Good Friday Morning January 5, 2024
Great Bubba Breakfast this morning and we had about 37. We had it in the WOXOF room and you would not recognize the place. The service and food was great. But there was no other entertainment Have a great weekend.
Some entertaining stories here today
Regards,
Skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
January. 5
1776 The first Continental Navy squadron is ordered to sea by Congress to seek the British off coasts of the Carolinas and Rhode Island and in the Chesapeake Bay.
1875 Cmdr. Edward Lull leaves New York to begin the Panamanian Expedition to locate the best ship canal route across Panama. The route mapped is followed 30 years later.
1943 While bombing airfields and installations during the Guadalcanal campaign, USS Helena (CL 50) becomes the first U.S. Navy ship to use Mk.32 proximity-fused projectiles in combat, downing a Japanese Aichi Type 99 carrier bomber (VAL) with her second salvo.
1944 USS Omaha (CL 4) and USS Jouett (DD 396) were summoned to engage the German blockade runner Burgenland under the guise of SS Rio Grande. Gunfire and scuttling charges, sank the German runner.
1945 Kamikaze attacks continued against the U.S. Navy force bound for the Lingayen Gulf. Eight ships were hit and Rear Admiral Theodore E. Chandler was among those who were killed.
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This day in World History January 5
1757 Robert Francois Damiens makes an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate King Louis XV of France.
1815 Federalists from all over New England, angered over the War of 1812, draw up the Hartford Convention, demanding several important changes in the U.S. Constitution.
1861 The merchant vessel Star of the West sets sail from New York to Fort Sumter, in response to rebel attack, carrying supplies and 250 troops.1904 American Marines arrive in Seoul, Korea, to guard the U.S. legation there.
1914 Henry Ford astounds the world as he announces that he will pay a minimum wage of $5 a day and will share with employees $10 million in the previous year's profits.
1917 Bulgarian and German troops occupy the Port of Braila.
1919 British ships shell the Bolshevik headquarters in Riga.
1920 GOP women demand equal representation at the Republican National Convention in June.
1921 Wagner's "Die Walkyrie" opens in Paris. This is the first German opera performed in Paris since the beginning of World War I.
1923 The U.S. Senate debates the benefits of Peyote for the American Indian.
1925 Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is sworn in as the first woman governor in the United States.
1936 Daggha Bur, Ethiopia, is bombed by the Italians.
1942 U.S. and Filipino troops complete their withdrawal to a new defensive line along the base of the Bataan peninsula.
1947 Great Britain nationalizes its coal mines.
1951 Inchon, South Korea, the site of General Douglas MacArthur's amphibious flanking maneuver, is abandoned by United Nations force to the advancing Chinese Army.
1952 Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington to confer with President Harry S. Truman.
1968 U.S. forces in Vietnam launch Operation Niagara I to locate enemy units around the Marine base at Khe Sanh.
1969 President Richard M. Nixon appoints Henry Cabot Lodge as negotiator at the Paris Peace Talks.
1971 President Richard M. Nixon names Robert Dole as chairman of the Republican National Party.
1979 Ohio officials approve an out-of-court settlement awarding $675,000 to the victims and families in the 1970 shootings at Kent State University, in which four students were killed and nine wounded by National Guard troops.
1982 A Federal judge voids a state law requiring balanced classroom treatment of evolution and creationism.
1991 The South Ossetia War (1991-92) begins as Georgian forces enter Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, Georgia.
2005 Eris, largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System is discovered in images taken Oct. 21, 2003, at Palomar Observatory.
January 4
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for Monday, 25 December 2023 through Sunday, 7 January 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT I (1968-1972)… Weeks 7 & 8…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for December 1968…
Christmas Season 1968: historic events, painful losses and heroic sacrifice…
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. ……Skip
From Vietnam Air Losses site for "Thursday 4 January
Jan 5: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1537
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.
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
(This site was sent by a friend . 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
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1933
January 05
Golden Gate Bridge is born
On January 5, 1933, construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge, as workers began excavating 3.25 million cubic feet of dirt for the structure's huge anchorages.
Following the Gold Rush boom that began in 1849, speculators realized the land north of San Francisco Bay would increase in value in direct proportion to its accessibility to the city. Soon, a plan was hatched to build a bridge that would span the Golden Gate, a narrow, 400-foot deep strait that serves as the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, connecting the San Francisco Peninsula with the southern end of Marin County.
Although the idea went back as far as 1869, the proposal took root in 1916. A former engineering student, James Wilkins, working as a journalist with the San Francisco Bulletin, called for a suspension bridge with a center span of 3,000 feet, nearly twice the length of any in existence. Wilkins' idea was estimated to cost an astounding $100 million. So, San Francisco's city engineer, Michael M. O'Shaughnessy (he's also credited with coming up with the name Golden Gate Bridge), began asking bridge engineers whether they could do it for less.
Engineer and poet Joseph Strauss, a 5-foot tall Cincinnati-born Chicagoan, said he could.
Eventually, O'Shaughnessy and Strauss concluded they could build a pure suspension bridge within a practical range of $25-30 million with a main span at least 4,000 feet. The construction plan still faced opposition, including litigation, from many sources. By the time most of the obstacles were cleared, the Great Depression of 1929 had begun, limiting financing options, so officials convinced voters to support $35 million in bonded indebtedness, citing the jobs that would be created for the project. However, the bonds couldn't be sold until 1932, when San-Francisco based Bank of America agreed to buy the entire project in order to help the local economy.
The Golden Gate Bridge officially opened on May 27, 1937, the longest bridge span in the world at the time. The first public crossing had taken place the day before, when 200,000 people walked, ran and even roller skated over the new bridge.
With its tall towers and famous trademarked "international orange" paint job, the bridge quickly became a famous American landmark, and a symbol of San Francisco.
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My roommate was the youngest PSA captain and as a result was stuck on the Red Eye flights for a long time. He brought home a string of young ladies in the early morning h ours over the time I was there. Then one day in early 1972 I left to CQ on the USS Midway and came back Vietnam over 11 months later. Ah the memories…skip
Thanks to Shadow
Just Remembering' .
I rode on PSA frequently while working for Reagan's re-election campaign for Governor back in the sixties. Myself and Steve Cooley traveled to most of the Colleges and Universities in the state to try to explain that a $3 billion dollar increase in funding for higher education over his first four years, was not a cut in funding for higher education, as the Democrats were claiming; even with copies of the State budget in hand… it was a hard sell.
Since all our trips were in state… PSA was the logical choice for our travels. If ever there was a "fun" airline to ride in those days… PSA was it! The Stews in those days were top shelf, mostly beautiful by any standard and were a hoot. Didn't hurt that their uniforms consisted of miniskirts and Hot Pants. Wasn't uncommon for one of them or the flight crew to get on the PA system and point out different points of interest or share a joke.
I'll never forget leaving Sacramento one day heading back to San Diego… we had about a 45 minute late departure due to a mechanical. Once airborne, the Captain came on the PA and announced that in appreciation of our (the Pacs) patience… the cabin crew would be offering free champagne curtesy of PSA… enjoy! Big cheer and the Stews went about making everybody happy. For what ever the reason, one of the Stews made some funny comments about the flight deck crew… and that led to some really funny back and forth between the pilots and Stews. Seemed like all onboard were feeling their oats and in a great mood! Fun flight!
On rollout in San Diego, the Captain gave his obligatory thank you for flying PSA and hope you enjoyed the great service from our beautiful Stewardesses. Big roar went up in the cabin! The girls all stood up front as we cleared the runway and took a bow… eliciting another roar! The Captain then made a comment along the lines of "what's going on back there"? One of the Stewardesses then answers that the men onboard were showing appreciation for our "service". The Captain then went too far and came back with… "Yes, we have the most beautiful Stewardesses in the world… by the way… the only way you can tell the difference between the young ones from the older ones….. is the stretch marks"! Immediately half the cabin crew started banging on the locked flight crew door as the Pacs started laughing their asses off!
BTW… the door was never opened until all the Pacs were off! Sometimes us men have more balls than brains… but it was the most memorable flight as a passenger I ever had.
Shadow
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
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Thanks to Mike
"It's A Wonderful Life," backstory
For all the fans of the movie and Jimmy Stewart.
Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in "The Philadelphia Story," Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to enlist in World War II.
An accomplished private pilot, the 33-year-old Hollywood icon became a US Army Air Force aviator, earning his 2nd Lieutenant commission in early 1942. With his celebrity status and huge popularity with the American public, he was assigned to starring in recruiting films, attending rallies, and training younger pilots.
Stewart, however, wasn't satisfied. He wanted to fly combat missions in Europe, not spend time in a stateside training command. By 1944, frustrated and feeling the war was passing him by, he asked his commanding officer to transfer him to a unit deploying to Europe. His request was reluctantly granted.
Stewart, now a Captain, was sent to England, where he spent the next 18 months flying B-24 Liberator bombers over Germany. Throughout his time overseas, the US Army Air Corps' top brass had tried to keep the popular movie star from flying over enemy territory. But Stewart would hear nothing of it.
Determined to lead by example, he bucked the system, assigning himself to every combat mission he could. By the end of the war he was one of the most respected and decorated pilots in his unit.
But his wartime service came at a high personal price.
In the final months of WWII he was grounded for being "flak happy," today called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
When he returned to the US in August 1945, Stewart was a changed man. He had lost so much weight that he looked sickly. He rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming (in one mission alone his unit had lost 13 planes and 130 men, most of whom he knew personally).
He was depressed, couldn't focus, and refused to talk to anyone about his war experiences. His acting career was all but over.
As one of Stewart's biographers put it, "Every decision he made [during the war] was going to preserve life or cost lives. He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up."
In 1946 he took the role of George Bailey, the suicidal father in "It's a Wonderful Life." The rest is history.
Actors and crew of the set realized that in many of the disturbing scenes of George Bailey unraveling in front of his family, Stewart wasn't acting. His PTSD was being captured on filmed for potentially millions to see.
But despite Stewart's inner turmoil, making the movie was therapeutic for the combat veteran. He would go on to become one of the most accomplished and loved actors in American history.
When asked in 1941 why he wanted to leave his acting career to fly combat missions over Nazi Germany, he said, "This country's conscience is bigger than all the studios in Hollywood put together, and the time will come when we'll have to fight."
This holiday season, as many of us watch the classic Christmas film, it's also a fitting time to remember the sacrifices of Jimmy Stewart and all the men who gave up so much to serve their country during wartime. We will always remember you!
Postscript:
While fighting in Europe, Stewart's Oscar statue was proudly displayed in his father's Pennsylvania hardware store. Throughout his life, the beloved actor always said his father, a World War I veteran, was the person who had made the biggest impact on him.
Jimmy Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and died in 1997 at the age of 89.
-- Ned Forney, Writer, Saluting America's Veterans
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THANHKS TO Dr. Rich
Thanks to Ed ...
MORE -- first video of a series -- his early story in his own words: (from his biography??)
For The First Time I Realized How Vast America Was. We Never Stood A Chance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRZkMYgceaQ&list=PLGjbe3ikd0XGvh2jAYm7oJwgnbXMQCPEh
On 1/4/2024 12:39 AM, Ed Rathje wrote:
ski instructor at Sugar Bowl ski resort near Lake Tahoe, tennis pro, first rescuer at Sierra train wreck, etc.
Played tennis with Lloyd Bridges, casual ski friend with Robert Stack, etc., etc
2 articles and a video:
How 'Hitler's last soldier' evaded the FBI, ended up in Colorado
Georg Gärtner (German pronunciation: [ˈɡeːɔʁk ˈɡɛʁtnɐ]; December 18, 1920 – January 30, 2013) was a German World War II soldier who was captured and held as a prisoner of war by the United States. He escaped from a prisoner of war camp, took on a new identity as Dennis F. Whiles, and was never recaptured. He revealed his true identity after staying some 40 years in the United States.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Gaertner
Georg Gärtner, the last German POW in America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BecF_NEWeQ8
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Thanks to CAP
: YES: Why Do We Sing the National Anthem Before Sports Games ??
HAPPY NEW YHEAR
Why do we sing the National Anthem before sports games?
Here is something that I didn't know.
Your history lesson for today.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/RW2Wo9ChiEg
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January 4
January 5
This Day in U S Military History
1838 – President Martin Van Buren issues a neutrality proclamation forbidding US citizens from taking part in the Canadian insurrection. The privately owned US steamship Caroline, leased by Canadian revolutionaries, has been destroyed by Canadian militiamen on 29 December. President Van Buren orders General Winfield Scott to post militamen along the Canadian frontier.
1846 – Boldly reversing its long-standing policy of "free and open" occupation in the disputed Oregon Territory, the U.S. House of Representatives passes a resolution calling for an end to British-American sharing of the region. The United States, one congressman asserted, had "the right of our manifest destiny to spread over our whole continent." In different circumstances, such aggressive posturing might have led to war. The British, through their Hudson Bay Company at the mouth of the Columbia River, had a reasonable claim to the disputed territory of modern-day Washington. In contrast, the only part of the Oregon Territory the U.S. could legitimately claim by settlement was the area below the Columbia River. Above the river, there were only eight recently arrived Americans in 1845. Nonetheless, the aggressively expansionistic President James Polk coveted Oregon Territory up to the 49th parallel (the modern-day border with Canada). Yet Polk was also on the verge of war with Mexico in his drive to take that nation's northern provinces, and he had no desire to fight the British and Mexicans at the same time. Consequently, Polk had to move cautiously. Some of his fellow Democrats in the Congress pushed him to be even more aggressive, demanding that Americans control the territory all the way up to the 54th parallel, approximately where Edmonton, Alberta, is today. For five months, debate raged in Congress over the "Oregon controversy," but the House resolution in January made it clear that the U.S. was determined to end the joint occupation with Great Britain. Luckily, the British agreed to abandon their claim to the area north of the Columbia and accept the 49th parallel as a border. The Hudson Bay Company already had decided to relocate its principal trading post from the Columbia River area to Vancouver Island, leaving the British with little interest in maintaining their claim to area. Despite the cries of betrayal from the advocates of the 54th parallel, Polk wisely accepted the British offer to place the border on the 49th parallel. The new boundary not only gave the U.S. more territory than it had any legitimate claim to, but it also left Polk free to pursue his next objective: a war with Mexico for control of the Southwest.
1945 – In the Ardennes, the US 3rd Army reports reduced activity on its line while US 1st Army continues its attacks. There are German attacks just north of Strasbourg. Eisenhower's decision to divide command responsibility for the Allied defenses around the bulge between Montgomery in the north and Bradley in the south is made public.
1972 – United States President Richard Nixon orders the development of a Space Shuttle program.
1999 – Four U.S. Air Force and Navy jets fired at Iraqi MiGs testing the "no-fly" zone over southern Iraq in the first such confrontation in more than six years. 6 missiles fired by 2 US F-15s missed the 4 MiG 25s of Iraq.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*WALKER, KENNETH N. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Brigadier General, U.S. Army Air Corps, Commander of V Bomber Command. Place and date: Rabaul, New Britain, 5 January 1943. Entered service at. Colorado. Birth: Cerrillos, N. Mex. G.O. No.: 13, 11 March 1943. Citation: For conspicuous leadership above and beyond the call of duty involving personal valor and intrepidity at an extreme hazard to life. As commander of the 5th Bomber Command during the period from 5 September 1942, to 5 January 1943, Brig. Gen. Walker repeatedly accompanied his units on bombing missions deep into enemy-held territory. From the lessons personally gained under combat conditions, he developed a highly efficient technique for bombing when opposed by enemy fighter airplanes and by antiaircraft fire. On 5 January 1943, in the face of extremely heavy antiaircraft fire and determined opposition by enemy fighters, he led an effective daylight bombing attack against shipping in the harbor at Rabaul, New Britain, which resulted in direct hits on 9 enemy vessels. During this action his airplane was disabled and forced down by the attack of an overwhelming number of enemy fighters.
MILLER, FRANKLIN D.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces. place and date: Kontum province, Republic of Vietnam, 5 January 1970. Entered service at: Albuquerque, N. Mex. Born: 27 January 1945, Elizabeth City, N.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. Miller, 5th Special Forces Group, distinguished himself while serving as team leader of an American-Vietnamese long-range reconnaissance patrol operating deep within enemy controlled territory. Leaving the helicopter insertion point, the patrol moved forward on its mission. Suddenly, 1 of the team members tripped a hostile booby trap which wounded 4 soldiers. S/Sgt. Miller, knowing that the explosion would alert the enemy, quickly administered first aid to the wounded and directed the team into positions across a small stream bed at the base of a steep hill. Within a few minutes, S/Sgt. Miller saw the lead element of what he estimated to be a platoon-size enemy force moving toward his location. Concerned for the safety of his men, he directed the small team to move up the hill to a more secure position. He remained alone, separated from the patrol, to meet the attack. S/Sgt. Miller single-handedly repulsed 2 determined attacks by the numerically superior enemy force and caused them to withdraw in disorder. He rejoined his team, established contact with a forward air controller and arranged the evacuation of his patrol. However, the only suitable extraction location in the heavy jungle was a bomb crater some 150 meters from the team location. S/Sgt. Miller reconnoitered the route to the crater and led his men through the enemy controlled jungle to the extraction site. As the evacuation helicopter hovered over the crater to pick up the patrol, the enemy launched a savage automatic weapon and rocket-propelled grenade attack against the beleaguered team, driving off the rescue helicopter. S/Sgt. Miller led the team in a valiant defense which drove back the enemy in its attempt to overrun the small patrol. Although seriously wounded and with every man in his patrol a casualty, S/Sgt. Miller moved forward to again single-handedly meet the hostile attackers. From his forward exposed position, S/Sgt. Miller gallantly repelled 2 attacks by the enemy before a friendly relief force reached the patrol location. S/Sgt. Miller's gallantry, intrepidity in action, and selfless devotion to the welfare of his comrades are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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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/.
Jan. 3, 1905
In efforts to interest the United States government in the use of airplanes for the military, Wilbur Wright speaks to Congressman Robert M. Nevin, who asks him to prepare a letter for submission to the Secretary of War that Nevin would deliver and endorse. The Army declines the offer.
Jan. 4, 1957
Military Air Transport Service completed "Operation Safe Haven" bringing 10,000 Hungarian refugees to the United States. This was the most significant European humanitarian airlift since the Berlin airlift, executed by the United States for refugee resettlement and relief following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.
Jan. 5, 1939
After she had been missing for 18 months, Judge Clarence Elliot Craig of the Superior Court of the County of Los Angeles County declared Amelia Mary Earhart legally dead in absentia, at the request of her husband, George Palmer Putnam II. She and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared while en route from Lae, Territory of New Guinea, to Howland Island in the Central Pacific, 2 July 1937.
Jan. 6, 1968
Major Patrick Henry Brady utilizes 3 UH-1 medical evacuation helicopters to evacuate a total of 51 seriously wounded men, many of whom would have perished without prompt medical treatment, from a small, heavily defended site in enemy held territory while deployed to Chu Lai, Vietnam with the 54th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance), 67th Medical Group, 44th Medical Brigade. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
Jan. 8, 1928
Lieutenant Christian F. Schilt completes a mission commenced on January 6, 1928 while serving in action with Marine Observation Squadron 7/M (VO-7M) during the progress of an insurrection at Quilali, Nicaragua. Lieutenant Schilt took off in dangerous weather conditions a total of 10 times in the rough, rolling street of a partially burning village, under hostile infantry fire on each occasion. He evacuated wounded and transported a relief commanding officer to his Marine Expedition that had already suffered heavy casualties, and brought supplies and aid to others in desperate need. He received the Medal of Honor for his actions.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 5, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
5 January
1914: Marine pilots and enlisted mechanics were sent from Annapolis, Md., to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pa., where they left on the Navy transport, the USS Hancock, for Puerto Rico to join the Advance Base Brigade in Atlantic Fleet maneuvers. This was the first time an all-Marine aviation force acted with Marine ground forces. During the next three weeks, Lts Bernard L. Smith and William M. McIlvain flew a Curtiss C-3 (an F-model Flying Boat) on scouting and reconnaissance missions. (10)
1915: Lt Joseph E. Carberry, Signal Corps, and Lt Arthur R. Christie set a 2-man American altitude record of 11,690 feet at San Diego. The pilots made the 1-hour, 13-minute flight in a Curtiss Tractor (OXX Curtiss 100). (24)
1916: The 1st Company, 2d Aero Squadron, sailed from San Francisco, Calif., for the Philippines. It was the first air unit to serve outside the US. (24)
1935: The de Haviland Queen Bee first flew. (5)
1945: Operation GRUBWORM is completed this date. One month after its initiation, two entire Chinese divisions, Chinese Sixth Army Headquarters, a heavy mortar company, 249 American soldiers, and two portable surgical hospitals are airlifted from Burma to China into the combat zone. In all, more than 1,300 transport sorties by air commando and troop carrier squadrons of the USAAF Air Transport Command are required to complete the operation. Three aircraft are lost while completing the mission.
1949: Capt Charles E. Yeager flew the Bell X-1 to 23,000 feet at a record ascent of 13,000 feet per minute. (9) (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR. At Pyongyang, 59 B-29s dropped 672 tons of incendiary bombs. Additionally, the 18th Fighter-Bomber Group staged its final missions from Suwon Air Base. U.S. ground troops burned the buildings at Suwon's airfield before withdrawing. (28)
1954: Col Willard W. Millikan (Air National Guard) set a speed record, when he flew an F-86F Sabre between New York and Washington DC in 24 minutes. (24)
1961: PROJECT NARROW GAUGE: Tactical Air Command B-57s participated in a test of the runway lighting system at Dow AFB, Me. (11)
1968: The Air Force Academy implemented the T-41 Mescalero Light Plane flight program. (16) (26)
1970: With the acceptance of the 80th Air Defense Group facility at Fortuna Air Force Station, N. Dak., the Aerospace Defense Command's Backup Intercept Control (BUIC) III radar system became fully operational. (26)
1972: President Richard M. Nixon announced his decision to develop a Space Shuttle system. (5)
1985: A C-141 carried a Sikorsky S-70 helicopter to La Paz, Bolivia, to assist in the search for an Eastern Airlines Boeing 727 that had crashed high in the Andes Mountains. (16) (26)
1995: Ben Rich, Lockheed Skunk Works designer and "Father of the F-117," dies at age 69
2001: An F-22 Raptor, equipped with combat-capable avionics, flew for the first time at LockheedMartin's facility in Marietta, Ga. (AFNEWS Article 0018, 6 Jan 01)
2002: Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. A 437th Airlift Wing C-17 from Charleston AFB, S. C., arrived at Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, with the first materials for U. S. Navy Seabee project to build a prison for 2,000 Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees from Afghanistan. In the early weeks of 2002, 21 C-17 missions from Charleston moved 1.2 short tons of equipment and supplies to Guantanamo. (22)
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`Thanks to Bruddah
Has anybody ever suggested that Shadow ought to publish his memoirs? If not, somebody should! Do we ever get tired of listening to all of these great stories? Not as long as there is an audience for them! I recently saw an interviewer ask Mick Jagger how much longer they would stay on tour, they can't need the money! "Oh, it has nothing to do with the money, we've got more of that than we'll ever need. We'll keep touring so long as people want to see us!" They apparently still want to see the Stones! They're on tour again with a new album this year!
They are still filling stadiums after more than 60 years! They're kind of like Shadow's stories, no one tires of them.
Would love to hear Georgia Boy's version today! I'll bet he's been able to embellish it quite a bit like we do with all of our "war stories!"
Shadow, I'm proud you did that and even prouder you insisted on sharing it with all your squadron mates! Wasn't that CO one of the ones who frowned on you. It's just as well you didn't have the phone number for the CG handy!
Here's my weak contribution to this werk's BTDT story line!
At the end of a deployment to Yuma we had to prepare the F-4J's for TransPac back to K-Bay so we had to certify the external fuel tanks. We used that admin hop to reward some of maintainers with a free ride. I was able to take up a SSgt from Power Plants on the profile that went up from Yuma to around Las Vegas then down the Colorado River back to Yuma. Some of his buddies tried to bribe me to shake him out real good because they had a wager on him getting sick in the jet! I told them I wouldn't go out of my way to do that on an "incentive flight," but if he got sick on his own I'd let them know.
Admittedly it was a rather boring flight at 35K' watching for the fuel gauge to go down. "Captain, this is boring, can we do something fun?"
"Just as soon as the centerline completes transferring I'll see what we can do." The key to that was noticing the internal fuel gauge starting to drop. Like Shadow described it, I descended to FL 180, cancelled and went VFR. Game on! Down the river we went checking out the sites; he didn't believe me that he saw the London Bridge at Lake Havasu. I told him he could look it up when we got back.
When we hit the sand dunes northwest of Winterhaven we flat hatted as good as Shadow running down semis! Whoooeeee! What fun! He was having the time of his life! We were whipping around the dunes, barely clearing them when I eventually saw an orange flag right in front of me rising on the opposite side of the slope! Rut-ro! We went right over a sand buggy full of kids doing all she'd do! I pulled up, slowed down and circled back to get a visual BDA. We saw four kids shaking their fists, flipping us the birds and screaming at us. "Well, I guess they're all OK! Let's go home!"
Unbeknownst to me I-10 was just one more sand dune away and had I not had the encounter with the dune buggy I'd've boomed Georgia Boy and everybody else on that road!
Upon shut down all of my SSgt's buddies were right at the bottom of the ladder to get the bet report! He was fine! He climbed down the ladder, grinned at his buddies and once he felt firm ground, barfed right on the tarmac!
"Ah! We win the bet! Pay up! Thanks Captain!"
"No, you don't win the bet! You wagered he'd get sick in the airplane! He didn't! He got sick once he stood here on terra firma and saw your ugly faces!"
A great roar went up over that! And I had a new friend in that I saved him some face and money!
Meanwhile back in the Ready Room a report came in from the CHP that DB 04 was flagged for doing over 600 knots in a 55 MPH zone on I-10! It turns out Mustang (RIP) realized too late "Oh shit! That's I-10! He pulled up and turned around to prevent going into Mexico! While he was arcing around a CHP helicopter rendezvoused on him close enough to get his numbers and report him to the Yuma tower!
He ate it big time at Death Angel Court! I got off Scot free as cell phones hadn't been invented yet and SSgt York was sworn to secrecy! OBTW, I didn't give those dune buggy kids the RR phone #.
Chit Bruddah,
You're gonna force me to repeat a similar experience from the past… 'except mine puked in the cockpit. Felt bad for him, one of the best Plane Captains we had… always full of piss and vinegar! But I gotta admit… he took it like a man when he was exposed.
Another story from Shadow
THE PUKING CINDERELLA
There's only one time in my life that I intentionally tried to scare someone or make them
sick in an airplane. This is the story of that flight.
Back in the day… between workups for deck time… our squadron went on a month long
deployment to Yuma, Arizona , followed by an ORE.
My secondary job; the one that took the most of my time, was as the Assistant
Maintenance Officer for the squadron… We had a lot of planning and preparing to do and
I hardly got in the cockpit for a couple of weeks before the deployment. I was working
my butt off and spending about 12 hours a day at the squadron… I was looking forward
to lots of good flying during the deployment period. It was to be high intensity; around
the clock operations… and it was to be on a simulated combat scenario.
Now this would put a lot of pressure on the troops to keep the aircraft flying at all hours
of the day and night… and the Skipper had set the goal of breaking the "flight time"
record for the deployment period for any Phantom squadron in the group.
When you worked with the troops on a daily basis… you became aware of a lot of things
the rest of the officers did not… Such things as fatigue, morale and alertness of the
worker bees. I was always on the look out for signs of trouble. Our guys were already
exhausted from back to back carrier quals. We did most of our "bouncing" (prep and
practice) at night and still tried to fly a normal flight schedule in the day time. The troops
were running ragged.
I felt we needed a motivator. Since I loved flying and I felt most of the troops would
jump at the chance… I suggested we do a lottery to fly some of the guys at the end of the
deployment as a "thank you" for a job well done. I went to the Skipper to get his
permission to post a signup sheet on the bulletin board for anyone that wanted a chance to
fly in the Phantom. The Skipper was squeamish… but conceded that if we broke the
record… he'd go along with it. I posted the letter that day.
It turned out to be a great deployment… we broke the record in just three weeks time!
The troops had stepped up to the plate… the aircrews had done their part and all was
good in Mudville. I was in Maintenance Control and we had brought the list down with
us… I was surprised to see we only had nine takers for an opportunity to go for a ride.
But on the upside, the troops were talking about it on a daily basis… it had been a morale
booster.
The day we broke the record, we had a little "beer bust" for the troops and one of the
more colorful Plane Captains we had… comes over and stands in front of me… he
spreads his legs and gives me the "Sting" salute that Paul Newman and Robert Redford
had used in the movie. He swiped his finger along his nose and then goes into a
Muhammed Ali pose and says… "I want you… I want you"! He looked funny… I
figured he was about half shit faced.
Now this guy's nickname was "Cinderella"… a takeoff on his Italian last name. And he
was quite a character… He was like Joe Blifspik… the Al Capp cartoon character… he
seemed to live under a black cloud wherever he went. He worked hard… and
unfortunately, he played as hard as he worked. Always getting into some kind of
trouble… nothing serious, but constantly on my weekend EPD crew…but I couldn't help
but love the guy… he had great spirit.
Anyway… I'm sitting on the edge of a picnic table when he does his Ali thing… and I
smiled and looked back at him and said… "Whatta you want me for Cindy… You're not
going queer on us are you"? He snapped to attention in an exaggerated manner and said
"No Sir"! Then he bends over, points his finger and says… "I… want… you… to fly
me"! All the troops around us laughed and I said… "Cindy my man… you got me… I'll
give you your ride".
The next day I went to the skipper to set up the fly day for the troops… and the son of a
bitch tried to weasel out! He starts backstroking immediately…"I don't know… we are
supposed to do a full checkout in the pressure chamber"… and a whole bunch of other
excuses. I was pissed… I told him we'd already scheduled a seat checkout for everyone
involved and there was only nine guys… we'd be in the restricted area right next to the
base and they would be short hops anyway. And then I stood up and said, "If you want
me to go back and tell the troops that we aren't going to keep our word after they busted
their asses… I'll do it. But I don't think you'll like the results". He looked at me and said,
"You're trying to blackmail me"… I said, "No Sir… if we didn't intend to do it, we
should never have promised it… I'd planned on doing it Sunday morning… the base will
be quiet and no heavies will be around". He finally threw up his hands and said, "OK…
but if anything goes wrong it's your ass".
I went back to Maintenance Control and told Phil Seward, my Maintenance Chief to set
up the seat check outs… I told him I wanted five airplanes available with a spare. All the
birds would have drops except one… I wanted one bird totally slick… no tanks, no
racks… clean as a whistle. I told him they would be short hops and hopefully we could
hot seat the riders. They'd pull in, shut down the left engine, change riders and go back
out… we'd do two guys in each airplane and get two short hops on one bag of gas… but
they could go through the hot re-fuel pits if they needed to.
Seward said he'd take care of it and then he said… "What's the slick bird for"? I looked
at him and said, "I'm gonna give Cinderella the ride of his life". Seward just looked at me
and smiled.
Somehow the word got around and the troops started ragging Cinderella… "Man, the
Captain is gonna make you puke"! Cindy was full of bravado and said, "No way"!
Sunday morning came and the whole Maintenance department came out to watch. We
dressed the troops that were going to fly in helmets, masks and torso harnesses and I
didn't see Cindy anywhere. I thought for a second he'd chickened out. But finally he
makes a grand entrance… completely decked out in flight gear, including a "G" suit!
Here he comes… diddy bopping along the flight line… really hamming it up. God, he
had spunk and a fabulous sense of humor… he was playing junior birdman to the hilt…
this was going to be fun.
By the time we got Cindy strapped in… the other four airplanes were already taxiing out.
By the time we got to the end of the runway… they were all airborne, doing their thing. A
note here; MCAS Yuma, had one of the longest runways in the country… over 12,000
feet… it was winter time, a cold morning and it was perfect for max acceleration in the
Phantom. The RF-4 was the "Hot Rod" of all the Phantoms. I used to have a little brass
plaque that read, "Yeh tho I fly through the valley of death… I fear no evil… 'cause a
clean RF-4… is a fast son of a bitch"! On this day… all the stars in heaven were aligned
for Cindy's Great Adventure.
After final checks, I called the tower and requested a max performance takeoff… we'd be
heading south toward the US/Mexico border. The request was granted and I was cleared
for takeoff. I pulled on the runway, did a ramp and nozzle check and brought the power
up and released the brakes… then I went into full afterburner. I swear the plane just
leaped forward! Without the tanks and racks we usually flew with (and the extra weight)
… she came out of the gate like a thoroughbred. I said over the ICS… "Cindy, hang on…
its show time"!
As we accelerated, I watched for the angle of attack indexer lights to come on… telling
me the weight was off the gear… as soon as they lit, I paused a half second and threw up
the gear handle, increasing our acceleration, then quickly raised the flaps… I kept the
aircraft as low as I could and by the time I hit the end of the runway and airfield
boundary, I was doing 580 kts and I made a smooth quick pull to 60 degrees nose up and
neutralized the controls… we were now a freaken rocket ship… heading for the heavens
(it looked straight up to folks on the ground)… I maintained the angle until my speed had
bled down to 250 knots at which time I did a push over… and plastered Cindy up toward
the top of the canopy… "Cindy this is what "zero G" feels like". I could see him in the
mirrors and he looked funny… all outta kilter… but he was loving it! "Woweee… shit
hot", he said, "Is this is what the astronauts feel like in space"?
Once the speed built back up, I banked hard into the restricted area and dove for the
deck… I wanted to show Cindy what real speed looked like down low… and we
skimmed along the cacti at .9 Mach, about 25 feet off the deck… he was eating it up.
Then I lit both burners and went into a four "G" pull into an Immellman… I topped out at
12,000 feet and went right into another one up to about 26,000… I never came out of
burner and then shallow dived and went supersonic… so he could tell his parents he'd
flown faster than the speed of sound… I finally came out of burner and used my energy
to do a loop and went right into a Cuban Eight… followed by a series of high "G" turns
and rolls. I turned the airplane everywhere but loose… yanking and banking… this way
and that. We zoomed up and rolled over the top and back down again… I really put it
through it's' paces.
The whole time… Cindy is screaming for joy in the back seat… pure unadulterated
enthusiasm! "Oh God… this is great… I wanna do this myself some day… I can't believe
it"… he went on and on. Time just flew by and I looked at the tape and counter and we
were already almost at bingo fuel and we hadn't been airborne more than 20 minutes…
Those two big J-79's sucked up a lot of fuel when you pushed it as hard as we were. I
popped the speed brakes, pulled up the nose to bleed off the speed… rolled over on my
back and did a split "S"… diving for the deck… while I was doing this, I said, "Cindy…
you just got the "E" ticket ride… but we gotta go home… we're out of gas". He said
"Noooo, I want more"… I'm thinking; what a gutsy little son of a bitch.
We're coming downhill at warp speed as I dove for Yuma… Passing about 10,000 feet,
Cindy asked if I could do a "Shit Hot" break over the hangar so he could wave at his
Buds… I said I'd try. Aiming to please… When I called the tower, I requested a "carrier
break"… the tower came back immediately and said, "You're approved, the pattern is
clear"… We had so much energy built up… I was doing 600 knots at six hundred feet,
when I hit the numbers. I snapped the airplane 90 degrees and pulled as hard as I dared…
the Phantom was just digging in and she was buckin' like a bronco at a rodeo… I even
tapped the burner for a second to keep from stalling… in the mirror it looked like Cindy
was graying out… he wasn't waving as we went over the hangar. Passing 180 degrees, I
snapped the wings level and was amazed to see we were still doing 450 knots! I popped
the boards (speed brakes, which were almost worthless on the Phantom), but we went
screaming downwind, almost half way to YPG (Yuma Proving Grounds) before I turned
back inbound and lowered the gear and flaps.
I've got everything set up and we were on about a 5 mile, straight in final… when I hear
Cindy on the intercom… "Sir, I think I'm gonna be sick"! I glanced at him in the mirror
and could see the color had left his cheeks… I immediately said, "Take your mask off and
use your barf bag… what ever you do… don't throw up in the mask… we're on pressure
breathing… it'll shove it right back in your throat"… He weakly replied… "I didn't
bring one".
We're on a 5 mile straight in… rock solid… and now he decides to get sick?… "Jeezus
Cindy… take your mask off… don't puke in the mask"! I look in the mirror and see him
unlatch the right side of his mask… I can now see his gray face and his cheeks bulging
with the tell tale signs of an impending… "Barf O'rama"! I wanted to laugh… but at the
same time I'm feeling sorry for him… and in a moment of brilliance… I said, "Take off
your gloves… puke in them… that'll keep it out of the cockpit… what'd ya have for
breakfast"? "Nothing Sir… just orange juice"… in the mirrors I saw him lean over and
take off the gloves and I said, "Well good… there won't be any chunks in it… mostly just
bile"!
Just before I touched down… I could hear Cindy on the intercom… puking his guts out…
I had to laugh! I popped the drag chute and as we slowed down to depart the runway… I
told him to open his canopy as soon as we got on the taxi way… I didn't want to smell
his shit when I took my mask off. As soon as we pulled off, I could feel the cool air
coming in my cockpit as he raised his canopy.
Now we had a long taxi to get back to the hangar… I heard a couple of small chokes, but
no more hard barfing… after a couple of minutes, Cindy says to me… "Sir, could you
please not tell them? I said, "Tell them what"? He said, "That I puked… I'll never live it
down". I looked in my mirror and my heart went out to him… I really liked this kid… I
finally said, "Cindy… your secret is good with me… you were a good shit… and truth be
known, I really laid it on and was getting a little queasy myself".
I finally opened my canopy and we taxied into the line… I looked down and it seemed
like the whole Maintenance section was waiting for us… I looked in the mirror and
Cindy had had a miraculous recovery… he was back to hamming it up! He was giving
the "Sting" salute… waving… and giving the troops a big thumbs up to everyone on the
ground. He was on stage… and was back in Cinderella mode… but what I couldn't see
was his left hand.
I brought the airplane to a stop and once the plane captain gave me the chocked signal…
I shut the engines off… as they spooled down, I could hear the catcalls between Cindy
and the troops on the ground… they were really going back and forth. While Cindy was
doing this… he failed to notice that the plane captain had put the boarding ladder on the
plane and had climbed up to assist us in getting out of the cockpit.
Normal procedure was for us to take our helmets, oxygen masks and gloves off… and
hand them to the plane captain while we pinned the ejection seats, un-hooked our Koch
fittings from the seat and took our garters off… I handed mine to the plane captain…
Unfortunately, Cindy was so busy hamming it up… he failed to see the plane captain
leaning over the intake to grab his gloves, that he held in his left hand… Unfortunately
for the plane captain, he failed to notice the nomex gloves were full… like someone had
blown air into some rubber hospital gloves. The plane captain grabs the gloves below
Cindy's hand… and before it registered in his brain… the gloves erupted like a small
volcano… spilling their contents all over the plane captains' hand and it dribbled down
onto the left console of the rear cockpit!
The plane captain was stunned… he flung the gloves up into the air like he'd grabbed a
warm turd and yelled out… "Jeezus Christ… you son of a bitch… you puked in your
gloves"!!!
I turned around and looked back at Cindy… only to see the color blanch from his face for
the second time in less than an hour… He was mortified! At the same time a roar went up
from the troops… the cat was out of the bag… his goose was cooked and Cindy was in
for a rough time.
I stood up in the seat looked back, gave the "Sting" salute and said… "Honest Cindy… I
didn't say nothin'… I didn't tell"!… The plane captain then yelled out… "Ya didn't have
to Sir… it's all over the place… he's gonna have to clean this shit up… I ain't doin' it"!
The troops just roared again… laughing!
From that day forward… he was known as… not just Cinderella… but "Pukin'
Cinderella" to his Buds… He took a lot of ribbing for months… But he was a good shit
about it and laughed along with the rest of us… I'll never forget him.
I'm sure he enjoyed his "E Ticket" ride… and has probably told the story as often as I
have… but somehow I think… knowing Cindy… he might just be leaving out the best
part. What a hoot!
Shadow
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