To All,
Good Friday morning February 24, 2023.
I hope that you all; have a great weekend. The rain is starting again. It will not be for forty days and forty nights but will flood things a bit.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History
February. 24
Yesterday was the 77th Anniversary of the Iwo Jima Flag Raising.
1813—The sloop of war Hornet, commanded by Capt. James Lawrence, encounters HMS Peacock off British Guyana and easily wins the engagement.
1942—Task Force 16, commanded by Vice Adm. William F. Halsey Jr., leads the Wake Island Raid in an attempt to destroy the Japanese installations on the island.
1944—PBY-5As (VP 63) employing Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) gear, bomb and sink German submarine U 761 as she attempts to transit the Straits of Gibraltar.
1945—USS Lagarto (SS 371) sinks Japanese submarine I 371 and freighter Tatsumomo Maru off Bungo Strait, Kyushu.
1959—USS Galveston (CLG 3) fired the first Talos surface-to-air missile.
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Today in History: February 24
.0786 Pepin the Short of Gaul dies. His dominions are divided between his sons Charles (Charlemagne) and Carloman.
1525 In the first of the Franco-Habsburg Wars, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V captures the French king Francis I at the Battle of Pavia, Italy.
1538 Ferdinand of Hapsburg and John Zapolyai, the two kings of Hungary, conclude the peace of Grosswardein.
1803 Chief Justice John Marshall, by refusing to rule on the case of Marbury vs. Madison, asserts the authority of the judicial branch.
1813 Off Guiana, the American sloop Hornet sinks the British sloop Peacock.
1821 Mexico gains independence from Spain.
1836 Some 3,000 Mexicans launch an assault on the Alamo with its 182 Texan defenders.
1895 The Cuban War of Independence begins.
1908 Japan officially agrees to restrict emigration to the U.S.
1912 The Jewish organization Hadassah is founded in New York City.
1912 Italy bombs Beirut in the first act of war against the Ottoman Empire.
1914 Civil War soldier Joshua Chamberlain dies.
1916 A film version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea opens in New York.
1921 Herbert Hoover becomes Secretary of Commerce.
1928 The New Gallery of New York exhibits works of Archibald Motley, its first show to feature a black artist.
1944 Merrill's Marauders, a specially trained group of American soldiers, begin their ground campaign against Japan into Burma.
1945 U.S. forces liberate prisoners of war in the Los Baños Prison in the Philippines.
1947 Franz von Papen is sentenced to eight years in a labor camp for war crimes.
1959 Khrushchev rejects the Western plan for the Big Four meeting on Germany.
1968 North Vietnamese troops capture the imperial palace in Hue, South Vietnam.
1972 Hanoi negotiators walk out of the peace talks in Paris to protest U.S. air raids on North Vietnam.
1991 General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the coalition army, sends in ground forces during the Gulf War.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Skip… For The List for Friday, 24 February 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 24 February 1968… "Where do we get such men?"…
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 Boysie ... and Dr. Rich
Good Friends Cajun Style
One morning Richoux was walking in the woods when he saw Boudreaux dragging a deer out. "Man that's one fine deer." He said.
"Yea Thib shot him, and I'm dragging it out for him."
Boudreaux said. "Where's Thib?
"Richoux asked. "I left him in the woods a little ways back , I think he had a stroke."
Boudreaux replied. "You left him and brought the deer out, what were you thinking?"
Richoux asked. "Well it was tough call I admit, But I got to thinking ain't nobody gonna steal Thib." Boudreaux replied.
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Holy Crap….Thanks to Barrel
Air Canada ignores instructions
The sky's are getting very dangerous!
Air Canada ignores instructions | msfs2020
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Interesting Fact
Looks like even insects are going woke
Some worker ants don't work.
While ants can be annoying (see: showing up at your picnic table), humans generally regard them as good workers, which is how they've often been portrayed in folklore and fables such as Aesop's "The Ants & the Grasshopper." So it may come as a surprise that not all worker ants are performing at peak productivity; in fact, some research shows that up to 40% of worker ants in a colony may remain idle while other ants trudge on with their duties.
Biologists with the University of Arizona observing ant colonies in 2015 found that many of the ants seemed to slack while other ants performed chores. But in research published two years later by some of the same scientists, the team examined 20 ant colonies, marking some of the creatures with tiny paint drops and observing their movements. When the "lazy" ants were removed from their nest, life and work continued on more or less as before. But scientists discovered a major shift when actively working ants were whisked away; the once-idle ants stepped into their missing counterparts' roles, assuming tasks that were going uncompleted. That encouraged scientists to view them not as lazy, but as part of a reserve force.
One theory for the behavior change is that keeping a team of workers on standby allows ant colonies to remain productive. A similar study in 2018 found that only 30% of workers in fire ant colonies dug tunnels, while other members of the nest waited nearby in a move that actually sped up work by preventing traffic jams in the narrow spaces. And some scientists believe that it's possible certain ants are hard at work at nonvisible jobs that we humans just haven't figured out how to recognize yet. Despite ants outnumbering humans 2.5 million to one, there's much we don't know about how they work together for their tiny, greater good.
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Thanks to Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
https://geopoliticalfutures.com
Daily Memo: The Ukraine War, One Year In
The battle rages on, and its effects have spared no region.
By: GPF Staff
February 24, 2023
It's been a year since Russia invaded Ukraine, and what many believed would be a short-lived conflict rages on. That's not to say it's been a static affair. Over the past 12 months, the war has been through several dramatic stages. Ukraine seemed to have the upper hand early on after Russia failed to reach Kyiv, retreating from the north and focusing on smaller territories near Kherson, Donbass and Kharkiv. By August, Ukraine had stabilized the front and launched a counteroffensive, succeeding in Kharkiv but failing to retake all of the Kherson region. After a few months of mobilization, recruitment and training, it was Russia's turn. Moscow stabilized the front at the end of 2022 and is now back on the offensive.
Meanwhile, both militaries have shown signs of struggle within their respective leaderships. The Ukrainian government implemented sweeping reshuffles after allegations of corruption in the defense establishment. And in Russia, there are deep divides among the conventional armed forces, the Wagner private military group and the Russian Defense Ministry and General Staff. Institutional conflicts like these invariably affect battlefield performance, particularly Russia's ability to advance.
Russian military logic suggests Moscow will continue to fight in the hopes of gaining or regaining control over areas such as Donbass, which Russia already claims as its own. The war has always been existential for Ukraine, so Kyiv won't simply stop fighting either.
There are faint outlines of how the war may end, but much of the damage is already done, many of the ramifications already clear. For better or worse, the conflict has affected and been affected by virtually every region in the world.
United States
The United States was always going to respond to Russia's invasion; it had no interest in allowing Russia to encroach on Europe. A major part of its strategy was to rally Europe behind a shared anti-Russia sentiment. More important, of course, was Washington's support of the war effort. In 2022, the U.S. supplied more than $48 billion worth of aid to Ukraine, of which $23 billion went to the military. This includes sophisticated weapon systems and critical intelligence on Russian assets and movements. With all due respect to Kyiv, Ukrainian forces would not have been able to resist Russia without Washington's aid.
The one thing the U.S. has not provided are physical troops. Committing soldiers to another faraway conflict would escalate the war, and it would be wildly unpopular at home. A recent poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed only 48 percent of Americans support providing weapons to Ukraine, down from 60 percent in May 2022. Nearly a third oppose providing military aid altogether. Data from Pew Research suggests the U.S. threat perception of the war has dropped from half the population to about one-third.
Even so, it is Washington, not Kyiv, that has the bargaining power to end the war with Russia. The U.S. would much rather have a short war than a protracted one, but for talks to work it must negotiate from a position of strength – hence the multitude of material support and the unprecedented sanctions campaign, which has fundamentally changed global trade networks, encouraging reshoring and diminishing dependency on foreign actors.
Europe
The war in Ukraine was a wake-up call for Europe, just not the one Russia expected. Instead of diving Europe, the war united it. (A notable exception is Hungary, which managed to negotiate sanctions exemptions.)
The consequences are many, but two stand out. First, Germany agreed to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, after securing a U.S. commitment to send Abrams tanks. This suggests not only that Berlin is actively growing its military capabilities and formulating a military strategy for the first time in decades, but also that the U.S.-German alliance against Russia is real when tested. Second, the EU engaged in a remarkable amount of coordination in finding solutions to the energy crisis the war ushered in.
In this sense, the EU has reached an inflection point. How long its unity lasts will depend on how long the war lasts and whether Russia severs energy supplies to Europe altogether. If that happens, EU member states will be forced to coordinate with one another, even as they struggle to find new energy supplies. That struggle has renewed European interest in North Africa, and has brought home the need to maintain good standing with the United States.
To that end, Washington will help them as best it can – provided they maintain a unified front on Russian sanctions, of course. If the U.S. doesn't help, Europe's newfound unity could dissolve. This is the bet that Russia is making, and this is why time is on its side. The longer the war drags on, the more that countries like Austria, Hungary and Poland will quarrel with each other and with Brussels, each for their own reasons. If that happens, anti-Russia sanctions are less likely to work.
East Asia and South Asia
From the beginning, China found itself pitted between Russia and the United States. Beijing's alliance with Moscow has been more theoretical than practical, based on little more than a shared animosity toward Washington. This explains why Beijing has spoken against the U.S. and the EU but has done little in the way of proactively helping Moscow – the recent rumors of lethal weapons shipments notwithstanding. China cannot afford to run afoul of the U.S., its top trading partner and a valuable source of much-needed foreign investment, when its economy is in such disrepair.
Meanwhile, Moscow has become increasingly reliant on Chinese companies and consumers. Chinese energy traders and companies have started to fill the void left by Western firms leaving Russia. China also bought deeply discounted Russian oil. Out of 60 automobile brands that sold cars in the Russian market before the war, only 14 are left, 11 of which are Chinese. In late December, Russia opened the new Power of Siberia gas pipeline to China. The line is expected to help Russia transition its energy exports away from Europe while helping China come closer to meeting its energy demands.
Elsewhere, the Ukraine war presented opportunities for Japan and North Korea. Japan has taken a prominent role in condemning Russia and has participated in sanctions against it. It was notable insofar as Tokyo stepped closer to center stage – something we believe Japan, as a rising power, promises to do. The war also presented North Korea with the opportunity to lash out and renew its military threats at a time when the U.S. and, to a lesser extent, Japan and South Korea were distracted by the Ukraine conflict, particularly with respect to economic pressures.
Farther south, India is becoming a new prize in the competition between Russia and the West. India has long pursued a strategy of playing greater powers off one another, but its emergence as an economic and geopolitical force is allowing it to more effectively dictate terms. It is not ready to sever relations entirely with Russia, which is a longtime ally and key supplier of military hardware. If anything, the past year saw bilateral cooperation reach new levels. For Russia, India is a significant and undersaturated market, one that can offer profitable trade and new logistics routes. For India, Russia is a source of now-cheaper oil. Russia's share in Indian crude oil imports exceeded 25 percent for 11 months of 2022. The supply of Russian crude to India increased by 9.5 times and reached $19.7 billion, and the trend was similar for oil products (fivefold increase, to $2.5 billion) and coal (fourfold, to $3.8 billion).
Through it all, Washington has tried to get India to have a clearer stance on Ukraine and enhance cooperation and participation in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. There are limits to how far the U.S. can pressure India – New Delhi, it seems, was too important to its Indo-Pacific strategy to punish for trading with Russia. All told, India could leverage the Ukraine war to improve its international standing.
Middle East
The war has given several Middle Eastern states more room to maneuver in their foreign policies.
The biggest beneficiary has been Turkey. Ankara has provided drones to Ukraine to fend off Russian offensives even as it maintains close ties with Moscow. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used his leverage on both sides to mediate a deal between Moscow and Kyiv to ensure grain shipments through the Black Sea are able to continue. Notably, Turkey had been expanding its footprint in Russia's traditional sphere of influence, including in the Caucasus, and now that Russia is distracted, it can do likewise in the Black Sea basin.
Meanwhile, Russia has had to rely on Iran for drones and other weaponry – something that has helped Tehran, which is still reeling from economic sanctions of its own. In exchange for assisting Russia with military hardware and advisers, Iran has received access to Russian technology, sophisticated weapons platforms and extensive new trade networks aimed at circumventing Western sanctions. The fact that Iran is not as isolated as it was before the Ukraine war has alarmed Israel, which is doing all it can to make sure Iran's cooperation with Russia doesn't strengthen its position in Syria.
Last but not least, Washington's major Arab allies, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have declined to support U.S. efforts to isolate Russia in energy markets. On the contrary, Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have gone out of their way to maintain close relations with the Kremlin. They are not only pursuing their own interests in terms of the oil market but also using the opportunity to gain leverage against the Biden administration, which has had strained relations with both since before the war.
Africa
The war in Ukraine has affected Africa in two important ways. First, the invasion aggravated regional food insecurity.
Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of wheat and grains, together supplying approximately 44 percent of Africa's total consumption in 2021, according to the U.N. World Food Program. After the invasion, Ukraine's Black Sea ports were blockaded, and grain prices around the world spiked. African governments have used different methods to resolve the issue. In Ethiopia, for example, local production has ramped up. The food crisis gave more power to insurgent groups that recruit fighters with promises of food. Many African countries don't have the resources to buy grain from alternative sources and have thus leaned heavily on the West to donate grain.
Second, Africa has again become a battleground in the West-Russia competition. Russia, for example, has gained influence in countries such as Mali, the Central African Republic, Burkina Faso and Sudan by cheaply using the Wagner Group to provide some level of security to their military regimes. African countries help Russia circumvent sanctions, many in the extractive resources sector. If nothing else, it helps to distract the U.S. and Europe from the battlefield.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Distance did not shield Latin America and the Caribbean from the war's negative effects. The war spurred higher inflation throughout the region, prompting cash-strapped governments to provide more financial support to offset the cost-of-living increase. At the same time, rising interest rates and diminished growth prospects worsened debt sustainability in the region.
The war also triggered a food crisis. On paper, Latin America and the Caribbean produce enough food to supply one-sixth of the world's population. But high fertilizer prices exacerbated by the conflict wreaked havoc on the region, forcing farmers to reduce their plantings. Drought further dampened crop yields. The result on the region may be worsening poverty and greater food insecurity.
Strategically, Latin America and the Caribbean have played a minor role in the war. Most of the countries have maintained official ties with Russia and avoided any explicit condemnation of the Kremlin. However, the region's proximity to the U.S. means Moscow could try to use it to pressure Washington, for instance by leveraging Russia's relationships with Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.
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Thfanks to DR and Rich
Date: Thu, Feb 23, 2023 at 9:03 PM
Subject: Some Happy Stories today
Hi to all -
Callisburg, TX
A retired 80 year old school janitor had to go back to work when his rent was raised by $400 per month, and he no longer could afford it. He was known to students and staff as Mr. James. When they heard his story, they set up a GoFundMe account, and raised $162,000 for Mr. James in only one week. He gets to stay in his apartment, and return to being retired.
St. Louis, MO.
Soros appointed prosecutor Kim Gardner has often been in the headlines for her terrible decisions in failing to prosecute crime, and releasing criminals. A recent release went out and murdered some other people, and this was too much for the city. The city charged her with 'neglect' of her actual job, and gave her 24 hours to resign or be fired. One down, many more to go...
East Palestine, Ohio
Pronounced palesteen DR
Trump paid them a visit yesterday, bringing many pallets of water, and spreading hope and joy to cheering crowds. This finally forced Mayor Pete to put in an appearance, sort of. He came at 8 a.m., refused interviews, told reporters to turn off their cameras, and made a very uncomfortable short statement that none of this was his fault, it was all Trump's fault, please don't ask him to actually DO anything. Even the EPA is making noises about treating this as an actual disaster, in spite of their denials so far. And, none of these folks will drink the local water...
Would you? DR
This is very revealing. The left makes noises about the environment, but they do not actually care. They, like Joy Reid of The View, think that this is punishment for the town for voting for Trump (he won there by 45 points), and hate having to actually treat fellow Americans as equals. It shows them to be dishonest, petty, vindictive and dishonest. This should affect the vote of all but the True Believers. The left keeps painting themselves more and more into a corner, and have no option but to double down on all their failed ideas. This in turn will alienate more and more people, and they will repeat this death spiral again and again.
Imagine how different the government response would have been if this had happened in a place like Martha's Vineyard, or perhaps some other liberal, white, community.
Chuck Shumer
He says that releasing the J-6 videos to Tucker Carlson is 'one of the worst security risks since 911'. He is correct. This puts the entire democrat party at risk, showing them to have committed serious crimes and cover-ups to promote an evil agenda. This should, but probably will not put a lot of senior democrats in jail, but it will certainly affect the next round of elections.
NPR
This network is experiencing 'major layoffs' due to drop in revenues. Woke is broke. If it was not for taxpayer funding, they would be closed already.
From an 'unnamed' Pharmaceutical company
Andrew and Gray Stiles, both 37, have been indicted for securities fraud. Seems they had access to a non-public proposal to have Kodak made chemicals for the C-19 project, a contract worth $760 million. With this information, they bought stock, which then increased in value by 2500%. Wonder if they were friends of Nancy?
Sam Bankman-Fried
He has been indicted on 4 fraud charges, and 8 more conspiracy charges. He will likely walk, too many major players tied to his scams.
Mark Middleton
He was the 'suicide' found dead of a gunshot, with no gun in sight. Except that this report was incorrect. The shotgun in question was found a few feet away, possibly carried there by the effect of the blast. Still listed as a suicide. Right.
Some of us older types remember her as the bushy haired revolutionary, member of the Weather Underground, and all around bad child from the 1960's. She later became a 'respected university professor' like so many other radicals of her time. PBS does a show called 'Finding Your Roots' where they trace back your family tree. Angela was on that show, and learned that she was a descendent of one of the 101 people on the Mayflower - making her part of the founding families of America, seeking religious freedom. Angela fell to pieces over than, since she believed she was from an Alabama slave family. Well, on her mother's side, she was from a Revolutionary War soldier named Steven Darden. He was a white plantation owner in Georgia, who did own slaves to literally work his cotton plantation. This changed all that Angela, now 79, thought about her past and how she lived her life.
Forsyth County, GA
Parents there objected to sexually explicit books in the school library, put there by the local school board. So, they went to board meetings, and to show what these board members were doing to their children, began reading these books out loud. This greatly offended the board, because it was offensive. They tossed out the ladies and barred them from ever attending a board meeting again. So, the ladies, now known as the 'Mama Bears' sued, and won. Stopping them from reading public school materials in a public school meeting is unconstitutional, say the courts. And, by the way, the school board must pay the $100,000 in legal fees the ladies incurred and may not be barred from any future meetings of the board.
On the flip side...
DOD was discovered to be 'leaking' personal information to democrat 'opposition research groups' targeting former military people running as republicans. The military is by law, non-political. So, this is a crime.
Alaska
A local GOP official actually said that having children die from child abuse had an upside - it reduced taxpayer costs for child support services. I seem to recall the Nazi's said similar things - that 'eliminating' the sick, mentally ill or disabled youth was a cost saving measure.
Correct you are, Rich.
That was the basis upon which the "Final Solution" was founded and explains how the vast majority of non-Nazi Germans supported the extermination of "inferior races". DR
'Trang'
This is some new street drug, often used to cut Heroin or Fentanyl. It is very toxic, causing the skin to rot, and serious internal distress as well. Sounds like the plot of some Zombie movie, with people rotting apart and falling dead on the streets.
Florida
A 19 yo black male shot up a group of people, then left the area, only to return to shoot four more people, while grinning broadly. He had become evil, and one who seeks the blood of others. A reporter and 9 yr. old girl were two of his victims. We are becoming a society of really evil people.
Rich
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This Day in U S Military History
1944 – Maj. Gen. Frank Merrill's guerrilla force, nicknamed "Merrill's Marauders," begin a campaign in northern Burma. In August 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill agreed to create an American ground unit whose sole purpose would be to engage in a "long-range penetration mission" in Japanese-occupied Burma. This mission would consist of cutting Japanese communications and supply lines and otherwise throwing the enemy's positions into chaos. It was hoped that this commando force could thus prepare the way for Gen. Joseph Stillwell's Chinese American Force to reopen the Burma Road, which was closed in April 1942 by the Japanese invaders, and once again allow supplies and war material into China through this route. Within the military, a type of "Help Wanted" ad was put up with the president's authority, an appeal for applicants to participate in a "dangerous and hazardous mission." About 3,000 soldiers volunteered from stateside units to create what was officially called the 5307th Composite Unit, code named "Galahad." It would go into history as Merrill's Marauders, after Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill, their commander. Brigadier General Merrill trained his men in the art of guerrilla warfare in the jungles of India, for secrecy's sake. The commando force was formed into six combat units–Red, White, Blue, Green, Orange, and Khaki–with 400 men in each (the remaining 600 men or so were part of a rear-echelon headquarters that remained in India to coordinate the air-drops of equipment to the men in the field). The Marauders' mission began with a 1,000-mile walk through dense jungle, without artillery support, into Burma. On February 24, 1944, they began their Burmese campaign, which, when done, consisted of five major and 30 minor engagements with a far more numerous Japanese enemy. They had to carry their supplies on their backs and on pack mules, and were resupplied only with airdrops in the middle of the jungle. Merrill's Marauders succeeded in maneuvering behind Japanese forces to cause the disruptions necessary to throw the enemy into confusion. They were so successful, the Marauders managed even to capture the Myitkyina Airfield in northern Burma. When their mission was completed, all surviving Merrill's Marauders had to be evacuated to hospitals to be treated for everything from exhaustion and various tropical diseases to malnutrition or A.O.E. ("Accumulation of Everything"). They were awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation in July 1944, which was re-designated the Presidential Unit Citation in 1966. Every member of the commando force also received the Bronze Star, a very rare distinction for an entire unit. Merrill remained in the Far East and was made an aide to General Stillwell.
1968 – The Tet Offensive ends as U.S. and South Vietnamese troops recapture the ancient capital of Hue from communist forces. Although scattered fighting continued across South Vietnam for another week, the battle for Hue was the last major engagement of the offensive, which saw communist attacks on all of South Vietnam's major cities. In the aftermath of Tet, public opinion in the United States decisively turned against the Vietnam War. As 1968 began–the third year of U.S. ground-troop fighting in Vietnam–U.S. military leadership was still confident that a favorable peace agreement would soon be forced on the North Vietnamese and their allies in South Vietnam, the Viet Cong. Despite growing calls at home for an immediate U.S. withdrawal, President Lyndon Johnson's administration planned to keep the pressure on the communists through increased bombing and other attrition strategies. General William Westmoreland, commander of U.S. operations in Vietnam, claimed to see clearly "the light at the end of the tunnel," and Johnson hoped that soon the shell-shocked communists would stumble out of the jungle to the bargaining table. However, on January 30, 1968, the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese launched their massive Tet Offensive all across South Vietnam. It was the first day of Tet–Vietnam's lunar new year and most important holiday–and many South Vietnamese soldiers, expecting an unofficial truce, had gone home. The Viet Cong were known for guerrilla tactics and had never launched an offensive on this scale; consequently, U.S. and South Vietnamese forces were caught completely by surprise. In the first day of the offensive, tens of thousands of Viet Cong soldiers, supported by North Vietnamese forces, overran the five largest cities of South Vietnam, scores of smaller cities and towns, and a number of U.S. and South Vietnamese bases. The Viet Cong struck at Saigon–South Vietnam's capital–and even attacked, and for several hours held, the U.S. embassy there. The action was caught by U.S. television news crews, which also recorded the brutal impromptu street execution of a Viet Cong rebel by a South Vietnamese military official. As the U.S. and South Vietnamese fought to regain control of Saigon, the cities of Hue, Dalat, Kontum, and Quangtri fell to the communists. U.S. and South Vietnamese forces recaptured most of these cities within a few days, but Hue was fiercely contested by the communist soldiers occupying it. After 26 days of costly house-to-house fighting, the South Vietnamese flag was raised again above Hue on February 24, and the Tet Offensive came to an end. During the communist occupation of Hue, numerous South Vietnamese government officials and civilians were massacred, and many civilians died in U.S. bombing attacks that preceded the liberation of the city. In many respects, the Tet Offensive was a military disaster for the communists: They suffered 10 times more casualties than their enemy and failed to control any of the areas captured in the opening days of the offensive. They had hoped that the offensive would ignite a popular uprising against South Vietnam's government and the presence of U.S. troops. This did not occur. In addition, the Viet Cong, which had come out into the open for the first time in the war, were all but wiped out. However, because the Tet Offensive crushed U.S. hopes for an imminent end to the conflict, it dealt a fatal blow to the U.S. military mission in Vietnam. In Tet's aftermath, President Johnson came under fire on all sides for his Vietnam policy. General Westmoreland requested 200,000 more troops to overwhelm the communists, and a national uproar ensued after this request was disclosed, forcing Johnson to recall Westmoreland to Washington. On March 31, Johnson announced that the United States would begin de-escalation in Vietnam, halt the bombing of North Vietnam, and seek a peace agreement to end the conflict. In the same speech, he also announced that he would not seek reelection to the presidency, citing what he perceived to be his responsibility in creating the national division over Vietnam.
1991 – After six weeks of intensive bombing against Iraq and its armed forces, U.S.-led coalition forces launch a ground invasion of Kuwait and Iraq. On August 2, 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, its tiny oil-rich neighbor, and within hours had occupied most strategic positions in the country. One week later, Operation Shield, the American defense of Saudi Arabia, began as U.S. forces massed in the Persian Gulf. Three months later, the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq if it failed to withdraw from Kuwait by January 15, 1991. At 4:30 p.m. EST on January 16, 1991, Operation Desert Storm, a massive U.S.-led offensive against Iraq, began as the first fighter aircraft were launched from Saudi Arabia and off U.S. and British aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf. All evening, aircraft from the U.S.-led military coalition pounded targets in and around Baghdad as the world watched the events transpire in television footage transmitted live via satellite from Baghdad and elsewhere. Operation Desert Storm was conducted by an international coalition under the command of U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf and featured forces from 32 nations, including Britain, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. During the next six weeks, the allied force engaged in a massive air war against Iraq's military and civil infrastructure, encountering little effective resistance from the Iraqi air force. Iraqi ground forces were also helpless during this stage of the war, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's only significant retaliatory measure was the launching of SCUD missile attacks against Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saddam hoped that the missile attacks would provoke Israel, and thus other Arab nations, to enter the conflict; however, at the request of the United States, Israel remained out of the war. On February 24, a massive coalition ground offensive began, and Iraq's outdated and poorly supplied armed forces were rapidly overwhelmed. By the end of the day, the Iraqi army had effectively folded, 10,000 of its troops were held as prisoners, and a U.S. air base had been established deep inside Iraq. After less than four days, Kuwait was liberated, and a majority of Iraq's armed forces had either been destroyed or had surrendered or retreated to Iraq. On February 28, U.S. President George Bush declared a cease-fire, and Iraq pledged to honor future coalition and U.N. peace terms. One hundred and twenty-five American soldiers were killed in the Persian Gulf War, with another 21 regarded as missing in action.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
COOLEY, RAYMOND H.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Lumboy, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 24 February 1945. Entered service at: Richard City, Tenn. Born: 7 May 1914, Dunlap, Tenn. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He was a platoon guide in an assault on a camouflaged entrenchment defended by machineguns, rifles, and mortars. When his men were pinned down by 2 enemy machineguns, he voluntarily advanced under heavy fire to within 20 yards of 1 of the guns and attacked it with a hand grenade. The enemy, however, threw the grenade back at him before it could explode. Arming a second grenade, he held it for several seconds of the safe period and then hurled it into the enemy position, where it exploded instantaneously, destroying the gun and crew. He then moved toward the remaining gun, throwing grenades into enemy foxholes as he advanced. Inspired by his actions, 1 squad of his platoon joined him. After he had armed another grenade and was preparing to throw it into the second machinegun position, 6 enemy soldiers rushed at him. Knowing he could not dispose of the armed grenade without injuring his comrades, because of the intermingling in close combat of the men of his platoon and the enemy in the melee which ensued, he deliberately covered the grenade with his body and was severely wounded as it exploded. By his heroic actions, S/Sgt. Cooley not only silenced a machinegun and so inspired his fellow soldiers that they pressed the attack and destroyed the remaining enemy emplacements, but also, in complete disregard of his own safety, accepted certain injury and possible loss of life to avoid wounding his comrades.
LEVITOW, JOHN L.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Air Force, 3d Special Operations Squadron. place and date: Long Binh Army post, Republic of Vietnam, 24 February 1969. Entered service at: New Haven, Conn. Born: 1 November 1945, Hartford, Conn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Levitow (then A1c.), U.S. Air Force, distinguished himself by exceptional heroism while assigned as a loadmaster aboard an AC-47 aircraft flying a night mission in support of Long Binh Army post. Sgt. Levitow's aircraft was struck by a hostile mortar round. The resulting explosion ripped a hole 2 feet in diameter through the wing and fragments made over 3,500 holes in the fuselage. All occupants of the cargo compartment were wounded and helplessly slammed against the floor and fuselage. The explosion tore an activated flare from the grasp of a crewmember who had been launching flares to provide illumination for Army ground troops engaged in combat. Sgt. Levitow, though stunned by the concussion of the blast and suffering from over 40 fragment wounds in the back and legs, staggered to his feet and turned to assist the man nearest to him who had been knocked down and was bleeding heavily. As he was moving his wounded comrade forward and away from the opened cargo compartment door, he saw the smoking flare ahead of him in the aisle. Realizing the danger involved and completely disregarding his own wounds, Sgt. Levitow started toward the burning flare. The aircraft was partially out of control and the flare was rolling wildly from side to side. Sgt. Levitow struggled forward despite the loss of blood from his many wounds and the partial loss of feeling in his right leg. Unable to grasp the rolling flare with his hands, he threw himself bodily upon the burning flare. Hugging the deadly device to his body, he dragged himself back to the rear of the aircraft and hurled the flare through the open cargo door. At that instant the flare separated and ignited in the air, but clear of the aircraft. Sgt. Levitow, by his selfless and heroic actions, saved the aircraft and its entire crew from certain death and destruction. Sgt. Levitow's gallantry, his profound concern for his fellowmen, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Air Force and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
*WILBANKS, HILLIARD A.
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Air Force, 21st. Tactical Air Support Squadron, Nha Trang AFB, RVN. Place and date: Near Dalat, Republic of Vietnam, 24 February 1967. Entered service at: Atlanta, Ga. Born: 26 July 1933, Cornelia, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. As a forward air controller Capt. Wilbanks was pilot of an unarmed, light aircraft flying visual reconnaissance ahead of a South Vietnam Army Ranger Battalion. His intensive search revealed a well-concealed and numerically superior hostile force poised to ambush the advancing rangers. The Viet Cong, realizing that Capt. Wilbanks' discovery had compromised their position and ability to launch a surprise attack, immediately fired on the small aircraft with all available firepower. The enemy then began advancing against the exposed forward elements of the ranger force which were pinned down by devastating fire. Capt. Wilbanks recognized that close support aircraft could not arrive in time to enable the rangers to withstand the advancing enemy, onslaught. With full knowledge of the limitations of his unarmed, unarmored, light reconnaissance aircraft, and the great danger imposed by the enemy's vast firepower, he unhesitatingly assumed a covering, close support role. Flying through a hail of withering fire at treetop level, Capt. Wilbanks passed directly over the advancing enemy and inflicted many casualties by firing his rifle out of the side window of his aircraft. Despite increasingly intense antiaircraft fire, Capt. Wilbanks continued to completely disregard his own safety and made repeated low passes over the enemy to divert their fire away from the rangers. His daring tactics successfully interrupted the enemy advance, allowing the rangers to withdraw to safety from their perilous position. During his final courageous attack to protect the withdrawing forces, Capt. Wilbanks was mortally wounded and his bullet-riddled aircraft crashed between the opposing forces. Capt. Wilbanks' magnificent action saved numerous friendly personnel from certain injury or death. His unparalleled concern for his fellow man and his extraordinary heroism were in the highest traditions of the military service, and have reflected great credit upon himself and the U.S. Air Force.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 24, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
24 February
1908: The US awarded its first airship contract to Capt Thomas S. Baldwin. (5)
1914: Due to a large number of accidents and deaths, an Army board at the Signal Corps Aviation School, San Diego, condemned all pusher airplanes. This recommendation basically condemned all Wright aircraft, all pushers. (5) (21)
1915: Tests on the Macy automatic pilot began at San Diego with Raymond V. Morris, a Curtiss test pilot, at the controls. (24)
1949: Republic unveiled its XF-91 jet rocket interceptor at its Farmingdale factory, Long Island. (24) A two-stage rocket, a WAC (Without Altitude Control) Corporal mounted on a V-2 first stage, attained a 250-mile altitude and 5,000 MPH at White Sands Proving Ground. (24)
1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a National Security Council recommendation to build the DEW Line. (20)
1955: Convair's R3Y-1 Tradewind flew cross-country from San Diego to Patuxent River in 6 hours, averaging 403 MPH. This feat made the 80-ton aircraft the world's fastest water-based air transport. (24)
1958: General Curtis E. LeMay, VCSAF, said the Air Force wanted to establish a single tanker force to support all combat operations requiring air refueling. (18)
1960: A Titan I, launched from Cape Canaveral, flew 5,000 miles down the Atlantic missile range on its first full-range flight test. Its reentry vehicle landed in the target area, making the event highly successful. (6) (24)
1961: Cape Canaveral launched the first Atlas E. It flew over 7,000 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range, using an all-inertial guidance system. (6)
1966: At Vandenberg AFB, two 341 SMW combat crews fired two Minuteman I (Model A) missiles simultaneously for the first time to examine multiple-firing techniques. This also marked the first salvo launch down the Western Test Range. (1) (6)
1967: MEDAL OF HONOR. In an unarmed and unarmored O-1 Bird Dog aircraft flying near Di Linh in South Vietnam, Capt Hilliard A. Wilbanks attacked a large body of Vietcong that had attacked a much smaller South Vietnamese ranger force. He used smoke rockets and rifle fire to draw enemy fire and interrupt its advance. He sacrificed his life to protect the withdrawing rangers and received a Medal of Honor for his bravery. (21)
1968: Lockheed rolled out the C-5A Galaxy at its plant in Marietta. (3)
1969: MEDAL OF HONOR. While dropping flares near Saigon, A1C John L. Levitow, a loadmaster, saved the lives of eight crewmembers and their AC-47 aircraft when it sustained a hit from an 82-mm mortar shell. Bleeding from over 40 shrapnel wounds, Levitow dragged another crewmember away from the open cargo door and, without regard for his life, threw himself on a live flare, dragged it to the cargo door, and pushed it out just as it ignited. Levitow then lapsed into unconsciousness. He was the first Air Force enlisted man to receive the Medal of Honor since World War II. (18)
1979: An Atlas booster successfully launched Space Test Program Flight P78-1 from Vandenberg AFB. As its primary payload, the spacecraft carried a gamma spectrometer sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). (5)
1982: NATO's new airborne early warning force at Geilenkirchen AB, Germany, received the first of 18 authorized E-3As. (4) The USAF selected the F-15E over the F-16E for its new dual-role fighter. The USAF planned to buy 393 aircraft with deliveries scheduled to begin in 1988. (30)
1984: Gen Charles A. Gabriel announced the selection of the F-15E as the next dual-role combat fighter. The USAF, however, decided to continue testing on the General Dynamics F-16XL. (3) MAC flew two C-141 missions from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Cherry Point, N.C., to support the withdrawal of US Marines from Lebanon. (16) (26)
1991: Operation DESERT STORM. The ground campaign opened against Iraq. US-backed coalition air forces flew 3,000 sorties in support. Previously, C-130s airlifted Army XVIII Airborne Corps elements from eastern Saudi Arabia to Rafha on the Iraqi border. Flying 300+ sorties a day at 10-minute intervals, the C-130s delivered 13,843 troops and 9,396 tons of cargo. General Norman H. Schwartzkopf's "Hail Mary" maneuver allowed coalition forces to surround Iraq's Republican Guard. In 100 hours, continuous air attacks then allowed the coalition forces to overwhelm the Iraqi ground forces. (16) (21)
1998: President William J. Clinton signed an executive order to call-up of 500 Guardsmen and Reservists for up to 270 days to support military operations in Southwest Asia. (32)
1999: The Orbital Sciences Corporation's X-34 technology-testbed demonstrator airframe arrived at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB for vibration and flight certification tests. It was an unmanned rocket powered vehicle designed to be launched from a modified jetliner, reach orbit, and return to a conventional runway. (3)
2001: Lt Col Stayce D. Harris became the first black female to command a USAF flying squadron, the 729 AS at March AFB. (21)
2005: The AFFTC completed software upgrade testing of the B-1B Lancer to integrate the GBU-38 (500 pound JDAM) munition. (3)
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