The List 7415
To All
Good Tuesday Morning January 13, 2026. It is a clear and beautiful morning here today and cool with a high of 77 by 2..Winds are.here for the rest of the day with gusts p to 7 Kts. Classes wemt well. Last night.
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.Regards
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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.
. January. 13
1865 With 8,000 Union soldiers, Rear Adm. David Porter provides 59 warships and 2,000 Sailors and Marines to take Confederate Fort Fisher, N.C., after a 2-day assault.
1943 PBY-5A aircraft from (VP-83) sink German submarine U-507 off Brazil, which had sunk 19 and damaged one Allied merchant vessels, including seven that were American.
1945 Destroyer escort Fleming (DE 32) sinks a Japanese submarine 320 miles north-northeast of Truk.
1964 Destroyer Manley (DD-940) evacuates 54 Americans and 36 allied nationals after the Zanzibar government is overthrown.
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Today in World History: January 13
1846 President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico looms.
1862 President Lincoln names Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of War.
1900 To combat Czech nationalism, Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary decrees German the official language of the Imperial Army.
1919 California votes to ratify the prohibition amendment.
1923 Hitler denounces the Weimar Republic as 5,000 storm troopers demonstrate in Germany.
1927 A woman takes a seat on the NY Stock Exchange breaking the all-male tradition.
1931 The bridge connecting New York and New Jersey is named the George Washington Memorial Bridge.
1937 The United States bars Americans from serving in the Civil War in Spain.
1943 General Leclerc's Free French forces merge with the British under Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery in Libya.
1944 Plants are destroyed and 64 U.S. aircraft are lost in an air attack in Germany.
1945 The Red Army opens an offensive in South Poland, crashing 25 miles through the German lines.
1947 British troops replace striking truck drivers.
1955 Chase National and the Bank of Manhattan agree to merge resulting in the second largest U.S. bank.
1965 Two U.S. planes are shot down in Laos while on a combat mission.
1968 U.S. reports shifting most air targets from North Vietnam to Laos.
1976 Argentina ousts a British envoy in dispute over the Falkland Islands.
1980 The United States offers Pakistan a two-year aid plan to counter the Soviet threat in Afghanistan.
1982 Air Florida Flight 90 Boeing 737 jet crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge shortly after takeoff, then plunges into the Potomac River; 78 people, including 4 motorists, are killed.
1990 In Virginia, Douglas Wilder, the first African American elected governor of a US state, takes office.
On January 13, 1128, Pope Honorius II grants a papal sanction to the military order known as the Knights Templar, declaring it to be an army of God.
Led by the Frenchman Hughes de Payens, the Knights Templar organization was founded in 1118. Its self-imposed mission was to protect Christian pilgrims on their way to and from the Holy Land during the Crusades, the series of military expeditions aimed at defeating Muslims in Palestine. For a while, the Templars had only nine members, mostly due to their rigid rules. In addition to having noble birth, the knights were required to take strict vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. In 1127, new promotional efforts convinced many more noblemen to join the order, gradually increasing its size and influence.
By the time the Crusades ended unsuccessfully in the early 14th century, the order had grown extremely wealthy, provoking the jealousy of both religious and secular powers. In 1307, King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V combined to take down the Knights Templar, arresting the grand master, Jacques de Molay, on charges of heresy, sacrilege and Satanism. Under torture, Molay and other leading Templars confessed and were eventually burned at the stake. Clement dissolved the Templars in 1312.
The modern-day Catholic Church has admitted that the persecution of the Knights Templar was unjustified and claimed that Pope Clement was pressured by secular rulers to dissolve the order. Over the centuries, myths and legends about the Templars have grown, including the belief that they may have discovered holy relics at Temple Mount, including the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant or parts of the cross from Christ's crucifixion. The imagined secrets of the Templars have inspired various books and movies, including the blockbuster novel and film The Da Vinci Code.
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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
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From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..January 13
January 13: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2084
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This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Servicemembers Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/
Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
By: Kipp Hanley
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. Thanks to Barrett…A few notes on yesterday's List
Jan. 42, Sikorsky XR-4 first AAF flight. Sergei is a no-kidding renaissance man, not surprising considering his father. Turns 100 next month. Occasionally TV documentaries show the experimental rescue hoist, and that sailor dangling at the end is/was MM2/c Sikorsky of the Coast Guard det.
11 Jan 44: I knew Jim Howard tolerably well. Born in China of missionary parents; prewar VF aviator who went AVG and got 2.33 air. Accepted transfer to the AAF and continued his global war. The papers quoted him as saying "I seen my duty and I done it." Might be colorful but Jim did not speak like that. He asked me to read his memoir in draft form, and I was glad to do so. Roar of the Tiger.
He was one of two P-51 MoHs, the other being the (controversial) Wm. Shomo tac-recce pilot's claim of 7 Japanese.
Barrett
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Since Midship Person YP spent a summer on oiler AO-41," the USS Mataponi, doing UNREPS between SFO's Hunter's Point and North Island, San Diego, I'll check out YT.
Cruise was notable in that I drove from ABQ in my VW Bug as a very cheap tourista thru Westward Ho country, with my first overnight with friends of my folks in Los Gatos, CA. At a gas stop, axing for directions in my best NM Spanish, the big question mark appeared until the gas guy brightened up and said, O, you mean "Laz Gattas! Welcome to CA.
High points:
1. Got to explore scenic SFO, exotic Beatniks and all.
2. Talked my way onto a ten hour P2V flight out of Alameda, rigging ships and stuffing box lunches outta hatches. I thot I was amongst very Elder Gods!
3. Talked my way onto a dependent's day cruise on RANGER, notable for the Spads flying out and running the deck under a low overcast; and most importantly, a lone F-8 Crusader on the hangar deck, love at first sight! Next one I saw was after I got thru the Main Gate at Pensacola for Preflight. It was in the Pattern, and it looked like an airborne shark! Thass where I'm going, sez I. It just took a while…ELDER GODS FLEW SINGLE SEATERS FAST!
5. My slightly undercover Childe Bride flew out and we drove back to ABQ. Two days after I got my Butter Bars, we made it official in church, mostly to please me Ma, who wanted reciprocity for all the wedding gifts she'd bought thru the ages.
Carolyn didn't become "Tunita" until highly preggers when I was at Beeville…. My oldest boy was born shortly before I got my wings. Prescient to Scooters, his first name is Douglas.
Undt zo: we are at Buffalo Thunder Casino celebrating our real anniversary of 6 January 1962 (she was briefly still 19) and her Birthday, 12 January.
Quite the journey from Oilers, neh?
Credit the power of two barrels of Cafe Bustelo.
YP
On Jan 12, 2025, at 08:05, Crow 6b <crow6b@gmail.com> wrote:
There's a tremendous 1 hour piece up on YT now by Sal Marcogliano about the impact the six "fast" oilers had on the early part of the Pacific War. I found it worth the time
Rick
Six Oilers - How American Fast Tankers Supplied Hawaii, Australia and the US Navy
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Thanks to "Drifty"
From a former California fire pilot now living here in Montana
Fighting Fire In California
Ray DiLorenzo
That's me flying over Mt. Palomar Observatory in San Diego County.
Visibility was at a premium that day, but we saved it.
Since the current news is totally devoted to the fires in California, and justifiably so, I thought I would talk about my experiences as a fire pilot. I flew fire for the state of California for 22 years, and after that, I had a 1-year contract with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
I flew what is known as Air Attack. An AA is the plane that manages the fire. We plan with the ground incident commander (IC) how we are going to fight the fire, decide the resources we will need, the number of aircraft and ground firefighters, and where the safe zones or escape routes are for ground personnel in case of a blowout. We direct fire engines and crews to the fire, especially in remote areas. We look for lakes or water sources for helicopters to dip in, identify any towers or obstacles that could get in the way of the tankers and helicopters, decide which altimeter setting we will use so everyone is on the same page, notify the IC of any change in fire behavior, look for spot fires which could appear well outside the burn, and, the most nerve-wracking of all, act as air traffic control for all the aircraft that will soon crowd the sky, including media choppers who want to get their pictures in for the 5 o'clock news. All in a relatively small area.
Fires can be caused by arson (85%), lightning strikes, downed power lines, or accidents. A hunter, lost and without a cell signal to make a call, ignited a fire to attract attention. He did get attention. That fire burned tens of thousands of acres. Another man decided to mow his beautiful 20 acres in the heat of the day; he hit a rock that caused a spark. We saved his house, but those 20 acres looked like the moon when the fire got through with it . Two hunters started a fire trying to bird-dog a buck out of the brush. When we arrived, I could see one of the hunters look up at us and say, "Oh s**t!"
Some states, like Florida, have hurricanes. States like Kansas, Oklahoma, or Texas have tornadoes. California has earthquakes, mudslides, and fire—lots of fire. In the 22 years I flew fire, I only remember maybe 3 or 4 years that I would consider light fire years.
Being a one-party state contributes significantly to California's problems. The state effectively suppresses any dissenting views to a mere murmur. Their failure to manage water to capture snow runoff and rain, their failure to remove forest underbrush, and their ban on timber production and control burns all contribute to this. In California, owls and fish have priority. Their powerful environmental lobby, coupled with billions of dollars spent on the homeless, sanctuary illegal immigration, and a $100 billion high-speed rail boondoggle, the greatest infrastructure disaster in US history, has left Californians without adequate police and fire protection, despite paying the highest taxes in the country. Mayor Bass even diverted $20 million from the LAFD to projects like a gay men's chorus. Californians deserve better.
I will say this right off: I believe California has the finest firefighting air program in the world. They have the best equipment, the best aircraft, and some of the finest pilots I have ever flown with. They have the best stick and rudder pilots anywhere.
For air attack, we flew the OV-10 Bronco, the finest aircraft California could have picked for the job. The US Air Force, the Marine Corps, and the US Navy previously used them for observation and close air support. During a static display at an airshow, a former Marine approached me and shared that an OV-10 had saved his life in Vietnam. The Viet Cong held them down, but an OV-10 flew in and blasted the area. California got a hold of about 20 aircraft that were retired from the military. Like the tankers, they were all formerly military aircraft. The state spared no expense in rebuilding the aircraft for fire use. The OV-10 has two tandem seats, with the pilot up front and the air attack officer in the rear, with almost 360-degree visibility. The air attack officer is always either a battalion chief or a fire captain. He serves as the primary liaison between the tankers and the IC and typically possesses extensive training to effectively perform his duties.
I say typically because, like most large organizations, there is always some politics hanging in the air, pun intended. A fire captain or battalion chief sometimes decides he/she wants to be an AA officer because it looks good on his/her resume. Being an air attack instructor, Cal Fire would have me fly candidates before start time to see if they could handle the constant movement, change of direction, and steep turns. Some candidates change their minds. For five years, I was an AA instructor. Occasionally, candidates who shouldn't be in the program are admitted. At times, I've had to fill in the gaps for backseaters who were lagging behind. Some AA officers start slow and become the finest I've ever flown with. They just need a little help now and then. One AA over a large fire in the Lake Tahoe area kept asking me, Raybo, Raybo, what do I do next? I advised him when he needed it, and he did a fantastic job. Not all AA pilots do that, but I made it my business to learn the backseater's job. Being also an air attack instructor, It was easy for me to stabilize the situation.
I was on a 400-acre fire with about five other tankers, three or four contract helicopters, and a new AA officer in my backseat. An hour into the fire, I could tell he was getting in over his head, asking too many questions. At one point, I noticed he wasn't directing tankers anymore...silence. Through the intercom I said to him, "Hey, you ok?" All I heard was, in a soft voice, "I can't do this." I said to him, "Okay, relax, I have it. Do you need to rest, or do you want me to call for a relief air attack? "I can't do it" is all I heard. I called for a relief AA, and knowing that it could take 45 minutes to an hour, I took over, kept the flow going, and kept everything under control until the relief arrived. Some never get it.
Fires in California are divided into state or federal (fed) fires. Fighting a fire on state land is very different than working on fed land.
California Fires
I would say that around 95% of all fires in California are kept to less than 5 acres. We get a call; we are airborne in less than 5 minutes in most bases. We put the fire out and fly home. A California Highway Patrol helicopter will sometimes stumble upon a fire. When we arrive, we thank them and send them on their way. Sometimes they get somewhat possessive of the fire they discovered and refuse to leave. I told one CHP chopper that I couldn't bring in the tankers or the helicopters until he left, or he could take an orbit well above the fire and observe. He left. I understand that. Vegetation fires, or wildland fires, are the closest thing to military aerial combat a civilian pilot will ever get. It's addicting.
Fed Fires
Fires on federal land are different. You deal with either the US Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). For fires on fed land, Cal Fire is only obligated to conduct what we call initial attack. Reach the scene, stabilize the fire, advise the Feds on what they need in the coming days, and leave it to them.
They have a whole different philosophy. They are not fire fighters. They are fire managers. They will admit to that. They get to a fire and think whether should put it out or just let it burn. And there lies a problem: different priorities.
Sometimes problems occur when we have multiple jurisdictions or responsibilities, like we are seeing in Los Angeles. The LAFD may choose to not call Cal Fire, especially significant where time is critical. In Southern California, you have the Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), LA County, San Diego County, Riverside, etc. Some fire departments think they can handle anything. The great Oakland Firestorm of 1991 is an example. It was the greatest urban fire at that time for life and property loss. A small fire was 'put out' but left unattended. It rekindled and the rest is history. Cal Fire came in much later when Oakland had to call for help.
One morning, we received an early call to respond to a 75-acre fed fire. We arrived with 3 tankers, established communication, and began dropping retardant on the fire. After several drops, the IC released us back to base. The air attack officer explained to him that we were not quite finished. A few more drops would put it to bed. He disagreed and insisted that we leave. Why? That fire became the Star Fire, which burned thousands of acres and took several weeks to put out.
Another incident I remember well was a 700-acre fire on fed land. The Forest Service people were already on it when we arrived. That means it was getting out of control, and they decided to get help from the state. Cal Fire engines and ground crews arrived a short time after we arrived. We divide fires into flanks, left and right, the head, the base, the shoulders, etc. They are described as slow, moderate, or rapid spread—slope- or wind-driven. I watched as the right flank was being fought by Cal Fire and the left flank by fed crews. The right flank was being put out by what is called a mobile attack. That is, a fire engine(s) drives along the line of fire with a firefighter walking ahead of the engine with a hose blasting the line of fire, putting it out. Sometimes we use a bulldozer that scrapes the ground. Very effective.
The fed left flank looked very busy with people running to and fro with no fire being put out. The next day, the Cal Fire battalion chief on the fire said to me, "Can you believe they had tents set up, a kitchen ready to go, and an IC telling me how we were going to fight the fire in the next few days? I told him we're going to put this fire out this afternoon and go home."
And that is the Fed way. Manage the fire, and when you can't manage it, then get help. The only thing we can figure is that they must get hazard duty pay and overtime, leaving very little desire to put the fire out. Many fires have gotten out of control by milking them.
The fires in Southern California are fierce. The land is dry, sometimes not having rain for 8 months or more. A relative humidity of less than 25% or in the teens is especially dangerous. Deep canyons and multi-million dollar homes pepper the area, which typically experiences strong winds like the infamous Santa Ana winds. Unfortunately, when the winds get to a certain level, usually 30 mph. or so, the air show is over. You can't drop retardant in high wind. It goes everywhere except the intended target, and it is extremely dangerous to the pilots having to control their aircraft at low altitude.
One fire I will never forget was in Southern California. It was a huge Santa Ana wind fire with thousands of homes burned to the ground. While in a group of pilots waiting to check into a hotel in the evening, a woman from an evacuated family approached me to inquire about the status of her house on a specific road. I explained to her with compassion that I had no way of knowing. She thanked me for my service and walked slowly away. That's what it's about—people.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
A college football game helped launch the 24-hour convenience store.
The company now known as 7-Eleven has a history of being ahead of the curve. Back in 1927, when its founders were running the Southland Ice Company in Texas, an executive recognized the potential of selling basic provisions like milk and bread alongside the ice blocks that were so essential to households in the days before refrigerators were common. With a little company restructuring, the first convenience store chain was up and running. (The name was changed to 7-Eleven, a reference to the hours of operation, in 1946.)
In 1963, 7-Eleven opened its 1,000th store, but a more significant milestone in the convenience store realm was also about to happen. Around this time, according to Oh Thank Heaven!: The Story of the Southland Corporation, one store located near the University of Texas campus in Austin found itself unusually busy in the hours after a school football game, to the point where employees never had the chance to shut the doors for the night. When this situation unfolded again following the next football game, the company's brain trust sniffed a potentially transformative moment for the business, and established 24-hour shops near Texas Christian University in Fort Worth and Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Meanwhile, another 24-hour experiment was unfurling at a 7-Eleven near the Strip in Las Vegas, a move that yielded an increase in profits and the surprise side effect of deterring burglaries. Eventually, both 7-Eleven and their competitors realized that it wasn't just the amped-up college students and gamblers who sometimes needed a 24-hour pit stop, paving the way for the proliferation of these ever-open outposts to provide beer, chips, and a range of other goodies to help folks everywhere make their way through the night.
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Thanks to History Facts
Bathrooms didn't exist until the 19th century.
A s difficult as it is to imagine, access to a full bathroom wasn't a household norm until well into the 19th century. Though the flush toilet was invented in England in 1596, the general public still used chamber pots and outhouses for centuries after, as most houses didn't have indoor plumbing. It wasn't until the end of the 1800s — after inventor Alexander Cumming improved toilet design with the S-bend, which trapped smells — that toilets became common in homes, especially in upper-class households, and even then they were initially kept separate from the bathtub and sink, in a room referred to as the "water closet." Noting the lack of sanitation caused by pipes and traps running from room to room, health care professionals began urging architects to streamline their plumbing into a single location. Architects relented, and the "bathroom" was born.
By the late 1800s, most upper-class homes in the United States and the U.K. were outfitted with a tub, toilet, and sink, and middle-class homes followed soon after. In the wake of the First World War, bathrooms became increasingly common in working-class households, but still weren't universal in the United States until the middle of the 20th century. Advances in plumbing led to the mass-production of the affordable, two-piece toilets still used today, and made the bathroom a household staple.
By the Numbers
Standard size (in inches) of a shower curtain
72
First year that questions about bathrooms were included in the U.S. Census
1940
Standard dimension (in inches) of today's average toilet
12
Percentage of American families who had their own bathrooms in 1940
55%
DID YOU KNOW?
Queen Victoria brought bathrooms to Buckingham Palace.
Since indoor plumbing was still in its infancy at the time, London's Buckingham Palace lacked a three-piece bathroom when Queen Victoria arrived in 1837. In the late 19th century, a sanitary engineer named Thomas Crapper developed the refillable tank and opened the bathroom fittings showroom — a venue in which bathroom fittings were displayed and available for purchase. This boosted the market for indoor plumbing and helped make toilets acceptable to the upper class. Concealed plumbing also made flushing toilets more aesthetically pleasing, and as bathrooms grew in popularity, so did their number at Buckingham Palace. After adopting the Optimus — a toilet created in 1870 whose pipes were concealed by a large chair — Queen Victoria arranged for full bathrooms to be installed at the royal residence in the late 1880s. Today, the palace boasts 78 working bathrooms.
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Thanks to YP
If you dinna get this from Doc Sugden (part of another msg):
YP
On Jan 12, 2024, at 12:03 PM, Richard Sugden, MD wrote:
Years ago at a Red Flag air combat exercise at Nellis AFB, an RAF commander was briefing the crowd on the characteristics of his airplane. He said it was so underpowered that the only way it could get airborne was due to the curvature of earth. The Jaguar would build up a head of steam on a really long runway and it would eventually "unstick" to get airborne only as the Earth gave way!
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From the archives
Thanks to Micro
It was great to read YP's dissertation on Red Flash's spoof of F-8's when flying under the Coronado Bridge. Red Flash, Dave Walker, USNA '66 (my Classmate) and astronaut extraordinaire, was one of the really good guys. Unfortunately, not too long after he retired from NASA to Idaho, he was hit with a virulent cancer that took him in a matter of just a handful of weeks. His funeral at Arlington was something special, including the evening before. It was an intersection of the fighter community, the test pilot community, the NASA community, and the Naval Academy. He was special. And his wife was one of the most beautiful women I have ever had the privilege of laying eyes on.
I worked with Dave a couple of times at Pax on some small projects, and then I had made it to the finals of shuttle pilot competition before missing out (Mike Smith was selected that year as the only Navy pilot; I was CAG and airborne in Florida five years later when the shuttle blew up with him on his first flight). Dave had been selected in the previous group.
But Dave told me an interesting story that occurred before his first space flight. Each astronaut was assigned "collateral duties." As I recall, his had to do with emergency procedures (putting together a flip pad for the shuttle), but he was also a chase pilot for the first shuttle landing at Edwards. He took off from Edwards and flew west to the Pacific Coast in a NASA T-38. He timed it like we used to time our push from marshal so he was headed east at the right time at 40,000 feet. When the shuttle hit Hawaii, Dave lit afterburner. He rendezvoused on the shuttle as it came down through 40,000 still supersonic. That picture always reminds me of what speed really is.
Cool stuff; cool guy.
By the way, I think we've covered the origin of his call sign before, but I'll briefly tell it again. It seems he was at the Cubi BOQ pool, drinking Cubi Specials, of course, all afternoon and got significantly sunburned. Now, Dave was a redhead with very fair skin, so he never did tan, just burned. He went to sleep (or passed out) in his BOQ room wearing nothing because the clothes were uncomfortable on his skin. His good friends from the squadron took all his clothes and all of his belongings back to the ship and left him asleep. He woke up with just enough time to get to the ship and avoid "missing movement." He arrived in a taxi, wrapped in a sheet. He had to wait on the quarterdeck for someone from the ready room to come down, pay the taxi driver, and identify him as being authorized to come aboard. With the sheet flapping in the breeze, flashing his bright red skin for all to see, his call sign/nickname became a natural.
Micro
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This is from the archives but I believe that even less people out there have any idea about what the Medal of Honor is or stands for….skip
Thanks to Dick
Subject: The suspicious thing in the old man's pocket
This was back in 2002 but is probably just a relevent today as back then. SAD!!!!
Note:
(This article was originally sent on the internet, March 5, 2002 by Guy Keenum and was submitted by Burt Olson, President USNCSA - USS Quincy CA-71)
'Medal Of Honor'
(Navy-Marine Corps-Coast Guard)
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, in action involving actual conflict with an opposing armed force.
"They just kept passing it around - there were eight or nine or 10 of them who handled it before it was over," He said.
"They had found it in my pocket at the airport, and they thought it was suspicious. It's shaped like a star, and they were looking at the metal edges of it, like it was a weapon. I asked for it back, but they kept handing it to each other and inspecting it. I was told to move to a separate area."
"I told them - just turn it over. The engraving on the back explains everything. But they thought they must have something potentially dangerous here."
"I told them exactly what it was - I said; "That's my Congressional Medal Of Honor."
The man relating that story is retired General Joe Foss, 86. His experience last month in Arizona - at the International Airport in Phoenix - may be the ultimate symbol of the out-of-kilter times we are going through. We are so afraid of terrorists in our midst that what happened to Foss is not only believable, but perhaps even inevitable.
The Congressional Medal of Honor will be taken from its recipient because it looks vaguely ominous.
I spoke with Foss because I wanted to hear it from him directly. He told me that he holds no animosity about the incident. "I'm just as interested in defeating the terrorists as anyone is, I promise you that" and that is mostly sad that no one knew what the Medal of Honor was.
Foss was awarded the medal by Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War 11 after shooting down 26 enemy planes as a Marine Fighter Pilot in solo combat in the Pacific. He grew up in South Dakota - after the war he would become a Governor of that state - and took flying lessons as a young man, then went to war.
He lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, and when he travels he is patted down in airports instead of going through the metal detectors, because of a heart pacemaker. At the airport in Phoenix, he said he was being searched manually and he put his jacket through the X-ray machine.
A couple of things caught the attention of the screeners - rightly so. Foss has a key chain made out of a dummy bullet, with a hole drilled through it to make it evident it is harmless, he also carries a small knife/file with the Medal of Honor Society's insignia on it. The screeners took both of them from Foss - traveling during these nervous days with items that look like bullets, or with even a small knife, will, and should, invite scrutiny. Even if you're 86. Even if you're a war hero.
That's not what frustrated him. The screeners, he said, allowed him to mail the key chain and the little knife back to his home from the airport. But for 45 minutes, he estimated, he was passed from person to person, made to remove his boots and tie and belt three different times, and prevented from boarding his flight (he was eventually allowed on) because the security personnel, he said, had misgivings about the Medal of Honor.
(America West Airlines in whose terminal in Phoenix the incident allegedly took place, said through a spokeswoman shortly after the misunderstanding that the airline's objective is to ensure safety and security for all passengers and employees.)
"I want you to know," Foss told me," that I don't go around wearing my Medal OF Honor, or carrying it with me. The only reason I had it with me on this flight was that I was supposed to give a speech to a class at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and I thought the medal was something the cadets might be interested in seeing."
I asked him what he remembered about being presented the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"I was right fresh out of combat when I was called to the White House," he said. "FDR was behind his desk, and he pinned the medal on my uniform. He said it was for actions above and beyond the call of duty."
"I was nervous, being in the presence of the President. I think I may have been more nervous there than I was in combat. My wife and mother were with me - it was quite a day. I think President Roosevelt called me 'young feller'."
After the White House ceremony, Foss had his picture taken with the medal - the nation's highest military honor for valor in action - on his uniform. That photo was the full-page cover on Life magazine, the issue of June 7, 1943,(I was born on that day I need to get a copy of that one Skip) the cover caption was: "Captain Foss, U.S.M.C. America's No. 1 Ace."
And now, almost 60 years later, the Medal of Honor was being handed from one skeptical security screener to another in the Phoenix airport, while Foss, at 86, took his boots and belt off as ordered.
"I wasn't upset for me," he said. "I was upset for the Medal of Honor, that they just didn't know what it was, It represents all of the guys who lost their lives - the guys who never came back. Everyone who put their lives on the line for their country. You're supposed to know what the Medal of Honor is."
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From the archives
Thanks to Mugs
I was at the VA hospital today, just taking care of some admin stuff. The top of the parking structure, with all those "green new-deal" solar panels was covered with about 4" of snow. How much solar energy do you think is being harvested by this array today? Well, it's ZERO. And this snow fell two days ago, plus yesterday we had brilliant sunshine all day, and none of this snow had melted. Today the winds are calm, so the windmills are just expensive, useless towers. But our moronic government is saying that this is our future. I believe they all failed basic science class in grade school.
You want to supplement our energy grid with some solar and wind? Fine. That will constitute a small percentage of our total energy production capability, but it will never replace fossil or nuclear fuelled power generation. (BTW, I received passing grades in science at school so that makes me an "expert consultant" compared to our moronic politicians and environmental extremists)
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Thanks to Brett
Daily Memo: Mass Deaths in Iran Protests, SDF Leaves Aleppo
The U.S. said Iran's leaders had reached out to negotiate.
By: Geopolitical Futures
Deadly protests. After more than two weeks of widespread protests, Iranian state media on Sunday aired video showing mass casualties at a morgue in Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump, who threatened U.S. military intervention if Iran cracked down on the protesters, said Sunday that Iranian officials had reached out "to negotiate." Reza Pahlavi, Iran's exiled crown prince and son of the deposed shah, said he was preparing to return to the country and appealed to Trump to "intervene to help the people of Iran." Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed support for Iran's protesters and told his Cabinet that Israel and Iran could become partners again after the fall of the current regime in Tehran.
Syrian operation. After several days of violence, the Syrian military took control of two mostly Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo. Fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed to leave the neighborhoods on buses for northern Syria. Tom Barrack, the U.S. special envoy for Syria, met with Syria's president and foreign minister on Saturday to discuss the situation and urge restraint. The defense ministers of Syria and Turkey also exchanged views.
NATO in Greenland. British, French and German officials are drawing up plans for a NATO mission in Greenland to address U.S. warnings that Russia or China could seize it. The potential force could include British warships, planes and soldiers.
Creating stakeholders. The U.S. and Ukraine could sign a 10-year, $800 billion postwar reconstruction agreement when their leaders meet next week in Davos. Kyiv hopes that by giving Washington a stake in its recovery, the White House will be more willing to offer security guarantees. Meanwhile, Ukraine awarded the right to develop the Dobra lithium deposit, one of its largest, to a consortium of investors with close ties to the Trump administration.
Joint EU force. Europe should create a 100,000-strong standing military force to replace U.S. troops on the Continent, EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said. He also called for the creation of a European security council made up of both permanent and rotating members and including a U.K. representative.
Military independence. Israel should not depend on foreign military support and ought to eliminate it within 10 years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
Japanese security aid. Japan wants to expand its Official Security Assistance scheme to include Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, an unnamed senior Japanese official said. Launched in 2023, the OSA provides military support to developing countries that Tokyo has identified as desirable security partners. Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand are already recipients of OSA aid. The program's budget will more than double in 2026 to 18.1 billion yen ($114.6 million). Separately, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called China's ban on exports to Japan of dual-use goods "unacceptable" and "counter to international practices."
U.S.-Pakistan drills. U.S. and Pakistani forces began two-week joint counterterrorism exercises at the National Counterterrorism Center in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
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Thanks to 1440
. Need To Know
Transgender Athletes Cases
The Supreme Court will hear its first-ever cases today on transgender athletes' participation in sports. The outcome of the cases—originating in Idaho and West Virginia—is likely to impact laws across more than 20 states with similar measures .
Boise State University student Lindsay Hecox, 24, sued Idaho over its 2020 law barring transgender athletes from women's and girls' sports teams at public schools of all levels, including public colleges. Fifteen-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, who has publicly identified as a girl since the third grade and has been taking puberty-blocking medication, challenged a similar law in West Virginia. Federal courts have blocked the two laws on the grounds that they discriminate "on the basis of sex" in violation of Title IX (see explainer). The states have appealed, arguing sex and gender identity are separate matters.
An estimated 122,000 transgender teenagers participate in high school sports—a little over 1% of the US' more than 8 million teenage athletes.
Powell Probe Backlash
Former Federal Reserve chairs and top economists issued a statement yesterday condemning a federal probe into Fed Chair Jerome Powell as a threat to the central bank's independence. Read the statement here.
The Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into whether Powell misled Congress about the scope of a roughly $2.5B renovation of the Fed's headquarters. Powell characterized the allegation as a pressure campaign by President Donald Trump to push the central bank to lower interest rates, or the cost of borrowing money (watch video statement). The rates, which influence economic growth, are reviewed about every six weeks by an independent board that Powell leads. Trump has criticized the Fed for not lowering rates faster and, last month, floated suing Powell over the renovation; Trump denies prior knowledge of the probe.
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Myanmar on Trial
The UN's top court yesterday began hearings in a long-running case brought by the West African nation of Gambia, which accuses Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya, a primarily Muslim minority group. The proceedings mark the first genocide case the International Court of Justice will hear in full in more than a decade and could set a precedent for other allegations, including South Africa's case against Israel.
More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled from Buddhist-majority Myanmar to Bangladesh since 2017, after the Myanmar military launched a widespread operation in the western part of the country (see background). UN investigators have documented accounts of killings, mass rape, and destroyed villages. Myanmar denies the accusations and maintains its actions were security measures against militant groups.
In the ICJ's 80-year history, the closest precedent came in 2007, when a case against Serbia over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre found that Serbia had failed to prevent genocide. However, the court did not hold Serbia directly responsible for the killings.
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This Day in U S Military History January 13
1776 – In the early morning hours of January 13, 1776, British forces raid Prudence Island, Rhode Island, in an effort to steal a large quantity of sheep. But, upon landing on the island's southern beaches, the British were ambushed by fifteen Minutemen from Rhode Island's Second Company led by Captain Joseph Knight, who had been tipped off to the Brits' plans and rowed across Narragansett Bay from Warwick Neck the previous morning. A brief but deadly battle ensued before the British were forced to retreat. Three British marines were killed and seven injured during the ambush. Two Minutemen were wounded; one died and the other was taken prisoner. Afraid of further violence, residents abandoned the island between 1776 and 1777, and the island's homes and windmill were burned.
1846 – President James Polk dispatched General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas Border as war with Mexico loomed. Mexico had severed relations with the United States in March 1845, shortly after the U.S. annexation of Texas. In September President Polk sent John Slidell on a secret mission to Mexico City to negotiate the disputed Texas border, settle U.S. claims against Mexico, and purchase New Mexico and California for up to $30,000,000. Mexican officials, aware in advance of Slidell's intention of dismembering their country, refused to receive him. When Polk learned of the snub, he ordered troops to occupy the disputed area between the Nueces and the Rio Grande rivers.
1929 – Frontiersman Wyatt Earp died in LA, Ca., after an illustrious life in the West. Cowboy stars William S. Hart and Tom Mix served as pallbearers. Born in Illinois in 1848, he served as a lawman in Wichita and Dodge City, Kansas, as well as Tombstone, Arizona Territory, where Wyatt and his brothers Morgan and Virgil were notorious for violent clashes with outlaws. Western historians have disagreed about the particulars of Wyatt Earp's life, but he is said to have been a freighter-teamster, railroad construction worker, policeman, prisoner, saloon keeper and horse farmer, and he was involved in several gunfights – for reasons that may or may not have been related to law enforcement. When Morgan was killed, Wyatt avenged his death by killing Frank Stilwell, an outlaw he had previously arrested. Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp was buried in Colma, Ca.
1942 – German U-Boats begin operations of the US East Coast. The move is called operation Paukenschlag (Drum Roll). Admiral Doenitz has faced arguments from his superiors in the German Navy who do not favor the operation, and he has had the difficulty that only the larger 740-ton U-Boats are really suitable for such long range patrols. When Doenitz gives the order for the attack to begin there are 11 U-Boats in position and 10 more en route. Together they sink more than 150,000 tons during the first month. Intelligence sources have given reasonable warning of the attack but the U-Boats find virtually peace-time conditions in operation. Ship sail with lights on at night; lighthouses and bouys are still lit; there is no radio discipline – merchant ships often give their positions in plain text; there are destroyer patrols (not convoys with escorts) but these are regular and predictable and their crews are naturally inexperienced.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BESSEY, CHARLES A.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company A, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near Elkhorn Creek, Wyo., 13 January 1877. Entered service at: – – – . Birth: Reading, Mass. Date of issue: 15 May 1890. Citation. While scouting with 4 men and attacked in ambush by 14 hostile Indians, held his ground, 2 of his men being wounded, and kept up the fight until himself wounded in the side, and then went to the assistance of his wounded comrades.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 13, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
13 January
1906: The Aero Club of America opened its first exhibition in New York in connection with an automobile show. (5) (24)
1913: Harry M. Jones flew a Wright B airplane to demonstrate the beginning of air parcel post. He flew a route from Boston, Mass., to New York, N.Y., with a cargo of baked beans. (24)
1942: American and British chiefs of staff adopted an agreement to move American air units to the United Kingdom as soon as possible. (4)
1949: William P. Odom flew a Beechcraft Bonanza to a Federation Aeronautique Internationale distance record for light planes: 2,400 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Oakland, Calif. (9)
1950: The Navy's Lark, a guided surface-to-air missile, made its first automatic homing flight. (5)
1951: KOREAN WAR. Far East Air Forces flew the first effective Tarzon mission against a bridge at Kanggye, Korea. The six-ton radio-guided bomb destroyed 58 feet of the enemy-held structure. (21)
1962: PROJECT RANCH HAND. The Ranch Hand test project began to determine if aircraft could destroy jungle foliage by spraying chemicals. On 5 December 1961, the Tactical Air Command deployed six C-123s, modified with chemical tanks and spray bars, to Clark Air Base, Philippines. The aircraft began operations in Vietnam on 13 January. (17)
1965: The USAF's XC-142A Vertical/Short Takeoff and Landing transport aircraft made a perfect first transition flight, taking off like a helicopter, adjusting its wings for conventional flight, and making a vertical landing. (5)
1969: The National Air and Space Administration announced an end to its joint research program with the Department of Defense on the XB-70. (3)
1970: A Pan American Airline Boeing 747, the world's largest passenger plane at the time, flew 361 people on its first transatlantic trip from John F. Kennedy International Airport, N.Y., to London Airport in England in 6 hours 30 minutes. (5)
1975: Dr. John L. McLucas, Secretary of the Air Force, selected the General Dynamics' YF-16 Fighting Falcon over Northrop's YF-17 as the USAF's lightweight air combat fighter. The U. S. Navy later developed the YF-17 into F/A-18 Hornet. (3) (12)
1993: Operation SOUTHERN WATCH II. To support this operation, the Air Mobility Command airlifted forces to southwest Asia, where they enforced a no-fly zone in southern Iraq near the borders of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. (16) (26) President George H. W. Bush ordered air strikes on 32 missile sites and air defense command centers in Iraq after Iraqi troops crossed the border with Kuwait. The strikes also targeted surface-to-air missile sites south of the 32d parallel in Iraq. (16) (21) FIRST US MILITARY WOMAN IN SPACE. Maj Susan Helms became the first US military woman in space during a flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. (16) (26)
1994: The last F-15 Eagles from the 32d Fighter Group left Soesterberg Air Base, Netherlands, ending a 40-year USAF presence there. (16) (26) Two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters from the 56th Rescue Squadron at Keflavik rescued six stranded seamen near Iceland.
2000: Operation NORTHERN WATCH. The 169th Fighter Wing, South Carolina Air National Guard, deployed elements from McEntire Air National Guard Base, S. C., to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. It was the first guard unit to deploy operationally in the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role, the first guard unit to employ the High Speed-Anti Radiation Missile (HARM) in a SEAD mission, and the first to deploy a female guard F-16 pilot on an operational combat mission. (32)
2006: The Air Force Flight Test Center's special C-135C Speckled Trout (Tail No. 61-2669) made its final flight and was retired from the USAF inventory for display in the Test Center's museum at Edwards AFB, Calif. (3)
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