supplies to front-line troops in Korea. (28)
1956: The Department of Defense disclosed the Semi-automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense system to the public. (24)
1962: When Commander George Tolley (U.S. Navy) landed an F8U Crusader on the USS Enterprise, he made the first aircraft landing on a nuclear-powered carrier. (24) B-52Gs from the 4038th Strategic Wing at Dow AFB, Maine, carried Hound Dog missiles on their first airborne alert. (6)
1963: National Air and Space Administration test pilot Joseph Walker earned astronaut status by flying the X-15 to 271,000 feet, which made him the eleventh man to pass 50 miles in altitude. At the time, astronaut wings were only available to military pilots. The organization subsequently awarded civilian astronaut wings on 23 August 2005 to William H. Dana, and family members of deceased pilots Joe Walker and Jack McKay. (http://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/X15_wings.html) The US decided to withdraw the Jupiter units from Italy. (6)
1967: A C-141 from the 44th Military Airlift Squadron at Travis AFB, Calif., claimed a trans-Pacific speed record from Japan to the U. S. on a run of 8 hours and 17 minutes, covering a total of 5,400 miles, with speeds averaging 630 miles per hour. (18)
1970: HURRICANE CAMILLE: Air Force Reserve aircrews airlifted carpenters and painters to New Orleans to repair damage from the storm. (16) (26) NIGERIAN CIVIL WAR. Through 10 February, C-141s flew 21 missions from Charleston AFB, S. C., to Lagos, Nigeria. They carried 436.5 tons of supplies, including 63 trucks, 70 generators, 10,000 blankets, and a 200-bed portable hospital for Biafran civil war refugees. (18)
1977: A Deputy Secretary of Defense approved the General Purpose Satellite Communications System Program and the Strategic Satellite System Program. (5)
1991: Operation DESERT SHIELD/STORM. The Gulf War began. In the first 14 hours of operations, coalition aircraft flew 1,200 combat sorties, while 106 cruise missiles hit targets in Iraq and Kuwait. F-117A Stealth Fighters attacked more than 31 percent of Iraq's strategic targets on the first night. (16) (20) Operation DESERT STORM: Through 17 February 16 C-130 Hercules aircraft belonging to the AFRES in the 1650th Tactical Airlift Wing (Provisional) flew more than 3,200 combat sorties. The Air Force Reserve's 706th Tactical Fighter Squadron flew its A-10 Thunderbolt IIs on more than 1,000 combat sorties against enemy targets. The Reserves had no combat losses. (16)
1992: The Air Force accepted its first production-model T-1A Jayhawk trainer. (16) (26)
1993: Operation PROVIDE COMFORT. An F-16 Fighting Falcon shot down an Iraqi MiG over northern Iraq. (16) (26)
1994: A major earthquake hit Los Angles. Through 25 January, 6 C-5 Galaxies and C-141 Starlifters flew 270 disaster specialists and 340,000 pounds of cargo to Southern California. (26)
1995: The first C-17 Globemaster III unit, the 17th Airlift Squadron, achieved its initial operating capability at Charleston AFB, S. C., with the 437th Airlift Wing. The 317th Airlift Squadron, 315th Airlift Wing (Air Force Reserves) at Charleston also began flying missions. (18)
2000: Successful testing on a C-5 equipped with the new Traffic and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) allowed Lockheed Martin to retrofit the remaining 126 C-5s in Air Mobility Command, Air Force Reserve Command, and the Air National Guard underan Avionics Modernization Program. The C-5 fleet would be equipped with the new upgrades by late fiscal year 2002. (22)
2007: COLD WEATHER TESTING OF NEW FUEL. A B-52 Stratofortess, powered by a mix of synthetic fuel, arrived at Minot AFB, N. Dak., for cold-weather testing, the last step in a certification process to reduce Air Force's dependence on imported fuel. The 5th Bomb Wing B-52 started its ground testing on 22 January to determine how well the synthetic fuel, made from a 50-50 blend of traditional crude oil-based fuel and a Fischer-Tropsch fuel derived from natural gas, performed in extreme weather conditions. The first B-52 flight using the Fischer-Tropsch fuel occurred 19 September 2006 at Edwards AFB, Calif. (AFNEWS, "B-52 Undergoes Synthetic Fuel Cold Weather Testing," 22 Jan 2007.)
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