To All,
Good Thursday morning October 19 2023
I hope that your week is going well.
The roof is done and the Kitchen gets textured tomorrow and painted next week.
Regards
Skip
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Today in Naval and Marine Corps History thanks to NHHC
October 19
1843 While commanding the first screw propelled U.S. naval steamer Princeton, Capt. Robert F. Stockton challenges the British merchant ship Great Western to a speed race off New York. Princeton easily wins the race.
1864 The steamer Mobile captures schooner Emily off San Luis Pass, Texas with a cargo of 150 bales of cotton.
1915 The Naval Submarine Base at New London, Conn. is established.
1944 President Franklin D. Roosevelt approves Secretary of Navy James V. Forrestal's order for African American women to be accepted into the Naval Reserve.
1987 U.S. Navy destroyers destroy two Iranian oil-drilling platforms during Operation Nimble Archer. This action was in response to the Iranian Silkworm Missile that hit MV Sea Isle City, which was under the protection of Operation Earnest Will.
2000 USNS Mary Sears (T-AGS 65) is launched at Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Miss. She is the sixth Military Sealift Command Pathfinder class oceanographic survey ship.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in World History
October 19
0439 The Vandals, led by King Gaiseric, take Carthage in North Africa.
1216 King John of England dies at Newark and is succeeded by his nine-year-old son Henry.
1448 The Ottoman Sultan Murat II defeats Hungarian General Janos Hunyadi at Kosovo, Serbia.
1466 The peace of Torun ends the war between the Teutonic knights and their own disaffected subjects in Prussia.
1739 England declares war on Spain over borderlines in Florida. The War is known as the War of Jenkins' Ear because the Spanish coast guards cut off the ear of British seaman Robert Jenkins.
1781 Major General Lord Charles Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington and Count de Rochambeau at Yorktown, Va. Cornwallis surrenders 7,157 troops, including sick and wounded, and 840 sailors, along with 244 artillery pieces. Losses in this battle had been light on both sides. The Revolutionary War is effectively ended.
1812 Napoleon Bonaparte begins his retreat from Moscow.
1848 John "The Pathfinder" Fremont moves out from near Westport, Missouri, on his fourth Western expedition--a failed attempt to open a trail across the Rocky Mountains along the 38th parallel.
1864 At the Battle of Cedar Creek, Va., a narrow victory helps the Union secure the Shenandoah Valley.
1873 Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Rutgers universities draft the first code of football rules.
1914 The German cruiser Emden captures her thirteenth Allied merchant ship in 24 days.
1917 The first doughnut is fried by Salvation Army volunteer women for American troops in France during World War I.
1942 The Japanese submarine I-36 launches a floatplane for a reconnaissance flight over Pearl Harbor. The pilot and crew report on the ships in the harbor, after which the aircraft is lost at sea.
1949 The People's Republic of China is formally proclaimed.
1950 The North Korean capital of Pyongyang is captured by U.N. troops.
1954 Egypt and Britain conclude a pact on the Suez Canal, ending 72 years of British military occupation. Britain agrees to withdraw its 80,000-man force within 20 months, and Egypt agrees to maintain freedom of canal navigation.
1960 Canada and the United States agree to undertake a joint Columbia River project to provide hydroelectric power and flood control.
1973 President Richard Nixon rejects an Appeals Court demand to turn over the Watergate tapes.
1987 In retaliation for Iranian attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, the U. S. navy disables three of Iran's offshore oil platforms.
1988 British government bans TV and radio interviews with members of Irish political group Sinn Fein and 11 paramilitary groups.
1989 The 1975 conviction of the Guilford Four overturned by British courts; the 4 men had been convicted in the 1974 Guilford pub bombings.
2003 Mother Teresa is beatified by Pope John Paul II for her work among "the poorest of the poor" in India.
2005 Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's trail for crimes against humanity begins in Baghdad.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
Skip… For The List for Thursday, 19 October 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 19 October 1968… Remembering a young warrior who perished this day 58-years ago. Alas, he rests where he fell somewhere in North Vietnam. Left behind…
Thanks to Micro
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. This one is exciting……Skip
From Vietnam Air Losses site for Thursday October 19
October 19: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1992
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
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Servicemembers Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature.
https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
By: Kipp Hanley
AUGUST 15, 2022
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
From the archives from last year. It can only be worse now with all that has been going on. Those things itemized below have continued to decline.
Thanks to Mugs
For some of us, this is no shock. We've seen it coming for quite a while. Still, it's deeply disturbing - and dangerous.
Mugs
U.S. military gets shocking rank for first time wnd.com/2022/10/u-s-military-gets-shocking-rank-first-time/
October 18, 2022
'Growing risk' of inability to defend 'vital national interests'
An annual ranking of U.S. military strength has ranked the nation's armed forces as "weak" for the first time.
American armed forces are "at growing risk of not being able to meet the demands of defending America's vital national interests," assessed the Heritage Foundation's 2023 Index of U.S. Military Strength, the Washington Examiner reported.
"It is rated as weak relative to the force needed to defend national interests on a global stage against actual challenges in the world as it is rather than as we wish it were," the index said.
"This is the logical consequence of years of sustained use, underfunding, poorly defined priorities, wildly shifting security policies, exceedingly poor discipline in program execution, and a profound lack of seriousness across the national security establishment even as threats to U.S. interests have surged."
The ranking is based on the overall ability to secure victories in two major conflicts at once in different areas of the world.
At the moment, however, the U.S. military may not be able to "meet the demands of a single major regional conflict" and would be "ill-equipped to handle two nearly simultaneous" conflicts.
The report evaluates each of the military branches based on capability, capacity and readiness.
Is Joe Biden to blame for America's weakening military?
The Marine Corps was at the top of the list with an overall "strong" rating. The Air Force fell to the bottom, with an overall "very weak" rating due to difficulties with pilot production and retention. The Navy and Space Force were rated as "weak" while the Army was "marginal."
America's nuclear capabilities, according to the Heritage index, is "strong" compared to other countries but trending toward "marginal" and even "weak."
Earlier this month, amid vaccine mandates, complaints of "woke" policies and indoctrination, and a tight jobs market, the Army fell 25% short of its recruitment goal this year, about 15,000 soldiers.
The shortfall actually is worse, because the original target of 485,000 active-duty soldiers was cut by 12,000 in April and further reduced later to 466,000.
The AP said "the worsening problem stirs debate about whether America's fighting force should be restructured or reduced in size if the services can't recruit enough, and could also put added pressure on the National Guard and Reserve to help meet mission requirements."
Meanwhile, as Breitbart News reported in July, an Army training instructs soldiers to shower with transgender members of the opposite sex, even if they have not undergone a surgical transition. In February, the Army began discharging soldiers who refused to be vaccinated with the experimental COVID-19 vaccine, despite the fact the shots have proven to be ineffective in stopping infection and transmission of the disease. In addition, Department of Defense data indicate a massive spike in serious injuries and illnessesamong military personnel coincided with the vaccine rollout in 2021.
The AP said it's "unclear how much the debate over the COVID-19 vaccine is playing in the recruiting struggles." To date, the Army has discharged more than 1,700 soldiers for refusing the vaccine.
Happy Pride Month! We are the best #USAF by leveraging the diverse backgrounds & strengths of each member of our total force. We are committed to making the #AirForce a place where all can reach their full potential. #PRIDE #Pridemonth pic.twitter.com/Wny1TkPVm6 — U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) June 1, 2022 Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in a statement to the Associated Press that in the Army's "most challenging recruiting year since the start of the all-volunteer force, we will only achieve 75% of our fiscal year 22 recruiting goal."
Wormuth insisted the Army "will maintain its readiness and meet all our national security requirements."
"If recruiting challenges persist, we will draw on the Guard and Reserve to augment active-duty forces, and may need to trim our force structure," she said.
The AP said military leaders have tried to draw recruits through increased enlistment bonuses and other programs. But they say it has become more difficult to compete with private industry in the tight labor market. Companies like McDonalds are attracting workers with tuition benefits and other increased perks that have military service attractive.
The Army also blames the shutting down of recruiters' access to schools, public events, fairs and other youth organizations due to the pandemic.
Further, only an estimated 23% of young people can meet the military's fitness, educational and moral requirements.
The AP also noted "the patriotism that fueled the rush to military service in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks has dimmed."
"Some may look around and see no more wars and terrorists to fight so they look elsewhere," the wire service said. "And others see lucrative hiring campaigns by private industry and know the salaries will be better than military pay, and they will be less likely to end up wounded or killed in those jobs."
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Interesting Facts
7 Not-So-Eerie Facts About the Erie Canal
It was one of the first grand-scale public works projects in the United States, and perhaps the most successful as well. Completed in October 1825 after more than eight years of labor, the 363-mile Erie Canal — which connects the Hudson River and Lake Erie — shortened travel time from Buffalo, New York, to Albany from two weeks to five days. More than that, the canal's connection to the key port of New York City via the Hudson River helped funnel a steady stream of goods, people, and ideas to little-explored areas in the North and West, hastening the expansion of a young country that was then largely clinging to its East Coast roots. Here are seven facts about the unassuming water channel that's sometimes called "America's first superhighway."
1 of 7
A Prisoner Inspired the Creation of the Erie Canal
New York flour merchant Jesse Hawley knew a thing or two about the challenges of transporting goods across the state's decrepit roads, as his difficulties in that endeavor landed him in debtors' prison by 1807. Frustrated but not defeated, Hawley went on to write a series of essays, published in the Genesee Messenger under the pseudonym "Hercules," in which he argued for the creation of a cross-state canal to improve transportation efficiency. Although the idea wasn't exactly novel — other American canals had already been completed by that point — Hawley's writing drew attention for his detailed explanations of a proposed pathway, the costs, and the potential benefits, and he is largely credited with inspiring influential lawmakers to take up the cause.
2 of 7
New York Politician DeWitt Clinton Shepherded the Canal Into Reality
If Hawley provided the spark to ignite the appeal of a canal across New York, then powerful politician DeWitt Clinton fanned the flames into a full-blown conflagration. The three-term New York City mayor joined the state's Canal Commission in 1810, and as the group's commissioner he orchestrated a formal petition to the New York Legislature that led to a $7 million allocation for the project in April 1817. Three days after Clinton took office as New York governor, the canal's construction commenced on July 4, 1817. Although the massive undertaking was in turns derided as "Clinton's ditch" or "Clinton's folly," the governor had the last laugh when he rode the packet boat Seneca Chief eastward across the completed canal in the fall of 1825, and commemorated his triumph by pouring two casks of Lake Erie water into the Atlantic Ocean in the "Wedding of the Waters."
3 of 7
No Professionally Trained Engineers Worked on the Project
After English engineer William Weston declined the offer to oversee construction, the New York Canal Commission selected four men — Benjamin Wright, James Geddes, Charles Broadhead, and Nathan S. Roberts — with surveying backgrounds and zero formal engineering training to serve as the Erie Canal's chief engineers. Amazingly, these four guided the project to completion through trial and error and help from a talented supporting cast. Assistant engineer Canvass White, who had studied some of Europe's canal systems, perfected a locally developed hydraulic cement. Another young surveyor named John Jervis proved to have remarkable abilities that would turn him into one of the country's premier engineers. Together, the team came up with innovations like the Irondequoit Embankment and the "Flight of Five" double locks that enabled the steep ascent at the Niagara Escarpment. Given all the lessons learned on the fly, and the influence these men had on subsequent construction projects in the country, historians have dubbed the process of creating the Erie as America's first school of engineering.
4 of 7
The Erie Canal Triggered a Population Explosion Along Its Path
Evidence of the canal's contributions to the development of New York into the booming Empire State was reflected in the rapid population growth along the canal's banks. Buffalo expanded from a population of 2,400 in 1825 to 8,700 by 1830; Syracuse jumped from 1,000 in 1825 to 22,300 by 1850; and Rochester went from 9,200 in 1830 to 48,200 by 1860. And while there were certainly other factors involved, New York City went from a population of 125,706 in 1820 to 515,547 in 1850. Even today, more than 70% of residents of upstate New York live within 25 miles of the Erie Canal.
5 of 7
Numerous Songs Have Been Written About the Canal
From the performance of Samuel Woodworth's "The Meeting of the Waters of Hudson & Erie" at the canal's grand opening in 1825, the New York waterway has served as an inspiration for a legion of musicians and songwriters. Some songs, like George M. Cohan's "Down by the Erie Canal," were crooned on a Broadway stage. Others, like Henry Russell's "A Life on the Raging Canal," were Weird Al Yankovic-type parodies of existing popular songs. Still others, such as "A Trip on the Erie," emerged from anonymous origins and endured among the canallers who spent most of their time on the slow-moving waters. Regardless, the canal's most famous song is surely "Low Bridge, Everybody Down," aka "Fifteen Years on the Erie Canal." Credited to Tin Pan Alley writer Thomas S. Allen circa 1912, the ditty has since been covered by luminaries such as Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen.
6 of 7
The Canal Has Undergone Dramatic Changes Over Two Centuries
Were DeWitt Clinton to step onto a time-traveling barge and arrive at the present-day Erie Canal, he'd notice a number of alterations to his pet project. Originally 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep, the canal was enlarged to dimensions of 70 feet across and 7 feet in depth by 1862, and expanded again to minimums of 125 feet wide and 12 feet deep by 1918. That later round of renovations also took advantage of engineering advancements to reroute the canal through existing bodies of water, leading to the abandonment of old checkpoints. Now part of the 524-mile New York State Canal System, which includes the Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca canals, the Erie no longer reaches the original eastern and western endpoints of Albany and Buffalo, and bypasses Syracuse altogether.
7 of 7
The Old Canal Still Hosts Commercial Traffic
After the Erie and its related canals experienced a peak of 5.2 million tons of cargo transported across its waters in 1951, the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway hastened a commercial decline that brought that number below 50,000 tons by the 1990s. But while the NYS Canal System mainly sells itself as a tourist destination nowadays, rising fuel costs have again prompted some companies to seek a more efficient means of hauling goods across the old waterway. After reaching a 50-year low of just over 4,000 tons transported in 2009, the canal system bounced back to a more impressive haul of over 415,000 tons shipped in 2017.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
https://geopoliticalfutures.com
Daily Memo: How the Israel-Hamas War Allows Iran to Corner the Arab States
Palestinian civilian casualties in the conflict have put Arab states on the defensive.
By: Kamran Bokhari
October 19, 2023
Hamas' unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel has created a major predicament for the Arab states. Countries like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, which have long sought peaceful relations with Israel and deeply oppose Hamas, have been forced to avoid criticizing the extremist Palestinian Islamist movement and instead take a public stance in opposition to Israel. The attack has also created rifts between Arab nations and the United States. The unfolding crisis is a huge gain for Iran, which has long sought to destabilize the Middle East in order to enhance its power and influence.
Some 500 Palestinians were reportedly killed on Oct. 17 in what Palestinian and Arab officials are calling an Israeli airstrike on a hospital in the Gaza Strip and what U.S and Israeli authorities are saying was an explosion caused by a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. Arab states have harshly condemned Israel for hitting the al-Ahli hospital, where Palestinians wounded in the Israel-Hamas war were being treated. Amid a growing number of anti-American and anti-Israeli protests in many regional countries, Jordan canceled a summit it was to host on Oct. 18 with U.S. President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the country's monarch, King Abdullah II. The bombing of the hospital occurred as the American president was en route to Israel to help prevent the crisis from morphing into a regional conflict. Biden was forced to cancel his trip to the Jordanian capital.
The fact that Biden had to travel to the region only days after both Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were there underscores the heightened risks of a broader war in the Middle East. The deaths of hundreds of Palestinians at the hospital have worsened matters for Arab governments. They were already bracing for large casualties and displacement of Palestinian civilians, as Israel has been gearing up for a ground offensive to remove the Hamas government. The last thing that many Arab capitals with chronically fragile political economies want to see is their own people protesting against Israel and the United States, which could threaten the stability of their regimes.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has long been a deep concern for Arab states. Since their emergence as independent states in the interwar period and immediately after World War II, Arab states sought to end the then-nascent Jewish state but did not seek a sovereign Palestine. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964 in Cairo with the backing of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser as a tool to further his pan-Arab nationalist ambitions. By the time the Arab states realized that even their combined forces were no match for the Israeli military following their massive defeat in the 1967 war, the PLO had established itself as a serious force championing the Palestinian national struggle, which ran counter to the competing interests of Egypt, Jordan and Syria.
Egypt's 1978 peace treaty with Israel led to further divergence between the interests of Cairo and the Palestinians. Within a decade though, the PLO also recognized Israeli statehood and sought through diplomacy to establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 war. It was an arrangement that the main Arab states saw as in their interest in the wake of the 1987 Intifada, in which Hamas emerged as a radical Islamist rival to Yasser Arafat's secular Fatah faction, which had long dominated the PLO.
By this time, Iran had also begun to emerge as a regional power seeking to expand its influence in the Arab world. Iran had already established Hezbollah as its principal proxy in the early 1980s, and Syria became its lone Arab state ally. The end of its disastrous eight-year war with Iraq in 1988 and the weakening of the Iraqi regime in the 1991 Gulf War enabled Tehran to expand its influence in the Arab world. The Islamist Iranian regime was particularly interested in leveraging the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and inspired the creation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). It would not be long before Hamas, the main Palestinian Islamist movement, also gravitated toward the Iranian orbit.
As the PLO was moving toward negotiations, Hamas emerged as its main rival, assuming the mantle of armed struggle. That same year, when the PLO signed the U.S.-backed Oslo Accords with Israel, which led to the creation of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Hamas along with PIJ launched a massive campaign of suicide bombings against Israel. The inability of Israel and the PLO to reach a final settlement over the next seven years led to the Second Intifada in 2000, which further strengthened Hamas and weakened the Fatah-dominated PNA. Realizing that the breakdown of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, along with the 9/11 attacks, had created more room for Iran to exploit the weaknesses in the Arab world, then-Saudi monarch King Abdullah in 2002 offered Israel a comprehensive peace in exchange for the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza following the withdrawal of Israeli troops to their pre-1967 positions.
Israel's rejection of the Saudi offer, followed by the 2003 Iraq War, Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and Hamas' victory in the 2006 elections, further strengthened Iran's hand in the region. The political gridlock after Hamas' electoral success led in 2007 to the Palestinian civil war, which resulted in two separate Palestinian entities: Hamas in control of Gaza and Fatah ruling the West Bank. Meanwhile, Hamas had acquired rocket capabilities from Iran. Since 2008, the group has engaged in four wars and several limited clashes, all of which created crises for the Arab states that they were able to weather.
The scale of the latest Hamas attack has broken the cycle of the past decade and a half, in which every few years there was a Gaza war ending in a truce. It has created a situation where the Arab states, which oppose Hamas and share an interest with Israel in containing the Iranian-backed group, have been forced to disregard its actions and instead criticize Israel. The fear of regional instability among Arab governments has them on the defensive. In this way, Iran and Hamas have been able to derive significant geopolitical dividends because as more Palestinian civilians are killed in the Israel-Hamas fighting, they stand to benefit.
By confronting Israel via Hamas and Hezbollah, Iran puts the Arab states on the defensive. Tehran hopes that with time this process will weaken them, thereby creating more strategic space in the region for itself.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Military Milestones from Greene's Tigers to MacArthur's Promise by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
This Week in American Military History:
Oct. 18, 1859: U.S. Marine Lt. Israel Greene and a detachment of Marines – under the overall command of U.S. Army Col. (future Confederate general) Robert E. Lee – storm the now-famous fire-engine house at Harper's Ferry, Virginia. Inside the building, abolitionist John Brown and his raiders have barricaded themselves following a failed attempt to spark a slave uprising in the town.
The signal for Greene's Marines to attack is a simple waving of U.S. Army Lt. (future Confederate general) James Ewell Brown "J.E.B." Stuart's plumed hat, after Stuart (Col. Lee's aide and the designated negotiator) fails to persuade Brown to surrender.
Signal given, the Marines rush forward. Two leathernecks attempt to batter down the door with sledgehammers. Greene then orders 10-12 men to break through the door by ramming it with a wooden ladder. They do, and Greene leads his Marines into the breach.
According to Greene's report:
"I brought my saber down with all my strength upon his [John Brown's] head.
He was moving as the blow fell, and I suppose I did not strike him where I intended, for he received a deep saber cut in the back of the neck. He fell senseless on his side, then rolled over on his back. He had in his hand a short Sharpe's cavalry carbine. I think he had just fired as I reached Colonel [Lewis] Washington [a hostage], for the Marine who followed me into the aperture made by the ladder received a bullet in the abdomen, from which he died in a few minutes. …
"Instinctively as Brown fell I gave him a saber thrust in the left breast.
The sword I carried was a light [dress] uniform weapon, and, either not having a point or striking something hard in Brown's accouterments, did not penetrate. The blade bent double."
Greene, whose blade strikes Brown's belt-buckle, goes on to describe his Marines as "tigers," adding "a storming assault is not a play-day sport."
The Marines overwhelm Brown's men and retake the building in three minutes.
Brown will be hanged. Greene will rise to the rank of major in the yet-to-be formed Confederate States Marine Corps.
Oct. 19, 1781: British Gen. Sir Charles Cornwallis surrenders his entire army to the combined American-French forces of Generals George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, Virginia.
Oct. 19, 1950: United Nations forces -- primarily the U.S. Eighth Army under the command of Gen. Walton Harris Walker -- enter and seize Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
Oct. 20, 1944: U.S. Army Gen. and Medal of Honor recipient Douglas MacArthur makes good on his promise to "return to the Philippines," landing at Leyte, and declaring:
"By the grace of Almighty God our forces stand again on Philippine soil …
"Rally to me. Let the indomitable spirit of Bataan and Corregidor lead on.
As the lines of battle roll forward to bring you within the zone of operations, rise and strike. Strike at every favorable opportunity. For your homes and hearths, strike! For future generations of your sons and daughters, strike! In the name of your sacred dead, strike! Let no heart be faint. Let every arm be steeled. The guidance of divine God points the way.
Follow in His Name to the Holy Grail of righteous victory!"
Within days, the great sea battle of Leyte Gulf will open.
Oct. 22, 1962: As the Cuban Missile Crisis unfolds, Pres. John F. Kennedy directs a "quarantine" -- essentially a Naval blockade -- of Cuba.
In an address to the nation, Kennedy says, "The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are; but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender or submission."
Oct. 23, 1983: A Jihadist terrorist driving a bomb-laden truck crashes into and detonates inside the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing
243 American military personnel.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in U S Military History
October 19
1781: Americans defeat the British at Yorktown
Hopelessly trapped at Yorktown, Virginia, British General Lord Cornwallis surrenders 8,000 British soldiers and seamen to a larger Franco-American force on October 19, 1781, effectively bringing an end to the American Revolution.
Lord Cornwallis was one of the most capable British generals of the American Revolution. In 1776, he drove General George Washington's Patriots forces out of New Jersey, and in 1780 he won a stunning victory over General Horatio Gates' Patriot army at Camden, South Carolina. Cornwallis' subsequent invasion of North Carolina was less successful, however, and in April 1781 he led his weary and battered troops toward the Virginia coast, where he could maintain seaborne lines of communication with the large British army of General Henry Clinton in New York City. After conducting a series of raids against towns and plantations in Virginia, Cornwallis settled in the tidewater town of Yorktown in August. The British immediately began fortifying the town and the adjacent promontory of Gloucester Point across the York River.
Washington Commands the Continental Army – David McCullough
General George Washington instructed the Marquis de Lafayette, who was in Virginia with an American army of around 5,000 men, to block Cornwallis' escape from Yorktown by land. In the meantime, Washington's 2,500 troops in New York were joined by a French army of 4,000 men under the Count de Rochambeau. Washington and Rochambeau made plans to attack Cornwallis with the assistance of a large French fleet under the Count de Grasse, and on August 21 they crossed the Hudson River to march south to Yorktown. Covering 200 miles in 15 days, the allied force reached the head of Chesapeake Bay in early September.
Meanwhile, a British fleet under Admiral Thomas Graves failed to break French naval superiority at the Battle of Virginia Capes on September 5, denying Cornwallis his expected reinforcements. Beginning September 14, de Grasse transported Washington and Rochambeau's men down the Chesapeake to Virginia, where they joined Lafayette and completed the encirclement of Yorktown on September 28. De Grasse landed another 3,000 French troops carried by his fleet. During the first two weeks of October, the 14,000 Franco-American troops gradually overcame the fortified British positions with the aid of de Grasse's warships. A large British fleet carrying 7,000 men set out to rescue Cornwallis, but it was too late.
On October 19, General Cornwallis surrendered 7,087 officers and men, 900 seamen, 144 cannons, 15 galleys, a frigate, and 30 transport ships. Pleading illness, he did not attend the surrender ceremony, but his second-in-command, General Charles O'Hara, carried Cornwallis' sword to the American and French commanders. As the British and Hessian troops marched out to surrender, the British bands played the song "The World Turned Upside Down."
Although the war persisted on the high seas and in other theaters, the Patriot victory at Yorktown effectively ended fighting in the American colonies. Peace negotiations began in 1782, and on September 3, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was signed, formally recognizing the United States as a free and independent nation after eight years of war
1926 – John C. Garand patented a semi-automatic rifle. Civil Service employee John Garand was in a class all by himself, much like the weapons he created. Garand was Chief Civilian Engineer at the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts. Garand invented a semiautomatic .30 caliber rifle, known as the M-1 or "the Garand," which was adopted in 1936 after grueling tests by the Army. It was gas-operated, weighed under 10 pounds, and was loaded by an 8-round clip. It fired more than twice as fast as the Army's previous standard-issue rifle and was praised by General George S. Patton, Jr., as "a magnificent weapon" and "the most deadly rifle in the world."
2001 – Rangers and other Special Operations Forces (SOF) soldiers conducted airborne and air assault operations against several sites in Kandahar. Four MC-130 aircraft dropped 199 Rangers of the 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment (-), onto a desert landing strip southwest of Kandahar, code-named Objective RHINO. Assisted by circling AC-130 Spectre gunships, the Rangers quickly secured their objective. Then the soldiers and attached psychological operations (PSYOP) loudspeaker teams moved toward a nearby enemy compound and cleared it without resistance. Having secured the landing zone, they assisted follow-on helicopter forces of SOF soldiers that had additional raids to conduct in the area. In all, the Rangers and SOF soldiers spent almost five-and-a-half hours on the ground with only a few minor injuries. Although the tactical results of the raid were mixed, the Taliban was shown that U.S. forces could strike anywhere and anytime and that no location in Afghanistan was a safe haven any longer.
2001 – Task Force (TF) DAGGER, under the command of Col. John Mulholland, comprised of 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), aviators from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR), Special Tactics personnel from the Air Force Special Operations Command, and 1st battalion of the 87th Infantry, 10th Mountain Division (Light), launched its first twelve-man SF team into northern Afghanistan to the south of the key city of Mazar-e Sharif via helicopter.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
RAY, CHARLES W.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company 1, 22d U.S. Infantry. Place and date: Near San Isidro, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 19 October 1899. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth: Pensacola Yancey County, N.C. Date of issue: 18 April 1902. Citation: Most distinguished gallantry in action. Captured a bridge with the detachment he commanded and held it against a superior force of the enemy, thereby enabling an army to come up and cross.
HAJIRO, BARNEY F.
for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
Private Barney F. Hajiro distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 19, 22, and 29 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, eastern France. Private Hajiro, while acting as a sentry on top of an embankment on 19 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres, France, rendered assistance to allied troops attacking a house 200 yards away by exposing himself to enemy fire and directing fire at an enemy strong point. He assisted the unit on his right by firing his automatic rifle and killing or wounding two enemy snipers. On 22 October 1944, he and one comrade took up an outpost security position about 50 yards to the right front of their platoon, concealed themselves, and ambushed an 18-man, heavily armed, enemy patrol, killing two, wounding one, and taking the remainder as prisoners. On 29 October 1944, in a wooded area in the vicinity of Biffontaine, France, Private Hajiro initiated an attack up the slope of a hill referred to as "Suicide Hill" by running forward approximately 100 yards under fire. He then advanced ahead of his comrades about 10 yards, drawing fire and spotting camouflaged machine gun nests. He fearlessly met fire with fire and single-handedly destroyed two machine gun nests and killed two enemy snipers. As a result of Private Hajiro's heroic actions, the attack was successful. Private Hajiro's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit, and the United States Army.
*WEINSTEIN, JACK
Rank and Organization: Sergeant. U.S. Army. Company G. 21st U.S. Infantry. Place and Date: October 19, 1951, Kumson, Korea. Born: October 18, 1928, Lamar, MO . Departed: Yes (04/20/2006). Entered Service At: . G.O. Number: . Date of Issue: 03/18/2014. Accredited To: . Citation: Weinstein is being recognized for his exceptionally valorous actions on Oct. 19, 1951, in the vicinity of Kumson, Korea, when his platoon came under enemy attack. He volunteered to stay back and provide cover while his men withdrew from their positions. Weinstein killed six enemy combatants and, after running out of ammunition, used enemy grenades around him to keep the enemy forces back. Weinstein held his position until friendly forces moved back in and pushed the enemy back.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in Aviation History" brought to you by the Daedalians Airpower Blog Update. To subscribe to this weekly email, go to https://daedalians.org/airpower-blog/.
Oct. 18, 1984
The first production Rockwell International B-1B Lancer, serial number 82-0001, a supersonic four-engine strategic bomber with variable sweep wings, made its first flight from Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California. Rockwell test pilot Mervyn Leroy Evenson (Colonel, U.S. Air Force, retired) was the aircraft commander, with co-pilot Lt. Col. Leroy Benjamin Schroeder; Maj. S.A. Henry, Offensive Systems Officer; and Capt. D.E. Hamilton, Defensive Systems Officer.
Oct. 19, 1911
Civilian exhibition pilot Eugene B. Ely lost control of an aircraft and crashed while landing before spectators during an exhibition at the state fair at Macon, Georgia. Ely died from a broken neck when the plane struck the ground, throwing the pilot from the seat. On Feb. 16, 1933, President Herbert C. Hoover presented the Distinguished Flying Cross as a posthumous award to the aviator's son, Col. Nathan D. Ely, USA (Ret.).
Oct. 20, 1945
A flight of three B-29 bombers led by Lt. Gen. Nathan F. Twining landed in Washington, D.C., having covered 13,000 miles from Guam in only 60 hours. There were refueling stops in India and Germany. General Twining went on to receive his fourth star, and retired as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September 1960. Learn more about him HERE.
Oct. 21, 1947
The Northrup YB-49 Flying Wing made its first flight in a trip from the Hawthorne plant to Muroc AFB, California. Muroc was redesignated Edwards AFB on Feb. 10, 1948.
Oct. 22, 1968
The first manned mission of the Apollo Program, Apollo 7, splashed down in the North Atlantic Ocean. The three-man crew, Walter M. Schirra, Donn F. Eisele, and R. Walter Cunningham, had completed 163 orbits in 10 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes, 3 seconds. The spacecraft landed 7 nautical miles from the recovery ship, USS Essex (CVS-9). Cunningham, a retired USMCR colonel, is a Daedalian Life Member. Retired Naval Captain Schirra was a Life Member until his death in 2007.
Oct. 23, 1922
The American Propeller Company demonstrated the reversible or adjustable pitch propeller at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C. Tests continued until 1927.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for October 19 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
19 October
1928: A six-man machine gun team parachuted from a six-aircraft formation over Brooks Field in a parachute demonstration. (24)
1935: Capt Earl E. Gimmler (Army Air Corps) won the Mitchell Trophy Race at Selfridge Field by flying 212.96 MPH.
1938: The Curtiss XP-40 Tomahawk first flew. 1948: The Navy announced the launching of rockets with internal cameras. These flights produced pictures of earth taken between 60 and 70 miles up. (16)
1950: KOREAN WAR. Fifth Air Force fighters provided crucial air support to U.S. 1st Cavalry Division troops for the Battle of Hukkyori, some 10 miles south of Pyongyang. Afterwards, UN forces entered the N. Korean capital. (28)
1951: KOREAN WAR. After the U.S. Army opened a 1000-bed hospital at Camp Drew, north of Tachikawa AB, Japan, forth, C-54s flew medical evacuees from Korea to Tachikawa, then C47s shuttled them to Camp Drew, thereby reducing transit time. (28)
1955: The FCC authorized the American Telephone and Telegraph Company to start work on the SAGE radar warning system. (24)
1964: MATS received its first C-141A Starlifter, when Lockheed Aircraft Corporation in Marietta, delivered tail number 38078 to the 1707 ATW at Tinker AFB. (18)
1966: North American's XB-70A bomber exceeded its design speed of Mach 3 for the first time in a flight from Edwards AFB. (12) PROJECT LONG LIFE II: SAC unsuccessfully tried the first short-range launch of a modified Minuteman II from Grand Forks AFB. Attempts on 28 October
1966 (Long Life) and 14 August
1968 (Project Giant Boost) also failed. (6)
1967: Mariner V made a closeup (2,480-mile) flyby of Venus, some four months after its launch. This 540-pound satellite, built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, transmitted atmospheric and magnetic field data before continuing on into a solar orbit.
1968: Maj William J. Knight won the Harmon International Aviator's Trophy for 1968 as the world's outstanding pilot for flying X-15 No. 2 to 4,520 MPH (Mach 6.72).
1971: The 354 TFW became the first A-7D wing to achieve operationally ready status.
1973: The ANG received its first A-7D. 1979: Through 21 October, 2 C-141s flew 38 severely burned US marines from Yokota AB to Kelly AFB after a fire swept through an enlisted men's barracks at Mount Fuji, Japan. (16) (18)
1999: Through 20 October, Northrop-Grumman's RQ-4A Global Hawk flew a 24.8-hour mission from Edwards AFB to Alaska. The extended-range sortie included its first mission over water and its first flight beyond the CONUS. During the flight, the Global Hawk collected and relayed 193 ground images to ground stations. (3)
2005: After five decades of service, the USAF and the Lockheed Martin launched the last Titan IV B rocket from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The heavy-lift rocket's 200th launch carried a critical national security payload for the National Reconnaissance Office into space. (AFNEWS Article, "Vandenberg Launches Final Titan IV," 20 October 2005)
2007: At Edwards AFB, Calif., an Air Force crew successfully flew a C-17 with the FischerTropsch/JP-8 blend in one tank to validate engine performance. (AFNEWS, "C-17 Flight Uses Synthetic Fuel Blend," 25 Oct 2007.)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SkipsList" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to skipslist+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/skipslist/CACTjsm2rkHwjK_YD0HT0sL-TJkQqkxr8YvtOMu1r780gc-YaeQ%40mail.gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.