Today in US military history: Gulf of Tonkin incident, and America's first military airplane

Unto the Breach ^ | August 2, 2017 | Chris Carter

[fugazi]

1776: Although the Continental Congress voted to establish "the thirteen united [sic] States of America" on July 2 and adopted Thomas Jefferson's draft of the Declaration of Independence two days later, congressional delegates sign the Declaration on this date. The most famous inscription belongs to John Hancock, the president of Congress, who is said to have declared, "There, I guess King George will be able to read that without his spectacles," after adding his rather substantial signature.

1909: After a successful demonstration for the military by Orville Wright, the Army Signal Corps purchases a Wright Flyer for $30,000 (the equivalent of $800,000 today). The two-seat "Signal Corps Airplane No. 1" will train America's first military pilots at College Park, Md. and Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio over the next two years - crashing several times - before it's retirement. Today, the legendary aircraft hangs in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

1934: Upon the death of German president Paul von Hindenberg, Chancellor Adolf Hitler begins his "thousand-year Reich," assuming full dictatorial powers as Reichsführer. Also on this date, Hitler changes the military oath so that the Wehrmacht swears allegiance to him instead of Germany.

1944: Convoy HX 300, the largest convoy of World War II, safely crosses the Atlantic, bringing over 1 million tons of supplies to ports in the United Kingdom. 32 escort vessels protected the 155 cargo ships, and the formation spanned nine miles across and four miles long. Not a single ship was attacked by a German submarine.

1950: As the North Korean Army bears down on the American and UN forces occupying the southern...

[fugazi]

What the Signers knowingly subjected themselves to by announcing themselves as traitors to the Crown was incredible. Rush Limbaugh's father wrote an interesting article documenting what these heroes went through during the war for independence. All were hunted. Most lost everything. Several died, as well as their families.

[G Larry]

In 1918 my Grandfather was assigned to the first Aero-maintenance Squadron and stationed in France.
He later went on to help build Hanford Atomic Works where work on the first Atom Bomb was conducted.

In 1971 I enlisted in the USAF during Vietnam and was fortunately assigned as a Nuclear Weapons Specialist.

[fugazi]

Also on this day in 1996, Hussein Farrah Aidid is elected to lead the Somali National Alliance after his infamous father Mohamed Farrah Aidid is killed in Mogadishu. The elder Aidid was the warlord responsible for the deadly 1993 Battle of Mogadishu.

His son, a former U.S. Marine that served in Desert Storm and also as an interpreter during the American military mission in Somalia, takes Somalia in a different direction, restoring relations with the UN and opposing Islamist operations during the War on Terror.

[mabarker1]

Thank You for Your Service.

[Leaning Right]

> 1909: After a successful demonstration for the military by Orville Wright, the Army Signal Corps purchases a Wright Flyer for $30,000 <

Back in 1928 President Calvin Coolidge was asked to budget a large amount of money for a new squadron of aircraft. Coolidge’s reply: “Why don’t we just buy one airplane and let the pilots take turns flying it?”

[where's_the_Outrage?]

Had a member here by the name Gulf of Tonkin, we exchanged a lot of posts but I believe he passed several years ago. RIP

[fugazi]

From Marine to warlord (LA Times): http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jan/22/world/fg-aidid22

[Grampa Dave]

Case Closed: The Gulf of Tonkin Incident

This article by Capt. Carl Otis Schuster, U.S. Navy (ret.) originally appeared in the June 2008 issue of Vietnam magazine. A National Security Agency report released in 2007 reveals unequivocally that the alleged Aug. 4, 1964, attack by North Vietnam on U.S. destroyers never actually happened.

In the first few days of August 1964, a series of events off the coast of North Vietnam and decisions made in Washington, D.C., set the United States on a course that would largely define the next decade and weigh heavily on American foreign policy to this day. What did and didn’t happen in the Gulf of Tonkin on August 2 and 4 has long been in dispute, but the decisions that the Johnson Administration and Congress made based on an interpretation of those events were undeniably monumental.

While many facts and details have emerged in the past 44 years to persuade most observers that some of the reported events in the Gulf never actually happened, key portions of the critical intelligence information remained classified until recently.

(excerpted: For a reality look at LBJ’s/?’s lies to Americans re the Gulf of Tonkin. Go to the link below):

http://www.historynet.com/case-closed-the-gulf-of-tonkin-incident.htm

[Cen-Tejas]

great article, thanks for posting

[Squantos]

463 ? I was 464 .... stay safe !

[G Larry]

Yes, 463
Mk-12 Re-entry Systems. 1971-74
VAFB, CA.

Me stay safe??

You’re EOD and blow stuff up on purpose.
Where and when for you?

[Squantos]

22 YEARS RETIRED .... 72-94