To All
Good Thursday Morning February 8, 2024. The rain is not done and I just let the dog out to do his business and he got caught in a squall. I had the towel ready for him when he headed in to the house. Looks like we will have some winds today and a bit more rain later. This current downpour was not on the schedule. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy and then sunshine and clear skies for about a week.
Happy birthday Worm
Regards,
skip
HAGD
Thanks to Roger
Hook '24 Social, 13 FEB 2024
Time: 1700 ~2200 PT
Aloha Skip, Hook '24 social flyer attached.
See attached….
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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
February 8
1862—During the Civil War, a joint amphibious expedition under the command of Flag Officer L. M. Goldsborough and U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Ambrose Burnside captures Roanoke Island, NC, securing Norfolk Navy Yard and eventually the destruction of CSS Virginia.
1890—A detachment of USS Omaha Sailors and Marines comes ashore at the town of Hodogaya, Japan, to assist in fighting an extensive fire.
1942—A Japanese destroyer sinks after being torpedoed by U.S. Navy submarine S37 (SS 142) the day before off Makassar.
1943—USS Snook (SS 279) attacks a Japanese convoy off the west coast of Kyushu and sinks the transport Lima Maru and survives depth charges about 30 miles southeast of Goto Retto.
1953—USS Lyman K. Swenson (DD 729) conducts counter-battery fire on a gun shelling Korean sampans in the Kojo area, silencing the enemy guns.
1984—Naval Aviator/Astronaut Bruce McCandless II makes the first untethered spacewalk as he flies some 300 feet from the Space Shuttle Challenger in the first test of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
1991—As part of Operation Desert Storm, USS Wisconsin (BB 64) attacks a dozen Iraqi artillery emplacements with 36 rounds of its 16-inch guns in support of a Marine reconnaissance probe into occupied Kuwait.
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This day in World History
February 8
1587 Mary, Queen of Scots is beheaded in Fotheringhay Castle for her alleged part in the conspiracy to usurp Elizabeth I.
1807 At Eylau, Napoleon's Marshal Pierre Agureau attacks Russian forces in a heavy snowstorm.
1861 Delegates from seceded states adopt a provisional Confederate Constitution.
1862 Union troops under Gen. Ambrose Burnside defeat a Confederate defense force at the Battle of Roanoke Island, N.C.
1865 Confederate raider William Quantrill and men attack a group of Federal wagons at New Market, Kentucky.
1887 Congress passes the Dawes Act, which gives citizenship to Indians living apart from their tribe.
1900 British General Buller is beaten at Ladysmith, South Africa as the British flee over the Tugela River.
1904 In a surprise attack at Port Arthur, Korea, the Japanese disable seven Russian warships.
1910 The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated.
1924 The gas chamber is used for the first time to execute a murderer.
1942 The Japanese land on Singapore.
1943 British General Orde Wingate leads a guerrilla force of "Chindits" against the Japanese in Burma.
1952 Elizabeth becomes Queen of England after her father, King George VI, dies.
1962 The U.S. Defense Department reports the creation of the Military Assistance Command in South Vietnam.
1965 South Vietnamese bomb the North Vietnamese communications center at Vinh Linh.
1971 South Vietnamese ground forces, backed by American air power, begin Operation Lam Son 719, a 17,000 man incursion into Laos that ends three weeks later in a disaster.
1990 CBS television temporarily suspends Andy Rooney for his anti-gay and ant-black remarks in a magazine interview.
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 5 February 2024 and ending Sunday, 11 February 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post of 28 April 2017… The TS/SI plan to destroy North Vietnam— Linebacker I/II — was on the shelf and ready to go on 5 February 1969… 27,000 American braves would perish (KIA) before the plan would be executed… Shame!…
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
From Vietnam Air Losses site for "Thursday 8 February
8: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1590
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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This was the start of the Island hopping campaign in WWII that went all the way to Okinawa.
Americans secure Guadalcanal
On February 8, 1943, Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, leaving the island in Allied possession after a prolonged campaign. The American victory paved the way for other Allied wins in the Solomon Islands.
Guadalcanal is the largest of the Solomons, a group of 992 islands and atolls, 347 of which are inhabited, in the South Pacific Ocean. The Solomons, which are located northeast of Australia and have 87 Indigenous languages, were introduced to Europe in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Alvaro de Mendana de Neyra (1541-95). In 1893, the British annexed Guadalcanal, along with the other central and southern Solomons. The Germans took control of the northern Solomons in 1885, but transferred these islands, except for Bougainville and Buka (which eventually went to the Australians) to the British in 1900.
The Japanese invaded the Solomons in 1942 during World War II and began building a strategic airfield on Guadalcanal. On August 7 of that year, U.S. Marines landed on the island, signaling the Allies' first major offensive against Japanese-held positions in the Pacific. The Japanese responded quickly with sea and air attacks. A series of bloody battles ensued in the debilitating tropical heat as Marines sparred with Japanese troops on land, while in the waters surrounding Guadalcanal, the U.S. Navy fought six major engagements with the Japanese between August 24 and November 30. In mid-November 1942, the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, died together when the Japanese sank their ship, the USS Juneau.
Both sides suffered heavy losses of men, warships and planes in the battle for Guadalcanal. An estimated 1,600 U.S. troops were killed, over 4,000 were wounded and several thousand more died from disease. The Japanese lost 24,000 soldiers. On December 31, 1942, Emperor Hirohito told Japanese troops they could withdraw from the area; the Americans secured Guadalcanal about five weeks later.
The Solomons gained their independence from Britain in 1978. In the late 1990s, fighting broke out between rival ethnic groups on Guadalcanal and continued until an Australian-led international peacekeeping mission restored order in 2003. Today, with a population of over half a million people, the Solomons are known as a scuba diver and fisherman's paradise
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Thanks to History Facts
The last ice age was more recent than you think
Saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths weren't roaming the Earth during the last ice age — Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were. A period of global cooling, known as the "Little Ice Age," spanned the late Middle Ages through the Renaissance era, ending around the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1800s. Some locations cooled down more than others, including northern Europe and western North America, which experienced temperature fluctuations between 1.8 and 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the thousand-year averages for those regions.
This drastic change in climate had several possible causes. One leading theory points to a decrease in sunspot activity, which caused less solar radiation to reach Earth's surface. Significant changes in atmospheric patterns also might have contributed to cooler temperatures in some regions. Or an increase in volcanic eruptions could have been the culprit, causing gas and ash to spew into the atmosphere, cooling the Earth. Some experts suggest it was a combination of all these things. Researchers at University College London believe the temperature drop was exacerbated by an entirely different issue: the depopulation of the Americas following the arrival of European colonists. Mass warfare and disease caused the deaths of 56 million Indigenous people by 1600. Large areas of once-cultivated land turned into forests, absorbing massive amounts of carbon dioxide and preventing it from reaching the atmosphere to warm the planet.
The impacts of the Little Ice Age were global, causing food shortages in parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. China's long-standing Ming dynasty fell in 1644, partially due to agricultural woes. Widespread famine uprooted the regular order of society, and Europe's medieval feudal system (which relied on peasants growing crops for their lords) collapsed (partly due to climate change, though many other factors contributed), giving way to markets and trade systems. This new way of life led into the 17th-century Age of Enlightenment, when exploration, religion, art, and philosophy transformed European society.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
China banned time travel in TV and movies.
Most people have genres of film or TV that they dislike, and for the Chinese government, that genre is time travel. Back in March 2011, the country's State Administration for Radio, Film & Television issued guidelines restricting the production and dissemination of TV shows and movies featuring time travel, saying that these tales "lack positive thoughts and meaning." Ignoring the fact that some of the very best time-traveling TV shows (Doctor Who) and films (Back to the Future) seem to be bursting with meaning, the administration further explained that these programs "casually make up myths, have monstrous and weird plots, use absurd tactics, and even promote feudalism, superstition, fatalism, and reincarnation."
At the time, this reaction appeared to stem from popular Chinese shows that tended to traipse back into the ancient past, something one film critic told The Hollywood Reporter was akin to "superstition" to Chinese censors. These stories, as seen in the then-popular Chinese shows Myth and Palace, contain protagonists who go back in time and discover some form of happiness — a happiness that, by extending the metaphor, couldn't be found in modern-day Communist China. In other words, it may have been the social critique embedded within the time-travel tales that China was objecting to. The ban is still in place, and applies to both traditional television and film — but not online streaming, where several popular series featuring time travel have flourished.
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Thanks to Mike
ooops
Spell Checking At The Monastery.
A young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to helping the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church, by hand.
He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript.
So, the new monk goes to the Old Abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up!
In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies.
The head monk, says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son."
He goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscripts are held as archives, in a locked vault that hasn't been opened for hundreds of years.
Hours go by and nobody sees the Old Abbot.
So, the young monk gets worried and goes down to look for him.
He sees him banging his head against the wall and wailing.
"We missed the R! We missed the R! We missed the bloody R!"
His forehead is all bloody and bruised and he is crying uncontrollably.
The young monk asks the old Abbot, "What's wrong, father?"
With a choking voice, the old Abbot replies,
"The word was...
CELEBRATE!"
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Thanks to Clyde
Thoughts for the sane
I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with "Guess" on it. So I said "Implants?" She hit me.
I don't do drugs. I get the same effect just standing up quickly.
I live in my own little world. But it's OK. They know me here
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
I don't approve of political jokes. I've seen too many of them get elected.
I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect; therefore, I am perfect.
Everyday I beat my own previous record for number of consecutive days I've stayed alive.
How come we choose from just two people to run for president and 50 for Miss America?
Isn't having a smoking section in a restaurant like having a peeing section in a swimming pool?
Snowmen fall from Heaven unassembled.
Every time I walk into a singles bar I can hear Mom's wise words: "Don't pick that up, you don't know where it's been!"
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Thanks to Bruce at the risk of a dupe
Hold my beer and watch this, I'm a professional pilot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er5DgLC3MQs
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From the archives
Thanks to Cowboy for finding a way to get this into the List
Thanks to Billy and Dr. rich
Subject: Very tough day at the office ....
For all you BN's, RIO's, WSO's out there … Lt. Wilson couldn't have represented y'all better !!!
The amazing rescue of Fango 45 …
Thanks to Arv via Billy ...
THE AMAZING RESCUE OF FANGO 45
By William C. Miller, with Frederic M. Wilson, Michael P. McGrath, and Howard Hogan. 17 Nov 2021
On 8 April 1982, the following crew conversation takes place inside Fango 43, an Idaho ANG RF-4C flying a twilight low-level radar mission over eastern Oregon:
PILOT: "Ground speed set at 480."
WSO: "Okay, turn right to heading two-zero-three."
PILOT: "Steady two-zero-three."
WSO: "Okay, come one-half degree left and hold that."
PILOT: "Rawj."
WSO: "Clear your clock. After we hack, turn left two-zero-three and hold that heading 'till we cross the target. Ready, ready—Hack!"
PILOT: "My clock's runnin'; I'm turning to two-zero-three…okay; steady on that heading!"
WSO: "We'll cross the target at fifty-two seconds. Then climb straight ahead to 7,300', switch to TAO, make a 45-degree-bank left turn to one-eight-five degrees."
PILOT: "Okay …. There's forty-five seconds …."
WSO: "The IR's comin' on. 'We should be over the target right now…. Okay, now start your climb to 7,300' and switch to …."
(RADIO CALL ON DISTRESS CHANNEL) "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MADAY! FANGO 45, MAYDAY, MAYDAY. 150 MILES WEST OF BOISE HAS A BIRDSTRIKE. MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY!"
PILOT: "Mike, that's Fred, and he's in big trouble! We're abandoning this low-level, and I'm headin' over that way right now and we're coming to a …220 heading. That should put us in his vicinity."
Fango 43 was about 20 miles east of Fango 45, and their new southwesterly heading would quickly put them close to Fango 45 who indeed needed help. They radioed Salt Lake Center to get radar help locating the distressed Fango 45 and aiding a rapid join-up.
FANGO 43: "Salt Lake Center, Fango 43; 100 northwest of Boise."
SALT LAKE: "Fango 43, Salt Lake, go ahead."
FANGO 43: "We just heard a Mayday from Fango 45, he's about 150 west of Boise; reported a birdstrike. Can you see him and vector us over there to join up? He really needs our help."
SALT LAKE: "Fango 43, squawk ident. Radar contact 105 west of Boise."
FANGO 43: "Roger. He's probably heading toward Boise; 'should be around 250 knots."
SALT LAKE: "Okay Fango 43, I've got a 4300 squawk in that vicinity, bearing two-zero-zero for 21."
FANGO 43: "Okay, that should be him; thanks. When we join up, we'll keep you advised."
Fango 45 had also been flying a low-level mission, traveling at 480 knots groundspeed in a low-level training corridor. They needed help indeed, for they'd struck a 20-pound Tundra Swan (Cygnus Columbianis), in their left windscreen, shattering it and incapacitating pilot Capt. Greg Engelbreit. The rear-seat crewmember (WSO) was Lt. Fred Wilson, who was now in control of the aircraft. The RF-4C had only partial rear-seat controls—stick, rudders, throttles, speed brakes--and only limited provision for establishing landing configuration, visibility to land, and braking the aircraft. Relying on his training, even in his blinded, injured, and semiconscious state, Engelbreit had properly configured Fango 45 for landing—extending landing gear, flaps, and arresting hook. Wilson's problems were lessened by Engelbreit's actions; however, he still faced numerous and severe problems due to an incapacitated pilot, air blasting into the cockpit at nearly 250 knots, and no forward visibility due to windscreen damage and blood and bird parts covering the canopy. Also, twilight was gathering and the landing destination was still 20 minutes away.
[Author's Note: The following relevant advice and procedures are from p. 3-41 of the R-F4C Flight Manual LANDING FROM THE REAR COCKPIT WITH PILOT DISABLED and applied to Wilson's situation]:
"If the combination of weather, landing facilities, aircrew experience and aircraft condition is less than ideal, consideration should be given to a controlled ejection A landing from the rear seat when the pilot is incapacitated presents a number of problems. The problem areas are: flaps and gear lowering, directional control, braking, and engine shutdown. The landing gear and flaps can be lowered by the emergency method (blown down) from the aft cockpit {in this case not applicable to Wilson in Fango 45} …Additional items not available: utility hydraulic pressure indicator…arresting hook {already down} and drag chute."
[Also, p. 3-47 covers APPROACH-END ARRESTMENT, also applicable to Fango 45's situation]:
"Approach-end arrestments are considered practical whenever a malfunction or adverse weather conditions present a threat to directional control and there is suitable landing surface in front of the arresting cable on which to land and lower the nose prior to cable contact."
PILOT: "Salt Lake, Fango 43's got a visual on a beacon; our 1:30 position about 8 miles."
SALT LAKE: "Roger, Fango 43, that should be the other Fango."
PILOT: "Thanks Salt Lake, we're joining up on him now and we'll advise if we need any more help."
WSO: "Let's try to raise Fred on the radio, I'm switching us over to Guard (243.0 mhz)…… okay, now see if he can hear us."
Fango 43 executed a rapid joinup, and their crew now saw Engelbreit's status: slouched forward, chin on chest, with major damage to his ejection seat linkages and parachute container, which rendered his ejection system unusable. They made radio contact with Wilson and learned that he had limited visibility through his blood-smeared canopy. Forward visibility was nonexistent due to windblast and windshield/canopy obscuration, but Wilson had enough lateral visibility to maintain formation with Fango 43. Fango 43's crew knew immediately what they must do, and instructed Wilson to fly formation on them through a landing and approach-end cable arrestment at Mountain Home AFB (MHAFB). Wilson agreed, and from that moment on his central task was to fly good formation on Fango 43.
FANGO 43 to Fango 45: "Here's the plan, Fred, as we've briefed before: we'll bring you in for a straight-in approach-end arrestment at Mountain Home. We'll have everything coordinated and it will be all set up. You just hang with us like you're now doing. 'You okay with our plan?"
FANGO 45: "I'm with you Bill."
FANGO 43: "Okay then, we'll take it nice and easy. You just keep flyin' that good position you've got and we'll bring you in. In the event your hook doesn't catch the cable, I'll gradually advance the power, you stay with me, and we'll make a go-around, and come back around for another try. Nice and easy; no sudden moves. All right?"
FANGO 45: "Roger."
Fango 43 contacted the squadron Supervisor of Flying (SOF), Capt Howard Hogan, at Boise, explained their plan, and requested that he contact MHAFB's SOF to advise and brief him on their plan and its complications. As the two Fangos neared MHAFB, they contacted MHAFB Approach Control and requested a 'single-frequency approach', a separate radio frequency exclusively for their use. The squadron SOF continued to monitor the Fangos' radio transmissions, and supplied further information about the nature of the emergency to the MHAFB SOF. By this time the flight is 20 miles southwest of MHAFB, and the lights of the base are now becoming visible.
PILOT: "Fred's hanging in there just great. 'Anything we've forgotten?"
WSO: "No, we've gone through all the normal and emergency checklists, and we're all set. I sure hope he stays in there, it's getting dark out here."
PILOT: "Yeah, you're right. I'll put our nav lights on 'dim-steady'."
FANGO 43: "How ya doin', Fred?"
FANGO 45: "I'm okay".
FANGO 43: "Okay, relax if you can! We'll fly a long straight-in approach to runway Three-Zero, and it will work out fine."
The flight has proceeded at 220KIAS with landing gear down, and now turns onto a left base leg for Runway 30 as the evening light fades completely. The weather is perfect, and the Fango 43 crew continues discussing what-ifs and reviewing their procedures. The single-frequency approach has eased Wilson's workload by eliminating radio channel switching and having to listen to other radio receptions that might break his and his flight lead's concentration. Approach Control turns them to a ten-mile final and the flight rolls out on the ILS. Fango 43 requests 'radar monitoring' of their ILS approach, with no further radio calls needed except a landing clearance.
FANGO 43: "Okay Fred, you're lookin' good; we're all lined up. Just hang in there and we'll have you down."
FANGO 45: "Okay."
PILOT: "Everything's set, Mike, keep an eye on him; I'm concentratin' on this approach; speed's now set on 185."
WSO: "Roger that, he's holding good."
APPROACH CONTROL: "Fango 43, cleared to land, the emergency equipment is standing by."
FANGO 43: "Rawj; gear down; Fred check three green."
FANGO 45: "Fango 45; gear down."
FANGO 43: "Fango 45, you're lookin' good."
As the formation arrives over the threshold, formation position, speed, alignment and descent are perfect for a touchdown 500' before the arresting cable. Touchdown occurs right on target and the two Fangos' noses drop to the runway just as their wheels roll over the cable. Immediately the Fango 43 crew sees Fango 45 quickly decelerating, sliding back, signaling a good arrestment.
PILOT: "Beautiful! Man what a sight!"
WSO: "Yeah, he's caught the cable."
FANGO 43: "Okay, Fred; you're on your own! Approach, Fango 43 is touch and go, request clearance back to Boise at seven thousand."
FANGO 45: "Thanks for your help, guys!"
APPROACH CONTROL: "Fango 43, climb to seven thousand, squawk 4415, contact Boise Approach on 269.4."
FANGO 43: "Roger, seven thousand, and Boise on 269.4. Great work Fred."
PILOT: Man, I'm exhausted!
WSO: Me too; I hope they're okay.
The successful approach-end arrestment, even though perfectly executed, was not the end of the challenges. Rescue from the stopped aircraft wasn't simple because engine shutdown wasn't available to Wilson from the back seat, requiring someone to gain access to the front cockpit to stop the engines. None other than the Mountain Home AFB Wing Commander was on scene and took on the task. Climbing up on the left intake and reaching into the front cockpit and stop-cocking the engines was Wing Commander Col Coleman, assisted by TSgt Gardner, who held Coleman by his belt, steadying him atop his precarious perch. With engine shutdown and extrication complete, Engelbreit was then taken immediately to MHAFB hospital, and later transported to St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise.
This recovery of an aircraft and crew definitely saved Engelbreit's life. Wilson had the option of ejecting himself safely from the damaged aircraft, but such an ejection would have been fatal for Engelbreit.
After several months Engelbreit began recovering from his injuries, later regaining partial use of his left shoulder, but unfortunately, never sufficient to re-attain flying status.
However, the rescue was an unqualified success. Sadly, Engelbreit succumbed fifteen years later to Cruzfeld-Jacob Disease. The crew of Fango 43, pilot William C. Miller and WSO Michael McGrath, and Fango 45 WSO Fred Wilson, as well as Howard Hogan all have retired from the Idaho Air Guard and live in Boise.
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Military Milestones from Apache Pass to Patch's Dispatch by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
02/09/2010
This Week in American Military History:
Feb. 9, 1943: U.S. Adm. William F. "Bull" Halsey receives the following message from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Alexander M. "Sandy" Patch: "Total and complete defeat of Japanese forces on Guadalcanal effected 1625 today . . . Am happy to report this kind of compliance with your orders . . . because Tokyo Express no longer has terminus on Guadalcanal." The campaign launched by U.S Marines and sailors in August 1942, and fought by Army, Navy, and Marine forces (and allies) over a six-month period, has resulted in the decisive defeat of Japanese forces on-and-near the island of Guadalcanal. The close of the campaign also ends the first major American offensive of World War II.
Feb. 10, 1763: The Treaty of Paris is signed ending the Seven Years War, known as the French and Indian War in the North American colonies. For America – militarily speaking – the war strengthens Great Britain's territorial dominance and strategic supremacy in North America. The war also serves as the conflict prior to the American Revolution in which many future Continental Army commanders cut their teeth.
Feb. 10, 1962: In a dramatic Cold War prisoner swap between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers is exchanged for Soviet spy Rudolph Ivanovich Abel on the Glienecker Bridge between West Berlin and Potsdam in East Germany. Powers is a former U.S. Air Force officer who had been flying U-2s for the CIA when he was shot down over the Soviet Union and captured in May 1960. Abel, a KGB colonel, had been arrested in New York in 1957 and convicted of espionage activities against the United States. Feb. 12, 1955: Pres. (retired five-star U.S. Army general) Dwight D. Eisenhower sends U.S. military advisors to South Vietnam.
Feb. 12, 1973: The first American prisoners of war are released from North Vietnamese captivity.
Feb. 13, 1861: U.S. Army Assistant Surgeon Bernard J. D. Irwin takes voluntary command of combat troops, leading an expedition to rescue some 60 men of the 7th Infantry who are trapped and surrounded by Apache Indian forces under Cochise. According to his citation: "Irwin and 14 men, not having horses began the 100-mile march riding mules. After fighting and capturing Indians, recovering stolen horses and cattle, he reached [2d Lt. George N.] Bascom's column and help break his siege."Though the Medal of Honor does not yet exist, Irwin will receive the new decoration in 1894. And his actions at "Apache Pass" will prove to be the first in history for which the medal is awarded.
Feb. 13, 1945: USS Batfish (the first of two so-named American submarines) sinks her third Japanese submarine in four days.
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This Day in U S Military History February 8
1918 – The Army newspaper, "The Stars and Stripes", begins publication for a second time. The first paper called The Stars and Stripes was a product of the Civil War, put out by four Union soldiers in 1861. Using the facilities of a captured newspaper plant in Bloomfield, Mo., they ran off a one-page paper that made just one appearance. The World War I edition first appeared late in the war in Paris. It was produced weekly by an all-military staff to serve the doughboys of the American Expeditionary Force under General of the Armies John J. "Black Jack" Pershing. Some of its staff went on to journalistic fame, including Pvt. Harold Ross, who later became the founder and editor of The New Yorker magazine, and sports writer Lt. Grantland Rice. The newspaper ceased production after the war ended, but 24 years later, on April 18, 1942, The Stars and Stripes was reborn during World War II. In a London print shop's tiny room, a small group of servicemen founded a four-page weekly paper selling for two pence a copy (about 5 cents) which quickly grew to an eight-page daily newspaper. The Hawaii edition was launched a week after VE day (Victory in Europe, May 8, 1945) and became the forerunner of the Pacific Stars and Stripes.
1940 – "Harry Sawyer" (Sebold) arrives in New York to lead a German spy network in the USA. His special equipment includes "microdots". (Sebold is a double agent, working for the FBI).
1943 – British General Wingate led a guerrilla force of "Chindits" against the Japanese in Burma. Detachment 101's support of Maj. Gen. Orde Wingate's Chindits and Maj. Gen. Frank Merrill's Marauders was crucial to the Allied success in Burma and to the eventual victory in Southeast Asia.
1958–A U.S. Navy P5M aircraft enroute from San Juan to Norfolk lost one engine and changed course to the island of San Salvador, British West Indies, to attempt a night ditching. AIRSTA Miami sent up a Coast Guard UF amphibian plane, later reinforced by a second amphibian. After contacting the disabled US Navy plane, the pilot of the first amphibian talked the Navy pilot out of attempting to ditch without benefit of illumination and alerted the commanding officer of the Coast Guard LORAN station on San Salvador for assistance after ditching. In true Coast Guard tradition, the LORAN station's CO borrowed a truck and an 18-foot boat to assist. The commanding officer managed to be on the scene 1 1/2 miles offshore, when the Navy P5M landed with two minutes of fuel remaining. While one of the amphibians provided additional illumination, the Navy plane was guided through a dangerous reef to a mooring, using her operative port engine. There were no casualties.
1971 – South Vietnamese army forces invade southern Laos. Dubbed Operation Lam Son 719, the mission goal was to disrupt the communist supply and infiltration network along Route 9 in Laos, adjacent to the two northern provinces of South Vietnam. The operation was supported by U.S. airpower (aviation and airlift) and artillery (firing across the border from firebases inside South Vietnam). Observers described the drive on North Vietnam's supply routes and depots as some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Enemy resistance was initially light, as a 12,000-man spearhead of the South Vietnamese army thrust its way across the border into the communists' deepest jungle stronghold–the town of Tchepone, a major enemy supply center on Route 9, was their major objective. However, resistance stiffened in the second week when the North Vietnamese rushed reinforcements to the area. During the last week of February, the big push bogged down about 16 miles from the border, after bloody fighting in which the communist troops overran two South Vietnamese army battalions. Also on this day: In Cambodia, Premier Lon Nol suffers a paralyzing stroke and turns his duties over to Deputy Premier Sirik Matak. Debilitated by the stroke, Lon Nol resigned on April 20. A week later, he withdrew his resignation, staying on in a figurehead role as Sirik Matak continued to run the government pending his recovery.
2010 – Space Shuttle Endeavour launches successfully from Kennedy Space Center at 4:14 EST, marking the beginning of STS-130, a two-week mission to the International Space Station. STS-130 (ISS assembly flight 20A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Space Shuttle Endeavour's primary payloads were the Tranquility module and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center, providing a 360-degree view around the station.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HUFF, PAUL B.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion. Place and date: Near Carano, Italy, 8 February 1944. Entered service at: Cleveland, Tenn. Birth: Cleveland, Tenn. G.O. No.: 41, 26 May 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, in action on 8 February 1944, near Carano, Italy. Cpl. Huff volunteered to lead a 6-man patrol with the mission of determining the location and strength of an enemy unit which was delivering fire on the exposed right flank of his company. The terrain over which he had to travel consisted of exposed, rolling ground, affording the enemy excellent visibility. As the patrol advanced, its members were subjected to small arms and machinegun fire and a concentration of mortar fire, shells bursting within 5 to 10 yards of them and bullets striking the ground at their feet. Moving ahead of his patrol, Cpl. Huff drew fire from 3 enemy machineguns and a 20mm. weapon. Realizing the danger confronting his patrol, he advanced alone under deadly fire through a minefield and arrived at a point within 75 yards of the nearest machinegun position. Under direct fire from the rear machinegun, he crawled the remaining 75 yards to the closest emplacement, killed the crew with his submachine gun and destroyed the gun. During this act he fired from a kneeling position which drew fire from other positions, enabling him to estimate correctly the strength and location of the enemy. Still under concentrated fire, he returned to his patrol and led his men to safety. As a result of the information he gained, a patrol in strength sent out that afternoon, 1 group under the leadership of Cpl. Huff, succeeded in routing an enemy company of 125 men, killing 27 Germans and capturing 21 others, with a loss of only 3 patrol members. Cpl. Huff's intrepid leadership and daring combat skill reflect the finest traditions of the American infantryman.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 8 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
8 February
1908: The Secretary of War approved bids by the Wright Brothers, Augustus M. Herring, and James F. Scott to build the first plane. (12)
1912: The Signal Corps issued its second set of military airplane specifications. (24)
1918: The Army changed its aircraft insignia from the white star to concentric circles of red and blue around white. (5)
1944: Fifteenth Air Force activates the 454th Bomb Group flying B-24 Liberator bombers. This brings to ten the total of heavy bomb groups in the Fifteenth. B-17s continue to bomb targets under escort by P-47 and P-38 fighters.
1949: Boeing's XB-47 set an unofficial 3-hour, 46-minute cross country speed record by flying 2,289 miles from Moses Lake, Wash., to Andrews AFB, Md., at 607.2 miles per hour. (24)
1950: A Navy P2V Neptune set a distance record for carrier-launched planes. It flew 5,060 miles nonstop from a carrier in the Atlantic to San Francisco, Calif., in 25 hours 59 minutes. (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR. Far East Air Forces used B-29s, B-26s, and fighters to attack rail lines in northeastern Korea between Hoeryong and Wonsan. (28)
1953: The American Medical Association recognized Aviation Medicine as a medical specialty, the first specialty to evolve from military practice and research. (16) (24)
1954: Dr. B. W. Augenstein of RAND Corporation wrote "A Revised Program for Ballistic Missiles of Intercontinental Range." He said the Atlas could become operational in the early 1960s, if the Department of Defense relaxed certain performance characteristics, increased funds, and placed a higher national priority on the program. (6)
1958: The USAF contracted with RCA to manage the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System [DEW Line and SAGE System together]. (5)
1962: The National Air and Space Administration launched the Television Infrared Observation Satellite IV (TIROS) weather satellite on a Thor-Delta booster from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to photograph the earth's cloud cover and the snow and ice distribution. (24)
1965: The USAF flew its first retaliatory air strike in North Vietnam. A North American F-100 Super Sabre flew cover for attacking South Vietnamese fighters and suppressed ground fire in the target area. (12) (16)
1967: The Strategic Air Command launched a Thor missile from Vandenberg, Calif. This was the last Thor launched until 1980. (6)
1971: Navy Cmdr Donald H. Lilienthal piloted a P-3C Orion to 4 time-to-climb records: brake release to 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) in 2 minutes 59 seconds; 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) in 5 minutes 48 seconds; 9,000 meters (29,528 feet) in 10 minutes 31 seconds; and 12,000 meters (39,370 feet) in 19 minutes 53 seconds. He also set a new altitude record of 14,050 meters (46,100 feet) for this aircraft class. (5) Operation LAM SON 719. South Vietnamese troops from three divisions, supported by US planes and artillery, crossed the border into Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh trail and interdict the flow of supplies from the north. Extensive US air support prevented the operation from turning into a disaster when South Vietnamese forces found themselves overextended and outnumbered, which forced them to conduct a fighting withdrawal from Laos. (17)
1975: During the B-1's third flight, the pilots used a new automated flight test data system for the first time. (5)
1978: Operation SNOW BLOW II. Through 10 February, Military Airlift Command aircraft moved 1,084 personnel and 2,339 tons of snow removal equipment in 33 C-141, 16 C-5, and 75 C-130 missions to Boston, Mass., Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R. I., to remove more than 25 inches of snow. (18) Exercise COMMANDO ROCK. Through 22 February, Air Training Command deployed 250 people overseas to support the PACAF exercise. This exercise, a first in the command's 25-year history, tested the command's wartime/contingency readiness. (16)
1998: Operation PHOENIX SCORPION II. Through 3 March, Air Mobility Command conducted a second deployment to augment forces sent to Southwest Asia in November 1997. The command supported the westward flow of B-52s and KC-10s from the U. S. to Diego Garcia, while the airlifters and tankers moved F-16s, F-117s, and a B-1B, along with rescue and special operations assets eastward from the U. S. to the Persian Gulf area. In all, Air Mobility Command forces (Active, Reserve, and Guard) flew 296 airlift missions to carry 11,368 passengers and 11,321 short tons of cargo, while 191 air refueling missions offloaded 4.7 million pounds of fuel. (22)
2003: With Department of Defense approval the Air Mobility Command Commander, Gen John W. Handy, activated the Stage I Civil Reserve Air Fleet. Stage I affected 22 US airline companies and 78 commercial aircraft (47 passenger and 31 wide-body planes). General Handy, however, only used the 47 aircraft to deploy American troops to the Persian Gulf. The U. S. activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet only two other times in its 52-year history, Stage I on 17 August 1990 and Stage II on 17 January 1991, both for the first Persian Gulf War. (22) 2006: The first of eight C-17s (Tail No. 05-5146) for PACAF's 15th Airlift Wing arrived at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. This first C-17 Globemaster III to be based outside the continental US received Spirit of Hawaii--Ke Aloha, or "Hawaii One," as its name. (22)
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Hi Bro Gary...
What a wonderful way to start my day...
Reading your message below... "OF THOSE WHO FLY!"
Max Forwards to those who Fly... Along with my answer to those who ask me... "Hey Len, how did you get both your sons to fly Navy & now Airlines?"
My response was and is... "Flying Airplanes is the most fun you can have with your clothes ON!" And that's the truth, so help me Gosh!
Bro Len... 🙏
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On Sat, Dec 16, 2023 GT wrote:
31 good reasons for a rerun...
GT... OF THOSE WHO FLY!"
1. There is no problem so complex that it cannot simply be blamed on the pilot. ~ Dr Earl Weiner
2. To invent an airplane is nothing. To build one is something. To fly is everything. ~ Otto Lilienthal
3. Safety second is my motto. ~ Locklear
4. Speed is life, altitude is life insurance.
5. The man who flies an airplane ... must believe in the unseen. ~ Richard Bach
6. There is no excuse for an airplane unless it will fly fast! ~ Roscoe Turner
7. The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't. ~ Douglas Adams
8. Aviation is proof, that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible. ~ Rickenbacker
9. Flying is like sex —I've never had all I wanted but occasionally I've had all I could stand. ~ Stephen Coonts
10. The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise. ~ Cornelius Tactitus (circa AD 56)
11. Aviation in itself is not inherently dangerous. But to an even greater degree than the sea, it is terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity or neglect.
12. Lady, you want me to answer you if this old airplane is safe to fly? Just how in the world do you think it got to be this old? ~ Jim Tavenner
13. If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds; but if you really wish to learn, you must mount a machine and become acquainted with its tricks by actual trial. ~ Wilbur Wright, 1901.
14. The highest art form of all is a human being in control of himself and his airplane in flight, urging the spirit of a machine to match his own. ~Richard Bach, 'A Gift Of Wings'
15. The greatest danger in flying is starving to death. ~ Earl C. Reed of the T-L-R Flying Circus
16. When the weight of the paper equals the weight of the airplane, only then you can go flying. ~ Donald Douglas
17. In flying I have learned that carelessness and overconfidence are usually far more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks. ~ Wilbur Wright, September 1900.
18. I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things. ~ Antoine de St-Exupéry
19. Any damned fool can criticize, but it takes a genius to design it in the first place. ~ Edgar Schmued
20. When asked by someone how much money flying takes: Why, all of it! ~ Gordon Baxter
21. The important thing in aeroplanes is that they shall be speedy. ~ Baron Manfred Von Richthofen
22.. The aeroplane will never fly. ~ Lord haldane, Minister of War, Britain, 1907
23. What freedom lies in flying, what Godlike power it gives to men… I lose all consciousness in this strong unmortal space crowded with beauty, pierced with danger. ~ Charles A. Lindbergh
24. It is hard enough for anyone to map out a course of action and stick to it, particularly in the face of the desires of one's friends; but it is doubly hard for an aviator to stay on the ground waiting for just the right moment to go into the air. ~ Glenn Curtiss, 1909.
25. To put your life in danger from time to time... breeds a saneness in dealing with day-to-day trivialities. ~ Nevil Shute
26. Aviation records don't fall until someone is willing to mortgage the present for the future. ~ Amelia Earhart
27. Real planes use only a single stick to fly. This is why bulldozers & helicopters—in that order —need two. ~ Paul Slattery
28. Airplanes are near perfect, all they lack is the ability to forgive ~ Richard Collins
29. The exhilaration of flying is too keen, the pleasure too great, for it to be neglected as a sport ~ Orville Wright
30. The Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you. ~ Max Stanley, Northrop test pilot
31. The bulk of mankind is as well equipped for flying as thinking. ~ Jonathon Swift
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