The List 6127
Good Sunday Morning June 12
Regards,
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On This Day in Naval and Marine Corps History
June 12
1775: HMS Margaretta, commanded by Capt. James Moore, enters Machias Harbor to commandeer a load of lumber for the British Army at Boston. Jeremiah OBrien leads the crew of the American sloop, Unity, and engages the British. After an hour-long bloody struggle, the Americans defeat the British. This action is the first naval engagement of the American Revolution.
1944 - Four U.S. Carrier Groups (15 carriers) begin attack on Japanese positions in the Marianas.
1948 - The Women's Armed Forces Integration Act provides for enlistment and appointment of women in the Naval Reserve.
1970 - After earthquake in Peru, USS Guam begins 11 days of relief flights to transport medical teams and supplies, as well as rescue
1987 Reagan challenges Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall »
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Today in History June 12
1442 Alfonso V of Aragon is crowned King of Naples.
1812 Napoleon Bonaparte and his army invade Russia.
1849 The gas mask is patented by Lewis P. Haslett.
1862 Confederate General J. E. B. Stuart begins his ride around the Union Army outside of Richmond, Virginia.
1901 Cuba agrees to become an American protectorate by accepting the Platt Amendment.
1918 The first airplane bombing raid by an American unit occurs in France.
1920 Republicans nominate Warren G. Harding for president and Calvin Coolidge for vice president.
1921 President Warren Harding urges every young man to attend military training camp.
1926 Brazil quits the League of Nations in protest over plans to admit Germany.
1931 Gangster Al Capone and 68 of his henchmen are indicted for violating Prohibition laws.
1937 Eight of Stalin's generals are sentenced to death during purges in the Soviet Union.
1942 American bombers strike the oil refineries of Ploesti, Romania for the first time.
1963 Black civil rights leader Medgar Evers is assassinated by a gunman outside his home in Jackson, Mississippi.
1967 The Supreme Court rules that states cannot ban interracial marriages.
1972 At a hearing in front the of a U.S. House of Representatives committee, Air Force General John Lavalle defends his orders on engagement in Vietnam.
1977 David Berkowitz gets 25 years to life for the Son of Sam murders in New York.
1985 The U.S. House of Representatives approves $27 million in aid to the Nicaraguan Contras.
1991 Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines begins erupting for the first time in 600 years.
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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 Sunday, 12 June 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 12 June 1967… A hero for the ages and a book that must be read… the story of COL Thomas "Jerry" Curtis told by Carole Engle Avriett in "Under the Cover of Light"…
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….A repeat but well worth it
A FABULOUS STORY
All I can say is, Wow.. Can you imagine what this lad will be like when he grows up.
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Thanks to CAP
From: Exadmiral
Subject: Best Review Yet of Topgun Maverick, a MUST SEE!
ACES AND AMERICANA — A REVIEW OF JOSEPH KOSINSKI'S "TOP GUN: MAVERICK"
"The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction."
— Admiral Cain
I was less than enthused at the prospect of a sequel to Top Gun. Having seen what they did to Luke Skywalker, I fully expected Hollywood to "deconstruct" Tom Cruise's iconic Pete "Maverick" Mitchell following their usual playbook. However, when people like YouTube's Critical Drinker and our own Mark Granza and Amanda Milius came out in favor of it, I thought I'd see it for myself. I was pleasantly surprised.
When we meet up with Maverick after all these years, we find he is a test pilot pushing the envelope; a demon akin to the one lurking at the sound barrier for the boys from The Right Stuff now hides around Mach 10, and Maverick has gone out to the high desert to chase it. Soon though, new orders come down and he must return to where it all began and teach the next generation of pilots.
Right off the bat, the movie addresses how much technology has changed in the almost forty years since Maverick went tear-assing around in an F-14 Tomcat. In an administrative cat-and-mouse game between Maverick and Admiral Cain, played by Ed Harris, the bureaucrat bluntly informs the flyboy, "The future is coming. And you're not in it." Drones have become a battlefield staple and countries are working on weapons systems that may render aircraft carriers obsolete. Given these developments, it would appear the arsenal of tomorrow's wars could force fighter pilots to tread the same path as the horse cavalry they replaced. The flyboy has the last word, however: "Maybe so. But not today."
This conflict concerning the means of battle is echoed later as Jon Hamm's Admiral Simpson enters the picture. The by-the-book, career-minded Simpson is a protégé of Maverick's old rival-turned-friend, "Iceman" Kazansky, now-Commander of the Pacific Fleet, and makes it clear that while he admires his mentor with the utmost respect, he has nothing but contempt for Maverick's outdated loose-cannon ways. We come to see that while Iceman, as the wise senior officer, grasps the need for the wild human boldness and ability to adapt and overcome, Simpson has been warped by the military bureaucracy. As a result, he cannot see (or create) the kind of possibilities a man like Maverick can. He runs the numbers and will send his people on a suicide mission without further thought, whereas Maverick will try to find a way to do the impossible and bring his people home.
Iceman's decision to assign Maverick back to Top Gun is precisely due to these qualities. I don't know if the people who made the movie intended this as anything other than a plot device, but I thought it a fine metaphor for much of what ails us. Things that look good in a book or on PowerPoint can be found to be wrong or stupid when a unit goes downrange, and there are times when Maverick's adage "Don't think. Just do" is damn fine advice. The managerial tools favored by the establishment have their uses, but left unchecked lead to technocratic stagnation and they are no substitute for the old American pioneer magic of "Hold my beer and watch this shit."
Once in the saddle, Maverick tries to help the young pilots understand this. He throws the F-18 manual away, explaining if there is to be any chance for success in the mission before them, they will have to push their machines and themselves past the limits of what they think they are capable of. And he is going to see they do it. This element of the movie resonated with me. Top Gun is set in the military, and for all of its sins and shortcomings, this attitude has been one of the service's great strengths. It has had legions of cadre over the years who demanded that those who would join its ranks be worthy of the privilege. Such men refused to accept failure as an option, would push themselves and those under their charge, and dared you by their actions to be half as badass as they were.
For all the talent, skill, and youth of the new batch of hot-shot pilots, they are humbled by Maverick. Once in the sky he dominates them, but does so not as a bully, but as a leader who has mastered his craft and is trying to break through their ego and show them how good they could be. This paternal, masculine quality was a breath of fresh air to see again in a protagonist, and I hope this movie is a harbinger of its much-needed return.
Top Gun: Maverick isn't a perfect movie. There were a number of plot conveniences, particularly toward the end, that brought me out of it at times and felt more reminiscent of something from James Bond. (However, those tricks set the stage for great pay-off where things that had gone wrong long ago could be made right.) The supporting characters appear to be carefully curated to feature an appropriate quota of diversity. Naturally, the female of the young pilots was front and center (though thankfully she wasn't too obnoxious or a Mary Sue), and the cockiest guy among them had to be cast as a blonde Chad. The music didn't feel as charged as the original, but thankfully it leaned on high-energy old-school tunes when possible and brought out the original Top Guntheme when it wanted to remind you of why you were there.
For all of that though, it delivers. The use of actual aircraft lends an air of realness that is sorely lacking in modern movies. The performances are all on point and the supporting cast has the bearing of military types. Miles Teller, who plays Lieutenant Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw (the son of Maverick's best friend, who dies in the original movie), genuinely looks like he could be the son of Goose. I had no idea Val Kilmer had been ill, however, they found a way for him to bring Iceman back again in a way that carried a dignity and weight.
Tom Cruise also surprised me. He seems like such an affable and intense man that these qualities always follow into his roles much in the same way Cary Grant or John Wayne seemed to be playing themselves whatever the character. And yet, while he is still the cocky fighter-jock who pulls out a win against the odds, there is a real range there. Cruise puts this on display in what was for me one of the most powerful moments in the movie: Maverick is thrown out of a bar as part of a joke just as we see Rooster take to the piano. Soon he lights into "Great Balls of Fire" just like his dad used to, and all Rooster's friends and peers gather around, feeding off his energy and reveling in the joy of being young and on the threshold of a great challenge. Meanwhile, Maverick can only look on through the window from a distance and remember; for his time in that golden moment has passed, and it now belongs to them. He is the elder man bearing the weight of responsibility and his purpose must be to get them ready for what's coming. He doesn't say a word, and yet you can see all of this play out from a brief look on his face.
Miles Teller plays Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw, the son of Maverick's deceased best friend.
These interactions with Rooster bring out some of Cruise's best work in years. The once young pilot who made his bones in the Cold War has given his life to being an aviator, and must now face the autumn of his years without a family of his own. Suddenly he is confronted with a young man who is the spitting image of his long-lost friend, and Cruise conveys an understated tangle of loss and hope in their exchanges, especially toward the end as they face the prospect of death together, that stayed with me after the movie ended.
The drop-dead gorgeous Jennifer Connelly rounds out the cast as Maverick's old flame, Penny Benjamin. Some may say she is merely an ornament trotted out to fulfill a trope, but I'm here to tell you those people are as wrong as two boys in a closet under a blanket with the lights off. In addition to introducing the possibility of love and new beginnings to Maverick, there is a note of bittersweetness in her performance that accentuates the reoccurring theme of the passage of time.
The first time I saw Connelly was in Career Opportunities. Watching her roller skate down the aisles of a Target and ride that mechanical toy horse was thrilling. You couldn't take your eyes off her. As she went on to other roles over the years, her beauty only ripened. Seeing her now, I couldn't help but notice the faint lines in her face from what has hopefully been a life filled with more laughter than worry, betraying that the wild splendor of hers has begun to fade. And yet, there is a kind of beauty in that as well. This is a grown woman; one who has loved, brought life into the world, shouldered burdens, and yet retains a sexy playfulness, humor, and grace. She took an obscure reference in a movie from thirty-six years ago and breathed something wonderful and feminine into it. For a woman like that men would go to war, because there is nothing like a dame.
I confess there was something jarring about watching the movie that took some getting used to. I remember seeing the first one when it was released with my Dad. There was a feel from that time that found its way into the original and other movies from that era; the music, the romance, and the bold, reckless celebration of patriotism and masculinity. It was all so damn cool. Anything was possible! There followed a contempt for those things with the emergence of Political Correctness, and the steady descent of that madness into the ugly, embittered, and destructive form of the current "Wokeness." At some point when we weren't looking it became the only acceptable ethos, and the things we'd loved and believed were relegated by our cultural taste-makers as outdated Prole-Kitsch and propaganda, if not outright dangerous.
Then there was the parade of messy, ill-defined "interventions" that filled the space left by the Cold War. Outsourcing, mass immigration, recession, riots, and mandates. The America celebrated by movies like the original Top Gun was betrayed. We now can no longer take refuge in the comfortable simplicity of faraway enemies and are beginning to grapple with the grim reality that our true adversaries are much closer to home. The clean Pentagon-approved narrative of good versus evil playing out in a war setting on the big screen now rings false or incomplete. We've been through too much and endured too many lies and disappointments to drink too deeply from nostalgia for a past that somehow led to now.
Top Gun: Maverick feels like it comes from some alternate timeline where none of that happened. It remains faithful to the sentiment of the original, honoring that spirit and respecting the legacy characters, while introducing new ones and acknowledging the passing of time. For its detractors, to see an unashamed, patriotic, red-blooded, White, American man bravely rallying others to meet a threat to his country and prevail against impossible odds in The Current Year must be like presenting a crucifix to a vampire. Even worse (for them), is that the characters and the people who play them all seem so unselfconscious and bring with them an air of vitality and positivity. These are dynamic, capable, healthy, good-looking people working together as a team, taking risks, having fun, raising hell, and getting hard stuff done.
This is the America the world fell in love with. An America that could seduce, reach within and show a vision of some aspect of itself in a song or an image, a book, or a movie, and inspire generations. The Top Gun movies are a love letter to that country. If you'd like to take a break from all the craziness and treat yourself to an old-fashioned, lighthearted adventure movie made by people who don't hate you and love America (what it was, is, and could be), then this movie is for you. For its kind might be truly headed for extinction.
Samuel Finlay is a writer from Oklahoma who served in Bosnia and Afghanistan. He's the author of "Breakfast with the Dirt Cult".
Sent from Mike's iPad
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Thanks to Dutch
From a production worker in a refinery on the Gulf of Mexico:
A whole lot of truth about gas prices, and to those that say: "the president doesn't set the price of gas"... pay close attention and maybe read it twice:
From a production worker in a refinery on the Gulf of Mexico:
"You've been lied to by the President and his phony cronies, but I want to set the record straight. I'm going to tell you the truth, so pay attention"....
1. There is enough recoverable crude oil within the continental US to supply current and projected future demand for 400+ years, and that's just the oil we know about. It doesn't account for future discoveries. That's a fact...
2. We do not need to import a SINGLE DROP of foreign crude oil. The domestic oil industry can easily meet, and even surpass domestic demand. We've done it before, and we can do it again. That's a fact...
3. The domestic oil industry currently cannot satisfy domestic demand due to oil drilling restrictions imposed by the federal government. That's a fact...
4. The price of EVERYTHING revolves around oil, and the law of supply vs demand dictates the price of oil. When oil is plentiful, commodities are cheap. When oil is scarce, commodities are more expensive. Right now, domestic oil is scarce, and the price of everything is high because of these restrictions imposed by the federal government. That's a fact…
5. We import foreign oil from countries that drill and produce it much cheaper than we're able to because they do not implement all of the environmental safeguards that we do. Their methods are FAR more destructive to the environment than ours are. That's a fact...
6. Every year, the federal government leases tracts of land to oil companies so they can explore on it for oil. If enough oil is found during exploration, the company can then apply for a drilling permit which allows them to drill a well. If no oil is found during exploration, or if the amount found is not enough to be profitable the lease expires without ever being drilled on. Leases that are active, but not being drilled on does NOT mean that oil companies are being lazy, or are trying to keep the oil for themselves, etc. etc. It means they've either explored the lease for oil and found nothing, or found oil but it's not enough to justify drilling for. That's a fact...
7. it's not Russia's fault, or China's fault, or Ukraine, or India, or Venezuela, or Iran, or Bangladesh, or any other countries' fault as to why everything is so expensive right now. It's Joe Biden's fault, because he is suppressing the domestic oil industry for political gain.
EVERYTHING depends on crude oil... but you might not know that if you believe the lies that are being told about oil and the oil industry.
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Thanks to Brett
STRATFOR SNAPSHOTS
China's Risky Air Maneuvers Raise the Specter of an International Crisis
Jun 9, 2022
China's aggressive maneuvers performed while intercepting Western surveillance aircraft increase the chance of a mid-air collision and subsequent international crisis, with higher probabilities of escalation than in the past. On June 5, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said that a Chinese J-16 fighter jet had on May 26 intercepted an Australian P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft in international airspace over the South China Sea. According to Marles, the J-16 flew dangerously close to the P-8, deployed flares alongside it, and released aluminum chaff designed to distract radar-guided missiles in front of the aircraft. The P-8 then returned to base after its engines ingested some of the aluminum decoys. The news of this interception follows similar accusations from Canada of China breaching international air safety norms. On June 1, the Canadian armed forces said Chinese jets repeatedly flew close to a Canadian CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft over the East China Sea between April 26 and May 26. On several of these occasions, the Aurora aircraft was reportedly forced to take evasive action to avoid a collision; and on one occasion, the Chinese jet flew close enough for the pilot to flash the middle finger hand gesture to the Canadian crew.
• The Canadian Aurora aircraft was conducting surveillance for Operation NEON, a U.N.-approved mission to monitor North Korean ship-to-ship transfers of fuel and other banned goods that would qualify as dodging U.N. Security Council sanctions announced between 2006 and 2017.
While in the past Western governments and China managed to resolve similar incidents through diplomacy, a modern-day aerial collision risks much greater escalation and a further deepening of the West's strategic competition with China. The Australian and Canadian incidents are reminiscent of the April 2001 EP-3 incident, during which a Chinese F-8 fighter jet intercepted a U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane in international airspace over the South China Sea. Then-U.S. President George Bush had just taken office after campaigning on a promise to pivot toward competition with China. But following decades of positive trade engagement, U.S.-China relations were still much stronger than they are now, and the incident was resolved quickly. However, a new aerial collision today would carry a much greater risk of military escalation and widen the already growing chasm in China's relations with the West. The political bandwidth for de-escalation and compromise is also severely circumscribed amid the current fraught geopolitical climate, with the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan and the European Union all engaged to varying degrees in economic, military and ideological competition with China. In addition, China's military has modernized greatly since 2001 as part of Beijing's efforts to boost its regional dominance over the near seas, boosting Beijing's confidence and the destructive potential of a military escalation.
• In the 2001 incident, the Chinese F-8 flew dangerously close to the U.S. aircraft multiple times before colliding with it, killing the Chinese pilot and forcing the EP-3 to conduct an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island. The 24 American crew members were detained for 11 days before China released them after receiving the United States' "Letter of the Two Sorries." The resolution to the crisis was viewed by both sides as a political loss; Washington appeared to apologize for the actions of a reckless Chinese pilot, while hawks in Beijing accused China of giving up the U.S. crew too readily.
These close calls suggest subtle shifts in the bounds of China's operations in the East and South China Seas, and they highlight a potential catalyst for a conflict over Taiwan. These new aerial incidents suggest a willingness by China's air force to defend airspace in the South and East China Seas — surrounding disputed territories — and not just in China's littoral zone. The 2001 incident occurred 70 miles southeast of China's Hainan island. The exact location of Australia's P-8 incident is yet unclear. However, Vietnam maritime analyst Duan Dang claims it occurred southwest of the disputed Paracel Islands and China's defense ministry confirmed it happened near those islands, which would put the aircraft roughly 200 miles from the nearest internationally recognized Chinese airspace. The exact location of the repeated Canadian incidents is also unclear, though China's engagement over the East China Sea may confirm this willingness to defend China's claims farther afield and deter Western sanctions enforcers.
• To reinforce its position, Beijing could revive its claims of an aerial defense identification zone (ADIZ) — a zone in which a country requests aerial identification but that is relatively indefensible by international law — in the East and South China Seas, two regions through which a bulk of Asia's trade with the world passes. Many other regional governments like Taiwan, Japan and South Korea already have such ADIZs; new Chinese ADIZs would only add to the navigational complexities of this region for military and commercial aircraft alike.
• Aerial collisions are also a top risk for igniting a Taiwan conflict, as China's flights into Taiwan's ADIZ have rapidly escalated over the last two years, and are now almost a daily occurrence. With China's aggressive pilots at the throttle, the chance of a collision with one of the many Taiwanese aircraft deployed to ward off Chinese incursions is also rising. And like a collision with Western aircraft, a Chinese collision over Taiwan could trigger heavy trade disruptions and risk military escalation in the immediate aftermath.
• Lastly, Beijing's efforts to bolster nationalism in the last five years amid strategic competition with the United States have, like in many countries, borne the most fruit in the military, one of Chinese President Xi Jinping's most ardent supporters (very much by design). Thus, as China's relations with the West continue to erode and Beijing leans further on nationalist rhetoric abroad and propaganda at home, the risky behavior of Chinese pilots looks set to escalate, further risking aerial incidents.
KEY DEVELOPMENTS WE'RE TRACKING
French legislative elections. France will hold the first round of its legislative elections April 12, with the centrist coalition that backs recently reelected President Emmanuel Macron will compete against a far-left alliance that is rising in polls. Should the far-left opposition take control of the National Assembly after the June 19 second round, it will be able to appoint a prime minister, something that would severely disrupt Macron's ability to implement his domestic agenda. While the impact on foreign policy would be milder, losing control of the domestic policy process would still weaken Macron's international clout.
The United Kingdom challenges the Northern Ireland protocol. The British government is expected to unveil a bill June 13 that would give Cabinet ministers the power unilaterally to override parts of the EU-U.K. Northern Ireland protocol, which establishes customs controls at the Irish Sea. While it could be weeks or months before the bill is even debated in Parliament, the mere suggestion that London is seriously thinking about circumventing the protocol could escalate tensions with the European Union, risking a trade war. While Brussels will only react if the bill is eventually turned into law, the risk of EU trade sanctions against the United Kingdom is on the rise.
Shanghai locks down, again. Fourteen of Shanghai's 16 districts will require all residents to submit to COVID-19 testing over the weekend, with testing starting June 11 amid new worries about community spread. At least five of those districts will go under lockdown, again confining residents to their homes. Whether authorities actually lift the lockdowns after the testing cycles are complete remains to be seen. Previous lockdowns in Shanghai saw authorities indefinitely extend lockdowns when local caseloads rose despite containment efforts. If the lockdowns linger, foreign businesses will lose even more confidence in the capacity of Shanghai and other Chinese cities to help facilitate their global operations, which could lead businesses to double down on their plans to diversify supply chains away from China.
The United Kingdom challenges the Northern Ireland protocol. The British government is expected to unveil a bill June 13 that would give Cabinet ministers the power unilaterally to override parts of the EU-U.K. Northern Ireland protocol, which establishes customs controls at the Irish Sea. While it could be weeks or months before the bill is even debated in Parliament, the mere suggestion that London is seriously thinking about circumventing the protocol could escalate tensions with the European Union, risking a trade war. While Brussels will only react if the bill is eventually turned into law, the risk of EU trade sanctions against the United Kingdom is on the rise.
The U.S. climate envoy travels to Mexico. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry will travel to Mexico June 13 to meet with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to discuss areas of collaboration on energy policy. The visit is one of several scheduled in the coming months as the United States attempts to bolster its relationship with Mexico after Lopez Obrador refused to attend the Summit of the Americas hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden due to the exclusion of undemocratic countries Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. The U.S. pushed an aggressive climate agenda at the summit and will likely continue to pressure Mexico to reach its emissions targets, but Lopez Obrador has taken measures to limit domestic clean energy projects as part of a broader push against private sector involvement in the energy sector.
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This Day in U S Military History…….June 12
1945 – On Okinawa, many of the Japanese naval infantry cut off in the Oruku peninsula, reduced to a pocket of about 1000 square yards, begin to commit mass suicide to avoid surrender. The US 1st Marine Division captures the west end of Kunishi Ridge during a night attack. The US 96th Division attacks Japanese positions around Mount Yuza and Mount Yaeju. (Remember this battle started on 1 April)
1945 – On Luzon, the US 145th Infantry Regiment breaks Japanese resistance at Orioung Pass, occupies the town of Orioung and advances as far as positions overlooking the town of Balite. The Visayan Islands (including Samar, Negros, Panay, Leyte, Cebu, and Bohol), between Luzon and Mindanao, are secured by American forces. American casualties in the campaign have amounted to 835 dead and 2300 wounded. Japanese casualties are estimated to be 10,000 dead.
1961 – President John F. Kennedy signed a Presidential Proclamation calling for the American flag to be flown at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, "at all times during the day and night." Discussions between the Attorney General's office and Marine Corps officials earlier in 1961 on improving the visibility and appearance of the monument led to the proposal to fly the Flag continuously, which by law could only be done by Congressional legislation or by Presidential proclamation.
1972 – Gen. John D. Lavelle, former four-star general and U.S. Air Force commander in Southeast Asia, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee. He had been relieved of his post in March and later demoted after it was determined that he had repeatedly ordered unauthorized bombings of military targets in North Vietnam. Court-martial charges were brought against him by his subordinates but were dropped by the Air Force because the "interests of discipline" had already been served. Lavelle became the first four-star general in modern U.S. history to be demoted on retirement, although he continued to receive full general's retirement pay of $27,000 per year.
1987 – In one of his most famous Cold War speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenges Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. Two years later, deliriously happy East and West Germans did break down the infamous barrier between East and West Berlin. Reagan's challenge came during a visit to West Berlin. With the Berlin Wall as a backdrop, Reagan declared, "There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace." He then called upon his Soviet counterpart: "Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace–if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe–if you seek liberalization: come here, to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Addressing the West Berlin crowd, Reagan observed, "Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar." Reagan then went on to ask Gorbachev to undertake serious arms reduction talks with the United States. Most listeners at the time viewed Reagan's speech as a dramatic appeal to Gorbachev to renew negotiations on nuclear arms reductions. It was also a reminder that despite the Soviet leader's public statements about a new relationship with the West, the United States wanted to see action taken to improve the Cold War tensions. Just eight months before, a summit between Reagan and Gorbachev had ended unsatisfactorily, with both sides charging the other with bad faith in talks aimed at reducing nuclear arsenals. Reagan, who had formed a personal closeness to Gorbachev during their previous meetings, obviously wanted to move those negotiations forward. In December 1987, the two met once again and signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which eliminated an entire class of nuclear missiles from Europe.
1998 – Space shuttle Discovery returned to Earth, bringing home the last American to live aboard Mir and closing out three years of U.S.-Russian cooperation aboard the aging space station.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
FURNESS, FRANK
Rank and organization: Captain, Company F, 6th Pennsylvania Cavalry. Place and date: At Trevilian Station, Va., 12 June 1864. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Birth:——. Date of issue: 20 October 1899. Citation: Voluntarily carrier a box of ammunition across an open space swept by the enemy's fire to the relief of an outpost whose ammunition had become almost exhausted, but which was thus enabled to hold its important position.
WILLISTON, EDWARD B.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 2d U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Trevilian Station, Va., 12 June 1864. Entered service at: San Francisco, Calif. Birth: Norwich, Vt. Date of issue: 6 April 1892. Citation: Distinguished gallantry.
*SVEHLA, HENRY
Rank: Private First Class, Organization: U.S. Army, Company: Company F, Division: 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, Born: 1932, New Jersey, Departed: Yes, Entered Service At: New Jersey, G.O. Number:, Date of Issue: 05/02/2011, Accredited To: New Jersey, Place / Date: Pyongony, Korea, 12 June, 1952. Citation: Private First Class Henry Svehla distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Rifleman with F Company, 32d Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, in connection with combat operations against an armed enemy in Pyongony, Korea, on 12 June 1952. That afternoon while Private First Class Svehla and his platoon were patrolling a strategic hill to determine enemy strength and positions, they were subjected to intense enemy automatic weapons and small arms fire at the top of the hill. Coming under the heavy fire, the platoon's attack began to falter. Realizing the success of the mission and the safety of the remaining troops were in peril, Private First Class Svehla leapt to his feet and charged the enemy positions, firing his weapon and throwing grenades as he advanced. In the face of this courage and determination, the platoon rallied to the attack with renewed vigor. Private First Class Svehla, utterly disregarding his own safety, destroyed enemy positions and inflicted heavy casualties, when suddenly fragments from a mortar round exploding nearby seriously wounded him in the face. Despite his wounds, Private First Class Svehla refused medical treatment and continued to lead the attack. When an enemy grenade landed among a group of his comrades, Private First Class Svehla, without hesitation and undoubtedly aware of the extreme danger, threw himself upon the grenade. During this action, Private First Class Svehla was mortally wounded. Private First Class Svehla's extraordinary heroism and selflessness at the cost of his own life, above and beyond the call of duty, are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for June 12, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
12 June
1918: The 96th Aero Squadron carried out the first American daylight-bombing mission in World War I from Amanty Airdrome against the occupied Dommary-Baroncourt rail yards in France. (4)
1922: Capt Albert W. Stevens, Air Service, made a record parachute jump from 24,206 ft. from a supercharged Martin bomber over McCook Field. (24)
1934: Federal Aviation Commission (Howell Committee) appointed to study the Army and Air Corps separation issue. It made no recommendations, because the earlier Baker Board opposed that separation.
1942: Twelve B-24s raided oil refineries in Ploesti, Rumania, unsuccessfully. This was the first heavy bomber attack in Europe during World War II. Col Harry A. Halverson led the raid from Fayid, Egypt. (4) (21)
1958: Capt William H. Howell flew a Boeing KC-135 at 670 MPH from Los Angeles to New York and set an FAI record of 3 hours 42 minutes 45 seconds for that route. (9)
1959: The USAF transport VC-137, a military version of the Boeing 707, flew from Washington DC to London on its maiden transoceanic voyage. (24)
1970: A USAF K-30, one of the largest reconnaissance cameras, retired to the Air Force Museum after more than 20 years in service. The camera measured 3' x 4 1/2' x 5', weighed 665 pounds, and used 100-inch focal length optical system.
1971: Chauncy Dunn flew his Raven S-60 to an FAI altitude record of 32,949 feet for three balloon subclasses (AX-8, AX-9, and AX-10) at Boulder. The records covered balloons between 2,200 and over 4,000 cubic meters. (9)
1973: Early Warning Space Satellites joined the aerospace surveillance system. Fourteenth Air Force operated the satellite system that augmented the ground-based, missile-launch detection sensors.
1979: Bryan Allen flew the Gossamer Albatross I under pedal-power across the English Channel. (21) President Carter approved full-scale engineering development for the M-X missile. (1)
1980: First AGM-86B ALCM launched and flown over the Utah Test and Training Range. (12)
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