The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Doolittle Raid (4/18/1942) - Apr. 18th, 2003

cv6.org ^

[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 Foxhole
join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time.

.

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

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The Doolittle Raid
April 18, 1942

In the wake of shock and anger following Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt pressed his military planners for a strike against Tokyo. Intended as revenge for Pearl Harbor, and an act of defiance in the face of a triumphant Japanese military, such a raid presented acute problems in execution. No working Allied air base was close enough to Japan. A carrier would have to approach within three hundred miles of the home islands for its planes to reach. Sending surface ships so close to Japan at that time would practically assure their destruction, if not from Japan's own surface forces, then from her ground-based planes or submarine forces.

Still Roosevelt insisted - demanded - that a way be found.

The first piece of the puzzle fell into place in the second week of January 1942. Captain Francis Lowe, attached to the Admiral Ernest King's staff in Washington, paid a visit to Norfolk, Virginia, to inspect the new carrier USS Hornet CV-8. There, on a nearby airfield, was painted the outline of a carrier, inspiring Lowe to pursue the possibility of launching ground-based bombers - large planes, with far greater range than carrier-based bombers - from the deck of an aircraft carrier.

By January 16, Lowe's air operations officer, Captain Donald Duncan, had developed a proposal: North American B-25 medium bombers, with capacity for a ton of bombs and capable of flying 2000 miles with additional fuel tanks, could take off in the short distance of a carrier deck, attack Japanese cities, and continue on to land on friendly airfields in mainland China.

Under a heavy veil of secrecy, Duncan and Captain Marc Mitscher, Hornet's commanding officer, tested the concept off the Virginia coast in early February, discovering the B-25s could be airborne in as little as 500 feet of deck space. The plan now began to develop into action.

On April 8, 1942, the same day that the Americans and Filipinos defending Bataan Peninsula surrendered, Enterprise steamed slowly out of Pearl Harbor. With her escorts - the cruisers Salt Lake City and Northampton, four destroyers and a tanker - she turned northwest and set course for a point in the north Pacific, well north of Midway, and squarely on the International Date Line.



Six days earlier, Enterprise's sister ship Hornet had sailed from San Francisco, also accompanied by a cruiser and destroyer screen. Ploughing westwards, Hornet carried a somewhat unusual cargo. Arrayed across her aft flight deck, in two parallel rows, sat 16 Mitchell B-25 bombers: Army Air Force medium bombers. By all appearances, the bombers were too large to possibly take off from a carrier deck.

Certainly, this is what the men in Enterprise's task force thought when Hornet and her escorts hove into view early April 12. Rumors spread about the force's mission: some thought the bombers were being delivered to a base in the Aleutians, while others speculated they were destined for a Russian airfield on the Kamchatka peninsula. When the Task Force Commander, Vice Admiral William F. Halsey, announced "This force is bound for Tokyo" Enterprise rang with a roar of enthusiasm and disbelief.

The plan was more daring than most could imagine. After refueling on April 17, Hornet, Enterprise - the force's Flagship - and four cruisers would leave the destroyers and tankers behind, to make a high speed dash west, towards the Japanese home islands. The next afternoon, Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle and his crew would take off alone, arrive over Tokyo at dusk, and drop incendiary bombs, setting fires to guide the remaining bombers to their targets. Three hours behind Doolittle, the remaining fifteen B-25s would be launched, just 500 miles from Tokyo. Navigating in darkness over open ocean, they'd be guided in by Doolittle's blazing incendiaries, and bomb selected military and industrial targets in Tokyo, as well as Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe.



Though the bombers could take off from a carrier deck, they couldn't land on a carrier. Instead of returning to Hornet, they'd escape to the southwest, flying over the Yellow Sea, then some 600 miles into China, to land at the friendly airfield at Chuchow (Zhuzhou). If all went well, the bombers would have a reserve of perhaps 20 minutes of fuel. Success depended on the carriers being able to approach within 500 miles of Japan undetected, and survival on the airmens' ability to evade the formidable air defenses expected near the target areas.

Things went according to plan until early April 18. Shortly after 0300, Enterprise's radar made two surface contacts, just ten miles from the task force. As the force went to general quarters, Halsey turned his ships north to evade the contacts, resuming the course west an hour later. Then, a little past 0600, LT Osborne B. Wiseman of Bombing Six flew low over Enterprise's deck, his radioman dropping a weighted message: a Japanese picket ship had been spotted 42 miles ahead, and Wiseman suspected his own plane had been sighted.

Halsey, however, forged ahead, the carriers and cruisers slamming through heavy seas at 23 knots. Still nearly two hundred miles short of the planned launching point, Halsey strove to give the Army pilots every possible advantage by carrying them as close to Tokyo as he dared.



Ninety minutes later, however, the gig was up. At 0738, Hornet lookouts spotted the masts of another Japanese picket. At the same time, radio operators intercepted broadcasts from the picket reporting the task force's presence. Halsey ordered the cruiser Nashville to dispose of the picket, and launched Doolittle's bombers into the air:

TO COL. DOOLITTLE AND HIS GALLANT COMMAND
GOOD LUCK AND GOD BLESS YOU - HALSEY

[Jen]

Good morning!!!!!!

[Jen]

It sure was a gutsy plan that made an impact in the outcome of WWII. Thanks for stopping by the Foxhole.

[Moose4]

Doolittle bump.

They held their 60th year reunion here in Columbia last year. Doolittle's Raiders trained in Columbia for a while before heading out to embark on their mission, on the site of what is now the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. The airport exit off Interstate 26 (SC 302) now has big signs proclaiming it the "Doolittle Raiders Interchange."

There was a big parade with each raider in a convertible, marching bands, the whole deal. And a flyover by 10 or 11 B-25s in their honor, it shook the entire downtown when those planes roared over. It was a huge event down here, we went all-out to show those brave heroes how much we still appreciate what they did.

}:-)4

[Johnny Gage]

Air Power
North American B-25 Mitchell

History: The B-25 was made immortal on April 18, 1942, when it became the first United States aircraft to bomb the Japanese mainland. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, sixteen Mitchells took off from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet, flew 800 miles (1287 km) to Japan, and attacked their targets. Most made forced landings in China. They were the heaviest aircraft at the time to be flown from a ship at sea.

The B-25 was designed for the United States' Army Air Corps before the Second World War. The North American company had never designed a multi-engine bomber before. The original design had shoulder-mounted wings and a crew of three in a narrow fuselage. The USAAC then decided its new bomber would need a much larger payload -- double the original specifications. North American designers dropped the wing to the aircraft's mid-section, and widened the fuselage so the pilot and co-pilot could sit side-by-side. They also improved the cockpit. The USAAC ordered 140 aircraft of the new design right off the drawing board. There were at least six major variants of the Mitchell, from the initial B-25A and B-25B, with two power-operated two-gun turrets, to the autopilot-equipped B-25C, and the B-25G with 75mm cannon for use on anti-shipping missions. The British designated the B-25Bs as the Mitchell I, the B-25C and B-25Ds as the Mitchell II, and their B-25Js, with 12 heavy machineguns, as the Mitchell III. The US Navy and Marine Corps designated their hard-nosed B-25Js as the PBJ-1J. In the end, the B-25 became the most widely used American medium bomber of World War Two.

After the war, many B-25s were used as training aircraft. Between 1951 and 1954, 157 Mitchells were converted as flying classrooms for teaching the Hughes E-1 and E-5 fire control radar. They were also used as staff transport, utility, and navigator-trainer aircraft. The last B-25, a VIP transport, was retired from the USAF on May 21, 1960. Approximately 34 B-25 Mitchells remain flying today, most as warbirds, although at least one earns its keep in Hollywood as an aerial camera platform. [History by David MacGillivray]

Specifications

Powerplant: Two Wright R-2600-13 Double Cyclone fourteen-cylinder air-cooled radials, each rated at 1700 hp each for takeoff, 1500 hp at 2400 rpm. Equipped with Holley 1685HA carburetors.

Performance: Maximum speed 284 mph at 15,000 feet. Cruising speed 233 mph at 15,000 feet. Initial climb rate 1100 feet per minute. An altitude of 15,000 feet could be reached in 16.5 minutes. Service ceiling 24,000 feet. Range 1500 miles with 3000 pounds of bombs.

Weights: 20,300 pounds empty, 34,000 pounds maximum loaded. The fuel capacity consisted of four tanks in the inner wing panels, with a total capacity of 670 US gallons. In addition, a 515-gallon tank could be installed in the bomb bay for ferrying purposes, bringing total fuel capacity to 1255 US gallons. Later versions had additional auxiliary fuel tanks in the outer wing panels. Later versions could also have 125-gallon tanks fitted in side waist positions, a 215-gallon self-sealing fuel tank installed in the bomb bay, and provisions could be made for a droppable 335-gallon metal bomb-bay fuel tank.

Dimensions: Wingspan 67 feet 67.7 inches, length 53 feet 0 inches, height 15 feet 9 inches, wing area 610 square feet.

Armament: Two 0.50-inch machine guns in dorsal turret. Starting with B-25D-5 the 0.30-inch nose gun was removed and replaced by a flexible 0.50-inch machine gun in the extreme nose and two fixed 0.50-inch machine mounted in the nose and firing through holes cut into the side of the Plexiglas glazing. Normal bomb load was 3000 pounds but could be increased on the B-25D-1-NA with external underwing racks to a maximum of 5200 pounds.


B-25's in formation from the 390th Squadron, 42nd Bomb Group "Crusaders"
13th Air Force in the South Pacific theater of World War II in late 1944
Off the Vogelkop (Bird's head) of Dutch New Guinea, near Cape Sorong.
Photo courtesy of Dick Hartt

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning, snippy.

Don't tell Jen, but I made up that formatting error story, the real reason I pulled the thread was the original one was too long, so I changed it too this shorter version.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for adding the Biography of Doolittle.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on April 18:
1480 Lucretia Borgia murderess (poison)/daughter (Pope Alexander VI)
1521 François de Coligny ruler of van Andelot, French General (Jarnac)
1580 Thomas Middleton English playwright (Game of Chess)
1590 Ahmed I 14th sultan of Turkey (1603-17)
1605 Giacomo Carissimi composer
1729 Gaetano B Vestris Italian/French ballet dancer
1732 George Colman "the Elder", playwright (baptised)
1740 Francis Baring banker/merchant
1744 Pieter 't Hoen Dutch journalist/patriot
1759 Jacques-Christian-Michel Widerkehr composer
1764 Bernhard Anselm Weber pianist/conductor/composer
1777 Ignac Ruzitska composer
1786 Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee composer
1797 Louis-Adolphe Thiers President of France
1803 Charles F Pahud de Montagnes Governor-General of Netherlands East Indies (1856-61)
1806 Ludwig Schuberth composer
1817 George Henry Lewes English philosophical writer (Life of Goethe)
1819 Franz von Suppé Spalato Dalmatia, composer (Light Cavalry Over)
1839 Frantz Jehin-Prume composer
1839 Henry Clarence Kendall New South Wales Australia, poet (Bell Birds)
1842 Antero Tarquinio de Quental Portugal, poet (Beatrice)
1845 Wilhelm Gericke composer
1852 George Clausen painter
1855 Abraham Bredius Dutch art historian (Jan Steen)
1855 Josef Gruber composer
1857 Clarence S Darrow defense attorney at the Scopes monkey trial
1859 Eduard G H H Cuypers architect (Sanatorium High-Laren)
1863 Felix Blumenfeld composer
1864 Richard Harding Davis US, journalist/author (In The Fig)
1868 Didericus G van Epen genealogist (Dutch Patriciate)
1871 Henry Stephenson British West Indies, actor (Conquest, Little Old New York, Mr Lucky)
1873 Jean Roger-Ducasse composer
1881 Hermann KJ Zilcher German pianist/composer (Dr Eisenbart)
1881 Max Weber Polish/Russian/US painter
1882 Leopold Stokowski London England, conductor (Cincinnati Symphony)
1884 Magda Janssens Flemish/Netherlands actress/acting teacher (Maria Stuart)
1888 Arnold Henry Moore Lunn skier
1889 Jessie Street Australian pro women's/aborigine rights fighter
1889 John Kilbane US, featherweight boxing champion (1912-23)
1890 James Rennie Toronto Ontario Canada, actor (Lash, Little Damozel)
1895 Anton F Pieck Dutch illustrator (Efteling, Kaatsheuvel) [or April 19]
1896 C Eugène Wegmann Swiss geologist (Le Jura plissé)
1897 Pedro Regas Sparta Greece, actor (Pat Paulsen's ½ Comedy Hour)
1898 Lord Leatherland British journalist/Labour peer
19-- Anna Kathryn Holbrook Fairbanks AK, actress (Sharlene-Another World)
19-- Bill Lazarus Washington DC, actor (Bad News Bears)
1900 Louise Tazewell [Louise Skiller Tazewell], entertainer
1901 László Németh Hungarian physician/author (Gyász/Galilei)
1903 Leonid Kinskey St Petersburg Russia, actor (Casablanca)
1903 Yury Sergeyevich Milyutin composer
1906 Clara Eggink [Ebbele], Dutch poetess (Life with JC Bloem)
1906 Edgar Unsworth Justice of Appeals (Gibralter)
1907 Stephen Longstreet American writer (All or Nothing)
1907 Miklós Rózsa Budapest Hungary, movie composer (Atomic Cafe, Fedora)
1908 Edward Roberts bishop (Ely)
1908 Henry Guinness missionary
1908 Joseph Keilberth German conductor (Bayreuther Festspiele)
1910 Jamie L Whitten (Representative-Democrat-MS, 1941- )
1910 Sylvia Fisher soprano (Albert Herring Opera)
1911 Francis Frederick Johnson architect
1911 George Huntington Hartford II New York NY, A&P heir
1912 Wendy Barrie Hong Kong, hostess (Wendy Barrie Show)
1912 John Lapworth Holt boat Designer
1913 Al Hodge actor (Captain Video)
1913 Kent Wheeler Kennan composer
1913 Milos Sokola composer
1913 Susan Bosence textile designer
1914 C S Nayudu cricketer (brother of C K, 11 Tests as leggie)
1914 Henk Lankhorst pacifist/Dutch MP (PSP)
1917 Louise Frederika Queen of Greece
1918 Robert Zimonyi Hungary, cox (Olympics-Hungary-bronze-1948/US-gold-64)
1918 Tony Mottola Kearney NJ, president of Sony Music Entertainment/guitarist/host (Melody Street)
1918 Roger de Grey president (Royal Academy)
1920 Walter Clegg MP
1921 Barbara Hale Dekalb IL, actress (Della Street-Perry Mason)
1922 Avril Angers actress (Brass Monkey)
1923 Baroness Platt of Writtle British CEO (Equal Opportunities Commission)
1923 Leif Panduro Danish writer ('k Have varnish on traditions)
1924 Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown Vinton La, blues singer (Mary is Fine)
1924 Buxton Daeblite Orr composer
1924 Henry J Hyde (Representative-Republican-IL)
1924 Lord Mason of Barnsley MP (Lab)/British defense secretary
1924 Raf de Linde [Raphaël van Hecke] author (Vaarwel on Gertrude)
1925 Bob Hastings Brooklyn NY, actor (McHale's Navy, All in the Family)
1925 Lionel Edmund "Sonny" Taylor musician
1925 Robert Caldwell Crawford composer
1926 Gunter Meisner Germany, actor (Between Wars, Quiller Memorandum)
1926 Doug Insole cricketer (England batsman of the 50's, nine Tests)
1927 Jim De Courcy cricketer (in Newcastle Australian batsman 1953)
1928 Jean-François Pailliard Vitry-le-François France, conductor
1929 Peter Hordern British CEO (Fina)
1929 Peter Jeffrey actor (Dr Phibes Rides Again, Twinsanity)
1930 Clive Revill Wellington New Zealand, actor (Legend of Hell House)
1931 Klas Lestander Sweden, 20K biathlon (Olympics-gold-1960)
1932 Dominic Milroy OSB/headmaster (Ampleforth College England)
1933 Alan Devereux CEO (Scottish Tourist Board)
1934 James Drury New York NY, actor (Virginian)
1934 Jaap F Scherpenhuizen Dutch MP (VVD)
1934 Jan Klusak composer
1934 Jap F Scherpenhuizen Dutch MP (VVD)
1934 Mark Kingston actor (Intimate Contact)
1935 Joel Hefley (Representative-Republican-CO)
1935 Paul A Rothchild record producer
1936 Brian Fuller commandant (Fire Service College, England)
1936 Harold Innocent [HS Harrison] English actor (Tall Guy)
1936 Madeleine Gillian Jinkinson medical administrator
1937 Robert Hooks Washington DC, actor (Fast Walking, Aaron Loves Angela)
1937 Tatyana Shchelkanova USSR, long jumper (Olympics-bronze-1964)
1938 Andreas J "Cat" Liebenberg supreme commander (South Africa army)
1939 Glen Hardin rocker
1939 Von McDaniel baseball player
1940 Ed Garvey labor leader (Major League Baseball Players Association)
1940 Joseph L Goldstein Sumter SC, physician (Nobel-1985)
1940 Ira von Furstenberg [Virginia Caroline] Rome Italy, Princess (Monaco)
1940 Skip Stephenson Omaha NE, comedian (Real People)
1941 Mike Vickers guitarist (Manfred Mann-Mighty Quinn)
1942 Dick K J Tommel chemist/(D66) Dutch Assistant Secretary of State (1994- )
1942 Jochen Rindt German race car driver
1944 Irvine Shillingford cricketer (cousin of Grayson, 4 Tests for West Indies)
1944 Rudy Shackelford composer
1946 Hayley Mills London England, actress (Parent Trap, Pollyanna)
1946 [Alexander] Skip Spence Windsor Ontario Canada, guitarist/vocalist (Moby Grape-Omaha)
1946 Anne Boyd composer
1946 Harvey Kagan rocker
1946 Lenny Baker rocker (Sha Na Na)
1947 Cindy Pickett actress (Ferris Bueller, Hot to Trot, St Elsewhere)
1947 Dorothy Lyman Minneapolis MN, (All my Children, Naomi-Mama's Family)
1947 James Woods Warwick RI, actor (Salvador, Against All Odds)
1947 Lori Martin Glendale CA, actress (Velvet-National Velvet)
1947 David Gee director (Friends of the Earth)
1948 "Tiny" Nate Archibald NBA guard (Cincinnati)
1948 Catherine Malfitano New York NY, soprano (Metropolitan Opera)
1948 Skip Stephenson Omaha NE, comedian (Real People)
1950 Bill Sudderth III trumpeter (Atlantic Star-Touch 4 Leaf Clover)
1952 Jim Scholten Midland MI, country singer (Betty's Bein' Bad)
1953 Rick Moranis Toronto Ontario Canada, (SCTV, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Spaceballs)
1954 Kim Stone bassist (Spyro Gyra-Morning Dance)
1955 Amschel Rothschild banker
1955 Anne-Marie Palli Ciboure France, LPGA golfer (1992 ShopRite)
1956 Eric Roberts Biloxi MS, actor (Pope of Greenwich Village, King of Gypsies)
1956 John James Minneapolis MN, actor (Jeff Colby-Dynasty)
1956 Melody Thomas Scott Los Angeles CA, actress (Nikki-Young & Restless)
1956 David Wayne Edwards Neosho MO, PGA golfer (1980 Walt Disney)
1958 Les Pattinson Ormskirk Merseyside England, rock bassist (Echo & the Bunnymen-Heaven Up Here)
1958 Bernadette Robi model/ex-wife of football player Lynn Swann
1958 Malcolm Marshall cricketer (West Indies quickie 1978-91, West Indies top wicket-taker)
1959 Jim Eisenreich St Cloud MN, outfielder (Philadelphia Phillies, Florida Marlins)
1961 Kelly Hansen heavy metal rocker (Hurricane-I'm on to You)
1961 Ian Doig Seaforth Ontario Canada, Canadian Tour golfer (1985 Florida Classic)
1961 Jane Leeves London England, actress (Murphy Brown, Daphne Moon-Fraiser)
1961 Jeff Cook Muncie IN, Nike golfer (1990 Greater Ozarks Open)
1961 Pamella Bordes New Dehli India, British parliament prostitute
1962 Mick Sweda heavy metal (Bulletboys, King Kobra-Ready to Strike)
1962 Shirlie Hollman rocker (Pepsi & Shirley-All Right Now)
1962 Wilber Marshall NFL linebacker (New York Jets)
1963 Conan [Christopher] O'Brien Brookline MA, TV host (Late Night)
1963 Phil Simmons cricketer (West Indian opening batsman)
1964 Robert Kelker-Kelly actor (Another World)
1965 Diana Villegas México, rocker (Triplets-You DOn't Have To Go)
1965 Sylvia Villegas México, rocker (Triplets-You DOn't Have To Go)
1965 Vicky Villegas México, rocker (Triplets-You DOn't Have To Go)
1966 Chuck Wade Menomonee Falls WI, diver (Olympics-96)
1966 Michelle Chryst WPVA volleyballer (Santa Cruz-17th-1994)
1966 Valeri Kamensky Voskresensk Russia, NHL left wing (Avalanche, Olympics-silver-98)
1967 Jayce Fincher Jr heavy metal bassist (Southgang-Tainted Angel)
1967 Kenneth Gant NFL safety (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1967 Marcel Valk soccer player (RKC, Go Ahead Eagles)
1969 Vladimir Tsyplakov Inta Russia, NHL left wing (Los Angeles Kings, Belarus 1998)
1970 Carl Simpson NFL defensive tackle (Chicago Bears)
1970 Francois Leroux Ste-adele, NHL defenseman (Pittsburgh Penguins)
1970 Heike Friedrich East Germany swimmer (world record 200 meter)
1970 Peter Giles London Ontario Canada, kayaker (Olympics-96)
1970 Vladimir Antipin hockey defenseman (Team Kazakhstan Olympics-1998)
1970 William Roaf NFL tackle (New Orleans Saints)
1971 Dan Kordic Edmonton, NHL defenseman (Philadelphia Flyers)
1971 Kerry Lynn Kemper Miss Nebraska-USA (1996)
1971 Oleg Petrov Moscow Russia, NHL right wing (Montréal Canadiens)
1972 Jeff Traversy CFL defensive tackle (Calgary Stampeders)
1973 Derrick Brooks NFL linebacker (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
1973 Haile Gebresleassie Ethiopia, 10k runner (Olympics-gold-96)
1973 James "Jamie" Koven Morristown NJ, rower (Olympics-5th-1996)
1976 Melissa Joan Hart Sayville NY, actress (Clarissa, Sabrina)
1992 Frances Bean Cobain daughter of Kurt Cobain & Courtney Love

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Deaths which occurred on April 18:
0680 Mu'awijja kalief of Al-Schaam, dies
1504 Filippino Lippi painter, dies at about 52
1530 François Lambert d'Avignon French church reformer, dies at about 43
1552 John Leland antiquary, dies
1556 Luigi Alamanni Italian poet (Flora, Antigone), dies at 61
1567 Wilhelm von Grumbach German military man, dies at 63
1587 John Foxe author (Book of Martyrs), dies
1610 Robert Parsons English jesuit leader/plotter, dies at 63
1612 Emanuel Van Meteren merchant/historian, dies
1679 Hofmannswaldau writer, dies
1684 Gonzales Cocx [Coques] painter, dies
1689 George Jeffreys 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem/infamous judge, dies
1690 Charles V Leopold Duke of Lotharingen/Austrian fieldmarshal, dies
1710 Pierre de La Barre composer, dies at 75
1800 John Evangelist Schreiber composer, dies at 84
1800 Pieter Fouquet art merchant (Atlas of Fouquet), dies
1807 Erasmus Darwin physician/writer (Influence), dies
1818 Pieter Ondaatje Ceylon/Dutch lawyer, dies at 59
1824 Edward Jones composer, dies at 72
1830 Jose Mauricio Nunes Garcia composer, dies at 62
1845 Nicholas T the Saussure Swiss chemist/botany, dies at 77
1853 William King US Vice President, dies a month after his inauguration
1854 Joseph Antoni Frantiszek Elsner composer, dies at 84
1855 Jean-Baptiste Isabey painter, dies
1860 Count István Széchenyi statesman, commits suicide
1861 Heinrich August Neithardt composer, dies at 67
1867 Robert Smirke architect, dies
1871 Omar Pasha [Michael Lats] Croatian Governor, dies at 64
1873 Justus Freiherr von Liebig German chemist, dies at 69
1874 David Livingstone buried in Westminster Abbey
1879 Anthony Pannizim principal librarian (British Museum), dies
1883 Agnes Tyrrell composer, dies at 36
1898 Gustave Moureau painter, dies
1905 Juan Valera bon Alcalá Galiano Sp author (Pepita Jiménez), dies at 80
1917 Moritz F Freiherr von Bissing Governor-General of Belgium (1914-17), dies at 73
1919 Enny Vrede [Maria M Müller] Dutch actress, drowns at 35
1921 Earnest [Bachigaloupi] Tourniaire actor (Inkwartiering), dies at 70
1925 Charles Ebbets president (Dodgers), dies
1928 Henryk Melcer-Szczawinski composer, dies at 58
1935 Ignazio Guidi Italian orientalist/archaeologist, dies at 90
1936 Ottorino Respighi Italian composer (Belkis), dies at 56
1936 Seaborn M Denson composer, dies at 82
1938 Richard Runciman Terry musicologist, dies
1939 Theo Mann actress (Pink Bernd, Hedda Gabler), dies at 88
1940 Florrie Forde music hall artist, dies
1940 Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher historian, dies
1941 Alexander Korysis PM of Greece, commits suicide
1943 I Yamamoto Admiral of Japanese fleet, dies
1944 Cécile Chamindale composer, dies
1945 Ernest T Pyle British/US newscaster, killed in WWII at 44
1945 John Ambrose Fleming electrical engineer, dies
1947 Benny Leonard lightweight boxing champion (1917-25), dies at 51
1949 Leonard Bloomfield linguist/philosopher, dies
1955 Albert Einstein German/US physicist (E=MC²), dies
1955 Don Blackie cricketer (3 Tests for Australia 1928-29), dies at 46
1955 Eugen Herrigel Zen philosopher/scholar, dies in Germany at 70
1958 Maurice-Gustave Gamelin French Generalissmo (WWI, WWII), dies at 85
1958 Richard B Goldschmidt German zoologist (butterflies), dies
1959 Irving Cummings Sr actor/director (In Old Arizona), dies at 70
1960 Emory Johnson director (Phantom Express, Shield of Honor), dies at 66
1963 Henrietta Kreis 3rd of famous Wallenda aerialist to fall to death
1964 Ben Hecht playwright (Child of the Century), dies at 71
1964 Albe Vidakovic composer, dies at 49
1969 Piotr F Scharoff Russian/Italian actor/director (Chechov), dies at 82
1971 Masao Oki composer, dies at 69
1974 Betty Compson actress (Barker, Weary River, Drag Net), dies at 77
1974 Marcel Pagnol French writer/movie (Topaz), dies at 79
1975 Rob Touber [Robert J Noordervliet) chansonnier/director, dies at 38
1976 Percy Julian holder of more than 138 chemical patents, dies at 78
1983 Alan Melville cricketer (11 Tests for South Africa, 894 runs), dies
1984 John Lee Mahin screenwriter, dies of emphysema at 81
1986 Marcel Dassault [Bloch] French airplane builder, dies at 94
1990 Robert D Webb director/actor (Love Me Tender, Jackals), dies at 87
1992 Florence Randall model/designer (Bill Blass), dies at 54 of cancer
1993 Arthur P Smith US founder of Miami Planetarium, dies at 76
1994 Ken Oosterbroek South African press photographer, shot dead at 32
1995 Arturo Frondizi President of Argentina (1958-62), dies
1996 Kalim Siddiqui islamic campaigner, dies at 62
1996 Michael Leander Farr record producer, dies at 55
1996 Piet Hein architect/poet/mathematician/inventor, dies at 80
1996 Robert William Paine architect, dies at 88
1997 Edward Barker cartoonist, dies at 46

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 WHEELER JAMES A. TUCSON AZ.
CRASH TARGET AREA

1969 ELLIS RANDALL S. CHARLESTON SC.

1973 JAMES SAMUEL L. CHATTANOOGA TN.
"DEAD, CHARRED BODIES FOUND" REMAINS IDENTIFIED 04/16/99 ID DISPUTED

1973 MARTIN DOUGLAS K. TYLER TX.
"DEAD, CHARRED BODIES FOUND" REMAINS IDENTIFIED 04/16/99


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

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On this day...
0310 St Eusebius begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0387 Bishop Ambrosius of Milan baptizes Augustinus
1521 Parliament of Worms Cardinal Alexander questions Martin Luther
1552 Mauritius of Saksen occupies Linz
1599 Valencia arch duke Albrecht of Austrian marries Isabella of Spain
1663 Osman declares war on Austria
1666 Peace of Kleef Netherlands & bishop Von Galen of Münster
1676 Sudbury MA attacked by Indians
1775 Paul Revere & William Dawes warn "the British are coming!"
1797 France & Austria sign cease fire
1809 1st run of 2,000 guineas horse race at Newmarket England
1834 Charles Darwin sails to Rio Santa Cruz up Patagonia
1835 William Lamb Lord Melbourne forms British government
1838 Wilkes' expedition to South Pole sails
1839 Henry Kendall, New South Wales Australia, poet (Bell Birds)
1853 1st train in Asia (Bombay to Tanna, 36 km)
1856 Russian Republic Chancellor Earl von Nesselrode resigns
1861 Colonel Robert E Lee turns down offer to command Union armies
1861 Battle of Harpers Ferry WV
1862 Battles of Fort Jackson, Fort St Philip & New Orleans LA
1864 Battle of Poison Springs AR (Camden Expedition)
1865 Confederate General Johnson surrendered to General Sherman in North Carolina
1868 San Francisco Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals formed
1869 1st international cricket match, held in San Francisco, is won by Californian
1876 Daniel O'Leary completes a 500 mile walk in 139 hours 32 minutes
1879 Trial of Standing Bear-Crook on Indians citizen rights begins
1881 Natural History Museum of South Kensington England opens
1890 New York Commission of Emigration ends, closing Castle Clinton
1899 John McGraw, at 36, managerial debut as Oriole manager
1902 Denmark is 1st country to adopt fingerprinting to identify criminals
1904 L'Humanité, under Jean Jaurès begins publishing
1906 San Francisco earthquake & fire kills nearly 4,000 & destroys 75% of the city
1906 Calvinist Reformed Union in Netherlands Church forms in Utrecht
1906 San Francisco Earthquake (one of the most significant earthquakes of all time) kills over 700 people
1907 Fairmont Hotel opens
1907 Augustus Thomas' "Witching Hour", premieres in NYC
1908 Tommy Burns KOs Jewy Smith in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1909 Joan of Arc declared a saint
1918 Cleveland center fielder Tris Speaker turns an unassisted double play
1921 Junior Achievement incorporated in Colorado Springs CO
1921 Philip James Barry's "Punch for Judy", premieres in NYC
1922 Netherlands soccer team defeats Denmark 2-0
1923 74,000 (62,281 paid) on hand for opening of Yankee Stadium
1923 Poland annexes Central Lithuania
1924 1st crossword puzzle book published (Simon & Schuster)
1925 World's fair opens in Chicago
1926 Rhein Stadium opens in Dusseldorf Germany
1927 Chiang Kai-shek forms anti-government in China
1929 Palace for People's industry in Amsterdam devastated by fire
1934 1st "Washateria" (laundromat) opens (Fort Worth TX)
1934 Hitler names Joachim von Ribbentrop, ambassador for disarmament
1935 General Sarazen's double eagle on the 15th, wins him his 2nd Masters
1935 Netherlands election (Musserts NSB wins 8% of vote)
1936 Pan-Am Clipper begins regular passenger flights from San Francisco CA to Honolulu HI
1938 Headless Mad Butcher victim found in Cleveland
1939 Franz von Papen becomes German ambassador in Turkey
1939 Hubert Pierlot forms Belgian government
1942 "Stars & Stripes" paper for US armed forces starts
1942 James H Doolittle bombs Tokyo & other Japanese cities
1942 Stanley Cup Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 3
1944 48th Boston Marathon won by Gerard Coté of Canada in 2:31:50.4
1944 Leonard Bernstein & Jerome Robbins' ballet "Fancy Free" premieres in NYC
1945 Clandestine Radio 1212, after broadcasting pro-nazi propoganda for months used their influence to trap 350,000 German army group B troops
1945 1 armed outfielder, St Louis Brown Pete Gray, 1st game he goes 1 for 4
1945 Epe freed (by corporal G van Aken)
1946 League of Nations dissolves (3 months after the UN starts)
1946 "Call Me Mister" opens at National Theater NYC for 734 performances
1946 Jackie Robinson debuts as 2nd baseman for the Montréal Royals
1946 Rome/Auerbach/Horwitt's musical "Call Me Mister", premieres in NYC
1946 US recognizes Tito's Yugoslavia government
1948 International Court of Justice opens at Hague Netherlands
1949 Republic of Ireland withdraws from British Commonwealth
1950 1st transatlantic jet passenger trip
1950 New York Yankees win 15-10 after trailing Red Sox 9-0 in 6th
1950 1st opening night-game, St Louis Cardinals beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-2
1950 Polish Catholic church & government sign accord over relations
1950 Sam Jethroe is 1st black to play for Boston Braves
1951 "Make a Wish" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 102 performances
1951 Dutch Antilles government of Da Costa Gomez forms
1951 France, West Germany & Benelux form European Steel & Coal Community
1951 New York Yankee Mickey Mantle goes 1-for-4 in his 1st game
1953 "Pal Joey" closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 542 performances
1954 Colonel Nasser seizes power & becomes PM of Egypt
1954 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1955 "Ankles Aweigh" opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 176 performances
1955 1st "Walk"/"Don't Walk" lighted street signals installed
1955 1st Bandoeng Conference - Afro-Asian conference opens
1956 Egypt & Israel agree to a cease fire
1958 Government troops reconquer Padang, Middle-Sumatra Indonesia
1958 National League single-game record of 78,682, Giants lose to Dogers 6-5, in Los Angeles
1959 Stanley Cup Montréal Canadiens beat Toronto Maple Leafs, 4 games to 1
1962 16th NBA Championship Boston Celtics beat Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 3
1963 "Sophie" opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 8 performances
1963 Dr James Campbell performed the 1st human nerve transplant
1963 Stanley Cup Toronto Maple Leafs beat Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 1
1964 "Cafe Crown" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 3 performances
1964 "Foxy" closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 72 performances
1964 Artisans strike in Belgium ends
1964 Sandy Koufax is 1st to strike out the side on 9 pitches
1964 Van Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr Sloane"
1966 Bill Russell became 1st black coach in NBA history (Boston Celtics)
1968 1st ABA basketball championship begins
1968 San Francisco's Old Hall of Justice is demolished
1968 178,000 employees of US Bell Telephone System go on strike
1968 Dutch Department of Amnesty International forms
1968 London Bridge is sold to US oil company (to be erected in Arizona)
1968 Mart Crowley's "Boys in the Band", premieres in NYC
1968 Peter Luke's "Hadrian VII", premieres in London
1968 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1969 Melina Mercouri establishes Greek Aid Fund
1971 Gavaskar makes 220 in 2nd inning vs West Indies after 124 in 1st
1971 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Raleigh Golf Classic
1972 "Lost in the Stars" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 39 performances
1974 Red Brigade kidnaps Italian Attorney General Mario Sossi
1975 John Lennon releases "Stand by Me"
1976 30th Tony Awards Travesties & Chorus Line win
1976 Judy Rankin wins LPGA Karsten - Ping Golf Open
1977 6th Boston Women's Marathon won by Miki Gorman of California in 2:48:33
1977 81st Boston Marathon won by Jerome Drayton of Canada in 2:14:46
1977 Alex Haley, author of "Roots", awarded Pulitzer Prize
1977 Baltimore Orioles' Eddie Murray hits his 1st homerun
1977 Pulitzer prize awarded to Michael Cristofer for "Shadow Box"
1977 Stephen Sondheim's musical "Side by Side" premieres at Music Box NYC for 390 performances
1978 Senate votes to turn Panamá Canal over to Panamá on Dec 31, 1999
1979 "Real People" premieres on NBC TV
1979 Major Haddad declares South-Lebanon independent
1980 Zimbabwe (formerly Southern Rhodesia) declares independence from UK
1981 Pawtucket & Rochester start a 33-inning baseball game
1982 Canada Constitution Act replaces British North America Act
1982 Atlanta Braves win record 11th straight opening game (beat Houston Astros)
1982 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA CPC Women's Golf International
1982 Zimbabwe capital Salisbury renamed Harare
1983 A lone suicide bomber kills 63, at the US Embassy in Lebanon
1983 KMO-AM in Tacoma WA changes call letters to KAMT (now KKMO)
1983 Rangers 3-Islanders 1-Patrick Division Finals-Series tied at 2-2
1983 12th Boston Women's Marathon won by Joan Benoit Samuelson in 2:22:43
1983 87th Boston Marathon won by Greg Meyer of Massachusetts in 2:09:00
1983 Pulitzer prize awarded to Alice Walker for "The Color Purple"
1984 Challenger flies back to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly AFB
1985 Flyers 3-Islanders 0-Patrick Division Finals-Flyers hold 1-0 lead
1986 Robert M Gates, becomes deputy director of CIA
1986 Titan rocket explodes seconds after liftoff from Vandenberg AFB
1987 An unconscious skydiver is rescued by another diver in mid-air
1987 Bob Land wins his 6th straight Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race
1987 Mike Schmidt hits 500th home run (vs. Robinson-Pirates)
1987 Pat Knauff, France sets 1-leg downhill ski speed record (115.012 mph)
1987 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Maralinga Australia
1988 Barbra Streisand records "Warm All Over"
1988 17th Boston Women's Marathon won by Rosa Mota of Portugal in 2:24:30
1988 92nd Boston Marathon won by Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya in 2:08:43
1990 Bankruptcy court forces Frank Lorenzo to give up Eastern Airlines
1990 Birmingham Fire issued an original franchise in the WLAF
1990 Supreme Court rules that states could make it a crime to possess or look at child pornography, even in one's home
1991 Congress ends railroad workers' 1 day strike
1991 Census Bureau says it failed to count up to 63 million in 1990 census
1991 John Stockton breaks his own NBA season assist record at 1,136
1992 Start of South Africa's 1st Test Cricket since 1970 (v West Indies Bridgetown)
1992 Tennis ace Stefan Edberg marries Annette Olsen in Sweden
1993 "Ain't Broadway Grand" opens at Lunt-Fontanne Theater NYC for 25 performances
1993 54th PGA Seniors Golf Championship Tom Wargo
1993 Beirut-hostage Terry Anderson marries Madeleine Bassil
1993 David Lee Roth arrested in New York NY for purchasing marijuana for $10
1993 Trish Johnson wins LPGA Atlanta Women's Golf Championship
1994 "Beauty & the Beast" opens at Palace Theater NYC
1994 23rd Boston Women's Marathon won by Uta Pippig of Germany in 2:21:45
1994 98th Boston Marathon won by Cosmas Ndeti of Kenya in 2:07:15
1994 Arsenio Hall announces he will end his show in May 1994
1994 Brian Lara scores 375 for West Indies vs England to beat Sobers' world record
1994 Former President Richard Nixon suffers a stroke & dies 4 days later
1994 Lebanon drops relations with Iran
1994 Roseanne Barr Arnold files for divorce from Tom Arnold
1994 STS-59 (Endeavour) lands [approximately]
1995 Houston Post folds after 116 years
1995 Quarterback Joe Montana announces his retirement from football
1996 "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", opens at St James Theater NYC for 715 performances

---

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

Oklahoma : 89'ers Day rodeos commemorate opening of Oklahoma in 1889
Zimbabwe : Independence Day (1989)
Massachusetts, Maine : Patriots Day-Boston Marathon run (1775) - - - - - ( Monday )

---

Religious Observances
Moslem : 'Id al-Adha (Dhûl-Hijjah 10, 1417 AH)

---

Religious History
1521 German reformer Martin Luther, at the Diet of Worms, proclaimed that a biblical foundation supported the theological position of his "Ninety-Five Theses." Luther ended his defense with the famous words: 'Here I stand! I can do nothing else! God help me! Amen.'
1606 In Rome, Julius II laid the foundation stone of the second building of St. Peter's Basilica. Completed 20 years later by Urban VIII, St. Peter's today is the largest church in Christendom, with an overall length of 619 feet.
1874 In England, the remains of Scottish missionary David Livingstone (who had died the previous year in Africa at age 60) were interred in London's Westminster Abbey.
1882 Birth of George S. Schuler, American music educator. Affiliated with Moody Bible Institute for 40 years, Schuler is remembered today for composing the melody to the hymn, "Make Me a Blessing."
1930 American pioneer linguist Frank C. Laubach, while serving as a missionary in the Philippines, wrote in a letter: 'After an hour of close friendship with God, my soul feels clean as new fallen snow.'

---

Thought for the day :
"If we were intended to talk more than we hear, we'd have two mouths and only one ear."

[Mudboy Slim]

Good mornin', sir...EXCELLENT POST!!

And thanks fer the heads-up, AJ...MUD

[SAMWolf]

Morning Spooky. I remember reading the book and seeing the movie "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" when I was a kid.

Since then I've always remembered the B-25 called "The Ruptured Duck"

Col. Dean Davenport, the co-pilot of the World War II bomber crew whose role in the Doolittle raid over Japan was recounted in the book and movie "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo".

On the morning of April 18, 1942, a group of 16 Army Air Forces B-25 bombers, under the command of Lt. Col. James H. Doolittle, took off from the aircraft carrier Hornet for a low-level, daylight bombing attack that brought the war to the Japanese homeland for the first time.The raid resulted in minimal damage to military and industrial sites, but lifted the spirits of an American home front reeling from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It forced the Japanese to take costly defensive measures and brought Doolittle the Medal of Honor.

The seventh plane to depart from the Hornet was the Ruptured Duck, flown by First Lt. Ted W. Lawson and his co-pilot, Second Lieutenant Davenport. They flew the twin-engine bomber 700 miles to Tokyo, bombed a steel plant, then headed for an airstrip in China. The 16 bombers, without enough fuel to return to the Hornet, were supposed to land at airfields in parts of China that had not fallen to the Japanese. But they ran into a storm, and most of the 80 crewmen bailed out or crash-landed. Three died and eight were captured by Japanese troops. Three of the captives were executed and one died of dysentery.

The Ruptured Duck crashed at night in the East China Sea, a quarter-mile from a beach where its pilots had tried to land. Lieutenants Lawson and Davenport, strapped into their seats, were catapulted through the plane's windshield as it sank in shallow water. Lieutenant Lawson suffered a gashed leg and facial injuries and Lieutenant Davenport had a fractured leg and a concussion, but the pilots and the other three crewmen swam to the beach.

They were found by Chinese guerrillas, and over the next seven weeks were carried in chairs, rickshaws and trucks until being rescued by an Army Air Forces plane that took them to India. The crewmen flew on to the United States and, with other returning Doolittle fliers, received the Distinguished Flying Cross from Gen. Henry Arnold, commander of the Army Air Forces.The ordeal of the Ruptured Duck's crew was recounted in 1943 by the newly promoted Captain Lawson in "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" (Random House), written while he was convalescing from the amputation of his left leg. The book described the moment when the battered lieutenants found each other on the Chinese beach: "Speaking, and the sight of each other, seemed to bring us further along toward complete consciousness and both of us began to moan, standing there next to each other in the black rain."

Lieutenant Davenport was a technical adviser for the 1944 movie "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," in which he was portrayed by Tim Murdock, and he flew a B-25 bomber off a pier in Santa Monica, Calif., in a scene depicting the departure from the Hornet. Dean Davenport, born in Spokane, Wash., grew up in Oregon and was a pre-law student when he joined the armed forces. He remained in the service after World War II and returned to combat in the Korean War, flying 86 missions as a fighter pilot. He retired as a colonel in 1967. In addition to the Distinguished Flying Cross, he was awarded the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit.

[manna]

Present!

[SAMWolf]

Too bad they scrapped her.

It'd consider it justice to sail her to the coast of france and replay the Morocco Landings.

[SAMWolf]

Darn I wish I could have seen that flyover!

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Johnny. Great pics of the Mitchell!

[SAMWolf]

1955 1st "Walk"/"Don't Walk" lighted street signals installed

1955 It is immediately ignored by the general population, a tradition that continues to this day.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Mud.

[Valin]

Honoring one of our own
Internet | Unknown


Posted on 04/17/2003 3:05 PM CDT by notpoliticallycorewrecked


This was sent to me from a member of the our ANG unit.

This touching letter from a gentleman in Mobile.

I want to tell you of an experience I had last night flying home from Atlanta.

The pilot came on the intercom and went through the usual announcements telling us that "we're just east of Montgomery cruising at 28,000 feet" and "you've picked a beautiful night for flying, just look at the gorgeous southern sunset out of the right side of the plane".

He then, however, said this: "Please bear with me as I deviate from the script, but I want you all to know that simply by coincidence you have been granted both the privilege and honor of escorting the body of Army PFC Howard Johnson, Jr. home tonight.

PFC Johnson was killed in Iraq defending the freedoms we all enjoy, and fighting to extend those freedoms to the people of Iraq. We are also accompanied by PFC Johnson's cousin, Marine Major Talley, who has been chosen by the family to escort PFC Johnson home. Semper Fi!"

The plane quickly became very quiet, but soon erupted in thunderous applause that lasted for several minutes. It was quite moving, to say the least. As I sat there thinking about what the pilot had said, and visualizing PFC Johnson's dead body riding below me in the belly of that plane, I noticed a couple of things.

Two rows in front of me sat a father holding his daughter, an infant, and they were practicing "ma-ma" and in the row behind me was another young boy, probably 2 or so, learning to count to 10. Now obviously both are too young to realize we're at war, or that one of our dead was with us, but it made me think, and this is the point: These warriors, mostly young, all volunteers, everyday are prepared to give their lives for our future, for a safer, more secure future for people they don't even know, all based on the principle that fighting and dying for this country is worth it.

You all know and agree with this, but not everyone does, so I would ask that if you meet anyone that's not "onboard" with this philosophy, i.e. the protesters to which Bob* refers, that you correct the situation".

By the way, the flight ended with all of us deplaning only to line the windows of the gate house to watch PFC Johnson's body, draped in the American flag, be rolled out of the plane and into a waiting hearse that was surrounded by his family members.

Please pray that our soldiers' sight is acute, their aim is true, and that as many come home as God can spare.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/895295/posts

[Mudboy Slim]

"What's a Military Family Worth?" By Rush Limbaugh (April 17, 2003)

"Folks, please question all of your news sources. Be especially suspicious of anything you get forwarded to you in an e-mail - or see on CNN. An e-mail has been floating around on the Internet for almost a year now, attributing my name to some statements I made and some I did not. The main point is a comparison of the compensation for victims of the 9/11 attacks and military families.

"The 9/11 victims simply went to work that fateful day, but our men and women in uniform choose to put themselves into harm's way. On Thursday's show, I recounted exactly what I said about this on March 11, 2002, which forms the kernel of this e-mail, and what has been added. You can hear me do exactly that in the audio link below. I originally spoke in response to a March 8, 2002 USA Today story titled, "Why Is One Terrorism Victim Different From Another?" (Text) I said that the vast differences in compensation between 9/11 victims and those who die serving the country in uniform are profound.

"I've republished my exact comments - along with the call from a military wife - in the audio link below. My point: "If you lost a family member in the September 11th attack, you're going to get an average of $1,185,000. The range is a minimum guarantee of $250,000 all the way up to $4.7 million. If you are a surviving family member of an American soldier killed in action, the first check you get is a $6,000 direct death benefit - half of which is taxable. Next, you get $1,750 for burial costs. If you are the surviving spouse, you get $833 a month until you remarry, and there's a payment of $211 per month for each child under 18. But when the child hits 18, those payments come to a screeching halt."

"I pointed out that no one remarks on this point, because it sounds like you're criticizing the victims of 9/11. A military man called on Thursday (also below) and demonstrated another reason why no one thinks about just what our military families get: they don't complain. They say they're doing fine, and ask for little. They remind me that they also get life insurance. Back in March of last year, we were hearing from victims of Oklahoma City and the African embassy bombings asking for similar compensation.

"This is where the e-mail being circulated under my name diverges from the truth. The author swerves into talking about the military pay raise and Congress. The item on congressional pension is actually a separate Urban Legend, as covered by the good folks at Snopes.com. They also cover my accurate statements and the inaccurate coda attached. The basic facts of this e-mail do come from my March 11, 2002 program, and the original information came from USA Today.

"Everybody is acting like they've never heard of this before, but this is not hard to find. I didn't go through this to cause grief with people who added their own editorial comments to what I said. Rather I want to basically to substantiate the fact that I stand by my comments in support of our people in uniform. I think it's amazing that the families of our 125 soldiers killed in Iraq will get $6,000 (taxable), $1,750 for burial costs - and spouses will get $833 a month. There is a major disparity compared with the 9/11 victims. We must remember all of our heroes and casualties in the war on terrorism, folks."

Limbaugh ROCKS...MUD

[Taxman]

Thanks for the ping, Bro.

I heard Rush talking about this the other day. Kinda sad, when you come to think of it.

I'd be for paying full pay and allowances to a surviving NoK of a deceased active duty service member until the NoK die.

And eliminating Congressional and Senate pensions altogether, while we are at it!

[Jen]

Way cool choice of airplane for today Johnny. Thanks!

[Jen]

Good thing I didn't notice this post...