To All,
Good Monday morning February 27 2023.
Something for everyone this morning.
I hope that you all had a good weekend. We got a small respite from the rain yesterday afternoon but it is returning this afternoon for a couple of days. I just left the pump by the pool so it is all ready to go.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History February. 27
1928—Pilot Cmdr. Theodore G. Ellyson (Naval Aviator No. 1) and crewmembers Lt. Cmdr. Hugo Schmidt and Lt. Roger S. Ransehousen died when their XOL-7 observation amphibian, BuNo A-7335, crashed into the Chesapeake Bay while en route from NAS Hampton Roads, Virginia, to Annapolis, Maryland.
1942—Seaplane tender USS Langley (AV 3), carrying 32 U.S. Army Air Force P-40 aircraft for the defense of Java, is bombed by Japanese naval land attack planes 75 miles south of Tjilatjap, Java. Due to the damage, Langley is shelled and torpedoed by USS Whipple (DD 217).
1942—The Battle of the Java Sea begins, where the 14-ship Allied forces (American, Dutch, British and Australian) attempt to stop the 28-ship Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies colony of Java. The Japanese, during battles over three days, decimates the Allied forces, sinking at least 11 ships, killing more than 3,370 and taking nearly 1,500 prisoners.
1944—Three U.S. Navy submarines sink three Japanese cargo ships: Grayback (SS 208) sinks Ceylon Maru in the East China Sea; Cod (SS 244) sinks Taisoku Maru west of Halmahera while Trout (SS 202) sinks Aki Maru.
1945—Submarine USS Scabbardfish (SS 397) sinks Japanese guardboat No. 6 Kikau Maru, 100 miles northeast of Keelung, Formosa, while USS Blenny (SS 324) attacks a Japanese convoy off French Indochina and sinks merchant tanker Amato Maru off Cape Padaran.
1945—Land-based patrol aircraft from VPB 112, along with others from three British vessels, HMS Labaun and HMS Loch Fada and HMS Wild Goose, sink German submarine U 327 in the English Channel.
1973—First airborne mine sweep in a live minefield takes place in the Haiphong, Vietnam ship channel by helicopters from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Twelve on board USS New Orleans (LPH 11).
2017—The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Albuquerque (SSN 706) is decommissioned after 33 years of service during a ceremony held at Keyport Undersea Museum.
1942 U.S. aircraft carrier Langley is sunk » in the Battle of the Java Sea
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This day in World history
February 27
425 Theodosius effectively founds a university in Constantinople.
1531 German Protestants form the League of Schmalkalden to resist the power of the emperor.
1700 The Pacific Island of New Britain is discovered.
1814 Napoleon's Marshal Nicholas Oudinot is pushed back at Barsur-Aube by the Emperor's allied enemies shortly before his abdication.
1827 The first Mardi-Gras celebration is held in New Orleans.
1864 The first Union prisoners arrive at Andersonville Prison in Georgia.
1865 Confederate raider William Quantrill and his bushwackers attack Hickman, Kentucky, shooting women and children.
1905 The Japanese push Russians back in Manchuria and cross the Sha River.
1908 The forty-sixth star is added to the U.S. flag, signifying Oklahoma's admission to statehood.
1920 The United States rejects a Soviet peace offer as propaganda.
1925 Glacier Bay National Monument is dedicated in Alaska.
1933 The burning down of the Reichstag building in Berlin gives the Nazis the opportunity to suspend personal liberty with increased power.
1939 The Supreme Court outlaws sit-down strikes.
1942 British Commandos raid a German radar station at Bruneval on the French coast.
1953 F-84 Thunderjets raid North Korean base on Yalu River.
1962 South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem is unharmed as two planes bomb the presidential palace in Saigon.
1963 The Soviet Union says that 10,000 troops will remain in Cuba.
1969 Thousands of students protest President Richard Nixon's arrival in Rome.
1973 U.S. Supreme Court rules that a Virginia pool club can't bar residents because of color.
1988 Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.
1991 Coalition forces liberate Kuwait after seven months of occupation by the Iraqi army.
1827
New Orleanians take to the streets for Mardi Gras
On this day in 1827, a group of masked and costumed students dance through the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, marking the beginning of the city's famous Mardi Gras celebrations.
The celebration of Carnival–or the weeks between Twelfth Night on January 6 and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian period of Lent–spread from Rome across Europe and later to the Americas. Nowhere in the United States is Carnival celebrated as grandly as in New Orleans, famous for its over-the-top parades and parties for Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday), the last day of the Carnival season.
Though early French settlers brought the tradition of Mardi Gras to Louisiana at the end of the 17th century, Spanish governors of the province later banned the celebrations. After Louisiana Territory became part of the United States in 1803, New Orleanians managed to convince the city council to lift the ban on wearing masks and partying in the streets. The city's new Mardi Gras tradition began in 1827 when the group of students, inspired by their experiences studying in Paris, donned masks and jester costumes and staged their own Fat Tuesday festivities.
The parties grew more and more popular, and in 1833 a rich plantation owner named Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville raised money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration. After rowdy revelers began to get violent during the 1850s, a secret society called the Mistick Krewe of Comus staged the first large-scale, well-organized Mardi Gras parade in 1857.
Over time, hundreds of krewes formed, building elaborate and colorful floats for parades held over the two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. Riders on the floats are usually local citizens who toss "throws" at passersby, including metal coins, stuffed toys or those now-infamous strands of beads. Though many tourists mistakenly believe Bourbon Street and the historic French Quarter are the heart of Mardi Gras festivities, none of the major parades have been allowed to enter the area since 1979 because of its narrow streets.
In February 2006, New Orleans held its Mardi Gras celebrations despite the fact that Hurricane Katrina had devastated much of the city with massive flooding the previous August. Attendance was at only 60-70 percent of the 300,000-400,000 visitors who usually attend Mardi Gras, but the celebration marked an important step in the recovery of the city, which counts on hospitality and tourism as its single largest industry.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
… For The List for Monday, 27 February 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 27 February 1968… Westmoreland wants more troops… (Draft call 47,000/month)
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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Thanks to Al
Monday Morning Humor--Signs
Sign at a library: BECAUSE NOT EVERYTHING ON THE INTERNET IS TRUE
Sign at a liquor store (in September): WELCOME BACK TEACHERS
Restaurant / bar signs:
• PILATES? I THOUGHT YOU SAID PIE AND LATTES
• IF YOUR THIGHS TOUCH, YOU'RE ONE STEP CLOSER TO BEING A MERMAID, SO WHO'S THE REAL WINNER HERE?
• I SAW A GUT AT STARBUCKS TODAY. NO IPHONE, NO TABLET, NO LAPTOP. HE JUST SAT THERE DRINKING COFFEE, LIKE A PSYCHOPATH.
• OUR TOWN IS SO SMALL WE DON'T HAVE A TOWN DRUNK SO WE ALL TAKE TURNS
• WE LOVE BACON BECAUSE YOU CAN WRAP IT AROUND ANYTHING. BASICALLY, IT'S THE DUCT TAPE OF FOOD.
• WE DO NOT HAVE WIFI…TALK TO EACH OTHER. PRETEND IT'S 1995
• THE MORE YOU WEIGH, THE HARDER YOU ARE TO KIDNAP. STAY SAFE, EAT CAKE!
• WE HAVE NEVER FOUND A CAVE PAINTING OF A SALAD
• BEER IS NOW CHEAPER THAN GAS. DRINK, DON'T DRIVE
• EITHER YOU LOVE BACON OR YOU'RE WRONG.
• YOUR NAME IS NOT CALVIN KLEIN, YOU ARE NOT AN UNDERWEAR MODEL. IF YOU WANT SERVICE HERE—PULL UP YOUR PANTS.
• 7 DAYS WITHOUT PIZZA MAKES ONE WEAK.
• DON'T STAND THERE AND BE HUNGRY, COME ON IN AND GET FED UP.
Signs at a car dealer:
• THE MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE TO OPERATE, BY FAR, IS THE COSTCO SHOPPING CART
• THE BEST WAY TO GET BACK ON YOUR FEET - MISS A CAR PAYMENT.
Signs at a veterinary clinic:
• WHY CAN'T YOU GIVE ELSA A BALLOON? BECAUSE SHE WOULD LET IT GO
• QUICK FACT-MOST BOBCATS ARE NOT NAMED BOB
• IF CATS COULD TEST YOU BACK, THEY WOULDN'T
• BE BACK IN 5 MINUTES. SIT! STAY!
Sign near a pond: FROG PARKING ONLY. ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOAD
Signs at Indian Hills Community Center:
• DOGS CAN'T OPERATE MRI SCANNERS BUT CATSCAN
• BEFORE THE CROWBAR WAS INVENTED, CROWS HAD TO DRINK AT HOME
• IF YOU HAVE TO WEAR BOTH MASK AND GLASSES, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO CONDENSATION
• TO SOME MARRIAGE IS A WORD. TO OTHERS, IT'S A SENTENCE
• NEVER IRON A FOUR LEAF CLOVER. YOU DON'T WANT TO PRESS YOUR LUCK!
• WATER IS HEAVIER THAN BUTANE BECAUSE BUTANE IS A LIGHTER FLUID
• SOME PEOPLE ARE WISE. SOME ARE OTHERWISE
• MY RELATIONSHIP WITH WHISKEY IS ON THE ROCKS
• KLEPTOMANIACS ALWAYS TAKE THINGS LITERALLY
• THE MAN WHO FELL INTO AN UPHOLSTERY MACHINE IS FULLY RECOVERED
• TERRIBLE SUMMER FOR HUMPTY DUMPTY, BUT HE HAD A GREAT FALL
• WHEN YOU TEACH A WOLF TO MEDITATE HE BECOMES AWARE WOLF
• SANTA GOES DOWN THE CHIMNEY BECAUSE IT SOOTS HIM]
• HUGE FIGHT AT LOCAL SEAFOOD DINER! BATTERED FISH EVERYWHERE
• I SUED THE AIRLINE FOR LOSING MY LUGGAGE. I LOST MY CASE
• COLD? GO STAND IN THE CORNER. IT'S 90 DEGREES
• WENT TO THIS HORRIBLE BAR CALLED THE FIDDLE. IT REALLY WAS A VILE INN
• IF YOUR GUY DOESN'T APPRECIATE FRESH FRUIT PUNS, LET THAT MANGO!
• I WANTED TO BE A MONK BUT I NEVER GOT THE CHANTS
• A PERFECTIONIST WALKED INTO A BAR. APPARENTLY IT WASN'T SET HIGH ENOUGH
Sign outside an office complex: NOW HIRING PEOPLE THAT SHOW UP
Signs at pubs:
• TODAY'S SPECIAL—BUY ONE BEER FOR THE PRICE OF TWO AND RECEIE A SECOND BEER ABSOLUTELY FREE!
• THE PERFECT MARTINI—POUR GIN, VERMOUTH, AND OLIVES INTO THE TRASH WHERE THEY BELONG. DRINK WHISKEY!
• FREE BEER, TOPLESS BATENDERS, AND FALSE ADVERTISING.
• WARNING—DRINKING ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES BEFORE PREGNANCY CAN CAUSE PREGNANCY.UNATTENDED CHILDREN WILL BE GIVEN ESPRESSO AND A FREE KITTEN.
• COME IN AND MEET YOUR FUTURE EX-WIFE.
• JOKES ABOUT GERMAN SAUSAGE ARE THE WURST.
• I DISTRUST CAMELS AND ANYONE ELSE WHO CAN GO A WEEK WITHOUT A DRINK!!
• ALCOHOL AND CALCULUS DON'T MIX, SO DON'T DRINK AND DERIVE.
• ALCOHOL! BECAUSE NO GREAT STORY STARTED WITH SOMEONE EATING A SALAD.
Sign at a nursery: YOU CAN'T PLANT FLOWERS IF YOU HAVEN'T BOTANY
Signs at a campsite:
• WELCOME CAMPERS. SAFE SOCIAL DISTANCING: BEARS 100 YARDS, SKUNKS 50 YARDS, RACCOONS 25 YARDS, AUNT EDNA 6 FEET
• IF YOU GET LOST IN THE WOODS, START TALKING ABOUT POLITICS AND SOMEONE WILL SHOW UP TO ARGUE WITH YOU
Maybe the above are signs of a great week,
Al
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Thanks to Micro.
Skip:
I'm afraid the article on Smedley Butler just doesn't cut it. The author clearly doesn't know what he wants the world to look like, and his ignorance is useful only to make his very weak points.
Only toward the end of the article does the author admit, quoting Butler, that admirals and generals on active duty not only are supposed to remain loyal to their civilian leadership, they are constrained by law from speaking against policy. Most people, the author included, don't know that those same admirals and generals are similarly forbidden by law from speaking against the President and his policies when in retirement. Those that do so are treading a dangerous path, not just for themselves but for all of us.
There are certainly sufficient pundits of 3 or 4 stars from all services that are paid by various cable news outlets to comment on military matters. How many more would satisfy the author?
He decries the military-industrial complex without understanding what it is. He talks about wars for profit, but besides hinting at oil, he has no examples other than weapons and ammunition manufacturers. Heaven forbid that manufacturers that make war material would make a profit on war! Give me a break. There is such a complex, but it's not what he thinks it is.
What about oil? If the author's assumptions were correct, we would have been at war with Saudi Arabia decades ago, we would have invaded Iraq and Iran no later than the 80's, and we would have gone to war with Russia long ago.
Apparently, the author believes in pacifism and isolationism. Those subjects always come up after a series of interventions around the world that look to the untrained eye like ill-thought-out adventures. Of course, some of them may be, but I'm reminded of a part of a speech I once made about World War II:
--"The scope of this World War is mind-boggling. Greece lost 11% of its total population, including 86% of their Jews. They were relentless in keeping the Nazis occupied, saving millions of people in other countries, while hoping the United States could hurry our mobilization. Poland lost 17% of its population, including 91% of their Jews; the Soviet Union lost 27 million people. Germany lost about 7 million and Japan lost about 3 million. Worldwide, about 50% of the losses were civilians. There is certainly something to be said for not fighting a war where you live."--
That last sentence is what we should dwell on. Our isolationism (supported by MGen Butler, along with his penchant for socialism) helped to CAUSE all those losses because we didn't intervene early enough. And fighting "over there" prevented losing hundreds of thousands (or more) of our civilian citizens. Or, worse, living under the thumb of a crazy world dictator.
I think it's important to remember that admirals and generals mostly know about military stuff. They may think they know something about foreign affairs, diplomacy, and politics, but those things are not their expertise. Not what their credentials were built on. However, when they speak out against foreign policy, to the average civilian that doesn't even know anyone in the military, they speak with far more gravitas than their actual credentials should allow. Even if they served in Afghanistan, for example, that doesn't mean they know all about Afghanistan any more than the Secretary of State understands a military operation (in most cases).
If those admirals and generals speak out individually or collectively countering America's current policies and actions, even against proper decorum, what do you suppose the impact would be on the current active duty military? Would those on active duty that previously had kept their heads down and followed orders start to no longer follow orders, or perhaps do so with less enthusiasm and less effectiveness? Is that a desirable outcome of what the author supports?
I don't think so. Yet that is the most obvious outcome if a bunch of retired admirals and generals went public about what they may think in private.
There is never a shortage of those seeking the limelight, but I for one do not want to see ten admirals and ten generals all spouting 20 different opinions on what the President should be doing, with the weight of all their stars "backing up" what they think.
I recall over the past couple of decades occasionally getting emails about some new computer virus. They were sometimes prefaced with "I got this from an admiral" purporting to lend credence to the seriousness of the email. Of course, I know that admirals don't know any more about computers than the rest of us. A lot less than many of us. But their titles meant something.
The same is true where foreign policy is concerned. When you are no longer receiving daily intel briefings, when you are no longer reading the message board, when you no longer have a staff distilling all the important information down to readable summaries, when your most common source of information on matters of vital importance is your favorite cable "news" channel, then perhaps you should keep your mouth shut.
Fortunately, most do.
On the other hand, if an admiral or general wants to inform others about subjects such as the military procurement system, funding processes, military tactics, etc., have at it. It's when an admiral or general presumes to know which wars we should fight (often based on old information), I draw the line.
Micro
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Thanks to Carl whose medical information never cease4s to amaze me
Male SELF EXAMINATION FOR ALZHEIMER'S
DISEASE....It takes less than 15 seconds..
If you are male and over 60 yrs old, you SHOULD take this Alzheimer's Test
How fast can you guess these words and fill-in the blanks?
1. _ _NDOM
2. F_ _K
3. P_N_S
4. PU_S_
5. S_X
6. BOO_S
Answers:
1. RANDOM
2. FORK
3. PANTS
4. PULSE
5. SIX
6. BOOKS
You got all 6 wrong...didn't you?
The good news is:
You do NOT have Alzheimer's.
You are a pervert.
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Thanks to Brett
STRATFOR
ASSESSMENTS
The Weekly Rundown: Serbian and Kosovar Leaders Meet, G-20 Meetings Reveal Divergent Global Priorities
What We're Tracking
Serbian and Kosovar leaders set to meet. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti will meet Feb. 27 in Brussels, where they are expected to formally accept an EU-sponsored Franco-German proposal for the normalization of their bilateral relationship. Once accepted, the plan will bind both parties to continue normalization talks until a comprehensive agreement is reached, after which the two countries could be considered for EU membership. Under the plan, Pristina will have to create an association of semiautonomous Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, while Belgrade will not be required formally to recognize Kosovar independence, but will have to de facto do so by ceasing to obstruct Kosovar membership in international organizations. Moreover, both countries will be required to open representative offices in each other's capitals. The plan is expected to end months of escalating tensions in Serb-majority northern Kosovo that have significantly increased the risk of a new armed conflict in the volatile region.
China prepares for its Two Sessions. China's Central Committee will hold its Second Plenum from Feb. 26-28, during which elite politicians will prepare for the annual Two Sessions legislative meetings of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and National People's Congress, which start on March 4 and March 5, respectively. During this plenum, Chinese leaders will discuss a reform plan for key government bodies, like the congress and consultative conference themselves, as well as who will fill state and Party leadership positions at the Two Sessions. Thus, the plenum readout may provide preliminary insights into developments at the Two Sessions, which will set the trajectory of China's legislative and economic development plans for 2023.
G-20 ministerial meetings reveal divergent global priorities. India will host a meeting of G-20 foreign ministers March 1-2 where divergent priorities between different G-20 members are expected to be on display, particularly as media reports suggest that as early as April, China could send lethal drones to Russia for use against Ukraine. During meetings of the heads of G-20 central banks and finance ministers hosted in India from Feb. 22-5, New Delhi reportedly pushed to keep the war in Ukraine off the table as it tried to focus discussions on issues more important to the Global South like reforms to the World Bank to increase climate funding capacity for low and middle income countries. France and Germany, however, are reportedly pushing for the final statement at the finance ministers meeting to label the conflict in Ukraine a "war," demonstrating that many of the G-20's leading Western countries are still trying to focus on using this — and probably also the subsequent foreign ministers — meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine and deter growing China-Russia cooperation.
Vietnam selects a new president. Vietnam's Central Committee will convene next week to select a new president more than a month after former President Nguyen Xuan Phuc's Jan. 17 forced resignation. The committee will also nominate two new Politburo members to replace Pham Binh Minh and Vu Duc Dam, each forced out Jan. 5. The personnel changes will reflect the influence of Vietnamese Communist Party chief (the most powerful of Vietnam's four pillars of leadership) Nguyen Phu Trong and the declining influence of so-called liberal business-minded technocrats. Acolytes who share Trong's national security and ideological views are the most likely candidates for elevation. Trong, 78, is looking to wrest control of the Party and state apparatuses before his 2026 retirement, implying a continuation of anti-corruption purges and added emphasis on national security and Party ideology. The next president will also be advantageously positioned to succeed Trong as Party boss in 2026 and will immediately become the favorite to do so. The decision thus carries substantial implications for Vietnam's trajectory as political infighting may emerge that threatens Vietnam's comparative advantage over its neighbors in terms of political stability, and Trong's proteges' ideological bent could slow decades of momentum toward a business-friendly, market-oriented economy. A full reversal is extremely unlikely, however, while Vietnam maintains ambitious economic development goals.
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This Day in U S Military History
1942 – The U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier, the Langley, is sunk by Japanese warplanes (with a little help from U.S. destroyers), and all of its 32 aircraft are lost.
1912 as the naval collier (coal transport ship) Jupiter. After World War I, the Jupiter was converted into the Navy's first aircraft carrier and rechristened the Langley, after aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpoint Langley. It was also the Navy's first electrically propelled ship, capable of speeds of 15 knots. On October 17, 1922, Lt. Virgil C. Griffin piloted the first plane, a VE-7-SF, launched from the Langley's decks. Although planes had taken off from ships before, it was nevertheless a historic moment. After 1937, the Langley lost the forward 40 percent of her flight deck as part of a conversion to seaplane tender, a mobile base for squadrons of patrol bombers. On December 8, 1941, the Langley was part of the Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked. She immediately set sail for Australia, arriving on New Year's Day, 1942. On February 22, commanded by Robert P. McConnell, the Langley, carrying 32 Warhawk fighters, left as part of a convoy to aid the Allies in their battle against the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies. On February 27, the Langley parted company from the convoy and headed straight for the port at Tjilatjap, Java. About 74 miles south of Java, the carrier met up with two U.S. escort destroyers when nine Japanese twin-engine bombers attacked. Although the Langley had requested a fighter escort from Java for cover, none could be spared. The first two Japanese bomber runs missed their target, as they were flying too high, but the Langley's luck ran out the third time around and it was hit three times, setting the planes on her flight deck aflame. The carrier began to list. Commander McConnell lost his ability to navigate the ship. McConnell ordered the Langley abandoned, and the escort destroyers were able to take his crew to safety. Of the 300 crewmen, only 16 were lost. The destroyers then to sank the Langley before the Japanese were able to capture it.
1948 – The Federal Trade Commission issued a restraining order, preventing the Willys-Overland Company from representing that it had developed the Jeep. Willys-Overland did, in fact, end up producing the Army vehicle that would come to be known as the Jeep; but it was the Bantam Motor Company that first presented the innovative design to the Army.
1953 – F-84 Thunderjets raided North Korean base on Yalu River. A year after leaving West Point, Lt. Joe Kingston was en route to Korea, where he, like a lot of others, found himself retreating and advancing in a single day.
1953 – The USCGC Coos Bay, on Ocean Station Echo, about half-way between Bermuda and the Azores, rescued the entire crew of 10 from the US Navy patrol plane that was forced to ditch in the Atlantic Ocean.
1968 – CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite's commentary on the progress of the Vietnam War solidified President Lyndon B. Johnson's decision not to seek reelection in 1968. Cronkite, who had been at Hue in the midst of the Tet Offensive earlier in February, said: "Who won and who lost in the great Tet Offensive against the cities? I'm not sure." He concluded: "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out…will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could." Johnson called the commentary a "turning point," saying that if he had "lost Cronkite," he'd "lost Mr. Average Citizen." On March 31, Johnson announced he would not seek reelection.
My opinion of Cronkite along with a number of the News folks is not for publication because of the Profane manner of my description
1969 – Communist forces shell 30 military installations and nine towns in South Vietnam, in what becomes known as the "Post-Tet Offensive." U.S. sources in Saigon put American losses in this latest offensive at between 250 and 300, compared with enemy casualties totaling 5,300. South Vietnamese officials report 200 civilians killed and 12,700 made homeless.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
SHUTES, HENRY
Rank and organization: Captain of the Forecastle, U.S. Navy. Born: 1804, Baltimore, Md. Accredited to: Maryland. G.O. No.: 71, 15 January 1866. Citation: Served as captain of the forecastle on board the U.S.S. Wissahickon during the battle of New Orleans, 24 and 25 April 1862; and in the engagement at Fort McAllister, 27 February 1863. Going on board the U.S.S. Wissahickon from the U.S.S. Don where his seamanlike qualities as gunner's mate were outstanding, Shutes performed his duties with skill and courage. Showing a presence of mind and prompt action when a shot from Fort McAllister penetrated the Wissahickon below the water line and entered the powder magazine, Shutes contributed materially to the preservation of the powder and safety of the ship.
*WALLACE, HERMAN C.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 301st Engineer Combat Battalion, 76th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Prumzurley, Germany, 27 February 1945. Entered service at: Lubbock, Tex. Birth: Marlow, Okla. G.O. No.: 92, 25 October 1945. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. While helping clear enemy mines from a road, he stepped on a well-concealed S-type antipersonnel mine. Hearing the characteristic noise indicating that the mine had been activated and, if he stepped aside, would be thrown upward to explode above ground and spray the area with fragments, surely killing 2 comrades directly behind him and endangering other members of his squad, he deliberately placed his other foot on the mine even though his best chance for survival was to fall prone. Pvt. Wallace was killed when the charge detonated, but his supreme heroism at the cost of his life confined the blast to the ground and his own body and saved his fellow soldiers from death or injury.
*WALSH, WILLIAM GARY
Rank and organization: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 7 April 1922, Roxbury, Mass. Accredited to: Massachusetts. Citation: For extraordinary gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as leader of an assault platoon, attached to Company G, 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands on 27 February 1945. With the advance of his company toward Hill 362 disrupted by vicious machinegun fire from a forward position which guarded the approaches to this key enemy stronghold, G/Sgt. Walsh fearlessly charged at the head of his platoon against the Japanese entrenched on the ridge above him, utterly oblivious to the unrelenting fury of hostile automatic weapons fire and handgrenades employed with fanatic desperation to smash his daring assault. Thrown back by the enemy's savage resistance, he once again led his men in a seemingly impossible attack up the steep, rocky slope, boldly defiant of the annihilating streams of bullets which saturated the area. Despite his own casualty losses and the overwhelming advantage held by the Japanese in superior numbers and dominant position, he gained the ridge's top only to be subjected to an intense barrage of handgrenades thrown by the remaining Japanese staging a suicidal last stand on the reverse slope. When 1 of the grenades fell in the midst of his surviving men, huddled together in a small trench, G/Sgt. Walsh, in a final valiant act of complete self-sacrifice, instantly threw himself upon the deadly bomb, absorbing with his own body the full and terrific force of the explosion. Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from injury and possible loss of life and enabled his company to seize and hold this vital enemy position. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
WATSON, WILSON DOUGLAS
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division. Place and date: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 and 27 February 1945. Entered service at: Arkansas. Born: 18 February 1921, Tuscumbia, Ala. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as automatic rifleman serving with the 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 and 27 February 1945. With his squad abruptly halted by intense fire from enemy fortifications in the high rocky ridges and crags commanding the line of advance, Pvt. Watson boldly rushed 1 pillbox and fired into the embrasure with his weapon, keeping the enemy pinned down single-handedly until he was in a position to hurl in a grenade, and then running to the rear of the emplacement to destroy the retreating Japanese and enable his platoon to take its objective. Again pinned down at the foot of a small hill, he dauntlessly scaled the jagged incline under fierce mortar and machinegun barrages and, with his assistant BAR man, charged the crest of the hill, firing from his hip. Fighting furiously against Japanese troops attacking with grenades and knee mortars from the reverse slope, he stood fearlessly erect in his exposed position to cover the hostile entrenchments and held the hill under savage fire for 15 minutes, killing 60 Japanese before his ammunition was exhausted and his platoon was able to join him. His courageous initiative and valiant fighting spirit against devastating odds were directly responsible for the continued advance of his platoon, and his inspiring leadership throughout this bitterly fought action reflects the highest credit upon Pvt. Watson and the U.S. Naval Service.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 27, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
27 February
1911: At North Island, Lt Theodore G. Ellyson (USN) flew with Glenn Curtiss in a Curtiss seaplane to become the first seaplane passenger. (24) On the Mexican border near Fort McIntosh at Laredo, Texas, Lt Benjamin D. Foulois and Phillip O. Parmalee, a Wright instructor pilot, demonstrated the use of an airplane in coordination with ground maneuvers for the first time. They used a Wright B. (21)
1920: Maj Rudolph W. "Shorty" Schroeder used a Packard-Lepere LUSAC-11 biplane with a Liberty 400 engine at McCook Field near Dayton to set an FAI altitude record of 33,113 feet. (24)
1928: Cmdr Theodore G. Ellyson, the first naval aviator, and two companions crashed to their deaths in Chesapeake Bay. (24)
1942: Japanese airplanes sank the seaplane tender Langley, once the Navy's first aircraft carrier, near Java. (24)
1943: Eighth Air Force sent B-17s and B-24s to attack the harbor and naval facilities at Brest, France. (4)
1951: Boeing delivered the first C-97C to the Air Force. (5)
1958: Missile Director William M. Holaday approved the Minuteman project to build a 500-mile to 5,500-mile, solid-fuel ballistic missile that could be launched from underground silos. (6)
1960: The 4135 SW at Eglin AFB received SAC's first GAM-72A Quail missile. (1)
1961: Max Conrad set an FAI solo record for light planes by flying around the world in 8 days 18 hours 35 minutes 57 seconds. His flight ended on 8 March. (9) (24)
1970: First F-111E arrived at Edwards AFB for flight testing. (12) The DoD selected Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company in West Palm Beach and East Hartford, Conn., to produce the F-100 engine for USAF's F-15 and the Navy's F-14B. (12)
1971: Operation HAYLIFT. The USAF launched this operation in response to blizzards in Kansas. Aircraft dropped 35,000 bales of hay (nearly a million pounds) for 275,000 cattle stranded in deep snow. The American Humane Society provided the Hay. (16)
1976: Vandenberg AFB launched the advanced nosetip test vehicle (ANT-1) to study how four objects of various materials and shapes, with fine-weave carbon- carbon nosetips, performed in high stagnation pressure and clean air. (5) The Minuteman integrated program at Minot AFB's Wing III completed and turned over to SAC. This program included silo modifications, dust hardening, electromagnetic pulse protection, and a conversion to the command data buffer system. (6)
1990 The combined Lockheed and USAF F-117A Stealth Fighter design team received the Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1989. This "most prestigious award in American aviation" recognized the team for the greatest achievement in aeronautics. (8: May 90)
2001: The USAF successfully launched a Titan IV-B rocket from Cape Canaveral. It carried a MILSTAR satellite to its intended orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. (AFNEWS Article 0289, 1 Mar 2001)
2004: Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. The 107 FS, Michigan ANG, deployed 10 F-16Cs on an Air Expeditionary Force rotation to Iraq. Thus, the 107th became the first F-16 unit under the Total Air Force concept to operate from Kirkuk AB, a former Iraqi Air Force installation. The unit employed the ANG's Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System pod in actual combat conditions. (32)
A bit of USAF history from Brett
The U.S. Nuclear Propulsion Program (or Manned Nuclear Aircraft Program) began in May 1946. Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Corporation received the first formal study contract. The objective, to determine the feasibility of nuclear energy for the propulsion of aircraft. The Fairchild project known as the Nuclear Energy for Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) began at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN. Work at Oak Ridge proved building a nuclear aircraft was feasible and defined the major approaches to the program. As a result, the Air Force and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) joined forces in the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) Program. In 1951, they contracted with the General Electric (GE) Company at Evendale, Ohio to, "…develop a nuclear aircraft propulsion system through an exacting research, development, design and component-test program on reactors, materials, shielding and an over-all nuclear power plant."
Maj. Gen. Donald L. Keirn served from 1950 to 1959 as the AEC assistant director for its aircraft reactors branch and in the Air Force as Deputy Chief of Staff/Development for Nuclear Systems. Gen. Keirn, a major at the time, was tasked by Gen. Hap Arnold in 1941, to lead the Air Force Project Office developing the first U.S. turbojet engine developed by GE. The objective of the ANP Program expanded to include the demonstration of nuclear-powered flight. Still in 1952, the Air Force decided that direct nuclear cycle engine developments were progressing well and began construction of a power plant for the Convair B-36 flight testing and targeted for 1956 for the first flight. In 1953 the Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson abruptly cancelled the B-36 experimental flight program, contending "that experimental "proof-of-principle" flights were worthless unless they were performed by a prototype as an actual weapon systems."
Air Force leaders managed to keep GE's direct cycle developments moving forward and Pratt and Whitney continued their progress. Though Air Force leaders cancelled the B-36 nuclear powered aircraft, a Convair B-36, designated as the NB5-36H was refit to contain a fully operational nuclear reactor. The NB-36H did not use the reactor for propulsion.
In January 1961, as President John F. Kennedy directed a review of all military projects. GE, P&W and Convair all received official contract termination notices in March 1961. With space as a priority, the Atomic Energy Commission began working with companies to develop nuclear rocket engines (Project Rover) and a nuclear ramjet (Project Pluto). These programs had potential here on earth and in space for both military and civilian applications.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
The Real Stories Behind 7 Classic Nursery Rhymes
From women's prisons and peep shows to wholesome tales of beloved pets, here are the origins of some beloved nursery rhymes.
Nursery rhymes, some dating back centuries, have left a strong mark on many of our childhoods, but we often don't realize where they came from. Some have evolved over centuries, bringing a whole new version to modern children, while others have remained tried and true since their inception. From women's prisons and peep shows to wholesome tales of beloved pets, here are the origins of some beloved nursery rhymes.
1 of 7
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" Is About a Real Schoolgirl
Mary Had a Little Lamb, illustration by Blanche Fisher Wright.Credit: Culture Club/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Mary had a little lamb
Little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow
Poet Sarah Josepha Hale first published a version of this poem in 1830. Around 50 years later, an elderly woman named Mary Sawyer stepped forward as the real Mary.
Sawyer's story goes pretty much like the version we know and love today. She rescued a little lamb that had been abandoned by its mother and hand-fed it until it regained its health. One morning, she and her brother decided to bring the lamb to school. The lamb hid in a basket by Mary's feet until it bleated, drawing attention from the teacher, who gently let the lamb outside so Mary could bring it home at lunch. The other kids did, indeed, laugh.
In a letter included in a 1928 book detailing the story, Sawyer says that the lamb grew up and had a few lambs of its own.
2 of 7
"Ring Around the Rosie" May Be About the Plague … or a Dancing Ban
Girls in Circle - Ring Around the Rosie.Credit: Buyenlarge/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
Ring around the rosie
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down
You may have heard the popular Black Plague origin story for this rhyme, with the titular "ring" representing the red rings that would appear on the skin of people with the disease. However, there are other variations of the rhyme, such as 1883's "Ring a ring a rosie/A bottle full of posie/All the girls in our town/Ring for little Josie," that present different theories.
When he analyzed this version, folklorist Philip Hiscock offered a less deadly translation. Religious bans on dancing in Britain and North America in the 19th century led to "play parties," with ring games that were similar to square dancing but without music, so the events quietly flew under the radar.
"The rings referred to in the rhymes are literally the rings formed by the playing children," explains Hiscock. "'Ashes, ashes' probably comes from something like 'Husha, husha,' another common variant which refers to stopping the ring and falling silent. And the falling down refers to the jumble of bodies in that ring when they let go of each other and throw themselves into the circle."
3 of 7
"Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" Came From a Women's Prison
Here we Go Round The Mulberry Bush, Mother Goose Rhymes Illustration.Credit: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning
Although this rhyme likely started out using Bramble Bush (mulberries actually grow on trees), historian R. S. Duncan suggests this version came about at Wakefield Prison in England. The facility has been home to an extremely recognizable mulberry tree for centuries, and the theory goes that Victorian female prisoners used to dance around it and made up the rhyme to keep their kids amused. (Back then, men, women, and children were often confined together.) The tree eventually died in 2017, but it was replaced with a cutting from the original.
4 of 7
"Rub a Dub Dub" Is About a Peep Show
Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in a Tub.Credit: Buyenlarge/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,
And all of them out to sea
Most American children know a heavily revised version of this rhyme with only men in a tub. But you need the original version to understand the origins of this 14th-century phrase:
Hey, rub-a-dub
Ho, rub-a-dub
Three maids in a tub
And who do you think were there?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker
And all of them going to the fair
According to author Chris Roberts, the "tub" here refers to a bawdy fairground attraction. "Today it would be perhaps a lap-dancing venue," Roberts said in 2005. "The upper-class, the respectable tradesfolk — the candlestick maker and the butcher and the baker — are ogling, getting an eyeful of some naked young ladies in a tub."
5of 7
"There Was a Little Girl" Was Written by a Famous Poet About His Daughter
Engraved portrait shows three daughters of American poet Henry Wadsworth.Credit: Kean Collection/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid
Many curly-haired troublesome children heard this short-and-sweet rhyme growing up — but perhaps didn't know about its relatively prestigious origins. Famed American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, known for works like "Paul Revere's Ride," wrote this goofy little verse about his own daughter. His son Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his book, Random Memories, that "it was while walking up and down with his second daughter, then a baby in his arms, that my father composed and sang to her the well-known lines."
6of 7
"Humpty Dumpty" Isn't About an Egg
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.Credit: Antiquarian Images/ Alamy Stock Photo
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again
There's nothing that makes Humpty an egg in this rhyme! That image was popularized by Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass in 1871, decades after the rhyme's inception. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "humpty dumpty" had a few meanings before the wall came into it, including a drink with brandy and a short, dumpy, clumsy person. An 1881 book even features images of Humpty as a clown.
A popular theory is that "humpty dumpty" refers to a cannon used during the Siege of Colchester in 1648. The idea that this rhyme is some kind of wartime ballad is pretty common. Before the cannon theory got traction, many believed the rhyme was about the usurpation of Richard III in 1483.
However, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, the root of this nursery rhyme could be more innocent. While it's unclear whether this game predates the rhyme, Humpty Dumpty was a popular game in the 19th century where girls would tuck their legs into their skirts, fall back, and then try to regain balance without letting go of their skirts. "Eggs do not sit on walls," authors Peter and Iona Opie write. "But the verse becomes intelligible if it describes human beings who are impersonating eggs."
7of 7
"Hickory Dickory Dock" Is Actually About a Mouse and a Clock
Hickory, Dickory, Dock!Credit: Buyenlarge/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse went up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse went down
Hickory dickory dock
Some believe this counting rhyme was inspired by the astronomical clock at Exeter Cathedral in Devon, England, which was plagued by mice. Around 1600, the presiding bishop directed carpenters to cut a hole in the door to the clock room — or, as the records said at the time, "Paid ye carpenters 8d for cutting ye hole in ye north transept door for ye Bishop's cat." The cathedral's cats got easy access to prey, cutting down the vermin population. Centuries later, the door is still there.
But there's a reason mice were so common around the clockwork: Animal fat was often used to lubricate clock parts during that time. It's possible it was just written about a pretty normal thing to be happening on a clock at the time, but that's not as fun.
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