The List 7201
Good Sunday morning June 8. The weather guessers say that we may have some clearing around 10 this morning and stay that way until sundown. We may get to dry things out. It is supposed to stay clear for about a week and the temps will climb to the mid 80s. I am not holding my breath. They don't call it June gloom for nothing. All the girls are up north for more Lacrosse games today .
Three games yesterday and if they win they will do three today. Great video of my granddaughter surrounded by opponents flying across the front of a packed goal and faking two shots and ramming the third into the goal.
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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 91 H-Grams . .
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/.
June 8
1830 The sloop of war USS Vincennes becomes the first US Navy warship to circle the globe when she returns to New York. She departs on Sept. 3, 1826, rounds Cape Horn and cruises the Pacific protecting American merchantmen and whalers until June 1829.
1937 Capt. Julius F. Hellweg commands the Navy detachment that observes a total eclipse of the sun.
1943 TBF aircraft from USS Bogue (ACV 9) damage German submarine (U 758) west by south of the Canary Islands.
1943 USS Finback (SS 230) attacks a Japanese convoy and sinks auxiliary minelayer Kahoku Maru about 100 miles north of Palau.
1959 The Navy and the Post Office deliver the first official missile mail when USS Barbero (SS-317) fires a Regulus I missile with 3,000 letters 100 miles east of Jacksonville, Fla., to Mayport, Fla.
1967 USS Liberty (AGTR-5) is mistakenly attacked by four Israeli jet fighters and three motor torpedo boats (MTB). Of the 293 U.S. personnel aboard, 34 (31 Sailors, 2 Marines, and 1 National Security Agency civilian) are killed and 171 wounded as a result of multiple strafing runs by jet aircraft, surface fire from the MTBs, and one hit by a 19-inch torpedo.
1996 USS Cole (DDG 67) is commissioned at Port Everglade, Fla. The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer is named after Medal of Honor recipient Marine Sgt. Darrell S. Cole, a machine-gunner killed in action during action on Iwo Jima Feb. 19, 1945.
1996 USS Oak Hill (LSD 51) is commissioned. The Harpers Ferry-class dock landing ship is the second named to honor the home of President James Monroe, where he penned the Monroe Doctrine.
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
1945 - During the Okinawa Campaign, while serving with the Third Marine Battalion, Twenty-Ninth Marines, Sixth Marine Division, Pvt. Robert M. McTureous's company suffers casualties after capturing a hill on Oroku Peninsula, and the wounded can't be evacuated due to heavy Japanese fire. Waging a one-man assault to redirect enemy fire away from the wounded, McTureous attacks numerous times and suffers severe wounds in the process. He crawls 200 yards back to safety before asking for aid. His actions confuse the enemy and enable his company to complete its mission. He dies on June 11 on board USS Relief. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" on this occasion, McTureous is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
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June 8
This Day in World History
0452 Attila the Hun invades Italy.
0632 Muhammad, the founder of Islam and unifier of Arabia, dies.
0793 The Vikings raid the Northumbrian coast of England.
1861 Tennessee votes to secede from the Union and join the Confederacy.
1862 The Army of the Potomac defeats Confederate forces at Battle of Cross Keys, Virginia.
1863 Residents of Vicksburg flee into caves as General Ulysses S. Grant's army begins shelling the town.
1866 Prussia annexes the region of Holstein.
1904 U.S. Marines land in Tangiers, Morocco, to protect U.S. citizens.
1908 King Edward VII of England visits Czar Nicholas II of Russia in an effort to improve relations between the two countries.
1915 William Jennings Bryan quits as Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson.
1953 The Supreme Court forbids segregated lunch counters in Washington, D.C.
1965 President Lyndon Johnson authorizes commanders in Vietnam to commit U.S. ground forces to combat.
1966 Gemini astronaut Gene Cernan attempts to become the first man to orbit the Earth untethered to a space capsule, but is unable to when he exhausts himself fitting into his rocket pack.
1967 Israeli airplanes attack the USS Liberty, a surveillance ship, in the Mediterranean, killing 34 Navy crewmen.
1968 James Earl Ray, the alleged assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr., is captured at the London Airport.
1969 President Richard Nixon meets with President Thieu of South Vietnam to tell him 25,000 U.S. troops will pull out by August.
1995
The amphibious assault ship Kearsarge (LHD-3) launches Marine aircraft for the ultimately successful rescue of Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady, an F-16 pilot shot down over Bosnia six days earlier while flying a mission in support of Operation Deny Flight. Four sailors are on board two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters during the dramatic rescue.
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Rollingthunderremembered.com .
June 8
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
From Vietnam Air Losses site for "for 8 June
For Sunday June 8
June 8: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1184
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"This Day in Aviation History" brought to you by the Daedalians Airpower Blog Update. To subscribe to this weekly email, go to https://daedalians.org/airpower-blog/.
June 6-7, 1962
A B-52H bomber (tail # 61-018) set a National Aeronautic Association world record for distance over a closed course without air-refueling. The flight was 22:45 hours duration and covered 11,336.92 miles. The aircraft was assigned to 19th Bomb Wing (Heavy), 28th Bomb Squadron at Homestead AFB, Florida. The route of flight was Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina - Bermuda - Sondestrom, Greenland - Anchorage, Alaska - March AFB, California - Key West, Florida - Seymour Johnson AFB. (Thank you to retired Air Force Lt. Col. Dave Wilson for sending us this heritage item)
June 7, 1936
Maj. Ira C. Eaker performed the first blind transcontinental flight on June 7, 1936, as he piloted an airplane from New York to Los Angeles, relying solely upon instruments. Eaker was Daedalian Founder Member #289.
June 8, 1995
After being shot down in his F-16 Fighting Falcon, Air Force Capt. Scott O'Grady was rescued in Bosnia on after spending six days in hostile territory. He was assigned to the 555th Fighter Squadron at Aviano AB, Italy.
June 9, 1942
In Washington, D.C., President Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded the Medal of Honor to newly promoted Brig. Gen. James H. Doolittle for his role in the raid on Tokyo, Japan. General Doolittle was Daedalian Founder Member #107.
June 10, 1989
Capt. Jacquelyn S. Parker became the first female pilot to graduate from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. Parker attended the University of Central Florida, majoring in mathematics and computer science. She graduated from college at age 17, the youngest graduate in the school's history. She became an intern at NASA's Johnson Space Center, and was responsible for analysis of onboard computer systems. She was the youngest flight controller in NASA's history. After completing Officer Training School in 1980, she entered pilot training at Reese AFB, Texas. Parker received her pilot wings in 1981, later becoming the first female T-38 instructor there. Between 1983 and 1985, she was named "Most Outstanding T-38 Academic Instructor" five times. She has also flown the F-16, F-111, F-4, C-141, KC-135 and UH-60 Blackhawk.
June 11, 2007
The National Aeronautic Association presented its annual Robert J. Collier Trophy to the Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Air Force for developing the F-22 Raptor. The award submission focused heavily on the F-22's performance during the 2006 Northern Edge exercise in Alaska where Raptors flew 97 percent of their assigned sorties. The F-22 pilots scored an 80-to-1 kill ratio against their opponents and direct hits with 100 percent of their 1,000-pound GBU-32 Joint Direct Attack Munitions.
June 12, 1918
The 96th Aero Squadron carried out the first American daylight-bombing mission in World War I from Amanty Airdrome against the occupied Dommary-Baroncourt rail yards in France. The squadron flew the Breguet 14B.2 bomber.
June 13, 1973
The National Aeronautic Association presented the Robert J. Collier Trophy for 1972 jointly to the Navy's Task Force 77 and to the Seventh and Eighth Air Forces for their "demonstrated expert and precisely integrated use of advanced aerospace technology" during Operation Linebacker II against the North Vietnamese during December 1972.
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Military Milestones from Devil Dogs to the Great Crusade
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
This week in American military history:
June 1, 1864: The bloody battle of Cold Harbor opens in earnest between
Union Army forces under the command of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and
Confederate forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Grant will launch a series of futile attacks over the next three days. Lee
will defend and hold. Union losses will be staggering: 13,000 to the
Confederacy's 2,500.
In his memoirs, Grant will express regret for having attacked at Cold
Harbor.
Jun. 3, 1942: The great Naval battle of Midway opens between U.S. Naval and
air forces under the command of Adm. Chester W. Nimitz and Japanese forces
under Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, who had hoped to lure the U.S. Pacific Fleet
into a great air-sea battle and destroy it.
Considered a turning point in the Pacific theater of operations, the
Japanese fleet is intercepted near Midway atoll, engaged, and will be
decisively defeated by Nimitz. The Americans will lose one carrier, USS
Yorktown (the third of five U.S. Navy warships named in commemoration of
the famous Battle of Yorktown), but four Japanese carriers will be sent to
the bottom.
According to the U.S. Naval Historical Center: [Midway] represents the
strategic high water mark of Japan's Pacific Ocean war. Prior to this
action, Japan possessed general naval superiority over the United States
and could usually choose where and when to attack. After Midway, the two
opposing fleets were essentially equals, and the United States soon took
the offensive."
June 6, 1918: U.S. Marines attack and destroy Imperial German Army
positions during the Battle of Belleau Wood (an old French hunting preserve
near Chateau-Thierry, France) in a grisly close-quarters slugfest, after
which the Germans -- convinced the Marines are special American "shock
troops" -- nickname their foes, teufelhunden (devil dogs).
At one point during the fighting, Gunnery Sgt. Dan Daly -- a two-time Medal
of Honor recipient -- dashes out in front of his Marines and shouts to
them: "Come on you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?!"
A German after-action report, reads: "The Marines are considered a sort of
elite Corps designed to go into action outside the United States. The high
percentage of marksmen, sharpshooters, and expert riflemen, as perceived
among our prisoners, allows a conclusion to be drawn as to the quality of
the training in rifle marksmanship that the Marines receive. The prisoners
are mostly members of the better class, and they consider their membership
in the Marine Corps to be something of an honor. They proudly resent any
attempts to place their regiments on a par with other infantry regiments."
Assistant Secretary of the Navy (future pres.) Franklin D. Roosevelt will
authorize the wearing of Marine Corps emblems -- the famous eagle, globe,
and anchor -- on the collars of enlisted men's uniforms (a privilege
previously reserved for officers) in recognition of "splendid work" at
Belleau Wood.
June 6, 1944: Just after 2:00 a.m., U.S. Army paratroopers (members of the
famous 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions) as well as the British 6th
Airborne Division, begin jumping behind German lines in the opening hours
of Operation Overlord, the great Allied invasion of Normandy. Accompanying
the paratroopers are waves of gliderborne forces.
Offshore, thousands of warships, freighters, and supporting vessels have
crossed -- or are crossing -- the English Channel and moving into position
off the French coast.
In less than five hours, the first seaborne assault waves of the initial
175,000-man Allied amphibious force will begin storming the beaches along a
50-60 mile front in the Bay of Seine between Caen and the Cherbourg
peninsula. Supporting the invasion force are thousands of Allied warplanes.
Hours before the invasion, U.S. Army Gen. (future pres.) and Supreme Allied
Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, issued his battle message, a portion of
which reads: "Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary
Force! You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade … Your task will not
be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped and
battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. … I have full confidence in your
courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less
than full Victory! Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of
Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."
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From the archives
Close-in fire support for the infantry at Omaha Beach was terribly lacking until...US Navy destroyers "saved the day".
As many of you know, a massive German slaughter house awaited US troops at Omaha Beach.
June 6, 1944, at H-hour 0630 real trouble started. Landing craft coxswains lost their bearings in the early morning mist, deepened by smoke and dust kicked up by the naval bombardment. Many of them missed their assigned landing sectors. Of the 64 DD tanks (amphibious) 27 made it to the Dog beaches but only five got ashore on Easy beaches; the rest foundered on the way in.
0830 USS Carmick breaks the cease-fire order that had suspended supporting naval gunfire at H-hour. (Some 1 & 1/2 to 2 hrs of withering German cliff-top defensive firing w/o much, if any, U.S return fire support at all.) 1st and 29th Division assault waves - sitting ducks.
USS Carmick action report:
..."Early in the morning a group of tanks were seen to be having difficulty making their way along the breakwater road toward Exit D-1 [the Vierville draw]. A silent coorporation was established wherein they fired at a target on the bluff above them and we then fired several salvos at the same spot. They then shifted fire futher along the bluff and we used their bursts again as a point of aim."...
Captain Sanders, COMDESTRON 18 Commander was in the USS Frankfort, arriving off the beachead just before 0900. Concerned about increasing casualties on the beach, he ordered ALL destroyers to close on the beach as far in as possible and support the assualt troops.
Close-in fire support by navy destroyers speeded up much improved conditions all along the beach at Omaha by 1000.
After action report: (personal letter from Sergeant James E. Knight of the 299th Combat Engineer Battalion wrote to the crew of the USS Frankfort)..."There is no question, at least in my mind, if you had not come in as close as you did, exposing yourself to God only knows how much, that I would not have survived the night. I truly believe that in the absence of the damage you inflicted on Geman emplacements, the only way any GI was going to leave Omaha was in a matress cover or as a prisoner of war."...Sergeant Barton Davis, 299th Combat Engineer Battalion wrote to say: " How well I remember your ship coming in so close. I thought then as I do now that it was one brave thing to come in so close...Your ship not only knocked out the pillbox but the mortar positions above us...I always thought how great it would be to tell the Captain of this ship how grateful I am..." ( a personal letter to Captain James Semmes, CO of the USS Frankfort).
Colonel S.B. Mason, USA, Chief of Staff of the 1st Division, wrote the following letter to Rear Admiral Hall after an inspection of the German defenses at Omaha. They should have been impregnable" "But there was one element of attack they could not parry...I am now firmly convinced that our supporting naval fire got us in; that without that gunfire we positively could not have crossed the beaches."...
Almost scraping the bottom with destroyer keels off Omaha Beach were the: USS Frankfort; USS McCook; USS Doyle; USS Thompson; USS Carmick...D-Day - June 6th, 1944.
Footnote:
In his book, "The Longest Day", Cornelius Ryan so described German defenses of Omaha. The German 352nd Division's artillery batteries were only a part of what Ryan called "the deadly guns of Omaha Beach":
There were 8 concrete bunkers with guns of 75 millimeters or larger caliber [75mm to 88mm]; 35 pillboxea with artillery pieces of various sizes/or automatic weapons; 4 batteries of artillery [presumably Pluskat's]; 18 antitank guns [37mm to 75mm]; 6 mortar pits; approximately 40 rocket-launching sites; each with four 38-millimeter rocket tubes; and NO LESS THAN 85 strategically placed machine gun nests.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omaha_Beach
(bop at Normandy's Omaha Beach, and general area - 1963, 1985, 1997.)
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
The letter "J" wasn't added to the alphabet until after Shakespeare.
I t wasn't until after the life of William Shakespeare (1564-1616) that the modern English alphabet welcomed "J" as its 26th and final letter. In fact, first-edition copies of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet from 1597 were titled Romeo and Iuliet, as the letter "I" was often used as a written substitute for words with a "J" sound in English. In order to fully understand the letter's origins, however, we need to go all the way back to ancient Roman times.
In Roman numerals, a swash was sometimes used to denote the end of sequences — for instance, the number 13 often visually appeared in handwritten text as "XIIJ" instead of "XIII." In classical Latin and in various European languages through the medieval era, the letter "I" was used as both a vowel and as a consonant, and the constant version of "I" morphed over the years and eventually began appearing as a "J" shape. In the late 15th century and early 16th century, a few scholars wrote treatises on grammar in which they suggested using "J" as the constant version of "I." In English, this change took hold in the early 17th century. A good illustration of this is the King James Bible, one of the first modern English texts to print "J" as a unique letter. The 1611 edition uses the consonant "I" in words such as "Iesus" and "Ioseph," while the 1629 edition uses the letter "J," paving the way for the eventual widespread inclusion of "J" in the English alphabet.
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Another from the archives
Thanks to Dan
Great piece by VDH … as usual !!!
Remembering the Horrors of D-Day
Victor Davis Hanson
Seventy-nine years ago this week, the Allies assaulted the Normandy beaches on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Their invasion marked the largest amphibious landing since the Persians under Xerxes invaded the Greek mainland in 480 B.C.
Nearly 160,000 American, British, and Canadian soldiers stormed five beaches of Nazi-occupied France. The plan was to liberate western Europe after four years of occupation, push into Germany, and end the Nazi regime.
Less than a year later, the Allies from the West, and the Soviet Russians from the East, did just that, utterly destroying Hitler's Third Reich.
Ostensibly, the assault seemed impossible even to attempt.
Germany had repulsed with heavy Canadian losses an earlier Normandy raid at Dieppe in August 1942.
The Germans also knew roughly when the Allies were coming. They placed their best general, Erwin Rommel, in charge of the Normandy defenses.
The huge D-Day force required enormous supplies of arms and provisions just to get off the beaches. Yet the Allies had no means of capturing even one port on the nearby heavily fortified French coast.
To land so many troops so quickly, the Allies would have to ensure complete naval and air supremacy.
They would have to tow over from Britain their own ports, lay their own gasoline pipeline across the English Channel, and invent novel ships and armored vehicles just to get onto and over the beaches.
More dangerous still, the invaders would ensure armor and tactical air dominance to avoid being cut off, surrounded, and annihilated once they went inland.
German Panzer units -- battle-hardened troops in frightening Panther and Tiger tanks, with over three hard years of fighting experience on the Eastern Front -- were confident they could annihilate in a matter of days the outnumbered lightly armed invaders.
Such a huge force required 50 miles of landing space on the beaches. That vast expanse ensured that some landing sites were less than ideal - Omaha Beach in particular.
No one quite knows how many Allied soldiers, airmen, and sailors were lost during D-Day's 24 hours.
Some 10,000 casualties is a good guess, including nearly 4,500 dead. Well over 400 soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured every hour of the first day.
Most of the losses occurred at Omaha Beach, the riskiest landing area. Cliffs there offered perfect German lines of fire onto the landing craft below.
Concrete seawalls blocked access from the beaches. Crack German troops had recently beefed up the fortifications. Mined hedgerows blocked entry into the countryside.
A tragic paradox of D-Day was that Omaha Beach proved an ungodly nightmare, while the other four landing sites worked like clockwork with few casualties.
Nearly a quarter-million Allied soldiers were killed or wounded in "Operation Overlord" over the ensuing seven weeks of fighting in Normandy. Combined German and Allied casualties exceeded 400,000. Nearly 20,000 French civilians were killed as "collateral" damage.
The Allies did not secure Normandy until the end of July, when they finally broke out into the plains of France and began racing toward Germany.
Intelligence failures, poor coordination between airborne and infantry troops, and mediocre leadership all plagued the Allies for most of June and July.
Yet the Allies pulled off the impossible by surprising the Germans, securing a beachhead, supplying that toehold in western Europe, and then expanding the pocket into a vast 1,000-mile front that in less than a year shattered Hitler's defenses.
How and why did the Americans on Omaha charge right off their landing craft into a hail of German machine gun and artillery fire, despite being mowed down in droves?
In a word, they "believed" in the United States.
That generation had emerged from the crushing poverty of the Great Depression to face the reality that the Axis powers wanted to destroy their civilization and their country.
They were confident in American know-how. They were convinced they were fighting for the right cause. They were not awed by traveling thousands of miles from home to face German technological wizardry, veterans with years of battle experience, and a ruthless martial code.
The men at Omaha did not believe America had to be perfect to be good -- just far better than the alternative.
They understood, like their predecessors at Valley Forge, Gettysburg, and the Meuse-Argonne, that nothing in the United States was guaranteed.
They accepted that periodically some Americans -- usually those in the prime of life with the greatest futures and the most to lose -- would be asked to face certain death in nightmarish places like Omaha, in a B-17 over Berlin, or the horrid jungles in the Pacific.
The least our generation -- affluent, leisured, and so often self-absorbed -- can do is to remember who they were, what they did, and how much we owe them.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
Britain used to have a special tax on windows.
Taxes fund many of the services we need, but no one enjoys paying them — and it's likely that many of our ancestors didn't, either. Governments worldwide have levied taxes for thousands of years; the oldest recorded tax comes from Egypt around 3000 BCE. But England — which relied heavily on taxes to fund its military conquests — is known for a slate of fees that modern taxpayers might consider unusual. Take, for instance, the so-called "window tax," initially levied in 1696 by King William III, which annually charged citizens a certain amount based on the windows in their homes. Some 30 years before, the British crown had attempted to tax personal property based on chimneys, but clever homeowners could avoid the bill by temporarily bricking up or dismantling their hearths and chimneys before inspections. With windows, assessors could quickly determine a building's value from the street. The tax was progressive, charging nothing for homes with few or no windows and increasing the bill for dwellings that had more than 10 (or, in later years, seven).
Britain taxed soap.
The British government taxed many everyday items, including salt, candles, and beer. But its 1643 tax on soap created a lather among soapmakers and drove up prices for shoppers — many of whom turned to French soap-smuggling rings for the lower-cost suds they needed.
Not surprisingly, homeowners and landlords throughout the U.K. resented the tax. It didn't take long for windows to be entirely bricked or painted over (much like fireplaces had been), and new homes were built with fewer windows altogether. Opponents called it a tax on "light and air" that hurt public health, citing reduced ventilation that in turn encouraged disease. Even famed author Charles Dickens joined the fight to dismantle the tax, publishing scathing pieces aimed at Parliament on behalf of poor citizens who were most impacted by the lack of fresh air. Britain repealed its window tax in July 1851, but the architectural impact is still evident — many older homes and buildings throughout the U.K. maintain their iconic converted windows.
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This Day in U S Military History…….June 8
1944 – A second wave of Allied troops has landed. Elements of the US 7th Corps, from Utah beach, advance toward Cherbourg. The 4th Division engages in heavy fighting near Azeville. Elements of the US 5th Corps, on Omaha beach, capture Isigny but cannot establish a link with the American forces on Utah. A link is established between Omaha and Gold beach once British Marines, part of the 30th Corps, take Port-en-Bessin.
1944 – Russian Premier Joseph Stalin telegraphs British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to announce that the Allied success at Normandy "is a source of joy to us all." He renews promises to launch his own offensive on the Eastern Front, as had been agreed upon at the Tehran Conference in late '43, and thereby prevent Hitler from transferring German troops from the east to support troops at Normandy.
1944 – Fighting continues on Biak Island. A Japanese attempt to ship reinforcements to Biak is intercepted by the cruiser squadron commanded by Admiral Crutchley. It is forced to retreat. On the mainland, at the American beachhead around Aitape, US forces begin counterattacking.
1945 – There are reports that every able bodied Japanese man, woman and child is being given instructions in the fighting of tanks, paratroops and other invading forces.
1945 – On Okinawa, in the north heavy fighting continues on the Oroku peninsula. In the south, the US 24th Corps prepares to attack Mount Yaeju.
1945 – On Luzon, patrols of the US 37th Division reach the Magat river. The US 145th Infantry Regiment (US 37th Division) takes Solano and advances as far as Bagabag, towards the Cagayan valley.
1967 – During the Six-Day War, Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attack the USS Liberty in international waters off Egypt's Gaza Strip. The intelligence ship, well-marked as an American vessel and only lightly armed, was attacked first by Israeli aircraft that fired napalm and rockets at the ship. The Liberty attempted to radio for assistance, but the Israeli aircraft blocked the transmissions. Eventually, the ship was able to make contact with the U.S. carrier Saratoga, and 12 fighter jets and four tanker planes were dispatched to defend the Liberty. When word of their deployment reached Washington, however, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara ordered them recalled to the carrier, and they never reached the Liberty. The reason for the recall remains unclear. Back in the Mediterranean, the initial air raid against the Liberty was over. Nine of the 294 crewmembers were dead and 60 were wounded. Suddenly, the ship was attacked by Israeli torpedo boats, which launched torpedoes and fired artillery at the ship. Under the command of its wounded captain, William L. McGonagle, the Liberty managed to avert four torpedoes, but one struck the ship at the waterline. Heavily damaged, the ship launched three lifeboats, but these were also attacked–a violation of international law. Failing to sink the Liberty, which displaced 10,000 tons, the Israelis finally desisted. In all, 34 Americans were killed and 171 were wounded in the two-hour attack. In the attack's aftermath, the Liberty managed to limp to a safe port. Israel later apologized for the attack and offered $6.9 million in compensation, claiming that it had mistaken the Liberty for an Egyptian ship. However, Liberty survivors, and some former U.S. officials, believe that the attack was deliberate, staged to conceal Israel's pending seizure of Syria's Golan Heights, which occurred the next day. The ship's listening devices would likely have overheard Israeli military communications planning this controversial operation. Captain McGonagle was later awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic command of the Liberty during and after the attack
1991 – General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Allied forces in Operation "Desert Storm" leads the National Victory Parade up Pennsylvania Avenue past the reviewing stand holding President George H.W. Bush and other dignitaries in the first such military parade held in the nation's capital since the end of World War I. Among the contingents of military units are composite battalions of Air and Army Guard personnel who served in theater.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*LESTER, FRED FAULKNER
Rank and organization: Hospital Apprentice First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 29 April 1926, Downers Grove, Ill. Accredited to: Illinois. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a Medical Corpsman with an Assault Rifle Platoon, attached to the 1st Battalion, 22d Marines, 6th Marine Division, during action against enemy Japanese forces on Okinawa Shima in the Ryukyu Chain, 8 June 1945. Quick to spot a wounded marine Iying in an open field beyond the front lines following the relentless assault against a strategic Japanese hill position, Lester unhesitatingly crawled toward the casualty under a concentrated barrage from hostile machineguns, rifles, and grenades. Torn by enemy rifle bullets as he inched forward, he stoically disregarded the mounting fury of Japanese fire and his own pain to pull the wounded man toward a covered position. Struck by enemy fire a second time before he reached cover, he exerted tremendous effort and succeeded in pulling his comrade to safety where, too seriously wounded himself to administer aid, he instructed 2 of his squad in proper medical treatment of the rescued marine. Realizing that his own wounds were fatal, he staunchly refused medical attention for himself and, gathering his fast-waning strength with calm determination, coolly and expertly directed his men in the treatment of 2 other wounded marines, succumbing shortly thereafter. Completely selfless in his concern for the welfare of his fighting comrades, Lester, by his indomitable spirit, outstanding valor, and competent direction of others, had saved the life of 1 who otherwise must have perished and had contributed to the safety of countless others. Lester's fortitude in the face of certain death sustains and enhances the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*PEREGORY, FRANK D.
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company K 116th Infantry, 29th Infantry Division. Place and date: Grandcampe France, 8 June 1944. Entered service at: Charlottesville, Va. Born. 10 April 1915, Esmont, Va. G.O. No.: 43, 30 May 1945. Citation: On 8 June 1944, the 3d Battalion of the 116th Infantry was advancing on the strongly held German defenses at Grandcampe, France, when the leading elements were suddenly halted by decimating machinegun fire from a firmly entrenched enemy force on the high ground overlooking the town. After numerous attempts to neutralize the enemy position by supporting artillery and tank fire had proved ineffective, T/Sgt. Peregory, on his own initiative, advanced up the hill under withering fire, and worked his way to the crest where he discovered an entrenchment leading to the main enemy fortifications 200 yards away. Without hesitating, he leaped into the trench and moved toward the emplacement. Encountering a squad of enemy riflemen, he fearlessly attacked them with handgrenades and bayonet, killed 8 and forced 3 to surrender. Continuing along the trench, he single-handedly forced the surrender of 32 more riflemen, captured the machine gunners, and opened the way for the leading elements of the battalion to advance and secure its objective. The extraordinary gallantry and aggressiveness displayed by T/Sgt. Peregory are exemplary of the highest tradition of the armed forces.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for June 8
FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR June 8 THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1908: The first aeronautical exhibit building was dedicated at the Jamestown Exposition on Sewell's Point, facing Hampton Roads across from Norfolk Va. (24)
1911: The Connecticut State Air Regulation passed and became the first state air law. (24)
1920: Lt John H. Wilson made a new unofficial world record parachute jump of 19,861 feet over San Antonio. (24)
1921: Lt Harold R. Harris flew an Army Air Service's first pressurized cabin airplane, the USD-9A. Harris was a noted Air Service pilot of the period. He flew the XNBL-1 "Barling" Bomber's first flight and became the first Air Service pilot to save his own life using a free-fall parachute. (18) (24)
1942: A presidential directive established the European Theater of Operations with Maj Gen James E. Chaney as commander. 1953: The Thunderbirds, officially known as the 3600th Air Demonstration Flight, gave their first performance at Luke AFB, Ariz. (21) (26)
1959: The USS Barbero submarine fired a Navy Regulus I missile off the Florida coast to deliver the mail ashore at Mayport. The missile made a 22-minute flight. (24) After a B-52 launched the X-15A-1 rocket research plane at 38,000 feet for its first nonpowered glide flight, Scott Crossfield flew the aircraft on a five-minute unpowered descent to Edwards AFB. (3) (7) (9)
1960: The 4135 SW from Eglin AFB launched SAC's first GAM-72A Quail missile. (6) While testing the X-15's new 57,000-pound thrust XLR-99 engine on a static test stand at Edwards AFB, Scott Crossfield endured a force of 50 G's.
1962: The USAF ejected Zena, a chimpanzee, from a B-58 flying at 45,000 feet at 1,060 MPH to test an escape capsule. (24)
1963: At Davis-Monthan AFB, the 570 SMS became SAC's first operational Titan II squadron. (6)
1966: Research pilot Joseph A. Walker, a veteran of 25 flights in the X-15 and holder of the world's speed and altitude records, died when his F-104N (NASA) chase plane collided with the XB-70 No. 2 near Edwards AFB. Alvin S. White, the XB-70 pilot, ejected successfully; however, his copilot, Maj Carl S. Cross, died when the aircraft crashed into the ground. (3)
1968: The Colorado ANG's 120 TFS, deployed to Phan Rang Air Base, flew its first combat mission in Vietnam. (32)
1971: An Air Force Thor space booster, with a Burner II upper stage, placed two instruments into a circular 300-nautical-mile polar orbit. This launch was part of the DoD's Space Experiments Support Program (SESP) to test a celestial mapping service. (16) The Air Force and Navy signed a joint agreement to develop the AIM-9L Short Range Missile for the F-15. Additionally, the Air Force approved the F-100 engine design for the F-15. (30)
1980: In the first all-woman airlift mission, Capt Susan R. Regele flew a C-9 from Scott AFB. The crew included two other pilots, two flight nurses, three aeromedical technicians, and a flight engineer. (18)
1984: The HH-60D Night Hawk helicopter flew for the first time at night. (3)
2001: Global Hawk No. 5 landed at Edwards AFB after a 22.3 hour flight from Australia. While there, the UAV completed 11 of 12 planned sorties in 238.5 flight hours. The Global Hawk took over 1,500 pictures. (3) Technicians towed a Boeing 747 fuselage from an aircraft salvage facility at Mojave Airport to south Edwards for integration into the airborne laser program's System Integration Laboratory under construction. (3)
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