To All
. Good Wednesday morning May 6. We are clear and sunny and forecast to be that way for the next few days with temps climbing to 73 his morning and the 80s tomorrow and for the next 5 days.
. Regards,
Skip
HAGD
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director’s corner for all 97 H-Grams
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/
May 6
1860 The sloop-of-war Portsmouth, commanded by John Calhoun, captures the slaver brig Falmouth off Porto Praya.
1908 The Great White Fleet anchors in San Francisco Bay, Calif. The fleet is delayed from its round-the-world cruise after both Rear Adm. Robley D. Evans and Rear Adm. Charles M. Thomas fall ill. On May 15, Rear Adm. Charles S. Sperry assumed command and completes the cruise ending Feb. 22, 1909.
1916 The first ship-to-shore radio telephone voice conversation was held on board USS New Hampshire (BB 25) off the Virginia Capes.
1944 USS Buckley (DE 51) rams German submarine U 66 while TBMs (VC 55) from USS Block Island (CVE 21) attack U 66 near Cape Verdes.
1945 USS Farquhar (DE 139) sinks the last German submarine, U 881, in the North Atlantic.
1995 USNS Laramie (T-AO 203) is launched at the Avondale Shipyard, Inc. at New Orleans, La. The Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler is operated by the Military Sealift Command. The Laramie enters non-commissioned U.S. Navy service May 7, 1996.
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This Day in World History May 6
1527 German troops begin sacking Rome. Libraries are destroyed, the Pope is captured and thousands are killed.
1529 Babur defeats the Afghan Chiefs in the Battle of Ghaghra, India.
1682 King Louis XIV moves his court to Versailles, France.
1856 U.S. Army troops from Fort Tejon and Fort Miller prepare to ride out to protect Keyesville, California, from Yokut Indian attack.
1861 Arkansas becomes the ninth state to secede from the Union.
1862 Henry David Thoreau dies of tuberculosis at age 44.
1864 In the second day of the Battle of the Wilderness between Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Confederate Gen. James Longstreet is wounded by his own men.
1877Chief Crazy Horse surrenders to U.S. troops in Nebraska. Crazy Horse brought General George Custer to his end.
1937 The dirigible Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey.
1941 Bob Hope gives his first USO show at California's March Field.
1942 General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders Corregidor to the Japanese.
1944 The Red Army besieges and captures Sevastopol in the Crimea.
1945 Axis Sally makes her final propaganda broadcast to Allied troops.
1954 British runner Roger Bannister breaks the four minute mile.
1960 President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Civil Rights Act of 1960.
1962 The first nuclear warhead is fired from a Polaris submarine.
1994 The Channel Tunnel linking England to France is officially opened.
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May 6
Hello All,
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
Links to all content can now be found right on the homepage http://www.rollingthunderremembered.com. If you scroll down from the banner and featured content you will find "Today in Rolling Thunder Remembered History" which highlights events in the Vietnam war that occurred on the date the page is visited. Below that are links to browse or search all content. You may search by keyword(s), date, or date range.
An item of importance is the recent incorporation of Task Force Omega (TFO) MIA summaries. There is a link on the homepage and you can also visit directly via https://www.rollingthunderremembered.com/task-force-omega/. There are 60 summaries posted thus far, with about 940 to go (not a typo—TFO has over 1,000 individual case files).
If you have any questions or comments about RTR/TFO, or have a question on my book, you may e-mail me directly at acrossthewing@protonmail.com. Thank you Dan
Thanks to Micro
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
For Wednesday May 6 ..
May 6: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2865
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.
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 Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
(This site was sent by a friend . 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
AUGUST 15, 2022
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A nice surprise today from the archives thanks to Admiral Cox today
H-Gram 089: “Don't Give Up the Ship!”—The Legacy of Captain James Lawrence, USN
30 April 2025
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Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry's flag, currently in the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, Annapolis, MD (USN 900312).
Download H-Gram 089 as a 508-compliant PDF (6.6 MB)
This H-gram covers the actions of Captain James Lawrence in the War of 1812, particularly the battle between USS Chesapeake and HMS Shannon. His dying words—“Don’t give up the ship!”—were emblazoned on the battle flag of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in his decisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Erie, and have stiffened the resolve of midshipmen and naval officers alike for generations.
Overview
On 1 June 1813, the frigate USS Chesapeake engaged the Royal Navy frigate HMS Shannon about 20 miles east of Boston harbor. In the space of 11 minutes, 228 men on both sides were left dead, dying, or wounded in the bloodiest single-ship engagement in the War of 1812. The Chesapeake was taken by a boarding party led by the captain of Shannon, Philip Broke. By the end, Broke had suffered a grievous head wound and Captain James Lawrence of Chesapeake was shot in the knee and the groin. As the mortally wounded Lawrence was being carried below, he gave a command that would go down in naval history: “Don’t give up the ship!”
In an example of the importance of intelligence (Know your enemy!), what Lawrence did not know when he chose to engage was that Shannon was the best-equipped and -trained frigate in the entire Royal Navy. It was commanded by an exceptionally competent officer who poured his own personal wealth into his ship, developing numerous innovations to improve the accuracy of the ship’s guns. Broke had been in command of Shannon since 1806, whereas Lawrence had been in command of Chesapeake for a little over a month, with a crew that had not previously trained together.
In most accounts, USS Chesapeake vs. HMS Shannon comes across as a lopsided, albeit costly, British victory. But like many battles, there is actually a very fine line between victory and defeat. On paper. the ships were an even match, both rated as 38-gun frigates and each carrying about 50 guns, primarily 18-pounder long guns and shorter-range 32-pounder carronades. Although disparaged as the “runt of the litter” of the first six U.S. Navy frigates, Chesapeake was actually a very formidable ship. Lawrence was experienced and had been successful in previous combat. H had been second-in-command of USS Intrepid during the burning of the frigate USS Philadelphia (previously captured by Tripoli), noted as “the most bold and daring act of the age” (although British Admiral Horatio Nelson didn’t actually say that). While in command of USS Hornet, Lawrence had handily defeated HMS Peacock, which should have been an even fight but wasn’t, and thereby learned an inaccurate lesson about the accuracy of British gunnery.
The British 9-pounder long gun was considered the most accurate cannon in the Royal Navy arsenal. What Lawrence also did not know was that Broke used them in an innovative fashion, with one on the quarterdeck and one on the forecastle. The quarterdeck gun was sited and its crew trained with the specific mission of destroying an opposing ship’s helm (and helmsmen), while the forecastle gun had the mission of taking out the foretopsail halyard. Both gun crews performed exactly as they had extensively trained, and the combination rendered Chesapeake unable to maneuver, dooming the ship within the first few minutes of battle.
Some cynics would say of Lawrence’s famous command that the crew had already surrendered when he uttered it. This hadn’t yet occurred when he first said it, and he said it many times as he lingered three days before dying. And, technically, Chesapeake did not “strike her colors” (surrender). The better-drilled and -equipped British boarding party gained control of the upper (spar) deck in brutal close-quarters combat and trapped the surviving Americans below. The British officer who first tried to raise British colors on the Chesapeake was killed by friendly fire from Shannon as he did so.
The loss of Chesapeake came as a great shock, as Americans had gotten used to U.S. Navy ships defeating Royal Navy ships in single combat (basically 6–0 at that point in the war). Nevertheless, Captain Lawrence’s “last words” became a rallying cry. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry had been a close friend of Lawrence and named his flagship after him. He also had Lawrence’s words sewn onto his battle flag (lacking an apostrophe). In the Battle of Lake Erie on 10 September 1813, between nine U.S. vessels and six British vessels, the British had a slight advantage in long guns, and the Americans had a significant advantage in carronades. However, Perry’s well-thought-out battle plan fell apart almost immediately, and the USS Lawrence was subjected to almost two hours of long-gun bombardment by the three most capable British vessels.
With his ship a shambles with high casualties, Perry shifted his flag in a small boat to the undamaged sister ship USS Niagara. Taking advantage of a collision between the two most capable British ships, Perry went on to achieve a decisive and strategic victory, in which the entire British force surrendered. Perry then made his own contribution to famous naval sayings: “We have met the enemy and they are ours.”
Perry’s battle flag arrived at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1849, where it and Lawrence’s words have served as an inspiration to midshipmen ever since. The concept also became inculcated throughout the Navy officer corps. Prior to the War of 1812, if a ship was seriously outmatched by an opponent, the gentlemanly thing to do was to strike one’s colors so as to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. After the War of 1812, and increasingly so after the Civil War, the concept of striking colors to a foreign power was anathema to U.S. Navy officers. There would be numerous examples of U.S. Navy ships choosing to fight to the end even in the face of overwhelming odds. The cargo ship USS Niagara’s fight with U-152 is an example from World War I.
During World War II, there were numerous such examples: USS Houston (CA-30), USS Edsall (DD-219), USS Asheville (PG-21), the “Taffy 3” task unit at Samar, and the charge of the “Irish" destroyers” at the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. Such action was not confined to surface ships—the torpedo squadrons and Nautilus (SS-168) at Midway are examples. Although Perry’s flag has a close association with the U.S. Naval Academy, the sentiment permeated the entire Navy officer corps as reservists gained command in World War II. These included Lieutenant Commander Robert Copeland of Samuel B. Roberts (DE-413) at Samar. The ethos was also followed after the war by officers who increasingly came from other commissioning sources, such as Commander Paul Rinn of USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58), who saved his ship after an Iranian mine strike in 1988.
Perry’s flag was displayed in several locations at the Naval Academy after 1849 until being displayed in Memorial Hall starting in 1924. It was removed to the Naval Academy Museum in 2002 due to material degradation and replaced in Memorial Hall by a replica. There, it has served to inspire many generations of midshipmen whose resolve might be wavering. I know as I was one of them. Coupled with the displayed list of all Naval Academy graduates who have been killed in action, the flag is a powerful reminder that, compared with what was expected of them, what has been expected of me was not so great. And that is also a reason that in the entrance to Naval and History Command headquarters there is a replica of the "DONT GIVE UP THE SHIP" flag.
For more detail, please see attachment H-089-1. Previous H-grams may be found here. Feel free to share them!
Published: Mon May 05 13:12:28 EDT 2025
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. From the archives
. For all the Bubbas
Thanks to Micro. All the bubbas at breakfast Friday morning have the same thoughts
Author unknown
They won't let me fly jet fighters anymore!
They won’t let me fly their jet fighters anymore. The day after I no longer pulled 5-6 Gs (or more) multiple times every day, my middle started expanding. It hasn’t stopped. First my toes disappeared, and then the equipment in the Nether Regions disappeared except on outstanding occasions. My feet might as well be in China. My toenails are turning into claws.
The ladies no longer look at my ass as I walk by.
My eyesight has started to fade. I once had the best vision of anyone I ever flew with except Chuck Yeager. He could see another aircraft at 60 miles and I could not see it until 50 miles. And he was older than me. I guess that is why he was an Ace.
The music has faded. Twenty-five years in close proximity of screaming jet engines will do more damage to your hearing than a rock band. The VA gave me some very nice hearing aids but I don’t wear the damned things. I don’t want to look like an old man. However, it can be a blessing when I piss off my roommate.
My prostate started to enlarge and I have to pee every 5 minutes. Speaking of which: The pressure is too low, the hose is too short, and the nozzle is set on spray. I find it advisable to sit down to pee to avoid getting Wet Foot Syndrome. I know the location of every publicly accessible bathroom within 100 miles.
My gyro tumbled and I have vertigo. I have had it many times while flying in Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) weather but this is different. This is Visual Flight Rules (VFR) weather all the time. I walk like a drunken sailor. My golfing days are over. My back swing would put me flat of my back. A walker may not be far in the future.
If I were to find myself on the ground in the middle of an empty Wal-Mart parking lot, I would not be able to get up onto my feet. The legs are just not there anymore. I would have to crawl to a shopping cart or fence to pull myself up.
My smoking days finally caught up with me and I have emphysema/COPD. I used to cuss while climbing out returning from North Vietnam if I was so high that my Zippo lighter would not light so I could have a smoke to help me come down from an adrenaline high. I have had to go on oxygen in order to have enough to live. It is a real bummer to have to haul a bottle of O2 around with me when I go out of the house. I wear a nose harness at home and drag a plastic tube around and an oxygen concentrator out in the garage runs 24/7. The tube is always snagging on something or someone steps on the damn thing and it almost jerks me ears off. Don’t get me wrong. I like oxygen. I used to really like it after a night of serious partying when I had an early morning mission. As soon as I got into the cockpit I went on 100% O2 for startup, taxi, and weapons arming pit. By the time I had wheels up I was ready to fight.
My sex life is 99.9% in my head. But I think that is pretty normal for the male population, which thinks about sex on the average about every 10 seconds. At least that has always been my average.
And they won’t let me fly their jet fighters anymore.
But most of us still have our memories and as we gather together and share many of those memories our eyes light up and we smile……Skip
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Some bits from the Flyover
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6, 2026
Good Morning! On this day in 1851, John Gorrie received a patent for the first ice-making “refrigeration machine,” which he devised to help treat patients with tropical diseases.
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Don't forget: Mother's Day is right around the corner. If you haven't started shopping, start here: our 2026 Gift Guide has thoughtful, practical, and indulgent picks for every kind of mom.
Hantavirus Cruise Ship Remains Stranded
The World Health Organization said Tuesday it suspects there was human-to-human transmission of hantavirus on the MV Hondius, a Dutch cruise ship stranded off Cape Verde, where so far three passengers have died, and four others are sick.
Footage from the ship shows deserted decks and medical teams in protective gear while its nearly 150 passengers and crew waited another day off the coast of West Africa for evacuation.
Cape Verde has refused to allow the ship to dock, but Spain has agreed to welcome the ship at one of the Canary Islands, with the specific port still to be determined, where health officials would conduct a full disinfection of the ship.
Hantavirus typically spreads through rodent droppings and was the same illness that killed actor Gene Hackman's wife, Betsy Arakawa, last year. Symptoms include fever, pneumonia, and respiratory distress.
1,500 Beagles Leave Wisconsin Facility
Roughly 1,500 beagles bred for medical research at Ridglan Farms in Wisconsin are being released to rescues, with hundreds already transferred to shelters in Florida, Wisconsin, New Jersey, and beyond.
Big Dog Ranch Rescue and the Center for a Humane Economy paid an undisclosed sum for the dogs. See the video of the rescued beagles touching grass for the first time.
About 500 beagles remain at Ridglan, which is set to lose its breeding license on July 1, but can still experiment on the dogs inside.
Ridglan has bred beagles for research for more than 60 years and is surrendering its license to avoid animal cruelty charges.
The following stories are featured exclusively on The Flyover Podcast—a daily show that gives you the most important headlines in under 15 minutes. Clicking the links will take you directly to these stories:
➤ President Trump has scrapped Michelle Obama's school health program and reinstated the Presidential Fitness Test.
➤ Scammers spoofing a Chase fraud line convinced a customer to walk into her own branch and hand over nearly $40,000.
➤ Secretary of State Marco Rubio took a rare turn Tuesday at the White House press briefing podium, the first since press secretary Karoline Leavitt began maternity leave, to brief reporters on the Iran war.
➤ Indiana Republicans faced Trump-backed primary challengers Tuesday in state Senate races viewed as a test of the president's clout, after Trump challenged incumbents who voted against redrawing Indiana’s congressional maps last year.
➤ An FAA employee was arrested after allegedly emailing the White House to threaten President Trump's life and researching how to bring a gun into a federal facility.
➤ Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday called for Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), to be indicted for allegedly lying under oath about gain-of-function research implicated in the Covid pandemic.
➤ Top tennis players issued a joint statement expressing “deep disappointment” with prize money at the French Open, and No. 1 ranked women’s player Aryna Sabalenka said a boycott may even be necessary.
➤ Victor Wembanyama set the NBA's single-game playoff blocks record with 12 against the Timberwolves, surpassing the previous mark of 10 shared by Mark Eaton, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Andrew Bynum.
➤ Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow, which could sideline the two-time Cy Young winner for two to five months.
➤ Tina Charles, the WNBA's all-time leader in rebounds and field goals, announced her retirement yesterday after 14 seasons. The former MVP and three-time Olympic gold medalist retires as the league’s second-leading scorer.
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Every time I think that I have heard a lot of the stories from WWII one like this comes along and I have never heard a bit about it. skip
The latest on Task & Purpose
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When Americans, Germans and POWs fought the SS from the walls of a castle
80 years ago, on May 5, 1945, the strangest fight in World War II took place. American soldiers and Wehrmacht troops teamed up to fight the SS.
Soldiers and tanks advance towards Castle Itter in Austria in May 1945. AFP photo by Eric Schwab via Getty Images.
By early May 1945 the war in Europe was all but over. Hitler was dead, having killed himself in his bunker in Berlin rather than let the Soviet forces capture him. Mussolini had died days prior, his body strung up by partisans. American and Soviet forces had already linked up and the remaining German government under Admiral Karl Dönitz was about to formally surrender. German soldiers were either trying to give up to the Allies or in the case of diehards, kill anyone they considered traitor.
Amidst all that, an American detachment somehow found itself under siege, holed up in an Austrian castle fighting off waves of SS troops. Their unlikely allies? Members of the Wehrmacht, who had joined them in an effort to secure high-value prisoners of war who were kept in the castle.
The Battle of Castle Itter took place 80 years ago on May 5, 1945. It was one of the last battles in the European theater, and by far one of the strangest. The fight at Castle Itter was the focus of “The Last Battle” by Stephen Harding, which chronicled the events that led to the bewildering siege and the frantic and daring combat that emerged during it.
Schloss Itter, or Castle Itter, was a relatively modern fortification, built in 1878 at the top of a hill overlooking the village of Itter in the Tyrol region of Austria. It had been a private estate and a hotel and eventually came under Nazi control. In 1943, Castle Itter was made part of the Dachau prison network. But unlike the rest of Dachau it was not a death camp. Instead, it was a prison for some of the Nazis’ most important VIPs.
There were French generals, Maxime Weygand and Maurice Gamelin. Former French prime ministers, Edouard Daladier and Paul Reynaud found themselves imprisoned there along with other politicians. Jean Borotra, A former French tennis star turned nationalist politician, also found himself there. There were also a handful of Czech and Yugoslav partisans who had been a thorn in the Nazis’ side, but hadn’t been put up for execution. And Charles de Gaulle’s sister was there as well. And for two years they stayed as the war carried on.
According to Harding’s detailed history of the fight, things took a turn in the spring of 1945. The Nazi regime was on its last legs and the prison guards were getting nervous. Various officers and units, including SS troops, were fleeing south into Austria, looking to escape the Soviets, get away or continue an insurgency against the Allies. By May 2, the guards and the castle’s notoriously brutal and arrogant commandant, Sebastian Wimmer, also fled. Before Wimmer left, he warned his former captives of the dangers from diehard German units in the area. Then, the prisoners were alone. Armed, inside a fortress of sorts, but alone, surrounded by possible SS units. One person had already tried to seek Allied help before Wimmer left, but now the former prisoners needed to try and reach the Americans again.
Andreas Krobot, a Czech prisoner who served as a cook, was sent out via bicycle to find support. He eventually made it to the town of Worgl, where he found the Austrian resistance and Wehrmacht troops that had thrown in with them. They were led by Wehrmacht Maj. Josef “Sepp” Gangl. Gangl, who had just under two dozen men with him, was looking to surrender to the Americans. Rescuing some high-value prisoners might help him avoid some heavy punishment. So he then set out to reach the Americans, with Krobot. Gangl found them in the town of Kufstein. Four tanks from the 23rd Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division, led by Capt. Jack Lee. Gangl went up to Lee, who was chewing on an unlit cigar and ready to hear the German officer out on the bizarre rescue mission he was proposing.
As Harding noted, the Germans and the Americans were all tired. It was May, no one wanted to fight and die when the war was essentially over. But Lee pulled together a strange detachment. Three tanks, including his own called “Besotten Jenny,” their crews, some infantry and the Wehrmacht troops. They went ahead, leaving some tanks to guard the way to the castle. When they arrived at Castle Itter on the afternoon of May 4, Lee and his strange detachment found themselves with one more mission and the very real threat of an SS attack imminent. To many of the prisoners’ shock and horror, their rescue party was small, and Lee decided not to immediately leave. He did not have enough vehicles to move them, the SS was out there, and if they were attacked in the open, the old generals and politicians, not to mention Lee’s soldiers, would be easy targets. The plan was simple: Hunker down and wait for reinforcements to secure the area.
It was not a crazy plan. Castle Itter was old, but it was still a stone castle on high ground, with an open field in front of it. It could repel small arms. By design, there were several places the group could fall back to if attackers advanced, including what Lee dubbed “the keep.” The actual soldiers, German and American, were well armed; they had a tank set up as a defensive barrier, and the prisoners had also armed themselves with rifles and submachine guns from the abandoned armory. So as night fell on May 4, the odd collection of soldiers and captured politicians waited for reinforcements.
The morning of May 5, the SS showed up instead.
Against the SS
More than 100 SS troops appeared out of the woods that morning. Despite the state of the German military, they had plenty of guns, trucks, and even an 88mm gun, and they soon opened fire on the castle. American tankers, Black soldiers, members of the Wehrmacht and French politicians all fired back at them.
Any language barrier that existed fell away through a mix of hand signals, soldiers’ common sense, and a general understanding of what the other was shouting. Gangl, Harding noted, spoke English, which did help. Early in the fighting he and Lee agreed they needed to try and hail more backup. And because Castle Itter had been an important prison, it happened to have a working phone, so they dialed a nearby village to reach the Austrian resistance and tell them to get American help.
Meanwhile, the fighting was fierce. Lee’s tank, Besotten Jenny, was hit by the 88mm gun, taking it out of the fight as Americans scrambled to pull the crew out. The French officials who hadn’t yet taken up arms soon did, although Harding noted that not all of them had the best skill with an MP-40. But the SS continued on, and even with their solid arsenal of weapons, the defenders were soon low on ammo. They needed help.
As more SS appeared out of the woods, Lee and Gangl, high up at the defenses, tried to counter. Gangl spotted one of the VIPs exposed and stood to wave him away. The Wehrmacht major then fell over dead, killed by an SS sniper. Although the castle could withstand small arms, artillery rounds were soon pounding it.
Then Borotra, the tennis star who was a good deal younger than many of the other Frenchmen, proposed a possible suicide mission. He’d run out of the castle, reach any American units, and fill them in on the quickest way to reach the castle and what the situation was. Lee said yes. The phone was now dead, Gangl was dead, ammunition was low and the SS showed no signs of stopping. Borotra took off and somehow, against all odds, did not get shot by the SS.
He found reinforcements. An American unit that was also informed of the prisoners had been trying to make it to Castle Itter but had been slowed down by resistance. They listened to Borotra and sped towards the castle. At Castle Itter, Lee was ordering his strange mix of troops to fall back deeper into the fortifications. The SS was now advancing. And then the American reinforcements appeared, opening up on the Nazis with a wave of fire, backed by armor. They tore through the SS, who soon ran and abandoned the fight. Many were dead in the slopes around the castle. And the Americans linked up with Lee and his men.
By the time the fighting was over, the defenders had killed several members of the attacking SS. Only one of the defenders had died — Gangl. Four others were wounded. But the strange mix of German, French, American, Czech and Balkan fighters had held off an overwhelming Nazi force while holed up inside a castle on a mountain.
Now liberated, the VIPs were repatriated to their home countries. The American troops carried on with their occupation of Austria before eventually being demobilized after the war. Lee would eventually be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. His citation noted his “extraordinary heroism” but did not get into the odd circumstances around it.
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\ . Thanks to Interesting Facts
. Oxford University is older than the Inca empire.
While you might associate the development of modern universities with intellectual movements like the Renaissance or the Enlightenment, the first universities predate those major periods in history — not by years but by centuries. One of the oldest universities in the world is Oxford University, where teaching began back in 1096. That’s much older than Harvard (established in 1636) or Yale (1701), and it’s even older than some well-known Indigenous civilizations in the Americas, including the Incas, who lived in the Andean region of South America from around the 13th century CE to the mid-16th century. (Other groups and empires have occupied the Andes since at least 10,000 BCE.)
The first universities were not like the sprawling campuses of today. Instead, they were more like guilds devoted to certain subjects or crafts. Slowly, the influence of these schools grew throughout the High Middle Ages (1000 to 1300 CE), and many of them became hot spots during future intellectual movements. Meanwhile, as Europe was busy cementing the importance of its universities (and fighting in half-a-dozen Crusades), the Incas were building sprawling road networks and reliable postal systems — they even had highly skilled brain surgeons.
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.Thanks to Interesting Facts
Seven of Our Most Amazing Facts About the Ancient World
To the modern mind, the ancient world is a fascinating place. Many of us have spent hours pondering the pyramids of Egypt or learning about daily life in ancient Rome. But the world of many centuries ago also contains plenty of surprises. What sprawling pre-Columbian civilization had its own postal system? Where can you find the world’s biggest pyramid, or the oldest mummies? (If you answered “Egypt” for either question, try again.) Read on for the stories behind these and many other astounding aspects of the distant human past.
1 The Antikythera Mechanism Is a 2,000-Year-Old "Computer" From Ancient Greece
The Antikythera Mechanism is one of the most astounding archaeological finds in history. Discovered within the ruins of an ancient Greco-Roman shipwreck in 1900, it was brought to the surface the following year as part of the world’s first major underwater archaeological excavation. Initially, the mechanism — in dozens of corroded, greenish pieces of bronze — was overlooked in favor of the many bronze and marble statues, coins, amphorae, and other intriguing items the shipwreck contained. But in the 1950s, science historian Derek J. de Solla Price took particular interest in the machine, convinced that it was in fact an ancient computer. In the early 21st century, advanced imaging techniques proved Price correct.
Of course, this is an analog computer we’re talking about, not a digital one. About the size of a mantle clock, the Antikythera Mechanism was a box full of dozens of gears with a handle on the side. When the handle turned, the device calculated eclipses, moon phases, the movements of the five visible planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn — and more. It even included a dial for the timing of the ancient Olympics and religious festivals. Nothing else like it is known from antiquity (the machine has been dated to around the first century BCE), and nothing like it shows up in the archaeological record for another 1,000 years. Scientists aren’t sure exactly who made the device, although the ancient Greek astronomer and mathematician Hipparchus has been suggested as the creator, and the famed mathematician and inventor Archimedes may also have been involved. While its origin will likely remain a mystery, the mechanism’s purpose has grown clearer with time — and its existence has completely altered our understanding of the history of technology.
2 The Ancient Egyptians Invented Toothpaste
.The ancient Egyptians are known for many firsts. Hieroglyphics, papyrus, the calendar, and even bowling all come from the minds of the ancient people along the Nile. Egyptians were also some of the first to pay particular attention to oral care. They invented the first breath mint, toothpicks have been found alongside mummies, and they created the oldest known formula for toothpaste.
One of the earliest medicinal texts, the Ebers Papyrus, contains an astoundingly accurate understanding of the human circulatory system as well as an assortment of medicinal remedies. Written around 1550 BCE, this ancient text also describes a very old form of toothpaste. This early dentifrice was likely made from ingredients such as ox hooves, ashes, burnt eggshells, and pumice (a type of volcanic rock), but by the fourth century CE, when Egypt was under Roman rule, the recipe evolved to include salt, pepper, mint, and dried iris flower, based on descriptions in another papyrus. Egyptians may have applied the paste with toothbrushes made from frayed twigs.
3 The World’s Oldest Mummies Are in Chile
.Egypt may be home to the world’s most famous mummies, but not the world’s oldest. That distinction belongs to Chile, where mummified remains predate their Egyptian counterparts by more than 2,000 years. Known as the Chinchorro mummies, these artificially preserved hunter-gatherers were first discovered just over a century ago in the Atacama Desert, the driest nonpolar desert in the world. Their relatively recent discovery is perhaps explained by the fact that they weren’t buried in ostentatious pyramids but rather — after being skinned and refurbished with natural materials — wrapped in reeds and placed in shallow, modest graves. It’s estimated that the oldest Chinchorro mummies date back 7,000 years. Some are now in museums, while others remain underground in land currently threatened by climate change, as rising humidity levels alter the famously dry conditions of the desert. UNESCO added the Chinchorro mummies and the settlement where they were found to the World Heritage list in July 2021, and a museum devoted to them has been developed in the northern port city of Arica, with plans to expand it.
4 The Easter Island Heads Have Bodies
Few historical artifacts are as mesmerizing — or as mysterious — as the Easter Island statues. Known as moai (pronounced “mo-eye”), meaning “statue” in Rapa Nui (the Native name for the island, its Indigenous people, and their language), the statues are believed to represent ancestral chiefs who protected the inhabitants of this 63-square-mile island in the Pacific centuries ago. Possibly built between 1400 and 1650 CE, the statues were transported to massive stone platforms known as ahu, and usually arranged so their backs faced the sea. Although their average height is only around 13 feet (bodies and heads included), many weigh more than 10 metric tons.
Most of the 900 or so moai aren’t buried, and when Europeans first arrived in the early 18th century, they could clearly see their bodies standing tall. But the 150 or so that are buried have become the most popular and photogenic. Resting on the slopes of the Rano Raraku volcanic crater (which is also the stone quarry for the statues), these moai were slowly entombed by continuous erosion and landslides over hundreds of years until only their heads remained. Luckily, this unintended burial preserved their tattoo-like markings, a strong tradition among the Rapa Nui people.
5 The Aztecs Considered Cacao Beans More Valuable Than Gold
You may love chocolate, but probably not as much as the Aztecs did. This Mesoamerican culture, which flourished in the 15th and early 16th centuries, believed cacao beans were a gift from the gods and used them as a currency that was more precious than gold. The biggest chocoholic of them all may have been the ninth Aztec emperor, Montezuma II (1466–1520 CE), who called cacao “the divine drink, which builds up resistance and fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits a man to walk for a whole day without food.” To say he practiced what he preached would be an understatement: Montezuma II was known to drink 50 cups of hot chocolate a day (from a golden goblet, no less). His preferred concoction is said to have been bitter and infused with chiles.
Needless to say, that was an expensive habit. Aztec commoners could only afford to enjoy chocolate on special occasions, whereas their upper-class counterparts indulged their sweet tooth more often. That’s in contrast to the similarly chocolate-obsessed Maya, many of whom had it with every meal and often threw chile peppers or honey into the mix for good measure.
6 Vikings Didn’t Really Wear Horned Helmets
. Aside from long blond hair, horned helmets are probably the most famous Viking accessory — but that would have been a surprise to the real Scandinavian warriors who plundered Europe between the ninth and 11th centuries. The Viking horned helmet convention dates only to the 19th century: In 1876, costume designer Carl Emil Doepler introduced it in Richard Wagner’s famous opera “Der Ring des Nibelungen” (“The Ring of the Nibelung,” often called the “Ring Cycle”). At the time, Germans were fascinated with the story of the Vikings, so Doepler plopped the ancient headdress of the Germans — the horned helmet — on Wagner’s Viking protagonists. The opera proved so popular that by 1900 the horned helmet was inextricably entwined with Vikings themselves, appearing in art, ads, and literature.
Yet during the Viking era, Norse warriors never actually wore horned helmets — and especially not during battle, where they’d probably have gotten in the way. Some artifacts, such as a tapestry discovered with the famous Oseberg ship burial in 1904, do depict horned figures, but these “horned” occurrences only happened — if they happened at all — during rituals. To date, archaeologists have uncovered only two preserved Viking helmets: Both are made of iron, both have guards around the eyes and nose, and both are entirely without horns.
7 Cleopatra Lived Closer to the iPhone’s Debut Than to the Building of the Pyramids at Giza
When we think about nations and empires, we’re usually thinking in terms of centuries, but ancient Egypt stretched on for three millennia. The empire’s first pharaoh, Menes, united the country and formed the first dynasty on the Nile around 3100 BCE. Nearly 500 years later (more than double the entire history of the United States), the first of the Great Pyramid’s 2.3 million stone blocks was put into place. These blocks were the beginnings of an illustrious tomb for the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khufu. Within the next century, two other pyramids (along with an equally impressive sphinx) were completed nearby. Today, the three Pyramids of Giza are regarded as the oldest — and the only surviving — of the Seven Wonders of the World.
It wasn’t until about 2,500 years after that first block was wedged into place that Cleopatra VII was born, around 69 BCE. Although the world of Cleopatra feels more comparable to the ancient reign of Khufu than the technological reign of the iPhone, first introduced in 2007, she’s about 400 years closer to our own age than to the creation of Egypt’s most famous wonders — which have now been standing for an incredible 4,500 years.
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From Chancellorsville to Coral Sea
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
05/04/2010
This Week in American Military History:
May. 2, 1863: During day-two of the Battle of Chancellorsville, Gen.
Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s Confederates appear out of nowhere, smashing into Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker’s right flank and literally rolling up the encamped Federal force. But the Confederate victory proves bittersweet, as Jackson will be wounded – his left arm shattered – that night in a friendly fire incident during a leaders-recon mission.
Following the amputation of Jackson’s arm, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee will lament, “He has lost his left arm, but I have lost my right arm.”
Worse for Lee, Jackson will develop pneumonia and die within eight days.
May 4, 1946: Alcatraz prison guards and U.S. Marines recapture Alcatraz from rioting inmates, who had previously broken into the prison armory, seized weapons and taken hostages. The Alcatraz guards quickly realized they were no match for the inmates. But the inmates stood no chance against “a few good men.”
May. 5, 1864: The bloody albeit inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness
(Virginia) opens between Union Army forces under the command of Lt. Gen.
Ulysses S. Grant and Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, and Confederate forces under Gen. Robert E. Lee.
Fighting is grim: Casualties will be heavy on both sides. Union and Confederate generals will be killed. Wounded and trapped soldiers will be burned alive by a battle-sparked woods fire.Within two days, Grant will disengage and advance toward Spotsylvania Courthouse.
May. 5, 1961: U.S. Navy Commander (future rear admiral) Alan B. Shepard Jr. rockets to an altitude of more than 116 miles above the Earth’s surface (space begins at 73 miles) becoming the first American in space. Shepard’s spacecraft – a recoverable capsule launched by a Redstone rocket – is christened “Freedom 7.”
In less than a year, John Glenn – a Marine – will become the first American to orbit the Earth.Shepard will become the fifth man to walk on the moon in 1971.
May 5, 1965: The first large-scale U.S. Army forces – the famous 173rd Airborne Brigade – arrive in South Vietnam.
May 6, 1962: During “the 1962 atomic tests,” the submarine USS Ethan Allen launches the first and only nuclear-tipped Polaris missile fired from a submerged sub. The warhead detonates over the South Pacific.
The submarine (the second of two so-named U.S. Navy vessels) is named in honor of Ethan Allen, the famous patriot leader of the “Green Mountain Boys” during the American Revolution.
May. 7, 1942: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins in earnest between Allied (primarily U.S.) Naval forces and the Japanese Navy.
The battle – the first fought between opposing ships beyond visual range – is largely a carrier-air fight, and will result in the loss or damage of several American ships, including the loss of USS Lexington (the fifth of six American warships named for the famous battle of April 19, 1775), scores of destroyed planes and hundreds of sailors and Marines killed.
The Japanese will also suffer serious losses.
According to the U.S. Naval Historical Center: “Though the Japanese could rightly claim a tactical victory on ‘points,’ it was an operational and strategic defeat for them, the first major check on the great offensive they had begun five months earlier at Pearl Harbor.”
May. 7, 1945: Germany surrenders one week after Adolf Hitler and his new bride, Eva Braun, commit suicide in Hitler’s Berlin Bunker.
May. 8, 1846: In the first major battle of the Mexican War, U.S. Army forces under the command of Gen. (and future president) Zachary Taylor decisively defeat Mexican forces under Gen. Mariano Arista in the Battle of Palo Alto (Texas). The Mexicans will retreat to a seemingly more defensible position at Resaca de la Palma the following day, but Taylor will pursue and beat them badly there too.
May. 8, 1864: Days after the bloody affair in the Wilderness, Grant and Lee again clash in the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse. Like the Wilderness, the outcome at Spotsylvania Courthouse will be inconclusive and the casualties terribly heavy. In less than two weeks, Grant will again break contact and continue his advance toward Richmond.
May. 8, 1911: The U.S. Navy places its first order with the Curtiss aircraft company for two biplanes. Thus, May 8 becomes the official birthday of Naval Aviation.
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This Day in U S Military History…….May 6
1935 – The first flight of the Curtiss P-36 Hawk. The Curtiss P-36 Hawk, also known as the Curtiss Hawk Model 75, was an American-designed and built fighter aircraft of the 1930s and 40s. A contemporary of both the Hawker Hurricane and Messerschmitt Bf 109, it was one of the first of a new generation of combat aircraft—a sleek monoplane design making extensive use of metal in its construction and powered by a powerful radial engine. Perhaps best known as the predecessor of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the P-36 saw little combat with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was nevertheless the fighter used most extensively and successfully by the French Armee de l’air during the Battle of France. The P-36 was also ordered by the governments of the Netherlands and Norway, but did not arrive in time to see action over either country, before both were occupied by Nazi Germany. The type was also manufactured under license in China, for the Republic of China Air Force, as well as in British India, for the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Indian Air Force (RIAF). Axis and co-belligerent air forces also made significant use of captured P-36s. Following the fall of France and Norway in 1940, several dozen P-36s were seized by Germany and transferred to Finland; these aircraft saw extensive action with the Ilmavoimat (Air Force) against the Soviet Air Forces. The P-36 was also used by Vichy French air forces in several minor conflicts; in one of these, the Franco-Thai War of 1940–41, P-36s were used by both sides. From mid-1940, some P-36s en route for France and the Netherlands were diverted to Allied air forces in other parts of the world. The Hawks ordered by the Netherlands were diverted to the Dutch East Indies and later saw action against Japanese forces. French orders were taken up by British Commonwealth air forces, and saw combat with both the South African Air Force (SAAF) against Italian forces in East Africa, and with the RAF over Burma. Within the Commonwealth, the type was usually referred to as the Curtiss Mohawk. With around 1,000 aircraft built by Curtiss itself, the P-36 was a major commercial success for the company. It also became the basis not only of the P-40, but two other, unsuccessful prototypes: the YP-37 and the XP-42 .
1937 – The airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the pride of Nazi Germany, bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers and crewmembers. Frenchman Henri Giffard constructed the first successful airship in 1852. His hydrogen-filled blimp carried a three-horsepower steam engine that turned a large propeller and flew at a speed of six miles per hour. The rigid airship, often known as the “zeppelin” after the last name of its innovator, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, was developed by the Germans in the late 19th century. Unlike French airships, the German ships had a light framework of metal girders that protected a gas-filled interior. However, like Giffard’s airship, they were lifted by highly flammable hydrogen gas and vulnerable to explosion. Large enough to carry substantial numbers of passengers, one of the most famous rigid airships was the Graf Zeppelin, a dirigible that traveled around the world in 1929. In the 1930s, the Graf Zeppelin pioneered the first transatlantic air service, leading to the construction of the Hindenburg, a larger passenger airship. On May 3, 1937, the Hindenburg left Frankfurt, Germany, for the first of 10 scheduled journey’s across the Atlantic to Lakehurst’s Navy Air Base. On its maiden voyage, the Hindenburg, stretching 804 feet from stern to bow, carried 36 passengers and crew of 61. While attempting to moor at Lakehurst, the airship suddenly burst into flames, probably after a spark ignited its hydrogen core. Rapidly falling 200 feet to the ground, the hull of the airship incinerated within seconds. Thirteen passengers, 21 crewmen, and 1 civilian member of the ground crew lost their lives, and most of the survivors suffered substantial injuries. Radio announcer Herb Morrison, who came to Lakehurst to record a routine voice-over for an NBC newsreel, immortalized the Hindenberg disaster in a famous on-the-scene description in which he emotionally declared, “Oh, the humanity!” The recording of Morrison’s commentary was immediately flown to New York, where it was aired as part of America’s first coast-to-coast radio news broadcast. Lighter-than-air passenger travel rapidly fell out of favor after the Hindenberg disaster, and no rigid airships survived World War II.
1941 – Bob Hope (b. May 29, 1903) began broadcasting his first USO radio show from March Field at Riverside, Ca. The United Service Organizations (USO) began operations this year and provided free coffee, donuts, and entertainment to US military forces. The organization is supported entirely by private citizens and corporations.
1941 – The first flight of the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was one of the largest and heaviest fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single piston engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to eight tons, and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack roles could carry five-inch rockets or a significant bomb load of 2,500 pounds; it could carry more than half the payload of the B-17 bomber on long-range missions (although the B-17 had a far greater range). The P-47, based on the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine—the same engine used by two very successful U.S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair—was to be very effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat and, when unleashed as a fighter-bomber, proved especially adept at ground attack in both the World War II European and Pacific Theaters. The P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) fighters of World War II, and served with other Allied air forces, notably those of France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U.S. were equipped with the P-47. The armored cockpit was roomy inside, comfortable for the pilot, and offered good visibility. A modern-day U.S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, takes its name from the P-47
1944 – The first flight of the Mitsubishi A7M fighter (designed to replace the Zero) takes place. Technical problems and Allied bombing raids prevent mass production.
1945 – The US 97th Division, part of US 5th Corps of the US 3rd Army, occupies Pilsen in Czechoslovakia. The US 12th Corps advances toward Prague but the army is ordered to halt the advance and allow Soviets to occupy the rest of the country as has been arranged.
1945 – On Luzon, elements of the US 25th Division, part of US 1st Corps, capture the Kembu plateau. On Mindanao, the US 24th and 31st Divisions overrun Japanese positions north of Davao, where the Japanese 35th Army (General Morozumi) is concentrated.
1945 – On Okinawa, the Japanese offensive loses momentum. Japanese forces have sustained losses of at least 5000 killed. Even while it has been going on, American forces have made gains near Machinto airfield and Maeda Ridge.
1969 – A US helicopter crashes 75 miles north of Saigon killing 34 and injuring 35 in what is believed to be the worst helicopter accident of the war. To this date, 2,595 helicopters have been lost.
1972 – The remnants of South Vietnam’s 5th Division at An Loc continue to receive daily artillery battering from the communist forces surrounding the city as reinforcements fight their way from the south up Highway 13. The South Vietnamese had been under heavy attack since the North Vietnamese had launched their Nguyen Hue Offensive on March 30. The communists had mounted a massive invasion of South Vietnam with 14 infantry divisions and 26 separate regiments, more than 120,000 troops and approximately 1,200 tanks and other armored vehicles. The main North Vietnamese objectives, in addition to An Loc in the south, were Quang Tri in the north, and Kontum in the Central Highlands. In Binh Long Province, the North Vietnamese forces had crossed into South Vietnam from Cambodia on April 5 to strike first at Loc Ninh. After taking Loc Ninh, the North Vietnamese forces then quickly encircled An Loc, the capital of Binh Long Province, which was only 65 miles from Saigon. The North Vietnamese held An Loc under siege for almost three months while they made repeated attempts to take the city, bombarding it around the clock. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, including 2,300 dead or missing, but with the aid of U.S. advisers and American airpower, they managed to hold out against vastly superior odds until the siege was lifted on June 18. Fighting continued all over South Vietnam into the summer months, but eventually the South Vietnamese forces prevailed against the invaders and they retook Quang Tri in September. With the communist invasion blunted, President Nixon declared that the South Vietnamese victory proved the viability of his Vietnamization program, which he had instituted in 1969 to increase the combat capability of the South Vietnamese armed forces.
1994 – The last HH-3F Pelican helicopter in Coast Guard service was retired. This ended the Coast Guard’s “amphibious era,” as no aviation asset left in service was capable of making water landings.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
MACLAY, WILLIAM P.
Rank and organization: Private, Company A, 43d Infantry, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Hilongas, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 6 May 1900. Entered service at: Altoona, Pa. Birth: Spruce Creek, Pa. Date of issue: 11 March 1902. Citation: Charged an occupied bastion, saving the life of an officer in a hand-to-hand combat and destroying the enemy.
THORDSEN, WILLIAM GEORGE
Rank and organization: Coxswain, U.S. Navy. Born: 2 April 1879, Fredericstadt, Germany. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 6, 15 August 1900. Citation. For heroism and gallantry under fire of the enemy at Hilongas, Philippine Islands, 6 May 1900.
*HOWE, JAMES D.
Rank and organization: Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps, Company I, 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Republic of Vietnam, 6 May 1970. Entered service at: Fort Jackson, S.C. Born: 17 December 1948, Six Mile, Pickens, S.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as a rifleman with Company I, during operations against enemy forces. In the early morning hours L/Cpl. Howe and 2 other marines were occupying a defensive position in a sandy beach area fronted by bamboo thickets. Enemy sappers suddenly launched a grenade attack against the position, utilizing the cover of darkness to carry out their assault. Following the initial explosions of the grenades, L/Cpl. Howe and his 2 comrades moved to a more advantageous position in order to return suppressive fire. When an enemy grenade landed in their midst, L/Cpl. Howe immediately shouted a warning and then threw himself upon the deadly missile, thereby protecting the lives of the fellow marines. His heroic and selfless action was in keeping with the finest traditions of the Marine Corps and of the U.S. Naval Service. He valiantly gave his life in the service of his country.
PATTERSON, ROBERT MARTIN
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Troop B, 2d Squadron. 17th Cavalry. Place and date: Near La Chu, Republic of Vietnam, 6 May 1968. Entered service at: Raleigh, N.C. Born: 16 April 1948, Durham, N.C. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Patterson (then Sp4c.) distinguished himself while serving as a fire team leader of the 3d Platoon, Troop B, during an assault against a North Vietnamese Army battalion which was entrenched in a heavily fortified position. When the leading squad of the 3d Platoon was pinned down by heavy interlocking automatic weapon and rocket propelled grenade fire from 2 enemy bunkers, Sgt. Patterson and the 2 other members of his assault team moved forward under a hail of enemy fire to destroy the bunkers with grenade and machinegun fire. Observing that his comrades were being fired on from a third enemy bunker covered by enemy gunners in l-man spider holes, Sgt. Patterson, with complete disregard for his safety and ignoring the warning of his comrades that he was moving into a bunker complex, assaulted and destroyed the position. Although exposed to intensive small arm and grenade fire from the bunkers and their mutually supporting emplacements. Sgt. Patterson continued his assault upon the bunkers which were impeding the advance of his unit. Sgt. Patterson single-handedly destroyed by rifle and grenade fire 5 enemy bunkers, killed 8 enemy soldiers and captured 7 weapons. His dauntless courage and heroism inspired his platoon to resume the attack and to penetrate the enemy defensive position. Sgt. Patterson’s action at the risk of his life has reflected great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for May 6, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
6 May
1908: Through 14 May, the Wrights resumed flights at Kitty Hawk, N.C., with reporters as witnesses. This ended all doubts about the Wright's ability to fly. (24)
1912: Three Army planes from College Park flew the first group cross-country flight to Chevy Chase Club, Md. (4) (11)
1914: While observing Mexican positions from a Curtiss AH-3 hydroairplane at Vera Cruz, Lt (JG) Patrick N. L. Bellinger, the pilot, and Lt Richard C. Saufley, the observer, were struck by rifle fire. This was the first Navy and first American plane to come under hostile fire. (21) (24)
1918: The Navy commissioned NAS Coco Solo to maintain patrols over the seaward approaches to the Panama Canal. (24)
1937: The German dirigible Hindenberg burned while moored at Lakehurst, N.J. Thirty-five people died in the fire. (21)
1941: Company test pilot Lowery Brabham flew the XP-47B Thunderbolt on its first flight in a trip from the Republic plant to Mitchel Field. (12)
1949: At Cleveland, the Sikorsky S-52-1 helicopter set an international record of 122.75 MPH for a 100-kilometer course (see 27 April 1949).
1957: The 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing (TRW) at Shaw AFB received TAC’s first RF-101 supersonic reconnaissance aircraft. (11)
1959: Launched from Cape Canaveral, the 16th Jupiter missile struck a target area 1,500 miles down range near Antigua Island. Afterwards, the USAF declared the missile operational. (6)
1960: At Edwards AFB, the Minuteman made its first public flight from an underground launch pad--not a silo. (24)
1962: Operation DOMINIC. The submerged USS Ethan Allen launched a Polaris missile on a flight test from the Pacific. This may have been the first US missile launch with a live nuclear warhead.
1967: SAC flew its 10,000th B-52 mission in SEA. By this time, the B-52s had dropped over 190,000 tons of bombs in combat operations. (1)
1970: COLLIER TROPHY. Neil A. Armstrong and Cols Edwin E. Aldrin and Michael Collins from Apollo XI received the trophy for putting the first man on the moon. (5) (16)
1972: Operation CONSTANT GUARD III: After a North Vietnamese offensive, MAC helped the 49 TFW move 3,195 airmen and 1,600 tons of cargo from Holloman AFB, to Takhli, Thailand, through 15 May. As this offensive continued, MAC’s C-5s airlifted 26 tanks, weighing 1.6 million pounds, on 10 flights to Da Nang, where they joined the battle in a matter of hours. (2)
1973: A C-5A returned to Edwards AFB after a 15,000-mile flight that included a low-altitude cargo drop by parachute and an inflight refueling. (3)
1987: At Sembach AB, Germany, the 43d Electronics Combat Squadron, 66th Electronic Combat Wing, received its first EC-130H Compass Call aircraft. (16)
1994: 1Lt Leslie DeAnn Crosby became the first female pilot in the AFRES to graduate from the ANG’s F-16 fighter training course at Tucson, Ariz. (16)
2006: The last operational C-141 Starlifter (Tail No. 66-0177) from the 445th Airlift Wing (AFRC) at Wright-Patterson AFB landed at Wright Field, Ohio, for donation to the National Museum of the USAF. The landing ended 42 years of Starlifter operations in the active-duty USAF, the Air National Guard, and the Air Force Reserve Command. The C-141, named the “Hanoi Taxi,” flew the first Vietnam prisoners of war from Hanoi to freedom on 12 February 1973. (22.
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