To All,
Good Tuesday Morning September 24. 2024. Still overcast but will clear again later. I hope that your week is going well.
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 24
1864 The steam tug USS Fuschia and the sidewheel steamer Thomas Freeborn conduct a raid against a boat works above Milford Haven, Va., on Stutts Creek. Some three miles upstream a force of 40 sailors land, destroying four Confederate boats, capturing five, and demolishing a fishery.
1918 Lt. j.g. David S. Ingalls, while on a test flight in a Sopwith Camel, sights an enemy two-seat Rumpler over Nieuport. In company with another Camel he attacks and scores his fifth aerial victory in six weeks to become the Navy's first ace.
1941 USS Eberle (DD 430) is screening convoy HX 150 in Task Unit 4.1.1. when she rescues the crew of British freighter, Nigaristan after it suffered an engine room fire.
1943 USS Cabrilla (SS 288) attacks three Japanese ships, a carrier, escort carrier and destroyer, northwest of Chichi Jima.
1960 USS Charles Berry (DE 1035) begins a goodwill cruise of the southern Philippine Islands, visiting the small cities not usually visited by naval units.
1960 The first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CVAN 65), is launched at Newport News, Va. In 1975, she is designated (CVN 65).
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Today in World History September 24
1788 After having been dissolved, the French Parliament of Paris reassembles in triumph.
1789 Congress passes the Judiciary Act of 1789, establishing a strong federal court system with the powers it needs to ensure the supremacy of the Constitution and federal law. The new Supreme Court will have a chief justice and five associate justices.
1842 Branwell Bronte, the brother of the Bronte sisters and the model for Hindley Earnshaw in Emily's novel Wuthering Heights, dies of tuberculosis. Emily and Anne die the same year.
1862 President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus against anyone suspected of being a Southern sympathizer.
1904 Sixty-two die and 120 are injured in head-on train collision in Tennessee.
1914 In the Alsace-Lorraine area between France and Germany, the German Army captures St. Mihiel.
1915 Bulgaria mobilizes troops on the Serbian border.
1929 The first flight using only instruments is completed by U.S. Army pilot James Doolittle.
1930 Noel Coward's comedy Private Lives opens in London starring Gertrude Lawrence and Coward himself.
1947 The World Women's Party meets for the first time since World War II.
1956 The first transatlantic telephone cable system begins operation.
1957 President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends federal troops into Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect nine black students entering its newly integrated high school.
1960 The Enterprise, the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier, is launched.
1962 The University of Mississippi agrees to admit James Meredith as the first black university student, sparking more rioting.
1969 The "Chicago Eight," charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intent to incite a riot, go on trial for their part in the mayhem during the 1968 Democratic Party National Convention in the "Windy City."
1970 The Soviet Luna 16 lands, completing the first unmanned round trip to the moon.
1979 CompuServe (CIS) offers one of the first online services to consumers; it will dominate among Internet service providers for consumers through the mid-1990s.
1993 Sihanouk is reinstalled as king of Cambodia.
1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty signed by representatives of 71 nations at the UN; at present, five key nations have signed but not ratified it and three others have not signed.
2005 Hurricane Rita, the 4th-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded, comes ashore in Texas causing extensive damage there and in Louisiana, which had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina less than a month earlier.
2009 LRAD (Long Range Acoustic Device) "sonic cannon," a non-lethal device that utilizes intense sound, is used in the United States for the first time, to disperse protestors at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh, Penn.
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Thanks to the Bear
I have provided access to archive entries covering Commando Hunt operations for the period November 1968 through mid-September 1969. These posts are permanently available at the following link.
https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/commando-hunt-post-list/
(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 24 September
24-Sep: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=3018
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 Interesting Facts
The Surprising Meanings Behind 8 City Names
You probably know that Los Angeles means "the angels" and New York was named after a 17th-century duke, but have you ever pondered the meaning behind names like Cairo and Toronto? Fret not if you haven't, because we have. Here's how eight cities from around the world got their names.
Abu Dhabi: "Father of the Gazelle"
The capital — and, after Dubai, second-most populous city — of the United Arab Emirates has an especially lovely name that's thought to be rooted in folklore. Abu is Arabic for "father," while Dhabi means gazelle; as you might have guessed, the surrounding area abounds with the majestic creatures.
The folktale in question concerns Shakhbut bin Dhiyab Al Nahyan, who ruled Abu Dhabi from 1795 to 1816. Thirty years before his reign began, Shakhbut's father, Dhiyab bin Isa, sent a hunting party from the Liwa Oasis to track a gazelle to a spring on the island now known as Abu Dhabi. His father later ordered Shakhbut to move there, and upon his arrival he built a fort called Qasr-Al Hosn that became the palace of the sheikhs.
Cairo: "The Victorious"
It's only fitting that Cairo, one of the world's most famous ancient cities, has an equally grandiose name. Though it's often known by Egyptians as Maṣr, the Arabic name for Egypt itself, its actual name of al-Qāhirah translates to "the Victorious," "the Vanquisher," or "the Conqueror." That's because the planet Mars, known in Arabic as an-Najm al-Qāhir ("the Conquering Star"), is said to have been rising in the sky at the time Cairo was founded in 969 C.E.
That isn't its only name, however. Cairo is also known as Kashromi and Nistram in Coptic Egyptian, which mean "man-breaker" and "land of sun," respectively.
Hong Kong: "Fragrant Harbor"
Before it was romanized as Hong Kong, the special administrative region of China that has long beguiled visitors was known in English as He-Ong-Kong. That moniker dates back to 1780 and is thought to be a phonetic reading of hēung góng, a Cantonese name that translates to both "fragrant harbor" and "incense harbor."
Hong Kong has long been one of the world's most important commercial ports. The apparently sweet-tasting waters of the Pearl River may have been responsible for the "fragrant" designation; as for the other, a number of incense factories used to be found in the city's Kowloon district. An alternate explanation comes courtesy of John Davis, who served as Governor of Hong Kong from 1844 to 1848 and said that the name came from "Hoong-keang" ("red torrent"). According to him, the name honored the red soil found beneath a waterfall on Hong Kong Island.
Las Vegas: "The Meadows"
Some know it as Sin City, the Entertainment Capital of the World, or simply Vegas, but in Spanish its name has a much simpler meaning: "the meadows." That geographical feature isn't one we typically associate with Nevada in general and Las Vegas in particular these days, but the Silver State's landscape was drastically different in 1829. That's when Rafael Rivera, a Mexican scout generally recognized as the first non-Native American to arrive in the area, came upon a grassy valley whose nutrient-rich soil was kept verdant by desert spring water.
Oslo: "Meadow of the Gods"
Originally founded as Ánslo in 1040 and known as Christiania after it was rebuilt following a 1624 fire, Norway's capital and most populous city didn't take on its current title until 1925. Until then, Oslo was merely an unincorporated suburb. Its name, like many in Scandinavia, comes from Old Norse: Oslo translates to "meadow of the gods" by some and as "meadow at the foot of the hill" by others.
Those who believe the godly interpretation attribute that to the word áss or ansu, which refers to the gods of Old Norse religion (Æsir). The topographical explanation may be more likely, as many other Norwegian names begin with "ås" and refer to ridges and hills, but it's certainly not as cool. Scholars previously thought that "the mouth of the Lo river" was the true translation, a theory since debunked as both grammatically and historically incorrect.
Rio de Janeiro: "River of January"
Despite its name, there isn't actually a river in Rio de Janeiro. Rather, the city is named "River of January" in Portuguese because the colonists who arrived there in 1502 mistakenly believed that Guanabara Bay was actually the mouth of a river. As this occurred in January, the area was named in honor of this not-quite discovery. (There's minor debate about this, as some historians believe that "rio" was used as a generic term for coastal indentations at the time, but the main theory is generally considered the correct one.)
Go to Rio itself, however, and you may hear it referred to as Cidade Maravilhosa — "the marvelous city."
Tokyo: "Eastern Capital"
Japan has had many capitals throughout its history, including Nara and Kyoto, which helps explain how Tokyo got its current name — and why it wasn't called that to begin with. It received its current title during the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Emperor Meiji began to rapidly industrialize Japan and introduce Western culture to the Land of the Rising Sun, often at the expense of historical customs. During this period, he relocated the imperial capital and gave the city a new name meaning "eastern capital."
This was actually a highly traditional move in its own way, as other East Asian capitals (including Kyoto itself) had the word "capital" in their names. For a time, it was actually called Tōkei by some who preferred that pronunciation of the characters 東京.
Toronto: "Place Where Trees Stand in the Water"
Long before Europeans arrived in what we now call Toronto, the Iroquois called the area home. It's generally agreed that the city's current name comes from tkaronto, an Iroquois word that translates to "place where trees stand in the water"; the water in this case is that of Lake Simcoe.
Toronto can also be translated as "plenty" from the Huron language, but the word has also been spelled as "Taronto," meaning "the narrows," when referring to a channel of water found between lakes Couchiching and Simcoe.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
6 Hidden Messages in Popular Movies
There's more than one way to go hunting for Easter eggs. When it comes to movies, you can find them all over the place — and not just on a specific day of the year. Filmmakers have been hiding subtle hints, messages, and references in their movies for almost as long as they've been making movies at all, often as a wink-wink allusion to other movies they themselves love. You usually have to look carefully to notice them, but once seen they can't be unseen. Here are six of them.
2023: A Barbie Odyssey
Some Easter eggs are subtle, while others are… less so. Greta Gerwig's massively popular Barbie, which is all but certain to become the highest-grossing film of the year at the time of writing, opens with one of the not-so-subtle variety. As little girls play with old-fashioned dolls in a barren landscape, the narrator (Helen Mirren) intones about how things will soon change with the arrival of a new doll: Barbie (Margot Robbie), who appears out of the ether as Richard Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" plays. It's a direct callback to the opening credits and first sequence of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, which likewise heralds the dawn of a historical event with massive implications for the future of humanity as that famous piece of music reaches its crescendo.
Samuel L. Jackson in Captain America.
The "Pulp Fiction" Epitaph in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"
Among the many quotable scenes in Pulp Fiction, one has proved especially popular over the years: Samuel L. Jackson's recitation of Ezekiel 25:17. Jackson plays a hitman who quotes the Bible before doing his victims in, using the passage as a kind of calling card:
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of charity and good will shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
The sequence is so iconic, in fact, that the makers of Captain America: The Winter Soldier decided to reference it when Nick Fury, also played by Jackson, fakes his death. As the ruse requires a tombstone, the epitaph reads, "Col. Nicholas J. Fury: 'The path of the righteous man…' —Ezekiel 25:17." Given how fond Pulp Fiction writer-director Quentin Tarantino is of alluding to other movies, it only makes sense for other filmmakers to reference his work.
Into the Tarantino-Verse
Speaking of Tarantino, it isn't just other filmmakers whose work he references — it's also his own. Many of the Oscar-winning writer-director's works take place in a shared universe, with brands like Big Kahuna Burger and Red Apple cigarettes popping up in several of his films. There's also the fact that Michael Madsen's character in Reservoir Dogs and John Travolta's character in Pulp Fiction are brothers: Vic and Vincent Vega, respectively, about whom Tarantino was at one point developing a spinoff.
Perhaps the deepest connection is between Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, as the TV pilot that Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) starred in, Fox Force Five, in the former bears a striking resemblance to the female assassins in the latter. "There was a blond one, Somerset O'Neil, she was the leader," Mia says of the show. "The Japanese fox was a kung fu master. The Black girl was a demolition expert. The French fox's speciality was sex… according to the show, [my character] was the deadliest woman in the world with a knife." These archetypes align strongly with the women of Kill Bill, a connection made even stronger by the fact that The Bride (also played by Thurman) titles her hit list "Death List Five."
The Starbucks Cups in "Fight Club"
The first rule of Fight Club is: You do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: When breaking the first rule, be sure to point out that almost every shot in Fight Club features a Starbucks cup. David Fincher's cult classic, an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's counterculture novel of the same name, has become an anti-establishment rallying call since it first hit theaters in 1999. Few companies symbolize the kind of corporate ubiquity the film satirizes quite like the coffee behemoth, leading Fincher to feature their instantly recognizable cups throughout. Somewhat surprisingly, Starbucks approved of this: "They read the script, they knew what we were doing, and they were kind of ready to poke a little fun at themselves," Fincher said.
He's Off to See the Wizard
You might love The Wizard of Oz, but you probably don't love it as much as David Lynch. The revered filmmaker behind favorites such as Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks, and Mulholland Drive, who has earned four Oscar nominations throughout his storied career, has sprinkled references to the Judy Garland classic in several of his films. The most overt comes in Wild at Heart, when an effervescent figure bearing a strong resemblance to Glinda the Good Witch descends from the sky, but it's far from the only Easter egg. Lynch also has a habit of naming characters Judy and featuring red shoes in his movies, even once admitting, "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about The Wizard of Oz." The connection is so strong that it recently became the subject of a documentary, the appropriately named Lynch/Oz.
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK film (1981).Credit: Moviestore Collection
These Are the Droids You're Looking For
Raiders of the Lost Ark was directed by Steven Spielberg, but it was dreamt up by George Lucas shortly after he finished American Graffiti in 1973. The blockbuster starring Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones was eventually produced by Lucasfilm, with the production company's namesake receiving a story credit, so it makes sense that the final product would contain a blink-and-you'll-miss-it allusion to his best-known work: Star Wars. When Indy finally finds the Ark of the Covenant near the end of the film, a set of hieroglyphics can be seen to his right that depict R2-D3 and C3PO. It isn't the only Star Wars Easter egg in the series, as the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom takes place in Club Obi Wan.
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
Jimmy's Personal Airplane
by Janie McKirgan | Oct 29, 2020 | Jimmy Stewart's Life | 15 comments
Date: October 29, 2020
By Janie McKirgan, President-Executive Director.
Indiana, PA has one more claim to fame. We now have the only airport (The Indiana County Jimmy Stewart Airport) that has a personal airplane on display that was owned and flown by its namesake. That is pretty cool! To see it in person is amazing but the story behind how it got here is even more amazing!
It all started back in 2015 when a man named John Hurn discovered that there was a neglected aircraft ready to be scrapped at the Dallas Executive Airport. After studying the Federal Aviation Administration records, he positively identified the owner of the Cessna 310 as the one and only Jimmy Stewart! Hurn stated "I learned as a little boy that if you found a pocket knife somewhere, it probably belonged to somebody that needed it back." Using those same principles, he contacted our local Jimmy Stewart Airport to see if they would be interested in the plane. Members of the local Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) along with Charles Jensen offered to rescue the plane from being scrapped. They drove down to Texas with a flatbed trailer, dismantled the airplane and drove it back to Indiana.
Over the next 5 ½ years, Harold Wood and the local EAA Chapter 993 raised money to fund the restoration project along with soliciting local donations of supplies and labor. They restored Jimmy's plane to its original paint scheme and erected it on a pedestal just outside the airport. The Cessna 310 is on a bank position on a pedestal and it rotates in the wind. The propellers also turn with the wind. There are strobe lights on the tail and wing tip lights as well that are powered by solar panels.
This airplane is the second of 2 Cessna 310's that Jimmy Stewart owned. He reportedly made at least two trips to our Indiana airport in this plane during the four years he owned and flew it. He often flew his family to vacation destinations in it, along with flying with his good friend and racing pilot Joe DeBono.
The future second phase of the project will include a playground and pedal airplanes that children and propel down a runway. This is to draw the next generation out to the airport to see Jimmy's plane, play on the playground and watch planes take off to unknow destinations. This whole project is in memory of Jimmy Stewart and serves as an inspiration to future generations of aviators.
This where I come in! A small (due to COVID) dedication took place on September 26, 2020. All of the people that were involved in the project were there and a few spoke and told the incredible restoration story. What passion these men had for this project! I was honored to speak for Jimmy Stewart's children at the event. The following is the speech I read from Kelly, Judy & Michael at the dedication:
"Our family is beyond amazed and thrilled by this miraculous resurrection of our father's Cessna 310. We have nothing but the most wonderful childhood memories of this plane. It meant a family adventure together, as Dad, with his friend and fellow pilot, Joe DeBona, would sometimes fly us to the family ranch for a vacation. It meant the excitement of being in a small plane. But above all, it meant the thrill of seeing Dad suddenly become the serious, focused pilot that he was: working those countless dials and switches; interpreting what sounded to us kids like incomprehensible garble from the tower. These times made us realize how flying was a part of Dad's soul…one of the great passions of his life.
We were first contacted over 5 years ago by Charles Jensen, telling us that the shell of the long-unused Cessna 310 had been discovered languishing at the Dallas Executive Airport. When he told us about plans to transport and restore the plane, giving it a final home at Jimmy Stewart Airport in Indiana, we thought that it was a wonderful and, frankly, impossible dream. We obviously underestimated the vision and passion, the technical expertise and skill, and the coordinating abilities of people like Charles Jensen, John Hurn and Harold Wood. We owe so many thanks to these men as well as to all those with EAA at the Jimmy Stewart Airport, who took on the project, and to the Jimmy Stewart Museum for their support and cooperation.
And now, here stands the resurrected Cessna 310, with its beautifully engraved bronze plaque. Our father would feel thrilled and deeply moved to see this plane, poised as if in flight, displayed at the airport bearing his name. Our family is with you all in spirit for this dedication, and we hope in the not too distant future, to be there in person, to once again gaze upon our father's plane."
It was a touching dedication and it was capped off when Harold Wood played a recording of Jimmy Stewart talking to the tower and coming in for a landing. To hear his voice made it all the more poignant. There is a lovely plaque there in honor of the dedication. On the plaque is a picture of Jimmy Stewart, his wife Gloria and their children Ron, Michael, Kelly & Judy standing in front of the Cessna 310 N6775X.
https://jimmy.org/jimmys-personal-airplane/
The museum:
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Thanks to History Facts
Cotton candy was invented by a dentist.
SCIENCE & INDUSTRY
C otton candy consists of just two simple ingredients: air and sugar. The supersweet indulgence seems like the last thing a dental health professional would promote, but it was invented by a dentist from Tennessee in 1897.
Born in Nashville in 1860, William James Morrison was quite successful by his early 30s, having graduated from dental school and been made president of the Tennessee State Dental Association in 1894. As accomplished as he was in his professional life, Morrison also racked up a number of impressive inventions: He patented a device to extract oils from cottonseed and turn them into a lard substitute, as well as a process that chemically purified Nashville's drinking water. In 1897, Morrison turned to John C. Wharton, a local candymaker, for his next invention. Together, they worked on building what they called the "electric candy machine," a device that melted sugar, then used air to force it through a mesh screen and into a spinning chamber. The result was the cloudlike confection we now know as cotton candy — then called, appropriately whimsically, "Fairy Floss."
Morrison and Wharton introduced their invention at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. They sold the Fairy Floss in small boxes for 25 cents each — half the price of admission. Despite its high price tag, Fairy Floss was a hit, selling 68,655 boxes and grossing $17,163.75 (that's over $500,000 today) during the fair's seven-month run. In the 1920s, Fairy Floss got its more commonly known current name when a man named Josef Lascaux started dabbling in his own confectionery. He called the treat "cotton candy," and he sold it from his — believe it or not — Louisiana dentist office.
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From the archives
Thanks to Carl
Almost Half of All Young Adults in the United States Are Living With Their Parents
September 23, 2023
The inability of American youth to live independently is the consequence of offshoring US manufacturing jobs and employment bias against white males, as I said it would be. The dumbshit neoliberal economists said I was wrong, and Americans would have higher paying jobs than manufacturing workers. No sign of these jobs.
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Thanks to Tom
Camels from the archives
Skip,
As the great grandson of a California horse trader, I heard about the Supply, the camels and "Hi Jolly" at a very young age.
This Wikipedia entry is very close to what I heard about "Hi Jolly":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hi_Jolly
The last wild camel was spotted in California in 1941. None since then.
Tom
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This Day in Military History
September 24
1846 – During the Mexican–American War, US forces capture Monterrey. In the Battle of Monterrey (September 21–24, 1846) during the Mexican–American War, General Pedro de Ampudia and the Mexican Army of the North was defeated by the Army of Occupation, a force of United States Regulars, Vo
1929 – U.S. Army pilot Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY2 Biplane over Mitchel Field in New York in the first all-instrument flight.unteers and Texas Rangers under the command of General Zachary Taylor.
1941 – The Japanese consul in Hawaii is instructed to divide Pearl Harbor into five zones and calculate the number of battleships in each zone–and report the findings back to Japan. Relations between the United States and Japan had been deteriorating quickly since Japan's occupation of Indo-China and the implicit menacing of the Philippines, an American protectorate, with the occupation of the Cam Ranh naval base only eight miles from Manila. American retaliation included the seizing of all Japanese assets in the States and the closing of the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. In September 1941, Roosevelt issued a statement, drafted by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, that threatened war between the United States and Japan should the Japanese encroach any farther on territory in Southeast Asia or the South Pacific. The Japanese military had long dominated Japanese foreign affairs. So, although official negotiations between the U.S. secretary of state and his Japanese counterpart to ease tensions were ongoing, Hideki Tojo, the minister of war who would soon be prime minister, had no intention of withdrawing from captured territories. He also construed the American "threat" of war as an ultimatum and prepared to deliver the first blow in a Japanese-American confrontation: the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In September 1941, Nagai Kita, the Japanese consul in Hawaii, was told to begin carving up Pearl Harbor into five distinct zones and to determine the number of warships moored in each zone. Little did Japan know that the United States had intercepted the message; unfortunately, it had to be sent back to Washington for decrypting. Flights east were infrequent, so the message was sent via sea, a more time-consuming process. When it finally arrived at the capital, staff shortages and other priorities further delayed the decryption. When the message was finally unscrambled in mid-October–it was dismissed as being of no great consequence. It would be found of consequence on December 7.
1942 – Off Guadalcanal, the routine re-supplying done at night by the Japanese is disrupted by the Americans as they sink two Japanese destroyers and a cruiser.
1960 – The USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Va. USS Enterprise (CVN-65), formerly CVA(N)-65, is a retired United States Navy aircraft carrier. She was the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and the eighth United States naval vessel to bear the name. Like her predecessor of World War II fame, she is nicknamed "Big E". At 1,123 ft (342 m), she was the longest naval vessel in the world, a record which still stands. Her 93,284-long-ton (94,781 t) displacement ranked her as the 11th-heaviest supercarrier, after the 10 carriers of the Nimitz class. Enterprise had a crew of some 4,600 service members. The only ship of her class, Enterprise was the third oldest commissioned vessel in the United States Navy after the wooden-hulled USS Constitution and USS Pueblo. She was originally scheduled for decommissioning in 2014 or 2015, depending on the life of her reactors and completion of her replacement, USS Gerald R. Ford, but the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 slated the ship's retirement for 2013, when she would have served for 51 consecutive years, longer than any other U.S. aircraft carrier.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions awarded this day in history
BAYBUTT, PHILIP
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 2d Massachusetts Cavalry. Place and date: At Luray, Va., 24 September 1864. Entered service at: Fall River, Mass. Birth: England. Date of issue: 19 October 1864. Citation: Capture of flag.
NISPEROS, JOSE B.
Rank and organization: Private, 34th Company, Philippine Scouts. Place and date: At Lapurap, Basilan, Philippine Islands, 24 September 1911. Entered service at: San Fernandos Union, P.I.. Birth: San Fernandos Union, P.I.. Date of issue: Unknown. Citation: Having been badly wounded (his left arm was broken and lacerated and he had received several spear wounds in the body so that he could not stand) continued to fire his rifle with one hand until the enemy was repulsed, thereby aiding materially in preventing the annihilation of his party and the mutilation of their bodies.
CATHERWOOD, JOHN HUGH
Rank and organization: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 August 1888, Springfield, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Catherwood was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on the morning of 24 September 1911. Advancing with the scout party to reconnoiter a group of nipa huts close to the trail, Catherwood unhesitatingly entered the open area before the huts, where his party was suddenly taken under point-blank fire and charged by approximately 20 enemy Moros coming out from inside the native huts and from other concealed positions. Struck down almost instantly by the outlaws' deadly fire, Catherwood, although unable to rise, rallied to the defense of his leader and fought desperately to beat off the hostile attack. By his valiant effort under fire and in the face of great odds, Catherwood contributed materially toward the destruction and rout of the enemy.
HARRISON, BOLDEN REUSH
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 26 April 1886, Savannah, Tenn. Accredited to: Tennessee. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Harrison was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on 24 September 1911. Harrison instantly responded to the calls for help when the advance scout party investigating a group of nipa huts close to the trail, was suddenly taken under point-blank fire and rushed by approximately 20 enemy Moros attacking from inside the huts and from other concealed positions. Armed with a double-barreled shotgun, he concentrated his blasting fire on the outlaws, destroying 3 of the Moros and assisting in the rout of the remainder. By his aggressive charging of the enemy under heavy fire and in the face of great odds, Harrison contributed materially to the success of the engagement.
McGUlRE, FRED HENRY
Rank and organization: Hospital Apprentice, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 November 1890, Gordonville, Mo. Entered service at: Gordonville, Mo. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, McGuire was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on the morning of 24 September 1911. Ordered to take station within 100 yards of a group of nipa huts close to the trail, McGuire advanced and stood guard as the leader and his scout party first searched the surrounding deep grasses, then moved into the open area before the huts. Instantly enemy Moros opened point-blank fire on the exposed men and approximately 20 Moros charged the small group from inside the huts and from other concealed positions. McGuire, responding to the calls for help, was one of the first on the scene. After emptying his rifle into the attackers, he closed in with rifle, using it as a club to wage fierce battle until his comrades arrived on the field, when he rallied to the aid of his dying leader and other wounded. Although himself wounded, McGuire ministered tirelessly and efficiently to those who had been struck down, thereby saving the lives of 2 who otherwise might have succumbed to enemy-inflicted wounds.
HENRECHON, GEORGE FRANCIS
Rank and organization: Machinist's Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 22 November 1885, Hartford, Conn. Accredited to: California. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911 Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Henrechon was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, Philippine Islands, on 24 September 1911. Ordered to take station within 100 yards of a group of nipa huts close to the trail, Henrechon advanced and stood guard as the leader and his scout party first searched the surrounding deep grasses, then moved into the open area before the huts. Instantly enemy Moros opened point-blank fire on the exposed men and approximately 20 Moros rushed the small group from inside the huts and from other concealed positions. Henrechon, responding to the calls for help, was one of the first on the scene. When his rifle jammed after the first shot, he closed in with rifle, using it as a club to break the stock over the head of the nearest Moro and then, drawing his pistol, started in pursuit of the fleeing outlaws. Henrechon's aggressive charging of the enemy under heavy fire and in the face of great odds contributed materially to the success of the engagement.
VOLZ, JACOB
Rank and organization: Carpenter's Mate Third Class, U.S. Navy. Place and date: Island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, 24 September 1911. Entered service at: Nebraska. Birth: Sutton, Nebr. G.O. No.: 138, 13 December 1911. Citation: While attached to the U.S.S. Pampang, Volz was one of a shore party moving in to capture Mundang, on the island of Basilan, Philippine Islands, on 24 September 1911. Investigating a group of nipa huts close to the trail, the advance scout party was suddenly taken under point-blank fire and rushed by approximately 20 enemy Moros attacking from inside the huts and other concealed positions. Volz responded instantly to calls for help and, finding all members of the scout party writhing on the ground but still fighting, he blazed his rifle into the outlaws with telling effect, destroying several of the Moros and assisting in the rout of the remainder. By his aggressive charging of the enemy under heavy fire and in the face of great odds, Volz contributed materially to the success of the engagement.
SCHAEFER, JOSEPH E.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Stolberg, Germany, 24 September 1944. Entered service at: Long Island, N.Y. Birth: New York, N.Y. G.O. No.: 71, 22 August 1945. Citation: He was in charge of a squad of the 2d Platoon in the vicinity of Stolberg, Germany, early in the morning of 24 September 1944, when 2 enemy companies supported by machineguns launched an attack to seize control of an important crossroads which was defended by his platoon. One American squad was forced back, another captured, leaving only S/Sgt. Schaefer's men to defend the position. To shift his squad into a house which would afford better protection, he crawled about under heavy small-arms and machinegun fire, instructed each individual, and moved to the building. A heavy concentration of enemy artillery fire scored hits on his strong point. S/Sgt. Schaefer assigned his men to positions and selected for himself the most dangerous one at the door. With his Ml rifle, he broke the first wave of infantry thrown toward the house. The Germans attacked again with grenades and flame throwers but were thrown back a second time, S/Sgt. Schaefer killing and wounding several. Regrouped for a final assault, the Germans approached from 2 directions. One force drove at the house from the front, while a second group advanced stealthily along a hedgerow. Recognizing the threat, S/Sgt. Schaefer fired rapidly at the enemy before him, killing or wounding all 6; then, with no cover whatever, dashed to the hedgerow and poured deadly accurate shots into the second group, killing 5, wounding 2 others, and forcing the enemy to withdraw. He scoured the area near his battered stronghold and captured 10 prisoners. By this time the rest of his company had begun a counterattack; he moved forward to assist another platoon to regain its position. Remaining in the lead, crawling and running in the face of heavy fire, he overtook the enemy, and liberated the American squad captured earlier in the battle. In all, single-handed and armed only with his rifle, he killed between 15 and 20 Germans, wounded at least as many more, and took 10 prisoners. S/Sgt. Schaefer's indomitable courage and his determination to hold his position at all costs were responsible for stopping an enemy break-through.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for September 24, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
24 September
1918: Lt (JG) David S. Ingalls shot down his fifth enemy plane to become the Navy's first ace. (24)
1919: Maj Rudolph W. Schroeder, flying a Lepere at McCook Field set a record of 30,900 feet for a plane carrying a passenger. (24)
1929: The first blind flight occurred when U.S. Army Air Corps pilot, Lt. James Doolittle, at the Guggenheim's Full Flight Laboratory at Mitchel Field, took off in a specially instrumented Army Air Corps NY-2 Husky aircraft built by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation with Lt. Benjamin Kelsey as his safety officer and landed after a fifteen-minute, 20 mile flight without ever seeing the ground. At the time the NY-2 Husky was the world's most instrumented aircraft engaged in blind flying research. The rear cockpit contained the blind flying displays and during the trials preceding the blind flight was covered by a special hood to eliminate external references.
1951: McDonnell won the Navy's "flying crane" helicopter competition with a design using a three-bladed rotor system, powered by small jet engines on the blade tips. (24)
1958: A BOMARC missile, launched from Cape Canaveral by a SAGE unit in Kingston, N.Y., destroyed a target flying 1,000-MPH at 48,000 feet over the Atlantic 75 miles away. (16) (24) A KC-135 from the 99 AREFS at Westover AFB lifted 78,089.5 pounds to 2,000 meters to break a 44,124-pound record set by a Soviet TU-104 transport earlier in the month. (1)
1962: A Saturn rocket's six-engine S-IV stage static-fired for 60 seconds at the Douglas Aircraft plant in Sacramento. (24)
1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson presented aviation's highest honor, the Robert J. Collier Trophy, to Clarence L. Johnson of Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, who designed and developed the A-11. Ten days earlier, Johnson also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award. (5) (16) The RF-4C became operational at Shaw AFB. (12) A Minuteman II launched in its first attempt from Cape Kennedy. (6)
1968: An USAF Titan IIIC orbited four scientific satellites. (16) A KC-135 crash during an emergency landing at Wake Island produced the first tanker casualties in the Southeast Asian war. The crash claimed 11 ARC LIGHT support personnel redeploying from U-Tapao Air Base, Thailand. (18)
1970: A capsule, with lunar soil samples from Luna 16, returned to the earth. The US admitted using B-52s stationed at Kadena on missions against Vietnam. SAC subsequently moved the B-52s from Kadena to other locations by the end of September. (17)
1987: The Thunderbirds gave their first show ever in the People's Republic of China before some 20,000 Chinese in Beijing. (16) (26)
1991: Operation QUICK LIFT. Through 28 September, MAC aircraft evacuated over 1,200 foreign nationals from and deployed some 500 French and Belgian troops to Zaire, following rioting there. Altogether, through 4 October MAC flew over 60 missions to move over 2,500 passengers and 600 tons of cargo. (18)
2004: The first of 13 C-17s for McGuire AFB arrived from the Boeing factory in Long Beach. The Globemaster III (tail number 03-3125) was the first C-17 modified with "Block 15" upgrades, including station-keeping equipment that allowed for all-weather formation flying with up to 100 aircraft. (22)
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Thanks to Brett
CIA Built "12 Secret Spy Bases" In Ukraine & Waged Shadow War For Last Decade, Bombshell NYT Report Confirms
Those who constantly condemn Putin as a power hungry invader are missing a huge part of the bigger story. Not to say we should believe Putin is a "goodie two shoes"....he's not. But he should not have been expected to sit by and watch America turn Ukraine into a powerhouse whose mission was to destroy his Russia, either. REMEMBER, this is a NYT article too....not some internet post. The article is well worth your time to read!
Is anyone surprised anymore about the evil of the CIA, FBI or Homeland Security?
CIA Built "12 Secret Spy Bases" In Ukraine & Waged Shadow War For Last Decade, Bombshell NYT Report Confirms
Decade-long secret war against Russia is no longer a "conspiracy theory"...
by Tyler Durden
Sunday, Feb 25, 2024
On Sunday The New York Times published an explosive and very belated full admission that US intelligence has not only been instrumental in Ukraine wartime decision-making, but has established and financed high tech command-and-control spy centers, and was doing so long prior to the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of two years ago.
Among the biggest revelations is that the program was established a decade ago and spans three different American presidents. The Times says the CIA program to modernize Ukraine's intelligence services has "transformed" the former Soviet state and its capabilities into "Washington's most important intelligence partners against the Kremlin today."
This has included the agency having secretly trained and equipped Ukrainian intelligence officers spanning back to just after the 2014 Maidan coup events, as well constructing a network of 12 secret bases along the Russian border—work which began eight years ago. These intelligence bases, from which Russian commanders' communications can be swept up and Russian spy satellites monitored, are being used launch and track cross-border drone and missile attacks on Russian territory.
Ukrainian commandoes, illustrative file image via Associated Press
This means that with the disclosure of the longtime "closely guarded secret" the world just got a big step closer to WW3, given it means the CIA is largely responsible for the effectiveness of the recent spate of attacks which have included direct drone hits on key oil refineries and energy infrastructure.
"Without them [the CIA and elite commandoes it's trained], there would have been no way for us to resist the Russians, or to beat them," according to Ivan Bakanov, former head of the SBU, which is Ukraine's domestic intelligence agency.
A main source of the NYT revelations—disclosures which might come as no surprise to those never willing to so easily swallow the mainstream 'official' narrative of events—is identified as a top intelligence commander named Gen. Serhii Dvoretskiy.
Clearly, Kiev and Washington now want world to know of the deep intelligence relationship they tried to conceal for over the past decade. It is perhaps a kind of warning to Moscow at a moment Ukraine's forces are in retreat: the US is fighting hand in glove with the Ukrainians. And yet the revelations contained in the NY Times report also confirm what President Putin has precisely accused Washington of all along.
While the lengthy NYT report is full of fresh revelations and confirmation of just how deeply the CIA has always been involved in Ukraine, below are seven of the biggest contained in the story...
Description of secret spy bunker
The report contains a surprisingly detailed description of one of the 'secret' underground command centers established by the CIA near the Russian border... location undisclosed of course:
Not far away, a discreet passageway descends to a subterranean bunker where teams of Ukrainian soldiers track Russian spy satellites and eavesdrop on conversations between Russian commanders. On one screen, a red line followed the route of an explosive drone threading through Russian air defenses from a point in central Ukraine to a target in the Russian city of Rostov.
The underground bunker, built to replace the destroyed command center in the months after Russia's invasion, is a secret nerve center of Ukraine's military.
There is also one more secret: The base is almost fully financed, and partly equipped, by the CIA.
Elite commando force
Within two years after the 2014 West-backed coup in Ukraine, the CIA had set up a training program for elite Ukrainian operatives:
Around 2016, the CIA began training an elite Ukrainian commando force — known as Unit 2245 — which captured Russian drones and communications gear so that CIA technicians could reverse-engineer them and crack Moscow's encryption systems. (One officer in the unit was Kyrylo Budanov, now the general leading Ukraine's military intelligence.)
And the CIA also helped train a new generation of Ukrainian spies who operated inside Russia, across Europe, and in Cuba and other places where the Russians have a large presence.
Ukraine transformed into an "intelligence-gathering hub"
The US intelligence network in Ukraine (which is tantamount to NATO intelligence network too) has in reality been more extensive than pretty much all prior media speculation has envisioned. Ukraine has long been a massive "intelligence gathering hub" for Washington and its partners:
In more than 200 interviews, current and former officials in Ukraine, the United States and Europe described a partnership that nearly foundered from mutual distrust before it steadily expanded, turning Ukraine into an intelligence-gathering hub that intercepted more Russian communications than the CIA station in Kyiv, Ukraine, could initially handle. Many of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence and matters of sensitive diplomacy.
Now these intelligence networks are more important than ever, as Russia is on the offensive and Ukraine is more dependent on sabotage and long-range missile strikes that require spies far behind enemy lines. And they are increasingly at risk: If Republicans in Congress end military funding to Kyiv, the CIA may have to scale back.
Huge NYT admission that Putin was basically right
Below is a hugely ironic excerpt from the Times report. The section begins by noting that Putin has repeatedly blamed the US-NATO for expanding its military and intelligence infrastructure into Ukraine. Not only had this precisely been going on for the past decade, as is now being admitted, but was presented by the Kremlin as a key cause of the Russian invasion of Feb.24, 2022. Putin and his officials were adamant on the eve of the invasion that NATO was militarizing Ukraine. The Times appears to now fully admit that, yes - this was actually the case:
Putin has long blamed Western intelligence agencies for manipulating Kyiv and sowing anti-Russia sentiment in Ukraine.
Toward the end of 2021, according to a senior European official, Putin was weighing whether to launch his full-scale invasion when he met with the head of one of Russia's main spy services, who told him that the CIA, together with Britain's MI6, were controlling Ukraine and turning it into a beachhead for operations against Moscow.
...U.S. officials were often reluctant to fully engage, fearing that Ukrainian officials could not be trusted, and worrying about provoking the Kremlin. Yet a tight circle of Ukrainian intelligence officials assiduously courted the CIA and gradually made themselves vital to the Americans. In 2015, Gen. Valeriy Kondratiuk, then Ukraine's head of military intelligence, arrived at a meeting with the CIA's deputy station chief and without warning handed over a stack of top-secret files.
2014 Coup... and Crimea
The report indirectly references this very critical period which set Ukraine and Russian on their tragic collision course:
With violence escalating, an unmarked U.S. government plane touched down at an airport in Kyiv carrying John Brennan, then the director of the CIA. He told Nalyvaichenko that the CIA was interested in developing a relationship but only at a pace the agency was comfortable with, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials.
To the CIA, the unknown question was how long Nalyvaichenko and the pro-Western government would be around. The CIA had been burned before in Ukraine.
...The result was a delicate balancing act. The CIA was supposed to strengthen Ukraine's intelligence agencies without provoking the Russians. The red lines were never precisely clear, which created a persistent tension in the partnership.
Operation Goldfish
Money and advanced tech given by the CIA has allowed the Ukrainians to establish eavesdropping operations far beyond what they would otherwise be capable of. All the while, elite commando teams were being trained by the CIA in European cities as part of a program called 'Operation Goldfish'. The NYT reporting includes a bit of a 'boast' of the Ukrainians now being able to hack into Russian military networks:
In the bunker, Dvoretskiy pointed to communications equipment and large computer servers, some of which were financed by the CIA. He said his teams were using the base to hack into the Russian military's secure communications networks.
"This is the thing that breaks into satellites and decodes secret conversations," Dvoretskiy told a Times journalist on a tour, adding that they were hacking into spy satellites from China and Belarus, too.
...The CIA began sending equipment in 2016, after the pivotal meeting at Scattergood, Dvoretskiy said, providing encrypted radios and devices for intercepting secret enemy communications.
A stunning admission: "Tiptoeing Around Trump"
Among the most interesting and curious moments of the NYT report is a description of the CIA program's expanse under the Trump administration. The report suggests that the true scope may have even been hidden from Trump. The Russia hawks in his administration quietly did the 'dirty work', we are told:
The election of Trump in November 2016 put the Ukrainians and their CIA partners on edge.
Trump praised Putin and dismissed Russia's role in election interference. He was suspicious of Ukraine and later tried to pressure its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to investigate his Democratic rival, Biden, resulting in Trump's first impeachment.
The report then emphasizes, "But whatever Trump said and did, his administration often went in the other direction. This is because Trump had put Russia hawks in key positions, including Mike Pompeo as CIA director and John Bolton as national security adviser."
And further, "They visited Kyiv to underline their full support for the secret partnership, which expanded to include more specialized training programs and the building of additional secret bases." Given the attempt to place Trump in a negative light (he had to be 'tiptoed around'...), it will be interesting to see how he and his campaign respond to the report. But more consequential will be the reaction of Putin and the Kremlin in the coming days.
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