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The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The 200th Coast Artillery (AA)- (12/8/1941) - May 26th, 2004
www.angelfire.com/nm/bcmfofnm ^ | Larry Sanderson

Posted on 05/26/2004 12:20:11 AM PDT by SAMWolf



Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday"

Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Sons of the West
The men of the Two Hon'red


History is filled with stories of heroism and valor. As a society we build and repeat the legends to later generations. Some tales are immortalized in verse such as "Into the valley of death rode the 600..." Others are cast as challenges and rally cries such as "Remember the Alamo." In many of these cases we lose sight of the actual story and the human sacrifice and heroism in the original acts. In other cases we unfortunately lose sight of the story entirely because for whatever reason it did not capture the imagination or it was overshadowed by other events.


Coat of Arms - 200th Coast Artillery


Such is the case of the sons of the west who formed the most decorated unit in Army history. Eighteen hundred young men of New Mexico went to war in 1941 and within one hundred and twenty-two short days became one of the most heroic fighting forces in the history of the United States. But that was just the beginning of their battle and of their sacrifice.

Six hundred men died in the valley of death and were immortalized by Tennyson. Two hundred men died at the Alamo and every American schoolchild knows the story. Of the 1800 New Mexicans in the 200th Coast Artillery who fired the first shots of World War II only 900 came home and of those 900 only 600 survived past twelve months of peacetime. How many Americans know that New Mexico gave more sons and daughters per capita than any other state in the Union in World War II? How many Americans know that of the 12,000 Americans on the Bataan Death March that 1 in 6 was from New Mexico? How many Americans know that the now famous Navajo Code of World War II started when the Taos Pueblo Indians of the 200th were used to communicate between units because the Japanese had broken every other code? And how many Americans know that on April 9th, 1942 when the rest of the army surrendered the New Mexicans dug into a ridge above Cabcaben airfield for the express purpose of proving that the Alamo was nothing compared to what New Mexico could do?

Oh those New Mexicans, they were something special.


PFC Vernie James


The story we want to tell you today occurred over 60 years ago but our journey to the story started just a year ago in a broken down building in Forrest, NM. On the wall of an outbuilding at the James homestead we saw the name Vernie James written in whitewash. It is the name of a lost brother, an uncle never known, a hero unrecognized.

The story of Vernie is the story of the fabled 200th Coast Artillery, the "Two Hon'red" as it was known to the men. In January 1941 the 200th NM National Guard Regiment was federalized. On April 4th 1941 the first major flood of peacetime draftees were inducted into service. At Ft. Bliss in El Paso the 200th was scheduled to virtually double its ranks. The officers of the regiment wanted nothing to do with men from other states and told their sergeants, "Stand in the doorway at the induction center and pick out the New Mexicans, those are our boys and we want them."

The result was an 1800 man regiment almost exclusively composed of New Mexicans including men like Manuel Armijo of Santa Fe, Jack Aldrich [then] of Clovis, Lee Roach of Clovis and Otis Yates and Vernie James both of Forrest. April through September was spent in training and, of course, some weekend passes. Old Otis Yates had a system worked out. Each soldier got $5 for the weekend. Otis would rent a car and charge each man $5 and drop them off on his way home to Forrest. Otis survived the war and lived here in Clovis until his death about five years ago.


Camp Maximiliano Luna, 1940.


The regiment trained hard and received their orders to ship out in September 1941... destination Manila. Our leaders in Washington needed to show that they supported MacArthur in the Philippines and the 200th was chosen. After all it had proven in training that it was the equal or better of any regular army regiment when it was selected as the best Anti-aircraft Regiment in the army.

The job of the 200th was to defend Clark Field (Ft. Stotsenberg) and on December 8th, 1941 their work began. On that day, despite the fact that they had never fired the live ammunition, it was old and limited in altitude, they downed a half dozen Japanese planes, the first of 86 that they would shoot down in the conflict. That evening the regiment was split with 500 troops charged to defend Manila. Vernie was in Battery C and remained with the 200th at Clark Field.


3-inch anti-aircraft gun


Very quickly MacArthur decided to implement his plan to retreat to Bataan where the army could hold out until reinforcements arrived. The retreat to Bataan, often called one of the most skillful military maneuvers in history depended on the New Mexicans as the rear guard. In the process they were in the center of a battle that decimated a Japanese army of 14,000 men. By the time the retreat was complete the army was intact, the Japanese had to pause for reinforcements and the New Mexicans were becoming a legend in MacArthur's command.

Over the next four months the New Mexicans shot down plane after plane, defended the line and protected airfields. Along with their comrades they starved, fought and waited for reinforcements. They became part of the famous sobriquet "The Battling Bastards of Bataan, no momma, no poppa and no Uncle Sam."



In April 1942 the Japanese broke the lines and by the 9th of April the army knew the peninsula was lost. The army was ordered to surrender but the New Mexicans picked up their shovels and started to dig in for their last stand. Eventually they were persuaded to surrender but not First Sergeant Armijo, PFC Vernie James and the communications squad of C Battery. These six men headed for the hills to continue the fight. They were captured later and brought back to make the Death March with 12,000 fellow Americans.

The first stop after the March was Camp O'Donnell and the New Mexicans did it again. When the first ones arrived they took up station at the main gate and waited for each of their comrades to come through. Once again the sergeants claimed their boys at the door and soon they were together.


Prisoners of the Japanese


Most everyone was sent to Cabanatuan prison camp. Almost 10,000 Americans were in the camp. Many were in other smaller camps and many, like Lee Roach, were sent to perform labor by building airfields. By all accounts Vernie spent his time at Cabanatuan. Several years ago his sister Bertha was told that Vernie spent much of his time assisting the Chaplains at the camp.

By 1944 the Japanese knew it was only a matter of time until the Americans came back to the islands and they began packing prisoners into ships for transport to Japan or Manchuria. These ships became known as Hell Ships because of their horrible conditions. Of the over 13 Hell Ships three were sunk and one, the Arisan Maru, became infamous as the worst disaster in American naval history.


Arisan Maru (June 5th, 1944)


Vernie James and the Arisan Maru began their voyage together in September 1944. That month Vernie was likely sent to Bilibid prison in Manila in preparation for shipment to Japan or Manchuria. He and 1800 other Americans were loaded on the Arisan Maru and they set sail in October 1944. On the night of October 24th as the battle of Leyte Gulf raged the Arisan Maru was in convoy in the South China Sea. Two American submarines attacked the convoy. The torpedoes of one found the Arisan Maru. To this day it is not known which submarine fired the torpedo. A Catholic Priest from Indianapolis, Father Thomas Scecina, was on deck at the time. He went down into the holds and brought the comfort of God to the men he would die with. For his valor he was awarded the Silver Star posthumously.

Vernie James was lost at sea but his spirit and memory are enshrined in the American Cemetery in Manila. His name is carved in the tablets of the Missing and he has been blessed with a Christian service.



PFC Vernie James died in October 1944 just three months before American Rangers liberated the Cabanatuan camp in a daring raid deep into enemy held territory. Vernie and 900 of his comrades did not make the trip home but they made history. Vernie and his comrades were recognized with awards and commendations the like of which had not been bestowed on any other regiment in American army history. For the record, PFC Vernie James is entitled to:

  • The Purple Heart
  • The Philippines Defense Medal
  • The Philippines Liberation Medal
  • The Prisoner of War Medal
  • The Bataan Medal
  • The World War II Victory Medal
  • The Asia-Pacific Campaign Medal
  • The American Defense Medal
  • The Presidential Unit Citation with three clusters
  • The Philippine Presidential Unit Citation

Vernie and his comrades were never immortalized in prose or in a slogan. But they have also never been forgotten by their families or their government. These Sons of the West showed the world what it means to bring Anglos, Indians and Hispanics together in a common cause. These amigos lived, fought and died together and showed their army and their enemy that men of the West are something special indeed.


New Mexico Special MacArthur Service Medal (Bataan Medal)


In December 1945 in a speech in Deming, New Mexico General Jonathan Wainwright paid tribute to the men of the regiment when he said:

"On December 8, 1941, when the Japanese unexpectedly attacked the Philippine Islands, the first point bombed was Ft. Stotsenberg. The 200th Coast Artillery, assigned to defend the Fort, was the first unit under The General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, to go into action defending our flag in the Pacific. First to fire, and last to lay down their arms! A fitting epitaph for a valiant Brigade which fought standing firmly in its appointed place and facing toward the enemy."

AMERICAN BATTLE MONUMENTS COMMISSION

Vernie L. James
Private First Class, U.S. Army, 38012675, 200th Coast Artillery Regiment
Entered Service from: New Mexico
Died: October 24, 1944, Missing in Action or Buried at Sea
Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery Manila, Philippines
Awards: Purple Heart



TOPICS: VetsCoR
KEYWORDS: 200coastartillery; bataan; clarkfield; deathmarch; freeperfoxhole; japan; philippines; usarmy; veterans; warriorwednesday
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To: Professional Engineer

Good Morning PE.


21 posted on 05/26/2004 7:19:33 AM PDT by SAMWolf (hAS ANYONE SEEN MY cAPSLOCK KEY?)
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To: Mudboy Slim
Morning Mud.

"What's yer FReeper name?!"
It's the Big Question in heaven.

LOL!

22 posted on 05/26/2004 7:20:18 AM PDT by SAMWolf (hAS ANYONE SEEN MY cAPSLOCK KEY?)
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To: bentfeather

Hi Bentfeather. You gonna be free of meetings today?


23 posted on 05/26/2004 7:20:47 AM PDT by SAMWolf (hAS ANYONE SEEN MY cAPSLOCK KEY?)
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To: bentfeather; Professional Engineer
I know these are very busy times for you. I appreciate the time you take selecting a lovely Flag each day.

Yeah! What Feather said. ;-)

24 posted on 05/26/2004 7:21:55 AM PDT by SAMWolf (hAS ANYONE SEEN MY cAPSLOCK KEY?)
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To: SAMWolf

On This Day In history


Birthdates which occurred on May 26:
1478 Clement VII [Giulio de' Medici], Italy, Pope (1523-34)
1566 Mohammed III sultan of Turkey (1595-1603)
1667 Abraham De Moivre French mathematician (De Moivre's theorem)
1700 Nikolaus L earl von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf German evangelist
1759 Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin writer/mother of Mary Shelley
1799 Alexander S Pushkin Russia, writer (Eugene Onegin)
1806 Henry Knox Thatcher Commander (Union Navy), died in 1880
1835 Edward Porter Alexander Brigadier General of artillery (Confederate Army)
1856 George Templeton Strong composer
1876 Jack Root boxing's 1st light heavyweight champion
1877 Isadora Duncan San Fransisco CA, free form/interpretative dancer
1877 Sadao Araki Japanese general/minister of War (1931-34)
1886 Al Jolson [Asa Yoelson] jazz singer/film actor (Mamie, Swanee)
1895 Dorothea Lange US documentary photographer
1895 Paul Lukas Budapest Hungary, actor (Watch on the Rhine, Sphynx)
1899 Pieter Menten Dutch war criminal
1903 Estes Kefauver (Senator-D-TN)


1907 John "Duke" Wayne [Marion Michael Morrison] Winterset IA, actor (True Grit)


1908 Robert Morley Semley Wiltshire England, actor (High Road to China, African Queen)
1910 Laurence S Rockefeller New York NY, CEO (Chase Manhattan Bank)
1911 Ben Alexander Goldfield NV, actor (Dragnet, Outer Gate, Mr Doodles Kicks Off)
1912 János Kádár premier Hungary (1956-58)
1913 Peter Cushing Kenley Surrey England, actor (Hound of the Baskervilles, Dracula, Star Wars, Dr Who)
1919 Jay Silverheels actor (Tonto-Lone Ranger)
1920 Peggy Lee [Norma Egstrom] Jamestown ND, singer (Fever, Why Don't You Do Right)
1923 James Arness Minneapolis MN, actor (Matt Dillon-Gunsmoke, Thing)
1939 Brent Musburger sportscaster (CBS-TV)
1948 Stevie [Stephanie Lynn] Nicks Phoenix AZ, rocker (Fleetwood Mac-Bella Donna)
1949 Hank Williams Jr Shreveport LA, country singer (All My Rowdy Friends Are Comin' Over Tonight, There's A Tear In My Beer)
1949 Pam Grier Winston-Salem NC, actress (Big Bird Cage, Tough Enough)
1949 Philip Michael Thomas Columbus OH, actor (Miami Vice)
1950 ? 1st whooping crane hatched in captivity
1951 Muhammed Ahmad Faris Syria, cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-3)
1951 Sally Kristen Ride Los Angeles CA, 1st US woman astronaut (STS-7, STS 41G)
1956 Joe Penny actor (Jake & the Fatman)
1957 Candace L Collins Dupo IL, playmate (December 1979)
1962 Bob[cat] Goldthwait Syracuse NY, comedian (Police Academy, Scrooged)
1964 Lenny Kravitz singer/guitar (911 is a Joke, Are You Gonna Go My Way?)



Deaths which occurred on May 26:
0604 605? Augustinus van Canterbury bishop/apostle of England, dies
0735 Beda Venerabilis English speaking church historian, dies at about 62
1421 Mohammed I sultan of Turkey (1413-21), dies
1512 Bajezid II Governor of Amasja/8th Sultan of Turkey, dies
1703 Samuel Pepys English marine expert (Diary)/composer, dies at 70
1831 Georg Hermes German philosopher/theologist (Hermenianen), dies
1868 Michael Barrett Irish nationalist, last British public execution
1883 Abd el-Kader Algerian sultan/religious ruler, dies at about 74
1905 Alphonse de Rothschild French banker, dies
1933 Jimmie Rodgers country singer, dies at 35
1939 Charles H Mayo US surgeon/co-founder (Mayo Clinic), dies at 74
1939 Cornelis J Cutters supreme commander of Navy (1910-18), dies
1943 Edsel Ford owner (Ford Motor Company), dies at 49
1951 Lincoln Ellsworth Arctic explorer, dies at 71
1956 Al Simmons Outfielder (A's)/lifetime batting average of .334, dies at 54
1959 Joe Kelly TV host (Quiz Kids), dies at 57
1963 Sharon Lynn actress (Way Out West, Big Broadcast), dies at 53
1968 William E "Little Willie" John US R&B-singer (Fever), dies at 30)
1976 Martin Heidegger German philosopher (Holzweg), dies at 86
1979 George Brent actor (Baby Face, Dark Victory, 42nd St), dies at 75
1991 Tom Cassidy anchor (CNN), dies of AIDs at 41
1994 Warren Harding "Sonny" Sharrock US free-jazz Guitarist, dies at 53
1995 Isadore "Friz" Freling cartoon director (Sylvester), dies at 88
1997 Manfred Von Ardenne German scientific pioneer, dies at 90


Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 GLANDON GARY A.---POWELL TN.
1966 GRIFFEY TERRANCE H.---FORT DODGE IA.
1967 MECLEARY READ BLAINE---OLD GREENWICH CT.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]

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


On this day...
0961 German King Otto II crowned
1328 William of Ockham forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII
1521 Edict of Worms outlaws Martin Luther & his followers
1538 Genève throws out Calvijn
1637 1st battle of Pequot at New Haven CT kills 500 Indians
1647 Massachusetts disallows priest access to colony
1736 Battle of Ackia (Louisiana), British & Chickasaw Indians defeat the French
1781 Bank of North America incorporated in Philadelphia
1788 Mary Clark of England gives birth to a baby without a brain
1790 Territory South of River Ohio created by Congress
1798 British kill about 500 Irish insurgents at the Battle of Tara
1805 Lewis & Clark 1st see Rocky Mountains
1805 Napoleon is crowned king of Italy
1824 Brazil is recognized by US (Say, Aren't you Brazil? I thought so)
1834 Portuguese Civil war ends, Dom Miguel capitulates
1860 Garibaldi occupies Palermo Italy
1861 Postmaster General Blair announces end of postal connection with South
1861 Union blockades New Orleans LA & Mobile AL
1864 Skirmish along the Totopotomoy Creek VA
1864 Territory of Montana is formed
1865 Battle of Galveston TX, surrender of Edmund Kirby Smith
1868 President Andrew Johnson avoids impeachment by 1 vote
1876 HMS Challenger returns from 128,000-km oceanographic exploration
1887 Racetrack betting becomes legal in New York state
1894 Emanuel Lasker (26) becomes World Champion chess player
1896 1st American intercollegiate bicycle race, Manhattan Beach NY
1896 Dow Jones begins an index of 12 industrial stocks (closing is 40.94)
1896 Last Czar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned
1900 British troops under Ian Hamilton attack the Vaal in South Africa
1903 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of the 3 Gables" (BG)
1905 A pogrom against Jews in Minsk Belorussia
1906 Archaeological Institute of America forms
1909 Frederick Barrett runs world record marathon (2:42:31)
1913 Actors' Equity Association forms (NYC)
1915 H H Asquith forms a coalition government in England
1917 Walt Cruise hit 1st homerun out of Braves Field
1918 Georgian Social Democratic Republic declares independence from Russia
1922 Lenin suffers a stroke
1923 1st Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance was run
1923 Socialist Workers Youth International forms in Hamburg
1924 President Coolidge signs Immigration Law (restricting immigration)
1925 Tigers' Ty Cobb is 1st to collect 1,000 extra-base hits (ends 1,139)
1927 Ford Motor Company manufactures its 15 millionth Model T automobile
1930 Supreme Court rules buying liquor does not violate the Constitution
1932 Admiral Makoto Saito forms parliament in Tokyo
1934 Century of Progress Exposition reopens in Chicago
1937 San Francisco Bay's Golden Gate Bridge opens
1938 House Committee on Un-American Activities begins work
1940 Operation Dynamo begins evacuating defeated Allied troops from Dunkirk
1941 American Flag House (Betsy Ross' Home) given to city of Philadelphia
1941 Ark Royal airplane sights German battleship Bismarck
1942 Anglo-Soviet Treaty signed in London
1942 Belgian Jews are required by Nazis to wear a Jewish star
1942 Tank battle at Bir Hakeim: African corps vs British army
1943 1st president of a black country to visit US (Edwin Barclay, Liberia)
1943 Jews riot against Germany in Amsterdam
1945 US drop fire bombs on Tokyo
1946 2-for-42 & hitting .048 for 1946, Mel Ott stops playing baseball
1946 Patent filed in US for H-Bomb
1948 Entire Hagana-arm forces sworn-in as Israeli soldiers
1948 South Africa elects a nationalist government with apartheid policy
1956 Aircraft carrier "Bennington" burns off Rhode Island, killing 103
1959 Harvey Haddix pitches 12 perfect innings, loses in 13th
1961 Freedom Ride Coordinating Committee establishes in Atlanta
1961 USAF bomber flies the Atlantic in a record of just over 3 hours
1965 Revised international Convention on Safety of Life at Sea takes effect
1966 Buddhist sets self on fire at US consulate in Hué South-Vietnam
1966 Guyana (formerly British Guiana) declares independence from UK
1969 Apollo 10 astronauts returned to Earth
1969 John & Yoko begin their 2nd bed-in (Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montréal)
1971 Soviet Union's Concorde, TU-144, makes its 1st appearance
1972 Joe Frazier TKOs Ron Stander in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1972 Nixon & Brezhnev signs SALT accord
1973 Bahrain adopts it's constitution
1973 Beatles' "The Beatles 1967-1970" album goes #1
1974 During a David Cassidy concert in London a 14 year old is trampled
1977 George Willig climbs NYC World Trade Center
1977 Movie "Star Wars" debuts
1978 1st legal gambling casino opens in Atlantic City
1979 "Dancin' Fool" by Frank Zappa hits #45
1980 Soyuz 36 carries 2 cosmonauts (1 Hungarian) to Salyut 6
1981 Marine jet crashes on flight deck of USS Nimitz, killing 14
1982 British ship Atlantic Conveyor & Coventry were hit in Falkland war
1984 Frisbee is kept aloft for 1,672 seconds in Philadelphia
1987 Cecilia Bolocco, 22, of Chile, crowned 36th Miss Universe
1987 Great offensive against Tamil-rebellion in Jaffra Sri Lanka
1987 Supreme Court ruled dangerous defendants could be held without bail
1987 William H Webster replaces Robert M Gates as 14th director of CIA
1989 At 7:42 AM, radio has a 30 second silence, honoring radio
1989 Danish parliament allows legal marriage among homosexuals
1990 Philadelphia Phillies retire Mike Schmidt's uniform #20
1993 Long fly ball by Indians' Carlos Martinez bounces off Jose Canseco's head & goes over fence for a homerun
1994 Michael Jackson (35) weds Elvis' daughter Lisa Marie Presley (26) The couple divorced less than two years later.
(Michael retains custody of the chimpanzee)
1997 Sammy Sosa (Cubs) & Tony Womack (Pirates) hit inside the park homeruns
1998 Date for Paula Jones sex harassment trial vs President Clinton


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

Guyana : Independence Day (1966)
US : Memorial Day/Decoration Day, a legal holiday (1868)(Monday)
Virginia : Confederate Memorial Day (1868)(Monday)
Poppy Week (Day 4)
Human Fly Day
Mystic, Conn : Lobster Festival
Scottsboro Alabama : Catfish Festival
US : All You Can Eat Day
REACT CB-Radio Month




Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Eleutherius, pope [175-178], martyr
Roman Catholic, Anglican : Memorial of Augustine, English Apostle, 1st abp of Canterbury (optional)
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Philip Neri, priest
Jewish : Shavuot (celebration of 10 commandments)(Sivan 6, 5753 AM)
Anglican, Roman Catholic : Ember Day


Religious History
1232 Pope Gregory IX sent the first Inquisition team to Aragon in Spain, after turning its details over to the Dominicans the previous year.
1811 Birth of William Hunter, American Methodist clergyman. The author of three collections of hymns, published during his lifetime, Hunter is best remembered today for the hymn entitled, "The Great Physician Now is Near."
1858 In Pittsburgh, the Associate Presbyterian and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian churches merged to form the United Presbyterian Church in North America.
1899 Future President William McKinley, 56, wrote in his notebook: 'My belief embraces the Divinity of Christ and a recognition of Christianity as the mightiest factor in the world's civilization.' (McKinley had been "born again," at age 10, during a revival meeting, and later joined a Methodist church.)
1957 The religious program "The Fourth R" aired for the last time over NBC television. Produced by several different religious organizations, this short-lived series aired on Sunday mornings.

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


Thought for the day :
"If reality wants to get in touch with me, it knows where I am."


Actual Newspaper Headlines...
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft


Why did the Chicken cross the Road...
Karl Marx:
It was a historical inevitability.


Dumb Laws...
Aspen Colorado:
Catapults may not be fired at buildings.


What an employee Really Means
"I'M HIGHLY MOTIVATED TO SUCCEED:"
The minute I find a better job.


25 posted on 05/26/2004 7:25:21 AM PDT by Valin (Hating people is like burning down your house to kill a rat)
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To: SAMWolf

LOL!

No meetings today!! Oh boy!! I have to work on a booklet for the club, however!! It's a program booklet describing the events of our big fall blast. WOO HOO.


26 posted on 05/26/2004 7:26:01 AM PDT by Soaring Feather (~The Dragon Flies' Lair~ Poetry and Prose~)
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To: SAMWolf

Dedicated to the FReepers who have passed on...we'll be seeing them again in due course...MUD


27 posted on 05/26/2004 7:28:40 AM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)
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To: Valin
1907 John "Duke" Wayne [Marion Michael Morrison] Winterset IA, actor (True Grit)

John Wayne, the broke the mold after he was made.

John Wayne once said,"Sure I wave the American flag. Do you know a better flag to wave? Sure I love my country with all her faults. I'm not ashamed of that, never have been and never will be."

28 posted on 05/26/2004 7:30:38 AM PDT by SAMWolf (hAS ANYONE SEEN MY cAPSLOCK KEY?)
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To: bentfeather

Work is a four letter word. ;-)


29 posted on 05/26/2004 7:31:27 AM PDT by SAMWolf (hAS ANYONE SEEN MY cAPSLOCK KEY?)
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To: Mudboy Slim
Nice reworking of the song.

we'll be seeing them again in due course

I hope they don't mind if they have to wait a bit.

30 posted on 05/26/2004 7:32:54 AM PDT by SAMWolf (hAS ANYONE SEEN MY cAPSLOCK KEY?)
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To: SAMWolf
"...they have to wait a bit."

A long bit...there's still plenty of FReepin' to be done in this realm.

FReegards...MUD

31 posted on 05/26/2004 7:37:59 AM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)
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To: SAMWolf

Work. I tried it once, Not for me. Oh 10-15 mins. a month it's good for you, but any more is a bit..exessive.


32 posted on 05/26/2004 8:23:10 AM PDT by Valin (Hating people is like burning down your house to kill a rat)
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To: SAMWolf
"Fill your hands, you Son of a Bitch!"
Rooster Cogburn - True Grit -- 1970

One of his best!

33 posted on 05/26/2004 8:25:56 AM PDT by Valin (Hating people is like burning down your house to kill a rat)
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To: snippy_about_it
GM, snippy!

free dixie,sw

34 posted on 05/26/2004 8:30:35 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. -T. Jefferson)
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To: Mudboy Slim

!!!!!!!!!


35 posted on 05/26/2004 8:33:05 AM PDT by stand watie (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God. -T. Jefferson)
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To: stand watie

Muchas gracias, mi amigo...MUD


36 posted on 05/26/2004 8:37:37 AM PDT by Mudboy Slim (RE-IMPEACH Osama bil Clinton!!)
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To: All

Air Power
Curtiss P-40 "Warhawk"

The Curtiss P-40 was undoubtedly one of the most controversial fighters to serve in quantity during the Second World War. It was praised and abused, lauded and vilified, but the fact remains that, as the first American single-seat fighter to be manufactured on a mass-production basis, it bore much of the brunt of the air warfare over several battle fronts. Its performance was inferior to the performances of the majority of its antagonists, but this shortcoming was partly compensated for by its tractability and its sturdiness which enabled it to withstand a considerable amount of punishment. It was amenable to adaptation and it was available when most sorely needed.

Not particularly good technically or in performance, though very durable, P-40s continued to be produced until the end of 1944, serving also with air force units of Turkey, South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Later versions were known as Kittyhawks to the RAF and its Allies. Not usually realized is that the name Warhawk applied only to the United States Army Air Force P-40s starting with the P-40F version, a much improved plane with a license built version of the British Rolls-Royce Merlin engine installed.

The belief in the "ascendancy of bombardment over pursuit" was rife in 1937 when the Curtiss P-40 was first envisaged, and it is a sobering thought that, with the Bell P-39 Airacobra this product of such a school of thought constituted more than half the strength of all USAAF fighters until July 1943. Prior to September of that year the P-39 and P-40 also comprised more than half the USAAF fighters committed overseas. However, by July 1945 only one P-40 group remained operational.

The prototype P-40 took to the air in the autumn of 1938, and production was initiated in the following year. Performance of the first version of this single-seat fighter had not really come up to expectations, but as several air forces were desperate for new aircraft, the type was welcomed into service. The US had delayed modernizing its Army Air Service until the last minute, so P-40s made up a large part of their equipment during the first years of war. Britain and France also ordered P-40s to contend with the German Luftwaffe, but in the case of France, deliveries came too late and their P-40s were diverted to the Royal Air Force - to be known as Tomahawks. Similarly, the Soviet Union's outdated air force had fared badly at the hands of the Germans, and P-40s were also sent there.

The P-40 was initially designed around the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled inline engine which offered better streamlining, more power per unit of frontal area, and better specific fuel consumption than did air-cooled radials of comparable power. Unfortunately, the rated altitude of the Allison engine was only some 12,000 feet, rendering combat above 15,000 feet a completely impracticable proposition. The P-40's ancestry dated back as far as 1924; the famed Curtiss Hawk fighters being in the forefront of all US warplanes. But its development was hindered from the start. The overall limitations of its design were such that the addition of multi-speed superchargers was considered inadvisable in view of the pending production of superior fighter designs. The achievements of the P-40 were therefore all the more creditable.

The prototype XP-40, the Curtiss Hawk Model 81, owed its origin to the earlier Model 75 of 1935 vintage. With the standardization of the Allison V-1710 , the P-36 design was reworked to incorporate this engine, becoming the XP-37 which was equipped with a General Electric turbo-supercharger, and featured numerous other modifications, including a rearward positioned cockpit. Thirteen YP-37s were built for service evaluation; but, with increasingly ominous signs of an approaching war, development of this fighter was abandoned in favor of a less complex and more direct conversion of the P-36 for the Allison engine, the XP-40. This was, in fact, the tenth production P-36A with an integrally-supercharged 1,160 h.p. Allison V-1710-19 (C13) engine, and first flew with its new power plant in the autumn of 1938. Successful in a US Army Pursuit Contest staged at Wright Field, in May 1939 it was awarded what was at that time the largest-ever production order for a US fighter, totaling nearly thirteen million dollars.

The P-40 was a relatively clean design, and was unusual for its time in having a fully retractable tail wheel. One hundred and ninety-seven P-40s were built in 1939-40 for the USAAF, and many more were sold abroad to Britain and France. In the RAF, which service purchased 140 outright, it was known as the Tomahawk Mk. I, IA, and IB, and carried two .303 in. Browning machine-guns in place of the 0.30in.-calibre guns fitted in USAAF machines. It retained the standard synchronized armament of two 0.5 in.-calibre machine-guns in the top nose decking.

The Flying Tigers
Many US volunteer pilots flew on behalf of Britain, the Soviet Union and China before the United States entered the war. A group of them, equipped with P-40s, went to help the Chinese in their struggle against the Japanese in 1942, where they became known as the 'Flying Tigers' because of their uniquely painted aircraft. This group later became part of the USAAF proper, and P-40s were thereafter used widely in the Pacific.

In the middle of 1941 General Claire Chennault began recruiting for his Volunteer Group--better known as the Flying Tigers--to fight the Japanese from China, for which 100 P40s were ordered for purchase through a loan from the US Government. Ninety aircraft, mostly P-40Bs, were actually delivered, sufficient for three squadrons, plus a few spares. At the time of the USA's entry into the war there were eighty American pilots in the Volunteer Group, and shortly after arriving at Kunming the P-40s drew first blood, six out of ten attacking Japanese bombers being destroyed by two of the AVG squadrons on December 20. There were no American casualties on this occasion, but the third squadron, left behind at Mingaladon, Burma, was less fortunate, and lost two pilots on their first interception, on December 23,1941. The American pilots had underestimated the maneuverability of the lightly built Japanese Zero fighters, and failed to utilize their superior speed and diving ability to advantage. It was soon the cardinal rule that a P-40 should always avoid mixing it individually with a Japanese fighter, owing to the Curtiss machine's inferior climb rate and maneuverability, but the P-40 substantiated a reputation for ruggedness that it was already acquiring with the RAF in the Middle East, and its armor protection saved many AVG pilots in subsequent combat.

Both the Flying Tigers in China and the RAF squadrons in the Middle East had their P-40Bs replaced by P-40Es. The AVG after continuous operation, was down to some twenty P-40Bs by March 1942, when some thirty P-40Es were ferried to China by air from Accra, in Africa. The improved performance offered by these more potent P-40s was found to be extremely valuable against the Mitsubishi A6M Zero-Sen fighters which, first introduced in the Chinese theatre in 1940, were becoming increasingly numerous. The ground-attack potential of the P-40E was also much superior. The AVG pilots had resorted to carrying 30-lb. incendiary and fragmentation bombs in the flare chutes of their P-40Bs, but it was questionable whether this was not more hazardous to the attackers than to the attacked. But some indication of the P-40's capabilities in resolute hands is given by the fact that from its inception in December 1941 until July 4, 1942, when it was absorbed by the USAAF, the AVG was officially credited with the destruction of 286 Japanese aircraft for the loss of eight pilots killed in action, two pilots and one crew chief killed during ground attack, and four pilots missing. The top-scoring AVG pilot, Robert H. Neale, was credited with the destruction of sixteen enemy aircraft while flying the P-40, and eight other pilots claimed ten or more victories.

One of the most significant steps in P-40 development came in 1941, when a British-built Rolls-Royce Merlin 28 engine with a single-stage, two-speed supercharger was installed in a Kittyhawk I airframe to improve its high-altitude performance. The Curtiss H-87-D, or XP-40F, as the Merlin-powered prototype became known, then had 1,300 hp available for takeoff, and 1,120 hp at 18,500 feet, which offered vast improvements over earlier models and endowed a maximum speed of 373 mph. This was reduced slightly in the YP-40F, which, like later variants, had the Packard-built Merlin V-1650-1 and revised cooling, the air intake above the cowling being incorporated in the radiator scoop. Gross weight climbed to 9,870 lb.

Following experiments in cooling-drag reduction in 1943 with a P-40K-10-CU which had its "beard" radiator removed to wing installations, and in rear vision improvements by installing a "bubble" canopy on a standard P-40L, a general " clean-up " programme was initiated, resulting in the sole XP-40Q. With a 1,425 hp Allison V-1710-121 engine, the XP-40Q was modified from the first P-40K-I to have a "bubble" canopy and cut-down rear fuselage, wing radiators and, eventually, clipped wing tips. A four-blade propeller was fitted, and water injection installed. With a weight of only 9,000 lb, the XP40Q attained a maximum speed of 422 mph. This was still less than the speed attained by contemporary production Mustangs and Thunderbolts , however, and the XP-40Q did not achieve production.

Specifications:
Manufacturer: Glenn H. Curtiss Aviation
Primary Role: Fighter
Crew: One
Powerplant: One Allison V-1710-99 , Vee - 12 cylinder, liquid cooled engines.
Engine power: 1,200 h.p. @ takeoff and 1,125 h.p. @ 17,300 ft. with a single speed supercharger.
Cost: $45,000
Number Built: Approximately 15,000
Number Still Airworthy: 19

Dimensions:
Wing span: 37 ft. 4 in.
Length: 33 ft. 4 in.
Height: 12 ft. 4 in.
Weights: Empty: 6,700 lb. / Operational: 8,400 lb. / Max Takeoff: 11,400 lbs

Performance:
Maximum Speed: 325 m.p.h. @ 25,000 ft. / 343 m.p.h. @ 15,000 ft. / 308 m.p.h. @ 5,000 ft.
Cruising Speeds: 235 mph
Service Ceiling: 30,000 ft.
Range: 750 miles @ 10,000 ft. ft.
Max. Range: 2,800 miles @ 10,000 ft.

Armaments:
Six 0.5-in. Browning machine-guns with 281 rpg
External bomb load of three 500-lb. bombs.








Hap Arnold and Claire Chennault, Curtiss P-40s, Chungking, ca. 1942:

All information and photos Copyright of Aviation History.com and Glenn H. Aviation.com
37 posted on 05/26/2004 8:53:16 AM PDT by Johnny Gage (God Bless our Firefighters, Police, EMS, responders, and God Bless our Veterans)
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To: SAMWolf; snippy_about_it
Fleet Week N.Y,....May 26th-June 1

USS BOONE FFG 28

38 posted on 05/26/2004 9:24:41 AM PDT by Light Speed
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To: SAMWolf

I'm in.


39 posted on 05/26/2004 10:13:55 AM PDT by Darksheare ("Arrr! A Pirate's work is never done! " ____(_*_|_*_)---____ \o/ ___ *splash!*)
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To: Johnny Gage

I recollect a war memoir by an Australian ace who flew P-40s. He thought they were wonderful. He flew naturally aspirated models, as he refers to being restricted to low altitudes.


40 posted on 05/26/2004 10:25:09 AM PDT by Iris7 (If "Iris7" upsets or intrigues you, see my Freeper home page for a nice explanatory essay.)
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