To All
Good Tuesday morning July 7. It is cloudy and a cool 68 again this morning.
We are heating up to 85 by 1.
The clouds have gone and the temp is rising
skip
HAGD
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Pappy Ernst
Thanks to Doug
Checked the latest electronic version of the Hook last night and saw that
Larry Ernst died on May 26. I do not recall seeing it on the list but Pappy
was one of kind. I got to know him and Bobbie well at SOSMRC in Newport and
he was a backyard neighbor in housing on North Island when I had Belleau
Wood. He and I worked the Iniki hurricane relief to Kaui in 1992 when he
was Ops CINCPACFLT. I communicated with him a few months ago and there had
been at least one stroke. Larry said he would get back to me with more info
but that never happened. He and Bobbie moved from Scottsdale to Austin to
be near one of the daughters.
A great man, a fellow Buckeye, great aviator and steadfast friend. RIP.
The obit is available by googling Larry Ernst obit Austin TX
All the best,
Doug.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Go here to see the director’s corner for all 97 H-Grams
July 7
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
July 7
1798 Congress rescinds treaties with France, and the Quasi War begins.
1846 During the Mexican-American War, Commodore John D. Sloat, disembarks
from his flagship frigate, USS Savannah, at Monterey and claims California
for the U.S.
1915 Thomas A. Edison becomes the head of the Naval Consulting Board, which
screens inventions for the Navy.
1948 The first six enlisted women are sworn into Regular Navy: Chief Yeoman
Wilma J. Marchal; Yeoman Second Class Edna E. Young; Hospital Corpsman First
Class Ruth Flora; Aviation Storekeeper First Class Kay L. Langen;
Storekeeper Second Class Frances T. Devaney; and Teleman Doris R. Robertson.
1979 USS Emory S. Land (AS 39) is commissioned at her homeport of Norfolk,
Va. The submarine tender is named after Adm. Emory S. Land, an officer noted
for his designs of submarines.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Today in World History: July 7
1742 A Spanish force invading Georgia runs headlong into the colony's
British defenders. The battle decides the fate of a colony.
1777 American troops give up Fort Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, to the
British.
1791 Benjamin Rush, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones found the
Non-denominational African Church.
1795 Thomas Paine defends the principal of universal suffrage at the
Constitutional Convention in Paris.
1798 Napoleon Bonaparte's army begins its march towards Cairo from
Alexandria.
1807 Czar Alexander meets with Napoleon Bonaparte.
1814 Sir Walter Scott's novel Waverley is published anonymously so as not to
damage his reputation as a poet.
1815 After defeating Napoleon at Waterloo, the victorious Allies march into
Paris.
1853 Japan opens its ports to trade with the West after 250 years of
isolation.
1863 Confederate General Robert E. Lee, in Hagerstown, Maryland, reports his
defeat at Gettysburg to President Jefferson Davis.
1925 Afrikaans is recognized as one of the official languages of South
Africa, along with English and Dutch.
1927 Christopher Stone becomes the first British 'disc jockey' when he plays
records for the BBC.
1941 Although a neutral country, the United States sends troops to occupy
Iceland to keep it out of Germany's hands.
1943 Adolf Hitler makes the V-2 missile program a top priority in armament
planning.
1966 The U.S. Marine Corps launches Operation Hasting to drive the North
Vietnamese Army back across the Demilitarized Zone in Vietnam.
1969 The first U.S. units to withdraw from South Vietnam leave Saigon.
1981 Sandra Day O'Connor becomes the first woman to serve on the Supreme
Court.
1930 Preliminary work begins on the Hoover Dam
On July 7, 1930, building begins on the future site of the Hoover Dam. Over
the next five years, a total of 21,000 men would work ceaselessly to produce
what would be the largest dam of its time, as well as one of the largest
manmade structures in the world.
Although the dam would take only five years to build, its construction was
nearly 30 years in the making. Arthur Powell Davis, an engineer from the
Bureau of Reclamation, originally had his vision for the Hoover Dam back in
1902, and his engineering report on the topic became the guiding document
when plans were finally made to begin the dam in 1922.
Deconstructing History: Hoover Dam
July 1930 marked the first phase of construction, on the railroad and
construction roads, as well as a town to house all the workers for the
project. Construction on the dam itself began the following spring.
Herbert Hoover, the 31st president of the United States and a committed
conservationist, played a crucial role in making Davis’ vision a reality. As
secretary of commerce in 1921, Hoover devoted himself to the erection of a
high dam in Boulder Canyon. The dam would provide essential flood control,
which would prevent damage to downstream farming communities that suffered
each year when snow from the Rocky Mountains melted and joined the Colorado
River. Further, the dam would allow the expansion of irrigated farming in
the desert, and would provide a dependable supply of water for Los Angeles
and other southern California communities.
Even with Hoover’s exuberant backing and a regional consensus around the
need to build the dam, Congressional approval and individual state
cooperation were slow in coming. For many years, water rights had been a
source of contention among the western states that had claims on the
Colorado River. To address this issue, Hoover negotiated the Colorado River
Compact, which broke the river basin into two regions with the water divided
between them. Hoover then had to introduce and re-introduce the bill to
build the dam several times over the next few years before the House and
Senate finally approved the bill in 1928.
In 1929, Hoover, now president, signed the Colorado River Compact into law,
claiming it was “the most extensive action ever taken by a group of states
under the provisions of the Constitution permitting compacts between
states.”
Once preparations were made, the Hoover Dam’s construction sprinted forward:
The contractors finished their work two years ahead of schedule and millions
of dollars under budget. Today, the Hoover Dam generates enough energy each
year to serve over a million people, and stands, in Hoover Dam artist Oskar
Hansen’s words, as “a monument to collective genius exerting itself in
community efforts around a common need or ideal.”
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to History Facts
Abraham Lincoln's hat once caught a bullet intended for the President.
At a towering 6 feet, 4 inches, President Abraham Lincoln easily stood out
in a crowd, especially thanks to his proclivity for stovepipe hats, which
pushed his physical presence to nearly 7 feet from crown to sole. In some
ways, this sartorial preference made him an inviting target for his enemies,
yet on one occasion, the President’s conspicuous headgear may well have
saved his life from an assassin’s bullet.
In August 1864, Lincoln was traveling on horseback to his summertime cottage
on the outskirts of Washington when an unidentified sniper apparently took
aim at the war-weary President. A sentry later recalled hearing a rifle shot
at around 11 p.m., shortly before a "bareheaded" Lincoln and his excited
horse arrived at the front gate. Although the silk hat was soon found nearby
with a bullet hole through the top, Lincoln dismissed it as the handiwork of
an incompetent hunter, and told his men to keep quiet about the situation.
The experience rattled the President more than he initially revealed:
According to his bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon, Lincoln described how he "heard
this fellow's bullet whistle at an uncomfortably short distance from these
headquarters of mine." Yet Honest Abe refused to accept the concept that
someone was deliberately trying to kill him, and he continued attempts to
slip off on his own in spite of efforts to beef up security. Lamon was
famously out of town when Lincoln attended a performance at Ford’s Theatre
on the night of April 14, 1865. And the iconic stovepipe hat, his unlikely
savior on a deserted path eight months earlier, was resting on the floor
during the play, unable to halt the bullet that took the President’s life.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Interesting Facts
1 through `13
Our Favorite Facts About American History
From sea to shining sea, a lot of history has taken place on America’s
shores. While you may think you’re familiar with the country we call home,
some of these facts may surprise you. Did you know that you used to be able
to send children through the U.S. mail? Or that the Statue of Liberty was
originally brown? We’ve collected some of our top facts about American
history from around the site, so be prepared to wonder why you probably
never learned any of this in school.
1 of 25
The U.S. Actually Voted for Its Independence on July 2
In June 1776, the Second Continental Congress selected a Committee of Five —
John Adams, Roger Sherman, Robert Livingston, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas
Jefferson — to draft a statement of independence that severed the colonies
from British rule. When the draft was presented to Congress, only nine of
the 13 colonies favored independence. However, the delegates largely fell
into line from that point, and on July 2, Congress formally approved the
resolution that proclaimed the United States of America as an independent
country. Following additional edits, the Declaration of Independence was
completed, adopted, and sent for printing on July 4, and on August 2, the
rank-and-file delegates began adding their signatures to an engrossed
version of the document.
According to historian Pauline Maier, the idea of commemorating the
anniversary of independence didn’t gain any traction in 1777 until it was
too late to recognize the date of July 2. However, a pair of notable
celebrations popped up on July 4 — fireworks in Boston, a military
demonstration and more pyrotechnics in Philadelphia — setting forth an
annual tradition.
2 of 25
The Statue of Liberty Was Originally Brown
French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi dismantled his gleaming
copper-skinned creation — a gift to the U.S. from the French people — into
350 pieces for its voyage across the Atlantic. The statue was eventually
rebuilt atop Bedloe’s Island (now called Liberty Island) in New York Harbor,
but over the next two decades or so, the landmark underwent a prominent
color change.
The now-familiar minty tint is actually a patina, a common coating that
forms on copper as well as its alloys brass and bronze. The patina is a
result of the chemical reactions the statue has endured in its environment,
an urban center surrounded by water. Over the years, the copper has reacted
to oxygen, sulfuric acid, chloride, and other components of the surrounding
air and water, changing its mineral composition in a gradual evolution.
Today, chemists believe the seafoam-green hue has stabilized. And while
there’s occasionally been talk of repainting the statue or polishing off her
patina, public sentiment — and input from copper manufacturers — has kept
“Liberty Enlightening the World” from being returned to her initial metallic
sheen. Fortunately, the patina is protective, which means Liberty’s
chameleonlike qualities actually help preserve her.
3 of 25
Portland, Oregon, Was Named in a Coin Toss
What’s the most you’ve ever lost in a coin toss? For Asa Lovejoy, it was the
opportunity in 1845 to name the city he’d recently established with Francis
Pettygrove. The men decided to settle their disagreement as to what their
new land claim should be called with a two-out-of-three coin flip that
Pettygrove won. Pettygrove chose “Portland” because he hailed from the city
of the same name in Maine; Lovejoy had intended to name the place after his
hometown of Boston. Now known as the Portland Penny, the one-cent piece used
in the fateful toss was minted in 1835 and retrieved by Pettygrove after his
victory. It remained with him when he founded Port Townsend, Washington, and
was eventually given to the Oregon Historical Society, which now keeps it on
display.
4 of 25
Shirley Temple Was a U.S. Ambassador
Shirley Temple, the beloved child star who was Hollywood’s No. 1 box-office
draw from 1935 to 1938, announced her retirement from film at the age of 22
in 1950. It was anyone’s guess what Temple would do next, but it’s unlikely
that many predicted her eventual diplomatic career. After she ran
(unsuccessfully) for Congress in 1967, President Nixon appointed her as a
delegate to the 24th United Nations General Assembly in 1969, and President
Ford named her the ambassador to Ghana in 1974.
Temple’s foreign service didn’t end there. In 1989, just before the Velvet
Revolution, President George H.W. Bush made her ambassador to the former
Czechoslovakia, a post she held until 1992, as the country became a
parliamentary democracy. According to Norman Eisen, who held the same role
from 2011 to 2014, the “sunny confidence and optimism” that made Temple a
movie star also helped her “really infuse the United States’ role — as our
representative here, in the Velvet Revolution — with that good cheer and
that hope.”
5 of 25
Napoleon’s Grandnephew Created the Forerunner of the FBI
A grandson of Napoleon Bonaparte’s younger brother Jérôme, Charles Bonaparte
lacked his famous relative’s ambition for world domination yet displayed a
talent for visionary authority that might have impressed the Little
Corporal. In the late 19th century, Charles Bonaparte, then a lawyer from
Baltimore, came into the orbit of fast-rising New York politician Theodore
Roosevelt through their shared interest in civil service reform. Bonaparte
later became President Roosevelt’s secretary of the Navy and then attorney
general, a position that thrust “Charlie the Crook Chaser” into the
spotlight as a face of the administration’s trust-busting efforts.
Behind the scenes, the attorney general fumed at the lack of an established
investigative team within the Department of Justice, which often led to the
borrowing of spare Secret Service agents from the Treasury Department for
investigating cases that involved federal law. Congressional leaders also
frowned on what they felt was becoming an overreach of the executive branch,
and in May 1908, Congress passed a bill that halted the DOJ’s ability to
commandeer Secret Service personnel. Seizing the opportunity, Bonaparte
culled together a “special agent force” of 31 detectives, and on July 26,
1908, he issued an order that directed DOJ attorneys to refer investigative
matters to his chief examiner, Stanley Finch.
Bonaparte’s oversight of this unit was short-lived, as he exited the federal
government at the end of the Roosevelt administration in March 1909.
Nevertheless, his special agent force remained in place under new Attorney
General George Wickersham, who began referring to the group as the Bureau of
Investigation. By 1935, the now-renamed Federal Bureau of Investigation was
firmly embedded as a U.S. law enforcement institution under Director J.
Edgar Hoover.
6 of 25
By Some Accounts, North Dakota Didn’t Technically Become a State Until 2012
North Dakota was admitted to the Union as the 39th state on November 2,
1889, except it kind of sort of wasn’t. Its constitution left out a key
detail that, according to some, was enough of a technicality that North
Dakota didn’t actually become a state until 2012. A local historian by the
name of John Rolczynski first noticed in 1995 that North Dakota’s state
constitution failed to mention the executive branch in its section
concerning the oath of office, which he felt made it invalid; the United
States Constitution requires that officers of all three branches of a
state’s government be bound by said oath, and North Dakota’s only mentioned
the legislative and judiciary branches.
This led to a campaign that included an unanswered letter to then-President
Bill Clinton and ended with the successful 2012 passage of an amendment to
Section 4 of Article XI of the state constitution, which fixed the omission.
7 of 25
Before Time Zones Were Established in 1883, North America Had Over 144 Local
Times
Before time zones were established in 1883, North America alone had at least
144 local times. Noon was when the sun reached its zenith, and in many
places the only thing making time official was a town clock. This didn’t
affect many people’s day-to-day lives, as it often took several days to
travel from one place to another, but confusion intensified once the
expanding railroad system drastically cut travel times. Because time wasn’t
standardized, coordinating schedules across multiple rail lines was nearly
impossible, and travelers occasionally found themselves arriving at their
final destination earlier than they’d departed. Sometimes, trains even
collided.
Those problems more or less evaporated after November 18, 1883, when
American railroads adopted the first four time zones (Eastern, Central,
Mountain, and Pacific) and all clocks in each zone were synchronized. The
number of time zones rose to five with the passage of 1918’s Standard Time
Act, which added Alaska. (The act also established the use of daylight
saving time in the U.S., to the chagrin of many.) Including its territories,
the United States now has four more time zones — Chamorro (which is used in
Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands), Samoa, Hawaii-Aleutian, and Atlantic
— for a total of nine.
8 of 25
Tenth President John Tyler Still Has a Living Grandson
More than 200 years after the 10th President of the United States was born,
one of his grandsons is still alive. As impossible as that may seem, the
math — and biology — checks out. John Tyler, who was born in 1790 and became
President in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died in office, had a son
named Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853. This son was born to the
then-60-something Tyler and his second, much younger, wife, Julia Gardiner.
Lyon then had two sons of his own in his 70s (also with a much younger
second wife), one of whom — Harrison Ruffin Tyler, born in 1928 — is still
gracing the Earth in his mid-nineties.
9 of 25
Amelia Earhart Once Took Eleanor Roosevelt on a Nighttime Joyride
Although her aviation career lasted just 17 years, Amelia Earhart remains
one of the most famous people ever to take to the sky. In addition to being
renowned for her many firsts — including being the first woman to fly solo
across the Atlantic and the first person to fly alone from Hawaii to the
mainland U.S. — she’s known for her 1937 disappearance and the many theories
it spawned. Less well known but considerably more fun to imagine is the time
she took Eleanor Roosevelt on a nighttime joyride from Washington, D.C., to
Baltimore on April 20, 1933. The brief flight took place with both of them
in their evening wear following a White House dinner party.
“I’d love to do it myself. I make no bones about it,” the First Lady told
the Baltimore Sun after the flight. “It does mark an epoch, doesn't it, when
a girl in an evening dress and slippers can pilot a plane at night.”
In fact, Roosevelt herself had recently received a student pilot license and
briefly took over the controls of the twin-engine Curtiss Condor, borrowed
from Eastern Air Transport at nearby Hoover Field. Eleanor’s brother Hall
also ditched the dinner party in favor of the flight that night, as did
Thomas Wardwell Doe, the president of Eastern Air Transport, and Eugene
Luther Vidal (head of the Bureau of Air Commerce) and his wife Nina Gore,
parents of author Gore Vidal. When the plane returned after the short
journey, the Secret Service guided everyone back to the White House table
for dessert.
10 of 25
Memorial Day’s Date Was First Chosen Because It Was When Flowers Would Be in
Full Bloom
Deciding when to observe holidays isn’t always an exact science. George
Washington wasn’t born on the third Monday of February, for example.
Memorial Day’s precise date on the calendar also shifts from year to year
(though it’s always the final Monday of May), but at least the reasoning
behind it is sound: The late spring date was chosen because it was when
flowers would be in full bloom. As adorning the graves of fallen soldiers
with wreaths was once the most important part of the holiday, it’s difficult
to imagine Memorial Day taking place at another time of year — especially
considering that it was first celebrated in the 1860s, when floristry wasn’t
quite as commercially developed as it is today. Originally celebrated on a
state and community level, Memorial Day became an official federal holiday
in 1971.
11 of 25
Jimmy Carter Was the First President Born in a Hospital
In his nearly 100 years on Earth, Jimmy Carter has set a number of records
and achieved almost as many firsts. In addition to being the longest-living
President in U.S. history, he was also the first one born in a hospital — an
event that occurred on October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. It was much more
common for babies to be born at home in the early 20th century than it is
now, but Carter’s mother was a nurse at what was then known as Wise
Sanitarium. There happened to be a room available on that fateful October
night, and the hospital has since been renamed the Lillian G. Carter Nursing
Center.
12 of 25
There Have Been 27 Versions of the American Flag
When it comes to the American flag, it’s not just about 13 stripes and 50
stars — the number 27 also has an important meaning. That’s how many
different versions of Old Glory have been officially recognized since the
nation began. The inaugural 13-star, 13-stripe flag was approved by the
Continental Congress on June 14, 1777, and later underwent an update in May
1795. That redesign — due to Vermont and Kentucky joining the Union —
featured 15 stars and 15 stripes. While the number of stripes initially
continued to increase as more states were admitted, the government reverted
back to 13 stripes in 1818, representing the original 13 colonies, and let
the stars represent the number of states instead. The current and 27th
official design was adopted on July 4, 1960, after Hawaii’s admission into
the United States. It is the only version in U.S. history to remain
unchanged for over 50 years.
13 of 25
You Used To Be Able To Send Children Through U.S. Mail
You can send a lot of things in the mail, but you can’t send a person — at
least not anymore. There was nothing preventing people from mailing their
own children in the early days of the U.S. Postal Service’s parcel post
service, and at least seven families took advantage of it. That includes the
Beagues, an Ohio couple who in 1913 paid 15 cents in postage to mail their
newborn son to his grandmother’s house a mile down the road. Beyond the
novelty of it — when the parcel post service began on January 1, 1913, some
were eager to see which packages they could get away with sending — it was a
surprisingly practical way of getting one’s kiddo from point A to point B.
To start with, many people in rural areas knew their postal carriers fairly
well, which meant the children were simply walked or carried on often-short
trips. In other instances, children traveled on trains as Railway Mail, but
with stamps instead of (usually more expensive) train tickets. The longest
known trip of a child through the mail occurred in 1915, when a 6-year-old
was sent 720 miles from Florida to Virginia — a lengthy trip that cost just
15 cents. Fortunately, there are no reports of children being injured by
being sent through the mail. (Pictures of children in literal mailbags were
staged.) The practice ended, as so many do, when certain higher-ups became
aware of the loophole and decided to close it, also around 1915.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
July 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 elow and get what happened each day to
the crew of the aircraft. ……Skip
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/ )
articles/wall-of-faces-now-includes-photos-of-all-servicemembers-killed-in-t
he-vietnam-war/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=TMNsend&
utm_content=Y84UVhi4Z1MAMHJh1eJHNA==+MD+AFHRM+1+Ret+L+NC
Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the
Vietnam War
By: Kipp Hanley
AUGUST 15, 2022
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
All of us that flew F-8 Crusders had heard of this beast and what it could
do and had dreams of flying it….skip
Thanks to Mugs
From an AF friend who flew the RF-4C.
I think Scott talked about this plane at the 38TRS reunion he went to.
Jim
Navy Killed Its Best Dogfighter—In 48 Hours | News Hill
Every debate about the Vought XF8U-3 Crusader III ultimately comes down to a
single, uncomfortable truth: the U.S. Navy passed over a demonstrably
superior dogfighter in favor of a multi-role workhorse, and in doing so it
joined a recurring pattern in American airpower—choosing versatility and
doctrine over raw aerial performance.
Key Points
• The Crusader III outflew, outclimbed, and outturned the F-4 Phantom
II in 1958 fly-offs, yet lost the production contract.
• Flight tests proved the XF8U-3 could reach Mach 2.39 and zoom to
altitudes above 75,000 feet, placing it at the frontier of manned
high-altitude flight.
• The Navy selected the heavier, twin engine, two seat Phantom for its
payload, radar, and multi mission capabilities, not for superior air combat
maneuverability.
• Only five Crusader III airframes were built and later scrapped,
leaving no surviving examples—yet engineers and test pilots still call it
“the best fighter never produced.”
• The cancellation of the Crusader III fits a broader historical
pattern in which specialized high performance interceptors are sacrificed
for multi role platforms that better match prevailing doctrine and budgets.
A Fighter That Could “Fly Circles Around the Phantom”
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
While we are on the subject of the F-8 here is a note that showed up in my
In box this morning
This really doesn’t have anything to do with the 4th, but Happy 250th
anyway! Well, the Navy and the Marine Corps are almost the same age, and
this had to do with protecting the honor of both, so what the heck....
Our database and email list started coming together in the late 90’s. As
guys heard about it they’d ask to be added. We’d ask for some specifics,
then when that was provided we’d add them. Now and then we’d get a ringer;
usually they were pretty obvious, but one was a doozy. That was about 25
years ago, but recently Raqkuel Welch came up in an unrelated conversation,
and that jogged a dusty memory. This guy was acrually marr to Raquel at the
time he claimed to have been a Marine F8 driver. He was in the film
industry and is credited with “discovering” her. Raquel is gone now, and
so is he. I thought y’all might enjoy hearing about it.
Here is the info he provided for his ticket into the Assoc. database
(Annabel was his wife at the time, Raquel was on to better things):
Curtis, Patrick
"Crossdraw"
Col. USMCR (Ret.)
Annabel
43-665 Taurus Court
La Quinta
CA
92253
(818) 512-2662
F-8 VMFA=323 '63-'64
Sometime in June of ’01 Annabel wrote, offering his services as a guest
speaker at an upcoming LACB. I haven't found Annabel's initial email, but as
I recall, she said he had given talks about his exploits while on some
cruise & was well received by pilots in the crowd. Here is a follow-up
email from her on 5/23/’01.
**********************************************
As I mentioned, Patrick is on location for a bit, but here is the
information that I have. Some of it taken from his, "I Love Me" wall. I'm
also attaching his biography; please let me know if you were able to
download it. Thanks.
I met Patrick after he retired and I'm not a long time Marine wife.
Therefore, I'm not up on all the military phrases and their meaning. As an
example, what is the difference between NICKNAME & CALLSIGN? He's just
"Crossdraw" to all his pilot buddies. Is that his Nickname or Callsign or
possibly both? He has iton the back of his, "bone dome," tee hee, see I've
learned a few things.
Annabel
[From the bio Annabel provided]
Patrick graduated with a degree
in film and a commission in USC's Naval ROTC program. While at an advanced
Navy/Marine Corps flightprogram in San Diego, Patrick met and married a
young college student from La Jolla, California... Raquel Welch.
Joining the Reserves, he then launched his and Raquel’s careers with his
first film production, "A Swingin’ Summer." This teaming lead to success in
Europe where Raquel became an International Star in such Curtis productions
as; "One Million, BC," "The Fates," "The Oldest Profession In The World,"
"Shout Louder, I Don't Understand," "The Beloved" and "Hannie Caulder."
Patrick went back to active duty and served his country in Vietnam in
1967-'68, flying 283 1/2 combat missions over North and South Vietnam as a
Marine F-4 Phantom pilot. During a holiday lull in flying, he happily and
anonymously sat on a log at Da Nang, So. Vietnam, while his wife, Raquel,
entertained the troops as the star of Bob Hope's 1967 Christmas Show.
Anonymously, that is, until Mr. Hope introduced him in the audience as one
of their own who just happened to be married to their favorite star! Has
anyone else ever been booed by eighty-five thousand Marines?
On Halloween day 1968, Major Curtis was shot down and severely wounded while
successfully protecting the crew of a downed Navy rescue helicopter. He
returned home, recovered, and rejoined the Marine Corps Reserves, retiring
as a Colonel.
.................
For his continued support of the Vietnam Veteran, Patrick has been awarded
the prestigious Air Force Association Humanitarian Award. He is also one of
the few individuals of his generation to be presented life membership in the
Marine Corps League, the Navy League and the Air Force Association.
Patrick & Raquel Colonel Patrick Curtis,
USMCR (Ret.)
**********************************************
Pretty impressive! Gosh, you’d think he’d be well known in the Crusader
community. And what aircraft is that that he is posing with? Sure isn’t a
Gator. As you read through his “bio” I’m sure something seemed a little off
to you too. I suppose the toughest test for an actor is to see if you can
pass yourself off as "belonging" to a group you really don't belong to.....
So we began doing some digging. It took a while – like 3 years of off and
on poking by various guys in the group – but there was zero confirmation of
anything other thatn his marriage to Raquel. So we unlisted him. His
response on 5/23/04 was
"Removed from F8U maillist. *Why????"*
We replied with the following. Never heard from him – or her – again.
-----------------------------
When a suggestion was made that you be the featured peaker for one of our
reunions, and we didn't already have you in our database, I tried to verify
that you were an F8 driver as well as get some support from your
squadronmates (I was not about to recommend a speaker to the Board without
knowing who he was). I was unable to find anyone who knew you. It became a
moot point when the Board decided to do away with speakers from that year
forward. You were added to our database and email list at that time..Several
inconsistencies had cropped up during the initial "bona fides" search quest,
so I, along with others, continued to look for verification. Quite frankly,
I had begun to suspect you were a "poser". A lot of probing has been done
over the last couple years, including enlisting the assistance of some
groups specializing in these kinds of searchs. Long story short, no one has
been able to find any official or unofficial record of your being a Marine
aviator, or of any other military service -- other than those provided by
yourself.
The F8 community is small and close knit. Only about 5000 guys ever flew the
thing, and we have about 2000 of those surviving in our database. Somebody
should have been able to remember the guy married to Raquel. .Get me some
references that check out and I will eat crow and you will be reinstated. We
want to include all Crusader drivers; we just don't want any frauds.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Dutch and others
...courtesy of Mike and Rich..and JC.
Hi to all -
7-06-2026 What a party !
July 4th
This was an event with all the flash and pomp of a major concert. The
fireworks alone were spectacular. On the National Mall, more than 850,000
individual fireworks were sent aloft. Our European visitors were dazzled by
that, and all else that was the real America, not the one that their
governments are trying to sell them. Even the severe storm that delayed the
party for an hour or so could not put a damper on the festivities. Of
course, some groused about the 'noisy' flyovers. That is part of the fun.
Clearly those complainers have never enjoyed an air show.
A Canadian, Jordan Peterson, commented that the thing he saw was that
Americans valued 'success', along with the right to fail and the rewards
that come with success. Almost no other nation on the planet even believes
in success for the average person - things are run by the 'privileged' and
only for their benefit.
California, as usual, did not do things the same way. Their celebrations
turned into violent riots, looting, burnings and worse, with the epicenter
being Newport Beach. Nancy's husband, Paul, got another DUI after he ran
over someone, and just drove away, noting that he thought he hit something,
but didn't know what, so he just kept going. Paul is well into this 80's,
and perhaps it is time for him to stop driving.
And, as Columbo used to say 'Just one more thing...' A senior staffer to
Newsom agreed to help the FBI and wore a wire to meetings with Gavin and
others, and got evidence of major fraud. Seems Gavin's lovely wife set up
many shell companies and fake 'charities' to funnel money to family and
friends, etc. per standard democrat practice. Gavin's former Chief of Staff
has already pleaded guilty, and a lot more is coming soon. This could put
an end to Gavin's presidential ambitions. That leaves us with AOC as their
top candidate. Will she 'step up to the bar'? (Or, as they say here:
'Waddaya have?')
In the UK, a very rare copy of our own Declaration of Independence was
discovered in the British National Archives.
Texas
They have targeted those 'Sharia communities' that are trying to set up shop
in Texas, then to spread across the land. Texas has labeled CAIR and the
Muslim Brotherhood as 'terrorist' organizations, which they are.
Proposition 10 was to ban Sharia Law in Texas, and it got 95% of the vote.
Gulf of America
This was more than a symbolic name change. Trump is a businessman, and
knows business law, among other things. This clarifies that this area of
the planet, and all that lies beneath it, is sovereign American territory,
not an international place that can be claimed or exploited by anyone. So,
what do we gain? Among many other things, the ocean floor is covered with
'polymetallic nodules'. and, these are ours for the taking. What are these
nodules? Deposits of copper, nickel, cobalt and manganese. These are
valuable minerals, rare on land, and key to batteries, AI and high tech
systems. China controls most of the known deposits on land, and thus has a
major control mechanism over others.
NYC
A volunteer intern decided that her service was more valuable, and demanded
to be paid a $32/hour wage for her time. She threatened to sue the council
if she did not get her way. This 22 year old turns out to be a liberal
silver spoon child - from a wealthy family. Same old story. She did this
after being fired from her 'volunteer' position.
Venezuela
The death toll from those earthquakes has passed 3000, and there are a lot
of missing people, so the toll could rise much higher.
College Students
Colleges are noting that incoming freshmen are reading at the level of 10
year olds. Why are we paying teachers so much?
Iran
They had a huge funeral for their lost leader, Khamenei. It was very
emotional, with lots of cries of 'Death to America, Death to Israel'. The
surviving leadership is younger, more radical, and more dedicated to jihad
than the old guard. So, it is not likely that they will cooperate with the
US or anyone else, until we slap them upside the head. These kids do not
comprehend bankruptcy, yet. But it is coming.
Looking forward to the coming days...
Rich
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
From the Archives. My brain hurts just trying to take all this in…skip
OPINION
July 5, 2012, 6:57 p.m. ET
The Spark That Caused the Big Bang
There's a reason the newly discovered Higgs boson is called the 'God
particle.' It started it all.
By MICHIO KAKU
Champagne bottles were being uncorked at particle accelerators around the
world this week as physicists celebrated one of the great moments in
scientific history: the discovery of the elusive Higgs boson. Hundreds of
physicists and engineers were ecstatic, having devoted almost 30 years of
their lives—and $10 billion—trying to track down this almost mythical
subatomic particle.
In their press release, the scientists at the European Organization for
Nuclear Research, better known as CERN, were careful to say they've only
found evidence of a "Higgs-like" particle. But this is too modest. With
99.9999% confidence, they can claim to have found the Higgs boson itself.
The key to finding this particle is CERN's Large Hadron Collider, a
monstrous doughnut-shaped machine 27 miles in circumference, so big it
straddles the French-Swiss border and devours enough electrical energy to
light up an entire city. Two beams of protons are shot through this
colossal, circular tube in opposite directions. When they're accelerated to
near light-speed velocities, they're forced to collide head-on, creating a
huge burst of subatomic particles that scatter in all directions. The
collision creates energies (up to 14 trillion electron volts) and blistering
temperatures not seen since the Big Bang. That's why the collider is
nicknamed "the window on Creation." It creates a tiny, mini-Big Bang at the
instant of the collision.
For a fraction of a trillionth of a second, the Higgs boson appears at the
collision site, before it rapidly decays into a shower of ordinary subatomic
particles. Some of the largest supercomputers on earth are then used to
shift though this immense amount of data to identify the telltale tracks of
the short-lived Higgs boson. It's akin to smashing two grand pianos together
at high velocity, completely demolishing them, and then using supercomputers
to analyze the noise of the crash to reconstruct a detailed blueprint of
each piano—but far more complicated.
For the past 50 years, this expensive process of smashing beams of particles
has yielded an embarrassingly large zoo of hundreds of subatomic particles,
which can be tediously reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle called the Standard
Model of particles. More than 20 Nobel Prizes have been awarded to
physicists who have pieced together parts of the Standard Model.
All the particles of the Standard Model had been found, except the last,
central piece of the jigsaw puzzle—the Higgs boson. That is why so much was
resting on finding the Higgs particle. (If it had not been found, many
physicists, I imagine, would have had a heart attack.) The press has dubbed
the Higgs boson the "God particle," a nickname that makes many physicists
cringe. But there is some logic to it. According to the Bible, God set the
universe into motion as he proclaimed "Let there be light!" In physics, the
universe started off with a cosmic explosion, the Big Bang, 13.7 billion
years ago, which sent the stars and galaxies hurtling in all directions. But
the key question is left unanswered: Why did it bang? The big-bang theory
says nothing about how and why it banged in the first place.
To put it another way, what was the match that set off the initial cosmic
explosion? What put the "bang" in the Big Bang? In quantum physics, it was a
Higgs-like particle that sparked the cosmic explosion. In other words,
everything we see around us, including galaxies, stars, planets and us, owes
its existence to the Higgs boson.
The Higgs boson also answers another profound physical question. Why is the
universe so unsymmetrical and broken? When you calculate the masses of the
subatomic particles like the electron, proton, neutrino or neutron, at first
they seem almost random, displaying no rhyme or reason at all.
The latest thinking is that, just before the Big Bang, the universe was very
tiny but also perfectly symmetrical. All the masses of the particles were
the same, i.e. zero. But the presence of Higgs-like particles shattered this
perfect symmetry. Once the symmetry was broken, the particles were free to
assume the various masses we see today.
With the discovery of the Higgs boson, a whole new chapter in physics opens
up. CERN's collider could lead to the discovery of unseen dimensions,
parallel universes, and possibly the "strings" in string theory (in which
the Standard Model is just the lowest vibrating octave). In other words, the
discovery of the Higgs is but the first step toward a much grander Theory of
Everything.
Mr. Kaku, a professor of theoretical physics at CUNY, is author of "Physics
of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by
2100" (Doubleday, 2011).
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
2 pilots visited 48 US states in less than 48 hours, potentially breaking a
world record …
Thanks to Dr. Rich
Two Delta Air Lines pilots say they visited 48 US states in under 48 hours,
potentially breaking a world record, the Atlanta-based carrier reported.
Captains Barry Behnfeldt and Aaron Wilson completed their goal of stopping
in all 48 contiguous states in less time than they expected…
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in U S Military History…….
JULY 7
1863 – Lt. Colonel Christopher “Kit” Carson leaves Santa Fe with his troops,
beginning his campaign against the Indians of New Mexico and Arizona. A
famed mountain man before the Civil War, Carson was responsible for waging a
destructive war against the Navajo that resulted in their removal from the
Four Corners area to southeastern New Mexico. Carson was perhaps the most
famous trapper and guide in the West. He traveled with the expeditions of
John C. Fremont in the 1840s, leading Fremont through the Great Basin.
Fremont’s flattering portrayal of Carson made the mountain man a hero when
the reports were published and widely read in the east. Later, Carson guided
Stephen Watts Kearney to New Mexico during the Mexican-American War. In the
1850s he became the Indian agent for New Mexico, a position he left in 1861
to accept a commission as lieutenant colonel in the 1st New Mexico
Volunteers. Although Carson’s unit saw action in the New Mexico battles of
1862, he was most famous for his campaign against the Indians. Despite his
reputation for being sympathetic and accommodating to tribes such as the
Mescaleros, Kiowas, and Navajo, Carson waged a brutal campaign against the
Navajo in 1863. When bands of Navajo refused to accept confinement on
reservations, Carson terrorized the Navajo lands–burning crops, destroying
villages, and slaughtering livestock. Carson rounded up some 8,000 Navajo
and marched them across New Mexico for imprisonment on the Bosque Redondo,
over 300 miles from their homes, where they remained for the duration of the
war.
1865 – The trap doors of the scaffold in the yard of Washington’s Old
Penitentiary were sprung, and Mary Surratt, Lewis Paine, David Herold and
George Atzerodt dropped to their deaths. The four had been convicted of
“treasonable conspiracy” in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln,
and had learned that they were to be hanged only a day before their
execution. Shortly after 1 p.m. the prisoners were led onto the scaffold and
prepared for execution. The props supporting the platform were knocked away
at about 2 p.m. Assassin John Wilkes Booth had been killed on April 26, 12
days after Lincoln’s assassination. Other convicted conspirators–Edman
Spangler, Dr. Samuel Mudd, Samuel Arnold and Michael O’Laughlin–were
imprisoned. Surratt was the first woman to be executed in the United States.
1941 – The neutral United States moves closer to war with Germany when U.S.
forces land on Iceland to take over its garrisoning from the British. From
thereon, the U.S. Navy had the responsibility of protecting convoys in the
nearby sea routes from attack by German submarines. With Iceland and its
nearby sea routes under U.S. protection, the British Royal Navy was more
free to defend its embattled Mediterranean positions. The occupation of
Iceland came less than a month after President Franklin D. Roosevelt froze
all German and Italian assets in the United States and expelled the
countries’ diplomats in response to the German torpedoing of the American
destroyer Robin Moor. Much of the North Atlantic was now in the American
sphere, and U.S. warships patrolled the area for German submarines,
notifying London of all enemy activity. The United States officially entered
World War II after Japan attacked the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii in
December 1941.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*AGERHOLM, HAROLD CHRIST
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. Born:
29 January 1925, Racine, Wis. Accredited to: Wisconsin. Citation: For
conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and
beyond the call of duty while serving with the 4th Battalion, 10th Marines,
2d Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Saipan,
Marianas Islands, 7 July 1944. When the enemy launched a fierce, determined
counterattack against our positions and overran a neighboring artillery
battalion, Pfc. Agerholm immediately volunteered to assist in the efforts to
check the hostile attack and evacuate our wounded. Locating and
appropriating an abandoned ambulance jeep, he repeatedly made extremely
perilous trips under heavy rifle and mortar fire and single-handedly loaded
and evacuated approximately 45 casualties, working tirelessly and with utter
disregard for his own safety during a grueling period of more than 3 hours.
Despite intense, persistent enemy fire, he ran out to aid 2 men whom he
believed to be wounded marines but was himself mortally wounded by a
Japanese sniper while carrying out his hazardous mission. Pfc. Agerholm’s
brilliant initiative, great personal valor and self-sacrificing efforts in
the face of almost certain death reflect the highest credit upon himself and
the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.
*BAKER, THOMAS A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company A, 105th Infantry, 27th
Infantry Division. Place and date: Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19 June to 7
July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth: Troy, N.Y. G.O. No.: 35, 9
May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of
his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Mariana Islands, 19
June to 7 July 1944. When his entire company was held up by fire from
automatic weapons and small-arms fire from strongly fortified enemy
positions that commanded the view of the company, Sgt. (then Pvt.) Baker
voluntarily took a bazooka and dashed alone to within 100 yards of the
enemy. Through heavy rifle and machinegun fire that was directed at him by
the enemy, he knocked out the strong point, enabling his company to assault
the ridge. Some days later while his company advanced across the open field
flanked with obstructions and places of concealment for the enemy, Sgt.
Baker again voluntarily took up a position in the rear to protect the
company against surprise attack and came upon 2 heavily fortified enemy
pockets manned by 2 officers and 10 enlisted men which had been bypassed.
Without regard for such superior numbers, he unhesitatingly attacked and
killed all of them. Five hundred yards farther, he discovered 6 men of the
enemy who had concealed themselves behind our lines and destroyed all of
them. On 7 July 1944, the perimeter of which Sgt. Baker was a part was
attacked from 3 sides by from 3,000 to 5,000 Japanese. During the early
stages of this attack, Sgt. Baker was seriously wounded but he insisted on
remaining in the line and fired at the enemy at ranges sometimes as close as
5 yards until his ammunition ran out. Without ammunition and with his own
weapon battered to uselessness from hand-to-hand combat, he was carried
about 50 yards to the rear by a comrade, who was then himself wounded. At
this point Sgt. Baker refused to be moved any farther stating that he
preferred to be left to die rather than risk the lives of any more of his
friends. A short time later, at his request, he was placed in a sitting
position against a small tree . Another comrade, withdrawing, offered
assistance. Sgt. Baker refused, insisting that he be left alone and be given
a soldier’s pistol with its remaining 8 rounds of ammunition. When last seen
alive, Sgt. Baker was propped against a tree, pistol in hand, calmly facing
the foe. Later Sgt. Baker’s body was found in the same position, gun empty,
with 8 Japanese lying dead before him. His deeds were in keeping with the
highest traditions of the U.S. Army.
Almost all of the Japanese-Americans who served in WWII, were assigned
to the 442nd Infantry, a Hawaiian military unit which is now part of the
Hawaiian National Guard, and which served in Italy and Southeastern Europe
during WWII. They became the most decorated military unit in the U.S. Army
during WWII, and served while many had members of their families who were
held at Internment Facilities (such as Manzanar, in California). Almost all
were "Nisei", or second generation, Hawaiian residents (decades before
Hawaii became a state). The following two men probably are examples of this:
Another Nise below
*MOTO, KAORU
Private First Class Kaoru Moto distinguished himself by extraordinary
heroism in action on 7 July 1944, near Castellina, Italy. While serving as
first scout, Private First Class Moto observed a machine gun nest that was
hindering his platoon’s progress. On his own initiative, he made his way to
a point ten paces from the hostile position, and killed the enemy machine
gunner. Immediately, the enemy assistant gunner opened fire in the direction
of Private First Class Moto. Crawling to the rear of the position, Private
First Class Moto surprised the enemy soldier, who quickly surrendered.
Taking his prisoner with him, Private First Class Moto took a position a few
yards from a house to prevent the enemy from using the building as an
observation post. While guarding the house and his prisoner, he observed an
enemy machine gun team moving into position. He engaged them, and with
deadly fire forced the enemy to withdraw. An enemy sniper located in another
house fired at Private First Class Moto, severely wounding him. Applying
first aid to his wound, he changed position to elude the sniper fire and to
advance. Finally relieved of his position, he made his way to the rear for
treatment. Crossing a road, he spotted an enemy machine gun nest. Opening
fire, he wounded two of the three soldiers occupying the position. Not
satisfied with this accomplishment, he then crawled forward to a better
position and ordered the enemy soldier to surrender. Receiving no answer,
Private First Class Moto fired at the position, and the soldiers
surrendered. Private First Class Moto’s extraordinary heroism and devotion
to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and
reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United States Army.
*O’BRIEN, WILLIAM J.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 105th
Infantry, 27th Infantry Division. Place and date: At Saipan, Marianas
Islands, 20 June through 7 July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth:
Troy, N.Y. G.O. No.: 35, 9 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and
intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at
Saipan, Marianas Islands, from 20 June through 7 July 1944. When assault
elements of his platoon were held up by intense enemy fire, Lt. Col. O’Brien
ordered 3 tanks to precede the assault companies in an attempt to knock out
the strongpoint. Due to direct enemy fire the tanks’ turrets were closed,
causing the tanks to lose direction and to fire into our own troops. Lt.
Col. O’Brien, with complete disregard for his own safety, dashed into full
view of the enemy and ran to the leader’s tank, and pounded on the tank with
his pistol butt to attract 2 of the tank’s crew and, mounting the tank fully
exposed to enemy fire, Lt. Col. O’Brien personally directed the assault
until the enemy strongpoint had been liquidated. On 28 June 1944, while his
platoon was attempting to take a bitterly defended high ridge in the
vicinity of Donnay, Lt. Col. O’Brien arranged to capture the ridge by a
double envelopment movement of 2 large combat battalions. He personally took
control of the maneuver. Lt. Col. O’Brien crossed 1,200 yards of
sniper-infested underbrush alone to arrive at a point where 1 of his
platoons was being held up by the enemy. Leaving some men to contain the
enemy he personally led 4 men into a narrow ravine behind, and killed or
drove off all the Japanese manning that strongpoint. In this action he
captured S machineguns and one 77-mm. fieldpiece. Lt. Col. O’Brien then
organized the 2 platoons for night defense and against repeated
counterattacks directed them. Meanwhile he managed to hold ground. On 7 July
1944 his battalion and another battalion were attacked by an overwhelming
enemy force estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese. With bloody
hand-to-hand fighting in progress everywhere, their forward positions were
finally overrun by the sheer weight of the enemy numbers. With many
casualties and ammunition running low, Lt. Col. O’Brien refused to leave the
front lines. Striding up and down the lines, he fired at the enemy with a
pistol in each hand and his presence there bolstered the spirits of the men,
encouraged them in their fight and sustained them in their heroic stand.
Even after he was seriously wounded, Lt. Col. O’Brien refused to be
evacuated and after his pistol ammunition was exhausted, he manned a .50
caliber machinegun, mounted on a jeep, and continued firing. When last seen
alive he was standing upright firing into the Jap hordes that were then
enveloping him. Some time later his body was found surrounded by enemy he
had killed His valor was consistent with the highest traditions of the
service.
Another NISE BELOW
*TANOUYE, TED T.
Technical Sergeant Ted T. Tanouye distinguished himself by extraordinary
heroism in action on 7 July 1944, near Molino A Ventoabbto, Italy. Technical
Sergeant Tanouye led his platoon in an attack to capture the crest of a
strategically important hill that afforded little cover. Observing an enemy
machine gun crew placing its gun in position to his left front, Technical
Sergeant Tanouye crept forward a few yards and opened fire on the position,
killing or wounding three and causing two others to disperse. Immediately,
an enemy machine pistol opened fire on him. He returned the fire and killed
or wounded three more enemy soldiers. While advancing forward, Technical
Sergeant Tanouye was subjected to grenade bursts, which severely wounded his
left arm. Sighting an enemy-held trench, he raked the position with fire
from his submachine gun and wounded several of the enemy. Running out of
ammunition, he crawled 20 yards to obtain several clips from a comrade on
his left flank. Next, sighting an enemy machine pistol that had pinned down
his men, Technical Sergeant Tanouye crawled forward a few yards and threw a
hand grenade into the position, silencing the pistol. He then located
another enemy machine gun firing down the slope of the hill, opened fire on
it, and silenced that position. Drawing fire from a machine pistol nest
located above him, he opened fire on it and wounded three of its occupants.
Finally taking his objective, Technical Sergeant Tanouye organized a
defensive position on the reverse slope of the hill before accepting first
aid treatment and evacuation. Technical Sergeant Tanouye’s extraordinary
heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of
military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the United
States Army.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 7 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT
ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE
INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
7 July
1897: Born on July 7, 1897, in Escambia, Ala., Blake served as a civilian
employee of the Army Air Forces Air Service Command at the Miami Air Depot,
Miami, Fla., now a part of the Miami International Airport, after World War
II started.
Staff Sgt. Esther McGowin Blake enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on 8 July
1948, during the first minute of the first hour of the first day that women
could join the United States Air Force, created nine months before on
September 17, 1947. That date was 8 July 1948.
Seventy-five years ago, on June 12, 1948, President Harry S. Truman had
signed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act (Public Law 625-80), which
authorized women to serve as regular members of the U.S. armed forces.
During July, AFHF will celebrate the lives and careers of many notable women
who have worn the Air Force blue.
1914: Dr. Robert H. Goddard, the “father” of American rocketry, received a
US patent for a two-stage solid-fuel rocket. It was the first of 69 patents
he received for inventions. (21)
1920: The Navy flew an F-5L seaplane by radiocompass from Hampton Roads to
the USS Ohio located 94 miles away at sea. (24)
1929: Transcontinental Air Transport, Incorporated, inaugurated a 48-hour
cross county train-plane service. (24)
1942: Flying a Lockheed Vega A-29 Hudson, Lt Harry J. Kane of the 396 BMS
attacked and sank a German submarine (U-701) off Cherry Point, N. C., to
make the first sure “kill” off the Atlantic Coast of the US. (4) (21)
1955: First test mission of Project Whoosh, which evaluated escape from
high-speed aircraft at nearly Mach 2.
1944: Eighth, Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Forces hit petroleum, oil, and
lubricant (POL) targets hard throughout the Theater. Of the approximately
3,000 sorties flown during the day, around 60 planes are shot down. (USAF
Art program)
1960: Public Law 86-601 provided $311 million for airlift modernization,
including an initiative to build the C-141 Starlifter. (18)
1961: NASA successfully fired the eight-engine Saturn SA-72 for the second
time at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Hunstville, in a 119-second test.
1965: Rockwell rolled out the first OV-10A Bronco at Columbus, Ohio. (8: Jul
1990)
1971: SAC transferred its last C-47 "Gooney Bird" (Number 44-76326) from the
97 BMW at Blytheville AFB to the USS Alabama Monument Commission. (1)
1973: The McDonnell-Douglas TF-15, the two-seat trainer version of the F-15
Eagle, flew its first flight. (30) 1985: The 96 BMW accepted SAC’s first
operational B-1B (SN 83-0065) at Dyess AFB. (1)
1987: The 76th and last C-5A (number 66-8307) to receive stronger wings
rolled out of Lockheed's Marietta plant to complete a $1.5 billion project
that began in 1975. (12)
1991: The 436 MAW delivered 70 tons of food and relief supplies to
N’Djamena, Chad, to help that country overcome a drought-induced food
shortage. (16) (21)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SkipsList" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to skipslist+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/skipslist/008b01dd0e2c%24c7738710%24565a9530%24%40san.rr.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.