The FReeper Foxhole Profiles The 440th Troop Carrier Group

The Legend of the Filthy 13

No other group the 440th Troop Carrier Group carried into battle has inspired more legend and myth than the story of the special demolition squad, the "Filthy Thirteen." Their story, told on page 40 of DZ Europe: The Story of the 440th Troop Carrier Group, was an account of the Thirteen taken from a June 1944 issue of Stars and Stripes. It's hard to tell almost sixty years on whether the fictional parts were derived to inspire the folks at home or to scare the hell out of the Germans, maybe both.

The few survivors of the famous Filthy Thirteen have a slightly different story to tell. 101st Airborne historian Mark Bando interviewed a couple of the original Thirteen for his book, The 101st Airborne at Normandy, published in 1994.

They were members of HQ/ 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the roster included: "Jake McNiece, Jack Womer, John Agnew, Lt. Charles Mellen, Joseph Oleskiewicz, John Hale, James T. Green, George Radeka, Clarence Ware, Robert S. Cone, Roland R. Baribeau, James E. Leach and Andrew Rassmussen. Others including Frank Palys and Charles Plaudo were sometimes members of the group." Only a few survived the Normandy mission, though the members of the unit did complete their assigned mission, blowing bridges over the Douve River.

A review of surnames from the group quickly disposes of the myth that they were all "Indians." Several are of Polish descent and Robert Cone who was badly wounded in Normandy and captured was Jewish. He would spend the remainder of the war in POW camps.

Another myth of the Thirteen was that Lt. Mellen could whip any member of the group. According to Jake McNiece, "any one of our group could have whipped him without working up a sweat." Lt. Mellen was KIA in Normandy and was found dead, bandaged about the arm and leg. Apparently he fought on for some time after being wounded.

The notoriety the Filthy Thirteen gained in Stars and Stripes and the famous photo in DZ Europe of two of them applying war paint certainly inspired first the novel and then the movie, "The Dirty Dozen," a completely fictional story. Fortunately, a new book about the famous Thirteen is due out in April 2003, The Filthy Thirteen: The True Story of the Dirty Dozen, by Richard Killblane and Jake McNiece. It is to be published by Casemate and details the story of the famous squad from Normandy to Bavaria.

Sources: The 101st Airborne at Normandy, by Mark Bando; Trigger Time, 101st Airborne web site, by Mark Bando; Stone & Stone Second World War Books web site.

Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
http://440thtroopcarriergroup.org
http://usaaf.com/9thaf/Troop/440TC.htm

440th Troop Carrier Group
A Brief History 1943 -1945

Squadrons of the 440th TCG

95th Troop Carrier Squadron.
96th Troop Carrier Squadron.
97th Troop Carrier Squadron.
98th Troop Carrier Squadron.

Assigned 9th AAF: Feb-Mar 1944.

Motto: NUNQUAM NON PARATUS Never Unprepared.

Combat Aircraft: C-47

Stations

Baer Field, Ind, I Jul 1943
Sedalia AAFld, Mo, 9 Jul 1943;
Alliance AAFld, Neb, 7 Sep 1943;
Pope Field, NC, 4 Jan 1944;
Baer Field, Ind, 14-2I Feb 1944;
Bottesford, England, II Mar 1944;
Exeter, England, 18 Apr 1944;
Reims, France, II Sep 1944;
Le Mans, France, 30 Sep 1944;
Orleans, France, 2 Nov 1944-18 Oct 1945

Group COs

Maj Charles H Young, 5 Jul 1943
Lt Col Frank X Krebs, 7 Jul 1943
Lt Col, Loyd C Waldorf, 18 Sep 1944
Col Frank X Krebs, 29 Oct 1944-1945

CAMPAIGNS

Rome-Arno
Normandy
Northern France
Southern France
Rhineland
Ardennes-Alsace
Central Europe

DECORATIONS

Distinguished Unit Citation: France, [6-7] Jun 1944.

The 440th TROOP CARRIER GROUP (TCG) was constituted 25 May 1943 and formally activated at Baer Field, Fort Wayne, Indiana on 1 July, 1943. The Group Commander was Maj. Frank X Krebs. From Fort Wayne the fledgling group, comprising 124 cadre personnel of Headquarters, 95th, 96th, 97th and 98th Squadrons proceeded to Sedalia Army Air Base, Warrensburg, Missouri, to begin training. Over a seven month period a continually increasing number of personnel were trained in the various technical job requirements vital to the overall success of the TROOP CARRIER mission.

Two other bases were temporary homes for the 440th Troop Carrier group during this training period: Alliance Army Air Base, Alliance, Nebraska (7 September, 1943) and Pope Field, Fort Bragg, North Carolina (4 January, 1944). It was at Fort Bragg that the 440th first practices with live paratroopers, the 17th Airborne division and the 82nd Airborne Division, two organizations with which the 440th would make history in 1944 and 1945. The 440th returned to Baer Field 14 February, 1944. On 21 February, 1944, the Air Echelon, flying 52 new C-47's departed Baer Field on an 11,000 mile flight to England via South America and Africa. First base in England was AAF Sta. (Army Air Force Station) 481 at Bottesford, Nottinghamshire. Training was continued at an increased pace at Sta. 481 and at Sta. 463 Exeter, Devon where the group moved between 18 and 26 April, 1944. Exeter would be home to the 440th TCG for the next five months and its departure point for the invasion of France.

6th June, 1944 - D-DAY - MISSION NEPTUNE-BIGOT. 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry and two platoons of Company 'C', 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division were parachuted into Normandy from 45 aircraft of the 440th at 01:43 GMT. Losses were much lighter than expected - less than 7%. After a year of uninterrupted training the 440th TCG had been part of the spearhead for the momentous event of World War II and had carried it out almost routinely. (Three aircraft were lost; one from the 95th Squadron and two from the 96th.) When the news broke around the world that the long awaited invasion of Hitler's Europe had begun, the 440th men could say with understandable pride, "We were there".

On 16th July, 1944, air echelons of the 95th, 96th and 97th Squadrons left England for Italy via North Africa. Based at Ombrone airfield near Grossetto on the west coast of Italy, the 440th lifted 720 paratroopers of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team on 15th August, 1944, and delivered them to Le Muy, about 20 miles inland from the coast of Southern France. Upon return to Ombrone the aircraft were refueled, crews briefed and a second run to Le Muy was made towing gliders containing elements of the 602nd Field Artillery Battalion and the 442nd Anti-Tank Company. While the 95th, 96th and 97th Squadrons were in Italy for Operation DRAGOON (Southern France) the 98th remained in Exeter and performed the duties of a Troop Carrier Squadron, only now it was known as the 440th Provisional Troop Carrier Group under the command of Lt. Col. Bascome L Neal.

On 6th August, 1944, a Command message ordered 284 men and 32 aircraft to proceed to Ramsbury airfield (Wiltshire) where the 440th Provisional Troop Carrier Group joined the newly formed 1st Allied Airborne Army. 9th August, 1944, in the midst of air evacuations and supply hauls, 12 of the 98th's aircraft and crews were alerted for a combat mission to France. The German Army, in a ferocious battle now known as the battle of the Falaise Gap, attempted to split the 1st Army at Avranches and separate it from Patton's Third Army on the German left flank. During the course of the battle an American artillery battalion had become completely surrounded and cut off on a hill at Mortain.

After a briefing which can only be described as woefully lacking in all aspects of information necessary for successful completion of a supply mission, 98th Squadron's 12 aircraft, each carrying six parapacks loaded with food, ammunition and medical supplies, departed from Ramsbury for Mortain. The town's salient feature of identification was the ubiquitous church steeple. It was 1625 hours and the moment for the drop according to previous computations. The town's streets and buildings were already beginning to rush by below the course of the flight. But there was no longer any steeple; only the church and not all of that remained.

At 400 feet above the ground and flying at 135 miles per hour German flak and small arms fire had the twelve aircraft neatly boxed from all sides. With a last look at the map and a hurried glance out of the cockpit window, Col. Neal tripped the switch that released the parapacks. The eleven other aircraft immediately followed suit. All but one pack fell in an area within the boundaries of the artillery battalion. One pack released from Co. Neal's aircraft was hit in mid-air by German flak and exploded.

All aircraft returned safely to Ramsbury. It was certainly not a headline-grabbing operation but once more Troop Carrier had vindicated the reason for its formation. That hill at Mortain remained in American hands until fresh troops in force broke through the next day.

Following the return to England of the 95th, 96th and 97th Squadrons the entire Group was alerted for what turned out be several false starts for an airborne mission in advance of British General Montgomery's 21st Army Group as it moved through the low countries toward the German border. Finally, on the 17th of September, 1944, operating out of Fullbeck, England, as part of the largest aerial armada ever assembled, (more than 2,000 C-47s American and British) the 440th TCG delivered Companies 'G', 'H', '1', and Headquarters Company of the 508th Parachute Infantry and the 376th Parachute Field Artillery of the 82nd Airborne Division to a drop zone in Southeastern Holland as its part in the operation known as MARKET -GARDEN, the invasion of Holland.

On the turn out of the drop zone Col. Krebs aircraft was hit and the entire crew successfully bailed out. For all except Lt. Sullivan, Navigator, who was captured by the enemy, it would be 40 days under the care of the Dutch underground before they returned to England.

For the remaining missions into Holland command of the Group become the responsibility of Lt. Col. Lloyd C. Waldrof. On the 18th September, the 440th TCG returned towing 82 gliders containing 82nd Airborne Division glider-borne artillery - Batteries 'B' and 'C' of the 456th Field Artillery Battalion.

';,A third mission scheduled for 19th September was postponed until 23rd September due to all of England being blanketed in heavy fog. On the 23rd at 13:00 hrs., 96 aircraft and as many gliders once more took off for the final mission to a drop zone near Nijmegan, Holland. The 440th TCG airlifted 586 infantrymen of the Headquarters & Headquarters Company of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment and it's Company 'C' as well as the Headquarters Company of the 1st Battalion of the 325th, all part of the 82nd Airborne Division.

In the last week of October, 1944, Col. Frank X. Krebs returned to re-assume command of the 440th TCG. Ten days after the last gasp German breakout in the Ardennes, on the 26th December, 1944, the 440th TCG had its first mission to Bastogne. A C-47 of the 96th Squadron took off with a glider in tow loaded with a surgical team and medical supplies, destined for the Battling Bastards of Bastogne. The glider cut loose over Bastogne and landed safely. Right behind this single sortie 10 aircraft and gliders (2 each from the 95th and 97th Squadrons and 3 each from the 96th and 98th Squadrons) loaded with 2,975 gallons of 80 octane fuel had departed their base at Orleans, France, and madetheir way in a deepening winter dusk to Bastogne. All gliders cut loose and landed successfully and all aircraft returned to base in spite of a hail of small arms and machine gun fire.

On 27th December, 1944, thirteen (13) C-47s (8 from the 95th Squadron and 5 from the 96th Squadron) of the 440th TROOP CARRIER GROUP, on detached duty with the 439th troop carrier group, departed Chateaudun at 10:30 am towing gliders loaded to capacity with high explosives. These aircraft formed the last element of a 50-plane serial operated by the 439th TROOP CARRIER GROUP. On this mission the 440th TCG suffered 42% of its total World War Two casualties. The flak and small arms fire was intense as the serial made its way to the drop zone. Five of the 95th Squadron aircraft were shot down with every member of their crews either killed or captured by the enemy. One managed to get back over friendly territory before making a crash landing. The remaining two returned to home base at Orleans so badly damaged that ground crews found it hard to understand how they had remained airborne. Of the five 96th Squadron aircraft, three were shot down with seven crew members killed and five taken prisoner. The remaining two managed to return to base but were severely damaged.

On the 24th March, 1945, the 440th TROOP CARRIER GROUP carried out its last combat airborne mission in Europe. The 17th Airborne Division was to land on the east bank of the Rhine River and and take enemy positions from the rear while British 21st Army Group and XXX Corps with General Simpson's U.S. Ninth Army attacked across the river from the west. At 08:31 am the first of 90 440th TCG aircraft and gliders carrying elements of the 17th Airborne Division took off. At 11:55 hours the first glider released over the LZ at Wesel, Germany. In spite of a withering hail of enemy small arms and flak, 440th aircraft took no evasive action. Two aircraft were destroyed and 14 severely damaged.

The 440th TCG was not idle in the periods between major campaign airlifts. Hundreds of wounded soldiers were evacuated from near- battle-line airfields with Flight Nurses and Medical Corpsmen in attendance. The 816th Medical Air Evacuation Squadron was attached to the 440th TCG for this part of its overall mission in Europe. Many a wounded soldier probably owes his life to this quick and efficient method of removal from the battlefield to fully staffed and equipped hospitals in the rear area.

Thousands of gallons of 80 octane gasoline in five gallon jerry-cans, hundreds of tons of C-rations, clothing, ammunitions and other related military hardware were moved from rear area airfields to isolated fields not far behind Patton's Third Army as it rolled across France on the drive to Germany's border.

Victory in Europe, V-E Day, fell midnight of May 8, 1945. The activities of the 440th TCG were increased rather than lessened by war's ending. Now there were hundreds of thousands of liberated prisoners and displaced persons to be rushed homeward. Emergency food and medical cargoes had to be rushed to critical areas throughout Europe, wherever hunger or disease threatened. There were still wounded to be moved to hospitals.

During the month of April, 1945, more than two million air miles had been flown by the Group's aircraft with more than thirteen and a half million pounds of freight and ten thousand evacuees, liberated prisoners and wounded troops.

Eighty-two aircraft of the 440th TCG, all that were still available, : hauled over 1,230,000 gallons of gasoline alone, the equivalent of more than a hundred fifty standard American railroad tank cars. This figure alone represented a fifth of the total amount of gasoline which the entire IX TROOP CARRIER COMMAND had delivered during the whole of the year 1945.

Averaging 650 air miles per sortie, in one record day 60 aircraft flew 167 sorties. In one month the 440th TCG flew 3,182 sorties, 2,508 of which were classified as combat, in a total of 13,330 flying hours.

Such records are not set by aircrews alone. No combat air arm is complete without its ground support personnel. Those who performed the mundane tasks of feeding, clothing and housing the members of the Group were absolutely indispensable, Engineering and aircraft maintenance staff, communications and intelligence personnel, all contributed essential services without which the 440th TCG would not have been able to function.

Of all the commendations the 440th TCG received as the result of its operations in Europe, the one most heartily welcomed of all was a warming letter from the Supreme Commander of the Theatre, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, addressing this paragraph to Major General Paul Williams, IX TROOP CARRIER COMMAND:

"The great job of flying done by your Command in moving repatriates out of Germany during April and May is one that has given me personal satisfaction of the highest order. While all Air Commands participated in this, some 70% of Allied repatriates flown from Germany were in aircraft of the IX TROOP CARRIER COMMAND, and your total lift in the two months passed the unbelievable figure of a quarter million passengers. To have done this at all is remarkable, but to have done it without a single casualty is perfect. Please convey to your Staff and to your crews, my sincere thanks and highest praise for this achievement. You have written a page in Air Force history and Allied cooperation that will live forever.

Sincerely (Signed)
Dwight D. Eisenhower".

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Cessna C-195 (About my favorite airplane!)

Good morning Aeronaut. I like it! Maybe you should start a FReeper air service. I imagine fuel is awfully expensive though.

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Good morning EGC. We should be in the low 40's today with a continued "warm up" for the weekend. Low 60's on Sunday. (I'll believe it when I see it)

Nothing like an airpower thread for a fine Friday, snippy.

Today's classic ship, USS Missouri (BB-63)

Iowa class battleship
displacement. 45,000 t.
length. 887'3"
beam. 108'2"
draft. 28'11"
speed. 33 k.
complement. 2,800
armament. 9 16", 20 5"

The USS Missouri (BB-B3), the last battleship completed by the United States, was laid down 6 January 1941 by New York Naval Shipyard; launched 29 January 1944; sponsored by Miss Margaret Truman, daughter of then Senator from Missouri Harry S Truman, later President; and commissioned 11 June 1944, Capt. William M. Callaghan in command.

After trials off New York and shakedown and battle practice in Chesapeake Bay, Missouri departed Norfolk 11 November 1944, transited the Panama Canal 18 November and steamed to San Francisco for final fitting out as fleet flagship. She stood out of San Francisco Bay 14 December and arrived Ulithi, West Caroline Islands, 13 January 1945. There she was temporary headquarters ship for Vice Adm. Marc A, Mitscher. The battleship put to sea 27 January to serve in the screen of the Lexington carrier task group of Mitscher's TF 58, and on 16 February her flattops launched the first airstrikes against Japan since the famed Doolittle raid that had been launched from carrier Hornet in April 1942.

Missouri then steamed with the carriers to Iwo Jima where her Mighty guns provided direct and continuous support to the invasion landings begun 19 February. After TF 58 returned to Ulithi 5 March, Missouri was assigned to the Yorktown carrier task group. On 14 March Missouri departed Ulithi in the screen of the fast carriers and steamed to the Japanese mainland. During strikes against targets along the coast of the Inland Sea of Japan beginning 18 March, Missouri splashed four Japanese aircraft.

Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and southwestern Honshu continued. Wasp, crashed by an enemy suicide plane 19 March, resumed flight operations within an hour. Two bombs penetrated the hangar deck and decks aft of carrier Franklin, leaving her dead in the water within 50 miles of the Japanese mainland. Cruiser Pittsburgh took Franklin in tow until she gained speed to 14 knots. Missouri's carrier task group provided cover for Franklin's retirement toward Ulithi until 22 March, then set course for preinvasion strikes and bombardment of Okinawa.

Missouri joined the fast battleships of TF 58 in bombarding the southeast coast of Okinawa 24 March, an action intended to draw enemy strength from the west coast beaches that would be the actual site of invasion landings. Missouri rejoined the screen of the carriers as Marine and Army units stormed the shores of Okinawa on the morning of 1 April. Planes from the carriers shattered a special Japanese attacking force led by battleship Yamato 7 April. Yamato, the world's largest battlewagon, was sunk, as were a cruiser and a destroyer. Three other enemy destroyers were heavily damaged and scuttled. Four remaining destroyers, sole survivors of the attacking fleet, were damaged and retired to Sasebo.

On 11 April Missouri opened fire on a low-flying suicide plane which penetrated the curtain of her shells to crash just below her main deck level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a gasoline fire at 5-inch Gunmount No. 3. Yet the battleship suffered only superficial damage, and the fire was brought quickly under control.

About 2305 on 17 April, Missouri detected an enemy submarine 12 miles from her formation. Her report set off a hunter-killer operation by carrier Bataan and four destroyers which sank Japanese submarine I-56.

Missouri was detached from the carrier task force off Okinawa 5 May and sailed for Ulithi. During the Okinawa campaign she had shot down five enemy planes, assisted in the destruction of six others, and scored one probable kill. She helped repel 12 daylight attacks of enemy raiders and fought off four night attacks on her carrier task group. Her shore bombardment destroyed several gun emplacements and many other military, governmental, and industrial structures.

Missouri arrived Ulithi 9 May and thence proceeded to Apra Harbor, Guam, 18 May. That afternoon Adm. William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander 3d Fleet, broke his flag in Missouri. She passed out of the harbor 21 May, and by 27 May was again conducting shore bombardment against Japanese positions on Okinawa. Missouri now led the mighty 3d Fleet in strikes on airfields and installations on Kyushu 2 and 3 June. She rode out a fierce storm 5 and 6 June that wrenched off the bow of cruiser Pittsburgh. Some topside fittings were smashed, but Missouri suffered no major damage. Her fleet again struck Kyushu 8 June, then hit hard in a coordinated air-surface bombardment before retiring towards Leyte. She arrived San Pedro, Leyte, 13 June, after almost 3 months of continuous operations in support of the Okinawa campaign.

Here she prepared to lead the 3d Fleet in strikes at the heart of Japan from within its home waters. The mighty fleet set a northerly course 8 July to approach the Japanese mainland. Raids took Tokyo by surprise 10 July, followed by more devastation at the juncture of Honshu and Hokkaido 13 and 14 July. For the first time, a naval gunfire force wrought destruction on a major installation within the home islands when Missouri closed the shore to join in a bombardment 15 July that rained destruction on the Nihon Steel Co. and the Wanishi Ironworks at Muroran, Hokkaido.

During the night of 17-18 July Missouri bombarded industrial targets in the Hichiti area, Honshu. Inland Sea aerial strikes continued through 25 July, and Missouri guarded the carriers as they struck hard blows at the Japanese capital. As July ended the Japanese no longer had any home waters. Missouri had led her fleet to gain control of the air and sea approaches to the very shores of Japan.

Strikes on Hokkaido and northern Honshu resumed 9 August, the day the second atomic bomb was dropped. Next day, at 2054 Missouri's men were electrified by the unofficial news that Japan was ready to surrender, provided that the Emperor's prerogatives as a sovereign ruler were not compromised. Not until 0745, 15 August, was word received that President Truman had announced Japan's acceptance of unconditional surrender.

Adm. Sir Bruce Fraser, RN (Commander, British Pacific Fleet) boarded Missouri 16 August, and conferred the order Knight of the British Empire upon Admiral Halsey. Missouri transferred a landing party of 200 officers and men to battleship Iowa for temporary duty with the initial occupation force for Tokyo 21 August. Missouri herself entered Tokyo Bay early 29 August to prepare for the formal surrender ceremony.

High-ranking military officials of all the Allied Powers were received on board 2 September. Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz boarded shortly after 0800, and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (Supreme Commander for the Allies) came on board at 0843. The Japanese representatives, headed by Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, arrived at 0856. At 0902 General MacArthur stepped before a battery of microphones and the 23-minute surrender ceremony was broadcast to the waiting world. By 0930 the Japanese emissaries had departed.

The afternoon of 6 September Admiral Halsey transferred his flag to battleship South Dakota. Early next day Missouri departed Tokyo Bay to receive homeward bound passengers at Guam, thence sailed unescorted for Hawaii. She arrived Pearl Harbor 20 September and flew Admiral Nimitz' flag on the afternoon of 28 September for a reception.

The next day Missouri departed Pearl Harbor bound for the eastern seaboard of the United States. ,She reached New York City 28 September and broke the flag of Adm. Jonas Ingram, Commander in Chief, Atlantic Fleet, Missouri boomed out a 21-gun salute 27 October as President Truman boarded for Navy day ceremonies. In his address the President stated that "control of our sea approaches and of the skies above them is still the key to our freedom and to our ability to help enforce the peace of the world."

After overhaul in the New York Naval Shipyard and a training cruise to Cuba, Missouri returned to New York. The afternoon of 21 March 1946 she received the remains of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States, Melmet Munir Ertegun. She departed 22 March for Gibraltar and 5 April anchored in the Bosphorus off Istanbul. She rendered full honors, including the firing of a 19-gun salute during both the transfer of the remains of the late Ambassador and the funeral ashore.

Missouri departed Istanbul 9 April and entered Phaleron Bay, Piraeus, Greece, the following day for an overwhelming welcome by Greek government officials and people. She had arrived in a year when there were ominous Russian overtures and activities in the entire Balkan area. Greece had become the scene of a Communist-inspired civil war, as Russia sought every possible extension of Soviet influence throughout the Mediterranean region. Demands were made that Turkey grant the Soviets a base of seapower in the Dodecanese Islands and joint control of the Turkish Straits leading from the Black Sea into the Mediterranean.

The voyage of Missouri to the eastern Mediterranean gave comfort to both Greece and Turkey. News media proclaimed her a symbol of U.S. interest in preserving Greek and Turkish liberty. With an August decision to deploy a strong fleet to the Mediterranean, it became obvious that the United States intended to use her naval sea and air power to stand firm against the tide of Soviet subversion.

Missouri departed Piraeus 26 April, touching at Algiers and Tangiers before arriving Norfolk 9 May. She departed for Culebra Island 12 May to join Admiral Mitscher's 8th Fleet in the Navy's first large-scale postwar Atlantic training maneuvers. The battleship returned to New York City 27 May, and spent the next year steaming Atlantic coastal waters north to the Davis Straits and south to the Caribbean on various Atlantic command training exercises. On 13 Dec 1946 she was struck by a star shell during target practice in the North Atlantic.

Missouri arrived Rio de Janeiro 30 August 1947 for the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Hemisphere Peace and Security. President Truman boarded 2 September to celebrate the signing of the Rio Treaty which broadened the Monroe Doctrine, stipulating that an attack on one of the signatory American States would be considered an attack on all.

The Truman family boarded Missouri 7 September to return to the United States and debarked at Norfolk 19 September. Overhaul in New York (23 September to 10 March 1948) was followed by refresher training at Guantanamo Bag. Summer 1948 was devoted to midshipman and reserve training cruises. The battleship departed Norfolk 1 November for a second 3-week Arctic cold weather training cruise to the Davis Straits. The next 2 years Missouri participated in Atlantic command exercises ranging from the New England coast to the Caribbean, alternated with two midshipman summer training cruises. She was overhauled at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 23 September 1949 to 17 February 1950.

Now the only U.S. battleship in commission, Missouri was proceeding seaward on a training mission from Hampton Roads early 17 January when she ran aground at a point 1.6 miles from Thimble Shoals Light, near Old Point Comfort. She traversed shoal water a distance of three ship lengths from the main channel. Lifted some 7 feet above waterline, she struck hard and fast. With the aid of tugs, pontoons, and an incoming tide, she was refloated 1 February.

From mid-February until 15 August Missouri conducted midshipman and reserve training cruises out of Norfolk. She departed Norfolk 19 August to support U.N. forces in their fight against Communist aggression in Korea. Missouri joined the U.N. just west of Kyushu 14 September, becoming flagship of Rear Adm. A. E. Smith. The first American battleship to reach Korean waters, she bombarded Samchok 15 September in a diversionary move coordinated with the Inchon landings. In company with cruiser Helena and two destroyers, she helped prepare the way for the 8th Army offensive.

Missouri arrived Inchon 19 September, and 10 October became flagship of Rear Adm. J. M. Higgins, commander, Cruiser Division 5. She arrived Sasebo 14 October, where she became flagship of Vice Adm. A. D. Struble, Commander, 7th Fleet. After screening carrier Valley Forge along the east coast of Korea, she conducted bombardment missions 12 to 26 October in the Chonjin and Tanchon areas, and at Wonsan. After again screening carriers eastward of Wonsan she moved into Hungnam 23 December to provide gunfire support about the Hungnam defense perimeter until the last U.N. troops, the U.S. 3d Infantry Division, were evacuated by way of the sea on Christmas Eve.

Missouri conducted additional operations with carriers and systematic shore bombardments off the east coast of Korea until 19 March 1951. She arrived Yokosuka 24 March, and 4 days later was relieved of duty in the Far East. She departed Yokosuka 28 March, and upon arrival Norfolk 27 April became flagship of Rear Adm. J. L. Holloway, Jr., commander, Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet. Summer 1951 she engaged in two midshipman training cruises to northern Europe. Missouri entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard 18 October for overhaul until 30 January 1952.

Following winter and spring training out of Guantanamo Bay, Missouri visited New York, then set course from Norfolk 9 June for another midshipman cruise. She returned to Norfolk 4 August and entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard to prepare for a second tour in the Korean Combat Zone.

Missouri stood out of Hampton Roads 11 September and arrived Yokosuka 17 October. She broke the flag of Vice Adm. J. J.. Clark, commander of the 7th Fleet, 19 October. Her primary mission was to provide seagoing artillery support by bombarding enemy targets In the Chaho-Tanchon area, at Chongjin, in the Tanchon-Sonjin area, and at Chaho, Wonsan, Hamhung, and Hungnam during the period 15 October through 2 January 1953.

Missouri put in to Inchon 5 January 1953 and sailed thence to Sasebo, Japan. Gen. Mark Clark, Commander in Chief, U.N. Command, and Adm. Sir Guy Russell, RN, commander of the British Far East Station, visited the battleship 23 January. In the following weeks, Missouri resumed "Cobra" patrol along the east coast of Korea in direct support of troops ashore. Repeated strikes against Wonsan, Tanchon, Hungnam, and Kojo destroyed main supply routes along the eastern seaboard.

The last gunstrike mission by Missouri was against the Kojo area 25 March. she sustained a grievous casualty 26 March, when her commanding officer Capt. Warner R. Edsall suffered a fatal heart attack while conning her through the submarine net at Sasebo. She was relieved as 7th Fleet flagship 6 April by battleship New Jersey.

Missouri departed Yokosuka 7 April and arrived Norfolk 4 May, to become flagship for Rear Adm. E. T. Woolridge, commander, Battleship-Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet, 14 May. She departed 8 June on a midshipman training cruise, returned to Norfolk 4 August, and was overhauled in Norfolk Naval Shipyard 20 November to 2 April 1954.

Now the flagship of Rear Adm. R. E. Libby, who had relieved Admiral Woolridge, Missouri, commanded by Capt. Taylor Keith, departed Norfolk 7 June as flagship of the midshipman training cruise to Lisbon and Cherbourg. She returned Norfolk 3 August and departed the 23d for inactivation on the west coast. After calls at Long Beach and San Francisco, Missouri arrived Seattle 15 September. Three days later she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she decommissioned 26 February 1955, entering the Bremerton group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.

Missouri received three battle stars for World War II service and five for Korean service.

Missouri was modernized at Long Beach Navy Yard and recommissioned 10 May 1986. She fired 16 inch rounds and Tomahawks during Desert Storm and was present at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1991 for the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Japanese surprise attack. She was decommissioned 31 March 1992, stricken 12 Jan 1995, and donated for preservation at Pearl Harbor 4 May 1998, arriving at Pearl Harbor under tow 22 June 1998. She was opened to the public on 29 Jan 1999.

snippy has about 40 pictures that I took of the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor two days after Christmas 2003. One of these days she'll get around to using them. It's an awesome ship.

snippy has about 40 pictures that I took of the USS Missouri at Pearl Harbor two days after Christmas 2003. One of these days she'll get around to using them

I'm such a slacker. :-(

No, really CJ I'm swamped and it's good you reminded me. I promise I'll get on it this weekend! :-)

Wonderful pics. Thanks aomagrat.

Good Morning Snippy
The Filthy Thirteen!!

LOL. Good morning Sam. The "Filthy 13" have a book I think I'll add to my list!

The missions were executed at altitudes and speeds considered suicidal by other combat pilots.

Another group of unsung heroes, men who did the "unglamorous" but none-the-less dangerous jobs, that contributed to victory over the Axis. This article just points out once again that everyone who served, no matter what the job, is important to the overall picture.

I'm here! I've never been on an Army post before.

Part of the security at the gate. All visitors and "random" checks go through this. Must have been 100 guards at this gate alone. It was all done by armed civilian security personnel.