The List 6191 TGB
Good Monday Morning August 15 .
I hope that you all had a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
August 15
1895 The battleship USS Texas is commissioned. She is the first American steel-hulled battleship. USS Texas serves off Cuba during the Spanish-American War and takes part in the Battle of Santiago.
1908 The first Navy Post Offices are opened on board Navy ships following a June 27, 1908 General Order 74 establishing them.
1944 Operation Dragoon begins, which is the Allied invasion of Southern France. Western Naval Task Force, commanded by Vice Adm. Henry K. Hewitt, USN, lands the Allied force on the front between Toulon and Cannes.
1953 Adm. Arthur W. Radford becomes the first naval officer to be appointed as the Chairman, Joints Chief of Staff, serving two-terms until Aug. 15, 1957.
1987 USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) is christened and launched in San Diego as a Mercy-class hospital ship following conversion from a San Clemente-class supertanker. She is the third Navy ship named Comfort.
1998 USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) is commissioned at Pensacola, Fla.
This Day in History
1261 Constantinople falls to Michael VIII of Nicea and his army.
1385 John of Portugal defeats John of Castile at the Battle of Aljubarrota.
1598 Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, leads an Irish force to victory over the British at Battle of Yellow Ford.
1760 Frederick II defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Liegnitz.
1864 The Confederate raider Tallahassee captures six Federal ships off New England.
1872 The first ballot voting in England is conducted.
1914 The Panama Canal opens to traffic.
1935 American comedian and "cowboy philosopher" Will Rogers dies in an airplane accident, along with American aviation pioneer Wiley Post.
1942 The Japanese submarine I-25 departs Japan with a floatplane in its hold which will be assembled upon arriving off the West Coast of the United States, and used to bomb U.S. forests.
1944 American, British and French forces land on the southern coast of France, between Toulon and Cannes, in Operation Dragoon.
1945 Gasoline and fuel oil rationing ends in the United States.
1947Britain grants independence to India and Pakistan.
1950 Two U.S. divisions are badly mauled by the North Korean Army at the Battle of the Bowling Alley in South Korea, which rages on for five more days.
1969 Over 400,000 young people attend a weekend of rock music at Woodstock, New York.
1971 US President Richard Nixon announces a 90-day freeze on wages and prices in an attempt to halt rapid inflation.
1986 Ignoring objections from President Ronald Reagan's Administration, US Senate approves economic sanctions against South Africa to protest that country's apartheid policies.
1994 Infamous terrorist Carlos the Jackal captured in Khartoum, Sudan.
1994 US Social Security Administration, previously part of the Department of Health and Human Services, becomes an independent government agency.
2001 Astronomers announce the first solar system discovered outside our own; two planets had been found orbiting a star in the Big Dipper.
2007 An earthquake of 8.0 magnitude kills over 500 and injures more than 1,000 in Peru
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Thanks to THE BEAR
Skip … For The List for Sunday, 14 August 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 14 August 1967… Remembering four great RT warriors… and an open letter to the makers of military memorabilia…
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 Ál
Monday Morning Humor
Submitted by Chuck Kincade:
A first grade teacher collected well-known proverbs. She gave each child in her class the first half of a proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders, but there are some good ones nonetheless - their insight may surprise you.
Better to be safe than......................punch a 5th grader
Strike while the ...........................bug is close
It's always darkest before..................Daylight Savings Time.
Never underestimate the power of............termites
You can lead a horse to water but...........how?
Don't bite the hand that....................looks dirty
No news is..................................impossible
A miss is as good as a......................Mr.
You can't teach an old dog new..............math
If you lie down with dogs, you'll...........stink in the morning
Love all, trust.............................me
The pen is mightier than the................pigs
An idle mind is.............................the best way to relax
Where there's smoke there's.................pollution
Happy the bride who.........................gets all the presents
A penny saved is............................not much
Two's company, three's......................the Musketeers
Don't put off till tomorrow what............you put on to go to bed
Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and.....you have to blow your nose
There are none so blind as..................Stevie Wonder
Children should be seen and not.............spanked or grounded
If at first you don't succeed...............get new batteries
You get out of something only what you......see in the picture on the box
When the blind leadeth the blind............get out of the way
And the favorite...
Better late than............................pregnant
Submitted by Mike Farlow:
The mind of a six-year old is wonderful. First grade...true story.
One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class. She came to the part of the story where Chicken Little tried to warn the farmer. She read, "...and so Chicken Little went up to the farmer and said, "The sky is falling, the sky is falling!"
The teacher paused then asked the class, "And what do you think that farmer said?"
One little girl raised her hand and said, "I think he said: 'Holy $#!+! A talking chicken!'"
The teacher was unable to teach for the next 10 minutes...
Submitted by Mark Logan:
A kindergarten pupil told his teacher he'd found a cat. She asked if it was dead or alive.
"Dead," she was informed.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Because I pissed in his ear and he didn't move," said the child innocently.
"You did WHAT?!?" the teacher squealed in surprise.
"You know," explained the boy. "I leaned over and went 'pssst' and he didn't move."
An English teacher at Iowa State University spent a lot of time marking grammatical errors in her students' written work. She wasn't sure how much impact she was having until one overly busy day when she sat at her desk rubbing her temples.
A student asked, "What's the matter, Ms. Dalton?"
"Tense," she replied, describing her emotional state.
After a slight pause the student tried again, "What was the matter? What has been the matter? What might have been the matter? ..."
A little boy was doing his math homework. He said to himself, "Two plus five, that son of a %!+@# is seven. Three plus six, that son of a %!+@# is nine...."
His mother heard what he was saying and gasped, "What are you doing?"
The little boy answered, "I'm doing my math homework, Mom."
"And this is how your teacher taught you to do it?" the mother asked.
"Yes," he answered.
Infuriated, the mother asked the teacher the next day, "What are you teaching my son in math?"
The teacher replied, "Right now, we are learning addition."
The mother asked, "And are you teaching them to say two plus two, that son of a %!+@# is four?"
After the teacher stopped laughing, she answered, "What I taught them was, two plus two, THE SUM OF WHICH, is four."
Submitted by Skip Leonard:
A group of geography students studied the Seven Wonders of the World. At the end of that section, the students were asked to list what they considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World. Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids,
2. Taj Mahal,
3. Grand Canyon,
4. Panama Canal,
5. Empire State Building,
6. St. Peter's Basilica,
7. China's Great Wall.
While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are:
1. to touch,
2. to taste,
3. to see,
4. to hear." She hesitated a little, "and then
5. to run,
6. to laugh,
7. and to love."
It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them as "wonders" while we overlook all God has done, regarding them as merely "ordinary." May you be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous.
Have a great week,
Al
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Thanks to Shadow
I'm adding an addendum to this email… I checked with Rich as I knew I'd written a version of it to Rich and others a long time ago, but he agreed the two stories may compliment each other. Our guys that were guests of the Peace Loving North Vietnamese. Had a very rough go… and yet they resourceful in in resisting anyway the could. We should all be proud of them.
Over my life, I have known other men and women, who were POW's in WW II and Korea… deprivation and hardship was a common thing… no matter what war or being held by whatever enemy. In most cases just staying alive was the biggest challenge. But one man I've known has stood out over all the others… not only for his courage, but his resourcefulness and impact in helping others survive and hold those accountable after his release from prison. His name was Fred Turnbull, retired Navy Captain and WW II Hellcat pilot... and POW.
I first me Fred when I was with VMA-102 in Yuma… Fred was the Douglas A-4 Tech Rep in Yuma. My secondary job was in the Maintenance Department… Fred and I shared an office. Over time we became close friends…. And over time I came to appreciate what an extraordinary individual he was. Fred was one of only three people I had known that had what I call a photographic memory. If he saw it, read it or heard it… he never forgot it! He was a genius!
One day, shortly after we met… someone was in the office one day and said they were hoping to get transferred to VMA-214 after completing training; the "Black Sheep"... Pappy Boyington's old squadron from back in the WW II days. Fred didn't say anything at that moment and waited for the guy to leave and then he looked up at me and said… "All you Marines revere Boyington as a hero… but I knew him personally and he is one of the most despicable men I have ever known… a real son of a bitch and liar"! WHOA! ...He was talking about a Marine icon; WTF!
I bucked up and said… "You can't keep me hanging like that, what's the story"? Fred said, why don't you and the wife come over for dinner this weekend and over a beer I'll tell you who the real Gregory Boyington is. We set it up for Saturday night.
As the ladies worked in the kitchen… Fred starts telling a story that was far more than just about Boyington. It started with Fred being shot down over Formosa by AAA. He tried to nurse the airplane out over the water, but he was on fire and had to bail out just off shore... and the prevailing wind brought him back onto the beach… where he was immediately accosted by a Japanese patrol, that then used him for bayonet practice… and they left him to die on the beach.
There then came a moment of Divine Intervention, according to Fred. Clinging to life, he is discovered by a second Japanese patrol. It was commanded by a young Lieutenant… who just happened to be a Christian. He saw the St. Christopher medal around Fred's neck, along with his dog tags… Instead of finishing him off, he ordered his men to carry Fred to a Field Hospital, where he demanded they treat Fred and try to save him if possible! Over couple or three weeks... Fred was on his way back to a full recovery. And then one day, his savior came by to bid him farewell and told him he was going to be transferred to mainland Japan and be put into a larger camp, along with other POW's on the island.
Within a couple of days… Fred and the others were loaded in to the hold of a cargo ship, headed for Japan. What happened next was; almost as soon as they left the harbor… those in the hold started hearing the ping of an active sonar. Now I almost found this unbelievable until I remembered fishing in a boat off Long Beach one day, when a Navy destroyer came near… and we could actually hear the pinging rushing through the water. The other POW's were a mixed bag… aviators, seamen, infantry from Indo-China. The seamen immediately recognized what it was. One resourceful seaman started banging on the hull in Morse code… "POW's on board"! Thankfully, they were never torpedoed in transit.
When they arrived in Japan, they were loaded on lorry's to their final destination… one of the more brutal POW Camps in Japan. Now at this time of the war… things were already looking bad for the Japanese. The camp commander was a sadist and brutal. Beating prisoners for no apparent reason… other than he could. Many had died during their internment. It was about this time, that Fred's unique memory became known to the senior officers in the Camp… it was decided that they would work with Fred to list every known prisoner in the camp, including those known by transfers from other camps… their names and cause of death with approximate dates (very similar to the video attached decades later). I've forgotten how many names he committed to memory, but it was astounding.
There came a time when food became so limited and they had so many bedridden inmates… the camp commander dictated if anyone wasn't able to stand in line for their paltry gruel each day… then they would receive no food at all. They could starve to death as far as he was concerned. This led to many of the more fit prisoners, secreting minor parcels of food in their cheeks like a chipmunk… so they could give some to those bedridden. Obviously, this was not gonna work… too little to sustain those too weak to stand in line. The prison leaders then came up with a plan that was extremely dangerous and at the same time audacious. The camp was in a rural area, surrounded by farms. The security was somewhat lax… but where the hell was an anglo gonna go without being recognized if he escaped... immediately There was a gap in the perimeter that they were aware of and they called for volunteers. Fred was one of them. They literally escaped from the camp at night and went out into the fields and harvested (stole) vegetables a little at the time and snuck back in camp to feed the weak before daylight.. Talk about guts!
It was about this time, when one Gregory Boyington showed up at the camp… transferred in from another camp on one of the islands in the western Pacific. Believe it or not, even the Japanese treated him some what like a celebrity. Obviously they'd read some of the American propaganda about Boyington when he went missing and was assumed dead. Instead of being assigned to one of the forced hard labor jobs… he was sent to work in the Officer's kitchen. According to Fred… Gregory Boyington was probably the only POW in history, interned in a Japanese prison camp that actually gained weight while he was there! This did not go unnoticed by the other POW's. A meeting was held and the camp leaders went to Boyington and said… "Look, we've got guys dying from malnutrition… we want you to steal some food when you can and bring it for those who can't stand in line". Boyington absolutely refused… said it was too risky. Yet he had been observed coming and going to his work place and was never stopped or searched. He was called again before the leaders and was begged to help… once again he refused. As a result, Fred and others resented him so much, that some wanted to do him bodily harm. FRED OPINED... THAT BOYINGTON WAS THE MOST DISHONORABLE HUMAN BEING HE'D EVER MET!
Shortly, as the war wound down… even the enlisted guards were almost starving to death… it was that bad. BTW… there were what he called good guards and sadists. One guard was so compassionate and helpful; that after the war… many of Fred's fellow prisoners sponsored him to come to the States and go to college. They credited him with saving lives.
Finally the war ended and the camp was abandoned by the Japanese military… within days; Navy planes were flying over the camp… dropping leaflets and "Care Packages" from SBD's and TBM's (My dad participated in those drops… I still have letters sent to him after the war from prisoners who received some of the packets he dropped with a note in each one listing his name and my grandfather's address in the states). Within a week or so… every prisoner in the camp was treated medically, fed and prepared for their long journey home… except one… Fred Turnbull!
Because he had memorized all those names, dates and places and had direct knowledge of those either murdered or died of starvation or some medical issue… Fred was detained to be debriefed by Naval Intelligence. And was later to appear before the War Crimes tribunal. Every day, he'd sit down with agents and recite all the names and circumstances. It was a professional and thorough process… and then one day, two new agents showed up that were more hard-nosed and almost accusatory… you'll never believe what it was about!
These two men demanded that Fred tell them who had spilled the beans about the Navy's newest fighter… the Grumman F7F Tiger! Fred said no one in the camp knew anything about the F7F… and had never heard of it until the Japanese started asking about it. The agents insisted they knew… that Japanese intelligence had received that information directly from Fred's POW Camp! No doubt about it! Fred was shocked beyond belief and told them he had an answer for them but he wasn't sure they'd believe him!
Fred then told them one of those... truth is stranger than fiction stories… that defies common sense and logic… but ultimately was the God's Truth! When the Japanese started asking prisoners about the F7F… every man interviewed said they knew nothing about it, because they didn't. After the first go around, they then started beating those being interrogated for not being cooperative and truthful… with each interrogation, the beatings were so brutal that one man almost died. The POW leaders called everybody together and said that if things kept going the way they were… someone or some many... were gonna die. So what they did was sit down and concocted a story so bizarre… of some mythical airplane that couldn't be true, yet the Japanese may buy it if they all told the same story! Here's what they came up with…
The new F7F was a twin engine, carrier based fighter (not one of them had ever heard of a carrier based twin engine airplane). It had tricycle landing gear (another unheard of configuration for a Navy fighter)… They decided it should have two P&W 2800 engines like the single engined F6F and F4U. They then conjured up the claim it would have 20 MM cannons instead of 50 Cal. Machine guns! Then they came up with estimates of range, speed and weight.
As strange as it sounds… they literally fabricated a description of an airplane they knew wouldn't and couldn't exist… to get the beatings to stop. That turned out to virtually described the real life F7F they knew nothing about… almost to a tee! Fred was right, at first they didn't believe him until confirmation came back from the states when senior POW's were interviewed! What a story.
BTW… many years later I was telling the story to Corky Meyer… former Grumman Test Pilot and boyhood idol of mine and later in life a dear friend. Corky was so enamored with the story he asked if Fred was still alive and I assured him he was… Corky then said, "You got his number, let's call him". We did and Corky spent almost an hour talking to Fred… a few years later Corky included the story in his book.
Two other anecdotes. Fred was also a friend of Harry Gann at MacD and a dear friend of mine also. One year, the three of us decided to go to the Reno Air Races to watch a mutual friend compete. Now Harry was also aware of the utter contempt Fred had for Boyington… and it didn't occur to either of us… that Boyington, who was known to show up at air shows and try to sell his book… "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep"… his version of his heroics in WW II. But the idea that he would be there escaped Harry and me. The very first day we were there… we were walking in the pit area and I saw him… Holy ShiT! What's gonna happen of Fred sees him? I nudged Harry and nodded my head toward Boyington and Harry immediately said, "Let's go over this way"… Trying to steer Fred in another direction. Too late… I looked over at Fred and he was laser focused on Boyington! Slowly he started heading directly for him. Harry and I lagged behind just a bit as Fred walks up to where Boyington was seated, behind a folding table he was trying to sell his book from. Fred walked up and just stood there. Surprisingly, Boyington was the first one to speak… "Hello Fred". Now I was amazed later to find out that this was the first and only time they saw each other since the war. Before Boyington could say anything else… Fred says in a loud voice… "All these people buying your book think you're a hero… but I know better… you're the worst kind of scum there is"! (I think that is verbatim; if not it is pretty damn close) With that, Boyington got up, turned around and walked through the gate and climbed into his motor home and disappeared! Never said another word. Fred just stared at the motor home… and finally Harry said… Let's go see some of the guys from Chino. We walked away.
Fast forward over a decade later… Harry announced his up coming retirement from McDonnell-Douglas. Now Harry and the Blues were almost synonymous back in the 70's, 80's and early 90's. He'd flown with the team for decades taking incredible pictures that were used for PR and the Blues signed lithograph every year during that time. He was invited to attend the Blues last show of the year as a guest of honor… Harry then invited me as a guest and MacD sent Fred Turnbull as the company's representative. We all met in Pensacola, stayed at what was then the Grand Hotel… attended the Air Show and then at the after show party at "Trader John's".
By the time the three of us got back to the hotel, it was close to midnight. It had been a long day in the sun at an air show, followed by traffic and then the party at Trader's… we were whupped! We all decided to call it a day. I was just about to get in bed when my in room phone rang. It was Fred… "He said, get your ass down here at the bar… Harry's already on his way and there's a scotch on the bar for you… I want you two guys to help me celebrate"! And he hung up! I'm thinking… WTF? And then I thought, if Harry his going down at this late hour, I better go too! I get dressed, went down and found them at the end of the bar. I said… "What's going on"? Fred then stands up and said, "Gents a toast… my life is complete… I outlived the son of a bitch"! And then he pointed toward the silent TV in the bar as the crawl at the bottom of the screen says… "World War II Marine Hero dies'… and it gave a location and date, which I have now forgotten. He then said, he had promised himself that some day he'd spit on that man's grave. Don't know if he ever did… but I wouldn't doubt it happened.
Unfortunately, that was the last time I saw Fred in person… but managed to keep up with him through Harry and some direct phone calls. He was a hell of a guy! A bonafide hero!
Shadow
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This Day in U S Military History
August 15
1895 – Commissioning of U.S.S. Texas, the first American steel-hulled battleship. Texas served off Cuba during the Spanish-American War and took part in the naval battle of Santiago. Under the name of San Marcos, she was sunk in weapon effects tests in Chesapeake Bay in 1911. Her hulk continued in use as a gunnery target through World War II.
1914 – The American-built waterway across the Isthmus of Panama, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is inaugurated with the passage of the U.S. vessel Ancon, a cargo and passenger ship. The rush of settlers to California and Oregon in the mid 19th century was the initial impetus of the U.S. desire to build an artificial waterway across Central America. In 1855, the United States completed a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama (then part of Colombia), prompting various parties to propose canal-building plans. Ultimately, Colombia awarded rights to build the canal to Ferdinand de Lesseps, the French entrepreneur who had completed the Suez Canal in 1869. Construction on a sea-level canal began in 1881, but inadequate planning, disease among the workers, and financial problems drove Lesseps' company into bankruptcy in 1889. Three years later, Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla, a former chief engineer of the canal works and a French citizen, acquired the assets of the defunct French company. By the turn of the century, sole possession of the isthmian canal became imperative to the United States, which had acquired an overseas empire at the end of the Spanish-American War and sought the ability to move warships and commerce quickly between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In 1902, the U.S. Congress authorized purchase of the French canal company (pending a treaty with Colombia), and allocated funding for the canal's construction. In 1903, the Hay-Herrýn Treaty was signed with Columbia, granting the U.S. use of the territory in exchange for financial compensation. The U.S. Senate ratified the treaty, but the Colombian Senate, fearing a loss of sovereignty, refused. In response, President Theodore Roosevelt gave tacit approval to a Panamanian independence movement, which was engineered in large part by Philippe-Jean Bunau-Varilla and his canal company. On November 3, 1903, a faction of Panamanians issued a declaration of independence from Colombia. The U.S.-administered railroad removed its trains from the northern terminus of Coln, thus stranding Colombian troops sent to crush the rebellion. Other Colombian forces were discouraged from marching on Panama by the arrival of U.S. warship Nashville. On November 6, the United States recognized the Republic of Panama, and on November 18 the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty was signed with Panama, granting the U.S. exclusive and permanent possession of the Panama Canal Zone. In exchange, Panama received $10 million and an annuity of $250,000 beginning nine years later. The treaty was negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Hay and Bunau-Varilla, who had been given plenipotentiary powers to negotiate on behalf of Panama. Almost immediately, the treaty was condemned by many Panamanians as an infringement on their country's new national sovereignty. In 1906, American engineers decided on the construction of a lock canal, and the next three years were spent developing construction facilities and eradicating tropical diseases in the area. In 1909, construction proper began. In one of the largest construction projects of all time, U.S. engineers moved nearly 240 million cubic yards of earth and spent close to $400 million in constructing the 40-mile-long canal (or 51 miles long, if the deepened seabed on both ends of the canal is taken into account). On August 15, 1914, the Panama Canal was opened to traffic. Panama later pushed to revoke the Hay-Bunau-Varilla Treaty, and in 1977 U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian dictator Omar Torrijos signed a treaty to turn over the canal to Panama by the end of the century. A peaceful transfer occurred at noon on December 31, 1999.
1944 – Allied forces launch a secondary invasion of France (Operation Dragoon, formerly Anvil) between Toulon and Cannes. Most of the initial assaults are carried out by forces of US 6th Corps (Truscott) as part of US 7th Army (Patch). Also included in the initial landings are French commandos. Three American division come ashore in the first wave at three beaches: Alpha Beach (US 3rd Division) on the left flank; Delta Beach (US 45th Division-OK, AZ, NM, COARNG); and, Camel Beach (US 36 Division-TXARNG) on the right flank. In addition to the main landing sites, there airborne landing at Le Muy by 5000 French troops inland from Delta Beach and a sea borne landing on Levante Island. Over 1500 aircraft are engaged in air support for the operation. Admiral Hewitt command the naval support, including 5 battleships, 7 escort carriers, 24 cruisers and 91 destroyers. There is almost no resistance to the lands. Allied forces suffer 183 casualties. Prime Minister Churchill is present during the initial landings, on board a destroyer offshore. The German forces in southern France consist of the 19th Army (Weise) with 7 infantry divisions and the 11th Panzer Division.
1945 – World War II gasoline rationing in America ended on this day. Rationing was just one of the special measures taken in the U.S. during wartime. Civilian auto production virtually ceased after the attack on Pearl Harbor, as the U.S. automotive industry turned to war production. Automotive firms made almost $29 billion worth of military materials between 1940 and 1945, including jeeps, trucks, machine guns, carbines, tanks, helmets, and aerial bombs. After the war, rationing ended and the auto industry boomed.
1945 – Celebrations mark the end of World War II — VJ Day. A two-day holiday is proclaimed for all federal employees. In New York, Mayor La Guardia pays tribute to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the deceased president, in a radio broadcast.
1945 – US Task Force 38 launches massive air strikes on the Tokyo area, encountering numerous Japanese fighters but the aircraft are recalled upon receipt of the surrender announcement. Meanwhile, Vice-Admiral Ugaki, commanding Kamikaze operations, leads a final mission but the 7 dive-bombers are shot down off Tokyo before they can reach Okinawa.
1945 – The recorded message of Emperor Hirohito is broadcast to the Japanese people. Many cannot at first accept what has happened. The tight control of the government has prevented civilians from knowing the full extent of the weakness of Japan's position. This is VJ Day.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CONNOR, JAMES P.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 7th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Cape Cavalaire, southern France, 15 August 1944. Entered service at: Wilmington, Del. Birth: Wilmington, Del. G.O. No.: 18, 15 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 15 August 1944, Sgt. Connor, through sheer grit and determination, led his platoon in clearing an enemy vastly superior in numbers and firepower from strongly entrenched positions on Cape Cavalaire, removing a grave enemy threat to his division during the amphibious landing in southern France, and thereby insured safe and uninterrupted landings for the huge volume of men and materiel which followed. His battle patrol landed on "Red Beach" with the mission of destroying the strongly fortified enemy positions on Cape Cavalaire with utmost speed. From the peninsula the enemy had commanding observation and seriously menaced the vast landing operations taking place. Though knocked down and seriously wounded in the neck by a hanging mine which killed his platoon lieutenant, Sgt. Connor refused medical aid and with his driving spirit practically carried the platoon across several thousand yards of mine-saturated beach through intense fire from mortars, 20-mm. flak guns, machineguns, and snipers. En route to the Cape he personally shot and killed 2 snipers. The platoon sergeant was killed and Sgt. Connor became platoon leader. Receiving a second wound, which lacerated his shoulder and back, he again refused evacuation, expressing determination to carry on until physically unable to continue. He reassured and prodded the hesitating men of his decimated platoon forward through almost impregnable mortar concentrations. Again emphasizing the prevalent urgency of their mission, he impelled his men toward a group of buildings honeycombed with enemy snipers and machineguns. Here he received his third grave wound, this time in the leg, felling him in his tracks. Still resolved to carry on, he relinquished command only after his attempts proved that it was physically impossible to stand. Nevertheless, from his prone position, he gave the orders and directed his men in assaulting the enemy. Infused with Sgt. Connor's dogged determination, the platoon, though reduced to less than one-third of its original 36 men, outflanked and rushed the enemy with such furiousness that they killed 7, captured 40, seized 3 machineguns and considerable other materiel, and took all their assigned objectives, successfully completing their mission. By his repeated examples of tenaciousness and indomitable spirit Sgt Connor transmitted his heroism to his men until they became a fighting team which could not be stopped.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for 15 August, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
15 August
1929: Lts Nicholas B. Mamer and Arthur Walker flew the Buhl Sesquiplane, "The Spokane Sun God," with a Wright Whirlwind engine, from Spokane, Wash., to the East Coast and back. They set a nonstop distance record of 7,200 miles by using 11 inflight air refuelings. (9) (24)
1935: Will Rogers and Wiley Post died when their aircraft, a hybrid Lockheed Orion-Explorer, crashed on takeoff near Point Barrow, Alaska. (9) (24)
1944: In the greatest one-day effort in the Mediterranean to date, Allied Air Forces flew 4,249 sorties and landed 9,000 airborne troops in Southern France. (24)
1945: VICTORY DAY--JAPAN. After the 6 and 9 August bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki with atomic bombs, the Japanese government announced its intention to surrender "unconditionally," subject to an Allied agreement to maintain the monarchy. Washington declared a cease-fire immediately. (17)
1951: At Muroc, Bill Bridgeman flew the Navy's Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket to 79,494 feet to set a new altitude record. (9)
1952: KOREAN WAR. The 315th Air Division transported 300 medical evacuees, the highest daily total for the month. (28)
1958: A B-52 launched a GAM-72A Quail flight test vehicle on its first powered flight at Holloman AFB. (6) Congress created the FAA with broad responsibilities over airways, air traffic (including military) airports, and missile or rocket sites. This action permitted military participation in the agency, military deviations from air traffic regulations in an emergency, and appeals to the President on disagreements over military airport locations. (8)
1959: SAC activated the last Atlas D unit, the 566 SMS, at Offutt AFB. (6) 1961: NASA launched Explorer XII. This "windmill" satellite studied the Van Allen belts and energy particles. Its highly eccentric orbit permitted the study of phenomena at altitudes between 170 and 50,000 miles. (24)
1962: Capt Gene Kruse set a cross county speed record for commercial jets by flying a Boeing 707-720B from New York to Los Angeles (2,474 miles) in 4 hours 19 minutes 15 seconds, at 571.64 MPH.
1963: The last 15 Thor missiles were taken off alert in the UK to phaseout this program. (6)
1964: The President announced a program to develop a counterinsurgency (COIN) airplane to perform various missions in peace and war. The Navy, as the designated DoD development agency, selected North American Aviation as the contractor for construction of the prototype. This plane later received the designation of OV-10A and the name Bronco. In a sealed space station at General Electric's Valley Forge Space Technology Center, Valley Forge, Pa., Capts Albert H. Crews and Richard E. Lawyer began a 15-day space mission. (3)
1970: Through 24 August, two new HH-53 rescue helicopters made a 9,000-mile flight from Eglin AFB to Da Nang, S. Vietnam. The flight, which took nine days with seven intermediate stops, included a 1,700-mile nonstop transpacific flight between Shemya Island in the Aleutians and Misawa Air Base, Japan. Lockheed HC-130 tankers refueled the helicopters in this first transpacific helicopter flight. (18)
1975: The USAF studied ground mobile and silo basing for the M-X missile. (6)
1977: Two AFRES C-130B Hercules aircraft deployed to California, where they made 38 fireretardant drops on four major forest fires. (16) (26)
1981: Boeing Company in Wichita returned the first B-52G, modified to carry ALCMs, to Griffiss AFB and the 416 BMW. This modification included an offensive avionics system (OAS) to improve the B-52's navigation and weapons delivery. (1) (6)
1983: Through 15 September, MAC flew 12 C-141 missions loaded with 185 tons of cargo to Chad under a security assistance program. (2)
1988: Operation POST ROAD. Through 28 August, with support from 40 KC-135 and KC-10 refueling missions, C-5s airlifted a 500-man UN peacekeeping force from Trenton, Ontario, to Incirlik AB and Baghdad, Iraq. The peacekeeping force monitored the UN-negotiated cease-fire between Iran and Iraq. (18)
2002: The USAF and the Boeing Company signed a $9.8 billion multiyear contract to buy 60 more C-17 Globemaster IIIs with delivery through July 2008. (22)
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WORLDE NEWS FOR 15 AUGUST THANKS TO MILITARY PERISCOPE
Poland—Abrams Academy Launched At Land Forces Training Center
Defence24 | 08/15/2022
Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak has launched a U.S.-led training program to operate American tanks ordered by Warsaw at the Land Forces Training Center in Poznan, reports Defence 24 (Poland).
The "Abrams Academy" training program at Poznan is designed to train Polish troops to operate and maintain 250 M1A2 SEPV3 Abrams tanks ordered in April.
Plans call for the first 116 tanks to be delivered by 2023.
The Abrams deal, along with a recent order for South Korean K2 tanks, is intended to fill gaps in Poland's armored forces after Warsaw donated Communist-era tanks to Kyiv.
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