The FReeper Foxhole Revisits The Los Banos Raid - 1945 - March 4th, 2005

Military History Magazine ^ | Sam McGowan

[snippy_about_it]

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.


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The FReeper Foxhole Revisits

Angels At Dawn
As Allied forces retook territory the Japanese had wrested from them at the beginning of the war in the Pacific, the fate of prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian internees was of major concern to the Allied high command. This was particularly true in the Philippines, where thousands of survivors of the Bataan Death March, as well as American and European civilians, were being held prisoner.

General Douglas MacArthur, the U.S. commander in the Philippines, ordered his subordinates to make every effort to liberate camps in their areas of operation as quickly as possible. Daring raids were organized to free prisoners and internees ahead of the attacking American forces, for it was suspected that the Japanese captors would slaughter their charges before they could be rescued. These fears were not unjustified--on more than one occasion, POWs had been slaughtered by their guards.



The former University of the Philippines Agricultural School at Los Baños, a town on the island of Luzon some 40 miles southeast of Manila, had been converted into an internment camp for more than 2,000 civilians who had had the misfortune of falling into Japanese hands at the beginning of the war. The 2,122 internees who were at the camp in the late winter of 1945 were of many nationalities, though the majority were American, and of every age, including infants. For more than three years, the internees at Los Baños, along with POWs in other camps, had waited patiently for the day when their liberators would arrive. On January 9, 1945, the U.S. Sixth Army waded ashore at Lingayen Gulf and began moving south. Three weeks later the Eighth Army landed at Nasugbu and began moving north. Within a month, the advancing U.S. forces were on the doorstep of Manila. For the occupants of the Los Baños camp, rescue appeared imminent.

As the advancing U.S. forces drew nearer and nearer to Manila, General MacArthur became concerned that the Japanese might decide to slaughter the American POWs and other Allied civilians under their control. During the Sixth Army's movement south, troops liberated American and other Allied POWs in several camps.

One of the most spectacular liberation efforts was that conducted by the 6th Ranger Battalion at Cabanatuan. A Ranger task force, assisted by Filipino guerrillas, penetrated deep into Japanese territory and, after crawling more than a mile on their bellies, attacked Cabanatuan prison and freed some 500 POWs, bringing them 20 miles to safety. Nearer Manila, elements of the 1st Cavalry assaulted the campus of Santo Tomas University and freed more than 3,500 civilian internees.

Los Baños was some 25 miles southeast of Manila and thus outside the primary line of advance for the American forces. Located on Laguna de Bay, a large freshwater lake, Los Baños was accessible to amphibious and ground forces. Because Los Baños was located in the 11th Airborne Division's area of operations, a third means of attack was also possible: a paratroop assault from the skies.



The 11th Airborne Division had arrived in the southwest Pacific in mid-1944. Under the command of Maj. Gen. Joe Swing, the 11th had undergone theater training in New Guinea prior to taking part in the invasion of Leyte. The 503rd Regimental Combat Team and the 11th were the only American airborne forces to fight in the Pacific. After Leyte, the parachute elements of the 11th moved to Mindoro, while the glider troops prepared for an amphibious landing at Nasugbu Bay. On January 31 the 188th Glider Regiment landed at Nasugbu with the Eighth Army. Four days later, the airborne infantry of the 511th Airborne Regimental Combat team jumped onto Tagaytay Ridge. Because of a shortage of available transport, the 475th Parachute Field Artillery and other support units jumped in the following day.

Once on the ground on Luzon, the 11th Airborne began working its way toward Manila after the parachute and glider elements had linked up. By mid-February, the 11th was engaged in combat along the so-called Genko Line, a fortified system of interlocking pillboxes running along the south side of Manila. Although the division was already engaged in heavy combat, General Swing and members of his staff were well aware that they were responsible for liberating the Los Baños internees. The problem was that they had not yet determined the best method for carrying out the mission.

The Filipino guerrilla groups operating in the area played a key role in the liberation of the camp. The Hunters-ROTC (Reserve Officers Training Corps) Guerrillas, made up originally of former cadets of the Philippine Military Academy, were one of the most active groups, along with ex-ROTC students and other former college students. Other groups included President Quezon's Own Guerrillas (the PQOG), the Chinese Guerrillas of Luzon and the Hukbalahaps, a Marxist group with their own agenda for the Philippines. To bring some order to the guerrilla effort, U.S. Army Major Jay D. Vanderpool had formed a combined guerrilla command known as the General Guerrilla Command (GGC) of Luzon. The GGC would coordinate operations against Los Baños.

The Plan

Inside the camp, there was some dissension as to whether the internees should make any effort to make contact with the Americans and effect a rescue. Los Baños was filled with civilians, with the exception of 12 U.S. Navy nurses. Some of the men were of military age, however, and one or two had tried to enlist in the U.S. forces shortly after Pearl Harbor but had been unsuccessful.



On the night of February 12, 1945, Freddy Zervoulakas, a 19-year-old Greek-Filipino, slipped out of the camp and made contact with the guerrillas. He was sent back into the camp with a copy of a letter from Major Vanderpool instructing the guerrillas to make every effort to free the internees--but the internee committee responsible for governing the camp decided that it would be best for the internees to do nothing. Nevertheless, several male prisoners slipped under the wire in the days before the rescue.

On Sunday, February 18, Major Henry Burgess, commander of the 1st Paratrooper Battalion, was ordered to withdraw his battalion from positions on the Genko Line and proceed to Manila. While the battalion rested, Burgess reported to the 11th Airborne Division headquarters, then located at Paranaque. The 26-year-old major met first with Colonel Douglas Quant, the division G-3 (operations officer), who informed him that his unit was going to be involved in the liberation of 2,000 civilian prisoners from the camp at Los Baños. Burgess spent the remainder of the day at headquarters, meeting with division Intelligence and Operations and planning the mission.

The following day Burgess met Pete Miles, an internee who had escaped from the camp the previous day and been conveyed by guerrillas to the 11th Airborne Division. Miles provided information of the layout of the camp and the schedules of the guards, details that were essential to complete the mission precisely and without needlessly endangering the internees.

The division plan called for a multi-pronged assault on the camp. A parachute company would launch the raid by jumping into a drop zone inside or adjacent to the camp at dawn on the day of the attack. The division recon platoon would cross the bay in advance of the main party, make contact with the guerrillas and organize them to attack the camp sentries exactly at H-hour. Major Burgess' battalion, minus one company, would proceed across Laguna de Bay aboard amphibious vehicles and provide the main body of the attacking force. A combat team was to attack overland from Manila on Highway 1, with the objective of providing a blocking force to cut off any Japanese reinforcements.



For the parachute assault, the 511th's regimental commander, Lt. Col. Ed Lahti, selected B Company of the 1st Battalion, commanded by 1st Lt. John M. Ringler, because it was closest to full strength. Heavy combat in recent days had severely depleted the ranks of all the division's units.

One unique factor in the Los Baños mission was that the planning for the raid itself was generally left up to the men who would do the job. Ringler personally planned the airborne phase of the mission, down to selecting a 500-foot-jump altitude instead of the usual 700-1,000 feet, so the men would be exposed for less time. Ringler also determined that the drop formation should fly three V's-in-trail of three planes each because of the small drop zone. Nine Douglas C-47s from the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron of the 54th Troop Carrier Group were selected to make the drop.

The division reconnaissance platoon under Lieutenant George Skau played a major role in the Los Baños operation. Skau's 31-man platoon would be responsible for infiltrating into the area around the camp prior to the raid and linking up with the guerrillas, then integrating the indigenous forces into the rescue effort. The soldiers of the platoon were typically of the "rugged outdoorsman" variety, and their familiarity with hiking, camping and hunting especially suited them for missions deep behind enemy lines.

On the evening of February 21, some 36 hours before the planned attack, Lieutenant Skau's recon platoon moved out by truck for the barrio of Wulilyos, where they met Filipino guides and the crews of three bancas (sailing vessels ordinarily used for fishing and trade in the coastal waters of the Philippines). The first banca moved out at 2000 hours with Skau and his headquarters group aboard. A second, larger banca set sail some 15 minutes later. The third was meant to sail right behind with the bulk of the platoon's supplies and men, but the Filipino captain discovered that the rudder was broken. Repairs took two hours.

Thanks to Freeper Andyman for suggesting and contributing to this thread (February 2003)

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

[snippy_about_it]

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The Attack

The trip across Laguna de Bay was planned to take two or three hours. But it was not until the wee morning hours that the first banca finally touched shore near Los Baños after an eight-hour journey due to light winds that failed to fill the sails. One of the bancas was still in the middle of the lake at daybreak and making little progress. The Filipino crew spent the rest of the day trying every trick in the book to get the heavily laden vessel to its destination, but it was well into the evening when the banca reached shore. The paratroopers of the recon platoon had spent most of the day crouching uncomfortably beneath the side rails of the ship to avoid being seen by the Japanese patrol boats that still ruled the waters.



After reaching shore with only a portion of his men, Skau began making plans to carry out his mission with the small force that had landed with him. While his men rested out of sight, Skau met with the guerrilla leaders and two escaped internees in a schoolhouse in the barrio of Nanhaya. Ben Edwards, one of the former prisoners, sketched the layout of the camp on the school blackboard for the paratroopers. Assuming that the last banca would arrive in time for the rescue, Skau broke his group into six teams and assigned from eight to 12 guerrillas to each one. Edwards and the other internee, Freddy Zervoulakos, each accompanied one of the teams. Late that evening, the third banca finally reached shore. Shortly after midnight, the recon platoon teams began moving out from their rendezvous point at the schoolhouse for their attack positions.

The amphibious element boarded amtracs and moved out at 0500 on February 23. Fifty-four amtracs from the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion set out across Laguna de Bay from Mamatid, their noisy engines giving notice that the attacking force was on its way. In the pitch-black, pre-dawn darkness, a lack of landmarks forced the tractor drivers to navigate solely by compass.

At Nichols Field outside Manila, the paratroopers boarded nine C-47s at 0530. Half an hour later, the pilots started their engines. After takeoff, each of the jump planes orbited over the field until all nine were airborne and had joined the formation. At 0640 the C-47s headed southeast over Laguna de Bay toward Los Baños. Fifteen minutes later, the pilots signaled a six-minute warning by turning on the red paratrooper jump lights in the cargo compartments of their airplanes. At 0700 Ringler stepped from the door of the lead C-47; the Los Baños raid was in progress.



As the jump planes passed over the camp, the Japanese sentries were in the process of changing the guard, and the internees were lined up for morning roll call. The plan called for the recon platoon to attack the sentry positions and other Japanese strongholds as the troopers were floating to earth, but only two of the five teams were in position at H-hour. At the sight of the drop planes over Los Baños, the other three teams had to abandon stealth and rushed headlong for the camp. Nevertheless, the attack went off more or less as planned. By 0715, when Ringler had finished organizing his men and the first of the jump teams reached the camp perimeter, Los Baños was already under attack from three sides. A number of the guards, most of whom had turned out without weapons for morning calisthenics, were killed, while others fled for the hills.

By the time the amtracs arrived from the shores of Laguna de Bay, the gun battle was practically over. Guards of the overwhelmed Japanese garrison had either been killed, were hiding, or had fled. Among the latter was Warrant Officer Sadaaki Konishi, the tyrannical second-in-command at the camp. Largely because of Konishi's policy of withholding food, the paratroopers found a starving horde of internees, many of whom weighed barely 100 pounds.

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[snippy_about_it]

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Evacuation

The original evacuation plan had been for a task force made up of men from the 188th Glider Regiment under Colonel Robert Soule to fight their way down National Highway 1 to Los Baños, then evacuate the internees overland to Manila. The amtrac battalion was only to deliver the bulk of Major Burgess' paratrooper battalion, then return to Mamatid empty while the rescuers returned with the internees. After an hour at the camp, however, Burgess determined from the sound of firing that Soule's task force was still at least three hours away from Los Baños. At the same time, he was well aware that thousands of Japanese troops were within striking distance of his location.

At the last minute the plans were changed--Burgess decided not to wait for the task force. The internees were to be evacuated by amtrac, and the paratroopers would return to Manila with Soule's task force. Burgess directed the amtrac commander, Lt. Col. Joe Gibbs, to order his men to load their vehicles with internees, then evacuate them to Mamatid and shuttle back and forth until both the internees and members of the raiding party were all withdrawn to safety.



Organizing the liberated prisoners, most of whom were milling about the camp with little sense of order, was a problem; the internees were ecstatic about being rescued, but were hardly in a mood to fall into any kind of formation. Major Burgess observed that the internees seemed to be drifting in advance of fires that had been started in some of the barracks during the raid, so he ordered his men to set fire to the camp in such a manner that the fires would lead the internees in the direction of the main gate, where the amtracs were waiting.

By 0900, two hours after the commencement of the raid, some order had begun to appear among the internees. Those who could do so had begun the two-mile walk to the beach, while those who were unable to make the hike were loaded aboard amtracs for the journey. After the infirm were evacuated, several amtracs began to aid the walking by providing a lift to the beach.

As the internees moved out of the camp, Major Burgess and his troopers began a systematic search to ensure that all internees were accounted for and that none were still in the camp. The soldiers did as thorough a job as possible. Because many of the Filipino guerrillas disappeared into the jungle after the raid, many Americans liberated at Los Baños never knew to what extent the irregular troops had contributed to their release.

By mid-day, the Soule task force had advanced in the face of enemy resistance to a point just outside Los Baños. By then the evacuation by amtrac was proceeding quite well, as the officers of the task force could see from activities on the lake. Colonel Soule elected to halt his advance at the San Juan River and to maintain a bridgehead in the event the paratroopers had to withdraw by land as planned.



From Los Baños, the internees proceeded to the village of San Antonio, where the head of the marching column arrived at about 1000. From there, the amtracs, filled with evacuees, formed up into columns of three and slid into the waters of the lake for the two-hour journey to Mamatid. While on the lake, several of the amtracs came under fire from Japanese shore positions. Little damage was done, although one amtrac had to offload its cargo of evacuees and be towed to shore by another vessel.

By noon the remainder of the internees and the rear guard of the 1st Battalion had reached San Antonio. Burgess still had not made contact with Soule, nor was he in contact with the 11th Division headquarters. Essentially, he was on his own. Around that time General Swing flew over the beach in a light liaison aircraft. After Burgess advised the general by radio that the raid had been successful and that he planned to evacuate the remainder of the group and his own men with the amtracs that were on their way back to San Antonio, the young major was flabbergasted at his commander's reply: Could he perhaps liberate the entire town of Los Baños, then move west to link up with the 188th and keep possession of the territory they had gained?

Burgess was in the middle of contested territory with what, for all practical purposes, was a raiding party, and with strong enemy forces within easy striking distance. He did not answer the general's request, but after carefully considering his situation, he simply switched his radio off and did not acknowledge that he had received the message.



At around 1500 the last amtrac shoved off from San Antonio with the final load of internees and troops. At Mamatid the internees moved to the former New Bilibid prison, where they prepared for the journey to their homes in the United States and elsewhere.

While the liberation of the internees from Los Baños went off without a hitch, there is a dark epilogue to the story. After the 11th Airborne Division paratroopers left the area, the Japanese moved back in. Ironically, the first Americans to re-enter the vicinity of Los Baños were the same paratroopers who had liberated the camp only days before. What they found in the barrios surrounding the camp this time was both nauseating and pitiful. Whole families had been tied to the stilts supporting their houses, then the dwellings had been set ablaze, collapsing around their helpless former inhabitants. Burgess estimated that more than 1,500 Filipinos had been cruelly killed, evidently in retaliation for the rescue of the internees.

There is some question as to the identity of those who did the killing. The Japanese in the area were reinforced by pro-Japanese Filipino units commanded by Japanese officers and NCOs. Many of the villages in the region were pro-Japanese "Makapili" as well--residents at odds with their countrymen who favored a return to American control.

One Japanese soldier later identified as having played a part in the reprisals in the area--including the murder of an American family that had lived near Los Baños and had not been interned--was Warrant Officer Sadaaki Konishi, the sadistic second-in-command of the camp at Los Baños. After the war, Konishi was implicated by certain Filipinos, tried for his crimes, and then executed as a war criminal.

[snippy_about_it]

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from the original 2/03 thread...

The following notes were provided by Freeper Andyman, whose parents were liberated in the raid.

The reference to POWs being killed refer primarily to the massacre at Palawan.

The prisoners knew something was up, some had seen shiny new American dimes months prior to the raid. They knew that Manila was being bombed, and they knew that American forces knew they were there as a couple of American fighters had buzzed the camp in the weeks prior to the raid.

Hearing my parents tell it, and mentioned in some of the books I read, the internees were so slow in going to get what possessions they still had and deciding what they would bring back home that the decision was made to set fire to the dorms to get them moving at all, not just herding them. The internees were on an 800 calorie a day towards the end.

I thought it might be helpful to note that due to the number of internees the amtracks had to make two return trips over Laguna de Bay to pick them up and San Antonio. My mother was in the first group and remembers getting fired on.

One other part is that no casualties are mentioned in your account. One of the remarkable events of the war in my opinion is the fact that all 2,100+ internees were evacuated with only 3 or 4 getting wounded, and they were minor (one got burnt by a shell casing ejected from a .50 cal on one of the amtracks that was returning fire from the shore). The 3 military deaths occurred in the overland task force.

Konishi was recognized as he was on a maintenance detail on a Manila golf course, arrested, tried, and put to death.

[snippy_about_it]

'I doubt that any airborne unit in the world will be able to rival the Los Banos prison raid. It is the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies.'

-- Colin Powell
Chief of Staff

[snippy_about_it]

"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



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[Iris7]

A sweet operation.

Some good men in those days. Let us live up to their example.

Actually, there are remarkably good men in these days. By "men" I mean the word as in "mankind", as is the correct usage.

Met a young woman once who was in the pipeline to The Point. Because it is always the privilege of guys like me to see what young officers are made of, I took out my verbal stick and gave her some stout jabs with it. She will do. Plenty strong on the inside, where it really counts.

[Iris7]

Gonna bend your ears a little more.

Eisenhower, who hated Douglas MacArthur with ever atom of his being, said that MacArthur was the most brilliant man he ever met. I have studied General MacArthur more than most, and indeed MacArthur was stunningly brilliant. Even on his bad days.

But.

I would have hung a lot more Japanese big shots than MacArthur did. Hirohito too. And all of his relatives to the fourth cousin. And his wife's, too. And her. Their kids.

Would have caused a big uproar. Have to kill a bunch of them. Too bad.

MacArthur had his reasons. Could be his way defeated the Japanese more completely than mine would have. Easily could be.

Temptation to be bloody minded gets very strong sometimes.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the foxhole.

[GailA]

Good morning

[alfa6]

Angels at Dawn Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 04:
1394 Prince Henry the Navigator sponsors Portuguese voyages of discovery
1678 Antonio Vivaldi Venice, Baroque violin virtuoso/composer (4 Seasons)
1754 Benjamin Waterhouse physician (smallpox vaccine pioneer)
1798 John Joseph Abercrombie Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1877
1826 John Buford Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1863
1828 Elisha Franklin "Bull" Paxton Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1835 Giovanni Schiaparelli Italy, astronomer (discovered canals of Mars)
1888 Knute Rockne Norwegian/US football player/coach (Notre Dame)
1891 Dazzy Vance hall of fame pitcher (led National League in strike-outs 7-years)
1897 Francis "Lefty" O'Doul baseball player/organized Japanese baseball
1912 John Garfield New York NY, actor (Air Force, Destination Tokyo, Juarez)
1923 Patrick Moore England, astronomer/writer (A-Z of Astronomy)
1934 Jane van Lawick-Goodall ethologist/chimp expert (1974 Walker Prize)
1937 Ron Carter jazz bassist (Ron Carter Meets Bach)
1937 Yuri Aleksandrovich Senkevich Russian cosmonaut
1944 Bobby Womack Cleveland OH, R&B singer/guitarist (Woman's Got to Have It)
1948 Billy Gibbons rock guitarist (ZZ Top-Cheap Sunglasses, Legs, Fandango)
1950 Emilio Estefan Cuba, rocker (Miami Sound Machine-1 2 3)
1954 Irina Ratushinskaya USSR, poet (Grey is the color of hope)
1961 Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini boxer (killed a boxer in the ring)
1969 Chastity Bono Los Angeles CA, daughter of Sonny & Cher
1977 Anna Baitchik Miss Russia-Universe (1997)

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Deaths which occurred on March 04:
1172 Stephan III King of Hungary (1162-72), dies
1484 Kazimierz the Saint, Polish ruler/saint, dies at 25
1595 Robert Southwell English poet, hanged for becoming a Catholic priest
1852 Nikolai Gogol writer, dies at 43
1866 Alexander Campbell Irish/US founder Disciples of Christ, dies at 77
1883 Alexander H Stephens Vice President Confederate States, dies at 71
1933 Willie Walker US jazz singer/guitarist (Dupree Blues), dies at 36
1948 Elsa Brändström [Angel of Siberia], Swedish philanthropist, dies at 59
1953 Sergei S Prokoviev Russian composer (Peter & the wolf), dies at 61
1974 Adolph Gottlieb US painter, dies at 71
1992 Arthur Babbitt Disney animator (Mr Magoo, Goofy), dies at 84 of heart failure
1994 John Candy actor (SCTV, Uncle Buck), dies from a heart attack at 43
1996 Minnie Pearl country comedienne (Grand Ole Opry), dies at 84
1999 Retired Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun, dies in Arlington, Va., at age 90.
2001 Harold E. Stassen (93), former Minnesota 3-term Gov. and perennial presidential candidate, dies

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1963 JACOBSON ELLWOOD L.
[REMAINS RECOVERED]
1963 MAKEL JANIE A.
[03/06/63 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1966 ANDREWS STUART M---STAMFORD CT.
1966 CONLON JOHN F.---WILKES BARRE PA.
1967 CARLOCK RALPH L.---DES PLAINES IL.
1969 GUFFEY JERRY
[03/04/69 ESCAPED]
1970 PARKER JOHN J.---TALLAHASSEE FL.
1971 ALLWINE DAVID R.---PHOENIX AZ.
[03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1971 ALGAARD HAROLD L.---FOSSTON MN.
["RADIO CONTACT LOST, SAR NEG"]
1971 HENTZ RICHARD J.---OSHKOSH WI.
["RADIO CONTACT LOST, SAR NEG"]
1971 MARKER MICHAEL W.---WICHITA FALLS TX.
["RADIO CONTACT LOST, SAR NEG"]
1971 OSBORNE RODNEY D.---KENT WA.
["RADIO CONTACT LOST, SAR NEG"]
1971 STRAWN JOHN T.---SALEM OR.
["RADIO CONTACT LOST, SAR NEG"]

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

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On this day...
1152 Frederik I Barbarossa elected Roman-German king
1461 Battle at Towton: Duke Edward of York beats English queen Margaretha Edward IV recognized as king of England
1570 King Philip II bans foreign Dutch students
1634 Samuel Cole opened the first tavern in Boston, Massachusetts.
1665 English King Charles II declares war on Netherlands
1675 John Flamsteed appointed 1st Astronomer Royal of England
1681 King Charles II grants William Penn royal charter for Pennsylvania
1699 Jews are expelled from Lubeck Germany
1774 1st sighting of Orion nebula (William Herschel)
1789 1st Congress declares constitution in effect (9 senators, 13 representatives)
1791 1st Jewish member of US Congress, Israel Jacobs (Pennsylvania), takes office
1791 President Washington calls the US Senate into its 1st special session
1791 Vermont admitted as 14th state
1792 Oranges introduced to Hawaii
1793 President Washington's 2nd inauguration, shortest speech (133 words)
1797 John Adams inaugurated as 2nd President of US
1798 Catholic women force to do penance for kindling sabbath fire for Jews
1801 1st President inaugurated in Washington DC (Thomas Jefferson)
1809 Madison becomes 1st President inaugurated in American-made clothes
1825 John Quincy Adams inaugrated as 6th President
1826 1st US RR chartered, Granite Railway in Quincy MA
1829 Andrew Jackson inaugurated as 7th President
1829 Unruly crowd mobs White House during President Jackson inaugural ball
1837 City of Chicago incorporates
1837 Martin Van Buren inaugrated as 8th President
1837 Weekly Advocate changes its name to the Colored American
1841 Longest inauguration speech (8,443 words), William Henry Harrison
1845 James K Polk inaugrated as 11th President

1849 US had no President, Polk's term ends on a Sunday, Taylor couldn't be sworn-in, Senator David Atchison (pres pro tem) term ended March 3rd (Now you can amaze and astound your friends with your grasp of completely useless information)

1861 Confederate States adopt "Stars & Bars" flag
1861 Lincoln inaugurated as 16th President; 1st time US has 5 former Presidents living
1861 President Lincoln opens Government Printing Office
1863 Battle of Thompson's Station, Tennessee
1863 Territory of Idaho established
1865 Confederate congress approves final design of "official flag"
1865 President Lincoln inaugurated for his 2nd term as President
1869 Ulysses Grant inaugurated as 18th President
1873 New York Daily Graphic, 1st illustrated daily newspaper in US, published
1881 California becomes 1st state to pass plant quarantine legislation
1881 Holmes & Watson begin "A Study in Scarlet", 1st case together
1881 James A Garfield inaugurated as 20th President
1885 Grover Cleveland inaugrated as 1st Democratic President since Civil War
1889 Benjamin Harrison inaugurated as 23rd President
1893 Grover Cleveland (D) inaugrated as 24th US President (2nd term)
1894 Great fire in Shanghai; over 1,000 buildings destroyed
1895 Gustav Mahler's 2nd Symphony, premieres in Berlin
1897 William McKinley inaugurated as 25th President of US
1901 1st advanced copy of inaugural speech (Jefferson-National Intelligencer)
1901 President William McKinley inaugurated for 2nd term as President
1901 Term of George H White, last of post-Reconstruction congressmen, ends
1902 American Automobile Association (AAA) founded in Chicago
1909 President Taft inaugrated as 27th President during 10" snowstorm
1909 US prohibits interstate transportation of game birds
1911 Victor Berger (Wisconsin) becomes 1st socialist congressman in US
1913 1st US law regulating the shooting of migratory birds passed
1913 Department of Commerce & Labor split into separate departments
1913 Woodrow Wilson inaugurated as 28th President
1917 Jeannette Rankin (Representative-Republican-MT) becomes 1st female member of Congress
1921 Hot Springs National Park created in Arkansas
1923 Lenin's last article in Pravda (about Red bureaucracy)
1924 "Happy Birthday To You" published by Claydon Sunny
1925 President Coolidge's inauguration broadcast live on 21 radio stations
1929 Charles Curtis (R-Kansas) becomes 1st native American Vice President
1929 Herbert Hoover inaugurated as 31st President
1930 Coolidge Dam in Arizona dedicated
1930 Mrs Charles [Emma] Fahning is 1st woman to bowl a santioned perfect [300] game
1933 FDR inaugrated as 32nd President, pledges to pull US out of Depression & says "We have nothing to fear but fear itself"
1934 Easter Cross on Mount Davidson (San Francisco) dedicated
1936 1st flight of airship Hindenburg, Germany
1943 Transport nr 50 departs with French Jews to Maidanek/Sobibor
1944 1st US bombing of Berlin
1945 Finland declares war on Nazi-Germany
1949 Andrei Vishinsky succeeds Molotov as Soviet Foreign minister
1949 Security Council of UN recommends membership for Israel
1952 Ronald Reagan marries Nancy Davis
1959 US Pioneer IV misses Moon & becomes 2nd (US 1st) artificial planet
1960 Lucille Ball files divorce from Desi Arnaz
1964 Jimmy Hoffa convicted of jury tampering
1966 John Lennon says "We (Beatles) are more popular than Jesus"
1968 Joe Frazier TKOs Buster Mathis in 11 for heavyweight boxing title
1968 Orbiting Geophysical Observatory 5 launched
1970 French submarine "Eurydice" explodes
1970 Jacksonville is 1st college basketball team to average 100+ points per game
1977 1st CRAY 1 supercomputer shipped, to Los Alamos Laboratories, New Mexico
1978 Chicago Daily News, founded in 1875, publishes last issue
1979 US Voyager I photo reveals Jupiter's rings
1984 Pee Wee Reese & Rick Ferrell elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame
1985 War veterans returned to the "Bridge over the River Kwai"
1991 Iraq releases 6 US, 3 British & 1 Italian POW

1994 4 Arab terrorist founded guilty of bombing the World Trade Center

1995 George Foreman loses WBA boxing title, refusing to fight Tony Tucker
1997 Comet Hale-Bopp directly above the Sun (1.04 AU)
1997 President Clinton bans federally funded human cloning research
1997 For the third time in as many years, the Senate rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to require the federal government to balance its budget.
2001 President George W. Bush dedicated a $4 billion aircraft carrier in honor of former President Reagan.

---

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

Pennsylvania : Charter Day (1681)
Thailand : Magka Puja
US : Constitution Day (1789)
Vermont : Admission Day (1791)
US : Bad Weather Week (Day 5)
US : TV Turn-Off Week (Day 5)
US : National Procrastinators Week (Starts Tomorrow)
Irish-American Heritage Month

---

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Lucius I, pope, martyr
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Casimir, king of Poland, confessor (optional)

---

Religious History
1738 Moravian missionary Peter Bohler, 26, advised future English founder of Methodism John Wesley, 34: 'Preach faith until you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.'
1804 The British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) was founded at a large interdenominational meeting in London. Its purpose was "to promote the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, both at home and in foreign lands."
1850 Future statesman James A. Garfield, at age 18, was "buried with Christ in baptism." Thirty_one years, to the day! after his conversion, Garfield took the oath of office as 20th President of the United States.
1942 Birth of Gloria Gaither, wife of songwriter Bill Gaither, and female vocalist in the Bill Gaither Trio. Gloria is also coÂauthor of the contemporary Christian songs, "Because He Lives," "Something Beautiful" and "The King is Coming."
1966 London's "Evening Standard" newspaper published an interview with Beatle John Lennon in which he remarked: 'Christianity will... vanish and shrink... We're more popular than Jesus Christ right now.' The quote touched off a storm of international protest, resulting in burnings and boycotts of the Beatles' records.

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

---

Thought for the day :
"Ever notice how irons have a setting for permanent press?"

[The Mayor]

March 4, 2005

Say "Mercy!"

Read:
Philippians 4:1-7

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer . . . let your requests be made known to God. -Philippians 4:6

Bible In One Year: Deuteronomy 13-16

You may have played the game when you were a child. You interlace your fingers with someone else's and try to bend the other's hands back until one or the other cries "Mercy!" The winner is the one who gets the other person to surrender.

Sometimes we try to play "Mercy" with God when we pray. We have a request that we desperately want answered in a certain way, so we try to "bend His fingers back" and get Him to give in. When it seems we aren't winning, we try a little harder to convince Him by begging or bargaining. We may even give up grudgingly and say, "Lord, You always win! That's not fair!"

God does want honesty of heart. But occasionally in our honesty a demanding spirit comes out. Deep down we know that prayer is not meant to be a contest with God that we try to win. In our wiser moments, we make our requests known to our Lord, surrender them to Him, rely on His grace, and wait for His answers (Philippians 4:6-7). Author Hannah Whitall Smith said, "Be glad and eager to throw yourself unreservedly into His loving arms, and to hand over the reins of government to Him."

Instead of praying with grudging resignation, "Lord, You always win," surrender to Him. Say "Mercy!" -Anne Cetas

In Jesus' name we voice our prayers-
The Bible tells us to;
But may we never use that name
To tell God what to do. -D. De Haan

Prayer isn't a time to give orders but to report for duty!

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Jesus' Blueprint For Prayer

[Mudboy Slim]

"Where Has All Left's Power Gone?!!"
(To be sung to the Kingston Trio's version of Pete Seeger's "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?")

Where has all Left's Power gone? Left's time's passing.
Where are all the new programs? Slash spending...NOW!!
Where has all Left's Power gone? Clinton tricked Dems, ev'ry one!!
Lib'rals will never learn!! Leftists will never learn!!

Where have all the Lib'rals gone? Left's time's passing.
Where have all the Lib'rals gone? RATS' slime must go!!
Where have all the Lib'rals gone? RATS loathe FReedom, Commie SCUM!!
Lib'rals will never learn!! Why won't Left ever learn?!

Where have all the Tyrants gone? Soddom's gassing!!
Where have all the Tyrants gone? They live in holes.
Where have all the Tyrants gone? Righteous soldiers bravely won!!
Tyrants shall always burn!! Tyrants will always burn!!

Where have all the Sosh'lists gone? Long night's passing.
Where have all the Sosh'lists gone? Left's reign is o'er!!
Where have all the Sosh'lists gone? The mass graveyards we've undug.
Why won't the Commies learn?! Tyrants will always burn!!

Where have all the Patriots gone? RightWing's FReepin'!!
Where has Ronald Reagan gone? He's Right Above!!
Where has all Left's Power gone? Devolve Power...ev'ry one!!
When will y'all ever learn? Tyrants shall always BURN!!

Mudboy Slim (06/23/2004)

[tomball]

 

Good Morning, Foxhole

The Great Raid (aka Ghost Soldiers)

Another excellent thread and a great tribute to those who served and bravely survived the atrocities of WW2.  Your thread of the day is historic, and  is currently being made into a movie.  The above link provides information about the movie.  Additional links to the The Legacy of Cabanatuan, The 6th Ranger Battallion, Alamo Scouts, and more can also be found at this site for those who are interested.   

 

 

[SAMWolf]

Morning Snippy.

Boy, do I have a headache this morning! :-(

[SAMWolf]

Morning Iris7.She will do. Plenty strong on the inside, where it really counts.

We're gonna need people like her. I hope she succeeds.

[SAMWolf]

Revenge is one of the "best" motivators in the world.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Areonaut.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

Nice morning here today and their predicting good weather for this weekend, that should help our grand opening.