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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 24:
1304 Muhammad ibn Battutah Arab travel writer (Travels in Asia & Africa)
1463 Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Italy, scholar/platonist
1500 Emperor Charles V king of Spain (1516-56)/Holy Roman Emperor
1536 Clement VIII [Ippolito Aldofireini], Fano Italy, last Counter-Reformation pope (1592-1605)
1545 Don Juan of Austria the elder, Austrian general (The Battle of Lepanto)
1557 Matthias C Sarbiewski [Sarbievius], Vienna, Polish Jesuit/poet/Holy Roman emperor (1612-19)
1684 Catherine I Empress of Russia 1725-27, Dorpat, Estonia
1750 Miklós Révai Hungarian linguistic/poet
1786 Wilhelm Karl Grimm Hanau Germany, story teller (Grimm's Fairy Tales)
1811 Daniel A Payne Bishop/reformer/educator of AME Church
1811 Edward Dickinson Baker Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1861
1824 John Crawford Vaughn Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1875
1827 Charles Davis Jameson Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1836 Winslow Homer US, painter (Gulfstream)
1838 Thomas Benton Smith Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1923
1848 C Grant B Allen Canadian writer (Woman Who Did)
1874 Honus Wagner HOF shortstop (Pittsburgh Pirates, 1900-17)
1885 Admiral Chester Nimitz US Admiral (commanded Pacific fleet in WWII)
1898 Kurt Tank German WWII aircraft designer
1909 Max Black Dutch/British/US philosopher (analytical philosophy)
1909 Michael Francis Morris Lindsay orientalist
1917 William Fairbank Minneapolis MN, physicist (superconductivity)
1921 Abe Vigoda New York NY, actor (Barney Miller, Fish)
1924 William Pillar British Admiral
1932 John Vernon Canada, actor (Animal House, Chained Heat, Dirty Harry)
1934 Bettino Craxi Italy's 1st socialist premier (1983-87)
1938 James Farentino Brooklyn NY, actor (Dead & Buried, Final Countdown)
1940 Jimmy Ellis WBA heavyweight boxing champion (1968-70)
1942 Joe Lieberman (Senator-D-CT)
1946 Barry Bostwick San Mateo CA, actor (Spin City, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Lexx, Megaforce, Movie Movie, Scruples, Foul Play)
1947 Edward James Olmos California, actor (Miami Vice, Stand & Deliver, Triumph)
1955 Steven Jobs cofounder of Apple Computer
1968 Kendall Cross Hardin MT, 125½ lbs freestyle wrestler (Olympics-gold-92, 96)
1972 Patricia Regan Leines Medford OR, Miss Oregon-America (1996-3rd)
1977 Floyd Mayweather Grand Rapids MI, featherweight boxer (Olympics-bronze-96)
1978 Louise Woodward Elton England, nanny who killed Matthew Eappen

Deaths which occurred on February 24:
1563 François Guise French General/duke, assassinated at 44
1624 Vicente Espinel Spanish adventure/chaplain (Marcos de Obrégon), dies at 72
1686 Ferdinando Tacca Italian painter/son of Pietro Tacca, dies at 66
1785 Carlo Bonaparte Corsican attorney, dies at 39
1815 Robert Fulton steamboat pioneer, dies
1825 Thomas Bowdler self-appointed Shakespearean censor, dies
1926 Eddie Plank pitcher (won 327 games in 17 years), dies at 51
1944 Leo H A Baekeland Belgian/US chemist (bakelite), dies at 80
1945 Ahmed Maher Pasha Egypt's PM, assassinated in parliament
1953 Karl R G von Rundstedt German General-field marshal (Ardennes), dies at 77
1975 Nikolai A Bulganin marshal/premier of USSR (1955-58), dies at 79
1976 H Allen Smith TV host (Armchair Detective), dies at 68
1983 Tennessee Williams US playwright (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), dies at 71
1990 Johnnie Ray singer (Cry), dies of liver failure at 61
1990 Malcolm Forbes CEO (Forbes Publishing), dies of a heart attack at 70
1991 George Gobel Chicago IL, comedian (George Gobel Show), dies after surgery at 71
1991 Webb Pierce US country singer (Bye Bye Love), dies of cancer at 64
1996 Laurence Richard Deniz jazz guitarist, dies at 71
1998 Henny Youngman comedian (Take my wife please), dies at 92

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 FRAKES DWIGHT GLENN---LOS ANGELES CA.
[TANGELED IN PARA SANK]
1966 HETRICK RAYMOND H.---BROOKVILLE PA.
1968 FRIESE LAURENCE V.---HURON SD.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV,ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 MARVEL JERRY W.---EVANSVILLE IN.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DIED MAY 1995 ENROUTE FROM FL VA HOSP TO NC

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

On this day...
0303 1st official Roman edict for persecution of Christians issued
1208 St Francis of Assisi, 26, received his vocation in Portiuncula Italy
1389 Battle at Falköping Danes defeat King Albert of Sweden
1496 England's Henry VII ends commercial dispute with Flanders
1510 Pope Julius II excommunicates the republic of Venice
1525 Battle at Pavia Emperor Karel V's troops beat French king, François I caught taken/8700 killed
1527 Ferdinand of Austria crowned as king of Bohemia
1528 János Zápolyai, Hungarian king, recognizes Sultan Suleiman's suzerainty
1530 1st imperial coronation by a Pope, Charles V crowned by Clement V
1541 Santiago, Chile founded by Pedro de Valvidia
1582 Pope Gregory XIII announces New Style (Gregorian) calendar
1613 English princess Elizabeth marries earl Frederik of Palts
1779 George Rogers Clark captures Vincennes IN from British
1786 Charles Cornwallis appointed Governor-General of India

1803 Supreme Court 1st rules a law unconstitutional (Marbury vs Madison)

1821 Mexico gains independence from Spain
1835 Siwinowe Kesibwi (Shawnee Sun) is 1st Indian language monthly magazine

1836 3,000 Mexicans attack 182 Texans at the Alamo, lasts 13 days

1839 Steam shovel patented by William Otis, Philadelphia
1848 King Louis-Philippe abdicates, 2nd French republic declared
1855 US Court of Claims established for cases against the government
1857 1st perforated US postage stamps delivered to the government
1863 Arizona Territory created
1863 Forrest's raid on Brentwood TN
1864 Battle of Tunnel Hill GA (Buzzard's Roost)

1868 House of Representatives vote 126 to 47, to impeach President Andrew Johnson

1868 1st US parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile AL)
1876 Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" premieres in Oslo
1888 Louisville KY becomes 1st government in US to adopt Australian ballot
1895 Cuban war of independence begins
1902 Battle at Yzer Spruit Boer General De la Rey beats British
1903 US signs agreement acquiring a naval station at Guantanamo Bay Cuba
1917 German plan to get Mexican help in WWI exposed (Zimmerman telegram)

1917 Russian revolution breaks out

1918 Estonia declares independence from Russia
1920 Peace treaty gives Estonia independence
1920 NSDAP begins at Hofbräuhaus Münich
1921 1st transcontinental flight in 24 hours flying time arrives Florida
1923 Mass arrests in US of Mafia
1924 Greek parliament proclaims republic
1924 Johnny Weissmuller, swims 100 meter record (57:2/5 seconds)
1925 Thermit explosive 1st used to break up ice jam, Waddington NY
1932 Malcolm Campbell drives record speed (253.96 mph) at Daytona
1933 Final demonstration of German communist party in Berlin
1933 League of Nations tells Japanese to pull out of Manchuria
1938 Du Pont begins commercial production of nylon toothbrush bristles
1941 Anti Nazi meeting at Noordermarkt Amsterdam
1942 Voice of America begins broadcasting (in German)
1943 Texas League announces it will quit for the duration of WWII
1944 Argentina coup by Juan Peron minister of war
1945 Egypt & Syria declares war on Nazi-Germany
1945 Manila freed from Japanese
1948 Communist Party seizes complete control of Czechoslovakia
1949 V-2/WAC-Corporal 1st rocket to outer space, White Sands NM, 400 km
1949 Israel & Egypt sign an armistice agreement
1955 Pact of Baghdad between Iraq & Turkey signed
1964 Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston for heavyweight boxing championship
1965 Beatles begin filming "Help" in the Bahamas
1968 1st pulsar discovered (CP 1919 by Jocelyn Burnell at Cambridge)

1968 US troops reconquer Hue Vietnam

1969 Mariner 6 launched for Mars fly-by
1971 Algeria nationalizes French oil companies
1974 Pakistan officially recognizes Bangladesh
1976 Leonid Brezhnev opens 25th congress of CPSU
1977 President Carter announces US foreign aid will consider human rights
1979 Highest price ever paid for a pig, $42,500, Stamford TX
1979 War between North & South Yemen begins
1981 Jean Harris is convicted of murdering Scarsdale diet doctor Tarnower
1981 Britain's Prince Charles announces engagement to Lady Diana Spencer (AH True Love!)
1984 Iraq resumes air attack on Iran
1986 Voyager 2, 1st Uranus fly-by
1988 Supreme Court votes 8-0 Jerry Falwell cannot collect for Hustler parody
1989 150-million-year-old fossil egg (oldest dinosaur embryo) found
1989 US Boeing 747 loses parts of roof over Pacific, 9 die
1991 End of World League of American Football's (WLAF) 1st draft
1991 US & allies begin a ground war assault on Iraqi troops
1995 Dow-Jones hits record 4011.74
1996 Cuba downs 2 US planes
1997 Deng Xiaoping, leader of China, cremated (died Feb 19th)
1997 South Africa announces it is constructing largest modern day blimp

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

Cuba : Baire Uprising
Estonia : National Day (1920)
Ghana : Liberation Day (1966)
Indiana : Vincennes Day-George Clark's defeat of British (1779)
México : Flag Day
US : Null and Void Day
US : Obnoxious Day
Canned Food Month

Religious Observances
Anglican, Lutheran, Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Matthias the Apostle (non-leap years)

Religious History
303 The first official Roman edict for the persecution of Christians was issued by Roman Emperor Galerius Valerius Maximianus.
1208 St Francis of Assisi, 26, received his vocation in the Italian village of Portiuncula. He founded the Franciscans the following year, and is regarded by some Catholics as the greatest of all Christian saints.
1500 Birth of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Reigning 1519-56, it was Charles who officially pronounced Martin Luther an outlaw and heretic.
1782 Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his journal: 'It is my constitutional weakness to be gloomy and dejected; the work of God puts life into me.'
1967 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'The statement that God is dead comes from Nietzsche and has recently been trumpeted abroad by some German and American theologians. But the good Lord has not died of this; He who dwells in the heaven laughs at them.'

Thought for the day :
"Any sufficiently advanced bureaucracy is indistinguishable from molasses."

Good morning, Valin! Thanks for today's history.

I went looking there last night and it was down.

Good Morning Valin

Good morning Valin.

1868 1st US parade with floats (Mardi Gras-Mobile AL)

MARVEL, JERRY WARVEL (Deceased)

Name: Jerry W. Marvel
Rank/Branch: O4/United States Marine Corps
Unit:
Date of Birth:
Home City of Record: Evansville IN
Date of Loss: 24 February 1968
Country of Loss: North Vietnam
Loss Coordinates:205500 North 1051600 East
Status (in 1973): Returnee
Category:
Aircraft/Vehicle/Ground: A6A
Missions:
Other Personnel in Incident: Laurence Friese, returnee

Source: Compiled by P.O.W. NETWORK from one or more of the following: raw
data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA
families, published sources, interviews.

REMARKS: 730314 RELEASED BY DRV

Copy provided by G.F. Rowe, Otsego, MN

Navy Times
06/19/95
N.C. - Jerry W. Marvel, retired Marine Colonel, from as apparent heart attack
on his way home from a physical in Pensacola, Fla.

Marvel, a 30-year Marine veteran, was one of the longest-held prisoners during
the Vietnam War. He last served as commanding officer of New River Marine
Corps Air Station in 1983.

He later became a training and education director at Cherry Point Marine Air
Station in 1985.

Marvel, a Marine pilot, was shot down Feb. 24, 1968, over North Vietnam. He
remained a prisoner of war until March 14, 1973.

Survivors include his wife, Patsy and two children, Jeri LeBeau and Kevin
Marvel, all of Newport.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

______________________________________________

The New Times, Friday, October 13, 1995
Newport, North Carolina
Ceremony honors memory of Ret. Col. Jerry W. Marvel
By Joan D. Greene
Staff writer

Saturday morning, Sept. 30, the sun shone brightly, and the warm wind blew in
gusts, whipping the flags at the county veterans' memorial on Courthouse
Square, Beaufort, against the poles, their snapping sounds accompanying the
soft sounds of conversations as old friends met.

The crowd was there to honor the memory of the late retired Marine Corps Col.
Jerry W. Marvel, Newport, pilot and prisoner of war for 61 months in Vietnam,
a former commander of the New River Air Station at Jacksonville, and until his
death May 27, director of training at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry
Point

The ceremony was arranged to give members of the Coastal North Carolina
Chapter 639 of the Military Order of the Purple Heart the opportunity to
dedicate in his honor one of the five flag staffs which fly service flags at
the veterans' memorial.

Charles Woodward, MOPH chapter commander, was master of ceremonies and
welcomed the group. A color guard from Cherry Point presented the colors, and
the group gave the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. They continued to stand
at attention as a tape sounded "The Star Spangled Banner," and Rev. Patrick
Williams, pastor of the Bogue Banks Baptist Church in Atlantic Beach, gave the
invocation, calling Col. Marvel an example for us to follow, one who showed
"what faithfulness really is."

Mr. Woodward introduced some of the special guests including Maj. Gen.
Michael Sullivan, Brig. Gen. James Mead and Col. William Scheffler, chief of
staff at Cherry Point, representing Maj. Gen. Fred McCorkle, commanding
general at Cherry Point; MSgt. William Stanfill, NCO-IC of the training
branch at Cherry Point; Dottie Litchfield, Col. Marvel's secretary and
administrative assistant at the training branch; Jeanette Fincher, secretary
at the training branch; Charles Olson, deputy chief of the training branch,
who had served with Col. Marvel both as a Marine and as a civilian, who said
the highest honor he attained was being a friend of Jerry Marvel's for 35
years, the Rev. and Mrs. Patrick Williams, representing the Bogue Banks
Baptist Church in Atlantic Beach; Father Frederick Flaherty, pastor of
Annunciation Catholic Church, Havelock; Bettie Bell, county commissioner, and
Derryl Garner, Newport mayor and long-time friend of the Marvel family.

He also welcomed the Marvel family, Col. Marvel's wife, Pattie; their daughter
Teresa and their son Kevin, and their families.

The color guard from Chapter 41, Disabled American Veterans, stood at the rear
of the gathering.

CoL Scheffler brought greetings from Maj. Gen. McCorkle, unable to attend.
He spoke of his own friendship and admiration of Col. Marvel, and relayed
Gen. McCorkle's message that the base has been notified by Headquarters Marine
Corps, that the new four-story training center at Cherry Point will be
dedicated to and named for Col. Marvel.

Mr. Woodward made dedicatory remarks, explaining that the Purple Heart was
started in 1782 by Gen. George Washington as a way to honor those who had been
injured in service to their country and for their efforts on behalf of justice
and freedom.

He said the Military Order of the Purple Heart chose to dedicate the flag
staff to Col. Marvel's memory, as a continuing tribute to his service and as
a dedication to the memory of all the nation's defenders who suffered and
died for their country.

Gen. Mead, standing just in front of Pattie Marvel, relayed his emotional
conflict as he prepared to speak at Col. Marvel's funeral, when he felt sorrow
for the loss of his friend, yet joy in celebrating the meaningful life his
friend had lived. He said he felt that the dedication of this memorial and the
Cherry Point training building, in Col. Marvel's memory, were well-deserved
accolades, deserved because of what he called "the innate goodness of Jerry."

He said that when people think of his friend Jerry, now as in the past, the
"trademark" they recall first is not just the time he spent doing for others,
not of his dedication to his fellow man, but of his smile. Gen. Mead asked,
"How, with what had happened to him, could he have that magnificent smile?"

Then, spreading his arms wide to emcompass the area where the Marvel family
sat, "It's here - his family - the kind of family every-one wants."

Gen. Sullivan, a former POW, spoke of his friend. "Jerry was a POW for almost
six years. He suffered greatly. But he was repatriated in early 1973. Today
many POWs and MIAs have never been accounted for. Let me share some numbers:
in the last three wars, World War II, Korea and Vietnam, there were 138,000
POWs and MIAs. 17,000 POWs died in captivity. Now, in North Carolina, from
all three wars, there are still 2,200 still unaccounted for. I have one
single plea: let's not forget these courageous people. We cannot rest until
every MIA has been accounted for. Support your POW-MIA organization."

Mr. Woodward said, Speaking for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, and
I know I speak for Jerry too, we never want to forget those MIAs. They're not
just numbers. They're people. Keep them in mind!"

He gave a summary of the history of Chapter 639, MOPH, reminding his listeners
that the group dedicated to projects designed for the betterment of the
community. "Behind every Purple Heart is a heart of gold," he said.

Newport Mayor Derryl Garner recalled when the Marvel family learned that Jerry
had been shot down. "It didn't just happen to him, or just to his family. It
happened to all of Newport." And when he came home, he said, it was a time
for the entire community to celebrate.

Mayor Garner recalled the many contributions Col. Marvel had made to Newport
and pledged the community's continued love and support of the Marvel family.

Father Flaherty gave the benediction, expressing thanks for the opportunity to
take part in this "tribute to a very genuine hero."

1968 US troops reconquer Hue Vietnam

"Hue remains a classic study in urban warfare that clearly demonstrates not only the rigors and demands of fighting in a built-up area, but also the valor and fortitude demanded of the soldiers who are to fight in such situations. The U.S. Marines and South Vietnamese soldiers retook the city from the Communists and paid for the effort in blood; many of the lessons they learned the hard way are just as valid for urban fighting today as they were in 1968. "

To read the whole story, mash here.