The List 7393
To All
Good Monday Morning December 22, 2025 . When I woke up this morning it was dark and the dogs needed a trip out to do their business and get fed. It is still cloudy and is supposed to remain that way all day. It is supposed to stay cloudy the rest of the day and hit 69 by 1.. The weather guessers are now predicting rain starting tomorrow Tuesday and looking at 4 days of rain through Christmas. Counting today we have 2 shopping days left before Christmas..
.Regards
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Thanks to Al
Monday Morning Thoughts for Christmas
One of my traditions is that the Monday Morning Humor prior to Christmas contain thoughts and stories rather than jokes. These are my perennial favorites and some new ones. My intentions are to provide you with material to take you out of the holiday rush and put you in a Christmas spirit. It is long...but then again so was the Christmas shopping period which began back in October.
View "Take Care" at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ha1dtAFbAA
The True Meaning of Christmas
Late one Christmas Eve I sank back, tired but content, into my easy chair. The kids were in bed, the gifts were wrapped, the milk and cookies waited by the fireplace for Santa. As I sat back admiring the tree with its decorations, I couldn't help but feel that something was missing. It wasn't long before the tiny twinkling tree lights lulled me to sleep. I don't know how long I slept, but all of a sudden, I knew that I wasn't alone. I opened my eyes and you can imagine my surprise when I saw Santa Claus himself standing next to my Christmas tree.
He was dressed all in fur from his head to his foot just as the poem described him. But he was not the "jolly old elf" of Christmas legend. The man who stood before me looked sad and disappointed. And there were tears in his eyes. "Santa, what's wrong?" I asked. "Why are you crying?"
"It's the children," Santa replied sadly.
"But the children love you," I said.
"Oh, I know they love me and the gifts I bring them," Santa said. "But the children of today seem to have somehow missed out on the true spirit of Christmas. It's not their fault. It's just that the adults, many of them not having been taught themselves have forgotten to teach the children."
"Teach them what?" I asked.
Santa's kind old face became soft, more gentle. His eyes began to shine with something more than tears. He spoke softly. "Teach the children the true meaning of Christmas. Teach them that the part of Christmas we can see, hear and touch is much more than meets the eye. Teach them the symbolism behind the customs and traditions of Christmas we now observe. Teach them what it is they truly represent."
Santa reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny Christmas tree and set it on my mantle. "Teach them about the Christmas tree. Green is the second color of Christmas. The stately evergreen with its unchanging color represents the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Its needles point heavenward as a reminder that man's thoughts should turn heavenward as well."
Santa reached into his bag again and pulled out a shiny star and placed it at the top of the small tree.
"The star was the heavenly sign of promise. God promised a Savior for the world and the star was the sign of the fulfillment of that promise of the night that Jesus Christ was born. Teach the children that God always fulfills His promises and that wise men still seek Him."
"Red," said Santa, "is the first color of Christmas." He pulled forth a red ornament for the tiny tree.
"Red is deep, intense, vivid. It is the color of the life giving blood that flows through our veins. It is the symbol of God's greatest gift. Teach the children that Christ gave His life and shed His blood for them that they might have eternal life. When they see the color red it should remind them of that most wonderful gift."
Santa found a bell in his pack and placed it on the tree. "Just as lost sheep are guided to safety by the sound of the bell, it continues to ring today for all to be guided to the fold. Teach the children to follow the true Shepherd who gave His life for the sheep."
Santa placed a candle on the mantle and lit it. The soft glow from its one tiny flame brightened the room. "The glow of the candle represents how man can show his thanks for the gift of God's son that Christmas Eve long ago. Teach the children to follow in Christ's footsteps. To go about doing good. Teach them to let their lights shine before men that all may see it and glorify God. This is what is symbolized when the twinkle lights shine on the tree like hundreds of bright, shining candles, each of them representing one of God's precious children, their light shining for all to see."
Again, Santa reached into his bag and this time he brought forth a tiny red and white striped candy cane. As he hung it on the tree, he spoke softly, "The candy cane is a stick of hard, white candy. White to symbolize the virgin birth and sinless nature of Jesus and the shape 'J' to represent the precious name of Jesus who came to earth as our Savior. It also represents the crook of the Good Shepherd which he uses to reach down into the ditches of the world to lift out the fallen lambs who, like sheep, have gone astray. The original candy cane had three small red stripes which are the stripes of the scourging Jesus received by which we are healed, and a large red stripe that represents the shed blood of Jesus so that we can have eternal life. Teach these things to the children."
Santa brought out a beautiful wreath made of fresh fragrant greenery and tied with a bright red bow. "The bow reminds us of the bond of perfection which is love. The wreath embodies all the good things about Christmas for those with eyes to see and hearts to understand. It contains the colors of red and green and the heaven turned needles of the evergreen. The bow tells the story of good will towards all and its color reminds us of Christ's sacrifice. Even its very shape is symbolic, representing eternity and the eternal nature of Christ's love. It is a circle without beginning and without end. These are the things you must teach the children."
"But where does that leave you Santa?" I asked.
The tears gone now from his eyes, a smile broke over Santa's face. "Why, bless you my dear," he laughed. "I'm only a symbol myself. I represent the spirit of family fun and the joy of giving and receiving. If the children are taught these other things, there is no danger that I'll ever be forgotten."
"I think I'm beginning to understand at last," I replied.
"That's why I came," said Santa. "You're an adult. If you don't teach the children these things, then who will?"
Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. He didn't wear boots because he didn't like them and he didn't own any. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift. He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend."
Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough.
She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity.
Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the household in their mother's absence. Three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother.
Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing.
Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were.
It wasn't easy being six without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to.
Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment.
As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy anything with only a dime.
He noticed a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cent offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you."
As Bobby waited, he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers. The sound of the door closing as the last customer left, jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter.
There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them neatly into a long white box. "That will be ten cents young man." the shop owner said reaching out his hand for the dime.
Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime. Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime!
Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?"
This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door that the owner was holding open for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son."
As he returned inside, the shop keeper's wife walked out. "Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?"
Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime.
"When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars. "When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses."
The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel the cold at all.
I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so.
It had to be true.
Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" She snorted…."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.
That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself.
The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who went to my church.
I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.
Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat!
I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.
"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially, one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.
Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.
Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally, it did, and there stood Bobby.
Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.
That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were – ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team. I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside it of $19.95.
In September 1960, I woke up one morning with six hungry babies and just 75 cents in my pocket. Their father was gone. The boys ranged from three months to seven years; their sister was two. Their Dad had never been much more than a presence they feared. Whenever they heard his tires crunch on the gravel driveway they would scramble to hide under their beds. He did manage to leave 15 dollars a week to buy groceries. Now that he had decided to leave, there would be no more beatings, but no food either. If there was a welfare system in effect in southern Indiana at that time, I certainly knew nothing about it.
I scrubbed the kids until they looked brand new and then put on my best homemade dress. I loaded them into the rusty old 51 Chevy and drove off to find a job. The seven of us went to every factory, store and restaurant in our small town. No luck. The kids stayed, crammed into the car and tried to be quiet while I tried to convince whomever would listen that I was sailing to learn or do anything. I had to have a job. Still no luck.
The last place we went to, just a few miles out of town, was an old Root Beer Barrel drive-in that had been converted to a truck stop. It was called the Big Wheel. An old lady named Granny owned the place and she peeked out of the window from time to time at all those kids. She needed someone on the graveyard shift, 11 at night until seven in the morning. She paid 65 cents an hour and I could start that night. I raced home and called the teenager down the street that baby-sat for people. I bargained with her to come and sleep on my sofa for a dollar a night. She could arrive with her pajamas on and the kids would already be asleep. This seemed like a good arrangement to her, so we made a deal. That night when and the little ones and I knelt to say our prayers we all thanked God for finding Mommy a job. And so I started at the Big Wheel.
When I got home in the mornings I woke the baby-sitter up and sent her home with one dollar of my tip money-fully half of what I averaged every night. As the weeks went by, heating bills added another strain to my meager wage. The tires on the old Chevy had the consistency of penny balloons and began to leak. I had to fill them with air on the way to work and again every morning before I could go home. One bleak fall morning, I dragged myself to the car to go home and found four tires in the back seat. New tires! There was no note, no nothing, just those beautiful brand new tires. Had angels taken up residence in Indiana? I wondered. I made a deal with the owner of the local service station. In exchange for his mounting the new tires, I would cleanup his office. I remember it took me a lot longer to scrub his floor than it did for him to do the tires.
I was now working six nights instead of five and it still wasn't enough. Christmas was coming and I knew there would be no money for toys for the kids. I found a can of red paint and started repairing and painting some old toys. Then I hid them in the basement so there would be something for Santa to deliver on Christmas morning. Clothes were a worry too. I was sewing patches on top of patches on the boys pants and soon they would be too far gone to repair.
On Christmas Eve the usual customers were drinking coffee in the Big Wheel. These were the truckers, Les, Frank, and Jim, and a state trooper named Joe. A few musicians were hanging around after a gig at the Legion and were dropping nickels in the pinball machine. The regulars all just sat around and talked through the wee hours of the morning and then left to get home before the sun came up.
When it was time for me to go home at seven o'clock on Christmas morning I hurried to the car. I was hoping the kids wouldn't wake up before I managed to get home and get the presents from the basement and place them under the tree. (We had cut down a small cedar tree by the side of the road down by the dump.) It was still dark and I couldn't see much, but there appeared to be some dark shadows in the car-or was that just a trick of the night? Something certainly looked different, but it was hard to tell what.
When I reached the car I peered warily in to one of the side winders. Then my jaw dropped in amazement. My old battered Chevy was full-full to the top with boxes of all shapes and sizes. I quickly opened the driver's side door, scrambled inside and kneeled in the front facing the back seat. Reaching back, I pulled off the lid of the top box. Inside was a whole case of little blue jeans, sizes 2-10! I looked inside another box: It was full of shirts to go with the jeans.
Then I peeked inside some of the other boxes: There were candy and nuts and bananas and bags of groceries. There was an enormous ham for baking, and canned vegetables and potatoes. There was pudding and Jell-O and cookies, pie filling and flour. There was a whole bag of laundry supplies and cleaning items. And there were five toy trucks and one beautiful little doll. As I drove back through empty streets as the sun slowly rose on the most amazing Christmas Day of my life, I was sobbing with gratitude. And I will never forget the joy on the faces of my little ones that precious morning. Yes, there were angels in Indiana that long-ago December. And they all hung out at the Big Wheel truck stop.
Dear Santa:
As I have been shopping and planning my gifts for others this Christmas season, I have been thinking of the gifts I would like for myself. Please, dear Santa, bring me:
· Patience, and an understanding heart, and the wisdom to guide my children to happy, useful adulthood.
· A knowledge of the things needful for my spouse's happiness and health so that I may be a good helpmate as well as an understanding parent.
· Give me thoughtfulness that I may share my abundant joy with my own parents and do what I can for them in return for all they have given me.
· I wish, too, a joyous spirit which would meet each trial with a smile and add to the happiness of my friends and neighbors.
· Give me a critical attitude toward my own faults and a tolerant one toward the faults of others.
· And lastly, give me such a sense of fellowship with all people on earth that I cannot be truly happy until I have done my utmost to bring joy and relieve sorrow and suffering for others wherever they may be.
Gratefully yours.
P.S. If I have asked for too much, just give me a living, loving faith in the teachings of Him whose birthday we are celebrating this Christmas.
The Christmas ABCs
A is for ANGELS with robes so bright, whose carols were heard on that first Christmas Night.
B is for BABY, the Christ Child so dear. We celebrate His birthday on Christmas each year.
C is for CANDLES that so brightly shine to give a warm welcome to your friends and mine.
D is for DOORWAYS with garlands of green to make Christmas merry as far as they're seen.
E is for EVERGREENS, a Christmas décor we see at the windows and hung on the door.
F is for FUN the whole season long, from trimming the tree to singing a song.
G is for GREETINGS, a merry "Hello" with a heart full of love for people we know.
H is for HOLLY with berries so red to make into wreaths to hang overhead.
I is for ICE on snow covered hills where sledding is fun along with the spills.
J is for JINGLE BELLS merrily ringing. To the whole wide world, joy they are bringing.
K is for KRIS KRINGLE, so happy he stands. He's also called Santa in some other lands.
L is for LANTERNS. I'm sure that their light helped Mary and Joseph that first Christmas night.
M is for MARY, her heart full of love for her Son, little Jesus, who came from above.
N is for NOEL the angels did sing to herald the birth of Jesus, the King.
O is for ORNAMENTS, so shiny and bright. With lights on the tree, they sparkle at night.
P is for PACKAGES, presents so gay all 'round the tree for our Christmas day.
Q is for QUIET Christmas Eve night with snow covered hills glistening so bright.
R is for RED, a color so gay, makes things look bright for that one "special" day.
S is for SHEPHERDS who first saw the star over Bethlehem's manger and followed it far.
T is for TREES we decorate so gay. They wait for old Santa to hurry their way.
U is for UNIVERSE, all countries and places where the spirit of Christmas shows on bright, happy faces.
V is for VIXEN, that lively reindeer who always helps Santa deliver the toys each year.
W is for WISE MEN who brought gifts so rare and fell down and worshipped the Christ child so fair.
X goes with O and expresses much better the kisses and hugs in our Christmas letter.
Y is for YULE LOGS whose bright sparks fly high and give a warm welcome to friends passing by.
Z is the last of the letters, and yet it's the only one in the alphabet that doesn't stand for something you see and usually found on the Christmas tree. But as Santa said as he ZOOMED out of sight, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night."
There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.
Are you willing…
· to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you;
· to ignore what the world owes you, and to think what you owe the world;
· to put your rights in the background, and your duties in the middle distance, and your chances to do a little more than your duty in the foreground;
· to see that men and women are just as real as you are, and try to look behind their faces to their hearts, hungry for joy;
· to own up to the fact that probably the only good reason for your existence is not what you are going to get out of life, but what you are going to give to life;
· to close your book of complaints against the management of the universe, and look around you for a place where you can sow a few seeds of happiness.
Are you willing to do these things even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing…
· to stoop down and consider the needs and desires of little children;
· to remember the weakness and loneliness of people growing old;
· to stop asking how much your friends love you, and ask yourself whether you love them enough;
· to bear in mind the things that other people have to bear in their hearts;
· to try to understand what those who live in the same home with you really want, without waiting for them to tell you;
· to trim your lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and to carry it in front so that your shadow will fall behind you;
· to make a grave for your ugly thoughts, and a garden for your kindly feelings, with the gate open
Are you willing to do these things, even for a day? Then you can keep Christmas.
Are you willing…
· to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world
· stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death
· and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem over two thousand years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love?
Then you can keep Christmas.
And if you can keep it for a day, why not always?
But you can never keep it alone.
The Reason for the Season...or...why Jesus is better than Santa Claus:
• Santa lives at the North Pole...Jesus is everywhere.
• Santa rides in a sleigh...Jesus rides on the wind and walks on the water.
• Santa comes but once a year...Jesus is an ever present help.
• Santa fills your stockings with goodies...Jesus supplies all your needs.
• Santa comes down your chimney uninvited...Jesus stands at your door and knocks, and then enters your heart when invited.
• You have to wait in line to see Santa...Jesus is as close as the mention of His name.
• Santa lets you sit on his lap...Jesus lets you rest in His arms.
• Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, what's your name?"...Jesus knew our name before we were born...Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.
• Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly...Jesus has a heart full of love.
• All Santa can offer is Ho Ho Ho...Jesus offers health, help and hope.
• Santa says "You better not cry"...Jesus says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you."
• Santa's little helpers make toys...Jesus makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.
• Santa may make you chuckle but...Jesus gives you joy that is your strength.
• While Santa puts gifts under your tree...Jesus became our gift and died on a tree....the cross.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."--John 3:16
Wishing you all the blessings of this Christmas season,
Al
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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.
December 22
1775—Congress commissions the first naval officers: Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet Esek Hopkins; captains Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicolas Biddle, and John Hopkins; and 13 lieutenants including John Paul Jones.
1841—The Navy's first ocean-going side-wheel steam ship, the Mississippi, is commissioned at Philadelphia, PA.
1942—Sue Dauser takes the oath of office as Superintendent of Navy Nurse Corps, becoming the first woman with the relative rank of captain in U.S. Navy. She is promoted to the rank of captain Feb. 26, 1944.
1942—Aboard USS Silversides (SS 236), Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class Thomas A. Moore performs an emergency appendectomy on Fireman 3rd Class George M. Platter while the submarine is submerged and on war patrol in the Solomon Islands. Platter returned to duty within a few days of the operation.
1960—HS-3 and HU-2 helicopters, operating from USS Valley Forge, rescue 28 men from oiler SS Pine Ridge breaking up in heavy seas off Cape Hatteras, NC.
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Today in World History: December 22
1135 Stephen of Blois is crowned the king of England.
1775 Esek Hopkins takes command of the Continental Navy -- a total of seven ships.
1807 Congress passes the Embargo Act, which halts all trading completely. It is hoped that the act will keep the United States out of the European Wars.
1829 The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad opens the first passenger railway line.
1918 The last of the food restrictions, enforced because of the shortages during World War I, are lifted.
1929 Soviet troops leave Manchuria after a truce is reached with the Chinese over the Eastern Railway dispute.
1941 Japanese troops make an amphibious landing on the coast of Lingayen Gulf on Luzon, the Philippines.
1942 The Soviets drive German troops back 15 miles at the Don River.
1944 During the Battle of the Bulge, General Anthony McAuliffe responds to a German surrender request with a one word answer: "Nuts!"
1945 The United States recognizes Tito's government in Yugoslavia.
1965 The EF-105F Wild Weasel makes its first kill over Vietnam.
1966 The United States announces the allocation of 900,000 tons of grain to fight the famine in India.
1989 The Romanian government of Nicolae Ceausescu is overthrown, ending 42 years of communist rule.
1989 The division of East and West Germany effectively ends when the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin reopens for the first time in nearly 30 years.
1992 What became known as the Archives of Terror are discovered in a police station near the capital of Paraguay. The records detail tens of thousands of Latin Americans who had been secretly imprisoned, tortured and / or killed by the security services of several South American governments.
1997 Hussein Farrah Aidid relinquishes his disputed title of President of Somalia, an important step toward reconciliation in the country.
2001 A passenger on American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris, Richard Reid, unsuccessfully attempts to destroy the plane in flight by igniting explosives he'd hidden in his shoes.
2001 President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, takes over an interim government.
2008 Some 1.1 billion gallons of coal fly ash slurry flood part of Tennessee after an ash dike breaks at a solid waste containment area in Roane County, in the eastern part of the state.
2010 US President Barack Obama signs a law officially repealing the 17-year-old policy known as "Don't ask, don't tell"; the new law permits homosexuals to serve openly in the US military.
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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 22
22-Dec: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=3078
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Thanks to the Smithsonian
The Battle of the buldge
Veterans Commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler's Last Major Attack on the Western Front
Veterans and dignitaries gathered in Belgium and Luxembourg this month to reflect on the deadly World War II conflict that paved the way for a full Nazi defeat
In Bastogne, Belgium, dignitaries and American veterans who fought in the Battle of the Bulge gathered to commemorate the conflict's 80th anniversary. U.S. Army / Kristin Savage
On December 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German soldiers launched a surprise attack on Allied troops in a forested region of Belgium and Luxembourg known as the Ardennes. The ensuing World War II conflict—which lasted until January 25, 1945—became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
In the end, the Allies managed to quash Adolf Hitler's last-ditch effort to win the war. But their victory, which paved the way for a full Nazi defeat, came at a high cost: More than 75,000 American troops were killed, wounded or went missing in the conflict.
This month marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Bulge. Some of the few surviving American veterans gathered in Belgium and Luxembourg last weekend—along with American lawmakers and other dignitaries—for several commemorative events.
Now in their late 90s and early 100s, the aging former service members hope to keep the Battle of the Bulge's memory alive to "prevent any future war," as David Marshall, a 100-year-old veteran who manned a mortar during the conflict, told the Associated Press' Virginia Mayo and Bryan Carter last week.
Other veterans echoed that sentiment, including Joseph R. Picard, who was just 19 when he fought in the deadly battle.
"[Younger Americans] don't know much about it," Picard told Stars and Stripes' Phillip Walter Wellman at an event in Bastogne, Belgium, on December 14. "And you know what they say: If you don't keep the story alive, it's going to happen again. We don't want it to happen again."
Earlier this year, veterans and officials commemorated the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings at Normandy—an invasion that would ultimately set the stage for the Battle of the Bulge. On June 6, 1944, more than 160,000 American, British and Canadian soldiers arrived on a 50-mile stretch of France's coastline in what was the largest amphibious attack in history.
Over that summer, Allied troops slowly advanced into northern France and Belgium. The Allies liberated Paris in August 1944, then headed east toward the border with Germany.
The Battle of the Bulge was Hitler's counteroffensive. German soldiers initially outnumbered Allied forces and were able to penetrate the front line so deeply they made a large bump, or bulge, which is how the battle got its name.
But soon, reinforcements showed up. Fighting in cold, snowy weather, the Allies held on and eventually retook the ground they had lost.
The frigid winter conditions are what many surviving veterans remember most to this day.
"It started out rainy and foggy, but it got colder," American veteran Harry Miller tells the Washington Post's David Kindy. "Then we had snow up to our hips. I had an overcoat that was like a horse blanket. When it got wet, it was heavy and cumbersome. We slept under tanks or on the ground. It was so cold and miserable."
Men wearing military uniforms walking on snowy ground
The Battle of the Bulge was fought in cold, snowy conditions. U.S. Army
By the end of January 1945, the Allies had succeeded in pushing the Nazis back to Germany. The Germans suffered between 80,000 and 100,000 casualties in the battle and used up much of their supply of weapons, vehicles and other equipment.
"That was the beginning of the end of the war in Europe," says Mike Malone, director of veterans affairs for the Best Defense Foundation, a nonprofit that supports American veterans, to the Asbury Park Press' Jerry Carino. "It was an incredible outpouring of grit from these guys, who were 18 and 19 years old and barely had enough clothes on during this freezing winter."
Winston Churchill, then the British prime minister, described the Battle of the Bulge as "the greatest American battle of the war" and a conflict that would "be regarded as an ever-famous American victory."
One man putting a pin on another man's jacket, both dressed in military uniforms
Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe (right) was given a Distinguished Service Cross by General George S. Patton (left) for his leadership during the Battle of the Bulge. U.S. Army
One of the most memorable moments of the conflict occurred just before Christmas in Bastogne, when the Germans demanded that the American troops surrender. American Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe famously replied "NUTS!"
"So there would be no misinterpretation, an officer translated … 'It means the same as 'Go to Hell,'" according to a January 1945 issue of Time magazine.
After a commemorative parade in Bastogne earlier this month, attendees honored this reply by tossing nuts from the balcony of the city's town hall.
This year's commemorative World War II events were special because "Normandy, D-Day and [the Battle of the Bulge] are the last anniversaries that we'll be celebrating because there won't be any veterans five years from now," American veteran Jack Moran tells WCVB's Shaun Chaiyabhat.
Thanks to Ed
Skip
Micro's entry yesterday brought back some memories.
When I left VF-92 in January '71, I was assigned to USAF exchange duty with the 27th TFS at MacDill AFB in Tampa to fly the F-4E. When I got my orders, the 27th was an operational squadron but as I was leaving Miramar, its mission was changed to RTU so my orders changed to include a two month stay at Davis Monthan AFB to attend USAF Central Instructor School and become an F-4 IP. When I arrived at Mac Dill the squadron was about to begin training its first class of students but there was still a number of pilots around from the operational days who wouldn't remain with the squadron as IPs. Several of these pilots had served a tour of duty in Vietnam in the back seat of the F-4. The rules at the time were that these pilots could upgrade to the front seat but were required to serve another tour in Vietnam if they did so. As I recall few, if any, of these pilots accepted this offer. They were effectively stashed in the squadron and removed from flight status until their release from active duty. These pilots were understandably a bitter bunch and their effect on squadron morale was terrible. The introduction of trained WSOs to the USAF F-4 community measurably improved the operation and the sunset of the back seat pilot program was not missed by anyone.
Ed Flynn=
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FROM: Joe C.
SUBJ: Fifth Night of Operation Linebacker II
The night of December 22/23 1972 saw more B-52 attacks on POL and railways at Haiphong but none were lost. However one F-111A, C/S Jackel 33 was hit by AAA while attacking port facilities on the Red River near Bulls eye. The crew ejected safely in their encapsulated system. The left-seater, Captain Bob Sponeybarger E&E'd for three days before being captured. The right-seat pilot, our own Bill Wilson, was almost rescued on the fourth day as he was trying to reach a container of food & water dropped to him by an A-7D. But the North Vietnamese had booby trapped the container with a small explosive charge to trap him. Sponeybarger and Wilson were the only F-111 crew shot down to become POWs. Their ejection cockpit/capsule is now in Moscow.
Two POWs but no KIAs.
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Thanks to 1440
Good morning. It's Monday, Dec. 22, and we're covering a seized oil tanker, the first wheelchair user in space, and much more.
Need To Know
Second Tanker Seized
The US said it seized an oil tanker leaving Venezuela Saturday and was pursuing another vessel as of this writing. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem released a video of Coast Guard members boarding the ship via helicopter; see here.
The Panamanian-flagged oil tanker called the Centuries was not on a list of US-sanctioned entities. Observers claim it had previously shipped sanctioned goods and had engaged in spoofing—a practice of falsifying location data. It is believed to be owned by a China-based trader and was estimated to be carrying more than 1.8 million barrels of crude oil. Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves—estimated at over 300 billion barrels—and exports an estimated 749,000 barrels per day, 80% of which goes to China.
The US Coast Guard first seized a tanker in the region, the Skipper, earlier this month (see write-up). Oil prices jumped 3% since President Donald Trump announced a blockade last week on oil tankers entering and exiting Venezuela.
Turning Point USA Returns
Turning Point USA wrapped up its fifth annual AmericaFest yesterday, a gathering of some of the most prominent figures in the conservative movement.
More than 30,000 people attended this year's event—the first since founder and former CEO Charlie Kirk was assassinated in September. Speakers included Donald Trump Jr., House Speaker Mike Johnson (R, LA-4), and media figures including Megyn Kelly, Ben Shapiro, and Tucker Carlson. The convention saw high-profile moments of infighting, including over the US' relationship with Israel and allegations of antisemitism. Vice President JD Vance gave the closing speech after TPUSA CEO Erika Kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, endorsed him for president last week (Vance has not announced a bid as of this writing).
TPUSA is a significant force in the conservative movement, generating over $500M in total revenue since its 2012 founding and boasting over 350,000 grassroots donors. Learn about the organization's finances here.
Historic Space Trip
A 33-year-old German engineer became the first wheelchair user to go to space over the weekend, riding aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard launch vehicle. The roughly 10-minute-long trip took Michaela Benthaus, paralyzed below the neck in a bike accident in 2018, and five other passengers more than 65 miles above the Earth's surface.
The Jeff Bezos-owned company has emerged as a leader in the nascent space tourism industry, having shuttled 86 passengers across 17 flights just past the edge of outer space since 2021. The trips rely on a reusable booster that launches vertically, with the capsule separating at the Kármán line—which roughly marks where space begins—before coasting and eventually parachuting back to Earth. Previous passengers include a 90-year-old William Shatner and singer Katy Perry.
Benthaus' trip was sponsored by a fellow passenger, though general public reservations can be made with a $150K deposit
The Credit Card your iPhone's Been Waiting For
Most people don't realize what Apple Card actually offers—but once they do, they might never look at credit cards the same way.
And that's because Apple Card is unlike any other. It has no fees of any kind on anything and it offers Daily Cash back on every purchase. That's 3% back on everything at Apple, 2% Daily Cash back every time you use the card with Apple Pay, and 1% back using the titanium Apple Card. Plus, you can deposit the Daily Cash you earn in a high-yield Savings account with a 3.65% APY when you open an account through Apple Card. In short, your Daily Cash can grow automatically in a Savings account … and we like the sound of that.
In The Know
Third "Avatar" installment earns $88M at the domestic box office, $345M globally (More)
Boxer and influencer Jake Paul loses to former world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in Netflix match Friday, confirms jaw broken in two places (More)
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Thanks to Bill
To help you find "Inner Peace" over the next few days
If you can start the day without caffeine,
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,
If you can conquer tension without medical help,
If you can relax without alcohol,
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
Then You Are Probably
The family dog
And you thought I was going to get all spiritual ...
Handle every stressful situation like a dog.
If you can't eat it or play with it,
Pee on it and walk away
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
The last American to collect a Civil War pension died in 2020.
The U.S. Civil War ended in 1865 after four grueling years of conflict, but the Confederacy's surrender at Appomattox Court House didn't instantly bring closure to a tattered nation. Instead, it marked the beginning of the laborious task of rebuilding a divided country, one that had more than 2 million newly minted veterans. Many were injured from battle or suffered war-related illnesses, and those who didn't survive the war often left behind families with few ways to support themselves. As a solution to a growing health care and social crisis, the U.S. government created a pension system to financially aid Union soldiers and their widows for the rest of their lives. (Confederate soldiers did not qualify, though some Southern states funded their pensions.) By 1956, the last surviving Civil War veteran had died, but the Department of Veterans Affairs would continue issuing pension payments for decades to come — up until 2020.
Irene Triplett, a 90-year-old North Carolina woman, was the last person to receive a Civil War pension, thanks to her father's service in the Union Army. Mose Triplett was originally a Confederate soldier who deserted in 1863 and later joined a Union regiment, a move that kept him out of the fight at Gettysburg, where 90% of his former infantry was killed. Switching sides also guaranteed Mose a pension for the remainder of his life, which would later play a role in him remarrying after the death of his first wife. At age 78, Mose married the 27-year-old Elida Hall — a move historians say was common during the Great Depression, when aging veterans needing care could provide financial security to younger women. The couple had two children, including Irene, who was diagnosed with cognitive impairments that allowed her to qualify for her father's pension after both parents' deaths. By the time of Irene's own passing in 2020, the U.S. government had held up its duty, paying out Mose Triplett's pension for more than 100 years.
And a related historical Fact
The oddest fact about the Civil War
The 1860s brought war to the doorsteps of many Americans, but none as literally as Wilmer McLean, who witnessed the beginning and end of the Civil War from his own home. McLean and his wife, Virginia Mason, moved to Manassas, Virginia, in 1853, shortly after their wedding. A few years later, the couple was surprised when Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard commandeered their property to serve as his headquarters ahead of the first major land battle of the Civil War, the First Battle of Bull Run (although several smaller skirmishes had been fought during the months prior). The home was so close to the action that a cannonball soared through the kitchen and landed in the fireplace. The battle ended on July 21, 1861, in a Confederate victory, and as the fighting continued, the McLeans decided to head south.
As fate would have it, by 1863, the McLeans were reestablished in a small village called Appomattox Court House in southern Virginia. On April 9, 1865, the couple received a knock on their door. It was Charles Marshall, the aide to Confederate General Robert E. Lee, asking for a secure meeting location for the general. McLean showed Marshall surrounding properties, but none was as suitable as his own home, which he eventually volunteered. Later that day, Lee arrived at the McLean house, followed by Union General Ulysses S. Grant. It was at this meeting in the parlor that Lee formally surrendered to Grant, signaling the end of the American Civil War.
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Great story of the American spirit of Christmas and giving.
Take a few minutes to watch an inspiring story that will probably stir your emotions this Christmas Season.
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Thanks to John H and Dr. Rich
A little Christmas Cheer !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EaAmXwituc
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From the Archives
By Everett Piper - - Saturday, December 18, 2021
OPINION:
A couple of weeks ago, in this column, I wrote that it's that time of year, that "most wonderful time of year," when our country's thought police come out of the woodwork to tell us what we can and cannot say. I wrote of stories too numerous to count where our culture's minions of mind control stand barricaded behind their cash registers at Target and Starbucks, telling us what greetings we can and cannot use. I wrote of doublespeak and hypocrisy. I wrote of intolerance while claiming to be tolerant. I wrote of Orwell's obedient lemmings waving their Christmas banners of inclusion while shamelessly excluding anyone who dares to say, "Merry Christmas."
This duplicitous lunacy is not new. In fact, it has been with us for years. Consider the case of American Airlines Flight 1140.
On Dec. 23, 2015, a passenger was tossed off a plane at New York's La Guardia Airport because of his reaction to an airline worker who wished him, shame for shame, a "Merry Christmas."
As the story goes, this traveler was waiting to board the plane when the gate agent welcomed everyone with the traditional season's greeting. The offended passenger responded by shouting, "You shouldn't say that. Not everyone celebrates Christmas."
Well, once seated inside, our Mr. Scrooge was greeted by another American Airlines employee who was apparently oblivious to the earlier exchange. This time, it was a flight attendant who made the same unforgivable error of wishing Ebenezer a "Merry Christmas."
And that was the last straw. "Don't say Merry Christmas," raged Jack Frost before launching into a tirade whereby he presumed to lecture the attendants, the pilot and all others within earshot about their festive faux pas.
Refusing to calm down, he continued his tirade. The end result was that he was escorted off the plane as his audience of fellow passengers burst into cheers and applause at his departure.
While this story may seem humorous because of its absurdity, we need to think about its serious side for a moment.
Consider, for example, the man's premise that Christmas, i.e., the historicity of the birth of Christianity, is an offense and that this malcontent, and presumably millions of others like him, would be better off without it.
Our first reaction to this claim should be to ask a basic question. What would the world look like today if it weren't for Christmas? In other words, what would life be like if our grumpy traveler had his way and the "ideas and acts [of Christmas had not been] hurled across the centuries and around the world" (Thomas Cahill); some 2000 years ago?
Whether you're a believer in the theology of Christmas or simply an open-minded historian, you have to confess to the impact of the holiday's sociology and cosmology on western civilization. The fact of the matter is that the story of the birth of Christ has dramatically changed humanity's understanding of life and the way we live it. From Saul of Tarsus to Emperor Constantine, to Wesley, Wilberforce and Whitfield; to Chesterton and Lewis, millions of lives have been turned from deception and debauchery to compassion and love because of Christmas.
History tells us that the Greek and Roman cultures stopped the practice of "exposure," otherwise known as infanticide, because of Christmas. The Celtics, Prussians, Aztecs and Mayans abandoned human sacrifice because of Christmas. Sexual fidelity and respect for marriage were normalized in the Roman Empire and throughout the West because of Christmas. Women were no longer considered mere property and chattel because of Christmas. Compassion for the sick and the dying during the great plagues of Europe took place because of Christmas. Charity for the poor and the elderly became expected during the Industrial Revolution because of Christmas. Hospitals, orphanages, child labor laws, education, economic freedom, the dignity of labor, civil rights, private property and racial equality all were established and promoted because of Christmas. Slavery was abolished, and the sanctity of all human life was celebrated because of Christmas.
Christmas changed the world. We are told in Matthew 1:21 that "His name shall be called Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins," and a brief look back at history tells us that this is so true! Christmas not only saves us from our personal sins, but the "ideas and acts" of Christmas have saved us from the sins of untold others who before the birth of Christ would have ignored us, used us, oppressed us, enslaved us or even killed us in the halls of their governments and on the altars of their gods.
So, to the ill-informed and intolerant passenger of Flight 1140 and all those like him, let's all join in wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and thanking God for it.
• Everett Piper is currently a candidate for Commissioner in Osage County, Oklahoma, and a columnist for the Washington Times.
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This Day in U S Military History
December 22
1910 – LT Theodore G. Ellyson becomes first naval officer sent to flight training.
1944 – Although the American defenders of Bastogne continue to hold out against German attacks, elements of the German 5th Panzer Army have by-passed the town and are advancing to the west and northwest. These attacks have reached beyond Rochefort and Laroche. However, improved weather conditions allows Allied ground attack aircraft to harass the German columns. A sudden improvement in the weather permits Allied fighter-bombers to conduct about 900 sorties against German forces in "the Bulge".
1944 – Gen. Dwight Eisenhower endorses the finding of a court-martial in the case of Eddie Slovik, who was tried for desertion, and authorizes his execution, the first such sentence against a U.S. Army soldier since the Civil War, and the only man so punished during World War II. Private Eddie Slovik was a draftee. Originally classified 4-F because of a prison record (grand theft auto), he was bumped up to a 1-A classification when draft standards were lowered to meet growing personnel needs. In January 1944, he was trained to be a rifleman, which was not to his liking, as he hated guns. In August of the same year, Slovik was shipped to France to fight with the 28th Infantry Division, which had already suffered massive casualties in the fighting there and in Germany. Slovik was a replacement, a class of soldier not particular respected by officers. As he and a companion were on the way to the front lines, they became lost in the chaos of battle, only to stumble upon a Canadian unit that took them in. Slovik stayed on with the Canadians until October 5, when they turned him and his buddy over to the American military police, who reunited them with the 28th Division, now in Elsenborn, Belgium. No charges were brought; replacements getting lost early on in their tours of duty were not unusual. But exactly one day after Slovik returned to his unit, he claimed he was "too scared and too nervous" to be a rifleman and threatened to run away if forced into combat. His admission was ignored-and Slovik took off. One day after that he returned, and Slovik signed a confession of desertion, claiming he would run away again if forced to fight, and submitted it to an officer of the 28th. The officer advised Slovik to take the confession back, as the consequences would be serious. Slovik refused, and he was confined to the stockade. The 28th Division had seen many cases of soldiers wounding themselves or deserting in the hopes of a prison sentence that would at least protect them from the perils of combat. So a legal officer of the 28th offered Slovik a deal: Dive into combat immediately and avoid the court-martial. Slovik refused. He was tried on November 11 for desertion and was convicted in less than two hours. The nine-officer court-martial panel passed a unanimous sentence: execution-"to be shot to death with musketry." Slovik's appeal failed. It was held that he "directly challenged the authority" of the United States and that "future discipline depends upon a resolute reply to this challenge." Slovik was to pay for his recalcitrant attitude-and he was to be made an example. One last appeal was made-to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander. The timing was bad for mercy. The Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest was issuing in literally thousands of American casualties, not to mention the second largest surrender of an American Army unit during the war. Eisenhower upheld the sentence. Slovik would be shot to death by a 12-man firing squad in eastern France in January of 1945. None of the rifleman so much as flinched, believing Slovik had gotten what he deserved
1947 – John Bardeen and Walter Brattain of AT&T Bell Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, unveiled what was soon to be called the transistor, short for the electrical property known as trans-resistance, which paved the way to a new era of miniaturized electronics. The device was improved by William Schockley as a junction transistor. All 3 received a Nobel Prize in 1956. The events are described in the 1997 book by Michael Riordan and Lillian Hoddeson: "Crystal Fire: The Birth of the Information Age."
1948 – In Tokyo, Japan, Hideki Tojo, former Japanese premier and chief of the Kwantung Army, is executed along with six other top Japanese leaders for their war crimes during World War II. Seven of the defendants were also found guilty of committing crimes against humanity, especially in regard to their systematic genocide of the Chinese people. On November 12, death sentences were imposed on Tojo and the six other principals, such as Iwane Matsui, who organized the Rape of Nanking, and Heitaro Kimura, who brutalized Allied prisoners of war. Sixteen others were sentenced to life imprisonment, and the remaining two of the original 25 defendants were sentenced to lesser terms in prison. Unlike the Nuremberg trial of German war criminals, where there were four chief prosecutors representing Great Britain, France, the United States, and the USSR, the Tokyo trial featured only one chief prosecutor–American Joseph B. Keenan, a former assistant to the U.S. attorney general. However, other nations, especially China, contributed to the proceedings, and Australian judge William Flood Webb presided. In addition to the central Tokyo trial, various tribunals sitting outside Japan judged some 5,000 Japanese guilty of war crimes, of whom more than 900 were executed.
1968 – The crew and captain of the U.S. intelligence gathering ship Pueblo are released after 11 months imprisonment by the government of North Korea. The ship, and its 83-man crew, was seized by North Korean warships on January 23 and charged with intruding into North Korean waters. The seizure infuriated U.S. President Lyndon Johnson. Later, he claimed that he strongly suspected (although it could not be proven) that the incident with the Pueblo, coming just a few days before the communist Tet Offensive in South Vietnam, was a coordinated diversion. At the time, however, Johnson did little. The Tet Offensive, which began just a week after the ship was taken by North Korea, exploded on the front pages and televisions of America and seemed to paralyze the Johnson administration. To deal with the Pueblo incident, the United States urged the U.N.'s Security Council to condemn the action and pressured the Soviet Union to negotiate with the North Koreans for the ship's release. It was 11 long months before the Pueblo's men were freed. Both captain and crew were horribly treated and later recounted their torture at the hands of the North Koreans. With no help in sight, Captain Lloyd Bucher reluctantly signed a document confessing that the ship was spying on North Korea.
With this propaganda victory in hand, the North Koreans released the prisoners and also returned the body of one crewman who died in captivity. Some Americans criticized Johnson for not taking decisive retaliatory action against North Korea; others argued that he should have used every diplomatic means at his disposal to secure a quick release for the crew. In any case, the event was another blow to Johnson and America's Cold War foreign policy.
1972 – The East German Embassy and the Hungarian commercial mission in Hanoi are hit in the eighth day of Operation Linebacker II. Although there were reports that a prisoner of war camp holding American soldiers was hit, the rumor was untrue. President Nixon initiated the full-scale bombing campaign against North Vietnam on December 18, when the North Vietnamese–who walked out of the peace talks in Paris–refused an ultimatum from Nixon to return to the negotiating table. During the 11 days of the operation, 700 B-52 sorties and more than 1,000 fighter-bomber sorties dropped an estimated 20,000 tons of bombs, mostly over the densely populated area between Hanoi and Haiphong. President Nixon was vilified at home and abroad for ordering the "Christmas bombing," but on December 28, the North Vietnamese did agree to return to the talks in Paris. When the negotiators met again in early January, they quickly arrived at a settlement. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 23 and a cease-fire went into effect five days later.
1986 – The experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, round-the-world flight without refueling as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California.
1997 – A jury in Denver convicted Terry Nichols for conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in the Apr 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
1997 – In France "Carlos the Jackal," aka Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, was convicted in the murder of 2 French agents and a Lebanese informant on Jun 27, 1975 and sentenced to life in prison.
2004 – US Marines battled insurgents in Fallujah with warplanes dropping bombs and tanks shelling suspected guerrilla positions. Three U.S. Marines were killed. 24 guerrillas, most of them non-Iraqi Arabs, were killed in battles according to a posting on an Islamic web site the next day. The 1st Fallujah residents were allowed to return. A bomb killed a US soldier in Baghdad.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BOLDEN, PAUL L.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company 1, 120th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division. Place and date: Petit-Coo, Belgium,
23 December 1944. Entered service at: Madison, Ala. Birth: Hobbes Island, lowa. G.O. No.: 73, 30 August 1945-. Citation: He voluntarily attacked a formidable enemy strong point in Petit-Coo, Belgium, on 23 December, 1944, when his company was pinned down by extremely heavy automatic and small-arms fire coming from a house 200 yards to the front. Mortar and tank artillery shells pounded the unit, when S/Sgt.
Bolden and a comrade, on their own initiative, moved forward into a hail of bullets to eliminate the ever-increasing fire from the German position. Crawling ahead to close with what they knew was a powerfully armed, vastly superior force, the pair reached the house and took up assault positions, S/Sgt. Bolden under a window, his comrade across the street where he could deliver covering fire. In rapid succession, S/Sgt. Bolden hurled a fragmentation grenade and a white phosphorous grenade into the building; and then, fully realizing that he faced tremendous odds, rushed to the door, threw it open and fired into 35 SS troopers who were trying to reorganize themselves after the havoc wrought by the grenades. Twenty Germans died under fire of his submachinegun before he was struck in the shoulder, chest, and stomach by part of a burst which killed his comrade across the street. He withdrew from the house, waiting for the surviving Germans to come out and surrender. When none appeared in the doorway, he summoned his ebbing strength, overcame the extreme pain he suffered and boldly walked back into the house, firing as he went. He had killed the remaining 15 enemy soldiers when his ammunition ran out. S/Sgt.
Bolden's heroic advance against great odds, his fearless assault, and his magnificent display of courage in reentering the building where he had been severely wounded cleared the path for his company and insured the success of its mission.
*ELROD, HENRY TALMAGE
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 27 September 1905, Rebecca, Ga. Entered service at: Ashburn, Ga. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while attached to Marine Fighting Squadron 211, during action against enemy Japanese land, surface and aerial units at Wake Island, 8 to 23 December 1941. Engaging vastly superior forces of enemy bombers and warships on 9 and 12 December, Capt. Elrod shot down 2 of a flight of 22 hostile planes and, executing repeated bombing and strafing runs at extremely low altitude and close range, succeeded in inflicting deadly damage upon a large Japanese vessel, thereby sinking the first major warship to be destroyed by small caliber bombs delivered from a fighter-type aircraft. When his plane was disabled by hostile fire and no other ships were operative, Capt. Elrod assumed command of 1 flank of the line set up in defiance of the enemy landing and, conducting a brilliant defense, enabled his men to hold their positions and repulse intense hostile fusillades to provide covering fire for unarmed ammunition carriers. Capturing an automatic weapon during 1 enemy rush in force, he gave his own firearm to 1 of his men and fought on vigorously against the Japanese. Responsible in a large measure for the strength of his sector's gallant resistance, on 23 December, Capt. Elrod led his men with bold aggressiveness until he fell, mortally wounded. His superb skill as a pilot, daring leadership and unswerving devotion to duty distinguished him among the defenders of Wake Island, and his valiant conduct reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for December 22, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
22 December
1942: The 307th Bombardment Group sent 26 B-24s on the first full-scale air attack against an enemy base in the Central Pacific. They staged through Midway to bomb Wake Island. (24)
1944: IX Tactical Air Command transferred three fighter groups to XIX Tactical Air Command to concentrate airpower for cooperation with the US Third Army. The Third Army relieved the American troops caught in the Battle of the Bulge. (4)
1946: The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics announced the Tiamat's development. This winged rocket missile could fly more than 600 miles per hour. Flown at Langley Field, Va., it was the first guided missile to successfully fly through a predetermined program of maneuvers. (24)
1949: The YF-86D Sabre made its maiden flight at Edwards AFB, Calif.
1950: KOREAN WAR. One U. S. Navy and five USAF pilots shot down six MiG-15s, the highest number of daily aerial victory credits for Far East Air Force for the month and the highest since June. A MiG-15 shot down an F-86 for the first time. (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR. A SA-16 crew landed in an inlet near Haeju, a N.Korean port just north of the 38th parallel on the Yellow Sea, and rescued a downed HMS Glory Seafury pilot in his dinghy. The first and only fatal aeromedical evacuation accident of the war happened when a Royal Hellenic Air Force C-47 transporting patients collided with an F-80 at Suwon AB, S. Korea. (28)
1960: The Department of Defense cut back the Skybolt missile program due to a lack of funds. (6)
1962: A US Army Nike-Zeus antimissile missile fired from Kwajalein Island intercepted an Atlas launched 4,800 miles from Vandenberg AFB. It may have been the first time a Nike-Zeus had discriminated between an intended target and its decoys. (16) (24) A B-52G launched the sixth (last) Skybolt missile down the Atlantic Missile Range; however, President Kennedy had cancelled the program a day earlier. (6)
1963: To 24 December, the Air Rescue Service used HC-54 aircraft, operating from Laje AB, Azores, to drop rafts and blankets to fire victims from the Greek Liner Lakonia. An HC-54 at the scene, 170 miles north of the Madeira Islands, directed the rescue, while vessels below rescued 896 survivors. (2)
1964: President Johnson funded the development of the CX-HLS (the C-5A). It could carry 500-700 troops or 250,000 pounds of cargo for 7,000 miles without refueling at 550 MPH. (16) (26) The USAF announced the construction of the T-27 space flight simulator for $5,500,000 under contract with the Link Group of General Precision, Incorporated. The T-27 trained astronauts at the Aerospace Research Pilot School on Edwards AFB, Calif. The Lockheed SR-71 strategic reconnaissance plane exceeded an altitude of 45,000 feet and a speed of 1,000 MPH in its maiden flight at Palmdale, Calif. (12) (26) Operation BIGLIFT. Through 22 January 1965, the USAF used its cargo aircraft to deliver 1,500 tons of food, clothing, bedding, fuel, hay, grain, vehicles, pipe, and medical supplies to victims of flooding in California and Oregon. (21)
1965: Gen Thomas D. White, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force from 1957-1961, died. 1966: In California, Vandenberg AFB successfully completed its first attempted salvo launch of two Minuteman I (Model
B) missiles. (6)
1969: Twenty-Second Air Force phased-out the last active duty C-124 military airlift squadrons to make way for C-141 operations. To retain a heavy airlift capability in Southeast Asia, Pacific Air Forces reassigned four C-124s to the 20th Operations Squadron at Clark AB, Philippines. (17) (18)
1970: The USAF selected the Fairchild Hitler Corporation, Republic Division, at Farmindale, N.Y., and Northrop Corporation at Hawthorne, Calif., to competively develop the A-X specialized close air support aircraft program. The A-X was supposed to be a rugged, twin-engine, singleplace aircraft with short takeoff and landing capabilities and excellent maneuverability. (16)
1973: Deputy Secretary of Defense David Packard approved the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System program. (12)
1984: Through 8 March, eight C-141 Starlifters carried over 212 tons of food, tents, and water tanks, and medical supplies from Italy to Kassala, Sudan. This relief helped over 100,000 Ethopian refugees fleeing from famine in Niger and Mali in Africa. (16) (26)
1986: The Peacekeeper Intercontinental Ballistic Missile reached its initial operating capability with the 90th Strategic Missile Wing at Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyo. (16) (26)
1997: LAST MINUTEMAN II MISSILE. A Cold War icon became obsolete when the simultaneous turning of seven keys destroyed the last Minuteman II missile silo. The 31 July 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) required the destruction of all Minuteman II silo. site, commonly known as Hotel-11, was located north of Dederick, Mo., more than 90 miles southwest of Whiteman AFB, Mo. (AFNEWS, 22 Dec 97)
2006: The 437th Airlift Wing and the 315th Airlift Wing (Air Force Reserve Associate) at Charleston AFB, S. C., flew a 20-ship formation of C-17 Globemaster IIIs, the largest C-17 formation to date ever from one base. The C-17s flew to North Field in Orangeburg County, S. C., where each dropped a 2,000-pound, parachute-equipped pallet to demonstrate the C-17's strategic airdrop capability, before returning to Charleston. (22)
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