The FReeper Foxhole Remembers the Marines in the Persian Gulf War (Feb. 1991) May, 11th, 2005

Initially, the marine general had planned to have Myatt's division clear paths through the minefields, then allow Keys' more powerful Second Division to pass through their lines and lead the attack. But neither Boomer nor his commanders liked that idea. "Any passing of lines under combat conditions is a horribly complicated evolution. And the thought of a division-size passage -- with troops and vehicles strung out for miles, vulnerable to artillery -- really made me uneasy," the First MEF commander recalled. With more mine-clearing equipment provided by Israel and the Tiger Brigade available, Boomer accepted Keys' proposal for his division to make its own breach of the Iraqi barriers. Schwarzkopf, who had allowed Boomer great freedom in planning his attack, also approved the new plan.

The leeway Schwarzkopf gave Boomer was a reflection of the Desert Shield commander's view that the marines' assault was intended to fix the Iraqi army's attention on the Kuwaiti border, not to be the main battle. The main attack, in northern Kuwait and southern Iraq, would be by the U.S. Army's Seventh Corps far to the west. It was set to start twenty-four hours after the marines' assault began.

The two marine division commanders devised different plans for breaching the minefields, but with similar goals. The First Division would use Task Forces Grizzly and Taro to protect the main assault forces -- Ripper and Papa Bear -- which would conduct their own breaches. The Second Division would rely on artillery and air cover to defend against counterattacks and assigned only one regiment -- the Sixth Marines -- to make their breaches. Each of the regiment's three battalions would cut a single lane. The desire in both cases was to move through the minefields quickly. "We were concerned about speed, and building momentum going north, to get through those two obstacle belts, because the worst thing that could happen was to get trapped between them," Myatt said.

1st Marine Division scheme of maneuver

Moving closer to the Kuwaiti border, most of the Marines left behind their tents and sleeping bags, only to suffer through surprisingly wet and frigid nights. The ground war initially was set to start on February 22, but Boomer asked for a delay in the hope of getting better weather to allow full use of the vital marine air support. The weather, however, did not improve, and in a situation similar to what General Dwight D. Eisenhower had faced on the eve of D-Day in 1944, Schwarzkopf decided to attack despite the poor conditions. "We fought the ground campaign over the worst four flying days of the whole war," Moore, the marine air commander, later complained. "General Schwarzkopf and every weather guy in Southwest Asia promised 72 hours of good weather, but we probably didn't get 72 minutes."

Corporal David Jackson, a radio operator with Grizzly, recalled that the task force's marines felt "a lot of excitement and some confusion" but "not a lot of fear" about their mission: "People asked me if I was afraid. The honest answer was ‘no.' Our battalion had trained so hard....By the time we got to the Gulf, we really were family."

Corporal Eroshevich recollected a more fatalistic reaction among the marines of Task Force Taro. "We all looked at each other and said, ‘Well, it was nice knowing you,'" he recalled. "This was pretty much a Nintendo war. But we were going to walk 30 miles and go through a minefield on hands and knees." And Taro's commander, Admire, knew his unit faced a daunting task: "It would be clandestine, with no armor, no tractors, or artillery. We were literally going to walk across that minefield."

The First Division began its move into Kuwait on February 18, when Myatt sent reconnaissance teams across the border to look for paths through the first minefield for Taro and Grizzly. The scouts located a clear route in Taro's sector, but could not find one for Grizzly. Even so, Fulks marched Grizzly into Kuwait shortly after midnight on the twenty-second, stopping most of the regiment just south of the mines, where they could see the minefield but could not be observed by anyone on the other side of the barriers. The marines dug two-man fighting holes and used slight depressions in the desert and camouflage nets to mask their vehicles. Meanwhile, Fulks' scouts resumed the search for an opening through the mines.

After daylight, the Iraqis apparently became aware of the marines' presence and fired poorly aimed artillery at them. Return fire from the marines' 155mm howitzers back at the border, however, quickly silenced the enemy guns. Iraqi tanks then approached Grizzly's position, and Fulks had to withdraw, covering his movement with artillery and air attacks.

1st Marine Division Minefield Breaching

Taro began its long walk into enemy-held territory that evening. Both task forces had a number of vehicles loaded with radios or carrying TOW missiles or other heavy weapons. And in a throwback to pre-mechanized times, some marines pulled four-wheel handcarts loaded with equipment. Most of the marines marched into Kuwait, carrying heavy loads of their personal gear and extra ammunition.

Eroshevich called the trek "the most grueling physical experience of my life. Each of us carried over 100 pounds of equipment and our ammo for 30 kilometers." The fire team leader's load consisted of his own gear, including chemical protective suit and gas mask, his M-16 rifle, and three bandoliers of ammunition. In addition, Eroshevich carried a vest with ten 40mm grenades for his M-203 gunner, a two-hundred-round magazine for his team's M249 squad automatic weapon (SAW), and two 60mm mortar rounds. Some men also carried night vision goggles, telephones, and extra barrels for the machine guns. "The guys I really felt sorry for were the Dragon [anti-tank rocket] gunners and the machine-gunners," Eroshevich said. (Each Dragon weighed fifty pounds, while an SAW weighed fifteen and an M-60 light machine gun twenty-six.) When the marines started to march from the border, Eroshevich recalled that "we had to help each other stand up. I thought: ‘There's no way in hell I'm going to make this.'"

The unusually cold and damp weather may have prevented the heavily burdened marines from overheating during the strenuous march. But when they stopped, the cold cut through their sweaty clothes and chilled them. The only casualty of the potentially dangerous movement was a young marine killed by an accidental hand-grenade blast. By midnight, Taro had reached the edge of the minefield and then hurried to get into defensive cover before daylight. Most of the marines then dug fighting holes into which they squeezed, knees against their chests. They remained in the tight foxholes all day.

In preparation for the next night, Admire had his combat engineers and some infantrymen begin marking the task force's path through the minefield. With no mine detection equipment, they advanced on their knees, probing into the sand with bayonets and listening for the clink of metal on metal. Mines would be marked with glowing chemical light sticks.

11th Marines in the ground campaign, Day 1

Task Force Grizzly, meanwhile, was still attempting to find a way through the mines. Its latest attempt was curtailed when allied aircraft started bombing Iraqi positions just across the barrier and Fulks withdrew his men to avoid the risk of friendly-fire casualties. With only hours left before the ground war was scheduled to start, Fulks was getting desperate about being able to complete his mission. As sporadic Iraqi artillery fire landed nearby, the colonel called his battalion commanders together to plan a rapid breach, using explosives to clear a path through the mines. Before he had to launch that effort, however, Fulks received a radio message that his scouts could see Iraqi defectors walking through the minefield with their hands over their heads. Thinking quickly, Fulks told the recon teams to run down and give the surrendering Iraqis chemical lights to mark the lane through the mines. Three Marines followed the defectors' path and attacked a bunker, killing three Iraqi soldiers and capturing others. At last, Grizzly had a way to get to its blocking position.

But then the two task forces' leaders received a disturbing radio call from Myatt, who relayed word from Boomer that President Bush wanted to give Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev more time to attempt to persuade Saddam to withdraw his army from Kuwait. That meant Taro and Grizzly were not to push any farther into Kuwait until the deadline passed, about midnight.

Both commanders protested that the delay would not give them time to reach their assigned positions before the division started its attack. Fulks, moreover, was reluctant to pull back the company of marines he already had on the other side of the mines, guarding the lane. "Boss, you can't do this to me," he told Myatt.

11th Marines in the ground campaign, Day 2

After a brief delay, Myatt called back to tell him that Boomer had given permission to put a reconnaissance team across, but not to do anything irreversible. Fulks said he quickly ordered an entire battalion through the mines, as "a recon in force." Given the same warning, Admire said he told Myatt: "I will do nothing irreversible. But I can't guarantee that the Iraqis won't."

While Taro and Grizzly were making their difficult treks deep into Kuwait, the two U.S. Marine divisions moved toward the border, reaching their assault positions on February 23. That night, Boomer sent a message telling his marines that they would attack into Kuwait the next day, not to conquer, but to drive out the invaders and to restore the country to its citizens....We will succeed in our mission because we are well trained and well equipped; because we are U.S. Marines, sailors, soldiers and airmen, and because our cause is just....May the spirit of your Marine forefathers ride with you and may God give you the strength to accomplish your mission.

Semper Fi.

As night fell on the twenty-third, the marines and navy corpsmen in Taro and Grizzly climbed out of their holes, pulled on chemical protective suits, and checked their gas masks and weapons. Suddenly an explosion stunned the marines of Task Force Taro and destroyed their artillery fire-direction radar van, killing one marine and wounding another. A U.S. HARM anti-radar missile had caused the explosion, another of the friendly-fire incidents that were to blame for nearly half of the marines' casualties thus far.

11th Marines in the ground campaign, Days 3-4

Shortly before midnight, Corporal Eroshevich and the rest of Taro shouldered their heavy loads and started following what they hoped was a clear path through the minefield -- a narrow route outlined by chemical lights. Once through the obstacles, the marines formed into a wedge and moved north, reaching their blocking position about six miles beyond the minefield well before dawn.

The cold, misty, rainy weather was miserable but "almost ideal for an infiltration," Admire said. It reduced visibility, limiting the chances that the Iraqis would spot them. The Taro commander hoped for better weather the next morning, when marine air cover might be needed if Iraqi tanks attacked.

While Taro had reached its position without major incident, Task Force Grizzly's troubles continued. First, the march through the mines was delayed when the lead elements had to deal with more Iraqi defectors. Corporal Jackson, driving a communications vehicle carrying two of his battalion's staff officers, had followed a barely visible light on the vehicle ahead of his. "My biggest worry was the guys off to the side on foot," he recalled of the slow advance. "I thought about them, hoped they didn't step on anything," meaning mines.

Grizzly passed through the first minefield belt without incident. But about eight hundred yards farther, they ran into an unexpected belt of anti-personnel mines. A team of engineers led by Staff Sgt. Charles Restifo crawled through the field probing for mines with bayonets, as TOW gunners used their thermal sights to watch for any Iraqi movement. Restifo earned the Silver Star for his actions.

Despite the new delay, Grizzly was at its blocking position near the second minefield by dawn. The ground war officially began at 4:30 a.m., with the Second Division and the First Division's Task Forces Ripper and Papa Bear starting their penetrations at the first minefield. Rocket-propelled mine-clearing line charges, or "mick licks," were used to make the initial breaches. Each line charge consisted of a 110-yard-long cable along which explosives were attached. A rocket on the cable's end would carry the line across the minefield, and the subsequent detonation of the charges was designed to set off any nearby mines.

Additional Sources:

www.gulflink.osd.mil
kilo35usmc.org
www.wiredvideo.com
www.rand.org
www.sohoblues.com
www.pbs.org

Problems with the explosive devices, however, slowed the operation and resulted in damage to several tanks that hit live mines while sweeping the supposedly cleared lanes with mine-clearing plows. The operation also was delayed by numerous false reports of chemical agents. With little Iraqi resistance, however, the marines pushed through the first minefield and reached the second barrier by noon, but they were then plagued with more defective line charges, more damaged tanks, and increased Iraqi artillery fire.

The leathernecks' biggest problem, however, was what to do with the thousands of surrendering Iraqi soldiers, who threatened to bog down the advance. Commanders of the assault units soon turned the flood of POWs over to marines from the supply columns behind them. Others, recognizing that the dispirited Iraqis were harmless, had their men simply direct them toward the rear. Happy to be alive and out of the war, Saddam's soldiers marched to the south, waving dirty white rags and smiling at the marines rushing northward.

On February 24, 1991, the 1st and 2d Marine Divisions cleared openings in two Iraqi minefield belts in southern Kuwait

The push through the two minefields had left eleven tanks damaged and fourteen men wounded. There had been concern about massed artillery fire catching them bogged down among the mines. But, "None of our fears materialized," Boomer said.

Despite low clouds, scattered rain, and dense smoke from burning wells in the sabotaged Kuwaiti oil fields, the marine aviators did their best to support the ground forces. Cobra helicopters had to get under the clouds in order to attack Iraqi tanks or artillery firing on the marines. "I had six or eight Cobras air taxiing down highways in Kuwait with their landing lights on to get into the First or Second division areas to help them out," Moore recalled.

The two heavy task forces ran into only scattered pockets of opposition from dug-in Iraqis, most of whom would surrender after being hit by long-range TOW missiles or tank fire. By late afternoon, Papa Bear had cleared its first objective just behind the second minefield belt.

Ripper had to postpone its move onto the sprawling Al Jaber Airfield about nine miles to the northwest due to premature darkness. Still, the marines' aggressiveness and light Iraqi resistance had put the advance hours ahead of schedule, creating a major problem for General Schwarzkopf. The marines' rapid drive increased the risk that they would expose their left flank or would push the Iraqi troops out of Kuwait before the main attack could hit them. As a result, Schwarzkopf ordered the U.S. Army's Seventh Corps to begin its assault by 3 p.m., about fifteen hours ahead of schedule.

After a relatively easy first day, both marine divisions faced their toughest fights of the war on the twenty-fifth, when Iraqi armored units staged strong counterattacks. For the First Division, the battle included a precarious defense of Myatt's forward command post, featuring an aggressive attack by a company of marine LAV-25s against a superior force of Iraqi tanks and armored vehicles.

The Second Division, meanwhile, was fighting off separate attacks from Iraqi mechanized and armored units in what was called the biggest tank battle in marine history. In one fight, the "Reveille Engagement," marines, including Bravo Company, the reserve tank unit with its M1A1s, were roused from their sleep to destroy thirty T-72s and four T-55s -- in minutes. Counterattacks and darkness, however, prevented both divisions from moving north.

Although the weather remained bad on February 26, Boomer ordered Myatt to move on Kuwait International Airport and had Keys sweep to the west of Kuwait City to cut off the highways out of the capital. With supporting shellfire from the battleships Missouri's and Wisconsin's sixteen-inch guns, the assault units broke through the defenses. Shortly after dawn on the twenty-seventh, marines raised the U.S. flag in front of the airport terminal.

To the south, Grizzly had worked its way through the maze of bunkers and buildings at Al Jaber Airfield, meeting no resistance. Meanwhile, the Second Division quickly occupied a ridge northwest of Kuwait City, sealing off major roads and trapping hundreds of fleeing Iraqis. On February 28, Arab troops passed through the marines' lines and entered Kuwait City, which erupted in a joyous celebration. Later that day, President Bush ordered a cease-fire and the Persian Gulf War essentially ended for the marines.

The U.S. Marines had driven about one hundred miles in one hundred hours, defeated seven Iraqi divisions, destroyed 1,040 tanks, 608 armored vehicles, and 432 artillery pieces, and taken 22,308 prisoners -- at the cost of five killed and forty-eight wounded. At a February 27 press briefing in Riyadh, Schwarzkopf praised the marines: "It was a classic, absolutely classic, military breaching of a very, very tough minefield....And I think it will be studied for many, many years to come as the way to do it."

May 11, 2005

A White Stone

Read:
Revelation 2:12-17

I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. -Revelation 2:17

Bible In One Year: Psalm 91-93

cover Our Lord's message to the church at Pergamum has a curious reference to "a new name" written on "a white stone" (Revelation 2:17). What could this mean?

There are two plausible explanations. In an ancient court of law, when defendants were condemned, they received a black stone with their name on it. If they were acquitted, they received a white stone. Similarly, those who have trusted Jesus Christ for salvation will receive an acquittal from the judgment of God. What a relief it is to know that our sins are forgiven!

Another explanation comes from the ancient olympic games. When athletes won, they were awarded a white stone, which was a token of honor.

Together, these illustrations show us the wonderful balance of the Christian life. We are saved by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). Yet obedient Christians often struggle as they seek to serve the One who saved them. One explanation of the white stone is a picture of unearned acquittal. The other shows that we will be rewarded for acts of good works (1 Corinthians 3:13-14).

Trusting Christ for salvation gives us a new identity. It's like receiving a new name written on a white stone, which shows that we are forgiven-completely. -Dennis Fisher

We're saved by grace through faith alone,
Good works can have no part;
But God rewards each loving deed
That's done with all our heart. -D. De Haan

Jesus removes our sin and rewards our service.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
The Forgiveness Of God
Accepted By God

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on May 11:
1568 Christian I ruler of Anhalt-Bernburg (Battle of White Mountain)
1654 Cornelis van Alkemade Dutch historian
1807 Ira Aldridge Great 19th century black Shakespearian actor (Othello)
1811 Chang & Eng Bunker Chinese Siamese twins
1821 [Carlos] Charles John Stolbrand Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1830 John Converse Starkweather Brigadier General (Union volunteers)
1852 Charles Warren Fairbanks (R) 26th US Vice President (1905-09)
1854 Ottmar Mergenthaler Hachtel Germany, inventor (linotype)
1878 Mr Reyskens oldest male resident of Netherlands, ever
1888 Irving Berlin [Isadore Balin] Temum Siberia, composer (White Xmas)
1891 Henry Morgenthau Jr US Secretary of the Treasury (1934-45)
1892 Dame Margaret Rutherford Balham London England, actress (Murder Most Foul, Murder She Said, Arabella)
1894 Anton A Mussert Dutch Nazi leader (NSB)
1894 Martha Graham Allegheny PA, choreographer (Appalachian Spring)
1904 Salvador Dali Figueras Spain, surrealist artist (Crucifixion)
1907 Kent Taylor [Louis Weiss] Nashua IA, actor (Boston Blackie, Rough Riders)
1911 Doodles Weaver Los Angeles CA, comedian (Spike Jones & City Slickers)
1912 Foster Brooks Louisville KY, comedian/actor (Miles-Mork & Mindy)
1912 Phil Silvers Brooklyn NY, comedian (Sergeant Bilko-Phil Silvers Show)
1920 Denver Pyle Bethune CO, actor (Dukes of Hazzard, Code 3, Tammy, Doris Day Show)
1923 Joan Moriarty Brigadier matron-in-chief/director (Army Nursing Services)
1924 Antony Hewish radio astronomer
1927 Mort Sahl Montréal Canada, comedian/political satirist/beatnik (Big Party)
1933 Louis Farrakhan minister racist (black islam nation, million man march)
1934 Jumpin James M Jeffords (Representative-R-VT, 1975- )
1935 Doug McClure Glendale CA, actor (Checkmate, Virginian, Roots)
1941 Eric Burdon Walker-on-Tyne England, rock vocalist (Animals-House of the Rising Sun)
1947 Claude "Butch" Hudson Trucks drummer (Allman Brothers)
1957 Luca Urbani Rome Italy, MD/astronaut (STS 78-alternate)
1967 Kenneth Gould Chicago IL, Welterweight boxer (Olympics-bronze-1988)

Deaths which occurred on May 11:
1610 Matteo Ricci Italian missionary (China), dies
1742 Francesco Stradivari Italian violin maker/son of Antonius, dies at 70
1772 Joseph Kerckhoff Limburg surgeon/robber captain, hanged
1778 William Pitt Sr English premier (1756-61, 66-68), dies at 69
1779 John Heart US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at about 68
1857 E François Vidocq French criminalogist/police officer, dies at 81
1871 John Herschel cataloguer of southern hemisphere stars, dies at 79
1927 General Henry Martyn Robert (Robert's Rules of Order), dies at 90
1935 Edward H Thompson US archaeologist (Mayan civilization), dies at 78
1944 Henk Hos resistance fighter, executed at 37
1956 Walter S Adams US astronomer/director of Mount Wilson, dies at 79
1960 John D Rockefeller Jr philanthropist, dies at 86
1979 Lester Raymond Flatt musician (Flatt & Scruggs-Ballad of Jed Clampett), dies at 64
1981 Bob Marley reggae singer, dies of brain & lung cancer at 36
1985 Chester Gould cartoonist (Dick Tracy), dies at 84
1988 H A R (Kim) Philby British traitor, dies
1992 Elizabeth McDonald inventor (Spic & Span), dies at 98
1994 Alfred James Broomhall methodist Missionary, dies at 82
1994 Lewis B Puller US writer (Pulitzer 1992), commits suicide at 48
1995 Arthur Lubin director (Francis The Talking Mule, Mr Ed), dies at 96
2001 Douglas Adams, author of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," died at age 49.
2002 Joseph Bonanno (97), former Mafia boss known as "Joe Bananas,"

GWOT Casualties

Iraq
11-May-2004 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Specialist Kyle A. Brinlee Al Asad (near) [Al Anbar Prov.] Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack

Afghanistan
A Good Day

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

On this day...

0330 Constantinople (Istanbul) becomes new capital by Roman Emperor Constantine for Eastern Roman Empire

1189 Emperor Frederik I Barbarossa & 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg
1421 Jews are expelled from Styria Austria
1502 Columbus begins 4th & last trip to "Indies"
1647 Peter Stuyvesant (37) arrived in New Amsterdam to become governor
1678 French Admiral Jean d'Estrées' fleet runs aground on Aves-islands, Curaçao
1689 Battle of Bantry Bay, French & English naval battle
1745 Battle of Fontenoy (Doornik): Austrian Succession war
1749 British parliament accept Consolidation Act: fleet reorganization
1751 1st US hospital founded (Pennsylvania Hospital)
1752 1st US fire insurance policy issued (Philadelphia)
1792 Columbia River discovered & named by US Captain Robert Gray

1812 Waltz introduced into English ballrooms - Most observers consider it disgusting & immoral.

1814 Americans defeat British at Battle of Plattsburgh
1816 American Bible Society forms (New York)
1833 "Lady-of-the-Lake" strikes iceberg & sinks in N Atlantic; kills 215

1858 Minnesota admitted as 32nd US state

1862 Confederates scuttle CSS Virginia off Norfolk VA
1864 General J E B Stuart is mortally wounded in Battle of Yellow Tavern VA (Sheridan's Raid, South Anna Bridge)
1866 Confederate President Jefferson Davis freed after spending two years in prison.
1887 13th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Lewis aboard Montrose wins in 2:39¼
1893 Henri Desgrange establishes 1st bicycle-world record (35.325 km)
1894 American RR Union strikes Pullman Sleeping Car Co
1897 Washington Senator catcher Charlie Farrell throws out 8 attempted stealers
1900 James J Jeffries KOs James J Corbett in 23 for heavyweight boxing title
1904 Andrew Carnegie donates $1.5 million to build a peace palace
1910 Montana's Glacier National Park forms
1912 38th Kentucky Derby: Carol H Shilling aboard Worth wins in 2:09.4
1916 Einstein's Theory of General Relativity presented
1921 Tel Aviv is 1st all Jewish municipality
1924 Pulitzer Prize awarded to Robert Frost (New Hampshire)
1925 Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Region constituted in RSFSR
1926 Airship Norge leaves Spitsbergen for 1st air crossing of Arctic Ocean
1927 Louis B Mayer forms Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
1928 General Electric opens 1st TV-station (Schenectady NY)
1929 1st regularly scheduled TV broadcasts (3 nights per week)
1929 Dr Annie Webb Blanton forms Delta Kappa Gamma Society in Austin TX

1937 Spam, a canned ham by Hormel registered as a trademark.

1941 1st Messerschmidt 109F shot down above England
1943 Hermann Goering-division in Tunisia surrenders
1943 US 7th division lands on Attu, Aleutian, (1st US territory recaptured)
1945 US marines conquer Awatsha Draw Okinawa
1945 Kiyoshi Ogawa, Japanese pilot, crashed his plane into the US carrier Bunker Hill near Okinawa. 496 Americans died with him and the ship was knocked out of the war.
1946 The first packages from the relief agency CARE (Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe) arrived in Europe, at Le Havre, France
1947 BF Goodrich manufactures 1st tubeless tire, Akron OH
1947 Laos accepts constitution for parliamentary democracy
1948 Haganah takes control of Safed & port of Haifa
1949 1st Polaroid camera sold $89.95 (NYC)
1949 By a vote of 37-12, Israel becomes 59th member of UN
1949 Siam renames itself Thailand
1951 Jay Forrester patents computer core memory
1953 Tornado kills 114 in Waco TX ($39 million damage)
1953 Winston Churchill criticizes John Foster Dulles domino theory
1956 Pinky Lee Show, last airs on NBC-TV
1958 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island
1958 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
1959 "Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb" by Byrnes & Connie Stevens hits #4
1959 Elvis Presley's 1st entry on UK charts with "Heartbreak Hotel"
1959 Yankee catcher Yogi Berra's errorless streak of 148 games ends
1960 Israeli soldiers capture Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires
1963 "Puff (The Magic Dragon)" by Peter, Paul & Mary hits #2
1963 Los Angeles Dodger Sandy Koufax 2nd no-hitter beats New York Giants, 8-0
1963 Racial bomb attacks in Birmingham AL
1965 1st of 2 cyclones in less than a month kills 35,000 (India)
1967 100,000,000th US phone connected
1967 In Vietnam the siege of Khe Sanh ended, with the base still in American hands.
1967 Great Britain, Ireland & Denmark apply for EG membership
1968 Richard Harris releases "MacArthur Park" (DJ's rejoice!)
1968 Students & police battle in Paris, 100s injured
1969 (and now for something completely different) Monty Python comedy troupe forms
1972 John Lennon says his phone is tapped by the FBI on Dick Cavett Show
1972 San Francisco Giants trade Willie Mays to New York Mets for pitcher Charlie Williams & cash
1974 Steely Dan releases "Rikki Don't Lose that Number"
1975 The Cambodian government seized an American merchant ship, the Mayaguez
1976 Last broadcast of "Marcus Welby, MD" on ABC-TV
1978 Margaret A Brewer is 1st female general in the US Marine Corps
1980 Pete Rose, 39, steals second, third, & home in one inning for Phillies
1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber/TS Eliot's musical "Cats" premieres in London
1981 Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes" hits #1, stay there 9 weeks
1983 Comet C/1983 H1 (IRAS-Araki-Alcock) approaches 0.0312 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1985 40 die & 150 injured in fire at Bradford City football ground
1987 1st heart-lung transplant take place (Baltimore)
1987 Corazon Aquino is elected President in the Philippines
1988 Mario Andretti records fastest Indianapolis 500 lap (221.565 mph)
1989 217th & final episode of "Dynasty" is aired
1989 Kenya announces worldwide ban on ivory to preserve its elephant herds
1989 President Bush orders nearly 2,000 troops to Panamá
1990 New York Yankees trade Dave Winfield to Angels for Mike Witt
1994 "Grease" opens at Eugene O' Neill Theater NYC for 1,503 performances
1996 Valujet DC-9 crashes in Miami, 109 die
1996 Mountain climber Beck Weathers went unconscious atop Mt. Everest and was given up by rescuers. He awoke and managed to climb down to base camp
1997 IBM's super-computer Deep Blue made history by defeating Grandmaster Garry Kasparov.
1998 Attorney General Janet Reno requested an independent counsel to investigate Labor Secretary Alexis Herman for alleged influence-peddling and solicitation of illegal campaign contributions. Herman was later cleared.
2000 Pope John Paul II named Bishop Edward M. Egan of Bridgeport, Conn., the new head of the New York archdiocese, succeeding the late Cardinal John O'Connor.
2000 In Russia masked police raided the offices of Media Most, the country’s largest private media company and outspoken critic of Pres. Putin.
2004 A video, posted on an al-Qaida-linked Web site, showed the beheading of Nick Berg,

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

Ancient Rome : Lemuria; a. d. v Id. Maias
Laos : Constitution Day (1947)
World : International Mother's Day
World : Eat What You Want Day
Minnesota : Admission Day (1858)
Salvation Army Week (Day 3)
National Hamburger Week (Day 4)
National Police Week (Day 4)
National Bike Month

Religious Observances
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of SS Philip & James the Less, apostles
Anglican, Roman Catholic : Rogation Day

Religious History
1621 Death of Johann Arndt, 65, German Lutheran theologian. Called the precursor of Pietism, Arndt was the greatest name in the history of German mysticism after Thomas a Kempis.
1682 The General Court of Massachusetts repealed two laws which had been passed two years earlier: one forbade the keeping of Christmas, and the second mandated capital punishment for Quakers who returned to the colony after being banished.
1824 St. Regis Seminary was opened in Florissant, Missouri. It was the first Roman Catholic institution established in America for the higher education of American Indians.
1825 The American Tract Society, the first national tract league in America, was formed in NY City by the merger of 50 smaller societies.
1888 The Woman's Missionary Union, Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, had its inception in Richmond, Virginia, when delegates from 15 states met to form a general women's organization within the denomination.

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

Thought for the day :
Blushing is the color of virtue

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

A White Stone

Read:Revelation 2:12-17

I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it. -Revelation 2:17

Bible In One Year: Psalm 91-93

Read:
Revelation 2:12-17