To All,
Good Tuesday Morning September 3. We have the dreaded excessive heat warning today and it will only get worse over the next couple of days as we climb into the 90s. Testing starts tomorrow for my classes so it is good we have air conditioning in the testing facility.
This is a Bubba Breakfast Friday Hope to see many of you there. By the way Matthew one of the Gillcrist clan that came to Bubba Breakfast last summer has received his wings and is going to the east coast to fly the F-18.Congratulations to him and the rest of the clan on continuing his Father and Grandfather's Legacy.
Warm Regards,
skip
Make it a good Day
A bit rushed this morning as I have a dental appointment ----never been one of my favorite things
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Thanks to Tuna Bohannon
It is with a heavy heart that I relay Bill Logan passed away last night after being at a baseball game. Suzanne is with their son, Brice in their home in Spokane. Plans to follow. Her address is:
6519 West Kitsap Drive
Spokane, WA 99208
She does not do email.
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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
Today in Naval and Marine Corps History
September 3
1782 The man-of-war ship America is given to France to replace the French ship, Magnifique, which ran aground and was destroyed Aug. 11 while attempting to enter Boston harbor. The ship symbolizes the appreciation for France's service to America and her sacrifices during the American Revolution.
1783 The Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the American Revolution. The United States is acknowledged as a sovereign and independent nation.
1925 The rigid airship, USS Shenandoah (ZR 1), crashes near Byesville, Ohio. There were fourteen casualties including the Commanding Officer, Lt. Zachary Lansdowne. Twenty-nine crew members survive.
1944 A PB4Y-1 Liberator plane launches to attack German submarine pens on Helgoland Island. The pilot, Lt. Ralph Spading, sets the radio controls and parachutes out of the Liberator, which is then controlled as a drone by Ensign J.M. Simpson in a PV-1.
1945 The surrender of the Bonin Islands takes place on board USS Dunlap (DD 384) off Chichi Jima. Lt. Gen. Yoshio Tachibana, the local commander, signs the surrender documents. He is later convicted and executed for a particularly gruesome series of war crimes perpetuated against U.S. aviators who had been captured in the area during 1944-45.
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Today in World History
September 3
1189 After the death of Henry II, Richard Lionheart is crowned king of England.
1260 Mamelukes under Sultan Qutuz defeat Mongols and Crusaders at Ain Jalut.
1346 Edward III of England begins the siege of Calais, along the coast of France.
1650 The English under Cromwell defeat a superior Scottish army under David Leslie at the Battle of Dunbar.
1777 The American flag (stars & stripes), approved by Congress on June 14th, is carried into battle for the first time by a force under General William Maxwell.
1783 The Treaty of Paris is signed by Great Britain and the new United States, formally bringing the American Revolution to an end.
1838 Frederick Douglass escapes slavery disguised as a sailor. He would later write The Narrative Life of Frederick Douglass, his memoirs about slave life.
1855 General William Harney defeats Little Thunder's Brule Sioux at the Battle of Blue Water in Nebraska.
1895 The first professional American football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania between the Latrobe Young Men's Christian Association and the Jeannette Athletic Club. Latrobe wins 12-0.
1914 The French capital is moved from Paris to Bordeaux as the Battle of the Marne begins.
1916 The German Somme front is broken by an Allied offensive.
1918 The United States recognizes the nation of Czechoslovakia.
1939 After Germany ignores Great Britain's ultimatum to stop the invasion of Poland, Great Britain declares war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II in Europe.
1939 The British passenger ship Athenia is sunk by a German submarine in the Atlantic, with 30 Americans among those killed. American Secretary of State Cordell Hull warns Americans to avoid travel to Europe unless absolutely necessary.
1943 British troops invade Italy, landing at Calabria.
1944 The U.S. Seventh Army captures Lyons, France.
1945 General Tomoyuki Yamashita, the Japanese commander of the Philippines, surrenders to Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright at Baguio.
1967 Lieutenant General Nguyen Van Thieu is elected president of South Vietnam.
1969 Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam, dies.
1976 The unmanned US spacecraft Viking 2 lands on Mars, takes first close-up, color photos of the planet's surface.
1981 Egypt arrests some 1,500 opponents of the government.
1989 US begins shipping military aircraft and weapons to Columbia for use against that country's drug lords.
1994 Russia and China sign a demarcation agreement to end dispute over a stretch of their border and agree they will no longer target each other with nuclear weapons.
2001 Protestant loyalists in Belfast, Ireland, begin an 11-week picket of the Holy Cross Catholic school for girls, sparking rioting.
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 2 September 2024 and ending Sunday, 8 September 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post of 1 September 1969… Wrap-up on "Balky Company A" and a NYT OpEd by James Reston, "A Whiff of Mutiny." The Nixon Dilemma: how do you keep troops fighting forward while you are pulling out and going home? We lost more than 20,000 American brave hearts (KIA) while fighting the last three years of this lost cause.
(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 3 September
3-Sep: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1331
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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From 3 years ago today so that we do not forget.
Thanks to the Bear
Gentlemen… Shoshana Bryen is in a class with V.D. Hanson as a historian and commentator on national security… this column is a keeper… and I love her conclusion that …"…there is nothing the civilians or military higher-ups can say that will make Americans believe they knew what they were doing. Resignations are in order."… read and weep for our country… and the world… Bear PS… I count more than 170 aircraft and helicopters now in the Taliban Ai Force…
First, remember our troops, living and dead, who served the United States in Afghanistan since 2001. They are owed our gratitude for their steadfast presence in a difficult country and our help as they and their families, and the families of the dead, navigate the emotionally terrible terrain of a defeat inflicted not by the enemy, but by our government's failure to plan properly for the end of their mission. If it was time for the U.S. to leave, then so be it. But there is nothing the civilians or the military higher-ups can say that will make Americans believe they knew what they were doing. Resignations are in order.
Spare a moment, too, for the 182,071 soldiers in the Afghan Army and Air Force and the 118,628 members of the police and paramilitary security forces serving as of July 2021. Yes, the Afghan force collapsed — but only after the U.S. withdrew its air power and intelligence capabilities, both of which the Afghans had relied upon under our tutelage.
Second, retire the word "privilege" as used in the U.S. to denigrate those perceived to have some inborn, unearned advantage. Whatever your color, race, or sex; whether you are the sixth great-grandchild of slave or fifth great-grandchild of Chinese railroad slaves or the second-generation Vietnamese refugees or the remnants of the Holocaust — if you live in the United States today, you are privileged. You have the advantages of freedom, liberty, and a Constitution. You have access to education, food, medicine, and bathrooms. If you doubt your privilege, watch CNN.
Third, consider the extraordinary arsenal supplied by the United States to our ostensible enemy, the Taliban. Conveniently scattered in U.S. bases around the country, in Kunduz, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Lashkar Gah, Kandahar, Gardez, and Kabul, the U.S. Government Accountability (?!) Office (USGAO) and the special inspector general for Afghan reconstruction (SIGAR) report the following hardware losses:
22,174 Humvees
637 MIII7 vehicles
155 MXX Pro mine-proof vehicles
169 armored personnel carriers
8,000 trucks
42,000 pickup trucks & SUVs
64,363 machine guns162,043 radios
16,035 night vision goggles
358,530 assault rifles
126,295 pistols
176 artillery pieces
33 MI17 helicopters
33 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters
43 MD-530 helicopters
4 C-130 transport planes
23 Embraer EMB 314/A29 Super Tucano planes
28 Cessna 208s
10 Cessna AC-208 strike aircraft
That leads to a fourth thing. The American withdrawal from Afghanistan was ill-timed, was poorly planned and executed, and will have repercussions with America's allies and adversaries. The British Parliament, according to The Daily Telegraph, "holds the president in contempt." Indeed, it did, voting unanimously to condemn both President Joe Biden and British P.M. Boris Johnson for their failures.
This, then, is an opportunity to remind our British friends — and ourselves — that a disastrous military defeat is not necessarily permanent or even precedent-setting.
In 1915, British forces attempted to take the Gallipoli Peninsula from the Turks and the Germans in World War I. "Gallipoli" in England, even today, is a metaphor for disaster. Defeat is defeat is defeat, and Gallipoli ranks as one of the great ones. The British pulled out in November 1915 — successfully, actually, surprising their enemies with their sudden disappearance. But they left behind enough kit to stupefy even Gen. Otto Viktor Karl Liman von Sanders, the German commander, who wrote in his memoir, Five Years in Turkey:
The booty at the south group was extraordinary. Wagon parks, automobile parts, mountains of arms, ammunition and entrenching tools were collected ... most of the tent camps and barracks had been left standing in part with all their equipment. Many hundreds of horses lay in rows, shot, or poisoned, but quite a number of horses and mules were captured and turned over to the Turkish artillery ... the immense booty of war material was used for the Turkish armies. Many shiploads of conserved, flour and wood were removed to Constantinople. What the ragged and insufficiently nourished Turkish soldiers took away, cannot be estimated.
Sound familiar? This is not (only) to dump on the British — among the best of our allies, mistreated by the Biden administration that failed to coordinate with any of the Europeans who have been with us in Afghanistan from the beginning. It is to say that the allies went up from there and won WWI — with our help. Leading to Dunkirk in 1940. Leading to the remarkable manifestation of British will — the evacuation of 338,226 British and French soldiers in part through the efforts of the flotilla of merchant marine, fishing and pleasure craft, lifeboats, and yachts that answered the call. (Google Digital Dunkirk for the 2021 analogy.) It was after Dunkirk that Winston Churchill said, "We must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations."
The war was won by the determination of allied leaders and their armies — including America's Greatest Generation — largely supplied by the American home front, full of Americans who knew how important victory was and who were determined to get there.
The open question is whether the United States and its allies have the determination to look the defeat in Kabul in the eye and start to plan for the next, essential battles.
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Thanks to Newell
https://youtu.be/ZfgDCNjS48I?si=aR-nRiHRTIQ5pGwO
Family and Friends,
A friend of our military shares the following heartrending video. It was made by some parents of the 13 fatal casualties of the 2021 Abbey Gate bombing.
https://youtu.be/ZfgDCNjS48I?si=aR-nRiHRTIQ5pGwO
Spoiler Alert: It's a scathing denouncement of Biden's and Harris' executive leadership. Plus, it prompted for me, fresh recall of Biden seen frequently checking his watch during the somber military transfer of the 13 arriving caskets as the deceased service personnel were returned to the U.S. Obviously, Biden had something else he preferred to be doing, and the respectful arrival ceremony was taking way too much of his self-important time.
Regarding Harris' insulting campaign rhetoric in response to the news coverage of former President Trump's Arlington Cemetery homage to our fallen 13: Cackling Kamala once again showed herself to be unfit and unqualified for the Commander-In-Chief title she seeks. Unless, of course, our 2024 electorate decides to bequeath the Oval Office to political-image instead of substance.
Newell
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Thanks to Dr.Rich
This Man Owns The World's Most Advanced Private Air Force After Buying 46 F/A-18 Hornets
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Thanks to Mugs
The Power Grid
This is about an hour long, but it's packed with info. It's primarily about Texas, but it's useful information for the whole nation.
Mugs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SM70iYv_CU
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Thanks to History Facts
There have been 27 versions of the American flag.
U.S. HISTORY
A nation's flag is not merely a piece of cloth used to identify a country or mark territory. It also allows people with a shared culture to celebrate what unites and represents them. In other worlds, flags matter — which may help explain why the American flag has gone through no fewer than 27 iterations over the last 247 years. In fact, the United States holds the world record for the most changes to a national flag, as the design was continuously updated as the country expanded and more states were added to the union.
The first official American flag (which, contrary to popular myth, was most likely not designed by Betsy Ross) was approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. It featured 13 red and white stripes meant to represent the 13 original colonies, and a blue canton — the rectangle in the upper left corner — with 13 stars in a circular pattern. After Kentucky and Vermont became states, the Second Flag Act of 1794 authorized a new design with two additional stars and stripes. The version of this 15-star flag that flew over Baltimore's Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 became known as the "Star-Spangled Banner," and inspired Francis Scott Key to write the United States' national anthem.
In 1818, the number of stripes in the flag design was reduced to the original number, 13, and the number of stars increased to 20, for the 20 states in the union at the time. The Flag Act of 1818 further specified that in the future, a star would be added for each new state, and the addition would take effect on the Fourth of July following the state's admission. Over the next several decades, as the U.S. grew, the stars in the flag's canton were arranged in different patterns. In 1912, President William Howard Taft signed an executive order that specified, for the first time, almost every detail of the flag, including its proportions and arrangement of stars. This flag looked very similar to the current design, but with 48 stars, as Alaska and Hawaii had not yet become states. In 1960, an updated flag design was made official by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and became the standard 50-star flag that still flies today.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
It can take 50 years for a saguaro cactus to grow one arm.
It's not easy to be a cactus — surviving in a scorching environment with little water is a pretty tough task for most plants. Some cacti, like the saguaro, have adapted by taking their sweet time to grow. In fact, saguaro cacti often reach just 1.5 inches in the first 10 years of their lives. Growing their iconic arms — often featured in old Western films and desert art landscapes — can take 50 years, or even up to 100 years in drought-like conditions.
Many saguaros do not flower until they reach 35 years old. And although they produce some 40 million seeds over their lifetime, odds are that just one of their cacti descendants will survive to adulthood after battling arid conditions, trampling, human interference, and invasive species that threaten their environments. Reaching their maximum size — upwards of 45 feet tall and more than 2 tons in weight — can take 175 to 200 years, close to the end of a saguaro's lengthy lifespan. But there is perhaps one consolation involved in that long journey: Saguaros are the largest cactus species in the U.S.
These slow-growing giants are found wild only in the Sonoran Desert, which stretches from southeastern California across southwestern Arizona and into Mexico. Despite their vulnerabilities, saguaro are important plants in the Sonoran ecosystem, providing fruit for birds, nectar for bats and other pollinators, and superb nesting spots for wildlife — which is why these colossal cacti are legally protected native plants in Arizona.
All cacti have prickly spines.
The scientific name for the saguaro — Carnegiea gigantea — is named for philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
Numbers Don't Lie
Height (in feet) of the largest recorded saguaro cactus
78
Estimated species of cacti globally
2,000
Species of cacti found wild outside the Americas
1
Diameter (in centimeters) of Blossfeldia liliputana, the world's smallest cactus
2
There's a special census for saguaro cacti every 10 years.
How do scientists know how many saguaros exist in the U.S.? Turns out, they count and record them, in a fashion similar to how the federal census estimates the nation's population of humans. Scientists at Saguaro National Park in Arizona first began the cactus count in 1990 as a way to track species health and numbers, syncing the enumeration with the federal census. Every 10 years, scientists and volunteers count the number of cacti in randomly selected areas of the park to calculate how many saguaro likely exist in the preserve as a whole. The work is labor-intensive, requiring census-takers to hike to desolate areas of the park and record each cactus' GPS coordinates, height, number of arms, and other information. In 2020, that work totaled more than 3,500 hours from staff and a group of more than 500 volunteers. The most recent report shows the saguaro population nearly doubled from the 1990 count, totaling around 2 million in 2020, though it's possible up to 20% of baby saguaro could be missed, since they're so small and difficult to spot.
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Thanks to Mugs
Why does the F-35C have larger wings?
The F-35C is the carrier variant of the F-35 Lightning II, a fifth-generation stealth fighter developed by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. The F-35C is designed to operate from aircraft carriers, which require special features and capabilities for launching and landing aircraft at sea. One of these features is the larger wings of the F-35C compared to the other variants, the F-35A (conventional takeoff and landing) and the F-35B (short takeoff and vertical landing).
The larger wings of the F-35C have several advantages for carrier operations. First, they provide more lift and control at low speeds, which are necessary for landing on a moving ship with a limited runway. The larger wings also allow the F-35C to carry more fuel and weapons internally, which increase its range and payload capacity. Also, the larger wings reduce the landing speed and ground roll of the F-35C, which improve its safety and efficiency on the carrier deck.
The F-35C has a wingspan of 13.1 meters (43 feet), which is 3.4 meters (11 feet) longer than the F-35A and 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) longer than the F-35B. The wing area of the F-35C is 62.1 square meters (668 square feet), which is 14.5 square meters (156 square feet) larger than the F-35A and 9.8 square meters (105 square feet) larger than the F-35B. The larger wings also have foldable wingtips, which reduce the width of the F-35C by 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) when folded, allowing for more space on the carrier deck.
The larger wings of the F-35C are not without drawbacks, however. They add weight and drag to the aircraft, which reduce its top speed and maneuverability compared to the other variants. The F-35C also has a lower thrust-to-weight ratio than the F-35A and F-35B, which means it has less power relative to its weight. Moreover, the larger wings require stronger and heavier landing gear to withstand the stresses of carrier landings, which further increase the weight and complexity of the aircraft.
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From the archives
Thanks to Dr.Rich
The Untold Story of the Blue Angels Visit to Moscow with John "Gucci" Foley | NEW INTERVIEW - YouTube In what was once thought to be an impossibility, the Blue Angels made history in 1992 by becoming the first United States flight team to fly over the skies of Moscow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcNvX5SiABY
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From the archives. Brings back a lot of memories…skip
Thanks to George,
B-52 Lands at Former Loring AFB Maine - August 11, 2022
I was at Loring when the B-36 was there and was there when the first B-52s showed up. A bit of my childhood remembered. Did the 6th and part f the 7th grade there. Two winters that provided me with enough snow to last a lifetime. I specifically remember seeing a B-52 going overhead with a giant parachute behind it. Had no idea why he had it out but it was low and loud and had its gear down and it was not a normal path for them to fly. We lost two of them that winter. I know because Three classmates left school because their fathers had been killed in the crashes.
Skip
On Aug 21, 2022, at 1:28 PM, George Scherrer <george@sscherrer.com> wrote:
> https://youtu.be/6dCzdAfeURE
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This Day in U S Military History
September 3
1777 – The American flag is flown in battle for the first time, during a Revolutionary War skirmish at Cooch's Bridge, Maryland. Patriot General William Maxwell ordered the stars and strips banner raised as a detachment of his infantry and cavalry met an advance guard of British and Hessian troops. The rebels were defeated and forced to retreat to General George Washington's main force near Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania. Three months before, on June 14, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution stating that "the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white" and that "the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." The national flag, which became known as the "Stars and Stripes," was based on the "Grand Union" flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the Stars and Stripes, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend. With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union. In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states. On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes. As instructed by Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance.
1782 – As a token of gratitude for French aid during American Revolution, the U.S. gives America (first ship-of-the-line built by U.S.) to France to replace a French ship lost in Boston.
1783 – The Treaty of Paris between the United States and Great Britain officially ended the Revolutionary War. The Treaty of 1783, which formally ended the American Revolution, is also known as the Definitive Treaty of Peace, the Peace of Paris and the Treaty of Versailles. Under the treaty, Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. The treaty bears the signatures of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and John Jay.
1864 – President Lincoln ordered a 100-gun salute at the Washington Navy Yard at noon on Monday, the 5th of September, and upon receipt of the order, at each arsenal and navy yard in the United States "for the recent brilliant achievements of the fleet and land forces of the United States in the harbor of Mobile and in the reduction of Fort Powell, Fort Gaines, and Fort Morgan. The President also proclaimed that on the following Sunday thanksgiving should be given for Rear Admiral Farragut's victory at Mobile and for the capture of Atlanta by General Sherman. These events, said Lincoln, "call for devout acknowledgment to the Supreme Being in whose hands are the destinies of nations
1939 – In response to Hitler's invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. The first casualty of that declaration was not German-but the British ocean liner Athenia, which was sunk by a German U-30 submarine that had assumed the liner was armed and belligerent. There were more than 1,100 passengers on board, 112 of whom lost their lives. Of those, 28 were Americans, but President Roosevelt was unfazed by the tragedy, declaring that no one was to "thoughtlessly or falsely talk of America sending its armies to European fields." The United States would remain neutral. As for Britain's response, it was initially no more than the dropping of anti-Nazi propaganda leaflets-13 tons of them-over Germany. They would begin bombing German ships on September 4, suffering significant losses. They were also working under orders not to harm German civilians. The German military, of course, had no such restrictions. France would begin an offensive against Germany's western border two weeks later. Their effort was weakened by a narrow 90-mile window leading to the German front, enclosed by the borders of Luxembourg and Belgium-both neutral countries. The Germans mined the passage, stalling the French offensive.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*OUELLETTE, JOSEPH R.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company H, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Yongsan, Korea, from 31 August to 3 September 1950. Entered service at: Lowell, Mass. Birth: Lowell, Mass. G.O. No.: 25, 25 April 1951. Citation: Pfc. Ouellette distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action against the enemy in the Makioug-Chang River salient. When an enemy assault cut off and surrounded his unit he voluntarily made a reconnaissance of a nearby hill under intense enemy fire to locate friendly troop positions and obtain information of the enemy's strength and location. Finding that friendly troops were not on the hill, he worked his way back to his unit under heavy fire. Later, when an airdrop of water was made outside the perimeter, he again braved enemy fire in an attempt to retrieve water for his unit. Finding the dropped cans broken and devoid of water, he returned to his unit. His heroic attempt greatly increased his comrades' morale. When ammunition and grenades ran low, Pfc. Ouellette again slipped out of the perimeter to collect these from the enemy dead. After collecting grenades he was attacked by an enemy soldier. He killed this enemy in hand-to-hand combat, gathered up the ammunition, and returned to his unit. When the enemy attacked on 3 September, they assaulted his position with grenades. On 6 occasions Pfc. Ouellette leaped from his foxhole to escape exploding grenades. In doing so, he had to face enemy small-arms fire. He continued his resistance, despite a severe wound, until he lost his life. The extraordinary heroism and intrepidity displayed by Pfc. Ouellette reflect the highest credit on himself and are in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the military service.
*WATKINS, TRAVIS E.
Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company H, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2d Infantry Division Place and date: Near Yongsan, Korea, 31 August through 3 September 1950. Entered service at: Texas. Birth: Waldo, Ark. G.O. No.: 9, 16 February 1951. Citation: M/Sgt. Watkins distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy. When an overwhelming enemy force broke through and isolated 30 men of his unit, he took command, established a perimeter defense and directed action which repelled continuous, fanatical enemy assaults. With his group completely surrounded and cut off, he moved from foxhole to foxhole exposing himself to enemy fire, giving instructions and offering encouragement to his men. Later when the need for ammunition and grenades became critical he shot 2 enemy soldiers 50 yards outside the perimeter and went out alone for their ammunition and weapons. As he picked up their weapons he was attacked by 3 others and wounded. Returning their fire he killed all 3 and gathering up the weapons of the 5 enemy dead returned to his amazed comrades. During a later assault, 6 enemy soldiers gained a defiladed spot and began to throw grenades into the perimeter making it untenable. Realizing the desperate situation and disregarding his wound he rose from his foxhole to engage them with rifle fire. Although immediately hit by a burst from an enemy machine gun he continued to fire until he had killed the grenade throwers. With this threat eliminated he collapsed and despite being paralyzed from the waist down, encouraged his men to hold on. He refused all food, saving it for his comrades, and when it became apparent that help would not arrive in time to hold the position ordered his men to escape to friendly lines. Refusing evacuation as his hopeless condition would burden his comrades, he remained in his position and cheerfully wished them luck. Through his aggressive leadership and intrepid actions, this small force destroyed nearly 500 of the enemy before abandoning their position. M/Sgt. Watkins' sustained personal bravery and noble self-sacrifice reflect the highest glory upon himself and is in keeping with the esteemed traditions of the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for September 3, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
3 September
1908: Orville Wright flew the Wright Flyer on its first test flight at Fort Myer, Va. (12)
1925: The Navy's dirigible, Shenandoah, collapsed in a storm over Ava, Ohio, killing 14 of 43 passengers, including Lt Cmdr Zachary Lansdowne, the commander. The event later led Brig Gen William "Billy" Mitchell to charge the War and Navy Departments with incompetency and an almost treasonable administration of the national defense. In response to that charge, President Calvin Coolidge ordered Mitchell's court-martial. (21) (24)
1932: Maj James H. Doolittle flew a Granville Gee Bee Monoplane with a Wasp engine at an average speed of 294 MPH to set a Federation Aeronautique Internationale record for 3 kilometers at Cleveland, Ohio. (9) (24)
1945: Maj G. E. Cain flew an Air Transportation Command C-54 Skymaster with movies of Japan's surrender on a record 31-hour, 25-minute flight from Tokyo to Washington. (9)
1947: A. Paul Mantz flew a North American P-51 from New York, N. Y., to Burbank, Calif., to set Federation Aeronautique Internationale records for distance and speed: 2,453.8 miles in 7 hours 4 seconds at 350.49 MPH. (9)
1950: KOREAN WAR. USN Task Force 77 withdrew its carriers from the Pusan area for replenishment and movement north to strike communications targets. That action left all close air support responsibility with Far East Air Forces. (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Through 4 September, B-29s flew 52 effective sorties, the monthly high and all but two against the Chosin hydroelectric power plant complex. (28)
1954: Maj J. L. Armstrong flew an F-86 Sabre 649.46 MPH at Dayton, Ohio, to set a record over a 500-kilometer closed course. (24)
1963: National Air and Space Administration test pilot Milton O. Thompson landed the wingless M-2 "Flying Bathtub," a lifting reentry glider, after a C-47 dropped it from 13,000 feet.
1964: A two-stage, 7-foot monorail sled set a 4,200-MPH land speed record in a 16-second ride at the AF Missile Development Center.
1965: Test pilot Donald F. McCusker landed a Gemini-type craft after a 4-1/2 minute flight. In this first successful manned free flight of a paraglider, McCusker demonstrated an ability to guide a spacecraft to a preselected landing site. Brenda Bogan set a record of 9,770 feet at Anoka, Minn., for subclass AX-3 hot air balloons (400-600 cubic meters). (9)
1974: FORCE MODERNIZATION PROGRAM. The Strategic Air Command took its last Minuteman I off alert with the 90th Strategic Missile Wing at Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyo., for its conversion to the Minuteman III. (1) (16)
1976: The Viking 2 lander touched down on Mars. (8: Sep 90)
1980: The flight test program for the B-52 Offensive Avionics System (OAS) started at the Boeing facility in Wichita, Ks. (3)
1983: Operation RUBBER WALL. Through 25 September, the Military Airlift Command flew 85 C-141 Starlifter, 24 C-5 Galaxy, and 4 C-130 Hercules missions to move 4,000 tons of supplies from the US to support US Marines in Lebanon. (16)
1987: First flight of a production McDonnell Douglas F/A-18C.
1996: The 11th Reconnaissance Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., began operating the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle above Bosnia-Herzegovina. (21)
1999. Capt Julie Hudson of the 175th Wing (Maryland Air National Guard) qualified as the Guards's first fully combat ready female A-10 fighter pilot. (32)
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