Replies

On To Belgium

Assigned to plug the gap between British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Twenty-First Army Group and General Omar N. Bradley's Twelfth Army Group, the 7th Armored shuttled among the First Army, the British Second Army and the Ninth Army, all the time fighting against a stronger enemy force than Allied Intelligence had estimated. Two months after the 7th Armored began trying to clear the Germans west of the Maas River, two full British corps finally overcame the stubborn enemy holdouts. Casualties in the gun companies ran high in the peat bogs of the Peel Marshes because equipment had to stay on the roads, allowing no chance to maneuver. In later years Rogers recalled the sporadic enemy shelling and the patrols along the Asten-Nederweert road, even at night, to counter enemy mine-laying attempts. Nederweert, he said, was his platoon's town, and he spent three nights in the church tower observing the Germans across the canal before they put a shell through the tower on the fourth night.

During November, the 814th began replacing its M10s with the M36 tank destroyer, a gasoline-powered vehicle also built on a Sherman M4A3 medium tank chassis but mounting a 90mm gun. Assigned to the Ninth Army, the 7th Armored moved elements to attack Geilenkirchen on Germany's Roer River. Their advance toward the Roer halted when the 814th received orders to move out at 7:30 a.m. on December 17, 1944, and join the 7th Armored's convoy to Vielsalm, Belgium. Hitler's last gamble had begun. Destined to be the largest battle ever fought by American troops, it was dubbed the Battle of the Bulge by British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill.

Battle Of St. Vith

Major General Robert W. Hasbrouck, having assumed command of the 7th Armored, ordered Brig. Gen. Bruce C. Clarke's Combat Command B to defend the French town of St. Vith. Bolstered by elements of the 9th Armored Division and remnants of the 106th Infantry, Clarke formed a horseshoe defense, with reconnaissance elements patrolling the flanks. According to battalion supply officer J. William Goodwin, after a hurried briefing by Colonel Jones, Reconnaissance Company Captain John P. Reed issued an urgent call: "Get me Lieutenant Rogers!"

The mission given Rogers included reconnoitering Poteau, a village between Vielsalm and St. Vith. An early morning incident at Poteau was described years later by Rogers during the filming of the military documentary The Battle at St. Vith. Rogers' platoon had stayed overnight in Poteau, and early the next morning the men discovered a German tank parked nearby. Rogers and one of his men went to their jeep and, after some effort, disentangled the rocket launcher from the camouflage net. Trying to pull the frozen rockets off the jeep, they chipped the ice away, pulled off the bag and the rockets fell into the mud. They managed to load the rocket launcher, but their first attempt to fire failed. They had forgotten to attach the wires. After connecting the wires, Rogers aimed, fired and his rocket hit the tank. When the smoke began to clear, Rogers saw the tank commander open the hatch and look around as the tank backed away...undamaged.

German troops advancing past abandoned American equipment. (National Archives)

Enemy pressure mounted on the St. Vith horseshoe, and the perimeter during the six-day defense shrank to what historians would call a fortified goose egg. Montgomery, commander of the northern sector of the Bulge, countermanded the First Army's order that the defenders of St. Vith hold their line and await resupply by air. His message to the 7th Armored read: "You have accomplished your mission -- a mission well done. It is time to withdraw."

Withdrawal

A hard freeze on the night of December 22 made withdrawal possible, since the tanks were able to pull out of the mud and snow. By dusk on December 23, most of the 7th Armored had passed over the Salm River and through the lines of the 82nd Airborne Division. Task Force Jones, commanded by the 814th's Colonel Jones, fought the rear-guard action that had allowed the successful daylight withdrawal.

German Panther made to look like an M-10 as part of Operation Greif

As Task Force Jones prepared for withdrawal, reconnaissance platoons maintained defensive roadblocks. An article in the Kansas City Star of January 2, 1945, reported: "Will Rogers Jr. -- found his reconnaissance platoon engulfed in Germans December 23 and had to retreat. But he left the enemy a warning in red letters. [He] obtained a 4-foot sheet of wrapping paper, nailed it to a big tree in the middle of the road and printed with a red grease pencil: 'Beware! We will be back in two weeks with our new secret weapon.'"

An aerial view of St. Vith in December 1944.

The loss of Task Force Jones' four M36 tank destroyers at the rear of the column increased pressure for the remainder of the force to speed up movement along the Salm River and through Vielsalm, the only escape route. At Vielsalm, two of the column's leading light tanks were hit with anti-tank fire, setting them ablaze. Enemy fire on the front and rear of the column created havoc. Some vehicles plowed ahead; others turned around and moved to the rear. Most of the vehicles pulled off the road and into narrow clearings in the forest. Dismounting, some of the trapped troops planned an escape, while those still in their M8 armored cars heard the voice of Colonel Jones blaring over their radios, "Burn your vehicles and get out of there on foot!"

Beautiful Moonlit Night

Rogers later jotted down a few cryptic notes about Task Force Jones' withdrawal: "[We] joined a column going down to the Salm River, and went into a deep canyon. Road block ahead [the burning light tanks], and being shot at in the rear. Beautiful moonlight night. Took out a patrol to find out what the roadblock was, and a trigger-happy G.I. shot Sgt. Simmons; however [he] didn't flinch, and merely yelled to have the shooting stopped. Also ran across a German SS soldier leaning up against a tree, and took him prisoner. Finally got back to vehicles after finding out the roadblock couldn't be passed, and took winding 'glorified cowpath' out of the valley. Then came up to a quiet small stream, but only tanks could make it across. Lost all [my] vehicles, and destroyed them with grenades....After crossing the stream jumped on a tank and hung on like a bunch of monkeys while the tank rolled towards and through the 82nd Airborne lines, and that was a very great relief."

Lieutenant Rogers received a Bronze Star for this action, and his citation reads in part, "...for heroism in leading his patrol against an enemy force threatening to cut off part of an armored column retreating from St. Vith." During this withdrawal, 20 men of Task Force Jones went missing and were later reported captured.

Back In Action

Within two days, portions of the 814th rumbled back into action at Manhay, and on January 23, a month to the day after the 7th Armored's withdrawal, General Clarke led the force in taking back St. Vith. The 814th engaged in small-unit actions with the 75th and 99th Infantry divisions before reaching the Rhine River at Remagen, and on March 12, 1945, its 90mm guns began indirect firing missions at targets across the Rhine. From March 23 until the 25th, the 814th and the 7th Armored crossed the Rhine and then began pushing from the bridgehead toward the Ruhr and the industrial heart of Germany. The Ruhr Pocket action consisted mainly of taking prisoners, and the 7th Armored captured more than 45,000. This action resulted in casualties among the attacking troops, however, and one of these was Lieutenant Will Rogers, Jr., who had recently been given command of a tank destroyer platoon. He wrote about the shrapnel wound to his hip: "Wounded in the Ruhr Pocket...and evacuated to England...never did get north to meet the Russians. Bounced around in hospitals and replacement depots until war's end, then discharged (third and final?) at Ft. MacArthur January 1946." Rogers also reported his reconnaissance platoon's total combat casualties: "Of the 21-man 1st Platoon, four were killed; seven, including myself, wounded."

The 7th Armored, including the 814th, moved on toward the Elbe River, meeting little resistance before crossing it on May 2 and 3. Attached to the Second British Army, the 7th headed for Lübeck and the vicinity of the Baltic Sea. As the British and American troops approached the Baltic, they encountered thousands of German soldiers surrendering to anyone other than the Soviets. There were also thousands of displaced persons from almost every country in Europe, as well as German civilians seeking refuge in the West. V-E Day brought a feeling of great relief.

Discharged from Service

Once the situation stabilized, formal occupation duties began. By December, most of the 814th's soldiers had returned to the United States and were discharged from the service. Many veterans of the 814th maintained contact with each other over the years, including Rogers, who often met in Kansas City with former members of his reconnaissance platoon.

Lieutenant Will Rogers, Jr., enjoys a meal in France in 1944. When the going got tough, his company commander, Captain John P. Reed, would inevitably call out, "Get me Lieutenant Rogers!" (National Archives via Calvin C. Boykin, Jr.)

In January 1946, Rogers entered the California race for the U.S. Senate, won the Democratic Party's nomination, but lost in the general election. Shaking off his disappointment, he jumped into politics again and managed the victorious presidential campaign of Harry Truman. Setting politics aside, he starred in three films: The Story of Will Rogers (1952), with Jane Wyman; The Boy From Oklahoma (1954), with Nancy Olson; and Wild Heritage (1958), with Maureen O'Sullivan. On radio Rogers became known as "Rogers of the Gazette," while he also hosted CBS-TV's morning show in 1957 and 1958. It was broadcast from New York with Andrew Rooney as head writer, assisted by Barbara Walters.

Drawn to public service for most of his life, Rogers served in many capacities, including chairman of the California State Park Commission and assistant to the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Periodically, he served as special consultant to the U.S. Department of the Interior. As the eldest Rogers son, he also acted for 46 years as the family representative on the Will Rogers Memorial Commission of Oklahoma. In later years, Rogers retired to his ranch in the Tubac artist colony south of Tucson, Ariz. At times he appeared on television as a product spokesman, and he continued filling speaking engagements.

The Will Rogers Follies opened on Broadway in 1991, reviving interest in the late humorist. When contacted about the June 1993 reunion of former members of the 814th in Savannah, Mo., Rogers replied that he was not well and seldom traveled, but that he would be attending a Will Rogers Follies reception in New York. A month later, while in a pasture near his retirement home at Tubac, the 81-year-old Rogers died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A family spokesman explained that Rogers had recently suffered strokes, had heart problems and had undergone hip implant surgery. Following a military graveside service, his body was interred next to his wife, Collier, in Tubac Cemetery. Survivors included his two adopted Indian sons, Clem and Carlos, both of Tucson; his brother Jim Rogers, of Bakersfield, Calif.; and three grandchildren.

At their reunions, former members of the 814th tell stories about the dashing commander of a reconnaissance platoon who led an armored force into action. Many recall the words of his captain, spoken when the going got tough: "Get me Lieutenant Rogers!"

Additional Sources:

bhhs.beverlyhills.k12.ca.us
www.pbs.org
lib.lmu.edu
www.armourinfocus.co.uk
freefrench.free.fr
iquebec.ifrance.com
www.probertencyclopaedia.com
ardennes44.free.fr
www.lakemartin.net
www.dean.usma.edu
www.army.mil
users.pandora.be/dave.depickere

Birthdates which occurred on October 01:
1207 Henry III king of England (1216-72)
1685 Charles VI Holy Roman emperor (1711-40)
1746 John Muhlenberg Lutheran pastor/general/congressman
1760 William Beckford British writer (Epsiodes of Vathek)
1781 James Lawrence naval hero (War of 1812-"Don't give up the ship!")
1791 Sergey Aksakov Russia, novelist (Chronicles of a Russian Family)
1799 Rufus Choate US, lawyer (Hall of Fame)
1832 Caroline Lavinia Scott Harrison 1st wife of Benjamin Harrison
1835 William H "Red" Jackson Brig Gen (7th Tennessee Cavalry)
1837 Robert Gould Shaw, commander of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment during America's Civil War.
1847 Annie Besant [Wood], England, philosopher/thesophist
1865 Paul Dukas Paris France, composer (Vell‚da)
1881 William Edward Boeing founded aircraft co (Boeing)
1885 Louis Untermeyer NYC, poet/critic (Immortal Poems, Story Poems)
1890 Stanley Holloway London England, actor (Higgins-Our Man Higgins)
1893 Faith Baldwin New Rochelle NY, author/novelist (They Who Love)
1903 "Slapsie" Maxie Rosenbloom NYC, light-heavyweight box champ (1932-34)
1904 Vladimir Horowitz Kiev Ukraine, pianist (Carmen)
1907 Hiram Fong (Sen-Cal)
1909 Sam Yorty (Mayor-LA)
1911 Edward P Boland (Rep-D-Mass)
1911 Irwin Kostal Chicago Ill, orchestra leader (Garry Moore Show)
1911 Richard Torriani Switzerland, took 1948 Olympic oath
1914 Daniel Boorstin author (1974 Pulitzer Prize)
1920 Lonny Chapman Tulsa Okla, actor (Investigator, For the People)
1920 Walter Matthau NYC, actor (Odd Couple, Bad News Bears)
1921 James Whitmore White Plains NY, actor (Give 'em Hell Harry)
1924 Jimmy Earl Carter (D) 39th Pres (1977-1981)
1924 William Rehnquist Ws, Supreme Court (1972-86)/chief justice (1987- )
1927 Tom Bosley Chicago, actor (Howard-Happy Days, Murder She Wrote)
1928 George Peppard Detroit Mich, actor (Banacek, A-Team, Blue Max)
1928 Laurence Harvey actor (Alamo, Romeo & Juliet)
1930 Richard Harris actor (A Man Called Horse), singer (MacArthur Park)
1935 Julie Andrews England, actress/singer (Sound of Music, Mary Poppins)
1936 Charles G Fullerton Rochester, NY, astronaut (STS-3, 51F)
1936 Edward Villella US, ballet dancer (NYC Ballet)
1936 Stella Stevens Yazoo City Miss, actress (Girls! Girls!, Manitou)
1945 Donny Hathaway Chicago, singer/songwriter (Where is the Love)
1945 Rod Carew baseball slugger (AL Rookie of the Year 1967)
1946 Eva Klobukowska Poland, relay (Olympic-gold-1964)
1947 Stephen Collins Des Moines Iowa, actor (Star Trek I, Tattingers)
1948 Ellen McIlwaine Nashville, blues singer (Honky Tonky Angel)
1949 Annie Leibovitz photographer (Rolling Stones)
1950 Randy Quaid Houston Tx, actor (Midnight Express, Vacation, SNL)
1953 Greta Waitz Norway, marathon runner (NYC)
1960 Elizabeth Dennehy actress (Guiding Light)
1962 Trevor Baxter record holder for high jumping with a skateboard
1963 Beth Chamberlin Danville Vt, actress (Beth Spaulding-Guiding Light)
1963 Mark McGwire Oakland A's (AL rookie of year 1988)
1968 Jay Underwood actor (The Boy Who Could Fly)

Deaths which occurred on October 01:
0290 [Christian] Bacchus, Roman soldier/martyred saint, killed
0540 Vedastus St Vaast, 1st bishop of Atrecht/saint, dies
0976 Al-Hakam II, Moors kalief of Cordoba, dies
1404 Boniface IX, [Pietro Tomacelli], Pope (1389-1404), dies
1578 Don Juan d'Austria, Spanish land guardian of Netherlands, dies at 31
1807 John Muhlenberg Lutheran pastor, dies on his 61st birthday
1961 Donald Cook actor (Too Young To Go Steady), dies at 60
1965 Edward E "Doc" Smith, US, sci-fi writer (Subspace encounter), dies
1968 - Marcel Duchamp, French painter (Descending an Escalator), dies
1972 Louis Leakey anthropologist, dies at 68
1973 Joe Devlin actor (Sam-Dick Tracy), dies at 74
1985 Charlotte White, US author (New Yorker, Charlotte's Web), dies at 86
1990 Curtis E LeMay USAF General, dies at 83

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 MASSUCCI MARTIN J. ROYAL OAK MI.
1965 OFFUTT GARY PHELPS STEWARTVILLE MO.
[REMAINS RETURNED 03/97]
1965 SCHARF CHARLES J. SAN DIEGO CA.
1966 NIX COWAN GLENN TAMPA FL.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]

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

On this day...
2016 BC Origin of Era of Abraham
331BC Alexander the Great decisively shatters King Darius III's Persian army at Gaugamela (Arbela), in a tactical masterstroke that leaves him master of the Persian Empire.
110 -BC- Origin of Sidonian Era
366 St Damasus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1529 Meeting between Martin Luther & Huldrych Zwingli
1588 The feeble Sultan Mohammed Shah of Persia, hands over power to his 17-year old son Abbas.
1661 Yachting begins in England; King Charles II beats his brother James
1688 Prince William III accept invitation of English crown
1791 1st session of the new French legislative assembly
1800 Spain cedes Louisiana to France in a secret treaty
1837 "Racer's" Hurricane (Gulf of Mexico)
1837 Treaty with Winnebago Indians
1847 Maria Mitchell discovers a non-naked-eye comet
1851 1st Hawaiian stamps issued
1869 1st postcards are issued (Vienna)
1878 General Lew Wallace is sworn in as governor of New Mexico Territory. He went on to deal with the Lincoln County War, Billy the Kid and write Ben-Hur. His Civil War heroics earned him the moniker Savior of Cincinnati.
1879 Cincinnati Enquirer publishes 1st report on baseball reserve clause
1885 Special delivery mail service begins in US
1886 US mint at Carson City, Nevada closes
1889 Washington voters adopt state constitution in referendum
1890 Yosemite National Park established
1893 3rd worst hurricane in US history kills 1,800 (Mississippi)
1894 Civic organization, Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben founded in Omaha, Nebraska
1896 Sherlock Holmes adventure "The Veiled Lodger" takes place (BG)
1898 Henry Huntington buys the LA Railway
1898 Jews are expelled from Kiev Russia
1903 The first World Series opened in Boston. The Boston Pilgrims of the American League vs. the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates won, 7-3. However, Boston would go on to win the series, five games to three.
1908 - Henry Ford introduced the Model T automobile to the market. The Model-T came in many colors --all of them black. (costs $825)
1908 Jack Chesbro's final Yankee victory, beats Walter Johnson 2-1
1910 Berkshire Cattle Fair held in Pittsfield Mass (1st state fair)
1912 Yanks lose game #100 en route to a 50-102 season
1919 World Series #16 begins as a best of 9 affair, White Sox intentionally throw this series to satisfy gamblers (The Black Sox Scandal)
1921 1st all NY series to be played entirely in 1 stadium (the Polo Grounds) & 1st NY Yankee World Series begins (World Series #18)
1922 Former Chicago Staleys play 1st NFL game as Chicago Bears, win 6-0
1928 Leon Vanderstuyft of Belgium bicycled 76 miles 504 yards in 1 hour
1932 Babe Ruth's points & hits a HR there, off of Cubs Charlie Root
1932 NHL readmits Ottawa & drops Pittsburgh
1932 Oswald Mosley forms British Union of Fascists
1933 Packers make 5 1st downs, the Giants make 0, but still win 10-7
1933 Wash Senator coach Nick Altrock plays in a game at age 57
1936 Gen Francisco Franco establishes the state of Spain
1937 Pullman Co formally recognizes Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
1938 Germany annexes Sudetenland (1/3 of Czechoslovakia)
1939 Winston Chruchill refers to Soviet policy as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma"
1940 Pennsylvania Turnpike, pioneer toll thruway, opens
1942 Little Golden Books (children books) begins publishing
1942 Bell P-59 Airacomet fighter, 1st US jet, makes maiden flight
1943 Allied forces captured Naples during WW II
1944 Newspaper editor Alejandro C¢rdova assassinated in Guatemala
1944 St Louis Browns win their only AL pennant
1944 Experiments begin on homosexuals at Buchenwald
1945 Heavyweight champ Joe Louis is discharged from the army
1946 1st NL playoffs, Dodgers vs Cards (St Louis wins 2 games to 0)
1946 Bob Feller 348th strikeout of the season
1946 Twelve Nazi war criminals are sentenced to be hanged at Nuremberg trials---Karl Donitz, Hermann Goring, Alfred Jodl, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachin von Ribbentrop, Fritz Saukel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Julius Streicher, and Alfred Rosenberg.
1947 1st helicopter air mail & express service, LA, Ca
1947 NHL Pension Society founded
1947 US control of Haitian customs & governmental revenue ends
1948 Calif Supreme Court voids state statute banning interracial marriages
1948 Radio Denmark begins transmitting
1949 People's Republic of China proclaimed by Mao Tse-tung (National Day)
1949 Republic of China (Taiwan) forms on the island of Formosa
1950 Phillies win NL pennant on last day of season (10th inning HR)
1951 1st treaty signed by woman ambassador-Eugenie Anderson
1951 24th Infantry Regiment, last all-black military unit, deactivated
1952 1st ultra high frequency (UHF) television station, Portland Or
1953 Indian state of Andhra Pradesh partitioned from Madras
1954 British colony of Nigeria becomes a federation
1955 "Honeymooners" premieres
1956 Johnny Heckmann rides 7 winners at Chicago Hawthorne Horse track
1957 B-52 bombers begin full-time flying alert in case of USSR attack
1958 Britain transfers Christmas Island (south of Java) to Australia
1958 Inauguration of NASA
1958 Vanguard Project transferred from military to NASA
1959 1st World Series (World Series #56) since 1948 not to feature a NY team (LA vs Chic)
1960 Nigeria gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1961 A believed extinct volcanco erupts in Tristan da Cunha
1961 East & West Cameroon merge as Federal Republic of Cameroon
1961 Roger Maris sets record of 61 HRs, last off of Tracy Stallard
1962 Barbra Streisand signs her 1st recording contract (with Columbia)
1962 Brian Epstein signs a contract to manage the Beatles through 1977
1962 James Meredith became 1st black at U of Mississippi
1962 Johnny Carson hosts his 1st Tonight Show, Joan Crawford guests
1962 The Lucy Show premiers
1962 US National Radio Astronomy Obs gets a 300' (91m) radio telescope
1963 Nigeria becomes a republic within the Commonwealth
1964 Free Speech Movement launched at U of California, Berkley
1964 SF cable cars declared a national landmark
1968 "Night of the Living Dead" premieres in Pittsburgh
1969 Guernsey & Jersey begin issuing their own postage stamps
1970 Last game at Philadelphia's Connie Mack Stadium, Phils-2 Expos-1
1971 Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida opens
1972 1st games of the World Hockey Association
1973 Leo Durocher resigns as Houston Astro manager
1975 Britain grants internal self-government to Seychelles
1975 Ellice Islands split from Gilbert Islands, take name "Tuvalu"
1975 Reunion Island stops prints stamps, France takes over production
1975 Muhammad Ali TKOs Joe Frazier in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1977 Brazilian soccer great Pele' retires with 1,281 goals in 1,363 games
1977 Yanks win 2nd consecutive AL East title
1978 Tuvalu (Ellice Islands) gains independence from Britain
1978 Yanks lose 9-2 to Indians forcing a playoff game with Red Sox
1979 US returns Canal Zone to Panama after 75 years (but not the canal)
1980 Cosmonauts Ryumin & Popov break space endurance record of 176 days
1982 EPCOT Center opens in Orlando Florida
1982 West Germany's Parliament ousts chancellor Helmut Schmidt
1984 Gary Trudeau's Doonesbury comic strip resumes after 2-year hiatus
1984 Peter Ueberroth replaces Bowie Kuhn as 6th commissioner of baseball
1986 President Carter's presidential library/museum dedicated in Atlanta
1987 6 killed by an earthquake measuring 6.1 in LA
1988 Lowest batting avg for NL champion (Tony Gwynn .313)
1988 Robert Englund the actor who plays Freddie Kruger weds Nancy Booth
1989 Dallas Cowboy, Ed "Too Tall" Jones records his 1,000th NFL tackle
1988 Mikhail Gorbachev became president of Soviet Union
1989 Thousands of East Germans flee to West Germany
1989 US issues a stamp, labeling an apatosaurus as a brontosaurus
1990 Pres Bush at the UN, condemns Iraq's takeover of Kuwait
1991 Howard Stern adds Baltimore to his radio network (WJFK-AM)
1992 A missile accidentally fired by the U.S.S. Saratoga struck a Turkish destroyer in the Aegean Sea, killing nine Turkish sailors.
1992 Dallas billionaire Ross Perot formally announced his independent candidacy for the presidency.
1995 10 Muslims were convicted of conspiring to conduct a terrorist campaign in the New York City area aimed at forcing the United States to drop its support of Egypt and Israel.
1996 A federal grand jury indicted Unabomber suspect Theodore Kaczynski in the 1994 mail bomb slaying of an ad executive.
2000 Israeli troops battled Palestinians as riots continued to rage through the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said peace talks were "on the shelf" and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat called for an emergency Arab summit as renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians continued.

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

Burma : Bank Holiday
Cameroon : Unification Day (1961)
Cyprus & Tuvalu-1978 : National Day
Nigeria : Independence Day (1960, 1963)
Omaha, Nebraska : Ak-Sar-Ben Day (1894)
South Korea : Armed Forces Day
Spain : Day of Caudillo (1936)
US : Agricultural Fair Day (1810)
World : Vegetarian Day
Massachusetts : Grandparents Day (Sunday)
Missouri : Missouri Day (Monday)
World : Child Health Day, Universal Children's Day (1928) (Monday)
China PR : Liberation Day (1949)
Vegetarian Day.
(it's not no much that I love animals but I hate plants)
International Day for the Elderly
Family History Awareness Month
Italian-American Heritage and Culture Month

Religious Observances
Ang, RC : St Remigius, bishop of Rheims, confessor
RC : Memorial of St Th‚rŠse of the Child Jesus-Little Flower
Jewish : Erev Rosh Hashanah-New Year's Eve (last day of the year)

Religious History
1883 American churchman A. B. Simpson founded the first school in America to train missionaries, in New York City. Called the Missionary Training Institute in 1894, its name was changed to Nyack College in 1972.
1889 Birth of Ralph W. Sockman, American scholar and devotional writer. His best-remembered poem begins: "I met God in the morning, when my day was at its best...."
1921 The Latin American Mission was incorporated in Philadelphia by founders Harry and Susan Strachan. Today, over 125 staff work with LAM in eight Central and South American countries.
1946 World Literature Crusade was founded in Saskatchewan, Canada, by Rev. Jack McAlister (president 1946-79). This mission is engaged primarily in Bible distribution, church planting and Bible correspondence courses.
1957 Representatives from 49 churches met in Roseville, MI, to begin organizing the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. The organization officially came into being the following month.

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

Thought for the day :
"Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside"

You might be a bad cook if...
the dog goes to the neighbors' to eat.

Murphys Law of the day...
Schmidt's Law:
Never eat prunes when you're hungry
(think about it)

It's a little known fact that...
Hostess Twinkies were invented in 1931 by James Dewar, manager of Continental Bakeries' Chicago factory. He envisioned the product as a way of using the company's thousands of shortcake pans which were otherwise employed only during the strawberry season. Originally called Little Shortcake Fingers, they were renamed Twinkie Fingers, and finally "Twinkies."

Air Power
Republic P-47 "Thunderbolt"

For 8 full pages of a detailed history about this remarkable aircraft please visit: The P-47 Thunderbolt

The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt originated from the drawing board of Alexander Kartveli of the Seversky Aircraft Corporation (later renamed Republic Aviation). The Thunderbolt is consistently rated as one of the three outstanding USAAF fighters of World War II-- rated right up there along with the North American P-51 Mustang and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The P-47 was built in larger numbers than any other American fighter, 15,683 examples rolling off the assembly line before production finally ended.

This multi-role fighter, affectionately know as the JUG, was the largest, heaviest, most destructive, single engine aircraft used during World War II. The P-47 excelled in close ground support and aerial combat.

At one time during the heady days of 1944, there were no less than 31 front-line fighter groups flying Thunderbolts. Thunderbolts fought on all fronts in World War 2, including Alaska. Approximately two-thirds of all Thunderbolts built actually reached operational units overseas. In two and a half years of combat, from March 1943 to August 1945, these Thunderbolts flew over half a million combat missions, destroying over 12,000 enemy aircraft both in the air and on the ground, as against a total of 5222 Thunderbolts lost, only 824 of them in the heat of combat. This corresponded to 54 percent of the Thunderbolts which went overseas being eventually lost either to enemy action or to accidents, which was a fairly typical attrition rate for a wartime fighter. Losses of Thunderbolts on operational missions were 0.7 percent of those dispatched, an exceptionally low figure.

Throughout WW II, the P-47 served in nearly every active war theater as well as for the forces of numerous Allied nations.

By the end of the war, the Thunderbolt had established an overall ratio of air-to-air combat victories to losses of 4.6 to 1. Thunderbolts dropped 132,482 tons of bombs, fired 59,567 rockets, and expended 135 million belts of machine gun ammunition.

SPECIFICIATIONS:
Contractor: Republic Aviation Corp
Primary Function: Pursuit (fighter)
Crew: One
Unit Cost: $85,000 -- P-47D

Dimensions
Wing Span: 40 feet - 9 inches
Length: 36 feet - 2 inches
Gross Weight: Over 20,000 lbs
POWER PLANT: Pratt & Whitney R2800, Turbo-Supercharged, 18 cylinder air cooled radial engine rate at over 2,000 horsepower.

Performance
Speed: 433 mph (697 km/h)
Ceiling: 42,000 ft -- P-47D
Range: 1,725 miles (2,776 km)

ARMAMENT:
Eight Browning .50 caliber wing mounted machine guns
Over 2,000 lbs of other ordinance such as bombs, rockets and napalm.

DESIGNER: Alexander Kartveli
FIRST FLIGHT: May 6th, 1941
TOTAL BUILT: 15,683

WORLD WAR II COMBAT RECORD:
Enemy Vehicles Destroyed: 160,000
Enemy Aircraft Destroyed: 11,874
Enemy Trains Destroyed: 9,000

All photos Copyright of GLobalAircraft.com and Aviation-History.com