Posted onMay 31, 2016|Comments Off on Lost and Found – May 31st Edition
What to remember about May 31st…
1859 Big Ben clock tower rings out over British Houses of Parliament for the 1st time
1879 In New York city Gilmore’s Garden is renamed Madison Square Garden and opened to the public as an entertainment venue
1913 17th Amendment to the United States Constitution goes into effect; requires popular election of Senators eliminating check on federal power
1916 British and German navies begin Battle of Jutland; over 100,000 men and 250 ships will see combat in WWI’s greatest sea battle
1929 Ford Motor Company signs agreement to oversee production of factories and manufacture automobiles in the Soviet Union
1930 Oscar-winning American actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood is born in San Francisco, California
1962 In Tel Aviv, Israel, Adolf Eichmann, Nazi organizer of Adolf Hitler’s “final solution of the Jewish question,” is hanged
1997 Ila Borders becomes 1st woman to pitch in a minor league baseball game; she enters as relief for the St. Paul Saints
2003 Fugitive bomber of 1996 Atlanta Olympics and several abortion clinics captured; Eric Robert Rudolph found dumpster diving behind a Save-A-Lot store in Murphy, North Carolina
2005 Identity of Watergate scandal source “Deep Throat” is revealed to be formed FBI assistant director W. Mark Felt
Posted onMay 29, 2016|Comments Off on Warbirds – F4U Corsair
Considered by many to be the best carrier based fighter-bomber of World War II, today we honor the May 29, 1940 first flight of the F4U Corsair on Warbirds.
Despite early issues with getting Corsair squadrons qualified for carrier landings, the Marine Corps had no reservations about using her as a land-based fighter beginning in 1942. The navy restricted the planes from carrier landings until early 1944. Despite the Corsair’s superior performance in almost all categories, veteran Navy pilots preferred the F-6 Hellcat as it was easier to land having less tendency to bounce. Many naval aviators disparagingly called the F4U “hog”, hognose”, or even “bent-wing widow maker”.
The F-4 Corsair’s combat debut in 1943 was as part of the fiasco near Kahili known as the “Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre”. 4 P-38s, 2 P-40s, 2 B-24s, and 2 F4Us were lost with no more than 4 Zeros downed. Despite this rocky first encounter, Marine pilots soon learned to take advantage of the Corsair’s superior capabilities and six .50 caliber machineguns versus Japanese fighters. These ground based squadrons would operate in some of the Pacific theater’s hottest zones like Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Marshall Islands, Palaus, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
The F4U has had a star-studded cast of pilots. Charles Lindbergh served as a test pilot and evaluator while Hall of Fame baseball player Ted Williams was a flight instructor for the F4U at Pensacola. Among Marine Corps Corsair pilots there were 15 confirmed aces and 4 Medal of Honor recipients. The first Corsair Ace was Second Lieutenant Kenneth A. Walsh while the most famous was probably Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington f the Blacksheep Squadron (VMF-214).
Having seen service with the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, Royal New Zealand Airforce, and the U.K. Royal Navy Fleet Arm, the end of WWII did not spell the end of the Corsair’s career. The F4U would serve with Argentinian, El Salvadoran, French, and Honduran militaries. Combat roles would include the First Indochina War, the Suez Crisis, the Algerian War, and War of Tunisian Independence. But, the Corsair would truly shine as close support aircraft and night fighter during the Korean War. Ensign Jesse L. Brown, the U.S. Navy’s 1st African-American naval aviator, flew Corsairs on combat missions from the USS Leyte (CV-32). He was shot down on December 4, 1950 and became the first U.S. Navy officer killed during the Korean War.
F4U Corsairs feature prominently in media. John Wayne starred in a film about Marine Corps aviators called Flying Leathernecks. The made for television movie and follow-up series Baa Baa Black Sheep fictionally portrays the actions of Greg “Pappy” Boyington and the Black Sheep Squadron (VMF-214)
You can view a very thorough history of the Vought F4U Corsair on YouTube in this 5-part series.
(If you have suggestions of other aircraft to cover in upcoming Warbirds posts, please put them in the comments. Thanks.)
Posted onMay 29, 2016|Comments Off on Lost and Found – May 29th Edition
What to remember about May 29th…
1780 Patriots defeated at Battle of Waxhaws in South Carolina; troops surrendering to Colonel Tarelton’s cavalry are murdered on his orders
1790 Rhode Island is the last of original 13 colonies to ratify U.S. Constitution; becomes 13th state in the Union
1848 Wisconsin enters the Union as 30th state
1917 Future 35th President of the United States John Fitzgerald Kennedy is born in Brookline, Massachusetts
1922 Supreme court rules unanimously in Federal Baseball Club v. National League that Major League Baseball did not violate anti-trust laws and that baseball was not “interstate commerce”; games are state affairs
1932 Over 1000 World War I veterans arrive in Washington, D.C. as part of “Bonus Expeditionary Force”; protesting to receive payments promised for their service in the war
1942 Adolf Hitler orders that all Jews in occupied Paris must wear a yellow Star of David on the left side of their coats
1953 Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Nepalese Shepra Tenzing Norgay become 1st to reach summit of Mount Everest
1954 In the Netherlands, 1st annual meeting of the influential members of the Bilderberg Group is held
1998 U.S. Senator (R-AZ) and presidential candidate Barry Goldwater dies (b. 1909); responsible for rise of modern conservative movement
1999 NASA Space Shuttle Discovery completes the 1st successful docking at the International Space Station (ISS)
2003 English-born American actor, comedian, and USO icon Bob Hope celebrates his 100th birthday in Hollywood revelry
2004 President George W. Bush dedicates U.S. National World War II Memorial; critics from Boston Herald call it “vainglorious”
2005 Danica Patrick becomes 1st woman driver to lead a lap at Indianapolis 500; 4th female to participate in that race and highest finish at 4th
Posted onMay 28, 2016|Comments Off on Lost and Found – May 28th Edition
What to remember about May 28th…
1754 Virginia militia led by 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeats French and Indian patrol at Battle of Jumonville Glen; attempt to claim Pennsylvania territory begins French and Indian War
1830 President Andrew Jackson signs Indian Removal Act; allows for relocation of Indian tribes to territory west of the Mississippi
1863 Led by Colonel Robert Shaw, African-American 54th Massachusetts Infantry departs Boston to join the war
1892 Naturalist and author John Muir organizes the Sierra Club in San Francisco; early environmental group aims to preserve wilderness
1908 English author, Naval Intelligence Officer and creator of fictional spy character James Bond, Ian Flemming is born (d. 1964)
1918 U.S. troops under General Pershing capture village of Cantigny in France in 1st American assault; Germans retaliate with poison gas
1937 State-owned German car company Volkswagen is formed
1964 Charter is issued creating the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist group; renounced violence in 1993
1969 After searching the captured tunnel complex, 101st Airborne troops abandon recently captured “Hamburger Hill” in the A Shau valley
1982 British forces attack Argentinians at Battle of Goose Green winning 1st major ground combat of the Falklands War
1987 19-year-old West German amateur pilot violates 400 miles of Soviet airspace and lands his Cessna outside the Kremlin in Moscow
2002 NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft discovers large deposits of ice on the surface of the planet
Posted onMay 27, 2016|Comments Off on Lost and Found – May 27th Edition
What to remember about May 27th…
1813 U.S. Army and Navy forces conduct amphibious assault to capture fort and British troops in Battle of Fort George
1863 Maryland Chief Justice Roger Taney issues Ex parte Merryman challenging authority of President Lincoln and the military to suspend the writ of habeas corpus
1935 Supreme Court declares National Industrial Recovery Act to be unconstitutional in A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States
1937 After 4 years of construction and the deaths of 11 workers, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco finally opens to the public
1941 3-days after sinking the HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales, German battleship Bismarck is sunk by Royal Navy off the coast of France
1941 President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces a state of unlimited national emergency in response to military aggression of Nazi Germany
1965 U.S. Navy warships begin bombardment of Viet Cong targets in central South Vietnam
1967 Aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy is launched by widow Jacqueline Kennedy and her daughter Caroline
1972 President Nixon and Soviet President Brezhnev meet in Moscow to sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT)agreements
1998 Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years $200,000 fine for failing to warn authorities about Oklahoma City Bombing terrorist plot
2005 Thousands of demonstrators gather in Pakistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Middle East to protest reported “Quran abuse” by the U.S. military
Posted onMay 25, 2016|Comments Off on Lost and Found – May 25th Edition
What to remember about May 25th…
1521 Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issues Edict of Worms declaring Martin Luther an outlaw
1803 American author and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson is born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1882)
1865 Ordnance depot in Mobile, Alabama explodes killing 300, sinking 2 ships, and destroying most of the northern reaches of the city
1925 John T. Scopes indicted for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in Tennessee school
1953 Shot from “Atomic Annie” gun, US conducts its only nuclear artillery test; shell is 4.5 feet long, weighed 800 lbs., and yielded 15 kilotons
1961 President Kennedy announces to special joint session of the Congress his goal to initiate a project to put a “man on the Moon” before end of the decade
1977 20th Century Fox releases the George Lucas film Star Wars to theaters
1982 HMS Coventry is sunk in the Falklands; 3 Argentine planes lost in the attack
2011 Last episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show airs; ends 25 year run
Posted onMay 23, 2016|Comments Off on Lost and Found – May 23rd Edition
What to remember about May 23rd…
1701 Scottish privateer Captain William Kidd is hanged for piracy and murder
1777 170 patriot raiders begin Meigs Expedition that will capture British fort at Sag Harbor, Long Island, burn 24 ships, destroy tons of supplies, and capture 90 Redcoats before returning to Connecticut
1788 South Carolina becomes 8th state to ratify the Constitution
1873 Canadian parliament creates North-West Mounted Police; they will later become Royal Canadian Mounted Police or “Mounties”
1900 Sergeant William Harvey Carney of the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry is awarded Medal of Honor for his bravery on July 18, 1863 at James Island, South Carolina; 1st African-American to receive this award
1934 Notorious criminal couple Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow are shot to death by Texas and Louisiana state police near Sailes, Louisiana
1967 Congressman sparks controversy over frequency of malfunctions in M-16 rifle recently made the standard U.S. infantry rifle
1995 Damaged in the attack on April 19, remains of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City are imploded
The Clockwork Conservative 