USO Canteen Freeper Style Salutes Tuskegee Airmen .... October 22,2002

FRiends of the USO Canteen FReeper Style and Snow Bunny

[Snow Bunny]

.

.

The USO Canteen FReeper Style
Delivering a Touch of Home

.

.

A Touch of Home

.

This is how I think of the USO Canteen 
Freeper Style. It is like a cottage down a road,
a place where a weary veteran can spend the night. 

Since it opened, it is magical how so many
Freepers who post here, feel it too. 
It has been so dear how the Freepers
kept making it a cottage - a home-type of 
place that had a huge living room
for them to visit in and a dance floor, 
a library, etc. 

Many Veterans have written to me, 
saying that the Canteen is like home
to them for the first time since they 
served. 

This is your Canteen -
a respite from our busy 
and sometimes troubling world. 
Make yourself at home.

Snow Bunny

.

.

.

If you know a Veteran, someone in your family, 
friend of the family, neighbor, who served their  
country, take a brief moment of your day to thank 
them. 

Thank them for the sacrifice they made
for the better good of their country.

We at Free Republic, and the USO Canteen FReeper 
Style, are thankful for every service member 
in our military, who has served our great nation.

So, to the men and women who answered the call,
In both times of war and peace, thank you.

.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields. 

John McCrae 

During WWII there were many men that were forgotten.
The Tuskegee Airmen made a major contribution. Where
did they come from?

After their superb flight training, there were a select few
that made a major impact in the war through their excellent
piloting skills. These men are known today as the Tuskegee Airmen.

On Jul. 19, 1941, the AAF began a program in Alabama
to train black Americans as military pilots. Primary flight
training was conducted by the Division of Aeronautics of
Tuskegee Institute, the famed school of learning founded by
Booker T. Washington in 1881.

Once a cadet completed primary training at Tuskegee's
Moton Field, he was sent to nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field
for completion of flight training and for transition to combat
type aircraft.

The first classes of Tuskegee airmen were
trained to be fighter pilots for the famous 99th
Fighter Squadron, slated for combat duty in North
Africa. Additional pilots were assigned to the 322d
Fighter Group which flew combat along with the
99th Squadron from bases in Italy.

In Sep. 1943, a twin-engine training program was
begun at Tuskegee to provide bomber pilots. However,
World War II ended before these men were able to
get into combat.

By the end of the war, 992 men had graduated
from pilot training at Tuskegee, 450 of whom were
sent overseas for combat assignment. During the
same period, approximately 150 lost their lives
while in training or on combat flights.

Additional men were trained at Tuskegee for
aircrew and ground crew duties--flight engineers,
gunners, mechanics, armoires, etc. Others were
sent to Texas and New Mexico for training as
navigators and bombardiers.

Marching across the campus at Tuskegee Institute.

Lined up for inspection.

Student pilot being congratulated
upon completion of primary
flying course at Moton Field.

A class of twin-engine pilots
in front in flight caps and single
engine pilots in rear in helmets
and goggles, Dec. 1943.

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum
is located on historic Fort Wayne in Detroit,Michigan.

Who Were the
Tuskegee Airmen
of World War II?

The Tuskegee Airmen were dedicated,
determined young men who volunteered
to become America's first black military
airmen. They came from every section of
America, with large numbers coming from
New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles,
Chicago, and Detroit. Each one possessed a
strong personal desire to serve the United States
of America proudly and to the best of his ability
as an airman, even while many other Americans
felt that black men lacked intelligence, skill,
courage and patriotism.

Those who possessed the physical and mental
qualifications and were accepted for aviation cadet training
were trained initially to be pilots, and later to
be either pilots, navigators, or bombardiers.
Most were college graduates or undergraduates,
while the remainder demonstrated their academic
qualifications through comprehensive
entrance examinations.

They trained as operations officers,
meteorologists, intelligence officers,
engineering officers, flight surgeons,
etc. Still others were trained to be aircraft
and engine mechanics, armament specialists,
radio repairmen, parachute riggers, control
tower operators, administrators and for every
other type of skill necessary to function as an
air force squadron, or ground support unit.

The black airmen who became single- or
multi-engine pilots were trained at Tuskegee
Army Air Field (TAAF) in Tuskegee Alabama.

Four hundred and fifty of the pilots were
trained at Tuskegee served overseas in
either the 99th Pursuit Squadron (later
the 99th Fighter Squadron) or the 332nd
Fighter Group. The 99th Fighter Squadron
trained in and flew P-40 Warhawks in combat
in North Africa, Sicily and Italy from April 1943
until July 1944 when they were transferred to the
332nd Fighter Group in the 15th Air Force.

The 99th Squadron distinguished itself by
being awarded two Presidential Unit Citations
(June-July 1943 and May 1944) for outstanding
tactical air support and aerial combat in the 12th
Air Force in Italy, before joining the 332nd
Fighter Group.

Berlin escort

The 332nd Fighter Group was awarded
the Presidential Unit Citation for its
longest bomber escort mission to Berlin,
Germany, March 24, 1945. It destroyed
three German ME-262 Jet fighters and
damaged five additional jet fighters
without losing any of the bombers
or any of its own fighter aircraft to
enemy fighters.

This is a picture of Captain Armour G.. McDaniels
who was shot down while escorting bombers to Belin
in March, 1945. He is surrounded (L to R) by Sergeant
Richard Adams, McDaniels, Lt. James McFatridge and
Ulysses Taylor. USAF, Maxwell AFB Archives.

The 332nd Fighter Group had also
distinguished itself in June 1944
when two of its pilots flying P-47
Thunderbolts discovered a German
destroyer in the harbor of Trieste, Italy.
One of the pilots, Lieutenant Gynne Pierson
of the 302nd Fighter Squadron, using only the
aircraft's 50-caliber machine guns, strafed the
destroyer, causing it to explode and sink. This
was another unprecedented aerial gunnery
feat of World War II.

The tenacious bomber escort cover
provided by the 332nd "Red Tail"
fighters often discouraged enemy
A fighter pilots from attacking bombers
escorted by the 332nd Fighter Group.
This resulted in fewer enemy fighter
challenges with resultant fewer enemy
aircraft destroyed or damaged by the
Group, as compared with other 15th Air
Force fighter escort groups. The successful
escort record resulted in frequent expressions
of appreciation from the 15th Air Force bomber
units and crews.

[Snow Bunny]

I love this picture Sam soooooo much.

[Nix 2]

THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN
OF
WORLD WAR II

The 332nd Fighter Group, known as the "The Redtails" the famous All-Black outfit
was the only
U.S. Fighter Group in WWII
that could claim to have never lost a bomber while
escorting to and from
a target

The combat record of the Tuskegee Airmen

• Over 15,000 combat sorties (Including 6000+
for the 99th prior to July '44)
• 111 German airplanes destroyed in the air
• 150 German aircraft destroyed on the ground
• 950 railcars, trucks, and other motor vehicles destroyed
• 1 destroyer sunk by P-47 machine gun fire
• Sixty-six pilots killed in action or accidents
• Thirty-two pilots downed and captured, POWs
• NO Bombers were ever lost to Enemy Aircraft while being escorted
• 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses earned
• 744 Air Medals
• 8 Purple Hearts
• 14 Bronze Stars

Yow!!! Bless them one and all.

[Snow Bunny]

Click on photo to go to thread regarding Ted Maher

[E.G.C.]

Thanks, S.B.

MONACO, FREE TED MAHER NOW!!!!!!

[tomkow6]

Good morning, Snow!

Good morning, EVERYBODY!

[tomkow6]

Today's FEEBLE attempt at humor:

A couple just started their Lamaze class and they were
given an activity requiring the husband to wear a bag of
sand -- to give him an idea of what it feels like to be
pregnant. The husband stood up and shrugged saying,
"This doesn't feel so bad."

The Lamaze instructor then dropped a pen and asked the
husband to pick it up.

"You want me to pick up the pen as if I were pregnant,
the way my wife would do it?" the husband asked.

"Exactly," replied the instructor.

To the delight of the other husbands, he turned to his wife
and said, "Honey, pick up that pen for me."

[tomkow6]

In honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, their instructors and ground support personnel who participated in preparing for combat training at the Walterboro Army Airfield during the Second World War.

Because of their heroic action in combat they were called Schwartze Vogelmenschen (black bird men) by the Germans who both feared and respected them. White American bomber crews in reverence referred to them as the "Red Tail Angels" because of the identifying red paint on their tail assemblies and because of their reputation for not losing any aircraft they protected to enemy fighters as they provided fighter coverage for missions over strategic targets in Europe.

[texson66]

Here's a salute to a great Airman:

General Daniel 'Chappie' James, Jr.

[tomkow6]

Tuskegee Airmen facts:

Tuskegee Army Air Field, located at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, was the training center for all black fighter pilots during World War II.

There were 996 original Airmen. These included pilots, bombardiers, and navigators.

More than 10,000 black men and women served as their vital support personnel.

450 served in combat overseas in the European Theater of Operations, North Africa, and the Mediterranean.

66 of the Tuskegee aviators died in combat.

33 Tuskegee Airmen became prisoners of war.

None of the bombers they escorted was lost to enemy fighters.

They flew 15,533 sorties between May, 1943 and June 9, 1945.

They destroyed 251 enemy aircraft.

They sank a German destroyer using only their machine guns.

They disabled more than 600 box cars, locomotives and rolling stock.

They won more than 850 medals, including 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, eight Purple Hearts, 14 Bronze Stars, 744 Air Medals and clusters, and three distinguished unit citations.

For every pilot, there were at least 10 black men and women on the ground in support roles including mechanics, medical technicians, administrative support and cooks. They were trained at Chanute Field, Illinois.

White American pilots were not allowed to fly more than 52 missions, but black American pilots often flew up to 100 missions due to lack of replacements.

The all-black 477th bomber group was activated and scheduled to
fight in the Pacific, but the war ended before their deployment.

Planes flown by black aviators in WWII: the P-51 Mustang, P-40 Warhawk, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-39, and the PT-13D Trainer.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin', everybody !!

Have a cup while you FReep !

For those who prefer hot chocolate.....

Turn your speakers up, then
Click on the pic, lol !

[MeekOneGOP]

Oops !! I intended #30 for everybody.....

---

Police investigating another shooting in Washington area

Excerpt:

10/22/2002

Associated Press

ROCKVILLE, Md. - A man was shot in the chest in Montgomery County early Tuesday, and a police task force was investigating to see if the shooting was connected to the serial sniper who has killed nine people and critically injured three others this month.

Police put a widespread dragnet into place immediately after the shooting, clogging traffic on Connecticut Ave., one of the main arteries into Washington, D.C., just as the morning commute began. Police helicopters began flying over the scene.

The shooting appparently happened about 6 a.m. EDT adjacent to an apartment building and wooded area along Connecticut Avenue. The location is near the site of six other sniper attacks,

Units were dispatched for a reported shooting on or near a bus, Montgomery County Fire Department spokesman Pete Piringer said. The victim was being airlifted via helicopter to a local trauma center, he said.

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Dictator

Dictator class seagoing monitor
Displacement. 4,438
Lenght. 312’
Beam. 50’
Draft. 20’
Speed. 10k.
Complement. 174
Armament. 2 15"

USS Dictator, a single-turreted seagoing monitor, was launched 26 December 1863 by Delamater Iron Works, New York, N.Y., under contract with John Ericsson; and commissioned 11 November 1864, Commander J. Rodgers in command.

Assigned to duty with North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, Dictator cruised on the Atlantic coast from 15 December 1864 until placed out of commission on 5 September 1865 at League Island Navy Yard. She remained in ordinary there until 1869.

Recommissioned 20 July 1869, Dictator served with the North Atlantic Fleet until 28 June 1871 when she was again placed out of commission. She was in ordinary at New York Navy Yard until 12 January 1874 when she was commissioned for service on the North Atlantic Station. Dictator was decommissioned at League Island 1 June 1877 and remained there until sold 27 September 1883.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

You will stay right where you are on the thread.

Please take a moment and Thank a Service Man or Woman.
Just Click on the graphic to send an e-mail.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

[Iowa Granny]

Good Morning, Tonk. Lovely flowers this morning. They look like they could have come from my garden back in July.

[Joe Brower]

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Today's transportation for you and the Girlz.

[tomkow6]

CONGRADULATIONS!

[tomkow6]

Morning, Tonk!

Did the girlz ever land that hellochopter last night?

[Mudboy Slim]

Good morning, y'all, from EnviroWhackoSniper Central...MUD