The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Marines and The Boxer Rebellion (1900) - Apr. 6th, 2003

http://history.acusd.edu/gen/corps/guy1.html ^ | John W. Guy

[SAMWolf]

More Reinforcements

While the Marines and sailors on the spot were doing their best, reinforcements streamed toward Taku. The first substantial American force to augment the Marines was the 9th Infantry USA, which reached China on 6 July. The 9th was immediately sent up to Tientsin via the railroad which was now being operated by the bluejackets of the Monocacy.

Colonel Meade's contingent of the 1st Marines followed four days later. This gave the United States a brigade at Tientsin made up of the 1st Marines (including Waller's battalion), 9th Infantry (lst and 2nd Battalions only), all commanded by Colonel Meade, senior U.S. officer present. This American force (about 1,000 officers and men) was brigaded with the 2,200 man British column made up of Ghurka, Sikhs, Bengal Lancers, 2nd Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and Royal Navy and Marine. The foreign powers now mustered 5,650 troops before Tientsin, of whom more than half were British and American, the remainder being French, German, Japanese, and Russian. The respective commanders agreed that the next step was to clean out Tientsin's native city, with its estimated 50,000 Boxers, and this would be done on 13 July. The native city was surrounded by two walls. One a 30-foot outer wall, a relic of the Taiping Rebellion, and a second wall about a mile inside which was 24 feet thick and likewise about 30 feet high. On the latter wall, the Chinese mounted the cannon with which they continued to shell the foreign concessions. Allied counter-battery fire came mainly from five British 12-pounder naval guns brought ashore, from HMS Terrible.



At 0300, 13 July, under command of British Brigadier General A.R.F. Dorward, DSO, the American, British, and Japanese forces attacked the south face of the native city. The Marines had the left flank; on their right were Royal Welch Fusiliers; still further right were the 9th Infantry (in support of the British naval brigade). Mr. Herbert Hoover accompanied the Marines as sort of a guide in their part of the attack on the Chinese city. The heat was suffocating (temperatures of 104 degrees were common), and the terrain between the two walls consisted of rice paddies, huge salt mounds, Chinese graves and much from sewage canals. Second Lieutenant Frederick M. Wise (son of the old Monocacy's captain) later wrote: "The sky was turning slightly grey. Chinese snipers across the river began fast as they could pull the trigger. Now they were shooting into our backs. We marched on, pouring out onto that plain. Snipers on our side of the river, behind those salt mounds, took up the chorus. Artillery began to blaze from the walls". Moreover, Lieutenant Butler related: "We charged over the mud wall at seven in the morning and began our advance. The whole country was flooded. The Chinese had diverted the water from the canals into the open space between the two walls. We struggled through this filthy swamp, with bullets splashing and whining around us. The low mud walls of the rice paddies provided some slight protection. We crouched behind them, firing furiously, slipping, sliding, and stumbling from one to another."

Butler's company, as well as some of the Welsh Fusiliers, made it to the stone wall. There they were stopped and Butler was wounded in the thigh. Butler commented that, "It was as pretty a hole as you ever saw." Sustained by brandy from a British officer's canteen, and aided by First Lieutenant Leonard (who lost an arm shortly after), he made it back to the field hospital.

While the rifle companies of the 1st Regiment and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers were thrashing through mud and debris, the artillery company, under Captain B.H. Fuller, went into position behind the mud wall. After firing all ammunition at the stone wall and the Chinese city itself, in a tradition that would distinguish Marine artillery on many another battlefield, the battery reformed as infantry to shore up the right flank of the 9th Infantry, who were in trouble. By eight that night, after a day of inconclusive action under intense though inaccurate fire, all hands pulled back behind the outer wall, and the operation was no further ahead than at dawn. Of 451 Marines engaged, 21 had become casualties, including four officers (one killed, three wounded). The 9th Infantry, which never got beyond the mud wall, suffered more heavily (18 killed, 77 wounded), including their commanding officer, Colonel Liscum, USA, who was killed carrying the regimental colors.



Before dawn the next day, in a well executed night attack, the Japanese blew in the gate of the Chinese city and broke through. By daybreak the whole allied force was inside, sweeping the Boxers before them. The native city was afire, and looting was rampant. Soldiers of all nations joined the orgy as men of the allies staggered through the streets, arms and backs piled high with silks and furs and brocades, with gold and silver and jewels. Meanwhile, Marines guarded the vault of the slat commissioner, where $800,000 in melted silver bullion was in the wreckage. In reporting to Washington, Admiral Remey, the Asiatic Station commander stated that information received by him cleared the marines of any involvement in burning houses or looting Tientsin.

[SAMWolf]

Defending the Legations

On 20 June, the Chinese government, in answer to the Allied bombardment and landing at Taku, dropped its pretended neutrality and demanded that the foreign legations pack up and leave Peking within 24 hours. On his way to the foreign office to protest this impossible demand, the German Minister, Baron von Ketteller, was shot by an Imperial Chinese soldier. Within 24 hours after the delivery of the ultimatum, Chinese troops opened fire on the Austrian and French lines. The French replied with gunfire. The siege of the legations had begun. All foreigners, including some 300 women and children, were concentrated in the British, Russian, American, German, Japanese and French Legation compounds. The area, comprising the Legation Quarter, was bounded on the south and dominated by the immense Tartar Wall, 60 feet high and 40 feet wide. Thus the key to the American sector was the Tartar Wall, which was in the hands of the U.S. Marines for the next eight weeks. Marine Captain Myers' post on the wall was the peg which held the whole thing together.



The besieged foreigners sat about erecting barricades and getting provisions. More than 150 ponies, assembled for a race-meeting, guaranteed fresh meat. The ample cellars of the Peking Hotel included more than a thousand cases of champagne and vast stores of anchovy paste. Such bonanza fell short of making up for the Russians' forgetfulness in leaving their field gun on the platform at Tientsin.

The first sortie was on 23 June in order to clear out the Hanlin Yuan area which the Boxers had ruthlessly set afire in an attempt to burn out the neighboring British Legation. As this noble academy perished, taking with it half the recorded culture of China, British and U.S. Marines assaulted through the flames to drive off the Boxers who were interrupting bucket brigades trying to douse the fire with chamber pots full of water. The next evening, the Boxers again probed with small arms fire. Captain Halliday, the Royal Marines' commanding officer, during the counterattack, was critically wounded in the shoulder and lung, but still marine enough to drop three Chinese with his revolver while covering his people's withdrawal, and then to stagger under his own power to the hospital. This action won him the Victoria Cross. Taking advantage of the action in the British sector, Captain Myers, who had constructed a barricade facing west towards the West Gate, led a part of Marines forward along the wall. Before long he hit resistance in force. One foreign observer estimated that 2,000 Chinese were massed behind six successive barricades with several big guns. This showed the power confronting the American position, i.e. 29 men against the Chinese Army. Needless to say, Myers took no ground that night; however, he lost none either.



The Marine's position across "The Wall" (as everyone called it) opened on its immediate south front into a huge bastion, 40 yards across, overgrown with grass and brush from years of neglect. A ramp, inside the American lines, led up to Myers' barricade. Down the wall, to the west, with a corresponding ramp, a Chinese barricade confronted Marines. Five hundred yards in Myers' rear, facing towards the East Gate, the German Marines had a barricade manned by approximately 15 men. On both the east and west towers, the Chinese had observation posts and cannons which shelled the American and German positions. Although a tough spot, Captain Myers felt that they could hold out.

In broad daylight, on 27 June, the Boxers attacked the American position. With all weapons firing, the Chinese fell back leaving more than half of their number dead along the lines. The next night, although Myers' barricade was again probed, it was the Germans' turn to receive the main Chinese effort. At dawn on 1 July the Germans discovered that the Chinese had placed three guns in embrasures immediately facing them. Shortly after, under heavy shellfire, the German detachment, which had only a corporal in command, took flight. What compounded the problem was that they signaled to the Marines in their rear, facing the other way, that they had been overrun. By prearrangement the Americans withdrew, abandoning the Wall for a lower barricade covering the ramp.



However, Captain Myers was not going to submit and after obtaining reinforcements from the British Marines, he counter-attacked. With only three casualties, the American position was retaken. But, the Germans were less successful and had to be content with an intermediate holding position instead of the one they had yielded. Meanwhile the Marines built a barricade of their own across the Wall to their rear.

Myers, by now, was completely worn out. He had taken to himself the responsibility of the Wall, leaving Captain Hall (second senior Marine officer) the less demanding posts guarding the American compound below. For more than five days he had gone without sleep. But, after reoccupying the Wall on 1 July, he was ordered by Sir Claude MacDonald to turn over his post to Hall and go below for sleep. This he did, and Captain Hall assumed command of the upper barricade. Just 24 hours later, at dusk on 2 July, Myers returned to his barricades and resumed command. In his absence the Chinese had been permitted to advance their wall 40 yards across the open front of the no-man's bastion which flanked both Chinese an American barricades. They were now within feet of the south end of the American position, and had just erected a 15 foot tower overlooking it.



If foreign troops expected to stay on the Tartar Wall, the Chinese would have to be ejected. At 0130, in a heavy rainstorm, Captain Myers collected 30 of his own people, 26 British Marines, and 15 Russian sailors. At the simple command, "Go!" the attack jumped off, Myers leading the Anglo-American main effort against the bastion and tower, the Russians making a secondary attack on the right. Luck was with Myers. The Chinese had failed to man their tower, and by following the Boxer barricade across the bastion, Myers was able to lead his men into the rear of the enemy position, where the Chinese were still shooting into the darkness to their front. The attack succeeded completely, although Myers was wounded by a Chinese spear. Within a half hour the Boxer barricade, reversed, was the new front line. Thirty-six Chinese lay dead, and two flags were taken. Total Allied casualties were two U.S. Marines killed, one wounded, one Royal Marine and one Russian also wounded. Small as this night attack may seem, it proved to be the turning point. It was the only effectual offensive accomplished during the siege. However, his victory very nearly finished Captain Myers, the hero, for his wound became badly infected and worse still, he came down with typhoid. This left the Marines under command of Captain Hall.



After the Myers attack the defense settled into a snipers' war between the Chinese and American barricades. As the Chinese made more and better use of their artillery, the need for a counter-battery weapon became important. On 7 July, an old cannon was found in the ruins of an iron workers shop. A Navy Gunner's mate named Mitchell adapted the muzzle-loading relic to shoot the Russian sailor's ammunition. Within two days the weapon was test fired. Besides the Russian shells, which worked quite well, Mitchell tested it with a bag of nails and the lethal charge exceeded all hopes. The gun was christened "The International," but finally the troops just called it "Betsy." The gun shared honors with the Marines' machine gun which had killed more men than the rest put together. Some activity flared briefly on the Wall, on 15 July, where Captain Hall was building a new barricade to cover the rear face of his position. Here under heavy fire, Private Daniel Daly won his first Medal of Honor (34 Marines won the nation's highest decoration during the relief and siege) for coolly holding an advance position alone while Captain Hall went back for reinforcements. After 16 July a kind of truce prevailed until Peking was relieved on 14 August. By this time, 17 of the original 56 Marine and Navy defenders had been killed or wounded. Of the officers, Captain Hall alone was unwounded.

[SAMWolf]

The Relief of Peking

Major General Chaffee, U.S. Army, after five weeks on the way from the United States, finally arrived at Tientsin on 30 July and assumed command of all United States forces. With General Chaffee were reinforcements: one more battalion of Marines under Major "Sitting Bull" Biddle; two battalions of the 14th Infantry; the 6th Cavalry; and Riley's Battery, the 5th Artillery. By order of President Roosevelt, all Marines in China came under the Army, an Major Biddle, because Colonel Mead had been sent sick to Mare Island, succeeded to command of the 1st Marines. To protect Tientsin, still far from peaceful, Chaffee left behind a detachment of six Marine officers, two Navy surgeons, and 177 enlisted men. This left the 1st Marines still with two battalions, total strength 482 (out of 2,500 U.S. troops in the Peking relief column). Counting its commanding officer, the regiment included three future Marine Corps Commandants: Major Biddle, Captain W.C. Neville, and Captain B.H. Fuller.



The 18,600-man international column, on 3 August, set out for Peking. Although there were two Boxer stands enroute, the main enemy was the heat. As Lieutenant Butler related, "There was no shade not a drop of rain, nor a breath of air. The cavalry and the artillery kicked up clouds of dust which beat back in our faces. The blistering heat burned our lungs. Nearly 50% of our men fell behind during the day, overcome by the sun. In the cool night they would catch up with us and start on again the next morning. Our throats were parched, our tongues thick. We were cautioned not to drink the water, but no orders could keep us from anything that was liquid."

Ten days later the column reached the eastern outskirts of Peking. When the legation guards heard machine guns (the Chinese had none), they knew Western troops were near. Throughout the 14th, the walls of Peking fell before American, British, and Japanese assaults. The 14th Infantry led the attack, and theirs were the first colors in the relieving force to be unfurled on the wall of Peking. Chaffee had seen fit to assign the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines the insulting role of guarding the American pack train and only the 1st Battalion was in the forefront of the battle, where it covered Riley's Battery in breaching the West Gate. General Chaffee, for political reasons, was compelled to check the American assault short of the Forbidden City, which had never been entered by foreigners. Since organized resistance was over anyway, it remained only for the relief force to go into the compounds. The 1st Regiment was assigned the southwest quarter of the Tartar City, with Major Waller as Provost Marshal. It was decided that, on 28 August, a representative column of foreign troops should march across the Forbidden City to erase its legendary inviolability by foreigners. The Marine Corps contingent was one company from each battalion, 1st Marines; the company commanders, respectively, were Captain Neville and Lieutenant Butler, who wrote home: "This is the first time within the memory of man when such a march occurred and it certainly was a wonderful sight to see Russian, Japanese, English, American, French, German, Italian and Austrian troops marching in the order named in one column. We went through all the holy temples and palaces where foreigners have never set foot before." As the last troops passed the north gate, a 21-gun salute proclaimed the fall of the Forbidden City.



Affairs in north China, after a month of policing, were quiet enough to allow the Marines to return to the Philippines, where General MacArthur (Douglas MacArthur's father) badly needed troops. On 3 October the 1st Regiment marched south from Peking and on 1 October sailed for Cavite aboard three ships. All casualties, considering the heavy Chinese fire, had been light. The most noteworthy was that sustained by Lieutenant Butler which was his second of the campaign. A bullet had hit him in the chest and clipped off part (South America) of the Marine Corps emblem tattooed over his heart. So ended The Boxer Rebellion, and the United States Marine Corps chalked up another war to its credit. Additional Sources:

www.geocities.com/Eureka/Plaza
www.library.yale.edu
history.sandiego.edu

[SAMWolf]

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[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

When one thinks of the Boxer Rebellion or American forces in China before World War II the first thoughts are of the Marines at Shanghai and Peking and the U.S. Navy's gunboats assigned to the Yangtze Patrol and South China Patrol. Movies like the San Pebbles and 55 Days at Peking tend to reinforce this perception of history. The Marines did the shore duty while the Navy did the sea duty. The U.S. Army is absent. A closer inspection of history tell us that this is not quite true.



Less known are the facts that the U.S. Army fielded almost five times as many troops than the Marines did to the China Relief Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion, provided the Legation Guard at Peking (now Beijing) between the end of the siege in August 1900 and 1905, and, almost forgotten, maintained a 1,000 person garrison at Tientsin (now Tianjin) from January 1912 until March 1938.

Until the Cold War brought large numbers of soldiers to Europe for 40+ years this deployment in China was the longest continuous stationing of U.S. Army forces on foreign soil.

[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

[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

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!

[PGalt]

Thanks for the history, ping and your service.

[WaterDragon]

Fabulous history, as usual, SAM. I've always planned to read more about the 'Boxer Rebellion.'

I've just barely begun a book called "The Doughboys", about the American Expeditionary Force in World War One. That's one I never knew much about, either. In fact, the author says that's why he wrote it -- people don't realize how critical the AEF was to winning that war. Just looking at the photographs in the book, I see that the AEF was even stationed in Russia! And though they were ordered not to take part along with the Russians hunting down Bolsheviks, they did anyway, and bagged quite a few!

Those doughnuts sure look good, SAM.

[Soaring Feather]

Good Morning SAM.

[manna]

Present!

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Boxer (CV-21)

Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier
Displacement. 27,100 t.
Lenght. 888'
Beam. 147'6"
Draft. 28'7"
Speed. 33 k.
Complement. 3448
Armament. 12 5"; 32 40mm; 46 20mm; 82 Aircraft

The USS Boxer (CV-21) was launched 14 December 1944 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Miss Ruth D. Overton daughter of the Senator from Louisiana and commissioned 16 April 1945, Captain D. F. Smith in command.

Completed too late to take part in World War II, Boxer joined the Pacific Fleet at San Diego in August 1945. From September 1945 to 23 August 1946 she operated out of Guam as flagship of TF 77 in the Western Pacific. During this tour she visited Japan, Okinawa, the Philippines and China. She returned to San Francisco 10 September 1946 and operated off the west coast engaged in normal peacetime duty until departing for the Far East 11 January 1950. After service with the 7th Fleet in the Far East during the first half of 1950, she returned to San Diego, arriving 25 June.

With the outbreak of the Korean conflict she was pressed into service to carry planes to the fighting. During 14-22 July 1950 she made a record crossing of the Pacific, 8 1/2 days, with 150 Air Force and Navy planes and a thousand troops. On her return trip (27 July-4 August), she cut the record to 7 days, 10 hours, and 36 minutes. After fast repairs she departed for the Far East 24 August, this time to join TF 77 in giving air support to the troops. Her planes supported the landing at Inchon (15 September 1950) and other ground action until November, when she departed for the west coast and overhaul.

Boxer departed San Diego for her second Korean tour 2 March 1951. Again she operated with TF 77 supporting the ground troops. She returned to San Francisco 24 October 1951. Sailing 8 February 1952 for her third tour in Korea, Boxer again served with TF 77. During 23-24 June her planes took part in the heavy strikes against the North Korean hydro-electric complex and on 5 August she had nine men killed and two seriously injured in a fire which swept the hangar deck. After emergency repairs at Yokosuka, Japan (11-23 August), Boxer returned to duty off Korea. She arrived at San Francisco 25 September and underwent repairs until March 1953.

The carrier departed for the Far East 30 March 1953 and went into action a month later. She took part in the final actions of the Korean conflict and remained in Asiatic waters until November.

Following her last Korean War deployment, which extended into the post-Armistice period, Boxer served as a Seventh Fleet attack carrier (CVA) on two more cruises, in 1954 and in 1955-56. Converted to an anti-submarine warfare aircraft carrier (CVS) in early 1956, she made a final Western Pacific tour in that role during 1956-57.

Later in 1957, Boxer operated briefly as an experimental assault helicopter aircraft carrier, an indication of things to come for her, the Navy and the Marine Corps. In 1958, she was flagship for Operation "Hardtack", a nuclear weapons test program in the Central Pacific. Late in that year, she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet as an "interim amphibious assault ship" and was formally redesignated LPH-4 on 30 January 1959.

For the next decade, Boxer and her "main battery" of Marines and transport helicopters were vital components of the United States' amphibious warfare capabilities. She mainly operated in the Caribbean area, including participation in the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis and the 1965 Dominican Republic intervention. She deployed to European waters in late 1964 to participate in Operation "Steel Pike". In mid-1965, Boxer served as an aircraft transport, carrying more than two-hundred Army helicopters and airplanes to Vietnam as part of the deployment of the First Cavalry Division (Air Mobile). After serving as a spacecraft recovery vessel in early 1966, she made a second trip to Vietnam, this time carrying Marine Corps aircraft.

Boxer decommissioned in December 1969 and was sold for scrapping in February 1971.

Boxer received eight battle stars for her service off Korea.

USS Boxer was named for HMS Boxer, captured off Maine by USS Enterprise during the War of 1812.

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On a personal note, I will be out of town on business for about a week. (no April Fools this time) Please try to get along with out me.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on April 06:
1483 Raphael [Raffaello Sanzio], Neth, painter (Sistine Madonna)
1671 Jean-Baptiste Rousseau French poet (Sacred Odes & Songs)
1773 James Mill Scotland, philosopher/historian (Hist of British India)
1810 Philip Gosse intentor of institutional aquarium, writer (Omphalos)
1823 Joseph Medill St John NB Canada, newspaper editor (Chicago Tribune)
1830 James Augustine Healy Macon Ga, 1st black Roman Catholic bishop
1866 Butch Cassidy outlaw
1866 Joseph Lincoln Steffens muckraker/journalist (Shame of the Cities)
1874 Harry Houdini famous magician/escape artist
1884 Walter Huston actor (Maltese Falcon, Treasure of Sierra Madre)
1890 Anthony Herman Gerard Fokker Holland, aircraft pioneer
1892 Donald Wills Douglas US, aircraft pioneer
1892 Lowell Thomas Woodington Ohio, newscaster (High Adventure)
19-- Judith McConnell actress (Sophia-Santa Barbara)
1903 Harold Edgerton foremost high-speed photographer
1903 Mickey Cochrane baseball hall of fame catcher (.320 avg)
1904 Kurt Kiesinger diplomat (Wherever They May Be)
1906 John Betjeman English Poet Laureate 1972-1984 (Mount Zion)
1914 George Reeves Ashland Ky, actor (Superman, Gone With the Wind)
1928 James Watson codiscovered structure of DNA
1928 Joi Lansing Salt Lake City Utah, actress (Bob Cummings Show)
1929 "Crazy" Joe Gallo mobster
1929 Andr‚ Previn Berlin Germany, conductor/composer/pianist
1931 Ivan Dixon NYC, actor (Car Wash, Hogan's Heroes)
1934 Antonius Geesink Holland, judo (Olympic-gold-1964)
1937 Billy Dee Williams Harlem NYC, actor (Chiefs, Double Dare)
1937 Merle Haggard Bakersfield Calif, country singer (Death Valley Days)
1938 Billy Dee Williams actor (Lady Sings the Blues, Empire Strikes Back)
1938 Roy Thinnes Chicago Ill, actor (Invaders, Falcon Crest)
1942 Phil Austin comedian (Firesign Theater)
1943 Susan Tolsky Houston, actress (Madame's Place, Here Comes the Brides)
1944 John Stax rocker (Pretty Things-Don't Bring Me Down)
1944 Michele Phillips Long Beach Calif, singer/actress (Mama & Papas)
1947 John Ratzenberger actor (Cliff-Cheers)
1947 Tony Cooner drummer (Hot Chocolate-You Sexy Thing)
1949 Jane Actman NYC, actress (Barbara-Paul Lynde Show)
1951 Ralph Cooper drummer (Air Supply-All Out of Love)
1952 Marilu Henner Chicago, actress (Taxi, Man Who Loved Women)
1952 Udo Dirkshneider heavy metal rocker (Accept-Balls to the Wall, Udo)
1953 Janet Lynn ice skater (Olympics-bronze-1972)
1954 Judi Bowker Shawford England, actress (Clash of the Titans)
1959 Dianne Brill Tampa, fashion designer/party girl (Queen of the Night)
1962 Stan Cullimore bassist (Housemartins-Happy Hour, Over There)
1964 Johnny Dee heavy metal drummer (Britny Fox-Boys in Heat, King Kobra)
1965 Rica Reinisch German DR, 100m/200m backstroke (Olympic-gold-1980)
1966 Kymberly Paige Newport Beach Ca, playmate (May, 1987)
1967 John Ratzenberger Bridgeport Ct, actor (Cliff Clavin-Cheers)
1969 Ari Meyers San Juan PR, actress (Emma McArdle-Kate & Allie)
1972 Jason Hervey actor (Wayne Arnold-Wonder Years)
1975 Damon Pampolina drummer (The Party)
1975 Dannon Phillip Pampolina rapper (The Party)
1976 Candace H Cameron actress (DJ Tanner-Full House)
1976 Soleil Moon Frye Glendora Calif, actress (Punky Brewster)

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Deaths which occurred on April 06:
1199 Richard I the Lion-hearted, King of England (1189-99), dies at 41
1348 Petrarch's Laura dies of plague
1520 Raphael artist dies on his 37th birthday
1528 Albrecht Drer artist, dies in Nrnberg Germany
1854 William Strickland US architect, dies
1975 Chiang Kai-Shek Nationalist Chinese leader, dies at 87
1990 Lady Nancy Hawkes (1946 best dress woman) dies at 73
1992 Isaac Asimov science fiction writer (I Robot), dies at 72
1992 Molly Picon yiddish actress (Milk & Honey) dies of Alzheimers at 94

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION
( Expanded with full Bios, history, & MIA report )

1966 COOK DENNIS P. SANTA BARBARA CA.
1966 GATES JAMES W. MER ROUGE LA.
ON GROUND RADIO CONTACT LOST
1966 LAFAYETTE JOHN W. WATERBURY VT.
ON GROUND RADIO CONTACT LOST
1967 HEGDAHL DOUGLAS B. CLARK SD.
08/05/69 RELEASED ALIVE AND WELL 98
1968 KUSTIGAN MICHAEL T. WORCHESTER MA.
40 MI OFF COAST // LISTED AS UA IN 1973 REFNO 2054 1968
PEPPER ANTHONY JOHN RICHMOND VA.
1968 TRIMBLE JAMES M. EUREKA CA.
1970 ARPIN CLAUDE FRANCE NOT ON OFFICIAL LISTS
1970 BRASSFIELD ANDREW T. SYLVANIA OH.
1970 FLYNN SEAN L. DEAD BRITISH TV CREW FOUND REMAINS 05/91
1970 KLINGNER MICHAEL LEE MC COOK NE.
1970 STONE DANA DEAD
BRITISH TV CREW FOUND REMAINS 05/91
1970 TAKAGI YUJIRO JAPAN NOT ON OFFICIAL LISTS 1972 ALLEY JAMES H. PLANTATION FL.
"CRASH, FIRE, SAR NEG" REMAINS IDENTIFIED 25 SEPT 1997 1972 AVERY ALLEN J. AUBURN MA.
"CRASH, FIRE, SAR NEG" REMAINS RETURNED 10/01/97
1972 CALL JOHN H. III POTOMAC MD.
"CRASH, FIRE, SAR NEG" REMAINS RETURNED 10/01/97
1972 CHAPMAN PETER H. II CENTERBURG OH.
"CRASH, FIRE, SAR NEG" REMAINS RETURNED 10/01/97
1972 DUNLOP THOMAS E. NEPTUNE BEACH FL.
1972 PEARSON WILLIAM R. WARNER NH.
"CRASH, FIRE, SAR NEG" REMAINS RETURNED 10/01/97
1972 PRATER ROY DEWITT TIFFIN OH.
"CRASH, FIRE, SAR NEG" REMAINS RETURNED 10/01/97

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

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On this day...
610 Lailat-ul Qadar, the night the koran descended to Earth
648 -BC- Earliest total solar eclipse; chronicled by Greeks
1327 Italian poet Petrarch 1st sets eyes on his beloved Laura
1663 King Charles II signs Carolina Charter
1712 Slave revolt in New York
1789 1st US Congress begins regular sessions, Federal Hall, NYC
1830 Joseph Smith & 5 others organizes Mormon church in Seneca Co, NY
1841 Cornerstone laid for 2nd Mormon temple, Nauvoo, Missouri
1848 Jews of Prussia granted equality
1853 Asteroid 25, Phocaea discovered
1853 J Chacornac discovers asteroid #25 Phocaea
1855 J Chacornac discovers asteroid #34 Circe
1859 US recognizes Liberal government in M‚xico's War of the Reform
1862 Battle of Shiloh, Union defeats Confederacy in SW Tennessee
1865 Battle of Sayler's Creek, 1/3rd of Lee's army cut off
1866 G.A.R. established
1868 Brigham Young marries his 27th & final wife
1878 Prosper Henry discovers asteroid #186 Celuta
1883 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of the Speckled Band" (BG)
1886 City of Vancouver, BC incorporated
1886 Declaration of Berlin neutralizes Tonga
1891 J Palisa discovers asteroid #309 Fraternitas
1893 Andy Bowen & Jack Burke box 7 hrs 19 mins to no decision (111 rounds)
1893 Longest bout in boxing history ends after 7 hrs in St Louis
1893 Mormon temple in Salt Lake City dedicated
1896 1st modern Olympic games begin in Athens (3/25 OS)
American, James Connolly, wins 1st Olympic gold medal in mod history
1900 Jim Jeffries KO's Jack Finnegan in 55 seconds
1905 P Gotz discovers asteroid #563 Suleika
1906 1st animated cartoon copyrighted
1908 J H Metcalf discovers asteroid #755 Quintilla
1909 1st credit union established in US
1909 Matthew Henson, explorer, leads a party of 6 to North Pole
1909 North Pole reached by Americans Robert Peary & Matthew Henson
1916 S Belyavskij discovers asteroid #857 Glasenappia
1917 US declares war on Germany, enters World War I
1922 B Jekhovsky discovers asteroid #977 Philippa
1924 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful around-the-world flight
1926 Montreal Maroons beat Victoria Cougars 3 games to 1 for Stanley Cup
1930 1st transcontinental glider tow completed
1931 1st Scottsboro (Ala) trial begins - 9 blacks accused of rape
1935 H Levitt sinks 499 basketball free throws, misses & sinks 371 more
1936 Tornado, kills 203 & injuring 1,800 in Gainesville Georgia
1939 US & UK agree on joint control of Canton & Enderbury Is (Pacific)
1941 Italian-held Addis Ababa capitulates to British & Ethiopian forces
1942 K Reinmuth discovers asteroid #2249 Yamamoto
1943 British & US army link up in Africa during WW II
1947 Jimmy Demaret wins his 2nd Masters golf tournament
1952 Sam Snead wins his 2nd Masters golf tournament
1954 Mont Canadiens score 3 goals in 56 sec in playoff game against Det
1957 NYC ends trolley car service
1958 Arnold Palmer wins 1st major golf tournament-the Masters
1965 Intelsat 1 ("Early Bird") 1st coml geosynchronous comm satellite
1966 Mihir Sen swims the Palk Strait between Sri Lanka & India
1967 T Smirnova discovers asteroid #1804 Chebotarev
1968 94.5% of East German voters approve new socialist constitution
1968 Gunpowder stocks at a sporting-goods store explode, killing 43 (Va)
1968 HemisFair 1968 opens in San Antonio, Texas
1973 Pioneer 11 launched toward Jupiter & Saturn
1973 Yankee Ron Blomberg becomes 1st designated hitter, he walks
1974 200,000 attend rock concert "California Jam"
1974 Yankees 1st home game at Shea Stadium, beat Indians 6-1
1975 Bundy victim Denise Oliverson disappears from Grand Junction, Colo
1975 Fastest hat trick by a Wash Cap 3 mins 26 secs (Stan Gilbertson)
1976 1st quadrophonic movie track: "Ladies & Gentlemen the Rolling Stones"
1977 Judge rules the Beatles 1962 Hamburg album can be released
1977 The Kingdome in Seattle opens
1979 Rod Stewart & Alana Collins wed
1980 Gordie Howe completes a record 26th season
1982 Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center from White Sands
1983 Caps 2-Isles 5-Patrick Div Semifinals- Isles hold 1-0 lead
1984 11th Space Shuttle Mission (41-C)-Challenger 5 is launched
1985 Atlantis (OV-104) rollout at Palmdale
1986 Soccer ball juggled non-stop for 14:14 hrs
1987 Sugar Ray Leonard upsets Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Al Campanis appears on Niteline saying blacks may not be equiped
to be in baseball management, sparking a racial controversy
1988 NJ Devils' 1st playoff game; lose to Isles 4-3 (OT) in 1st round
1991 Former child actor Adam Rich arrested for breaking into a pharmacy
1991 NY-NJ Knights 1st home game (Giant Stad) lose to Frankfurt 27-17
1992 1st game at Camden Field, Balt-Orioles beat Indians 2-0
1992 Britain Radio Authority licenses Virgin & TV-AM radio licenses
1992 Duke beats Michigan 71-51 for NCCA basketball championship
1992 Voting begins on choice of Elvis postage stamps

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

Ethiopia : Victory Day
South Africa : Van Riebeeck Day-founding of Capetown
Thailand : Chakri Day
Switzerland : Glarius Festival (1388) - - - - - ( Thursday )
Mass : Student Government Day - - - - - ( Friday )

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Religious Observances
Unification Church : Parents Day
Luth : Commemoration of Albrecht Drer, artists
Luth : Commemoration of Michelangelo, artists
Christian : Low (Quasimodo) Sunday, the Octave Day of Easter

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Religious History
6 BC This day is believed by some Biblical scholars to be the actual date of the historical birth of Jesus Christ.
1735 The first Moravians from Europe arrived in America. Invited by colonial governor James Oglethorpe, ten males of the "Unitas Fratrum" landed in Savannah, Georgia after sailing from England in February.
1830 James Augustine Healy, the first black Roman Catholic bishop in America, was born to an Irish planter and a slave on a plantation near Macon, Georgia.
1868 Mormon church leader Brigham Young, 67, married his 27th and last wife. (In all, Brigham Young's wives bore him 47 children.)
1952 American missionary and Auca Indian martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'Faith makes life so even, gives one such confidence, that the words of men are as wind.'

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Thought for the day :
" Even the smallest candle burns brighter in the dark. "

[BenLurkin]

Not intended as serious history but thoroughly enjoyable nontheless, may I recommend:

[SAMWolf]

Morning Jen

[SAMWolf]

Morning WaterDragon. WWI doesn't get a lot of coverage in our schools. Even when I was in school it was more a footnote.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Feather

[SAMWolf]

Good luck on your business trip aomagrat. I look forward to the return of your "Classic Warships"