To All,
Good Monday Morning April 15. Well it did rain last night but it is fairly clear this morning with some white puffy clouds out there. The weather guessers say no rain for many days and none in the last 24 hours which is not true unless what came down on my windshield last night was not water. I hope you all have a great week.
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
April 15
1912 The scout cruisers USS Chester and USS Salem sail from Massachusetts to assist RMS Titanic survivors, and escort RMS Carpathia, which carried the survivors of the Titanic, to New York.
1918 The First Marine Aviation Force, under the command of Capt. Alfred A. Cunningham, USMC, is formed at Marine Flying Field, Miami, Fla.
1945 USS Frost (DE 144) and USS Stanton (DE 247) join to attack German submarine U 880 north-northwest of the Azores, which sinks at 01:14.
1961 The first nuclear-powered frigate, USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25), is launched at Quincy, Mass.
1962 USS Princeton (LPH 5) brings the first advisory unit to Vietnam and the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron (HMM) 362 SocTrang, Mekong Delta, South Vietnam.
1986 Operation El Dorado Canyon. Aircraft of USS America (CV 66) & USS Coral Sea (CV 43) attack Libya.
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April 15
This day in World History
1755 English lexicographer Dr. Samuel Johnson publishes his Dictionary of the English Language.
1784 The first balloon is flown in Ireland.
1813 U.S. troops under James Wilkinson lay siege to the Spanish-held city of Mobile in future state of Alabama.
1858 At the Battle of Azimghur, the Mexicans defeat Spanish loyalists.
1861 President Lincoln mobilizes Federal army.
1865 Abraham Lincoln dies from John Wilkes Booth's assassination bullet.
1871 'Wild Bill' Hickok becomes the marshal of Abilene, Kansas.
1912 With her band playing on the deck, the ocean liner Titanic sinks at 2:27 a.m. in the North Atlantic.
1917 British forces defeat the Germans at the Battle of Arras.
1923 The first sound films shown to a paying audience are exhibited at the Rialto Theater in New York City.
1923 Insulin becomes generally available for people suffering with diabetes.
1940 French and British troops land at Narvik, Norway.
1945 President Franklin D. Roosevelt is buried on the grounds of his Hyde Park home.
1948 Arab forces are defeated in battle with Israeli forces.
1952 President Harry Truman signs the official Japanese peace treaty.
1955 Ray Kroc starts the McDonald's chain of fast food restaurants.
1959 Cuban leader Fidel Castro begins a U.S. goodwill tour.
1960 The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizes at Shaw University.
1971 North Vietnamese troops ambush a company of Delta Raiders from the 101st Airborne Division near Fire Support Base Bastogne in Vietnam. The American troops are on a rescue mission.
1986 U.S. warplanes attack Libya.
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 15 April 2024, continuing through Sunday, 21 April 2024…Bear🇺��⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 14 April 1969… An ally concludes we failed in our war because we lacked "Unity of Command"…
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 "Monday 15 April
15 https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2840
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members 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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Thanks to Nordo
Something to make your Happy Tax Day!
Cheers
Nordo
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Thanks to Al
Monday Morning Humor--Tax Day
Top Ten Excuses for Filing Your Taxes Late
• Thought late fees would make a nice deduction
• H Block finished on time, but R Block was a little slow.
• Finished entire Pepperidge Farm chocolate layer cake; got sleepy
• Think about it: The longer you make the IRS wait for your returns, the more excited they'll be when they finally get 'em!
• Was busy playing ping pong with Carol Channing
• Still waiting to hear from Ed McMahon about that million dollar thing
• Got nasty paper cut from 1040 form, passed out for three days from blood loss
• Math is real hard, dude.
• I was working around-the-clock to try and keep Tom and Roseanne together.
• My friend Leona said I didn't have to.
Submitted by Mark Logan:
Watch Tim Hawkins sing "The Government Can" at https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+government+can
Submitted by Colleen Grosso:
Watch "The Tax System Explained in Beer" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BomQxCG5VG4
Submitted by Bob King:
The tax return was submitted by a New Jersey person.
The IRS returned the tax return to the man in New Jersey after he apparently answered one of the questions incorrectly. In response to question 23: "Do you have anyone dependent on you?", the man wrote: "2.1 million illegal immigrants, 1.1 million crack-heads, 4.4 million unemployable scroungers, 80,000 criminals in over 85 prisons, plus 650 idiots in Washington, and the entire group that call themselves politicians".
On the returned form, someone at the IRS had attached a Post-it Note beside the question with an arrow and the words: "Your response to question 23 is unacceptable."
The man sent it back to the IRS with his response on the bottom of the Post It Note: "Who did I leave out?"
A father walks into a restaurant with his young son. He gives the young boy three nickels to play with to keep him occupied.
Suddenly, the boy starts choking, going blue in the face. The father realizes the boy has swallowed the nickels and starts slapping him on the back. The boy coughs up two of the nickels, but keeps choking. Looking at his son, the father is panicking, shouting for help.
A well dressed, attractive, and serious looking woman, in a blue business suit is sitting at a coffee bar reading a newspaper and sipping a cup of coffee. At the sound of the commotion, she looks up, puts her coffee cup down, neatly folds the newspaper and places it on the counter, gets up from her seat and makes her way, unhurried, across the restaurant.
Reaching the boy, the woman carefully drops his pants; takes hold of the boy's privates and starts to squeeze and twist, gently at first and then ever so firmly. After a few seconds the boy convulses violently and coughs up the last nickel, which the woman deftly catches in her free hand.
Releasing the boy's privates, the woman hands the nickel to the father and walks back to her seat at the coffee bar without saying a word.
As soon as he is sure that his son has suffered no ill effects, the father rushes over to the woman and starts thanking her saying, "I've never seen anybody do anything like that before, it was fantastic.. Are you a doctor? "
"'No," the woman replied. "I'm with the I.R.S."
On his way to work, a driver swerved to avoid a box that fell from a truck. Seconds later, a policeman pulled him over for reckless driving.
But another officer had seen the carton in the road. The policemen retrieved the box and found that it contained tacks. "Nonetheless," the first trooper told the driver, "I have to write you a ticket."
Amazed, the driver asked why.
The trooper replied, "Tacks evasion."
Tax One Liners:
• We have discovered that you can deduct your marijuana for medical purposes but only if you file a joint return.
• As income tax time is here, did you ever notice: When you put the two words "The" and "IRS" together it spells "THEIRS"?
• There will always be death and taxes; however, death doesn't get worse every year.
• A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
• The IRS Agent's Hymn: I Surrender All
Tax quotes:
• "The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."--President Ronald Reagan
• "I shall never use profanity except in discussing house rent and taxes."--Mark Twain
• "If you make any money, the government shoves you in the creek once a year with it in your pockets, and all that don't get wet you can keep."--Will Rogers
• "America is a land of taxation that was founded to avoid taxation."--Laurence J. Peter (author of "The Peter Principle")
• "The nation should have a tax system that looks like someone designed it on purpose."--Former Treasury Secretary William Simon
• "Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors ... and miss."--Science--fiction writer Robert Heinlein
• "What at first was plunder assumed the softer name of revenue."--Thomas Paine
• "Income tax returns are the most imaginative fiction being written today."--Herman Wouk
• "People who complain about taxes can be divided into two classes: men and women."--Unknown
• "Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the income tax form than it does to make the income."--Alfred E. Neuman
• "Death and taxes may be inevitable, but they shouldn't be related."--Congressman J.C. Watts, Jr.
• "The income tax created more criminals than any other single act of government."--Senator Barry Goldwater
• "What is the difference between a taxidermist and a tax collector? The taxidermist takes only your skin."--Mark Twain
• "The politicians say 'we' can't afford a tax cut. Maybe we can't afford the politicians."--Steve Forbes
• "People try to live within their income so they can afford to pay taxes to a government that can't live within its income."--Financial staffing expert Robert Half
• "Blessed are the young, for they will inherit the national debt."--President Herbert Hoover
• "Don't steal. The government hates competition."--Bumper sticker
• "The power to tax involves the power to destroy."--Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, 1819
• "If Patrick Henry thought that taxation without representation was bad, he should see it with representation."--The Farmer's Almanac
• "It's a game. We [tax lawyers] teach the rich how to play it so they can stay rich--and the IRS keeps changing the rules so we can keep getting rich teaching them."--John Grisham
• "For every $50 you earn, you get $10 and they get $40."--Jay Leno, explaining Form 1040
• "All taxes are a drag on economic growth. It's only a question of degree."--Alan Greenspan
• "Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200 and a substantial tax cut saves you 30 cents?"--Peg Bracken
Don't forget taxes (or requests for extensions) are due today!!
Otherwise, have a great week,
Al
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
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This Day in History
The Boston Marathon bombing
2013: Three people killed, hundreds injured in Boston Marathon bombing
On April 15, 2013, two bombs go off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three spectators and wounding more than 260 other people in attendance. Four days later, after an intense manhunt that shut down the Boston area, police captured one of the bombing suspects, 19-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev; his older brother and fellow suspect, 26-year-old Tamerlan Tsarnaev, died following a shootout with law enforcement earlier that same day.
The 117th Boston Marathon began in the morning from Hopkinton, Massachusetts, with some 23,000 participants. At around 2:49 that afternoon, with more than 5,700 runners still in the race, two pressure cooker bombs hidden in backpacks exploded within seconds of each other near the finish line along Boylston Street. Three people died: a 23-year-old woman, a 29-year-old woman and an 8-year-old boy. Among the scores of others who were injured, more than a dozen people required amputations.
On the evening of April 18, the FBI released photos of two male suspects sought in connection with the bombings. That night at around 10:30, Sean Collier, a 26-year-old police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was shot dead in his patrol car on the school's Cambridge campus. Authorities would eventually link the murder to the Tsarnaev brothers, who spent parts of their childhoods in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan but had lived in the United States for about a decade prior to the bombings. Soon after Officer Collier was killed, Tamerlan Tsarnaev carjacked an SUV, taking the driver hostage and telling him he was one of the Boston Marathon bombers.
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev followed behind in a smaller car before joining his older brother and the hostage in the SUV. The brothers drove around the Boston area with their hostage, forcing him to withdraw money from an ATM and discussing driving to New York City. When they stopped at a Cambridge gas station, the hostage escaped and called police, informing them the SUV could be tracked by his cellphone, which was still in the vehicle. Shortly after midnight, a gun battle broke out between the Tsarnaevs and police on a street in the Boston suburb of Watertown. One officer was seriously injured by gunfire but survived. Tamerlan Tsarnaev, also seriously wounded, was taken to a hospital, where doctors tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate him. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev managed to drive away from the shootout in the stolen SUV before abandoning it nearby and fleeing on foot.
That day, April 19, the Boston area was on lockdown, with schools closed, public transportation service suspended and people advised to stay inside their homes, as police conducted door-to-door searches in Watertown and military-style vehicles patrolled the streets. That evening, after police called off their search of the area, a Watertown man went outside to check on a boat he was storing in his backyard. When he looked inside the 24-foot vessel, he was startled to see blood and a person, who turned out to be Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, hiding there. Police soon arrived and took the suspect, who was wounded from the earlier gun battle, into custody.
At the time of the bombings, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, while Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a community college dropout and former amateur boxer with a wife and child. Investigators believe the Tsarnaevs were motivated by extremist Islamic beliefs but planned and carried out the bombings on their own and were not connected to any terrorist organizations. The brothers allegedly used the Internet to learn how to build explosives.
In July 2013, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev pleaded not guilty to the 30 federal charges against him, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction. He went on trial in January 2015, and was found guilty on all 30 counts. He was sentenced to death but appealed the decision. Tsarnaev is currently being held at a supermax prison in Colorado.
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From the archives while searching for another one…..skip-
Chronicles
A magazine of American Culture
Hollywood's Lone Ace
Roger McGrath - MARCH 03, 2016
Hollywood's Lone Ace Roger McGrath - MARCH 03, 2016
He is virtually unknown to Americans today, though he appeared in 65 movies and was the only actor to become an ace during World War II. Born in Los Angeles in 1914 to Nebraskan Bert DeWayne Morris and Texan Anna Fitzgerald, he would be christened with his father's name but go by Wayne Morris.
While attending Los Angeles City College, he began acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. Handsome, blond, blue-eyed, and 6'2", he was a striking figure. Succeeding wonderfully in a Warner Bros. screen test, he signed a contract with the studio and debuted in the role of the navigator for the trans-Pacific flight in China Clipper (1936).
Warner Bros. kept Morris busy with bit parts in six more movies during 1936-37 before he was cast in the principal supporting role in the western Land Beyond the Law (1937). Then came his title role in Kid Galahad (1937). Teamed with studio heavyweights Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart, Morris played an innocent and naive young boxer to perfection. The movie was both a critical and a box-office success. Morris appeared in a dozen more films, usually as the lead, before being cast as a pilot in Flight Angels (1940). His role would have significance far beyond whatever he could have imagined at the time.
To prepare for the role he began taking flying lessons. He was immediately hooked. By 1941 he was an accomplished and licensed pilot. With Japanese aggression increasing, he joined a Naval Reserve unit and earned a commission as an ensign.
None of this slowed his production at Warner Bros. He appeared in seven more movies following Flight Angels in 1940- 41, including I Wanted Wings, in which he played an Army Air Corps pilot. Activated following the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Morris was ordered to flight school. Before 1942 was out he had his wings of gold.
He desperately wanted to fly fighters in the Pacific, but the Navy thought it could best use him as an instructor at home where he could, as a prominent actor, also make p.r. appearances. Moreover, the Navy considered him too big to cram himself into the cockpit of a Grumman F4F Wildcat. Morris was not pleased when he was ordered to a Navy airfield at Hutchinson, Kansas, as a primary flight instructor. He began his assignment with resignation rather than enthusiasm.
But the plot was about to thicken. Morris was married to Patricia O'Rourke, a beautiful young actress. Her mother had a younger brother, Lt. Cmdr. David McCampbell, one of the Navy's most accomplished aviators. One day, McCampbell happened to fly into Hutchinson on a cross-country trip. Morris prevailed upon Uncle Dave to get him into the fight in the Pacific.
"Give me a letter," said McCampbell. McCampbell was able to push Morris's letter of request through the chain of command and get Morris transferred. However, Morris now found himself training in the PBY-the Navy still thought Morris too big for fighters-in Jacksonville, Florida. He reckoned that he would be flying reconnaissance and rescue missions in the Pacific. But Uncle Dave had been tasked with forming a fighter squadron and told Morris to give him another letter of request.
McCampbell later said that he only picked men for his squadron who had a burning desire to fly fighters in combat. His squadron would be flying the new Grumman F6F Hellcat, which was a far superior fighter in every way to the Wildcat but didn't have any more cockpit room-and pilots still had to sit on top of their parachute packs. It would be a very tight fit for Morris.
By September 1943 McCampbell had organized Fighter Squadron 15, which he would train intensely for the next several months. VF-15 was assigned to the carrier Hornet in January 1944, and training continued. Late in February, Hornet left Norfolk, Virginia, and sailed for Pearl Harbor. The training continued en route. However, once in Hawaii, not only VF-15 but all of Air Group 15 was detached from Hornet and stationed on Maui for still more training.
By the end of April when Morris and the other pilots were beginning to think they might spend the rest of the war training, Air Group 15 was assigned to Essex, which was bound for Majuro Lagoon in the Marshall Islands. Recently wrested from the Japanese, the Marshalls were being used by the Navy as a staging area for the invasion of the Marianas.
Essex arrived early in May but was soon off for raids on Japanese-held Marcus and Wake islands. With the invasion of the Marianas a month away this would give the young pilots of Air Group 15 a taste of the real thing: no aerial opposition, but intense anti-aircraft fire.
Several American planes were lost and nearly all, including Morris's, suffered damage. McCampbell's boys began hitting Saipan on June 11. Their primary targets were the seaplane base in Tanapag harbor, ships in the harbor, and military installations at Marpi Point. Now they were encountering several types of Japanese airplanes, including the famous Zeros. Near Garapan, the Hellcat pilots knocked three Zeros out of the sky.
On a second run later in the day McCampbell himself shot down a Zero. In his after-action report, McCampbell noted that the Hellcat could stay with the Zero in turns and when climbing, something the Wildcat had been unable to do. The Zero was the Japanese Navy's Mitsubishi A6M5, called "Zeke" in U.S. Navy identification code.
Wayne Morris was in a group of Hellcats that destroyed several seaplane ramps and nearly a dozen seaplanes, either in water or on Marpi Point. Then Morris sighted a "Mavis"-the code for the Kawanishi flying boat-that had gotten airborne. A large, four-engine seaplane with a crew of nine, the Mavis was armed with four .30-caliber machine guns and one 20mm cannon. The Japanese normally used the plane for long-range reconnaissance, but it could also be loaded with more than 2,000 pounds of bombs. Morris dove on the big bird and opened up with his Hellcat's six .50-caliber Browning machine guns. The Mavis rocked and rolled, and plummeted into the ocean. Lieutenant Morris had his first aerial victory.
Morris got his first Zero a week later in the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, the name Navy aviators gave to the airborne phase of the Battle of the Philippine Sea. He and others of VF-15 were flying cover for torpedo planes and dive bombers of Air Group 15 when four Zeros dropped out of clouds and began a run on the bombers. Morris took on the lead Zero. The Hellcat and the Zero each banked and dove and rolled, but it was Morris's rounds that took effect. The Zero began smoking, nosed over, and plunged straight down thousands of feet to the water below.
On the way back to Essex, Morris spotted a Zero flying just above the surface of the sea. Reckoning he could bag his second Zero of the day, Morris dove on the Japanese fighter. Much to his surprise, the enemy pilot had seen him coming and maneuvered out of harm's way. Morris made another pass with the same results. Three other Hellcats joined in the hunt-but no luck for them, either, as the Japanese pilot dazzled them with his aerobatics. "He went through every stunt in the books (and some not in) and, as far as I know, escaped unharmed," wrote Lt. Cmdr. Jim Rigg in his after-action report. Morris and the other three aviators from Fighting Fifteen had probably encountered one of the old pros of the Japanese air wing, a pilot who had been in action since the invasion of China in 1937.
Something less speculative was also revealed-the Zero could outmaneuver the Hellcat at low altitude. While the Hellcat was a far more powerful plane, it was also far heavier than the Zero. In the thin air of 20,000 feet this wasn't much of a disadvantage, but in the dense air of low altitudes the weight of the Hellcat, despite its superior horsepower, made it less maneuverable.
For the next two months VF-15 hit targets not only on Saipan but on Guam and Tinian. Most of the time the Hellcats were used to bomb and strafe. Their enemy was anti-aircraft fire. After the Turkey Shoot, the skies had been nearly cleared of Japanese planes, so more aerial victories would have to wait.
In September, Essex and other American carriers began launching strikes against the Palau Islands, especially Peleliu. McCampbell led the first sweep. Neither he nor any of his pilots were able to add to their kill totals because they caught the Japanese planes on the ground. They destroyed dozens of them, but under Navy and Marine Corps regulations only planes destroyed in the air counted as kills. After several days of pounding the Palaus, Essex and other carriers were ordered to sail west to the Philippines and strike at Mindanao airfields.
On the first sweep, Morris and two other VF-15 pilots spotted a Japanese patrol plane and blew it out of the sky. Several days later over Negros Island, Morris shot down his second Zero. Later the same day, he and Ens. Ken Flinn jumped a "Nate," the code for the Nakajima Ki-27 fighter-the Japanese Army's equivalent to the Navy's Zero. Morris's first burst caused the Nate to begin smoking. Flinn followed with a burst that caused the already badly damaged fighter to erupt in flames and roll into a spiral dive that ended in the ocean. Minutes later Morris and Flinn went after a Zero that was on the tail of a Hellcat. Morris fired, and the Zero exploded in a ball of flame.
A minute later, Morris found himself flying directly into an oncoming Nate. He hit the Nate with a single burst before banking steeply. In the meantime, Flinn circled in behind the Nate and finished off the already crippled fighter. During the rest of September, Morris got no more aerial victories but, together with his wingman and other pilots, was credited with putting a Japanese submarine out of action and sinking two freighters and several patrol boats.
Then, in October, in a strike at Okinawa, Morris dove on a "Tony" and sent it spiraling into the sea. The Tony was Japan's most modern fighter, the Kawasaki Ki-61, which featured an inline, liquid-cooled engine that had been copied from the Daimler-Benz engine that powered the German Me109. Morris now not only had the big three of Japanese fighters but was an ace.
Later in October came the epic, four-part Battle for Leyte Gulf, and McCampbell and his boys were active in the air over the Sibuyan Sea. Morris got one Zero easily while making a high pass. His second kill of the day proved far more difficult. He fired at two oncoming Zeros, but his rounds either missed or had no effect. He banked steeply to come around and try again, but found the Zeros turning with him. He didn't think much of his chances in tight turns against two Zeros and ducked into a cloud. Instead of going through the cloud and emerging on its other side, he circled inside the cloud and came out where he had entered. Just as he had hoped, he found the Japanese waiting for him on the cloud's other side. He got behind them and shot one down, sending the other scurrying for home.
Morris was in no condition to pursue-his Hellcat was riddled with bullets, the engine was coughing, and hydraulic fluid was running into the cockpit.
For another month Morris and his fellow fighter pilots in VF-15 continued to pound enemy targets in the Philippines, but now it was mostly ships and land installations. By and large, Japanese planes had been driven from the skies. By the end of November, Air Group 15 had completed its tour, and Morris and the rest transferred to Bunker Hill, which was headed to Pearl Harbor.
Morris's war was over. He returned home with the Distinguished Flying Cross (four awards) and the Air Medal (two awards), among other decorations. It had not been easy. Three of the Hellcats he flew had been so damaged by Japanese fire, either from the ground or air, that they were stripped of their serviceable parts and pushed overboard. Yet Morris said it was not the Japanese he feared the most, but his own shipmates. "Every time they showed a picture aboard Essex, I was scared to death it would be one of mine. That's something I could never have lived down."
Morris returned to Hollywood and appeared in another three-dozen movies, usually as the lead in B westerns. In 1959, he was visiting his old commander and uncle-in-law, Dave McCampbell, now a captain and skipper of Bon Homme Richard. While watching the carrier's pilots put on an aerial display, Morris collapsed and died of a heart attack. Hollywood's lone ace was 45.
Via Bob Souders
8 April 2016
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This Day in U S Military History…….April 15
1865 – President Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, dies from an assassin's bullet. Shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford's Theater in Washington the night before, Lincoln lived for nine hours before succumbing to the severe head wound he sustained. Lincoln's death came just after the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. Lincoln had just served the most difficult presidency in history, successfully leading the country through civil war. His job was exhausting and overwhelming at times. He had to manage a tremendous military effort, deal with diverse opinions in his own Republican party, counter his Democratic critics, maintain morale on the northern home front, and keep foreign countries such as France and Great Britain from recognizing the Confederacy. He did all of this, and changed American history when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation, converting the war goal from reunion of the nation to a crusade to end slavery. Now, the great man was dead. Secretary of War Edwin Stanton said, "Now, he belongs to the ages." Word spread quickly across the nation, stunning a people who were still celebrating the Union victory. Troops in the field wept, as did General Ulysses S. Grant, the overall Union commander. Perhaps no group was more grief stricken than the freed slaves. Although abolitionists considered Lincoln slow in moving against slavery, many freedmen saw "Father Abraham" as their savior. They faced an uncertain world, and now had lost their most powerful proponent. Lincoln's funeral was held on April 19, before a funeral train carried his body back to his hometown of Springfield, Illinois. During the two-week journey, hundreds of thousands gathered along the railroad tracks to pay their respects, and the casket was unloaded for public viewing at several stops. He and his son, Willie, who died in the White House of typhoid fever in 1862, were interred on May 4.
1945 – On Okinawa, the US 6th Marine Division assaults Yae Hill but is driven back by the Japanese defense.
1945 – Units of the US 9th Army, which have crossed the Elbe River near Magdeburg, are forced to retreat. The US 1st Army takes Leuna. Meanwhile, Operation Venerable is launched against the German garrison in the fortress of Royan, at the mouth of the Gironde River; heavy napalm bomb attacks by the US 8th Air Force and shelling by the Free French battleship Lorraine are followed by an attack by Free French and American forces.
1952 – The 1st B-52 prototype test flight was made. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is a long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s. The bomber is capable of carrying up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons. Beginning with the successful contract bid in June 1946, the B-52 design evolved from a straight-wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52 with eight turbojet engines and swept wings. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War-era deterrence missions, the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36. A veteran of several wars, the B-52 has dropped only conventional munitions in combat. The B-52's official name Stratofortress is rarely used in informal circumstances, and it has become common to refer to the aircraft as the BUFF (Big Ugly Fat Fucker). The B-52 has been in active service with the USAF since 1955. As of 2012, 85 were in active service with nine in reserve. The bombers flew under the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was inactivated in 1992 and its aircraft absorbed into the Air Combat Command (ACC); in 2010 all B-52 Stratofortresses were transferred from the ACC to the new Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). Superior performance at high subsonic speeds and relatively low operating costs have kept the B-52 in service despite the advent of later, more advanced aircraft, including the canceled Mach 3 B-70 Valkyrie, the variable-geometry B-1 Lancer, and the stealth B-2 Spirit. The B-52 completed fifty years of continuous service with its original operator in 2005; after being upgraded between 2013 and 2015, it is expected to serve into the 2040s
1969 – North Korea shoots down a United States Navy EC-121 aircraft over the Sea of Japan, killing all 31 on board. The 1969 EC-121 shootdown incident occurred on April 15, 1969 when a United States Navy Lockheed EC-121M Warning Star on a reconnaissance mission was shot down by North Korean MiG-17 aircraft over the Sea of Japan. The plane crashed 90 nautical miles (167 km) off the North Korean coast and all 31 Americans on board were killed. The Nixon administration chose not to retaliate against North Korea apart from staging a naval demonstration in the Sea of Japan a few days later. Instead it resumed the reconnaissance flights within a week to demonstrate that it would not be intimidated by the action while at the same time avoiding a confrontation.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*GONSALVES, HAROLD
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 28 January 1926, Alameda, Calif. Accredited to: California. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as Acting Scout Sergeant with the 4th Battalion, 15th Marines, 6th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 15 April 1945. Undaunted by the powerfully organized opposition encountered on Motobu Peninsula during the fierce assault waged by his battalion against the Japanese stronghold at Mount Yaetake, Pfc. Gonsalves repeatedly braved the terrific enemy bombardment to aid his forward observation team in directing well-placed artillery fire. When his commanding officer determined to move into the front lines in order to register a more effective bombardment in the enemy's defensive position, he unhesitatingly advanced uphill with the officer and another Marine despite a slashing barrage of enemy mortar and rifle fire. As they reached the front and a Japanese grenade fell close within the group, instantly Pfc. Gonsalves dived on the deadly missile, absorbing the exploding charge in his own body and thereby protecting the others from serious and perhaps fatal wounds. Stouthearted and indomitable, Pfc. Gonsalves readily yielded his own chances of survival that his fellow marines might carry on the relentless battle against a fanatic enemy and his cool decision, prompt action and valiant spirit of self-sacrifice in the face of certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself and upon the U.S. Naval Service.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for April 15, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
15 April
1912: The Signal Corps ordered its first tractor airplane from the Burgess Company and (Greeley) Curtiss. This airplane was also the first Signal Corps plane to have a cockpit. (24)
1916: De Lloyd Thompson flew his Day Biplane to launch a mock air raid on Washington DC to show his concern about Zeppelin raids on European cities. Cars and pedestrians below crowded on the streets to watch firework bombs explode in the night sky. (7)
1928: Through 21 April, British explorer George H. Wilkins and Lt Carl B. Eielson made the first eastward Arctic crossing in a ski-equipped Lockheed Vega monoplane. They flew 2,200 miles from Point Barrow to Green Harbor, Spitzbergen, in 20 hours 20 minutes. A storm enroute forced them to spend five days on the ground. (9) (24)
1941: Igor Sikorsky flew a Vought-Sikorsky in the first officially recorded rotor helicopter flight in the western hemisphere. He flew for 1 hour 5 minutes 14.5 seconds at Stratford. (24)
1943: A 4 FG P-47 Thunderbolt shot down an enemy aircraft. It was the P-47's first kill over Europe.
1945: The XP-82 Twin Mustang first flew.
1946: The US AAF changed an aircraft crew training facility at Muroc Field into a jet and rocket airplane research center. (3)
1952: Boeing pilot A. M. "Tex" Johnston flew the YB-52 prototype for the first time at Seattle. Beginning with the successful contract bid in June 1946, the B-52 design evolved from a straight wing aircraft powered by six turboprop engines to the final prototype YB-52 with eight turbojet engines and swept wings. The B-52 took its maiden flight in April 1952. The B-52 has been in service with the USAF since 1955, and NASA from 1959 to 2007. Built to carry nuclear weapons for Cold War–era deterrence missions, the B-52 Stratofortress replaced the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. The BUFF remains the "heavy lifter" for the USAF bomber force carrying a wide range of weapons—from nuclear to conventional cruise missiles.
1960: The USAF launched the Discoverer 11 into polar orbit from the Pacific Missile Range. Discoverer 11, also known as Corona 9008, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The eighth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, it successfully employed the first space-worthy camera film; however, Discoverer's film return capsule was lost during reentry on 16 Apr when the satellite's spin motors exploded.
1957: The Air Force activated the 1st Missile Division at Los Angeles to plan and prepare for future operational missile units. It was assigned to the ARDC. (24)
1959: Flying a RF-101 Voodoo on a closed-circuit course at Edwards AFB, Capt George A. Edwards, Jr., set a new speed record of 816.279 MPH. (20) (24)
1960: The USAF launched the Discoverer 11 into polar orbit from the Pacific Missile Range. Discoverer 11, also known as Corona 9008, was an American optical reconnaissance satellite. The eighth of ten operational flights of the Corona KH-1 spy satellite series, it successfully employed the first space-worthy camera film; however, Discoverer's film return capsule was lost during reentry on 16 Apr when the satellite's spin motors exploded.
1965: NASA test-fired a 3,500-pound thrust engine designed to lift an Apollo Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) off the moon at White Sands Missile Range. The USAF shipped the last Titan I from the 725 SMS at Lowry AFB to storage facilities. (6)
1968: SAC opened a Replacement Training Unit at Castle AFB to cross-train B-52F through B-52H aircrews in B-52D conventional bombing operations. (1)
1969: North Korean MiGs shot down a US Navy EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft with 31 crewmen during its routine mission some 100 miles off the North Korean coast. Within seven minutes, Osan-based F-106s were in the air on combat air patrol, and in 30 minutes the USAF launched an HC-130 search aircraft from Tachikawa. On 20 April, the USAF ended the search and rescue effort, finding no survivors. Soviet naval forces aided the search operation. (17)
1972: The last F-100 Super Sabre left USAFE. (16)
1974: From 15 April to 9 May, the Air Force conducted a fly off between the Fairchild A-10 and the LTV A-7D Corsair at McConnell AFB. The A-10 won. (12)
1979: An earthquake struck Yugoslavia, leaving more than 230 people dead, 350 injured, and 80,000 homeless. MAC airlifted 139 tons of supplies and equipment in 7 C-141s and 4 C-130 missions from Howard AFB; McGuire AFB and Camp Darby, Italy, to Titograd IAP, Yugoslavia. (2)
1996: Interservice undergraduate navigator training became full joint as Air Force student navigators and student naval flight officers combined at Randolph AFB into a single class with a single syllabus. Later in the month, Air Force and Navy electronic warfare officer training combined at NAS Pensacola and the Naval Technical Training Center at Corry Field, Fla. (26)
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