Replies

A Tale of Two Generals

It has been said that "If you have ONE child you are a PARENT...TWO (or more) and you are a REFEREE." Sibling rivalries are common in any family, and the family of America's veterans is no different. The term "Brotherhood" does not indicate that all is peaceful and calm or that there is an absence of disagreement. Brothers have been known to argue, feud, even fight each other. But brotherhood is a bond that is greater than the "family feuds" that erupt from time to time, and sooner or later brothers make up and get on with being brothers.

Generals Wainwright (left) and MacArthur

General George Armstrong Custer was so envious of his younger brother's TWO Medals of Honor, earned during the Civil War, that it caused some real tension. There are even reports that on at least one occasion when the younger showed up at a social event wearing BOTH medals, the two went outside and engaged in fisticuffs. But the sense of brotherhood between the two was stronger than their sibling rivalry. Thomas Custer always loved the older brother and the two served together through several campaigns in the West. Eventually, the two brothers died together at the infamous Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Douglas MacArthur and Jonathan Wainwright were as similar, yet individually different, as any two "flesh and blood" brothers. Both were the sons of military families. MacArthur's father Arthur was the hero who received the Medal of Honor during the Civil War. Wainwright's father also was a career officer who had at one point even served under Arthur MacArthur's command.

Douglas MacArthur graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point at the head of his class in 1903. Three years later Jonathan Wainwright graduated from the same school with its highest honor, first captain of cadets. Both served in World War I, MacArthur leading the 84th Infantry Brigade and earning the Distinguished Service Medal and SIX Silver Stars. Wainwright saw less combat as a staff officer, though he became known for his frequent visits to the troops on the front lines. Wainwright also received the Distinguished Service Medal.

General Jonathan Wainwright

Both men were generals in the US Army and serving in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was attacked on December 7, 1941. The months that followed and the differences in personality between the two would strain their brotherhood. Both would emerge historic figures, Douglas MacArthur characterized by historian/author William Manchester as the "American Caesar", Jonathan Wainwright remembered by his troops as "The Last of the Fighting Generals".

General MacArthur looked up from his desk at the tall, hard-bitten Cavalry general. The latter had always looked thin, hence the nickname "Skinny", first used when he had been a West Point cadet. The moniker had followed him through a 40 year military career. General Wainwright looked especially skinny now, after months of reduced rations. General Wainwright was commander of the North Luzon force in the Philippine Islands. General MacArthur had summoned him to the island fortress at Corregidor for an important meeting. The battle was not going well on the most important of the Philippine Islands. And things were about to get worse.

General Douglas MacArthur

The Philippine Islands consisted of more than 7000 small islands in the South China Sea. Only a third of the islands were inhabited. The Island of Luzon in the north is the largest of the islands. Measuring a little over 40,000 square miles, it is about the same size as our state of Ohio. Manila Bay in the south-west part of the island is one of the world's finest harbors, bordered on the east by Manila, the Philippine Capitol City. Luzon had been "home" to General MacArthur off and on for many years, dating back to the days when his father had been military governor. As a promising West Point graduate, Douglas MacArthur's first assignment had been with an engineer unit in the Philippines, and it was here during that tour of duty he had first tasted combat.

As the Japanese began their aggression for control of the Pacific, the Philippine Islands were key to their plans. Eight hours after the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, they attacked and virtually destroyed the American Air Force at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Two days later they began landing troops on beaches in the northern part of the Island.

War Plan "Orange No. 3"

The Japanese threat to the Philippines had been recognized twenty years earlier, and a war plan for the defense of the Philippines was written in 1928. Known as "Orange No. 3" or "WPO-3", the defense of the islands called for a "tactical delay" of the invading enemy. Rather than battling the enemy throughout the island, if they could not defeat the invaders at their point of landing, the army would pull back to the peninsula of Bataan at the opening of Manila Bay. There they would delay the enemy for up to six months until reinforcements could be brought in to end the siege.

Mid-way in the opening of Manila Bay is the tadpole-shaped, rocky island of Corregidor. Less than 2 square miles in size, the island had been a fortress for many years. At the beginning of World War II it garrisoned soldiers to man artillery that could support the defense of Bataan should it ever be necessary to implement Orange No. 3. Initially, General MacArthur attempted to have his American soldiers and Philippine Scouts meet and defeat the invading Japanese as they landed on the island's northern beaches. Most of these were soldiers under the command of General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright, at the age of 59 one of the oldest active generals in the United States army.

General Wainwright's Philippine Scouts fought courageously, but on December 22nd hope began to vanish. Japanese Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma waded ashore at Lingayen Gulf, just north of the Bataan Peninsula. Supported by 80 ships of the Japanese navy and 43,000 fresh troops, the Philippine Scouts were doomed. General MacArthur implemented Orange No. 3 and on December 26 he declared the Capitol of Manila to be an open city and abandoned it to the Japanese. As the American and Philippine forces began their withdrawal to Bataan, MacArthur set up his command post on the island of Corregidor. MacArthur moved his tactical operations into the quarter-mile long Malinta Tunnel. It was from there he began to direct the "delaying action" that would keep the enemy at bay until supplies and reinforcements could arrive from the United States. It was a wasted effort, for reinforcement of the valiant defenders wasn't even a part of the military war plan.

War Plan "ABC-1"

Ten months before the attack at Pearl Harbor, British and American military tacticians had established a war plan known as "ABC-1". The agreement between the two nations specified that, in the event that there would be hostilities on two fronts involving both the Germans and the Japanese, both Allied powers would concentrate most of their military resources on defending Europe. Of course, the brave men fighting hunger, disease and starvation in the dense jungles of the Philippines were not aware of ABC-1. For this reason they believed President Roosevelt when he gave his year-end speech promising "the entire resources of the United States" would be committed to defending the Philippine Islands.

Life in Malinta Tunnel

Two days later the Japanese took control of Manila. Meanwhile, more than 80,000 American and Filipino soldiers had withdrawn to the 500 square mile Bataan peninsula to maintain the delaying defense called for in Orange No. 3. Across the island the Philippine Scouts, many of whom were not aware of Orange No. 1, continued to battle the enemy. It was a brave effort, many of them fighting with outdated World War I British Enfield rifles. Ammunition began to run out, food was in short supply, and disease depleted their ranks. But they, along with their brothers at Bataan stubbornly held out, anxiously awaiting the resources of the United States that had been promised by the President. Amazingly the soldiers stopped the Japanese advance at the Abucay line, and held it for 12 days. Then, on February 8th, General Homma received an infusion of fresh troops from Tokyo. For the Americans and Filipinos there were no fresh troops, no resupply. When Singapore fell on February 15, 1942 it was becoming apparent to the Philippine defenders that the United States would be sending no reinforcements. They were expendable.

Meanwhile, General MacArthur had received word from Washington that he should hold out against the Japanese as long as possible, then capitulation was permissible. MacArthur was livid. He had no intention of surrendering to the Japanese, had resolved himself to die in the defense of the Philippines. On February 22, General MacArthur said goodbye to Philippine President Manuel Quezon. As the popular President reluctantly boarded the submarine Swordfish to be evacuated to Australia, he removed his signet ring and placed it on MacArthur's finger. "When they find your body," he told his old friend, "I want them to know that you fought for my country." Remaining on the island with the General was his wife and 3-year old son. In the hold of the Swordfish were their personal effects with instructions for them to be held until claimed by the MacArthur's legal heirs.

Surrender on Bataan

Even as the Swordfish slipped out of Manila Bay to preserve the Philippine Presidency, President Roosevelt was pondering the impact on the National morale should the most decorated hero of World War One be killed or captured by the Japanese. The following day the Commander In Chief ordered General MacArthur to escape to the southern island of Mindanao, then from there to find asylum in Australia. As a United States Army officer, it was an order he could not refuse. As a patriot who loved the Philippine Islands, it was also an order that went against everything in which he believed. Finally the 62-year old, 4-star general decided to resign. He would leave Corregidor, but not as a retreating general going to Australia. Instead, as a civilian, he would make the brief boat ride from "The Rock" to Bataan and enlist as a volunteer in its defense.

In the days that followed, MacArthur's chief of staff, Major General Richard K. Sutherland convinced the General that the President was right. He argued that there were rumors that a Philippine relief force was being established in Australia, and that the President had ordered MacArthur to Australia to build and lead that force back to the Islands to defeat the Japanese. The concept was reinforced by a telegram from Washington urging the General that "The situation in Australia indicates desirability of your early arrival there." MacArthur responded that he would, reluctantly, depart Corregidor on March 15th.

Meanwhile, the Japanese suspected that an attempt would be made to evacuate the Philippine commander from the area, and they too realized the propaganda potential for his death or capture. They increased their patrols in the South China Sea, virtually unopposed for the US Pacific Fleet was still rebuilding from the devastation at Pearl Harbor. A full Japanese destroyer division was dispatched towards Manila Bay to prevent any evacuation of the general. The time table had to be accelerated, and the only craft available to transport MacArthur and his family from Corregidor were four aging PT boats under the leadership of Lieutenant John Bulkeley. (Lieutenant Bulkeley would later receive the Medal of Honor for his heroic defense of the Philippines from December 7, 1941 to April 10, 1942.) Bulkeley and his PT boats would break out of Luzon as the sun went down on March 11th, taking with them General MacArthur. The Naval officers at Corregidor who were aware of the plan believed the General had about 1 chance in 5 of getting out successfully, and alive.

From the devastating attack that destroyed Clark Air Field eight hours after Pearl Harbor until March 11th, General Douglas MacArthur had encouraged the valiant defenders that if they could just hold on, reinforcements would be coming from the United States. For 90 days Philippine Scouts and American soldiers, despite disease, a shortage of food, lack of ammunition, obsolete and malfunctioning military hardware, and hostile jungle terrain had battled the well supplied invading Japanese. Manila had been sacrificed and 68,000 Filipinos, supported by nearly 12,000 American soldiers, had fallen back to the peninsula of Bataan to stall the Japanese war plans to break and enslave the Philippine Islands.

Propoganda given to battle weary soldiers encouraging surrender

It was becoming increasingly apparent that, despite the promises of the American President, there would be no relief force for the Philippine Islands. They were expendable. The idea was further fostered by Japanese propaganda radio whose theme song taunted the defenders. The song was titled:

I'm Waiting for Ships that Never Come In

March 11, 1942

"Jonathan, I want you to make it known throughout your command that I'm leaving over my repeated protests." General MacArthur said as he looked up at General Jonathan Wainwright. The tall, emaciated General the defenders of Bataan called "Skinny" promised that he would do just that. Douglas MacArthur had chosen his replacement in the Philippines. His Academy brother would assume command of all the Philippine troops upon MacArthur's departure. Wainwright would command from the Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor, while Major General Edward King would replace him as commander of the American Forces and Philippine Scouts defending Bataan. "Goodbye Jonathan," MacArthur continued. "When I get back, if you're still on Bataan, I'll make you a lieutenant general."

"I'll be on Bataan....if I'm still alive," Wainwright replied.

The Meeting of Wainwright and Homma

As darkness fell over the South China Sea, Lieutenant Bulkeley slipped out of Corregidor in PT-41 to make the dangerous journey through waters controlled by the Japanese. It was a daring mission to ferry an American legend and hero out of harm's way. Through 560 miles of dangerous ocean and a near brush with a Japanese destroyer, General MacArthur arrived safely on the southern island of Mindanao on the morning of Friday, the 13th of March. Four days later the General arrived in Australia. It was there that he issued the statement that contained one of his two most famous lines:

"The President of the United States ordered me to break through the Japanese lines for the purpose, as I understand it, of organizing the American offensive against Japan, a primary object of which is the relief of the Philippines. I came through...and... I Shall Return."

To the Filipino people, MacArthur was a hero. Through the dark years ahead they believed that, as he had promised, he would return. But the enemy powers sought to portray MacArthur differently. From Germany and Italy to Japan he was labeled in the media as a coward, a deserter, and the "fleeing general". MacArthur had been ordered out of Corregidor because the President was concerned about the negative impact his death or capture would have on the American public during the critical first year of the war. To counter the propaganda of the enemy, General George C. Marshall suggested awarding MacArthur the Medal of Honor. The President agreed, and the same award his father had received 80 years earlier was presented to General Douglas MacArthur in Australia on June 30, 1942. (Arthur and Douglas MacArthur became the only father and son in history to both receive the Medal of Honor.)

General Wainwright Broadcasting

It is difficult to argue with those who point out that Douglas MacArthur's Medal of Honor was a political move. It is far less difficult to argue the point that it was not deserved. Since his first engagement with Philippine Outlaws after graduating from West Point, MacArthur had proved himself a man of courage. Acts of personal valor in both the Mexican Campaign (Vera Cruz) and during World War I could easily have resulted in a Medal of Honor award. Those historians who would negate his World War II award because it was a political award must also realize that the fact he had not previously been awarded the Medal for other actions was, in MacArthur's mind, political as well.

Back on the Philippine Island of Luzon, the situation continued to deteriorate. The Japanese, despite isolated pockets of resistance by Philippine Scouts scattered throughout the jungles, controlled the island. Their massive army, consisting of two full divisions of well trained combat soldiers supported by two tank regiments, three engineer regiments and several powerful artillery and anti-aircraft batteries, were virtually invincible. The Philippine defenders at Bataan were surrounded and without any support other than artillery fire from Corregidor. General King and his men were combat weary, demoralized by broken promises of resupply, and weakened by malnutrition and disease. Food was so short that the soldiers were reduced to one-fourth the recommended combat ration. Malnutrition made the soldiers even more susceptible to disease, and General King's medical units had virtually no medicines to treat the dying. Disease, exhaustion and malnutrition were beginning to accomplish what tens of thousands of Japanese soldiers had tried for 90 days to achieve. The soldiers on Bataan had survived and resisted far beyond any expectation of human endurance.

The situation at Corregidor was no better. Here too, the soldiers were weary, wounded, malnourished and diseased. From the Malinta Tunnel General Wainwright did his best to direct the tactical aspects of the resistance. Unlike MacArthur, who had only once left the tunnel to visit troops on Bataan, "Skinny" made frequent visits to the peninsula to check on the status of his men...and to fight Japanese. In the months preceding his promotion to command of all forces in the Philippines, Wainwright had not only commanded the Philippine Scouts in I Corps, he had fought with them. On more than one occasion he had come under direct fire from enemy soldiers, watched men next to him die, and returned fire on the enemy. He was a unique kind of commander, perhaps indeed, the "Last of the Fighting Generals".

On April 9, 1942 the Japanese landed 50,000 fresh combat troops on the Island. Wainwright issued orders to General King to resist by all means. General King responded that he and his staff had determined his force was reduced to 30% of their efficiency. General Wainwright continued to order not only resistance, but ordered a counter-attack to repel the new Japanese offensive. It was not to be. With less than two days rations remaining, his troops paralyzed by exhaustion and disease, further resistance to the fresh Japanese offensive would have resulted in the slaughter of his beleaguered command. On April 9th General King surrendered, and Bataan fell to the Japanese.

The Bataan Death March

Most of the Philippine defenders were located near the southern Bataan city of Mariveles. Here the Japanese assembled their prisoners for the 55-mile march from Mariveles to the rail town of San Fernando. Here as many as 100 prisoners were loaded into box cars measuring 8 x 40 feet, and taken 24 miles to Capas, Tarlac. The deadly trip culminated with the 6-mile march to the infamous Camp O'Donnell.

Hands bound, wounds untreated, sick and malnourished to the point where many could not even stand, the trek became known as the "Bataan Death March". More than 76,000 Philippine defenders, including 12,000 American soldiers, became prisoners with the surrender on April 9th. On the death march to Camp O'Donnell the Japanese beheaded many who became too weak to continue the trip. Other prisoners were used for bayonet practice, or pushed to their deaths from cliffs to amuse their captors with their screams. Young Philippine girls were pulled to the side of the road and repeatedly raped. Heartbroken mothers were known to spread human feces on their daughter's faces to make them less desirable to the enemy.

The route of the Bataan Death March. It started at Mariveles at the tip of the Bataan Peninsula and went 65 miles to the rail head at San Fernando where the prisoners were crammed into metal boxcars for the journey to Camp O'Donnell.

Actually, there was not one Death March, but a series of death marches that began with the surrender on April 9th and continued until April 24th. During the period there was a steady stream of American and Philippine P.O.W.s making the 5-10 day trip to Camp O'Donnell. Of the 80,000 defenders of Bataan, it is estimated that as many as 20,000...one in four...died on the infamous death march. (In the two months that followed it is estimated that as many as 1,500 Americans and 25,000 more Filipinos died at Camp O'Donnell.)

With Bataan now under Japanese control, the enemy turned their full attention to "The Rock". General Wainwright and his 26,000 troops at Corregidor were the last organized resistance on Luzon. In all, more than 400 fighter plane and bombing attacks were launched against the 2 square mile island. For almost a month, while the Japanese continued their wholesale slaughter of Bataan's valiant defenders during their infamous death march, Corregidor held. By May 6th the Philippine defenders had continued to fight the delaying action called for in Orange No. 3 for the full six month period determined necessary for resupply and reinforcement. The defenders had done their part, but now they knew there would be no resupply or reinforcement.

65 miles of hell. This is a picture of the prisoners on the Death March. The guards were changed every three hours but the men were allowed little, if any, rest.

For long days and lonely nights, General Jonathan Wainwright had struggled to determine in his mind the best course of action. He was proud of his men and they had come to love, admire, and obey him. Finally, on the morning of May 6th he notified them of his decision. "With broken heart and with head bowed in sadness, but not in shame," he told his soldiers, today I must arrange terms for the surrender." At 10:15 A.M. he sent the last message from Corregidor to President Roosevelt. He told the President:

"There is a limit of human endurance and that limit has long since been passed. With out prospect of relief, I feel it is my duty to my Country, and to my gallant troops, to end this useless effusion of blood and human sacrifice. With profound regret and continued pride in my gallant troops, I go to meet the Japanese commander. Goodbye, Mr. President."

At exactly noon on May 6, 1942, General Jonathan M. Wainwright surrendered to Japanese General Homma. A historian of the Civil War, Wainwright later said of that moment, "Suddenly, I knew how Lee felt after Appomattox.

The defenders from Corregidor were not marched north through Bataan. Instead the Japanese shipped them across the bay to Manila where they were paraded in disgrace as a display of the Japanese superiority. As a final humiliation for General Wainwright, he was forced to march through his defeated soldiers. Despite their wounds, their illness, their broken spirit and shattered bodies, as the General passed among their ranks they struggled to their feet. It was their last show of respect for the last of the fighting generals.

American propaganda poster "American Vengeance" remembers the defenders of Bataan.

In Australia, General MacArthur was furious. In his own mind he had initially resolved to die fighting to defend the Philippines. The man he had selected to complete that mission when he had been ordered to leave Corregidor had let him down. On July 30, 1942 General George C. Marshall proposed that a Medal of Honor be awarded to the last of the fighting generals. It prompted an act of resistance to a Medal of Honor award, unprecedented in the Medal's history. General MacArthur wrote, in part:

The citation proposed does not represent the truth....As a relative matter award of the Medal of Honor to General Wainwright would be a grave injustice to a number of general officers of practically equally responsible positions who not only distinguished themselves by fully as great personal gallantry thereby earning the DSC but exhibited powers of leadership and inspiration to a degree greatly superior to that of General Wainwright thereby contributing much more to the stability of the command and to the successful conduct of the campaign. It would be a grave mistake which later on might well lead to embarrassing repercussions to make this award.

General Wainwright salutes General MacArthur at the signing ceremony aboard the U.S.S. Missouri on September 2, 1945.

MacArthur's vehement opposition to Wainwright's proposed award both surprised and stunned General Marshall. He withdrew the recommendation, and while General MacArthur prepared to keep his promise to return to the Philippines, General Wainwright was left to suffer alone in a Japanese prison camp.

During his more than three years of captivity, General Wainwright suffered deprivation, humiliation, abuse and torture at the hands of the Japanese. In his own mind he feared the moment of his return, sure that he would be considered a coward and a traitor for his surrender at Corregidor. He knew nothing of the award that had been proposed, then shelved because of MacArthur's scathing objections. Throughout the period he struggled to survive. General Jonathan Mayhew Wainright was the highest ranking American prisoner of war in World War II, and celebrating his 60th birthday in a POW camp in Manchuria, he was also one of the oldest.

Medal of Honor Presented to General Wainwright
By President Harry S. Truman in the Whitehouse Rose Garden

On October 25, 1944 General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore at Leyte to announce, "People of the Philippines, I have returned." Almost a year of bitter fighting remained for Allied forces in the Pacific. Then, on August 6, 1945 the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. On August 14 the Japanese announced that they would surrender. The final documents of surrender would be signed in Tokyo Harbor on September 2nd. General MacArthur would preside over the historic event and sign on behalf of the President of the United States.

On August 19 General Wainwright learned that the war had ended. He would finally be going home. He was flown first to Yokohama, where he arrived looking tired and gaunt on August 31st. Despite his earlier disappointment at the surrender at Corregidor, it was General Douglas MacArthur who met him. The two embraced as cameras caught the historic moment.

On September 2nd General MacArthur boarded the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor to meet the Japanese. On the table before him were the documents of surrender and several fountain pens with which he would sign. As he approached the table he spoke into the microphone, "Will General Wainwright and General Percival step forward and accompany me while I sign." It was a special tribute by MacArthur to the last of the fighting generals. Looking gaunt and weak, Wainwright proudly stood at rigid attention next to the British general Percival.

When the moment arrived to sign counter-sign the historic documents, MacArthur picked up the first fountain pen and scribbled his signature. Then he turned and handed that first pen to General Jonathan Wainwright. Skinny later said it was a "wholly unexpected and very great gift."

Promoted to Lieutenant General, Jonathan Wainwright returned home not to the shame he expected as the commander who had surrendered at Corregidor. Instead he was welcomed with cheers, ticker-tape parades, and an outpouring of love an affection. President Truman sent word that he wanted to meet with the general.

Wainwright and his wife flew into Washington, DC on the morning of September 10th. They were met by General Marshall to escorted them to the White House. There they visited briefly with President Truman in the Oval Office. Suddenly, as if it were an afterthought, the President told General Wainwright, "Let's step outside in the Rose Garden to continue this conversation." The two stood and the President took the General by the arm to escort him outside. General Wainwright was surprised to find the Rose Garden filled with military officials, press reporters, and spectators. His first thought was that the President wanted him to give a speech.

The speech that day, was to be the Presidents, however. As President stepped to the microphone and began to read, it dawned on General Wainwright what was about to happen. When the President had read the citation he turned to the last of the fighting generals and placed the Medal of Honor around his neck. On September 5, General Marshall had revived his recommendation, and the President quickly approved the award. This time there were no objections.

C. Douglas Sterner

Additional Sources:

www.homeofheroes.com
www.futura-dtp.dk/SLAG/Personer/NavneW
www.findagrave.com
www.audarya-fellowship.com
www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar
www.historicphotoarchive.com
members.terracom.net/~vfwpost
wwiiphotos.com
www.battleofbataan.com
www.bartcop.com
members.terracom.net
www.wfu.edu
www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on April 19:
1320 Pedro I King of Portugal (1357-67)
1700 Georg Abraham Schneider composer
1721 Roger Sherman signer (Declaration of Independence, Constitution)
1721 Thomas McKean attorney (signed Declaration of Independence) [or 3/19]
1801 Gustav T Fechner [Dr Mises] German philosopher/physicist
1821 Mortimer Dormer Leggett Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1896
1830 Rudolf Cornely German bible expert/jesuit
1850 Edward John Gregory painter/engraver
1866 Henri Deterding Dutch oil magnate (Royal Oil, Shell)
1868 Max Von Schillings German composer/conductor (Der Pfeifertag)
1877 Ole Evinrude inventor (outboard marine engine)
1897 Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney sculptor/art benefactor
1903 Eliot Ness untouchable (Prohibition Agent for Department of Treasury-Chicago, Untouchables)
1905 John S "Jimmy" Thach US pilot/Admiral (WWII)
1910 Andrew Gilchrist historian/diplomat
1912 Glenn T Seaborg head of Atomic Energy Commission/chemist/discovered Plutonium/Nobel 1951
1920 Frank Fontaine Cambridge MA, comedian (Crazy Guggenheim)
1922 Erich Hartmann German WWII pilot (downed 352 Russian aircraft)
1922 Luigi Barbbarito reverend (Apostolic ProNuncio)
1925 Hugh O'Brian [Krampke] Rochester NY, actor (Wyatt Earp, Search)
1933 Dick Sargent Carmel CA, actor (Darrin-Bewitched)
1933 Jayne Mansfield [Vera Jane Palmer] Bryn Mawr PA, actress (Guide for the Married Man, Girl Can't Help It, Too Hot to Handle)
1935 Dudley Moore London England, actor (10, Arthur, Bedazzled, 6 Weeks)
1937 Elinor Donahue Tacoma WA, actress (Betty Anderson-Father Knows Best, Gladys Peterson-Get a Life)
1941 Alan Price Fatfield Durham England, rock keyboardist (Animals-House of the Rising Sun)
1946 Tim Curry Cheshire England, actor (Rocky Horror Picture Show)
1946 Viktor Viktorovich Zabolotsky Russia, cosmonaut (BST-02)
1960 Frank "sweet music" Viola Hempstead NY, pitcher (Minnesota Twins, New York Mets/Cy Young-1988)
1962 Al Unser Jr Indy-car racer (over 10 wins)
1968 Ashley Taylor Judd [Ciminella] Granada Hills CA, actress (Kuffs, Sisters)
1969 Carlos Reyes Miami FL, pitcher (Oakland A's)
1975 Nazarena Almada Miss Argentina-Universe (1997)

Deaths which occurred on April 19:
1054 Leo IX [Bruno von Egesheim und Dagsburg] Pope (1049-54), dies at 51
1390 Robert II King of Scotland, dies
1588 Paolo Veronese [Cagliari] painter, dies
1689 Christina Queen of Sweden (1644-54), dies
1776 Jacob Israel Emden [Jacob ben Tswi] German rabbi, dies at 78
1813 Benjamin Rush physician/abolotionist (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 67
1824 [George Gorden Noel] "Lord" Byron poet, dies at 36
1881 Benjamin Disraeli 1st Earl (Beaconsfield)/novelist, dies
1906 Pierre Curie French physicist/chemist (Nobel 1903), dies
1943 Alexander Schmorell German resistance fighter, beheaded
1943 Kurt Huber German resistance fighter, beheaded
1943 Willy Graf German resistance fighter, beheaded
1956 Lionel K P "Buster" Crabb British diver (WWII), dies at 47
1957 Charles Funk Encylopediest (Funk & Wagnalls), dies at 76
1967 Conrad Adenauer West Germany chancellor (1949-63), dies at 91
1980 Alfred [Joseph] Hitchcock dies in Los Angeles CA from renal failure at 80
1987 Maxwell D Taylor US commander 101st airborne (WWII), dies at 85
1987 Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum Actor (Mr Green Jeans), dies at 77
1989 Daphne Du Maurier English writer (Rebecca, Jamaica Inn), dies at 82
1993 George Mickelson Governor of South Dakota, & 7 others, die in a plane crash
1995 J[oseph] Peter Grace CEO (W R Grace), dies at 82
1996 Peg Ridge peace campaigner/leftwing loonytoon, dies at 72

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1961 BAKER LEO---AL.
[SHOT DOWN BAY OF PIGS 1961 - NATIONAL GUARD CAPTURED/SHOT BURIED WITH UNCLAIMED CUBAN INVADERS]
1961 RAY THOMAS---BIRMINGHAM AL.
[SHOT DOWN BAY OF PIGS 1961 - CAPTURED/SHOT
1966 ADAMS LEE A.---WILLITS CA.
1966 BROWN JOSEPH O.---NORWALK CT.
[REMAINS RETURNED, IDENTIFIED 12/03/98]
1966 ROBBINS RICHARD J.---CLEVELAND OH.
[09/27/96 REMAINS RETURNED]
1967 HAMILTON JOHN S.---SILVER CITY NM.
[NO CHUTE BEEP, REMAINS RETURNED 10/97]
1967 MADISON THOMAS M.---TUSKEGEE AL.
[03/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 STERLING THOMAS JAMES---AUSTIN TX.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 BLODGETT DOUGLAS R.---ALEXANDRIA VA.
1968 DENNIS WILLIAM R.---PITTSBURGH PA.
1968 GONZALEZ JESUS A.---PITTSBURGH PA.
1968 HOUSH ANTHONY F.---NEWTON IL.
1968 LORD ARTHUR JAMES---SAVANNAH GA.
[HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED]
1968 MILLARD CHARLES W.---WILSON NC.
[HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED]
1968 SHAFER PHILIP R.---GRAND JUNCTION CO.
[HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED]
1968 WALLACE MICHAEL J.---ANN ARBOR MI.
1968 WERDEHOFF MICHAEL M.---TOLEDO OH.
[HELI CAUGHT FIRE, CRASHED]
1968 WILBURN JOHN E.---LUTHER OK.

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

On this day...
0607 Comet 1P/607 H1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0898 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1451 Alam Shah of Delhi resigns throne
1524 Pope Clemens VII fires Netherlands inquisitor-General French Van de Holly
1529 2nd Parliament of Spiers bans Lutheranism
1539 Charles, protestant German monarch, signs Treaty of Frankrfurt
1587 Sir Frances Drake sails into Cadiz Spain & sinks Spanish fleet
1770 Captain James Cook 1st sees Australia

1775 Minutemen Captain John Parker orders not to fire unless fired upon
1775 Revolution begins-Lexington Common, shot "heard round the world"

1782 Netherlands recognizes US
1839 Treaty of London constitutes Belgium an independent kingdom and Luxembourg a Grand Duchy
1861 Lincoln orders blockade of Confederate ports (Civil War)
1863 Union troops/fleet occupy Fort Huger VA
1864 Naval Engagement at Cherbourg, FR USS Kearsage vs CSS Alabama
1874 Barracks on Alcatraz Island destroyed in fire
1897 1st Boston Marathon won by John McDermott of New York in 2:55:10
1900 Highest scoring opening game, Phillies beat Braves 19-17 in 10
1904 Much of Toronto destroyed by fire
1909 Joan of Arc, declared a saint
1910 Halley's comet seen by naked eye 1st time this trip (Curacao)
1919 French assembly decides on 8 hour work day
1919 Leslie Irvin of US makes 1st parachute jump & free fall
1921 Funeral of last German Emperoress, Augusta Victoria
1923 New Egyptian law allows suffrage for men, except soldiers
1927 "Vagabond King" opens in London
1928 New York Yankees are out of 1st place for 1st time since May 1926
1932 President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week
1933 FDR announces US will leave the gold standard
1934 Shirley Temple appears in her 1st movie, "Stand Up & Cheer"
1936 Anti-Jewish riots break out in Palestine
1939 Connecticut finally approves Bill of Rights (148 years late)
1940 Dutch prime minister De Geer declares state of siege
1941 Bulgarian troops invade Macedonia

1943 Jews attack Nazi occupation forces at Warsaw Ghetto under Mordechai Anielewicz

1944 Allied fleet attack Sabang Sumatra
1945 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Carousel" opens on Broadway
1945 US aircraft carrier Franklin is heavily damaged in Japanese air raid
1948 ABC-TV network begins
1948 Chiang Kai-shek elected President of Nationalist China
1949 Yankees dedicate a plaque for Babe Ruth
1951 General Douglas MacArthur ends his military career
1956 US actress Grace Kelly marries Monaco's Prince Rainier III (civil ceremony)
1960 Baseball uniforms begin displaying player's names on their backs
1960 Comiskey Park's famed "exploding" scoreboard begins operating
1964 Coup in Laos, Suvanna Phuma remains premier
1965 1st all news radio station (WINS 1010 AM in NYC) begins operating
1966 In 1st regular season game at Anaheim Stadium, Angels lose 3-1 to Chicago
1967 Beatles sign a contract to stay together for 10 years (they don't)
1967 US Surveyor III lands on Moon
1971 Sierra Leone becomes a republic (National Day)
1971 USSR Salyut 1 launched; 1st manned lab in orbit
1971 Charles Manson sentenced to life (Sharon Tate murder)
1972 Bangladesh becomes a member of British Commonwealth
1974 Baltimore Oriole Al Bumbry hits an inside-the-park homerun against the New York Yankees
1975 India launches 1st satellite with help of USSR
1978 Yitzhak Navron elected 5th President of Israel
1979 FCC raids & shuts down pirate radio station WFAT (Brooklyn NY)
1982 Rosie Ruiz, marathon race cheater, arrested for forgery
1982 Sally Ride announced as 1st woman astronaut
1982 USSR Salyut 7 space station put into orbit
1982 Guinon Bluford announced as 1st black astronaut
1986 Michael Spinks beats Larry Holmes in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1987 Jacqueline Blanc, sets women's downhill ski speed record (124.902 mph)
1987 Gregory Robertson does 200-mph free fall to save unconscious skydiver
1987 Last wild condor captured on California wildlife reserve
1989 Gun turret explodes on USS Iowa, killing 47 sailors
1990 Contra guerrillas, leftist Sandinistas & incoming government agree to truce in Nicaragua's civil war
1991 Battle of the Ages-Heavyweight champion Evander Hollyfield beats 42 year old George Foreman in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1993 Branch Dividians/FBI 51 day standoff in Waco TX ends with the deaths of 4 FBI Agents and numerous deaths from suicide of the cult members
1993 Fire in psychiatric institute in South Korea, kills 40
1994 Inkatha ends boycott of South African multi-racial election
1994 Rodney King award $3,800,000 in compensation of police beating
1994 Supreme Court outlaws excluding people from juries because of gender

1995 Truck bomb outside Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, kills 168 & injures 500

1997 More than 50,000 residents abandoned Grand Forks, N.D., as the rising Red River overran sandbags.
1998 China freed Wang Dan, one of the leaders of the 1989 pro-democracy movement that had been brutally suppressed in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
2000 A federal appeals court ruled that 6-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez may stay in the United States until the court heard the full appeal from his relatives, who sought to retain custody of the boy.

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

Cuba : Bay of Pigs Victory Day (1961)
England : Primrose Day
Sierra Leone : Republican Anniversary Day (1971)
Uruguay : Landing of the 33/Desembarco de los "Treinta y Tres" (1825)
US : John Parker Day (1775) honors minutemen
Venezuela : Declaration of Independence Day/Day of Indian
Massachusetts, Maine : Patriots Day-Boston Marathon run (1775) (Monday)
US : National Coin Week (Day 2)
US : National Lingerie Week (Day 2)
US : Astronomy Week (Day 2)
US : John Parker Day (1775) honors minutemen and the Revolutionary hero
Worldwide Innovation Month

Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of James Duckett
Anglican : Commemoration of St Alphege, Archbp of Canterbury, martyr
Lutheran : Commemoration of Olavus Petri
Lutheran : Commemoration of Laurentius Petri

Religious History
1529 In Germany at the Diet of Spires (Speyer), a document signed by Lutheran leaders in fourteen cities lodged a "protest" which demanded a freedom of conscience and the right of minorities. Henceforth, the German Lutheran Reformers were known as "Protestants."
1823 Birth of Anna L. Waring, Welsh Anglican hymnwriter. "In Heavenly Love Abiding" is one of her best-known hymns, and is still sung today.
1887 The Catholic University of America was chartered in Washington, D.C.
1930 American pioneer linguist Frank C. Laubach, while serving as a missionary in the Philippines, wrote in a letter: 'Fellowship with God is like a delicate little plant, for a long nurturing is the price of having it, while it vanishes in a second of time, as soon as we try to seat some other unworthy affection beside Him.'
1941 Robert F. Wagner, Sr. introduced a resolution in the U.S. Senate stating that U.S. policy should favor the "restoration of the Jews in Palestine." The resolution was supported by 68 Senators.

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

Thought for the day :
"We're Americans - with a capital A! And do you know what that means? Do you? It means that our forefathers were kicked out of every decent country in the world."

What a Difference 30 Years Makes...
1970: Take acid.
2000: Take antacid.

New State Slogans...
New Jersey: Leave the gun; take the cannoli

Male Language Patterns...
"Of course I like it, honey, you look beautiful." REALLY MEANS,
"Oh, man, what have you done to yourself?"

Female Language Patterns...
"I'm going to the grocery store." REALLY MEANS,
"I'm going to the hat store and buy the most expensive one, then I'm going to the dress store and buy the most expensive one, then I'm going to take all my friends to the most expensive restaurant we can find, and charge it all to you. I'll bring you back a candy bar. Watch the kids while I'm gone."