To All,
Good Friday Morning September 13. 2024. Going to be a busy day here today with the guys with the big truck coming to haul away a lot of stuff. The Vette leaves in a bit for the trip to Idaho. Just have to get the H-pipe and the long tube headers stuffed in. the chickens need food and water and a some cage work and the beat goes on. Last night was the last class of the summer quarter aznd Monday is the firt of the Fall Quarter and need to get things ready for that. Shadow's next tale is at the end. Have a great weekend. By the way the temps have dropped 20 degrees and it is much better out there.
Warm Regards,
skip
Make it a good Day
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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. 13
1803 Commodore John Barry dies at Philadelphia, Pa., having served in numerous commands and over vessels in the Continental Navy during the American Revolution and in the newly formed U.S. Navy.
1814 During the War of 1812, the British bomb Fort McHenry at Baltimore Harbor for 25 hours. The sight of Fort McHenry's flag and the British withdrawing from Baltimore the next morning inspires Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.
1847 During the Mexican-American War, Chapultepec - the gateway to Mexico City - is successfully stormed by Marines. The next day they are assigned to duty as guards to the National Palace, called the Halls of Montezuma. This action inspires the first line of the Marine Hymn.
1906 Sailors and Marines from USS Denver (Cruiser #14) land in Havana at the request of the Cuban government to preserve order during a revolution.
1944 USS Warrington (DD 383) sinks off the Bahamas in a hurricane. After a prolonged search, numerous Navy vessels rescue only five officers and 68 men of the destroyer's 20 officers and 301 men.
1996 USS Cheyenne (SSN 773) is commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk. The 62nd and last of the Los Angeles-class attack submarines, USS Cheyenne is the third to be named after Wyoming's capital city.
2008 Hurricane Ike hits Galveston and Houston, Texas. At Galveston's Seawolf Park, a maritime museum, the museum ship USS Stewart (DE 238) and museum submarine USS Cavalla (SS 244), suffer damage as they are thrown out of the water onto land. Both vessels are restored to the prior locations and undergo renovations.
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Today in World History September 13
1515 King Francis of France defeats the Swiss army under Cardinal Matthaus Schiner at Marignano, northern Italy.
1549 Pope Paul III closes the first session of the Council of Bologna.
1564 On the verge of attacking Pedro Menendez's Spanish settlement at San Agostin, Florida, Jean Ribault's French fleet is scattered by a devastating storm.
1759 British troops defeat the French on the plains of Abraham, in Quebec.
1774 Anne Robert Turgot, the new controller of finances, urges the king of France to restore the free circulation of grain in the kingdom.
1782 The British fortress at Gibraltar comes under attack by French and Spanish forces.
1788 The Constitutional Convention authorizes the first federal election resolving that electors in all the states will be appointed on January 7, 1789.
1789 Guardsmen in Orleans, France, open fire on rioters trying to loot bakeries, killing 90.
1846 General Winfield Scott takes Chapultepec, removing the last obstacle to U.S. troops moving on Mexico City.
1862 Union troops in Frederick, Maryland, discover General Robert E. Lee's attack plans for the invasion of Maryland wrapped around a pack of cigars. They give the plans to General George B. McClellan who sends the Army of the Potomac to confront Lee but only after a delay of more than half a day.
1863 The Loudoun County Rangers route a company of Confederate cavalry at Catoctin Mountain in Virginia.
1905 U.S. warships head to Nicaragua on behalf of American William Albers, who was accused of evading tobacco taxes.
1918 U.S. and French forces take St. Mihiel, France in America's first action as a standing army.
1945 Iran demands the withdrawal of Allied forces.
1951 In Korea, U.S. Army troops begin their assault in Heartbreak Ridge. The month-long struggle will cost 3,700 casualties.
1961 An unmanned Mercury capsule is orbited and recovered by NASA in a test.
1976 The United States announces it will veto Vietnam's UN bid.
1988 Hurricane Gilbert becomes the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Western Hemisphere, based on barometric pressure. Hurricane Wilma will break that record in 2005.
1993 The Oslo Accords, granting limited Palestinian autonomy, are signed by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat at the White House.
2007 UN adopts non-binding Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
2008 Five synchronized bomb blasts occur in crowded locations of Delhi, India, killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 100; four other bombs are defused.
2008 Hurricane Ike makes landfall in Texas; it had already been the most costly storm in Cuba's history and becomes the third costliest in the US.
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Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 9 September 2024 and ending on Sunday, 15 September 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post of 8 September 1969… Ho Chi Minh, dead at age 79. His will and final "pep talk" are included in this post. Also, the issue of whether our captured air crewmen—Yankee Air Pirates held in North Vietnam — were POWs or war criminals subject to trials and execution resurfaces.
(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 13 September
13-Sep: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=3005
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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This one reminds me of how the flying Tigers stopped the last major Japanese army attack on China by trapping them in a gorge in the rain and just started making passes back and forth because they could not climb up the steep sides and they had them coming and going.
Thanks to Boris
Battle of the Bloody Ridge - Close Air Support
As the battle for Guadalcanal continued, USMC and AAF aircraft losses mounted. On 10 September, only eleven F4Fs, twenty-two SBD dive-bombers, and three P-400s were available for the next crucial CAS mission on 14 September during the defense of Bloody Ridge.
Bloody Ridge was only two thousand yards to the south of Henderson Field. Lieutenant Colonel Merritt A. Edson's 1st Raider Battalion had established a last line of defense against an expected Japanese attack out of the jungles to the south. What Edson's battalion did not know was that a Japanese brigade over 2,000 strong was preparing to attack on the night of 13 September. The Japanese attackers mounted two major assaults before midnight. Edson's Battalion bent but did not break, falling back a few yards at a time into successive positions along the ridge toward the airfield. If the Japanese could break the thin Marine line, the airfield would be theirs for the taking.
Before sunup on 14 September, an officer from the 1st Raider Battalion met with the commander of the 67th FS, Captain Thompson. Using a crude map, he described the precarious situation and requested a CAS mission at first light. Thompson agreed and had his flight of three P-400s at the end of the runway just before sunup. As dawn began to break, Thompson's flight departed.
Bloody Ridge was almost within the aircraft traffic pattern around the airfield and Thompson kept the Marine position in view as his aircraft lifted off the ground and began a slight turn to the south. Maintaining altitude just above the trees, Thompson led his flight below the level of Bloody Ridge and pointed at the suspected Japanese assembly area. When the area came into view, Thompson spotted large groups of Japanese soldiers massing for an attack and he immediately began to fire.
After two passes, Thompson's and another aircraft, piloted by Lieutenant B. W. Brown, were critically damaged by small arms fire and had to make emergency landings back at the airfield while the third P-400, piloted by Lieutenant B. E. Davis, continued to strafe until out of ammunition.
The Japanese attack was repulsed by the iron defense of the 1 st Raider Battalion, but Thompson's CAS mission had thrown the final weight that broke the Japanese assault. Later that afternoon, Vandegrift visited Thompson, Davis, and Brown saying, "You'll never read it in the papers, but that three P-400 mission of yours saved Guadalcanal."
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From Blood Stripes to Bloody Ridge
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
This Week in American Military History:
Sept. 12, 1918: Battle of St. Mihiel (France) opens between Allied American-French forces (primarily U.S. Army and Marine forces under the overall command of U.S. Army Gen. John J. "Black Jack" Pershing) and Imperial German Army forces under Gen. Johannes Georg von der Marwitz.
In the afternoon, Lt. Col. (future four-star general) George S. Patton – destined to lead America's first tank attack against the enemy – and Brig.
Gen. (future five-star general) Douglas MacArthur will meet on the battlefield, and according to the U.S. Army Historical Foundation: "The lieutenant colonel [Patton] sported a Colt .45 pistol with an ivory grip and his engraved initials. A pipe was clenched in his teeth. The brigadier [MacArthur] wore a barracks cap and a muffler his mother knitted for him.
As they spoke to each other, a German artillery barrage opened up and began marching towards their position. Infantrymen scattered and dove for cover, but the two officers remained standing, coolly talking with each other."
U.S. Marine Gen. John A. Lejeune, will describe his personal experience of the battle: "In war, if a man is to keep his sanity, he must come to regard death as being just as normal as life and hold himself always in readiness, mentally and spiritually, to answer the call of the grim reaper whenever fate decrees that his hour has struck."
Sept. 12, 1942: Battle of Bloody Ridge opens on Guadalcanal (see next week).
Sept. 13, 1814: From the deck of a Royal Navy ship aboard which he has been detained, Washington, D.C. lawyer Francis Scott Key pens his now-famous poem, "The Star Spangled Banner," on an envelope as he witnesses the British night-bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore during the War of 1812.
It will be more than a century before the U.S. Congress adopts "The Star Spangled Banner" as the official national anthem.
Sept. 13, 1847: U.S. Army and Marine forces (including lots of future Civil War generals like Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet, George Pickett, Pierre G.T. Beauregard, Thomas J. Jackson, Joseph E. Johnston, Ulysses S.
Grant, future Admiral Raphael Semmes, and I'm probably leaving out a few) participate in the storming of Chapultepec Castle during the Mexican War.
Chapultepec defends Mexico City, which will fall on the 14th.
For those of us fortunate enough since to claim the title, "Marine," the taking of Chapultepec and ultimately Mexico City will give us two things:
First: The first five words of our hymn: "From the halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli ..."
Second: The "blood" red stripe along the seams of our dress-blue uniform trousers (Marines don't wear pants).
The origin of the blood stripe is more tradition than absolute fact. But we Marines heartily claim it. According to tradition, the blood stripe represents the blood shed by Marines storming Chapultepec. And the reason only corporals and above are authorized to wear the stripe is because there was such a high percentage of NCOs and officers killed in the storming of the castle.
Sept. 13, 1942: Ninety-five years after defeating the Mexicans at Chapultepec, U.S. Marines beat back a series of wave attacks by Japanese soldiers on Guadalcanal that began on the night of Sept. 12 and will last until the morning of the 14th.
The fighting – since referred to as the Battle of Bloody Ridge (also Edson's Ridge or Raiders' Ridge) – is over which side will control the nearby airfield.
Japanese soldiers led by Samurai-sword wielding officers attack the ridge-defending leathernecks in suicidal waves screaming, "Banzai!" and "Marine, You Die!"
At one point during the fighting, the American line — under the command of Lt. Col. (future major general) Merritt "Red Mike" Edson — is nearly broken. But the Marines hold, and beat back the attacks with terrible losses to the enemy.
Edson will be awarded the Medal of Honor for his command of Bloody Ridge.
Maj. Kenneth Bailey, killed in the fighting, will also receive the Medal of Honor.
Sept. 14, 1966: Operation Attleboro begins as something of a "feet wet"
operation for a green American unit – the U.S. Army's 196th Light Infantry Brigade – but will evolve into a major combined-arms operation as U.S.
forces make contact with a battle-hardened Viet Cong division and a North Vietnamese Army regiment. The end result by November will be the discovery of one of the largest weapons and equipment caches of the Vietnam War to-date, and over 1,000 dead enemy soldiers.
Sept. 15, 1944: Two years after Bloody Ridge, U.S. Marines land on Peleliu.
Sept. 15, 1950: United Nations ground forces – primarily U.S. Marines – under the overall command of U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur, begin hitting the beaches at Inchon, Korea.
Sept. 16, 1776: Gen. George Washington chalks up his "first victory in the field" against British and Hessian forces under Gen. Alexander Leslie in the Battle of Harlem Heights, New York.
Sept. 17, 1862: The Battle of Antietam (Maryland) – the bloodiest single-day battle in American history – opens between Confederate Army forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee and Union Army forces under Maj. Gen.
George B. McClellan. After 12 hours of fighting, some 23,000 Americans are dead, wounded, or missing.
Though a strategic victory for the Union, the battle will prove tactically inconclusive for both sides.
Sept. 17, 1944: Operation Market Garden, an enormous Allied Airborne operation during World War II (in fact, the largest parachute operation in history), is launched to seize strategically vital bridges in German-occupied Holland.
After 10 days of fighting and many tactical successes, the operation will be deemed a strategic failure, and Allied forces will be ordered to withdraw.
(Cornelius Ryan's book, A Bridge Too Far, and the film adaptation of the same are based on Market Garden)
Sept. 18, 1947: Happy Birthday, U.S. Air Force! America's air and space warfare service (and the descendent service of the U.S. Army Air Forces), the U.S. Air Force becomes an independent and equal arm of the American military.
Sept. 19, 1777: Battle of Freeman's Farm — first engagement in the Battle of Saratoga (during the American Revolution) — opens between Continental forces under the command of Gen. Horatio Gates and British forces under Gen. John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne. Brits carry the day, but suffer heavy losses. Continentals will ultimately win Saratoga.
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"Thanks to Jim
Just the information here is a big surprise to me. What a bit of history Book details Hell Above Earth The Incredible True Story of an American WWII Bomber Commander and the Copilot Ordered to Kill Him
Author: Stephen Frater
Reviews
About This Book
"After the twists and turns in Goering's many missions, Frater finishes with a stunning revelation . . . the author delivers an exciting read full of little-known facts about the war. A WWII...
Book Details
"After the twists and turns in Goering's many missions, Frater finishes with a stunning revelation . . . the author delivers an exciting read full of little-known facts about the war. A WWII thrill ride." - Kirkus Reviews
The U.S. air battle over Nazi Germany in WWII was hell above earth. For bomber crews, every day they flew was like D-Day, exacting a terrible physical and emotional toll. Twenty-year-old U.S. Captain Werner Goering, accepted this, even thrived on and welcomed the adrenaline rush. He was an exceptional pilot—and the nephew of Hermann Göring, leading member of the Nazi party and commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe.
The FBI and the American military would not prevent Werner from serving his American homeland, but neither would they risk the propaganda coup that his desertion or capture would represent for Nazi Germany. J. Edgar Hoover issued a top-secret order that if Captain Goering's plane was downed for any reason over Nazi-occupied Europe, someone would be there in the cockpit to shoot Goering dead. FBI agents found a man capable of accomplishing the task in Jack Rencher, a tough, insular B-17 instructor who also happened to be one of the Army's best pistol shots. That Jack and Werner became unlikely friends is just one more twist in one of the most incredible untold tales of WWII.
Imprint Publisher
St. Martin's Griffin
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Thanks to History Facts
Wealthy Brits used to hire hermits to live on their estate grounds.
Here's a job title you won't see on LinkedIn: "ornamental hermit." The position was part of a strange trend that lasted roughly 100 years and saw English landowners hiring people to live in seclusion on their estates, often in the gardens, with byzantine rules governing their behavior. The practice is believed to have emerged around 1727 and ended just over a century later in 1830. Horticultural norms were in flux at the time, and some homeowners rejected the geometric designs of the past in favor of a more wild and natural approach. It would seem that nothing was considered more wild than an actual person, especially one forbidden from speaking, cutting their hair, trimming their nails, or wearing shoes.
Garden hermits were expected to do all this for a period of several months or years, and were generally paid handsomely before returning to the outside world. During their residency, they lived in hermitages, small structures that were as important in form as they were in function: In addition to providing a humble place to live, hermitages were meant to draw one's eye to the landscape. Decorative hermits eventually fell out of fashion, but even today we have something similar adorning our yards: the humble garden gnome.
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From the archives
Thanks to Barrel
Turn Up The Volume
Last of The Few. Battle of Britain. Humble Hero
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
There are no muscles in human fingers.
One of the most complex parts of human anatomy is also one (or rather two) that we use hundreds of times per day yet often take for granted. Human hands are the body's multipurpose tools, equipped with 27 individual bones. About half of those are found in our fingers, the tactile appendages that will bend and flex roughly 25 million times over the course of our lifespan. Our fingers are able to perform the everyday tasks we need thanks to thousands of nerve endings and touch receptors that can sense pressure, texture, temperature, movement, and more. But there's one thing our hardworking digits don't have: muscles.
Fingernails grow faster than toenails.
IT'S A FACT
Fingers and toes are topped with nails for good reason: Both help protect our delicate digits by preventing injuries and infections. However, these nails don't grow at the same speed. A 2010 study found fingernails grow twice as fast as toenails, on average.
Muscles make it possible for our bodies to move, and the human frame relies on more than 600, which are tasked with helping us in nearly every motion. So how do fingers perform the intricate tasks we require without them? Turns out, human fingers are controlled by the muscles in our forearms and the tops and palms of our hands. Small intrinsic muscles in the hand allow the fingers to perform fine motor movements, while extrinsic muscles in the forearm and elbow control how the wrist and hand move. Finger bones (aka phalanges) are connected to these muscles by tendons — fibrous, cordlike connective tissues — and when the attached muscles contract, fingers are able to perform their range of motion. Flexor tendons in the palm help fingers to bend, while extensor tendons on the top of the hand are responsible for straightening the fingers back out — essential movements that allow our hands to touch, grasp, and hold objects.
Numbers Don't Lie
Number of bones in each finger, excluding thumbs (which have only two bones)
3
Time (in milliseconds) it takes to snap our fingers, about 20 times faster than blinking
7
Muscles in the human hand, which control how the fingers bend, spread, and flex
30+
Number of puppets in the world's largest finger puppet collection (as of 2023)
1,517
MORE INTERESTING READS
The Statue of Liberty has copper fingers that measure 8 feet long.
Some primates have six fingers.
Primates and humans tend to share some similarities, like having five fingers on each hand (along with five toes on each foot). But just like in the human world, there are anomalies among primates — like the aye-aye, a six-fingered lemur. Native to Madagascar, aye-ayes are the world's largest nocturnal primate, utilizing batlike ears that echolocate their prey. As researchers recently discovered, aye-ayes also differ from their primate relatives by relying on an extra thumblike digit found near their wrist, though it's unclear just how the finger is used. Aye-aye finger-related differences don't end there; the lemurs tap their exceptionally long middle fingers against logs and limbs, using the reverberations to eke out an insect's hiding spot before digging them out.
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From the Archives
Thanks to Fred
Remembering A 'Brave,' 'Lucky' Hero In The War Of 1812 by Jeff St. Clair WKSU - September 10, 2013 Two hundred years ago today, a young U.S. naval captain named Oliver Hazard Perry penned the words, "We have met the enemy and they are ours ..."
Perry's remarkable victory over the British changed the course of the War of 1812, and a full-scale re-enactment — the largest sailing re-enactment ever attempted in the U.S. — recently commemorated the anniversary of the win in the Battle of Lake Erie.
A Bit Of History
America had brashly declared war in 1812 to stop the British from kidnapping U.S. sailors to man the Royal Navy and to settle trade issues. A year later, the war against the world's leading superpower wasn't going well.
It was from Put-in-Bay on Lake Erie's South Bass Island that Perry sailed out to meet the British on Sept. 10, 1813.
Historian Walter Rybka — one of the planners of the re-enactment — says the 28-year-old Perry threw himself into battle. "Perry was, first off, phenomenally brave and determined, but he was damn lucky," Rybka says.
Somehow Perry survived two hours of hellacious fire that killed or maimed 75 percent of the crew on his ship, the Lawrence.
"His last gun had been knocked out of action on the starboard side, his rigging was cut to pieces, he could not maneuver, he could no longer fight. There was no point in maintaining an action because his men were just going to get slaughtered the rest of the way," Rybka says. "Right at the moment the wind fills in ..."
And that's when Perry hopped into his longboat and under heavy fire, rowed to the Niagara, a Great Lakes warship. Rybka says Perry brought along his battle flag, emblazoned with the words, "Don't Give Up The Ship."
"But the only way to do that was to give up the ship and go to the next one," Rybka says. "The real motto was, 'Don't Give Up.' "
A Turning Point
Fifteen tall ships sail out to the spot where the struggle took place 200 years ago. From the reconstructed Niagara, Capt. Wesley Heerssen hails the fleet.
"All tall ships in this battle re-enactment please stand by for roll call," Heerssen says.
And the battle begins.
Six ships make up the British line. The American fleet has nine. The Coast Guard has its hands full clearing a path for the tall ships amid a swarm of more than 2,000 speedboats and pleasure craft. The sea of boats has churned the lake, so in this version of the Battle of Lake Erie, Perry, portrayed by an actor sporting enormous sideburns, is motored from his ship onto the Niagara.
Then Heerssen hails the enemy fleet for the final maneuver of the re-enactment.
"To the British fleet we're going to pass two whistles, starboard to starboard passage," he says.
The Niagara cuts nimbly across the British line and fires its last set of broadsides. And as smoke fills the air, for a second, despite all the distractions, one of America's most famous sea battles vividly comes to life.
And suddenly, it's over.
The smoke clears, and it just another day on the lake, perfect conditions for sailing.
The battle was a turning point in the War of 1812. America had lost Detroit and much of the Northwest Territory. Rybka says if Perry had given up the ship, the Canadian border would have been much farther south.
"I think Michigan probably would have been lost to us and maybe Wisconsin as well," Rybka says.
Heerssen, as captain of the Niagara, has imagined this day for more than a decade. He says the re-enactment is a tribute to America's fighting spirit.
A buoy serves as a permanent marker in the peaceful waters of western Lake Erie. [Copyright 2013 WKSU-FM]
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
7 Flying Creatures That Aren't Birds
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a … flying tree snake? Yes, that's correct. From flying fish to flying squirrels, there are plenty of unique aerodynamic animals around the world. Even more impressive, most of them don't have wings. Using special fins, large toes, or extra membranes, several surprising creatures are able to glide through the air at astonishing lengths.
Flying Fish
Although the concept of an airborne fish seems counterintuitive, there are at least 40 different flying fish species around the world. Primarily found in warmer climates in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, these ray-finned fish thrive in open waters, where they can use their large, rigid fins to "fly" through the air. After propelling themselves out of the water, their fins extend horizontally like wings, allowing them to glide up to 650 feet. Most researchers believe flying fish developed this ability in order to escape underwater predators who did not exhibit the same aerodynamic capabilities.
Paradise Tree Snake
Found throughout Southeast Asia, the paradise tree snake is a unique reptilian predator. Sometimes referred to as the paradise flying snake, this species of serpent is both slim and agile. A highly capable climber, paradise tree snakes prefer to spend most of their time in coconut palm trees. When the flying snake wants to travel between treetops, it is able to flatten its ribcage until it becomes concave. At this point, the snake can propel itself out a tree and glide through the air, slithering in an S-shape as if on the ground.
Mobula Ray
Often called flying rays for their ability to leap out of the water, Mobula rays are a species of fish that are closely related to sharks. Shaped like a diamond, Mobula ray fins are useful both in and out of the water. With enough speed, the ray can launch six feet into the air, flapping its fins like wings before flopping back down. Often flying in groups, a school of Mobula rays is a spectacular sight to see. Scientists are unsure why flying rays exhibit this behavior, although it may be a form of communication between members of the species.
Flying Squirrel
Flying squirrels aren't able to take flight like a bird, although they may give off this appearance as they soar through the air. The extra flap of skin that connects their front and hind legs serves as a parachute for these quirky land mammals. When a flying squirrel leaps into the air, they use this special membrane to glide from tree to tree, thereby avoiding any predators who may be on the ground. Not only can flying squirrels travel up to 150 feet in the air, but they can also change both their speed and direction in flight by steering with their legs and braking with their tails.
Crab Spider
If they weren't already frightening enough, many spiders have the ability to fly. This is thanks to a common arachnid technique called ballooning. Ballooning occurs when a spider releases its silk and rides the wind like a kite. In this way, spiders can travel long distances to join a new colony, find food, or search for prospective mates. Crab spiders, in particular, have been researched for this ability; one study completed at the Technical University of Berlin revealed that crab spiders are "careful, deliberate fliers," who use their hairs on their legs to test wind conditions before take-off.
Bats
As the only mammals in the world born with the ability to fly — and the only animal on this list with wings — bats are some of the most intriguing fliers out there. Their ability to use echolocation to find objects in the dark, for example, has been researched for decades. As fliers, bats are maneuverable and nimble. In fact, the flexible skin and extra joints on a bat's wings make them more efficient in the air than birds.
Wallace's Flying Frog
Sometimes referred to as parachute frogs, Wallace's flying frogs live in tropical rainforests in Malaysia and Borneo. Named after 19th-century naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace, the Wallace flying frog has a distinct appearance — gigantic webbed feet, boggling eyes, and an oversized mouth. When escaping a predator, this flying frog can glide up to 50 feet through the air, using its extra membranes as a parachute. Flying from tree to tree, the frog's gigantic toe pads provide an adhesive cushioning that allows them to stick the landing with ease.
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This Day in U S Military History
1759 – During the Seven Years War, a worldwide conflict known as the French and Indian War in America, the British under General James Wolfe achieve a dramatic victory when they scale the cliffs over the city of Quebec, defeating the Marquis de Montcalm's French forces on the Plains of Abraham. Wolfe himself was fatally wounded during the battle, but his victory ensured British supremacy in Canada. Montcalm also suffered a mortal wound during the battle. In the early 1750s, French expansion into the Ohio River valley repeatedly brought France into armed conflict with the British colonies. In 1756–the first official year of fighting in the Seven Years War–the British suffered a series of defeats against the French and their broad network of Native American alliances. However, in 1757, British Prime Minister William Pitt (the older) recognized the potential of imperial expansion that would come out of victory against the French and borrowed heavily to fund an expanded war effort. Pitt financed Prussia's struggle against France and her allies in Europe and reimbursed the colonies for the raising of armies in North America. By 1760, the French had been expelled from Canada, and by 1763 all of France's allies in Europe had either made a separate peace with Prussia or had been defeated. In addition, Spanish attempts to aid France in the Americas had failed, and France also suffered defeats against British forces in India. The Seven Years War ended with the signing of the treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris in February 1763. In the Treaty of Paris, France lost all claims to Canada and gave Louisiana to Spain, while Britain received Spanish Florida, Upper Canada, and various French holdings overseas. The treaty ensured the colonial and maritime supremacy of Britain and strengthened the 13 American colonies by removing their European rivals to the north and the south. Fifteen years later, French bitterness over the loss of most of their colonial empire contributed to their intervention in the American Revolution on the side of the Patriots
1900 – Filipino resistance fighters defeat a small American column in the Battle of Pulang Lupa, during the Philippine–American War. The engagement was fought between the forces of Colonel Maximo Abad and Devereux Shields. Shields' defeat sent shock waves through the American high command. Aside from being one of the worst defeats suffered by the Americans during the war, it was especially significant given its proximity to the upcoming election between President William McKinley and his anti-imperialist opponent William Jennings Bryan, the outcome of which many believed would determine the ultimate course of the war. Consequently, the defeat triggered a sharp response. Arthur MacArthur, Jr. sent Brig. Gen. Luther Hare with "orders to treat the entire male population over fifteen as potential enemies and to arrest as many as possible and hold them hostages until Abad surrendered." Hare secured the release of Shields and his men. Maj. Frederick A. Smith continued the policy of destroying food and shelter in the interior of the island, and moving all civilians into the towns. Although Abad and most of his command continued to elude the American military, the civilian population was suffering for it, with many landowners and merchants joining the Federal Party, turning against Abad. These new tactics led to the surrender of Abad in April 1901.
Note because of this the Iconic .45 was built to stop people who were hopped up on drugs and kept on coming even though they had been shot many time. They needed something to knock them down I have my own and my father in Laws that he carried later in the Banana wars Nicaragua and on Okinawa…Skip
1950 – Task Force 77 struck Wolmi-do with naval gunfire in preparation for the amphibious assault against Inchon. Lieutenant David H. Swenson was killed aboard the destroyer USS Swenson when the North Koreans hit the ship with a two-gun salvo. Ironically, the ship was named after his uncle, Captain Lyman K. Swenson, who was killed in the South Pacific during World War II.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*HALLMAN, SHERWOOD H.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, 175th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division. Place and date: Brest, Brittany, France, 13 September 1944. Entered service at: Spring City, Pa. Birth: Spring City, Pa. G.O. No.: 31, 17 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. On 13 September 1944, in Brittany, France, the 2d Battalion in its attack on the fortified city of Brest was held up by a strongly defended enemy position which had prevented its advance despite repeated attacks extending over a 3-day period. Finally, Company F advanced to within several hundred yards of the enemy position but was again halted by intense fire. Realizing that the position must be neutralized without delay, S/Sgt. Hallman ordered his squad to cover his movements with fire while he advanced alone to a point from which he could make the assault. Without hesitating, S/Sgt. Hallman leaped over a hedgerow into a sunken road, the central point of the German defenses which was known to contain an enemy machinegun position and at least 30 enemy riflemen. Firing his carbine and hurling grenades, S/Sgt. Hallman, unassisted, killed or wounded 4 of the enemy, then ordered the remainder to surrender. Immediately, 12 of the enemy surrendered and the position was shortly secured by the remainder of his company. Seeing the surrender of this position, about 75 of the enemy in the vicinity surrendered, yielding a defensive organization which the battalion with heavy supporting fires had been unable to take. This single heroic act on the part of S/Sgt. Hallman resulted in the immediate advance of the entire battalion for a distance of 2,000 yards to a position from which Fort Keranroux was captured later the same day. S/Sgt. Hallman's fighting determination and intrepidity in battle exemplify the highest tradition of the U.S. Armed Forces.
KELLY, CHARLES E.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company L, 143d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Altavilla, Italy, 13 September 1943. Entered service at: Pittsburgh, Pa. Birth: Pittsburgh, Pa. G.O. No.: 13, 18 February 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 13 September 1943, near Altavilla, Italy, Cpl. Kelly voluntarily joined a patrol which located and neutralized enemy machinegun positions. After this hazardous duty he volunteered to establish contact with a battalion of U.S. infantry which was believed to be located on Hill 315, a mile distant. He traveled over a route commanded by enemy observation and under sniper, mortar, and artillery fire; and later he returned with the correct information that the enemy occupied Hill 315 in organized positions. Immediately thereafter Cpl. Kelly, again a volunteer patrol member, assisted materially in the destruction of 2 enemy machinegun nests under conditions requiring great skill and courage. Having effectively fired his weapon until all the ammunition was exhausted, he secured permission to obtain more at an ammunition dump. Arriving at the dump, which was located near a storehouse on the extreme flank of his regiment's position, Cpl. Kelly found that the Germans were attacking ferociously at this point. He obtained his ammunition and was given the mission of protecting the rear of the storehouse. He held his position throughout the night. The following morning the enemy attack was resumed. Cpl. Kelly took a position at an open window of the storehouse. One machine gunner had been killed at this position and several other soldiers wounded. Cpl. Kelly delivered continuous aimed and effective fire upon the enemy with his automatic rifle until the weapon locked from overheating. Finding another automatic rifle, he again directed effective fire upon the enemy until this weapon also locked. At this critical point, with the enemy threatening to overrun the position, Cpl. Kelly picked up 60mm. mortar shells, pulled the safety pins, and used the shells as grenades, killing at least 5 of the enemy. When it became imperative that the house be evacuated, Cpl. Kelly, despite his sergeant's injunctions, volunteered to hold the position until the remainder of the detachment could withdraw. As the detachment moved out, Cpl. Kelly was observed deliberately loading and firing a rocket launcher from the window. He was successful in covering the withdrawal of the unit, and later in joining his own organization. Cpl. Kelly's fighting determination and intrepidity in battle exemplify the highest traditions of the U.S. Armed Forces.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for September 13, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
13 September
1916: The Signal Corps Aviation School at San Diego held its first aeronautics course for field officers. (24)
1917: The 1st Aero Squadron arrived in France. That arrival made it the first Army air unit to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces. (See 5 June 1917 for first Naval air unit) (21)
1923: Through 14 December, Lts John F. Whitely and H. D. Smith and crew flew a Martin MB-2, powered by two Liberty 400 engines, on an 8,000-mile round trip from Langley Field to San Diego in anticipation of a national airways. (9) (24)
1935: Howard Hughes flew his Hughes Special Airplane at Santa Ana, Calif., to a 352 MPH world speed record. (9) (24)
1943: The 52 TCW used more than 80 troop transports to drop 1,200 paratroopers from the 82d Airborne Division on Italy's Salerno Beach, with no losses of planes or men. This effort was one of the most successful allied airborne operations in the war. (21) (24)
1944: Eighth Air Force bombed Hungary's Diosgyoer Steel Works. (4)
1951: The USAF established its first pilotless bomber squadron at the Missile Test Center, Cocoa, Fla. (16) (26)
1960: The 4135 SW at Eglin AFB received the first production GAM-72A Quail missiles. (6)
1961: NASA used the worldwide Mercury tracking network for the first time to follow an unmanned Mercury vehicle in space. The results convinced NASA that man could be sent into space using an Atlas vehicle. A Mercury-Atlas booster lifted the vehicle into space. (16) (24) NASA studied atmospheric winds, temperature, and density by releasing sodium clouds at high altitudes from two four-stage Argo D-4 rockets launched from Wallops Island. (24)
1962: Lt Cmdrs Fred A. Franke flew an UF-1L Albatross amphibian to 27,380 feet with a 4,410- pound payload to set a new altitude record. Lt Cmdr Donald E. Moore flew the same aircraft to 29,460 feet with a 2,205-pound payload to set a second record. Both flights surpassed Soviet records set in 1940. (24)
1974: Capt Harold B. Adams (pilot) and Maj William C. Machorek (RSO) flew an SR-71 from London to Los Angeles in 3 hours 48 minutes at a new speed record of 1,435.59 MPH. (1)
1985: CELESTIAL EAGLE. Major Wilbert D. "Doug" Pearson, Jr., flying F-15A (Tail No. 77- 0084) fired the first the Vought ASM-135A air-launched anti-satellite (ASAT) missile at a live target over Edwards AFB. The missile hit the orbiting Solwing scientific satellite that was traveling at 17,500 MPH nearly 290 miles above Earth. The 6512th Test Squadron F-15A stationed at Edwards AFB took off from Vandenberg AFB and zoom-climbed up to 80,000 feet and then launched the ASAT. Both the first and second stages fired successfully, and the miniature kinetic kill vehicle separated and homed in on the satellite, destroying it upon impact. (16) (21)
1992: Operation IMPRESSIVE LIFT. Through 29 September, AMC aircraft moved UN troops from Pakistan to Somalia to begin a peacekeeping mission. In the 94 flights, the aircraft carried 974 passengers and 1,168 tons of equipment and supplies. The troops tried to distribute food fairly for Operation PROVIDE RELIEF. (16) (21)
2001: Operation NOBLE EAGLE. The Air Staff cleared all training and operational USAF units to resume normal flying operations. (3)
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Thanks to Shadow My favorite RIO was Joe Motsinger. As good as they come and better and we shared some great hours like this together in the F-14….Skip
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH
I had a favorite backseater... Larry Shreve... Oklahoma Boy.... Callsign "Oakie".
Larry was as good as they come... Calm, quiet... solid. Flew some of the most
exhilarating... and some of the scariest hops I ever flew... with Larry in the rear cockpit,
backing me up every step of the way. Besides our professional bond... we both loved
John Denver. In fact, Larry looked a lot like John Denver without glasses.
Up until one beautiful Sunday morning... Larryʼs favorite song was "Thank God Iʼm a
Country Boy"... heʼd crack a smile whenever it came on the radio... do a little clogging
move and when the song came to the end... heʼd let out a yell like Denver... kinda like a
cross between a Rebel yell and cowboy yippie up. It was cool... he was cool.
One early January, Sunday morning... Larry and I found ourselves mounting up at
Buckley ANG Base in Denver... planning to do a high, low, high... over to Holloman
AFB... then back to El Toro. Our route of flight would take us over the ski resorts and
then weʼd drop down and do a low level through Monument Valley... then do a pop up
into Holloman.
Donʼt know how others felt... but there was always something special about early
morning flights on a clear winter day... always seemed to me that the air was smoother,
like gliding over a new carpet... and the sky was bluer, almost cobalt blue like the ocean
far out to sea... and the earth was clearer, cleaner... and itʼs colors more vivid and
contrasting.
Combine all this with a magnificent, awesomely powerful steed... like the F-4... on days
like this... it just seemed to act like a newly broken colt that just wanted to run! It was
exhilarating to me and really attuned all my senses. And...Dear God... it was a payback
for every bad thing that every happened... no other feeling like it in the world!
As we got our clearance and taxied to the runway at Buckley... it was surreal... nothing
else was moving on the whole airfield... no sign of life besides the cryptic instructions
from the tower crackling over the radio. We pulled on the runway, did our final checks...
were cleared for takeoff and I smoothly came up on the power, then went into full
afterburner.
It was awesome! Almost like an out of body experience... the big Phantom leaped
forward like a colt out of the gate... raw, unbridled power... She wanted to run... and I let
her go. The runway at Buckley had a little hump in it near the middle... on a hot day,
youʼd get a bump airborne and then settle back on the runway... on this day... and days
like it... it was just a smooth transition to flight... no settling, just a nice little lift. The
Phantom never missed a beat and just accelerated at a higher than normal rate, which
was in itself... incredible. It also inspired me to even more smoothness in the cockpit
than normal... as I raised the gear and flaps... trimmed everything out and made a
smooth transition on course... while Larry switched over to departure control.
Departure switched us over to Center as weʼre approaching the snow capped Rockies...
as we checked in... the controller comes up and says, "Good morning Romeo Foxtrot...
Howʻs the view up there today"? Larry and I were of one mind... He keyed the radio and
we both said, "Rocky Mountain High"!
Just then we were going over one of the ski resorts... it had snowed the night before
and the very first skiers of the day were starting their run... it was damn near one of the
most beautiful sights Iʼve ever seen... hard to describe it... so fluid and graceful... like
the magnificent machine we were in... I banked slightly so Larry had a better view and in
my headset I heard John Denver....
He was borne in the summer of his 27th year
Cominʻ home to a place heʼd never been before
He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again
You might say he found a key for every door.... Rocky Mountain High
If ever there was a perfect moment... this was it! That Denver Center Controller... picked
the perfect time and perfect place to break all the rules and give Larry and me one of
the greatest little memories weʼd have in two very full lives.
The music abruptly ended and we both yelled for more... but the controller apologized
and said heʼd already pressed his luck... but he felt the same way we did on his way into
work... just had to share it.
We continued on with our flight and everything about it was inspiring... we weaved
gracefully around the vertical spires of Monument Valley and flew up the painted desert
floor... as we popped up to divert into Holloman... we talked about what an incredible
day and experience we had just had.... Not many human beings will ever experience
such a sight, such a day... such a vivid demonstration of Godʼs handiwork. Iʼll never
forget it.
When I got home and tried to explain to the wife what we did and what weʼd seen... I
could see the vacant eyes and realize she couldnʼt ever understand.... You just had to
have been there if you werenʼt an aviator to fully appreciate it... another pilot would
understand for they too have seen and experienced what others never will... not a put
down, just a fact.
In my later years... Iʼve often reflected if ever there was one song that summed up my
love of flying... Rocky Mountain High was it. Each and every verse held a double
meaning or analogy if you will...
When he first came to the mountains his life was far away
On the road and hanginʼ by a song
But the strings already broken and he doesnʼt really care
It keeps changinʼ fast and it donʼt last for long
But the Colorado Rocky Mountain high
Iʼve seen it rainʼ fire in the sky
The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullabye
Rocky Mountain High
He climbed the cathedral mountains, he saw silver clouds below
He saw everything as far as you can see
And they say he got crazy once and tried to touch the sun
And he lost a friend... but kept his memory
Now he walks in quiet solitude the forest and the streams
Seeking grace in every step he takes
His sight has turned inside himself to try and understand
The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake
Rocky Mountain High...
Friends... weʼve lived it! We are the fortunate ones.
Shadow
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