The FReeper Foxhole Revisits John Waldron and The Battle of Midway (6/4/1942)

.......

The American Aircraft Carriers Search for Nagumo's Carriers

At about 8.00 a.m. on 4 June 1942, Rear Admiral Fletcher had reduced the distance between his carrier task forces and the Japanese carriers to about 150 miles (240 km). Fletcher and Spruance intended to operate their task forces separately, but never far apart.

A TBD from the ill-fated Torpedo Eight begins its take off run off Hornet. This plane was the twelfth of fifteen TBD's (probably ENS W. R. Evans, Jr., A-V(N) USNR and R. E. Bibb, Jr., ARM3c in T-4, BuNo 0321) launched by VT-8 on the morning of 4. Photo courtesy Mark Horan

Although he would have preferred to reduce the range still further, Rear Admiral Spruance had already launched thirty-three of his Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers from USS Enterprise . Spruance knew that the first wave of Japanese carrier aircraft had struck Midway about 6.30 a.m., and he believed that these aircraft would be likely to return to their carriers about 8.30 a.m. He was so eager to catch the Japanese by surprise, while their flight decks were congested with aircraft landing, and being refuelled and rearmed, that he ordered his airborne dive bombers to head for the Japanese carriers without waiting for their Wildcat fighter escorts to take off from the carrier. If the American aircrews had been as superbly trained and as battle-toughened as their Japanese opponents, it would not have been a risky decision. The American torpedo and dive bombers aboard the carriers at Midway were underpowered and painfully slow and, in theory at least, the Wildcat fighters should have been able to overtake and escort their bombers to the Japanese carriers.

Dauntless dive bombers and escorting Wildcat fighters were then launched from USS Hornet , and they were followed by a third wave of dive bombers and fighters from Enterprise. The attack groups from Enterprise and Hornet set course for the anticipated position of Nagumo's carriers on the assumption that he was unaware of the presence of American carriers so close to him, and was continuing on his south-easterly course for Midway. However, after recovering all of his Midway strike aircraft shortly after 8.30 a.m., Nagumo had turned north to engage the American carriers. The dive bombers and fighters from Hornet failed to locate the Japanese carriers, and either flew on to Midway or returned to their carrier.

While it was clearly imperative for the Americans to strike, if possible, before Vice Admiral Nagumo was able to launch his own air strike at their carriers, the American Navy had a history of problems in coordinating torpedo, dive bomber and fighter strikes, even when these aircraft were all launched from the same carrier. This flaw in American naval aviation training, when combined with obsolete aircraft, defective torpedoes, lack of combat experience, and rushed aircraft launches on this particular day, would all combine to produce tragic consequences for American torpedo bomber aircrews and bring the United States very close to a major defeat on this morning of 4 June 1942.

The Courage of American Pilots
Proves A Match for Japan's Overwhelming Naval Power

Guided by instinct rather than reason, Lieutenant Commander John Waldron, leading his squadron of fifteen obsolete Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bombers from Hornet (Torpedo Squadron VT-8), responded to the absence of the Japanese carriers at their anticipated position by diverting his bombers in a north-westerly direction. He was troubled by the fact that his torpedo squadron had not been joined by its Wildcat fighter escorts from Hornet. He knew that the Devastator was slow and very vulnerable to attack by Japanese Zero fighters. However, his duty was to find the Japanese carriers and sink them if he could, and he pressed on. Waldron found Nagumo's carriers at 9.20 a.m., and ordered his aircraft to attack even though they had no fighter escorts. Although the attack was pressed home with great courage, the Japanese Zero fighters guarding the carriers overwhelmed the low-flying American torpedo bombers and shot them all down before any torpedoes could be launched. Only one American airman survived this attack. Although no damage was done to the Japanese carriers, the sacrifice by Waldron and his aircrews was not in vain. The Americans now knew the location of the Japanese carriers.

Two further waves of American TBD Devastator torpedo bombers followed Waldron in low-altitude attacks on the Japanese carriers, and although these attacks were also pressed home with great courage, most of the American bombers were shot down by the swarming Zeros or by intense anti-aircraft fire.

Torpedo Squadron VT-6 from Enterprise, led by Lieutenant Commander Eugene E. Lindsay, attacked the carrier Kaga with fourteen TBDs. Nine were shot down and no hits on Kaga were registered. Torpedo Squadron VT-3 from USS Yorktown, led by Lieutenant Commander Lance E. Massey, lost all but two TBDs in its attack. Massey's TBDs were escorted by six Wildcat fighters, but the Wildcats were so outnumbered by Zeros that they were forced to defend themselves while Massey's TBDs pressed home their hopeless attack. Again, no damage was done to the Japanese carriers. Even the Japanese were impressed by the bravery, discipline and self-sacrifice of the American airmen whom they had been taught to despise as lacking courage and discipline.

The few torpedoes that were launched from American aircraft at the Battle of Midway were either evaded by skilful handling of the Japanese ships or failed to explode on impact.

However, the sacrifices of these gallant American aircrews had also not been in vain. They had forced the Japanese carriers to take evasive action and delayed preparations by Admiral Nagumo to launch his own air strike at the American carriers. The flight decks of the Japanese carriers were crowded with aircraft loaded with fuel, torpedoes and bombs, when at 10.25 a.m. a thunderbolt struck the Japanese carriers in the form of the thirty-three Dauntless dive bombers which had been the first aircraft launched from Enterprise by Admiral Spruance. They were joined by Dauntless dive bombers from Yorktown. The Japanese Zeros guarding the carriers had been drawn down close to sea level while attacking the low-flying American torpedo bombers, and the American dive bombers hurtling down from a great height on the Japanese carriers had only to be concerned about intense anti-aircraft fire. The American bombs struck the flight decks of Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, and produced massive chain reaction explosions fuelled by the fully armed Japanese bombers and fighters. Within minutes all three carriers were reduced to fiercely burning wrecks. Kaga and Soryu sank late that afternoon. Akagi sank before dawn on 5 June.

The thirty-three Dauntless dive bombers from Enterprise were led by Lieutenant Commander Clarence W. McCluskey, who found Admiral Nagumo's carriers by an extraordinary stroke of luck. He had been engaged in a fruitless search for the Japanese carriers when he observed a Japanese destroyer speeding in a north-easterly direction. McCluskey suspected that the destroyer was part of Nagumo's carrier force and decided to follow it. If McCluskey's dive bombers had not arrived over the Japanese carriers at the same time as the single dive bomber squadron from Yorktown, and joined the Yorktown squadron in well-coordinated attacks on Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, it is likely that the Battle of Midway would have ended quite differently. In great battles, luck can often be as important as sound planning.

Unfortunately for the Americans, Admiral Nagumo's fourth fleet carrier Hiryu was steaming ahead of the other three Japanese carriers and escaped the American dive bomber attack. Aboard Hiryu at this time was the commander of Carrier Division 2 of the First Carrier Striking Force, Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi. Yamaguchi was one of Japan's most able and daring commanders of carrier air operations. Undeterred by the fate of Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, Yamaguchi held course for the expected location of the American carriers, and prepared to launch his own air strike against them. At this stage, he only believed that he was facing Enterprise and Hornet. The Japanese would not have expected that Yorktown could have been repaired in time to participate in the battle at Midway.

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

Preparations for Battle,
March 1942 to 4 June 1942

By March 1942, Japanese Navy strategists had achieved their initial war goals much more easily than expected. They had therefore abandoned the prewar plan to then transition to a strategic defensive posture, but there was still dispute on how to maintain the offensive. Moving further south in the Pacific would isolate Australia, and possibly remove that nation as a threat to the freshly-expanded Japanese Empire.

However, the American island base at Midway was also an attractive target, and the Doolittle Raid on Japan prompted a decision to attack there as the next major offensive goal. Midway was a vital "sentry for Hawaii", and a serious assault on it would almost certainly produce a major naval battle, a battle that the Japanese confidently expected to win. That victory would eliminate the U.S. Pacific fleet as an important threat, perhaps leading to the negotiated peace that was Japan's "exit strategy".

The Japanese planned a three-pronged attack to capture Midway in early June, plus a simultaneous operation in the North Pacific's Aleutian Islands that might provide a useful strategic diversion. In the van of the assault would be Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's aircraft carrier force, which would approach from the northwest, supress Midway's defenses and provide long-range striking power for dealing with American warships. A few hundred miles behind Nagumo would come a battleship force under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto that would contain most of the operation's heavy gun power. Coming in from the West and Southwest, forces under Vice Admiral Nobutake Kondo would actually capture Midway. Kondo's battleships and cruisers represented additional capabilities for fighting a surface action.

Unfortunately for the Japanese, two things went wrong even before the Midway operation began. Two of Nagumo's six carriers were sent on a mission that resulted in the Battle of Coral Sea. One was badly damaged, and the other suffered heavy casualties to her air group. Neither would be available for Midway.

Even more importantly, thanks to an historic feat of radio communications interception and codebreaking, the United States knew its enemy's plans in detail: his target, his order of battle and his schedule. When the battle opened, the U.S. Pacific fleet would have three carriers waiting, plus a strong air force and reinforced ground defenses at the Midway Base

Japanese Air Attack on Midway,
4 June 1942

At 0430 in the morning of 4 June 1942, while 240 miles northwest of Midway, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo's four carriers began launching 108 planes to attack the U.S. base there. Unknown to the Japanese, three U.S. carriers were steaming 215 miles to the east. The two opposing fleets sent out search planes, the Americans to locate an enemy they knew was there and the Japanese as a matter of operational prudence. Seaplanes from Midway were also patrolling along the expected enemy course. One of these spotted, and reported, the Japanese carrier striking force at about 0530.

That seaplane also reported the incoming Japanese planes, and radar confirmed the approaching attack shortly thereafter. Midway launched its own planes. Navy, Marine and Army bombers headed off to attack the Japanese fleet. Midway's Marine Corps Fighting Squadron 221 (VMF-221) intercepted the enemy formation at about 0615. However, the Marines were immediately engaged by an overwhelming force of the very superior Japanese "Zero" fighters and were able to shoot down only a few of the enemy bombers, while suffering great losses themselves.

The Japanese planes hit Midway's two inhabited islands at 0630. Twenty minutes of bombing and straffing knocked out some facilities on Eastern Island, but did not disable the airfield there. Sand Island's oil tanks, seaplane hangar and other buildings were set afire or otherwise damaged. As the Japanese flew back toward their carriers the attack commander, Lieutenant Joichi Tomonaga, radioed ahead that another air strike was required to adequately soften up Midway's defenses for invasion.

U.S. Attacks on the Japanese Carrier Striking Force,
4 June 1942

While their aviators flew back from Midway, the Japanese carriers received several counterstrikes from Midway's own planes. Faced with overwhelming fighter opposition, these uncoordinated efforts suffered severe losses and hit nothing but sea water. Shortly after 0700, torpedo attacks were made by six Navy TBF-1s and four Army Air Force B-26s. Between 0755 and 0820, two groups of Marine Corps bombers and a formation of Army B-17s came in. The only positive results were photographs of three Japanese carriers taken by the high-flying B-17s, the sole surviving photos of the day's attacks on the Japanese carriers.

Meanwhile, a tardy Japanese scout plane had spotted the U.S. fleet and, just as Midway's counterattacks were ending, reported the presence of a carrier. Japanese commander Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo had begun rearming his second group of planes for another strike on Midway. He now had to reorganize that, recover the planes returning from Midway and respot his flight decks to launch an attack on the U.S. ships. Nagumo's force barely missed having enough time.

In the hour after about 0930, U.S. Navy planes from the carriers Hornet (CV-8), Enterprise (CV-6) and Yorktown (CV-5) made a series of attacks, initially by three squadrons of TBD torpedo planes that, despite nearly total losses, made no hits. The sacrifice of the TBDs did slow Japanese preparations for their own strike and disorganized the defending fighters. Then, at about 1025, everything changed. Three squadrons of SBD scout bombers, two from Enterprise and one from Yorktown, almost simultaneously dove on three of the four Japanese carriers, whose decks were crowded with fully armed and fueled planes that were just starting to take off. In a few minutes, Akagi, Kaga and Soryu were ablaze and out of action.

Of the once-overwhelming Japanese carrier force, only Hiryu remained operational. A few hours later, her planes crippled USS Yorktown. By the end of the day, though, U.S. carrier planes found and bombed Hiryu. Deprived of useful air cover, and after several hours of shocked indecision, Combined Fleet commander Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto called off the Midway operation and retreated. Six months after it began, the great Japanese Pacific War offensive was over.

Japanese Attacks on USS Yorktown,
4 June 1942

After the 4 June mid-morning U.S. Navy attacks on the Japanese carrier force, only the Hiryu remained operational. Shortly before 1100 she launched eighteen dive bombers, escorted by six fighters, to strike a retaliatory blow. At about noon, as these planes approached USS Yorktown (CV-5), the most exposed of the three American aircraft carriers, they were intercepted by the U.S. combat air patrol, which shot down most of the bombers. Seven, however, survived to attack, hitting Yorktown with three bombs and stopping her.

While Yorktown's crew worked to repair damage and get their ship underway, a second force left Hiryu, this one consisting of ten torpedo planes and six fighters. Though the U.S. carrier was moving again by 1430, and even launched more fighters, the Japanese aircraft penetrated heavy air and gunfire opposition to hit Yorktown with two torpedoes, opening a huge hole on her midships port side. The stricken ship again went dead in the water and took on a severe list. Concerned that she was about to roll over, her Captain ordered his crew to abandon ship.

Actions and Activities after 4 June 1942

Following the 4 June attack on Midway's facilities and the day's great battles between opposing aircraft carrier forces, the Japanese briefly considered continuing their campaign. However, as the full extent of their disaster became clear, they began a general retreat. After a brief withdrawal to avoid the risk of a night action, the two remaining U.S. carriers pursued the enemy forces, unsuccessfully attacking a destroyer on the 5th.

On 6 June, U.S. planes found and attacked two Japanese cruisers, sinking the Mikuma. Meanwhile, USS Yorktown had remained afloat. A salvage party returned to try to save her, but this effort was thwarted on the afternoon of the 6th, when a Japanese submarine found and torpedoed the carrier and the accompanying destroyer Hammann. The battered, gallant Yorktown sank the following morning.

As Battle of Midway combat activities gradually wound down, PBY patrol seaplanes and ships busied themselves rescuing downed aviators, the last of whom was recovered on 21 June. A U.S. submarine found two Mikuma survivors, and 35 of Hiryu's crewmen were picked up on 19 June. Earlier, men from Yorktown and Hammann had been taken to Pearl Harbor, where reinforcements were being forwarded to Midway and the nearby carriers. USS Saratoga (CV-3) arrived from the west coast on 6 June with a full load of aircraft. She quickly returned to sea, en route to join Enterprise and Hornet. Later in the month, fresh Marines were landed at Midway, which remained an important U.S. base for the rest of World War II, and beyond.

Additional Sources:

www.stjohnshistoriccemetery.com
www.globalsecurity.org
www.users.bigpond.com
www.strategypage.com
www.history.navy.mil
www.wwiitech.net
www.centurytel.net
www.walldrawn.com
www.brooksart.com
www.military-art.com
www.history.navy.mil
library.nps.navy.mil
www.psns.navy.mil
www.turkishnavy.com

Remembering Torpedo Squadron 8

June 4, 1942: Torpedo Squadron 8, off the USS HORNET, attacked the Japanese carriers off Midway. Flying old, slow aircraft armed with defective torpedoes and lacking fighter cover, they were all shot down without inflicting any damage on the enemy. But by attracting the attention of the Japanese combat air patrol, their sacrifice made possible the success of the American dive bombers that arrived overhead minutes later, to devastate the Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu, bringing victory at Midway

Lt. Commander John C. Waldron	KIA
Lt. Raymond A. Moore	KIA
Lt. James C. Owens	KIA
Lt.(jg) George M. Campbell	KIA
Lt.(jg) John P. Gray	KIA
Lt.(jg) Jeff D. Woodson	KIA
Ens. William W. Abercrombie	KIA
Ens. William W. Creamer	KIA
Ens. Harold J. Ellison	KIA
Ens. William R. Evans	KIA
Ens. George H. Gay	WIA
Ens. Henry R. Kenyon	KIA
Ens. Ulvert M. Moore	KIA
Ens. Grant W. Teats	KIA
Robert B. Miles, Aviation Pilot 1c	KIA
Horace F. Dobbs, Chief Radioman	KIA
Amelio Maffei, Radioman 1	KIA
Tom H. Pettry, Radioman 1	KIA
Otway D. Creasy, Jr. Radioman 2	KIA
Ross H. Bibb, Jr., Radioman 2	KIA
Darwin L. Clark, Radioman 2	KIA
Ronald J. Fisher, Radioman 2	KIA
Hollis Martin, Radioman 2	KIA
Bernerd P. Phelps Radioman 2	KIA
Aswell L. Picou, Seaman 2	KIA
Francis S. Polston, Seaman 2	KIA
Max A. Calkins, Radioman 3	KIA
George A. Field, Radioman 3	KIA
Robert K. Huntington, Radioman 3	KIA
William F. Sawhill, Radioman 3	KIA

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The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

LINK TO FOXHOLE THREADS INDEXED by PAR35

bumpity bump for later

Hiya, Snip. Surfin' late tonight. Sleep's comin' late.

Thanks for doing Waldron. What a man, what a pilot, what a leader. His ability to sense where the enemy was almost makes you believe in ESP, until you realize he figured it out because he was just so darn good.

Good night, and TGIF!

All swabs treasure the memory of Torpedo Eight. Our people were completely willing. As Thomas Adkins told the future Duke of Wellington, as Adkins lay shot and dying, "Don't worry, Sir. It's all in a day's work."

Without the TBDs dying, the SBDs (old Slow But Deadly) would not have had their shot at Nagumo's task force. Don't believe otherwise, the SBD was an excellent machine, long ranged and very accurate with a heavy bomb load.

Yorktown, lost at Midway, had been badly damaged May 8, 1942 at Coral Sea. Two torpedoes hit, and several bombs. By heroic effort the crew and numerous swabs from other ships in the task force got her going, but she was very slow and unseaworthy. They got her back to Pearl Harbor on May 27. That is about six or eight knots per hour.

The yardbirds (Naval Yard people) swarmed aboard and reported that the extensive damage would normally take ten months to fix, but maybe they could do it in three months. Nimitz said "I can give you three days."

To make a long story short, Yorktown departed Pearl on the 30th of June, just over 72 hours after arriving. Who can be sure, but maybe she made the difference at Midway.

Would have liked to have been there during the seventy two hour repair. I can picture what needed doing, a little. The must have been three men waiting for every man working, eager to work, but they would be in the way, and slow things down, so they stayed out of it. When a man showed tiredness, even a little, a backup man would step in.

Wasn't there, but it had to be that way. Seventy two hours, amazing.

Good morning Snippy.

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

Good morning.

Good morning snippy, SAM, all.

One irony of this climatic battle is that its triumphant conclusion for the Americans coincided with Yamamoto's pre-war prophecy that his forces would "run wild" in the Pacific for six months but beyond that he had "no expectation of success"--almost to the day.

The valor of the men who fought and died to achieve that "tipping point" of the Pacific War is humbling; thank you for another excellent Foxhole thread.

Midway the begining of the end for the Japanese Empire Bump for the Freeper Foxhole

Willian S. Phillip's "They Gave Thier All"

R.G. Smith's "Midway, The Fifth Minute"

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

Present.

June 3, 2005

I'll Pay You Later

Read:
Luke 14:7-14

You shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. -Luke 14:14

Bible In One Year: Proverbs 8-11

cover Suppose a boss were to say to an employee, "We really appreciate what you're doing around here, but we've decided to change the way we pay you. Starting today, we're going to pay you later-after you retire." Would the employee jump for joy? Of course not. That's not the way things work in this world. We like our payment now-or at least every payday.

Did you know that God promises to "pay" us later-much later? And He asks us to be happy about it!

Jesus suggested that our ultimate reward for the good things we do in His name comes after we die. In Luke 14, Jesus said that if we care for the poor, the lame, and the blind, our reward for such kindness will come at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14). He also said that if we are persecuted, we should "rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed [our] reward is great in heaven" (6:22-23). Surely, the Lord gives us comfort, love, and guidance today, but what wonderful things He has planned for us in the future!

This may not be the way we would have planned it; we don't enjoy waiting for things. But imagine how glorious it will be when we receive our rewards in Jesus' presence. What a grand time we'll have as we enjoy what God has reserved for later. -Dave Branon

Beyond earth's sorrows, the joys of heaven,
Eternal blessings with Christ my Lord;
Earth's weeping ended, earth's trials over,
Sweet rest in Jesus, O blest reward! -Gilmore

What is done for Christ in this life will be rewarded in the life to come.

FOR FURTHER STUDY
Is There Life After Death?

Good morning everyone.

The Courage of American Pilots Proves A Match for Japan's Overwhelming Naval Power

God blessed America with the best.

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on June 03:
1761 Henry Scrapnel English inventor (shrapnel shell)
1804 Richard Cobden founder Anti-Corn-Law League (fought to remove price controls and import barriers for wheat)

1808 Jefferson Davis Ky, Pres of Confederate States of America (1861-5)

1844 Garret Augustus Hobart (R) 24th US VP (1897-99)
1864 Ransom Eli Olds auto (Oldsmobile) & truck (REO) manufacturer
1865 George V king of England (1910-36)
1895 Kavalam Madhava Panikkar India, statesman/diplomat/writer
1904 Dr Charles Drew Washington DC, pioneer of blood plasma preservation/first director of the Red Cross blood bank
1906 Josephine Baker dancer/singer/Parisian night club owner
1911 Paulette Goddard [Marion Levy], Switz, actress (The Great Dictator)
1913 Ellen Corby Racine Wisc, actress (Grandma Walton-The Waltons)
1925 Tony Curtis [Bernard Schwartz], actor (Some Like It Hot, Trapeze)
1926 Allen Ginsberg beat poet (Howl)
1926 Colleen Dewhurst Montreal Canada, actress (Maggie-Blue & Grey)
1929 Chuck Barris Phila, TV game show producer/host/CIA spy(?) (Gong Show)
1942 Curtis Mayfield singer (Freddie's Dead, Superfly)
1946 Ian Hunter England, rocker (Mott the Hoople-All the Young Dudes)
1951 Christopher Cross Texas, singer(?) (Sailing)

Deaths which occurred on June 03:
1875 Georges Bizet France, composer
1881 Japanese giant salamander dies in Dutch zoo at 55; oldest amphibian
1924 Franz Kafka (b.1883), Czech writer, died
1949 Amedos Peter Giannine founder of Bank of America dies at 79
1963 Paul Maxey actor (Matt-Lassie, Mayor-People's Choice), dies at 57
1963 Pope John XXIII dies at 81
1975 Ozzie Nelson actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet), dies at 69
1987 Will Sampson actor (From Here to Eternity, Yellow Rose), dies at 54
1991 Harry Glicken volcanologist, killed by Mt Unzen Volcano in Japan
1992 William Gaines (70), MAD magazine publisher died in New York

GWOT Casualties

Iraq
03-Jun-2003 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Sergeant Atanasio Haro Marin Jr. Balad Hostile - hostile fire

03-Jun-2004 1 | US: 1 | UK: 0 | Other: 0
US Lance Corporal Todd J. Bolding Landstuhl Reg. Med. Ctr. Hostile - hostile fire

Afghanistan
A Good Day

http://icasualties.org/oif/
Data research by Pat Kneisler
Designed and maintained by Michael White

On this day...
1098 Christian Crusaders seize Antioch, Turkey
1539 Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain
1770 Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo founded in Calif
1789 Alex Mackenzie explores Mackenzie River (Canada)
1851 1st baseball uniforms worn. Knickerbockers wear straw hat, white shirt & blue long trousers
1860 Comanche, Iowa completely destroyed by 1 of a series of tornadoes
1861 1st Civil War land battle-Union defeats Confederacy at Philippi, WV
1864 Battle of Cold Harbour continues
1875 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #144 Vibilia & #145 Adeona
1863 Gen. Lee, with 75,000 Confederates, launched a second invasion of the North. Lee led his troops into Maryland and then Pennsylvania, to meet the Army of the Potomac again, this time around a small town called Gettysburg.
1884 John Lynch (R-MS) chosen 1st black major-party natl convention chair
1888 "Casey at the Bat" published (SF Examiner)
1916 ROTC established by Act of Congress
1918 Supreme Court rules child labor laws unconstitutional
1919 Liberty Life Insurance Co (Chicago) organized by blacks
1921 A sudden cloudburst kills 120 near Pikes Peak, Colorado
1924 Gila Wilderness Area established by Forest Service
1925 Goodyear airship "Pilgrim" makes 1st flight (1st with enclosed cabin)
1933 A's score 11 runs in 2nd, Yanks score 10 in 5th & win 17-11 (Great pitchin)
1933 Pope Pius XI encyclical "On oppression of the Church in Spain"
1937 Duke of Windsor (Edward 8) weds Mrs Wallis Warfield Simpson in France
1942 Japanese carrier-based planes strafed Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands
1946 US Supreme court ruled that race separation on buses is unconstitutional
1948 200" (5.08 m) Hale telescope dedicated at Palomar Observatory
1948 Korczak Ziolkowski begins sculpture of Crazy Horse near Mt Rushmore
1949 1st negro to graduate from US Naval Academy (Wesley Anthony Brown)
1949 Dragnet is 1st broadcast on radio (KFI in Los Angeles)
1957 Howard Cosell's 1st TV show
1959 1st US Air Force Academy graduation
1965 Gemini 4 launched; 2nd US 2-man flight (McDivitt & White)
1966 European DX Council formed in Copenhagen (shortwave listeners)
1966 Gemini 9 launched; 7th US 2-man flight (Stafford & Cernan)
1968 Yanks turn 21st triple-play in their history lose 4-3 to Twins

1969 Last episode of (original) Star Trek aired on NBC (Turnabout Intruder).

1971 Chic Cub Ken Holtzman 2nd no-hitter beats Cin Reds, 1-0
1976 US presented with oldest known copy of Magna Carta
1977 Balt Orioles pull their 6th triple play (9-6-4-6-6 vs KC Royals)
1979 Ex-president Idi Amin of Uganda flees to Libya
1980 Crew of Soyuz 36 returns to Earth aboard Soyuz 35
1980 ESPN begins televising college world series games
1980 Jimmy Carter wins enough delegates for renomination
1981 Pope John Paul II released from hospital after attempt on life
1983 Gordon Kahl, a militant tax protester wanted in the slayings of two U.S. marshals in North Dakota, was killed in a gun battle with law enforcement officials near Smithville, Ark.
1986 E F Helin discovers asteroid #3767
1987 Cubs & Astro tie Oriole & Ranger record of 3 grand slams in a game

1989 Troops in China shoot & kill 100s of students demonstrating for democracy in Tiananmen Square, Beijing

1991 Mount Unzen erupts in Japan. Worst eruption in Japanese history
1991 France signed the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which prohibits signatories from helping other countries to acquire nuclear weapons.
1993 President Clinton announces he was withdrawing the nomination of University of Pennsylvania law professor Lani Guinier to head the civil rights division of the Justice Department.
2002 Pakistan blocks financial assistance to 115 Islamic schools for their alleged involvement in militancy and violence.
2004 CIA Director George Tenet, resigns for personal reasons.

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

Kentucky, Louisana : Confederate Memorial Day (1868)
Massachusetts : Teachers' Day (Sunday)
Ireland : Bank Day (Monday)
Bahamas : Labour Day (Friday)
New Zealand : Queen's Birthday (Monday)
Western Australia : Foundation Day (1838)(Monday)
Japan : Broken Dolls Day
National Repeat Day (I said "Repeat Day")
National Frozen Yogurt Week (Day 4)
National Adopt-a-Cat Month

Religious Observances
Buddhist : Memorial of Broken Dolls
RC : Feast of St Clotilda, queen of the Franks
RC, Ang : Mem of SS Charles Lwanga & 21 companions, Ugandan martyrs
Luth : Commemoration of John XXIII, Bishop of Rome
RC : Solemnity of Corpus Christi (Body & Blood of Christ)

Religious History
1098 Armies of the First Crusade (1096-99) captured the city of Antioch (in modern Syria).
1726 Birth of Philip William Otterbein, German Reformed pastor who in 1800 helped found the Church of the United Brethren in Christ (an early branch of the modern United Methodist Church).
1853 Central College was chartered in Pella, Iowa under Baptist auspices. (In 1916 the university passed to Dutch Reformed leadership.)
1930 Missionary linguist Frank C. Laubach wrote in a letter: 'As we grow older all our paths diverge, and in all the world I suppose I could find nobodym who could wholly understand me excepting God.'
1972 In Cincinnati, Ohio, Sally J. Priesand, 25, became the first woman in Reform Judaism to be ordained as a rabbi.
1999 Catholics and Lutherans agree to sign an accord over the theological issue of "justification." They agree that divine forgiveness and salvation come "solely by God's grace" and that good works flow from that.

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

Mints and coffee smell like safe driving

Different odours affect the way motorists drive, with fast food scents likely to increase the potential for road rage and other smells like peppermint and coffee deemed to improve concentration, the RAC Foundation motoring organisation in London says.

"More than any other sense, the sense of smell circumnavigates the logical part of the brain," RAC Foundation consultant psychologist Conrad King said.
"This is why the smell of perfume can turn men into gibbering idiots, the smell of baking bread can destroy the best intentions of a dieter and the smell of baby powder can make a child-averse individual quite broody," he said in a statement.

The RAC Foundation said it has conducted research into the impact of smells on driving after the release of an odour study by Bryan Raudenbush of the Wheeling Jesuit University in the United States.

Dr King said good odours to have in your vehicle, other than peppermint, include cinnamon, lemon and coffee.
A blast of salty sea air can also encourage deep breathing and help relieve stress.

In contrast, the smell of fast-food wrappers, fresh bread or pastry can cause driver irritability and a tendency to speed because they make drivers feel hungry and in a hurry to sate their appetites.
Other "dangerous" odours are chamomile, jasmine and lavender because they can cause drivers to overrelax or fall asleep.
The plants are commonly used to treat insomnia.

For those motorists who might opt for a neutral-smelling interior, be warned. Studies of astronauts found an odourless environment created irritability and even olfactory hallucinations.

Cars of the future are likely to have in-built systems able to detect a driver's mood and react by altering the car's seating, lighting, temperature and even smell.

In the meantime, motorists are advised to keep a packet of mints handy.

Thought for the day :
"A sense of humor is the ability to understand a joke - and that the joke is yourself."

Morning Snippy

Morning CT.

I had my coffee.;-)

I'll Pay You Later

Read:Luke 14:7-14

You shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. -Luke 14:14

Bible In One Year: Proverbs 8-11

Read:
Luke 14:7-14