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Jimmy Doolittle's own bomber was the first to rumble down Hornet's pitching flight deck. Between the forward velocity of the carrier, and the winds churned up by the stormy weather, he and the other pilots had the benefit of a 50 mph headwind. Still, with less than 500 feet of open flight deck to take off from, many of the planes nearly stalled on take-off, and hung precariously over the high seas for hundreds of yards before finally gaining altitude.

As Doolittle's B-25s strained to become airborne, Nashville opened fire on the Japanese picket at a range of 9000 yards, drawing the attention of the Enterprise planes in the area. ENS J. Q. Roberts of Scouting Six made a glide-bombing attack on the little vessel, but missed with his 500-pounder. VF-6 fighters also dove on the picket, then veered off to strafe a second picket even nearer the task force, which had been hidden from view in the wild seas. Over the course of that morning and afternoon, Nashville, Enterprise Air Group, and later planes from Hornet, spotted and attacked sixteen Japanese picket ships. Several were sunk, and more damaged, but the pickets were aided by the high seas, which made them difficult targets.

The last of the sixteen bombers struggled into the air an hour after Doolittle's B-25 cleared Hornet's flight deck. Launched 170 miles further from their targets than planned, the bombers didn't waste fuel forming up, and instead headed directly westward, in a long ragged line behind Doolittle's plane. His mission accomplished, Halsey didn't dally even a minute before ordering Task Force 16 east.

In the afternoon, as the carriers and cruisers raced for safety at 25 knots, radiomen tuned into Radio Tokyo, which was broadcasting a program of English language propaganda. They didn't know it, but also in the listening audience was Ambassador Joseph Grew, interned in the U.S. Embassy in Japan.

A little after 1400 - noon in Tokyo - the announcer's studied English diction suddenly gave way to frantic Japanese, and then dead air. As air raid sirens in Tokyo screamed, Ambassador Grew placed a losing bet with his lunch guest, the Swiss ambassador, wagering the sirens and gunfire were all just a false alarm.

Racing in at just 2000 feet, the first B-25s over Tokyo emptied their bomb bays, and Ambassador Grew's wallet. Doolittle's and twelve other bombers sought out and bombed military and industrial targets throughout Tokyo: an oil tank farm, a steel mill, and several power plants. To the south, other bombers struck targets in Yokohama and Yokosuka, including the new light carrier Ryuho, the damage delaying its launching until November. Perhaps inevitably, some civilian buildings were hit as well: six schools and an army hospital.

Aided by low altitude, camouflage, and extra speed gained from leaving their loads of bombs behind, the bombers were able to evade the enemy fighters patrolling overhead, and anti-aircraft fire from the cities below. But they were far short of the fuel needed to reach the airfield at Chuchow. One plane turned north, and surprised Russian soldiers by landing near Vladivostok. The remaining fifteen planes crashed or were ditched over China. Remarkably, most of the 80 pilots and crewmen survived the mission. Of eight airmen who were captured, three were executed by the Japanese, and another died in captivity. Four others were killed during the mission.

The Consequences

The damage inflicted by Doolittle and his raiders was slight, but it had lasting effects on both sides of the Pacific. As Roosevelt had calculated, the daring raid was a tremendous boost to American morale, which had been severely tested by four long months of defeat and loss.

China bore the heaviest cost of the raid. In May 1942, the Japanese army launched operation Sei-Go, with the dual aims of securing Chinese airfields from which raids could be launched against the Home Islands, and punishing villages which might have sheltered Doolittle's airmen after the Raid. Exact figures are impossible to come by, but tens of thousands - perhaps as many as 250,000 - Chinese civilians were murdered in the Chekiang and Kiangsu provinces.

The raid, however, made a profound impression on the Japanese leadership. For several months, the Japanese high command had been debating its next major move against the Allies. The Navy General Staff, headed by Admiral Osami Nagano, called for a strategy of cutting off America from Australia, by occupying the Fiji Islands, New Caledonia and Samoa. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet, disagreed, arguing that the U.S. Navy - in particular, its carriers - had to be neutralized. This necessitated seizing bases in the Aleutian Islands to the north, and the western tip of the Hawaiian Island chain. From those bases, as well as the bases already held in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, Japanese long-range bombers could keep the American carriers penned up in Pearl Harbor, perhaps even forcing them to retire clear back to the American west coast.

The Doolittle raid ended the debate. With Japan's military deeply embarrassed by having exposed the Emperor to such danger, and fed up with the harassing American carriers, Yamamoto prevailed. His staff was given the go-ahead to prepare and execute a major operation in the central Pacific. Yamamoto hoped the operation - a complex plan involving a feint to the north, followed by the occupation of several American-held islands - would result in "decisive battle" with the American fleet near a tiny atoll known as Midway.

The sixteen bombers employed on the Doolittle Raid were all B-25B models, third production version of North American Aviation's B-25 "Mitchell" medium bomber design. Delivered in 1941, these aircraft were stripped of some of their defensive guns and given extra fuel tanks to extend their range. Two wooden dowels were placed in each plane's plastic tail cone, simulating extra machine guns that might hopefully persuade enemy fighters to keep their distance. Each B-25 carried four 500-pound bombs on the mission. One bomb was decorated with Japanese medals, donated by Navy Lieutenant Stephen Jurika, who had received them during pre-war naval attaché service and now wished to pointedly return them to a hostile government.

The planes were parked on USS Hornet's flight deck in the order they were to leave. There was no room to rearrange them, and their long, non-folding wings made it impossible to send them below. During the two week's outward passage, planes received regular maintenance and engine testing to ensure they would be ready. The leading bomber, piloted by Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle, had but a few hundred feet of deck run to reach flying speed, but every subsequent one had a little more. Each was helped off a Navy launching officer, who timed the start of each B-25's take-off roll to ensure that it reached the forward end of the flight deck as the ship pitched up in the heavy seas, thus giving extra lift at a critical instant.

Additional Sources:

www.history.navy.mil
www.brooksart.com

Hiya Sam

In 1995 was in Sanfransisco at the USS Isherwood reunion.
Met an executive officer who had lots of war mileage under his feet prior to joing the Isherwoods crew in 1943.

He served aboard USS Benham..his battle group were delayed entering Pearl on the morning of DEC 7th as tin cans needed to be refueled at sea....the delay was a fortunate turn.

USS Benham was an escort on the Doolittle raid...following on to the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal.

During dinner he shared his recolections of the Guadalcanal campaign...he said the night operations were stunning concerning the visuals.
however..one night nearly ended his life..as USS Benham was torn apart by a Japanese Long Lance torpedo.
As Benhams bow blew away..my friend found himself hurled into the sea...hangin on with many others until rescue.

After rehab he was transed to the USS Isherwood...serving on her thru the mid pacific campaigns in Leyte..then trans to another Destroyer in early 45.
On that tin can..he was in the CIC when a kamikaze plunged into her off Okinawa.

Amazing man...amazing legacy.

I ran across this Doolittle the other day, when I was looking up the book Dr. Doolittle. LOL What a coincidence.

Remarkably, most of the 80 pilots and crewmen survived the mission. Of eight airmen who were captured, three were executed by the Japanese, and another died in captivity. Four others were killed during the mission.

I'm surprised so many lived to see a new day. For some reason, I was thinking more lost their lives in this volunteered effort.

Wake up Sleeping Beauty.

Today's classic warship, USS Tuscaloosa (CA-37)

New Orleans class heavy cruiser
Displacement: 9,950 t.
Length: 588’2”
Beam: 61’9”
Draft: 19’5”
Speed: 32.7 k.
Complement: 708
Armament: 9 8”; 8 5”; 8 .50 cal. mg

TUSCALOOSA (CA-37) was laid down on 3 September 1931 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 15 November 1933; sponsored by Mrs. Thomas Lee McCann, wife of Lt. Thomas L. McCann and the niece of the Hon. William B. Oliver, Representative of the 6th District of Alabama; and commissioned on 17 August 1934, Capt. John N. Ferguson in command.

TUSCALOOSA devoted the autumn to a shakedown cruise which took her to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, and Montevideo, before she returned to the New York Navy Yard shortly before Christmas. She then underwent post-shakedown repairs which kept her in the yard into March 1935.

The heavy cruiser soon shaped a course for the west coast. After a stop at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she transited the Panama Canal on 7 and 8 April and then steamed north to San Diego, where she joined Cruiser Division (CruDiv) 6 in time to participate in Fleet Problem XVI staged in May in the northern Pacific off the coast of Alaska and in waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. This operation was divided into five distinct phases which might be aspects of some real naval campaign of the future in which the United States would take the strategic offensive.

TUSCALOOSA subsequently was based at San Pedro, Calif., whence she conducted routine exercises and local operations with CruDiv 6. In the spring of 1936, the heavy cruiser participated in Fleet Problem XVII, taking place off the west coast of the United States, Central America, and the Panama Canal Zone. The five phase exercise was devoted to preparing the fleet for antisubmarine operations, testing communications systems, and training of aircraft patrol squadrons for extended fleet operations.

In May 1937, the Fleet again exercised in Alaskan waters and in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands and Midway, practicing the tactics of seizing advanced base sites--a technique later to be polished to a high degree into close support and amphibious warfare doctrines. TUSCALOOSA, as part of the "augmented" Scouting Force, "battled" the Battle Force that spring.

In April and May 1938, the heavy cruiser participated in Fleet Problem XIX, which was conducted in the vicinity of Hawaii. This operation gave the Navy added experience in search tactics; in the use of submarines, destroyers, and aircraft in scouting and attack, in the dispositions of the Fleet and the conduct of a major fleet battle.

In addition, the exercise again dealt with the matter of seizing advanced fleet bases and defending them against minor opposition. Fleet Problem XIX also tested the capabilities of the Hawaiian Defense Force, augmenting it with fleet units to help to defend the islands against the United States Fleet as a whole. The last phase of the exercise exercised the Fleet in operations against a defended coastline.

TUSCALOOSA departed San Diego on 3 January 1939 and proceeded, via the Panama Canal, to the Caribbean. She took part in Fleet Problem XX, in the Atlantic to the east of the Lesser Antilles, before undergoing a brief refit at the Norfolk Navy Yard. She than joined SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38) and QUINCY (CA-39) for a goodwill tour of South American ports. Between 8 April and 10 May, the division--under the command of Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel--visited Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, and Buenos Aires before transiting the storm-tossed Strait of Magellan. The three cruisers drove their bows deep into heavy seas and battled gale-force winds as they made the difficult passage on 14 and 15 May. The division then sailed up the west coast of South America, visiting Valparaiso, Chile; and Callao, Peru, before transiting the Panama Canal and returning to Norfolk, where she arrived on 6 June.

TUSCALOOSA remained off the east coast into the summer of 1939. In August, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Campobello Island, New Brunswick. En route, off Portsmouth, N.H., the Commander in Chief witnessed salvage operations in progress on the sunken SQUALUS (SS-192) which had stayed down after a test dive on 24 May 1939. On 24 August, following visits to Campobello and several ports in Newfoundland, President Roosevelt disembarked at Sandy Hook, N.J.

A week later, the German Army invaded Poland, plunging Europe into war. The outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, found TUSCALOOSA at NOB Norfolk. On the 5th, President Roosevelt established the Neutrality Patrol; and, the next day, the cruiser departed for her first patrol which kept her at sea until she returned to her home port on the 11th. Three days later, the heavy cruiser departed Norfolk and spent the remainder of September and most of October engaged in gunnery training and conducting exercises out of Guantanamo Bay and San Juan, Puerto Rico. She departed the Caribbean on 27 October, bound for Hampton Roads, and arrived at Norfolk on 5 November and, but for gunnery exercises off the Virginia capes from the 13th to the 15th, remained in the Hampton Roads areas until mid-December.

Meanwhile, the Neutrality Patrol found itself keeping track of German merchantmen in waters of the western hemisphere. At the outbreak of hostilities, there had been some 85 German ships near the Americas. One of those, the North German (Norddeuteher) Lloyd (NDL) liner COLUMBUS--the 13th largest steamship in the world--had been on a tourist cruise when war caught her in the West Indies. She put into Vera Cruz, Mex., where she fueled and prepared to make a break for home.

The liner departed Vera Cruz on 14 December 1939 but soon thereafter was picked up and shadowed by the destroyer BENHAM (DD-397). In ensuing days, a succession of United States warships--totaling seven in all--trailed the liner. Capt. Wilhelm Daehne, COLUMBUS' master, was careful to keep his ship within the 300-mile neutrality zone until she was abreast of the Delaware capes. He then headed east.

TUSCALOOSA, meanwhile, had been ordered out to participate in the chase. On 16 December, two days after COLUMBUS departed Vera Cruz, TUSCALOOSA stood out of Norfolk, bound for her patrol station. She soon relieved COLE (DD-155) and ELLIS (DD-154)--two flushdeckers--and at 1450 on 19 December, spotted the British destroyer HMS HYPERION, guns trained out and battle ensigns streaming, standing toward COLUMBUS. HYPERION radioed TUSCALOOSA: "What ship are you escorting?" TUSCALOOSA remained silent, but HYPERION was soon radioing COLUMBUS to heave to and not use her radio. Two shots whistled across the German liner's bow.

For Capt. Daehne, there remained only one alternative. After having carefully planned for that eventuality, he scuttled his ship. All but two of his crew--a complement that included nine women stewardesses--succeeded in going over the side and manning the lifeboats. Since HYPERION clearly had no room for the 577 Germans who had abandoned the liner, she radioed TUSCALOOSA, asking politely if the cruiser could handle the survivors.

From his motor launch, Capt. Daehne kept the lifeboats together while TUSCALOOSA embarked the 567 men and nine women. He then followed them to safety on board the cruiser which provided hospitality for the shipwrecked mariners who were glad to be on board an American cruiser as rescued seamen and not in a British warship as prisoners-of-war. The bulk of the survivors were put up in the cruiser's seaplane hangar that had been cleared out to facilitate its use as a large berthing area; and the women were berthed in sick bay.

TUSCALOOSA took the survivors to New York--the only port equipped to handle such a large and sudden influx of aliens--and disembarked them at Ellis Island between 1610 and 1730 on 20 December for officials to process. Ultimately, most of COLUMBUS' officers and men returned, via the Pacific, to their native land. Meanwhile, TUSCALOOSA departed New York on the 21st and arrived at Norfolk the following day.

The heavy cruiser remained at Norfolk into the New Year, 1940, and departed her home port on 11 January bound for the West Indies. On the voyage to the Caribbean, she was accompanied by her sister ship, SAN FRANCISCO; Battleship Division 5--less WYOMING (BB-32); and MANLEY (APD-1), the prototype high-speed transport. TUSCALOOSA and her consorts arrived at Culebra on the 16th, and, two days later, shifted to Guantanamo Bay. There, she participated in fleet exercises from the 18th to the 27th. Departing Guantanamo on the latter day, TUSCALOOSA returned to Norfolk on 29 January and entered the navy yard there for special alterations to fit her out for service as Presidential flagship.

TUSCALOOSA departed the Norfolk Navy Yard on 2 February and moored at NOB Norfolk. Two days later, she got underway for Cuba, arriving at Guantanamo on the 7th, only to sail three days later for Pensacola, Fla., in company with LANG (DD-399). The two ships exercised en route and arrived at Pensacola on the 14th.

The next day, TUSCALOOSA embarked President Roosevelt and his guests and departed in company with JOUETT (DD-396) and LANG for a cruise to Panama and the west coast of Central America. The voyage gave the President an opportunity to discuss Pan American defense with leaders of Latin American nations. Steaming to the Pacific coast of Central America, Roosevelt inspected the Pacific defenses of the Panama Canal. In addition, he fished regularly at a variety of locations but, as he later recounted, caught "damned few fish." On the return passage through the canal, on 27 February, Roosevelt conferred with United States Navy, Army, and Air Corps officers to discuss the defense of the vital passage.

After disembarking the President at Pensacola, TUSCALOOSA proceeded north to Norfolk and from thence to the New York Navy Yard for a three-month overhaul. During her sojourn at Brooklyn, Hitler's legions conquered France in June 1940 and won mastery of continental Europe. Soon thereafter, TUSCALOOSA returned to the neutrality patrol and conducted monotonous but intensive patrols in the Caribbean and Bermuda areas through the summer and fall months of 1940.

On 3 December 1940 at Miami, President Roosevelt embarked in TUSCALOOSA for the third time for a cruise to inspect the base sites obtained from Great Britain in the recently negotiated "destroyers for bases" deal. In that transaction, the United States had traded 50 old flush-decked destroyers for 99-year leases on bases in the western hemisphere. Ports of call included Kingston, Jamaica; Santa Lucia, Antigua; and the Bahamas. Roosevelt fished and entertained British colonial officials--including the Duke and Duchess of Windsor--on board the cruiser.

While the President cruised in TUSCALOOSA, American officials in Washington wrestled with the problem of extending aid to Britain. Having barely weathered the disastrous campaign in France in the spring and the Battle of Britain in the summer, the United Kingdom desperately needed war materiel. American production could meet England's need, but American neutrality law limiting the purchase of arms by belligerents to "cash-and-carry" transactions was about to become a major obstacle, for British coffers were almost empty. While pondering England's plight as he luxuriated in TUSCALOOSA, the President hit upon the idea of the “lend-lease” program to aid the embattled British.

On 16 December, Roosevelt left the ship at Charleston, S.C., to head for Washington to implement his "lend-lease" idea--one more step in United States' progress towards full involvement in the war. Soon thereafter, TUSCALOOSA sailed for Norfolk and, on 22 December, embarked Admiral William D. Leahy, the newly designated Ambassador to Vichy France, and his wife, for passage to Portugal. With the "stars and stripes" painted large on the roofs of Turrets II and III, and her largest colors flying, TUSCALOOSA sailed for the European war zone, initially escorted by UPSHUR (DD-144) and MADISON (DD-425).

After disembarking the Ambassador to Vichy France at Lisbon and returning to Norfolk on 11 January 1941, the cruiser went to sea on maneuvers that kept her at sea until 2 March. She subsequently arrived at the newly opened American naval facility at Bermuda, on 8 April, the day after the base's commissioning. Her consorts included RANGER (CV-4), WICHITA (CA-45), and destroyers KEARNY (DD-432) and LIVERMORE (DD-429). Based at Bermuda, TUSCALOOSA continued patrolling shipping lanes in the North Atlantic, enforcing the neutrality of the United States.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, the war between the British and the Germans took an anxious turn late in May when German battleship BISMARCK and heavy cruiser PRINZ EUGEN broke out into the Atlantic. On 24 May, BISMARCK had sunk the vaunted HMS HOOD in the Denmark Strait and had temporarily eluded pursuit.

BISMARCK’s escape into the swirling mists of the Atlantic prompted orders which sent TUSCALOOSA to sea immediately. Most of the crew on liberty at the time could not be rounded up in time, so the ship set out for the hunt with personnel "shanghaied" from VINCENNES (CA-44) and QUINCY and a group of reserve ensigns who happened to be on board for a reserve cruise. However, before the cruiser reached waters where she hoped to find the BISMARCK, British warships--directed by an American naval reserve ensign piloting a British PBY--succeeded in pounding BISMARCK to junk on 27 May, avenging the loss of HOOD.

TUSCALOOSA soon returned to the tedium of neutrality patrolling. As the United States continued in a slow but deliberate fashion to become involved, however, the tenor of events soon changed for the heavy cruiser. On 8 August, she departed Bermuda for Newfoundland and soon embarked General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold, head of the Army Air Corps; Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, Director of the War Plans Division of the Navy; and Capt. Forrest Sherman. She joined AUGUSTA (CA-31) off New York; and, together, the two ships, escorted by a screen of three destroyers proceeded to Argentia, Newfoundland.

AUGUSTA, bearing President Roosevelt, and her consorts soon arrived in the barren anchorage where the British battleship HMS PRINCE OF WALES--with Prime Minister Churchill embarked--awaited her. The ensuing discussions between the two heads of state hammered out the "Atlantic Charter."

Returning from Argentia upon the conclusion of the Anglo-American talks, TUSCALOOSA conveyed Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles to Portland, Maine. Three weeks later, in September, the cruiser overtook the first American troop convoy to Iceland, as American marines relieved British troops guarding that strategic island which lay like a pistol pointed at England.

TUSCALOOSA soon received new orders which assigned her to a task group built around battleships IDAHO (BB-42), MISSISSIPPI (BB-41), and NEW MEXICO (BB-40). WICHITA and two divisions of destroyers joined TUSCALOOSA in the screen of the men of-war. Under the two-starred flag of Rear Admiral Robert C. "Ike" Giffen, the Denmark Strait patrol worked out of wind-swept, cold Hvalfjordur, Iceland--known to Americans as "Valley Forge."

The similarities between the Continental Army's historic winter campground and the Icelandic region were not just confined to a homonymous relation of their names. The bitter cold, wind, and snow and the wartime operations seemed similar--the latter in the form of daily patrols, unceasingly vigilant for any signs of the "enemy." TUSCALOOSA and WICHITA "stripped ship" for war, removing accumulated coats of paint and other inflammable and nonessential items before they set out for sea on 5 November. As the task force steamed toward Iceland, its warships were constantly alert to the possibility of an imminent sortie by the German battleship TIRPITZ, the sistership of the late BISMARCK.

While TIRPITZ failed to show herself, the American ships continued to conduct "short of war" operations which became increasingly warlike as time went on. The attempted torpedoing of GREER (DD-145), the damaging of KEARNY in October; the sinking of REUBEN JAMES (DD-245) by a German U-boat; and the torpedoing of SALINAS (AO-19) all pointed to the fact that American ships were becoming involved in the fighting.

Meanwhile, tensions heightened in the Pacific, as Japan continued her undeclared war against China; took over French Indochina; and proceeded apace with plans to move southward against British and Dutch colonial possessions. The Japanese strike at Pearl Harbor on 7 December plunged the United States into "real" war at last, in both oceans, for Germany and Italy declared war on the United States on 11 December.

On 6 January 1942, TUSCALOOSA stood out of Hvalfjordur in company with WICHITA and two destroyers--GRAYSON (DD-435) and MEREDITH (DD-434)--for a training cruise to the Denmark Strait. After returning to port three days later, the heavy cruiser moved on to Boston for a navy yard overhaul from 8 to 20 February. She conducted refresher training out of Casco Bay and then underwent another brief refit at New York before joining Task Group (TG) 39.1, under the command of Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., whose flag flew in WASHINGTON (BB-56).

The task group sortied from Casco Bay and struggled through gale-whipped seas, bound for Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands--the British Home Fleet's base. On 27 March, Rear Admiral Wilcox apparently suffered a heart attack and was washed overboard from WASHINGTON. The heavy seas ruled out rescue attempts, and the task group's commanding officer soon disappeared in the stormy Atlantic. With Wilcox' death, Rear Admiral Giffen, whose flag flew in WICHITA, assumed command of TG 39.1.

TUSCALOOSA arrived at Scapa Flow on 4 April and immediately took on board a British signals and liaison team. She was initially employed with the British Home Fleet on training duties and later took part in covering runs for convoys to North Russia.

At that period, Anglo-American naval operations frequently were mounted in an attempt to lure TIRPITZ out of her snowy Norwegian lair. One such attempt, Convoy PQ-17, resulted in disaster in June 1942. The following two months found TUSCALOOSA still active in convoy protection and covering assignments.

In mid-August, TUSCALOOSA received orders to carry supplies--including aircraft torpedoes, ammunition, and medical equipment--to North Russia. Soon after she and two destroyers set out on the mission, a member of the cruiser's crew developed symptoms of spinal meningitis. The sick man was quickly put ashore at Seidisfjord, Iceland, and the group got underway again on 19 August, bound for Kola Inlet.

The next day, TUSCALOOSA and her screen--which by that time consisted of three destroyers (two American and one British)--were spotted by a snooping German reconnaissance plane. The task force changed course and, assisted by the worsening visibility in the northern latitudes, managed to shake the intruder. On the evening of 22 August, two more British destroyers joined TUSCALOOSA's screen; and, the following day, a Russian escort guided them to Kola Inlet.

All hands turned-to and unloaded the valuable cargo. The cruiser then took on fuel; prepared to get underway; and, just before departure, embarked 243 passengers, most of whom were survivors of ships which had been sunk while serving in earlier convoys to Russia. Many of them had endured the special tribulation and agony of PQ-17. With her human cargo thus on board, TUSCALOOSA cleared Kola Inlet on 24 August and reached Seidisfjord on the 28th.

She remained there but briefly before steaming to the mouth of the River Clyde, where she disembarked her passengers. Detached from the Home Fleet shortly thereafter, TUSCALOOSA headed for Hvalfjord and proceeded thence to the United States for an overhaul.

On 8 November 1942, Operation "Torch"--the code name of the Anglo-American effort to wrest North Africa from the hands of the Vichy French--got underway. Off Casablanca, French Morocco, steamed TUSCALOOSA and her old companion, WICHITA, joined by new MASSACHUSETTS (BB-59) as part of the covering force. As American troops splashed ashore, TUSCALOOSA's guns, aided by accurate spotting from the cruiser's scout planes, thundered and sent shells whistling shoreward into the French positions. In the harbor, French ships scurried about like tadpoles as they prepared to sortie against the attackers.

French battleship JEAN BART, incomplete and immobile, nevertheless packed a powerful punch in her 15-inch guns and loosed heavy and accurate salvoes, straddling the American ships several times with giant shell splashes. French shore batteries at Table d'Aukasha and El Hank also proved troublesome; but the combined might of Allied sea and air power silenced both the shore batteries and JEAN BART as well.

After being narrowly missed by torpedoes from a Vichy submarine and shells from JEAN BART’s heavy rifles, TUSCALOOSA retired from the battle zone to refuel and to replenish her ammunition. After this, she remained offshore in support of the invasion and then headed back to the United States for refit.

Following repairs, she rejoined in covering convoys bound for the North African front, as American forces and their British and Free French allies sought to push the Germans and Italians out of Tunisia. Next, from March through May 1943, TUSCALOOSA operated in a task force on training exercises off the east coast of the United States.

Besides honing its fighting edge, this group formed a fast, mobile, and ready striking force, should German surface ships slip through the Allied blockade to terrorize Allied shipping in the Atlantic. In late May, she escorted RMS QUEEN MARY, which bore British Prime Minister Churchill to New York City. After rejoining the task force for a brief time, TUSCALOOSA joined AUGUSTA at the Boston Navy Yard for a 10-day work period.

After leaving Boston, she escorted RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH to Halifax, Nova Scotia, before rendezvousing with RANGER and proceeding to Scapa Flow to resume operations with the British Home Fleet. TUSCALOOSA conducted sorties into the North Sea, in company with British and American units, in attempts to once again entice German heavy units to sea. However, the hope of drawing the Germans into a decisive sea fight diminished each passing day as the enemy apparently sought to stay in his protected waters.

On 2 October 1943, TUSCALOOSA formed part of the covering force for RANGER while the carrier launched air strikes against port installations and German shipping at Bodo, Norway, in Operation "Leader." These first American carrier strikes against European targets lasted from 2 to 6 October and devastated the area. German shore based aircraft attacked the striking force only to be summarily shot down by covering American fighters.

Shortly afterward, the Germans did elect to come out to sea, conducting a foray against the important Allied weather station on Spitzbergen Island. TIRPITZ and other heavy units subjected the installation and its garrison to a severe shelling before retiring--unscathed--to their Norwegian lair.

TUSCALOOSA took part in the relief expedition to reestablish the station before the onset of winter. Assigned to Force One, the cruiser loaded two LCV(P) and cargo and departed Seidisfjord in company with four destroyers--three British and one American--on 17 October. Force Two, covering Force One, consisted of battleship HMS ANSON, heavy cruiser HMS NORFOLK, RANGER, and six destroyers.

On the morning of the 19th, TUSCALOOSA's group arrived at devastated Spitzbergen and immediately commenced unloading operations. While ice "growlers" and pinnacles hampered antisubmarine screening by the destroyers' sound gear, TUSCALOOSA fielded a party of 160 men on shore to unload supplies and equipment to reestablish the weather station. By nightfall, the cargo had been safely unloaded, and the force left the area. After fueling at Seidisfjord, the cruiser proceeded to the Clyde to disembark the survivors of the original Spitzbergen garrison.

TUSCALOOSA conducted one more sweep of the Norwegian coast in an attempt to draw German fleet units to sea, but the enemy chose not to give battle. Upon the cruiser's return to Iceland, she was detached from the Home Fleet and proceeded to New York where she began major overhaul on 3 December 1943.

Upon completion of the refit in February 1944, TUSCALOOSA engaged in Fleet exercises and shore bombardment practice out of Casco Bay until April and then entered the Boston Navy Yard for installation of radio intelligence and electronic countermeasures gear. Later that month, she embarked Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo, Commander, CruDiv 7, and task force commander, and set out for the Clyde to join the Allied Forces massing for the assault on the European continent.

During the interim period prior to D-day, TUSCALOOSA conducted further shore bombardment practice and engaged in further exercises. Her aviation unit exchanged their venerable Curtiss SOC "Seagulls" for British Supermarine Spitfires and checked out in them for spotting purposes. Yet, they remained shore-based for the remainder of their time operating in support of the invasion.

On 3 June, TUSCALOOSA steamed in company with the task force bound for the Normandy beaches. At 0550, 6 June 1944, she opened fire with her 8-inch battery and, three minutes later, her 5-inch guns engaged Fort Ile de Tatihou, Baye de la Seine. For the remainder of D-day, coast defense batteries, artillery positions, troop concentrations, and motor transport all came under the fire of TUSCALOOSA's guns, which were aided by her air spotters and by fire control parties attached to Army units on shore. Initial enemy return fire was inaccurate, but it improved enough by the middle of the day to force the cruiser to take evasive action.

On the afternoon of 9 June, TUSCALOOSA returned to Plymouth to replenish her depleted ammunition. Back in the vicinity of Ile St. Marcouf on the evening of the 11th, she remained on station in the fire-support area until the 21st, providing gunfire support on call from her shore fire control party operating with Army units. She then returned to England.

Five days later, on 26 June, the Army's 7th Corps mounted a landward assault against Cherbourg, supported by ships of the covering force from the seaward side. For four hours, TUSCALOOSA and her consorts dueled with the accurate German shore batteries. During the action, the enemy frequently straddled the British and American ships and forced them to take evasive action. Great clouds of smoke and dust, kicked up by the intense bombardment conducted from sea and land, initially hampered Allied fire. By noontime, however, visibility improved and greatly aided the accuracy of the bombardment.

In July, with the beachhead secured in Normandy and Allied forces pushing into occupied France, TUSCALOOSA steamed from Belfast to the Mediterranean to join British, French, and American forces assembling for Operation "Anvil/Dragoon," the invasion of southern France.

Following preliminary bombardment exercises off Oran, French North Africa, TUSCALOOSA was based at Palermo, Italy, and got underway on 13 August. Two days later, TUSCALOOSA commenced fire at 0635 and continued to pound targets ashore until the combined Allied forces stormed onto the beaches at H-Hour, 0800. Then, moving off the 100-fathom curve, TUSCALOOSA leisurely cruised the shoreline, visually inspecting it for targets of opportunity. A troublesome pillbox at the St. Raphel breakwater provoked TUSCALOOSA's attention, and the cruiser's 8-inch shells soon destroyed it. Air spotters located a field battery, and TUSCALOOSA's gunners promptly knocked it out of action with three direct hits.

For the next 11 days, the cruiser delivered fire support for the right flank of the Army's advance to the Italian frontier. She engaged German shore batteries and fought off air attacks. The raids--conducted by Junkers 88's and Dornier 217's singly, or in small groups--usually occurred during the covering force's nightly retirement from the beachheads. Of the high altitude variety, these aerial assaults included the use of radar-controlled glider bombs. However, radar counter-measures and jamming devices, as well as effective evasive action and gunfire, thwarted these twilight and nocturnal attacks.

In September, when Allied forces had secured footholds in both western and southern France, TUSCALOOSA returned to the United States for refitting at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. After a short exercise period in Chesapeake Bay, she steamed via the Panama Canal to the west coast and reported to the Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet. After stopping briefly at San Diego, she proceeded on westward to Pearl Harbor, where she conducted various exercises before steaming to Ulithi to join Commander, 3d Fleet in January 1945.

Following her sortie from Ulithi, she joined the bombardment group off Iwo Jima at dawn on 16 February. Three days later, as waves of landing craft bore marines shoreward to invade the island, TUSCALOOSA's guns pounded Japanese positions inland. Then, after the Americans had reached land, her batteries supported their advances with incessant fire and illumination. This continued from 19 February to 14 March, throughout all phases of the bitterly fought campaign to wrest the island from the Japanese.

Returning to Ulithi after the Iwo Jima operation, she spent four hectic days replenishing stores, ammunition, and fuel in preparation for the next operation--Okinawa, at the end of the chain of Japanese home islands. On Palm Sunday, 25 March, TUSCALOOSA's main and secondary batteries opened fire on shore targets pinpointed by aerial reconnaissance. Only allowed a six-day respite in the middle of the arduous campaign for replenishment purposes, TUSCALOOSA stood on duty for the entire operation.

TUSCALOOSA's charmed life in the face of everything the Axis could throw at her still held through the maelstrom of the kamikazes which came at the invasion ships and their escorts from all quarters. The "Divine Wind" came down from the Japanese home islands, in the form of planes piloted by pilots so loyal to their Emperor that they unhesitatingly gave their lives to defend their home soil.

TUSCALOOSA's gunners splashed two of the intruders. One, headed for the fantail of TEXAS (BB-35), flew apart as the cruiser's shells splashed her in the old battleship's wake. The other headed for an escorting destroyer in the screen only to be splashed after hitting a curtain of fire from the cruiser's guns.

Only the mop-up of determined resistance ashore remained when TUSCALOOSA departed from Okinawa on 28 June. Two days later, she arrived in Leyte Gulf, Philippine Islands; there reporting to Commander, 7th Fleet, for duty. Six weeks later, with Allied warships bombarding her shores with near impunity and Allied planes sweeping her skies clear of rapidly dwindling numbers of her defending aircraft, Japan surrendered. The explosion of two atomic bombs--one over Hiroshima and the other above Nagasaki--had sealed Japan's fate in August 1945.

On 27 August, TUSCALOOSA, in company with other units of the 7th Fleet, departed Subic Bay in the Philippines, bound for Korean and Manchurian waters. She touched at Tsingtao, China, en route, and proceeded to cruise off the newly liberated ports of Dairen and Port Arthur, Manchuria; Chefoo, Taku, Weihaiwei and Chinwangtao, China, before finally anchoring off Jinsen (now Inchon), Korea, on 8 September to support the landings of marines nearby.

After a stay of 22 days, TUSCALOOSA put to sea once more on 30 September, bound for Taku, China, to support marines landing there. She next sailed for Chefoo on 6 October but, en route, received orders changing her destination to Jinsen to take on provisions.

As Chinese Nationalist and communist forces jockeyed for position to control formerly Japanese-held territory, American forces stood by in the uneasy role of observers. TUSCALOOSA arrived off Chefoo, then held by the communists, on 13 October. Remaining until 3 November, she lay at anchor off the port, keeping well informed on the situation ashore through daily conferences with officials of the communist Eighth Route Army. During this period, puppet troops, who had been loyal to the Japanese during the war, clashed with communist forces near Chefoo.

On 3 November, she put to sea, bound for Tsingtao, where the cruiser spent one evening before proceeding down the China coast to call at Shanghai. There, she took on board 214 Army and 118 Navy passengers for "Magic-Carpet" transportation home for demobilization.

She arrived in Hawaii on 26 November, where additional passenger facilities were installed, and took on board 206 more men before departing Hawaiian waters on the 28th and arriving at San Francisco on 4 December. After voyage repairs, the ship sailed for the South Pacific on 14 December, via the Solomon Islands, and proceeded to Noumea, New Caledonia.

TUSCALOOSA embarked troops at Guadalcanal, moved to the Russell Islands where she took on more passengers, and arrived at Noumea on New Year's Day 1946. By that afternoon, the ship got underway for the west coast with more than 500 passengers.

She arrived at Pearl Harbor nine days into the new year; fueled; and picked up additional demobilized servicemen to transport home. She sailed for San Francisco on 10 January and arrived five days later. On 29 January, the men delivered, TUSCALOOSA stood out of San Francisco bound for the east coast on her last cruise as an active member of the Fleet.

Placed out of commission at Philadelphia on 13 February 1946, TUSCALOOSA remained in reserve there until she was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959. Her hulk was sold on 25 June 1959 to the Boston Metals Co., of Baltimore, Md., for scrapping.

TUSCALOOSA received seven battle stars for her World War II service.

WooHoo!!! Firing at the french! Wouldn't we like to do that today!

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

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

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

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.

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."

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

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

Thanks for a terrific thread! I've been so preoccupied with the war (and making a living) that I've not kept up on the Foxhole threads. I always feel pride and a bit of a tear when remembering the Doolittle raid. The story of the journey home for Private Johnson brought more than one tear, for sure. I know it's Hollywood, but 30 Seconds Over Tokyo and Destination Tokyo are two of my faves. Strange, but I hadn't considered the impact of the raid in setting the stage for the Battle of Midway and diverting the Japanese somewhat from their advance in the South Pacific. Courage and audacity in war always pay dividends!

Before I leave for the day.. I wanted to share something we got in an e-mail from a fellow military retiree. :o)

Just in case the Commander-In-Chief decides to recall any of us retiree's, I have been trying on the old uniforms.

I want to be ready.

So far only the socks fit.

FRegards, Vets