To All,
Good Saturday Morning April 29 2023
I wish you all a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History April 29
1814 American sloop USS Peacock and HMS Epervier engage in battle. Peacock takes two 32-pound shots in her fore-yard with the first exchange, but her return broadside smashes most of Eperviers rigging and guns. After 45 minutes, Epervier is captured. The battle is hailed as a tribute of American gunnery as Epervier has 45 shot holes in her port side.
1944 Task Force 58 begins a two-day attack on Japanese shipping, oil and ammunition dumps, aircraft facilities, and other installations at Truk following the support of the Hollandia landings in the Pacific.
1944 USS Pogy (SS 266) sinks the Japanese submarine I 183, 30 miles south of Ashizuri Saki, Japan.
1945 USS Comfort (AH 6) is hit by a kamikaze plane off Okinawa, which kills 28 persons (including six nurses), wounds48 others, and causes considerable damage.
1961 USS Kitty Hawk (CVA 63), an oil-fired aircraft carrier, is commissioned at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.
1975 Commander Task Force 76 receives the order to execute Operation Frequent Wind (initially Talon Vise), the evacuation of U.S. personnel and Vietnamese who might suffer as a result of their past service to the allied effort.
2009 A destroyer formerly known as USS Conolly (DD 979) is sunk during the UNITAS Gold sinking exercise in the Atlantic Ocean.
This Day In World History APRIL 29
1289 Qalawun, the Sultan of Egypt, captures Tripoli.
1429 Joan of Arc leads French forces to victory over English at Orleans.
1624 Louis XIII appoints Cardinal Richelieu chief minister of the Royal Council of France.
1661 The Chinese Ming dynasty occupies Taiwan.
1672 King Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands.
1813 Rubber is patented.
1852 The first edition of Peter Roget's Thesaurus is published.
1856 Yokut Indians repel a second attack by the 'Petticoat Rangers,' a band of civilian Indian fighters at Four Creeks, California.
1858 Austrian troops invade Piedmont.
1859 As the French army races to support them and the Austrian army mobilizes to oppose them, 150,000 Piedmontese troops invade Piedmontese territory.
1861 The Maryland House of Delegates votes against seceding from Union.
1862 Forts Philip and Jackson surrender to Admiral David Farragut outside New Orleans.
1913 Gideon Sundback of Hoboken patents the all-purpose zipper.
1916 Irish nationalists surrender to the British in Dublin.
1918 America's WWI Ace of Aces, Eddie Rickenbacker, scores his first victory with the help of Captain James Norman Hall.
1924 Open revolt breaks out in Santa Clara, Cuba.
1927 Construction of the Spirit of St. Louis is completed.
1930 The film All Quiet on the Western Front, based on Erich Maria Remarque's novel Im Western Nichts Neues, premiers.
1945 The Nazi concentration camp of Dachau is liberated by Allied troops.
1945 The German Army in Italy surrenders unconditionally to the Allies.
1946 Former Japanese leaders are indicted in Tokyo as war criminals.
1975 The U.S. embassy in Vietnam is evacuated as North Vietnamese forces fight their way into Saigon.
1983 Harold Washington is sworn in as Chicago's first black mayor.
1992 Four Los Angeles police offices are acquitted of charges stemming from the beating of Rodney King. Rioting ensues.
This Day in Word History March 28
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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 Saturday, 29 April 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 29 April 1968… Where did we go wrong?… Let me count the ways…
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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A catchy tune from Dr, Rich
For you rotorheads ... "Pre-flight the Jesus Nut"
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Some bits from Brett…..More to follow
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
https:geopoliticalfutures.com
Daily Memo: Japan's Maritime Policy, Armenian-Azerbaijani Talks
Toyko is revealing what it believes are the biggest threats facing the country.
By: GPF Staff
April 28, 2023
Japanese defense. Japan's Cabinet approved the government's revised five-year ocean policy on Friday. In the document, the government pledges to increase cooperation between Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the coast guard to prepare for future emergencies. It also discusses the major threats facing Japan today, including North Korea's ballistic missiles, Chinese coast guard vessels' repeated intrusions into Japanese territorial waters, and Beijing and Moscow's joint military drills. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the new policy was necessary because Japan's national interests are under "a greater threat than ever before." Also on Friday, the Japanese parliament approved legislation that will facilitate increased defense cooperation with Australia and Britain.
Making plans. The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet to discuss the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia's Foreign Ministry has confirmed. The statement came after officials from Russia's Foreign Ministry met with ambassadors from both countries to discuss the disputed region. France's minister for European and foreign affairs also visited both Baku and Yerevan this week. Azerbaijan's foreign minister, meanwhile, said talks between the two countries were scheduled to take place in early May in the United States.
Defense summit. Defense ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), as well as observer nations Belarus and Iran, are meeting in New Delhi. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at the summit that Moscow would increase the combat readiness of its bases in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as the United States boosts its presence in the region. Shoigu also said U.S. requests to build military infrastructure in the countries of Central Asia were "a direct threat to stability in the SCO space."
Border talks. Ahead of the summit, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh and his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu, discussed the situation along the Line of Actual Control, which separates Chinese- and Indian-held territories. Singh said Beijing's violation of existing agreements had "eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations." Indian media praised him for taking a tough stance on the dispute, while Chinese media seemed to downplay the exchange, noting that the situation at the border was relatively stable.
Food trade. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are looking to expand cooperation in the agricultural sector. The two countries plan to launch several agricultural projects this year, with the support of UzKazTrade, a joint company designed to facilitate trade between both parties. The Uzbek government hopes the projects will help lower the price of meat and flour in the country.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
The Statue of Liberty used to be a lighthouse.
Lady Liberty has pushed her torch high into the New York City skyline since 1886, but at one time, the grand statue did more than just inspire Americans — it was also a lighthouse. The same year French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi oversaw completion of his copper creation (formally named "Liberty Enlightening the World"), President Grover Cleveland approved a plan for the statue to be lit as a lighthouse. Engineers believed the Statue of Liberty's torch, at 305 feet above sea level, could act as a navigational tool for ships approaching the New York Harbor, and set to work installing nine electric lamps within the torch, plus more along Lady Liberty's feet and in the statue's interior.
At 7:35 p.m. on November 1, 1886, engineers flipped on the power switch, washing the Statue of Liberty in light for the first time. However, the lights stayed on for just one week due to a lack of funding, and it took two weeks of darkness before the U.S. Lighthouse Board could secure an emergency budget. Even once the lights were turned back on, some questioned the statue's efficacy as a lighthouse: Newspapers reported that while the lights were initially planned to reach 100 miles or more out at sea, in reality the torch was visible just 24 miles from the harbor. By the early 20th century, the lighthouse was considered "useless" for boat navigation, and on March 1, 1902, the U.S. War Department, with approval from President Theodore Roosevelt, extinguished the light permanently.
Lady Liberty's original torch was destroyed in an explosion.
Despite being nearly 140 years old, most of the Statue of Liberty's copper frame is original. However, one portion, the torch, was replaced in the 1980s due to extensive damage caused by an explosion. In 1916, amid World War I, German saboteurs attempted to stop the U.S. from supplying Britain with ammunition, stores of which were held on Black Tom Island, not far from Lady Liberty in the New York Harbor. The saboteurs set the stockpile ablaze, resulting in an enormous explosion equivalent to a 5.5 magnitude earthquake, which was felt as far as Philadelphia. The Statue of Liberty took more than $100,000 in damage from shrapnel (about $2.8 million today), including structural mangling of the torch that led to its permanent closure (it was once open to visitors). In 1984, Lady Liberty underwent a multiyear restoration that included replacing the severely damaged torch, and today sightseers can see the original up close on ground-level at the Statue of Liberty Museum on Liberty Island.
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Thanks to David R.
Subject: Fwd: Hymn for a Humble Hero
Courtesy of National War College classmate and great American Patriot, Brett Dula.
Begin forwarded message:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgkqWsGGUwY
Born in Ireland. Hurricane fighter Pilot John Paddy Hemingway. Battle of Britain fighter pilot. The Last of The Few. This video is a tribute by his son to him on his 103rd birthday. Hymn for a Humble Hero.
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Some of what is happening in the world
. Thanks to Brett
GEOPOLITICAL DIGEST
APRIL 28, 2023
THE WEEK AHEAD
Pakistani Foreign Minister Visits India for an SCO Meeting. On 4-5 May, India will host a meeting of foreign ministers from Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries in the southwestern state of Goa. Among the most notable planned attendees is Pakistan's foreign minister, who will be the highest-ranking Pakistani official to visit India since 2014, when then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's inauguration ceremony. Relations between India and Pakistan remain strained, though a sustained cease-fire since February 2021 -- along with Pakistan's political and economic crises, and India's focus on economic growth -- have recently helped limit bilateral issues. Pakistan's attendance is likely primarily due to its perceived importance of the regional meeting, though observers will be watching closely in case the visit paves the way for a relative thaw in relations between the two neighboring rivals. Bilateral conversations between other countries and statements on cooperation on regional issues will also be key to monitor during the foreign minister meeting.
Israeli Parliament Resumes, with Judicial Reforms at the Forefront. On 30 April, Israel's Knesset will return to work. At the top of the agenda will be the controversial judicial reforms critics charge will undermine Israel's democracy. The Israeli government paused its push to overhaul the country's judicial system in late March after mass protests erupted and members of the military threatened to go on strike. Since then, there has been little sign of a breakthrough in proposed compromises, and a large, right-wing rally on April 27 reminded the government that its supporters expect them to push through the reforms, even over widespread public opposition. Justice Minister Yariv Levin said he'd like to get the reforms finished by the end of May. But the process may be more drawn out as continued pushback from many Israelis, including some elements of the military, crash into the expectations of the government's more ardent, right-wing supporters -- portending more protests, strikes and political uncertainty.
A close Presidential Race in Paraguay. Paraguay's 30 April presidential election will see incumbent candidate Santiago Pena from the long-ruling, conservative Colorado Party face off against opposition candidate Efrain Alegre, who leads a broad center-left coalition in the country's legislature. Pre-election polling shows that the two candidates are virtually tied, making the race largely a toss-up. China will likely be watching the election closely, as President Pena has committed to maintaining Paraguay's diplomatic alliance with Taiwan, while Alegre has pushed for switching the country's diplomatic alliances to Beijing. Paraguay is a large farming nation, with its main crops being soybeans and wheat. Should Alegre win the presidency, his more Beijing-friendly platform could thus enable China to increase its imports of these key agricultural staples. But regardless of the election's outcome, Paraguay's next president will likely face legislative pressure to reduce fiscal spending, as well as popular pressure to root out corruption.
Please read on for some of our coverage of the week that was...
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Key Developments - Analysis • Other Stories We're Tracking - Curated Content
KEY DEVELOPMENTS - ANALYSIS
Proposed EU Rules Would Force AI Chatbots to List Copyrighted Sources
What Happened: Members of the European Parliament on 27 April agreed on new revisions to the bloc's Artificial Intelligence Act that would require ChatGPT and other generative AI tools (such as image generators) to disclose any copyrighted material used in training their models, Euractiv reported on 27 April. EU member states still must approve the act, which has been in preparation for two years, before it can become law.
Why It Matters: Though the revisions do not go as far as some negotiators had pushed for, such as outright barring the use of copyrighted material to train AI models, they still represent a significant challenge for AI model developers. Generative AI models are trained on large datasets primarily scraped off the internet, so including every single piece of copyrighted material used to train the model would make for an extremely long list. While OpenAI and others will likely be able to create such source lists, this will create opportunities for those owning copyrighted materials to push for compensation or for their materials' removal from training sets. While copyright law globally is relatively unequipped to address generative AI, in places like the United States, fair use protections may apply.
Source: RANE Worldview
Germany Considers Restricting Chemical Exports to China for Semiconductors
What Happened: Germany's government coalition is in talks to restrict exports of key chemicals to China used in the fabrication of semiconductors, Bloomberg reported on 27 April. Bloomberg added that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economy Minister Robert Habeck are liaising with US and European leaders over the potential restrictions.
Why It Matters: If implemented, Germany's restrictions would signal growing support within Europe for export controls on semiconductor-related products despite possible Chinese retaliation against German companies. Should Germany place restrictions on exports to China it would join the Netherlands, which is in the process of placing export controls on the advanced lithography machines used in semiconductor fabrication, as the first two countries joining U.S. efforts to place concrete export controls on China's chip sector. Scholz has said he wants to "de-risk" Germany's relationship with China and reduce dependency on it, but given BASF (and other German companies') operations in China, Beijing has a large list of companies it can retaliate against -- including BASF, which signed a deal in 2022 to open up a base to supply the semiconductor industry in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu. Whether future German restrictions would affect that base depends on how they are designed; the most likely way would be for Germany to add semiconductor-related chemicals to its list of dual-use goods.
Source: RANE Worldview
Severe Drought Impacting North Africa Will Drive Food Insecurity
What Happened: The vice president of the Zaghouan, Tunisia, regional agriculture and fisheries union spoke to the press on 27 April about how the upcoming harvest season will be "exceptional," with 90% of Tunisia's field crops negatively affected by drought. Tunisia is in its fifth year of severe drought, and forecasts for grain yields are particularly bad this upcoming year; a February report from the European Commission's Joint Research Center forecasts that wheat yields this year will be 15-25% lower than the previous five-year average. Tunisia's government implemented a water rationing plan across most regions of the country in recent weeks that requires municipalities to turn off water for seven hours each day between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m., while some dams across Tunisia are at as low as 17% of their storage capacity.
Why It Matters: Tunisia is just one example of how persistent severe drought will drive food insecurity across North Africa, a reality especially obvious at present given that North Africa's most important cereal crops depend on April rainfall, which has been very low. Regional governments including Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria are making plans to import more cereal grains this year to offset expected low harvest yields. Struggles with drought make these North African economies less appealing overall to foreign investors.
Source: RANE Worldview
OTHER STORIES WE'RE TRACKING - CURATED CONTENT
ASIA
China's Got Afghan Fever, Again
China, once again, seems to be mucking about in Afghanistan's mineral-rich playground. The latest move is a maybe, could-be deal worth billions to tap Afghanistan's rich veins of lithium, the key input for the energy transition that powers everything from laptops to electric cars. It could mean that billions of dollars will be pouring into securing a prosperous future for one of the world's poorest countries. It probably won't. The deal, like so much else China has done with Afghanistan in the last several decades, is more about politics than economics.
Source: Foreign Policy
Australia Overhauls Defense Strategy to Respond to China's Build-Up
Australia has unveiled the biggest strategic shift in its military posture since the second world war to adapt to China's military build-up in the region and the "rise of the missile age". The Defense Spending Review, Australia's biggest military strategic overhaul i n decades, warned that the emergence of "major power strategic competition" in the Indo-Pacific had altered the country's strategic circumstances.
Source: Financial Times
Tensions Over Karabakh Rise After Azerbaijan Blocks Land Route From Armenia
Armenia said the checkpoint at the Hakari bridge in the Lachin corridor was a gross violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement which ended a 2020 war. It called on Russia to implement the agreement which states that the Lachin corridor, the only road across Azerbaijan that links Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, must be under Russian peacekeepers' control.
Source: EURACTIV
EUROPE
Europe Moves Toward Cutting a Last Source of Russian Energy
The question is whether the move would hurt Europe more than Russia. Losing all Russian LNG could more than double European natural-gas prices from their current 40 euros a megawatt hour, equivalent to around $44, to around 90 euros a megawatt hour, if no other sources of gas are available to replace it, according to consulting firm Energy Aspects. That is unlikely, given that the contracts that govern sales between Russia's Yamal LNG and their European buyers tend to be multidecade deals with no expiration in sight.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Serbia Is Taking a Page Out of Russia's Book
Putin's pursuit of a "Russian world" is rekindling Serbian expansionism in the Balkans. The idea of a Serbian world casts doubts on the borders of Yugoslavia's successor states and aims at their reunification. What "Greater Serbia" failed to achieve by brute force in the 1990s may now be attempted by hybrid means. Political state capture from within independent states, rather than military incursion, seems to be Serbia's preferred method for pursuing the dream of a Serbian world. For now.
Source: Foreign Policy
MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA
After Iran-Saudi Mediation, China Angles for Another Diplomatic Victory in Yemen
In just one month, China's chargé d'affaires to Yemen, Shao Zheng, has held five separate meetings with members of Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council, a body formed in April 2022 that takes over the powers of both president and vice president. To put this in context, Shao held only one such high-profile meeting from last November until this March. Chinese coverage of these meetings has mostly focused on Yemeni praise for China's mediation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as thanks for Chinese economic assistance to the war-torn country.
Source: The Diplomat
Sudan Conflict: More Complex Than Meets the Eye
The political turmoil between the RSF and SAF in Sudan is much more complex than it appears. While it may appear to be a straightforward issue of power struggles, the underlying factors, as briefly indicated above, risk complicating the situation and rendering any peace initiatives useless. Given the RSF's history and operations, existing conflicts, and the international community's involvement, addressing and maintaining stability in Sudan will require very close policy coordination between Egypt, KSA, the UAE, Russia, the USA, and Israel.
Source: Geopolitical Monitor
Russia Making Inroads in Africa as the Sahel Spirals Out of Control
Two separate attacks in the Sahel, one in Burkina Faso and another in Mali, demonstrate the extent to which the region is being destabilized by a combination of violent non-state actors and abusive security forces. In Burkina Faso, the UN high commissioner for human rights estimated that at least 150 civilians were killed, and more injured, in a massacre allegedly perpetrated by the Burkinabe security forces in the village of Karma in northern Yatenga province near the border with Mali. The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) camp that came under attack from Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) militants is believed to host forces from the Wagner Group.
Source: The Soufan Center
AMERICAS
Prosecuting Presidents: in Latin America, It Hasn't Buoyed Public Trust
Prosecuting or jailing former political leaders in Latin America is increasingly mainstream, with recent cases ranging from presidents charged or convicted of crimes in Peru to Argentina to Brazil. Despite the implication that even the most powerful are not above the law, the legal cases that have mounted in the region over the past two decades have not resulted in a corresponding rise in citizen confidence in judicial systems.
Source: Christian Science Monitor
As Concern Over Crime Rises, Chile's Boric Shifts Right
Security issues have become a heavy burden for leftist president Gabriel Boric. Elected on a mandate to change Chile's social and economic model, Boric has witnessed support for those changes largely evaporate as a constitutional reform process failed last September and crime has taken center stage.
Source: Americas Quarterly
GLOBAL
South Korea Has America in Its Face and China Breathing Down Its Neck
South Korean firms also find some of America's recent efforts to isolate China, including legislation intended to push electric-vehicle and semiconductor companies away from China and towards America, profoundly irksome. Mr Yoon will complain to Mr Biden about the protectionist nature of such measures and the superpower's failure to consult its Asian allies adequately before introducing them. China's role in stabilizing North Korea, including by supplying it with food, is another reason why South Korea is reluctant to annoy it.
Source: The Economist
Trouble Brewing on Russia's Periphery
Russia's costly war effort in Ukraine appears to be fueling long-simmering unrest in regions of the Russian Federation, particularly the North Caucasus, where minority groups are more prominent. Families in non-ethnically Russian regions have borne disproportionate casualties and hardships as Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to minimize the effect of the war on his core supporters. Unrest is likely to flare if Putin launches another significant troop mobilization to replenish Russia's ranks in Ukraine.
Source: The Soufan Center
China's Expanded Spy Law Adds to Chilling Effect of Detentions
One concern for foreign executives is that the revised law outlined in the draft allows authorities to inspect the facilities and electronic equipment of organizations as well as digital devices such as smartphones and laptops belonging to individuals suspected of spying. The amended law also raises concerns that normal business activities, such as gathering intelligence on local markets, rivals and business partners, could be swept up in the broadened definition of espionage.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Putin's Planned Visit to Durban Poses a Geopolitical Dilemma for South Africa
Durban is hosting a summit of the Brics group of nations but as a member of the International Criminal Court South Africa is obliged to arrest the Russian president. There are also question marks over the ICC's legitimacy in South Africa, given it has focused on prosecuting Africans since it came into existence, while powers such as the US and China refuse to submit to the court's jurisdiction.
Source: The Irish Times
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This Day in U S Military History…….April 29
1781 – British and French ships clash in the Battle of Fort Royal off the coast of Martinique. The Battle of Fort Royal was a naval battle fought off Fort Royal, Martinique in the West Indies during the American War of Independence between fleets of the British Royal Navy and the French Navy. After an engagement lasting four hours, the British squadron under Sir Samuel Hood broke off and retreated. De Grasse offered a desultory chase before seeing the French convoys safely to port.
1862 – Union troops officially take possession of New Orleans, completing the occupation that had begun four days earlier. The capture of this vital southern city was a huge blow to the Confederacy. Southern military strategists planned for a Union attack down the Mississippi, not from the Gulf of Mexico. In early 1862, the Confederates concentrated their forces in northern Mississippi and western Tennessee to stave off the Yankee invasion. Many of these troops fought at Shiloh on April 6 and 7. Eight Rebel gunboats were dispatched up the great river to stop a Union flotilla above Memphis, leaving only 3,000 militia, two uncompleted ironclads, and a few steamboats to defend New Orleans. The most imposing obstacles for the Union were two forts, Jackson and St. Phillip. In the middle of the night of April 24, Admiral David Farragut led a fleet of 24 gunboats, 19 mortar boats, and 15,000 soldiers large fleet of ships in a daring run past the forts. Now, the River was open to New Orleans except for the rag-tag Confederate fleet. The mighty Union armada plowed right through, sinking eight ships. At New Orleans, Confederate General Mansfield Lovell surveyed his tiny force and realized that resistance was futile. If he resisted, Lovell told Mayor John Monroe, Farragut would bombard the city and inflict severe damage and casualties. Lovell pulled his troops out of New Orleans and the Yankees began arriving on April 25. The troops could not land until Forts Jackson and St. Phillip were secured. They surrendered on April 29, and now New Orleans had no protection. Crowds cursed the Yankees as all Confederate flags in the city were lowered and stars and stripes were raised in their place. The Confederacy lost a major city, and the lower Mississippi soon became a Union highway for 400 miles to Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1918 – America's WWI Ace of Aces, Eddie Rickenbacker, scored his first victory with the help of Captain James Norman Hall. He eventually racked up 26 victories before the end of the war.
1945 – U.S. Seventh Army's 45th Infantry Division liberates Dachau, the first concentration camp established by Germany's Nazi regime. A major Dachau subcamp was liberated the same day by the 42nd Rainbow Division. Established five weeks after Adolf Hitler took power as German chancellor in 1933, Dachau was situated on the outskirts of the town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich. During its first year, the camp held about 5,000 political prisoners, consisting primarily of German communists, Social Democrats, and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. During the next few years, the number of prisoners grew dramatically, and other groups were interned at Dachau, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Gypsies, homosexuals, and repeat criminals. Beginning in 1938, Jews began to comprise a major portion of camp internees. Prisoners at Dachau were used as forced laborers, initially in the construction and expansion of the camp and later for German armaments production. The camp served as the training center for SS concentration camp guards and was a model for other Nazi concentration camps. Dachau was also the first Nazi camp to use prisoners as human guinea pigs in medical experiments. At Dachau, Nazi scientists tested the effects of freezing and changes to atmospheric pressure on inmates, infected them with malaria and tuberculosis and treated them with experimental drugs, and forced them to test methods of making seawater potable and of halting excessive bleeding. Hundreds of prisoners died or were crippled as a result of these experiments. Thousands of inmates died or were executed at Dachau, and thousands more were transferred to a Nazi extermination center near Linz, Austria, when they became too sick or weak to work. In 1944, to increase war production, the main camp was supplemented by dozens of satellite camps established near armaments factories in southern Germany and Austria. These camps were administered by the main camp and collectively called Dachau. With the advance of Allied forces against Germany in April 1945, the Germans transferred prisoners from concentration camps near the front to Dachau, leading to a general deterioration of conditions and typhus epidemics. On April 27, 1945, approximately 7,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced to begin a death march from Dachau to Tegernsee, far to the south. The next day, many of the SS guards abandoned the camp. On April 29, the Dachau main camp was liberated by units of the 45th Infantry after a brief battle with the camp's remaining guards. As they neared the camp, the Americans found more than 30 railroad cars filled with bodies in various states of decomposition. Inside the camp there were more bodies and 30,000 survivors, most severely emaciated. Some of the American troops who liberated Dachau were so appalled by conditions at the camp that they machine-gunned at least two groups of captured German guards. It is officially reported that 30 SS guards were killed in this fashion, but conspiracy theorists have alleged that more than 10 times that number were executed by the American liberators. The German citizens of the town of Dachau were later forced to bury the 9,000 dead inmates found at the camp. In the course of Dachau's history, at least 160,000 prisoners passed through the main camp, and 90,000 through the subcamps. Incomplete records indicate that at least 32,000 of the inmates perished at Dachau and its subcamps, but countless more were shipped to extermination camps elsewhere.
1945 – The unofficial surrender of German forces in Italy is signed at Caserta. The German representatives are present here because of a secret negotiation between the head of the OSS mission in Switzerland, Allan Dulles, and SS General Wolff. These talks have been going on since much earlier in the year, but because of their clandestine nature, the German representatives at Caserta cannot guarantee that the surrender will be ratified by Vietinghoff, commanding German forces in Italy.
1945 – Adolf Hitler marries his longtime partner Eva Braun in a Berlin bunker and designates Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor. Both Hitler and Braun commit suicide the following day. Eva Braun met Hitler while employed as an assistant to Hitler's official photographer. Of a middle-class Catholic background, Braun spent her time with Hitler out of public view, entertaining herself by skiing and swimming. She had no discernible influence on Hitler's political career but provided a certain domesticity to the life of the dictator. Loyal to the end, she refused to leave the Berlin bunker buried beneath the chancellery as the Russians closed in. The couple was married only hours before they both committed suicide.
1970 – U.S. and South Vietnamese forces launch a limited "incursion" into Cambodia. The campaign included 13 major ground operations to clear North Vietnamese sanctuaries 20 miles inside the Cambodian border. Some 50,000 South Vietnamese soldiers and 30,000 U.S. troops were involved, making it the largest operation of the war since Operation Junction City in 1967. The operation began with South Vietnamese forces attacking into the "Parrot's Beak" area of Cambodia that projects into South Vietnam above the Mekong Delta. During the first two days, an 8,000-man South Vietnamese task force, including two infantry divisions, four ranger battalions, and four armored cavalry squadrons, killed 84 communist soldiers while suffering 16 dead and 157 wounded. The second stage of the campaign began on May 2 with a series of joint U.S.-South Vietnamese operations. These operations were aimed at clearing communist sanctuaries located in the densely vegetated "Fishhook" area of Cambodia (across the border from South Vietnam, immediately north of Tay Ninh Province and west of Binh Long Province, 70 miles from Saigon). The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division and 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, along with the South Vietnamese 3rd Airborne Brigade, killed 3,190 communists in the action and captured massive amounts of war booty, including 2,000 individual and crew-served weapons, 300 trucks, and 40 tons of foodstuffs. By the time all U.S. ground forces had departed Cambodia on June 30, the Allied forces had discovered and captured or destroyed 10 times more enemy supplies and equipment than they had captured inside South Vietnam during the entire previous year. Many intelligence analysts at the time believed that the Cambodian incursion dealt a stunning blow to the communists, driving main force units away from the border and damaging their morale, and in the process buying as much as a year for South Vietnam's survival. However, the incursion gave the antiwar movement in the United States a new rallying point. News of the incursion set off a wave of antiwar demonstrations, including one at Kent State University that resulted in the killing of four students by Army National Guard troops and another at Jackson State in Mississippi that resulted in the shooting of two students when police opened fire on a women's dormitory. The incursion also angered many in Congress, who felt that Nixon was illegally widening the scope of the war; this resulted in a series of congressional resolutions and legislative initiatives that would severely limit the executive power of the president.
1975 – Operation Frequent Wind, the largest helicopter evacuation on record, begins removing the last Americans from Saigon. The North Vietnamese had launched their final offensive in March 1975 and the South Vietnamese forces had fallen back before their rapid advance, losing Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang, Qui Nhon, Tuy Hoa, Nha Trang, and Xuan Loc in quick succession. With the North Vietnamese attacking the outskirts of Saigon, U.S. Ambassador Graham Martin ordered the commencement of Frequent Wind. In 19 hours, 81 helicopters carried more than 1,000 Americans and almost 6,000 Vietnamese to aircraft carriers offshore. Cpl. Charles McMahon, Jr. and Lance Cpl. Darwin Judge, USMC, were the last U.S. military personnel killed in action in Vietnam, when shrapnel from a North Vietnamese rocket struck them as they were guarding Tan Son Nhut Airbase during the evacuation. At 7:53 a.m. on April 30, the last helicopter lifted off the roof of the embassy and headed out to sea. Later that morning, North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace. North Vietnamese Col. Bui Tin accepted the surrender from Gen. Duong Van Minh, who had taken over from Tran Van Huong (who only spent one day in power after President Nguyen Van Thieu fled). The Vietnam War was over.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
GUERIN, FITZ W.
Rank and organization: Private, Battery A, 1st Missouri Light Artillery. Place and date: At Grand Gulf, Miss., 28-29 April 1863. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: New York, N.Y. Date of issue: 10 March 1896. Citation: With two comrades voluntarily took position on board the steamer Cheeseman, in charge of all the guns and ammunition of the battery, and remained in charge of the same for a considerable time while the steamer was unmanageable and subjected to a heavy fire from the enemy
HAMMEL, HENRY A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Battery A, 1st Missouri Light Artillery. Place and date: At Grand Gulf, Miss., 28-29 April 1863. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 10 March 1896. Citation: With two comrades voluntarily took position on board the steamer Cheeseman, in charge of all the guns and ammunition of the battery, and remained in charge of the same for considerable time while the steamer was unmanageable and subjected to a heavy fire from the enemy.
PESCH, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: Private, Battery A, 1st Missouri Light Artillery. Place and date: At Grand Gulf, Miss., 28_29 April 1863. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: Prussia. Date of issue: 10 March 1896. Citation: With 2 comrades voluntarily took position on board the steamer Cheeseman, in charge of all the guns and ammunition of the battery, and remained in charge of the same, although the steamer became unmanageable and was exposed for some time to a heavy fire from the enemy.
WOON, JOHN
Rank and organization: Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1823, England. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 17, 10 July 1863. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Pittsburg, Mississippi River, 29 April 1863. Engaging the enemy batteries at Grand Gulf, the U.S.S. Pittsburg, although severely damaged and suffering many personnel casualties, continued to fire her batteries until ordered to withdraw. Taking part in a similar action after nightfall, the U.S.S. Pittsburg received further damage, but receiving no personnel casualities in the latter action. Woon showed courage and devotion to duty throughout these bitter engagements.
REED, JAMES C.
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Arizona, 29 April 1868. Entered service at:——. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 24 July 1869. Citation: Defended his position (with 3 others) against a party of 17 hostile Indians under heavy fire at close quarters, the entire party except himself being severely wounded.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for 29 April
FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR APRIL 29 THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1898: The first joint Army-Navy board on aeronautics submitted a report on Professor Samuel P.
Langley's flying machine (at that time a model with a 12-foot wing span) to the War Department.
The report favored further support for Professor Langley's experiments. (29) (See 25 March 1898)
1905: Using the Montgomery Glider, Daniel Malony began a series of glides. He took off from captive balloons. (24)
1918: Lt Edward V. Rickenbacker, who became the leading American ace of World War I, downed his first aircraft. (4)
1926: Ward T. Van Orman and W. W. Morton won the National Balloon Race at Little Rock by flying
848 miles to Petersburg, Va. (24)
1931: The Boeing XB-901 first flew.
1946: Bell Aircraft Corp. received a contract to research and design a 100-mile range subsonic air-to surface missile. It later became the Rascal. (6) (24)
1960: NASA's first test firing of all eight first-stage rocket engines on the Saturn produced 1,300,000 pounds of thrust. (24)
1965: Operation POWER PACK. The USAF used C-130s and C-124s to airlift 12,000 troops and 17,250 tons of equipment and supplies from Pope AFB to San Isidro, Dominican Republic. The airlift, as part of the operation, allowed the US to restore stability to the Caribbean island nation and prevent unfriendly elements from taking it over. Reserve transports and ANG communications aircraft also joined USAF fighters and reconnaissance aircraft in the operation. (21) The Air Force initiated the F-X (later F-15) program by directing AFSC to begin efforts toward acquiring a new tactical fighter. (30)
1967: President Johnson gave the go-ahead to build two prototype supersonic jet transports that could carry 300 passengers at 1,750 MPH. Boeing built the airframe and General Electric the engines at a total cost of $1.144 billion.
1970: APOLLO XI/THOMAS D. WHITE TROPHY. Neil A. Armstrong, and Cols Edwin W. Aldrin and Michael Collins received the trophy for the outstanding scientific and technological accomplishment in achieving the first landing of man on the moon. (See 6 May 1970). (5) (16)
1972: A C-141 airlifted 394 South Vietnamese refugees fleeing a Communist invasion of the Central Highlands to Tan Son Nhut AB. The passenger total was the greatest number transported on a C-141 to date. (18)
1974: SECDEF James R. Schlesinger redirected the lightweight fighter program as a competition between the YF-16 and YF-17 to become the new air combat fighter for the Air Force. (3)
1975: Operation NEW LIFE. Just before the fall of South Vietnam, MAC moved the last of 50,493 refugees from Saigon to safe haven bases in the Pacific on 201 C-141 and C-130 missions. Air Rescue and Recovery Service HH-53 helicopters airlifted another 362 evacuees from Saigon to the USS Midway. (2) (16) (18)
Operation NEW ARRIVAL. Through 16 September, MAC used 196 C-141s and C-130s to airlift 31,155 Vietnamese refugees from the Philippines to Guam, while commercial contract carriers began an effort to move 121,560 refugees from SEA to the US. (18) (21)
Operation FREQUENT WIND. Through 30 April, USAF, Marine, and Navy helicopters airlifted 6,000-plus people in the final evacuation of Saigon. This was the first major operation involving flights of USAF helicopters from an aircraft carrier, the USS Midway. (21)
1976: Through 15 May, USAFE aircrews participated in the first Allied Air Forces Center Europe Tactical Weapons Meet at Twenthe AB, Netherlands. (16) (26)
1983: First multinational staged improvement program modified F-16B flight accepted. (12)
1985: In the seventh Challenger mission, the Space Shuttle carried Spacelab-3 in the cargo bay. It returned to earth on 6 May.Through 17 May, USAFE units at Spangdahlem AB participated in Exercise Salty Demo, the first integrated basewide effort to measure all facets of an air base's ability to survive attacks and generate post-attack sorties. (26)
1986: Through 7 May, MAC's Weather reconnaissance squadrons carried over 700 air sample containers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in the Soviet Union to the Air Force Technical Applications Center at McClellan AFB, Calif. (16)
1993: The Rockwell X-31A EFM Demonstrator made the first high-angle-of-attack, post-stall, 180- degree turn known as the Herbst Manuever. The aircraft made the turn in a 475-foot radius.
(20)
2006: A C-17 flew 110 Iraqi children, along with 97 parents and escorts, from Amman, Jordan, to Baghdad International Airport, Iraq, in support of "Operation Smile," an international, nongovernmental organization that provides corrective facial surgery for children. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld approved the C-17 flight to keep the group from having to travel 22 hours by bus from Amman to Baghdad through Iraq's volatile western provinces. (22)
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