To All,
Good Tuesday Morning July 23. Great classes last night and beautiful day today headed for 87 and clear and sunny.
Thanks to P'Nuts
San Diego Ready Room Happy Hour on 26 July at the Miramar O'Club 1700-1900 $25/PP
The RR event is following the Change of Command for the CO of the base earlier in the day followed by a celebration in the O'Club that should be pretty much over by 1700.
Warm 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/. Go here to see the director's corner for all 83 H-Grams
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
July 23
1943 USS George E. Badger (DD 196) sinks German submarine (U 613), en route to mine waters off Jacksonville, Fla., south of the Azores.
1943 TBFs (VC 9) from USS Bogue (AVG 9) breaks up a rendezvous between German submarines (U 527) and (U 648) south of the Azores. U-527 sinks while U-648 escapes.
1943 PB4Y aircraft from (VB 107) sinks German submarine (U 598) off Brazil.
1948 During the Arab-Israeli War, USS Putnum (DD 757) evacuates the U.N. team from Haifa, Israel and becomes first U.S. Navy ship to fly the U.N. flag.
1950 USS Boxer (CV 21) crosses the Pacific, bringing aircraft, troops, and supplies for the Korean War, arriving at Yokosuka, Japan.
1994 USNS Patuxent (T-AO-201) is launched at New Orleans, La. Operated by Military Sealift Command, Patuxent is the 15th ship in the Henry J. Kaiser-class of underway replenishment oilers.
2017 After a two-year restoration at historic Dry Dock 1 at Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston National Historical Park, America's oldest commissioned warship, USS Constitution is refloated. Since entering dry dock on May 18, 2015, ship restorers from the Naval History and Heritage Command Detachment Boston, and teams of Constitution Sailors have worked to bring Old Ironsides back to her glory.
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This day in World History July 23
1627 Sir George Calvert arrives in Newfoundland to develop his land grant.
1637 King Charles of England hands over the American colony of Massachusetts to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, one of the founders of the Council of New England.
1664 Wealthy, non-church members in Massachusetts are given the right to vote.
1793 The French garrison at Mainz, Germany, falls to the Prussians.
1803 Irish patriots throughout the country rebel against Union with Great Britain.
1829 William A. Burt patents his "typographer," an early typewriter.
1849 German rebels in Baden capitulate to the Prussians.
1863 Bill Anderson and his Confederate Bushwhackers gut the railway station at Renick, Missouri.
1865 William Booth founds the Salvation Army.
1868 The 14th Amendment is ratified, granting citizenship to African Americans.
1885 Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer at the age of 63.
1894 Japanese troops take over the Korean imperial palace.
1903 The Ford Motor Company sells its first automobile, the Model A.
1944 Soviet troops take Lublin, Poland as the German army retreats.
1962 The Geneva Conference on Laos forbids the United States to invade eastern Laos.
1995 Two astronomers, Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona, almost simultaneously discover a comet.
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Thanks to this day in History
Former president Ulysses S. Grant dies
On July 23, 1885, just after completing his memoirs, Civil War hero and former president Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer.
The son of a tanner, Grant showed little enthusiasm for joining his father's business, so the elder Grant enrolled his son at West Point in 1839. Though Grant later admitted in his memoirs that he had no interest in the military apart from honing his equestrian skills, he graduated in 1843 and went on to serve first in the Mexican-American War, which he opposed on moral grounds, and then in California and Oregon, tours of duty that forced him to leave behind his beloved wife and children.
President Grant's Road to Success
The loneliness and sheer boredom of duty in the West drove Grant to binge drinking. By 1854, Grant's alcohol consumption so alarmed his superiors that he was asked to resign from the Army. He did, and returned to Missouri to try his hand at farming and land speculation. Although he kicked the alcohol habit, he failed miserably at both vocations and was forced to take a job as a clerk in his father's tanning business.
If it were not for the Civil War, Grant might have slipped quickly into obscurity. Instead, he re-enlisted in the Army in 1861 and embarked on a stellar military career, although his tendency to binge-drink re-emerged and he developed another unhealthy habit: chain cigar-smoking, which probably caused the throat cancer that eventually killed him. In 1862, Grant led troops in the captures of Forts Henry and Donelson in Tennessee, and forced the Confederate Army to retreat back into Mississippi after the Battle of Shiloh. After the Donelson campaign, Grant received over 10,000 boxes of congratulatory cigars from a grateful citizenry.
In 1863, after leading the Union Army to victory at Vicksburg, Grant caught President Abraham Lincoln's attention. The Union Army had suffered under the service of a series of incompetent generals and Lincoln was in the market for a new Union supreme commander. In March 1864, Lincoln revived the rank of lieutenant general—a rank that had previously been held only by George Washington in 1798—and gave it to Grant. As supreme commander of Union forces, Grant led troops in a series of epic and bloody battles against Confederate General Robert E. Lee. On April 9, 1865, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House. The victory solidified Grant's status as national hero and, in 1869, he began his first of two terms as president.
Grant's talent as political leader paled woefully in comparison to his military prowess. He was unable to stem the rampant corruption that plagued his administration and failed to combat a severe economic depression in 1873. However, successes of Grant's tenure include passage of the Enforcement Act in 1870, which temporarily curtailed the political influence of the Ku Klux Klan in the post-Civil War South, and the 1875 Civil Rights Act, which attempted to desegregate public places such as restrooms, "inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement." In addition, Grant helped to improve U.S. and British diplomatic relations, which had been damaged by the British offer to supply the Confederate Army with tools to break the Union naval blockade during the Civil War. He also managed to stay sober during his two terms in office.
Upon leaving office, Grant's fortunes again declined. Although he and his wife Julia traveled to Europe between 1877 and 1879 amid great fanfare, the couple came home to bankruptcy caused by Grant's unwise investment in a scandal-prone banking firm. Grant spent the last few years of his life writing a detailed account of the Civil War and, after he died of throat cancer in 1885, Julia lived on the royalties earned from his memoirs
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 22 July 2024 and ending Sunday, 28 July 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 21 July 1969… The week our astronauts walked on the Moon and Ted Kennedy drove off a bridge and left Mary Jo to drown.
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
(Please note the eye-watering ongoing revamp of the RTR website by Webmaster/Author Dan Heller, who has inherited the site from originators RADM Bear Taylor, USN, Retired, and Angie Morse, "Mighty Thunder")…
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. .Micro is the one also that goes into the archives and finds these inputs and sends them to me for incorporation in the List. It is a lot of work and our thanks goes out to him for his effort.
From Vietnam Air Losses site for "for 23 July This is quite a story…skip
July 23: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=695
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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From the archives and nothing has changed
Thanks to Mugs
Reasons why Electric power must come from fossil fuel.
Once again, Prager makes a cogent case.
Mugs
excellent presentation.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/wDOI-uLvTnY
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The U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition.
U.S. HISTORY
I t's been dubbed the "noble experiment," a name that came from then-President Herbert Hoover calling Prohibition "a great social and economic experiment, noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose." In January 1920, the United States banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of "intoxicating liquors," a move made in the wake of temperance movements that sought moral and social reform throughout the 1800s — in spite of some failed attempts at similar regional programs around the country.
Despite the ban, the demand for alcohol remained high. Bootlegging — illegal production, smuggling, and selling of liquor — thrived. Illegitimate drinking spots known as speakeasies flourished, with approximately 30,000 of them existing in just New York City alone by decade's end. As the defiance against liquor laws intensified, authorities managed to mitigate smuggling from other countries; the bootleggers, however, responded by stealing massive quantities of industrial alcohol — used in automotive fluids, paints, and medical supplies — and refining it to make it drinkable (it became the country's top source of liquor). Then, the U.S. government tried to beat the rum-runners at their own game. In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge's administration mandated that manufacturers add even more dangerous chemicals to their industrial products — substances such as gasoline, formaldehyde, and the easily lethal methanol — to dissuade the underground industries and their customers.
The consequences were immediate — and in many cases, fatal. Consumption of alcohol continued despite fear of the additives, and some estimates claim the chemical additions caused around 10,000 deaths in the U.S. Public health officials, including New York medical examiner Charles Norris, lambasted the move. Eventually, the official end of the program came with the repeal of the 18th Amendment in December 1933, marking the end of Prohibition.
By the Numbers
Modern equivalent of how much Al Capone made each year during Prohibition
$1.7 billion
Year statewide Prohibition finally ended in Mississippi
1966
Number of rum-only distilleries in NYC (named, winkingly, the Noble Experiment)
1
Average number of daily alcohol deliveries made by Congress' own Prohibition-era bootlegger
25
DID YOU KNOW?
Organized crime started because of Prohibition.
Before Prohibition, organized crime was mostly limited to small gangs who were involved in petty neighborhood extortion and loan-sharking. When the 1920 ban on alcohol went into effect, mobsters became the key players in the illicit alcohol trade, procuring, producing, and selling liquor illegally all over the U.S. Profits got so big, so fast, that these once small-time criminals and mafias learned to be more "organized" than ever, hiring lawyers, accountants, truckers, and more to help run their illicit businesses. They also started working with other criminal groups, effectively creating underground syndicates. Powerful crime families led by figures such as Charles "Lucky" Luciano and the notorious Al Capone emerged, making millions of dollars in the process. The enormous profits fueled the growth and expansion of organized crime, which continued even after the repeal of Prohibition.
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From the archives
Hoser was one of those larger than life men who was a good friend and a great Fighter Pilot. He responded to many of the Lists with a Har har Har and then let me know what he thought of a subject in one of the lists. The Hoser stories abound …..skip
Joe "Hoser" Satrapa
Thanks to TK ... and Dr. Rich
In case you've not heard of "Toe-ser" Satrapa… From one of my TMI classmates, John Fitzgerald, a USNA grad, F8 pilot, flew with the airlines, retired, now living in FL and Atlanta. Long time friend of OA and mine, TK ——————
Got a brief video today of a firefighter plane dropping on a fire and it remedied me of an old pal from my class at the Naval Academy and a fellow F8 pilot. He passed away in 2019 He was a legend for sure. If you want to spend a fun 15 minutes or so, google Joe "Hoser" Satrapa … be sure to get to the story about his right thumb…..or you can start by this article.
https://fireaviation.com/2019/03/24/joe-hoser-satrapa-rip/
Johnny
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From the Archives
Thanks to Dr. Rich
Getting old isn't for sissies!!
Thanks to Jerry ...
"It's paradoxical that the idea of living a long life appeals to everyone, but the idea of getting old doesn't appeal to anyone." - Andy Rooney.
"The older I get, the better I used to be." – Lee Trevino, Professional Golfer.
"Nice to be here? At my age it's nice to be anywhere." – George Burns.
"The older I get, the more clearly I remember things that never happened. - Mark Twain.
"First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down." - Leo Rosenberg.
"Old age is like a plane flying through a storm. Once you are aboard there is nothing you can do about it." - Golda Meir.
"Old people shouldn't eat health foods. They need all the preservatives they can get." – Robert Orben.
"You spend 90 percent of your adult life hoping for a long rest and the last 10 percent trying to convince the Lord that you're actually not that tired." – Robert Brault.
"At my age, flowers scare me." - George Burns.
"The years between 50 and 70 are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down." - T.S. Elliot.
"The important thing to remember is that I'm probably going to forget." – Unknown.
"At age 20, we worry about what others think of us… at age 40, we don't care what they think of us… at age 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all." -Ann Landers.
"We don't grow older, we grow riper." - Pablo Picasso.
"I was thinking about how people seem to read the bible a lot more as they get older, and then it dawned on me—they're cramming for their final exam."- George Carlin, Comedian.
"Everything slows down with age, except the time it takes cake and ice cream to reach your hips." - John Wagner.
"Grandchildren don't make a man feel old, it's the knowledge that he's married to a grandmother that does." - J. Norman Collie.
"When your friends begin to flatter you on how young you look, it's a sure sign you're getting old." - Mark Twain.
"You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks." - Joel Plaskett.
"There's one advantage to being 102, there's no peer pressure." - Dennis Wolfberg.
"There are three stages of man: he believes in Santa Claus, he does not believe in Santa Claus, he is Santa Claus." - Bob Phillips.
"Looking fifty is great—if you're sixty." - Joan Rivers.
"Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician." – Anonymous.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
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From the archives
Thanks to Interesting Facts
6 Amazing Facts About Growing Old
It's a fact of life — people grow old. While modern society tends to obsess about the negatives of aging, studies suggest that we often experience more happiness and contentment in our later years. These six facts investigate the phenomenon of growing old, debunk some persistent myths about aging, and explore the brighter side of those golden years.
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Old Age Isn't a Modern Phenomenon
A common misconception about old age is that it's a relatively modern phenomenon, as our predecessors lived brutish lives cut short by disease and war. While modern medicine has certainly expanded life expectancy, many people in the past lived as long as people live today. For example, some ancient Roman offices sought by politically ambitious men couldn't even be held until someone was 30 — not exactly a great idea if people didn't live many years beyond that. Scientists have analyzed the pelvis joints (a reliable indicator of age) in skeletons from ancient civilizations and found that many people lived long lives. One study analyzing skeletons from Cholula, Mexico, between 900 and 1531 CE found that a majority of specimens lived beyond the age of 50. Low life expectancy in ancient times is impacted more by a high infant mortality rate than by people living unusually short lives. Luckily, modern science has helped more humans survive our vulnerable childhood years and life expectancy averages have risen as a result.
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Older People Requiring Less Sleep Is a Myth
Another myth about getting old is that as we age, humans need less and less sleep, somehow magically subsisting on six hours or less when we enter our senior years. The truth is that the amount of sleep a person needs is only altered during childhood and adolescence as our bodies need more energy to do the tough work of growing. Once we're in our 20s, humans require the same amount of sleep per night for the rest of their lives (though the exact amount differs from person to person). In fact, the elderly are more likely to be sleep-deprived because they receive lower-quality sleep caused by sickness, pain, medications, or a trip or two to the bathroom. This can be why napping during the day becomes more common as we grow older.
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Some of Our Bones Never Stop Growing
The common perception of human biology is that our bones put on some serious inches in our youth, and then by the time we're 20 or so, nature pumps the brakes and our skeleton stays static forever. While that's true of a majority of our bones, some don't quite follow this simplistic blueprint. A 2008 study for Duke University determined that the bones in the skull continue to grow, with the forehead moving forward and cheek bones moving backward. Unfortunately, this imperceptible bit of a facial movement exacerbates wrinkles, because as the skull shifts forward, the overlying skin sags.
The pelvis also keeps growing throughout your life. Scientists analyzing the pelvic width of 20-year-olds compared to 79-year-olds found a 1-inch difference in width, which adds an additional 3 inches to your waistband. That means our widening in the middle as we age isn't just about a slower metabolism.
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Pupils Get Smaller As We Age
While our hips get bigger, our pupils get smaller. The human pupil is controlled by the circumferential sphincter and iris dilator muscles, and as we add on the years, those muscles weaken. Because of this loss of muscle function, pupils get smaller as we age, and are also less responsive to light. Smaller pupils make it harder to see at night, so people in their 60s need three times as much light to read comfortably as people in their 20s. Reading a menu in a dimly lit restaurant? Forget about it. Other eye changes include an increased likeliness of presbyopia, or farsightedness (which can often be resolved with readers), and cataracts, or a clouding of the eye's lens. In fact, half of people over the age of 80 will have experienced a cataract of some kind.
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Older People Have a Stronger "Immune Memory"
Although the body experiences some slowing down as we age, growing old isn't all bad news. Researchers from the University of Queensland found that older people had stronger immunities than people in their 20s, as the body keeps a repository of illnesses that can stretch back decades. This extra line of defense begins to drop off in our 70s and 80s, but until then, our bodies generally just get better and better at fighting off disease due to biological experience. Additionally, as we age we experience fewer migraines, the severity of allergies declines, and we produce less sweat. Older people also exhibit higher levels of "crystalized intelligence" (or what some might call "wisdom") than any other age group.
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The Atoms That Make Up All of Us Are Already Billions of Years Old
It's true that age is just a number, and in the cosmic view of the universe, human age is pretty insignificant. The atoms that make up the human body are already billions of years old. For example, hydrogen — one of the key components of our bodies — formed in the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. Likewise, carbon, the primary component of all known life, formed in the fiery cauldron of stars at least 7 billion years ago. So when someone says we're all made of "star stuff," they're very much telling the truth (we're also made from various supernovae). And while we grow old on Earth, this is only the latest chapter of a story that stretches back to the beginning of everything — and it's a story that'll continue until the universe ends.
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This Day in U S Military History…….July 23
1940 – German bombers began the "Blitz," the all-night air raids on London.
1943 – Americans occupy Trapani and Marsala. On the north coast, US forces reach Termini Imerese.
1944 – Elements of the US 4th Corps (part of US 5th Army) penetrate the outskirts of Pisa but are only able to occupy the area south of the Arno River.
1944 – On Guam, American marines on the northern beachhead reach Point Adelup. On the southern beachhead, the marines cross the neck of the Orote Peninsula, thereby cutting off the main Japanese airfield on the island.
1965 – President Lyndon B. Johnson, in the course of discussions about what to do concerning the deteriorating situation in Vietnam, is told by some that he should give the American public all the facts, ask for an increase in taxes, mobilize the reserves, and declare a state of national emergency in the United States. Johnson rejected this approach, and informed his staff that he wanted any decisions implemented in a "low-key manner" in order to avoid an abrupt challenge to the communists, and to avoid undue concern and excitement in Congress and in domestic public opinion. During these discussions, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara urged the president to "expand promptly and substantially" the U.S. military presence in South Vietnam. Johnson, not wanting to "lose" Vietnam to the communists, ultimately accepted McNamara's recommendation and authorized a total of 44 U.S. battalions in South Vietnam, which led to a massive escalation of the war.
1973 – Eddie Rickenbacker, World War I flying ace, died in Zurich, Switzerland at the age of 82. Known as a race-car driver before World War I, he became America's premier flying ace during the war and returned home to a hero's welcome. Declining offers from the aviation industry and even Hollywood, Rickenbacker decided to lend his name to a car company, although he played a negligible role in the company's management and eventually resigned his position there. Without his high-flying name behind the product, Rickenbacker Motors crashed and burned. Later he and several associates bought Eastern Airlines in 1938 and guided it to become one of the most profitable airlines in the postwar era.
1998 – It was reported that Congress made the Air Force buy more C-130 transport aircraft against its wishes. Since 1978 only 5 of 256 C-130s sent to the Air National Guard and Air Reserve were requested by the Air Force. The planes were built in Georgia.
1999 – The 3-day Woodstock '99 music festival began at the decommissioned Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, NY, with some 225,000 people. The $35-38 million production ended in chaos with hundreds of concertgoers burning fires, looting and vandalizing.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HEARD, JOHN W.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Mouth of Manimani River, west of Bahia Honda, Cuba, 23 July 1898. Entered service at: Mississippi. Birth: Mississippi. r)date of issue: 21 June 1899. Citation: After 2 men had been shot down by Spaniards while transmitting orders to the engine-room on the Wanderer, the ship having become disabled, this officer took the position held by them and personally transmitted the orders, remaining at his post until the ship was out of danger.
BRADLEY, WILLIS WINTER, JR.
Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy. Born: 28 June 1884, Ransomville, N.Y. Appointed from: North Dakota. Citation: For extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty while serving on the U.S.S. Pittsburgh, at the time of an accidental explosion of ammunition on that vessel. On 23 July 1917, some saluting cartridge cases were being reloaded in the after casemate: through an accident an explosion occurred. Comdr. Bradley (then Lieutenant), who was about to enter the casemate, was blown back by the explosion and rendered momentarily unconscious, but while still dazed, crawled into the casemate to extinguish burning materials in dangerous proximity to a considerable amount of powder, thus preventing further explosions.
GRAVES, ORA
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 26 July 1896, Los Animas, Colo. Accredited to: Nebraska. G.O. No.: 366, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism on 23 July 1917, while the U.S.S. Pittsburgh was proceeding to Buenos Aires, Argentina. A 3-inch saluting charge exploded, causing the death of C. T. Lyles, seaman. Upon the explosion, Graves was blown to the deck, but soon recovered and discovered burning waste on the deck. He put out the burning waste while the casemate was filled with clouds of smoke, knowing that there was more powder there which might explode.
*BOYCE, GEORGE W. G., JR.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 112th Cavalry Regimental Combat Team. Place and date. Near Afua, New Guinea, 23 July 1944. Entered service at: Town of Cornwall, Orange County, N.Y. Birth: New York City, N.Y. G.O. No.: 25, 7 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty near Afua, New Guinea, on 23 July 1944. 2d Lt. Boyce's troop, having been ordered to the relief of another unit surrounded by superior enemy forces, moved out, and upon gaining contact with the enemy, the two leading platoons deployed and built up a firing line. 2d Lt. Boyce was ordered to attack with his platoon and make the main effort on the right of the troop. He launched his attack but after a short advance encountered such intense rifle, machinegun, and mortar fire that the forward movement of his platoon was temporarily halted. A shallow depression offered a route of advance and he worked his squad up this avenue of approach in order to close with the enemy. He was promptly met by a volley of hand grenades, 1 falling between himself and the men immediately following. Realizing at once that the explosion would kill or wound several of his men, he promptly threw himself upon the grenade and smothered the blast with his own body. By thus deliberately sacrificing his life to save those of his men, this officer exemplified the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.
*EUBANKS, RAY E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company D, 503d Parachute Infantry. Place and date: At Noemfoor Island, Dutch New Guinea, 23 July 1944. Entered service at: LaGrange, N.C. Born: 6 February 1922, Snow Hill, N.C. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Noemfoor Island, Dutch New Guinea, 23 July 1944. While moving to the relief of a platoon isolated by the enemy, his company encountered a strong enemy position supported by machinegun, rifle, and mortar fire. Sgt. Eubanks was ordered to make an attack with 1 squad to neutralize the enemy by fire in order to assist the advance of his company. He maneuvered his squad to within 30 yards of the enemy where heavy fire checked his advance. Directing his men to maintain their fire, he and 2 scouts worked their way forward up a shallow depression to within 25 yards of the enemy. Directing the scouts to remain in place, Sgt. Eubanks armed himself with an automatic rifle and worked himself forward over terrain swept by intense fire to within 15 yards of the enemy position when he opened fire with telling effect. The enemy, having located his position, concentrated their fire with the result that he was wounded and a bullet rendered his rifle useless. In spite of his painful wounds he immediately charged the enemy and using his weapon as a club killed 4 of the enemy before he was himself again hit and killed. Sgt. Eubanks' heroic action, courage, and example in leadership so inspired his men that their advance was successful. They killed 45 of the enemy and drove the remainder from the position, thus effecting the relief of our beleaguered troops.
RUBIN, TIBOR
Corporal Tibor Rubin distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism during the period from July 23, 1950, to April 20, 1953, while serving as a rifleman with Company I, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division in the Republic of Korea. While his unit was retreating to the Pusan Perimeter, Corporal Rubin was assigned to stay behind to keep open the vital Taegu-Pusan Road link used by his withdrawing unit. During the ensuing battle, overwhelming numbers of North Korean troops assaulted a hill defended solely by Corporal Rubin. He inflicted a staggering number of casualties on the attacking force during his personal 24-hour battle, single-handedly slowing the enemy advance and allowing the 8th Cavalry Regiment to complete its withdrawal successfully. Following the breakout from the Pusan Perimeter, the 8th Cavalry Regiment proceeded northward and advanced into North Korea. During the advance, he helped capture several hundred North Korean soldiers. On October 30, 1950, Chinese forces attacked his unit at Unsan, North Korea, during a massive nighttime assault. That night and throughout the next day, he manned a .30 caliber machine gun at the south end of the unit's line after three previous gunners became casualties. He continued to man his machine gun until his ammunition was exhausted. His determined stand slowed the pace of the enemy advance in his sector, permitting the remnants of his unit to retreat southward. As the battle raged, Corporal Rubin was severely wounded and captured by the Chinese. Choosing to remain in the prison camp despite offers from the Chinese to return him to his native Hungary, Corporal Rubin disregarded his own personal safety and immediately began sneaking out of the camp at night in search of food for his comrades. Breaking into enemy food storehouses and gardens, he risked certain torture or death if caught. Corporal Rubin provided not only food to the starving Soldiers, but also desperately needed medical care and moral support for the sick and wounded of the POW camp. His brave, selfless efforts were directly attributed to saving the lives of as many as forty of his fellow prisoners. Corporal Rubin's gallant actions in close contact with the enemy and unyielding courage and bravery while a prisoner of war are in the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.
*LUCAS, ANDRE C.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 2d Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. place and date: Fire Support Base Ripcord, Republic of Vietnam, 1 to 23 July 1970. Entered service at: West point, N.Y. Born: 2 October 1930, Washington D.C. Citation: Lt. Col. Lucas distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism while serving as the commanding officer of the 2d Battalion. Although the fire base was constantly subjected to heavy attacks by a numerically superior enemy force throughout this period, Lt. Col. Lucas, forsaking his own safety, performed numerous acts of extraordinary valor in directing the defense of the allied position. On 1 occasion, he flew in a helicopter at treetop level above an entrenched enemy directing the fire of 1 of his companies for over 3 hours. Even though his helicopter was heavily damaged by enemy fire, he remained in an exposed position until the company expended its supply of grenades. He then transferred to another helicopter, dropped critically needed grenades to the troops, and resumed his perilous mission of directing fire on the enemy. These courageous actions by Lt. Col. Lucas prevented the company from being encircled and destroyed by a larger enemy force. On another occasion, Lt. Col. Lucas attempted to rescue a crewman trapped in a burning helicopter. As the flames in the. aircraft spread, and enemy fire became intense, Lt. Col. Lucas ordered all members of the rescue party to safety. Then, at great personal risk, he continued the rescue effort amid concentrated enemy mortar fire, intense heat, and exploding ammunition until the aircraft was completely engulfed in flames. Lt. Col. Lucas was mortally wounded while directing the successful withdrawal of his battalion from the fire base. His actions throughout this extended period inspired his men to heroic efforts, and were instrumental in saving the lives of many of his fellow soldiers while inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. Lt. Col. Lucas' conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action, at the cost of his own life, were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 23, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
23 July
1908: Thomas S. Baldwin delivered the Army's first airship and hydrogen plant to Fort Myer. (18)
1914: Special Order 171 appointed a board of visitors at the North Island Aviation School to examine candidates for the new aviation mechanician rating. (24) 1918: The Director of the Army Air Service ordered every flying field in the United States to have an air ambulance. This was based on the February
1918 efforts of Maj Nelson E. Driver, a medical officer, and Captain William C. Ocker, Commander of Flight Training at Gerstner Field, Louisiana, to modify the rear cockpit seat of a JN-4 Jenny to accommodate a patient in a semireclining position. (18)
1936: The Navy awarded a contract to Consolidated for the XPB2Y-1 four-engine flying boat. (24)
1940: Radar used for the first time in shooting down an enemy bomber. 1948: MATS deployed men and equipment to establish an Airlift Task Force in Germany to relieve Berlin. Maj Gen William H. Tunner commanded the Task Force operations under USAFE's operational control. (16) (24)
1951: Lockheed flew the first production model of L-1049 Super Constellation.
1956: At Edwards AFB, Lt Col Frank K. (Pete) Everest flew the Bell X-2 at a record speed of Mach 2.87, over 1,900 MPH. (3) (9)
1958: The Boeing Vertol VZ-2A Tiltwing research aircraft successfully transitioned from vertical to horizontal flight and back for the first time. (20) 1959: A Boeing 707 flew the first commercial flight from New York to Moscow. The 8-hour, 54- minute flight time broke the record for the 5,090-mile flight of 11 hours 6 minutes made a few days earlier by a Russian TU-114. (24) At Vandenberg AFB, construction began on the first Atlas E coffin-type launcher. (6)
1966: MACKAY TROPHY. The YF-12A Test Force received the trophy from General John P. McConnell, CSAF, at Edwards AFB for flights on 1 May 1965 that set 9 world speed and altitude records. (3)
1970: McDonnell-Douglas DC-10, first wide-bodied trijet transport, rolled out at Long Beach.
1971: Hughes Aircraft Company received a contract to build 2,000 Maverick air-to-surface missiles for F-4Es and A-7Ds. (12)
1972: Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) launched from Western Test Range. As the first US civilian satellite to be flown, it acquired synoptic, multispectral repetitive images for three months and derive data on agriculture and forestry resources, minerals, and land resources. The satellite also represented the first step in merging space and remote sensing technology to manage earth resources more efficiently.
1987: At Sacramento, Aerojet General conducted the first full-duration firing of a Titan IV first stage engine. During the test, the engine burned for 200 seconds and generated 500,000 pounds of thrust.
1995: To ease economic suffering in Byelorussia, a 433 AW C-5 Galaxy airlifted in 28 pallets of medical supplies, blankets, clothes, furniture, and a military ambulance. (16)
1999: Through 27 July, the Space Shuttle Columbia flew a mission to deploy a new satellite, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to watch X-rays from high-energy regions of the universe. In the mission, Col Eileen Collins, the first female pilot of a space shuttle, became the first female commander of a space shuttle mission. (21)
2004: Congressman Jerry F. Costello (D-Ill.) announced that the 932 AW at Scott AFB would receive three new C-40Cs, the military version of the Boeing 737, and three modern C-9C Nightingales. The C-9Cs were transferred from Andrews AFB to replace the three C-9As at Scott. (22)
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