To All,
Good Monday Morning April 17 2023
Regards,
Skip
Good Morning to All
Yesterday I sent out a note on the Bubba List to let folks know about the passing of a truly great Fighter pilot Capt Rick Ludwig USN Ret. The result has been an amazing response from all who knew him. I will see that his family receives them all.
I was trying to put something together to show that he was a unique fighter pilot with an impressive history but was stuck because I kept finding more things about him then my wife sent me the following interview. When you watch it ---and I watched the entire interview----you can't help bet see the man behind the words. Having been very close to Wigs over the last almost three years I can tell you that his plate was always full with all the people and institutions he was affiliated with and had almost daily meeting by phone or in person with all of them. When I spent most of the summer of 2020 in the hospital he started calling me almost daily and then daily and we have continued that daily check in until yesterday morning. He was a fighter and loved life and was going to the doctors weekly or more to get help with his many physical problems. He worked out whenever he could and pushed himself to get better. So here is the video of my Friend Wigs. The first thing you will notice is the over 7000 hours of flight time most of it in fighters and over 1200 carrier landings. Then three tours at Topgun the last as the CO. He was also a fighter Squadron CO and a CAG.
Skip
Check out this video on YouTube:
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History April 17
1778
The sloop-of-war Ranger, commanded by John Paul Jones, captures British ship, Lord Chatham, in St. Georges Channel, during the American Revolution.
1808
Napoleon Bonaparte issues the Bayonne Decree, which authorizes the French seizure of all United States ships entering all ports of the Hanseatic League. Napoleon argues the decree will help the United States enforce the Embargo Act signed by President Thomas Jefferson in December 1807.
1915
Chief Gunners Mate Frank Crilley, a naval diver, rescues a fellow diver who had become entangled at a depth of 250 feet during salvage operations for USS F-4 submarine that had sunk March 25, 1915, with the loss of her entire crew. For his heroism on this occasion, he is awarded the Medal of Honor in 1929.
1918
USS Stewart (DD 13) is on escort duty in Quiberon Bay, France when nearby the American steamship Florence H suffers an internal explosion. Ships Cook Third Class Jesse W. Covington and Quartermaster Frank M. Upton dive overboard to save an exhausted survivor surrounded by exploding power boxes. For their actions, both sailors receive the Medal of Honor.
1942
USS Searaven (SS 196) begins rescue of stranded Australian sailors, airmen, and soldiers from Japanese-occupied Timor, N.E.I.
1944
Minesweeper USS Swift (AM 122) and patrol craft USS PC 619 sink the German submarine, U 986, in the North Atlantic.
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This Day in World History
April 17
858 Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
1492 Christopher Columbus signs a contract with Spain to find a western route to the Indies.
1524 Present-day New York Harbor is discovered by Giovanni da Verrazzano.
1535 Antonio Mendoza is appointed first viceroy of New Spain.
1758 Frances Williams, the first African-American to graduate from a college in the western hemisphere, publishes a collection of Latin poems.
1808 Bayonne Decree by Napoleon Bonaparte of France orders seizure of U.S. ships.
1824 Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54' 40'.
1861 Virginia becomes the eighth state to secede from the Union.
1864 General Ulysses Grant bans the trading of prisoners.
1865 Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in the Lincoln assassination.
1875 The game "snooker" is invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain.
1895 China and Japan sign peace treaty of Shimonoseki.
1929 Baseball player Babe Ruth and Claire Hodgson, a former member of the Ziegfeld Follies, get married.
1946 The last French troops leave Syria.
1947 Jackie Robinson bunts for his first major league hit.
1961 Some 1,400 Cuban exiles attack the Bay of Pigs in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro.
1964 Jerrie Mock becomes first woman to fly solo around the world.
1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
1970 Apollo 13--originally scheduled to land on the moon--lands back safely on Earth after an accident.
1975 Khmer Rouge forces capture the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh.
1983 In Warsaw, police rout 1,000 Solidarity supporters.
1970
Apollo 13 returns to Earth
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post
Skip… For The List for Monday, 17 April 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 17 April 1968… Historian A.J. Taylor on pow-wows with Oriental folks…
Skip…. This was posted on my RTR website by "Mighty Thunder" (Angie) on Monday, 17 April 2018… Deserves a rerun … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/jane-fonda-fantasies/
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.
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Thanks to Al not so much Humor
Monday Morning Humor--Tax Day
Inbox
Al Krause
5:52 AM (1 hour ago)
to bcc: me
TOMORROW IS TAX DAY!!!!!
On his way to work, a driver swerved to avoid a box that fell from a truck. Seconds later, a policeman pulled him over for reckless driving.
But another officer had seen the carton in the road. The policemen retrieved the box and found that it contained tacks. "Nonetheless," the first trooper told the driver, "I have to write you a ticket."
Amazed, the driver asked why.
The trooper replied, "Tacks evasion."
State Motto of California: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's (For Most Tax Brackets)
The Internal Revenue Service said recently that a record number of Americans paid their taxes online this year.
The system still has a few bugs. They haven't yet figured out a way to get the shirt off your back through the wire. You may be sure, however, that they will never stop trying and that they will figure it out eventually.
IRS sent my Tax Return back! I guess it was because of my response to the question: List all dependents?
I replied: "I'm not claiming the millions of illegal immigrants, crack heads, unemployable people on food stamps, and people in over 243 prisons. As a minimum, I am claiming the 535 fools in the U.S. House and Senate."
Evidently, this was not an acceptable answer. Who did I miss?
From Dave Letterman:
Top Ten Dumb Accountant Tax Tips
Don't file a W-2 form unless your name begins with "W"
Answer every question "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Hide all money in mattress, on return write "No money hidden in mattress"
If you've just eaten, don't do taxes for at least half an hour
Hire yourself as an employee, fire yourself, sue yourself for discrimination, deduct court costs
Report $1 billion income so IRS will think you're some sort of big shot
For "charitable contributions," list $9 you spent on last Kevin Costner movie
Request bonus deduction because "easy" misspelled on 1040-EZ form
To distract the auditor, enclose a photo of yourself naked
Remember, you can't spell "taxes" without "CPA"
Top Ten Ways to Make Doing Your Taxes More Fun
Do 'em naked
Instead of restaurant receipt, send them leftovers from the meal in question
Frequent use of the word "eleventeen"
Claim a deduction, do a shot!
In "For Office Use Only" area write "Approved. Send refund immediately."
Apply a long-term capital gain rate of 20% to a mutual fund, do a shot!
Sneeze on forms
Instead of using dated definition of income, use the proposed revised definition under section 643(B) in which conforming amendments are made to regulations affecting ordinary trusts, pooled income funds, charitable remainder trusts, trusts that qualify for the gift and estate tax marital deduction, and trusts that are exempt from generation-skipping transfer taxes -- that always puts a smile on my face
Deduct $100 in medical expenses for all the paper cuts you suffered because tax form is 75 damn pages long!
Audit yourself, if you know what I mean
Top Excuses for Filing Your Taxes Late
Thought late fees would make a nice deduction
H Block finished on time, but R Block was a little slow.
Finished entire Pepperidge Farm chocolate layer cake; got sleepy
Think about it: The longer you make the IRS wait for your returns, the more excited they'll be when they finally get 'em!
Still waiting to hear from Ed McMahon about that million dollar thing
Got nasty paper cut from 1040 form, passed out for three days from blood loss
Math is real hard, dude.
My friend Leona said I didn't have to.
Internal Revenue Service of the United States Government New Simplified Tax Form for 2022 Taxes--1040 EZ 2 DO TAX FORM
How much money did you make? $___________
Send it to us.
Submitted by Allan Anderson and Mark Logan:
Latest reports show that the top 1% of income earners pay 37.7% of all income taxes. The bottom 50% of those who filed tax returns paid nearly ZERO taxes. So that brings us the new tax cuts. Some complain that these 'tax cuts' favor the "rich" and that the poor are not getting a tax cut. Huh?
If you don't understand this version of what tax cuts should be (and you are not alone), maybe this will help explain it for you:
50,000 people go to a baseball game, but the game was rained out.
A refund was then due.
The team was about to mail refunds when the Congressional members of one party stopped them and suggested that they send out refund amounts based on their interpretation of fairness. After all, if the refunds were made based on the price each person paid for the tickets, most of the money would go to the ticket holders of the most expensive tickets. That would be unconscionable.
People in the $10 seats will get back $15, because they have less money to spend. Call it an "Earned" Income Ticket Credit." Persons "earn" it by demonstrating little ambition, few skills and poor work habits, thus keeping them at entry-level wages.
People in the $25 seats will get back $25, because that's only fair.
People in the $50 seats will get back $1, because they already make a lot of money and don't need a refund. If they can afford a $50 ticket, then they must not be paying enough taxes.
People in the $75 luxury seats will have to pay another $50, because they have way too much to spend.
The people driving (or walking) by the stadium who couldn't afford to watch the game will get $10 each, even though they didn't pay anything, because they need the most help.
Tax One Liners:
We have discovered that you can deduct your marijuana for medical purposes but only if you file a joint return.
As income tax time approaches, did you ever notice: When you put the two words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "THEIRS"?
There will always be death and taxes; however, death doesn't get worse every year.
"I haven't committed a crime. What I did was fail to comply with the law"--David Dinkins, New York City Mayor, answering accusations that he failed to pay his taxes.
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
The IRS Agent's Hymn: I Surrender All
Submitted by Skip Leonard:
It may be true that the only sure things in life are death and taxes, but death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets.
Taxation WITH representation ain't much fun, either.
It used to be only death and taxes were inevitable. Now, of course, there's shipping and handling, too.
Quote from 1959--"Thank goodness I won't live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to Congress."
If a lawyer and an IRS agent were both drowning, and you could only save one of them, would you go to lunch or read the paper?
Take a look at your tax bills and you'll quit calling them "cheap politicians."
The reward for saving your money is being able to pay your taxes without borrowing.
Even if money could bring happiness, think what the luxury tax would be!
There's one consolation about life and taxes - when you finish the former, you're through with the latter.
One can be born free and then be taxed to death.
It will be real nice if taxes get down to where we can afford to make a living.
We wonder why they call them "tax returns" when so little of it does.
At no time is it easier to keep your mouth shut than during an audit of your income-tax return.
After a man pays his income tax, he knows how a cow feels after she's been milked.
If you fill out an income tax return correctly, you go to the poor house. If you don't, you go to jail.
A businessman on his deathbed called his friend and said, "Bill, I want you to promise me that when I die, you will have my remains cremated." "And what," his friend asked, "do you want me to do with your ashes?" The businessman said, "Just put them in an envelope and mail them to the Internal Revenue Service. Write on the envelope, "Now, you have everything."
Submitted by Dean Laird:
545 vs. 300,000,000 People by Charlie Reese (His final column for the Orlando Sentinel... he had been a journalist for 49 years)
Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?
Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?
You and I don't propose a federal budget. The President does.
You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.
You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.
You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.
You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.
One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.
I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.
I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.
The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House now ? She and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.
It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.
If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.
If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.
If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.
There are no insoluble government problems.
Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.
Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.
They, and they alone, have the power.
They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees...
We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!
What you do with this article now that you have read it... is up to you. This might be funny if it weren't so true. Be sure to read all the way to the end:
Tax his land, Tax his bed,
Tax the table, at which he's fed.
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes are the rule.
Tax his work, Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts anyway!
Tax his cow, Tax his goat,
Tax his pants, Tax his coat
Tax his ties, Tax his shirt,
Tax his work, Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his cigars, Tax his beers,
If he cries, tax his tears.
Tax his car, Tax his gas,
Find other ways to tax his a$$.
Tax all he has hen let him know
That you won't be done till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers; then tax him some more,
Tax him till he's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he's laid...
Put these words upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me to my doom...'
When he's gone, do not relax,
It's time to apply the inheritance tax
Here's a few taxes other than income tax
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License TaxFuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance TaxInventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
Still think this is funny? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom, if agreed, stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
Don't forget taxes (or requests for extensions) are due toMORROW!!
Otherwise, have a great week,
Al
"The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."--President Ronald Reagan
"I shall never use profanity except in discussing house rent and taxes."--Mark Twain
"If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep."--Will Rogers
"America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation."--Laurence J. Peter (author of "The Peter Principle")
"The nation should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose."--Former Treasury Secretary William Simon
"Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors ... and miss."--Science--fiction writer Robert Heinlein
"What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue."--Thomas Paine
"Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today."--Herman Wouk
"People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."--Unknown
"Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the income--tax form than it does to make the income."--Alfred E. Neuman
"It was as true...as taxes is. And nothing's truer than them."--Charles Dickens
"Death and taxes may be inevitable, but they shouldn't be related."--Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr.
"The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government."--Senator Barry Goldwater
"A fine is a tax for doing something wrong. A tax is a fine for doing something right."--Unknown
"Collecting more taxes than is absolutely necessary is legalized robbery."--President Calvin Coolidge
"What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin."--Mark Twain
"The politicians say 'we' can't afford a tax cut. Maybe we can't afford the politicians."--Steve Forbes
"People try to live within their income so they can afford to pay taxes to a government that can't live within its income."--Financial staffing expert Robert Half
"When I meet a government which says to me, 'Your money or your life,' why should I be in haste to give it my money?"--Henry David Thoreau
"The federal income tax system is a disgrace to the human race."--President Jimmy Carter
"The current tax code is a daily mugging."--President Ronald Reagan
"I have no intention of raising taxes."--President Bill Clinton
"Blessed are the young, for they will inherit the national debt."--President Herbert Hoover
"Don't steal. The government hates competition."--Bumper sticker
"Loophole: To liberals, any provision of the tax code that fails to claim money earned, inherited, saved, or otherwise pocketed by known taxpayers."--The Conservative's Dictionary
"The power to tax involves the power to destroy."--Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, 1819
"If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, he should see it with representation."--The Farmer's Almanac
"Serfs in the Middle Ages had to give up 20 percent of their income yearly and that made them virtual slaves. Today the average American pays 47 percent. What does that make Americans?"--Kenneth Prazak, secretary of the Libertarian Party of Illinois
"It's a game. We [tax lawyers] teach the rich how to play it so they can stay rich--and the IRS keeps changing the rules so we can keep getting rich teaching them."--John Grisham
"For every $50 you earn, you get $10 and they get $40."--Jay Leno, explaining Form 1040
"All taxes are a drag on economic growth. It's only a question of degree."--Alan Greenspan
"Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200 and a substantial tax cut saves you 30 cents?"--Peg Bracken
"Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It's not fair that some men should be happier than others."--Oscar Wilde
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Thanks to Ken
The article on the fish ketchup in List 6428 was interesting and new to me.
But we also must pay homage to Filipino Banana Ketchup.
Banana Ketchup by Mother's Best
Get ready to add a touch of tropical sweetness to your meals with Mother's Best Banana Ketchup! Made with ripe, juicy bananas and just the right amount of spices, this unique condiment will elevate your burgers, fries, and marinades to new flavor heights. Say goodbye to boring ketchup and hello to the fruity, tangy taste that Filipino moms everywhere approve of. Try Mother's Best Banana Ketchup today and discover why it's the ultimate secret ingredient in every kitchen!
Available in 12 fl oz. bottles.
Product of the Philippines.
Ingredients: Water, Sugar, Bananas, Modified Starch, Iodized Salt, Spices, 0.1% Sodium Benzoate and Artificial Food Color added.
Masarap!!
Sincerely,
Ken
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This Day in U S Military History…….April 17
1861 – U.S.S. Powhatan, Lieutenant D. D. Porter, arrived off Pensacola. Under her protecting guns, 600 troops on board steamer Atlantic were landed at Fort Pickens to complete its reinforcement. President Lincoln had stated "I want that fort saved at all hazards." The President's wish was fulfilled, and use of the best harbor on the Gulf was denied the Confederacy for the entire war, while serving the Union in¬dispensably in the blockade and the series of devastating assaults from the sea that divided and de¬stroyed the South.
1897 – The Aurora, Texas, UFO incident reportedly occurred on April 17, 1897 when, according to locals, a UFO crashed on a farm near Aurora, Texas. The incident (similar to the more famous Roswell UFO incident 50 years later) is claimed to have resulted in a fatality from the crash and the alleged alien body is to have been buried in an unmarked grave at the local cemetery.
1943 – Lieutenant Ross P. Bullard and Boatswain's Mate First Class C. S. "Mike" Hall boarded the U-175 at sea after their cutter, the CGC Spencer, blasted the U-boat to the surface with depth charges when the U-boat attempted to attack the convoy the Spencer was escorting. They were part of a boarding party sent to seize the U-boat before the Nazi crew could scuttle it. The damage to the U-boat was severe, however, and it sank after both had boarded it and climbed the conning tower. Both men ended up in the water as it slipped beneath the waves. Nevertheless, they carry the distinction of being the first American servicemen to board an enemy warship underway at sea since the War of 1812. The Navy credited the Spencer with the kill. She rescued 19 of the U-boat's crew and her sister cutter, Duane, rescued 22. One Spencer crewman was killed by friendly fire during the battle.
1945 – U.S. Lieutenant Colonel Boris T. Pash commandeers over half a ton of uranium at Strassfut, Germany, in an effort to prevent the Russians from developing an A-bomb. Pash was head of the Alsos Group, organized to search for German scientists in the postwar environment in order to prevent the Russians, previously Allies but now a potential threat, from capturing any scientists and putting them to work at their own atomic research plants. Uranium piles were also rich "catches," as they were necessary to the development of atomic weapons.
1961 – The Bay of Pigs invasion begins when a CIA financed and trained group of Cuban refugees lands in Cuba and attempts to topple the communist government of Fidel Castro. The attack was an utter failure. Fidel Castro had been a concern to U.S. policymakers since he seized power in Cuba with a revolution in January 1959. Castro's attacks on U.S. companies and interests in Cuba, his inflammatory anti-American rhetoric, and Cuba's movement toward a closer relationship with the Soviet Union led U.S. officials to conclude that the Cuban leader was a threat to U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere. In March 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the CIA to train and arm a force of Cuban exiles for an armed attack on Cuba. John F. Kennedy inherited this program when he became president in 1961. Though many of his military advisors indicated that an amphibious assault on Cuba by a group of lightly armed exiles had little chance for success, Kennedy gave the go-ahead for the attack. On April 17, 1961, around 1,200 exiles, armed with American weapons and using American landing craft, waded ashore at the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. The hope was that the exile force would serve as a rallying point for the Cuban citizenry, who would rise up and overthrow Castro's government. The plan immediately fell apart–the landing force met with unexpectedly rapid counterattacks from Castro's military, the tiny Cuban air force sank most of the exiles' supply ships, the United States refrained from providing necessary air support, and the expected uprising never happened. Over 100 of the attackers were killed, and more than 1,100 were captured. The failure at the Bay of Pigs cost the United States dearly. Castro used the attack by the "Yankee imperialists" to solidify his power in Cuba and he requested additional Soviet military aid. Eventually that aid included missiles, and the construction of missile bases in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962, when the United States and the Soviet Union nearly came to blows over the issue. Further, throughout much of Latin America, the United States was pilloried for its use of armed force in trying to unseat Castro, a man who was considered a hero to many for his stance against U.S. interference and imperialism. Kennedy tried to redeem himself by publicly accepting blame for the attack and its subsequent failure, but the botched mission left the young president looking vulnerable and indecisive.
1970 – With the world anxiously watching, Apollo 13, a U.S. lunar spacecraft that suffered a severe malfunction on its journey to the moon, safely returns to Earth. On April 11, the third manned lunar landing mission was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, carrying astronauts James A. Lovell, John L. Swigert, and Fred W. Haise. The mission was headed for a landing on the Fra Mauro highlands of the moon. However, two days into the mission, disaster struck 200,000 miles from Earth when oxygen tank No. 2 blew up in the spacecraft. Mission commander Lovell reported to mission control on Earth: "Houston, we've had a problem here," and it was discovered that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. The landing mission was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth. The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13's course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. On April 17, tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13 astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean.
2003 – US Special Forces captured Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti (5 of clubs), a half brother of Saddam Hussein. He was 3rd the list of 55 former Iraqi officials wanted by the US.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CRILLEY, FRANK WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Chief Gunner's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 13 September 1883, Trenton, N.J. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. (19 November 1928). Citation: For display of extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession above and beyond the call of duty during the diving operations in connection with the sinking in a depth of water 304 feet, of the U.S.S. F-4 with all on board, as a result of loss of depth control, which occurred off Honolulu, T.H., on 25 March 1915. On 17 April 1915, William F. Loughman, chief gunner's mate, U.S. Navy, who had descended to the wreck and had examined one of the wire hawsers attached to it, upon starting his ascent, and when at a depth of 250 feet beneath the surface of the water, had his lifeline and air hose so badly fouled by this hawser that he was unable to free himself; he could neither ascend nor descend. On account of the length of time that Loughman had already been subjected to the great pressure due to the depth of water, and of the uncertainty of the additional time he would have to be subjected to this pressure before he could be brought to the surface, it was imperative that steps be taken at once to clear him. Instantly, realizing the desperate case of his comrade, Crilley volunteered to go to his aid, immediately donned a diving suit and descended. After a lapse of time of 2 hours and 11 minutes, Crilley was brought to the surface, having by a superb exhibition of skill, coolness, endurance and fortitude, untangled the snarl of lines and cleared his imperiled comrade, so that he was brought, still alive, to the surface.
COVINGTON, JESSE WHITFIELD
Rank and organization: Ship's Cook Third Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: At sea aboard the U.S.S. Stewart, 17 April 1918. Entered service at: California. Born: 16 September 1889, Haywood, Tenn. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Jesse W. Covington, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself, fully realizing that similar powder boxes in the vicinity were continually exploding and that he was thereby risking his life in saving the life of this man.
UPTON, FRANK MONROE
Rank and organization: Quartermaster, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 April 1896, Loveland, Colo. Accredited to: Colorado. G.O. No.: 403, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism following internal explosion of the Florence H, on 17 April 1918. The sea in the vicinity of wreckage was covered by a mass of boxes of smokeless powder, which were repeatedly exploding. Frank M. Upton, of the U.S.S. Stewart, plunged overboard to rescue a survivor who was surrounded by powder boxes and too exhausted to help himself. Fully realizing the danger from continual explosion of similar powder boxes in the vicinity, he risked his life to save the life of this man.
BURKE, FRANK
(also known as FRANCIS X. BURKE) Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Nuremberg, Germany, 17 April 1945. Entered service at: Jersey City, N.J. Born: 29 September 1918, New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 4, 9 January 1946. Citation: He fought with extreme gallantry in the streets of war-torn Nuremberg, Germany, where the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, was engaged in rooting out fanatical defenders of the citadel of Nazism. As battalion transportation officer he had gone forward to select a motor-pool site, when, in a desire to perform more than his assigned duties and participate in the fight, he advanced beyond the lines of the forward riflemen. Detecting a group of about 10 Germans making preparations for a local counterattack, he rushed back to a nearby American company, secured a light machinegun with ammunition, and daringly opened fire on this superior force, which deployed and returned his fire with machine pistols, rifles, and rocket launchers. From another angle a German machinegun tried to blast him from his emplacement, but 1st Lt. Burke killed this guncrew and drove off the survivors of the unit he had originally attacked. Giving his next attention to enemy infantrymen in ruined buildings, he picked up a rifle dashed more than 100 yards through intense fire and engaged the Germans from behind an abandoned tank. A sniper nearly hit him from a cellar only 20 yards away, but he dispatched this adversary by running directly to the basement window, firing a full clip into it and then plunging through the darkened aperture to complete the job. He withdrew from the fight only long enough to replace his jammed rifle and secure grenades, then re-engaged the Germans. Finding his shots ineffective, he pulled the pins from 2 grenades, and, holding 1 in each hand, rushed the enemy-held building, hurling his missiles just as the enemy threw a potato masher grenade at him. In the triple explosion the Germans were wiped out and 1st Lt. Burke was dazed; but he emerged from the shower of debris that engulfed him, recovered his rifle, and went on to kill 3 more Germans and meet the charge of a machine pistolman, whom he cut down with 3 calmly delivered shots. He then retired toward the American lines and there assisted a platoon in a raging, 30-minute fight against formidable armed hostile forces. This enemy group was repulsed, and the intrepid fighter moved to another friendly group which broke the power of a German unit armed with a 20-mm. gun in a fierce fire fight. In 4 hours of heroic action, 1st Lt. Burke single-handedly killed 11 and wounded 3 enemy soldiers and took a leading role in engagements in which an additional 29 enemy were killed or wounded. His extraordinary bravery and superb fighting skill were an inspiration to his comrades, and his entirely voluntary mission into extremely dangerous territory hastened the fall of Nuremberg, in his battalion's sector.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for April 17, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
17 April
1923: Lt Rutledge Irvine flew a Douglas DT with a Liberty engine to a world altitude record for class C airplanes with a load of 1,000 kilograms by reaching 11,609 feet over McCook Field. (5)
1923: Lt Harold R. Harris set a world speed record of 114.35 MPH for 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) in a DH-4L Liberty 375 at Dayton. He also set a speed record of 114.22 MPH for 2,000 kilometers in this flight. (24)
1943: Eighth Air Force made its first 100-plane attack on a single target at Bremen, Germany. (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR/Operation MiG. An intelligence operation behind enemy lines resulted in the recovery of vital components of a crashed MiG-15. A YH-19 helicopter flew a U.S. and South Korean team to the crash area south of Sinanju, N. Korea. Under friendly fighter cover, the party extracted MiG components and samples and obtained photographs. On the return flight southward the helicopter came under enemy ground fire and received one hit. The successful mission led to greater technical knowledge of the MiG. (28)
1954: The US Army announced that it was delivering the Corporal guided rocket and the Honest John ballistic rocket to troops for ground fighting. (16) (24)
1961: The USAF Cambridge Research Center launched a constant-altitude balloon from Vernalis, Calif. It stayed at 70,000 feet for 9 days with a 40-pound payload. (16) (24)
1962: Maj David W. Crow flew a MATS C-135B to 47,171 feet to set new weight/altitude records for payloads of 33,069, 44092, 55,115, and 66,138 pounds. (24)
1964: Mrs. Jerrie Mock became the first woman to fly solo around the world when she landed her Cessna 180 Spirit of Columbus at Columbus after a 29-day, 11-hour, 59-minute flight. She made 21 stops in flying 23,206 miles and became the first woman to fly across both the Atlantic and Pacific. (9)
1967: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird set a record for the longest Mach 3 flight in history. The Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) successfully launched a Minuteman II on its first attempt from Vandenberg AFB. (1)(6) At Bien Hoa AB, Vietnam, PACAF's 19 FS (Commando) transferred its F-5s to the Vietnamese Air Force's 522 FS. (17)
1969: After being dropped by a B-52, test pilot Maj Jerauld R. Gentry completed the X-24 Lifting Body's first free-flight over Edwards AFB. (3)
1970: SAC emplaced its first Minuteman III into a 91 SMW silo at Minot AFB. (6) 1988: MACKAY TROPHY. Through 23 July, improved relations between the Soviet Union and the US led to joint verification experiments to monitor nuclear testing. Refueled by KC-10s, C-5s carried test equipment and scientists from the US to Semipalatinsk in Kazakhstan. To complete the first mission to Semipalatinsk, Capt Michael Eastman and fellow crewmembers (Maj John L. Cirafici, Capt James Runk and Kelly Scott; SMSgt Arthur Vogt; MSgts Robert Downs, Charles Finnegan, James Maurer, and William Tobler; TSgts William Nunn Jr.; SSgt Timothy Hahn; and Sgts Andrew Benucci, Jr. and Thomas Siler) had to overcome a void of information and numerous obstacles. For that effort, they received the Mackay Trophy for 1988. (18)
1989: Lockheed delivered the 50th and last C-5B Galaxy transport to the USAF. (16) Through 18 April, Lockheed test pilots Jerry Hoyt and Ron Williams set 16 time-to-climb and altitude records in a NASA U-2C at the Dryden Flight Research Facility at Edwards AFB. After the flight, the aircraft retired to a museum. (20)
1996: Operation UPHOLD DEMOCRACY. The operation in Haiti officially came to an end. The US only lost one soldier to hostile fire in the 18-month operation in which US military forces dismantled a military dictatorship. (26) 1998: The USAF accepted the first of two C-38A Courier aircraft. Two ANG pilots from the 201 AS flew the aircraft from St. Louis to Andrews AFB to replace the older C-21. (32) The 20 SOS at Hurlburt Field, Fla., received the Air Force's first production-modified MH-53J Pave Low III helicopter from Lockheed Martin. (AFNEWS Article 980545, 25 April)
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. The USAF sent the RQ-1 Predator on its first flights into a combat zone to perform reconnaissance over Serbia. (21)
2000: Through 20 April, a 437 AW C-17 from Charleston AFB airlifted Polish soldiers and equipment from Strachowice AB in southwestern Poland to Mitrovica, Kosovo, to augment NATO peacekeeping forces in the Yugoslav province. In four days, Air Mobility Command moved 130 Polish troops and 205,000 pounds of equipment. A single C-17 Globemaster III, flown by several aircrews, performed the shuttle missions between Ramstein AB, Strachowice, and Mitrovica. (22)
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