.......
When U.S. troops were pulled out of Southeast Asia in early 1975, Vietnamese communist troops began capturing one city after another, with Hue, Da Nang and Ban Me Thuot in March, Xuan Loc in April, and Saigon on April 30. In Cambodia, communist Khmer Rouge had captured the capital city of Phnom Penh on April 17. The last Americans were evacuated from Saigon during "Option IV", with U.S. Ambassador Martin departing on April 29. The war, according to President Ford, "was finished."
2Lt. Richard VandeGeer, assigned to the 21st Special Ops Squadron at NKP, had participated in the evacuation of Saigon, where helicopter pilots were required to fly from the decks of the 7th fleet carriers stationed some 500 miles offshore, fly over armed enemy-held territory, collect American and allied personnel and return to the carriers via the same hazardous route, heavily loaded with passengers. VandeGeer wrote to a friend "We pulled out close to 2,000 people. We couldn't pull out any more because it was beyond human endurance to go any more..."
Marine searching the decks of the Mayaguez during the retaking of the ship Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy
At 2:14 p.m. on May 12, the U.S. merchant ship MAYAGUEZ was seized by the Khmer Rouge in the Gulf of Siam about 60 miles from the Cambodian coastline and 8 miles from the Poulo Wai. The ship, owned by Sea-Land Corporation, was en route to Sattahip, Thailand from Hong-Kong, carrying a non-arms cargo for military bases in Thailand.
Capt. Charles T.Miller, a veteran of more than 40 years at sea, was on the bridge. He had steered the ship within the boundaries of international waters, but the Cambodians had recently claimed territorial waters 90 miles from the coast of Cambodia. The 40 seamen aboard were taken prisoner.
President Ford ordered the aircraft carrier USS CORAL SEA, the guided missile destroyer USS HENRY B.WILSON and the USS HOLT to the area of seizure. By night, a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft located the MAYAGUEZ at anchor off Pou lo Wal Island. Plans were made to rescue the crew. A battalion landing team of 1100 Marines was ordered flown from bases in Okinawa and the Philippines to assemble at Utapao,Thailand in preparation for the assault.
The first casualties of the effort to free the MAYAGUEZ are recorded on May 13 when a helicopter carrying Air Force security team personnel crashed en route to Utapao, killing all 23 aboard.
Marines raised the American flag [U.S. Navy photo from Sealift]
Early in the morning of May 13, the MAYAGUEZ was ordered to head for Koh Tang Island. Its crew was loaded aboard a Thai fishing boat and was taken first to Koh Tang, then to the mainland city of Kompong Song, then to Rong Sam Lem Island. U.S.intelligence had observed a cove with considerable activity on the Island of Koh Tang, a small 4.5 mile long island about 35 miles off the coast of Cambodia southwest of the city of Sihanoukvulle (Kampong Saom), and believed that some of the crew might be held there. They also knew of the Thai fishing boat, and had observed what appeared to be caucasians aboard it, but it could not be determined if some of all of the crew was aboard.
The USS HOLT was ordered to move the Mayaguez...or incapacitate it by blasting the propellar off, or to sink it. Marines were to land on the island and rescue any of the crew. Navy jets from the USS CORAL SEA were to make 4 strikes on military installments on the Cambodian mainland.
On May 15, the first wave of 179 Marines headed for the island aboard 8 Air Force "Jolly Green Giant" helicopters. 3 Air Force helicopters unloaded Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marines onto the landing pad of the USS HOLT and then headed back to Utapao to pick up the second wave of Marines. Planes dropped tear gas on the MAYAGUEZ, and the USS HOLT pulled up along side the vessel and the Marines stormed aboard. The MAYAGUEZ was deserted.
Marines on the West Beach of Koh Tan Island Photo courtesy of Les McNemar
Simultaneously, the Marines of the 2/9 were making their landings on two other areas of the island. The eastern landing zone was on the cove side where the Cambodian compound was located. The western landing zone was a narrow split of beach about 500 feet behind the compound on the other side of the island. The Marines hoped to surround the compound.
As the first troops began to unload on both beaches, the Cambodians opened fire. On the western beach, one helicopter was hit and flew off crippled to ditch in the ocean about 1 mile away. The pilot had just disembarked his passengers, and was rescued at sea.
Meanwhile, the eastern landing zone had become a disaster. The first two heliopters landing were met by enemy fire. Ground Commander,(now) Col. Randall W.Austin had been told to expect between 20 and 40 Khmer Rouge soldiers on the island. Instead, between 150 and 200 were encountered. Lt.John Schramm's helicopter tore apart and crashed into the surf after the rotor system was hit. All aboard made a dash for the tree line on the beach.
One CH-53 helicopter was flown by U.S.Air Force Major Howard Corson and 2Lt. Richard VandeGeer and carrying 23 U.S. Marines and 2 U.S. Navy Corpsman, all from the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. As the helicopter approached the island, it was caught in a cross fire and hit by a rocket. The severely damaged helicopter crashed into the sea just off the coast of the island and exploded. To avoid enemy fire, survivors were forced to swim out to sea for rescue. Twelve aboard, including Major Corson, were rescued. Those missing from the helicopter were 2Lt. Richard VandeGeer, PFC Daniel Benedett, PFC Lynn Blessing, PFC Walter Boyd, Lcpl.Gregory Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia, PFC Antonio Sandoval, PFC Kelton Turner...all U.S.Marines. Also missing were HM1 Bernard Gause Jr. and HM Ronald Manning, both U.S.Navy Corpsman.
Aerial surveillance of USS Holt during the retaking of the SS Mayaguez Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force
Other helicopters were more successful in landing their passengers. One CH53A, however was not. SSgt. Elwood Rumbaugh's aircraft was near the coastline when it was shot down. Rumbaugh is the only missing man from the aircraft. The passengers were safely extracted. (It is not known whether the passengers went down with the aircraft or whether they were rescued from the island.)
By midmorning, when the Cambodians on the mainland began receiving reports of the assault, they ordered the crew of the MAYAGUEZ on a Thai boat, and then left. The MAYAGUEZ crew was recovered by the USS Wilson before the second wave of Marines was deployed, but the second wave was ordered to attack anyway.
Late in the afternoon, the assault force had consolidated its position on the western landng zone and the eastern landing zone was evacuated at 6:00 p.m. By the end of the 14-hour operation, most of the Marines were extracted from the island safely, with 50 wounded. Lcpl. Ashton Loney had been killed when he stepped on mine.
Protecting the perimeter during the final evacuation was the machine squad of PFC Gary Hall, Lcpl. Joseph Hargrove and Pvt. Danny Marshall. They had run out of ammunition and were ordered to evacuate on the last helicopter. It was their last contact. Maj. McNemar and Maj. James Davis made a final sweep of the beach before boarding the helicopter and were unable to locate them. They were declared Missing in Action. In 1998 a former Khmer medical officer and eyewitness to the battle aftermath claimed to have seen four (4) American prisoners taken off the island to the mainland. The Joint Task Force for Full Accounting can only speculate as to who the fourth prisoner could have been.
Aerial of two helicopters shot down on the East Beach of Koh Tang Island Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force
The 18 men missing from the MAYAGUEZ incident are listed among the missing from the Vietnam war. Although authorities believe that there are perhaps hundreds of American prisoners still alive in Southeast Asia from the war, most are pessimistic about the fates of those captured by the Khmer Rouge.
In 1988, the communist government of Kampuchea (Cambodia) announced that it wished to return the remains of several dozen Americans to the United States. (In fact, the number was higher than the official number of Americans missing in Cambodia.) Because the U.S. does not officially recognize the Cambodian goverment, it has refused to respond directly to the Cambodians regarding the remains. Cambodia, wishing a direct acknowledgment from the U.S. Government, still holds the remains.
............
What makes a hero ?
- perhaps it is being in the right place at the wrong time...and a lot more -
AF SSgt John D. Harston was a flight mechanic aboard Maj. Howard Corson's CH-53 helicopter, one of two that attempted the first landings on Koh Tang's now infamous east beach. They were still about 40 feet in the air when groundfire ripped their aircraft apart. It exploded and fell in flames into the shallow water.
Shot in the leg and dazed by the crash, Sergeant Harston barely managed to get out of the burning Super Jolly Green helicopter. The survivors outside were under heavy small arms fire from the beach, so he reentered the plane to get his M-16 rifle. Inside, he found some Marines still trapped. Harston led them through the flames to safety.
The first thing Major Corson remembers seeing after the crash was Harston standing outside in chest-deep water trying to open Carston's jammed side-door exit. They realized at the same time it wasn't necessary -- there was no aircraft ahead of the major's seat. It had been blown away. He just stepped forward into the water.
Ignoring the hail of bullets all around them, Harston went around to the other side to free the body of his copilot. The flames drove him back.
As the survivors edged out to sea, Harston stayed back to provide covering fire with his M-16 and pistol. Soon out of ammunition, he picked up the only remaining Marine and headed for deeper water. They were 40 yards offshore when they heard the cries of one more seriously injured, blinded Marine struggling alone near the wreckage.
Sergeant Harston, with the first Marine hanging onto his webbing, went back to help. In the process, one side of his life preserver was shot away and he was stunned by another bullet that hit his helmet. Neither Marine had a life preserver.
In spite of his leg wound, Sergeant Harston managed to swim out to deeper water, tugging the two injured Marines along. Among 10 other survivors, they were eventually rescued by a Navy destroyer.
SSgt. Harston was awarded the Air Force Cross - as were Lt. Richard C. Brims ( Pilot of Knife 51 ) Capt. Roland W. Purser ( pilot of Jolly 43 ), and Lt. Donald R. Backlund ( pilot of the "last train out of town" from Koh Tangs beseiged east beach, Jolly 11 ).
Additionally, the following recieved the Silver Star that day:
A1C Brad Marx, Sgt Thomas Bateson, Sgt Randy Hoffmaster, SSgt Joseph Stanaland, SSgt Harry Cash, TSgt Wayne Fisk, MSgt John Eldridge, Lt Robert Blough, Lt Thomas Cooper, Lt. Dennis Danielson, Lt Robert Grandle, Lt Charles Greer, Lt Michael Lackey, Lt John Lucas, Lt Philip Pacini, Lt John Schramm, Lt Gary Weikel, Capt Barry Walls, Capt Terry Ohlemeier, Maj Howard Corson, Maj Robert Undorf, Lt Col John Denham.
01 OCT 2000:
From DPMO - MIA SERVICEMEN IDENTIFIED FROM MAYAGUEZ INCIDENT
Nine servicemen missing in action from the Vietnam War have been accounted for and their remains returned to their families for burial in the United States. They are identified as Lcpl. Gregory S.Copenhaver, Lcpl. Andres Garcia, Pfc. Walter Boyd, PFC Lynn Blessing, PFC Antonio Sandoval, PFC Kelton R. Turner, all U.S.Marines. Also accounted-for is HN Ronald J. Manning and HM1 Bernard Gause, both Navy Corpsmen and 2Lt. Richard VandeGeer USAF.
On May 12, 1975, Khmer Rouge gunboats captured the SS Mayaguez in the Gulf of Thailand approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Cambodia. The vessel was taken to Koh [island] Tang. Alerted to the capture, U.S. Navy and Air Force aircraft began surveillance flights around the island. After efforts to secure the release of the ship and its crew failed, U.S. military forces were ordered to undertake a rescue mission. Three days after the Mayaguez seizure, six Air Force helicopters were dispatched to the island. One of the helicopters came under heavy enemy fire as it approached the eastern beach of the island. The aircraft crashed into the surf with 26 men on board. Half were rescued at sea, leaving 13 unaccounted-for. The United States, Cambodian and Vietnamese government efforts to resolve the cases of these unaccounted-for servicemen was massive.
This photograph was taken minutes before the helicopter departed, bound for Utapeo. It crashed shortly after takeoff.
Between 1991-99, U.S. and Cambodian investigators conducted seven joint investigations, led by the Joint Task Force-Full Accounting. Additionally, on three occasions Cambodian authorities unilaterally turned over remains believed to be those of American servicemen. In October and November 1995, U.S. and Cambodian specialists conducted an underwater recovery of the helicopter crash site where they located numerous remains, personal effects and aircraft debris associated with the loss. The USS Brunswick, a Navy salvage vessel, enabled the specialists to conduct their excavation off shore. In addition to the support provided by the Cambodian government, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam also interviewed two Vietnamese informants in Ho Chi Minh City who turned over remains that were later positively identified. Analysis of the remains and other evidence was made by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii, which also conducted all the remains recovery operations. The CILHI made extensive use of mitochondrial DNA as one of the forensic identification tools to establish the identity of these men.
Additional Sources: members.tripod.com/~GranzowMissingLinks/POW_MIA.html
www.geocities.com/Pentagon/3227/maya.htm
www.henninger.com
afsf.lackland.af.mil
The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Mayaguez Incident (May 12-16, 1975) - June 12th, 2003
The Services are at their best when they work together like the fingers of your hand.
Shame to loose those men. Good men, never enough good men.
Thinking about Fonda and her ilk, those people have a lot to answer for. Every last crime of the Khmer Rouge, for a start. I don't believe they will find the Judgment Seat of God to their liking.
Read "lose" for "loose".
Notice the two dead Corpsmen. (Hospital Men, they call them nowadays.) Navy guys, take care of hurt Marines.
When I joined the Navy there were many openings for Corpsman school, we were all asked to consider it, as we needed guys to take care of hurt Marines in the field. 1965, that was. I did not go. I have spent twenty years sorrowfully regretting this.
I would have been good at the job. Maybe I could have saved some that did not make it.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on May 20:
1364 Henry Percy [Harry Hotspur], British soldier/politican
1470 Pietro Bembo cardinal/theologian
1743 [François D] Toussaint L'Ouverture (à Breda), leader (Haiti)
1750 Stephen Girard bailed out US bonds during War of 1812
1759 William Thornton architect (Capitol building, Washington DC)
1768 Dolley Dandridge Payne Madison US 1st lady (1809-17)
1772 William Congreve English officer (design fire rocket)
1806 John Stuart Mill UK, philosopher/political economist/Utilitarian
1818 William George Fargo founder (Wells Fargo)
1828 James William Reilly Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1905
1851 Emile Berliner Germany, inventor (flat phonograph record)
1851 Rose Hawthorne Lathrop US, nun/daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne
1881 Wladyslaw Sikorski premier Poland (WWII general)
1889 William Lawther union leader
1899 John M Harlan Chicago IL, 91st Supreme Court justice (1955-71)
1908 Jimmy [James Maitland] Stewart Indiana PA, actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington, It's a Wonderful Life)
1912 Joseph Proce 3rd victim of NYC's Zodiac killer (survives)
1913 William Hewlett cofounder of Hewlett-Packard Co
1915 Moshe Dayan Israeli general/minister of Defense
1919 George Gobel Chicago IL, comedian/TV personality (I Love My Wife)
1927 [Harold] Bud Grant Wisconsin, CFL/NFL player/coach (Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Minnesota Vikings)
1927 David Hedison Providence RI, actor (Colbys, Voyage to Bottom of Sea)
1933 Danny Aiello New York NY, actor (Moonstruck, Do the Right Thing)
1934 Alexei A Leonov cosmonaut (Voskhod 2, Apollo-Soyuz)
1936 Anthony Zerbe Long Beach CA, actor (Harry-O, Centennial, They Call Me Mr Tibbs)
1937 Lord "Benjie" Earl of Iveagh British brewer (Guinness)/large landowner
1942 Jill "Paula" Jackson McCamey TX, singer (Paul & Paula-Hey Paula)
1944 David M Walker Columbus GA, Captain USN/astronaut (STS 51-A 30, 53, 69)
1944 Joe Cocker Sheffield England, rock vocalist (You are so Beautiful, Little Help From My Friends)
1945 Nikolai Nikolayevich Fefelov Russian colonel/cosmonaut
1946 Cher [Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierre] El Centro CA, rocker/actress (I Got You Babe, Jack Lalane, Mask)
1949 Dave Thomas St Catharines Ontario, comedian (SCTV, Grace Under Fire)
1951 Thomas D Akers St Louis MO, Major USAF/astronaut (STS 41, 49, 61, 79)
1958 Ronald Prescot Reagan Los Angeles CA, President's son/TV host (Ron Reagan Show)
1959 Bronson Pinchot New York NY, actor (Perfect Strangers, Beverly Hills Cop)
1962 Lydia Cheng New York NY, Ms Big Apple bodybuilder (1982) (Pumping Iron 2)
1963 David Wells Torrance CA, pitcher (Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees)
1964 Paul W Richards Scranton PA, astronaut
1966 Lawyer Tillman NFL tight end (Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers)
1969 Suzanne Lawrence Humble TX, Miss Texas-America (1991) (4th)
Deaths which occurred on May 20:
1277 John XXI [Petrus Juliani/Hispanus] Port Pope (1276-77), dies
1444 Bernardinus van Siena Italian saint, dies at 63
1471 Henry VI king of England (1422-61, 70-71)/France (1431-71), dies
1506 Christopher Columbus explorer, dies in poverty in Spain at 55
1622 Osman II sultan of Turkey (1618-22), dies
1648 Wladyslaw IV Wasa King of Poland, dies
1795 Ignác Martinovics Hungarian physicist/revolutionary, beheaded
1834 Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert de Motier Marquis de Lafayette French general/Revolutionary War Patriot, dies
1896 Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann composer/pianist, dies at 76
1956 Max Beerbohm caricturist/writer (Yet Again), dies
1959 Alfred Schutz Austrian/US architect/philosopher, dies at 60
1972 Cornelis J van der Klauw Dutch biologist/zoologist, dies at 78
1972 Walter Winchell columnist/muckraker/narrator (Untouchables), dies at 75
1989 Gilda Radner comedienne (Saturday Night Live, Haunted Honeymoon), dies of ovarian cancer at 42
1993 Max Klein inventor (paint by numbers), dies at 77
1996 John Pertwee actor (Dr Who), dies at 76
1996 Lewis B Combs naval commander/civil engineer, dies at 101
2000 Jean-Pierre Rampal, (classical flutist) dies at 78
2002 Steven Jay Gould (60), polymath, paleontologist and writer
GWOT Casualties
Iraq
20-May-2004 3 | US: 3 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant 1st Class Troy "Leon" Miranda Baghdad (Hipha Street) Hostile - hostile fire - grenade
US Corporal Rudy Salas Al Anbar Province (westernmost part) Non-hostile - vehicle accident
US Private 1st Class Leslie D. Jackson Baghdad Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack
Afghanistan
A Good Day
http://icasualties.org/oif/ Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White
On this day...
0325 1st Christian ecumenical council opens at Nicæa, Asia Minor
0526 Earthquake kills 250,000 in Antioch, Syria
1293 Earthquake strikes Kamakura Japan, 30,000 killed
1303 Treaty of Paris restores Gascony to British in Hundred Years War
1310 Shoes were made for both right & left feet
1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calcutta India
1521 Ignatius Loyola seriously wounded by a cannon ball
1571 Venice, Spain & Pope Pius form anti-Turkish Saint League
1631 German army under earl Johann Tilly conquerors Maagdenburg
1639 Dorchester MA, forms 1st school funded by local taxes
1690 England passes Act of Grace, forgiving followers of James II
1704 Elias Neau forms school for slaves in New York
1734 1st Jockey Club forms in South Carolina
1775 Citizens of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina declare independence of Britain
1784 England & Netherlands signs peace treaty (Peace of Paris)
1825 Charles X becomes King of France
1830 1st railroad timetable published in newspaper (Baltimore American)
1861 Cornerstone of University of Washington laid in Seattle
1861 Kentucky proclaims its neutrality in Civil War
1861 North Carolina becomes 11th & last state to secede from Union
1864 Battle at Ware Bottom Church VA, 1,400 killed or injured
1864 Spotsylvania-campaign ends after 10,920 killed/injured person
1867 British parliament rejects John Stuart Mills law on women suffrage
1867 Royal Albert Hall foundation laid by Queen Victoria
1868 Republican National Convention, meets in Chicago, nominates Grant
1874 Levi Strauss markets blue jeans with copper rivets, price $13.50 doz
1875 International Bureau of Weights & Measures established by treaty
1882 St Gotthard-railroad tunnel between Switzerland & Italy opens
1892 George Sampson patents clothes dryer
1892 Triple Alliance between Germany, Italy & Austria-Hungary forms
1895 1st commercial movie performance (153 Broadway, NYC)
1902 US military occupation of Cuba (since Jan 1, 1899) ends
1910 Funeral for Britain's King Edward VII
1916 Codell KS hit by tornado (also on same date in 1917 & 1918) (maybe someone's trying to tell them something)
1916 Saturday Evening Post cover features Norman Rockwell painting
1917 Turkish Government authorizes Jews to return to Tel Aviv & Jaffa
1918 1st electrically propelled warship (the New Mexico)
1919 Volcano Keluit on Java, erupts killing 550
1920 Policemen raid the Cubs' bleachers & arrest 24 fans for gambling
1923 Stanley Baldwin, becomes PM of UK
1926 Congress passes Air Commerce Act, licensing of pilots & planes
1926 Railway Labor Act became law
1926 Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies
1927 At 7:40 AM, Lindbergh takes off from New York to cross Atlantic for Paris
1927 Saudi Arabia becomes independent of Great Britain (Treaty of Jedda)
1930 1st airplane catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot
1930 University of California dedicates $1,500 to research on prevention & cure of athlete's foot
1932 Amelia Earhart leaves Newfoundland 1st woman fly solo across Atlantic
1932 Engelbert Dollfuss becomes chancellor of Austria
1939 "3 Little Fishies" by Kay Kyser hits #1
1939 Pan Am begins regular transatlantic airmail and passenger service across the North Atlantic
1940 General Guderians tanks reach The Channel
1940 Igor Sikorsky unveils his helicopter invention
1940 Trailing 7-1 in the 9th to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia wins 8-7
1941 Germany invades Crete
1941 White Sox Taft Wright sets American League record of RBIs in 13 consecutive games
1943 French, British & US victory parade in Tunis Tunisia
1944 US Communist Party dissolves
1946 Cubs Claude Passeau makes his 1st error since September 21, 1941, ending pitcher's fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances
1948 1st use of Israeli Air Force & 1st war victory, defeating Syrian army
1948 Cleveland Indians tie American League record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)
1954 Chiang Kai-shek becomes president of Nationalist China
1955 Argentine parliament accepts separation of church & state
1959 Ford wins battle with Chrysler to call its new car "Falcon"
1959 Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship
1959 Yankees sink to last place, 1st time since May 25, 1940
1961 White mob attacks "Freedom Riders" in Montgomery AL
1963 Sukarno appointed President of Indonesia
1964 Buster Mathis defeats Joe Frazier to qualify for US Olympic team
1967 10,000 demonstrate against war in Vietnam
1969 US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill Vietnam
1970 100,000 march in New York supporting US policies in Vietnam
1971 Pentagon reports blacks constitute 11% of US soldiers in SE Asia
1978 3 PFLP members kill a cop near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris France
1978 US launches Pioneer Venus 1; produces 1st global radar map of Venus
1980 710 families in Love Canal area (Niagara Falls NY) are evacuated
1980 Drummer Peter Criss quits Kiss
1980 In a referendum, 59.5% of Québec voters reject separatism
1983 Larry Holmes beats Tim Witherspoon in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1985 FBI arrests John A Walker Jr, convicted of spying for USSR
1985 Israel exchanges 1150 Lebanese/Palestinian prisoners for 3 Israeli soldiers
1986 Flintstones 25th Anniversary Celebration airs on CBS-tv
1987 Wrestler Jerry Lawler sues WWF &"Handsome" Harley Race for trademark name "king"
1989 China declares martial law in Beijing
1989 Walter McConnel, 57, is oldest to reach 27,000' Mount Everest top
1990 Hubble Space Telescope sends 1st photographs from space
1991 Soviet parliament approves law allowing citizens to travel abroad
1992 India launches its 1st satellite independently
1993 274th & final "Cheers" on NBC
1994 Bobcat Goldthwait charged with misdemeanors for fire on Tonight Show
1995 CBS News fires co-anchor Connie Chung
1995 Twins Marty Cordova ties rookie record of homeruns in 5 consecutive games
1997 Cosmos Zenit-2 Launch (Russia), Failed
1997 Thor-2A Delta 2 Launch (Norway/USA), Successful
1997 White Sox Frank Thomas reaches base safely for 15th straight time
1998 The government unveiled the design for the new $20 bill, featuring a larger and slightly off-center portrait of Andrew Jackson
1999 Robbie Knievel (37) jumps a 200-foot-wide chasm over the Grand Canyon with his motorcycle
2002 East Timor, (pop 800,000), celebrates independence
2004 Four Saudi terrorists and a policeman were killed in a shootout the Saudi city of Buraida.
Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Bulgaria : Botev Day
Cambodia : Martyrs Day (1979)
Cameroon : Constitution Day (1972)
Cuba-1902, Saudi Arabia-1927 : Independence Day
Massachusetts : Lafayette Day (1834-anniversary of his death)
North Carolina : Mecklenburg Day (1775)
Zaïre : Revolution Day
National : Bike to Work Week (Day 5)
National : Pickle Week (Day 5)
National Waitresses Day
National Salad Month
Religious Observances
Anglican : Commemoration of Alcuin, deacon & abbot of Tours
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Bernardine of Siena, priest (optional)
Christian : Solemnity of the Ascension
Religious History
1530 German reformer Martin Luther wrote in a letter: 'God's friendship is a bigger comfort than that of the whole world.'
1690 Death of John Eliot, 86, colonial missionary to the American Indians of Maryland. Eliot arrived in America from England in 1631; by 1663 he had translated the entire Bible into the Algonquin Indian language.
1754 Columbia University in New York City was chartered as King's College, under sponsorship of the Episcopal Church. The institution adopted its present name in 1896.
1878 William R. Featherstone died at the age of 32. A Canadian Methodist who spent his life in Montreal, it was Featherstone who authored the hymn, "My Jesus, I Love Thee."
1937 Following a lifelong call to establish a worldwide evangelistic ministry to children, missions pioneer Jesse Overholtzer, 59, founded Child Evangelism Fellowship, in Chicago.
Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.
Thought for the day :
"A behaviorist is someone who pulls habits out of rats."
Godfrey Davis, who wrote a biography of the Duke of Wellington, said, "I found an old account ledger that showed how the Duke spent his money. It was a far better clue to what he thought was really important than the reading of his letters or speeches."