The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Heartbreak Ridge - Korea (Oct-1951) - April, 4th, 2003

http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/books/korea/30-2/30-2_17.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.

.

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

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Heartbreak Ridge - Hill 520

TERRAIN SKETCH

"Heartbreak Ridge" is a narrow, rocky, mountain mass running north and 3 south with HILLS 931, 894, and 851 dominating the MUNDUNG-NI and SATAE-RI Valleys. The south and east slopes were extremely steep. From these slopes the "Punchbowl" and HILL 1179 could be seen in the distance. Both prominent objectives had already fallen into our hands. Initially heavy vegetation covered the slopes of Heartbreak Ridge but air strikes and artillery destroyed all individual concealment. In each valley bordering the ridge were two important roads and stream beds. The roads were secondary class routes, but a road capable of moving military equipment was built in a short time. Also, a twisting, boulder-strewn stream bed in each valley furnished an approach for tanks. Narrow gorges and deep defiles presented difficult engineering problems which were overcome during the engagement. Enemy bunkers guarded the key ridges of approach. Due to a moderate slope to the west and north, the enemy supplies were moved up in positions with a minimum amount of labor.



In the complex structure of enemy defensive positions protecting the seven-mile-long hill mass that became known as Heartbreak Ridge, Hill 520 was only a small, subsidiary position a hump at the western end of a spur from the Heartbreak ridgeline.

Fighting for Hill 520 came near the end of the month-old battle for Heartbreak Ridge. On 10 October 1951, United Nations troops, holding the main north-south ridgeline, had already secured the steep part of the spur ridge that slanted down toward Hill 520. That part of the 520 ridge still in enemy hands consisted of several humps, the last and highest of which was Hill 520 at the blunt tip of the ridge. Responsibility for seizing this hump had passed from Eighth Army to X Corps, to the 2d Infantry Division, and finally to its 23d Infantry Regiment and to Company G, whose battalion commander selected it to make the attack.

Fighting had been so severe on Heartbreak Ridge that at one time Company G numbered only twenty-three men. By 10 October, however, enough replacements had joined to build the strength of each of its platoons up to about twenty men. The commander of Company G had gone to Japan for the five-day rest and rehabilitation tour. Accordingly, Lt. Raymond W. Riddle, a combat-experienced executive officer, was in command for the attack. He decided to commit his 3d Platoon (under Cpl. David W. Lamb, acting platoon leader) to make the first move.



The other two rifle companies from the 2d Battalion were in positions to support the attack. Company F, located on the same ridge just behind Lieutenant Riddle's men, was prepared to pass through Company G and continue the attack, if necessary. Company E was to support the attack by firing from a parallel ridge five hundred yards to the south.

The flat top of Hill 520 was not more than two hundred yards beyond Company G's line of departure. On the ridgeline, about halfway between these two points, there was a small knoll. After considering an envelopment of the enemy position by sending Corporal Lamb's platoon into the Fluor Spar Valley a narrow strip of flat land between his position and Company E on the next ridge to the south, and so named because of fluor spar (the mineral fluorite) mines in the valley Riddle decided to make a direct assault along the ridgeline. There were enemy minefields in the valley. He could see some enemy movement on the objective. Hoping to draw fire so he could estimate the enemy strength there, Lieutenant Riddle ordered everyone in the company including the mortarmen to fire on the objective for thirty seconds. The enemy, however, did not return the fire.

When this ruse failed, Lieutenant Riddle called for supporting fires from the artillery, heavy machine guns, and Company E's 57-mm recoilless rifles. At about 1300, after ten or fifteen minutes of preparation, he stopped the artillery and instructed Corporal Lamb to double-time his platoon to the intermediate knoll under cover of fire from the machine guns, the recoilless rifles, and the other riflemen in Company G. Once there, he was to set up a platoon base of fire and make the final assault on the objective.



Moving out quickly, Lamb's platoon reached the knoll without difficulty. The machine-gun crew set up its weapon and opened fire on the main objective. After deploying his platoon around the base of the knoll, Lamb reported back to Lieutenant Riddle: "No casualties yet, but receiving plenty of fire." In response to Lamb's request, Riddle instructed the support elements to intensify their fire, especially on the south side of the objective.

PFC Harry E. Schmidt, who was with Corporal Lamb's platoon, had a yellow panel wrapped around his waist. His mission was to stay with the lead assault elements so that the supporting elements would know where the platoon was. Although conspicuous himself, Schmidt made it easy for the rest of his company and for men of Company E to identify the most forward position of the attacking platoon.

While the rest of the platoon fired at bunkers on the east end of the hill, Corporal Lamb sent one squad around the left side of the objective. Brisk enemy fire drove the squad back to the platoon base, proving that both the preparatory and supporting fires had been ineffective against the enemy bunkers. Several men from the attacking squad were wounded, ands enemy fire, reaching back to the intermediate knob, had caused several other casualties there. Corporal Lamb radioed to Lieutenant Riddle for reinforcements.



Loading the 1st Platoon with ammunition, Riddle committed it to assist in the attack. Lt. Jay M Gano, a recent replacement, commanded the 1st Platoon. Since he was inexperienced in combat, he had instructed Pvt. Cliff R. High, who had been running the platoon, to continue to do so for the time being.

As the 1st Platoon crawled toward Lamb's position, two men were wounded not far beyond the line of departure. One of them, seriously wounded in the face and neck by a machine-gun bullet, became hysterical, and it was necessary for High to hold him down. Farther forward, Lieutenant Gano, with the lead elements of his platoon, had almost reached the intermediate knoll when he was killed on this, his first, attack. The platoon halted, pinned down by hostile fire.

Just at this time Corporal Lamb's machine gun ceased firing. "I'm out of ammo!" the gunner shouted.



Seven or eight enemy soldiers came out of their bunkers and suddenly appeared on the slope of Hill 520 descending toward Lamb's platoon. He reported that he was being counterattacked. Supporting machine-gun fire was too high to be effective. Lamb's riflemen opened fire, the ammunition bearers fired their carbines, and even the machine-gunner began firing his pistol. Part way down the slope the enemy soldiers stopped, then turned back.

A brush fire had started in the area between Lamb and the company's original position. The haze and smoke from the fire drifted north over High's immobilized platoon, making it impossible for Lieutenant Riddle to see the objective. Taking a chance, Riddle ordered his machine guns at the line of departure to fire on Hill 520. Lamb reported back that the machine-gun fire was "just right."

Under cover of the machine-gun fire and the smoke from the brush fire, High, having calmed the wounded man, sent him and another casualty to the rear and then worked his platoon forward, meeting eight or ten wounded men from Lamb's platoon who were making their way back to the company.

Corporal Lamb needed more machine-gun ammunition, and Lieutenant Riddle sent a squad from the 2d Platoon up-with eight boxes. In the meantime, Lamb and High planned their assault.

[SAMWolf]

Several enemy mortar shells now fell among High's platoon, wounding six more men. High sent them to the rear. He now had 11 men besides himself; Lamb had about 12. After the ammunition arrived, the two platoon leaders, leaving six men to man the machine gun and fire rifles from the intermediate knoll, called off their long-range supporting fire and then assaulted with the remaining men deployed in a skirmish line, firing as they moved forward.



Sixty yards of open ground lay between the jump-off point and enemy trenches on the slope of the objective. All went well until, half-way across, the enemy commenced firing automatic weapons. This fire was not effective, however, and did not stop the advance. When the skirmish line reached the base of the knoll, enemy soldiers stopped firing; and began throwing fragmentation and concussion grenades. These caused trouble. One of the grenades wounded Lamb. Cpl. Arne Severson, seeing the skirmish line falter, picked up his machine gun and walked forward, firing as he advanced. When he reached the base of the hill an enemy grenade exploded at his feet and broke both of his legs. But he set up his gun and continued to fire until the attack stalled. Two men dragged him back.

High moved the remaining members of both platoons back to a covered position and radioed Lieutenant Riddle to bring in the machinegun fire again and to send help, if possible. North Korean soldiers in bunkers on the objective began to taunt High and his men with phrases such as, "American, you die!"

Deciding to make a second attempt this time a close-in envelopment of the objective High called off the supporting fire again and led about a dozen of his men downhill toward the south, where they could move without being seen or fired upon by the enemy. They then climbed the hill, moving north to the top of Hill 520. When the men broke defilade, the enemy opened fire and began throwing grenades again. A concussion grenade knocked High down. The rest of his men, believing him dead, straggled back to the platoon base. Within a minute or two, however, High regained consciousness and returned to the platoon base where he reorganized the remaining men about twenty in all.

In the meantime, regimental headquarters had sent three flame-thrower operators to the 2d Battalion, two of them designated for Company G and one for Company F. Lieutenant Riddle sent all three men, their flame throwers strapped to their backs, forward to help High. One operator was wounded almost immediately upon leaving the line of departure; the other two reached High as he was preparing to make another assault. He sent one flame-thrower operator and two riflemen directly to the front.

Under cover of fire, the men crawled into positions from where they could place flame on the foremost (eastern) bunker on Hill 520. As soon as this bunker was destroyed, High led the rest of his platoon around to the left and formed a skirmish line facing another enemy bunker on the south side of the hill. In position, he signaled the flame thrower to open up. As soon as the flame thrower commenced operating, High was to signal for the assault. This time the flame thrower failed to work.

By then only two enemy bunkers were interfering with the attack. A machine gun was firing from each. High decided to make the assault without the flame thrower. He sent a BAR team to knock out one bunker while he, with a rifleman and the third flame-thrower operator, walked toward another. Firing as they walked, the men exposed themselves because High feared that if they tried to crawl they would be pinned down. Ten yards from the bunker, the second flame thrower failed to work. Standing exposed to enemy fire, the operator took it apart but was unable to repair it. Finally, High told him to get out of the way because he was too conspicuous.

High stationed one of his riflemen in front of the bunker. Unable to hit anyone in it, he nevertheless prevented the North Koreans from firing and thus neutralized the position. Just about that time an automatic weapon began firing from another bunker on the left, and High told Pvt. Joe Golinda to get it. Golinda approached it from one side, High from another, while a third man covered them. Golinda threw a grenade into the bunker, and the gun stopped firing.

With only a few men firing rifles and BARs for support, High and four or five other men made the final assault on the top of Hill 520. Private Schmidt, still wearing the yellow panel wrapped around his waist, stayed up with the foremost men as he had throughout the attack. The group moved on around the hill, firing into the apertures of three other bunkers. All were empty. Once they reached the top of the hill the men saw eight enemy soldiers running over the hill toward the northwest, and opened fire on them. On the north side of the hill High came upon a bunker that had been the enemy's command post. Eight enemy soldiers, still holding their weapons, were huddled in front of the bunker. When High's men fired into the group the North Koreans threw up their hands and surrendered themselves. A few minutes later, four enemy soldiers came out of another bunker that had been bypassed and surrendered. Some of the North Koreans were carrying United Nations safe-conduct passes in their hands. During this final assault, other enemy soldiers were bugging out off the hill.

The knoll was secure at 1600. Company G had incurred slightly over thirty casualties, most of which were due to minor grenade wounds. Several other casualties were sustained by the mortar men as a result of enemy counter-mortar fire.

[SAMWolf]

The attack on Hill 520 began at 1300 and ended at 1600. Company G's advance two hundred yards from its line of departure to its objective required three hours and over thirty casualties. Could Hill 520 have been taken quicker and at a lower cost? The answer is: Yes, with one hundred per cent effective support.



There is no doubt that fire support was planned. Private Schmidt wore a yellow panel to indicate the position of the advance elements. Companies E and F were in positions to aid Company G. The artillery and mortars fired on call as requested. The assault platoons provided their own supporting fire.

But still: "The platoon halted, pinned down by hostile fire." "Supporting machine-gun fire was too high to be effective." "In the meantime regimental headquarters had sent three flame throwers to the 2d Battalion, two of them designated for Company G." "The flame thrower failed to work." "The second flame thrower failed to work."

An attack on a fortified position such as Hill s20 calls for very detailed planning. It is not enough to give machine guns a mission of firing on an objective in front of an assaulting force. A supporting machine gun should be assigned to neutralize a definite bunker embrasure. Inadequate fire-support planning and careless techniques in employment of weapons will not provide continuous fire superiority.



It was not enough to send flame-thrower operators from regiment after the attack had begun. Before Company G moved to the line of departure, the flame-thrower operators should have participated in drills and rehearsals. Forethought can, to a large extent, eliminate improvisation. Thorough training and diligent maintenance can minimize breakdowns.

It is interesting to note that immediately after Lieutenant Gano was killed his platoon halted "pinned down by hostile fire." Probably it was not a coincidence. Although Gano had told High to continue to run the platoon, to the members of the platoon Lieutenant Gano was an officer and their platoon leader. When he stopped, the platoon stopped. Soldiers in battle look first to their appointed commanders for leadership and direction.



Lieutenant Riddle, Corporal Lamb, Private High, and the men of Company G must be commended for their courage, their determination, and their aggressive action. They accomplished their mission after they built up fire superiority with their own weapons. But they probably would have had an easier assignment had the preparations been more detailed.

Additional Sources:

www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures
www.usachcs.army.mil
1-14th.com
www.terracom.net

[SAMWolf]

The 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division and a French Battalion attached to the 23rd fought from bunker to bunker on Hill 851. Hill 851 was the last objective on Heartbreak Ridge still held by the enemy. In the bitter fighting, only a few enemy survive to be taken prisoner.

The end to the 33-day battle came on Oct. 13. French troops charged the crest of the hill at daybreak wiping out the last surviving North Koreans.

Winning Heartbreak Ridge and surrounding ridges and peaks resulted in 3,700 casualties in the 2nd ID. About half of the casualties were in the 23rd IR and the French Battalion.

The 2nd ID leadership estimates the enemy, mostly North Korean units, lost about 25,000 men.

The infantry received a tremendous amount of artillery and air support. In the artillery support, 62,000 rounds were fired by 76mm guns; 401,000 rounds by 105mm howitzers; 84,000 by 105mm and 13,000 by 8-inch howitzers. Crews of 60mm, 81mm and 4.2-inch mortars fired 119,000 rounds. In addition 57mm and 75mm recoilless rifle teams fired 18,000 rounds.

The U.S. Fifth Air Force tactical fighters flew 842 sorties in support and dropped 250 tons of bombs on the enemy on Heartbreak Ridge and the surrounding area.

[SAMWolf]

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

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM, everyone.

[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

[Sparta]

Good morning and excellent job again.

[Sparta]

If you want on or off the Western Civilization Military History ping list, let me know.

[SAMWolf]

Good morning Feather

[SAMWolf]

Hi Sparta.

[Sparta]

Check out my vanity I wrote last night, "Time to Unite the Right".

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/884600/posts

[Sparta]

(The French have just announced their latest wine - Sad-dom Perignon 2003)

Cool tagline BTW.

[GailA]

Good Morning FRiends...today's graphic

[SAMWolf]

Morning GailA.

[Pippin]

GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR PRAYER FOR A POW AND A SINGLE MOM BEING HELD BY THE IRAQIS.

IT WAS SENT TRO ME BY A COWORKER. PLEASE KEEP RASHONDA JONHSON AND HER FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS

Subject: SISTERS TAKING ACTION FOR ANOTHER SISTER PRAYER IS NEEDED.

We have to stay in prayer for this sister and her family!!! This was forwarded to me and I was compelled to send it to you. If this is all I can do I do it willingly. Share this with everyone you know and get your churches to lift all our POW's in prayer. LADIES, This morning on the Tom Joyner Show, they discussed the young, black, single mom that is now a POW (name...RASHONDA JOHNSON).This is the first time in many years that a woman has been captured and held as POW.....Iraq is known for extreme measures when it comes to torture and especially rape chambers.............I am sure that the males WILL do all that they can, but I am also sure that they will separate her for that reason. THEY WILL BEAT, RAPE AND TORTURE HER FOR PUNISHMENT OR JUST GENERAL PURPOSES. It is reported that her mother is not taking this well (can you imagine?), she is not allowed to speak of what the US Government tells her, and she has Rashonda's two year old...... We may not be able to do anything for our Sister that has been held captive in Iraq, but we know that God has already dispatched a host of angels to aid and watch over her. The key is that through prayer, we empower those angels to fight the demonic forces that desire to take our Sister's life and dignity through rape and abuse. We come against the acts of Satan and his demons and we shall bind them. "No weapon formed against Rashonda will succeed...Angels will guard and protect her, and if some ugly demon should approach her, he will see mighty warrior Angels surrounding her, protecting her and giving her peace and comfort. This we will rejoice in, for it is done ...in the Name of Jesus. Thank God for all that He has already done and is doing for Rashonda. Give Him the Glory. P.S. Pass it on...Leviticus 26:7-8 - And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword (God's word/prayer). And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. There is power is numbers...

[CholeraJoe]

Good one, SAM

[Valin]

On this Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on April 04:
188 Caracalla Roman emperor (211-17)
1648 Grinling Gibbons sculptor/woodcarver
1752 Nicolo Antonio Zingarelli composer (Andromeda)
1758 John Hoppner portrait painter
1785 Bettina von Arnim German writer (This Book Belongs to the King)
1792 Thaddeus Stevens US Radical Republican congressional leader (Rep-R)
1802 Dorothea Dix US, aroused interest in treatment of mental inmates
1821 Linus Yale US, portrait painter/inventor (Yale lock)
1823 Karl Wilhelm Siemens inventor (laid undersea cables)
1826 Z‚nobe Th‚ophile Gramme inventor (electric motor)
1828 Margaret Oliphant Scotland, novelist/biographer
1832 Jose Echegaray y Elizaguirre playwright/writer/scientist
1843 Hans Richter conductor
1870 George A Smith Salt Lake City Utah, 8th pres of Mormon church
1875 Pierre Monteux Paris France, conductor (Boston Symph Orch 1919-24)
1876 Maurice de Vlaminck Paris, Fauvist painter (Village in the Snow)
1881 Charles Funk Ohio, of Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia fame
1888 Tris Speaker baseball great, hit more doubles than Pete Rose
1892 Cyril Smith Peterhead Scotland, actor (Adv of Sir Lancelot)
1895 Arthur Murray NYC, dancer (Arthur Murray Dance Party)
1896 Robert Sherwood dramatist (Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Idiot's Delight)
1896 Tristan Tzara [Samuel Rosenfeld] French poet (Approximate Man)
1899 Duke Ellington bandleader (Take the A Train)
1899 [Edward Kennedy] Duke Ellington Wash DC (or 4/29)
19-- Richard Coogan Short Hills NJ, actor (Captain Video)
19-- Tracey Phillips Montclair NJ, actress (Hope-Coed Fever)
1901 Carmel Myers SF Calif, actress (Carmel Myers Show)
1906 Bea Benaderet NYC, actress (Kate-Petticoat Junction)
1906 John Cameron Swayze Wichita Ks, newscaster (Timex, Hindenberg)
1907 Nathan M Pusey educator (1963 Natl Assoc for Social Sciences Medal)
1913 Frances Langford Lakeland Fla, singer (Armed Forces Hour, Star Time)
1914 Marguerite Duras France, novelist/playwright (The Sea Wall)
1914 Sir John Beith British diplomat
1915 Muddy Waters [McKinley Morganfield], guitarist (Hoochie Coochie Man)
1918 Earl Jellicoe chancellor (U of Southhampton)
1918 Margaret Dupont tennis champion
1919 Antony Tudor England, choreographer (Metropolitan Opera 1957)
1922 Elmer Bernstein NYC, movie music composer
1923 Eric Rohmer Nancy Francy, director (Claire's Knee)
1924 Gil Hodges baseball player/manager (Bkln Dodgers, NY Mets)
1924 Peter Vaughan actor (Haunted Honeymoon, Die Die My Darling)
1925 Elizabeth Wilson Grand Rapids Mich, actor (Doc, East Side/West Side)
1926 Cloris Leachman Des Moines Iowa, actress (Phyllis, High Anxiety)
1928 Bill Ryan Bkln NY, newscaster (Smithsonian)
1928 Jimmy Logan British comedian
1928 Monty Norman composer/writer
1928 Maya Angelou St Louis Mo, poet/actress (Nyo-Roots)
1930 David Sexton soccer manager
1932 Anthony Perkins NYC, actor (Psycho, Fear Strikes Out, Pretty Poison)
1932 Richard Lugar (Sen-R-Ind)
1935 Lord Ichayra secretary-general (British Banking Assn)
1935 Trevor Griffiths playwright (Absolute Beginners)
1937 Ian St James novelist
1938 A Bartlett Giamatti Boston, pres of Yale/baseball commish (1989)
1938 Michael Parks Corona Calif, actor (Then Came Bronson)
1938 Peter Attenborough British headmaster (Charterhouse)
1939 Hugh Masekela South Africa, trumpeter (I Am Not Afraid)
1939 Joanne Carner Kirkland Wash, LPGA golfer (US Open 1970, 76)
1940 Bijan Iran, mens apparel designer (Beverly Hills, NYC, London)
1942 Kitty Kelley author (Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra)
1943 Ian Robertson British museum director (National Army Museum)
1944 David Melville professor/director (Middlesex Polytechnic)
1944 Lawrence A Hough US, rower (Pairs w/o cox-1968 olympic silver)
1945 Caroline McWilliams Seattle Wash, actress (Sally-Soap, Marcy-Benson)
1945 Catherine Spaak actress (Hotel, Weekend at Dunkirk, Circle of Love)
1946 Craig T Nelson Spokane Wash, actor (Poltergeist, Hayden Fox-Coach)
1948 Berry Oakley rocker (Allman Brothers-Ramblin' Man)
195- Luke Halpin Astoria NY, actor (Sandy-Flipper)
1950 Christine Lahti Detroit, actress (Harvey Korman Show, Swing Shift)
1952 Dave Hill rock guitarist (Slade-Coz I Love You)
1954 Julie Carmen Mount Vernon NY, actress (Gloria, Last Plane Out)
1956 Evelyn Hart prima ballerina (Royal Winnipeg Ballet)
1957 Paul Downton British cricketeer
1958 Pierre-Paul Prud'hon painter
1960 Jonathan Agnew British broadcaster/test bowler
1962 Ava Fabian Brewster NY, playmate (Aug, 1986)
1964 Paul Parker soccer player
1965 Robert Downey Jr NYC, comedian (SNL, Less the Zero, Back to School)
1966 Nancy McKeon Westbury NY, actress (Jo Polniazek-Facts of Life)

---

Deaths which occurred on April 04:
1284 Alfonso X Spanish king (Castile & Leon), dies at 62
1588 Frederick II king of Denmark, dies
1604 Thomas Churchyard poet/pamphleteer, dies
1617 John Napier inventor of logarithms, dies (birth date unknown)
1807 Joseph J‚r“me Le Francais de Lalande astronomer, dies
1817 Andr‚ Mass‚na Duc de Rivoli soldier, dies
1817 Prince d'Essing dies
1841 William Henry Harrison becomes 1st pres to, die in office
1844 Charles Bulfinch 1st US pro architect (Mass State House), dies at 80
1919 William Crookes phsicist/chemist, dies
1929 Karl Freidrich Benz automobile engineer (Mercedes), dies
1931 Andre Michelin CEO (Michelin Tires), dies
1932 Wilhelm Ostwald physical chemist, dies
1939 Ghazi King of Iraq, dies
1953 King Carol II (Romania), dies
1963 Endzion Barelli 18, dies 2 days after winning a boxing match
1963 Jason Robards Sr actor (Acapulco), dies at 70
1968 Rev Martin Luther King Jr assassinated in Memphis (Dream continues)
1970 Byron Foulger actor (Capt Nice, Petticoat Junction), dies at 70
1972 Adam Clayton Powell Jr (Rep-D-NY), dies at 63
1979 Edgar Buchanan actor (Uncle Joe-Petticoat Junction), dies at 77
1979 Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto former Pakistani president, hanged in Pakistan
1981 Brad Johnson actor (Annie Oakley), dies at 56
1983 Gloria Swanson actress, dies at 84 of a heart ailment
1983 Jacqueline Logan silent film leading lady, dies at 78
1990 Sarah Vaughn jazz singer, dies at 68
1991 Graham Green english novelist, dies at 86
1991 John Heinz (Sen-R-Pa), dies in a plane crash

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 DRAEGER WALTER F. JR. DEERFIELD WI CRASH FLAMES / NO PARA SEEN

1965 HARRIS CARLYLE S. PRESTON MD 02/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL IN 1998 1965

MAGNUSSON JAMES A. JR. NAHANT MA CRASH OW SEARCH NEGAT

1967 MARTIN DAVID EARL ORLANDO FL

1967 SZEYLLER EDWARD PHILIP ALTOONA PA

1968 TRIVELPIECE STEVE M. STOCKTON CA "KIA GUNFIRE, REMAINS LEFT BEHIND"

1970 DUFFY JOHN E. PORTLAND ME REMAINS RETURNED MAY 1993 IDENTIFIED MARCH 1996

1970 YOUNG JEFFREY J. INDIANAPOLIS IN


1971 SMITH JOSEPH S. ASSUMPTION IL


POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
896 Formosus ends his reign as Catholic Pope
896 Pope Formous ends reign
1460 University of Basle in Swizerland forms
1541 Ignatius of Loyola becomes 1st superior-general of the Jesuits
1581 Frances Drake completres circumnavigation of the world
1687 King James II orders his declaration of indulgence read in church
1818 Congress decided US flag is 13 red & white stripes & 20 stars
1850 City of Los Angeles incorporated
1858 Asteroid 54, Kalypso discovered (named for goddess of silence)
1858 R Luther discovers asteroid #53 Kalypso
1859 The opera "Dinorah" is produced (Paris)
1862 Battle of Yorktown begins
1865 Lee's army arrives at Amelia Courthouse
1870 Golden Gate Park established by City Order #800
1887 Susanna Medora Salter elected 1st US woman mayor (Argonia, KS)
1896 Announcement of Gold in the Yukon
1902 Cecil Rhodes scholarship fund established with $10 million
1905 Earthquake in Kangra India, kills 370,000
1912 Chinese republic proclaimed in Tibet
1914 "The Perils of Pauline" shown for 1st time in LA
1918 Battle of Somme, ends
1922 WAAB (Baton Rouge La) becomes 1st US radio station with "W" calls
1929 "New Moon" musical opens in London
1929 1st AAU Greco-Roman wrestling championships held
1932 Vitamin C 1st isolated, C.C. King, Univ of Pittsburgh
1933 US Dirigible Akron crashes off coast of NJ, 73 die
1934 K Reinmuth discovers asteroid #1716 Peter
1939 Faisal II ascends to throne of Iraq
1940 L Oterma discovers asteroid #2332 Kalm
1944 British troops capture Addis Ababa Ethiopia
1945 Hungary liberated from Nazi occupation (Liberation Day)
1947 Largest group of sunspots on record
1947 UN's International Civil Aviation Organization established
1948 84-year-old Connie Mack challenges 78-year-old Clark Griffith to a
race from home to 1st base; it ends in a tie
1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed (Wash DC)
Goethe Link Observatory discovers asteroid #1798 Watts, #2641
Lipschutz & #3070
1959 Fed of Mali, consisting of Senegal & French Sudan (dissolved 1960)
1960 Project Ozma begins at Green Bank radio astronomy center
1964 Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love," single goes #1 & stays #1 for 5 weeks
1966 Pirate Radio Scotland changes name to Radio Ireland
1968 Apollo 6 launched atop Saturn V; unmanned
1969 Dr Denton Cooley implants 1st temporary artificial heart
1971 Marine clay under houses liquifies, 31 die (St-Jean-Vianney Quebec)
1974 Hank Aaron ties Babe Ruth's home-run record by hitting his 714th
1975 C5A Galaxy on military charter crashes, taking 155 lives (Saigon)
1975 Steve Miller is arrested for burning his girlfriend's clothes
1975 USAF transport carrying orphans from Saigon crashes killing 155
1976 N Chernykh discovers asteroid #2369 Chekhov
1979 Jane M Byrne (D), elected 1st woman mayor of Chicago Ill
1983 6th space shuttle mission, Challenger 1 launched
1984 Winston Smith in Orwell's "1984" begins his secret diary
1985 Tulane University cancels its basketball season amidst scandal
1986 Wayne Gretsky sets NHL record with 213th point of season
1987 Dow Jones up 69.89 points, ending at record 2,390.34 pts
1988 Eddie Hill becomes 1st to race a ¬ mile in under 5 seconds
1988 Kansas upsets Oklahoma for NCAA basketball title
1988 Largest crowd (55,438) at a season game at Riverfront (Reds Vs Cards)
1989 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's last NBA game in Seattle
1989 NY Yankee Tommy John ties record of playing 26 seasons, his 287th
win puts him 19th overall as Yanks beat Twins on opening day 4-2
1990 "The Marshall Chronicles" premiers on ABC-TV
1990 Gloria Estefan released from the hospital after her accident
1990 Security law violator Ivan Boesky is released from federal custody
1992 Game 1 of Mayor Challenge - NY Yankees beat NY Mets 6-4 at Yank Stad
1992 Jury deliberations begin in the Noriega case

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

Hungary : Liberation Day (1945)
Senegal : National Day (1960)
Switzerland : Glarius Festival (1388) - - - - - ( Thursday )
Mass : Student Government Day - - - - - ( Friday )

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Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of St Benedict, the black
Christian : Feast of St Plato & St Tigernach
Christian : Feast of St Agathopus & Theodulus
Ang : Commemoration of St Ambrose
RC : Comm of St Isidore, abp of Seville, confessor/doctor (opt)

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Religious History
1507 Future German reformer Martin Luther, at age 21, was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic church.
1541 Spanish ecclesiastic reformer and mystic Ignatius Loyola, 50, was elected the first General of the Jesuit Order, which he had helped establish the previous year.
1687 James II issued a Declaration of Indulgence allowing full liberty of worship in England. The document allowed peaceable meetings of nonconformists and forgave all penalties for ecclesiastical offenses.
1944 German Holocaust victim Anne Frank, 14, wrote in her diary: 'I want to go on living even after my death! And therefore I am grateful to God for giving me this gift...of expressing all that is in me.'
1965 German theologian Jurgen Moltmann revealed in a letter to Karl Barth: 'Polemics always makes one a little one-sided.'

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Thought for the day :
" Everything bows to success, even grammar. "

[SAMWolf]

Morning CholeraJoe!

"Marines shouldn't be standing around filling out forms for equipment they should alrady have"

[SAMWolf]

1949 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) treaty signed (Wash DC)

Another beauracracy that has outlived its usefullness.