Posted on 06/08/2017 7:13:45 AM PDT by fugazi
1966: During a test flight of the North American XB-70 "Valkyrie," an experimental six-engine bomber capable of flying at three times the speed of sound, an F-104 "Starfighter" chase plane collides with the Valkyrie, sending the bomber spiraling out of control and instantly killing the pilot of the chase plane, Joseph A. Walker - a former Army Air Force captain, fighter pilot during World War II, NASA chief test pilot, and the first U.S. civilian to fly high enough to be considered "spaceflight." The Valkyrie's pilot manages to eject, but the co-pilot is trapped inside the stricken warplane and crashes into the ground near Barstow, Calif. The Air Force backs out of the Valkyrie program shortly after the collision.
1967: During the Six-Day War between Israel and Arab nations, the technical research ship USS Liberty (AGTR-5), a converted World War II freighter, is attacked by Israeli fighter jets and torpedo boats in Mediterranean, killing 34 sailors and injuring nearly 200. The ship was operating 30 miles north of the Sinai Peninsula, gathering electronic intelligence during Israel's brief conflict with the Soviet-supported Arabs.
Crews frantically work to save the vessel, which was nearly broken in half. Liberty's skipper, Cmdr. William McGonagle, receives the Medal of Honor for his actions in an atypical private ceremony. Although the details surrounding the incident are still unclear 50 years later, Israel immediately apologizes for the incident, citing fog of war, and offers compensation to the sailors' families.
1991: Hundreds of thousands gather to see Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf lead a victory parade through Washington, D.C. following Operation Desert Storm. A flyover of F-117 stealth fighters kicks off the parade, while tanks and thousands of troops pass in front of Pres. George H.W. Bush and other officials.
1995: Nearly a week after
(Excerpt) Read more at victoryinstitute.net ...
Interesting article providing more detail on the Scott O'Grady operation in Bosnia. The mission was given the green light moments after hearing from the downed pilot and the commanding officer of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit personally rode along... quite a stark contrast to the situation at Benghazi during the previous administration.
I’ve always been pro-Israel but from what I’ve read on the subject, their attack on the Liberty was no accident. It wasn’t one of those “fog of war” incidents.
It happened on a sunny day in an area of the Med. Sea that was no experiencing combat operations. There were no Egyptian ships in the are at all. The attack was no one of those “out of the blue” ones either. The Israelis had surveilled the Liberty at least twice that day.
The latest evidence indicates that it was an accident.
That the Israeli government was let off the hook for such a blatant action against an American vessel is shameful.
The Israeli jets which attacked USS LIBERTY were armed with
rockets, napalm and 30mm cannon
Land attack weapons
Always wondered about that
If was deliberate attack why not arm your planes with
weapons against ships (500/1000 lb bomb, etc)
Or was it case that these were only planes available and
sent out with they had
I’ll take the word from the “Jewish virtual library” on this incident with as big a grain of salt as I take my Archdiocese’s statements about pedophile priests.
The Jewish Virtual Library reprinted the article. It originally was published by Azure magazine, a now defunct Israeli English-language intellectual journal. The author, Michael Oren, was a respected historian before he became Israel’s ambassador to the US.
Mock it if you want, the way leftists do, or you can read it for the substance. I really don’t care.
Nope. Read the classified incident report. Definitely not an accident.
An event through which we should always view our “close allies”.
The Israelis were in the process of slaughtering arab soldiers and maybe some collaterals and the Liberty was thought to have been a witness so efforts to eliminate the witness were made. Had I been born a couple of years earlier with the same aptitude for languages, I could have been a CT on that crew. Or the Pueblo or the EC-121 for that matter.
Maybe they can get away with accidentally blowing up some countries' assets, but they never should have been let off the hook for intentionally slaughtering American servicemen. Not that it would ever happen, but I'd love to see Israel receive not a single new weapon system or a single dollar of aid from us until Israel's government takes full, unequivocal responsibility.
I don't begrudge them for it -- they're a small state, an enthostate at that, trying keep their own people secure -- but I also fail to understand why so many Americans have such a devotion to the interests of the modern, socialist-democratic state of Israel, a devotion that is most assuredly not reciprocated.
I disagree with your characterization of the article.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.