To All,
Good Wednesday morning April 5 2023.
Just got our WiFi back up about 20 minutes ago. Down since last night about 8.
A bit of history and some tidbits and it really is Wednesday.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History April 5
1944
PB4Y aircraft (VB 109) sink Japanese auxiliary submarine chaser Cha 46 off Wake Island.
1946
USS Missouri (BB 63) transports the body of the late Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Mehmet Munir Ertegun, home for burial, on a mission that was also made to influence Soviet Middle East policy.
1951
During the Korean War, Hospital Corpsman Richard De Wert is killed in action while administering first aid to an injured comrade. He is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
1961
A fire-fighting party from USS Prichett (DD 561) boards the burning Chinese tanker Kwang Lung at Kaohsiung Harbor, Taiwan, and extinguishes the fire before it spreads to a million gallons of gasoline.
2009
USS Warrior (MCM 10) and USS Chief (MCM 14), along with the Mexican Navy, rescue two fisherman 36 miles off Mexico.
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On this day in World history (April 5):
This Day in History
April 5
1242 Russian troops repel an invasion by Teutonic knights.
1614 Pocahontas marries English colonist John Rolfe.
1792 George Washington casts the first presidential veto.
1843 Queen Victoria proclaims Hong Kong a British crown colony.
1861 Gideon Welles, the Secretary of the Navy issues official orders for the USS Powhatan to sail to Fort Sumter.
1865 As the Confederate army approaches Appomattox, it skirmishes with Union forces at Amelia Springs and Paine's Cross Road.
1908 The Japanese Army reaches Yalu River as Russians retreat.
1919 Eamon de Valera becomes president of Ireland.
1930 Mahatma Gandhi defies British law by making salt in India instead of buying it from the British.
1941 German commandos secure docks along the Danube River in preparation for Germany's invasion of the Balkans.
1943 The British 8th Army attacks the next blocking position of the retreating Axis forces at Wadi Akarit.
1951 Americans Julius and Ethel Rosenberg are sentenced to death for espionage.
1955 Winston Churchill resigns as British prime minister.
1986 A bomb explodes in a West Berlin disco packed with American soldiers.
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On this day in history (April 5):
1614: American Indian Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.
1951: During the Korean War, Hospital Corpsman Richard De Wert is killed in action while administering first aid to an injured comrade. He is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
1987: FOX Broadcasting Company launched "Married....With Children" and "The Tracey Ullman Show". The two shows were the beginning of the FOX lineup.
And today is:
National Caramel Popcorn Day
1972 North Vietnamese launch second front of Nguyen Hue Offensive »
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From the archives
Thanks to Ralph and to Cowboy who found the url
: 3.5 Minute European History Map Lesson....How World Changed in Europe between 1000-2000 A.D.
This is an excellent video regarding the partial geographical history of the European and some Asian countries. The video moves very quickly. You might want to use your cursor and slow the video down so you can keep track of the geographical changes to the country(ies) you are interested in viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjWVFZ5e_vo&t=45s
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Skip… For The List for Wednesday, 5 April 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 5 April 1968 In America the day after MLK, Jr was assassinated: anger… In the skies over North Vietnam: Happy Days for Rolling Thunder strike pilots…
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 Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
https:geopoliticalfutures.com
Daily Memo: Iran Nuclear Negotiations, Maritime SecurityWashington may be considering a partial deal with Tehran.
By: GPF Staff
April 4, 2023
Proposed deal. The U.S. has reportedly discussed with its allies a proposal for an interim nuclear agreement with Iran. The plan – shared with Israel, France, Germany and the U.K. – would give Iran some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran's agreement to freeze parts of its nuclear program, specifically its uranium enrichment. This comes after Israeli officials recently warned that further progress in Iran's nuclear program could result in military action. Meanwhile, Iran is looking to leverage its warming relations with Saudi Arabia to improve its beleaguered economy. It is planning to send trade delegations to Saudi Arabia and has started work on a joint chamber of commerce.
More collaboration. Speaking at a tech conference in Sydney, the director-general of Australia's Office of National Intelligence called for more collaboration with the U.S. and U.K. to maintain the three countries' competitive edge over China. He said the AUKUS alliance's technological advantage is starting to erode and called for more collaboration on quantum and hypersonic technology. Australia's defense minister told the conference that his country is planning to buy a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. According to a recent Pentagon report, China has recently kept at least one nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarine at sea at all times, making deterrence capabilities that much more important.
Eurozone unity. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank last month underscored the importance of unifying Europe's banking practices, the chairman of eurozone finance ministers said. He noted that the EU's best course of action is to strengthen rules on dealing with failing lenders. The EU is drafting legislation on banking crisis management that it hopes will reduce the risk of drawing on public funds and ensure more consistent treatment of troubled lenders.
Developments in Belarus. Belarus' armed forces have received Russian-made nuclear-capable missile systems, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said. Belarusian troops began training with the Iskander-M on Monday. On Tuesday, Minsk's air force and air defense forces began joint training exercises, which will involve planning for a bilateral grouping of forces with Russia, established last year.
Help for North Korea. South Korea approved its first provision of the year of private humanitarian aid to North Korea. The assistance, worth 240 million won ($183,000), is related to nutritional materials. North Korea has been experiencing severe food shortages in recent months.
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Thanks to Barrel
If you happen to speak Croatian/Serbian, you can find the interview, published on 17 March 2023 at this link. It runs over 2 hours.
The context is everything
Domazet is the only military analyst that I know of, who takes into account the history of western financial oligarchy, their Venetian roots, migration to Amsterdam where they formed the Dutch Empire, and subsequent move to London which, to this day remains the ideological and spiritual headquarters of the undead British Empire.
He has correctly labelled humanity's enemy as the "western occult oligarchy," and has even called the war in Ukraine as the clash between Christ and anti-Christ, underlining that the anti-Christ is in the west.
Mind you, Croatia is a NATO member state and is, like Poland, a catholic Slavic nation, sharing even some of its cultural Russophobia (though it may not quite as rabid in Croatia as it is in Poland).
About Russia's hypersonic weapons
However, the part of Domazet's last interview that I found particularly worth sharing was what he laid out about Russia's hypersonic weapons.
It was in 2018 that Vladimir Putin took the stage to present Russia's new hypersonic weapons. The term "hypersonic" refers to missiles that fly at speeds of 5 mach and higher. At the time, many in the west dismissed Putin's claims and thought it was a bluff. We now know that he wasn't bluffing.
Russia is the only country in the world that has deployment-ready hypersonic missiles - not one but three types: Zircons, Kinzhals and Avantguards.
Domazet explained why these weapons are radical game changers in warfare.
Namely, in World War 1, tanks were the game changing military technology.
Since World War 2, it's been the air-force. Aircraft carrier strike groups have been an irresistible force wherever they travelled, dominating the seas ever since. But hypersonic precision missiles have rendered that force obsolete overnight.
The main military front in today's global conflict, according to Domazet, are the Anti-Ballistic (ABM) batteries which the US has set up on the Poland-Romania axis, and the Russians on the North Pole-Kaliningrad-Crimea-Syria axis. These are defensive systems, conceived to intercept incoming nuclear missiles (though they can easily be converted to offensive nuclear missiles). However, today's ABM systems are only effective against missiles flying at speeds up to mach 3.5 (3.5 x the speed of sound).
The Kinzhal turns mighty aircraft carrier strike groups into sitting ducks Russia's new Kinzhal missile flies at speeds of mach 12 to mach 15 and nothing in western defensive arsenals can stop its strike. During the war in Ukraine, Russia staged a stunning demonstration of its power. The first Kinzhal strike, delivered one month after the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine, was perhaps the most significant: Russian forces targeted a large weapons depot in Ukraine which had been built during the Soviet times to withstand a nuclear strike. It was buried 170 meters (over 500 ft) underground and protected by several layers of armored concrete.
The Kinzhal flies at altitudes of between 20 and 40 km, with a maximum range of 2,000 km. When above target, it dives perpendicularly and accelerates to
15 mach, generating enormous kinetic energy in addition to its explosive payload. That first strike with a single Kinzhal missile destroyed Ukraine's nuke-proof underground weapons depot. This was a message for the west.
Moscow calling: we can sink ALL your carriers The Kinzhal was developed with the express purpose of destroying aircraft carrier strike groups. If it could destroy a warehouse built to withstand a nuclear strike, it can cut through an aircraft carrier like a hot knife through butter.
According to Admiral Domazet, neither the western powers nor China are anywhere near having weapons like that. He explained that the critical issue with hypersonic weapons are the extreme temperatures reached during hypersonic flights on the surface of missiles, which can cause them to break apart mid-flight. Russia is the only nation that has developed special materials that enable the missiles to withstand this stress, so their flight can be controlled throughout its trajectory and delivered with pinpoint accuracy.
Western intelligence estimated that Russia had some 50 Kinzhals at the start of the war in Ukraine, and thus far it has used only 9 of them. Last week, they fired six Kinzhals in a single salvo. That too, was a message. Here's how Domazet explained it: United States have 11 aircraft carrier strike groups. Of these, fewer than half will be active at any one time (while others are in dock for maintenance, or in preparation). Firing six Kinzhals in one go is military-speak for, "we have the capability to sink ALL of your aircraft carriers at once."
Russia will run out of ammunitions any minute now, (experts say).
Russia has the capacity to build about 200 Kinzhals per year and now has means of delivering Kinzhal and Zircon missiles anywhere from aircraft, ships and submarines. In addition to destroying aircraft carriers, they can also destroy NATOs ABM missile sites. In a nutshell, Russia is now a clear winner of the 21st century arms race.
It could take the western powers 10 years or longer to catch up and until then, the only way to avoid losing the war is to either concede defeat and accept Russia's security demands, or to escalate the conflict to nuclear exchange.
A conservative estimate suggests that at least a billion people would perish in such a conflict and nobody would win. Who would do such a thing? The idea of using nuclear weapons is, in fact, so repugnant that we can be assured that our leaders will never chose the path of escalation. Surely, nobody's that evil, right? Are they?
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Thanks to Newell
Today's THE LIST posted a poignant website reference to RFK's April 4, 1968 speech. A heartfelt speech made in response to Martin Luther King's assassination. Why particularly poignant 55 years later? Because RFK's message was timeless. He addressed both the violence and divisiveness plaguing our nation. And he asked for compassion rather than senseless retribution. A message that still resonates well today.
The messenger was assassinated two months later, June 5, 1968, but his message lives on.
Newell
4 APRIL 1968, 6:01 P.M. MEMPHIS TIME
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. ASSASSINATED
Senator Robert F. Kennedy, on the campaign trail for the Democratic nomination for President, was sitting in a charter aircraft on the ramp at Muncie, Indiana about to takeoff for Indianapolis, and a large street rally in one of the city's black wards when he was advised that Dr. King had been assassinated. Upon arrival in Indianapolis his staff confirmed that the first word was the final word ̶ Dr. King was gone.
Arriving at the rally, it was immediately apparent that the crowd of about 1,000 mostly black folks had not heard the news.
A quote from, Jules Witcover's, "The Year the Dream Died"
"The candidate, hunched in a black topcoat against the night chill, climbed out and told the event organizer that he wanted to speak at once. After a perfunctory introduction, he began with somber and wavering voice: 'I have some bad news for you, for all our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world, and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and killed tonight.' A gasp ran through the crowd, and some isolated screams of 'No!' But not everyone grasped at once what Kennedy had said, and the mood of celebration continued among some, who applauded and cheered incongruously as he pressed on. Finally, by his own grave demeanor as well as by his words, he got through to them what had happened. The extemporaneous remarks, delivered from the few scanty notes Kennedy was able to assemble on the sober ride from the airport, provided one of the most poignant moments of the eventful year."
RFK spoke: "Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice for his fellow human beings, and he died because of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it is perhaps well to ask what kind of nation we are, and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black – considering the evidence, [that] there were white people who were responsible – you can be filled with bitterness, with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
"We can move in that direction as a country, in great polarization – black people amongst black, white people amongst white, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and to replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land with an effort to understand with compassion and love.
"For those of you who are black and are tempted to be filled with hatred and distrust at the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I can only say that I feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man. But we have to make an effort in the United States, we have to make an effort to understand, to go beyond these rather difficult times.
"My favorite poet was Aeschylus. He wrote: 'In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.' What we need in the United States is not division. What we need in the United States is not hatred. What we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness, but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.
"So, I shall ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King, but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love. A prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke. We've had difficult times in the past. We will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence. It is not the end of lawlessness. It is not the end of disorder. But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want justice for all human beings who abide in our land. Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and to make gentile the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people."
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Thanks to Caroline ... and Dr. Rich
Thought you might like these …
https://soulfoodfriday.files.wordpress.com/2016/02/getting-some-historic-perspective1.pdf
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Thanks to Glenn
StratoLaunch's ROC
know anyone interested in flying this beast?
should be fun in a strong crosswind landing.
Glenn
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This Week In American History: From a "Murderous Fistfight" to the "Ribbon
Creek Massacre"
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
This Week in American Military History:
Apr. 6, 1862: Confederate Army forces under the command of Gen. Albert
Sidney Johnston attack Union Army forces under the command of Maj. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant at Shiloh (Shiloh Church), Tennessee.
The fighting is desperate on both sides – described as "a murderous
fistfight" – and the bloodiest battle to date in American military history.
Confederate and Union casualties combined will exceed well over 23,000 in
two days. The Confederates carry the first day, but Johnston is killed. In
the end, Grant wins the Battle of Shiloh (also known as the Battle of
Pittsburg Landing): stiff Union resolve and reinforcements determining the
outcome.
Apr. 6, 1917: Pres. Woodrow Wilson signs a joint resolution of Congress
declaring war on Germany.
Wilson had appealed to Congress for a war declaration on Apr. 2: The appeal
stemming from Germany's renewal of its policy of unrestricted submarine
warfare as well as the British-intercepted Zimmermann telegram revealing
Germany's promise to Mexico of a huge chunk of U.S. territory (predicated,
of course, on a German victory) if Mexico would ally itself with Germany.
Wilson dreads entering the war, but as he says, "Right is more precious
than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried
nearest our hearts -- for democracy, for the right of those who submit to
authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and
liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a
concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and
make the world itself at last free."
Apr. 8, 1956: In what will become known as the "Ribbon Creek Massacre,"
six Marine recruits drown during a night-march through a rain-swollen tidal
estuary at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C.
The deaths – which will result in the trial and conviction of the drill
instructor responsible – spawn widespread public condemnation of the
Marines' so-called "ruthless" training methods. The incident adds to the
mystique of geographically isolated Parris Island (near Beaufort). And it
will fuel the already-held reputation of Marines as being some of the
world's "toughest" fighting men for simply having survived the Corps'
notorious boot camp. It is a reputation that continues today.
Apr. 9, 1865: The war lost, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee concludes,
"There is nothing left for me to do, but to go and see Gen. [Ulysses S.]
Grant, and I would rather die a thousand deaths."
Lee formally surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant at the home
of Wilmer McLean in the village of Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Still-operating Confederate forces will surrender within months.
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Thanks to Carl
That large dose of reality
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/04/james-howard-kunstler/hows-that-war-going/
How's That War Going?
By James Howard Kunstler
Kunstler.com
April 5, 2023
"The American press, once the guardian of democracy, was hollowed out to the point that it could be worn like a hand puppet by the U.S. security agencies and party operatives….Disinformation is both the name of the crime and the means of covering it up; a weapon that doubles as a disguise." — Jacob Siegel
How's the war going? Huh? Do you mean the war over in Ukraine? Or the US government's war against its own people?
Well, the first one, the Ukraine War, is mostly destroying Europe — though, apparently, the denizens of Germany, Holland, et al., haven't figured that out yet. Europe's industrial economy is toast without affordable Russian natgas. We turned off their pipeline for that in September and nobody in Europe objected. They just sucked it up and went back to smoking cigarettes at their café tables. A year or so from now, nobody in Europe will have enough money for a cappuccino (or cigarettes) and maybe then they'll start asking the mental mollusks who run things there some questions — if they don't just leapfrog all that politesse and burn the joint down.
The main thing about the Ukraine War is that the US doesn't want it to end. You understand, it is not about any airy-fairy principles such as freedom for Ukraine. It's about antagonizing Russia no matter how many dead Ukrainians it takes, because US officials developed a delusional psychosis about Russia after years of using it to mind-fuck American citizens, and our folks-in-charge have to justify that antagonism by pretending we have vested interests in Ukraine, which we don't, by the way.
So far, everything we've done to promote the conflict has backfired on Western Civ. Most of the rest of the world recognizes that the US has gone insane and they are taking careful steps to decouple from us — mainly to stop using our money for international trade. Really, would you want to have anything to do with a crazy person? No, you'd put as much distances as possible between you and this lunatic and stop even trying to communicate. If the world stops using the dollar in trade, the dollar will lose value, and so will the trillions in US bond paper held by other countries, which said countries will seek to unload as quickly as possible. Can you spell sovereign debt crisis? Look out below….
Americans, apparently, are not emotionally exercised over the Ukraine War because we don't have any troops coming home from there in body-bags (not yet, at least). Many have probably noticed that we've blown over $100-billion on the project, and, along with the aforementioned debt crisis, that might just plant a seed of resentment as prices in the supermarkets and at the gas pumps shoot up ever more and the mass job layoffs surge, and the re-po man comes a'knocking, and more banks wobble.
Of course, our Ukraine War project (based on the mind-game Why-Don't-You-and-Him-Fight?) could end pretty suddenly if, as rumored, Ukraine runs out of cannon fodder and artillery shells (despite all our assistance). And then what? You're left with "Joe Biden" looking like history's all-time champeen loser, and watch out in the Taiwan Strait, where the US Pacific Fleet could get transformed into the world's biggest set of floating ashtrays….
You get the picture? Now how about that other war: our government's war against us? What canny reporters (Taibbi, Schellenberger) are calling the Censorship Industrial Complex has been pretty well outed. Everybody knows that the FBI, CIA, DHS, and many other agencies, via hijacked social media, have worked tirelessly to confound and bamboozle the public debate about, really, everything that matters. The odd part is that roughly half of America doesn't seem to care. Of course, that is the same half of the country that has fallen in love with surveillance, censorship, political prosecutions, election monkey business, mandated mRNA shots, and other excursions into bad faith. Their auditors in the mainstream news media actually seem to relish their roles as enforcers of unreality.
This degenerate wickedness has been escalating since one Donald Trump stepped onstage years ago. The "Joe Biden" regime affects to have trapped him finally in the lair of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. Now the game gets interesting. Since the charges are the sheerest vapor, the actual aim of this prosecution, as Tom Luongo and Martin Armstrong point out, is to goad Mr. Trump into a civil contempt citation that will allow the New York authorities to lock him up. The judge in the case will impose a gag order on Mr. Trump speaking out about the proceedings against him, and when he opens his yap — as he is certain to do — they'll throw a net around him and drag him off to the hoosegow, and keep try to keep him there indefinitely, as they kept the Jan 6 suspects in the DC jail. That is, if the Bragg operation in New York City can extract the former president from the state of Florida, which may not be so easy, now that Governor DeSantis has indicated a disinclination to allow it.
As to the case itself, a judge with any self-respect would toss it in a pre-trial hearing like a six-day-dead carp at the slightest prompting by a defense attorney — based, as it is, on multiple specious novelties of criminal law, not to mention being well beyond the statute of limitations. If this stinker can actually get to trial, the prosecution will be a jurisprudential joke for the ages. If they get a Big Apple jury to go along with the joke, it will be short-listed through the appeals process clean up to the Supreme Court in a New York minute.
And if that whole thing falls apart like the janky jenga tower it is, there are two other matters against Mr. Trump in the wings — the bullshit case in Fulton County, Georgia, where the grand jury process was already compromised by a jury fore-person, self-identified as a "witch," shooting her mouth off to the press; and the operation out of the DC Federal District run by one Special Counsel Jack Smith in the Mar-a-Lago classified papers matter — another loser case, considering all the other high officials currently entangled in similar complaints, as yet unmolested by any official charges.
Sound like a plan? Yes, it sounds like a plan to foment a civil war. Especially considering all the other crap our country is being subjected to by a bureaucracy-gone-wild, the regime fronting for it, and its legions of mentally ill useful idiots disturbing the peace all over the land. Probably more than half of America realizes that the legal system has been purloined by the same rogues who infiltrated social media and the state boards of election. They are getting good and goddam sick of it, along with all the mental twerkery around transgenderism, race hustling, climate change, and Ukraine. I'm sure it means we're in for a thrilling spring and summer.
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Thanks to Brett
Stratfor - The Weekly Rundown: Israel's Cabinet Votes on a National Guard, Von der Leyen and Macron Visit China
What We're Tracking
Israel's Cabinet votes on a new national guard. The vote on whether to authorize a new national guard under the control of Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will occur April 2. Ben-Gvir has proposed a 2,000-strong force focused on crime and terrorism, but critics believe it will serve as Ben-Gvir's own personal force for deployment against Arab communities and the opposition. Special legislation and budgeting will be required before the force launches, and the Israel Defense Forces, Shin Bet and Border Police are likely to object to creating a new security entity that might pull resources from their budgets. The proposal is also already generating protests that will feed into wider opposition sentiment that the Israeli government is undermining the country's democratic values for the benefit of the far right.
Von der Leyen and Macron visit China. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel April 4 to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Unlike German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited China on his own last November 2022 (reportedly rejecting Macron's proposal for a joint trip), the French president is stressing that his visit comes in full coordination with the rest of Europe, as highlighted by his invitation for von der Leyen to accompany him. Ahead of the visit, von der Leyen gave a speech on EU-China relations, highlighting Brussels' intention to harden its stance on China and "de-risk" its relationship with Beijing. Both Macron and Von der Leyen are expected to pressure Beijing to refrain from providing arms to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
Tsai visits California and Central America. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen will arrive April 5 in Los Angeles for a two-day trip in the United States during which she is widely expected to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy — the first such meeting by a Taiwanese president with a house speaker in the United States — and as many as 20 other U.S. lawmakers. Beijing may respond to this meeting with escalated military coercion, such as aerial incursions into Taiwan's extended (non-territorial) airspace with a large number of planes and naval deployments in international waters off of Taiwan's coasts. These activities are not expected to be as intense as the military drills that China launched around Taiwan in August 2022, which amounted to a partial blockade of Taiwan's main ports. Prior to the California trip, Tsai will meet with the presidents of Belize and Guatemala. He could offer their countries financial support in the form of new investment and development projects as an incentive to maintain their diplomatic alliance with Taiwan amid growing pressure from China to switch their allegiance to the mainland.
Lavrov visits Turkey. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on April 6-7 will visit Turkey for meetings with his counterpart, Mevlut Cavusoglu, to discuss bilateral cooperation, with particular emphasis on trade, energy and tourism. The ministers also will likely exchange views on the situation in Ukraine, Syria, the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Afghanistan, and will reportedly agree on a schedule of bilateral contacts at various levels, a reference to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's March 29 announcement that Russian President Vladimir Putin could visit Turkey on April 27 to attend the loading of fuel at Akkuyu nuclear power plant, which is being constructed by Russia on terms highly favorable to Turkey and that will eventually provide up to 10% of Turkey's electricity needs. Lavrov's visit comes amid recent reports that Turkish authorities are stepping up efforts to prevent exporters from moving sanctioned goods to Russia, a primary concern Lavrov will raise with his Cavusoglu that could dissuade Putin from visiting.
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This Day in U S Military History…….April 5
1869 – Daniel Bakeman, the last surviving soldier of the U.S. Revolutionary War, died at the age of 109.
1944 – The Ploesti oil installations and rail sidings are attacked by B-17 and B-24 bombers of the US 15th Air Force, with a strong fighter escort. A total of 12 planes are lost. Determined German, Romanian and Bulgarian fighter opposition is encountered as well as heavy flak over the target. A reported 262 civilians are killed and 361 are injured.
1947 – Five Marine guards were killed and eight wounded when attacked by Communist Chinese raiders near the Hsin Ho ammunition depot in Northern China. This last major clash between Marines of the 1st Marine Division and Communist forces occurred shortly after withdrawal and redeployment plans from China were issued for the 1st Division and 1st Marine Aircraft Wing on 1 April.
1968 – In Vietnam the siege of Khe Sahn ended after 76 days.1971 – US Lt. William Calley was sentenced to life for the My Lai Massacre.
1972 – US planes destroyed Benhai bride on the DMZ, the only road link between North and South Vietnam.
1974 – The World Trade Center, the tallest building in the world at 110 stories, opened.
2003 – In the 18th day of Operation Iraqi Freedom US 3rd Infantry troops entered Baghdad for the first time. Coalition troops took several objectives surrounding the capital in the north and northwest. US warplanes hit Iraqi positions near the commercial center of Mosul. Up to 3,000 Iraqi fighters were killed as American armored vehicles moved into Baghdad.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
PRENDERGAST, THOMAS FRANCIS
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 2 April 1871, Waterford, Ireland. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 55 19 July 1901. Citation: For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in battle while with the Eighth Army Corps, 25, 27, 29 March, and 5 April 1899.
KELLY, THOMAS J.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Medical Detachment, 48th Armored Infantry Battalion, 7th Armored Division. Place and date: Alemert, Germany, 5 April 1945. Entered service at: Brooklyn, N.Y. Birth: Brooklyn, N.Y. G.O. No.: 97, 1 November 1945. Citation: He was an aid man with the 1st Platoon of Company C during an attack on the town of Alemert, Germany. The platoon, committed in a flanking maneuver, had advanced down a small, open valley overlooked by wooded slopes hiding enemy machineguns and tanks, when the attack was stopped by murderous fire that inflicted heavy casualties in the American ranks. Ordered to withdraw, Cpl. Kelly reached safety with uninjured remnants of the unit, but, on realizing the extent of casualties suffered by the platoon, voluntarily retraced his steps and began evacuating his comrades under direct machinegun fire. He was forced to crawl, dragging the injured behind him for most of the 300 yards separating the exposed area from a place of comparative safety. Two other volunteers who attempted to negotiate the hazardous route with him were mortally wounded, but he kept on with his herculean task after dressing their wounds and carrying them to friendly hands. In all, he made 10 separate trips through the brutal fire, each time bringing out a man from the death trap. Seven more casualties who were able to crawl by themselves he guided and encouraged in escaping from the hail of fire. After he had completed his heroic, self-imposed task and was near collapse from fatigue, he refused to leave his platoon until the attack had been resumed and the objective taken. Cpl. Kelly's gallantry and intrepidity in the face of seemingly certain death saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers and was an example of bravery under fire.
*MUNEMORI, SADAO S.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company A,
100th Infantry Battalion, 442d Combat Team. Place and date: Near Seravezza, Italy, 5 April 1945. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif Birth: Los Angeles, Calif. G.O. No.. 24, 7 March 1946. Citation: He fought with great gallantry and intrepidity near Seravezza, Italy. When his unit was pinned down by grazing fire from the enemy's strong mountain defense and command of the squad devolved on him with the wounding of its regular leader, he made frontal, l-man attacks through direct fire and knocked out 2 machineguns with grenades Withdrawing under murderous fire and showers of grenades from other enemy emplacements, he had nearly reached a shell crater occupied by 2 of his men when an unexploded grenade bounced on his helmet and rolled toward his helpless comrades. He arose into the withering fire, dived for the missile and smothered its blast with his body. By his swift, supremely heroic action Pfc. Munemori saved 2 of his men at the cost of his own life and did much to clear the path for his company's victorious advance.
*DEWERT, RICHARD DAVID
Rank and organization: Hospital Corpsman, U.S. Navy. Hospital Corpsman attached to Marine infantry company, 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Korea, 5 April 1951. Entered service at: Taunton, Mass. Birth: Taunton, Mass. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a HC, in action against enemy aggressor forces. When a fire team from the point platoon of his company was pinned down by a deadly barrage of hostile automatic weapons fired and suffered many casualties, HC Dewert rushed to the assistance of 1 of the more seriously wounded and, despite a painful leg wound sustained while dragging the stricken marine to safety, steadfastly refused medical treatment for himself and immediately dashed back through the fireswept area to carry a second wounded man out of the line of fire. Undaunted by the mounting hail of devastating enemy fire, he bravely moved forward a third time and received another serious wound in the shoulder after discovering that a wounded marine had already died. Still persistent in his refusal to submit to first aid, he resolutely answered the call of a fourth stricken comrade and, while rendering medical assistance, was himself mortally wounded by a burst of enemy fire. His courageous initiative, great personal valor, and heroic spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds reflect the highest credit upon HC Dewert and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*BUKER, BRIAN L.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Detachment B-55, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. Place and date: Chau Doc Province, Republic of Vietnam, 5 April 1970. Entered service at: Bangor, Maine. Born: 3 November 1949, Benton, Maine. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Buker, Detachment B-55, distinguished himself while serving as a platoon adviser of a Vietnamese mobile strike force company during an offensive mission. Sgt. Buker personally led the platoon, cleared a strategically located well-guarded pass, and established the first foothold at the top of what had been an impenetrable mountain fortress. When the platoon came under the intense fire from a determined enemy located in 2 heavily fortified bunkers, and realizing that withdrawal would result in heavy casualties, Sgt. Buker unhesitatingly, and with complete disregard for his personal safety, charged through the hail of enemy fire and destroyed the first bunker with hand grenades. While reorganizing his men for the attack on the second bunker, Sgt. Buker was seriously wounded. Despite his wounds and the deadly enemy fire, he crawled forward and destroyed the second bunker. Sgt. Buker refused medical attention and was reorganizing his men to continue the attack when he was mortally wounded. As a direct result of his heroic actions, many casualties were averted, and the assault of the enemy position was successful. Sgt. Buker's extraordinary heroism at the cost of his life are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for April 5, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
5 April
1911: The Army organized its first provisional aero company at Fort Sam Houston.
1916: Philip A. Carroll organized the Governors Island Training Corps to teach civilians to fly. This corps became the nucleus of the 1st Aero Reserve Squadron, and then the 26th Aero Squadron. (24)
1930: Through 6 April, Capt Frank Hawks flew a Waco Biplane, with a glider in tow, from San Diego to New York and covered the 2,860 miles in 36 hours 47 minutes. (24)
1943: Operation FLAX. Northwest African Air Forces started a concentrated attack on the Axis air transport service between Italy via Sicily to Tunisia. The operation claimed 201 enemy aircraft destroyed. (24) Eighth Air Force sent 82 B-17s and B-24s to attack industrial targets, including the Erla aircraft factory in Antwerp, Belgium. (4)
1949: Fairchild completed the first two production models of the C-119 troop-carrying transport. (24)
1958: An USAF Atlas ICBM flew from Cape Canaveral to an impact area some 600 miles away. (16)
1966: The Air Force Avionics Laboratory conducted the first successful voice communication test with airplane, satellite, and ground equipment. (16) (26) SECDEF Robert S. McNamara approved the separation of Naval and USAF airlift. Under this decision, the Navy phased out three airlift and one maintenance squadron from MAC; however, MAC retained 48 C-130Es. That action ended an Air Force-Navy airlift partnership that began in 1948 when Air Transport Command and Naval Air Transport Service units merged. (18)
1978: An Air Force interim program management directive initiated the cruise missile carrier aircraft program to analyze the suitability of wide-body aircraft as missile carriers. (6)
1983: Through 10 April, after 20 inches of rain fell on southeastern Louisiana in five days, MAC used four C-141s to airlift 83 tons of tents, cots, field kitchens, and other relief cargo to the area. Over 40,000 homes were under water. (16) (26)
1985: MAC sent two C-141s and one C-130 with 10.9 tons of fire-fighting equipment, 21,000 gallons of fire retardant, and 190 fire fighters to fight a blaze covering 700 acres in the western North Carolina mountains. (16) (26)
1986: Through 6 April, four C-141 Starlifters and one H-3 Jolly Green Giant helicopter from the 63 MAW flew in fire suppressant foam and airlifted out burn victims from Osan AB after a 700,000-gallon tank of jet fuel exploded and burned. The helicopter flew the burn victims to Seoul for medical treatment. (16) 1988: Through 8 April, 8 C-5s and 22 C-141s airlifted 1,300 security specialists from the US to Panama, where political instability threatened the safety of thousands of Americans. The deployment included 45 missions. (18)
1990: Gordon Fullerton flew the NB-52 to 43,000 feet some 60 miles southwest of Monterey, Calif., and launched the Pegasus air-launched winged space booster for the first time. After falling for a few seconds, the first stage booster carried the rocket to 250,000 feet. Afterwards, the second and third stage pushed the 422-pound payload into a 320-mile polar orbit. The three-function payload, Pegsat, included a Navy communications satellite, a NASA atmospheric experiment, and instruments to measure inflight stresses. (8: Apr 90)
1991: Operation PROVIDE COMFORT. To 15 July, MAC units flew more than 7,000 tons of supplies to Northern Iraq, Southeastern Turkey, and Western Iran to help more than 1,000,000 Kurdish rebels, who fled from Iraq after being defeated by Iraqi forces. (16)
1996: Through 9 April, tests to help determine C-17A Globemaster III's suitability for Air Force's aeromedical evacuation role took place at Pope AFB. Twelve active-duty and Reserve aeromedical evacuation personnel "put the C-17 through its paces" to test and critique its the built-in aeromedical evacuation hardware and equipment. The airplane completed five simulated and actual flying missions, including a landing at a short dirt strip. (AFNEWS Article 296, 3 Apr 95)
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