The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of Khafji (Jan-1991) - Mar. 28th, 2003

http://www.rantburg.com/gw1/khafji.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

FReepers from the USO Canteen, The Foxhole, and The Poetry Branch
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

.................................................................................................................................

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

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

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.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Resource Links For Veterans

Click on the pix

The Battle of Khafji:
29 January - 1 February 1991

On Tuesday, the 29th of January, Socialist Jean-Pierre Chevenement, the French Minister of Defense, resigned, stating that “the logic of war risks moving us ever further from the aims established by the United Nations.” The “logic of war” included the French expanding their field of action from Kuwait only to Iraq. Writing of the resignation, Daniel Singer wrote in The Nation: “The end of the makebelieve [of an independent French foreign policy]... has had an immediate impact in the Arab world. There, whatever the princes may proclaim, people are not fooled... The tragic achievement of American action, and of European inaction, is that for millions of Muslims the butcher of Baghdad is by now a hero.”

This rationalization against military action, that any kind of resistance to Saddam Hussein would be counterproductive, that military measures strengthened his political hand, was similar to the ones advanced by Time, Jimmy Carter, Lee Hamilton and a host of others in September and October. The only difference was its coloration with The Nation’s anti-American ideology. An “independent” foreign policy was one which was almost by definition in opposition to that of the United States; it seems never to have occurred to Singer that French and American interests might in fact precisely coincide in this case.

Events in the Gulf were rendering Chevenement’s resignation a minor side issue, even in France, and Singer’s opinion irrelevant. By the 29th over 27,000 sorties had been flown. The U.S. military briefer reported that 24 tanks, APCs, and supply vehicles had been destroyed when American aircraft had caught an Iraqi column in the open.

Gen. Tom Kelly stated frankly that he couldn’t figure what the Iraqi strategy was. The flight of their aircraft to Iran represented nothing less than their combat forces leaving the field.

There was footage of a Marine heavy artillery battery staging a hit and run raid. “Hit ‘em, hurt ‘em, and leave ‘em,” one of the Marines described it. There was Iraqi footage of damage to Basra and Baghdad, with moving pictures of stunned children in hospital beds. It was the day of President Bush’s State of the Union address.



Iraq announced that one of the allied prisoners it was holding as a “human shield” had been killed in an allied bombing raid on Baghdad. No name was given.

The same day, Refiq Shafie Kiblawi, alias Abu Ziad, a ranking member of the PLO parliament-in-exile, was assassinated as he was leaving his house in Kuwait. By the resistance?

At Khafji, the deserted, oil-soaked Saudi coastal town, and at two other points west of there, Saddam Hussein again coldly miscalculated. The Iraqi army made probing attacks that were geared toward drawing the Coalition ground forces prematurely into battle—inflict heavy casualties and the anti-war movement would increase the pressure, leading to a U.S. withdrawal. The Marines and their Arab allies received their baptism of fire, and came out of the experience with more confidence than they had when they went in. It took 36 hours of fighting to push the Iraqis out.



Three Iraqi battalions crossed the border with tanks and troops on armored personnel carriers, headed for the evacuated town. “The thin line of troops in the area were not defenders,” Col. David Hackworth explained in an article for Newsweek. “They were Saudi soldiers from the 5th Battalion of the King Abdul Aziz Brigade, whose job was to act as the eyes and ears of the allies’ main line farther back”—reconnaissance elements, not a maneuver force.

The Iraqis used the 5th Mechanized Infantry Division, one of the better and larger regular divisions holding the Kuwait-Saudi border. Three brigade-sized columns moved on a 60-mile front, between the coast the the “elbow,” the bend in the border. The plan called for the two columns to the west to penetrate the border and push east, toward the coast, where it would link up with the third column at Khafji. Further brigades that were assigned to support the attack started 12 to 24 hours late—more slap-dash planning—and never really entered the battle.

The westernmost tank brigade ran into the light armored infantry battalion of the 1st Marine Division fifty to sixty miles from the coast. There was a running gun battle at the border, with Marine and Air Force planes hitting the tanks. The Marine vehicles, never designed to engage tanks, found that their night sights made it possible for them to outrange and destroy the Iraqis that survived the air strikes. It was during this fighting near Umm Hujul that an A-10 destroyed one of the LAVs with a Maverick missile, mistaking them for Iraqis. Seven Marines were killed. A second LAV was destroyed by an Iraqi tank, killing another four.

The center brigade tried to cross near the Wafra oilfield. As luck would have it, it engaged the 2nd Marine Division’s light armored infantry battalion. Stalled by the Marines, it retreated.



The third brigade attacked Khafji itself, which was held by the Saudis and Qataris with the Marines in support. Lead elements consisting of five T-55s with 150 infantry accompanying them moved in, the tanks positioning themselves on the outskirts while the infantry occupied the buildings. A 12-man Marine reconnaissance force in the town, led by Corporal Jeff Brown, was cut off. At one point, Iraqi soldiers searched the main floor of a building in which Brown and his team were hiding on the floor above.

The Iraqis used a ruse to bring their tanks within close range of the Coalition units. Shortly before noon on Tuesday, the Saudis saw a line of tanks approaching, as many as eighty vehicles, with their turrets facing to the rear, the signal they were surrendering. Accompanying infantry had their hands in the air and were not visibly armed. As the Saudis and Qataris held their fire, the Iraqis came closer, then swung their barrels around and opened fire, the infantry heroically pulling guns from their boots.



Neither the Saudis nor the Marines were amused. “They have engaged the Saudis in combat,” bluntly reported Marine Major Craig Huddleston over the radio net, “and we’re going to kill them.” The American howitzers opened up, followed by fire from multiple rocket launchers and supporting Cobra helicopters flying overhead.

The Iraqi 15th Mechanized Regiment struck at Khafji from the west, running into a Qatari tank unit equipped with AMX-30s. The regimental commander, riding in a Chinese-built K-63 armored personnel carrier, told his machine gunner to fire on the unit they were approaching. When the gunner saw that they were up against tanks he refused. The regimental commander, in true Ba’athist style, promptly shot him. His own legs were blown off seconds later, as a Qatari tank hit his vehicle. Things went downhill from there, and the unit was effectively wiped out. The accompanying infantry made it into the town.

Iraqi radio announced “an astounding victory.” Saddam Hussein himself, it was announced, had planned the attacks; his armies were “wiping out the renegade invaders and knocking out the forces of infidelity, corruption, and treason.” The “Mother of Battles Radio,” which began broadcasts from Kuwaiti transmitters on January 26th and was to go off the air without explanation on February 3rd, reported that the allies had “fled like women.”



The allied response to the thrust was smooth and coordinated. Saudi and Qatari troops counterattacked the next day, backed by U.S. Marine artillery, Harrier jets, and Cobra helicopter gunships. “The Saudi tripwire alerted the Marines who, with their allies, took on the task of containing and destroying the invaders,” Hackworth wrote. “Gunships and Harrier jets backed up by rapid-firing Marine artillery rolled in and did their job, enabling the Saudis and Qataris to move in for the final mop-up.” Corporal Brown and his team, stuck inside the town, called in continuous air and artillery strikes.

The decision to attack and retake the town was made on the 31st. Saudi and Qatari armor pushed into the town. A Marine observer who watched the battle said the exchange of fire between the two sides was “hellacious.” The Qataris and the 7th and 8th Battalions of the Saudi Arabian National Guard 8th Brigade, brought the Iraqis under fire from M-60 tanks, the 90-mm guns of their Cadillac-Gage V-150s, 84-mm Carl Gustav recoilless guns, and antitank guided missiles. The town was declared secure at 6:30 p.m. on February 1st.

By midday on Thursday the remnants of the forces that had seized the town had been driven into a single section and were under siege by Saudi and Qatari troops and armor, backed by U.S. artillery. House-to-house fighting lasted until that Friday. The invaders were generally happy to surrender to the Saudi troops, who were driving through the town and spraying houses with machine gun fire. Some of the prisoners claimed that they had advanced only at the point of their officers’ guns. At least 65 died, mainly as a result of the destruction of their armored personnel carriers. The Iraqis did manage to destroy three Saudi armored cars with RPG-7 antitank rockets.

In one incident, a Marine unit was attacked by two allied planes that dropped cluster bombs within a few hundred yards of its position, but caused no injuries. All twelve Marines of the two patrols that were in the town when it was attacked survived. Two soldiers were missing near Khafji, one male, one female. Baghdad said they were POWs.



CNN showed us footage of some of the fighting, though nothing of much substance — Marines returning fire on Iraqi positions from behind a block wall, Cobra helicopters standing off and killing two BMPs with missiles. Off-camera, as many as 1,000 enemy tanks — the other two brigades — were reported caught in the open in Kuwait, moving south toward the Saudi border; allied aircraft had “a turkey shoot.” There would be more turkeys to shoot later.

The retreat of the Iraqis from their "astounding victory" left 429 of their troops stranded in the city, to surrender to the Saudis and the Qataris. Many of the Iraqi armored vehicles were found abandoned. Although troops in towns will generally dismount for house-to-house fighting, the place of the driver and the gunner is always with the vehicle. In the case of the Iraqis, no one stayed; many of the destroyed vehicles were empty.

[SAMWolf]

According to the Iraqi plan, the Marines, once they had been drawn into the trap of Khafji and engaged by 5th Mechanized Division, were supposed to be cut off by a commando force landed from the sea. The commandos set out in seventeen small boats, similar to Boston whalers. A British frigate picked them up on radar and called in Lynx helicopters on them, which were soon joined by U.S. Navy helicopters as well. Fourteen of the boats were sunk and three driven ashore. The next day, the convoy carrying a reinforced regimental combat team was picked up the same way. The force included a T43-class minesweeper, three ex-Kuwaiti TNC-45 fast attack boats, and three Polocny-class landing ships. The attack was broken up, the Iraqis sustaining heavy casualties as the landing craft were doused with Rockeye cluster bombs by carrier-based U.S. A-6s and Sea Skua missiles fired by the Lynxes.

The coalition claimed they had killed thirty Iraqis in the fighting at Khafji; the independent Russian wire service Interfax reported that 1,500 had died, a figure that may include all three of the brigade-sized incidents and the intercepted commando force. Israeli sources said that two armored divisions had been “cut to pieces”; by their count, with 400-500 tanks and armored vehicles had been destroyed in the battle by the allies. A senior Pentagon official put the figures lower; the losses had been more on the order of a hundred vehicles. The Saudis captured eleven T-55s, seventy armored personnel carriers, and ten large trucks.

A French-built AMX30 in the service of the Saudi Army leads other Saudi armored vehicles after taking part in re-capturing of the city of Khafji, January 1991.

Khafji was a plan that looked good on paper, but it was predicated on the belief that the Americans really were paper tigers. It was fairly sophisticated, but it depended too much on synchronization and not enough on control by the commanders in the field. When the synchronization broke down — and it did, when two of the three brigades didn’t show up, when the others involved got a late start and then found something else to do, when the commandos were intercepted at sea — there was no backup, no flexibility. Nobody knew what to do next; the remnants of the brigade that actaully made it into Khafji was cut off, with no real possibility of support.

Sometimes we see what we expect to see, regardless of the actual facts. “Iraqi Ground Troops Battle with Tenacity,” a Washington Post article was headlined.

Schwarzkopf gave orders to shoot Iraqi tanks on sight, whether their main guns were turned to the rear or not. The rules of war had been broken, and the appropriate response was called for.

Iran took issue with the fact that it had been Arab forces who had retaken the town. The fundamentalist daily Jomhuri-ye Islami claimed that U.S. commanders “have treated the forces of most Islamic countries with utter contempt, wanting to use them as shields against danger... The... dispatch of Arab forces for the liberation [of Khafji] proved that the Americans prefer to entrust dangerous tasks to others.”

“Intelligence sources” told CNN reporter Steven Emerson that the Iraqi embassy in Amman had ordered PLO rocket attacks on Israel, in hopes of opening up a second front in the war and of bringing the Israelis in as active participants. If there was a concerted effort, it wasn’t very effective. Such attacks were sporadic and ineffectual throughout the war, but they continued to present a danger. Iran stated that if Israel entered the war, it would come in on the side of Iraq.

On Friday, Peter Arnett reported from Baghdad that there had been no further word on Khafji from government radio. Military Communique Number 34 from the High Command in Baghdad stated baldly that the force which had taken Khaji had returned to its old positions. By the 17th day of the war the battle was over.

Rather than discussing the details of its victory, Iraq stated its determination to fight the coalition, promising to use everything from kitchen knives to weapons of mass destruction. But more significantly, Iran was stated to be working to achieve a cease-fire. A PLO senior council delegation from Amman had also met with Iraqi parliamentarians. The Amman Sawt al-Sha’ab asked “Why don’t we... let the voice of reason win... by sitting at a table to discuss all outstanding problems in the Middle East?” Again there was the hint, perhaps not even very subtle, that Iraq was ready for negotiations.

This probably was another maneuver on Saddam Hussein’s part. His forces had been hurt by the pounding from the air, but he had drawn a little blood — not much — at Khafji, at great cost to the attacking force. A ceasefire would give him time to regroup, room to maneuver diplomatically. The model was not so much the U.S. negotiations with North Vietnam that had drawn out for years, but the constant cease-fires being instituted in Lebanon between warring factions. Saddam would be able to either achieve his aims through negotiations, or he would be able to reopen hostilities at a time of his own choosing and on his own terms.

The coalition didn’t rise to the bait. Cairo’s al-Wafd, for instance, observed that “Ever since Saddam Hussein began his autocratic rule over Iraq, the Arab masses have known him to be a... regional adventurer trying to fragment Arab unity.” Saddam was stuck with his war, and in getting himself stuck he had given the allies a chance to assess his capabilities. “[I]f the attack on Khafji is an example of what we can expect,” Hackworth wrote, “then the allies don’t have too much to worry about.”

Khafji set the stage for ground war. The battle brought the reality of ground fighting to the attention of the American public, and the sky did not fall. It showed that the Iraqis weren’t as tough or as good as they had been built up to be.

A few days later a Marine artillery battalion, three Saudi MLRS battalions, and the battleship Missouri pounded a concentration of Iraqi tanks and artillery for three hours, then moved back out of range. Forty five minutes later a few Iraqi rounds were fired in response, the nearest landing about a mile away from the allied troops.

[SAMWolf]

In the early evening of 29 January 1991, Iraqi armor and mechanized infantry in eastern and southern Kuwait attacked US Marine Forces, Central Command (MARCENT) and Arab Joint Forces Command-East (JFC-East) units at several points along the Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian border. The Iraqi offensive lasted a little over four days, continuing until 2 February. Known collectively as the Battle of Khafji, the series of engagements between Iraqi forces and the US-led anti-Iraq coalition represented the first significant ground action of the Gulf War.

At the time it was fought, the Battle of Khafji was viewed as a small and relatively inconsequential attack on an abandoned Saudi border town. In fact, Khafji was a very significant engagement, since described in one highly regarded study as the "defining moment" of Operation Desert Storm. Other than Scud attacks, Khafji was the only major Iraqi offensive of the war and its outcome demonstrated the impotence of the Iraqi army in the face of Coalition (primarily American) airpower. The Battle of Khafji was preeminently an airpower victory.

[SAMWolf]

American airpower had within a short period of time destroyed enough vehicles to stifle the Iraqi III Corps' effort to regain the initiative. On one level, Khafji "proved, once again, that an unsupported army moving in the field is highly vulnerable to airpower," concluded Maj. Daniel Clevenger, one of the AFSAA study's leaders.

"From Iraq's standpoint, the Battle of Khafji was a debacle," Schwarzkopf later wrote in his memoir. A captured Iraqi soldier from the 5th Mechanized Division remarked that his brigade underwent more damage in 30 minutes of air attacks at Khafji than it had in eight years of the Iran­Iraq War.

*********************************************************

Q: What did the encounter with Khafji tell you about the Iraqis?

Schwarzkopf: It told me several things. First of all, it told me that they weren't as good as they had been touted to be. The 5th Division of attack was supposed to be just one level under the Republican Guard, almost as good as the Republican Guard. And they were highly ineffective and their tactics were very very ineffective and it didn't take much to kick them back. Secondly, we had been told how really effective the Iraqi artillery was and the Iraqi artillery at Khafji was very very ineffective.

So it really, it taught me that the enemy that we were going to go up against was nowhere near as formidable as we had been led to believe.

But more importantly, it also gave the Arab forces an opportunity to gain a great victory. And it taught them too, that the Iraqis were not 10 foot tall, that in fact that they could take them on and and whip 'em.

[SAMWolf]

The State of the Union is Strong!
Support the Commander in Chief
Click Here to Send a Message to the opposition!

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Everybody.

Chow time!
NG's and ER's to the front of the line.

Standing Operating Procedures state:
Click the Pics For Today's Tunes

[Valin]

On this Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on March 28:
1468 Charles I Duke of Savoy
1472 Fra Bartolomeo monk, Florentine Renaissance painter
1483 Raphael Urbino Italy, painter (School of Athens)
1515 Theresa of Avila/Teresa de Jesus Spanish mystic writer/saint
1592 Jan Amos Komensky [Comenius] Moravian educational reformer
1603 Stephan Otto composer
1615 Pieter de Groot Dutch regent/diplomat
1621 Heinrich Schwemmer composer
1643 Jose Solana composer
1660 Arnold Houbraken Dutch schilder/writer
1660 Georg Ludwig German monarch of Hanover/King George I of Great Britain
1727 Maximilian III Jozef Elector of Bayern (1745-77)
1729 Pieter Fouquet Dutch art seller (Atlas of Fouquet)
1731 Rámon de la Cruz Spanish playwright/interpreter
1737 Francesco Zannetti composer
1741 Johann Andre composer
1750 Francisco A G de Miranda Venezuelan freedom fighter
1760 Thomas Clarkson English abolitionist (Negro Emancipation)
1766 Joseph Weigl Austria composer/conductor (Emmeline)
1770 Sophie Mereau writer
1779 Angelo Maria Benincori composer
1799 Karl Adolph von Basedow German artist (Ziekte van Basedow)
1806 Ludolf AJW Sloet van de Beele Governor-General of Netherland Indies (1861-66)
1817 Mariano Soriano Fuertes y Piqueras composer
1818 Wade Hampton Charleston SC, Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), died in 1902
1840 Mehemed Emin Pasja German explorer/Governor (Equatoria)
1853 Rudolf Kittel German theologist (Psalms)
1859 Joséphin Péladan French writer/founder (French Rosicrucians)
1862 Aristide Briand France, premier (1909-22) (Nobel 1926)
1868 Cuno Amiet Swiss painter
1868 Maxim Gorki [Aleksei Peshikov] Russia, writer (Mother)
1868 Wojciech Gawronski composer
1871 Willem Mengelberg Utrecht Netherlands, conductor (New York Philharmonic 1922-30)
1872 José Sanjurjo y Sacanell Spanish General (Morocco)
1880 Rosina Lhévinne Kiev Ukraine, pianist/professor (Juilliard Graduate School)
1883 William H Harris composer
1885 Marc-Jean-Baptiste Delmas composer
1886 Jaroslav Novotny composer
1887 Rudolf F W Boskaljon Curaçao, musician/composer
1890 Paul Whiteman Denver CO, orchestra leader (Paul Whiteman's TV Teen Club)
1891 Karel Cruysberghs Flemish author
1891 Peter Suhrkamp German publisher (Suhrkamp Verlag)
1895 Spencer W Kimball 12th prophet of Mormon church
19-- Elvera Roussel actress (Hope-Guiding Light)
19-- Stephanie Dunnam Oak Harbor WA, actress (Kay-Emerald Point NAS)
19-- Tom O'Rourke New York NY, actor (Justin Marler-Guiding Light)
1900 Achille Longo composer
1900 Robert Harris actor (Big Caper, Laughing Anne)
1902 Dame Flora Robson South Shields England, actress (Dominique is Dead, The Years Between)
1902 Paul Godwin [Goldfein], Polish/Dutch violinist
1903 Rudolf Serkin Eger Bohemia, pianist (Marlboro School of Music)
1904 Fosco Giachetti Livorno Italy, actor (Wastrel, We the Living)
1905 Marlin Perkins Carthage MO, TV host (Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom)
1905 Pandro S Berman film producer
1906 Joseph Wright Canada, oarsman (Olympics-gold-1928)
1906 Robert (Bob) Allen actor (Texas Rangers)
1907 Herbert "Herb" Hall clarinetist/saxophonist
1909 Nelson Algren US, novelist (Man with the Golden Arm)
1910 Ingrid Queen Mother of Denmark
1911 Myfanwy Piper librettist
1912 A[rthur] Bertram Chandler UK, sci-fi author (Empress of Outer Space)
1914 Bohumil Hrabal writer
1914 Edmund Sixtus Muskie (Senator-Democrat-ME), US Secretary of State (1980)
1914 Frank Lovejoy Bronx NY, actor (Man Against Crime, Meet McGraw)
1915 Jay Livingston composer (Buttons & Bows, Mona Lisa, Tammy)
1915 Raymond Emery cricketer (New Zealand Test batsman vs West Indies 1952)
1918 Youly Algaroff ballet dancer
1919 Jacob Avshalomov Tsingtao China, composer (Sinfonietta, The Oregon)
1919 Tom Brooks cricketer (New South Wales fast bowler of the 30's, later Test umpire)
1920 Gene Chappie (Representative-Republican-CA, 1981-86)
1920 Lord Butterfield
1921 Dirk Bogarde Hampstead London England, actor (Death in Venice, The Servant)
1924 Freddie Bartholomew Dublin Ireland, actor (Anna Karenina, David Copperfield)
1924 Gerhart Fritsch writer
1924 Peter Baer artist/printmaker
1925 Innokenti Smoktunovsky actor (Bely Prazdnik, Zakoldovannye)
1926 Francis Burt composer
1926 Polly Umrigar cricketer (Indian batsman & captain)
1928 Jose Luis de Delas composer
1928 Zbigniew Brzezinski Warsaw Poland, national security advisor (Carter)
1929 Aubrey J Watson Sr bishop
1930 Amelia Rosselli poet
1930 George Bruce painter
1930 Robert Ashley composer
1932 Sven Oskar Lindqvist Swedish writer (Myten om Wu Tao-tzu)
1933 Frank Murkowski (Senator-Republican-AK)
1934 Siegfried Thiele composer
1936 Mario Vargas Llosa Peru, writer (Aunt Julia)/Presidential candidate
1940 J Michael Plumb Islip NY, equestrian (Olympics-2 gold/4 silver-1976,84)
1940 Kevin Loughery NBA star/coach (Baltimore, Philadelphia)
1941 Alf Clausen Minneapolis MN, orchestra leader (Mary, Simpsons)
1941 Charlie McCoy Oak Hill WV, harmonica player (Hee Haw)
1942 Brian Jones [Lewis B Hopkin] Cheltenham Gloucestershire England, pop guitarist (Rolling Stones)
1942 Neil Kinnock Wales, leader of the British opposition (Labour)
1942 Samuel Ramey Colby KS, bass (La Scala)
1943 Conchata Ferrell Charleston WV, actress (Deadly Hero, For Keeps, Susan-LA Law)
1943 Mike Newell director (Bad Blood, Awakening, Amazing Grace & Chuck)
1943 Richard Eyre British director (National Theatre)
1944 Ken Howard El Centro CA, actor (Ken-White Shadow, Dynasty, 1776)
1944 Rick Barry ABA/NBA forward (New York Nets, Golden State Warriors)
1945 Chuck Portz Santa Monica CA, bassist (Turtles-Happy Together)
1945 Hans Brunhart leader of Liechtenstein (1978-93)
1946 Richard Sussman rocker
1947 Bruce Gilbert producer (China Syndrome, 9 to 5, On Golden Pond)
1948 Dianne Wiest Kansas City MO, actress (Radio Days, Hannah & Her Sisters, Footloose)
1948 John Evans [Evan] rock drummer (Jethro Tull, Blades-A Song for Jeffrey)
1944 Rick Barry Elizabeth NJ, basketball player (San Francisco Warriors/1966 NBA rookie of the year)
1948 Wubbo J Ockels Almelo Netherlands, astronaut (STS 22)
1949 Milan Williams US keyboardist (Commodores-Three Times a Lady)
1949 Ronnie Ray Smith 4 X 100 meter relay runner (Olympics-gold-1968)
1949 Shafiq Ahmed cricketer (Pakistani batsman during the 70's)
1953 Nydia M Velazquez (Representative-Democrat-NY, 1993- )
1955 Reba McEntire McAlester OK, country singer (Can't Even Get the Blues)
1956 Asoka De Silva cricket leg-spinner (Sri Lanka in 10 Tests 1985-91)
1956 Evelin Jahl German Democratic Republic, discus thrower (Olympics-2 gold-1976)
1956 T A Sekar Indian cricket pace-bowler (2 Tests 1982-83 little impact)
1957 Harvey Glance Phoenix City AL, 4x100 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1976)
1958 Bart Wayne Conner Morton Grove IL, gymnast (Olympics-2 gold-1984)
1959 Petra Delhees Jauch Switzertand, tennis star
1959 Todd Curtis actor (Capitol, Skip-Young & Restless)
1961 Byron Scott NBA guard (Vancouver Grizzlies)
1962 Ged Grimes [Danny Wilson], rocker (Mary's Prayer)
1963 Bernice King daughter of Martin Luther King Jr
1963 Therese Washtock Vancouver British Columbia, 3 day equestrian (Olympics-96)
1965 Jeff Beukeboom Ajax, NHL defenseman (New York Rangers)
1966 Jason Garrett NFL quarterback (Dallas Cowboys)
1966 Nathalie Herreman France, tennis star
1966 Serge Djelloul hockey defenseman (Team France 1998)
1967 David Lang NFL running back (Dallas Cowboys)
1967 Ed[ward] Grose Juneau AK, rower (Olympics-1996)
1967 Shawn Boskie Hawthorne NV, pitcher (California Angels)
1968 Chad Biafore hockey defenseman (Team Italy 1998)
1968 Dennis Postlewait Jacksonville NC, Nike golfer (1994 Wichita Open)
1968 Max Perlich actor (JH Brodie-Homicide)
1968 Nasser Hussain cricketer (Essex & England batsman)
1968 Teee Williams Los Angeles CA, volleyball outside hitter (Olympics-bronze-92, 96)
1969 Cheryl "Salt" James rocker (Salt 'n' Pepa-Shake Ya Thang)
1969 Craig Paquette Long Beach CA, infielder (Kansas City Royals)
1969 Earnest Stewart soccer player (Willem II)
1969 Elliot Perry NBA guard (Phoenix Suns, Milwaukee Bucks)
1969 Scottie Graham NFL running back (Minnesota Vikings, Cincinnati Bengals)
1970 James Johnson NFL/WLAF running back (Tampa Buccaneers, Frankfurt Galaxy)
1970 Jason B Gailes Taunton MA, rower (Olympics-silver-1996)
1970 Shawn Price NFL defensive end (Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills)
1971 Damien Marsh Georgia, Australian 100 meter/200 meter swimmer (Olympics-96)
1971 Wesley Person NBA guard (Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers)
1972 Derek West offensive tackle (Indianapolis Colts)
1972 Jonathan Edwards Boston MA, doubles luger (Olympics-1994)
1972 Keith Tkachuk Melrose MA, NHL left wing (Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix, USA)
1972 Michael Smith NBA forward (Sacramento Kings)
1972 Mike Morton linebacker (Oakland Raiders)
1972 Shannon Mitchell NFL tight end (San Diego Chargers)
1973 Andrew Whittall cricketer (cousin of Guy Zimbabwe off-spinner 1996)
1974 K C Jones NFL center (Denver Broncos-Superbowl 32)
1975 Atta-ur-Rehman cricketer (Pakistani quickie, debut vs England 1992 age 17)
1977 Angelo Garcia Brooklyn NY, singer (Menudo-Cannonball)
1978 Nafisa Joseph Miss India-Universe (1997)
1979 Juli Keech Miss South Dakota Teen-USA (1997)
1980 Cara Lewis Miss Mississippi Teen-USA (1997)

---

Deaths which occurred on March 28:
0193 Publius Helvius Pertinax Roman Emperor (192-93), assassinated
0193 Roman Emperor Pertinax assassinated
0593 Guntram French king in Burgundy, dies at about 67
1134 Stefanus Harding 3rd abbott of Cîteaux/saint, dies
1285 Martinus IV [Simon de Brion], Pope (1281-85), dies
1566 Siegmund Freiherr von Herberstein Austrian diplomat, dies at 79
1673 Adam Pijnacker Dutch landscape painter/etcher, buried at 51
1677 Wenzel Hollar Bohemia cartoonist/etcher, dies at about 69
1687 Constantine Huygens diplomat/poet/composer (Bluebottles), dies at 90
1701 Domenico Guidi Italian sculptor, dies at 75
1712 Jan van der Heyden Dutch inventor (street lantern), dies at 75
1758 Jonathan Edwards US theologist (Great Awakening), dies at 54
1799 Etta L J "baronne" Palm-Aelders Dutch adventurer/spy, dies at 55
1801 Ralph Abercromby English army commander (North Holland), dies at 66
1818 Giuseppe Antonio Capuzzi composer, dies at 62
1840 Simon-Antoine-Jean Lhuillier Swiss mathematician, dies at 89
1847 Mariano Rodriguiz de Ledesma composer, dies at 67
1849 Stephan L Endlicher Austrian priest/botany, dies at 44
1856 Pyotr Ivanovich Turchaninov composer, dies at 76
1860 Johann Ludwig Bohner composer, dies at 73
1863 James Cooper US attorney/senator/Union-Brigadier-General, dies at 52
1865 Albert G Bilders Dutch landscape painter, dies at 26
1868 James Thomas Brudenell 7th earl of Cardigan, dies at about 70
1877 Vincenzo Fioravanti composer, dies at 77
1880 Achille Peri composer, dies at 67
1880 Eelco Refer linguistic (Oera Linda Book?), dies at 49
1881 Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky composer, dies at 42
1885 Fredrick Vilhelm Ludvig Norman composer, dies at 53
1887 Ditler G Monrad Danish bishop/premier (1863- ), dies at 75
1889 Matilde "Tillie" Ziegler killed by husband William Kemmler
1891 Dick Pilling cricketer ("Prince of Wicketkeepers", England 1881-88), dies
1896 E Rundle Charles writer, dies
1907 Pavel Ivanovich Blaramberg composer, dies at 65
1908 John Eliot English meteorology, dies at 68
1910 Edouard [Judas] Colonne French violinist/conductor, dies
1914 Hanus Trnecek composer, dies at 55
1927 Karl Prohaska composer, dies at 57
1928 Giuseppe Ferrata composer, dies at 63
1941 Virginia [Adeline] Woolf-Stephen author (To Lighthouse), commits suicide at 59
1942 Herman A van Karnebeek Dutch foreign minister (1918-27), dies at 67
1942 Miguel Hernadez Gilabert Spanish poet (Viento del Pueblo), dies at 31
1943 Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff Russian composer/pianist, dies at 69
1944 Rabbi Chayyim Most Maggid of Kovono, killed by Nazis
1944 Stephen Butler Leacock writer/economist (Literary Lapses), dies at 75
1947 Rudolph Hermann Simonsen composer, dies at 57
1949 Grigoras Dinicu composer, dies at 59
1950 Georgine M "May" Basting actress (Occupier), dies at 67
1953 James Francis Thorpe decathlete (Olympics-gold-12), dies at 64
1954 Francis B Young British physician/writer (In South Africa), dies at 69
1956 Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup vocalist, dies of a heart attack
1958 Chuck Klein Philadelphia Phillie homerun hitter, dies at 53
1958 W[illiam] C[hristopher] Handy US conductor/composer (St Louis Blues), dies at 84
1959 James Neblett cricketer (one Test West Indies vs England 1935), dies
1960 Ian Keith US actor (Ramses I-10 Commandments), dies at 61
1963 Alec A Templeton composer/pianist (Alec Templeton Time), dies at 52
1965 VAA Mary English princess, dies at 67
1969 Dwight D Eisenhower 34th President/General (WWII), dies in Washington DC at 78
1971 Felix Wolfes composer, dies at 78
1973 Hakuun Yasutani Zen teacher/co-founder (Sanbo Kyodan), dies
1974 Dorothy Fields US singer (Way you Look Tonight), dies at 68
1974 Françoise Rosay actress (Interlude, Women in Prison), dies at 82
1975 Renzo Massarani composer, dies at 77
1979 Emmett Kelly circus clown (Weary Willy), dies at 80
1980 Dick Haymes actor (Real Life, Betrayal), dies
1980 Jesse Owens (Olympics-gold-36), dies in Tucson AZ at the age of 66
1983 Ank [Anna M] van der Moer actress (Verkade, Dutch Comedy), dies at 71
1983 Martinus A Jansen bishop of Rotterdam (1956-70), dies at 77
1984 Kenneth Whitty 1st Secretary at British Embassy in Athens, shot dead
1985 Marc Chagall French painter, dies at 97
1985 Nand Baert Belgian radio/tv-host, dies at 53
1986 Victor J Lopez actor (Chuey-Man From Atlantis), dies at 39
1986 Virginia Gilmore actress (Jennie, Western Union), dies
1987 Maria Augusta Trapp singer (Trapp Family Singers), dies at 82
1987 Patrick Troughton actor (Dr Who-Dr Who), dies at 56
1990 Helene Fortescu Reynolds actress (Bermuda Mystery), dies at 65
1991 Carlos Montalban actor (Bananas), dies at 85
1992 Wendell Mayes writer, dies of cancer at 72
1994 Albert Goldman US biographer (Lives of John Lennon), dies at 66
1994 Eugene Ionesco playwright (Rhinoceros, Bald Soprano), dies at 84
1994 John Logan Gorlay journalist, dies at 74
1995 Hugh Edward R O'Connor actor (In the Heat of the Night), ODs at 32
1995 Jack Regan broadcaster, dies at 53
1995 Vivienne Byerley publicist, dies at 88
1996 Barbara McLean film Editor, dies at 86
1996 Charles Barnet "Roscoe" Harvey soldier, dies at 95
1996 David Band banker, dies at 53
1996 Edith Fowke folklorist, dies at 82
1996 Hans Blumenberg philosopher, dies at 75
1996 James Herbert Lloyd Morrell bishop, dies at 89
1996 Ken Dibbs actor (Suddenly, Party Girl, High Society), dies at 78
1996 Shin Kanemaru Vice President of Japan (1986-87), dies at 81
1996 Simon Harcourt Nowell-Smith British bibliophile, dies at 87

---

On this day...
1535 Bloemkamp Abbey (Oldeklooster) attacked & destroyed
1556 Karel V's son Philip II crowned king of Spain
1556 Origin of Fasli Era (India)
1738 English parliament declares war on Spain (War of Jenkin's Ear)
1774 Britain passes Coercive Act against Massachusetts
1794 Louvre opens to the public (although officially opened since August)
1796 Bethel African Methodist Church of Philadelphia is 1st US-African church
1797 Nathaniel Briggs of New Hampshire patents a washing machine
1799 New York State abolished slavery
1804 Ohio passed law restricting movement of Blacks
1834 Senate censure President Jackson for taking federal deposits from Bank of US
1837 Felix Mendelssohn marries Cécile Jeanrenaud
1844 José Zorilla's "Don Juan Tenorio" premieres in Madrid
1845 Mexico drops diplomatic relations with US
1849 Dutch princess Marianne & Prince Albert of Prussia separate
1854 During the Crimean War, Britain & France declare war on Russia
1859 1st performance of John Brahms' 1st Serenade for orchestra
1862 Skirmish at Bealeton Station, Virginia
1866 1st ambulance goes into service
1871 San Francisco Art Association holds open reception at 430 Pine
1885 US Salvation Army officially organized
1891 1st world weightlifting championship held
1896 The opera "Andrea Chenier" is produced (Milan)
1902 27.9 cm precipitation at McMinnville TN (state record)
1905 Paramaribo-Dam railway opens in Suriname, never used
1910 1st seaplane, takes off from water at Martigues France (Henri Fabre)
1917 Jews are expelled from Tel Aviv & Jaffa by Turkish authorities
1917 Puccini's "La Rondine" premieres in Monte Carlo
1920 Actor Douglas Fairbanks marries actress Mary Pickford
1920 Thomas Masaryk elected President of Czechoslovakia
1922 1st microfilm device introduced
1922 Stanley Cup: Toronto St Pats (NHL) beat Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA), 3 games to 2
1924 WGN-AM in Chicago IL begins radio transmissions
1927 Majestic Theater opens at 245 W 44th St NYC
1929 Democratic constitution goes into effect in Ecuador
1930 1st performance of Walter Piston's Suite for orchestra (Boston)
1930 Constantinople & Angora changes names to Istanbul & Ankara
1935 Goddard uses gyroscopes to control a rocket
1939 Dutch hunter shoots English bombers down
1939 Philip Barry's "Philadelphia Story" premieres in New York NY
1939 Renaissance Big 5 win 1st pro basketball championship
1939 Spanish Civil War ends, Madrid falls to Francisco Franco
1941 Sea battle at Cape Matapan: British fleet under Cunningham defeats Italy
1942 234 RAF bombers attack Lübeck
1942 4th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Stanford beats Dartmouth 53-38
1942 British naval forces raid Nazi occupied French port of St Nazaire
1944 6th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Utah defeats Dartmouth 42-40
1944 Astrid Lindgren sprains ankle & begins writing Pippi Longstocking
1945 Last German V-1 (buzz bomb) attack on London
1948 2nd Tony Awards: Mister Roberts win
1950 12th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: City College of New York beats Bradley 71-68; CCNY becomes 1st to win NCAA & National Invitation Basketball in same year
1952 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Tenley Albright
1952 US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Richard Button
1953 "New Faces (of 1952)" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 365 performances
1953 "Stock exchanges open, dikes closed" raises ƒ5,200,000
1953 7th Tony Awards: Crucible & Wonderful Town win
1953 KCAU TV channel 9 in Sioux City IA (ABC) begins broadcasting
1953 US Ladies Figure Skating Championship won by Tenley Albright
1953 US Men's Figure Skating Championship won by Hayes A Jenkins
1954 8th Tony Awards: Teahouse of the August Moon & Kismet win
1954 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Betsy Rawls Golf Open
1954 WKAQ TV channel 2 in San Juan PR (TM) begins broadcasting
1955 New Zealand cricket all out for 26 vs England at Eden Park
1957 1st National Curling Championship held
1959 11 days after Tibet uprising, China dissolves Tibet's government & installs Panchen Lama
1960 Pope John raises the 1st Japanese, 1st African & 1st Filipino cardinal
1960 Scotch factory explodes burying 20 firefighters (Glasgow Scotland)
1962 Devastating 8 for 6 spell by Gibbs gives West Indies cricket victory over India
1962 Military coup in Syria, President Nazim al-Kudsi flees
1963 AFL's New York Titans become the New York Jets
1965 Jo Ann Prentice wins LPGA All State Ladies' Golf Invitational
1967 "Sherry!" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 65 performances
1967 UN Secretary General U Thant makes public proposals for peace in Vietnam
1969 Pope Paul VI names JGM Willebrands cardinal
1970 1,086 die when 7.3 earthquake destroys 254 villages (Gediz Turkey)
1971 25th Tony Awards: Sleuth & Company win
1972 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1972 Wilt Chamberlain plays his last pro basketball game
1974 Rock group Raspberries break up
1975 Washington Capitals win 1st game on road after 37 straight road losses also sets own team record with 17 straight losses
1977 39th NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: Marquette beats North Carolina 67-59
1977 49th Academy Awards: "Rocky", Peter Finch & Faye Dunaway win
1977 Morarji Desai forms government in India
1979 British government of Callaghan falls
1979 Lazarus & Vosburgh's "Day in Hollywood & night in Ukraine" premieres
1979 Major nuclear accident at 3 Mile Island, Middletown PA (no deaths)
1981 Christa Rothenburger skates ladies world record 500 meter 40.18 seconds)
1981 France performs nuclear test
1981 Gabi Schönbrunn skates ladies world record 3 km (4 :1.70)
1981 Viv Richards scores century in the 1st Test at his home Antigua
1981 Yevgeni Kulikov skates world record 500 meter (36.91 seconds)
1982 12th Easter Seal Telethon raises $19,500,000
1982 1st NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Louisiana Tech beats Cheney 76-62
1982 Amy Alcott wins LPGA Women's Kemper Golf Open
1982 JN Duartes christian-democrats win elections in El Salvador
1985 International Cometary Explorer measures solar wind ahead of Halley's Comet
1985 Neil Simon's "Biloxi Blues" premieres in New York NY
1985 STS 51-D vehicle moves to launch pad
1986 Extremist Sikhs kill 13 hindus in Ludhiana India
1986 John N McMahon, ends term as deputy director of CIA
1987 Stacking of Discovery's SRBs gets underway
1989 New Zealand wins America's Cup over Stars & Stripes, in a New York court
1990 Bengal beat Delhi in rained-out cricket Ranji Trophy final on quotient
1990 Michael Jordan scores 69 points, 4th time he scores 60 points in a game
1990 President Bush awards Jesse Owens the Congressional Gold Medal
1991 Mike Tyson admits paternity to Kimberly Scarborough's son
1992 6th American Comedy Awards: Cathy Ladman, Judy Watkins, Billy Crystal
1992 Ann Transon runs female world record 50k (3 :5 :1)
1992 PBA National Championship Won by Eric Forkel
1993 13th Golden Raspberry Awards: Shining Through wins
1993 22nd Nabisco Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Helen Alfredsson
1993 Conservatives win French parliamentary election
1993 Type II supernova detected in M81 (NGC 3031)
1994 Armed Zulus demonstrate in Johannesburg, over 53 killed
1994 Italy's right-wing alliance under Silvio Berlusconi wins election
1995 Julia Roberts & Lyle Lovett split-up
1995 Queensland beat South Australia to win 1st ever cricket Sheffield Shield
1995 World's largest bank-Japan's Mitsubishi Bank & Bank of Tokyo merge
1996 "Seven Guitars" opens at Walter Kerr Theater NYC
1996 Katie Beam, 17, of Oklahoma, crowned 35th Miss Teenage America
1997 "City" soap opera's final episode on ABC-TV
1999 18th NCAA Women's Basketball Championship: Purdue beats Duke 62-45 in San Jose CA

---

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

Czechoslovakia : Teachers' Day
Libya : Evacuation Day
Alaska : Seward Day (1867) - - - - - ( Monday )
US Virgin Island : Transfer Day (1917) - - - - - ( Monday )

---

Religious Observances
old Roman Catholic : Feast of St John Capistran, confessor (now 10/23)
Christian : Good Friday

---

Religious History
1661 Scottish Parliament passed the Rescissory Act, which repealed the whole of the legislation enacted since 1633. Its effect was to overthrow Presbyterianism and to restore the Anglican episcopacy to Scotland.
1747 Colonial missionary to the American Indians David Brainerd wrote in his journal: 'Oh, how happy it is, to be drawn by desires of a state of perfect holiness.'
1915 Birth of Kurt Aland, New Testament textual scholar. He co-edited the two most definitive modern critical editions of the Greek Scriptures: the United Bible Society's "Greek New Testament" and Eberhard Nestle's "Novum Testamentum Graece."
1936 Birth of Bill Gaither, contemporary Gospel songwriter and vocal artist. Together with his wife Gloria, he wrote some of the most popular Christian songs of the 1960s-1970s, including "Because He Lives," "The King is Coming," "The Longer I Serve Him" and "Something Beautiful."
1961 English apologist C. S. Lewis wrote in "Letters to American Lady": 'The main purpose of our life is to reach the point at which one's own life as a person is at an end. One must in this sense "die," relinquish one's freedom and independence... "He that loses his life shall find it."'

---

Thought for the day :
"No facts are sacred, none are profane."

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM, everyone.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather!

[SAMWolf]

1974 Rock group Raspberries break up

Oh Man!! How did I miss that???!!!

[Valin]

You have a life? That would be my first guess. :-)

[Valin]

This rationalization against military action, that any kind of resistance to Saddam Hussein would be counterproductive, that military measures strengthened his political hand, was similar to the ones advanced by Time, Jimmy Carter, Lee Hamilton and a host of others in September and October.

AAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!
I guess SOME THINGS never change.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Some people might argue with you about that.

[SAMWolf]

Yep and those people are the reason we're where we are today.

[SAMWolf]

Specialist Brandon Tobler

PORTLAND -- A 19-year-old Portland man was killed over the weekend when his Humvee crashed into another heavy vehicle during a sandstorm in the Persian Gulf. Army Reserve Specialist Brandon Tobler was killed Saturday as his convoy made its way to Baghdad. He was assigned to the 671st Engineer Brigade in Portland.

Tobler's uncle, Scott Tom, says Tobler joined the Army Reserves to pay for college.

He says Tobler dreamed of returning home to go to college and perhaps become a policeman. He also was interested in attending art school.

Tobler graduated from Franklin High School in Portland.

Tobler's uncle also says another female solider in the Humvee was critically injured in that accident

Family members of Brandon Tobler shared the last e-mail he sent to them:

hey mom and dad,

how are things with you, i hope you are both doing ok i am doing fine, things here are going ok we are just keeping busy i am a little stressed but other than that i am alright, i have been loaded down with a lot of tasks that i have not even been trained for, but i think i am doing an ok job,

anyways i am sorry that i have not written you guys lately and i know I have been writing val a bit more than you guys and that is something I really intend to change, i just want you guys to know that i miss you guys a lot and love you guys even more and i thank you both for the person you made me become and all of the things you have struggled to get me over the years,

i really appreciate the support that you guys have given me and accepting my enlistment in the army i feel that if i can make a difference out here than i have done my part if i can save one life if i can do something that makes a family sleep easier at night without fear than i have done my purpose, cause i know now thats what my calling is in life not to make money or be powerful and wealthy but to simply make a difference, and i thank you my loving parents for all that you have done to get me this far, but now i have to take the next step and make a difference for someone else out there,

well go ahead and pass this around to everyone in the family val too.... and to the family my love and best wishes and prayers go out to you, little veronica or Shall i say big veronica i miss playing with her and being her big cousin but at least my being here well help keep her safe and grow up happy and full of life as she is already soo too my family

if you see a soldier one of my comrades in arms please thank them for the service they give pray for them because we as soldiers give up sooo much to come out here and in sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom and soldiers could always use encouragment and a thanks... well my love to you guys and ill see you soon....

Love to all, Brandon

[Jen]

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

To be removed from this list, please send me a blank private reply with "REMOVE" in the subject line! Thanks! Jen

[PetroniDE]

Thanks Jen. A very timely Foxhole edition.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Jen.

[Mudboy Slim]

Hey, AJ...I just became an UNCLE fer the 6th time yesterday!! Andrew "Drew" Colby Slim is a handsome dark-haired lettle boy!! Me and the mudrats went and introduced ourselves to him last night!!

Happiness amongst troubled times...MUD