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FIRST LIEUTENANT JACK LUMMUS

World War II 1941-1945
Medal of Honor Recipient
Iwo Jima

The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

FIRST LIEUTENANT JACK LUMMUS
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS RESERVE
for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Leader of a Rifle Platoon, attached to Company E, Second Battalion, Twenty-seventh Marines, Fifth Marine Division, in action against enemy Japanese forces on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands, 8 March 1945.

Resuming his assault tactics with bold decision after fighting without respite for two days and nights. First Lieutenant Lummus slowly advanced his platoon against an enemy deeply entrenched in a network of mutually supporting positions. Suddenly halted by a terrific concentration of hostile fire, he unhesitatingly moved forward of his front line in an effort to neutralize the Japanese position.

Although knocked to the ground when an enemy grenade exploded close by, he immediately recovered himself and, again moving forward despite the intensified barrage, quickly located attacked and destroyed the occupied emplacement.

Instantly taken under fire by the garrison of a supporting pillbox and further assailed by the slashing fury of hostile rifle fire, he fell under the impact of a second enemy grenade, but courageously disregarding painful shoulder wounds, staunchly continued his heroic one-man assault and charged the second pillbox annihilating all the occupants.

Subsequently returning to his platoon, position, he fearlessly traversed his lines under fire, encouraging his men to advance and directing the fire of supporting tanks against other stubbornly holding Japanese emplacements. Held up again by a devastating barrage, he again moved into the open, rushed a third heavily fortified installation and killed the defending enemy.

Determined to crush all resistance, he led his men indomitably, personally, attacking foxholes and spider-traps with his carbine and systematically reducing the fanatic opposition until, stepping on a land mine, he sustained fatal wounds.

By his outstanding valor, skilled tactics and tenacious perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds, First Lieutenant Lummus had inspired his stouthearted Marines to continue the relentless drive northward, thereby contributing materially to the success of his company's mission. His dauntless leadership and unwavering devotion to duty throughout enhanced and sustained the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life in the service of his country.

/S/ HARRY S. TRUMAN

The following is the list of the twenty-seven awarded the Medal of Honor - Iwo Jima:

Corporal Charles J. Berry, USMC
Private First Class William R. Caddy, USMCR
Colonel Justice M. Chambers, USMCR
Sergeant Darrell S. Cole, USMCR
Captain Robert H. Dunlap, USMCR
Sergeant Ross F. Gray, USMCR
Sergeant William G. Harrell, USMC
Lieutenant Rufus G. Herring, USNR
Private First Class Douglas T. Jacobson, USMCR
Platoon Sergeant Joseph R. Julian, USMCR
Private First Class James D. LaBelle, USMCR
Second Lieutenant John H. Leims, USMCR
Private First Class Jacklyn H. Lucas, USMCR
First Lieutenant Jack Lummus, USMCR
First Lieutenant Harry L. Martin, USMCR
Captain Joseph J. McCarthy, USMCR
Private George Phillips, USMCR
Pharmacist's Mate First Class Francis J. Pierce, USN
Private First Class Donald J. Ruhl, USMCR
Private Franklin E. Sigler, USMCR
Corporal Tony Stein, USMCR
Pharmacist's Mate Second Class George E. Wahlen, USN
Gunnery Sergeant William G. Walsh, USMCR
Private Wilson D. Watson, USMCR
Corporal Hershel W. Williams, USMCR
Pharmacist's Mate Third Class Jack Williams, USNR
Pharmacist's Mate First Class John H. Willis, USN

MV 1ST LT JACK LUMMUS

Serving as flagship for Maritime Prepositioning Ship Squadron (MPSRON) 3, MV 1ST LT JACK LUMMUS is the fourth ship in the 2ND LT JOHN P. BOBO - class of Cargo Ships.

The ship carries a full range of Marine Corps cargo, enough cargo to support a Marine Air Ground Task Force for 30 days. Additionally, the 1ST LT JACK LUMMUS has lift-on/lift-off capabilities as well as roll-on/roll-off capabilities. Navy lighterage carried onboard consists of causeways, both powered and unpowered, and small boats to move them around.

MV 1st Lt Jack Lummus (T-AK3011)

The 1ST LT JACK LUMMUS usually participates in at least one major Maritime Prepositioning Force exercise per year.

The military detachment aboard the LUMMUS consists of 18 people. These are the Commodore, the Chief of Staff Officer, the Engineering Officer, the Operations Officer, the Suppy Officer, 1 Storekeeper, 1 Yeoman, 3 Electrics Technicians, 1 Radioman Chief, and 7 to 8 Radioman or Information Technicians respectively.

General Characteristics: Keel laid: 1983
Christened: February 22, 1986
Delivered: March 6, 1986
Builder: General Dynamics, Quincy, Massachusetts
Propulsion system: 2 Stork-Wartsilia Werkspoor 16TM410 diesels; 27,000 hp sustained; 1 shaft, bow thruster; 1,000 hp
Propellers: one
Length: 672.6 feet (205 meters)
Beam: 106 feet (32.3 meters)
Draft: 29.5 feet (9 meters)
Displacement: approx. 44,330 tons full load
Speed: 18 knots
Aircraft: helicopter platform only (certified to land up to CH-53E helicopters)
Armament: none
Capacity:
162,500 sq. ft. vehicle
1,605,000 gallons petroleum
81,700 gallons water
522 TEU

Crew: 18 US Navy personnel, 30 civilian and 25 civilian maintenance Homeport: Guam and Saipan

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

http://www.jacklummus.com/

Dear Lord, watch over our Brothers and Sisters who remain in harms way, where ever they are around the globe. Grant them Thy blessing, that they be protected from harm, and may they be safely, and swiftly, returned to their loved ones. AMEN

Click on the image to visit the tribute page

±

"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on October 19:
1581 Dimitri Ivanovitch, Russian son of Ivan IV "the Terrible"
1605 Sir Thomas Browne British writer (Garden of Cyrus)
1784 John McLoughlin Hudson's Bay Co pioneer in Oregon Country
1784 Leigh Hunt British writer (Lord Byron)
1862: Auguste Lumiere, made first movie (Workers Leaving Lumiere Factory)
1863 John Huston Finley Ill, editor (NY Times (1937-38))
1868 Bertha Landes 1st woman elected mayor of a major US city (Seattle)
1876 Mordecai (3 finger) Brown hall of fame pitcher
1882 Vincas Kreve-Mickievicius Lithuania, poet/philologist/playwright
1889 Uncle Art Satherly entertainer
1895 Lewis Mumford cultural historian/city planner/writer
1899 Miguel Asturias Guatemala, poet/novelist/diplomat (Nobel 1967)
1901 Arleigh A Burke US, admiral (WW II)
1909 Robert Beatty actor (Amorous Mr Pawn)
1910 Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar India, physicist (Nobel 1983)
1911 George Cates NYC, orch leader (Lawrence Welk Show)
1913 Jean Urruty France, Jai-Alai champion
1916 David Lewis Pitts Pa, actor (Edward Quartermaine-General Hospital)
1916 Emil Gilels Odessa Russia, pianist (Brussels Competition-1938)
1920 LaWanda Page Cleve Ohio, actress (Aunt Esther-Sanford & Sons)
1921 George Nader Pasadena Calif, actor (Robot Monster, Away All Boats)
1921 Gunnar Nordahl Sweden, soccer players (Olympic-gold-1948)
1922 Jack Anderson newspaper columnist (Wash Post)
1925 Bernard Hepton Bradford England, actor (6 Wives of Henry VIII)
1927 Piere Alechinsky Belgium, artist (Les Hautes herbes)
1928 Buff Cobb Florence Italy, actress (Masquerade Party)
1929 Balbir Singh India, field hockey player (Olympic-gold-1948-56)
1931 John Le Carr‚ England, spy novelist (Little Drummer Girl)
1932 Lloyd Haynes South Bend Indiana, actor (Pete Dixon-Room 222)
1932 Robert Reed Highland Park Ill, actor (Mike-Brady Bunch, Nurse)
1933 Wilfried Dietrich German FR, super-heavyweight (Olympic-gold-1960)
1936 Tony Lo Bianco Brooklyn NY, actor (Ann Jillian Story, Hizzoner!)
1937 Sean Garrison NYC, actor (Up Periscope, Splendor in the Grass)
1939 Benita Valente Delano Calif, soprano (Pamina-Die Zauberfl”te)
1940 Jerzy Kulej Poland, light welterweight boxer (Olympic-gold-1964, 68)
1945 Divine (Harris Glenn Milstead) film actor, born Towson, MD. USA
1945 John Lithgow actor (Harry & the Hendersons)
1955 Lonnie Shelton NBA forward (NY Knick, Seattle Supersonics)
1955 Pat Klous Hutchinson Ks, actress (Marcy-Flying High, Judy-Love Boat)
1956 Sue Barker tennis pro (French Open 1976)
1960 Jennifer Holiday singer/actress (Dream Girls)
1960 Woody rocker (Voice of the Beehive-Let it Bee)
1962 Evander Hollyfield Heavyweight boxing champ (1990- )
1965 Maria Lee Ostapiej La Mess Calif, Miss Calif-America (1991)
1966 Amy Linker Brooklyn NY, actress (Lewis & Clark, Lauren-Square Pegs)
1966 Anna Clark San Francisco Ca, playmate (Apr, 1987)
1966 Sinitta rocker (Omn Sinitta)
1967 Amy Carter Pres Carter's daughter/peace activist

Deaths which occurred on October 19:
1745 Jonathan Swift, English writer (Gulliver's Travels), dies
1964 Maurice Gosfield actor (Doberman-Phil Silvers Show), dies at 51
1978 Gig Young kills his bride of 3 weeks & then commits suicide at 64
1982 Jock Ewing dies in an aircrash on TV show "Dallas"
1983 Maurice Bishop prime minister of Grenada & others murdered in coup
1992 Petra Kelly, founder (German Green Party), found dead at 44
1994 Martha Raye, actress (Pin Up Girl), dies after illness at 78

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 WORCHESTER JOHN B.---BIG RAPIDS MI.
[RADIO CONTACT LOST]
1966 BURKE MICHAEL J.---CHICAGO IL.
1966 LEWANDOWSKI LEONARD J. JR.---DES PLAINES IL.
1966 MISHUK RICHARD E.---ST PAUL MN.
1970 WILSON PETER J.---PULASKI NY.

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

On this day...
125 -BC- Origin of Era of Tyre
0439 Ancient city of Carthage was captured and destroyed by Genseric the Vandal.
615 St Deusdedit I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1298 Rindfleish-140 Jews of Heilbron Germany are murdered
1765 Stamp Act Congress met in NY, wrote decl of rights & liberties
1781 Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown at 2 PM; Revolutionary War ends
1812 Napoleon begins his retreat from Moscow
1818 US & Chicasaw Indians sign a treaty
1845 Wagner's opera Tannhauser performed for 1st time
1849 Elizabeth Blackwell became 1st woman in US to receive medical degree
1853 1st flour mill in Hawaii begins operations
1856 James Kelly & Jack Smith fight bareknuckle for 6h15m in Melbourne
1859 Wilhelm Tempel discovers diffuse nebula around Pleid star Merope
1864 Approx 25 Confederates make surprise attack on St Albans, Vermont
1864 Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, Union beats back Conf attackers
1870 1st (4) blacks elected to House of Reps
1872 World's largest gold nugget (215 kg) found in New South Wales
1888 Moshav Gederah is attacked by the Arabs
1901 Santos-Dumont proves airship maneuverable by circling Eiffel Tower
1912 Tripoli (Libya) passes from Turkish to Italian control
1917 The first doughnut is fried by Salvation Army volunteer women for American troops in France during World War I
1919 1st Distinguished Service Medal awarded to a woman
1919 Reds beat White Sox, 5 games to 3 in 16th World Series. This series is known as the black sox scandal as 7 White Sox throw the series
1926 John C Garand patents semi-automatic rifle
1931 Al Capone convicted (Income tax evasion)
1933 Berlin Olympic Committee vote to introduce basketball in 1936
1936 HR Ekins of "NY World-Telegram" beats 2 other reporters in a race around the world on commercial flights, by 18« days
1941 1st woman jockey in North America, Anna Lee Wiley in Mexico
1943 Theater Guild presentation of "Othello" opens at Shubert
1943 Yankee 2nd baseman Joe Gordon announces retirement (hates NY)
1944 US forces land in Philipines
1949 Yanks trade Joe Gordon to Cleveland for Allie Reynolds
1950 UN forces entered Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea
1951 Pres Harry S Truman formally ends state of war with Germany
1953 1st jet transcontinental nonstop scheduled service
1953 Singer Julius LaRosa is fired on TV by Arthur Godfrey
1957 Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Mont, became 1st NHLer to score 500 goals
1959 Florence Henderson joins the Today Show panel
1960 France grants Mauritania independence
1960 Martin Luther King Jr arrested in Atlanta sit-in
1960 The US imposes an embargo on exports to Cuba
1963 Beatles record "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
1967 Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of USSR, sets then long jump record at 27' 4 3/4"
1967 Mariner 5 makes fly-by of Venus
1968 Golden Gate Bridge charges tolls only for southbound cars
1969 Oakland Darryle Lamonica passes for 6 touchdowns vs Buffalo (50-21)
1970 John Frazier kills Dr. Ohta, Mrs. Ohta, their secretary and two sons, declaring that World War III has begun (sentenced to death on five counts of murder, but commuted to life)
1973 Ringo releases "Photograph"
1974 Det Red Wing Mickey Redmond scores the 1st hat trick against Wash Caps
1974 Detroit Pistons beat Trailblazers in Portland (next win 6-1-90)
1977 Supersonic Concorde jet's 1st landing in NYC
1980 Steve McPeak rides 101'9" unicycle
1981 LA Dodgers beat Montreal Expos for NL pennant
1982 Automaker John DeLorean arrested on cocaine charges (Not guilty)
1983 Columbia moves to Orbiter Processing Facility
1986 USSR expells 5 US diplomats
1987 "Black Monday"-Dow Jones down 508.32, 4« times previous record
1987 Billy Martin hired as manager of NY Yankees for 5th time
1987 US warships destroy 2 Iranian oil platforms in Persian Gulf
1988 3 Americans win Nobel in physics; 3 W Germans win chemistry Nobel
1988 Britain bans broadcast interviews with IRA members
1988 Car bomb kills 7 Israelis, wounds 11 near Lebanon border
1988 Roxette releases "Roxette Look Sharp!" album
1988 S Afr anti-apartheid leader Sisulu wins $100,000 Human Rights prize
1988 Senate passes bill curbing ads during children`s TV shows
1991 In Louisiana, former Gov. Edwin Edwards and former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke won runoff slots in the state's gubernatorial primary.

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

Mauritania : Independence Day (1960)
Virginia : Yorktown Day (1781)
Alaska : Alaska Day (1867) (Monday)
Paint Pretty Day
National Shampoo Week Begins
National Save Your Back Week Begins
Michigan Library Month.
National Pork Month
Gourmet Coffee Week (Day 5)

Religious Observances
RC : Commemoration of St Peter of Alcantara, confessor/mystic
RC : G Lalemand, Garnier, Chabanel, R Goupil & J Laliande, canonized
RC : SS Antony Daniel, Gabrial Lalemand & N Amer martyrs
RC : SS John de Brebeuf & Isaac Jogues, priests
RC : Memorial of St Paul of the Cross (opt)
Ang : Commem of Hanry Martyn, Priest, & Missionary to India & Persia

Religious History
1562 Birth of George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury. A recognized leader of the English Calvinists, Abbot also demonstrated Puritan sympathies, and took a leading part in translating the 1611 King James Version of the Bible.
1609 Death of Jacob Arminius, 49, the Dutch theologian who lent his name to the beliefs (known today at Arminianism) which oppose the major tenets of Protestant Reformed (Calvinist) theology.
1720 Birth of John Woolman, American Quaker reformer. His "Journal," written from 1756-72, greatly influenced 19th century abolitionists.
1744 English revivalist George Whitefield, 29, arrived in Maine at the start of his second visit to America. Whitefield struggled to adapt the beliefs of Calvinism to the Arminian teachings of proto-Methodists John and Charles Wesley.
1921 Birth of Bill Bright, American youth evangelist. Bill and his wife Vonette founded Campus Crusade for Christ in 1951, incorporating this evangelical Christian student organization in California in 1953.

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

Thought for the day :
If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem.
Everything else is inconvenience.

You Might Be A Redneck Pilot If...
your stall warning plays "Dixie."

Murphys Law of the day...(Toddlers Law)
If it's mine it's mine,
if it's yours it's mine,
if I like it is mine,
if I can take it from you it is mine,
if I am playing with something ALL of the pieces are mine,
if I think it is mine it is,
if I saw it first it's mine,
if I had it then put it down it is still mine,
if you had it then you put it down it is now mine,
if it looks like the one I have at home it is mine,
if it is broken it is yours.

Astounding fact #938,876,165,774
Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

Today's classic warship, USS Virginia (BB-13)

Virginia class battleship
displacement. 14,980 t.
length. 441'3"
beam. 76'2 1/2"
draft. 23'9"
speed. 19 k.
complement. 916
armament. 4 12", 8 8", 12 6", 12 6", 24 1-pdrs., 4 .30-cal. Colt mg. ; 4 21 " tt.

The USS Virginia (Battleship No. 13) was laid down on 21 May 1902 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co.; launched on 6 April 1904; sponsored by Miss Gay Montague, daughter of the Governor of Virginia; and com missioned on 7 May 1906, Capt. Seaton Schroeder in command.

After fitting out, Virginia conducted her "shaking down" cruise in Lynnhaven Bay, Va., off Newport, R.I., and off Long Island, N.Y. before she put into Bradford, R.I., for coal on 9 August. After running trials for the standardization of her screws off Rockland, Maine, the battleship maneuvered in Long Island Sound before anchoring off President Theodore Roosevelt's home, Oyster Bay, Long Island, from 2 to 4 September, for a Presidential review.

Virginia then continued her shakedown cruise before she coaled again at Bradford. Meanwhile, events were occurring in the Caribbean that would alter the new battleship's employment. On the island of Cuba, in August of 1906, a revolution had broken out against the government of President T. Estrada Palma. The disaffection, which had started in Pinar del Rio province, grew in the early autumn to the point where President Palma had no recourse but to appeal to the United states for intervention. By mid-September, it had become apparent that the small Cuban constabulary (8,000 rural guards) was unable to protect foreign interests, and intervention would be necessary. Accordingly, Virginia departed Newport on 15 September 1906, bound for Cuba, and reached Havana on the 21st, ready to protect the city from attack if necessary. The battleship remained at Havana until 18 October, when she sailed for Sewall's Point, Va.

Virginia disembarked General Frederick Funston at Norfolk upon her arrival there and coaled before heading north to Tompkinsville to await further orders. She shifted soon thereafter to the New York Navy Yard where she was coaled and drydocked to have her hull bottom painted before undergoing repairs and alterations at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 3 November 1906 to 18 February 1907. After installation of fire control apparatus at the New York Navy Yard between 19 February and 23 March, the battleship sailed once more for Cuban waters, joining the fleet at Guantanamo Bay on 28 March.

Virginia fired target practices in Cuban waters before she sailed for Hampton Roads on 10 April to participate in the Jamestown Tricentennial Exposition festivities. She remained in Hampton Roads for a month, from 15 April to 15 May, before she underwent repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard into early June. Subsequently reviewed in Hampton Roads by President Theodore Roosevelt between 7 and 13 June, Virginia shifted northward for target practices on the target grounds of Cape Cod Bay, evolutions that lasted from mid-June to mid-July. She later cruised with her division to Newport; the North River, New York City; and to Provincetown, Mass., before conducting day and night battle practice in Cape Cod Bay.

Returning southward early that autumn, Virginia underwent two months of repairs and alterations at the Norfolk Navy, Yard, from 24 September to 24 November, before undergoing further repairs at the New York Navy Yard later in November. She subsequently shifted southward again, reaching Hampton Roads on 6 December.

Virginia spent the, next 10 days preparing for a feat never before attempted around-the-world cruise by the battleships of the Atlantic Fleet. The voyage, regarded by President Roosevelt as a dramatic gesture to the Japanese-who had only recently emerged on the world stage as a power to be reckoned with-proved to be a signal success, with the ships performing so well as to confound the doom-sayers who had predicted a fiasco.

The cruise began eight days before Christmas of 1907, and ended on Washington's Birthday, 22 February 1909. During the course of the voyage, the ships called at ports along both coasts of South America; on the west coast of the United States; at Hawaii; in the Philippines; Japan; China; and in Ceylon. Virginia's division also visited Smyrna, Turkey, via Beirut, during the Mediterranean leg of the cruise. Both upon departure and upon arrival, the fleet was reviewed at Hampton Roads by President Roosevelt, whose "big stick" diplomacy and flair for the dramatic gesture had been practically personified by the cruise of the "Great White Fleet."

Following that momentous circumnavigation, Virginia underwent four months of voyage repairs and alterations at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 26 February to 26 June 1909. Virginia's appearance was transformed by the addition of new "cage" masts and the replacement of her original "white and buff" color scheme with the grey of the modern battle fleet. She spent the next year and three months operating off the eastern seaboard of the United States, ranging from the southern drill grounds, off the Virginia capes, to Newport, R.I. During that time, she conducted one brief cruise with members of the Naval Militia embarked and visited Rockport and Provincetown, Mass. For the better part of that time, she conducted battle practices with the fleet- evolutions only broken by brief periods of yard work at Norfolk and Boston.

Virginia visited Brest, France, and Gravesend, England, from 15 November to 7 December and from 8 to 29 December 1909, respectively, before she-as part of the 4th Division, Atlantic Fleet-joined the Atlantic fleet in Guantanamo Bay for drills and exercises. She subsequently operated in Cuban waters for two months, from 13 January to 13 March 1910 before she returned north for battle practices on the southern drill grounds.

Virginia departed Hampton Roads on 11 April, in company with Georgia (BB-15), and reached the Boston Navy Yard two days later. She underwent repairs there until 24 May before putting to sea for Provincetown. Over the next five days, Virginia operated with the collier Vestal, testing a "coaling-at-sea apparatus" off Provincetown and at Stellwagen's Bank, before she conducted torpedo practices. The battleship returned to the Boston Navy Yard on 18 June.

Virginia maintained her routine of operations off the eastern seaboard-occasionally ranging into Cuban waters for regularly scheduled fleet evolutions in tactics and gunnery-into 1913, a routine largely uninterrupted. In 1913, however, unrest in Mexico caused the frequent dispatch of American men-of-war to those waters. Virginia became one of those ships in mid-February, when she reached Tampico on the 15th of that month; she remained there until 2 March, when she shifted to Vera Cruz for coal. She returned to Tampico on 5 March and remained there for 10 days.

After another stint of operations off the eastern seaboard, ranging from the Virginia capes to Newport-a period of maneuvers and exercises varied by a visit to New York at the end of May 1913 for the dedication of the memorial to the battleship Maine (sunk in Havana Harbor in February 1898) and one to Boston in mid-June for Flag Day and Bunker Hill exercises-Virginia returned to Mexican waters in November. She reached Vera Cruz on 4 November and remained in port until the 30th, when she shifted to Tampico. She observed conditions in those ports and operated off the Mexican coast into January of 1914.

Returning to Cuban waters for exercises and maneuvers with the fleet, Virginia sailed for the Virginia capes in mid-March 1914. She maneuvered with the fleet off Cape Henry and in Lynnhaven Roads before she conducted gunnery drills at the wreck of San Marcos (ex-Texas) in Tangier Sound, Chesapeake Bay. Virginia subsequently held experimental gunnery firings on the southern drill grounds before she spent much of April drydocked at Boston.

The American occupation of Vera Cruz in April 1914 resulted in the sizable deployment of American men-of-war to that port that lasted into the autumn. Virginia reached Vera Cruz on 1 May and operated with the fleet out of that port into early October, a period of time broken by target practice in Guantanamo Bay between 18 September and 3 October.

While war raged in Europe, Virginia continued her operations off the eastern seaboard of the United States, ranging from the southern drill grounds to the coast of New England and occasionally steaming to Cuban waters for winter maneuvers. She was placed in reserve on 20 March 1916, at the Boston Navy Yard, and was undergoing an extensive overhaul in the spring of 1917 when the United States declared war on Germany.

On the day America entered World War I, the United States government took steps to take over all interned German merchant vessels then in American ports. As part of that move, Virginia sent boarding parties to seize the German passenger and cargo vessels Amerika, Cincinnati, Wittekind, Koln, and Ockenfels on 6 April 1917.

Completing her overhaul at Boston on 27 August, Virginia sailed for Port Jefferson, N.Y., three days later, to join the 3d Division, Battleship Force, Atlantic Fleet. Over the ensuing 12 months, the battleship served as a gunnery training ship out of Port Jefferson and Norfolk; service interrupted briefly in early December 1917, when she became temporary flagship for Rear Admiral John A. Hoogewerff, Commander, Battleship Division 1. She subsequently became flagship for the 3d Division commander, Rear Admiral Thomas Snowden.

Overhauled at the Boston Navy Yard in the autumn of 1918, Virginia spent the remainder of hostilities engaged in convoy escort duties, taking convoys well over half-way across the Atlantic. She departed New York on 14 October 1918 on her first such mission, covering a convoy that had some 12,176 men embarked. After escorting those ships to longitude 22 degrees west, she put about and headed for home.

That proved to be her only such wartime mission, however, because the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918, the day before Virginia set out with a France-bound convoy, her second escort run into the mid-Atlantic. After leaving that convoy at longitude 34 degrees west, Virginia put about and headed for Hampton Roads.

The cessation of hostilities meant the return of the many troops that had been engaged in fighting the enemy overseas. Similar in mission to the "Magic Carpet" operation that followed the end of World War II, a massive troop-lift, bringing the "doughboys" back from "over there," commenced soon after World War I ended.

With additional messing and berthing facilities installed to permit her use as a troopship, Virginia departed Norfolk eight days before Christmas of 1918. Over the ensuing months, she conducted five round-trip voyages to Brest, France, and back. Reaching Boston on Independence Day 1919, ending her last troop lift, Virginia ended her transport service, having brought some 6,037 men back from France.

Virginia remained at the Boston Navy Yard, inactive, until decommissioned there on 13 August 1920. Struck from the Navy list and placed on the sale list on 12 July 1922, the battleship-reclassified prior to her inactivation to BB-13 on 17 July 1920 -was subsequently taken off the sale list and transferred to the War Department on 6 August 1923 for use as a bombing target.

Virginia and her sistership New Jersey were taken to a point three miles off the Diamond Shoals lightship, off Cape Hatteras, N.C., and anchored there on 5 September 1923. The "attacks" made by Army Air Service Martin bombers began shortly b efore 0900. On the third attack, seven Martins flying at 3,000 feet, each dropped two 1,100-pound bombs on Virginia-only one of them hit. That single bomb, however, "completely demolished the ship as such." An observer later wrote: "Both masts, the bridge; all three smokestacks, and the upperworks disappeared with the explosion and there remained, after the smoke cleared away, nothing but the bare hull, decks blown off, and covered with a mass of tangled debris from stem to stern consisting of stacks, ventilators, cage masts, and bridges."

Within one-half-hour of the cataclysmic blast that wrecked the ship, her battered hulk sank beneath the waves. Her sistership ultimately joined her shortly thereafter. Virginia's end, and New Jersey's, provided far-sighted naval officers with a dramatic demonstration of air power and impressed upon them the "urgent need of developing naval aviation with the fleet." As such, the service performed by the old pre-dreadnought may have been her most valuable.

You have to note the high number of Pharmacist's Mates. These guys are the combat medics, brave men indeed.

HOW DO, FOLKS AT THE FOXHOLE!
It looks like my ISP is behaving (for the moment any-hoo) and I wanted to get a greeting in while I can. I never know how long my good fortune will last. LOL!

THANK YOU troops and veterans for your service to our country.