Posted on 04/23/2018 7:57:39 AM PDT by fugazi
1778: Capt. John Paul Jones, commanding the Continental sloop-of-war Ranger, leads a daring ship-to-shore raid on the British fortress at Whitehaven, England. Jones’ sailors and Marines spike the enemy’s guns, burn a few buildings, and set fire to a ship before withdrawing. The raid is the first on British soil by an American force.
Lt. Paul Baer, who scored the first victory for the U.S. Air Service and also becomes the outfit’s first ace.
1918: Near Saint-Gobain, France 1st Lt. Paul Baer of the 103rd Aero Squadron shoots down his fifth enemy aircraft, becoming the U.S. Army Air Service’s first ace. Baer flew with the French Escadrille Américaine prior to America’s entry into World War II, and will ultimately claim nine confirmed victories (plus an additional seven unconfirmed) before being shot down himself and spending the rest of the war in a German prisoner of war camp.
Before becoming a pilot, Baer fought in Mexico under Gen. John J. Pershing’s in the Punitive Expedition. He managed to escape German captivity but was captured quickly. He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses in addition to his numerous French decorations. After the war, he flew as a mercenary against Bolsheviks in Poland.
1945: A U.S. Navy PB4Y-2 Privateer of Patrol Bombing Squadron 109 (VPB-109) launches two Bat missiles against Japanese shipping at Balikpapan, Borneo. While both of the radar-guided homing missiles malfunction in their combat debut, Bats will send several Japanese ships to the bottom before the World War II ends.
Medal of Honor recipient Harold E. Wilson, who was awarded five Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star with Combat “V” Device, also served in World War II and Vietnam.
1951: When his company’s outpost is overrun by enemy forces in a fierce nighttime attack, Tech. Sgt. Harold E. Wilson ignores wounds...
(Excerpt) Read more at victoryinstitute.net ...
Never knew we actually attacked British soil.
I read about John Paul Jones a lot when I was in grade school. The school was a block from the public library, and the library had that old book smell that I grew to love. My mother would pick me up there as back then, our city was safe. Now our library is a block away and they’ve sold damn near all the historical books from back then, and host BINGO for the elderly and homeless. And no, they wont get me back like that.
But the story about Jones’ ship’s raid struck a chord in me this morning. And all the 940. books I read (DDS) are still locked in my soul, waiting for a reminder of what America IS, in it’s soul.
Great post!
The Germans successfully used the “Fritz” anti-ship glide bomb in 1943, a year earlier than the first use of the US “Bat”.
JPJ relieved the Bits of a supply of Scotch Whisky too. Priorities.
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