To All,
Good Friday Morning August 16. Yesterday was a forgettable one with two cars unable to start at the worst times and places. I even got a ride in a tow truck. I hope you all have a great weekend.
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:
August. 20
1929 A UO-1 airplane piloted by Lt. Adolphus W. Gorton makes a successful hook-up landing aboard USS Los Angeles (ZR 3) over Lakehurst, N.J.
1942 PBY 5A from VP-73 sink German submarine U-464 in the North Atlantic.
1944 TBM aircraft from USS Bogue (CVE 9) sink the German submarine U-1229.
1959 USS Thetis Bay (LPH 6) completes a six-day humanitarian operation after floods in Taiwan.
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Today in World History August 20
917 A Byzantine counter-offensive is routed by Syeon at Anchialus, Bulgaria.
1619 The first group of twenty Africans is brought to Jamestown, Virginia.
1667 John Milton publishes Paradise Lost, an epic poem about the fall of Adam and Eve.
1741 Danish navigator Vitus Jonas Bering, commissioned by Peter the Great of Russia to find land connecting Asia and North America, discovers America.
1794 American General "Mad Anthony" Wayne defeats the Ohio Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in the Northwest territory, ending Indian resistance in the area.
1847 General Winfield Scott wins the Battle of Churubusco on his drive to Mexico City.
1904 Dublin's Abbey Theatre is founded, an outgrowth of the Irish Literary Theatre founded in 1899 by William Butler Yeats and Lady Gregory.
1908 The American Great White Fleet arrives in Sydney, Australia, to a warm welcome.
1913 700 feet above Buc, France, parachutist Adolphe Pegoud becomes the first person to jump from an airplane and land safely.
1914 Russia wins an early victory over Germany at Gumbinnen.
1940 After a previous machine gun attack failed, exiled Russian Leon Trotsky is assassinated in Mexico City, with an alpine ax to the back of the head.
1940 Radar is used for the first time, by the British during the Battle of Britain. Also on this day, in a radio broadcast, Winston Churchill makes his famous homage to the Royal Air Force: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."
1941 Adolf Hitler authorizes the development of the V-2 missile.
1944 United States and British forces close the pincers on German units in the Falaise-Argentan pocket in France.
1953 USSR publicly acknowledges it tested a hydrogen bomb eight days earlier.
1955 Hundreds killed in anti-French rioting in Morocco and Algeria.
1960 USSR recovers 2 dogs, Belka and Strelka, the first animals to be launched into orbit and returned alive (Sputnik 5).
1961 East Germany begins erecting a wall along western border to replace barbed wire put up Aug 13; US 1st Battle Group, 18th Infantry Division arrives in West Berlin.
1964 US President Lyndon Baines Johnson signs the Economic Opportunity Act, an anti-poverty measure totaling nearly $1 billion, as part of his War on Poverty.
1968 Some 650,000 Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia to quell reformers there.
1971 The Cambodian military launches a series of operations against the Khmer Rouge.
1974 US Vice President Gerald Ford, who had replaced Spiro Agnew, assumes the Office of the President after Richard Nixon resigns; Ford names Nelson Rockefeller as VP.
1978 NASA launches Viking 1; with Viking 2, launched a few days later, provided high-resolution mapping of Mars, revolutionizing existing views of the planets.
1979 The Penmanshiel Diversion on the the East Coast Main Line rail route between England and Scotland opens, replacing the 134-year-old Penmanshiel Tunnel that had collapsed in March.
1980 UN Security Council condemns Israel's declaration that all of Jerusalem is its capital; vote is 14-0, with US abstaining.
1982 A multinational force including 800 US Marines lands in Beirut, Lebanon, to oversee Palestinian withdrawal during the Lebanese Civil War.
1986 Part-time mail carrier Patrick Sherrill shoots 20 fellow workers killing 14 at Edmond Okla., the first mass shooting by an individual in an office environment in the US. His actions give rise to the phrase "going postal," for sudden violent outbursts.
1990 Iraq moves Western hostages to military installations to use them as human shields against air attacks by a US-led multinational coalition.
1991 After an attempted coup in the Soviet Union, Estonia declares independence from the USSR.
1993 Secret negotiations in Norway lead to agreement on the Oslo Peace Accords, an attempt to resolve the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
1994 Miracle, the Sacred White Buffalo, born on Heider Farm near Janesville, Wisc. The first white (not albino) buffalo born since 1933, she was a important religious symbol for many US and Canadian Indian tribes.
1998 The Supreme Court of Canada rules Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government's approval.
1998 US launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the Aug. 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
2002 A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein seize the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin; after five hours they release their hostages and surrender.
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 12 August 2024 and ending Sunday 18 August 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
From the archives of Dan Heller's world-class website rollingthunderremembered.com post for 10 August 1969… In the words of Robert McNamara in his 1995 book, "In Retrospect": "We were wrong." And he cites eleven reasons for our defeat in Vietnam.
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 15 August
15-Aug: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1895
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
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Thanks to Barrel
The other war that was Navy. The bigger war in helicopters was Army………….but then nobody cares. Over 5000 Army helicopters destroyed.
Smoke on the water | Mekong River Rats
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
8 Quotes That Changed History
Words are powerful, capable even of changing the course of history. They can win wars or prevent them. They can impart comforting knowledge in the face of adversity and inspire others to great feats and great discoveries. They can set people free, or at least set them on a path to freedom. Here, we've highlighted eight famous quotes that have changed history, from the rousing words of Elizabeth I to an impassioned plea for equality and justice by Nelson Mandela.
1of 8
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth I, Queen regnant of England and Queen regnant of Ireland.: I know I have the body but of a weak, feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too, and think foul scorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince of Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm. — Queen Elizabeth I (source)
In 1588, while awaiting an expected invasion by the Spanish Armada, Queen Elizabeth I addressed her troops gathered at Tilbury, England. Elizabeth, dressed in a white velvet dress and wearing a breastplate, rode among her troops upon a gray horse, cutting an almost mythical figure. While her rousing speech didn't directly affect the outcome of the failed Armada, the English had a newfound faith in their queen, which would help make the small nation a world power.
2 of 8
Galileo Galilei
I hold the sun to be situated motionless in the center of the revolution of the celestial orbs while the Earth rotates on its axis and revolves about the sun. — Galileo Galilei (source)
Heliocentrism — the idea that the Earth and planets revolve around the sun at the center of the universe — had been around since the ancient Greeks. But it was Galileo who first provided proof using a telescope. In 1615, he was investigated by the Roman Inquisition of the Catholic Church for his supposedly heretical beliefs, and spent part of his life under house arrest. Today, he is considered the father of observational astronomy, modern physics, and the scientific method.
3 of 8
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
That from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. — Abraham Lincoln (source)
On November 19, 1863 — a little over four months after Union armies defeated the Confederacy at the decisive Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War — President Lincoln delivered a short speech in honor of those who died in defense of freedom. The speech was only about 272 words long (the precise wording is disputed), but the Gettysburg Address remains one of the most important speeches in U.S. history and a turning point in the Civil War.
4 of 8
Emmeline Pankhurst
I come to ask you to help to win this fight. If we win it, this hardest of all fights, then, to be sure, in the future it is going to be made easier for women all over the world to win their fight when their time comes. — Emmeline Pankhurst (source)
When British activist Emmeline Pankhurst traveled to Hartford, Connecticut, for an event in November 1913, she delivered a speech that united suffragists and suffragettes from both nations, bolstering and expanding the fight for women's voting rights. Her "Freedom or Death" speech is considered one of the most important of her career.
5 of 8
Winston Churchill
We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender. — Winston Churchill (source)
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered this speech in the House of Commons on June 4, 1940, following the Battle of Dunkirk. With the Allies heroically evacuated from Dunkirk, an invasion of Britain by Nazi Germany was a distinct possibility. It was time for Churchill to rally the nation, and that he certainly did.
6 of 8
John F. Kennedy
We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. — John F. Kennedy (source)
President John F. Kennedy's speech at Rice University in 1962 made NASA's fledgling Apollo program a national priority. In doing so, he paved the way for one of humankind's greatest achievements: stepping onto the lunar surface in 1969. The speech had far-reaching consequences, not only for the space race but for space exploration for decades to come.
7 of 8
Martin Luther King Jr.
The I have a dream spspeach
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. — Martin Luther King Jr. (source)
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered what would become a defining moment of the civil rights movement — and one of the most iconic speeches in U.S. history. King addressed the crowd of some 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, calling for an end to racism in the United States, and civil and economic rights for all citizens.
8 of 8
Nelson Mandela
I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to see realized. But, my lord, if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die. — Nelson Mandela (source)
Nelson Mandela gave his "I Am Prepared to Die" speech from the dock as a defendant at the Rivonia Trial of 1964, in which he and other leading opponents of apartheid went on trial on charges of sabotage, a crime that carried the death penalty. The three-hour speech is considered one of the great speeches of the 20th century, and a rallying cry for racial justice and democratic ideals. Mandela, however, was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He served 27 years of the sentence, and four years after his release in 1990, he was elected the first Black president of South Africa.
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Thanks to Mugs
Jim Web lived down the street from me at Vandenberg AFB in the late 50's. He followed me to USC on a Navy Scholarship and became a Fraternity Brother. At the end of his first year he received an appointment to the Naval Academy and left USC. He was not only a highly decorated Marine (Navy Cross and Purple Hearts) but wrote a number of outstanding books Including" Fields of Fire", …..Skip.
An Interesting Read
Short and worth reading.
Written by Senator Jim Webb, a former USMC officer and Secretary of the Navy.
Save the Confederate Memorial at Arlington
A commission will tear down this monument to national healing by year's end if we don't act.
McKinley understood the Civil War as one who had lived it, having served four years in the 23rd Ohio Infantry, enlisting as a private and discharged in 1865 as a brevet major. He knew the steps to take to bring the country fully together again. As an initial signal, he selected three Civil War veterans to command the Cuba campaign. Two, William Rufus Shafter, given overall command of the Cuban operation, and H.W. Lawton, who led the Second Infantry Division, the first soldiers to land in the war, had received the Medal of Honor fighting for the Union. The other, "Fighting Joe" Wheeler, the legendary Confederate cavalry general, led the cavalry units in Cuba, after being elected to Congress in 1880 from Alabama and working hard to bring national reconciliation.
Four days after the Spanish-American war ended, McKinley proclaimed in Atlanta: "In the spirit of fraternity we should share with you in the care of the graves of Confederate soldiers." In that call for national unity the Confederate Memorial was born. It was designed by internationally respected sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel, a Confederate veteran and the first Jewish graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, who asked to be buried at the memorial in Arlington National Cemetery. On one face of the memorial is the finest explanation of wartime service perhaps ever written, by a Confederate veteran who later became a Christian minister: "Not for fame or reward, not for place or for rank; not lured by ambition or goaded by necessity; but in simple obedience to duty as they understood it; these men suffered all, sacrificed all, dared all, and died."
But now in this new world of woke, unless measures are taken very soon, by the end of this year the Confederate Memorial will be gone.
With surprising overbroadness, the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, passed in the midst of national racial and political upheaval, empowered a Naming Commission to "remove all names, symbols, displays, monuments and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America . . . or any person who served voluntarily with the Confederate States of America from all assets of the Department of Defense." As part of that provision, Arlington National Cemetery has been ordered by Defense Department officials to remove the memorial by the end of this year, though the order is reportedly under review.
Having spent four years as a full committee counsel in the House and six years as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I cannot imagine that the removal of this memorial, conceived and built with the sole purpose of healing the wounds of the Civil War and restoring national harmony, could be within the intent of a sweeping sentence placed inside a nearly trillion-dollar piece of legislation.
The larger and ultimate question reaches further into America's atrophied understanding of the Civil War itself. What was it that Union Army veteran McKinley understood about the Confederate soldiers who opposed his infantry units on the battlefield that eludes today's monument smashers and ad hominem destroyers of historical reputations?
McKinley's fellow soldiers understood that during the Civil War, four slave states remained in the Union—Maryland, Delaware, Missouri and Kentucky—and none of them were required to give up slavery during the entire war. And that in every major battle of the Civil War, slave owners in the Union Army fought against non-slave-owners in the Confederate Army. They understood that President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did not free the slaves in those states or in the areas of the South that had already been conquered. The proclamation freed only slaves in the areas taken after it was issued. And in the eyes of a Confederate soldier, if Lincoln had not freed slaves in the union, why should the soldier be vilified for supposedly fighting on behalf of slavery?
Many soldiers in the North, and many more in the South, would have understood what John Hope Franklin (1915-2009), America's most esteemed black historian, pointed out: In 1860 only 5% of whites in the South owned slaves, and less than 25% of whites benefited economically from slavery. An estimated 258,000 Confederate soldiers died in the war, about a third of all those who fought for the South. Few owned slaves. So why did they fight?
The soldier who wrote the inscription on the Confederate Memorial knew. And so did President McKinley and most veterans who have fought in America's wars.
In 1992, as a private citizen and veteran of the Vietnam War, I was seeking to begin a process of reconciliation with our former enemy and hosted a delegation of Vietnamese officials in Washington. One of my objectives was to encourage Hanoi finally to make peace with the South Vietnamese veterans who had fought against the North and who after the war were labeled traitors, denied any official recognition as veterans, and hundreds of thousands were imprisoned in re-education camps.
To make my point I brought them to the Confederate Memorial. Pointing across the Potomac River from Arlington National Cemetery toward the Lincoln Memorial, I told them the story of how America healed its wounds from our own Civil War. The Potomac River was like the Ben Hai River, which divided North and South Vietnam. On the far side was our North, and here in Virginia was our South. After several bitter decades we came together, symbolized by the memorial.
If it is taken apart and removed, leaving behind a concrete slab, the burial marker of its creator, and a small circle of graves, it would send a different message, one of a deteriorating society willing to erase the generosity of its past, in favor of bitterness and misunderstanding conjured up by those who do not understand the history they seem bent on destroying.
Mr. Webb was a Marine infantry officer in Vietnam, Navy secretary (1987-88) and a U.S. senator from Virginia (2007-13). He is the distinguished fellow at Notre Dame's International Security Center.
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Thanks to History Facts
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From the archives
Thanks to Jerry
Interesting Approach and landing at Chagual. Peru
New meaning to the words, "pucker up."
Asiana pilots need not apply to this airline.
Do you think that there any pilots who really like this "airport"? How about weather or at night? Gotta be restrictions there!
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=618092801551323
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
The world's hardest cheese can be chewed like gum for hours.
It's frustrating when you buy a block of cheese at the supermarket and it grows mold before you can enjoy the whole thing. But that's rarely an issue with chhurpi, the world's hardest cheese that can last for up to 20 years. Chhurpi originated in the Eastern Himalayas region of Nepal and China, and it comes in both a softer variety produced from cow's milk and a hard variety made from yak's milk. Soft chhurpi lasts for only a week or two and is often pickled or enjoyed in curries. But the version made from yak's milk is a special culinary treat you won't find anywhere else in the world.
Hard chhurpi is produced by curing fresh cheese curds at room temperature for several days. The curds are then sliced into blocks and left to dry either outside or in a low-heat oven, which gives it a smoky flavor and a dense consistency. While chhurpi is best enjoyed within six months, it's said to last for up to two decades if properly stored in yak skin. Part of chhurpi's everlasting freshness is due to its extreme lack of moisture. While this helps preserve the cheese, the low moisture content also makes it quite difficult to chew. The most effective way to eat it is to hold it in one's mouth until it becomes moist and softens slightly, then begin chewing it like a gum. Consuming chhurpi in this way can make one block of the stuff last for up to two hours. That's what makes chhurpi so popular in this isolated region of the world, as people can rely on it for continual sustenance during long journeys through mountainous terrain.
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Thanks to Mike
We need a good story once in a while
For half a century, the world has applauded John Glenn as a
heart-stirring American hero. He lifted the nation's spirits when, as one of
the original Mercury 7 astronauts, he was blasted alone into orbit around
the Earth; the enduring affection for him is so powerful that even now
people find themselves misting up at the sight of his face or the sound of
his voice.
But for all these years, Glenn has had a hero of his own, someone who
he has seen display endless courage of a different kind:
Annie Glenn.
They have been married for 68 years.
He is 90; she turned 92 on Friday.
This weekend there has been news coverage of the 50th anniversary of
Glenn's flight into orbit. We are being reminded that, half a century down
the line, he remains America's unforgettable hero.
He has never really bought that.
Because the heroism he most cherishes is of a sort that is seldom
cheered. It belongs to the person he has known longer than he has known
anyone else in the world.
John Glenn and Annie Castor first knew each other when -- literally --
they shared a playpen.
In New Concord, Ohio, his parents and hers were friends. When the
families got together, their children played.
John -- the future Marine fighter pilot, the future test-pilot ace,
the future astronaut -- was pure gold from the start. He would end up having
what it took to rise to the absolute pinnacle of American regard during the
space race; imagine what it meant to be the young John Glenn in the small
confines of New Concord.
Three-sport varsity athlete, most admired boy in town, Mr. Everything.
Annie Castor was bright, was caring, was talented, was generous of
spirit. But she could talk only with the most excruciating of difficulty. It
haunted her.
Her stuttering was so severe that it was categorized as an "85%"
disability -- 85% of the time, she could not manage to make words come out.
When she tried to recite a poem in elementary school, she was laughed
at. She was not able to speak on the telephone. She could not have a regular
conversation with a friend.
And John Glenn loved her.
Even as a boy he was wise enough to understand that people who could
not see past her stutter were missing out on knowing a rare and wonderful
girl.
They married on April 6, 1943. As a military wife, she found that life
as she and John moved around the country could be quite hurtful. She has
written: "I can remember some very painful experiences -- especially the
ridicule."
In department stores, she would wander unfamiliar aisles trying to
find the right section, embarrassed to attempt to ask the salesclerks for
help. In taxis, she would have to write requests to the driver, because she
couldn't speak the destination out loud. In restaurants, she would point to
the items on the menu.
A fine musician, Annie, in every community where she and John moved,
would play the organ in church as a way to make new friends. She and John
had two children; she has written: "Can you imagine living in the modern
world and being afraid to use the telephone? 'Hello' used to be so hard for
me to say. I worried that my children would be injured and need a doctor.
Could I somehow find the words to get the information across on the phone?"
John, as a Marine aviator, flew 59 combat missions in World War II and
90 during the Korean War. Every time he was deployed, he and Annie said
goodbye the same way. His last words to her before leaving were:
"I'm just going down to the corner store to get a pack of gum."
And, with just the two of them there, she was able to always reply:
"Don't be long."
On that February day in 1962 when the world held its breath and the
Atlas rocket was about to propel him toward space, those were their words,
once again. And in 1998, when, at 77, he went back to space aboard the
shuttle Discovery, it was an understandably tense time for them. What if
something happened to end their life together?
She knew what he would say to her before boarding the shuttle. He
did -- and this time he gave her a present to hold onto:
A pack of gum.
She carried it in a pocket next to her heart until he was safely home.
Many times in her life she attempted various treatments to cure her
stutter. None worked.
But in 1973, she found a doctor in Virginia who ran an intensive
program she and John hoped would help her. She traveled there to enroll and
to give it her best effort. The miracle she and John had always waited for
at last, as miracles will do, arrived. At age 53, she was able to talk
fluidly, and not in brief, anxiety-ridden, agonizing bursts.
John has said that on the first day he heard her speak to him with
confidence and clarity, he dropped to his knees to offer a prayer of
gratitude.
He has written: "I saw Annie's perseverance and strength through the
years and it just made me admire her and love her even more." He has heard
roaring ovations in countries around the globe for his own valor, but his
awe is reserved for Annie, and what she accomplished: "I don't know if I
would have had the courage."
Her voice is so clear and steady now that she regularly gives public
talks. If you are lucky enough to know the Glenn's, the sight and sound of
them bantering and joking with each other and playfully finishing each
others' sentences is something that warms you and makes you thankful just to
be in the same room.
If you ever find yourself at an event where the Glenn's are
appearing, and you want to see someone so brimming with pride and love that
you may feel your own tears start to well up, wait until the moment that
Annie stands to say a few words to the audience.
And as she begins, take a look at her husband's eyes.
WOW!!! What a story
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Thanks to History Facts
Macy's was founded before the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
T he Ottoman Empire, which ruled over Anatolia (largely comprised of the Asian portion of modern-day Turkey) for six centuries, conjures up images of an ancient kingdom. Yet the Ottomans' existence is far from age-old history, and there are even people alive today who were born before the empire's dissolution. There are also many modern companies — including Macy's, which was established in 1858 — that were founded well before the Ottoman Empire fell in 1922, shortly after World War I.
The Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman I in 1299, and reached its peak during the mid-16th century. The empire began to decline shortly thereafter, as the rest of Europe expanded its power and influence during the Renaissance era and throughout the Industrial Revolution. What remained of the once-vast Ottoman Empire fought and lost alongside the Central Powers in World War I, weakening its standing even further. Macy's, meanwhile, began when businessman Rowland Hussey Macy opened four small stores between 1843 and 1855. Though those initial stores flopped, business boomed after Macy opened a dry goods store called R.H. Macy & Co. in 1858 at the corner of 14th Street and Sixth Avenue in New York City. The store was later renamed Macy's and blossomed into a local sensation, upgrading to a Herald Square location in 1902 that was the world's largest department store at the time.
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This Day in U S Military History
A day-by-day digest of events regarding all services of the U.S. military
1944 – During the night, the last elements of German 5th Panzer and 7th Armies to escape the Falaise pocket filter through Allied line around Chambois and St. Lambert. Some 70-80 miles to the east, the US 3rd Army captures crossings over the Seine River at Mantes Grassicourt, 30 miles west of Paris. To the southwest of Paris, the US 20th Corps (also part of US 3rd Army) enters Fontainbleau.
1944 – Americans announce that Japanese resistance on Biak Island has ended. The Japanese have suffered 4700 killed and 220 captured. US casualties are listed at 2550.
1945 – The War Production Board removes most of its controls over manufacturing activity. These and many other measures help the US economy to convert quickly to a peacetime basis. The American economy is actually stronger and more productive now, than before the war, and the standard of living, unlike that of any of the other major participants in the war, has actually increased.
1946 – World War II civilian truck restrictions were lifted in the U.S. Truck restrictions were only the beginning of special regulations during the war. Civilian auto production virtually ceased after the attack on Pearl Harbor as the U.S. automotive industry turned to war production, and gas rationing began in 1942
1968 – In the face of rising anti-Soviet protests in Czechoslovakia, Soviet troops (backed by troops from other Warsaw Pact nations) intervene to crush the protest. The brutal Soviet action shocked the West and dealt a devastating blow to U.S.-Soviet relations. The troubles in Czechoslovakia began when Alexander Dubcek took over as secretary general of the nation's Communist Party in January 1968. It was immediately apparent that Dubcek wanted a major overhaul of Czechoslovakia's political and economic system-he called his particular ideology "Socialism with a human face." He called for greater political freedom, including more participation by noncommunist parties. Dubcek also pressed for economic policies that would ensure less state control and more reliance on free market economics. Finally, he insisted on greater freedom from Soviet domination, although he reiterated his nation's allegiance to the Warsaw Pact, the Soviet bloc's counterpart to NATO. Dubcek's policies shocked the Soviets and leaders in other Eastern European nations. Throughout early and mid-1968, negotiations took place between Dubcek and representatives from Russia and other Soviet bloc nations in an attempt to have the Czechoslovakian leader soften his reforms. Dubcek refused, and tensions with the Soviet Union steadily increased. Meanwhile, the sudden atmosphere of freedom that Dubcek was encouraging took root, and Czech citizens embraced and celebrated the new tolerance for free exchange of ideas and open discussion in what came to be known as the "Prague Spring." On the night of August 20, 1968, more than 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops crossed into Czechoslovakia and headed for the capital city of Prague. In just over a day, the entire country was occupied; within a week nearly three-quarters of a million foreign troops were in Czechoslovakia. Anti-Soviet riots broke out in Prague, but these were viciously crushed and thousands of Czechs fled the country. The Soviet action in August 1968 shocked the West. Not since 1956, when Soviet troops intervened in Hungary, had the Russian government resorted to such force to bring one of its communist allies into line with its own policies. The Czech invasion was particularly damaging to U.S.-Soviet relations. In June 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson met with Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin to begin discussions related to a number of issues, including arms control. It was agreed that Johnson would visit the Soviet Union in October 1968 to continue the talks. The Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia caused Johnson to cancel his visit abruptly.
1974 – In the wake of Nixon's resignation, Congress reduces military aid to South Vietnam from $1 billion to $700 million. This was one of several actions that signaled the North Vietnamese that the United States was backing away from its commitment to South Vietnam.
1982 – During the Lebanese Civil War, a multinational force including 800 U.S. Marines lands in Beirut to oversee the Palestinian withdrawal from Lebanon. It was the beginning of a problem-plagued mission that would stretch into 17 months and leave 262 U.S. servicemen dead. In 1975, a bloody civil war erupted in Lebanon, with Palestinian and leftist Muslim guerrillas battling militias of the Christian Phalange Party, the Maronite Christian community, and other groups. During the next few years, Syrian, Israeli, and United Nations interventions failed to resolve the factional fighting, and in August 1982 a multinational force arrived to oversee the Palestinian withdrawal from Lebanon.
1998 – Pres. Clinton ordered cruise missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan 13 days after the deadly embassy bombings in East Africa. About 50 missiles were fired at the camp of Osama Bin Laden and some 25 missiles against a suspected chemical plant in Khartoum. The plant in Sudan was suspected of producing the chemical EMPTA, one of the ingredients in VX nerve gas, but also an ingredient in fungicides and anti-microbial agents.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HAWK, JOHN D.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company E, 359th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Chambois, France, 20 August 1944. Entered service at: Bremerton, Wash. Birth: San Francisco, Calif. G.O. No.: 55, 13 July 1945. Citation: He manned a light machinegun on 20 August 1944, near Chambois, France, a key point in the encirclement which created the Falaise Pocket. During an enemy counterattack, his position was menaced by a strong force of tanks and infantry. His fire forced the infantry to withdraw, but an artillery shell knocked out his gun and wounded him in the right thigh. Securing a bazooka, he and another man stalked the tanks and forced them to retire to a wooded section. In the lull which followed, Sgt. Hawk reorganized 2 machinegun squads and, in the face of intense enemy fire, directed the assembly of 1 workable weapon from 2 damaged guns. When another enemy assault developed, he was forced to pull back from the pressure of spearheading armor. Two of our tank destroyers were brought up. Their shots were ineffective because of the terrain until Sgt. Hawk, despite his wound, boldly climbed to an exposed position on a knoll where, unmoved by fusillades from the enemy, he became a human aiming stake for the destroyers. Realizing that his shouted fire directions could not be heard above the noise of battle, he ran back to the destroyers through a concentration of bullets and shrapnel to correct the range. He returned to his exposed position, repeating this performance until 2 of the tanks were knocked out and a third driven off. Still at great risk, he continued to direct the destroyers' fire into the Germans' wooded position until the enemy came out and surrendered. Sgt. Hawk's fearless initiative and heroic conduct, even while suffering from a painful wound, was in large measure responsible for crushing 2 desperate attempts of the enemy to escape from the Falaise Picket and for taking more than 500 prisoners.
LAMBERS, PAUL RONALD
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 2d Battalion, 27th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. place and date: Tay Ninh province, Republic of Vietnam, 20 August 1968. Entered service at: Holland, Mich. Born: 25 June 1942, Holland, Mich. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. S/Sgt. (then Sgt.) Lambers distinguished himself in action while serving with the 3d platoon, Company A. The unit had established a night defensive position astride a suspected enemy infiltration route, when it was attacked by an estimated Viet Cong battalion. During the initial enemy onslaught, the platoon leader fell seriously wounded and S/Sgt. Lambers assumed command of the platoon. Disregarding the intense enemy fire, S/Sgt. Lambers left his covered position, secured the platoon radio and moved to the command post to direct the defense. When his radio became inoperative due to enemy action, S/Sgt. Lambers crossed the fire swept position to secure the 90mm recoilless rifle crew's radio in order to re-establish communications. Upon discovering that the 90mm recoilless rifle was not functioning, S/Sgt. Lambers assisted in the repair of the weapon and directed canister fire at point-blank range against the attacking enemy who had breached the defensive wire of the position. When the weapon was knocked out by enemy fire, he single-handedly repulsed a penetration of the position by detonating claymore mines and throwing grenades into the midst of the attackers, killing 4 more of the Viet Cong with well aimed hand grenades. S/Sgt. Lambers maintained command of the platoon elements by moving from position to position under the hail of enemy fire, providing assistance where the assault was the heaviest and by his outstanding example inspiring his men to the utmost efforts of courage. He displayed great skill and valor throughout the 5-hour battle by personally directing artillery and helicopter fire, placing them at times within 5 meters of the defensive position. He repeatedly exposed himself to hostile fire at great risk to his own life in order to redistribute ammunition and to care for seriously wounded comrades and to move them to sheltered positions. S/Sgt. Lambers' superb leadership, professional skill and magnificent courage saved the lives of his comrades, resulted in the virtual annihilation of a vastly superior enemy force and were largely instrumental in thwarting an enemy offensive against Tay Ninh City. His gallantry at the risk of his life is in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for August 20, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
20 August
1908: The Wright Flyer arrived at Fort Myer.
1910: At Sheepshead Bay Track near New York, Lt Jacob E. Fickel fired the first shot from an airplane with an Army Springfield .30 caliber rifle. Glenn H. Curtiss flew a Curtiss biplane in this flight. (20) (24)
1911: CHICAGO AIR MEET. Lincoln Beachey set a new, world altitude record of 11,624 feet. (24)
1912: 1Lt Alfred A. Cunningham, first Marine Corps pilot, flew his first solo flight in a Wright hydroplane after two hours 30 minutes of instruction with the Burgess Company at Marblehead. (10)
1935: Leslie R. Tower and three crewmen flew a Boeing 299 bomber, the B-17 prototype, for 2,100 miles from Seattle to Dayton nonstop, averaging 232.2 MPH. (24)
1947: Cmdr Turner F. Caldwell (USN) set a world speed record of 640.74 MPH in the Douglas Skystreak D-588-1. (9) (24)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Through 21 August, 38 B-29s bombed supply areas in the enemy's capital, the highest number of medium bomber sorties against a single target this month. (28)
1953: Operation LONGSTRIDE/MACKAY TROPHY: SAC moved the 31st and 508th Strategic Fighter Wings (SFW) from Turner AFB to Nouasseur AB, French Morocco, and Lakenheath, UK, respectively. In Phase I, 8 F-84 Thunderjets from the 31st used 3 KC-97 air refuelings to reach Nouasseur in 10 hours 20 minutes. The 31st returned home on 2 September. Phase II also started today as 17 F-84Gs from the 508th flew 4,485 miles to Lakenheath AB. With 3 air refuelings (1 KB-29 and 2 KC-97), these F-84s traveled the greatest distance flown nonstop to date by single-engine jet fighters. The unit returned to Turner on 12 September. For this operation, the 40 AD earned the Mackay Trophy. (1) (24) Dr. Wernher von Braun and his team joined US Army personnel at Cape Canaveral in firing the first Redstone (Redstone No. 1). It was our first truly ballistic missile. (16) (24)
1955: MACKAY TROPHY. At Edwards AFB Col Horace A. Hanes, the AFFTC Director of Flight Testing, flew a F-100C to an FAI speed record of 822.135 MPH for straightaway flight. He later received the 1955 Mackay Trophy. (9) (24)
1962: In an X-15 flight, Maj Robert A. Rushworth participated in the first successful attempt to telemeter electrocardiogram (EKG) data. (3)
1973: Airlifters from MAC, TAC, and AFRES airlifted 2,400 tons of relief supplies and equipment to Pakistan for flood victims. (21)
1975: SECDEF James R. Schlesinger directed the USAF to provide refueling support to US Navy and Marine Corps tactical aircraft involved in peacetime training and transoceanic movements. He also tasked the USAF to provide refueling support to general-purpose forces in periods of increased tension. The directive allowed SAC to acquire additional tankers. (18) The 320 BMW at Mather AFB received the last SRAM. (6) Using a Titan III booster, NASA launched the Viking I mission to Mars (See 20 June 1976) from Cape Canaveral AFS. (8: Aug 90)
1977: Voyager 2 launched from Cape Canaveral. (20)
1990: Operation DESERT SHIELD. More than 15,300 reservists, roughly 22 percent of the reserve force, volunteered to serve in DESERT SHIELD. (26)
1995: Through 21 August, a C-5 flew 75 tons of food from Ramstein AB to Zagreb, Croatia, for refugees of a civil war. (16)
1998: ATTACK ON US EMBASSIES IN AFRICA. After the 7 August bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the US launched more than 75 Tomahawk land-attack missiles from ships and submarines against terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan. (21)
2007: Operation DEEP FREEZE 2007-08/WINTER FLY-IN. Winter flights began to Antarctica, when the first C-17 Globemaster III delivered passengers and cargo to McMurdo Station. Landing 15 miles from McMurdo at Pegasus White Ice Runway, the C-17 Globemaster III from McChord AFB, Wash., carried in scientists and support members to start early pre-summer projects, augment maintenance personnel and prepare skyways and ice runways at McMurdo. On 25 August, McChord completed the 2007-08 winter fly-in season when the last C-17 took off from Pegasus. The 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron flew a total of 355 passengers and 119,953 pounds of cargo to and from McMurdo during this season. (AFNEWS, "Winter Flights to Antarctica Wrap Up," 27 Aug 2007, and AFNEWS, "Operation Deep Freeze 2007-08 Begins," 21 Aug 2007.)
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