To All,
Good Saturday morning February 11, 2023.
I hope you all have a great weekend.
On February 11, 2000 the very first List went out to some of my Navy friends. I hope that the now over 1400 of you all continue to enjoy it and send items that I can share with the group.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History February 11
1862—Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles directs the formation of an organization to evaluate new inventions and technical development that eventually leads to the National Academy of Science.
1943—USS Fletcher (DD 445) and Scouting Observation Plane (VCS 9) from light cruiser Helena (CL 50) sink Japanese submarine I-18 in the Coral Sea.
1944—USS Gudgeon (SS 211) sinks Japanese freighter Satsuma Maru that was previously damaged by Chinese B-25s off Wenchow, China.
1945—The Yalta Conference ends after an 8-day session where President Franklin D. Roosevelt, along with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, discuss Europe's post-war reorganization and the reestablishment of a war-torn Europe, and for the Soviets to enter the war against Japan upon Germany's defeat.
1957—USS William C. Lawe (DD 763) rescues all hands from the sinking Italian merchant vessel, Giacomo H. Atlieri, off Cape Bonifati, Italy.
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This day in World History
February 11
660 BC Traditional founding of Japan by Emperor Jimmu Tenno.
1531 Henry VIII is recognized as the supreme head of the Church of England.
1805 Sixteen-year-old Sacajawea, the Shoshoni guide for Lewis & Clark, gives birth to a son, with Meriwether Lewis serving as midwife.
1809 Robert Fulton patents the steamboat.
1815 News of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, finally reaches the United States.
1858 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous, a French miller's daughter, claims to have seen an apparition of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes.
1903 Congress passes the Expedition Act, giving antitrust cases priority in the courts.
1904 President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims strict neutrality for the United States in the Russo-Japanese War.
1910 Theodore Roosevelt Jr. and Eleanor Alexander announce their wedding date--June 20, 1910.
1926 The Mexican government nationalizes all church property.
1936 The Reich arrests 150 Catholic youth leaders in Berlin.
1939 The Negrin government returns to Madrid, Spain.
1942 The German battleships Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen begin their famed channel dash from the French port of Brest. Their journey takes them through the English Channel on their way back to Germany.
1945 The meeting of President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Marshal Joseph Stalin in Yalta, adjourns.
1951 U.N. forces push north across the 38th parallel for the second time in the Korean War.
1953 Walt Disney's film Peter Pan premieres.
1954 A 75,000-watt light bulb is lit at the Rockefeller Center in New York, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Thomas Edison's first light bulb.
1955 Nationalist Chinese complete the evacuation of the Tachen Islands.
1959 Iran turns down Soviet aid in favor of a U.S. proposal for aid.
1962 Poet and novelist Sylvia Plath commits suicide in London at age 30.
1964 Cambodian Prince Sihanouk blames the United States for a South Vietnamese air raid on a village in his country.
1965 President Lyndon Johnson orders air strikes against targets in North Vietnam, in retaliation for guerrilla attacks on the American military in South Vietnam.
1966 Vice President Hubert Humphrey begins a tour of Vietnam.
1974 Communist-led rebels shower artillery fire into a crowded area of Phnom Pehn, killing 139 and injuring 46 others.
1975 Mrs. Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to lead the British Conservative Party.
1990 South African political leader Nelson Mandela is released from prison in Paarl, South Africa, after serving more than 27 years of a life sentence.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
… For The List for Sunday, 12 February 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 12 February 1968…
Westmoreland: "The game has changed, the enemy is going for broke."…
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 https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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An often repeated story in the List. Thanks to Carl and do read his book *Thunder Below"
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Thanks to Mud
Interesting observation
This year, both Groundhog Day and the State of the Union address, were in close proximity. This was an ironic juxtaposition of events. One involved a meaningless ritual, in which we looked to an insignificant creature of little intelligence for prognostication. The other involved a groundhog.
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Another thanks to Mud
Marine Dog Who Saved Lives from Terrorist Bombs Given Medal
So many of those dogs died via an IED. Here's one that survived. He's a Belgian Malinois and a very beautiful dog. This one is worth the time to see if you're into dogs.
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Thanks to Carl
What Can I Do to Stop CBDCs?
Finance Guru Warns of the Plan to End All Currencies
This financial guru tells you how to guard against having your assets taken away or turned off by a central power against your knowledge or will, with little or no ability to do anything about it.
What Can I Do to Stop CBDCs?
by Dr. Joseph Mercola February 11, 2023
OPTING OUT OF CBDCS - HTTPS://WWW.BITCHUTE.COM/VIDEO/CAFF24ZHVFLQ/
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From the archives
Thanks to Richard….this is a very interesting story and another one I have never heard before…skip
From Jars To Jets: The Forgotten Story Of The Jetwing
https://airfactsjournal.com/2021/02/from-jars-to-jets-the-forgotten-story-of-the-jetwing
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If you want to access all 75 H-Grams they can be reached through the following URL
, https://www.history.navy.mil/ is still
Click on the Director's corner and it will take you to all the H-Grams
Thanks to Admiral Cox and the folks from NHHC
H-Gram 074: The Easter Offensive—Vietnam 1972 (2)
6 September 2022
Download a PDF of H-Gram 074 (3.5 MB).
This H-gram continues where H-Gram 070 left off and covers the period of the Vietnam War between 1 July and 1 October 1972, as U.S. Navy carrier aircraft continued strikes into North Vietnam as part of Operation Linebacker and continued aerial minelaying operations in North Vietnamese harbors and coastal waters. One of the victims of the latter was Warrington (DD-843), a constructive loss after setting off "friendly" mines. H-Gram 074 also covers (future CNO) Vice Admiral James L. Holloway's joy ride through Haiphong Harbor in August 1972—seriously, Operation Lion's Den was one of the most audacious and dangerous surface actions since World War II. The period ended with the turret explosion on Newport News (CA-148) that killed 20 and only by apparent chance didn't blow up the whole ship.
Overview: 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War
As of the beginning of July 1972, the U.S. Navy had six attack aircraft carriers flying strike missions against targets in North Vietnam as part of Operation Linebacker, and against North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam, which had launched a massive conventional ground invasion of the South beginning 30 March. This was the largest concentration of carrier airpower amassed since World War II (and equaled only by the Desert Storm deployments in 1990/91). These carriers, along with two that had been relieved and had departed, played a critical role in first blunting the North Vietnamese offensive and then pushing it back, especially in the early days when carrier aircraft (and long-range B-52 Arc Light missions) were the only game in town until the U.S. Air Force could build back up its strength at bases in Thailand and the Marines got planes back into bases in South Vietnam.
The aerial mining campaign launched from the carriers, which closed North Vietnamese ports, very quickly had noticeable effects in reducing enemy air activity and SAM launch activity. North Vietnam began conserving ammunition once their resupply route by sea had been cut off, validating what U.S. Navy leaders had been advocating for years.
The mines, however, could also be a threat to U.S. ships. On 17 July, the destroyer Warrington (DD-843) detonated two Mk 36 Destructor bottom influence mines that had been jettisoned by Navy aircraft (whether warnings of the area had been properly disseminated is not clear). Although there were no serious casualties, the damage to Warrington was severe and the crew had to fight for several days to keep her afloat. The ship was determined to be beyond economical repair and was decommissioned at Subic Bay, making Warrington the largest Navy ship to be put permanently out of action as a result of damage sustained in the Vietnam War.
On the night of 19 July, the North Vietnamese air force made another attempt to attack a U.S. Navy ship off the coast of Vietnam (the first was on 19 April 1972, when Higbee [DD-806] was hit and damaged by a bomb). Five enemy aircraft in two waves and in quick succession attacked guided-missile destroyer leader Biddle (DLG-34) during a window when Barrier Combat Air Patrol (BARCAP) was at a low ebb. Based on multiple conflicting accounts, Biddle shot down one MiG with Terrier missiles and probably a second with guns (which would make her the last ship to shoot down an aircraft with manually loaded guns). One MiG flew directly over Biddle, but didn't or couldn't drop a bomb. Biddle suffered no significant damage or casualties. This would be the last such attempt by the North Vietnamese.
On 6 August, Lieutenant Harry Zinser of Helicopter Combat Support Squadron SEVEN (HC-7) made a daring nighttime rescue of a downed A-7 pilot off Saratoga (CVA-60) under heavy enemy fire. This was the deepest penetration of North Vietnam by a combat search-and-rescue mission since 1968. Zinser was awarded a Navy Cross. Four days later, an F-4J off Saratoga shot down a MiG-21 Fishbed, the first Navy kill with an AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active radar-guided missile since 1968.
On the night of 27 August, the U.S. Navy executed Operation Lion's Den, a daring penetration of the approaches to Haiphong Harbor by four surface ships to bombard nine high-value shore targets. Rowan (DD-783) led the way, specially equipped to fire Shrike anti-radiation missiles from her ASROC launcher. Heavy cruiser Newport News (CA-148), with the Commander Seventh Fleet (Vice Admiral James L. Holloway III) embarked, went right up to the five-fathom curve, using her 8-inch guns to take out the key targets. Robison (DDG-12), with the officer-in-tactical command (Captain John Renn) embarked, and Providence (CLG-6) shelled additional targets. North Vietnamese shore battery fire was heavy but inaccurate, and although the U.S. ships were pelted by shrapnel from near misses, none was hit and no casualties were sustained. North Vietnamese lack of flashless powder enabled effective return fire from U.S. ships.
As the U.S. force commenced egress, a high-speed zigzagging contact was detected, identified by night-vision devices as a Soviet-made P-6 torpedo boat. With the picture confused by clutter from numerous rocks and pinnacles, splashes from Newport News' own shells, plus defective illumination rounds, the contact proved very hard to hit. After prodigious gunfire, the contact was finally seen to catch fire and retreat. At that point two more contacts were detected inbound, followed shortly by yet another.
With three possible torpedo boats seemingly bent on closing off Newport News' avenue of escape, Holloway came up on guard, calling in the blind for any aircraft in the area with illumination rounds to render assistance. Almost immediately, two A-7 Corsair II jets off Midway (CVA-41) rogered up and diverted from an armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. After dropping an effective illumination round, and taking care to positively locate and identify all four U.S. ships, the A-7s were cleared to engage the surface contacts with Rockeye cluster munitions. With better illumination, gunfire from the ships also became more accurate. Vice Admiral Holloway's account claimed all four North Vietnamese torpedo boats were sunk; the official after-action report throws in some "probably" and "possibly" words; subsequent intelligence reporting indicated one sunk, one possibly sunk, and one damaged (suggesting just how hard it is to hit fast-moving little boats).
During the heat of the shore bombardment, Holloway stepped outside the pilot house onto the bridge wing, apparently to relive his experience as a junior officer during the Battle of Surigao Strait. He was persuaded to step back inside before shrapnel rained down on the ship. Operation Lion's Den was arguably the most audacious action by a U.S. Navy cruiser-destroyer force since World War II. It was a success in that the assigned targets were mostly assessed as destroyed, with no loss to the U.S. force. However, once was enough.
On 11 September, a Marine Corps F-4J of VMFA-333 off America (CVA-66) shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-21 with an AIM-9 Sidewinder and damaged another. VMFA-333 was the only Marine squadron to fly in combat off an aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War, and this was the only MiG kill of the war in which the pilot, radar-intercept officer (RIO), and aircraft were all from a Marine squadron. However, due to low fuel state, the F-4J and its wingman were forced to fly directly over Haiphong, where one was hit by an SA-2 SAM and the other by flak. Both jets were able to get out over the Gulf of Tonkin before the aviators were forced to eject; all four were safely rescued by Navy helicopters.
At 0100 on 1 October, Newport News suffered a high-order in-bore explosion in the center gun barrel of the Number 2 8-inch gun mount due to a defective auxiliary fuze for the shell. As a result, 720 pounds of powder in all three hoists caught fire, killing everyone in the top two levels of the turret, although several crew members were able to escape from the lowest (fifth) level. Had the high-energy flame jet propagated a few more feet down the hoists, the result could have been a catastrophic magazine explosion and loss of the ship. The subsequent investigation could not determine why the flames did not go farther.
Toxic gas from the fire quickly spread throughout the ship, with over 250 men suffering some degree of smoke inhalation. Thirty-six of these were in critical condition. Ultimately, 20 crewmen were killed in the explosion and fire, or subsequently succumbed to the effects of inhaling poison gas. This was the largest loss of life by any ship on the gun line during the entire war. On 20 October, Newport News returned to the gun line and resumed fire missions against North Vietnamese targets, although Number 2 turret would remain sealed for the balance of the ship's service life (1975).
For more detail on the war in Vietnam from July to October 1972, please see attachment H-074-1.
As always, you are welcome to disseminate H-grams widely. "Back issue" H-grams may be found here.
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50 YEARS AGO
Thanks to NHHC…a good friend of mine did both Haiphong and Suez as a pilot of one of those big Sikorsky Mine Helos
U.S. Mining and Mine Clearance in North Vietnam
By Edward J. Marolda
During the Rolling Thunder bombing campaign (1965-1968), the U.S. Navy's carrier air squadrons released thousands of mines along the enemy's key supply routes in the "panhandle" area of North Vietnam. The object of the operation was to make vehicular and other movement around ferry crossing sites, railway and highway bridges, storage areas, truck parks, and fuel dumps difficult if not prohibitive for the enemy. Carrier attack aircraft also "seeded" inland waterways and roads used by the Communists to transport munitions into Laos and South Vietnam. The weapons used were Mark 36 Destructors, which contained 500 pounds of explosives and detonated when trucks, tanks, or other metal objects disturbed their magnetic fields. Neither the Navy's mining effort nor the overall bombing campaign stopped the flow of munitions to the fighting front but they forced the enemy to devote scarce resources to defense of his supply line.
Another mining operation, which the Navy carried out during 1972 and early 1973, had an even greater impact on the war. Early on the morning of 8 May 1972, aircraft carrier Coral Sea (CVA 43) launched three Marine A-6 Intruders and six Navy A-7 Corsair attack planes toward the coast of North Vietnam. Shortly afterward, the naval aircraft laid strings of thirty-six 1,000-pound Mark 52 mines in the water approaches to Haiphong, through which most of North Vietnam's imported war material and all of its fuel supply passed. During succeeding months, other carrier aircraft dropped thousands of mines and 500-pound, Mark 36 Destructors in the seaways of North Vietnam's secondary ports and "reseeded" the Haiphong approaches.
For the remainder of 1972, twenty-seven Sino-Soviet bloc merchant ships chose to remain immobile in Haiphong rather than risk a transit of the mined waters. The mining campaign, along with U.S. air attacks on North Vietnam's supply lines ashore, helped cut short the enemy's "Easter Offensive" in South Vietnam. Eventually, the mining operation and the Linebacker bombing campaign induced the North Vietnamese to negotiate an end to the war.
On 27 January 1973, American and North Vietnamese officials signed a protocol to the Paris agreement that called for the United States to neutralize the mines that the Navy had dropped in North Vietnam's coastal and inland waterways.
On 28 January, following months of preparation, Rear Admiral Brian McCauley's Mine Countermeasures Force (Task Force 78), of the Seventh Fleet, deployed from Subic Bay in the Philippines to Haiphong. To coordinate actions, on 5 February Commander Task Force 78 met in the city with his North Vietnamese opposite, Colonel Hoang Huu Thai. Operation End Sweep began the next day, when ocean minesweepers Engage (MSO 433), Force (MSO 445), Fortify (MSO 446), and Impervious (MSO 449) swept waters off the coast near Haiphong. Guided missile frigate Worden (DLG 18) and destroyerEpperson (DD 719) stood by in case the North Vietnamese tried to interfere with the effort. Later that month, amphibious ships New Orleans (LPH 11), Dubuque (LPD 8), Ogden (LPD 5), Cleveland (LPD 7), and Inchon (LPH 12) joined the task force. On board the newly arriving ships were 31 CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters from the Navy's Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 12 and from Marine helicopter squadrons HMM-165 and HMH-463. The Sea Stallions towed minesweeping sleds and other devices. During the six months of Operation End Sweep, 10 ocean minesweepers, 9 amphibious ships, 6 fleet tugs, 3 salvage ships, and 19 destroyer types operated in Task Force 78.
The helicopters swept the main shipping channel to Haiphong on 27 February and the ports of Hon Gai and Cam Pha on 17 March. In early April, Commander Task Force 78 deployed to the formerly mined waters MSS 2, a decommissioned LST filled with buffer material and crewed by volunteers. The ship carried out eight passages of the Haiphong channel to make sure no mines remained active in the vital waterway. Elsewhere in North Vietnam, U.S. Navy technical personnel prepared 50 North Vietnamese sailors to conduct their own minesweeping operations. While this was taking place, a number of U.S. C-130 transport aircraft delivered minesweeping gear to Cat Bi Airfield outside the city. Until 17 April, the Navy task force continued its mission. Then, because Hanoi failed to carry out its obligations under the Paris agreement, Washington ordered a suspension of minesweeping operations. End Sweep resumed on 18 June when American leaders were persuaded that the North Vietnamese would once again act in good faith. Shortly afterward, Admiral McCauley notified the North Vietnamese that the ports of Haiphong, Hon Gai, and Cam Pha were free from the threat of American-laid mines. Next, Task Force 78 concentrated on the coastal areas off Vinh. Finally, on 18 July 1973, McCauley led his flotilla out to sea, officially ending Operation End Sweep.
Reproduced with permission from: Tucker, Spencer C., ed. Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1998.
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This Day in U S Military History
February 11
1815 – News of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812, finally reached the United States.
1854 – Commodore Matthew Perry pulled into Edo Bay, Japan, 12 months early with 9 warships to begin talks for a treaty.
1942 – German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, as well as the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, escape from the French port of Brest and make a mad dash up the English Channel to safety in German waters. The Gneisenau and Scharnhorst had been anchored at Brest since March 1941. The Prinz Eugen had been tied to the French port since the Bismarck sortie in May 1941, when it and the battleship Bismarck made their own mad dash through the Atlantic and the Denmark Strait to elude Royal Navy gunfire. All three were subject to periodic bombing raids–and damage–by the British, as the Brits attempted to ensure that the German warships never left the French coast. But despite the careful watch of British subs and aircraft, German Vice Admiral Otto Ciliax launched Operation Cerberus to lead the ships out of the French port. The Germans, who had controlled and occupied France since June 1940, drew British fire deliberately, and the Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, and Prinz Eugen used the resulting skirmish as a defensive smoke screen. Six German destroyers and 21 torpedo boats accompanied the ships for protection as they moved north late on the night of February 11. In the morning, German planes provided air cover as well; ace pilot Adolf Galland led 250 other fighters in an unusually well coordinated joint effort of the German navy and Luftwaffe. The British Royal Air Force also coordinated its attack with the Royal Navy Swordfish squadron, but a late start–the RAF did not realize until the afternoon of February 12 that the German squadron had pushed out to sea–and bad weather hindered their effort. All three German warships made it to a German port on February 13, although the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst had been damaged by British mines along the way. The British lost 40 aircraft and six Navy Swordfish in the confrontation, while the Germans lost a torpedo boat and 17 aircraft. The "Channel Dash," as it came to be called, was extremely embarrassing to the British, as it happened right under their noses. They would get revenge of a sort, though: British warships sunk the Scharnhorst in December 1944 as the German ship attempted to attack a Russian convoy. The Gneisenau was destroyed in a bombing raid while still in port undergoing repairs, and the Prinz Eugen survived the war, but was taken over by the U.S. Navy at war's end.
1951 – General MacArthur informed the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "It is evident that the enemy has lost his chance for achieving a decisive military decision in Korea." This statement came on the eve of the Chinese fourth phase offensive.
1951 – The Chinese fourth-phase offensive was launched against X Corps in central Korea along the Hoengsong-Wonju axis. The U.S. 2nd and 7th Infantry Divisions and the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team suffered 2,018 casualties during the Battle of Hoengsong. The largest single loss of U.S. soldiers happened when 530 men of the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions were completely overrun.
1965 – Pres. Lyndon Johnson ordered air strikes against targets in North Vietnam, in retaliation for guerrilla attacks on the American military in South Vietnam. The American "Rolling Thunder" bombing campaign intensified.
1979 – Followers of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran, nine days after the religious leader returned to his home country following 15 years of exile. Premier Bakhtiar resigned.
1994 – The space shuttle "Discovery" returned from an eight-day mission.
1995 – The space shuttle Discovery landed at Cape Canaveral, Fla., ending a historic rendezvous mission with Russia's Mir space station.
1997 – Space shuttle Discovery was launched on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.
1999 – US jets struck 7 Iraqi air defense sites.
2000 – The space shuttle Endeavour lifted into orbit with a crew of six under commander Kevin Kregel and a mission to map the Earth.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
TOBAN, JAMES W.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 9th Michigan Cavalry. Place and date: At Aiken, S.C., 11 February 1865. Entered service at: Northfield, Mich. Born: 1844, Northfield, Mich. Date of issue: 9 July 1896. Citation: Voluntarily and at great personal risk returned, in the face of the advance of the enemy, and rescued from impending death or capture, Maj. William C. Stevens, 9th Michigan Cavalry, who had been thrown from his horse.
ATKINS, DANIEL
Rank and organization: Ship's Cook, First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 1867, Brunswick, Va. Accredited to: Virginia. G.O. No.: 489, 20 May 1898. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Cushing, 11 February 1898. Showing gallant conduct, Atkins attempted to save the life of the late Ens. Joseph C. Breckenridge, U.S. Navy, who fell overboard at sea from that vessel on this date.
EVERETTS, JOHN
Rank and organization: Gunner's Mate, Third Class, U.S. Born: 25 August 1873, Therold, Canada. Accredited to: New G.O. No.: 489, 20 May 1898. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Cushing, 11 February 1898, Everetts displayed gallant conduct in attempting to save the life of the late Ens. Joseph C. Breckinridge, U.S. Navy, who fell overboard at sea from that vessel.
SMITH, ALBERT JOSEPH
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps. Place and date: Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla., 11 February 1921. Entered service at: Michigan. Born: 31 July 1898, Calumet, Mich. G.O. No.: 72, 29 September 1921. Citation: At about 7:30 a.m. on the morning of 11 February 1921, Pvt. Smith, while on duty as a sentry, rescued Plen M. Phelps, late machinist's mate second class, U.S. Navy, from a burning seaplane which had fallen near his post, gate No. 1, Marine Barracks, Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Fla. Despite the explosion of the gravity gasoline tank, with total disregard of personal safety, he pushed himself to a position where he could reach Phelps, who was pinned beneath the burning wreckage, and rescued him from the burning plane, in the performance of which he sustained painful burns about the head, neck and both hands.
DAHLGREN, EDWARD C.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant (then Sergeant), U.S. Army, Company E, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Oberhoffen, France, 11 February 1945. Entered service at: Portland, Maine. Birth: Perham, Maine. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He led the 3d Platoon to the rescue of a similar unit which had been surrounded in an enemy counterattack at Oberhoffen, France. As he advanced along a street, he observed several Germans crossing a field about 100 yards away. Running into a barn, he took up a position in a window and swept the hostile troops with submachine gun fire, killing 6, wounding others, and completely disorganizing the group. His platoon then moved forward through intermittent sniper fire and made contact with the besieged Americans. When the 2 platoons had been reorganized, Sgt. Dahlgren continued to advance along the street until he drew fire from an enemy-held house. In the face of machine pistol and rifle fire, he ran toward the building, hurled a grenade through the door, and blasted his way inside with his gun. This aggressive attack so rattled the Germans that all 8 men who held the strongpoint immediately surrendered. As Sgt. Dahlgren started toward the next house, hostile machinegun fire drove him to cover. He secured rifle grenades, stepped to an exposed position, and calmly launched his missiles from a difficult angle until he had destroyed the machinegun and killed its 2 operators. He moved to the rear of the house and suddenly came under the fire of a machinegun emplaced in a barn. Throwing a grenade into the structure, he rushed the position, firing his weapon as he ran; within, he overwhelmed 5 Germans. After reorganizing his unit he advanced to clear hostile riflemen from the building where he had destroyed the machinegun. He entered the house by a window and trapped the Germans in the cellar, where he tossed grenades into their midst, wounding several and forcing 10 more to surrender. While reconnoitering another street with a comrade, he heard German voices in a house. An attack with rifle grenades drove the hostile troops to the cellar. Sgt. Dahlgren entered the building, kicked open the cellar door, and, firing several bursts down the stairway, called for the trapped enemy to surrender. Sixteen soldiers filed out with their hands in the air. The bold leadership and magnificent courage displayed by Sgt. Dahlgren in his heroic attacks were in a large measure responsible for repulsing an enemy counterattack and saving an American platoon from great danger.
*BENNETT, THOMAS W.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 2d Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry. Place and date: Chu Pa Region, Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam, 9-11 February 1969. Entered service at: Fairmont, W. Va. Born: 7 April 1947, Morgantown, W. Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Cpl. Bennett distinguished himself while serving as a platoon medical aidman with the 2d Platoon, Company B, during a reconnaissance-in-force mission. On 9 February the platoon was moving to assist the 1st Platoon of Company D which had run into a North Vietnamese ambush when it became heavily engaged by the intense small arms, automatic weapons, mortar and rocket fire from a well fortified and numerically superior enemy unit. In the initial barrage of fire, 3 of the point members of the platoon fell wounded. Cpl. Bennett, with complete disregard for his safety, ran through the heavy fire to his fallen comrades, administered life-saving first aid under fire and then made repeated trips carrying the wounded men to positions of relative safety from which they would be medically evacuated from the battle position. Cpl. Bennett repeatedly braved the intense enemy fire moving across open areas to give aid and comfort to his wounded comrades. He valiantly exposed himself to the heavy fire in order to retrieve the bodies of several fallen personnel. Throughout the night and following day, Cpl. Bennett moved from position to position treating and comforting the several personnel who had suffered shrapnel and gunshot wounds. On 11 February, Company B again moved in an assault on the well fortified enemy positions and became heavily engaged with the numerically superior enemy force. Five members of the company fell wounded in the initial assault. Cpl. Bennett ran to their aid without regard to the heavy fire. He treated 1 wounded comrade and began running toward another seriously wounded man. Although the wounded man was located forward of the company position covered by heavy enemy grazing fire and Cpl. Bennett was warned that it was impossible to reach the position, he leaped forward with complete disregard for his safety to save his comrade's life. In attempting to save his fellow soldier, he was mortally wounded. Cpl. Bennett's undaunted concern for his comrades at the cost of his 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 U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 11, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
11 February
1913: Representative James Hay of West Virginia introduced the first bill for a separate aviation corps (H.R. 28728) in Congress, but it failed to pass. (24)
1936: Iona Coppedge and Josephine Garrigus flew their Aeronca monoplane at Dayton, Ohio, to a women's altitude record of 15,252 feet for multiseat planes weighing less than 617.288 pounds empty. (24)
1944: Eighth Air Force conducted a radar bombing attack on important German chemical plants. (4)
1945: The Consolidated Vultee XP-81 first flew. (5)
1959: A weather balloon launched at the Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory, Fort Monmouth, N.J., set a world altitude record by reaching 146,000 feet. (24)
1962: The 1405th Air Base Wing at Scott AFB, Ill., acquired the first T-39 (later designated the CT-39) Sabreliner for the Military Air Transport Service. (18)
1964: B-26s WITHDRAWN FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA. After a wing failed in combat, all B-26s in South Vietnam were grounded. Then when other B-26s suffered structural wing failures the USAF withdrew the aircraft from combat. On 1 April, the last B-26 flew to Clark AB, Philippines. (17)
1965: The US for the first time stopped and restarted a Titan III-A in space to place the vehicle in three different orbits. This rocket also marked the 1,000th man-made object in space recorded by the North American Aerospace Defense Command. (5)
1966: Project FAST FLY. To complete an accelerated B-47 phaseout program, the Strategic Air Command retired its last two B-47E bombers (Tail Nos. 53-2286 and 53-6235). They were stationed at Pease AFB, N.H., and Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, respectively. (1)
1974: The Titan IIIE/Centaur suffered a partial failure in its first flight test at Cape Canaveral when the Centaur engine malfunctioned. NASA still planned to use the vehicle for the Viking Mars Lander in 1975 and the US-German Helios program. (5)
1975: During the B-1's third test flight at Edwards, the aircrew first used the new automated flight test data system. (3)
1977: Jimmy Carter became the first President to fly in the E-4A National Emergency Airborne Command Post in a flight from Andrews AFB, Md., to Robins AFB, Ga. (1)
1985: The T-46A "Next Generation Trainer" had its official rollout ceremony. (16)
1998: A B-1B dropped its first Joint Direct Attack Munition, a satellite guided conventional bomb, at China Lake, Calif. (21) The first C-32A, a modified Boeing 757-200, flew its maiden flight from the Renton Municipal Airport in Renton, Wash. The Air Force purchased 4 C-32As to replace the 89 AW's C-137 fleet, which had flown the Vice President, cabinet members, and congressional delegations around the world since the 1950s. (22)
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