To All,
Good Monday morning February 13, 2023.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History February 13
1913—The Naval Radio Station, Arlington, VA, begins operations. The station is a pioneer in communications, most notably with ether wave experiments with the Eiffel Tower in France.
1917—Marine Capt. Francis T. Evans performs the first loop with a seaplane in an N-9 float plane at 3,000 feet, then forces it into a spin and successfully recovers. For this contribution to the science of aviation, he is later awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
1943—Women Marines were reestablished as Marine Corps Women's Reserve. Col. Ruth Cheney Streeter, the first Director of the United States Marine Corps Women's Reserve, serves until December 7, 1945.
1945—USS Sennet (SS 408) is damaged by gunfire of Japanese gunboat (No.8 Kotoshiro Maru or No.3 Showa Maru), east of Tanega Shima, but then Sennett sinks No.8 Kotoshiro Maru after it had been shelled by USS Lagarto (SS 371) and USS Haddock (SS 231). Haddock then sinks No.3 Showa Maru, which had already been shelled by Lagarto and Sennett.
What happened this day in World History
February 13
167 Polycarp, a disciple of St. John and Bishop of Smyrna, is martyred on the west coast of Asia Minor.
1542 Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII, is beheaded for adultery.
1689 British Parliament adopts the Bill of Rights.
1692 In the Glen Coe highlands of Scotland, thirty-eight members of the MacDonald clan are murdered by soldiers of the neighboring Campbell clan for not pledging allegiance to William of Orange. Ironically the pledge had been made but not communicated to the clans. The event is remembered as the Massacre of Glencoe.
1862 The four day Battle of Fort Donelson, Tennessee, begins.
1865 The Confederacy approves the recruitment of slaves as soldiers, as long as the approval of their owners is gained.
1866 Jesse James holds up his first bank.
1914 The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) is founded.
1936 First social security checks are put in the mail.
1945 The Royal Air Force Bomber Command devastates the German city of Dresden with night raids by 873 heavy bombers. The attacks are joined by 521 American heavy bombers flying daylight raids.
1949 A mob burns a radio station in Ecuador after the broadcast of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds."
1951 At the Battle of Chipyong-ni, in Korea, U.N. troops contain the Chinese forces' offensive in a two-day battle.
1953 The Pope asks the United States to grant clemency to convicted spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg.
1968 The United States sends 10,500 more combat troops to Vietnam.
1970 General Motors is reportedly redesigning automobiles to run on unleaded fuel.
1972 Enemy attacks in Vietnam decline for the third day as the United States continues its intensive bombing strategy.
1984 Konstantin Chernenko is selected to succeed Yuri Andropov as Party General Secretary in the Soviet Union.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
… For The List for Monday, 13 February 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 13 February 1968… LBJ prays and speaks at the Lincoln Memorial…
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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Thanks to Al
Monday Morning Humor--Super Bowl Wrap Up
Kid in 6th grade learning Roman numerals: "Teacher, when are we going to use any of this in real life?"
Teacher: "Only once a year at Super Bowl time."
Did you hear about Rihanna's performance?
She's been on the field longer than the Chiefs.
What's the difference between the Philadelphia Eagles and a dollar bill?
You can still get four quarters out of a dollar.
Do you know why millions of Chinese would not be able to watch the Super Bowl?
Because the US shot their Spy Balloon down.
What do you call fifty guys watching the Super Bowl?
The Los Angeles Chargers.
Did you hear that the US has now shot down three balloons (or suspected balloons) this week?
Whoever flew the Goodyear blimp at the Super Bowl must have had nerves of steel.
I was watching the Super Bowl at my friend's house when my real estate agent called me...
Told me some of my property had burned down. In both cases, Mahomes' on fire.
What do Charger fans do after they win the Super Bowl?
Turn off the Xbox.
Where's the best place to watch the Raiders in the super bowl?
The History Channel.
What do the Super Bowl and a doctor's office have in common?
Aaron Rodgers won't get a shot at either.
What does Rihanna say when she doesn't approve of Super Bowl commercials?
"Oh nah nah!"
What happens if all of the players participating in the Super Bowl get put on the injured list?
The game will be pointless.
Why will all of the referees check their voicemail immediately after the Super Bowl?
So they can hear someone say, "No missed calls."
What did the composer say about the music at the Super Bowl?
It's in half time.
According to a new poll, 95 percent of people are excited to watch Super Bowl LVII.
The other 5 percent are Charger fans.
How many Chargers does it take to win a Super Bowl?
No one knows, and we may never find out!
I heard England won the Super Bowl…
But what would I know, I'm not a big fan of tennis anyways.
How did the bad economy affect the Super Bowl?
Instead of a coin toss they had to play rock, paper, scissors!
Snow White was returning from town to the cottage in the forest where she lived with the seven dwarfs. In the distance she could see smoke, then as she got nearer she realized that their cottage had
burnt down.
Frantically, Snow White searched the forest for the dwarfs, then she heard a lone voice saying, "Chargers will win Superbowl LVII".
On hearing this chant, Snow White gave a little sigh of relief as she knew that at least Dopey was safe
You know, I still can't believe Rihanna let them play a football game at her concert.
My mother used to say: "My idea of a Super Bowl is a toilet that cleans itself!"
Today there's the Super Bowl. And maybe soon, there'll be the Mega Bowl. Then, after that, pehaps the Giga Bowl. Anymore than that, though, would just be Tera Bowl.
A man dies and goes to hell. Because all the other torture chambers are full, the devil puts him to hard labor. A few hours pass, and the devil returns to see how the torture is going. But the man is smiling and hardly working a sweat. "Why haven't you given up yet? It's been at least six hours." The devil asks him.
"No, yeah, I was a fisherman in San Diego while I was alive. This work isn't as bad as mending nets all day." He answers.
The devil is still a little confused, so he turns up the heat in the chamber to 100 degrees for good measure. A few hours later, he returns hoping to see the man panting on the ground. But he still stands, working away like before the heat. "No one could work in this temperature. How do you do it?" The devil asks.
The fisherman responds, "I told you, I'm from San Diego. The summers and Santa Anas up there are way worse than this."
Then it dawns on the devil, San Diego is warm. He rushes to turn the temperature down as far as hell can go. The devil leaves to ask about San Diego's weather, determined to wear this man down until other chambers open up. After an hour, the devil returns to see the fisherman dancing about, despite it being below freezing in his chamber.
"I asked around," The devil says, "so I know that freezing isn't normal for you San Diegans. So why are you so happy about?"
The fisherman takes one second to shout "If it's a cold night in hell, then the Chargers must have won the Super Bowl!" before continuing his victory dance.
Pizza, wings, and some football, too—that's Super Bowl Sunday for me!
Have a great week,
Al
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A repeat from a while back
Very interesting story that just became UNCLASS
87 Octane Aviation Gasoline vs 100-130 Octane Aviation Gasoline in WW-II thanks to Doctor Rich and Dutch
Thanks to Duth … who says: Sent to me by Travis Foster--my grade school and high school chum who was separated by two classes from me in preflight at Pensacola (a fact we didn't discover until our 50th high school reunion).
This is a declassified article by the British Society of Chemists (Declassified in 2014)
"It has always puzzled me as to why the German Luftwaffe kept on using 87 Octane Aviation Gasoline while the Americans and British used 100 Octane Gasoline in their Spitfire Fighters and Americans used 130 Octane in our P-51 and other fighters.
This morning I discovered the reason!
It seems that the German and British aircraft both used 87 Octane Gasoline in the first two years of the war. While that was fairly satisfactory in the German Daimler-Benz V-12 engine, It was marginal in the British Rolls-Royce Merlin XX engine in British aircraft. It fouled the spark-plugs, caused valves to stick, And made frequent engine repair problems.
Then came lend- lease and American aircraft began to enter British service in great numbers. If British engines hated 87 Octane gasoline, American, General Motors Built, Allison 1710 engines loathed and despised it. Something had to be done!
Along came an American named Tim Palucka, a chemist for Sun Oil in their South East Texas Refinery. Never heard of him? Small wonder, very few people have. He took a French formula for enhancing the octane of Gasoline, and invented the "Cracking Tower" and produced 100 octane aviation Gasoline. This discovery led to great joy among our English Cousins and great distress among the Germans. A Spitfire fueled with 100 Octane gasoline was 34 miles per hour faster at 10,000 feet. The need to replace engines went from every 500 hours of operation to every 1,000 hours. Which reduced the cost of British aircraft by 300 Pounds Sterling. Even more, when used in 4 engine bombers.
The Germans couldn't believe it when Spitfires that couldn't catch them a year ago started shooting their ME-109 E and G models right out of the sky.
Of course, the matter had to be kept secret. If the Germans found out that it was a French Invention, They'd simply copy the original French patents. If any of you have ever wondered what they were doing in that 3 story white brick building in front of the Sun Oil Refinery on Old Highway 90, that was it. They were re-inventing gasoline.
The American Allison engines improved remarkably with 100 Octane gasoline, but did much better when 130 octane gasoline came along in 1944. The 130 Octane also improved the Radial Engine Bombers we produced. The Germans and Japanese never snapped to the fact that we had re-invented gasoline. Neither did our "Friends" the Russians.
100,000 Americans died in the skies over Europe. Lord only knows what that number would have been without "Super-Gasoline". And it all was invented just a few miles west of Beaumont, and we never knew a thing about it."
As for jet fuel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_fuel#JP-5
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From the Archives
Thanks to Barrel
Golf Words Of Wisdom & Some History
Golf balls are like eggs - they're white, they're sold by the dozen, and a week later you have to buy more.
The pro-shop gets its name from the fact that you must have the income of a professional golfer to buy anything in there.
It's amazing how a golfer who never helps with house or yard work will replace his divots, repair his ball marks, and rake his and traps.
Did you ever notice that it's a lot easier to get up at 6:00 a.m. to play golf than at 10:00 to mow the yard or go to church.
It takes longer to become good at golf than it does brain surgery. On the other hand, you seldom get to ride around in a cart, drink beer and eat hot dogs while performing brain surgery.
A good drive on the 18th hole has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game.
A good golf partner is one who's slightly worse than you.
The rake is always in the other trap.
If there's a storm rolling in, you'll be having the game of your life.
If your opponent has trouble remembering whether he shot a six or a seven, he probably shot an eight.
Golf appeals to the child in all of us. This is proven by our frequent inability to count past the number 5.
It's easy to keep your ball in the fairway, if you don't care which fairway.
If profanity had any influence on the flight of a ball, most everyone would play better.
The greatest sound in golf is the, "Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh" of your opponent's club as he hurls it across the fairway.
A recent survey shows that of all jobs, caddies live the longest. They get plenty of fresh air and exercise, and if there's ever a medical emergency, a doctor is always nearby.
The best wood for lowering your score is a pencil.
You may need lessons if you had to regrip your ball retriever.
It's difficult to decide which is more stressful - hitting 3 off the tee or lining up your 4th putt.
With practice and strength training you can easily get more distance off the shank.
The only sure way to get a par is to leave a 4 foot birdie putt 2 inches from the hole.
Nothing straightens out a nasty slice like a sharp dogleg to the right.
Never wash your ball on the tee of a water hole.
No matter how badly you are playing, it's always possible to get worse.
Phillip E. "Skipper" Young, a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded Titleist in 1932.
When playing a round of golf with his dentist, Young missed a sure putt that seemed to be caused by the weight of the ball. He then asked his dentist friend to X-ray the ball and the film showed that the rubber core was off-center.
After this initial discovery, Young took X-rays of more golf balls and found that most were poorly constructed with off-center cores and prone to erratic shots. This inspired Young to produce his own line of golf balls, which would become known as Titleist.
1930: Young developed a machine that could uniformly wind rubber string around a rubber core, making a "dead center" golf ball. He named the ball "Titleist," noting it was the "winner" of the quest to create the best for the game.
1935: The golf division of the Acushnet Process Company produced the Titleist golf ball which had consistently been the company's most successful product.
1948: Introduced "Dynamite Thread" to increase the yardage of their balls.
1949: Titleist became the most used ball at the U.S. Open Tournament.
1976: Titleist was purchased by American Brands (now known as Fortune Brands).
1985: Fortune Brands sold off the Acushnet Company's Acushnet Rubber division, which was Acushnet's original business (circa early 1900s).
2002: Titleist reached the $1 billion mark in annual revenues.
On December 8, 2010, Fortune Brands announced that it would soon sell or spin off Titleist and some other brands. It was then announced on May 20, 2011 that a Korean group associated with Fila Korea, Ltd. and Mirae Asset Private Equity would purchase Acushnet for $1.23 billion in cash.
Acushnet employs roughly 3000 people in Massachusetts, making it one of the largest employers in the region. It is headquartered in Fairhaven, Massachusetts alongside its Packing and Distribution Center about three miles south of its original location.
They also have two golf ball manufacturing plants and an R&D Technology Center located in the New Bedford Industrial Park, as well as a Custom Golf Ball plant located in New Bedford.
And all of this due to a missed putt... and a lot of blood sweat and tears, persistence, & dedication to making things happen!
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Thanks to Carl
https://www.drmirkin.com/histories-and-mysteries/bobby-hull-hockey-star-with-a-dark-
Bobby Hull, Hockey Star with a Dark Side
February 5, 2023
Bobby Hull was one of the best hockey players who ever lived. He played professional hockey for 23 years, from 1957 to 1980, and led the NHL in goals seven times. He played in 1,063 NHL games and accumulated 610 goals, 560 assists, 1,170 points and 640 penalty minutes. He added 62 goals and 67 assists for 129 points in 119 playoff games. He was called "The Golden Jet," and opposing teams had to assign a player just to follow him all over the ice.
He died at age 84 on January 30, 2023, of unreported causes, but his unhealthful lifestyle in retirement would have set him up for diseases that his athleticism could have helped to prevent. He drank alcohol excessively, smoked cigars, was reported to use chewing tobacco, ate a lot of meat and had massive abdominal obesity that is often a sign of Type II diabetes.
Professional Hockey Career
Hull was born in in 1939 in Point Anne, Ontario. He joined the Chicago Blackhawks in 1957 at the age of 18, and played until he was 42 years old. He scored more than 50 goals in five of the 15 years he played for the Chicago Blackhawks. At 5'10" and 195 pounds, he possessed incredible strength and speed, and had slapshot speeds as high as 119 miles per hour. He won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's most valuable player twice and the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading point scorer three times, and helped the Chicago Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup in 1961. He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, and the Blackhawks retired his Number 9 jersey.
Hull was constantly beaten upon by opposing team members who were specifically told to do everything they could to keep him from scoring. In the 1963 Stanley Cup playoffs, when the Blackhawks were one game from elimination against the Red Wings, he played with a nasal fracture extending into his skull. He ignored the orders of his doctors, checked himself out of a Chicago hospital, flew to Detroit with both eyes blackened, his nose encased in tape and blood draining into his throat. He scored three goals and an assist.
In the 1969 season, at age 30, he was a top scorer even though his jaw was fractured and wired shut. He lost 20 pounds from having to take all his meals through a straw. His wife fed him "brownish ugh" consisting of three-fourths of a pound of ground beef, a cup of half-milk and half-cream, a can of barley soup and raw eggs mixed in a blender. "It tastes terrible," said teammate Eric Nesterenko. "Really I don't see how Bobby can eat it."
Bobby Hull, the first NHLer to score over 50 goals in a season, dies at 84 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fUfgygbuHM
His Marriages
As a teenager, Hull married Judy Learie and they had one child before divorcing. In 1960, at age 21, he married his second wife, figure skater Joanne McKay, and they had five children. They were divorced 20 years later after she reported that he had assaulted her on multiple occasions. She said Hull beat her bloody with her own shoe in 1966 and threatened her with a loaded shotgun in 1978.
He was romantically involved with a woman named Claudia Allen and they had a daughter named Jessica, but they never married. In 1980, he retired from playing hockey with the Hartford Whalers to take care of her after she was seriously injured in an automobile accident.
He married his third wife, Deborah Hull, in 1984. In 1986, he was arrested and charged with assault and battery after allegedly hitting Deborah, but she later dropped the charges. When a police officer intervened, Hull was charged with assaulting the policeman. He had to pay a $150 fine and was on six months of court supervision. Hull remained married to Deborah until his death in 2023.
A Family of Gifted Athletes
• Hull's younger brother, Dennis ("The Silver Jet"), starred alongside him with the Chicago Blackhawks for eight seasons and scored more than 300 goals.
• His son, Brett Hull ("Golden Brett"), was also a hockey star who scored 741 goals in the National Hockey league. That was the fifth-highest goal total in NHL history. They were the only father-and-son tandem to achieve the marks of more than 50 goals in an NHL season and score more than 600 NHL goals. They also are the only father-and-son to win the Hart Memorial Trophy (Bobby twice and Brett once) and the Lady Byng Trophy, and to lead the league in goal scoring (Bobby seven times and Brett three times).
• Another son, Bart Hull, was a top running back for the Boise State University Broncos football team, played with the Ottawa Rough Riders and Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League, and then in professional indoor football but had to drop out because of injuries. After football, he played professional hockey with the Idaho Steelheads.
• Two more sons, Blake and Bobby Jr., both played junior and senior hockey. They played together for the Allan Cup-winning Brantford Mott's Clamatos of the OHA Senior A Hockey League in 1987. Bobby Jr. won the Memorial Cup with the 1980 Cornwall Royals.
• Hull's daughter, Michelle, was an accomplished figure skater who won the British Columbia Pre-Novice Championship at the age of 11. Repeated knee injuries ended her skating career, and she became a lawyer who works with battered women.
R.I.P. Bobby Hull: A Legendary S.O.B.! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBKE7U7g8dM
Later Health Issues
Repeated injuries and lousy lifestyle choices took their toll on his health. In 1980, at age 41, Hull told a reporter: "I have nothing left, just my sanity, my health and my memories." In an interview reported in the NY Post on December 4, 2010, he said that he developed a lung infection and found out that he had blocked arteries leading to his heart that caused an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation. To increase blood flow to his heart, doctors put a stent into his heart arteries, and to make the heart beat more regularly, he had a pacemaker installed. At that time, he told reporters that he couldn't sleep at night because he had chronic shoulder and knee pain from his many injuries. He spent his last years debilitated by heart trouble and dementia.
Violent Sports Do Not Justify Criminal Behavior
A statue of Bobby Hull stands outside the United Center in Chicago as a testimonial to the fact that he was one of the best hockey players ever, and he played through severe injuries because he was incredibly dedicated to his teams. None of that outstanding record can offset his violent behavior out of the rink. All athletes need to understand the boundaries between sportsmanship and out-of-control anger.
Bobby Hull
January 3, 1939 – January 30, 2023
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This Day in U S Military History
February 13
1854 – Admiral Perry anchors off Yokosuka, Japan to receive Emperor's reply to treaty proposal. This agreement, forced on the Tokugawa shogunate by Commodore Perry's menacing "black ships," ended over two centuries of virtual exclusion (the exception being the Dutch) of foreign traders from the coast of Japan. The intrusion of the U.S. in the first place derived from the ill-treatment accorded American whaling crews when shipwrecked off the coast or landing for provisions or repairs. The treaty fully satisfied the U.S. government's concerns in this regard but left to the future the equally important matter of opening the country to foreign trade; concluded in 1858 with the signing of the Harris treaty. Perry's great achievement was widely recognized at the time. Perhaps there is no better praise for this naval veteran of 45 years' service than the collective memorial sent by the American merchants at Canton to the Commodore in Sept. 1854 on his return trip to the U.S.: "You have conquered the obstinate will of man and, by overturning the cherished policy of an empire, have brought an estranged but culturated people into the family of nations. You have done this without violence, and the world has looked on with admiration to see the barriers of prejudice fall before the flag of our country without the firing of a shot."
1923 – Chuck Yeager is born. Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager grew up in Myra, on the Mud River in West Virgina. His dirt-poor youth was filled with hillbilly themes that sound romantic today, but probably weren't much fun at the time: making moonshine, eating cornmeal mush three times a day, shooting squirels for dinner, chasing rats out of the kitchen, going barefoot all summer, butchering hogs, and stealing watermelons. At an early age Chuck could do well at anything requiring manual dexterity or math: ping-pong, shooting, auto mechanics. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps when he graduated from Hamlin High School in 1941, and became an airplane mechanic. He hated flying, after throwing up his first time in the air. But when the chance came to become a "Flying Sergeant," with three stripes and no K.P., he applied, and was accepted. His good cordination, mechanical abilities, and excellent memory enabled him to impress his instructors in flight training. Assigned to the 363rd Fighter Squadron, of the 357th Fighter Group, he moved up to P-39s with the squadron at Tonopah, Nevada. The 357th FG shipped out for Europe in winter of 1943-44, and began operations in February, 1944, the first P-51 equipped unit in the Eighth Air Force. Yeager shot down his first Messerschmitt on his seventh mission (one of the early Mustang missions over Berlin), and the next day, March 5, three FW-190s caught him and shot him down. He bailed out over occupied France, being careful to delay pulling his ripcord until he had fallen far enough to avoid getting strafed by the German fighters. Ike decided to allow Yeager to return to combat in the summer of 1944, which he did with a vengence, now flying a P-51D nicknamed Gorgeous Glennis, gaudily decorated in the red-and-yellow trim of the 357th. At first, the pickings were slim, as the German fliers seemed to be laying low. He flew in a four plane division with Bud Anderson and Don Bochkay, two other double aces. On September 18, he flew in support of the Market Garden glider drops over Arnhem, but couldn't do much to stop the appalling slaughter of the C-47s. By this time, he had been promoted to Lieutenant, a commissioned officer. Yeager became an 'ace-in-a-day' on October 12, leading a bomber escort over Bremen. As he closed in on one Bf-109, the pilot broke left and collided with his wingman; both bailed out, giving Yeager credit for two victories without firing a shot. In a sharp dogfight, Yeager's vision, flying skills, and gunnery gave him three more quick kills. He flew his last "combat" mission in January, 14 1945. After WW2, Chuck Yeager was assigned to be a test pilot at Muroc Field in California. The Army had developed a small, bullet-shaped aircraft, the Bell X-1, to challenge the sound barrier. A civilian pilot, Slick Goodlin, had taken the Bell X-1 to .7 Mach, when Yeager started to fly it. He pushed the small plane up to .8, .85, and then to .9 Mach. The date of Oct. 14, 1947 was set for the attempt to do Mach 1. Only a slight problem developed. Two nights before, after an evening at Pancho's, Chuck and Glennis went out horseback riding, Chuck was thrown, and broke two ribs on his right side. He couldn't have reported this to the Army doctors; they might have given the flight to someone else. So Yeager taped up his ribs and did his best to keep up appearances. On the day of the flight, it became apparent that, with his injured right side, he wouldn't be able to shut the door of the Bell X-1. In the plane's tiny cockpit; he could only use his (useless) right hand. He confessed his problem to Ridley, the flight engineer. In a stroke of genius, Ridley sawed off a short piece of broomstick handle; using it with his left hand, Yeager was able to get enough leverage to slam the door shut. And that day, Chuck Yeager became the first man to fly faster than the speed of sound. Through the 1950's and 60's, Yeager continued his successful career as an Air Force officer and test pilot. One of the planes he tested in 1963 was the NF-104, an F-104 with a rocket over the tailpipe, an airplane which theoretically could climb to over 120,000 feet. Yeager made the first three flights of the NF-104. On the fourth, he planned to exceed the magic 100,000 foot level. He cut in the rocket boosters at 60,000 feet and it roared upwards. He gets up to 104,000 feet before trouble set in. The NF-104's nose wouldn't go down. It went into a flat spin and tumbled down uncontrollably. At 21,000 feet, Yeager desperately popped the tail parachute rig, which briefly righted the attitude of the plane. But the nose promptly rose back up and the NF-104 began spinning again. It was hopeless. At 7,000 feet Yeager ejected. He got tangled up with his seat and leftover rocket fuel, which burnt him horribly. He hit the ground in great pain and his face blackened and burned, but standing upright with his chute rolled up and his helmet in his arm when the rescue helicopter arrived. He went to Vietnam as commander of the 405th Fighter Wing in 1966 and flew 127 combat missions, and eventually rose to the rank of Brigadier General. In February 1968, he took command of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and in February 1968, led its deployment to Korea during the Pueblo crisis. In July 1969, he became vice commander of the 17th Air Force, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and then, in January 1971, he was assigned as U.S. defense representative to Pakistan. On June 1, 1973, he commenced his final active duty assignment as director of the AF Safety and Inspection Center at Norton Air Force Base, Calif. After a 34-year military career, he retired on March 1, 1975. At the time of his retirement, he had flown more than 10,000 hours in more than 330 different types and models of aircraft. In 1986, Yeager was appointed to the Presidential Commission investigating the Challenger accident.
1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson decides to undertake the sustained bombing of North Vietnam that he and his advisers have been contemplating for a year. Earlier in the month, the president had ordered Operation Flaming Dart in response to communist attacks on U.S. installations in South Vietnam. These retaliatory raids did not have the desired effect of causing the North Vietnamese to cease support of Viet Cong forces in South Vietnam, and out of frustration, Johnson turned to a more extensive use of airpower. Called Operation Rolling Thunder, the bombing campaign was designed to interdict North Vietnamese transportation routes in the southern part of North Vietnam and slow infiltration of personnel and supplies into South Vietnam. The first Rolling Thunder mission took place on March 2, 1965, when 100 U.S. Air Force and Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) planes struck the Xom Bang ammunition dump 100 miles southeast of Hanoi. In July 1966, Rolling Thunder was expanded to include North Vietnamese ammunition dumps and oil storage facilities, and in the spring of 1967, it was further expanded to include power plants, factories, and airfields in the Hanoi-Haiphong area.Operation Rolling Thunder was closely controlled by the White House and at times targets were personally selected by President Johnson. From 1965 to 1968, about 643,000 tons of bombs were dropped on North Vietnam. A total of nearly 900 U.S. aircraft were lost during Operation Rolling Thunder. The operation continued, with occasional suspensions, until President Johnson, under increasing domestic political pressure, halted it on October 31, 1968.
1968 – As an emergency measure in response to the 1968 communist Tet Offensive, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara approves the deployment of 10,500 troops to cope with threats of a second offensive. The Joint Chiefs of Staff, who had argued against dispatching any reinforcements at the time because it would seriously deplete the strategic reserve, immediately sent McNamara a memorandum asking that 46,300 reservists and former servicemen be activated. Not wanting to test public opinion on what would no doubt be a controversial move, Johnson consigned the issue of the reservists to "study." Ultimately, he decided against a large-scale activation of the reserve forces.
2011 – For the first time in more than 100 years the Umatilla, an American Indian tribe, are able to hunt and harvest a bison just outside Yellowstone National Park, restoring a centuries-old tradition guaranteed by a treaty signed in 1855.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HORTON, JAMES
Rank and organization: Captain of the Top, U.S. Navy. Born: 1850, Boston, Mass. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Constitution, at sea, 13 February 1879, Horton showed courageous conduct in going over the stern during a heavy gale and cutting the fastenings of the ship's rudder chains.
MATTHEWS, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: Captain of the Top, U.S. Navy. Born: 1849, Malta. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884. Citation: For courageous conduct in going over the stern of the U.S.S. Constitution at sea, 13 February 1879, during a heavy gale, and cutting the fastenings of the ship's rudder chains.
WILLIAMS, HENRY
Rank and organization: Carpenter's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born 1833 Canada. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 326, 18 October 1884 Citation: For going over the stern of the U.S.S. Constitution, at sea, 13 February 1879, during a heavy gale, and performing important carpenter's work upon her rudder.
*PEREZ, MANUEL, JR.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company A 511th Parachute Infantry, 11th Airborne Division. Place and date: Fort William McKinley, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 13 February 1945. Entered service at. Chicago, Ill. Born: 3 March 1923 Oklahoma City, Okla. G.O. No.: 124, 27 December 1945. Citation: He was lead scout for Company A, which had destroyed 11 of 12 pillboxes in a strongly fortified sector defending the approach to enemy-held Fort William McKinley on Luzon, Philippine Islands. In the reduction of these pillboxes, he killed 5 Japanese in the open and blasted others in pillboxes with grenades. Realizing the urgent need for taking the last emplacement, which contained 2 twin-mount .50-caliber dual-purpose machineguns, he took a circuitous route to within 20 yards of the position, killing 4 of the enemy in his advance. He threw a grenade into the pillbox, and, as the crew started withdrawing through a tunnel just to the rear of the emplacement, shot and killed 4 before exhausting his clip. He had reloaded and killed 4 more when an escaping Japanese threw his rifle with fixed bayonet at him. In warding off this thrust, his own rifle was knocked to the ground. Seizing the Jap rifle, he continued firing, killing 2 more of the enemy. He rushed the remaining Japanese, killed 3 of them with the butt of the rifle and entered the pillbox, where he bayoneted the 1 surviving hostile soldier. Single-handedly, he killed 18 of the enemy in neutralizing the position that had held up the advance of his entire company. Through his courageous determination and heroic disregard of grave danger, Pfc. Perez made possible the successful advance of his unit toward a valuable objective and provided a lasting inspiration for his comrades.
*CREEK, THOMAS E.
Rank and organization: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company I, 3d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Near Cam Lo, Republic of Vietnam, 13 February. 1969. Entered service at: Amarillo, Texas. Born 7 April 1950, Joplin, Mo. Citation:: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman with Company 1 in action against enemy forces. L/Cpl. Creek's squad was providing security for a convoy moving to resupply the Vandegrift Command Base when an enemy command detonated mine destroyed 1 of the vehicles and halted the convoy near the Cam Lo Resettlement Village. Almost immediately, the marines came under a heavy volume of hostile mortar fire followed by intense small-arms fire from a well-concealed enemy force. As his squad deployed to engage the enemy, L/Cpl. Creek quickly moved to a fighting position and aggressively engaged in the fire fight. Observing a position from which he could more effectively deliver fire against the hostile forces. he completely disregarded his own safety as he fearlessly dashed across the fire-swept terrain and was seriously wounded by enemy fire. At the same time, an enemy grenade was thrown into the gully where he had fallen, landing between him and several companions. Fully realizing the inevitable results of his action, L/Cpl. Creek rolled on the grenade and absorbed the full force of the explosion with his body, thereby saving the lives of 5 of his fellow marines. As a result of his heroic action, his men were inspired to such aggressive action that the enemy was defeated and the convoy was able to continue its vital mission. L/Cpl. Creek's indomitable courage, inspired the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 13, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
13 February
1913: Smithsonian Institute regents appointed an advisory committee to inaugurate the Aerodynamic Laboratory project at Langley Field, Va. (24)
1917: DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS. Capt Francis T. Evans (U. S. Marine Corps) became the first pilot to successfully loop a seaplane. At 3,500 feet above Pensacola Bay, Fla., he completed the maneuver in a Curtiss N-9. Afterwards, the N-9 stalled, went into a spin, and almost crashed. He avoided certain death by developing a life saving spin-recovery technique. Evans received a Distinguished Flying Cross in 1936 for this achievement. (10) (24)
1921: The first link of the Model Airways System opened with a route from Dayton, Ohio, to Washington, D. C. In June 1922, the Army Air Service began scheduled passenger and cargo flights over the government-sponsored nationwide air system "for the transport of Government officials and express." Before the federal government disbanded the airways in 1926 to foster private enterprise, Model Airways routes extended from Texas to Massachusetts and made possible the transit of 1,200 passengers and 62,000 pounds of cargo. (18)
1942: The North American Mustang I (NA-83), built for the Royal Air Force, first flew. (5)
1943: The Vought F4U Corsair went into action for the first time as Marine Fighter Squadron 124 pilots escorted PB4Ys to the Bougainville area. (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR. Through 16 February, the 315th Air Division (Combat Cargo) used 100-plus airlifters to drop 420 tons of food and ammunition around-the-clock to the 23d Regimental Combat Team and a French battalion at Chipyong-ni. H-5 helicopters delivered medical supplies to the troops and evacuated more than 40 wounded. Fifth Air Force flew close air support missions that enabled the surrounded troops to hold out until relieved by a friendly armored column. Additionally, the 315th Air Division airlifted 800-plus sick and wounded U.S. troops from forward airstrips at Wonju and other fields to Taegu and Pusan. This airlift used so many C-47s that they were not available for other airlift demands. (21) (28) A Pan American-Grace Airways DC-6 set a 9-hour, 53-minute record for the 2,734-mile flight from Miami to Lima, Peru. (24)
1954: In a P-51, Joe DeBona set a Federation Aeronautique International cross-country speed record by flying 2,467 miles from Los Angeles, Calif., to New York, N. Y., in 4 hours 24 minutes 17 seconds. (9)
1955: McDonnell test pilot C.V. Brown flew the F3H-1N Demon to an unofficial climb record to 10,000 feet in 71 seconds. (5)
1959: The 5th Bombardment Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., received the Strategic Air Command's first B-52G (Tail No. 57-6478), "The Spirit of Solano County." This model had more fuel tanks to increase its nonrefueled range from 6,000 to 10,000 miles. It could also carry two nuclear-armed Hound Dog missiles. (1)
1961: The USAF launched a solid-fuel air-to-surface missile, the GAM-83B Bullpup, at supersonic speed from an F-100 Super Sabre. This modified Navy Bullpup missile could carry a nuclear weapon or could be guided by the pilot of the parent aircraft to its target. (24)
1968: After the Commander United States Forces Vietnam asked for more troops to check the Tet Offensive, the Military Airlift Command airlifted 10,500 troops and equipment of the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N. C., and a regimental landing team of the 5th Marine Division at Camp Pendleton, Calif., to Vietnam. The airlift continued through 17 February. In the meantime, Air Force Reserve military airlift units assigned to the Continental Air Command moved channel traffic in the states to assist the Military Airlift Command. (18)
1974: The first HAVE MILL program launch, using an Athena-H, took place from the Wake Island Launch Complex to test a reentry vehicle in an anti-ballistic missile role. (5)
1981: The U. S. and United Kingdom signed an agreement for Rapier missiles. They would be used for air base air defense in the United Kingdom. (4)
1982: Exercise TEAM SPIRIT 82. Through 26 April, Pacific Air Forces conducted this exercise in Korea. It involved nearly 14,500 people, 177 combat and support aircraft, and over 7,000 sorties. (16)
1987: TYPHOON UMA. Through 15 February, two C-141 Starlifters and two C-130 Hercules aircraft flew 64 tons of tents and plastic sheeting to Vanuatu, New Hebrides following this storm. The aircraft also searched the waters around the islands for survivors of shipwrecks. (16) (26)
1993: Operation PROVIDE REFUGE. Through 9 March, the USAF sent airlift aircraft with tons of food and relief supplies from Hawaii to Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, to help 535 Chinese refugees whose ship had broken down in mid-Pacific. (16)
1999: An Air Force Flight Test Center test crew successfully flew a C-130 Autonomous Landing Guidance System technology demonstration flight test. The new system allowed aircraft to land safely on a prepared runway even in zero visibility conditions. (3)
2007: EXERCISE FALCON CONDOR 07. Through 16 February, nearly 150 Airmen participated in a joint military exercise with the Peruvian Air Force. The exercise allowed the U.S. military to build relationships with Peru's military and civilian leaders. It involved the C-130 Hercules, E-3A Sentry, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the B-1 Lancer. Afterwards, the aircraft remained in Peru for two more days to perform in the Falcon Condor air show. (AFNEWS, "Airmen Work Alongside Peruvian Military During Joint Exercise," 13 Feb 2007.)
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