To All,
Good Sunday Morning April 30 2023.
I hope the month of May brings April Flowers and not more weeds to read about.
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History April 30
1798 Congress establishes the Department of the Navy as a separate cabinet department. Previously, naval matters were under the cognizance of the War Department. Benjamin Stoddert is named as the first Secretary of the Navy.
1822 USS Alligator, commanded by Lt. W.W. McKean, captures the Colombian pirate schooner Ciehqua near the Windward Islands.
1942 USS Indiana (BB 58) is commissioned during World War II.
1944 USS Bang (SS 385) attacks a convoy engaged the previous night and sinks the Japanese merchant tanker Nittatsu Maru off the northwest of Luzon. Also on this date, USS Flasher (SS 249) sinks the Vichy French gunboat Tahure in the South China Sea off Cape Varella, French Indochina.
1945 USS Thomas (DE 102), USS Bostwick (DE 103), USS Coffman (DE 191) and frigate Natchez (PF 2) sink German submarine U 548 off the Virginia Capes.
1945 Navy patrol bombers PB4Y (VPB 103) and a PBY-5A Catalina aircraft flown by Lt. Fredrick G. Lake from VP 63 sink two German submarines off the coast of Brest, France.
2005 USS Robert G. Bradley (FFG 49) conducts its second significant drug interdiction operation in the first month of its deployment to the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command area of responsibility, disrupting the smuggling of 4.6 metric tons of narcotics from the fishing vessel Salomon.
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This day in World History
April 30
313 Licinius unifies the whole of the eastern Roman Empire under his own rule.
1250 King Louis IX of France is ransomed.
1527 Henry VIII of England and King Francis of France sign the Treaty of Westminster.
1563 All Jews are expelled from France by order of Charles VI.
1725 Spain withdraws from the Quadruple Alliance.
1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first U.S. president.
1803 The United States doubles in size through the Louisiana Purchase, which was sold by France for $15 million.
1812 Louisiana is admitted into the Union as a state.
1849 Giuseppe Garibaldi, the Italian patriot and guerrilla leader, repulses a French attack on Rome.
1864 Work begins on the Dams along the Red River, which will allow Union General Nathaniel Banks' troops to sail over the rapids above Alexandria, Louisiana.
1930 The Soviet Union proposes a military alliance with France and Great Britain.
1931 The George Washington Bridge, linking New York City and New Jersey, opens.
1943 The British submarine HMS Seraph drops 'the man who never was,' a dead man the British planted with false invasion plans, into the Mediterranean off the coast of Spain.
1945 Adolf Hitler commits suicide in his bunker. Karl Donitz becomes his successor.
1968 U.S. Marines attack a division of North Vietnamese troops in the village of Dai Do.
1970 U.S. troops invade Cambodia to disrupt North Vietnamese Army base areas.
1972 The North Vietnamese launch an invasion of the South.
1973 President Richard Nixon announces the resignation of Harry Robbins Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, and other top aides.
1975 North Vietnamese troops enter the Independence Palace of South Vietnam in Saigon ending the Vietnam War.
1980 Terrorists seize the Iranian Embassy in London.
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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 Sunday, 30 April 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 30 April 1968… War is a killing business… Unfortunately, "only the dead have seen the end of war." (Plato)
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 Dutch
America really began on Lexington Green on April 19, 1775 Minutemen resisted the tyrannical impulses of a faraway, indifferent government By Michael McKenna O n a cold spring morning, 246 years and a few days ago, a military force duly empowered by the rulers of the nation scoured the countryside for weapons, fully intending to seize those weapons that they believed - perhaps rightly
- were going to be used in hostile activities directed at the rulers.
Around 5 a.m., the military force encountered about 80 armed civilians in the center of a town about 10 miles from their base.
They ordered them to drop their weapons and disperse. The civilians hesitated, shots were fired, and eight of the civilians - countrymen of the soldiers and marines who fired upon them - were dead.
Seven of these eight men - John Brown, Samuel Hadley, Caleb Harrington, Robert Munroe, Isaac Muzzy, Jonas Parker and Asahel Porter - were killed on Lexington Green the morning of April 19, 1775. Jonathan Harrington was fatally wounded on the Green but managed to crawl a few hundred feet and died at the front door of his house.
In the wake of the morning combat on Lexington Green, that afternoon the "shot heard round the world" was fired by Americans at the British regulars at the Concord North Bridge. Two of the Minutemen, Abner Hosmer and Capt.
Isaac Davis, in the center of the line behind the bridge were cut down and killed instantly and four were wounded (including the fifer).
The most intense fighting took place later that day on the road from Concord back to Boston. At the end of the day, the colonists got the better of it.
The British suffered 73 dead and 174 wounded.
The colonists suffered 50 dead and 39 wounded.
On Monday, we commemorated (or should have commemorated) the 246th anniversary of Lexington and Concord, the initial battles of the American Revolution. It is both telling and important to remember that the war started specifically in response to a military raid by the British designed to seize weapons held lawfully by the colonists.
It is also important to remember that the ALTERNATIVE soldiers and Royal Marines doing the killing at Lexington and Concord were subjects of the same crown and part of the same country as those they killed. They spoke the same language, observed the same laws, were of the same religion, and followed the same monarch as the colonists they wounded and killed.
If you imagine that wars for liberation happen in far-off places and involve people who are different from one another, you should visit Lexington Green.
It is a small, unremarkable place. But it was on this sacred ground that America really began, in the unwillingness of Minutemen to yield when commanded, in their efforts to resist what they thought were the tyrannical impulses of a faraway, indifferent government.
It is not accidental that the Revolution began as a struggle between the central government and decentralized and largely disorganized citizenry - a citizenry fully aware of its rights as Englishmen. Rights to trial by jury, to cross-examine witnesses, to be safe in their persons and possessions, to possess weapons for protection.
It is not accidental that the seizure of weapons - the means of protecting oneself and one's rights - was central to the start of the war.
It is not accidental that the government forces and the revolutionary
forces sprang from the same civilization. There are those who love freedom.
There are those who prefer hierarchy and authority. We look the same and speak the same language. But we are not the same.
So it was in 1775. If you love America, and you have a moment today, remember the men at Lexington and Concord. Their bravery, and their unwillingness to do what they were told by a government they considered too acquisitive, too aggressive, too malleable with respect to the defense of fundamental rights made our country, and all the great things it has achieved, possible.
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Berlin Airlift: When American power was unstoppable 73rd anniversary marks saving of German city from Soviet strangulation By Thomas V. DiBacco.
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In this era of increasing diplomatic friction with Russia over Ukraine, it would be well to remember that April 30 marks the 73rd anniversary of the first, and most unbelievable, successes of American and Western foreign policy marking the beginning of the Cold War.
That was the first sign on April 30, 1949, that the Soviet Union started to ease its Berlin blockade of Western power access to the city by permitting limited canal traffic. A formal agreement ending the blockade came on May 4. It had been a 328-day siege, coming to an end thanks to the massive airlifting of supplies to the beleaguered city.
After World War II, Germany was divided into four temporary zones occupied by the United States, Great Britain, France and Soviet Union. Berlin was located 100 miles inside the eastern-located Soviet zone, and it, too, was divided into four zones, but essentially two as a result of Western powers merging their boundaries, a situation that also mirrored the larger geographical zones. Postwar agreements looked forward to a unified Germany, and Western powers initiated, first in 1947, an economic-aid program named after Secretary of State George Marshall and second in 1948, currency reform that would stabilize Germany's almost worthless existing monetary system.
The Soviets balked at both notions. Recognizing that West Berlin could produce only about a quarter of its food needs and even less of its energy requirements, they began on June 24, 1948, to block all rail, road and canal access from the west. The goal, of course, was to gain total control of the city because the Western powers, it was thought, would give up under such total blockage — or risk war. That was unlikely, given that the latter had only 22,600 troops in their Berlin section. The Soviets in their zone, on the other hand, numbered 1.5 million soldiers. Worse, at the start of the Soviet blockade, West Berliners had only 36 days of food supplies and 45 days of coal.
Gen. Lucius D. Clay, head of the U.S. Occupation Zone, set forth both the dilemma and solution: "There is no practicability in maintaining our position in Berlin, and it must not be evaluated on that basis. We are convinced that our remaining in Berlin is essential to our prestige in Germany and in Europe. Whether for good or bad, it has become a symbol of the American intent."
Hence began the largest military-diplomatic relief effort in history, as impressive as the D-Day invasion in terms of its boldness and tenacity. Operation Vittles, as the airlift was dubbed by Americans, was meticulous in terms of its planning, calculations and results. Some 1,990 calories for each of the 2.2 million West Berliners were set as the minimum daily requirement, necessitating 1,534 tons per day in food and 3,475 tons of coal and gasoline for fuel and electricity. Although Soviet fighters boasted that they would challenge the airlift, the threat was hollow. Some 400 Western-supplied cargo planes — flying stacked above each other in a 20-mile wide air corridor — arrived every three minutes at first two, then three airfields in West Berlin. On Saturday, April 16, 1949, a day before the end of Lent, a record 1,398 planes landed in what was called the Easter Parade, averaging one every 61.8 seconds.
The daily food supplies varied from 640 tons of flour to 109 tons of meat and fish, from 19 tons of powdered milk to five tons of whole milk for children, the latter dubbing the planes "candy bombers" because of their always dependable supply of sweets.
And not only were supplies brought in, but manufactured goods made by West Berliners filled returning planes. Some 175,000 ill West Berliners, including young children, were also airlifted out during the period as a result of a severe winter. The total statistical accomplishments were breathtaking: From June 24, 1948, to May 12, 1949, when the Soviets capitulated and opened up all routes to the city, more than 278,000 flights had taken off, and 1,592,787 tons of supplies had been airlifted, equal to about 1,000 pounds per West Berliner. To make certain that sufficient surpluses were built up for West Berliners, air deliveries continued until Sept. 30, 1949. To be sure, there were losses during the airlift period. Seventeen American and eight British aircraft had crashed, with 70 resulting deaths. The pilots represented not only traditional occupation-zone powers, but also Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans.
As for Americans at home, the era of the airlift was no picnic. A railroad strike, demobilization problems, short supplies, and high prices made for public unrest. Still, a national poll on Sept. 15, 1948, indicated that 85 percent backed the airlift policy, with only 7 percent opposed and 8 percent undecided.
Thomas V. DiBacco is professor emeritus at American University.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
Read below a bit and find out the answer to the question you have all been waiting for
Chickens might be among the closest living relatives of the Tyrannosaurus rex.
The end of the dinosaurs is often pictured as an apocalyptic event complete with a giant asteroid, a cataclysmic collision, and general fire and brimstone-type stuff, but the ends of biological epochs are rarely so cut-and-dried. In fact, the story of the dinosaurs didn't even end on that unfortunate spring day 65 million years ago, because dinosaurs still live among us — we just call them birds.
Today, scientists consider all birds a type of dinosaur, descendants of creatures who survived the mass extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous period. And yes, that even includes the chicken. In 2008, scientists performed a molecular analysis of a shred of 68 million-year-old Tyrannosaurus rex protein, and compared it to a variety of proteins belonging to many different animals. Although proteins from alligators were relatively close, the best match by far belonged to ostriches — the largest flightless birds on Earth — and the humble chicken.
Today's chicken is a descendant of a still-extant tropical bird known as the red junglefowl, and a member of an order of birds known as Galliformes (gallus means "rooster" in Latin). Following the initial 2008 study, further research has proved that a chicken's genetic lineage closely resembles that of its avian dinosaur ancestors. Scientists have even concluded that a reconstruction of T. rex's chromosomes would likely produce something similar to a chicken, duck, or ostrich. So the next time you eat a chicken for dinner, you might pause to consider its connection to some of the most fearsome beasts to ever stalk the planet.
Now you all know the answer
The egg came before the chicken.
There's a well-known riddle that seems to present a biological paradox: What came first, the chicken or the egg? At first glance, the question may seem impossible to answer, but that actually depends on what you mean by "egg." Sexual reproduction emerged in nature some 2 billion years ago, and the ancestors of birds began laying eggs around 300 million years ago. With the modern chicken only emerging some 10,000 years ago, the egg — if we mean any kind of egg — clearly predates the chicken. When discussing specifically a chicken egg, the answer changes. Although scientists can't pinpoint the exact moment, at some point ancient landfowl breeders chose two of the tamest red junglefowls (Gallus gallus) and produced an egg with an embryo mutated just enough to be considered a modern chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). In 2010, researchers found that chicken eggs can't be produced without a protein found in chicken ovaries called ovocledidin-17 — which suggests that the first chicken had to come before the first chicken egg, which was probably laid when that first chicken reached maturity at around 18 weeks of age.
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Thanks to Brett
STRATFOR
THE WEEKLY RUNDOWN
RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL SHAPE THE COMING WEEK
KEY DEVELOPMENTS WE'RE TRACKING
A close presidential race in Paraguay. Paraguay's April 30 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.
Local elections in the U.K. Over 230 councils in England will hold local elections on May 4, which will serve as Rishi Sunak's first major electoral test since becoming prime minister and leader of the United Kingdom's ruling Conservative Party in October. The polls will also offer insight into the opposition Labour Party's prospects for securing control of the U.K. government in the next general election, which is expected to take place in late 2024, amid the recent political turmoil within Sunak's scandal-ridden Conservative Party. Sunak took office following the two chaotic premierships of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. At that time, the Labour Party had a record 30-point lead in the polls over the Conservative Party. That gap has since narrowed under Sunak's leadership over the past six months, but remains significant, with the latest polls showing his party still trailing Labour by 20 points. In gauging the potential outcome of the general election, observers will be paying particularly close attention to the election results in the former Labour stronghold regions in the north that Conservatives won in 2017 and 2019 (known commonly as the ''red wall''), as well as the traditional Conservative stronghold regions in the country's south (known as the ''blue wall'').
Pakistani foreign minister visits India for SCO meeting. On May 4-5, 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 April 30, 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.
MOST READ ANALYSIS FROM THE WEEK
Argentina Braces for More Economic Pain
In Argentina, the risk of hyperinflation will increase in the next six months, as the weak and divided government in Buenos Aires struggles to enact policies that bring prices down and restore public trust in the country's currency. Argentina's macroeconomic environment has deteriorated significantly in recent months. In March, interannual inflation reached 104% (from 102% in February and 98.8% in January), while monthly inflation reached 7.7% (from 6.6% in February and 6% in January). According to early reports, both the interannual and the monthly inflation rates in the country will rise further when the April data is released in early May. Separately, the gap between Argentina's official exchange rate and the unofficial rate also continues to broaden. On April 25, the unofficial exchange rate reached 500 pesos per U.S. dollar, up from roughly 390 pesos per U.S. dollar in late March (by contrast, the official exchange rate is 222 pesos per U.S. dollar). The unofficial exchange rate fell to 474 pesos per U.S. dollar on April 26, but only after Argentina's central bank was forced to sell some $49 million to bring the exchange rate down.
What to Make of Xi and Zelensky's First Call Since Russia's Invasion
China's efforts to frame itself as a promoter of peace in Ukraine are unlikely to achieve progress in the foreseeable future and its activities will remain aligned with Russia's goals. On April 26, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over the phone, in their first conversation since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The readouts of the call, which Beijing said was held at Kyiv's initiative, included numerous statements intended to reassure the other side (and the world) of the resilience of China-Ukraine ties, despite the lack of meaningful high-level contact between the two countries over the past year. Xi claimed China-Ukraine relations had reached the level of ''strategic partnership,'' noting that ''both sides should focus on the future'' and ''plan for bilateral relations in the long term,'' and also assured that Beijing would be ready to work with Kyiv ''no matter how the international situation changes.'' Zelensky, for his part, reiterated that Ukraine adheres to the ''one China'' policy. He also expressed confidence in China's continued development under Xi's leadership and welcomed Beijing's diplomatic efforts to restore peace in his country. But the most significant development to come from the two leaders' call was an announcement that Beijing had designated former Chinese Ambassador to Russia Li Hui to head a new ''special delegation for the settlement of the 'Ukraine crisis,''' and that Kyiv had designated former Strategic Industries Minister Pavlo Ryabikin as its first ambassador to China since 2021.
Shifting Geopolitics Prompt South Korea to Mull Reasserting Its Place in the World
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's visit to the United States (which started on April 24) highlights his initiative to move the country from a passive to a more active international policy role. Despite ranking as the 10th largest economy by GDP in 2022, South Korea has long played a relatively low-key role in international politics and security. Seoul has instead largely focused on its domestic security (i.e., the threat from North Korea) and allowed the strength of the U.S. regional security presence to focus its attention inward on domestic economics. Yoon's first year in office marked a change in direction for the South Korean government, one that exceeded the initiatives of earlier conservative leaders but has not been without its challenges regionally and at home.
Beijing Passes a Counterespionage Law in the Face of Multiplying Threats
China's revised Counterespionage Law is part of a broader plan to combat threats to state and Party power, presaging greater reputational and data privacy risks for foreign companies, particularly as Beijing's willingness to economically retaliate against the West slowly grows. On April 26, the Chinese legislature revised the Counterespionage Law of the People's Republic of China, originally passed in 2014. The revised law will restrict the transfer of information related to national security and state interests and expands the definition of espionage to include documents, data or any other material related to national security. It also empowers state authorities to inspect facilities and electronic devices related to suspected espionage cases. The law does not specifically define national security or state interests, but previous Chinese Communist Party documents have defined these concepts as including physical, economic, political and ideological security as well as preserving China's technological edge and social stability. The new draft also sets up a hotline for citizens and mandates that they report suspected espionage. It requires logistics companies to assist the state's counterespionage efforts with technical support and to provide evidence of suspected espionage, and it empowers local governments to conduct their own counterespionage efforts. It also obliges local governments, national media outlets and "internet information service" operators (e.g., social media platforms like WeChat) to conduct campaigns to teach Chinese citizens about the risks of espionage.
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From the List archives
From Don
I saw where one of my 1971 Topgun instructors, Dave Bjerke, had the honor of ejecting from the 1st operational fleet Tomcat.
Thanks to Dave who responded to the note above
I think I was the second fleet F-14 pilot to eject from the F-14. We (VF-1) were on our way around the world on the Carl Vinson and stopped in Cubi, and Skip Giles and Roger McFillen were bouncing at night at Cubi and they ejected after their F-14 went out of control. We weren't sure what happened--the damn airplane just went out of control. A week or two later I was flying an F-14 with my RIO Jerry Kowlok on a day/VFR flight when we got a thump-bang and a fire light. Maybe 30 seconds later the airplane went out of control (the flight stick didn't work anymore) and we ejected. It was a beautiful sunny day and before long some guy (turned out he was a super-hero Navy diver rescue guy, whose chopper was right above me, but I didn't realize it because I was only semi-coherent at the time) was looking me in the face and asking me if I was okay. I had hit the canopy on the way out and was hurt, but I was alive. In fact, I am still alive at age 79, and grateful. As you know, the F-14 was a neat airplane--even if it did blow up once in a while.
Bjerke
I remember interviewing Dave after a spectacular accident on the USS Ranger. It was during an F-14 Rag class Carrier Qual and an F-14 was catapulting off the USS Ranger and did not get a full shot and Dave was waiting behind the JBD for his turn. He was talking to his RIO and as I remember he was telling him that he (the RIO)was having an exciting day with his first day Cat and Trap and had just had his first night trap and was about to get his first Night cat shot and as he was looking forward he saw the ejection and added to the rio that there goes his first cold Cat shot. The pilot of the F-14 had selected full burner in an attempt to save the aircraft and after the ejection the aircraft being light with fuel went below the level of the flight deck and then started a steep climb. Dave said he watched the plane climb straight up and still wings level watched it overhead flip over and head straight down toward the center of the flight deck. Dave said he watched it come and was going to reach for the face curtain and eject but decided against that and said f -it and sat there and watched it coming down. The rapid acceleration brought the nose of the F-14 up just enough so the plane impacted the water just ahead of the ship. Bear in mind that the afterburners were acting like a mini sun and had lit up the sky and as soon as the plane hit the water it was like someone had hit the off switch and it went dark. I was in Pri Fly when it happened and saw the whole thing. I was the OINC of the CQ det and got to write up the accident report.
By the way the RIO was picked up without incident, the pilot had been rolled up in his parachute by the ship's bow wave and almost was lost. And we determined that the final checker on the F-14 was legally blind at night and did not see that the launch bar was not fully seated.
Skip,
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From the List archives
The US Navy Blue Angels - A Pictorial History | Fighter Sweep
https://fightersweep.com/7653/us-navy-blue-angels-pictorial-history/
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This Day in U S Military History…….April 30
1803 – During the early moments of the nineteenth century, the United States government wheeled and dealed its way into what is generally regarded as the "greatest land bargain" in the nation's history, the Louisiana Purchase. The deal, which was dated April 30, 1803, though it was in fact signed on May 2, had been in the works since the spring of 1802. It was then that President Thomas Jefferson had learned of Spain's decision to quietly transfer Spanish Louisiana to the French; fearful of the strategic and commercial implications of the Spanish swap, Jefferson ordered Robert Livingston, the U.S. minister in Paris, to broker a deal with the French either for a slice of land on the lower Mississippi or a "guarantee" of unmolested transport for U.S. ships. Negotiations dragged on for months, but took a crucial turn when Spanish and U.S. trade relations collapsed in the fall of 1802. With Spain now barring American merchant ships from transferring goods at the port in New Orleans, Jefferson set his sights on purchasing a far larger chunk of land. In early 1803, James Monroe headed to Paris to broker Jefferson's deal. With France teetering on the brink of war with Great Britain, and mindful not only of the fiscal repercussions of such a conflict, but of the possibility of a renewed U.S.-English alliance, Napoleon's negotiators acceded to a deal to sell the whole of Louisiana. All told, the Louisiana Purchase cost the U.S. $15 million: $11.25 million was earmarked for the land deal, while the remaining $3.75 million covered France's outstanding debts to America. Thus, for the prime price of 3 cents an acre, the United States bought 828,000-square miles of land, which effectively doubled the size of the young nation.
1943 – As part of a deception plan for the invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky), the British submarine Seraph releases a corpse into the sea off the Spanish port of Huelva hoping it will be picked up and the papers carried passed on to the Germans. The body purports to be that of a Major Martin of the Royal Marines and he is carrying letters from General Nye, Vice-Chief of the British General Staff, and Admiral Mountbatten, Chief of Combined Operations, to Eisenhower, Alexander and Cunningham referring to Allied plans for an invasion of Greece. The Germans do receive the information and it contributes to their lack of appreciation of the true Allied strategy.
1944 – US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) raids the Japanese base at Truk for a second day. Over the two days, the Japanese lose 93 aircraft out of a total 104 while the Americans lose 35 planes. Meanwhile, American Admiral Oldendorf leads a force of 9 cruisers and 8 destroyers to bombard targets in the Sawatan Islands, southeast of Truk.
1945 – On Okinawa, Japanese counterattacks and infiltration attempts along the Shuri Line area are defeated. There is heavy fighting in the Maeda and Kochi Ridge positions. The US 1st Marine and 77th Divisions replace the US 27th and 96th Divisions in the line.
This battle started on 1 April and goes for 82 days
1975 – By dawn, communist forces move into Saigon, where they meet only sporadic resistance. The South Vietnamese forces had collapsed under the rapid advancement of the North Vietnamese. The most recent fighting had begun in December 1974, when the North Vietnamese had launched a major attack against the lightly defended province of Phuoc Long, located due north of Saigon along the Cambodian border, overrunning the provincial capital at Phuoc Binh on January 6, 1975. Despite previous presidential promises to provide aid in such a scenario, the United States did nothing. By this time, Nixon had resigned from office and his successor, Gerald Ford, was unable to convince a hostile Congress (read Joe Biden) to make good on Nixon's earlier promises to rescue Saigon from communist takeover. This situation emboldened the North Vietnamese, who launched a new campaign in March 1975. The South Vietnamese forces fell back in total disarray, and once again, the United States did nothing. The South Vietnamese abandoned Pleiku and Kontum in the Highlands with very little fighting. Then Quang Tri, Hue, and Da Nang fell to the communist onslaught. The North Vietnamese continued to attack south along the coast toward Saigon, defeating the South Vietnamese forces at each encounter. The South Vietnamese 18th Division had fought a valiant battle at Xuan Loc, just to the east of Saigon, destroying three North Vietnamese divisions in the process. However, it proved to be the last battle in the defense of the Republic of South Vietnam. The South Vietnamese forces held out against the attackers until they ran out of tactical air support and weapons, finally abandoning Xuan Loc to the communists on April 21. Having crushed the last major organized opposition before Saigon, the North Vietnamese got into position for the final assault. In Saigon, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu resigned and transferred authority to Vice President Tran Van Huong before fleeing the city on April 25. By April 27, the North Vietnamese had completely encircled Saigon and began to maneuver for a complete takeover. When they attacked at dawn on April 30, they met little resistance. North Vietnamese tanks crashed through the gates of the Presidential Palace and the war came to an end. North Vietnamese Col. Bui Tin accepted the surrender from Gen. Duong Van Minh, who had taken over after Tran Van Huong spent only one day in power. Tin explained to Minh, "You have nothing to fear. Between Vietnamese there are no victors and no vanquished. Only the Americans have been beaten. If you are patriots, consider this a moment of joy. The war for our country is over."
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HEERMANCE, WILLIAM L.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company C, 6th New York Cavalry Place and date: At Chancellorsville, Va., 30 April 1863. Entered service at: Kinderhook, N.Y. Born: 28 February 1837, Kinderhook, N Y. Date of issue: 30 March 1898. Citation: Took command of the regiment as its senior officer when surrounded by Stuart's Cavalry. The regiment cut its way through the enemy's line and escaped but Capt. Heermance was desperately wounded, left for dead on the field and was taken prisoner.
VARGAS, M. SANDO, JR.
Rank and organization: Major (then Capt.), U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 2d Battalion, 4th Marines, 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade. Place and date: Dai Do, Republic of Vietnam, 30 April to 2 May 1968. Entered service at: Winslow, Ariz. Born: 29 July 1940, Winslow, Ariz. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as commanding officer, Company G, in action against enemy forces from 30 April to 2 May 1968. On 1 May 1968, though suffering from wounds he had incurred while relocating his unit under heavy enemy fire the preceding day, Maj. Vargas combined Company G with two other companies and led his men in an attack on the fortified village of Dai Do. Exercising expert leadership, he maneuvered his marines across 700 meters of open rice paddy while under intense enemy mortar, rocket and artillery fire and obtained a foothold in 2 hedgerows on the enemy perimeter, only to have elements of his company become pinned down by the intense enemy fire. Leading his reserve platoon to the aid of his beleaguered men, Maj. Vargas inspired his men to renew their relentless advance, while destroying a number of enemy bunkers. Again wounded by grenade fragments, he refused aid as he moved about the hazardous area reorganizing his unit into a strong defense perimeter at the edge of the village. Shortly after the objective was secured the enemy commenced a series of counterattacks and probes which lasted throughout the night but were unsuccessful as the gallant defenders of Company G stood firm in their hard-won enclave. Reinforced the following morning, the marines launched a renewed assault through Dai Do on the village of Dinh To, to which the enemy retaliated with a massive counterattack resulting in hand-to-hand combat. Maj. Vargas remained in the open, encouraging and rendering assistance to his marines when he was hit for the third time in the 3-day battle. Observing his battalion commander sustain a serious wound, he disregarded his excruciating pain, crossed the fire-swept area and carried his commander to a covered position, then resumed supervising and encouraging his men while simultaneously assisting in organizing the battalion's perimeter defense. His gallant actions uphold the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.
Jay now lives in Poway Ca. and is a really nice man. skip
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS
FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR APRIL 30
THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1908: Aviation buffs in the 1st Company, Signal Corps, New York National Guard, set up an aeronautical corps to learn about balloons. This effort was the earliest known involvement of the guard in aviation. (21)
1917: In World War I, Maj William "Billy" Mitchell became the first American officer to fly over the German lines. He flew as an observer in a French aircraft. (21) (24)
1919: The Navy-Curtiss NC-4 first flew.
1946: The Army and Navy adopted a standard system for designating guided missiles and giving them popular names. For designations, four letters would be used: A for air, S for surface, U for underwater, and M for missile. These letters would be mixed in three letter combinations, with the
first indicating the missile's origin, the second its objective, and the third its identity as a missile.
As such, a surface-to-air missile became a SAM. (6)
1951: KOREAN WAR. Fifth Air Force set a new record of 960 effective sorties in one day. Two H-5 helicopters each picked up a downed UN pilot behind enemy lines. Small-arms fire damaged
one helicopter. The first indication of enemy radar-controlled antiaircraft guns came with the
loss of three out of four F-51s making an air-to-ground attack against a target at Sinmak. (28)
1952: Through 1 May, Max Conrad used a Paper Pacer to fly 2,462.33 miles from Los Angeles to New York, setting a world distance record for light planes (aircraft with total weight in flying
order between 1,102.3 and 2,204.6 pounds). (24)
1955: Adm John H. Towers, Naval Aviator No.3, died. (24)
1962: Joseph A. Walker flew the X-15 to a record altitude of 246,750 feet for a piloted aircraft. (9)
1963: Between 30 April and 12 May, Mrs. Betty Miller made the first solo flight of a woman across the Pacific Ocean. She made four stops in her flight from Oakland to Brisbane, Australia, in a twin-engine Piper Apache.
1965: After a political crisis flared into a revolution in the Dominican Republic, the US intervened to protect and evacuate American and foreign citizens. The US also provided medical aid and other assistance. TAC and MATS transports flew 1,702 sorties to airlift 16,000 passengers and
16,086 tons of cargo to the island. (2)
1966: North American pilot Alvin S. White and Col Joseph A. Cotton saved the XB-70A (No.2) from disaster. When the landing gear got stuck, Colonel Cotton crawled through the aircraft to reach a relay box. Then, he used a paper clip to short out two malfunctioning terminals and lower the gear. (3)
1967: The Air-Launched, Air-Recoverable Rocket (ALARR) completed its first operational test. It
was designed to detect and identify nuclear tests in the atmosphere. (16) (26)
1969: The USAF inactivated the last Mace unit, the 71st Tactical Missile Wing, at Bitburg AB. (4)
1973: The AWACS completed its European evaluation successfully.
1974: Maj Mike Love completed the X-24B's first powered flight after a B-52 dropped the wingless research vehicle from 45,000 feet. (3)
1980: The Defense System Acquisition Review Council (DSARC) decided to produce Boeing's AGM- 86B as the ALCM. (3)
1981: The B-1 prototype No.4 completed its last flight to end the B-1 test program. (3)
1990: The Navy decommissioned the USS Coral Sea aircraft carrier at Norfolk, Va. It went into service in 1947. (8: Jul 90)
1996: The USAF revealed the Tacit Blue aircraft that was secretly used until 1985 to test stealth technology. With its 56-foot wingspan, Tacit Blue furnished the technology used to produce the B-2 Spirit bomber. (26)
1997: An AFFTC aircrew launched a live Mk 84 JDAM for the first time from a B-52 at the Navy's China Lake range. (3)
1998: The Perseus B completed its first checkout flight, reaching 15,500 feet in a one-hour flight.
The Perseus B completed its first checkout flight, reaching 15,500 feet in a one-hour flight. The
propeller-driven RPV conducted atmospheric research in support of NASA's Environmental
Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology (ERAST) project at altitudes up to 60,000 ft for as
long as eight hours. (3)
1999: The NASA Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB unveiled the X-34, a technology demonstrator for a reusable space launch vehicle. (3)
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Thanks to Carl
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/04/james-howard-kunstler/on-war-and-wars/
On War and Wars
April 29, 2023
"When we see the few truth-tellers who are the stars of their organizations jettisoned – Tucker Carlson from Fox News, Matt Taibbi from Rolling Stone, Glenn Greenwald from The Intercept, James O'Keefe from Project Veritas… we must face the fact that there is an organized conspiracy to suppress truth." — Paul Craig Roberts
The weird part the news media isn't telling you about World War Three is that America's main enemy in this struggle is… the US Government itself! America is looking like that crazy person on the street, punching himself in the head. How else do you explain this epic act of national self-destruction?
The "Joe Biden" regime is "standing up for our democracy" by trying to silence all and any public speech about what it does in the world and how it treats its own citizens. Meanwhile, the entire scaffold of American life crumbles and you are supposed to not notice it's happening. The funny part is that the Democratic Party thinks this is an election strategy. The funniest part of the funny part is that we bother holding elections at all.
You understand, "Joe Biden" is only pretending to run for president again, in the same way that he only pretended to be president the past two years. Are we to believe, for instance, that the old zombie has become a fervent Maoist? Or that he follows any known structured political philosophy at all, other than cashing checks that favor-seekers from all nations send his way? "Joe Biden" is pretending to run — no matter how preposterous it seems — because his handlers know that only a titanic pretense of political strength can stave off the reveal of his family's awesome criminality and the fall of everyone hitched to that wagon.
So much for the funny stuff. Things are getting to the point where we stop laughing. It's only a question now of how the calamity rolls out. There are so many more parts to it and they are all out-of-hand in the most disastrous way. The Ukraine project is a big part. It was prodigiously stupid to provoke a war there and the side we backed, the Nazi-ish Zelensky regime, has already lost. You just don't know it because the American news business is a joke on the American public. It reports nothing honestly.
Ukraine is the last in a string of hapless military adventures that has exhausted America's credibility in the world, especially as regards our military superiority. (Think: Russia's Kinzhal hypersonic missile.) There will be many unexpected consequences of that failure. One will be the crack-up of NATO, which has only been a false front for American military power. Germany couldn't fight its way out of a duffle bag with what it's got, and it is supposedly Europe's leading economic power. The sad truth is that it will stop being any kind of power without the cheap Russian Natgas it was running on, and later this year Germany will be in a panic to try and restore its horribly damaged trade relations with Russia to get that natgas. Since NATO's essential mission is to oppose Russia on everything, that will be the end of NATO. Europe will return to what it has always been: a region of squabbling national interests. Let's hope Europe does not become again the slaughterhouse it was in the last century.
The failure of the Ukraine project could easily stimulate a collapse in Europe's banking system, which would instantly spread to America's banking system as obligations dissolve and payments stop. The net effect of all that will be the vanishing of a whole lot of capital, including the money in bank accounts, the money invested in stocks and bonds, the money lodged in pension plans, and the money controlled by insurance companies. As I've mentioned before — it's worth repeating — you can go broke two ways: you can have no money, or you can have money that's worthless. We've been steadily following the latter path through the "Joe Biden" years, but we're close to simply not having money at all. Being broke will get Americans' attention. And the first place they'll look is the party in power.
Multiple scandals have finally caught up to "Joe Biden" and are escaping the formidable suppression apparatus erected by the Deep State's legal department. Attorney General Merrick Garland himself is now directly implicated in obstruction of justice by an IRS whistleblower. The allegation is that Mr. Garland interfered in the case against Hunter Biden in the Delaware US attorney's office and lied about it to Congress. On top of that comes a new allegation, with hard documentary evidence (testimony by former Acting CIA Director Mike Morell), that Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan arranged, as "Biden" campaign officials in 2020, for fifty-one intel officers, including five retired CIA directors, to sign a phony letter denouncing the Hunter laptop as a Russian disinfo project, knowing it to be untrue. A case can be made for that amounting to election interference.
All that is fairly fresh news. For many months, it's been known that Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Chair of the House Oversight Committee, has possession of bank records that show more than a hundred instances of the decanting of millions of dollars from foreign lands into various Biden family accounts. Doesn't look good. Looks impeachable.
On top of all that, observers are reporting that more than ten thousand illegal immigrants a day will be crossing into the USA from Mexico in the weeks ahead. Alejandro Mayorkas's Dept. of Homeland Security and Mr. Blinken's State Department have made arrangements with international NGOs working through the UN, to systematically conduct these immigrants across the border, furnishing them with pre-cooked phony asylum documents. This week, Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) introduced legislation to allow unrestricted immigration to any person claiming to be LBGTQ. Co-sponsors of the bill include Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. How is any of this a re-election strategy?
It's not. If these matters are not adjudicated, it will be a civil war strategy.
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