The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Liberation of Paris (Aug. 1944) - Apr. 20th, 2003

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/98summer/blumenso.htm ^ | 1998 | MARTIN BLUMENSON

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

.

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

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Politics and the Military in the Liberation of Paris

The liberation of Paris in World War II illustrated better than most examples the close connection between politics and the military. On the Allied side, specifically for the Americans and the French, the political and operational motivations interacted in harmony as well as in conflict. How they played out is instructive.

Misunderstandings and cross purposes marred the scene. The French believed in the supremacy of politics over the military. The Americans, in accordance with strongly held tradition, concentrated on the clash of arms. The resolution of these national differences affected a long-standing friendship.

The story starts in June 1940, when the Germans entered and occupied Paris. They were a distasteful presence to the French for more than four years. Their ubiquitous street signs were constant reminders of the nuisances, difficulties, and eventual horrors they inflicted. They took and executed hostages. They imposed a curfew. They forbade the playing of jazz. Because of their restraints, petty and otherwise, the inhabitants looked forward with longing to see the Germans go.

The Allies first gave serious thought to Paris when they acceded to the political wish of General Charles de Gaulle, head of the French Provisional Government in London. The invasion planners added the 2d French Armored Division to the list of units scheduled to sail from England to the continent, "primarily so that there may be an important French formation present at the re-occupation of Paris." General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, promised to use the unit to free the capital.

General Jacques Leclerc, the wartime pseudonym of Philippe François Marie de Hautecloque, commanded the division. An aristocrat, he had served as a regular army captain in the disastrous campaign of 1940. After the French surrendered, Leclerc made his way to England and joined De Gaulle.

Leclerc burned with desire to expunge and avenge the French defeat. He was headstrong and impatient, possessed a formidable will, and generated an immense charisma. De Gaulle sent him to Chad, where he raised a column of troops. He took his men to Libya and routed Italian soldiers at Koufra. He then attached his outfit to General Bernard L. Montgomery's British Eighth Army and fought on its desert flank. Leclerc advanced rapidly in rank and gained a legendary reputation. Having operated more or less independently, he was ill-suited to the discipline of the chain of command.

Toward the end of 1943, De Gaulle instructed Leclerc to form the 2d French Armored Division. Leclerc pulled together a variety of elements, "a mosaic of peoples, races, religions, and political convictions." Free French from the United Kingdom and Syria, French North Africa and Equatorial Africa, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Moslems, and animists, communists, reactionaries, socialists, radicals, free thinkers, militant Christians, and Quakers all mingled in friendship. Animating them were hatred of the Germans, love of France, and the spirit of Leclerc, who imparted a sense of adventure. The men exhibited the exuberance of freebooters.

After training in Algeria, the division moved to England. The soldiers knew what they were expected to do. They could hardly wait. Anticipation of their mission made them difficult to control.



The French armored division arrived in Normandy on 1 August 1944, almost two months after D-Day, and was assigned to the Third US Army under General George S. Patton, Jr. A patrician who spoke fluent if ungrammatical French, Patton welcomed Leclerc warmly. He offered Leclerc the opportunity to fight immediately instead of waiting to liberate Paris. Leclerc jumped at the chance.

Patton attached Leclerc's division to the XV Corps, commanded by General Wade Hampton Haislip. An aristocratic Virginian who had been a student at the Ecole de Guerre in Paris, Haislip spoke French easily. Like Patton, Haislip was especially nice to Leclerc. Both Americans tried to make Leclerc feel at home.

Yet Leclerc was skeptical of Americans. His service with the British in North Africa had given him some anti-American attitudes. Like many British officers, Leclerc thought the Americans to be newcomers to the war and amateurs in execution. He was sure he saw battlefield problems and solutions instantly, whereas Americans required time and paperwork to grasp and work out situations. Part of Leclerc's outlook came from resentment. The French were the proprietors of France, yet the Americans, who were merely transients, were running the show.

Leclerc would try Haislip's and Patton's patience. He would get on the nerves of all his American superior commanders, Generals Omar Bradley at 12th Army Group, Courtney Hodges at First US Army, and Leonard Gerow at V Corps.

With the French on the left and an American armored division, the 5th, on the right, the XV Corps pushed north toward Argentan to close what became known as the Argentan-Falaise pocket, the maneuver to surround the Germans in Normandy. Ahead lay an upland forest, difficult terrain, and Haislip instructed his armored divisions to go around it, the French on the left, the Americans on the right.



In a defiant or thoughtless, yet inexcusable, gesture of disobedience--perhaps because Leclerc had never before commanded a division in combat--Leclerc disregarded Haislip's order. He sent his elements around the left side, through the forest, and around the right. The latter troops preempted a major road reserved for the Americans and blocked their movement to Argentan, which was undefended.

During the six hours it took Leclerc's men to complete the maneuver, the remnants of three panzer divisions arrived in Argentan and assumed defensive positions. They turned back the XV Corps and kept the Americans and French out of the town.

On the outskirts of Argentan, the French division found itself on the southern jaw of the Falaise pocket. Paris was 100 miles away. Leaving Leclerc where he was, Patton, on the following day, 14 August, sent half of the XV Corps eastward toward the Seine River. Leclerc was exasperated. Did no one understand the importance of his mission? Asking Patton when the French could go to Paris, he explained, "It is political."

Patton needed Leclerc to contain the Germans at Argentan, and he bluntly told Leclerc to stay put. Patton's diary entry for the following day, 15 August, reads as follows: "Leclerc came in very much excited. He said, among other things, that if he were not allowed to advance on Paris, he would resign. I told him in my best French that he was a baby and . . . that I had left him in the most dangerous place [on the front]. We parted friends."



Leclerc wrote to Patton on the next day, 16 August. Argentan, he said, was quiet. It was probably time for him to regroup for movement to Paris. Patton wondered in his journal whether Leclerc would obey orders.

At Patton's headquarters that evening, Leclerc found Bradley there on a visit. Bradley and Patton both assured Leclerc of their respect for his ultimate place in the scheme of things.

Understanding why he had to remain at Argentan, Leclerc worried. American troops were closer to Paris than he was. On 19 August, Haislip's XV Corps crossed the Seine River, 25 miles below Paris. Walton Walker's XX Corps at Chartres and Gilbert Cook's XII Corps at Orleans were 50 and 75 miles from the capital. If Eisenhower had to liberate Paris quickly, would he be able to use Leclerc?

The departure of Haislip's corps headquarters and the shift of Patton's army to the east brought Leclerc new superior officers. The headquarters of Hodges' First Army and of Gerow's V Corps took charge of Argentan and Leclerc. Neither American spoke French. Neither was concerned with Leclerc's special role.


DeGaulle,Choltitz,Leclerc

To become acquainted with Leclerc, Hodges invited him to lunch on 20 August. All Leclerc could talk about was Paris. Hodges was disgusted. Yet on his own initiative he generously noted in his diary his intention to let Leclerc liberate the capital if the mission fell to Hodges.

On 21 August, the Falaise pocket closed and Leclerc, no longer required at Argentan, decided to fulfill his task. That evening he sent 150 men in ten light tanks, ten armored cars, and ten personnel carriers toward the capital. If the Allies moved into Paris without the French division, this small contingent was to go along as representatives of De Gaulle's Provisional Government and the French Army.

Writing to De Gaulle, Leclerc regretted his inability to dispatch his entire division. "Unfortunately," the Americans regulated the fuel they furnished him. And "the rules of military subordination" prohibited him from independent action. Ordering the small group to Paris was already a serious infraction.

On the following morning, 22 August, Leclerc sent an officer to explain to Gerow, his immediate superior. Gerow had by then received a message asking why French troops were outside their authorized boundaries. Was Gerow unable to control them?



Before Leclerc's emissary could speak, Gerow presented him with a letter for Leclerc. "I desire to make it clear to you," Gerow had written, "that the 2d French Armored Division is under my command for all purposes and no part of it will be employed by you except in the execution of missions assigned by this headquarters." He directed Leclerc to recall his detachment.

Unwilling to do so, Leclerc flew in his light plane to Hodges' First Army headquarters, the echelon above Gerow. Leclerc learned that Bradley was conferring with Eisenhower on Paris. Hodges was awaiting word on the outcome of the meeting. Leclerc decided to wait there too.

Eisenhower had concluded that it was best to defer the liberation. Taking Paris would delay operations against the Germans elsewhere. Seizing the capital might destroy the place and its historic and cultural monuments. Diverting food and coal to the city's inhabitants on humanitarian grounds would hamper the Allied pursuit of the Germans fleeing toward their homeland. The possibility of ending the war quickly might vanish. Bypassing Paris, going around the city, and waiting for the isolated German garrison to surrender made military sense.

[Rain-maker]

On this Easter let us hope the French resurrect their memory, and embrace renewed

gratitude for the 1000's of U.S. soldiers that sacrificed their lives towards France's liberation.

 

Happy Easter to All !

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning, MJY1288. Thanks and Happy Easter.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Good Morning Snippy. Love the French Ferrets

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning GailA. Happy Easter.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Pippin. Happy Easter.

[SAMWolf]

Excellent comment Rain-maker. But I think the French will always be the French. Next time they lay down for a conqueror I hope we stay out of it.

[SAMWolf]

Our Military Today
Happy Easter

A member of the Honor Guard stands vigil at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery outside of Washington as the sun rises Easter Sunday, April 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)


A member of the honor guard looks over hundreds of worshippers who turned out for the Easter Sunrise Service at the Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery outside of Washington Sunday, April 20, 2003. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)


Iraqi altar boys sit on the church altar beneath depictions of Jesus Christ, during the celebration of Easter mass, at Baghdad's Sacred Heart Catholic church, Iraq, Easter Sunday, April 20, 2003.


Iraqi Catholic women hold hands while reciting a prayer, during the celebration of Easter mass, at Baghdad's Sacred Heart Catholic church, Iraq, Easter Sunday, April 20, 2003.

[SAMWolf]

Our Military Today
Back For Easter

Army Chief Warrant Officers David Williams, second from left, holding his wife Michelle's hand, and Ronald Young, right, are welcomed at Fort Hood, Texas, Saturday April 19, 2003. Seven rescued POWs returned home Saturday to a welcome of joyous tears, hugs from family and a sea of fluttering U.S. flags. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)


An emotional Michelle Williams, left, watches as her husband, Army Chief Warrant Officer David Williams, right, gives a thumbs-up to supporters at Fort Hood, Texas, Saturday, April 19, 2003.


Army Chief Warrant Officer David Williams, right, walks with his wife, Michelle, left, as they are greeted during a welcoming ceremony Saturday, April 19, 2003, in Fort Hood, Texas. Williams is one of seven rescued POWs who returned home Saturday. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)


Former United States Army POWs Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams (R) and Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young embrace as family members look on during ceremonies honoring their return at Fort Hood, Texas, April 19, 2003. The two pilots were captured by Iraqi forces after their helicopter was forced down with mechanical problems. The pilots were rescued unharmed after the fall of Baghdad early this month. REUTERS/Jeff Mitchell


Former United States Army POW Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young points to his shoulder patch of the 1st Cavalry as he yells to fellow soldiers and family members during ceremonies honoring their return at Fort Hood, Texas, April 19, 2003.


Former United States Army POW Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young (back to camera) is surrounded by family members as he arrives for ceremonies honoring his return at Fort Hood, Texas, April 19, 2003.


Former United States Army POW Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young hugs his mother Kaye Young during welcome ceremonies at Fort Hood, Texas, April 19, 2003.


Former United States Army POWs Chief Warrant Officer David S. Williams (2nd-L) talks to his wife Michelle as fellow pilot Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young hugs his mother Kaye Young after the two soldiers arrived for welcome home ceremonies at Fort Hood, Texas, April 19, 2003.


Former United States Army POW Chief Warrant Officer Ronald Young hugs his mother Kaye Young and his father Ron Young after arriving for welcome ceremonies at Fort Hood, Texas, April 19, 2003.


Prisoners of War Joseph Hudson (L) and Shoshana Johnson (R) wave American flags from the back of a golf cart upon their arrival at Biggs Army Airfield Deployment Center in El Paso, Texas(AFP/Paul Buck)

[Sparta]

I was watching the pictures of our POWs returning home. I was very moved.

[Sparta]

I'm sorry, I can't resist. A summary of French "military history"

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Sparta. Yeah, seeing all thos flags and the family's reuniting. Hard to keep a dry eye.

[SAMWolf]

LOL! That's a pretty good version of French Military history. Thanks.

[Sparta]

I was never prouder to be an American since right after 9/11. These past 18 months have been the most trying times in our nation's history, but also her finest hour.

[Sam Cree]

Thanks for the ping.

An interesting post to me, as Dad, who is no longer with us, was a part of this operation.

He was with the 4th, at age 19 had landed ahead of the first wave at Utah, fought in the following, bloody Battle of Normandy, the liberation of Paris, Hurtgen Forest, the Bulge, and on into Germany.

The IV sustained over 200% casualties, I believe, by war's end.

FWIW, Dad regarded the French as pretty fair soldiers, though less good than the Germans. Perhaps that is specific to LeClerc's Deuxieme though.

It is really aggravating to read about French attitudes back then, which don't seem to have changed alot. I have been able to enjoy the French, but sometimes they make it difficult.

[OfByForThePeople]

Thank you for pinging me to this. What a great post to read this Easter morning!

[SAMWolf]

Too bad Choltitz didn't follow orders.

[SAMWolf]

I thank your dad for his service. Thanks for sharing some of his story with us.

[Valin]

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!
On this Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on April 20:
0121 Marcus Aurelius 16th Roman emperor (161-80), philosopher
1442 Edward IV King (England, 1461-83)
1494 John Agricola [Schneider] German theologist/prime minister
1592 John Eliot St Germans Cornwall, English MP/author
1594 Matthaus Apelles von Lowenstern composer
1705 Balthasar Schmid composer
1725 Johann Friedrich Kloffler composer
1726 Jozef de Ferraris French/Austrian earl/General/cartographer
1745 Philippe Pinel physician, founder of psychiatry
1748 Georg Michael Telemann composer
1748 Guillaume Albert Teniers composer
1761 Johann Gottlieb Karl Spazier composer
1808 Louis-Napoleon [Napoleon III] emperor of France (1852-71)
1809 John Smith Preston Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1881
1824 Alfred Holt Colquitt Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1894
1826 Dina M Craik writer
1827 John Gibbon Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1896
1839 Carol I King of Romania (1881-1914)
1840 Odilon Redon French painter/author (La nuit, Rêves)
1850 Daniel Chester French/American sculptor (The Minute Man)
1857 Charles LP "Philip" Zilcken painter/author (HW Knife Day)
1857 Hermann Bang writer
1858 Auguste Chapuis composer
1860 Charles Gordon Curtis US attorney/inventor (Curtis Turbine)
1860 Pieter Jelles Troelstra Dutch MP (SDAP)
1865 Max HHR Nettlau Austrian historian (Le Première Internationale)
1866 Victor Hollaender composer
1870 Simeon Roncal composer
1871 William Henry Davies Wales, poet (Autobiography of a Super Tramp)
1876 Gerard J Arbous actor/publicist (Prince William of Orange)
1879 Robert Lynd Irish writer/critic (Pleasures of Ignorance)
1881 Nikolai Miaskovsky Novogeorievsk Poland, composer (Kirov is With Us)
1881 Sem Dresden composer/conductor
1889 Adolf Hitler Braunau Austria, dictator of Nazi Germany (1936-45)
1890 Adolf Schärf President of Austria (1957-65)
1893 Harold Lloyd Burchard NE, silent comic (Why Worry, Safety Last)
1893 Joan Miró Spain, painter/sculptor (Dog Barking at the Moon)
1893 Hermann Ungar writer
1894 Martinus Nijhoff poet/interpreter/linguistic (spelling)
1896 Senor Wences ventriloquist (Close the Door)
1897 Bernard Verhoeven poet/literature (About the Laugh)
1897 Gregory Ratoff Petrograd Russia, actor/director (Corsican Brothers)
1900 Fred Raymond composer
1900 Kees Verwey painter/water colors painter/cartoonist
1901 Michel Leiris French cultural anthropologist
1902 Donald Wolfit England, actor (Lawrence of Arabia, Becket, Accursed)
1902 Vesselin Stoyanov composer
1903 Dagmar Edqvist Swedish author (Kamrathustru-Wife & Comrade)
1904 Bruce Cabot Carlsbad NM, actor (Diamonds are Forever, King Kong)
1907 William Dollar St Louis, ballet dancer/choreographer
1907 Alan Reed actor/voice (Fred Allen Show, Fred Flintstone)
1907 Miran Bux cricketer (his one season of Test & 1st-class play 1954-55)
1908 Wilhelmus M Bekkers bishop of Hertogenbosch
1909 Guido Alberti literary patron/businessman
1909 Lionel Hampton orchestra leader/vibraphone improviser (Depths Below)
1909 Richard Stubbs publicity adviser
1911 Kukrit Pramoj politician
1912 David Townsend cricketer (3 Tests England vs West Indies 1935)
1912 Ed Jones (Representative-Democrat-TN, 1969- )
1912 Frederick Craig Riddle violist
1912 Soewarsil Djojopoespito Indonesia, writer (Toe the Line)
1913 Dick Wessel Wisconsin, actor (Dick Tracy vs Cueball, Beware of Blondie)
1920 John Paul Stevens Chicago IL, 103rd Supreme Court Justice (1975- )
1921 Donald Gunn MacRae sociologist
1923 Tito Puente Puerto Rico, bandleader (Dance Mania)
1924 Nina Foch Leiden Netherlands, actress (American in Paris)
1924 Gerhard Samuel composer
1924 Paul M Van Buren US theologist (Theological Explorations)
1925 Ernie Stautner NFL defensive tackle (Pittsburgh Steelers)/WLAF head coach (Frankfurt Galaxy)
1925 Richard Hoffmann composer
1926 Harriett Elizabeth Byrd politician (Wyoming House of Representatives)
1927 Karl Müller Switzerland, superconductivity physicist (Nobel 1987)
1929 Bob Braun Ludlow KY, singer (Dotty Mack Show)
1930 Alan Oakman cricketer (England batsman against Australia 1956)
1931 Lee H Hamilton Daytona Beach FL, (Representative-Democrat-IN, 1965- )
1934 Lindsay Oliver John Boynton furniture historian
1936 Pat Roberts (Representative-Republican-KS, 1981- )
1938 Bernard Malivoire France, cox pair (Olympics-gold-1952)
1938 Betty Cuthbert Australia 100 meter/200 meter/400 meter dash (Olympics-gold-1956, 64)
1938 Johnny Tillotson Jacksonville FL, singer (Gidget, Poetry in Motion)
1939 Gro Harlem Brundtland Norwegian premier (1981-82, 86-89, 90- )
1940 George Takei Los Angeles CA, actor (Sulu-Star Trek, Green Berets)
1940 James Gammon Newman IL, actor (Cool Hand Luke, Nick-Nash Bridges)
1940 Jan Cremer Dutch writer/sculptor (I, John Cremer)
1940 Pilar Miro director (Wether, Beltenebros)
1941 Joni Evans New York NY, publisher (Simon & Schuster, Random House)
1941 Ryan O'Neal Los Angeles CA, actor (Peyton Place, Paper Moon, Love Story)
1943 Michael Greer Galesburg IL, actor (Bobby Gentry Show)
1943 Edie Sedgwick Santa Barbara CA, actor (Ciao Manhattan)
1943 Ian Watson UK, sci-fi author (Book of Being, Whores of Babylon)
1945 Jimmy Winston London England, organist (Small Facres-Itchycoo Park)
1947 David Leland Cambridge England, actor/director (Nothing But Trouble)
1948 Craig Frost keyboardist (Grand Funk Railroad-Some Kind of Wonderful)
1949 Jessica Lange Cloquet MN, actress (King Kong, Tootsie)
1949 Michal Israel, rocker (Sky with Stars)
1950 Itumeleng J Mosala South Africa President (Azanian People's Organization)
1951 Luther Vandross Bronx NY, rock vocalist (Here and Now, Never Too Much)
1951 Geraint Wyn Davies Wales, actor (Bury Me in Niagara, High Hopes)
1952 Tamara Sergeyevna Zakharova Russian cosmonaut
1952 Toine van Benthem dentist/playwright/cabaret performer (Purper)
1954 Peter Toohey cricketer (New South Wales & Australian batsman 1977-80)
1955 Donald R Pettit Silverton OR, PhD/astronaut
1957 Graeme Fowler cricketer (England left-handed opener early 80s)
1957 Richenel [Hubertus R Baars] singer/performer (Dance Around The World)
1958 Viacheslav Fetisov Moscow, NHL defenseman (Team Russia, Detroit)
1959 Clint Howard Burbank CA, actor (Gentle Ben)
1960 Rodney Holman NFL tight end (Detroit Lions)
1961 Don "Hitman" Mattingly Evansville IN, New York Yankee 1st baseman (MVP 1985)
1961 Marci Bozarth Lampasas TX, LPGA golfer (1994 Lady Keystone Open-37th)
1963 Brett Edward Garsed Victoria Australia, heavy metal artist (Nelson)
1963 Kal Swan heavy metal rocker
1964 John Carney NFL kicker (San Diego Chargers)
1964 Paul Nobes cricketer (prolific opening batsman for Victoria & SA)
1965 Jim Terrell Cincinnati OH, sprint canoe (Olympics-96)
1967 J D Roth Beverly Hills CA, TV host (Fun House)
1967 Lara Jill Miller Allentown PA, actress (Samantha-Gimme a Break)
1967 Miroslav Stefanovic soccer player (FC Volendam)
1967 Townsend Saunders White Sands NM, freestyle wrestler (Olympics-silver-92, 96)
1968 LeShundra Nathan Birmingham AL, heptathlete
1969 John van Halst soccer player (FC Twente)
1969 Takayuki Kobori hockey defenseman (Team Japan 1998)
1970 Ben Weir Rock Island IL, Canadian Tour golfer (1993 Bogey Hills-2nd)
1970 Shemar Moore Oakland CA, actor (Malcolm-Young & Restless)
1971 Chris Penn NFL wide receiver (Kansas City Chiefs, Chicago Bears)
1971 Grant Smith Australian field hockey forward (Olympics-96)
1971 John Senden Brisbane Queensland, Australasia golfer
1971 Terry Smith NFL wide receiver (Indianapolis Colts)
1971 Yonel Jourdain NFL running back/kick returner (Buffalo Bills)
1973 Itula Mili tight end (Seattle Seahawks)
1973 Lamond Murray NBA forward (Los Angeles Clippers)
1973 Todd Hollandsworth Dayton OH, outfielder (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1974 Ben[jamin] Lincoln Holbrook Hartland WI, rower (Olympics-1996)
1974 Kevin Sullivan Brantford Ontario Canada, 1.5k runner (Olympics-96)
1974 Paul Bradford cornerback (San Diego Chargers)
1975 Joey [Joseph Mignogna Jr] Lawrence Philadelphia PA, actor (Brotherly Love, Joey-Gimme a Break, Blossom)
1976 Lenka Nemeckova Brno Czechoslovakia, tennis star (1993 Futures-Maribor-SLO)
1977 Lisa Ervin figure skater (US Nationals-4th-1992)

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Deaths which occurred on April 20:
1164 Victor IV [Ottaviano Montecello] Italian antipope (1159-64), dies
1314 Clement V [Bertrand Got] pope (1305-14) move papacy to Avignon, dies
1317 Agnes van Montepulciano Italian mystic/saint, dies
1534 Elizabeth Barton [Nun of Kent] British prophet, is executed
1632 Nicolas Antione converted to Judiasm, burned at the stake
1643 Christoph Demantius composer, dies at 75
1662 Gerard Terborch the elder, painter, dies
1695 Georg Caspar Weckler composer, dies at 63
1759 Georg Friedrich Händel buried in Westminster Abbey
1768 Giovanni AC Canaletto Italian painter/cartoonist (Rialto), dies at 70
1769 Pontiac Indian chief to Ottawa, murdered
1786 John Goodricke English deaf & dumb astronomer, dies at 21
1812 George Clinton 4th US Vice President, dies at 73 1st Vice President to die in office
1820 Arthur Young author (Annals of Agriculture), dies
1821 Franz K Achard German physicist/chemist, dies at 67
1836 Johan I Jozef monarch of Liechtenstein/fieldmarshal, dies at 75
1839 Giuseppe Rossini father of Italian composer Gioacchino Rossini, dies
1869 Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe composer, dies at 72
1869 Piotr Studzinski composer, dies at 42
1872 Ljudwit Gaj Croatian writer/poet (Pjesma iz Zagorja), dies at 62
1899 Edouard Pailleron French attorney/comedian (voice où), dies at 64
1900 Mabel Mercer popular British singer, dies
1906 Australian wombat oldest known marsupial, dies in London Zoo at 26
1908 Henry Chadwick sports reporter (baseball), dies at 85
1912 Bram Stoker Irish theater manager/writer (Dracula), dies
1918 Reginald Harry Mybirgh Hands cricketer (1 Test for South Africa), dies
1932 Giuseppe Peano mathematician, dies
1935 Juliaan de Vriendt Flemish painter, dies at 92
1941 Barend ter Haar Dutch lawyer, dies in Buchenwald at 49
1947 Christian X King of Denmark (1912-47), dies at 76
1953 Erich Weinert writer, dies at 62
1956 Jaap Vranken organist/composer (Stabat mater), dies
1956 Lieven Duvosel Flemish music composer (Levensschets), dies at 78
1962 Jesse G Vincent engineer designed 1st V-12 engine, dies at 82
1962 Arthur Harmat composer, dies at 76
1965 Richard Wessell actor (Carney-Riverboat), dies of heart attack on 52nd birthday
1968 Marion Weeks singer/actress, dies of stroke at 81
1971 Cecil Parker actor (Court Jester, Operation Snafu), dies at 73
1973 Robert Armstrong actor (Fall Guy, Exposed), dies at 82
1974 Mohammed Ayub Khan premier/President (Pakistan), dies
1977 Bryan Foy director/writer, dies at 80
1977 Len Johnson cricketer (one Test for Australia, 3-66 & 3-8), dies
1979 Peter Donald host (Masquerade Party), dies at 60
1982 Andrew Sandham cricketer (325 England 1930, 879 runs in 14 Tests), dies
1982 Archibald MacLeish US, lawyer/writer (Conquistador), dies at 89
1982 Mimi Boesnach actress (Wedding of Kloris & Roses), dies at 82
1983 Jerzy Andrezjewski writer, dies
1984 Mabel Mercer English/US singer (Fly me to the moon), dies at 84
1990 Horst Sinderman RDA 1st minister (1973-76), dies
1991 Don[ald] Siegel US director (Coogan's Bluff/Dirty Harry), dies at 78
1991 Jumjaagiyn Tsedenbal Mongolian politician, dies
1991 Sean O'Faolain [J Whelan] Irish writer (Nest of Simple), dies at 91
1991 Steve Marriott English guitarist (Small Faces), dies in a fire at 44
1991 Yumzhagin Tsendenbal PM of Mongolia (1952-74), dies
1992 Benny [Alfred Hawthorn] Hill comedian (Benny Hill Show), dies of a heart attack at 67
1992 Johnny Shines Delta blues singer/guitarist, dies at 76
1993 Cantinflas [Mario Moreno] Mexican actor (Pepe), dies at 81
1994 Jean Carmet French actor (Merci la Vie, Le Sucre), dies at 72
1995 Milovan Djilas Yugoslavian politician (1945-54), dies
1995 R E S Wyatt cricketer (England captain 16 times), dies
1995 Sunil Jayasinghe Sri Lankan wicketkeeper (1979 World Cup), suicide
1995 Tessie O'Shea entertainer, dies at 81
1996 Cecilia Grace Hunt Reeves Gillie BBC Executive, dies at 88
1996 Christopher Robin Milne bookseller/son of writer A A Milne (Winnie the Pooh), dies at 75
1996 Tran Van Tra soldier, dies at 77

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 BUTLER PHILLIP N. TULSA OK.
02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98

1965 SHEA JAMES PATRICK BURLINGAME CA.
CRASH TARGET AREA / NO PARA

1966 ABBOTT JOHN SAN DIEGO CA.
DRV RETURNED REMAINS 03/13/74

1968 CESTARE JOSEPH ANGELO NEW YORK NY.

1968 WALKER WILLIAM J. RIVERSIDE CA.

1968 ZUTTERMAN JOSEPH A. JR. MARYSVILLE KS.

1970 MAHAN DOUGLAS F. COLUMBIA MO.
07/05/72 REMAINS RECOVERED

1972 AMOS THOMAS H. REPUBLIC MO.
REMAINS ID'D 11/03/99

1972 BURNHAM MASON I. PORTLAND OR .
REMAINS ID'D 11/03/99

1972 ELIAS EDWARD K.
09/28/72 RELEASED HANOI

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

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On this day...
0027(?) Jesus of Nazareth raises of the dead..
0295 8th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
0850 Guntherus becomes bishop of Cologne
1139 2nd Lateran Council (10th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1505 Jews are expelled from Orange Burgundy by Philibert of Luxembourg
1551 John Dudley becomes English Earl Marshal
1650 VOC-management sets new guidelines
1653 Cromwell routes English parliament to house
1657 Battle in Santa Cruz Bay, Tenerife English fleet under Robert Blake sinks Spanish silver fleet
1702 Comet C/1702 H1 approaches within 0.0437 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1715 Nicholas Rowe's "Tragedy of Lady Jane Gray", premieres in London
1770 Captain Cook arrives in New South Wales
1775 British begin siege of Boston
1777 New York adopts new constitution as an independent state
1792 France declares war on Austria, Prussia & Sardinia
1799 Friedrich von Schiller's "Wallensteins Tod", premieres in Weimar
1799 Napoleon issues a decree calling for establishing Jerusalem for Jews
1809 Napoleon I defeats Austria at Battle of Abensberg, Bavaria
1836 Territory of Wisconsin created
1841 1st detective story (Poe's "Murders in the Rue Morgue") published
1853 Harriet Tubman starts Underground Railroad
1861 Battle of Norfolk VA
1861 Colonel Robert E Lee resigns from Union army
1865 Chicago's Crosby Opera House opens
1871 3rd Enforcement Act (President can suspend writ of habeas corpus)
1872 San Francisco Bar Association organized
1879 1st mobile home (horse drawn) used in a journey from London & Cyprus
1884 Pope Leo XIII encyclical "On Freemasonry"
1894 136,000 mine workers strike in Ohio for pay increase
1896 1st public film showing in US John Philip Sousa's "El Capitán", premieres in NYC
1898 US Assay Office in Deadwood SD opens
1902 Marie & Pierre Curie isolate radioactive element radium
1903 7th Boston Marathon won by John Lorden of Massachusetts in 2:41:29.8
1903 New York Highlanders play their 1st game, with Jack Chesbro losing 3-1 to Al Orth & Washington Nationals
1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition opens in St Louis
1904 George Bernard Shaw's "Candida", premieres in London
1908 12th Boston Marathon won by Tom Morrissey of New York in 2:25:43.2
1910 Cleveland Indians Addie Joss 2nd no-hitter, beats Chicago, 1-0
1910 Halley's Comet passes 29th recorded perihelion at 87.9 million km
1912 Fenway Park officially opens, Boston Red Sox beat New York Highlanders 7-6 in 11
1912 Tiger Stadium in Detroit opens, Tigers beat Cleveland Indians 6-5
1914 33 killed by soldiers during mine strike in Ludlow CO
1914 18th Boston Marathon won by James Duffy of Canada in 2:25:01.2
1916 German-British sea battle off Belgian coast
1916 1st National League game at Weeghman Park (Wrigley Field) in Chicago opens, Chicago Cubs beat Cincinnati Reds 7-6
1917 Pravda (Lenin names Russia "Free land of world")
1919 Polish Army captures Vilno, Lithuania from Soviet Army
1920 Tornadoes kill 219 in Alabama & Mississippi
1920 7th modern Olympic games open in Antwerp Belgium
1920 Balfour Declaration recognized, makes Palestine a British Mandate
1920 Big Show ends 2 year run on NBC radio
1920 Phillies manager Gravvy Cravath puts himself in as pinch hitter, his 3-run homer and beats New York Giants 3-0
1925 29th Boston Marathon won by Charles Mellor of Illinois in 2:33:00.6
1926 1st check sent by radio facsimile transmission across the Atlantic
1931 35th Boston Marathon won by Jim Henigan of Massachusetts in 2:46:45.8
1931 British House of Commons agrees for sports play on Sunday
1934 Heinrich Himmler becomes inspector Prussian secret state police
1935 "You're Hit Parade" begins broadcasting (becomes #1 quickly)
1936 40th Boston Marathon won by Ellison Brown of Rhode Island in 2:33:40.8
1936 Jews repel an Arab attack in Petach Tikvah Palestine
1939 New York World's Fair opens
1939 Ted Williams' 1st hit (off of Yankee Red Ruffing) a double
1940 1st electron microscope demonstrated (RCA), Philadelphia PA
1941 100 German bombers attack Athens
1941 Dodgers start to wear liners in their caps
1942 German occupiers forbid Dutch access to their beach
1942 Heavy German assault on Malta
1943 Atlanta Braves manager Casey Stengel is struck by a taxi, fractures a leg
1944 NFL legalizes coaching from the bench
1944 Dutch Communist Party-resistance fighter John Postma sentence to death
1945 Soviet troops enter Berlin
1945 US 7th Army & allies forces capture Nuremberg & Stuttgart in Germany
1945 Cleveland Browns organization formed by Arthur "Mickey" McBride
1945 German occupiers flood Beemster & Fencer
1945 US forces conquer Motobu peninsula on Okinawa
1946 1st televised baseball broadcast in Chicago, St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs
1946 50th Boston Marathon won by Stylianos Kyriakides of Greece in 2:29:27
1947 Frederik IX becomes King of Denmark
1948 UAW president Walter P Reuther shot & wounded at his home in Detroit
1948 NYC hikes subway fare from 5¢ to 10¢
1949 Jockey Bill Shoemaker wins his 1st race, in Albany CA
1950 Baltimore's Memorial Stadium opens - Orioles of International League
1951 US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak Atoll
1951 Velsen city council demands investigation of police collaborators
1953 57th Boston Marathon won by Keizo Yamada of Japan in 2:18:51
1954 "Golden Apple" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 125 performances
1955 "Saint of Bleecker St" closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 92 performances
1957 Yankee Bill Skowron becomes 3rd player to hit a ball out of Fenway Park
1957 61st Boston Marathon won by John J Kelley of Connecticut in 2:20:05
1958 Buses replace Key System trains in San Francisco area at 3 AM
1958 Montréal Canadiens beat Boston Bruins 4 games to 2 for the Stanley Cup
1958 Louise Suggs wins LPGA Babe Didrikson-Zaharias Golf Open
1958 Morocco demands departure of Spanish troops
1959 63rd Boston Marathon won by Eino Oksanen of Finland in 2:22:42
1960 "From A to Z" opens at Plymouth Theater NYC for 21 performances
1961 American Harold Graham makes 1st rocket belt flight
1962 NASA civilian pilot Neil A Armstrong takes X-15 to an altitude of 63,250 meters
1962 New Orleans Citizens Company gives free 1-way ride to blacks to move North
1962 OAS-leader ex-General Salan arrested in Algiers
1963 "Sophie" closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 8 performances
1963 All Africa Conferences of Churches opens in Kampala Uganda
1964 86% of black students boycott Cleveland schools
1964 68th Boston Marathon won by Aurele Vandendriessche of Belgium in 2:19:59
1965 People's Republic China offers North Vietnam military aid
1966 WDCA TV channel 20 in Washington DC (IND) begins broadcasting
1967 US planes bomb Haiphong for 1st time during the Vietnam War
1967 US Surveyor 3 lands on Moon
1967 French author Régis Debray caught in Bolivia
1967 New York Mets' Tom Seaver's 1st victory, beats Chicago Cubs, 6-1
1967 USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakhstan/Semipalitinsk USSR
1968 Pierre Elliott Trudeau sworn-in as Canada's PM
1968 South African Airways Boeing 707 crashes at Windhoek, 122 killed
1969 23rd Tony Awards Great White Hope & 1776 win
1969 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open
1970 74th Boston Marathon won by Ron Hill of Great Britain in 2:10:30 (new US marathon record)
1970 Bruno Kreisky becomes 1st socialist chancellor of Austria
1971 Barbra Streisand records "We've Only Just Begun"
1971 US Supreme Court upholds use of busing to achieve racial desegregation
1972 Apollo 16's Young & Duke land on Moon with Boeing Lunar Rover #2
1972 Kallicharran scores his 2nd Test century in his 2nd Test Cricket
1973 Canadian ANIK A2 becomes 1st commercial satellite in orbit
1974 Paul McCartney releases "Band on the Run"
1975 Penguins 1-Islanders 3-Quarterfinals-Penguins hold 3-1 lead
1975 29th Tony Awards Equus & The Wiz win
1975 4th Colgate Dinah Shore Golf Championship won by Sandra Palmer
1976 George Harrison sings the lumberjack song with Monty Python
1977 Supreme Court rules "Live Free or Die" may be covered on New Hampshire licenses
1977 Woody Allen's film "Annie Hall" premieres
1980 Cubans begin to arrive in US from Mariel boatlift
1980 Donna White wins LPGA Florida "Lady Citrus" Golf Tournament
1981 Final performance of TV show "Soap" airs
1981 Rocker Papa John Phillips arrested for drug possession
1981 10th Boston Women's Marathon won by Allison Roe of New Zealand in 2:26:46
1981 85th Boston Marathon won by Toshihiko Seko of Japan in 2:09:26
1982 Atlanta Braves become 1st team to win 1st 12 games of the season
1983 Rangers 2-Islanders 7-Patrick Division Finals-Islanders hold 3-2 lead
1983 Soyuz T-8 launched; mission aborted when capsule fails to dock
1983 President Ronald Reagan signs a $165 billion bail-out for Social Security
1984 Russian offensive in Panshirvallei Afghánistán
1985 Karyn Marshall of New York NY lifted 303 lbs in a clean-and-jerk lift
1985 Carlos Lopes runs world record marathon (2:07:12)
1985 Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions won by Mark Williams
1986 Michael Jrdan sets NBA playoff record with 63 points in a game
1986 Vladimir Horowitz performs in his Russian homeland
1986 "Jerry's Girls" closes at St James Theater NYC after 139 performances
1986 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1987 16th Boston Women's Marathon won by Rosa Mota of Portugal in 2:25:21
1987 91st Boston Marathon won by Toshihiko Seko of Japan in 2:11:50
1987 Sri Lanka Tamils shoot 122 Singalezen dead
1987 US deports Karl Linnas, charged with nazi war crimes, to USSR
1988 Baltimore Orioles set worst record to start a season 0-14 (will go 0-21)
1988 New Jersey Devils 1st playoff hat trick-Eric Broten
1988 New York Yankees homerun 9,999 (Dave Winfield) 10,000 (Claudell Washington) 10,001 (Jack Clark)
1988 US accuses Renamo of killing 100,000 Mozambiquians
1990 8 2/3 inning perfect game pitched by Brian Holman of the Oakland A's is spoiled by a home run hit by Ken Philips
1990 Pete Rose pleads guilty to hiding $300,000 in income
1991 Raghib "Rocket" Ismael signs with Toronto Argonauts for $26.2 million
1991 "Les Miserables", opens at Odense Teater, Odense
1991 1st non stop flight Schiphol-Flamingo airport Bonaire
1991 Mark Lenzi is 1st diver to score 100 points on a dive (101.85)
1992 100th episode of "Murphy Brown" airs
1992 Expo '92 opens in Seville Spain
1992 21st Boston Women's Marathon won by Olga Markova of Russia in 2:23:43
1992 96th Boston Marathon won by Ibrahim Hussein of Kenya in 2:08:14
1992 All star concert in memory of Freddie Mercury held at Wembley Stadium London
1992 Joan Lunden breaks her left shoulder after being thrown from a horse
1992 Madonna signs $60-million deal with Time Warner
1993 Uranus passes Neptune (this occurs once every 171 years)
1994 Danny Harold Rolling, sentenced to death in Florida, for killing 5
1994 Serbian army bombs hospital in Goradze Bosnia, 47 killed
1994 Sohail & Inzamam make world record ODI partnership of 263
1994 Space shuttle STS-59 (Endeavour 6), lands
1996 Chicago Bulls win record 72 games in a season
1997 1st baseball game in Hawaii, St Louis Cardinals beat San Diego Padres in doubleheader
1997 27th Easter Seal Telethon raises $47,392,682
1997 58th PGA Seniors Golf Championship Hale Irwin
1997 Chicago Cubs beat New York Mets ending National League worst opening, lost 14 straight games
1997 DL Coburn's "Gin Game", opens at Lyceum Theater NYC for 144 performances
1997 Karrie Webb wins LPGA Susan G Komen International
1997 Mark McGwire, is 4th to homerun on Detroit Tiger left field roof (others are Frank Howard, Harmon Killibrew, & Cecil Fielder)
1997 Nick Price wins golf MCI Classic
1997 Noël Coward's "Present Laughter", closes at Walter Kerr Theater NYC
1997 PGA Seniors Championship; Hale Irwin wins
1999 Deadliest school shooting in US history at Columbine High School, Littleton CO, 13 killed, 23 wounded

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

Massachusetts, Maine : Patriots Day-Boston Marathon run (1775) - - - - - ( Monday )

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Religious Observances

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Religious History
1441 During the Council of Florence (1438-45), Eugenius IV issued the bull "Etsi non dubitemus," which asserted the superiority of the pope over the Councils.
1718 Birth of David Brainerd, colonial American missionary to the Indians of New England. Following his premature death from tuberculosis at 29, Brainerd's journal (published in 1649 by the Jonathan Edwards) influenced hundreds to become missionaries after him.
1826 Birth of Erastus Johnson, American hymnwriter. A lifelong student of the Bible, Johnson, at age 47, penned the hymn, "O Sometimes the Shadows are Deep" (a.k.a. "The Rock That Is Higher Than I").
1943 In Poland, Germans Nazi troops massacred the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto.
1987 In Columbus, OH, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) was organized, making it the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S. It represented the merger of three smaller Lutheran bodies, and was officially born on Jan 1, 1988.

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Thought for the day :
"Freedom has a thousand charms to show, that slaves, however content, will never know."

[SAMWolf]

Leclerc’s division, which reserved the honor of liberating Paris, intended from the start to take the French capital under orders from General De Gaulle in order to reestablish the authority of the French republic. Leclerc even initiated a reconnaissance in force in advance of Eisenhower’s authorization. But De Gaulle had a secret ally in Eisenhower. The initial allied strategy was to by-pass the city to concentrate on the German forces retreating to the Rhine. But Leclerc’s determined rendezvous with the capital became more compelling once the French Resistance (Forces Francaises de l’Interieur or FFI) under Colonel Rol had immobilized the 6000 man German garrison.

He had concluded a shaky truce with Lt. General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor, who was under express orders from Hitler to destroy Paris. General Eisenhower, embarrassed by the neglect of Paris, finally authorized Leclerc’s detour, convinced that the surrender of Paris was a virtual fait accomplis anyway. Leclerc’s push towards Paris was hardly a frolic, costing his division 35 tanks, 6 self-propelled guns and 111 vehicles before making its way through the jubilant throngs to the Hotel Meurice, von Cholitz’s headquarters, to accept his surrender.

The governor of Paris spared the capital from destruction out of a higher sense of duty, but his honor prevented him from surrendering Paris without a fight. De Gaulle, in characteristic pride, would stride ahead of his entourage without escort followed by jubilant Parisians down the grand Avenue des Champs-Elysees, along which a conquering German army had marched four years earlier. It was a gesture to assure the French people that their nightmare was over at last.

[SAMWolf]

1971 US Supreme Court upholds use of busing to achieve racial desegregation

IMHO, one of the dumber decisions by the Court.