The List 7196
Good Tuesday morning June 3. The weather guessers did it again. Overcast and cool today and is supposed to be like this all day with some clearing for a short time around 3.. They even threw in a 25 percent chance of some precipitation but not when.
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Make it a GREAT Day
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director's corner for all 91 H-Grams . .
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/.
On This Day in Naval and Marine Corps History
June 3
1785 The order is given to sell the last ship remaining in the Continental Navy, the frigate Alliance. No other Navy ships are authorized until 1794.
1898 During the Spanish-American War, the 8-man volunteer crew from USS Merrimac are taken as prisoners of war by the Spanish following a courageous attempt to sink the collier to obstruct navigation. For their extraordinary heroism during this operation, the men are awarded the Medal of Honor.
1942 The Japanese start a two-day attack at Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, in an attempt to distract America from the Midway Island invasion. During the two-day invasion, 43 Americans die.
1949 Midshipman Wesley A. Brown becomes the first African-American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy.
1966 Gemini 9 is launched. Gemini 9 is piloted by Lt. Cmdr. Eugene A. Cernan. The mission includes 45 orbits over 3 days. Recovery is by USS Wasp (CVS 18).
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This day in World History June 3
1098 Christian Crusaders of the First Crusade seize Antioch, Turkey.
1539 Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain.
1861 Union troops defeat Confederate forces at Philippi, in western Virginia
1864 Some 7,000 Union troops are killed within 30 minutes during the Battle of Cold Harbor in Virginia.
1888 The classic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat," written by Ernest L. Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner.
1918 The Finnish Parliament ratifies a treaty with Germany.
1923 In Italy, dictator Benito Mussolini grants women the right to vote.
1928 Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin dies as a result of a bomb blast set off by the Japanese.
1938 The German Third Reich votes to confiscate so-called "degenerate art."
1940 The German Luftwaffe hits Paris with 1,100 bombs.
1942 Japanese carrier-based planes strafe Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands as a diversion of the attack on Midway Island.
1952 A rebellion by North Korean prisoners in the Koje prison camp in South Korea is put down by American troops.
1965 Astronaut Edward White becomes the first American to walk in space when he exits the Gemini 4 space capsule.
1969 74 American sailors die when the destroyer USS Frank E. Evans was cut in two by an Australian aircraft carrier in the South China Sea.
1974 Charles Colson, an aide to President Richard Nixon, pleads guilty to obstruction of justice.
1989 The Chinese government begins its crackdown on pro-democracy activists in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Hundreds are killed and thousands are arrested.
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A feel good article for all………..skip
I had seen this before but it was too large to attach to the list. Cowboy found a url for me and here it is.
https://youtu.be/ege3YJ_01H8?si=XqUT9gcVTX6d_YSM
Have a handkerchief standing bye
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Rollingthunderremembered.com .
June 3
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).
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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
For Tuesday June 3
June 3: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=616
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Thanks to History Facts
"Moby-Dick" was inspired by a real whale named Mocha Dick.
"C all me Ishmael" is the legendary first line of Moby-Dick, but the protagonist's name is hardly the most famous in Herman Melville's 1851 novel. Indeed, he's probably a distant third to both Captain Ahab and the eponymous whale himself, who was based on a real albino sperm whale named Mocha Dick. Named for the Chilean island near which his decades-long reign of terror took place, Mocha is said to have destroyed more than 20 whaling ships in addition to escaping 80 or so before finally being felled in 1838. His story was told by explorer and newspaper editor J.N. Reynolds, whose article "Mocha Dick: Or the White Whale of the Pacific" was published by The Knickerbocker the following year.
Described by Reynolds as "an old bull whale, of prodigious size and strength," whose albinism made him "white as wool," Mocha was made even more fearsome by the fact that his head was covered in barnacles. He was actually quite docile until he was attacked, and measured 70 feet long at the time of his unjust and untimely passing. As for why Melville changed the name from Mocha to Moby when he wrote his novel, no one knows. The author never revealed his reasoning, and no one has been able to figure it out.
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Thanks to Mike
All you wanted to know about the Mig-23,
https://hushkit.net/2024/05/12/10-facts-about-the-mad-mach-2-6-mig-flogger-fighter-aircraft/
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From the archives
F/A-18 Super Hornet: The Best Fighter on the Planet (Not Named F-22 or F-35)?
Story by Maya Carlin
Introducing the F/A-18 Super Hornet: Last year, Northrop Grumman announced that its LITENING advanced targeting pod (ATP) successfully completed initial test flights aboard the U.S. Navy's F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter. In a press release, the American technology company said that pilots conducted maneuvers and operations simulating combat missions to test the ATP's digital video, autonomous target tracking and laser sensor capabilities.
The integration of the LITENING pods to the Navy's Hornet fleet marks the latest modification to the twin-engine multi-role fighter aircraft that has been in service with the branch since the late 1990s.
History of the Super Hornet
The first variant of the F-18 Super Hornet was developed by the McDonnell Douglas Corporation (now Boeing) in 1979. While the F/A-18A Hornet evolved into one of the Navy's mainstay fighters, the branch initially rejected the jet's original prototype.
The YF-17 prototype emerged from the Lightweight Fighter program in 1972, when Congress directed the Air Force to explore less expensive alternatives to the Air Force F-15 and Navy F-14. The Air Force chose General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman to construct two prototypes of their YF-16 and YF-17 designs. Ultimately, General Dynamics' YF-16 won the evaluation, but the Navy nevertheless declared the F-17 variant would be its new lightweight fighter.
According to Air Force Magazine, "The F-17 then evolved into the F/A-18A, the F/A designation coined by the McDonnell Douglas/Northrop team to suggest a multirole fighter/attack aircraft. Though it looked much like the YF-17 from a distance, the new jet was beefier, with bigger engines, a bigger nose, a fatter LEX, sawtooth wing leading edges, different intake geometry, heavier landing gear, and of course, an arresting hook system."
The Navy's specific modifications to the F-17 pushed the prototype to become the Block 1 F/A-18 Hornet variant that is still in service today.
What made the Hornet special?
As the first tactical airframe designed to perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet entered service with unprecedented capabilities. The Hornet was the first fighter to use digital fly-by-wire flight controls and the first to feature carbon fiber wings, according to Boeing. All F/A-18s encompass full mission spectrum capabilities, including air superiority, reconnaissance, fighter escort, and close air support, among other attributes. The fighters carry 16,000-pound-thrust General Electric F404-400 engines that are designed for easy maintenance. As outlined by Harrison Kass, the F404 is super reliable since it is resistant to stalling or flaming out, regardless of conditions. Additionally, the engine can be removed from the airframe in a matter of minutes, an atypical attribute that lends to the fighter's positive reputation among pilots and maintainers alike.
1986 was a big year for the Hornet
In March 1986, the U.S. Navy announced it had selected the F/A-18 Hornet to replace the Blue Angel's A-4 Skyhawks airframe. As ambassadors of U.S. naval aviation, the Blue Angels have showcased the skills of both the Navy and Marine Corps via public demonstrations since the mid-1940's.
The Navy's choice of the F-18 for such a role shone a spotlight squarely on the platform. In the same year, the Hornet flew in its first combat operations against Libyan air defenses from the USS Coral Sea. Codenamed Operation El Dorado Canyon, the U.S.-launched air strikes targeted Libya in retaliation for a bombing in West Berlin a couple of weeks earlier. The Hornet's success in the operations garnered the attention of foreign customers, and by 1989 the air forces of Kuwait, Spain, Canada, and Australia had ordered the fighters.
The introduction of the Super Hornet
The F/A-18's Super Hornet successor first flew in 1995 and was produced at a full rate following the merger of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing two years later. The Super Hornet, like its predecessor, has existed in two distinct variants, the F/A-18E single-seat model and the F/A-18F two-seat model.
The Block II Super Hornet sports a more advanced design than the Hornet, equipped with an enhanced active electronically scanned array radar, avionics improvements, and larger displays, Last year, the Navy procured its first two batches of the latest Super Hornet variant, the Block III F/A-18. According to Boeing, the latest Super Hornet model exceeds fourth-generation fighter capabilities, as its "new adjunct processor translates to a fighter that will do more work and in far less time, increasing a pilot's situational awareness." Boeing's newest Block III fighters can clock up to 10,000 flight hours, almost double the flight hours of similar jets. Additionally, the Block IIIs are able to carry more fuel than its predecessors, and they feature a smaller radar cross-section, which helps minimize the airframe's detectability.
Largely recognized as the Navy's most reliable aircraft, the F/A-18 Super Hornet continues to function as one of the world's most sophisticated non-stealth fighters.
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Getting a port call in Australia was the epitome of fun back in the day. Sidney or Perth….skip
Thanks to Interesting Facts
Australia used to be called New Holland.
Thailand used to be called Siam, Ethiopia was once known as Abyssinia, and Australia was initially christened New Holland when Dutch navigators "discovered" it in the 17th century. The land Down Under received its current English name courtesy of British explorer Matthew Flinders, the first to circumnavigate the continent, who made a hand-drawn map a year later in 1804, referring to it as Australia. Britain formally adopted that name for the country in 1824, and by the end of the 1820s it was widely used.
For centuries, European cartographers had referred to the land as Terra Australis Incognita (Unknown South Land). They believed there was a massive, uncharted landmass somewhere in the Southern Hemisphere, even if they didn't yet know the details. Of course, Australia's Indigenous peoples have inhabited the continent for more than 50,000 years — or by their own account, since the beginning of time.
7 Mind-Blowing Facts About Australia
Nestled between the South Pacific and the Indian Ocean, Australia is the largest country in Oceania and the sixth-largest country in the world by land area. But that's just the beginning when it comes to the many amazing things about this ancient land. From its one-of-a-kind wildlife species to the planet's oldest civilization, here are seven fascinating facts that you might not know about the Land Down Under.
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Australia Is Home to the World's Oldest Civilization
When Dutch explorer Willem Janszoon landed in Australia in 1606, the first known European to do so, the continent had already been inhabited for tens of thousands of years by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. In 2016, an extensive DNA study by Cambridge University deduced that Aboriginal Australians are the world's oldest civilization. Indigenous Australian and Papuan ancestral groups migrated to Sahul (a prehistoric subcontinent made up of present-day Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania) about 50,000 years ago. Eventually, rising sea levels caused the separation of the islands, and forced the Aboriginal peoples into genetic isolation that developed unique communities.
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Around 80% of Australia's Fauna and Flora Is Unique to the Country
Australia has some of the cutest, most interesting, and most venomous animals on the planet. In fact, thanks to its isolated island geography, over 80% of the country's plants and animals can only be found here. That includes the cuddly koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, and wombats that often feature high on tourists' bucket lists. Many tourists also hope to spot the notoriously feisty Tasmanian devil, the world's largest carnivorous marsupial, and the rainforest-dwelling, sound-mimicking lyrebird. Meanwhile, other national animals strike fear into tourists — Australia has approximately 100 venomous snakes, 12 of which can cause fatalities.
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Uluru, the World's Largest Monolith, Extends for Over 1.5 Miles Underground
The most sacred site in Aboriginal culture is the huge red sandstone monolith known as Uluru (or Ayers Rock). This landmark — the largest monolith in the world — is emblematic of the Australian Outback and rises 1,142 feet above its desolate desert surroundings. But what's perhaps more impressive is that it's estimated to extend for more than 1.5 miles beneath the Earth's surface, almost like an iceberg on land. The Anangu people are the traditional owners of this 500 million-year-old rock, and consider it to be a resting place of ancient spirits.
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Australia Has 19 UNESCO World Heritage Sites
From natural wonders to architectural masterpieces, Australia has an impressive 19 properties on UNESCO's World Heritage List — more than either Greece or Turkey. You may already be familiar with some of them, as several rank among the country's most popular tourist attractions, including the Sydney Opera House. Visitors can also get a taste of Australia's natural beauty at places such as the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and Fraser Island. They can also catch a glimpse into the nation's past as a penal colony at the Australia Convict Sites.
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Highway 1 Is One of the Longest Highways on the Planet
With wide open roads running along meandering coastlines, cutting through vast deserts, and crossing mountainous terrain, Australia is a dream destination for a road trip. Highway 1 (nicknamed the Big Lap) is a 9,010-mile-long road that follows the coastline in one enormous loop. It connects almost all of Australia's major cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin, and Brisbane. It's also the second-longest highway in the world, after the Pan-American Highway. One of the many fascinating sections of the highway is the "90 Mile Straight." This perfectly straight stretch passes through the flat, tree-less landscapes of the Nullarbor Plain between Balladonia and Caiguna, in Western Australia.
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The First Australian Police Force Was Assembled of Convicts
When the colonization of Australia began in the late 1700s, there was no recognized formal police force. As a penal colony of Great Britain, there were more convicts than people with non-criminal backgrounds. Upon arrival in New South Wales in 1788, the Royal Navy Marines were given the task of policing, although it wasn't a role that they wanted. Soon after, Governor Arthur Phillip selected 12 of the most upstanding convicts and created a civilian law enforcement department called the Night Watch. They continued as the Sydney Police until 1862, when they merged with other New South Wales colonial forces.
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Australia Boasts the World's Longest Golf Course
Golfers with time to spare can play an 18-hole, par-72 course that spans two Australian states. Starting in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, the Nullarbor Links feature one hole at each participating town or roadhouse along the Eyre Highway, before finishing 848 miles away in Ceduna, South Australia. The course incorporates the rugged outback terrain of the Nullarbor Plain, and play can often be interrupted by kangaroos and wombats. Golfers should set aside four days to complete the entire course, and clubs are available for rent at each course (for those who don't wish to carry them for the multi-day journey).
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From the archives H-Gram from Admiral Cox…as usual you can go the Director's corner and see all H-Grams…..skip-
H-Gram 083: "Hit 'em Harder!"—Commander Samuel D. Dealey and USS Harder (SS-257)
31 May 2024
Photo #: 80-G-81925 Commander Samuel D. Dealey, USN
Commander Samuel D. Dealey shortly after being awarded his first Navy Cross by Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, Jr., USN, Commander, Submarines, Pacific Fleet, in ceremonies at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 19 October 1943. The award was made for extraordinary heroism as commanding officer of USS Harder (SS-257) (80-G-81925).
Memorial Day was a good time to remember the ultimate sacrifice made by Commander Samuel D. Dealey, USN, and all 78 other members of the crew of USS Harder (SS-257), lost in action off the coast of Luzon, Philippines, on 24 August 1944. Before her loss, Harder had already achieved legendary status in the U.S. Navy submarine force. During the war, Dealey and Harder were credited with sinking six Japanese destroyers, two frigates, and 20.5 freighters/tankers. Post-war analysis revised this to a confirmed four destroyers and two frigates, which is still the most warships sunk by a single submarine commander/submarine in U.S. Navy history, and quite likely the most of any submarine commander in any nation. Dealey was known for making particularly audacious attacks, but also for astute judgment in being cautious depending on the tactical situation. Harder's fifth war patrol was described as "epochal" by famed submariner and author Captain Ned Beach.
During its six war patrols, Harder would be awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Dealey would be awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor, four Navy Crosses, an Army Distinguished Service Cross, a posthumous Silver Star, a posthumous Purple Heart, and multiple campaign medals. Like many combat awards written when enemy records were not available, Dealey's Medal of Honor citation is historically inaccurate, listing five destroyers sunk on his fifth war patrol rather than three. The valor above and beyond the call of duty of the entire crew is, however, highly accurate. Read more about Dealey, his crew, and Harder in attachment H-083-1.
The Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) maintains collaborative relationships with several reputable ocean exploration organizations engaged in locating sunken ships. One of these is the Lost 52 Project led by Mr. Tim Taylor of Tiburon Subsea, which searches for the 52 U.S. submarines lost in World War II. To date, Lost 52 has located and documented the condition of six U.S. Navy submarines: USS Grayback (SS-208), USS Stickleback (SS-415, lost after World War II), USS R-12 (SS-89), USS S-26 (SS-131), USS S-28 (SS-133), and USS Grunion (SS-216). Mr. Taylor was awarded a Navy Distinguished Public Service Medal in 2021 for his efforts in honoring lost U.S. Navy submarines and the more than 3,506 officers and enlisted crewmen lost with them.
Last month, Lost 52 informed NHHC that they believed they had found Harder in more than 3,000 feet of water off Dasol Bay on the west coast of Luzon, Philippines. After reviewing the extensive video, photographs, and other data provided by Lost 52, NHHC's Underwater Archaeology Branch concurred with Lost 52's analysis that this was the wreck of the storied "Hit 'em Harder" and announced its confirmation on 23 May. The submarine is sitting upright in relatively intact condition except for damage from a depth charge just aft of the conning tower that was obviously mortal. As such, Harder is a hallowed war grave, deserving of as much respect as Arlington National Cemetery. The last resting place of her entire crew is protected by customary maritime law, which holds warships to be sovereign property in perpetuity, as well as the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (with which the United States has not ratified, but abides) and the U.S. Sunken Military Craft Act (now under constitutional challenge by treasure hunters). This protection, however, is only as good as other entities choose to respect it, which is why Harder's exact coordinates will not be disclosed, given previous depredations in the South China and Java Seas.
During her war patrols, Harder sank some of the most modern and capable destroyers in the Imperial Japanese Navy, and survived numerous depth charge and aerial bomb attacks. But, in the end, Harder was lost to a relatively minor coastal defense escort ship (CD-22), whose Japanese captain, however, knew his business and was just as courageous. Two of Harder's torpedoes passed down CD-22's port side and one down her starboard side—a few feet either way and CD-22 would have gone the same way as the destroyers, but the ship's subsequent depth charge pattern proved lethal to the submarine. The moral of the story is that against a highly determined and capable adversary, the line between victory and defeat can be very narrow indeed. Harder was lost in the course of victory, and victory has a price, often steep, as does freedom.
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From the Archives
Thanks to Dick for this update to the tragedy. I first heard of this a few years ago and it has been in the list before.
D-Day Rehearsal Tragedy and cover up like the sinking of the troop transport by a German cruise missile.
Never heard of this previously.
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From American Facts
No Bear Wrestling In Missouri: Learn 12 American Laws Concerning Animals
Most well-intentioned laws are created to make things easier for us. But, for different reasons, some of them have become obsolete over time. Many of these laws concern animals and, to our modern eyes, can seem too obvious in some cases and downright odd in others. Did you know about these 12?
No opening umbrellas on the street
In Montgomery, Alabama, it is considered an offense to open an umbrella on a street for fear of spooking horses.
This raises questions about whether one should open an umbrella since the main use of it happens in the street.
No driving over 2000 sheep down Hollywood Boulevard
In Hollywood, California, it is illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time.
Apparently, you can drive one thousand and nineteen hundred and ninety-nine sheep, no problem. But not two thousand at one time.
No loose cats without tail lights
In Sterling, Colorado, cats may not run loose without having been fitted with a taillight. Maybe this originated in some road accident involving a feline but one has to wonder if this is the best method of action. Especially since attaching a taillight to a cat does not seem like an easy thing to do.
No educating dogs
For whatever reason, you may not educate dogs in Connecticut. Something must have happened at some point in history serious enough for the local legislators to forbid the Connecticuters from educating their dogs.
No leaving the ship, if you are a rat
In Tampa Bay, Florida, rats are forbidden by law to leave the ships docked at port. The spirit of the law probably requires ship owners to prevent rats from leaving the ship but, for some reason, the phrasing of the text makes it seem as if it is directed to the rats themselves.
No road crossing, if you are a chicken.
In Quitman, Georgia, it is illegal for a chicken to cross the road. Quite probably, this law is directed to chicken owners so that they prevent their feathered friends from roaming on the roads and causing accidents. But, still, it should be more clearly stated.
No fishing from a giraffe's back
Who in their right mind would attempt to fish from a giraffe's back, right? Apparently, this exact thing happened in Boise, Idaho, prompting the passing of a law to forbid this outrageous behavior from happening ever again.
No flying over the village, if you are a bee
In Kirkland, Illinois, bees are not allowed to fly over the village or through any of its streets. How exactly did the legislators who passed that law expect to enforce it, we honestly do not know.
No lions at the movies
In Baltimore, Maryland, it is illegal to take a lion to the movies. As it should be. No one should be taking live lions into a movie theater filled with people, ever, anywhere in the world. Not even if the showcased movie is The Lion King.
No pant-less horses
As with most of the other examples in this list, this is a law that -hopefully- no one is paying any attention to. Horses are required to wear pants at all times in Fountain Inn, South Carolina. Seriously, how do you put pants on a horse?
No laying eggs at night
It is unlawful for chickens to lay eggs before 8 AM and after 4 PM in West Virginia. Thankfully for chickens, they sleep at night and are active during the day, which prevents them from breaking the law.
No pictures of rabbits in June
The State of Wyoming doesn't allow you to take a picture of a rabbit during the month of June. The reason for this curious law is, perhaps, more understandable than most of the previous ones, and it has to do with avoiding harassment of the local wildlife.
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On June 3, 1943, a group of U.S. sailors marches through downtown Los Angeles, carrying clubs and other makeshift weapons and attacking anyone wearing a "zoot suit"—the baggy wool pants, oversized coats and porkpie hats favored by many young men of color at the time.
Over the next week, the so-called Zoot Suit Riots spread throughout the city, including the largely Mexican-American neighborhood of East Los Angeles and the largely Black neighborhood of Watts. The riots marked the culmination of simmering racial tensions in Los Angeles, set against the backdrop of World War II.
How Anti-Mexican Racism in L.A. Caused the Zoot Suit Riots
Learn how media bias and anti-Mexican racism contributed to the Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles in 1943.
After originating in Harlem jazz clubs in the 1930s, the zoot suit style had become popular with young men in Black and Latino communities across the country. In Los Angeles, which had a large Mexican-American population, many more conservative citizens (including both older Mexican Americans and whites) objected to the young zoot-suiters who called themselves "pachucos," associating them not only with cultural rebellion but also with criminality and gangsterism.
These negative views only increased during World War II, when the rationing of wool in early 1942 led the manufacturing of zoot suits to be banned and the wearing of them to be seen as unpatriotic. The Los Angeles news media in particular devoted itself to portraying pachucos as dangerous, especially after the so-called Sleepy Lagoon Murder of August 1942. In that notorious case, hundreds of Mexican-American youths were rounded up and 22 of them tried and convicted in the murder of another young Mexican-American man, Jose Diaz—a decision that was later overturned, and viewed as a major miscarriage of justice.
On May 30, 1943, a verbal confrontation between a group of U.S. sailors and a group of zoot-suiters ended in the beating of one of the sailors. In retaliation, about 50 sailors left the local U.S. Navy Reserve Armory on the evening of June 3, armed with makeshift weapons and targeting zoot-suiters (even those as young as 12 or 13 years old). On the second night of rioting, the sailors headed into the city's Mexican-American communities, barging into cafes, bars and theaters to seek out and attack their victims.
Military personnel and civilians joined in the violence, some traveling to Los Angeles from elsewhere to take part. While news reports portrayed such rioters as heroes fighting against a supposed Mexican crime wave, many of their attacks were clearly racist in nature, targeting Latinos, African Americans and other minorities even when they weren't wearing zoot suits. Meanwhile, police arrested hundreds of young Mexican Americans—many of whom had been attacked themselves—compared with comparatively few sailors or civilians involved in the rioting.
The Zoot Suit Riots finally died down after June 8, when military officials banned all military personnel from Los Angeles and called on military police to patrol the city. The L.A. City Council subsequently passed a resolution prohibiting the wearing of zoot suits on city streets.
No one was killed during the Zoot Suit Riots, though many people were injured. In the aftermath, Governor Earl Warren tasked an independent citizens' committee with investigating the riots and determining their cause. Though several factors were involved, the committee concluded that racism was the central cause, exacerbated by inflammatory, biased media coverage and an uneven response by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Zoot Suit Riots
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of violent clashes during which mobs of U.S. servicemen, off-duty police officers and civilians brawled with young Latinos and other minorities in Los Angeles.Noe Vasquez (left) and Joe Vasquez, (unrelated), are shown at the Los Angeles Police Department on June 10, 1943 after being attacked near Union Station by a gang of sailors, who had slashed their clothing.
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This Day in US Military History
June 3
1864 – Union General Ulysses S. Grant makes what he later recognizes to be his greatest mistake by ordering a frontal assault on entrenched Confederates at Cold Harbor. The result was some 7,000 Union casualties in less than an hour of fighting. Grant's Army of the Potomac and Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia had already inflicted frightful losses upon each other as they wheeled along an arc around Richmond—from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania and numerous smaller battle sites—the previous month. On May 30, Lee and Grant collided at Bethesda Church. The next day, the advance units of the armies arrived at the strategic crossroads of Cold Harbor, just 10 miles from Richmond, where a Yankee attack seized the intersection. Sensing that there was a chance to destroy Lee at the gates of Richmond, Grant prepared for a major assault along the entire Confederate front on June 2. But when Winfield Hancock's Union corps did not arrive on schedule, the operation was postponed until the following day. The delay was tragic for the Union, because it gave Lee's troops time to entrench. Perhaps frustrated with the protracted pursuit of Lee's army, Grant gave the order to attack on June 3—a decision that resulted in an unmitigated disaster. The Yankees met murderous fire, and were only able to reach the Confederate trenches in a few places. The 7,000 Union casualties, compared to only 1,500 for the Confederates, were all lost in under an hour. Grant pulled out of Cold Harbor nine days later and continued to try to flank Lee's army. The next stop was Petersburg, south of Richmond, where a nine-month siege ensued. There would be no more attacks on the scale of Cold Harbor.
1940 – Last British and French troops leave Dunkirk. During the day the German attacks around Dunkirk continue. The perimeter contracts, despite a brave counterattack, and German forces reach to within two miles of the harbor. The British and French naval authorities are led to believe that there are only about 30,000 soldiers left in the beachhead and plan the night's operations accordingly. In the course of the night 26,175 men are evacuated but as the rearguard are marching down to the ships an enormous crowd of French stragglers begins to appear out of cellars and other hiding places. When the last ship leaves at 0340 hours on June 4th there are still 40,000 men left for the Germans to capture.
1942 – In response to the surprise B-25 bomber attacks on Japan staged by Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Dolittle in April 1942, the Japanese decided to capture Midway Island 1,000 miles northwest of Hawaii as a staging base to attack Hawaii itself. As part of their plan they deployed a small diversionary force to take several islands in the Aleutian's chain of Alaska. Recently arrived as part of the garrison at the newly developed outpost of Dutch Harbor was Arkansas' 206th Coast Artillery Regiment (Anti-Aircraft). The unit was armed with obsolete 3-inch anti-aircraft guns and water-cooled .50 caliber machine guns. The morning of June 3rd found thick fog lying off the Alaskan coast. The Japanese launched a surprise aerial attack from two aircraft carriers, catching the defenders off-guard. However, within a few minutes the men of the 206th were in action, shooting down one enemy plane and putting up such a heavy rate of fire that Japanese pilots missed their targets while trying to dodge the Arkansan's barrage. The Japanese attacked again the next day, causing some casualties but failing to put the harbor out of action. This was their last attack. The 206th remained as part of the garrison until it was reassigned to the European Theater in 1944
1943 – In Los Angeles, California, white U.S. Navy sailors and Marines clash for a second time with Latino youths in the Zoot Suit Riots. About eleven sailors got off a bus and started walking along Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles. At some point they ran into a group of young Mexicans dressed in zoot suits and got in a verbal argument. The sailors stated that they were jumped and beaten by this gang of zoot suiters. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to the incident, many of them off-duty officers calling themselves the Vengeance Squad, who went to the scene "seeking to clean up Main Street from what they viewed as the loathsome influence of pachuco gangs."
1965 – One hundred and 20 miles above the earth, Major Edward H. White II opens the hatch of the Gemini 4 and steps out of the capsule, becoming the first American astronaut to walk in space. Attached to the craft by a 25-foot tether and controlling his movements with a hand-held oxygen jet-propulsion gun, White remained outside the capsule for just over 20 minutes. As a space walker, White had been preceded by Soviet cosmonaut Aleksei A. Leonov, who on March 18, 1965, was the first man ever to walk in space. Implemented at the height of the space race, NASA's Gemini program was the least famous of the three U.S.-manned space programs conducted during the 1960s. However, as an extension of Project Mercury, which put the first American in space in 1961, Gemini laid the groundwork for the more dramatic Apollo lunar missions, which began in 1968. The Gemini space flights were the first to involve multiple crews, and the extended duration of the missions provided valuable information about the biological effects of longer-term space travel. When the Gemini program ended in 1966, U.S. astronauts had also perfected rendezvous and docking maneuvers with other orbiting vehicles, a skill that would be essential during the three-stage Apollo moon missions.
1969 – Melbourne–Evans collision: off the coast of South Vietnam, the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne cuts the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Frank E. Evans in half. The two ships were participating in SEATO exercise Sea Spirit in the South China Sea. At approximately 3:00 am, when ordered to a new escort station, Evans sailed under Melbourne's bow, where she was cut in two. Seventy-four of Evans' crew were killed. A joint RAN–USN board of inquiry was held to establish the events of the collision and the responsibility of those involved. This inquiry, which was believed by the Australians to be biased against them, found that both ships were at fault for the collision. Four officers (the captains of Melbourne and Evans, plus the two junior officers in control of Evans at the time of the collision) were court-martialled based on the results of the inquiry; while the three USN officers were charged, the RAN officer was cleared of wrongdoing.
Note I remember seeing the hulk of the Evans in Subic Bay….skip
1989 – With protests for democratic reforms entering their seventh week, the Chinese government authorizes its soldiers and tanks to reclaim Beijing's Tiananmen Square at all costs. By nightfall on June 4, Chinese troops had forcibly cleared the square, killing hundreds and arresting thousands of demonstrators and suspected dissidents. On April 15, the death of Hu Yaobang, a former Communist Party head who supported democratic reforms, roused some 100,000 students to gather at Beijing's Tiananmen Square to commemorate the leader and voice their discontent with China's authoritative government. On April 22, an official memorial service for Hu Yaobang was held in Tiananmen's Great Hall of the People, and student representatives carried a petition to the steps of the Great Hall, demanding to meet with Premier Li Peng. The Chinese government refused the meeting, leading to a general boycott of Chinese universities across the country and widespread calls for democratic reforms. Ignoring government warnings of suppression of any mass demonstration, students from more than 40 universities began a march to Tiananmen on April 27. The students were joined by workers, intellectuals, and civil servants, and by mid-May more than a million people filled the square, the site of Mao Zedong's proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. On May 20, the government formally declared martial law in Beijing, and troops and tanks were called in to disperse the dissidents. However, large numbers of students and citizens blocked the army's advance, and by May 23 government forces had pulled back to the outskirts of Beijing. On June 3, with negotiations to end the protests stalled and calls for democratic reforms escalating, the troops received orders from the Chinese government to seize control of Tiananmen Square and the streets of Beijing. Hundreds were killed and thousands arrested. In the weeks after the government crackdown, an unknown number of dissidents were executed, and hard-liners in the government took firm control of the country. The international community was outraged by the incident, and economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries sent China's economy into decline. By late 1990, however, international trade had resumed, thanks in part to China's release of several hundred imprisoned dissidents.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
WILLIAMS, LE ROY
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company G, 8th New York Heavy Artillery. Place and date: At Cold Harbor, Va., 3 June 1864. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Oswego, N.Y. Date of issue: 1 April 1898. Citation: Voluntarily exposed himself to the fire of the enemy's sharpshooters and located the body of his colonel who had been killed close to the enemy's lines. Under cover of darkness, with 4 companions, he recovered the body and brought it within the Union lines, having approached within a few feet of the Confederate pickets while so engaged.
HOBSON, RICHMOND PEARSON
Rank and organization: Lieutenant, U.S. Navy. Born: 17 August 1870, Greensboro, Ala. Accredited to: New York. (Medal presented by President, 29 April 1933.) Citation: In connection with the sinking of the U.S.S. Merrimac at the entrance to the fortified harbor of Santiago de Cuba, 3 June 1898. Despite persistent fire from the enemy fleet and fortifications on shore, Lt. Hobson distinguished himself by extraordinary courage and carried out this operation at the risk of his own personal safety.
*CHRISTIAN, HERBERT F.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Valmontone, Italy, 2-3 June 1944. Entered service at: Steubenville, Ohio. Birth: Byersville, Ohio. G.O. No.: 43, 30 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 2-3 June 1944, at 1 a.m., Pvt. Christian elected to sacrifice his life in order that his comrades might extricate themselves from an ambush. Braving massed fire of about 60 riflemen, 3 machineguns, and 3 tanks from positions only 30 yards distant, he stood erect and signaled to the patrol to withdraw. The whole area was brightly illuminated by enemy flares. Although his right leg was severed above the knee by cannon fire, Pvt. Christian advanced on his left knee and the bloody stump of his right thigh, firing his submachinegun. Despite excruciating pain, Pvt. Christian continued on his self-assigned mission. He succeeded in distracting the enemy and enabled his 12 comrades to escape. He killed 3 enemy soldiers almost at once. Leaving a trail of blood behind him, he made his way forward 20 yards, halted at a point within 10 yards of the enemy, and despite intense fire killed a machine-pistol man. Reloading his weapon, he fired directly into the enemy position. The enemy appeared enraged at the success of his ruse, concentrated 20-mm. machinegun, machine-pistol and rifle fire on him, yet he refused to seek cover. Maintaining his erect position, Pvt. Christian fired his weapon to the very last. Just as he emptied his submachinegun, the enemy bullets found their mark and Pvt. Christian slumped forward dead. The courage and spirit of self-sacrifice displayed by this soldier were an inspiration to his comrades and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces.
*JOHNSON, ELDEN H.
Rank and organization: Private, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Valmontone, Italy, 3 June 1944. Entered service at: East Weymouth, Mass. Birth: Bivalue, N.J. G.O. No.: 38, 16 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. Pvt. Johnson elected to sacrifice his life in order that his comrades might extricate themselves from an ambush. Braving the massed fire of about 60 riflemen, 3 machineguns, and 3 tanks from positions only 25 yards distant, he stood erect and signaled his patrol leader to withdraw. The whole area was brightly illuminated by enemy flares. Then, despite 20mm. machineguns, machine pistol, and rifle fire directed at him, Pvt. Johnson advanced beyond the enemy in a slow deliberate walk. Firing his automatic rifle from the hip, he succeeded in distracting the enemy and enabled his 12 comrades to escape. Advancing to within 5 yards of a machinegun, emptying his weapon, Pvt. Johnson killed its crew. Standing in full view of the enemy he reloaded and turned on the riflemen to the left, firing directly into their positions. He either killed or wounded 4 of them. A burst of machinegun fire tore into Pvt. Johnson and he dropped to his knees. Fighting to the very last, he steadied himself on his knees and sent a final burst of fire crashing into another German. With that he slumped forward dead. Pvt. Johnson had willingly given his life in order that his comrades might live. These acts on the part of Pvt. Johnson were an inspiration to the entire command and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the armed forces.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for 3 June, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1936: On 3-7 June, Maj Ira C. Eaker, Air Corps, made the first blind (instruments only) transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles. (21)
1941: The grade of aviation cadet was created. (24)
BATTLE OF MIDWAY
1942: The engagement lasted through 6 June. Three US carriers destroyed four Japanese carriers, while only losing one of their own. The Japanese also lost a heavy cruiser, 322 aircraft, and 5,000 men, including a host of skilled pilots. This defeat ended Japan's eastern offensive and marked a major turning point in the war. Seventh Air Force flew 55 B-17 sorties and four B-26 torpedo attacks, claiming 22 hits on ships and 10 Japanese fighters shot down. It lost two B-17s and two B-26s.
1946: Flying a P-80 at 463 MPH, Lt Henry A. Johnson set a 1-hour, 20-minute, 31-second world record for 1,000 kilometers. (24)
1951: KOREAN WAR. UN antiaircraft artillery destroyed two 315 AD C-119's while the aircraft were attempting a resupply airdrop. This fratricide incident led to new Identification-Friend-orFoe procedures for airdrop operations. (28)
1958: In response to a request from the Thai government for assistance, a PACAF C-130 airlifted 300,000 units of anti-cholera serum from Manila to Bangkok to fight a cholera epidemic. (17)
1960: A Marine Corps HUS-1 helicopter successfully test fired Bullpup air-to-surface missiles. (24)
1961: The USAF test-fired the most powerful solid-fuel rocket engine known to Western scientists. In the test at Sacramento, Calif., some 94,000 pounds of propellant produced in excess of 500,000 pounds of thrust. (16) (24)
1964: Miss Jacqueline Cochran claimed her third jet speed record in a month, flying a Lockheed F-104 fighter at 1,135 MPH over a 500-kilometer course at Edwards AFB. Miss Cochran bettered her 17 September 1961 mark of 680.75 MPH on the same course.
1965: GEMINI IV. Through 7 June, Edward H. White II and James A. McDivitt completed a 97-hour, 58-minute space flight with two firsts: White made a 23-minute space walk (the first), and Houston's Manned Spaceflight Center controlled its first mission. This mission also set a space endurance record (62 orbits). (9)
1966: GEMINI IX. Through 6 June, Astronauts Lt Col Thomas P. Stafford (USAF) and Lt Cmdr Eugene A. Cernan (USN) completed three rendezvous operations and a record 2-hour, 5-minute space walk. They were launched from the Eastern Test Range aboard a Titan II booster. Then, they landed only 2 1/2 miles from the recovery force (the most accurate reentry to date) after 45 revolutions of earth. Live TV coverage of splashdown and recovery came from the Early Bird I satellite. (5) (16)
1984: TAC deployed the first maritime radar-equipped E-3 Sentry to the Persian Gulf area. (16)
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. Yugoslavia accepted an international peace plan for ending the Kosovo conflict, bowing to NATO demands for withdrawal of all its army and police forces and deployment of a NATO-dominated peacekeeping force to that war-torn province. (32)
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