To All
Good Tuesday morning June 23. Same weather different day. The clouds are clearing by 10 and and we are heating up to 79 by 2
Off to the Funeral for TR Swartz at the Miramar National Cemetary that starts at 1130
Warm regards1
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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
History June 23
1812 During the War of 1812, Commodore John Rodgers leads a squadron onboard USS President of New York until she battles HMS Belvidera. The first shot of the War of 1812 is fired by USS President during this engagement.
1861 During the Civil War, the Confederate Navy begins reconstruction of ex-USS Merrimack as the ironclad CSS Virginia at Gosport (Norfolk) Navy Yard, Va.
1898 During the Spanish-American War, USS Dixie fires on two Spanish gunboats at Maria Aguilar Point, Cuba.
1933 USS Macon (ZRS 5) is commissioned. Less than two years later, Macon crashes during a storm off Point Sur, Calif., ending the Navy's program of rigid airship operations.
1942 While on a routine search, a PBY rescues most of the crew of S 27 (SS 132) at Constantine Harbor, Amchitka, Aleutian Islands. The rest are brought out the next day.
1945 PB4Y 2s (VPB 118), flying from Okinawa, continue aerial mining of waters of Korean Archipelago, sowing mines in waters in channel north of Lion Do and Gantai Do, and off Ninshi Do and Chi Do.
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Today in World History JUNE 23
1683 William Penn signs a friendship treaty with the Lenni Lenape Indians in Pennsylvania.
1700 Russia gives up its Black Sea fleet as part of a truce with the Ottoman Empire.
1758 British and Hanoverian armies defeat the French at Krefeld in Germany.
1760 Austrian forces defeat the Prussians at Landshut, Germany.
1848 A bloody insurrection of workers erupts in Paris.
1863 Confederate forces overwhelm a Union garrison at the Battle of Brashear City in Louisiana.
1865 Confederate General Stand Watie surrenders his army at Fort Towson, in the Oklahoma Territory.
1884 A Chinese Army defeats the French at Bac Le, Indochina.
1885 Former general and president Ulysses S. Grant dies at the age of 63.
1902 Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy renew the Triple Alliance for a 12-year duration.
1934 Italy gains the right to colonize Albania after defeating the country.
1944 In one of the largest air strikes of the war, the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force sends 761 bombers against the oil refineries at Ploiesti, Romania.
1951 Soviet U.N. delegate Jacob Malik proposes cease-fire discussions in the Korean War.
1952 The U.S. Air Force bombs power plants on the Yalu River, Korea.
1964 Henry Cabot Lodge resigns as the U.S. envoy to Vietnam and is succeeded by Maxwell Taylor.
1966 Civil Rights marchers in Mississippi are dispersed by tear gas.
1992 Mafia boss John Gotti, who was nicknamed the “Teflon Don” after escaping unscathed from several trials during the 1980s, is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on 14 accounts of conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering. Moments after his sentence was read in a federal courthouse in Brooklyn, hundreds of Gotti’s supporters stormed the building and overturned and smashed cars before being forced back by police reinforcements.
READ MORE: The Demise of the Mafia
Gotti, born and educated on the mean streets of New York City, became head of the powerful Gambino family after boss Paul Castellano was murdered outside a steakhouse in Manhattan in December 1985. The gang assassination, the first in three decades in New York, was organized by Gotti and his colleague Sammy “the Bull” Gravano. The Gambino family was known for its illegal narcotics operations, gambling activities, and car theft. During the next five years, Gotti rapidly expanded his criminal empire, and his family grew into the nation’s most powerful Mafia family. Despite wide publicity of his criminal activities, Gotti managed to avoid conviction several times, usually through witness intimidation. In 1990, however, he was indicted for conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Paul Castellano, and Gravano agreed to testify against him in a federal district court in exchange for a reduced prison sentence.
On April 2, 1992, John Gotti was found guilty on all counts and on June 23 was sentenced to multiple life terms without the possibility of parole. While still imprisoned, Gotti died of throat cancer on June 10, 2002.
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June 23
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 elow and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
June 23: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2260
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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Thanks to Kenny
1945 Today in History June 21:
Japanese forces on Okinawa surrender to American troops. After 92 days of combat.
In 1973 (Maybe Sep?) My Company captured 3 Japanese Army Soldiers who had not surrendered in the Northern Training Area, NTA, (extreme North end of Okinawa). We had launched a night Practice/Rehearsal Raid from the USS Greyback (SSR -574). Rusted Rifles, only strips of shorts remaining, and 3 rounds of ammo? There was one later group of Japanese captured in other circumstances (1974). The Japanese Ambassador had to be flown in and convince them that the War was really over.
Kenny Moore
Semper Fidelis !
(Always Faithful)
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From a few years backi
Thanks to Mugs
Subject: NOT JUST ABOUT BALLOONS
Reasons why China is fast becoming the dominant power in the world.
1 - They have a very low tolerance for crime. The death sentence is swiftly and routinely used for terrorists, murderers and drug traffickers.
2 - Very low tolerance for Religion. They do not believe there is a Magic man in the sky. No such thing as a God. Almost no religious killings and getting rid of the Indigenous Chinese Muslim population as fast as they can.
3 - They have not been involved in any expensive wars or invaded any country for the last seventy years.
4 - Their primary weapon of choice to conquer the world is Finance and countries around the world are falling fast.
Not just the USA but all world is in trouble.
In the near future China will employ millions of American workers and dominate thousands of small communities all over the United States. Chinese acquisition of US businesses set a new all-time record last year and it is on pace to shatter that record this year
The Smithfield Foods acquisition is a great example. Smithfield Foods is the largest pork producer and processor in the world. It has facilities in 26 US states and it employs tens of thousands of Americans. It directly owns 460 farms and has contracts with about 2,100 others. But now a Chinese company has bought it for $ 4.7 billion and that means that the Chinese will now be the most important employer in dozens of rural communities all over America.
It is important to keep in mind that there is often not much of a difference between "the Chinese government" and "the Chinese corporations". In 2011, 43 percent of all profits in China were produced by companies where the Chinese government had a controlling interest.
Last year a Chinese company spent $2.6B to purchase AMC entertainment one of the largest movie theater chains in the United States. Chinese companies control more movie ticket sales than anyone else in the world.
But China is not just relying on acquisitions to expand its economic power.
"Economic beachheads" are being established all over America. For example, Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. recently broke ground on a $100M plant in Thomasville, Alabama. Many of the residents of Thomas-ville, Alabama will be glad to have jobs, but it will also become yet another community that will now be heavily dependent on Communist China.
And guess where else Chinese companies are putting down roots? DETROIT.
Chinese owned companies are investing in American businesses and new vehicle techno-logy and selling everything from seat belts to shock absorbers in retail stores and hiring experienced engineers and designers in an effort to soak up the talent and expertise of domestic automakers and their suppliers.
If you recently purchased an "American-made" vehicle there is a really good chance that it has a number of Chinese parts in it. Industry analysts are hard-pressed to put a number on the Chinese suppliers in the United States.
China is very interested in acquiring energy resources in the United States.
For example, China is actually mining for coal in the mountains of Tennessee. Guizhou Gouchuang Energy Holdings Group spent 616 million dollars to acquire Triple H Coal Co. in Jacksboro, Tennessee.
At the time, that acquisition really didn't make much news, but now a group of conservatives in Tennessee is trying to stop the Chinese from blowing up their mountains and taking their coal.
And pretty soon China may want to build entire cities in the United States just like they have been doing in other countries. Right now, China is actually building a city larger than Manhattan just outside Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
Are you starting to get the picture yet? China is on the rise and has been for a long time while America plays political games.
If you doubt this, just read the following:
When you total up all imports and exports China is now the number one trading nation on the entire planet.
# Overall, the US has run a trade deficit with China over the past decade that comes to more than 23 trillion dollars.
# China has more foreign currency reserves than anyone else on the planet.
# China now has the largest new car market in the entire world.
# China now produces more than twice as many automobiles as does the United States.
# After being bailed out by US taxpayers GM is involved in 11 joint ventures with Chinese companies.
# China is the number one gold producer in the world.
# The uniforms for the US Olympic team were made in China .
# 85% of all artificial Christmas trees the world over are made in China.
# The new World Trade Center tower in New York includes glass imported from China.
# China now consumes more energy than does the United States.
# China is now in aggregate the leading manufacturer of goods in the entire world.
# China uses more cement than the rest of the world combined.
# China is now the number one producer of wind and solar power on the entire globe.
# China produces 3 times as much coal and 11 times as much steel as the United States does.
# China produces more than 90 percent of the global supply of rare earth elements.
# China is now the number one supplier of components that are critical to the operation of any national defense system .
# In published scientific research articles China will become number one in the world very shortly. And what we have seen so far may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Don't give up on the U. S. We are still #1 in the world in -
(a) number of lawyers per capita
(b) cost of education per student
(c) growth in National debt
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Thanks to Mud
What a Coincidence!
This one goes back a LONG way, so perhaps like me you'd forgotten it S/F,
- Mud
Definition of the word "coincidence".
A chicken farmer went to the local bar, sat down next to a woman and ordered a glass of champagne.
The woman said, "How strange, I also
ordered a glass of champagne".
"What a coincidence" said the farmer,
who added. "It is a special day for me...
I'm celebrating".
"It is a special day for me too. I am also celebrating" said the woman.
"What a coincidence" said the farmer.
While they toasted, the man asked.
"What are you celebrating"?
"My husband and I have been trying to
have a child for years, and today my
gynecologist told me that I was pregnant".
"What a coincidence" said the man.
"I'm a chicken farmer and for years
all my hens were infertile, but now
they are all set to lay fertilized eggs."
"This is awesome" said the woman.
What did you do for your chickens to
become fertile?"
"I used a different rooster" the farmer said.
The woman smiled and said.
"What a coincidence."
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Thanks to History Facts
The first candid photograph of a person was taken in 1838.
Before the 19th century, photography did not exist, so people who wanted a lasting image of their home, their family, or themselves had to have one painted, sculpted, or drawn. In the early 1800s, inventors in France and England were at the center of the effort to create photographic representations of objects and people. In France, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce stunned the world in 1827 when he released what is believed to be the first photograph ever taken, titled “View from the Window at Le Gras.” Niépce rendered the image using a camera obscura combined with a light-sensitive metal plate, a process he called heliography. Despite its success, the heliograph required several days of exposure to capture the scene, eliminating the opportunity to photograph any people who may have been on the street.
In 1829, Niépce met artist and printmaker Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre. Each man was familiar with the other’s work. Niépce admired Daguerre’s rotating diorama that had captivated Parisian audiences in 1822. Daguerre, like Niépce, saw the potential of improving upon the camera obscura to create clear and permanent images. They entered into a business partnership that resulted in the creation of the daguerreotype, an innovative photographic process that required only four to five minutes of exposure.
The quicker shutter speed allowed Daguerre’s camera to capture an image never seen before: a photo of a human being. In 1838, he debuted a daguerreotype of a street scene on the Boulevard du Temple in Paris. In the lower left corner of the photo we can see a man having his shoes shined; remaining stationary allowed him to be included in the photo, something that would have been impossible using the multiple-day exposure that heliographs required. This anonymous stranger on Boulevard du Temple was not simply the subject of the world’s first candid photograph — he’s also believed to be the first human being ever photographed.
By the Numbers
Percentage of Americans aged 18 to 29 who practiced photography in 2023
22%
Projected percentage of photos taken by smartphones in 2024
94%
Cameras in the world's largest camera collection
4,425
Cat photos on the internet
6.5 billion
DID YOU KNOW?
An American photographer took the first selfie in 1839.
In the fall of 1839, a Philadelphia silversmith named Robert Cornelius decided to take a self-portrait. In itself, this was nothing new; painters had been making self-portraits for more than 200 years. What set this work apart from that of the old masters was that Cornelius used a camera obscura to photograph himself. The resulting image is considered the first selfie, as well as the first portrait photo. Cornelius was an unlikely photography pioneer. He began working as a silversmith for his father in 1831 and had no connection to the burgeoning field of photography. Fate intervened when a local photographer named Joseph Saxton contacted Cornelius to work on the silver plate for a daguerreotype. This spurred Cornelius’ interest in photography, and in the early fall of 1839, he made his own camera and photographed himself in front of the family’s business. According to Library of Congress conservationist Rachel Wetzel, “Taking a portrait is astounding in 1839. Taking a self-portrait is a whole next level up from that.”
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Thanks to Dan. This is a repeat but a great story and one of my favorites…skip
Here is the story of the two aviation maintenance officers who rescued the two downed fighter pilots in Laos:
In 1971, my aviation unit (Alpha Troop/2nd/17th Air Cavalry/101st Airborne Division) was based at Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Quang Tri is located a few miles S/O the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Vietnam. We were a company sized aviation unit, with our own aviation maintenance section. Assigned to that section were two maintenance officers whose primary duty was to coordinate all maintenance for the units aircraft, which consisted of three platoons of observation helicopters (OH-6 Cayuse), attack helicopters (AH-1G Cobra), and utility helicopters (UH-1 Huey). Following whatever maintenance was completed on the assigned aircraft, both maintenance officers had to perform a maintenance test flight on each aircraft, before it could be returned to service.
One day the two aviation maintenance officers were performing such a flight in the flatlands surrounding Quang Tri, which was a totally secure area, particularly during the daytime. The two maintenance officers took off, by themselves, in a stripped Huey, which had no weapons, or gunners aboard. However, during the flight, they monitored on the "guard" frequency, a request by a Forward Air Controller (FAC), for "any aircraft which can help in rescuing a downed fighter crew". The maintenance officers, who not only were unarmed, but had no maps, and had never been in any combat, anywhere, answered the call. The FAC immediately gave them directions from "Channel 103", the TACAN navigation beacon at Quang Tri. However, Army pilots have no TACAN equipment on their aircraft, and navigate with 1:50,000 scale map sheets, anyway.
Subsequently, the FAC gave a heading to our intrepid maintenance pilots, which took them far to the West of Quang Tri. Since they had never been there before, they flew on the assigned heading until the FAC had them in sight. He then vectored them into a clearing, where two downed fighter pilots ran out of the tree line and jumped into the Huey. The scene was not only not in Vietnam, it was deep in Laos, but the rescue crew, not knowing where they were, just flew where the FAC directed them to go.
As they climbed out, heading for Phu Bai Airfield, at Hue, S. Vietnam, the FAC reported that they were taking airbursts, which they were oblivious to, not having ever experienced that before. When the Huey landed at Phu Bai, the rescued fighter crew were met by several members of their unit, based in Danang, S. Vietnam. The aviation maintenance crew was rewarded for their actions by being "Shanghaied" by the fighter unit and wined and dined in Danang, then given "orientation" flights in a fighter aircraft at Danang. The Commander of the fighter unit also ensured that the maintenance crew received appropriate valor awards for their actions in rescuing the downed fighter crew.
This entire caper occurred in an area which, only a few months before, had been part of Lam Son 719 - The Invasion of Laos, where dozens of aircraft had been shot down by NVA anti-aircraft and small arms weapons. We routinely flew near that area, still within S. Vietnam, and almost daily were shot at. Those of us who flew there daily, were incredulous that our aviation maintenance personnel had accomplished the rescue, without any loss or injury, and without actually knowing where they were. It was the type of mission that those of us who flew in combat everyday only dreamed about accomplishing, but which none of us ever did!
Dan
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Thanks to History Facts
5 Facts About England’s Elizabethan Era
ELIZABETH AT TILBURY
In 1558, Elizabeth Tudor assumed the throne of England and Ireland and began her reign as Queen Elizabeth I. From the moment she was crowned, Elizabeth was an unconventional ruler. She was only the second queen in England’s history to reign as the sole head of state, which made her a rarity not only in her own country, but throughout Europe in an era in which female monarchs were few and far between. Her lifelong refusal to marry also broke with tradition, and earned her the nickname “the Virgin Queen” (the state of Virginia is named in her honor). As a Protestant monarch, Elizabeth also had to withstand multiple assassination attempts from radical Catholic factions throughout her reign. Yet despite the challenges she faced, her reign is considered a golden age of English history.
Elizabeth’s rule lasted until 1603, and was marked by a period of relative peace and progress, during which England experienced radical cultural and political transformations that continue to resonate today. Elizabeth ruled over a nation that saw the early plays of William Shakespeare and some of Europe’s first expeditions to the Americas. Yet her time on the throne was also marked by moments of political and military crisis. For a quick look at what made this period of history truly unique, here are five facts about England’s Elizabethan age.
Elizabeth’s Coronation Date Was Chosen Based on Astrology
Queen Elizabeth I was crowned on January 15, 1559, a date selected by one man: John Dee. Dee was an influential figure at court, and was well known as a mathematician and philosopher. But his interests also veered into the supernatural and occult, and he was known to dabble in astrology and numerology. His prophecy skills must have come highly recommended, because Elizabeth asked him to use an astrological reading to select the date of her coronation, believing that an auspicious date would bring her good fortune during her reign.
The Era Marked the Beginning of British Colonialism in the New World
During the Elizabethan age, England took the first steps toward transforming from a small island nation into a global empire. British navigators made some of the first voyages to the New World during Elizabeth’s reign, and explorer Francis Drake’s voyages to the Americas gave England its first territorial claim in the Americas. Upon his return, Drake was knighted by Elizabeth herself on board his ship the Golden Hind. The queen also oversaw the establishment of England’s first colonies in the New World. The explorer Humphrey Gilbert claimed Newfoundland for Elizabeth, and Walter Raleigh established a British colony on the island of Roanoke near North Carolina. These early settlements marked the beginning of an era of colonial expansion that gave rise to the mighty British Empire, which at its peak in 1920 covered over 13 million square miles and was the largest empire the world has ever seen.
The Era Was a Time of Great Religious Upheaval
Elizabethan England wasn’t without its problems, and one of the most significant was the riff between English Catholics loyal to the Vatican and English Protestants loyal to the Church of England. As the head of the Church of England, Queen Elizabeth had a vested interest in religious conformity, and made it a legal requirement for all British subjects to attend Church of England services on Sundays, regardless of their religious affiliation. (She also made it a finable offense to attend a Catholic mass.) The tensions between Catholics and Protestants lasted throughout Elizabeth’s reign. The queen withstood four separate plots to overthrow her and replace her with her Catholic cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots; eventually, Elizabeth even had Mary executed for conspiring against her.
It Was a Golden Age of British Theater
The Elizabethan age is often regarded as one of the high-water marks of English theater, which became a frequent destination for royalty and common English subjects alike. Some of the most celebrated playwrights ever to write in the English language created their best-known works during Elizabeth I’s reign. The most famous of these is, of course, William Shakespeare. Though Shakespeare’s career as a playwright continued after Elizabeth’s reign ended in 1603, many of the Bard’s most famous works were written while Elizabeth was queen, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet. The queen even personally attended performances of The Merry Wives of Windsor and Love’s Labor’s Lost. But England’s dramatic output during Elizabeth’s reign wasn’t just limited to the Bard. Master dramatists such as Christopher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, and Thomas Kyd all produced classic works during this era.
It Saw England Defeat the Largest Fleet of Warships Ever Assembled (At the Time)
In 1588, Queen Elizabeth I faced the greatest military challenge of her reign: the Spanish Armada. The fearsome naval fleet was launched by King Philip II of Spain in an attempt to convert Protestant England to Catholicism and to neutralize the economic and political threats created by England’s growing power. The Spanish Armada was the largest naval fleet that had ever been assembled, with around 130 ships carrying more than 19,000 soldiers. Its size even earned it the nickname “the Invincible Armada.” Despite being outnumbered, the English were able to defeat the Spanish Armada, in part because of a devastating tactic in which eight ships were set on fire and sent into the midst of the Spanish fleet, forcing the ships of the Armada to scatter and weaken their formation. The English victory over the Spanish Armada signaled to the world that Queen Elizabeth I was a monarch to be reckoned with.
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This Day in U S Military History…….June 23
1784 – The 1st US balloon flight was made by Edward Warren (13).
1812 – Marine Lt. John Heath became the first casualty of the War of 1812.
1944 – The Soviet attack begins. There are four front-level commands engaged in the operation, under the STAVKA direction of Marshal Zhukov (the southern wing) and Marshal Vasilevsky (the northern wing). From left to right: 1st Belorussian Front (Rokossovsky); 2nd Belorussian Front (Zakharov); 3rd Belorussian Front (Cherniakhovsky); and, 1st Baltic Front (Bagramian). The Soviet combat forces directly engaged in the offensive amount to over 1,250,000 men (in 124 divisions), over 4000 tanks and self-propelled guns, over 24,000 artillery pieces and over 6300 aircraft. Soviet objectives include tactical encirclements at Vitebsk and Bobruisk while a deep encirclement would aim for Minsk. Soviet forces are then to drive west toward the Vistula River. The target of Operation Bagration is German Army Group Center (Busch) holding a salient centered on Minsk, and including most of Belorussia. Its forces, from right to left, include: 9th Army (Jordan), 4th Army (Tippelskirch); and, 3rd Panzer Army (Reinhardt). On the right flank of the army group is the German 2nd Army (Weiss) which is not targeted by the Soviet offensive. The German defenders amount to 800,000 men in 63 divisions with about 900 tanks and assault guns, 10,000 artillery pieces and 1300 planes. Advances of up 11 miles are recorded by Red Army troops of 2nd, 3rd Belorussian and 1st Baltic Fronts. The 1st Belorussian Front does not join in the assault during the day. Meanwhile in the far north, forces of the Soviet 7th Separate Army cross the Svir River.
1944 – American forces of the US 7th Corps (part of 1st Army) penetrate the outer defenses of Cherbourg. Elements of British 2nd Army also make gains. The British 5th Division captures St. Honorina, northwest of Caen.
1944 – In one of the largest air strikes of the war, the U.S. Fifteenth Air Force sent 761 bombers against the oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania.
1944 – On Saipan, US 5th Amphibious Corps remains engaged in fighting. The 2nd Marine Division contineus to battle for Mount Tapotchau.
1945 – On Okinawa, the systematic mopping up of the island begins. General Stilwell takes command of the US 10th Army in place of General Geiger. Lt Gen Ushijima, Japanese commander, committed suicide.
1945 – American paratroopers land near Aparri on the north coast of Luzon, at the mouth of the Cagayan River, without incident. They link up with a large force of Filipino guerrillas. The combined force advances southward to make contact with the US 37th Division.
1969 – Ben Het, a U.S. Special Forces camp located 288 miles northeast of Saigon and six miles from the junction of the Cambodian, Laotian and South Vietnamese borders, is besieged and cut off by 2,000 North Vietnamese troops using artillery and mortars. The base was defended by 250 U.S. soldiers and 750 South Vietnamese Montagnard tribesmen. The siege lasted until July 2 when the defenders were reinforced by an allied relief column.
1972 – US helicopters are required to fly almost all the dangerous missions around An loc because South Vietnamese crews have panicked under fire. Several US helicopters and their crews have been lost in the last two weeks of heavy fighting causing bitterness among US airmen.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
DRURY, JAMES
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 4th Vermont Infantry. Place and date: At Weldon Railroad, Va., 23 June 1864. Entered service at: Chester, Vt. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 18 January 1893. Citation: Saved the colors of his regiment when it was surrounded by a much larger force of the enemy and after the greater part of the regiment had been killed or captured.
*BUTTS, JOHN E.
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Co. E, 60th Infantry, 9th Infantry Division. Place and date: Normandy, France, 14, 16, and 23 June 1944. Entered service at: Buffalo, N.Y. Birth: Medina, N.Y. G.O. No.: 58, 19 July 1945. Citation: Heroically led his platoon against the enemy in Normandy, France, on 14, 16, and 23 June 1944. Although painfully wounded on the 14th near Orglandes and again on the 16th while spearheading an attack to establish a bridgehead across the Douve River, he refused medical aid and remained with his platoon. A week later, near Flottemanville Hague, he led an assault on a tactically important and stubbornly defended hill studded with tanks, antitank guns, pillboxes, and machinegun emplacements, and protected by concentrated artillery and mortar fire. As the attack was launched, 2d Lt. Butts, at the head of his platoon, was critically wounded by German machinegun fire. Although weakened by his injuries, he rallied his men and directed 1 squad to make a flanking movement while he alone made a frontal assault to draw the hostile fire upon himself. Once more he was struck, but by grim determination and sheer courage continued to crawl ahead. When within 10 yards of his objective, he was killed by direct fire. By his superb courage, unflinching valor and inspiring actions, 2d Lt. Butts enabled his platoon to take a formidable strong point and contributed greatly to the success of his battalion’s mission.
*KINGSLEY, DAVID R. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Corps, 97th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force. Place and date: Ploesti Raid, Rumania, 23 June 1944. Entered service at. Portland, Oreg. Birth: Oregon. G.O. No.: 26, 9 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty, 23 June 1944 near Ploesti, Rumania, while flying as bombardier of a B17 type aircraft. On the bomb run 2d Lt. Kingsley’s aircraft was severely damaged by intense flak and forced to drop out of formation but the pilot proceeded over the target and 2d Lt. Kingsley successfully dropped his bombs, causing severe damage to vital installations. The damaged aircraft, forced to lose altitude and to lag behind the formation, was aggressively attacked by 3 ME-109 aircraft, causing more damage to the aircraft and severely wounding the tail gunner in the upper arm. The radio operator and engineer notified 2d Lt. Kingsley that the tail gunner had been wounded and that assistance was needed to check the bleeding. 2d Lt. Kingsley made his way back to the radio room, skillfully applied first aid to the wound, and succeeded in checking the bleeding. The tail gunner’s parachute harness and heavy clothes were removed and he was covered with blankets, making him as comfortable as possible. Eight ME-109 aircraft again aggressively attacked 2d Lt. Kingsley’s aircraft and the ball turret gunner was wounded by 20mm. shell fragments. He went forward to the radio room to have 2d Lt. Kingsley administer first aid. A few minutes later when the pilot gave the order to prepare to bail out, 2d Lt. Kingsley immediately began to assist the wounded gunners in putting on their parachute harness. In the confusion the tail gunner’s harness, believed to have been damaged, could not be located in the bundle of blankets and flying clothes which had been removed from the wounded men. With utter disregard for his own means of escape, 2d Lt. Kingsley unhesitatingly removed his parachute harness and adjusted it to the wounded tail gunner. Due to the extensive damage caused by the accurate and concentrated 20mm. fire by the enemy aircraft the pilot gave the order to bail out, as it appeared that the aircraft would disintegrate at any moment. 2d Lt. Kingsley aided the wounded men in bailing out and when last seen by the crewmembers he was standing on the bomb bay catwalk. The aircraft continued to fly on automatic pilot for a short distance, then crashed and burned. His body was later found in the wreckage. 2d Lt. Kingsley by his gallant heroic action was directly responsible for saving the life of the wounded gunner.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS
FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR June 23 THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1905: The Wright Flyer III made its first flight at Huffman Prairie, near Dayton. This first fully controllable aircraft could turn and bank and stay up in the air for 30 minutes. (20)
1924: RACE WITH THE SUN. In a Curtiss PW-8, powered by a 375 HP D-12 engine, Lt Russell L. Maughan began his 2,670-mile from Long Island, New York, to San Francisco. He landed at 9:47 p.m after five brief refueling stops. He spent 18 hours 20 minutes in the cockpit and 3 hours 20 minutes on the ground. (4) (9)
1931: Wiley Post and Harold Gatty left New York on a global flight in a Lockheed Vega, the “Winnie Mae,” powered by a Pratt & Whitney 550 HP radial engine. The 15,474-mile trip ended 8 days 15 hours 51 minutes later. (9) (24) Ruth Nichols crashed in St. Johns, Newfoundland, during her attempt to become the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic. (9)
1937: The US Army issued a contract to Lockheed to build the first XP-38. 1938: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Civil Air Authority Act. (24)
1942: The first BOLERO flight with 7 P-38s and 2 B-17s left Presque Isle for England to begin the buildup of US Air Forces in Europe. (24)
1944: While escorting B-17s on a raid to Ploesti, the 52 FG downed 12 enemy aircraft. This gave the unit 102 aerial victories in 30 days for a record that was never equaled by another group in Europe. (4) MEDAL OF HONOR. 2Lt David R. Kingsley, 97th Bombardment Group, Fifteenth Air Force, earned a Medal of Honor for putting his own parachute on his wounded tail-gunner (whose chute had been damaged). Kingsley thereby was directly responsible for saving the life of the wounded gunner by sacrificing his own.
1950: First run of rocket-propelled research sled made on the 3,550-foot track at Holloman AFB. FIRST USAF LOSS IN KOREAN WAR. A C-54, grounded for a damaged wing at Kimpo Airfield, near Seoul, South Korea, became the first aircraft lost in the Korean War. (18)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Through 24 June, combined air attacks by the Air Force, Navy, and Marines nearly destroyed the electric power potential of North Korea. The 2-day attack involved over 1,200 sorties in the largest single air effort since World War II. The Sui-ho complex sustained seventy percent structural damage, rendering it non-operational. (16) (28)
1953: TAC transferred its F-51 aircraft, “the USAF's last propellor-driven fighter in front-line service,” from the 366th Fighter-Bomber Wing.
1961: Maj Robert White set a speed record for manned airplanes by flying the X-15 at 3,603 MPH. He attained this speed with a 75-second full-throttle operation of the XLR-99 engine. (9)
1966: PAGEOS, a passive geodetic satellite used by US Coast Guard, Geodetic Survey, and US Army Map Service, launched for use with 41 ground stations to develop a worldwide reference grid. In space, the satellite inflated to its 100-foot diameter and served as a photographic target.
1972: Northrop Corporation at Hawthorne unveiled the F-5E international fighter in a ceremony. At Edwards AFB, Maj Larry D. Fortner became the first USAF pilot to fly Northrop’s A-9A. (3)
1987: The 308 SMW removed the last Titan II from its silo at Little Rock AFB. This removal ended the deployment of the Titan II in SAC’s strategic arsenal.
1997: An AFFTC team flew a model of the LoFLYTE Neural Network Waverider RPV. The NASA program tried to design a hypersonic (Mach 5.0+) low observable aircraft capable of riding its own shock wave in the manner of the XB-70. (3)
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A grunt Tale from Shadow
HARTLY
I told Dutch and Skip I would send some stuff on what the ground war was like in
Vietnam… I know this is aviator oriented…but thought you guys who flew over us,
might like to know what it was like on the ground. I’m going to tell a story about a loss
we suffered that really affected a lot of us and how it happened, what led up to it… I
think you’ll be able to relate, since ground combat isn’t a whole lot different in terms of
plans and tactics… like aviation, usually the first casualty upon contact with the enemy…
is the plan. I first wrote about this about 6 or 7 years ago at the request of some of my
Grunt Buds who had either already rotated back to the states or weren’t there when it
happened. They all loved this guy and wanted to know how it happened.
I was a part of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines… I joined the battalion in Chu Lai, RVN in
February, 1966. I was assigned to Delta Company 1-4 Commanded by 1/Lt. Dan
McMahon. Dan, to this day is a great friend and I believe a national hero. I was assigned
to the F/O, FAC team…Shortly after Operation Texas and Oregon, we moved north to
Phu Bai to take part in operation Golden Fleece. On this Operation I was attached out to
Mike Company 3-4. We set in on a mountain top (Hill 900 something) and observed the
valley below for signs of enemy movement, while the rest of the battalion swept from
south to north. Golden Fleece merged into another Operation and then we finally came
out of the field (after 90 days) and back to Phu Bai… Operation Hastings kicked off
about this time and we shortly after that, moved up to Dong Ha, near the DMZ
You can’t talk about Vietnam without referring to the incredible heat and humidity… I’ve
often compared it to interior Louisiana in the summer time… multiplied by three. Our
jungle utilities were constantly showing the white streaks of salt after any patrol or time
in the field (had the same thing sometimes on my flight suit after an intense hop)… it was
just a natural result of the constant perspiration we experienced, leeching a lot of salt. To
give you an idea how hot it was… when we were in the field, at night we slept on air
mattresses… affectionately called “Rubber Ladies”… if you came in from a patrol and
laid down on your mattress… you’d lay there and just sweat like a stuck pig… if you
stretched your arm out to one side… water would run down the mattress… along your
arm, until dripping on to the ground. As Marines do… we all bitched about the heat… but
I’d often reflect… it was certainly better than the bitter cold our guys in Korea suffered
with.
The country itself was a kaleidoscope of different colors and texture from ground level…
at Chu Lai, even though on the coast, it was like the Sahara… at Phu Bai, it reminded me
of the terrain and chaparral of Southern California… once inland in the mountains and up
north… it was an incredible tropical rain forest; kinda like interior Salvador or Panama.
I’ll never forget when on Golden Fleece… from the top of the 3,000 ft or higher O.P. we
were on… we could look down on the coastal plain and see the ancient capitol of Hue…
And much like Southern California, around May or June, they experienced a constant
marine fog… it would roll in every evening and burn off in the morning sun. Hue had
more than a few distinct characteristics… from the ancient Imperial Palace… to the
Perfume River that ran through it… and then the large Catholic Church that sat like a
citadel on the south side of the city. In front of this church was the largest Christ figure
I’ve ever seen… kinda reminded me of the Sugar Loaf in Rio… anyway… when we’d
wake up in the morning and all you could see was a blanket of white from the base of the
foothills, all the way out into the sea. Once the oppressive sun came up… the fog would
slowly but surely start to dissipate. I believe I saw it first on the second morning on the
mountain… as the fog began to thin… the very first thing we could see of Hue was the
giant Christ figure… arms raised and spread… and jutting up above the white blanket
that was rapidly fading. It was so distinct and surreal… and somehow, comforting. It
became the morning “happening” for most of us… much like watching the sun disappear
on the docks at Key West. Even we Marines could not escape the irony of it.
When we moved up to Dong Ha, I was pulled out of Delta and went to work directly for
the old man… LtCol. Jack (Blackjack) Westerman… the Battalion C.O. Jack and I had
almost a father/son… love/hate relationship. I was never more than 10 steps away, almost
24/7. It was my job. At times I would have walked over hot coals… followed him to hell
and back… at other times it was difficult to hide my contempt… I guess you could say it
was like being married.
Operation Hastings was a brutal Operation… 2-4 and 3-4 of the Fourth Marines bore the
brunt of it. There’s a great book called “Bonnie Sue” (call sign of a CH-46 squadron)…
that tells the story far better than I could. Legend has it that the second wave of helo’s
were told that the LZ was marked by a burning “46”… only to find three more burning
by the time they got there. When the Operation wound down, we were thrown into the
breach. First we went on a sweep west toward the infamous “Rockpile” and then turned
north into the canopy and back east again toward Cam Lo… a 105 firebase outside a
small village some five to seven miles west of Dong Ha. Upon arrival at Cam Lo… we
dropped off Alpha Company to guard the 105’s and the rest of the battalion went back to
Dong Ha.
A few days later, the Regimental Headquarters for the 4th Marines moved up to join us.
Jack and I and a few others were called to a briefing about a patrol they wanted to send
out… it was to be an almost Company size sweep to the DMZ… about 4 or 5 five miles
north of Cam Lo. Alpha Company got the nod and the “plan” was set out… it was to be a
“reconnaissance by fire”. A platoon of tanks was to be attached to the patrol and it would
cross the Cam Lo River and move north all the way to the DMZ… report back on what
they saw and then return to Cam Lo.
As soon as the word tank was mentioned, the hair went up on the back of my neck and I
had a bad feeling. To be frank, tanks in Vietnam were a pain in the ass. In that terrain and
environment… they were far more trouble than they were worth and became for all
intents and purposes… lead magnets. Right away, I felt bad juju.
The patrol was to be led by Bill Hartly, Alpha’s young 1/Lt. C.O. Bill was a great guy…
former enlisted; a leader and was loved and respected by all… and along with McMahon,
they were the best we or anyone else had to offer. If anyone could pull it off… it would
be Hartly.
Sometime between the briefing and late afternoon… Blackjack decided he would go on
the patrol himself (if he was going, then I was going), usurping Hartly’s command. I’ve
often thought Jack’s decision was more political than tactical… this would be the farthest
north any mainline Marine unit had ever gone, up to at that time in the war… I truly
believe Jack wanted to be the first Marine Battalion Commander to set foot in the DMZ.
This change set back the departure time somewhat in that he and I and the others in our
Command Unit, had to get out to Cam Lo from Dong Ha the following morning. Jack…
myself, the SgtMaj. and Jack’s body guard, a young Corporal. We actually drove to Cam
Lo by jeep, with no escort because of the fog. All in Indian Territory… it was a hell of a
ride.
Once there, everyone was waiting and we mounted up and crossed the river… we weren’t
300 yards across the river when we started seeing many signs of enemy activity. Spider
holes, machine gun nests, signs of bivouac… etc. But no live NVA. Our flank, on foot,
was having a hell of a time trying to keep up in the brush… at some point Jack decided to
have them mount up on the tanks in order to be able to complete the patrol before dark.
And away we went. We swept north toward the abandoned village of Con Thein (later in
the war a major O.P. and a bull’s-eye for NVA artillery)… as we approached the village
we encountered a small stream and here is where the tanks began to be a problem.
Now all you guys seeing the PR films of tanks running full speed through bogs and small
streams… Forget it… unless the stream has shallow banks and a hidden concrete
bottom… it just doesn’t happen that way in real life. The whole patrol came to a complete
halt while we looked for a suitable place to ford the stream… it was slow going. We
finally found a place and one at a time, each tank slowly crossed. Right on the other side
of the stream was the village of Con Thien… it was totally abandoned… the flats area to
the north of it was covered with old rice paddies… immediately, the tank platoon
commander warned that they may sink into the soft soil if they tried to traverse it… strike
two.
Unfortunately… there was a perfect dirt road heading out of the village toward the DMZ.
Our choice was to use it or take the more difficult route through the head high chaparral
just east of the village… Jack chose the road. If I recall, we had five tanks, we (the
command unit) took up the number two position in the line… Hartly was on the lead
tank. We set out in single file slowly moving north on the road. Jack was sitting inside the
turret of the tank next to the machine gun, exposed from the waist up… I was sitting
outside on the turret just behind him and just forward of the metal “basket” welded to the
back of the turret. I’d put the radio in the basket and had the handset in my hand.
Periodically, I would call Regiment and give position reports and sit-reps as we
progressed. Behind and below me on the rear of the tank was our SgtMaj. along with the
young Cpl. and a fire team from Alpha… the other tanks had at least a dozen Marines or
more on each of them. Not 200 yards out of the village, I lost radio contact with Dong
Ha. We had a couple of Huey’s overhead… but it was difficult relaying messages through
them… we coped the best we could.
It seemed like in no time, we actually reached the DMZ… ironically, it was well
marked… there was a barbed wire fence right there across the road and a few trees with
limbs over the road… this was where the lead tank stopped and Jack told me to call
Regiment and tell them we had made it to the DMZ and ask what they wanted us to do
from there. I told him I was no longer in contact directly with Dong Ha… that I’d have to
relay through the helo’s but if we moved up a little knoll to our right… I might be able to
re-establish direct contact. That’s what we decided to do… the tank backed up about
twenty yards and then pivoted and backed up the knoll. As soon as we stopped, I got
Dong Ha on the radio; loud and clear. I gave them a sit-rep and asked for orders… we
discussed the number of sightings of fortifications and such, but no sightings of live
humans. They decided because of the time of day… we should RTB immediately (I
whole heartedly agreed). I passed the word to our tank commander and he drove back
down the hill until we intersected the road… because of the noise of the tanks, we used
hand signals to tell the Marines on the other tanks and on the ground we were departing. I
looked over to my right at the lead tank and saw Bill Hartly and his radioman along with
a dozen or so others on it… at almost that same instant… I caught a quick movement to
my right… followed by a flash and a horrendous explosion!
I was stunned! Like in the cockpit… your mind starts working at warp speed… you’re
trying to assimilate all the inputs at the same time and figure out what had just
happened… in a nano-second, all hell breaks loose… firing, explosions, total
pandemonium. What had happened was an NVA soldier had popped up out of a spider
hole and fired at the lead tank with an RPG. Fortunately for the tank, but not so for the
Marines sitting on it… the RPG round hit a fence post about five feet from the tank and
exploded… showering everyone with shrapnel…
I saw Bill stand up, grab a red bandanna from his pocket and spread one arm out in a
motion to indicate that everyone should clear the tank… then he crumbled like he was
Jello. I didn’t know it at the time… but he was mortally wounded. The ensuing fire and
explosions were all generated by Alpha’s Marines… suppressing fire… after about a
minute… the firing stopped… and immediately we called in the Huey’s for a medevac…
we backed the other three tanks up and we fell in line and had Bill’s tank follow us…
once in the open, we rushed Bill and the other wounded into an open area for pick up. It
was then that I got my first good look at him… he had already taken on that grey pallor
we’d all become too familiar with… the death mask… and I knew he was gone.
For the life of me, I will never understand why the NVA didn’t press the attack right then
and there… I don’t think I would be sitting here writing this if they had… we were totally
vulnerable, confused and at risk… but they did nothing. No more RPG’s, no gun fire,
nothing.
We had more wounded than the helo’s could take… so we put Bill and the other gravely
wounded on board and put the rest of them on the middle tank. Jack ordered a hasty
retreat to Con Thien; right back down the road we’d come in on. Halfway there, the
middle tank hits a mine right in front of us… blowing off the right tread and sending the
already wounded flying into the air… half of them falling to the ground. I braced for
what I knew was coming… but it didn’t come… nothing… I still don’t understand it.
Our situation was now in the extreme… we were totally in the open and out of radio
contact… our radio relay, the helo’s… had taken off for Dong Ha with the wounded… if
we could just get to the village, we could at least find some cover, set up a defense until
we could sort things out. It was tough decision time. Jack ordered a fire team to remain
with the broken tank (the tank commander said it’d take about 45 minutes to repair the
tread)… while the rest of us beat feet for the village. As we pulled around the wounded
tank, I’ll never forget the faces of the crew. We made it to the village in a short time and
set up a hasty perimeter. We then had a quick conference about how to proceed… I was
able to re-contact Dong Ha and was informed we had more helo’s en-route, along with a
gunship. Normally I kept my mouth shut… but Jack and the tank commander were hell
bent on traversing the stream in the same place we had originally… I spoke up and said I
was against that, in that we’d come back down the same road and hit a mine… if we
crossed in the same place, we’d be sitting ducks. They agreed and we sent out a team to
find a different place to cross… not three minutes later they found one. Then the
wounded tank came flying into the village… they’d taken 15 minutes to do a 45 minute
job (fear is a great motivator). We ordered everyone to mount up and we took the lead in
crossing the stream. Both banks were fairly steep and it was slow going… as we came up
out of the stream bed… we found a semi-open area, with low shrubs and a tree line to the
west… we moved on up about 150 to 200 yards from the bank and stopped, waiting for
the rest of the tanks to cross. One by one they came up the bank… as the last tank
surfaced… the wrath of God came down on our heads.
Multiple explosions, automatic weapons fire… they hit us with everything. I yelled at the
folks below to clear the tank… Jack dropped straight down in the turret, like he’d stepped
into a man hole… it was about this time the tank driver lurched the tank backward and
stopped… throwing me to the lower deck… the fact I’d held onto the radio handset was
the only thing that kept me on the tank. As I reached the basket to pull myself up… I look
up and see these lazy arching objects coming toward us… they looked like the rifle
grenades we’d fired in training… later we figured they must have been 60 MM mortar
rounds. Just as I reached the basket, one hit the front of the tank… in reflex, the driver
lurched again and once again I went down. This time I was like a monkey in the trees… I
literally scaled the basket and turret in about a half a second. I looked down and the
SgtMaj. was waiving me off the tank… at the same time Jack was yelling at me to tell
him what was going on… and I’m on the radio telling Regiment that we were being
ambushed again… it was a real cluster fuck. There was a cacophony of explosions, gun
fire and confusion. I tried to pull the radio out of the basket and another explosion rocked
the tank and it lurched again… frustrated, I crawled up on top and yelled to Blackjack…
that I was either coming in the turret with him or getting off the fuckin’ tank… that the
radio was lodged and I couldn’t move it. He looked up at me wide eyed and said come on
in… just as I started in… it stopped… just like that, it was over.
I sat up and looked around… there was smoke and dust everywhere… the smell of
cordite was in the air and you could hear folks yelling for a Corpsman from about a half
dozen places.
Almost immediately Marines started standing up… and some wounded came out of the
brush… luckily, more helo’s arrived on station and I called them down to pick up the new
and old wounded… Jack ordered a head count and to move out as soon as it was done…
in the mean time, not another shot was fired… it was like before… Hell, then nothing.
The bridge was now about a mile away and I figured once we got there… we’d either be
hit again or be home free… it was the real… longest mile. Once we got to the bridge and
crossed, we flew into the 105 Battery’s perimeter… like cavalry ridding into the fort with
Indians on their heels. Once safely inside… we tried to make sense of what happened…
so we could fill Regiment in on all that had occurred. They wanted answers
immediately… and we didn’t want to say anything until we had our shit together… I said
a lot of “hold… wait” on the radio to their interrogatives.
And then things then got worse… in the hasty head count… we’d thought one of the
wounded was taken out by helo with the others… but when we got the casualty count
from Dong Ha… we realized one man was missing… we had left a Marine behind. I
can’t tell you what agony this was… the Sgt. responsible offered to lead a patrol back
across the river in the dark to try to find him… but that would have been suicide… we
knew we’d have to wait until dawn. I spent the next half hour spreading a lot of bad news
to both ends of the radio net… I had to inform Alpha that Hartly was gone… along with
three others… and I had to tell Regiment we had a missing man. It was a crushing end to
a crushing day.
I’m talking on the radio and the SgtMaj. comes over with a corpsman and says he was
going to tend to my wounds… I looked up and said, “What wounds? I’m not wounded”.
“To hell you’re not… I saw you get hit… take off you flak jacket and lay down on your
stomach”. He reached over to help me take it off and reversed it so I could see the back…
it was totally shredded… most of the green nylon was gone and you could see dozens of
shiny metal flakes imbedded into cream colored armor plates. Immediately it occurred to
me that… shit… maybe I was hit? What with all the adrenaline flowing… maybe I just
hadn’t felt it… he and the Doc went over my back and backside and they couldn’t believe
it… not a friggin’ scratch! How the dynamics of it worked, I’ll never know.
He told me that when the tank had lurched the second time… that a mortar round had hit
the back of the tank just as I was scrambling up the basket and on the turret… he thought
I’d been blown over the top of it as fast as I went up. I was so scared I didn’t even notice
it. Even the radio had hits all over it… I’d never noticed it until then.
The next morning, we sent a patrol out to try to find our missing man… unfortunately the
NVA got to him first, but we brought his body home and it added to the hurt.
Two nights later… Alpha got hit by a Regimental sized force at Cam Lo… hardcore
NVA… the battle raged all through the night and when it was over, 87 NVA lay dead…
inside the wire of Alpha’s perimeter… they only suffered five wounded… and and 3
dead… 2 men from the 105 battery were killed when an NVA sapper dropped a satchel
charge in their fox hole.
That was the longest night of Don Cuneo’s life… and all I could do was talk to him on
the radio while it was going on… You just felt so damn helpless at times like that… you
knew you could help if you could get there… but you couldn’t. Spooky… the gunship…
saved the night… I’ll tell you about it some time.
The God’s of war are fickle… It’ll drive you mad if you dwell on why you made it and
better men didn’t… and to be honest, the flying game wasn’t much different… we lost a
lot of good/better men there as well… maybe some day, the Big Guy will tell us why? I
don’t know.
Shadow
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