Pathfinders were specially trained to jump into enemy territory to mark landing and drop zones for subsequent waves of supply aircraft, paratroopers and gliders. Each pathfinder stick was equipped with AN/PPN-1A Eureka beacons and other special equipment. After landing, the pathfinders would set up the Eureka beacons, which sent out a signal to C-47s equipped with APN-2(SCR-729) Rebecca receivers. Once the Eureka signal had been picked up, the Rebecca-equipped C-47s would guide other aircraft to the intended drop zone -- no matter how small.

Primarily products of the Dustbowl and the Depression, the Filthy Thirteen grew notorious, even within the ranks of the elite 101st. Never ones to salute an officer, or take a bath, this squad became singular within the screaming eagles for its hard drinking, and savage fighting skill - and that was only in training. Just prior to the invasion of Normandy, a "Stars and Stripes" photographer caught U.S. para-troopers with heads shaved into Mohawks, applying war paint to their faces. Unknown to the American public at the time, these men were the Filthy Thirteen.

McNiece began to assign the men at Chalgrove to the sticks they would train with. For his own stick, McNiece picked men he knew had proven themselves in combat. In addition to the men who had come with him from demolitions, he selected George Blain from 1st Battalion Headquarters, Sergeant John Roseman of Company A, Sergeant Leroy E. Shulenberg of Company B and Sergeant Cleo Merz of Company C.

Troops of the 101st Airborne Division watch C-47’s drop supplies to them. 26 December 1944.

At 1:30 p.m. on December 22, Lieutenant Williams walked up to McNiece and told him to report with his stick to the airfield in 30 minutes ready to jump. McNiece protested that conducting a training jump in the snow would result in unnecessary injuries. Besides, most of them already had 40 to 50 jumps. To his surprise, Williams informed him that it was a real mission.

"Belgium. The 101st is cut off in Bastogne," Williams said. "They'll brief you at the plane."

"You are really serious about this?" McNiece asked.

"I am, and you have not heard the worst of it," Lieutenant Williams replied.

The order to assemble the pathfinder stick had come from Lt. Col. James T. Blair, the executive officer of the 9th Troop Carrier Command's pathfinder group. Because they were in Chalgrove only for training, it was pure coincidence that the pathfinders were available for the mission. The men had to borrow helmets, jackets and other field gear to get ready.

At 2 p.m., their truck pulled up to a C-47 with its engines running. Smoke grenades, panel markers and Eureka sets were waiting. While the men loaded the equipment, Williams and McNiece reported to group operations for the pilot-jumpmaster briefing. Several Army Air Forces colonels shook their hands and wished them good luck. McNiece queried: "What do you mean good luck? Where are we going and what's the deal? When are we going to get briefed?"

"Right now," was the reply. The officers pulled out a map and pointed to a circle drawn on it. "That's Bastogne," said one. "Your division is cut off in there and completely encircled -- at least the last time we heard from them. We have not heard from them in two days." The division was in a desperate fight for survival, and an aerial resupply drop was its only hope.

The 101st had been rushed to Bastogne from its camp in Mourmelon on December 19 to seize the strategically vital town. In just a few days, the supply situation in the now surrounded Belgian town had become desperate. Most artillery pieces within the perimeter had only 10 rounds left. The commander of the Bastogne defense, Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, told his artillery commanders not to fire on attacking Germans "until you see the whites of their eyes."

With a solid cloud cover over Bastogne, the only way for the C-47 transports to accurately drop their supply bundles into the hands of the defenders was with the aid of pathfinders. McNiece's men would have to brave enemy small-arms fire and jump with pinpoint accuracy within the perimeter to set up the Eureka beacons that would emit a signal for the transport aircraft to home in on. The waiting C-47s, each carrying approximately 1,200 pounds of supplies, would fly on instruments toward the signal and drop their critical supply bundles.

The colonel finished his sober briefing with a half-hearted "Good luck."

"I don't need good luck," McNiece replied to the colonel, "I need a miracle!"

At 2:52, nearly an hour after their arrival, McNiece and his men boarded the plane. Planning had been rushed. Troop Carrier Command had only a vague picture of the situation around Bastogne and had planned the entire operation on a large-scale map that lacked the detail necessary for a close reconnaissance of the intended drop zone.

A company of men from the 101st Airborne Division leaves Bastogne to take up positions on the perimeter surrounding the town. Although they were inadequately equipped when they were rushed to the Ardennes on December 19, their timely resupply via parachute drop -- thanks to a handful of elite pathfinders -- represented an aerial lifeline that meant the difference between victory and defeat for the men of the 101st.

Captain Brown, temporarily away from his office when McNiece and Williams were briefed, returned at 2:55, after the plane had taken off. When he learned about what his men had been asked to do, he was horrified. The pathfinders had not had time to properly plot their course, or even plan for emergency procedures in case things went wrong. With such hasty and slipshod preparations, Brown knew the mission had little chance of success. After checking weather and sunset time, he radioed the pilot to return to base. The pilot acknowledged and returned.

After they landed, the pathfinders went to the operations room to plan another, better-prepared attempt the next day, even though some reports indicated that the 101st had already been overrun. Although they now had more detailed maps, McNiece doubted that their pilot could find the target. As a safeguard he suggested that they fly two pathfinder sticks in separate planes. If the first stick landed within German lines, it would send a black smoke signal. The other plane would circle around and try to locate surviving pathfinders. If the first stick landed in friendly lines, it would throw orange smoke and the second stick would try to jump on the same spot.

Tired but relieved, members of the 101st Airborne Division go back onto the line. Thanks to the resupply missions, these men are carrying boxes of rations under their arms and blankets for additional warmth.

McNiece lucked out on the pilot of his plane. Lieutenant Colonel Joel L. Crouch had been involved in Troop Carrier Command's end of the pathfinder training since Sicily. No other pilot was better qualified for the mission.

At 6:45 in the morning on December 23, planes carrying the two pathfinder sticks took off from Chalgrove headed for Belgium. As they did so, other C-47s loaded with supplies were getting ready to take off. As soon as they received a clear signal from the pathfinders, the heavily laden transport planes would head immediately for the besieged town.

Members of the 101st Airborne Division walk past dead comrades, killed during the Christmas Eve bombing of Bastogne, Belgium, the town in which this division was besieged for ten days. This photo was taken on Christmas Day. 1944

As they neared Bastogne, Crouch's co-pilot turned on the red light over the jump door of McNiece's C-47. Just as the men stood to hook up their static lines before jumping, German anti-aircraft fire burst all around the plane. After one particularly loud bang McNiece and Sergeant Merz flinched. A hole in the fuselage showed that an enemy round had passed between the two men, who were only inches apart. The Germans had an 88mm gun emplacement directly in their flight path.

With no other means of defending himself, Crouch nosed his C-47 down to treetop height and scattered the Germans as he flew over them. He then pulled back up to jump altitude and leveled off. The heavily burdened pathfinders picked themselves up off the plane's floor, hooked up and prepared to jump.

As he waited to jump, McNiece saw a large cemetery through a window. The only town in the area big enough for such a cemetery was Bastogne. Time to go. The green light flashed on just after 9:35 a.m., and McNiece and the rest of the stick exited Crouch's plane in record time. Not wanting to be stuck on the ground with only 10 men, as soon as he left the plane McNiece began throwing orange smoke in every direction. Agnew's first act after his chute opened was to loosen his Thompson submachine gun so it would be ready for use as soon as he landed.

Spotting the orange smoke ahead, the 10 pathfinders in 1st Lt. Lionel Wood's plane jumped as well. Both sticks landed in a field on the edge of town. Lieutenants Williams and Gordon Rothwell immediately reported to division headquarters, which ordered the drop zone set up in the fields between Bastogne and Senonchamps. McNiece led his men to a sizable pile of bricks on a bit of high ground to their front. Agnew climbed to the top of the pile and set up his signaling equipment. The rest of the pathfinders laid out marker panels to identify the drop zone.

The pilot of a C-47 cargo transport crash lands safely after having dropped supplies to elements of the 101st Airborne Division which has successfully repulsed all attempts to capture the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium. 30 Dec 1944.

As the pathfinders worked, 40 C-47s of the 441st Troop Carrier Group loaded with the desperately needed cargo orbited over France waiting for a signal. They had taken off in the worst flying weather possible, operating solely on instruments through clouds that hugged the ground. But this was par for the course. They had flown in weather so bad that, according to one pilot, "even the birds were walking." The C-47s flew in "V" formations by altitude separation right over the treetops. About 40 miles out from their target, the skies cleared. "You could see for a hundred miles in all directions," one pilot remembered. To the pilots' surprise, all the aircraft were in sight of each other. They flew over columns of northbound German tanks that scattered when they first heard the roar of the aircraft. Once they recognized the planes as transports, the Germans returned to their guns and fired at them.

(Operation Repulse) On 26, 27 December 1944, The heroic efforts of American forces in the action at Bastogne need no retelling. However, few historians give more than a casual mention of the part that gliders and glider pilots played in this important action. Flying their frail aircraft into a hail of enemy flak and ground fire, the glider pilots who participated in this battle carried to the besieged defenders badly needed ammunition and medical supplies that enabled them to hold out and secure the ultimate victory.

Within 30 minutes of the pathfinder landings, the planes were nearly over Bastogne. The pathfinders waited until the last minute to turn on their Eureka set so as not to give their position away to German radio direction-finders. When the sound of the approaching aircraft was loud enough, Agnew switched on his beacon, and the pilots knew exactly where to drop their bundles. This also was the signal for waiting American jeeps and trucks to get ready to rush out into the drop zone to get the supplies. At 11:50 a.m. hundreds of brightly colored parachute canopies filled the skies over Bastogne. The spectacle even startled the Germans, who momentarily stopped firing.

Additional Sources:

www.toccoahistory.com
currahee.hispeed.com
www.ur.se
www.dod.mil
216.153.157.176
www.army.mil
www.oldgloryprints.com
www.store666.com
history.amedd.army.mil
www.secondeguerre.net
www.printsofthecivilwar.com
www.dean.usma.edu

Lieutenant Colonel Carl W. Kohls, the 101st's supply officer, had tasked the 501st and 506th Parachute Infantry regiments with preparing recovery details. As the parachute bundles touched ground, the men raced out to drag in the desperately needed ammunition, food and medical supplies. The heavily loaded jeeps raced back to collection points where they were unloaded and the contents sent on to the most needy units. Meanwhile, other supply-laden C-47s headed for Bastogne through a hail of heavy groundfire -- unarmed, unarmored and without fighter escort. In just over four hours, 241 planes dropped 144 tons of supplies to the Bastogne garrison.

To ensure that the aerial lifeline remained open while Agnew and his men worked on the first landing zone, McNiece located two other sites for Eureka beacons. One of the spots he chose was a small hill near the farmhouse of the Massen family. When darkness ended the supply drops for the day, the pathfinder teams began to look for a place to spend the night. Although shelter was at a premium, they soon came upon a three-story chateau occupied by members of Team SNAFU. This was an improvised outfit made up of men from the 28th Infantry Division and other units, who had been caught up in Bastogne during their units' retreat at the start of the battle. The major in charge told McNiece that he had no room for any pathfinders and that they could not stay with his men. McNiece pointed out that his men could sleep down in the basement. He preferred that anyway, since it would be safer from the artillery fire and bombing, and the heater down there would keep them warm. Again the major told them to look someplace else.

Angry, McNiece told the major to telephone General McAuliffe. "Tell him that Jake McNiece is here with his pathfinders requesting quarters and that you don't have room for him. Me and my men are going to stay here in this house tonight, I guarantee you!"

When the major hung up, he told the pathfinders that they could stay.

They had just settled comfortably in the basement for the night when a bomb hit the chateau, blowing away the top two floors. The bottom floor caved in on the pathfinders, nearly burying them alive. Fortunately, Agnew was outside with John Dewey when the bomb hit and was able to rush to the ruins of the building and find a small opening amid the wreckage. The two men worked quickly to help the others out of the basement. In their haste to rescue their friends, however, they did not notice an unexploded bomb that was just feet away from the opening. McNiece was the first out of the basement and was horrified to see the bomb in front of him. He knew that the slightest movement could set it off. With no other avenue of escape, McNiece warned the others of what lay just outside, jumped over the bomb and raced to safety. The entire unit escaped unharmed, lugging most of their pathfinder equipment with them. The inhospitable officer from Team SNAFU and his men in the floors above were not so lucky, as many of them were killed or wounded in the blast.

Following the pathfinders' lucky escape, McNiece reasoned that the Germans would be unlikely to drop bombs anywhere near their own men, so he decided to move his pathfinders out of the town and onto the perimeter. McNiece remembered the Massen farmhouse from his reconnaissance earlier in the day. At about 9 p.m. he moved his men there.

The next day, Christmas Eve, the pathfinders awoke before sunrise. After breakfast the men went out to the Eureka sets and began sending signals. More than 322 tons of supplies were dropped to the Bastogne garrison that day. The pathfinders returned to the Massen house after sunset, and joined the family for a Christmas Eve dinner of chicken soup.

The supplies dropped on the 23rd and 24th had been a great help but had not met all of the needs of the division. The shortage of medical personnel was particularly acute. The division's entire field hospital had been captured on December 19; by Christmas the few remaining medical personnel within Bastogne were barely able to keep up with the increasing number of casualties.

Weather conditions prevented any resupply missions on Christmas Day, but McAuliffe was able to make an urgent request for additional medical assistance. The Army asked for volunteers who would be transported to Bastogne by glider. Five doctors and four medical technicians stepped forward. Dangerous even in ideal conditions, the glider descent into Bastogne would be a particularly hazardous undertaking. Nevertheless, Dr. Lamar Soutter, the Third Army surgeon who would lead the team, wrote, "This was something we felt we absolutely had to do."

On the 26th, the medical volunteers left Metz by truck for Thionville, France, where a glider awaited them. First Lieutenant Charleton W. Corwin Jr. and his co-pilot, Benjamin F. Constantino, would fly the glider. The volunteers loaded medical supplies and boarded at 4 p.m.

Jake McNiece [HQ, REGT (acting SGT, Demolition "Filthy 13"), 506th PIR, 1942-1945] and author of the book The Filthy 13, from the Dustbowl to Hitler's Eagle's Nest, the 101st Airborne's Most Legendary Squad of Combat Paratroopers: the True Story of "The Dirty Dozen"
(R): Jake's Parachutist Badge with 4 stars, one for each of his WWII combat jumps:

- Normandy [HQ, REGT, 506th PIR (Demolition;"Filthy 13")]
- Holland (HQ, REGT, 506th PIR)
- Resupply of Bastogne (Pathfinder, 101st Airborne Division)
- Operation Varsity, Germany (Pathfinder; jumped with 17th Airborne Division)

They took off and caught up with 10 other gliders containing 2,975 gallons of 80-octane gasoline, which were being towed by the 440th Troop Carrier Group out of Orléans. The planes flew at treetop level. At 5:20, the C-47s rose to 600 hundred feet and cut the gliders loose. They landed without incident. Later that day, the weather cleared enough over England for other planes to take off. Throughout the day, the 434th, 435th, 437th and 438th Troop Carrier groups flew additional resupply sorties.

As the pilots flew these hazardous missions to Bastogne, they were encouraged to see columns of tanks and men from the 4th Armored Division below. One remembered: "Now it appeared that our men were resuming the offensive. This was an entirely different ground situation from that on our first mission Saturday. Then it seemed a situation of impending disaster." At 4:40 in the afternoon on December 26, tanks from the 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, made contact with an outpost from the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion, and the siege of Bastogne was finally broken.

Jake McNiece [HQ, REGT (acting SGT, Demolition "Filthy 13"), 506th PIR, 1942-1945] and his wife Martha stand beside the road sign for the Jake McNiece Path.

The next day was the last for the aerial resupply drops into the city. The first 138 C-47s delivered their cargo with little difficulty. A subsequent flight of 37 C-47s from the 439th and 13 from the 440th Troop Carrier groups towing 50 Waco CG-4A gliders loaded with high explosive ammunition had more difficulty, however.

The gliders were scheduled to fly the same route the resupply missions had flown since McNiece and his pathfinders had first set up their Eurekas. McAuliffe was concerned about this and suggested a change in route. However, the pilots flying the mission decided that there was little time to prepare a new flight pattern and that it would be best to use the original route. The tow planes and gliders ran into heavy flak and groundfire eight miles out from their landing zone and five C-47s were shot down. By the time the 440th Troop Carrier Group towed the remaining gliders over the target area, the Germans had their range. Flak and groundfire brought down eight more tow planes and badly damaged five others. Only four of the C-47s were able to make it back to their home base at Orléans. The gliders fared somewhat better. While 17 of the fragile craft were lost en route, the remaining 33 were able to arrive at the landing zone with their cargo relatively intact.

D-Day Airborne veteran Jake McNiece watches as today's airborne soldiers parachute onto the drop zone outside Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France, June 5. The World War II veterans and the current troops shared a mutual respect on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the jump. Photo by Jim Garamone

Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower later claimed that the resupply drops had ensured victory at Bastogne. The pathfinder teams and their Eureka beacons were critical to that success. Had it not been for the pathfinders, the fast-moving C-47s, even with good weather, would have been unable to ensure that the badly needed supplies were dropped inside American lines. As it was, 95 percent of the dropped cargo was retrieved by the defenders.

When aerial resupply missions were no longer necessary, McNiece and the other pathfinders rejoined their old regiment and fought with the 506th through January as the ground lost to the Germans at the start of the Battle of the Bulge was retaken. Meanwhile, back in England, Captain Brown recommended the pathfinders who had jumped into Bastogne for the Silver Star. Normally this would have been a straightforward affair. In this instance, however, the pathfinders were only on temporary assignment to the 9th Troop Transport Command, and their parent organization, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, would have to approve all awards. When Brown's recommendations arrived on his desk, Colonel Robert Sink, the 506th's commander, refused the awards. Sink had not sent McNiece and the others to the pathfinder school to be heroes. He said that the men had only performed routine paratrooper duty and instead awarded them Bronze Stars. In a telegram to Brown, he requested that the pathfinders from Regimental Headquarters Company be officially reassigned to the regiment. "Evidently I can kill them off faster than you can," Sink said.

According to Jack Agnew [HQ, REGT (Demolition, "Filthy 13", Normandy; and Pathfinder, Resupply of Bastogne)], this is a photo of the ceremony where those who participated in the Pathfinder Mission to resupply the Battle of the Bulge/Bastogne were awarded the Bronze Star Medal.

Brown told Sink that he could have all of them back but McNiece. As the acting first sergeant of the pathfinder school, he was critical to the training. Lieutenant Williams also stayed, and the two made one more pathfinder jump, into Prum, Germany, to bring in supply drops for the 90th Infantry Division.

Jake McNiece, Schrable Williams, George Blain and Lockland Dillon, another one of the 506th pathfinders, finished the war with four combat jumps each. No one unit had made more than three combat jumps, and most only made two. These four men may hold the unique honor of being the only American paratroopers to survive four combat jumps during World War II.

Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004

The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!

Good Wednesday Morning Everyone.

If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.

If you'd like to drop us a note you can write to:

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Great story Sam.

P.S.

Cute tagline. :-)

Good morning y'all!

To all our military men and women past and present, military family members, and to our allies who stand beside us
Thank You!

Good morning Snippy.

G'day, Sam and Snippy (and everyone else)

Thanks for another GREAT thread!

I have spent the night updating the "Tribute to fallen HEROES" page and working on the new tribute website. And I will confess that my eyes are a little blurry for some odd reason.

If I may quote from an email I received the other day, honoring one of our fallen heroes:

"I'm in tears from seeing this unending list of heros. May I honor my own 21 year old son, S/Sgt. Wayne C. Cyr, KIA in Vietnam 1968, my second son MSgt. Alvin Cyr who retired after 20 yrs in the Army, my father Cpl. Sewall C Steele who seved in france in WW1 who died years later at the age of 72. My cousin Berly Carter who died in WW11. My stepson Mark Maxheimer, Marine, who served in Desert Storm. My profound love in remembering all the fallen heroes. The survivors and our troops in Iraq. Just a mom who dearly misses Wayne. BEM"

This was just one of the dozen or so new tributes I posted tonight in the last update. May I take this opportunity to say to all my comrades in arms "THANK YOU" for your service!

And on that note, I'm gonna grab a cold one from your cooler and call it a night. MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone at the Foxhole!!!!

±

"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM

Good morning...real nasty weather headed to Memphis...it's raining hard right now with threat of turning to SNOW later.

Good morning Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

3 cartoons of Christmas featuring members of the US Armed Forces today.

SAMWolf get into the act today with a hat tip for his years in the Guard...

Next up one for all the Men and Women who are in the service today.

Maybe this is why Ronald Reagan refered to the US as that "shining city on a hill."

Y'all have a great day

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

December 22, 2004

Small Spark, Big Fire

Read: James 3

The tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! —James 3:5

Bible In One Year: Micah 6-7; Revelation 13

In June 2002, the Hayman fire destroyed more than 137,000 acres of beautiful mountain forest in Colorado. Smoke darkened the skies, choking residents of cities 40 miles away. Thousands of people evacuated their homes, and millions of dollars were spent fighting a blaze that began with a single match.

Small spark, big fire. That's the way James described the damage done by our reckless and careless words. "See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. . . . It defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell" (3:5-6).

The Bible urges us not to underestimate the destructive potential of what we say. One incendiary remark can kindle an inferno of emotional harm. The best way to avert the flames of anger is to keep from striking that first match. We must let the wisdom of God check our thoughts before they leave our tongues. "The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy" (v.17).

As we draw on God's wisdom through His Word, we can smother the sparks of dissension and instead speak words of peace. —David McCasland

One careless word can be a spark
Igniting anger into flame;
It can destroy relationships
And bring reproach to Jesus' name. —Sper

Words can't break bones, but they can break hearts.

Posted with permission from the management::

Folks, our friends at Vietnam Veterans For Truth have done a wonderful job this year. They are the

people who held the KERRY LIED rally in Washington DC, where many Freepers attended.

The folks at http://www.kerrylied.com are having some trouble, though. Through their attempts to

educate the public about John Kerry and his slander of Vietnam Veterans, they have run up some

operating costs that are over their budget.

You may mail a personal check (no corporate checks are permitted) to Vietnam Vets for the Truth,

PO Box 49, Mt. Vernon, VA 22121.

Federal laws require that the name, address, occupation, and employer name be included with your

contribution.

For credit card or Paypal contributions, press here:

PAYPAL link to donate to the Vietnam Veterans for Truth

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr

Today's classic warship, USS Boise (CL-47)

Brooklyn class light cruiser

Displacement. 9700 t.
Lenght. 608'4"
Beam. 61'9"
Draft. 24'
Speed. 33.5 k.
Complement. 868
Armament. 15 6", 8 5", 8 .50cal mg.

USS Boise (CL-47) was launched 3 December 1936 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., sponsored by Miss Salome Clark, daughter of Governor Clark of Idaho; and commissioned 12 August 1938, Captain B. V. McCandlish in command.

In February 1939, following a shakedown cruise to Monrovia, Liberia, and Cape Town, Union of South Africa, Boise joined Division 9, Cruisers, Battle Force, at San Pedro, Calif. Until November 1941 she operated alternately off the west coast and in Hawaiian waters. She then escorted a convoy to Manila, Philippine Islands; arriving 4 December 1941.

The outbreak of war in the Philippines, 8 December 1941, found Boise off Cebu. She joined TF 5 in the East Indies, but on 21 January 1942 struck an uncharted shoal in Sape Strait and had to retire to Colombo, Ceylon; Bombay, India; and Mare Island Navy Yard for repairs. Her repairs completed, she sailed 22 June 1942 to escort a convoy to Auckland, New Zealand. She then returned to Pearl Harbor and during 31 July-10 August 1942 conducted a raiding cruise in Japanese waters as a feint to draw attention away from the Guadalcanal landings. In August she escorted a convoy to the Fiji and New Hebrides Islands. During 14-18 September she helped cover the landing of Marine reinforcements on Guadalcanal. In the succeeding hard fighting she was hit by Japanese shells in the American victory of Cape Esperance after taking six planes under fire. She made her way to Philadelphia Navy Yard where she underwent repairs (19 November 1942-20 March 1943).

Boise departed 8 June 1943 for the Mediterranean, arriving at Algiers, Algeria, 21 June. Between 10 July and 18 August 1943 she acted as a cover and fire support ship during the landing on Sicily. In September she took part in the Italian mainland landings at Taranto (9-10 September) and Salerno (12-19 September). She returned to New York 15 November 1943 and once again steamed to the South Pacific, arriving at Milne Bay, New Guinea, 31 December.

During January-September 1944 she took part in operations along the northern shore of New Guinea, including: Madang-Alexishafen bombardment (25-26 January); Humboldt Bay landings (22 April); Wakde-Sawar bombardment (29-30 April); Wakde-Toem landings (15-25 May); Biak landings (25 May-10 June); Noemfoor landings (1-2 July); Cape Sansapor landings (27 July-31 August); and the occupation of Morotai (1-30 September). The cruiser moved northward as the battle front advanced into the Philippines taking part in: Leyte invasion (20-24 October); Battle of Surigao Strait (25 October); Mindoro landings (12-17 December); Leyte-Mindoro covering action (26-29 December); Lingayen Gulf landings, with General D. MacArthur embarked (9-13 January 1945); Luzon covering force (14-31 January); Bataun-Corregidor occupation (13-17 February); and Zamboanga landings (8-12 March). She then moved to Borneo for the Tarakan landings (27 April-3 May). During 3-16 June she carried General MacArthur on a 35,000 mile tour of the Central and Southern Philippines and Brunei Bay, Borneo, and then returned to San Pedro Calif., arriving 7 July.

The cruiser remained in the San Pedro area undergoing overhaul and training until October. She sailed 3 October for the east coast, arriving at New York 20 October. She then helped transport of American service personnel home from Europe. Boise decommissioned 1 July 1946. She was sold to Argentina 11 January 1951.

Renamed Nueve de Julio, the cruiser was an active unit of the Argentine Navy until 1978 and was sold for scrapping in 1981.

Boise received eleven battle stars for her service in World War II.

Big guns in action!

SAMWolf, As usual you have posted another great story. I don't post here often, but faithfully read FReeper Foxhole posts. Thanks & Merry Christmas.

Great story this morning. Merry Christmas, Y'All!

Good morning everyone.

Thanks for the ping!

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on December 22:
1459 Djem Sultan son of Turks sultan Mehmed II
1515 Mary of Lorraine France, pro-French Regent of Scotland
1643 Rene-Robert Cavelier La Salle, France, French explorer (Louisiana)
1696 James Oglethorpe, England, General/author/colonizer (Georgia)
1727 William Ellery, US attorney/signer (Declaration of Independence)
1831 Robert Ogden Tyler Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1874
1856 Frank Kellogg, Sec of State (1925-29), tried to outlaw war (Nobel 1929)
1858 Giacomo Puccini, Lucca Italy, opera composer (La Boheme, Tosca)
1862 Connie Mack (McGillicudy) (baseball: record for managing most games [7,755])
1868 John Nance Garner, Texas, (VP-D-1933-41)
1890 Charles de Gaulle, Lille France, premier of France
1891 Edward L Bernays, Vienna Austria, 1st public relations agent
1899 Wiley Post, Texas, aviation pioneer
1902 Jacques-Philippe Leclerc, France, WW II hero (liberator of Paris)
1912 Lady Bird (Claudia Alta) Johnson (1st Lady: wife of 36th U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson)
1917 Gene Rayburn (Rubessa) (radio/TV host: Match Game)
1922 James C Wright Jr (Representative-D-TX), Speaker of the House (1987-89)
1922 Barbara Billingsley (actress: Leave It to Beaver)
1934 David Pearson (auto racer: Daytona 500 winner [1976])
1943 Billie Jean King Long Beach CA, tennis pro
1944 Steve Carlton (Baseball Hall of Famer)
1945 Diane Sawyer, Glasgow Ky, newscaster/airhead (60 Minutes, ABC Prime Time)
1949 Maurice Gibb (musician, songwriter: group: Bee Gees)
1949 Robin Gibb (musician, songwriter: group: Bee Gees)
1961 Catherine Oxenberg NYC, actress (Amanda-Dynasty)
1961 Yuri Ivanovich Matinchenko Russian lt-colonel/cosmonaut

Deaths which occurred on December 22:
1440 Bluebeard pirate, executed
1603 Mehmed III sultan of Turkey (1595-1603), dies at 37
1668 Stephen Day 1st British colonial printer, dies
1721 Nathaniel Hawes tortured & executed in England for robbery
1815 José Maria Morelos Mexican revolutionary priest executed by Spaniards
1828 Rachel Jackson wife of 7th US President Andrew Jackson, dies
1863 Michael Corcoran Union Brigadier-General, dies at 36
1867 Jean-Victor Poncelet French mathematician (kinematics), dies at 79
1890 Harry Pollitt chairman British communist (1956-60), dies
1899 Dwight L Moody US evangelist (Student Volunteer Movement), dies
1908 Marie Jungius Dutch teacher/fairy tale writer, dies at 44
1913 Menelik II King of Ethiopia (1896-1913), dies at 69
1939 Ma Rainey "Mother of the Blues", US blues singer/composer, dies at 53
1945 Otto Neurath Austrian/British philosopher, dies at 63
1969 Josef von Sternberg Austrian director (Shanghai Express), dies at 75
1979 Darryl F Zanuck film producer (20th Century Fox), dies at 77
1989 Samuel Beckett Irish/French writer (Waiting for Godot, Molloy, Nobel 1969), dies at 83
1993 Don DeFore actor (George Baxter-Hazel), dies of cardiac arrest at 76
1995 Butterfly McQueen actress (Gone With the Wind), dies in a fire at 84

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1964 PARKS JOE---CEDAR LANE TX.
1965 ALCORN WENDELL R.---KITTANNING PA
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 1998]
1965 CARTWRIGHT BILLIE J.---SAN ANTONIO TX.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 28 NOV 94]
1965 DAIGLE GLENN H.---LABADIEVILLE LA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 GOLD EDWARD F.---OAKLAND CA.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 01/95]
1965 LUKENBACH MAX D.---TUCSON AZ.
1965 PRUDHOMME JOHN D.---TIPP CITY OH.
1967 COOK WILMER P.---ANNAPOLIS MD.
[REMAINS RETURNED 6/21/88, BURIED AT SEA FROM SHIP NAMED FOR HIM]
1967 FORS GARY H.---PUYALLUP WA.
1967 HICKERSON JAMES M.---ATLANTA GA.
[03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1969 BURRIS DONALD D. JR.---WAYNE PA.
1969 KENNEDY JAMES E.---PINE HILL NJ.
1972 ALLEY GERALD W.---POTACELLO ID.
REMAINS RETURNED 12/88 ID'D-06/89]
1972 BENNETT THOMAS W. JR.---NATCHEZ MS.
1972 BERNASCONI LOUIS H.---NAPA CA.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1972 CAMEROTA PETER P.---GIBBSTOWN NJ.
03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1972 CONLEE WILLIAM W.---LEMON GROVE CA.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 COPACK JOSEPH H. JR.---CHICAGO IL.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/89]
1972 DRUMMOND DAVID I.---WESTWOOD NJ.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1972 GIROUX PETER J.---TRUMANSBURG NY.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1972 LE BLANC LOUIS E. JR.---PROVIDENCE RI.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED]
1972 MAYALL WILLIAM T.---LEVITTOWN NY.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 MORGAN GARY L.---ABILENE TX.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 SPONEYBARGER ROBERT C.---EMMAUS PA.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 WILSON WILLIAM W.---CONRAD IA.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV]
1972 YUILL JOHN H.---BOSWELL IN.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 1998]

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

On this day...
0401 St Innocent I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0795 Leo III succeeds pope Adrianus I
1135 Norman nobles recognize Stefanus van Blois as English king
1216 Pope Honorius III delegates degree "Religiosam vitam eligentibus"
1465 Peace of St Truiden: Louis van Bourbon becomes bishop of Luik
1536 English scholar Reginald Pole appointed cardinal
1596 Ferryboat Meuniers crashes in Paris, 150 die
1642 Pope Urbanus VIII publishes degree In eminente
1689 Heavy earthquake strikes Innsbruck
1715 English pretender to the throne James III lands at Peterhead
1731 Dutch people revolt against meat tax
1772 Moravian missionary constructs 1st schoolhouse west of Allegheny
1775 Continental navy organized with 7 ships
1783 Washington resigns his military commission as US Army's commander-in-chief
1790 Russian troops occupy Ismail on Turks
1807 Congress passes Embargo Act, to force peace between Britain & France
1810 British frigate Minotaur sinks killing 480
1815 Spaniards execute Mexican revolutionary priest José Maria Morelos
1862 Raid on Morgan's: Bardstown to Elizabethtown KY
1870 Jules Janssen flies in a balloon in order to study a solar eclipse
1877 "American Bicycling Journal" first published (Boston MA)
1882 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison
1885 Pope Leo XIII proclaims extraordinary jubilee
1886 1st national accountants' society in US formed (New York NY)
1888 Heavyweight Boxing Champion John L Sullivan challenges Jake Kilrain
1894 French officer Alfred Dreyfus court-martialed for treason, triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism (Dreyfus later vindicated)
1894 United States Golf Association is formed (New York NY)
1910 US postal savings stamps 1st issued
1917 Flanders declares it's independence, under Pieter Tack
1919 Government of Ireland Act of Power (Home Rule for Ireland)
1936 1st common carrier license issued by ICC, Scranton PA
1937 Lincoln Tunnel (New York NY) opens to traffic
1939 125 die in train wreck at Magdeburg Germany; 99 die in 2nd wreck at Friedrichshafen Germany
1939 Finnish counter offensive at Petsamo
1941 Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrives in Washington DC for a wartime conference
1941 Japan's invasion leader lands on Luzon, Philippines
1941 Tito establishes 1st Proletarian Brigade in Yugoslavia
1943 Manufacturers get permission to use synthetic rubber for baseball core
1944 Germans demand surrender of American troops at Bastogne, Belgium
1944 Sub Swordfish departs Pearl Harbor for Japan
1947 Italian constituent assembly adopts new constitution
1952 French government of Pinay, resigns
1956 Last British/French troops leave Egypt
1958 "Chipmunk Song" reaches #1
1959 New York Ranger goalie Marcel Paille wears a customized mask
1962 1,000,000th NBA point scored
1962 Harris County voters approve all-weather stadium for Houston Colt .45s
1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1963 Official 30-day mourning period for President John F Kennedy ends
1964 Lockheed SR-71 spy aircraft reaches 3,530 kph (record for a jet)
1965 Director David Lean's "Dr Zhivago" premieres
1965 Great-Britain sets maximum speed at 70 MPH
1968 Julie Nixon weds Dwight David Eisenhower
1969 Pete Marovich sets NCAA record of hitting 30 of 31 foul shots
1970 SS Commander Franz Stangl of Treblinka, sentenced to life imprisonment
1971 UN General Assembly ratifies Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General
1972 6.25 earthquake strikes Managua Nicaragua, 12,000+ killed
1974 Phil Esposito, Boston, became 6th NHLer to score 500 goals
1974 2nd cease-fire between IRA & British; lasts until approximately April 1975
1976 35 Unification church couples wed in New York NY
1978 Thailand adopts constitution
1980 President-elect Reagan appoints Jean Kirkpatrick (UN delegate) & James Watt (Interior)
1980 Cardinals release outfielder Bobby Bonds
1981 Argentine General Leopoldo Galtieri sworn in as president
1983 Egyptian President Mubarak meets with PLO leader Yasser Arafat
1984 Bernhard Goetz shoots 4 black youths (muggers) on a NYC subway train
1987 Mötley Crue's Nikki Sixx overdoses from Heroin
1988 2 robbers wearing police uniforms rob armored truck of $3 million in New Jersey
1988 South Africa signs accord granting independence to South-West Africa
1989 After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Nicolae Ceausescu
1989 Cold wave: -4ºF in Oklahoma City OK, -6ºF in Tulsa OK, -12ºF in Pittsburgh PA, -18ºF in Denver CO, -23ºF in Kansas City MO, -42ºF in Scottsbluff NE, -47ºF in Hardin MT & -60ºF in Black Hills SD
1989 Chad adopts its Constitution
1990 Iraq announces it will never give up Kuwait
1990 Lech Walesa sworn in as Poland's 1st popularly elected president
1992 Libyan MIG-23UB attacks Boeing 727 at Souk al-Sabt, 158 die
1994 Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi resigns
1996 Steelers' Kordell Stewart runs quarterback record 80 yds for TD
1997 Merck baldness pill for men approved by FDA
1997 Nancy Kerring & Tonya Harding pre-record a show to air on FOX on Feb 5

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
Arab : Ashura
México : Day of National Mourning (José Maria Morelos) (1815)
World : International Arbor Day
US : Flashlight Safety Day.
International Calendar Awareness Month

Religious Observances
Wicca : Yule sabbat
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Frances Xavier Cabrini, virgin

Religious History
1216 Pope Honorius III officially approved the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), founded in 1216 by St. Dominic. During the Middle Ages, many leaders of European thought were Dominicans; and a good number followed Portuguese and Spanish explorers to the Americas as missionaries.
1770 Birth of Father Demetrius Gallitzin, a Dutch Catholic priest. Arriving in America in 1792, he spent his remaining years as a frontier missionary, building up the Catholic church in parts of PA, MD, VA and WV. Gallitzin became known as the "Apostle to the Alleghenies."
1804 Anglican missionary to Persia Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'I look forward to a day of prayer; for my soul hath great need of quickening and restoration, that it may act more in the view of eternity.'
1837 Mercer University was chartered in Penfield, Georgia under Baptist support. In 1871 the college moved its campus to Macon, Georgia.
1921 The first U.S. commercial radio license assigned to a religious broadcaster was awarded to the National Presbyterian Church of Washington, D.C. Within five years, there were over 60 other licensed religious broadcasters, including KJS_Biola (L.A.), KFUO_Concordia Seminary (St. Louis), and WMBI_Moody Bible Institute (Chicago).

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

Thought for the day :
"America is a place where Jewish merchants sell Zen love beads to agnostics for Christmas."

Hidden Meanings in Commercial Slogans
"Like a rock"
"God knows we weren't selling many pickups with that Boy George tune."

How to tick off Santa Claus...
Leave lots of hunting trophies and guns out where Santa's sure to see them. Go outside, yell, "Ooh! Look! A deer! And he's got a red nose!"

The Rules of Chocolate...
Put "eat chocolate" at the top of your list of things to do today. That way, at least you'll get one thing done.

You Know Your Life Stinks When...
A black cat crosses your path and drops dead