The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Aerial Warfare in the Korean War (1950-1953)

For all intents and purposes, the aerial combats of June 27 had decided who controlled the sky over Korea. The FEAF had established a moral ascendency that would go virtually unchallenged for the next four months. Although the Yak-9U and Yak-9P were roughly comparable in performance to their main piston-engine FEAF adversaries, the F-51 Mustang and F-82 Twin Mustang, they were clearly outclassed by the American jet fighters, which could fly 200 mph faster. More important was the disparity in training and experience. If the North Korean pilots' tentative aggressiveness betrayed an unpromising degree of uncertainty as to their abilities, their attitude in the months to come suggested that their self-confidence had been effectively shattered.

There were a few exceptions, all the more noteworthy for their outstanding audacity. On June 30, Yak-9 fighters managed to catch the Americans napping at Suwon, strafed the field and destroyed an F-82G of the 68th squadron on the ground--the first U.S. fighter loss of the war. Even that modest success did not go unpunished. First Lieutenant Charles Wurster of the 36th squadron, flying an F-80C, caught one of the Yaks over Suwon, and made short work of it. He would add another to his score on July 17.

For sheer nerve, no North Korean airmen could match the crews of the Po-2 biplanes who periodically overflew American lines at night to drop bombs and grenades on troops and installations. Damage was seldom serious, but "Bedcheck Charlie"--one of the more printable nicknames bestowed on the Po-2 by the GIs--managed to remain a persistent nocturnal pest for most of the war, regularly disturbing sleep in areas where aircraft two generations its junior feared to fly.

Such annoying exceptions aside, the FEAF had complete air superiority and, in contrast to the desultory way in which the NKAF had used its two days' worth, the American airmen turned their energies almost entirely to canceling out the North Korean People's Army's advantages on the ground.

Also on June 30, 10 operational F-51D Mustangs out of the 30 being kept in storage in Japan moved to Taegu. With them came a contingent of ROK pilots who were then in training in Japan, along with nine of their U.S. instructor pilots to form the 51st Provisional Fighter Squadron under the command of Major Dean E. Hess. At the same time, Maj. Gen. Frank E. Everest convinced General Hoyt S. Vandenburg to move as many Air Force Mustangs to Korea as he could muster. To the 51st Provisional would soon be added the 40th Fighter Squadron, whose personnel were ordered to make the retrograde step from F-80s to F-51s. On July 16, the 40th arrived at Pohang airfield and a few days later it was flying in support of a heavily outnumbered ROK regiment threatened by 1,500 North Koreans advancing down the east coast, south of Yonghae, with the intention of taking the 40th's new base. Despite miserable weather and a ceiling that seldom exceeded 150 feet, the Mustangs flew 35 bombing and strafing missions a day for a week. After the Communist drive ground to a halt, captured North Koreans testified that the Mustangs had been primarily responsible for breaking their offensive.

Joining the 40th at Pohang were 26 more Mustangs of No. 77 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), signaling the start of the Australia's commitment to South Korea's defense. On August 3, the 67th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Group, arrived at Taegu and wasted no time in getting down to business. Before the day was out, Captain Ed Hoagland downed a Yak, as did Captain Howard I. Price. The next day, The 51st Provisional Squadron reverted to its original designation of 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron and joined its sister unit, the 67th, in attacking North Korean ground targets.

On August 5, the 67th Squadron's commander, Major Louis J. Sebille, was on a close support mission near Hamchang when one of its 500-pound bombs failed to release. He went in again, guns blazing and vainly trying to make his bomb drop while enemy ground fired zeroed in on his plane and scored numerous hits. Forsaking the chance to limp home, Sebille made yet another strafing pass and took further hits. His wingman stated that Sebille never pulled up, but flew directly into a mass of enemy equipment. Sebille became one of only four Air Force officers to be awarded the medal of Honor in Korea. All four would be awarded posthumously.

B-26

On August 10th, Sebille's successor in command of the 67th, Major Arnold "Moon" Mullins, racked up another distinction for the squadron by shooting down three Yaks in one day--the greater achievement at that point being to have found that many.

While the Shooting Stars, Mustangs, Twin Mustangs, Douglas B-26 Invader bombers and others lent their firepower toward halting the North Korean onslaught and toward supporting a counteroffensive, Naval Task Force 77--comprising the aircraft carriers USS Valley Forge and HMS Triumph--arrived in Korean waters, and on July 3, it made its presence known by launching a bombing raid on the North Korean capital city of Pyongyang. The attack was carried out by the aircraft of American Air Group 5, consisting of the Vought F4U-4 Corsairs of squadrons VF-53 and VF-54, Douglas AD-4 Skyraiders of VA-55 and Grumman F9F-3 Panther jet fighters of VF-51 and VF-52. The raiders struck at lines of communications such as railroad bridges, rail yards, airfields and roads. A handful of NKAF Yak-9s rose to intercept, only to lose two of their number to Lieutenant (J.G) L.H. Plog and Ensign E.W. Brown of VF-51, who then went on to destroy two more Yaks on the ground. Plog returned to Valley Forge to be congratulated by his comrades on two firsts--the first Navy aerial victory of the war, and the first to be scored by a carrier-based jet airplane.

Valley Forge's aircraft paid Pyongyang a return visit on July 18, also striking at Onjong-ni. The next day, the Navy planes hit Yonpo and claimed a total of 32 NKAF aircraft destroyed on the ground and another 13 damaged in the course of their three raids.

Unable to defend their air bases in and around their own capital, the North Koreans withdrew their surviving aircraft across the Yalu into Manchuria. Meanwhile, the escort carrier USS Sicily launched the first strike by U.S. Marine aircraft as F4U-4B Corsairs of VMF-214 ("Black Sheep") attacked Communist facilities at Chinju and Sinban-ni on August 3. As the besieged American and ROK forces in Pusan counterattacked to enlarge their perimeter, the Marines joined their FEAF colleagues in providing air support against North Korean ground targets. As the Allied troops--now including a Marine brigade--slowly regained the initiative, the Marine pilots of VMF-214 and VMF-323 off USS Badoeng Strait were flying as many as 45 ground attack sorties a day.

On September, 1 the North Korean 4th and 5th Divisions made a final, all-out attack to break through the Pusan perimeter. The FEAF's Fifth Air Force, whose command now encompassed the Marine squadrons, threw all its aircraft against the Communists thrust, which was finally blunted on September 5. On September 11, the U.S. Eighth Army began a general counterattack, pushing the exhausted North Koreans back along the entire front.

While this was going on, General Douglas MacArthur set in motion his daring amphibious assault on Inchon, designed to bisect Korea, cut North Korean supply lines and trap the North Korean People's Army between two United Nations forces. Operation chromite, supported by aircraft from the U.S. carriers Philippine Sea, Valley Forge, Boxer, Sicily and Bodoeng Strait, and the British carrier Triumph, achieved complete surprise, the landing on September 15 meeting with little resistance. The only appearance made by the NKAF consisting of two Yak-9s which made a hit-and-run bombing attack on the cruiser line, They scored no hits and one was shot down by anti-aircraft gunfire from the ships, the other Yak managing to retire undamaged. Two days later, the Marines fought their way to Kimpo airfield, only to find it completely evacuated by the retreating North Koreans. Only three aircraft, two Il-10s and a Yak-9, remained behind to suggest that the Communist had ever occupied the field.

Panther

On September 28, Mustang pilot 1st Lt. Ralph Hall of the 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron downed a Yak. More significantly, by that date the North Korean People's Army had been driven back across the 38th Parallel and was still in full retreat. South Korea was free again and General MacArthur proposed to go on to eliminate Pyongyang's Communist government as well. By the end of October, it appeared unlikely that anything would prevent him from doing so.

That measure of success had not been achieved without sacrifice. Even without air opposition, the Allied squadrons were taking heavy losses to ground fire. By the middle of October, the 8th Fighter Group had lost 26 pilots, including the commanders of all three of the squadrons--the Mustang-equipped 35th and 36th and the F-80-equipped 80th.

On October 9th, HMS Theseus relieved HMS Triumph and commenced operations with her two squadrons of Fireflies and, in place of the Seafires, Hawker Sea Fury FB-11 fighters.

Late October 1950 found U.N. forces at the Yalu River and American squadrons able to operate out of Pyongyang, less than 250 miles from the Yalu. The Mustang outfits of the 18th Wing were being joined by South African unit, No. 2 Squadron, SAAF. But ominous reports were coming in of scattered but growing numbers of Chinese troops massing along the border. The Chinese government declared them to be "volunteers" sent to assist their North Korean comrades; be that as it may, Peking had no intention of tolerating a hostile American army on her border.

On November 1, Yak-3 fighters--nimble, wooden lightweight relatives of the Yak-9--flew over the Yalu to have a go at the Mustangs of the 67th Squadron, only to lose two of their number to Captains Robert D. Thresher and A.R. Flake.

On that same day, four Mustangs from the 18th Wing were working with a T-6 that was engaged in forward air control duties a few miles north of Sinanju when, without warning, they were jumped by six swept-wing jet fighters. It was immediately apparent that the Mustangs would have no chance of outrunning such aircraft, so they wisely limited their response to evasive action. The enemy aircraft soon concluded that they could not turn inside the Mustangs, broke off, and returned to their Manchurian air base.

F-80 Weapon Load

The bloodless encounter near Sinanju was the harbinger of a turning point in aerial combat. The Communist aircraft were Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15s, the latest addition to the Soviet arsenal. If such modern fighters were being committed to the fighting in Korea, they represented a threat to U.N. air superiority that could not be ignored. Certainly the four Mustang pilots, fortunate though they had been to emerge unscathed from their first encounter with the MiGs, were not about to dismiss the potential of the new enemy jets.

Over the next few days, Communist piston-engined fighters began to cross the Yalu with greater aggressiveness. The arrival of the MiGs may have inspired their pilots to such a renewed effort, but they could not give them greater skill. On November 2, Captain Flake of the 67th downed a Yak-9--his second kill in as many days--as did 1st Lt. James L. Glessner of the 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. On November 6, Mustangs of the 67th had yet another run-in with Yak-9s, during which Captain Howard Price downed one and teamed up with 1st Lt. Harry S. Reynolds to get another.

In the days that followed, reports of massive Chinese infiltration across the Yalu River became cause for concern. MacArthur ordered bombing attacks against the Yalu bridges.

Those operations brought the MiGs out in force. On November 7, five different flights of Mustangs flying close to the Yalu were attacked. As one 4-plane flight from the 12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron was on routine patrol, four MiGs were seen to take off from their base at Antung and bank south. Almost before the Americans knew it the MiGs were upon them, shooting at them in a series of looping passes. Maneuvering for their lives, the Mustang pilots instinctively tried to catch the jets at the bottom of their loops and begin scoring hits. Major Ken Carlson scored several hits on a MiG, and his men reported an explosion on the ground during the wild dogfight, after which only three MiGs were seen retiring over the Yalu. No one had been able to witness an actual crash, so Carlson was given a "probable." Despite the ineffectiveness of their fighting passes, Lieutenant Lee Gomes noted ominously that the flying skills of the MiG pilots were much better than those of the Yaks encountered earlier.

Another encounter was reported by the 1st Lt. Harris Boyce of the 35th Squadron. Two MiGs overflew his 3-plane patrol and seconds later they were streaking down the Mustangs from behind. The F-51s broke right, Boyce yanking his machine around in the tightest 180 degree turn he could manage to come around behind one of the MiGs. He reported numerous hits before the jet streaked north, out of control, over the Yalu. The entire encounter lasted three minutes. Again, no crash or explosion was observed and Boyce had to content himself with a "probable"--and his life.

The next day, November 8, two flights of F-80Cs from the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing watched as six MiG-15s took off from Antung, crossed the Yalu at high altitude and began diving on them in pairs. Since the first reports of MiG attacks a week earlier, the Shooting Star pilots had been itching to match their mettle with the new Soviet fighters and eagerly turned into their attackers, causing them to break wildly. Five of the MiGs streaked for home, but a sixth dived away and 1st Lt. Russell J. Brown of the 16th Squadron discovered that his straight-winged F-80 could not only keep up, but that he was gaining on the MiG. Realizing his error, the MiG pilot pulled his plane out of the dive and into a climb, but Brown did not give him a chance to bring his superior climbing speed (10,100 feet-per-minute) into play. Lining the Mig up, Brown peppered it with a five-second burst and saw his riddled adversary dive out of control, smoking and flaming, into the ground. Brown had been victorious in the first jet-versus-jet combat in history.

The next day, Task Force 77's carrier air groups were ordered to bomb rail and highway bridges at Sinuiju and highway bridges near Hyesanjin, 200 miles upstream. The attack was carried out by a F4U Corsairs and AD Skyraiders. with a top cover of F9F Panther jets. The force detailed to hit Sinuiju was attacked by Chinese MiG-15s from Antung air base, which then were themselves jumped by the F9Fs. During the engagement, one of the Communist jets fell to an F9F flown by the commander of VF-111 from the carrier Philippine Sea, Lt. Cmdr. W.T. Amen--first blood for the Navy.

It was clear that the only effective counter to the MiG jet fighter threat would be another jet but despite their initial successes, the F-80 and F9F both lacked the speed and climb to do the job. The MiG-15 was 100 mph faster than the F-80 and a full 300 mph faster than the prop-driven F-51. Although six MiGs were credited to Shooting Stars in the course of the war, 14 F-80s would be lost to the swept-wing jets.

Corsairs attack Yalu Bridges

Fortunately, the MiG's match would not be long in coming. On the same day Brown scored his historic victory, the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff made their decision to commit the best American jet fighter operational to the Korean front--the North American F-86A Sabre. Salt water damage in transit delayed the arrival of the Sabre-equipped 4th Fighter Interceptor Group at Kimpo until December 13, but the unit flew its first training flight--actually an operational patrol--on December 15 and, on December 17, Lt. Col. Bruce H. Hinton led four F-86As on a sweep of the Yalu, using F-80 radio call signs and flying F-80 patterns to ensure that any MiGs would not be shy about coming up to play. Four did intercept the formation near Sinuiju and were as surprised as Hinton had hoped they would be as the Sabres tore into them at a speed approximating the MiGs' own. A brief fight ensued before the MiGs retired in haste, short one of their number, and Hinton returned to Kimpo to do the first of hundreds of victory rolls that Sabre pilots would perform over the next two-and-a-half-years.

F-86

Meanwhile, new events had taken place to further alter the course of the war. After three days of continuous bombing and rocket attacks, all bridges across the Yalu were down except one--the tough railroad bridge at Sinuiji. A week later, the entire effort was nullified when the river itself froze over. By the first week of December, the ice was thick enough to lay railroad tracks on and support supply trains.

Mig-15 Kill

On November 20, fighting broke out between the 1st Marine Division and a large force of Chinese troops in the region of Hagaru-ri and Yudam-ni. On November 28, the Chinese launched an all-out attack against the U.S. Army X Corps, cutting the 5th and 7th Marines from the rest of their division near the Chosin reservoir and sending the rest of the U.N. forces reeling back in a disorderly rout. For the second time in less than half a year, the course of the war in Korea had entered a new phase.

The complexion of the air war had also undergone a radical change. From December 1950 on, the swept-wing jet became the key factor in the fight for air supremacy. Although the prop-driven planes and the older generation of jets would continue to play a vital role throughout the fighting, their efforts would be largely eclipsed in the public eye by the duel for the sky taking place at the threshold of the speed of sound over "MiG Alley." Also forgotten would be those first five crucial months of the war, when the straight-winged birds were all the air power that was available and the hoary old veterans of another war and another era had their last hurrah.

Additional Sources:

vvs.hobbyvista.com
www.centennialofflight.gov
1000aircraftphotos.com
airwar.hihome.com

SIDEBAR
TWO WARS AT ONCE

While the outbreak of the Korean Conflict left most Americans confused as to its importance and even its location, it had no such effect on the British. They were already in the process of withdrawing from their colonial holdings in the Far East as gracefully as possible and, in the interests of leaving behind independent governments that would remain friendly to them, they were already engaged in a low-intensity guerrilla war with Chinese-backed Communist insurgents in Malaya. For the British, the only novel touch to Korea in 1950 was that it was an open, conventional conflict.

The first British aircraft available to assist Korea were the Supermarine Seafires and Fairey Fireflies of the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph, which took station off the Korean coast within days of the outbreak of hostilities. From then until the end of the fighting, at least one British or Commonwealth carrier operated in Korean waters on a rotating basis.

Firefly

The more effective carrier plane of the two initially fielded by the Royal Navy was the Firefly two-seat fighter, whose Mark 4 and 5 models, endowed with an excess of power from their 2,100 hp Rolls-Royce Grifon 74 engines, could carry up to a ton of bombs and rockets per aircraft for ground attack missions. Moreover, the Firefly crews already had practice in such operations. In October 1949, Fireflies of No. 827 Squadron from HMS Triumph had been deployed at Sembawang to provide air support for Operation Leo, an offensive conducted against "bandits" in the Malayan jungle.

On July 3, Triumph's aircraft provided top cover for the carriers of Task Force 77 while American carrier planes flew airstrikes against Pyongyang. Other Commonwealth carriers that would serve in Korea included HMS Theseus (October 1950‚May 1951), HMS Glory (May 1951‚May 1952), HMS Ocean (May‚October 1952), and HMAS Sydney (October 1952‚July 1953).

Ocean's tour of duty typified the British carrier effort, with a few unique distinctions. As with most of the others, her aircraft flew strikes against Malayan insurgents prior to turning their rocket, bombing and strafing attacks against the North Korean forces in May 1952. On May 17, her aircraft flew 123 sorties--a record number for a single carrier during the conflict. Several planes were lost to the intense Communist ground fire, a common consequence of making more than one run against the same target. At the end of July, Mikoyan-Gurevich-15s attacked Fireflies of Ocean's No. 825 Squadron for the first time, one shot-up Firefly having to go down for a forced landing in the engagement. Given their technical differences, the British were grateful to have gotten off that lightly. On August 9, however, four Hawker Sea Fury FB-11s of Ocean's No. 802 Squadron were jumped by eight MiG-15s. Wisely staying to dogfight it out rather than attempt a futile flight, the skillful Brits again survived and Lieutenant Peter Carmichael scored the first confirmed aerial victory of a piston-engined aircraft over a jet.

By the time Ocean left in October 1952, her aircraft had totaled 1,907 sorties totaling 3,243 flying hours. In the 1,948 landings made on Ocean's deck, there were only four accidents.Ocean's aircraft fired 16,868 rockets and dropped 96,500 pounds of bombs, and 825 Squadron's overall performance won it the Boyd Trophy for 1952.

After the armistice at Panmunjon, the British kept at least one carrier on patrol in Korean waters as part of the United Nations peace-keeping force, while others continued to play their part in the ultimately successful campaigns against the Malayan insurgency, which had been going on when the Korean conflict began.

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.

We here at Blue Stars For A Safe Return are working hard to honor all of our military, past and present, and their families. Inlcuding the veterans, and POW/MIA's. I feel that not enough is done to recognize the past efforts of the veterans, and remember those who have never been found.

I realized that our Veterans have no "official" seal, so we created one as part of that recognition. To see what it looks like and the Star that we have dedicated to you, the Veteran, please check out our site.

Veterans Wall of Honor

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UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004

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

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Good Monday Morning Everyone.

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I have an uncle who was a B-29 gunner during the war; his plane flew over 30 missions over North Korea. He recalls sending a MiG-15 to the ground.

He recalls sending a MiG-15 to the ground.

Good for him, good for us. We are grateful for your uncle's service.

Oddly enough, it woke him from a near nap! They were returning from a bomb run and the combination of engine hum and heated flight suit was beginning to lure him into a nap. Just as he was nodding off, he saw tracers zip past his window (he was a tailgunner). He, on instinct, cocked and fired his machineguns. He fired into the approaching MiG until it began to roll to one side with black smoke pouring out of it. He jokes today that he taught the NorKos not to disturb a well earned rest.

Good morning Snippy.

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

Monday AM Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

April 18, 2005

Help On The Way

Read:
1 John 3:11-20

Whoever . . . sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? -1 John 3:17

Bible In One Year: Psalm 22-24

cover Our friends were traveling from Georgia to Illinois in a rented van. About halfway to their destination, their van was damaged when it hit a huge hole in the road. Other cars were disabled as well, and it was a rather chaotic scene.

While our friends were sorting things out, a police officer offered to drop them off at a nearby McDonald's. When they got there, they sat in a booth to await word about getting the van fixed. Because of their dedication to serving others, they didn't have much money.

Meanwhile, they had called to let us know about the difficulty, but there wasn't much we could do except pray and trust that God would watch over them. As they and their children sat in the booth, a man came over with bags of burgers and fries. "God told me I should give you some food," he explained as he delivered supper for the hungry family.

How many times have we seen God send help on the way? On the flip side, how many times have we felt the urge to help someone-and balked at the notion?

We are God's hands on earth-created both to receive help and to give it. Do you know someone who needs help on the way? -Dave Branon

Jesus taught when He lived on this earth
How to show love to the lost;
Don't be afraid to give a kind touch,
No matter how much it may cost. -Carbaugh

A helping hand can lighten another's burden.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
How Do You Live The Christian Life?
The Compassion Of Jesus

Hiya Snippy and SAM,

Just thought you might find these stats interesting, from GoStats.com

VetsCoR Forum (and the FReeper Foxhole) is number 397 in the 550 News/Media sites tracked by GoStats (and moving up)
(1) ^ 397 VetsCoR VetsCoR forum 0.2 (0.8)

UP from #464, thanks to your hard work .... and the Foxhole threads are quoted and linked ALL OVER THE WORLD .... Congratulations for a JOB WELL DONE!!!

±

"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

I'm starting a Military/Veteran's Affairs ping list. FReep mail me if you want ON/OFF the list.

Good morning going to be another beautiful day here.

Okay my hands have loosened up some so time for a few pics.

'Ow about a couple of Firefly pics, eh mateys

Next Up the A-26 and P-51

P-82 is next up, while the P-82 does resemble a pair of P-51's flying in real close formation the resemblence is only superficial. The P-82 was about 80% new design IIRC. The only parts of the P-82 and the P-51 that were interchangeable were the engines and thier mounts.

Last one for now is the incomprable Douglas Skyraider with a Corsiar in the background. HEH

Thats all for now, will post some Jet pics later in the day.

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on April 18:
1480 Lucretia Borgia murderess (poison)/daughter (Pope Alexander VI)
1590 Ahmed I 14th sultan of Turkey (1603-17)
1764 Bernhard Anselm Weber pianist/conductor/composer
1857 Clarence S Darrow defense attorney at the Scopes monkey trial
1871 Henry Stephenson British West Indies, actor (Conquest, Little Old New York, Mr Lucky)
1881 Max Weber Polish/Russian/US painter
1889 John Kilbane US, featherweight boxing champion (1912-23)
1903 Leonid Kinskey St Petersburg Russia, actor (Casablanca)
1908 Henry Guinness missionary
1913 Al Hodge actor (Captain Video)
1921 Barbara Hale Dekalb IL, actress (Della Street-Perry Mason)
1924 Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Vinton La, blues singer (Mary is Fine)
1924 Henry J Hyde (Representative-Republican-IL)
1925 Bob Hastings Brooklyn NY, actor (McHale's Navy, All in the Family)
1925 Lionel Edmund "Sonny" Taylor musician
1934 James Drury New York NY, actor (Virginian)
1938 Andreas J "Cat" Liebenberg supreme commander (South Africa army)
1941 Mike Vickers guitarist (Manfred Mann-Mighty Quinn)
1946 Hayley Mills London England, actress (Parent Trap, Pollyanna)
1946 Skip Spence Windsor Ontario Canada, guitarist/vocalist (Moby Grape-Omaha)
1947 James Woods Warwick RI, actor (Salvador, Against All Odds)
1953 Rick Moranis Toronto Ontario Canada, (SCTV, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Spaceballs)
1963 Conan [Christopher] O'Brien Brookline MA, TV host (Late Night)
1971 Kerry Lynn Kemper Miss Nebraska-USA (1996)
1976 Melissa Joan Hart Sayville NY, actress (Clarissa, Sabrina)

Deaths which occurred on April 18:
0680 Mu'awijja kalief of Al-Schaam, dies
1552 John Leland antiquary, dies
1587 John Foxe author (Book of Martyrs), dies
1610 Robert Parsons English jesuit leader/plotter, dies at 63
1845 Nicholas T the Saussure Swiss chemist/botany, dies at 77
1853 William King US Vice President, dies a month after his inauguration
1871 Omar Pasha [Michael Lats] Croatian Governor, dies at 64
1925 Charles Ebbets president (Dodgers), dies
1938 Richard Runciman Terry musicologist, dies
1943 I Yamamoto Admiral of Japanese fleet, dies
1944 Cécile Chamindale composer, dies
1945 Ernest T Pyle British/US newscaster, killed on island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa. at 44

1955 Albert Einstein German/US physicist (E=MC²), dies

1958 Richard B Goldschmidt German zoologist (butterflies), dies
1960 Emory Johnson director (Phantom Express, Shield of Honor), dies at 66
1963 Henrietta Kreis 3rd of famous Wallenda aerialist to fall to death
1976 Percy Julian holder of more than 138 chemical patents, dies at 78
1988 An Israeli court convicts John Demjanjuk, a retired auto worker from Cleveland, of committing war crimes at the Treblinka death camp. Israel's Supreme Court later overturned Demjanjuk's conviction
1986 Marcel Dassault [Bloch] French airplane builder, dies at 94
1996 Kalim Siddiqui islamic campaigner, dies at 62
1997 Edward Barker cartoonist, dies at 46

GWOT Casualties
Iraq
A Good Day

Afghanistan
04/18/04 Claunch, Herbert R Master Sergeant 58 Army National Guard 217th Military Police Company Non-hostile Guantanamo Bay Wetumpka Alabama

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White

On this day...
0310 St Eusebius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0387 Bishop Ambrosius of Milan baptizes Augustinus
1521 Parliament of Worms Cardinal Alexander questions Martin Luther
1663 Osman declares war on Austria
1676 Sudbury MA attacked by Indians

1775 Paul Revere & William Dawes warn "the British are coming!"

1778 John Paul Jones attackes the British revenue cutter Husar near the Isle of Man, but it escaped. Soon thereafter he raided Whitehaven and burned one coal ship
1818 First Seminole War ends.
1838 Wilkes' expedition to South Pole sails
1861 Colonel Robert E Lee turns down offer to command Union armies
1861 Battle of Harpers Ferry WV
1862 Battles of Fort Jackson, Fort St Philip & New Orleans LA
1864 Battle of Poison Springs AR (Camden Expedition)
1865 Confederate General Johnson surrendered to General Sherman in North Carolina
1876 Daniel O'Leary completes a 500 mile walk in 139 hours 32 minutes
1879 Trial of Standing Bear-Crook on Indians citizen rights begins
1890 New York Commission of Emigration ends, closing Castle Clinton
1899 John McGraw, at 36, managerial debut as Oriole manager
1902 Denmark is 1st country to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals
1904 L'Humanité, under Jean Jaurès begins publishing

1906 San Francisco earthquake & fire kills nearly 4,000 & destroys 75% of the city

1906 Calvinist Reformed Union in Netherlands Church forms in Utrecht
1909 Joan of Arc declared a saint
1921 Junior Achievement incorporated in Colorado Springs CO
1923 74,000 (62,281 paid) on hand for opening of Yankee Stadium
1923 Poland annexes Central Lithuania
1924 1st crossword puzzle book published (Simon & Schuster)
1925 World's fair opens in Chicago
1934 1st "Washateria" (laundromat) opens (Fort Worth TX)
1934 Hitler names Joachim von Ribbentrop, ambassador for disarmament (Oh that Adolf!! What a joker)
1936 Pan-Am Clipper begins regular passenger flights from San Francisco CA to Honolulu HI
1938 Headless Mad Butcher victim found in Cleveland
1942 "Stars & Stripes" paper for US armed forces starts

1942 First US air strike against Japan, an air squadron from the USS Hornet led by Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle (d.1993), raids Tokyo and other Japanese cities. 16 U.S. Army B-25 bombers broke through Japanese defenses to strike Tokyo and other cities in broad daylight. The North-American B-25B Mitchells were launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier Hornet, and after striking their targets, flew on to China. 2 of the 80 men drowned. 3 of 8 captured by the Japanese were executed and 1 died in a prison camp. Doolittle later became the commander general of the Eighth Air Force.

1943 Traveling in a bomber, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was shot down by American P-38 fighters.

1945 1 armed outfielder, St Louis Brown Pete Gray, 1st game he goes 1 for 4
1946 League of Nations dissolves (3 months after the UN starts)
1946 US recognizes Tito's Yugoslavia government
1948 International Court of Justice opens at Hague Netherlands
1949 Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth
1950 1st transatlantic jet passenger trip
1950 Polish Catholic church & government sign accord over relations
1951 France, West Germany & Benelux form European Steel & Coal Community (Start of EU)
1951 New York Yankee Mickey Mantle goes 1-for-4 in his 1st game
1955 1st Bandoeng Conference - Afro-Asian conference opens
1956 Egypt & Israel agree to a cease fire
1963 Dr James Campbell performed the 1st human nerve transplant
1964 Geraldine Mock of US becomes 1st woman to fly solo round the world
1964 Sandy Koufax is 1st to strike out the side on 9 pitches
1966 Bill Russell became 1st black coach in NBA history (Boston Celtics)
1968 178,000 employees of US Bell Telephone System go on strike
1968 London Bridge is sold to US oil company (to be erected in Arizona)
1974 Red Brigade kidnaps Italian Attorney General Mario Sossi
1975 John Lennon releases "Stand by Me"
1977 Alex Haley, author of "Roots", awarded Pulitzer Prize
1977 Baltimore Orioles' Eddie Murray hits his 1st homerun
1978 Senate votes to turn Panamá Canal over to Panamá on Dec 31, 1999
1979 Major Haddad declares South-Lebanon independent
1980 Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) declares independence from UK
1982 Zimbabwe capital Salisbury renamed Harare
1983 A lone suicide bomber kills 63, at the US Embassy in Lebanon
1986 Robert M Gates, becomes deputy director of CIA
1987 An unconscious skydiver is rescued by another diver in mid-air
1990 Bankruptcy court forces Frank Lorenzo to give up Eastern Airlines
1990 Supreme Court rules that states could make it a crime to possess or look at child pornography, even in one's home
1991 Congress ends railroad workers' 1 day strike
1991 Census Bureau says it failed to count up to 63 million in 1990 census
1994 Arsenio Hall announces he will end his show in May 1994 (3 people watched it)
1994 Former President Richard Nixon suffers a stroke & dies 4 days later
1994 Lebanon drops relations with Iran
1995 Houston Post folds after 116 years
1995 Quarterback Joe Montana announces his retirement from football
1996 Islamic terrorists killed 18 Greek tourists and wounded 15 others in an attack on tourists at the Egyptian pyramids.
1997 It was reported that measurements by scientists suggest that the universe may have an “up” and a “down.” “This axis of orientation is not a physical entity, but rather defines a direction of space that somehow determines how light travels throughout the universe.” The measurements were later considered flawed because the scientists examined polarized radio waves, which oscillate in only one direction.
2000 Robert L. Yates Jr. was arrested in Spokane, Wash., (Yates later confessed to killing 13 people, and was sentenced to 408 years in prison.)
1998 It was reported that Richard Mellon Scaife, 4th generation heir to the Mellon banking fortune, had donated million of dollars over more than 30 years to conservative groups and research centers. He had also supported groups critical of Pres. Clinton. (HOW DARE HE!!! Hangin's to good for him)
1999 Seven provincial capitals in the Kurdish region elected leaders of the Kurdish nationalist party as mayors
2000 In Zimbabwe Martin Olds, a white cattle rancher, was fatally shot by "squatters"(ie: Government thugs)
2002 Afghanistan's former king, Mohammad Zaher Shah, returned to his country after 29 years in exile
2003 Burt Rutan, aircraft designer, unveiled SpaceShipOne, a rocket-powered spacecraft. He hoped to win the $10 million 1996 X Prize, offered for the 1st private launch of 3-people to an altitude of 62.5 miles twice in 2 weeks.
2003 31st day of Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraqi opposition leader Ahmad Chalabi said he expects an Iraqi interim authority to take over most government functions from the U.S. military in "a matter of weeks rather than months.
Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim (4 of clubs), a senior leader of the shattered Baath party, was handed over to US forces overnight by Iraqi Kurds near the northern city of Mosul. US troops in Baghdad uncovered numerous boxes of UC currency estimated at $650 million.
Iraqi police captured Hikmat Ibrahim al-Azzawi (8 of diamonds), a deputy prime minister and number 45 on an American list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis.
2004 Hamas secretly appointed a new Gaza Strip chief. Dr. Mahmoud Zahar was appointed as the group's 3rd leader
2004 Moammar Gadhafi calls for the abolition of Libya's three decade-old exceptional courts and other strict laws criticized by human rights groups.

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

Oklahoma : 89'ers Day rodeos commemorate opening of Oklahoma in 1889
Zimbabwe : Independence Day (1989)
US : American Home Week Begins
US : Astronomy Week Begins
US : Boys and Girls Club Week Begins
US : National Coin Week Begins
US : National Lingerie Week Begins
US : Time Out Day
International Juggler's Day
Pet Owners Independence Day
Minnesota Authors Month

Religious Observances
Christian : Low (Quasimodo) Sunday, the Octave Day of Easter
Jewish : Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) (Nisan 27, 5753 AM)
Orthodox : Orthodox Easter (3/5 OS)

Religious History
1521 German reformer Martin Luther, at the Diet of Worms, proclaimed that a biblical foundation supported the theological position of his "Ninety-Five Theses." Luther ended his defense with the famous words: 'Here I stand! I can do nothing else! God help me! Amen.'
1606 In Rome, Julius II laid the foundation stone of the second building of St. Peter's Basilica. Completed 20 years later by Urban VIII, St. Peter's today is the largest church in Christendom, with an overall length of 619 feet.
1874 In England, the remains of Scottish missionary David Livingstone (who had died the previous year in Africa at age 60) were interred in London's Westminster Abbey.
1882 Birth of George S. Schuler, American music educator. Affiliated with Moody Bible Institute for 40 years, Schuler is remembered today for composing the melody to the hymn, "Make Me a Blessing."
1930 American pioneer linguist Frank C. Laubach, while serving as a missionary in the Philippines, wrote in a letter: 'After an hour of close friendship with God, my soul feels clean as new fallen snow.'

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

Thought for the day :
"MONDAY. It's no way to spend 1/7th of your life"

Korean War Medal of Honor Recipient Major Louis J. Sebille

Major Louis Joseph Sebille flew 68 combat missions in World War II as a B-26 bomber pilot. He became commanding officer of the 67th Squadron, 18th Fighter-Bomber Group in the fall of 1948. When the Korean War began, his squadron was one of the first sent to Japan. On August 5, 1950, during a close air support mission, Major Sebille's F-51 was damaged by antiaircraft fire. Rather than abandon his aircraft, Major Sebille continued the attack under heavy fire. His aircraft was again damaged, and he dove onto the enemy gun battery to his death.

CITATION

Major Louis J. Sebille, United States Air Force, a member of the 67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 18th Fighter Bomber Group, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty near Hanchang, Korea on 5 August 1950. During an attack on a camouflaged area containing a concentration of enemy troops, artillery, and armored vehicles, Major Sebille's F-51 aircraft was severely damaged by antiaircraft fire. Although fully cognizant of the short period he could remain airborne, he deliberately ignored the possibility of survival by abandoning the aircraft or by crash landing, and continued his attack against the enemy forces threatening the security of friendly ground troops. In his determination to inflict maximum damage upon the enemy, Major Sebille again exposed himself to the intense fire of enemy gun batteries and dived on the target to his death. The superior leadership, daring, and selfless devotion to duty which he displayed in the execution of an extremely dangerous mission were an inspiration to both his subordinates and superiors and reflect the highest credit upon himself, the U.S. Air Force, and the armed forces of the United Nations.

The article doesn't mention that many of the MiGs were being flown, and controlled, by Russian Air Force personnel, sent by "Uncle Joe" when Mao started raising atheist hell about the lack of Soviet support. There was a really interesting documentary about it on either the History Channel or one of the Discovery channels

Thanks for the ping!

Help On The Way

Read:1 John 3:11-20

Whoever . . . sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? -1 John 3:17

Bible In One Year: Psalm 22-24

Read:
1 John 3:11-20