Replies

(This is the report of Captain Abraham J. Baum he made at HQ 4th Armored Division when he returned 10 April 1945)

We broke through at SCHWEINHEIM and started to clean out that town at 20:00 hours that night. It took us until 00:30 hours before we could pass anything through. From there we went to HAIBACH, GRUENMORSBACH where we received our first bazooka fire. I lost a few infantrymen but no vehicles. We continued on to STRASSBESSENBACH and turned north to KEILBERG. This was somewhere between 01:30 hours and 02:30 hours in the morning. At KEILBERG we got on the main road and went through FRONHOFEN, LAUFACH and HAIN and then went through a stretch of woods. All during this operation we lost infantrymen in these various towns from small arms and bazooka fire. We kept on going through that stretch of woods and got to RECHTENBACH.

Just outside of the town of LOHR we lost our first tank. Of course, during our trip we shot up various vehicles and Krauts in all towns but the momentum of our column was too fast and too great and so we went straight through. In the town of LOHR itself we got a Kraut column of twelve vehicles coming toward us. The town was so situated that we just happened to get on the right road and pass on through and out of it. We then got on the road junction and all along the railway from LOHR to NEUENDORF to LANGENPROZELTEN to GEMUENDEN were trains. I estimate there must have been about twelve trains each consisting of about twenty cars. It was just getting light and it was there that I realized that I was going to run into something. We shot up these trains and a big thirty-car ack-ack train which was loaded with antiaircraft weapons and concrete pillboxes. The infantry cleaned that out. We got some 20 mm fire from the vicinity of GEMUENDEN and from the other side of the train but they stopped firing as soon as the column really started rolling. We got into GEMUENDEN and lost three tanks and a bunch of infantry including a platoon leader and to this day I don't know whether he's dead or alive. They blew a bridge right in our face. This bridge was the only one that would take us to the place we were going to. After further investigation, a PW informed us that the region around LOHR and GEMUENDEN was a marshalling area for two divisions, one division having just unloaded in GEMUENDEN. I believed it as the Krauts were filtering all over the place. After losing three tanks and finding the town was loaded, I decided it was best not to go in and seek another route. We backed out of town and went north.

It was about 08:30 hours when we got into RIENECK. SHAIPPACH was the town before that. The momentum of the column was quite great and we picked up a couple of Germans in that town and used them to guide us to BURGSINN as there was no bridge in RIENECK. In BURGSINN we captured a Kraut General and his staff. I also picked up a Kraut civilian to guide us to the town of GRAEFENDORF. We took off cross-country and went up a mountain trail. In and around GRAEFENDORF the task force freed 700 Russians. These Russians took a magazine and some of them armed themselves and took to the woods in the direction from which we came. We crossed the bridge at GRAEFENDORF and followed the river and railroad until we came to WEICKERSGRUEBEN. At this time - 14:00 hours in the afternoon - I noticed a Kraut liaison plane in the air. I also heard vehicular movement other than my own column when we stopped. I then stopped to orient myself and decide which way to attack this town where the PW camp was located and also find out exactly where the American prisoners were. We left WEICKERSGRUEBEN heading northeast and were engaged in a tank fight at OBERESCHENBACH. We didn't lose anything nor did the Krauts.

The column started moving again but I knew damn well that we were going to have a tank fight real soon. From OBERESCHENBACH to the camp site we went over two bridges - bypassing the town of HAMMELBURG. We had a tank fight and my platoon of lights, one assault gun, the majority of half-tracks and a platoon of infantry went on and started making a move to free the camp. Meanwhile, my medium tanks of which I had about six left engaged these tanks and knocked out three of them, also knocking out three or four ammunition trucks that were in the Kraut column. I kept pushing the task force over the ridge onto this high ground where about two companies of Kraut infantry were dug in. It took us two and one-half hours to clean it up so that the infantry and tanks could move in. In the meantime, the Kraut tanks had knocked out five of my half tracks and three peeps, one being a medical peep - one of the half-tracks contained gas and one other 105 mm-ammunition. It was about 16:30 hours when the first shots were fired on the guards of this military camp. It was about 18:30 hours or 19:30 hours in the evening when the American PW's came out of the camp. I gave them instructions and as many of them as possible rode on my vehicles, reorganized and got ready to go back.

A great number of the PW's were in no shape to go anywhere and they immediately took off in a group carrying a white flag back to the camp. Starting back, we hadn't gone fifty yards when we lost another tank by bazooka fire. I had to change my direction so took a compass reading and went cross-country. Everything was fine until I crossed the bridge and got into HESSDORF and ran into two road blocks. At HOELLRICH three more tanks were bazooked. I lost a tank company commander there and a large group of infantrymen. Knowing that I couldn't mess around there, I backed out of the area into assembly for reorganization on Hill 427 - coordinates 495652. It was about 03:30 hours in the morning when I got back on this hill. I immediately got the people together and found out how much gas we had. We siphoned gas out of eight of the half-tracks and destroyed eight to give us some zone of radius for the vehicles. At this particular time I had three mediums and three lights, plus one command tank. It was then that I sent my last message to the battalion that the mission was accomplished and we were on our way back for the second time. I oriented the people and informed them to use half-tracks for bridging equipment if necessary to cross streams so as to avoid towns. The real seriously wounded were left in a building marked with a big red cross just before daylight.

I got the men together here on top of this hill and gave them a pep talk and upon finishing got into my peep when the Krauts attacked. They had an unknown number of SP's to my South, six tanks and the equivalent of two infantry companies advancing on the position from the southeast, backed by SP's which were stationery. To the northeast were six Tiger tanks that were in position firing. A column of tanks came in from the direction of WEICKERSBRUEBEN when the attack commenced and stayed in the northwest. At the time they opened up, everybody was just ready to move out, in fact, I had pulled my peep out to form the column when they hit us with the fastest automatic tank fire I had ever seen. My tanks returned the fire best they could and jockeyed for position. All the vehicles were knocked out and burning and the infantry advanced under this assault. They practically destroyed the building in which the wounded were in that was marked with the Red Cross. We moved out into the woods and assembled. We then tried to get back to see what we could salvage out of the mess, but each time we showed our faces, the infantry opened up with small arms and the advancing tanks started firing again. We went back into the woods and the two platoon leaders who had taken over told the men to split up in groups of four and take off in the general direction from which we had come. The entire fight lasted twenty-five minutes, but that was the fight. At this time the Krauts had the situation well in hand and they continued blowing more bridges in preparation for a larger force. The infantry started mopping up the area with the aid of bloodhounds from the Hammelburg PW camp and captured quite a number of the men. In overrunning the positions, they also evacuated our wounded to the hospital in the prison camp that we had just set free.

Major Stiller, myself and a lieutenant (anonymous) took off in the woods. They ran us down - it got too close for comfort. I could barely walk and had been shot in the knee and in the leg with a P 38 pistol which convinced me I had enough for a while. After being captured, we were evacuated to the town of HUNDSFELD. The confusion was so great at that town nobody even bothered to search us and from there we were marched back to the prison camp. I was being partially carried - one man assisting me. Being wounded, I managed to get in the building that night while the other prisoners were being taken away. Some of these ex-prisoners who knew the ropes told the Krauts I was one of the group who had escaped and should be sent to a hospital as I couldn't walk. Before I knew it, a Kraut woke me up and sent me by truck to a Serbian hospital at the PW camp - and I still had on my equipment with the exception of the pistol, map, compass and everything else. When I got to the hospital, I found some thirty-five of the men who were wounded in my operation and recaptured. A German surgeon gave an American and Serbian complete control over all these wounded and left us alone.

The American doctor, Captain Brubacker, put me in a room off in a corner and I was just a patient. The Germans didn't know who I was or anything about me. The following day the General of the camp came back with more guards after marching some 500 or 600 prisoners to NUERNBERG. They started to evacuate American wounded to BAD KISSINGEN which was declared an open city due to the fact that it had some thirty to forty Kraut hospitals. They had no Americans in the town and wanted to put an American flag up because they were afraid of trouble when the Americans came. In this town was either Goebbel's or Goering's family - I couldn't swear to which. Within the next four days, German ambulances came and evacuated some sixteen or eighteen Americans to this town. All during these days spent in the hospital, the Serbs had hid American PW's that came back in their barracks. The enlisted men's camp had no guards whatsoever, but we gave them instructions they were to stay in camp and not wander out. Only the French and Russians took off for the villages to get food. A batch had taken to the woods in the vicinity of the camp and they were in such a position to Krauts couldn't handle them to evacuate them - that's the way we wanted to keep them.

On 6 April 1945 the 14th Armored Division rolled in with a combat command reinforced and freed the place. Immediate evacuation of our medical patients was made. The enlisted men and sixty-five or seventy officers that remained at that camp were taken care of through proper channels. These officers I refer to are exprisoners who had sneaked into the Serbian hospital - they knew the ropes. When we saw the difficulty we were going to have these sixty-five remained and the balance went back to stockade. Quite a few of those sixty-five were killed or wounded, but they were fighters. Regarding operations, that's what transpired going from the beginning to the end.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

The report of Captain Abraham J. Baum made at HQ 4th Armored Division when he returned 10 April 1945 in the thread comments and the additional remarks and corrctions in post one were provided courtesy of

Copy from the US National Archives, Washington DC,
Corrections of German place-names and
geographical names by Peter Domes

The photos of the 14th Armored Division (The bridge at Gemuenden and the occupation of OFLAG XIII-B) are from:

US National Archives, Washington DC

Additional remarks and corrections:

Three messages were sent by the task force. The first message was sent the morning of 27 March 1945 from Rieneck requesting air support against an enemy division marshalling area at Gemuenden. On the afternoon of 27 March 1945, Captain Baum called Lt Dahmen, who was in a plane, on the FM and gave his location which was on high ground between Rieneck and Graefendorf. A message was sent the morning of 28 March 1945 stating the mission was completed and that two attempts had been made to break out but losses had been heavy. It was also stated one more attempt would be made and if it was unsuccessful, the force would "hole up". The first and third messages were acknowledged by a "Roger" on the G-4 net.

Approximately 700 Russian prisoners were freed near the town of Graefendorf. There were approximately 1.400 American officers and 200 NCO's in the stockade south of Hammelburg. A LTC was the highest ranking officer in the group.

The force had four light tanks left when they were fighting on Hill 427. Three of these were from a platoon of the 37th Tank Bn and the other was from his command section. There was no tank fight at Obereschenbach. One medium tank of the force was knocked out by bazooka fire between Gemuenden and Obereschenbach. A light tank was lost near Gemuenden due to a thrown track. The order of march at the beginning of the mission was as follows: medium tanks with infantry riding, infantry in half-tracks, light tank, and assault guns. When no resistance was expected, the light tanks were sent to the head of the column.

Subordinate commanders in the task force were as follows:


Cpt Lange            Infantry 

Lt Nutto             Medium Tanks 

Lt Weaver            Light Tank Platoon 

T/Sgt Graham         Assault Gun Platoon 

Lt Hoffner           Reconnaissance Section

There was a total of eleven officers in the force. The only briefing prior to the mission was the actual telling of the men the purpose of the mission. Fifteen maps with the route marked were issued. The men who comprised the force had slept only one night in the four days prior to the mission.

The column reached Gemuenden the morning of 27 March 1945 and found that 12 troop trains had just unloaded and crews were servicing the engines. All of the engines were destroyed by the force. Three medium tanks were knocked out by bazooka fire in going through the town. An enemy division was billeted in the town and the fighting soon became heavy. A platoon of infantry was dismounted and sent to secure a bridge over the river but the bridge was blown while two of the infantrymen were standing on it.

Because of increasing opposition, Captain Baum decided to withdraw from the town and follow another route. Captain Baum, Lt Nutto, and an infantry platoon leader were wounded in Gemuenden. The force then proceeded north and went 15 miles out of the way to find a crossing over the river. The enemy destroyed six bridges after the force had already crossed them and set up road block behind them.

The air mission arrived at Gemuenden there was no opportunity to use it as the force quickly from the town. The assault guns were all knocked out near Hammelburg. One was knocked out on the edge of town and the other two were destroyed on Hill 427 southwest of Hammelburg. The force did not enter Hammelburg.

Today's classic warship, USS Bush (DD-529)

Fletcher class destroyer
Displacement. 2050
Lenght. 376'5"
Beam. 39'7"
Draft. 17'9"
Speed. 35.2 k.
Complement. 329
Armament. 5 5", 10 21" TT.

The USS Bush (DD-529) was launched 27 October 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Co., San Francisco, Calif. sponsored by Miss Marion Jackson, great-great-grandniece of Lieutenant Bush; and commissioned 10 May 1943, Commander W. F. Peterson in command.

Between 29 July and 27 November 1943 Bush acted as a patrol and escort vessel in Alaskan waters. Arriving at Pearl Harbor 4 December 1943, she commenced operations as a patrol, escort, and fire support ship throughout the Pacific, from the Ellice Islands to New Guinea, the Philippines, and Okinawa. She participated in the Bismarck Archipelago operations, including the Cape Gloucester, New Britain landings and the Admiralty Islands landings (26 December 1943-31 March 1944); Saidor, New Guinea, operations (18-21 January); Morotai landings (15 September); Leyte landings (20-24 October), Luzon operation, including the Mindoro and Lingayen Gulf landings (12-18 December 1944 and 4-18 January 1945); Iwo Jima operation (19 February-9 March); and the Okinawa operation (1-6 April).

On 1 November 1944, while operating in Leyte Gulf, Bush splashed two of ten Japanese planes during a severe air attack. She was showered by flying shrapnel and suffered two men wounded.

Bush was operating as radar picket ship off Okinawa 6 April 1945 and had splashed at least one plane when she was hit and subsequently sunk by three Japanese suicide planes with the loss of one third of her crew. At 1515 the first plane hit at the deck level on the starboard side between number one and two stacks causing its bomb or torpedo to explode in the forward engine room. Although much damage was sustained the ship was not believed to be in severe danger and tugs were requested. Colhoun (DD-801) was closing in to assist when she was hit by a suicide plane and was so severely damaged that she had to be sunk by United States forces.

At 1725 a second suicide plane crashed into the port side of Bush's main deck between the stacks, starting a large fire and nearly severing the ship. At 1745 a third plane crashed onto the port side just above the main deck. Some of the ship's a mmunition caught fire and began to explode. Although it was believed that she would break amidships, it was thought that both halves would be salvageable. However, an unusually heavy swell rocked the ship and Bush began to cave in amidships. Other swells followed and the ship was abandoned by her 227 survivors just before she folded and sank.

Bush received seven battle stars for her World War II service.

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on April 17:
1573 Maximilian I duke/ruler of Bayern (Catholic League)
1586 John Ford English dramatist ('Tis Pity She's a Whore)
1676 Frederik I [van Hessen Kassel] King of Sweden (1720-51)
1741 Samuel Chase judge (signed Declaration of Independence)
1788 Joseph Gilbert Totten Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1864
1809 Philip St George Cocke Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1861
1813 Henry Washington Benham Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1884
1837 John Pierpont Morgan US banker/CEO (US Steel)
1870 Ray Stannard Baker US, journalist (Puliter Prize 1940)
1885 Karen Blixen-Finecke [Dinesen], Danish writer (Out of Africa)
1890 Art Acord Glenwood Sevier UT, western actor (Arizona Kid, Hard Fists)
1894 Nikita S Khrushchev 1st Secretary USSR (1953-64)
1897 Thornton N Wilder US, novelist/playwright (Our Town)
1911 Mikhail Botvinnik of USSR, world chess champion (1948-63)
1916 Donald Gibson British Vice-Admiral
1918 William Holden [Franklin Beedle Jr] O'Fallon IL, actor (Stalag 17, Bridge Over the River Kwai, Wild Bunch)
1923 Harry Reasoner Dakota City IA, newscaster (60 Minutes, ABC, CBS)
1927 Tadeusz Mazowiecki premier of Poland (1989-90)
1933 Monique Van Vooren Brussels Belgium, actress (Warhol's Frankenstein)
1934 Don Kirshner rock & roll producer (invented bubblegum music)
1937 Daffy Duck, Thespian
1937 Eduard N Stepanov Russian cosmonaut
1943 Roy Estrada rocker (Morthers Of Invention)
1948 Jan Hammer composer (Escape from TV, Miami Vice)
1949 John Oates New York NY,rock guitarist/vocalist (Hall & Oates-Rich Girl)
1958 Byron Cherry Atlanta GA, actor (Coy-Dukes of Hazzard)
1958 Sergei Yuriyevich Vozovikov Russian Major/cosmonaut
1961 [Norman] Boomer Esiason West Islip NY, NFL quarterback (Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets)
1976 Nadine Thomas Miss Jamaica-Universe (1997)

Deaths which occurred on April 17:
0485 Proclus Greek mathematician, dies in Athens
0818 Bernhard I King of Italy, dies
0858 Benedict III Italian Pope (855-58), dies
1297 Willem van Afflighem Flemish poet/abbot St Truiden, dies at about 86
1679 John van Kessel Flemish painter, dies at 53
1711 Jozef I [Habsburg] emperor of Germany (1705-11), dies at about 32
1790 Benjamin Franklin US, (Poor Richard's Almanac), dies at 84
1835 William Henry Ireland forger (Shakespearean manuscripts), dies
1838 J Schopenhauer writer, dies at 71
1863 Daniel Smith Donelson Confederate General/cousin of Andrew Jackson, dies at 61
1945 Walter Model German fieldmarshal, commits suicide at 54
1960 Eddie Cochran rocker, dies in an auto accident at 21
1970 Sergei Aleksi patriarch of Russian-Orthodox church, dies at 92
1974 Frank McGee Today show host, dies of cancer at 52
1974 Vinnie Taylor rocker (Canned Heat), dies of a drug overdose
1983 Felix Pappalardi rocker (Cream, Mountain), dies
1983 Mark W Clark US General (WWII), dies at 87
1987 Dick Shawn comedian (Producers), dies on stage from a heart attack at 63
1990 Reverend Ralph David Abernathy civil rights activist, dies at 64
1992 Hank Penny country music singer, dies at 73 of heart failure
1993 Turgut Özal President of Turkey (1989-93), dies at 65
1997 Chaim Herzog President of Israel (1983-93), dies at 78

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 WOODWORTH SAMUEL ALEXANDER--MINCO OK.
[CRASH EXPLODE]
1966 TROMP WILLIAM L.---FENNVILLE MI.
1967 CARLTON JAMES E.---BIRMINGHAM AL.
1967 MC GARVEY JAMES M.---VALPARAISO IN.
1968 HELD JOHN W.---INDIANAPOLIS IN.
1969 DAHILL DOUGLAS E.---LIMA OH.
1969 NEWTON CHARLES V.---CANADIAN TX.
1969 PREVEDEL CHARLES F.---FLORISSANT MO.
1969 WILLETT ROBERT V. JR.---GREAT FALLS MT.
1971 GILLESPIE JOHN FRANCIS---AUSTRALIA
[LANCE CORPORAL, 8 FD AMP MISSING IN ACTION]

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

On this day...
0858 Benedict III ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1421 Dikes at Dort Holland breaks, 100,000 drown
1492 Christopher Columbus signs contract with Spain to find the Indies
1521 Martin Luther is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church
1524 Giovanni Verrazano, a florentine navigator, discovers New York Bay
1534 Sir Thomas More confined in London Tower
1629 1st commercial fishery established
1704 1st successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1711 Charles VI Habsburg becomes king of Austria
1793 Battle of Warsaw
1808 Bayonne Decree by Napoleon I of France orders seizure of US ships
1817 1st US school for the deaf founded by Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet and Laurent Clerc (American School for the Deaf-Hartford CT)
1824 Russia abandons all North American claims south of 54º 40' N
1839 Guatemala forms republic
1853 US Marine Hospital at Presidio (San Francisco) established
1861 Virginia become 8th state to secede
1861 Indianola TX-"Star of West" taken by Confederacy
1863 Grierson's Raid La Grange TN to Baton Rouge LA
1864 Battle of Plymouth NC
1864 Bread revolt in Savannah GA
1864 Grant suspends prisoner-of-war exchanges
1865 Mary Surratt is arrested as a conspirator in Lincoln's assassination
1869 1st pro baseball games-Cincinnati Reds 24, Cincinnati amateurs 15
1875 "Snooker" (variation of pool) invented by Sir Neville Chamberlain
1892 1st Sunday National League baseball game, Cincinnati Reds beat St Louis Cardinals 5-1
1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki signed, ends 1st Sino-Japanese War (1894-95)
1905 US Supreme court judges maximum work day unconstitutional
1907 11,745 immigrants arrive at Ellis Island NY
1912 1st unofficial gold record (Al Jolson's "Ragging The Baby To Sleep")
1920 American Professional Football Association forms (NFL)
1924 Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures & Louis B Mayer Company merged to form MGM
1927 Japan's Wakarsoeki government falls/Baron Tanaka becomes premier
1930 Abkhazian ASSR established in Georgian SSR
1932 Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia ends slavery
1933 Chicago Bears win their 1st NFL Game beating New York Giants 23-21
1934 The new Fenway Park opens, Washington Senators beat Red Sox 6-5
1937 Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig, debut
1939 Joe Louis KOs Jack Roper in 1 for heavyweight boxing title
1939 Stalin signs British-France-Russian anti-nazi pact
1941 Office of Price Administration established (to handle rationing)
1941 British troop land in Iraq/Yugoslavia; surrender to Nazi's
1942 12 Lancasters bombs MAN-factory in Augsburg
1942 Operations begin to destroy Sobibor Concentration Camp
1943 Admiral Yamamoto flies from Truk to Rabaul
1943 SS-Lieutenant-General Jürgen Stoop arrives in Warsaw
1945 8th Air Force bombs Dresden
1945 German occupiers flood Wieringermeer Netherlands
1945 Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan
1945 US troops lands in Mindanao
1946 Last French troops leave Syria (National Day)
1946 Syria declares independence from French administration
1947 Jackie Robinson bunts for his 1st major league hit
1951 New York Yankee Mickey Mantle's 1st game, he goes 1 for 4
1953 Mickey Mantle hits a 565' homerun in Washington DC's Griffith Stadium
1956 Willie Mosconi sinks 150 consecutive balls in a billiard tournament
1958 Brussel's (Belgium) World Fair opens
1960 American Samoa sets up a constitutional government
1961 1,400 Cuban exiles land in Bay of Pigs attempt to overthrow Castro
1964 Ford Mustang formally introduced ($2368 base)
1964 1st game at Shea Stadium, New York Mets lose to Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3
1967 Surveyor 3 launched; soft lands on Moon, April 20
1969 Czechoslovakia's Communist Party chairman Alexander Dubcek deposed
1969 Sirhan Sirhan is convicted of assassinating Senator Robert F Kennedy
1969 The Band (formerly The Hawks), perform their 1st concert
1969 Bernadette Devlin elected to British House of Commons
1970 Apollo 13 limps back safely, Beech-built oxygen tank no help
1970 Paul McCartney's 1st solo album "McCartney" is released
1971 Egypt, Libya & Syria form federation (FAR)
1971 People's Republic Bangladesh forms, under sheik Mujib ur-Rahman
1972 76th Boston Marathon won by Olavi Suomalainen of Finland in 2:15:39
1974 Ted Bundy victim Susan Rancourt disappears from Central Washington State College, Ellensburg WA
1974 Moslem fundamentalists assault military academy in Heliopolis Egypt
1975 Phnom Penh fell to Communist insurgents, ending Cambodia's 5-year war
1976 National League greatest comeback, trailing 12-1 the Phillies win 18-16 in 10, Mike Schmidt hits 4 consecutive homeruns
1978 63,500,000 shares traded on New York stock exchange (record)
1978 Pulitzer prize awarded to Carl Sagan for "Dragons of Eden"
1983 1st National Coin Week begins
1983 In Warsaw, police route 1,000 Solidarity supporters
1983 India entered space age launching SLV-3 rocket
1983 Nolan Ryan strikes out his 3,500th batter
1984 Libyan embassy demonstration, 1 shot dead
1986 IBM produces 1st megabit-chip
1986 Netherlands & Scilly Islands sign peace treaty (war of 1651)
1989 Polish labor union Solidarity granted legal status
1991 Railroad workers go on strike in the US
1993 Police officers found guilty of violating Rodney King's civil rights
1993 STS-56 (Discovery) lands
1997 John Bell, 115, recieves new pacemaker

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

World Grits Day
American Samoa : Flag Day (1900)
Burma : New Years
Democratic Kampuchea : Day of the Great Victory
Japan : Children's Protection Day
New York NY : Verrazano Day (1524)
Syria : Evacuation Day/Independence Day (1946)
US : National Garden Week Week Ends
National Cheeseball Day
Travel and Entertainment Books Month

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Anicetus, pope [150-66], martyr
Islam : New Year's Day (Muharram 1, 1420 AH)

Religious History
1640 Reorus Torkillus, 41, from Sweden, landed at Fort Christie in Delaware, making him the first Lutheran pastor to arrive in North America.
1776 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'You have now such faith as is necessary for your living unto God. As yet you are not called to die. When you are, you shall have faith for this also.'
1833 English historian and statesman Thomas B. Macaulay declared: 'The whole history of Christianity proves that she has little indeed to fear from persecution as a foe, but much to fear from persecution as an ally.'
1920 Birth of Robert G. Bratcher, principal translator of the American Bible Society's 1966-1976 "Good News Bible" (also known as "Today's English Version").
1960 Swedish statesman and Secretary General of the U.N. Dag Hammarskjld noted in his journal "Markings": 'Forgiveness breaks the chain of causality because he who forgives you -- out of love - - takes upon himself the consequences of what you have done. Forgiveness, therefore, always entails a sacrifice.'

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Thrift is a wonderful virtue - in an ancestor."

What a Difference 30 Years Makes...
1970: Parents begging you to get your hair cut.
2000: Children begging you to get their heads shaved.

New State Slogans...
North Carolina: Where Yankees stop to eat on the way to Florida.

Male Language Patterns...
"I'm going fishing." REALLY MEANS,
"I'm going to drink myself dangerously stupid, and stand by a stream with a stick in my hand, while the fish swim by in complete safety."

Female Language Patterns...
"That's men's work." REALLY MEANS,
"I'm going shopping. Give me your gold card."