To All,
Good Wednesday morning January 8. Just back from a VA appointment in Oceanside. Partly cloudy now with sun out until dark today!!!. Lots of things to pick up after last night. Watching the news on LA last night was terrible. I went to school up there at USC and am very familiar with the area that burned. Our winds are expected to hit 30 knots later this afternoon but right now it is not bad at all. As soon as I launch this List I have a full plate of things to do inside and outside the house----The Boss is waiting
Here are some late breaking notes from the fire. 7000 acres burned. 1100 homes destroyed with an average worth of $5,000,000 bucks each. All the schools and bars and restaurants along old hiway 1 are burned. It is a real bad thing for a lot of people. Lots of movie and TV stars owned property there.
BTW the Medal of Freedom has been forever tarnished after the list of unmentionables was revealed the other day. I got many notes on that from you all and agree with every one of them. The red dress really stood out.
Warm Regards,
Skip
Make it a GREAT Day
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director's corner for all 85 H-Grams
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
January. 8
1863—During the Civil War, the screw steam gunboats Sagamore and Tahoma capture blockade running ships with cargo of salt and cotton in Florida.
1945—Task Group 17.21, led by Cmdr. Charles E. Loughlin coordinates a submarine attack against a Japanese convoy off northwest coast of Formosa, sinking two freighters and a tanker and damaging three other ships.
1945—During the continuing Japanese aerial kamikaze attacks on the Lingayen Gulf invasion force, escort carriers Kitkun Bay (CVE 71) and Kadashan Bay (CVE 76) are damaged, as well as USS Callaway (APA-35).
1963—Destroyer Benjamin Stoddert (DDG 22) is launched. A veteran of the Vietnam War, she is decommissioned in Dec. 1991.
1983—Fast Attack Submarine USS City of Corpus Christi (SSN 705) is commissioned.
1994—Fast Attack Submarine USS Santa Fe (SSN 763) is commissioned.
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Today in World History January 8
1681 The Treaty of Radzin ends a five year war between the Turks and the allied countries of Russia and Poland.
1745 England, Austria, Saxony and the Netherlands form an alliance against Russia.
1815 A rag-tag army under Andrew Jackson defeats the British on the fields of Chalmette in the Battle of New Orleans.
1871 Prussian troops begin to bombard Paris during the Franco-Prussian War.
1892 A coal mine explosion kills 100 in McAlister, Oklahoma.
1900 The Boers attack the British in Ladysmith, South Africa, but are turned back.
1908 A subway line opens linking the New York boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan.
1940 Great Britain begins rationing sugar, meat and butter.
1946 President Harry S. Truman vows to stand by the Yalta accord on self-determination for the Balkans.
1954 President Dwight Eisenhower proposes stripping convicted Communists of their U.S. citizenship.
1963 President John F. Kennedy attends the unveiling of the Mona Lisa.
1975 Ella T. Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, the first female governor in the US who did not come into office by succeeding her husband.
1979 The United States advises the Shah to leave Iran.
1982 AT&T agrees to divest 22 subdivisions as part of an antitrust agreement.
1994 Valeri Polyakov, a Russian cosmonaut leaves earth, bound for the Mir space station; he will spend a record 437 days in space.
2002 US President George W. Bush signs into law the No Child Left Behind Act, intended to improve America's educational system.
2004 The largest passenger ship in history, the RMS Queen Mary 2, is christened by Queen Elizabeth II, granddaughter of Queen Mary.
2011 An attempted assassination of Arizona Representative Gabrielle Gifford is part of a shooting spree in which Jared Lee Loughner kills 6 and wounds 13.
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Skip… the face of RTR has changed and the linking note for "The List" should reflect those changes. Here is the new note/link….
From The Bear…
The Bombing of North Vietnam(1965-1972). ROLLING THUNDER. COMMANDO HUNT. LINEBACKER. And the relentless search for the hundreds of aviation warriors we left behind in Southeast Asia as "Missing in Action." The priceless documents of TASK FORCE OMEGA, the record of five decades of the search for our missing accumulated by Patti Hopper and the families of those MIA in SEA, have been acquired and added to the RTR archives, thanks to Webmaster and owner of the RTR domain, Dan Heller.
Access: rollingthunderremembered.com
Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
rollingthunderremembered.com .
Skip,
A direct link for Task Force Omega files on Rolling Thunder Remembered is: TASK FORCE OMEGA SUMMARIES. There are about fifty posted thus far with many more on the way.
A link to Task Force Omega files can also be found on the homepage of Rolling Thunder Remembered. Also on the homepage is "Today in Rolling Thunder Remembered History" which links to RTR events on the given date the site is visited.
-Dan
Thanks to Micro
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
From Vietnam Air Losses site for "Wednesday 8 January
January 8: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2683
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Servicemembers Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
By: Kipp Hanley
AUGUST 15, 2022
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From the archives
Thanks to Dan
Fixed-Wing "War Story"
In Saturdays "The List", was an interesting story from Shadow, about strafing a trucker on I-10, East of Desert Center, an area of which I am intimately familiar, due to my previous employment. All of us were always "checking our six" due to various "fast-movers" who took great pleasure in making low passes over vehicles on the shoulders, particularly the Black-and-White variety. Coincidentally, they were usually Marine F-4's, from either Yuma, or El Toro.
A few times, the ground unit clocked the F-4's with their Radar, and (I know this will be hard to believe), they were usually exceeding the speed limit on I-10! We jokingly wanted to call Base Ops, ID the pilot, and send him a ticket (if you really wanted to hide from us, you shouldn't fly an aircraft with Squadron paint jobs on them! Yes, we also have some experience with "Aircraft Identification".)
Back to the I-10 truckers.... In the Coachella Valley, surrounding I-10, there were commercial groves of date trees. When the dates began to grow, there are huge clusters of dates on each tree. To protect them from the ills of mother nature, the growers wrap the dates in brown paper.
One year, during the growing season when the dates were wrapped in brown paper, a trucker on I-10, who was apparently new to the area, made a call on his CB Radio and asked innocently "What are all those trees with brown paper on them"? Unfortunately, his call was answered by a fixed-wing driver, who pretended to be another trucker, and said "why, those are paper bag trees. We grow them by the thousands". Somebody then told the truck driver the truth, and he challenged the smart-aleck who told him they were paper-bag trees, to a fight. The smart-aleck then laughing, said "I'm out your right door, just look up". It was a CHP fixed-wing, and the pilot said "go to the next truck-stop and I'll buy you a coffee!
I'm betting that Pete LaChat ( a former Navy F-4 Driver)---- Actually Pete was a Navy F-4 driver and was on the 72-73 USS Midway cruise with me—Skip) can verify this story, and no, he was not the smart-aleck fixed-wing driver in the story. I, having been a totally professional, mature, rotary-wing pilot, would not ever have done such a thing, either!
Dan
I did make a low head on pass on a trucker flying an RF-8G one day in that area with no other road traffic insight for miles. As I pulled up and watched he pulled to the side of the road and got out so I made another pass to say hello and as I went by he started shooting at me. I did not go back….Skip
I still think that Shadow's low pass over the Wild Animal Park in his RF-4 was just about the best
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Thanks to History Facts
Teddy Roosevelt's son was the oldest soldier to fight on D-Day.
FAMOUS FIGURES
More than 130,000 Allied troops landed at Normandy as part of D-Day, but only one of them was the son of a former U.S. President: Theodore Roosevelt Jr., who also held the distinction of being the oldest soldier to deploy. He was born on September 13, 1887, making the brigadier general 56 years old when he asked to land with the first wave. After two verbal requests were denied, Roosevelt submitted a written petition, in which he wrote, "I personally know both officers and men of these advance units and believe that it will steady them to know that I am with them."
High command finally relented, and Roosevelt landed on Utah Beach equipped with his walking cane and service pistol on June 6, 1944. Later, soldiers from his unit indeed credited his "calm and humorous demeanor" with helping them push through. Roosevelt was already a decorated veteran at this point, having served with distinction in World War I, but his military career was cut short when he suffered a fatal heart attack barely a month after D-Day. General George Patton hailed him as one of the bravest men he ever knew, and Roosevelt received a posthumous Medal of Honor on September 21, 1944. His son Quentin Roosevelt II stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day, making them the only father-son duo to take part in the Normandy landings.
By the Numbers
Beaches in Normandy where Allied forces landed
5
Silver Stars received by Teddy Roosevelt Jr.
4
Father-son duos who have received the Medal of Honor
2
Years Teddy Roosevelt Jr. spent as governor of Puerto Rico
3
DID YOU KNOW?
The "D" in D-Day doesn't really stand for anything.
Though you might logically assume it stands for any number of terms, from "deployment" or "disembarkation" to "departure" or "doom," the "D" in D-Day doesn't exactly stand for anything. The most likely explanation is that the "D" was a redundancy, and simply means "day." The term dates back to World War I as a placeholder for the start of a military operation, and "H-Hour" was also used to specify the exact time an operation would occur. In addition to keeping such details out of enemy hands, these vague terms allowed some flexibility when planning attacks whose actual start times could change at the last minute.
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Thanks to DR and Rich
Date: Tue, Jan 7, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Subject: It's Official - Trump is our next president
Hi to all -
01-07-2025 It's official - Trump is president
Certification
The official certification ceremony was held yesterday - on the anniversary of the J-6 'Insurrection'. Did you know that Biden's DoJ is STILL arresting people for that discredited event? Methinks that there will 'be hell to pay' over that in the near future. As VP, one of her official duties is to conduct this certification ceremony. Kamala did - announcing her own massive defeat - with considerably more dignity and grace than Joe has shown over his 'firing'.
Now, the GOP is trying to get some of Trump's nominees past Senate approval before inauguration day, so they can hit the ground running. Various democrat groups are planning protests, and 'insurrection' events of their own, in protest of Trump's win. There was, however, a huge snowball fight outside the capitol yesterday, all in good fun.
This is the first time in decades that democrats have surrendered power without a nasty fight. They actually held a 'peaceful transition of power'. This should make you very suspicious as to what they are really up to. You do know that there is a massive port strike scheduled to start a few days before January 20? That could put the whole economy into turmoil. Better stock up on essentials prior to that day. The left is crying foul about J-6 pardons - if any are given, then the lawsuits against them will begin and not end for years to come. This could drain the coffers of the DNC totally, and leave them broke for decades.
Canada
It was not just a rumor. Justin Trudeau has resigned. His government is rushing to make nice to Trump, as their whole economy depends on trade with the US. Trump held a news conference today, and among the things he talked about was Canada. In short, he said 'we do not need your products, but you do need our money. We will have fair trade or we will not buy your products.' Thus, the tariff war is declared. As Trudeau recently said, if the US quit buying our products, our whole economy would collapse. And, as Trump pointed out, we will not pay Canada, or anyone else, more than fair market value for products. Get used to it. The gravy train just got derailed.
Correction: Trudeau announced his intention to resign, pending a relief being identified, a few months from now. "I intend to resign. . ." DR
Deportations
A lot of people are worried about this plan. The set-up is in place to begin in just days. Companies that exploit cheap labor are very worried. The cartels are worried. Mexico is worried. The illegals already here are worried. There is at least one caravan of 2000 people trying to get across the border before January 20. Mayorkas is worried - and he should be.
NYC
They have started their 'congestion pricing' scam, charging people who drive into their overcrowded city. They are counting the millions of dollars this will bring them, and rubbing their hands with glee. But, one should use caution. There are unforeseen consequences yet to happen. For example, people who live inside the city can now face a $9 charge just for leaving their driveway. That will not sit well with voters and taxpayers.
Years back, London tried a similar scheme. For similar reasons. The city was crowded, and parking was hard to find. So, they made up a fee, and thought of how much money they would get. But, it did not work out so well for them. Yes, people stopped driving into the city. So, they shopped elsewhere, and the city lost a lot of revenue. The 'tube' subway system was overwhelmed. They could not handle all those extra travelers. Enforcement costs kept climbing, while revenues dropped. So instead of solving a crowding problem and getting rich in the process, the city ran up a lot of debt, a lot of bad will, and lost a lot of business - permanently. In the end, common sense prevailed, after all other options had been exhausted. NY is about to learn the same lesson.
Jimmy Carter
His remains were flown to Washington today with great ceremony. He will lie in state for a time, then be interred with more ceremony and honors. I think he is the first former president to live to 100 years.
Big Business
Have you noticed how many have dropped 'woke' and are suddenly preaching conservative values again? Some say this is a change of heart. Not so. It is only a change of political environment. Big business worships at the altar of money. They will go along with whatever ideology is popular at the moment, and that makes money. "Woke' is out, and no longer generates government contracts or special tax breaks, etc. etc. Conservative ideas are where the cash is going, and so business will follow along as always. Follow the money.
China
They are experiencing a massive outbreak of a flu like ailment across their nation. Not clear what it is or how it started, but a lot of people are sick, some dying.
In their new aircraft showcase, there is another that may be part of this mix. It is similar to our own F-35 in name, and is also an advanced jet. The big diamond shaped one may be a bomber, not a fighter. If so, China may have its own version of the B-2 Stealth bomber.
Biden
In his continuing efforts to irritate Trump and to get even for being thrown under the bus, he has released 11 serious terrorists from GITMO, including a couple of bin Laden's old bodyguards. The man is a parody of leadership.
WaPo
This paper, owned by Jeff Bezos, of Amazon fame, is losing money at an astounding rate. So, about 5% of their workforce is being laid off. More may follow.
New Jersey
They have a critical shortage of school teachers. So, what better way to make up the shortfall than to lower standards, rather than improve rewards and training and facilities? Teachers no longer have to pass a standard skills level test to read and write to teach our kids how to read and write in New Jersey. I experienced the same thing working at the airport. Line workers had to pass a very strict exam in reading and writing skills to get these lower level jobs. But, 'management' was exempt. We had 'leaders' who could not speak standard English, nor write a coherent sentence telling us how to do our jobs. It would be comical if not so serious, with such consequences.
Rich
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Thanks to1440
Need To Know
Quake Strikes Tibet
A 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the Shigatse region of Tibet yesterday at 9:05 am local time, causing widespread damage and claiming at least 126 lives. The epicenter was located in the high-altitude Chinese county of Dingri, about 47 miles northeast of Mount Everest, at a depth of 6.2 miles. The tremors were felt across Nepal, India, and Bhutan.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged, and rescue teams have been deployed to search for survivors; however, efforts are being hampered by freezing conditions, with temperatures dropping as low as minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Shigatse is the second-largest city in Tibet and the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, the second-most significant figure after the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism. The region's location along the Indian-Eurasian tectonic plate boundary makes it prone to seismic activity—a 2015 earthquake near Kathmandu, Nepal, resulted in nearly 9,000 deaths.
US Claims Genocide in Sudan
The US government yesterday officially accused a Sudanese paramilitary group and its proxies of committing genocide in a 20-month-long brutal civil war against the North African country's military.
The declaration marks the most decisive stance the US has taken in the war between the forces of two formerly allied generals—Rapid Support Forces leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and Sudanese army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. The conflict (see background) has killed an estimated 150,000 people and displaced more than 11 million people—about one-fifth of the country's population. The US has declared genocide only six other times since the end of the Cold War in 1989.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday the RSF—a group with roots in the infamous Janjaweed militias—committed systematic executions of men and boys and sexual violence against women and girls based on ethnicity. In response, the US Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on Dagalo and seven United Arab Emirates companies supporting the militia.
Meta Nixes Fact-Checking
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced broad changes to the social media company's content moderation policies yesterday, including ending its US fact-checking program and removing restrictions on sensitive political content on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.
The CEO claimed Meta's adoption of more stringent content moderation after the 2016 election led to the mistaken censorship of millions of users (watch video). In place of fact-checkers, the company will deploy Community Notes in the US—similar to those on X—where users provide context to posts. It will still use its violation scanner to address high-severity issues like terrorism and child exploitation. The company will also move its safety and trust teams from California to Texas.
Zuckerberg also signaled he would support the incoming Trump administration's efforts to combat foreign censorship. The changes follow Meta's appointment last week of Republican Joel Kaplan as its foreign policy chief and its $1M donation to Trump's inaugural fund in December.
Every day, data brokers profit from your sensitive info—phone number, DOB, SSN—selling it to the highest bidder. What happens then? Best case: companies target you with ads. Worst case: scammers and identity thieves breach those brokers, leaving your data vulnerable or on the dark web.
It's time you check out Incogni. It scrubs your personal data from the web, confronting the world's data brokers on your behalf. And unlike other services, Incogni helps remove your sensitive information from all broker types, including those tricky People Search Sites.
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Peter Yarrow of iconic folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary, dies of cancer at age 86 (More) | Richard Cohen, Emmy-winning journalist and husband to Meredith Vieira, dies at age 76 (More)
> North Dakota State tops Montana State 35-32 to win a record 10th FCS football national championship (More) | Las Vegas Raiders fire head coach Antonio Pierce after 4-13 season (More)
Science & Technology
Nvidia unveils $3K AI-powered desktop for researchers and students; system allows users to run many AI models locally instead of relying on cloud computing (More) | Google to build AI model capable of simulating real-world environments (More)
Spider study solves longstanding mystery of how the arachnids smell; researchers find olfactory hairs along male spiders' legs act as a nose to detect pheromones from females (More)
Arizona receives approval to build 600-megawatt utility-scale solar power plant; one of the biggest solar projects in the US, the facility will power an estimated 180,000 homes (More)
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Business & Markets
> US stock markets fall (S&P 500 -1.1%, Dow -0.4%, Nasdaq -1.9%), driven by declines in tech stocks, including Nvidia (-6.2%), and better-than-expected economic data raising concerns over interest rate cuts (More)
Getty Images to acquire rival Shutterstock in deal valuing combined enterprise at $3.7B, likely to face regulatory scrutiny; following the news, Getty shares closed up 24% and Shutterstock shares closed up nearly 15% (More)
Anthropic in talks to raise as much as $2B in funding round, valuing the AI startup at $60B (More) | President-elect Donald Trump announces $20B investment from Dubai billionaire Hussain Sajwani to build new data centers in the US (More)
Politics & World Affairs
Judge temporarily blocks release of special counsel Jack Smith's report on President-elect Donald Trump's classified documents case while an appellate court reviews the issue (More) | Trump declines to rule out military force in potential US expansion into Greenland, Panama Canal (More)
Two fast-moving brush fires erupt in Los Angeles, including a fire in the affluent Pacific Palisades neighborhood that has grown to nearly 3,000 acres as of this writing, prompting thousands of people to evacuate (More)
US House passes border measure requiring Homeland Security to take into custody undocumented immigrants who have been charged with theft and other crimes; Senate expected to take up the bill this Friday (More)
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This Day in U S Military History
8 January
1815 – U.S. forces led by Gen. Andrew Jackson and French pirate Jean Lafitte led 4,000 backwoodsmen to victory, defending against 8,000 British veterans on the fields of Chalmette in the Battle of New Orleans – the closing engagement of the War of 1812. Two weeks after the War of 1812 officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, U.S. General Andrew Jackson achieves the greatest American victory of the war at the Battle of New Orleans. In September 1814, an impressive American naval victory on Lake Champlain forced invading British forces back into Canada and led to the conclusion of peace negotiations in Ghent, Belgium. Although the peace agreement was signed on December 24, word did not reach the British forces assailing the Gulf coast in time to halt a major attack. On January 8, 1815, the British marched against New Orleans, hoping that by capturing the city they could separate Louisiana from the rest of the United States. Pirate Jean Lafitte, however, had warned the Americans of the attack, and the arriving British found militiamen under General Andrew Jackson strongly entrenched at the Rodriquez Canal. In two separate assaults, the 7,500 British soldiers under Sir Edward Pakenham were unable to penetrate the U.S. defenses, and Jackson's 4,500 troops, many of them expert marksmen from Kentucky and Tennessee, decimated the British lines. In half an hour, the British had retreated, General Pakenham was dead, and nearly 2,000 of his men were killed, wounded, or missing. U.S. forces suffered only eight killed and 13 wounded. Although the battle had no bearing on the outcome of the war, Jackson's overwhelming victory elevated national pride, which had suffered a number of setbacks during the War of 1812. The Battle of New Orleans was also the last armed engagement between the United States and Britain.
1835 – The United States national debt is zero for the only time. Except for about a year during 1835–1836, the United States has continuously held a public debt since the US Constitution legally went into effect on March 4, 1789. The payments of the debt were accomplished by the sale of federally owned land in the West by the Jackson administration.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
WALLACE, WILLIAM
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Cedar Creek, etc., Mont., 21 October 1876 to 8 January 1877. Entered service at: – – – . Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 27 April 1877. Citation: Gallantry in action.
WHITEHEAD, PATTON G.
Rank and organization: Private, Company C, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Cedar Creek, etc., Mont., 21 October 1876 to 8 January 1877. Entered service at: – – – . Birth: Russell County, Va. Date of issue: 27 April 1877. Citation: Gallantry in action.
WILSON, CHARLES
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company H, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Cedar Creek, etc., Mont., 21 October 1876 to 8 January 1877. Entered service at: Beardstown, Ill. Birth: Petersburg, Ill Date of issue: 27 April 1877. Citation: Gallantry in action.
SCHILT, CHRISTIAN FRANK
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps. Place and date: Quilali, Nicaragua, 6, 7 and 8 January 1928. Entered service at: Illinois. Born: 1 March 1895, Richland County, Ill. Other Navy awards: Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Distinguished FlyingCross with 1 gold star. Citation: During the progress of an insurrection at Quilali, Nicaragua, 6, 7, and 8 January 1928, 1st Lt. Schilt, then a member of a marine expedition which had suffered severe losses in killed and wounded, volunteered under almost impossible conditions to evacuate the wounded by air and transport a relief commanding officer to assume charge of a very serious situation. 1st Lt. Schilt bravely undertook this dangerous and important task and, by taking off a total of 10 times in the rough, rolling street of a partially burning village, under hostile infantry fire on each occasion, succeeded in accomplishing his mission, thereby actually saving 3 lives and bringing supplies and aid to others in desperate need.
DUNHAM, RUSSELL E.
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 30th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Kayserberg, France, 8 January 1945. Entered service at: Brighton Ill. Born: 23 February 1920, East Carondelet, Ill. G.O. No.: 37, 11 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. At about 1430 hours on 8 January 1945, during an attack on Hill 616, near Kayserberg, France, T/Sgt. Dunham single-handedly assaulted 3 enemy machineguns. Wearing a white robe made of a mattress cover, carrying 12 carbine magazines and with a dozen hand grenades snagged in his belt, suspenders, and buttonholes, T/Sgt. Dunham advanced in the attack up a snow-covered hill under fire from 2 machineguns and supporting riflemen. His platoon 35 yards behind him, T/Sgt. Dunham crawled 75 yards under heavy direct fire toward the timbered emplacement shielding the left machinegun. As he jumped to his feet 10 yards from the gun and charged forward, machinegun fire tore through his camouflage robe and a rifle bllet seared a 10-inch gash across his back sending him spinning 15 yards down hill into the snow. When the indomitable sergeant sprang to his feet to renew his 1-man assault, a German egg grenade landed beside him. He kicked it aside, and as it exploded 5 yards away, shot and killed the German machinegunner and assistant gunner. His carbine empty, he jumped into the emplacement and hauled out the third member of the gun crew by the collar. Although his back wound was causing him excruciating pain and blood was seeping through his white coat, T/Sgt. Dunham proceeded 50 yards through a storm of automatic and rifle fire to attack the second machinegun. Twenty-five yards from the emplacement he hurled 2 grenades, destroying the gun and its crew; then fired down into the supporting foxholes with his carbine dispatching and dispersing the enemy riflemen. Although his coat was so thoroughly blood-soaked that he was a conspicuous target against the white landscape, T/Sgt. Dunham again advanced ahead of his platoon in an assault on enemy positions farther up the hill. Coming under machinegun fire from 65 yards to his front, while rifle grenades exploded 10 yards from his position, he hit the ground and crawled forward. At 15 yards range, he jumped to his feet, staggered a few paces toward the timbered machinegun emplacement and killed the crew with hand grenades. An enemy rifleman fired at pointblank range, but missed him. After killing the rifleman, T/Sgt. Dunham drove others from their foxholes with grenades and carbine fire. Killing 9 Germans – wounding 7 and capturing 2 – firing about 175 rounds of carbine ammunition, and expending 11 grenades, T/Sgt. Dunham, despite a painful wound, spearheaded a spectacular and successful diversionary attack.
*TURNER, DAY G.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company B, 319th Infantry, 80th Infantry Division. Place and date: At Dahl, Luxembourg, 8 January 1945. Entered service at. Nescopek, Pa. Birth: Berwick, Pa. G.O. No.: 49, 28 June 1945. Citation: He commanded a 9-man squad with the mission of holding a critical flank position. When overwhelming numbers of the enemy attacked under cover of withering artillery, mortar, and rocket fire, he withdrew his squad into a nearby house, determined to defend it to the last man. The enemy attacked again and again and were repulsed with heavy losses. Supported by direct tank fire, they finally gained entrance, but the intrepid sergeant refused to surrender although 5 of his men were wounded and 1 was killed. He boldly flung a can of flaming oil at the first wave of attackers, dispersing them, and fought doggedly from room to room, closing with the enemy in fierce hand-to-hand encounters. He hurled handgrenade for handgrenade, bayoneted 2 fanatical Germans who rushed a doorway he was defending and fought on with the enemy's weapons when his own ammunition was expended. The savage fight raged for 4 hours, and finally, when only 3 men of the defending squad were left unwounded, the enemy surrendered. Twenty-five prisoners were taken, 11 enemy dead and a great number of wounded were counted. Sgt. Turner's valiant stand will live on as a constant inspiration to his comrades His heroic, inspiring leadership, his determination and courageous devotion to duty exemplify the highest tradition of the military service .
WETZEL, GARY GEORGE
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class (then Pfc.), U.S. Army, 173d Assault Helicopter Company. Place and date: Near Ap Dong An, Republic of Vietnam, 8 January 1968. Entered service at: Milwaukee, Wis. Born: 29 September 1947, South Milwaukee, Wis. Citation. Sp4c. Wetzel, 173d Assault Helicopter Company, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life. Above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Wetzel was serving as door gunner aboard a helicopter which was part of an insertion force trapped in a landing zone by intense and deadly hostile fire. Sp4c. Wetzel was going to the aid of his aircraft commander when he was blown into a rice paddy and critically wounded by 2 enemy rockets that exploded just inches from his location. Although bleeding profusely due to the loss of his left arm and severe wounds in his right arm, chest, and left leg, Sp4c. Wetzel staggered back to his original position in his gun-well and took the enemy forces under fire. His machinegun was the only weapon placing effective fire on the enemy at that time. Through a resolve that overcame the shock and intolerable pain of his injuries, Sp4c. Wetzel remained at his position until he had eliminated the automatic weapons emplacement that had been inflicting heavy casualties on the American troops and preventing them from moving against this strong enemy force. Refusing to attend his own extensive wounds, he attempted to return to the aid of his aircraft commander but passed out from loss of blood. Regaining consciousness, he persisted in his efforts to drag himself to the aid of his fellow crewman. After an agonizing effort, he came to the side of the crew chief who was attempting to drag the wounded aircraft commander to the safety of a nearby dike. Unswerving in his devotion to his fellow man, Sp4c. Wetzel assisted his crew chief even though he lost consciousness once again during this action. Sp4c. Wetzel displayed extraordinary heroism in his efforts to aid his fellow crewmen. His gallant actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Army and reflect great credit upon himself and the Armed Forces of his country.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 8, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
8 January
1929: 1 thru 7 January, to test inflight refueling and crew and aircraft endurance, Maj Carl A. Spaatz flew the Question Mark, a modified Fokker C2-3 with a Wright 220 HP engine, to a world duration record of 150 hours and 40 minutes.
The Question Mark-named for its unknown capacity to remain airborne-was an US Army Air Corps high-wing, trimotor monoplane with a large capacity fuel tank in the cabin, a large hopper in the cabin for receiving fuel, and lines and hand-operated pumps to transfer fuel to the wing tanks. The two modified Douglas C1 biplane tankers each had two 150-gallon cabin tanks and a 40-foot fueling hose. Flying between Santa Monica and San Diego in California, the tankers refueled the Question Mark 43 times, which allowed it to remain aloft until engine problems forced a landing. During the refueling, the tankers also passed 5,700 gallons of fuel plus oil, food, water, and other items (roughly 40 tons) to the Question Mark. All officers on the mission--Carl Spaatz, Ira Eaker, Harry Halverson, and Pete Quesada--became generals, as did two officers on the refueling aircraft: Ross G. Hoyt and Joseph G. Hopkins. MSgt Roy Hooe, the fifth crewman on the Question Mark, earned a reputation as the best crew chief in the Air Corps. The crewmembers of the Question Mark were each awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for the mission, while the refuelers received letters of commendation.
1944: Milo Burcham flew the Bell/Lockheed XP-80 Shooting Star, named the "Lulu Belle," for the first time at Muroc Field, Calif. This field became Edwards AFB on 5 December 1949. (12)
1951: KOREAN WAR. Fifth Air Force flew more missions when blizzards forced U. S. Navy Task Force 77 carriers to stop close air support missions for X Corps. B-29 Superfortresses cratered Kimpo Airfield to prevent its use by enemy aircraft. (28)
1952: EXERCISE SNOWFALL: Through 13 January, the 516th Troop Carrier Wing used nearly 100 planes to move 8,623 11th Airborne Division troops from Fort Campbell, Ky., to WheelerSack Army Air Field, N.Y. This exercise tested military capabilities using winter tactics, techniques, and doctrines. Some 10,000 Army personnel were airlifted and 6,400 paratroops were dropped. The exercise saw the first use of Sikorsky H-19 helicopter in tactical air maneuvers. (11) (24)
1959: Through 16 January, two ski-equipped C-130s from the Tactical Air Command recovered equipment and people from Ice Island Charlie, after it began to break up 450 miles northwest of Point Barrow, Alaska. (11) The National Air and Space Administration asked the Army for eight Redstone-type launch vehicles for the Project Mercury development flights. (20)
1964: The USAF received its last F-105D aircraft. (5) 1965: The Strategic Air Command's last test Atlas F launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. (6)
1970: Col Douglas H. Frost set flight endurance record for A-7D Corsair IIs. He made a 10-hour flight from Edwards AFB, Calif., with two round trips to New Mexico and covered 5,000 miles with one air refueling. (5) A Space and Missile Systems Organization crew from Air Force Systems Command launched and inserted the Skynet communications satellite into orbit. (26)
1971: The Strategic Air Command completed the first Minuteman III squadron at Minot AFB, N. Dak. (12)
1973: The Tactical Air Command flew its first Weapon System Evaluation Program mission under the program name Combat Echo. (Msg, ACC/DO to AWFC/CC, R081245Z JAN 98) LAST AERIAL VICTORY. In their F-4D Phantom, Capt Paul D. Howman and 1Lt Lawrence W. Kullman shot down a MiG southwest of Hanoi with a radar-guided AIM-7 missile. This shootdown was the last aerial victory before the North Vietnamese signed the ceasefire agreement, which went into effect on 29 January. (16) (21)
1977: First YC-141B, a C-141A Starlifter stretched 23.3 feet and equipped for inflight refueling, rolled out at Lockheed's plant in Marietta, Ga. (2)
1986: The Military Airlift Command accepted its first C-5B Galaxy for the 443rd Military Airlift Wing at Altus AFB, Okla. (16) (18)
1988: The USAF let a $4.9 million contract to develop a new close air support and interdiction plane to replace the A-10. (5)
1998: After originating Combat Echo in 1973, the Tactical Air Command combined this program in July 1984 with the Air Defense Command's Combat Pike to form the Combat Archer Weapon System Evaluation Program. This program reached its 25th anniversary in a continuing effort to develop and validate USAF weapons systems. (Msg, ACC/DO to AWFC/CC, R081245Z JAN 98)
2001: At Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., Boeing's X-32B Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator completed its initial low- and medium-speed taxi tests at 30 and 60 knots, respectively, to verify function and integration of crucial aircraft systems. It was the short-takeoff and vertical-landing (STOVL) version of the Joint Strike Fighter. (3)
2007: Air Force AC-130 gunships attacked a terror training base in a heavily forested area called Ras Kamboni in Somalia near the Kenyan border. The gunships targeted al Qaeda terrorists who planned the 1998 attacks against the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. (AFNEWS, "Aircraft Attack Al Queda Haven in Somalia," 9 Jan 2007.)
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