The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Operation Eagle Claw (4/24/1980)

The plan was this:

On the first night, six Air Force C-130s carrying 132 Delta commandos, Army Rangers, and support personnel and the helicopter fuel would fly from the island of Masirah, off the coast of Oman, more than 1,000 miles to Desert One, being refueled in flight from Air Force KC-135 tankers.

Eight Navy RH-53Ds would lift off the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz, about 50 miles south of the Iranian coast, and fly more than 600 miles to Desert One.

After refueling, the helicopters would carry the rescue force to a hideout in hills about 50 miles southeast of Tehran, then fly to a separate hiding spot nearby. The C-130s would return to Masirah, being refueled in flight again.

The next night, Delta would be driven to the embassy in vehicles obtained by the agents. A team of Rangers would go to rescue the three Americans held in the foreign ministry.

As the ground units were freeing the hostages, the helicopters would fly from their hiding spot to the embassy and the foreign ministry.

Three Air Force AC-130 gunships would arrive overhead to protect the rescue force from any Iranian counterattack and to destroy the jet fighters at the Tehran airport.

The choppers would fly the rescue force and the freed hostages to an abandoned air base at Manzariyeh, about 50 miles southwest of Tehran, which was to be seized and protected by a Ranger company flown in on C-130s.

The helicopters would be destroyed and C-141s, flown in from Saudi Arabia, would then fly the entire group to a base in Egypt.

"Now a Reality"

After five months of planning, organizing, training, and a series of increasingly complex rehearsals, Kyle recalled: "The ability to rescue our people being held hostage, which didn't exist on Nov. 4, 1979, was now a reality."

The team still needed Carter's permission to execute.

Although the shah had moved to Panama and then to Egypt, the 53 Americans remained hostages and the public was getting impatient. Finally, in a White House meeting of his top advisors on April 11, Carter gave up on diplomacy. "I told everyone that it was time for us to bring our hostages home; their safety and our national honor were at stake," Carter said in his memoirs.

Five days later, Jones, Vaught, and Beckwith briefed Carter at the White House on the plans for the rescue mission and expressed their confidence in their ability to pull it off.

Beckwith recalled that Carter told them: "I do not want to undertake this operation, but we have no other recourse. ... We're going to do this operation."

Carter then told Jones, "This is a military operation; you will run it. ... I don't want anyone else in this room involved."

The audacious operation was code-named "Eagle Claw." The target date was April 24-25.

Almost immediately, forces began to move to their jump-off points. By April 24, 44 aircraft were poised at six widely separated locations to perform or support the rescue mission. The RH-53s already were on Nimitz, where they had been stored with minimal care for months, but a frantic effort brought them up to what Seiffert and Navy officials insisted was top mechanical condition by launch day.

Beckwith and Seiffert had agreed that they would need a minimum of six flyable helicopters at Desert One for the mission to continue. Beckwith had asked for 10 helos on the carrier to cover for possible malfunctions, but the Navy claimed they could not store more than eight on the hangar deck.

Delta and many of the Air Force aircraft staged briefly at a Russian-built airfield at Wadi Qena, Egypt, which would serve as Vaught's headquarters for the mission. While at Wadi Qena on April 23, the task force received an intelligence report that all 53 hostages were being held in the embassy's chancery. Because he was not told the solid source of that information, Beckwith did not trust it enough to reduce his assault force, which may have been a critical decision.

The next day, with Delta Force and support elements on Masirah and the helicopter crews on Nimitz, Vaught received the final weather report. It promised the virtually clear weather that the mission required.

"Execute Mission"

Vaught sent a message to all units: "Execute mission as planned. God speed."

"There was cheering, and fists were jammed into the air with thumbs up. ... This was an emotional high for all of us," Kyle wrote.

That emotional high would crash into despair in about 12 hours.

The mission started in the twilight of April 24 with barely a hitch. Kyle and Beckwith flew out of Masirah on the lead MC-130 Combat Talon with some of the Delta troopers and an Air Force combat controller team. At about the same time, Seiffert led the helicopter force--given the call sign of "Bluebird"--from Nimitz and headed to the Iranian coast, 60 miles away.

The choppers had been fitted with two advanced navigation systems, but the pilots found them unreliable and were relying mainly on visual navigation as they cruised along at 200 feet. "We were fat, dumb, and happy," Seiffert recalled.

About 100 miles into Iran, the Talon ran into a thin cloud that reduced visibility but was not a problem at its cruise altitude of 2,000 feet. The cloud was a mass of suspended dust, called a "haboob," common to the Iranian desert. Air Force weather experts supporting the mission knew it was a possibility but apparently never told the mission pilots. Kyle said he considered sending a warning to the helicopters but decided it was not significant.

When the MC-130 ran into a much thicker cloud later, he did try to alert Seiffert, but the message never got through. It was just one of the communications glitches that would plague the mission.

The dust cloud that was a minor irritation to the Combat Talon became an extended torture for the helicopter pilots, who were trying to fly formation and visually navigate at 200 feet while wearing the crude night vision goggles. Visibly shaken Marine fliers later told Beckwith and Kyle the hours in the milk-like dust cloud were the worst experience of their lives, which for some included combat in Vietnam.

Things had started to go wrong even before the dust cloud.

Less than two hours into the flight, a warning light came on in the cockpit of Bluebird Six. The indicator, called the Blade Inspection Method, or BIM, warned of a possible leak of the pressurized nitrogen that filled the Sea Stallion's hollow rotors. In the H-53 models the Marines were used to flying, the BIM indicator usually meant a crack in one of the massive blades, which had caused rotor failures and several fatal crashes in the past. As a result, Marine H-53 pilots were trained to land quickly after a BIM warning.

The Navy's RH-53s, however, had newer BIM systems that usually did not foretell a blade failure. To that date, no RH-53 had experienced a blade break and the manufacturer had determined that the helicopter could fly safely for up to 79 hours at reduced speed after a BIM alert.

Down to Seven

However, the pilots of Bluebird Six did not know that. Thinking the craft unsafe to fly, the crew abandoned it in the desert and jumped aboard a helicopter that had landed to help.

The mission was down to seven helicopters.

Further inland, the remaining choppers were struggling with the dust cloud, which dropped visibility to yards and sent the cockpit temperature soaring. Although all the pilots were having difficulty, Bluebird Five was really suffering as progressive electrical system failures took away most of the pilot's essential flight and navigation instruments. The pilot, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Rodney Davis, "was flying partial panel, needle-ball, wet compass--a real vertigo inducer," Seiffert said.

Fighting against the unnerving effects of vertigo-when your inner ear tells you the aircraft is turning while your eyes tell you it is not-and unaware of the location of the other helicopters or the weather at Desert One, Davis decided to turn back.

Davis did not know that he was about 25 minutes from clear air, which prevailed all the way to Desert One, because everyone was maintaining strict radio silence to avoid detection.

The mission now was down to the minimum six helicopters.

Meanwhile, the lead C-130 had landed at Desert One, and Beckwith's commandos had raced out to block the dirt road that traversed the site.

Within minutes, they stopped a bus with 44 persons at one end of the site and at the opposite end had to fire an anti-tank round into a gas tanker truck that refused to stop. The driver of the tanker leaped from his burning vehicle and escaped in a pickup that was following.

Despite fears the mission might be compromised, the combat controllers quickly installed a portable navigation system and runway lights to guide the other mission aircraft to Desert One.

Soon, the remainder of Delta Force was on the ground and the three EC-130s were positioned to refuel the helicopters, which were supposed to arrive 20 minutes later.

But, as Kyle discovered months later, someone had miscalculated the choppers' flight time by 55 minutes and the first Bluebird was more than an hour away. Finally, the Sea Stallions lumbered in from the dark, coming in ones and twos, instead of a formation, and from different directions.

After considerable anxiety, the count was up to six helicopters on the ground at Desert One and the hopes for a successful rescue soared again.

But as the helicopters struggled through unexpected deep sand to get into position behind the tankers, one shut down its engines.

Bluebird Two had suffered a complete failure of its secondary hydraulic system, which was unrepairable and left it with minimal pressure for its flight controls. Although the pilot appeared willing to try taking his sick bird on to the hideout, Seiffert overruled him.

Kyle tried to talk Seiffert into taking the helo on, but he refused, warning that flying with the one system at such heavy weight and high temperature could result in a control lockup and a crash that would kill not only the crew but the Delta commandos on board. Kyle then asked Beckwith if he could reduce his assault force to go with five choppers, but he was equally adamant about not changing his plans.

Failure of Eagle Claw

It seemed clear the mission had to be aborted.

Kyle informed Vaught of the situation by satellite radio and the task force commander relayed that to Jones and the Secretary of Defense, Harold Brown, at the Pentagon. When the word got to the White House, Carter asked Brown to get Beckwith's opinion. Told that Beckwith felt it necessary to abort, Carter said: "Let's go with his recommendation."

Eagle Claw had failed and the tense anticipation of success drained into frustration and anger.

Now Kyle was left with the unrehearsed job of getting everyone out of Iran. Because of the extended time on the ground, one of the C-130s was running low on fuel and had to leave soon. To allow that tanker to move, Kyle directed Marine Maj. James Schaefer to reposition his helicopter. With a flattened nose wheel, Schaefer could not taxi and tried to lift off to move his bird, stirring a blinding dust cloud.

As Kyle watched in horror, the helo slid sideways, slicing into the C-130 with its spinning rotors and igniting a raging fire. Red-hot chunks of metal flamed across the sky as munitions in both aircraft torched off.

Some of the Delta commandos had boarded the C-130 and they came tumbling out the side door as the Air Force loadmasters and senior soldiers tried to stop a spreading panic. Men were helping the injured away from the inferno.

The projectiles ejecting from the flaming wreckage were hitting the three nearby helicopters and their crews quickly fled.

Many of the people at Desert One that night credit Kyle with restoring order to the chaotic scene and getting all the living men and salvageable equipment out safely. But in the flaming funeral pyre of Eagle Claw's shattered hopes, they left the bodies of eight brave men.

On the departing C-130s, Delta medics treated four badly burned men, including Schaefer, his copilot, and two airmen. "We left a lot of hopes and dreams back there at Desert One, but the nightmares and despair were coming with us ... and would continue to haunt us for years, maybe forever," Kyle wrote later.

Holloway's Investigation

Although Carter went on television the next day to announce the failure of the mission and to accept the blame, Congress and the Pentagon launched inquiries to determine the reasons for the tragedy. The Pentagon probe was handled by a board of three retired and three serving flag officers representing all four services; it was led by retired Adm. James L. Holloway III. The commission's report listed 23 areas "that troubled us professionally about the mission-areas in which there appeared to be weaknesses."

"We are apprehensive that the critical tone of our discussion could be misinterpreted as an indictment of the able and brave men who planned and executed this operation. We encountered not a shred of evidence of culpable neglect or incompetence," the report said.

The commission concluded that the concept and plan for the mission were feasible and had a reasonable chance for success.

But, it noted, "the rescue mission was a high-risk operation. ... People and equipment were called upon to perform at the upper limits of human capacity and equipment capability. There was little margin to compensate for mistakes or plain bad luck."

The major criticism was of the "ad hoc" nature of the task force, a chain of command the commission felt was unclear, and an emphasis on operational secrecy it found excessive.

The commission also said the chances for success would have been improved if more backup helicopters had been provided, if a rehearsal of all mission components had been held, and if the helicopter pilots had had better access to weather information and the data on the RH-53s' BIM warning system.

And it suggested that Air Force helicopter pilots might have been better qualified for the mission.

However, the report also said, "The helicopter crews demonstrated a strong dedication toward mission accomplishment by their reluctance to abort under unusually difficult conditions." And it concluded that, "two factors combined to directly cause the mission abort: an unexpected helicopter failure rate and the low-visibility flight conditions en route to Desert One."

Beckwith openly blamed the helicopter pilots immediately after the mission. However, in his critique to the Senate Armed Services Committee, he attributed the failure to Murphy's Law and the use of an ad hoc organization for such a difficult mission. "We went out and found bits and pieces, people and equipment, brought them together occasionally, and then asked them to perform a highly complex mission," he said. "The parts all performed, but they didn't necessarily perform as a team."

He recommended creating an organization that, in essence, was the prototype of the Special Operations Command that Congress mandated in 1986.

Kyle, in his book on the mission, rejected the Holloway commission's conclusions and basically blamed Seiffert and the helicopter pilots for not climbing out of the dust cloud, for not using their radios to keep the formation intact, and for the three helicopter aborts.

He argued that the task force never had less than seven flyable helicopters. All that was lacking, he wrote, was "the guts to try."

Seiffert praised Beckwith and Kyle as professional warriors but disagreed with their criticism of him and his helicopter pilots. He equated his decision to ground the chopper with the failed hydraulic system to Beckwith's refusal to cut his assault force, and he refused to second-guess the two pilots who had aborted earlier.

Seiffert said he was confident that, had they gotten to Tehran, the mission would have succeeded. Kyle was equally certain, writing that: "It is my considered opinion that we came within a gnat's eyebrow of success."

Beckwith wrote in his memoirs that he had recurring nightmares after Desert One. However, he noted, "In none have I ever dreamed whether the mission would have been successful or not."

A six-member commission was appointed by the JCS to study the operation. Headed by Adm James L. Holloway III, the panel included Gen LeRoy Manor, who commanded the earlier Son Tay raid.

One issue investigated was selection of aircrew. Navy and Marine pilots with little experience in long-range overland navigation or refueling from C-130s were selected though more than a hundred qualified Air Force H-53 pilots were available.

Another issue was the lack of a comprehensive readiness evaluation and mission rehearsal program. From the beginning, training was not conducted in a truly joint manner; it was compartmented and held at scattered locations throughout the US. The limited rehearsals that were conducted assessed only portions of the total mission.

Also at issue was the number of helicopters used. The commission concluded that at least ten and perhaps as many as twelve helicopters should have been launched to guarantee the minimum of six required for completion of the mission.

The plan was also criticized for using the "hopscotch" method of ground refueling instead of air refueling as was used for the Son Tay raid. By air refueling en route, the commission thought the entire Desert One scenario could have been avoided.

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On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on April 24:
1538 Gugliemo Gonzaga composer
1576 San Vicente de Paúl
1594 Benedikt Lechler composer
1620 John Graunt statistician, founder of science of demography
1660 Cornelis Dusart Dutch painter/engraver
1670 Christian Ludwig Boxberg composer
1706 Giovanni Battista Martini composer
1721 Johann Philipp Kirnberger German composer, baptised
1742 Roman Hoffstetter composer
1743 Edmund Cartwright England, cleric, inventor (power loom)
1750 Simon-Antoine-Jean Lhuillier Swiss mathematician
1766 Robert Bailey Thomas founded Farmer's Almanac
1769 Arthur Wellesley General/Duke of Wellington
1773 Harman W Muntinghe lawyer/Dutch colonial director
1791 Nikolaj A Bestuzhev Russia, writer/painter (Account about Holland)
1796 K L Immermann writer
1804 Thomas Oliver Selfridge Commander (Union Navy)
1807 Charles Ferguson Smith Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1814 Angela Burdett-Coutts philanthropist extrordinaire
1814 Vincente F López Argentina historian (La Novia del Hereje)
1815 Anthony Trollope England, novelist/poet (Barchester Towers)
1815 James Edward Harrison Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1875
1822 Erastus Barnard Tyler Brevet Major General (Union volunteers)
1824 Fournier Swiss/French postage stamp forger
1828 Robert Brank Vance Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1899
1829 George Peabody Estey Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1881
1836 Jeltje de Bosch Kemper Dutch feminist
1837 Friedrich von Holstein German diplomat (die graue Eminenz)
1845 Carl Spitteler Switzerland, poet (Prometheus & Epimetheus/Nobel 1919)
1849 Joseph S Galliéni General (Battle of Marne)/military governor (Paris)
1851 Eduardo Acevedo Díaz Uruguaian writer (Ismael, Grito de Gloria)
1856 Henri POBJ Pétain French marshal (Verdun/Vichy regime)
1864 George Alting van Geusau Director-General (PTT)/Dutch Minister of War (1918-20)
1867 Fannie Thomas became oldest known American (113 y 273 d at death)
1873 Theodor Körner von Siegringen Austrian General/President
1874 John Russell Pope US, architect (Jefferson Memorial)
1874 Willem E Roelofs Dutch painter/cartoonist
1875 Jeno Huszka composer
1877 Charles Cuvillier composer
1883 Jaroslav Hasek Czechoslovakia, writer (Brave soldier Schweik) [or April 30]
1886 Kurt Pinthus writer
1886 R Pelgrom oldest Dutch man (died Apr 15, 1994, 9 days short of 108)
1889 [Richard] Stafford Cripps English Minister of Plane-manufacturing (1942-45)
1892 Jack Hulbert Ely England, actor (Into the Blue, Bulldog Jack)
1893 Robert Harron New York NY, actor (Birth of a Nation, Intolerance)
1895 S Constantine Timoshenko Russian marshal/people's commissioner
1897 Benjamin Lee Whorf linguist (or 1797)
1897 Gyorgy Kosa composer
19-- Colleen Quinn actress (Carly Rescott-Loving)
19-- John Vargas actor (Lorenzo Delgado-Primary Colors)
1903 Mike Michalske NFL guard (New York Yankees, Green Bay Packers)
1903 José A Primo de Rivera y Saénz de Heredia founder (Spanish Falange)
1903 Siegfried F Nadel Austrian/British anthropologist (Black Byzantium)
1904 Friedrich Siemens German industrialist (Siemens), dies
1904 Willem De Kooning Rotterdam Netherlands, artist (North Atlantic Light)
1905 Robert Penn Warren 1st US poet laureate (All the King's Men)
1907 Vaclav Trojan composer
1909 Bernhard Grzimek zoologist (West Germany)
1909 Irven Spence animator
1911 Jack E Leonard Chicago IL, comedian (Disorderly Orderly)
1911 Karl O Schiller German economist (Minister of Economics)
1911 Robert Joseph Kane Ithaca NY, President of US Olympic Committee (1976)
1911 Sigursveinn David Kristinsson composer
1914 Bernard Caulfield judge
1914 Justin Wilson cajun chef (Wise Potato Chips)
1914 Ruth White Perth Amboy NJ, actress (Up the Down Staircase)
1916 Stanley Kauffmann New York NY, playwright (Red Handkerchief Man)
1917 Len Creed bookmaker
1921 Laci Boldemann composer
1922 J D Cannon Salmon ID, actor (McCloud, Ike, Call to Glory)
1924 Marilyn Erskine Rochester NY, actor (Fran-Tom Ewell Show)
1924 Yehoshua Lakner composer
1927 Josy Barthel Luxembourg, 1500 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1952)
1927 Pasqualino de Santis cinematographer
1927 Patrick Bowles writer/translator
1928 Gustav Krivinka composer
1929 Ferit Tuzun composer
1930 Conn Findlay Stockton CA, coxswain (Olympics-2 gold/bronze-56, 64, 76)
1931 Bridget Riley British painter (op-art)
1932 Coen[rad] Flink Dutch actor (Pastorale 1943, Havinck, Honneponnetje)
1933 Freddie Scott US songwriter/singer (Cry to Me)
1934 John Barbour Toronto Ontario Canada, TV host (Real People)
1934 Shirley MacLaine Richmond VA, actress/mystic (Irma la Douce)
1935 Louis Keith Chicago IL, physician (expert on multiple-births)
1936 Jill Ireland London, actress (Breakout, Assassination, Chino)
1940 David Larter cricketer (two-metre tall England pace bowler)
1941 John Williams Melbourne Australia, guitarist (Academy Award)
1942 Barbra [Joan] Streisand Brooklyn NY, singer/actress/award winner (Funny Girl, The Way We Were)
1942 Richard M Daley (mayor-Democrat-Chicago)
1942 Valeri Abramovich Voloshin Russian cosmonaut
1943 Richard Sterban Camden NJ, country singer (Oak Ridge Boys-Elvira)
1944 [Bernard] St Clair Lee [Calhoun] US singer (Rock the Boat)
1945 Doug Clifford Palo Alto CA, rock drummer (Creedence Clearwater Revival-Proud Mary)
1945 Eugene O'Brien composer
1945 Robert Knight Franklin TN, rocker (Everlasting Love)
1946 Bruce Stuart Saylor composer
1947 Glenn Cornick rock bassist (Jethro Tull-Thick as a Brick)
1947 Hubert Ann Kelly US singer (Hues Corporation/Rock the boat)
1948 Benzion Freshwater English multi-millionaire
1948 Eddie James Hart Martinez CA, 4x100 meter relay runner (Olympics-gold-72)
1949 Wilfrido [Radamés] Vargas [Martínez] Altamira Puerto Plata Dominican Republic, Spanish singer (El Barbarazoí)
1951 Andrew John Fairclough trade union educator
1953 Porter Carroll Jr drummer (Atlantic Star-Touch a 4 Leaf Clover)
1953 Eric Bogosian Woburn MA, actor (Talk Radio)
1953 John P Hiler (Representative-Republican-IN, 1981- )
1954 Captain Sensible [Raymond Burns] Balham London England, rocker (Women & Captains First)
1954 Jack Blades rock bassist (Damn Yankees-Coming of Age, Night Ranger)
1954 Vince Ferragamo NFL/CFL quarterback (Los Angeles Rams, Montréal Alouettes)
1955 Jack Kingston (Representative-Republican-GA)
1955 Michael O'Keefe Mount Vernon NY, actor (Caddyshack, Ironweed, Slugger's Wife)
1957 Tricia Lange Hollywood CA, playmate (June 1984)
1958 Fernando Luna Spain, tennis star
1959 Yvonne D Cagle West Point NY, MD/astronaut
1960 Paula Yates London England, Mrs Bob Geldof/rocker/writer (Blondes)
1963 Joey Vera heavy metal rocker (Armored Saint-Aftermath)
1963 Billy Gould Los Angeles CA, rock bassist (Faith No More)
1965 Mike Blowers Wurlzburg Germany, infielder (New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers)
1966 Margashayam Venkataramana cricketer (Indian off-spinner 1989)
1966 Pascale Paradis-Mangon France, tennis star
1966 Theo Adams WLAF tackle (Frankfurt Galaxy)
1967 Dino Radja NBA forward (Boston Celtics)
1967 Leslie M Marx Fort Belvoir VA, fencer-epee (Olympics-96)
1967 Pam[ela] Bustin Somerset MA, field hockey defender (Olympics-96)
1968 Aaron Comes rocker (Spin Doctors)
1968 Mark Vanderloo Waddenveen Netherlands, model
1968 Todd Jones Marietta GA, pitcher (Houston Astros)
1968 Tracy Gravely CFL linebacker (Montréal Alouettes)
1970 Damien Fleming Australian cricket pace bowler (hat-trick on Test debut)
1970 Emanuela Zardo Switzerland, tennis star
1971 Jeff Brohm quarterback (San Francisco 49ers)
1971 Ken Klee Indianapolis IN, NHL defenseman (Washington Capitals)
1971 Kumara Dharmasena cricketer (Sri Lankan off-spinner)
1971 Phil Rogers Adelaide SA Australia, 100 meter breaststroker (Olympics-bronze-92, 96)
1972 Chipper Jones Deland FL, infielder (Atlanta Braves)
1972 Jamie Brown NFL tackle (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1972 Nicolas Gill Montréal Québec Canada, 86kg judoka (Olympics-bronze-92, 96)
1973 Eric Snow NBA guard (Philadelphia 76ers, Seattle Supersonics)
1973 Jamie Brown NFL tackle (Denver Broncos)
1973 Mark Babic Australian soccer defender (Olyroos, Olympics-96)
1973 Melissa Short Kaaawa HI, Miss Hawaii-America (Top 10-1997)
1973 Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar cricketer (prodigy at 16, Indian captain at 23)
1973 Ville Peltonen hockey forward (Team Finland Olympics-bronze-1998)
1974 Jared Tomich defensive end (New Orleans Saints)
1974 Marc Collins NFL punter (Seattle Seahawks)
1974 Toine Rorije soccer player (Go Ahead Eagles)
1975 Justin Boocock Launceston Australia, canoeist (Olympics-96)
1975 Michael Stewart NBA center (Sacramento Kings)
1976 Shane McDermott actor (Garrett Booth-Swan's Crossing)
1976 Sonya Jeyaseelan Newestminster British Columbia Canada, tennis star (1995 Futures Florida)
1977 Ryan Mitchell Port Augusta SA Australia, swimmer (Olympics-96)
1987 Michael [Mickey] Tylo son of US actor Michael Tylo/actress [Deborah] Hunter Tylo
1992 Sean Rademaker actor (Kirkland Harrison-Another World)

Deaths which occurred on April 24:
0709 Wilfried bishop of York, dies at about 76
0729 Egbert[us] English bishop/saint, dies in Iona at 89
1077 Geza I King of Hungary (1074-7), dies
1185 Antoku Taira emperor of Japan (1180-85), drowns
1530 Jacopo Sannazaro Italian poet (De partu Virginis), dies
1617 Carlo Concino French marquis of Ancre/state advisor, murdered
1731 Daniel Defoe English novelist (Robinson Crusoe), dies
1758 Florian Wrastill composer, dies at 41
1776 Carolus van de Abeele Flemish Jesuit, dies at 84
1776 Giuseppi Paolucci composer, dies at 49
1824 Herman Muntinghe theologist (History of Mankind), dies at 71
1827 Pierre Joseph Candielle composer, dies at 82
1848 François van Campenhout Belgian composer (Brabançonne), dies at 69
1850 Louis Alexandre Piccinni composer, dies at 70
1855 Walenty Karol Kratzer composer, dies at 75
1875 Jose Maria de la Purificacion Ventura composer, dies at 58
1891 Count Helmuth K B von Moltke Prussian General/fieldmarshal, dies
1900 George J D Campbell British minister of Indies (1868-74, 80-85), dies at 76
1904 Friedrich Siemens German industrial, dies at 77
1912 Justin M'Carthy politician/novelist (Miss Misanthrope), dies at 81
1917 Oskar Blumenthal writer, dies
1922 Richard Batka composer, dies at 53
1924 George Street English cricket wicket keeper (1 Test 1923), dies
1928 Ferdinand B Hummel composer, dies at 72
1935 Paul Klengel composer, dies at 80
1936 Alphons Diepenbrock composer, dies at 73
1936 Bernard van Dieren composer, dies at 51
1939 John Foulds composer, dies at 58
1943 Gerardus H de Hare socialist vicar, dies at 63
1945 Anton de Kom Suriname resistance fighter, dies at 47
1945 Hubert Bath composer, dies at 61
1948 Joseph Wihtol composer, dies at 84
1948 Manuel Marua Ponce Mexican composer (Ferial), dies at 65
1948 Rosita Marstini actress (I Cover Waterfront, Big Parade), dies at 54
1952 Hans [Hendrik A] Kramers physicist (quantum mechanics), dies at 57
1952 Jules Poncelet Belgian minister of State, dies at 82
1955 Alfred Polgar Austrian writer/theater critic, dies at 79
1956 Albrecht G Alt German theologist (Small Schriften), dies at 72
1956 Henry Stephenson actor (Conquest, Mr Lucky), dies at 85
1957 Andries CD de Graeff Governor-General of Netherlands Indies (1926-31), dies at 84
1959 Jef van Hoof composer, dies at 72
1960 John P "John" Musch actor/founder (JM), dies at 84
1961 Lee Moran actor (Circus Clown), dies of heart ailment at 72
1965 Louise Dresser actress (State Fair, Ship Comes In, Mammy), dies at 86
1967 Frank Overton actor (12 O'Clock High), dies at 48
1967 Vladimir M Komarov cosmonaut (Voshkod I), is 1st to die in space, aboard Soyuz 1 at 40
1968 Norman McKaye actor (Untamed Fury, Frogman), dies at 62
1968 Tommy Noonan actor (Gentlemen Perfer Blondes), dies at 45
1974 Bud Abbott comedian (Abbott & Costello), dies at 78
1975 William Hartnell actor (Jackpot, This Sporting Life), dies at 67
1976 Mark Tobey US abstract painter, (Broadway Norm), dies at 85
1979 John Carroll actor (Hired Wife, Fiesta, Geraldine), dies at 72
1980 Alentejo Carpentier Cuban/Fren writer (Guerra del Tiempo), dies at 75
1985 Sergei Yutkevich Russian director, (Otello, Banya), dies at 80
1986 Wallis Warfield Simpson (Duchess of Windsor) dies
1986 Bessie Wallis Warfield Simpson (Edward abdicated for her), dies at 89
1986 Bill Edrich cricketer (39 Tests for England), dies
1988 E S "Bob" Newson cricketer (South African fast bowler in 1930's), dies
1990 Joseph Leberman entertainer, dies
1990 Tom Rolfing actor (He Knows You're Alone, Cliff-Another World), dies
1991 J de Graaf ethicus/president church & peace, dies
1993 Oliver R Tambo chairman (African National Congress), dies at 75
1995 Douglas Gunsekera banker, dies at 77
1996 Donald Cammell film director, dies at 62
1996 Preston Lockwood actor (House of Windsor, Black Candle), dies at 83
1997 Pat Paulsen comedian (Smothers Brothers Show), dies at 69

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 COOPER WILLIAM E. ALBANY GA.

1966 DRISCOLL JERRY D. CHICAGO IL.
02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98

1967 CHRISTIAN MICHAEL D. HUNTSVILLE AL.
03/05/73 RELEASED BY DRV DIED IN FIRE, SEPT 1983, VIRGINIA"

1967 KNAPP HERMAN L. ROSEMONT NJ.

1967 TUCKER EDWIN B. BALDWINVILLE MA.
GOOD CHUTE REMAINS RETURNED 11/25/87 ID 02/88

1967 WILLIAMS LEWIS I. JACKSONVILLE FL.
03/05/73 RELEASED BY DRV "IRV" ALIVE AND WELL 98"

1968 HELLE ROBERT R. TOLEDO OH.
03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98

1968 JOHNSON BUFORD GERALD WINTER GARDEN FL.
09/68 REMAINS RECOVERED

1968 KAVANAUGH ABEL L. DENVER CO.
03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG DECEASED SUICIDE

1968 PARKER WOODROW W. ST PETERSBURG FL.
DEAD REMAINS RETURNED/IDENTIFIED 10/01/98

1968 SPARKS JOHN G. CHATTANOOGA TN.
03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98

1968 VINSON BOBBY G. NEDERLAND TX.
DEAD REMAINS RETURNED /IDENTIFIED 10/01/98

1969 SHRIVER JERRY M. SACRAMENTO CA.

1970 CROSS JAMES E. WARREN OH.

1970 REESE GOMER D. III SCARSDALE NY.

1971 CHAMPION JAMES A. HOUSTON TX .

1971 MALO ISSAKO F. SAN FRANCISCO CA.
03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE 99

1972 CARTER GEORGE W. APOPKA FL.
KIA ON ISLE

1972 ELLEN WADE L. NORFOLK VA.
KIA ON ISLE GLADIATOR 17

1972 HUNSICKER JAMES E. DENVER PA.
KIA ON ISLE GLADIATOR

1972 JONES JOHNNY M. AUBURN AL.
KIA ON ISLE GLADIATOR

1972 YONAN KENNETH J. CHICAGO IL.
"LAST SEEN ON WATER TOWER, REMAINS RET. 04/88" ID 11/88

1972 ZOLLICOFFER FRANKLIN KOSCIUSKO MS.
KIA ON ISLE

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0858 Nicolas I succeeds Benedict III as Catholic Pope
1061 Halley's Comet sparks English monk to predict country'll be destroyed
1185 Battle at Danoura Yoshitsune Minamoto's fleet beats imperial fleet
1288 Jews of Yroyes France are accused of ritual murder
1311 General Malik Kafur returns to Delhi after campaign in South India
1364 Pope Urbabus V names John V van Virneburg as bishop of Utrecht
1524 Duke of Bourbon drives Admiral Bonnivet out of Milan
1547 Battle of Mühlberg Emperor Karel V vs ruler Johan F the Brave
1558 Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland marries French crown prince François
1570 Battles between Spanish troops & followers of sultan Suleiman
1596 Pacificatie of Ireland drawn
1704 "Boston News-Letter", 1st successful newspaper in US, is established
1762 Russia & Prussia signs peace treaty
1792 "La Marseillaise" composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle
1800 Library of Congress is established with $5,000 allocation
1801 1st performance of Joseph Haydn's oratorio "Die Jahreszeiten"
1823 Eugène Scribes "Le Menteur Véridique", premieres in Paris France
1833 Patent granted for 1st soda fountain to Jacob Evert & George Dulty
1854 Austria's Franz Joseph I marries Elisabeth A E "Sissi"
1863 Skirmish at Okolona/Birmingham MS (Grierson's Raid)
1865 Fire alarm & police telegraph system put into operation (San Francisco)
1867 Black demonstrators stage ride-ins on Richmond VA streetcars
1871 Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" is produced (Cairo)
1872 Volcano Vesuvius erupts
1877 Last federal occupying troops withdraw from south (New Orleans)
1877 Russia declares war on Turkey through Romania
1880 Amateur Athletic Association, governing body for men's athletics in England and Wales, is founded in Oxford, England
1883 28 Surinamers depart to Amsterdam World's Fair
1884 National Medical Association of Black physicians organizes (Atlanta GA)
1888 Eastman Kodak forms
1891 Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "Final Problem"
1894 Philadelphia Phillies' Lave Cross hits for the cycle vs Brooklyn Dodgers
1894 French cyclist Henri Desgrange rides 100km in world record 2:39:18
1895 Joshua Slocum completes around-the-world voyage in 11-m boat
1897 1st reporter, William Price (Washington Star), is assigned to White House
1898 Spain declares war on US rejecting ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba
1898 US fleet under commodore Dewey sails from Hong Kong to Philippines
1899 Transvaal British Uitlanders ask Queen Victoria for aid
1900 Passing of Andrew Halliday, cable car pioneer
1901 1st American League game, Chicago White Sox beat Cleveland Indians 8-2, 3 other games rained out
1905 Washington Senators execute a triple-play & beat New York Yankees 4-3
1905 1st-class Cricket debut of Jack Hobbs, Surrey vs Gentlemen (18 & 28)
1908 Mr & Mrs Jacob Murdock become the 1st to travel across the US by car, they leave Los Angeles in a Packard & arrive in NYC in 32 days-5 hours-25 minutes
1909 Harry Hillman & Lawson Robertson run 100 meter 3-legged race in 11 seconds
1910 German Catholic youth movement Quickborn forms
1915 Massacre of Armenians by Turks (Armenian Martyrs Day)
1915 Pittsburgh's Frank Allen no-hits St Louis (Federal League), 2-0
1915 German army fires chloroform gas in Ieper
1916 Easter rebellion of Irish against British occupation begins
1917 Yankee lefty George Mogridge no-hits Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway
1920 British Mandate over Palestine goes into effect (lasts 28 years)
1920 Polish troops attack Ukraine
1921 1st municipal elections for men & women in Belgium
1923 Colonel Jacob Schick patents Schick shavers
1923 General harbor strike begins in New York NY
1925 88ºF highest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland OH in April
1928 Fathometer, which measures underwater depth, patented
1929 1st non-stop England to India flight takes-off
1929 Thorvald Stauning becomes premier of Denmark
1932 German national election (NSDAP 36.3% in Prussia)
1933 1st major league to get 4 consecutive doubles in 9 innings (Dick Bartell)
1938 Lindenheuvel soccer team forms
1941 British army begins evacuation of Greece
1941 Dutch Prince Bernhard becomes an RAF pilot
1942 Luftwaffe bombs Exeter
1944 1st Boeing B-29 arrives in China "over the Hump"
1944 RAF bombs Munich
1945 Albert B "Happy" Chandler is named 2nd baseball commissioner
1946 11 players Tinker, Evers, Chance, Burkett, McCarthy, Waddell, Plank, Walsh, Chesbro, Griffith, & McGinnity are named to Hall of Fame
1949 3rd Tony Awards Death of a Salesman & Kiss Me Kate win
1950 "Peter Pan" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 320 performances
1950 Independent republic of South Molukkas declared
1950 President Harry Truman denies there are communists in US government
1951 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Sacramento Women's Golf Invitational Open
1953 Winston Churchill knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
1954 1st American, civilian pilot, P R Holden, wounded in Indochina
1954 Australia & USSR break diplomatic relations
1954 WSEE TV channel 35 in Erie PA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 Conference of Bandung against colonialism/for self determination ends
1955 Gaullists lose elections in France
1955 KFDM TV channel 6 in Beaumont TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
1955 KMAU (now KGMV) TV channel 3 in Wailuku HI (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 American League umpire Frank Umont is 1st to wear glasses in a regular season game
1957 Chicago Cub pitchers walk National League record 9 Reds in 5th inning
1958 Lee Walls hits 3 homerunS, as Cubs beat Dodgers 15-2
1959 Netherlands Dance Theater opens (Rudi of Dantzig & Cut Flier)
1959 WICD TV channel 15 in Champaign IL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1960 14th Tony Awards Miracle Worker & Fiorello! win
1960 Heavy earthquake strikes South Persia, 500 killed
1960 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Civitan Golf Open
1960 Record 4 grand slams hit today
1961 JFK accepts "sole responsibility" following Bay of Pigs
1961 The Vasa, which sunk on her maiden voyage in 1628, is raised
1962 1st Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested
1962 MIT sends TV signal by satellite for 1st time California to Massachusetts
1962 Sandy Koufax's 2nd 18-strikeout game
1963 Boston Celtics' Bob Cousy retires
1963 17th NBA Championship Boston Celtics beat Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 2
1963 English princess Alexandra marries sir Angus Ogilvy
1963 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1965 "Comedy in Music-Opus 2" closes at John Golden NYC after 192 performances
1965 Military coup under Donald Reid Cabral in Dominican Republic
1965 New York Mets' Casey Stengel wins his 3,000 game as manager
1966 Atlanta Braves win National League-record 18 straight home games (17 in Milwaukee)
1966 Carol Mann wins LPGA Peach Blossom Golf Invitational
1967 21st NBA Championship Philadelphia 76ers beat San Francisco Warriors, 4 games to 2
1968 Leftist students take over Columbia University, New York NY
1968 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Pete Tountas
1968 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1969 Paul McCartney says there is no truth to the rumours he is dead
1969 General Lin Piao succeeds Mao, is seriously wounded
1969 Lebanese army in battle with Palestinians
1969 US B-52's drop 3,000 ton bombs at Cambodian boundary
1970 Gambia becomes a republic within the Commonwealth
1970 People's Rebublic of China launches its 1st satellite transmitting song "East is Red"
1970 Senegal adopts constitution
1971 Soyuz 10 returns to Earth
1971 "Frank Merriwell" opens/closes at Longacre Theater NYC for 1 performance
1974 NFL grants franchise to Tampa Bay Bucaneers
1974 Dutch women hockey team becomes world champion
1975 Penguins 1-Islanders 4-Quarterfinals-series tied at 3-3
1975 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1977 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA American Defender Golf Tournament
1978 Angels Nolan Ryan strikes out 15 Mariners, 20th time he has 15 in game
1979 Rhodesian bishop Muzorewa wins general election
1980 US military operation to save 52 hostages in Iran, fails, 8 die
1981 Bill Shoemaker wins his 8000th race, 2000 more than any other jockey
1981 San Antonio blocks 20 Golden State shots to set NBA reg game record
1981 IBM-PC computer introduced
1981 US ends grain embargo against USSR
1982 150 Khomeini followers assault student dormitory in West Germany
1982 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Mike Durbin
1982 St Louis Cardinals win 12th game in a row; 7-4 over Philadelphia Phillies
1983 "Show Boat" opens at Uris Theater NYC for 73 performances
1983 Austrian socialist party loses parliamentary election
1983 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA S&H Golf Classic
1984 Edmonton Oiler's Wayne Gretzky is 3rd to score on a Stanley Cup penalty shot
1985 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carolyn Lizer for "Yin"
1987 Howard Stern holds a free speech rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza NYC
1988 Rosie Jones wins LPGA USX Golf Classic
1989 Massachusetts declares today "New Kids on the Block Day"
1989 Tens of thousands of students strike in Beijing China
1990 Security law violator Michael Milken pleads guilty to 6 felonies
1990 US 66th manned space mission STS 31 (Discovery 10) launches into orbit
1990 West & East Germany agree to merge currency & economies on July 1st
1990 Brian Friel's "Dancing at Lughnasa", premieres in Dublin
1991 26th Academy of Country Music Awards Garth Brooks wins
1992 "Man of La Mancha" with Sheena Easton opens at Marquis theater NYC for 108 performances
1992 David Bowie marries model Iman in Switzerland
1992 George Steinbrenner drops his suits against baseball
1992 Vinson Pike fined £1000 for distributing obscene computer pictures
1993 1000 kg heavy IRA car bomb explodes in London, killing 1
1993 ABC news analyst Jeff Greenfield weds Karen Gannett
1993 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by George Branham
1994 "Broken Glass" opens at Booth Theater NYC for 73 performances
1994 "Flowering Peach" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 41 performances
1994 Actress Kelly Preston (26) weds actor Lou Diamond Phillips (32)
1994 Armando Calderón Sol wins El Salvador presidential election
1994 Bomb attack in center of Johannesburg, 9 killed
1994 David Robinson scores ties 7th highest total in the NBA - 71
1994 New York Rangers sweep New York Islanders in NHL playoffs
1995 Court orders Darryl Strawberry to pay back $350,000 in taxes
1995 Dow Jones Index hits record 4303.98
1995 Package bomb, linked to Unabomber, blows up killing Gilbert B Murray
1996 "Jack-Night on Town with John Barrymore" opens at Belasco for 12 performances
1996 31st Academy of Country Music Awards Shania Twain wins
1996 Highest scoring baseball game in 17 years - Twins 24, Tigers 11
1997 "Steel Peer", opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 76 performances

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Armenia : Armenian Martyrs' Day (1915)
Alabama, Florida, Mississippi : Confederate Memorial Day (1868) - - - - - ( Monday )
US-Utah : Arbor Day-plant a tree (1872) - - - - - ( Friday )

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : St Fidelis of Sigmaringen, priest/martyr (optional)

Religious History
387 Augustine of Hippo, 32, was baptized on this Eve of Easter. He told the story of his Christian conversion from a profligate life in his "Confessions," written between 397-401.
1576 Birth of St. Vincent de Paul, French Catholic priest. He founded several religious orders during his lifetime, including the Lazarists (or Vincentians) in 1625.
1870 At the Vatican I Ecumenical Council, the dogmatic constitution "Dei filius" was published. Explaining the relationship between faith and reason, it declared that God could be known by human thought processes.
1920 Death of Eliza P. Hewitt, 69, American Presbyterian S.S. teacher and hymnwriter. Many of her verses are still sung today, including "More About Jesus," Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus" and "Sunshine in My Soul."
1944 In deciding the legal case "United States v. Ballard," the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the general principle that "the truth of religious claims is not for secular authority to determine."

Thought for the day :
"Toil is most pleasant when done."

Air Power
Sikorsky RH-53D

The RH-53D is used primarily for Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM), with a secondary mission of shipboard delivery. To complete its experiments with the RH-3A, the US Navy borrowed nine CH-53Ds from the Marines, fitted with devices for the detection, sweeping and neutralization of all types of mines. This variant was designated RH-53D, and 30 were produced for the US Navy and six for the Iranian Navy. The RH-53 had 1900 liter supplementary fuel tanks, a 270kg hoist and 11340kg cargo hook.

In April 1971 HM-12, the Navy's first helicopter squadron devoted exclusively to mine countermeasures was established at NAS Norfolk. The mission of HM-12 was to remove/eliminate enemy mines from sealanes and amphibious operating areas. To accomplish this task HM-12 helicopters towed specially designed mechanical magnetic and acoustic minesweeping equipment which would activate the enemy mines, thereby eliminating them as a threat to future operations in the area. HM-12 employed CH-53A Sea Stallions until they received the Sikorsky RH-53D built specifically for mine countermeasures. At the beginning of 1973, these helicopters were used by US Navy Task Force 78 for Operation Endsweep, to free the North Vietnamese ports of mines.

The first production RH-53D Sea Stallion, especially configured for the airborne mine countermeasures mission, arrived at the Naval Air Test Center for weapons system trials in May 1973. Navy preliminary evaluation and the initial phase of the Board of Inspection and Survey trials had begun at Sikorsky Aircraft Division on 15 May 1973. HM-12 received the first RH-53D Sea Stallion helicopters in November 1973.

In May 1974 a twelve-plane detachment of RH-53D Sea Stallions from NAS Norfolk's HM-12 began minesweeping the Suez Canal as part of Project NIMBUS STAR. In April 1979 an RH-53D Sea Stallion from HM-12 set a new nonstop, transcontinental flight by flying from Norfolk, Virginia, to San Diego, California. The helicopter flew 2,077-nm in 18.5 hours, air refueling from an Air National Guard HC-130 Hercules. The flight demonstrated the long-range, quick-response capability of the RH-53D helicopter and was commanded by Lieutenant Rodney M. Davis.

The 1977 arrival of four RH-53D helicopters to Fleet Logistics Support Squadron TWO FOUR (VR-24) ushered in a new era in combat logistics support. Entitled Vertical Onboard Delivery (VOD), the "VOD Squad" of VR-24 possessed a helicopter heavy lift capability never before seen in the Mediterranean Theater.

The "VOD Squad" provided service to ships of the SIXTH FLEET until 1983 when their helicopters were transferred to the Airborne Mine Countermeasures (AMCM)community. Foreseeing an expansion of the VOD mission, the Navy purchased the new, three engine, seven blade, Sikorsky CH-53E "Super Stallion" and on 6 May 1983, HELSUPPRON FOUR was established as the Navy's first heavy lift, helicopter combat support squadron.

As of 1996 Marine Corps Reserve RH-53D helicopters were scheduled to be replaced with CH-53D/E helicopters, identical to active component models.

Specifications:
Contractor: Sikorsky Aircraft (Prime), General Electric (Engines)
Unit cost: $25 million (1993 dollars)
Crew: Two officers (pilots); four enlisted (two flight engineers, two aerial gunners)
Date Deployed: 1981

Airframe:
Seven-blade main rotor
Four-blade canted tail rotor
Designed for land- and ship-based operations
Automatic flight control and anti-icing systems give the helicopter an all-weather flight capability.
Empty weight: 33,226 pounds
Maximum gross weight: 73,500 pounds
Fuel capacity: 15,483 pounds (2,277 gallons/JP-5)
Overall length: 99 ft 1/2 in
Height: 28 ft 4 in
Rotor diameter: 79 ft
Power Plant: Three General Electric T64-GE-416/416A turboshaft engines
Each engine can produce 4,380 shaft horsepower

Performance:
Maximum range (unrefueled): 480 nautical miles
Ferry range: 990 nautical miles
Maximum endurance (unrefueled): 5.1 hours
Maximum allowable airspeed: 150 knots

Countermeasures:
APR-39 Radar Hazard Warning Set
ALE-39 Chaff and Flare Dispenser
ALQ-157 Infrared Jammer
AAR-47 Missile Warning System

Mission and Capabilities:
Primary mission is movement and vertical delivery of cargo and equipment.
When properly equipped, can be used for airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM)
Designed to carry 32,000 pounds of cargo at cruise speed to a range of no less than 50 nautical miles
At destination, the helicopter can discharge its cargo, equipment, or troops and return no less than 50 nautical miles—arriving with at least 20 minutes of fuel in reserve.
Designed to retrieve another CH-53E at a range of 20 nautical miles
Can be configured for wheeled or palletized cargo
Seats for 55 passengers or litters for 24 patients
External cargo of up to 36,000 pounds may be transported by using either the single- or two-point suspension system.
Can conduct air-to-air refueling and helicopter in-flight refueling (HIFR)
Has provisions for internal range extension tanks

I've been meaning to tell you I appreciate the "Missing in Action" section you added.

I recall waking up and hearing about this and saying to myself "Jesus! Can't we do ANYTHING right anymore?"

Operation Eagle Claw a good working definition of a fuster cluck.

Thanks for the profile on the RH-53D today.

Not being the brightest bulb on the tree it took me a while to figure out how to do it.

LOL! Tell me about it, I'm learning a lot of this stuff as I go along. Can't believe it's been working so far

Good morning Sam, everyone.

Good Morning Feather

Yeah I remember this too and those were pretty much my thoughts too. Carter tried to do this on the "cheap". It seemed if anything could go wrong it did.

Good Morning Sam.

The good that came out of this is proven by today's special forces.

Today's history could prove very timely for me. I found out last evening that I will be meeting a gentleman Saturday that spent his Navy service on the USS Nimitz.

I'm not sure of when but hope to at least be able to talk intellegently with him about the Nimitz and this helps.

While researching information on the Nimitz I ran across Race's page before I even came here. 'Skeery', huh?

Current Military News
Bush Fans

A student holds a picture of President Bush that she wears around her neck during a party at the Tahama Primary School in Kirkuk, Iraq (Thursday April 24, 2003. Students returned to school for the first time since the war in Iraq ended. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Student Mariam Yunis tears up a picture of Saddam Hussein that the class removed from textbooks as part of an exercise at the Qairuran School in Kirkuk, Iraq Thursday April 24, 2003. Students returned to school for the first time since the war in Iraq ended. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Students tear up pictures of Saddam Hussein that the class removed from textbooks as part of an exercise at the Qairuran School in Kirkuk,

A student draws on a picture of Saddam Hussein that the class removed from textbooks as part of an exercise at the Qairuran School in Kirkuk, Iraq

A young student holds a flower during a party at the Tahama Primary School in Kirkuk, Iraq) Thursday April 24, 2003. Students returned to school for the first time since the war in Iraq ended. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Students wear traditional Kurdish clothes as they dance and chant 'George Bush' during a party at the Tahama Primary School in Kirkuk, Iraq Thursday April 24, 2003. Students returned to school for the first time since the war in Iraq ended. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

Students wear traditional clothes as they dance during a party at the Tahama Primary School in Kirkuk, Iraq (news - web sites) Thursday April 24, 2003

Students stand in the hallway at the Qairuran School in Kirkuk, Iraq (news - web sites) Thursday April 24, 2003.

While researching information on the Nimitz I ran across Race's page before I even came here. 'Skeery', huh?

It's a small world isn't it.

When you meet this gentleman, thank him for his service for me.

Thanks for a great page. I will be posting links to other pis I have, including some new ones.

I am havinga mini-reunion with a friend who flew SAR for the mission while I stayed on the boat that day.

We will be having SLIDERS AND FRIES for lunch!

Here is a link to a photo of the men who dies on the mission, this is the first picture of two