The List 6016 TGB
Good Saturday Morning February 26
I hope that your weekend is off to a great start.
Regards,
Skip
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History
February. 26
1944—Sue Sophia Dauser, Superintendent of the Navy's Nurse Corps, is the first woman in the Navy to receive rank of captain.
1945—TBMs (VC 82) from USS Anzio (CVE 57) sink two Japanese submarines: I 368, 35 miles west of Iwo Jima, and RO 43, 50 miles west-northwest of Iwo Jima.
1945—USS Finnegan (DE 307) sinks Japanese submarine I 370, 120 miles south of Iwo Jima.
1991—During Operation Desert Storm, A-6E aircraft of VA-155 from USS Ranger (CVA 61) and Marine aircraft bomb Iraqi troops fleeing Kuwait City to Basra.
1991 - A Marine recon unit was the first U.S. force to enter Kuwait City and retake the American Embassy. 48 hours later, Kuwait was liberated and a ceasefire was declared, effectively ending the war.
Today in History February 26
0364 On the death of Jovian, a conference at Nicaea chooses Valentinan, an army officer who was born in the central European region of Pannania, to succeed him in Asia Minor.
1154 William the Bad succeeds his father, Roger the II, in Sicily.
1790 As a result of the Revolution, France is divided into 83 departments.
1815 Napoleon and 1,200 of his men leave Elba to start the 100-day re-conquest of France.
1848 Karl Marx and Frederick Engels publish The Communist Manifesto in London.
1871 France and Prussia sign a preliminary peace treaty at Versailles.
1901 Boxer Rebellion leaders Chi-Hsin and Hsu-Cheng-Yu are publicly executed in Peking.
1914 Russian aviator Igor Sikorsky carries 17 passengers in a twin engine plane in St. Petersburg.
1916 General Henri Philippe Petain takes command of the French forces at Verdun.
1917 President Wilson publicly asks congress for the power to arm merchant ships.
1924 U.S. steel industry finds claims an eight-hour day increases efficiency and employee relations.
1933 Ground is broken for the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
1936 Japanese military troops march into Tokyo to conduct a coup and assassinate political leaders.
1941 British take the Somali capital in East Africa.
1943 U.S. Flying Fortresses and Liberators pound German docks and U-boat lairs at Wilhelmshaven.
1945 Syria declares war on Germany and Japan.
1951 The 22nd Amendment is added to the Constitution limiting the Presidency to two terms.
1964 Lyndon B. Johnson signs a tax bill with $11.5 billion in cuts.
1965 Norman Butler is arrested for the murder of Malcom X.
1968 Thirty-two African nations agree to boycott the Olympics because of the presence of South Africa.
1970 Five Marines are arrested on charges of murdering 11 South Vietnamese women and children.
1972 Soviets recover Luna 20 with a cargo of moon rocks.
1973 A publisher and 10 reporters are subpoenaed to testify on Watergate.
1990 Daniel Ortega, communist president of Nicaragua, suffers a shocking election defeat at the hands of Violeta Chamorro.
1993 A bomb rocks the World Trade Center in New York City. Five people are killed and hundreds suffer from smoke inhalation.
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Iwo Jima flag raising
Last night there was a very good information show on the TV about the investigation of one of the flag raisers on Iwo Jima who was misidentified for over 70 years. I was impressed by the depth of the investigation and the availability of all the photographs still available from that day and the shape that they were in to be able to use them to correct the wrong that had been there for so many years. Real experts in their fields and how step by step they were able to find the person that had been left out and Identify him without a doubt. The Commandant of the Marine Corps made an outstanding declaration at the end.. If you ever get the chance to see it do not miss it.
Skip
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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 Saturday, 26 February 2022…Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)….
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 26 February 1967… To win: POWER—POSITION—RESOLVE…
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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A repeat from the List archives. Do not mess with a Marine. Once a Marine always a Marine
thanks to Doctor Rich and Dutch
Thanks to Felix ...
Don't need no stinkin' bullets!! Especially after he cut my wife!!
82-Year-Old Marine Beats a Home Intruder To Death With a Shotgun
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Thanks to CAP
Landing a Plane in the Middle of the Jungle - YouTube
OK now this one is dicey!!
Stay on for the next one. Pitching deck landings on an aircraft carrier
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Thanks to Dr.Rich and Ward Carroll
The Ghost of Kyev
The first Ace in a Day in this Century and since WWII .
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Hadn't heard about this
Thanks to Michael ...AND Dr. Rich
The announcement of new sanctions against Russia provoked a strong reaction from the head of Russia's space program, Dmitry Rogozin, yesterday, who seemed to threaten that the restrictions would destroy Russia's partnership with NASA and lead to the demise of the International Space Station....
View the article. https://flip.it/fJxnIt
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Thanks to Felix and Dr. Rich
A LOOKL AT WHAT THE UKRAININAN AIR FORCE HAS IN THE SKY
The UAF Fleet
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Thanks to Bob
Subject: F-35 Crash Video
No doubt you have already seen this, and perhaps others..but just in case
Another F-35 Crash Video Leaked! Veteran Naval Aviators Analyze the Results - YouTube
Thanks to Barrel
Engine Out
Guy does an amazing job!
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
Why they get the paid the BIG BUCKS!!!
Thanks to David T. ...
Note no ground crew!! They just 'plant' the tower on the base w. line-up jigs .. later anchored down.
Impressive flying!
We have an Erickson SkyCrane pilot here in Jackson … flies all over the world doing this stuff, with other ferry pilots moving the SkyCrane to where it is needed .. Ed shows up, flies 30 +/- minutes to plant the towers, and goes home … and makes a good living!! For all I know that may be Ed in the video. Here's one of Ed's jobs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpcXJt05J2g
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Thanks to Barrett
Skip, I thought the bubbas might enjoy this insight from Bio Baranek about the fabled Jolly Roger scene in The Final Countdown:
F-14 Pilot's Unreleased Notes on Filming "The Final Countdown" - The Aviation Geek Club
One of the F-14 pilots who flew in The Final Countdown shares his personal notes on the movie that introduced the Tomcat to Hollywood. "Splash the Zeros!"
theaviationgeekclub.com
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Thanks to Cowboy
Skip,
This is a discussion I think all North Americans and Europeans need to hear. -------
Maajid Nawaz is a former Islamist turned counter-extremism activist, author of multiple books, and public speaker. He is a British activist and radio presenter. He was the founding chairman of Quilliam, a counter-extremism think tank that sought to challenge the narratives of Islamist extremists and, until January 2022, was the host of an LBC radio show on Saturdays and Sundays.
He discusses the challenges facing the west, including Islamic culture, World Economic Forum infiltration, and Canada's recent Emergency Act against protesting truckers.
or
Cowboy
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Thanks to 'Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
Daily Memo: My Mistake on Ukraine
Thoughts in and around geopolitics.
By: George Friedman
February 25, 2022
Since the beginning of the Russian armored buildup, and even after the entry into Donbas, I argued that the Russians would not invade Ukraine proper. It's true that Russia must recover Ukraine in some fashion to gain the strategic depth it lost when the Soviet Union collapsed, but that didn't seem to require a full-scale invasion. I was wrong. Even so, I would like to take a moment to explain my thinking.
My mistake came from a couple of false assumptions. The first concerns the recent history of Russian "intervention" in its borderlands. In Belarus, protests erupted after Alexander Lukashenko won what was widely held as a fraudulent election. It's possible his government would have buckled under popular pressure, just as Ukraine's had years earlier, if not for Russian support. Moscow turned Belarus into a vassal state without the threat of war, a soft but substantial increase in its power.
Elsewhere, after the Nagorno-Karabakh war last year, Russia mediated a cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia, a key provision of which was to allow Russia to keep several thousand peacekeepers nearby. It was yet another soft coup that gave Russia a military presence in the vital South Caucasus.
Much more recently, there was an outbreak of political violence in Kazakhstan, perhaps the most important country in Central Asia. The government was destabilized, so Moscow sent peacekeepers to stabilize it.
Having watched Russia recover strategic depth through soft coups, taking advantage of internal tensions and local wars to stabilize the situation and recover strategic depth, I believed it would do likewise in Ukraine. The problem was that there were no divisions within Ukraine proper to exploit, nor any conflicts in which to intervene. More, I failed to appreciate that for Russia, Ukraine was too urgent a matter to be treated like the others.
My second assumption was that an armored invasion was simply too risky. The risks are real, of course. Supporting three armored divisions is expensive and logistically difficult in the best of circumstances, and vulnerable to missile attacks to boot. The U.S. said it would not go to war in Ukraine, but I assumed Vladimir Putin couldn't take Washington at its word. Add to this the fact that the U.K. sent a very large amount of Javelin anti-tank missiles. Clearly, Ukrainians were training rapidly for the exact kind of invasion that is now transpiring.
I concluded that the buildup and "invasion" of Donbas was a bluff meant to create the opportunity for another soft coup. Russia already de facto controlled Donbas, so making it official seemed like a less risky way for Russia to flex without actually going to war. I rejected the idea that this would be the foundation of Russia's military planning.
Trapped as I was by these two false assumptions, I then committed the worst error one can make in intelligence. After reaching my conclusions, and knowing that Russia was going to take Ukraine somehow, I either ignored data contrary to my position or took it as evidence that supported my position. I believed what I believed until I no longer could.
Ultimately, I didn't attack my own theory. I failed to see its weaknesses. I should always be my own worst enemy. I failed to do so, and for that, I am sorry.
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This Day in U S Military History….26 February
1846 – Frontiersman-turned-showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody was born in Scott County, Iowa. His family moved to Kansas in 1854, and after the death of his father three years later he set out to earn the family living, working for supply trains and a freighting company. In 1859 he went to the Colorado gold fields, and in 1860 he rode briefly for the Pony Express. His adventures on the Western frontier as an army scout and later as a buffalo hunter for railroad construction camps on the Great Plains were the basis for the stories later told about him. Ned Buntline in 1872 persuaded him to appear on the stage, and, except for a brief period of scouting against the Sioux in 1876, he was from that time connected with show business. In 1883 he organized Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and he toured with it throughout the United States and Europe for many years. Wyoming granted him a stock ranch, on which the town of Cody was laid out. He died in Denver and was buried on Lookout Mt. near Golden, Colo. The exploits attributed to him in the dime novels of Buntline and Prentice Ingraham are only slightly more imaginative than his own autobiography published in 1920.
1945 – An ammunition dump on the Philippine island of Corregidor is blown up by a remnant of the Japanese garrison, causing more American casualties on the eve of U.S. victory there. In May 1942, Corregidor, a small rock island at the mouth of Manila Bay, remained one of the last Allied strongholds in the Philippines after the Japanese victory at Bataan. Constant artillery shelling and aerial bombardment attacks ate away at the American and Filipino defenders. Although still managing to sink many Japanese barges as they approached the northern shores of the island, the Allied troops could not hold the invader off any longer. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, commander of the U.S. armed forces in the Philippines, offered to surrender Corregidor to Japanese Gen. Masaharu Homma, but Homma wanted the complete, unconditional capitulation of all American forces throughout the Philippines. Wainwright had little choice given the odds against him and the poor physical condition of his troops–he had already lost 800 men. He surrendered at midnight. All 11,500 surviving Allied troops were evacuated to a prison stockade in Manila. But the Americans returned to the Philippines in full strength in October 1944, beginning with the recapture of Leyte, the Philippines' central island. It took 67 days to subdue, with the loss of more than 55,000 Japanese soldiers during the two months of battle, and approximately another 25,000 mopping up pockets of resistance in early 1945. The U.S. forces lost about 3,500. Following the American victory of Leyte was the return of Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the struggle for Luzon and the race for Manila, the Philippine capital. One week into the Allied battle for Luzon, U.S. airborne troops parachuted onto Corregidor to take out the Japanese garrison there, which was believed to be 1,000 strong, but was actually closer to 5,000. Fierce fighting resulted in the deaths of most of the Japanese soldiers, with the survivors left huddling in the Malinta Tunnel for safety. Ironically, the tunnel, 1,400 feet long and dug deep in the heart of Corregidor, had served as MacArthur's headquarters and a U.S. supply depot before the American defeat there. MacArthur feared the Japanese soldiers could sit there for months. The garrison had no such intention, though, and ignited a nearby ammunition dump–an act of defiance, and possibly of mass suicide. Most of the Japanese were killed in the explosion, along with 52 Americans. Those Japanese who survived the blast were forced out into the open and decimated by the Americans. Corregidor was officially in American hands by early March.
1949 – From Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, the Lucky Lady II, a B-50 Superfortress, takes off on the first nonstop round-the-world flight. Under the command of Captain James Gallagher, and featuring a crew of 14 men, the aircraft averaged 249 miles per hour on its 23,452-mile trek. The Lucky Lady II was refueled four times in the air by B-29 tanker planes and on March 2 returned to the United States after 94 hours in the air. In December 1986, Voyager, a lightweight propeller plane constructed mainly of plastic, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in Muroc, California, having completed the first global flight without refueling.
1968 – Allied troops who had recaptured the imperial capital of Hue from the North Vietnamese during the Tet Offensive discover the first mass graves in Hue. It was discovered that communist troops who had held the city for 25 days had massacred about 2,800 civilians whom they had identified as sympathizers with the government in Saigon. One authority estimated that communists might have killed as many as 5,700 people in Hue. The Tet Offensive had begun at dawn on the first day of the Tet holiday truce (January 30), when Viet Cong forces, supported by large numbers of North Vietnamese troops, launched the largest and best coordinated offensive of the war. During the attack, they drove into the center of South Vietnam's seven largest cities and attacked 30 provincial capitals ranging from the Delta to the DMZ. Among the cities taken during the first four days of the offensive were Hue, Dalat, Kontum, and Quang Tri; in the north, all five provincial capitals were overrun. At the same time, enemy forces shelled numerous allied airfields and bases. By February 10, the offensive was largely crushed, but resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.
1973 – First airborne mine sweep in a live minefield took place in the Haiphong, Vietnam ship channel by helicopters from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Twelve on board USS New Orleans.
1991 – A cease-fire was called by Pres. Bush after 100 hours of ground combat. Following the cease-fire a retreating Iraqi unit stumbled into the Gen. McCaffrey's 24th infantry division and some 400 Iraqis were reported killed. Army investigations concluded that the Iraqis started the Rumaylah battle.
1993 – A bomb explodes in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City. Six people died and 1,000 were injured by the powerful blast. The buildings themselves, once the world's tallest, were nearly toppled by the bomb; an underground restraining wall came precariously close to breaking and allowing the Hudson River to spill into the World Trade Center's support area. Hours after the explosion, an informant identified a group of Serbians in New York as the culprits. However, when the FBI conducted surveillance of the gang they found not terrorists but jewel thieves, putting an end to a major diamond-laundering operation. Fortunately, investigators at the bomb scene found a 300-pound section of a van frame that had been at the center of the blast. The van's vehicle identification number was still visible, leading detectives to the Ryder Rental Agency in Jersey City, New Jersey. Their records indicated that Mohammed Salameh had rented the van and reported it stolen on February 25. Salameh was already in the FBI's database as a potential terrorist, so agents knew that they had probably found their man. Salameh compounded his mistake by insisting that Ryder return his $400 deposit. When he returned to collect it, the FBI arrested him. A search of his home and records led to two other suspects. Meanwhile, the owner of a storage facility in Jersey City came forward to say that he had seen four men loading a Ryder van on February 25. When this storage space was checked, they found enough chemicals, including very unstable nitroglycerin, to make another massive bomb. Investigators also found videotapes with instructions on bomb making that led to the arrest of a fourth suspect. Other evidence showed that one of the terrorists had bought hydrogen tanks from AGL Welding Supply in New Jersey. In the wreckage under the World Trade Center, three tanks marked "AGL Welding" were found. In addition, the terrorists had sent a letter to the New York Times claiming responsibility for the blast. Portions of this letter were found on the hard drive of one of the suspect's computers. Finally, DNA analysis of saliva on the envelope matched that of the suspect. The wealth of evidence resulted in easy convictions, and each of the men was sentenced to 240 years in prison. Despite the fact that the terrorists did not succeed in destroying the World Trade Center, the bombing remains one of the worst acts of foreign terrorism on U.S. soil.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
JACOBSON, DOUGLAS THOMAS
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 3d Battalion, 23d Marines, 4th Marine Division. Place and date: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 February 1945. Entered service at: New York. Born: 25 November 1925, Rochester, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 3d Battalion, 23d Marines, 4th Marine Division, in combat against enemy Japanese forces during the seizure of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Island, 26 February 1945. Promptly destroying a stubborn 20mm. antiaircraft gun and its crew after assuming the duties of a bazooka man who had been killed, Pfc. Jacobson waged a relentless battle as his unit fought desperately toward the summit of Hill 382 in an effort to penetrate the heart of Japanese cross-island defense. Employing his weapon with ready accuracy when his platoon was halted by overwhelming enemy fire on 26 February, he first destroyed 2 hostile machinegun positions, then attacked a large blockhouse, completely neutralizing the fortification before dispatching the 5-man crew of a second pillbox and exploding the installation with a terrific demolitions blast. Moving steadily forward, he wiped out an earth-covered rifle emplacement and, confronted by a cluster of similar emplacements which constituted the perimeter of enemy defenses in his assigned sector, fearlessly advanced, quickly reduced all 6 positions to a shambles, killed 10 of the enemy, and enabled our forces to occupy the strong point. Determined to widen the breach thus forced, he volunteered his services to an adjacent assault company, neutralized a pillbox holding up its advance, opened fire on a Japanese tank pouring a steady stream of bullets on 1 of our supporting tanks, and smashed the enemy tank's gun turret in a brief but furious action culminating in a single-handed assault against still another blockhouse and the subsequent neutralization of its firepower. By his dauntless skill and valor, Pfc. Jacobson destroyed a total of 16 enemy positions and annihilated approximately 75 Japanese, thereby contributing essentially to the success of his division's operations against this fanatically defended outpost of the Japanese Empire. His gallant conduct in the face of tremendous odds enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
WAHLEN, GEORGE EDWARD
Rank and organization: Pharmacist's Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy, serving with 2d Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Place and date: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands group, 3 March 1945. Entered service at: Utah. Born: 8 August 1924, Ogden, Utah. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 2d Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima in the Volcano group on 3 March 1945. Painfully wounded in the bitter action on 26 February, Wahlen remained on the battlefield, advancing well forward of the frontlines to aid a wounded marine and carrying him back to safety despite a terrific concentration of fire. Tireless in his ministrations, he consistently disregarded all danger to attend his fighting comrades as they fell under the devastating rain of shrapnel and bullets, and rendered prompt assistance to various elements of his combat group as required. When an adjacent platoon suffered heavy casualties, he defied the continuous pounding of heavy mortars and deadly fire of enemy rifles to care for the wounded, working rapidly in an area swept by constant fire and treating 14 casualties before returning to his own platoon. Wounded again on 2 March, he gallantly refused evacuation, moving out with his company the following day in a furious assault across 600 yards of open terrain and repeatedly rendering medical aid while exposed to the blasting fury of powerful Japanese guns. Stouthearted and indomitable, he persevered in his determined efforts as his unit waged fierce battle and, unable to walk after sustaining a third agonizing wound, resolutely crawled 50 yards to administer first aid to still another fallen fighter. By his dauntless fortitude and valor, Wahlen served as a constant inspiration and contributed vitally to the high morale of his company during critical phases of this strategically important engagement. His heroic spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of overwhelming enemy fire upheld the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
INGMAN, EINAR H., JR.
Rank and organization: Sergeant (then Cpl.), U.S. Army, Company E, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Maltari, Korea, 26 February 1951. Entered service at: Tomahawk, Wis. Born: 6 October 1929, Milwaukee, Wis. G.O. No.: 68, 2 August 1951. Citation: Sgt. Ingman, a member of Company E, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. The 2 leading squads of the assault platoon of his company, while attacking a strongly fortified ridge held by the enemy, were pinned down by withering fire and both squad leaders and several men were wounded. Cpl. Ingman assumed command, reorganized and combined the 2 squads, then moved from 1 position to another, designating fields of fire and giving advice and encouragement to the men. Locating an enemy machine gun position that was raking his men with devastating fire he charged it alone, threw a grenade into the position, and killed the remaining crew with rifle fire. Another enemy machine gun opened fire approximately 15 yards away and inflicted additional casualties to the group and stopped the attack. When Cpl. Ingman charged the second position he was hit by grenade fragments and a hail of fire which seriously wounded him about the face and neck and knocked him to the ground. With incredible courage and stamina, he arose instantly and, using only his rifle, killed the entire guncrew before falling unconscious from his wounds. As a result of the singular action by Cpl. Ingman the defense of the enemy was broken, his squad secured its objective, and more than 100 hostile troops abandoned their weapons and fled in disorganized retreat. Cpl. Ingman's indomitable courage, extraordinary heroism, and superb leadership reflect the highest credit on himself and are in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the infantry and the U.S. Army.
*YABES, MAXIMO
Rank and organization: First Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Phu Hoa Dong, Republic of Vietnam, 26 February 1967. Entered service at: Eugene, Oreg. Born: 29 January 1932, Lodi, Calif. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. 1st Sgt. Yabes distinguished himself with Company A, which was providing security for a land clearing operation. Early in the morning the company suddenly came under intense automatic weapons and mortar fire followed by a battalion sized assault from 3 sides. Penetrating the defensive perimeter the enemy advanced on the company command post bunker. The command post received increasingly heavy fire and was in danger of being overwhelmed. When several enemy grenades landed within the command post, 1st Sgt. Yabes shouted a warning and used his body as a shield to protect others in the bunker. Although painfully wounded by numerous grenade fragments, and despite the vicious enemy fire on the bunker, he remained there to provide covering fire and enable the others in the command group to relocate. When the command group had reached a new position, 1st Sgt. Yabes moved through a withering hail of enemy fire to another bunker 50 meters away. There he secured a grenade launcher from a fallen comrade and fired point blank into the attacking Viet Cong stopping further penetration of the perimeter. Noting 2 wounded men helpless in the fire swept area, he moved them to a safer position where they could be given medical treatment. He resumed his accurate and effective fire killing several enemy soldiers and forcing others to withdraw from the vicinity of the command post. As the battle continued, he observed an enemy machinegun within the perimeter which threatened the whole position. On his own, he dashed across the exposed area, assaulted the machinegun, killed the crew, destroyed the weapon, and fell mortally wounded. 1st Sgt. Yabes' valiant and selfless actions saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers and inspired his comrades to effectively repel the enemy assault. His indomitable fighting spirit, extraordinary courage and intrepidity at the cost of his life are in the highest military traditions and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 26, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
26 February
1913: Chief Constructor of the Navy formally approved an action to provide the Navy with a wind tunnel at the Washington Navy Yard. (24)
1917: The Navy ordered Lt Alfred A. Cunningham to organize a Marine Aviation Company at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The Marines had five pilots at the time. (10)
1918: The 2d Balloon Company, US Army Signal Corps, became the first US Air Service unit to serve with American forces at the front. It arrived in the Toul Sector for assignment with I Corps and began operations on 5 March. (4) (24)
1940: The War Department created the ADC to integrate defenses of the US against air attack. The command, primarily a planning agency, opened its doors at Mitchel Field, Long Island, N. Y. On 15 March, Brig Gen James E. Chaney assumed command. (24)
1945: Lt Gen Millard F. Harmon, the commanding general of Army Air Forces in the Pacific area, lost at sea with his Chief of Staff, Brig Gen James R. Andersen, while flying over the Pacific. The USAF renamed North Guam AFB as Andersen AFB in March 1949 in General Andersen's honor. (24)
1949: MACKAY TROPHY. Through 2 March, from Carswell AFB Capt James Gallagher flew the 43 BG's B-50 Lucky Lady II (No. 46-010), on the first nonstop around-the-world flight. He flew 23,452 miles in 94 hours 1 minute, with four KB-29 air refuelings over the Azores, Arabia, the Philippines, and Hawaii. The aircrew received several awards: the first Mackay Trophy and Air Age Trophy (later renamed the Hoyt S. Vandenberg Trophy). (1) (9) (24)
1952: KOREAN WAR. 10 B-29 Superfortresses, using radar aiming methods, dropped one-hundred tons of bombs on the Sinhung-dong rail road bridge near Huichon in north central Korea, knocking out two spans. (28)
1954: The USAF awarded a contract to the Rocketdyne Division of North American Aviation to develop the MA-2 propulsion system for the Atlas. (6) 1955: When the controls of his F-100 Super Sabre jammed in a Mach 1.05 flight, North American test pilot George Smith ejected. He thus became the first person to survive an ejection at a supersonic speed. (21)
1960: A TM-61C Matador tactical missile launched from Pad 1 at Osan AB failed to destruct on command. An F-100D chase plane fired a Sidewinder missile to shoot it down. (17)
1966: The Apollo/Saturn AS-201 mission, the first unmanned spacecraft of the Apollo series, launched from the Eastern Test Range in a suborbital flight. It was the first launch of Saturn IB and Apollo spacecraft. (5)
1968: TAC's Air Force Special Air Warfare Center received the first OV-10A aircraft. (16)
1974: The A-10A prototype fired its GAU-8/A gun for the first time during an inflight test at Edwards AFB. (3)
1980: Exercise RIMPAC 80. PACAF hosted and participated in the first multinational exercise, RIMPAC 80, in Hawaiian waters. The exercise included Japanese forces. (16) (26)
1990: Martin Marietta delivered 116 Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infrared for Night (LANTIRN) pods to the Air Force. This raised the Air Force purchase to 561 navigation pods, 441 targeting pods, and 26 sets of support equipment since the first buy in 1985. (8: May 90)
2007: The 932d Airlift Wing at Scott AFB, Ill., received the first of three Boeing C-40C aircraft for its mission to transport senior military and government leaders to locations within the U. S. Previously, the wing used C-9C aircraft for that mission. The C-40C, like the C-40B, was a virtual "office in the sky" for senior military and government leaders. It was the military version of the Boeing 737-700 business jet and could accommodate 42 to 111 passengers. (Air Mobility Command Historical Highlights, 2007)
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