Replies

African and Italian Campaigns

Eisenhower spent his first weeks in London participating in one of the war's great strategic debates. Following Marshall's lead, he urged the Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS, composed of the heads of services of Britain and the United States) to plan for an invasion of France in 1943, with a possible suicide invasion in 1942 if it appeared that the Soviet Union was about to leave the war. The British insisted on an invasion of North Africa, an easier task though less likely to produce significant results. It was one of many disagreements between the British and American commands on war strategy. President Franklin D. ROOSEVELT sided with the British. The CCS selected Eisenhower to command Operation Torch, giving him control of all British and U.S. ground, sea, and air forces involved. It was a unique command. Eisenhower's directive gave him far more power than Marshal Foch had exercised in 1918 in the only previous attempt to create a large allied command.

General Patton (left) confers with General Eisenhower at the beginning of the II Corps offensive.

On Nov. 8, 1942, the African invasion began. Eisenhower's forces landed near Casablanca, Oran, and Algiers. The Vichy French forces resisted. Eisenhower made a deal with their commander, Adm. Jean Darlan, giving Darlan civil control of North Africa in return for French cooperation in the war against Germany. Because Darlan was anti-Semitic and a collaborator with the Nazis and because Eisenhower was giving him vast powers, the arrangement brought a storm of protest on Eisenhower's head. By emphasizing the temporary, military nature of the deal, Eisenhower survived the storm.

On the ground, meanwhile, Eisenhower tried to rush his troops eastward into Tunisia before the Germans could establish themselves there. He failed. A long, dreary campaign followed, punctuated by the Battle of Kasserine Pass, in February 1943, in which the U.S. troops were caught by surprise but recovered and held their ground. In May the Germans surrendered. Eisenhower, now a full four-star general, added the British Eighth Army, under Montgomery, to his command and in July launched the invasion of Sicily. The island fell at the end of August, though most of the German defenders escaped. Eisenhower, meanwhile, had also been directing the secret negotiations for the Italian surrender.

On Sept. 8, 1943, Eisenhower's forces invaded Italy at Salerno. The Germans, who had occupied the country and were well prepared, fought a tough defensive campaign in the mountains, and progress was slow. Eisenhower was delighted when in December the CCS ordered him to leave Italy and go to London to take command of the forces gathering in England for the invasion of France.

Invasion of France

When Eisenhower took over Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), he found himself in command of the largest single undertaking ever attempted by man. The entire course of the war would likely turn on the success or failure of Operation Overlord. More than 156,000 men would hit the Normandy beaches on the first day, with 6,000 ships behind them and thousands of airplanes of every type overhead. To organize and direct this vast force, Eisenhower had a staff of 16,312 officers and enlisted men. He counted most of all, however, on two men. Marshall had backed him throughout the Mediterranean campaign and was giving him unlimited support in Washington. His own chief of staff, Walter Bedell Smith, was another source of strength. In the field his chief U.S. commanders were Gen. Omar Bradley, a West Point classmate and close friend, and Gen. George Patton. Eisenhower did not get along well with Montgomery, the British commander, but respected his ability.

The invasion was scheduled for June 4, 1944, but a great storm over the English Channel forced postponement. That evening the weatherman predicted that the storm would abate by the morning of June 6, providing satisfactory landing conditions. Eisenhower had total confidence in his meteorologist, based on a month of checking on his predictions every day. After consulting with his field commanders and staff, Eisenhower tentatively decided to launch the attack. On June 5 he held a predawn conference. He could still order the ships to turn back. Outside, the wind howled and the rain seemed to come down in horizontal streaks. The weatherman stuck by his prediction. Most of Eisenhower's advisers wanted to go ahead. If he called off the invasion, it could not be launched for at least two weeks. Also, the secret of the landing site would almost certainly become known to the Germans because 160,000 men had been briefed. If the storm did not subside, however, the invasion landing craft would be tossed on the beaches and Overlord would fail. Only Eisenhower could decide. He thought for a moment, then said quietly but clearly, "O.K., let's go."

The weather cleared and the troops got ashore. For the next month and a half Eisenhower built up his forces in Normandy, meanwhile urging Montgomery to take more aggressive action in the vicinity of Caen so that the SHAEF forces could move on to Paris by the most direct route. Montgomery, however, insisted that his chief task was to tie down heavy German forces so that the Americans on his right could break out of the beachhead.

In late July the Americans did force a breakthrough, and the drive through France began. Almost immediately Eisenhower was locked in another controversy with Montgomery. The British general urged the supreme commander to give the British troops on the left all available supplies so that he could lead a drive into northern Germany. Eisenhower insisted on advancing along a broad front, with Bradley's American troops on the right staying about even with Montgomery's troops. Montgomery charged that Eisenhower's caution prolonged the war. Eisenhower believed that if he gave all the drastically limited supplies--SHAEF's major problem was the absence of deepwater ports--to Montgomery and allowed him to drive into Germany, the troops involved in the single thrust would be isolated and destroyed by the enemy. In addition, Eisenhower thought it politically impossible to halt the Americans--especially Patton--in the Paris region while Montgomery drove for Berlin and glory. He insisted on the broad front in the face of the strongest protests from Montgomery, the British chiefs of staff, and Prime Minister Churchill. He had his way, partly because of Marshall's support, mainly because of his own growing self-confidence.

Dwight Eisenhower talks to American paratroopers in England on June 6, 1944

By late autumn the SHAEF forces had outrun their supplies. Although they had driven the enemy from France, they had been unable to penetrate Germany. In December 1944 the Germans began a massive counterattack in the Ardennes region. In the resulting Battle of the Bulge, Eisenhower, his staff, and most of all the troops recovered quickly and soon plugged the breach in the Allied lines. Eisenhower, now wearing five stars, approached the Rhine along a broad front, destroying the bulk of the German forces in a brilliant campaign.

Berlin Controversy

The question now concerned the direction the advancing forces should take. Churchill wanted Eisenhower to capture Berlin and hold it until the Russians made concessions on Poland and other political questions relating to the fate of postwar eastern Europe. Eisenhower insisted that prior agreements between the Allied governments--agreements that had divided Germany into occupation zones and Berlin into sectors within the Russian zone--made the nationality of the troops who took Berlin meaningless. If the Americans took the city, he felt, they would suffer up to 100,000 casualties and would then have to give up most of Berlin, and all the surrounding area, to the Russians anyway. Besides, he argued, there was no possibility of getting large Allied forces into Berlin before the Russians took the city. Once again, the alliance was greatly strained, but Eisenhower held it together even while insisting on his own views. He sent his forces into southern Germany. His decision remains the subject of hot dispute.

The Germans signed the unconditional surrender document on May 8, 1945. Eisenhower headed the occupation forces for six months, then went to Washington to succeed Marshall as chief of staff. He presided over the demobilization of the American Army, made speeches urging national defense, and wrote an account of his war career. Although pressed by both major parties to accept a presidential nomination, he insisted that he had no interest in politics and instead in 1949 accepted the presidency of Columbia University. In 1950 he left Columbia to become supreme commander of the newly formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces.

Presidency

Prominent DEMOCRATS had tried unsuccessfully to draft Eisenhower for the presidency in 1948. After he became NATO commander, representatives of both parties continued to query him about his availability for 1952. Their interest was due to his widespread popularity and aloofness from partisan strife. Eisenhower was reluctant to enter politics unless he was drafted. The Democrats could have met his conditions and given him a virtually uncontested nomination. Yet he chose to declare that he was a REPUBLICAN because he believed that Democratic policies were promoting centralized government at the expense of individual liberty. However, Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio cherished the same conviction and believed that he had a better claim on the Republican presidential nomination. Taft headed a Midwestern faction strongly represented in CONGRESS. It opposed lavish welfare programs at home. It was generally for retrenchment of American commitments abroad and critical of the Truman administration for aiding Europe at the expense of Asia. Although strongly nationalistic, the Taft faction preferred to fight communism by weeding out American subversives than by containment overseas. So it supported the demagogic investigations of Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin, a Republican. In short, it wanted to make an all-out fight on President Truman's Fair Deal and believed that the Republicans had lost the last three presidential ELECTIONS by soft-pedaling major issues.

1952 Nomination and Election

Eisenhower preferred not to become a factional candidate, but the moderate Eastern wing of the party headed by Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York and Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., of Massachusetts persuaded him to announce his availability for the nomination. It soon became apparent that the Taft forces were strong enough to prevent a draft. So Eisenhower resigned as supreme commander and returned to the United States on June 1, 1952, to wage a hectic five-week pre-convention campaign. The Taft and Eisenhower forces were so evenly matched that the outcome depended on the decision of some 300 delegates pledged to favorite-son candidates. In the end, they coalesced behind Eisenhower, and helped unseat contested Taft delegates from three Southern states. Eisenhower was nominated by a narrow margin on the first ballot. A number of delegates who voted for him would have preferred Taft but did not think the latter could win in November. The same reasoning led them to support a moderate platform.

Many Taft supporters were bitter over the outcome, but they eventually rallied to Eisenhower. His selection of Sen. Richard M. NIXON of California as his running mate helped to restore harmony because Nixon was conspicuously identified with congressional investigations of Communists. Using the new medium of television effectively, Eisenhower turned the ensuing campaign into a triumphal procession. Large, enthusiastic crowds greeted him everywhere and applauded his appeals for patriotism and clean government. Neither his jerky delivery nor his failure to deal with controversial issues checked the Eisenhower tide. He easily defeated his Democratic opponent, Gov. Adlai E. Stevenson of Illinois, piling up a margin of 442 votes to 89 in the ELECTORAL COLLEGE. In the popular vote, Eisenhower led Stevenson 33,937,252 to 27,314,992. The Republicans captured both Houses of Congress by narrow margins and made inroads in the hitherto Democratic South because of its opposition to Truman's civil rights program.

Eisenhower brought to the presidency both the assets and limitations of a military background: a talent for administrative efficiency qualified by a deficient background in national problems outside the sphere of foreign relations. He established a chain of command, delegated broad responsibility to subordinates, and freed himself to grapple with the larger issues. He also attempted to learn about race relations, economic questions, and the intricacies of partisan politics. Although his knowledge grew steadily in all three areas, it seldom prompted him to vigorous action. He sought consensus above all else, and shunned bold, controversial programs. This tendency was reinforced by his belief that many problems would be better solved at the local level than through initiatives from Washington. Because he admired businessmen and relied heavily on them in staffing his administration, Eisenhower was exposed to little dissent from his advisers.

Domestic Issues: First Term

The initial domestic objectives of the new administration were to balance the budget, reduce the agricultural surplus by lowering price supports for farm products, and institute a loyalty program that would discourage the investigations of Senator McCarthy. Apart from Eisenhower's inexperience, other obstacles impeded his efforts. Groups accustomed to receiving financial aid from the federal government opposed the reduction of government expenditures, and Congress was reluctant to offend them. Farmers wanted to grow as much as they pleased while retaining high price supports. Worse still, factional differences paralyzed the small Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress. Control rested with the Taft faction. Taft had tried to cooperate with Eisenhower, but he soon died. Thereafter, congressional leadership was more obstructive.

Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower

As a result, it took Eisenhower three years to balance the budget, and his victory was illusory because mounting expenditures for foreign aid and defense soon produced a new deficit. He also secured a token cut in support prices for agriculture. At first his cautious efforts to outflank McCarthy were fruitless, but McCarthy overreached himself in 1954, was censured by the Senate, and lost his influence. Meanwhile, a mild economic recession had begun, and many people blamed the monetary policies of George M. Humphrey, the conservative secretary of the treasury.

The Supreme Court confronted Eisenhower with another problem in May 1954 by declaring segregation in public schools unconstitutional. It set no time schedule for compliance. Most Northern African Americans customarily voted Democratic, and Eisenhower might have converted some by pressing energetically for implementation of the court order. But he temporized, partly because he was fearful of arresting the movement of Southern Democrats into the Republican party.

Liberation of Ohrdruf Concentration Camp. General Eisenhower is in the middle of the photo.

The Republicans lost both houses in the off-year congressional elections of 1954, but by such slim margins that the outcome could not be interpreted as a rebuke to the President. The sequel was a period of dead-center government in which the Democratic leadership subjected Eisenhower to pinpricks. Senate Majority Leader Lyndon JOHNSON and House Speaker Sam Rayburn seldom challenged the President personally, but these skilled legislative leaders frequently outmaneuvered Eisenhower. On some issues, however, the Democrats supported Eisenhower in greater numbers than conservative Republicans. However, Eisenhower's mild proposals for a commission to study racial discrimination and for federal aid to education were killed by Southern Democrats. Because neither Eisenhower nor the bulk of the voters seemed interested in innovation, the deadlock caused little visible indignation.

Foreign Affairs: First Term

Eisenhower launched his administration with high hopes of ending the Cold War. Fulfilling a campaign pledge, the President-elect went to Korea in December 1952 to examine the military and diplomatic stalemate. After his inauguration, he quickly halted the fighting in Korea, but the negotiation of a cease-fire was the prelude to an uneasy truce rather than a genuine peace. He was more successful in securing the termination of the four-power occupation of Austria and the restoration of Austrian sovereignty in 1955. More comprehensive efforts to ease tension between the United States and the Soviet Union were less productive. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who favored a firm stand against communism, strongly influenced the President. The administration promised to assume the diplomatic offensive and thereby free oppressed peoples behind the "iron curtain." The "new look" in foreign policy involved an intensification of ideological activity. There was more rhetoric than action, notably in the case of Hungary's abortive revolt against its Communist leaders.

Fresh hope for a détente revived in 1955 when the Russians agreed to a Big Four meeting at Geneva in July. Eisenhower, meeting with the leaders of the Soviet Union, Britain, and France, created the most excitement with an offer to permit aerial inspection of the United States by Russian planes if the Soviet Union would reciprocate. The Soviet delegates treated this and other proposals with respect, but at a subsequent meeting of foreign ministers in October 1955 it became apparent that the two sides were as far apart as ever on substantive issues.

Shortly thereafter the USSR began to arm Egypt, which was engaged in an undeclared war with Israel. The next year, after the United States had declined to finance a huge dam at Aswan on the Nile River, Egypt accepted a Soviet offer to do so. Egypt soon nationalized the Suez Canal, and on Oct. 29, 1956, England, France, and Israel attacked Egypt. With the Eisenhower administration refusing to support its own Allies and the Soviet Union championing the Egyptians, the invasion was quickly called off. The subsequent effort of the President to serve as an honest broker led to the restoration of a shaky peace, but the episode was the prelude to further Soviet penetration of the Middle East.

Today's classic warship, USS Kentucky (BB-6)

Kearsarge class battleship
displacement. 11,520 t.
length. 375'4"
beam. 72'21/2"
speed. 16.9 k.
complement. 554
armament. 4 13", 4 8", 14 5", 20 6-pdrs., 8 1-pdrs., 4 .30 mg., 4 18" tt.

USS Kentucky (BB-6) was launched 24 March 1898 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Miss Christine Bradley, daughter of Governor William Bradley of Kentucky; and commissioned 16 May 1900, Captain Colby M. Chester in command.

After fitting out in New York Navy Yard during the summer, Kentucky sailed 26 October 1900 for the Far East via Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. She joined the other American ships on the Asiatic Station at Manila February 1901 and 6 days later sailed for Hong Kong where she became flagship of the Southern Squadron under Rear Admiral Louis Kempff 23 March. Throughout the following year the battleship led her squadron as it watched over American interest In the Far East, visiting principal ports of Ch ina and Japan including Chefoo, Taku, Nanking, Woosung, Hong Kong, Amoy, Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama.

Rear Admiral Frank F. Wildes also selected Kentucky as his flagship upon relieving Admiral Kempff 1 March 1902, but he transferred his flag to Rainbow 7 April. Rear Admiral Robely D. Evans, Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, chose Kentucky as his flagship at Yokohama 4 November; and he continued to direct American naval operations in the Far East from her until she sailed from Manila for home 13 March 1904. After retracing her steps through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar she arrived New York 23 May.

Upon completing overhaul in New York Nary Yard 26 October, Kentucky devoted the following year for tactics and maneuvers off the Atlantic coast with the North Atlantic Fleet. The battleship joined the welcome of the British Squadron at Annapolis an d New York in the fall of 1905 and then cruised along the eastern seaboard until 23 September 1906. On that day off Provincetown, embarked marines from Maine, Missouri and Kearsarge and landed them at Havana 1 October to protect American interests and property during the Cuban insurrection. She stood by to support forces ashore until 9 October before resuming battle practice and tactics in the North Atlantic.

Kentucky visited Norfolk 15 April 1907 to attend the Jamestown Exposition; and, after more exercises off the New England coast, she returned to Hampton Roads to join the "Great White Fleet" of 16 battleships for a world cruise that brought great prestige and honor to the Navy and the Nation. Rear Admiral Evans, Kentucky's former Flag Officer, commanded the fleet as it circumnavigated the globe receiving warm and enthusiastic welcomes at each port of call. As the famous voyage got underway from Hampton Roads 16 December, Kentucky passed in review before President Roosevelt as a unit in the 2d Squadron. After calling at Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro, the warships passed in order through the Straits of Magellan to visit Punta Arenas and Valparaiso, Chile. A stop at Callao Bay, Peru, was followed by a month of target practice out of Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The fleet reached San Diego 14 April 1908 and moved on to San Francisco 7 May. Exactly 2 months later the spotless warships sortied through the Golden Gate and sailed for Honolulu. From Hawaii they set course for Auckland, New Zealand, arriving 8 August. The fleet made Sydney 20 August and, after a week of warm and cordial hospitality, sailed for Melbourne.

Kentucky departed Albany, Australia, 10 September for ports in the Philippine Islands, Japan, China, and Ceylon before transiting the Suez Canal. She departed Port Said 8 January 1909 to visit Tripoli and Algiers with the 4th Division before reforming with the fleet at Gibraltar. Underway for home 6 February, she again passed in review before President Roosevelt upon entering Hampton roads 22 February, ending a widely-acclaimed voyage of good will in which she and her sister ships subtly but effectively demonstrated American strength to the world.

After local operations and repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Kentucky decommissioned at Norfolk 28 August 1909. She recommissioned in the 2d Reserve 4 June 1912 but, save for a run to New York, did not operate at sea before being placed in ordinary in Philadelphia Navy Yard 31 May 1913.

The veteran battleship recommissioned at Philadelphia 23 June 1915 and sailed 3 July to train New York militia in a cruise from Long Island to ports in New England and Chesapeake Bay. She debarked the militia at New York and sailed to Portland to embark Maine militia for a training cruise. Returning to Philadelphia 31 August, she sailed 11 September for the coast of Mexico to watch over American interests during the unrest caused by the Mexican Revolution. She reached Vera Cruz 28 September 1915; and, but for a visit to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in March 1916, she remained on patrol off the Mexican coast until 2 June 1916.

The battleship called at Guantanamo Bay and Santa Domingo en route home to Philadelphia, where she arrived 18 June. Following maneuvers and tactics ranging north to Newport during the summer, Kentucky arrived New York 2 October and remained in the North River until the end of the year. She entered New York Naval Shipyard for repairs 1 January 1917 and was still there when the United States entered World War 1. She arrived Yorktown, Va., 2 May for duty as a training ship and trained recruits on cruises in Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast as far north as Long Island Sound. When the Armistice was signed 11 November 1918, she was training her 15th group of recruits, having already trained several thousand men for service in ships of the war-expanded Navy.

Kentucky entered Boston Navy Yard 20 December for overhaul. She sailed 18 March 1919 for refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay and then participated in fleet maneuvers and exercises ranging north from Norfolk to the New England coast. She arrived Annapolis 29 May to embark midshipmen and got underway 9 June for a summer practice cruise that took her to Cuba, the Virgin Islands, Panama, New York, Boston, and Provincetown. She returned Annapolis 27 August to debark her midshipmen and entered Philadelphia Navy Yard 30 August. She remained there until decommissioning 29 May 1920. Kentucky was sold to Dravo Construction Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., for scrapping 23 January 1924 in compliance with U.S. commitments under the Washington Treaty which limited naval armaments.

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on October 11:
1303 Boniface VIII, [Benedetto Gaetani], lawyer/pope (1294-1303), dies
1759 Mason Locke Weems, preacher (Episcopalian clergyman). Noted seller of books where he would fictionalize history. invented the story of George Washington and the cherry tree
1782 Steen Steensen Blicher Denmk, poet/short-story writer (E Binddstouw)
1821 Sir George Williams England, founder YMCA
1844 Henry John Heinz founded prepared-foods company (57 varieties)
1872 Harlan Fiske Stone NH, Supreme Court (1925-41) Chief Justice (41-46)
1884 Eleanor Roosevelt 1st lady/crusader
1896 Roman Jakobson linguist/Slavic scholar (Fundamentals of Language)
1897 Gen Nathan F Twining USAF (Neither Liberty nor Safety)
1897 George Preston Marshall NFL team owner (Washington Redskins)
1900 Cal Hubbard NFL tackle (Giants, Packers, Pittsburgh Pirates)
1902 Leon Belasco Odessa Russia, actor (Lucky Partners, My Sister Eileen)
1906 Earl "Dutch" Clark Colo, NFL hall of fame QB (Spartans, Detroit)
1910 Joseph Alsop political newspaper columnist (Men Around the President)
1914 Edward J Day US Postmaster General (1961)
1918 Jerome Robbins choreographer/composer (Tony-West Side Story)
1919 Art Blakey Pitts Pa, drummer (Billy Eckstine Band)
1925 Elmore Leonard American writer (Glitz, Mr Majestyk)
1925 Nancy Guild LA Calif, actress (Where Was I?)
1930 Harry Glass German DR, 1st E German Olympic medalist (bronze-1956)
1932 Dottie West Tenn, country singer (Here Comes My Baby)
1936 Charles Gordon Fullerton Roch, USAF/ast (STS T-1, T-3, T-5, 3, 51F)
1937 Ron Leibman NYC, actor (Norma Rae, Where's Poppa?, Beauty & Beast)
1943 Gene Watson country singer (Heartaches, Love & Stuff)
1944 Rodney Marsh athlete
1946 Felton Perry actor (Magnum Force, Sudden Death)
1946 Sawao Kato Japan, gymnast (Olympic-gold-1968, 72, 76)
1948 Daryl Hall rocker/songwriter (Hall & Oates-Sara Smile)
1950 Catlin Adams LA Calif, actress (Ms Loomis-Square Pegs)
1953 David Morse Beverly Mass, actor (St Elsewhere, House, Inside Moves)
1962 Joan Cusack Evanston Ill, comedienne (SNL)
1962 Leslie Landon LA Calif, actress (Etta Plum-Little House on Prairie)
1969 Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands
1971 Luke Perry Mansfield Ohio, actor (Dillon-Beverly Hill 90210)
1975 Kellie Martin actress (Life Goes On)

Deaths which occurred on October 11:
1303 Boniface VIII, [Benedetto Gaetani], lawyer/pope (1294-1303), dies
1424 Jan Zizka, Czech (army)leader (Hussite), dies of plague at 46
1531 Huldrych Zwingli, Swiss church reformer (Zwinglian), dies
1779 General Casimir Pulaski dies
1809 Meriwether Lewis capt of Lewis & Clark Expedition, dies at 35
1959 Bert Bell NFL hall of famer, dies at 64
1961 Leonard "Chico" Marx (Marx Brothers), dies at 74
1977 Dr Mason Gross professor (Think Fast, 2 for the Money), dies at 66
1985 Orson Welles dies at 70 of a heart attack
1985 Tex Williams country-western singer, dies at 68 of cancer
1986 Norm Cash 1st baseman (Detroit Tigers), dies at 51
1988 Waylon Flowers puppeteer, dies at 48
1990 Douglas Edwards WW II correspondant, dies of cancer at 73
1991 Redd Foxx comedian, dies at 68 from a heart attack

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1968 FERGUSON WILLIE C. JR.---OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
[02/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1968 HELLER IVAN LOUIS---GENESEO IL.
[03/73 REMAINS RECOVERED]

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

On this day...
1492 Columbus' ships sight land on the horizon (Bahamas)
1521 Pope Leo X titles King Henry VIII of England "Defender of the Faith"
1531 The Catholics defeat the Protestants at Kappel during Switzerland's second civil war.
1737 Earthquake kills 300,000 & destroys « of Calcutta India
1776 Brig Gen Arnold's Lake Champlain fleet defeated by British
1779 Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski was killed while fighting for American independence during the Revolutionary War Battle of Savannah, Ga.
1797 British naval forces defeat Dutch off Camperdown, the Netherlands
1811 The Juliana, the 1st steam-powered ferryboat, begins operation
1862 The Confederate Congress in Richmond passes a draft law allowing anyone owning 20 or more slaves to be exempt from military service.
1864 Slavery abolished in Maryland
1865 Pres Johnson paroles CSA VP Alexander Stephens
1868 Thomas Alva Edison filed papers for his first invention: an Electrical Vote Recorder, to rapidly tabulate floor votes in Congress. Members of Congress rejected it.
1877 Outlaw Wild Bill Longley, who killed at least a dozen men, is hanged, but it took two tries; on the first try, the rope slipped and his knees drug the ground.
1890 1st 100 yard dash under 10 seconds (John Owens 9-4/5 secs, Wash DC)
1890 Daughters of the American Revolution founded
1913 Phila A's beat NY Giants, 4 games to 1 in 10th World Series
1919 1st transcontinental air race ends
1922 1st woman FBI "special investigator" appointed (Alaska Davidson)
1923 German mark falls to 10 billion per œ, 4 billion per $
1925 NY Giants play 1st NFL game, lose to Providence 14-0
1927 Lou Gehrig elected MVP
1932 1st political telecast (Democratic National Committee) at CBS, NYC
1936 "Professor Quiz", 1st radio quiz show premieres
1943 NY Yankees beat Cards 4 games to 1, in 40th World Series, 10th WS win - NY Yankees become 1st team to win 10 World Series
1945 Chinese civil war begins, Chiang Kai-Shek vs Mao Tse-Tung
1948 Cleve Indians beat Boston Braves, 4 games to 2 in 45th World Series
1958 2nd US Moon probe, Pioneer 1, reaches 113,810 km, falls back
1961 USAF Major Robert M White takes X-15 to 66,100 m
1962 1st appearance of a Gabor sister on the Merv Griffin Show
1962 2nd Vatican Council (21st ecumenical) convened by Pope John XXIII
1967 Yoko Plus Me art exhibit opens in London (the me is John Lennon)
1968 Apollo 7 the first manned Apollo mission, was launched with astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Fulton Eisele and R. Walter Cunningham aboard,.made 163 orbits in 260 hours
1968 Billy Martin named manager of Twins
1968 Panama revolts
1969 Soyuz 6 launched; Soyuz 7 & 8 follow in next 2 days
1971 Frank McGee becomes news anchor of the Today Show
1972 Prison uprising at Washington DC jail
1975 "Saturday Night Live" premieres with guest host George Carlin
1975 Islander's Bryan Trottier's 1st career hat trick
1977 Soyuz 25 returns to Earth
1978 Aristides Royo elected president of Panama
1979 Allan McLeod Cormack & Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield win Nobel Prize for medicine for developing the CAT scan
1980 Cosmonauts Popov & Ryumin set space endurance record of 184 days
1981 LeRoy Irvin sets yards gained on punt returns record (207 yds)
1981 Unknown rocker Prince opens for Rolling Stones at LA Coliseum
1981 Yanks beat Brewers 7-3 & win only Eastern Championship Series
1982 English ship Mary Rose, which sank during an engagement with France in 1545, raised at Portsmouth, England
1983 Last hand-cranked telephones US went out of service as 440 telephone customers in Bryant Pond, Maine, were switched over to direct-dial
1984 NASA launches space vehicle S-208
1984 VP candidate debate-Geraldine Ferraro (D) & George Bush (R)
1985 Atlantis returns to Kennedy Space Center via Kelly AFB
1985 Pres Reagan bans importation of South African Krugerrands
1986 Reagan & Gorbachev open talks at a summit in Reykjavik, Iceland
1987 200,000 gays march for civil rights in Washington
1990 Center for Urban archaeology opens in NYC South Street Seaport Museum
1990 Octavio Paz wins Nobel Prize for literature
1990 Oil hits a record $40.42 per barrel
1991 Anita Hill testifies Clarence Thomas sexually harrassed her
1991 Chip Beck ties PGA lowest 18 hole score of 59
1998 Pope John Paul II decreed the first Jewish-born saint of the modern era: Edith Stein, a nun killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
2000 Texas Governor George W. Bush and Vice President Al Gore met in their second debate, in which they spent the first half politely discussing foreign policy, and the second half clashing over domestic issues.

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

Panama, Panama Canal Zone : Revolution Day (1968)
Sri Lanka : Deepavali
US : General Pulaski Memorial Day (1779)
Western Samoa : National Day
Western Samoa : White Sunday (2nd Sunday) (Sunday)
Canada : Thanksgiving Day (Monday)
Florida : Farmers' Day (1915) (Monday)
Hawaii : Discoverer's Day (Monday)
US : Columbus Day (1492) (Monday)
Virgin Is & Puerto Rico : Friendship Day (Monday)
Get Organized Week Ends
Mental Illness Awareness Week Ends
Kiss Your Car Day
Auto Battery Safety Month
Value of Play Month
National Sarcastics' Awareness Month

Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of the Motherhood of Mary
RC : Commemoration of St Mary Soledad, foundress of Handmaidens of Mary
Jewish : Sukkot

Religious History
1521 Leo X conferred the title "Fidei Defensor" (Defender of the Faith) upon England's Henry VIII. Three popes and 13 years later, Henry severed all ties with Rome to establish the Church of England.
1551 The 13th Session of the Council of Trent opened, during which major decisions were reached regarding the Catholic doctrine of the Eucharist.
1895 Birth of Avis B. Christiansen, devotional author. One of the most prolific hymnwriters of the 20th century, two of her most enduring hymns today are "Up Calvary's Mountain" and "Precious Hiding Place."
1914 During World War I, the Cathedral of Notre Dame suffered minor damage during an air raid on Paris. (Notre Dame, the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages, is distinguished for both its size and antiquity.)
1954 Presbyterian apologist Francis Schaeffer wrote in a letter: 'Doctrinal rightness and rightness of ecclesiastical position are important, but only as a starting point to go on into a living relationship -- and not as ends in themselves.

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

Thought for the day :
"A good pun is its own reword."

You might be a bachelor if...
you've often wondered how many empty pizza boxes constitutes a collection.

Murphys Law of the day...(The Pollyanna Paradox)
Every day, in every way, things get better and better; then worse again in the evening.

Astounding fact #480,724
Margaret Gorman --- 1st Miss America. She was 16 and 30-25-32 (1921).