The FReeper Foxhole Remembers J Robinson, W Pitsenbarger Operation Abilene(APR-1966)-Sep. 24th, 2003

Home of Heroes ^

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

Where Duty, Honor and Country
are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.

Our Mission:

The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans.

Welcome to "Warrior Wednesday"
Where the Freeper Foxhole introduces a different veteran each Wednesday. The "ordinary" Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine who participated in the events in our Country's history. We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us - Our Veterans.

To read previous Foxhole threads or
to add the Foxhole to your sidebar,
click on the books below.

Operation "Abilene"
April 10-12, 1966

The sandy beaches at the South Vietnamese resort town of Vung Tau quickly give way to dense jungle as one moves westward towards Saigon. Here the jungle grows in layers, often triple-canopy (3-layers) of heavy vegetation. So thick is the top layer, often rising over 150 feet upwards, that sunlight never reaches the vegetation at ground level. During the brightest day, soldiers moving across the jungle floor can almost feel that they are moving about at night.

Operation Abilene began on April 10, 1966...Easter Sunday. Soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division, better known as "The Big Red One", began to move into the jungle between Saigon and Vung Tau in search of the enemy. Alpha, Bravo and Charlie Companies of the First Infantry's 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry (2/16th) were seeking elements of a 400-man Viet Cong battalion. On Monday, the second day of the sweep, the rugged terrain forced Charlie Company to move outward instead of paralell to Alpha and Bravo Companies. Sporadic sniper fire picked at the men of Charlie, 2/16th throughout the day, but no one could have predicted how intense the enemy fire would become as morning gave way to afternoon.

Staff Sergeant James Robinson, a former Marine, had volunteered for Vietnam duty...had in fact, engaged in a determined year-long letter writing campaign from his duty station in Panama in efforts to be assigned as an advisor to soldiers of the Vietnamese Army. Sergeant Robinson believed strongly in the U.S. role in Vietnam, telling his father in one letter: "There's a world on fire and we should do something about it." Now, as he lead his fire-team through the dense jungles of Phuoc Tuy province, he recalled what he had written home in his most recent letter..."The price we pay for freedom is never cheap." Little did he know how expensive that price was about to become.

The first explosion came from American artillery fired in support of Operation Abilene. One round fell short, detonating in the top of the jungle canopy and raining deadly shrapnel on Sergeant Robinson's platoon. Two men were killed, twelve wounded, and the tall sergeant from Cicero, Illinois set his men to the task of clearing a landing zone for medevac choppers to extract the casualties. As the survivors hacked through the jungle vegetation, they did not realize they were only yards from their primary objective...the command post of the Viet Cong Battalion Operation Abilene sought to find and destroy.

As the infantrymen fought to reclaim enough jungle landscape for the medevacs to land, the enemy attacked with mortars and machinegun fire. Pandemonium erupted among the American soldiers as they clammored for any semblance of shelter. In the midst of sudden death and unrestrained terror, Sergeant Robinson began moving among the men to organize defensive fire and inspire confidence. Locating one highly effective enemy sniper, Robinson used a grenade launcher to end the threat. In the distance he could see an Army medic kneeling to bandage the wounds of a wounded American infantryman. Enemy fire reached out to tear flesh and the medic fell to the ground. Realizing the two wounded men were dangerously exposed to continued enemy fire, Robinson ignored the whine of deadly missiles around him to rush into the open and drag the two wounded men to safety.


Staff Sergeant James Robinson

As the fighting continued to escalate, more wounded fell. Sergeant Robinson noticed another American fall ahead of his position. Rushing forward to rescue the wounded man, enemy rounds slammed into Robinson's shoulder and leg. Ignoring the pain, he dragged the wounded man to shelter, administered life-saving first aid, and then treated his own serious wounds. While patching up his broken body he noticed the location of an enemy machinegun that had been inflicting heavy casualties on his unit. His rifle empty, Sergeant Robinson again ignored his wounds to attack. Another Viet Cong bullet hit the intrepid soldier in the leg. The round was a tracer, igniting the trousers of his jungle fatigues. Sergeant Robinson ripped the burning uniform from his body and continued forward. At six-feet, three inches tall he was an inspiring sight for the beleagured men of his platoon. He was also a very large target. The full force of the agressors turned their firepower on the advancing American. Two more rounds struck flesh, ripping into Sergeant Robinson's chest and draining what little strength remained in his broken body. Somehow, through sheer force of determination, he continued forward...falling only after reaching effective range and throwing the two grenades to destroy the enemy position. The price Sergeant Robinson paid for freedom wasn't cheap...he purchased it with his own life.



The worst was yet to come for Charlie Company. Normally the unit consisted of four platoons of 291 men but, going into Operation Abilene, company strength was down to 134 soldiers. These men were now cut off from Able and Bravo companies, and were surrounded by 400 or more enemy soldiers. Hidden by the dense jungle, the enemy was able to hide and still place effective sniper fire on the Americans. Quickly the attack escalated to intense mortar and machinegun fire throughout the entire area. Dead and wounded American boys littered the undergrowth in what was quickly becoming a massacre. Because of the thick, triple-canopy jungle, Army medevacs could not come in to retrieve the wounded...there was simply no place to land. The nearest clearing was 4 miles away. The only hope of getting the wounded out and headed for emergency field hospitals lay with the Air Force Huskies that were capable of hovering above the canopy to lower an empty stokes litter, then winch it back up with the body of a wounded strapped inside.



At 3 o'clock on the afternoon of April 11th, the call for help arrived at the headquarters of the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron at Bien Hoa. Two Air Force Huskies were quickly airborne and moving east to find and extract the wounded soldiers of Charlie Company. Captain Ronald Bachman piloted the primary HH-43, call sign "Pedro 97". Captain Harold Salem piloted the back-up aircraft, "Pedro 73". Behind the pilot and co-pilot in Pedro 73, was Airman William Pitsenbarger. His only remark when the call for help arrived had been, "I have a bad feeling about this mission." It was the first time the pararescueman had ever voiced any misgivings about any mission.

By 3:30 the two Air Force choppers were hovering over the tops of the jungle canopy while death and devastation raged below. Pedro 97 went in first, lowering the stokes litter to retrieve one of the wounded. Then Captain Bachman pulled back a short distance to transfer the patient to a folding litter while Pedro 73 went in to pick up a second wounded soldier. That done, Captain Bachman returned to use the stokes to pull one more wounded soldier from the field of battle. The two Huskies then turned towards the field aid station 7 miles away near the village of Binh Ba. While the three initial recovered casualties were unloaded, Pits and Pedro 97's PJ Sergeant David Milsten discussed "going in" on the choppers' return.



The choppers could only carry two stokes litter patients on each in-and-out, and only one if there was no PJ aboard. Ambulatory casualties could be hoisted to the waiting choppers on "jungle penetrators". This cable contained 3 spring loaded seats that could be dropped through the heavy canopy to pull up men capable of riding the hoist up. Usually when a PJ "went in", he rode the penetrator down to either load a casualty in the stokes litter or aid two casualties in riding the penatrator. With the three-seat penatrator, a PJ could send up three wounded, then ride back up to his Huskie with two more wounded on a second lift. This allowed the rescue team to recover 4-5 wounded men with each in and out trip of the helicopters.

On the ground things had gone from bad to worse. Army Sergeant Fred Navarro of Hutchins, Kansas was a squad leader in Charlie 2/16th. Seven of his 10-man squad had already been killed in action. Navarro himself was wounded. Nearby Lieutenant Johnny Libs was doing his best to bring some semblance of order to what remained of his platoon. Dead and dying were everywhere and panic was pushing his young soldiers beyond reason. Then, over the cries of the wounded, he heard the sound of a returning rescue helicopter. Moments later a stokes litter was being lowered to the ground. Still taking fire, the infantrymen were struggling between survival and attempts to load a wounded man in the litter. From above Airman Pitsenbarger watched them struggle with the apparatus. He turned to Captain Salem at the controls and said, "I'm going in." The captain consented and slowly the choppers crew chief Airman First Class Gerald Hammond lowered his friend on the jungle penetrator. Totally exposed at the end of the cable, enemy rounds sang past the gallant PJ as he voluntarily rode the penetrator into a nightmare beyond human comprehension.



Lieutenant Libs strained his eyes against the unexpected sight. He turned to his machinegunner and said, "That guy coming out of the helicopter from above, in an Air Force uniform, must be out of his mind to leave his not-so-safe helicopter for the inferno on the ground." Days later in restrospect he added, "We were in the fight of our lives, and I just couldn't understand why anybody would put himself in this grave danger if he didn't have to."

When the young PJs feet touched ground, he went into immediate action. His experience expedited the process of getting the wounded soldier into the stokes litter and a fourth casualty was being hauled skyward. Once the man was airborne the crew of Pedro 73 expected their pararescueman to ride the penetrator back up to his waiting chopper. Instead, Airman Pitsenbarger waved them off, electing to remain with the soldiers on the ground. Without their PJ aboard, the chopper could only carry out one stokes patient, so Pedro 73 headed back to Binh Ba. As Captain Salem headed towards the aid station, Pedro 97 moved in to hover over the battlefield. Under the guidance of the brave PJ, the infantrymen were able to quickly send two more stokes patients to safety. The rescue effort took on new efficiency with an experienced man on the ground. In little more than an hour the two birds had each made two in-and-out trips to recover six wounded soldiers. After unloading at Binh Ba, Pedro 73 diverted to refuel while Captain Bachman and Pedro 97 returned for the fifth pick-up of the day. This time, working in tandem with Sergeant Milsten on Pedro 97, Pitsenbarger was able to load one litter case and two more wounded on the penetrator. Nine men out and Captain Salem was returning for more as Pedro 97 headed for Binh Ba with their heaviest load of the day.



As Captain Salem hovered, the Airman Hammond began lowering the stokes from Pedro 73. On the ground Pits signaled for the penetrator. Since the litter was already outside the helicopter, Hammond placed the penetrator inside the stokes and began lowering both. The package was about 10 feet off the ground and Pits was reaching upwards to receive it when a flurry of enemy .30 caliber rounds from two separate positions, raked the hovering rescue helicopter. At least nine rounds hit the aircraft, one of them tearing through the wiring and causing the throttle control to jam at full-throttle. The power and rpm shot over the red lines and the helicopter lurched forward and up...out of control. The stokes litter dragged through the trees as Captain Salem fought for control. Among other problems, he had also lost partial rudder control.

The dragging litter threatened to snag in the foilage and bring Pedro 73 crashing to the ground. Quickly the pilot threw the switches to arm the cable cutter, releasing the litter and freeing his aircraft. As Salem fought to save his Huskie, his departure left the valiant PJ stranded on the ground with Sergeant Navarro, Lieutenant Libs, and the few survivors of Charlie Company.


Airman William Pitsenbarger

William Pitsenbarger loved his job. An adventurer since boyhood, his greatest thrill had always been the opportunity to save lives. His medical training had served him well, so well in fact, that he had applied to Arizona State University to study to become a medical technician or male nurse upon completion of his Air Force tour of duty a couple months hence. Now, stranded on the ground with the few survivors of Charlie Company, he took little time to ponder the predicament into which he had voluntarily placed himself. Even as enemy fire continued to scorch the area, he moved among the casualties to tend the wounded and administer life-saving medical attention. When he found the bodies of American boys that could not be saved, he gathered weapons and ammunition to distribute among those who could still fight. Finding one wounded infantryman, injured beyond ability to fire a rifle, Pits gave the soldier his own pistol to enable him to continue to resist. He was one of the few calm visions of hope that moved among the damned.

How bad was it on the ground? One of the few survivors, Army Lieutenant Martin Kroah later said, "At times, the small; arms fire would be so intense that it was deafening, and all a person could do was get as close to the ground as possible and pray. It was on those occasions I saw Airman Pitsenbarger moving around and pulling wounded men out of the line of fire and then bandaging their wounds. My own platoon medic, who was later killed, was totally ineffective. He was frozen with fear, unable to move. The firing was so intense that a fire team leader in my platoon curled up in a fetal position and sobbed uncontrollably. He had been in combat in both World War II and Korea."



One can not judge the young men who reacted to the horrible events of April 11th with fear and panic. Ranging in age from 19-21, most had never witnessed such horror first hand. One must imagine William Pitsenbarger must have felt fear himself. No sane man could live through such a nightmare without such emotion. But what made the young pararescueman from Piqua, Ohio stand out was how he dealt with fear. His decisions were deliberate, calculated, and carried out with the highest degree of professionalism.

Pits expected the Air Force Huskies, or at least Pedro 97, to return for more wounded. He noticed the stokes litter caught high in the jungle canopy. Despite the continuing enemy fire, he climbed the trees to salvage the litter and make it ready for the choppers' return. Indeed, after escorting the badly damaged Pedro 73 to an emergency landing, Captain Bachman and his team returned. By this time the Viet Cong were lobbing mortars into the area, and American forces responded by dropping artillery rounds in and around the small perimeter the survivors of Charlie Company were trying to create. Pedro 97 hovered in the area as darkness fell, then returned to Bien Hoa to wait out the night.



In the hour and a half Pits was on the ground, he was everywhere. When the company was ordered to move a short distance the intrepid Airman began cutting branches to improvise litters to transport the wounded. As darkness began to fall he disappeared for about 10 minutes, returning to the area receiving the heaviest enemy fire with 20 or more magazines of ammunition he had scrounged from among the dead. Next to him the wounded Sergeant Navarro was struggling to stay alive, and to resist. Quickly the total darkness of the jungle night was falling across the area as the two men lay in their position returning fire on the enemy. It was nearing 7:30 in the evening as the enemy fire was beginning to taper off. Sporadic rounds continued to whistle through the air around Sergeant Navarro, but with the encroaching darkness there was coming an eerie quiet as well. Next to him, all was quiet. No longer could he hear the sounds of William Pitsenbarger's M-16. Even without looking the young infantry sergeant knew what had happened. William Pitsenbarger was dead.

Within days of that horrible night, Sergeant Fred Navarro provided the Air Force with a taped statement detailing the heroism of Airman First Class William Pitsenbarger in support of a recommendation for the Medal of Honor. Few witnesses remained of the young PJs service and sacrifice. Of the 134 soldiers in Charlie Company at the beginning of Operation Abilene, there were 106 casualties. Only two members of Sergeant Navarro's 10-man squad had survived.



Army Staff Sergeant James Robinson was submitted for the Medal of Honor for his heroic sacrifice during Operation Abilene. His posthumous award was presented to his father at the Pentagon in ceremonies on July 16, 1967. The recommendation for William Pitsenbarger's Medal of Honor was downgraded to the Air Force Cross. When Mr. and Mrs. Pitsenbarger accepted that award on behalf of their heroic son on September 22, 1966, William Pits Pitsenbarger became the first enlisted airman in history to receive the Air Force's second highest award for military heroism, posthumously.

[SAMWolf]

Fewer than 20 men survived the night of April 11-12, 1966. As the enemy pulled back from the surrounded remainder of Charlie Company, in the total darkness of the jungle, civilian women and children under Viet Cong control slipped through the underbrush to recover the VC dead and wounded. As they went about their grim task they also looked for American wounded, quietly slitting the throats of helpless young men from Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.

The only real defense the American survivors had in the dark rain forrest came from American artillery. Every fifteen seconds from 8:30 Monday evening until 7:00 A.M. Tuesday morning, five or six rounds of artillery fell within 25 meters of the small perimeter to keep the enemy at bay.

Meanwhile, Alpha and Bravo Companies poised themselves for a rescue attempt at daylight. In the darkness of the early morning, Army Engineers slipped into the jungle to clear a landing place for the helicopters that would come with the dawn to extract the survivors and the bodies of the dead.

Arriving with the Army's CH47 helicopters on Tuesday morning was the only operable Huskie from Detachment 6. The PJ on board was one of Pits' closest friends, Harry O'Berne. The Huskie was the first chopper to land and O'Berne moved among the dead to find and load three wounded infantrymen. Then, as the Huskie lifted off, O'Berne remained on the ground to treat wounded and load them on the Army Chinook. As he moved among the bodies that littered the jungle floor, an Army captain approached and asked if he was a medic. O'Berne replied that he was. "I'm sorry but one of your buddies was killed last night," he informed the PJ, then pointed towards a poncho covered bundle in the distance.

Slowly O'Berne approached to gently lift the poncho. Beneath was the body of his friend, Pararescue medic William Pitsenbarger...shot four times. In one lifeless hand Pits still held his M-16 rifle. In the other he still clutched his medical kit.

[SAMWolf]

A Particular Bravery

The 10th, 11th, and 12th of April, 1966, witnessed the young men of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry “Rangers” exhibiting a “particular bravery” during an engagement near the village of Xa Cam My and the Courtenay Rubber Plantation, approximately 42 miles east of Saigon. A battle raged between this unit of the 1st Infantry Division and a Viet Cong battalion, D800. The battlefield crowded into a compact perimeter of jungle terrain enfolded within a dark world of a rainforest’s towering triple canopy. Soldiers of Charlie Company were outnumbered and cut off from support or relief - and in that nightmare world of isolated death and mayhem the United States’ war in Vietnam came of age because of the “particular bravery” of these Americans.



Easter Sunday services (April 10) were disrupted for the men of Company C when three Viet Cong soldiers were spotted at the far end of a jungle clearing where the chaplain had been offering a respite from the rigors of the Company’s search and destroy activities, activities as part of Operation Abilene. First platoon’s C troopers cut down on the VC, who were probably acting as scouts for a larger enemy contingent. Two of the enemy were brought down quickly, the third slipped a way and possibly reported Charlie Company's position back to the main body of the VC force.

The target of Operation Abilene, D800 was a "crack" battalion made up of approximately 400 soldiers and a contingent of women and children assisting the soldiers and acting as a back up force. Charlie Company was a light weapons rifle company with an authorized strength of 190 men, but on that Easter Sunday only a 134 GI’s were in the field. Casualties, leaves and assorted other reasons had thinned the ranks of Company C, hobbling the unit’s strength. Charlie Company would be outnumbered three to one if they encountered D800. The Americans had no way of knowing they faced such daunting odds as they pressed deep into the jungle.



The next morning, April 11th, Charlie Company encountered the enemy sporadically, but enough to slow the company’s advance. These flare-ups allowed D800 the time necessary to maneuver their men closer to Charlie Company. The VC battalion took positions in preparation for an ambush of Charlie Company. By 2 PM the VC had surrounded Charlie and were tightening the "noose". The combination of sniper fire from the trees, small arms and artillery fire was wreaking havoc in C Company’s perimeter. Casualties mounted from enemy fire as well as from "friendly" artillery fire mistakes directed to Charlie Company's position.

To save themselves and break the VC ambush, Charlie Company formed a circular perimeter with interlocking (overlapping) fire. The rain of death now came from all sides. The men from Charlie Company found themselves cut off from supporting units and from each other. The command structure fractured, and the stand-off descended into a hellish free-for-all for the out-numbered Americans. Casualties piled up as the situation turned from unstable to precarious. The perimeter tightened. American dead and wounded littered the no-man’s land between the D800 and Charlie. Valor was a necessity that stood alongside survival during those nightmare hours.



Murder replaced combat as the Vietnamese women and children infiltrated the original perimeter to carry off their injured and slit the throats of any wounded Americans they could find.

Dusk found the remaining Americans drawn into a tight perimeter. Orders were issued to ring the perimeter with artillery strikes. Weary, frightened men prayed to survive the night. The barrage, five or six rounds per minute, continued from 8:30 that night until about 7:00 am on the 12th.

Scores of Viet Cong were killed in the engagement, but an exact figure was impossible to determine due to the retrieval of the bodies. According to Army reports Charlie Company suffered 106 killed or wounded out of their original 134 men, a casualty rate of 80%. All but 28 Americans were killed or wounded. The after action report listed 38 killed and 71 wounded- several of the wounded subsequently died of their wounds.



Word got back to the USA that the Big Red One had been in one hell of a firefight and casualties were heavy. Families didn't know who had survived, who was dead.

There were many heroes from the Battle of Xa Cam My. First Lieutenant George Steinberg, a platoon leader with Charlie Company, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (posthumous) for his heroic acts and deeds during the battle. The actions of Sergeant James W. Robinson, Jr. received the Medal of Honor (posthumous). Airman 1st Class William Hart Pitsenbarger, better known as Pits, received the Air Force Cross (posthumous), the highest medal the Air Force can bestow, because of his heroism at Xa Cam My. Recently, December 8, 2000, Pitsenberger’s Air Force Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor.

Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry "Rangers" particular bravery, against such a numerically superior force, was awarded a Valorous Unit Award. The streamer proclaiming Charlie Company's courageous stand is embroidered COURTENAY PLANTATION and was on display at Fort Riley, Kansas until the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry was deactivated.

Additional Sources:

www.angelfire.com/mo/Blondie
www.pieceuniquegallery.com
www.temple.edu
history.searchbeat.com/vietnamwar
www.altmeyer.com
www.grunts.net

[SAMWolf]

'It doesn't require any particular bravery to stand on the floor of the Senate and urge our boys in Vietnam to fight harder, and if this war mushrooms into a major conflict and a hundred thousand young Americans are killed, it won't be U. S. Senators who die. It will be American soldiers who are too young to qualify for the senate. '

-- Senator George McGovern

'Pick battles big enough to matter, small enough to win. '

-- Jonathan Kozol

[SAMWolf]

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Snippy



Mash the pic

[snippy_about_it]

.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

.......Good Wednesday Morning Everyone!


If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole. How's it going?

Folks, be sure to get the latest updates for your anti-virus software and the latest critical updates for your computer.

[The Mayor]

Reporting for duty

[snippy_about_it]

Our mission at the Foxhole: We hope to present events as seen through their eyes. To give you a glimpse into the life of those who sacrificed for all of us.

Job well done.

Not much to say here, words can't describe the pride, sorrow and gratitude I have for these men. Simply incredible.

Thank you SAM.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning EGC. Cool morning, got down to 43 degrees I think. Brrrr. Thanks for the reminder on the updates.

[snippy_about_it]

Thank you SAM and good morning to you. Beautiful sunset.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor. Coffee looks especially good today on this chilly morning in Ohio.

[The Mayor]

It's 46 in Buffalo

[manna]

Present!

[bedolido]

Godd morning all

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on September 24:
1501 Gerolamo Cardano, mathematician, author of Games of Chance, the first systematic computation of probabilities.
1717 Horace Walpole England, writer (The Castle of Otranto)
1755 John Marshall Va, 4th Supreme Court Chief Justice (1801-35)
1825 Frances E.W. Harper famous African
1870 Georges Claude inventor (neon light)
1890 Sir Alan Herbert England, journalist/writer (Punch, Helen)
1896 F Scott Fitzgerald St Paul Minn, author (Great Gatsby)
1898 Baron Florey Aust, pathologist; purified penicillin (Nobel '45)
1902 Cheryl Crawford producer (Touch of Venus, Brigadoon)
1912 Don Porter Miami Okla, actor (Russ Lawrence-Gidget, Ann Sothern Show)
1914 Andrzej Panufnik Warsaw Poland, composer (Tragic Overture)
1914 Herb Jeffries Detroit Mich, actor (Where's Huddles)
1915 Larry Gates St Paul Minn, actor (Guiding Light)
1917 William Putnam Bundy London, editor (Lvaggerier & Vagaries)
1919 Dayton Allen NYC, comedian (Steve Allen Show)
1919 Vaclav Nelhybel Polanka Czechoslovakia, composer (Everyman)
1921 Jim McKay Phila Pa, sportscaster (ABC's Wide World of Sports)
1922 Theresa Merritt Newport News Va, actress (Mama-That's My Mama)
1924 Sheila MacRae London England, actress (Jackie Gleason Show)
1924 Walter Fufido Bronx NY, Iwo Jima casualty (WW II)
1930 John W Young SF Calif, astronaut (Gem 3 10, Apol 10 16, STS 1 9)
1931 Anthony Newley actor/song writer/singer (Dr Doolittle)
1934 John Brunner Britain, sci-fi author (Sheep Look Up)
1936 Jim Henson Greenville Miss, muppeteer (Sesame Street, Muppet Show)
1939 Manfred W”rner Secretary General of NATO
1941 Linda Eastman McCartney NYC, Mrs Paul McCartney, rocker (Wings-Ram)
1943 Lee Aaker LA Calif, actor (Rusty-Rin Tin Tin)
1946 "Mean" Joe Greene NFL tackle (Pitts Steelers), Coke spokesman
1946 Jacqueline Courtney NJ, actress (Another World, One Life to Live)
1948 Phil Hartman (comedian, actor
1951 Terry Metcalf Seattle, NFL, CFL running back (St Louis, Toronto)
1956 Ilona Slupianek German DR, shot-putter (Olympic-gold-1980)
1962 Joseph Kennedy II (Rep-D-Mass)
1964 Gene Watkins Waco Tx, actor (James Walsh-As the World Turns)
1969 Gene Hunt entertainer
1969 Lisa Matthews Peoria Ill, playmate (Apr, 1990)
1971 Shane Conrad actress (Cody-High Mountain Rangers)

---

Deaths which occurred on September 24:
0768 Pippin III, the short, King of France, dies at 53
0786 Al-Hadi, Arabic kalief of Islam (185-86), dies
996 Hugo Capet, king of France (987-96), dies
1180 Manuel I Comnenus Byzantine emperor (1143-80), dies
1601 Tycho Brahe, astronomer, dies in Prague at 54
1815 John Sevier indian fighter, dies at 70
1951 Phillippus Paracelsus physician/alchemist, dies at 48
1975 Ian Hunter actor (Sir Richard-Robin Hood), dies at 75
1981 Patsy Kelly actress (Brigid Murphy-Cop & the Kid), dies at 71
1982 Sarah Churchill actress, dies at 67
1984 Neil Hamilton actor (Com Gordon-Batman), dies of asthma at 85
1991 Theodore Geisel (Dr Seuss), dies at 87

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1965 FLYNN GEORGE EDWARD III NEW ORLEANS LA.
[06/09/74 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1965 OSBORN GEOFFREY H. WINTER PARK FL.
1966 WHITTLE JUNIOR L. INDIANAPOLIS IN.
[SWIMMING SOUTH CHINA SEA DROWN]
1968 BREINER STEPHEN E. DECATUR IN.
1968 DRABIC PETER E. UNION BRIDGE MD.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE IN 98]
1968 MC CONNELL JERRY JAMICA NY.
1972 BORAH DANIEL V. JR. OLNEY IL.
["ALIVE IN CHUTE, NO MORE CONTACT", REMAINS IDENTIFIED 18 APRIL 1997 - DISPUTED]

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

---

On this day...
312 Start of Imperial Indication
366 Liberius ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0622 Mohammed's Hegira("flight" from Mecca to Medina to escape persecution.)
673 Synod of Hertford opens; canons made for English Church
787 2nd Council of Nicaea (7th ecumenical council) opens in Asia Minor
1493 Columbus' 2nd expedition to the New World
1625 Dutch attack San Juan, Puerto Rico
1683 Jews are expelled from all French possessions in America
1742 Faneuil Hall opens to the public
1789 Congress creates the Post Office
1789 Congress' 1st Judiciary Act, Attorney General & Supreme Court
1829 Russia & Ottoman Empire sign Peace Treaty of Adrianople
1838 Anti-Corn-Law League forms to repeal English Corn Law
1841 Sarawak obtained by Britain from Sultan of Brunei
1845 1st baseball team is organized
1852 A new invention, the dirigible, is demonstrated
1853 1st round-the-world trip by yacht (Cornelius Vanderbilt)
1862 President Abraham Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus against anyone suspected of being a Southern sympathizer
1862 Confederate Congress adopts confederacy seal
1864 Battle of Pilot Knob (Fort Davidson), Missouri
1865 James Cooke walks tightrope from Cliff House to Seal Rocks, SF
1869 Black Friday; Wall St panic after Gould & Fisk attempt to corner gold
1883 National black convention meets in Louisville, Kentucky
1890 Wilford Woodruff, Pres of Mormon Church in Salt Lake City issues a manifesto advising members that teaching & practice of polygamy should be abandoned.
1895 1st round-the-world trip by a woman on a bicycle (took 15 months)
1902 Start of Sherlock Holmes "The Adventure of The Red Circle" (BG)
1906 St Louis Card Stony McGlynn no-hits Dodgers, 1-1 in 7 inning game
1919 Babe Ruth sets season homer mark at 28 off of Yankee Bob Shawkey
1922 Roger Hornsby sets the NL HR mark at 42
1927 NHL's Toronto St Patricks become the Maple Leafs
1927 Yanks set record of 106 victories
1929 Lt James H Doolittle guides a Consolidated N-Y-2 Biplane over Mitchell Field in NY in the 1st all-instrument flight
1930 Portsmouth beats Brooklyn in 1st NFL game played under floodlights
1934 2500 fans see Babe Ruth's farewell Yankee appearance at Yankee Stadium
1938 Don Budge becomes 1st tennis player to grand slam
1940 Jimmy Foxx hits his 500th career HR
1941 9 Allied govts pledged adherence to Atlantic Charter
1948 Mildred Gillars (Axis Sally) pleads innocent in Wash DC
1950 "Operation Magic Carpet"-All Jews from Yemen move to Israel
1952 Underwater volcano explodes under research vessel Kaiyo-maru-5
1953 "Take a Giant Step," opens on Broadway
1954 Tonight Show premiers on NBC (Johnny takes over 8 years later)
1954 Yanks tie a record, 3 of their pinch hitters strike out in 1 inning
1955 Pres Eisenhower suffers a heart attack on vacation in Denver
1957 Bkln Dodgers play last game at Ebbets Field, defeat Pirates 2-0
1957 Eisenhower orders US troops to desegregate Little Rock schools
1958 1st welded aluminum girder highway bridge completed, Urbandale, Ia
1960 1st nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, launches (USS Enterprise)
1960 Internationl Development Assn (UN agency) comes into existence
1962 The University of Mississippi agrees to admit James Meredith as the first black university student, sparking more rioting.
1963 Senate ratifies treaty with Britain & USSR limit nuclear testing
1964 "The Munsters" premiers
1964 Ringo forms Brikley Building Company Ltd
1967 Cards Jim Bakken kicks 7 field goals vs Steelers
1968 "60 Minutes" premiers
1968 "That's Life" premiers-A Broadway musical type TV show
1968 NY Met manager Gil Hodges suffers a heart attack
1969 Trial of "Chicago 8" (protesters at Dem Natl Conv) begins
1970 1st Automated return of lunar sample by Luna 16
1971 Houston Astros beat SD Padres, 2-1, in 21 innings
1972 Antique F86 Sabrejet fails to takeoff at air show, kills 22
1972 Jack Tatum, Oakland, returns a fumble 104 yds vs Green Bay (rec)
1972 NY Jet Joe Namath passes for 6 touchdowns vs Balt Colt (44-34)
1973 Portuguese Guinea (Guinea-Bissau) declares independence
1973 St Louis Cards Jim Bakken sets NFL record kicking 7 field goals
1974 Al Kaline gets his 3,000th career hit
1976 Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst sentenced to 7 years for her part in a 1974 bank robbery. Released after 22 months by Pres Carter
1977 Ken Hinton of CFL British Columbia Lions returns a punt 130 yards
1978 Ron Guidry beats Cleveland 4-0, raising his record to 23-3 ERA 1.74
1979 CompuServe system started
1981 Four Armenian gunmen seized the Turkish consulate in Paris, holding 60 hostages for 15 hours before surrendering.
1982 Tennis great Bj”rn B”rg retires at 26
1982 US, Italian & French peacekeeping troops begin arriving in Lebanon
1984 Paul McCartney releases "No More Lonely Nights"
1985 Apollo Computer Inc. lays off 300 employees
1985 Fastest English Channel crossing by a relay team set (15h 30m)
1985 Montreal Expo Andre Dawson is 9th to get 6 RBIs in an inning (5th)
1988 Barbara C Harris of Mass, elected 1st woman Episcopal bishop
1988 Canada's Ben Johnson runs drug-assisted 100 m in 9.79 sec
1988 Jackie Joyner-Kersee of USA sets the heptathlon woman's record (7,291)
1990 South African president F.W. de Klerk meets Pres Bush in Wash DC
1990 Supreme Soviet gives approval to switch to free market
1991 "Good & Evil" & "Sibs" premiers on ABC TV
1991 Doogie Howser loses his virginity
1991 Robin Yount is 37th to hit 2,000 singles
1996 The United States, represented by President Clinton, and the world's other major nuclear powers signed a treaty to end all testing and development of nuclear weapons.
1996 Israel opened a second entrance to a tunnel used by archeologists at the Temple Mount, sacred to Muslims as well as Jews. The action sparked deadly rioting.
1996 Stephen King releases two books at once
1998 Iran's foreign minister announced that Iran had dropped its 1989 call for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of "The Satanic Verses" which many Muslims found blasphemous.

---

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

Pennsylvania Dutch : Schwenkenfelder Thanksgiving Day (1734)
US : Gold Star Mother's Day (Last Sunday in September) (Sunday)
US : Good Neighbor Day (4th Sunday in September) (Sunday)
US : Press Sunday (Sunday)
US : American Indian Day (4th Friday in September) (1916) (Friday)
Safety Awareness Week (Day 4)
National Ballroom Dance Week (Day 6)
National Mind Mapping for Problem Solving Week (Day 4)
Thanksgiving Day for the Pennsylvania Dutch
Potato Bread Month

---

Religious Observances
Succoth.
RC-Dominican Republic : Commemoration of Our Lady of Ransom

---

Religious History
787 The Second Nicene Council opened under Pope Hadrian I. Numbered by some as the 7th of the church's 21 ecumenical councils, Nicea II condemned iconoclasm (belief that the veneration of Christian images and relics is idolatry).
1889 In Holland, the Declaration of Utrecht was signed and became the doctrinal basis of the Old Catholic Church. ("Old Catholics" reject clerical celibacy, papal authority and the Council of Trent decisions.) Today in Europe, Old Catholics are active in Holland, Germany and Switzerland.
1956 In Minneapolis-St. Paul, a congregation of worshipers was organized into the first Southern Baptist church to be established in Minnesota.
1977 Rev. John T. Walker was installed as the sixth -- and first African American -- bishop of the Episcopal diocese in Washington, D.C.
1988 The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts elected Barbara C. Harris, 58, as a suffragen (assistant) bishop, making her the first woman to be so ordained in the Anglican communion.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

---

Thought for the day :
"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand
And Eternity in an hour."
~William Blake

---

YOU MIGHT BE A REDNECK IF...
Anyone in your family ever died right after
saying, "Hey, y'all watch this!"

---

Murphys Law of the day...(Law of Triviality)
The time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum involved.

---

It's a little known fact that...
Canada is an Indian word meaning 'Big Village'.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning manna.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning bedolido.

[Darksheare]

*singing, flatly*
"Oh here they come, oh here they come. Can't start the show without them!"

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Valin.