To All,
Good Tuesday morning September 8. HOT and HUMID today in paradise, with a high of 102 and thunderstorms expected around 1PM, low this evening of 75.
Regards
skip
HAGD
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APB: A few weeks back I was on a mass email from (I don't know who) announcing that Bill Mocock had died. He was a former VF-114 Vark, airline pilot and lived in University City. I can't find that email now. We were at HOOK and I asked several people there if they had heard anything about Bill dying and no one had. I've also looked at the SD UT obits and couldn't find anything on Bill.
Do you have any info to confirm if this is real or not?
Rest regards,
Fingers
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History Repeats. We’re at the Dangerous Part.
https://youtu.be/fT7fAUt7oGA?si=-dJUi-1XHHlh-1eD
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The True Origin of the American Revolution: What Historians Get Wrong
https://youtu.be/RS5Lk5zV95c?si=hSIH4bHRF6V87gIR
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Something About Civilization Doesn't Add Up
https://youtu.be/3k6QEuOsiFQ?si=YKCJfW87TpkR94bZ
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What If We're NOT the First Civilization? Graham Hancock & Michael Button
https://youtu.be/QJWR4YNgqZ4?si=MODtBJsdeu52-Drp
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Robert Howard, Medal of Honor, Vietnam War
https://youtu.be/aM_WR7E1M_A?si=xJ9vjktMvKX1f2yp
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9/11 was a direct, violent attack from a foreign enemy. What many Americans see today feels like a different kind of attack — slower, internal, and coming from the very institutions meant to protect the nation. On 9/11: Al‑Qaeda — a violent extremist organization responsible for mass casualties and human rights violations — carried out coordinated terrorist attacks. Thousands were killed, iconic American targets were destroyed, and the nation was traumatized. The enemy was clear, external, and openly hostile. Today (my perspective): The threat doesn’t come from hijacked planes — it comes from political decisions that weaken unity, security, and trust in our institutions. Instead of physical destruction, the damage shows up in economic strain, border insecurity, foreign policy missteps, and growing division. The impact is slower and systemic, but no less concerning. The contrast is stark: 9/11 targeted civilians and symbols of American strength. Today’s policies feel like they target America’s stability, cohesion, and long‑term resilience. 9/11 used violence and shock. Today’s threat comes through governance, messaging, and policy choices. 9/11 united the country. Today’s environment divides it. One attack was sudden. The other feels like erosion. Both matter.
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From the net...courtesy of Mike and Rich.and JC..
Hi to all -
9-06-2026 Interesting notes
The 'blind graduate'
Alberto Destarac was attending the USNA when he developed an unusual condition that left him blind. There has never before been a graduate from the Academy that was blind. But Alberto was allowed to continue and graduate. He developed a program that sent training materials to his phone, which would then translate those materials into speech so he could do his studies. Quite an amazing accomplishment. This man will be an asset to the nation for years to come.
What Caused WWI
We all remember that Archduke [Franz] Ferdinand was murdered and that this event sparked the 'war to end all wars'. Actually, that was the spark, but the conditions had been set before this time. Empires are like living things. They either grow and expand, or they shrink. Prior to the war, England dominated the global economy. Their empire spanned the globe, and their navy ensured that England remained in control of commerce. The Pound Sterling was the reserve currency for the world, giving England immense power.
But Germany had ambitions to be the world's great power. So they built a great fleet to challenge the English, and developed their economy with manufacturing to compete. But Germany needed more. They did not have enough oil, and this was the time of transition from coal as fuel to oil, as well as the sudden expansion of the internal combustion engine in all walks of life. So Germany looked for a source of oil, and with it, control of commerce, and hopefully, of banking as well. They embarked on a grand project to build a railroad 'from Berlin to Baghdad' to secure oil from the middle east. If this was completed, it would shift the balance of power towards Germany (whose rulers were cousins of the English rulers, as well as several other major European nations). The bankers feared this as it would take away their power and money control. This was the powderkeg that ignited with that fatal gunshot.
And, the rest is history.
Iran
Iran keeps trying to have tankers run the blockade so they can sell oil. The US is getting tired of just diverting these vessels, only to have them try, try again. So, this time, they did not just stop them, they destroyed three tankers. The excuse was that Iran attacked some US warships, with failed efforts to hit them with drones or missiles. Things are getting more spicy in the Strait. Iran has its back to the wall, and they will do desperate things very soon.
Hung Cao
I said this man was a Navy SEAL. That was wrong. He was not a SEAL, but was EOD - Explosive Ordnance Disposal. There is probably not a more dangerous job on the planet. If you saw the movie The Hurt Locker, you have an idea of what these guys do. Not just anyone goes about trying to disarm bombs, especially those made by amateurs.
We will have more interesting stuff a bit later.
Rich
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American pilots could not see the deck of an aircraft carrier through the 14 foot nose of their newest fighter on the landing approach.
The US Navy temporarily removed it from carrier operations in 1942 and gave the aircraft to the Marines for land use instead.
The British Royal Navy figured out how to do it.
The Americans adopted the British technique, and the Corsair went on to become one of the most successful naval fighters of the Pacific War.
This is the story of the F4U Corsair
In 1938 the United States Navy issued a request for a new carrier based fighter aircraft. They wanted the fastest naval fighter in the world.
A Vought Sikorsky design team led by an engineer named Rex Beisel responded with one of the most aggressive concepts anyone had ever proposed. They would build the fighter around the brand new Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine. 2,000 horsepower. 18 cylinders. The most powerful aircraft engine in American service.
To make the most of that power they fitted a 13 foot Hamilton Standard propeller, the largest ever installed on a US fighter. The propeller was so long that conventional landing gear could not keep its tips off the ground. Beisel solved that by bending the wings into an inverted gull shape so the gear could be shorter while still allowing the propeller to spin clear.
On May 29 1940 a Vought test pilot named Lyman Bullard climbed into the prototype at the Vought factory in Stratford, Connecticut and took off. The XF4U-1 became the first American naval aircraft to exceed 400 miles per hour in level flight.
It was the fastest, most powerful carrier fighter ever built up to that point.
There was just one problem.
The cockpit on the F4U Corsair sat almost three feet further back than on any other American fighter.
Beisel had been forced to move it backwards to make room for a 237 gallon fuel tank between the engine and the pilot. The redesign saved the aircraft's speed but it placed the pilot's eyes more than 14 feet behind the propeller.
On a normal flight that did not matter. On the approach to a moving aircraft carrier deck it was catastrophic.
When the Corsair raised its nose for landing the pilot could not see the deck at all. He could not see the landing signals officer waving him in from the port side of the ship. He could not see the wire he was supposed to catch. He could see only the long blue nose of his own aircraft.
The aircraft had other problems too. The right wing stalled before the left at slow approach speeds because of uneven airflow from the massive propeller. The main landing gear bounced violently on touchdown. The cowl flap actuators leaked oil onto the windshield. The stall was vicious and unforgiving.
In October 1942 a Navy test pilot named Lieutenant Commander Sam Porter attempted the first carrier qualification landings on the escort carrier USS Sangamon in Chesapeake Bay. He completed four landings. He refused to attempt a fifth. He was certain it would kill him.
The Navy temporarily judged the Corsair unsuitable for widespread carrier operations.
The Navy needed the speed and firepower of the Corsair regardless. They turned the aircraft over to the United States Marine Corps for land based use.
The Marines did not need to land on a moving deck. They flew the Corsair from coral airstrips on Pacific islands. VMF-124 took the first F4Us into combat on February 13 1943 at Guadalcanal.
The aircraft was magnificent in the air. It could outrun every Japanese fighter in the sky. It could outdive anything. Its six wing mounted .50 caliber machine guns shredded anything they touched. American pilots later claimed Japanese troops had nicknamed the Corsair "Whistling Death" because of the sound the air made through the wing root oil cooler intakes when the aircraft dove at over 400 miles per hour.
But the same aircraft was killing American pilots back home in horrifying numbers. Corsair training accidents became so severe that the aircraft earned a grim reputation among American pilots during 1942 and 1943. At one training base, Marine Corps Air Station Mojave in California, there were at least 144 Corsair accidents alone.
The American pilots who flew the Corsair gave it a name of their own.
They called it the Ensign Eliminator.
Meanwhile Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm squadrons had received the Corsair through Lend Lease in 1943. The British had to use the aircraft from their carriers. They had no choice. So they began experimenting.
British pilots developed a curved approach technique to the carrier deck. Instead of flying a long straight final approach toward the stern of the ship, they kept the carrier on their port wing in a continuous left turn until just seconds before touchdown.
The curve kept the long Corsair nose pointed away from the deck for as long as possible. The pilot could keep the landing signals officer in sight through his side window the entire way down. At the last moment the pilot rolled out of the turn, leveled the wings, and dropped onto the deck.
The technique worked.
The first Royal Navy Corsair carrier landings began in 1943. By 1944 British carriers were operating Corsairs as their primary fighter aircraft. The technique made its way back across the Atlantic to the United States Navy.
American engineers at Vought had also been working on the airframe. They redesigned the canopy with a frameless bubble top to improve visibility. They raised the pilot's seat by eight inches. They added a small stall spoiler strip to the right wing to fix the asymmetric stall. They redesigned the landing gear struts to reduce the bounce.
The result was the F4U-1A.
In April 1944 the United States Navy finally cleared the Corsair for fleet carrier operations.
The Corsair returned to American carrier decks in the spring of 1944. By then American pilots had been operating from carriers for over two years using the Grumman F6F Hellcat.
But the Corsair brought something the Hellcat could not. Pure speed and the most powerful ground attack capability of any American naval fighter. It could carry 2,000 pounds of bombs or eight rockets and dive with them onto Japanese positions at speeds no other carrier aircraft could match.
By the end of the war Corsair pilots had been credited with 2,140 Japanese aircraft shot down, at a claimed ratio of around 11 to 1 against everything they faced, including the legendary A6M Zero.
12,500 Corsairs were eventually built by Vought and its licensees. The aircraft continued in production after the war ended. It served through the Korean War, where a Navy pilot named Guy Bordelon became the Navy's only ace of that war, flying a propeller driven aircraft in an age of jets.
Pappy Boyington's Black Sheep Squadron flew Corsairs. So did Marion Carl. So did many of the American aces of the late Pacific war.
The aircraft that the Navy had once judged too dangerous to land on a carrier became one of the most successful American naval fighters in history.
A 14 foot nose. A 13 foot propeller. Bent wings. And a curved approach technique developed by Allied pilots and adopted by the Americans.
This was the F4U Corsair.
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/. Go here to see
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Today in Naval and Marine Corps History
September 8
1923 - In disaster at Point Honda, California, 7 destroyers run aground through faulty navigation
1939 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims limited national emergency and increases enlisted strength in the Navy and Marine Corps; also authorizes the recall to active duty of officer, men and nurses on the retired lists of the Navy and Marine Corps
1944: On a daring night attack, USS Spadefish (SS 411) attacks a Japanese convoy off Sakishima Gunto and sinks four Japanese vessels.
1954 - U.S. signs Manila Treaty forming SEATO
1958 - LT R. H. Tabor, wearing a Navy developed pressure suit, completes 72-hour simulated flight at altitudes as high as 139,000 feet. It was another step in the development of the Navy spacesuit, which NASA accepted in 1959 for use by Mercury astronauts.
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Today in World History
September 8
1504 Michelangelo's 13-foot marble statue of David is unveiled in Florence, Italy.
1529 The Ottoman Sultan Suleiman re-enters Budapest and establishes John Zapolya as the puppet king of Hungary.
1565 Spanish explorers found St. Augustine, Florida, the first permanent European settlement in what is now the United States.
1628 John Endecott arrives with colonists at Salem, Massachusetts, where he will become the governor.
1644 The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam surrenders to the British fleet that sails into its harbor. Five years later, the British change the name to New York.
1755 British forces under William Johnson defeat the French and the Indians at the Battle of Lake George.
1760 The French surrender the city of Montreal to the British.
1845 A French column surrenders at Sidi Brahim in the Algerian War.
1863 Confederate Lieutenant Dick Dowling thwarts a Union naval landing at Sabine Pass, northeast of Galveston, Texas.
1903 Between 30,000 and 50,000 Bulgarian men, women and children are massacred in Monastir by Turkish troops seeking to check a threatened Macedonian uprising.
1906 Robert Turner invents the automatic typewriter return carriage.
1915 Germany begins a new offensive in Argonne on the Western Front.
1921 Margaret Gorman of Washington, D.C., is named the first Miss America.
1925 Germany is admitted into the League of Nations.
1935 Senator Huey Long of Louisiana is shot to death in the state capitol, allegedly by Dr. Carl Austin Weiss, Jr.
1944 Germany's V-2 offensive against England begins.
1945 Korea is partitioned by the Soviet Union and the United States.
1951 Japanese representatives sign a peace treaty in San Francisco.
1955 The United States, Australia, France, Great Britain, New Zealand, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Thailand sign the mutual defense treaty that established the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
1960 Penguin Books in Britain is charged with obscenity for trying to publish the D.H. Lawrence novel Lady Chatterley's Lover.
1960 President Dwight Eisenhower dedicates NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
1971 The Kennedy Center opens in Washington, DC with a performance of Leonard Bernstein's Mass.
1974 President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard M. Nixon for any crimes arising from the Watergate scandal he may have committed while in office.
1988 Wildfires in Yellowstone National Park in the US, the world's first national park, force evacuation of the historic Old Faithful Inn; visitors and employees evacuate but the inn is saved.
1991 Macedonian Independence Day; voters overwhelmingly approve referendum to form the Republic of Macedonia, independent of Yugoslavia.
1994 USAir Flight 427 crashes on approach to Pittsburgh International Airport, killing all 132 people aboard; subsequent investigation leads to changes in manufacturing practices and pilot training.
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Rollingthunderremembered.com .
September 8
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
Thanks to Micro
From Vietnam Air Losses site for “for 8 September .
8-Sep: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=248
Date: 8 September 1964
Aircraft type: SP-2E Neptune
Serial Number: 131513
Military Unit: VP-42
Service: USN
Home Base: Iwakuni NAS, Japan
Name(s):
Lt Cdr John Clarence Thomas (KIA)
Lt Cdr Duane Darrell Rainville (Survived)
Lt(jg) Carl Lee Adams (Survived)
Lt(jg) Lawrence Eugene Laughon (Survived)
Lt(jg) James Calvin Cordle (Survived)
ADR1 Deloss William Anderson (KIA)
AO1 Donald Frank Marit (KIA)
AE1 Weslie David Newborn (KIA)
AMS1 Michael John Ulicsni (KIA)
AX2 Ralph H Hawerson (Survived)
AD3 Darrell L Dillard (Survived)
AXAN John A Newfield (Survived)
AN Ken W McCullers (Survived)
US Navy maritime patrol aircraft were tasked with surveillance of Vietnamese coastal waters and the South China Sea on the lookout for enemy boats. Although anti-submarine warfare was the primary role of the squadrons involved, they also had an anti-surface vessel capability. At first the patrol aircraft were based in Japan and the Philippines but later detachments would be based in South Vietnam and Thailand. This SP-2E Neptune flew into the South China Sea 75 miles off the coast of South Vietnam and 340 miles northeast of Saigon killing five of its crew. The other eight crewmen were rescued by the USS Maddox. VP-42 had only recently moved into its new base at Iwakuni from North Island NAS, California on 6 July.
Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady’s work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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/ )
By: Kipp Hanley
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This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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Thanks to History Facts
Shakespeare’s wife was named Anne Hathaway.
FAMOUS FIGURES
The actress Anne Hathaway is well known for starring in hit films such as Les Misérables, The Princess Diaries, and The Devil Wears Prada, but what’s less well known is that she was named after the wife of famed playwright William Shakespeare. That Anne Hathaway was born in 1556, and grew up on a large farm in the village of Shottery, England, about a mile and a half away from Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon. William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway were married in 1582, after which Anne moved with William into the Shakespeare family home in Stratford.
Anne and William had three children: Susanna, born in 1583, and twins Judith and Hamnet, born in 1585. William spent much of his time away from his family working as a playwright in London, and it’s unknown whether he was at Anne’s side after the couple suffered a tragic loss when their son Hamnet died at the age of 11. In fact, little is known about the nature of Anne and William’s marriage. One of the few details historians have is that upon the Bard’s death, he left his wife his “second-best bed” in his will. In England at that time, the best bed was typically reserved for guests, while the second-best bed was a couple’s marital bed, meaning William might have been giving Anne a sentimental gift to acknowledge the life they shared together. When Anne Shakespeare died in 1623, she was buried next to her husband in Stratford.
By the Numbers
Times the word “love” appears in Shakespeare’s plays
2,191
Lines in the Folger Shakespeare edition of Hamlet, Shakespeare’s longest play
4,167
Oscars won by the 1961 film West Side Story, an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet
10
Common English words that Shakespeare provided the first recorded use of
1700
DID YOU KNOW?
Most of Uranus’ moons are named after Shakespeare characters.
In our solar system, most planets and the moons that orbit them are named after figures from Greek and Roman mythology. But the moons of Uranus are a notable exception: They take their names from characters in English literature, the vast majority of which are from Shakespeare plays. The planet’s two largest moons, Titania and Oberon, are named after the king and queen of the fairies in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Others include Ophelia (Hamlet’s doomed lover in Hamlet), Cordelia (the king’s youngest daughter in King Lear), and Miranda (one of the principal characters in The Tempest, the daughter of the sorcerer Prospero). Three of the names — Umbriel, Ariel, and Belinda — are characters from the poetry of Alexander Pope. But since Ariel is also a character in The Tempest, either 24 or 25 of the 27 moons of Uranus are named for Shakespeare characters, depending on how you count it.
Another from History Facts
“Mitochondrial Eve” is the common ancestor of all humans.
If you were to trace all our family trees as far into the past as possible, you’d find we’re all related — albeit extremely distantly. The common female ancestor from whom all humans are descended is Mitochondrial Eve, and scientists believe she lived in Africa some 200,000 years ago. Recent research may have narrowed down that location to an oasis in the Kalahari Desert, making it the “ancestral homeland of all humans alive today,” according to the researchers. Eve is technically known as Mitochondrial-Most Recent Common Ancestor, or mt-Eve and mt-MRCA for short, and her lesser-known male counterpart is known as Y-chromosomal Adam. He’s also believed to have lived in Africa, around 150,000 to 300,000 years ago.
The idea of a common ancestor has led to the misconception that Mitochondrial Eve was the first female human, which isn’t correct. Rather, she was the most recent common ancestor to whom every living person can trace their genealogy. Every human on the planet carries the Eve gene, including 147 people and fetuses from the original 1987 study. That study wasn’t the first to hypothesize a common ancestor, but the researchers behind it did coin the term Mitochondrial Eve.
By the Numbers
People who have ever lived
~117 billion
Countries the Kalahari Desert covers (Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa)
3
Verses in the Bible’s Book of Genesis
1,533
Genes in every human
~25,000
DID YOU KNOW?
The Bible never specifies what the forbidden fruit was.
Though we tend to think that it was an apple eaten by Adam and Eve, the Bible never actually specifies what kind of fruit is on the tree of forbidden knowledge in the Garden of Eden. This has led to much speculation among believers, scholars, and others, with figs, grapes, pomegranates, and citrons all suggested as candidates. The apple emerged as the common consensus because its Latin name is malum, which is also the word for evil — a linguistic quirk that apparently seemed too poignant to ignore. Nothing in the original text suggests this is anything more than an etymological coincidence, but the association has stuck.
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Thanks to Interesting Facts
Taste buds are replaced every two weeks.
The human body is an amazing powerhouse fueled by important organs like the heart, lungs, and brain. However, some of its most vital work is done by a body part you might not expect — our taste buds, a set of microscopic organs that do more than help us savor our food. Scientists believe human taste buds also have a bigger purpose: protecting us from poisoning. These microscopic sensors tell our brains that food is safe to eat based on flavor, encouraging us to consume sweets (potential sources of calories and energy) and alerting us to spit out bitter or unpalatable substances that could make us sick.
You might like (or dislike) foods based on your genes.
IT'S A FACT
Food preferences are tied to culture and exposure, but scientists believe genetics may also play a role. Mutations in the DNA that power taste receptors can impact how taste buds perceive sweetness, bitterness, and even the flavor of coffee, cilantro, and other foods.
Taste buds are such hardworking organs that their cells die off quickly. As they work, they age and lose sensitivity, which is why the body regenerates them about every two weeks. However, taste buds aren’t all replaced at once; on any given day, about 10% of the sensors expire, while 20% to 30% are in the process of developing, leaving us with 60% of the buds active to analyze the food we consume.
Want to examine your taste buds? Contrary to popular belief, it’s not as easy as sticking out your tongue. That’s because the visible bumps aren’t sensors themselves; instead what you see are the papillae, which cover the taste buds. Each papillae can house hundreds of taste sensors, with the average adult having between 2,000 and 10,000 — a number that generally decreases with age. However, there’s one upside to losing some taste sensitivity as we get older: Foods we once avoided in childhood, like Brussels sprouts, become a bit more palatable.
Not true I still do not like them along with a host of others like lima beans and other bushes, trees, spears and little green golf balls Oh yes and Liver.....skip
Numbers Don't Lie
Percentage of Americans who are supertasters, aka people with elevated taste bud sensitivity
25%
Year umami flavor was “discovered” by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda
1908
Reduction in taste bud sensitivity to sweet and salty foods when on a flight
30%
Average age when taste buds become less sensitive, causing some taste loss
60
Catfish have taste buds on their whiskers
Taste buds aren’t just on your tongue.
It makes sense that taste buds are generally found in our mouths; after all, they help encourage us to eat and can sense potential poisons. However, researchers have found that taste buds don’t just exist on our tongues — they can be found all over the body in unexpected places. Taste buds can be found in our stomachs, and in 2007, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine discovered sweet-sensing taste buds inside the intestines. It’s believed that those sensors monitor glucose and help the body control blood sugar. Taste buds also exist in the muscled walls of our lungs, where they work to protect breathing; upon sensing a bitter substance, the taste buds tell the body’s airway to open, a breakthrough some researchers say could be used to develop more effective asthma medications.
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From the Archives
Thanks to Carl
Very interesting for football fans!
https://www.unz.com/isteve/i-saw-the-future-and-it-came-true/?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=daily
I Saw the Future and It Came True
STEVE SAILER • SEPTEMBER 8, 2023
American football is an exciting spectator sport, except for the punter who comes on when his team gives up trying to score. He stands there, drops the ball, and boots it with the top of his foot to the other team. It’s a dull part of the game, and American punters bring no flair to their moments in the spotlight.
Back in 2014, I went to the UCLA vs. Utah football game at the Rose Bowl. Utah won in large part due, to my astonishment, to Utah’s punter Tom Hackett, an Australian. He used his Australian Rules football punting wiles to befuddle the Bruins with his artful punts (a phrase that seldom had come to my mind before). I came home and raved for 1,400 words on how much better Australian punters are than American punters.
Nine years later, the Australian tidal wave has turned out largely as I guessed it would (which is usually not the case), but quite possibly more so. From the New York Timessports section:
Australian Punters Are Putting a New Spin on Football
The tricky curves and crafty bounces of their kicks, honed by Australian football and rugby, have changed the way punt returners are coached.
By Jeré Longman
Reporting from Monbulk, Australia
Sept. 7, 2023
… This season, 61 of the 133 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top tier of N.C.A.A. football, have Aussie punters on their rosters, according to Prokick Australia, a Melbourne-based academy that converts Australian rules football players and some rugby players into punters (and a smaller number of kickers) for the American game.
… Australians have made a pronounced impact with the distance and placement of their punts, which can produce tricky curves and crafty bounces and rolls. Seven times in the past 10 seasons, Australians have won the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding collegiate punter.
Both punters in last season’s national championship game between the University of Georgia and Texas Christian University were Aussies. This season, 12 of the 14 teams in the Southeastern Conference, the most formidable college football league, carry Australian punters, according to the league office. Of the 14 teams in the Big Ten Conference, eight list Australian punters on their rosters, and a ninth lists a punter from New Zealand.
… Most Aussie punters began by playing Australian rules football, the fast, brawny sport where kicking is a primary method of advancing the ball. Players learn from a young age to boot the ball accurately to teammates while on the run and under pressure that can come from any direction.
While Americans tend to grow up throwing footballs and baseballs, many Australians grow up “kicking an oval-shaped ball back and forth hundreds of times a day,” said Michael Dickson, the Sydney-born punter for the Seattle Seahawks.
The training system at Prokick Australia has become so dependable that N.C.A.A. coaches regularly offer scholarships to punters they have seen only on video and who have yet to play a single down of American football. The academy’s founder and director says that it has sent more than 200 Aussie players to American colleges since 2009, and that roughly 95 percent have received their degrees.
… Typically, though, Australians are proficient at kicks that translate to punting in American football in terms of reliability, accuracy and elusiveness, which can leave opponents struggling to handle the ball or having to drive long distances to try to score points. …
The torpedo resembles a traditional spiral that can be used to rocket a punt from deep in a team’s own territory. The banana kick, in which the ball is angled across the foot, helicopters through the air and curves away from punt returners, making it difficult to field.
The drop punt, launched with the nose of the ball downward and kicked end over end, is a short, or “pooch,” punt. It is known for its precision, bite and backspin in placing the ball inside an opponent’s 10- or 5-yard line. A college team starting a drive inside its own 10 has a 3 percent chance of scoring a touchdown; that percentage more than triples if the drive begins at the 20.
Why are there a higher percentage of Aussie punters in college football than the NFL?
N.C.A.A. rules allow the entire punting team to charge downfield upon the snap of the ball, compared with just two players in the N.F.L. College punters from Australia often roll to one side or the other, slightly delaying their kicks and allowing coverage to extend like the tendrils of a spider web. And they are adept at kicking across their bodies, whipping the ball in a direction the returner may not be expecting or be able to reach easily. …
“I think the biggest thing is that playing Australian rules football, they learn to run and keep their eyes up and only look at the ball for a split second,” said Rutgers Coach Greg Schiano. “They’re able to look at the rush and understand whether the pressure is on them or not.” Traditional punters, he said, concentrate on the ball and “have no idea what the rush is doing.”
American punters are traditionally robotic, while Australian punters are unpredictable.
It took Americans about 15 or 20 years to reclaim placekicker jobs after soccer style kicking was introduced to American football around 1963. But by then a lot of American kids were playing soccer themselves. In contrast, as far as I know, nobody in the U.S. plays Aussie Rules football, so it could be a long time until Americans learn to punt as artfully as Australians.
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From "the Turtle" to 9/11
by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
09/07/2010
This Week in American Military History:
Sept. 7, 1776: Just before dawn, an odd-looking barrel-shaped craft silently makes its way down the Hudson River from Manhattan toward a British warship, HMS Eagle, anchored in New York Harbor.
The craft, designed by Yale graduate David Bushnell and christened “Turtle,” is piloted by a Continental Army sergeant who is hand-cranking two screws for propulsion. As the Turtle nears its target, the pilot opens a valve allowing enough water into a small ballast tank, increasing the weight of the craft and causing it to slip beneath the surface. Maneuvering underwater, the pilot positions his craft below the Eagle then attempts to bore a hole through the enemy hull.
If everything goes according to plan, a timed explosive-device is to be placed into the hole. The device will then detonate after the Turtle makes its escape.
The operation, however, will not be successful, as the pilot will be unable to drill through a layer of copper sheathing on the enemy hull. But the bold attempt will go down in history as one of America’s great Naval milestones.
Bushnell’s Turtle is not the first functional submarine in history (Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel’s “underwater boat” successfully navigated a portion of England’s Thames River in 1623). But the Turtle is the first–ever submarine to be used as an attack platform in combat.
Sept. 8, 1781: Continental Army forces under the command of Maj. Gen.
Nathaniel Greene clash with British forces under Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart in the Battle of Eutaw Springs (S.C.).
Which of the two armies will actually gain the tactical advantage will be debated into the 21st century. But it will in fact prove to be a strategic victory for the Continentals as the British – bloodied, though not quite as severely as the Continentals – will be forced to abandon much of their previously gained ground in the South.
Sept. 9, 1776: The United Colonies are renamed the United States.
Sept. 9, 1943: American and British forces begin hitting the beaches at Salerno, Italy in Operation Avalanche.
One U.S. sailor describing the landings will say: “German planes would come out of the sun and strafe the beaches … The German pilots [were] almost at eye level as they went up the beaches. If you were caught in the open, all you could do was to fall on your face and pray. There was no cover.”
Sept. 11, 1777: British forces under the command of Gen. William Howe decisively defeat Continental forces under Gen. George Washington during the Battle of the Brandywine. Though a British victory, Howe is stunned by the tenacity and resistance of his American foe.
Sept. 11, 1814: American forces under the command of U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Alexander Macomb and U.S. Navy Capt. Thomas MacDonough decisively defeat British forces “on land and lake” in the Battle of Plattsburgh (also known as the Battle of Lake Champlain) during the War of 1812.
Sept. 11, 2001: Islamist terrorists inspired and led by Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hijack and crash two commercial airliners into the World Trade Center. A third slams into the Pentagon. A fourth crashes into the Pennsylvania countryside during a brave attempt by American passengers to retake the aircraft.
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From the archives. Remembering a good friend, a great car and a superb athlete
All, I have a personal thing with this story. I was staying with Scotty Bates at his apartment at PG School where he was getting his degree. I was there for a few weeks going to Safety School. I had the couch and supplied Steaks for dinner using the money from my perdium. One night we were watching TV eating our steaks and watched “Brian’s Song“
It was a real tear jerker and we would not look at each other because we were tough navy pilots and did not cry. So we ate our steaks and after it was done we each had a sheepish grin and agreed that was quite a show. We did become good friends and I once had his Porsche 911 in my garage while he went on cruise. He knew about my 356sc that had been stored when I went out to the Midway for a couple traps in March of 72 and came back 11 months later and when I got the car back it was dented and dirty. And yes I kept his exercised. skip
(Mike Ditka played with Sayers and said “he was magic”! https://www.pressreader.com/usa/chicago-sun-times/20200924/282278142768816 ) https://www.drmirkin.com/histories-and-mysteries/gale-sayers-dementia-from-head-trauma.html
Gale Sayers, Dementia from Head Trauma
August 27, 2022
Gale Sayers is considered by many as possibly the greatest halfback ever. He was one of the fastest side-stepping players in the National Football League and had run 100 yards in a very fast 9.7 seconds. He could run at full speed, stop on a dime to avoid a tackler, and in the next step be at full speed in another direction to avoid the next potential tackle.
In 2013, at age 70 and still in excellent physical shape, Sayers was diagnosed with dementia, probably caused by the terrible impact, twisting and shaking of his head every time he was tackled. Eventually he couldn’t even sign his name, and on September 23, 2020, he died of the ravages of dementia.
The New Padded Helmets
Sayers played too early to benefit from the new padded helmets that have been introduced in an effort to reduce the toll of head injuries in football players. These helmets are now used in hundreds of colleges and high schools, and this year NFL teams are using them during practice sessions. So far there is no evidence that any helmet prevents Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), the long-term brain damage from repeated head trauma that causes dementia and premature death in later life. The padded helmets may possibly help to prevent concussions, but there is no data to show that they prevent CTE. Between the 2015-2020 National Football League seasons, there were a total of 976 concussions in NFL players, or 162 per year. With the addition of the new helmets, there were “only” 172 concussions. The new helmets have extra padding that helps absorb energy, which may reduce the force of the hit on the head, but they are not likely to help prevent CTE because they do not prevent the tremendous rotational forces on the brain that damage the brain by twisting the deep tissue in the brain (J Clin Med, Aug 27, 2019;8(9):1318).
'Guardian caps' used at training camp to protect players - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9EfLTRPzr0 (1:34) Sayers Was The Best He was All-American at the University of Kansas but was able to play only five seasons in the National Football League (1965-1970) because of serious knee injuries. During that time, he:
• scored 39 touchdowns in only 68 pro games • averaged 5.0 yards per carry • was Pro Bowl four times • was First-team All-Pro five times • was the youngest player ever to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, at age 34 In 1971, he was immortalized in Brian’s Song, the wildly popular television movie about his friendship with teammate Brian Piccolo.
Outstanding in High School and College
Sayers was born in 1943 in Wichita, Kansas, into an athletically gifted family — his older brother was a college track and field star, and his younger brother played running back for the San Diego Chargers. At Omaha Central High School, Gale was the best running back in the state, and he set the state record for the long jump at 24 ft, 10 1∕2 in 1961. Out of more than 75 colleges that interviewed him for athletic scholarships, he chose to go to the University of Kansas, where he set the Big Eight Conference record of 4,020 all-purpose yards, was three time first-team All-Big Eight, and was College Football All-American in 1963 and 1964.
Every Gale Sayers Touchdown (Kickoffs & Punts) | Gale Sayers Highlights - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccUtcb29RZg (4:05) Life in the National Football League In 1965, Sayers was drafted by the Chicago Bears and in his first season, he scored a NFL-record 22 touchdowns, gained a NFL rookie record 2,272 yards and a league-leading 31.4 yards per kickoff return. Be sure to watch the videos; you will not believe how this guy could run. He continued to star for the next two seasons, but in the 1968 season, he broke the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments and the meniscus in his right knee. The next year, 1969, he recovered enough to lead the league in rushing with 1,032 yards and averaged 4.4 yards per carry.
In the 1970 season, he injured his left knee, which required surgery, and he did not play the rest of the season. He saw the handwriting on the wall and took classes to become a stock broker, and was the second-highest salesperson in the program at Paine Webber. He attempted to come back as a football player for the 1971 season, but was injured and required a third knee operation. He tried again in 1971, but fumbled twice in three carries and retired from professional football.
The Hero of “Brian’s Song“
Sayers was the hero of Brian’s Song, the award-winning television movie about how he and Brian Piccolo became close friends when they were the first Black and white players in the National Football League to room together, and how he helped Piccolo during the last year before his death from testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs. The movie was based on Sayers’ 1971 autobiography, I Am Third, and starred Billy Dee Williams as Sayers and James Caan as Piccolo.
Brian's Song 1971 Trailer | James Caan | Billy Dee Williams - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v43lCrn1NQ (2:37) Career After Football After his playing career ended, he worked in the athletic department at the University of Kansas, for three and half years, was a television commentator, was the athletic director at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, worked as a stockbroker, and founded a computer supply company in the Chicago area. At age 66, he became Director of Fundraising for Special Projects at the University of Kansas.
Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)
In 2013, Sayers was diagnosed with dementia at the Mayo Clinic, most likely caused by repeated head trauma. Playing just one season of football can damage your brain, even if you have never been reported to have had a concussion (Science Advances, August 7, 2019). Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is characterized by loss of short-term memory, inability to concentrate, situational confusion, depression, and changes in behavior, personality, speech, and walking, and eventually dementia.
I wrote about CTE when Nick Buoniconti of the Miami Dolphins died, and in 2017, when John Urschel of the Baltimore Ravens retired from football. Two days before Urschel announced his retirement, an article in the Journal of the American Medical Associationreported that 110 out of 111 autopsied brains of dead NFL players showed signs of CTE (JAMA, 2017;318(4):360-370). The study also showed that 177 of 202 deceased former football players, who died at the median age of 66 years, had brains that had signs of CTE. The more years of playing football, the greater the signs of brain damage. Gale Sayers was reported to have sued the NFL in 2013, for the health consequences of his head injuries (ESPN News Service, September 20, 2013).
Gayle Sayers 6 TD’s - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hudnhfOg0Jg (3:35)
Treatable Causes of Dementia
More than six million North Americans suffer from dementia, which affects three percent of people age 65-74, 17 percent of those age 75-84, and 32 percent of those age 85 and older. Anything that damages brain cells can cause dementia and many of the causes are treatable, so everyone who notices increasing forgetfulness, confusion or uncontrollable anger should get a medical evaluation for the cause as soon as possible. Known risk factors for dementia include:
• Aging
• Family history of dementia
• History of head injuries
• Diabetes. A high rise in blood sugar after meals causes sugar to stick to and damage cells everywhere in your body including your brain, so risk for dementia is increased by all of the risk factors for diabetes such as excess fat in the liver and high insulin levels (Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, Mar 1, 1986;6:123–130). Women who store fat primarily in their liver are at significant risk for dementia (Int J of Epidemiology, June 23, 2020).
• Heavy alcohol use (Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat, Jan 9, 2020;16:87–99)
• Smoking (Annals of Clin and Transl Neurol, Sept 5, 2018) • Everything associated with damaged arteries, such as heart attacks, strokes, and clots and their risk factors: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and so forth (AMA Neurol, Oct 1, 2017;74(10):1246-1254).
• Inflammation (Annals of Neurology, July 23, 2002). An immune system that stays active all the time eventually can attack and destroy the brain. Infections, lack of exercise and a pro-inflammatory diet increase inflammation.
• Vitamin deficiencies. Lack of B12, folic acid, pyridoxine or vitamin D can damage nerves and brain cells (BMJ Case Reports CP, May 14, 2019;12:e229044).
• Thyroid disease (Neurobiol Aging, Apr 2009;30(4):600–606) • Certain drugs taken long-term are associated with increased risk for dementia. These include drugs to treat thought disorders, Parkinson’s disease, depression, chronic obstructive lung disease, overactive bladder, allergies, gastrointestinal disorders, seizures and antidepressants (JAMA Intern Med, 2019;179(8):1084-1093).
For more information and detailed recommendations for a medical workup for memory loss, see Some Cases of Dementia Have Effective Treatments A Healthful Lifestyle Helps to Prevent Dementia Once you suffer from dementia, no drug available today can cure dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, but specific healthful lifestyle changes can reduce dementia risk (JAMA, published online July 14, 2019) and even if you have high genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease, a healthful lifestyle can reduce your chances of developing dementia (Neurology, published online July 10, 2019). These healthful lifestyle habits include:
• avoiding smoking and smoke
• avoiding excess weight (body mass index <25) • eating a high-plant diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, and fish twice a week • exercising regularly Gale Sayers May 30, 1943 – September 23, 2020
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This Day in U S Military History…….8 September
1740 – Eight hundred volunteers drawn from the militia of several colonies board transports to sail as part of the joint British/American colonial expedition to capture the Spanish colony of Cartagena (today the nation of Columbia). In all, troops from eleven colonies take part in this endeavor, which ends in failure, due more to disease than enemy actions. Perhaps the most memorable aspect was Captain Lawrence Washington’s service with the expedition’s commander, Admiral Edward Vernon. When Washington returned home he renamed his house overlooking the Potomac River in northern Virginia as “Mount Vernon” in honor of his former commander. Lawrence died in 1752 and his younger brother, George, inherited the home which retains its name to this day. George also replaced him as one of four ‘adjutants’ of the Virginia militia, responsible to the governor to report on the status of militia preparedness in his district. George so impressed the governor with his devotion to duty that he was selected in 1754 to tell the French to leave the area of what today is Pittsburgh, PA. He started a war, lost a battle, and gained national recognition. The rest is history.
1883 – The Northern Pacific Railway (reporting mark NP) was completed in a ceremony at Gold Creek, Montana. Former president Ulysses S. Grant drove in the final “golden spike” in an event attended by rail and political luminaries.
1923 – The Honda Point Disaster was the largest peacetime loss of U.S. Navy ships. In the evening, as a result of navigation error, an earthquake in japan creating unexpected tidal effects, and poor weather, seven of fourteen Clemson class destroyers of DESRON 11, all less than 5 years old, while traveling at 20 knots (37 km/h), ran aground at Honda Point, a few miles from the northern side of the Santa Barbara Channel off Point Arguello on the coast in Santa Barbara County, California. Two other ships grounded, but were able to maneuver free of the rocks. Twenty-three sailors died in the disaster.
1939 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaims limited national emergency and increases enlisted strength in the Navy and Marine Corps; also authorizes the recall to active duty of officer, men and nurses on the retired lists of the Navy and Marine Corps.
1942 – On Guadalcanal, the 1st Raider Battalion and the 1st Parachute Battalion, supported by planes of MAG-23 and two destroyer transports, landed east of Tasimboko, advanced west into the rear of Japanese positions, and carried out a successful raid on a Japanese supply base.
1952 – Major Frederick C. Blesse, 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, earned his sixth and seventh aerial kills after downing a pair of MiG-15 jet fighters.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
HILL, FRANK E.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company E, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Date Creek, Ariz., 8 September 1872. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Mayfield, Wis. Date of issue: 12 August 1875. Citation: Secured the person of a hostile Apache Chief, although while holding the chief he was severely wounded in the back by another Indian .
HOLTZ, AUGUST
Rank and organization: Chief Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 12 February 1871, St. Louis, Mo. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. G.O. No.: 83, 4 October 1910. Citation: On board the U.S.S. North Dakota, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board that vessel, 8 September 1910.
LIPSCOMB, HARRY
Rank and organization: Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 2 April 1878, Washington, D.C. Accredited to: Washington, D.C. G.O. No.: 83, 4 October 1910. Citation: On board the U.S.S. North Dakota, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board that vessel, 8 September 1910.
REID, PATRICK
Rank and organization: Chief Watertender, U.S. Navy. Born: 17 June 1875, Dublin, Ireland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 83, 4 October 1910. Citation: For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board the U.S.S. North Dakota where Reid was serving, 8 September 1910.
ROBERTS, CHARLES CHURCH
Rank and organization: Machinist’s Mate First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 6 March 1882, Newton, Mass. Accredited to: Illinois. G.O. No.: 83, 4 October 1910. Citation: Serving on board the U.S.S. North Dakota; for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board that vessel, 8 September 1910.
STANTON, THOMAS
Rank and organization: Chief Machinist’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 11 August 1869, Ireland. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 83, 4 October 1910. Citation: For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board the U.S.S. North Dakota, 8 September 1910.
WESTA, KARL
Rank and organization: Chief Machinist’s Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 8 April 1875, Norway. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 83, 4 October 1910. Citation: On board the U.S.S. North Dakota, for extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the fire on board that vessel, 8 September 1910.
*PRUSSMAN, ERNEST W.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, 13th Infantry, 8th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Les Coates, Brittany, France, 8 September 1944. Entered service at: Brighton, Mass. Birth: Baltimore, Md. G.O. No.: 31, 17 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty on 8 September 1944, near Les Coates, Brittany, France. When the advance of the flank companies of 2 battalions was halted by intense enemy mortar, machinegun, and sniper fire from a fortified position on his left, Pfc. Prussman maneuvered his squad to assault the enemy fortifications. Hurdling a hedgerow, he came upon 2 enemy riflemen whom he disarmed. After leading his squad across an open field to the next hedgerow, he advanced to a machinegun position, destroyed the gun, captured its crew and 2 riflemen. Again advancing ahead of his squad in the assault, he was mortally wounded by an enemy rifleman, but as he fell to the ground he threw a handgrenade, killing his opponent. His superb leadership and heroic action at the cost of his life so demoralized the enemy that resistance at this point collapsed, permitting the 2 battalions to continue their advance.
*MEYER, DAKOTA
Rank: Sergeant, Organization: U.S. Marine Corps, Company: Embedded Training Team 2-8, Division: Regional Corps Advisory Command 3-7, Born: 26 June 1988, Columbia, KY, Departed: No, Entered Service At: Louisville, KY, G.O. Number: , Date of Issue: 09/15/2011, Accredited To: Kentucky, Place / Date: 8 September 2009, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Citation: Corporal Meyer maintained security at a patrol rally point while other members of his team moved on foot with two platoons of Afghan National Army and Border Police into the village of Ganjgal for a pre-dawn meeting with village elders. Moving into the village, the patrol was ambushed by more than 50 enemy fighters firing rocket propelled grenades, mortars, and machine guns from houses and fortified positions on the slopes above. Hearing over the radio that four U.S. team members were cut off, Corporal Meyer seized the initiative. With a fellow Marine driving, Corporal Meyer took the exposed gunner’s position in a gun-truck as they drove down the steeply terraced terrain in a daring attempt to disrupt the enemy attack and locate the trapped U.S. team. Disregarding intense enemy fire now concentrated on their lone vehicle, Corporal Meyer killed a number of enemy fighters with the mounted machine guns and his rifle, some at near point blank range, as he and his driver made three solo trips into the ambush area. During the first two trips, he and his driver evacuated two dozen Afghan soldiers, many of whom were wounded. When one machine gun became inoperable, he directed a return to the rally point to switch to another gun-truck for a third trip into the ambush area where his accurate fire directly supported the remaining U.S. personnel and Afghan soldiers fighting their way out of the ambush. Despite a shrapnel wound to his arm, Corporal Meyer made two more trips into the ambush area in a third gun-truck accompanied by four other Afghan vehicles to recover more wounded Afghan soldiers and search for the missing U.S. team members. Still under heavy enemy fire, he dismounted the vehicle on the fifth trip and moved on foot to locate and recover the bodies of his team members. Corporal Meyer’s daring initiative and bold fighting spirit throughout the 6-hour battle significantly disrupted the enemy’s attack and inspired the members of the combined force to fight on. His unwavering courage and steadfast devotion to his U.S. and Afghan comrades in the face of almost certain death reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service.
*SWENSON, WILLIAM D.
Rank and Organization: Captain. U.S. Army. 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team. 10th Mountain. Place and Date: Sep. 8, 2009, Ganjgal, Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Born: November 2, 1978. Entered Service At: Ft. Benning, Georgia. G.O. Number: . Date of Issue: 10/15/2013. Accredited To: . Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty: Captain William D. Swenson distinguished himself by acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while serving as embedded advisor to the Afghan National Border Police, Task Force Phoenix, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan in support of 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, during combat operations against an armed enemy in Kunar Province, Afghanistan on September 8, 2009. On that morning, more than 60 well-armed, well-positioned enemy fighters ambushed Captain Swenson’s combat team as it moved on foot into the village of Ganjgal for a meeting with village elders. As the enemy unleashed a barrage of rocket-propelled grenade, mortar and machine gun fire, Captain Swenson immediately returned fire and coordinated and directed the response of his Afghan Border Police, while simultaneously calling in suppressive artillery fire and aviation support. After the enemy effectively flanked Coalition Forces, Captain Swenson repeatedly called for smoke to cover the withdrawal of the forward elements. Surrounded on three sides by enemy forces inflicting effective and accurate fire, Captain Swenson coordinated air assets, indirect fire support and medical evacuation helicopter support to allow for the evacuation of the wounded. Captain Swenson ignored enemy radio transmissions demanding surrender and maneuvered uncovered to render medical aid to a wounded fellow soldier. Captain Swenson stopped administering aid long enough to throw a grenade at approaching enemy forces, before assisting with moving the soldier for air evacuation. With complete disregard for his own safety, Captain Swenson unhesitatingly led a team in an unarmored vehicle into the kill zone, exposing himself to enemy fire on at least two occasions, to recover the wounded and search for four missing comrades. After using aviation support to mark locations of fallen and wounded comrades, it became clear that ground recovery of the fallen was required due to heavy enemy fire on helicopter landing zones. Captain Swenson’s team returned to the kill zone another time in a Humvee. Captain Swenson voluntarily exited the vehicle, exposing himself to enemy fire, to locate and recover three fallen Marines and one fallen Navy corpsman. His exceptional leadership and stout resistance against the enemy during six hours of continuous fighting rallied his teammates and effectively disrupted the enemy’s assault. Captain William D. Swenson’s extraordinary heroism and selflessness above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, Task Force Phoenix, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division and the United States Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for September 8, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
8 September
1920: A plane and train transcontinental mail route from New York to Chicago to San Francisco completed. (24)
1944: The allies issued the “Joint British-American Directives on Day Bombing Operations Involving Fighter Cooperation.” This plan formed the blueprint for the 24-hour bombing of Germany. (4) Republic Aviation assembled the first prototype JB-2, a copy of the German V-1 rocket. (6)
1955: President Eisenhower gave the ICBM development program the highest national priority. (6)
1958: Lt R.H. Tabor (USN) finished a 72-hour flight in a pressure chamber at simulated altitudes up to 139,000 feet. (24) 1967: Surveyor V sent to the moon, where it took photographs and made a chemical analysis of the surface.
1970: The DoD changed its March 1961 space policy by regarding service functions to assign systems for development and acquisition. A Director of Defense, Research and Engineering had to provide broad space programs that met the needs of other services.
1971: The USAF’s 17 SOS at Tan Son Nhut AB flew its final AG-119G “Shadow” gunship mission and then turned the aircraft over to the Vietnamese Air Force. Nicknamed Shadow for its close air support and interdiction of enemy supply lines on night missions, the AC-119 aircraft were the first assigned to the Vietnamese. PACAF retained the jet augmented AC-119Ks. (16) (17)
1981: The C-X aircraft renamed as the C-17. (12)
1990: The Air Force promoted Marcelite Jordan Harris to Brigadier General, making her the first black woman to hold the grade of general in the Air Force. (21)
1994: OPERATION UPHOLD DEMOCRACY/ MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. To support UPHOLD DEMOCRACY, AMC airlifters and tankers began moving US forces to predeployment locations to await the President’s order to invade Haiti. Airlifters carried an invasion force toward Haiti on 18 September, when former President James E. Carter and his delegation convinced the Haitian dictator to step aside and thus avert the attack. AMC aircraft then delivered US troops and equipment to Port-au-Prince IAP and Cap Haitian, where they joined a multinational peacekeeping effort under Operation MAINTAIN DEMOCRACY. From 8 September through 31 December 1994, AMC completed 1,528 airlift missions and 92 tanker missions to support the operations. (18)
1999: The AeroVironment Helios prototype UAV made its first flight at Edwards AFB. The flying wing, developed as part of NASA’s ERAST program, had a 247-foot wing span to reach 100,000 feet in altitude and fly missions lasting four days or more. An accidental deployment of the emergency parachute cut the first flight short. (3)
2001: SECAF James G. Roche, Lt Gen Lance W. Lord, the Assistant VCSAF, and former first lady Nancy Reagan flew aboard the “Spirit of ‘76” on its final flight from Andrews AFB to San Bernardino IAP, Calif. It would be retired and displayed at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. (AFNEWS Article 1257, 11 Sep 2001)
2004: From AFFTC at Edwards, an NKC-135 Stratotanker, the Flying Infrared Signature Technology Aircraft (FISTA), flew NASA scientists to 39,000 feet to study the Genesis spacecraft’s reentry after its three-year mission to collect solar wind particles at the Lagrange I Point between the Earth and the sun. Unfortunately the Genesis parachute system failed at high altitude, and it was destroyed upon ground contact. (3) AFFTC retired its NKC-135E refueling tanker (s/n 55-3135) after 49 years of USAF service. Originally, the unusual aircraft had most of its windows on one side to monitor nuclear testing activities. It was then remodified for the FISTA program before resuming its career as a tanker. It was the second oldest operational plane in the USAF, with the Dryden Flight Research Center’s venerable B-52B 52-0008 being the oldest. (3)
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Thanks to Michael and RS...
Grouch Marx Quotes
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."
"Anyone who says he can see through women is missing a lot."
"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception."
"We in the industry know that behind every successful screenwriter stands a woman. And behind her stands his wife."
"It isn't necessary to have relatives in Kansas City in order to be unhappy"
"She got her good looks from her father. He's a plastic surgeon."
"Military justice is to justice what military music is to music"
"Remember men you are fighting for the ladies honour, which is probably more than she ever did."
In a restaurant to a waitress: "Do you have frogs legs or do you always walk like that..."
"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that fool you. He really is an idiot"
"Money frees you from doing things you dislike. Since I dislike doing nearly everything, money is handy"
"I don't have a photograph, but you can have my footprints. They're upstairs in my socks"
"You've got the brain of a four-year-old boy, and I'll bet he was glad to get rid of it"
"My mother loved children -- she would have given anything if I had been one"
"Ice Water? Get some Onions - that'll make your eyes water!"
"I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members"
"Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana"
"While hunting in Africa, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How an elephant got into my pajamas I'll never know"
"I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury"
"The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made."
"I must say that I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book"
"Room service? Send up a larger room"
"Either he's dead or my watch has stopped"
"From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down, I was convulsed with laughter. Some day I intend reading it"
"As soon as I get through with you, you'll have a clear case for divorce and so will my wife"
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read"
"Marriage is the chief cause of divorce."
"In America you can go on the air and kid the politicians, and the politicians can go on the air and kid the people"
"If I held you any closer I would be on the other side of you"
Man: "I would like to say goodby to your wife". Groucho: "Me too"
"Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted"
"Age is not a particularly interesting subject. Anyone can get old. All you have to do is live long enough"
"The husband who wants a happy marriage should learn to keep his mouth shut and his checkbook open"
"A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five"
Marilyn Monroe: "What can I do for you?". Groucho: "What a silly question!!!"
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