Good Thursday morning February 27.. Well the wind started blowing early this morning and it is going tp continue into the afternoon. This may blow all the leaves off the last tree. The temps are going to start dropping and the rain may show up by Sunday. The doctor visit did not go well and in April they are going to remove the edge of the nail. It was very painful as the doctor was trying to dig down into the bottom edge. I think when I dropped the dumbbell on it a month ago I must have driven the edge of the nail down into the toe.. At least they will deaden it when the remove the edge.
Warm Regards,
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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 86 H-Grams
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
February. 27
1928—Pilot Cmdr. Theodore G. Ellyson (Naval Aviator No. 1) and crewmembers Lt. Cmdr. Hugo Schmidt and Lt. Roger S. Ransehousen died when their XOL-7 observation amphibian, BuNo A-7335, crashed into the Chesapeake Bay while en route from NAS Hampton Roads, Virginia, to Annapolis, Maryland.
1942—Seaplane tender USS Langley (AV 3), carrying 32 U.S. Army Air Force P-40 aircraft for the defense of Java, is bombed by Japanese naval land attack planes 75 miles south of Tjilatjap, Java. Due to the damage, Langley is shelled and torpedoed by USS Whipple (DD 217).
1942—The Battle of the Java Sea begins, where the 14-ship Allied forces (American, Dutch, British and Australian) attempt to stop the 28-ship Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies colony of Java. The Japanese, during battles over three days, decimates the Allied forces, sinking at least 11 ships, killing more than 3,370 and taking nearly 1,500 prisoners.
1944—Three U.S. Navy submarines sink three Japanese cargo ships: Grayback (SS 208) sinks Ceylon Maru in the East China Sea; Cod (SS 244) sinks Taisoku Maru west of Halmahera while Trout (SS 202) sinks Aki Maru.
1945—Submarine USS Scabbardfish (SS 397) sinks Japanese guardboat No. 6 Kikau Maru, 100 miles northeast of Keelung, Formosa, while USS Blenny (SS 324) attacks a Japanese convoy off French Indochina and sinks merchant tanker Amato Maru off Cape Padaran.
1945—Land-based patrol aircraft from VPB 112, along with others from three British vessels, HMS Labaun and HMS Loch Fada and HMS Wild Goose, sink German submarine U 327 in the English Channel.
1973—First airborne mine sweep in a live minefield takes place in the Haiphong, Vietnam ship channel by helicopters from Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron Twelve on board USS New Orleans (LPH 11).
2017—The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Albuquerque (SSN 706) is decommissioned after 33 years of service during a ceremony held at Keyport Undersea Museum.
1942 U.S. aircraft carrier Langley is sunk » in the Battle of the Java Sea
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This day in World history
February 27
425 Theodosius effectively founds a university in Constantinople.
1531 German Protestants form the League of Schmalkalden to resist the power of the emperor.
1700 The Pacific Island of New Britain is discovered.
1814 Napoleon's Marshal Nicholas Oudinot is pushed back at Barsur-Aube by the Emperor's allied enemies shortly before his abdication.
1827 The first Mardi-Gras celebration is held in New Orleans.
1864 The first Union prisoners arrive at Andersonville Prison in Georgia.
1865 Confederate raider William Quantrill and his bushwackers attack Hickman, Kentucky, shooting women and children.
1905 The Japanese push Russians back in Manchuria and cross the Sha River.
1908 The forty-sixth star is added to the U.S. flag, signifying Oklahoma's admission to statehood.
1920 The United States rejects a Soviet peace offer as propaganda.
1925 Glacier Bay National Monument is dedicated in Alaska.
1933 The burning down of the Reichstag building in Berlin gives the Nazis the opportunity to suspend personal liberty with increased power.
1939 The Supreme Court outlaws sit-down strikes.
1942 British Commandos raid a German radar station at Bruneval on the French coast.
1953 F-84 Thunderjets raid North Korean base on Yalu River.
1962 South Vietnamese president Ngo Dinh Diem is unharmed as two planes bomb the presidential palace in Saigon.
1963 The Soviet Union says that 10,000 troops will remain in Cuba.
1969 Thousands of students protest President Richard Nixon's arrival in Rome.
1973 U.S. Supreme Court rules that a Virginia pool club can't bar residents because of color.
1988 Debi Thomas becomes the first African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics.
1991 Coalition forces liberate Kuwait after seven months of occupation by the Iraqi army.
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1827
New Orleanians take to the streets for Mardi Gras
On this day in 1827, a group of masked and costumed students dance through the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, marking the beginning of the city's famous Mardi Gras celebrations.
The celebration of Carnival–or the weeks between Twelfth Night on January 6 and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Christian period of Lent–spread from Rome across Europe and later to the Americas. Nowhere in the United States is Carnival celebrated as grandly as in New Orleans, famous for its over-the-top parades and parties for Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday), the last day of the Carnival season.
Though early French settlers brought the tradition of Mardi Gras to Louisiana at the end of the 17th century, Spanish governors of the province later banned the celebrations. After Louisiana Territory became part of the United States in 1803, New Orleanians managed to convince the city council to lift the ban on wearing masks and partying in the streets. The city's new Mardi Gras tradition began in 1827 when the group of students, inspired by their experiences studying in Paris, donned masks and jester costumes and staged their own Fat Tuesday festivities.
The parties grew more and more popular, and in 1833 a rich plantation owner named Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville raised money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration. After rowdy revelers began to get violent during the 1850s, a secret society called the Mistick Krewe of Comus staged the first large-scale, well-organized Mardi Gras parade in 1857.
Over time, hundreds of krewes formed, building elaborate and colorful floats for parades held over the two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. Riders on the floats are usually local citizens who toss "throws" at passersby, including metal coins, stuffed toys or those now-infamous strands of beads. Though many tourists mistakenly believe Bourbon Street and the historic French Quarter are the heart of Mardi Gras festivities, none of the major parades have been allowed to enter the area since 1979 because of its narrow streets.
In February 2006, New Orleans held its Mardi Gras celebrations despite the fact that Hurricane Katrina had devastated much of the city with massive flooding the previous August. Attendance was at only 60-70 percent of the 300,000-400,000 visitors who usually attend Mardi Gras, but the celebration marked an important step in the recovery of the city, which counts on hospitality and tourism as its single largest industry.
When I was in flight training at Meridian Mississippi 1967 our weekend jaunts would take us to Pensacola or Biloxi or New Orleans. Or some other watering hole just to get out of Meridian. Mardi Gras was a fun time.
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Rollingthunderremembered.com .
February 27
Hello All,
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
Links to all content can now be found right on the homepage http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com. If you scroll down from the banner and featured content you will find "Today in Rolling Thunder Remembered History" which highlights events in the Vietnam war that occurred on the date the page is visited. Below that are links to browse or search all content. You may search by keyword(s), date, or date range.
An item of importance is the recent incorporation of Task Force Omega (TFO) MIA summaries. There is a link on the homepage and you can also visit directly via https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/task-force-omega/. There are 60 summaries posted thus far, with about 940 to go (not a typo—TFO has over 1,000 individual case files).
If you have any questions or comments about RTR/TFO, or have a question on my book, you may e-mail me directly at acrossthewing@protonmail.com. Thank you 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 "Thursday 27 February
February 27: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2711
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.
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 Service members 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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Thanks to Brett
Defense News Early Bird Brief, 27 Feb 25
"Texas will again lift its head and stand among the nations. It ought to do so, for no country upon the globe can compare with it in natural advantages." – Sam Houston
Top 5
House Dem introduces bill to reinstate veterans after federal layoffs
(The Associated Press) A freshman Democratic congressman is introducing a bill to protect the jobs of veterans working for the U.S. government amid mass firings by the Trump administration, the latest legislative response to the turmoil rippling across federal agencies.
General: 8% cuts 'painful,' but could bring fresh funds for Air Force
(Military Times) An Air Force two-star general warned Wednesday that potential 8% cuts to the service's budget would be "painful."
Boeing's little Bird Helicopter production set to end
(The War Zone) Boeing expects to shutter its production of the Little Bird light helicopter after fulfilling a current contract with the Thai armed forces.
Military spouses still face confusion in federal return-to-office rule
(Military Times) Some federally employed military spouses are still grappling with uncertainty in their careers, as agencies aren't consistently exempting them from the return-to-office mandate for federal workers, according to advocates and lawmakers.
Film star, Oscar winner and former Marine Gene Hackman dies at 95, report says
(Stars & Stripes) Gene Hackman, a two-time Oscar winner and former Marine, was found dead Wednesday afternoon along with his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, in their home in Santa Fe, N.M., according to a report in the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper.
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Thanks to Bill
Enjoy!
Two guys grew up together, but after college one moves to Georgia and the other to Texas. They agreed to meet every ten years in Florida to play golf and catch up with each other.
At age 32 they meet, finish their round of golf and head for lunch.
"Where you wanna go?"
"Hooters."
"Why Hooters?"
"They have those servers with the big boobs, the tight shorts and the gorgeous legs."
"You're on."
At age 42, they meet and play golf again.
"Where you wanna go for lunch?"
"Hooters."
"Again? Why?"
"They have cold beer, big screen TVs, and side action on the games."
"OK."
At age 52 they meet and play again.
"So, where you wanna go for lunch?"
"Hooters.
"Why?"
"The food is pretty good and there's plenty of parking."
"OK."
At age 62 they meet again.
After a round of golf, one says, "Where you wanna go?"
"Hooters."
"Why?"
"Wings are half price and the food isn't too spicy."
"Good choice"
At age 72 they meet again.
Once again, after a round of golf, one says,
"Where shall we go for lunch?"
"Hooters."
"Why?"
"They have six handicapped parking spaces right by the door and they have senior discounts."
"Great choice."
At age 82 they meet and play again.
"Where should we go for lunch?"
"Hooters."
"Why?"
"Because we've never been there before."
"Okay, let's give it a try."
And that my friends is the circle of life...
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From the archives
Thanks to Interesting Facts
The Real Stories Behind 7 Classic Nursery Rhymes
From women's prisons and peep shows to wholesome tales of beloved pets, here are the origins of some beloved nursery rhymes.
Nursery rhymes, some dating back centuries, have left a strong mark on many of our childhoods, but we often don't realize where they came from. Some have evolved over centuries, bringing a whole new version to modern children, while others have remained tried and true since their inception. From women's prisons and peep shows to wholesome tales of beloved pets, here are the origins of some beloved nursery rhymes.
1 of 7
"Mary Had a Little Lamb" Is About a Real Schoolgirl
Mary Had a Little Lamb, illustration by Blanche Fisher Wright.Credit: Culture Club/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images
Mary had a little lamb
Little lamb, little lamb
Mary had a little lamb
Its fleece was white as snow
Poet Sarah Josepha Hale first published a version of this poem in 1830. Around 50 years later, an elderly woman named Mary Sawyer stepped forward as the real Mary.
Sawyer's story goes pretty much like the version we know and love today. She rescued a little lamb that had been abandoned by its mother and hand-fed it until it regained its health. One morning, she and her brother decided to bring the lamb to school. The lamb hid in a basket by Mary's feet until it bleated, drawing attention from the teacher, who gently let the lamb outside so Mary could bring it home at lunch. The other kids did, indeed, laugh.
In a letter included in a 1928 book detailing the story, Sawyer says that the lamb grew up and had a few lambs of its own.
2 of 7
"Ring Around the Rosie" May Be About the Plague … or a Dancing Ban
Girls in Circle - Ring Around the Rosie.Credit: Buyenlarge/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
Ring around the rosie
A pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down
You may have heard the popular Black Plague origin story for this rhyme, with the titular "ring" representing the red rings that would appear on the skin of people with the disease. However, there are other variations of the rhyme, such as 1883's "Ring a ring a rosie/A bottle full of posie/All the girls in our town/Ring for little Josie," that present different theories.
When he analyzed this version, folklorist Philip Hiscock offered a less deadly translation. Religious bans on dancing in Britain and North America in the 19th century led to "play parties," with ring games that were similar to square dancing but without music, so the events quietly flew under the radar.
"The rings referred to in the rhymes are literally the rings formed by the playing children," explains Hiscock. "'Ashes, ashes' probably comes from something like 'Husha, husha,' another common variant which refers to stopping the ring and falling silent. And the falling down refers to the jumble of bodies in that ring when they let go of each other and throw themselves into the circle."
3 of 7
"Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" Came From a Women's Prison
Here we Go Round The Mulberry Bush, Mother Goose Rhymes Illustration.Credit: Universal History Archive/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Here we go round the mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
The mulberry bush
Here we go round the mulberry bush
On a cold and frosty morning
Although this rhyme likely started out using Bramble Bush (mulberries actually grow on trees), historian R. S. Duncan suggests this version came about at Wakefield Prison in England. The facility has been home to an extremely recognizable mulberry tree for centuries, and the theory goes that Victorian female prisoners used to dance around it and made up the rhyme to keep their kids amused. (Back then, men, women, and children were often confined together.) The tree eventually died in 2017, but it was replaced with a cutting from the original.
4 of 7
"Rub a Dub Dub" Is About a Peep Show
Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in a Tub.Credit: Buyenlarge/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
Rub-a-dub-dub,
Three men in a tub,
And who do you think they be?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker,
And all of them out to sea
Most American children know a heavily revised version of this rhyme with only men in a tub. But you need the original version to understand the origins of this 14th-century phrase:
Hey, rub-a-dub
Ho, rub-a-dub
Three maids in a tub
And who do you think were there?
The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker
And all of them going to the fair
According to author Chris Roberts, the "tub" here refers to a bawdy fairground attraction. "Today it would be perhaps a lap-dancing venue," Roberts said in 2005. "The upper-class, the respectable tradesfolk — the candlestick maker and the butcher and the baker — are ogling, getting an eyeful of some naked young ladies in a tub."
5of 7
"There Was a Little Girl" Was Written by a Famous Poet About His Daughter
Engraved portrait shows three daughters of American poet Henry Wadsworth.Credit: Kean Collection/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad she was horrid
Many curly-haired troublesome children heard this short-and-sweet rhyme growing up — but perhaps didn't know about its relatively prestigious origins. Famed American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, known for works like "Paul Revere's Ride," wrote this goofy little verse about his own daughter. His son Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his book, Random Memories, that "it was while walking up and down with his second daughter, then a baby in his arms, that my father composed and sang to her the well-known lines."
6of 7
"Humpty Dumpty" Isn't About an Egg
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.Credit: Antiquarian Images/ Alamy Stock Photo
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again
There's nothing that makes Humpty an egg in this rhyme! That image was popularized by Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass in 1871, decades after the rhyme's inception. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "humpty dumpty" had a few meanings before the wall came into it, including a drink with brandy and a short, dumpy, clumsy person. An 1881 book even features images of Humpty as a clown.
A popular theory is that "humpty dumpty" refers to a cannon used during the Siege of Colchester in 1648. The idea that this rhyme is some kind of wartime ballad is pretty common. Before the cannon theory got traction, many believed the rhyme was about the usurpation of Richard III in 1483.
However, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, the root of this nursery rhyme could be more innocent. While it's unclear whether this game predates the rhyme, Humpty Dumpty was a popular game in the 19th century where girls would tuck their legs into their skirts, fall back, and then try to regain balance without letting go of their skirts. "Eggs do not sit on walls," authors Peter and Iona Opie write. "But the verse becomes intelligible if it describes human beings who are impersonating eggs."
7of 7
"Hickory Dickory Dock" Is Actually About a Mouse and a Clock
Hickory, Dickory, Dock!Credit: Buyenlarge/ Archive Photos via Getty Images
Hickory dickory dock
The mouse went up the clock
The clock struck one
The mouse went down
Hickory dickory dock
Some believe this counting rhyme was inspired by the astronomical clock at Exeter Cathedral in Devon, England, which was plagued by mice. Around 1600, the presiding bishop directed carpenters to cut a hole in the door to the clock room — or, as the records said at the time, "Paid ye carpenters 8d for cutting ye hole in ye north transept door for ye Bishop's cat." The cathedral's cats got easy access to prey, cutting down the vermin population. Centuries later, the door is still there.
But there's a reason mice were so common around the clockwork: Animal fat was often used to lubricate clock parts during that time. It's possible it was just written about a pretty normal thing to be happening on a clock at the time, but that's not as fun.
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This Day in U S Military History
1942 – The U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier, the Langley, is sunk by Japanese warplanes (with a little help from U.S. destroyers), and all of its 32 aircraft are lost.
1912 as the naval collier (coal transport ship) Jupiter. After World War I, the Jupiter was converted into the Navy's first aircraft carrier and rechristened the Langley, after aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpoint Langley. It was also the Navy's first electrically propelled ship, capable of speeds of 15 knots. On October 17, 1922, Lt. Virgil C. Griffin piloted the first plane, a VE-7-SF, launched from the Langley's decks. Although planes had taken off from ships before, it was nevertheless a historic moment. After 1937, the Langley lost the forward 40 percent of her flight deck as part of a conversion to seaplane tender, a mobile base for squadrons of patrol bombers. On December 8, 1941, the Langley was part of the Asiatic Fleet in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked. She immediately set sail for Australia, arriving on New Year's Day, 1942. On February 22, commanded by Robert P. McConnell, the Langley, carrying 32 Warhawk fighters, left as part of a convoy to aid the Allies in their battle against the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies. On February 27, the Langley parted company from the convoy and headed straight for the port at Tjilatjap, Java. About 74 miles south of Java, the carrier met up with two U.S. escort destroyers when nine Japanese twin-engine bombers attacked. Although the Langley had requested a fighter escort from Java for cover, none could be spared. The first two Japanese bomber runs missed their target, as they were flying too high, but the Langley's luck ran out the third time around and it was hit three times, setting the planes on her flight deck aflame. The carrier began to list. Commander McConnell lost his ability to navigate the ship. McConnell ordered the Langley abandoned, and the escort destroyers were able to take his crew to safety. Of the 300 crewmen, only 16 were lost. The destroyers then to sank the Langley before the Japanese were able to capture it.
1948 – The Federal Trade Commission issued a restraining order, preventing the Willys-Overland Company from representing that it had developed the Jeep. Willys-Overland did, in fact, end up producing the Army vehicle that would come to be known as the Jeep; but it was the Bantam Motor Company that first presented the innovative design to the Army.
1953 – F-84 Thunderjets raided North Korean base on Yalu River. A year after leaving West Point, Lt. Joe Kingston was en route to Korea, where he, like a lot of others, found himself retreating and advancing in a single day.
1953 – The USCGC Coos Bay, on Ocean Station Echo, about half-way between Bermuda and the Azores, rescued the entire crew of 10 from the US Navy patrol plane that was forced to ditch in the Atlantic Ocean.
1968 – CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite's commentary on the progress of the Vietnam War solidified President Lyndon B. Johnson's decision not to seek reelection in 1968. Cronkite, who had been at Hue in the midst of the Tet Offensive earlier in February, said: "Who won and who lost in the great Tet Offensive against the cities? I'm not sure." He concluded: "It is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out…will be to negotiate, not as victors but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could." Johnson called the commentary a "turning point," saying that if he had "lost Cronkite," he'd "lost Mr. Average Citizen." On March 31, Johnson announced he would not seek reelection.
My opinion of Cronkite along with a number of the News folks is not for publication because of the Profane manner of my description….Skip
1969 – Communist forces shell 30 military installations and nine towns in South Vietnam, in what becomes known as the "Post-Tet Offensive." U.S. sources in Saigon put American losses in this latest offensive at between 250 and 300, compared with enemy casualties totaling 5,300. South Vietnamese officials report 200 civilians killed and 12,700 made homeless.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
SHUTES, HENRY
Rank and organization: Captain of the Forecastle, U.S. Navy. Born: 1804, Baltimore, Md. Accredited to: Maryland. G.O. No.: 71, 15 January 1866. Citation: Served as captain of the forecastle on board the U.S.S. Wissahickon during the battle of New Orleans, 24 and 25 April 1862; and in the engagement at Fort McAllister, 27 February 1863. Going on board the U.S.S. Wissahickon from the U.S.S. Don where his seamanlike qualities as gunner's mate were outstanding, Shutes performed his duties with skill and courage. Showing a presence of mind and prompt action when a shot from Fort McAllister penetrated the Wissahickon below the water line and entered the powder magazine, Shutes contributed materially to the preservation of the powder and safety of the ship.
*WALLACE, HERMAN C.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 301st Engineer Combat Battalion, 76th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Prumzurley, Germany, 27 February 1945. Entered service at: Lubbock, Tex. Birth: Marlow, Okla. G.O. No.: 92, 25 October 1945. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity. While helping clear enemy mines from a road, he stepped on a well-concealed S-type antipersonnel mine. Hearing the characteristic noise indicating that the mine had been activated and, if he stepped aside, would be thrown upward to explode above ground and spray the area with fragments, surely killing 2 comrades directly behind him and endangering other members of his squad, he deliberately placed his other foot on the mine even though his best chance for survival was to fall prone. Pvt. Wallace was killed when the charge detonated, but his supreme heroism at the cost of his life confined the blast to the ground and his own body and saved his fellow soldiers from death or injury.
*WALSH, WILLIAM GARY
Rank and organization: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born: 7 April 1922, Roxbury, Mass. Accredited to: Massachusetts. Citation: For extraordinary gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as leader of an assault platoon, attached to Company G, 3d Battalion, 27th Marines, 5th Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces at Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands on 27 February 1945. With the advance of his company toward Hill 362 disrupted by vicious machinegun fire from a forward position which guarded the approaches to this key enemy stronghold, G/Sgt. Walsh fearlessly charged at the head of his platoon against the Japanese entrenched on the ridge above him, utterly oblivious to the unrelenting fury of hostile automatic weapons fire and handgrenades employed with fanatic desperation to smash his daring assault. Thrown back by the enemy's savage resistance, he once again led his men in a seemingly impossible attack up the steep, rocky slope, boldly defiant of the annihilating streams of bullets which saturated the area. Despite his own casualty losses and the overwhelming advantage held by the Japanese in superior numbers and dominant position, he gained the ridge's top only to be subjected to an intense barrage of handgrenades thrown by the remaining Japanese staging a suicidal last stand on the reverse slope. When 1 of the grenades fell in the midst of his surviving men, huddled together in a small trench, G/Sgt. Walsh, in a final valiant act of complete self-sacrifice, instantly threw himself upon the deadly bomb, absorbing with his own body the full and terrific force of the explosion. Through his extraordinary initiative and inspiring valor in the face of almost certain death, he saved his comrades from injury and possible loss of life and enabled his company to seize and hold this vital enemy position. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
WATSON, WILSON DOUGLAS
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division. Place and date: Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 and 27 February 1945. Entered service at: Arkansas. Born: 18 February 1921, Tuscumbia, Ala. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as automatic rifleman serving with the 2d Battalion, 9th Marines, 3d Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, 26 and 27 February 1945. With his squad abruptly halted by intense fire from enemy fortifications in the high rocky ridges and crags commanding the line of advance, Pvt. Watson boldly rushed 1 pillbox and fired into the embrasure with his weapon, keeping the enemy pinned down single-handedly until he was in a position to hurl in a grenade, and then running to the rear of the emplacement to destroy the retreating Japanese and enable his platoon to take its objective. Again pinned down at the foot of a small hill, he dauntlessly scaled the jagged incline under fierce mortar and machinegun barrages and, with his assistant BAR man, charged the crest of the hill, firing from his hip. Fighting furiously against Japanese troops attacking with grenades and knee mortars from the reverse slope, he stood fearlessly erect in his exposed position to cover the hostile entrenchments and held the hill under savage fire for 15 minutes, killing 60 Japanese before his ammunition was exhausted and his platoon was able to join him. His courageous initiative and valiant fighting spirit against devastating odds were directly responsible for the continued advance of his platoon, and his inspiring leadership throughout this bitterly fought action reflects the highest credit upon Pvt. Watson and the U.S. Naval Service.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for February 27, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
27 February
1911: At North Island, Lt Theodore G. Ellyson (USN) flew with Glenn Curtiss in a Curtiss seaplane to become the first seaplane passenger. (24) On the Mexican border near Fort McIntosh at Laredo, Texas, Lt Benjamin D. Foulois and Phillip O. Parmalee, a Wright instructor pilot, demonstrated the use of an airplane in coordination with ground maneuvers for the first time. They used a Wright B. (21)
1920: Maj Rudolph W. "Shorty" Schroeder used a Packard-Lepere LUSAC-11 biplane with a Liberty 400 engine at McCook Field near Dayton to set an FAI altitude record of 33,113 feet. (24)
1928: Cmdr Theodore G. Ellyson, the first naval aviator, and two companions crashed to their deaths in Chesapeake Bay. (24)
1942: Japanese airplanes sank the seaplane tender Langley, once the Navy's first aircraft carrier, near Java. (24)
1943: Eighth Air Force sent B-17s and B-24s to attack the harbor and naval facilities at Brest, France. (4)
1951: Boeing delivered the first C-97C to the Air Force. (5)
1958: Missile Director William M. Holaday approved the Minuteman project to build a 500-mile to 5,500-mile, solid-fuel ballistic missile that could be launched from underground silos. (6)
1960: The 4135 SW at Eglin AFB received SAC's first GAM-72A Quail missile. (1)
1961: Max Conrad set an FAI solo record for light planes by flying around the world in 8 days 18 hours 35 minutes 57 seconds. His flight ended on 8 March. (9) (24)
1970: First F-111E arrived at Edwards AFB for flight testing. (12) The DoD selected Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company in West Palm Beach and East Hartford, Conn., to produce the F-100 engine for USAF's F-15 and the Navy's F-14B. (12)
1971: Operation HAYLIFT. The USAF launched this operation in response to blizzards in Kansas. Aircraft dropped 35,000 bales of hay (nearly a million pounds) for 275,000 cattle stranded in deep snow. The American Humane Society provided the Hay. (16)
1976: Vandenberg AFB launched the advanced nosetip test vehicle (ANT-1) to study how four objects of various materials and shapes, with fine-weave carbon- carbon nosetips, performed in high stagnation pressure and clean air. (5) The Minuteman integrated program at Minot AFB's Wing III completed and turned over to SAC. This program included silo modifications, dust hardening, electromagnetic pulse protection, and a conversion to the command data buffer system. (6)
1990 The combined Lockheed and USAF F-117A Stealth Fighter design team received the Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1989. This "most prestigious award in American aviation" recognized the team for the greatest achievement in aeronautics. (8: May 90)
2001: The USAF successfully launched a Titan IV-B rocket from Cape Canaveral. It carried a MILSTAR satellite to its intended orbit 22,300 miles above the equator. (AFNEWS Article 0289, 1 Mar 2001)
2004: Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. The 107 FS, Michigan ANG, deployed 10 F-16Cs on an Air Expeditionary Force rotation to Iraq. Thus, the 107th became the first F-16 unit under the Total Air Force concept to operate from Kirkuk AB, a former Iraqi Air Force installation. The unit employed the ANG's Theater Airborne Reconnaissance System pod in actual combat conditions. (32)
A bit of USAF history from Brett
The U.S. Nuclear Propulsion Program (or Manned Nuclear Aircraft Program) began in May 1946. Fairchild Engine and Aircraft Corporation received the first formal study contract. The objective, to determine the feasibility of nuclear energy for the propulsion of aircraft. The Fairchild project known as the Nuclear Energy for Propulsion of Aircraft (NEPA) began at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN. Work at Oak Ridge proved building a nuclear aircraft was feasible and defined the major approaches to the program. As a result, the Air Force and Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) joined forces in the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP) Program. In 1951, they contracted with the General Electric (GE) Company at Evendale, Ohio to, "…develop a nuclear aircraft propulsion system through an exacting research, development, design and component-test program on reactors, materials, shielding and an over-all nuclear power plant."
Maj. Gen. Donald L. Keirn served from 1950 to 1959 as the AEC assistant director for its aircraft reactors branch and in the Air Force as Deputy Chief of Staff/Development for Nuclear Systems. Gen. Keirn, a major at the time, was tasked by Gen. Hap Arnold in 1941, to lead the Air Force Project Office developing the first U.S. turbojet engine developed by GE. The objective of the ANP Program expanded to include the demonstration of nuclear-powered flight. Still in 1952, the Air Force decided that direct nuclear cycle engine developments were progressing well and began construction of a power plant for the Convair B-36 flight testing and targeted for 1956 for the first flight. In 1953 the Secretary of Defense Charles E. Wilson abruptly cancelled the B-36 experimental flight program, contending "that experimental "proof-of-principle" flights were worthless unless they were performed by a prototype as an actual weapon systems."
Air Force leaders managed to keep GE's direct cycle developments moving forward and Pratt and Whitney continued their progress. Though Air Force leaders cancelled the B-36 nuclear powered aircraft, a Convair B-36, designated as the NB5-36H was refit to contain a fully operational nuclear reactor. The NB-36H did not use the reactor for propulsion.
In January 1961, as President John F. Kennedy directed a review of all military projects. GE, P&W and Convair all received official contract termination notices in March 1961. With space as a priority, the Atomic Energy Commission began working with companies to develop nuclear rocket engines (Project Rover) and a nuclear ramjet (Project Pluto). These programs had potential here on earth and in space for both military and civilian applications.
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