To All
Good Tuesday Morning July 11 2023.
I hope that your week is off to a good start.
Regards,
Skip
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
July 11
1798 President John Adams signs an act that reestablishes the Marine Corps under the Constitution. The following day, Maj. William W. Burrows is appointed Commandant of the Marine Corps.
1918 Henry Ford launches the first of the 100 intended Eagle boats. These boats have a solid cement bow, especially built for ramming and sinking submarines. Note, production is halted after (PE 60), though some of the boats continue to serve as training and transport vessels until 1947.
1943 Gunfire from U.S. cruisers and destroyers stop German and Italian tank attacks against Army beachhead at Gela, Sicily. Troop transport SS Robert Rowan is set afire by air attack and explodes. USS Orizaba (AP 24) rescues all hands of 421 troops, merchant marines and guards.
1944 USS Sealion (SS 315), in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of Korea, near Shosei Jima, sinks two Japanese freighters.
1987 USS Helena (SSN 725) is commissioned at Groton, Conn. The Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine is the fourth named for the capitol of Montana.
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Today in World History July 11
1302 An army of French knights, led by the Count of Artois, is routed by Flemish pikemen.
1346 Charles IV of Luxembourg is elected Holy Roman Emperor in Germany.
1533 Henry VIII is excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Clement VII.
1708 The French are defeated at Oudenarde, Malplaquet, in the Netherlands by the Duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy.
1786 Morocco agrees to stop attacking American ships in the Mediterranean for a payment of $10,000.
1799 An Anglo-Turkish armada bombards Napoleon Bonaparte's troops in Alexandria to no avail.
1804 Alexander Hamilton is mortally wounded by Aaron Burr in a duel.
1862 President Abraham Lincoln appoints General Henry Halleck as general-in-chief of the Federal army.
1942 In the RAF's longest bombing raid of World War II, 44 British Lancaster bombers attack the Polish port of Danzig.
WWII@75: Japanese Resistance Ceases on Saipan After more than three weeks of brutal combat, organized Japanese resistance ceased in the World War II invasion of Saipan, July 9, 1944, 75 years ago. Dubbed Operation Forager, the bloody battle's victory provided the Allies the opportunity to build airfields that would bring Tokyo into range of U.S. B-29 bombers. Although the operation was a success, it was costly. Americans suffered 26,000 casualties, 5,000 of which were deaths. At least 23,000 Japanese troops were killed and more than 1,780 captured. It was the deadliest campaign of the Allied Pacific offensive to date. To learn more, read H-032-1: Operation Forager and the Battle of the Philippine Sea by Director Sam Cox and Operation Forager: The Battle of Saipan by COD's Adam Bisno.
1972 American forces break the 95-day siege at An Loc in Vietnam.
1975 Archaeologists unearth an army of 8,000 life-size clay figures created more than 2,000 years ago for the Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
1995 Full diplomatic relations are established between the United States and Vietnam.
1804
Burr slays Hamilton in duel
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post
Thanks to the Bear for burning up the ether as he tried to send these yesterday numerous times and before but my computer was not receiving them.
Skip… For The List for Monday, 10 July 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 10 July 1968…
"HO CHI MINH: A Political Biography"…
Skip… For The List for Tuesday, 11 July 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 11 July 1968…
This is the "right stuff" of the Rolling Thunder campaign…
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.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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Thanks to Carl,
This is a repeat that I had never read before last year.
skip
http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2020/07/fullbore-friday_10.html
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These bring back a lot of memories from when I was traveling all over the country in the back seat of various Chevys with my two sisters while we traveled from base to base these signs were about as good as entertainment got in those days…skip
You've got to have a bunch of "road years" to remember these signs driving south, some more immortal than others. For those who never saw any of the Burma Shave signs, here is a quick lesson in our history of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Before there were interstates, when everyone drove the old two-lane roads, Burma Shave signs would be posted all over the countryside in farmers' fields. They were small red signs with white letters. Five signs, about 100 feet apart, each containing one line of a four-line couplet and the obligatory fifth sign advertising Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream at that time.
A MAN, A MISS
A CAR, A CURVE.
HE KISSED THE MISS,
AND MISSED THE CURVE.
Burma Shave
DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOW
OUT SO FAR
IT MAY GO HOME
IN ANOTHER CAR.
Burma Shave
TRAINS DON'T WANDER
ALL OVER THE MAP
'CAUSE NOBODY SITS
IN THE ENGINEER'S LAP.
Burma Shave
SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH
BY MISTAKE
SHE THOUGHT IT WAS
HER HUSBAND JAKE.
Burma Shave
DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT.
Burma Shave
DROVE TOO LONG
DRIVER SNOOZING
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
IS NOT AMUSING.
Burma Shave
BROTHER SPEEDER
LET'S REHEARSE
ALL TOGETHER
GOOD MORNING, NURSE
Burma Shave
CAUTIOUS RIDER
TO HER RECKLESS DEAR
LET'S HAVE LESS BULL
AND A LITTLE MORE STEER.
Burma Shave
SPEED WAS HIGH
WEATHER WAS NOT
TIRES WERE THIN
X MARKS THE SPOT.
Burma Shave
THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
OF PAUL FOR BEER
LED TO A WARMER
HEMISPHERE
Burma Shave
AROUND THE CURVE
LICKETY-SPLIT
BEAUTIFUL CAR
WASN'T IT?
Burma Shave
NO MATTER THE PRICE
NO MATTER HOW NEW
THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE
IN THE CAR IS YOU.
Burma Shave
A GUY WHO DRIVES
A CAR WIDE OPEN
IS NOT THINKIN'
HE'S JUST HOPING
Burma Shave
AT INTERSECTIONS
LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAY.
Burma Shave
BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL
EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SKILLFUL
DRIVER'S CODE.
Burma Shave
THE ONE WHO DRIVES
WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON YOU
TO DO HIS THINKING.
Burma Shave
CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
Burma Shave
PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
PLEASE GO SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW.
Burma Shave
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From the archives…MY dad was with these beats on Shimea in the Aleutians during WWII
Thanks to Dennis
Only 1,250,000 parts were assembled in 55 minutes!!!!
The Genius of Henry Ford.
This was BEFORE Pearl Harbor !!!
Ford's B-24 Bomber Plant at Willow Run, MI.
Henry Ford was determined that he could mass produce bombers just as he had done with cars.
He built the Willow Run assembly plant and proved it. It was the world's largest building under one roof.
Even then FORD HAD A BETTER IDEA!
This film will absolutely blow you away - one B-24 every 55 minutes.
ADOLF HITLER HAD NO IDEA THE U.S. WAS CAPABLE OF THIS KIND OF THING.
http://www.youtube.com/embed/iKlt6rNciTo?rel=0.
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From the archives…I had forgotten about this one
You can see every commercial aircraft world wide - location, speed, altitude, etc in real time
Go to website at end of message
Yellow aircraft are live...
Cockpit view is cool.
Have you ever wondered where that plane flying over head is going and what type of aircraft?
I just watched on my laptop the plane whose vapour trail I could see over head and was blown away by all the information and also the view.
This is definitely a keeper.
You are also going to be totally blown away when you see how many aircraft are flying in your area...
I can now see why an aircraft traffic controller is one very, very busy person.
Planes in Flight...
This will tell you who is flying and where they are going.
Here is a note to help you get more out of your visit to this site.
These are all the aircraft in the air right now.
In the left hand column, there is a box called "planes."
The number in the box is the number of aircraft airborne.
This view is what the traffic management people see for planning purposes at the various airports.
Every day you see planes in the sky, sometimes very high..with or without con-trails.
We ask ourselves questions :
What type of plane, airbus A320,330,350? boeing.....or other.
Where does it come from, where is it going, what altitude, what speed, what company etc.
You can see all the information instantly on your screen.
Some tricks;
Drag the map to take you to the area you want to view
To view your region or town, you can zoom in by tapping with your mouse.
On the map you will see all the planes in the air.
Click on a airplane, and on the left screen you will get all the info.
airline, type, speed, altitude in real time, re calculated every 10 seconds.
On some you can also click on 'view from the cockpit'. ...
<http://www.flightradar24.com/>
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From the archives..To update ……Walter Boyne passed away a few years ago. We would talk on the phone once in a while and he would send things for the list…skip
Thanks to'Tom for this one. If you have not read any of Walter Boynes books you are in for a real treat. I have read most of them and they are great reads. skip
Best Known Aviation Author . . Walt Boyne Shares A Personal Flying Story
My first assignment out of flying school was to Castle Air Force Base
Base, California, with the 93rd Bomb Group. There in January, 1953, I
was introduced to Boeing's B-50D Superfortress.
The introduction was a little rough. Because the day I arrived, a B-50 went in . . killing its entire crew.
And no one knew why.
And they were pretty much not interested in what a new second balloon
had to say ; for a while.
After flying T-6s and B-25s, the B-50 seemed enormous and capable, and so indeed it was. At the Fighter Pilot Loop's request, I'd like to share minor hero-story about myself.
One I've never written about before except in the novel The Wild Blue where I used a different character and a different airplane to tell it.
Hero Story
I don't tell hero stories very often, primarily because I don't have many to tell. But there was at least one occasion in the B-50 when I earned my pay from the Air Force.
Shortly after my arrival at Castle in January, 1953, newly-wed and wet behind the ears, I was crewed up with a distinguished veteran of World War II, Captain Chet Schmidt. Chet and I were sent to Hunter AFB, Georgia, for simulator training,
The B-50 simulator was pretty primitive compared to modern three-axis simulators. But it was impressive to us, and by the end of a session it was realistic enough for me to open the window to look out and see if the chocks were in place.
One of the last simulator lessons was on an emergency, they told us could never happen. Boeing engineers assured the simulator instructors that the B-50 could never experience a complete electrical failure.
BUT . .
But IF the electrical system did . . COMPLETELY FAIL . . the symptoms would be as follows :
( 1 ) lights OUT . .
( 2 ) flap indicator drop from full UP to full DOWN . .
( 3 ) propellers would RUN AWAY . .
( 4 ) the electric flight instruments would remain deceptively relatively
immobile for an interval as . . GYRO SPEEDS DECAYED.
No problem.
It was never going to happen
On my first flight in the B-50 upon our return, I was asked to substitute
as a copilot with another crew. The aircraft commander was a line pilot, as
I learned later, but was suffering under a handicap.
Humor in the Air Force then was fierce and personal.
No flaw was too private to be the butt of a joke. And we were, in fact,
not very sensitive.
The aircraft commander [ let's call him Smith ] had had one major accident. And a couple of minor scrapes. Naturally, his nickname was
" Crash."
It was totally unfair, for he was a good pilot and a good man, and that
nickname made him bitter.
It was natural that "Crash" Smith and his crew would be properly skeptical . . about a green-bean second Louie like me.
And the general message I got was :
" WATCH ! But do NOT touch anything. "
Still they were nice enough and we went through the usual pre-flight drill, including the copilot's task of getting the in-flight lunches.
It was a typical late winter's day in the San Joaquin Valley . . heavy fog
. . low ceilings, with clouds forecast up to about 10,000 feet.
One has to experience the San Joaquin fog to truly understand it. On more than one occasion, I drove to the base by opening my car door and driving along just right of the highway's white dividing line.
That morning it was a little better than that when it came to takeoff time--but not much.
Everything was normal through the take-off, and we climbed out through the ' goop, ' with engines roaring. Totally cut off from the outside world in a wet sea of mist.
The B-50's big Plexiglas wind screens . . seemed to part the thick clouds in rivulets of water, and I was glad that it was too warm for icing. ( This shows my inexperience, for the B-50 had a marvelous thermal anti-icing system.)
At about 3,000 feet in the climb out, I suddenly noticed that my needle
and ball indicated a slip, with the needle moving to the left and the ball skidding to the right. [ The needle and ball was that primitive instrument :
a ball in a liquid race . . with a single needle indicating the degree of turn.
Along with the airspeed and the altimeter, it could be used for instrument flight. Its use generated the old saw about : " needle, peedle and air-ball " if only used as the emergency flight instruments. ]
As I checked the instrument panel . . in the blink of an eye . .THE FLAP INDICATOR DROPPED . . FROM FULL-UP . . TO . . FULL-DOWN !
I can still see it in my mind's eye as sinister as the drop of a guillotine blade. I glanced over at the aircraft commander's attitude indicator, and
it indicated a level climb. Instantly I realized we had . .
Complete Electrical Failure !
I also realized that I was a brand new copilot, with maybe twenty hours in the airplane . . flying as a stranger in the crew and . . under the command
of an aircraft commander who was understandably sensitive about even any justifiable criticism.
Nothing happened.
But then in the next few seconds, the ball slipped more to the right, the needle dipped more to the left. I watched the rate-of-climb indicator pass through from climb . . to zero . . then showed our descent rate touching 300 feet per minute !
We were in huge trouble !
I shouted : " I've got the airplane ! "
This was a signal that the control of the airplane was being taken over
by the second balloon. Not at all unlike Mr. Christian grabbing away the Bounty's steering wheel . . from Captain Bligh.
At the same time that I ' booted ' the right rudder [" Step on the ball " to move it back to center . . was the watchword when being compelled to fly
the airplane with basic primary instruments. ]
Then, I grabbed the prop controls, pulling them back just as the electrical tachometer readings began to surge . . resulting from our total electrical
failure.
I hollered : " Cruise Power" to the irate Flight Engineer, who wondered what the hell I was doing. But I didn't want the props to run-away . . and cruise power would be adequate .
Using the needle and ball, airspeed and altimeter, I fought the airplane
from a fairly steep bank with the nose fast pointing down.
We were already below 3,000 feet.
And in another twenty seconds of ignorance that our full panel gyro instruments no longer reliable we would be in an unrecoverable diving turn into the ground.
Slowly the airplane leveled out.
" Crash " Smith looked at me like I was crazy. And I could hear the Flight Engineer bitching about me messing around with [ his ] power settings.
Even after I yelled out a second time : " We have a complete electrical
failure !"
They still didn't get it.
None of them had been to the flight simulator yet.
Finally when they looked close at the instrument panel, they noticed that
the electrically sourced flight instruments were not working . . giving us
false reading as tour gyro speeds decayed.
They finally began to understand.
" Crash" watched me as I began a 300 foot per minute climb on needle,
ball and airspeed until we broke out. At the same time, the flight engineer
had worked our [' gotch ya ' ] electrical problem through and got the electric power back on.
" Crash " resumed control and we went on through the rest of the mission without a hitch.
When we got back, without a word, the aircraft commander got out and we went in to the debriefing. But as I edged past our flight engineer, he grinned at me, turned his thumb up and said, " Good job."
It was high praise coming from a seasoned NCO . . to a ' green bean.'
We convened for the informal debriefing of the time. Not a word was said about the serious incident. And I had been naïve enough to think that maybe that " Crash " would commend me for saving the airplane.
Not a chance. I later realized--it would have been a negative reflection
on ' Crash's " competence. And " Crash " Smith couldn't take any more smacks on his reputation.
I was too new to the squadron to mention the incident myself and the whole matter dropped.
Oddly enough, I never really felt short-changed. For I knew what I had done. And that simple thumbs-up and ' Good Job ' from the flight engineer
was praise enough for me.
End of hero story . . but I still like to recall it to myself. But then when Tom Weeks asked me if I had any personal flying experience of interest to
send around to the Fighter Pilot Loop . . I've shared this.
Walt [ abridged ]
Personal note from Tom Weeks . .
Walter J. Boyne, former Director of the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, enlisted as a private in the USAF in 1951 then retired in 1974 as a Colonel with more than 5,000 flying hours in a score of different aircraft.
Walter J. Boyne has written more than 400 articles on aviation subjects. And he is one of only a handful of authors who've had . . BOTH their fiction and nonfiction books . . on The New York Times Bestseller List.
Walt's carefully researched latest book is : ' How The Helicopter Changed Modern Warfare '
Helicopters were introduced to military warfare during World War II. Since then, they have had a profound effect at both the tactical and strategic levels. This indepth book explores its importance in modern warfare. And it argues convincingly that severe flaws in the procurement have led to U.S. combat troops using antiquated helicopter designs . . despite a massive infusion of billions in R & D.
For you helo guys I think you will really like this book as I did…skip
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July 11, 2020
This Day in US Military History
1798 – President John Adams signed the bill that re-established the Marine Corps. The Continental Congress had disbanded the service in April of 1783 at the end of the American Revolution. The Marine Corps, however, recognizes its "official" birthday to be the date that the Second Continental Congress first authorized the establishment of the "Corps of Marines" on 10 November 1775. To add to the confusion of the Corps' actual "historical" birthday, on 1 July 1797 Congress authorized the Revenue cutters to carry, in addition to their regular crew, up to "30 marines." Congress directed the cutters to interdict French privateers operating off the coast during the Quasi-War with France and thought the additional firepower of 30 marines would be needed by the under-manned and under-gunned cutters. It is unknown if any "marines" were enlisted for service with the Revenue cutters during this time.
1804 – A duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton leaves Hamilton dead. Since New Jersey did not have a law against dueling at the time, Burr and Hamilton, both New Yorkers, crossed the Hudson to Weehawken, New Jersey. New York had banned the practice earlier, partly due to Hamilton's own campaign efforts after his son was killed in a duel. Dueling was outlawed in the North much earlier than it was in the South. The state of Massachusetts declared it "detestable and infamous." Duelists in that state could be punished even if they both survived the duel. A typical penalty would be to stand an hour with a rope around their neck at the gallows and then to spend a year in prison. Transgressors might also receive lashes from a whip. For duelists who died, there was still a civic penalty to be paid. The loser was buried without a coffin near the spot of the duel with a stake driven through his body. The winner could be prosecuted for murder, executed, and buried in the same manner. Even the mere threat of a duel had serious consequences: In 1818, George Norton challenged someone to a duel in New York for insulting his honor and was sentenced to a month in prison for his dare. In the South, dueling was much more popular and accepted, especially among upper-class society. The practice was so common that legislators were asked to take an oath to declare that they had never been in a duel. Even after dueling became illegal, the law was rarely enforced. The Burr-Hamilton duel was not the last high-profile case. In 1809, future senator Henry Clay and Humphrey Marshall were arguing over legislation in Kentucky's state house when Clay called Marshall a demagogue and Marshall responded by calling Clay a liar. Their subsequent duel was fought with pistols at a length of ten paces. Luckily for both, neither was a good shot (nor were the weapons particularly accurate), and they both recovered from their injuries.
1941 – Roosevelt appoints William Donovan to head a new civilian intelligence agency with the title "coordinator of defense information." This appointment will lead to the creation of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) which in turn will develop into the modern CIA.
1942 – MCAS El Centro, California activated.
1945 – The redeployment of 2118 4-engined bombers of the US 8th Air Force, to the USA (en route for the Pacific theater) begins. It is completed in 51 days.
1953 – Lieutenant Colonel John F. Bolt became the 37th Korean War ace and the only U.S. Marine Corps pilot to qualify as an ace during the Korea War. He also has the distinction of being the only jet ace in Marine Corps history and the only U.S. Marine to become an ace in two wars (World War II and Korea). Bolt was flying an F-86 Sabre, "Darling Dottie," attached to the Air Force's 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing.
1955 – The new US Air Force Academy was dedicated at Lowry Air Base in Colorado. I was going to the 8th grade there and got a tour one day to see the place at Lowry because the Air Force academy was being built at Colorado Springs. The Church Steeple was reaching toward the sky and was very impressive…
1979 – Parts of Skylab, America's first space station, come crashing down on Australia and into the Indian Ocean five years after the last manned Skylab mission ended. No one was injured. Launched in 1973, Skylab was the world's first successful space station. The first manned Skylab mission came two years after the Soviet Union launched Salynut 1, the world's first space station, into orbit around the earth. However, unlike the ill-fated Salynut, which was plagued with problems, the American space station was a great success, safely housing three separate three-man crews for extended periods of time. Originally the spent third stage of a Saturn 5 moon rocket, the cylindrical space station was 118 feet tall, weighed 77 tons, and carried the most varied assortment of experimental equipment ever assembled in a single spacecraft to that date. The crews of Skylab spent more than 700 hours observing the sun and brought home more than 175,000 solar pictures. They also provided important information about the biological effects of living in space for prolonged periods of time. Five years after the last Skylab mission, the space station's orbit began to deteriorate–earlier than was anticipated–because of unexpectedly high sunspot activity. On July 11, 1979, Skylab made a spectacular return to earth, breaking up in the atmosphere and showering burning debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.
The Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BRATLING, FRANK
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company C, 8th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Fort Selden, N. Mex., 8-11 July 1873. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 12 August 1875. Citation: Services against hostile Indians.
HUMPHREY, CHARLES F.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 4th U.S. Artillery. Place and date: At Clearwater, Idaho, 11 July 1877. Entered service at: ——. Birth: New York. Date of issue: 2 March 1897. Citation: Voluntarily and successfully conducted, in the face of a withering fire, a party which recovered possession of an abandoned howitzer and 2 Gatling guns Iying between the lines a few yards from the Indians.
*CRAIG, ROBERT
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Favoratta, Sicily, 11 July 1943. Entered service at: Toledo, Ohio. Birth: Scotland. G.O. No.: 41, 26 May 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, on 11 July 1943 at Favoratta, Sicily. 2d Lt. Craig voluntarily undertook the perilous task of locating and destroying a hidden enemy machinegun which had halted the advance of his company. Attempts by 3 other officers to locate the weapon had resulted in failure, with each officer receiving wounds. 2d Lt. Craig located the gun and snaked his way to a point within 35 yards of the hostile position before being discovered. Charging headlong into the furious automatic fire, he reached the gun, stood over it, and killed the 3 crew members with his carbine. With this obstacle removed, his company continued its advance. Shortly thereafter while advancing down the forward slope of a ridge, 2d Lt. Craig and his platoon, in a position devoid of cover and concealment, encountered the fire of approximately 100 enemy soldiers. Electing to sacrifice himself so that his platoon might carry on the battle, he ordered his men to withdraw to the cover of the crest while he drew the enemy fire to himself. With no hope of survival, he charged toward the enemy until he was within 25 yards of them. Assuming a kneeling position, he killed 5 and wounded 3 enemy soldiers. While the hostile force concentrated fire on him, his platoon reached the cover of the crest. 2d Lt. Craig was killed by enemy fire, but his intrepid action so inspired his men that they drove the enemy from the area, inflicting heavy casualties on the hostile force.
*ENDL, GERALD L.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U S. Army, 32d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Anamo, New Guinea, 11 July 1944. Entered service at: Janesville, Wis. Birth: Ft. Atkinson, Wis. G.O. No.: 17, 13 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty near Anamo, New Guinea, on 11 July 1944. S/Sgt. Endl was at the head of the leading platoon of his company advancing along a jungle trail when enemy troops were encountered and a fire fight developed. The enemy attacked in force under heavy rifle, machinegun, and grenade fire. His platoon leader wounded, S/Sgt. Endl immediately assumed command and deployed his platoon on a firing line at the fork in the trail toward which the enemy attack was directed. The dense jungle terrain greatly restricted vision and movement, and he endeavored to penetrate down the trail toward an open clearing of Kunai grass. As he advanced, he detected the enemy, supported by at least 6 light and 2 heavy machineguns, attempting an enveloping movement around both flanks. His commanding officer sent a second platoon to move up on the left flank of the position, but the enemy closed in rapidly, placing our force in imminent danger of being isolated and annihilated. Twelve members of his platoon were wounded, 7 being cut off by the enemy. Realizing that if his platoon were forced farther back, these 7 men would be hopelessly trapped and at the mercy of a vicious enemy, he resolved to advance at all cost, knowing it meant almost certain death, in an effort to rescue his comrades. In the face of extremely heavy fire he went forward alone and for a period of approximately 10 minutes engaged the enemy in a heroic close-range fight, holding them off while his men crawled forward under cover to evacuate the wounded and to withdraw. Courageously refusing to abandon 4 more wounded men who were Iying along the trail, 1 by 1 he brought them back to safety. As he was carrying the last man in his arms he was struck by a heavy burst of automatic fire and was killed. By his persistent and daring self-sacrifice and on behalf of his comrades, S/Sgt. Endl made possible the successful evacuation of all but 1 man, and enabled the 2 platoons to withdraw with their wounded and to reorganize with the rest of the company.
ROBERTS, GORDON R.
Rank and organization: Sergeant (then Sp4c.), U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Thua Thien Province, Republic of Vietnam, 11 July 1969. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Born: 14 June 1950, Middletown, Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Roberts distinguished himself while serving as a rifleman in Company B, during combat operations. Sgt. Roberts' platoon was maneuvering along a ridge to attack heavily fortified enemy bunker positions which had pinned down an adjoining friendly company. As the platoon approached the enemy positions, it was suddenly pinned down by heavy automatic weapons and grenade fire from camouflaged enemy fortifications atop the overlooking hill. Seeing his platoon immobilized and in danger of failing in its mission, Sgt. Roberts crawled rapidly toward the closest enemy bunker. With complete disregard for his safety, he leaped to his feet and charged the bunker, firing as he ran. Despite the intense enemy fire directed at him, Sgt. Roberts silenced the 2-man bunker. Without hesitation, Sgt. Roberts continued his l-man assault on a second bunker. As he neared the second bunker, a burst of enemy fire knocked his rifle from his hands. Sgt. Roberts picked up a rifle dropped by a comrade and continued his assault, silencing the bunker. He continued his charge against a third bunker and destroyed it with well-thrown hand grenades. Although Sgt. Roberts was now cut off from his platoon, he continued his assault against a fourth enemy emplacement. He fought through a heavy hail of fire to join elements of the adjoining company which had been pinned down by the enemy fire. Although continually exposed to hostile fire, he assisted in moving wounded personnel from exposed positions on the hilltop to an evacuation area before returning to his unit. By his gallant and selfless actions, Sgt. Roberts contributed directly to saving the lives of his comrades and served as an inspiration to his fellow soldiers in the defeat of the enemy force. Sgt. Roberts' extraordinary heroism in action at the risk of his life were 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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From the archives
Thanks to USC Carl
I found this bit of USC history this morning.
Fight On !!
Carl
07 JULY 1944 .........
Benjamin Lewis Salomon (September 1, 1914 – July 7, 1944) was a United States Army dentist during World War II, assigned as a front-line surgeon on Saipan.
When the Japanese started overrunning his hospital, he stood a rear-guard action in which he had no hope of personal survival, allowing the safe evacuation of the wounded, killing as many as 98 enemy troops before being killed himself during the Battle of Saipan.
In 2002, Salomon posthumously received the Medal of Honor. He is one of only three dental officers to have received the medal, the others being Alexander Gordon Lyle and Weedon Osborne.
Salomon was born into a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 1, 1914. He was an Eagle Scout, one of nine who were awarded the Medal of Honor. He graduated from Shorewood High School and attended Marquette University, before transferring to the University of Southern California, where he completed his undergraduate degree. He graduated from the USC Dental School in 1937 and began a dental practice.
In 1940, he was drafted into the U.S. Army and began his military service as an infantry private, qualifying expert in rifle and pistol. In 1942, he was notified that he would become an officer in the Army Dental Corps and was commissioned a first lieutenant.
On August 14, 1942, the 102nd Infantry Regt. commanding officer declared him the unit's "best all-around soldier".
In May 1943, he was serving as the regimental dental officer of the 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. He was promoted to the rank of captain in 1944.
In June 1944, Salomon saw his first combat — going ashore on Saipan with the 105th Infantry. With little dental work to do during active combat, Salomon volunteered to replace the 2nd Battalion's surgeon, who had been wounded. As the 2nd Battalion advanced, casualties were high. On July 7, Salomon's aid station was set up only 50 yards behind the forward foxhole line. Fighting was heavy and a major Japanese assault soon overran the perimeter, then the aid station. Salomon was able to grab an M1 Garand that was near him, kill the enemy that entered the hospital tent and ordered the wounded to be evacuated, while he stayed and fired upon the incoming enemy with an M1917 machine gun to cover their withdrawal.
When an Army team returned to the site days later, Salomon's body was found slumped over the machine gun, with the bodies of 98 enemy troops piled up in front of his position. His body had 76 bullet wounds and many bayonet wounds, up to 24 of which may have been received while he was still alive.
Capt. Edmund G. Love, the 27th Division historian, was a part of the team that found Salomon's body. At the request of Brig. Gen. Ogden J. Ross, the assistant commander of the 27th Division, Love gathered eyewitness accounts and prepared a recommendation for the Medal of Honor for Salomon.
The recommendation was returned by Maj. Gen. George W. Griner, the commanding general of the 27th Division. Officially, Griner declined to approve the award because Salomon was "in the medical service and wore a Red Cross brassard upon his arm. Under the rules of the Geneva Convention, to which the United States subscribes, no medical officer can bear arms against the enemy." However, the guideline for awarding the Medal of Honor to medical non-combatants states that one may not receive the Medal of Honor for actions in an offensive. More recent interpretations of the convention, as well as the US Laws of Land Warfare, allow use of personal weapons (i.e., rifles and pistols) in self-defense or in defense of patients and staff, as long as the medical soldier does not wear the Red Cross. Part of the problem in Salomon's citation was that a machine gun is considered a "crew-served" weapon, not an individual one.
Prior to Salomon, only two Jewish Americans had been awarded Medals of Honor during World War II, and none for Korea, though some (like Salomon) have been decorated years later, including Pfc. Leonard M. Kravitz (uncle and namesake of the pop star Lenny Kravitz) and Corporal Tibor Rubin, who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2005.
In 1951, Love again resubmitted the recommendation through the Office of the Chief of Military History. The recommendation was returned without action with another pro-forma reason: the time limit for submitting World War II awards had passed. In 1969, another Medal of Honor recommendation was submitted by Lt. Gen. Hal B. Jennings, the Surgeon General of the United States Army. In 1970, Stanley R. Resor, Secretary of the Army, recommended approval and forwarded the recommendation to the Secretary of Defense. The recommendation was returned without action.
In 1998, the recommendation was re-submitted by Dr. Robert West (USC Dental School) through Congressman Brad Sherman, with the support of Maj. Gen. Patrick D. Sculley, new chief of the Army Dental Corps. Finally, on May 1, 2002, President George W. Bush presented Salomon's Medal of Honor to Dr. West. West then presented the Medal to Sculley for permanent placement in the Army Medical Department Museum in San Antonio, Texas. A replica of Salomon's Medal of Honor is displayed at the USC Dental School. The Army Medical Department, at this point, was supportive.
Captain Ben L. Salomon was serving at Saipan, in the Marianas Islands on July 7, 1944, as the Surgeon for the 2nd Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. The Regiment's 1st and 2d Battalions were attacked by an overwhelming force estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks attempted in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Although both units fought furiously, the enemy soon penetrated the Battalions' combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties. In the first minutes of the attack, approximately 30 wounded soldiers walked, crawled, or were carried into Captain Salomon's aid station, and the small tent soon filled with wounded men. As the perimeter began to be overrun, it became increasingly difficult for Captain Salomon to work on the wounded. He then saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting one of the wounded soldiers lying near the tent. Firing from a squatting position, Captain Salomon quickly killed the enemy soldier. Then, as he turned his attention back to the wounded, two more Japanese soldiers appeared in the front entrance of the tent. As these enemy soldiers were killed, four more crawled under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, shot another, and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear. Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and rushed out of the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it. When his body was later found, 98 dead enemy soldiers were piled in front of his position. Captain Salomon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 11, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1914: R. A. D. Preston won the National Balloon Race by flying from St. Louis and landing at Point Pleasant, Ky., 305 miles away. (24)
1952: KOREAN WAR/Operation PRESSURE PUMP. Far East Air Forces flew 1,329 sorties, the highest daily total for the month. In the first raid, nearly every operational air unit in the Far East attacked 30 targets in Pyongyang, in the largest single strike so far of the war. Attacking aircraft destroyed three targets, including the N. Korean Ministry of Industry. Most others sustained heavy damage. (28)
1953: KOREAN WAR. Maj John F. Bolt became the first jet ace in Marine Corps history. He was flying an F-86 Super Sabre on temporary duty with the USAF's 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing. (16) (24)
1956: TAC's first KB-50 tanker arrived at Langley AFB.
1958: A KC-135 Stratotanker completed the first nonstop flight from Washington DC to Honolulu. It covered 5,000 miles in 11 hours 8 minutes. (9)
1960: The US emplaced the first Jupiter missile in an Italian missile base. (6)
1962: The USAF launched the second Titan II from Cape Canaveral. It flew 5,000 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. (24)
1963: When SAC accepted three Blue Scout Junior launch sites at Wisner, West Point, and Tekamah, Nebr., the Emergency Rocket Communications System became operational. (1)
1967: In public ceremonies, Martin Marietta rolled out the X-24A, a manned, flat-iron shaped wingless lifting body for reentry studies. It was powered by a rocket engine. (16) (26)
1968: Two Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) satellites, OVI-15 and OVI-16, were placed in an orbit to measure density and density variations at low altitudes. (16)
1971: Operation COMBAT VEE. Through 22 July, in a joint operation with the US Department of Agriculture, seven UC-123Ks from Langley AFB and Hurlburt Field, and eight C-47s from England AFB sprayed Malathion on more than 2.5 million acres in southeast Texas to combat Venezuelan Equine Encephalomeylitis. (16) (26)
1972: The USAF launched a giant balloon, 962 feet tall, to support NASA's Viking Project for landing an unmanned spacecraft on Mars in 1976. (16) (26)
1975: The 550th Minuteman III became operational with the 341 SMW at Malmstrom AFB to give the Air Force a force mix of 450 Minuteman II/550 Minuteman III missiles. (1) (6)
1979: Skylab, after 38,981 orbits, reentered the atmosphere.
1993: Through 1 August, after one of the worst floods in American history covered 16,000 square miles in eight midwestern states near the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, 20 C-5 and C-141 missions airlifted 800 tons of relief equipment, supplies, sandbags, and water purification systems to the area. (16) (18)
1999: A C-141 from the 62 AW at McChord AFB and a KC-135 (Hawaii ANG) left Christchurch, New Zealand, on a 6,375-mile round-trip journey to the South Pole. The C-141 airdropped emergency medical supplies near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station to support the diagnosis and treatment of a physician who had discovered a lump in her breast. The continual darkness and extreme cold of the Antarctic winter prevented her evacuation until 16 October, when a ski-equipped LC-130 from 109 AW (ANG) from Schenectady Airport, N.Y., made the trip from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station to McMurdo NAS. (22)
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