The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Utah Beach - The Seaborne Assault (6/6/1944)

Good morning!

Thank you for another great thread. Meetings this morning - so I'll need to savor this one again over lunch.

On this Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on November 25:
1562 Lope Felix de Vega Madrid Spain, dramatist/poet (Angelica, Arcadia)
1835 Andrew Carnegie steel industrialist/library builder
1846 Carry Nation scourge of barkeepers & drinkers
1856 Sergei Taneyev Russia, composer (Oresteia)
1877 Harley Granville-Barker London, dramatist/producer/critic
1881 John XXIII [Angelo Roncalli], Bergamo Italy, 261st pope (1958-63)
1893 Robert Ripley illustrator (Believe it or Not)
1895 Anastas I Mikoyan Armenia, member of Supreme Soviet
1895 Wilhelm Kempff Juterbog Germany, pianist (Unterdem Zimbelstern)
1896 Virgil Thomson Kansas City MO, composer/music critic (4 Saints in 3 Acts)
1900 Helen Gahagan Douglas Nixon's 1st opponent
1901 Tibor Serly Losonc Hungary, violinist/composer (American Elegy)
1902 Eddie Shore Boston Bruins (#2), hall of famer
1914 Joe DiMaggio Yankee Clipper (56 game hitting streak)
1919 Steve Brodie Eldorado KS, actor (Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp)
1920 Ricardo Montalban actor (Fantasy Island, Star Trek II, Naked Gun)
1925 Jeffrey Hunter Orleans La, actor (Christopher Pike-Star Trek Cage)
1926 Murray Schisgal playwright (Luv)
1929 Jack Hogan Chapel Hill NC, actor (Combat, Adam 12, Sierra)
1933 Kathryn Grant Crosby Houston Texas, actress (Mr Cory, Big Circus)
1933 Lenny Moore NFL back (Baltimore Colts)
1933 Rene Enriquez San Francisco CA, actor (Ray Calletano-Hill Street Blues)
1935 Gloria Steinem Toledo Ohio, femnist/writer (Ms)
1938 Charles Starkwether serial murderer, with his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate, in 1958 they embarked on a shocking, murderous rampage that lasted eight days and left 11 dead bodies in its wake--including Caril Ann's family.
1939 Martin Feldstein economist (1977 John Bates Clark Medal)
1940 Richard Furrer Worgl Germany, astronaut (STS 22)
1942 Tracey Walter Jersey City NJ, actor (Best of the West)
1947 John Larroquette New Orleans LA, actor (Dan Fielding-Night Court)
1947 Jonathan Kaplan Paris France, director (Heart Like a Wheel)
1952 Ernest Harden Jr Detroit MI, actor (Marcus-Jeffersons)
1956 Liana Vicens Puerto Rico, 100m breaststroke (Olympics 1968)
1959 Steve Rothery rocker (Marillion-Real to Reel)
1960 Amy Grant gospel singer (Glory of Love, Baby Baby)
1960 John F Kennedy Jr lawyer, son of JFK
1961 Amy Gibson actress (General Hospital)
1966 Stacy Lattislaw disco singer (Million Dollar Baby)
1967 Curtis Baldwin Los Angeles CA, actor (Calvin-227)
1971 Christine Applegate Hollywood, actress (Kelly-Married With Children)

Deaths which occurred on November 25:
1240 Edmund Van Abingdon, archbishop of Canterbury/Saint, dies
1504 Isabella I, Catholic Queen of Castille & Aragon (1474-1504)
1885 Thomas A Hendricks 21st VP, dies at 66, 8 months after taking office
1943 Edward H "Butch" O'Hare, US pilot/lt-comdr (Chicago Airport named for him), dies in battle
1944 Kenesaw Landis baseball commisioner, dies
1949 Luther "Bill" Robinson famed tap dancer, dies at 71
1958 Charles F Kettering invented auto self-starter, dies at 82
1964 Clarence Kolb actor (Mr Honeywell-My Little Margie), dies at 90
1968 Phil Lord actor (Stud's Place), dies at 89
1973 Albert DiSalvo, Boston strangler, stabbed in prison
1974 U Thant UN Secretary-General (1961-72), dies in NY of cancer at 65
1977 Richard Carlson actor (Col MacKenzie-MacKenzie's Raiders), dies at 65
1981 Jack Albertson actor (Chico & the Man), dies at 74
1982 Robert Coote actor, dies in NYC of a heart attack at 73
1986 Scatman Crothers, singer/actor (Shining, Chico & The Man), dies at 76
1987 Harold Washington 1st black mayor of Chicago (D, 1983-87), dies at 65
1990 Bill Vukovich Indie 500 driver, dies in crash at 27
1991 Bill Graham rock promoter, dies

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 GARDNER GLENN V.---SAN BERNARDINO CA.
[JUMPED OVERBOARD]
1966 NIEHOUSE DANIEL
L.
[04/12/67 ON PRG DIC LIST]
1967 ABRAMS LEWIS HERBERT---MONTCLAIR NJ.
[RADIO CONTACT LOST REMAINS RETURNED 06/26/97]
1967 HOLDEMAN ROBERT EUGENE---WINCHESTER IN.
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/26/97]
1967 MIDGETT DEWEY A.---CHESAPEAKE VA.
["ON PASS, ON WAY TO BEACH (AWOL)"]
1967 SEARFUS WILLIAM HENRY---LOS ANGELES CA.
1968 FRANCISCO SAN D.---BURBANK WA.
[VOICE CONTACT ON GROUND]
1968 MORRISON JOSEPH C.---LEXINGTON KY.
[VOICE CONTACT ON GROUND 11/92 - I.D'D IN PICTURES]
1968 STAMM ERNEST ALBERT---MEDFORD OR.
[03/13/74 REMAINS RETURNED]
1968 THUM RICHARD COBB---CLEVELAND HEIGHTS OH.
[09/30/77 REMAINS RETURNED BY SRV]
1971 THOMAS JAMES R.---FORT WALTON BEACH FL.

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

On this day...
1357 Charles IV issues letter of protection of Jews of Strasbourg Alsace
1580 French Huguenots & Catholics sign peace treaty
1715 1st English patent granted to an American, for processing corn
1758 Britain captures Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh)
1766 Pope Clement XIII warns On the dangers of anti-Christian writings
1783 Britain evacuates NY, their last military position in US
1805 The opera "Tha‹s" 1st American performance
1817 1st sword swallower in US performs (NYC)
1834 Delmonico's, one of NY's finest restaurants, provides a meal of soup, steak, coffee & half a pie for 12 cents
1841 35 Amistad survivors return to Africa
1863 Union ends the siege of Chattanooga with the Battle of Missionary Ridge.
1864 Confederate plot to burn NYC, fails
1867 Alfred Nobel invents dynamite
1884 John B Meyenberg of St Louis patents evaporated milk
1894 Greenback (Independent) Party organizes in Indianapolis
1897 Spain grants Puerto Rico autonomy
1908 Dorando Pietri (It) beats Johnny Hayes (US) in MSG marathon by 60 yards
1912 American College of Surgeons incorporates in Springfield, IL
1913 Woodrow Wilson's daughter Jessie marries in the White House
1914 German Field Marshal Fredrich von Hindenburg calls off the Lodz offensive 40 miles from Warsaw, Poland. The Russians lose 90,000 to the Germans' 35,000 in two weeks of fighting.(Now THIS is a quagmire!)
1920 WTAW of College Station, TX, broadcast 1st football play-by-play
1930 690 earthquake shocks recorded in 1 day (Ito Japan)
1933 1st Soviet liquid rocket attains altitude of 261' (80m)
1934 German theologian Karl Barth surrenders to Nazis
1940 Patria steamer sinks killing 200, outside of Haifa
1940 U of Michigan retires Tom Harmon's #98
1947 New Zealand accedes to Statute of Westminster, becomes a dominion
1948 Fort Funston's 16-inch coastal guns removed
1948 KING-TV, Seattle, goes on the air with 1st Pacific NW telecast
1950 China enters Korean conflict, sends troops across Yalu River launching a counter-offensive against soldiers from the United Nations, the United States and South Korea.
1951 17 die in a train crash in Woodstock AL
1951 Cleveland Browns penalized a record 209 yards against Chicago Bears
1952 Only win ever for NFL's Dallas Texans (11-1) beats Bears 27-23
1957 President Eisenhower suffers a mild stroke, impairing his speech
1958 Senegal becomes an autonomous state in the French Community
1960 1st atomic reactor for research & development, Richland Wa
1961 NBA's Bob Cousy becomes 2nd player to score 15,000 points
1963 JFK laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery,
1966 Pirate Radio Station 390 (Radio Invicta) closes down (reopen 12/31)
1967 Cloudburst over Lisbon kills 450
1967 Puerto Rico placed on Atlantic Standard Time
1969 John Lennon returns his MBE
1973 Bloodless military coup ousts Greek President George Papadopoulos
1975 Federal jury finds ex-Manson groupie, Lynette ("Squeaky") Fromme, guilty of attempted assassination of President Ford
1975 Netherlands grants Surinam independence (National Day)
1976 OJ Simpson gains 273 yards for Buffalo vs Detroit
1976 Viking 1 radio signal from Mars help prove general theory of relativity
1977 David Steed balanced stationary on a bike for 9 hrs 15 mins
1978 Thomas Hearns KOs Jerome Hill in 2 rounds in his 1st pro fight
1978 American Airlines DC-10 crashes on takeoff from Chicago, kills 275
1980 Sugar Ray Leonard defeats Duran regains WBC welterweight championship
1983 Soyuz T-9 returns to Earth, 149 days after take-off
1983 Syria & Saudi Arabia announce cease-fire in PLO civil war in Tripoli
1983 World's greatest robbery-œ25,000,000 of gold, Heathrow, England
1984 William Schroeder, becomes 2nd to receive Jarvik-7 artificial heart
1986 Iran-Contra affair erupts, President Reagan reveals secret arm deal
1988 Chuck Berry pays $250 fine to resolve NYC assault charges
1988 Convention on exploitation of Antarctic mineral resources signed
1988 US & Soviet chess grand masters Donaldson & Akhmilovskaya wed
1988 Widespread earthquake hits NE US, Canada; no damage reported
1990 Lech Walesa wins in Poland's 1st popular election
1990 NFL's NY Giants & San Francisco 49ers after winning their 1st 10 games both lose, Phil Eagles beat Giants 31-13 & L.A. Rams beat 49ers 28-17
2000 Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris certified George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore in the state's presidential balloting by a 537-vote margin.

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

Surinam : Independence Day (1975)
Mass : John F Kennedy Day (1963) (Sunday)
Bern Switzerland : Onion Market Day-autumn festival (Monday)
US : Thanksgiving (Thursday)
US : Farm City Week (Day 5)
US : Eating Disorders Week (Day 3)
Native American Heritage Month

Religious Observances
Ang : Commemoration of James Otis Sargent Huntington
RC : St Catherine, patron of maidens/mechanics/philosophers
Luth : Commemoration of Isaac Watts, hymn writer

Religious History
2348 _BC_ According to Archbishop James Ussher's Old Testament chronology, the Great Deluge ("Noah's Flood") began on this date.
1742 In New York, David Brainerd, 24, was approved as a missionary to the New England Indians by the Scottish Society for the Propagating of Christian Knowledge (SPCK). Brainerd worked heroically from Apr 1743 to Nov 1746, before advancing tuberculosis forced him to relinquish his work. (He died in October 1747.)
1807 Anglican missionary Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'With thee, O my God, there is no disappointment; I shall never have to regret that I loved thee too well.'
1820 English poet and Oxford Movement leader John Keble, 28, penned the words to the hymn, "Sun of My Soul" ("Sun of my soul, Thou Savior dear, It is not night if Thou be near....").
1864 British Jewish statesman Benjamin Disraeli declared in a speech: 'Man is a being born to believe, and if no church comes forward with all the title deeds of truth, he will find altars and idols in his own heart and his own imagination.'

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

Thought for the day :
"All generalizations are bad."

Question of the day....
Why is abbreviation such a long word ?

Murphys Law of the day...(Sattinger's Law)
It works better if you plug it in.

Amazing fact #397...
Naugahyde, was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut.

Good morning Colonel, we'll see you when we can. Meetings, ugh!

Good Morning Snippy.

Good Morning E.G.C. Rain again today.

Hi Manna!

Awwwww. What a wonderful greeting this morning. Thank you SAM. I can almost smell it!

Good Morning Mayor.

29 degress in South Carolina? That sounds un-American!

Morning Feather!

Good job! You learned something new, I keep forgetting that a lot of terms won't be familiar to people who don't read about this stuff all the time.

The obstacles were laid out similar to this on most of the possible landing beaches.

Morning Colonel Flagg.

We finally scheduled the Pont du Hoc thread. It'll be just before Christmas.

1914 German Field Marshal Fredrich von Hindenburg calls off the Lodz offensive 40 miles from Warsaw, Poland. The Russians lose 90,000 to the Germans' 35,000 in two weeks of fighting.(Now THIS is a quagmire!)

All of WWI in Europe after 1914 was a quagmire. Thousand of lives wasted charging MG nests for no gain or to move the front a few yards forward at a time.

Battle of Passchendaele (third battle of Ypres)
31 July-6 November 1917

Allied dead and wounded at Passchendaele totalled 245,000, of which 66,000 were killed. The German casualties were probably 400,000. Allied plans to strike at German held territory beyond Passchendaele were postponed.

Figured with all the snow and rain reports we've been getting a nice rose would brighten the Foxhole up a little.

I keep forgetting that a lot of terms won't be familiar to people who don't read about this stuff all the time.

That's what I'm here for, the resident Foxhole student. Do I get an A?

FYI, my old NG unit was at OMAHA beach that day. the Stonewallers (part of the 29th ID)

free dixie,sw

Good morning Valin.

Yep!

GA, miss feather!

free the southland,sw

Behind them was a great invasion armada and the powerful sinews of war. But in the first wave of assault troops of the 29th (Blue and Gray) Infantry Division, it was four rifle companies landing on a hostile shore at H-hour, D-Day -- 6:30 a.m., on June 6, 1944. The long-awaited liberation of France was underway. After long months in England, National Guardsmen from Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia found themselves in the vanguard of the Allied attack. In those early hours on the fire-swept beach the 116th Infantry Combat Team, the old Stonewall Brigade of Virginia, clawed its way through Les Moulins draw toward its objective, Vierville-sur-Mer. It was during the movement from Les Moulins that the battered but gallant 2d Battalion broke loose from the beach, clambered over the embankment, and a small party, led by the battalion commander, fought its way to a farmhouse which became its first Command post in France. The 116th suffered more than 800 casualties this day -- a day which will long be remembered as the beginning of the Allies' "Great Crusade" to rekindle the lamp of liberty and freedom on the continent of Europe.