To All,
Good Thursday Morning May 18 2023.
Note from Terry
The large and beautiful blue and white flower arrangement at the cemetery and reception that Nancee spoke to you about apparently arrived without a card. I was standing beside her taking a picture when she asked about them and the funeral rep said there was no card. I wrote our names, Pink Panther, Eggs, Arrow on a piece of paper, told her we were together in VF-51 together, which she remembered and gave it to Nancee so she would know.
Nancee remembered me and our time together and I'm thinking she told you my name and you thought Heater. That's ok, it's happened a few times before.
The card read:
God's speed Wigs. We will see you on the other side. Pink Panther, Eggs, Arrow
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History May 18
1775 Col. Benedict Arnold captures a British sloop at St. Johns in Quebec, Canada and renames her Enterprise, the first of many famous ships with that name.
1898 During the Spanish-American War, boat parties from USS St. Louis and USS Wompatuck, under Capt. Caspar F. Goodrich, cut communication cables at Santiago, Cuba.
1902 Marines and Sailors from the iron-hulled screw steamer, Ranger go ashore at Panama City, Colombia, to protect US citizen lives and property during an insurrection that results in Panamas eventual independence from Colombia on Nov. 3, 1903.
1944 USS Wilkes (DD 441) and USS Roe (DD 418), carrying the 1st Battalion 163rd Infantry, land on Wakde, off Dutch New Guinea, securing the island and setting up airstrip for the Southwest Pacific offensive.
1969 Apollo 10 is launched with Cmdr. John W. Young as command module pilot and Cmdr. Eugene Cernan as the lunar module pilot. The mission is a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.
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Today in World History May 18
0526 St. John I ends his reign as Catholic Pope.
1643 Queen Anne, the widow of Louis XIII, is granted sole and absolute power as regent by the Paris parliament, overriding the late king's will.
1652 A law is passed in Rhode Island banning slavery in the colonies but it causes little stir and seems unlikely to be enforced.
1792 Russian troops invade Poland.
1802 Britain declares war on France.
1804 Napoleon Bonaparte becomes the Emperor of France.
1828 The Battle of Las Piedras, between Uruguay and Brazil, ends.
1860 Abraham Lincoln is nominated for president.
1864 The fighting at Spotsylvania in Virginia, reaches its peak at the Bloody Angle.
1896 The Supreme Court's decision on Plessy v. Ferguson upholds the "separate but equal" policy in the United States.
1904 Brigand Raisuli kidnaps American Ion H. Perdicaris in Morocco.
1917 The U.S. Congress passes the Selective Service act, calling up soldiers to fight World War I.
1931 Japanese pilot Seiji Yoshihara crashes his plane in the Pacific Ocean while trying to be the first to cross the ocean nonstop. He is picked up seven hours later by a passing ship.
1933 President Franklin Roosevelt signs the Tennessee Valley Authority Act.
1942 New York ends night baseball games for the rest of World War II.
1944 The Allies finally capture Monte Cassino in Italy.
1951 The United Nations moves its headquarters to New York city.
1969 Two battalions of the 101st Airborne Division assault Hill 937 but cannot reach the top because of muddy conditions.
1974 India becomes the sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb.
1980 After rumbling for two months, Mount Saint Helens, in Washington, erupts 3 times in 24 hours.
At 8:32 a.m. PDT on May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens, a volcanic peak in southwestern Washington, suffers a massive eruption, killing 57 people and devastating some 210 square miles of wilderness.
Called Louwala-Clough, or "the Smoking Mountain," by Native Americans, Mount St. Helens is located in the Cascade Range and stood 9,680 feet before its eruption. The volcano has erupted periodically during the last 4,500 years, and the last active period was between 1831 and 1857. On March 20, 1980, noticeable volcanic activity began with a series of earth tremors centered on the ground just beneath the north flank of the mountain. These earthquakes escalated, and on March 27 a minor eruption occurred, and Mount St. Helens began emitting steam and ash through its crater and vents.
Small eruptions continued daily, and in April people familiar with the mountain noticed changes to the structure of its north face. A scientific study confirmed that a bulge more than a mile in diameter was moving upward and outward over the high north slope by as much as six feet per day. The bulge was caused by an intrusion of magma below the surface, and authorities began evacuating hundreds of people from the sparsely settled area near the mountain. A few people refused to leave.
Flashback: Vintage Volcanic Eruptions
Play Video
On the morning of May 18, Mount St. Helens was shaken by an earthquake of about 5.0 magnitude, and the entire north side of the summit began to slide down the mountain. The giant landslide of rock and ice, one of the largest recorded in history, was followed and overtaken by an enormous explosion of steam and volcanic gases, which surged northward along the ground at high speed. The lateral blast stripped trees from most hill slopes within six miles of the volcano and leveled nearly all vegetation for as far as 12 miles away. Approximately 10 million trees were felled by the blast.
The landslide debris, liquefied by the violent explosion, surged down the mountain at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour. The avalanche flooded Spirit Lake and roared down the valley of the Toutle River for a distance of 13 miles, burying the river to an average depth of 150 feet. Mudflows, pyroclastic flows, and floods added to the destruction, destroying roads, bridges, parks, and thousands more acres of forest. Simultaneous with the avalanche, a vertical eruption of gas and ash formed a mushrooming column over the volcano more than 12 miles high. Ash from the eruption fell on Northwest cities and towns like snow and drifted around the globe for two weeks. Fifty-seven people, thousands of animals, and millions of fish were killed by the eruption of Mount St. Helens.
By late in the afternoon of May 18, the eruption subsided, and by early the next day it had essentially ceased. Mount St. Helens' volcanic cone was completely blasted away and replaced by a horseshoe-shaped crater–the mountain lost 1,700 feet from the eruption. The volcano produced five smaller explosive eruptions during the summer and fall of 1980 and remains active today. In 1982, Congress made Mount St. Helens a protected research area.
Mount St. Helens became active again in 2004. On March 8, 2005, a 36,000-foot plume of steam and ash was expelled from the mountain, accompanied by a minor earthquake. Another minor eruption took place in 2008. Though a new dome has been growing steadily near the top of the peak and small earthquakes are frequent, scientists do not expect a repeat of the 1980 catastrophe anytime soon.
The Deadliest Volcanic Eruption in History
In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted on Sumbawa, an island of modern-day Indonesia. Historians regard it as the volcano eruption with the deadliest known direct impact: roughly 100,000 people died in the immediate aftermath. But far more died over the next several years, due to secondary effects that spread all over the globe, says Gillen D'Arcy […]
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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 Thursday, 18 May 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 18 May 1968… They went to Paris full of optimism and hope in their hearts…wishful thinking… they would be there for four years of frustration…
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 the Bear
Letter to House Leadership from FO4A
Skip… For your consideration for inclusion in The List… Bear
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A INTERESTING ONE FROM THE ARCHIVES
Thanks to Carl….This is very interesting
The Hidden Meanings of 50 Iconic Brand Logos
https://dailyinfographic.com/iconic-brand-logos-and-their-hidden-meanings
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From the archives. A lot of history remembered
Thanks to Boris
Remembered Sky Spring 2021 Postings (5)
The Spring posts for Remembered sky are now online. Unlike some editions, subject matter focus is varied. Also the last post from Christmas time is included due to the "coming home" nature and the period of Spring 1973 covered. From latest to earliest:
1. Phantoms to WartHogs http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4867
'Dogfighting makes movies. Close air support wins wars,'
2. Anthology – RememberedSky Vietnam Air War '72-'73 Stories http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4807
"Those of us who came home will never forget those who could not " Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association
3. Of tin gods and STEEL MAGNOLIAS http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4766
This post is for the wives who wait… sometimes in vain… for the return of their tin gods from that charge into the fire.
These women most assuredly were and are Steel Magnolias.
4. The Flying Circus Toy Shop: Recommendations http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4649
Hey Mom, when I grow up I wanna be a fighter pilot …………… Son, I'm sorry, but you can't do both
… of flight jackets, patches, aircraft pictures, models, books, watches, coffee mugs, 'I luv me walls' and old toys and … of history, memories, and of the friends
5. Missmus Bismus #4: Epilogue http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4444
I never would have made it if I could not have laughed. It lifted me momentarily out of this horrible situation, just enough to make it livable. — Viktor Frankl
All I claim to know is that laughter is the most reliable gauge of human nature. — Feodor Dostoyevsky
One of the drivers for RS is to preserve some history and words that could be easily lost over time if you're not a major aviation history reader. To that end the intent for the Summer postings is to provide excerpts from some of the older aviation writers like Earnest Gann, Richard Bach or James Salter.
Hope all is well...have a great summer. Comments and inputs welcome as always.
Ed Boris Beakley
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Thanks to Brett
China's New Approach in Africa
The Belt and Road Initiative hasn't gone as planned
By: Ronan Wordsworth
China is moving away from its landmark Belt and Road Initiative in favor of smaller direct investments in strategic projects like renewable power and communications. In 2013, Beijing unveiled the Belt and Road, consisting of huge loans for gargantuan infrastructure projects in the Global South. Africa was a major recipient of these loans. However, many BRI projects have not been completed or have been hamstrung by ballooning budgets, failure to repay debts or poor workmanship overseen by Chinese engineers. These disappointments are leading Beijing to reassess its strategy toward Africa.
Resource Security and Political Capital
China's endgame in Africa is to create favorable trade relationships and a reliable pipeline of natural resources. The strategy behind BRI was to exchange investment for political capital. China would help its partners develop transit routes to promote trade, both within the continent and with the outside world. For Beijing, warm relations with BRI recipients would ensure supply chain security and cheap mineral extraction with reduced royalty payments. At the time, China was also concerned about the security of its oil supply. Improved relations would also support Africa's imports of Chinese goods; in 2009, China surpassed the U.S. as the top trading partner for Africa, and today it trails only the EU.
Generally, Chinese capital has flowed to Africa in two forms: foreign direct investment or loans from the government, commercial banks or state-owned banks. Over the past few years, however, Beijing has poured less capital into things like transportation infrastructure, hydrocarbon pipelines and massive power projects. Instead, it is focused on buying equity in mining projects, funding smaller power-generation projects (especially renewable power), building internet and communications networks, and modernizing African government facilities. Renewable power projects are often profitable in the short term and generate goodwill with ruling parties, as do investments in government buildings.
One thing China has found is that it can access the continent's critical minerals, oil and gas without the huge investments that it once thought were key. Of the $169 billion that Chinese development banks and the government have lent to Africa, for example, a quarter went to Angola to be invested in its state-run oil company in a bid to ensure China's own oil supply. Today, 25 percent of China's oil and gas comes from Africa, behind only the Middle East. Through long-term supply contracts and favorable political conditions, China has avoided its immediate supply security fears. The same has been true of critical minerals like lithium, copper and cobalt. In the past, Beijing overinvested in resource-rich countries and used the minerals as collateral. In fact, African politicians were grateful for the Chinese investment and the often-favorable partnership terms with Chinese mining companies.
Chinese lending ramped up through the 2010s and peaked in 2016. From 2012 to 2018, when China stopped funding many of these projects, its Africa loans totaled $107.9 billion – a huge burden on China's coffers. The massive scale of BRI lending globally brought China's current account balance down to just $24 billion in 2018 from $293 billion in 2015, before rebounding after large external loans were drastically reduced. In 2020, China issued only $1.8 billion in loans – a massive drop. This slide looks set to continue.
Financial and Political Problems
China's initial investment model ran into multiple problems. Financially, China has had trouble recouping much of the bilateral debt, and contrary to debt-trap fears, it has generally been accommodating when it comes to debt relief and deferred payments for emerging economies. Leniency is in China's interest, as its African counterparts are major trading partners sitting on minerals that China processes into high-value goods.
Of its major loan recipients in Africa, Zambia has defaulted on repayments; Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt are at high risk of default; and additional requests for debt relief are highly likely. Each of these countries has more than 30 percent of government revenue going toward interest payments on debt through 2023.
Politically, Beijing is faced with a choice between further debt reduction, which would keep the pressure on its own financial situation, or refusing the requests and jeopardizing the goodwill it has accrued. In addition, other creditors such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank would condemn Beijing's intransigence. China is choosing the former. In March, Ghana's finance minister visited Beijing to negotiate debt restructuring. Zambia has been negotiating with China and other creditors for three years on debt restructuring, a write-down on outstanding balances and reduced interest rates. The G-7 and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have accused China of dragging its feet on relief for highly indebted countries.
Moreover, some countries are questioning the value of Chinese loans and development finance that was earmarked for large infrastructure projects. For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo recently announced that it will reassess its mining concessions with Beijing. It believes the terms may be too skewed in China's favor. Similarly, Nigeria has concerns about the sustainability of previously incurred debt to Beijing. By mid-2022, Nigeria's debt owed to China accounted for 84 percent of its total $4.9 billion in bilateral debt. A large proportion of Nigeria's government revenue is going toward debt servicing, and it has been attempting to negotiate lower interest rates, believing China's rates are exploitative.
Finally, from China's perspective, BRI loans are unnecessary for securing access to African natural resources. China has already established itself within the African market. One example is Zimbabwe, where China has secured significant lithium mining rights without huge infrastructure projects. Even as Zimbabwe has nationalized processing and refining, China has defended its position; the only companies with lithium refineries in Zimbabwe are Chinese-owned.
New Strategy
With this in mind, China has moved away from financing massive infrastructure projects in favor of smaller ventures. Earlier this year, Uganda canceled a contract worth $2.2 billion with China Harbour Engineering Co. to build a 273-kilometer section of a standard gauge railway, citing delays in China's financing. Kenya is also seeking funding to build its own line of the railway, but it received just $12.7 million from China this year for the project. Likewise, Nigeria has been seeking $22.8 billion for a new Kaduna-Kano railway. In 2016, China's Exim Bank signed an agreement to fund the project. The Nigerian parliament approved the deal in 2020, but the bank pulled out in 2022. Last month, the Nigerian government announced that the China Development Bank would provide a significantly lower sum, $973 million, to finance the railway.
Beijing is now looking for less risky projects in which to direct its investments. For example, reports indicate that China could finance the East African Crude Oil Pipeline from Uganda to a port in Tanzania, after Standard Chartered Bank withdrew due to environmental concerns. The project, administered by French energy giant TotalEnergies, is considered relatively low risk. China will be a major destination for the oil once the pipeline is operational, and Chinese companies have taken over from European firms to construct multiple segments of the pipeline.
Meanwhile, despite the declining appetite for large loans, China's foreign direct investment in Africa is steadily rising. Chinese FDI in Africa increased to $44.2 billion in 2021 from $491 million in 2003 and has remained steady over the past five years, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. Its investments are focused on a small group of industries. In 2021, mining accounted for 22.6 percent ($9.9 billion) of Chinese FDI across Africa, while the construction sector accounted for 37 percent ($16.3 billion) and manufacturing for 13.4 percent. Chinese construction companies are still operating in Africa but are no longer working on government contracts paid for by BRI loans. China remains the continent's single largest trade partner, accounting for 22 percent of Africa's trade in 2021.
Smaller infrastructure projects are seen as long-term investments and are not funded through development loans. Many are small-scale green energy projects, including hydropower and solar and wind farms. For example, a Namibian-Chinese joint venture signed a deal worth $100 million to develop a 50-megawatt wind power plant. Such initiatives are seen as more sustainable and ultimately more profitable than the massive hydro and coal-fired power stations that previously attracted Chinese funding.
Chinese investments in Africa have also been directed at the seats of power on the continent. Beijing has been involved in constructing or refurbishing parliament buildings in 10 countries and other official facilities in five countries across Africa, including the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa. These projects serve as subtle reminders to the political establishment of China's continued engagement here. Though Beijing is shifting its focus on the continent, it's clearly not leaving it
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This Day in U S Military History…….May 18
1944 – The Polish Corps, part of a multinational Allied Eighth Army offensive in southern Italy, finally pushes into Monte Cassino as the battle to break German Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's defensive Gustav Line nears its end. The Allied push northward to Rome began in January with the landing of 50,000 seaborne troops at Anzio, 33 miles south of the Italian capital. Despite having met very little resistance, the Allies chose to consolidate their position rather than immediately battle north to Rome. Consequently, German forces under the command of Field Marshal Kesselring were able to create a defensive line that cut across the center of the peninsula. General Wladyslaw Anders, leader of the Polish troops who would raise their flag over the ruins of the famous Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, commenting on the cost of the battle, said, "Corpses of German and Polish soldiers, sometimes entangled in a deathly embrace, lay everywhere, and the air was full of the stench of rotting bodies."
1944 – The US 163rd Infantry Regiment (General Doe) lands on Insoemar Island and advance to capture Wadke airfield.
1944 – The US 6th Army announces that the campaign in the Admiralty Islands has been completed. The Americans have suffered 1400 dead and wounded; the Japanese have suffered 3820 dead and 75 prisoners.
1945 – On Okinawa, the US 6th Marine Division, part of US 3rd Amphibious Corps, captures most of the Sugar Loaf Hill, as well as parts of the Half Moon and the Horseshoe positions that overlook it, after several days of bitter fighting. The US 1st Marine Division continues to battle for the Wana river valley and Wana Ridge but fails to eliminate Japanese resistance, even with flame-throwers and tanks in support. Meanwhile, the US 77th and 96th Divisions, parts of US 24th Corps, attack Japanese positions on Flat Peak without success.
1945 – On Luzon, American units make some progress toward Woodpecker Ridge.
1951 – Naval Task Force 77 suffered its worst single day of the war when six planes failed to return to their carriers.
1953 – Air Force Captain Joseph C. McConnell, 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing, qualified as the top ace of the war and the first of only two triple jet aces (15 kills) after shooting down another three MiGs. Captain McConnell completed his combat tour on 19 May with a total of 106 missions and 16 MiG kills.
1989 – A crowd of protesters, estimated to number more than one million, marches through the streets of Beijing calling for a more democratic political system. Just a few weeks later, the Chinese government moved to crush the protests. Protests in China had been brewing since the mid-1980s when the communist government announced that it was loosening some of the restrictions on the economy, allowing for a freer market to develop. Encouraged by this action, a number of Chinese (particularly students) began to call for similar action on the political front. By early 1989, peaceful protests began to take place in some of China's largest urban areas. The largest of these protests took place around Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing. By the middle of May 1989, enormous crowds took to the streets with songs, slogans, and banners calling for greater democracy and the ouster of some hard-line Chinese officials. The Chinese government responded with increasingly harsh measures, including arrests and beatings of some protesters. On June 3, 1989, Chinese armed forces stormed into Tiananmen Square and swept the protesters away. Thousands were killed and over 10,000 were arrested in what came to be known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The protests attracted worldwide attention. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev applauded the protesters and publicly declared that reform was necessary in communist China. In the United States, the Chinese students were treated like heroes by the American press. Following the Tiananmen Square Massacre, a shocked U.S. government suspended arms sales to China and imposed economic sanctions. The Chinese government, however, refused to bend, referring to the protesters as "lawless elements" of Chinese society.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
KINSEY, JOHN
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company B, 45th Pennsylvania Infantry. Place and date: At Spotsylvania, Va., 18 May 1864. Entered service at: —–. Birth: Lancaster County, Pa. Date of issue: 2 March 1897. Citation: Seized the colors, the color bearer having been shot, and with great gallantry succeeded in saving them from capture.
WHITMAN, FRANK M.
Rank and organization: Private, Company G, 35th Massachusetts Infantry. Place and date: At Antietam, Md., 17 September 1862. At Spotsylvania, Va., 18 May 1864. Entered service at: Ayersville, Mass. Birth: Woodstock, Maine. Date of issue: 21 February 1874. Citation: Was among the last to leave the field at Antietam and was instrumental in saving the lives of several of his comrades at the imminent risk of his own. At Spotsylvania was foremost in line in the assault, where he lost a leg.
*GRANDSTAFF, BRUCE ALAN
Rank and organization: Platoon Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry. Place and date: Pleiku Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1967. Entered service at: Spokane, Wash. Born: 2 June 1934, Spokane, Wash. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. P/Sgt. Grandstaff distinguished himself while leading the Weapons Platoon, Company B, on a reconnaissance mission near the Cambodian border. His platoon was advancing through intermittent enemy contact when it was struck by heavy small arms and automatic weapons fire from 3 sides. As he established a defensive perimeter, P/Sgt. Grandstaff noted that several of his men had been struck down. He raced 30 meters through the intense fire to aid them but could only save 1. Denied freedom to maneuver his unit by the intensity of the enemy onslaught, he adjusted artillery to within 45 meters of his position. When helicopter gunships arrived, he crawled outside the defensive position to mark the location with smoke grenades. Realizing his first marker was probably ineffective, he crawled to another location and threw his last smoke grenade but the smoke did not penetrate the jungle foliage. Seriously wounded in the leg during this effort he returned to his radio and, refusing medical aid, adjusted the artillery even closer as the enemy advanced on his position. Recognizing the need for additional firepower, he again braved the enemy fusillade, crawled to the edge of his position and fired several magazines of tracer ammunition through the jungle canopy. He succeeded in designating the location to the gunships but this action again drew the enemy fire and he was wounded in the other leg. Now enduring intense pain and bleeding profusely, he crawled to within 10 meters of an enemy machine gun which had caused many casualties among his men. He destroyed the position with hand grenades but received additional wounds. Rallying his remaining men to withstand the enemy assaults, he realized his position was being overrun and asked for artillery directly on his location. He fought until mortally wounded by an enemy rocket. Although every man in the platoon was a casualty, survivors attest to the indomitable spirit and exceptional courage of this outstanding combat leader who inspired his men to fight courageously against overwhelming odds and cost the enemy heavy casualties. P/Sgt. Grandstaff's selfless gallantry, above and beyond the call of duty, are in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
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*GUENETTE, PETER M.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company D, 2d Battalion (Airborne), 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Airmobile). Place and date: Quan Tan Uyen Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1968. Entered service at: Albany, N.Y. Born: 4 January 1948, Troy, N.Y. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Guenette distinguished himself while serving as a machine gunner with Company D, during combat operations. While Sp4c. Guenette's platoon was sweeping a suspected enemy base camp, it came under light harassing fire from a well equipped and firmly entrenched squad of North Vietnamese Army regulars which was serving as a delaying force at the entrance to their base camp. As the platoon moved within 10 meters of the fortified positions, the enemy fire became intense. Sp4c. Guenette and his assistant gunner immediately began to provide a base of suppressive fire, ceasing momentarily to allow the assistant gunner time to throw a grenade into a bunker. Seconds later, an enemy grenade was thrown to Sp4c. Guenette's right flank. Realizing that the grenade would kill or wound at least 4 men and destroy the machine gun, he shouted a warning and smothered the grenade with his body, absorbing its blast. Through his actions, he prevented loss of life or injury to at least 3 men and enabled his comrades to maintain their fire superiority. By his gallantry at the cost of his life in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service, Sp4c. Guenette has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
*STEWART, JIMMY G.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 2d Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1966. Entered service at: Ashland, Ky. Born: 25 December 1942, West Columbia, W. Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Early in the morning a reinforced North Vietnamese company attacked Company B, which was manning a defensive perimeter in Vietnam. The surprise onslaught wounded 5 members of a 6-man squad caught in the direct path of the enemy's thrust. S/Sgt. Stewart became a lone defender of vital terrain–virtually 1 man against a hostile platoon. Refusing to take advantage of a lull in the firing which would have permitted him to withdraw, S/Sgt. Stewart elected to hold his ground to protect his fallen comrades and prevent an enemy penetration of the company perimeter. As the full force of the platoon-sized man attack struck his lone position, he fought like a man possessed; emptying magazine after magazine at the determined, on-charging enemy. The enemy drove almost to his position and hurled grenades, but S/Sgt. Stewart decimated them by retrieving and throwing the grenades back. Exhausting his ammunition, he crawled under intense fire to his wounded team members and collected ammunition that they were unable to use. Far past the normal point of exhaustion, he held his position for 4 harrowing hours and through 3 assaults, annihilating the enemy as they approached and before they could get a foothold. As a result of his defense, the company position held until the arrival of a reinforcing platoon which counterattacked the enemy, now occupying foxholes to the left of S/Sgt. Stewart's position. After the counterattack, his body was found in a shallow enemy hole where he had advanced in order to add his fire to that of the counterattacking platoon. Eight enemy dead were found around his immediate position, with evidence that 15 others had been dragged away. The wounded whom he gave his life to protect, were recovered and evacuated. S/Sgt. Stewart's indomitable courage, in the face of overwhelming odds, stands as a tribute to himself and an inspiration to all men of his unit. His actions were in the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and the Armed Forces of his country.
*WAYRYNEN, DALE EUGENE
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 2d Battalion, 502d Infantry, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Quang Ngai, Province, Republic of Vietnam, 18 May 1967. Entered service at: Minneapolis, Minn. Born: 18 January 1947, Moose Lake, Minn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Wayrynen distinguished himself with Company B, during combat operations near Duc Pho. His platoon was assisting in the night evacuation of the wounded from an earlier enemy contact when the lead man of the unit met face to face with a Viet Cong soldier. The American's shouted warning also alerted the enemy who immediately swept the area with automatic weapons fire from a strongly built bunker close to the trail and threw hand grenades from another nearby fortified position. Almost immediately, the lead man was wounded and knocked from his feet. Sp4c. Wayrynen, the second man in the formation, leaped beyond his fallen comrade to kill another enemy soldier who appeared on the trail, and he dragged his injured companion back to where the point squad had taken cover. Suddenly, a live enemy grenade landed in the center of the tightly grouped men. Sp4c. Wayrynen, quickly assessing the danger to the entire squad as well as to his platoon leader who was nearby, shouted a warning, pushed one soldier out of the way, and threw himself on the grenade at the moment it exploded. He was mortally wounded. His deep and abiding concern for his fellow soldiers was significantly reflected in his supreme and courageous act that preserved the lives of his comrades. Sp4c. Wayrynen's heroic actions are in keeping with the highest traditions of the service, and they reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for May 18, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1918: American day bombing began with the arrival of the 96th Aero Squadron at Amanty Airdrome, France. (4) (11)
1942: The US and Panama signed an agreement for defense sites in Panama that included several airbases.
1949: New York's first heliport opened at Pier 41, East River. (24) 1952: KOREAN WAR. An SA-16 amphibian from the 3 ARS, while under fire from the enemy shoreline, rescued a downed F-84 pilot. (28)
1953: Jacqueline Cochran, flying a Canadian-built F-86 Sabre at Edwards AFB, became the first woman to fly faster than sound. She averaged 652.337 MPH on a 100-kilometer closed-course (62 miles) to earn the women's jet speed record. (24) Capt Joseph C. McConnnell, Jr., shot down his 16th enemy aircraft in the Korean War to become its top ace. (21)
1955: Leading four F-84 Thunderjets, Col Harold M. McClelland set a nonstop record for singleengine jets by flying 4,840 miles from Yokota AB to Williamstown, Australia, in 12 hours 10 minutes. (24)
1958: The US recovered its first full-scale ablative-type nose cone from the Atlantic Ocean. It was launched from Cape Canaveral on a Jupiter missile. (6)
1964: Jacqueline Cochran set a speed record for women: 1,429 MPH at 37,100 feet in altitude, in an F-104G at Edwards AFB. First McDonnell-Douglas RF-4C flight lasted 50 minutes. (12)
1965: First flight of the Navy's F-111B. 1966: Ling-Temco-Vought Aerospace's XC-142A triservice V/STOL transport made its first carrier takeoffs and landings during tests aboard the USS Bennington at sea off San Diego. (3)
1969: APOLLO X. Through 26 May Apollo X, the first lunar orbital mission using a complete Apollo spacecraft, launched from Kennedy Space Center on a Saturn V with Col Thomas F. Stafford (USAF), Capt John W. Young (USN), and Cmdr Eugene A. Cernan (USN) aboard. They landed eight days later in the Pacific. (26)
1968: The USAF delivered 88.5 tons of food and emergency materials to Ethopia after a massive flood. (8) 1973: Lockheed-Georgia delivered the last production-model C-5A aircraft, No. 81, to MAC at Dover AFB. (16) (26)
1980: After Mount St. Helens erupted, a C-141 from the 63 MAW at Norton AFB, Calif., and a C-130 from the 62 MAW at McChord AFB flew above the stricken area to provide communications for rescue aircraft. The USAF Rescue Coordination Center at Scott AFB managed 568 sorties by the ARRS, Coast Guard, Civil Air Patrol, and Army aircraft through 5 June that saved 101 lives. SR-71 aircraft conducted photoreconnaissance sorties to aid the rescue and recovery operations. (2) (21)
1992: A production C-17 Globemaster III flew for the first time in a flight from Long Beach to the test facility at Edwards AFB. (16)
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Thanks to Brett
ON GEOPOLITICS
In the Arctic, Russia's Geopolitical Isolation Opens New Doors for China
Rodger Baker
Director, Stratfor Center for Applied Geopolitics
May 17, 2023
The transfer of Arctic Council leadership in 2023 from Russia to Norway will not end the uncertainty over the organization's activities and role, but China is positioning for a greater role regardless of how things evolve. On May 11, Norway took over the two-year rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council, ending Russia's troublesome term. Oslo has been forthright in noting that the Arctic Council cannot simply pick up activities as if things are normal with Russia, but neither can there be effective Arctic cooperation without some engagement with Moscow or at least Russian entities. As the Arctic Council seeks to resume activities and balance the political isolation of Russia, China has offered its services as a friendly mediator to bridge the gap with Russia. Beijing also signed security and economic development deals with Moscow, ensuring China a stronger voice as the future of Arctic governance comes into question.
From Cooperation to Competition
The Arctic Council long stood as a post-Cold War example of cooperation between Russia, the United States and Europe — an area that was supposed to be ''a genuine zone of peace and fruitful cooperation,'' as then Soviet Communist General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev said in his 1987 speech in Murmansk. In 1991, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the eight nations with Arctic territory began a series of dialogues and agreements that ultimately led to the formation of the Arctic Council in 1996. The Council has served in many ways as the gatekeeper of the Arctic, coordinating scientific research, managing political, social and economic relations among members, and driving management and regulation of the broader Arctic region. While the Arctic Council has expanded to allow observer states a role, including China, the eight Arctic nations have jealously guarded their central position within the organization and in global Arctic governance as a whole.
Despite Russia's military actions in Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014, the Arctic Council continued to keep itself largely separate from strategic competition below the Arctic Circle. In part, this was intentional. The Arctic Council has no mandate to discuss or deal with military issues and, in fact, precluded them from its agendas, thus insulating it from shifting geopolitical balances. But as Russia began rebuilding its Arctic military infrastructure in the late 2000s and through the 2010s, the United States began to take note. In 2019, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo challenged protocol to criticize Russian and Chinese Arctic actions on the eve of the Arctic Council meeting. While most Council members continued to adhere to the restriction on addressing security matters, things changed with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, a year after Moscow took the chairmanship of the Council. In March 2022, the so-called Arctic 7 (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the United States) issued a statement suspending their involvement in the Arctic Council. A few months later, they resumed limited cooperation within the Council framework, but only on issues that did not involve Russian participation.
Moscow had stepped into the role of Arctic leadership with grand ambitions and a focus on Arctic development, despite the ongoing COVID-19 crisis having interrupted Arctic collaboration. Russia holds the largest land territory in the Arctic, has the largest Arctic population, and by far the largest Arctic economy of any of the Council members, and Moscow had adapted to changing ice patterns to both re-strengthen its Arctic defense and expand its goals for Arctic resource extraction and transit routes. Scientific cooperation in the Arctic was dependent on Russia's participation, given its large territory. The decision of the Arctic 7 not only stopped their work with Moscow but interrupted the interaction of many of the observer states.
U.S. and European sanctions on Russia and the rising cost of a longer-than-expected war in Ukraine forced Moscow to shift its Arctic development priorities, slow many planned infrastructure projects and refocus its attention on collaboration with China and non-European states. The accession of Finland to NATO and the likely inclusion of Sweden soon added another layer of complication to peaceful Arctic coordination, as the Arctic Council will now be split between NATO and Russia, leaving no even nominally neutral parties as core members.
Disruptions to Arctic Cooperation
The Arctic 7 decision to suspend Council activities triggered concern not only in Moscow but among the Indigenous representatives to the Council and the Observer states, none of which were consulted before the decision was made. This will further complicate Norway's ability as chair to bring some sense of normalcy to the Arctic Council activities, even beyond the question of what to do about Russia. The Arctic Council is unique in providing Permanent Participant status to six Arctic Indigenous People's organizations, giving them consultative rights that were overlooked or denied in the political decision to suspend Council activities during Russia's tenure. The Arctic 7 will need to either address the concerns of the Indigenous representatives or risk providing Russia or China space to exploit the perceived sidelining of their voices. China has used formal and informal relations with Indigenous groups and organizations to spread its influence, claiming itself as the voice of the developing world, anti-colonialism and the rights of the under-represented (despite restrictions on many of its own domestic ethnic minorities).
The sidelining of the observer states, particularly those from Asia, may present an even bigger challenge for the future of the Arctic Council and the protection of Arctic governance by Arctic nations. Beijing has been clear that the Arctic Council activities are largely untenable without the inclusion of Moscow, given Russia accounts for half of the Arctic region. China has also long argued that the Arctic should be an area of international, rather than regional, management, as Arctic issues have global impacts. There are hints from India that New Delhi is unsatisfied with the idea of a divided Arctic Council or being constrained by Western interests in engagement with Russia in the Arctic. India continues to walk a careful line between its economic and security cooperation with Moscow and Washington, but New Delhi is benefitting from Russian Arctic energy supplies, and Indian companies may find new opportunities in Russian Arctic development as Moscow seeks to replace Western investment and participation and simultaneously expand Arctic infrastructure and resource extraction.
Moscow has already offered small incentives for non-Arctic states to increase bilateral and multilateral cooperation with Russia in the Arctic, bypassing the Arctic Council and Western involvement. Russia's Ambassador at Large for the Arctic Cooperation Nikolay Korchunov extended an invitation to Gulf and Latin American countries to participate in Arctic research at the Snezhinka international scientific station in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region earlier this year. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko offered to reciprocate joint scientific and climate research with Vietnam, offering Hanoi opportunities for Arctic research parallel to Russia's tropical research in Vietnam. Russian Minister of the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexei Chekunkov also suggested that the BRICS nations could cooperate in Arctic research at Russia's facilities on Svalbard. On the security front, Russia hosted representatives from 13 countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and Kazakhstan, at its recent Secure Arctic 2023 exercises in April, and Moscow and Beijing signed a memorandum between their coast guards to increase cooperation in Arctic maritime security, with plans for Chinese participation in future multilateral Arctic maritime exercises.
China's Arctic Opportunities
As Russia reaches out to strengthen Arctic cooperation with non-Arctic nations to counter its likely continued shunning at the Arctic Council, China has expanded its cooperation with Russia and offered to serve as a bridge between Russia and the Arctic 7 to ease potential tensions in the Arctic. China has numerous bilateral projects and agreements with European Arctic nations and a robust Arctic research program on land and at sea. Beijing has been a source of funding for Arctic projects and development and has expanded its reach among the Arctic and ''near Arctic'' nations through its active role in the Arctic Circle, a wider body of Arctic-interested nations focused on economic activity. For China, the Arctic is a region of rich future resources, an alternative route between Asia and Europe and a key region for managing strategic competition with the United States (the shortest route for missiles and aircraft is via the Arctic, not across the Pacific). The international implications of climate change and changes in the Arctic provide Beijing with a clear case to reshape global governance away from a North-Atlantic-centric model toward one where China and the Global South have a greater say.
The United States is increasingly concerned about China's growing Arctic interest and activity (Chinese fishing fleets have operated just outside U.S. Arctic territory, Chinese naval vessels have carried out operations with Russia near Alaska and Chinese maritime and atmospheric research including ships and balloons — seen as dual-use — have frequently operated over and around the U.S. Arctic). But many European nations and numerous non-Arctic states elsewhere see China as an important partner for funding, joint research, or as a voice to expand involvement in Arctic governance beyond Russia and the Arctic 7.
China, then, is positioned to see its role in Arctic management, investment and governance expand. Beijing is critical for Russia's continued development of its own Arctic resources as well as the Northern Sea Route, and China's involvement may encourage other countries, like India or the Gulf States, to take a more active role in Russian Arctic and Far East resources and infrastructure. China is also a bridge for Norway and the Arctic Council to facilitate some slow, targeted resumption of scientific cooperation with Russia, particularly in environmental monitoring. Beijing will use this leverage and its own investments as assets to press for a broadening of international involvement in the Arctic region, pushing back against the closed model represented by the Arctic Council.
Beijing sees the Council as one more example of the North Atlantic powers retaining a stranglehold on international rules. Given the significance of the Arctic for global climate monitoring (not to mention current and future resources), Beijing is asserting its right to play a more active role in Arctic development and governance. The rift in the Arctic Council provides China with the opportunity to press this claim both inside and outside the Arctic Council. However the Council manages its split relations with Moscow, Beijing has already gained ground in concrete terms in the Russian Arctic and is likely to see its role rise within the Arctic Council, even if only as a mediator with Russia. While the United States and its partners are likely to push against a stronger Chinese role, that may only serve to further weaken the cohesiveness of the remaining Arctic 7, giving Beijing even more justification to press for a new global governance model for the Arctic, one where it will play a lead role and further reshape the Post-WWII U.S.-led international order.
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