The List: TheList 7226

The List 7226

Good Thursday morning July 3. . It was foggy and overcast again today and it is supposed clear by 8 and get to 79 later today. .

There is a Bubba Breakfast tomorrow and I hope to see a lot of you there.

Warm Regards,

skip

HAGD

Make it a GREAT Day

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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)

Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/. Go here to see the director's corner for all 91 H-Grams

July 3

1898 During the Spanish American War, when Rear Adm. Cerveras Spanish fleet attempts to flee from the harbor at Santiago, Cuba, but the U.S. Navy's Atlantic Squadron successfully pursues, attacks, and systematically destroys the Spanish vessels.

1942 A PBY 5A aircraft successfully fires the first airborne retro-rocket at Goldstone Lake, Calif.

1943 Submarine chaser USS (SC 1048) rescues survivors of a U-boat attack who had been sighted by a Navy blimp in the North Atlantic Ocean. The survivors are from the tanker Bloody Marsh, which was previously torpedoed July 2 and sunk by German submarine (U 66), which during its career sinks 37 Allied vessels until sunk by aircraft from USS Block Island (CVE 21) and USS Buckley 51) nearly a year later.

1944 USS Frost (DE 144) and USS Inch (DE 146) sink German submarine (U 154) off Madiera.

1950 USS Valley Forge (CV 45) and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean War. VF 51 aircraft from Valley Forge shoot down two North Korean aircraft. The action is also the first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.

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Today in World History July 3

1775 George Washington takes command of the Continental Army.

1790 In Paris, the Marquis de Condorcet proposes granting civil rights to women.

1844 American ambassador Caleb Cushing successfully negotiates a commercial treaty with China.

1863 Confederate forces attack the center of the Union line at Gettysburg, but fail to break it.

July 3, 1863: On the third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's last attempt at breaking the Union line ends in disastrous failure, bringing the most decisive battle of the American Civil War to an end.

In June 1863, following his masterful victory at the Battle of Chancellorsville, General Lee launched his second invasion of the Union in less than a year. He led his 75,000-man Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac River, through Maryland, and into Pennsylvania, seeking to win a major battle on Northern soil that would further dispirit the Union war effort and induce Britain or France to intervene on the Confederacy's behalf. The 90,000-strong Army of the Potomac pursued the Confederates into Maryland, but its commander, General Joseph Hooker, was still stinging from his defeat at Chancellorsville and seemed reluctant to chase Lee further. Meanwhile, the Confederates divided their forces and investigated various targets, such as Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania capital.

The Battle of Gettysburg

On June 28, President Abraham Lincoln replaced Hooker with General George Meade, and Lee learned of the presence of the Army of the Potomac in Maryland. Lee ordered his army to concentrate in the vicinity of the crossroads town of Gettysburg and prepare to meet the Federal army. At the same time, Meade sent ahead part of his force into Pennsylvania but intended to make a stand at Pipe Creek in Maryland.

On July 1, a Confederate division under General Henry Heth marched into Gettysburg hoping to seize supplies but finding instead three brigades of Union cavalry. Thus began the Battle of Gettysburg, and Lee and Meade ordered their massive armies to converge on the impromptu battle site. The Union cavalrymen defiantly held the field against overwhelming numbers until the arrival of Federal reinforcements. Later, the Confederates were reinforced, and by mid-afternoon some 19,000 Federals faced 24,000 Confederates. Lee arrived to the battlefield soon afterward and ordered a general advance that forced the Union line back to Cemetery Hill, just south of the town.

During the night, the rest of Meade's force arrived, and by the morning Union General Winfield Hancock had formed a strong Union line. On July 2, against the Union left, General James Longstreet led the main Confederate attack, but it was not carried out until about 4 p.m., and the Federals had time to consolidate their positions. Thus began some of the heaviest fighting of the battle, and Union forces retained control of their strategic positions at heavy cost. After three hours, the battle ended, and the total number of dead at Gettysburg stood in the thousands.

1878 John Wise flies the first dirigible in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

1901 The Wild Bunch, led by Butch Cassidy, commits its last American robbery near Wagner, Montana, taking $65,000 from a Great Northern train.

1903 The first cable across the Pacific Ocean is spliced between Honolulu, Midway, Guam and Manila.

1944 The U.S. First Army opens a general offensive to break out of the hedgerow area of Normandy, France.

1945 U.S. troops land at Balikpapan and take Sepinggan airfield on Borneo in the Pacific.

1950 U.S. carrier-based planes attack airfields in the Pyongyang-Chinnampo area of North Korea in the first air-strike of the Korean War.

1954 Food rationing ends in Great Britain almost nine years after the end of World War II.

1962 Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

1967 North Vietnamese soldiers attack South Vietnam's only producing coal mine at Nong Son.

1863 Battle of Gettysburg ends

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Rollingthunderremembered.com .

July 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).

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 Thursday July 3 More from micro who was there when it happened

July 3: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2265

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THANKSTO BRETT

Commentary

The Trump-Deranged 'Experts' Were Wrong. Again.

Victor Davis Hanson

Victor Davis Hanson @VDHanson

Victor Davis Hanson, a senior contributor for The Daily Signal, is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and host of "The Victor Davis Hanson Show." His website, The Blade of Perseus, features columns, lectures, and exclusive content for subscribers. Contact him at authorvdh@gmail.com.

Editor's note: This is a lightly edited transcript of today's video from Daily Signal Senior Contributor Victor Davis Hanson.

Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson for The Daily Signal. I want to talk about our so-called experts.

We know they've been wrong when they sign these collective letters—51 Intelligence authorities assured us Hunter Biden's laptop was pretty much made up in Russia. But recently, in some of the marquee newspapers, sites—Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, of course, The New York Times—they made a series of statements by so-called experts that are absolutely confounded by reality.

Let's take Iran. We get all of these stories that the combined Israel and the later United States strikes on the three key sites of uranium enrichment in Iran may not have done very much. We had a leak from the Pentagon, of course, that the media picked up that there was marginal damage.

Anybody who looked at the post-operational photographs could see that there was substantial damage. And so, we had David Albright, one of the most prestigious analysts of nuclear proliferation, he said there was serious damage. We had the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi: serious damage. We had Israel: serious damage—Israel intelligence. And our intelligence agencies said serious damage except for this outlying one from the Pentagon that the left-wing media picked up.

So, there is serious damage. I don't know why the Left, especially, tried to suggest there wasn't. Remember, this is very, very ironic and paradoxical. The Left told us before there was no need to strike Iran because they were months or years away from developing a bomb. There was no real existential danger now. As soon as we did hit, they said, "Oh my gosh, there might be uranium that could be quickly enriched."

Think of that. They were hyping up the threat after this complete obliteration of many sites than they were before.

The same inexactitude is true of the reaction to the Iran war. People on the Right—the MAGA base—said there would be 30,000 people killed, could cause World War III. We were told by the American and European Left that we were going to mix up a cauldron of hatred.

We were in Iranian airspace for about 25 minutes. No Americans were killed. Probably very few, if any, Iranians were killed. Immediately, President Donald Trump was able to enact a ceasefire when Iran retaliated and hit our base in Qatar with some ballistic missiles. We had 22-year-old, 23-year-old skeleton crews manning those Patriot batteries. They knocked them down. Trump did not reply. End of story. No World War III. No 30,000 killed. No endless wars.

Then we get to the border. And we were told that there's only one solution for the border, and that was "comprehensive immigration reform." We heard that for years. In fact, all that we needed was a new president to enforce existing laws.

We were told, even Donald Trump—should he come in and get everything he wants—there's no way you can reduce 10,000 people a day to zero. He did that. He did that. We were told that self-deportation was a myth. That was former Sen. Mitt Romney's idea in the 2012 election. He kept saying, "We can self-deport a lot of people. They will want to leave." But he had no plan how to do it.

Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol and Justice Department came up with a tripartite system. If you'd self-deport and you go back and you ever want to come back, you can. Legally. You can reapply. But if you're apprehended in the United States, illegally, you can't come back at least for 10 years. And we will give you a thousand dollars to go back. And we will pay your air ticket deep into your country.

And you know what? Almost a million people have self-deported. And immigration is now exclusively a problem of how to round up the people who came under President Joe Biden's administration. Not to prevent new people. They're not coming because of these deterrents.

Finally, The Wall Street Journal had told us that the tariffs in March and April, they were going to crash the stock market. They were going to raise prices. We would have a hyperinflation. We were going to have a recession. We were going to lose jobs when coupled with deportation of, you know, a million people leaving and another 300,000 or 400,000 deported.

And yet, here we are in June and the stock market is at a record high. The Japanese, the Chinese, their prices for their products, despite the tariffs that they're paying, are the same, if not lower. Job creation is good.

What am I getting at? Donald Trump is pretty commonsensical. If you take a million people away that were working in the shadows at cheaper wages and hurting American job opportunities and you make countries that had asymmetrical tariffs and were responsible for a $1.1 trillion trade deficit and you can stop that and they still want entry into the American market, then you can have an economic renaissance.

So just to conclude: On nuclear proliferation—wrong. On a forever war, following the bombing of the uranium enrichment plants in Iran—wrong. Wrong on the border that couldn't be defended, that you couldn't stop illegal immigration, you couldn't self-deport people. Wrong on tariffs. Wrong on the so-called trade war. No recession. No inflation. No sudden loss of jobs.

What is the analysis that binds all of us together, whether it's The Wall Street Journal, as I said, or Bloomberg, or any of these so-called economic gurus who write on those pages? You should try to shed your Trump Derangement Syndrome because it's really affecting your powers of judgment and analysis. And you're going to lose readers.

You are so wedded to the idea that Donald Trump is going to destroy the United States because of your personal animus, you cannot see that most people have commonsense solutions. Close the border. Tell people to leave who are here illegally. Tell countries not to put tariffs on our goods unless they want tariffs on theirs. And don't ever underestimate the U.S. Air Force when it flies into an undefended airspace.

In short, most of the criticism of Donald Trump was not based on reality. Is this going to stop that fraudulent reporting? No. It's going to continue. But we're going to be astute and awake for their inconsistencies.

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"Thanks to Johnny

When we don't know history, false narratives emerge

By Nicholas Giordano in TWT

Due to a failed education system that pushes ideology and indoctrination, many Americans are unaware of our rich and unique history — a history that exemplifi es why America is an exceptional nation. When we don't know our history, false narratives begin to emerge like the 1619 Project, pedaling the lie that our founders were nothing more than rich white men from England who wanted to preserve the institution of slavery.

America's real history begins with the Boston Massacre and the decision to craft the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration would convey our desire to be free from England and define the core American political philosophies, including life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Thomas Jefferson is synonymous with the Declaration. To a lesser degree, some may think of Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. Contrary to what has been taught, there are many unknown names from a diverse set of backgrounds that shaped our founding.

Unfortunately, most Americans have never heard of Filippo Mazzei who played a critical role in America's founding. Mazzei, an Italian merchant, befriended Jefferson. In 1773, Mazzei traveled to America and quickly took up the cause of independence.

Mazzei and Jefferson would regularly discuss politics, sharing their ideas on how true liberty could go from the theoretical and instituted into practice. In 1774, Mazzei published an article in the Virginia Gazette and wrote, "Tutti gli uomini sono per natura egualmente liberi e indipendenti. Quest' eguaglianza e neccessaria per costituire un governo libero." Jefferson translated Mazzei's work: "All men are by nature equally free and independent. This equality is necessary in order to create a free government." The idea would become a central part of the American creed and illustrates Mazzei's influence on the Declaration.

What makes this so remarkable is that Italians weren't considered white until the turn of the 20th century, and it would take nearly 200 years for Congress to recognize Mazzei's contribution. However, Mazzei's contributions go beyond the Declaration, and his story is one of the many contributions that are never taught, intentionally perpetuating the false narratives of an evil and racist nation. Few could recognize the names Capt. Richard Taliaferro, Capt. Ferdinando Finizzi and Capt. Francesco Vigo, all playing integral roles throughout the American Revolution.

Hispanics also contributed to the cause of independence. For example, Gen. Bernardo Galvez's victories on the battlefield were essential to eliminating British naval presence in the Gulf of Mexico. The contributions of other Hispanics like Gov. Luis de Unzaga and Lt. Jordi Mesquida also remain relatively unknown. Few Americans are aware that in the lead-up to America's independence, a Black man, Crispus Attucks was the first casualty when he was shot and killed in the Boston Massacre. How many of us know that 5,000 Black American patriots took up the cause of independence against the British, particularly the integrated 1st Rhode Island Regiment, which earned a reputation for bravery and ferocity? What about other Black patriots, like James Armistead, who served as a spy and double agent, or Peter Salem, best known for killing Major John Pitcairn at the Battle of Bunker Hill, or Phillis Wheatley whose literary talent influenced George Washington and Benjamin Franklin? What about Lancaster Hill, Prince Hall and others, demanding America live up to the principles laid out in the Declaration and abolish the institution of slavery?

Reducing our founding to a bunch of old rich white men is a lie and does a disservice to the countless others that have contributed to this great nation. It's odd that those who complain the loudest of whitewashing history are the same people who have controlled academia and curriculums for nearly a century. This Independence Day all Americans should make a commitment to reacquaint themselves with our country's vibrant history

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A Letter from the Founding Fathers by Don Feder

From: The Founding Fathers

To: The current generation of Americans

On this the anniversary of our independence, those of us you call the Founding Fathers have assembled in Continental heaven to assess the condition of the republic we bequeathed to you.

It's true America has become the wealthiest, most powerful nation on earth. But so was the British Empire in 1776.

Before we get specific, we must confess that we are annoyed by your habit of misinterpreting our words. Take the First Amendment, where we said Congress shall make no law "respecting an establishment of religion." You usually neglect the other half of the injunction, "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

As anyone in the first Congress, which passed the amendment, could have told you, "establishment of religion" means an established church, which all are forced to support. We never intended to create a virtue-less republic, by prohibiting public expressions of faith. In the Declaration of Independence, we acknowledged that rights are endowed by our Creator. Absent a Creator, there are no inalienable rights.

In the Second Amendment, we said the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. In our day, if private citizens hadn't owned guns there would have been no Lexington and Concord. Why would we bother guaranteeing a collective right to arm state militias? The rights enumerated in the first 10 amendments are restraints on government, not grants of power to it. If you ever wake up to what's going on, your leaders will have cause to fear an armed citizenry.

We viewed elective office as a sacrifice. For your politicians, it's an opportunity. We rid America of a monarchy. You've established an elected aristocracy. We were farmers, merchants and professionals who resumed our careers after a brief term of service and never lost touch with our constituents.

You are governed by an elite so different from you as to almost constitute a separate species. Your elected rulers hold office for 20 or 30 years, becoming increasingly detached from their roots, while rewarding themselves lavish emoluments and pensions.

We revolted over a modest tax on tea. Your tax burden is staggering. Despite the enormous expenditures of your prodigal politicians, even they can't spend it all. And still, many resist returning the federal surplus to its rightful owners. We rejected taxation without representation. You condone your own serfdom.

In the Declaration, we complained that King George III had "sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance." You complacently tolerate a bureaucracy that resembles all Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Eat out their substance? Today, almost one in 13 Americans works for a branch of government. Harass our people? There are bureaucrats to tell you how to run your business, build on your property and raise your children. Government makes decisions for you regarding your health, safety and welfare. We envisioned the judiciary as a coequal branch of government that interprets laws based on the clear meaning of language. Your courts have become a law unto themselves -- raising taxes, deciding elections, ordering private relationships and substituting their will for that of legislators. We warned you against entangling alliances. You are eager to form defensive pacts with postage-stamp countries whose security couldn't conceivably be related to your own. This will only serve to drag you into their petty quarrels, sapping your strength.

We recognized that government and society must rest on divine wisdom. George Washington observed, "Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." You cultivate national immorality, in the apparent belief that abortion, adolescent access to pornography, cohabitation, public distribution of prophylactics and compulsory acceptance of perversion will somehow lead to a society whose citizens have the self-discipline to sacrifice for the common good.

Benjamin Franklin said we gave you a republic "if you can keep it." From our vantage point, it does not look promising. Were we alive today, we'd raise another rebellion.

Submitted by Greg Madsen:

Greetings Patriotic American:

As we celebrate independence Day (Not the fourth of July), we should realize how blessed we are to have The Declaration of Independence. The Declaration states our rights come from God and government is only needed to protect those rights, not enslave us. The Declaration has five references to God. These are: God as Creator of all men; God as the source of all rights; God as the Supreme Lawmaker; God as the world's Supreme Judge, and God as our Protector.

The Founding Fathers pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to obtain the liberties we take for granted today. Many lost their families possessions and their lives so that we could be free today.

Patrick Henry stated that this nation was founded on Christian principles contained in the Holy Bible. The US Supreme Court in 1892 ruled that "our institutions are emphatically Christian."

Chief Justice Earl Warren led Supreme Court in 1962 and 1963, without precedence, banned prayer and Bible reading in public schools. This has resulted in secular Humanism's anti-Christian moral decay including Drag Queens, etc. today.

George Washington stated that the Christian religion and morality were indispensable supports for good government. George Mason during the 1787 Constitutional Convention said that if we stopped worshiping Jesus Christ as lord of the land, Providence (God) would punish us with natural calamities. Perhaps that is the cause today of violent weather, tornadoes, flooding, fires, etc.!

The Founding Fathers did not want a State Church or denomination like the Church of England, but they did want the Christian religion to be a part of the State. They wanted religion, morality and knowledge to be taught in schools. This was included in the 1787 Northwest Ordinance concerning new states joining the Union.

President Jefferson ordered that the Holy Bible be read in Washington, D.C. schools. Congress purchased 20,000 Bibles and authorize the government printing of Bibles. The motto of the Revolutionary War for Independence was: "No king, but King Jesus.

Our National Anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner," was penned by Francis Scott Key. In the early morning light after 27 hours of British warships bombardment of Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Key saw the 30' X 42' flag still flying. Many patriot soldiers died to keep the flag flying. It was a defeat for the British. We must always respect the flag.

The Founders honored Independence Day as a religious holiday because the author of liberty, Jesus Christ, made freedom possible for us.

The book, "The 5000 year Leap" by Cleon Skousen contains the 28 principles of liberty contained in the Declaration and Constitution. It should be taught in our schools!

Celebrate Independence Day by giving thanks to God for liberty and freedom!

A concerned citizen.

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28 Principles of Liberty by Cleon Skousen

• . The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law.

• . A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong.

• . The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders.

• . Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained.

• . All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible.

• . All mankind were created equal.

o Equal before God.

o Equal before the law.

o Equal in their rights.

•The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things.

• . Mankind are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights.

• . To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law.

• . The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people.

• . The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical.

• . The United States of America shall be a republic.

• . A Constitution should protect the people from the frailties of their rulers.

• . Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure.

• . The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations. Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation:

o The Freedom to try.

o The Freedom to buy.

o The Freedom to sell.

o The Freedom to fail.

• . The government should be separated into three branches.

• . A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government.

• . The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution.

• . Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people.

• . Efficiency and dispatch require that the government operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority.

• . Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom.

• . A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men.

• . A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education.

• . A free people will not survive unless they stay strong.

• . "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances with none."- Thomas Jefferson, given in his first inaugural address.

• . The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity.

• . The burden of debt is as destructive to human freedom as subjugation by conquest.

• . The United States has manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God's law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race.

God bless America,

Thanks to Al

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"If liberty is worth keeping and free representative government worth saving, we must stand for all American fundamentals—not some, but all. All are woven into the great fabric of our national well-being. We cannot hold fast to some only, and abandon others that, for the moment, we find inconvenient. If one American fundamental is prostrated, others in the end will surely fall."

- Albert J. Beveridge (1862-1927), American historian, US Senator (R-IN)

1920

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Thanks to History Facts

Razor blades used to be disposed of in holes in bathroom walls.

Should you find yourself renovating your bathroom anytime soon, be on the lookout for something strange: razor blades, which used to be tossed into holes in the bathroom wall. Depending on when your home was built, you might even still have one of these (vaguely terrifying) slots either in your medicine cabinet or the wall above your sink. They were fairly common in the early 20th century, when disposable blades first became widely available. Disposable razors made it safer and easier to shave at home, but problems arose when it came to actually disposing of the blades: Razor blades are sharp, not to mention potential biohazards, and simply tossing them in the trash ran the risk of accidentally nicking yourself with a used blade.

Enter the bathroom wall solution, which essentially delayed the problem by years or decades and passed the burden on to someone else. The question of razor blade disposal became less of an issue once better, more durable razors were introduced to the market, especially the kind you throw away entirely, handle and all. Thanks to these innovations, homes built in the 1970s or later are unlikely to include a disposal slot — which, unless you'd like to be greeted by hundreds of rusty blades when you knock down your bathroom wall, can only be a good thing.

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This Day in US Military History

July 3

1863 – Troops under Confederate General George Pickett begin a massive attack against the center of the Union lines at Gettysburg on the climactic third day of the Battle of Gettysburg, the largest engagement of the war. General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia encountered George Meade's Army of the Potomac in Pennsylvania and battered the Yankees for two days. The day before Pickett's charge, the Confederates had hammered each flank of the Union line but could not break through. Now, on July 3, Lee decided to attack the Union center, stationed on Cemetery Ridge, after making another unsuccessful attempt on the Union right flank at Culp's Hill in the morning. The majority of the force consisted of Pickett's division, but there were other units represented among the 15,000 attackers. After a long Confederate artillery bombardment, the Rebel force moved through the open field and up the slight rise of Cemetery Ridge. But by the time they reached the Union line, the attack had been broken into many small units, and they were unable to penetrate the Yankee center. The failed attack effectively ended the battle of Gettysburg. On July 4, Lee began to withdraw his forces to Virginia. The casualties for both armies were staggering. Lee lost 28,000 of his 75,000 soldiers, and Union losses stood at over 22,000. It was the last time Lee threatened Northern territory.

1890 – Idaho, the last of the 50 states to be explored by whites, is admitted to the union. Exploration of the North American continent mostly proceeded inward from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and northward from Spanish Mexico. Therefore, the rugged territory that would become Idaho long remained untouched by Spanish, French, British, and American trappers and explorers. Even as late as 1805, Idaho Indians like the Shoshone had never encountered a white man. That changed with the arrival of the American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the summer of 1805. Searching for a route over the Rocky Mountains to the Columbia River, Lewis and Clark traveled through Idaho with the aid of the Shoshone Indians and their horses. British fur traders and trappers followed a few years later, as did missionaries and a few hardy settlers. As with many remote western states, large-scale settlement began only after gold was discovered. Thousands of miners rushed into Idaho when word of a major gold strike came in September 1860. Merchants and farmers followed, eager to make their fortunes "mining the miners." By 1880, Idaho boasted a population of 32,610. In the southern section of the territory, many settlers were Mormons who had been dispatched from Salt Lake City to found new colonies. Increasingly, Idaho territory became divided between a Mormon-dominated south and an anti-Mormon north. In the mid-1880s, anti-Mormon Republicans used widespread public antipathy toward the Mormon practice of polygamy to pass legislation denying the predominantly Democratic Mormons the vote. With the Democratic Mormon vote disarmed, Idaho became a Republican-dominated territory. National Republicans eager to increase their influence in the U.S. Congress began to push for Idaho statehood in 1888. The following year, the Idaho territorial legislature approved a strongly anti-Mormon constitution. The U.S. Congress approved the document on this day in 1890, and Idaho became the 43rd state in the Union

1950 – USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph participate in first carrier action of Korean Conflict. VF-51 aircraft (Valley Forge) shoot down 2 North Korean aircraft. The action is first combat test of F9F Panther and AD Skyraider.

1950 – Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Leonard H. Plog, flying a F9F Panther jet fighter, shot down a Yak-9P, claiming the first U.S. Navy aerial victory of the Korean War.

Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day

CUSHING, ALONZO H.

Rank and Organization: 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Battery A, 4th US Artillery, II Corps, Army of the Potomac. Place and Date: Gettysburg, PA, July 3rd, 1863. Entered Service At: Fredonia, New York. Born: 19 January 1841, at Delafield, Wisconsin. Departed: Yes (07/03/1863). G.O. Number: . Date of Issue: 11/06/2014. Citation: First Lieutenant Alonzo H. Cushing distinguished himself by acts of bravery above and beyond the call of duty while serving as an artillery commander in Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, Army of the Potomac at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on July 3rd, 1863 during the American Civil War. That morning, Confederate forces led by General Robert E. Lee began cannonading First Lieutenant Cushing's position on Cemetery Ridge. Using field glasses, First Lieutenant Cushing directed fire for his own artillery battery. He refused to leave the battlefield after being struck in the shoulder by a shell fragment. As he continued to direct fire, he was struck again – this time suffering grievous damage to his abdomen. Still refusing to abandon his command, he boldly stood tall in the face of Major General George E. Pickett's charge and continued to direct devastating fire into oncoming forces. As the Confederate forces closed in, First Lieutenant Cushing was struck in the mouth by an enemy bullet and fell dead beside his gun. His gallant stand and fearless leadership inflicted severe casualties upon Confederate forces and opened wide gaps in their lines, directly impacting the Union force's ability to repel Pickett's charge. First Lieutenant Cushing's extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty at the cost of his own life are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, Army of the Potomac, and the United States Army.

HINCKS, WILLIAM B.

Rank and organization: Sergeant Major, 14th Connecticut Infantry. Place and date: At Gettysburg, Pa., 3 July 1863. Entered service at: Bridgeport, Conn. Birth: Bucksport, Me. Date of issue: 1 December 1864. Citation: During the highwater mark of Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863 the colors of the 14th Tenn. Inf. C.S.A. were planted 50 yards in front of the center of Sgt. Maj. Hincks' regiment. There were no Confederates standing near it but several were Iying down around it. Upon a call for volunteers by Maj. Ellis, commanding, to capture this flag, this soldier and 2 others leaped the wall. One companion was instantly shot. Sgt. Maj. Hincks outran his remaining companion running straight and swift for the colors amid a storm of shot. Swinging his saber over the prostrate Confederates and uttering a terrific yell, he seized the flag and hastily returned to his lines. The 14th Tenn. carried 12 battle honors on its flag. The devotion to duty shown by Sgt. Maj. Hlncks gave encouragement to many of his comrades at a crucial moment of the battle.

WINANS, ROSWELL

Rank and organization: Brigadier General (then First Sergeant), U.S. Marine Corps. Place and date: Guayacanas, Dominican Republic, 3 July 1916. Entered service at: Washington. Born. 9 December 1887, Brookville, Ind. G.O. No.: 244, 30 October 1916. Citation: During an engagement at Guavacanas on 3 July 1916, 1st Sgt. Winans participated in action against a considerable force of rebels on the line of march. During a running fight of 1,200 yards, our forces reached the enemy entrenchments and Cpl. Joseph A. Gowin, U.S.M.C., placed the machinegun, of which he had charge, behind a large log across the road and immediately opened fire on the trenches. He was struck once but continued firing his gun, but a moment later he was again struck and had to be dragged out of the position into cover. 1st Sgt. Winans, U.S.M.C., then arrived with a Colt's gun which he placed in a most exposed position, coolly opened fire on the trenches and when the gun jammed, stood up and repaired it under fire. All the time Glowin and Winans were handling their guns they were exposed to a very heavy fire which was striking into the logs and around the men, 7 men being wounded and 1 killed within 20 feet. 1st Sgt. Winans continued flring his gun until the enemy had abandoned the trenches.

*KOELSCH, JOHN KELVIN.

Rank and organization: Lieutenant (J.G.), U.S. Navy, Navy helicopter rescue unit. Place and date: North Korea, 3 July 1951. Entered service at: Los Angeles, Calif. Birth: London, England. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving with a Navy helicopter rescue unit. Although darkness was rapidly approaching when information was received that a marine aviator had been shot down and was trapped by the enemy in mountainous terrain deep in hostile territory, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch voluntarily flew a helicopter to the reported position of the downed airman in an attempt to effect a rescue. With an almost solid overcast concealing everything below the mountain peaks, he descended in his unarmed and vulnerable aircraft without the accompanying fighter escort to an extremely low altitude beneath the cloud level and began a systematic search. Despite the increasingly intense enemy fire, which struck his helicopter on 1 occasion, he persisted in his mission until he succeeded in locating the downed pilot, who was suffering from serious burns on the arms and legs. While the victim was being hoisted into the aircraft, it was struck again by an accurate burst of hostile fire and crashed on the side of the mountain. Quickly extricating his crewmen and the aviator from the wreckage, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch led them from the vicinity in an effort to escape from hostile troops, evading the enemy forces for 9 days and rendering such medical attention as possible to his severely burned companion until all were captured. Up to the time of his death while still a captive of the enemy, Lt. (J.G.) Koelsch steadfastly refused to aid his captors in any manner and served to inspire his fellow prisoners by his fortitude and consideration for others. His great personal valor and heroic spirit of self-sacrifice throughout sustain and enhance the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.

*SHUCK, WILLIAM E., JR.

Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company G, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Korea, 3 July 1952. Entered service at: Cumberland, Md. Born. 16 August 1926, Cumberland, Md. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a squad leader of Company G, in action against enemy aggressor forces. When his platoon was subjected to a devastating barrage of enemy small-arms, grenade, artillery, and mortar fire during an assault against strongly fortified hill positions well forward of the main line of resistance, S/Sgt. Shuck, although painfully wounded, refused medical attention and continued to lead his machine gun squad in the attack. Unhesitatingly assuming command of a rifle squad when the leader became a casualty, he skillfully organized the 2 squads into an attacking force and led 2 more daring assaults upon the hostile positions. Wounded a second time, he steadfastly refused evacuation and remained in the foremost position under heavy fire until assured that all dead and wounded were evacuated. Mortally wounded by an enemy sniper bullet while voluntarily assisting in the removal of the last casualty, S/Sgt. Shuck, by his fortitude and great personal valor in the face of overwhelming odds, served to inspire all who observed him. His unyielding courage throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

*BLANCHFIELD, MICHAEL R.

Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company A, 4th Battalion, 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade. Place and date: Binh Dinh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 3 July 1969. Entered service at: Chicago, Ill. Born: 4 January 1950, Minneapolis, Minn. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Blanchfield distinguished himself while serving as a rifleman in Company A on a combat patrol. The patrol surrounded a group of houses to search for suspects. During the search of 1 of the huts, a man suddenly ran out toward a nearby tree line. Sp4c. Blanchfield, who was on guard outside the hut, saw the man, shouted for him to halt, and began firing at him as the man ignored the warning and continued to run. The suspect suddenly threw a grenade toward the hut and its occupants. Although the exploding grenade severely wounded Sp4c. Blanchfield and several others, he regained his feet to continue the pursuit of the enemy. The fleeing enemy threw a second grenade which landed near Sp4c. Blanchfield and several members of his patrol. Instantly realizing the danger, he shouted a warning to his comrades. Sp4c. Blanchfield unhesitatingly and with complete disregard for his safety, threw himself on the grenade, absorbing the full and fatal impact of the explosion. By his gallant action and self-sacrifice, he was able to save the lives and prevent injury to 4 members of the patrol and several Vietnamese civilians in the immediate area. Sp4c. Blanchfield's extraordinary courage and gallantry at the cost of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 3, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY July 3

1915: Lt Byron Q. Jones became the first Army officer to deliberately loop and stall an aircraft at San Diego. (4) (24)

1936: Henry Ford bought the Wright Brothers workshop, where the Wrights built the first airplane, in Dayton for his Greenfield Village exhibit in Dearborn, Mich. (24)

1942: Lt Cmdr J. H. Hean (USN) flew a PBY-5A over Goldstone Lake, Calif., to fire the first retrorocket in flight. (24)

1949: The USAF gave the B-29 Enola Gay, the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, to the Smithsonian Institute. (24)

1950: KOREAN WAR. Gen Hoyt S. Vandenberg ordered the 22d Bombardment Group and 92d Bombardment Group to deploy with their B-29s to the Far East for conventional bombing operations against North Korea. FEAF continued to airlift US Army troops to Korea, but substituted smaller C-46s and C-47s for C-54s, which damaged Pusan's runways. Four F-80s completed the first mission with external rockets. Carrier F9F Pantherjets went into action in Korea with strikes in and around Pyongyong. This day also marked the first Navy kills in air combat as Lt Leonard H. Plog and Ensign E. W. Brown each shot down a Yak-9. (1) (28)

1952: KOREAN WAR. Brig Gen Chester E. McCarty, 315th AD commander, flew the 374th Troop Carrier Wing's first operational C-124 Globemaster from Japan to Korea. Additionally, in 13 sorties over enemy territory, C-47s dropped more than 22 million leaflets, over one-sixth of all dropped during the month. (28)

1958: A Boeing 707 Stratoliner set a commercial speed record by flying 1,550 miles from Mexico City to Los Angeles in 3 hours 9 minutes. (24)

1970: Through 13 July, MAC's first C-5A "Galaxy," assigned to the 437 MAW, left Charleston AFB on its first mission outside the CONUS. The Galaxy made a 10-day tour of PACAF bases to provide a first-hand explanation of its unique capabilities to MAC officers and airmen. The C5A stopped at Hickam AFB, Andersen AB, Clark AB, Cam Ranh Bay, Kadena and Yokota ABs in Japan, and Elmendorf AFB, before returning to Charleston on 13 July. In the states, the C-5 also visited Dover and Travis AFBs, on its 21,500-nautical-mile tour. (17)

1992: Operation PROVIDE PROMISE. The US European Command launched the operation to send C-130s, C-141s, C-5s, and C-9s to airlift relief supplies to Bosnia-Herzegovina on a regular basis. (16) (26)

1996: Majors Gavin L. Ketchen and Richard Vanderburgh from the 509 BW flew the twelfth operational B-2 Spirit from the Northrop Grumman plant at Palmdale, Calif., to Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo. (AFNEWS, 9 Jul 96)

2001: Lockheed Martin ferried the X-35B Joint Strike Fighter to Edwards AFB. (3)

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Thanks to Youthly Puresome who never ceases to provide stories from the old days that entertain us much more than the current events of today

The Great Earlobe Episode

So the great ship thrummed out of the quiet waters of Subic Bay and into the

open sea, finally ready to do battle with the rat-eating commies that lurked on the

feet-dry side of Yankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. Puresome, whose strength

was as the strength of ten because he was youthly and ignorant, couldn't wait.

After the long journey from Norfolk and many strange adventures during the

trip west, Puresome had enjoyed Cubi Point and the Philippines immensely. While

the black shoes unloaded the ship's boats and did sailor stuff, the air wing got to

fly and shake the kinks out as it savored the joys of the Philippines.

The carrier, finally ready for the last leg of the trip west and loaded with

manly young men ready to see the elephant, backed away from the pier and

steamed ceremoniously out of Subic Bay. Puresome almost forgot the quease in his

stomach as he savored the fierce joy of the moment.

The ship arrived at Dixie Station in the Tonkin Gulf under a clear, hot July

sky. The air wing was to start off Down South, warming up before going big time

Up North. Puresome, sweating in his newly green-dyed flight suit, got occasional

glimpses of land looming out of the distance. Listening to radio chatter in the air

operations center, he heard disembodied UHF voices of a flight reporting that its

forward air controller had just been shot down. It was Indian country all right.

The big day finally came. Puresome was scheduled as wingie on an actual

shooting mission. Because the mighty US of A had concentrated on doomsday

nuclear devices, there was a shortage of iron bombs, and Puresome was going to

tote three 500-lb. WW II fat bombs over to the Viet Cong. Puresome didn't care

— they were still things that went bump in the day.

"Yahoo!" Puresome hollered into his oxygen mask as the catapult thumped

him airborne into a beautiful flying day, and he climbed up to his squadron

rendezvous altitude. As the launch progressed, however, his heart sank. Judging

from the chatter on land-launch, it looked as if lead's aircraft had suffered bubbles

in the wet compass or other severe downing gripe, and would not launch.

"Etai! Japanese word for pain!" thought Puresome as he remembered that it

was verboten to go over the beach as a single ship.

"Etai!" Puresome thought again when he was unable to contact the

squadron's other section that had launched earlier and had boogied on their way.

Fortunately, there was another single still around in the form of an A-3 Whale

driver who had convinced someone that he should be allowed to tote a couple of

bombs just once. Puresome didn't care if it was a blimp — he easily picked up the

aluminum overcast lazily circling the ship and rendezvoused. The improbable duo

then headed outbound across the blue gulf toward the brown and green land of

sneaky, black pajamas.

Under the direction of Toejam 32, the Air Force FAC, they successfully

bombed possible land. Righteously. According to the FAC's damage report, the

flight scored 13 trees and 140 assorted small bushes and vines KBA (killed by air),

important data to be eventually shipped to Robert the Strange McNamara's

computers as proof that the Estados Unidos was seeing the light at the end of the

tunnel in the war against commie vegetation.

The warm-up period Down South came to an end without major hits. A

couple of airplanes had taken some pocks from number-four shotgun pellets fired

by skeet-shooting gomer experts. With the honeymoon ended, the ship pointed

north to Yankee Station.

The air wing's first Alpha strike was to be an early morning go, led by CAG

Earlobe himself, with most of the squadron heavies leading their components. The

brand new A-6As had been fussed over endlessly by a regiment of tech reps and

four had been made ready, draped with an obscene number of 500-lb. bombs. Eight

A-4s rounded out the bombers, and there were F-4s for flak suppression, BarCAP,

TarCAP and noise. Two Whales were to pump gas to the fighters while Teeny,

Tiny Tinker Tankers monitored the launch. Two more A-4s were to truck out to the

orbiting Air Force HU-16 Albatross to fly shotgun for any rescue operations.

Fudds flew out to watch the gaggle on radar, and Electric Spads had been given a

running start earlier so they could jam fire control radars. Of course, a RA-5C

Viggie would take 8x10 color glossy photos for post-strike commemorative

purposes.

Puresome had been left out once again, since he was at the awkward

seniority of not being junior enough to fly the skipper's wing nor senior enough to

be a favored number four. Though he was scheduled for a road reconnaissance

mission later in the day, he enviously went up to vulture's row to watch the launch.

He just happened to be watching the starboard catapult when Hawk 300,

CAG's airplane, fired down the track. Almost immediately, the A-4's canopy

separated from the aircraft and spun ignominiously away while its owner, looking

curiously like a semi-plucked fowl, made an acceptable clearing turn, cleaned up

and ducked out of sight to jettison gas and bombs before sneaking back aboard.

Somehow, the canopy had not gotten over-center locked, an important Scooter

cockpit check, and it had just unexplainably, mysteriously separated from the

aircraft. CAG was having a bad canopy day.

Puresome just shook his head and watched the smoke trails of many J79 and

J52 engines paint a path across the sky as they headed north. He did not realize that

the big frabbup scoreboard in the sky, now reading "one" in the Earlobe column,

was not done with lights and gongs for the day.

Eventually it came time to brief for the 1500 launch. Two Snake sections

were scheduled for different road recce missions. CAG was to lead one section

with LT Raypat as wingie while Puresome was number two to LT Poon. They

were slated to look for anything military moving between roughly Thanh Hoa and

Vinh and bomb, rocket or shoot it into unusable pieces. It sounded a lot more

satisfying than most of the stuff he had done down south, and Puresome had

studied up and was ready. The adrenaline build up was not, he assured himself,

really an attack of the chicken shits, though the net effect was about the same.

Puresome was glad he was flying with LT Poon, who had been around A-4s

for a while and was a good, level stick. On the other hand, Puresome had flown a

couple of hops with CAG Earlobe that were real interesting. CAG was a former F-

8 pilot and a hard-charger. He could fly an airplane real well, but other airplanes in

his division were sometimes buffaloed by his exotic, pre-NATOPS hand signals.

For instance, CAG's signal for a wingman to cross over was a finger point at the

wingman, followed by a finger point in the direction he wanted him to go. Section

signals were a bit trickier. Given the smack-into-another-airplane potential of

parade formation flying, everybody gave each other a lot of room until the

formation was sorted out.

CAG also had a bad case of the redfanny over his tactical callsign,

"Earlobe," which had been assigned by some paper-shuffling staff weenie. He

considered it definitely unmanly and unbefitting a former Crusader pilot, and had

full-time CAG staff personnel hard at work to get it changed to something more

befitting, like "Snakepit." In the meantime, he ground his teeth and growled as

much intensity into "Earlobe" as he could.

Puresome had an uneventful launch, and his excitement was high as he

circled at rendezvous altitude looking for Poon. He briefly cut across the circle

toward an A-4 but pulled away when he saw another A-4 join up to form a section,

since that was CAG and Raypat. Continuing to circle, Puresome soon realized that

Poon was not airborne, but was hard down on deck. Frabbed again!

But Puresome was not to be denied. He switched frequencies and called

Earlobe flight. Surprisingly, it was Raypat who answered. "Hey, Raypat, what's

your posit?" Puresome axed.

When Raypat came back with the information, Puresome explained that he

was single-ship and was on his way to join them. Cramming on full throttle, he

headed up the Gulf. Periodically, Puresome would ask Raypat for a posit update.

After about two calls, it became clear that he was not closing very fast and he

asked Raypat to slow down some.

"I would," Raypat answered, "but CAG is NORDO (no radio) and he's

leading!"

"Arrrrr!" Puresome snarled into his mask, his chain shortening noticeably.

Not only was he being thwarted from winning the war, but bottled-in-bond,

locked-in-concrete air wing rule number two was that you didn't go over the beach

without a radio.

Fortunately, Puresome caught the section just before they went feet dry, and

then it was Raypat and Puresome hanging onto CAG, who flailed about the sky as

he recce'd like crazy. Puresome hung on, simultaneously trying to avoid a mid-air,

look for the flak that dead-eye gunners obviously planned for him alone, and not

allow sneaky-eye MiG pilots to gun him as they had two F-105s earlier in the war.

Finally, CAG Earlobe was ammo minus and pulled off high. Raypat directed

Puresome to stick with CAG, now beginning to fly semi-predictably, while Raypat

went down to crater the approaches to a small wooden bridge. Aching to blow the

thing to bits, Puresome stuck with CAG and watched Raypat expend his ordnance.

When Raypat finally called off ammo minus, it was Puresome's turn. As

Raypat climbed up toward them, Puresome assumed he had them in sight and

directed his attention below to the target.

"Okay, Raypat. Three's in hot!" Puresome called, dumping his nose and

turning his master arm switch to the "on" position.

"Real good," said Raypat, "where's CAG?"

In the two potatoes that Puresome had taken his eyes off Earlobe, CAG had

done an octaphlugeron and flailed off again with Raypat and Puresome tailchasing

the hell after him.

"Arrrrr!" Puresome growled in frustration as his chain shortened by several

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