The List 7388
To All
Good Wednesday Morning December 17 2025 . It is mostly clear and sunny now and expected to be that way all day and hit 72 by 1. Can you believe the sun is setting at 4:44. The weather guessers are still busy changing and predicting clear skies until next Tuesday when they are looking at 4 days of rain through Christmas. Counting today we have 8 shopping days left before Christmas. The bobcat did not return last night. The crud still has me. In its grip but not as bad. I hope you are all doing well
.Regards
skip
.HAGD
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Thanks to Mud
Like him or not He's the only president I've ever seen in my 92 years who knows how to salute properly.
Subject: Check out Trump Stuns Army-Navy Crowd: Epic National Anthem & Surprise Coin Toss Ignite Pure Patriotism! 🇺🇸🔥 - YouTube
Click below to feel that tingle you get when you hear and watch the Star Spangled Banner being played and sung by the future leaders of our military and the man who leads us now.
Trump Stuns Army-Navy Crowd: Epic National Anthem & Surprise Coin Toss Ignite Pure Patriotism! 🇺🇸🔥 - YouTube
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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 94 H-Grams.
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History
December 17
1812—The brig Argus, commanded by Arthur Sinclair, captures the American schooner Vancise during the War of 1812. The ship had been abandoned by its crew and found derelict by another ship. A crew is placed on board and the ship is sent into the Chesapeake.
1846—During the Mexican-American War, the squadron under Commodore Matthew C. Perry captures Laguna de los Terminos without opposition. The squadron includes the side-wheeled steamer Mississippi, wooden steamer Vixen, schooner Bonito, and the shallow-draft vessel Petrel.
1863—The bark-rigged clipper ship Roebuck seizes blockade-runner British schooner Ringdove off Indian River, FL, with cargo including salt, coffee, tea, and whiskey.
1917—USS Remlik (SP 157) reportedly encounters an enemy submarine during a storm in the Bay of Biscay, but the weather prevents an engagement. While the ship is fighting the heavy seas that day, a depth charge breaks loose on her after deck and is secured by Chief Boatswain's Mate John MacKenzie, who receives the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions.
1917—While underway off Point Loma, CA, USS F 1 collides with her sister submarine, USS F 3. With her hull torn open amidships, it rapidly sinks and loses 19 crewmen.
1942—USS Grouper (SS 214) sinks the Japanese army passenger cargo ship Bandoeng Maru about 15 miles northwest of Cape Henpan, Buka Island, Solomons and survives the counterattack by submarine chaser Ch 29.
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Today in World History: December 17
1399 Tamerlane's Mongols destroy the army of Mahmud Tughluk, Sultan of Delhi, at Panipat.
1861 The Stonewall Brigade begins to dismantle Dam No. 5 of the C&O Canal.
1886 At a Christmas party, Sam Belle shoots his old enemy Frank West, but is fatally wounded himself.
1903 Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.
1927 U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg suggests a worldwide pact renouncing war.
1938 Italy declares the 1935 pact with France invalid because ratifications had not been exchanged. France denies the argument.
1939 In the Battle of River Plate near Montevideo, Uruguay, the British trap the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. German Captain Langsdorf sinks his ship believing that resistance is hopeless.
1943 U.S. forces invade Japanese-held New Britain Island in New Guinea.
1944 U.S. approves end to internment of Japanese Americans. U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issues Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that Japanese American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes effective January 2, 1945.
1944 The German Army renews the attack on the Belgian town of Losheimergraben against the defending Americans during the Battle of the Bulge.
1948 The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Kitty Hawk - the Wright brothers' plane.
1950 The French government appoints Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny to command their troops in Vietnam.
1952 Yugoslavia breaks relations with the Vatican.
1965 Ending an election campaign marked by bitterness and violence, Ferdinand Marcos is declared president of the Philippines.
1981 Red Brigade terrorists kidnap Brigadier General James Dozier, the highest-ranking U.S. NATO officer in Italy.
1989 Fernando Color de Mello becomes Brazil's first democratically elected president in nearly 30 years.
1989 The Simpsons, television's longest-running animated series, makes its US debut.
1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins Haiti's first free election.
2002 Congolese parties of the inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord in the Second Congo War, providing for transitional government and elections within two years.
2010 Mohamed Bouazizi immolates himself, the catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and the subsequent Arab Spring.
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Thanks to the Bear. We will always have the url for you to search items in Rolling Thunder
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER …
. rollingthunderremembered.com .
Thanks to Micro
From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..December 17
December 17: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1499
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature.
https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/news-articles/2022-news-articles/wall-of-faces-now-includes-photos-of-all-servicemembers-killed-in-the-vietnam-war/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TMNsend&utm_content=Y84UVhi4Z1MAMHJh1eJHNA==+MD+AFHRM+1+Ret+L+NC
By: Kipp Hanley
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From the archives and well worth your time to relive that way it was when we were young
Thanks to Bubbles
Subject: Interesting facts of Age
Born between 1930 and 1947 (GLOBALLY) have now passed away. If you were born in this time span, your ages range between 77 and 94 years old (a 17-year age span) and you are one of the rare surviving one-percenters.
You are the smallest group of children born since the early 1900's.
You are the last generation, climbing out of the depression, who can remember the winds of war and the impact of a world at war that rattled the structure of daily lives for years.
You are the last to remember ration books for everything from tea to sugar to shoes. You saved tin foil and poured fried meat fat into cans. You can remember milk being delivered to your house early in the morning and placed in the "milk box" at the front door . You can remember "Ice Boxes" and the Iceman delivering those large blocks for the compartment in the box.
Discipline was strictly enforced by parents and teachers and the latter applied the cane liberally to the hands, legs or backsides of disobedient students.
You are the last generation who spent childhood without television and instead, you "imagined" what you heard on the radio. With no TV, you spent your childhood "playing outside". There was no city playground for kids.
The lack of television in your early years meant that you had little real understanding of what the world was like.
You got "black-and-white" TV in the 50s that had 3 at best stations and no remote.
Telephones (if you had one) were one to a house and hung on the wall in the kitchen (who cares about privacy). Computers were called calculators; they were hand-cranked.
Typewriters were driven by pounding fingers, throwing the carriage, and changing the ribbon. INTERNET and GOOGLE were words that did not exist.
Newspapers and magazines were written for adults and your Dad would give you the comic pages after he read the news.
The news was broadcast on your radio in the evening. The radio network gradually expanded from 2 or 3 stations to dozens .
New highways would bring jobs and mobility. Most highways were 2 lanes and there were no motorways.
You went to the city to shop.
You walked to school and back.
Your parents were suddenly free from the confines of the depression and the war, and they threw themselves into working hard to make a living for their families.
You weren't neglected, but you weren't today's all-consuming family focus. They were glad you played things like Fiddle Sticks, Grab, Monopoly, Marbles, and Jacks by yourselves. They were busy discovering the postwar world.
You entered a world of overflowing plenty and opportunity; a world where you were welcomed, enjoyed yourselves. You felt secure in your future, although the depression and poverty were deeply remembered.
Polio was still a crippler. Everyone knew someone who had it.
You are the last generation to experience an interlude when there were no threats to our country. World War 2 was over and the Cold War , terrorism, global warming, and perpetual economic insecurity had yet to haunt life.
Only your generation can remember a time after WW2 when our world was secure and full of bright promise and plenty. You grew up at the best possible time, a time when the world was getting better. More than 99% of you are retired now, and you should feel privileged to have "lived in the best of times!"
If you have already reached the age of 77 years old, you have outlived 99% of all the other people on this planet. You are a 1% 'er!
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I was talking with Barrell on the phone the other day and I remembered this video that showedthe power of the moose. I looked for it for a while and then it popped up this morning
From the archives
Thanks to Toni and Dr. Rich
About Moose and men
A couple of days ago my wife sent me a picture of a set of the largest Moose antlers ever. I Immediately started looking for a video I had in a previous list That shows the power of these animals and finally asked Dr. Rich who sent me the url below and the note. He recently sent out some pictures of a brand new baby moose that has been coming to his place with the mother after being born nearby
From Dr. Rich
Several years ago I had a cow in our front yard, and needed to shoo her down the drive so I could get to our barn to bring up some firewood … I'd walk towards her, and she'd moved down the drive in increments of about 20 ft. When she was near the bottoom she stopped, snorted, and charged back up the drive at me. There was about 3 ft. of snow on each side of the drive, and I knew I couldn't escape her charge by moving into the deep snow, so I just stood my ground, shouted, and jumped up and down, waving some gloves I had in my hands …
She stopped about 3 ft. in front of me, snorted, turned around and walked back down the driveway … and I needed to clean my skivvies!!
They're not to be messed with .. We have lots around:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/12/15/daily-smile-saturday-december-16-2023-2/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=pBni7B5vPqwuAjhhihkPmNJb_KjYvTwS4WxAXJ7E4Kk%3D.UXPtrV
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. This is a repeat but a wonderful piece
Thanks to Barrel who lives in Alaska. .
This is just a beautifully written piece by an unknown author.
A WINTER FRIEND
This article is so befitting for all of us... take time to ponder... the last statement cannot be refuted!
You know time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems like yesterday that I was young, just married, and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all those years went.
I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams. But, here it is... the winter of my life, and it catches me by surprise... How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those "older people" were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.
But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting grey... they move slower and I see an older person in myself now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me... but, I see the great change... Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be.
Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!
And so... now I enter this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!! But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last... this I know, that when it's over on this earth... it's over. A new adventure will begin!
Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done... things I should have done, but indeed, there are also many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.
So, if you're not in your winter yet... let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly! Don't put things off too long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can TODAY, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!
You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life... so, LIVE FOR TODAY and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember.. and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!
"Life" is a GIFT to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.
Remember: "It is Health that is real Wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."
~Your kids are becoming you......but your grandchildren are perfect!
~Going out is good.. coming home is even better!
~You forget names... but it's OK, because other people forgot they even knew you!!!
~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything.... especially golf.
~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.
~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep."
~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..
~You tend to use more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"...???
~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.
~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless?!"
~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
~Everybody whispers.
~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will never wear.
~But "Old" is good in some things:
Old Songs, Old movies ...
and best of all, our dear ...OLD FRIENDS!!
Stay well, "OLD FRIEND!"
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Thanks to Nice News
Science
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First-of-Its-Kind Footage Suggests Dolphins and Orcas Work Together to Hunt
University of British Columbia (A.Trites), Dalhousie University (S. Fortune), Hakai Institute (K. Holmes), Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (X. Cheng)
Preparing a meal with friends can make the process all the more fun (and efficient), and some marine mammals might agree. Footage captured off the coast of British Columbia shows northern resident orcas trailing dolphins as they hunted for salmon, potentially marking the first evidence of these two species collaborating.
In a study published last week, scientists posited that the "cooperative foraging" helps the killer whales detect their prey, while the dolphins benefit from feasting on the food scraps once the salmon is caught. "These whales are top salmon hunting specialists. They're highly specialized and highly skilled predators. To see them following dolphins as though they were leaders was really counterintuitive — and really exciting," lead study author Sarah Fortune told The Guardian.
Another exciting finding: After tagging whales with cameras, scientists were able to listen in on a dolphin-orca hunt, and the recordings indicated echolocation clicks from both species. "Our tagged whale would echolocate, and then there'd be a period of silence, and then we'd hear dolphin echolocation clicks," Fortune said, adding, "And this raises a question: Are both species listening to each other? Are they eavesdropping?"
The researchers still have more to dig into in terms of how the setup is beneficial to the animals, as previous evidence points to orcas being "lone wolves" when it comes to hunting practices. But for now, you can check out the footage.
. But for now, you can check out the footage
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Thanks to 1440
Good morning. It's Wednesday, Dec. 17, and we're covering a looming water crisis in the US Southwest, the 250th birthday of a celebrated novelist, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million insatiably curious readers. Need To Know
Bondi Beach Updates
Australian authorities yesterday said Sunday's mass shooting at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah event, which killed at least 15 people, was a terrorist attack motivated by Islamic State ideology.
Police recovered two homemade Islamic State flags from the car of the suspects, a 50-year-old Indian man and his 24-year-old Australian-born son. The son, Naveed Akram, was hospitalized with critical injuries, while his father, Sajid Akram, was fatally shot at the scene. Authorities had interviewed both men in 2019 regarding the son's potential extremist associations but found no immediate threat. Last month, the pair traveled to the Philippines, where Islamic State militants are known to operate. The father was also a licensed firearm holder, prompting lawmakers to revisit gun control measures.
An online campaign has raised over $2.3M for Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-born fruit shop owner who disarmed one gunman before being shot by the other. Meanwhile, Australian blood banks reported nearly 50,000 appointments Monday—nearly double the previous daily record.
Colorado River Conundrum
Negotiations kicked off yesterday in Las Vegas to determine how to divide the Colorado River basin's shrinking water supplies. Any outcome will have implications for more than 40 million residents relying on the river to power cities, farms, and companies—including resource-heavy data centers and semiconductor businesses.
A decades-long drought (the worst in 1,200 years) has pushed Hoover Dam's Lake Mead to historic lows. The federal government aims to cut 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of water usage per year to reduce strain; an acre-foot equals 1 acre covered by 12 inches of water. However, the seven states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—have repeatedly reached an impasse. Two states (Arizona and Nevada) are swing states, adding political complexity to any steps lawmakers—or the federal government—take.
The Interior Department has threatened to impose its own plan if states can't agree on a plan to manage the river after next year, when the current arrangement expires
Jane Austen Turns 250
Jane Austen fans marked the English novelist's 250th birthday yesterday, celebrating the author whose sharp wit and class satire helped redefine the modern novel. Austen published six major works, including "Emma" and "Pride and Prejudice"—the first four anonymously as "By a Lady," and the last two after her death at 41, credited to her name for the first time.
Her books have sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide—with "Pride and Prejudice" accounting for more than 20 million—yet she earned less than £700 in her lifetime, roughly $67K today. She is often credited with popularizing the "enemies-to-lovers" trope and has inspired dozens of film and television adaptations, along with countless modern retellings, including "Bridget Jones's Diary" ("Pride and Prejudice") and "Clueless" ("Emma"). See her books in charts here.
Austen's novels remain staples of literature curricula worldwide. Commemorative events marking her birthday took place across the globe, particularly in the UK, where Austen-related tourism generates tens of millions each year.
in partnership with EnergyX
The Surprising Element Powering the AI Boom
Meta is preparing to build an AI data center the size of Manhattan. Why? Because scaling AI requires massive amounts of computing power. The secret to keeping them running? Lithium. Known for powering things like EVs and smartphones, data centers depend on it for constant power. The problem is, the world needs 18X today's lithium production to meet 2040's potential demand.
It's no wonder 40k+ people have already invested in EnergyX. Their patented tech can recover up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods. That's already earned investment from giants like General Motors and POSCO.
Now, they're moving toward commercial production. With 100,000+ acres of lithium deposits in Chile, that's a potential $1.1B in annual revenue opportunity at projected market prices. Invest in this boom as an early-stage EnergyX shareholder today.
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This Day in U S Military History December 17
1903 – Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight. Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of the German engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s. Unlike their older brothers, Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but they possessed extraordinary technical ability and a sophisticated approach to solving problems in mechanical design. They built printing presses and in 1892 opened a bicycle sales and repair shop. Soon, they were building their own bicycles, and this experience, combined with profits from their various businesses, allowed them to pursue actively their dream of building the world's first airplane. After exhaustively researching other engineers' efforts to build a heavier-than-air, controlled aircraft, the Wright brothers wrote the U.S. Weather Bureau inquiring about a suitable place to conduct glider tests. They settled on Kitty Hawk, an isolated village on North Carolina's Outer Banks, which offered steady winds and sand dunes from which to glide and land softly. Their first glider, tested in 1900, performed poorly, but a new design, tested in 1901, was more successful. Later that year, they built a wind tunnel where they tested nearly 200 wings and airframes of different shapes and designs. The brothers' systematic experimentations paid off–they flew hundreds of successful flights in their 1902 glider at Kill Devils Hills near Kitty Hawk. Their biplane glider featured a steering system, based on a movable rudder, that solved the problem of controlled flight. They were now ready for powered flight. In Dayton, they designed a 12-horsepower internal combustion engine with the assistance of machinist Charles Taylor and built a new aircraft to house it. They transported their aircraft in pieces to Kitty Hawk in the autumn of 1903, assembled it, made a few further tests, and on December 14 Orville made the first attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled during take-off and the plane was damaged, and they spent three days repairing it. Then at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, in front of five witnesses, the aircraft ran down a monorail track and into the air, staying aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. The modern aviation age was born. Three more tests were made that day, with Wilbur and Orville alternately flying the airplane. Wilbur flew the last flight, covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. During the next few years, the Wright brothers further developed their airplanes but kept a low profile about their successes in order to secure patents and contracts for their flying machines. By 1905, their aircraft could perform complex maneuvers and remain aloft for up to 39 minutes at a time. In 1908, they traveled to France and made their first public flights, arousing widespread public excitement. In 1909, the U.S. Army's Signal Corps purchased an especially constructed plane, and the brothers founded the Wright Company to build and market their aircraft. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912; Orville lived until 1948. The historic Wright brothers' aircraft of 1903 is on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
1925 – Col. William "Billy" Mitchell was convicted of insubordination at his court -martial. Mitchell was found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the good of the armed services. He was awarded the Medal of Honor 20 years after his death.
1938 – German chemist Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
1941 – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz named Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, to relieve Admiral Husband Kimmel. Admiral William Pye becomes acting commander until Nimitz's arrival. Admiral Kimmel had enjoyed a successful military career, beginning in 1915 as an aide to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He served admirably on battleships in World War I, winning command of several in the interwar period. At the outbreak of World War II, Kimmel had already attained the rank of rear admiral and was commanding the cruiser forces at Pearl Harbor. In January 1941, he was promoted to commander of the Pacific Fleet, replacing James Richardson, who FDR relieved of duty after Richardson objected to basing the fleet at Pearl Harbor. If Kimmel had a weakness, it was that he was a creature of habit, of routine. He knew only what had been done before, and lacked imagination-and therefore insight-regarding the unprecedented. So, even as word was out that Japan was likely to make a first strike against the United States as the negotiations in Washington floundered, Kimmel took no extraordinary actions at Pearl Harbor. In fact, he believed that a sneak attack was more likely at Wake Island or Midway Island, and requested from Lieutenant General Walter Short, Commander of the Army at Pearl Harbor, extra antiaircraft artillery for support there (none could be spared). Kimmel's predictability was extremely easy to read by Japanese military observers and made his fleet highly vulnerable. As a result, Kimmel was held accountable, to a certain degree, for the absolute devastation wrought on December 7. Although he had no more reason than anyone else to believe Pearl Harbor was a possible Japanese target, a scapegoat had to be found to appease public outrage. He avoided a probable court-martial when he requested early retirement. When Admiral Kimmel's Story, an "as told to" autobiography, was published in 1955, Kimmel made it plain that he believed FDR sacrificed him-and his career-to take suspicion off himself; Kimmel believed Roosevelt knew Pearl Harbor was going to be bombed, although no evidence has ever been adduced to support his allegation.
1944 – Eisenhower releases the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions from AEF reserve to reinforce American troops in the Ardennes. Other infantry and armored forces from US 12th Army Group are also being redeployed to meet the German offensive. Meanwhile, German forces capture 9000 Americans at Echternach, on the extreme right flank of the attack. Soldiers of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich kill some 71 American POWs near Malmedy.
1947 – First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber. The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (company Model 450) was a long range, six-engine, jet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interception. The B-47's primary mission was to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union. With its engines carried in nacelles under the swept wing, the B-47 was a major innovation in post-World War II combat jet design, and helped lead to modern jet airliners. The B-47 entered service with the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1951. It never saw combat as a bomber, but was a mainstay of SAC's bomber strength during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and remained in use as a bomber until 1965. It was also adapted to a number of other missions, including photographic reconnaissance, electronic intelligence and weather reconnaissance, remaining in service as a reconnaissance platform until 1969 and as a testbed until 1977.
We had B-47s At MacDill AFB in the late 50s Every once in a while the sirens would go off all over the base (One was right next to our quarters) and then I would hear the neighbor above us and the one next to us start running around their apartment and the blasting through the doors on their way to their aircraft pretty soon you could her the first jets start to wind up and then they would all be in a line on the taxi way which was not far from our home and start taxiing and taking off. One right after the other. It took quite a while to get all of them off and the black smoke trails marked their take off and climb out. This one particular time they launched every one that would get off the ground and they were gone for over a month or more…..skip
1950 – U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bruce H. Hinton, commander of the 336th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, earned the distinction of becoming the first F-86 Sabre fighter pilot to shoot down a MiG-15 during the Korean War.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BEAUMONT, EUGENE B.
Rank and organization: Major and Assistant Adjutant General, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Mississippi. Place and date: At Harpeth River, Tenn., 17 December 1864; at Selma, Ala., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Wilkes Barre, Pa. Birth: Luzerne County, Pa. Date of issue: 30 March 1898. Citation: Obtained permission from the corps commander to advance upon the enemy's position with the 4th U.S. Cavalry, of which he was a lieutenant; led an attack upon a battery, dispersed the enemy, and captured the guns. At Selma, Ala., charged, at the head of his regiment, into the second and last line of the enemy's works.
HEDGES, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Harpeth River, Tenn., 17 December 1864. Entered service at: Ohio. Birth: Ohio. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: At the head of his regiment charged a field battery with strong infantry supports, broke the enemy's line and, with other mounted troops, captured 3 guns and many prisoners.
MacKENZlE, JOHN
Rank and organization: Chief Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 July 1886, Bridgeport, Conn. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 391, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving on board the U.S.S. Remlik, on the morning of 17 December 1917, when the Remlik encountered a heavy gale. During this gale, there was a heavy sea running. The depth charge box on the taffrail aft, containing a Sperry depth charge, was washed overboard, the depth charge itself falling inboard and remaining on deck. MacKenzie, on his own initiative, went aft and sat down on the depth charge, as it was impracticable to carry it to safety until the ship was headed up into the sea. In acting as he did, MacKenzie exposed his life and prevented a serious accident to the ship and probable loss of the ship and the entire crew.
*COWAN, RICHARD ELLER
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company M, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Krinkelter Wald, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: Wichita, Kans. Birth: Lincoln, Nebr. G.O. No.: 48, 23 June 1945. Citation: He was a heavy machinegunner in a section attached to Company I in the vicinity of Krinkelter Wald, Belgium, 17 December 1944, when that company was attacked by a numerically superior force of German infantry and tanks. The first 6 waves of hostile infantrymen were repulsed with heavy casualties, but a seventh drive with tanks killed or wounded all but 3 of his section, leaving Pvt. Cowan to man his gun, supported by only 15 to 20 riflemen of Company I. He maintained his position, holding off the Germans until the rest of the shattered force had set up a new line along a firebreak. Then, unaided, he moved his machinegun and ammunition to the second position. At the approach of a Royal Tiger tank, he held his fire until about 80 enemy infantrymen supporting the tank appeared at a distance of about 150 yards. His first burst killed or wounded about half of these infantrymen. His position was rocked by an 88mm. shell when the tank opened fire, but he continued to man his gun, pouring deadly fire into the Germans when they again advanced. He was barely missed by another shell. Fire from three machineguns and innumerable small arms struck all about him; an enemy rocket shook him badly, but did not drive him from his gun. Infiltration by the enemy had by this time made the position untenable, and the order was given to withdraw. Pvt. Cowan was the last man to leave, voluntarily covering the withdrawal of his remaining comrades. His heroic actions were entirely responsible for allowing the remaining men to retire successfully from the scene of their last-ditch stand.
LOPEZ, JOSE M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Krinkelt, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: Brownsville, Tex. Birth: Mission, Tex. G.O. No.: 47, 18 June 1945. Citation: On his own initiative, he carried his heavy machinegun from Company K's right flank to its left, in order to protect that flank which was in danger of being overrun by advancing enemy infantry supported by tanks. Occupying a shallow hole offering no protection above his waist, he cut down a group of 10 Germans. Ignoring enemy fire from an advancing tank, he held his position and cut down 25 more enemy infantry attempting to turn his flank. Glancing to his right, he saw a large number of infantry swarming in from the front. Although dazed and shaken from enemy artillery fire which had crashed into the ground only a few yards away, he realized that his position soon would be outflanked. Again, alone, he carried his machinegun to a position to the right rear of the sector; enemy tanks and infantry were forcing a withdrawal. Blown over backward by the concussion of enemy fire, he immediately reset his gun and continued his fire. Single-handed he held off the German horde until he was satisfied his company had effected its retirement. Again he loaded his gun on his back and in a hail of small arms fire he ran to a point where a few of his comrades were attempting to set up another defense against the onrushing enemy. He fired from this position until his ammunition was exhausted. Still carrying his gun, he fell back with his small group to Krinkelt. Sgt. Lopez's gallantry and intrepidity, on seemingly suicidal missions in which he killed at least 100 of the enemy, were almost solely responsible for allowing Company K to avoid being enveloped, to withdraw successfully and to give other forces coming up in support time to build a line which repelled the enemy drive.
SODERMAN, WILLIAM A.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company K, 9th Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Rocherath, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: West Haven, Conn. Birth: West Haven, Conn. G.O. No.: 97, 1 November 1945. Citation: Armed with a bazooka, he defended a key road junction near Rocherath, Belgium, on 17 December 1944, during the German Ardennes counteroffensive. After a heavy artillery barrage had wounded and forced the withdrawal of his assistant, he heard enemy tanks approaching the position where he calmly waited in the gathering darkness of early evening until the 5 Mark V tanks which made up the hostile force were within pointblank range. He then stood up, completely disregarding the firepower that could be brought to bear upon him, and launched a rocket into the lead tank, setting it afire and forcing its crew to abandon it as the other tanks pressed on before Pfc. Soderman could reload. The daring bazookaman remained at his post all night under severe artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire, awaiting the next onslaught, which was made shortly after dawn by 5 more tanks Running along a ditch to meet them, he reached an advantageous point and there leaped to the road in full view of the tank gunners, deliberately aimed his weapon and disabled the lead tank. The other vehicles, thwarted by a deep ditch in their attempt to go around the crippled machine, withdrew. While returning to his post Pfc. Soderman, braving heavy fire to attack an enemy infantry platoon from close range, killed at least 3 Germans and wounded several others with a round from his bazooka. By this time, enemy pressure had made Company K's position untenable. Orders were issued for withdrawal to an assembly area, where Pfc. Soderman was located when he once more heard enemy tanks approaching. Knowing that elements of the company had not completed their disengaging maneuver and were consequently extremely vulnerable to an armored attack, he hurried from his comparatively safe position to meet the tanks. Once more he disabled the lead tank with a single rocket, his last; but before he could reach cover, machinegun bullets from the tank ripped into his right shoulder. Unarmed and seriously wounded he dragged himself along a ditch to the American lines and was evacuated. Through his unfaltering courage against overwhelming odds, Pfc. Soderman contributed in great measure to the defense of Rocherath, exhibiting to a superlative degree the intrepidity and heroism with which American soldiers met and smashed the savage power of the last great German offensive
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for December 17, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
17 December
1903: Orville Wright made the first sustained, controlled power airplane flight in the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk. In the fourth, and longest flight of the day, the Wright Flyer flew 852 feet in 59 seconds. (20)
1911: While flying in a Wright plane with Robert G. Fowler from Beaumont, Tex., to New York, N.Y., cameraman E. R. Shaw made the first aerial reconnaissance motion picture in America over Beaumont. (24)
1935: Carl Cover, Fred Stineman, and Frank Collbohm fly the Douglas Sleeper Transport on its first flight over Santa Monica. This aircraft preceded the famous DC-3 and the C-47 Gooneybird, the military variant. (21)
1943: THE ROBERT J. COLLIER TROPHY. Orville Wright presented the 1942 trophy to his former pupil, Gen Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General, US Army Air Forces, for outstanding achievement in aviation in 1942. (24)
1944: Major Richard Bong, 9th Fighter Squadron, shot down his 40th enemy plane in the Pacific. (21)
1945: THE ROBERT J. COLLIER TROPHY. President Harry S. Truman presented the 1944 award to Gen Carl Spaatz for "demonstrating the air power concept" in the European War. (24)
1946: At Holloman AFB, N. Mex., the National Institute of Health started a space biological research program. (24)
1947: A Boeing test pilot, Bob Robbins, flew the XB-47 Stratojet prototype for the first time at Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash. (12) (24)
1948: The Smithsonian Institution celebrated the return of the Wright's Kitty Hawk Flyer to the U. S. on the 45th anniversary of heavier-than-air flight. The London Science Museum kept the aircraft for more than 20 years before returning it on 22 November to Washington DC. (16) (26)
1950: KOREAN WAR. Far East Air Forces F-86 Sabres met North Korean MiG-15s for the first time in combat. Lt Col Bruce H. Hinton achieved the first F-86 aerial victory over a MiG-15. (21) (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Two F-86 Sabre pilots claimed the first sighting of the enemy's IL-28 twinjet bombers, one having crossed the Yalu River a few miles south of the Sui-ho Reservoir, escorted by two MiG-15s, while the other remained over Manchuria. (28)
1957: From Cape Canaveral, Fla., the Convair HGM-16 (Atlas A) ICBM made its first fully successful flight test landing in a target area some 500 miles away. The A-model had boosters, but no sustainer engines, and could not achieve stage separation in flight. (6) (24)
1963: Company pilots Leo Sullivan and Hank Dees flew the Lockheed C-141A Starlifter jet cargo transport for the first time in a 55-minute flight at Dobbins AFB, Ga. (12)
1967: The RF-111A prototype reconnaissance plane made its first flight at Fort Worth.
1969: PROJECT BLUE BOOK. Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr., announced that the Air Force had ended its investigation of UFOs. (16) (26) The Military Airlift Command and the 443d Military Airlift Wing at Altus AFB, Okla., received the first C-5A aircraft. (12) (18)
1979: Stan Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman, drove a rocket car faster than sound (739.66 MPH) for the first time at Rogers Dry Lake on Edwards AFB, Calif., on the 76th anniversary of the Wright's first flight. (3)
1980: The A-7K Prototype arrived at Edwards AFB, Calif., for testing. (3)
1990: A pilot flew the Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 at an unprecedented 60-degree angle-of-attack attitude in a test flight over Edwards AFB, Calif. (20)
1991: Through 22 December, the 436th, 438th, and 439th Military Airlift Wings flew 238 tons of food and relief supplies to Moscow and Saint Petersburg in Russia, Minsk in Byelorussia; and Yerevan in Armenia.
1993: The USAF received its first B-2A bomber (Tail No. 80329), the Spirit of Missouri. General John M Loh, the Air Combat Commander, and Lt Col John Bellanger, flew the aircraft from Palmdale, Calif., to Whiteman AFB, Mo., for its assignment with the 509th Bomb Wing. (15) (26)
1994: Through 21 December, a C-130 crew from the 94th Airlift Wing moved pallets of clothing, furniture, books, beds, and a refrigerator to Albania for orphan shelters. (16) (26)
2001: Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. C-17 Globemaster III airplanes began airlifting French troops from Istres AB, France, to Afghanistan. (21)
2003: In a ceremony in Long Beach, Boeing delivered the first of eight C-17 Globemaster IIIs to the 172nd Airlift Wing at Allen C. Thompson Field, Jackson, Miss. The aircraft (Tail No. 02-1112) was also the first C-17 delivered to an Air National Guard unit. The Mississippi Air National Guard named it The Spirit of Mississippi Minutemen to honor those Mississippians who, historically, had remained vigilant to defend America and the Magnolia State. The delivery occurred on the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' historic flight at Kitty Hawk. (22) (32)
2004: At Edwards AFB, Calif., the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) retired its B-52B "mothership" (Tail No. 52-0008). The air-launch aircraft dropped advanced research vehicles for test flights for nearly 50 years. At its retirement, 52-0008 was the oldest aircraft in the USAF and the oldest flyable B-52, but it had the lowest number of flying hours of any operational B-52. The aircraft first flew in June 1955, was modified to support the X-15 research program in 1959, and first carried the X-15 aloft in 1960. On 16 November 2004, 52-0008 flew its last mission to launch the X-43A hypersonic research aircraft on its record Mach 9.8 flight over the Pacific Ocean. It logged 1,051 sorties, including 405 test drops of rocket planes, manned lifting bodies, space vehicles, and parachute test fixtures. (3)
2007: The USAF marked the 104th anniversary of powered flight by flying a C-17 Globemaster III on the first transcontinental flight using a blend of regular aviation and synthetic fuel. The C-17 took off shortly before dawn from McChord AFB, Wash., and arrived at McGuire AFB, N.J., where Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and a number of other officials greeted the plane. (AFNEWS, "C-17 Uses Synthetic Fuel Blend on Transcontinental Flight," 18 Dec 2007.)
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-- To All
Good Wednesday Morning December 17 2025 . It is mostly clear and sunny now and expected to be that way all day and hit 72 by 1. Can you believe the sun is setting at 4:44. The weather guessers are still busy changing and predicting clear skies until next Tuesday when they are looking at 4 days of rain through Christmas. Counting today we have 8 shopping days left before Christmas. The bobcat did not return last night. The crud still has me. In its grip but not as bad. I hope you are all doing well
.Regards
skip
.HAGD
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Thanks to Mud
Like him or not He's the only president I've ever seen in my 92 years who knows how to salute properly.
Subject: Check out Trump Stuns Army-Navy Crowd: Epic National Anthem & Surprise Coin Toss Ignite Pure Patriotism! 🇺🇸🔥 - YouTube
Click below to feel that tingle you get when you hear and watch the Star Spangled Banner being played and sung by the future leaders of our military and the man who leads us now.
Trump Stuns Army-Navy Crowd: Epic National Anthem & Surprise Coin Toss Ignite Pure Patriotism! 🇺🇸🔥 - YouTube
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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 94 H-Grams.
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History
December 17
1812—The brig Argus, commanded by Arthur Sinclair, captures the American schooner Vancise during the War of 1812. The ship had been abandoned by its crew and found derelict by another ship. A crew is placed on board and the ship is sent into the Chesapeake.
1846—During the Mexican-American War, the squadron under Commodore Matthew C. Perry captures Laguna de los Terminos without opposition. The squadron includes the side-wheeled steamer Mississippi, wooden steamer Vixen, schooner Bonito, and the shallow-draft vessel Petrel.
1863—The bark-rigged clipper ship Roebuck seizes blockade-runner British schooner Ringdove off Indian River, FL, with cargo including salt, coffee, tea, and whiskey.
1917—USS Remlik (SP 157) reportedly encounters an enemy submarine during a storm in the Bay of Biscay, but the weather prevents an engagement. While the ship is fighting the heavy seas that day, a depth charge breaks loose on her after deck and is secured by Chief Boatswain's Mate John MacKenzie, who receives the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions.
1917—While underway off Point Loma, CA, USS F 1 collides with her sister submarine, USS F 3. With her hull torn open amidships, it rapidly sinks and loses 19 crewmen.
1942—USS Grouper (SS 214) sinks the Japanese army passenger cargo ship Bandoeng Maru about 15 miles northwest of Cape Henpan, Buka Island, Solomons and survives the counterattack by submarine chaser Ch 29.
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Today in World History: December 17
1399 Tamerlane's Mongols destroy the army of Mahmud Tughluk, Sultan of Delhi, at Panipat.
1861 The Stonewall Brigade begins to dismantle Dam No. 5 of the C&O Canal.
1886 At a Christmas party, Sam Belle shoots his old enemy Frank West, but is fatally wounded himself.
1903 Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.
1927 U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg suggests a worldwide pact renouncing war.
1938 Italy declares the 1935 pact with France invalid because ratifications had not been exchanged. France denies the argument.
1939 In the Battle of River Plate near Montevideo, Uruguay, the British trap the German pocket battleship Graf Spee. German Captain Langsdorf sinks his ship believing that resistance is hopeless.
1943 U.S. forces invade Japanese-held New Britain Island in New Guinea.
1944 U.S. approves end to internment of Japanese Americans. U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issues Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that Japanese American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes effective January 2, 1945.
1944 The German Army renews the attack on the Belgian town of Losheimergraben against the defending Americans during the Battle of the Bulge.
1948 The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Kitty Hawk - the Wright brothers' plane.
1950 The French government appoints Marshal de Lattre de Tassigny to command their troops in Vietnam.
1952 Yugoslavia breaks relations with the Vatican.
1965 Ending an election campaign marked by bitterness and violence, Ferdinand Marcos is declared president of the Philippines.
1981 Red Brigade terrorists kidnap Brigadier General James Dozier, the highest-ranking U.S. NATO officer in Italy.
1989 Fernando Color de Mello becomes Brazil's first democratically elected president in nearly 30 years.
1989 The Simpsons, television's longest-running animated series, makes its US debut.
1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide wins Haiti's first free election.
2002 Congolese parties of the inter Congolese Dialogue sign a peace accord in the Second Congo War, providing for transitional government and elections within two years.
2010 Mohamed Bouazizi immolates himself, the catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and the subsequent Arab Spring.
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Thanks to the Bear. We will always have the url for you to search items in Rolling Thunder
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER …
. rollingthunderremembered.com .
Thanks to Micro
From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..December 17
December 17: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1499
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature.
https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/ )
https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/news-articles/2022-news-articles/wall-of-faces-now-includes-photos-of-all-servicemembers-killed-in-the-vietnam-war/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TMNsend&utm_content=Y84UVhi4Z1MAMHJh1eJHNA==+MD+AFHRM+1+Ret+L+NC
By: Kipp Hanley
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From the archives and well worth your time to relive that way it was when we were young
Thanks to Bubbles
Subject: Interesting facts of Age
Born between 1930 and 1947 (GLOBALLY) have now passed away. If you were born in this time span, your ages range between 77 and 94 years old (a 17-year age span) and you are one of the rare surviving one-percenters.
You are the smallest group of children born since the early 1900's.
You are the last generation, climbing out of the depression, who can remember the winds of war and the impact of a world at war that rattled the structure of daily lives for years.
You are the last to remember ration books for everything from tea to sugar to shoes. You saved tin foil and poured fried meat fat into cans. You can remember milk being delivered to your house early in the morning and placed in the "milk box" at the front door . You can remember "Ice Boxes" and the Iceman delivering those large blocks for the compartment in the box.
Discipline was strictly enforced by parents and teachers and the latter applied the cane liberally to the hands, legs or backsides of disobedient students.
You are the last generation who spent childhood without television and instead, you "imagined" what you heard on the radio. With no TV, you spent your childhood "playing outside". There was no city playground for kids.
The lack of television in your early years meant that you had little real understanding of what the world was like.
You got "black-and-white" TV in the 50s that had 3 at best stations and no remote.
Telephones (if you had one) were one to a house and hung on the wall in the kitchen (who cares about privacy). Computers were called calculators; they were hand-cranked.
Typewriters were driven by pounding fingers, throwing the carriage, and changing the ribbon. INTERNET and GOOGLE were words that did not exist.
Newspapers and magazines were written for adults and your Dad would give you the comic pages after he read the news.
The news was broadcast on your radio in the evening. The radio network gradually expanded from 2 or 3 stations to dozens .
New highways would bring jobs and mobility. Most highways were 2 lanes and there were no motorways.
You went to the city to shop.
You walked to school and back.
Your parents were suddenly free from the confines of the depression and the war, and they threw themselves into working hard to make a living for their families.
You weren't neglected, but you weren't today's all-consuming family focus. They were glad you played things like Fiddle Sticks, Grab, Monopoly, Marbles, and Jacks by yourselves. They were busy discovering the postwar world.
You entered a world of overflowing plenty and opportunity; a world where you were welcomed, enjoyed yourselves. You felt secure in your future, although the depression and poverty were deeply remembered.
Polio was still a crippler. Everyone knew someone who had it.
You are the last generation to experience an interlude when there were no threats to our country. World War 2 was over and the Cold War , terrorism, global warming, and perpetual economic insecurity had yet to haunt life.
Only your generation can remember a time after WW2 when our world was secure and full of bright promise and plenty. You grew up at the best possible time, a time when the world was getting better. More than 99% of you are retired now, and you should feel privileged to have "lived in the best of times!"
If you have already reached the age of 77 years old, you have outlived 99% of all the other people on this planet. You are a 1% 'er!
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I was talking with Barrell on the phone the other day and I remembered this video that showedthe power of the moose. I looked for it for a while and then it popped up this morning
From the archives
Thanks to Toni and Dr. Rich
About Moose and men
A couple of days ago my wife sent me a picture of a set of the largest Moose antlers ever. I Immediately started looking for a video I had in a previous list That shows the power of these animals and finally asked Dr. Rich who sent me the url below and the note. He recently sent out some pictures of a brand new baby moose that has been coming to his place with the mother after being born nearby
From Dr. Rich
Several years ago I had a cow in our front yard, and needed to shoo her down the drive so I could get to our barn to bring up some firewood … I'd walk towards her, and she'd moved down the drive in increments of about 20 ft. When she was near the bottoom she stopped, snorted, and charged back up the drive at me. There was about 3 ft. of snow on each side of the drive, and I knew I couldn't escape her charge by moving into the deep snow, so I just stood my ground, shouted, and jumped up and down, waving some gloves I had in my hands …
She stopped about 3 ft. in front of me, snorted, turned around and walked back down the driveway … and I needed to clean my skivvies!!
They're not to be messed with .. We have lots around:
https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/12/15/daily-smile-saturday-december-16-2023-2/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&_kx=pBni7B5vPqwuAjhhihkPmNJb_KjYvTwS4WxAXJ7E4Kk%3D.UXPtrV
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. This is a repeat but a wonderful piece
Thanks to Barrel who lives in Alaska. .
This is just a beautifully written piece by an unknown author.
A WINTER FRIEND
This article is so befitting for all of us... take time to ponder... the last statement cannot be refuted!
You know time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems like yesterday that I was young, just married, and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all those years went.
I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams. But, here it is... the winter of my life, and it catches me by surprise... How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those "older people" were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.
But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting grey... they move slower and I see an older person in myself now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me... but, I see the great change... Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be.
Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!
And so... now I enter this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!! But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last... this I know, that when it's over on this earth... it's over. A new adventure will begin!
Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done... things I should have done, but indeed, there are also many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.
So, if you're not in your winter yet... let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly! Don't put things off too long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can TODAY, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!
You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life... so, LIVE FOR TODAY and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember.. and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!
"Life" is a GIFT to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.
Remember: "It is Health that is real Wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."
~Your kids are becoming you......but your grandchildren are perfect!
~Going out is good.. coming home is even better!
~You forget names... but it's OK, because other people forgot they even knew you!!!
~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything.... especially golf.
~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.
~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep."
~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..
~You tend to use more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"...???
~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.
~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless?!"
~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.
~Everybody whispers.
~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will never wear.
~But "Old" is good in some things:
Old Songs, Old movies ...
and best of all, our dear ...OLD FRIENDS!!
Stay well, "OLD FRIEND!"
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Thanks to Nice News
Science
________________________________________
First-of-Its-Kind Footage Suggests Dolphins and Orcas Work Together to Hunt
University of British Columbia (A.Trites), Dalhousie University (S. Fortune), Hakai Institute (K. Holmes), Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (X. Cheng)
Preparing a meal with friends can make the process all the more fun (and efficient), and some marine mammals might agree. Footage captured off the coast of British Columbia shows northern resident orcas trailing dolphins as they hunted for salmon, potentially marking the first evidence of these two species collaborating.
In a study published last week, scientists posited that the "cooperative foraging" helps the killer whales detect their prey, while the dolphins benefit from feasting on the food scraps once the salmon is caught. "These whales are top salmon hunting specialists. They're highly specialized and highly skilled predators. To see them following dolphins as though they were leaders was really counterintuitive — and really exciting," lead study author Sarah Fortune told The Guardian.
Another exciting finding: After tagging whales with cameras, scientists were able to listen in on a dolphin-orca hunt, and the recordings indicated echolocation clicks from both species. "Our tagged whale would echolocate, and then there'd be a period of silence, and then we'd hear dolphin echolocation clicks," Fortune said, adding, "And this raises a question: Are both species listening to each other? Are they eavesdropping?"
The researchers still have more to dig into in terms of how the setup is beneficial to the animals, as previous evidence points to orcas being "lone wolves" when it comes to hunting practices. But for now, you can check out the footage.
. But for now, you can check out the footage
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Thanks to 1440
Good morning. It's Wednesday, Dec. 17, and we're covering a looming water crisis in the US Southwest, the 250th birthday of a celebrated novelist, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million insatiably curious readers. Need To Know
Bondi Beach Updates
Australian authorities yesterday said Sunday's mass shooting at a Bondi Beach Hanukkah event, which killed at least 15 people, was a terrorist attack motivated by Islamic State ideology.
Police recovered two homemade Islamic State flags from the car of the suspects, a 50-year-old Indian man and his 24-year-old Australian-born son. The son, Naveed Akram, was hospitalized with critical injuries, while his father, Sajid Akram, was fatally shot at the scene. Authorities had interviewed both men in 2019 regarding the son's potential extremist associations but found no immediate threat. Last month, the pair traveled to the Philippines, where Islamic State militants are known to operate. The father was also a licensed firearm holder, prompting lawmakers to revisit gun control measures.
An online campaign has raised over $2.3M for Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-born fruit shop owner who disarmed one gunman before being shot by the other. Meanwhile, Australian blood banks reported nearly 50,000 appointments Monday—nearly double the previous daily record.
Colorado River Conundrum
Negotiations kicked off yesterday in Las Vegas to determine how to divide the Colorado River basin's shrinking water supplies. Any outcome will have implications for more than 40 million residents relying on the river to power cities, farms, and companies—including resource-heavy data centers and semiconductor businesses.
A decades-long drought (the worst in 1,200 years) has pushed Hoover Dam's Lake Mead to historic lows. The federal government aims to cut 2 million to 4 million acre-feet of water usage per year to reduce strain; an acre-foot equals 1 acre covered by 12 inches of water. However, the seven states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming—have repeatedly reached an impasse. Two states (Arizona and Nevada) are swing states, adding political complexity to any steps lawmakers—or the federal government—take.
The Interior Department has threatened to impose its own plan if states can't agree on a plan to manage the river after next year, when the current arrangement expires
Jane Austen Turns 250
Jane Austen fans marked the English novelist's 250th birthday yesterday, celebrating the author whose sharp wit and class satire helped redefine the modern novel. Austen published six major works, including "Emma" and "Pride and Prejudice"—the first four anonymously as "By a Lady," and the last two after her death at 41, credited to her name for the first time.
Her books have sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide—with "Pride and Prejudice" accounting for more than 20 million—yet she earned less than £700 in her lifetime, roughly $67K today. She is often credited with popularizing the "enemies-to-lovers" trope and has inspired dozens of film and television adaptations, along with countless modern retellings, including "Bridget Jones's Diary" ("Pride and Prejudice") and "Clueless" ("Emma"). See her books in charts here.
Austen's novels remain staples of literature curricula worldwide. Commemorative events marking her birthday took place across the globe, particularly in the UK, where Austen-related tourism generates tens of millions each year.
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This Day in U S Military History December 17
1903 – Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight. Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of the German engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s. Unlike their older brothers, Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but they possessed extraordinary technical ability and a sophisticated approach to solving problems in mechanical design. They built printing presses and in 1892 opened a bicycle sales and repair shop. Soon, they were building their own bicycles, and this experience, combined with profits from their various businesses, allowed them to pursue actively their dream of building the world's first airplane. After exhaustively researching other engineers' efforts to build a heavier-than-air, controlled aircraft, the Wright brothers wrote the U.S. Weather Bureau inquiring about a suitable place to conduct glider tests. They settled on Kitty Hawk, an isolated village on North Carolina's Outer Banks, which offered steady winds and sand dunes from which to glide and land softly. Their first glider, tested in 1900, performed poorly, but a new design, tested in 1901, was more successful. Later that year, they built a wind tunnel where they tested nearly 200 wings and airframes of different shapes and designs. The brothers' systematic experimentations paid off–they flew hundreds of successful flights in their 1902 glider at Kill Devils Hills near Kitty Hawk. Their biplane glider featured a steering system, based on a movable rudder, that solved the problem of controlled flight. They were now ready for powered flight. In Dayton, they designed a 12-horsepower internal combustion engine with the assistance of machinist Charles Taylor and built a new aircraft to house it. They transported their aircraft in pieces to Kitty Hawk in the autumn of 1903, assembled it, made a few further tests, and on December 14 Orville made the first attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled during take-off and the plane was damaged, and they spent three days repairing it. Then at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, in front of five witnesses, the aircraft ran down a monorail track and into the air, staying aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. The modern aviation age was born. Three more tests were made that day, with Wilbur and Orville alternately flying the airplane. Wilbur flew the last flight, covering 852 feet in 59 seconds. During the next few years, the Wright brothers further developed their airplanes but kept a low profile about their successes in order to secure patents and contracts for their flying machines. By 1905, their aircraft could perform complex maneuvers and remain aloft for up to 39 minutes at a time. In 1908, they traveled to France and made their first public flights, arousing widespread public excitement. In 1909, the U.S. Army's Signal Corps purchased an especially constructed plane, and the brothers founded the Wright Company to build and market their aircraft. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912; Orville lived until 1948. The historic Wright brothers' aircraft of 1903 is on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
1925 – Col. William "Billy" Mitchell was convicted of insubordination at his court -martial. Mitchell was found guilty of conduct prejudicial to the good of the armed services. He was awarded the Medal of Honor 20 years after his death.
1938 – German chemist Otto Hahn discovers the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.
1941 – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz named Commander in Chief, US Pacific Fleet, to relieve Admiral Husband Kimmel. Admiral William Pye becomes acting commander until Nimitz's arrival. Admiral Kimmel had enjoyed a successful military career, beginning in 1915 as an aide to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He served admirably on battleships in World War I, winning command of several in the interwar period. At the outbreak of World War II, Kimmel had already attained the rank of rear admiral and was commanding the cruiser forces at Pearl Harbor. In January 1941, he was promoted to commander of the Pacific Fleet, replacing James Richardson, who FDR relieved of duty after Richardson objected to basing the fleet at Pearl Harbor. If Kimmel had a weakness, it was that he was a creature of habit, of routine. He knew only what had been done before, and lacked imagination-and therefore insight-regarding the unprecedented. So, even as word was out that Japan was likely to make a first strike against the United States as the negotiations in Washington floundered, Kimmel took no extraordinary actions at Pearl Harbor. In fact, he believed that a sneak attack was more likely at Wake Island or Midway Island, and requested from Lieutenant General Walter Short, Commander of the Army at Pearl Harbor, extra antiaircraft artillery for support there (none could be spared). Kimmel's predictability was extremely easy to read by Japanese military observers and made his fleet highly vulnerable. As a result, Kimmel was held accountable, to a certain degree, for the absolute devastation wrought on December 7. Although he had no more reason than anyone else to believe Pearl Harbor was a possible Japanese target, a scapegoat had to be found to appease public outrage. He avoided a probable court-martial when he requested early retirement. When Admiral Kimmel's Story, an "as told to" autobiography, was published in 1955, Kimmel made it plain that he believed FDR sacrificed him-and his career-to take suspicion off himself; Kimmel believed Roosevelt knew Pearl Harbor was going to be bombed, although no evidence has ever been adduced to support his allegation.
1944 – Eisenhower releases the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions from AEF reserve to reinforce American troops in the Ardennes. Other infantry and armored forces from US 12th Army Group are also being redeployed to meet the German offensive. Meanwhile, German forces capture 9000 Americans at Echternach, on the extreme right flank of the attack. Soldiers of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich kill some 71 American POWs near Malmedy.
1947 – First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber. The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (company Model 450) was a long range, six-engine, jet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interception. The B-47's primary mission was to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union. With its engines carried in nacelles under the swept wing, the B-47 was a major innovation in post-World War II combat jet design, and helped lead to modern jet airliners. The B-47 entered service with the United States Air Force's Strategic Air Command (SAC) in 1951. It never saw combat as a bomber, but was a mainstay of SAC's bomber strength during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and remained in use as a bomber until 1965. It was also adapted to a number of other missions, including photographic reconnaissance, electronic intelligence and weather reconnaissance, remaining in service as a reconnaissance platform until 1969 and as a testbed until 1977.
We had B-47s At MacDill AFB in the late 50s Every once in a while the sirens would go off all over the base (One was right next to our quarters) and then I would hear the neighbor above us and the one next to us start running around their apartment and the blasting through the doors on their way to their aircraft pretty soon you could her the first jets start to wind up and then they would all be in a line on the taxi way which was not far from our home and start taxiing and taking off. One right after the other. It took quite a while to get all of them off and the black smoke trails marked their take off and climb out. This one particular time they launched every one that would get off the ground and they were gone for over a month or more…..skip
1950 – U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Bruce H. Hinton, commander of the 336th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, earned the distinction of becoming the first F-86 Sabre fighter pilot to shoot down a MiG-15 during the Korean War.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BEAUMONT, EUGENE B.
Rank and organization: Major and Assistant Adjutant General, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Mississippi. Place and date: At Harpeth River, Tenn., 17 December 1864; at Selma, Ala., 2 April 1865. Entered service at: Wilkes Barre, Pa. Birth: Luzerne County, Pa. Date of issue: 30 March 1898. Citation: Obtained permission from the corps commander to advance upon the enemy's position with the 4th U.S. Cavalry, of which he was a lieutenant; led an attack upon a battery, dispersed the enemy, and captured the guns. At Selma, Ala., charged, at the head of his regiment, into the second and last line of the enemy's works.
HEDGES, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, 4th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Harpeth River, Tenn., 17 December 1864. Entered service at: Ohio. Birth: Ohio. Date of issue: 5 April 1898. Citation: At the head of his regiment charged a field battery with strong infantry supports, broke the enemy's line and, with other mounted troops, captured 3 guns and many prisoners.
MacKENZlE, JOHN
Rank and organization: Chief Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 7 July 1886, Bridgeport, Conn. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No.: 391, 1918. Citation: For extraordinary heroism while serving on board the U.S.S. Remlik, on the morning of 17 December 1917, when the Remlik encountered a heavy gale. During this gale, there was a heavy sea running. The depth charge box on the taffrail aft, containing a Sperry depth charge, was washed overboard, the depth charge itself falling inboard and remaining on deck. MacKenzie, on his own initiative, went aft and sat down on the depth charge, as it was impracticable to carry it to safety until the ship was headed up into the sea. In acting as he did, MacKenzie exposed his life and prevented a serious accident to the ship and probable loss of the ship and the entire crew.
*COWAN, RICHARD ELLER
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company M, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Krinkelter Wald, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: Wichita, Kans. Birth: Lincoln, Nebr. G.O. No.: 48, 23 June 1945. Citation: He was a heavy machinegunner in a section attached to Company I in the vicinity of Krinkelter Wald, Belgium, 17 December 1944, when that company was attacked by a numerically superior force of German infantry and tanks. The first 6 waves of hostile infantrymen were repulsed with heavy casualties, but a seventh drive with tanks killed or wounded all but 3 of his section, leaving Pvt. Cowan to man his gun, supported by only 15 to 20 riflemen of Company I. He maintained his position, holding off the Germans until the rest of the shattered force had set up a new line along a firebreak. Then, unaided, he moved his machinegun and ammunition to the second position. At the approach of a Royal Tiger tank, he held his fire until about 80 enemy infantrymen supporting the tank appeared at a distance of about 150 yards. His first burst killed or wounded about half of these infantrymen. His position was rocked by an 88mm. shell when the tank opened fire, but he continued to man his gun, pouring deadly fire into the Germans when they again advanced. He was barely missed by another shell. Fire from three machineguns and innumerable small arms struck all about him; an enemy rocket shook him badly, but did not drive him from his gun. Infiltration by the enemy had by this time made the position untenable, and the order was given to withdraw. Pvt. Cowan was the last man to leave, voluntarily covering the withdrawal of his remaining comrades. His heroic actions were entirely responsible for allowing the remaining men to retire successfully from the scene of their last-ditch stand.
LOPEZ, JOSE M.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, 23d Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Krinkelt, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: Brownsville, Tex. Birth: Mission, Tex. G.O. No.: 47, 18 June 1945. Citation: On his own initiative, he carried his heavy machinegun from Company K's right flank to its left, in order to protect that flank which was in danger of being overrun by advancing enemy infantry supported by tanks. Occupying a shallow hole offering no protection above his waist, he cut down a group of 10 Germans. Ignoring enemy fire from an advancing tank, he held his position and cut down 25 more enemy infantry attempting to turn his flank. Glancing to his right, he saw a large number of infantry swarming in from the front. Although dazed and shaken from enemy artillery fire which had crashed into the ground only a few yards away, he realized that his position soon would be outflanked. Again, alone, he carried his machinegun to a position to the right rear of the sector; enemy tanks and infantry were forcing a withdrawal. Blown over backward by the concussion of enemy fire, he immediately reset his gun and continued his fire. Single-handed he held off the German horde until he was satisfied his company had effected its retirement. Again he loaded his gun on his back and in a hail of small arms fire he ran to a point where a few of his comrades were attempting to set up another defense against the onrushing enemy. He fired from this position until his ammunition was exhausted. Still carrying his gun, he fell back with his small group to Krinkelt. Sgt. Lopez's gallantry and intrepidity, on seemingly suicidal missions in which he killed at least 100 of the enemy, were almost solely responsible for allowing Company K to avoid being enveloped, to withdraw successfully and to give other forces coming up in support time to build a line which repelled the enemy drive.
SODERMAN, WILLIAM A.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company K, 9th Infantry, 2d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Rocherath, Belgium, 17 December 1944. Entered service at: West Haven, Conn. Birth: West Haven, Conn. G.O. No.: 97, 1 November 1945. Citation: Armed with a bazooka, he defended a key road junction near Rocherath, Belgium, on 17 December 1944, during the German Ardennes counteroffensive. After a heavy artillery barrage had wounded and forced the withdrawal of his assistant, he heard enemy tanks approaching the position where he calmly waited in the gathering darkness of early evening until the 5 Mark V tanks which made up the hostile force were within pointblank range. He then stood up, completely disregarding the firepower that could be brought to bear upon him, and launched a rocket into the lead tank, setting it afire and forcing its crew to abandon it as the other tanks pressed on before Pfc. Soderman could reload. The daring bazookaman remained at his post all night under severe artillery, mortar, and machinegun fire, awaiting the next onslaught, which was made shortly after dawn by 5 more tanks Running along a ditch to meet them, he reached an advantageous point and there leaped to the road in full view of the tank gunners, deliberately aimed his weapon and disabled the lead tank. The other vehicles, thwarted by a deep ditch in their attempt to go around the crippled machine, withdrew. While returning to his post Pfc. Soderman, braving heavy fire to attack an enemy infantry platoon from close range, killed at least 3 Germans and wounded several others with a round from his bazooka. By this time, enemy pressure had made Company K's position untenable. Orders were issued for withdrawal to an assembly area, where Pfc. Soderman was located when he once more heard enemy tanks approaching. Knowing that elements of the company had not completed their disengaging maneuver and were consequently extremely vulnerable to an armored attack, he hurried from his comparatively safe position to meet the tanks. Once more he disabled the lead tank with a single rocket, his last; but before he could reach cover, machinegun bullets from the tank ripped into his right shoulder. Unarmed and seriously wounded he dragged himself along a ditch to the American lines and was evacuated. Through his unfaltering courage against overwhelming odds, Pfc. Soderman contributed in great measure to the defense of Rocherath, exhibiting to a superlative degree the intrepidity and heroism with which American soldiers met and smashed the savage power of the last great German offensive
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for December 17, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
17 December
1903: Orville Wright made the first sustained, controlled power airplane flight in the Kill Devil Hills, near Kitty Hawk. In the fourth, and longest flight of the day, the Wright Flyer flew 852 feet in 59 seconds. (20)
1911: While flying in a Wright plane with Robert G. Fowler from Beaumont, Tex., to New York, N.Y., cameraman E. R. Shaw made the first aerial reconnaissance motion picture in America over Beaumont. (24)
1935: Carl Cover, Fred Stineman, and Frank Collbohm fly the Douglas Sleeper Transport on its first flight over Santa Monica. This aircraft preceded the famous DC-3 and the C-47 Gooneybird, the military variant. (21)
1943: THE ROBERT J. COLLIER TROPHY. Orville Wright presented the 1942 trophy to his former pupil, Gen Henry H. Arnold, Commanding General, US Army Air Forces, for outstanding achievement in aviation in 1942. (24)
1944: Major Richard Bong, 9th Fighter Squadron, shot down his 40th enemy plane in the Pacific. (21)
1945: THE ROBERT J. COLLIER TROPHY. President Harry S. Truman presented the 1944 award to Gen Carl Spaatz for "demonstrating the air power concept" in the European War. (24)
1946: At Holloman AFB, N. Mex., the National Institute of Health started a space biological research program. (24)
1947: A Boeing test pilot, Bob Robbins, flew the XB-47 Stratojet prototype for the first time at Boeing Field in Seattle, Wash. (12) (24)
1948: The Smithsonian Institution celebrated the return of the Wright's Kitty Hawk Flyer to the U. S. on the 45th anniversary of heavier-than-air flight. The London Science Museum kept the aircraft for more than 20 years before returning it on 22 November to Washington DC. (16) (26)
1950: KOREAN WAR. Far East Air Forces F-86 Sabres met North Korean MiG-15s for the first time in combat. Lt Col Bruce H. Hinton achieved the first F-86 aerial victory over a MiG-15. (21) (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Two F-86 Sabre pilots claimed the first sighting of the enemy's IL-28 twinjet bombers, one having crossed the Yalu River a few miles south of the Sui-ho Reservoir, escorted by two MiG-15s, while the other remained over Manchuria. (28)
1957: From Cape Canaveral, Fla., the Convair HGM-16 (Atlas A) ICBM made its first fully successful flight test landing in a target area some 500 miles away. The A-model had boosters, but no sustainer engines, and could not achieve stage separation in flight. (6) (24)
1963: Company pilots Leo Sullivan and Hank Dees flew the Lockheed C-141A Starlifter jet cargo transport for the first time in a 55-minute flight at Dobbins AFB, Ga. (12)
1967: The RF-111A prototype reconnaissance plane made its first flight at Fort Worth.
1969: PROJECT BLUE BOOK. Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr., announced that the Air Force had ended its investigation of UFOs. (16) (26) The Military Airlift Command and the 443d Military Airlift Wing at Altus AFB, Okla., received the first C-5A aircraft. (12) (18)
1979: Stan Barrett, a Hollywood stuntman, drove a rocket car faster than sound (739.66 MPH) for the first time at Rogers Dry Lake on Edwards AFB, Calif., on the 76th anniversary of the Wright's first flight. (3)
1980: The A-7K Prototype arrived at Edwards AFB, Calif., for testing. (3)
1990: A pilot flew the Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 at an unprecedented 60-degree angle-of-attack attitude in a test flight over Edwards AFB, Calif. (20)
1991: Through 22 December, the 436th, 438th, and 439th Military Airlift Wings flew 238 tons of food and relief supplies to Moscow and Saint Petersburg in Russia, Minsk in Byelorussia; and Yerevan in Armenia.
1993: The USAF received its first B-2A bomber (Tail No. 80329), the Spirit of Missouri. General John M Loh, the Air Combat Commander, and Lt Col John Bellanger, flew the aircraft from Palmdale, Calif., to Whiteman AFB, Mo., for its assignment with the 509th Bomb Wing. (15) (26)
1994: Through 21 December, a C-130 crew from the 94th Airlift Wing moved pallets of clothing, furniture, books, beds, and a refrigerator to Albania for orphan shelters. (16) (26)
2001: Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. C-17 Globemaster III airplanes began airlifting French troops from Istres AB, France, to Afghanistan. (21)
2003: In a ceremony in Long Beach, Boeing delivered the first of eight C-17 Globemaster IIIs to the 172nd Airlift Wing at Allen C. Thompson Field, Jackson, Miss. The aircraft (Tail No. 02-1112) was also the first C-17 delivered to an Air National Guard unit. The Mississippi Air National Guard named it The Spirit of Mississippi Minutemen to honor those Mississippians who, historically, had remained vigilant to defend America and the Magnolia State. The delivery occurred on the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' historic flight at Kitty Hawk. (22) (32)
2004: At Edwards AFB, Calif., the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) retired its B-52B "mothership" (Tail No. 52-0008). The air-launch aircraft dropped advanced research vehicles for test flights for nearly 50 years. At its retirement, 52-0008 was the oldest aircraft in the USAF and the oldest flyable B-52, but it had the lowest number of flying hours of any operational B-52. The aircraft first flew in June 1955, was modified to support the X-15 research program in 1959, and first carried the X-15 aloft in 1960. On 16 November 2004, 52-0008 flew its last mission to launch the X-43A hypersonic research aircraft on its record Mach 9.8 flight over the Pacific Ocean. It logged 1,051 sorties, including 405 test drops of rocket planes, manned lifting bodies, space vehicles, and parachute test fixtures. (3)
2007: The USAF marked the 104th anniversary of powered flight by flying a C-17 Globemaster III on the first transcontinental flight using a blend of regular aviation and synthetic fuel. The C-17 took off shortly before dawn from McChord AFB, Wash., and arrived at McGuire AFB, N.J., where Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne and a number of other officials greeted the plane. (AFNEWS, "C-17 Uses Synthetic Fuel Blend on Transcontinental Flight," 18 Dec 2007.)
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