To All
Good Friday Morning July 21 2023.
I hope that you all have a great weekend.
Regards,
Skip
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
July 21
1823 - After pirate attack, LT David G. Farragut leads landing party to destroy pirate stronghold in Cuba.
1905 USS Bennington (Gunboat #4) is wrecked by a boiler explosion at San Diego, Calif. One officer and 65 enlisted men die in the explosion, along with numerous crew injuries.
1918 During World War I, German submarine (U 156) surfaces and fires on U.S. tugboat, Perth Amboy, and four barges, three miles off Nauset Beach, Cape Cod, Mass.
1943 PBY aircraft (VP 94) sinks German submarine (U 662) off the mouth of Amazon River, Brazil.
1944 Task Force 53, (commanded by Rear Adm. Richard L. Connolly) lands the Third Marine Division and the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, along with the U.S. Army 77th Infantry Division on Guam. The island is declared secure on Aug. 9 though bands of enemy Japanese are long encountered after VJ Day.
1946 In the first U.S. test of adaptability of jet aircraft to shipboard operations, an XFD 1 Phantom piloted by Lt. Cmdr. James Davidson makes landings and takeoffs without catapults from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB 42).
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Today in WorldHistory July 21
1403 Henry IV defeats the Percys in the Battle of Shrewsbury in England.
1667 The Peace of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War and cedes Dutch New Amsterdam to the English.
1711 Russia and Turkey sign the Treaty of Pruth, ending the year-long Russo-Turkish War.
1718 The Treaty of Passarowitz is signed by Austria, Venice and the Ottoman Empire.
1773 Pope Clement XIV abolishes the Jesuit order.
1798 Napoleon Bonaparte defeats the Arab Mameluke warriors at the Battle of the Pyramids.
1861 In the first major battle of the Civil War, Confederate forces defeat the Union Army along Bull Run near Manassas Junction, Virginia. The battle becomes known as Manassas by the Confederates, while the Union calls it Bull Run.
1865 Wild Bill Hickok kills gunman Dave Tutt in Springfield, Missouri, in what is regarded as the first formal quick-draw duel.
1873 The James Gang robs a train in Adair, Iowa.
1896 Mary Church Terrell founds the National Association of Colored Women in Washington, D.C.
1906 French Captain Alfred Dreyfus is vindicated of his earlier court-martial for spying for Germany.
1919 The British House of Lords ratifies the Versailles Treaty.
1925 John Scopes is found guilty for teaching evolution in Dayton, Tenn., and is fined $100.
1941 France accepts Japan's demand for military control of Indochina.
1944 U.S. Army and Marine forces land on Guam in the Marianas.
1954 The French sign an armistice with the Viet Minh that ends the war but divides Vietnam into two countries.
1960 Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes the first woman prime minister of Ceylon.
1861 First Battle of Bull Run begins »
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear馃嚭馃嚫⚓️馃惢
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Thanks to THE BEAR
Skip… For The List for Friday, 21 July 2023… Bear馃嚭馃嚫⚓️馃惢
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 21 July 1968…
The Revolution gathers momentum…
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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The first battle of Bull Run
On July 21, 1861, in the first major land battle of the Civil War, a large Union force under General Irvin McDowell is routed by a Confederate army under General Pierre G.T. Beauregard.
Three months after the Civil War erupted at Fort Sumter, Union military command still believed that the Confederacy could be crushed quickly and with little loss of life. In July, this overconfidence led to a premature offensive into northern Virginia by General McDowell. Searching out the Confederate forces, McDowell led 34,000 troops—mostly inexperienced and poorly trained militiamen—toward the railroad junction of Manassas, located just 30 miles from Washington, D.C. Alerted to the Union advance, General Beauregard massed some 20,000 troops there and was soon joined by General Joseph Johnston, who brought some 9,000 more troops by railroad.
On the morning of July 21, hearing of the proximity of the two opposing forces, hundreds of civilians–men, women, and children–turned out to watch the first major battle of the Civil War. The fighting commenced with three Union divisions crossing the Bull Run stream, and the Confederate flank was driven back to Henry House Hill. However, at this strategic location, Beauregard had fashioned a strong defensive line anchored by a brigade of Virginia infantry under General Thomas J. Jackson. Firing from a concealed slope, Jackson's men repulsed a series of Federal charges, winning Jackson his famous nickname "Stonewall."
Meanwhile, Confederate cavalry under J.E.B. Stuart captured the Union artillery, and Beauregard ordered a counterattack on the exposed Union right flank. The rebels came charging down the hill, yelling furiously, and McDowell's line was broken, forcing his troops in a hasty retreat across Bull Run. The retreat soon became an unorganized flight, and supplies littered the road back to Washington. Union forces endured a loss of 3,000 men killed, wounded, or missing in action while the Confederates suffered 2,000 casualties. The scale of this bloodshed horrified not only the frightened spectators at Bull Run but also the U.S. government in Washington, which was faced with an uncertain military strategy in quelling the "Southern insurrection."
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A bit of humor from Carl
Some sophisticated observations offered by sports heroes....
Don Meredith, Dallas Cowboys Quarterback once said: "Coach Tom Landry is such a perfectionist that if he was married to Raqel Welch he'd expect her to cook."
Harry Neale, professional hockey coach: "Last year we couldn't win at home and we were losing on the road. My failure as a coach was that I couldn't think of anyplace else to play."
Reggie Jackson commenting on Tom Seaver: "Blind people come to the ballpark just to listen to him pitch."
Doug Sanders, professional golfer: "I'm working as hard as I can to get my life and my cash to run out at the same time. If I can just die after lunch Tuesday, everything will be perfect."
Mickey Lolich, Detroit Tigers pitcher: "All the fat guys watch me and say to their wives, 'See, there's a fat guy doing okay. Bring me another beer.'"
Tommy LaSorda , L A Dodgers manager: "I found out that it's not good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people who hear them don't care and the other twenty percent are glad I'm having them."
E.J. Holub, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker regarding his 12 knee operations: "My knees look like they lost a knife fight with a midget."
Vic Braden, tennis instructor: "My theory is that if you buy an ice-cream cone and make it hit your mouth, you can learn to play tennis. If you stick it on your forehead, your chances aren't as good."
Walt Garrison, Dallas Cowboys fullback when asked if Tom Landry ever smiles: "I don't know. I only played there for nine years."
John Breen, Houston Oilers: "We were tipping off our plays. Whenever we broke from the huddle, three backs were laughing and one was pale as a ghost."
Bum Phillips, New Orleans Saints, after viewing a lopsided loss to the Atlanta Falcons:"The film looks suspiciously like the game itself."
Al Hrabosky, major league relief pitcher: "When I'm on the road, my greatest ambition is to get a standing boo."
Paul Horning, Green Bay Packers running back on why his marriage ceremony was before noon: "Because if it didn't work out, I didn't want to blow the whole day."
Lou Holtz , Arkansas football coach: "I have a lifetime contract. That means I can't be fired during the third quarter if we're ahead and moving the ball."
Knute Rockne, when asked why Notre Dame had lost a game: "I won't know until my barber tells me on Monday."
Bill Walton, Portland Trail Blazers: "I learned a long time ago that 'minor surgery' is when they do the operation on someone else, not you."
George MacIntyre, Vanderbilt football coach surveying the team roster that included 26 freshmen and 25 sophomores: "Our biggest concern this season will be diaper rash."
Rick Venturi, Northwestern football coach: "The only difference between me and General Custer is that I have to watch the films on Sunday."
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Thanks to Dr. Rich and Michael
Aircraft Never Looked So Good: 86 Pics Of Aviation Gold
When brothers Orville and Wilbur Wright built and flew the first fully practical airplane, they probably couldn't imagine how far we'd take it. Now, we're flying hundreds of people at a time, sending rovers to other planets, and launching interstellar probes.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
6 Stimulating Facts About Coffee
Coffee is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. In 2020, the average American coffee drinker downed more than three cups per day, and Americans overall drank 517 million daily cups. First introduced to America in the mid-17th century, coffee grew in popularity after the Boston Tea Party of 1773, which encouraged patriots to swap over-taxed tea for coffee. In the time since, soldiers have relied on coffee to boost morale overseas, children of U.S. Presidents have founded their own coffee houses, and American coffee brands have expanded across the globe. Can't get enough coffee? Discover six amazing facts you might not know about this beloved morning beverage.
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Coffee Beans Aren't Actually Beans
It turns out that the name you're familiar with for those tiny pods that are ground and brewed for a fresh cup of joe is a misnomer. Coffee "beans" are actually the seeds found within coffee cherries, a reddish fruit harvested from coffee trees. Farmers remove the skin and flesh from the cherry, leaving only the seed inside to be washed and roasted.
Coffee farming is a major time investment: On average, a tree takes three or four years to produce its first crop of cherries. In most of the Coffee Belt — a band along the equator where most coffee is grown that includes the countries of Brazil, Ethiopia, and Indonesia — coffee cherries are harvested just once per year. In many countries, the cherries are picked by hand, a laborious process.
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Decaf Coffee Is Still a Tiny Bit Caffeinated
Decaf coffee has helped coffee drinkers enjoy the taste of coffee without (much of) the jolting effects of caffeine, but its creation was entirely accidental. According to legend, around 1905 German coffee merchant Ludwig Roselius received a crate of coffee beans that had been drenched with seawater. Trying to salvage the beans, the salesman roasted them anyway, discovering that cups brewed with the beans retained their taste (with a little added salt) but didn't have any jittery side effects. Today, the process for making decaf blends remains relatively similar: Beans are soaked in water or other solvents to remove the caffeine, then washed and roasted. However, no coffee is entirely free of caffeine. It's estimated that 97% of caffeine is removed during preparation, but a cup of decaf has as little as 2 milligrams of caffeine — compared to regular coffee's 95 milligrams.
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Bach Wrote an Opera About Coffee
Johann Bach is remembered as one of the world's greatest composers, known for orchestral compositions such as the Brandenburg Concertos. But one of Bach's lesser-known works is Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht ("Be Still, Stop Chattering") — a humorous ode to coffee popularly known as the Coffee Cantata. Written sometime in the 1730s, Bach's opera makes light of fears at the time that coffee was an immoral beverage entirely unfit for consumption. In the 18th century, coffee shops in Europe were known to be boisterous places of conversation, unchaperoned meeting places for young romantics, and the birthplaces of political plots. A reported lover of coffee, Bach wrote a 10-movement piece that pokes fun at the uproar over coffee. The opera tells the story of a father attempting to persuade his daughter to give up her coffee addiction so that she might get married, but in the end, she just becomes a coffee-imbibing bride.
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The First Webcam Was Invented For a Coffee Pot
We can credit coffee-craving inventors for creating the first webcam. In the early 1990s, computer scientists working at the University of Cambridge grew tired of trekking to the office kitchen for a cup of joe only to find the carafe in need of a refill. The solution? They devised a makeshift digital monitor — a camera that uploaded three pictures per minute of the coffee maker to a shared computer network — to guarantee a fresh pot of coffee was waiting the moment their mugs emptied. By November 1993, the in-house camera footage made its internet debut, and viewers from around the globe tuned in to watch the grainy, real-time recording. The world's first webcam generated so much excitement that computer enthusiasts even traveled to the U.K. lab to see the setup in real life. In 2003, the coffee pot sold at auction for nearly $5,000.
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Coffee Was Frequently a Staple in the Oval Office
Coffee has a long political history in the U.S. — colonists who tossed heavily-taxed tea into the Boston Harbor switched to drinking the caffeinated brew as part of their rebellion. But even after the Revolutionary War's end, American leaders held an enduring love for the beverage. George Washington grew coffee shrubs at his Mount Vernon estate (though because of climate, they likely never produced beans), while Thomas Jefferson loved coffee so much that he estimated using a pound per day at Monticello during retirement. Similarly, Theodore Roosevelt reportedly consumed an entire gallon of coffee each day, and George H.W. Bush was known for imbibing up to 10 daily cups.
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Your Genes Might Determine How Much Coffee You Drink
If you can't get through the day without several cups of coffee, you may have your genes to blame. A 2018 study suggests inherited traits determine how sensitive humans are to bitter foods like caffeine and quinine (found in tonic water). Researchers found that people with genes that allow them to strongly taste bitter caffeine were more likely to be heavy coffee drinkers (defined as consuming four or more cups daily). It seems counterintuitive that people more perceptive to astringent tastes would drink more coffee than those with average sensitivity — after all, bitter-detecting taste buds likely developed as the body's response to prevent poisoning. But some scientists think that human brains have learned to bypass this warning system in favor of caffeine's energizing properties. The downside? Constant coffee consumers are at higher risk of developing caffeine addiction.
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Thanks to Dr. rich
Ponderings
I had amnesia once… or twice.
Protons have mass? I didn't even know they were Catholic.
I am neither for nor against apathy.
All I ask is a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
If the world were a logical place, men would be the ones who ride horses side saddle.
What is a "free gift"? Aren't all gifts free?
They told me I was gullible… and I believed them.
Teach a child to be polite and courteous in the home and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge his car onto the freeway.
Experience is the thing you have left when everything else is gone.
One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.
I used to be indecisive. Now, I'm not sure.
How can there be self-help groups?
Is it just me, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?
Is it the 式s始, or the 式c始 in 式 scent始 that is silent?
Why does fridge have a "D" in it but refrigerator doesn't?
Why can you drink a drink but you can't food a food?
The word queue is just a Q followed by four silent letters…
Why is a W called "double-u" when it's clearly a "double-v"?
I did some financial planning, and it looks like I can retire at 80 and live comfortably for 11 minutes.
We all know that mirrors don't lie… I'm just grateful that they don't laugh.
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This Day in U S Military History…….July 21
1861 – The first major engagement of the main armies in the Civil War takes place along a muddy creek known as "Bull Run." The entire Confederate Army was composed of volunteer militia although some of its officers had served in the federal army before the war. While the Union Army had some Regular soldiers in it, most of its ranks also contained volunteer militia. Neither army was well trained and in the regiments of both were found a variety of uniforms in blue and gray, causing confusion on the battlefield. The battle was a Confederate victory, made notable by the determined defense of General Thomas Jackson and his Virginia troops, hereafter known to history as the "Stonewall Brigade." When the Union army marched out of Washington, DC, it soon engaged the Confederate army assembled near the railroad junction at Manassas Court House, in Northern Virginia. This marked the first major land combat of the war. Both armies had units dressed in blue and gray, causing confusion among units all day. As Union forces started pressing hard against the Confederate left flank, the 4th Alabama Volunteer Infantry was dispatched to plug a gap while other southern forces formed a defensive line behind them. The 4th held its ground for more than an hour, repulsing four assaults by Union troops. Finally the rebels regrouped and went on the attack, winning the battle and sending the Union army reeling back into Washington, DC. The 4th Alabama fought in every major engagement in the Eastern Theater of the war, surrendering less than 100 men at Appomattox in April 1865.
1921 – Gen. Billy Mitchell flew off with a payload of makeshift aerial bombs and sank the former German battle ship Ostfriesland off Hampton Roads, Virginia; the 1st time a battleship was ever sunk by an airplane.
1944 – Troops of the US 3rd Amphibious Corps (Geiger) land on Guam. The 3rd Marine Division (Turnage) establishes a beachhead at Asan, west of Agana. The 1st Marine Division (Shephard) comes ashore at Agat. Eventually, 54,900 American troops are deployed. There is only moderate Japanese resistance on the beaches. Task Force 53 (Admiral Connolly) provides naval support with 6 battleships and 5 escort carriers. Three groups from Task Force 58 attack Japanese positions with carrier aircraft. The Japanese garrison numbers 19,000. The defense is based on the forces of the 29th Infantry Division (Takashima). General Obata, commanding the Japanese 31st Army, is present on the island. Participating vessels included the Coast Guard tender CGC Tupelo and the Coast Guard-manned Navy warships included Cor Caroli, Aquarius, Centaurus, Sterope, Arthur Middleton, LST-24, LST-70, LST-71 and LST-207.
1950 – Major General William F. Dean was reported missing in action as his 24th Infantry Division fought its way out of Taejon. During that action, he set the example by single-handedly attacking a T-34 tank with a grenade and directing the fire of others from an exposed position. As his division withdrew, he remained with the rearguard, rounding up stragglers and aiding the wounded. It was learned later that he had been captured about 35 miles south of Taejon on Aug. 25. Since the communists kept his capture a secret, he was presumed dead. In early 1951, President Truman presented the Medal of Honor to his wife in a White House ceremony. He was the only general officer and, at 51, the oldest man to receive the Medal of Honor during the Korean War.
1961 – Capt. Virgil "Gus" Grissom became the second American to rocket into a suborbital pattern around the Earth, flying on the Mercury 4 Liberty Bell 7. The Mercury capsule sank in the Atlantic, 302 miles from Cape Canaveral and Grissom was rescued by helicopter. The space capsule was recovered in 1999.
1997 – The U.S.S. Constitution, aka Old Ironsides,, which defended the United States during the War of 1812, set sail with 216 crew members under its own power for first time in 116 years, leaving its temporary anchorage at Marblehead, Mass., for a one-hour voyage marking its 200th anniversary. The actual anniversary was the following October. It was built in 1797 and was never defeated in 42 battles. Prior to this launch her Navy crew received training in sailing a square rigger aboard the Coast Guard's Eagle. The Coast Guard then enforced security and safety zones around the Navy frigate during her brief voyage around the harbor. More than 800 Coast Guard personnel, 10 cutters, three helicopters and 81 small boats were involved in the operation.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
NELSON, OSCAR FREDERICK
Rank and organization: Machinist's Mate First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 5 November 1881, Minneapolis, Minn. Accredited to: Minnesota. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington, for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.
SCHMIDT, OTTO DILLER
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 10 August 1884, Blair, Nebr. Accredited to: Nebraska. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: While serving on board the U.S.S. Bennington for extraordinary heroism displayed at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.
SHACKLETTE, WILLIAM SIDNEY
Rank and organization: Hospital Steward, U.S. Navy. Born: 17 May 1880, Delaplane, Va. Accredited to: Virginia. G.O. No.: 13, 5 January 1906. Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving on the U.S.S. Bennington at the time of the explosion of a boiler of that vessel at San Diego, Calif., 21 July 1905.
DEAN, WILLIAM F.
Rank and organization: Major General, U.S. Army, commanding general, 24th Infantry Division. Place and date: Taejon, Korea, 20 and 21 July 1950. Entered service at: California. Born: 1 August 1899, Carlyle, Ill. G.O. No.: 7, 16 February 1951. Citation: Maj. Gen. Dean distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the repeated risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. In command of a unit suddenly relieved from occupation duties in Japan and as yet untried in combat, faced with a ruthless and determined enemy, highly trained and overwhelmingly superior in numbers, he felt it his duty to take action which to a man of his military experience and knowledge was clearly apt to result in his death. He personally and alone attacked an enemy tank while armed only with a hand grenade. He also directed the fire of his tanks from an exposed position with neither cover nor concealment while under observed artillery and small-arm fire. When the town of Taejon was finally overrun he refused to insure his own safety by leaving with the leading elements but remained behind organizing his retreating forces, directing stragglers, and was last seen assisting the wounded to a place of safety. These actions indicate that Maj. Gen. Dean felt it necessary to sustain the courage and resolution of his troops by examples of excessive gallantry committed always at the threatened portions of his frontlines. The magnificent response of his unit to this willing and cheerful sacrifice, made with full knowledge of its certain cost, is history. The success of this phase of the campaign is in large measure due to Maj. Gen. Dean's heroic leadership, courageous and loyal devotion to his men, and his complete disregard for personal safety.
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From the Archives
In this Friday, July 12, 2013 photo, retired U.S. Navy Capt. Thomas Hudner, who was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Truman, poses on the porch at his home in Concord, Mass., Friday, July 12, 2013. Two years after he made history by becoming the Navy's first black pilot, Ensign Jesse Brown lay trapped in his downed fighter plane in subfreezing North Korea, his leg broken and bleeding. His wingman crash-landed to try to save him, and even burned his hands trying to put out the flames. A chopper hovered nearby. Lt. j.g. Hudner could save himself, but not his friend. Hudner heads to Pyongyang on Saturday, July 20, 2013 with hopes of traveling in the coming week to the region known in North Korea as the Jangjin Reservoir, accompanied by soldiers from the Korean People's Army, to the spot where Brown died in December 1950. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
JEAN H. LEE
Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Two years after he made history by becoming the Navy's first black pilot, Ensign Jesse Brown lay trapped in his downed fighter plane in subfreezing North Korea, his leg broken and bleeding. His wingman crash-landed to try to save him, and even burned his hands trying to put out the flames.
A chopper hovered nearby. Lt. j.g. Thomas Hudner could save himself, but not his friend. With the light fading, the threat of enemy fire all around him and Brown losing consciousness, the white son of a New England grocery-store magnate made a promise to the black son of a sharecropper.
"We'll come back for you."
More than 60 years have passed. Hudner is now 88. But he did not forget. He is coming back.
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Hudner, now a retired Navy captain, heads to Pyongyang on Saturday with hopes of traveling in the coming week to the region known in North Korea as the Jangjin Reservoir, accompanied by soldiers from the Korean People's Army, to the spot where Brown died in December 1950.
The reservoir was the site of one of the Korean War's deadliest battles for Americans, who knew the place by its Japanese name, Chosin. The snowy mountain region was nicknamed the "Frozen Chosin," and survivors are known in U.S. history books as the "Chosin Few."
The Battle of the Chosin Reservoir lasted for 17 brutal days. Some 6,000 Americans were killed in combat, and thousands more succumbed to the cold. Brown and many others who died there are among more than 7,910 Americans still missing in action from the war.
Though the fighting ended with an armistice signed 60 years ago July 27, North Korea and the U.S. remain technically at war. Efforts to recover remains have come in fits and starts, with little recent progress.
Next week's mission is to pick up where search teams have left off by locating the exact spot of Brown's crash. Armed with maps and coordinates, they hope to work with North Korean soldiers to excavate the remote area, a sealed site controlled by the North Korean military.
Approval for the unusual journey comes as North Korea prepares for festivities marking the upcoming armistice anniversary. Pyongyang is expected to use the milestone to draw international attention to the division of the Korean Peninsula as well as to build unity among North Koreans for new leader Kim Jong Un.
Hudner does not plan to stay for a massive military parade expected on July 27. But he said he hopes his visit will help to foster peace and reconciliation on the tense Korean Peninsula.
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Japan occupied Korea for decades, until the end of World War II. Then the Soviets and the Americans moved in, backing rival fledgling governments and dividing the country halfway at the 38th parallel.
War broke out in June 1950, with the communist North Koreans marching into Seoul. They were countered by U.S.-led U.N. forces that charged north, taking Pyongyang and continuing up the peninsula.
By November, U.S. Marines had dug in around the Chosin reservoir and in Unsan County to the west. The plan was to push north as far as the Yalu River dividing Korea from China.
What they didn't know was that as many as 100,000 Chinese ground troops had slipped across the Yalu to fight for the North Koreans. They boxed in 20,000 U.N. forces, mostly U.S. Marines.
Hudner and Brown were members of Fighter Squadron 32, dispatched to the region deep in North Korea's forbiddingly mountainous interior to support the trapped ground troops and carry out search-and-destroy missions.
Theirs was a close-knit squadron. But the two men, both in their 20s, came from completely different worlds.
Hudner, of Fall River, Massachusetts, was a privileged New Englander who was educated at prep school and had been invited to attend Harvard. Brown, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, broke the Navy's color barrier for pilots in 1948, months after President Harry S. Truman ordered the desegregation of the U.S. armed forces.
It wasn't an easy role for Brown to take on, Hudner recalled. "People who didn't know him gave him a hard time just because he was black."
But those who got to know Brown grew to respect the serious, unfailingly considerate young man who impressed his peers with his dedication to flying -- and his gentle sense of humor.
"The squadron, almost to a man, protected him any way they could," Hudner told The Associated Press before his departure, his pale blue eyes sparkling. "He was a friend who, I'd say, was beloved by almost everybody who knew him. A very special person."
Late the afternoon of Dec. 4, 1950, Brown was flight leader of a six-plane formation over the Jangjin Reservoir, a mission like 20 others he had led previously. He paired up with Hudner, who was flying on his right.
This time, ground fire struck Brown's plane, forcing him to land behind enemy lines. When Brown waved for help from his crumpled, smoking cockpit after slamming into the mountainside, Hudner acted quickly.
"I thought: 'My God, I've got to make a decision," he said. "I couldn't bear the thought of seeing his plane burst into flames."
Hudner crash-landed his plane in high winds and snowy rocks about 100 yards from the downed fighter. As flames engulfed Brown's plane, and still under the threat of attack, Hudner scrambled to pack the fuselage with snow, burning his hands in the process. He took his cap off and pulled it over Browns' ears, then radioed for help as Brown remained trapped in the cockpit, bleeding heavily, his leg crushed and his body temperature dropping in the subzero conditions.
A Marine helicopter arrived, but the pilot and Hudner could not extract Brown from the wreckage.
Before losing consciousness, his thoughts turned to his wife, whose name he whispered in his last command to Hudner: "If I don't make it, please tell Daisy I love her."
Hudner reluctantly got into the rescue helicopter. Brown is believed to have died soon after. The next day, U.S. military planes dropped napalm on the wreckage to keep the enemy from getting his body.
Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military's highest award, for trying to save Brown. Brown posthumously received the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
"He was a leader," Hudner said. "He had great promise had he not been so tragically killed."
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Hudner went onto a distinguished naval career and later served as Massachusetts' commissioner of veterans' services, eventually settling in the revolutionary town of Concord, Massachusetts.
A few years ago, he was contacted by author Adam Makos about doing a book on his wartime heroics. It was Makos, Hudner said, who suggested returning to the crash site. Hudner hadn't thought it possible, given the abysmal state of U.S.-North Korean relations.
They enlisted Chayon Kim, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen who had been involved in the campaign to build a Korean War Memorial in Washington, and who took the Harlem Globetrotters and former NBA star Dennis Rodman to North Korea earlier this year.
She agreed to take Hudner, fellow Korean War veteran Dick Bonelli, and their group to North Korea. Kim, who says she has built ties over the years with the North Korean military, asked the army to supply soldiers to help with the search.
Hudner hopes to bring Brown's remains home to the aviator's 86-year-old widow, Daisy, and their daughter, Pam Knight, who was a toddler when her father died.
Going back to Jangjin and finding Brown's remains "would be closure to me," Hudner said. "And I'm sure it would be to the family."
Hudner, who turns 89 next month and is in frail health, is bracing himself for what he knows will be difficult journey. There are few paved roads outside Pyongyang, and the route to the region where Brown died is a steep mountain path, treacherous even in good weather.
"I won't be at the bar boozing it up for very long when I get there," he joked.
The political complications may be greater still. The Koreas remain divided by the world's most militarized border, and Washington and Pyongyang lack diplomatic relations.
Diplomatic forays have sputtered over the years, stalled by a standoff over North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Earlier this year, Pyongyang threatened to launch a nuclear war if provoked; Washington sent bombers into the region in what defense officials acknowledged was meant as a warning.
America is still Enemy No. 1 to North Koreans, who consider the posting of 28,500 U.S. troops across the border in South Korea to be an "occupation" of the Korean Peninsula.
Hudner is due to arrive at a time known in North Korea as the "anti-American period," a month devoted to recounting the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by U.S. soldiers during the Korean War and leading up to July 27. Since this is the 60th anniversary of the armistice, it is all the more prominent.
Posters show North Koreans with eyes blazing as they attack American soldiers with bayonets. "Sweep away the imperialist American aggressors," they read. Students file through exhibition halls that lay out the alleged toll: More than 1.2 million soldiers and civilians killed.
More than 54,000 American military personnel died in Korea fighting as part of the U.S.-led U.N. forces, including the nearly 8,000 never accounted for, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
For decades, the families of missing U.S. soldiers have pressed the government to search for their remains.
The first joint U.S.-North Korea searches began in 1996. Teams uncovered 229 sets of remains, but in 2005, with Washington and Pyongyang locked in a nuclear standoff, the U.S. government suspended the searches, citing security concerns.
Last year, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command prepared to resume the search. But those plans were scrapped following North Korea's decision to launch a long-range rocket -- widely seen as a test of missile technology. Additionally, the search program itself has been criticized as "inept" and "dysfunctional" in an internal Pentagon study recently obtained by the AP.
Hudner and the team don't know if they'll find Brown's remains or the wreckage of the two planes.
But Makos, who intends to make the trip the last chapter of his book about the two men, said Brown's place in history makes it especially important to make the attempt.
"He's a Jackie Robinson in many ways. He's a Joe Louis," he said. "He's a historic figure, yet he's lying on a Korean mountainside."
___
Associated Press writer Chris Carola in Albany, New York, contributed to this report. Follow AP's Korea bureau chief at http://www.twitter.com/newsjean.
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From the archives
Explorers find dozens of WWI U-Boats off United Kingdom coast
Published July 21, 2013
| FoxNews.com
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Archaeologists have found the rusting remains of 44 submarines off the United Kingdom's coast, an oceanic graveyard made up mostly of vessels from the German Imperial Navy dating to World War I.
Der Spiegel reports a quartet of divers are now at work probing the massive trove of 41 German U-boats, and a trio of English submarines, found at depths of up to 50 feet, off England's southern and eastern coasts.
Donning an ultrasound sonar device as if it were a wristwatch, underwater archaeologist Mark Dunkley tells the German news magazine he anticipates most of the newly unearthed submarines will eventually be found to contain the perished crews' remains.
"We owe it to these people to tell their story," Dunkley reportedly said, adding, "We divers only approach the boats with great caution. Venturing inside would definitely be extremely dangerous."
Dunkley, who is employed by English Heritage, a public agency bureau within England's larger Department for Culture, Media and Sport, says action is urgently needed to preserve the remarkable, historic find.
He says he – and his team – plan to utilize robots to pierce the de facto underwater coffins to reap whatever artifacts are inside. "Perhaps we'll find a cup or a sign with a name on it," Dunkley told Der Spiegel.
Prior to the find, historians were baffled as to the fate of the boats. For example, according to the magazine, it was unknown what happened to UB 17, under the command of naval Lieutenant Albert Branscheid, with its crew of 21 men. And it was unclear where the 27-member crew of UC 21, used as a minelayer and commanded by naval Lieutenant Werner von Zerboni di Sposetti, had perished.
But now Dunkley and his team have found some answers.
The UB 17 was found off England's east coast, near the county of Suffolk, and the UC 21 sank nearby.
Click for the story from Der Spiegel.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 21, 2021 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
21 July
1910: Orville Wright made experimental flights at Dayton with a wheeled chasis comprising a set of twin wheels attached to each skid. (24)
1930: Capt Arthur H. Page (USMC) made the longest blind flight to date. He flew 1,000 miles from Omaha to Washington DC via Chicago and Cleveland. (24)
1946: Lt Cmdr James Davidson (USN) flew a McDonnell XFH-1 Phantom off the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. He thus made the first jet takeoff and landing on a carrier. (21)
1953: At San Diego, the Navy demonstrated America's first jet fighter seaplane, the Sea Dart. It had hydro skis. A Royal Air Force SR.A/1 prototype, the "Squirt," made its first flight on 15 July 1947. (16) (24)
1954: The USAF Atlas Scientific Advisory Committee recommended the development of a second ICBM airframe. This suggestion led to the development of the Titan missile. (6)
1958: The Air Force selected five companies to conduct R&D on the solid-propellant, variable-range Minuteman. (6)
1961: America's second Mercury astronaut, Capt Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, reached an altitude of 118 miles and 5,310 MPH in a 303-mile suborbital space flight from Cape Canaveral in the Liberty Bell 7 launched by a Mercury-Redstone 4 booster. Grissom thus became the first Air Force and the world's third man in space. (9) (20)
1972: Through 15 August, PACAF airlifted 2,000+ tons of food, medical supplies, and other relief supplies to Luzon for flood victims in the Philippines. C-130s, and H-3 and H-43 helicopters airlifted more that 1,500 passengers, disaster relief teams, and medical evacuees. (21)
1976: Through 23 July, to support an earthquake disaster relief operation, two C-130s airlifted 20.5 tons of tents, cots, and blankets from Andersen AFB to Sentani Airport, Indonesia. A C-141 transported 400 tents from Singapore to Bali IAP. (18) 1991: Through 24 July, MAC completed the first military airlift to Albania since 1946. In this operation, seven C-141 missions carried 140 tons of food to Tirana, Albania, to alleviate a food shortage. Another four missions in August delivered 60 tons of food. (18)
1994: The last F-16 Fighting Falcon left the 86 FW at Ramstein AB for Aviano AB, Italy. This action ended USAFE fighter operations at Ramstein. (16) (26)
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FAMOUS FLIGHTS
THE MARTIN B-10 BOMBER and the 1934 ALASKA FLIGHT (Part III)
by Dik Daso
(Published in, Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower, 2000)
The only glitch in the mission occurred on a flight out of Anchorage. A member of the photo team, not one of the regular crew, took off and both engines quit soon after takeoff and he landed in Cooks Inlet. The pilot had mishandled the fuel control switches and had cut the fuel to the engines. The decision to allow a pilot from outside of the mission team to fly the B-10 was one which Arnold certainly regretted and took responsibility for. Nowhere in Arnold's correspondence did he ever lay blame for the accident, not even upon the inexperienced pilot.
Through superhuman diligence, the ditched B-10 rejoined the rest of the contingent at Fairbanks one week later. The mechanics had not only saved Arnold's reputation after he had made an unwise decision but had also saved the Air Corps considerable embarrassment. To Arnold, those young men were heroes in many ways.
After one month's preparation, Arnold had taken his planes 8,000 miles, in constant radio contact with the ground, with only one major foul-up, and no aircraft losses along the way. Although the round-trip distance to Alaska was 7,360 miles, aerial mapping missions were flown while deployed there and a continuation of the flight westward to March Field and then back east. The total mileage flown on the mission, according to Arnold's trip diary, was 18,010 flight miles at an average speed of 168 miles per hour. The success of the mission earned Arnold the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) and a second Mackay Trophy. It also proved that long-range bombers could threaten once impenetrable and isolated territorial boundaries, both those of potential enemies and those of the United States.
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