TheList 6719

The List 6719     TGB

To All

Good Friday Morning January 26, 2024. Clear and cool today. Hopefully the ground can dry out so I can attack the leaves again. I can actually see daylight through the five elm trees there is one different species that does not start until the others are just about done and it is close to the pool.  I hope you all have a great weekend.

Regards

Skip

HAGD

 

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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/

 

This day in Naval and Marine Corps History

January 26

1913—The body of John Paul Jones is laid in its final resting place in the Chapel of Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.

1943—USS Wahoo (SS 238) sinks entire convoy of four Japanese supply ships north of New Guinea.

1944—USS Skipjack (SS 184) sinks the Japanese destroyer Suzukaze and the aircraft ferry Okitsu Maru in the Caroline Islands area. Also on this date, USS Hake (SS 256) sinks the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Shuko Maru off Ambon and USS Crevalle (SS 291) sinks the Japanese gunboat Busho Maru 175 miles southeast of Cape St. Jacques, French Indochina.

1949—USS Norton Sound (AVM 1), the first guided-missile ship, launched the first guided-missile, Loon.

1960—Destroyer John S. McCain (DL 3) rescues the entire 41-man crew of the sinking Japanese freighter, Shinwa Maru, in the East China Sea.

 

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This Day in World History…January 26

1699 The Treaty of Karlowitz ends the war between Austria and the Turks.

1720 Guilio Alberoni is ordered out of Spain after his abortive attempt to restore his country's empire.

A fleet of ships carrying convicts from England lands at Sydney Cove in Australia. The day is since known as Australia's national day.

1861 Louisiana secedes from the Union.

1863 President Lincoln names General Joseph Hooker to replace Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac.

1875 Pinkerton agents, hunting Jesse James, kill his 18-year-old half-brother and seriously injure his mother with a bomb.

1885 General "Chinese" Gordon is killed on the palace steps in Khartoum by Sudanese Mahdists in Africa.

1924 Petrograd is renamed Leningrad.

1934 Germany signs a 10-year non-aggression pact with Poland, breaking the French alliance system.

1942 American Expeditionary Force lands in Northern Ireland.

1943 The first OSS (Office of Strategic Services) agent parachutes behind Japanese lines in Burma.

1964 Eighty-four people are arrested in a segregation protest in Atlanta

1969 California is declared a disaster area after two days of flooding and mud slides.2005 Condoleezza Rice is appointed to the post of secretary of state. The post makes her the highest ranking African-American woman ever to serve in a U.S. presidential cabinet.

 

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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear  

Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 22 January 2024 and ending Sunday, 28 January 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻

 

OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)…

From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post of 14 April 2019… 35th President attends his 1st meeting with his National Security Advisor and Staff…

 

https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/commando-hunt-and-rolling-thunder-remembered-20-26-january-1969-week-eleven-of-the-hunt/

 

 

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 can read what happened each day to the aircraft and its crew. ……Skip

 

One of the items that Micro is working on is the names of the pilots and crew of the rescue helos on these missions. So far only one squadron kept track so if there are any helo guys out there that have information on who the rescue pilots were on any of these missions he could use the help to complete the story on many of these. skip

From Vietnam Air Losses site for "Friday 26 January

26: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=422

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/ )

 

https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/news-articles/2022-news-articles/wall-of-faces-now-includes-photos-of-all-servicemembers-killed-in-the-vietnam-war/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TMNsend&utm_content=Y84UVhi4Z1MAMHJh1eJHNA==+MD+AFHRM+1+Ret+L+NC

Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War

By: Kipp Hanley

AUGUST 15, 2022

 

Check this out

Thanks to the Bear

Skip… For your information and consideration.. RTR Webmaster Dan Heller has updated the Links List attached to the RTR website with a dozen Vietnam air war sites that might interest regulars of The List… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻… See…

 

https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/new-links/

 

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Thanks to Micro,

I had never heard it before either

An interesting story that I've never heard before.

 

Operation Gunn: WWII's Great Escape by Air - The Armory Life

 

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Two winters at Loring AFB in Maine and one in Colorado keeps me in Sunny SanDiego No Snow for me…..skip

Thanks to Interesting Facts

Snow has a habit of sticking around for a while after it falls, sometimes for weeks — or even just in our mind's eye. It's often a symbol of calm, quiet, and fresh beginnings; famously, the impressionist painter Monet completed more than 100 snowy landscape paintings in his lifetime. As the winter season gets into full swing, gain a new perspective on cold-weather precipitation with these six cool facts about snow.

1 of 6

Snow Isn't Really White (And Sometimes It's Orange)

Red snow after sand from Sahara across eastern Europe.Credit: Magdalena Iordache/ Alamy Stock Photo

Most holiday carols allude to blankets of pristine white snow — an image that's entirely charming but scientifically a bit misleading, because snow is actually translucent. The way light passes through snow crystals causes it to bounce back and reflect the whole color spectrum at once, which is what makes it appear white to the human eye.

Most snow discoloration appears in the days after it has fallen, as snow is driven or walked over, but it's not entirely uncommon for the powdery precipitation to take on unusual shades as it's falling from the sky. Take, for instance, the orange snow that fell throughout Eastern Europe in 2018, tinted thanks to dust from the Saharan Desert being whipped up into the atmosphere by storms. A similar phenomenon caused brown snow to fall in Minnesota in 2019 thanks to dust storms in Texas.

2 of 6

Snowflakes Can Be Massive

Temperature has the biggest influence on a snowflake's size. When the thermometer drops below freezing, individual flakes are generally smaller and more dry; when temperatures creep upward during a snowstorm, snow crystals end up having a higher water content, giving them a chance to clump together to produce larger snowflakes. Generally, snowflakes are dime-sized or smaller, though it's not uncommon to witness jumbo crystals anywhere from two to six inches wide. The world's largest snowflake reportedly reached a massive 15 inches wide; while no photographic evidence exists, reports from an 1887 snowstorm in Fort Keogh, Montana, claim the flake was "larger than milk pans." Some skeptical scientists say the record-breaking water crystal likely wasn't an individual snowflake, but a lump of many, since it's normal for snowflakes to clump together as they fall at different speeds.

3 of 6

The First Snowflake Photos Were Taken by a Farmer

We know that all snowflakes have six sides thanks to Wilson Bentley, a Vermont farmer-turned-photographer and weather scientist. As a teenager, Bentley was fascinated with snow, viewing individual snowflakes under a microscope and eventually developing his own technique to photograph the magnified images. Credited with capturing the very first photo of a snowflake in 1885, Bentley spent four decades photographing more than 5,000 unique flakes, recording climate conditions for each one and publishing his findings on snowfall. (Not surprisingly, he was nicknamed "The Snowflake Man.") Bentley's crystal-clear images — many of which are now housed in the Smithsonian — were referenced by scientists for decades.

4 of 6

Earth Isn't the Only Planet With Snow

Earth is the only planet in our solar system known to sustain life, but it's not the only cosmic sphere with a form of snow. In 2017, scientists discovered Mars likely experiences snowstorms at night; even though the red planet is exceptionally arid, much of its polar ice caps are made of carbon dioxide, and it snows up to seven feet of the dry ice-like stuff each winter.

Venus also has its own — albeit unusual — snow, which covers the planet's highest mountain ranges. Minerals from the planet's surface vaporize due to the extreme temperatures (reaching nearly 900 degrees Fahrenheit), entering the planet's atmosphere. When they float back down, the dust-like particles collect as a metallic version of snow along high-altitude ridges.

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Many of the World's Snowiest Cities Are in Japan

A severe snowstorm can grind even the busiest cities to a halt, though colossal snowfall is the norm in many parts of Japan, including populous cities. That's because the country is in the line of cold air coming from Siberia, which pushes across the Sea of Japan's warmer waters to create the perfect conditions for heavy snowfall in certain areas from December through March. Snowstorms can dump exceptionally large loads of snow at higher elevations, which is why some regions, like the northern Aomori City, get more than 26 feet of snow each year. The city of Sapporo takes advantage of its 16 feet of snow by hosting an annual winter festival complete with towering snow and ice sculptures. And the coastal city of Toyama, nestled below the Hida Mountains (which get as much as 125 feet of snow annually), gets a hefty 12 feet each winter, which road crews plow into canyon-like walls along a stretch of highway called "Snow Canyon."

6 of 6

Milwaukee Popularized the Snow Plow

Long before cars, snowy roads were less of a hassle — mostly because they made travel easier. At a time when horse-drawn carriages were the main mode of getting around, travelers could easily swap the wheels on their carts for ski-like runners, which worked best when heavy snow was compacted onto streets. (In many regions, a "snow warden" was responsible for packing down fresh snow with a snow roller — a giant, weighted wheel.) But for people making their way by foot, trudging through a city's snow-laded walkways was a tiresome ordeal. By the mid-1800s, several inventors had designed their own horse-drawn plows to clear pedestrian paths, and in 1862, Milwaukee became the first major city to test such a contraption. Considered a success, the snow plow concept spread through many of the Great Lakes' snowiest cities, eventually paving the way for the modern motorized version, which would emerge in the 1920s as automobiles became popular.

 

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Thanks to "Newell

Family and Friends,

You may have seen this before, because it has been popular in correspondence on the internet.  By happenstance two friends shared with me in the last few days, and I thought it merited reposting.  Its message remains germane to some of the bizarre attitudes of our times.

Newell

The Death of Common Sense

 

(This is a modified version of a text circulated via the internet in 2011,

and was attributed to Lori Borgman,

an author, columnist and speaker.)

 

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.

He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:

Knowing when to come in out of the rain;

Why the early bird gets the worm;

Life isn't always fair,

and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults are in charge not the children).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place.  Reports of an 8-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate on the cheek, teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, all of which only worsened his condition.

Common sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student, but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses, and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common sense finally gave up the will to live, after a women failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled it in her lap while driving her car, sued the fast-food restaurant, and was awarded a huge settlement by the jury.

Common sense was preceded in death, by:

His parents, Truth and Trust

His wife, Discretion

His daughter, Responsibility

His son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers:

I know my rights

I want my rights

I want it now

I'm a victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.

 

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From the archives

Thanks to Barrel……

This explains it all...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqLB8wyrE_A

 

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From the archives

Thanks to Dr.Rich

Thanks to Bill W. ...

This wasn't important enough for a video, but I did post it on my Facebook page and I thought it might be something for your excellent aviation email circle.

Hope you've been well. Here you go:

Let me tell you about the plane crash I was just not in...

About an hour ago I was inbound to Charlotte, for the connection to my flight home to LA from Savannah. Several thick cloud layers on the way in, but the last overcast layer was at about 1800 feet or so. Then clear all the way down, except for a very thin broken layer at around 700 feet. "Broken" is defined as between 5/8 to 7/8 cloud cover, so there were lots of holes where the ground was clearly visible, and most of all that layer was thin: no more than 100 feet deep, tops. Most of that coverage was therefor transparent.

So it feels like we're less than ten seconds away from the flare, when all of a sudden the engines go to full power. The nose comes up, positive rate of climb, gear up and away we go. The almost impenetrably complex aviation term for this procedure is a "go-around," so named because instead of landing we are GOING AROUND to try again. It was only the second commercial go-around I have ever experienced in sixty years of commercial flying, which is low, because a lot of it is in California.

Here's why this particular example of a fairly routine event got my attention. That cloud deck was so broken, and so thin, that you could see a lot of ground down there. If the jet had been there three seconds earlier, or three seconds later, we would have just flown through the holes in the deck, no problem. But we didn't.

There is a an event that occurs at the very end of an instrument approach; it's called the MAP, or Missed Approach Point. This is a little bit different than "minimums." Minimums means the lowest altitude you can descend to as you continue to try to visually acquire the runway. But the MAP is the end of the line. If you don't have the runway in sight at the Missed Approach Point you must GO AROUND.

Here's the thing about this approach. For much if not most of the approach, the runway MUST have been in sight due to the thinness and patchiness of that broken layer. But by sheer chance, at the moment our aircraft reached the MAP, the runway was -- momentarily -- NOT in sight. The temptation to cheat on that one -- another second or two and he would have been able to see the runway again -- must have been nearly overwhelming; from what I was able to tell, in the time it took for the pilot flying to say "Go around," they would have been through it.

That DISCIPLINE didn't automatically prevent the plane crash I wasn't in... but it might have. If he had not gone around and run into a particularly dense patch he may not have been able to see the runway until it was visible out of every window on the airplane. As far as a survivability goes, we were going as about as slowly as the plane could fly -- which was good -- and our potential angle of impact was very shallow -- which is very, very good. But it is possible that he could have hit hard enough to bend the plane and just possibly hard enough to break the fuselage...and that means at least some fatalities.

Of course, IT NEVER HAPPENED. It was a non-event, due to the training and discipline of American (and not just American Airlines) pilots. And that's why The United States of America has flown 25,000 commercial flights per day for 7,379 days without a fatality. Since the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 on November 12, 2001, that comes to roughly 185 MILLION take-offs and landings without a single fatality. That's something you should be damn proud of. I know I am. My favorite part of being a pilot is being surrounded by intelligent, serious, magnificently trained, cool-headed and supremely COMPETENT men and women who take flying seriously so that you don't have to.

Bill Whittle

 

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From the archives thanks to Jack

Skip,

Here are some good ones to share with the list. Funny, but in many ways also true.

Fingers

Sardonic Senior Pearls of Wisdom:

I've learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everyone off is a piece of cake.

If you find yourself feeling useless, remember it took 20 years, trillions of dollars, and four presidents to replace the Taliban with the Taliban.

I'm responsible for what I say, not what you understand.

Common sense is like deodorant. The people who need it the most never use it.

My tolerance for idiots is extremely low these days. I used to have some immunity built up, but obviously there's a new strain out there.

It's not my age that bothers me; it's the side effects.

I'm not saying I'm old and worn out, but I make sure I'm nowhere near the curb on trash day.

As I watch this generation try and rewrite our history, I'm sure of one thing: It will be misspelled and have no punctuation.

Me, sobbing: "I can't see you anymore. . . . I'm not going to let you hurt me again."

My Trainer: "It was just one sit-up."

As I've gotten older, people think I've become lazy. The truth is I'm just being more energy efficient.

I haven't gotten anything done today. I've been in the Produce Department trying to open this stupid plastic bag.

Turns out that being a "senior" is mostly just googling how to do stuff.

I want to be 18 again and ruin my life differently. I have new ideas.

God promised men that good and obedient wives would be found in all corners of the world. Then he made the earth round. . . and laughed and laughed and laughed.

I'm on two diets. I wasn't getting enough food on one.

I put my scale in the bathroom corner and that's where the little liar will stay until it apologizes.

My mind is like an internet browser. At least 19 open tabs, 3 of them are frozen, and I have no clue where the music is coming from.

Hard to believe I once had a phone attached to a wall, and when it rang, I picked it up without knowing who was calling.

Apparently RSVPing to a wedding invitation "Maybe next time" isn't the correct response.

She says I keep pushing her buttons. If that were true, I would have found mute by now.

So you've been eating hot dogs and McChicken's all your life, but you won't take the vaccine because you don't know what's in it. Are you kidding me?

Sometimes the Universe puts you in the same situation again to see if you're still a dumbass.

There is no such thing as a grouchy old person. The truth is that once you get old, you stop being polite and start being honest!

 

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 Thanks to Hot Dog

Hymn for a Humble Hero - The Last of the Few

What a great guy and leader he was. It was an honor to be his friend. ❤️🇺🇸❤️🇺🇸.

Hot Dog sends

Keep your knots up - as speed is life

On Jan 25, 2024, at 18:22, Koch JR , John wrote:

Boris,  If folks haven't heard, our beloved Skipper, Hoagy took his last flight on Tuesday evening from home accompanied by his daughter Kelly and son-in-law Peter who have been caring for him for the last few years.  He was such a good friend to my wife and I over the years.  I can remember the first time I reported to the newly formed A'Rabs and there he was as big as life, the XO, Cdr Carmichael.  He was such a great man and always a gentleman.  He led by example !  Thinking back I can never remember him calling me anything but John or Shylock, never Mr. Koch.  He treated everyone with dignity and respect and instilled that in everyone in his command.  He was the first one that taught me how to handle the Intruder from the right seat and I have told him on several occasion that if he gets a call with a need to send a mission to hell, the line starts behind me!   

 I'll bet the angles and Joe are dancing with his arrival, but I'll bet Hoagy has the devil standing at attention! 

Farewell My friend !

<image002.png>

Regards             Shylock

9415 321st ST CT E

Eatonville, WA 98328

M 253 262-9071 John

M 360 395-8855 Dianne

 

John.Koch@hdrinc.com

A6arider@gmail.com

Diannekoch47@icloud.com

 

"A veteran is someone who

at one point in their life, wrote

a blank check made payable to

The United States of America

for any amount, up to and including

their life."

 

From: beakleyje@roadrunner.com <beakleyje@roadrunner.com>

 

Subject: FW: Hymn for a Humble Hero - The Last of the Few

 

<image003.jpg>

Here is THE PICTURE of a fighter pilot!!!

In my mind's eye, whether you flew Phantoms, Skyhawks, Thuds, Spads, Crusaders, Intruders, Tomcats, or Corsairs, in the day this is how I remember you. It is how in that "eye" I see myself. This is our face in the mirror. Of note we've changed a bit over the years, but the remembered sky version remains.

That happens to be the picture of an RAF fighter pilot taken during the Battle of Britain – Hurricane pilot John 'Paddy' Hemingway, 85 Squadron,  RAF. Group Captain (Ret.) Hemingway is 104. He's the last living of Winston Churchill's 2,937 – the "few."

 

Offered here is his story and a video and song  telling the story and honoring 'those few.'

Last of the Few http://rememberedsky.com/?p=5190

Hymn to a Humble Hero  http://rememberedsky.com/?p=5179

 

WE will never see their like again. Hopefully… because there won't be a need.

 

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Thanks to history Facts

Did Italy go to war over a bucket?

Locked away in the Torre della Ghirlandina — a bell tower in Modena, Italy — sits a wooden bucket that is the namesake of a war. The conflict began in 1325, fought between Modena and Bologna, neighboring city-states with a history of political differences. (The Bolognese supported the pope, while the Modenese supported the Holy Roman Emperor.) It should have been a forgotten political skirmish, but the War of the Bucket went down in history — thanks to the humble oaken pail for which it was named.

According to popular legend, the war began when the wooden bucket kept in the Bologna town well was allegedly stolen by Modenese soldiers who snuck into town, leading the Bolognese to retaliate in an all-out war. More likely, it started after an invasion of Bologna by the Modenese, and the bucket was a trophy gathered at the end of the war by the victorious Modenese, who were elated at their triumph despite being woefully outnumbered. The role of the bucket was exaggerated as the story was passed down through generations, and the myth was cemented by the poet Alessandro Tassoni's 1622 satirical poem "La secchia rapita," in which he joked that the Bolognese offered hostages, towns, and more in exchange for their stolen bucket. One aspect of Tassoni's poem still rings true, however: He wrote, "the Bucket was soon to be locked away, in the tallest tower it remains to this day, up on high the trophy hangs bound, by a great chain nailed far off the ground.

 

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This Day in U S Military History

 

1784 – In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin expressed unhappiness over the eagle as the symbol of America. He wanted the turkey.

1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers. At the time, Seattle was a settlement in the Washington Territory that had recently named itself after Chief Seattle (Sealth), a leader of the Suquamish and Duwamish peoples of central Puget Sound. Backed by artillery fire and supported by Marines from the United States Navy sloop-of-war Decatur, anchored in Elliott Bay (Seattle's harbor, then called Duwam-sh Bay), the settlers suffered only two deaths. The battle, part of the multi-year Puget Sound War or Yakima War, lasted a single day.

1863 – General Joseph Hooker assumes command of the Army of the Potomac following Ambrose Burnside's disastrous tenure. Hooker was a West Point graduate and a veteran of the Seminole War and the Mexican War, and he had served in the American West in the 1850s. When the Civil War erupted, Hooker was named brigadier general in the Army of the Potomac. He quickly rose to division commander, and he distinguished himself during the Peninsular Campaign of 1862. He also continued to build his reputation as a hard drinker and womanizer. He earned the nickname "Fighting Joe," and received command of the First Corps in time for the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862. His corps played a major role in the Battle of Antietam in September, and when Burnside failed as commander, Hooker had his chance. The general first had to deal with the sagging morale of the army. He reorganized his command and instituted a badge system, where each division had their own unique insignia. This helped to build unit pride and identity, and Hooker led a reenergized army into Virginia in April 1862. Hooker's appointment was part of Lincoln's frustrating process of finding a winning general in the east. After Irwin McDowell, George McClellan, John Pope, McClellan again, and then Burnside, Lincoln hoped Hooker could defeat Confederate General Robert E. Lee. It was a tall order, though, and Hooker was not up to the challenge. In May 1863, Hooker clashed with Lee at the Battle of Chancellorsville, and the Union army suffered a decisive and stunning defeat. Lincoln's search for an effective commander continued, and he eventually replaced Hooker with George Meade.

1911 – Glenn Curtiss piloted the 1st successful hydroplane in San Diego to and from the battleship USS Pennsylvania.

1913 – The body of John Paul Jones is laid in its final resting place in the Chapel of Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.

1940 -The American-Japanese Treaty of Navigation and Commerce is allowed to lapse because the US government refuses to negotiate in protest against Japanese aggression in China.

1942 – The first American expeditionary force to go to Europe during World War II went ashore in Northern Ireland.

1942 – The Board of Inquiry established to investigate Pearl Harbor find Admiral Kimmel, (then Commander in Chief, US Fleet) and General Short (then Commander in Chief, Hawaii Department) guilty of dereliction of duty. Both have already been dismissed.

 

1943 – The first OSS (Office of Strategic Services) agent parachutes behind Japanese lines in Burma. OSS's Detachment 101 came perhaps the closest to realizing General Willaim "Wild Bill" Donovan's original vision of "strategic" support to regular combat operations. Under the initial leadership of "the most dangerous colonel," Carl Eifler, Detachment 101 took time to develop its capabilities and relationships with native guides and agents. Within a year, however, the Detachment and its thousands of cooperating Kachin tribesmen were gleaning valuable intelligence from jungle sites behind Japanese lines. With barely 120 Americans at any one time, the unit eventually recruited almost 11,000 native Kachins to fight the Japanese occupiers. When Allied troops invaded Burma in 1944, Detachment 101 teams advanced well ahead of the combat formations, gathering intelligence, sowing rumors, sabotaging key installations, rescuing downed Allied fliers, and snuffing out isolated Japanese positions. Detachment 101 received the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation for its service in the 1945 offensive that liberated Rangoon.

1945 – American Lt. Audie Murphy, is wounded in France. Born the son of Texas sharecroppers on June 20, 1924, Murphy served three years of active duty, beginning as a private, rising to the rank of staff sergeant, and finally winning a battlefield commission to 2nd lieutenant. He was wounded three times, fought in nine major campaigns across Europe, and was credited with killing 241 Germans. He won 37 medals and decorations, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star (with oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit, and the Croix de Guerre (with palm). The battle that won Murphy the Medal of Honor, and which ended his active duty, occurred during the last stages of the Allied victory over the Germans in France. Murphy acted as cover for infantrymen during a last desperate German tank attack. Climbing atop an abandoned U.S. tank destroyer, he took control of its .50-caliber machine gun and killed 50 Germans, stopping the advance but suffering a leg wound in the process. Upon returning to the States, Murphy was invited to Hollywood by Jimmy Cagney, who saw the war hero's picture on the cover of Life magazine. By 1950, Murphy won an acting contract with Universal Pictures. In his most famous role, he played himself in the monumentally successful To Hell and Back. Perhaps as interesting as his film career was his public admission that he suffered severe depression from post traumatic stress syndrome, also called battle fatigue, and became addicted to sleeping pills as a result. This had long been a taboo subject for veterans. Murphy died in a plane crash while on a business trip in 1971. He was 46.

1951 – Far East Air Forces flew its first C-47 "control aircraft", loaded with enough communications equipment to connect by radio all T-6 Mosquitoes, tactical air control parties, and the Tactical Air Control Center. This was the harbinger of today's warning and control aircraft.

1952 – A rescue helicopter, behind enemy lines near the coastline of the Yellow Sea, received small arms fire while rescuing an F-84 pilot, Capt. A.T.Thawley.

1953 – Surface ships blasted coastal targets as the USS Missouri completed a 46-hour bombardment of Songjin.

1953 – The last F4U Corsair rolled off the Chance Vought Aircraft Company production line. Despite the dawning of the jet age, this World War II fighter remained in production due to its vital close-air support role in the Korean War. Almost 12,000 Corsairs were produced in various models.

1954 – The Senate consents to a defense treaty between the US and South Korea.

1962 – The United States launched Ranger 3 to land scientific instruments on the moon, but the probe missed its target by some 22,000 miles.

1970 – U.S. Navy Lt. Everett Alvarez Jr. spends his 2,000th day in captivity in Southeast Asia. First taken prisoner when his plane was shot down on August 5, 1964, he became the longest-held POW in U.S. history. Alvarez was downed over Hon Gai during the first bombing raids against North Vietnam in retaliation for the disputed attack on U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Tonkin in August 1964. Alvarez was released in 1973 after spending over eight years in captivity, the first six months as the only American prisoner in North Vietnam. From the first day of his captivity, he was shackled, isolated, nearly starved, and brutally tortured. Although he was among the more junior-rank prisoners of war, his courageous conduct under horrendous conditions and treatment helped establish the model emulated by the many other POWs that later joined him. After retirement from the Navy, he served as deputy director of the Peace Corps and deputy administrator of the Veterans Administration during the Reagan administration.

Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

One of my favorite Cowboy actors when I was young. To Hell and Back was the Movie that told his story. He was one of the most decorated soldiers of WWII.

MURPHY, AUDIE L.

Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B 1 5th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Holtzwihr France, 26 January 1945. Entered service at: Dallas, Tex. Birth: Hunt County, near Kingston, Tex. G.O. No.. 65, 9 August 1945. Citation 2d Lt. Murphy commanded Company B, which was attacked by 6 tanks and waves of infantry. 2d Lt. Murphy ordered his men to withdraw to prepared positions in a woods, while he remained forward at his command post and continued to give fire directions to the artillery by telephone. Behind him, to his right, 1 of our tank destroyers received a direct hit and began to burn. Its crew withdrew to the woods. 2d Lt. Murphy continued to direct artillery fire which killed large numbers of the advancing enemy infantry. With the enemy tanks abreast of his position, 2d Lt. Murphy climbed on the burning tank destroyer, which was in danger of blowing up at any moment, and employed its .50 caliber machinegun against the enemy. He was alone and exposed to German fire from 3 sides, but his deadly fire killed dozens of Germans and caused their infantry attack to waver. The enemy tanks, losing infantry support, began to fall back. For an hour the Germans tried every available weapon to eliminate 2d Lt. Murphy, but he continued to hold his position and wiped out a squad which was trying to creep up unnoticed on his right flank. Germans reached as close as 10 yards, only to be mowed down by his fire. He received a leg wound, but ignored it and continued the single-handed fight until his ammunition was exhausted. He then made his way to his company, refused medical attention, and organized the company in a counterattack which forced the Germans to withdraw. His directing of artillery fire wiped out many of the enemy; he killed or wounded about 50. 2d Lt. Murphy's indomitable courage and his refusal to give an inch of ground saved his company from possible encirclement and destruction, and enabled it to hold the woods which had been the enemy's objective.

 

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 26, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY

 26 January

1911: Glenn H. Curtiss flew a seaplane from the water at San Diego, Calif. This event was a first in the U. S. (24)

1942: The first US troops arrived in North Ireland to help establish the "air bridge" between the U. S. and the United Kingdom. (5)

1946: Colonel William H. Councill flew a Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star nonstop across the US to make the first transcontinental jet flight. He completed the 2,457 miles between Los Angeles and New York in 4 hours 13 minutes 26 seconds at an average speed of 584 MPH to set a FAI record. (24) The US AAF created the First Experimental Guided Missile Group to make and test missiles. On 6 February, the group activated at Eglin Field. (6) (12)

1949: The USS Norton Sound, the first guided missile experimental test ship, launched its first missile, the Loon. (24)

1951: KOREAN WAR. FEAF flew its first C-47 "control aircraft," loaded with enough communications equipment to connect all T-6 Mosquitoes, tactical air control parties, and the Tactical Air Control Center by radio. This was the harbinger of today's warning and control aircraft.

1953: Chance Vought Aircraft finished the last F4U Corsair. Almost 12,700 Corsairs in different variations were produced. (5)

1958: The ADC's 83d Fighter Interceptor Squadron (FIS) at Hamilton AFB, Calif., accepted the first F-104A Starfighter. (12)

1968: The US called ANG and AFRES units to active duty based on the Pueblo Incident and increased enemy activity in Vietnam. (16) (26)

1975: SAC completed its Force Modernization Program by installing the last flight of Minuteman IIIs in 90 SMW at Francis E. Warren AFB. The nine-year program replaced all Minuteman I missiles with either Minuteman IIs or IIIs. (1) (6)

1977: Aerojet Solid Propulsion Company successfully test-fired its M-X upper stage motor at the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory. (5)

1979: First European-built F-16 delivered in ceremonies at the SABCA plant at Charleroi-Gosselies Airport, Belgium. (12)

1982: The Ballistic Missile Office demonstrated M-X cold launch system at the Nevada Test Site. In the test, the system ejected a weight-simulated M-X shell more than 300 feet into the air.

1982: Maj Gen Michael Collins (USAF Reserve), a crewmember on the Apollo XI mission to the moon, flew his last mission as a USAF reserve officer in a F-16 at Edwards AFB.

Selected as part of NASA's third group of 14 astronauts in 1963, Collins flew in space twice. His first spaceflight was on Gemini 10 in 1966, in which he and Command Pilot John Young performed orbital rendezvous with two spacecraft and undertook two extravehicular activities (EVAs, also known as spacewalks). On the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, he became one of 24 people to fly to the Moon, which he orbited thirty times. He was the fourth person (and third American) to perform a spacewalk, the first person to have performed more than one spacewalk, and, after Young, who flew the command module on Apollo 10, the second person to orbit the Moon alone.

After retiring from NASA in 1970, Collins took a job in the Department of State as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. A year later, he became the director of the National Air and Space Museum, and held this position until 1978, when he stepped down to become undersecretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In 1980, he took a job as vice president of LTV Aerospace. He resigned in 1985 to start his own consulting firm. Along with his Apollo 11 crewmates, Collins was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2011. He died on April 28, 2021

1988: At Renton, Wash., Boeing rolled out two new aircraft, the 737-400 and 747-400.

1989: At Cape Canaveral, the Navy launched its 19th and last Trident II (D-5) missile. This launch ended a series of land-launched tests that began on 15 January 1987. (8)

2004: The AFFTC at Edwards AFB carried out the first mission its new KC-135 "rain and ice" tanker. The unique USAF aircraft could replicate rain, snow or icing conditions through a four-foot shower head, with 100 air and water nozzles, mounted at the end of its refueling boom. In the mission, the tanker produced a saturated cloud for an F-22 Raptor performance test. (3)

 

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