To All,
Good Sunday morning March 19 2023.
I hope that you are all having a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History
March 19
1918 Ensign Stephen Potter is the first American to shoot down an enemy seaplane, a German plane off the German coast during World War I.
1924 Curtis D. Wilbur takes office as the 43rd Secretary of the Navy, where he gains his greatest achievements in enlarging and modernizing the fleet, and establishing a naval air force that would become an overwhelming force during World War II.
1942 Secretary of Navy James V. Forrestal places the newly-established construction battalions, later called Seabees, under the command of officers with the Civil Engineer Corps who are trained in the skills required for the performance of construction work.
1944 TBF and FM-2 aircraft from Composite Squadron (VC 6) onboard USS Block Island (CVE 21) sink German submarine U 1059 west-southwest of Dakar.
1945 Submarine USS Balao (SS 285) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks one troopship and three fishing vessels and damages another off the Yangtze estuary about 90 miles north-northwest of Shanghi.
1945 As Fast Carrier Task Force 58 planes bomb Kure and Kobe Harbors, Japanese aircraft single out the US Navy carriers for attack. USS Wasp (CV 18), USS Essex (CV 9), and USS Franklin (CV 13) are hit. After struck by a second bomb, Franklin suffers subsequent explosions on the flight and hangar decks. Heroic work by her crew, assisted by nearby ships, bring the fires and flooding under control. For their actions during this occasion, both Lt. Cmdr. Joseph T. OCallaghan and Lt.j.g. Donald A. Gary receive the Medal of Honor.
1969 While serving with Battery D, 2nd Battalion, 11th Marines, at Phu Loc 6 in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class David R. Ray is killed in action while providing medical aid to injured Marines during an enemy attack on his unit. Petty Officer Ray is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism in that action.
1994 USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) is commissioned at Long Beach, Calif., where then-Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton was the keynote speaker. The Arleigh Burke guided-missile destroyer.
2003
War in Iraq begins
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Today in World History March 19
1687 The French explorer La Salle is murdered by his own men while searching for the mouth of the Mississippi, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
1702 On the death of William III of Orange, Anne Stuart, sister of Mary, succeeds to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland.
1822 Boston is incorporated as a city.
1879 Jim Currie opens fire on the actors Maurice Barrymore and Ben Porter near Marshall, Texas. His shots wound Barrymore and kill Porter.
1903 The U.S. Senate ratifies the Cuban treaty, gaining naval bases in Guantanamo and Bahia Honda.
1916 The First Aero Squadron takes off from Columbus, NM to join Gen. John J. Pershing and his Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in Mexico.
1917 The Adamson Act, eight hour day for railroad workers, is ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
1918 Congress authorizes Daylight Savings Time.
1920 The U.S. Senate rejects the Versailles Treaty for the second time.
1924 U.S. troops are rushed to Tegucigalpa as rebel forces take the Honduran capital.
1931 The state of Nevada legalizes gambling.
1935 The British fire on 20,000 Muslims in India, killing 23.
1936 The Soviet Union signs a pact of assistance with Mongolia against Japan.
1944 The German 352nd Infantry Division deploys along the coast of France.
1945 Adolf Hitler orders a scorched-earth policy for his retreating German armies in the west and east.
1947 Chiang Kai-Shek's government forces take control of Yenan, the former headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party.
1949 The Soviet People's Council signs the constitution of the German Democratic Republic, and declares that the North Atlantic Treaty is merely a war weapon.
1963 In Costa Rica, President John F. Kennedy and six Latin American presidents pledge to fight Communism.
1981 One technician is killed and two others are injured during a routine test on space shuttle Columbia.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Skip… For The List for Sunday, 19 March 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 19 March 1968… NYT, page 1: "STUDENTS CHEER KENNEDY ATTACK ON VIETNAM WAR POLICY"…
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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Interesting Fact
The last American to collect a Civil War pension died in 2020.
The U.S. Civil War ended in 1865 after four grueling years of conflict, but the Confederacy's surrender at Appomattox Court House didn't instantly bring closure to a tattered nation. Instead, it marked the beginning of the laborious task of rebuilding a divided country, one that had more than 2 million newly minted veterans. Many were injured from battle or suffered war-related illnesses, and those who didn't survive the war often left behind families with few ways to support themselves. As a solution to a growing health care and social crisis, the U.S. government created a pension system to financially aid Union soldiers and their widows for the rest of their lives. (Confederate soldiers did not qualify, though some Southern states funded their pensions.) By 1956, the last surviving Civil War veteran had died, but the Department of Veterans Affairs would continue issuing pension payments for decades to come — up until 2020.
Irene Triplett, a 90-year-old North Carolina woman, was the last person to receive a Civil War pension, thanks to her father's service in the Union Army. Mose Triplett was originally a Confederate soldier who deserted in 1863 and later joined a Union regiment, a move that kept him out of the fight at Gettysburg, where 90% of his former infantry was killed. Switching sides also guaranteed Mose a pension for the remainder of his life, which would later play a role in him remarrying after the death of his first wife. At age 78, Mose married the 27-year-old Elida Hall — a move historians say was common during the Great Depression, when aging veterans needing care could provide financial security to younger women. The couple had two children, including Irene, who was diagnosed with cognitive impairments that allowed her to qualify for her father's pension after both parents' deaths. By the time of Irene's own passing in 2020, the U.S. government had held up its duty, paying out Mose Triplett's pension for more than 100 years.
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Thanks to Dr.Rich
Home/The Fire Pit/You Shot Down a Spy Balloon? Here, Hold My Beer: A Pilot's Story
You Shot Down a Spy Balloon? Here, Hold My Beer: A Pilot's Story
Soldier of Fortune Magazine 2 weeks ago The Fire Pit
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by Mitchell "Taco" Bell
So you shot down a spy balloon, huh? Here, hold my beer…
Somewhere back in 2002, I was flying from LGA to Toronto Canada on the daily shuttle in the F-100 Fokker Barbie Jet. It was a typical cold rainy and miserable winter time day in NYC with low ceilings. This leg was my takeoff from Runway 13, you know the one that takes you over the giant flying saucer state fair thingmejiggy. We rotate and hit the clouds around 300 feet so I'm hand flying in the clouds using the instruments to navigate on the different headings and altitudes ATC is issuing to us. It's the most rewarding part of being a pilot and what I love to do.
READ MORE from Taco about his plane being attacked by green lasers over Mexico
We are not talking, the captain is watching his instruments as he monitors my climb and replying to the controller, and the only sound is of the rain hitting the windshield. Up we go, 2,000 feet, now 3,000 feet. As we are passing through 4,000 feet, the darkness from the clouds starts to subside as it becomes lighter outside.
This is the moment you are about to hit the top of the clouds and break out into the magnificent clear blue skies. It's my favorite part of flying, always has been since I was a kid, age 6, sitting in the cockpit of an American Airlines 727. You could feel the warmth of the sun on your face when normal people on the ground were wet under the clouds.
Taco's favorite part of flying
Well, the moment we passed into the bright blue skies, directly in front of us was an object as big around as the plane! Multi colored in a stark contrast to the blue skys behind it. Instantly, my reflexes pushed the yoke forward with my right hand as my left arm went in front of my face to deflect the debris that were about to assault my body from the collision (like that would help me, right?)
The Captain looked up at the same time and screamed a loud Shhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiittttttttttt! as he threw both arms in front of his face as well.
We hit the object at 240 knots. The jolt of my reaction to avoid death didn't work and only succeeded in creating negative G's in the cabin and putting the flight attendants and passengers stomachs up next to their lungs.
The plane hit a giant clump of balloons. I mean, we plow through this mass. Did you ever see the movie "Up;" yeah, that is what I'm talking about. We tore through that sucker and I'm sure we sucked a few down the engines, blew some up and freed the rest to float as singles. Some street vendor lost his giant deal of balloons where they floated up through the clouds and happen to be right where our plane path was as we punched out of the goo.
I remember the instant heavy breathing, my pulse racing from the adrenaline dump that hit my body and my brain now processing what just happened as we cleared and it was back to clear blue winter skies in front of us.
The Captain looked over at me and said, "Holy Shit I thought we were dead, I might have to go change my underwear after that!"
I replied that I would have to go after him!
The phone was dinging, and the flight attendant in the back was in shock and asking what happened.
The pilot didn't want to admit that we tried to dodge a clump of balloons as big as the jet, I think he said we hit some wake turbulence. He did tell ATC to warn all the crews behind us to watch out for balloons as they broke out of the clouds.
To this day, I've lost engines, had the flight director fail in the goo flying a small light twin and once in my own plane causing the worst case of vertigo, but never have I had my senses assaulted like that with the pending death caused by hitting another object that you didn't expect to see directly in front of you so suddenly.
Watch out little kid from "Up", I'll be ready next time!
So I say, destroy all the balloons that you see, they are dangerous!!! When passengers ask what is the scariest thing that has ever happened to me, well, hitting those balloons is right up there as the worst.
Semper Fi, Taco.
Mitch "Taco" Bell is a retired Marine KC-130 pilot flying for a major airline on the B-737. You can watch his Tall Tales with Taco Bell on Facebook and YouTube. His past stories can be found on The Sandgram.
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"Thanks to Royce
Fwd: A Rendezvous With Rwanda? By Victor Davis Hanson
VDH published this article 3 days ago. I wasn't going to forward.
The title: A Rendezvous With Rwanda? still haunts like a bad dream.
VDH is asking, none to subtly, given the path we are on, will you one day get hacked to death with a machete???
1994 Rwandan genocide; one ethnic majority murdered 990,000 people.
The genocide spread with shocking speed and brutality; Slaughter Spreads Across Rwanda
Government radio stations called on ordinary Rwandan civilians to murder their neighbors.
Within three months, some 990,000 people had been slaughtered.
Four years earlier the Army armed civilians with 19,200 Chinese made machetes under the guise of "civil defense".
These machetes were used to hack to death most of the 990,000, neighbor against neighbor.
A Rendezvous With Rwanda? By Victor Davis Hanson
Full article:
https://amgreatness.com/2023/01/08/a-rendezvous-with-rwanda/
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2003
March 19
War in Iraq begins
On March 19, 2003, the United States, along with coalition forces primarily from the United Kingdom, initiates war on Iraq. Just after explosions began to rock Baghdad, Iraq's capital, U.S. President George W. Bush announced in a televised address, "At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger." President Bush and his advisors built much of their case for war on the idea that Iraq, under dictator Saddam Hussein, possessed or was in the process of building weapons of mass destruction.
Hostilities began about 90 minutes after the U.S.-imposed deadline for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq or face war passed. The first targets, which Bush said were "of military importance," were hit with Tomahawk cruise missiles from U.S. fighter-bombers and warships stationed in the Persian Gulf. In response to the attacks, Republic of Iraq radio in Baghdad announced, "the evil ones, the enemies of God, the homeland and humanity, have committed the stupidity of aggression against our homeland and people."
Though Saddam Hussein had declared in early March 2003 that, "it is without doubt that the faithful will be victorious against aggression," he went into hiding soon after the American invasion, speaking to his people only through an occasional audiotape. Coalition forces were able to topple his regime and capture Iraq's major cities in just three weeks, sustaining few casualties. President Bush declared the end of major combat operations on May 1, 2003. Despite the defeat of conventional military forces in Iraq, an insurgency has continued an intense guerrilla war in the nation in the years since military victory was announced, resulting in thousands of coalition military, insurgent and civilian deaths.
After an intense manhunt, U.S. soldiers found Saddam Hussein hiding in a six-to-eight-foot deep hole, nine miles outside his hometown of Tikrit. He did not resist and was uninjured during the arrest. A soldier at the scene described him as "a man resigned to his fate." Hussein was arrested and began trial for crimes against his people, including mass killings, in October 2005.
In June 2004, the provisional government in place since soon after Saddam's ouster transferred power to the Iraqi Interim Government. In January 2005, the Iraqi people elected a 275-member Iraqi National Assembly. A new constitution for the country was ratified that October. On November 6, 2006, Saddam Hussein was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. After an unsuccessful appeal, he was executed on December 30, 2006.
No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. The U.S. declared an end to the war in Iraq on December 15, 2011, nearly ten years after the fighting began.
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Thanks to Dutch
Stand For Our Flag .
THIS VIDEO PRODUCED BY AMERICAN COWBOYS
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2eBxVxO0nh4
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Thanks to Dr Rich who says I didn't write any of these.. but wish i had...
Thanks to Harry …
I THOUGHT GETTING OLDER WOULD TAKE LONGER. [don't let the old man in Harry!!]
A WISE MAN ONCE SAID NOTHING.
RESPECT YOUR ELDERS; THEY GRADUATED SCHOOL WITHOUT THE INTERNET.
WHY DO I HAVE TO PRESS "1" FOR ENGLISH? DID AMERICA MOVE?
WE HAVE ENOUGH GUN CONTROL; WHAT WE NEED IS IDIOT CONTROL.
BEHIND EVERY ANGRY WOMAN STANDS A MAN WHO HAS ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT HE DID WRONG.
INSTEAD OF "SINGLE" AS A MARITAL STATUS I PREFER "INDEPENDENTLY OWNED AND OPERATED".
PATIENCE: WHAT YOU HAVE WHEN THERE ARE TOO MANY WITNESSES.
LET'S STOP SENDING MONEY TO OTHER COUNTRIES AND LET THEM HATE US FOR FREE.
VEGETARIAN: ANCIENT TRIBAL NAME FOR THE VILLAGE IDIOT WHO CAN'T HUNT, FISH OR LIGHT FIRES!
I LOOK AT PEOPLE AND SOMETIMES THINK...."REALLY? THAT'S THE SPERM THAT WON?"
IN MY DEFENSE I WAS LEFT UNSUPERVISED.
IF GUNS KILL PEOPLE, THEN PENCILS MISSPELL WORDS, CARS MAKE PEOPLE DRIVE DRUNK, AND SPOONS MAKE PEOPLE FAT.
MY DECISION-MAKING SKILLS CLOSELY RESEMBLE THOSE OF A SQUIRREL WHEN CROSSING THE ROAD.
SOME THINGS ARE JUST BETTER LEFT UNSAID. AND I USUALLY REALIZE IT RIGHT AFTER I SAY THEM.
CAMPING: WHERE YOU SPEND A SMALL FORTUNE TO LIVE LIKE A HOMELESS PERSON.
IF MY BODY IS EVER FOUND ON A JOGGING TRAIL JUST KNOW THAT I WAS MURDERED SOMEWHERE ELSE AND DUMPED THERE.
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From the Archives
Thanks to Dr. Rich
Thanks to Boysie ….
Homographs
Homographs are words of like spelling but with more than one meaning. A homograph that is also pronounced differently is a heteronym. You think English is easy?? I think a retired English teacher was bored...THIS IS GREAT!
1) The bandage was wound around the wound.
2) The farm was used to produce.
3) The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
4) We must polish the Polish furniture re..
5) He could lead if he would get the lead out.
6) The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert..
7) Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present.
8) A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
9) When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
10) I did not object to the object.
11) The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
12) There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13) They were too close to the door to close it.
14) The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15) A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.
16) To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17) The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18) Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear..
19) I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
20) How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let's face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it?
If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
PS. - Why doesn't 'Buick' rhyme with 'quick'?
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This Day in U S Military History
19 March
1916 – Eight Curtiss "Jenny" planes of the First Aero Squadron take off from Columbus, New Mexico, in the first combat air mission in U.S. history. The First Aero Squadron, organized in 1914 after the outbreak of World War I, was on a support mission for the 7,000 U.S. troops who invaded Mexico to capture Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa. On March 9, 1916, Villa, who opposed American support for Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, led a band of several hundred guerrillas across the border on a raid of the town of Columbus, New Mexico, killing 17 Americans. On March 15, under orders from President Woodrow Wilson, U.S. Brigadier General John J. Pershing launched a punitive expedition into Mexico to capture Villa. Four days later, the First Aero Squadron was sent into Mexico to scout and relay messages for General Pershing. Despite numerous mechanical and navigational problems, the American fliers flew hundreds of missions for Pershing and gained important experience that would later be used by the pilots over the battlefields of Europe. However, during the 11-month mission, U.S. forces failed to capture the elusive revolutionary, and Mexican resentment over U.S. intrusion into their territory led to a diplomatic crisis. In late January 1917, with President Wilson under pressure from the Mexican government and more concerned with the war overseas than with bringing Villa to justice, the Americans were ordered home.
1918 – Congress authorized time zones and approved Daylight Saving Time.
1945 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) conducts air raids naval bases in the Inland Sea, with Kure specifically targeted. Six Japanese carriers and 3 battleships are reported damaged. There are Japanese Kamikaze attacks in response which badly damage the carriers Franklin and Wasp as well as hitting Enterprise and Essex. The 832 killed on board the USS Franklin is the heaviest casualty list ever recorded on a US ship. Admiral Spruance, command the US 5th Fleet, is present for the operations.
1945 – Off the coast of Japan, a dive bomber hits the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, killing 724 of her crew. Badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under her own power.
1952 – The 1,000,000th Jeep was produced. In 1939, the American Bantam Car Company submitted its original design for an all-terrain troop transport vehicle–featuring four-wheel drive, masked fender-mount headlights, and a rifle rack under the dash–to the U.S. Armed Forces. The Army loved Bantam's design, but the development contract for the vehicle was ultimately awarded to the Willys-Overland Company for its superior production capabilities. Bantam wound up fulfilling a government contract for 3,000 vehicles during the war; but the Jeep, as designed by Willys-Overland, would become the primary troop transport of the U.S. Army. Mass production of the Willys Jeep began after the U.S. declaration of war in 1941. The name "Jeep" is reportedly derived from the Army's request that car manufacturers develop a "General Purpose" vehicle. "Gee Pee" turned to "Jeep" somewhere along the battle lines. Another story maintains that the name came from a character in the Popeye cartoon who, like the vehicle, was capable of incredible feats. The Willys Jeep became a cultural icon in the U.S. during World War II, as images of G.I.'s in "Gee Pees," liberating Europe, saturated newsreels in movie theaters across the country. Unlike the Hummer of recent years, the Jeep was not a symbol of technological superiority but rather of the courage of the American spirit–a symbol cartoonist Bill Mauldin captured when he drew a weeping soldier firing a bullet into his broken down Willys Jeep. By 1945, 660,000 Jeeps had rolled off the assembly lines and onto battlefields in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Many remained abroad after the war, where their parts were integrated into other vehicles or their broken bodies were mended with colorful impromptu repairs. Wherever the Jeep roamed, it lived up to its design as a vehicle for general use. During the war, Jeep hoods were used as altars for field burials. Jeeps were also used as ambulances, tractors, and scout cars. After the war, surplus Jeeps found their way into civilian life as snowplows, field plows, and mail carriers. Willys-Overland released its first civilian Jeep model, called the CJ (Civilian Jeep) in 1945.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BURR, HERBERT H.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 41st Tank Battalion, 11th Armored Division. Place and date: Near Dorrmoschel, Germany, 19 March 1945. Entered service at: Kansas City, Mo. Birth: St. Joseph, Mo. G.O. No.: 73, 30 August 1945. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry during action when the tank in which he was bow gunner was hit by an enemy rocket, which severely wounded the platoon sergeant and forced the remainder of the crew to abandon the vehicle. Deafened, but otherwise unhurt, S/Sgt. Burr immediately climbed into the driver's seat and continued on the mission of entering the town to reconnoiter road conditions. As he rounded a turn he encountered an 88-mm. antitank gun at pointblank range. Realizing that he had no crew, no one to man the tank's guns, he heroically chose to disregard his personal safety in a direct charge on the German weapon. At considerable speed he headed straight for the loaded gun, which was fully manned by enemy troops who had only to pull the lanyard to send a shell into his vehicle. So unexpected and daring was his assault that he was able to drive his tank completely over the gun, demolishing it and causing its crew to flee in confusion. He then skillfully sideswiped a large truck, overturned it, and wheeling his lumbering vehicle, returned to his company. When medical personnel who had been summoned to treat the wounded sergeant could not locate him, the valiant soldier ran through a hail of sniper fire to direct them to his stricken comrade. The bold, fearless determination of S/Sgt. Burr, his skill and courageous devotion to duty, resulted in the completion of his mission in the face of seemingly impossible odds.
GARY, DONALD ARTHUR
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, Junior Grade, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Franklin. Place and date: Japanese Home Islands near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945. Entered service at: Ohio. Born: 23 July 1903, Findlay, Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as an engineering officer attached to the U.S.S. Franklin when that vessel was fiercely attacked by enemy aircraft during the operations against the Japanese Home Islands near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945. Stationed on the third deck when the ship was rocked by a series of violent explosions set off in her own ready bombs, rockets, and ammunition by the hostile attack, Lt. (j.g.) Gary unhesitatingly risked his life to assist several hundred men trapped in a messing compartment filled with smoke, and with no apparent egress. As the imperiled men below decks became increasingly panic stricken under the raging fury of incessant explosions, he confidently assured them he would find a means of effecting their release and, groping through the dark, debris-filled corridors, ultimately discovered an escapeway. Stanchly determined, he struggled back to the messing compartment 3 times despite menacing flames, flooding water, and the ominous threat of sudden additional explosions, on each occasion calmly leading his men through the blanketing pall of smoke until the last one had been saved. Selfless in his concern for his ship and his fellows, he constantly rallied others about him, repeatedly organized and led fire-fighting parties into the blazing inferno on the flight deck and, when firerooms 1 and 2 were found to be inoperable, entered the No. 3 fireroom and directed the raising of steam in 1 boiler in the face of extreme difficulty and hazard. An inspiring and courageous leader, Lt. (j.g.) Gary rendered self-sacrificing service under the most perilous conditions and, by his heroic initiative, fortitude, and valor, was responsible for the saving of several hundred lives. His conduct throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and upon the U.S. Naval Service.
O'CALLAHAN, JOSEPH TIMOTHY
Rank and organization: Commander (Chaplain Corps), U.S. Naval Reserve, U.S.S. Franklin. Place and date: Near Kobe, Japan, 19 March 1945. Entered service at: Massachusetts. Born: 14 May 1904, Boston, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as chaplain on board the U.S.S. Franklin when that vessel was fiercely attacked by enemy Japanese aircraft during offensive operations near Kobe, Japan, on 19 March 1945. A valiant and forceful leader, calmly braving the perilous barriers of flame and twisted metal to aid his men and his ship, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan groped his way through smoke-filled corridors to the open flight deck and into the midst of violently exploding bombs, shells, rockets, and other armament. With the ship rocked by incessant explosions, with debris and fragments raining down and fires raging in ever-increasing fury, he ministered to the wounded and dying, comforting and encouraging men of all faiths; he organized and led firefighting crews into the blazing inferno on the flight deck; he directed the jettisoning of live ammunition and the flooding of the magazine; he manned a hose to cool hot, armed bombs rolling dangerously on the listing deck, continuing his efforts, despite searing, suffocating smoke which forced men to fall back gasping and imperiled others who replaced them. Serving with courage, fortitude, and deep spiritual strength, Lt. Comdr. O'Callahan inspired the gallant officers and men of the Franklin to fight heroically and with profound faith in the face of almost certain death and to return their stricken ship to port.
BUCHA, PAUL WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Army, Company D, 3d Battalion. 187th Infantry, 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Near Phuoc Vinh, Binh Duong Province, Republic of Vietnam, 16- 19 March 1968. Entered service at: U .S. Military Academy, West Point, N.Y. Born: 1 August 1943, Washington, D.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Capt. Bucha distinguished himself while serving as commanding officer, Company D, on a reconnaissance-in-force mission against enemy forces near Phuoc Vinh, The company was inserted by helicopter into the suspected enemy stronghold to locate and destroy the enemy. During this period Capt. Bucha aggressively and courageously led his men in the destruction of enemy fortifications and base areas and eliminated scattered resistance impeding the advance of the company. On 18 March while advancing to contact, the lead elements of the company became engaged by the heavy automatic weapon, heavy machine gun, rocket propelled grenade, Claymore mine and small-arms fire of an estimated battalion-size force. Capt. Bucha, with complete disregard for his safety, moved to the threatened area to direct the defense and ordered reinforcements to the aid of the lead element. Seeing that his men were pinned down by heavy machine gun fire from a concealed bunker located some 40 meters to the front of the positions, Capt. Bucha crawled through the hail of fire to single-handedly destroy the bunker with grenades. During this heroic action Capt. Bucha received a painful shrapnel wound. Returning to the perimeter, he observed that his unit could not hold its positions and repel the human wave assaults launched by the determined enemy. Capt. Bucha ordered the withdrawal of the unit elements and covered the withdrawal to positions of a company perimeter from which he could direct fire upon the charging enemy. When 1 friendly element retrieving casualties was ambushed and cut off from the perimeter, Capt. Bucha ordered them to feign death and he directed artillery fire around them. During the night Capt. Bucha moved throughout the position, distributing ammunition, providing encouragement and insuring the integrity of the defense. He directed artillery, helicopter gunship and Air Force gunship fire on the enemy strong points and attacking forces, marking the positions with smoke grenades. Using flashlights in complete view of enemy snipers, he directed the medical evacuation of 3 air-ambulance loads of seriously wounded personnel and the helicopter supply of his company. At daybreak Capt. Bucha led a rescue party to recover the dead and wounded members of the ambushed element. During the period of intensive combat, Capt. Bucha, by his extraordinary heroism, inspirational example, outstanding leadership and professional competence, led his company in the decimation of a superior enemy force which left 156 dead on the battlefield. His bravery and gallantry at the risk of his life are in the highest traditions of the military service, Capt. Bucha has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
*McMAHON, THOMAS J.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 1st Infantry, 196th Infantry Brigade, Americal Division. place and date: Quang Tin province, Republic of Vietnam, 19 March 1969. Entered service at: portland, Maine. Born: 24 June 1948, Washington, D.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. McMahon distinguished himself while serving as medical aid man with Company A. When the lead elements of his company came under heavy fire from well-fortified enemy positions, 3 soldiers fell seriously wounded. Sp4c. McMahon, with complete disregard for his safety, left his covered position and ran through intense enemy fire to the side of 1 of the wounded, administered first aid and then carried him to safety. He returned through the hail of fire to the side of a second wounded man. Although painfully wounded by an exploding mortar round while returning the wounded man to a secure position, Sp4c. McMahon refused medical attention and heroically ran back through the heavy enemy fire toward his remaining wounded comrade. He fell mortally wounded before he could rescue the last man. Sp4c. McMahon's undaunted concern for the welfare of his comrades at the cost of his life are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
*RAY, DAVID ROBERT
Rank and organization: Hospital Corpsman Second Class, U.S. Navy, 2d Battalion, 11th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein), FMF. Place and date: Quang Nam Province, Republic of Vietnam, 19 March 1969. Entered service at: Nashville, Tenn. Born: 14 February 1945, McMinnville, Tenn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a HC2c. with Battery D, 2d Battalion, at Phu Loc 6, near An Hoa. During the early morning hours, an estimated battalion-sized enemy force launched a determined assault against the battery's position, and succeeded in effecting a penetration of the barbed-wire perimeter. The initial burst of enemy fire caused numerous casualties among the marines who had immediately manned their howitzers during the rocket and mortar attack. Undaunted by the intense hostile fire, HC2c. Ray moved from parapet to parapet, rendering emergency medical treatment to the wounded. Although seriously wounded himself while administering first aid to a marine casualty, he refused medical aid and continued his lifesaving efforts. While he was bandaging and attempting to comfort another wounded marine, HC2c. Ray was forced to battle 2 enemy soldiers who attacked his position, personally killing 1 and wounding the other. Rapidly losing his strength as a result of his severe wounds, he nonetheless managed to move through the hail of enemy fire to other casualties. Once again, he was faced with the intense fire of oncoming enemy troops and, despite the grave personal danger and insurmountable odds, succeeded in treating the wounded and holding off the enemy until he ran out of ammunition, at which time he sustained fatal wounds. HC2c. Ray's final act of heroism was to protect the patient he was treating. He threw himself upon the wounded marine, thus saving the man's life when an enemy grenade exploded nearby. By his determined and persevering actions, courageous spirit, and selfless devotion to the welfare of his marine comrades, HC2c. Ray served to inspire the men of Battery D to heroic efforts in defeating the enemy. His conduct throughout was in keeping with the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for March 19, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
19 March
1910: Orville Wright opened the first Wright Flying School at Montgomery, Ala. This site became Maxwell AFB. (24) (18)
1918: Ensign Stephan Potter shot down a German seaplane and became the first American naval aviator to be officially credited with an enemy seaplane. (24) The 94th Aero Squadron (Hat in the Ring Squadron), 1st Pursuit Group, flew its first operation across French lines. (8) (11)
1943: Lt Gen Henry Hap Arnold received his fourth star, making him the first four-star general for the US AAF. (8)
1945: Eighth Air Force's 496 BG conducted one of the last "Carpetbagger" operations in World War II by dropping 82 agents into Germany. (4)
1969: SECDEF Melvin Laird announced that the FB-111 program would be reduced, due to its lack of intercontinental range. He thus limited the USAF to four squadrons with 60 aircraft and a few replacements. Laird revealed that a new bomber, the Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft (AMSA) would be developed. This aircraft later became the B-1. (1)
1970: Major Jerauld R. Gentry, an AFFTC test pilot, made the first powered flight of the Martin Marietta X-24A Wingless Lifting Body over Edwards AFB. A B-52 dropped the X-24A. (3)
1971: USAF Southern Command began moving residents from Nicaraguan farming areas ravaged by the Cerro Negro volcano. During the 10-day mission, C-123s airlifted 885 Nicaraguans and 190,000 pounds of household goods, food, and other supplies to a new area. (5)
1978: For the first time, USAFE F-15 Eagles and Navy F-14 Tomcat aircraft began joint dissimilar air combat tactics training. (16) (26)
1984: Operation EAGLE LIFT. Through 9 April, MAC flew 28 C-5 Galaxy and 17 C-141 missions to carry 1,286 passengers and 1,594 tons of cargo for the deployment of 3 E-3A AWACS to provide aerial surveillance for Egypt and the Sudan against threats from Libya. Five KC-135 and 2 KC-10 missions provided aerial refueling. (16) (21) Exercise GRANDERO I. Through 2 July, MAC aircraft participated in a combined US and Honduran field training exercise in Honduras. (16)
1989: Bell Pilot Dorman Canon and Boeing pilot Dick Balzer flew the V-22 Osprey at the Bell Helicopter Textron's flight research center at Arlington, Tx. (20)
1992: Two F-15s intercepted two Russian TU-95 Bear bombers near the Alaskan coast, the first such interception since the breakup of the Soviet Union. (26)
1997: Exercise CORONET 97-2. Through 20 March, the 509 BW conducted the longest B-2 Spirit Global Power mission to date when The Spirit of Florida flew from Whiteman AFB to Puerto Rico. Major Robert O'Neal and Capt Scott Hughes of the 393BS flew the nearly 30-hour, round-trip flight with its four aerial refuelings and a live conventional weapon release at the Vieques Range, Puerto Rico. (AFNEWS Article 970345, 26 Mar 97)
2000: The Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards AFB fired a Lockheed Martin Titan IV solidfuel rocket booster for the first time since 1993 in its Leuhman Ridge test stand. The test lasted 140 seconds and generated 1.7 million pounds of thrust. (3)
2003: Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Just after 9:30 p. m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), US forces fired about 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq, striking three targets around Baghdad. The attack began the US-led, multinational coalition effort to liberate the people of Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. F-117A Nighthawks, flying "decapitation strikes," successfully used the new dual-door and ripple launch techniques. (See 15 March 2003) (3) (22)
2004: The first active-duty C-130J Hercules (No. 02-0314) arrived at the 314 AW at Little Rock AFB. (22)
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That nostalgia will get you."—COL P.A. Puresome Yup.
YP
Bringing Home Yankee Poppa
There was a very real possibility that Puresome's Flat Hatting Franchise was going to
lapse. Even though the statute of limitations had long since run out over a series of
inexplicable low altitude high speed transgressions over dusty New Mexico Territory
towns and ranches, Youthly had plumb run out of Skyhawks, Crusaders, and Double-
Barreled Fantooms to drive. This was an unanticipated side effect of retirement, and it
was clearly intolerable that folks and a whole generation of field animals could wander
around without flinching. A grand gesture was in order, and Puresome sloshed some
brown whiskey in his glass and pondered. But inspiration was not found by putting the
bottle to his head and pulling the trigger, at least of the sort to solve slipping the surly
bonds of earth problems.
Rather, the answer came from a tattered old copy of "Flying Along In Flight" Magazine
that featured an article on the damndest airplane Puresome had ever seen. It was called
an "Air Cam," and it had been developed to go down to Africa and take pictures of the
many picturesque animals out in the bush. The airplane had to take off and land in little
bitty distances, go slow, have great visibility, and have twin engine redundancy to avoid
forced landings in the middle of toothed creatures. The result looked like a long canoe
with a big wing stuck over the top of it, with two pusher Rotax engines, and a giant
vertical stabilizer and rudder on the back. The best part was two tandem cockpits, with
the driver stuck way out on the pointy end in an open cockpit. The safari airplane had
been so successful that it had been put into production as a kit. "Hell, I made model
airplanes when I was a kid! This thing is a Harley for the air! Tunita could even ride
along, so she couldn't possibly object! Air Cam, that's the ticket!
Of course, Youthly was predictably wrong about Tunita's objections, particularly about
the part where he figgered on selling off some of her grandbabies to finance the project.
But, in the end, she just threw up her hands in the sure knowledge that a weird gloppy
psuedopod that had crash landed his saucer near Roswell, NM, had somehow invaded her husband and now wore a Puresome suit. It had happened before…..
The planning and execution of Operation Air Cam made D-Day look simple, and it
happily kept Puresome out of trouble for most of a year. He petitioned the Federales to
let him have a custom N-number for the plane, "Four Zero Yankee Poppa," "Four-Point-
O" being Naval Aviator for perfecto, and "Yankee Poppa" for his ownself. He found a
Good Ol' Boy in Western Florida that had put together an Air Cam kit for another chap,
and he agreed to put forty-nine per cent of one together and help Puresome with the other fifty-one per cent of construction. After many strange adventures, the Air Cam got
lashed together, and it came time for Puresome to bring home Yankee Pop.
Puresome flew a Grits Jr. Airways Dinky Jet to Tallahassee and only waited forty five
minutes curbside for a rusty 1955 Chevrolet pickup from Sorghum State Rent Car to
amble over to get him. "Well, they was sick folks in the office...." The good news was
that there was a place across from the Rent Car emporeum that said "Catfish Patch."
Puresome axed the car folks if it was any good, but they were just down from Michigan
and certainly didn't know. But the parking lot was full, and, when Youthly walked in the
place, it was full of coveralls and ball caps. When he saw "Cheese Grits" was a
side dish for all the fried Catfishes, Mullets, Oysters, and Scallops on the
menu, he knew he was truly back in the land of Navy Flight Training. Oh,
yes--he had to choose between "Sweet Tea" or "Unsweet Tea." Only someone
from New Yawk City or an anorexic female would chose the "Unsweet Tea," and it
was clearly better to be neither....
Interstate Highways in this part of Florida have Stalag 17 type fences along
their borders to keep the deers from running out and impaling the tourists,
so Puresome made the fifty mile trip west in relative safety. Exiting off
into the piney woods, he ended up on a red dirt farm road that led to the
shop, hangar, and grass strip where Yankee Poppa had been born'd up and
raised. Many strange and complicated adventures had passed so that the
plane came to be ready to fly, but there it was, shining bright white
against the deep Florida green grass.
Yankee Poppa's nominal 49% builder, Mr. Glenn, was there to meet him. Mr. Glenn was
a former Marine, some two-hundred sixty pounds of tall guy who could bench
press John Deere tractors and also dabble a touch-up paint brush with
Picasso-like adroitness. He was a True Good Old Boy and a devout craftsman,
and, naturally, Puresome found some other stuff for him to do to his
airplane. So passed the afternoon until about 1600. An ultralight pilot
had showed up and invited Puresome to go flying with him. Nupe. It was the
hour of truth. Enough fussing and primping, it was time to go fly his
airplane.
Puresome figgered he had flown the F-11, the A-4, the A-7, the F-8, and the
F-4 (well, there was somebody in the back seat to pray for him) the first
time by his ownself, and he had practiced up his tail-dragging on a Citabria
earlier in the summer, so it was just a other different airplane. You just
had to go try it on.
Mr. Glenn was nervous as a momma with cubs about his baby. "Ye want me to
fly along with ye?" Axed the Ultralite pilot. Nupe. It was time to go fly, so Youthly
saddled up and fired up both motors. After taxi-ing around for a bit, it was time to get the
hell out, so he pointed in the right direction, stirred the controls, and ran the throttles up.
Yankee Poppa literally squirted forward, and he was airborne almost before he knew it!
Yeeeeeehaw! Puresome was too surprised to honk the nose up to space shuttle attitude
and show off, but at a forty mile per hour climb speed, he didn't have to worry about
getting the wing down and locked before he hit hypervelocity. Sitting behind a clear
windshield and no canopy around him, the side rails about thigh level, Puresome was
delighted not to be a little weirded out as he had been during the first ride in the Air Cam
at the factory, where (acutely afraid of heights) he found he was suddenly sitting in a
chair a thousand feet in the air! Leveling off, he throttled back to a blistering 82 MPH
and headed for Marianna, Florida about ten miles away to do some landings.
Puresome figgered that he would be landing on asphalt runways on the trip
back home, so he had better practice on them. Besides, having several
thousand feet of smooth surface couldn't be too bad for finding the ground.
He was in some luck, because the Florida dusk was beautifully smooth with
hardly any wind. Since he had lots of runway to find exactly where the ground actually
was, Puresome tip-toed down in stair steps the final few inches, found it, and just kept
the tail in the air going down the runway, memorizing the sight picture.
He did three more bumps and circuits, and the approaching darkness made him
head on back to the home patch. He made an acceptible short-field landing
on the grass and figgered he was your basic Ace of Base. It was hard to
stop grinning.
Next morning was time to head to Texas. Plan was to blast off for Defuniak Springs,
Florida, where a waiting techie would certify the transponder, and then to head on down
the road after that to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where a motel reservation and cold beer
waited. Puresome had forgotten about Grong, the Goat God, who is particularly
powerful in the South. His powerful goat god influence slows down time and
makes things in airplanes go wonky. Sure enough, Puresome got involved in
trips to Wally World for more bungee cords and giant tupperware items to
hold his steamer trunk, pounds of paperwork, and left-over paint. Sure
enough, an item that had worked perfectly on the test hop decided to go
blinky. So he did not blast off until nearly 1300 for the trip to the
techie at Defuniak Springs. Time was a wasting. It took about an hour to
get to the little strip stuck between tall Florida pines. The wind seemed to be favoring the
"W," so Puresome, the self-proclaimed Air Cam Ace of the Base, pointed to runway 28.
He was really more interested in seeing where the techie's place might be on the
small airport than landing (after all....), and he forgot that tail-draggers
needed to be flown ALL THE WAY TO THE CHOCKS. Yankee Poppa touched down
and promptly decided to head for the weeds.....YAAAAAAA! Fortunately,
thousand hour hands and feets, followed by a red face, reminded the former
Base Ace that proper respect needed to be paid. Puresome wrote that down in
his day book in red magic marker.
After much techie stuff, it was sadly discovered that the brand new
transponder lacked empathy with the test equipment and needed to be sent
back for electronic viagra or a more studly item. Naturally, this blew most
of the rest of the afternoon and Youthly's legendary patience, so he decided
to decamp, tie down, and spend the night. Since he had a long way to go the next
morning, he axed about the facility's self-serve gas set-up. "Well, normally all you have
to do is swipe a credit card and pump, but I kinda ran out of gas........."
It was time to go have a couple of beers, more cheese grits, and think about things.
later. Later at a luxurious Defuniak Springs Motel, Puresome watched the
Weather Channel on the telly and developed Plan "B." Despite the passage of
a cold front during the night, the weather was to be clear, VERY COLD, and
gusty winds out of the Northwest. Real good. Puresome had brough along his
mossy break-up cammo deer hunting overalls, so he was ready for the cold, he
hoped, but the gusty northwest wind would be on the beak all the way to
Texas, and he would encounter gusty crosswinds at three of the four stops on
the way home. Recently humbled, this gave some pause even to one so pure of
heart.
It was real cold the next morning, and the promised wind was there.
Puresome had decided to fly on to nearby Crestview, Florida, rather that use
the electric golf cart and five-gallon gas cans to motor across a busy
highway to fill up the plane, as had been kindly offered by the gas-less FBO
operator. He took advantage of a dirt runway that was a little more into
the wind and found that the Air Cam's almost helicopter lift-off saved him
again.
The low level flight to Crestview was lumpy, and it was found necessary to sit on his map
to keep it from going bye-bye. Puresome briefly thought, "Jerbis Flinderbars! Wot if I
roll this thing up in a ball?!!!" But, fortunately, there was a plan. On his ride down at the
Air Cam factory at Sebring, the wind had been blowing a gale across all known runways,
and Puresome had watched what the factory pilot did with interest--he had made a noflap
landing at an zortching F-104 speed of 60 MPH, tippie-toed down to the runway,
and, ground speed almost nothing, cut the power and STOPPED. To his amazement and
relief, this technique worked at Crestview and no morting went on.
So, thoroughly gassed up, Puresome flew on to Missippi. After 2:26 flight time, he was
so cold he couldn't get out of the airplane and was sitting there on the ramp with nothing
but sunglasses and bill of ball-cap sticking out of his deer-hunting outfit, trying to thaw
out enough to unstrap. Two good ole boys in a pick up roared up. "Whut in the hale is
that you're flyin'? Where yew from? What you gonna do with it?" Youthly
kindly told them that it was on the eventual way to Rancho Delmundo, New
Mexico, was going to fly around and look at the spread. "Don't even tell me
you don't deer hunt!" Deer hunting got thoroughly discussed, and Puresome
finally got warm enough to get out and go see about some gas. Inside there
was HOT COFFEE. The kindly FBO operator volunteered to make another pot,
got Youthly some home-made German Chocolate Cake, and popped a bag of
popcorn for his frozen guest. More deer hunting got discussed, including
proper garb for keeping warm feets, which two pairs of socks and Wellington
boots and not done for Puresome. A corporate pilot volunteered that a
couple of trash bags duct-taped over the lower extremities might help. Mr. FBO said,
"Hell, I got trash bags AND duct tape!" So it was done. Impeccably clad in
cammo deer hunting suit and trash bagged lower extremities, Puresome waddled
on out to Air Cam it on to Jefferson Parish airport in Louisiana.
Three hours and thirty-two minutes worth of flight time proved that that
trash bag trick worked some. Puresome passed over Elderly Man River
Mississippi and puffing river barges about 1345. The American South, seen
from very low altitude, is a bunch of pine trees punctuated by deer stands
and the occasional swamp. In an open cockpit airplane, the jolly paper mill smells and
the smoke from lots of small forest fires took Puresome back to the happy odors around
Saufley Field. When he landed in Louisiana, he was lucky enough to catch the FBO
operator there before he shut down early on Friday afternoon so he could go git in his
stand and maybe bag that big buck he had missed. Like a horse nearing the
home patch at the end of a long day, Puresome could smell Texas. He
figgered that his ETA would be around 1900 in the darkiness, but, since he
had instrument lights and a couple of landing lights that looked like they
had come off a Schwinn bicycle, he had the technology. He called Tunita and
told her "Mama, come and git your baby boy!"
When he hit the Texas border, the wind died. It got warmer. Puresome let
down to tree-top level and found that he could actually hold a heading and
an altitude for more than moments. The sun eased down, and the red dusk
peacefully moved into a night-time sparkling with lights. He climbed up to
a thousand feet and enjoyed the Great Antheap unfolding toward him at a pace
where he could enjoy the scenery. He landed at Grand Prairie Airport and
found that his Schwinn bicycle lights lit up the runway like a 767 at DFW.
It had only taken nine hours of flight time that day, and his greeting
committee was vastly impressed with the trash bags.
Saturday morning, Puresome and his son transferred Yankee Poppa to his
winter home on a grass strip south of Fort Worth. It was a beautiful,
breezy day, and there were LOTS of aviators out to watch the take off.
Yankee Poppa rolled about two airplane lengths and shot up to a thousand
feet hardly before anyone could say "Holy Sheeeeeit!" It It didn't even matter that it took a month and a half to leave the airport boundary after that.
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