The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Ploesti Raid - Aug. 1, 1943 - Jan. 27th, 2003

http://www.afa.org/magazine/valor/0988valor.html ^ | John L. Frisbee

[SAMWolf]

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Into the Mouth of Hell

Losses on the first large-scale Ploesti raid were staggering, heroism unsurpassed.

Tradition rests on a foundation of great deeds done together in the past. A keystone of Air Force tradition is the Aug. 1, 1943, bombing attack on oil refineries at Ploesti, about 30 miles north of Bucharest, Romania. That mission stands as a monument not only to the skill and courage of Air Force crews but also to the ability of our combat leaders to pull together strands of a broken plan and salvage limited success from the apparent certainty of disaster.

The Ploesti raid was unique in several respects. It was the first large-scale, low-level strike by heavy bombers against a well-defended target and the longest--1,350 miles from base to bombs-away--of World War II up to that time. For extraordinary heroism that day, five men were awarded the Medal of Honor, a record that may hold for all time.

Why did Ploesti merit that unprecedented effort? In mid-1943, seven refineries in and near the city were producing an estimated 35 percent of Germany's oil and an equal proportion of her aviation gasoline. Some Allied planners thought that destruction of the refineries might even force the Nazis out of the war.

The task force put together for Ploesti was composed of two Ninth Air Force B-24 groups--the 376th and 98th--based in North Africa and three B-24 groups from Eighth Air Force--the 93d, 44th, and the recently arrived 389th--that were moved from their UK bases to fields in North Africa near Benghazi, Libya. The attack was set for Sunday, Aug. 1, in order to minimize casualties among impressed workers at the refineries. It was meticulously planned and thoroughly rehearsed, including two full-scale practice missions against a simulation of the Ploesti targets, laid out in a remote area of the desert.

Surprise and Precision

In concept, if not in execution, the plan of attack was simple, its essence: surprise and precision. The bomber stream would be led by the 376th Group under Col. Keith K. Compton, followed by the 93d, 98th, 44th, and 389th in that order. Specific buildings within the five refineries in Ploesti; the refinery at Campina, 18 miles northwest of the city; and one at Brazi, five miles to the south, were assigned to elements of the five groups.



The task force, totaling 177 B-24s with Brig. Gen. Uzal Ent as mission commander flying in Compton's aircraft, would take off between 4 and 5 a.m., fly north in a tight column of groups to Corfu (off the coast of Greece), then climb over the mountains of Albania and Yugoslavia to the Danubian plain, where they would descend below enemy radar coverage. At Pitesti, the first Initial Point (IP), the 389th would break off to the left and proceed to the refinery at Campina. The four leading groups would drop to 500 feet and continue to the final IP at Floresti, where they would begin a 13-mile bomb run on five refineries in the city and the one at Brazi, descending to treetop level for bomb release. All six refineries would be hit almost simultaneously by a single wave of bombers, flying line-abreast, that would saturate the defenses. That was the plan. Winston Churchill is credited with observing that "in war, nothing ever goes according to plan except occasionally, and then by accident." Ploesti was no exception. In the long flight over the Mediterranean, the column lost some of its cohesion, with the 376th and 93d Groups slightly ahead of the other three. Then, near Corfu, the lead aircraft with the route navigator went out of control and crashed. (Ent and Compton were not in the lead bomber, but in a position to assume the lead when a final turn to the bomb run was made.) A second 376th aircraft bearing the deputy route navigator followed down to look for survivors. Unable to climb back in time to rejoin the group, it returned to Benghazi.

Now ahead of the formation towering cumulus clouds rose above the mountains. The two lead groups threaded their way through or under the clouds, while the 98th, 44th, and 389th penetrated the cloud line at varying altitudes. By the time those three had reformed a column and resumed a heading for Pitesti, the first two groups were 29 minutes ahead of them.

Because of radio silence, Ent and Compton could not contact the trailing groups. Not knowing whether or not those groups had turned back, they decided to follow the operations order even though they might have to go it alone. Thus, the five groups actually proceeded toward Pitesti as two widely separated forces. A surprise attack on the refineries in Ploesti by a single wave of some 140 bombers, that dominant key to success at an acceptable cost, was beyond redemption.

The Wrong Turn



The chain of circumstance was not yet complete. The 376th and 93d Groups made their turn at Pitesti and headed for the final IP at Floresti. Halfway between the two IPs lay the town of Targoviste, which closely resembled Floresti. Flying at very low altitude, the 376th mistook Targoviste for the IP and turned southeast on the briefed bomb-run heading, which took the two groups to the west of Ploesti--an error that wasn't discovered until they were on the outskirts of Bucharest. At that point, Ent broke radio silence, ordering the two groups to turn north and attack targets of opportunity in the complex of refineries.

The 93d Group, led by Lt. Col. Addison E. Baker, a National Guard officer who had been called to active duty in 1940, caught a glimpse of refineries off to the left. He and his pilot, Maj. John Jerstad, who had completed his combat tour but volunteered for the mission, bored in on an unidentified refinery, which turned out to be Columbia Aquila, a 44th Group target. Enemy defenses, much heavier than anticipated, were thoroughly aroused. More than 230 antiaircraft guns, supported by many barrage balloons and smoke pots, surrounded the refineries, with perhaps 400 fighters in the area.

Into a maelstrom of ground fire, Baker led the group. Short of the refinery, his B-24 was hit and burst into flames. Baker and Jerstad could have bellied in on open fields or pulled up to bailout altitude and probably saved themselves and their crew. But this was a mission on which some thought the outcome of the war might hinge. Without wavering, they led the bombers straight on to the refinery before crashing into the ground. Both Baker and Jerstad were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.

Off to the right of their funeral pyre, a second element of the 93d bombed two refineries assigned to the 98th Group. Meanwhile, five B-24s of the 376th Group led by Maj. Norman C. Appold hit the Concordia Vega refinery, originally assigned to the 93d, and "emerged covered with soot" as other 376th bombers unloaded on various segments of the Ploesti complex.



While the 376th and 93d were making the best of a bad situation, the other three, led by veteran pilot Col. John R. "Killer" Kane, commander of the 98th, turned at Pitesti as planned. The tail-end 389th under Col. Jack Wood broke off to the northeast, bombing the refinery at Campina to complete destruction. Four aircraft were lost to flak, one of them piloted by 21-year-old 2d Lt. Lloyd H. Hughes, who was on his fifth combat mission. His B-24, hit by ground fire, leaked streams of gasoline from wing and bomb-bay tanks.

Below lay wheat fields, where Hughes could have landed, but instead he drove on through the smoke and flame created by the bombers ahead of him, struck his target, and came out with his left wing sheathed in flame. His desperate attempt to save the crew by crash-landing on a lake bed failed when one wing of the blazing B-24 hit a river bank and the plane exploded. The mission's third posthumous Medal of Honor was awarded to Hughes.

[SAMWolf]

No Turning Back

When Kane's 98th Group and the 44th, commanded by Col. Leon W. Johnson, a 1936 graduate of the Military Academy, turned at Floresti on their bomb run, they saw ahead columns of black smoke laced with flames and torn by explosions, the result of bombs dropped by the 376th and 93d Groups minutes earlier.

Both men knew that beneath those black clouds, which hid barrage balloon cables and tall chimneys, lay many delayed-action bombs that would detonate at random. With only about half the number of bombers planned for a simultaneous attack, enemy defenses would be far from saturated. They would have been fully justified in abandoning the attack. The probability of survival was low, but the rewards of success could be immeasurably high. For those two courageous leaders there was no turning back.



Kane led 41 of his B-24s straight into a scene that resembled the background of a medieval painting of hell, losing 15 Liberators to flak and fighters in the target area and three more to fighters over Bulgaria. His own plane, with one engine out at Ploesti and fatal battle damage from flak, was demolished in a crash landing at an Allied field on Cyprus.

Johnson, followed by 15 of his 44th Group crews, flew through flak, explosions, heavy smoke, and blistering heat, avoiding by a hair some 376th Group B-24s that were coming off a target, and successfully attacked the already burning Columbia Aquila refinery. Only nine of the 16 survived the gauntlet of fire. Johnson's plane was hit repeatedly, but made it back to Benghazi more than 13 hours after takeoff. While he was attacking his target, 21 of his B-24s led by Lt. Col. James Posey had a clear shot at the untouched refinery at Brazi, which they leveled, but lost two aircraft to fighters on the way home.

Both Jonson, now a retired four-star general, and Kane were awarded the Medal of Honor for their courageous decision to press on, regardless of the consequences, against targets the planners had considered so important as to justify the loss of half the attacking force. In fact, more than 30 percent of the B-24s that reached the target area were lost to enemy action or landed in neutral Turkey with battle damage and were interned.*



There are enough other stories of heroism on that mission to fill a book. The Distinguished Service Cross, second highest decoration for valor, was awarded to several men, among them Ent, Compton, Wood, Posey, Appold, and then-Capt. William R. Cameron of the 44th Group, like John Jerstad a volunteer for the mission.

Improvisation and raw courage overcame the vagaries of war--inaccuarate intelligence on enemy defenses, unforeseen weather, human error--and a plan that perhaps demanded too much of too many in a strategy and tactic that had not been tried before. We honor the men who met the tests and trials of an historic mission and the nearly 500 who did not come back that day.

The Results.
Two of the 7 assigned targets were not bombed, and 'in the next month their oil production 'increased from 47% of capacity to 92%. Four targets were hit by planes from different groups. Two were damaged, production falling from 66% to 28%, and two were completely shut down, one for 4 months and one for 11 months. Creditul Minier was shut down permanently.

The Cost.
Of the 162 raiders to reach Ploesti (3 crashed and 13 aborted en route), 51 were lost and 22 landed (or crashed) at Allied bases on Malta, Sicily, and Cyprus. Of the 89 Liberators that returned to Benghazi that day, only 31 were flyable.

[SAMWolf]

At first light on August 1, 1943 a force of 178 B-24 Liberator bombers lifted off dusty airstrips in the Libyan desert. They were to fly a 2000 mile round-trip deep into enemy territory, bomb a heavily defended target, and return to their North African base - without fighter escort. So began one of the bloodiest and heroic missions in the annals of aerial warfare. The target - the oil refineries at Ploesti.



One third of Germany's petroleum products were supplied from Ploesti, situated deep in Rumania and well beyond the range of Allied bombers based in England. Deprived of this vital supply of fuel, Germany's mighty war machine would grind to a halt. The high command were aware of this and the installations at Ploesti were defended accordingly. To attack such a heavily defended target with the required degree of accuracy it was necessary to bomb from a perilously low level, a task for which the B-24 was notoriously unsuited. The mission called for inspired leadership, cool determination and courage beyond the call of duty - and all of these were given in plenty.

As the first wave of bombers roared into the target, some as low as 50 feet, the German defenses opened up with a barrage of fire. Within moments the entire area erupted with exploding bombs, bursting shells, gushing flames and billowing palls of smoke. One by one the gallant crews took their aircraft through the intense wall of Ack-Ack and 88mm ground fire, and into the burning inferno to deliver their deadly cargo.

Of the 178 B-24s dispatched, 52 were lost and all but 35 aircraft suffered damage, one limping home after 14 hours and holed in 365 places. Ploesti witnessed countless acts of heroism, for which the crews received more decorations for bravery than any other mission of the war.

[SAMWolf]

'Nice job, Brereton, but you lost too many.'

-- Berlin Sally's succinct, accurate appraisal of the raid

'We went out to Ploesti in 27 planes one day in 1943, only 14 came back. I was 19 years old. I was a ball gunner.'

-- A B24 Ball Turret Gunner
at Veterans Reunion

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[SAMWolf]

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On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on January 27:
1546 Joachim III Frederick elector (Brandenburg)
1556 Abbas I "the Great", shah of Persia (1587-1629)
1592 Pierre de La Barre composer
1662 Richard Bentley Oulton, scholar/controversialist
1679 Jean-François de Troy French painter
1701 Johann N von Hontheim German church historian/suffragan (bishop)
1715 Vaclav Kalous composer
1720 Samuel Foote England, actor/dramatist (Mirror)
1723 Johann A Cramer prime minister/poet
1756 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Austria, musical prodigy/composer (Figaro)
1775 Friedrich von Schelling Germany, philosopher (Views on Christianity)
1775 Manuel del Popolo Vicente Rodriguez García Spanish tenor/composer
1784 Martin-Joseph Mengal composer
1805 Samuel Palmer London, painter/etcher (Valley of Vision)
1806 Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga y Balzola Spanish composer
1808 David F Strauss Germany, theologist (Jesus' Life)
1822 Thomas Leiper Kane Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1883
1823 Edouard-Victoire-Antoine Lalo France, composer (Symphonie Espagnole)
1824 Jozef Israëls Dutch painter
1826 Richard Taylor Lieutenant-General (Confederate Army), died in 1879
1828 Louis Schubert composer
1828 Samuel Allen Rice Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1864
1830 Georg Hellmesberger composer
1830 William Henry Fitzhugh Payne Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1832 Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson], author (Alice in Wonderland)
1834 Dmitri Mendeleev chemist (discovered periodic table of the elements)
1834 Robert Sanford Foster Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1836 Leopold von Sacher-Masoch Austrian writer (masochism)
1850 Samuel Gompers Dutch/US, 1st president-American Federation of Labor
1851 Rafael Obligado Argentina, writer (Santos Vega)
1858 Neel [Cornelia H] Doff Dutch/French/Belgian painter's model/writer
1859 Kaiser Wilhelm II Potsdam, German emperor (1888-1918)
1867 Claude Antoine Terrasse composer
1868 Cato Engelen-Sewing Dutch soprano prima donna (Dutch Opera)
1869 Will Marion Cook composer
1872 Learned Hand Albany NY, Chief judge (US Court of Appeals)
1882 Giuseppe Prezzolini Italy, writer (La Voce, La Cultura Italiano)
1885 Jerome Kern New York City NY, Broadway composer (Showboat, Roberta)
1885 Eduard Künneke German composer (Vetter aus Dingsda)
1887 Carl Blegen Minneapolis MN, archaeologist (excavator at Troy, Pylos)
1889 Balthasar van der Pol physicist (Comparison of Van der Pol)
1891 Ilya Ehrenburg Kiev Ukraine, writer (Fall of Paris, The Thaw)
1892 Mitya Stillman composer
1894 Fritz Pollard early black NFL star (1920-26)
1895 Joseph Rosenstock Cracow Poland, conductor (Nippon Philharmonic Orchestra 1936-41)
1895 Claudio Carneyro composer
1899 Granville English composer
19-- Marc Ferrari rocker (Cold Sweat-Break Out)
1900 Hyman G Rickover US Admiral (father of modern nuclear navy)
1901 Art Rooney NFL team owner (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1901 Willy Fritsch German actor (Spies, Women in the Moon)
1903 Reginald Gardiner Wimbledon England, actor (Pruitts of So Hampton)
1903 John Eccles British physiologist/neurologist
1905 Howard McNear Los Angeles CA, actor (Floyd-Andy Griffith Show, Jetsons)
1905 Luther Diamond radio personality
1906 Radames Gnattali composer
1907 Henry Cotton English golf champion (won 3x British Open)
1908 William Randolph Hearst Jr newspaper publisher (Hearst Publishing)
1911 Benay Venuta San Francisco CA, actress (Annie Get Your Gun, Call Me Mister)
1911 George Pope cricketer (English pace bowler, 1-49 & 0-36 in his only Test)
1912 Lawrence Durrell Indian/British writer (Private Country)
1913 Milton Adolphus composer
1913 Valery Viktorovich Zhelobinsky composer
1914 Anna Larina revolutionary
1915 Jack Brymer clarinettist
1917 Dunboyne Lord
1917 Merrivale Lord
1918 Elmore James musician (Dust My Broom)
1918 Skitch Henderson Birmingham England, orchestra leader (Tonight Show)
1919 David Seville [Ross Bagdasarian], Fresno CA, (Alvin & Chipmunks)
1919 H D Halsey Bishop of Carlisle
1919 Nina Milkina pianist
1921 Donna Reed Denison IA, actress (From Here to Eternity, Wonderful Life)
1922 Wilfrid Bourne QC/Clerk of the Crown in Chancery
1924 Alexander Georgiyevich Chugayev composer
1924 Kenneth Corfield CEO (STC)
1924 Rauf Denktasj Turkish-Cypriot politician
1924 Rix Lord
1924 Sabu [Dastagir], India, actor (Elephant Boy, Drum)
1924 William van Straubenzee British MP
1925 Geoffrey Tucker British political consultant
1925 John Bury designer
1927 Doretta Morrow New York City NY, actress (Because You're Mine)
1927 Joe Perry AAFC/NFL Hall of Fame fullback (San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Colts)
1927 Michael Craig Poona India, actor (Escape 2000, Vault of Horror)
1927 Nancy Dickerson journalist (NBC)
1928 Jean-Michel Damase composer
1929 Ingrid Thulin Solleftea Sweden, actress (Cries & Whispers, Damned)
1929 Richard Du Cann lawyer QC
1930 Bobby "Blue" Bland Rosemark TN, blues singer (Call on the Drummer)
1930 Esteban Edward Torres (Representative-D-CA, 1983- )
1930 Roger Sims British MP
1931 John Hopkins writer
1931 Mordecai Richler Montréal, author (Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz)
1931 Rudi Maugeri rocker (Crew Cuts)
1931 Vinson Lord
1932 Neville Trotter British MP
1933 Mohamed Al Fayed CEO (Harrods)
1933 Rita Hennessy matron-in-chief (QARANC)
1934 Federico Mayor Zaragoza Barcelona, Spain, UNESCO director (1987- )
1934 Donald Spiers controller (Aircraft MoD)
1934 Edithe Cresson premier of France (1991-92)
1934 Julian Ogilvie Thompson CEO (De Beers)
1935 Gillian Beer professor/president (Clare Hall-Cambridge)
1936 Troy Donahue New York City NY, actor (Surfside Six, Cockfighter, Hawaiian Eye)
1936 Ismail Kadare Albanian author/poet (Dimri i Madh)
1937 John Ogdon Manchester England, pianist/composer
1938 Kim Gardner rocker (Byrds)
1938 Timothy Elworthy Captain of The Queen's Flight
1939 Mike Hill Jackson MI, PGA golfer (1977 Ohio Kings Island Open)
1939 N R Bomford head master (Harrow School)
1939 Rawlings Baroness
1939 Tigran Yegiayi Mansuryan composer
1940 Brian T O'Leary Boston MA, astronaut
1940 Harry Kümel Flemish director (Monsieur Hawarden)
1940 James Cromwell Los Angeles CA, actor (Stretch-All in the Family, Babe)
1942 Petr Kotik composer
1943 A H Harper CEO (Baltic Exchange)
1943 Cumberlege Baroness
1944 Kevin Coyne rocker
1945 Mairead Corrigan-Maguire North Irish peace activist (Nobel 1976)
1945 Nicholas Berkeley Mason drummer (Pink Floyd-The Wall, Money)
1946 Kim Gardner England, rock bassist (Ashton, Gardner & Dyke)
1947 Nedra Telley New York City NY, vocalist (Ronettes-Be My Little Baby)
1948 Mikhail Baryshnikov Riga Latvia, ballet dancer (That's Dancing)
1948 Chuck Larsen rocker (Snuff)
1949 Lifford Viscount
1951 Brian Downey rock drummer (Thin Lizzy-Boys are Back in Town)
1951 Scott Lane New York City NY, actor (Gary-McKeever & the Colonel)
1951 Seth Justman Washington DC, rock vocalist/keyboardist (J Geils Band-Centerfold)
1952 Brian Gottfried Baltimore MD, tennis star (Wimbledon Doubles 1976)
1952 Peter Garland composer
1954 Kimberly J "Kim" Hughes Australian cricketer
1955 Mimi Rogers Coral Gables FL, actress (Paper Dolls, The Rousters)
1955 Richard Young Glasgow KY, singer (Kentucky Headhunters-Davy Crockett)
1956 Fred Quillan Portland Oregon, WLAF offensive coach (Frankfurt Galaxy)
1957 Karen Kondazian Boston MA, actress (Irene-Shannon, Mortal Sins)
1957 Frank Miller US, comicbook writer (Batman-The Dark Knight Returns)
1958 Charles Waltz rocker (Shooting Star)
1958 Alan Milburn British MP
1959 Patti Cohoon Whittier CA, actress (Molly-Here Come the Brides)
1959 Cris Collinsworth NFL wide receiver/TV sportscaster
1959 Keith Olbermann TV sportscaster
1960 Sarah Kennedy Coquille OH, comedienne (Laugh in)
1961 Charlotte Kemp Omaha NE, playmate (December 1982)
1961 Karen Velez Rockville Center NY, playmate (December 1984)
1961 Martin Degville rocker (Sigue Sigue Sputnik-Love Missile F-111)
1961 Gillian Gilbert Manchester England, rocker (New Order-Round & Round)
1961 Jean-Paul Banos Lavelanet France, Canada sabre (Olympics-9/10-88, 92, 96)
1961 Margo Timmins singer (Cowboy Junkies)
1962 James F Doehring Santa Barbara CA, shot putter (Olympics-silver-1992)
1962 Michael Collins clarinettist
1964 Migi [Miguel Drummond] rock (Curiosity Killed Cat-Keep Your Distance)
1964 Bridget Fonda Los Angeles CA, actress (Scandal, Single White Female)
1964 Cathy Podewell California, actress (Dallas)
1964 Inga Thompson Reno NV, US cyclist (Olympics-8th-88, 84, 92)
1964 Jack Haley NBA center (Chicago Bulls)
1964 Woody Austin Tampa FL, PGA golfer (1995 Buick Open)
1965 Igor Matoushkin NHL defenseman (Belarus, Olympics-98)
1966 Michael De Angelis hockey defenseman (Team Italy 1998)
1966 Tamlyn Tomita Okinawa, actress (Karate Kid 2, Ming Li-Santa Barbara)
1967 Carrington Garland Los Angeles CA, actress (Kelly Capwell-Santa Barbara)
1967 Alfred Oglesby NFL defensive tackle (Cincinnati Bengals)
1967 Dave Manson Prince Albert, NHL defenseman (Winnipeg Jets)
1967 Laura Golarsa Italy, tennis star
1967 Sue Palmer Collingwood Ontario, cyclist (Olympics-96)
1968 Anthony Pleasant NFL defensive end (Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons)
1968 Eric Wedge US baseball catcher (Boston Red Sox)
1968 Matt Stover NFL kicker (Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens)
1968 Mike Patton Eureka CA, rocker (Faith No More-The Real Thing)
1968 Reggie Johnson NFL tight end (Philadelphia Eagles)
1968 Rusty Meacham Stuart FL, pitcher (Kansas City Royals, Seattle Mariners)
1968 Tracy Lawrence Atlanta TX, country singer (Sticks & Stones)
1969 Kristen Danihy Lawton OK, team handball circle/wing (Olympics-1996)
1969 Phil Plantier Manchester NH, outfielder (San Diego Padres, Red Sox, A's)
1969 Shane Thomson New Zealand cricket off-spin all rounder (since 1990)
1970 Carlos Javier Bernardo Dutch prince
1970 Dario Brose Queens NY, US soccer halfback (Olympics-92)
1970 Dean Headley cricket (grandson of George, England ODI quick 1996)
1971 Mark Noordlander soccer player (Sparta)
1971 Patrice Brisebois Montréal Québec Canada, NHL defenseman (Montréal Canadiens)
1972 Bryant Young NFL defensive tackle (San Francisco 49ers)
1972 Chad Askew NFL wide receiver (New York Jets)
1972 Mark Lawrence Burlington, NHL right wing (Dallas Stars)
1973 Eddie Davis CFL cornerback (Calgary Stampeders)
1973 Margot Bourgeois Miss Trinidad & Tobago-Universe (1997-3rd place)
1975 Chaminda Vaas brilliant Sri Lankan cricket pace bowler (1994- )
1976 Haimish Karrasch Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1976 Mike Ferrier Suriname/Dutch soccer player (FC Volendam, Salernitana)
1976 Rhett Warrener Shaunavon, NHL defenseman (Florida Panthers)
1979 Jessica Lynn Ferdinand Miss New York Teen-USA (1997)
1981 Jonny Lang blues musician

---

Deaths which occurred on January 27:
0098 Marius Cocceius Nerva Emperor of Rome (96-98), dies at about 67
0672 Vitalianus pope (657-72)/saint, dies
0847 Sergius II pope (844-47), dies
1164 Abraham ibn Ezra poet/philosopher, dies
1540 Angela Merici Italian monk/monastery, dies
1565 Robrecht de Berghes prince-bishop of Liege (1557-64), dies
1612 Maarten van Valckenborch Flemish painter, buried at about 77
1625 Adriaen Valerius notary/Netherlands Gedenck-clanck, dies at about 49
1629 Hieronymus Praetorius composer, dies at 68
1669 Gaspar de Crayer Flemish painter, dies at 87
1699 William Temple statesman, dies
1731 Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori Italian piano builder, dies at 75
1763 John Theodor of Bavaria prince-bishop of Liege/cardinal, dies
1802 Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg composer, dies at 42
1814 Johann Gottlieb Fichte philosopher, dies
1814 Philip Astley theatre manager, dies
1816 Samuel Hood 1st Viscount Hood/admiral, dies
1850 J Gottfried Schadow German sculptor/cartoonist/writer, dies at 85
1850 Philipp Roth composer, dies at 70
1851 John James Audubon conservationist (Audubon Society), dies at 65
1851 Karl Moser composer, dies at 77
1857 Dorothea von Benckendorff Baltic monarch of Lieven, dies at 72
1858 Gerrit van der Linde Jz Dutch "Principal", poet, dies at 49
1859 Carl A Agardh Swedish botanist/bishop of Karlstad, dies at 74
1860 Janó Bolyai Hungarian mathematician (parallel), dies at 57
1864 Franz von Klenze German architect (palace Leuchtenberg), dies at 59
1866 John Gibson sculptor, dies
1889 Ivan S Aksakov Russian journalist, dies at 65
1893 James G Blaine US minister of foreign affairs, dies at 62
1901 Giuseppe Verdi Italian composer (Rigoletto/Traviata/Aïda), dies in Milano at 87
1904 Adam Minchejmer composer, dies at 73
1919 Endre Ady Hungarian poet (Margita élni akar), dies at 41
1922 Giovanni Verga Italian writer (I Mala Voglia), dies at 81
1928 Marie Verstraete actress (Frou-Frou/Nora), dies at 74
1930 Jean Hure composer, dies at 52
1941 Iver Paul Fredrik Holter composer, dies at 90
1949 Boris Asafiev composer, dies at 64
1953 Martinus Nijhoff Dutch poet/interpreter/linguist, dies at 58
1954 Paul-Marie Masson composer, dies at 71
1955 Ernst Penzoldt writer, dies
1956 Erich Kleiber Austrian conductor, dies
1963 John Farrow actor/director (Botany Bay), dies at 58
1964 Lieb Glantz composer, dies at 65
1965 Theo Uden Marsman Dutch orchestra leader, dies at 63
1967 Roger B Chaffee astronaut, dies at 31 in Apollo I fire
1967 Virgil I (Gus) Grissom astronaut, dies at 41 in Apollo I fire
1967 Alphonse Juin French marshal, dies at 78
1967 Edward Higgins White II Lieutenant-Colonel USAF/astronaut (Gemini 4), dies in Apollo I fire at 36
1969 Charles Winninger actor (Charlie Farrell Show), dies at 82
1969 Hanns Jelinek composer, dies at 67
1970 Ed Ford comedian (Can You Top This?), dies at 72
1970 Probir Sen cricket (20 catch & 11 stumpings, 14 Tests for India), dies
1972 Mahalia Jackson gospel singer (He Got the Whole World), dies at 60
1972 Richard Courant German/US mathematician, dies at 84
1974 Georgios Grivas Greek General/opposition leader on Cyprus (EOKA), dies at 75
1974 Paula Ludwig writer, dies at 74
1977 Walter Baldwin actor (Gay Amigo), dies at 88
1978 Marguerite Canal composer, dies at 87
1978 Oscar Homolka actor (7 Year Itch, Ball of Fire), dies at 79
1981 Leo Collard Belgian minister of Education (1946/54-58), dies at 78
1982 Iris Korn actress (Widder-Palmerstown USA), dies at 60
1983 Louis De Funes actor/writer (Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacobs), dies from a heart attack at 68
1983 Paul "Bear" Bryant US football coach (Alabama), dies at 69
1983 Robert Christian actor (Bustin' Loose), dies of cancer at 42
1984 Lou Crosby TV announcer (Mayor of Hollywood), dies at 72
1986 L Ron Hubbard novelist/founder (Church of Scientology), dies at 74
1986 Lilli Palmer [Lillie Marie Peiser] German actress (Boys from Brazil, Kinder), dies at 71
1990 Helen Jerome Eddy actress (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), dies at 92
1992 Francesca Primus columnist (Back Stage), dies at 45
1992 Gene Harris entertainer, dies after long illness
1992 Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies British actress (The Master Blackmailer, Eliza Dolittle), dies at 101
1993 Andre "the Giant" Roussimoff WWF wrestler, dies of heart attack at 49
1993 Erik Mörk Danish actor (Europe), dies at 67
1994 Claude Akins actor (Rio Bravo, Lobo), dies of cancer at 75
1994 Eddie Calhoun jazz Bassist, dies at 72
1994 Joe Mays actor (Mr Saturday Night), dies of AIDS at 44
1994 Stanley Adams songwriter, dies at 86
1995 Halsey S Colchester British SAS/MI6-spy/priest, dies at 76
1995 Jean Tardieu author, dies at 91
1995 Willem R "Wim" van der Zee General-Secretary Council of Churches, dies at 64
1996 Barbara Skelton writer, dies at 79
1996 John Patrick Sutton Ludlow actor (Agatha), dies at 93
1996 Julian Hill research chemist, dies at 91
1996 Olga Havlova political activist, dies at 63
1996 Ralph Webster Yarborough politician, dies at 92
1996 Tommy Mitchell cricket (Derbyshire leg-spin, 5 Tests for England), dies
1997 Cecil Lewis airman/writer, dies at 98
1997 Matthew Coady journalist, dies at 73

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On this day...
0672 St Vitalian ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0847 Sergius II ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1302 Dante becomes a Florentine political exile
1538 States of Gelderland accepts Willem van Kleef as viceroy
1556 Willem of Orange becomes knight of Guilder Flies
1593 Vatican opens 7 year trial against scholar Giordano Bruno
1662 1st American lime kiln begins operation (Providence RI)
1671 Pirate Henry Morgen lands at Panama City
1710 Czar Peter the Great sets 1st Russian state budget
1736 Abdication of Stanislas, last king of Poland
1778 Piccinni's opera "Roland" premieres, Paris
1785 1st US state university chartered, Athens GA
1823 President Monroe appoints 1st US ambassadors to South America
1864 Civil War skirmish at Kelly's Ford VA
1864 Battle of Fair Gardens, Tennessee
1870 1st sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) (DePauw University in Greencastle IN)
1870 Manitoba & Northwest Territories incorporated
1870 After accepting 15th amendment, Virginia is readmitted to Union
1880 Thomas Edison patents electric incandescent lamp
1886 1st British government of Salisbury resigns
1888 National Geographic Society organizes (Washington DC)
1891 Mine explosion kills 109 at Mount Pleasant PA
1894 1st college basketball game, University of Chicago beats Chicago YMCA 19-11
1894 Midwinter Fair opens in Golden Gate Park
1896 Tasmania bowl out Victoria for 65 for their 1st ever innings victory
1897 British troops occupy Bida Gold Coast (Ghana)
1900 Social Democrat Party of America (Debs' party) holds 1st convention
1902 5 workers killed on explosion during IRT subway construction (New York City NY)
1905 Maurice Rouvier forms government in France
1906 Rudolf Gundersen skates world record 500m at 44.8 seconds
1908 Pasiphaë, a satellite of Jupiter, discovered by Melotte
1915 US Marines occupy Haiti
1916 Communist party "Spartacus Letters" 1st published in Berlin
1917 Coen de Koning wins 2nd official 11 cities race (9 53) (record)
1918 "Tarzan of the Apes", 1st Tarzan film, premieres at Broadway Theater
1924 Egyptian king Foead nominates Saad Zaghloel Pasja premier
1924 Lenin placed in Mausoleum in Red Square
1926 US Senate agrees to join World Court
1927 Harlem Globetrotters play their 1st game
1933 Otto Meisnner dines with British ambassador Rumbold
1934 27th Australian Men's Tennis Open Fred Perry beat Crawford (63 75 61)
1934 French government of Chautemps falls (Stavisky Affair)
1934 VARA refuses to hire after commemoration of Marinus Van de Lubbe
1940 -17ºF (-27ºC), CCC Camp F-16, Georgia (state record)
1941 Peruvian agent Rivera-Schreibér warns of Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor
1942 -19ºF (-27.4ºC), Netherlands' coldest day since 1850
1943 1st US air attack on Germany (Wilhelmshafen)
1944 Casey Stengel, manager of the Boston Braves since 1938, resigns Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, & Joseph Maney buy control of Boston Braves
1944 Leningrad liberated from Germany in 880 days with 600,000 killed
1945 Nazi occupiers forbid food transport to West (The Netherlands)
1945 Russia liberates Auschwitz & Birkenau Concentration Camp (Poland)
1945 S Romberg, H&D Fields' musical premieres in New York City NY
1945 Wally van Hall, "banker in defiance", arrested
1948 1st locomotive to carry 1,000,000 pounds (450,000 kg) operates
1948 1st tape recorder sold
1949 Chinese liner "Taiping" collides with a collier off south China
1950 2nd Emmy Awards Ed Wynn Show & Texaco Star Theater win
1951 "Peter Pan" closes at Imperial Theater New York City NY after 320 performances
1951 US begins 126 nuclear tests at Nevada Test Site
1953 Netherlands end Marshall aid
1955 "Plain & Fancy" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City NY for 476 performances
1956 NFL's New York Giants switches games from Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium
1957 Betsy Rawls wins LPGA Lake Worth Golf Open
1958 Ferenc Münnich follows Kádár as premier of Hungary
1961 "Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres on NBC TV
1962 "Family Affair" opens at Billy Rose Theater New York City NY for 65 performances
1963 Jevgeni Grishin skates world record 500m in 39.6 seconds
1963 Sam Rice, Eppa Rixey, Elmer Flick, & John Clarkson elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1964 "Introducing the Beatles" album released in US
1964 Margaret Chase Smith (Senator-R-ME) tries for Republican Presidential bid
1964 Barlow & Graeme Pollock complete 341 stand at Adelaide Oval
1965 1st ground station-to-aircraft radio communication via satellite
1965 Ground breaking for "Dragon Gateway" at Grant Avenue
1966 Wisconsin State Circuit Court Judge Elmer W Roller rules either the Braves stay in Milwaukee or National League must promise Wisconsin an expansion team for 1966
1967 Apollo 1 fire kills astronauts Grissom, White & Chaffee
1967 Beatles sign a 9 year worldwide contract with EMI records
1967 New Orleans Saints sign their 1st player (Paige Cothren-kicker)
1967 Treaty banning military use of nuclear weapons in space, signed
1968 "Darling of the Day" opens at George Abbott Theater New York City NY for 31 performances
1969 Actress Thelma Ritter suffers a heart attack (she dies Feb 4th)
1969 14 spies hung in Baghdad
1969 9 Jews publicly executed in Damascus Syria
1969 Noordiers vicar Ian Paisley sentenced to 3 years
1970 Movie rating system modifies "M" rating to "PG"
1971 Montgomery St Station, last link in BART, `holed thru'
1973 UCLA's basketball team wins 61st consecutive game (NCAA record)
1973 US & Vietnam sign cease-fire, ending longest US war & military draft
1973 US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn (her 5th consecutive win)
1973 US male Figure Skating championship won by Gordon McKellen Jr
1973 William Rogers & Nguyen Duy Trinh sign US-N Vietnam treaty
1974 "Lorelei" opens at Palace Theater New York City NY for 320 performances
1976 "Laverne & Shirley" spin-off from "Happy Days" premieres on ABC TV
1976 9th ABA All-Star Game Denver 144 beats ABA 138 at Denver
1976 Morocco-Algeria battles in Westerly Sahara
1976 Viv Richards scores his 1st Test century against Australia
1977 President Carter pardons most Vietnam War draft evaders (10,000)
1977 1st broadcast of "Roots" mini-series on ABC TV
1979 Islanders ends 23 undefeated games at home streak (15-0-8)
1979 36th Golden Globes Midnight Express, Jon Voight & Jane Fonda
1980 "Comin' Uptown" closes at Winter Garden Theater New York City NY after 45 performances
1980 10th NFL Pro Bowl NFC beats AFC 37-27
1982 "Joseph & the Amazing Dreamcoat" opens at Royale New York City NY for 747 performances
1982 Mauno Koivisto installed as President of Finland
1982 Philadelphia trades Larry Bowa & Ryne Sandberg to Cubs for Ivan DeJesus
1982 Roberto S Cordova installed as President of Honduras
1982 West Indies beat Australia 3-1 to win World Series Cup
1983 World's longest subaqueous tunnel (53.90 km) opens, Honshu-Hokkaid
1984 John & Yoko release "Milk & Honey" album
1984 Los Angeles Kings end Wayne Gretzky's NHL-record 51-game scoring streak
1984 Michael Jackson is burned during filming for Pepsi commercial
1985 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 returns to Earth
1985 "Doug Henning & His World..." closes at Lunt-Fontanne NY after 60 performances
1985 Hollis Stacy wins LPGA Mazda Golf Classic
1985 Mark Mckoy cycles world record 50m hurdles indoor (5.25)
1985 NFL Pro Bowl AFC beats NFC 22-14
1986 13th American Music Award Whitney Houston, Huey Lewis & Crystal Gayle
1987 Midnight Rockers beat Buddy Rose & Doug Somers for AWA World Tag Team
1988 Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approves nomination of Judge Anthony M Kennedy to US Supreme Court
1989 Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) begins NBA free throw streak of 57 games
1989 Oklahoma's linebacker, Mark VanKeirsblilck assaults an Oklahoma grad student
1989 German war criminals Fischer & Austrian der Fünten freed
1990 Dissolution of Polish communist party
1990 64th Australian Open Women's Tennis Steffi Graf beats Mary Jo Fernandez (63 64)
1991 79th Australian Open Men's Tennis Boris Becker beats Ivan Lendl (16 64 64 64)
1991 Dutch PSP, Pacifist Socialistic Party, disbands
1991 Nadine Strossen is 1st female president of the ACLU
1991 Super Bowl XXV New York Giants beat Buffalo Bills, 20-19 in Tampa; Super Bowl MVP Ottis Anderson, New York Giants, Running Back
1992 Mike Tyson goes on trial for rape (he is found guilty)
1992 "Crazy He Calls Me" opens at Walter Kerr Theater New York City NY for 7 performances
1992 19th American Music Award C & C Music Factory, Michael Bolton win
1992 Jane Fonda undergoes arthroscopic surgery on her right knee
1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton (D) & Genifer Flowers accuse each other of lying over her assertion they had a 12-year affair
1993 DC-3 crashes in Kinshasa, killing 12
1994 "No Man's Land" opens at Criterion Theater New York City NY for 61 performances
1994 Carlos Reina succeeds President Callejas in Honduras
1994 Romanian social-democrats form government with anti-Semites
1995 69th Australian Open Women's Tennis Mary Pierce beats A S Vicario (63 62)
1996 15 day old siamese twins separated-Sarah Morales survives, Sarahi dies
1996 70th Australian Open Women's Tennis Monica Seles beats Anke Huber (64 61)
1996 Catherine Roskam becomes the 1st New York female Episcopal bishop
1996 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1996 Germany celebrates its 1st Holocaust Remembrance Day
1996 Shiv Chanderpaul scores 303* for Guyana vs Jamaica at Kingston
1997 "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" opens at Gershwin New York City NY
1997 24th American Music Award Toni Braxton & Alanis Morissette win
1998 Crane crashes into Roosevelt Is (New York City NY) Tram, injuring 10
1998 Roland Clarkson discovers 2^3021377-1 (37th known Mersenne prime)
1998 WNBA begins filling rosters of Washington Mystics & Detroit Shock

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

Mauritius : Cavadee
Vietnam : Vietnam Peace Day (1973)
Australia : Australia Day (1788 - 1993) - - - - - ( Monday )

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Religious Observances
Buddhist-Laos : Buddhist Holiday
Christian : Devote of Monte Carlo
Lutheran : Commemoration of Lydia, Dorcas & Phoebe
Roman Catholic : Feast of St Julian
Anglican, Old Roman Catholic : Commemoration of John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Angela Merici, virgin (opt)
Moslem : A Night of Remembrance (Sha'ban 14, 1414 AH)

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Religious History
1343 Clement VI's bull "Unigenitus" officially ratified the belief that Indulgences owed their potency to the Pope's dispensation of the accumulated merit of the Church. (In 1518 Cardinal Thomas Cajetan accused German reformer Martin Luther, 32, of challenging the validity of this Catholic doctrine.)
1774 Pioneer American Methodist bishop Francis Asbury wrote in his journal: 'If my labours should be in vain for the people, the Lord gives me a gracious reward in my own soul.'
1839 Birth of John Julian, famed English authority on sacred music. His undoubted masterwork is the monumental "Dictionary of Hymnology" which he published in 1892 (later revised, updated and reissued in 1957).
1842 Scottish clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne wrote in a letter: 'Call upon the name of the Lord. Your time may be short... The longest lifetime is short enough. It is all that is given you to be converted in. They are the happiest who are brought soonest to the bosom of Jesus."
1972 In Columbia, the white and black United Methodist conferences of South Carolina -- separated since the Civil War -- voted in their respective meetings to adopt a plan of union.

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Thought for the day :
" A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. "

[CholeraJoe]

Great post SAM

No unit patch available for the 389th.

[SAMWolf]

Current Military News
Super Bowl Party Kuwait Style

U.S. Army Specialist Cenen Munoz (C), fan of the Oakland Raiders, is surrounded January 27, 2003 by Tampa Bay supporters after the Buccaneers scored a touchdown just before halftime. Parachute Riggers from Campbell, Kentucky enjoy a live broadcast of the Super Bowl in Kuwait's largest military facility in Kuwait. Some 300 football fans showed up in the middle of the night in Camp Doha to support their favorite team. REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee


US Marine Corps Master Sgt. Rob House, center, from Temecula, Calif., and Sgt. Michael Cerda, from Las Vegas, Nev., left, celebrate Oakland Raiders (news) Charles Woodson (news)'s interception against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (news) during the first quarter of the Super Bowl as they watch the game with their unit in the 1st Marine Expeditionary at 2:35 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, at Camp Commando in Kuwait. The unit is based in Cam Pendelton, Calif., from Oceanside, Calif., near San Diego the site of the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)


US Marine Corps Sgt. Kevin Holiday, from Detroit, Mich., reacts to a field goal by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (news) that tied the game against the Oakland Raiders (news) as he watches the Super Bowl game with his unit in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at 2:55 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, at Camp Commando in Kuwait. The unit is based in Camp Pendelton, in Oceanside, Calif., near the site of the Super Bowl game in San Diego. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)


US Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Dawayne Tate, from Memphis, Tenn., celebrates Tampa Bay Buccaneers (news) touchdown against the Oakland Raiders (news) just before the end of the first half as he watches the Super Bowl game with his unit in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at 4:00 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, at Camp Commando in Kuwait.


US Marine Corps Sgt. Kevin Holiday, left, from Detroit, Mich., rubs the head of Sgt. Michael Cerda, from Las Vegas, Nev., as he celebrates Tampa Bay Buccaneers (news) touchdown against the Oakland Raiders (news) during the third quarter as they watch the Super Bowl game with their unit in the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at 5:00 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27, 2003, at Camp Commando in Kuwait.


US Marines from the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force watch the Super Bowl game between Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders inside a large tent at Camp Commando in Kuwait, Monday morning, Jan. 27, 2003.


US Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Dawayne Tate, from Memphis, Tenn., center, reacts to the last touchdown of the game by Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the Oakland Raiders as he watches the game with his unit in the 1st Marine Expeditionary inside a tent at Camp Commando in Kuwait, Monday morning, Jan. 27, 2003

[SAMWolf]

1961 "Sing Along with Mitch" [Miller] premieres on NBC TV

That makes me feel old

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the Patches, here's the missing one

[Valin]

Sung to the Washington post march

Be kind to our web footed friends,
for a duck may be somebody's mother.
Be kind to our friends in the swamp,
where the weather is very very damp.
Now you may think that this is the end,

Well it is!

[SAMWolf]

LOL! A blast from the past!

So who'd you like better Mitch Miller or Lawrence Welk?

[SAMWolf]

Consolidated Aircraft Company built the plane. It was powered by four 1200 horsepower Pratt & Whitney “Twin Wasp” 14 cylinder radial engines and had a maximum speed of 303 mph at 25,000 feet. It could carry eight, 1100 pound bombs and had a range of 2300 miles. It had a 110-foot wingspan, a length of 66 feet, height of 18 feet and weighed 32,605 pounds empty.

[Valin]

Is there a third choice? :-)

[SAMWolf]

Two older men in the Museum book shop were talking about flying in WW-II. I asked one, "What did you fly?" "`24s," he said. "In the Pacific?" I wondered. "No, we flew out of Italy -- over Ploesti." My jaw dropped, for I knew what that meant.

But I'm ahead of my story. We'd just been through Galveston's Lone Star Flight Museum - their fine collection of WW-II airplanes. It was a remarkable experience walking among all those machines that'd lain at the center of my childhood -- airplanes I'd never seen so close up. Background speakers played Glenn Miller music.

A small but important item on the hangar floor was an old car with an A-sticker on its window. "A" was the tightest gasoline rationing level. This war was fueled by petroleum and gasoline was precious. Germany got petrol from the Ploesti oil fields in eastern Romania. Hitler had said that if the Ploesti refineries were destroyed, the damage would be beyond repair.

So damage them we must. But how? They lay out of reach of Allied bombers. Two elements finally came together in 1943. First the British and Americans took North Africa. Second, the Americans brought in the B-24 heavy bomber -- the Liberator. The B-24 was designed more for range than bomb capacity. It had a nominal range of 3500 miles and now it was available.

The first great Ploesti raid left from Benghazi in Libya on Sunday, August 1st, when few Romanians would be at work. 1726 men took off in 177 B-24s, overloaded with defensive armor.

The first casualty on that 2700-mile trip was a plane that crashed on takeoff, killing all hands. The planes attacked Ploesti at treetop level -- flying into flak, machine gun fire, fighters, and barrage balloons. Their aim was no less than to shut off German petrol supplies. But things went wrong. The element of surprise was lost. Airplanes were shot down over the oil fields and on the way back. American losses approached 800 men. Estimates of lost airplanes are uncertain -- maybe 70 heavy bombers.

In the end, we paid a terrible price for shutting off sixty percent of Germany's oil -- and then we only turned it off for a while. What we did in 1943 we had to do again -- and again.

And I'm back to that museum shop. "We went out to Ploesti in 27 planes one day in 1944," the man said. "Only 14 came back. I was 19 years old. I was a ball gunner.

He left me at a loss for words, trying to add it all up. He'd flown 51 missions -- dangling out in the flak in that bubble on the plane's belly, with only luck to protect him. I'm five years younger than he -- that close to having been in that, or in some other, shooting gallery myself. But it'd been him, not me. I had momentarily brushed up against heroism, a virtue we find all too hard to believe in today. And it had been heroism on my behalf.

John H. Lienhard

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Dianh Shore?