To All,
Good Saturday Morning October 24, 2026. Sunny and 63 here this morning on this side of paradise with clear skies and a high expected today of 76 and a low tonight of 54… just beautiful.
Regards,
Skip
Make it a good Day
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Reminder: Midterm Elections is right around the corner: https://veteransvote.us/
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Next Bubba Breakfast is scheduled for Friday November 6, 2026. Doors open at 630AM and breakfast is served at 7AM, at the Rockers Senior NCO Club attached to the Fairway Cafe (next to the base golf course).
Add it to your calendar!
Address and Google Map: 3750 Anderson Ave, San Diego, CA 92145
Please don’t be a stranger!
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CC Distribution List: I do my best to keep everyone’s email address private and BCC when sending the list. However, I’ve been getting feedback on the list and a lot of really interesting notes on historical events and notes being shared by friends near and far alike. If you would like to be put on a CC distro list so that you can see each other’s responses and share in the conversation, let me know.
If we missed adding you, hit me again.
Skip
IF YOU NEED YOUR EMAIL UPDATED OR IF YOU ALREADY SENT IT AND IT GOT LOST IN THE WASH, SEND IT AGAIN!
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Taffy III Oral History
https://youtu.be/IP0KWiCxxy4?si=V--SJq9KfzVeU_tF
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Russia Just Had Its Worst Day of the Entire War
https://youtu.be/mU3YAgalMPs?si=g2b4LJiu5jIkhnPT
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Dogfights: U.S. Beats Back the Japanese Navy (S1, E8) | Full Episode | History
https://youtu.be/_zrorXYgh-A?si=vwSoFQm2A52ygwHQ
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No American Unit Had Beaten the Japanese Army Until That Night
https://youtu.be/X3ZdVv5dZH0?si=TE5uaYk6TbzcwUpQ
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The Real Reason Japan Lost Guadalcanal — It Kept Making the Same Mistake
https://youtu.be/GV0xeN4yk1Y?si=waftQQQDwUAo_FTj
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/. Go here to see the director’s corner for all 101 H-Grams
October 24
1862 A landing party from stern wheel casemate gunboat Baron de Kalb, commanded by Capt. J.A. Winslow, lands at Hopefield, Ark., and engages a small Confederate scouting party. On mounted horses, the sailors then engage in a nine mile running fight, ending with the capture of the Confederate party.
1944 The Battle of Leyte Gulf continues, with Task Force 38 aircraft attacking the Japanese in the Sibuyan and Sulu Seas. U.S. Navy carrier planes sink the Japanese battleship Musashi and damage numerous other enemy ships, among them battleships Yamato, Nagato, Fuso and Yamashiro. Japanese air attacks hit the small USS Princeton (CVL 23), which eventually has to be scuttled. The desperate kamikaze tactic makes its appearance, causing damage and casualties on U.S. ships off the Leyte invasion beaches.
1944 USS Shark (SS 314) is lost in the vicinity of Luzon Strait while participating in a coordinated attack by Task Group 17.15 with USS Seadragon (SS 194) and USS Blackfish (SS 221). Also, USS Richard M. Rowell (DD 403) sinks Japanese submarine I-54, 70 miles east of Surigao, and USS Tang (SS 306) is lost when she runs into her own torpedoes.
1958 USS Kleinsmith (APD 134) rescues 56 U.S. citizens and three foreign nationals at Nicaro, Cuba, where they are endangered by military operations between the Cuban Army and the Castro rebels.
2009 USS Makin Island (LHD 8) is commissioned at Naval Air Station North Island, Calif.
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This Day in World History
October 24
0439 Carthage, the leading Roman city in North Africa, falls to Genseric and the Vandals.
1531 Bavaria, despite being a Catholic region, joins the League of Schmalkalden, a Protestant group which opposes Charles V.
1648 The signing of the Treaty of Westphalia ends the German Thirty Years' War.
1755 A British expedition against the French held Fort Niagara in Canada ends in failure.
1836 The match was patented.
1861 Western Union completes the first transcontinental telegraph line, putting the Pony Express out of business.
1863 General Ulysses S. Grant arrives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to find the Union Army there starving.
1897 The first comic strip appears in the Sunday color supplement of the New York Journal called the 'Yellow Kid.'
1901 Anna Edson Taylor, 43, is the first woman to go safely over Niagara Falls in a barrel. She made the attempt for the cash award offered, which she put toward the loan on her Texas ranch.
1916 Henry Ford awards equal pay to women.
1917 The Austro-German army routs the Italian army at Caporetto, Italy.
1929 Black Thursday--the first day of the stock market crash which began the Great Depression.
1930 John Wayne debuts in his first starring role in The Big Trail .
1931 Al (Alphonse) Capone, the prohibition-era Chicago gangster, is sent to prison for tax evasion.
1934 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, called Mahatma or "Great Soul," resigns from Congress in India.
1938 The Fair Labor Standards Act becomes law, establishing the 40-hour work week.
1944 The aircraft carrier USS Princeton is sunk by a single Japanese plane during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
1945 Vidkun Quisling, Norway's wartime minister president, is executed by firing squad for collaboration with the Nazis.
1945 The United Nations comes into existence with the ratification of its charter by the first 29 nations.
1952 Presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that if elected, he will go to Korea.
1970 Leftist Salvador Allende elected president of Chile.
1973 Yom Kippur War ends.
1980 Poland's government legalizes the Solidarity trade union.
1992 Toronto Blue Jays win the World Series, defeating the Atlanta Braves in the 11th inning of the 6th game, to become the first Major League Baseball team from outside the US to win the series.
2003 The supersonic Concorde jet made its last commercial passenger flight from New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport to London's Heathrow Airport, traveling at twice the speed of sound.
2008 Many stock exchanges worldwide suffer the steepest declines in their histories; the day becomes known as "Bloody Friday."
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Rolling Thunder Remembered
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.
Thanks to Dan Heller and the Bear
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Thanks to Micro
Vietnam Air Losses for October 24
Date: 24 October 1969
Aircraft type: F-100F Super Sabre
Serial Number: 56-3887
Military Unit: 309 TFS, 31 TFW
Service: USAF
Home Base: Tuy Hoa
Name(s):
1Lt Alvin Donald ("Don") Muller (Survived)
Capt Jack K Clapper (Survived)
Aircraft type: HH-3E Jolly Green Giant
Serial Number: 66-13281
Military Unit: 37 ARRS, 3 ARRG
Service: USAF
Home Base: Da Nang
Name(s):
Capt Charles D Langham (Survived)
Maj Charles W Bond (Survived)
SSgt James E Smith (Survived)
TSgt Donald G Smith (Survived)
A Misty FAC was flying over the complex road and trail network in southern Laos on the search for possible targets when it ran into ground fire. As the aircraft (call sign Misty 11) approached the village of Ban Bouang Nam, 20 miles southeast of Ban Talan, it was hit by enemy fire at 1,500 feet and the crew ejected immediately. The pair evaded capture and were found by a HH-3E (Jolly Green 28) flown by Capt Charles Langham and Maj Charles Bond from the 37th ARRS. 1Lt Muller had a broken leg so the PJ, TSgt Donald Smith, was lowered to the ground to prepare him for the stretcher hoist. As they were being lifted into the helicopter enemy troops began firing and the hoist was damaged. Smith and Muller had to be cut free, and they both fell back into the jungle as Jolly Green 28 escaped to make an emergency landing in a clearing about a mile away. The helicopter crew was quickly rescued by another HH-3E (66-13290) flown by Lt Richard V Butchka, USCG, but Jolly Green 28 had to be destroyed by strike aircraft to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. For the next few hours, TSgt Smith protected 1Lt Muller, directed air strikes on enemy positions, and defended against enemy attack. An HH-53 from the 40th ARRS was damaged trying to rescue the two men still on the ground and had to make an emergency landing in Saravane, Laos. An HH-3E from the 37th ARRS then rescued TSgt Smith and 1Lt Muller, and an HH-3E from the 40th ARRS rescued Capt Clapper under intense ground fire. TSgt Donald Smith later received the Air Force Cross for his actions on the ground.
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and get what happened each day to the crew of the aircraft.
From Vietnam Air Losses site for October 24
24-Oct: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=2367
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/
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Servicemembers Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in “search" feature.
https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/
Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
By: Kipp Hanley
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From the net...courtesy of Mike and Rich..and JC.
Hi to all -
10-24-2026 Things to smile about
Fraud Task Force
The administration has established a new 'fraud task force' with bounties for anyone who discovers fraud that is prosecuted. Kind of the new 'If you see something, say something' approach. This puts a lot more eyes on the problems out there.
The first recipient of a prize was Nick Shirley. He was invited to the White House to receive his $10,000 reward for uncovering the Michigan day care center fraud scheme. He came with a gift of his own. He presented a hoodie to Trump emblazoned with 'Learing Center' on the front.
Rapper
A rapper with a difficult to pronounce stage name was arrested for EBT card fraud. This guy managed to collect millions for his own benefit by buying food stamp cards at pennies on the dollar and then selling them at a profit. He was dumb enough to post a video of himself standing in front of his large home, his Rolls Royce and other loot. Guess he will have lots of time to compose new songs while sitting in his cell. Probably not songs celebrating his wealth, but perhaps his current situation.
Senator Louise Lucas (D- VA)
She was arrested on charges relating to guns and drugs. She is very angry, and mouthing off loudly in the media. This is typically not a good way to present your case in such circumstances.
Ilhan Omar
It seems just weeks ago she was boasting of her $30 million fortune, and loudly proclaiming her devotion to Somalia and all things from her old life. Now she is on Tik Tok begging for donations, after her home was raided by the FBI, her phones and passport seized and new evidence of immigration fraud is flowing. Who will donate to her cause? This sort of performance usually happens just before the door closes - the one with bars on it - in her face.
Trump
He is stumping the country in support of GOP candidates just before the election. A couple of major races are getting a lot of attention - especially El-Sayed and Talarico. They are presented as close races. Not sure if that is real. A major 'polling' organization just revealed that all their efforts were totally made up fakes. They did it just to see if they could be taken seriously. They were. Even quoted by major media outlets (all on the left, of course). They may have actually influenced some races with their 'fake news'. This could turn into a major legal battle as the offended parties gird up for another round.
Iran
Things are pretty rough out there. The blockade is working. There are no tankers waiting in Iran docks to be filled up, and none left 'on the water.' That means no income. So, Iran is using a combination of bluster and bullying to get some leverage. They say they will negotiate, 'if the US shows that it is serious about peace', etc. etc. etc. To translate from terrorist speak - leave us alone and let us kill Jews and infidels, and we will talk to you. But, 'when you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow.' Not a whisper about what Iran will do to confirm its desire for peace - like turning over their nuclear stockpiles, disarming their missile forces, and ending attacks on their neighbors. We do not have to talk, or do anything else new. Time is on our side.
The US and Israel are discussing the next phase of attacks on Iran, and the IRGC is very nervous. They threaten a massive retaliation, 'different from previous wars' that will take down all their enemies. As I recall, Hitler also said his 'wonder weapons' would reverse the war he was involved in.
Ukraine/Russia
This goes on. Putin seems willing to try to make a settlement. Ukraine does not. Ukraine has been targeting civilian targets lately. Russia's largest online retailer (their version of Amazon) was hit, as were their social media companies (their version of Facebook, Tik Tok, and Instagram). This will hurt the Russian economy hard, and hamper communications both military and civilian.
Thought for the Day
'Stay Calm, and Shoot them in the Head.'
'Sticks and stones may break my bones; but hollow points expand on impact.'
Rich
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From the Archives
Thanks to Dr.Rich
This MiG Super Fighter Terrified NATO. Then A Soviet Pilot Stole One.
Throughout the early 1970s, the Soviet MiG-25 streaked through the nightmares of America’s military and intelligence communities. If the Cold War ever turned hot, they feared, this seemingly unstoppable fighter, code-named Foxbat, appeared poised to sweep Western aircraft from the skies.
THE FIRST HINTS OF THE existence of this Soviet superplane had begun to materialize in 1965, when a Russian prototype jet, designated Ye-155, set a world record with an impressive speed run of 2,319 kilometers per hour (1,441 mph). In the years that followed, the West nervously watched as updated versions of the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau’s quick-climbing, high-flying, ultrafast jet continued to shatter records. Observers knew that the Ye-155 would soon be more than an experimental testbed.
In the summer of 1967, the U.S. military obtained clear pictures of the mystery aircraft. At a flying exhibition near Moscow, an American delegation clicked away with their cameras as three Ye-155s zoomed past the rapt crowd. The rolls of film that the delegation shot that day were immediately dispatched across the Atlantic; just hours later, the film landed in the waiting hands of Foreign Technology Division officials at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
It was up to James W. Doyle, who’d been an aircraft performance analyst with the U.S. Air Force, to assign a new NATO code name. “Foxbat was used for the plane that I perceived as having the most mystical capabilities,” he noted.
The streamlined Foxbat fighter had oversize intakes that fed a pair of massive afterburner-equipped turbojets. The Foxbat’s twin exhausts had a diameter of nearly 60 inches. Above them was a pair of angular vertical tails.
Beyond the substantial engines, the wings were also a point of interest among the Air Force evaluators. They were big—661 square feet. More wing area helps an aircraft distribute weight, typically making it defter in the skies. From that observation, speculation quickly grew that the Foxbat was more than just fast—it was remarkably maneuverable, too.
The fact that the Foxbat bore an uncanny resemblance to American fighter aircraft proposals fueled the unease. One primary requirement of the new fighter dubbed F-15 was exceptional maneuverability to dominate in a dogfight. Because the Foxbat’s layout appeared so similar to the cutting-edge F-15 hopefuls, many designers and evaluators presumed that the Soviets’ new MiG was built to perform in a comparable fashion.
The specter of the Foxbat forced the Air Force to make the F-15 faster and more maneuverable. The U.S. government, too, was spooked by the threat of the Soviets fielding an unparalleled jet fighter. When McDonnell Douglas won the F-15 competition in 1969, Congress had little choice but to shell out $1.1 billion for aircraft development, including the first 20 F-15 fighter jets, to stay competitive. (The fact that no F-15 has ever lost an air-to-air scrap to an enemy aircraft is in part due to this panic.)
As the U.S. Air Force was selecting the F-15 in 1969, the MiG-25 Foxbat went into full production and began to fly in the Soviet Air Forces. Almost two years later, the Soviets deployed four MiG-25 reconnaissance planes to Egypt, where they conducted high-speed dashes over Israeli territory. The Israeli Air Force’s McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs scrambled to intercept numerous times, but the Foxbats flew at such stunning altitudes and impossible speeds that they easily outran the Israeli defenders. On one occasion, Israeli radar tracked a MiG-25 over the Sinai Peninsula near 80,000 feet traveling at an astounding Mach 3.2 (2,436 mph). For years, the MiG-25 remained the most feared fighter in the Soviet arsenal. Then a Russian pilot stole one.
ON SEPTEMBER 6, 1976, A FLEET OF SOVIET AIR Forces’ MiG-25s took off from Chuguyevka Air Base in southeast Russia, about 300 miles west of Japan, for a training mission. The planes were unarmed, each carrying a full load of fuel and nothing more. Among the pilots flying that day was 29-year-old flight lieutenant Viktor Ivanovich Belenko.
Disillusioned with Soviet society, at odds with his superiors, and facing divorce, Belenko had decided to defect with his MiG-25P interceptor.
Early in the training exercise, Belenko violently dove his Foxbat toward the ground, leveling off at just 100 feet. During the plunge, he broadcasted an emergency signal to persuade those around him that he was in serious trouble. Then he switched off his radio to give the impression that he had crashed. Flying below radar, Belenko pushed his throttles forward and raced east across the Sea of Japan.
Earlier that day, he had memorized a rough heading toward a big military air base on Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s main islands. As Belenko’s warplane approached, he climbed to 20,000 feet and lit up local warning radars. A pair of Japanese Self Defense Force F-4EJs scrambled to intercept, but they were too late to provide an escort. With his fuel levels critically low, Belenko spotted a civil airport near the city of Hakodate and lined up for landing, narrowly missing a Boeing 727 passenger plane that was taking off.
The MiG was going too fast for Hakodate’s short runway. Even with his drogue parachute deployed, Belenko used up the entire 6,500-plus-foot distance and continued another 800 feet into the grass and nearly plowed into an instrument landing system.
In the frantic hours after the landing, Western intelligence organizations were astounded by their good fortune. A pristine example of the Soviets’ most feared aircraft had fallen into their laps. Asylum would protect Belenko, but the Foxbat was still the property of the U.S.S.R.; Japanese and American specialists had to work fast to learn everything they could about the aircraft before political pressure forced Japan to return the MiG. The fighter was quickly stripped apart, its various systems placed on work stands for examination, testing, and photographs.
Belenko was questioned and the aircraft was examined up close for weeks. Gradually the real story of the Foxbat began to emerge: As it turned out, the MiG-25 was not the deft and versatile fighter that had distressed NATO for more than a decade.
The Foxbat was an interceptor through and through, but it was built for only one job: to climb, catch, and kill an American bomber force that never materialized. In the mid-1950s, U.S. Air Force officials pushed for a deep-penetration aircraft that could carry nuclear bombs at a velocity and height that would make them virtually untouchable by any contemporary fighter in the Soviet Air Forces. North American Aviation’s XB-70 Valkyrie, a six-engine high-altitude speed machine, seemed destined for full-scale production as the Mikoyan and Gurevich Design Bureau began work on their answer to the Americans’ new threat.
Congress killed funding for the XB-70 by the early 1960s, and only two experimental testbeds were ever built. However, work continued on the plane that would become the Foxbat out of the fear that the United States might change its mind or develop similar projects.
The Soviet Air Forces needed a sophisticated aircraft to counter their high-tech foe, but they didn’t have the luxury of America’s advanced resources and funding. So the cash-strapped Soviets decided to repurpose massive engines designed for an abandoned high-altitude cruise missile project. And though plans for the Tumansky R-15 turbojets primarily called for titanium construction, the Soviets ran into technical problems machining and shaping the extremely hard metal. They settled on steel components, with silver-plated steel in high-temperature areas. When Belenko was questioned about the Foxbat that clocked at Mach 3.2 over Egypt, he told his CIA interrogators that the MiG-25’s engines were heated to the point of almost complete destruction during the run. Soviet ground crews later removed the wrecked R-15 engines from the four aircraft and replaced them.
The Tumansky engines gobbled fuel, particularly at low altitudes. When asked about the combat radius of his aircraft, Belenko shocked the intelligence men by saying, “At best, 300 kilometers [186 miles].” When the Americans didn’t completely believe him, he offered up his escape flight as a typical example. He’d flown less than 500 miles to Japan, mostly at low altitude, and the MiG had only 52.5 gallons left in its tanks—about 30 seconds of flight time.
Similar metallurgy issues plagued Mikoyan and Gurevich when it came to airframe construction. The Foxbat’s high top speed was generating air friction temperatures up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit, warranting construction primarily of lightweight, heat-resistant titanium. But the Soviets were forced to make most of the Foxbat from heavier stainless steel. They reserved the expensive and troublesome titanium only for areas exposed to the most extreme heat, about 9 percent of the airframe.
Once U.S. engineers had a MiG-25 to carefully scrutinize and a Soviet pilot to interrogate, it quickly became apparent that the aircraft’s sizable wings were not for maneuverability at all. Instead, the Foxbat’s monstrous wings were intended to help haul the plane’s oversize engines, more than 15 tons of fuel, and its weighty steel airframe into the skies for a rapid climb and a fleetingly brief attack.
The MiG-25 could achieve its initial job of killing speedy high-flying bombers—but just barely. The prototype XB-70 Valkyrie could attain Mach 3.1. With its engines redlined, a MiG-25 could reach Mach 3.2. The Valkyrie had a service ceiling of 77,350 feet. The MiG-25 could climb to 78,740 feet while hauling two heavy R-40 long-range air-to-air missiles to run down the fast-moving intruder.
The truth of the Foxbat was that in order for it to attain great speed and altitude, Mikoyan and Gurevich had sacrificed nearly everything else, including range and maneuverability. The MiG-25 was never a dogfighter.
The Foxbat was amazingly primitive when compared to Western warplanes of the era. It was built without the benefit of large quantities of advanced materials and sophisticated technologies. But even with limitations, the Soviets were clever creators; the MiG’s construction was filled with surprises. Evaluators from the Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division originally scoffed at the exposed rivet heads dotting the MiG’s skin. But years later they realized that the rivets protruded only in areas where they wouldn’t cause drag. The MiG designers thus added strength to the airframe with no penalty in performance. Evaluators also marveled at how the MiG’s stainless-steel airframe was welded by hand, eliminating expensive and complex machines.
Perhaps the most stunning discovery was that most of the MiG-25’s avionics were based on vacuum tubes—not solid-state electronics. This was woefully outdated for a new military jet in the 1970s, but the vintage system had its advantages. The vacuum tubes were more temperature-tolerant than modern avionics , which allowed the MiG to fly without weighty environmental controls. Plus, the tubes allowed for quick and easy maintenance at Russia’s primitive airfields, and the antiquated system would better withstand the circuit-frying power of an electromagnetic pulse created by a nuclear blast.
Those vacuum tubes also helped the MiG’s radar system generate an immensely powerful pulse. Belenko called it jam-proof, able to “burn through” any jamming signals thrown out by its quarry.
After more than two months of dissection while the Soviets fumed, the picked-over parts of what had once been the West’s most feared aerial foe was stuffed into 30 crates and loaded onto a Russian freighter for its trip home. The Japanese sent the Soviet Union a $40,000 bill for damage to their airfield and return shipping charges for the aircraft. Russia retaliated with an invoice for $10 million for “unfriendly handling.” Both debts remain unpaid.
Viktor is a good friend, and has some amazing stories surrounding his ‘donation’ of the MiG-25. You should get his “MiG Pilot” book on Amazon.
Dr. Rich
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From the Archives
We need another Marshall .
thanks to Doctor Rich
Thanks to Frank via Billy ...
Mi Amigos:
I have no affiliation with either political party but we should be able to speak to each other straight from the shoulder.
We have an imbecile in the White House and a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs who should be doing hard time for treason. Probably through bribes we were allowed to escape a kill box in Kabul of our own making and now we find our Navy is lead by a ship of fools. Notice the underlying theme, absolutely no accountability.
How the heck do we think we are going to defend Taiwan. We will wake up one day and find the Chinese navy sent our fleet to the bottom of the South China Sea, We couldn't even safeguard one of our fighting vessels safely tucked in San Diego harbor.
At the start of WW2 General George C. Marshall purged all the incompetent Colonels and Generals from the ranks. Sadly I don't see a leader today possessing Marshall's foresight and boldness.
"Excellence is achieved by mastery of the fundamentals." Vince Lombardi
Semper Fi
Frank W.
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From the Archives
Thanks to Dutch…..Great story even if you
have seen it before
In One Mission in October 1944, Two F6F Hellcats Shot Down a Record 15 Enemy Aircraft | At the Smithsonian | Smithsonian Magazine
U.S. Navy Pilots David McCampbell and Roy Rushing made history in a heroic air battle over the Leyte Gulf On October 24, 1944, the Battle of Leyte Gulf had just begun when two Hellcat pilots U.S ...
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This Day in U S Military History
October 24
1942 – On Guadalcanal, heavy fighting continues as the Japanese offensive gains some success with the secondary operations infiltrating the left wing of the America positions. The main operation against the south of the American perimeter begins at dusk and continues throughout the night. It is repelled.
1943 – Allied aircraft raid Rabaul, New Britain Island, for a second time in two days. One Japanese destroyer and five merchant ships have been sunk in the raids.
1943 – Elements of the US 5th Army capture Sant’Angelo, Italy. 34th Division moved up through the mist on the morning and entered the walled and narrow streets of Sant’ Angelo d’Alife without resistance.
1944 – On land, elements of US 1st Cavalry land on Samar. The fighting on Leyte continues. At sea, Japanese aircraft, based on Luzon, attack US Task Group 38.3 (Sherman), critically damaging the carrier Princeton. The Japanese Center Force (Kurita) is discovered by scout planes from US Task Group 38.2 and attacked throughout the day by all the carrier groups. The Japanese battleship Musashi is sunk and a cruiser is damaged and turns back. Center Force withdraws during the day. The Japanese Southern Force (Nishimura) is also sighted but American air strikes fail to cause significant damage. Admiral Oldendorf assembles a force in the Surigao Strait to block Southern Force. Meanwhile, Northern Force (Ozawa) locates TG38.2 and launches an air strike. The Japanese planes do not find the objective and land on Luzon. Late in the day, Admiral Halsey (commanding US 3rd Fleet) assembles his carriers and battleships to attack Northern Force, leaving Admiral Oldendorf to defend against Southern Force. During the night, Center Force reverses course.
1944 – “Ace of Aces” David McCampbell (1910-1996) and one other fighter faced 60 planes approaching US forces. He shot down 9 “Zekes” and with his comrade managed to scatter the remaining 51 planes at the battle of Leyte Gulf. “All available fighter pilots! Man your planes!” boomed the squawk box in Essex’ ready room. The ship’s radar had detected three large groups of Japanese planes coming in. David McCampbell, the CAG and the Navy’s most famous living aviator, considered this announcement. Earlier that morning, Admiral Sherman himself had forbidden McCampbell from joining a dawn sortie. Given his responsibilities as Commander of Essex’ Air Group and his public prominence as a top ace, McCampbell was too valuable. He decided that he was indeed “available” and headed for his airplane, Minsi III. His plane crew hurried to fuel Minsi III, which had not been scheduled to fly that day. With the Hellcat only partially fueled, the Flight Officer ordered it off the flight deck – either into the air or below to the hangar deck. McCampbell went up, leading Essex’s last seven fighters toward the Jap strike force. He and Ens. Roy Rushing got out in front of the other Hellcats, putting on all speed to intercept the Japs, then only 22 miles away. He directed the other F6F’s to get the bombers, while he and Rushing tackled the fighters. Surprisingly, the enemy fighters turned, allowing McCampbell and Rushing to gain altitude and a position behind them. Seeing over 40 Japanese fighters, McCampbell radioed back to the carrier for help. “Sorry, none available.” The enemy planes spread out in a typical formation of three V’s. McCampbell picked out a Zero on the extreme right and flamed it. Rushing also got one on this first pass. Incredibly, there was no reaction from the Japs as they climbed back up to regain altitude. The two Hellcat pilots dived back down on their quarry for another pass; McCampbell blew up a second Zero. Now the gaggle of Zeros, Tonys, Hamps, and Oscars reacted – by going into a Lufbery! McCampbell made a couple of head-on passes against the formation, but without results. A strange interlude ensued as McCampbell and Rushing climbed back up and circled, while the Japanese fighters continued to circle below. McCampbell radioed again for help; one of the Hellcats that had been going after the bombers headed his way. The Lufbery broke up and the planes headed toward Luzon in a wide Vee. The two American fliers closed in again on the formation. McCampbell opened up at 900 feet, and exploded his third plane of the morning. Rushing shot down his second one. Apparently low on fuel, the Japanese planes doggedly flew on, maintaining formation. On his next firing pass, gunfire coming from behind forced McCampbell to break off his attack and pull up. It was another Hellcat shooting too close to him. A few choice words straightened things out. Still the enemy planes didn’t turn and mix it up. McCampbell realized he could relax and take his time. This was practically gunnery exercise. He could focus on identifying his targets carefully. The next one was an Oscar. Again his six fifties roared and blasted the Oscar’s wing root. It flamed for number four. Rushing had scored his third by this time. This continued for several more passes until McCampbell had downed 7 and Rushing 6. Rushing radioed that he was out of ammo, but he would stay on McCampbell’s wing while the CAG used up his remaining bullets. Two more passes and two more kills. As the Jap planes approached the security of their bases on Luzon, the two Americans’ low fuel finally ended the slaughter. The Hellcats broke off and headed for Essex. In one morning sortie, McCampbell had shot down nine enemy planes and Rushing six, an unparalleled achievement in American fighter aviation.
1951 – The largest air battle of the Korean War occurs as 150 MiGs attack a formation of B-29s escorted by 55 F-84 Thunderjets. Four of the bombers were destroyed and three others seriously damaged and one F-84 was lost. Eight MiGs were destroyed (an additional two probably destroyed) and 10 others heavily damaged.
1952 – Republican presidential candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower declared, “I shall go to Korea” as he promised to end the conflict if elected.
1962 – The U.S. blockade of Cuba during the missile crisis officially began under a proclamation signed by President Kennedy. Atlantic Fleet begins quarantine operations to force Soviet Union to agree to remove ballistic missiles and long range bombers from Cuba. On the day the quarantine was to take effect, the alignment of Soviet and free world nations continued to develop rapidly. The evening before, the U.S. position was presented to a special session of the United Nations Security Council. Soviet Ambassador Zorin’s speech in reply emphasized that the present crisis existed between the United States and Cuba and reflected a Soviet desire to avoid the appearance of a direct Soviet-U.S. confrontation. This approach appeared to be calculated to create a climate for a U.S. reversal of the quarantine stand, to diminish the military threat to the U.S. and to reduce tensions among Soviet Bloc masses. Other Bloc reactions were becoming known. The Polish regime was playing the Cuban crisis in low key to avoid panic and a strain on low food-stocks. Although that nation’s armed forces were alerted, there was no evidence of increased military activity. The Chinese communists issued a statement fully supporting the “just stand of the Soviet Government.” Various developments throughout the day suggested that the Soviet Bloc intended to proceed with extreme caution. This indication was supported by Zorin’s comparatively mild statements at the UN, the lack of any Soviet move to evacuate dependents in East Germany and elsewhere, and other political developments. Turkish officials, worried about the possibility of Soviet pressure to eliminate missile sites in their country in exchange for withdrawal of Russian missiles in Cuba, urged an increase in U. S. military aid to Turkey. Brazil backed off somewhat from her support of the arms quarantine with the statement that the Government did not support the “use of force which may violate an independent country’s territorial integrity and place world peace in jeopardy.” The Commander in Chief, Atlantic, established the surface quarantine line on an arc 500 miles from Cape Maysi between 27-30N, 75W and 20N, 65W. The line thus established was out of range of Soviet IL-28 “Beagle” bombers based in Cuba. The line was to be manned by 12 destroyers from Task Force 136.
1968 – At the National Air and Space Administration test pilot Bill Dana was at the controls of the North American X-15 rocket-propelled research aircraft when it made the 199th–and what turned out to be the final–flight of the X-15 program. He was flying the X-15-1, which had been the first of three aircraft to participate in a series of tests that spanned a decade and resulted in major advances for America’s space flight program. In the course of that research, the X-15s spent 18 hours flying above Mach 1, 12 hours above Mach 2, nearly 9 hours above Mach 3, almost 6 hours above Mach 4, one hour above Mach 5 and a few short minutes above Mach 6. The X-15 was hailed by the scientific community as the most successful research aircraft of all time
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Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
DALY, DANIEL JOSEPH (Second Award)
Rank and organization: Gunnery Sergeant, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: Glen Cove, Long Island, N.Y., 11 November 1873. Accredited to: New York. Other Navy awards: Second Medal of Honor, Navy Cross. Citation: Serving with the 15th Company of Marines on 22 October 1915, G/Sgt. Daly was one of the company to leave Fort Liberte, Haiti, for a 6-day reconnaissance. After dark on the evening of 24 October, while crossing the river in a deep ravine, the detachment was suddenly fired upon from 3 sides by about 400 Cacos concealed in bushes about 100 yards from the fort. The marine detachment fought its way forward to a good position, which it maintained during the night, although subjected to a continuous fire from the Cacos. At daybreak the marines, in 3 squads, advanced in 3 different directions, surprising and scattering the Cacos in all directions. G/Sgt. Daly fought with exceptional gallantry against heavy odds throughout this action.
OSTERMANN, EDWARD ALBERT
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, 15th Company of Marines (mounted). Place and date: Vicinity Fort Liberte, Haiti, 24 October 1915. Entered service at: Ohio. Born: 1883, Columbus, Ohio. Citation: In company with members of the 15th Company of Marines, all mounted, 1st Lt. Ostermann left Fort Liberte, Haiti, for a 6-day reconnaissance. After dark on the evening of 24 October 1915, while crossing the river in a deep ravine, the detachment was suddenly fired upon from 3 sides by about 400 Cacos concealed in bushes about 100 yards from the fort. The marine detachment fought its way forward to a good position, which it maintained during the night, although subjected to a continuous fire from the Cacos. At daybreak, 1st Lt. Ostermann, in command of 1 of the 3 squads which advanced in 3 different directions, led his men forward, surprising and scattering the Cacos, and aiding in the capture of Fort Dipitie.
UPSHUR, WILLIAM PETERKIN
Rank and organization: Captain, U.S. Marine Corps. Born: 28 October 1881, Richmond, Va. Appointed from: Virginia. Citation: In company with members of the 15th Company of Marines, all mounted, Capt. Upshur left Fort Liberte, Haiti, for a 6-day reconnaissance. After dark on the evening of 24 October 1915, while crossing the river in a deep ravine, the detachment was suddenly fired upon from 3 sides by about 400 Cacos concealed in bushes about 100 yards from the fort. The marine detachment fought its way forward to a good position which it maintained during the night, although subjected to a continuous fire from the Cacos. At daybreak, Capt. Upshur, in command of one of the 3 squads which advanced in 3 different directions led his men forward, surprising and scattering the Cacos, and aiding in the capture of Fort Dipitie.
COOLIDGE, CHARLES H.
Living History of Medal of Honor Recipient Charles Coolidge
https://youtu.be/L2Kp6wQYFl8?si=O4dpPwz8ik1LhDj0
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company M, 141st Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: East of Belmont sur Buttant, France, 24-27 October 1944. Entered service at: Signal Mountain, Tenn. Birth: Signal Mountain, Tenn. G.O. No.: 53, July 1945. Citation: Leading a section of heavy machineguns supported by 1 platoon of Company K, he took a position near Hill 623, east of Belmont sur Buttant, France, on 24 October 1944, with the mission of covering the right flank of the 3d Battalion and supporting its action. T/Sgt. Coolidge went forward with a sergeant of Company K to reconnoiter positions for coordinating the fires of the light and heavy machineguns. They ran into an enemy force in the woods estimated to be an infantry company. T/Sgt. Coolidge, attempting to bluff the Germans by a show of assurance and boldness called upon them to surrender, whereupon the enemy opened fire. With his carbine, T/Sgt. Coolidge wounded 2 of them. There being no officer present with the force, T/Sgt. Coolidge at once assumed command. Many of the men were replacements recently arrived; this was their first experience under fire. T/Sgt. Coolidge, unmindful of the enemy fire delivered at close range, walked along the position, calming and encouraging his men and directing their fire. The attack was thrown back. Through 25 and 26 October the enemy launched repeated attacks against the position of this combat group but each was repulsed due to T/Sgt. Coolidge’s able leadership. On 27 October, German infantry, supported by 2 tanks, made a determined attack on the position. The area was swept by enemy small arms, machinegun, and tank fire. T/Sgt. Coolidge armed himself with a bazooka and advanced to within 25 yards of the tanks. His bazooka failed to function and he threw it aside. Securing all the hand grenades he could carry, he crawled forward and inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing enemy. Finally it became apparent that the enemy, in greatly superior force, supported by tanks, would overrun the position. T/Sgt. Coolidge, displaying great coolness and courage, directed and conducted an orderly withdrawal, being himself the last to leave the position. As a result of T/Sgt. Coolidge’s heroic and superior leadership, the mission of this combat group was accomplished throughout 4 days of continuous fighting against numerically superior enemy troops in rain and cold and amid dense woods.
McCAMPBELL, DAVID
Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy, Air Group 15. Place and date: First and second battles of the Philippine Sea, 19 June 1944. Entered service at: Florida. Born: 16 January 1 910, Bessemer, Ala. Other Navy awards: Navy Cross, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Gold Stars, Air Medal. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commander, Air Group 15, during combat against enemy Japanese aerial forces in the first and second battles of the Philippine Sea. An inspiring leader, fighting boldly in the face of terrific odds, Comdr. McCampbell led his fighter planes against a force of 80 Japanese carrier-based aircraft bearing down on our fleet on 19 June 1944. Striking fiercely in valiant defense of our surface force, he personally destroyed 7 hostile planes during this single engagement in which the outnumbering attack force was utterly routed and virtually annihilated. During a major fleet engagement with the enemy on 24 October, Comdr. McCampbell, assisted by but l plane, intercepted and daringly attacked a formation of 60 hostile land-based craft approaching our forces. Fighting desperately but with superb skill against such overwhelming airpower, he shot down 9 Japanese planes and, completely disorganizing the enemy group, forced the remainder to abandon the attack before a single aircraft could reach the fleet. His great personal valor and indomitable spirit of aggression under extremely perilous combat conditions reflect the highest credit upon Comdr. McCampbell and the U.S. Naval Service.
O’KANE, RICHARD HETHERINGTON
Rank and organization: Commander, U.S. Navy, commanding U.S.S. Tang. Place and date: Vicinity Philippine Islands, 23 and 24 October 1944. Entered service at: New Hampshire. Born: 2 February 1911, Dover, N.H. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as commanding officer of the U.S.S. Tang operating against 2 enemy Japanese convoys on 23 and 24 October 1944, during her fifth and last war patrol. Boldly maneuvering on the surface into the midst of a heavily escorted convoy, Comdr. O’Kane stood in the fusillade of bullets and shells from all directions to launch smashing hits on 3 tankers, coolly swung his ship to fire at a freighter and, in a split-second decision, shot out of the path of an onrushing transport, missing it by inches. Boxed in by blazing tankers, a freighter, transport, and several destroyers, he blasted 2 of the targets with his remaining torpedoes and, with pyrotechnics bursting on all sides, cleared the area. Twenty-four hours later, he again made contact with a heavily escorted convoy steaming to support the Leyte campaign with reinforcements and supplies and with crated planes piled high on each unit. In defiance of the enemy’s relentless fire, he closed the concentration of ship and in quick succession sent 2 torpedoes each into the first and second transports and an adjacent tanker, finding his mark with each torpedo in a series of violent explosions at less than l,000-yard range. With ships bearing down from all sides, he charged the enemy at high speed, exploding the tanker in a burst of flame, smashing the transport dead in the water, and blasting the destroyer with a mighty roar which rocked the Tang from stem to stern. Expending his last 2 torpedoes into the remnants of a once powerful convoy before his own ship went down, Comdr. O’Kane, aided by his gallant command, achieved an illustrious record of heroism in combat, enhancing the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS
for October 24, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD “PHIL” MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
24 October
1928: Capt Charles B. D. Collyer and Harry Tucker flew a Lockheed Vega, the Yankee Doodle, on a transcontinental flight from New York to Los Angeles in 24 hours 51 minutes. (9)
1941: Arthur J. Starnes set a new record for free fall near Chicago by dropping from 30,800 feet to 1,500 feet in 116 seconds before opening his parachute. (24)
1944: Eighth Air Force sent 415 P-47s and P-51s to carry out fighter-bomber raids in the HannoverKassel area of Germany. Nine fighters were destroyed. (4) Capt David McCampbell (USN) shot down nine Japanese fighters in a single day. No other pilot in World War II equaled this accomplishment. McCampbell ended the war as the Navy’s leading ace with 34 aerial victories. (21)
1945: After a 14 hour, 5 minute flight, An American Airlines plane arrived at Hurn Airfield, England, from New York. It was the first commercial land plane to make a flight from North America to Europe. (21) (24)
1952: KOREAN WAR. Fifth Air Force and Eighth Army completed a successful 30-day test in IX Corps area of a new flak-suppression technique that allowed friendly artillery to continue firing while close support strikes were in progress. (28)
1953: Convair's YF-102 Delta Dagger first flew at Edwards AFB. (3)
1956: The last production Boeing B-47E (53-6244) went to the 40th BMW at Schilling AFB. (1)
1960: Operation SOUTHWIND. In this joint exercise, TAC and MATS employed 100 airplanes to transport 10,000 Strategic Army Command troops. (24)
1962: SAC accepted the first flight of 10 Minuteman I missiles (Model A) at the 10 SMS, 341 SMW, Malmstrom AFB. (6)
1964: When ground fire destroyed a C-123 in Vietnam, 1Lt Valmore W. Bourque, the pilot, became the first USAF Academy graduate to die in action.
1967: Combined USAF, USN, and USMC warplanes attacked North Vietnam’s largest airbase, Phue Yen, for the first time. During the attack, the Air Force downed its 69th MiG. (16) (26)
1968: William H. Dana flew X-15 No.1 from Edwards AFB and reached 255,000 feet and 3,682 MPH (Mach 5.04) in the program's 199th and final flight. (9) The Air Force redesignated the F-X as the ZF-15A. (30)
1974: The Space and Missile Systems Organization (SAMSO) proved the ability to launch an ICBM in the air by dropping a Minuteman I from a C-5A Galaxy. The aircraft dropped the 86,000- pound missile at 20,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean, and the missile descended to 8,000 feet before its rocket engine fired. The 10-second engine burn carried the missile to 20,000 feet again before it dropped into the ocean. (6) (18)
1986: The 16th Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile test marked the beginning of its initial operational test and evaluation program. (12)
1993: Through 30 October, three 60 AW C-5s from Travis AFB carried 350 Nepalese soldiers and 250 tons of equipment from Katmandu, Nepal, to Mogadishu, Somalia, to join the UN peacekeeping force. (18)
2000: The Space Shuttle Discovery’s successful landing on the Edwards AFB main runway, its 46th, ended the system’s 100th mission. The 13-day mission prepared the International Space Station for its first full-time residents. Mission Commander Col Brian Duffy and Pilot Lt Col Pamela Melroy both graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School. (3) Lockheed pilot Tom Morgenfeld flew the Lockheed-Martin X-35A Joint Strike Fighter concept demonstrator on its first flight from Palmdale to Edwards AFB. Lockheed-Martin developed the X-35A to compete with Boeing’s X-32A. (3) An F-22 successfully fired the first unarmed Raytheon AIM-120C Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile in its initial separation test the China Lake test range. The AIM-120C, with clipped wings and fins, would be the Raptor’s primary weapon. (3)
2002: A C-5 and aircrew from Travis AFB flew from Andrews AFB to Tashkent IAP, Uzbekistan, with 40 volunteer physicians from Physicians With Heart, an affiliate of Heart-to-Heart International, and medicines, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies worth nearly $10 million. The 24 October mission commemorated the tenth anniversary of this joint State Department and Physicians With Heart program to assist the people of Uzbekistan. (22)
2005: A civilian team brought their North American Eagle jet car to Edwards AFB for a four-day test on Rogers Dry Lake. The wingless F-104A Starfighter (tail no. 56-0763), with 52,000 horse- power, would try for 800 mph to break the existing 763 mph land speed record. Previously, the F-104 flew for the AFFTC as a high speed chase plane for the X-15, XB-70, and SR-71.
2007: Officials at Hill AFB, Utah, rolled out the first of 11 newly configured F-16 Fighting Falcons for the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team. Each aircraft eventually received a Block 52 upgrade, which included the Falcon Structural Augmentation Roadmap (Falcon STAR) program to replace or repair known life-limited structures. (AFNEWS, “Thunderbirds Receive First Upgraded F-16,” 5 Nov 2007.)
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