The List 6196 TGB
Good Saturday Morning August 20 .
I hope that you all have a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
August. 20
1929 A UO-1 airplane piloted by Lt. Adolphus W. Gorton makes a successful hook-up landing aboard USS Los Angeles (ZR 3) over Lakehurst, N.J.
1942 PBY 5A from VP-73 sink German submarine U-464 in the North Atlantic.
1944 TBM aircraft from USS Bogue (CVE 9) sink the German submarine U-1229.
1959 USS Thetis Bay (LPH 6) completes a six-day humanitarian operation after floods in Taiwan.
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Today in History August 20
917 A Byzantine counter-offensive is routed by Syeon at Anchialus, Bulgaria.
1619 The first group of twenty Africans is brought to Jamestown, Virginia.
1667 John Milton publishes Paradise Lost, an epic poem about the fall of Adam and Eve.
1741 Danish navigator Vitus Jonas Bering, commissioned by Peter the Great of Russia to find land connecting Asia and North America, discovers America.
1794 American General "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeats the Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in the Northwest territory, ending Indian resistance in the area.
1847 General Winfield Scott wins the Battle of Churubusco on his drive to Mexico City.
1904 Dublin's Abbey Theatre is founded, an outgrowth of the Irish Literary Theatre founded in 1899 by William Butler Yeats and Lady Gregory.
1908 The American Great White Fleet arrives in Sydney, Australia, to a warm welcome.
1913 700 feet above Buc, France, parachutist Adolphe Pegoud becomes the first person to jump from an airplane and land safely.
1914 Russia wins an early victory over Germany at Gumbinnen.
1940 After a previous machine gun attack failed, exiled Russian Leon Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico City, with an alpine ax to the back of the head.
1940 Radar is used for the first time, by the British during the Battle of Britain. Also on this day, in a radio broadcast, Winston Churchill makes his famous homage to the Royal Air Force: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
1941 Adolf Hitler authorizes the development of the V-2 missile.
1944 United States and British forces close the pincers on German units in the Falaise-Argentan pocket in France.
1953 USSR publicly acknowledges it tested a hydrogen bomb eight days earlier.
1955 Hundreds killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.
1960 USSR recovers 2 dogs, Belka and Strelka, the first animals to be launched into orbit and returned alive (Sputnik 5).
1961 East Germany begins erecting a wall along western border to replace barbed wire put up Aug 13; US 1st Battle Group, 18th Infantry Division arrives in West Berlin.
1964 US President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Economic Opportunity Act, an anti-poverty measure totaling nearly $1 billion, as part of his War on Poverty.
1968 Some 650,000 Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to quell reformers there.
1971 The Cambodian military launches a series of operations against the Khmer Rouge.
1974 US Vice President Gerald Ford, who had replaced Spiro Agnew, assumes the Office of the President after Richard Nixon resigns; Ford names Nelson Rockefeller as VP.
1978 NASA launches Viking 1; with Viking 2, launched a few days later, provided high-resolution mapping of Mars, revolutionizing existing views of the planets.
1979 The Penmanshiel Diversion on the the East Coast Main Line rail route between England and Scotland opens, replacing the 134-year-old Penmanshiel Tunnel that had collapsed in March.
1980 UN Security Council condemns Israel's declaration that all of Jerusalem is its capital; vote is 14-0, with US abstaining.
1982 A multinational force including 800 US Marines lands in Beirut, Lebanon, to oversee Palestinian withdrawal during the Lebanese Civil War.
1986 Part-time mail carrier Patrick Sherrill shoots 20 fellow workers killing 14 at Edmond Okla., the first mass shooting by an individual in an office environment in the US. His actions give rise to the phrase "going postal," for sudden violent outbursts.
1990 Iraq moves Western hostages to military installations to use them as human shields against air attacks by a US-led multinational coalition.
1991 After an attempted coup in the Soviet Union, Estonia declares independence from the USSR.
1993 Secret negotiations in Norway lead to agreement on the Oslo Peace Accords, an attempt to resolve the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
1994 Miracle, the Sacred White Buffalo, born on Heider Farm near Janesville, Wisc. The first white (not albino) buffalo born since 1933, she was a important religious symbol for many US and Canadian Indian tribes.
1998 The Supreme Court of Canada rules Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.
1998 US launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the Aug. 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
2002 A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein seize the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin; after five hours they release their hostages and surrender.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Thanks to THE BEAR
… … For The List for Saturday, 20 August 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 20 August 1967… Five years after the fact…better late than never… 👍Bonnie Dick/CAG21…
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.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War
. Listed by last name and has other info
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Thanks to Eagle
Subject: VIDEO - The Aviation Acronym Song
The Acronym Song
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Thanks to Craig
Scotsman
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
Thanks to TK … [Addendum at bottom … RS]
You may have seen this but will make you smile. From an AF Gen, fighter pilot friend, TK
Guys, this is the "clean" version. I no longer will tell the original [AF General or TK speaking?? Woos!].
A True Classic - The Old Pilot
A gray-headed old man shuffled into a downtown bar holding his head up high. His hands shook as he took the "Piano Player Wanted" sign from the window and handed it to the bartender.
"I'd like to apply for the job," he said. "I was a F-4 pilot, flying in support of war operators back in 'Nam, but when they retired the F-4, all the thrill was gone, and soon they cashed me in as well. I learned to play the piano at Officers' Club happy hours, so here I am."
The barkeep wasn't too sure about this doubtful looking old guy, but it had been quite a while since he had a piano player and business was falling off. So, why not give him a try.....?
The old pilot shuffled his way over to the piano while several patrons snickered. By the time he was into his third bar of music, every voice was silenced. What followed was a rhapsody of soaring music unlike anything heard in the bar before. When he finished there wasn't a dry eye in the place.
The bartender took the old F-4 pilot a beer and asked him the name of the song he had just played. It's called "Drop your Skivvies, Baby, I'm Going Balls To The Wall For You," he said. After along pull from the beer, leaving it empty, he said "I wrote it myself."
The bartender and the crowd winced at the title, but the piano player just went on into a knee-slapping, hand-clapping bit of ragtime that had the place jumping. After he finished, the F-4 pilot acknowledged the applause, downed a second offered mug, and told the crowd the song was called, "Big Boobs Make My Afterburner Light."
He then launched into another mesmerizing song and everyone in the room was enthralled. He announced that it was the latest rendition of his song, "Spread 'em Baby, It's Foggy Out Tonight and I Need To See The Centerline," excused himself and headed for the john.
When he came back, the bartender went over to him and said, "Hey, fly boy, the job is yours; but do you know your fly is open and your pecker is hanging out?"
"Know it?" the old fighter pilot replied, "Hell, I wrote it!"
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I saw a young pilot for a flight physical some years ago .. He had an iPhone on his belt. ForeFlight had just come out, and I was impressed with its bells and whistles .. and continue to be amazed!!
I asked him if he'd ever heard of ForeFlight, a great iPhone aviation App. …
"Heard of it … I wrote it" !!!
Turns out he did contract programming from his home in Victor ID, just over the hill from Jackson, and wrote quite a few of their navigation routines ...
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Thanks to Brett
Daily Memo: US-Taiwan Trade Talks
Beijing will not be pleased.
By: GPF Staff
August 18, 2022
Trade talks. The United States and Taiwan agreed to start trade negotiations in 11 areas. The first round of talks is expected to take place early in the fall. The Chinese government won't be pleased.
Faint progress. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in Lviv, Ukraine, for talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. They're set to discuss implementation of the Istanbul agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain as well as the resumption of peace negotiations. According to CNN Turk, citing anonymous Russian sources, Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled earlier this month that he may be willing to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart.
Guest list. Indian and Chinese troops will be among the participants in Russia's Vostok 2022 military exercises from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5. China's Defense Ministry stressed that its attendance was "unrelated to the current international and regional situation."
K
eeping in touch. Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to discuss food security, preparations for the G-20 summit in mid-November, and development of bilateral relations.
India and Thailand. Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with his Thai counterpart in Bangkok and discussed bilateral and global issues. They also agreed to strengthen defense and security cooperation, including cybersecurity.
Move faster. Pakistan will abolish the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority, pending Beijing's approval, in an effort to accelerate implementation of CPEC infrastructure projects. Bureaucratic hurdles have slowed development of CPEC, which involves billions of dollars of transportation projects and special economic zones.
Trade facilitation. Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey signed an agreement on preliminary data exchange to simplify customs procedures related to their Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.
Turkish-Kyrgyz projects. Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Jeenbek Kulubaev met with Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay to discuss joint projects and the establishment of a join development fund. The two countries are also interested in close cooperation on a potential land, air and rail transport project, Kulubaev said during a separate meeting with the Turkish foreign minister.
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Worth the repeat
Thanks to Micro
Combat FlipFlops – Written in Taliban
Over the weekend Matt Griffin and Matt Chapman, founders of Combat FlipFlops posted a look at the current situation in Afghanistan written from the Taliban's point of view. It went viral and in typical Technogarch fashion, social media censored it.
So here it is:
Written in Taliban
The first time I saw you was in the Khyber pass. You came with your technology, elite fighters fueled by revenge, and the hubris to believe you could disprove history.
This was a war that you didn't have the stomach to fight. But I'm glad you tried.
We bled you the same way we bled the Soviets in our Holy Land. We bled you the same way the Vietnamese bled you in their home land. We did it patiently and deliberately.
Patience. Something Westerners never learn.
Our history is millennial. We don't yearn for an early victory when the Infidel ravages our Holy Land. Our victory is celebrated decades from now. We've endured, then ravaged every standing military that crossed our borders. Why? How? We're patient.
In 30 days, we'll be stronger, richer, and have control over precious natural resources that you need for your pathetic life that's dictated by comfort. We will have women, riches, land, guns, and ownership of one of the greatest chapters in military history.
You lose.
If you want to try again, we welcome the challenge. You will fail regardless of how much money you burn in our deserts. For pity, here is free advice that may contribute to your future success; should you ever decide to invade again.
You recruit your warriors and supporters from a drug addicted, distracted, disillusioned population that's obsessed with comfort and entertainment. A population obsessed with altering their mundane reality. Alcohol, marijuana, pills, and our new favorite — Tide Pods. Every time your doctors prescribe opiate painkillers, you line our coffers with gold. Your population's thirst for our pristine heroin has never been more lucrative for our warrior tribes. We will keep feeding you poison for as long as you keep your hands out.
If your population wasn't so spineless, undisciplined, and self loathing, then you might be able to compile a raiding party with enough tenacity to outthink ours.
Our fighters are born into war. Raised in it. It's a way of life that evades your "first world" nations. They live a life of such immense misery and pain that they're willing to fight barefoot in the snow for the opportunity to martyr themselves. They yearn for the opportunity to die. When they do have the blessed opportunity to sacrifice themselves, they sit above Mohammed at the right hand of God. Blessed in Allah for eternity
What honors do your fighters receive? Their empty sacrifice is remembered in the form of a "three day weekend." The majority of your population uses this sacred time to get drunk and grow more fat as a way to celebrate their fallen warriors. Sadly, we pay tribute to their death more honorably.
The colored pieces of cloth you pin on their chests are similar to the jewelry worn by our women. What good are accolades and vanity if you don't have the stomach to endure a fight? We don't offer the burden of healthcare to our fighters as they often want to die for Allah. Your fighters fight to live. Their inability to reconcile the inevitable outcome of our patience leads them to kill themselves. Your medications, counselors and non-profits will never undo the pain and suffering you've forced them to endure. It will never remove the pain we've caused your broken nation. You are your own worst enemy.
We will give your fighters credit. Some are creative, tenacious, and fierce. They outgun us in every way possible. But again, we simply wait them out. Allah is patient. You cycle them through our Holy Lands every 3 to 12 months for their combat rotations. After their tour is complete, they return to the comfort of their warm beds and endless entertainment. If you left them here, in our Holy Land, with no way out but to win, then you might of have had a chance of success. The longer you poisoned our Holy Land with your presence, your "rules of engagement" only strengthened our position. There is only one rule in war – that is to win.
Your commanders made you fight with your hands tied behind your back. Your rules also confused our fighters too. "We're clearly the enemy, why are they letting us go?" Thank you for your compassion as it allowed our fighters to kill more Infidels. We began to feel as if your commanders were on our side. We're thankful your most vicious dogs were never allowed off their leash.
Your showcase Generals make us laugh. You spend millions of dollars flying them around our country inventing new ways to win, while ignoring the guidance of our most capable foes. Your Generals make decisions to minimize risk to their fragile reputation with the ultimate goal of securing a lucrative retirement–jobs with suppliers that fuel your losing force. A self-serving circle that's built on the backs of your youngest and most naive fighters.
Your retired Generals "earn" tens of thousands of dollars talking to your political, industrial, and financial leaders about "teams, winning, and discipline." It's a mockery of the war they refused to fight. It's a mockery of the Infidel warriors who died in our lands. We urge you to continue following their vacuumous personalities so we can further watch your once great nation collapse.
Your statesman and elected officials are spineless, narcissistic, and more cowardly than your Generals. They crave power over you above all else. They come to our country, hide behind blast walls, and only heed the word of the indiginous leader they put in power. I believe your soldiers call this a "self licking ice cream cone."
They've burned billions of dollars in a wasted effort to bring clean water, electricity, business, education, agriculture, and exports to a region that didn't ask for it. You should have saved yourself the effort and simply given the money directly to us. Don't worry, your diplomatic friends gave us plenty of your American tax dollars. If you want to give it another shot with your "soft power," send those with real experience, not fancy degrees and silver tongues.
Over the next few months, we will make the world understand that you failed worse than any fighting force that's ever invaded our lands. Today we celebrate victory.
As you evacuate your embassy, our fighters will be standing in the shade. We thank you for the parting gifts. You'll find surface-to-air missiles staged in the back of Toyota pickup trucks that you purchased for us. Our marksmen will be patient.
We saw what Extortion 17 did to your nation and the morale of your fighting force. Do your citizens even remember that victory? We'll be repeating and improving upon our victory while your citizens and sympathizers evacuate in disgrace. Every one of your foes around the world will know exactly how to break you.
You are welcome to fly your empty drones, target our cell phones, and send your spies. But they, too, will ultimately fail. We'll use their failures to show the world that you're not all-powerful. You're a false front. An empty shell. You lie, cheat, steal, and are easily defeated because you lack the spine to fight. This is your history now. We're grateful Allah gave us the opportunity to show the world how to defeat the Infidels.
We look forward to seeing you again across the battlefield.
Praise be to God,
The Taliban
***Authors' Note***
If you've read this far. Thank you. I've spent the past week trying to find a way to communicate this to the American people in a manner that would cause anger, rage, action, and understanding. Writing in the voice of a Taliban felt right.
If this made you angry, cry, or contemplative–then our goal is achieved. Our hope is that it inspires you to take action with your elected officials. They've been repeating the same failing playbook since World War II with your sons, daughters, and tax dollars. If you want this to keep happening, do nothing. If you don't, then do something. If we all do a little, together we do a lot.
About the Authors:
Matthew Griffin is a 2001 United States Military Academy Graduate, Army Ranger, Combat Veteran with the 75th Ranger Regiment (3x Afghanistan, 1x Iraq), CEO of Combat Flip Flops, author, and 2019 Henry Crown Fellow with the Aspen Global Leadership Institute.
Scott Chapman is a 2000 Murray State University Graduate, Army Ranger Fire Team Leader from Alpha Company 2/75th Rangers ('01 – '05), OGA Blackwater Alumni, entrepreneur, and author. Combat Veteran ( 21x Afghanistan, 1x Iraq)
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Thanks to Carl as a follow up to the article above
Click on the link at the very end! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_FL9XOyDPs
Here's all the US military equipment that ended up in Taliban hands during the fall of Kabul
Money well spent!
BY JARED KELLER | PUBLISHED AUG 17, 2022
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/military-weapons-taliban-afghanistan/?utm_term=Task&Purpose_Today_8.17.22_Native Inclusion_NFCU [EMAIL-1095] (561506)&utm_campaign=Task & Purpose_TPToday&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email
As Taliban fighters encircled Afghanistan's capital of Kabul during the U.S. military's harried withdrawal from the 20-year war there last August, the Biden administration admitted that the militant group had captured a significant amount of military equipment originally provided to the Afghan security forces, although officials couldn't say for sure how much..
"We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone but certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said during an Aug. 17, 2021 press conference.
One year later, a scathing new Defense Department audit has determined exactly what "a fair amount" entails — and the results are alarming, to say the least.
According to a report by the Pentagon's lead inspector general for Operation Enduring Sentinel and Operation Freedom's Sentinel, the DoD estimates that roughly $7.12 billion in U.S.-funded military equipment — including "military aircraft, ground vehicles, weapons, and other military equipment" — was still in the inventory of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) when the central government in Kabul collapsed last year.
That $7.12 billion figure is roughly 38 percent of the $18.6 billion allocated for the procurement of weapons and equipment for the ANDSF between 2005 and 2021, according to the DoD report.
This total "included military aircraft valued at $923.3 million … as well as aircraft munitions valued at $294.6 million," according to the report. "Of the $7.9 billion spent on procuring ground vehicles for the Afghan forces since 2005, vehicles worth approximately $4.12 billion were still in their inventory when the former government collapsed, including HMMWVs, MRAPs, and other tactical vehicles."
Most of the larger articles of defense materials were "demilitarized and rendered inoperable during the evacuation," according to the DoD Inspector General report, and even those that weren't are unlikely to end up serving the Taliban in the long run due to a lack of logistical support, spare parts, and necessary training among Taliban forces to, say, keep captured UH-60 Back Hawk helicopters in the air for longer than a few hours.
However, the same can't necessarily be said for the hundreds of thousands of rifles, pistols, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and other small arms and light weapons whose "operational condition was unknown" when they were seized by the Taliban amid the collapse of the ANDSF, to say nothing of the night vision devices, surveillance equipment, and other ancillary gear transferred to Afghan security forces during the 20-year war.
"Since 2005, the DoD procured 427,300 weapons worth $612 million for the Afghan military and security forces, including 258,300 rifles, 6,300 sniper rifles, 64,300 pistols, 56,155 machine guns, 31,000 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and 224 howitzers," according to the report. "OUSD(P) noted that 316,260 of these weapons, worth $511.8 million, were in the Afghan forces' stocks when the former government fell."
It's worth noting that this analysis may be a woefully inadequate underestimate of the amount of military equipment that fell into the Taliban's hands during the fall of Kabul. Indeed, according to a 2017 Government Accountability Office report, the U.S. military funneled around 75,898 vehicles, 599,690 weapons systems, and 208 aircraft to the ANDSF between fiscal years 2003 and 2016 alone, with a 2020 Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction analysis tracking an additional 7,000 machine guns sent to the ANDSF in recent years.
And American weapons falling into the possession of the militants they were intended to be used against is, sadly, a feature of the U.S.-led military intervention in Afghanistan rather than an exception. A damning 2014 SIGAR report indicated that, of the 474,823 weapons provided to the ANDSF as of December 2013, roughly 43 percent were missing and had likely ended up in the hands of the Taliban, ISIS, or some other militant group, not to mention all the ammo missing from former Afghan government stockpiles.
The loss of all these weapons to the Taliban is an almost fitting, if depressing, coda to the 20-year war there. Taliban propagandists have always touted captured weaponry — including rare weapons like the U.S. special operations forces FN-SCAR — and the Taliban fighters who marched into the Afghan presidential palace after then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country were no exception, boasting American M4s as they marked the end of the American presence there.
But the most depressing aspect of America's accidental export of arms to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is, perhaps, how blindsided the Biden administration was by how it went down.
"We are always worried about U.S. equipment that could fall into an adversaries' hands," then-Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said during the fall of Kabul when pressed on the issue. "What actions we might take to prevent that or to forestall it, I just simply won't speculate about today."
One year later, those actions that the U.S. government took meant, apparently, precisely dick.
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This Day in U S Military History
A day-by-day digest of events regarding all services of the U.S. military
1944 – During the night, the last elements of German 5th Panzer and 7th Armies to escape the Falaise pocket filter through Allied line around Chambois and St. Lambert. Some 70-80 miles to the east, the US 3rd Army captures crossings over the Seine River at Mantes Grassicourt, 30 miles west of Paris. To the southwest of Paris, the US 20th Corps (also part of US 3rd Army) enters Fontainbleau.
1944 – Americans announce that Japanese resistance on Biak Island has ended. The Japanese have suffered 4700 killed and 220 captured. US casualties are listed at 2550.
1945 – The War Production Board removes most of its controls over manufacturing activity. These and many other measures help the US economy to convert quickly to a peacetime basis. The American economy is actually stronger and more productive now, than before the war, and the standard of living, unlike that of any of the other major participants in the war, has actually increased.
1946 – World War II civilian truck restrictions were lifted in the U.S. Truck restrictions were only the beginning of special regulations during the war. Civilian auto production virtually ceased after the attack on Pearl Harbor as the U.S. automotive industry turned to war production, and gas rationing began in 1942
1968 – In the face of rising anti-Soviet protests in Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops (backed by troops from other Warsaw Pact nations) intervene to crush the protest. The brutal Soviet action shocked the West and dealt a devastating blow to U.S.-Soviet relations. The troubles in Czechoslovakia began when Alexander Dubcek took over as secretary general of the nation's Communist Party in January 1968. It was immediately apparent that Dubcek wanted a major overhaul of Czechoslovakia's political and economic system-he called his particular ideology "Socialism with a human face." He called for greater political freedom, including more participation by noncommunist parties. Dubcek also pressed for economic policies that would ensure less state control and more reliance on free market economics. Finally, he insisted on greater freedom from Soviet domination, although he reiterated his nation's allegiance to the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet bloc's counterpart to NATO. Dubcek's policies shocked the Soviets and leaders in other Eastern European nations. Throughout early and mid-1968, negotiations took place between Dubcek and representatives from Russia and other Soviet bloc nations in an attempt to have the Czechoslovakian leader soften his reforms. Dubcek refused, and tensions with the Soviet Union steadily increased. Meanwhile, the sudden atmosphere of freedom that Dubcek was encouraging took root, and Czech citizens embraced and celebrated the new tolerance for free exchange of ideas and open discussion in what came to be known as the "Prague Spring." On the night of August 20, 1968, more than 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops crossed into Czechoslovakia and headed for the capital city of Prague. In just over a day, the entire country was occupied; within a week nearly three-quarters of a million foreign troops were in Czechoslovakia. Anti-Soviet riots broke out in Prague, but these were viciously crushed and thousands of Czechs fled the country. The Soviet action in August 1968 shocked the West. Not since 1956, when Soviet troops intervened in Hungary, had the Russian government resorted to such force to bring one of its communist allies into line with its own policies. The Czech invasion was particularly damaging to U.S.-Soviet relations. In June 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson met with Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin to begin discussions related to a number of issues, including arms control. It was agreed that Johnson would visit the Soviet Union in October 1968 to continue the talks. The Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia caused Johnson to cancel his visit abruptly.
1974 – In the wake of Nixon's resignation, Congress reduces military aid to South Vietnam from $1 billion to $700 million. This was one of several actions that signaled the North Vietnamese that the United States was backing away from its commitment to South Vietnam.
1982 – During the Lebanese Civil War, a multinational force including 800 U.S. Marines lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestinian withdrawal from Lebanon. It was the beginning of a problem-plagued mission that would stretch into 17 months and leave 262 U.S. servicemen dead. In 1975, a bloody civil war erupted in Lebanon, with Palestinian and leftist Muslim guerrillas battling militias of the Christian Phalange Party, the Maronite Christian community, and other groups. During the next few years, Syrian, Israeli, and United Nations interventions failed to resolve the factional fighting, and in August 1982 a multinational force arrived to oversee the Palestinian withdrawal from Lebanon.
1998 – Pres. Clinton ordered cruise missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan 13 days after the deadly embassy bombings in East Africa. About 50 missiles were fired at the camp of Osama Bin Laden and some 25 missiles against a suspected chemical plant in Khartoum. The plant in Sudan was suspected of producing the chemical EMPTA, one of the ingredients in VX nerve gas, but also an ingredient in fungicides and anti-microbial agents.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HAWK, JOHN D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E, 359th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Chambois, France, 20 August 1944. Entered service at: Bremerton, Wash. Birth: San Francisco, Calif. G.O. No.: 55, 13 July 1945. Citation: He manned a light machinegun on 20 August 1944, near Chambois, France, a key point in the encirclement which created the Falaise Pocket. During an enemy counterattack, his position was menaced by a strong force of tanks and infantry. His fire forced the infantry to withdraw, but an artillery shell knocked out his gun and wounded him in the right thigh. Securing a bazooka, he and another man stalked the tanks and forced them to retire to a wooded section. In the lull which followed, Sgt. Hawk reorganized 2 machinegun squads and, in the face of intense enemy fire, directed the assembly of 1 workable weapon from 2 damaged guns. When another enemy assault developed, he was forced to pull back from the pressure of spearheading armor. Two of our tank destroyers were brought up. Their shots were ineffective because of the terrain until Sgt. Hawk, despite his wound, boldly climbed to an exposed position on a knoll where, unmoved by fusillades from the enemy, he became a human aiming stake for the destroyers. Realizing that his shouted fire directions could not be heard above the noise of battle, he ran back to the destroyers through a concentration of bullets and shrapnel to correct the range. He returned to his exposed position, repeating this performance until 2 of the tanks were knocked out and a third driven off. Still at great risk, he continued to direct the destroyers' fire into the Germans' wooded position until the enemy came out and surrendered. Sgt. Hawk's fearless initiative and heroic conduct, even while suffering from a painful wound, was in large measure responsible for crushing 2 desperate attempts of the enemy to escape from the Falaise Picket and for taking more than 500 prisoners.
LAMBERS, PAUL RONALD
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. place and date: Tay Ninh province, Republic of Vietnam, 20 August 1968. Entered service at: Holland, Mich. Born: 25 June 1942, Holland, Mich. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. (then Sgt.) Lambers distinguished himself in action while serving with the 3d platoon, Company A. The unit had established a night defensive position astride a suspected enemy infiltration route, when it was attacked by an estimated Viet Cong battalion. During the initial enemy onslaught, the platoon leader fell seriously wounded and S/Sgt. Lambers assumed command of the platoon. Disregarding the intense enemy fire, S/Sgt. Lambers left his covered position, secured the platoon radio and moved to the command post to direct the defense. When his radio became inoperative due to enemy action, S/Sgt. Lambers crossed the fire swept position to secure the 90mm recoilless rifle crew's radio in order to re-establish communications. Upon discovering that the 90mm recoilless rifle was not functioning, S/Sgt. Lambers assisted in the repair of the weapon and directed canister fire at point-blank range against the attacking enemy who had breached the defensive wire of the position. When the weapon was knocked out by enemy fire, he single-handedly repulsed a penetration of the position by detonating claymore mines and throwing grenades into the midst of the attackers, killing 4 more of the Viet Cong with well aimed hand grenades. S/Sgt. Lambers maintained command of the platoon elements by moving from position to position under the hail of enemy fire, providing assistance where the assault was the heaviest and by his outstanding example inspiring his men to the utmost efforts of courage. He displayed great skill and valor throughout the 5-hour battle by personally directing artillery and helicopter fire, placing them at times within 5 meters of the defensive position. He repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire at great risk to his own life in order to redistribute ammunition and to care for seriously wounded comrades and to move them to sheltered positions. S/Sgt. Lambers' superb leadership, professional skill and magnificent courage saved the lives of his comrades, resulted in the virtual annihilation of a vastly superior enemy force and were largely instrumental in thwarting an enemy offensive against Tay Ninh City. His gallantry at the risk of his life is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for August 20, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
20 August
1908: The Wright Flyer arrived at Fort Myer.
1910: At Sheepshead Bay Track near New York, Lt Jacob E. Fickel fired the first shot from an airplane with an Army Springfield .30 caliber rifle. Glenn H. Curtiss flew a Curtiss biplane in this flight. (20) (24)
1911: CHICAGO AIR MEET. Lincoln Beachey set a new, world altitude record of 11,624 feet. (24)
1912: 1Lt Alfred A. Cunningham, first Marine Corps pilot, flew his first solo flight in a Wright hydroplane after two hours 30 minutes of instruction with the Burgess Company at Marblehead. (10)
1935: Leslie R. Tower and three crewmen flew a Boeing 299 bomber, the B-17 prototype, for 2,100 miles from Seattle to Dayton nonstop, averaging 232.2 MPH. (24)
1947: Cmdr Turner F. Caldwell (USN) set a world speed record of 640.74 MPH in the Douglas Skystreak D-588-1. (9) (24)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Through 21 August, 38 B-29s bombed supply areas in the enemy's capital, the highest number of medium bomber sorties against a single target this month. (28)
1953: Operation LONGSTRIDE/MACKAY TROPHY: SAC moved the 31st and 508th Strategic Fighter Wings (SFW) from Turner AFB to Nouasseur AB, French Morocco, and Lakenheath, UK, respectively. In Phase I, 8 F-84 Thunderjets from the 31st used 3 KC-97 air refuelings to reach Nouasseur in 10 hours 20 minutes. The 31st returned home on 2 September. Phase II also started today as 17 F-84Gs from the 508th flew 4,485 miles to Lakenheath AB. With 3 air refuelings (1 KB-29 and 2 KC-97), these F-84s traveled the greatest distance flown nonstop to date by single-engine jet fighters. The unit returned to Turner on 12 September. For this operation, the 40 AD earned the Mackay Trophy. (1) (24) Dr. Wernher von Braun and his team joined US Army personnel at Cape Canaveral in firing the first Redstone (Redstone No. 1). It was our first truly ballistic missile. (16) (24)
1955: MACKAY TROPHY. At Edwards AFB Col Horace A. Hanes, the AFFTC Director of Flight Testing, flew a F-100C to an FAI speed record of 822.135 MPH for straightaway flight. He later received the 1955 Mackay Trophy. (9) (24)
1962: In an X-15 flight, Maj Robert A. Rushworth participated in the first successful attempt to telemeter electrocardiogram (EKG) data. (3)
1973: Airlifters from MAC, TAC, and AFRES airlifted 2,400 tons of relief supplies and equipment to Pakistan for flood victims. (21)
1975: SECDEF James R. Schlesinger directed the USAF to provide refueling support to US Navy and Marine Corps tactical aircraft involved in peacetime training and transoceanic movements. He also tasked the USAF to provide refueling support to general-purpose forces in periods of increased tension. The directive allowed SAC to acquire additional tankers. (18) The 320 BMW at Mather AFB received the last SRAM. (6) Using a Titan III booster, NASA launched the Viking I mission to Mars (See 20 June 1976) from Cape Canaveral AFS. (8: Aug 90)
1977: Voyager 2 launched from Cape Canaveral. (20)
1990: Operation DESERT SHIELD. More than 15,300 reservists, roughly 22 percent of the reserve force, volunteered to serve in DESERT SHIELD. (26)
1995: Through 21 August, a C-5 flew 75 tons of food from Ramstein AB to Zagreb, Croatia, for refugees of a civil war. (16)
1998: ATTACK ON US EMBASSIES IN AFRICA. After the 7 August bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the US launched more than 75 Tomahawk land-attack missiles from ships and submarines against terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. (21)
2007: Operation DEEP FREEZE 2007-08/WINTER FLY-IN. Winter flights began to Antarctica, when the first C-17 Globemaster III delivered passengers and cargo to McMurdo Station. Landing 15 miles from McMurdo at Pegasus White Ice Runway, the C-17 Globemaster III from McChord AFB, Wash., carried in scientists and support members to start early pre-summer projects, augment maintenance personnel and prepare skyways and ice runways at McMurdo. On 25 August, McChord completed the 2007-08 winter fly-in season when the last C-17 took off from Pegasus. The 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flew a total of 355 passengers and 119,953 pounds of cargo to and from McMurdo during this season. (AFNEWS, "Winter Flights to Antarctica Wrap Up," 27 Aug 2007, and AFNEWS, "Operation Deep Freeze 2007-08 Begins," 21 Aug 2007.)
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Thanks to Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
Daily Memo: Progress on a New Nuclear Deal
Israel has been strongly lobbying against the proposal.
By: GPF Staff
August 19, 2022
New nuke deal? Iran's foreign minister spoke with his Omani counterpart to discuss the most recently proposed nuclear deal in Vienna. Meanwhile, Israel is conducting a diplomatic offensive to prevent the agreement from being reached, speaking to that end with Germany's chancellor, as well as with Washington's ambassador to Israel and the chairman of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee's Middle East Subcommittee. The U.S. State Department has said that while the U.S. and Israel share many strategic objectives, they disagree at the tactical level regarding any nuclear deal.
Mending ties in Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said more steps need to be taken with Syria for a more formal rapprochement to take place. He noted that Turkey doesn't want to prolong the process, that Syria's territorial integrity is important, and that it is indifferent to defeating the Syrian regime. The comments come amid reports that Syria's foreign minister will meet with Russia's foreign minister on Aug. 23.
Dry the rain. Beijing issued its first national drought alert of the year on Thursday. The announcement, which is just two levels below the government's most serious warning, follows reports that regions from Sichuan to Shanghai have experienced weeks of extreme heat.
A meeting in Tashkent. The 17th annual meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization begins today in Tashkent. Yesterday, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev met with his Uzbek counterpart, Viktor Makhmudov, during which he accused Western countries of preparing for an open armed confrontation with Russia. He also said Russia is concerned that the West, and especially the United States, is trying to stoke tensions in former Commonwealth of Independent States countries.
A new level. At a meeting of an intergovernmental cooperation committee, China and Uzbekistan pledged to strengthen bilateral cooperation in various fields and enhance bilateral ties. Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov said his country regarded China as a reliable partner and was ready to take their relationship to a new level.
Just in time. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev today in Sochi, where they will discuss their countries' strategic partnership, particularly with regard to framework integration associations. The timing is interesting; Kazakh mining and metallurgy company ERG announced that it had completely stopped deliveries of raw materials to the Russian Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works due to anti-Russian sanctions.
U.S. and Pakistan. Pakistan's chief of army staff met privately with the head of U.S. Central Command in Rawalpindi, where they discussed regional security and stability, and defense and security cooperation. Afterward, a delegation-level meeting was held to address counterterrorism and regional peace efforts.
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