Posted on 05/03/2018 8:46:38 AM PDT by fugazi
1898: Following the Battle of Manila Bay, Marines from the cruisers USS Baltimore (C-3) and USS Raleigh (C-8) raise the Stars and Stripes for the first time in the Philippines over Cavite, the historical capital.
1923: 26 hours and 50 minutes after taking off in New York, Army Air Corps first lieutenants Oakley Kelly and John Macready touch down at Rockwell Field, San Diego, becoming the first aviators to fly non-stop across the United States. The specially modified Fokker T-2 passenger plane averaged a blistering 92 mph.
1942: Off the Florida coast, two German U-boats each sink a cargo ship, killing a total of 23 sailors. U-109 heads back to the German sub pens at Lorient, France after her attack and U-564 will damage another two vessels over the next two days. The Royal Air Force will sink both subs the following year.
1943: Lt. Gen. Frank Maxwell, the commander of all U.S. Forces in the European Theater, is killed when the B-24 Liberator bomber carrying the former cavalry trooper and pilot during World War I to Iceland on an inspection tour crashes. Maxwell is replaced by generals Jacob Devers and ultimately Dwight Eisenhower.
The plane carrying Maxwell was the first U.S. plane to complete 25 bombing missions. However since Hot Stuff crashed before returning to the States, the B-17 Memphis Belle will become more widely known – despite accomplishing their feat three and a half months later.
1946: Prosecution of 28 Japanese military and political leaders begin at the War Ministry Office in Tokyo. After two-and-a-half years, 25 of the 28 high-ranking officials (one is determined mentally unfit and two die during the trial) are found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Seven are executed, including the prime minister and Gen. Iwane Matsui, who oversaw the...
(Excerpt) Read more at victoryinstitute.net ...
1965: Lead elements of the 173rd Airborne Brigade depart Okinawa for South Vietnam, becoming the first Army ground combat units deployed in the Vietnam War. The “Sky Soldiers” will make the only major combat parachute jump of the war in February 1967 during Operation Junction City – the mission to locate the North Vietnamese political and military headquarters for South Vietnam.
I had just finished Jump School but was only 17 - many of my class were assigned to the 173rd while I went to the 101st - I turned 18 in October and got my orders to Viet Nam as a birthday present. I was in Saigon on Nov 5 waiting for my unit to return from the field.
November 8th the 173rd engaged the enemy. 48 paratroopers died that day and I got reassigned from armor to infantry. I was a replacement for one of those 48
I earned my Combat Infantryman Badge while I was receiving OJT as an infantryman.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozpdBvB0hek
Thank you for your service sir.
This brings back on lot of memories. I was lucky to have survived, glad to know that you did as well.
Airborne all the way! I have close friend who was with the 173d in VN. He has a few stories and some of regret.
My stepdad was in the Herd(173rd Airborne) from 67-68. He fought in the Battle Of Dak To where the 4th ID and the 173rd Kicked ass and took names, but also lost a lot of good men. November 20, 1967 when the battle of Hill 875 started none of those Sky Soldiers imagined what was about to happen. Still proud of my Stepdad for being a Sky Soldier. Best Airborne Unit in Vietnam.
God Bless the Herd. Special place in my heart. All of November 67 was bad for the Herd. God bless you Sky Soldier.
From the same site ...
On Oct. 5, 1918, Sgt. Michael B. Ellis single-handedly attacked a German machine gun nest near Exermount, France, killing two enemy soldiers and capturing 17. He then moved on to capture 27 more enemy troops and six machine guns. Two captured officers coughed up the locations of four additional machine gun positions, and the “Sgt. York of St. Louis” took them as well. In addition to numerous valor medals from foreign countries, Ellis was awarded the Medal of Honor.
Our SGT. Maj. at Ft. Benning was in that unit with the Combat Jump.
> Lt. Gen. Frank Maxwell, the commander of all U.S. Forces in the European Theater...
?
Frank M. Andrews
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/fmandrew.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Maxwell_Andrews
[snip] At the Casablanca Conference in January 1943, Lieut. Gen. Andrews was appointed commander of all United States forces in the European Theater of Operations, replacing Dwight D. Eisenhower. [/snip]
B-24s had longer range, but the B-17 had a higher flight ceiling, thus became more popular with flight crews and embedded journalists, as they were harder to hit.
Thanks for catching that... if I had written that “Maxwell” was the namesake of Edwards Air Force Base (now Joint Base Edwards), I would have noticed the error myself.
Plus, there’s that Beatles song, “Edward’s Silver Hammer”, and, uh, wait... ;^)
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