The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Japanese Attack on the Philippines (12/10/1941) - Jul. 29th, 2004

www.military.com ^ | John W. Whitman

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

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

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Disaster in the Philippines:
Air Raid on Cavite

The morning of December 10, 1941, would be to the Americans on Luzon what December 7 had been for those in Hawaii -- but without the element of surprise.

The Japanese aerial armada droned into view on December 10, 1941. In each bomber, seven-man crews tensed behind four 7.7mm machine guns and a single 20mm tail gun. Everyone scanned the skies for defending fighters.

Americans in Manila shook their heads in disbelief. Despite the disasters of December 8, the defenders of the Philippines were still confident in their own strength and still amazed at the audacity of the Japanese. "We were Americans," Sergeant Sidney Stewart later wrote, "proud and sure and free. We had nothing but contempt for the stupid fools blackening the sky. The Japanese must be crazy to attack a city held by Americans."


Bombed Clark Field, south of Manilla, The Philippines">
Japanese destroyed half of the aircrafts of Clark Field Navy Base, south of Manila on the Philippines, 25 B17's-bombers and their fighters were destroyed. A substantial part of the defending American air force on the ground was destroyed.

Monday, December 8, in the Philippines had been terrible. The main American bomber base at Clark Field had been bombed to rubble. Japanese attacks had reduced Lt. Gen. Douglas MacArthur's bomber fleet by 50 percent and his modern fighters by 37 percent. Japanese pilots flew triumphantly back to Formosa, having lost only seven fighters.

Japanese Preparations

Bad weather on Tuesday, December 9, had given the Americans a respite, but December 10 would be another very grim day. On Japanese-occupied Formosa, the weather threatened the morning's air operations. At 0300 hours a drizzling rain had begun, but the weather officer told his dubious colleagues that it would clear by 0830 and that flying conditions would be good.


Clark Field

High winds and storms had scattered Japanese aircraft across Formosa that Tuesday night. This ill wind had done some good for Japanese pilots. They took advantage of local inns, soaked in hot tubs and got a good night's sleep. When they awoke on December 10, the weather remained bad but within tolerances if the Japanese were willing to accept some risk to pilots and planes. Because they had been so badly scattered, Japanese fighter aircraft spent early Wednesday morning reassembling at their proper bases, refueling and rearming. Pilots received new orders, new targets and briefings as to remaining American strength on Luzon.


G4M1 "Betty"

Aircraft of the Tainan-based 1st and Tainan Kokutais (naval air groups) and the Takao-based Takao and 3rd Kokutais finally got airborne about 0900. Their targets for Wednesday were American airfields at Del Carmen in central Luzon (18 Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeros of the 3rd Kokutai), Nichols and Nielson adjacent to Manila (34 Zeros of the 3rd Kokutai and 27 twin-engine Mitsubishi G4M1 "Betty" bombers of the Takao Kokutai), shipping in Manila Bay (27 of the Takao Kokutai's G4M1s, switched from their original target of Del Carmen) and the Manila Bay naval base at Cavite (27 Mitsubishi G3M2 twin-engine "Nell" bombers of the 1st Kokutai, escorted by 22 Zeros of the Tainan Kokutai). Another 27 fighters of the Tainan Kokutai took off to cover minor amphibious landings against north Luzon.

American Delays

As the bombers and fighters assembled over Formosa, American radio-intercept personnel snatched Japanese ground-air radio calls from the air. These intercept specialists had identified possible bomber-fighter radio nets the day before. When the intercept people heard radio calls on the bomber net in the morning, they alerted the Air Warning Service that 100 bombers were headed for Luzon.


Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Douglas B-18A ">

"Very interesting," came the reply from an unimpressed Air Warning Service. Few people yet believed that important information could come from radio intercepts.

Time passed. Then the Japanese fighter net came on the air. The radio intercept detachment called again. Based on the radio signal strength, Japanese planes were 15 minutes out, they warned. The Air Warning Service said that ground observers had not yet spotted anything, so no alert would be sounded.

Alarm Raised

About 1115, roughly the same time as the American 20th Pursuit Squadron was returning to Clark Field from attacks against Japanese landings, ground observers told Interceptor Command headquarters at Nielson Field that a big formation of fighters and bombers was north of Clark, heading toward Manila and Nichols.


Cavite Naval Yard

Clark's air-raid siren sounded when Japanese planes neared the field. Doctors, nurses and patients at the adjacent Fort Stotsenburg base hospital scrambled for the air raid shelter. Patients whom no one thought were ambulatory ripped the transfusion needles out of their arms and legs, jumped from their beds, and ran. Frightened litter bearers carried those who could not move.

Pilots from different squadrons raced each other to claim the Curtiss P-40B Tomahawks and P-40E Kittyhawks remaining, then sortied without regard to each another's proximity. Lieutenant William E. Dyess was at lunch when he heard that Japanese bombers were due overhead in two minutes. He jumped into the luggage carrier of a passing motorcycle and hightailed it for his plane. In his haste, he forgot his goggles, helmet and parachute. He taxied his plane past bomb craters, took off blind through a dust storm raised by previous planes, and nearly collided with another P-40. Overhead, Clark's aircraft assembled above the field. Then the 17th Pursuit headed for Manila Bay, and the 21st Pursuit for Manila's port area. Not all the P-40s that got into the air necessarily threatened Japanese aircraft. When Dyess got to Manila, he found his guns were jammed and would not fire.

Ineffective Intercept

Some Nichols Field pilots were already airborne, but they were about to come home from standing patrol shift. They were tired, and their fuel tanks were low, but they climbed after the bombers. The Americans from Nichols and Clark fought as best they could, but inoperable or jammed guns put plane after plane out of commission. Japanese bombers droned stolidly toward Nichols, Cavite and the shipping in Manila Bay.


Pearl Harbor wasn't the only place that was attacked on December 7th. Across the International Date Line - making it officially December 8th - lay Clark Field, which was pounded by Japanese "Betty" Bombers, then strafed by Zeroes.
Some American pilots managed to counterattack, two such heroes, LT. General USAF (Ret.) Joseph Moore and Colonel USAF (Ret.) Sam Grashio,are pictured in "Too Little Too Late".

A shortage of fuel forced the American pursuit planes to break away. One plane landed with only three gallons remaining. Three P-40s fell during the intercept attempt without inflicting any loss on the enemy. Japanese pilots reported that they were outnumbered two to one by the Americans, yet had shot down more than 43 P-40s and Seversky P-35s.

Attack On Del Carmen

The field hit hardest was Del Carmen, where five P-35s of the 34th Pursuit had just returned from their successful attacks against enemy landing forces. Another seven P-35s, scheduled for the anti-invasion mission, were on the ground because of mechanical failure.

Blind luck was with the Japanese. The Americans had been on the ground about 10 minutes, and ground crews were refueling and rearming the planes. "Look," an airman called, "P-35s coming in for a landing." But the airman's aircraft identification expertise was poor. Ten Zeros arrived and caught the immobile P-35s. No revetments had yet been constructed to protect the planes, and the P-35s were lined up side by side. The field's only defense came from six Lewis .30-caliber machine guns. The men manning the guns were poorly trained, and all but one gun jammed after firing just a few rounds.



The Japanese destroyed or damaged 10 of the P-35s, yet failed to injure a single man. When strafing set a gasoline tank truck on fire, the driver disconnected his tractor from the flaming trailer and saved his vehicle. The Japanese also concentrated on two tanker trucks filled with molasses, used to dampen dust on the runway. Del Carmen radioed for help. A P-40 flown by Lieutenant Carl P. Gies jumped the last Zero as it pulled out of a strafing run, and shot it down. Gies' victim may have been Seaman 1st Class Masaharu Higa, the only member of the Tainan Kokutai killed that day.

Destruction At Nichols

Farther south at Nichols, airmen scrambled for shelter. Ground crews dived for holes and ditches. More men were hurt piling atop one another than by enemy fire. The Americans had not been enthusiastic about digging shelters, but now they tried to get as deep as they could in the shallow holes they had dug. Enemy fire reversed the normal desire to strive for the top of the heap. Now the object was to get as low as possible.


Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Curtiss P-40E

Nichols Field had sent up all the P-40s that could fly and had scrambled everything else and sent them to hide. One old twin-engine Douglas B-18 that was being prepared for a bombing mission could not take off and remained in a revetment on the ground. The airmen at Nichols watched as 27 Japanese twin-engine bombers opened their bomb bay doors and released their loads.

The bombs blew up a tent city and burned the field's main hangar and the Philippine Air Depot. Bombs hit the field's big fuel tanks and set them on fire. Men lying on open ground bounced into the air with each concussion. Explosions buried one airman in dirt and nearly smothered him before his friends could dig him out. Some men huddled in a bomb shelter reinforced by railroad irons. Bombs rocked the shelter and dropped concrete onto the irons but not onto the men.



As the P-40s engaged the incoming fighters, one American broke away and headed for Nichols. Lieutenant Forrest M. Hobrecht needed to land and have ground crewmen unjam his guns. A Zero followed him, fired at point-blank range and destroyed the P-40E. Hobrecht bailed out, hit the plane's stabilizer, and fell to the ground without his parachute opening. Another P-40 was on the tail of the Zero and shot it down.

[SAMWolf]

Confusion Reigns

In the momentary quiet in the wake of the departing bombers, the incongruous sound of a San Francisco radio station playing popular jazz came over a radio set. The lull was brief. Enemy fighters now rolled in to complete the destruction. The lone B-18 drew the attention of Zeros, which strafed it and exploded some of its bombs. H Battery of the 515th Coast Artillery (anti-aircraft) let loose with its automatic 37mms. Air-cooled .30-calibers and water-cooled .50-calibers from a platoon of M Battery, 60th Coast Artillery (anti-aircraft), rattled away at the planes. Local air corps machine guns also engaged the Japanese. The combined fire brought down two Zeros.

Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Boeing P-26A

A low-flying Japanese pilot, his canopy open and his white scarf blowing in the wind, roared over the Americans and waved at them. The pilot of another plane took special interest in a ditch full of airmen. Omar L. McGuire could see the pilot's hands at the controls as he banked the plane sharply after each dive. "It gave me a strange sensation to be looking into the man's helmeted and goggled face while he was looking into my ditch," McGuire recalled.

A hapless P-35 flying low to the ground drew the fire of hundreds of trigger-happy Americans. Rifles, pistols and machine guns set up a terrible din. Next, an American observation plane came into sight. Although the pilot waggled his wings, flashed his running lights and did everything he could to show he was friendly, his reward was to have every armed man on the ground fire at him as furiously as possible. As the stricken plane sank lower, the observer bailed out. The roar of small-arms fire increased as the men on the ground concentrated on the parachute and sent 12 bullets into the observer.

The Japanese bomber fleet had divided north of Manila, and 27 aircraft had gone after army installations at Nichols. The remaining 54 bombers flew in magnificent V-shaped formations toward Manila. It was a beautifully clear tropical day, and the silver planes sparkled and flashed in the sun like minnows in a pond. Near the city, the Japanese split once more, this time into two 27-plane formations. One half went after shipping in Manila Bay while the second half lined up on the navy yard at Cavite.

Cavite

Single-engine floatplanes and larger flying boats raced in every direction across the bay in a rush to get airborne. Submarines hastily abandoned their mooring places at buoys and tenders, sprinted outside the harbor's breakwater and submerged.

The Japanese were not terribly successful in their anti-shipping efforts. They might have misidentified Maréchal Joffre as an aircraft carrier or large warship. They went after her but missed. The misses, however, put a bomb forward of the bridge on the 5,343-ton steamer Sagoland, set her afire and sank her. Fragments from a bomb that exploded 50 meters away lightly damaged the tanker Gertrude Kellog.

Americans around Manila watched the Japanese arrive. One of the observers was Admiral Thomas C. Hart, commander of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet, who would have a clear view of the destruction of his fleet base. He was disgusted at the absence of Army fighter protection, the very protection he had assumed MacArthur's air force would provide.

Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Martin B-10B

The Navy used Cavite chiefly for refueling and light repair. The base was packed with offices, residences, foundries, machine shops, aircraft repair shops, boat shops, parachute rigger lifts, lumber yards, ammunition depots and numerous warehouses. Normally inhabited by fewer than 2,000 civilians, Cavite had grown to 5,000 workers when the war started.

AA Gunners Prepare

Marine Corps anti-aircraft gunners outside the yard received word to man their nine 3-inch guns at 1100. The Japanese came into sight at about 1210. The air raid siren atop the yard's powerhouse began wailing to warn those in the yard and to prevent workers who had left for lunch from returning.

Japanese aircraft attack Cavite Navy Yard, near Manila, on December 10, 1941, in a painting by Japanese artist Chosei Miwa.

Private R. Jackson Scott, a young Marine who had left high school at age 16 to join the Corps, was serving as a second loader on a 3-inch gun as he watched the ghostly white planes come in at about 20,000 feet. To him, it was an unreal sight.



The 27 enemy planes circled Cavite slowly and deliberately as they formed over Manila Bay for the attack. They split into three groups of nine planes each, then headed for the north side of the yard. What looked like phonograph needles began falling, twinkling in the sunlight. They soon sounded like coal rattling through a metal chute. One string of bombs hit the water and lifted a line of huge geysers. The first attack -- the breathtaking explosions and the novelty of it all -- drove the anti-aircraft gunners to ground. They reluctantly got up and manned their guns when a second wave of nine planes drifted in.

Nailed To The Mast

Gun crews fired when the planes came into range. Private Scott passed the 25-pound shells to the first loader, who never looked back. He just moved his hands back, received the projectile, swung it forward, dropped it into the breech and pushed it home with his right arm. The sharp crack of 3-inch guns followed, one after the other. The sustained rate of fire for a 3-inch gun was 12 rounds per minute, one every five seconds. The crew of Scott's gun managed a rate of one round every three seconds for a solid hour, just short of the gun's maximum rate of fire.

Death and destruction left in the wake of the Japanese bombing of the Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1941.

Exploding anti-aircraft shells spread little clouds that gave the gunners a sense of accomplishment. "We're right on 'em. We're right on 'em, but we're hittin' below 'em. Use some longer fuses!" yelled the height finders. The 21-second fuses, the longest available, still detonated the shells below the Japanese bombers. Even less effective were sailors firing pistols, rifles and machine guns. A civilian worker in Cavite watched the shells explode well short of the planes and exclaimed, "By God, we're going to be nailed to the mast!"


Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Boeing B-17D

Well-trained Japanese pilots and bombardiers had a perfect target in Cavite, a small island only 50 acres in area that was connected to a small peninsula by a 200-yard-long causeway. The Japanese dropped their bombs into Cavite in a strike nearly as good as the first day's attack on Clark. Almost every bomb fell within the Navy Yard.

[SAMWolf]

Ships

The first string of bombs straddled the 6,750-ton USS Otus, a former Lykes liner undergoing conversion to a submarine tender. Bombs that landed in the shallow sea threw up geysers of water topped with mud and smoke. Engaged in taking on torpedoes, Otus backed away from the wharf unscratched, but left behind the torpedoes she had come to pick up.


Direct hit! Two bombs strike Sea Lion (SS-195) almost simultaneously. First U.S. submarine casualty of the war, she went down in the shambles of Cavite - was later raised from the shallows off Machina wharf and sunk in Manila Bay to prevent capture. Sea Dragon (SS-194) (shown at right) narrowly escaped the blast.

Two submarines were nestled at Machina wharf, Sealion and Seadragon, tied up next to the minesweeper Bittern. The old, 840-ton Bittern caught fire. Sealion's engines had been dismantled for an overhaul, so she had no chance to run. She took a direct bomb hit aft of the conning tower and a second that smashed through the main ballast tank and pressure hull and exploded in the engine room. The second bomb killed four sailors, put a starboard list on the boat, and sank her halfway by the stern.

Seadragon's overhaul had been rushed to completion with the exception of dozens of cans of paint that were still on the boat's wood-slat deck. A blast next to her damaged Seadragon, and the paint cans caught fire. When the torpedo repair shop ashore was hit, pieces of metal scythed across Cavite. Air flasks and torpedo warheads exploded and caused even more damage to the ships. The paint shop blew up and splattered burning paint over the yard's wooden buildings; all were extremely dry and burned easily. A barge holding torpedoes was hit, capsized and rolled the torpedoes into the water.



The skipper of the ex-minesweeper -- now tender -- Pigeon had kept steam up and pulled away from the burning Sealion. Sailors on Pigeon tossed a towline to Seadragon and pulled her to safety. The first two waves of bombers did not hit the destroyer Peary, which had been undergoing repairs, but the third wave straddled her. Bombs hit the central wharf, and fell into the water alongside Peary. One bomb hit the fire-control platform on the destroyer's main mast and ignited small fires the length of the ship. The minesweeper Whippoorwill towed her clear.

Another Pass

The planes swung in for another pass. This time they scoured the east side of the base. Violent explosions blew blackout covers off windows, shattered glass and vigorously shook buildings. Many of the yard's buildings were light, modern and constructed of wood. They offered no protection at all.



Once the first 27 bombers finished their work, another 27 -- those that had struck at shipping -- came in and finished unloading their bombs. The Japanese scored direct hits on the yard's power plant, dispensary, torpedo repair shop, supply office and warehouses, the signal station, commissary, receiving station, barracks and officers' quarters. For two hours, maybe longer, the bombers passed steadily back and forth above Cavite, taking great pains to ensure that their aim was accurate.

Stray bombs hit the densely populated, centuries-old town of Cavite, which was jammed right up against the navy yard. Rather than dropping to the ground during the attack, people ran wildly in a blind search for nonexistent safety. One bomb penetrated the roof of the provincial governor's office, exploded in a prison cell on the bottom floor and killed a jailer and several prisoners. More than 100 civilians were killed at the provincial building and the plaza alone.



After the bombing ceased, Japanese fighters came in low and strafed anything they could see through the thick smoke. Zeros blew one PBY out of the sky above Laguna de Bay and sent a ball of flaming debris into the lake. They forced another flying boat onto Manila Bay in a crash landing, but lost one of their own nimble fighters to the .30-caliber machine gun in the PBY's bow.

Attack Over

Then the attack ended. The flight home for Japanese pilots was nerve-wracking because weather over Formosa had deteriorated since the morning. By dusk, when the planes were due back, the ceiling was down to between 300 and 450 feet. Aside from one Zero that crash-landed just off the coast, the fighters were able to make forced landings on Koshun Field at the south tip of Formosa. The bombers also got in safely. During debriefings, Japanese pilots claimed 104 U.S. planes destroyed, 43 from aerial combat. Bomber pilots claimed two submarines, two destroyers, two small transports and three other ships. Despite those inflated claims, there was no doubt that they had inflicted serious damage on Cavite. In addition to Masaharu Higa, Petty Officers 2nd Class Tamotsu Kojima and Kiyoharu Iezuka of the 3rd Kokutai failed to return. Sixteen other Zeros sustained hits but made it home.


Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Republic P-35

Americans at Cavite tried to sort out the confusion after the Japanese had cleared the area. Because the dispensary had been destroyed, Navy corpsmen set up an aid station in the Marine guard shack near the main gate, where doctors established a 70-bed facility. Able-bodied men directed walking wounded through the wreckage to the guard shack and carried those too seriously wounded to walk. Many of the victims suffered from bad burns.

Stretcher bearers carried casualties between rows of beds until they found one containing a dead man. They then removed the body and placed the new patient on the same bloody sheets. The dead were carried out and placed next to the base exchange. Medical personnel grabbed trucks, cars and horse-drawn carriages to take the injured to nearby Cañacao Naval Hospital, to Manila, or to barrios outside Cavite. Volunteers canvassed local civilian drugstores and commandeered all the surgical dressings and drugs they could carry. Men involved in the rescue work began vomiting. Thinking it a was reaction to the smell of the torn and burned bodies, they put on their gas masks -- only to vomit again. A PT-boat shuttled seriously wounded men to the piers at Cañacao. Within two hours the hospital was filled and corpsmen told the less seriously wounded they would have to go somewhere else. Drivers trucked bodies and parts of bodies to Manila's air-conditioned Jai Alai Fonton Pavilion and stacked them wherever there was room.

Clear The Way

Sailors fought scores of roaring fires through the heat of the 90-degree day, but they could not keep water pressure in the hoses. Exploding 500-pound torpedo warheads and alcohol fires drove the firefighters back. They tried to save the burning machine shops, but whenever they made any headway against the lubricant-fueled fires, the strong winds shifted and routed them.


Invasion of the Philippines
December 10, 1941 - May 3, 1942

Naval officers at the Commandancia, a beautiful example of the best in Spanish architecture, hurried in and out of the war plans office as they evacuated classified papers. Firefighters pumped water from Manila Bay in an attempt to slow the approaching fire, but soon the Commandancia was also ablaze. Fires were so intense by 1530 that searchers abandoned their efforts to locate people trapped in the debris. A half hour later they began yelling, "The admiral says clear the yard." The fight to stay the flames was abandoned.

Additional Sources:

www.fourthmarinesband.com
www.history.navy.mil
www.mississippi.net
history.acusd.edu
www.navsource.org
www.ibiblio.org
www.grunts.net
www.brooksart.com
www.onwar.com
www.west.net

[SAMWolf]

By the close of December 10, the Americans had conceded control of both the skies and the seas. Many had considered the successful bombing of Clark on December 8 a fluke, the result of a surprise attack. But the December 10 razing of Del Carmen, Nichols and Cavite confirmed some hard facts: P-40s with poorly trained pilots could not successfully engage in dogfights with Zeros; and their anti-aircraft guns were too short-ranged to reach enemy bombers. Especially discouraging was the growing fear that neither American commanders nor soldiers were ready, psychologically or professionally, to match the Japanese.

December 10 was the second of many disheartening days to come. All too soon, a Japanese army would land on Luzon, driving the defenders to Bataan and Corregidor. In an astonishing series of aerial engagements that began on December 8, Japanese air forces had created the conditions that would lead to the most humiliating American defeat of World War II.

[SAMWolf]

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[snippy_about_it]

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Good Thursday Morning Everyone


If you would like to be added to our ping list, let us know.

[Neil E. Wright]

Another outstanding thread .... PI then was a whole lot different than when I was stationed in PI in the early '70s.

I think I'll snag a couple of cold ones and lose myself in my memories of the Philippines .... Subic Bay, Olongapo City, Subic City, Clark AB and environs (had a buddy in the AF from my hometown who was stationed there during the same time period), Manila .... ah, memories .... :)

±

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

[SAMWolf]

Morning Neil. Thanks again for your service.

Never made it to the Philippines. My brother-in-law was stationed there in the 60's with the Air Force.

[SAMWolf]

Good Night Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Subic Bay

[snippy_about_it]

Good night Sam.

[GATOR NAVY]

Hey, I've been there!

[snippy_about_it]

LOL. Have you sailed all the seven seas?

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[GATOR NAVY]

Nope, never been in the Atlantic, Med or Carribean. Been all over the place in the Pacific and IO though.

[E.G.C.]

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Foxhole.

[The Mayor]

July 29, 2004

Power Outage

Read: Read: 2 Timothy 1:6-12

God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. —2 Timothy 1:7

Bible In One Year: Psalms 49-50; Romans 1

---

The silence awakened me at 5:30 one morning. There was no gentle whir of fan blades, no reassuring hum from the refrigerator downstairs. A glance out the window confirmed that a power outage had left everyone in our neighborhood without electricity just as they would be preparing for work.

I realized that alarm clocks would not sound, and there would be no TV news. Coffee makers, toasters, hair dryers, and many telephones would be useless. Beginning a day without power was simply an inconvenience and a disruption of routine—but it felt like a disaster.

Then I thought of how often I rush into the day without spiritual power. I spend more time reading the newspaper than the Bible. Talk radio replaces listening to the Spirit. I react to difficult people and circumstances in a spirit of fear rather than the spirit of“power and of love and of a sound mind”that God has given us (2 Timothy 1:7). I must appear as spiritually unkempt as a person who dressed and groomed in the dark.

Our power outage was short-lived, but the lesson remains of my need to begin each day by seeking the Lord. His strength is not for my success or well-being, but so that I will glorify Christ by living in His power. —David McCasland

There’s never a lack of God’s power
In prayer and reading His Word,
For Jesus in heaven is listening-
Your prayer will always be heard. —Hess


The human spirit fails us unless the Holy Spirit fills us.

[alfa6]

Last day of vacation buimp for the Foxhole, dangnabit!!!!

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[Professional Engineer]

Good morning ladies. Flag-o-gram.

[GailA]

Good morning...hmmm has hanoi john or breck girl been to Walter Reed to do a photo op of them 'visitin' our injured Troops?

[tomball]

 

Good Morning, Foxhole

USAF Museum

Here's to a Great Thread, Great Day, and the USAF Museum

 

[Eastbound]

" . . . memories. :)"

Hi, Neil and all --

Let me add a memory here too. :) I was at a military school when the war started. (I was 11). We wore WW1 type uniforms, complete with leggings and toted wooden rifles for drill. I can still hear the crusty old voice of the base commander announcing our next battalion parade: "Rain, snow, hail or blow," he'd bellow. And that we did, regardless of weather. I want to tell you, doing a battalion parade in the middle of winter in northern Illinois was like being at Valley Forge.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on July 29:
1758 Antonius van Gils, Dutch RC theologist (opposed Enlightenment)
1805 Alexis de Tocqueville France, statesman/writer (Democracy in America)
1817 - James Blair Steedman, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1883
1820 Clement Laird Vallandigham, MC (Union), died in 1871
1828 Cuvier Grover, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1885
1830 Alvan Cullem Gillem, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1875
1861 Alica Hathaway Lee Roosevelt 1st wife of Theodore Roosevelt
1869 Booth Tarkington US, novelist (17, Magnificent Ambersons)
1871 [Gregory Efimovich] Rasputin the mad Russian monk
1878 Don Marquis Ill, journalist/poet (archy & mehitabel)
1883 Benito Mussolini [Il Duce], Fascist Italian dictator (1922-43)
1887 Sigmund Romberg Nagykanizsa Hungary, operetta composer (Blossom Time)
1892 William Powell actor (Thin Man, My Man Godfrey)
1898 Isidor Isaac Rabi Poland, physicist (explored atom-Nobel-1944)
1905 Clara Bow silent screen actress (It, Saturday Night Kid)
1905 Dag Hammarskjold 2nd UN Secretary-General (1953-61) (Nobel 1961)
1907 Melvin Belli Sonora Calif, lawyer, SF's "King of Torts"
1913 Stephen McNally NYC, actor (Split Second, 30 Seconds over Tokyo)
1914 "Professor Irwin Corey comedian (Car Wash)
1924 Robert Horton LA Calif, actor (Kings Row, Wagon Train, Arena)
1930 Paul Taylor dancer & choreographer (Paul Taylor Dance Company)
1932 Nancy Kassebaum (Sen-R-Ks)
1933 Robert Fuller Troy NY, actor (Laramie, Wagon Train)
1936 Elizabeth Dole US Secretary of Transportation (1983-87)
1938 Peter Jennings Toronto Canada, news anchor (ABC Evening News)
1941 David Warner Manchester NH, actor (Holocaust)
1953 Geddy Lee lead singer (Rush-Tom Sawyer)
1972 Wil Wheaton actor (Star Trek Next Generation-Wesley, Stand By Me)
1981 Jennie Thompson, Wichita Falls TX, gymnast (Jr Natl-champ-93, Oly-96)

---

Deaths which occurred on July 29:
1030 King Olav Haraldsson of Norway, dies in battle of Stiklestad
1099 Urban II, [Odo van Lagery], French Pope (1088-99), dies
1164 King Olaf of Norway, dies
1794 Seventy of Robespierre's followers guillotined
1890 Vincent Van Gogh, painter, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in Auvers, France.
1900 Umberto I Italian king assassinated by anarchist Gaetano Bresci
1960 Richard Simon cofounder of Simon & Shuster, dies
1974 Cass Elliot singer of Mamas & Papas chokes to death at 30 in London
1975 James B. Blish, sci-fi author (Star Trek Reader), dies at 54
1979 Herbert Marcuse, philosopher (Eros and Civilization), dies at 81
1983 David Niven actor (Guns of Navarone), dies in Switzerland at 73
1983 Raymond Massey actor, dies of pneumonia in Beverly Hills, Calif at 86
1984 Fred Waring orch leader (Fred Waring Show), dies at 84
1988 Ellin Berlin (MacKay) Mrs Irving Berlin, dies at 86
1994 Francisco Veguillas, Spanish general, murdered at 68
1994 John Bayard Britton, abortion doctor, killed by Paul Hill

---

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 BROWN EDWARD D. JR. CHARLOTTE NC.
[KIA IN CRASH REMAINS DESTROYED]
1965 WEATHERBY JACK WILTON FORT WORTH TX.
[REMAINS RETURNED BY HANOI(NOT HIM???) REMAINS RETURNED 08/23/78]
1966 BOSSIO GALILEO F. DEER PARK WA.
1966 CAMERON VIRGIL KING MC ALLEN TX.
[SURVIVAL UNLIKELY REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/06/99]
1966 CHIARELLO VINCENT A. NEW YORK NY
[POSS DIED IN CRASH REMAINS RETURNED 03/02/88]
1966 CONKLIN BERNARD STONEY POINT NY.
[DEAD REMAINS RETURNED 03/02/88]
1966 DI TOMMASO ROBERT J. BUFFALO NY.
1966 HALL JAMES S. GREENSBORO NC.
[REMAINS RETURNED 03/02/88]
1966 HOSKINSON ROBERT E. MORO OR.
1966 LAWS DELMER L. MINERAL POINT MO.
1966 MAMIYA JOHN II WAHIAWA HI.
[REMAINS RETURNED 03/02/88]
1966 SMITH HERBERT E. APPALACHICOLA FL.
[DEAD / RETURNED 03/88]
1967 BENNEFELD STEVEN HENRY GIRARD KS.
1967 JOHNSON RICHARD HERMAN WOLCOTT NY.
1968 AUXIER JERRY E. DIXIE WV.
1972 KULA JAMES D. MANCHESTER NH.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 MATSUI MELVIN K. HILO HI.
[03/29/73 RELEASED BY DRV]

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

---

On this day...
0362 Emperor Julianus of Constantinople ends education laws
1014 Battle of Strumitsa-valley: Byzantine destroys Bulgarian armies
1565 Mary Queen of Scots marries her cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley
1588 Attacking Spanish Armada defeated & scattered by English defenders
1603 Bartholomew Gilbert is killed in Virginia by Indians, during a search for the missing Roanoke colonists.
1676 Nathaniel Bacon declared a rebel for assembling frontiersmen to protect settlers from Indians
1715 10 Spanish treasure galleons sunk off Florida coast by hurricane
1751 1st international world title prize fight-Jack Stack of England,beats challenger M Petit of France in 29 mins in England
1773 1st schoolhouse west of Allegheny Mtns completed, Schoenbrunn, OH
1786 1st newspaper published west of Alleghenies, Pitts Gazette
1835 1st sugar plantation in Hawaii begins
1844 New York Yacht Club forms
1851 A De Gasparis discovers asteroid #15 Eunomia
1858 1st commercial treaty between US & Japan signed
1858 US citizens allowed to live anywhere in Japan
1862 Confederate spy Marie Isabella "Belle" Boyd is captured
1864 3rd and last day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia
1864 Battle of Macon, GA (Stoneman's Raid)
1874 Major Walter Copton Wingfield patents a portable tennis court
1899 1st motorcycle race, Manhattan Beach, NY
1899 Southern Calif Golf Assn formed
1914 1st transcontinental phone link made between NYC & SF
1914 Austrian-Hungary bombs Belgrade
1914 Russia mobilize troops along Austrian boundary
1915 Pirate Honus Wagner at 41, hits a grand slam HR
1920 1st transcontinental airmail flight from NY to SF
1920 Mexican rebel Pancho Villa surrenders
1921 Adolf Hitler becomes the president of the Nationalist Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis).
1927 1st iron lung installed (Bellevue hospital, NY)

1928 Walt Disney's "Steamboat Willie" is released (Mickey Mouse)

1930 115ø F (46ø C), Holly Springs, Mississippi (state record)
1936 RCA shows the 1st real TV program (dancing, film on locomotives, Bonwit Teller fashion show & monologue from Tobacco Road & comedy)
1937 C Jackson discovers asteroid #1431 Luanda
1937 Japanese troops occupies Peking and Tientsin
1938 Comic strip "Dennis the Menace," 1st appears
1938 Olympic National Park established

1945 After delivering the Atomic Bomb across the Pacific, the cruiser USS Indianapolis is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine

1947 Gas leak explodes in a beauty parlor, 10 women die in Harrisonburg Va
1948 King George VI opens 14th modern Olympic games in London
1952 1st nonstop transpacific flight by a jet
1953 US bombers shot down at north of Wladiwostok
1957 International Atomic Energy Agency established by UN
1957 Jack Paar's Tonight show premiers
1958 Pres Eisenhower signs NASA & Space Act of 1958
1961 Phillies lose 1st of 23 straight games
1961 Wallis & Futuna Islands become a French overseas territory
1965 Beatles movie "Help" premiers, Queen Elizabeth attends
1965 Gemini 5 returned after 12d 7h 11m 53s
1965 Major league record 26 strikeouts, Phillies (16), Pirates (10)

1967 Explosion & Fire aboard carrier USS Forrestal in Gulf of Tonkin kills 134, $100 million in damage

1968 Mount Arenal, Costa Rica kills 80 in Pelee-type eruption
1968 Pope Paul VI reaffirms stand against artificial birth control
1969 Mariner 6 begins transmitting far-encounter photos of Mars
1970 6 days of race rioting in Hartford Ct
1973 Greek plebiscite chooses republic over monarchy
1974 2nd impeachment vote against Nixon by the House Judiciary Committee
1974 St Louis Card Lou Brock steals his 700th base
1975 Ford became 1st US pres to visit Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz
1978 Penny Dean swims English Channel in record 7h40m
1978 Pioneer 11 transmits images of Saturn & its rings
1981 Prince Charles of England weds Lady Diana Spencer
1983 Steve Garvey ends his NL record 1,207 consecutive game streak
1984 Summer Olympics opens in LA
1985 19th Space Shuttle Mission (51-F)-Challenger 8-launched
1986 NY jury rules NFL violated antitrust laws, awards USFL $1 in damages
1987 Ben & Jerry's & Jerry Garcia agree on a new flavor Cherry Garcia
1988 FDIC bails out 1st Republic Bank, Dallas, with $4 billion
1988 Gorbachev pushes plan electing president & parliament in March, 1989
1988 Judge orders NASA to release unedited tape from Challenger cockpit
1988 Last US Playboy Club (Lansing Mich) closes
1988 South African govt bans anti-apartheid film "Cry Freedom"
1989 Vince Coleman, record streak stopped at 50 straight stolen bases
1990 Boston Red Sox set major league record with 12 doubles in a game
1991 Donald Trump gives Marla Maples a 7+ carat engagement ring
1991 The Federal Reserve sought a $200 million penalty against BCCI for violating U.S. banking laws. It was the largest fine in the Federal Reserve's history.
1992 Former Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford and his law partner, Robert Altman, were indicted on charges of lying about their roles in the BCCI bank scandal.
1992 Former East German leader Erich Honecker was arrested on his return to his homeland and charged with manslaughter
1993 Walter Koenig (Checkov-Star Trek) suffers a mild heart attack
1993 Israeli Court of Appeal overturns (5-0) conviction of John Demjaujuk, saying not enough evidence he is Concentration Camp Ivan the Terrible
1994 200,000 Moslems demand death to feminist Taslima Nasrin
1999 A federal judge in Little Rock, Ark., fined President Clinton $89,000 for lying about his relationship with
former White House intern Monica Lewinsky in his deposition in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

---

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

Norway : Olsok Eve Festival (1030)
Gilroy, California : Garlic Festival ( Friday )
National Eye Exam Month

---

Religious Observances
Ang, Luth : Comm of Mary & Martha (Lazarus' sister) of Bethany
Luth : Commemoration of Olaf, King of Norway, martyr

---

Religious History
1775 The U.S. Army Chaplaincy was founded, making it the second oldest branch of thatservice, after the Infantry.
1776 Pioneer Methodist bishop Francis Asbury remarked in his journal: 'My present modeof conduct is...to read about 100 pages a day; usually to pray in public five times aday.... If it were in my power, I would do a thousand times as much for such a gracious andblessed Master.'
1866 Birth of Thomas O. Chisholm, American Methodist pastor, teacher, editor and poet.Of the 1,200 sacred verses he penned, one later became the popular hymn: 'Great Is ThyFaithfulness.'
1905 Birth of Dag Hammarskjold, Swedish diplomat and Secretary-General of the U.N.(1953-61). His spiritual journal 'Markings' was published in 1964, three years after his untimely death in a plane crash.
1974 The first eleven women priests in the Episcopal Church were ordained inPhiladelphia's Church of the Advocate.

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

---

Thought for the day :
"This will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave."

---

Things To Do If You Ever Became An Evil Overlord...
After you capture the hero's superweapon, DO NOT immediately disband your legions and relax your guard because you believe whoever holds the weapon is unstoppable. After all, the hero held the weapon and you took it from him.

---

Letters To God From The Dog...
Dear God,
If we come back as humans, is that good, or bad?

---

Dumb Laws...
Tennessee:
You can't shoot any game other than whales from a moving automobile.

---

How To Annoy Osama bin Laden If You're Invited To A Dinner Party At His Secret Afghan Lair...
Explain that America is a land of freedom and opportunity, filled with people of every race, religion, and background, including millions of women strong enough to knock the crap out of him.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Gator Navy.

Is there anyone in the Navy that wasn't at Subic Bay at least once?

[SAMWolf]

Morning Aeronaut.

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C.

Thanks for your daily "BTTT!" on the previous day's thread. :-)

[CholeraJoe]

You mentioned Lt Ed Dyess. From the Dyess AFB website:

The Dyess Name:

Dyess Air Force Base, known as Abilene Army Airfield from 1942-1948 and Abilene Air Force Base until Dec. 6, 1956, was named after Lt. Col. William E. Dyess. He was born Aug. 9, 1916, in Albany, Texas. As a young boy, he loved powered flight. He was thrilled when Lindbergh crossed the Atlantic in 1927, and he jumped at the opportunity to fly when entering pilot training at Randolph and Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas.

The only son of Judge Richard T. and Hallie Graham Dyess, young Edwin took his first airplane ride in a barnstorming World War I aircraft that came through Albany in 1920. His love for flying was a part of him until his death.

During his school days, Colonel Dyess excelled in track and football. He graduated from John Tarleton College in Stephenville, Texas, and then became a flying cadet at Randolph Field, Texas, the West Point of the air.

Following Pearl Harbor, the colonel was stationed in the Philippines with the 21st Pursuit Squadron flying P-40s. He led his vastly outnumbered pilots in many successful attacks on the enemy.

The beleaguered, small group of intrepid airmen, suffering constant attrition of both men and material, finally found themselves penned up on Bataan with neither the planes nor facilities and equipment required for carrying on a war in the air.

The colonel then assumed the role of infantry commander and led his men in ground assaults against the Japanese. When supplies and equipment ran low, he ordered the evacuation of "his" officers and men from the Philippines, but when they didn't have the means, he stayed with them. He was captured by the Japanese April 8, 1942.

When the hopelessly outnumbered, exhausted and sick heroes on Bataan were taken prisoner after their epic struggle, Dyess and what remained of his command were part of the column of Americans who made the infamous Bataan Death March -- He survived the 85-mile trek.

After a brutal year as a prisoner of war, in three different camps plus a prison ship, he escaped, fought alongside Filipino guerrillas. In company with fellow Americans and native Filipinos, Dyess waged such fierce guerrilla warfare against the enemy he came to be called "The One-Man Scourge" of the Japanese.

The colonel eventually made it back to the U.S. He recuperated in a hospital at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. Dyess later testified, in an interview, to the Japanese atrocities he and thousands of Americans endured.

Though he had already given a full and overflowing measure of service, a safe assignment in the interior held no attraction for him while his country was still at war. He began again to train for overseas combat. It was at this time that the tragic crash occurred. His pursuit aircraft caught fire while he was flying over a heavily populated area.

Even with ample opportunity to abandon the burning aircraft, Colonel Dyess chose to sacrifice his own life rather than risk the lives of others. He remained with the P-38 and died after guiding it onto a vacant lot.

Colonel Dyess did not lose his life - he gave it. He was an authentic hero in the finest American tradition. For his bravery, leadership, and intrepidity in battle, Dyess was recommended for the nations highest decoration for heroism -- the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was not awarded the CMH but he did earn two Distinguished Service Crosses (the second highest honor at that time), two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and the Soldiers Medal. He is buried in Albany, Texas.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Mayor

Beginning a day without power was simply an inconvenience and a disruption of routine

IMHO, if anyone ever figures out a way to stop electricity from "working", Western civilazation would collapse.

[SAMWolf]

Morning alfa6.

Last day of vacation :-(

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Feather. Nice to see you here every morning.

[SAMWolf]

Morning PE.

There's something about a soldier raising our flag that gets to me deep inside.

[SAMWolf]

Morning GailA.

has hanoi john or breck girl been to Walter Reed to do a photo op of them 'visitin' our injured Troops

I don't think so or I'm sure we would have heard about it over and over and over.

[SAMWolf]

Morning tomball.

Hard to believe that the P-26 was a "Fighter"

[SAMWolf]

middle of winter in northern Illinois was like being at Valley Forge.

The middle of winter in northern Illinois is miserable no matter what your're doing. ;-)

[snippy_about_it]

Colonel Dyess did not lose his life - he gave it.

A phrase to remember for all those who gave all. Thank you CJ for posting this today.

[SAMWolf]

1945 After delivering the Atomic Bomb across the Pacific, the cruiser USS Indianapolis is torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine

The USS Indianapolis (CA-35) was commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 November 1932. The ship served with honor from Pearl Harbor through the last campaign of World War II, sinking in action two weeks before the end of the war. On 30 July 1945, while sailing from Guam to Leyte, Indianapolis was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-58. The ship capsized and sank in twelve minutes. Survivors were spotted by a patrol aircraft on 2 August. All air and surface units capable of rescue operations were dispatched to the scene at once, and the surrounding waters were thoroughly searched for survivors. Upon completion of the day and night search on 8 August, 316 men were rescued out of the crew of 1,199.

[snippy_about_it]

Thanks for another interesting read today Sam.

I kept saying outloud "Geez" and "oh my". Seems that everything that could go wrong did and the frantic pace of it all was well told.

[SAMWolf]

Morning CholeraJoe

Colonel Dyess did not lose his life - he gave it. He was an authentic hero in the finest American tradition.

Thanks for the biography Ed Dyess.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Aeronaut.

[snippy_about_it]

Morning EGC.

[SAMWolf]

The Philippines showed just how unprepared for war we were.

[snippy_about_it]

...and there would be no TV news.

I think we'd all be better off if we could just shut off the news for about a month or maybe forever!

[Eastbound]

"The middle of winter in northern Illinois is miserable no matter what your're doing. ;-)"

Tuh-roo! Especially in Chicago. They didn't call it the Windy City for it's nice summer breezes, that's for sure. As kids, we used to wind surf on the icy sidewalks of Michigan Avenue. Just hold your coat out and away ya go. Heh.

(Sometimes I'm prone to exaggeration)

[Valin]

When ever I see anything about the USS Indianapolis I'm reminded of of Quint from Jaws.
"Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies / Farewell and adieu you ladies of Spain. / For we received orders for to sail back to Boston / And soon never more will we see you again."

[Valin]

Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Douglas B-18A "

DOUGLAS B-18A "BOLO"

The Douglas Aircraft Co. developed the B-18 to replace the Martin B-10 as the Army Air Corps' standard bomber. The Bolo's design was based on the Douglas DC-2 commercial transport. During Air Corps bomber trials at Wright Field in 1935, the B-18 prototype competed with the Martin 146 (an improved B-10) and the four engine Boeing 299, forerunner of the B-17. Although many Air Corps officers believed the Boeing design was superior, only 13 YB-17s were initially ordered. Instead, the Army General Staff selected the less costly Bolo and, in January 1936, ordered 133 as B-18s. Later, 217 more were built as B-18As with a "shark" nose in which the bombardier's position was extended forward over the nose gunner's station.

By 1939, underpowered and with inadequate defensive armament, the Bolo was the Air Corps' primary bomber. Some B-18s were destroyed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. By early 1942, improved aircraft replaced the Bolo as a first-line bombardment aircraft. Many B-18's were then used as transports, or modified as B-18Bs for anti-submarine duty. The B-18A on display was stationed at Wright Field from 1939 to 1942. The Museum acquired it in 1971 and restored it as a B-18A serving in 1939 with the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron.


More B-18 images...
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/modern_flight/mf2.htm

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 89 ft. 6 in.
Length: 57 ft. 10 in.
Height: 15 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 27,000 lbs. loaded
Armament: Three .30-cal. guns (in nose, ventral and dorsal positions), plus 4,500 lbs. of bombs carried internally
Engines: Two Wright R-1820-53s of 1,000 hp. ea.
Crew: Six
Cost: $80,000
Serial Number: 37-469
C/N: 2469
Other Registrations: N58674
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 215 mph. at 15,000 ft.
Cruising speed: 167 mph.
Range: 2,100 miles
Service Ceiling: 23,900 ft.

[SAMWolf]

I grew up in Chicago and the winters there were brutal, especially near the Lake when those winter winds come in. BBBBBBBBRRRR

[SAMWolf]

Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss): You were on the Indianapolis?

Brody (Roy Scheider): What happened?

Quint: Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, chief. It was comin' back, from the island of Tinian Delady, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb.

Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen footer. You know, you know that when you're in the water, chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. Well, we didn't know. `Cause our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh huh.

They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, chief. The sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it's... kinda like `ol squares in battle like a, you see on a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo. And the idea was, the shark would go for nearest man and then he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got...lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces.

Y'know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men! I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand! I don't know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin' chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player, bosom's mate. I thought he was asleep, reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up and down in the water, just like a kinda top. Up ended. Well... he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. He'd a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper, anyway he saw us and come in low. And three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks ttook the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.

[Eastbound]

"I think we'd all be better off if we could just shut off the news for about a month or maybe forever!"

Or shut down the broadcasters for a couple of years. Imagine living in another galaxy and your tv starts picking up signals broadcasted from earth centuries ago.

'Hey, Mahkta! Come quick! You ain't gonna believe this. Something happened on Planet Earth!'
'Yoppers, Moohga. I knew the planet would self-destruct. Good thing we didn't have it on our vacation itinerary. Was it the 'BOMB?'
'Naw, just the usual. Auto-asphyxiation. The news transmitters finally burned all the oxygen out of the air.'

[SAMWolf]

Strange looking plane, looks like it's pregnant. My memory of the B18 is from some Warner Brothers cartoon made in the late 40's. Where a "Mother" B18 and a "Father" B-18 have a baby but it turns out to be a jet. Just sticks in my mind for some reason.

[Valin]

A Great scene! It's a joy to watch good actors(politics aside) doing their craft.


Back tonight.