The List 7417
To All
Good Thursday Morning January 15, 2026. It is another clear and beautiful morning here today . with a high of 79 by 1..Winds are light.
Enjoying our weather and it will last for a week or more according to the weather guessers
.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 15
1815—The frigate President, commanded by Stephen Decatur, encounters HMS Endymion out of New York and attempts to board her, not realizing the War of 1812 ended with the Treaty of Ghent on Dec. 1814. After British reinforcements arrive, Decatur is forced to surrender.
1846—The sloop-of-war Jamestown captures the slaver Robert Wilson off Porto Praya.
1865—In a joint amphibious force with the Union army, Rear Adm. David D. Porter and Maj. Gen. Alfred H. Terry capture Fort Fisher, Wilmington, NC, the last port by which supplies from Europe could reach Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's troops at Richmond, VA.
1916—The submarine E-2 explodes at the New York Navy Yard because of escaping gases during an overhaul. The interior of the ship is severely damaged and four men are killed.
1942—Bad weather off Iceland causes destroyer Mayo (DD 422) and British trawler HMS Douglas to collide, and damages destroyer Simpson (DD 221).
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Today in World History January 15
1624 World Riots flare in Mexico when it is announced that all churches are to be closed.
1811 In a secret session, Congress plans to annex Spanish East Florida.
1865 Union troops capture Fort Fisher, North Carolina.
1913 The first telephone line between Berlin and New York is inaugurated.
1919 Peasants in Central Russia rise against the Bolsheviks.
1920 The Dry Law goes into effect in the United States. Selling liquor and beer becomes illegal.
1920 The United States approves a $150 million loan to Poland, Austria and Armenia to aid in their war with the Russian communists.
1927 The Dumbarton Bridge opens in San Francisco carrying the first auto traffic across the bay.
1929 The U.S. Senate ratifies the Kellogg-Briand anti-war pact. Martin Luther King Jr. is born
1930 Amelia Earhart sets an aviation record for women at 171 mph in a Lockheed Vega.
1936 In London, Japan quits all naval disarmament talks after being denied equality.
1944 The U.S. Fifth Army successfully breaks the German Winter Line in Italy with the capture of Mount Trocchio.
1949 Chinese Communists occupy Tientsin after a 27-hour battle with Nationalist forces.
1965 Sir Winston Churchill suffers a severe stroke.
1967 Some 462 Yale faculty members call for an end to the bombing in North Vietnam.
1973 US President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action by US troops in Vietnam.
1973 Four of six remaining Watergate defendants plead guilty.
1975 The Alvor Agreement is signed, ending the Angolan War of independence and granting the country independence from Portugal.
1976 Sara Jane Moore sentenced to life in prison for her failed attempt to assassinate US President Gerald Ford.
1991 UN deadline for Iraq to withdraw its forces from occupied Kuwait passes, setting the stage for Operation Desert Storm.
1991 Britain's Queen Elizabeth II approves Australia instituting its own Victoria Cross honors system, the first county in the British Commonwealth permitted to do so.
1992 Slovenia and Croatia's independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is recognized by the international community.
2001 Wikipedia goes online.
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. One of my uncles was a B-17 pilot and in this group. He survived. My dad flew B-24 in the Aleutians and he survived. He would to say that they lost more to weather than to the Japanese. I saw some pictures of B-24s on the ramp that were completely covered in snow. And there were the white outs….skip
Remember this note that they lost more men in the 8th Air Force than all the Marines in the Pacific.
Thanks to Dr. Rich
The Bloody 100th - thanks to Warbirds of America ....
The 100th Bomb Group gained the reputation as the 'Bloody Hundredth' due to the heavy losses they suffered. On their first mission alone the 100th Bomb Group lost three planes and thirty men.
The 100th Bomb Group flew their first combat mission on 25th June 1943 and its last on 20th April 1945. During those 22 months they were credited with 8630 missions with the terrible loss of 732 airmen and 177 aircraft. The group would go several months without any casualties and then on one mission might lose half the group.
This reputation spread throughout the Airforce with the 100th Bomb Group being deemed an unlucky group to be stationed to. 100th Bomb Group Major John Bennett summed it up though that; 'what the 100th lacks in luck it makes up for in courage. The Men of the Century have fighting hearts'.
Major John "Lucky" Luckadoo
"Lucky," a fitting moniker bestowed by his men, would be one of the fortunate few to beat the odds and finish a tour, but certainly not before the war left an indelible mark.
In 1943, John Luckadoo was just a wide-eyed 21-year-old lieutenant when he manned the controls and took to the sky on his first bombing mission as a co-pilot of a famed B-17 Flying Fortress.
Aeronautical advancements meant that a B-17 could fly at altitudes of approximately 35,000 feet for up to 2,800 miles, and carry a hefty bomb payload that was supplemented by 10 .50-caliber machine guns.
But flying it proved deadly. So much so that the odds of a B-17 crewman surviving the 25 missions required to complete a tour were only one in four.
Until the 1944 introduction of the P-51 Mustang to the air war over Europe, the B-17′s impressive distance capabilities meant daylight bombing runs over Nazi-occupied Europe would have to be done without fighter escorts, leaving inexperienced B-17 crews to fend for themselves against seasoned Luftwaffe pilots.
What was worse, German anti-aircraft batteries peppered the American bombers with 88mm shells — or, "flak" — hurled five miles into the air.
One Flying Fortress crew member described flak as "just like Russian roulette. You were going to be hit by it. It was just a matter of where it would hit you and when."
Now 100, Luckadoo said when we were preparing to go overseas our commanding officer called us together and said, "Look at the man on either side of you. Only one of you will be coming back. You're all going to be killed and you might as well accept it."
Of the 40 men from my flying class that went to the 100th Bomb Group, only four of us managed to complete a tour. That gives you an idea of how inadequately trained we were and how unlikely it was that we were going to survive.
The Germans were professionals and we were rank amateurs. The minute that we crossed the French coast we were in their backyard. They dominated the skies. Through a baptism of fire, we found out how professional and clever they were in discovering our vulnerabilities. The first of which was that we could not fire our guns straight forward. There was a gap in-between the top turret and ball turret guns so they would fly in that slot, straight through our formations. They played chicken with us, firing the whole way. It wasn't until Boeing developed the G model (Boeing B-17G), which had a chin turret, that we would be able to cover that void. But they devastated us with that technique for as long as they could.
October 8, 1943 was my 22nd mission. Flying over Bremen, we experienced the heaviest anti-aircraft defense we had ever seen. The Germans had moved in some 300 88mm guns to protect their targets. We had never seen them throw up such a heavy barrage of defenses.
I lost an engine due to a flak hit, and the plexiglass nose was blown out. I looked around and suddenly realized I was the only flight leader out of the entire group that was still flying. So, I fired a flare and the other five ships that were still airborne rallied around me and we came in with the 95th Bomb Group, which had lost an entire squadron. We tucked in with them and that's how we got home.
The B-17 was unpressurized. So, at high altitudes we would experience temperatures of -50 to -60 degrees. You can't imagine what it's like trying to be effective and fight in that kind of cold. But the ironic thing is in the heat of battle you can suddenly find yourself sweating profusely, and that perspiration freezes instantly, blocking the flow of your oxygen through your oxygen mask. You have to leave one hand free to break up the ice crystals while flying the airplane with your other hand.
I suffered the only injury — physical injury — of my entire tour on that mission, and that was frostbitten feet. They were frozen to the rudder pedals so when I landed I had to land with my heels. I couldn't even apply the brakes.
I still had three more missions to fly and we often lost many of our crewmen in the latter missions of their tour. But the horror of that mission stayed with me for the rest of my tour.
We were so thankful to be alive, what we did when we finished the 25th mission, or what you would do after you got back from a really horrific mission, you bent down and kissed the ground because you were so happy to be back.
But the truth of the matter is, nobody goes into battle and comes out the same. You're a different person with a different perspective, a different psychology. You're happy to be alive and you don't really know why, but you realize that you've been spared and you just thank your lucky stars you were. You had a guardian angel on your shoulder. It was just a matter of pure luck you survived.
That's why they called me "Lucky." They ought to call me "Darn Lucky." I wouldn't be 97 years old without it.
More than seven decades on, the actions of the men of the Bloody 100th still loom large in our cultural memory. Each time we refresh those memories, we ensure that their hard-earned lessons are not forgotten.
THURSDAY, January 11, 6pm CDT / 7pm EDT
WARBIRDS IN REVIEW
Major John "Lucky" Luckadoo
Watch on these Websites and Socials:
Warbirds of America Website
https://www.facebook.com/EAAWarbirds
Air2AirTV.com
https://www.facebook.com/sleepingdogtv/
https://www.youtube.com/user/sleepingdogtv/
https://www.twitch.tv/sleepingdogtv
https://www.instagram.com/stevewittman9/
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Thanks to Carl,
I enjoyed the Van Damm movies. As a martial artist for over 70 years I can appreciate the athletic ability of being able to throw some very difficult kicks and make it look easy. It is not. People would laugh at the Chinese movies with guys and girls jumping and spinning around until they tried it.…Skip
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2023/01/15/dont-underestimate-old-men/
Don't Underestimate Old Men
January 15, 2023
The Quest (1996) - Bar Scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_QFvwg7jvM
Easily one of Van Dammes best movies and the opening sets the standard for things to come.
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. From the Archives
Thanks to Ken ... and Dr. Rich
Aviation Limerick ...
Any of you old aviators heard this one?
This comes from a good friend, Chuck Ramm, whose father was a pilot in WWII and gave it to him. It sounds like a limerick that was probably quoted often in the aviation community of the time. It is the first time I have heard it:
By the ring around his eyeball, you can tell a bombardier.
You can tell a bomber pilot, by the spread across his rear.
You can tell a navigator by his charts, and maps, and such.
You can tell a fighter pilot, but you can't tell him much.
… as told by Henry Ramm
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From the Archives…I liked this one….. skip-
Thanks to Mike
Today's Lesson Is The Word IRONY.
Once in a while, we just have to stand back in awe of our government.
The Food Stamp Program, administered by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is proud to be distributing the greatest number of free meals and food stamps ever - to 46 million people.
Meanwhile, the National Park Service, administered by the U.S. Dept. of Interior, asks us to "Please Do Not Feed the Animals." Their stated reason for the policy is because "the animals will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves."
Thus, ends today's lesson. Thank you.
Cheers
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. From the Archives….one of my favorites
Thanks to Mud..
At the risk of a dupe as I am digging in my inbox
This is a good parable. College students upon graduation come out thinking they have the answers to life. A couple of subsequent years in the real world are an enlightenment.
S/F,
- Mud
A very self-important college freshman attending a recent football
game took it upon himself to explain to a senior citizen sitting next
to him why it was impossible for the older generation to understand
his generation.
'You grew up in a different world, actually an almost primitive one,'
the student said, loud enough for many of those nearby to hear. 'The
young people of today are much more advanced than people your age.
We grew up with television, jet planes, space travel, man walking on
the moon and the internet. We have cell phones, nuclear energy ,
electric and hydrogen cars, computers, automated manufacturing,
amazing technologies, ...and,' pausing to take another drink of beer.
The senior took advantage of the break in the student's litany and
said, 'You're right, son. We didn't have those things when we were
young... so we invented them. Now, you arrogant little shit, what are
YOU doing for the next generation ?'
The applause was resounding.
I love senior citizens
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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 15
January 15: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=960
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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 Interesting Facts
What famous actress's birth was paid for by MLK?
Martin Luther King Jr. paid for Julia Roberts' birth.
Julia Roberts, the actress best known for her roles in Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich, and Steel Magnolias, was born in Smyrna, Georgia, in 1967. But when it came time for her parents, Betty and Walter Roberts, to take home their new bundle of joy, there was one hiccup: They couldn't afford the hospital bill. That's when Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King — friends of the Roberts' — stepped in to help, covering the cost of the future actress's birth.
The arts drew the King and Roberts families together. Before marrying her activist husband, Coretta Scott King had earned a bachelor's in music education from the New England Conservatory, one of the country's most selective music schools. By the 1960s, married actors Betty and Walter Roberts had launched the Actors and Writers Workshop, a theater school in Atlanta near the Kings' home. With four young children and a passion for the arts, Coretta had been searching for a youth theater program, but struggled to find one that would accept Black students. She reached out to Betty to inquire about the Robertses' school, which stood out as the only integrated children's acting program in the area.
While the Actors and Writers Workshop was successful and molded several actors who pursued the craft into adulthood, it wasn't free from monetary issues. By the time Julia (the youngest of three children) was born, the Roberts family was struggling financially. However, the Kings and Robertses had developed a friendship that helped the family through a rough patch; Martin and Coretta graciously covered the expense, forever linking the two families.
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Some bits from Brett
| Sexual harassment allegations just blew up Democrats' Supreme Court transgender sports case
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| Dilbert Creator Scott Adams Dead at 68: Lost Career For Supporting Trump, Died Fighting Prostate Cancer |
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Thanks to 1440
Need To Know
US Greenland Meeting
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland yesterday in Washington, DC. The meeting came as President Donald Trump ramped up pressure over Greenland, saying the US would not accept anything less than full control of the world's largest island.
Greenland has been under Danish control for nearly 300 years, but the Arctic island of approximately 57,000 people gained self-rule status in 2009. It is home to the northernmost US military base, including around 150 US Air Force and Space Force personnel. Trump has joined other presidents in expressing an interest in acquiring Greenland. He has threatened to invade Greenland if Denmark does not sell the territory, citing the island's large reserves of rare earth minerals, oil, and gas, and its strategic placement vis-Ã -vis Russia and China.
This week, Denmark expanded its military presence on Greenland and yesterday announced Operation Arctic Endurance—a multinational group that includes officers from Canada, France, Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands.
Digg-ing Up the Past
Rebooted message board platform Digg launched its open beta to the public yesterday. The release comes almost one year after the company was acquired by its original founder, Kevin Rose, and Reddit cofounder, Alexis Ohanian.
Founded in 2004 as a news aggregation site, Digg was once called the homepage of the internet. At its peak, the company boasted 40 million monthly users and was valued at $175M. However, a website redesign in 2010 saw Digg lose more than one-quarter of its users. Rose left Digg in 2011, and the company was split up the following year and sold (reportedly for as little as $500K) to Betaworks, LinkedIn, and The Washington Post. Meanwhile, competitor Reddit outpaced Digg by 2012.
Last year, Rose teamed up with Ohanian to purchase Digg for an undisclosed amount. The two are aiming to differentiate the platform from Reddit by emphasizing content moderation and cryptographic methods to verify users are real people.
25 Years of Wikipedia
Wikipedia turns 25 today, boasting more than 65 million articles in over 300 languages—written, edited, and fact-checked by nearly 250,000 volunteers worldwide.
Jimmy Wales, a former financial trader, founded Wikipedia's predecessor, Nupedia, in 2000. Entries were written by subject experts and underwent rigorous peer review, resulting in fewer than two dozen articles published by early 2001. In response, Wales and Nupedia editor-in-chief Larry Sanger launched a lower-barrier-to-entry platform. Powered by wiki software that enables collaborative editing, Wikipedia produced about 18,000 articles in its first year (see first 100), and by 2002, nearly 200 people were editing the site daily. Since 2003, Wikipedia has been operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a nonprofit reliant primarily on donations averaging $11.
Wikipedia publishes about 500 articles daily and receives nearly 15 billion visits monthly, but its user base is shifting. Human traffic fell by 8% last year, and roughly 65% of Wikipedia's most intense traffic now comes from bots, largely scraping articles to train AI models.
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Thanks to Nice News
. Culture
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What's Old Is New Again: Estate Sales Are Having a Moment Among Gen Zers
mikolajn/iStock
Are estate sales the new thrift shops? Once the domain of older collectors and professional resellers, these events are drawing younger shoppers eager to score secondhand treasures — and, of course, post about them online.
Take Maddy Brannon, an influencer who started browsing estate sales after buying a house in 2022, as a way to furnish her home on a budget. "I was shocked that no one had ever told me about estate sales," Brannon told Elle. "It made me feel like it was a little bit gatekept.
Gatekept no more, the hashtag #estatesales has nearly 30,000 videos on TikTok and 234,000 posts on Instagram, showing creators sharing their vintage hauls and the thrill of finding gems at bargain prices, all the while keeping items from heading to the landfill.
And it's not the only sustainable decor hobby gaining traction with the younger crowd. Upcycling old furniture (perhaps furniture found at an estate sale) into pieces that feel brand-new is also trending, adding another tick in the box as to why Gen Z and younger millennials are known as the most climate-literate generations.
Environment
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One of the World's Rarest Whales Is Beginning the Year Swimmingly
Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute, taken under NOAA permit #26919. Funded by the United States Army Corps of Engineers
There are always reasons to be hopeful — and in this case, there are 18 of them. Critically endangered North Atlantic right whales have given birth to at least 18 new calves this breeding season, according to the New England Aquarium.
This follows news we covered in the fall about the species' slow but steady population increase (up to an estimated 384 individuals from 376 in 2023). And adding good news on top of good news, breeding season typically runs until mid-April — meaning time is on the whales' side.
"That is a very good sign that we could potentially hit 20 or more," Amy Warren, a whale expert with the aquarium, told WBUR. "That said, there could be no more calves born the rest of the year, and I would still consider this a pretty good year." .
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This Day in U S Military History
15 January
1908 – Edward Teller was born on January 15, 1908 in Budapest, Hungary. He left his homeland in 1926 to study in Germany. In 1930 he got his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from the University of Leipzig. With Hilter's rise to power in Germany, Teller emigrated to the United States to take a teaching position at George Washington University in 1935. Teller, along with Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner, persuaded Albert Einstein to warn President Roosevelt of a potential Nazi atomic bomb. Teller was among the first scientists recruited to work on the Manhattan Project. During the Manhattan Project, Teller first worked with Szilard at the University of Chicago. In 1943, he headed a group at Los Alamos in the Theoretical Physics division, however his obsession with the H-bomb caused tensions with other scientists, particularly Hans Bethe, the division leader. Teller left Los Alamos at the end of the war, returning to the University of Chicago. But when the Soviet Union conducted its first test of an atomic device in August 1949, he did his best to drum up support for a crash program to build a hydrogen bomb. When he and mathematician Stanislaw Ulam finally came up with an H-bomb design that would work, Teller was not chosen to head the project. He left Los Alamos and soon joined the newly established Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a rival nuclear weapons lab in California. It was Oppenheimer's security clearance hearings in 1954 that was the occasion for the final rift between Teller and many of his scientific colleagues. At Oppenheimer's hearings, Teller testified that "I feel I would prefer to see the vital interests of this country in hands that I understand better and therefore trust more." Teller has continued to be a tireless advocate of a strong defense policy, calling for the development of advanced thermonuclear weapons and continued nuclear testing. He was a vigorous proponent of an anti-ballistic missile shield. Teller was Director Emeritus at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and died in 2003.
1943 – Captain Joe Foss bagged three Japanese planes for a record total of 26 kills.
1944 – The forces of US 2nd Corps (Keyes) capture Monte Trocchio. This completes the US 5th Army advance to the German defenses of the Gustav Line. In part, the operations serve to keep engaged German forces that might otherwise be available to respond to the planned landing at Anzio (January 22).
1945 – On Luzon, the US 14th Corps continues to advance south from the beachhead and has now crossed the Agno River. The US 1st Corps is attacking north and east but fails to reach its objective of Rosario
1945 – American forces encounter heavy resistance in attacks toward St. Vith. US 1st Army troops have reached Houffalize, cutting off remaining German forces to the west in the Ardennes salient.
1973 – Citing "progress" in the Paris peace negotiations between National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam, President Richard Nixon halts the most concentrated bombing of the war, as well as mining, shelling, and all other offensive action against North Vietnam. The cessation of direct attacks against North Vietnam did not extend to South Vietnam, where the fighting continued as both sides jockeyed for control of territory before the anticipated cease-fire. On December 13, North Vietnamese negotiators had walked out of secret talks with Kissinger. President Nixon issued an ultimatum to Hanoi to send its representatives back to the conference table within 72 hours "or else." The North Vietnamese rejected Nixon's demand and the president ordered Operation Linebacker II, a full-scale air campaign against the Hanoi area. This operation was the most concentrated air offensive of the war. During the 11 days of the attack, 700 B-52 sorties and more than 1,000 fighter-bomber sorties dropped roughly 20,000 tons of bombs, mostly over the densely populated area between Hanoi and Haiphong. On December 28, after 11 days of intensive bombing, the North Vietnamese agreed to return to the talks. When the negotiators met again in early January, they quickly worked out a settlement. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 23 and a cease-fire went into effect five days later.
2006 – The Stardust spacecraft has successfully landed in the Dugway Proving Ground after collecting dust samples from the comet Wild 2. It is the first time extraterrestrial samples other than of the moon have been collected and the Stardust spacecraft is the fastest man-made object to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
WILCOX, FRANKLIN L.
Rank and organization: Ordinary Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1831, Paris, N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Minnesota in action during the assault on Fort Fisher, 15 January 1865. Landing on the beach with the assaulting party from his ship, Wilcox advanced to the top of the sandhill and partly through the breach in the palisades despite enemy fire which killed and wounded many officers and men. When more than two-thirds of the men became seized with panic and retreated on the run, he remained with the party until dark when it came safely away, bringing its wounded, its arms and its colors.
WILLIAMS, AUGUSTUS
Rank and organization: Seaman, U.S. Navy. Born: 1842, Norway. Accredited to: Massachusetts. G.O. No: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: On board the U.S.S. Santiago de Cuba during the assault by the fleet on Fort Fisher, on 15 January 1865. When the landing party to which he was attached charged on the fort with a cheer, and with determination to plant their colors on the ramparts, Williams remained steadfast when they reached the foot of the fort and more than two_thirds of the marines and sailors fell back in panic. Taking cover when the enemy concentrated his fre on the remainder of the group, he alone remained with his executive officer, subsequently withdrawing from the field after dark.
WILLIS, RICHARD
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 1826, England. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Willis served on board the U.S.S. New Ironsides during action in several attacks on Fort Fisher, 24 and 25 December 1864; and 13, 14 and 15 January 1865. The ship steamed in and took the lead in the ironclad division close inshore and immediately opened its starboard battery in a barrage of well_directed fire to cause several fires and explosions and dismount several guns during the first 2 days of fighting. Taken under fire as she steamed into position on 13 January, the New Ironsides fought all day and took on ammunition at night, despite severe weather conditions. When the enemy troops came out of their bombproofs to defend the fort against the storming party, the ship's battery disabled nearly every gun on the fort facing the shore before the ceasefire order was given by the flagship.
BEYER, ARTHUR O.
Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Army, Company C, 603d Tank Destroyer Battalion. Place and date: Near Arloncourt, Belgium, 15 January 1945. Entered service at: St. Ansgar, lowa. Born: 20 May 1909, Rock Township, Mitchell County, lowa. G.O. No.: 73, 30 August 1945. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry in action. His platoon, in which he was a tank-destroyer gunner, was held up by antitank, machinegun, and rifle fire from enemy troops dug in along a ridge about 200 yards to the front. Noting a machinegun position in this defense line, he fired upon it with his 76-mm. gun killing 1 man and silencing the weapon. He dismounted from his vehicle and, under direct enemy observation, crossed open ground to capture the 2 remaining members of the crew. Another machinegun, about 250 yards to the left, continued to fire on him. Through withering fire, he advanced on the position. Throwing a grenade into the emplacement, he killed 1 crewmember and again captured the 2 survivors. He was subjected to concentrated small-arms fire but, with great bravery, he worked his way a quarter mile along the ridge, attacking hostile soldiers in their foxholes with his carbine and grenades. When he had completed his self-imposed mission against powerful German forces, he had destroyed 2 machinegun positions, killed 8 of the enemy and captured 18 prisoners, including 2 bazooka teams. Cpl. Beyer's intrepid action and unflinching determination to close with and destroy the enemy eliminated the German defense line and enabled his task force to gain its objective.
JOHNSON, DWIGHT H.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fifth Class, U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 69th Armor, 4th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Dak To, Kontum Province, Republic of Vietnam, 15 January 1968. Entered service at: Detriot, Mich. Born: 7 May 1947, Detroit, Mich. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp5c. Johnson, a tank driver with Company B, was a member of a reaction force moving to aid other elements of his platoon, which was in heavy contact with a battalion size North Vietnamese force. Sp5c. Johnson's tank, upon reaching the point of contact, threw a track and became immobilized. Realizing that he could do no more as a driver, he climbed out of the vehicle, armed only with a .45 caliber pistol. Despite intense hostile fire, Sp5c. Johnson killed several enemy soldiers before he had expended his ammunition. Returning to his tank through a heavy volume of antitank rocket, small arms and automatic weapons fire, he obtained a sub-machine gun with which to continue his fight against the advancing enemy. Armed with this weapon, Sp5c. Johnson again braved deadly enemy fire to return to the center of the ambush site where he courageously eliminated more of the determined foe. Engaged in extremely close combat when the last of his ammunition was expended, he killed an enemy soldier with the stock end of his submachine gun. Now weaponless, Sp5c. Johnson ignored the enemy fire around him, climbed into his platoon sergeant's tank, extricated a wounded crewmember and carried him to an armored personnel carrier. He then returned to the same tank and assisted in firing the main gun until it jammed. In a magnificent display of courage, Sp5c. Johnson exited the tank and again armed only with a .45 caliber pistol, engaged several North Vietnamese troops in close proximity to the vehicle. Fighting his way through devastating fire and remounting his own immobilized tank, he remained fully exposed to the enemy as he bravely and skillfully engaged them with the tank's externally-mounted .50 caliber machine gun; where he remained until the situation was brought under control. Sp5c. Johnson's profound concern for his fellow soldiers, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 15, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
15 January
1911: SAN FRANCISCO AIR MEET. At Tanforan Race Track Lt Myron S. Crissy (Coast Artillery Corps), flying with Lt Phillip O. Parmalee, dropped America's first live bomb over the side of a Wright airplane on a target 1,500 feet below. Crissy and Lt Paul W. Beck designed the bomb. (13) (24)
1914: The Signal Corps Aviation School issued the first Army aviation safety regulation. It required pilots to wear helmets and leather coats for overland flights, and unsinkable coats for overwater flights. (5) (21)
1915: Lt Byron Q. Jones set a one-man duration record of 8 hours 53 minutes in a Martin T tractor biplane at San Diego, Calif. (24)
1923: The Air Service directed all pilots and passengers in Army aircraft to wear parachutes. (5)
1935: Maj James H. Doolittle flew two passengers on an American Airlines plane nonstop from Los Angeles to New York in 11 hours 59 minutes to set a Federation Aeronautique Internationale record for passenger airplanes and the nonstop west-east transcontinental record. (9) (24)
1948: Gen Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, approved the development of satellite components and satellites. (16) (24)
1950: General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold died of a heart ailment at Sonoma, Calif. (21)
1958: The USAF activated the 4751st Air Defense Missile Wing and assigned it the mission of developing and conducting training for BOMARC missile units. (21) The Strategic Air Command activated the 864th Strategic Missile Squadron (IRBM-Jupiter) at Huntsville, Ala., under the 1st Missile Division. It was the first of three such squadrons in thecommand activated at the Redstone Arsenal, Al., during 1958. (6)
1959: The Strategic Air Command first integrated intercontinental ballistic missile and bomber forces by moving the 703rd Strategic Missile Wing (Titan) and 706th Strategic Missile Wing (Atlas) from the 1st Missile Division to Fifteenth Air Force. (16) (24)
1969: The first improved Backup Intercept Control III radar system began operating at Fort Fisher Air Force Station, N.C. (5) The Strategic Air Command took its last Minuteman I (model "A") missiles off alert at Malmstrom AFB, Mont. (6)
1976: A Titan IIIE launched a West German Helios payload from the Eastern Test Range. (5)
1977: First Laser Maverick missile with the Block 1 seeker launched successfully. (12)
1979: Two Air Rescue and Recovery Service WC-135s from Ascension Island, along with four Military Airlift Command C-141s from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and Howard AFB, Panama, conducted 113 missions to drop 1,945 dropwindsondes from 30,000 to 37,000 feet to support a World Meteorological Organization effort to get atmospheric and oceanic data. In phase II on 10 May, 6 C-141s operating from Hickam, Ascensions Island, and Acapulco, Mexico, dropped 2,078 dropwindsondes in 110 missions. (2) The E-3A Sentry made its first marijuana capture after the Customs Service spotted and tracked an aircraft that subsequently crashed in Florida. (16)
1991: Air Force Systems Command turned over Vandenberg AFB, Calif., and its launch facilities to Air Force Space Command (AFSPACE). (21)
1994: Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria gave F-16 Fighting Falcons overflight rights for their deployment from Germany to Turkey. That permission marked the first time the USAF had flown an operational mission over those countries since World War II. (21)
1998: Through 18 January, 5 C-17s and 13 C-5s deployed civilian utility workers, trucks, chain saws, and other gear to the northeastern US after a devastating ice storm brought down power lines and trees to leave some 500,000 households without electricity. The aircraft picked up most of their passengers and cargo at Pope AFB, N. C., for distribution to Naval Air Station Brunswick and Bangor International Airport, Maine, and Stewart International Airport, N. Y. (22)
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1950
USAF LEGENDS:
General of the Air Force Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold and the Origins of USAF Technology, Pt. I
(This 3-part biography is derived from, Hap Arnold and the Evolution of American Airpower, written by Dik Daso, Executive Director, AFHF)
This date General of the Air Force Henry H. Arnold died of a heart ailment at Sonoma, California. He was 63 years old.
America's least known five-star general, Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold commanded the largest air armada ever assembled in history. As Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces during WW II, he held sway over three active wartime theaters: Europe, the Pacific, and the Mediterranean.
Raised near Philadelphia, Harley Arnold began his military career after graduating from West Point in 1907. Military Academy classmates called him "Pewt," after a mischievous fictional character popular at that time—Pewter Purinton. After a few years of infantry service mapping remote locations in the Philippines, Arnold volunteered to join the newly established ranks of army aviators in the Signal Corps. In 1911, he earned his pilot wings at the Wright Brothers flying school in Dayton, Ohio, although he never actually flew with either of the inventors of the airplane. From that day forward, his military career entwined with the development of military aviation and aeronautical technology.
As a young lieutenant, Arnold became one of the Army's first instructor pilots at the newly established College Park aviation school. He was involved in early experiments involving expanded uses for military aircraft, set early altitude records, practiced using radios to communicate from airplanes to ground forces, and spearheaded the first deployment of an American aerial unit when the aviation school moved south to Georgia in search of better flying weather. After a near fatal flying accident, Arnold grounded himself in 1912 and did not fly again until late in 1916.
…to be continued.
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