The FReeper Foxhole Profiles The American Ex-Prisoner of War Organization - Dec. 20th, 2002

American Ex-POW Organization ^

[SAMWolf]

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

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are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

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

We hope to provide an ongoing source of information about issues and problems that are specific to Veterans and resources that are available to Veterans and their families.

In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support.

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A brief history of the
American Ex-Prisoner of War Organization

In 1942, information was leaking out about the atrocities and sub-human treatment that American prisoners of war were receiving in Japanese prison camps in the Pacific. When wives and mothers heard about their sons and husbands who had been taken prisoners, they started calling and writing their Congressmen in an effort to find help or get assistance for their loved ones. Finally, two mothers whose sons were members of the 200th Coast Artillery and had been captured by the Japanese came up with an idea.

It was Mrs. Charles W. Bickford and Mrs. Fred E. Landon who, on April 10, 1942, persuaded other parents and relatives to hold a mass meeting and formed an organization to get relief to the captured boys on Bataan. On April 14th, the Bataan Relief Organization was formed with Dr. V. H. Spensley, of Albuquerque, as Chairman. Their motto was "We will not let them down."

This group was very active trying to get relief to the POW’s and exchange of information as it came through. From this group in Albuquerque, other chapters sprang up all over the United States. The "BRO" was incorporated September 8th, 1943.

In 1945, the control of the Bataan Relief Organization was turned over to the liberated members of the New Mexico’s 200th Coast Artillery Regiment at an annual meeting held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1946, the name was changed to Bataan Veteran’s Organization.

The first National convention was held May 14, 1948, in Albuquerque. The second National convention was held in Hollywood, California, April 1949. At this convention, it was voted to change the name to American Ex-Prisoners of War and change the name of the bulletin to XPOW. The reason for the change was so veterans from the European Theater would realize that they were eligible for membership. By changing the name to American Ex-Prisoners of War, it would welcome all former POW’s from any war. There were 800 at the 1949 convention.

In 1949 there were 7 local groups within the framework of the organization:

The Bataan Veteran’s Organization, The Lost Battalion

The Seattle Barbed Wire Club, Orphans of the Pacific

The Dad MacMannis Post, The Southwest Barbed Wire Club

The Barbed Wire Club of North Carolina.

Click on the Logo to Visit Their Site

The AX-POW emblem was designed as a lapel pin by former prisoner of war, Bryan T. Doughty of Denver, Colorado, in 1949. The heraldic symbols, representing Justice, are balanced on swords. The curves at the top of the shield portray the two massive military defeats suffered by the United States Armed Forces in World War II: Bataan and the Belgium Bulge. Later, the Ex-POW motto was adopted: NON SOLUM ARMIS, Latin for "Not by Arms Alone."

[SAMWolf]

Current Military News
Interception at Sea

U.S. Navy Gunner's Mate 1st Class Jeremy Sharp confronts the crew of a Chinese vessel leaving Iraq, during Maritime Intercept Operations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo y Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey Lehrberg


Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Heath Banks, assigned to the USS Paul Hamilton, checks out a Thai ship's sonar during Maritime Intercept Operations. The USS Paul Hamilton is currently operating in the Central Command area of operations supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey Lehrberg


U.S. Navy Sonar Technician Shawn Bezel, assigned to the USS Paul Hamilton, looks for weapons on a Chinese vessel leaving Iraq. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey Lehrberg


During Maritime Intercept Operations, U.S. Navy Sonar Technician Shawn Bezel inspects a small space on a Chinese vessel leaving Iraq. U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate Second Class Jeffrey Lehrberg


U.S. Navy Damage Controlman 3rd Class Jim Bischoff, assigned to USS Paul Hamilton, assists a crewmember of a Thai ship in opening the cargo bay for inspection during Maritime Intercept Operations. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey Lehrberg


U.S. Navy Fire Controlman 2nd Class James Chisolm, assigned to USS Paul Hamilton, inspects the cargo hold of a ship during Maritime Intercept Operations. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey Lehrberg

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM!!!

Thank you all for your service to our great nation!

[MistyCA]

Good morning. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!

[SAMWolf]

Hi Bentfeather. Thanks for dropping in today.

[MistyCA]

Good morning, Bentfeather! Thanks for the support you give each day.

[MistyCA]

[SAMWolf]

I like that graphic.

[Valin]

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on December 20:
1539 Paul Melissus [Paul Schede] German poet/composer
1579 John Fletcher Elizabethan dramatist (Phylaster) (baptized)
1594 Giovanni Battista Gagliano composer
1606 Christoph Schultze composer
1629 Pieter de Hoogh Dutch painter
1659 François Fagel Dutch lawyer/statesman
1720 Charles Edward Stuart [Bonnie Prince Charlie/Young Pretender]
1729 Franz Xaver Thomas Pokorny composer
1758 Othon Joseph Vandenbroek composer
1774 Guillaume-Perre-Antoine Gatayes composer
1786 Pietro Raimondi composer
1805 Thomas Graham father of colloid chemistry
1807 Richard Lucian Page Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), died in 1901
1808 Thomas Tinsley Craven Commander (Union Navy), died in 1887
1809 Friedrich Karl Kuhmstedt composer
1812 Achille Peri composer
1813 Samuel Jordan Kirkwood (Governor-IA)/US Secretary of Interior (1881-82)
1819 John Geary 1st San Francisco postmaster, 1st mayor (May 1, 1850)
1825 Romeyn Beck Ayres Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1888
1833 Dr Samuel A Mudd convicted of giving medical aid to John Wilkes Booth
1841 Ferdinand-Èdouard Buisson France, educator (Nobel Peace Prize 1927)
1858 Jean/Johannes T "Jan" Toorop Dutch painter/graphic artist (3 Brides)
1859 Antonius J Derkinderen Dutch painter/etcher
1865 Maude Gonne Irish nationalist (Irish Joan of Arc)
1867 Fini Valdemar Henriques composer
1868 Harvey S Firestone Industrialist, where the rubber meets the road
1869 Charley Grapewin Xenia OH, actor (Wizard of Oz, Libeled Lady)
1870 Pieter C Boutens Dutch poet (Voices, Carmina)
1871 Henry Kimball Hadley composer
1872 Lorenzo Perosi Italian composer
1875 T F Powys Wales, writer (Captain Patch, Goat Green)
1876 Jan Van Oudshoorn [Jan K Feylbrief] Dutch writer (Maze of Senses)
1876 Walter S Adams US astronomer/director of Mount Wilson (1923-46)
1881 Branch Rickey baseball executive (Dodgers)
1884 Marius HLW "Max" Blokzijl Dutch nazi collaborator/traitor
1886 Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman California, tennis player (US Open 1909-11)
1886 Domingo Julio Gomez Garcia composer
1889 Bozidar Sirola composer
1894 Sir Robert Menzies Australian PM (1939-41, 1949-66)
1895 Susanne Langer US, philosopher/educator (Philosophy in a New Key)
1898 Irene [Marie] Dunne Louisville KY, actress (Show Boat, I Remember Mama, My Favorite Wife)
19-- Luisa Maria Guell Havana Cuba, singer (Tres Palabras)
1900 Gabby Harnett (National League MVP 1935)
1901 Robert Van de Graaff Alabama, physicist (Mobility of Gaseous Ions)
1901 Louis I Kahn US architect [or Feb 20]
1902 Max Lerner US, columnist (New York Post)
1902 Sidney Hook anticommunist philosopher (Paradoxes of Freedom)
1902 George English prince/earl of St Andrews
1904 [Schmidt] Hans Burkhardt artist
1904 Albert Van Dekker Brooklyn NY, actor (Dr Cyclops, Beau Gesture)
1905 "Tiger" Bill O'Reilly cricketer (mighty Australian leg-spinner)
1906 Dick White head of British secret service (MI-5/MI-6)
1906 Irving Krick meteorologist
1906 Lowell Gilmore Minnesota, actor (Living Christ Series)
1908 Giulio Cesare Brero composer
1908 Norman Hackforth broadcaster
1909 Vagn Holmboe composer
1911 Hortense Calisher New York NY, novelist (Arts & Letters 1967)
1915 Aziz Nesin writer
1918 Audrey Totter Joliet IL, actress (Carpetbaggers, Set-Up)
1920 Väinö Linna writer
1922 Charita Bauer Newark NJ, actress (Guiding Light, Aldrich Family)
1922 George Roy Hill director (Slap Shot, Little Drummer Girl, Little Romance)
1923 Nadine Gordimer Springs South Africa, novelist
1924 Charlie Callas Brooklyn NY, comedian/actor (High Anxiety, Hysterical)
1924 Errol John Port-of-Spain Trinidad, actor (PT-109, Assault on a Queen)
1924 F Mayröcker writer
1924 Inge[borg] Beekman actress (Horizon)
1925 Bob de Moor Flemish comic strip artist (Kuifje, Lion of Flanders)
1925 Datuk Seri Mahathir bin Mahamad premier of Malaysia (1981- )
1925 Frederick Edward Nicklin architect
1925 Vlastimir Nikolovski composer
1926 David Levine US painter
1927 Jim Simpson sportscaster
1928 Jack Christiansen Kansas, NFL hall of famer defensive back (Lions)
1928 Charles Donald Adams singer
1929 Milan Panic premier of little Yugoslavia
1931 Mala [Mary Ellen] Powers San Francisco CA, actress (Cyrano de Bergerac, Death in Small Doses)
1932 John Hillerman Denison TX, actor (Higgins-Magnum PI)
1933 Gordon Getty
1933 Rik Van Looy Belgian cyclist (world champion, 1961)
1935 Khalid "Billy" Ibadulla cricketer (166 on debut Pakistan vs Australia 1964)
1938 John Harris Harbison Orange NJ, composer
1939 Agatha N "Kim" Weston US gospel/singer (It Takes Two)
1939 Dianne Arndt artist/photographer
1939 Klaus Schweizer composer
1940 Larry Willis rock keyboardist (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
1941 Frank Creton Suriname/Netherlands painter
1942 Robert L Hayes Jacksonville FL, 100 meter/4x100 meter runner (Olympics-2 gold-1964)
1943 Angel Tompkins Albany CA, actress (Gloria-Search)
1944 G Wolfgruber writer
1944 Robert Colomby New York NY, rock drummer (Blood Sweat & Tears-When I Die)
1946 John Spencer actor (Tommy Mullanney-LA Law)
1946 Patti Smith singer/songwriter
1946 Uri Geller Israel, psychic (bends forks)
1947 Gigliola Cinquetti Italian singer
1947 Peter Criss[coula] Brooklyn NY, rocker (Kiss-Beth)
1948 Alan Parsons England, musician/producer/engineer (Alan Parsons Project, Pink Floyd, Beatles)
1948 "Little" Stevie Wright rocker (Easybeats)
1949 Claudia Jennings [Mary Ellen Chestrerton] Minnesota, playmate (November 1969)
1952 Jenny Agutter Taunton England, actress (Logan's Run, Equus, Amy)
1952 Sergio Vastano Italian actor (Nightclub, Prete Bello)
1955 Ed Kuepper German/Australian, singer/songwriter (Saints)
1955 Pierre Bokma Dutch actor (Avonden, Leedvermaak)
1955 Sammy Mitchell US programmer (Qedit/TSE/Semware)
1956 Blanche Baker New York NY, actress/Carroll Baker's Daughter (French Postcard)
1957 Anita Baker [Ward] Detroit MI, vocalist (Rapture)
1957 Billy Bragg Barking Essex England, singer/songwriter (It Says Here, Ideology)
1957 Mike Watt US bassist (Rockband Firehose)
1959 David Lutz NFL guard/tackle (Detroit Lions)
1960 Carolyn Seaward Devonshire England, Miss United Kingdom (1979)
1960 John Fitzgerald Australia, tennis star
1960 Piet Keur Dutch soccer player/trainer, (SC Heerenveen)
1961 Bonnie Marino Cleveland OH, playmate (June 1990)
1961 Gale Gilbert NFL quarterback (San Diego Chargers)
1961 Nate Newton NFL guard (Dallas Cowboys)
1962 Thomas Newberry NFL guard (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1963 Pam Casale Camden NJ, tennis player (Marco Island finals 1985)
1963 Karen Moncrieff Sacramento CA, actress (Xtro 3, Days of Our Lives)
1966 Chris Robinson Atlanta GA, rocker (Black Crowes-Shake Your Money Maker)
1966 Ed de Goey Dutch soccer goalie (Feyenoord)
1966 Tim Hauck NFL safety (Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks)
1967 Duncan Kennedy Burlington CA, luger (Olympics-1994)
1967 Wendy Hamilton Detroit MI, playmate (December 1991)
1969 Bobby Phills NBA guard (Cleveland Cavaliers, Charlotte Hornets)
1970 Dino Felicetti hockey forward (Team Italy 1998)
1970 Grant Flower cricketer (brother of Andy Zimbabwe Test opening batsman)
1970 Jason Simmons CFL/WLAF defensive tackle (Roughriders, Claymores)
1970 Scott Slutzker tight end (Indianapolis Colts)
1970 Tony Semple NFL guard (Detroit Lions)
1970 Travis Green Castlegar, NHL center (New York Islanders)
1971 Jerry Ellison NFL running back (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1972 Jan Caloun hockey forward (Team Czechoslovakia Olympics-gold-1998)
1972 Jonathan Wyatt Lower Hutt New Zealand, 5000 meter (Olympics-96)
1973 Barry Stokes WLAF offensive linesman (Rhein Fire)
1973 Cory Stillman Peterborough, NHL center (Calgary Flames)
1973 Jenny Boucek WNBA guard (Cleveland Rockers)
1973 Muadianvita Kazadi linebacker (St Louis Rams)
1974 Augie Ojeda Los Angeles CA, baseball infielder (Olympics-bronze-96)

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Deaths which occurred on December 20:
0069 Aulus Vitellius Roman commandant of Rhine & 7th emperor, murdered
0910 Alfonso III de Great king of Asturias, dies
1073 Domingo Spanish monastery founder/abbot/saint, dies
1355 Stefanus IX Uros IV Dusan king (1331-46)/Serbia (1346-55), dies
1590 Ambroise Paré French surgeon, dies at 80
1632 Nicolas Antoine French cath pastor who converted to Judaism, executed
1676 John Galle Flemish engraver/printer, dies at 76
1679 Johan Maurits count of Nassau-Siegen, dies at 75
1738 Jean-Joseph Mouret composer, dies at 56
1749 Pakubuwono II susuhunan of Mataram Java, dies
1783 Antonio Francisco Jawer Jose Soler Sp composer (Fandango), dies at 54
1793 Joseph Legros composer, dies at 54
1798 Cornelis Ploos van Amstel Dutch engraver/art collector, dies at 72
1799 David Traugott Nicolai composer, dies at 66
1812 Sacagawea Shoshone interpreter for Lewis & Clark, dies
1815 Giovanni Meli Sicilian poet (Buccolica), dies at 75
1819 Louis-Luc Loiseau de Persuis composer, dies at 50
1821 Gian Francesco Fortunati composer, dies at 75
1875 Michail P Pogodin Russian historian/writer (Povesti), dies at 75
1876 Hannah Omish at 12 is youngest ever hanged in US
1903 Gavriil Musicescu composer, dies at 56
1909 Benjamin Ipavec composer, dies at 79
1916 Manuel Giro composer, dies at 68
1916 William Wallace Gilchrist composer, dies at 70
1929 Emile Loubet French premier (1892)/President (1899-1906), dies at 90
1936 Baron De Borchgrave Belgian ambassador, murdered in Madrid
1937 Erich Ludendorff German general (WWI), dies at 72
1939 Hans Langsdorff German captain (Graaf Spee), commits suicide
1942 Jean Gilbert [Max Winterfield] German composer, dies at 63
1944 Abbas Hilmi II viceroy of Egypt (1892-1914), dies at 70
1945 Charles Eady cricketer (Tasmanian player for Australia 1896-1901), dies
1947 St-Georges de Bouchélier French author (Children's Carnival), dies at 71
1948 C Aubrey Smith actor (Prisoner of Zenda), dies at 85
1948 Ladha Ramji cricketer (brother of Amar Singh, Test India 1933-34), dies
1954 Emilis Melngailis composer, dies at 80
1954 James Hilton English author (Lost Horizon), dies at 54
1961 Moss Heart US dramatist (You can't take it with you), dies at 57
1962 Erik William Gustav Leidzen composer, dies at 68
1962 Luis Abraham Delgadillo composer, dies at 75
1963 Paul Constantinescu composer, dies at 54
1965 Egon Freiherr von Eickstedt German anthropologist, dies at 73
1968 Bax Brod composer, dies at 84
1968 John Steinbeck author (Grapes of Wrath, Nobel 1940 & 1962), dies in New York at 66
1968 Max Brod writer, dies at 84
1971 Roy O Disney Brother of Walt, dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 78
1972 Günter Eich German literary (Botschaften des Regens), dies at 65
1973 Bobby Darin singer (Mack the Knife), dies of heart failure at 37
1973 Luis Carrero Blanco PM of Spain (1973), assassinated by ETA
1974 André Jolivet French composer (L'eunuque), dies at 69
1975 Vincent Lopez orchestra leader (Welcome Aboard), dies at 76
1975 William Lundigan Syracuse NY, actor (Climax), dies at 61
1976 Richard J Daley Chicago mayor dies at 74
1976 Walter Fitzgerald actor (Adventures of Sadie, Fallen Idol), dies at 80
1982 Artur Rubinstein pianist (My Young Years), dies in Geneva Switzerland at 95
1988 Max Robinson 1st black network (ABC) TV anchor, dies of AIDS at 49
1989 Audrey Christie actress (Splendor in the Grass), dies at 77
1991 Andries D Copier Dutch glass designer (Guild glass), dies
1991 Fop[pe] I Brouwer biologist (Everything That Lives & Grows), dies
1991 Helene Heigh actress (Undercover Woman, Teen Age Thunder), dies at 86
1991 Sam Rabin speaker of house, dies at 88
1991 Stephen Birnbaum US tourism writer, dies at 54
1991 Thomas Newman actor/composer (Cape Fear), dies of heart attack at 60
1991 Walter Chiari actor (Girl Under Sheet), dies of heart attack at 67
1993 Moses Gunn actor (Shaft), dies at 64
1993 W Edwards Deming US economist (helped Japan after WWII), dies at 93
1994 Dean Rusk US Secretary of State (1961-69), dies at 85
1994 J C "Jody" Bateman fiddler, dies at 75
1995 John Henry Jacques co-operative retailer, dies at 90
1995 Madge Sinclair actress (Star Trek IV, Conrack, Convoy), dies at 55
1996 Amata Kabua President of Marshall Islands (1979-96), dies
1996 Carl Sagan scientist (Contact), dies at 62
1996 Roger Peacock writer, dies at 76
1997 Dawn Steel film maker (When Harry Met Sally), dies at 51
1997 Denise Levertov poet, dies at 74
1997 Vincent Ciccone inventor (Blow-Pops candy), dies at 81

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On this day...
0069 General Vespasianus occupies Rome
1046 Synod of Sutri: German king Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI, Benedictus IX & Silvester III & names Bishop Siutger, Pope Clemens II
1192 Richard the Lionhearted captured in Vienna
1448 Pope Nicolaas V named Utrechts bishop Rudolf of Diepholt, cardinal
1585 English fleet & earl Robert Dudley van Leicester reach Vlissingen
1600 Ottario Rinuccini/Giulio Caccini's opera "Euridice" published
1606 Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown VA
1626 Emperor Ferdinand II/Transylvanian monarch Gábor Betlen signs Peace of Pressburg
1661 Corporation Act enforced in England
1669 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection & sentenced to flogging, branding & slavery
1688 Prince Willem III's troops pull into London
1694 Frederik van Brandenburg flees Schweiben
1699 Peter the Great ordered Russian New Year changed-Sept 1 to Jan 1
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's army meets de Esk
1780 England declares war on Netherlands
1790 1st successful US cotton mill to spin yarn (Pawtucket RI)
1803 Louisiana Purchase formally transferred from France to US for $27 million
1820 Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men between 21 & 50
1823 Franz Schuberts "Ballet-Musik aus Rosamunde" premieres in Vienna
1830 England, France, Prussia, Austria & Russia recognize Belgium
1850 Hawaiian post office established
1860 South Carolina votes 169-0 for Ordinance of Secession, 1st state to secede
1861 Battle of Dranesville VA
1862 Battle of Holly Spring MS
1862 Battle of Kelly's Ford VA
1862 Brigadier-General Nathan B Forrest occupies Trenton KY
1862 Vicksburg campaign
1864 Battle of Fort Fisher NC
1865 De Clear-Alkmaar railway opens
1879 Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park
1880 New York's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way"
1880 Battle at Bronker's Spruit, Transvaal: Farmers beat Britten
1883 International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls
1891 Strongman Louis Cyr withstands the pull of 4 horses
1892 Phileas Fogg completes around world trip, according to Verne
1892 Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse NY
1893 1st state anti-lynching statute approved, in Georgia
1894 Day Six 1T Australia vs England Australia need 177 to win, all out 166
1894 England beat Australia by 10 runs in the 1st six-day Test Cricket
1900 Giacobini discovers a comet (will be 1st comet visited by spacecraft)
1906 Venezuela (under Vice-President Gomez) attacks Dutch fleet
1907 Explosion at Yolande AL, coal mine kills 91
1912 J Hartley Manners' "Peg O' My Heart" premieres in New York NY
1912 Paul Claudels "L'Annonce Faite à Marie" premieres in Paris
1915 Russian troops overrun Qom, Persia
1917 Russian secret police in Czechoslovakia forms under Felix Dzerzjinski
1918 Eugene O'Neill's "Moon of the Caribees" premieres in New York NY
1919 Canadian National Railways established (North America's longest, 50,000 KM)
1919 US House of Representatives restricts immigration
1920 Bert Collins scores 104 on Test Cricket debut vs England SCG
1920 Bob Hope becomes an American citizen
1921 American League votes to return to best-of-7 World Series, while National League votes best-of-9 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts deciding vote for best-of-7
1922 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR)
1922 Polish parliament selects Stanislaw Wojcieckowski as president
1924 Adolf Hitler freed from jail early
1926 Cardinals trade Roger Hornsby to Giants for Frankie Frisch & Jimmy Ring
1926 Pope Pius XI convicts fascist pursuit in Italy
1926 Sidney Howard's "Silver Cord" premieres in New York NY
1928 1st international dogsled mail leaves Minot ME for Montréal, Québec
1928 Ethel Barrymore Theater opens at 243 W 47th St NYC
1929 Mount Davidson dedicated as a San Francisco city park
1929 Heinie Wagner replaces Bill Carrigan as Red Sox manager
1930 Learie Constantine cricket 100 in 52 minutes West Indies vs Tas (10x4, 1x6, 1x5)
1932 Queensland all out 74 vs Victoria, Ironmonger (age 50) 7-13
1933 Bolivia & Paraguay sign weapon cease fire
1935 Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii
1937 Bill O'Reilly takes 9-41 for New South Wales against South Australia
1938 Vladimir K Zworykin (Pennsylvania) receives patent on the Iconoscope TV system
1939 Radio Australia begins overseas short-wave service
1940 Connie Mack acquires controlling interest in the Athletics for $42,000
1941 Free France under Admiral Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquélon
1941 Japanese troops lands on Mindanao
1942 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta
1943 "International" is no longer USSR National Anthem
1944 Battle of Bastogne, Nazis surround 101st Airborne (NUTS!)
1944 Archbishop De Young & bishop Huibers condemn black market
1944 Bishop forbids membership in non Catholic unions
1944 Terence Rattigans "O Mistress Mine" premieres in London
1945 Rationing of auto tires ends in US
1946 Darius Milhaud's 2nd Symphony, premieres
1948 Second Chamber accept 2nd Police Action in Indonesia
1949 Maurice Ravel/John Cranko's ballet "Beauty & the Beast" premieres
1950 "Harvey", starring James Stewart, premieres in New York
1952 KHQ TV channel 6 in Spokane WA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 KID (now KIDK) TV channel 3 in Idaho Falls ID (CBS) 1st broadcasting
1953 KWTV TV channel 9 in Oklahoma City OK (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra
1956 Montgomery AL, removed race-based seat assignments on its buses
1957 Elvis Presley given draft notice to join US Army for National Service
1959 Jasu Patel takes 9-69, India vs Australia at Kanpur
1960 Auschwitz-commandant Richard Bär arrested in German Federal Republic
1962 The Osmond brothers debut on the Andy Williams Show
1962 Dmitri Shostakovich opera "Katerina Ismailova" premieres in Moscow
1963 Berlin Wall opens for 1st time to West Berliners
1963 Massemba-Debate elected President of Congo-Brazzaville
1963 Trial against 21 camp guards of Auschwitz begins
1964 Levi Eshkol forms Israeli government
1966 NBA awards Seattle Supersonics a franchise for 1967-68 season
1966 Brussels: Nuclear Planning Group established
1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1967 "The Graduate", starring Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft, premieres
1967 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam
1967 Ian Anderson & Glenn Cornick form rock group Jethro Tull
1969 Peter, Paul & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reaches #1
1970 Edward Gierek succeeds Wladyslaw Gomulka as Poland's party leader
1971 Pakistan President Yahya Khan resigns
1972 Neil Simons "Sunshine Boys" premieres in New York NY
1973 American League President Joe Cronin refuses to allow Dick Williams to manage Yankees
1973 Montréal Canadien Henri Richard scores his 1,000th NHL point
1973 Dutch Antillean government of Evertsz forms
1974 George Harrison releases his "Dark Horse" album in UK
1974 Ethiopia becomes socialist one-party state
1975 Joe Walsh recruited to join Eagles
1975 Pope Paul VI named J Willebrands archbishop of Utrecht
1976 Israel's PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns
1976 "Music Is" opens at St James Theater NYC for 8 performances
1977 1st Space walk made by G Grechko from Salyut
1977 RAF -terrorist Knut Folkerts sentenced to 20 years
1978 H R Haldeman, Nixon's White House chief of staff released from jail
1980 USSR formally announces death of Alexei Kosygin
1980 NBC broadcasts New York Jets' 24-17 win over Dolphins without audio
1981 Doug Small (Winnipeg Jets) ties NHL record scoring at 5 second mark
1981 Browns set team records for most fumbles (9) & most turnovers (10)
1981 Harry Krieger/Tom Eyen's musical "Dreamgirls" premieres at Imperial Theater NYC for 1522 performances
1983 Guy Lafleur, Montréal, becomes 10th NHLer to score 500 goals
1983 New York Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Pittsburgh Penguins
1983 PLO chairman Yasser Arafat & 4,000 loyalists evacuate Lebanon
1983 El Salvador adopts constitution
1984 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in the Yale library
1984 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 Denis Potvin passes Bobby Orr as NHL defenseman scorer (916 points)
1985 Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC
1985 Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st)
1986 White teenagers beat blacks in Howard Beach NY
1987 Worst peacetime shipping disaster, Dona Paz ferry sinks after collision with oil tanker Vector; 1,749 confirmed deaths (probably closer to 3,000)
1987 "Nuts" with Barbra Streisand premieres
1987 76th Davis Cup: Sweden beats India in Gothenburg (5-0)
1987 Nancy Lopez/Miller Barber win LPGA Mazda Golf Championship
1988 Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's department store, London
1988 NBC signs lease to stay in NYC, 33 more years
1988 Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected President of Sri Lanka
1989 US troops invade Panama & oust Manuel Noriega, but don't catch him
1989 Premier Lubbers sees CDA-party leader Elco Brinkman as successor
1990 Pentagon warns Saddam Hussein that US air power is ready to attack on 1/15
1990 Robert F X Sillerman purchases WAFL New York-New Jersey Knights for $11 million
1990 Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns
1991 NHL grants permanent membership to Tampa Lightning & Ottawa Senators
1991 Paul Keating installed as premier of Australia
1992 Northwest & KLM introduce a new joint logo "Worldwide Reliability"
1992 Slobodan Milosevic re-elected President of Serbia
1993 Donald Trump weds Marla Maples
1995 "Paul Roebson" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 14 performances
1995 American Flight 965 crashes in Colombia, 159 die, 5 survive
1998 Wendy's Three-Tour Golf Challenge
1999 Portugal returns Macau to China

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

Taiwan : Bank Holiday
World : Underdog Day - - - - - ( Friday )

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Religious Observances

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Religious History
1552 Death of Katherine von Bora, 53, a former nun and the widow of German reformer Martin Luther. They married in 1525, when Luther was 42 and Katie was 26, and bore six children. Luther died in 1546; Katie, six years later.
1787 A revival broke out among the Shakers of New Lebanon, Indiana, soon igniting a religious fervor among other denominations, especially in Kentucky and other colonial frontier regions.
1845 Baldwin Institute was chartered in Berea, Ohio, by the Methodists. Changing its name in 1854 to Baldwin University, the college merged in 1914 with German Wallace College and adopted its present name: Baldwin Wallace University.
1856 Newberry College was chartered in Newberry, SC, under Lutheran auspices. The campus moved to Walhalla, SC, in 1868, but returned to Newberry in 1877.
1961 Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth wrote in a letter: 'What God chooses for us children of men is always the best.'

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Thought for the day :
" To criticize the incompetent is easy; it is more difficult, to criticize the competent. "

[MistyCA]

Read About the Blackout!

[MistyCA]

thanks, Sam!

[MistyCA]

LOL! Good quote, Valin! Thanks for the history!

[SAMWolf]

Well, that explains why I alwyas get criticized!

[Light Speed]

Stalag XIII-D, Nürnberg— The sight of a grotesquely burned pilot, wandering lonely about the camp, was a shock to all who saw him. He had no ears, no eyelids, and his mouth just a hole in a face of hideously scarred skin drawn taut over a scull topped with hair the color and texture of a dead mouse. We tried not to stare. More than a hundred of us lived in a huge tent, crammed together on the ground on straw ticks. Mess hall meals were sumptuous feasts of a thin broth garnished with bugs, accompanied by dehydrated black sauerkraut, and bread largely composed of sawdust. We ate it all! One day the grotesque pilot wandered over to my area and said, "Hi Wright." Dumbfounded, I could only stammer, "I'm sorry, I don't know who you are." "I'm Ray Trombley," he responded. Stunned, I could only babble stupidly. The Ray Trombley I'd known so well in flight school was cherub-faced with curly blond hair, and an impish grin from Springfield, Mass. I was unable to comprehend this was the same person. Nor could I bring myself to ask him what had happened. Shamefully, I was relieved, when he wandered off, clutching a dirty piece of gauze to wipe pus from his eyes. It was a terrible moment—sympathy and revulsion intertwined. I was not proud of myself. When Ray had left, one in my quartet took me aside, stunning me when he said, "Phil, please don't ask Ray to eat with us. I couldn't take it." It seemed terribly cruel, but I understood. I said I wouldn't. The point was moot, as Ray never asked to join us. Only later did I learn that he'd gone on to fly P-38s in Italy north of Foggia. On his 17th mission to Vienna on November 1, 1944 he caught a wing tip on a tree while strafing a large concentration of trains and locomotives in Hungary and cart wheeled in. He was burned horribly climbing out of the flaming wreckage. Hungarian soldiers captured him and lugged him in a horse drawn cart to a Catholic hospital in Kormand, Hungary where he was expected to die. He survived, and in a month or so two Hungarian guards took him to another hospital in Budapest by train disguised as a Czech prisoner-of-war. On the train two German soldiers came up to him and put a gun to his head threatening to shoot him as a spy in disguise before letting him go. It was just one of the many close calls he was able to survive. By the middle of January he was believed to be well enough to join up with six other P.O.W.s, and two old guards to go to Frankfurt-am-Main. On the way to Vienna they were chased by angry civilian crowds trying to hang them. In Vienna they were made to stay on the top floor of a department store that was bombed nightly by Allied planes. From Vienna, they went by train and on foot for roughly 250 miles through the beautiful Danube valley to Regensburg. Coming into Regensburg they were strafed by P-38's, but fortunately no one was hit. From Regensburg to Frankfurt was another 200 miles. So, fifty-four days after leaving Budapest, and traveling at less than 10 miles a day, they finally arrived in Frankfurt on March 10, 1945. Saying goodbye to the guards, who had become good friends during the long trip, they were interrogated and deloused. Then the seven of them were led into a huge room where several hundred starving Russians were lying on the floor. The stench was so overwhelming one of the guys fainted. After awhile they were given bars of rough soap and led into a huge shower room to finally get clean. A few days later they were all sent off to Nürnberg in miserably crowded boxcars that were the lot of all large groups of POWs traveling by train. Also at Nürnberg, from flight school, and flying P-47 Thunderbolts with me in the 36th Fighter Group, 9th A.F., were Harry Vibbert and Joe Schultis. Harry was shot down in September of '44. He suffered very severe burns on his arms, legs, throat, forehead, and broke his ankle when he landed in his parachute. The Germans walked him several miles until he finally collapsed standing at attention in front of a German officer seated behind a desk. But regardless of how rough a time Harry had he never lost his indomitable sense of humor. Joe was shot down during The Battle of the Bulge and evaded for five days. His feet were badly frost bitten crossing streams in the frigid December weather. He came that close to the lines that he could smell GI cooking and hear American voices before he was captured. I was shot down in March of '45 and suffered from two infected hangnails and bunch of flea bites!! Ray, on the other hand, was in terrible shape both mentally and physically. To sleep he had to roll his eyes up into his head. In the mornings he'd hold a little pocket mirror in one hand and wipe the caked pus from his eyes with the dirty piece of gauze, while staring at his horribly disfigured face. Our hearts went out to him, but there was nothing we could do. In a way, Harry was Ray's savior. Though even more badly burned than Ray, his face wasn't as disfigured as Ray's nor was he as overwhelmed by his condition. But only Harry, with his unflagging humor, could allow him to get away with dubbing Ray "Prune Face" and himself "The Brow"—from the comic strip characters in Dick Tracy. Whenever Ray sank into a funk, Harry would say, "Come on 'Prune Face,' I'm 'The Brow,' and I'm the boss," and Ray would buck up. It was beautiful to watch what those two men did for each other. One giving - one receiving - both gaining. It's a memory I'll treasure forever. We were liberated on April 29, 1945 from Stalag VII-A at Moosburg, and Ray and Harry were flown home immediately for hospitalization. Later, Harry, Joe, and I had a couple of wild nights out in Detroit, before going on to our life's separate ways. Years later, I visited Harry in the veteran's hospital in Detroit - he was dying of cancer - and he kidded me about getting bald. For Christmas that year he sent me a cheap red pen embossed with his name and a dime store comb. I treasure them. He died shortly afterwards. I loved that man, as only men who share in combat can. Harry had given me Ray's address, and we still correspond. Photographs put the lie to the old saying, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear." He looks great - just an older addition of that baby-faced blond guy I knew in flight school. But, "Prune Face" and "The Brow" will never be forgotten - God bless-em!

[MistyCA]

Nikki is a new member of FreeRepublic. Visit her site by clicking the picture!

[SAMWolf]

Welcome to Free Republic NikkiUSA.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the story about Ray Trombley.

[MistyCA]

Thanks, Light! What a story! Thanks for finding it and sharing it with us.

[Valin]

Ah...Right. If you say so. :-)

[MistyCA]

[MistyCA]