To All
Good Monday Morning July 3, 2023.
I hope that you all had a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
July 3
1898 During the Spanish American War, when Rear Adm. Cerveras Spanish fleet attempts to flee from the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, but the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Squadron successfully pursues, attacks, and systematically destroys the Spanish vessels.
1942 A PBY 5A aircraft successfully fires the first airborne retro-rocket at Goldstone Lake, Calif.
1943 Submarine chaser USS (SC 1048) rescues survivors of a U-boat attack who had been sighted by a Navy blimp in the North Atlantic Ocean. The survivors are from the tanker Bloody Marsh, which was previously torpedoed July 2 and sunk by German submarine (U 66), which during its career sinks 37 Allied vessels until sunk by aircraft from USS Block Island (CVE 21) and USS Buckley 51) nearly a year later.
1944 USS Frost (DE 144) and USS Inch (DE 146) sink German submarine (U 154) off Madiera.
1950 USS Valley Forge (CV 45) and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean War. VF 51 aircraft from Valley Forge shoot down two North Korean aircraft. The action is also the first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.
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Today in World History July 3
1775 George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.
1790 In Paris, the Marquis de Condorcet proposes granting civil rights to women.
1844 American ambassador Caleb Cushing successfully negotiates a commercial treaty with China.
1863 Confederate forces attack the center of the Union line at Gettysburg, but fail to break it.
1878 John Wise flies the first dirigible in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
1901 The Wild Bunch, led by Butch Cassidy, commits its last American robbery near Wagner, Montana, taking $65,000 from a Great Northern train.
1903 The first cable across the Pacific Ocean is spliced between Honolulu, Midway, Guam and Manila.
1944 The U.S. First Army opens a general offensive to break out of the hedgerow area of Normandy, France.
1945 U.S. troops land at Balikpapan and take Sepinggan airfield on Borneo in the Pacific.
1950 U.S. carrier-based planes attack airfields in the Pyongyang-Chinnampo area of North Korea in the first air-strike of the Korean War.
1954 Food rationing ends in Great Britain almost nine years after the end of World War II.
1962 Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
1967 North Vietnamese soldiers attack South Vietnam's only producing coal mine at Nong Son.
1863
Battle of Gettysburg ends
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post
Skip… For The List for Monday, 3 July 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 3 July 1968…
"Unbearable" Marshall Montgomery with a sound criticism of the US war in SEA…
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at
: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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Thanks to Al
Subject: Monday Morning Honor--Independence Day 2023
I venture to say that it has been a few years since you have read the Declaration of Independence. So, I thought it appropriate to start this Monday Morning Humor with its text. Happy Birthday America!
The Declaration of Independence
The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original.
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
(56 signatures are on the Declaration)
Thanks to Bug Roach
I Am the Nation
I was born July 4, 1776, and the Declaration of Independence is my birth certificate. The blood lines of the world run in my veins because I offered freedom to the oppressed. I am many things, and many people.
I am the Nation. I am 200,000,000 living souls---and the ghosts of millions who have lived and died for me.
I am Nathan Hale and Paul Revere. I stood at Lexington and fired the shot heard around the world.
I am Washington, Jefferson, and Patrick Henry. I am John Paul Jones and the Green Mountain Boys, and Davy Crockett. I am Lee and Grant and Abe Lincoln.
I remember the Alamo, the Maine, and Pearl Harbor. When freedom called, I answered and stayed until it was over, over there. I left my heroic dead in Flanders Fields on the rock of Corregidor, and on the bleak slopes of Korea. I am the Brooklyn Bridge, the wheatlands of Kansas, and the granite hills of Vermont.. .1 am big; I sprawl from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I am more than 4,000,000 farms. I am forest, fields, mountain and desert. I am quiet villages and cities that never sleep.
You can look at me and see Ben Franklin walking down the streets of Philadelphia with his loaf of bread under his arm. I am Babe Ruth and the World Series. I am 169,000 schools and colleges and 250,000 churches where my people worship God as they think best. I am a ballot dropped in a box, the roar of a crowd in a stadium, and the voice of a choir in a cathedral. I am an editorial in a newspaper and letter to a congressman. I am Eli Whitney and Stephen Foster. I am Tom Edison, Albert Einstein, and Billy Graham. I am Horace Greeley, Will Rogers, and the Wright Brothers. I am George Washington Carver, Daniel Webster, and Jonas Salk. I am Longfellow, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Walt Whitman, Thomas Paine.
Yes, I am the Nation. I was conceived in freedom and, God willing, in freedom will I spend the rest of my days. May I always possess the integrity, the courage and the strength to keep myself unshackled, to remain a citadel of freedom and a beacon of hope to the world.
Submitted by Jack Ensch
A Letter from the Founding Fathers by Don Feder
From: The Founding Fathers
To: The current generation of Americans
On this the anniversary of our independence, those of us you call the Founding Fathers have assembled in Continental heaven to assess the condition of the republic we bequeathed to you.
It's true America has become the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth. But so was the British Empire in 1776.
Before we get specific, we must confess that we are annoyed by your habit of misinterpreting our words. Take the First Amendment, where we said Congress shall make no law "respecting an establishment of religion." You usually neglect the other half of the injunction, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
As anyone in the first Congress, which passed the amendment, could have told you, "establishment of religion" means an established church, which all are forced to support. We never intended to create a virtue-less republic, by prohibiting public expressions of faith. In the Declaration of Independence, we acknowledged that rights are endowed by our Creator. Absent a Creator, there are no inalienable rights.
In the Second Amendment, we said the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. In our day, if private citizens hadn't owned guns there would have been no Lexington and Concord. Why would we bother guaranteeing a collective right to arm state militias? The rights enumerated in the first 10 amendments are restraints on government, not grants of power to it. If you ever wake up to what's going on, your leaders will have cause to fear an armed citizenry.
We viewed elective office as a sacrifice. For your politicians, it's an opportunity. We rid America of a monarchy. You've established an elected aristocracy. We were farmers, merchants and professionals who resumed our careers after a brief term of service and never lost touch with our constituents.
You are governed by an elite so different from you as to almost constitute a separate species. Your elected rulers hold office for 20 or 30 years, becoming increasingly detached from their roots, while rewarding themselves lavish emoluments and pensions.
We revolted over a modest tax on tea. Your tax burden is staggering. Despite the enormous expenditures of your prodigal politicians, even they can't spend it all. And still, many resist returning the federal surplus to its rightful owners. We rejected taxation without representation. You condone your own serfdom.
In the Declaration, we complained that King George III had "sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." You complacently tolerate a bureaucracy that resembles all Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Eat out their substance? Today, almost one in 13 Americans works for a branch of government. Harass our people? There are bureaucrats to tell you how to run your business, build on your property and raise your children. Government makes decisions for you regarding your health, safety and welfare. We envisioned the judiciary as a coequal branch of government that interprets laws based on the clear meaning of language. Your courts have become a law unto themselves -- raising taxes, deciding elections, ordering private relationships and substituting their will for that of legislators. We warned you against entangling alliances. You are eager to form defensive pacts with postage-stamp countries whose security couldn't conceivably be related to your own. This will only serve to drag you into their petty quarrels, sapping your strength.
We recognized that government and society must rest on divine wisdom. George Washington observed, "Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." You cultivate national immorality, in the apparent belief that abortion, adolescent access to pornography, cohabitation, public distribution of prophylactics and compulsory acceptance of perversion will somehow lead to a society whose citizens have the self-discipline to sacrifice for the common good.
Benjamin Franklin said we gave you a republic "if you can keep it." From our vantage point, it does not look promising. Were we alive today, we'd raise another rebellion.
Submitted by Greg Madsen:
Greetings Patriotic American:
As we celebrate independence Day (Not the fourth of July), we should realize how blessed we are to have The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration states our rights come from God and government is only needed to protect those rights, not enslave us. The Declaration has five references to God. These are: God as Creator of all men; God as the source of all rights; God as the Supreme Lawmaker; God as the world's Supreme Judge, and God as our Protector.
The Founding Fathers pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to obtain the liberties we take for granted today. Many lost their families possessions and their lives so that we could be free today.
Patrick Henry stated that this nation was founded on Christian principles contained in the Holy Bible. The US Supreme Court in 1892 ruled that "our institutions are emphatically Christian."
Chief Justice Earl Warren led Supreme Court in 1962 and 1963, without precedence, banned prayer and Bible reading in public schools. This has resulted in secular Humanism's anti-Christian moral decay including Drag Queens, etc. today.
George Washington stated that the Christian religion and morality were indispensable supports for good government. George Mason during the 1787 Constitutional Convention said that if we stopped worshiping Jesus Christ as lord of the land, Providence (God) would punish us with natural calamities. Perhaps that is the cause today of violent weather, tornadoes, flooding, fires, etc.!
The Founding Fathers did not want a State Church or denomination like the Church of England, but they did want the Christian religion to be a part of the State. They wanted religion, morality and knowledge to be taught in schools. This was included in the 1787 Northwest Ordinance concerning new states joining the Union.
President Jefferson ordered that the Holy Bible be read in Washington, D.C. schools. Congress purchased 20,000 Bibles and authorize the government printing of Bibles. The motto of the Revolutionary War for Independence was: "No king, but King Jesus.
Our National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," was penned by Francis Scott Key. In the early morning light after 27 hours of British warships bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Key saw the 30' X 42' flag still flying. Many patriot soldiers died to keep the flag flying. It was a defeat for the British. We must always respect the flag.
The Founders honored Independence Day as a religious holiday because the author of liberty, Jesus Christ, made freedom possible for us.
The book, "The 5000 year Leap" by Cleon Skousen contains the 28 principles of liberty contained in the Declaration and Constitution. It should be taught in our schools!
Celebrate Independence Day by giving thanks to God for liberty and freedom!
A concerned citizen.
28 Principles of Liberty by Cleon Skousen
•The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.
•A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.
•The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders.
•Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.
•All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible.
•All mankind were created equal.
o Equal before God.
o Equal before the law.
o Equal in their rights.
•The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.
•Mankind are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.
•To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.
•The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.
•The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.
•The United States of America shall be a republic.
•A Constitution should protect the people from the frailties of their rulers.
•Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure.
•The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations. Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:
o The Freedom to try.
o The Freedom to buy.
o The Freedom to sell.
o The Freedom to fail.
•The government should be separated into three branches.
•A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government.
•The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.
•Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.
•Efficiency and dispatch require that the government operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.
•Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.
•A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.
•A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.
•A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.
•"Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances with none."- Thomas Jefferson, given in his first inaugural address.
•The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.
•The burden of debt is as destructive to human freedom as subjugation by conquest.
•The United States has manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God's law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.
God bless America,
Al
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Al always ends his note above with God Bless America.
As I watched and listened to Kate sing this morning I got a chill and the screen went out of focus for a bit. It happens every time
It is that time of year again and I think this will bring back a few memories for many of you...I don't know why but hearing Kate Smith sing this today really struck a chord with me. Happy 4th of July tomorrow and God Bless America This was the era just before TV when radio shows were huge, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.
Kate was also large -- plus size, as we now say, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her: "It ain't over till the fat lady sings."
Kate was also patriotic. It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring. She had hope for America and faith in her fellow Americans. She wanted to do something to cheer them up. So she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote "White Christmas") and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country. When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her. He went to his files and found a song that he had written but never published, 22 years before in 1917. He gave it to her, and she worked on it with her studio orchestra. She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America. Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts of America. Over the years, the Boy Scouts have received millions of dollars in royalties from this song.
This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience. She introduces the new song for the very first time and starts singing. After the first couple verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In the Army Now." At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper; it's Ronald Reagan.
To this day, "God Bless America" stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country. Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt whether she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry -- and for many generations of Americans to follow. Now that you know the story of the song, I hope you'll enjoy it and treasure it even more.
Many people don't know there's a lead in to the song since it usually starts with "God Bless America."
https://www.youtube.com/embed/TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0
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From last year
Thanks to Dr. Rich
If you ever watched this jet powered truck roar down the runway it was very impressive and had all the noise and excitement you would love. It will be missed at air shows.
1 person dies in accident at Battle Creek air show, police say
Updated: Jul. 02, 2022, 7:16 p.m. | Published: Jul. 02, 2022, 4:17 p.m.
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This Day in US Military History
July 3
1863 – Troops under Confederate General George Pickett begin a massive attack against the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg on the climactic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest engagement of the war. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia encountered George Meade's Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania and battered the Yankees for two days. The day before Pickett's charge, the Confederates had hammered each flank of the Union line but could not break through. Now, on July 3, Lee decided to attack the Union center, stationed on Cemetery Ridge, after making another unsuccessful attempt on the Union right flank at Culp's Hill in the morning. The majority of the force consisted of Pickett's division, but there were other units represented among the 15,000 attackers. After a long Confederate artillery bombardment, the Rebel force moved through the open field and up the slight rise of Cemetery Ridge. But by the time they reached the Union line, the attack had been broken into many small units, and they were unable to penetrate the Yankee center. The failed attack effectively ended the battle of Gettysburg. On July 4, Lee began to withdraw his forces to Virginia. The casualties for both armies were staggering. Lee lost 28,000 of his 75,000 soldiers, and Union losses stood at over 22,000. It was the last time Lee threatened Northern territory.
1890 – Idaho, the last of the 50 states to be explored by whites, is admitted to the union. Exploration of the North American continent mostly proceeded inward from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and northward from Spanish Mexico. Therefore, the rugged territory that would become Idaho long remained untouched by Spanish, French, British, and American trappers and explorers. Even as late as 1805, Idaho Indians like the Shoshone had never encountered a white man. That changed with the arrival of the American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the summer of 1805. Searching for a route over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, Lewis and Clark traveled through Idaho with the aid of the Shoshone Indians and their horses. British fur traders and trappers followed a few years later, as did missionaries and a few hardy settlers. As with many remote western states, large-scale settlement began only after gold was discovered. Thousands of miners rushed into Idaho when word of a major gold strike came in September 1860. Merchants and farmers followed, eager to make their fortunes "mining the miners." By 1880, Idaho boasted a population of 32,610. In the southern section of the territory, many settlers were Mormons who had been dispatched from Salt Lake City to found new colonies. Increasingly, Idaho territory became divided between a Mormon-dominated south and an anti-Mormon north. In the mid-1880s, anti-Mormon Republicans used widespread public antipathy toward the Mormon practice of polygamy to pass legislation denying the predominantly Democratic Mormons the vote. With the Democratic Mormon vote disarmed, Idaho became a Republican-dominated territory. National Republicans eager to increase their influence in the U.S. Congress began to push for Idaho statehood in 1888. The following year, the Idaho territorial legislature approved a strongly anti-Mormon constitution. The U.S. Congress approved the document on this day in 1890, and Idaho became the 43rd state in the Union
1950 – USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean Conflict. VF-51 aircraft (Valley Forge) shoot down 2 North Korean aircraft. The action is first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.
1950 – Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Leonard H. Plog, flying a F9F Panther jet fighter, shot down a Yak-9P, claiming the first U.S. Navy aerial victory of the Korean War.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
CUSHING, ALONZO H.
Rank and Organization: 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Battery A, 4th US Artillery, II Corps, Army of the Potomac. Place and Date: Gettysburg, PA, July 3rd, 1863. Entered Service At: Fredonia, New York. Born: 19 January 1841, at Delafield, Wisconsin. Departed: Yes (07/03/1863). G.O. Number: . Date of Issue: 11/06/2014. Citation: First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing distinguished himself by acts of bravery above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an artillery commander in Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 3rd, 1863 during the American Civil War. That morning, Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee began cannonading First Lieutenant Cushing's position on Cemetery Ridge. Using field glasses, First Lieutenant Cushing directed fire for his own artillery battery. He refused to leave the battlefield after being struck in the shoulder by a shell fragment. As he continued to direct fire, he was struck again – this time suffering grievous damage to his abdomen. Still refusing to abandon his command, he boldly stood tall in the face of Major General George E. Pickett's charge and continued to direct devastating fire into oncoming forces. As the Confederate forces closed in, First Lieutenant Cushing was struck in the mouth by an enemy bullet and fell dead beside his gun. His gallant stand and fearless leadership inflicted severe casualties upon Confederate forces and opened wide gaps in their lines, directly impacting the Union force's ability to repel Pickett's charge. First Lieutenant Cushing's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty at the cost of his own life are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, Army of the Potomac, and the United States Army.
HINCKS, WILLIAM B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 14th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Bridgeport, Conn. Birth: Bucksport, Me. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: During the highwater mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tenn. Inf. C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sgt. Maj. Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several were Iying down around it. Upon a call for volunteers by Maj. Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and 2 others leaped the wall. One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tenn. carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sgt. Maj. Hlncks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.
WINANS, ROSWELL
Rank and organization: Brigadier General (then First Sergeant), U.S. Marine Corps. Place and date: Guayacanas, Dominican Republic, 3 July 1916. Entered service at: Washington. Born. 9 December 1887, Brookville, Ind. G.O. No.: 244, 30 October 1916. Citation: During an engagement at Guavacanas on 3 July 1916, 1st Sgt. Winans participated in action against a considerable force of rebels on the line of march. During a running fight of 1,200 yards, our forces reached the enemy entrenchments and Cpl. Joseph A. Gowin, U.S.M.C., placed the machinegun, of which he had charge, behind a large log across the road and immediately opened fire on the trenches. He was struck once but continued firing his gun, but a moment later he was again struck and had to be dragged out of the position into cover. 1st Sgt. Winans, U.S.M.C., then arrived with a Colt's gun which he placed in a most exposed position, coolly opened fire on the trenches and when the gun jammed, stood up and repaired it under fire. All the time Glowin and Winans were handling their guns they were exposed to a very heavy fire which was striking into the logs and around the men, 7 men being wounded and 1 killed within 20 feet. 1st Sgt. Winans continued flring his gun until the enemy had abandoned the trenches.
*KOELSCH, JOHN KELVIN.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant (J.G.), U.S. Navy, Navy helicopter rescue unit. Place and date: North Korea, 3 July 1951. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Birth: London, England. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with a Navy helicopter rescue unit. Although darkness was rapidly approaching when information was received that a marine aviator had been shot down and was trapped by the enemy in mountainous terrain deep in hostile territory, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch voluntarily flew a helicopter to the reported position of the downed airman in an attempt to effect a rescue. With an almost solid overcast concealing everything below the mountain peaks, he descended in his unarmed and vulnerable aircraft without the accompanying fighter escort to an extremely low altitude beneath the cloud level and began a systematic search. Despite the increasingly intense enemy fire, which struck his helicopter on 1 occasion, he persisted in his mission until he succeeded in locating the downed pilot, who was suffering from serious burns on the arms and legs. While the victim was being hoisted into the aircraft, it was struck again by an accurate burst of hostile fire and crashed on the side of the mountain. Quickly extricating his crewmen and the aviator from the wreckage, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch led them from the vicinity in an effort to escape from hostile troops, evading the enemy forces for 9 days and rendering such medical attention as possible to his severely burned companion until all were captured. Up to the time of his death while still a captive of the enemy, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch steadfastly refused to aid his captors in any manner and served to inspire his fellow prisoners by his fortitude and consideration for others. His great personal valor and heroic spirit of self-sacrifice throughout sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
*SHUCK, WILLIAM E., JR.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 3 July 1952. Entered service at: Cumberland, Md. Born. 16 August 1926, Cumberland, Md. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader of Company G, in action against enemy aggressor forces. When his platoon was subjected to a devastating barrage of enemy small-arms, grenade, artillery, and mortar fire during an assault against strongly fortified hill positions well forward of the main line of resistance, S/Sgt. Shuck, although painfully wounded, refused medical attention and continued to lead his machine gun squad in the attack. Unhesitatingly assuming command of a rifle squad when the leader became a casualty, he skillfully organized the 2 squads into an attacking force and led 2 more daring assaults upon the hostile positions. Wounded a second time, he steadfastly refused evacuation and remained in the foremost position under heavy fire until assured that all dead and wounded were evacuated. Mortally wounded by an enemy sniper bullet while voluntarily assisting in the removal of the last casualty, S/Sgt. Shuck, by his fortitude and great personal valor in the face of overwhelming odds, served to inspire all who observed him. His unyielding courage throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*BLANCHFIELD, MICHAEL R.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade. Place and date: Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 3 July 1969. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 4 January 1950, Minneapolis, Minn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Blanchfield distinguished himself while serving as a rifleman in Company A on a combat patrol. The patrol surrounded a group of houses to search for suspects. During the search of 1 of the huts, a man suddenly ran out toward a nearby tree line. Sp4c. Blanchfield, who was on guard outside the hut, saw the man, shouted for him to halt, and began firing at him as the man ignored the warning and continued to run. The suspect suddenly threw a grenade toward the hut and its occupants. Although the exploding grenade severely wounded Sp4c. Blanchfield and several others, he regained his feet to continue the pursuit of the enemy. The fleeing enemy threw a second grenade which landed near Sp4c. Blanchfield and several members of his patrol. Instantly realizing the danger, he shouted a warning to his comrades. Sp4c. Blanchfield unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, threw himself on the grenade, absorbing the full and fatal impact of the explosion. By his gallant action and self-sacrifice, he was able to save the lives and prevent injury to 4 members of the patrol and several Vietnamese civilians in the immediate area. Sp4c. Blanchfield's extraordinary courage and gallantry at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 3, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY July 3
1915: Lt Byron Q. Jones became the first Army officer to deliberately loop and stall an aircraft at San Diego. (4) (24)
1936: Henry Ford bought the Wright Brothers workshop, where the Wrights built the first airplane, in Dayton for his Greenfield Village exhibit in Dearborn, Mich. (24)
1942: Lt Cmdr J. H. Hean (USN) flew a PBY-5A over Goldstone Lake, Calif., to fire the first retrorocket in flight. (24)
1949: The USAF gave the B-29 Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, to the Smithsonian Institute. (24)
1950: KOREAN WAR. Gen Hoyt S. Vandenberg ordered the 22d Bombardment Group and 92d Bombardment Group to deploy with their B-29s to the Far East for conventional bombing operations against North Korea. FEAF continued to airlift US Army troops to Korea, but substituted smaller C-46s and C-47s for C-54s, which damaged Pusan's runways. Four F-80s completed the first mission with external rockets. Carrier F9F Pantherjets went into action in Korea with strikes in and around Pyongyong. This day also marked the first Navy kills in air combat as Lt Leonard H. Plog and Ensign E. W. Brown each shot down a Yak-9. (1) (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Brig Gen Chester E. McCarty, 315th AD commander, flew the 374th Troop Carrier Wing's first operational C-124 Globemaster from Japan to Korea. Additionally, in 13 sorties over enemy territory, C-47s dropped more than 22 million leaflets, over one-sixth of all dropped during the month. (28)
1958: A Boeing 707 Stratoliner set a commercial speed record by flying 1,550 miles from Mexico City to Los Angeles in 3 hours 9 minutes. (24)
1970: Through 13 July, MAC's first C-5A "Galaxy," assigned to the 437 MAW, left Charleston AFB on its first mission outside the CONUS. The Galaxy made a 10-day tour of PACAF bases to provide a first-hand explanation of its unique capabilities to MAC officers and airmen. The C5A stopped at Hickam AFB, Andersen AB, Clark AB, Cam Ranh Bay, Kadena and Yokota ABs in Japan, and Elmendorf AFB, before returning to Charleston on 13 July. In the states, the C-5 also visited Dover and Travis AFBs, on its 21,500-nautical-mile tour. (17)
1992: Operation PROVIDE PROMISE. The US European Command launched the operation to send C-130s, C-141s, C-5s, and C-9s to airlift relief supplies to Bosnia-Herzegovina on a regular basis. (16) (26)
1996: Majors Gavin L. Ketchen and Richard Vanderburgh from the 509 BW flew the twelfth operational B-2 Spirit from the Northrop Grumman plant at Palmdale, Calif., to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. (AFNEWS, 9 Jul 96)
2001: Lockheed Martin ferried the X-35B Joint Strike Fighter to Edwards AFB. (3)
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Thanks to Youthly Puresome who never ceases to provide stories from the old days that entertain us much more than the current events of today
The Great Earlobe Episode
So the great ship thrummed out of the quiet waters of Subic Bay and into the
open sea, finally ready to do battle with the rat-eating commies that lurked on the
feet-dry side of Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Puresome, whose strength
was as the strength of ten because he was youthly and ignorant, couldn't wait.
After the long journey from Norfolk and many strange adventures during the
trip west, Puresome had enjoyed Cubi Point and the Philippines immensely. While
the black shoes unloaded the ship's boats and did sailor stuff, the air wing got to
fly and shake the kinks out as it savored the joys of the Philippines.
The carrier, finally ready for the last leg of the trip west and loaded with
manly young men ready to see the elephant, backed away from the pier and
steamed ceremoniously out of Subic Bay. Puresome almost forgot the quease in his
stomach as he savored the fierce joy of the moment.
The ship arrived at Dixie Station in the Tonkin Gulf under a clear, hot July
sky. The air wing was to start off Down South, warming up before going big time
Up North. Puresome, sweating in his newly green-dyed flight suit, got occasional
glimpses of land looming out of the distance. Listening to radio chatter in the air
operations center, he heard disembodied UHF voices of a flight reporting that its
forward air controller had just been shot down. It was Indian country all right.
The big day finally came. Puresome was scheduled as wingie on an actual
shooting mission. Because the mighty US of A had concentrated on doomsday
nuclear devices, there was a shortage of iron bombs, and Puresome was going to
tote three 500-lb. WW II fat bombs over to the Viet Cong. Puresome didn't care
— they were still things that went bump in the day.
"Yahoo!" Puresome hollered into his oxygen mask as the catapult thumped
him airborne into a beautiful flying day, and he climbed up to his squadron
rendezvous altitude. As the launch progressed, however, his heart sank. Judging
2
from the chatter on land-launch, it looked as if lead's aircraft had suffered bubbles
in the wet compass or other severe downing gripe, and would not launch.
"Etai! Japanese word for pain!" thought Puresome as he remembered that it
was verboten to go over the beach as a single ship.
"Etai!" Puresome thought again when he was unable to contact the
squadron's other section that had launched earlier and had boogied on their way.
Fortunately, there was another single still around in the form of an A-3 Whale
driver who had convinced someone that he should be allowed to tote a couple of
bombs just once. Puresome didn't care if it was a blimp — he easily picked up the
aluminum overcast lazily circling the ship and rendezvoused. The improbable duo
then headed outbound across the blue gulf toward the brown and green land of
sneaky, black pajamas.
Under the direction of Toejam 32, the Air Force FAC, they successfully
bombed possible land. Righteously. According to the FAC's damage report, the
flight scored 13 trees and 140 assorted small bushes and vines KBA (killed by air),
important data to be eventually shipped to Robert the Strange McNamara's
computers as proof that the Estados Unidos was seeing the light at the end of the
tunnel in the war against commie vegetation.
The warm-up period Down South came to an end without major hits. A
couple of airplanes had taken some pocks from number-four shotgun pellets fired
by skeet-shooting gomer experts. With the honeymoon ended, the ship pointed
north to Yankee Station.
The air wing's first Alpha strike was to be an early morning go, led by CAG
Earlobe himself, with most of the squadron heavies leading their components. The
brand new A-6As had been fussed over endlessly by a regiment of tech reps and
four had been made ready, draped with an obscene number of 500-lb. bombs. Eight
A-4s rounded out the bombers, and there were F-4s for flak suppression, BarCAP,
3
TarCAP and noise. Two Whales were to pump gas to the fighters while Teeny,
Tiny Tinker Tankers monitored the launch. Two more A-4s were to truck out to the
orbiting Air Force HU-16 Albatross to fly shotgun for any rescue operations.
Fudds flew out to watch the gaggle on radar, and Electric Spads had been given a
running start earlier so they could jam fire control radars. Of course, a RA-5C
Viggie would take 8x10 color glossy photos for post-strike commemorative
purposes.
Puresome had been left out once again, since he was at the awkward
seniority of not being junior enough to fly the skipper's wing nor senior enough to
be a favored number four. Though he was scheduled for a road reconnaissance
mission later in the day, he enviously went up to vulture's row to watch the launch.
He just happened to be watching the starboard catapult when Hawk 300,
CAG's airplane, fired down the track. Almost immediately, the A-4's canopy
separated from the aircraft and spun ignominiously away while its owner, looking
curiously like a semi-plucked fowl, made an acceptable clearing turn, cleaned up
and ducked out of sight to jettison gas and bombs before sneaking back aboard.
Somehow, the canopy had not gotten over-center locked, an important Scooter
cockpit check, and it had just unexplainably, mysteriously separated from the
aircraft. CAG was having a bad canopy day.
Puresome just shook his head and watched the smoke trails of many J79 and
J52 engines paint a path across the sky as they headed north. He did not realize that
the big frabbup scoreboard in the sky, now reading "one" in the Earlobe column,
was not done with lights and gongs for the day.
Eventually it came time to brief for the 1500 launch. Two Snake sections
were scheduled for different road recce missions. CAG was to lead one section
with LT Raypat as wingie while Puresome was number two to LT Poon. They
were slated to look for anything military moving between roughly Thanh Hoa and
4
Vinh and bomb, rocket or shoot it into unusable pieces. It sounded a lot more
satisfying than most of the stuff he had done down south, and Puresome had
studied up and was ready. The adrenaline build up was not, he assured himself,
really an attack of the chicken shits, though the net effect was about the same.
Puresome was glad he was flying with LT Poon, who had been around A-4s
for a while and was a good, level stick. On the other hand, Puresome had flown a
couple of hops with CAG Earlobe that were real interesting. CAG was a former F-
8 pilot and a hard-charger. He could fly an airplane real well, but other airplanes in
his division were sometimes buffaloed by his exotic, pre-NATOPS hand signals.
For instance, CAG's signal for a wingman to cross over was a finger point at the
wingman, followed by a finger point in the direction he wanted him to go. Section
signals were a bit trickier. Given the smack-into-another-airplane potential of
parade formation flying, everybody gave each other a lot of room until the
formation was sorted out.
CAG also had a bad case of the redfanny over his tactical callsign,
"Earlobe," which had been assigned by some paper-shuffling staff weenie. He
considered it definitely unmanly and unbefitting a former Crusader pilot, and had
full-time CAG staff personnel hard at work to get it changed to something more
befitting, like "Snakepit." In the meantime, he ground his teeth and growled as
much intensity into "Earlobe" as he could.
Puresome had an uneventful launch, and his excitement was high as he
circled at rendezvous altitude looking for Poon. He briefly cut across the circle
toward an A-4 but pulled away when he saw another A-4 join up to form a section,
since that was CAG and Raypat. Continuing to circle, Puresome soon realized that
Poon was not airborne, but was hard down on deck. Frabbed again!
5
But Puresome was not to be denied. He switched frequencies and called
Earlobe flight. Surprisingly, it was Raypat who answered. "Hey, Raypat, what's
your posit?" Puresome axed.
When Raypat came back with the information, Puresome explained that he
was single-ship and was on his way to join them. Cramming on full throttle, he
headed up the Gulf. Periodically, Puresome would ask Raypat for a posit update.
After about two calls, it became clear that he was not closing very fast and he
asked Raypat to slow down some.
"I would," Raypat answered, "but CAG is NORDO (no radio) and he's
leading!"
"Arrrrr!" Puresome snarled into his mask, his chain shortening noticeably.
Not only was he being thwarted from winning the war, but bottled-in-bond,
locked-in-concrete air wing rule number two was that you didn't go over the beach
without a radio.
Fortunately, Puresome caught the section just before they went feet dry, and
then it was Raypat and Puresome hanging onto CAG, who flailed about the sky as
he recce'd like crazy. Puresome hung on, simultaneously trying to avoid a mid-air,
look for the flak that dead-eye gunners obviously planned for him alone, and not
allow sneaky-eye MiG pilots to gun him as they had two F-105s earlier in the war.
Finally, CAG Earlobe was ammo minus and pulled off high. Raypat directed
Puresome to stick with CAG, now beginning to fly semi-predictably, while Raypat
went down to crater the approaches to a small wooden bridge. Aching to blow the
thing to bits, Puresome stuck with CAG and watched Raypat expend his ordnance.
When Raypat finally called off ammo minus, it was Puresome's turn. As
Raypat climbed up toward them, Puresome assumed he had them in sight and
directed his attention below to the target.
6
"Okay, Raypat. Three's in hot!" Puresome called, dumping his nose and
turning his master arm switch to the "on" position.
"Real good," said Raypat, "where's CAG?"
In the two potatoes that Puresome had taken his eyes off Earlobe, CAG had
done an octaphlugeron and flailed off again with Raypat and Puresome tailchasing
the hell after him.
"Arrrrr!" Puresome growled in frustration as his chain shortened by several
more links.
Finally, almost out of gas and time, Raypat captured CAG while Puresome
hurriedly re-cratered the approaches to the little bridge. That done, they headed
back to the ship.
Puresome was not a happy camper as the three-plane came up the starboard
side of the ship in right echelon — Raypat leading, CAG, the NORDO, as number
two and Puresome number three. Taking interval on the Hawks already
downwind, the flight broke to join the landing pattern.
Puresome busied himself with dropping gear, flaps and tailhook while
slowing to optimum angle of attack for the approach, cross-checking it with
airspeed and gauging his turn to final abeam the LSO platform so as not to be long
in the groove. As he made his turn, CAG was rolling in the groove about the time
the red waveoff lights on the mirror started flashing. Since the air wing operated
zip-lip, nothing was said. Puresome watched, horrified, as CAG's A-4 continued
down the glide slope while the waveoff lights continued to wink, touched down
and boltered! Puresome was past the "arrrrr!" stage. He whanged the stick from
side to side and screamed multiple "ratsfannies!" into his mask as he rolled into the
groove with a clear deck and trapped.
Puresome stomped down the boarding ladder after his plane was parked port
side forward. He snarled his way through signing off the airplane's yellow sheet in
7
maintenance control and "ratsfannyed" his way toward IOIC, the intelligence
center, for debriefing.
Raypat was already there, quietly smoldering in his sweaty flight gear.
Puresome joined him, flang down his nav bag and was burbling at about 50 burbles
per minute when CAG came in, having finally trapped. He appeared to have about
180 ft/lbs of torque on his jaw.
A small, yellow demon, visible only to Puresome, forced its way out of
Puresome's mouth as it heatedly told CAG Earlobe that "that was the most frabbed
up flight I've been on in my life!"
The reaction was predictable. As the small, yellow demon unloaded and left
the fight, Puresome got to experience the full effect of an Atlas rocket liftoff,
acceleration through multiple steel decks and back down again to in front of
Puresome's nose. The frabbup meter by Puresome's name pegged out.
Raypat tried to intervene, and the two were directed to CAG Earlobe's
stateroom for some real chewing up and spitting out in small shreds of junior
officer beautocks.
It was not pretty. CAG Earlobe had just grounded Raypat and Puresome for
life when the LSO in charge of the recovery knocked on the stateroom door and
delicately inquired why CAG had chosen to land while being given a waveoff. The
ensuing blast resulted in the LSO being grounded as well.
Finally, they were dismissed. Trudging down to the ready room, Puresome
knew he was indeed frabbed. He hung up his fuming flight gear and skulked into
the ready room, the yellow demon nowhere in sight. Sitting in the Rocket One
ready room chair was the olympian figure of the skipper, reading the message
board.
"Holy mierda!" thought Puresome. "CAG can ground you, but Skipper can
kill you!"
8
But Puresome figured it was time to come to the Big Guy in charge of
Vacation Bible School. Since the skipper was practically the same thing and didn't
seem too busy, Puresome crawfished up to the front of the ready room and axed if
the skipper, sir, was busy.
He was not.
"Skipper," Puresome began, "I've got a problem!"
So Puresome told his story, leaving out only the part about the small yellow
demon. The skipper listened without comment, his eyes darkening and brow
furrowing. In the end, he only said, "All right." No thunder. No lightning bolts.
And Puresome had gone off, resigned to his doom and probable dismemberment. It
was a very long evening.
But when the flight schedule came out for the next day, Puresome's name
was on it for an Alpha strike against the evil oil storage tanks of Nam Dinh. After
the movie, Puresome asked Norman the Fink, the beloved schedules officer, about
being on the flight schedule.
"Skipper said you're flying tomorrow, that's all I know."
So Puresome got up early and went to the air wing brief in IOIC the next
morning, scarcely daring to breathe. After all the three-part harmony mission brief
by strike lead, meteorology and intelligence, the assembled pilots got up to go for
their individual briefings in their ready rooms. CAG Earlobe spotted Puresome and
strode over—Puresome braced for a major hit.
But all CAG said was "you're ungrounded," and left to do more important
stuff.
Puresome miraculously did not soil himself and was able to troop down to
the ready room and turn his mind to the business of blowing up things and getting
seriously shot at. But the relief was so overwhelming that Puresome vowed to
build a Shrine of the Miraculous Ungrounding, furnish it with jelly donuts daily for
9
the rest of time, scrupulously restrain the small, yellow demon and always worship
the skipper, the architect of his reprieve.
Time was to prove that Puresome was only really serious about venerating
his skipper. Nothing was ever said again about the grounding or events
surrounding it. CAG Earlobe got his call sign changed to CAG Snakepit and was a
brave, tough combat leader.
He went on to make rear admiral. Puresome went on to become rather more
Puresome.
He always felt there was a certain symmetry to it.
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