To All,
Good Monday morning February 20, 2023.
I hope that you all are enjoying your long weekend. Too bad most folks have no idea about why these two men are important to our country.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History February. 20
1815—During a night engagement off Madeira, Africa, the frigate Constitution, commanded by Capt. Charles Stewart captures HMS Cyane and HMS Levant.
1942—While defending Lexington in a F4F "Wildcat" fighter, Lt. Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare repeatedly attacks nine Japanese bombers, shooting down five and damaging a sixth. O'Hare is meritoriously promoted to lieutenant commander in April 1942 and awarded the Medal of Honor.
1945—USS Pargo (SS 264) sinks Japanese destroyer Kokaze off Cape Varella, French Indochina, and survives counter-attack by destroyer Kamikaze, which had been steaming in company with Nokaze during the attack.
1962—Lt. Col. John Glenn, USMC, becomes the first American to orbit the Earth. Recovery is by USS Noa (DD 841).
1962—USS Dixie (AD 14) rescues a lone crewman aboard a sailing yawl adrift for four days.
1974—The S-3A Viking Anti-submarine aircraft is officially introduced and given to Anti-Submarine Squadron Forty-One (VS 41).
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This day in World History
February 20
1513 Pope Julius II dies. He will lay in rest in a huge tomb sculptured by Michelangelo.
1725 New Hampshire militiamen partake in the first recorded scalping of Indians by whites in North America.
1792 The U.S. Postal Service is created.
1809 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state in the Union.
1831 Polish revolutionaries defeat the Russians in the Battle of Grochow.
1864 Confederate troops defeat a Union army sent to bring Florida into the union at the Battle of Olustee, Fla.
1900 J.F. Pickering patents his airship.
1906 Russian troops seize large portions of Mongolia.
1915 President Woodrow Wilson opens the Panama-Pacific Expo in San Francisco to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal.
1918 The Soviet Red Army seizes Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine.
1938 Hitler demands self-determination for Germans in Austria and Czechoslovakia.
1941 The United States sends war planes to the Pacific.
1942 Lt. Edward O'Hare downs five out of nine Japanese bombers that are attacking the carrier Lexington.
1943 German troops of the Afrika Korps break through the Kasserine Pass, defeating U.S. forces.
1954 The Ford Foundation gives a $25 million grant to the Fund for Advancement of Education.
1959 The FCC applies the equal time rule to TV newscasts of political candidates.
1962 Mercury astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.
1963 Moscow offers to allow on-site inspection of nuclear testing.
1965 Ranger 8 hits the moon and sends back 7,000 photos to the United States.
1968 North Vietnamese army chief in Hue orders all looters to be shot on sight.
1971 Young people protest having to cut their long hair in Athens, Greece.
1982 Carnegie Hall in New York begins $20 million in renovations.
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Thanks to Carl
Today is National Love Your Pet Day
10 Ways to Show Your Pet More Love Today
by Dr. Karen Shaw Becker February 20, 2022
National Love Your Pet Day - February 20 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCpo7CutDk4
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
… For The List for Monday, 20 February 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 20 February 1968…
1968: "The Year the Dream Died"…
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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Monday Morning Humor--Presidents' Day
Meeting the President…A True Tale
When Will Rogers was being taken to the White House to meet President Calvin Coolidge, Vice President Dawes cautioned him not to try to be funny because the President had no sense of humor whatsoever.
Undaunted, Rogers bet Dawes that he could have Coolidge laughing within 20 seconds.
When the formal introduction was made, Dawes began by saying, 'Mr. President, may I introduce my friend, Mr. Will Rogers.'
Rogers held out his hand with a questioning look and said, 'Pardon me, I didn't quite get the name.'
Coolidge roared with laughter, and Rogers won the wager.
Why do Americans choose just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?
When is Presidents Day a sad reminder? If your wallet is filled with pictures of the first president.
Presidential quotes…
• "My esteem in this country has gone up substantially. It is very nice now when people wave at me, they use all their fingers."—Jimmy Carter
• "An atheist is a guy who watches a Notre Dame-SMU football game and doesn't care who wins."—Dwight Eisenhower
• "It was absolutely involuntary. They sank my boat."—John Kennedy
• "I know only two tunes: one of them is Yankee Doodle, and the other isn't."—Ulysses Grant
• "Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession…and I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."—Ronald Reagan
• "In my many years I have come to a conclusion that one useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress."—John Adams
• "I don't know whether it's the finest public housing in America or the crown jewel of the American penal system."—Bill Clinton (on the White House)
• "These stories about my intellectual capacity really get under my skin. You know, for a while I even thought my staff believed it. There on my schedule first thing every morning it said, 'Intelligence Briefing.'"—George W. Bush
• "I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting."—Ronald Reagan
• "I hope you're all Republicans."—Ronald Reagan (speaking to his physicians after being shot)
• "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."—John Adams (on his time as vice president)
• "I'm surprised that a government organization could do it that quickly."—Jimmy Carter (after a guide in Egypt told him it took only 20 years to build the Great Pyramid)
• "They're all mine, son."—Lyndon B. Johnson (addressing a Marine who said, "Mr. President, this is your helicopter over here")
• "You lose."—Calvin Coolidge (after a young woman sitting next to him at a dinner party said she had bet that she could get at least three words of conversation from him)
President puns…
• What would you get if you crossed George Washington with cattle feed? The fodder of our country!
• What rock group has four guys who don't sing? Mount Rushmore!
• What's the difference between a duck and George Washington? Well, one has a bill on its face and the other has his face on a bill.
• Which one of Washington's officers had the best sense of humor? Laughayette.
• Why did Barack Obama bulldoze the Rose Garden? He didn't want any Bushes at the White House.
• What was Thomas Jefferson's favorite dessert? Monti jello.
• What do you call George Washington's false teeth? Presidentures.
• How did Lincoln know that the North would win the Civil War? After a while, he took it for Grant-ed.
• Which US president is featured in sci-fi movies? Ronald Ray Gun.
Some believe that on Presidents' Day, if the President leaves the White House and sees his shadow, it means one more year of BS.
Have a good week,
Al
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"The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected."—Will Rogers
Thanks to Frank….The history notes that I receive from list members never ceases to amaze me. I am not a historian as such but I have read a lot and continue to share it on the list but just when I think I know a bit more than some this kind of thing comes a long and it opens up my mind to how much is out there that I do not know about things that happened. History is a great teacher.
Iwo Jima and the 147th Infantry Regiment, US Army
Skip,
While I am aware that the Battle for Iwo Jima is considered a US Marine operation, it must be noted that the 147th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, fought with the Marine Corps on Iwo Jima. Not as follow-on troops to be used as garrison "clean up" but as assault troops. They scaled Mount Suribachi in attempts to relieve fire on the assaulting marines. And, then after Iwo Jima was "declared" secure, and the Marine Corps departed, the 147th Infantry Regiment continued the fight to clear the remaining Japanese from the caves and other fortifications. The 147th Infantry Regiment was attached to the 4th Marine Division at this time.
The 147th Infantry Regiment has the distinction of having fought alongside the Marine Corps in the following battles Guadalcanal, Saipan, Tinian, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. And, has the distinction of having fought in the above noted battles where marine units cannot.
Currently, the 147th Infantry Regiment is part of the Ohio National Guard system.
Not bring any sort of disparaging remarks against the Corps, I trained with the corps in 1967, but the Battle of Iwo Jima was a battlefield of the United States Army as well. This unit never received, nor receives any sort of recognition for their contribution to World War Two and their association with the US Marine Corps and its history.
Frank W. Raymond, Jr.
SFC, US Army (Ret)
MM2(SS) US Navy
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Thanks to Barrett
Skip, ref Iwo Jima...in case any Bubbas are interested.
I wrote this article in the mid 70s when plenty of VIII Fighter Command vets are available including the CO. It's been reprinted 2 or 3 times since.
https://www.airforcemag.com/PDF/MagazineArchive/Documents/2013/April%202013/0413iwo.pdf
The Mustangs of Iwo - Air Force Magazine of Iwo By Barrett Tillman any pilot who has flown a single-engine airplane be-yond sight of land has experienced the syndrome: enhanced hearing and a pessimistic anticipation of trouble.
Flying the F-8 between Japan and Okinawa and the Philippines and Vietnam Out of range of navaids and relying on DR was entertaining sometimes when the winds at altitude were not what was given in our METRO brief.
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Thanks to Carl
Presidents' Day is About Patriotic Love and Freedom - American Thinker
(Schools nationwide are dropping the names of former presidents, from 6,061 in '86 to 4,889 in '20! See: https://news.yahoo.com/us-schools-dropping-presidential-names-112550973.html Sure it even more now?)
February 20, 2023
Presidents' Day is About Patriotic Love and Freedom
By Paul Krause
It is now fashionable to deride our presidents as part of the woke deconstruction and desecration of America. Two of America's most noble presidents, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, whom Presidents' Day honors most especially, are routinely scrutinized by the vandals running through our country and institutions. Why?
The two most consequential presidents are the ones whom the woke despise most. Washington is the "Father" of the United States. But what America is he the father of? The America of liberty, the rule of law, and defender of freedom or the America of racism, white supremacy, and historical injustices? Likewise, Lincoln held the union together, is remembered as the Great Emancipator, and ensured that a united America would stride into the next century in which the United States would be the great bastion of freedom against the totalitarianisms of modernity. Or was he guilty of perpetuating the sins of the past as is now becoming trendy to assert?
The hatred of Washington is very straightforward. Humans live by stories. Because we live by stories, Washington is the central figure in whom two stories of America can be told: the America of liberty, justice, and the rule of law or the America of racism and injustice.
While it is fashionable to deride critics as rewriting history, the truer understanding is that critics want to tell another story because history is alive through the stories we tell. The 1619 Project and other woke ideologues want to tell a story in which the America of liberty, justice, and the rule of law is replaced by the America of slavery, injustice, and racism. Washington stands on this crossroad because he is the first president after the Constitution's ratification -- Washington must either be understood as a champion of liberty and equality or a complicit (if not explicit) defender of oppression, injustice, and white supremacy. The woke choose the latter story.
Hating Lincoln has become a newer fad, but for reasons understandable once the woke ideology is understood. At its core, woke ideology hates everything to do with America -- the historical America and the America of today which is the product of that historical legacy. Furthermore, in its hatred of everything to do with America, it celebrates everything not American: the alien, the foreign, the other. Lincoln need not apply.
Lincoln, because he represents the historic America, because he advanced the cause of Manifest Destiny at the expense of indigenous tribes, and because he represents the supposed "white savior" complex, is also someone who needs to be destroyed. In fact, Democrats in D.C. and in other states have already removed statues of Lincoln and want to remove more statues of Lincoln. Lincoln, therefore, in the story the woke tell, represents the continuation of the system born from Washington, the Founding Fathers, and America's colonial heritage which the woke proclaim is bad, bad, bad.
This story of America as an oppressor writ large is pernicious on many levels. First, it inculcates a spirit of desecration into the hearts and souls of the next generation. Nothing can be built on hatred; hatred only destroys. Second, this story destroys individuality and agency by flattening everyone to historic actions which we are but the outgrowth expression of. It is meant to destroy notions of individual liberty and freedom by saying we are guilty of past actions or victims of past actions. Third, it negates the heroic sacrifices Americans have made, from settlement to today, in the advancement of liberty and justice for all -- both in America and for the world.
Presidents' Day matters because it is an opportunity for us to honor those presidents who helped create a country where a constitution of liberty and the human spirit of ingenuity and freedom could be harnessed, unleashed, and cultivated. If John Lennon wanted us to imagine a utopian world, let us imagine a world without the United States. Let us imagine a world where the United States didn't exist or the union wasn't preserved and the totalitarianisms of the twentieth century couldn't be challenged and defeated with the United States leading the crusade for liberty.
Americans need to reclaim the story of the United States as a country where the advancement of liberty, justice, and equality is part and parcel of our historical experience and mission. The United States has, and is, a country where a more perfect union is constantly becoming a truer reality. The United States has, and is, a country where the heart and soul of human liberty is nurtured and nourished. Washington and Lincoln stand as exemplars of inspiration in this regard, presidents who helped ensure this could become reality. We walk in their footsteps.
The attack on America's presidents is an attack on the understanding we have of ourselves and what story guides our hearts and souls. Presidents' Day is a reminder of what is good in America, the America of liberty that Washington so valiantly fought for and the America of liberty and equality that Lincoln so nobly stood for. That America would prove indispensable for the conflicts of the twentieth century where the human heart and soul was nearly destroyed by the totalitarian evils that so viciously and violently assailed the world.
We must ensure that America doesn't slip into the totalitarian temptation. I mentioned that hatred cannot build but only destroy, since it lacks the nurturing spirit of love. The totalitarianisms that this noble nation helped to defeat in the past century were built on hatred -- hatred of Jews, hatred of capitalists, hatred of Christians, hatred of everyone not Aryan or communist. Washington and Lincoln stand to remind us of the power of patriotic love and duty, and how patriotic love and duty can, and will, lead to a new birth of freedom. In honoring them, we honor how patriotism nurtures the goodness in us that is called upon to make sacrifices for others.
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Thanks to Cärl…..This is just terrible…..
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/02/the_us_navy_lowers_its_standards_yet_again.html
February 19, 2023
The U.S. Navy lowers its standards yet again
By Andrea Widburg
Since 2015, the U.S. Navy has enacted several "one-time resets" that lower sailors' physical standards. This time, the excuse for this "one-time reset" is the lockdowns. That seems like a thin cover for what's really happening, which is that the U.S. Navy, which has become increasingly woke, seems determined to destroy its legacy as a proud, honorable institution that has been protecting American interests for 228 years.
The Navy Times reports on the decision to erase any physical fitness failuresfrom sailors' records:
Sailors with a physical fitness assessment failure on their record will receive a clean slate that will allow them to remain in the service, under a new Navy policy unveiled Thursday.
The shift is part of a Navy-wide campaign aimed at improving accessions, retention and attrition so the service can hit its end-strength goals for 2023, according to Rear Adm. James Waters III, director of military personnel, plans and policy.
"This is connected because it clearly affects attrition, right? It will reduce attrition if we do not separate sailors based on past PFA failures," Waters told reporters Wednesday. "But it came about through all of the analysis for this campaign plan, through a recognition that we don't want to punish sailors because gyms were closed during the pandemic. We don't want to disadvantage sailors."
The Navy contends that this is a "one-time reset" to counter sagging enlistment and reenlistment, but you and I know that's not true. Back in 2017, the Navy also did a "one-time reset." Again, the problem was sagging enlistment. And in 2015, the Navy had another reset, changing its body fat requirements to help deal with an increasingly unfit American population.
It's certainly true that Americans are bigger and less healthy, especially since the lockdowns. However, the real problem is that people don't want to be in America's military, and who can blame them? It bugged out of Afghanistan in a humiliating and deadly way, and the top brass is obsessed with racism, sexism, homosexuality, and gender identity.
I'm inexorably reminded of going to the downtown San Francisco public library in the late 1980s to get a book I needed and finding myself trapped in one of several endless check-out lines. I soon saw that all three lines were staffed by obvious affirmative action hires who, regardless of their actual abilities, knew that they couldn't lose their jobs. Knowing that fact, they were expending the bare minimum of energy without regard to speed or efficiency. Put another way, if you're not committed to the job and you can get away with less, why do more?
One smart, fast person could have done all their work and done so much better, and all at a significant saving for San Francisco taxpayers. I mark that moment as one of the many little light bulbs that went off over my head, steering me inexorably toward conservativism.
The lesson for me was that affirmative action gods demand expensive sacrifices, and the people suffer. In the same way, our increasingly woke military is regularly signaling that America must be prepared to suffer in service to the woke gods. It will put increasing emphasis on people who would never have been considered fit to serve, whether physically or psychologically, aided by the fact that too many Americans, wedded to TikTok and junk food, become ever more incapable of physical activity.
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A great read from The Early Bird Brief
A story of Medal of Honor Hershel "Woody" Williams'time on Iwo Jima where Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz describes the invasion, from which 27 Medals of Honor are given, as one "where uncommon valor was a common virtue."
Hershel "Woody" Williams' eyes still sparkle with a country boy optimism not even memories of unimaginable horrors can dull.
Artifacts of a distinguished Marine Corps career adorn the walls and tabletops of his quaint West Virginia home. Plaques, commemorative coins, a Marine noncommissioned officer sword, and other ornamental tokens tell an unforgettable story of a fabled, yet remarkably humble life.
At 96, the Medal of Honor recipient who grew up on a farm just miles from his current residence maintains an indefatigable lifestyle that would wear down men 50 years his junior. He'll soon be embarking on a multi-city trip to promote the Hershel "Woody" Williams Medal of Honor Foundation, an organization that provides support to Gold Star families.
Williams, one of just two surviving Medal of Honor recipients from World War II, settles into his favorite brown leather recliner before tapping into his remarkably sharp memory bank to discuss the matter at hand — the 75th anniversary of the horrific Battle of Iwo Jima.
His life, he begins with a sly smirk washing across his face, could have gone down an entirely different path had the Marine Corps not made the simple move of alleviating their height requirement. At just 5 foot 6, Williams, whose keen sense of humor is rivaled only by his recollection, was two inches shy of the Corps' cutoff point in 1942 when he attempted to enlist.
Like many Americans at the time, Williams was spurred on to join the military following the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, a place, he admits, he had never heard of before Dec. 7, 1941.
"In fact, most of us didn't even know we had a Pacific Ocean," he laughs.
Two of Williams' brothers were drafted into the Army in the wake of the attack. From time to time they would return to the farm on leave, and Woody would see them walking up the road wearing "that old drab, brown wool uniform that looked horrible," he jokes.
Woody knew then that he wanted to be a Marine. "I decided I didn't want to be caught in that thing."
With Marine casualties mounting on a small island in the Pacific called Guadalcanal, the Corps loosened its height restrictions. Woody, with his now-permissible stature, made an immediate trip to the Marine Corps processing station, where he was greeted, in true military tradition, by a stack of paperwork and a long line.
But as he approached the receptionist, Woody realized he had left one section of the paperwork blank. At the top of the required space was the word "Religion."
"I'd never been to church in my life. I had never heard anything about Methodists or Episcopalian, or Baptists," he says. "As I'm standing in line there was this Italian boy in front of me and he had his paper filled out. So, I peeked! I looked at his and he had the letter 'C' in there. I thought, 'Well, that must be what goes in here.'
"I became a Catholic right then," he says, shifting in his chair to accommodate a bout of laughter. "I got to boot camp and I had to go to mass. Couldn't understand anything anybody said — they were still talking in Latin back in those days!"
Iwo Jima hero recalls landing, fighting on the beach | Military Times Reports Medal of Honor recipient Hershel "Woody" Williams recalls the moments he landed on Iwo Jima, and the moments that lead up to his heroic actions that day, knocking out multiple Japanese pillboxes with his flamethrower.
Boot camp eventually gave way to infantry training, during which time Williams was approached by a gunnery sergeant who informed him he had been selected to train on the flamethrower.
"There were no instructions of how you use the thing — nothing," Williams said. "It had a manual in there that showed all the parts, how to take it apart, put it back together, and the fuel that was to be used. But how do you use it in combat? There was no indication."
Those assigned to use flamethrowers would experiment with various types of fuel in an effort to maximize the weapon's efficacy. First the Marines tried kerosene, which didn't burn hot enough. Next they tested motor oil, gasoline, and diesel, each with underwhelming results.
It wasn't until Williams' gunnery sergeant brought back a mystery drum of 130 octane aircraft fuel, which was subsequently mixed with diesel, that the flamethrower's performance really began to shine.
"Nobody knew where he got it or how he got it, but here he is with it," Williams laughs. "If you fired it into the ground 15 to 20 yards in front of you, it'd roll like a big ball of fire at 3,500 degrees Fahrenheit."
The Marines had turned it into an effective weapon, but no one knew how instrumental the shoulder-carried inferno would be in the months to come.
IWO JIMA
Williams found himself floating on a ship in the Pacific by the time the 1945 calendar turned to February.
There he remained on Feb. 19 as the first waves of Marines waded ashore through Iwo's black sand, the ship far enough from the volcanic island that Williams was unable to hear or see any of the carnage being unleashed on the beach miles away.
"We had been told on the way from Guam to Iwo that we would probably never get off ship because of the size of the island," Williams recalls. "Of course, we had no intelligence on how many Japanese were there. Didn't know that they had miles and miles of tunnels dug out — none of that information was available."
To their surprise, mounting casualties on the island meant the service of Williams' unit would be needed after all. So, on the morning of Feb. 20, Woody, along with hundreds of other Marines, climbed into dozens of circling Higgins boats awaiting the signal to move ashore.
But the signal never came, and each Higgins boat, which carried 35 Marines packed in so tightly that the men had to take shifts standing or sitting, continued on in circles.
"We rode in those Higgins boats all day long," he says. "The waves were running 10 to 12 feet. You were wet all day long — there wasn't a dry spot anywhere. Everybody got sick. It was a horrible, horrible day. We had no chow, and each of us carried two canteens, but that water didn't last very long.
"By the time we got back on the ship that night, not only were we exceedingly hungry, but we were dehydrated. I remember getting aboard at about 11 that night. I got up on the top deck and that's where they found me the next morning. I just couldn't move anymore."
Williams climbed back into a Higgins boat the following morning and relived much of the previous day's misery. This time, however, the Marines got the signal to push toward Iwo. Landing on that wretched beach would change Woody's life forever.
"There are some memories that you would just love to eradicate from your mind and can't," he says. "I can remember running out of the Higgins boat and on both sides were cordwood stacks of bodies. We had no place to put our dead, so they had rolled them in their ponchos and just stacked them up — just rows of them. That memory will just never, ever go away."
With orders to move inland, Williams had no choice but to press on.
Marines who landed on the beaches of Iwo Jima were weighted down. Each man carried two heavy bandoliers of ammunition around their necks, grenades in their pockets, two canteens on their hips, a bedroll attached to their backs, and of course, their rifles. With only one free hand, digging through Iwo Jima's soft, black sand proved to be an excruciating ordeal.
"It's like digging in BBs or trying to dig a hole in a hill of corn," Williams says. "You dig but it just keeps coming back in."
Williams' unit eventually made it beyond the beach to the edge of the Japanese airfield. Looking out, Marines could see hundreds of bomb craters — courtesy of American shelling bombardments in the time leading up to D-Day — that provided the only protection Marines could muster while trying to cross the exposed field of fire.
Scattered men desperately ran from crater to crater — Marines were trained to select a destination before each maneuver to avoid any uncertainty in the open — clinging to the ground to avoid withering Japanese small arms fire and mortars that ripped apart anything that dared move.
"These shell craters weren't very large, so, contrary to everything we'd ever been taught — don't bunch up — protection is protection, so, there'd be 10 or 12 of us in this little shell crater."
Marines were being picked off left and right. Those who managed to make it across the airfield, like Williams, were greeted by a maze of pillboxes that were covered with sand to make them harder to locate. Additional enemy fighters hid in 50 gallon barrels buried in the ground.
"They would get down in that barrel and they would just lift that lid long enough to shoot at you, and then close the lid," Williams recalls.
Japanese pillboxes had an opening running across the front of each enclosure approximately just eight inches in height, leaving the Marines with excessively small targets. Wave after wave of Marines charged on the series of pillboxes but were stifled or cut down.
For some, terror began to set in.
"I have always said hundreds of times that there's always fear," Williams says. "Anybody that tells me they were not afraid when they're being shot at — I don't believe that. But if fear takes over, you become useless."
In those moments of all-consuming fear, one's ability to rationalize, react, or even move can prove insurmountable.
"I've heard them call for mom," Williams remembers. "There's something about moms that have a healing effect on us that dads don't even have. When I was growing up, if I fell and skinned my knee, I'd go to mom. She'd kiss it and it'd get all well. It did something psychologically where it didn't hurt as much afterwards.
"Moms are special."
By Feb. 23, Williams' commanding officer and two others were all that remained of the company's officers. Most of the squad leaders had been killed. Junior Marines were taking on jobs they never dreamed of performing.
After two days of intense fighting, Williams' commanding officer held an impromptu meeting in the cover of one of the larger bomb craters. Officers and senior enlisted were told to attend.
Williams was ordered to join. Due to the lack of senior NCOs, then-Cpl. Williams suddenly found himself elevated to acting sergeant.
"Of course, acting sergeant," Williams jokes. "I want to get paid for my acting!"
In the crater, the commanding officer looked at Williams and asked an earnest question. Could he use a flamethrower to take out the pillboxes?
"I have no idea what I said, but after the campaign was over with somebody made the statement that I had used the words, 'I'll try,'" Williams recalls.
Williams was ordered to move out with a team of four Marines. Looking at his small fireteam, he didn't recognize the faces of two of the men.
"We were so disorganized at that point," he says. "What outfit you belonged to didn't make a difference."
Williams told the two unfamiliar faces to take an indirect route toward the pillbox and fire at its small opening the moment they spotted the acting sergeant approaching the enclosure.
"You know, to keep them from being able to shoot me."
With one Marine at his side, Williams crawled into a bomb crater within view of a pillbox that had been tearing the advancing Marines to shreds. Mustering courage, Williams crawled on his stomach toward the face of the enemy bunker. Unlike Woody, his partner raised up slightly to move in a crouch.
"A bullet hit him, went through his helmet, hit the liner and went around," he says, tracing the circumference of a helmet with his hands.
"It took him right back in that hole. I heard the hit. I looked around and he's not there. So, I crawl back in the hole with him. Of course, I thought he was gone. His eyeballs were rolling around and he's muttering. He was still alive, so I just went on. But he survived and he took that helmet home, I guarantee it."
Japanese small arms fire was so intense on Iwo Jima that one Marine officer once remarked, "You could've held up a cigarette and lit it on the stuff going by." But Williams kept going, eventually reaching the air vent of the first pillbox and inserting the nozzle of the flame thrower.
Williams pulled the trigger and the Japanese gun fell silent.
The unassuming Marine from West Virginia repeated this process on a series of pillboxes, breaking only once to set fire to two enemy riflemen who charged at him with bayonets.
Woody would find out years later that the other two Marines tasked with helping him that day had been killed.
"It changed the whole significance of what this Medal represents," he said. "It really does."
COMING HOME
To no surprise, life back home would never be the same for Williams. The self-described "shy, bashful farm boy" who "was scared to even get up in front of a class in school" now had the eyes of the nation on him.
Despite the uncomfortable celebrity that came with being awarded the nation's highest military honor by President Harry Truman — and the ensuing public speaking engagements — Woody now admits it was a blessing in disguise.
"I was forced to become public, I had no choice," he says. "And it was probably one of the best therapies that I could have had because I couldn't withdraw into myself. I was forced to talk about it, and eventually I could rationalize it and say, 'That's in the past, so leave it there.'"
As he was in the years following the war, Williams remains focused on the future. In March, he'll travel around the globe and step foot on the same tiny island where his heroics would cement his name in the pantheon of Marine Corps legends.
You would never know by talking to the vibrant, youthful 96-year-old that he's endured more in his life than most would in 10 lifetimes.
That's just what a mission against tyranny necessitated, he says. He has no regrets.
Still, Williams admits, taking human lives leaves one with an indelible impression.
"I was raised in an era where the family taught you that you do not kill anything. Not even a bird. Nothing, unless there's a purpose for it," Williams says.
"I know there's no way you can win a war without eliminating the other party. That's war. But there's still something within every human being of sound mind that says, 'There's only one life. You can't restore it.'"
Pausing for a moment, Williams adds that despite the horrors of war in the Pacific, he bears no ill will toward anyone.
"[The Japanese] never did anything to me personally," he says.
"They were trying to do something to my country, and I wasn't gonna let them do that."
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This Day in U S Military History
1726 – William Prescott, U.S. Revolutionary War hero at the Battle of Bunker Hill, is born. Prescott inherited a large estate and resided in Pepperell, Massachusetts. In 1755, he served as a lieutenant and captain in the provincial army under General John Winslow in an expedition against Nova Scotia. His success in that campaign attracted Winslow's attention, and he offered Prescott a commission in the regular army. Prescott declined and retired to his estate after the war. In 1774, he was appointed to command a regiment of minutemen, with which he marched to Lexington to oppose British General Gage's forces. Before Prescott arrived at Lexington, however, the British had retreated, so he joined the provincial army in Cambridge. In 1775, he was sent to Charlestown with 1,000 men, and saw action at the Battle of Bunker Hill, actually fought on Breed's Hill. An advisor of General Gates said of him, "that is Col. Prescott – he is an old soldier, and will fight as long as a drop of blood remains in his veins." During the course of the battle, Prescott reportedly shouted to the Continental troops, "don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes." After the battle, which ended with a British victory with heavy casualties, Prescott returned to his estate. He became a representative in the Massachusetts legislature and served for several years. A statue of Prescott was erected on Bunker Hill in 1881
1944 – A ferry carrying a stock of heavy water on the first stage of a journey from the Ryukan hydroelectric plant to laboratories in Germany is sunk and her cargo lost in attack by Norwegian resistance fighters. Heavy water (or deuterium) is used in atomic research, and is the catalyzing agent in making a Hydrogen bomb.
1944 – During World War II, U.S. bombers began raiding German aircraft manufacturing centers in a series of attacks that became known as "Big Week."
1945 – Nuremberg is attacked by 900 American B-17 bombers with 700 escort fighters. The nominal target is the passenger station and marshalling yards; the escorts conduct strafing runs on locomotives, rolling stock and parked planes. A total of 23 of the American aircraft are lost.
1962 – From Cape Canaveral, Florida, John Hershel Glenn Jr. is successfully launched into space aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first orbital flight by an American astronaut. Glenn, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, was among the seven men chosen by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1959 to become America's first astronauts. A decorated pilot, he flew nearly 150 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War. In 1957, he made the first nonstop supersonic flight across the United States, flying from Los Angeles to New York in three hours and 23 minutes. Glenn was preceded in space by two Americans, Alan B. Shepard Jr. and Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and two Soviets, Yuri A. Gagarin and Gherman S. Titov. In April 1961, Gagarin was the first man in space, and his spacecraft Vostok 1 made a full orbit before returning to Earth. Less than one month later, Shepard was launched into space aboard Freedom 7 on a suborbital flight. In July, Grissom made another brief suborbital flight aboard Liberty Bell 7. In August, with the Americans still having failed to make an orbital flight, the Russians sprinted further ahead in the space race when Titov spent more than 25 hours in space aboard Vostok 2, making 17 orbits. As a technological power, the United States was looking very much second-rate compared with its Cold War adversary. If the Americans wanted to dispel this notion, they needed a multi-orbital flight before another Soviet space advance arrived. It was with this responsibility in mind that John Glenn lifted off from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral at 9:47 a.m. on February 20, 1962. Some 100,000 spectators watched on the ground nearby and millions more saw it on television. After separating from its launching rocket, the bell-shaped Friendship 7 capsule entered into an orbit around Earth at a speed of about 17,500 miles per hour. Smoothing into orbit, Glenn radioed back, "Capsule is turning around. Oh, that view is tremendous."During Friendship 7's first orbit, Glenn noticed what he described as small, glowing fireflies drifting by the capsule's tiny window. It was some time later that NASA mission control determined that the sparks were crystallized water vapor released by the capsule's air-conditioning system. Before the end of the first orbit, a more serious problem occurred when Friendship 7's automatic control system began to malfunction, sending the capsule into erratic movements. At the end of the orbit, Glenn switched to manual control and regained command of the craft. Toward the end of Glenn's third and last orbit, mission control received a mechanical signal from the spacecraft indicating that the heat shield on the base of the capsule was possibly loose. Traveling at its immense speed, the capsule would be incinerated if the shield failed to absorb and dissipate the extremely high reentry temperatures. It was decided that the craft's retrorockets, usually jettisoned before reentry, would be left on in order to better secure the heat shield. Less than a minute later, Friendship 7 slammed into Earth's atmosphere. During Glenn's fiery descent back to Earth, the straps holding the retrorockets gave way and flapped violently by his window as a shroud of ions caused by excessive friction enveloped the spacecraft, causing Glenn to lose radio contact with mission control. As mission control anxiously waited for the resumption of radio transmissions that would indicate Glenn's survival, he watched flaming chunks of retrorocket fly by his window. After four minutes of radio silence, Glenn's voice crackled through loudspeakers at mission control, and Friendship 7 splashed down safely in the Atlantic Ocean. He was picked up by the USS destroyer Noa, and his first words upon stepping out of the capsule and onto the deck of the Noa were, "It was hot in there." He had spent nearly five hours in space. Glenn was hailed as a national hero, and on February 23 President John F. Kennedy visited him at Cape Canaveral. He later addressed Congress and was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City. Out of a reluctance to risk the life of an astronaut as popular as Glenn, NASA essentially grounded the "Clean Marine" in the years after his historic flight. Frustrated with this uncharacteristic lack of activity, Glenn turned to politics and in 1964 announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate from his home state of Ohio and formally left NASA. Later that year, however, he withdrew his Senate bid after seriously injuring his inner ear in fall. In 1970, following a stint as a Royal Crown Cola executive, he ran for the Senate again but lost the Democratic nomination to Howard Metzenbaum. Four years later, he defeated Metzenbaum, won the general election, and went on to win reelection three times. In 1984, he unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for president. In early 1998, NASA announced it had approved Glenn to serve as a payload specialist on the space shuttle Discovery. On October 29, 1998, nearly four decades after his famous orbital flight, the 77-year-old Glenn became the oldest human ever to travel in space. During the nine-day mission, he served as part of a NASA study on health problems associated with aging. In 1999, he retired from his U.S. Senate seat after four consecutive terms in office, a record for the state of Ohio
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*DAMATO, ANTHONY PETER
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 28 March 1922, Shenandoah, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with an assault company in action against enemy Japanese forces on Engebi Island, Eniwetok Atoll, Marshall Islands, on the night of 19 20 February 1944. Highly vulnerable to sudden attack by small, fanatical groups of Japanese still at large despite the efficient and determined efforts of our forces to clear the area, Cpl. Damato lay with 2 comrades in a large foxhole in his company's defense perimeter which had been dangerously thinned by the forced withdrawal of nearly half of the available men. When 1 of the enemy approached the foxhole undetected and threw in a hand grenade, Cpl. Damato desperately groped for it in the darkness. Realizing the imminent peril to all 3 and fully aware of the consequences of his act, he unhesitatingly flung himself on the grenade and, although instantly killed as his body absorbed the explosion, saved the lives of his 2 companions. Cpl. Damato's splendid initiative, fearless conduct and valiant sacrifice reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his comrades.
LAWLEY, WILLIAM R., JR. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 364th Bomber Squadron, 305th Bomber Group. Place and date: Over Europe, 20 February 1944. Entered service at: Birmingham, Ala. Born: 23 August 1920, Leeds, Ala. G.O. No.: 64, 8 August 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action above and beyond the call of duty, 20 February 1944, while serving as pilot of a B-17 aircraft on a heavy bombardment mission over enemy-occupied continental Europe. Coming off the target he was attacked by approximately 20 enemy fighters, shot out of formation, and his plane severely crippled. Eight crewmembers were wounded, the copilot was killed by a 20-mm. shell. One engine was on fire, the controls shot away, and 1st Lt. Lawley seriously and painfully wounded about the face. Forcing the copilot's body off the controls, he brought the plane out of a steep dive, flying with his left hand only. Blood covered the instruments and windshield and visibility was impossible. With a full bomb load the plane was difficult to maneuver and bombs could not be released because the racks were frozen. After the order to bail out had been given, 1 of the waist gunners informed the pilot that 2 crewmembers were so severely wounded that it would be impossible for them to bail out. With the fire in the engine spreading, the danger of an explosion was imminent. Because of the helpless condition of his wounded crewmembers 1st Lt. Lawley elected to remain with the ship and bring them to safety if it was humanly possible, giving the other crewmembers the option of bailing out. Enemy fighters again attacked but by using masterful evasive action he managed to lose them. One engine again caught on fire and was extinguished by skillful flying. 1st Lt. Lawley remained at his post, refusing first aid until he collapsed from sheer exhaustion caused by loss of blood, shock, and the energy he had expended in keeping control of his plane. He was revived by the bombardier and again took over the controls. Coming over the English coast 1 engine ran out of gasoline and had to be feathered. Another engine started to burn and continued to do so until a successful crash landing was made on a small fighter base. Through his heroism and exceptional flying skill, 1st Lt. Lawley rendered outstanding distinguished and valorous service to our Nation.
LUCAS, JACKLYN HAROLD
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division. Place and date: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 20 February 1945. Entered service at: Norfolk, Va. Born: 14 February 1928, Plymouth, N.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with the 1st Battalion, 26th Marines, 5th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 20 February 1945. While creeping through a treacherous, twisting ravine which ran in close proximity to a fluid and uncertain frontline on D-plus-1 day, Pfc. Lucas and 3 other men were suddenly ambushed by a hostile patrol which savagely attacked with rifle fire and grenades. Quick to act when the lives of the small group were endangered by 2 grenades which landed directly in front of them, Pfc. Lucas unhesitatingly hurled himself over his comrades upon 1 grenade and pulled the other under him, absorbing the whole blasting forces of the explosions in his own body in order to shield his companions from the concussion and murderous flying fragments. By his inspiring action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice, he not only protected his comrades from certain injury or possible death but also enabled them to rout the Japanese patrol and continue the advance. His exceptionally courageous initiative and loyalty reflect the highest credit upon Pfc. Lucas and the U.S. Naval Service.
*MATHIES, ARCHIBALD (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U .S. Army Air Corps, 510th Bomber Squadron, 351st Bomber Group. Place and date: Over Europe, 20 February 1944. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Born: 3 June 1918, Scotland. G.O. No.: 52, 22 June 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy in connection with a bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe on 20 February 1944. The aircraft on which Sgt. Mathies was serving as engineer and ball turret gunner was attacked by a squadron of enemy fighters with the result that the copilot was killed outright, the pilot wounded and rendered unconscious, the radio operator wounded and the plane severely damaged. Nevertheless, Sgt. Mathies and other members of the crew managed to right the plane and fly it back to their home station, where they contacted the control tower and reported the situation. Sgt. Mathies and the navigator volunteered to attempt to land the plane. Other members of the crew were ordered to jump, leaving Sgt. Mathies and the navigator aboard. After observing the distressed aircraft from another plane, Sgt. Mathies' commanding officer decided the damaged plane could not be landed by the inexperienced crew and ordered them to abandon it and parachute to safety. Demonstrating unsurpassed courage and heroism, Sgt. Mathies and the navigator replied that the pilot was still alive but could not be moved and they would not desert him. They were then told to attempt a landing. After two unsuccessful efforts, the plane crashed into an open field in a third attempt to land. Sgt. Mathies, the navigator, and the wounded pilot were killed.
*MATHIS, JACK W. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 359th Bomber Squadron, 303d Bomber Group. Place and date: Over Vegesack, Germany, 18 March 1943. Entered service at: San Angelo, Tex. Born: 25 September 1921, San Angelo, Tex. G.O. No.: 38, 12 July 1943. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action with the enemy over Vegesack, Germany, on 18 March 1943. 1st Lt. Mathis, as leading bombardier of his squadron, flying through intense and accurate antiaircraft fire, was just starting his bomb run, upon which the entire squadron depended for accurate bombing, when he was hit by the enemy antiaircraft fire. His right arm was shattered above the elbow, a large wound was torn in his side and abdomen, and he was knocked from his bomb sight to the rear of the bombardier's compartment. Realizing that the success of the mission depended upon him, 1st Lt. Mathis, by sheer determination and willpower, though mortally wounded, dragged himself back to his sights, released his bombs, then died at his post of duty. As the result of this action the airplanes of his bombardment squadron placed their bombs directly upon the assigned target for a perfect attack against the enemy. 1st Lt. Mathis' undaunted bravery has been a great inspiration to the officers and men of his unit.
O'HARE, EDWARD HENRY
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy. Born: 13 March 1914, St. Louis, Mo. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Other Navy awards: Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross with 1 gold star. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in aerial combat, at grave risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty, as section leader and pilot of Fighting Squadron 3 on 20 February 1942. Having lost the assistance of his teammates, Lt. O'Hare interposed his plane between his ship and an advancing enemy formation of 9 attacking twin-engine heavy bombers. Without hesitation, alone and unaided, he repeatedly attacked this enemy formation, at close range in the face of intense combined machinegun and cannon fire. Despite this concentrated opposition, Lt. O'Hare, by his gallant and courageous action, his extremely skillful marksmanship in making the most of every shot of his limited amount of ammunition, shot down 5 enemy bombers and severely damaged a sixth before they reached the bomb release point. As a result of his gallant action–one of the most daring, if not the most daring, single action in the history of combat aviation–he undoubtedly saved his carrier from serious damage.
*TRUEMPER, WALTER E. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps. 510th Bomber Squadron, 351st Bomber Group. Place and date: Over Europe, 20 February 1944. Entered service at: Aurora, Ill. Born: 31 October 1918, Aurora, Ill. G.O. No.: 52, 22 June 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy in connection with a bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe on 20 February 1944. The aircraft on which 2d Lt. Truemper was serving as navigator was attacked by a squadron of enemy fighters with the result that the copilot was killed outright, the pilot wounded and rendered unconscious, the radio operator wounded and the plane severely damaged Nevertheless, 2d Lt. Truemper and other members of the crew managed to right the plane and fly it back to their home station, where they contacted the control tower and reported the situation. 2d Lt. Truemper and the engineer volunteered to attempt to land the plane. Other members of the crew were ordered to jump, leaving 2d Lt. Truemper and the engineer aboard. After observing the distressed aircraft from another plane, 2d Lt. Truemper's commanding officer decided the damaged plane could not be landed by the inexperienced crew and ordered them to abandon it and parachute to safety. Demonstrating unsurpassed courage and heroism, 2d Lt. Truemper and the engineer replied that the pilot was still alive but could not be moved and that they would not desert him. They were then told to attempt a landing. After 2 unsuccessful efforts their plane crashed into an open field in a third attempt to land. 2d Lt. Truemper, the engineer, and the wounded pilot were killed.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 20 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY20 February
1944: BIG WEEK. Through 25 February, Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces began Big Week air raids on German aircraft production to reduce the threat from the Luftwaffe. Using fighter escorts lowered the bomber losses to six percent. (4) (21) MEDALS OF HONOR: On a Eighth Air Force mission to Leipzig, Germany, Sgt Archibald Mathies served as the engineer and ball turret gunner on a B-17, when enemy aircraft attacked. Although the copilot died and the pilot and radio operator were wounded, Mathies and other crewmen still managed to fly to their home base at Glatton, England. Mathies and the navigator volunteered to attempt a landing after the other crewmen jumped to safety. The commanding officer ordered them to parachute, but both men refused to desert the badly wounded pilot, who could not jump. They crashed on their third attempted landing, and all died. Besides Mathies, two other Eighth Air Force officers, 1Lt William R. Lawley and 2Lt Walter E. Truemper, received the Medal of Honor for separate actions. (4)
1945: Secretary of War Henry Stimson approved the establishment of a rocket proving ground at White Sands, N. Mex. (24)
1948: The 43d Bombardment Wing at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., received the first Boeing B-50A Superfortress (Tail No. 46-017) in the Strategic Air Command. It was an improved version of the B-29 with larger engines and a taller fin and rudder. (1) (12) (26)
1950: Operation PORTREX. The largest peacetime maneuver in US history began. It was the first exercise to employ airborne troops in an amphibious operation. (24)
1952: President Harry S. Truman asked Lt Gen James H. Doolittle (Retired) to lead a three-man commission to study relief of airport congestion near large cities. (24)
1953: Lockheed announced a new C-130 turboprop-powered transport for the Air Force.
1962: FIRST ASTRONAUT TO ORBIT. Lt Col John H. Glenn, Jr. (U. S. Marine Corps) flew three orbits around the Earth in his Friendship 7 Mercury capsule to become America's first orbital flyer. His capsule landed in the Atlantic, east of Bahamas, after a 4-hour 56-minute flight. (9)
1964: The USAF awarded contracts to Douglas Aircraft Company, Martin Marietta Corporation, and General Electric Company to study orbital space stations. This study defined tests and experiments for the USAF's Manned Orbiting Laboratory project. (5)
1965: After its launch on 17 February, the Ranger VIII lunar photography probe struck its target on the moon. During the last 23 minutes of flight, the craft radioed about 7,000 closeup pictures of the lunar surface to earth. It hit in the Sea of Tranquility after traveling 248,766 miles. (5)
1972: HARMON TROPHY/Operation LONG FLIGHT. A 57th Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron aircrew flew an HC-130 8,732.09 miles from Chung Chuan Kang AB, Taiwan, to Scott AFB, Ill., without refueling in 21 hours 12 minutes to set a nonstop straight-line distance record for turbo-prop aircraft. The pilot, Lt Col Edgar L. Allison, Jr., later got the 1973 Harmon International Aviation Trophy for the flight. (5)
1978: The Ralph M. Parsons Company began work on the M-X Buried Trench Construction and Test Project in the San Cristobal Valley of the Luke Bombing and Gunnery Range in Arizona. (5)
1997: WOMEN'S EVENT. A joint vote of Vermont's House and Senate elected Lt Col Martha Rainville, Vermont ANG, to be its adjutant general on 1 March . With a promotion to major general, she became the first woman in the history of the militia and National Guard to serve as an adjutant general. (32)
2001: Bad weather at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., caused the Space Shuttle Atlantis to land on the main runway at Edwards AFB, Calif., after a successful trip to the International Space Station. In mission STS-98, the shuttle delivered the Destiny laboratory module to the orbiting station. Pilot Mark Polansky graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School (Class 86B). (3)
2006: GLOBAL WAR ON TERRORISM. Global Hawk No. 3 landed at Edwards AFB after a 23- hour flight from Australia. The RQ-4 returned from four years of operational duty, where it logged 4,245 combat hours supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, and Combined Task Force-Horn of Africa. This tour represented a first in history as the Global Hawk had simultaneously continued its testing while on a prolonged combat tour. (3)
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